6 june

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXXI No. 180

DIMAPUR, SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021 Pages 12 ` 5.00

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India emerging as leader of climate justice: PM Govt advances 20% ethanol-blending in petrol to 2025 NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (PTI): India has advanced the target date for achieving 20 per cent ethanol-blending in petrol by five years to 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, as the world’s third-biggest oil importer looks to cut carbon emissions and reduce reliance on foreign oil.

Ethanol extracted from sugarcane as well as damaged food grains such as wheat and broken rice and agriculture waste is less polluting and its use also provides farmers with an alternate source of income.

Speaking at the release of ethanol blending road map 2020-25 on the occasion of World Environment Day, Modi said “the target for mixing 20 per cent ethanol in petrol has been brought forward from 2030 to 2025”.

Last year, the government had set a target of reaching 10 per cent ethanol blending in petrol (10 per

Narendra Modi

cent of ethanol mixed with 90 per cent of petrol) by 2022 and 20 per cent doping by 2030. Currently, about 8.5 per cent ethanol is mixed with petrol as against 1-1.5 per cent in 2014, he said adding higher blending has led to ethanol procurement jumping from 38 crore litres to 320 crore litres.

“It will go up further when 20 per cent blending is achieved,” he said.

Last year, oil companies spent Rs 21,000 crore on ethanol procurement.

Earlier this week, the Oil Ministry had issued a gazette notification mandating start of up to 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol from April 1, 2023. All petrol sold in the country is targeted to have 20 per cent ethanol by 2025.

India is the world’s

third-biggest oil importer, relying on foreign suppliers to meet over 85 per cent of its demand. Modi said the focus on ethanol is having a better impact on the environment as well as on the lives of farmers as it gives them another source of income.

He said that a large part of this eight-fold increase in ethanol procurement has benefitted the sugarcane farmers of the country.

Prior to his speech, the Prime Minister interacted with a few farmers from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat to learn about their experience from ethanol plants aiding their income, using animal waste to generate biogas that could be used for cooking medium and running vehicles and use of organic fertilizers.

“Ethanol manufacturing units were previously limited to only 4-5 sugarcane producing states but now food grain-based distilleries are being established to expand this to the whole country,” Modi said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India is a strong proponent of climate justice and is moving ahead with ideas like

State logs 309 fresh Covid cases; 6 deaths Mokokchung tops single-day Covid +ve case count DIMAPUR, JUN 5 (NPN): After showing a steady decline in Covid-19 positive cases in the past week, the numbers on Saturday drastically shot up as the state reported 309 fresh cases, while number of deaths dropped to six. Of the fresh cases, Mokokchung reported 164 cases, Kohima-55, Dimapur33, Mon -29, Tuensang-15, seven in Longleng, four in Kiphire and one each Peren and Phek, taking the total caseload to 22,696.

Out of six fatalities, two each were reported in Dimapur and Mokokchung and one each in Kohima and Zunheboto. With this the death toll rose to 422 out of which 14 were nonCovid deaths but with Covid positivity.

Meanwhile, the Health department’s data showed a disturbing single-day spike of 164 new Covid positive cases in Mokokchung district, surpassing the most affected districts-- Dimapur and Kohima in its daily single-day case record.

It was learnt that most cases were detected after the Mokokchung District Task Force recently carried

This is it!

“Whether it’s absence makes the heart grow fonder; I do miss attending Sunday services.”

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NAGALAND

MON

COVID-19 UPDATE

5

AS ON 04 JUNE 2021

231

LONGLENG

20

MOKOKCHUNG

19

68

HIGHEST NO OF ACTIVE CASES

WOKHA

10

3

82 ZUNHEBOTO

DIMAPUR 280

2419

KOHIMA

225

TUENSANG

4

43

KIPHIRE

4

1448 66

96

PHEK

17

11

PEREN

*map not to scale

CURRENT ACTIVE CASES

4695

TOTAL NUMBER OF COVID-19 DEATHS

*For data reporting, Noklak is covered under Tuensang district as there is no separate surveillance unit yet for the district.

out ‘active case finding’ drive for Covid-19 in all the wards on Mokokchung town. The deputy commissioner, Limawabang Jamir had on May 29 issued a circular directing residents of Mokokchung town to remain at home and refrain from venturing out, unless for emergency purpose, so that the DTF and medical department could carry out the random testing.

According to the weekly bulletin issued by the Health department, the total new cases showed a decline for two weeks in a row while deaths also showed a mar-

ginal decline for the first time in a month.

It, however, said that “52% deaths have happened within 2 days of admission in a hospital signifying very late arrival with critical symptoms.”

The department further pointed out that “21 deaths were under home isolation and did not even reach the hospital”. The department called for strict monitoring of symptoms under home isolation and also advised seeking immediate medical attention before it was too late, adding that “wait and watch is proving costly”.

the founding of the International Solar Alliance for realising the vision of One Sun, One World, One Grid and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure initiative.

He went on to list India’s efforts to protect climate change - raising renewable energy capacity 250 per cent and India now being among the top five nations with the largest installed capacity, solar energy capacity rising by about 15 times in the last 6 years, giving 37 crore LED bulbs and more than 23 lakh energy efficient fans, providing free electricity and cooking gas connections to cut household pollution.

“Apart from reducing pollution, it has also helped a lot in improving the health and strengthening environmental protection,” he said. “India is setting an example to the world that it is not necessary to stop development for protecting the environment.”

He said along with strengthening the economy, forests cover has also increased by 15,000 square kilometers in the last few years, the tiger population doubled and the number of

CoWIN portal to open today DIMAPUR, JUN 5 (NPN): State Health department has informed that Co-WIN portal for registration of vaccination for 18-44 years age group will open from 9 a.m. of June 6 onwards.

The department further informed that along with 45 years above category, CVCs for on-site registration and vaccination have also been made available on rural health units for 18-44 years.

In this regard, the department has requested the public to contact the district immunization officers/MOs in-charge of CHCs/PHCs to find out the vaccination days.

leopards increased by about 60 per cent.

“It is a myth that air pollution is caused only by industries. Transport vehicles, unclean fuels, diesel generators also contribute to air pollution,” he said adding the use of LPG as cooking fuel and electricity for lighting purposes has checked pollution from using firewood and kerosene.

Use of waterways, expansion of metro and suburban railways, electrification of railway lines and airports being powered by solar energy are other initiatives, he said. India, he said, is now a proponent of climate change resolution and is among the top 10 nations on Climate Change Performance Index.

“We are aware of the challenges that are being faced due to climate change and are working proactively to overcome,” he said. “India is setting an example to the world that it is not necessary to block developmental works in order to protect the environment.”

“Economy and Ecology can go together. This is the path that India has chosen,” he said.

113 Palestinians injured in West Bank clashes international, Page 9

NPFLP renews tirade against PDA govt for 176-bedded project DIMAPUR, JUN 5 (NPN): Raising questions over the manner in which the ruling PDA coalition government was allegedly trying to circumvent due process for misuse of funds under the plea of tackling the current second wave of the Covid pandemic; NPF Legislature Party spokesperson Imkong L. Imchen has again hit out at the ruling dispensation over the construction of a 176-bedded facility for Covid patients at Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (CIHSR).

In a statement, Imchen drew attention to what he termed as “historic press conference”, conducted by health and family welfare minister S. Pangnyu on June 4 and assisted by principal secretary H&FW A.S. Bhatia and principal director H&FW Dr. Neikhrielie Khimiao.

Imchen opined that the three had “re-postured” from the earlier statement of the chief minister who on May 25, stated that a 176-bedded hospital for Covid patients would be constructed at CIHSR.

studied efficacy of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2), said the vaccine was sufficiently effective in protecting against severe disease in people who were infected with the Delta variant, the antibody levels generated in vaccinated people’s blood samples were low when tested against this variant as compared to others.

Their research also showed that although a single dose of the vaccine may still afford considerably more protection than no vaccination, single-dose

been taken over by the state government as the latter decided to spend a huge amount of money to the tune of Rs.30 crore for the private hospital?

Imchen said if in the affirmative, then when did the government take over CIHSR and under what authority- the cabinet, assembly or by any other public ordinance?

He said if the Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research is already taken over by the state government then what is the legal position of the tripartite MoU signed on May 27, 2005 between the state government (H&FW department), Christian Medical College & Hospital Vellore and the Emmanuel Hospital Association ?

Imchen also asked that if CIHSR is to be a government hospital then what is the staffing structure, funding and management since in government hospitals, staff salaries were borne by the state government having duly created posts with financial concurrence.

(Cont’d on p-8)

WED 2021: CM calls for reducing carbon footprint DIMAPUR, JUN 5 (NPN): State chief minister Neiphiu Rio Saturday said the “Ecosystem Restoration”, the theme of World Environment Day, 2021, was the key to address the various global crises that the world was facing and stressed on the need to leave minimum carbon footprint on the planet.

Gracing the virtual programme organised to celebrate the World Environment Day, 2021 by the state environment, forest & climate change (EF&CC) department, as special guest, Rio also underscored the need for action and commitment towards betterment of the planet and the environment. Rio stated that development was achieving

Rio planting a tree sapling at New DC office complex, Dimapur on Saturday. (DIPR)

balance between meeting requirements and preserving the environment. He, however, reminded that the earth did not belong to the present generation alone, adding that it was “our duty

to ensure that a better planet is handed to future generations.”

Rio lauded the initiatives and commitment of the people of the state to the cause of conservation,

which has resulted in vegetation cover higher than the national average and establishment of numerous community conservation areas in the state.

On the occasion, the chief minister congratulated Dr. Nuklo Phom and Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary on being awarded the green Oscar 2021 by the Whitley Fund for nature, UK and India Biodiversity Award 2021 respectively.

He stated that the various programme of the department like National Afforestation Programme, Brahmaputra Rejuvenation Plan along with the externally Aided projects, JICA (Cont’d on p-8)

Man found dead inside lockup toilet Govt’s ‘last’ notice to Twitter to comply with IT rules DIMAPUR, JUNE 5 (NPN): A person, arrested in con-

NEW DELHI, JUNE 5 (PTI): The government on Saturday issued a notice to Twitter giving it one last chance to “immediately” comply with the new IT rules and warned that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that Twitter’s refusal to comply with the rules demonstrated the microblogging

site’s “lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform”.

“Despite being operational in India for more than a decade, it is beyond belief that Twitter Inc has doggedly refused to create mechanism that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources,”

the IT ministry said.

The ministry said that though with effect from May 26, 2021, “consequences follow” given Twitter’s non-compliance with rules “however, as a gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available...shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India.”

Older people may need 3rd shot to stay protected: Lancet study NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): Older adults may need a third vaccine shot in countries where B.1.617.2 — the ‘Delta’ Covid variant first identified in India-- is prevalent, according to a team of scientists who published their findings in The Lancet journal.

The team from the UK suggests that B.1.617.2 possibly brings a dual challenge of reduced vaccine efficacy as well as increased transmission.

The team, that only

Imchen said on June 2, the principal director H&FW said the proposed 176-bedded hospital at CIHSR would be a makeshift (tentage) Covid hospital.

He said on June 4, the principal secretary H&FW stated that a “pre-engineered Acute Care Hospital, having intake capacity for 200 beds, including a 24bedded pediatric ICU ward will be constructed.”

Imchen said this was evident that all three-- minister, principal secy and principal director “have avoided” mentioning about the fund of Rs.30 crore involved for the proposed project during the press conference. He said the reason for not mentioning the sum of Rs.30 crore was best known to the three.

H oweve r, I m c h e n maintained that the people of Nagaland “are intelligent enough to know their tricks anyway”.

Imchen then posed questions over the project for the government to answer. He asked whether CIHSR hospital has already

recipients are likely to be less protected against the three SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, namely B.1.617.2, B.1.351 (first identified in South Africa) and B.1.1.7 (first identified in the UK).

The researchers also warn that increased age was also associated with lower antibody activity against B.1.617.2 and B.1.351. This, the researchers suggest, means that older populations in countries where these strains are prevalent may need further booster shots of the vaccine.

Ideally, these booster shots should be with modified vaccines that better protect against emerging variants of concern, they said. The study, however, did not look at the efficacy of other vaccines.

The increased interval between the two doses of the vaccine also reduced antibody activity, the researchers said.

To ensure that the maximum percentage of the population quickly gets at least one shot of the Covid vaccine, the UK has extend-

ed the interval between the two Pfizer vaccine doses.

“Although this might have had a limited impact of protection against parental SARS-CoV-2 strains or the B.1.1.7 variant, the potential impact on protection from other variants of concern is poorly understood,” the researchers said.

The findings add to a growing body of research that indicates that vaccination strategies need to evolve as new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge.

nection with motorcycle theft, was found dead inside the toilet of a lockup under West Police Station, Dimapur Friday. ADCP crime and PRO Dimapur police, Relo T Aye, informed Nagaland Post that the deceased was found hanging in the cell at around 3.30 p.m.

He said as per the National Human Right Commission guidelines, magisterial inquest has been initiated and the dead body taken to district hospital for post-mortem. Aye said that the report would be known only after the postmortem was completed. The deceased was one among the three persons arrested in connection with the lifting of two Royal Enfield motorcycles from Duncan Basti area. The three were arrested by Dimapur police with the assistance of Jalukie police on June 3, 2021 and a case was registered with West PS.. (Staff Reporter)

Gov extends Phom Day greetings

DIMAPUR, JUN 5 (NPN): Nagaland Governor RN Ravi has extended Phom Day greetings to the people of Nagaland and the Phom community. In his message, Ravi said that “this important landmark in Phom history reminds us of the commitment of the people to shun violence.” He said that peace, forgiveness and unity were the essence of Phom Day. Governor said that the youth should most importantly continue to honour the commitment of non-violence made by pioneering leaders. He also wished good health, happiness and prosperity to all on this auspicious occasion.

Load shedding in Mon dist

DIMAPUR, JUN 5 (NPN): Power department (Mokokchung transmission division) has informed that the power supply to Mon district headquarters and surrounding areas will be disrupted from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2:30 to 5 p.m. daily till June 9 owing to partial completion of the ongoing intensive jungle clearance works along 66kV Nagnimora-Tizit Transmission line. This was necessitated as a measure to ensure stable power supply to Mon district before the onset of monsoon, the division said, while urging consumers to bear with the inconvenience.

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state

Building village resilience against COVID-19 An empowered community is the key to public health: NSRLM

DIMAPUR: With an aim to help the rural communities to be better prepared and equipped through prioritised community-led initiatives and participation, the Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods (NSRLM) in solidarity with the State Rural Livelihoods Missions under DAY-NRLM across the country have been fostering rural community participation from 1245 villages across Nagaland in combating the spread of the virus through strong Self-Help Group (SHG) network by facilitating large-scale COVID-19 “behavioral change” measures.

According to NSRLM, the rural community comprises over 70% of the state’s total population.

In the face of the pandemic, rural community is rendered most vulnerable due to lack of COVID-19 awareness, unpreparedness to pandemics, under nutri-

Two women walking down steps at a village in Mokokchung district. (NP File Photo)

tion, weak public health infrastructure and services.

In this regard, failure to empower the rural communities could pose considerable risk which may be uncontainable, which is why an empowered community is the key to public

ATMA conducts demonstration prog

One held with arms

DIMAPUR: Dimapur police arrested one Joel Kiba (43) for illegal possession of a point 32 Pistol with 10 live rounds from S. Hotovi village area. According to police PRO, in this connection, a case was registered with Diphupar police station.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

vaccination in Nagaland, NSRLM has been training its community cadres, church leaders and teachers on “management of mild COVID-19 symptoms at home”. Relevant IEC materials (print and audio-visual) have been customised by NSRLM and further translated into local dialects by the community cadres for wider dissemination at household level.

Further, NSRLM informed that the focus on putting the rural community participation and involvement at the centre of COVID-19 control strategy could play a key role in planning village-level rapid actions towards effective control and mitigation of the virus spread in collaboration with concerned local bodies such as VCs, student bodies, Churches, and other CBOs.

Medziphema CHC declared as 20-bedded CCC DIMAPUR: Community Health Center (CHC) Medziphema was declared as 20bedded Covid Care Centre (CCC) on Friday.

According to DIPR report, DC Rajesh Soundararajan lauded CHC Medziphema and observed that the CCC was put in place surpassing all CHCs in a record time and assured of additional back up support anytime through DTF Dimapur.

While noting that Medziphema ought to be the next immediate focus, Rajesh advised them to bring to the notice of ADC Medziphema if there were any issues so that immediate action would be initiated.

CMO Dimapur, Dr. I. Moatemjen pointed out that CHC Medziphema had all the required infrastructures in place and considering the long distance from Medziphema to Dimapur, it was decided to declare it as CCC after discussion with

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE

The TUKUNASAMI STUDENTS’ UNION is deeply saddened to convey our grief at the sudden demise of Lt. Hesheto Kapo, Rtd. Superintendent, Dept of Agri. on 30th May 2021. We are heartbroken and his departure creates an inconsolable lacunae. He was a true gem and a benefactor to our Union and his valuable contributions will forever be remembered by us.

He was a mentor, a cheerful giver and a God fearing leader. His passing away is not only a loss to his family but to the Union and society as well.

Our heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family with whom we mourn, and pray that the Almighty God provides comfort and strength to them to traverse this sorrow.

TOMIKE ACHUMI KINOKA K ZHIMO General Secretary President

Dr. Thamsing Dilbung, born on 11th August 1974, was as a sportsperson, mentor, writer, leader, preacher and above all, a man of true faith.

His favourite slogan was "Wow to Jesus!" and he loved to lead young people to Christ. His demise on 31st May 2021 has left a deep void in our hearts, but we know that he left us to be with the Lord he served so faithfully.

Though we cannot mention everyone who has supported us in prayer, finances and kind, we would like to express our utmost gratitude to LNBA, Thamlakhuren Church, Lamkang Baptish Church Dimapur, Chandel Union Church Dimapur, Lamkang HOHO Dimapur, SNUNS, Nagaland Baptist Church Council, Nagaland Sports Coalition, Northeast Sports Council, LBC Delhi, Nikos Hospital Dimapur doctors and nurses for their immense help through our toughest days.

In prayer we remember those who have lent us a shoulder to cry on.

Lovingly, Ring (wife), Princy (daughter), Shetmorin (son), brothers, sister, extended family and in-laws of Lt. Dr. Thamsing Dilbung

In loving memory of our beloved Sister Lt. RONGSENBENLA IMSONG

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

LATE L. RENBONI KHÜVÜNG Born : 17th Sept 1939 Died : 17th May 2021 Through this column, we convey our immense heartfelt gratitude to all your constant support physically, spiritually and materially during our beloved mother’s illness till her demise.

MANGIDANGBA CHANGKIRI (10/03/1968 – 08/05/2021) We, the bereaved family of Lt. Mangidangba Changkiri wish to express our sincere gratitude for the sympathy and gestures of kindness shown to us following our sad loss.

We would like to thank our friends, neighbours and well-wishers who provided emotional and practical support for us at this tough time.

As it is difficult to thank everyone individually, it is our earnest prayer that our Almighty God bless you all abundantly.

"No one knows the heartache of what your parting cost.

God in all His glory has gained what we have lost."

Love, Wife, Daughters & Family Members DP-2665

"You taught us what were Real Values Your life reflected them" A part of us went with you, the day God took you home.

Death is never an end, but a "to be continued" To everything there is a reason, a time for every purpose under Heaven We miss you,

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Loving Family Members

WC-110

From her loving children, in-laws, grand children & relatives

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Corinthians 5:8 “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

06/06/2020 – 06/06/2021

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edged John Bendang a resident of Medziphema who has been rendering humanitarian services to the people of Medziphema by taking care of both Covid and nonCovid patients from his private car at his own expenses.

Health management committee chairman who is also the chairman NHHDC Ltd. government of Nagaland, Miathou Krose felt that Pastors should be under exempted category so that they could give spiritual counseling to Covid patients.

Meanwhile, nodal officer for COVID-19 Dimapur district, Y. Kikheto Sema informed that presently there were 348 positive cases and encouraged the people to get vaccinated and to shun the rumours.

Earlier, the nodal officer declared the CCC Medziphema opened by cutting a ribbon while Ao Baptist Church Medziphema Pastor, Anungba Imsong offered the dedicatory prayer.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

FIRST DEATH ANNIVERSARY

DP-2658

SMO Medziphema who expressed his willingness for the same.

Mild cases would be treated from CCC Medziphema while moderate and severe cases would be shifted to Covid hospital Dimapur, he informed.

With positive cases increasing, CMO admitted that manpower might not be sufficient but assured for helping out in terms of manpower and other required logistics.

SMO, CHC Medziphema, Dr. N. Sezo informed that initially the CCC Medziphema would start with 20 beds. He however informed that the mother and child ward would continue on the left side of the other building and the CHC would also continue to take care of road accident cases.

Sezo also informed that after discussion with the Army, they agreed to take care of OPD cases.

Dr. Sezo also acknowl-

K-1013

DIMAPUR: Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) Chuchuyimlang block conducted training and demonstration programme on May 21 at Yaongyimti old villlage.

A press release from ATM Tangit Longkumer informed that the resource person, BTM Aolemla Kichu, shared about the severity of FAW, its management and control measures. She also interacted with the farmers on use of pheromone traps, proper land preparation, crop rotation with non-host plants, use of organic neem, NSKE and other locally available plants to reduce the environmental impact of insecticides. Altogether, 15 farmers attended the training.

health and is central in the fight against epidemics and pandemics.

The state mission have built on and scaled the efforts of community participation towards preparedness, response and resilience to the second

wave of the pandemic through creating awareness on COVID-19 vaccine awareness, appropriate behaviour, health seeking behaviour, and immunity building measures to over 10290 rural households.

Towards collective efforts, convergence approach involving RD department, health & family welfare department, and social welfare department has also been actively engaging the SHGs, ASHA workers and Anganwadi workers towards formation of village surveillance team (VST).

According to NSRLM, this effort is further strengthened through conscious capacity building and training of other key community stakeholders such as church leaders, village council members, student bodies and other CBOs. 648 VST have been instituted till date.

To ensure universal coverage for COVID-19

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

Born 06/04/1970 – Died 19/05/2021 We, the bereaved family of Late Y. Visheho Zhimomi are deeply touched by the concerns, prayer support, financial and material assistance, physical presence and generosity extended to us during our time of distress and deep sorrow. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to all our relatives, neighbours, church members at Kohima, Zhekiye and Aghuyito village, Zunheboto, doctors and staff of Bethesda Hospital Kohima and well wishers who stood by us with unwavering support during the time of his illness and sad demise.

While regretting the inability to extend a well deserved “thank you” to each and everyone individually, it is our earnest prayer that you accept this acknowledgement as an expression of our deepest gratitude. May our Almighty God bless you abundantly.

“You were a dutiful husband and a father, a friend and a mentor. A visionary man with commitment and conviction and most of all, a spiritual guide of our family. We will carry on the legacy you left behind.”

Loving wife and children DP-2675

LATE PFÜCHE KOZA 29-9-1971 TO 17-5-2021 The family members of Late Pfüche Koza, express our heartfelt gratitude for the sympathy, love and support rendered to us during his sudden demise. Although we are unable to thank each and every individual personally, we pray that the Almighty God bless each one of you abundantly.

We convey our special gratitude to: 1. Khezhakeno Village Council 2. Chakhesang Public Organization 3. Chakhesang Hoho, Kohima 4. Chakhesang Youth Front 5. Chakhesang Women Society, Kohima 6. Western Chakhesang Hoho, Dimapur 7. Kohima Chakhesang Students Union 8. Chakhesang Baptist Church, Kitsubozou, Kohima & Pastors 9. Chakhesang Baptist Church, Ministers Hill, Kohima 10. Chakhesang Baptist Church, Kohima, Stewards 11. Chakhesang Wrestling Association 12. Kuzhalhü Zawe 13. Kuzami Union, Kohima 14. Khezhakeno Welfare Society, Kohima & KWSK Youth Wing 15. Khezhakeno Outside Dwellers Union 16. Khezhakeno Youth Organisation 17. Khezhakeno Baptist Church & Pastors 18. Khezhakeno Students Union 19. Leshemi Village Council 20. Lewoza Village Council 21. Aphuyemi Sumi Kughakulu Kohima 22. Lazami Social Welfare Organisation 23. Lazami Students Union 24. Middle Bayavu Colony Board Kohima 25. BES ‘89’ Batch 26. Naga Musicians Collective 27. Ruzhukhrie Govt. Higher Secondary School, Kohima 28. Northfield School, Kohima 29. Mr. Yanthungo Patton, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister 30. Mr. Neiba Kronu, Hon’ble Minister 31. Dr. Chotisu Sazo, Hon’ble MLA 32. Mr. Vivolie Kezo,Vice President, NPP Nagaland 33. Dr. Wemeri Khutsoh, Senior Specialist, DH Phek 34. Dr Kekhrungol Angami, MO NHAK 35. Dr. Pfukhrolo Koza, NHAK 36. Mr. Medozhalie Pienyü, Dy. Commandment General, HG & CD and SDRF 37. Mr.Vesupra Kezo, SP, Phek 38. Mr. Vithwel Kweho, EAC, Khezhakeno 39. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) Team Kohima 40. All individuals who supported in cash, kind, prayers and condolences “See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory” Isaiah 12:2 Loving Wife, Children and Family Members DC-477 K Y M C

State

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

COVID-19: Meeting, activities and advisories

Beneficiaries waiting for their turn at Bayavu Kohima. Random testing conducted at Tening on June 3-4.

DIMAPUR: District administrations have been issuing directives to the public in order to stop further community spread of Covid-19. Vaccinations and testing are also being conducted across the state.

Vaccination camp at Nagaland house, New Delhi: Nagaland House, New Delhi organised a vaccination camp in its campus on Saturday. All the staff of Nagaland House and staff of the department of customs and central excise were administered with the COVISHIELD vaccine.

A press release through its assistant liaison officer, Kedichatuo Kense informed that 46 staff of Nagaland house and seven staff of customs and central excise were vaccinated.

The team of Fortis Hospital, Shalimarbagh, New Delhi conducted the vaccination programme and protocols were properly followed for which all necessary arrangements were in place.

The vaccination programme was conducted with the initiative of ad-

ditional chief secretary & chief resident commissioner Nagaland House, Jyoti Kalash.

72 beneficiaries vaccinated at Bayavü Kohima: With the low turnout of 45 years and above category receiving the Covid vaccine as recorded in Kohima district, the medical team on Saturday reached out to the eligible beneficiaries at Bayavü colony Kohima.

The medical team conducted the vaccination drive at Bayavü health and wellness centre, Kohima where the drive was blessed by Bayavü Area Panchayat Chairman, Khinyi Woch.

According to DIPR report, during the vaccination drive, 72 beneficiaries received the first dose and second dose of Covid vaccine. 58 beneficiaries were from the age group of 45 to 59 years category and 14 beneficiaries were from 60 years and above category.

Kiphire to conduct ward-wise vaccination: Kiphire DTF held a meeting at the DC’s conference hall on Saturday, which was chaired by DC & DTF

chairman Rahul Mali.

The meeting decided to conduct ward wise vaccination camp and ward chairmen were directed to activate “ward task forces” in their respective wards at the earliest.

The ward authorities were directed to submit data of 18 years and above people who were interested in getting the Covid vaccine with their name, age, ID card number and their mobile number to the district immunization office.

During the meeting, Dr. Moa Jamir called for early reporting and medication if a person was sick and had Covid-like symptoms, as in many cases, late reporting were the cause of death.

Confirming about the SOPs on burial of dead body, he said that once the corpse was disinfected by the medical team, it cannot infect other people.

DTF members thanked the United Sangtam Lithroti Ashimukhong (USBLA) for allowing to use Hopongkyu Memorial Hall for accommodation of the medical team in the post treatment

of Covid patients.

The members also discussed on the issue of rumours going viral on social media. DC Rahul Mani said vaccination was the only solution and he encouraged the community leaders to lead by example by availing the vaccine themselves and create awareness and encourage people to take the vaccine. (Correspondent) DC Mon appeals to citizens: With most COVID-19 positive patients not disclosing their full contact history, which was posing a hurdle for the contact tracing team and which may lead to unchecked/uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in the community, DC Mon, Thavaseelan K appealed to all the citizens to reveal all contacts they had (both individual/group) once test positive and to come forward if he/she has come in contact with a person who has tested positive.

The appeal added, “Early testing, diagnosis and treatment is the difference between life and death”.

NSCH and John 3:16

Longkhim Block Task Force meeting on sensitisation of COVID-19 vaccine. society informs senior citizens of Mon town: The Nagaland Senior Citizen’s Helpline, Kohima in collaboration with John 3:16 Society, Mon would be distributing food items to the most needy senior citizens of Mon town during the lockdown period.

Concerned citizens have been requested to identify destitute elders in their respective neighborhood and contact officials on 9436219769 and 8729939007 for necessary assistance.

H o t a h o t i v i l l a ge Naginimora declared containment zone: In order to take effective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, ADC Naginimora, Vineet Kumar has declared Hotahoti village in Naginimora as a containment zone with immediate effect till further orders.

The ADC has informed that any person found violating the containment measures would be liable to be proceeded against as per the provision of Sections 51 to 60 of Disaster Management Act 2005 besides legal action under IPC Section

Mon battalion of Assam Rifles during the vaccination drive.

188 and other legal provisions as applicable.

Longkhim Block Task Force (LBTF) meeting: Longkhim Block Task Force meeting for sensitisation on COVID19 vaccination was held at Duda Hall, ADC office Longkhim Tuensang district on Friday.

T h e m e e t i n g wa s chaired by MO CHC Longkhim Dr. Saotakum Chang.

In a press release, DMO (NHM) Apheang informed that during the meeting, Dr. Saotakum Chang encouraged to the participants to come forward and get vaccinated

Organisations and leaders extend condolences DIMAPUR: State deputy chief minister and home minister Y Patton has expressed grief over the demise of Thungbemo Lotha IPS, IGP retired, who passed away on Saturday at Guwahati.

In a condolence note, Patton said that late Thungbemo was a “dedicated and sincere officer who served the department in different capacities” and was retired on superan-

nuation.

On behalf of the department, the Dy. CM sent his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for the departed to rest in peace.

8 Western Angami A/C: 8 Western Angami assembly constituency has expressed grief over the demise of its former candidate Kevisekho Kruse.

In a condolence note, its president Neivikuolie Khatsu and general secretary Neikeselie Punyu that words failed to express the pain it was going when they were still nagalandpost.com Poll through looking forward to his strong Q . : Sh o u l d a n e x p e r t leadership. committee study death It said that much as it rate in Nagaland? mourned and shared the grief 100% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– with the bereaved family they 90% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– regretted the inability to par80% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ticipate in the last rite with his 70% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– loved ones and offer its respect 60% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– to the departed.

50% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– It described late Kruse as a 40% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– man of integrity and that in his –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 30% demise, the party and the whole 20% –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Western area in particular and –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 10% the state in general lost an able 0% A B C leader.

Further, it conveyed con90% A Yes. dolences to the bereaved family 8% B No. members and prayed that God 2% C Can’t Say. would comfort them .

ASD: Altrura Society, DiNext poll mapur while expressing grief Q: Is there vaccine shortage over its chief patron Kevisekho in India as alleged by Kruse said that he was a God the opposition? fearing and visionary leader  Yes. who lived his life for the best interest of the Society. He was  No. also the chief architect behind  Can’t Say. the foundation of the society, WEATHER it said.

FORECAST In a condolence note, its June 6 president Mhasileto Medoze and general secretary Zakiesielie (Temperature in ºC) Max Min Chüsi said that the society had Agartala A morning t-storm; cloudy 31 25 lost one of its mentors and a Aizawl A stray a.m. t-storm; cloudy 26 20 guardian who they were truly Guwahati Some rain and a thunderstorm 32 24 indebted to.

Imphal Some rain and a thunderstorm 30 20 “His legacy of progressive Itanagar Cloudy with heavy t-storms 26 21 Shillong Cloudy with a stray t-storm 24 18 ideas will always guide us like Kohima A couple of thunderstorms 24 18 a beacon light”, it said.

Dimapur A stray morning thunderstorms 31 23 Further, it conveyed conMkg Mostly cloudy with a t-storm 25 19 dolences to the bereaved family Tuensang A morning t-storm in spots 19 15 members and prayed that the Wokha Rather cloudy with a t-storm 24 20 Almighty would grant them Zunheboto Mostly cloudy with a t-shower 23 17 solace and comfort.

K Y M C

AWO: The Angami Women Organisation (AWO) while expressing shock over the sudden demise of Kevisekho Kruse described him as a man of principle and integrity and an efficient bureaucrat and politician.

It also said that he served the state government in various capacities with humility, honesty, dedication, commitment and honesty till his retirement and added that he was an uprising politician.

AWO conveyed its sympathies to the family members and prayed that his soul would rest in eternal peace.

AGOK: Angami Gazetted Officers Krotho has mourned over the demise of its retired member Kevisekho Kruse. In a condolence note, its president Dr. Kedozeto Punyu and general secretary Megolhou Dolie described him as a distinguished and prominent figure who during his service in the state government had also served the Krotho as general secretary from 1994 to 1996 with dedication and sincerity.

It also said that he was a straightforward and God fearing person whose demise was a great loss not only to his immediate community but to the society as a whole and the vacuum created would be difficult to fill.

In this hour of grief and sorrow, the Krotho conveyed its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and prayed that the Almighty would give them strength and solace.

CSU: Chakhroma Students’ Union while expressing grief over the demise of Kevisekho Kruse said that he always stood for the welfare of student community.

In a condolence note, its president Zhasakholie Kehie and general secretary Menuolhousie Tsükrü said that his contributions, support and words of encouragement would always be cherished and remembered.

The CSU expressed its

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solidarity with the bereaved family.

Keneizhakho Nakhro: Member of Nagaland Legislative Assembly Keneizhakho Nakhro has expressed grief over the sudden demise of his dear friend and colleague, Kevisekho Kruse.

In a condolence note, he described late Kruse as a visionary leader full of impeccable knowledge, hopes, positive energy who was loved by many for his lively nature and simplicity.

While maintaining that losing a dynamic leader was a great loss for the society especially the Western Angami people in particular, Keneizhakho Nakhro conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed that the Almighty would grant them strength and solace.

SAWO: Southern Angami Women Organisation has expressed shock over the demise of Kevisekho Kruse.

In a condolence note, its president Khriesino Rikha and general secretary Hokehele Kharütso said that the organisation appreciated the honor he bought to the community and the people of Nagaland through his service and achievements.

“It would be difficult to measure the impact he had on the many people’s lives he touched, personally and professionally”, it said.

Further, it extended its prayers and solace to the bereaved family at this difficult hour.

PMPT: Phizo Memorial Park Trust, HQ Khonoma while expressing grief over the demise of Kevisekho Kruse said that he was a mentor, friend and brother who as a leader was readily available to every role and responsibility on any occasion.

In a condolence note, PMPT through the chairman of Phizo Park, Peteroko Zetsuvi conveyed condolences to his family and prayed that the

Almighty would bless them with His peace that surpasses all understanding as they are engulfed in the comfort and hope of Jesus Christ.

PKN: Pfüpheyiemia Krotho Nagaland has expressed shock to learn of the sudden demise of Kevisekho Kruse, who the Krotho said was a bonafide member of the union who always sacrificed his best for others in the society.

“In his death, Nagas have lost a noble leader who can be a light in the darkness” it said.

Further, the union through its president Zievinyü Yalietsu and secretary Rialie Sirie conveyed its prayers that God would grant solace and peace to the grieving family.

WAWO: Western Angami Woman Organisation while expressing grief over the demise of Kevisekho Kruse said that he was an impeccable visionary tall leader, selfless, exemplary and determined to contribute his best for our people.

In a condolence note, its president Mekhrievi-Ü Kehie and publicity secretary Visebii Gwirie said that the organisation had lost a distinguished leader and that his good deeds would always be cherished and continue to be a guiding factor.

Further, it conveyed condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed that they would find comfort and solace in the Almighty God. WAYO: Western Angami Youth Organisation said that it was deeply saddened in learning the demise of Kevisekho Kruse who it said was a tall and prominent figure serving in various capacities and had immensely contributed for the well-being of the people and the society.

In a condolence note through its president Megorüzo Chase and secretary Keneilhusa Senotsu, the organisation conveyed condolences to the family and prayed that the Almighty would give them strength and courage during this hour grief and sorrow.

without hesitation.

He also requested all responsible department officials to encourage the people to get vaccinated and not to believe in the misconceptions about the vaccine.

He also gave an explanation of Covishield and how the doses were administered.

The meeting was attended by ADC Longkhim block, sector chairman, student leaders, Church leaders, Dobashis, NGOs and staff CHC Longkhim.

Assam Rifles conduct vaccination drive: Mon battalion of HQ

IGAR (N) under the aegis of spear corps organised a COVID-19 vaccination drive for locals of the area at council hall Naginimora on May 31 and June 1.

According to PRO IGAR (N), the segregation of medical staff of PHC Nagnimora due to COVID cases in the staff did not hamper the vaccination drive for the locals as medical team from battalion hospital shouldered the responsibility and ensured unhindered vaccination to locals who had already booked their slot for vaccination. Altogether, 193 persons were vaccinated.

NLSF, NVCO call upon citizens to preserve environment DIMAPUR: In view of world environment day (WED), Nagaland Law Students’ Federation (NLSF) and Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) have expressed their concerns and how more stringent actions and measures need to be taken up in order to restore and preserve the environment.

NLSF: Nagaland Law Students’ Federation stated that the world environment day “has become no more an occasion to celebration but one for concern”.

In a press release, its education secretary Shenti C. Simon and assistant general secretary Atoni Shohe stated that on this day, the NLSF called upon all to protect and restore the environment for the benefit of mankind and planet.

While stating that the prevailing pandemic had piqued the superficiality of mankind towards environment, it said that the human actions today had “pushed the nature beyond its limit and if we continue on this path, ecosystem loss will have severe consequences”.

“The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the fact that when we destroy ecosystem, we destroy the system that supports human existence on earth”, it stated.

NLSF stated that just as people had rights, they also had duties and responsibilities to protect and improve natural environment and if they failed to take care of nature as a world citizen, there was no reason for people to exist.

While stating that various laws were enacted for the protection of environment and wild life, Nagaland Law Students’ Federation appealed to every individual to have the heart to embrace the rallying call for the protection and

restoration of the ecosystems as a fundamental duty enshrined under the constitution of India.

NVCO: Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation stated that the time had come for people to develop a sense of urgency “to protect our environment as well as a sense of hope for its future”.

In a press release, NVCO media cell said that plenty of damage was done to the earth and that it was disheartening to learn that Nagaland was among “the worst performing States and UTs as per the assessment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index and Dashboard 2020-21” where it was tabulated annually by NITI Aayog in order to evaluate the progress of states and union territories on the basis of social, economic and environment criteria.

It said that people were failing on their part in replacing the trees that they had cut or cleared the thick forest/ jungle around them either for development or construction of roads and in order to fight the menace of global warming, vigorous efforts should be made to discourage activities or development or business such as stone quarry, stone crusher, etc. which caused damages to environment.

Further, Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation called for the protection rivers and related ecosystems as well as searching for new sources of water, even in the form of preserving trees in the jungle and rocks in the rivers, as people could assure themselves of a substantial supply of this crucial substance in the future while still protecting important fish and wildlife habitat.

The organisation urged upon all the citizens to save the land.

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

Crowd ransack AR outpost in Mnp after man shot dead

Assam Rifles vehicles, AK rifles torched by mob Correspondent

IMPHAL, Jun 5: An angry crowd stormed an outpost of the Assam Rifles in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district and reportedly torched two vehicles of the security forces following killing of a civilian allegedly by AR personnel in civvies.

Two AK rifles of the security forces were also damaged in the torching of the vehicles even as the police detained the commander of the Assam Rifles outpost.

Tension was reportedly running high at Chalwa, a village 55 km away from Kangpokpi district headquarters where the incident was reported on Friday night. Reports culled out from various sources, including police , said that a villager later identified as Mangboilal Lhouvum (38) of Chalwa village sustained critical bullet injuries died on the way to hospital.

A team of four per-

Video screen grab of locals storming the AR outpost. sonnel of the 44 Assam Rifles at its outpost at Gelnel (Banglabung) village led by Major Alok Sathe who came in civvies allegedly whisked away Lhouvum from his home at Chalwa village last night. He was later allegedly abandoned on the roadside near his village a bullet was pumped into his stomach around 9pm.

With critical injuries, some villagers who found him rushed him to the nearest hospital where he was declared dead. When the news of the death of the man spread, a large number

Sikkim HC directs govt to get everyone vaccinated Gangtok, JUNE 5: Observing that a ‘meagre’ 14 lakh COVID-19 vaccines would be required, the High Court of Sikkim urged the government to make untiring and proactive efforts and obtain the requisite doses so that the entire population of the state can be vaccinated at the earliest, reports East Mojo.

The high court was hearing a PIL on COVID-19 management on Friday.

“This becomes imperative in view of the peculiar circumstances of the state in as much as the foot-fall of tourists sometimes outnumbers the residents of a town and the availability of the medical infrastructure or the lack of it has to be thereby taken into consideration making the vaccination of the population an urgent requirement,” the high court noted.

Looking at the current COVID-19 situation in Sikkim and mortality rate of patients, the HC highlighted how the vaccination programme is a cause of concern for the state.

The population of the entire state stands at a meagre number of ap-

proximately seven lakh, the HC said.

The court was informed by the state government that “currently, vaccines are not available for the 18-44 age group whose population reportedly stands at only 2,90,000”.

“The total requirement of vaccines for this age group stands at only 5,80,000,” the government said.

The state government expect 15,230 vaccines to be made available by this month to the STNM Hospital while 24,000 vaccines are expected in the Central Referral Hospital by next week.

The HC also questioned the state government on the required policies in place to deal with the third wave in order to shield the population of Sikkim from its repercussions.

The additional advocate general said: “The State Level Task Force has been constituted in March 2020 under the chairmanship of the State Chief Secretary, to monitor the preparedness besides which meetings are held regularly to review the situation.”

of villagers stormed the Assam Rifles outpost and indulged in vandalism.

They ransacked properties of the outpost and also torched two vehicles (a Gypsy and one 407 Truck) parked inside the outpost, while the personnel of the post and police personnel from nearby local police station were helpless as they were outnumbered.

Later on Saturday morning, two AK rifles reportedly belonging to the Assam Rifles personnel were also found charred inside the torched Gypsy

G u wahat i , J u n 5 (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday announced that the Raimona reserve forest in Kokrajhar under the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), bordering Bhutan, has been upgraded as the sixth national park of the state.

Announcing this on the occasion of World Environment Day here, the chief minister said that with the new addition, the state now has six national parks.

The process to convert Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary into a national park is also under progress, he said. The chief minister said that this was a landmark step in environment conservation and the newly declared national park will

be another endeavour by the state to protect its rich flora and fauna.

The notification declaring Raimona as a national park has been issued by the environment and forest department on Saturday.

The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 says whenever it appears to the state government that an area,whether within a sanctuary or not, is, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological or zoological association or importance,needed to be constituted as a national park for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wild life therein or its environment, The other five national parks in Assam are- Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri, Orang

village in civvies with his accomplices for their personal work and not on line of duty, brandishing their service weapons, he alleged.

With the tension running high, an additional police team led by an additional SP rushed to the spot to take control of the situation.

The Chalwa police later took custody of the Major after a heated argument and he was later taken to Kangpokpi district headquarters.

The local administration was reportedly trying to calm down villagers who resolved not accept the dead body while demanding befitting action against the alleged killers.

Meanwhile, in a meeting between 44 AR, CSOs and the state government, it was decided that the Assam Rifles will pay an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh on humanitarian grounds of which Rs 1 lakh was to be paid on the same day.

The dead body of Mangboilal Lhouvum has been transferred to RIMS morgue in Imphal for necessary post mortem and other legal procedures.

AR, Customs seize heroin worth Rs 1.64 cr

AIZAWL, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): Assam Rifles and customs department have seized 410 grams of heroin at Zokhawthar village in Mizoram along the IndoMyanmar border, NE Now report stated.

The operation was carried out on Friday, Assam Rifles sources said on Saturday. The joint operation was carried out the basis of specific information, it said.

“The contraband worth Rs 1.64 crore was smuggled from Myanmar,” sources said.

The seized consignment of heroin was handed over to the customs department, it added. Ongoing smuggling of drugs is a major cause of concern for Mizoram, especially along the IndiaMyanmar border.

Assam Rifles, rightly christened as the ‘Sentinels

Youth in Tripura arrested for supplying drugs at Covid Centre AGARTALA, JUNE 5 (AGENCIES): A person has been apprehended for supplying drugs to a person at a Covid care centre in Panisagar in North Tripura district. According to reports, Tripura State Rifles (TSR) security personnel foiled an attempt to pass on drugs inside a COVID19 care centre, reports The Sentinel Assam.

They detained a peddler identified as Shibu Debbarma in connection with the incident that occurred on Thursday.

Police said Shibu Debbarma came to deliver a mobile charger to a patient

Assam gets 6th national park on World Environment Day

File photo of Raimona reserve forest.

vehicle. As told by the wife of the deceased victim, her husband went out of the house at night to visit their neighbor.

After a while, she heard a gunshot and later some villagers informed him that her husband was found lying injured on the road.

Villagers who rushed him to the nearest hospital alleged that the Assam Rifles Major who came with four personnel in civvies took the victim away and shot him on the stomach and left him behind on the road just few meters away

from the village.

When the news of the death of the villager spread across, the villagers attacked the security outpost after a police team who rushed to the spot refused to arrest the Assam Rifles personnel even as they identified them.

Amid the high tension, leaders of the civil society organisations from the district headquarters rushed to the spot today morning and took stock of the situation.

Even after last night’s violence incidents, the villagers continued to demand the arrest of the Major and his accomplices behind the shooting of the man.

General secretary of Kuki Inpi Kangpokpi district Thangminlen Kipgen who was among the leaders of the CSOs taking stock of the situation alleged that the police did nothing to arrest the AR major and his accomplices despite villagers pointing them out as the perpetrators of the crime.

He demanded that the police must arrest the major even if he is an officer of the Central security force as he was not on official duty at the time of incident.

He had come to the

and Dibru-Saikhowa.

Sarma said its a step taken towards fulfilment of the UN vision of ecosystem restoration. Minister for Environment and Forest Parimal Suklabaidya said the announcement made by the chief minister has turned out to be a red letter day for the state and welcome news for wildlife lovers, nature lovers and conservationists.

The Raimona national park falls under BTR’s Kokrajhar district and is a part of contiguous forest patch with an area of 422 square km covering the northern part of the notified Ripu Reserve Forest which forms the westernmost buffer to Manas Tiger Reserve in the foothills of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot.

The boundary of Raimona national park stretches from the Sonkosh river on the west along the interstate boundary of West Bengal and Assam from Indo-Bhutan border and Saralbhanga River on the east, runs northwards till it touches the Indo- Bhutan international boundary on the north and remaining part of Ripu RF on the south.

at the centre. During the search, brown sugar was found concealed inside the case of the charger to his friend Dipankar Roy, who was admitted at the centre.

Debbarma is a resident of Ambasa Magazine Para in Dhalai district. Further, the security personnel recovered seven pouches of brown sugar hidden in the packet carrying the mobile charger.

A case was registered against the accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and was later produced in front of the Dharmanagar district sessions court.

of Northeast’ has continued their efforts against the smuggling activities in Mizoram.

Earlier on May 25, 2021, the troops of Assam Rifles nabbed a Myanmar national with 120 grams of heroin from the Ngur area in Mizoram.

The Serchhip battalion of 23 Sector Assam Rifles under the aegis of Headquarters Inspector General

Shillong, June 5 : The Meghalaya Government has stressed on ‘forestation’ of the coal mining areas in the State, with Forest and Environment Minister James PK Sangma saying on occasion of World Environment Day on Saturday that the department was looking at restoration and cleaning of two stretches of rivers in East Jaintia Hills district, which are polluted due to unscientific coal mining.

The forest minister’s statement, made during a virtual meet in which Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma also participated, assumes significance in the wake of frequent disasters in unscientific and illegal rat-hole coal mines in the district, the recent being the case of five migrant miners, who are yet to be rescued from a flooded and abandoned pit.

Obser ving that the theme of the World Environment Day this year was very apt for Meghalaya, James said, “With forest and nature so embedded in our culture and livelihood, agriculture and life so closely tied to climate change impacts and forest related sectors, we have to recast

Correspondent SHILLONG, JUN 5: At least five migrant labourers, who are trapped since May 30 in an abandoned and flooded coal mine in the East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, are yet to be traced even as rescuers are making all efforts to dewater the 500-feet mine as families of the trapped miners are losing hope on them being alive in the pit for the past six days now.

“It is six days now. We have lost all hope to see him alive. We are only praying they retrieve the bodies so that we can give him a decent burial,” Yeahyea Hussain, the uncle of one of the unidentified victims, Anowarul Islam Bharbhuiya, who is believed to be trapped in the illegal coal mine, said over the phone on Saturday.

The mine mishap occurred when at least five miners entered the coal mine located at Umpleng area under Sutnga Elaka, East Jaintia Hills district, about 100 Km from the State capital Shillong. The miners got trapped inside as water gushed into the mine after a dynamite explosion.

Unscientific ‘rat-hole’ coal mining has been banned in the unregulated mines in Meghalaya since April 2014 by a National Green Tribunal order, but illegal mines like this one have flourished freely due to poor enforcement of the ban.

Voicing displeasure with the “slow pace” of the rescue and search operation, Hussain said, “The Meghalaya government should have installed as many pumps

from day one to drain out the water from the coal pit to ensure that the rescuers can get inside the pit.”

“We want to visit the mining site but none from the Meghalaya government have made any contact with us (families of trapped miners),” Hussain sobbingly said.

District Magistrate of East Jaintia Hills, Ethelbert Kharmalki said the water level inside the main shaft, where miners are believed to be trapped, have receded to about 20 feet from the level of the previous day.

He, however, said that rescuing team comprising the National and States Disaster Response Force and Fire and Emergency could not ascertain whether the receding was due to pumping or natural seepage of the water as there were no rains on Friday.

Kharmalki said that the rescue team has located another mine shaft which is at an aerial distance of 270 metres away from the mine shaft where the accident took place.

“As per NDRF report, this nearby shaft is 330 feet deep and the depth underwater is 152 feet approximately,” the district official said, adding that “there is likelihood that the two shafts may be connected with one another by a same underground tunnel.”

Meanwhile, a 200 KVA generator was brought to the incident site to augment the power back up as more pumps are being used to dewater the shaft. More high powered pumps have been requested from Coal India Limited, Guwahati, the top district official said.

Complete lockdown extended in Aizawl till June 14

AIZAWL, JUN 5 (PTI): The Mizoram government on Saturday extended complete lockdown in capital Aizawl till June 14 as the state continues to register a spike in COVID-19 cases despite efforts to control it.

Whereas COVID-19 positive cases have not declined and the number of casualties is increasing in recent days, it is felt necessary to continue with the current restrictions imposed for curtailing peoples movement and activities with the purpose of containing further spread of coronavirus, the government order said.

The lockdown guidelines issued on May 29 shall continue to be strictly imple-

Meghalaya stresses on ‘forestation’ in coal mine areas

Correspondent

Assam Rifles (East) carried out the operation, the Assam Rifles said in a statement.

The operation was carried out by a joint team of Assam Rifles along with Customs Preventive Force Champhai based on specific information, it said.

The approximate value of the seized heroin was around Rs 48,00,000 in the international market, the Assam Rifles had said.

Families of trapped miners in Meghalaya lose hope

our lens on Meghalaya as a forest economy”. He added that economic opportunities out of the green and climate action and conservation, besides climate finance, climate budgeting, conservation related livelihoods and incentivized green action like eco-tourism were what the State needs.

“We at the forest and environment department are already formulating many proposals to create a path breaking template of environment leadership,” the minister said, adding that various forestation projects were underway in the “coal mining affected areas” in the State. In his address, Chief Minister Sangma said, “All need to accept that climate change is happening and it will affect everyone,” adding that the adaptation to climate change was going to be a “very critical part for policy makers” at the highest level.

“Different forms of adaptation to the environment and the ecosystem, figuring out policies, creating infrastructure and investing to ensure that people adapt to the changing ecosystem are very critical not only for the government but the people as well,” he said.

mented till 4 am of June 14, the order added. The existing complete lockdown in Aizawl was scheduled to be lifted on June 7.

According to the order issued on May 29, people residing within Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) area should not step out of their homes or compounds during the total lockdown.

Shops dealing with essential commodities in AMC area will be allowed to open every morning and those dealing in agricultural seeds and equipment, school textbooks, motorworkshops and spare parts will open on Tuesday between 5 am and 5 pm. Shops dealing with construction materials,

computer, mobile will be opened on Friday between 5 am and 5 pm, it said.

Vegetable and meat markets are allowed to open on Friday, the order said.

Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, dispensaries, bank and non-banking financial institutions, post offices, filling stations, LPG store houses, fair price shop, animal feed store are exempted from the restrictions.

However, economic and other agricultural activities outside AMC area will function normally under strict adherence to Covid-198 protocols, the order had said. All places of worship, educational

institutions, public parks, picnic spots, movie theatres, gymnasiums, community halls, restaurants, shopping complexes and malls will continue to remain close in all parts of the state.

Besides, all government offices barring few will remain close during the extended complete lockdown in Aizawl.

However, government offices and commercial banks will be allowed to open under strict Covid19 protocols outside the jurisdiction of AMC area.

Intra-state or inter-village movement is strictly prohibited except under medical emergencies and exceptional cases, the order said.

NE COVID-19 UPDATE Curfew extended, 404 new Covid cases push 9 Covid fatalities, Arunachal’s tally to 28,786 497 cases in M’laya ITANAGAR, JUNE 5 Leparada and Dibang ValCorrespondent SHILLONG, JUN 5: Nine deaths related to COVID-19 complicacy took the toll up to 652 and 497 cases of new infection tallied to 5797 active positive cases in Meghalaya on Saturday, even as 801 more recoveries from the viral infection added up to 31, 781 recovered cases in the State, which has registered 38, 230 confirmed cases till date.

Meanwhile, in view of the “continuous large numbers of COVID-19 cases” being detected in East Khasi Hills District, and hospital bed occupancy nearing saturation, the District Magistrate, Isawanda Laloo on Saturday extended the ongoing curfew in the District from 5 am of the June 7 to 5 am of June 14 under section 144 Cr. P.C. read together with Regulation 3 of the Meghalaya Epidemic Diseases, COVID–19 Regulations, 2020. Director Health Services (MI), Dr. Aman War said COVID19 related deaths included seven in East Khasi Hills district and one each in Ri- Bhoi district and West Jaintia Hills district .

(PTI): The COVID-19 caseload in Arunachal Pradesh rose to 28,786 as 404 more people tested positive for the infection, a senior health department official said here on Saturday.

The COVID-19 death toll increased to 122 as three more persons succumbed to the disease, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr. Lobsang Jampa said.

The three patients from Capital Complex region, East Siang and Lower Siang died on Thursday while undergoing treatment at various health facilities, the official said.

Changlang district witnessed the highest spurt in fresh cases at 102, followed by the Capital Complex region (52), Namsai (38), Anjaw (36), Tawang (21), Lohit, West Kameng and Pakke Kessang at 19 each, Lower Dibang Valley (15), Lower Subansiri and Papumpare at 14 each and East Siang at 11. Nine fresh infections were also reported from East Kameng, Upper Subansiri (8), Longding (7), Upper Siang (6), four each from Kurung Kumey and Tirap, two each from

ley and one each from Kra Daadi and West Siang district respectively, the SSO said.

Of the fresh cases 387 were detected through rapid antigen tests, 12 through RT-PCR and 5 through TrueNat method, the official said, adding 145 people have symptoms of COVID19.

Arunachal Pradesh n ow h a s 3 , 8 2 9 a c t ive COVID-19 cases.

At least 415 more people recuperated from the disease on Friday, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 24,835.

The COVID-19 recovery rate now is 86.27 per cent while the active percentage stands at 13.30 and the positivity rate at 4.49 per cent, Jampa said.

The Capital Complex Region – comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas – has the highest number of active cases at 718, followed by Tawang (423), Changlang (365), Namsai (303), Lower Subansiri (277), West Kameng (227), Lohit (215) and Lower Dibang Valley with 209 cases.

Centre blocks Delhi’s ration home delivery: AAP NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): The central government has blocked plans to launch the doorstep delivery of rations from next week, the Arvind Kejriwal administration said on Saturday, in the latest episode in the tussle between the two sides that share responsibilities in the capital.

“Delhi government was all set to launch the Doorstep Delivery of Ration scheme across Delhi within 1-2 days, benefiting 72 lakh poor beneficiaries across Delhi. Based on central government’s suggestion, Delhi cabinet has passed a decision to remove the name “MukhyamantriGharGhar Ration Yojna” for the scheme and to implement doorstep delivery of ration as part of the existing NFS Act, 2013. This addresses all the concerns of central government,” the government said in a statement. “[However] LG (Lieutenant Governor) has rejected the file for implementation of Doorstep Delivery of Ration citing two reasons

Representational image.

– centre is yet to approve the scheme, and an ongoing court case. No approval for launching such a scheme is required as per existing law,” it added. On Twitter, the ruling AamAadmi Party made a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “Mr Prime Minister, what kind of an arrangement do you have with the ration mafia that you had to stop the Kejriwal government’s ‘GharGhar Ration

Scheme’?”

The central government had flagged several concerns about the scheme in March saying it could result in ration card holders buying grains and other necessities at a higher rate than what is fixed under a central law, according to news agency PTI. According to the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the scheme could

17 booked for holding religious procession amid pandemic in MP

RATLAM, JUN 5 (PTI): Madhya Pradesh police have registered a case against 17 persons for taking out ‘KalashYatra’, a religious procession at a village in Ratlam district of the state, in which hundreds of Hindu devotees reportedly took part in violation of the COVID-19 norms, an official said on Saturday.

The district administration suspended a patwari (local revenue officer) and panchayat secretary, while a police official was

also line-attached (removed from field duty), other officials said.

A purported video of the procession that was held on June 3 shows several women holding ‘kalash’ (pots containing sacred water) on their heads along with hundreds of people participating in it has gone viral on social media.

“An FIR has been registered against 17 persons for taking out ‘KalashYatra’ on Thursday in contravention of the COVID-19 restrictions at Barbodna

SKM observes ‘Total Revolution Day’ GURUGRAM, JUN 5 (IANS): The SamyuktKisanMorcha (SKM) here on Saturday observed the first anniversary of the introduction of the Centre’s three contentious farm reform ordinances as “SampurnaKranti Divas” or “Total Revolution Day”, and also burnt copies of these laws near a BJP MLA’s office.

SKM president Chaudhary Santokh Singh told IANS that a section of farmers had also assembled in the premises of the civil hospital and raised anti-government slogans.

“The BJP-JJP led Haryana government is fearing the farmers agitation against these three black laws. Following the government’s order, a large number of local police personnel were deployed to stop the farmer’s reaching the BJP MLA’s office in old Gurugram,” Singh said. “We were stopped by the police personnel just around 10-12 meters away from the MLA’ office.

village,” Namli police station in-charge V P Singh told reporters.

Those named in the FIR include a priest, an owner of DJ vehicle and members of the organising committee, he said.

The procession was part of a five-day long religious programme.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters, district collector Kumar Purushottam said that the secretary of village panchayat and patwari of the area have been suspended for dereliction of duty.

Superintendent of Police Gaurav Tiwari told PTI that a personnel of Namli police station, who was posted in the area,has been line-attached for carelessness during the duty.

A gathering of more than six persons at a place has been banned in the state under ongoing restrictions in view of COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, only four persons can gather at a religious place.

also make it difficult for recipients of the subsidies to relocate and stall a shift towards biometric verification of beneficiaries, PTI reported. The Delhi government had cleared the proposal to allow home delivery of rations to all cardholders of the capital last year in July to implement one of the major promises made by the AamAdmi Party in the run-up to the assembly polls held in February. The scheme called

‘MukhyaMantriGharGhar Ration Yojana’ would let the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 get the rations delivered home, making visits to the shops optional and eliminate corruption, the Delhi government had said.

The Delhi government had initially planned to roll out the scheme in March.

However, expressing reservations about the programme Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey told PTI that it was “a complete deviation from the National Food Security Act and not permissible”. He said the scheme could result in beneficiaries paying extra for packaging and handling.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he was prepared to give up the “MukhyaMantri” tag in the name of the scheme if it soothed the central government’s ego but asserted, “We will accept all conditions of the centre but will not allow any obstruction in implementation of the scheme.”

‘Ring of Fire’ solar eclipse on June 10 NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): Sky gazers are in for another treat! The new moon will sweep in front of the sun to create this year’s first solar eclipse on Thursday, June 10.

This will be an annular solar eclipse, also called the “Ring of Fire”. However, in some locations, it will be observed as a Partial Solar Eclipse.

A solar eclipse or Surya Grahan occurs when the Sun’s light does not reach the Earth as our planet’s only natural satellite – the Moon – comes in between, blocking out the sunlight. The eclipse, that is moon covering the sun, can be partial, total or annular.

An annular eclipse happens when the moon is farthest from Earth. Because the moon is farther away from Earth, it seems smaller and does not block the entire view of the sun. Instead of blocking the sun’s light, a ‘Ring of Fire’ is created around the Moon. As per Timeanddate.com, the 2021 annular solar eclipse event will start at 1:42 p.m. (IST) and will be visible to sky gazers until 6:41 p.m.(IST).

646 doctors succumbed to Covid during 2nd wave: IMA NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (IANS): As many as 646 doctors lost their lives in the fight against Covid-19 during the second wave of the pandemic, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said on Saturday. Delhi reported the maximum number of fatalities among doctors at 109, followed by Bihar (97), Uttar Pradesh (79), Rajasthan (43), Jharkhand (39), Gujarat (37), Andhra Pradesh (35), Telangana (34), Tamil Nadu (32), West Bengal (30), and Maharashtra and Odisha (23 each).

A total of 16 doctors lost their lives in Madhya Pradesh during the

second wave, followed by nine in Karnataka, eight in Assam, five each in Chhattisgarh, Manipur and Kerala, three each in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Punjab, two each in Tripura, Uttarakhand and Goa, one in Pondicherry and one at an unknown place. During the first wave of the pandemic last year, a total of 748 doctors had fallen prey to the deadly virus, the IMA added.

India has been struggling with a massive surge in coronavirus cases for the past few months. While the daily count of cases has reduced, the number of deaths continues to be high.

India reported 1,20,529 fresh coronavirus cases on Saturday, the lowest single-day spike in around two months, taking its overall tally to 2,86,94,879, as per the Health Ministry data.

Mamata’s nephew appointed TMC’s national Gen Secy

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee during a rally in Kolkata.

KO L K ATA , J U N 5 (AGENCIES): Abhishek Banerjee, Diamond Harbour MP and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been appointed TMC’s all India general secretary,

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national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

informed party leader Partha Chatterjee at press meet on Saturday.

The young TMC leader was elevated to a position of greater responsibility at the party’s first organisational

meeting since the resounding Assembly election victory last month.

Abhishek will be replacing SubrataBakshi as the national general secretary.

“Our party chief Mamata Banerjee has nominated MP Abhishek Banerjee as the all India general secretary of the TMC,” Chatterjee said, following two crucial meetings earlier in the day.

M e a n w h i l e, a c t o r turned-TMC leader Sayoni Ghosh has been made the youth wing president – a post earlier held by the MP. Chatterjee also said that the working committee has decided that one person will be allowed to hold just

one post in the party, and the core committee has duly given its approval. He added that no discussion was held on turncoats, who had quit the TMC to join the BJP ahead of the assembly polls, and were now willing to return to the party fold.

Abhishek shot to fame shortly before the assembly elections as the 33-year-old emerged as the undeclared No. 2 in the Trinamool Congress and the cause of heartburn for senior leaders, many of whom left the party.

The BJP, acknowledging that Abhishek is also Mamata’s soft spot, had made the “bhaipo (nephew)” one of the central targets of its campaign.

Central team to arrive in Bengal to review damage caused by cyclone Yaas

People walk through a damaged shoreline after Cyclone Yaas hit India’s eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal, at a beach in Shankarpuron May 27.

NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): A sevenmember central team will arrive in West Bengal on a three-day visit to make an on-spot assessment of the damage caused by cyclone Yaas, a senior official said on Saturday. The inter-ministerial team headed by SK Shahi, joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs, will take stock of the situa-

tion in South 24 Parganas district upon its arrival on Sunday, and PurbaMedinipur the day after, he said.

It is scheduled to complete its assessment in three days and leave for Delhi on June 9, the official said.

“After reaching Bengal on Sunday morning, the team will head to the affected areas of South 24 Parganas district. There, it

will hold a meeting with officials. “On Monday, the central team will be visiting Digha and Mandarmani in PurbaMedinipur, where officials will give a presentation on the damage caused

by Yaas,” he said. According to government sources, the inter-ministerial team is also likely to hold a meeting with finance department officials during its three-day visit.

Half of Maharashtra to open up from Monday MUMBAI, JUN 5 (IANS): After nearly two months of strict lockdown-type restrictions, the Maharashtra government has decided to cautiously initiate a fivephased Unlock 2.0 from Monday (June 7), starting with 18 of the state’s 36 districts, officials said here on Saturday.

In the first phase, it will take effect in: Aurangabad, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Jalgaon, Jalna, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Parbhani, Thane, Washim, Wardha and Yavatmal districts.

The decision comes after detailed deliberations of over a week by state

Representational image.

Disaster Management Unit with all other concerned departments and stakeholders, as per a detailed notification issued by the CMO early on Saturday.

The state has been divided into 48 units as per

districts and municipal corporations, and five levels, depending on the positivity rate and occupancy of oxygenated beds.

Both, Mumbai and Pune, among the worstaffected do not figure in

the list yet. Suburban local trains will not be thrown open for the general public in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region of Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad. Districts with a case positivity rate of 5 per cent or less and occupancy of hospital beds is less than 25 per cent will come under Level 1.

These districts shall be completely unlocked with all activities continuing normally including transport, shops, restaurants, malls, theatres, cultural events, sports, industries, government and private offices, construction activities, weddings and funerals, as in the past.

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OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post Vol. XXxI NO. 180 Dimapur, SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

Blind consumerism

W

orld Environment Day, celebrated annually on June 5 should be an occasion to recommit ourselves towards protection of our environment which is fast being degraded and eroding the entire earth’s eco-system. Indeed words cannot explain the consequences of continued damage to our environment. As humans reach high pinnacles of development, the very inventions that make life seem better and comfortable are in fact responsible for degrading the environment and seriously damaging the eco-system. There are always two sides of a coin and so is the case with human development. From the trash thrown out on the freeway, to the millions of metric tons of pollution pumped into the atmosphere every year- it’s obvious, pollution and waste are inescapable. Rising consumerism has eroded our ecosystem and damaged the environment, perhaps irreparably.

Humans impact the physical environment in many ways such as- overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Over population has been driven since mortality rates have decreased, medicine has improved, and methods of industrial farming were introduced, thus keeping humans alive for much longer and increasing the total population.. Humanity is continuously polluting indispensable resources like air, water, and soil which requires millions of years to replenish. Global consumerism has led to mass production of items and sold on a global scale. Use of fossil fuels that pollute the environment or several kinds of toothpaste, beauty products (such as face and body scrubs), and detergents contain plastic microbeads. Millions of tonnes of these microplastics enter the oceans every year, devastating the marine environment. According to UN studies, pollution is so bad that to date, 2.4 billion people do not have access to clean water sources. Air is arguably the most polluted with the US producing 147 million metric tons of air pollution each year alone. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. Despite ban on plastic and polythene which are non-biodegradable and pose huge threats on the biodiversity they continue to be used on a mass scale. Environment activists across the world have been flagging the damage and also raising awareness to reverse the damage.

Climate change is closely connected to the historical development of industry and technology. As global temperatures increase, Earth’s weather patterns will drastically change. While some areas will experience longer growing seasons, others will become barren wastelands as water will deplete in vast areas, turning once floral regions into deserts. The other human impact on the environment is overpopulation which has grown into an epidemic form. Global warming is arguably the greatest cause of impact on the environment. People in general have understood the principle of global warming as a phenomenon of the planet earth becoming warmer which has led to large tracts of the polar ice melting. The melting of glaciers has resulted in rise of ocean and seal levels.

The combination of rise in water levels with warming has created unusually heavy rains in some parts and drought in others. Unless the current global focus turns to adaptation for human and nature-oriented policies away from market-driven policies, global warming will reach a catastrophic proportion within the next three decades.

DailyDevotion God’s Assurance

He Himself has said….So we may boldly say…

—Hebrews 13:5-6 My assurance is to be built upon God’s assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I “may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’ ” (Hebrews 13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God’s words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God’s assurance— they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God’s assurance to us.

What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it— you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, “But ‘The Lord is my helper’ this very moment, even in my present circumstance.” Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God’s Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father’s assurance, and then say with strong courage, “I will not fear.” It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you….’ ” Human frailty is another thing that gets between God’s words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God’s assurance to us— “I will never…forsake you.” Have we learned to sing after hearing God’s keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, “The Lord is my helper,” or are we yielding to fear?

Quotes

Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed. ~ Mark Twain

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

Post-mortem

Fauci dismissed IIT-Delhi Covid paper as ‘outlandish’

A

mong the emails US’s top infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci sent and received during the early days of the Covid pandemic — contents of which have become a hotly discussed topic — a group of them discussed an early pre-print (not-peer reviewed) that was posted by researchers from the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences at IITDelhi in January 2020.

The scientific paper claimed that the SARS-CoV-2 virus had four “inserts” in its spike protein that were similar to the ones found in HIV, and concluded that these are unlikely to occur naturally in a coronavirus, suggesting an “unconventional evolution” of the virus that warrants further investigation.

The authors withdrew the paper within a week, and an updated version has not been posted since. The findings in the paper have subsequently been rebutted by other virologists. These include a reanalysis of the IIT-Delhi team’s data against a larger database of viruses, which went on to reveal that the spike protein insertions are found naturally in bat coronavirus.

“We are still getting numerous queries about why we withdrew the paper and when we are going to publish next,” said Prof. Bishwajit Kundu, the team lead, to ThePrint. “We have moved on to finding a solution to the pandemic rather than fuelling conspiracy theories and creating media hype. We have left that part for other researchers to establish with their top-level equipment, facilities, money, manpower and expertise.” Fauci reportedly dismissed the findings as “outlandish”.

What the paper

claimed The authors stated that they discovered four insertions in the spike glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (then called 2019-nCoV), which they say are not present in other coronaviruses.

An insertion is a form of mutation. Mutations occur when a virus replicates and its RNA sequence (the genomic code of the virus) undergoes random changes at some places, resulting in minor changes on its structure.

RNA (and DNA) sequences are “read” in groups of three nucleotides or letters, called codons. Each codon codes for or results in the production of a particular amino acid, and multiple amino acids come together to make a protein.

Mutations can be changes within a codon, such as the E484K, where the glutamic acid (E) is replaced by lysine (K) at position 484 on the sequence, resulting in changes on the spike protein. There are also “frameshift” mutations, in the form of insertion or deletion of a nucleotide or letter, which results in all nucleotides after this mutation shifting in position in the sequence, resulting in a group of new codons which then code for different amino acids.

The IIT-Delhi paper identifies four of these insertions that code for the spike protein of the virus. Their paper states that these insertions are similar to the ones found in the HIV-1 virus.

The authors claim that this is unlikely to be “fortuitous in nature”.

While the authors note that physically the inserts are “discontinuous” on the primary sequence of the virus — meaning that they are independent and not connected to each other physically — their 3D modelling suggested that

these could converge and come into play when the virus makes contact with a cell and gains entry.

How the team arrived at their data The team’s paper was uploaded to the open pre-print server biorXiv on 27 January 2020. At the time, concerns about a new pneumoniacausing virus were just gaining prominence, and cases had been reported in barely a handful of countries.

The first confirmed case of Covid-19 outside of China occurred in Thailand on 13 January 2020, and the disease was named Covid-19 by WHO on 11 February 2020.

The team used data from the viral genome database of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and GISAID to which all sequences are being uploaded today. At the time of analysis, there were a total of 55 general coronavirus sequences available to the team, including 28 full length sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

They discovered that the closest relative to the new virus was the SARS-1 virus, and that there were four new inserts in all sequences of the new virus. They compared these inserts against all virus genomes that were fully sequenced. They found that each of these inserts aligned with HIV-1 proteins.

Three of them matched to a protein called the HIV-1 gp120, and one with another one called HIV-1 Gag. The authors state that while one such match with a HIV viral protein is possible naturally, they think that four matches is improbable.

They also state that none of these four inserts are present in any other coronavirus, and the combination is unique

to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Furthermore, they state that their analysis shows these inserts are present in a noncontinuous manner in the primary protein sequence, but 3D modelling showed that when the virus actually tries to bind to a host cell, these inserts come together and converge at this site. The authors state that their findings show that the four inserts “may facilitate virus-host interactions” and the virus evolved in an unusual manner.

Rebuttals A day after the authors withdrew their paper, on 2 February 2020, the director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Shi Zhengli, and her team, published the sequence of a bat coronavirus called RaTG13 in what was the very first paper to properly describe and characterise what would eventually become known as the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Zhengli’s team’s paper found that the 2019-nCoV virus belonged to the same family as the SARS virus, and had a 96.2 per cent genome overlap with the most closely related RaTG13 bat coronavirus. RaTG13 was previously described by Zhengli in a 2016 paper and an addendum to the new paper stated that the partial sequence had been uploaded to the genome database GenBank in 2016.

Her team subsequently had fully sequenced the virus, and this was published in her February paper.

Zhengli, often referred to as the “bat woman of China”, was responsible for tracing the origin of the SARS-1 virus back to cave dwelling horseshoe bats, and is considered a global expert on bat coronaviruses.

In March of 2020, re-

searchers from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor published a paper where they reanalysed the data from IIT-Delhi against a larger database of multiple coronaviruses. They concluded that all four insertions identified by the IIT-Delhi team are present in other viruses, including coronaviruses. The team confirmed that three of the four inserts had been found in the RaTG13 bat coronavirus sequence alone.

“The four insertions highlighted by Pradhan et al. in the spike protein are not unique to 2019-nCoV and HIV-1,” wrote the researchers.

“In fact, the similarities in the sequence-based alignments built on these very short fragments are statistically insignificant,” they added, refuting the conclusions of the IIT-Delhi paper.

They too noted that the inserts are structurally far away from the site of entry into the cell for the spike protein, called the receptor binding domain or RBD. RBD is located on its spike protein and allows the virus to latch onto our cells’ receptors to gain entry. The researchers state that the fact that these inserts are farther away from RBD does not support the hypothesis that they may have developed to help the virus infect humans.

However, they state that of the four, the one that matched with HIV-1 Gag could become involved during the process of receptor binding.

In fact, at RBD, the amino acid residues, or what is left over after a protein is formed, seemed to be similar to what is found in pangolin coronaviruses, which is what led some researchers to conclude that the pangolin might have been a candidate intermediate host. However,

subsequent findings in March 2020 refuted even this, stating that the residues were actually inherited by pangolin viruses from bat viruses, likely by recombining with another bat virus — a process quite common in nature, inside favourable animal hosts.

Why the paper was withdrawn While subsequent research rebutted the findings of the paper, the authors withdrew their work before any of those papers were published.

The team cites overwhelming media and scientific attention as the reason.

“The pre-print drew so much attention, and public narrative started to talk about biowarfare and conspiracy theories,” said Kundu. “We were puzzled. We haven’t been exposed to this level of attention before and were overwhelmed with calls and allegations. We had to revaluate our findings and withdrew the paper.”

The team then attempted to modify the language of the paper and publish it in a peer-reviewed journal (instead of re-uploading as a public preprint), but were unsuccessful. “Now our work is shelved because all the primary findings like the furin cleavage site, the inserts, and the ACE binding regions have been published by others.”

But Kundu maintains the significance of their work, stating that one or two inserts could be found naturally but all four inserts are statistically unlikely to be found in nature.

“There could be something unusual in the duration of evolution and acquisition of the inserts. A possible laboratory contamination and leak cannot be ruled out,” he added.

Sandhya Ramesh (Courtesy: The Print)

South Korea’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its implication to Naga Community

T

he covid-19 pandemic is ravaging the whole world today with a total case of 173,367,123 so far. Out of these cases, 156,138,472 recovered/discharged, 3,728,881 reported deaths, and 13,499,833are still active cases (5June 2021).

The World health organization reported as of 1 June 2021, a total of 1,638,006,899 vaccine doses have been administered. Unfortunately, India has the second-highest rate now at 28, 574, 350 confirmed Covid-19 cases, only next to the USA which has 32,979, 307 cases (WHO, 4thJune 2021 reports). Sadly, the Second Wave hit Nagaland more severely than the First Wave. More so, it has come to our door in rural areas too. This means the situation is going out of control and ushered in the neededtime to come together and act now.

1. South Korea Response: South Korea reported the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on 20th January 2021. Currently, it has 143,596 confirmed cases, with 1971 people dead, mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses. A total of 7862 is isolated for quarantine, while 133,763 have been released, after fully recovering from the Novel Coronavirus, said the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (5thJune 2021). The Korean Government acted very quickly to the pandemic and implementeda policy to contain the virus by adapting to an online community and various rules of social distancing.There was no total lockdown rather, a series tier of social distancing rules in the community is implemented.This is called the Step-by-step standards for distancing and quarantine measures: Level -1, Level-1.5, Level-2, Level 2-5, and Level 3. Every level differs concerning working, educational institutions, business, community lives, and religious activities.At present, Seoul City is under Level 2-5.The following are some of the policies: 1.1. Wearing of mask mandatory: We cannot go anywhere without wearing a mask,and check our tem-

perature before entering the church, school, shop, restaurant, etc.Keeping the records of visitor’s contact is mandatory. Besides ventilating and disinfecting, and maintaining a distance between workers in a high-risk area is mandatory.

1.2. Restriction on public gathering: Gathering of more than four people in public places are ban, 1/3 of the employees work from home, religious activities like church opens with 20 members, and different business entity, companies, and educational institution abide by restriction to opening and closing hours besides following the working policy imposed by the government.

1.3. Contact tracing is mandatory: This means once a person is identified as active with the covid-19, everyone who has come to his/her contact within 14 days is compulsory to take the covid-19 test and they must be in self-isolation or home quarantine for 14 days although they tested negative.

Business/ school/ churches/ companies are closed when any active cases are identified until the contact tracing and necessary precautions are completed.

1.4. Adopt extensive community tests through different low contact testing centers, containers, and tents: 1. Drive-thrutesting, 2. Set-ups of covid-19 test centers, containers and tents in many different places so that the public can access easily in their neighborhood, 3. The people are guided to the centers through mobile applications, confirmed cases on digital maps, and tracking the health and movement of the travelers.

1.5. A strict policy on quarantine and self-isolation: Every active individual has to stay in the quarantine centers. The government imposed strict restrictions on the facilities, diets, and monitor their movement and temperatures daily. Their contacts who tested negativeare also imposed self-isolation at home, monitored closely,and report to the district office or centers after the quarantine period.

1.6. Provided funds,

schemes for working family, business, and students affected due to the pandemic 1.7. Starts vaccination on 23 February 2021. Aims a herd immunity by November 2021.

‘Herd immunity’, also known as ‘population immunity’, is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.

To safely achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, a substantial proportion of a population would need to be vaccinated, lowering the overall amount of virus able to spread in the whole population. One of the aims with working towards herd immunity is to keep vulnerable groups who cannot get vaccinated (e.g., due to health conditions like allergic reactions to the vaccine or other health complications) safe and protected from the disease/virus(WHO, 2021).

Although, there are still ongoing active cases with the fear of the third wave looming besides other challenges, the Koreans are doing a fine job handling the pandemic.

2. Application to the Naga Community Context.

2.1. Mandatory rules of wearing masks, maintaining social distancing,washing hands, and hand sanitizingbe implemented strictly: Our community is not digitalized like the Korean so the temperature check may not be possible everywhere.

2.2. Restriction on public gathering: Besides lockdown and sealing of houses, there should be a strict restriction of public gatherings, business structures, working environment, and social gatherings.For shift contact tracing, there must be a record of every visitor in all office, church, and business establishments during or after lockdown until the virus is contained in the community.

2.3. Make contact tracing mandatory to contain the virus in the community: Organize more awareness programs to take away any stigma for the covid-19 patient.

Contact tracing is necessary

at this point to contain the spread of the virus. Contact tracing must include family, friends, neighbors, and the church community. Even if they tested negative, they must maintain self-isolation for 7-14 days to curb the virus flow.

2.4. Adopt Extensive community test through different low contact testing centers: Make testing centers beside hospital more accessible to the whole community in a different place instead of conducting random street testing.Train more volunteers for assistance with proper guidelines.

2.5. A strict policy on quarantine and self-isolation: Active cases must be provided with a well maintain quarantine center. The Naga government must provide proper facilities outside of hospitals for mild cases. Staying at home endangers more community transmission and endangers other lives too.

There is a needto implement volunteers who can assist the medical experts/frontline workers here. These volunteers must be selected through strict medical test and properly trained to perform their assigned tasks. The patient after coming homemust selfisolate for 7 to 14 days as per the doctor’s advice. This is a precautionary step taken by the Korean government.

2.6. Provide funds, schemes for working family, business, and students affected due to the pandem-

ic: There are existing funds and schemes in the State as reported but in most cases that is not enough for the lowincome family/daily wagers.

The Government must provide more extensive schemes to recover the economy and also sustain the livelihood of the poor and needy in the community.In case of lockdown, there must be trained volunteers who can visit any household that may be in poverty in the neighborhood.

Our community is accessible and we know who is who so it can be cover while maintaining social distance and proper guidelines. Starving kills morethan the covid-19 virus. The church community can step up here to be the Good Samaritan and help our neighbors and community through donations, charity works, or voluntary service in partnership with the government or as an independent organization. There can be a charity donation group in every neighborhood to meet the need of the people through trained volunteers.

The church community can spearhead this mission as a home mission.

2.7. Receive the vaccination for herd immunity in the State: To receive the vaccine is your personal choice.

However, the fact remains that vaccination pavesthe way to return to normal lives. And it also protects the vulnerable people such as the elderly people and those who cannot receive the vaccine due

to their health complication.

For such goal, receiving the vaccine for herd immunity is recommended to avoid the third or fourth wave and curb the second wave. Those with health complications must consult the doctor if there will be any side effects before, they take the vaccination. The reported death cases after the vaccination are mostly affecting those with prior medical history. A healthy person receiving the vaccine may be a good act toward your family or neighbors who has health complications or toward elderly citizens.

Maintaining social distancing, wearing mask, staying home and taking precautions is our contribution to the society now. The Covid-19 virus is fatal and more so to vulnerable people.

I will speak in this manner as Apostle Paul talked about his freedom of eating meat offered to idol to the Corinthian Church (1 Cor.10).

For the weak and sick people, I will give up my freedom to go out and meet people, and stay home. And if I go out, I will maintain social distancing and wear mask if it will save more lives. I will not let my freedom in Christ endangers the weak Christians and become a stumbling block to others (1 Cor. 10: 9-13).

May God bless our land and community!

Vesetalü Tetseo, PhD, Systematic Theology, South Korea

Reader’s Post

Sir,

Vaccination hesitancy

We live in an unprecedented era where no one can ever predict what tomorrow holds for all of us. At such times, instead of being stubborn we should all be willing to unlearn and relearn everything from the bottom. Regardless of the number of deaths in the State due to COVID-19, our people still haven’t learned the lesson. Our goal should be “how to not get infected by the virus” and not “how to prove Covid vaccines as a threat to mankind”. We should understand the fact that even the strongest are not exempted by this virus and the only way to escape from this killer virus, unscathed, would be to adopt all necessary safety measures which includes getting vaccinated too. Therefore, I would like to urge all to not let your doubts consume you and rather get vaccinated before it gets too late. Afterall, life is precious.

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

Farmers burn copies of farm laws in Punjab, Hry

Members of various farmers organizations burn the copies of the three agriculture laws, near BJP office in Amritsar, June 5. (PTI)

cades on the road leading to Parkash’s house to prevent protesters from reaching there, officials said.

The Union minister was not at home at the time of the protest.

The agitating farmers also held a protest near Parkash’s residence in Mohali district. Police were deployed and barricades erected outside the minister’s house to prevent any untoward incident.

In Chandigarh, a protest was held against the Centre for not repealing the farm laws, the main demand of the agitating farmers.

In Hoshiarpur, farmers took out a protest march from local Gurdwara Singh Sabha to the local BJP office at Shastri market and then burnt the copies of the legislation.

In Karnal, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed to farmers not to disturb law and order during their protest.

In Ambala, farmers held a demonstration near the residence of Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij. A group of farmers affiliated to Bharatiya Kisan Union reached the National Highway number -1

Private hospitals received 1.20 crore vax doses in May: Centre

New unlock guidelines will end up in fiasco: BJP

near Ambala Cantonment, around 500 yards away from the residence of the home minister.

The entry point of Vij residence at Shastri colony was barricaded and police personnel were also deployed there.

Similarly, farmers also held protests near the residence of BJP MLA from Ambala City Aseem Goyal.

Goyal was not present in his home when the farmers burnt the copies of the laws.

In Panchkula, police resorted to mild cane charge after a group of farmers tried

to force their way through barricades to head towards the home of Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta.

After being promulgated as ordinances on this day last year, the farm legislations were passed by Parliament in September. The president gave his assent to the bills later that month.

Scores of farmers have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year demanding that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

The government, however, has been maintaining that the laws are profarmer.

Several rounds of talks between the agitating farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over these contentious laws.

The government last held talks with farmer leaders on January 22. The talks between the two sides came to a halt after a January 26 tractor parade by farmers in Delhi turned violent.

BJP seeks probe into ‘profiteering’ through vaccine sale by Punjab govt NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (PTI): The BJP on Saturday sought a probe into alleged profiteering by the Congress government in Punjab by selling COVID vaccines to private hospitals, and said that “heads should roll”.

The party fielded Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri to target the Amarinder Singh government, with the BJP leader asserting that the state dispensation’s decision to withdraw the controversial order shows that there was something “fishy” in the matter.

Taking a swipe at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, Puri said they questioned the Modi government over the vaccine supply when their government in Punjab was indulging in alleged profiteering to the tune of Rs 38 crore by selling jabs to private hospitals.

Large doses of vaccines have been found dumped in Rajasthan, another Congress-ruled state, he said.

“Government profiteering should stop. There should be a probe to bring facts in the public domain,” Puri said at a virtual press conference, adding “heads should roll”. He also sought to know the “nature of the fund” to which the money received by the state govern-

for the private sector. This mechanism facilitates better access and reduces the operational stress on the government vaccination facilities in terms of those who could afford to pay and would prefer to go to a private hospital,” the ministry said.

As per government data on June 1, private hospitals had received over 1.20 crore vaccine doses in May. The Health Ministry pointed out that these private hospitals are not limited to the metro cities, but also cover the Tier II and III cities across the states.

The government said that the Health Ministry is working closely with all the states and UTs to make the vaccination drive a success.

“The states with less number of private hospitals have been requested to review their status and list out the better performing hospitals under the AB-PMJAY and the state specific insurance schemes, keeping a geographical spread in mind and encouraging them to get in agreement with the vaccine manufacturers,” the Health Ministry said.

Lockdown to continue in TN till June 14: Stalin

India calls for global cooperation to Indian govt’s schizophrenia led combat fugitive economic offenders to Covid ravages: Amartya Sen

CHENNAI, JUN 5 (PTI): Announcing relaxations such as allowing shops selling essential commodities to reopen and government offices to resume work, Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday announced extension of lockdown by one week till June 14 to combat COVID-19.

Overall, though the spread of coronavirus has come under control in Tamil Nadu, it continued to be on the rise in 11 districts including Coimbatore and the Nilgiris, he said.

Hence, such regions would have lesser relaxations and the rest of the state, relatively more, according to an official release.

Across the state, standalone provision stores, vegetable shops, meat and fish stalls, pavement hawkers selling flowers besides other things would be allowed to function from 6 AM to 5 PM and fish markets and slaughter houses shall be open only for wholesale trade.

NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (IANS): India on Saturday called for a strong and aligned international cooperation on the return of fugitive offenders and assets sought for such offences, consistent with international obligations and domestic legal systems.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh stressed on the need while addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Special Session on Challenges and Measures to fight Corruption. Singh said as the accused take shelter in foreign countries and conceal the proceeds of crime in complex legal structures spread over different countries and jurisdictions, the gaps and weaknesses of international cooperation in this area are fully exploited by such fugitives to their advantage.

The Minister conveyed India’s appreciation to all the countries who are taking this fight ahead in the right direction by intensifying efforts, sustaining political commitment and decisive

Jitendra Singh

action, at all levels, against preventing and combating corruption by way of endorsing the United Nations Political declaration.

“India provides Mutual Legal Assistance to widest possible extent and it has strengthened its domestic law and widened the scope for international cooperation with contracting states and international organisations,” Singh said.

He said that the UNGA Session is happening at a time when Covid-19 is testing our patience and testing the limits of all of us at enduring misery.

“This is indeed the most appropriate time to

ment from private hospitals was credited.

Citing a Punjab government communication, he said it procured Covishield vaccines for Rs 412 per dose but sold it to private hospitals for Rs 1000 and they, in turn, charged Rs 1,560 from the people. Two private hospitals in Mohali charged people Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,200, he alleged.

While the Congress is busy with the “cricket match” between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, this is what is going on in the state, he said, referring to the internal bickering in the party.

Taking exception to the Punjab government statement that its decision has not been taken in the right spirit, Puri said this points to concealment of corruption and a culture of impunity in the Congress.

For the Congress corruption is something to be

Delhi markets to open on odd-even from Army starts process of merging sub-area headquarters June 7; Metro to run at 50 pc capacity

NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (IANS): Denying any inequity in the distribution of Covid vaccines, the Centre said on Saturday that private hospitals received over 1.20 crore vaccine doses in the month of May. The Union Health Ministry emphasised that the government of India, in close partnership with all the states and Union Territories (UTs), is running one of the largest Covid-19 vaccination drives in the world since January 16.

“Some media reports have alleged inequity in India’s vaccination drive.

These reports are inaccurate and speculative in nature,” the Health Ministry said.

The Health Ministry said that a ‘Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy’ was adopted on May 1, which is guiding the ongoing Phase-III of the vaccination drive.

“It is reiterated that the liberalised vaccine policy, which envisages a larger role for the private sector and the Centre, is setting aside 25 per cent of vaccines

MUMBAI, JUN 5 (PTI): BJP leader Pravin Darekar on Saturday said the new set of `unlock’ guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government would lead to a fiasco. The government on late Friday night announced a five- level plan to relax coronavirus-induced restrictions.

“The notification issued at midnight is full of discrepancies,” said Darekar, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council. Its scheme of five categories or levels is complicated and has created confusion among people, the BJP leader said.

“It is a roughly prepared notification, issued with no proper planning.

The positivity rate and occupied oxygen beds do not match. There are discrepancies in the rules for Mumbai.

It would be a fiasco during implementation,” Darekar claimed.

As per the notification, areas with infection positivity rate of five per cent or less and oxygen bed occupancy of less than 25 per cent will be in the first category, and can open up completely.

Hardeep Singh Puri

taken for granted, he alleged. Under flak from the opposition for “diverting” COVID vaccines to private hospitals, the Punjab government had withdrawn its order on Friday.

This official reason cited by the Punjab government for withdrawing the order reflects “poverty and incompetence” of the ruling dispensation in the state which draws its inspiration from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, he alleged.

Puri also hit out at the Congress for allegedly fuelling vaccine hesitancy as some of its senior leaders “questioned” the safety and efficacy of Indian-manufactured jabs, and wondered if this was because the party wanted imports of foreign vaccines for getting “commission”.

Puri also accused the opposition parties of spreading misinformation and lies over the recently enacted farm reform laws, noting that the central government has done record procurement, with Punjab being the major beneficiary.

The state contributed over 32 percent of 411.19 lakh tonnes of the wheat procured, with over Rs 26,103.89 crore credited to bank accounts of farmers directly, he said.

NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (PTI): The Delhi Metro will operate at 50 per cent capacity and markets and malls in the National Capital will open on an odd-even basis from June 7, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday as he announced further relaxations in lockdown.

He also said the Delhi government will set up two genome sequencing labs at the LNJP Hospital and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences to determine the coronavirus variant that led to a surge in cases in the city.

The lockdown in Delhi, which was to end at 5 am on Monday, will be extended further but several relaxations will be allowed, Kejriwal said during an online briefing.

Government and private offices will be allowed to reopen with 50 per cent attendance. Markets and malls will be allowed to open on an odd-even basis from 10 am to 8 pm, he said.

Kejriwal said the Delhi government is preparing for the third wave of Covid-19 keeping in mind that 37,000 daily cases may be reported

at its peak and making arrangements for beds, ICUs and medicines.

A paediatric task force has been set up to decide the number of beds, ICU facilities and other equipment needed for children, who are feared to be affected in the third wave, he said.

Delhi is also creating an oxygen storage capacity of 450 MT, purchasing 25 oxygen tankers and installing 64 small oxygen plants.

A team of experts and doctors will prescribe useful medicines and a buffer stock of Covid medicines will be created, he said.

BJP top leadership reviews party programmes NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (IANS): The top BJP leadership on Saturday reviewed the party’s ongoing programmes and the preparations for next year’s Assembly elections in a few key states.

Accordingly, party programmes and the Assembly polls scheduled next year in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Goa were discussed in a meeting of general secretaries held at BJP national President J.P. Nadda’s residence here.

The party’s national General Secretary (organisation), B.L. Santhosh, was also

come together and strengthen international cooperation to prevent and combat corruption.” Mentioning that India has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and the moto of the Indian government, given by the Prime Minister, is ‘minimum government, maximum governance with emphasis on transparency and citizen centricity.

“With an aim of decentralizing decision-making and bridging communities with local governments across cities and towns, innovative solutions are being implemented using digital tools in all sectors affecting the livelihoods of citizens.”

While concluding his address, Singh wished for a steadfast and strong commitment to combating the menace of corruption especially in these times of crisis and reiterated that India is ready to work with other countries, civil society and international organizations to accelerate the implementation of anti-corruption principles.

present in the meeting. Sources said that the works being carried out by the state units under the ‘Sewa Hi Sangathan 2.0’ programme launched to provide help and relief to the people during the second wave of the Covid pandemic were reviewed. “It was found that the majority of the state units and organisational wings have done good work while some have performed below expectations under ‘Sewa Hi Sangathan 2.0’. It was discussed that all state units should reach out to the maximum number of people with relief,” the sources said.

Amartya Sen

MUMBAI, JUN 5 (PTI): India’s “confused” government focused on taking credit for its actions rather than working to restrict the spread of Covid-19, resulting in schizophrenia that led to massive troubles, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has said.

India was better placed to fight the pandemic because of its pharma manufacturing prowess and also higher immunity levels, the noted economist said while speaking at an event organised by the RashtraSeva Dal late Friday evening.

Sen’s remarks came in the backdrop of the second wave of the pandemic seeing the number of officially reported cases topping over

4 lakh a day and over 4,500 deaths daily, and also concerns over under-reporting.

Some eminent personalities have said a sense of early “triumphalism” led to the crisis. Sen said India could not play on its strengths because of a poor response to the crisis due to confusion in the government. “ T h e g o ve r n m e n t seemed much keener on ensuring credit for what it was doing rather than ensuring that pandemics do not spread in India. The result was a certain amount of schizophrenia,” Sen said.

Sen, who is a professor of economics and philosophy at Harvard University, cited writing by Adam Smith in 1769 wherein the father of modern economics argues that if one does good things, he does get credit for it. And the credit could be sometimes an indicator of how well one is doing. “But to seek the credit, and not the good work that generates the credit shows a level of intellectual naivete which has to be avoided. India tried to do that,” Sen added.

CHANDIGARH, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): The Army has initiated the process of merging sub-area headquarters, which are static establishments located across the country, with headquarters of operational formations located in the same station or their vicinity.

The move is part of the Army’s ongoing organisational restructuring to optimise its manpower and resources and its basis lies in the recommendations of a study group that was formed a few years ago to review the existing hierarchy.

According to a circular sent to all Army Commands by the Staff Duties Directorate at Army Headquarters a few days ago, 13 sub-area headquarters are to be merged with the headquarters of co-located formations like corps.

Sub-areas are commanded by officers of the rank of Major General, designated as General Officer Commanding (GOC), who reports to the area commander, a Lieutenant

General. who in turn functions under the General Officer Commanding-inChief of the Command in whose territorial jurisdiction the area lies.

There are a few independent sub-areas, not reporting to an area, and some that are not co-located with a formation.

Under the new hierarchical set-up, the GOC of a sub-area will be re-designated as Major General (Land, Works and Welfare) posted at corps headquarters, reporting to the corps commander instead of the area commander.

Similarly, other officers and staff at sub-area headquarters will be adjusted at corps headquarters with new designations and modified charters of duties.

A sub-area is a static formation which does not control any combat or operational elements but is mandated for providing administrative, logistical and infrastructural support to formations and establishments in its territorial jurisdiction.

OFFICE OF THE

LONGJANG SENSO TELONGJEM MOKOKCHUNG NAGALAND

FELICITATION

The Longjang Senso Telongjem Mokokchung with great pride and joy congratulates Miss Tsukjemchila Jamir, D/o Mr. & Mrs. Bendang T. Jamir (Alongmen Ward Mokokchung) on being promoted as Chief Manager, State Bank of India Mokokchung. The LSTM further hopes and prays that she will continue to serve the people with utmost sincerity and dedication.

Sd/Sd/T Sashi Imchen Limanungsang Jamir President, LSTM Secretary, LSTM

MKC-154

CHANDIGARH, JUN 5 (PTI): Farmers burnt copies of the Centre’s three farm laws near residences of BJP leaders and at other places in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday, observing the day of the promulgation of the farm ordinances last year as ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’.

Farmers carrying black flags raised slogans against the BJP-led central government for not scrapping the legislation which, they said, will “destroy” the farming community.

Security personnel were deployed and barricades put up near the protest sites to maintain law and order.

The call for observing ‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’ was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the protesting farmer unions, spearheading the agitation against the farm laws. Protests were held at many places including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, Abohar, Hoshiarpur, Barnala, Nawanshahr, Patiala, Chandigarh, Sirsa, Jind, Karnal, Panipat and Ambala.

In Phagwara, farmers burnt copies of the farm laws near the residence of Union minister Som Parkash at Urban Estate. The protesters assembled near the GT Road and marched towards his residence.

Police put up barri-

7

national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE KOHIMA : : NAGALAND

NO. DEF/KMA/ESSTT/(13)/(1)/2021-22/837 Dated, Kohima the 5th June 2021.

LAST AND FINAL CALLING NOTICE

Whereas No. 4891 R/C Kethosetuo Kuotsu of DEF Kohima, S/o- Kezhalelhou Kuotsu, Village – Seithekema Bawe, PO- Chumukedima, PS- Chumukedima, Dist.Dimapur is found absenting from Government bonafide duty w.e.f 18/03/2021 till date.

And whereas this office had issued 3 (three) consecutive calling notices Vide order No. DEF/KMA/ESSTT/(13)/ (1)/2021-22/578 Dated 12/04/2021, Even No. 623 Dated 20/04/2021 and Even No. 759 Dated 18/05/2021, which were duly served to you but you have failed to report back for duty.

You are hereby directed to report for duty within 07 (seven) days from the date of publication of this calling letter, failing which departmental enquiry proceedings will be initiated ex-parte.

DC-476

Sd/(KEVITHUTO SOPHIE) IPS, Sr. Superintendent of Police, Kohima, Nagaland.

business/state

May GST collections remain over Rs 1L cr-mark

a statement.

“During the month, revenues from import of goods were 56 per cent higher, while the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) were 69 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year,” it added.

According to the statement, the gross GST revenue collected in May 2021 was Rs 1,02,709 crore of which CGST was Rs 17,592 crore, SGST Rs 22,653 crore, IGST Rs 53,199 crore (including Rs 26,002

crore collected on import of goods) and Cess Rs 9,265 crore (including Rs 868 crore collected on import of goods).

The revenue figures include GST collections from domestic transactions till June 4 since the taxpayers were given various relief measures in the form of waiver or reduction in interest on delayed return filing for 15 days for the return filing month of May in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic.

In May, the government settled Rs 15,014 crore

to CGST and Rs 11,653 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement, the statement said.

With May collections staying above the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark, it is the eighth month in a row when GST revenues crossed the threshold. The collections are surprising as most of the states have been under strict lockdown due to the pandemic.

In addition, while the taxpay-ers with a turnover of above Rs 5 crore had to file their returns by June 4, which they would have otherwise filed by May 20, smaller taxpayers with turnover less than Rs 5 crore still have time till the first week of July to file their returns without any late fee and interest. The revenues from these taxpayers are deferred till then.

Thus, the actual revenues for the month of May 2021 would be higher and would be known when all the extended dates expire,

People continue to flout lockdown norms, Covid-19 safety protocols in Dimapur Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, JUN 5 (NPN): Despite repeated appeals by the district authorities and civil society organizations to strictly follow Covid-19 safety protocols, people continue to blatantly flout safety protocols by gathering in large numbers at wholesale and daily markets.

In a video that was being circulated on social media platforms on Saturday, showed people crowding the market and not maintaining social distancing norms.

The person recording the scene claimed that the incident was being recorded at a wholesale vegetable market on June 5 around 4.50 a.m.

Despite Covid-19 lockdown measures being implemented under the Disaster Management Act, people continue to throng the wholesale markets with scant regard to the Covid-19 safety protocols.

When the matter was flagged to the principal secretary Health & Family Welfare AS Bhatia, the latter said

Crossword

Su doku

KAKURO

has been the most affected district, reporting highest new cases of Covid-19 including deaths. The virus appears to be at stage--3 or community transmission and overcrowded places especially closed surroundings giving vent to the uncontrollable spread.

As reported earlier, Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) Albert Ezung had said that the wholesale markets were crowded because vegetables vendors, went to buy their stocks of essential commodities.

Ezung also said the lockdown has adversely affected daily wage earners who are facing several financial crisis due to stoppage of various construction or farming works etc.

He said this has compelled many to switch to selling vegetables for their livelihood, resulting in markets being People flock to buy vegetables. (Video grab) overcrowded.

Regardless of DMC urging retailhe had directed the District Task Force ers to procure essential commodities Dimapur to act on the matter and issue from their respective colonies, and not from the wholesale market, people appropriate orders. still continue to flock at the wholesale Though It may be noted that Dimapur markets.

the Finance Ministry said.

“The collections for the month of May 2021 are higher than expected.

Though most of the businesses were not functioning in April due to the lockdown, the numbers come as a pleasant surprise. The numbers should rise further considering that many small businesses are yet to file their returns considering the Covid related relaxations extended by the government for such businesses,” said Rajat Bose, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. “Collections of Rs 1 lakh crore pertaining to the transactions in the month of April 2021 indicate that the economic impact of the lockdowns has been much lower than expected. A close watch is required on the next month’s collections to determine the extent of the impact on GST collections in FY22,” said M.S. Mani, Senior Director, Deloitte India.

Hotel occupancy rates to take a hit for 2-3 months more: ICRA New Delhi, Jun 5 (IANS): The resurgence of Covid-19 will adversely impact the occupancy rates of India’s hotel industry for another two-three months, ratings agency ICRA said.

The pandemic’s second wave has plunged the sequential occupancy rates of the industry.

Accordingly, the occupancy rate had sequentially dipped from 45 per cent in March 2021 to 32-34 per cent in April 2021 and further to about 25-27 per cent in May 2021.

The occupancy rate had fallen to lows of 13-15 per cent during the first few months of FY2021 and demand was largely limited to Vande Bharat repatriation travelers, medical or other frontline workers, stranded travelers and work-fromhotel guests.

After hotels reopened gradually from Q2 FY2021, demand came from staycations, drive-to-leisure and

wedding ‘Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions’ (MICE) and occupancies inched closer to 50 per cent in Q4 FY2021 providing a healthy dose of optimism to the industry.

As per ICRA, the recently expanded scope of ECGLS has come as a relief for larger hotel companies.

Under the expanded scope of the scheme, Centre has recently removed Rs 500 crore ceiling cap on loan outstanding for eligibility under the ECLGS 3.0, subject to a maximum assistance of Rs 200 crore or 40 per cent of the borrowings whichever is lower.

Centre had launched the ECLGS in May 2020 to protect the MSME sector from the massive economic upheaval caused by the pandemic. “About 70 per cent of ICRA’s hospitality portfolio applied for moratorium during the first wave,” said Vinutaa S, Assistant Vice President and Sector Head,

ICRA Ratings.

“Subsequently, most companies availed debt under ECLGS 1.0 and 2.0, and through other long-term debt to shore up their liquidity for meeting operational and financial commitments.

Some companies also resorted to equity fund raising from investors and promoters.”

According to ICRA, the recent expansion is a welcome move and is expected to benefit larger hospitality companies.

“About 32 per cent of ICRA rated debt is incrementally eligible for loan availment because of the cap removal.”

Besides, a severe impact of the pandemic has resulted in a sharp increase in downgrades.

“About 70 per cent of the entities are on negative credit outlook, compared to 92% of the entities with stable outlook in January 2020,” ICRA said.

NPFLP renews tirade... WED 2021: CM calls for reducing...

(From p-1) He also said as per statement at the June 4 press conference, there was no specific time-frame for completion of the proposed 176-beded capacity and so what would be the fate of the present covid-19 patients before its completion since no fund allocation have been made to various district hospitals to treat Covid patients.

Imchen also demanded to know where a proper and formal tender notice was advertised in the media inviting bidders for the construction at the hospital? He said if so, then which newspapers published the tender and when?

Imchen said if the answers to the above are ‘No’ then the chief minister, minister of H&FW, principal secretary H&FW and principal director H&FW “are liable for criminal prosecution for misappropriating public money and misleading the people of the state for no cause.”

He said the NPF LP as “true representatives of the people” is making the clarion call in the larger interest of the public and called upon the government “to maintain transparency and accountability, while occupying the public office.”

No. 9938 Yesterday’s solution No. 9937

No. 4558 Yesterday’s solution No. 4557

No. 3582 Yesterday’s solution No. 3581

Across 3. Top of the milk (5) 8. Sublime (5) 10. Construct (5) 11. Express disapproval (3) 12. Ultimate, last (5) 13. Very bad (7) 15. Stop (5) 18. Was seated (3) 19. Cleaning cloth (6) 21. Reasons (7) 22. Dutch cheese (4) 23. Fish type (4) 24. Arm bone (7) 26. Organ of taste (6) 29. Rodent (3) 31. Vapour of boiling water (5) 32. Cough medicine (7) 34. Manservant (5) 35. Sing with closed lips (3) 36. Girl’s name (5) 37. Start (5) 38. Minimum (5) Down 1. Pastime (5) 2. Bloom (7) 4. Complain bitterly (4) 5. Counting frame (6) 6. Backless shoes (5) 7. Shut (5) 9. Young male (3) 12. Exhaustion (7) 14. Floor covering (3) 16. Book of maps (5) 17. Rub out (5) 19. Fault, disadvantage (7) 20. Defeats (5) 21. American state (5) 23. Meat retailer (7) 24. Kind, sympathetic (6) 25. Managed (3) 27. Freshwater mammal (5) 28. Auctioneer’s hammer (5) 30. Hot and sticky (5) 32. Limbs (4) 33. Towboat (3)

(From p-1) assisted NFMP, KfW sponsored Biodiversity project and IFAD supported FOCUS project would make major contributions in preserving and restoring nature in the state.

Further, he highlighted that environmental disasters like ecosystem loss provided conditions for diseases like coronavirus to grow and spread.

Rio, however, assured that the state government was doing its utmost to fight the pandemic. He congratulated the EF&CC department, the Assam Rifles and Nagaland police department for successfully organizing the commemoration of the event through plantation drives.

Giving a brief presentation, additional principal chief conservator of forest Vedpal Singh highlighted the progress of the joint plantation in various districts across the state.

Singh stated that the target was to plant around three lakh seedlings across the state. On the occasion, short speeches were also delivered by principal secretary EF&CC Ramakrishna Environment, IGAR (N) Maj. Gen. Kaushik, and DGP Nagaland T. John Longkumer.

In his speech, IGAR(N) high-

lighted the various green initiatives taken by Assam Rifles such as installation of solarlights, vermicomposting and rainwater harvesting across the state. DGP in his speech stated that this was the first collaborative effort between police and forest department and suggested that such joint efforts should continue henceforth.

Earlier, chairing the programme, principal chief conservator of forest & head of forest force Dharmendra Prakash welcomed all the participants and highlighted the significance of the World Environment Day. The programme was attended by the DCs, SPs, DFOs and other field functionaries from all districts and M. Senthil Kumar, CCF proposed the vote of thanks.

After the virtual programme, plantation drive was carried out in the New DC office Complex, Dimapur led by the chief minister. Seedlings distribution programme in Kohima was flagged off by the PCCF &HoFF. The virtual celebration witnessed the participation of the Assam Rifles and the Nagaland Police, who are partnering the EF&CC department in carrying out plantation drives across the state.

Govt warns twitter of penal action New Delhi, Jun 5 (IANS): The Union Ministry of Electronics and IT has sent its final notice to Twitter over non-compliance of the new IT rules and has again warned of penal action in case the US-headquartered social media platform fails to comply to the norms.

The notice sent by the ministry noted that in view of Twitter Inc’s non-compliance with the rules which came into effect on May 26, 2021, “consequences follow”.

“However, as gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability

available under section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India,” it said.

The ministry said that it is clear from the responses of the company that till date it has not informed about the details of the Chief Compliance Office

Expanded ECLGS to aid liquidity needs of MECs: Report New Delhi, Jun 5 (IANS): The extension in the scope of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) will support the liquidity of around one third of mid and emerging corporates (MECs), India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said.

Centre had launched the ECLGS in May 2020 to protect the MSME sector from the massive economic upheaval caused by the pandemic. Recently, the Centre expanded the scope of the scheme. “The additional funds made available for their working capital requirements along with extending the moratorium period in their previously availed ECLGS loans would lower repayment obligations in FY22,” the ratings agency said in a note. “Furthermore, it will provide opportunity

to MECs to swap their previous availed high interestbearing term loans with lower cost ECLGS loans.”

At present, ECLGS’s rate of interest is capped at 9.25 per cent for banks and 14 per cent for the non-banks due to which a cost reduction of up to 200bp can be easily achieved. However, the working capital of MECs remaining stuck either in form of inventory or with debtors due to the extension in localised lockdown. This will remain a key concern as it might deplete the newly sanctioned funds in short term, the agency said.

“The liquidity cushion will improve in the key sectors such as consumer discretionary goods & services (CDGS), fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), industrials and basic materials sectors.”

as required under the Rules.

Further, it also said that the Resident Grievance Officer and Nodal Contact Person nominated by the platform are not its employees in India as required under the new rules.

“The office address of Twitter Inc as mentioned by you is that of a law firm in India, which is also not as per the rules.”

LAND FOR SALE at Padam Pukhuri Village, Dimapur Block 5 (Dry Land) 7000 sq. ft. @ 290 per sq. ft.

4300 sq. ft. @ 300 per sq. ft.

Contact : 7005249561

DP-2674

New Delhi, Jun 5 (IANS): India’s gross Good and Services Tax (GST) revenue collections remained above the psychological mark of Rs 1 lakh crore, clocking a high of Rs 1,02,709 crore in May 2021, beating all the expectations of lower collections in the wake of the disruptions caused by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Though the GST revenues in May 2021 are lower than the record Rs 1.41 lakh crore collections made in the previous month, the highest since the introduction of the tax in 2017, they are still significant as most tax experts had feared that the real impact of the pandemic and the lockdowns in different parts of the country would pull down GST collections significantly in May. “The revenues for the month of May 2021 are 65 per cent higher than the GST revenues collected in the same month last year,” the Finance Ministry said in

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

LOST NOTICE I, Zulanrhoni Patton am applying for duplicate copy of HSLC Pass Certificate as I have lost it.

Name: Zulanrhoni Patton F/Name: Ekyimthung Patton D.o.B: 16-09-02 Roll No: 181603181 School: Libemo Memorial School, Wokha Year of Passing : 2018 DP-2668

LOST NOTICE

I, Miss Wonchibeni Ngullie, am applying for a duplicate copy of my HSLC Examination 2021 Admit Card as I have lost it.

Name: Wonchibeni Ngullie Father’s Name: Kilo Ngullie Mother’s Name: Salatia Ngullie Roll No: 211603199 School: GHSS Wokha Exam Centre: WOK 3 Date of Birth: 04-06-2002 Identification Mark: A mole on the left side of the neck.

WC-109

8

launches UN Decade 113 Palestinians injured Guterres on Ecosystem Restoration in West Bank clashes

16 Palestinians who were injured by live ammunition were evacuated to hospitals.

RAMALLAH, JUN 5 (IANS): A total of 113 Palestinian protesters were injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, medical sources said.

The clashes broke out on Friday when Israeli soldiers dispersed an antisettlement rally in the village of Beita, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Xinhua news agency reported citing the sources as saying.

Witnesses said Israeli soldiers fired teargas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse the

protesters who threw stones at the soldiers. The rally on Friday afternoon at Jabal Sbeih Mountain near the village was held to protest against the Jewish settlers’ preparedness to set up a settlement outpost.

The protesters said Israeli settlers set up over 20 mobile caravans on the mountain as a prelude to a complete takeover of the mountain to establish the outpost.

Ahmad Jibril, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s emergency department, told reporters

Taliban captures another district in Afghanistan Kabul, Jun 5 (IANS): Taliban militants have captured another district in Afghanistans eastern province of Nuristan, adding to recent military gains, officials said on Saturday.

Provincial councillor Saidullah Nuristani told dpa news agency that government forces have abandoned Doab district after 20 days of resistance.

According to Nuristani, the militants had blocked all the supply routes to the district, forcing the government forces to evacuate the district after being unable to receive any food supplies or ammunition from the central government for nearly a month.

Ismail Ateekan, an MP representing the province, claimed that the government forces had left the district

without fighting, after an agreement that was mediated by the local tribal elders in the area. In return, the insurgents did not attack them during the evacuation.

The district connects Panjshir and Badakhshan provinces to Nuristan, and the militants now pose a threat to the neighbouring Laghman province since they have besieged the Noorgram district in the province, according to MP Ateekan.

At least three districts have fallen to the Taliban since Thursday night. Local officials confirmed the collapse of two districts in southern Zabul and Uruzgan provinces late on Friday.

Since the official withdrawal of the US and other NATO troops in Afghanistan on May 1, at least seven districts have fallen to the Taliban.

that 16 Palestinians who were injured by live ammunition were evacuated to hospitals, while 20 injured by rubber bullets, four beaten by the soldiers, and 73 suffered from teargas inhalation.

One of them sustained a serious injury after being hit by a live bullet on the neck, Jibril said.

Every Friday, dozens of Palestinians demonstrate in various areas in the West Bank against the Israeli plans of expanding settlements, demolishing homes, and confiscating lands.

Egypt to help reconstruct Gaza Strip Gaza, Jun 5 (IANS): Egypt has sent massive engineering equipment and crew to the Gaza Strip for its reconstruction after the 11-day devastating bloodshed in and around the Palestinian enclave last month.

The equipment, including a large number of trucks, bulldozers and cranes, will remove debris and rubble from the buildings that were destroyed during the 11-day Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Xinhua news agency quoted local media reports as saying.

The aid comes after a pledge made by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to contribute $500 million to help reconstruct Gaza with the participation of Egyptian companies.

Modi and Xi can solve Sino-India issues: Putin

St. Petersburg (Russia), Jun 5 (PTI): Asserting that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are “responsible” leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said they both are capable of solving issues between the two countries, and that it was important that no “extra-regional power” should interfere in the process.

With Russia publicly critical of the Quad, the four-nation grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia, Putin also told PTI that though it was not up to Moscow to assess how any nation should participate in an initiative and to what extent they should build their relations with other countries but no partnership should be aimed at making friends against anyone.

The Russian president’s remarks, in response to a question on Moscow’s view on Quad as well as India’s participation in the grouping, were a veiled reference to the Chinese claim that the grouping is to contain Beijing’s influence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.

He also asserted that there were no “contradictions” in Russia’s partnership with India and the ties between Moscow and Beijing.

“Yes, I do know that there are some issues related

9

international

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

Vladimir Putin

to India China relations but there are always a lot of issues between neighbouring countries but I know the attitude of both the Prime Minister of India and also the President of China.

These are very responsible people and they earnestly treat one another with utmost respect and I believe that they will always arrive at a solution to any issue that they might face.

“But it is important that no other extra-regional power is interfering with that,” the Russian President told PTI through a translator during a virtual interaction.

It has been more than a year since the military standoff between China and India erupted in eastern Ladakh on May 5, 2020 during which there were fatalities on both sides for the first time in 45 years. They have made limited progress in achieving disengagement at the Pangong Lake area while negotiations for similar steps at other friction points re-

mained deadlocked.

Asked about the growing proximity between Russia and China and if that will impact the Indo-Russia security and defence cooperation, Putin said the relations between India and Russia were developing quite rapidly, quite successfully based on “trust”.

“We highly appreciate such a high level of cooperation with our Indian friends. These relations are of a strategic nature. They cover a whole range of avenues of our cooperation in economy, energy and hi-tech. In defence, and I am not just talking about purchase of Russian arms...

We have very deep profound relations with India based on trust,” he said.

Putin also asserted that India is Russia’s only partner that they are working together with on “elaborating and manufacturing, especially in India, advanced weapon systems and technologies but that is not where our cooperation ends because our cooperation is multifaceted.”

During the interaction with select top editors of major international news agencies, including from the US, India, the UK, Germany and France, Putin replied to wide ranging issues, including Russia-US ties, the pandemic situation, the US sanctions against Russia and the Gaza issue.

United Nations, Jun 5 (IANS): Amidst the triple environmental threats of biodiversity loss, climate disruption and escalating pollution, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched “an unprecedented effort to heal the Earth”.

Kicking off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the UN chief said on Friday that the planet was rapidly reaching a “point of no return”, cutting down forests, polluting rivers and oceans, and ploughing grasslands “into oblivion”, reports Xinhua news agency “We are ravaging the very ecosystems that underpin our societies,” he warned.

“Our degradation of the natural world is destroying the very food, water and resources needed to survive, and already undermining the well-being of 3.2 billion people -- or 40 per cent of humanity.”

But fortunately, the Earth is resilient and “we still have time to reverse the damage we have done”, he added.

By restoring ecosystems, Guterres said that “we can drive a transformation that will contribute to the achievement of all the Sustainable Development

4 dead, over 170K affected by strong winds, heavy rains in SL

Antonio Guterres

Goals”.

“Accomplishing these things will not only safeguard the planet’s resources.

It will create millions of new jobs by 2030, generate returns of over $7 trillion every year and help eliminate poverty and hunger.”

He pointed out that the next 10 years are “our final chance to avert a climate catastrophe, turn back the deadly tide of pollution and end species loss”.

Meanwhile, UN independent human rights experts have called on the UN to formally recognise that living in a safe, healthy and sustainable environment is “indeed a human right”.

Guteress’ remarks came on the eve of World Environment Day marked annually on June 5 for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of the environment.

Over 5,000 people had been affected and moved to safer locations.

C o l o m b o, J u n 5 (IANS): Four people were killed and over 170,000 were affected by days of strong gales and heavy rains which lashed Sri Lanka in recent days, the Disaster Management Centre said on Saturday.

Till Saturday morning, seven people were also missing due to the inclement weather while two others were injured, reports Xinhua news agency.

Over 5,000 people had been affected and moved to safer locations while

65 houses had been damaged in the worst affected districts.

The Centre said teams had been deployed on the ground to conduct search and rescue operations while the military was also on standby to help rescue efforts in the event of heavy floods.

The Meteorology Department in its latest weather report said heavy rains measuring 150 mm could be expected over the weekend and the public was urged to be cautious

especially about heavy lightning. The department further said wind speeds were expected to increase up to 50 to 55 km per hour in Northern, North Central and North-Western provinces.

According to the Centre, several areas in the country were inundated on Saturday following the heavy rains and a warning had been issued to families living in low-lying areas.

A landslide warning also had been issued for some districts.

Mexico to hold largest ever mid-term polls in history

Mexico City, Jun 5 (IANS): Mexico is gearing up for the largest ever mid-term elections in the country’s history on Sunday, with tens of thousands of candidates vying to fill more than 20,000 public posts, according to authorities.

The race to watch, said political observers, is the one to fill the Chamber of Deputies, or the lower house, in which the ruling progressive National Regeneration Movement (Morena) hopes to maintain or strengthen its qualified majority, as the conservative opposition strives to gain ground, reports Xinhua news agency.

The mid-terms will essentially decide whether President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be able to carry on with his socalled “Fourth Transforma-

The mid-terms will essentially decide whether President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will be able to carry on.

tion”, combat public-sector corruption and make the country more energy independent, or be forced to temper his reform drive during his remaining time in office.

Up for renewal are 15

S Korea under mega cyber attacks in pandemic-driven online era Seoul, Jun 5 (IANS): Reports of ransomware attacks in South Korea have surged in the past year, shutting down hospitals to shopping malls as the coronavirus pandemic led to increased online activities.

On Thursday, a major plastic surgery hospital in southern Seoul posted on its website that its servers had been breached by a ransomware attack and that hackers appear to have stolen personal data of its patients, the latest in a series of reported ransomware attacks here -- a tactic used by cyber criminals to breach businesses’ systems and hold their data hostage or lock up their systems until a ransom is paid.

The number of ransomware attack reports here stood at 127 last year, more than tripling from 39 in 2019, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. As of Friday this year, there have been 65 cases this year, reports Yonhap news agency.

Ransomware attacks have been aimed at various businesses. Last month, food delivery company Super Hero’s operations were paralyzed for hours after a ransomware attack, impacting 15,000 delivery workers nationwide.

In November last year, local fashion and retail giant E-Land Group was breached by hackers, forcing 23 of its 50 branches of

NC Department Store and NewCore Outlet to halt their operations.

Cyber security attacks have increased in not only number but also in profile as the pandemic has made online activities essential.

As companies increase reliance on remote work during the pandemic, ransomware attacks have become a greater threat as they can cripple their entire work system, said Kim Seung-joo, a cyber security professor at Korea University.

That has led more companies to pay out the ransom, which encourages even more ransomware attacks. “It’s a vicious cycle,” said Kim, urging investment into cyber security to ward off the threat in the first place.

The attacks are part of a broader global trend.

Romanian cybersecurity firm BitDefender said in a recent report that global ransomware attacks grew 485 percent last year from 2019.

Recent notable attacks include a hack last month into Colonial Pipeline, a major oil pipeline operator in the United States, which forced the company to pay US$4.4 million in ransom.

South Korea expects ransomware attacks to continue and the ICT ministry last month set up a 24-hour monitoring team to support companies targeted by the attacks.

of the country’s 32 Governor posts, 500 federal deputy seats, 1,063 local deputy seats and 1,923 mayoral posts, among others, with a total of the 20,415 popularly elected positions.

According to the Na-

tional Electoral Institute, 93,676,029 Mexicans will be eligible to vote at 162,896 polling stations across the country.

To i m p r ove t h e i r chances in the lower house, Mexico’s three largest op-

position parties -- the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Democratic Revolution Party and National Action Party -- joined forces to back the same candidate for each seat, aiming to take votes away from the Morena-led coalition that includes the Labor Party and Ecologist Green Party of Mexico.

To maintain its twothirds qualified majority in Congress, Morena will need to garner 334 deputy seats, a number which Lopez said will be tough to win, despite the party’s lead in various polls. The elections are expected to go smoothly, though violence targeting candidates has traditionally marred political campaigns in Mexico with some 89 politicians assassinated so far, including 35 candidates, according to risk analysis firm Etellekt.

Belarusian airlines banned from EU airspace after journo’s arrest

Journalist Roman Protasevich taken into custody.

B r u ss e ls , J u n 5 (IANS): Starting from Saturday, Belarusian air carriers’ will be banned from flying over the European Union (EU) airspace and also using runways in response to the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight and detention of a dissident journalist and his girlfriend last month.

The 27 countries are obliged “to deny permission to land in, take off from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian air carriers”, the bloc announced on Friday after member states envoys in Brussels formally signed off the move.

Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega were on board a commercial flight between EU countries Greece and Lithuania that was rerouted on May 23 to Minsk shortly before it reached Vilnius due to an alleged bomb threat, reports dpa news agency.

No bomb was found, but both were detained.

The bloc slammed the act as an affront to both air safety and freedom of the press.

The EU has also called on all bloc-based carriers to avoid flying over Belarusian territory.

The International

Air Transport Association (IATA) condemned Minsk’s behaviour but also criticized the EU. “Two wrongs do not make a right. Politics should never interfere with the safe operation of aircraft and politicians should never use aviation safety as a cover to pursue political or diplomatic agendas,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said in a statement.

The bloc is also preparing a package of economic sanctions on individuals involved in the incident, but this could still take some time to finalize, according to DPA’S diplomatic sources.

state

10

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

Nagaland observes ‘World Environment Day’

Village leaders and elders with the invitee during the State deputy chief minister, Y. Patton planting a tree on the occasion of World Environment Day 2021, in Dimapur. programme at Jakhama on Saturday. (NP)

youth should not be limited by their inability to get government jobs.

He pointed out that youth should not hesitate to get their hands dirty when it comes to manual labour since most of the jobs which can even be done were being occupied by non-locals mainly because local youths prefer to go only for white-collar jobs.

Ja k h a m a V i l l a g e Council chairman, Zhopo Kirha said a person preserving the environment was doing favour to themselves since a rich biodiversity would ensure in a healthier population.

He said although in the past a huge cache of trees were felled from within the village jurisdiction without fully understanding their importance, he added that the village folks were now aware of the need for such forests and was getting back on track in preserving the same.

A brief insight to Jakhama-sustainable vil-

lage was shared by Dr Kelühol Tase.

Earlier the programme was chaired by Kekhrielezo Zhotso while Catholic Church, Jakhama Town, catechist Koleto Richa invoked God’s blessings.

We l c o m e a d d r e s s was delivered by Jakhama Youth Organization president Kekhüsezo Zao, a special number was presented by Hoketozo Kirha while Jakhama Students’ Union president Kulvi Zhotso proposed the vote of thanks.

Certificates and citations were awarded to forest & biodiversity committee, Phema Khel, Jakhama and Viwora forest area, Viwomi Community, Jakhama for their efforts to preserve forests and wildlife in the village jurisdiction.

A tree plantation drive was organised to commemorate the occasion which was kick started by the invitee. (correspondent) Mokokchung: The

Mongsenyimti Student’s Union (MKT) organised a roadside tree plantation programme within the Mongsenyimti village jurisdiction.

On the occasion, divisional forest officer, Mokokchung, Sentitola delivered the keynote address; MKT president, Putiwapong Ozukum highlighted the significance of the day and MBA Pastor L. Yanger Pongen invoked God’s blessings.

Sentitola said that it was a day to retrospect, re-assess, re-affirm and strengthen our commitment towards our task.

This has spread so far and wide, that world environment day has become a global platform for countries to reach out to the public, she said.

She also mentioned having witnessed and understood the reality of global change and its implication towards the hu-

mankind and all the living beings, today, the world as global community was heralding in unison, “my earth my duty”.

She appealed to all the participant to internalise this initiative and carry forward with urgency, seriousness and with integrity.

MKT President Putiwapong while addressing on the occasion said, ‘because of lack of civic sense many people tend to destroy the decent work done for the betterment of all; likewise if we planted a tree dedicated to someone important personality and if anyone deforest or destroy the particular tree, remember that you are denting the person’s reputation”.

Marking the day and with an attempt to conserve biodiversity, the students’ union dedicated each tree saplings to more than 40 prominent personals in the state.

Dimapur: With the pur pose of spreading awareness about the need to protect the environment, Diphupar Naga Students Union (DNSU) celebrated WED. In a press release DNSU said that during the day, the union conducted activities such as cleaning of demarcated personal compounds and its surroundings and planting of sapling trees in and around Diphupar jurisdiction.

The union also constructed and donated concrete waste bin at government higher secondary school, Diphupar. They also distributed eco-friendly dustbin to the shops within its jurisdiction.

The initiative was carried out and led by DNSU members adhering to all SOPs. Team Dimapur led by nodal officer Dimapur, Y. Kikheto Sema members of Naga Council Dimapur led by its interim president, Etsungmomo Kikon and ADC Dimapur planted more than 200 decorative trees at new Naga Cemetery Dimapur.

More than 300 plants would be planted during the following days

by NCD and volunteers along the stretch before reaching the cemetery.

Delivering a short speech Kikheto Sema thanked the horticulture and forest department for providing the saplings and also requested

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

girl child.

It was an initiated of Mahila Shakti Kendra, Longleng under the Program “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao “.

Wokha: Wokha Town Lakhuti Pongdenro Okho (WTLPO) and Eco Club (Tsumang ‘B’), Airfield Colony Youth Organisation (AFYO) in collaboration with district administration, SP Office, SDRF forest department and YouTubers community Wokha initiated plantation drive at Etsujukha Lake, PHED Wokha.

In a short speech, EAC Hq Wokha Aloto Shohe said that it was high time that everyone to be aware of global warming and that it was time to rejuvenate the eco-diversity saying that every biotic components interacted to create life in providing nutrition supply for existence.

Lotha Students’ Union (LSU) president Ashanthung Humtsoe said that it was time that everyone reasoned out and gather together to pay back the nature, stating that “we all have to restore the nature through various program”.

The plantation drive was launched with a declaration by officer in-charge Wokha L. Chenithung Kikon.

S t r i c t C OV I D - 1 9 SOPs were followed during the programme.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

TENLAKABA Born: 05/09/1931 - Died: 01/06/2021 We, the family members of Late Tenlakaba, Süngratsü would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who stood with us through your physical presence, prayers and financial support during our darkest hour. We are truly indebted to you and even though we cannot thank each one of you personally, it is our prayer that God’s richest blessings rest upon each one of you.

– Loving Children and Family Members MKC-152

them for coordinating with NCD even in the near future for maintenance of the plants.

On being briefed about the worsening of road leading to the cemetery by the interim president NCD, Sema said that the latter has been put up to the higher authority and expressed hope that the issue would be considered on priority.

Interim president NCD thanked team Dimapur for leading the fight against the pandemic in the district and also visiting the cemetery several times.

Longleng: District Administration (BBBP), Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) & Sakhi One-Stop Centre (OSC) in collaboration with Ray Beacons Club, Longleng Town Students’ Union (LTSU) and Yongnyah Student’s union observed WED, at Longleng.

According to DIPR, the activities included cleanliness drive, garbage collection along with plantation of tree saplings in the entire town of Longleng district from Lempong junction to Hukphang junction.

Meanwhile, plantation of tree saplings under the mission, “tree for daughters” were also carried out in the district wherein a tree would be planted every month to celebrate the birth of a

Late L. Ghusheto Chishi 30/10/1968 - 31/05/2021 “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I’ll dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Ps.23:6, NIV

We, the family of Late Er. L. Ghusheto Chishi, would like to extend our thanks of gratitude to each and everyone who supported us physically, financially and through prayers during his hospitalization and demise.

We would also like to express our special gratitude to the following individuals and groups: 1. Shri Kazheto Kinimi, Advisor for CAWD, NSDMA, Govt. of Nagaland.

2. Rev. Dr. Hokheto Chophi, Pastor SBC Kohima.

3. Er. Shihoto Chophi, Kohima.

4. Comdt. Kuhovi Chishi, Naltoqa.

5. Dr. Hevito Shohe, Joint Director, Dimapur.

6. Mr. Ikato Chishi, Kohima.

7. Sumi Baptist Church Kohima.

8. Sumi Baptist Fellowship Merhulietsa, Kohima.

9. V. K. Area Union Kohima.

10. Akuluto V. K. Area Union.

11. Phishumi Welfare Society.

12. Phishumi Baptist Akukuho 13. Khalalimi Kuqhuko.

14. Merhulietsa Panchayat.

15. PWD R&B Dept.

16. IVCM Directors, Australia.

Though we have nothing to give you in return, it’s our earnest prayer that God bless you all abundantly.

Loving Wife & Children

K-1014

DIMAPUR: World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on June 5, engaging the people in an effort to address pressing environmental issues. Various districts, CSOs and citizens across Nagaland observed WED 2021 with active participation and positive responses in order to encourage one another and do their bit in preserving and protecting the environment.

Kohima: Jakhama Youth Organisation in collaboration with Jakhama village development board (VDB) and Jakhama Students’ Union organised a programme to commemorate WED at Campion School ground, Jakhama, here, on Saturday with senior superintendent of police, Kohima, Kevithüto Sophie as invitee.

In his brief address, Sophie called on the gathering to look for avenues through which they could be of help to the community at the same time protect the environment through the profession they had chosen.

Exhorting the students to think outside the box when choosing their profession, Sophie said a person’s zeal to work should not be confined to acquiring degrees and certificates however one must be driven by one’s passion even if they were self-employed.

He added that while it was important to look out for opportunities to earn one’s living, educated

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our hearts are filled with sincerest gratitude for all the love and support shared with us during our loss. To all the individuals, friends, neighbors, well-wishers, churches and societies who stood by us prayerfully, financially and physically during the ailment, hospitalization and demise of Lt. P.K. Along, Ex MLA, we would like to express from the depth of our hearts that your prayers, presence, gifts and assistance have been an unmeasurable source of help, comfort and support to us.

We extend our special gratitude to :1. Shri P Paiwang Konyak, Hon’ble Minister, 15. Zangkham Citizens and Zangkham Village Transport, Civil Aviation, Railways & Land Council.

Resources.

16. ZCBC, ZCSU, Youth Dept, Women Dept 2. Honje, Commissioner and Secretary and Themthongzong.

Fisheries, Nagaland.

17. Zangkham Union , ZCSF Tizit Town.

3. Shri Aloh Wangham, Ex MLA. 18. Nokyan Union 4. Hatpha Wangnao.

19. Loakkun Village Council 5. Shri. Yanang, former Chairman, NPSC. 20. Sakho Village Council 6. Bikash Bordoloi, Guwahati.

21. Nokzang Village Council 7. ADC & CEO, DDMA Kamrup Metropolitan 22. Jaboka Village Council.

Dist Guwahati, Assam.

23. Lapa Lampong Baptist Church.

8. Smt. Sungtila, DRC, Guwahati, Assam.

24. KBBB Mon. 9. Benjong Sangtam, Nagaland House.

25. 'A' Coy, DEF Kohima.

10. ENSU Guwahati.

26. Headmaster and staff, David English 11. Authority, doctors and staff of School.

Dr. B Borooah Cancer Institute Guwahati. 27. In-laws from Tamlu, Pfutseromi, 12. KU Tizit, TASU, KNSK Tizit Town and Kongan, Nokzang, Zangkham Tingsa and Administration Tizit.

Zangkham.

13. Task Force Tizit , Medical Dept and Police. 28. Dr. C. Along and Dr. Ankit Jain, Eden 14. KBCTT, TTPU, TTSU and Medical Ward Hospital, Dimapur.

Tizit town.

We deeply regret the inability to mention each and every individual here but we pray for God’s blessing upon you and your family.

Loving Family

DP-2671

K Y M C

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

– Isaiah 41:10 We express our profound gratitude to each and every one who stood by us physically, economically and through your prayers during the illness and untimely demise of our beloved Father.

We regret our inability to thank each and everyone individually, but it is our humble prayer that our Almighty God bless you abundantly for your selfless deeds.

Our Special Gratitude to:1 Naga Hospital Kohima (NHAK) 2 Oking Hospital Kohima doctors & staff 3 Sumi Baptist Church Kohima, Daklane (SBCK) 4 Sumi Baptist Church Kohima, Daklane (SBCK) Women Dept.

5 Sumi Baptist Church Kohima, Daklane (SBCK) Youth Dept.

6 PCP Fellowship Kohima 7 PCP Youth Fellowship Kohima 8 Lizaqo SHG PCP Kohima 9 Tukunasami Baptist Church 10 Satakhami Welfare Society Kohima 11 Middle PWD Organisation & Youth Organisation 12 Sumi Community PCP Kohima 13 Kohima Sumi Students’ Union 14 Jimomi Hoho 15 Satakha Range Students’ Union 16 Tukunasami Welfare Union Kohima 17 Tukunasami Kughuko Union Dimapur 18 Nunumi Union Kohima & Dimapur 19 Nunumi Vllage Council 20 True Vine (SBCK) Loving Wife, Children & Family members

LATE HESHETO KAPO (15.09.1960 – 30.05.2021)

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Will delay comment on Copa Spain, Portugal play out America controversy: Brazil captain goalless draw in friendly

Singapore Grand Prix cancelled SINGAPORE, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): The Singapore Grand Prix has been called off this year and Formula 1 is assessing its options to replace the race, BBC Sport can reveal.

F1 and the Singapore authorities agreed it will not be possible to hold the event in the context of immigration restrictions in the city state.

Other races later in 2021 could also fall prey to the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkey, China and a second race at Austin in the USA are all under consideration as replacements.

“We understand that our fans were looking forward to another edition of the Singapore Grand Prix,” said Colin Syn, deputy chairman of the race.

res in particular were wasteful. Cristiano Ronaldo had a quiet game for Portugal, glancing a header wide and failing to take a one-on-one opportunity. Before kick-off, there was an announcement that the neighbours will make a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup. Both these sides have one more Euro 2020 warm-up left - Spain play Lithuania in Madrid on Tuesday before Portugal face Israel the next day in Lisbon.

Italy rout Czech Republic for eight consecutive win

Italy brushed aside the Czech Republic in their final Euro 2020 warm-up game in Bologna for an eighth consecutive win

without conceding a goal.

Ciro Immobile drilled in their opener before NicoloBarella scored their second, courtesy of a huge deflection, after a run from the halfway line. Lorenzo Insigne - on his 30th birthday - swept home from Immobile’s pass. Insigne then picked out Domenico Berardi in space and the striker chipped in a fourth.

B e r a r d i ’s S a s s u o l o team-mate Giacomo Raspadori, a 21-year-old forward, came on for his international debut with 12 minutes to go. Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri - who host Turkey in the opening game of Euro 2020 next Friday - have not lost a game since 2018.

Rio de Janeiro, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): The captain of Brazil’s soccer team Casemiro said the players will wait until next week to comment on reports they are opposed to Brazil hosting the Copa America, with Casemiro saying any decision would be made jointly by the players and coach.

Brazil was unexpectedly chosen to host the Copa America after Argentina withdrew because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Multiple news reports in Brazil have said the players are upset at not being consulted about the decision as well as the possible public health consequences.

“We can’t talk about the issue (but) everyone knows what our position is regarding the Copa America,” Casemiro said after Brazil beat Ecuador 2-0

MANCHESTER, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): Manchester City defender Ruben Dias has been named Premier League player of the season, with Pep Guardiola taking the manager’s award. Portuguese international Dias, 24, was influential in central defence as City won a third title in four years. He was named men’s footballer of the year

Although we are unable to thank everyone individually, we pray that the good Lord Almighty bless each and everyone of you abundantly. We are truly grateful and will remain indebted to you all.

Loving Wife, Children Lt. K. HOKUGHA ACHUMI 14/01/1973-23/05/2021 and Families

AlphaTauri’sGasly was fastest in a time of 1 minute, 42.251 seconds, beating Perez by .344 seconds, though Perez still has the fastest time of the weekend so far from Friday.

Defending champion Lewis Hamilton com-

by the Football Writers’ Association in May. City boss Guardiola was named Premier League manager of the season for the third time in four years.

To t t e n h a m ’s E r i k Lamela was awarded Premier League goal of the season for his ‘rabona’ finish in the north London derby defeat at Arsenal in

March. Spurs took the lead after Lamela’s audacious shot, which went through the legs of Thomas Partey before beating goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

City defender Dias, signed from Benfica for about £65m last September, made 32 league appearances for his club over the season, playing a part in 15 clean sheets.

plained of a lack of grip, but he came closer to Red Bull’s pace after two poor sessions Friday.

A lap of 1:42.697 late in the session put Hamilton third in his best time of the weekend so far, .446 off Gasly His teammate ValtteriBottas was 13th.

WORDS OF GRATITUDE

Yimyu Ward Yimden (Authority) Mokokchung donated much needed Plastic Chairs to Urban Primary Health Center, Yimyu Ward on Saturday 05.06.21.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

LATE L. HEKIYE CHISHI Born : 01/07/1958 – Died : 02/06/2021 We, the family members would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone and is truly indebted to Sumi Baptist Church Niuland Town, neighbours, G.B's & friends for supporting us physically, financially, emotionally and spiritually at his sudden demise. We regret our inability to thank each of you personally, but it is our sincere prayer that Almighty God bless you all abundantly.

"No farewell words were spoken, No time to say goodbye, Gone before we knew, and only God knows why, you will forever live in our hearts."

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LATE YAPANGNUNGSANG JAMIR Mopungchuket Village Born on 25 March 1944 Died on 28 May 2021 We, the bereaved family would like to express our profound gratitude to each and everyone; individuals, families, friends, neighbours, organizations, churches and well-wishers who stood by us physically, morally, financially and spiritually and shared our sorrow during unprecedented grief and demise of our beloved father, Yapangnungsang Jamir on 28 May 2021. May God bless you all.

Loving Wife, Children, In-laws & Grandchildren DP-2669

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE

Loving wife, children & in-laws

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Nunumi Union Satakha is profoundly saddened over the untimely demise of Lt. Hesheto Kapo, Rtd. Superintendent, Dept of Agri. He was a God fearing man who was always ready to give his helping hand for the welfare of the community. On his demise, we have lost a noble soul whose presence will be deeply missed. We convey our deepest sympathy to the bereaved family, it is our earnest prayer that God give the departed soul an eternal rest and bring solace to the family.

President Secretary Visheto Yeptho Kanito Swu

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of Lt. Mrs. Yhunile Thono

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands looks over the barrier from his car after hitting a wall. (AP)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We, the bereaved family members of Lt. K. HOKUGHA ACHUMI, GB, SHENA OLD Village, would like to express our sincere gratitude to each and every individuals, organisations, communities, associations and his colleagues who stood by us and comforted us spiritually, physically, financially, materially and morally at his sudden demise on 23-05-2021.

6TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY

in a World Cup qualifying game in Porto Alegre.

“It’s impossible to be clearer. We want to express our opinion after the game against Paraguay.

“There are hierarchies that we have to respect.

Of course we want to give out opinion, lots of things have happened, but respect exists.”

BAKU(Azerbaijan), JUN 5 (AP): Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen crashed in the third practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday as Pierre Gasly set the fastest time.

Verstappen ran wide on a narrow left-hand corner in the old town section while pushing to match the pace of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

The low-speed impact with the barrier on the exit broke the suspension on Verstappen’s car.

The session was stopped so Verstappen’s stranded car could be recovered.

The Dutch driver was visibly frustrated to have his preparation for Saturday’s qualifying session disrupted and placed 15th from limited running.

Guardiola,Dias win EPL season’s awards

Acknowledgement

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Casemiro

Verstappen crashes, Gasly fastest in Azerbaijan 3rd practice

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Match in action between Spain and Portugal in a Euro 2020 warm-up friendly match.

MADRID/BOLOGNA, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): AymericLaporte made his Spain debut as they drew 0-0 with Portugal in a Euro 2020 warm-up in front of 14,743 fans at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.

Manchester City defender Laporte, 27, was granted Spanish citizenship recently, having never played a senior game for France.

Alvaro Morata missed the best chance of the game late on when he hit the bar.

Portugal’s only shot on target was the last touch but Danilo Pereira’s header was straight at Unai Simon.

Spain had the better chances but Morata and Ferran Tor-

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

It’s been six years since your departure from earthly home. Your memories have left us with a big vacuum in our hearts. Yet, there is the enlightening hope in Christ that we shall see each other in the eternal and blessed abode one day.

Your Loved Ones

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Lt. R. Tochimong Yimchungrü Born on : 1st June 1944 Died on : 2nd June 2021

"And lo a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Matthew 3:17

LATE LADURAM MECH

Born on : 01/03/1955 – Died on : 19/05/2021

We, the bereaved family members of Late Laduram Mech would like to express our sincere gratitude for the bountiful prayers, physical, mental and spiritual support at the ultimate demise of our beloved father.

Despite our inability to thank each and every one individually, we shall always remain indebted and remember you all in our prayers.

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Loving Wife, Sons, Daughter-in-law and Grand Children

The family of the Late R. Tochimong Yimchungrü to acknowledge the many expression of sympathy and gestures of kindness shown to us following our sad loss.

We offer our heartfelt thanks to the many friends, neighbours and well-wishers who visited our home, attended the wake, service and burial and who provided emotional and practical support for us at this difficult time. For those who telephoned, travelled long distance, rent floral tributes and messages of condolence, as well as those who made charitable donation, we are truly grateful.

To those who helped in any way, your contribution made our loss more bearable. As it would be impossible to thank everyone individually, please accept this acknowledgement as an expression of our deepest gratitude. The holy sacrifice of the mass well be offered for your intentions.

Loving wife, children, grand children & relatives DP-2672

LT. AMENG SHIMRAY

6th Nov. 1935 – 27th May 2021

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love."

I Corinthians 13:13

We, the bereaved family members would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to one and all individuals, churches, organizations, Diphupar Village Council and family who extended help through prayer, financially, materially & physically during the illness and demise of our dear loving daddy.

We deeply regret our inability to thank each and everyone of you. It is our sincere and humble prayer to our Almighty God to bless each one of you abundantly.

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Loving Wife, Children, In-laws & Grand children

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French Open: Djokovic enters fourth round to lose a set in his three matches and will next face teenager Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated fellow Italian

Marco Cecchinato 3-6 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-3. Djokovic has hit against Musetti a few times at practice but has

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021

T20 World Cup set to be moved out of India, ICC intimated internally

never faced him in a match and feels the youngster NEW DELHI, JUN 5 will be a “big challenge” (PTI): The marquee T20 for him.

World Cup in October-November is set to be shifted to the UAE and Oman with the BCCI having internally Fifth seed StefanisTintimated the ICC to go sitsipas came back after ahead with its preparation losing first set to beat John due to a tricky COVID-19 Isner 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-1 situation in India. and enter fourth round While the UAE was of French Open late on always the first back-up Friday at Roland Garros. option, Oman’s capital Spanish Pablo CarrenoMuscat has been added Busta beat American Steve as the fourth venue, apart Johnson 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to also from Abu Dhabi, Dubai progress. Tsitsipas, a semiand Sharjah, for the tourfinalist last year, won the nament that will start in the match against Isner in two last week of October. hours and 38 minutes. The StefanisTsitsipas six-feet-10-inch American “Yes, the BCCI, dursmashed 19 aces against against American Johnson one out of six by Johnson. ing the ICC board meeting, eight by Greek Tsitsipas as the Spanish sealed a The 12th seed Busta’s first- has formally asked for a and committed less double straight-set win. Busta con- service win percentage was four-week window to take verted five of the nine break- also a shade better than a final call but, internally, faults -- one against five.

Busta had it easy points he got as against Johnson’s. they have said that they would like to keep the hosting rights and wouldn’t 2019 edition, was superior mind the tournament being to her opponent in every re- held in UAE and Oman,” spect. The Czech player, a senior board official, who got a rousing reception privy to ICC board develin 2019 after her achieve- opments, told PTI on the ment of entering final, ham- condition of anonymity. mered three aces. In another He said that Muscat late third round game on has been zeroed in speFriday, Paula BadosaGibert cifically for the prelimiof Spain defeated Romania’s nary rounds of the 16-team Ana Bogdan in three sets. competition, which will Marketa Vondrousova She won 2-6, 7-6, 6-4. Earli- also allow the three UAE Marketa Vondrousova on Friday even as seeded er, seventh-seeded American grounds to get sufficient of Czech Republic, who players continued to fall at star Serena Williams kept time to freshen up after 31 her hopes of a 24th singles IPL games. reached the 2019 French Roland Garros.

Open final, defeated PoloVondrousova, who had Grand Slam title alive as she “If IPL finishes by naHercog in straight sets, beaten four seeded players overcame compatriot Dan- October 10, then the UAE 6-3, 6-3, to enter fourth on way to final before los- ielle Collins 6-4, 6-4 to reach leg of World T20 can start round of French Open late ing to Ashleigh Barty in the the fourth round. off in November which

Tsitsipas beats Isner to enter fourth round

2019 finalist Vondrousova reaches 4th round

Novak Djokovic

PARIS, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): World number one Novak Djokovic booked his spot in the second week of the French Open with a dominant 6-1 6-4 6-1 thirdround win over 93rd-ranked Lithuanian RicardasBerankis on Saturday.

The 34-year-old Serbian came into the match with a 3-0 head-to-head record against Berankis, who had never won a set in their previous meetings, and put in a clinical show on Philippe Chatrier court to stay on course for a 19th

Grand Slam title.

Djokovic broke his opponent’s serve six times in the match and such was his domination that he did not face a single breakpoint on his own, losing just five points off his first service.

It is the 12th straight year that Djokovic has reached the fourth round at Roland Garros - a record in the Open Era in Paris and breaking a tie with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The 2016 champion, who hit 30 winners against 18 unforced errors, is yet

Simone Biles takes lead at US Grand Slam champion Wawrinka C’ships with eye on seventh title out of Wimbledon due to foot injury

Simone Biles

TEXAS, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): Four-time Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles stayed on course for a seventh national title with a superb performance at the U.S. Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday to lead the field with 59.550 points.

The 24-year-old, who landed the Yurchenko double pike vault at the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis last month, kept the move under wraps but did enough

to lead Sunisa Lee by 2.2 points overall ahead of Sunday’s conclusion.

“Tonight I feel like it was really good, it was definitely better than the Classic,” Biles, who is hitting top gear before the Olympic trials in three weeks for the July 23-Aug. 8 Tokyo Games, told NBCSN. “Floor could have been a little bit better, I need to control my adrenaline.” Biles, who sported a leotard with the outline of a goat on it, posted

the highest scores of the night on vault (15.800), floor (14.650) and beam (14.350).

Her 14.750 on the uneven bars, an event in which she took a fall at the U.S. Classic - her first meet since October 2019 - was second to Lee who scored 15.300. Biles’ training partner Jordan Chiles was third overall with a score of 56.900, while Jade Carey and Leanne Wong rounded out the top five.

Double Olympic medalist Laurie Hernandez was forced to pull out of the day’s action after suffering a knee injury during a practice routine.

“Hey guys, was doing a dismount during meet warm-ups and hyper-extended my knee,” Hernandez tweeted. “Unfortunately we had to pull out of day one, but we’re still keeping an open mind about day two and playing it by ear.

“Not the way I thought this would go, but thank you for all the love and support.”

Stan Wawrinka

PARIS, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): Three-times Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka has pulled out of Wimbledon due to a foot injury that also ruled him out of the ongoing French Open, the governing body of men’s tennis (ATP) has said.

Former world number three Wawrinka underwent an operation on his left foot earlier this year. The 36-year-old Swiss has not played on the ATP Tour since his opening round defeat by Lloyd Harris at the Qatar Open in March.

I want to take UFC to Pak: British-Asian MMA fighter

Faisal Malik

N E W YO R K , J U N 5 (AGENCIES): There has never been a UFC champion of British-Asian heritage but Faisal Malik hopes to change that.

Newly signed to European MMA circuit Cage Warriors and with a 5-0 win record in the sport, the 27-year-old comes from a Pakistani background and

dreams of one day headlining a UFC title fight in Lahore.

Once overweight and caught up with the wrong crowd, he is a rising star waiting for his first Cage Warriors fight - but is already confident of adding his name to the list of more than 100 fighters to have progressed from the promo-

tion into the UFC. One of Malik’s big goals is to take the UFC to Pakistan.

“It’s clearly the path I want to take,” he tells BBC Sport. “It’s a step up, but it’s a step up that I wanted for quite a while.

“I’m ready to jump into Cage Warriors and show what I’m made of. Since I

went pro, I’ve finished all my fights in one minute. I’m looking to keep that going.”

Malik trained in boxing until he was 15, and started to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 16.

He developed a fearsome reputation and says he was so prolific in tournaments that coaches of other fighters would wait outside for him.

“Pretty much from 16-19 I didn’t concede a point.”

It was also a period of his life when he could have got into trouble - until he discovered MMA. “When I was about 22, I went pro. My whole life is dedicated to MMA because this is not a joke.”

Having a good role model helps too - Malik’s grandfather enjoyed notable success in combat sports.

“He was wrestling back in Pakistan, in Kashmir,” says Malik. “That’s always been a motivation and I still believe that it’s genetics.

The Wimbledon competition starts on June 28.

Wawrinka has competed at the All England Club on 15 occasions, reaching the quarter-finals in 2014 and 2015.

He won the Australian Open in 2014 before adding the French Open (2015) and U.S. Open (2016) titles to his trophy cabinet.

The world number 24 is in rehabilitation at his base in Monaco. His spokeswoman told Reuters last month that the player hoped to be fit for the grasscourt season.

Minerva Academy FC get Football for Friendship Award

NEW DELHI, JUN 5 (IANS): Minerva Academy FC were adjudged winners of Football for Friendship Award 2021 on Saturday.

The purpose of the award is to attract attention to children’s football development, with its main goal being to identify new online and offline ideas for training of young footballers.

The applicants submit their projects, which include ideas, tools and mechanics that can be applied by organisations specialising in football training. UEFA sponsorship manager, KeirenNokes, announced the award virtually in the presence Brazilian great Roberto Carlos, who played more than a decade for Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Tottenham call off talks with Italian Conte

LONDON, JUL 5 (AGENCIES): Tottenham have called off talks with Antonio Conte about becoming their next manager.

The former Chelsea boss, 51, looked set to replace Jose Mourinho after Spurs’ hopes of luring Mauricio Pochettino back from Paris St-Germain were dashed. However, negotiations have ground to a halt and BBC Sport understands there is no likelihood of them resuming.

Suggestions from Italy are that Conte was starting to have doubts due to the transfer budget he was set to be given. However, Tottenham also had concerns as well.

The Italian manager has a reputation for buying ready-made stars whereas, under chairman Daniel Levy, Tottenham’s reputation has come through development and building teams, as they did under Pochettino. It leaves Tottenham still looking for a new boss, nearly seven weeks after sacking Mourinho.

would give three weeks’ time to the pitches to be spruced up for the global event. In the meanwhile, the first week can be held in Oman,” he said.

A majority of the ICC board members believe that India is trying to bide time as they take stock of the situation at a time when it is very difficult to predict how things pan out in October-November.

“If you think about it practically, India is now reporting around 120,000 plus cases which is close to one third of what was being reported at the end of April and start of this month.

“But sitting on June 28, if you say “yes” to holding the World T20 in India, how can you predict the health situation in October if there is a third wave,” the seasoned official asked.

The second question is if the BCCI is wary of resuming the eight-team IPL in September in India, how can it hold a 16-team

event in the country within a month’s time.

“Look, everyone including BCCI brass knows that monsoon is not a good enough reason and it is COVID-19, with almost 2500 crore revenue riding on the tournament.

“In a 16-team event, if there is one team that gets affected in bubble with multiple cases, it won’t be like IPL. For weaker national teams, you won’t get ready replacements outside 14 or 15 men. There are teething issues,” an official of an associate nation, which is a part of the tournament, said.

Another “elephant in the room” is how many overseas players would like to risk coming to India for the tournament if the situation doesn’t improve drastically.

“They would certainly come and play the IPL in the UAE and would be more than happy to play the T20 World Cup over there.

Richarlison and Neymar net in World Cup qualifying win

Richarlison and Neymar celebrate Brazil’s opening goal.

RIO, JUN 5 (AGENCIES): Everton forward Richarlison scored as Brazil beat Ecuador 2-0 to stay top of the South American qualifying group for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Paris St-Germain’s Neymar got the second with a retaken penalty following a foul on Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus. The result means Brazil have won all five of their World Cup qualifiers. They top the 10-team South America group with 15 points from five games, four ahead of second-placed Argentina.

Ecuador are third with nine points after winning three of their previous four qualifiers, and Brazil struggled to break

them down, despite being the better side for much of the match. Richarlison got the breakthrough 20 minutes into the second half when goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez could not stop his angled near-post shot.

And with only minutes remaining, Neymar added a penalty after his first attempt was saved. He was allowed to retake the kick after the referee spotted players encroaching into the penalty area.

The spot-kick had been awarded after referee Alexis Herrera initially gave a freekick against Jesus following contact between him and Angelo Preciado in the Ecuador area.

Clippers beat Mavericks 104-97

DALLAS, JUN 5 (AP): Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers made it an NBA-record six straight victories for the road team in a playoff series. Now they have to figure out how to beat Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks at home in a Game 7 to avoid another bitter postseason disappointment. Leonard tied his playoff career high with 45 points and the Clippers beat the Mavericks 104-97 on Friday night, winning for the third time in front of a raucous Dallas crowd more than three times bigger than any during the regular season. This time it was a tense finish keyed by the two-time NBA Finals MVP after double-digit LA victories Only one other sevengame series had started with five straight victories by the road team. Now Leonard and Paul George get their first chance to eliminate the team they beat in six games in the first round in the Florida playoff bubble last August. Game 7 is Sun-

LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) scores a basket as he is defended by Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic. (AP)

day in Los Angeles. Luka Doncic scored 29 points but was just 2 of 9 from 3-point range as the LA defense turned up the pressure in key moments and held Dallas to 29% shooting in the fourth quarter. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 23 points but missed a 3-pointer and a layup in the closing minutes. After coming home with a 2-0 series lead and losing twice, the Mavericks lost a close-out game for just the second time in seven games under

coach Rick Carlisle. Now Dallas has to bounce back from the disappointment of another missed opportunity on the home court, still looking the first playoff series victory since the franchise’s only championship 10 years ago. The Mavericks were down 90-88 when Maxi Kleber missed an open corner 3. Leonard scored the next eight LA points, including back-to-back 3-pointers for a 98-90 lead with 1:41 remaining.

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