Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Narsingh cleared of doping charges; set for Rio Olympics ( 12 )
Govt to bring back 10,000 jobless Indians in Gulf ( 5 )
DIMAPUR tuesday, august 2, 2016
Vol XXVI No. 235
Pages 12 ` 4.00
Prabhu skips press meet Foundation stone for Dmu-Zubza rly line Zeliang writes to Prabhu for upgradation
(3rd from R) Suresh Prabhu unveils the foundation stone along with Acharya, Zeliang and others.
hima. This new line will have a speed of 100 kmph and will touch Dimapur and Kohima districts of Nagaland. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony, the Union minister of railways, Suresh Prabhu, expressed happiness at being a participant in bringing connectivity between different geography. “More than geography, it is important to bring together different aspirations of the people and to fulfil the long cherished dreams of the citizens by connecting the capital of Nagaland to Delhi,” said Prabhu. He said that the government was in the process of ensuring development of Northeast states at a faster pace, admitting that Northeast has lacked development for too long. (Cont’d on p-7)
DIMAPUR, AUG 1 (NPN): Foundation stone for a longawaited 90.50km Dhansiri (Dimapur)-Zubza (Kohima) new BG line was finally laid by Union Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, at Dimapur Railway Station complex on Monday in the presence of Nagaland governor, P.B. Acharya, and chief minister Nagaland, T.R. Zeliang and minister of state for railways, Rajen Gohain. Declared as a national project in 2007, the project would be executed in three phases. Phase-I involves construction of Dhansiri-Sukhovi (16km) section, phase-II involves Sukhovi-Khaibong (30km) section and final phase involves Khaibong-Zubza (45km) section. The first phase is slated to finish by 2018, the second phase by December 2019 and entire project by
March 2020. According to the Indian Railways, as per earlier plan, the DimapurZubza (Kohima) new BG line was planned as an 88-km long project in 2007-08. However, later the alignment was modified for the construction of the line from Dhansiri-Zubza via Sukhovi, making it 90.50-km long. The new BG line will take off from the existing Rail line at Dhansiri Railway station in Karbi Anglong District, 19-km short of Dimapur and would each Zubza, which is 16-km short of Kohima. Construction of this railways line would bring the capital city of Kohima into Broad Gauge Railways Map of India. Due to very steep gradient beyond Zubza, the Indian Railways said the line has been terminated here, short of Ko-
Floods trigger epidemic fears in Meghalaya
Centre sanctions new tourism colleges in NE
Correspondent
Spl. Correspondent
TURA (MEGHALAYA), AUG 1: Diseases may break out in the flood-hit areas of Meghalaya if precautions are not taken, health authorities said. “There are already cases of some people in the flood areas suffering from diarrhoea and dysentery but our medical team visiting these areas has been able to provide immediate treatment,” Marwin Sangma, the medical chief of West Garo Hills district, told Nagaland Post. “We have already activated all our medical teams and they are visiting all the relief camps to take stock as we are apprehending that many water-borne diseases might break out in the flood-hit areas once the water-level starts receding,” he said. The medical department has also announced precautionary measures to check the outbreak of diseases. The floods have affected more than one lakh people in 258 villages after the swollen Brahmaputra and Jingiram rivers submerged many villages under Phulbari, Rajabala, Singimari, Paham, Bhaitbari and Hallidayganj areas. “A mobile medical team had already visited the floodaffected areas and distributed ORS (oral rehydration solution) and anti-diarrhoea medicines to the affected people,” Sangma said. Medical experts say that water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and gastroenteritis can break out if proper care is not taken.
N E W D E L H I , AU G 1 (NPN): State Institute of Hotel Management, Dimapur, is one among the 12 institutes of hospitality management in the north eastern states that has been so far sanctioned by Ministry of Tourism (MoT). In a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday, Union minister of state (I/c) for Culture and Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma, informed that the state government/union territory administrations have been advised by the ministry to set up hospitality development boards if the same did not exist in their respective states/union territories. The state government of Maharashtra has reportedly setup hospitality development and promotion board. Out of 12 institutes, Central Institute of Hotel Management, Guwahati, Central Institute of Hotel Management, Shillong, State Institute of Hotel Manage-
This is it!
“Rahul has out-sourced the party to a management firm. This means even leaders will be out-sourced.” K Y M C
ment, Gangtok and Food Craft Institute, Nawgaon are operational. List of institutes in the North Eastern states for which central financial assistance has been granted by Ministry of Tourism include State Institute of Hotel Management, Dimapur, Nagaland; Central Institute of Hotel Management, Guwahati , Assam; State Institute of Hotel Management, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh; State Institute of Hotel Management, Imphal, Manipur; Central Institute of Hotel Management, Shillong, Meghlaya; State Institute of Hotel Management, Aizawl, Mizoram; State Institute of Hotel Management, Gangtok, Sikkim; State Institute of Hotel Management, Agartala, Tripura; State Institute of Hotel Management, Jorhat, Assam; Food Craft Institute, Nawgaon, Assam; Food Craft Institute, Tura, Meghlaya and Food Craft Institute, Namchi, Sikkim.
Staff Correspondent
DIMAPUR, AUG1 (NPN): A press meet scheduled with the union minister of railways Suresh Prabhu, after the laying of the foundation stone for the Dimapur-Zubza railway line, was cancelled at the last moment, under the plea he had to get back to Delhi. The cancellation had deprived media and other citizens an opportunity to air their grievances and suggestions for improving services and facilities at Dimapur railway station. Nagaland Post has been raising the issue of poor train services and lack of quotas at Dimapur railway station since 1995. Even on the day Suresh Prabhu was to inaugurate the construction of the DimapurZubza railway line, Nagaland Post highlighted crucial issues on the neglect of Dimapur Railway Station by the NFR in order to draw the attention of the union minister. The issues were also raised with NFR officials but they appeared disinclined to discuss them; apparently since no convincing explanations could were given on the poor treatment meted out Dimapur passengers. This is in view of the fact that, despite contributing the second highest revenue to the NFR(after Guwahati Railway Station), Dimapur is lagging behind in improved facilities and quota to meet the growing demands of passengers.
A total of 40 long and medium distance trains from Dibrugarh and Tinsukia, pass through Dimapur but not even one has been introduced at Dimapur. The only train from Dimapur-Guwahati presently is Nagaland Express. As stated, Dimapur lost the Jan Shatabdi (Guwahati-Dimapur) introduced in 1996 for Nagaland. Today it runs under ‘Guwahati-Jorhat’ Jan Shatabdi. Another issue of serious concern is the shifting of the railway trial court from Dimapur to Tinsukia for offences under Dimapur. According to a former senior court official, the legal fraternity at Tinsukia have made an unwritten rule, that only advocates from Tinsukia and not Nagaland will be allowed to represent clients in any case. So far, Nagaland government has failed to recognise the priorities for development of both air and rail services to promote trade and travel. Despite the volume of passengers and revenue earned from Dimapur; there are no Nagas employed in any of the branches at the railway station nor in other level such as Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTEs). The encroachment on railway lands is also a serious issue that robs Dimapur railway station of much needed space for development works. The main drawback is that the state government and MPs have failed to address the issues and prepare a memo for serious consideration by the railway ministry.
Nagaland chief minister, T.R. Zeliang has written a letter to union Railways minister, Prabhakar Prabhu highlighting genuine and urgent issues concerning Dimapur railway station. In a letter, Zeliang pointed out the lack of adequate facilities in Dimapur railway station, being the only station in the state, which also caters to Manipur. He also reminded of his earlier letter dated April 29, 2016 highlighting the same issues. Zeliang listed the following action points that need immediate consideration of the Railways for up-gradation of Dimapur Railway station—a. Rajdhani Express and Jan Shatabdi Express stoppage at Dimapur at present is only 5 minutes, which may be increased to 10 minutes, b. Dimapur Railway Station is having only 3 PRS counter, which may be increased to 4, c. Cloak Room may also be provided at the Railway Station, d. Cold Water Pot may also be provided for passengers during summer season, e. Shatabdi Express between Dimapur and Guwahati should be made to run exclusively between the two locations and not extend it to Jorhat, f. Additional A2 coach may kindly be provided in the Rajdhani Express as the seat/berth allotted for Dimapur is insufficient, and most
of the reservations are found utilised by security forces. This will greatly help solving the problem of those who have to undertake long journeys especially to places like Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore etc. via Guwahati, g. There being only one platform for Dimapur Railway Station having roof covering, two more platforms with roof covering facilities be provided, h. Durondo Express to Howrah junction to originate from Dimapur Station, and the departure time fixed preferably in the morning hours so as to reach Howrah junction in the morning and i. Upgradation of the General facilities of the existing Dimapur Railway Station may be done. RCUN: Raliway Contractors Union Nagaland (RCUN) on Monday also submitted a memorandum to the railways minister for up gradation. Among the points listed out, the union urged upon the minister to relocate arrival/ departure of goods trains and trains ferrying army personnel to Rangapahar crossing, in order to ease rush and overcrowding at the station. RCUN said it would be more convenient for Army personnel since the main Army cantonment was adjacent to the Rangapahar crossing. (Cont’d on p-7)
UGC asks varsities to teach NE history
Anandiben decides to quit as Gujarat CM
Spl. Correspondent
NEW DELHI, AUG 1 (NPN): Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD), Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, on Monday said University Grants Commission (UGC) has advised the Universities in the country to raise awareness about the history, literature and culture of North Eastern Region (NER) and to teach history of NER at undergraduate and post-graduate level. In a written reply to a Lok Sabha question, Dr. Pandey said exchange of students between higher education institutes in NER and those in other states were enhanced to understand and appreciate the culture of NE. Cultural exchanges between institutions of NER and other universities were encouraged, he said, adding UGC has also advised to include the units on freedom-fighters from NE in curricular at various levels. NCERT has included in its textbooks contents on various aspects of life and culture of the region, the minister said.
N E W D E L H I , AU G 1 (AGENCIES): Faced with infighting in the party and huge disenchantment on the ground, beleaguered Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel on Monday offered to resign and asked the BJP to select a new face before she turns 75 on November 21. By offering to quit, she has pre-empted any move to remove her. Her decision comes at a time when the BJP’s long dominance in the State appears to be under strain, just a year before the Assembly elections. For some months now, the Patels have been agitating against her government and more recently the Dalits have risen in protest against atrocities on their community. “There has been a tradition in the party that those who attain the age of 75, voluntarily retires from the post. I will attain the age of 75 in November,” the State’s first woman CM, who succeeded PM Narendra Modi on May 22, 2014, said in a Facebook post. “Two months ago I had requested the party to relieve me from the post and today also through
Anandiben Patel (File)
this letter, I request the party to relieve me of the post,” Patel said. Meanwhile, top BJP sources told The Hindu that a decision to drop Anandiben Patel was taken earlier last month and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would decide her successor. “The decision to dispense with Anandiben was taken at a meeting in New Delhi on July 17 presided over by Modi with BJP chief Amit Shah in attendance. This decision was also conveyed to her that evening,” a senior party office-bearer said. “We will be calling a meeting of the party’s parliamentary board to choose her replacement,” he said. After the parlia-
mentary board clears the name of the successor, a meeting of the BJP legislature party will be called and the successor will be formally endorsed. For the past several months, Patel, known for her efficiency in administration but lacking in political shrewdness, had been facing infighting with some party leaders trying to “destabilise and dislodge” her. “It is well known that some leaders never accepted her authority and did everything to destabilise and dislodge her. A few senior leaders in the Cabinet never liked the fact they were overlooked and she was made the Chief Minister,” a source close to her told The Hindu. Two months back as she completed two years in office, there was intense media speculation that she was going to be removed. Several names were also floated as the possible replacement. “Her image was demolished using the media. People from the State were sent to brief RSS leaders and the PM about her family members’ so-called interference in government,” the source said.
Lukewarm response from states on NRC verification State govt asked to implement 67% service regularization
GUWAHATI, AUG 1 (PTI): Authorities have received lukewarm response from other states regarding verification of documents for updating National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. “We are not getting good response from other states. We have sent 2.68 lakh documents to 28 states for verification. Out of this, only around 5,000 documents have come back to us verified,” NRC Assam Coordinator Prateek Hajela said at a press conference here. The National Register of Citizens officials were still screening the 6.63 crore documents received from the people and a total of around five lakh would go to other states for verification, he said. “We will raise this issue in front of the Supreme Court also, because all states should cooperate in this process. We will send our persons to other state in future to collect the verified documents,” Hajela said. Response from Tripura has been so far the best with the authorities receiving 1,049 documents out of 25,008 sent for verification, while that from Bihar was the worst with no verified copy received so far out of 31,380
papers, he said. NRC authorities have received 30 verified documents out of 64,547 from West Bengal, 542 out of 49,692 from Nagaland, 493 out of 34,438 from Meghalaya, 290 out of 33,486 from Arunachal Pradesh, 479 out of 7,025 from Uttar Pradesh, 858 out of 6,509 from Rajasthan, 103 out of 6,302 from Manipur, four out of 3,025 from Delhi and 345 out of 1,953 from Mizoram. Hajela said authorities have received 47 verified documents out of 100 from Odisha, 47 out of 51 from Sikkim, two out of two from Chandigarh and one out of one from Himachal Pradesh among others. He said out of a total 6.63 documents received from the people, 4.55 crore have been verified. “This is a very complex and time consuming process. We need to check the documents from across the country. But, even if it takes time, we will complete this process efficiently,” Hajela said. He said 97 per cent of field verification of people have been completed and the remaining would be over soon. “We have received 68.23 lakh documents for legacy data.
We are digitising the documents and hope start verifying the Family Tree within a month,” Hajela said adding, 137 cases have been registered against fake and forged documents. When asked about a timeline to complete the entire update process, Hajela said the authorities would inform about the progress of the work to the Supreme Court. “Once the Supreme Court approves the new timeline, we will publish it,” he said. Talking about inclusion of names in the National Register of Citizens, Hajela assured that no original inhabitants would be left out although NRC was for checking the citizenship of a person, not originality. He also clarified that minority refugees would not be included in the National Register of Citizens and they would be declared citizens only as per existing laws. Asked about fund crunch, Hajela said “If the finance continues, it is good. For some time it was not happening, but now everything has become normal.” The National Register of Citizens authority has received Rs 288.18 crore out of its demand for Rs 793.89 crore, he added.
KOHIMA, AUG 1 (NPN): All Nagaland Inter-Departmental Field Staffs Association Joint Forum (ANIDFSAJF) and All Nagaland P.W. D Field Worker’s Association (ANPWDFWA) in two separate press statements have urged the state government to implement 67% service regularization process by regularizing those work-charge employees below 30 years in service but nearing retirement on attainment of superannuation. ANIDFSAJF chairman N. Zhekugha Assumi and secretary K. Atovi Sumi in a letter to chief secretary, demanded implementation of “the office memorandum No. AR-3/GEN201/2009 Dated Kohima, the 17th March, 2015, Sl. No. 1. regularization in service, clause (iii) 67% quota for workcharge employee service regularization may be considered on seniority basis against the retirement vacancies as many of the w/c employees were to be retired on attending the age of superannuation before attending 30 - 35 years of service”. The forum also demanded that the Head of Departments (HoDs) to stop fresh appointments of work-charge and casual employees and reserve those vacancies created on retirement by fulfilling 67% quota on seniority basis on those employees whose length of service was below 30 years. ANIDFSAJF also
warned that it would not be held responsible for any situation arising out of government’s failure to implement the office memorandum. The forum pointed out that some w/c employees in some departments “who have completed the length of service and age were terminated without any standing order of the government”. On the other hand, the forum said that state government was now “urging for passing necessary order/notification to avoid such termination”. Further, the forum claimed that some association/group not affiliated with the joint forum was indulged in processing the files of w/c employees for regularization. In this regard, ANIDFSAJF asked the government and HoDs not to entertain the same as it was processing the files through legal proceeding and warned that defaulters would be sued. In another letter, ANPWDFWA president Inakhu Aye urged chief minister to consider the office memorandum on regularization of work charge employees on seniority basis against retirement since many of the w/c employees would be retiring on superannuation. Meanwhile, the association has appointed advocate Povotso Lohe as the association honorary legal advisor with immediate effect.
CM greets Aos on Tsungremong DIMAPUR, AUG 1 (NPN): Nagaland chief minister, T.R. Zeliang, has extended warm greetings to all the people of Ao community on the occasion of ‘Tsungremong festival’. In his message, released by media cell CMO, Zeliang said, “every Naga festival has its own significance and Tsungremong festival signifies the pre harvest celebration seeking God’s blessing for bountiful and bumper harvest”. Further, the chief minister prayed Almighty God bestow “bumper harvest of the crops” and also for the wellbeing and prosperity of all the people of the state.
Subsidised LPG price hiked
NEW DELHI, AUG 1 (PTI): Subsidised cooking gas (LPG) price was on Monday hiked by Rs 1.93 per cylinder, the second increase in rates in one month as the government looked at monthly increases to cut down subsidies. This is the second straight monthly increase in subsidised cooking gas. The government had recently decided to take the diesel route for eliminating subsidies on LPG and kerosene. Diesel price was deregulated in November 2014 after the previous UPA government effected 50 paise hikes every month to eliminate subsidies. The near Rs 2 per cylinder hike in LPG every month is also aimed at doing so. In case of kerosene, the government has allowed state-owned oil companies to raise the price by 25 paise a litre each month for 10 months. The first hike in kerosene rate happened last month and the second was effected today. Simultaneously, the oil firms cut prices of non-subsidised LPG, which consumers buy after exhausting their quota of 12, by Rs 50.5 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
SMSA informs on transporting sand
DIMAPUR, AUG 1 (NPN): Sand Mahaldar and Suppliers Association (SMSA), Manja HQ, Karbi Anglong on Monday informed that all the mahaldars have unanimously decided to ban 10 and 12 wheeler trucks used for sand transportation. In a press release, SMSA president Jackson Kramsa said the mahaldars have also resolved not to load more than 500cft/14cm per truck along the highways. Expressing regret over the decisions, Kramsa said “this undesired resolution” was taken due to complaints by public and social organizations and requested the public to bear with the association.
Power outage in Botsa area
DIMAPUR, AUG 1 (NPN): Power department has informed due to breakdown of power transformer 1.6 MVA 33/11 KV at Botsa on July 31 there would be no power supply to Botsa town and its neighboring villages. In a press release, electrical sub division No. III Kohima, Er. A. Ritachu Thurr, said the department was trying its best to restore the power at the earliest. Places to be affected include Botsa, Touphe Basa, Touphe Bawe, Touphe Phezou,Tsiemekhu Bawe, Tsiemekhu Basa, Seiyha Phesa, Seiyhama, Thongsunyu, Sendenyu old, Sendenyu New, Teichuma Bawe, Teichuma Basa, Gariphema old, Gariphema New, New Terogonyu and Henbenji.
Quake in Assam, neighbouring areas Guwahati, Aug 1 (PTI): A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale hit Assam and its neighbouring areas today. The quake hit at 3.31 PM and was at a depth of 120 km in the region of Myanmar with its epicentre at latitude 21.2 degree north and 94.7 degree east, the met office here said.There was no immediate report of any loss of life or damage to property, police said. K Y M C