Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXX No. 56
DIMAPUR, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2020 Pages 12 ` 5.00
Eight north-eastern states endowed with beauty of nature
ISL: Chennaiyin beat Kerala Blasters 6-3
Stage set for Trump acquittal
SUNDAY POST SUPPLEMENT
SPORTS, PAGE 12
INTERNATIONAL, PAGE 9
Sitharaman pegs FY20 fiscal deficit at 3.8%
Centre attempts to spur growth even as BUDGET Sensex plunges to lowest ever one-day loss 2020
CHEAPER
storage facilities. Sitharaman said this Basic customs duty on imports would enable farmers, many of news print and light-weight coated paper reduced from of whom are burdened by crushing debts, to sell power 10% to 5%. WHAT GETS CHEAPER to energy companies. Raw sugar, agro-animal AND EXPENSIVE based products, Tuna bait, She also revealed Censkimmed milk, certain alco- tre was seeking to shed its holic beverages, soya fibre, 100% stake in the country's Butter ghee, butter oil, edible oils, peanut butter soya protein largest insurer, Life Insur Whey, meslin, maize, sugar beet seeds, preserved potato Some of the alcoholic ance Corporation, to gener Chewing gum, dietary soya fibre, isolated soya beverages ate revenue. Prime Minister protein PTA or on purified Walnuts (shelled) terephthalic acid as anti Modi said the budget would Footwear, shavers, hair clippers, hair-removing dumping duty abolished "boost income and investappliances ment. It will improve deon it Tableware, kitchenware, water filters, glassware mand and consumption and Electric vehicles Household articles of porcelain or china help improve credit flows". Microphone Rubies, emeralds, sapphires, rough coloured gemstones Sensex sinks 988 Sports goods Padlocks points: The Sensex logged Hand sieves and hand riddles its biggest single-day plunge Combs, hairpins, curling pins, curling grips, hair curlers in more than a decade on Table fans, ceiling fans and pedestal fans Saturday after the Union Budget failed to live up Portable blowers to market expectations of Water heaters and immersion heaters growth-boosting measures Hair dryers, hand drying apparatus and electric irons and fiscal discipline. Food grinders, ovens, cookers, cooking plates, boiling rings, grillers and roasters T h e b e n c h m a r k s, Coffee and tea makers and toasters which started on a shaky Electro-thermic fluid heaters, devices for repelling insects and note, tanked soon after Fielectric heating resistors nance Minister Nirmala Furniture, lamps and lighting fittings Sitharaman pegged the fiscal Toys, stationery item, artificial flowers, bells, gongs, statuettes, trophies deficit at 3.8 per cent for the Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) of cellular mobile phones, display panel current fiscal, compared to and touch assembly, fingerprint readers for use in cellular mobile phones The government has proposed to hike the Excise duty on cigarettes, Hookah, the earlier target of 3.3 per cent of GDP. Chewing tobacco, Jarda scented tobacco and Tobacco extracts and essence. This was the benchmark's biggest drop since re-election last May. infusion of 2.83 trillion October 24, 2008, when it The key agriculture rupees to help farmers set had plummeted 1,070.63 sector will receive a cash up solar power units and points, and the fourth big-
gest fall overall. Unions protest LIC stake divestment move: Life Insurance Company (LIC) employees’ unions on Saturday opposed Centre’s plan to sell a part of its shares in the state-run insurance behemoth through an initial public offer (IPO), insisting that the move is “against the national interest”. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will be listed as part of the government disinvestment initiative. “We strongly oppose the government’s plan to sell a part of its shares in LIC and the move is against the national interest,” a spokesman of an employees’ union told reporters. He said that LIC has contributed a lot in the economic growth and the dilution of the government’s stake in the company will “endanger the economic sovereignty of the country”. The employees’ unions of LIC across the country will stage nationwide protests if the government goes ahead with its plan, he said.
Oppn take on Budget figures; say FM rejected reform idea
NEW DELHI, FEB 1 (AGENCES): After Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam unveiled the Union Budget 2020-21, Opposition leaders tore into her and the document, claiming it offered no concrete solutions to the challenges facing the economy. Leading the charge was former Finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who said the Modi government is in complete denial that the economy faces a "grave macroeconomic challenge" and it has given up on reviving the economy, accelerating growth or creating jobs. There is nothing in the Budget that leads one to believe that growth will revive in 2020-21 and the claim of 6 to 6.5 percent growth next year is "astonishing and even irresponsible", Chidambaram said at a press conference. He said the government "does not believe" in reforms and certainly not in structural reforms as the finance minister has (Govt to ensure improved outrightly rejected every reform idea in the Economic flow of funds to North Survey. "Did the FM read East: FM, see on p-4)
the Economic Survey? Was the chief economic adviser privy to the content of the Budget speech? I think the answer to both questions is in the negative," Chidambaram said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too echoed the criticism, claiming that the budget was repetitive and did not contain any strategic idea or anything concrete. CPM's Sitaram Yechury also slammed the Budget, claiming that nothing substantial was being done to address a host a of economic concerns such as increasing unemployment, farmers' suicides and price rise. Opposition leader Sharad Yadav said the economic growth is at a low of 4.5 percent and the issue of unemployment has become grave but the Budget offers nothing to tackle these problems. It does not touch on the issues such as farmer suicides, poverty, rising inflation, cases of bank frauds, he said, demanding that Sitharaman should "apologise" for "ruining" the economy.
NEW DELHI, FEB 1 (AGENCIES): Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Saturday estimated the fiscal deficit at 3.5% in FY21 (2020-21) and at 3.8% for FY20 (2019-20). Presenting her second budget under Modi 2.0 government, FM Sitharaman said that the nominal GDP growth for FY21 has been pegged at 10%. "We estimate a fiscal deficit of 3.8% in RE 201920 and 3.5% for BE 202021," Sitharaman added. India relaxed its fiscal deficit target Saturday, raising spending and slashing taxes as it seeks to attract foreign investment and increase consumption in the wake of a prolonged economic slowdown. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the changes as part of the country's annual budget in parliament, a day after official data showed that Asia's third-largest economy grew 5% last year, its slowest expansion since the 2008 global financial crisis. In a sprawling three-
hour speech peppered with references to ancient Indian history and poetry, Sitharaman said the fiscal deficit target for the current financial year was now 3.8% of GDP, up from an earlier 3.3%. It will edge down to 3.5% next year, she added. Sitharaman announced a slew of measures in her speech on ag riculture, health, infrastructure, etc. but without much detail on any of them. Sitharaman said Indians earning under 1.5 million rupees ($21,000) a year could pay lower taxes if they agreed to forego existing exemptions, with a view to raising their purchasing power. She also announced that companies would no longer have to pay dividend distribution tax, terming it a "bold move meant to attract foreign investors". "Wealth creators will be respected in this country ... and this government assures taxpayers they will not be harassed," she said in her second budget speech since Modi won a landslide
FM cuts short longest-ever budget speech
NE states must unite and contribute nCoV: Death toll soars to 259 in China Century old Mnp village still without electricity Infections surge to towards nation building: Dr. Jamir nearly 12000; thousands
NEW DELHI, FEB 1 (AGENCIES): In a first, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today did not complete her Union Budget 2020 speech, which was the longest ever. She paused mid-way and sat down because she reportedly felt unwell, and had to be given sugar. The 60-year-old Finance Minister was sweating and tired standing for nearly two and a half hours she had some sugar and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She told the Lok Sabha that there were only two more pages and the Budget should be considered read. Her blood pressure reportedly fell and she was advised to sit. Colleagues appeared to offer her candy. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur was seen giving her a glass of water. As she appeared reluctant to continue, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appeared to reassure her. Later, the Finance Minister said she was "feeling better" and went to the Rajya Sabha to place the Budget in the house. Sitharaman beat her own record of the longest Budget speech ever. Last year, her speech lasted two hours, 17 minutes. This year, she stopped for breath at two hours and 41 minutes.
This is it!
"When power fails, you used to wail. But these days, nothing matters except your mobile." K Y M C
EXPENSIVE
Dr. SC Jamir being felicitated by the organizers.
DIMAPUR, FEB 1 (NPN): Former Governor and former chief minister, Dr. S.C. Jamir called upon the people of the North Eastern region to unite and contribute towards nation building. Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the Tai Ahom "Me-Dam-MePhi" ceremony held at Sibsagar, Dr. Jamir said people of the North East should not become a liability, but contribute to build this great
country. He further called upon the leaders of the region to seriously think about the future of the people. Dr. Jamir said the leaders should think what would be the plight of the people of the region after 10 years or 15 years once the Act East Policy (AEP) is fully implemented. He said once the Act East policy is implemented, there would flow of people from South East Asian
countries and not a single state would be able to accommodate the economic forces. Taking note of this, Dr. Jamir said people of the region would be compelled to have a common market. In order to complement it, he said leaders of the region should have broader and brighter vision, so that they can build up the basis where people can also contribute in the Act East Policy. Therefore, Dr. Jamir particularly appealed to the leadership of Assam, terming it as mother of the North East family, to cement stronger ties with all other states by resolving any kind of misunderstanding. The programme was also graced by former Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Host of people from Nagaland and other tribes of the North East also attended the ceremony.
evacuated from Wuhan
BEIJING, FEB 1 (PTI): Several countries, including India, scrambled to evacuate their nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll in China soared to 259 and nearly 12,000 people infected with the deadly virus. The virus that emerged in early December and traced to a market in Hubei province capital Wuhan that sold wild animals, has now spread to more than two dozen nations, including India where the first case is confirmed in Kerala, the US, Britain, Russia and Sweden. Chinese health authorities on Saturday announced that the death toll has increased to 259 as 46 more people, all but one in Hubei, died in the preceding 24 hours. With 2,102 new infections, the total confirmed cases in China increased to 11,791, the biggest increase since China began reporting the spread of the virulent virus on January 21.
China's National Health Commission in its daily report on Saturday said that 1,795 patients remained in critical condition, and 17,988 people were suspected of being infected with the virus as of the end of Friday. So far about 124 cases have been reported in other countries, including India where the first case is confirmed in Kerala. Several countries, including India, US, Japan, South Korea, UK and Bangladesh, have evacuated their nationals from Wuhan by sending special aircraft. The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak a global emergency on Thursday but did not advise international trade or travel restrictions. According to a study by University of Hong Kong scientists, as many as 75,815 people in Wuhan may have been infected with the new coronavirus, the South China Morning Post reported. The research, published in The Lancet on Saturday, is based on the assumption that each infected person could have passed the virus on to 2.68 others, the Hong Kong-based daily said.
(Cont’d on p-7)
Correspondent
IMPHAL, FEB 1: In direct contradiction to Modi government’s claim of 100% village electrification, a century old village in the interior hill district of Churachandpur is still languishing without electricity. On April 29, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself claimed about electrification of every single village of India after it was announced that Leisang, a village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, was purportedly the last village in the country to be electrified. The credibility of Modi’s claim became questionable when media started exposing more villages, not only in Manipur, but also in other states, which were yet to be electrified. Villagers of Phoibi, a village in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, are still living in the dark.The village is in Henglep sub-division of Churachandpur district. The village is located around 58km from the district headquarters. According to the villagers, the village has been in existence for the last around 100 years and all these years they have heard about electric but lighting their house with electric bulb was still a distant dream.
KSCDL launches EoL citizen perception survey Another man fires at anti-CAA protest site Correspondent
KOHIMA, FEB 1 (NPN): As part of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUA)’s Ease of Living (EoL) index assessment, the Kohima Smart City Development Limited (KSCDL) launched a Citizen Perception Survey at Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) office here Saturday. The survey, which would be conducted till the end of February 2020, is to assess feedback from the citizens on ease of living in their city. Addressing a press conference, KSCDL chief executive officer (CEO) Kovi Meyase informed that citizens could log on to Eol2019.org/citizenfeedback and share feedback. Stating that citizens’ participation was very vital, CEO appealed to all responsible citizens to participate
Kovi Meyase with KMC officials in Kohima, Saturday. (NP)
in the survey, which he said would help KSCDL to feed accurate data to the ministry. It may be recalled that Kohima, the state capital, was declared as the second most ‘unliveable city’ in India by MoHUA on its Ease of Living Index. Kohima ranked 110 out of 111 cities assessed in 2018. As the second edition of the Ease
of Living (EoL) 2019 begins, Meyase informed that 70% of the data would be based on the data provided by the government agencies while 30% would be based on citizen’s participation. He exuded confidence that Kohima would obtain better rank this time. CEO said ease of living assessment would be done on three parameters
– quality of life, economic ability and sustainability. Senior manager (planning) and nodal officer EoL and MPI, Zakiekuoto Kiso also appealed the citizens to give the real projection so that KMC could provide proper information to the ministry. Highlighting the status of ongoing Smart City project, the officials informed that two multi-level parking were expected to be completed by October 2020. They said that the cultural hall was expected to be completed by March 2021, integrated command and control centre (ICCC) would be launched by February end while intelligent streetlight numbering 800 has been placed in different wards. KSCDL general manager (planning) Kezhocholo Rhetso and Joint CEO KSCDL Avelu Rohu were also present.
NEW DELHI, FEB 1 (PTI): Two day after a youth fired a pistol at a group of antiCAA protesters near the Jamia university, another man on Saturday fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of the protest against the country's new citizenship law, and was later taken into custody. No one was injured in the incident that came even as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a poll rally in Delhi's northwest Rohini area alleged that those who support terrorists in Kashmir are staging protest at Shaheen Bagh. The man, who identified himself as Kapil Gujjar, chanted ‘Jai Shree Ram‘ and said, "hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hindu ki chalegi (only Hindus shall have a say in our country, no one else)," as he was taken into custody by Delhi Police. "The accused fired
Police take away an unidentified person after he allegedly opened fire in the Shaheen Bagh area, Saturday. (PTI)
in air near police barricades. He was overpowered by police and taken into custody. Further investigation is on," Chinmoy Biswal, DCP (SE) said. The police said they are verifying his identity. According to eyewitnesses, the man shouted "Hindu Rashtra Zindabad" and fired two rounds. The incident, which comes days after a local contractor armed with a gun had come to the site and asked the people to
end the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, has triggered panic in the area. A woman protestor, who didn't wish to be named, said the incident created panic among them as well as children. "Many women and children were inside the tent when the incident occurred. We rushed to the spot after hearing a gunshot. Everyone is scared. But we won't leave the spot,” she said. K Y M C
