3 April 2023

Nagaland Post

IPL: Rajasthan Royals thrash SRH by 72-run

US

State govt likely to face contempt proceedings for repeal of NM Act

Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APR 2 (NPN): A contempt of court proceeding has been reportedly filed with the Supreme Court after the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly on March 28 had through a resolution titled Nagaland Municipal Act 2001(Repeal Bill 2023) initiated the process of repeal of the Act.

According to a senior advocate, the petition was filed by one of the counsels representing the appellants in the case taken up by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) after the representatives of the Naga Mothers Association (NMA) had withdrawn from the case. The Supreme Court was to have its final hearing on May 18 after election to ULBs

NBSE revises existing rules in conduct of exams

DIMAPUR, APR 2 (NPN):

Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) has revised its existing rules to align with New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommendations by incorporating new provisions in the conduct of examinations.

Accordingly, in order to facilitate students improve their grades or marks to pursue higher education with their choice of subjects, provision has been given to qualified/passed candidates to appear Improvement Examination in the same year. A successful candidate at the HSLC/HSSLC examination desirous of improving his/ her performance would be given one chance in June/ July the same year to appear in three or less subjects. This provision would also help students to have the best of two examination option as envisioned in NEP 2020. Provision for candidates who qualified at the HSLC examination but secured ‘Needs Improvement’ in one subject will be given the opportunity to reappear in the ‘Needs Improvement’ subject at the immediate examination so that they can apply for courses, fulfil certain recruitment criteria and employment where they need to pass in all the subjects they have opted.

Besides the HSLC compartmental examination, compartmental examination for HSSLC students will be introduced with effect from 2023.

This is it!

concluded. The source said that the move to repeal the Act through the Repeal Bill 2023 was done despite the case involving the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 (as amended in 2006, 2016) being still in court and therefore still subjudice.

The argument for repeal is the result of the loud cries by all apex tribe hohos of Nagaland including various other organizations

related with tax on land and building. On the other hand, there were some organizations who believe that the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 especially after the amendment in 2006 literally placed the state under the domain of the 74th amendment which mandated 33% reservation for women in ULBs.

They say that Article 371A enacted in 1962 that insulated the state from any act passed by parliament even including the 74th amendment in 1992 and subsequent amendments.

Had the state not passed the 2006 amendment, in view of Article 371A, then the state would not have been obligated under the 74th amendment.

The state legislature has been swinging from one end to the other end with

regard to the 33% women reservation by first nullifying the 2006 amendment in 2016 then again doing the reverse in 2017 and again reverting back to the 2016 amendment.

Even on March 9,2023 the newly formed government had adopted a resolution to hold election to ULBs under 33% reservation. Then on March 28, the newly constituted 14th NLA resolved to repeal the Act in toto.

Legal sources said if the Supreme Court passes contempt of court against the state, it will have far reaching implications unless the ULB polls are held as notified earlier by the State Election Commission even if the latter had put on hold the process of election to ULBs after the NLA resolution on March 28.

4 Indians among 8 die as they attempt to enter US illegally from Canada

Sumi Hoho welcomes repeal of NM Act 2001

DIMAPUR, APR 2 (NPN): Sümi Hoho (SH) has welcomed the resolution adopted by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) for repealing the Nagaland Municipal Act (NMA) 2001” , describing it as “commendable and a right move”.

Sumi Hoho president I Nikheto Jimomi and general secretary Dr Vihuto Asumi in a statement said that by going in sync with voice of the people, the legislators exhibited the true leadership spirit and pro-people nature of the government.

SH lauded chief minister Neiphiu Rio, his cabinet colleagues and all members of NLA for heeding to the call of tribal hohos and civil society groups to repeal NMA, so that the Act could be rewritten in the context of Naga society, protecting customary and traditional rights and practices of Naga people.

SC to hear plea by 14 Oppn parties on ‘misuse’ of central probe agencies

NEW DELHI,

MAR 2

(AGENCIES): Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday a plea filed by 14 parties, led by the Congress, alleging arbitrary use of central probe agencies against opposition leaders and seeking guidelines for the future.

According to the list of businesses uploaded on the apex court website, the plea of opposition parties would be heard on April 5 by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.

Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala are also part of the bench. The joint plea was mentioned for urgent hearing on March 24 by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi. “I am asking for the guidelines for the future. This is a remarkable convergence of 14 parties against the misuse of the

KBBB opposes move to sell liquor to foreign delegates

DIMAPUR, APR 2 (NPN):

Konyak Baptist Bumeinok Bangjum (KBBB) has expressed exasperation over the 14 Nagaland Legislative Assembly’s (NLA) decision to allow sale of liquor to foreign delegates at the G-20 business meets scheduled at Kohima between April 4 and 6.

In a statement, KBBB executive secretary Rev M Chemyuh said the foreign delegates arriving in the State where Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989 was in force must be reminded of the phrase “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

He pointed out that this relaxation of liquor sale,

even if for short period, did not appear in any of the political manifestos during the recently-held Assembly election. He claimed that the churches were baffled by this sudden announcement which he termed as “absolutely preposterous”.

“We must be in a moment of conscience-stricken for having passed this decision of liquor sale, but make no mistake, this total prohibition Act was the result of long struggles, protest & debates, prayer & fast unto death over the decades. We are reminded of the Epistle to the Hebrews, where many Jewish believers, having stepped out of Judaism into Christianity, wanted

to reverse their course in order to escape persecution by their countrymen,” Chemyuh stated. He asked one should behave like those Jews for promotion of tourism and allow liquor sale after having made a commitment with the Lord to impose total prohibition. He asserted that one could not compromise with the moral responsibility and dilute the ethical principles for the foreign delegates coming to Nagaland for G-20 business meets.

Noting that the government’s reason for the permission of alcohol consumption was in the interest of tourism, the KBBB executive secretary

BJP launches ‘Congress files’ to target Cong over corruption

NEW DELHI, APR 2

(IANS): BJP on Sunday

hit out at the Congress by releasing the first episode of ‘Congress Files’, a video series alleging corruption during grand-old party’s 70-year-rule. The three-minute video featured former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who led both the tenures of the UPA and former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

In the video, the BJP alleged that the Congress has looted Rs 48,20,69,00,00,000 of the public’s hard-earned money.

The BJP said that with Rs 48 trillion 20 billion 69 crore, many works could have been done - from security to the development of the country.

“Using this amount, 24 INS Vikrant, 300 Rafale jets, and 1,000 Mangal Missions could have been made or purchased. But the coun -

try had to bear the cost of Congress’ corruption, and it lagged behind in the race of progress,” the video message added.

“During UPA’s tenure from 2004-2014, many scams happened... Coal scam of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, 2G Spectrum scam of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, MGNREGA scam of Rs 10 lakh crore, Commonwealth scam of Rs 70,000 crore, Rs 362 crore bribe in the helicopter deal with Italy, Rs 12 crore bribe for the chairman of railway board,” the BJP said in the video message.

alleged that, by doing so, “the govt is trying to insinuate some section of people who are looking with their inquisitive eyebrows” at the lifting NLTP Act.

He feared that this permission of liquor sale would allure unwary children into addiction, even as many might have already dreamt of venturing into these lucrative liquor businesses.

Instead, he appealed for partial lifting of prohibition while adhering to total prohibition. He asked the State government how many times it had discussed in the Assembly to validate the implementation of NLTP.

agencies, both Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED),” Singhvi had said and claimed that 95 per cent cases of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are against the leaders of opposition parties.

The senior lawyer referred to the rise in the number of cases filed by the CBI and ED after the NDA government came to power in 2014. “Second statistics, pre-2014 and post-2014: there is a humongous jump in cases. The rate of conviction is four to five per cent. We are asking for pre-arrest guidelines and post-arrest bail guidelines,” Singhvi had said.

The plea alleged there is an alarming rise in the use of coercive criminal processes against opposition

political leaders and other citizens exercising their fundamental right to dissent.

“Investigating agencies such as CBI and ED are being increasingly deployed in a selective and targeted manner with a view to completely crush political dissent and upend the fundamental premises of a representative democracy,” a statement issued on behalf of a petitioner alleged.

The plea filed through lawyer Shadan Farasat cited some statistics and said they demonstrated a “shocking and unconstitutional state of affairs”. Besides the Congress, the parties that are part of the joint move are the DMK, RJD, BRS, Trinamool Congress, AAP, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, JD(U), CPI(M), CPI, Samajwadi Party, and the J&K National Conference, the statement said.

Rahul Gandhi to challenge jail sentence in defamation case today

NEW DELHI, APR 2 (AGENCIES):

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, recently disqualified from the Parliament after being sentenced to two years in prison over a 2019 defamation case, will challenge his conviction and sentencing in the Surat sessions court on Monday, sources said.

The former Congress president has, in his plea, asked the sessions court to set aside the Magistrate order convicting him in the defamation case. He also asked for an interim stay on the conviction till the matter is disposed of.

Rahul Gandhi was granted bail and his sentence was suspended for 30 days to let him appeal the decision.

The next day, his suspension was formalised by the Lok Sabha secretariat -- a speed irate opposition leaders have

compared to a “bullet train”.

Unless Gandhi’s conviction is put on hold by a higher court, the Election Commission will announce a special election for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. He will also not be allowed to contest elections for the next eight years.

The defamation case was filed against Rahul Gandhi by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for saying “How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?”

The former Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the remarks while addressing a rally in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his last name, which he shares with fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.

India logs biggest single-day rise of Covid cases in 6 months

NEW DELHI, APR 2 (AGENCIES): India on Sunday recorded a singleday jump of 3,824 COVID-19 infections, the biggest in 184 days, while the number of active cases increased to 18,389, according to Union health ministry data. With the fresh infections, India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 4.47 crore (4,47,22,605). The death toll climbed to 5,30,881 with five deaths, the data updated at 8 am stated. One death each was reported from Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Rajasthan in a span of 24 hours and one was reconciled by Kerala. At 18,389, the ac-

tive cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.77 per cent, according to the health ministry website.

The daily positivity rate stood at 2.87 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.24 per cent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,73,335, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

According to the ministry’s website, 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

WHO wants Covid boosters again for vulnerable groups

World Health Organisation’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) has recommended an additional booster of Covid either 6 or 12 months after the last dose for the high priority group. This includes adults as well as young adults with significant comorbidities; and people with immune-compromising conditions and frontline health workers, among others. The guideline says these people remain at high risk of developing severe disease if they are reinfected.

For those at medium risk of developing severe disease - younger adults without comorbidities and adolescents with comorbidities- the latest WHO guideline recommends only the primary series and the first booster dose. “Although additional boosters are safe for this group, SAGE does not routinely recommend them, given the low public health returns,” the guideline says. Healthy children and adolescents aged 6 months to 17 years fall in the low priority group.

Regional parties look set to assert themselves across NE in 2024

GUWAHATI/AGARTA-

LA, APR 2 (IANS): The regional parties in the northeastern states are expected to play a significant role in next year’s Lok Sabha elections, even as the BJP remains in an advantageous position by virtue of running the government in four out of the eight states in the region.

The BJP is the ruling party in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura, while its allies are governing the remaining four states -- Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in Nagaland, Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram, National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya, and

Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) in Sikkim. Though the saffron party is ruling Tripura, the political situation in the state is a little different with tribal-based Tipra Motha Party (TMP) securing 13 seats in the 60-member state Assembly that went to the polls recently, emerging as the second largest party after the BJP, which got 32 seats, down by four seats than its 2018 tally.

Throwing a challenge to all the national parties -BJP, CPI(M), Congress and Trinamool Congress -- the TMP, the first tribal-based party in Tripura since 1952, emerged as the principal opposition in the state and

is the now the main stakeholder of the vote share of tribals, who constitute one-third of Tripura’s four million population. The TMP, after capturing the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in April 2021, has been demanding elevation of the areas of the autonomous body by granting a ‘Greater Tipraland State’ or a separate state status under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.

Of Tripura’s two Lok Sabha seats - Tripura East and Tripura West -- the former is reserved for tribals and TMP is likely to play a

significant role in the parliamentary constituency in the run-up to next year’s elections. Of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the eight northeastern states, 14 are with BJP while Congress has four.

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam, NDPP in Nagaland, MNF in Mizoram, NPP in Meghalaya, NPF in Manipur, SKM in Sikkim and an Independent (Naba Kumar Sarania) in Assam have one seat each.

For over six decades, the northeastern states had been a stronghold of the Congress, but over the years the party lost its organisational base leading to the

emergence of BJP and several regional parties.

The grand old party’s downfall in the politically important northeast region started after the BJP’s emergence with the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coming to power at the Centre in 2014 after defeating the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

In the past nine years, many prominent leaders in the northeast left the Congress, including Himanta Biswa Sarma, Sushmita Dev and Ripun Bora (Assam), Manik Saha and Ratan Lal Nath (Tripura), N. Biren Singh (Manipur),

Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh), Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland), and Mukul Sangma and Ampareen Lyngdoh (Meghalaya), dealing a severe blow to the party.

Except for Assam, where the Congress won 29 seats in the 126-member Assembly in 2021, the party secured third, fourth and fifth positions in the remaining six states in the Assembly polls held after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the recenty-held Assembly polls in Meghalaya, Congress secured five seats against 21 in 2018. While it managed to win three seats in Tripura, the grand old party failed to open its ac-

count in Nagaland for the second time after 2018. The three states have 60 seats each. The Congress had drawn a blank in the 2018 Tripura polls.

The chief ministers of five northeastern states-Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Manik Saha (Tripura), N. Biren Singh (Manipur), Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh), and Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland) -- are all former Congress leaders.

The BJP with two MLAs supports the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government led by NPP, which is headed by chief minister Conrad K. Sangma.

Thanksgiving prog organised for MLAs

DLIMC review meeting in Wokha

DIMAPUR: District Level Implementation-cumMonitoring Committee (DLIMC) held a review meeting for the Chief Minister’s Micro Finance Initiative (CMMFI) at the DC Conference Hall, Wokha on March 23.

A DIRP report stated that the objective of the meeting was to review the preparation of projects and project selection for the CMMFI in the district.

Correspondent

KOHIMA/DIMAPUR, APR 2 (NPN): Kohima

Lotha Baptist Church (KLBC) organised a thanksgiving programme for the four elected legislators from the Lotha community at the church conference hall, here on Sunday.

Deputy Chief Minister incharge of Home, Y Patton, who spoke at the programme, acknowledged the KLBC for organising the event, which he described it as a heartwarming programme and to get closer to God. He appealed to the different political parties to forgive and forget

the differences during the general election and work together for peace and development in the state.

Mhathung Yanthan Advisor Agriculture, Mhonbemo Humtsoe MLA, and Achumbemo Kikon MLA, also at the programme. The programme was chaired by Mhonchumo, pastor KLBC, while Rev. Dr. Benry Lotha senior Pastor KLBC exhorted the gathering.

Victorybythegrace ofGod:Jwenga

Ar. Jwenga Seb, who has been elected from 12 - Tseminyu Assembly Constituency held a thanksgiving programme on April 1

NEWS IN BRIEF

DC Mkg informs: In view of the completion of the general election to the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly 2023, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mokokcung, Shashank Pratap Singh has informed that prohibition of carrying licensed arms in public places as a preventive measure has been lifted from Mokokchung District. DC has directed all the arms license holders, who have deposited their arms, to collect the license from the concerned office at the earliest.

CSUD holds assembly: Chakhesang Student’s Union, Dimapur for the tenure 2022-2024 held its first union assembly on April 1 at Western Chakhesang Hoho building with its union advisors, senior leaders, area representatives and well-wishers.

GSUCD, DGU & GSUDD hold meet: In view of the new formation of Chümoukedima District Gorkha

at the TLBC Convention Ground, Tesophenyu. In his speech, Jwenga said his victory was not because of good political strategy or money power and might but by the grace and providence of God.

Jwenga assured to honour his election promises for a progressive, transformative and resilient community. He also reiterated the need and commitment to make Tseminyu a model district, beginning with the principles of equitable and proportionate development.

He then encouraged the gathering and the community to remain united, disciplined, accommo -

Students Union, Gorkha Students’ Union Chümoukedima District (GSUCD), Dimapur Gorkha Union (DGC) and Gorkha Students’ Union Dimapur District (GSUDD) held joint coordination meeting on April 22 at the residence of DGU president, Kumar Subba. The meeting was held with a vision to uplift the community with better understanding and cooperation among the two districts.

BFM changes nomenclature: Believers Fellowship Ministry founded by Alvy Bishal in October 2013 was officially declared as “Chosen Church” on March 31, and inducted Alvy Bishal as a full functioning pastor.

DoP holds felicitation prog: Department of Power (DoP) organised felicitation programme for principal secretary, K.D. Vizo for his service on March 31 at Hotel Vivor, Kohima.

dative and patient in the shared dreams, aspirations and endeavours towards achieving their goals.

The programme was chaired by Er. Tesinlo Semy; word of God and prayers were said by Senshweni Seb and JD(U) Tseminyu unit president, Wekhenu Mesen delivered the welcome address; cultural song was presented by the Tesophenyu group; Obed Kath and Keziah Semy also presented special numbers; short speeches were also delivered by public leaders and party leaders, and vote of thanks by Tesophenyu Group Public Union (Central) president, Phanisha Chung.

Housewives and youth trained on ‘banana fibre extraction’

The review meeting held under the chairmanship of DC, Ajit Kumar Ranjan was attended by representatives from various departments and agencies, including the Lead District Manager, officials from various banks operating in Wokha, and Anuranjan Singh, MGNF.

The meeting commenced with a comprehensive evaluation of 17 projects that have been approved under the CMMFI.

At the DLIMC meeting, the committee also conducted a thorough review of 65 new projects proposed for the CMMFI in Wokha district. After careful consideration and evaluation, the committee recommended a total of 10 projects to be included in the CMMFI.

DIMAPUR: With an aim to create a sustainable solution and convert agricultural waste into income generating avenues, a hands-on training program on “banana fibre extraction, its value-addition and vermicomposting” was conducted for housewives and unemployed youths on March 29 at Medziphema Village, Chümoukedima district. The training was conducted by Science and Technology Intervention in North-Eastern Region, Technology Facilitation Centre (STINER-TFC), School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural Development (SASRD): Nagaland

Mar 23 harassment case: Rengma Hoho lauds Konyak Union’s initiative

DIMAPUR: Rengma Hoho (RH) has extended gratitude to Konyak Union (KU) for their initiative and timely intervention in settling the March 23 harassment case.

In a press statement, RH president, Pollem Tep and general secretary, Sinhilo Thongseb stated that on March 23, Er. Thanyalo Kath SDO (Power), posted in Mon was allegedly summoned and detained by some miscreants from the GPRN/NSCN (U) at Mon.

RH said it appreciated the Konyak Union’s pivotal role in bringing the two parties together in the negotiating table and spearheading in amicably settling the case with deed of settlement, which the Hoho believed has satisfactorily rendered justice to its member, Er. Thanyalo Kath.

The Hoho hoped that the issue, being amicably settled with the timely intervention of the Konyak Union, will not reappear in any manner and that goodwill and mutual respect will prevail between the two parties; and no unwanted situations must arise to tarnish the image of any organization(s)/individual(s) and also that similar incidents will be avoided in the future by all concerned to promote a spirit of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.

RH said that any deviation from the terms agreed thereon will not be tolerated and appropriate action will be initiated against the defaulters.

In this regard, the Rengma Hoho cautioned that it will not tolerate any such incidents / harassment by any individual or group against its members and others alike.

Educational institutions organise activities for teachers, students

University (NU).

In a press release, STINER-TFC, SASRD:NU informed that project incharge, STINER-TFC & PVC, SASRD: NU, professor Akali Sema, in an opening remark, said encouraged the participants to take every opportunity in availing the assistance, technology and resources of the Centre as it was situated in Medziphema.

She further motivated the participants to acquire knowledge and skills from the training to its optimum and strive towards livelihood generating avenues.

In the first session, experts from STINER-TFC

trained the participants on the process of banana fibre extraction and in the technical session, the process of vermi-composting was practically demonstrated. The programme was chaired by office assistant, STINER-TFC, Pelevituo Kuotsu; invocation prayer by youth director, BCMV, Medovituo Vüprü; a theoretical presentation on the scope and utility of banana fibre and vermi-compost was presented by project assistant STINER-TFC, Bikram Ghimere; a brief remark from secretary, MVC Avitsi Nakhro and vote of thanks by STINER-TFC, project assistant, Rokosieno Zao.

DIMAPUR: With an objective to equip teachers and students, departments, educational institutions, and organisations have been organising various programmes and trainings.

SCC: An inter-departmental seminar was conducted by the Research Committee of Sao Chang College (SCC) on April 1 at the College Conference Hall for the faculty of the college.

During the seminar, assistant professor and research scholar (department of Sociology), Y Toninaro Chongpho presented a paper on the topic, “Historicizing the emergence of backward tribe in a tribal state: A study of Chang Naga Tribe” and assistant professor (department of Zoology), Dr. Limamanen Phom presented a paper on the topic, “Parkinson’s Disease: Lessons from Drosophila Model”. The seminar was chaired by assistant professor (department of English), Dr. Soyimla Akum and vote of thanks was delivered by coordinator, research committee, Dr. T Lal Veda Chandra Kumar. Rapporteurs for the seminar were assistant professor (department of

Education), Chideno Shitire and assistant professor (department of chemistry), Dr. Aola Supong. A total of 23 faculty members attended the seminar.

MC Piphema: Modern College, Piphema department of history and department of economics jointly organised “The Stage: A Multi Talent Show” on April 1 at the College Indoor Stadium-cum -Auditorium.

The college informed that over 30 students competed for the winning title, showcasing diverse talents ranging from singing, dancing to stand-ups. MC administrator, John Besii, while exhorting the students, stressed on the importance of identifying ones naturally gifted talents. Bessi said, “those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened makes all the difference”, while also challenging the students that there was no place for the shy in this fast-moving world. The programme concluded with a vote of thanks from MC assistant professor department of sociology, Verahu Neinu.

LC: Logos College

held its 21st Convocation Exercise on March 31 under the theme, “Be a Prophetic Voice” (Jer. 1:7-8) with the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, USA, Chaplin Rev. Dr. Nancy Lynn Nethercott as the convocation Speaker.

The college informed that Dr. Nancy is the greatgrandniece of J.E. Tanquist, the missionary to Nagaland in the early 1900, who also was the first to translate the Bible into Tenyidie. He is the founder of Angami Literature Committee at Ura Academic, and also started the first Bible School in Kohima. The commissioning prayer for the graduating students was pronounced by Logos College president, Rev. Dr. N. Paphino.

During the ceremony, graduating students were also presented with prestigious awards. Manju Lama bagged the “Logos Award”, which was awarded to the candidate excelling in the areas of academic, spiritual, and campus life. She also bagged the “Academic Award” for the Master of Divinity, and the “Language Award”. The “Academic Award” for the Bachelor

of Theology was awarded to Lipokmenla Changkiri while the “Best Preaching Award” was given to Kelhounguzo from Master of Divinity, and Kipa Chuku from Bachelor of Theology. The “Most-Improved Student Award” was given to Thehiechütuo Metha from Bachelor of Theology. Altogether 22 students graduated in their respective courses.

DoSE &SS Nagaland: Department of School Education (DoSE) in collaboration with Samagra Shiksha (SS) Nagaland conducted a three-day Hindi Teachers’ orientation programme for the teachers of Dimapur, Niuland, and Chumoukidima districts which culminated on March 31. A total of 412 Hindi teachers registered for the three-day programme.

NITI Dimapur: Free Skill Enhancement & Employability Development (SEED) training was conducted for the second time in the month of March 2023 as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by the Nationalist Institute of Innovation & Technology (NITI) at Marwari Patti Centre.

1st Death anniversary

of Late Mrs. Tenyensile Thong

Her ways are ways of plesantries and her paths are paths of peace. Proverbs 3:17 KJV

1st Death anniversary

In Loving Memory Of Lt. Sangtemyangla Walling (23.12.1937 - 03.04.2022)

1st April 1951 to 3rd April 2022

We love you dearly and long for the day to meet you in the presence of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Loving husband, children, in-laws and grand children.

Dearest Ama, As we grieve our loss of your passing away a year ago today, we remember all the precious memories with you and our hearts swells with profound gratitude for your most unconditional and selfless love. We bear the burden of grief every day yet we are comforted that you are at peace and safe in the arms of our loving Father.

Always loved and forever in our thoughts, Loving Children, Grandchildren, Great - Grandchildren and Great - Great - Grandchildren

The four elected legislators with the members of KLBC and others on Sunday. (NP) Ar. Jwenga

Organiser and participants of the training programme at Medziphema.

JCI Dimapur Creators organised a blood donation camp on Sunday at Dimapur District Hospital. A team of doctors and nurses led by Dr. Temsu assisted in collection of blood.

Logos College

Sao Chang College

NITI Dimapur

SFXCC and CKC observe Palm Sunday in Kohima

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DIMAPUR: St Francis Xavier Catholic Church (SFXCC), Kidima under the Diocese of Kohima and Christ King Church (CKC) Kohima Village celebrated Palm Sunday (Jesus triumphant to Jerusalem) on Sunday. At St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church the day was graced by Father Siby

John, Parish Priest. Fr Siby John said the Holy Week begins from Palm Sunday till Easter Sunday. Parish Priest asked the faithful go do confession in the Holy Week and celebrate in sanctified manner. All the events of the Church has been sacred that the faithful should not missed it, he added.

DoESDE reviews MGNF programme

The word of the Lord passion, Eucharist celebration and blessings to Palm leaf were the highlights of the daylong programme. Christ King Church Kohima Village celebrated Palm Sunday with Parish Priest, Christ King Parish Kohima Village, Fr. Joseph sdb as the main celebrant of the Holy Eucharist.

Departmental review meeting at Bhandari

DIMAPURL: A co-ordination meeting and departmental review for discussion on departmental activities and other related matters was convened by Achumbemo Kikon, MLA 40 A/C, Bhandari at the Additional Deputy Commissioner conference hall Bhandari with the departmental officers on March 31.

Chairing the meeting, the MLA sought the cooperation of the heads of offices under the subdivision to work together with responsible practicality, transparency, and accountability.

Bhandari, being old and large sub-division with potential, yet still lagging in terms of growth and developmental aspects, needed all the departmental officers

in different capacities to cooperate and work on a mission mode to benefit the people he said.

Achumbemo further called upon the officers to assist him to deliver the best service to the people of the Bhandari constituency

He also expressed hope that Bhandari subdivision would be granted the status of Sub Divisional Planning and Developmental Board (SDPDB) soon. The MLA also appealed to the officers and the departments to function their official duties

and deliver their services to the people by remain at the station instead of running the office from elsewhere. In the meeting, ADC Bhandari, Rohit Singh, and the heads of offices highlighted the activities of their respective departments.

Departments hold meeting to initiate skilling activities

DIMAPUR: Department of Employment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (DoESDE), Department of School Education (DoSE), and National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) on March 30 held a joint meeting was held on March 30 to develop a roadmap on “initiating the skilling activities” at School of Excellence in Skill Development (SoESD) established at Government Higher Secondary School (GHSS) Zubza.

According to a DIPR report,

SoESD was established through a MoU signed by the three departments to develop Information Technology (IT) competencies, create awareness about cyber security and safety, and prepare young students from classes VIII to X for the future of work.

The meeting was attended by additional secretary & ex-officio director, DoESDE, Kovi Meyase, NIELIT director, Lanuwapang and GHSS Zubza headmaster, Visashielie Suohu.

During the meeting, the stake-

holders decided the following - to begin the level 1 courses for class VIII students on April 10; to promote optimum utilization of the SoESD, NIELIT agreed to train two batches of 40 candidates in Course on Computer Concepts (CCC) course for the unemployed youths and students, who have appeared in their class X & XII exams at the SoESD; a one-week training for teaching faculty to be conducted at SoESD; students at SoESD to be taken to NIELIT on April 4 to promote experiential learning.

Implementation of CSS at Chumoukedima discussed

DIMAPUR: Lok Sabha MP, Tokheho Yepthomi, who is also the chairperson of District Development Coordination Monitoring Committee (DISHA) held deliberation with various departments for successful implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) at Chumoukedima on March 31.

work distribution for which the policy has changed. He said under the new policy any department wherever sanctioned Centrally Sponsored Schemes project fund was provided until and unless the 1st installment completion report was given, the central government will not release the subsequent installment.

DIMAPUR: A performance review for the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellows (MGNF) programme under the World Bank-assisted “Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion” (SANKALP) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), government of India was conducted by Directorate of Employment, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (DoESDE) on March 31.

According to a DIPR

report, the MGNF programme, an initiative of the MSDE, was implemented by the DoESDE and the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIMK) as the academic partner. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellows programme, eleven young fellows are placed in eleven districts of Nagaland supporting the district administrations for effective skill planning and management since October 2021.

In the presence of

the DoESDE director, the MGN fellows made presentations on their initiatives around ¬awareness and mobilization for skill training, job melas, entrepreneurship development, advocating and pushing the skill development agenda in their respective districts.

The event was chaired by state resource associate, MGNF Nagaland, IIMK, Diepeu Mero, and the closing remarks was delivered by DESDE deputy director, Zubemo Lotha Tsanglao.

A report by DIPR stated that the coordination meeting chaired by ADC Medziphema was held to ensure better coordination with the elected representatives and officials from the district. The members deliberated on developmental issues in the Chumoukedima district.

At the meeting, Tokheho Yepthomi informed the members that Central government intends to make all the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) transparent.

He said that in the past many CSS all over the States could not complete as per the schedule and also failed to give the details of

He pointed out that from 2023, the Central Government does not allow any State to keep money in their civil deposit. Whatever was due to the department, the State Finance department had to release to the department and the department has to disclose the bill.

Hence, he urged the respective departments who were yet to submit, to work in an efficient and time-bound manner.

Tokheho also encouraged the departments to coordinate with one another to effectively implement Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the right direction and ensured that

Tokheho Yepthomi addressing the departments’ officers at the coordination meeting at Chumoukedima on March 31. (DIPR)

implementation of the scheme in each village contributes towards a better outcome. He requested the departments to identify certain districts where both the government and the farmers benefit.

Tokheho further encouraged the departments to reach out to people in rural areas and sensitize them about various Centrally Sponsored Schemes. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks by

ADC, Medziphema. Various departments presented departmental activities and achievements on papers where the chairperson deliberated on issues presented by the officials.

DoH&FW implements national programmes; conducts trainings

He also talked on the hierarchy of Food safety Administration in Nagaland, the initiatives under FSSAI umbrella and activities undertaken in general.

Food Safety Officer, Kezhangulie Yimchunger spoke on the role and

compliance of the FBOs, labelling information of manufacturers and home based FBOs, fee structure of FSSAI license and registration, and importance of obtaining cash memos from the purchaser for evidence.

DIMAPUR: Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoH&FW) have been conducting various programmes under various central schemes and programmes for the women, children and public across the state.

Wokha: A Reproductive Child Health (RCH) Camp was organised by DoH&FW Wokha on April 1 at Sungro Primary Health Centre. A medical team led by Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Wokha, Dr. Zubenthung Kikon provided health services while screening of children

was done by Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Kayakaram team Wokha.

With the effort of the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) under Sungro, a total of 183 patients availed the free health services provided by the medical team.

Longleng: Reproductive Child Health (RCH) outreach camp under the initiative of the District Health Society (DHS) Longleng was organised by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Longleng office on March 27 and March 31 at Nyang village and Sakshi

village respectively. The medical team led by CMO Longleng, Dr. Kibangkumba, DPO (RCH/UIP) Dr. Imnameren Phom, medical officer CHC Yachem, Dr.Lingshau James, Dr. Suyimzenla MO RBSK, Dr. Imcharen MO RBSK and others rendered the services.

Mokokchung: A training on National Programme for Climate Change and Human Health ((NPCCHH) and National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) was organised for the Senior Medical Officers

(SMOs), Medical Officers (MOs) and Community Health Officers (CHOs) on March 30 at the Conference Hall, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Mokokchung office. During the training, the trainees were introduced and trained on NPCCHH, heat-related illnesses, identification of rabid dog and prevention of dog bite including prophylaxis/vaccination of pets, animal bite management and rabies prophylaxis and reporting procedures for both the programmes. The trainers were DVBO and DSO, Dr.

Lhishelo Tsuhah, DPONCD, Dr. Limanaro, Veterinary Assistant Surgeon Mokokchung, Dr. Watitoshi, Medical Officer CHC Tuli, Dr. Joshua L and epidemiologist (IDSP) Mokokchung, Dr. Toshimongla Longkumer. Peren: One day licensing and Registration camp under the aegis of the food safety administration, DoH&FW in coordination with the Administration and Traders Union, Jalukie was conducted on March 31 at Jalukie Main town by the Food Safety Administration Dimapur zone.

The camp was aimed to create an awareness on the online FSSAI licensing and registration system to the food business operators. In a keynote address, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Jalukie, Kiusumong Tikhir emphasized on the importance of Food Safety and informed the FBOs of their roles, to adhere to the Act and Rules, and to obtain license and registration.

Designated Officer, Food Safety, Dimapur, Samuel Zehol spoke on the basic concepts of food safety.

Members of Christ King Church Kohima Village at the procession on Palm Sunday.

Achumbemo Kikon addressing the departmental co-ordination meeting. (DIPR)

Kovi Meyase with ex-officio director, DESDE with the MGNF Nagaland unit on March 30. (DIPR)

Medical team and others at the RCH camp at PHC Sungro. Medical officers and trainees at the training programme in Mokokchung.

CM’s wife runs pvt school...’: Kejriwal’s dig at Sarma

GUWAHATI, APRIL 2 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday criticised his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma at a rally here over a multitude of issues including education, health and governance.

Kejriwal also criticised the Assam Chief Minister for his wife’s decision to open a private school in the state.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor said: “I have heard that the Assam Chief Minister’s wife has opened a private school where lakhs of rupees in fees were taken. This is very dangerous. If the Chief Minister’s wife herself runs private schools, the state education system would soon collapse entirely.”

He also claimed that these things earlier were happening in Delhi also.

“Every MLA and minister used to run private schools in Delhi once upon a time. They paralysed the education system and forced people to take admission to private schools with high fees. But we have changed the entire scenario, and you can see how Delhi government schools are performing

now,” Kejriwal said. The Delhi Chief Minister also claimed that not a single MLA in the AAP is involved with private school businesses.

“If AAP comes to power in Assam, we will develop schools in this state like we did in Delhi,” he said.

Kejriwal also drew a comparison between the performance of the BJP government in Assam and the AAP government in Delhi.

“In 2015, our party formed the government in Delhi, and Himanta Biswa Sarma came to power in Assam in 2016. You can see how we developed Delhi in all these years. We have built world-class schools and

opened Mohalla clinics. The treatment and medicines are now free in Delhi. Nobody has to think about the treatment, whether he is rich or poor,” the Delhi Chief Minister said.

Kejriwal further alleged that Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has not done anything for the people of Assam in all these years except promoting ‘Mafia Raj’.

“A paper leak happened in Assam a few days ago, but no punishment was given. This is because a syndicate is going on under the BJP’s rule here. From coal to betel nuts, everything is controlled by mafias who have links with the ruling

dispensation,” the Delhi Chief Minister alleged. He also claimed that the unemployment rate is very high in Assam, and Sarma failed on his promise to provide employment to the youth.

“I met some young people before arriving here. At least 22 lakh people are unemployed here, appealing for jobs, but nobody hears them. Himanta Biswa Sarma promised before the last election to provide jobs, but he miserably failed. At the speed at which he is providing employment, it would take a minimum of 100 years to deal with the unemployment issue in Assam,” Kejriwal said.

He claimed that the Delhi government has given jobs to 12 lakh people. The AAP government in Punjab has created 28,000 jobs in just one year.

Kejriwal also took a swipe at Himanta Biswa Sarma for threatening to file a defamation suit.

The AAP leader said: “The people of Assam are very good. They offer good hospitality to guests, and this is the tradition here. But unfortunately, Himanta Biswa Sarma, even after be-

Chandrasekhar lauds Digital India initiatives

of 238 students, who received job offers from 63 recruiters across various fields, including consulting & strategy, finance, general management, human resources & operations, IT & analytics, and sales & marketing. The gender makeup of the class was equally split, with 45% females and 55% males. With an average CTC of 26.96 LPA, median CTC 26.09 LPA and highest CTC of 71.30 LPA, IIM Shillong continued to cherish the moment and congratulated the graduating students of PGP batch for such achievements.

Police on alert after Sarma gets threat from pro-Khalistan outfit

coming the Chief Minister of the state, could not learn the traditions of Assam.”

“He (Himanta Biswa Sarma) has been threatening to lodge me in jail. Why? Am I a terrorist?” Kejriwal asked. He also said: “Himanta Biswa Sarma may have issued threats against me, but

I invite him to be my guest. I will drive him in my car to show him the schools and Mohalla clinics in Delhi.”

Notably, earlier, Assam Chief Minister said that if Arvind Kejriwal called him corrupt during his Assam tour, he would lodge a defamation case against the AAP leader.

Freeelectricity,jobsforallunemployed ifAAPformsgovtinAssam:Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday promised free electricity and jobs for all youths in Assam if his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is voted to power in the Northeastern state. He also claimed the AAP government changed the face of Delhi in seven years, and that “nothing but dirty politics” took place in Assam, even though BJP has been in power in the state for the same duration.

AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab are giving free electricity to their states, and it will be the same in Assam, too, if the party forms government, Kejriwal said at a rally here. He promised jobs for

all unemployed youths of Assam if AAP is voted to power, adding that the party has given employment to 12 lakh people in Delhi in seven years, and 28,000 people in one year in Punjab.

Kejriwal also assured of providing piped water to all households of Guwahati within a year of the AAP government in the state. “AAP came to power in Delhi in 2015 and the BJP here in 2016. Today, we have changed the face of Delhi. What has Himanta babu (Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma) done for the state in seven years? Nothing, only dirty politics,” Kejriwal alleged.

GAWAHATI, APR 2

(ANI) : Assam Police alerted all Superintendents of Police of all districts and the Commissioner of Police, Guwahati after a proKhalistan leader allegedly threatened Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in an audio message.

Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Special Branch Hiren Nath said that Assam Police is verifying the audio clip with the central agencies about its authenticity.

“But we have alerted all districts Superintendents of Police and Commissioner of Police, Guwahati. We are now verifying this,” Hiren Nath said.

In the purpoteded audio clip, the pro-Khalistani leader allegedly said that “This message is for Assam CM Himanta Sarma. Your government is harrassing and torturing pro-Khalistan Sikhs in Assam. And also torturing those who are in jail. Listen carefully CM Sarma, the fight is between pro-Khalistan Sikhs and Indian regime. Sarma you do not pray fall to this violence.

We are seeking liberation of Punjab from Indian occupation through a peaceful

democratic process of Khalistan referendum. Sarma, if your government is going to torture and harass Sikhs, you will be held accountable.”

In the audio clip, the man claimed that he is Gurpatwan Singh Pannu of banned outfit Sikh for Justice (SFJ).

Notably, Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh has been on the run since March 18, the day Punjab Police launched a massive manhunt for him.

The crackdown came almost over three weeks after Amritpal’s supporters stormed Ajnala police station in Amritsar on February 23 demanding the release of one of his close aides, Lovepreet Toofan.

Earlier on Thursday, pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh surfaced in a new video and said he was not “a fugitive” and will soon “appear in front of the world”.

This new video comes a day after the radical preacher, who is being chased by police released an unverified video calling on the “Sikh sangat” to come together if they want to “save” Punjab.

Youths storm house of pastor in Manipur

Correspondent

IMPHAL, APR 2: A group of youths on Sunday stormed the house of a pastor who made a highly blasphemous and offensive remark against Meitei indigenous faith in Imphal, demanding an apology for his alleged insulting remark.

Correspondent

SHILLONG, APR 2: Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday said Digital India has proved the resilience of digital infrastructure and services.

“India has been fortunate to have been globally growing, with initiatives such as Digital India contributing to the country’s growth,” he said addressing the 14th annual convocation of Indian Institute of Management -Shillong. Chandrasekhar said Digital India has contributed immensely to transforming the lives of people, making digital economy and creating strategic advantage for the country.

He said while many countries, are grappling with recession and other

challenges, India continues to grow and emerge as a global leader.

“I firmly believe that India is the country of the decade, and I urge the students of IIM Shillong to leverage their education to contribute towards the country’s progress and make a positive impact on society,” he added.

Chandrasekhar further said that New India offers tremendous opportunities for Young Indians to pursue dreams and achieve goals based on their own hard work and abilities.

While congratulating all graduating students, the Union Minister highlighted the Government’s initiatives to create a conducive ecosystem for startups and urged the students to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. The convocation ceremony witnessed the participation

Congratulating the students on their achievements, Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIM -Shillong, Shishir Kumar Bajoria, emphasised the importance of skill development in shaping India’s future.

Exhorting students to leverage their learnings from IIM Shillong to make a positive impact on society, Bajoria said, “You are the products of New India, since 1947 India received 950 Billion dollars of FDI of which 532 Billion was last 3 years. Growth of India is bottom up. Growth of first GDP was 3.5 trillion dollars which took 67 years, while 2nd trillion took 8 years and 3rd trillion took 5 years. From 10th largest economy in 2015 to 5Th largest leaving, Russia, Italy, Brazil, France and UK and knocking at the door of Germany for the 4th position.

18 students of Assam tech college charged for allegedly assaulting juniors

GUWAHATI, APR 2 (

AGENCIES): Eighteen students of National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Assam’s Silchar have been charged for allegedly beating two juniors violently on the campus. The incident happened on March 31, involving students of the fourth semester.

A junior student, Siddhant Paitya, was rushed to Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in a critical condition. Mr Paitya, supported by his family, filed a police case against 18 senior students on Saturday.

Paitya alleged he was bullied by some seniors over his mother tongue and home town. On Tuesday night, he stayed at the NIT campus and parked his car in front of hostel No. 6. The seniors damaged the car just to bully him, the student said in the police complaint.

“I have been facing racist comments since the day I joined here. They

damaged my car on that day and when I asked them about it, they started hitting me. For almost an hour they continued the violence,” Mr Paitya said. “They used racist slang, slapped and kicked me, broke three glass bottles on my head and my back. My friend tried to save me.

He, too, was beaten. At one point, I thought I’d die,” Mr Paitya added.

His mother said there are severe cuts and injuries on his body. “It was a horrifying incident. The authorities should look into this carefully before something bigger happens,” the student’s mother said.

The first information report (FIR) has the names of these students as the main accused - Sparsh Munakhia, Yogesh Kakodiys, Biswajit Deb Nath, Yash Tripartite, Abhijeet Kalita, Dhritiman Das, Sourav Deka, Shohan Paul, Pratyush Rai, Prafful Chatham, Anas Ahmed, Prateek vij, Dixit Agarwal,

Mehul Dewangam, Raj Parishad, Satyabrata Both, Suprateek Gogoi and Biki Das. Paitya alleged some more seniors were also involved in assaulting him.

Cachar police chief

Numal Mahatta said they filed the case based on the complainant from the second-year student. The police are talking with NIT officials.

“We have received the complaint and we are registering a case. This is an internal issue of NIT and we have to discuss with the authorities of the institute to proceed further,” Mr Mahatta said.

NIT Silchar director Rajat Gupta declined to comment, asking reporters to speak to the dean.

Last year, nine finalyear students were charged for assaulting a junior inside the hostel. They were removed from the campus, but no further action was taken against them.

Palm Sunday celebrated in Mizoram

AIZAWL, APR 2 (PTI): Palm Sunday was celebrated in Mizoram with religious fervour as children carrying palm leaves and chanting ‘Hosanna’ took out processions in state capital Aizawl and other towns and villages on the occasion. Special prayer services were held by churches of various denominations across

the state on Palm Sunday, which is called ‘Tumkau Ni’ in Mizo. Palm Sunday marks the entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem before his crucifixion and later resurrection. During his entry, people spread their cloaks and palm branches on the streets and shouted ‘Hosanna’, which is a liturgical word used as a cry of praise.

Timely intervention by the police, however, prevented the youths from indulging in any unlawful activities.

Pastor Takhellambam Ramananda made his highly blasphemous and offensive remark against Meitei indigenous faith during a Gospel Outreach programme of Sagang Baptist Church on March 26. In the video, the pastor, apart from making the highly blasphemous and inflammatory speech, spit on the stage and made offensive gestures.

When the video clip of Ramananda’s blasphemous and offensive speech went viral on social media and on receipt of a complaint, Imphal police station pulled him up and detained him. He was, however, re -

portedly taken away from police custody by a sitting MLA later. Alleging that his remark and gesture insulted the Meitei community, a group of youths today stormed his house at Langol Tarung village under Lamphel police station of Imphal West district around 6 am on Sunday.

The youths under the aegis of ‘Arambai Tengol’ assembled in the front courtyard of the pastor’s house and chanted various slogans demanding an apology from the pastor for his remark. A strong police team who arrived at the spot,

Jiribam - Imphal Rly line nearing completion

however, pushed them away from the house without much resistance from the youths. Talking to reporters, a leader of the youths demanded that the pastor must make his apology to the Meitei following Sanamahi (indigenous faith) or face dire consequences. He warned that if he (the pastor) fails to apologize to the people by April 2, the pastor will be responsible for any untoward incident arising out the comment.

The highly blasphemous and inflammatory speech by the pastor also angered Manipur titular

king and Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba. A fuming Sanajaoba, in his Facebook post, questioned the identity of the “uncouth man” (Ramananda) who dared to derogate the culture and customs of the Meitei community. He pledged that he would never forgive or let the man scot-free, in the post. “If he does not apologize, I swear in the name of Ebudhou Pakhangba (Supreme God of Meitei) that I would skin him alive. I do not care whether I remain an MP or not”, the MP further wrote in his Facebook page.

In the Court of DIstrICt JuDge Phek : nagalanD notICe

notICe InVItIng ClaIMs/oBJeCts unDer seCtIon 372/373 of InDIan suCCessIon aCt 1925 succession Case no. 30/2023

Whereas an application under section 371/372 of Indian Succession Act 1925 for issue of Succession Certificate in favour of Petitoner Smti. Nuthitsulu Puro, W/o Late Vesayo Puro Permanent resident of Kikruma Village, Phek, Nagaland in respect of Pension Benefits by SBI A/c of her deceased Husband is filed.

Notice is hereby given to any person or persons having interest in the claims and objects of the said deceased if he/she so desires and appear in the Court of the undersigned within 30 days from the date of publication of this notice. Given under the hand and seal of the Court on this day the 1st April 2023.

District Judge Phek : nagaland DP-430/23 offICe of the ChungtIayIMsen VIllage CounCIl

P.o. MangkoleMBa

MALIGAON, APR 2 ( NPN): The Jiribam –Imphal new line railway project, one of the crucial connectivity projects for the North-eastern region is at an advance stage of completion and has already achieved physical progress of 93.30%.

A press release by NFR Chief Public Relations Officer ( CPRO), Sabyasachi De stated that the works for this new line railway project, among other connectivity projects, is going on in full swing to connect Imphal, the capital city of Manipur to the rest of the country.

Construction of the

Jiribam – Imphal railway project involves multiple tunnels and bridges in tough terrains and which is stretched at more than 111 km length. The total length of tunnels in this project is 61.32 km, out of which 59.11 km tunneling works has already been completed.

The project will have total 11 major bridges and 137 minor bridges, out of which work for 5 major bridges and 101 minor bridges have been completed so far. The tallest pier railway bridge of the world with a height of 141 meters is also nearing completion.

The section from Jiri-

bam to Khongsang has already been commissioned for train service. After completion of the entire project, the present road journey time of around 10 hours to reach Imphal from Jiribam will get reduced to 2.5 hours by railways.

The new rail project will provide enhanced connectivity to the people of the Manipur, help grow small scale industries in the area and boost tourism of the state. It will also help in receiving of essential commodities faster by the state and help the state local producers to export their produces outside the state faster, the release stated.

B.P.o. ChungtIayIMsen

DIst : MokokChung, nagalanD

felICItatIon

The Chungtiayimsen Village Council heartily congratulates s hri. s ubongmeren h oki a bonafide citizen of Chungtiayimsen Village, on being appointed as Chairman, Nagaland Empowerment of people through Economic Development (NEPED).

The council further wishes him success and achievements for the people under his new assignment.

Purtemsu kichu l . Bendang longchar Chairman Secretary Chungtiayimsen Village Council Chungtiayimsen Village Council

Arvind Kejriwal being presented an Assamese japi as Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann looks on in Guwahati, (PTI)

A group of youths assembled at the house of a pastor who made an alleged offensive remark against Meitei indigenous faith.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar at IIM-Shillong.

Jiribam - Imphal Railway line by NFR.

SNIPPETS

Blast in car near Dal Lake

SRINAGAR, APR 2

(PTI): A blast took place in the back of a car near Dal Lake here on Sunday with police suspecting equipment failure to be the reason behind it, officials said. The blast took place near ghat no. 21 on Boulevard Road when thousands of locals and tourists were visiting the tulip garden. The eyewitnesses claimed that something exploded by the roadside which damaged the car, however, Srinagar police said, “Prima facie, equipment failure seems to be the reason behind the blast.” An elderly couple, Hafizullah Bhat and his wife, residents of Nishat’s Kral Sangri area, were in the car when the incident happened, police said, adding that the duo is safe. Police teams and other security agencies visited the spot to investigate the nature of the blast. The road towards the blast scene was temporarily closed and traffic was diverted to other routes.

19 injured as bus falls into gorge

DEHRADUN, APR 2

(PTI): Nineteen passengers were injured on Sunday when an Uttarakhand Roadways bus fell into a gorge while travelling from Mussoorie to Dehradun, police said. According to police, the accident occurred near the ITBP camp. The injured were pulled out of the 70-metre deep gorge and rushed to a hospital where the condition of three is said to be serious. The accident took place apparently after the brakes of the bus failed, police said. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief at the accident and asked officials to make all arrangements for the treatment of the injured.

Scientist Pyarelal is new head of NIC Kerala

NEW DELHI, APR 2

(PTI): Scientist Suchitra Pyarelal has been appointed as the Kerala State Informatics Officer of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), according to an official order.

Pyarelal, who has been transferred to NIC Kerala from NIC Guwahati, will also head the Centre of Excellence on Microservices (CEM), Kochi. She will also hold additional charge of the head of NIC Lakshadweep. “Dr Suchitra Pyarelal will assume the charge of State Informatics Officer, NIC Kerala State Centre, Thiruvananthapuram w.e.f. 01.04.2023 i.e. after relinquishment of charge on superannuation by the present incumbent. She will exercise the power delegated to Head of State Centre .... and will report to DG (NIC),” the official order said.

Ajit Doval offers prayers in MP

UJJAIN, APR 2 (PTI): National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval offered prayers at the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city on Sunday, an official said. Doval arrived at the temple around 3.50 am and performed ‘Bhasmarti’ and ‘Jal Abhishek’ amid heavy security cover in and around the premises, a police officer told PTI over phone. The NSA left the temple at around 6.30 am, he said. This is the second consecutive day that Doval worshipped at the famous Lord Shiva temple. He had paid a visit to the shrine at around 7 pm on Saturday. The NSA had arrived in Ujjain from Bhopal after attending the Combined Commanders’ Conference in the state capital. Mahakaleshwar Temple is one of the 12 ‘jyotirlingas’ in the country and sees a heavy footfall of devotees.

Kejriwal slams Modi over demo, questions his degree

GUWAHATI, APRIL 2 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications while criticising him for the 2016 demonetisation that had banned the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from circulation.

Speaking at a rally here, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor said “had PM Modi been educated, he would not have called for demonetisation, and also wouldn’t have brought the farm laws that were eventually repealed”.

“Somebody fooled the Prime Minister by advising him that if demonetisation happens, corruption will be eliminated. Further, terrorism would also end. The Prime Minister would not have done the demonetisation if he was educated,” said the Delhi Chief Minister.

The AAP leader

BJP will dislodge ‘Mahagathbandhan’

in

Bihar:

Shah

WILL HANG RIOTERS UPSIDE DOWN, SAYS SHAH

over the controversial farm laws.

Arvind Kejriwal (PTI)

claimed demonetisation has caused India go backtrack on its economy by at least 10 years.

“You had seen the long queues of people after demonetisation. People lost their jobs, and numerous business ventures had to shut down due to this mistake. Did corruption or terrorism end after demonetisation?” Kejriwal questioned.

“I have heard in many programmes... PM Modi himself said that he only went to schools,” he said.

The AAP leader also took a swipe at PM Modi

“Somebody again befooled the Prime Minister on farm laws. After one year of continuous agitation and the deaths of more than 700 farmers, the Prime Minister rolled back the controversial laws. He took such a long time because he was fooled by wrong advice.”

Kejriwal said that a person must have sufficient education to occupy the topmost post in the country.

He also criticised PM Modi for his promise to give drinking water to every household in Guwahati.

“I heard that 10 years ago, PM Modi promised that he would give every household in Guwahati pure drinking water if he came to power. He has not delivered on his promise. But if the people of Assam give AAP a chance, within 1 year, every household in Assam will get pure drinking water supply,” Kejriwal said.

HISUA(BIHAR), APR 2 (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the BJP will dislodge the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ from power in the next assembly polls in Bihar where the government was “BAD”, characterised by ‘bhrashtachar’ (corruption), ‘arajakata’(anarchy) and ‘daman’ (oppression).

Shah coined the acronym at a public meeting in Hisua, falling under Nawada district and the eponymous Lok Sabha constituency, squarely blaming the Nitish Kumar government for the communal tension that forced him to cancel a scheduled visit to Sasaram, one of the riot-hit towns, earlier in the day.

Widely regarded as the BJP’s principal strategist, Shah described his impression of the situation in Sasaram with a rhetorical flourish, claiming ‘log maare jaa rahe hain’ (people were being killed) and ‘goliyan chal rahi hain’ (guns were blazing).

The administration

Untimely rains hit wheat crop over 5.23 lakh hectare

Amit Shah (PTI)

has so far maintained that riots in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif towns have led to no casualty.

The BJP has blamed the imposition of Section 144 CrPC in Sasaram for the cancellation of the trip there of Shah, who was to attend a function on the occasion of Emperor Asoka’s birth anniversary.

However, the administration in Rohtas district, of which Sasaram is the headquarters, has claimed no prohibitory orders were clamped and show cause notices have been issued to police personnel who have been caught, on camera,

telling people to stay indoors since “Section 144 is in force”.

“I spoke to the Bihar Governor to take stock of the situation. Lalan Singh (president of JD(U)) is taking exception to that. He should remember I am the Home Minister of the country. If lawlessness prevails in Bihar, I cannot be a mute spectator. The state is a part of the country”, fumed Shah.

”Let Prime Minister Narendra Modi return to power in 2024 and help BJP form its own government in the assembly polls which would follow. All the rioters will be hung upside down (‘ulta latka denge’)”, said the Home Minister.

In his speech that lasted for less than 30 minutes, the former BJP president deftly exposed the fault lines in the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, recalling the scorn heaped at Nitish Kumar by his current deputy Tejashwi Yadav when the RJD was in the opposition.

Shah also said Lalu

Prasad, the RJD president and Tejashwi Yadav’s father, was hoping that his son will become the Chief Minister “but he does not know Nitish. He will not hand over power to Tejashwi once his Prime Ministerial ambitions get dashed with Narendra Modi’s return to power”. Facing an uphill task in Bihar where the BJP was stripped of power last year and has to take on the seven-party ruling coalition, Shah nonetheless declared “we will win all seats” in the state which is home to 40 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Shah reiterated that Kumar, who ditched the BJP in August last year, will never be acceptable as an ally again.

The Home Minister also accused the former coalition partner of being in the same league as staunch opponents like RJD, Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH/BHOPAL/ JAIPUR,

tinue for a few more days.

APR 2 (PTI):

Untimely rains, hailstorm and strong winds have impacted wheat crop across more than 5.23 lakh hectare in three states, triggering fears of huge yield loss for farmers and harvesting challenges.

India is one of the major producers of wheat, a key staple for a significant population, and the crop damage scenario also comes against the backdrop of persisting high inflation and food security woes globally amid geopolitical uncertainties.

Around 5.23 lakh hectare of wheat crop is estimated to have been damaged in three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -- due to the inclement weather, according to officials.

The assessment of wheat crop damage in Punjab and Haryana is underway, they said.

This year, the wheat sown area is around 34 mil-

lion hectare. The government is estimating a record 112.2 million tonne wheat output in the ongoing 202223 crop year (July-June), the officials said.

Union Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja told PTI the government on Monday will review along with state governments the extent of damage caused to wheat and other rabi crops because of the fresh spell of untimely rains received in the last two to three days. Wheat is a major rabi (winter) crop. Rains have

come at a time when the crop was almost ready for harvesting. In some parts of Madhya Pradesh, the government procurement at minimum support price has begun.

Since the last two weeks, major wheat growing states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have received unseasonal rains accompanied by thunderstorm, hailstorm and gusty wind due to the western disturbances. The untimely rains are expected to con-

“There is a heavy loss to the wheat crop because of the inclement weather. Against an average yield of 20 quintals per acre, this time it will drop to 10-11 quintals an acre,” worried grower Bhupinder Singh from village Badarpur in Punjab’s Mohali district, told PTI.

Singh,who has grown the winter crop over 34-acre of land in Badarpur, said at some places in his fields, the crop has also flattened because of high-velocity winds. There will be an average 50 per cent yield loss in wheat crop because of untimely rains and highvelocity winds, he said and added, “If rain continues for more days, the crop will completely submerge in it.”

Another farmer from Madhya Pradesh, Ajay Singh -- who owns two acre of land in Khajuraho -- said, “We are noticing fungal disease in the wheat crop due to high moisture. The quality of grain will be affected.”

Woman right-wing activist booked for ‘hate speech’after communal clash in Una

GIR SOMNATH, APR 2

(PTI): Police have registered a first information report (FIR) against a right-wing woman activist for her alleged hate speech and detained more than 50 people on the charge of rioting following a communal clash at Una town in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath that left two persons injured, an official said on Sunday.

The communal clash erupted in a sensitive area of Una town on Saturday night with two groups hurling stones at each other amid tension caused by the speech of one Kajal Hindustani at a ‘Hindu Sammelan’ organised on the occasion of Ram Navami on Thursday, in which she allegedly targeted a minority community. Una town had been on edge since the alleged hate speech. With traders keeping markets shut, the police and local leaders had on Saturday called for a peace committee meeting involving representatives of both

ED sent to Chhattisgarh to destabilise govt, alleges CM Baghel

RAIPUR, APR 2 (PTI):

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday dubbed the ED’s raids in the state as “politically motivated” and alleged that since the BJP could not even make any attempt to topple his government, efforts were now on to destabilise it through the misuse of the central agency.

He also said that despite carrying out raids at multiple locations in Chhattisgarh in the last one month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has so far not disclosed anything about what it recovered through its action.

He was talking to reporters here at the helipad

in Police Lines.

When asked about recent ED raids on liquor businessmen and others, Baghel replied, “The maximum number of raids in the country were conducted in Chhattisgarh in the last one month. Since the Congress’ plenary session was held in Raipur, more than 50 locations were searched by the central agency. But there is

Army Chief Gen Pande leaves for Australia

NEW DELHI, APR 2

(PTI): Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Sunday left for Australia on a fourday visit to explore ways to boost defence cooperation between the two countries.

Gen Pande will hold talks with top military brass of Australia on a range of issues relating to bilateral defence engagement.

“Gen Manoj Pande, the Chief of the Army Staff, proceeded on a visit to Australia commencing from April 3,” the Army said.

It said he will be meeting the senior military leadership of Australia with an aim of enhancing defence cooperation between the armed forces of the two

Army Chief Gen Pande

nations. “Gen Pande will interact with a host of senior military dignitaries from different services of the Australian defence forces,” the Army said in a statement.

Australia-India defence cooperation has been on an upward trajectory with a series of diverse engagements at different levels, in various domains.

no information about the amount recovered during these actions. The agency did not disclose how much (money) it recovered from businessmen or industrialists (covered in the raids).”

“Our party workers Girish Dewangan, Sunny Sushil Agrwal, Vinod Tiwari and Ramgopal Agrawal were raided, but what was recovered from them is not being disclosed. It means that it is a politically-motivated raid. It is an attempt to destabilise. The central agency is being misused...,” he said.

“ED officials from different states of the country have been deployed here... Had our government been

in a slight majority, they would have tried to poach our MLAs. But we have got a massive majority of 71 seats (in the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly), that’s why they (Bharatiya Janata Party) failed to make such an attempt. But now the ED is being misused...,” he added.

The ED has been investigating an alleged coal levy money laundering case in Chhattisgarh and raided premises linked to several state government officials, businessmen, ruling Congress leaders in the last six months.

The investigation relates to “a massive scam in which an illegal levy of

Rs 25 per tonne was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen, the agency has said.

Nine persons, including a Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi and state administrative service officer Saumya Chaurasia, have been arrested by the agency so far in the case since October last year.

The ED on March 29 had carried out searches against Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, his brother Anwar Dhebar, liquor businessman Baldev Singh Bhatia alias Pappu Bhatia and others.

communities who ensured normalcy. But hours after the meeting, a clash broke out in the communally sensitive area, police said.

“We have registered two FIRs. One is against Kajal Hindustani for hate speech, and another against the mob for rioting,” Superintendent of Police Sripal Sheshma told reporters.

“We have detained 50 to 60 people and are going through the CCTV footage. We are using local intelligence and questioning the detained persons for further action. The accused will not be spared and strict action will be taken against them,” he said.

Police personnel have

been deployed in sensitive areas with some of them patrolling and some posted at static points. All the officers are available on call and all distress calls are being addressed on an immediate basis, he said.

“Two State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) teams have been deployed in Una so far in this case,” he said. The leaders participating in the peace committee meeting reached a resolution, but the message did not reach the young generation and this led to a small incident of stone pelting, police said. Police carried out combing operations during the night in Una town and seized a number of swords, rods and other such objects from some houses.

Meanwhile, the police in Vadodara city of the state on Saturday night arrested a right-wing activist Rohan Shah and some others for “hate speech” during a Ram Navami procession in the city on Thursday.

Kajal Hindustani

Farmer tries to recover the harvested wheat bunches in Gurugram, Sunday. (PTI)

Bhupesh Baghel

Wasted decades

Forthe self seeking leaders and bureaucrats looking for popularity, their jumla over the decades has left the state in a pathetic condition. Perhaps a glimpse at the achievements of many states who attained statehood ten years and more after Nagaland will reveal the facts. Assam has nine medical colleges with total intake of 1150 seats and Assam Medical College (Dibrugarh), Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College (Barpeta), Gauhati Medical College (Guwahati), Jorhat Medical College (Jorhat), Silchar Medical College (Silchar),Tezpur Medical College (Tezpur), Lakhimpur Medical College (Lakhimpur), Diphu Medical College (Diphu), AIIMS Guwahati (Guwahati) and new upcoming medical institutes- Nagaon Medical College, Nagaon, Dhubri Medical College, Dhubri, Dental College, attached to Silchar Medical College. In addition, the Assam government also proposed setting up of Medical Institutes under the Directorate of Medical Institution such as Kokrajhar Medical College, Kokrajhar. Nalbari Medical College, Nalbari, Tinsukia Medical College, Tinsukia. Assam has seven cancer institutes and seven more will be set up. Assam also has a total of 685 recognised hospitals with more ultraspeciality hospitals coming up. Assam also has eight reputed nursing colleges and more are on the anvil. Manipur has 136 hospitals and four government medical colleges; RIMS Imphal, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences Manipur University, Government Medical College Churanchandpur.

Manipur has a 100-bedded multi-speciality services to provide world-class cancer treatment at American Oncology Institute (AOI) at Babina Specialty Hospital, Shajiwa in Imphal East. There is also a reputed private medical college- Shija Academy of Health Sciences Imphal. Manipur also has six BSc nursing colleges a physiotherapy college- Bir Tikendrajit University. Arunachal Pradesh has 76 hospitals and one medical college which has already begun the session from 2023.Nagaland has 107 hospitals and will have two medical colleges at Kohima and Mon while it has Nagaland has one private Nursing college-- Christian Institute of Health Sciences & Research. Nagaland has one upcoming veterinary college at Jalukie. Arunachal Pradesh has four private agriculture colleges. There are 53 engineering colleges in Assam, of which 22 are Private and 29 are Government Engineering colleges in Assam. There are three physiotherapy colleges in Assam and eight BSc nursing colleges. Manipur has ten engineering colleges providing various engineering courses to the aspirants offering diploma to post graduate courses. Manipur has a central agriculture university and which will also have academic jurisdiction College of Veterinary Science and animal husbandry in Jalukie. Nagaland has two operational engineering colleges, one under NU and the other NIT at Chümoukedima. Arunachal Pradesh has 15 engineering colleges. Assam has six airports in Assam and two more- Borjhar airport in Guwahati and Rupsi airport besides some Greenfield airports in various districts are also planned. Arunachal Pradesh has three airports and eight defence airstrips that can handle civilian aircraft. Nagaland has one airport and one proposed Greenfield airport at Chiethu near Kohima. The above comparative lists only provide a glimpse of how development in Nagaland has stagnated with various state governments failing to create the necessary infrastructure to prepare the youths to be counted for enabling the state to march ahead. Today, politicians are driven with a compulsive desire for a feel-good syndrome as mantra of progress. Unfortunately, such a notion has landed the state in dire straits.

DailyDevotion

The Glory That’s Unsurpassed

…the Lord Jesus…has sent me that you may receive your sight… —Acts 9:17

When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ— “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ.

We must learn to maintain a strong degree of character in our lives, even to the level that has been revealed in our vision of Jesus Christ.

The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others. The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God’s own heart (see Acts 13:22).

Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you.

Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified.

By Oswald Chambers

Quotes

“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.”

India on a tinder box, K’taka polls to douse or ignite?

As Karnataka goes to polls, a number of economic issues are coming to the fore, price rises, including the drug price rises, manipulating prices by big firms, an issue flagged by RBI official, Aadhaar linking with too many things, Indians being robbed of their legally possessed cars, and private hospitals on strike in Rajasthan to oppose health care regulations.

And not the least, the most significant Rs 45 lakh crore budget is passed without a whimper of a discussion. Is the country so callous! Another issue that is being questioned, whether the issues and scams will decide the Karnataka polls or Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi’s next step on his Jail or Bail yatra. Politics is warming up, concerned and possibly shaken what might happen if in the midst of the polls, the new Gandhi comes out with a masterstroke even to the extent of going to jail. Nobody knows it is possible or not. Home Minister Amit Shah’s repeated suggestions to Gandhi to appeal against Surat defamation jail judgment has made his next legal move a political concern for his rivals. Every way Gandhi remains at the centre stage

to the discomfort of all, the ruling combine and even his possible future allies.

In this melee, would the people of Karnataka forget whatever they have lost or gained during the past five years. It has been in the news continuously, the hijab controversy included.

Scams of the incumbent government have been one of the most read news, including civil works, education, police departments and even Lokayaukta probe in the allotment of a site to a government functionary.

If those are Congress charges, the BJP has also tried to turn the table against the Congress stalwart and former chief minister Siddharamaih’s alleged involvement in a land deal. Would it be a scam versus scam scenario in the Karnataka polls and set the pitch even for the Congress and BJP!

The list is too long. The one most discussed in the corporate circles is a latest report from a former RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya now a professor with a New York business school.

He says the five biggest industrial firms, which wield immense pricing power in the retail, resources and telecommunication sectors, contributing to elevated

inflation be broken up by regulatory fiat or through competition commission of India as part of structural reforms.

“Creating national champions, which is considered by many as the industrial policy of ‘new India’ appears to be feeding directly into keeping prices at a high”, Acharya says He cites risks overleveraging by these firms leading to rising of prices.

Acharya says, “Such growth of conglomerates raises several concerns, such as the risk of crony capitalism, i.e., political connections and inefficient project allocations, related party transactions within their byzantine corporate organisation charts, over-leveraging due to an implicit too-big-tofail perception and a lack of creative destruction by crowding out of entrants.”

these, besides reducing their market power in product prices.”

Shivaji Sarkar

It reads like a political manifesto to set the economy in order. If it becomes part of the ongoing election issue, it can change the dynamics if the voters appreciate it. If nothing voters are perturbed at the high inflation that had touched over 15 percent of wholesale price index and continues to rise despite the rates having lowered, still beyond RBI tolerance limit, and prices skyrocketing. Acharya’s deliberations are important as it pinpoints the reasons of price manipulations. But how would these be develeraged!

new financial year without a whimper. People go on suffering it. The worse has come from Rajasthan, where Congress government move to set the health care in order through the state’s right to health bill is being opposed by the private corporate hospitals going on strike for a fortnight now. So, what Acharya says can be overturned by an organised cartel? Should a welfare move being opposed with muscle power be tolerated by a government? Voters are observing each move of political parties of all hues as to how they respond to this brazenness.

being addressed by the political class is a common refrain. The MLAs and MPs blindly go on enacting laws that hurt the people most. They do it without a discussion in legislatures. Over ten states have enacted unconstitutional law of forced junking and acquiring by police of ten-year-old tractors and cars, forgetting that it is against the spirit of Article 300 that protects people’s properties.

He continues, “Given that several risks have materialised in a rather short period of time in the case of one of the largest conglomerates, and over medium term, its deleveraging may slow down investments by this conglomerate, it is worth preparing for not having to deal with more of

It is embarrassing for the country. The people may like to know the details of the benefits or harms of the privatisation. Was the 1991 liberalisation for allowing such a free price-rise syndrome?

Remotely could this have any linkage with continuous Parliament uproar to avoid discussion on the budget that could have discussed the rising prices, its reasons and solutions.

The drug prices are scheduled to rise with the

The country is doling out free food to 81 crore but proposals to link the doles or MNREGS wages to Aadhar has resulted in vociferous protest by daily wagers at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The worse is linking the Aadhar with PAN, a silly insistence by the Income Tax Department. It forgets that all financial details become an easy pry amid a regime where digital loots have become the easiest.

Every bureaucratic move has a social and consequent political cost. The elections address these and cause corrections.

That voters’ are not

It is becoming a potential issue of deprivation against ruling dispensations. Voters question the unholy alliance of pollution and automakers’ lobbies and why the governments are silent. These issues if not sorted out immediately it would hit over 35 crore families.

The country is on a tinder box of volatile issues. The political parties in government or opposition have the onerous task of addressing it lest the country bursts into protests like those in France, Germany, UK or Israel. Will the Karnataka polls take the first step to correct the rising prices, joblessness, crony capitalism and turn India into the most successful country for peacefully solving critical issues by responsive governments? A hope it will do.

Misrepresenting reality: The case of Moreh

When we read about exotic places to travel and visit, we are often captivated by the pictures of the far-off land with exotic people, places, and food. This is especially true concerning towns like Moreh, hidden away in the international borders. What urged us to write this piece is the abyss of disconnect between what is being told (as represented) in articles, journals, and books and the actuality (or the ground reality) we saw and experienced during our field research.

Much is written in books, travel sections of various magazines, and academic journals about Moreh. We have encountered clichés from India’s reputable newspapers, such as (from Times of India)

“Moreh serves as an important trade route, and is also a commercial hub for India. Located before the India-Myanmar border, it’s a place you should visit at least once. One of the primary highlights of this place is that its streets are lined with bustling shops that sell almost everything, and will compel you to indulge in some shopping for sure.”

Or (from Outlook India)

“Get a taste of Myanmar’s vibrant culture and cuisine

at the Indian border town of Moreh in Manipur.” A quick glance at India’s foreign affairs policy will suggest such a commonplace disconnect between policy declarations (that proclaim these border towns and regions to benefit from such policy directives) and the desperate ground realities in these border towns, such as alcohol and substance abuse, unemployment, lack of proper infrastructure, illegal cross-border narcotics trade, informal taxes, lack of access to central and state government schemes, lack of quality health care, education, and skill development.

On March 2023, we went to Moreh for our field research, regarding our graduate thesis, on border trade towns. We were excited about our field research trip. And before embarking upon our adventurous journey to this exotic place called Moreh, we did our background study. We read numerous academic articles on border town trade, especially concerning India’s Act East Policy and Border Trade Agreement with Myanmar. From our experience in Moreh, what struck us the most was the utter disconnect between what we had read and what

we experienced. We found, interacting with the local respondents, that most (if not all) had neither heard about nor had any knowledge about the Act East Policy. This is a surprising revelation given how the Union Government promotes Act East Policy to promote India’s relations with South East Asia. One appropriate example is the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, connecting Moreh with Mae Sot in Thailand via Mandalay in Myanmar. This trilateral highway is purported to bring innumerable socioeconomic development and benefits to the border towns like Moreh. Ironically, the people pointed out this about the depilated market road and lack of a proper drainage system near Gate2 in the Indo-Myanmar friendship gate. Also, take the case of India’s Border Trade Agreement with Myanmar, signed in 1994, which allows for a specific number of tradable items (23 items in the original agreement but has now been expanded to 40 items) between the two sides. But the irony, just as with Act East Policy, is that most people, especially the traders and wholesalers, are unaware of the 40 items and the number

of tradable items.

In addition to the state government’s neglect, there is the proverbial lack of job opportunities for the people in Moreh, especially the graduate students. About 50% of the students (those surveyed) work in the market and run small businesses to help their families. The lack of skill and training programs is something that the youths in the town were most interested in for the state government to do to uplift the plight of the youths. It is thus not difficult to imagine why there is a drug and other substance abuse epidemic in Moreh. Regarding other aspects of development in Moreh, a lot needs to be done by the state and the union government, given how important Moreh is purported to be for India in its view toward the South East Asia countries. The state government of Manipur should also take an active part in taking care of the township with proper roads, strong drainage systems and security. Proper functioning and governance are essential as these are necessary to construct and maintain access to the market with appropriate road conditions. Currently, it lacks all the requirements with its poor drainage sys-

tems regularly flooding the market roads, especially during rainy seasons. What’s more, most politicians fail to fulfill their promises, and the people continue to face the same problem with a lack of support from the government. It includes a lack of investment in the village and market areas and no scheme or funds to look after the welfare of the people. In other aspects, people, especially students attending government schools and college, in Moreh face acute problems regarding the lack of proper classes, teachers, and infrastructure. Though these problems acutely affect their lives, people living in Moreh cannot express their views and grievances to the government.

There are plethoras of issues that we can mention. Still, for the sake of space and clarity, our main aim is to direct people’s attention, especially the people and the state government of Manipur, to the plight of its people on the border towns. Moreh has gained much attention in academic literature in the past few years. Yet, the representative picture or the description we find in those academic journals and magazines belie the ground reality of the struggles people of

Moreh go through daily. In articles and magazines, we see Moreh represented in policy declarations and statistics about international trade and its strategic location as a border town with immense possibilities; we also see in popular magazines depictions of people smiling in their vegetable and food stalls. But Alas! If only we could see the deplorable conditions of the exotic and alluring pictures and policy declarations. One of the most valuable lessons from our field research to Moreh is that the representation of people and places (especially about Northeast India) in popular magazines and academic journals is not always accurate. And the most concerning ramification of such representation is that most vital policies formulated for this region and places are based on such inaccurate models of representation written by travel magazines, even reputable journalists, and academics. The question is: are we not the victims of misrepresentation?

Symon Sangma and Wirilungbo International Relations Graduate Program North East Christian University Dimapur, Nagaland

Nagaland must tap the benefits of G20 Mega Event

It is futile and difficult to separate governance from business and economy. At the same time, it will be imperative to underline that G20 reflects the economic order of contemporary settings. The G20 meet at Kohima on April 5 is part of the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community. The B20 aims to deliver concrete actionable policy recommendations to boost economic growth and development.

Therefore, each one of usthe Naga citizens and leaders of political parties and socio-political organisations and business chambers have to appreciate the initiative to host such an illustrious, unprecedented and mega event in Nagaland. The Summit will actually provide an opportunity on exploring business opportunities in tourism, hospitality, agriculture, ethnic Naga cuisine, horticulture and identification and promotion of herbal science and organic farming. As we sit to ponder about the event that will be hosted at Kohima by the NDPP-BJP government, one feels grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his visionary decision to bring the

G20 at our doorsteps. More than 70 delegates will be from foreign countries, while business corporate from India and foreign countries will also join. When was the last time such a thing in business, trade and economy was hosted in Nagaland?

We must admit that without industries, Nagaland cannot grow and without investments the industries cannot be dreamed even.

It is well known that insurgency has harmed investment atmosphere in Nagaland for decades now. The peace process thus has its own special significance. But at the same time, we Nagas must appreciate the Government of India for anchoring such a major initiative for Nagaland. This also implies that insurgency as a threat to business honchos should become a thing of past. We owe it to ourselves to ensure an atmosphere of peace and prosperity.

Having said these, there is a need to appreciate that the business community always plays a crucial role in the development of a nation and a far-flung region like our northeastern India. Prime Minister Modi by his visionary approach has linked India’s comple-

tion of 75 years of Independence in 2022 with a new goal. And the road map to achieve a cherished goal of a developed nation by 2047 is now popularly called Amritkal -- that is the journey from 75th year to the 100th. It is imperative for India to position itself for global leadership. The role played by the Indian industry and corporate sector will be central to the country’s progress and success of the nation.

Under India’s G20 Presidency, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Government of India is the nodal Ministry for the B20 engagements. The centre is thus organizing B20 Conferences in the North Eastern region including Kohima to showcase the untapped potential and opportunities within the region. Other centres selected for such conferences are Gangtok, Imphal and Aizawl. The Business Summit and B20 Conferences have be en already held in Imphal in Manipur, Aizawl in Mizoram and Sikkim capital Gangtok.

The mega event in Kohima on April 5th will thus provide numerous opportunities to educate oneself, one’s society and one’s own state. Let me try to analyse

a few points on how things can be turned into advantage for Nagaland and Naga society.

First, we may focus on Research and Human Resource Development, Technological innovation and scaling up the skills. These will be key drivers of economic development, a fundamental lever in fighting climate change, and a powerful enabler of social inclusion. Second key issue would be -- Developing a framework for financial inclusion to create an environment for innovation in the financial sector is necessary. Thus digital financial inclusion and sharing best practices frameworks will be also crucial. The conferences will give us scopes and lessons to deal with the unexpected choke points in supply chains, volatile prices, and unavailability of goods. We may then address issues of establishing trade open across borders and establishing coordinated mechanisms for risk monitoring and also focus on steps in preventing future roadblocks.

Final Takeaway:

Of course at the national level, the Modi government is pursuing a policy to boost manufacturing and exports. The endeavour

of Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign is to achieve a five trillion dollar economy. India will be a USD 3.7 trillion economy in 2023, maintaining its lead over the UK as the fifth largest economy of the world. Experts say at least 35 to 40 percent of the same should come from global trade. Here traditional Naga handicrafts, Naga food and agri and horticulture products can emerge as real game changers. PM Modi had some time back spoken about Naga Jhalokia (red chili).

Nagaland can take advantage of bilateral economic relationships between India and various western, South East Asian and African countries. As India sees a lot of potential of good economic relationships with some smaller countries including in ASEAN region, Nagaland can make use of the new initiatives.

We often get to read and hear that the Economic diplomacy is now the new push. On this backdrop, there is a sense to underline that India’s foreign policy must be geared up to seek trade openings. Nagaland has to take advantage.

M Chuba Ao, BJP national vice president and in-charge Meghalaya

~ Stephen Hawking

77 held in connection with Bihar Sharif clash

the area. The police urged the people to not pay heed to any such rumours.

A senior officer of the Bihar Police said, “Probe is on to nab other miscreants also responsible for Ram Navami violence amid prevailing tension in the area”.

Police said that prohibitory order under section 144 Crpc is in place in Bihar Sharif after fresh clashes broke out on Saturday night.

Vice Admiral S J Singh new Vice Chief of Navy

Maha CM

Shinde leads Savarkar Gaurav Yatra

SLAMS RAHUL, JIBES AT UDDHAV, HAILS MODI

THANE, APR 2 (PTI) : Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday led the ‘Savarkar Gaurav Yatra’ in his hometown Thane in which hundreds of people took part to honour late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.

Sanjay Jasjit Singh

NEW DELHI, APR 2

PATNA, APR 2 (PTI): Altogether 77 people have been arrested in connection with the communal violence that erupted in Bihar Sharif town in Nalanda district during the Ram Navami festivities, police said on Sunday.

Normalcy has been restored in Bihar Sharif, the police said. Bihar Police in a tweet on Sunday said, “Normalcy has been restored in Bihar Sharif…the situation

is completely under control. Total 77 people have so far been arrested by the district police as part of its investigation into the matter. Senior officers are camping in the affected areas..and adequate deployments of security forces have been made in the area”.

The police dismissed rumours that are doing the rounds on social media about the rising tension in

The state police had on Saturday arrested 45 people in connection with communal riots at Sasaram and Bihar Sharif that erupted during the Ram Navami festivities. Vehicles, houses and shops were torched and several people injured in communal flare-ups reported in both towns.

In Sasaram, the district administration ordered imposition of prohibitory order under section 144 Crpc on Friday afternoon after re-eruption of clashes, which first broke out the previous evening.

(PTI): Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh has assumed the charge of the vice chief of naval staff, the Indian Navy said on Sunday. He succeeds Vice Admiral SN Ghormade who retired after over 39 years of service. Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, a graduate of the National Defence Academy, Pune, was commissioned in 1986 in the executive branch of the Indian Navy. In his career spanning 37 years, he has served on most class of ships of the Indian Navy and has held a range of command, training and staff appointments,

The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shinde-led Shiv Sena had last month announced that Savarkar Gaurav Yatras would be taken out in each district of Maharashtra to honour Savarkar’s contribution to the country and to counter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism against him.

On Sunday, the yatra participants, wearing saffron caps with ‘Mi Savarkar’ (I am Savarkar) and other messages written on them, paid floral tributes to Savarkar at the Ram Ganesh Gadkari Rangayatan auditorium in Thane city from where the yatra commenced.

On the culmination of the rally, addressing a gathering, Shinde slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his repeated attacks on Savarkar and said insults to freedom fighters was akin to insulting the nation.

BJP leader ‘dismayed’ over police brutality in German village

NEW DELHI, APRIL 2

(IANS): BJP national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda on Sunday expressed his ‘dismay’ over police brutality in a village in Germany.

Taking to Twitter, Panda said: “Was dismayed to read about Germany’s police brutality at Lutzerath village in January this year. Protestors accused the police of ‘pure violence,’ & said they had been beaten ‘unrestrainedly, often on the head’.

“Indians are taking note of such decline in democratic norms in Europe’s biggest economy with sad-

ness & concern,” he posted. Although the incident happened in January, Panda’s remark comes close on the heels of the German Foreign Ministry spokesperson comments on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction and subsequent disqualification from Parlia-

ment.

The German Foreign Ministry spokesperson had said, “It takes note of verdict, suspension from Parliament, and appeal will show whether verdict stands and suspension has basis. It expects standards of judicial independence and democratic principles to apply in Rahul Gandhi’s case.”

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had appreciated the comment and said, “Thank you Germany Foreign Affairs Ministry and Richard Walker @rbsw for taking note of how Democracy is being compromised

in India through persecution of @RahulGandhi.”

Soon after several BJP leaders hit out at the Congress and its leaders, accusing them of seeking ‘foreign interference’ in India’s affairs.

The violence in Germany was reported in January when thousands of people,

mainly environmentalists, protested the government’s plan to raze Lutzerath village to expand a coal mine. The police claimed that the protesters went berserk while the agitators said that they were brutally thrashed, as per media reports. The village was evicted eventually.

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People are angry to see some forces trying to malign Hindutva by attacking Savarkar, Shinde said. “We have noticed citizens expressing disappointment over some people consistently insulting Savarkar. An insult of Savarkar is the insult of every Indian. I openly condemn people like Rahul Gandhi for his tirade against Savarkar. I dare anyone to live a day in the Cellular Jail the way Savarkar was jailed,” Shinde said. Without taking names, he also swiped at Shiv Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray.

“Balasaheb Thackeray

had hit the effigy of Mani Shankar Aiyar once (for such remarks). Unfortunately, some people who claim Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy are now sitting with those (Congress’ Rahul Gandhi) who have consistently attacked Savarkar,” Shinde said.

Praising Narendra Modi, the chief minister said Hindutva was seen as an aggression against minorities, but the prime minister had brought back its glory post 2014.

“Hindutva is not against any religion. But some people deliberately

keep misinterpreting it,” Shinde remarked. A tableau displaying information related to Savarkar was also part of the yatra. Shinde and some other leaders of the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP coalition participated in the yatra on a makeshift ‘chariot’ with a large photograph of Savarkar in the background. The vehicle was decorated with flowers and followed by supporters riding motorbikes with saffron flags on them. The CM waved to citizens as the yatra moved to cover four Assembly segments in the city. Flowers were showered on the participants as several of them moved around Thane city using more than 200 motorbikes and around 100 auto-rickshaws raising slogans in praise of Savarkar and the country.

BJP leader Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Thane MLA Sanjay Kelkar, Thane BJP chief and MLC Niranjan Davkhare, former mayor Naresh Mhaske, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik and many other local leaders of the ruling coalition participated in the yatra.

Charred remains of vehicles after a clash broke out in Nalanda district, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (PTI)

Baijayant Jay Panda

Eknath Shinde leading the Savarkar Gaurav Yatra in Thane on Sunday ( PTI)

Parl panel calls for body to regulate digital markets

NEW DELHI, APR 2 (IANS): Rajya Sabha’s standing committee on commerce, in a recent report on regulation of e-commerce, has recommended a “Digital Market Division” within the Competition Commission of India (CCI) be created as an expert division, specifically tasked with regulation of digital markets.

In its report, which was recently presented in Parliament, the panel has also urged the government to formulate a national cybercrime policy, which holds significance amid increasing reliance on digital technology. It has asked the government to formulate a comprehensive national cybercrime

policy or a legislation, in consultation with stakeholders and industry experts. The committee, which is headed by Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, has said in its report that “the presence of an overarching regulatory body, that glues together different ministries and departments and authorities that presently regulate e-commerce, will strengthen the regulatory regime and bridge the existing gaps in enforcement”.

The committee recommended that a Digital Market Division within the CCI be created as an expert division, specifically tasked with regulation of the digital markets with participation from all the existing regula-

Sumi Hoho welcomes repeal of NM Act...

Regional parties look set to assert themselves...

tors concerned with e-commerce such as Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as well as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While highlighting the significance of a national cybercrime policy, the panel noted that the government has adopted a fragmented approach with regard to matters relating to cybercrimes. It further observed that such fragmented approach will not serve the purpose keeping in view the critical nature of the cyber infrastructure with increasing reliance on digital technology.

It therefore suggested that “cybercrimes and its related matters such as skilling and training in digital crimes investigation, creation of dedicated cybercrime division, cyber security standards, investigation process and grievance redressal mechanism, merit attention in the form of a National Cybercrime Policy”.

(From p-1) “Morning shows the day and therefore, with an applaudable beginning, the Sümi Hoho is very optimistic that the incumbent government will usher in a new beginning in bringing transformation in all walks of life in our land,” the statement read. The duo further urged the State government to re-

write NMA at the earliest by taking the stakeholders into confidence. As assured by the tribal hohos in the consultative meeting resolution on March 27, they declared that Sümi Hoho would extend fullest cooperation to the government in conduct of urban local bodies (ULB) elections once NMA was rewritten as proposed by the people.

KBBB opposes move to sell liquor to...

(From p-1)

Instead of enforcing Act, he wondered whether the government was falling prey to the dictates of foreign delegates coming to Nagaland. He also questioned the government of its sincerity towards implementation of NLTP. He quoted Matthew 16:19: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” He warned that going against the will of the churches would mean going against the will of God.

Govt extends export curbs on petrol, diesel

MUMBAI, APR 2 (REUTERS): India has extended restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline, the government said in a notification, as New Delhi tries to ensure the availability of refined fuels for the domestic market.

The government had imposed the curbs on gasoline and gasoil exports through the end of the financial year on Friday. It asked refiners to commit to selling 50% of their annual volume of gasoline exports and 30% of their diesel exports in the domestic market. The extension may discourage some Indian refiners, mainly non-state companies, from buying Russian fuel for re-export to other countries, including to European importers that have stopped purchases of refined products from Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine.

(From p-1) In Mizoram, which will go to the polls this year-end, a multi-cornered contest is likely between the ruling MNF and the opposition Congress and other local parties in both the Assembly polls and next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Eying 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, the Congress like its previous efforts has initiated the process to form a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) with the like-minded parties.

Recently in Guwahati, the Congress held a meeting of 10 opposition parties after excluding Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress.

Assam Congress President Bhupen Bora, who called the meeting, had said that they would check the division of votes in next year’s Lok Sabha polls in Assam as the BJP always gets electoral mileage due to the division of votes among the non-BJP parties.

Senior Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman, son of former Congress chief minister of Tripura Samir Ranjan Barman, told IANS that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other Central ministers and BJP leaders are making tall claims about the development of the northeast region, but most of the big infrastructure projects, including railway projects, in the region were undertaken during the UPA rule.

“If we see the BJP’s electoral performance in the northeastern region, the party got 60 seats both in 2016 and 2021 Assembly polls in Assam, equal number of seats in Nagaland (12) and Meghalaya (2) in 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections while the party’s seat share reduced by four in Tripura as compared to its 2018 tally,” said Barman, who rejuvenated the party in Tripura after joining the Congress from BJP in February last year.

“People now realise that the BJP and the Prime Minister are making big promises to get the electoral mileage, but actually they did nothing to solve the real problems of the northeast, including the gigantic issue of unemployment,” he said.

NBSE revises existing rules in conduct of exams...

(From p-1)

Two chances to appear compartmental examination will be allowed to clear the failed subjects in order to reduce and prevent dropout rate at HSLC and HSSLC examinations.

A candidate who appeared the HSLC/ HSSLC examination conducted by NBSE and placed in ‘Needs Improvement’/’Failed’ category will be eligible to appear in all the subjects as repeater in the subsequent board examination. This category of candidates

will appear the HSLC/HSSLC examination as per the prescribed syllabi and courses laid down for the examination concerned. The heads of institutions have been requested to note the revised/new rules and disseminate it to teachers, students and parents/guardians. The revised/new rules will be implemented with effect from this year.

The revised/new rules would be made available in the board’s website www. nbsenl.edu.in. This was notified by NBSE chairperson Asano Sekhose.

Government may consider 0.3% fee on UPI’ Google faces $4.2 bn advertising lawsuit

NEW DELHI, APR 2

(PTI): The government may consider a 0.3 per cent uniform digital payment facilitation fee to fund the infrastructure required for such transactions and also to ensure financial viability of the UPI payment system, suggested a study by IIT Bombay.

The facilitation fee of 0.3 per cent can generate around Rs 5,000 crore in 2023-24, said the study titled ‘Charges for PPI-based UPI payments--The Deception’.

The study, which analyses the impact of the decision of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to introduce interchange fee on payments through mobile wallets, argued that the payments re-

ceived by merchants should remain ‘unpolluted’ whether they are from UPI directly or through prepaid e-wallets.

The NPCI, with effect from April 1, 2023 introduced an interchange fee of 1.1 per cent on transaction amount for usage of prepaid payment instruments for making payments through UPI to merchants. These will apply on prepaid wallet-based UPI merchant transactions.

Rather than thrusting the operational expenses onto the merchants and creating a disparity, it should be borne by the prepaid wallet user, thereby never introducing a situation similar to passive smoking.

This will keep all UPIbased payments received by

merchants unpolluted and unburdened of merchant discount rate (MDR).

According to the IIT Bombay Technical Report, the absence of an upfront payment-surcharge would lead to an overall increase in the selling price for all, even those who pay through plain vanilla UPI (normal UPI). As a consequence, the business cost of merchant will go up.

Against this backdrop, the study made a case for introducing 0.3 per cent facilitation fee on digital payments which could generate as much as Rs 5,000 crore in fiscal 2023-24.

However, as per the present law no bank or system provider who operates UPI (unified payments inter-

face) shall impose, whether directly or indirectly, any charge upon a person making or receiving a payment by using UPI as a mode of payment. So bank account transaction and payment on same wallet is free as of now. On more than one occasion, the banks and system providers had tried to interpret the UPI-Law in a way that suited them. The players in the payment system are exploiting the merchants and all consumers by integrating an avoidable layer of cost to the pure payment system that exists in plain vanilla UPI, it said. The thrust of prepaid wallet merchant discount rate (MDR) onto the merchants is so strong that it has become much easier for

the merchants to succumb to the same and continue with their focused business prospects by considering such costs as overheads (thus building the same into the selling price), it said. This inherently raises the purchase price for all consumers and thus hurts the consumers more as they ultimately bear the convoluted cost of such payment system extravaganza, it added.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her latest Budget speech said “the economy has become a lot more formalised as reflected in the EPFO membership more than doubling to 27 crore, and 7,400 crore digital payments of Rs 126 lakh crore through UPI in 2022”.

SAN FRANCISCO, APR 2 (IANS): A new lawsuit has been filed against Google seeking 3.4 billion pounds ($4.2 billion) in compensation for publishers for lost revenue.

According to the claim, made by ex-Guardian technology editor Charles Arthur, Google illegally used its dominant position in online advertising to reduce publishers’ profits, the BBC reported.

Google stated that it would vigorously oppose the “speculative and opportunistic” action.

In the lawsuit, Arthur claimed that because of Google’s abuse of its position, ad-tech services were inflated, and publishers’ ad sales revenues were unlawfully reduced, the report said.

“The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently investi-

gating Google’s anti-competitive conduct in ad-tech, but they don’t have the power to make Google compensate those who have lost out. We can only right that wrong through the courts, which is why I am bringing this claim,” Arthur was quoted as saying.

It is the second such lawsuit, following a similar one filed in November last year. The claim was brought

by former UK’s communications regulator Ofcom director Claudio Pollack, who is seeking damages of up to 13.6 billion pounds from Google, the report mentioned.

Meanwhile, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has said that Google will have to pay the fine of Rs 1,337.76 crore, imposed on it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

SNIPPETS

Tornadoes in US: death toll reaches to 26

WASHINGTON, APR 2

(IANS): At least 26 people have been killed after a series of tornadoes and deadly storms struck through towns and cities in several US states, authorities said on Sunday. Homes were destroyed and thousands left without power after huge storms caused devastation across several states, the BBC reported. According to the National Weather Service of the US, there have been more than 80 reported tornadoes since Friday. States including Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama and Mississippi have all had fatalities.

Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania are the worst affected, according to the US PowerOutage website.

Blinken urges Russia to release two detained Americans

WASHINGTON, APR 2

(AP): Secretary of State

Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone since the Ukraine war, to immediately release a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained last week as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan, the State Department said Sunday. In the call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Blinken conveyed “grave concern” over the Kremlin’s detention of journalist Evan Gershkovich on espionage allegations, according to a State Department summary of the call. Blinken called for his immediate release. Blinken also sought the immediate release of Whelan, whom the statement said was wrongfully detained. Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, has been imprisoned in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government have said are baseless.

Pakistan denies reports of trade relations with Israel

ISLAMABAD, APR 2

(IANS): Amid reports of an exchange of goods between Pakistan and Israel, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) and the Ministry of Trade and Commerce denied on Sunday having made any trade with the nation, media reports said.

The American Jewish Congress (AJC) had claimed that bilateral trade occurred with the offloading of the first shipment carrying Pakistani-originated food products in Israel. Issuing a clarification over the purported trade, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz

Zahra Baloch said Pakistan does not have diplomatic or trade relations with Israel, Geo News reported. “There is no change in the policy,” she stressed.

Forest fires break out across South Korea

SEOUL, APR 2 (IANS):

Forest fires broke out across South Korea on Sunday due to dry and windy weather in spring, a media report said. According to the KFS realtime forest fire information website, a total of 30 forest fires broke out across the country at 3:30 p.m. local time (0630 GMT), Yonhap News Agency reported. Among the total, 15 fires had been extinguished. The government issued a special dry weather warning. A relatively large fire occurred at 11:53 a.m. local time (0253 GMT) on Mount Inwang in Seoul, a mountain near the previous location of the country’s presidential office, Xinhua News Agency reported quoting the KFS.

4 Indians among 8 die as they attempt to

enter US illegally from Canada

TORONTO, APR 2 (PTI): Canadian police have named two of the eight people, including four Indians, whose bodies were found in a marshland area along the US-Canada border, amid an investigation into the circumstances of their deaths.

Bodies of eight persons were recovered last week from the marsh on the riverbank near Akwesasne, a community which straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York state.

Police say the deceased — believed to be two families of Indian and Romanian descent — were trying to cross into the US from Canada. Among them were two children under the age of three, both Canadian citizens.

On Saturday, police said that four Indian nationals, who they believed were a family attempting to cross into the US, have not been identified.

Citing a source with the police in India, the CBC News reported that at least three of them are family members from Gujarat.

The source said the family members include a man in his 50s and a woman and man in their 20s. The

age and gender of the fourth Indian national is unknown at this time, the report said. The identities of other people recovered of Indian descent have not been released, pending identification and notification of next of kin, the Montreal Gazette newspaper reported.

“The circumstances of their deaths continue to be investigated,” the paper added. “However, it is known that these families were attempting to enter the United States illegally from Canada,” Akwesasne Mohawk Police said.

Akwesasne officials have named two family members of Romanian descent — including a man holding his two children’s passports — who were among eight bodies recov-

Gen (retd.) Bajwa put pressure on me to develop friendly ties with India: Imran

LAHORE, APR 2 (PTI):

ered from the St. Lawrence River, near the Quebec-Ontario border.

“One man has been identified as 28-year-old Florin Iordache. Police said he had two Canadian passports in his possession — one for his two-year-old child and another for his one-year-old infant whose bodies were recovered,” the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported. “One woman — Florin’s wife and the children’s mother — has also been identified as 28-year-old Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache,” the report said, quoting the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service statement.

Police found the bodies of five adults and one infant in the marshland on Friday.

Nepal seeks to sign 25-year electricity deal with India during Prachanda’s visit

KATHMANDU, APR 2 (PTI): Nepal is keen to sign a 25-year agreement with India on selling its surplus power to the neighbouring country during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s expected visit to New Delhi.

Though the official date of Prachanda’s visit to India is yet to be announced, the Kathmandu Post newspaper, quoting Nepali officials, reported on Sunday that the prime minister is likely to travel to New Delhi after the second week of April. However, the two sides have yet to announce the dates, it said.

“We are preparing a proposal for the Indian side on the 25-year agreement. But a lot also depends on whether the Indian side agrees to include our proposal in the agenda,” the report quoted a senior official at the energy ministry as saying.

Dinesh Ghimire, secretary at the ministry, said the issue of the long-term intergovernmental agreement

was under discussion at the ministry but was yet to be forwarded to Nepal’s foreign ministry to make it an agenda item ahead of the prime minister’s trip.

He said such an agreement can be signed only if the Indian side gives its nod at the bureaucratic level before Prachanda reaches New Delhi, the report said.

Nepal proposed such a deal during the 10th secretary-level meeting of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) on Energy Cooperation in India in late February. “During the meeting, it was decided that Nepal would make a proposal which India would examine,” said Prabal Adhikari, power trade director at the

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), who was also in the Nepali delegation.

At the JSC meeting in Mount Abu, Rajasthan in February, Nepal and India inked an agreement to increase the power import and export capacity through the Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur transmission line from 600 megawatts to 800 megawatts.

An agreement to import and export 70 to 80 MW of electricity from Tanakpur-Mahendranagar

132 KV (kilovolt) power transmission was also signed between the two sides. They agreed to set up the necessary mechanisms to export power from Nepal to Bihar during the rainy season through the existing 132 KV transmission line.

Currently, Nepal is allowed to sell 452.6 MW of electricity generated by 10 hydropower projects in the Indian power markets. The Himalayan nation awaits approval for more projects from Indian authorities to export electricity.

Another infant and an adult woman were located later. One of the children was a Canadian citizen.

Akwesasne police are working with Immigration Canada to assist with identifying the victims and notifying the next of kin. They are also increasing surveillance on the river.

“Our hearts are with the families of these victims as we try to work through our own grief for precious lives lost in our territory. Our culture and traditions are based heavily around family and it is difficult for us all to imagine the dreams these families had and the sadness of their deaths.

“This heart-wrenching event profoundly demonstrates the human qualities we all share,” said the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.

Grand Chief Abram Benedict said the department is committed to understanding how this tragedy occurred and “how we can work with our police department and partners to prevent it from ever happening again.”

Valene Gray, the owner of the Three Feathers Cafe, said the community has been shaken by the tragedy.

Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan has claimed that the then Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had put pressure on him to develop friendly ties with India.

Relations between India and Pakistan have often been strained over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. However, their ties nose-dived after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.

“Gen Bajwa wanted me to develop friendly ties with India. He put pressure on me for this and it was one of the reasons our relationship deteriorated,” Khan claimed during an interaction with social media journalists at his Lahore’s Zaman Park residence on Saturday evening.

He, however, reiterated his stance that Pakistan should only hold peace talks with India provided New Delhi restores the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. India has repeatedly told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror,

hostility and violence. The 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman further said what Gen (retd.) Bajwa did to Pakistan even an enemy couldn’t do. “Bajwa should be held accountable by the army,” he said.

Khan in the past accused Bajwa of not only toppling his country that laid a foundation of economic disaster but also committing atrocities against him, his party members and journalists. “Bajwa wanted me killed,” Khan alleged.

Khan has been at loggerheads with Gen (retd.) Bajwa ever since his ouster from power in April last year by a no-confidence motion.

Gen (retd) Bajwa retired on November 29 last year after two consecutive three-year terms. Regarding the PML-N led federal government’s assertion that it would not accept the verdict

of a three-member bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial in polls in two provinces, Khan said: “I know what kind of benefits this cabal of corrupts would get by delaying the elections in Punjab and Kyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. They are just delaying elections hoping to crush the PTI or finish Imran Khan.” Khan asked the ruling alliance to explain the reasons for postponing polls till October, 2023. “If elections are not held within 90 days in two provinces Pakistan will be without a constitution,” he said. Khan’s party had dissolved assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in January after which a caretaker setup took over. Under the constitution, elections are held within 90 days from the date of dissolution of an assembly.

Pak to place order for Russian oil next month: minister

ISLAMABAD, APR 2 (PTI): Cash-strapped Pakistan plans to place its first order for Russian crude oil next month and it will take about four weeks for the commodity to reach the country, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik said.

Pakistan, which is currently grappling with high external debt and a weak local currency, is desperate to purchase cheap crude at discounted rates from Russia. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar last year said that the country was considering buying discounted Russian oil, pointing out that neighbour India had been purchasing oil from Moscow and Islamabad also had a right to explore the possibility, Dawn news reported.

Subsequently, Malik travelled to Moscow for talks on issues including oil and gas supplies after which the government announced that it would purchase discounted crude oil, petrol, and diesel from Russia.

In December last year, Russia refused to provide Pakistan with a 30 per cent discount on its crude oil

Finns vote in tight election; young leader seeks reelection

HELSINKI, APR 2 (AP):

A general election in Finland was expected to result in a close finish by three political parties on Sunday, with Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats fighting to secure a second term running the government.

Over 2,400 candidates from 22 parties were vying for the 200 seats in the Nordic country’s parliament, the Eduskunta. Some 40 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots in advance.

Marin, who at age 37 is one of Europe’s youngest leaders, has received praise for her Cabinet’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and for her prominent role, along with President Sauli Niinistö, in advocating for Finland’s successful application to join NATO. Her vocal support of Ukraine in the last year has increased her international visibility.

“Of course we hope that the Social Democrats will win this election ... It’s so important because we want to stay an open society. We also want to work together internationally. We want to build a better green sustainable future where people have the same op-

portunities in life,” Marin told the Associated Press while campaigning Saturday in central Helsinki. Marin remains popular at home but her party’s views on the Finnish economy, which emerged as the main campaign theme, were being challenged by two main opponents: the center-right National Coalition Party led by Petteri Orpo and the right-wing populist The Finns party, which i s led by Riikka Purra. “The most important thing in the next government is to fix our economy, push economic growth, balance public economy. And the second very important issue is to build up NATO-Finland,” Orpo told

the AP during a campaign event in Espoo, just outside the capital, on Saturday.

Riikka Purra stressed that the The Finns would focus on shaping Finland’s migration, climate, criminal and energy policies if the populist party become a partner in the next government. “And we also want to tighten up our attitude towards the European Union,” Purra said during a campaign event in the municipality of Kirkkonummi, her home district located some 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of Helsinki.

Recent polls indicated each of the three parties could take about 20 per cent of the vote. If that happens, no party would be in posi-

tion to form a government alone; whichever one wins the most votes is expected to begin talks in the next few days on forming a governing coalition. After voting at Helsinki City Hall, university professor Mariana Seppänen said she thinks Marin’s positive reputation abroad exceeds the prime minister’s domestic popularity. “I think usually the party that has been in charge and has the prime minister ... loses the election, and the criticism has been very harsh,” Seppänen said. “But I think she (Marin) has a lot of support anyway.”

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland to seek NATO membership in May 2022, neither the historic decision to abandon the nation’s non-alignment policy nor the war have emerged as major campaign issues. Finland shares a long land border with Russia.

Apart from Finland’s economy, other issues the parties debated during the election campaign were the government’s increasing debt, climate change, education, immigration and social benefits.

after the Pakistani delegation asked for a reduction in price. A Russian delegation in January arrived here for talks to finalise the deal, during which the two sides decided to address all technical issues — insurance, transportation and payment mechanism — to sign an agreement by late March. “After consensus on the technical specifications achieved, the oil and gas trade transaction will be structured in a way it has a mutual economic benefit for both countries,” a joint statement issued by the two sides during the three-day meeting then stated.

In an interview on the Geo News programme Jirga on Saturday night, Malik said that a number of

agreements with Russia had been reached and Pakistan would place an order next month. “However, it will take some time for the oil to reach Pakistan … nearly 26 to 27 days,” he stated, revealing that the commodity would arrive in the country via sea. Malik also clarified that Russia had assured the government that it was giving Pakistan a discount as much as any other neighbouring country was receiving. Talking about the government’s decision regarding separate gas tariffs for the rich and the poor, the minister said that the mechanism was devised on the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif. “So we divided the country into the population of the rich and the poor … so if a poor woman is using a unit of gas she will give one-fourth of the bills that a woman in F-7 or Gulberg is paying,” he said.

“In Pakistan, 60 per cent of the population is poor and for them, we have either reduced the gas tariff

or kept it the same as was in the past.” The same, he went on to say, was the case with the petroleum subsidy. “Under it, the rich will pay Rs 300 for petrol and the poor will pay Rs 200 for the commodity.” Cashstrapped Pakistan has been struggling hard to revive the USD 6.5 billion derailed IMF bailout package that the Washington-based global lender approved in 2019. Although, its missteps, like the petrol subsidy and attempts to borrow directly from commercial banks, have further complicated matters for the cashstarved country, resulting in sky-high inflation. A conservative internal assessment of the Finance Ministry on Friday suggested around 34 per cent inflation rate in March. The ministry said that a “potential reason for rising price level is political and economic uncertainty”. The ministry also noted that the delay in finalising the USD 1.1 billion tranches of funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme was causing further economic distress.

UK to offer public bodies free portraits of King Charles III

LONDON, APR 2 (PTI):

The UK has unveiled about 8 million-pound funding for its public sector authorities to be able to apply for a free portrait of King Charles III as part of a scheme to celebrate the new reign after Queen Elizabeth II’s death last year. The Cabinet Office said councils, courts, schools, police forces, fire and rescue services and other state-funded organisations will be among the public institutions across the length and breadth of the UK to be offered a new official portrait photograph of the 74-year-old monarch, funded by the UK taxpayers.

The announcement this weekend comes ahead of the celebrations planned for the King and Queen Consort Camilla’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6. “We have entered a new reign in our history. Now as we unite in preparing for the splendour of the King’s Coronation, these new portraits will serve as a visible reminder in buildings up and down the country of the nation’s ultimate public

servant,” Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said on Saturday.

“They will help us turn a page in our history together – and pay a fitting tribute to our new sovereign.

I am sure they will take pride of place in public buildings across the land,” he said.

The government said official portraits of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died aged 96 in September last year, are currently on display in many public institutions, and the new portrait of Charles is intended to carry on that tradition.

“This scheme will allow thousands of public institutions across the UK to mark this defining moment in our nation’s history with pride,” said John Glen, Chief Secretary to the Trea-

sury. “The Coronation of His Majesty the King is an opportunity for the whole country to unite, and these new portraits continue a very British tradition to celebrate this momentous occasion,” he said.

The scheme will begin later this year following the Coronation and the release of the official portraits of the King by Buckingham Palace. Those public authorities who are eligible, a list to be released by the palace, will be offered the opportunity to request one free framed portrait once it is released.

However, there is some criticism over the large taxpayer funding being devoted to the scheme.

“At a time when a majority of local councils are raising taxes and cutting public services, when schools and hospitals are struggling, to spend even 1 pound on this nonsense would be 1 pound too much,” Graham Smith, chief executive of the antimonarchy group Republic which campaigns for the UK to become a republic, said in a statement.

King Charles III

Searchers look for victims in Akwesasne, Quebec.

Finnish PM Sanna Marin addresses supporters during her elections rally in Helsinki on April 1. (AFP)

Imran Khan and General Qamar Javed Bajwa

Musadik Malik

P. K. Dahal Prachanda

Listening to music can make your medicines more effective: Study

Want your medicines to be more effective? Research suggests that turning up your favourite song while popping the pills may be of help soon.

While previous studies have used music-listening interventions as a tool to treat pain and anxiety, a team from the Michigan State University in the US took a novel approach by studying the effects of music-listening interventions on chemotherapy-induced nausea.

“Music-listening interventions are like over-thecounter medications,” said Jason Kiernan, Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing. “You don’t need a doctor to prescribe them.”

“Pain and anxiety are both neurological phenomena and are interpreted in the brain as a state. Chemotherapy-induced nausea is not a stomach condition; it is a neurological one,” Kiernan said.

The small pilot study, published in the journal

Clinical Nursing Research, included 12 patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment who agreed to listen to their favourite music for 30 minutes each time they needed to take their as-needed anti-nausea medication.

They repeated the music intervention anytime nausea occurred over the five days beyond their chemotherapy treatment. The patients in the study provided a total of 64 events.

“When we listen to music, our brains fire all kinds of neurons,” Kiernan said.

While Kiernan did see

Aditya Narayan recovers from Covid for third time

Indian Idol has been a top notch experience all these years. We have witnessed unprecedented success and love from our audience.”

Ajay Devgn-starrer ‘Bholaa’ mints Rs 30.70 crore in 3 days

Bollywood star Ajay Devgn’s latest release

Singer and host Aditya

Narayan has expressed his happiness as he recovered from Covid-19 for the third time. Aditya who is currently hosting the 13th season of the singing reality show ‘Indian Idol’ revealed that he is happy that he recovered before its finale.

He took to his Instagram handle and shared that his journey on the show ‘Indian Idol’ has been wonderful and it is always full of fun and enjoyment.

Aditya also shared his gratitude for his co-judges on the show Vishal Dadlani, Neha Kakkar, and Himesh Reshammiya, and the entire team for making it successful throughout the season.

He shared a couple of pictures with the caption: “Beat COVID for the third time! Still alive, still smiling and still grateful for this wonderful life. Hosting

‘Gladiators’ star Falcon has died aged 59

Aditya further said that he is glad to recover before the finale so he will not miss hosting it. “In almost 20 years and 13 seasons of its run on Indian television, it has had about 320 episodes. In just the past three and a half years and three seasons that I’ve been a part of it, I have hosted about 200 of them! We’ve had a great run. Thank you team. Thank you to my big brothers @realhimesh & @vishaldadlani for everything. You are real ones. Thank you dearest @ nehakakkar. I will miss this but most importantly, I will miss you all dearly. Glad that I recovered just in time to host the finale!” he added.

On the work front, Aditya is known for hosting ‘Indian Idol’, ‘Sa Re Ga Pa Li’l Champs’, and participating in ‘Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 9’. He has also acted in ‘Pardes’, ‘Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai’, ‘Rangeela’, among others.

(IANS)

a reduction in the ratings of patients’ nausea severity and their distress (how much it bothered them to be nauseous), he cautions that it is difficult to isolate whether it was the gradual release of the medication doing its job or the increased benefit of the music.

He aims to do further research on this based on a previously published study that showed an increase in the amount of serotonin, a neurotransmitter -- released by platelets in the blood -after listening to unpleasant and pleasant music.

“Serotonin is the ma-

jor neurotransmitter that causes chemotherapy-induced nausea. Cancer patients take medications to block serotonin’s effects,” Kiernan said. Researchers found that patients who listened to pleasant music experienced the lowest levels of serotonin release, indicating that the serotonin stayed in the blood platelets and was not released to circulate throughout the body. Results also showed that after listening to music they found unpleasant, patients experienced greater stress and increased levels of serotonin release.

“This was intriguing because it provides a neurochemical explanation and a possible way to measure serotonin and the blood platelet release of serotonin in my study,” Kiernan said.

“In 10 to 20 years, wouldn’t it be neat if you could use a nonpharmacological intervention like listening to 10 minutes of your favourite music to complement a medicine?”

(IANS)

‘Bholaa’, which released on March 30, has raked in Rs. 30.70 crore in just three days.

According to a statement, the film, which also stars Tabu and Deepak Dobriyal, collected Rs 11.20 crore on Thursday, Rs. 7.40 crore on Friday and on Saturday it minted Rs 12.10 crore making a total of Rs. 30.70 crore.

The word of mouth for Ajay’s ‘Bholaa’ has resulted in great footfall on its first Saturday. The film saw an upward trend on Saturday earning 12.10 crore and a grand total of 30.70 crore in three days, the statement read.

‘Bholaa’, directed by Ajay Devgn is a remake of the 2019 Tamil film ‘Kaithi’. The film stars Devgn in the titular role alongside Tabu, Deepak Dobriyal, Sanjay Mishra, Gajraj Rao and Vineet Kumar.

The film follows an exconvict who battles criminals while transporting a truck full of poisoned cops to the hospital in exchange for meeting his daughter after ten years of imprisonment. (IANS)

WHILE EXECUTING & DELIVERING GOVT. POLICIES IF YOUR ANSWER TO YOURSELF MATCHES WITH YOUR ANSWER TO THE INTERVIEW BOARD NEXT YEAR YOU ARE ALREADY IN THE TOP 10% OF ALL WHO ARE PREPARING FOR THE EXAM BECAUSE YOU ARE RIGHT, AT THE CORE IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE YOUR REASONS RIGHT BECAUSE IT SETS YOU IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO BE LOGICAL, RATIONAL , FACT ORIENTED, WELL INFORMED, ANALYTICAL, OPINIONATED, ARTICULATED & COMPOSED WHICH ARE THE KEY QUALITIES TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL CIVIL SERVANT HOW TO DECIDE WHETHER YOU NEED COACHING FOR NPSC/UPSC ?

ANSWER THESE 10 QUESTIONS FOR YOURSELF

1. DO THE PAST YEAR PRELIM/MAINS PAPERS, MAKE YOU CLUELESS?

2. DOES THE PRELIM/MAINS SYLLABUS, MAKE YOU REALISE YOUR FUNDAMENTALS IN EACH G.S. SUBJECT IS NOT EQUALLY STRONG?

3. OUT OF AN OCEAN OF BOOKS & ONLINE RESOURCES, ARE YOU NOT SURE OF WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW TO STUDY?

4. OUT OF THE FLOODED ONLINE RESOURCES, ARE YOU CLUELESS HOW TO FILTER RELEVANT CURRENT AFFAIRS?

5. ARE YOU NOT CONFIDENT TO DRAFT ANSWERS FOR DESCRIPTIVE MAINS QUESTIONS, WITH PROPER ARTICULATION & POINTERS?

6. ARE YOU CLUELESS HOW TO WRITE A GREAT ESSAY , OF THE CIVIL SERVICES EXAM STANDARD, WHICH NEEDS AN EXCLUSIVE APPROACH & ANALYSIS OF A TOPIC WITH OPINION?

7. YOU HAVE THE CONFIDENCE FOR SELF STUDY BUT ARE YOU UNABLE TO PLAN YOUR PREPARATION, HOW TO START & HOW TO PROGRESS HOLISTICALLY?

8. ARE YOU CLUELESS HOW TO MANAGE & PLAN YOUR TIME?

9. DO YOU STUDY A LOT & YET STAY CONFUSED?

10. DO YOU STRUGGLE TO STAY FOCUSED & MOTIVATED?

IF YOUR ANSWER IS ‘YES’

TO MOST QUESTIONS YOU DEFINITELY NEED COACHING

ONCE YOU KNOW YOU NEED COACHING HOW WOULD YOU CHOOSE WHICH INSTITUTE TO JOIN OUT OF 30+ OPTIONS IN NAGALAND?

WHICH OF THESE ARE YOUR PRIMARY FACTORS?

1. THE CENTRE IS VERY CLOSE TO YOUR PLACE OF STAY

2. THE COURSE FEE IS CHEAPER THAN THE BEST INSTITUTE

3. THE COURSE IS SHORTER AND HELPS YOU CLEAR PRELIM

4. ONE OR TWO EX-TEACHERS OF THE BEST INSTITUTE TEACH THERE

5. YOU WANT TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW INSTITUTES

6. ONE OR TWO YEARS OF RESULTS ARE ENOUGH FOR YOU TO JUDGE

7. INSTITUTES WITH NEVER ENDING RESULTS OF FIRST BATCH & FIRST ATTEMPT EVERY YEAR, SOUND CONVINCING

8. CHECKING THE GENUINITY OF UNREALISTIC HIGH RESULTS OF SOME

Bernadette Hunt, best known as Falcon on the TV game show Gladiators, has died aged 59. The news was announced by Rick Jango, the partner of Hunt’s older sister, who confirmed she had died following a battle with cancer.

In a Facebook post, he wrote: “It is with great sadness that I have to tell you of my partner’s younger sister Bernadette Hunt. Most people will remember her as Falcon from the hit TV show Gladiators. “She had been battling cancer for a number of years until sadly she lost her fight. R.I.P. Bernie.”

Hunt joined Gladiators in the show’s second season in 1993 and remained until the show’s end in 2000. She was the second longestserving female Gladiator on the show. She is survived by husband Mark and two children, son Adam and daughter Angel. (NME)

9. VERIFYING CLAIMS MADE IN SOME ADS BY SPARING 2 MINUTES TO CHECK THEIR WEBSITE. FOR EXAMPLE, SOME FRANCHISE CENTRES CLAIMING TO BE INDIA’S BIGGEST INSTITUTE FOR CIVIL SERVICE WITH 28+ YEARS OF EXCELLENCE IN CS BUT SHOCKINGLY HAS NEVER HAD CIVIL SERVICE COURSES ANYWHERE OUTSIDE NAGALAND & EVERYDAY PUBLISHES FAKE NPSC RESULTS (WITH 3 NICSE STUDENTS).

10. CREDIBILITY OF NICSE, THE UNDISPUTED BEST:

1O YEARS OF TRUST OF ASPIRANTS & PARENTS

10 YEARS OF MOST HOLISTIC CIVIL SERVICE COURSES

10 YEARS OF BEST MATERIALS & CONTENT

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PIONEER IN MOCK TESTS & THE BEST TESTS FOR 10 YEARS

10 YEARS OF HIGHEST & UNINFLATED

NPSC SELECTIONS EVER BY ANY INSTITUTE

IF YOUR PRIMARY FACTOR IS ANY OF THE FIRST 7, START THINKING LIKE A CIVIL SERVANT, WITH LOGIC STOP, RETHINK, SCRUTINIZE, OPEN YOUR EYES

Man City beat Liverpool to pressure Arsenal

LONDON, APR 2 (IANS): Manchester City kept their calm after falling behind, to roar back and beat Liverpool 4-1 in a result that very much keeps them in the race for the Premier League title.

Although Mohamed Salah poached a goal for Liverpool in the 17th minute, Julian Alvarez, who was in the side for injured Erling Haaland, levelled 10 minutes later and then helped Riyad Mahrez set up Kevin de Bruyne to put City ahead in the first minute of the second half.

Ilkay Gundogan then put the result beyond doubt when he made it 3-1 in the 53rd minute after Alvarez’s shot had been blocked and the impressive Jack Grealish got the goal he deserved in the 74th minute after exchanging passes with De Bruyne.

“When we conceded

the goal, we were playing really well. Of course, they are always a threat in the transitions, but we played really well in all departments. It was one of our best performances in these seven years,” said Man City coach Pep Guardiola afterwards. Arsenal responded magnificently to the pres-

sure with a 4-1 win at home to Leeds United, with two goals from a fit-again Gabriel Jesus (the first from the penalty spot), while Ben White and Granit Xhaka completed the scoring for Arsenal.

Goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn gave Aston Villa a 2-0 win away

to Chelsea to once again pile the pressure on coach Graham Potter, who had to endure chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from the fans in Stamford Bridge. Aston Villa, meanwhile, climbed up to ninth after a run of four wins from their last five league games.

Roy Hodgson’s return to Crystal Palace ended in dramatic fashion with Jean-Philippe Mateta giving Palace their first win of 2023 with the very last kick of the game.

Ricardo Pereira had put Leicester ahead in the 56th minute, but Daniel Iversen’s own goal from an Eberechi Eze free-kick levelled the score three minutes later. Jean-Philippe Mateta sent home Jordan Ayew’s assist in the 94th minute and pushed Leicester into the bottom three with 25 points from 28

1st T20I: Ish Sodhi’s score-levelling

six

goes in vain as Sri Lanka win Super Over

games.

Bournemouth came back from a goal down to beat Fulham 2-1 and climb out of the relegation zone. Andreas Pereira put Fulham ahead early in the game, but second-half strikes from Marcus Tavernier and Dominic Solanke, with Tavernier scoring a brilliant goal, turned the game around.

Daniel Podence scored a late equalizer to save a point for Wolves in a relegation dogfight away to Nottingham Forest, who looked to be on the way to three vital points after a first-half strike from Brennan Johnson.

Alexis Mac Allister’s 90th-minute penalty saved a point for Brighton in a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Brentford. Allister’s spot kick was the third time Brighton came back from a goal down in the match.

AUCKLAND, APR 2 (IANS):

Spinner Ish Sodhi blasted a six off the final delivery of the match to level scores but his effort went in vain as Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand in a Super Over in the first T20I here on Sunday.

Needing 13 from the final over to win the threematch series opener after Sri Lanka posted 196/5 in 20 overs, Sodhi and Henry Shipley scrambled six runs from the first five balls to set up a thrilling finale. Sodhi then flicked Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka high over mid-wicket for a six to tie the match and send it into a one-over decider.

However, New Zealand’s hopes ended in the Super Over as spinner Maheesh Theekshana restricted the Black Caps to just nine runs, which Charith Asalanka easily overhauled with a

Sri Lanka batters celebrate during the match against NZ.

six and a four off Kiwi quick Adam Milne.

Earlier, Asalanka smacked a 41-ball 67, clearing the modest Eden Park boundary six times as the visitors set New Zealand 197 to win. Kusal Mendis got Sri Lanka off to a good start with 25 off nine balls before Kusal Perera smashed an unbeaten 53 from 45 balls as Milne, Ben Lister and Shipley all conceded more

than 10 runs per over. Brief scores: Sri Lanka 196/5 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 67, Kusal Perera 53 not out, Kusal Mendis 25; James Neesham 2-30) beat New Zealand 196/8 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 66, Mark Chapman 33, Rachin Ravindra 26; Dasun Shanaka 2-20, Wanindu Hasaranga 2-30, Pramod Madushan 2-37) the match in a one-over eliminator.

NEW DELHI, APR 2

(PTI): The Supreme Court is likely to hear on April 5 a batch of pleas on issues related to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), including objections raised to certain aspects of its draft constitution.

According to the list of business uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala will hear the petitions, including the one filed by the AIFF, on Wednesday.

The pleas were mentioned for urgent hearing by senior advocate Rahul Mehra, who had filed a PIL on the issue in the Delhi High Court, on March 27.

“It will not be deleted (from the cause list) on the next date of hearing,” the CJI-led bench had said.

On February 9, the top court had said it must bring the curtain down on issues plaguing the AIFF, including those pertaining to approval of its draft constitution. The bench had asked senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, assisting it as an amicus curia (friend of the court), to have a meet-

ing with the counsels of all stakeholders and find out key objections to the draft constitution of the AIFF.

The top court had also directed the termination of the mandate of a threemember committee of administrators appointed by it in May last year to manage the affairs of the AIFF.

It had modified its earlier orders to facilitate the revocation of the suspension which was imposed on the AIFF by international football federation FIFA and the holding of the Under-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 in India.

On May 18 last year, the bench had appointed the panel headed by Justice (retired) Anil R Dave and had ousted the NCP leader Praful Patel-led management committee that had exceeded its tenure by over two-and-a-half years. The Dave-headed committee had former CEE S Y Qureshi and former Indian football team captain Bhaskar Ganguly as its members.

However, this came in the way of the holding of the Under-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 as no elected AIFF body was at the helm.

The Dimapur Wokhae Ekhung is extremely overwhelmed to extend our hearty congratulations to Dr. CHUMBEN MURRY for being appointed as advisor to the Chief Minister of Nagaland. This remarkable achievement and responsibility bestowed upon you is a gift for your hard work, sincerity and wisdom. The Ekhung wishes you good health and success in your responsibilities as an Advisor to CM.

The Ekhung also extend our sincere appreciation and thankfulness to Shri. Neiphiu Rio, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Nagaland for his magnanimous gesture for reposing trust and confidence on our leader. Sd/-

Tsenjamo

K-628/23(A)

Kevin de Bruyne celebrating his goal against Liverpool.

Supreme Court to hear pleas related to AIFF on April 5

IPL: Rajasthan Royals thrash SRH by 72-run

Spain Masters 2023: Sindhu loses to Gregoria Tunjung in final

HYDERABAD,

APR 2 (IANS): An impressive batting display from top-order batters followed by Yuzvendra Chahal’s superb four-fer (4/17) lead Rajasthan Royals to a resounding 72-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the fourth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Sunday.

Riding on the halfcenturies from Jos Buttler, Yashaswi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, RR posted a massive total of 203/5 on the board. In response, SRH suffered early batting collapse as they managed to score 131/8 in their 20 overs with Abdul Samad top scoring with unbeaten 32.

Chasing a big total of 204, Sunrisers got early blows as Trent Boult dismissed opener Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi for ducks. Abhishek was completely outplayed by Boult’s sizzling yorker as the ball flattened the off stump in the third ball of the innings.

A dot ball later, the Kiwi pacer struck again to remove Tripathi, who got caught at the slip by Jason Holder. But Tripathi went

for a review, thinking that he had not nicked it at all. However, the replay confirmed that Tripathi had nickled the ball and he had to walk back.

Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal cautiously took the innings forward with RR bowlers keeping a tight leash on SRH’s runrate as the Bhuvneshwar-led side managed to score 30 for a loss of two wickets in the powerplay.

In the first over after powerplay, Yuzvendra Chahal put another dent on SRH’s batting as he cleaned up debutant Harry Brook,

who tried to cut the length delivery but didn’t get any room and the ball went past the bat to crash into the stumps.

Sunrisers went into deep trouble in the ninth over when Holder removed Washington Sundar for 1. The all-rounder opted for a pull but ended up getting the toe-end of the bat and the ball went towards mid-off where Shimron Hetmyer took it safely.

In the next over, Ravichandran Ashwin too joined the party and sent Glenn Philips back to the hut with Sunrisers reeling

Kvitova upends Rybakina for women’s Miami Open title

her fifth set point. A suddenly shaky Rybakina hit a forehand long to end the 22-minute tiebreaker; she had been undefeated at 7-0 in tiebreakers in 2023.

Rybakina, who won at Indian Wells, admitted to fatigue after the tiebreaker from the travel. The women’s tour will shortly head to Europe for the claycourt season.

MIAMI GARDENS

(FLORIDA), APR 2 (AP):

Twelfth-seeded Petra Kvitova won the Miami Open in her 13th appearance, beating seventh-seeded Elena Rybakina with a marathon tiebreaker in a 7-6 (14), 6-2 victory Saturday.

The 33-year-old Kvitova, snapped Rybakina’s 13-match winning streak and halted her bid to win the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami Open).

In winning with will, stalwart defense and one sensational forehand winner on the dead run that electrified the crowd in the second set, the lefty Kvitova captured her 30th WTA singles title and first one since 2018

in Madrid.

After Rybakina hit a forehand long on match point, Kvitova raised her arms and put her hands to her head. She was broken just once in the match. It was her 41st career WTA Finals appearance but first final in Miami. She also will vault into the Top 10.

Kvitova, who is from the Czech Republic, disagreed with the announcement Wimbledon would accept Russian players this year. Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, is from Moscow but represents Kazakhstan. A past Wimbledon champion, the 6-foot Kvitova won the firstset epic tiebreaker 16-14 on

Kenyan, Ethiopian runners win at Xiamen Marathon

XIAMEN (CHINA), APR

2 (IANS): Kenyan Philimon Kiptoo Kipchumba claimed the men’s title, while Meseret Abebayehu Alemu from Ethiopia took the women’s gold in the 2023 Xiamen Marathon on Sunday.

Kipchumba, who was not leading in the early phase of the race, clocked a time of two hours, eight minutes and four seconds to cross the finishing line first, reports Xinhua.

“This is my first time competing in Xiamen Marathon. The race impressed me with the number of racers and the enthusiastic spectators,” Kipchumba said. “I kept my pace in the early stages of the race, and begin to speed up at the end, this is my strategy.”

Lencho Tesfaye Anbesa from Ethiopia and Omar Ait Chitachen from Morocco took the silver and bronze medals in 2:08:29 and 2:08:59 respectively.

The women’s title went to Ethiopia’s Alemu who clocked 2:24:42, while Gladys Chesir Kiptagelai

ball, and followed it up with another one as a high fulltoss, which was called noball for height by the square leg umpire.

But Sanju Samson reviewed, which is of no use as it was the right call by the umpire. Then, Adil Rashid whipped the ball away over mid-wicket and found the gap to get a boundary off the free Hit.

At the end of the 14th over, SRH lost Rashid, who went down the track but missed Chahal’s slower ball by some distance and Samson did the rest behind the stumps to leave SRH seven down.

48 for 5 after 10 overs. Chahal struck again in the 11th over to dismiss Agarwal, who holed out to long-on for a six where Buttler completed the catch comfortably. Though Adil Rashid went for a couple of big hits, it almost became an impossible task for the Sunrisers to pull off a win with half of their side heading back to pavilion. Meanwhile, Navdeep Saini came in as a substitute player for Yashwaswi Jaiswal. Saini came into the attack in the 13th over, and overstepped on the third

MADRID,

APR 2 (IANS):

Kiptoo Kipchumba

from Kenya finished second in 2:25:51. Guteni Shone Imana, also from Ethiopia, took the bronze in 2:25:58.

As one of China’s top marathons, the 2023 Xiamen Marathon has attracted 35,000 contestants.

The Xiamen Marathon gained the World Athletics Elite Platinum Label in 2021, becoming the second Chinese marathon race to win this label after the Shanghai Marathon.

The set lasted 66 minutes during which each player held serve until 4-4 then exchanged service breaks.

Rybakina finished with 10 aces for the first set while setting the record for most aces in a WTA Tournament, smashing Madison Keys’ mark. Rybakina, who had 12 aces total for the match, finished the tournament with 69 for the tournament.

Kvitova broke Rybakina in second game of the second set with a backhand winner on the service return to go up 2-0 and the streak was soon over for Rybakina.

The men’s singles final is Sunday and pits Jannik Sinner, coming off his semifinal upset of defending Miami Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, against Daniil Medvedev.

Abdul Samad and Umran were in a competition of who would hit longer as the former started the final over with a maximum off Saini’s bowling.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 203/5 in 20 overs (Yashaswi Jaiswal 54 off 37, Jos Buttler 54 off 22 and Sanju Samson 55 off 32; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2/41, T Natarajan 2/23) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 131/8 in 20 overs (Abdul Samad 32 off 32, Mayank Agarwal 27 off 23; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/17, Trent Boult 2/21) by 72 runs.

1st NECDC: Nagaland to face Manipur in final today

DIMAPUR, APR 2 (NPN): Nagaland will take on Manipur at the ongoing first North East Cricket Development Committee (NECDC) Interstate Senior Men’s Friendship Tournament on April 3 at Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Sovima at 12 noon. Chief Minister of Nagaland and convenor NECDC, Neiphiu Rio will grace the final match and the prize distribution ceremony as the special guest.

A press release issued by Nagaland Cricket Association (NCA) media & communication cell informed that the semi-finals match between Nagaland and Meghalaya had to be abandoned yet again for the second time after rain created spoilt sport. Owing to this result, Nagaland as table toppers of Group-2 will proceed to the final to take on mighty Manipur.

Earlier, Nagaland having won the toss decided to field first and put the Meghalaya team to bat. Everything seemed to be working as planned for team Nagaland as the bowlers were able to restrict and check the opening batsmen from Meghalaya and in the

process, they got out Raj Biswa, Arien Bonchang and Wallambok Nongkhlaw cheaply for a score of 1, 6 and 0 respectively.

Meanwhile, Kishan Lyngdoh (22 runs) and Kevin (24 runs) steadied the innings for their team. Nagaland bowlers had a great start with the ball as Hopongkyu Sangtam, Nagaho Chishi and Imliwati shared 2 wickets each and Tahmeed Rahman took a lone wicket. However, it was the late cameo from Jaskirat (43 runs) and Akash (45 runs) who also remained not out to take Meghalaya to a big total of 168 runs on the scoreboard losing 9 wickets after the match got reduced to 38 overs per side. Nagaland run chase could not progress as rain interrupted the play with Hem Bahadur Chetri batting on 6 runs and Yugandhar Singh batting on 15 runs with 23 total runs on the board in 9.1 overs without losing any wickets. NCA has invited all sports lovers and supporters to be a part of the final match at Nagaland Cricket Stadium, Sovima and the entry for the public will be from Gate No. 2.

Verstappen wins in wild finish to Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix

MELBOURNE, APR 2

(AP): Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has claimed his first Australian Grand Prix in remarkable circumstances in a chaotic Formula 1 race filled with drama from the green light to the checkered flag.

Although Red Bull’s first triumph in Melbourne since 2011 was expected, the carnage that unfolded in the latter stages of the race at Albert Park made it an extremely hard-fought triumph.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who drove superbly in his Mercedes, finished second, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso filled third spot on the podium.

“That is a really good weekend for us. I am happy with that,” Verstappen said to his team on radio.

Verstappen had appeared to be coasting to victory with an eight-second lead when debris from Kevin Magnussen’s Haas forced the second of three red flags issued in the race with three

laps remaining. On the restart, Verstappen was able to hold Hamilton to the first turn as bedlam unfolded behind his RB19, sparking a massive reshuffle of the finishing order in the 58-lap race. Alonso, who had challenged Hamilton for second position throughout much of the race, was hit by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the first corner of the restart. Sainz, whose Ferrari showed good speed throughout the race, was issued with a five-second

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu fell short of the Madrid Spain Masters badminton 2023 women’s singles title following an 8-21, 8-21 loss to Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the final, here on Sunday. For Sindhu, the world No. 11 in the badminton rankings and second seed at the tournament, it was her first final appearance of the year.

Heading into the BWF Super 300 tournament in Madrid, the 27-year old Indian had failed to progress beyond the second stage in any of the BWF World

Unconvincing win for Joshua against Jermaine Franklin

LONDON, APR 2 (AP):

Former two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua returned to winning ways but only after an unconvincing display in a unanimous points victory over Jermaine Franklin.

The British fighter had lost three of his last five contests, which included consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk, but he tasted success again for the first time since 2020 after the judges scored the London bout 118-111, 117-111 and 117-111 in favor of Joshua on Saturday night. Joshua regularly landed with his left jab and caught Franklin on a number of occasions with his powerful right but the American heavyweight stood firm at the 02 Arena. A bizarre finish saw the 12th round appearing to end eight seconds early before Joshua pushed his head into Franklin and it sparked an angry reaction from Lorenzo Adams, the strength and conditioning coach of Franklin, who pushed Joshua. It was quickly settled and Joshua’s hand was lifted again to earn him a 25th professional win.

Tour 2023 tournaments she participated in.

Up against world No. 12 Tunjung, who stunned top seed and former Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the semi-finals, Sindhu made a slow start and committed a couple of unforced errors, allowing her opponent the upper hand in the early exchanges.

The 23-year-old Indonesian shuttler, chasing her maiden BWF World Tour title, took full advantage of Sindhu’s lapses and showcased some fantastic badminton of her own to take the opening game with ease.

Once the two players

returned to the court for the second game, Tunjung, who has been in a rich vein of form lately, continued to dictate the tempo of the match. She outclassed the Indian badminton player with her fantastic shot selection and clever shuttle placement.

Despite her best efforts, Sindhu, a double Olympic medallist, could do little to stop Gregoria Mariska Tunjung’s rampage as the Indonesian sealed the final in just 28 minutes to win her maiden World Tour tournament. It was Tunjung’s first win over Sindhu in eight head-to-head meetings.

Former Indian cricketer Durani passes away at 88

JAMNAGAR (GUJARAT), APR 2 (IANS): Salim Durani, one of the finest all-rounders that have played for India, passed away at his home here after a prolonged battle with cancer, on Sunday. He was 88, according to a family source.

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Durani had Pashtun origins and was known for his batting and bowling prowess that left the spectators thrilled.

“He will always be remembered for hitting sixes when spectators demanded. Hitting sixes during that period was rare,” remembered a family friend in Mumbai.

A slow left-arm orthodox bowler and left-handed batsman, Durani was the hero of India’s series victory against England in 1961-62, claiming 8 and 10 wickets in India’s wins in the Calcutta and Madras Tests, respectively.

He also played a key role in India’s maiden Test win against the West Indies in 1972, taking the wicket of key batters Clive Llyod and Gary Sobers. He is the first cricketer to receive the prestigious Arjuna Award

and was awarded the C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by the BCCI in 2011.

In 29 Tests, Durani scored 1202 runs at an average of 25.04 hitting one century and seven halfcenturies. In his 50 innings, Durani scalped 74 victims at an average of 35.42, claiming 5 wickets in an innings on five occasions and 10 wickets in a match once. He had a best haul of 6/73 in an innings.

Durani played for Gujarat, Rajasthan and Saurashtra in domestic cricket and scored 8,545 runs at an average of 33.37 in 170 first-class matches. hitting 14 centuries and 45 fifties and had a top score of 137 not out.

penalty which relegated him to 12th.

Williams driver Logan Sargeant also drove into the back of Nyck DeVries and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly also crashed.

Earlier, Ferrari’s defending champion Charles LeClerc exited after crashing on the opening lap, while the Mercedes of onetime leader George Russell caught fire on Lap 18.

Australian Oscar Piastri claimed his first championship points when finishing eighth in his McLaren.

Salim Durani

Max Verstappen

Rajasthan Royals players celebrate the wicket of Harry Brook during IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad, Sunday. (PTI)

Gregoria Tunjung and PV Sindhu at the podium during the prize distribution.

Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina hold their trophies. (AP/PTI)