Jan 9 2023

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NFR issues eviction notice in Dimapur State funeral for late Dr Imtiwapang Aier

Correspondent

KOHIMA, JAN 8(NPN):

Staff Reporter

DIM APUR,

JAN 8

(NPN): Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) has issued notices to over 200 unauthorized occupants of railway lands in Dimapur measuring approximately a little over 30 hectares in order to begin laying of double track and construction of modern facilities.

The notices to the unauthorized occupants were pasted in and around the Railway Station Dimapur for public viewing. It may be recalled that last year on being as ked by Nagaland Post on the inaction to clear unauthorized occupation, the DC Dimapur informed that eviction on Railway land was the responsibility of the Railway Estate Officer, NFR and not the local administration.

NFR officials then admitted it and said NFR will be initiating move for eviction in the light of clear directive to railways from the Supreme Court, in December 2021 to initiate action against unauthorized land occupants.

The NFR had issued show cause notices to the unauthorized occupants under Form ‘A’ on November 14, 2022 to submit response to the show cause to Estate Officer, NF Railway Lumding on or before November 29, 2022 and to be present for hearing fixed at mentioned time on December 6,2022.

However, after expiry of the date for responding to the show cause notice, the Estate Officer, NF

NNC/FGN reaffirms ‘Plebiscite of 1951’

DIMAPUR, JAN 8 (NPN): Naga National Council (NNC)/Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) has reaffirmed that it will stand by the ‘Plebiscite of 1951’ “without any compromise”. In a statement, NNC president ‘gen.’ (Retd) Thinoselie M. Keyho said they were not aware of what kind of settlement or solution they (other groups) were going to usher in.

“Whatever it is, if it is short of absolute sovereignty, we will not accept it. We have already declared it before in many occasions and even today we hereby once again reaffirmed our declaration and make our stand known to the public that we stand by the ‘Plebiscite of 1951’ without the slightest compromise,” Keyho said.

(Full text on p-6)

Railway Lumding then on December 16, 2022 issued another order under Sub-section (1) of Section (5) of the Public Premises (Eviction of unauthorized Occupation)Act 1971 asking all occupants of NF Railway land to vacate the area occupied within 15 days from the date of publication of the order (16/12/2022).

As per the NFR vacation notices, the occupants were given time till December 31, 2022 to comply with the order. However, till date no response has been forthcoming.

It may be recalled that the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), NFR Lumding Division, Sabyasachi De had earlier said that 30.283 hectares out of 53.806 hectares of railway lands have been under unauthorized occupation in Dimapur.

The areas under occupation belong to the NFR

Isak

since 1900s but which were given on lease by the NFR to the occupiers. However, it was disclosed, the lessees later allegedly managed to obtain permanent pattas for the lands over the decades from the local administration despite these clearly being railway land.

The magnitude of unauthorized occupation of railway land is huge in terms of several multistorey buildings that have been constructed since the late 70s which also includes a petrol pump and the godown besides the RCC building along erstwhile Fullerganj area now known as G.S. Road and also in and around nearby areas.

Nagaland Post has consistently highlighted various issues confronting the development of one among the oldest railway stations in the region over several years and also confronted the NFR over the status quo of the much hyped and

promised modernization of the railway station.

Nagaland Post had also contacted two legislators under Dimapur regarding unauthorized occupation of land. Both legislators demanded that encroachers should be evicted and that stringent action be taken against any official(s) found responsible for issuing pattas.

This newspaper has also been highlighting the step motherly treatment meted out to Dimapur passengers by NFR with regard to adequate reserved ticket quota since Dimapur had been earning the second highest revenue for NFR.

The land eviction issue could take more time as in all cases and which will mean that the NFR will have no other option but to bypass Dimapur railway station and taking the new alternative route from Dhansiri, Bokajan and Dibrugarh.

A State funeral was accorded to former Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) speaker Dr Imtiwapang Aier sitting MLA of 23 Impur assembly constituency at The Heritage (Old DC Bungalow) here Sunday afternoon. Late Imtiwapang Aier had passed away at a prayer centre in Dimapur on January 7 after a brief illness.

Speaking at the funeral service, NLA speaker Sharingain Longkumer described late Imtiwapang as a distinguished writer, a prolific reader and known for a sense of duty.

He recalled the life and works of late Imtiwapang and acknowledged his service to Nagaland Secretariat and noted also that by his noble deed, late Imtiwapang had left an indelible mark.

Late Dr. Imtiwapang’s sudden demise was a great loss for Nagas, and that the void left would be difficult to fill

Centre

said Speaker Sharingain. The Speaker said late Imtiwapang who was also speaker NLA obtained PhD in Geology, but left his academic career to join politics and in his maiden foray, won the assembly election in 2013 from 23 Impur constituency on a Congress ticket. Late Imtiwapang was also parliamentary secretary of Geology and Mining and later became the speaker of the 12th NLA.

He was re-elected in the 2018 general election on an NPF ticket and later merged with the NDPP

gets extension

NEW DELHI, JAN 8 (IANS): The Rajya Sabha committee has accepted the Centre’s request for six more months to frame rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for the seventh time in a row.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that more time was needed to frame the rules of the Act, without which it could not be implemented. The decision of the Lok Sabha committee is still awaited.

According to sources, the time was extended by the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation in the Rajya Sabha till December 31, 2022 and in

impeachment of Isak Sumi. Isak also referred to the joint statement issued by NTH speaker Kughakhu Zhimo, kilo kilonser T Athrong and cabinet secretary Hokashe Muru published in the media on January 7.

order was not from the designated camp but from the personal residence of Khango, adding that both army chief and deputy chief themselves denied any involvement and information in this regard.

DIMAPUR, JAN 8 (NPN): NSCN/GPRN (K) ato kilonser ‘col.’ (Retd) Isak Sumi has extended an olive branch to NSCN/GPRN (K) president ‘lt. gen’ (Retd) Khango Konyak to resolve their differences in the interest of the Nagas.

Addressing a press conference at his residence here on Sunday afternoon along with kilo kilonser T Athrong, Isak said he was also ready to tender apology and reconcile to work together for Naga cause. He claimed that WC, NNPGs convener N Kitovi Zhimomi had also appealed Khango to revoke his order,

He maintained that his termination order was issued by “Baba Khango” without consulting even a single order of the NSCN (K), stating that it was Khango and his nephew Shellen who had issued the termination letter at the instigation of others, which he considered as “unconstitutional” and “arbitrary”.

He also informed the media that the impeachment

On the ongoing controversy, he maintained that he would not blame “Baba Khango” as he was a senior leader and a veteran of 1960, who had been to China twice. He clarified that he also considered him as the foremost and ablest commander in Naga Army today.

“Therefore, regardless of the misguidance and plot that has been orchestrated by others, I do not lay any

among the 21 NPF legislators. The Speaker on behalf of the 13th NLA, conveyed condolence to late Imtiwapang’s wife Kiehungle, children and other bereaved family members.

Planning &Coordination, Land Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs minister Neiba Kronu offered condolences to the bereaved family on behalf of the State government. He described late Aier as one of the most educated legislator in the State with a PhD.

Sharing his own experiences with the former

speaker, Kronu said he was struck by late Dr. Imtiwapang’s humility and was in awe of how he dealt with every issue in a most cordial manner.

In his speech, Rural Development minister Metsubo Jamir described the former speaker as a “humble leader” and said that words were not enough describe his contribution over a lifetime. He said the passing away of late Aier had left a big void politically, personally and academically and which will be difficult to fill.

to frame CAA rules for 7th time

the Lok Sabha till January 9, 2023. Sources said that the MHA sought an extension of six months, on which the Rajya Sabha committee extended it till June 30.

According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, a Ministry shall “request an extension of time from the Committee on Subordinate Legislation expressing grounds for such extension” if it is unable to prepare the rules regulating a law within the required period of six months following the signing.

While attending a programme in November, last year, Union Home Minister

Amit Shah said that there had been a delay in implementing the Act due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added that the CAA would definitely be implemented and those who thought otherwise would be proved wrong.

The Act was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019 and got the President’s assent the very next day, following which it was notified by the Union Home Ministry.

About 83 persons died and several were injured in the protests against this law in the country. Significantly, through the Citizenship Amendment Act , the

Central government will grant Indian citizenship to the illegal migrants who entered India before or on December 31, 2014.

It was passed for the migrants of non-Muslim communities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It may be noted that the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur are exempted from provisions of the Act.

DIMAPUR, JAN 8 (NPN):

NSCN/GPRN (Khango) has expressed regret and apologised for the January 4 incident at the ceasefire office, Thilixu village, where misunderstanding had copped up with some Sumi community NGO leaders, village council members and Western Sumi Youth Front.

In a statement issued through its MIP, NSCN/ GPRN (Khangno) however said that all misunderstandings were resolved that very night before the village elders had left the ceasefire office, but the issues were resurrected the following day.

The group said it was not trying to justify its action

that night at the ceasefire office, which had inadvertently hurt the sentiment of some NGO leaders, but clarify to the rumour about the whole incident.

According to MIP, the issue was on the impeachment and disarming of then NSCN/GPRN (Khango) general secretary Isak Sumi for his lack of decorum and unpolished character. In his entire career as general secretary of NSCN/GPRN (Khango), MIP said alleged that Isak had brought only condemnation and defamation to the government through his arrogance, power intoxication and ambition.

NSCN (Khango) claimed that WC/NNPGs had requested the government in 2019 to give consent to the impeachment motion to relinquish Isak from the post of co-convener, NNPGs and nominate some other official. However, at the behest of Khango Konyak, MIP said he was restored as co-convener. It alleged that Isak’s only conspicuous achievements were corruption, drug addiction, nepotism, favouritism, autocracy, enormity and embezzlement of government exchequer to quench his lavish lifestyle and acquiring personal

3500 ‘vistaraks’ part of BJP’s massive outreach plan NGBF flays conduct of NSCN/GPRN(K) cadres

NEW DELHI, JAN 8

(AGENCIES): Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to deploy a force of about 3,000-3500 Vistaraks (expansionists) across the country to strengthen the party, a move which comes as a part of a mega plan for the upcoming assembly elections in nine states and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, ZeeNews quoting sources said on Sunday.

This year is seen as crucial for the political parties as they prepare for the assembly elections in nine states in the run-up to the 2024 LS polls. Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram,

Rajasthan, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh will go to assembly polls this year.

The BJP has its government (or in alliance) in six out of the nine pollbound states while it is in Opposition in two states where Congress is in power (Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) whereas Telangana is ruled by Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi.

“These vistaraks will work closely with the organization at the local level in each assembly and Lok Sabha constituency and will report directly to the central leadership,” sources said.

“They will also work closely with the local orga-

nization of the BJP and are also expected to prepare a ground report for the party ahead of the polls,” sources added. The BJP has fielded Vistaraks in all 119 assembly seats of Telangana.

A few days ago, BJP had entrusted the responsibility to vistaraks in 160 weak Lok Sabha constituencies. As the countdown for the Lok Sabha elections due next year began with the start of 2023, the BJP has stepped up its preparations to reach out to all sections of society. The party’s OBC Morcha has decided to launch the ‘Gaon-Gaon Chalo, Ghar-Ghar Chalo’ program in March-April.

According to the sources, the OBC Morcha, an important part of the BJP, has started putting in efforts to reach out to the voters of the nine states that will go to Assembly elections this year. “With the support of the OBC community, the BJP wants to form the government in the states because there is 40 to 50% participation of the OBC community in all the states and the Centre,” a source said.

“The OBC Morcha will start the ‘Gaon-Gaon Chalo Ghar Ghar Chalo’ programme in the middle of March-April keeping in view the elections.

DIMAPUR, JAN 8 (NPN): Nagaland Gaon Bura Federation (NGBF) has condemned and expressed dismay over the humiliation meted out to its officials at Thilixu Cease-Fire Supervisory Board (CFSB) office belonging to NSCN/GPRN (K) Khango & Isak group on the night of January 4.

On learning about the situation evolving within NSCN/GPRN (K) camp, NGBF said its official along with other leaders from various civil frontal organisations reached the CFSB office around 10 p.m. with an intention to diffuse the situation.

However, NGBF al -

leged that, without showing any courtesy or effort to ascertain the purpose of the visit, the cadres present threatened the leaders by pointing the barrel of their guns at them while abusive and intimidating languages were used, before the leaders were forcefully evicted from the office premises at gunpoint.

The federation said that such an unruly and violent treatment meted out to public leaders was unwanted and uncalled for.

NGBF condemned the conduct of the cadres who were deputed on that unfortunate night and expresses its strong displeasure at the

authority under whom such an ugly incident could take place. It demanded that those responsible for such an act should be properly dealt with by the mandated organisation.

“The Nagas longing for peace and tranquillity cannot accommodate such elements in our society,” the statement stressed.

According to the federation, it was the responsibility of right thinking citizens and civil organisations to discourage such a shameful act. It also announced extending support to those organisations who had taken bold steps to check such elements in society.

Staff Reporter

ready to reconcile, offers olive branch to Khango NSCN/GPRN (Khango) apologizes for Jan 4 incident

(R-L) Isak Sumi and T Athrong during the press conference. (NP)

Host of legislators, well-wishers and officials at the funeral service of late Dr. Imtiwapang on Sunday.

Railway land (right) under occupation beyond the boundary of Dimapur railway station. (NP)

DIMAPUR: The 36th session of Chokri Area Baptist Youth Fellowship (CABYF) hosted by Khulazu Basa Baptist Church came to an end on Sunday at the Khulazu Basa village ground.

Delegates from 10 villages-- Chesezu Chetheba town, Kikruma, Khulazu Basa, Khulazu Bawe, North Kikruma, Phusachodu, Phuyoba, Thenyizu, and Thipuzu--under Chokri area of Phek district participated in the three-daylong programme.

One of the speakers, Professor Dr. Razouselie Lasetso, vice principal of Eastern Theological College, Jorhat-Assam called upon the youth to stay humble and encouraged them to work hard in this age of globalisation.

Rev. Muluvoyi Nienu, youth secretary of Chakhesang Baptist Church Council also challenged the youth to stand firm in Christ in

spite of all difficulties and challenges they may face in life.

Other speakers were Rev. Kehovi Tase, executive secretary of Japfüphiki Baptist Church Council and Kehuve Chuzho, pastor Khulazu Basa Baptist Church.

In the solo competition, Khulazu Basa won the first position followed

by Khulazu Bawe and Kikruma village in second and third positions.

In Octet, Chetheba town emerged as the winner and the first and second positions were bagged by Phusachodu and Thenyizu respectively.

In theme song (choir), Khulazu Basa won the first positions while Thenyizu finished in second positions

and the third position was shared between Phusachodu and North Kikruma. In the Bible quiz, Phusachodu won first, Chesezu and Chetheba won second and third respectively.

Earlier, a new team of CABYF office bearers for the next tenure was also installed. Closing display was performed by Chetheba town.

Notice on E-Roll for Phek district

DIMAPUR: ADC and ERO, Phek, T. Moa Lemtor has informed that the list of amendments to the draft electoral roll for the 16- Pfutsero, 17- Chizami, 18- Chozuba, 19- Phek & 20Meluri Assembly Constituencies has been prepared with reference to January 1, 2023 as the qualifying date and in accordance with Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. A copy of the said roll together with the said list of amendments has been published and will be available for inspection at ADC HQ, Phek office during office hours.

NH-29 LOU meeting

DIMAPUR: NH-29 Land Owner Union (LOU) has called for an emergency meeting on January 10 at its treasurer’s residence Unity Village, Charity residential school 5th mile Chümoukedima, Nagaland.

The meeting has convened to those members already registered into the union but could not include in the 230 beneficiary list due to non-submission of land patta or failed to sign in the “Vakalatnama”.

Meanwhile, the meeting for fresh registration for the compensation has been scheduled at 2pm. Therefore, it has been informed to all the beneficiaries to bring three xerox copies of land patta.

The union informed that no consultation against the land compensation will be entertained after January 12 under any circumstances.

CBCK holds installation ceremony

DIMAPUR : The installation ceremony of the Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima (CBCK) took place at the church premises on January 8. Act of installation to church workers for the tenure 2023- 2025 was done by CBCK senior pastor Rev. Dr. Kevekhalo Lasuh.

Neposo Theliio will lead the church council as president with Vechiso Rhakho as vice president, Kethovino Rhakho and Jennifer Veyie as recording secretary and assistant recording secretary respectively.

Rev. Dr. Lasuh also prayed for other church workers- advisors, deacons,

deaconesses, prayer ministry, outreach ministry, stewards, men’s ministry, social service, senior fellowship, peace committee, audit committee, audio and visual committee, OCS managing board, Dielie editorial board, Cezo Mepu, youth ministry, children ministry and music ministry.

ATMA conducts demo on ‘Yellow Sticky Trap’

DIMAPUR: ATMA Dimapur (Niuland Block) conducted demonstration on “Application of Yellow Sticky Trap in Vegetable Fields” at Viyito village on January 7 with Dr. Amitabha Dalal, Assistant Plant Protection Officer (Entomology), CIPMC, Dimapur as the resource person.

At the demonstration, Dr. Amitabha said that farmers should practice crop rotations, intercropping and other cultural methods to control pests’ infection and not concentrate much on

use of pesticides. Resource person also highlighted on the advantages of Pheromone traps and demonstrated on how to use yellow sticky insect trap at a one acre vegetable field.

Later, demonstration was conducted at Hevikhe village on “Cultivation Methods of Winter Maize” with Demalu Hasnusa, BTM, Niuland Block as the resource person. He emphasized on proper spacing methods, timely irrigation, weeding and seed treatment.

NPP, NDPP offer condolences on demise of Dr. Imtiwapang

DIMAPUR: NPP Nagaland State and NDPP Mokokchung region have expressed pain on the passing away of Dr. Imtiwapang Aier, sitting MLA and former Speaker, Nagaland Legislative Assembly on January 7 after a brief illness.

NPP Nagaland Unit: NPP Nagaland state president Dr Andrew Ahoto Sema described late Aier as a people’s leader and a statesman with a rare acumen who tried his best to uplift the lot of people belonging to all tribes, communities and religious groups. With his death, Nagaland in general and Ao Community in particular have lost a young, promising and dynamic leader who stood for the rights and welfare of the Naga people in general. The

PDWO informs beneficiaries

DIMAPUR: Phek District Welfare Officer (PDWO), Anyile Khamo, has informed the beneficiaries (excluding replacement) under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) IGNOAPS, IGNWPS & IGNDPS that the payment for the period of six months will be disbursed to those who have not received the payment through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Personal Bank Account for the year 2021-2022.

Hence, the beneficiaries have been asked to collect the said pension scheme along with the payment book and also to submit a photocopy of their Bank Account passbook (front page) at the time of payment.

Khamo said that no payment will be made without a Bank Account and failing to comply within the stipulated date will be at their own risk.

Payment schedule: Phek Hq on January 11 and 12; Chizami on January 13; Meluri on January 16 and 17; Chozuba on January 18 and 19 and Pfutsero on January 20 and 21.

void created by his untimely demise will be very difficult to fill in days to come.

NPP Nagaland conveyed condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace.

NDPP Mkg region: In a condolence message, NDPP Mokokchung region described late Aier as a young and humble leader who overcame incredible obstacles to devote his life to serve his constituency and the people of Nagaland. In his demise, the NDPP in particular and the Nagas in general have lost a young and promising leader, the release stated.

The rank and file of party conveyed condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace.

Late Imtinungsang Longchar, chungtia.

Born - 29.03.1969 died - 28.12.2022

During the deepest and darkest hours of grief, sorrow and irreparable loss on the demise of our most beloved Lt. Imtinungsang Longchar (chungtia); we wish to convey our profound gratitude to each and everyone who stood by us, consoling and comforting, providing all possible support to us in our hour of need.

We are unable to acknowledge or express our profound gratitude to everyone individually but we pray to Almighty God to shower his blessings upon everyone.

Loving wife, children and family members

First Death anniversary

Late PangerjungLa

Died on : 09.01.2022

It’s been a year since she has gone too soon from us and not a single day goes by without remembering her cheerful loving memories. Still forever loved, cherished and deeply missed her very dear.

We praise the Lord for His everything done for us.

In LovIng MeMory of Late T. Akala Pongen

Closing display by Chetheba town at the CABYF 36th session on Sunday.

Installation Sunday of Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima on January 8.

ATMA members and others at Viyito village.

Ze-Naki Youth Society, Jakhama celebrated its 47th Youth Day on January 7. The ZNYS executives along with the guest speaker urban development, Nagaland, Kohima, registrar Kevibo-o Zhotso and JBC pastor Rev. Zapovil Sophie.

MBE celebrates centennial jubilee

greetings, advisor, Horticulture and Border Affairs, Mhathung Yanthan congratulated Morakjo village on attaining 100 years and invoked jubilee blessings to the gathering.

He said that Morakjo has now became a matured village, therefore urged them to set a good example to others and be a good ambassador of the village wherever they go.

NCC cadets trained by NFES personnel on fire fighting skills

DIMAPUR: Morakjo Baptist Ekhumkho (MBE) celebrated its centennial jubilee under the theme “Declare his Glory among the Nations” from January 7 to 8, 2023 at Morakjo Village.

The main speakers during the jubilee services were, pastor, UBC Doyang,

Rev. Ellis Lotha, pastor, Lakhuti Baptist Church, Rev. Ezanbemo Odyuo and pastor, Lotha Baptist Church Dimapur, Rev. Zanao Mozhui.

Delivering their messages, the speakers exhorted the congregation to rededicate their lives and remember their forefathers

and remain faithful and humble to seek God.

They also elaborated on the meaning of jubilee and called upon the members of the village to be more responsible and be a role model for other churches as they attained a significant 100 years.

Extending jubilee

Executive secretary, LBCA, Rev. Dr. Ezamo Murry blessed and unveiled the centennial memorial monolith and also dedicated the jubilee hall while pastor Bhandari Town Baptist Church, Rev. N. Longshithung Mozhui dedicated the jubilee theme. Pastor, Mekokola Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. L. L. Kikon offered a prayer in memory of the departed soul. Other highlights of the programme included jubilee greetings from, redt. director, Land Resources, Renben Jami and addl. director; SRO, Hindustan Petroleum, PCRA, government of India, Er. Limhathung Odyuo.

Hundreds of native villagers, in-laws and wellwishers from neighboring villages attended the celebration.

DIMAPUR: A demonstration-cum-training on fire fighting skills was imparted by Nagaland Fire and Emergency Services (NFES), Mokokchung Unit to the NCC cadets attending the Combined Annual Training Camp (CATC) at Fazl Ali College.

The event was part of the ongoing CATC conducted by 25 Naga Bn NCC since January 5, 2023.

The demonstration was conducted by sub-inspector, Mayang and a team of NFES personnel.

The lecture cum demonstration was followed by hands on practice to the

cadets. The highlight of the demonstration was the practice of handling high pressure water jet powered by a Fire Tender.

Various methods of rescue and first aid were also explained to the cadets and they were made to practice fire man’s lift and first aid.

Meeting on ‘iconic events week’ CPO’s 41st general session on Jan 10

DIMAPUR: Home department under the chairmanship of Home Commissioner has convened a meeting on “iconic events week” on January 9 at 11 am at the Home Commissioner’s Conference Room, Nagaland Civil Secretariat in connection with the iconic events week (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav) from January 17 to 23.

In this connection, the following officers/depart -

ments have been requested to attend the meeting: DGP, Com & Secy Tourism, Com & Secry I&PR, Com Nagaland, Secy Art & Culture, Secy YR&S, DC Kohima, Commandant 1 Assam Rifles Kohima, Director Tourism, Director Art & Culture, Director I&PR, Director YR&S, DC Phek (via video conference), Director NEZCC (via video conference), ADC Chozuba (via video conference).

DIMAPUR: Chakhesang Public Organization (CPO) will be holding its 41st general session under the theme “Living in the legacy of our leaders” on January 10 at Middle Khomi village, Phek district. Former DGP Nagaland, Besesayo Kezo will be the speaker of the session.

Vekhosa Chakhesang, president, CGOA will share greetings while Timikha Koza, president, TPO

will exhort the gathering. Meanwhile, CPO has convened an executive council

meeting on January 9 at 2 pm at Middle

Advisor, Fisheries & Aquatic Resources, Evaluation, Economics & Statistics, L. Khumo inaugurating the Sub-Centre at Longtsunger village on January 3.

Khomi village.

Executive secretary, LBCA Rev. Dr. Ezamo Murry and others at the unveiling of jubilee monolith at Morakjo Village on January 7.

NCC cadets take part in the training on fire rescue operation at the CATC.

BJP like Ganga, take a dip to get rid of sins: Tripura CM

for years. “There was no democracy during the Communist regime as they believe in violence and terror tactics. In South Tripura district, as many as 69 opposition leaders were killed during the Left rule. Kakraban was no exception where a lot of political murders happened,” he alleged.

break the hearts of people, god will not pardon us,” he added.

The call for “unity” comes days after the death of NC Debbarma, who passed away on January 1.

Genuine electors could not vote freely in LS polls, Tripura by-elections: Sarkar

reference to the EC.

AGARTALA, JAN 8 (PTI): Appealing Left leaders to join the BJP, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday said his party is like river Ganga and “taking a dip” in it will help them get rid of all sins.

Addressing a public meeting as part of the Jan Vishwas rally in South Tripura’s Kakraban, Saha said BJP is confident about winning the assembly elections due this year.

“I appeal to the people who still believe in the ideol-

2 killed, 11 hurt in accident in Assam

HAILAKANDI, JAN 8 (PTI): Two picnickers were killed and 11 others injured in a road accident in Assam’s Karimganj district, a police officer said on Sunday.

The vehicle the picnic party was travelling in fell into a ditch in Ratabari area on Saturday evening, the officer said.

A group of youths had gone for a picnic to Katlicherra area in neighbouring Hailakandi district and their vehicle met with an accident while returning.

The official said the deceased have been identified as Aftab Uddin Laskar and Biswajit Lohar.

“The injured were first taken to the local hospital at Katlicherra, from where they were shifted to Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH),” he said.

ogy of Stalin and Lenin to join the BJP because it is like river Ganga. All your sins will vanish if you take a holy bath in Ganga,” he said.

“The compartments of the train are still vacant. Sit in the vacant bogies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all of us to the destination where we are supposed to be,” he added.

Targeting the opposition CPI(M), Saha alleged the Communists suppressed the people’s democratic rights and ruled Tripura

Exuding confidence about the BJP’s win in the elections, Saha said the Jan Viswas rally which was flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Saha on January 5 will floor the opposition parties.

“The idea of ‘prestha pramukh’ (page in charge) was successfully carried out by Shah in Tripura during the 2018 assembly elections. It demolished the Communist fort after 25 years. This time, the Jan Viswas rally will do the same to the opposition. They will be visible only through a microscope after the elections,” he claimed.

AGARTALA, JAN 8 (PTI): Reaching out to BJP ally IPFT, Tipra Motha chairman Pradyot Debbarma said his party was ready to fight the assembly elections on “one symbol”.

He said it was the right time to get united, and that is what the people want.

“NC Debbarma (IPFT president) is no longer with us. Our demand is the same... What is in a name? You will get nothing. Come forward, let’s raise our voice together for ‘thansa’ (unity).

I am ready to contest on one symbol,” Debbarma said in a Facebook live on Saturday.

“It is the right time to be united and the poor people want unity. If leaders

Reacting to the statement, IPFT spokesperson Amit Debbarma said, “The party’s leadership is considering the pros and cons of the approach. We will let the people know our decision at the earliest.”

Last year, Tipra Motha reached out to the IPFT with another such proposal but NC Debbarma rejected it. The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a constituent of the BJP-led government in the state, has four MLAs in the assembly at present. It lost three of its MLAs last year -- Dhananjoy Tripura, Brishaketu Debbarma and Mevar Kumar Jamatia. The resignations of Dhananjoy Tripura and Mevar Kumar Jamatia were accepted by the speaker but Brishaketu was disqualified on the account of “procedural fault”.

AGARTALA, JAN 8 (PTI): Alleging that “genuine voters could not exercise their franchise freely” in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the recent by-elections in Tripura, former chief minister and CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar on Sunday urged the Election Commission to ensure free and fair poll in the upcoming assembly elections.

His comment comes just two days before the scheduled arrival of the full bench of the EC in the state to review preparedness for the assembly polls.

“You have set a bad precedent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and by-elections to four Assembly constituencies in Tripura. Genuine voters could not exercise their franchise freely on these two occasions,” Sarkar said, addressing a programme organised by CPI(M)-backed trade union CITU at Vivekananda ground here.

He also claimed that when the Left party tried to draw attention to EC functionaries about alleged

misconduct by saffron party workers to voters, “the EC officials said they were not responsible for what happened outside polling stations and the police would look into such grievances”.

“This time, we will not be convinced with such remarks, if genuine voters face any trouble in exercising their franchise. We want to remind your constitutional responsibility to ensure that electors can exercise their democratic rights without any fear or intimidation. You have to facilitate an environment so that the voting right of each elector is protected,” the CPI(M) leader said in an apparent

Claiming that the BJP has “no chance” to win the upcoming assembly elections, Sarkar said the saffron party’s strength has “weakened substantially as its ally IPFT has lost importance in Tripura politics.

Those anti-Left leaders, who were with the BJP during the 2018 elections, returned to the Congress, he claimed. He also took a dig at the ruling BJP over the deployment of central forces in the state ahead of the elections.

“We came to know that 100 companies of central forces have already arrived in the state and 300 more will come. You can bring 1000 companies of central forces but adequate central security personnel were not deployed when the Left was in power.

“The heavy deployment of central forces may be a ploy. They have realised that people are angry over the misrule of the present dispensation,” he said without naming the BJP.

AGARTALA, JAN 8

(PTI): New species of migratory birds from Siberia and Europe were sighted at Sukhsagar lake in Tripura’s Gomati district this year, according to an ornithologist.

The birds which were sighted for the first time this year are Ruff, found in Europe, Oriental pratincole, and Common crane from Siberia in Russia.

“Three new species of birds from Siberia and Europe have been sighted in Sukhsagar lake. The flow of migratory birds this year into the lake is also amazing”, Dipankar Sinha, an ornithologist and member of the state Biodiversity Board told PTI.

When contacted, Deputy Conservator of Forest, K G Roy said, “We have also noticed that good numbers of migratory birds are coming to the lake. This year’s bird census will be held next

ropean, African and North American countries, forest officials said.

month, so we cannot tell the exact number of migratory birds in the state now”.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Anima Das said according to last year’s census at least 1,45,008 migratory birds were sighted in lakes and water bodies of the state. Migratory birds visit Sipahijala wildlife sanctuary, Gomati reservoir, Gomati wildlife sanctuary, College Tilla lake in Agartala, Rudrasagar lake in Sipahijala district, Trishna wildlife sanctuary, NIT College water body.

Every year more than 100 species of migratory birds visit Tripura from Eu-

The migratory birds which visit Tripura areLarge Wader, Northern Shoveler, Greater Flamingo, Black Tail Godwit, Little Cormorant, Pheasant-tailed jacana, etc.

“Even one can find migratory birds in paddy fields or small water bodies. Tripura is an abode of migratory birds, who start coming in December and start returning in March”, Das said.

The assistant conservator said the forest department has taken many steps to protect those feathered visitors from poachers and stepped up patrolling in those areas frequented by migratory birds as last year in January 28 more than 100 migratory Purple Moorhens were found dead in Sukhsagar lake.

GUWAHATI, JAN 8

(PTI): The ambitious 130-km long Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL), constructed at a cost of Rs 377.08 crore, is likely to be commissioned by next month, official sources said on Sunday.

The international oil pipeline, IBFPL, will carry fuel from Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Ltd’s (NRL) marketing terminal at Siliguri in West Bengal to the Parbatipur depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

The mechanical works of the bilateral project, being funded by India, was completed on December 12 last year, a senior official of NRL told PTI on condition of anonymity.

“We have set the commissioning target completion in February 2023,” he added. The ground breaking ceremony for the 130-km

IBFPL was held in September 2018 in the presence of Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh through video conferencing.

“The project is in a true sense an engineering marvel. We faced lots of hurdles but with mutual cooperation and technological understanding between the two countries, this international project will see the light of the day,” another senior executive of the Northeast’s largest refiner said.

The IBFPL has been successfully implemented

because of the true friendship between India and Bangladesh, and it will remain as a testimony of best relationship between the two South Asian nations, she added.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his meeting with Hasina in 2017 had agreed to finance this pipeline with a capacity of one million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA).

The total project cost for construction of the IBFPL is Rs 377.08 crore. Out of this, NRL’s investment is

Rs 91.84 crore for the India portion of the pipeline, while the remaining Rs 285.24 crore for Bangladesh portion is being funded by the Indian government as grant-in-aid.

According to a recent report, prepared by Assam Assembly on the visit of a delegation of the legislators to the neighbouring country, Bangladesh will start importing gas and oil from NRL later this year.

The delegation met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who said that “importing fuel oil from India through pipeline” will start from this year, it added. “She said that Bangladesh wants to import oil from India through pipeline... The 130-km IndiaBangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) project aims to export oil products from India to Bangladesh,” the report said.

GUWAHATI, JAN 8

(IANS): India’s longest train -- Vivek Express, which covers a distance of 4,189 km traversing through nine states, would now run four days a week from Dibrugarh in Assam, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) officials said on Sunday.

NFR’s chief public relations officer, Sabyasachi De, said that the railway authority has decided to increase the frequency of Vivek Express which runs on the Dibrugarh - Kanniyakumari (Tamil Nadu)

- Dibrugarh route from biweekly to four days a week.

Vivek Express, which previously ran only on Saturday and then increased to bi-weekly from Dibrugarh, would now run on four days a week -- Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from May 7 onwards.

Similarly, the train (Kanniyakumari - Dibrugarh) Vivek Express which is now running on Thursday and Sunday, will be run on every Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Monday from May 11 onwards.

LAKHIMPUR, JAN 8

(PTI): An eviction drive to clear over 500 hectares of forest la nd in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, affecting nearly 100 families, will be undertaken by the administration on Tuesday, officials said.

A mock drill by security forces for the eviction drive was conducted on Sunday, they said.

Out of 2,560.25 hectares of Pava reserved forest, only 29 hectares are currently free of any encroachment. In the first phase, 500 hectares in Adhasona and Mohaghuli villages will be cleared in the January 10

exercise, the officials said.

The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led dispensation has been carrying out eviction drives in different places in the state since it assumed power in May 2021, with two such exercises undertaken last month.

The one in Nagaon’s Batadrava on December 19 was billed as one of the largest in the region in terms of the number of people affected, uprooting more than 5,000 alleged encroachers.

Among the other major eviction drives was one in Dhalpur area of Darrang district which led to violence, resulting in the death

BOKAJAN, JAN 8

(AGENCIES): Police in Karbi Anglong recovered 4.150 kg of heroin worth Rs 21 crore in two separate operations in Karbi Anglong district bordering Nagaland on Sunday.

In the first crackdown, the police recovered 3.500 kg of heroin from Dillai Tini Ali on Sunday morning.

Based on a piece of specific information in the movement of drugs along National Highway-36, a police team led by Karbi Anglong superintendent of police Sanjiv Saikia intercepted a Bolero Pick-Up vehicle bearing registration number AS 01MC 4996 near Dillai Tiniali area.

On thorough search of the vehicle, the police team recovered 286 soap boxes containing approximately 3.5 kilograms of heroin meticulously concealed under welding structures inside the floor of the vehicle. Police

have estimated the face value of the seized drugs to be over Rs 18 crore in the black market.

Two persons, including the driver and the co-driver of the vehicle, were arrested in this connection.

They are Golap Khandakar (28) and Sahanur Mir (21). “Both of them are residents of Phulbari village under Tarabari Police Station of Barpeta district.

Preliminary interrogation revealed that the consign -

ment was transported from Manipur,” SP Sanjib Kumar Saikia said.

Further investigation is on to ascertain the exact place of delivery of the consignment,” Saikia said.

In another operation, 650 grams of heroin was recovered from a Scorpio vehicle in front of CCI Guest House in Bokajan on Sunday evening.

“A special Naka was set up in front of CCI Guest house under Bokajan PS

and at about 2 pm a black Scorpio bearing registration no AS 01 AL 1677 was intercepted and on being thorough search of the vehicle 50 packets of soap cases containing 650 grams of heroin have been recovered,” said Bokajan SDPO John Das.

Two persons have been arrested in this regard. They are: Isaac L (36) a resident of Makhel in Manipur’s Senapati district and Lombit Moran (46), a resident of

The vehicle was coming from Dimapur.

Bokajan has become a major transit route for drug trafficking from the infamous Golden triangle to Assam and other parts of the country. The trafficking of drugs is on the rise even as the police and several other central agencies have taken a bold step to check the smuggling of drugs to Assam and other parts of the country.

In the last three years, the police have seized 41.9 kilograms of Heroin, 309676 capsules including Spaxmo Proxybon and WY tablets, 17.3 kilograms of Morphin, 8.28 kilograms of Crystal Syabu, 93.4 kilograms of Opium, 2492 bottles of Codeine based cough syrup, 53.84 quintals of Ganja from Bokajan police station area of Karbi Anglong.

Lakhimpur district deputy commissioner, Sumit Sattawan, said about 80 families have already left the villages and another 100 are still living there.

“We requested the people still staying in these encroached lands to leave peacefully,” he said.

The DC said the people living in the encroached areas were notified by the Forest department and local administration two years ago to clear out.

In July last year, 84 families submitted documents claiming land ownership but these were found to be fake upon scrutiny. On September 7, the circle officer of Naoboicha personally approached the encroachers and asked them to leave voluntarily, failing which eviction will be carried out on September 27, he said.

“We had to defer it as floods hit the area. Since the last two weeks, we have been once again informing that the eviction drive will be conducted on January 10. Though some people have left, others have continued to stay,” Sattawan added.

GUWAHATI, JAN 8 (PTI): Alleging Left historians of ‘distorted’ Indian history by making it a tale of defeats and submissions, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday asserted that history should be rewritten to record the nation’s victories.

He also alleged that the Left ideology followers have been trying to divide the state along linguistic lines for decades and maintained that the people must defeat such attempts by embracing their “religious similarities”.

Addressing the 28th state convention of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) here, Sarma said, “The Leftists have always tried to distort our history as they wanted to project Bharat as a defeated ‘jati’ (community).

“They overlook the kings and heroes who resisted and defeated Mughal attacks successfully and

write only about those who were defeated,” he claimed.

He cited the examples of Guru Gobind Singh, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Durga Das Rathore and Lachit Borphukan who had successfully led campaigns against Mughal armies, and alleged that the Leftist historians leave out their exploits while writing history.

Asserting that the time was ripe for history to be written anew, the BJP leader said, “We should inspire the students of history to write it anew – not as a tale of defeats and slavery, but one of glory and achievement.

This will motivate our new generations further towards nation building.”

Sarma also accused Left intellectuals of diving the people of Assam along linguistic lines as the state is home to numerous languages.

“Jatiyatadab’ (subnationalism) based on linguistic differences was a ploy of the Leftists to keep Assam divided for over three decades…Leftists try to project language as a point of conflict. Had our leaders stood up to them earlier, we would not have seen so much unrest and problems over the years,” he maintained.

While language is an important component, it cannot be the sole identity of a community and religion and history also play equally vital roles, he maintained, adding, “Language will survive only when our religion and culture survives.”

of two persons and injury of over 20 in September, 2021.

Lakhimpur divisional forest officer (DFO) Ashok Kumar Dev Choudhury said the eviction drive to clear Pava reserved forest

area will be carried out in Adhasona and Mohaghuli villages on January 10 in the first phase. He said 701 families have encroached on the Pava reserved forest land in the last decades. The

illegal settlers include people from different parts of the state as well as local people displaced due to flood and erosion.

Choto Habjan Tea Estate under Makum police station of Tinsukia district.

Pradyot Debbarma

Manik Sarkar

Himanta Biswa Sarma

PM Modi while attending a meeting with Bangladesh PM.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha in a rally.

JCB ready for eviction in forest areas of Lakhimpur.

Jallikattu season begins in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI, JAN 8 (PTI):

The bull taming sport, Jallikattu’s first event of the year began with fanfare in Pudukkottai District of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, which saw active participation of young men. Over 300 bulls were released into the sporting arena one after the other in Thachankurichi village of Pudukkottai since morning and at least 350 tamers vied with each other to dominate the bulls. State

Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Siva V Meyyanathan and Minister for Law, S Regupathy inaugurated the Jallikattu event. Prizes including a brand new motorcycle, pressure cookers and cots are on the offer for winning bulls and tamers.

Authorities inspected the arrangements, including security and safety aspects before permitting the event.

Govt school teacher sacked in UP

DEORIA, JAN 8 (PTI):

A teacher who had been working in a governmentrun school for the past 18 years in a village here for using forged documents to secure his appointment, officials said on Sunday.

Basic Education Officer of Deoria Harishchandra

Nath said Jitendra Kumar Mishra, posted as an assistant teacher at a school in Akathiya village, has been sacked. During the investigation, the accused teacher had used the documents of a person with the same name, who was posted at a primary school in Siddharthnagar district, he said. Nath said a police complaint has been lodged against the accused teacher at Gauri Bazar police station by the block education officer and the salary paid to Mishra will be recovered from him.

5 injured as BSF truck hits taxi in Kolkata

KOLKATA, JAN 8 (PTI): Five people, including two BSF personnel, were injured when a truck hit a taxi, which went on to hit a bus in Kolkata’s Lake Town area on Sunday afternoon, police said. The accident happened around 3.30 pm near the clock tower on VIP Road when the taxi was waiting at the signal to take a Uturn, they said. The BSF truck, in which its personnel were travelling, hit the taxi from the rear. The impact was such that the taxi hit a bus in front of it, they added. Two BSF personnel, and two passengers of the taxi and its driver were injured in the mishap, police said. “All of them are undergoing treatment at a hospital. We are checking the CCTVs footage to know the exact reason for the accident,” a police officer said.

Maha logs 20 fresh COVID cases

MUMBAI, JAN 8 (PTI): Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 20 fresh cases of coronavirus that raised the tally of infections to 81,36,811, an official from the state health department said. With 32 patients recovering during the day, the count of recoveries reached 79,88,268, while the toll remained unchanged at 1,48,418, he said. The state had on Saturday recorded 11 cases. Of the latest infections, Mumbai and Pune recorded four cases each, the official said. The state is now left with 125 active cases, he said. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 1.82 per cent, while the recovery rate was at 98.17 per cent, he said. The total number of tests in the state so far reached 8,60,13,994.

Don’t make captain, crew scapegoat: Veteran pilots to Air India

NEW DELHI, JAN 8 (PTI): A section of serving and retired pilots have strongly criticised the derostering of the captain and the crew of a New YorkDelhi flight in which a male flier urinated on a female copassenger in a drunken state.

On Saturday, Air India’s CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson issued a statement in which he said that four cabin crew and one pilot have been issued show cause notices and de-rostered pending investigation.

Wilson, in his statement, hasn’t specified any reason for taking action against all five of them.

In fact, his statement further shows that the airline was aware of the incident just a day after it took place on November 26 as he wrote, “Upon receipt of the complaint on November 27, Air India acknowledged receipt and commenced engaging in correspondence with the affected passenger’s family on November 30”.

He didn’t disclose if the

complaint came through the flight crew and the captain or someone else.

However, sources in Air India confirmed that when the flight in question AI102 landed in Delhi, the cabin crew in charge filled in a detailed report of what happened and was countersigned by the captain.

“According to the laid down procedure, after every flight, the cabin crew in charge fills out a report of what happened in the cabin during the flight. It is read and counter-signed by the captain,” Captain S S Panesar, ex-pilot and former director of flight safety and training of erstwhile Indian Airline, said.

“If the cabin crew de-

partment and Air India did not read or react promptly to the report, how can they blame the captain now? De-rostering and giving the captain a show cause notice is absolutely unfair and ridiculous,” Captain Panesar added. He strongly believes that Air India is making the crew members and the captain a scapegoat just to avoid embarrassment and their own fault.

“Officers such as Director Inflight services & other higher-ups in the organisation who sat on the report or tried to broker a deal between the accused and the victim should be punished rather,” he said.

The pilot fraternity is rallying behind the crew and the captain as they believe that if any action was needed against them, it would have been taken on November 27 or immediately after the incident.

They said that the derostering of the crew is a clear attempt by the airline to deflect and dissipate the culpability.

MUMBAI, JAN 8 (PTI):

Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran admitted on Sunday that Air India’s response to the incident of a drunk passenger allegedly urinating on a woman on one of its international flights last year should have been “much swifter”.

In a statement, which came days after the aviation regulator DGCA pulled up the Tata Group-owned full service carrier, Chandrasekaran also said that “we fell short of addressing this situation the way we should have.”

In a shocking incident, an inebriated man allegedly urinated on a female copassenger, a senior citizen in her seventies, in the business class of Air India New York-New Delhi flight on November 26 last year.

The accused Shankar Mishra was arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on Saturday.

“The incident on Air

India flight AI102 on November 26, 2022, has been a matter of personal anguish to me and my colleagues at Air India. Air India’s response should have been much swifter. We fell short of addressing this situation the way it should have been,” Chandrasekaran said in the statement on Sunday.

“The Tata group and Air India stand by the safety and well-being of our passengers with full conviction. We will review and repair every process to prevent or address any incidents of such unruly nature,” he added in the statement.

GWALIOR (MP), JAN 8 (PTI): Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said speedy action will be taken in the case where a man allegedly urinated on a woman co-passenger on a New York-Delhi flight last November.

Delhi Police on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old accused, Shankar Mishra.

He allegedly urinated on the woman, a senior citizen, in an inebriated condition in the business class of the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26 last year.

“Further action will be taken speedily after the completion of the ongoing proceedings,” Scindia told reporters here on Saturday without elaborating.

The carrier’s CEO on Saturday issued an apology over handling of the incident and said four cabin crew and a pilot have been de-rostered and the policy of serving alcohol on flights

is being reviewed.

The Delhi Police arrested Mishra from Bengaluru after he was traced to that city through technical surveillance, officials earlier said.

A Delhi court on Saturday sent Mishra to judicial remand for 14 days while rejecting a plea by police for his custody.

The Delhi Police had registered an FIR against him on January 4 on a complaint given by the woman to Air India.

Mishra, who was working with the US multinational firm Wells Fargo in India, was sacked on Friday.

100 African nationals attack Delhi cops, four held Himachal Cabinet expansion: 7 ministers take oath

NEW DELHI, JAN 8

(IANS): Delhi Police officials were on Saturday attacked by a violent mob of 100 African natioanls who helped in escaping of three African natioanls who were caught by the police for living in India illegally.

When police again went to Neb Sarai’s Raju Park, the police team was again attacked by the African nationals, but police managed to apprehend four of them.

A senior police official said that a team of Narcotics Cell went to Raju Park on Saturday for deportation proceedings of overstaying foreign nationals. The official said that at about 2:30 p.m., the team apprehended three African nationals whose visas had expired.

“The team was trying to bring them to the police station but suddenly about 100 African nationals gathered there and obstructed the police team and in the meantime two of the detained African Nationals managed to escape. Later on, one Philip was success-

fully apprehended,” the official said.

The official said that again at about 6:30 p.m, a joint team of narcotics squad and Police Station Neb Sarai reached Raju Park in search of the overstaying foreign nationals and detained four African nationals including one woman namely Kene Chukwu David Williams.

A case under section 420/120B of IPC read with 14 Foreigners Act has been registered against the accused at Crime Branch, and passports have also been seized there.

The accused Nigerians identified as Igwe Emmanuel Chimezie, Aziegbe John, Queen Godwin were held in second round of visit.

But again about 150200 African nationals gathered there. They were also trying to help the detained African nationals to escape but after sincere efforts, the police team succeeded to bring them in Police Station Neb Sarai.

The official said that further the deportation proceedings for apprehended overstaying foreign Nationals are being taken up.

SHIMLA, JAN 8 (PTI):

After a four-week wait, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu expanded his cabinet on Sunday with the induction of seven ministers, including Vikramaditya Singh - the son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and state Congress president Pratibha Singh.

The strength of the cabinet has now risen to nine. Only Sukhu and his deputy Mukesh Agnihotri were sworn in on December 11 following Congress’ win in the hill state. Three berths are still vacant as the maximum number of ministers, including the chief minister, cannot exceed 12.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office to the newly inducted ministers at the Raj Bhawan.

The party apparently tried to placate Sukhu’s rival camp led by Pratibha Singh, who lost out in the chief ministerial race, with the induction of her son Vikramaditya Singh, two-time MLA from Shimla (Rural).

Among the new ministers, Harshwardhan Chau-

han, a six-time MLA elected from Shillai, three-time MLA elected from Kasumpti Anirudh Singh and fourtime MLA Rohit Thakur from Jubbal-Kotkhai are considered close to the chief minister.

The other ministers are eldest MLA Dhani Ram Shandil, a former minister elected from Solan; Chander Kumar, a former minister and six-time MLA from Jawali in Kangra district; and Jagat Singh Negi, a former deputy speaker and five-time MLA from tribal Kinnaur district.

Shimla district with seven MLAs has been given the lion’s share in the cabinet

Fog cripples rail movement; north India shivers in biting cold

NEW DELHI, JAN 8

(PTI): A blinding layer of fog over north India and eastern parts of the country on Sunday affected the movement of over 480 trains even as an intense cold wave walloped the plains, including Delhi, where the minimum temperature plunged to a numbing 1.9 degrees Celsius.

Delhi’s minimum temperature was lower than most of the places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the fourth consecutive day, according to the meteorological department.

“Around 335 trains have been delayed, 88 cancelled, 31 diverted and 33 short terminated due to foggy weather,” a railway official said.

The Delhi International Airport Limited tweeted that flights, which are not CAT III compliant, may get

affected. Passengers have been advised to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information.

Around 25 flights were delayed Sunday morning, officials said.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), visibility levels dropped to zero meters at Bhatinda and Agra; 25 metres at Patiala, Chandigarh, Hissar, Alwar, Pilani,

Ganganagar, Lucknow and

Bengal; and several places in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura recorded a visibility level of 200 metres, it said.

According to the weather office, ‘very dense fog’ is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, between 51 and 200 metres is ‘dense’, between 201 and 500 metres ‘moderate’, and between 501 and 1,000 metres ‘shallow’.

degrees Celsius, respectively.

It was the fourth day on the trot that the national capital’s minimum temperature was lower than most of the hill stations in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, including Chamba (8.2 degrees), Dalhousie (8.2 degrees), Dharamshala (6.2 degrees), Shimla (9.5 degrees).

with three ministers while Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts are unrepresented in the cabinet. Kangra with 10 MLAs got one berth.

Chief Minister Sukhu also appointed six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS), who enjoy the same facilities as ministers.

Leader of Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur alleged that the Congress government has failed to give adequate representation to various regions in the cabinet expansion.

The BJP leader and former chief minister also criticised the government

over the appointment of six chief parliamentary secretaries, saying it would put a burden of crores of rupees on the state exchequer.

Out of the 13 appointments made by the Congress government, eight MLAs have been appointed from Shimla parliamentary constituency while the rest of the three parliamentary constituencies have not been given adequate share, Thakur said in a statement here.

The BJP had been targeting the Congress government over the delay in Cabinet expansion. The Congress high command had on Saturday evening approved the names of ministers after Sukhu handed over the list of probables.

Out of the nine ministers, five are from Shimla Parliamentary constituency, two from Hamirpur Parliamentary constituency and one each from Kangra and Mandi parliamentary constituencies.

The ministers include five Rajputs, and one member each from Brahmin, Schedule Tribe, Scheduled Caste and OBC categories.

Ludhiana,

50 metres at Amritsar

Bhiwani,

Fursatganj, Varanasi, Meerut, Gaya and Dhubri.

Rohtak in Haryana; Safdarjung, Ridge and Ayanagar in Delhi; Gorakhpur and Bahraich and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh; Bhagalpur in Bihar; Bagdogra and Jalpaiguri in West

A severe cold wave walloped Delhi on Sunday, with the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory, the city’s primary weather station, plunging to 1.9 degrees Celsius, the lowest in January in two years.

With frosty winds from the snow-clad mountains pounding northwest India, including Delhi, the weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar, Ridge and Jafarpur logged a minimum temperature of 2.8 degrees, 2.6 degrees, 2.2 degrees and 2.8

Sri Ram Sene leader injured in firing in Belagavi

BELAGAVI (K’TAKA), JAN 8 (PTI): Sri Ram Sene District President Ravikumar Kokitkar suffered injuries after being shot at by unknown assailants using a pistol at Hindalga village near here, police said.

The outfit’s chief Pramod Muthalik denounced the incident stating that the Sri Ram Sene’s workers stand for Hindutva and would not be intimi -

dated by such attacks.

According to police, the incident happened around 7.30 pm on Saturday

when Kokitkar along with his driver Manoj Desurkar and two others were travelling in his car to Hindalga from Belagavi city.

When the car slowed down near the speed breaker, three persons on a motorbike came near the vehicle and one of them fired at Kokitkar, and sped away, police said, adding that it is not clear whether the assailants were following them or

were waiting at the spot.

The bullet brushed the chin of Kokitkar injuring him, and his driver too sustained injuries as the bullet hit his hand.

Both have been admitted to a private hospital for treatment, and are out of danger, police said.

Senior police officials have visited the spot, and Belagavi Rural police are investigating it.

Campbell Wilson

N Chandrasekaran

Jyotiraditya Scindia

Ravikumar Kokitkar

Airline’sresponseshouldhavebeenmuch swifter,saysTataGroup AviationMinisterScindiaassuresspeedy

The 4 accused Nigerians were held in the second round of visit.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during the oath taking ceremony in Shimla. (PTI)

Cooch Behar;

and

Ambala,

Palam (Delhi),

Commuters cross railway tracks amid low visibility due to a thick layer of fog on a cold winter morning, in Nadia. (PTI)

Prefer polls, defer solution

It should have been clear from the beginning that assembly election in Nagaland would be held on schedule by February end or first week of March 2023 in order to constitute the next 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly before the term of the present 13th NLA ends on March 12,2023. The same kind of mindset had led to an erroneous conclusion in 1998 that the assembly election should be deferred or postponed in order to facilitate solution. There was nothing then and not even any information in the public domain about the contents of the negotiations, the progress and if there was broad based agreement. Then Congress chief minister S.C.Jamir withstood the pressure from various lobbies to not participate in election so as to ‘give peace a chance’ through the objective of ‘Solution Not Election’ ( a phrase coined by Nagaland Post). Jamir’s stand against deferment of election was there was no time frame as to when solution would be secured and for which the constitutional process cannot be held at bay indefinitely. In 2003 the realignment that resulted in formation of a newly formed regional party Nagaland People’s Front(later an inclusive Naga People’s Front) and with it a different political dynamic against an anti-Congress exclusiveness that had good backing from the BJP- led NDA government at the Centre. So from 2003 ,2008 and 2013 there was no demand for postponement or deferment of polls even though negotiations had progressed much and by 2013 when negotiations had reached a conclusive stage. The year 2018 was a déjà vu of 1998 when various CSOs from Nagaland had drummed up the resolution to not participate in the assembly election and demanded that solution be declared and secured since all official talks had ended and what was needed was only to ink the final draft for the agreement. However, the BJP which backed the 1998 call, used a modified slogan to enable it to participate in the election with the slogan ‘Election for Solution.’

The slogan effectively means that after election, solution will be achieved. That won the day but even after the end of the five-year term, solution continues to remain in the twilight zone. The desire for solution is genuine since people expect it will close the chapter of a movement that has brought more suffering on the people for a goal that seems to be fading farther due to divisions. The insistence for deferment of polls in order to secure early solution and if not then to impose President’s Rule –have been raised in public domain. The fact is that election is mandate by the constitutional and has to be conducted. President’s Rule under Article 356 can only be imposed under various conditions. If elections are to be postponed for unavoidable reasons then there has to be a solution that has been achieved. In this case, Naga solution has not been finalised due to demand for flag and constitution to be part of the solution which the government of India has clearly rejected. Thus, it is ironic that when the fruit for solution has ripened the government of India appears to be afflicted with indecision despite several assurances by the prime minister.

DailyDevotion Is My Sacrifice Living?

Abraham built an altar…; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar… —Genesis 22:9

This event is a picture of the mistake we make in thinking that the ultimate God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, that is, sacrifice our lives. Not— “Lord, I am ready to go with You…to death” (Luke 22:33). But— “I am willing to be identified with Your death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.”

We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this error, and the same process is at work in our lives. God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. It is a matter of loosening the bands that hold back our lives. Those bands are loosened immediately by identification with the death of Jesus. Then we enter into a relationship with God whereby we may sacrifice our lives to Him.

It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a “living sacrifice”— to let Him have all your strengths that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus (Romans 12:1). This is what is acceptable to God.

Economy, a no for SC cash is king after note ban

The judgment on demonetisation is not unexpected but the Supreme Court missive giving unfettered freedom to all governments to act on economic issues is more than it could have bargained for.

The impact of noteban is deeper and has apparently affected government finances as well as the overall economy, including employment generation as the latest CMIE figures indicate. The court may not discuss it, but the country would have tough moments dealing with the world economy, one-third of which, the IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva says, faces recession.

Possibly no more any government decision on economy can ever be questioned or the apex court be approached for its opinion.

The court says it has no knowledge of economy and it has taken the most sanguine approach of keeping off an area that is the domain of the government.

The majority judgment is withdrawal of courts powers in economic issues.

The ruling says, “it’s not the function of courts to sit in judgment of economic policy and be left to govt”.

Virtually the court, as

per the judgement, recluses itself from all such future issues. Now no restrictions at all apparently.

Demonetisation is a ticklish issue and certainly beyond the comprehension of a layman. The SC accepts that they should not delve into such an area. Justice S Abdul Nazeer has acted wonderfully two days before his retirement.

It could not have been undone six years after the action. It is good academics.

So rightfully the court has preferred not to consider it. The court on October 12 only decided to hear the case. It might have been wary of its political import.

The cases were argued by Congress leader P Chidambaram and activist Prashant Bhushan.

The court has largely agreed with the Attorney General R Venkatramani who argued that even if it is assumed the demonetisation has not succeeded that cannot be the reason to invalidate decision judicially as it was taken in good faith. It also did not oblige Chidmabaram who sought laying down of norms so that “no misadventures” are carried out by a future government.

Justice Nagarathna,

who dissented says, “On looking at the records (submitted by RBI), I find the use of the words and phrases there “as desired by the Central Govt”, “Govt has recommended the withdrawal of legal tender of 500 and 1000 notes”, “recommendation has been obtained” etc., are self-explanatory. “This demonstrates that there was no independent application of mind by the (Reserve) Bank. Neither was there any time for the RBI to apply its mind in such a serious issue. This observation is being made having regard to the fact that the entire exercise of demonetisation of all series of bank notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 was carried out in 24 hours,” she observes.

Nagarathna notes that the Centre wrote to RBI on November 7, 2016 and that the recommendation did not originate from the bank under Section 26(2) of the RBI Act (that empowers RBI to demonetise the currency).

A proposal originating from the central government is not akin to a proposal originating from the Central Board of the Bank. The concurrence given by the RBI to such a proposal

cannot be construed as a “recommendation” under Section 26(2) of the RBI Act, she said. Her deviation is limited but significant. She also agrees with the other judges. “Demonetisation was, beyond a pale of doubt, well-intentioned. Best intention and noble objects are not under question. The measure has been regarded as unlawful only on a purely legalistic analysis and not on the objects of demonetisation,” she said.

Whenever currency is tinkered it impacts economy. Tughlaq’s move had hit the economy for a hundred years.

Even 1967 devaluation by Indira Gandhi under US pressure led to historic inflation. It led to a tumult, Navnirman movement, Total Revolution of Jayaprakash Narayan and the Emergency. That’s not for the court certainly.

On Aug 8, 2022, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhury told the Lok Sabha the value of the counterfeit currency in the banking system was Rs 43.47 crore as announced by RBI in 2016-17. In 2022, it was reported at about Rs 8.26 crore “amounting to a

Post-mortem

Today, amidst the hullabaloo of different public opinions, different political factions and groups resounding with the clattering of ‘Naga Political Solution’, there happens to be some bunch of people yet again who at the top of their voices cry out that the case of the Nagas be decided and be solved. Will the ‘Naga Political Solution” be under the purview of our immediate neighbour country’s constitution of India? Or will that be outside its jurisdiction and constitution?

Those who demand Naga Solution from India, are themselves absolutely confused and they are trying to confuse others as well.

Naga National Council (NNC)/Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN) are not demanding anything from India, rather we are only trying to protect and defend what is ours already given to us by our unquestionable politi-

sharp decline of more than 80 percent. The number of counterfeit banknotes has come down from 7.62 lakh pieces in 2016-17 to 2.09 lakh pieces in 2020-21, not a small number.

In November 2016, then Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi told the Supreme Court that the estimate for the amount that will get wiped out is about Rs 4-5 lakh crore, or 25% of the total value of the banned at Rs 15.44 lakh crore (total value). It was later corrected to Rs 17.7 lakh crore.

But instead of 25 percent, the RBI, in 2017, said that only 1 percent of the cash did not return.

The demonetisation and slowdown affected government revenues according to CAG. The projections for tax revenues in 2019-20 were at 8 per cent (Rs16,74,523 crore) of GDP, which decreased to 7.36 per cent (Rs15,04,587 crore) of GDP.

The actual collections were lower at 6.77 per cent of Rs 13,59,382 crore of the GDP, due to a reduction in revenues of corporation tax, minimum alternate tax, etc. The government has also 1.69 percent lower dividend and profits at Rs 3.45 lakh crore.

Unchangeable position of NNC/FGN

cal history. Nevertheless, there are still some politicaly blind groups who are eager to board the surrendering bandwagon misguided by some well organised treacherous puppets with borrowed slogan of ‘Naga Solution/Political Settlement’ for blood money and positions. But as for NNC and FGN we don’t belong to any of these political groups or congregations who have no mandate from the Naga people. They represent only to themselves as they have no mandate to solve the Naga Political Issue because our mandate was not given to any of them or they have no authority to solve our Naga Political Issue.

We, NNC/FGN, don’t even know what kind of settlement they’re praying for from our enemy country India or what solution they are going to usher in. Whatever it is, if it is short of absolute sovereignty, we will not accept it.

We have already declared it before in many occasions and even today we hereby once again reaffirmed our declaration and make our stand known to the public that we stand by the ‘Plebiscite of 1951’ without the slightest compromise.

The aspiration and yearning of the Naga people from the beginning is peace and freedom, without any control from foreign nation or nations. An aspiration that the Naga National Movement has is a movement to defend our sovereignty and liberty. We are not misguided Nagas as accused by our enemy, don’t be deceived, we are patriotic Nagas, we cannot allow ourselves to be subjugated or colonised by others who did not conquest us at all. Our ancestors were hardworking, honest, courageous, hospitable, frank, sincere and committed, warriors, humble but erudite, absolutely honourable people and it is a disgrace and

SAPO committed to its decision in restricting the movement of Mao people

(From previous issue...)

As also stated earlier, BOA had specified three options (choices) to the contesting parties: a) To make it as a common property, or b) To divide within the contesting parties, or c) To take an oath SAPO since day one had consented and in writing submitted wholeheartedly to the TPO and BOA for the third option (Oath).

However, SAPO’s commitments were taken for granted and SAPO’s consent to willingly take the solemnly oath, as per traditional custom, has been totally disregarded. SAPO therefore raised these questions: a. The Judgement (verdict) of BOA-TPO is based on the arbitrary political imagery line of the State political boundary and not according with the traditional land holding?

b. The BOA had totally failed to comply and take action against the Defaulter of the ‘arbitration undertaking’. It is therefore; pertinent to question, what is the stand of TPO on the wilful violation of the TPO ‘arbitration undertaking’ and what punitive measures as agreed upon have been imposed till date?

c. Further, the BOA has miserably failed to uphold its own decision to reconstruct the SAPO Rest House; failed to enforce its own directives; the Joint Memorandum submitted before the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Manipur has failed, and the judgements which had been

pronounced in the presence of the 3rd party influence, heavily Armed Security Personnels belonging to the Government of Manipur, stationed at Kezoltsa, is biased beyond measure.

d. The question of bringing Dzükou into the judgement of the BOA is objectionable, as it is impossible for Mao land to high jumped over SAPO and Maram traditional land at Kezoltsa and take possession of Dzükou.

Therefore; SAPO desires to put on record and acknowledge all Civil Societies and individuals for their due concern in lifting the restriction towards Mao Citizens. However, we would like to appeal and give a clarion call upon the State Government of Nagaland and Manipur and all the Civil societies to jointly verify the spot and ascertained the factual facts and position of who is to guilty for carrying out various illegal activities and developments within the custodian zone of the TPO and BOA, and keeping in mind and considering who are the genuine land owner, not based on arbitrary, imaginary political boundary but by identifying actual traditional land holders. The Southern Angami will continue to defend and uphold the integrity of the Southern Angami land and will not part an inch of our traditional land towards the encroachers.

It is high time the legitimacy of the claims of the Mao people be determined either by selecting traditional boundaries or by political boundaries, and

not by taking undue advantage of the Manipur Government and drawing imaginary political boundary, which cannot fetch peace and tranquillity within brotherhood.

The decision of the SAPO for restricting the movement of the Mao people within the Southern Angami jurisdiction will continue and further, hereon, the SAPO will cease all co-operation to the Mao Community. We also called upon the Manipur State Government to stop interfering in the affairs of the traditional rights, as the land and its resources belong to the people and not to the government, otherwise we shall be compelled to take drastic measures. Our locus standi is subject to review if the factual position is clearly spelt out after spot verification, and the memorandum submitted to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Manipur, dated 20th November, 2021 is implemented in toto, and the impugned order of the TPO judgement is reviewed. SAPO is committed to its decision in restricting the movement of Mao people within the Southern Angami jurisdiction until M ao Council Manipur Government withdraws its armed troops from Kezoltsa and cease all development activities and programmes, to pave way for free and fair democratic dialogue on the issue traditionally.

(To be concluded)

Er. Tepul Hopovi, President, SAPO & Mr. Swelul Pucho, General Secretary, SAPO.

shameful to dishonour them for the interest of blood money and positions. We cannot be yoked together with those who neither honour our values and customary practices nor honour their own words and commitments.

The case of the Nagas is different and distinctive in nature to any other case, we are never secessionists, we have never made any undertaking or the likes to become a part of the new independent India at any point of time. We have a cause and therefore, if we are not cautious and be vigilant of our legitimate rights, it may get boomerang and we will be wounded instead. We have suffered overwhelmingly in the past, both from within and from the enemy country. So now, we cannot afford to face the same past mistakes. Know all men, one day deceitful collaborators and traitors will have no place in our

Consequently, the government borrowings have substantially increased from Rs 61.84 lakh crore in December 2016 to Rs 139 lakh crore in March 2022 and estimated at Rs 155 lakh crore March 2023.

The unemployment figures remain at 8.3 percent, according to CMIE. It was 6.7 percent in October 2017. Interestingly enough, contrary to expectation of reducing currency circulation has almost doubled (83 percent rise) at Rs 32.4 crore as on Dec 23, 2022. Cash remains the king.

The redeeming feature is the core sector growth at 8 percent during AprilNovember. Coal production at 12.3 percent and steel production at over 10.8 percent are significant pointer to a possible return of buoyancy.

However, the index for industrial production (IIP) shows contraction from 4.2 percent in October 2021 to 3.1 percent in September 2022. This almost conforms to the IMF world projections.

It may be noted that the note-ban started the lag in growth, it aggravated to -23.9 percent during the lockdown. The country has yet to come out of the twin shocks.

civilized society because sooner or later truth will prevail inevitably as it is the most powerful weapon in the world. Let them do what they are doing but know that at the end of the day ‘Truth will Prevail’ and Nagas will win.

As such, this is what I want to convey to all the Naga people to be very careful and be on guard at such a time like this. Be cautious and let us reason together and stand for the legitimate rights of the Nagas given to us by our history, so that our future generations will remain proud and continue to live in our values and dignity with a fulfilling life, life’s purpose as created by our Almighty God, and lead a successful life with prosperity. God bless Nagaland. Kuknalim

Gen. (Rtd) Thinoselie M. Keyho, President, Naga National Council, Oking, Kohima-Nagaland

Emerging career options

There are many emerging careers for young people and most of them are related to the online or digital world. The best part is one need not be much educated to be successful in these kinds of career options. Few emerging career options are Digital Marketing, Video Marketing and Youtube, Affiliate Marketing, Graphics Designing, etc .

Digital marketing: It is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services.

As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life and as people increasingly use digital devices instead of visiting physical shops, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e–books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. This brings more opportunities for our young people to be in the field of digital marketing.

YouTube: One of the most popular career options for our young people may be becoming a youtuber or getting engaged with video marketing. One needs to be popular or upload contents which become popular and ads may be related and income can be generated. There is much competition in this field but with creativity and innovation any one can be successful.

Affiliate marketing: It is a marketing arrangement in which affiliates receive a commission for each visit, signup or sale they gener-

ate for a merchant. This arrangement allows businesses to outsource part of the sales process. It is a form of performance-based marketing where the commission acts as an incentive for the affiliate; this commission is usually a percentage of the price of the product being sold, but can also be a flat rate per referral. It is good option for those who are well connected digitally

Graphic design: It is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts. Its practice involves creativity, innovation and lateral thinking using manual or digital tools, where it is usual to use text and graphics to communicate visually.

Exams Update: CDSE: Applications have been invited from interested candidates for admission to Indian Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy through Combined Defense Service Examination (I) 2023. Graduates or final year students of graduation may apply on or before 10th January. Combined Defence Service Examination would be held on 16th April across different examination centres .

NDA: An Examination will be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for admission to the Army, Navy and Air Force wings of the NDA for the 147th Course, and for the 108th Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC) commencing from 02 January 2023. Aspirants may apply on or before 10th January and the examination would be held on 16th April.

Ranjan K Baruah

(The writer is career mentor and skill trainer and can be reached at 8473943734 or bkranjan@gmail. com for any further queries)

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.

“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”

Shivaji Sarkar

Bharat Jodo Yatra against fear, hatred: Rahul

KURUKSHETRA (HARYANA), JAN 8 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the Bharat Jodo Yatra was against hatred and fear being spread in society as well as unemployment and inflation.

On the Yatra, Gandhi said, “We are seeing it as “tapasya”, suggesting the foot march was about austerity and self-meditation.

The Congress believes in ‘tapasya’ while the BJP is an organisation of “pooja”.

The BJP and the RSS do not respect ‘tapasya’ but want that people who do their ‘pooja’ (worship) be respected only, he added.

Gandhi said the Yatra’s purpose is also to let people hear the true voice of the country.

Replying to a question, Gandhi said, “One thing which I have understood is that this fight is actually not political, superficially it is political fight. When we fight BSP or TRS, then it is a political contest. But there has been change in the country.

“The day when the RSS controlled the institutions of this country, the fight did not remain political. Now, this has become a different fight. You may call it a fight of ideology,

dharam ki fight, or you can give it any framework, but this is not a political fight.”

“If you look at Congress party’s history, what you (reporter) said there is an energy in workers. It is an organisation of ‘tapasya’…” he said he addressing the media here.

“BJP is a ‘sangthan of pooja’, ‘’ he claimed, adding

Centre gets extension to frame CAA rules for 7th time

NEW DELHI, JAN 8

(IANS): The Rajya Sabha committee has accepted the Centre’s request for six more months to frame rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for the seventh time in a row.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that more time was needed to frame the rules of the Act, without which it could not be implemented.

The decision of the Lok Sabha committee is still awaited. According to sources, the time was extended by the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation in the Rajya Sabha till December 31, 2022 and in the Lok Sabha till January 9, 2023.

Sources said that the MHA sought an extension of six months, on which the Rajya Sabha committee extended it till June 30.

While attending a programme in November, last year, Union Home Minister

Amit Shah said that there had been a delay in implementing the Act due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added that the CAA would definitely be implemented and those who thought otherwise would be proved wrong.

The Act was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019 and got the President’s assent the very next day, following which it was notified by the MHA.

About 83 persons died and several were injured in the protests against this law in the country.

Significantly, through the CAA, the Central government will grant Indian citizenship to the illegal migrants who entered India before or on December 31, 2014. It was passed for the migrants of non-Muslim communities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

both the BJP and the RSS want people to “worship” them.

“RSS wants they be forcibly worshipped. (PM Narendra) Modi ji wants this, that is why he does not meet you (media), that he be worshipped forcibly and all people in the country should worship him,” Gandhi alleged.

He said the Congress’ response is only one and it is ‘tapasya’ and nothing else.

“That is why this Yatra is successful. Because not only the Congress or one individual is doing ‘tapasya’, lakhs are doing ‘tapasya’, it is the message of yatra,” Gandhi said.

He said there should be respect of ‘tapasya’, of skill and work.

He further said, “The BJP and the RSS say there should not be respect of ‘tapasya’ and those who do their ‘pooja’ (worship), only they should be respected. Did demonetisation respect the ‘tapasya’ of the poor? Certainly not. It was an attack on ‘tapasya.”

“The BJP and the RSS are taking the country towards ‘forced pooja’ using of wealth, capturing institutions and making people fear,” Gandhi alleged.

The former Congress president also took on the BJP-led Centre on the issue of “plight” of the farmers.

“A farmer is being cornered from every side,” he said and pointed out that the farmers were hit by fuel and urea prices.

The backbone of the country, which is feeding us, is being attacked, he charged.

Talking about the Kanyakumari to Kashmir foot march, which is currently passing through Haryana, Gandhi said it has received an overwhelming response and he got to learn many things during the course of the journey so far.

“What is in the country’s heart got to hear that directly (interacting with people). The Yatra has received good response in Haryana -- it is energetic, enthusiastic response,” he said.

In an attack on the critics of the Yatra, Gandhi said when it was started, “people said the response which we got in Kerala, we won’t get that in Karnataka, which is a BJP-ruled state. But we got even better response there. Then they said the Yatra got response in south India, but when it reaches Maharashtra, it won’t get that response. When we reached Maharashtra, we got even better response than the south”.

“Then it was said we will not get good response when the Yatra passes through the Hindi belt, but in Madhya Pradesh there was even more improvement to the response. When we reached Haryana, it was said it is a BJP-ruled state, but here too the response

PMO reviews Joshimath situation, says people’s safety immediate priority

NEW DELHI, JAN 8 (PTI): Central government agencies and experts are assisting Uttarakhand to prepare plans to deal with the Joshimath situation and the immediate priority is the safety of the people, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday after holding a high-level review meeting.

Affected families are being shifted to safe locations, a PMO statement said, noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is concerned and has taken stock of the situation with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

One team of the National Disaster Response Force and four teams of the State Disaster Response Force have already reached Joshimath, where people are in alarm due to land subsidence and .

P K Mishra, the prime minister’s principal secretary who held the meeting, stressed that the immediate priority should be the safety of people living in the affected area and said the state government should establish a clear and continuous communication channel with the residents. The Border Management secretary and members of the National Disaster Management Au-

Ladakh leaders opt out of committee; setback for Centre

LADAKH LEADERS SAY ‘BEING PART OF KASHMIR WAS BETTER’

SRINAGAR, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): Ladakhi leaders, having opted out of the Centre’s high powered committee, say they were better off in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir than under the Union Territory administration, reports NDTV.

Days after the Union home ministry formed a committee, headed by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, to end resentment in the region, the leadership spearheading protests in Ladakh has refused to be part of the panel.

The Apex Body of Ladakh and Kargil Democratic Alliance have unanimously decided that it will not be part of the any proceedings of the committee until their demands, including statehood to Ladakh and special status under 6th schedule of the constitution, are made part of the agenda of high powered committee.

Lt Governor of La -

dakh, MP Ladakh, a senior home ministry official and nine representatives of Apex Body of Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance are members of the Committee.

“Given the present scenario, we feel the earlier arrangement of being part of J&K was better,” said Chering Dorjay, leader of the Apex Body of Leh and senior vice president of Ladakh Buddhist Association.

Dorjay alleged that the centre is trying to make a

fool of Ladakhi people after forming the high powered committee but refuses to accept their demand of statehood and 6th schedule for Ladakh.

“They are trying to make fool of us. We understand that the centre is against our demand for statehood and 6th schedule,” said Dorjay.

For more than a year, people in Ladakh are on an agitation demanding statehood and special status under 6th schedule of the constitution.

The move is a major challenge for the central government amid a protracted military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

The centre and the BJP had touted carving out Ladakh as a separate Union territory a historic move that will bring development

and also end decades of discrimination to people of Ladakh.

But within two years, people in Leh and Kargil felt politically dispossessed and have jointly risen against the centre. They are demanding an end to bureaucratic rule in the Union Territory.

Dorjay, who is also former BJP leader and a minister, said that the committee agenda to protect jobs, land and identity of Ladakhi people lacks credibility because it’s not clear under which provision of the constitution they will provide these rights to people of Ladakh.

“All these things can be protected under the 6th schedule of the constitution. They (centre) say they will protect jobs, land and identity of Ladakh. But under which act and the schedule they will do it?” asks Dorjay.

People stand next to cracked houses at the landslide affected area of Joshimath in Chamoli district, Sunday. (PTI) thority (NDMA) will visit Uttarakhand on Monday and assess the situation

A team of experts from NDMA, National Institute of Disaster Management, Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology and Central Building Research Institute will study the situations and give recommendations, the PMO said. The Uttarakhand chief secretary briefed the PMO about the ground situation during the meeting, they added. Central government agencies and experts are assisting Uttarakhand to prepare short, medium and long term plans to deal with

the Joshimath situation, the officials said. Immediate efforts should be made to arrest the deterioration in the situation through practical measures that may be feasible, Mishra said.

He said an interdisciplinary investigation of the affected area should be undertaken. Experts from a range of central institutions— NDMA, NIDM, Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology and Central Building Research Institute should work closely with Uttarakhand in the spirit of “Whole of Government” approach.

A clear time-bound re-

VHP to check religious conversion: Champat Rai

PRAYAGRAJ (UTTAR PRADESH), JAN 8 (IANS): Champat Rai, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) national vice president and the general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, has said that the VHP network will make a concerted effort to check religious conversions egged on by deceit and greed. He said that the VHP’s network will reach every village and locality by 2024 and then there would be no killing of cows, no religious conversions, and no incidents of love jihad.

“Tension is increasing in the minds of the Scheduled Tribes of the country due to illegal conversions and so-called healing meetings and we have to pay attention to the fact that greed, deceit or fear should not lead to conversions at any cost,” he said. Rai was

speaking at the two-day meeting of VHP’s Kashi Prant that started at the Parade Ground camp of the organisation at the ongoing Magh Mela-2023 here.

“It is our task to take up the challenge of ‘Love Jihad’ by promoting our culture and cultural values in the families through our mothers and sisters. The work of spreading social harmony and bringing deprived members of our society to the mainstream is being done continuously,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi with a young supporter during the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, in Kurukshetra district, Sunday. (PTI)

Champat Rai

Chering Dorjay

Goyal to attend India-US trade policy forum meeting in US

NEW DELHI, JAN 8 (IANS): Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will embark on an official visit to New York and Washington DC from January 9 to 22 to participate in India-US Trade Policy Forum.

In the first leg of visit, Goyal will interact with CEOs of reputed multinational enterprises, participate in community event, join roundtable meetings with business leaders and think tank, and visit industries in New York.

He will attend the 13th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting in Washington DC on January 11, 2023. Before delegation level talks, he will also hold one-to-one meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, official sources said.

The 12th TPF Ministerial meeting was held on 23 November 2021, after a gap of four years in New Delhi. Working groups

were re-activated after the last ministerial.

TPF is a platform for continuous engagement between two countries in the area of trade and to further the trade and investment relations between the two countries.

Both countries are looking forward to the meeting and confident of making progress on the trade issues.

The TPF is chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister from Indian side and U.S. Trade Representative from the U.S. side.

In Washington DC, Goyal will also have bilateral meeting with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

There will also be interaction with some captains of Industry.

Both India and the U.S. are natural partners and have trade complementarities, long standing strategic and economic relationship, people to people contact, and both are vibrant democracies too.

The two countries are also collaborating under the QUAD, I2U2 (IndiaIsrael/ UAE-USA) and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

Regular exchanges at the leadership-level have been an integral element of the expanding bilateral engagement.

The outcomes emerging from these visits have been instrumental in further strengthening the multifaceted ties between the two countries.

State funeral for late Dr Imtiwapang Aier

(From p-1)

Former chief minister and United Democratic Alliance (UDA) chairman TR Zeliang, who is also the co-brother in-law of late Dr. Imtiwapang, described him as an upcoming leader and one of the most promising young politicians whose principle was based on commitment, devotion and loyalty. He said Dr. Imtiwapang’s contribution as a speaker during DAN III was immense and that NLA was fortunate to have him.

Zeliang described Dr. Imtiwapang as a man of few words, but one who stood by his words, terming his demise as an “irreparable” loss to the entire Naga community.

The UDA chairman mentioned that Dr. Imtiwapang had served as a lecturer at Kohima Science College from 2000 to 2002 and guest lecturer at Nagaland University from 2005 to 2006. He had also worked as a senior research fellow (SRF) at New Delhi, was a recipient of Young Scientist IBC Award, 2011 from Cambridge University and had co-authored a series of national and international papers.

Speeches were also delivered by Sungratsu Senso Telongjem, Kohima president, and Kohima Aoer Telongjem

(KAT), President. A brief account on late Dr. Imtiwapang Aier was shared by his wife Kiehungle, their daughter and retired IGP I Toshitsungba Aier.

Condolence messages from Nagaland governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi and chief minister Neiphiu Rio were also read out at the funeral. The funeral service was chaired by NLA secretary in-charge Khruohituonuo Rio, prelude by Kewhira String Quartet and invocation pronounced by pastor Kohima Ao Baptist Arogo (KABA). Word of God and benediction was pronounced by State chaplin Rev TW Yamyap Konyak, followed by a guard of honour by DEF Kohima personnel. Host of ministers, advisors, legislators, senior bureaucrats and others attended the funeral program and paid their last respects.

The body of late Dr. Imtiwapang Aier was later taken to his native Sungratsu village, where he will be laid to rest on January 9. Hundreds of villagers, holding torches, from all walks of life received the body of late Dr. Imtiwapang on Sunday night. A banner was also put up at the village gate that read: “Welcome Home. Our great leader and path finder late Dr. Imtiwapang Aier.”

NSCN/GPRN (Khango) apologizes for Jan 4 incident

(From p-1)

properties, which include a palace at Toluvi village worth Rs 5 crore, vast farmland in Niuland, brick kiln, etc.

It claimed that the president and many senior workers had constantly reprimanded him of his misconduct and abuse of powers and functions, but his apathetic attitude persisted, resulting in his impeachment.

After Isak was disarmed following his impeachment, he and his family members were released unharmed under the supervision of then kilo kilonser T Athrong Sangtam.

However, later that night, NSCN/GPRN (Khango) alleged that leaders of some Sumi organisations, including Nagaland Gaon Bura Federation (NGBF) general secretary Shikuto Zalipu, Thilixu village GB Tokishe and Western Sumi Hoho president Shikaho Zhimomi, accompanied by Isak and some of his accomplices, barged into the ceasefire office without the intention to reason for impeachment decision or diffuse the situation, as stated by them.

Instead, the group accused them of confronting the army personnel on duty and even tried to snatch the weapons from the personnel on duty during the scuffle, resulting in retaliatory action from the army.

However, the group offered its unconditional apology for having hurt inadvertently the sentiments of NGO leaders present there that evening and the Sumi community in general. It also appealed to Sumi Hoho to reconsider its January 6 resolution.

As it was keen in achieving an honourable solution to the protracted Naga issue, the group also urged all stakeholders to render cooperation to the legitimate government.

(From p-1)

to

blame on him because all this did not originate from him but was fed by others,” he explained, further expressing the hope that all things would come to light in right time.

He also stated that he would not smear Khango’s reputation or image as he was a “fatherly figure”, nor would he indulge in character assassination through cheap propagandas.

Isak further clarified that he did not harbour any ill-feeling against Khango, adding that he was still looking for a reconciliation. He however mentioned that since the government had already adopted the impeachment resolution, he would have to convince the cabinet, council of kilonsers and entire house to revoke the decision. “If Baba is willing, I too am any time willing,” he commented.

He said the entire government set-up remained intact and that it was not in their interest and intention to form a government, noting that it was just the impeachment of the president.

But since the government was trying its best effort to reconcile, he said did not want to comment much over the differences between him and Khango.

On designated camp, he replied that it all depended on the situation, the extent of intervention of the Central government and reaction of Naga people.

Regarding the resolution to impeach Khango, he claimed that after receiving no response from Khango, the government with all its branches – civil wing, political wing, secretariat wing, almost 99% of regional authorities, almost 90% of grassroots workers led by home kilonser, Tatar

Hoho, parliamentary hoho speaker, chief secretary cease fire supervisor and senior army commander – convened an emergency meeting, which adopted the resolution that Khango would be impeached and incumbent vice-president Luyanba Yimkhiung was appointed acting president.

He lamented the unfortunate incident and clarified that this was not his personal decision, but that of the entire set-up. Isak hoped that the government would continue to carry on with the entrusted task and honour the ceasefire agreement with the Central government, stating that he would continue to be the co-convenor of WC NNPGs representing NSCN/GPRN (K).

He pointed out that WC, NNPGs in its emergency adopted a resolution that even if a single person remained with him, NNPGs would not desert him, while even if thousands returned to Khango, NNPGs would not accept them for the fact that this was a crucial juncture when all Nagas were longing for an early solution and unity. He mentioned that he would not resort to such unconstitutional and unilateral act that clearly displayed the desire to sabotage the peace process and Nagas’ call for early solution. Isak stated that even though his credibility was challenged and shadows had been cast on his character, he would not defend himself, pointing out that he intentionally chose Sunday for holding the press conference to clarify before Naga people and God.

Isak acknowledged that during his almost twodecade journey in Naga struggle he had committed many atrocities, but he explained that there was noth-

ing personal in all of these.

While narrating about his life journey, Isak said he had been though very hard times, faced deaths many times, many of his comrades had fallen in the battle and he had also taken lives of adversaries, but maintained all these were for the “cause”.

He stated that he felt very sorry and regretted the loss of lives that had been part of the struggle. “Either friend or enemy, a soldier is to be honoured. And therefore I pay my tribute to all the fallen heroes and soldiers, regardless of friends or enemies,” he stated.

On the allegations made against him, Isak said he was grateful to his comrades and accusers for exposing certain uncomfortable personal issues in the media. Isak said he realised that inorder to represent Nagas and to be true to the calling, “Nagaland for Christ”, a person who has a darker side of the story, should not be made to lead the Nagas. He therefore declared before God and Nagas to hear his story and make their own judgement.

Isak narrated after their government abrogated Cease Fire on 2015 with the government of India and went back to war path, they crossed over to Naga-Myanmar area and was stationed there for three to four years near the “Golden triangle”

He disclosed that till now, in the Naga inhabited Myanmar areas, opium cultivation was a source of income and also regarded as currency. He admitted that he got hooked to opium, and gradually progressed to heroin to three to four years. Isak also admitted about social drinking habit.

However, after preparing to cross over to India following peace process with

the Indian government, Isak said that he took excruciating treatment for about three weeks and finally gave up heroin.

He, however, said that since the recovery was a long process, he gradually started drinking again for about a year and was heavily entangled with drinking.

Being a representative in the negotiations with the Government of India, Isak said he realized that in order to bring changes as a leader, it was him who had to change first. With this conviction, Isak said he re-evaluated himself and resolved to set an example to his comrades and for others to follow. “With God’s grace and with the support of my wife, family and friends, and after undergoing treatment for several times, I finally gave up all the substance abuses and addiction,” Isak said, adding that it had been two years now that he was free from all substance abuse.

He also lamented that even though national workers were actually supposed to follow the examples of teachings of Jesus Christ, he maintained that national workers, including him, had become the “most notorious character”. With evil forces actively conniving to destroy the commitment of Nagas, he noted that the divisions, killings, fratricidal violence started since the “unfortunate” 1975 Shillong Accord, and now the splits, divisions and infightings had become the order of the day.

“Extortions, killings, intimidations, threat. It has become more or less identified with the national workers”, he lamented and pointed out that the confidence of Nagas were eroding and has become a very sad state of affair.

3500 ‘vistaraks’ part of BJP’s massive outreach plan

(From p-1)

Through this programme, OBC people be informed about the work done by the government for them which include decisions like 27 per cent reservation being given in NEET, and reservation being given in central

education schemes,” the source added.

All the decisions pertaining to further preparations will be taken at the meeting of the OBC National Working Committee. “All the office bearers will go to every village and distribute these achievements to the

people through pamphlets,” the source said. There will be a meeting of the national office bearers of the OBC Morcha in Haryana at the end of January in which decisions will be taken on the number of villages to be visited, the chunk of people to be contacted etc.

‘Health budget should be increased by 30-40 per cent to sustain growth’

NEW DELHI, JAN 8 (IANS): Af ter the Covid pandemic hit the world three years ago, the healthcare sector has become one of the key areas for the budget allocations as industry looks towards the Centre’s intervention to make healthcare affordable and accessible to all.

The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry eyes on increasing the allocation for the growing need for health facilities and infrastructure across the country.

Saket Dalmia, President, PHDCCI, said: “PHDCCI recommends that due to the growing need for health facilities and infrastructure across the country in different regions,

it is important to increase the health budget substantially. We suggest that the Health Budge t should be increased by 30-40 per cent in the forthcoming budget to sustain the growth plan for the sector.” Dalmia said that under the increased budget, the major focus could be on a widespread campaign for healthy living which is the need of the hour to build up a healthy human resource for the country. The importance of healthy living should necessarily be includ-

ed in the school curriculum. Awareness programmes on diabetes and other lifestyle diseases should be organised by the local bodies, chambers and associations. “To encourage the Health Tech and Wellness Industry, GST rate on services and products which offer health benefits to people and belong to the Health Tech, Wellness and AYUSH Industry should be lowered to the 5 per cent slab instead of the prevailing 12 per cent and 18 per cent in most cases,” he said.

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19 killed, 20 injured in China truck crash

BEIJING, JAN 8 (AP):

At least 19 people were killed and 20 others injured on Sunday when a truck hit a funeral procession in eastern China’s Jiangxi Province, authorities said.

A brief report carried by the official media here said that the “major road traffic accident” took place in Nanchang County and the injured were taken to hospital.

At least 19 people were killed and 20 others injured in the accident, reports said. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

Reports from the local media said the accident took place when a truck hit a funeral procession.

Iranian arrested, suspected of chemical attack plot

BERLIN, JAN 8 (AP): A 32-year-old Iranian man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning an attack with deadly chemicals, officials said Sunday.

Police and prosecutors said the man and another person were detained overnight in the town of Castrop-Rauxel, northwest of Dortmund.

In a joint statement they said the man is suspected to have planned a serious attack motivated by Islamic extremism, for which he had allegedly obtained the potent toxins cyanide and ricin.

1 dead, 57 injured in Mexico train collision

MEXICO, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): At least one person was killed and 57 were injured in a train collision on Mexico City’s metro early on Saturday, local authorities said. The person killed in the morning accident was a young woman, city security head Omar Garcia told local media Grupo Milenio, reports Reuters.

Four others who were trapped on one wagon on Line 3 were rescued and are in good health, Garcia said earlier.

Strong quake hits Vanuatu, triggers tsunami warning

NEW ZEALAND, JAN 8 (AP): The US Geological Survey says a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu on Sunday, and a tsunami warning has been issued for possible hazardous waves in nearby waters.

The quake was centered 23 kilometers (15 miles) from Port Olry and hit at a depth of 27 kilometers (17 miles), the agency said. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for coasts located within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the epicenter.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

5 killed, 23 injured as

vehicle overturns in Myanmar

NAY PYI TAW, JAN 8

(IANS): Five women were killed and 23 others injured after a sixwheeled vehicle overturned in Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw.

The accident occurred when the vehicle’s right front tire blew, causing the car to veer off the road and overturn on the old Yangon-Mandalay highway near Yezin Agricultural University in Nay Pyi Taw, Xinua News Agency reported.

The car, which came from the direction of Tatkon Town, was heading to Pyinmana Town when the accident occurred.

Russia ends self-proclaimed ceasefire

MOSCOW, JAN 8 (AGEN-

CIES): Russia’s overnight bombing of regions in eastern Ukraine killed at least one, local officials said on Sunday, after Moscow ended a self-declared Christmas ceasefire and vowed to push on with combat until it reaches a victory over its neighbor, reports Reuters.

President Vladimir Putin ordered on Friday a 36hour ceasefire along the line of contact to observe Russia and Ukraine’s Orthodox Christmas, which fell on Saturday. Ukraine had rejected the truce, and there was shelling along the frontline. A 50-year-old man died in the northeastern region of Kharkiv as a result of Russia’s shelling, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the region said on the Telegram messaging app. The news came minutes after midnight in Moscow.

Most Ukrainian Orthodox Christians have traditionally celebrated Christmas on Jan. 7, as have Orthodox Christians in Russia. But this year, the Orthodox

Smoke rising after a Russian strike. (Reuters) Church of Ukraine, the country’s largest, allowed also for a Dec. 25 celebration. Still, many observed the holiday on Saturday, flocking into churches and cathedrals.

The Kremlin said that Moscow will press ahead with what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine and which Kyiv and its Western allies call an unprovoked aggression to grab land.

“The tasks set by the president (Putin) for the special military operation will still be fulfilled,” the Russian state TASS agency quoted Putin’s first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko, as saying.

There is no end in sight to the war, now in its 11th month, which has killed thousands, displaced millions and turned Ukrainian cities into rubble.

Ukrainian officials also

Thousands protest in Israel against Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government

TEL AVIV, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): Thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government, regarded as the most right-wing in Israeli history, an AFP correspondent said.

Protesters brandished signs with slogans including “Democracy in danger” and “Together against fascism and apartheid” in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

Some waved Israeli and rainbow flags while others held a large banner reading “crime minister” -- a slogan widely used by Israelis during regular demonstrations against Netanyahu in past years. Following his November 1 election win, Netanyahu took office late last month at the head of a coalition with extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, some of whose officials now head key ministries. It includes a politician who late last year admitted tax evasion and a clutch of

far-right personalities, including one who once kept a portrait in his home of a man who massacred scores of Palestinian worshippers.

Netanyahu, 73, who himself is fighting corruption charges in court, had already served as premier longer than anyone in Israeli history, leading the country from 1996-1999 and 2009-2021.

“My grandparents came to Israel to build here something amazing... We don’t want to feel that our democracy is disappearing,

that the Supreme Court will be destroyed,” said a lawyer among the protesters who gave his name only as Assaf.

“Extremists are starting to deploy their forces and it’s not the majority,” said protester Omer, a worker in Tel Aviv’s tech sector.

The new government has announced intentions to pursue a policy of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and carry out social reforms that have worried members and supporters of the LGBTQ community.

reported blasts in regions that make up the broader Donbas region - the war’s frontline where fighting has been raging for months.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region in Ukraine, said that there were nine missile strikes on the region overnight, including seven on the battered city of Kramatorsk. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.

Blasts were also heard in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the administrative centre of the Zaporizhzhia region, a local official said, without giving any immediate report on damage or casualties.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that Russia is planning a major new offensive. The Pentagon said on Friday that Putin’s aim of seizing Ukrainian territory has not changed, even if his military continues to suffer blows.

There’s been growing concerns that Belarus - a staunch backer of Moscow - could be used as a staging post to attack Ukraine from the north after increasing military activity in the country and fresh transfer of Russian troops there.

Unofficial Telegram channels monitoring military activity in Belarus reported late on Saturday that some 1,400-1,600 Russian troops arrived from Russia into the northeastern city of Vitebsk in Belarus over the past two days.

Protestors clash with police at covid antigen kit factory in China

SHANGHAI, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): Protesters clashed with police in central China during a demonstration on Saturday by hundreds of people at a factory producing COVID-19 antigen kits, several videos posted to social media showed.

Online users said the protest was over wages and the layoff of several workers by the manufacturer, Zybio, in the central municipality of Chongqing, reports Reuters.

Reuters was unable to obtain any immediate comment from Zybio, but veri-

fied, via geolocation, that some of videos were filmed at the company’s factory in Chongqing.

One video showed people throwing traffic cones, boxes and stools at police carrying riot shields.

Another video, posted on social media platforms such as Twitter and Douyin, showed dozens of protesters chanting “return our money”. A person who answered a phone call at Zybio’s headquarters declined to comment on Sunday. Emails to the company were not immediately answered.

‘Still open’ to ceasefire agreement with Pak govt: TTP

PESHAWAR, JAN 8

(PTI): The chief of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has said that his group is “still open” to a ceasefire agreement with the Pakistan government, according to media reports.

In November last year, the TTP called off an indefinite ceasefire agreed with the government in June 2022 and ordered its militants to carry out attacks on the security forces.

The TTP, which is believed to have close links to al-Qaeda, has threatened to target top leaders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s PML-N and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s PPP if the ruling coalition continued to implement strict measures against the militants.

However, the dreaded outfit insisted that it has not scrapped the ceasefire agreement with the government.

“We held talks with Pakistan mediated by Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan. We are still open to the ceasefire agreement,” the Dawn newspaper quoted

TTP chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsood as saying in a video on Saturday.

Mehsood’s change in stance comes amid reports that he has sought guidance from religious scholars in Pakistan.

In the video message, Mehsood said his outfit is “open to guidance” from Pakistan’s religious scholars if they believe “the direction of our jihad” is wrong, according to the Express Tribune newspaper.

“If you find any problem in the jihad that we waged [against this global infidel agenda], if you believe we have changed our

40 people killed, dozens injured in bus crash in Senegal

said Sunday.

President Macky Sall said in a tweet that the accident happened in Gnivy village, in the Kaffrine region, at about 3:30 am.

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic road accident today in Gniby causing 40 deaths and many serious injuries. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” said Sall. He declared three days of mourning starting Monday and said he will hold an inter-ministerial council to discuss road safety measures.

Public prosecutor Cheikh Dieng said the crash happened on National Road No. 1 when a

UK to host key meet to discuss alleged war crimes in Ukraine

LONDON, JAN 8

(AGENCIES): The UK will host a meeting of justice ministers in March to discuss ways to support the International Criminal Court’s investigation of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, the government said Saturday.

The ICC based in The Hague is currently carrying out an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, reports AFP.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan is set to take part in the March meeting with

ministers from around the world, London said.

Khan in December urged the international community to get behind and fund the ICC probe, saying: “We need the tools to do the job. We do not have those tools.”

The UK government said the meeting “aims to increase the global financial and practical support being offered to the ICC and coordinate efforts to ensure it has all it needs to carry out investigations and prosecute those responsible”.

Deputy Prime Minis-

ter Dominic Raab, who will co-host the meeting, said the participants will discuss how to help gather information and share evidence of atrocities as well as how to support victims.

“Russian forces should know they cannot act with impunity and we will back Ukraine until justice is served,” Raab said. He stressed “the international community must give its strongest backing to the ICC so war criminals can be held to account for the atrocities we’re witnessing”.

public bus punctured a tire and veered across the road, colliding with another bus coming from the opposite direction. At least 78 people are injured some of them seriously, he said.

Images of the crash on social media show the damaged buses rammed into each other and a trail of debris along the road. Motor accidents happen regularly in the West African nation due to poor roads, bad cars and drivers not adhering to the rules, say locals.

In 2017, at least 25 people were killed when two buses also crashed. Many of those people were heading toward the central town of Touba for the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

direction, that we have gone astray, then you’re requested to guide us. We’re always ready to listen to your arguments happily,” the TTP chief said.

Mehsood’s comments come amid a sharp uptick in violence across Pakistan.

On Saturday, Pakistan police arrested five TTP terrorists during intelligencebased operations in the country’s Punjab province.

Over 5,000 tribesmen took out a rally on Friday in Wana, the headquarters of the South Waziristan tribal district, against the growing unrest, terrorism, and kidnappings in their areas.

The protest comes amidst rising terrorist attacks in the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces that are believed to have been carried out by TTP militants.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007.

Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan.

Pakistan had hoped that the Afghan Taliban after coming to power would stop the use of their soil against Pakistan by expelling the TTP operatives but they have apparently refused to do so at the cost of straining ties with Islamabad. The TTP has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. In 2012, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai was attacked by TTP.

Sweden says Turkey asking too much over NATO application

STOCKHOLM, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): Sweden is confident that Turkey will approve its application to join the NATO military alliance, but cannot fulfil all the conditions Ankara has set for its support, Sweden’s prime minister said on Sunday, reports Reuters.

“Turkey both confirms that we have done what we said we would do, but they also say that they want things that we cannot or do not want to give them,”

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a defence think-tank conference in Sweden.

Finland and Sweden signed a three-way agreement with Turkey in 2022 aimed at overcoming Anka-

ra’s objections to their membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They applied in May to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey objected and accused the countries of harbouring militants, including from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

One sticking point has been extraditions of people Turkey regards as terrorists. Ankara expressed disappointment with a decision late last year from Sweden’s top court to stop a request to extradite a journalist with alleged links to Islamic scholar Fetullah Gulen, blamed by Turkey for an attempted coup.

India provides 75 buses to SL to support transport system

COLOMBO, JAN 8 (PTI): India has handed 75 passenger buses to Sri Lanka as part of its assistance towards strengthening public transport infrastructure in the cash-strapped country.

As part of its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, India has extended multi-pronged assistance to Sri Lanka to help the country tide over its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since its independence from Great Britain in 1948.

“Supporting mobility and accessibility in Sri Lanka, High Commissioner handed over 75 buses for use by Transport Board. 500

India has extended multi-pronged assistance to crisis hit Sri Lanka. (Twitter/@IndiainSL)

buses are being supplied to Sri Lanka through Indian assistance towards strengthening public transport infrastructure,” the Indian High Commission here said in a

statement. In a similar move, India handed 125 SUVs to the Sri Lanka Police under a line of credit in December to support the island nation and help it ad-

dress the serious mobility restriction issues faced by the police, due to the nonavailability of vehicles.

The Sri Lankan government in May last year declared a debt default on over USD 51 billion in the foreign loan – a first in the country’s history.

Extending a muchneeded lifeline to a neighbour in need, India gave financial assistance of nearly USD 4 billion to Colombo during the year. In January, India announced a USD 900 million loan to Sri Lanka to build up its depleted foreign reserves as the financial crisis began to unfold.

Hundreds of people joined the demonstrations outside the factrory.

Security officials guard a blocked road leading to a counter-terrorism centre (AP)

People demonstrate against the right-wing government led by PM Netanyahu, in Habima Square, Israel. (Reuters)

DAKAR (SENEGAL), JAN 8 (AP): At least 40

people were killed and dozens injured in a bus crash in central Senegal, the country’s president

View of the scene of the bus accident in Kaffrine, central Senegal, on Friday where over 40 people have died and scores were injured when two buses collided. (AFP)

Two Naga students win at ‘Kala Utsav’

Two students from Nagaland, Lijempong from YajenAier Government High School, Mopungchuket and N. Nyemjun Konyak from Government Higher Secondary School, Diphupar-A, bagged the position of first runners up in vocal music traditional folk (male) category and indigenous toys & games

(male) category respectively during the “Kala Utsav National Level Competition 2022-23”, which was organised in Bhubaneswar from January 3 to 7.

Kala Utsav is an initiative of the Ministry of Education through “Samagra Shiksha” to promote arts in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students at

the secondary stage in the country.

Altogether 15 students from Nagaland (State level winners) participated and competed in different categories.

The Students were accompanied by two teacherguides Nzanbeni Lotha from GHSS Diphupar-A and N Sentimeren from GHS Mopungchuket.

WHO’s Soumya Swaminathan honoured at AAPI summit

Former World Health Organisation (WHO) chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has been awarded Prof P. Brahmayya Sastry Oration & Dr T. Ravi Raju Excellence Award for her contributions to the healthcare sector.

She was presented the award during the 16th Annual Global Healthcare Summit organised by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

In the last two years, Swaminathan, 63, has been a known face at the international media briefings held by WHO to speak on Covid-19, and other global outbreaks like Monkeypox and Ebola.

Stating that the global pandemic is marching on, the world-renowned scientist said, “Of the lessons I have learned since the pandemic began, the most important one is the significance of investing in public health and primary healthcare.

Countries that invested in primary healthcare over the past decade or two are reaping the benefits now”.

“Another lesson is the positive role of science and scientists. The global collaboration between scientists to take forward advances in knowledge so that science is continuously informing our response to the pandemic has been encouraging,” she was quoted as saying in an AAPI statement.

A pediatrician from India and a globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, the 63-year-old brings 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate research into impactful programs.

Swaminathan was Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research from 2015 to 2017. (IANS)

Prediabetes: You Can Turn It Around

What Is Prediabetes?

It’s when your blood sugar is higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes. You won’t necessarily notice any symptoms -- you can have it and not know it. A simple blood test can tell you if you do. You’re at risk if you’re overweight, over 45, and you don’t exercise. It makes you more likely to have type 2 diabetes and heart disease, but you can take steps to change that.

Lose Weight

It doesn’t have to be a lot. If you lose just 7% of your body weight, it can make a huge difference (that’s only 14 pounds for a 200-pound person). The first step is to eat healthier food with fewer calories.

Start by keeping track of your weight, eating habits, and physical activities.

Eat Healthy

A good rule of thumb is to fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables (asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and carrots, among many others). One quarter should have starchy foods (like potatoes, corn, or peas). The remaining quarter should be protein -- chicken, fish, or beans are best. Be extra careful with carbs like baked goods or pasta -- they can raise your blood sugar.

Exercise You’ll lose weight faster and feel better if you get out and burn more calories. You don’t need

to train for a marathon: A brisk 30-minute walk five times a week should do the trick. A workout buddy can sometimes help you stick to a routine, so call a friend or join a gym and make some new ones. Aerobic exercise (walking, swimming, dancing) and strength training (weight lifting, pushups, pull-ups) are both good. A little of both is best.

Get Your ZZZs

The right amount of shut-eye helps keep your blood sugar at healthy levels. If you can’t stay asleep, wake up too early, or get less than 5 hours a night, you’re more likely to get diabetes. About 7 or 8 hours a night is ideal. For better sleep, don’t have alcohol or caffeine late in the day, keep regular sleep hours, and stick to a calm, quiet bedtime routine.

Don’t Smoke

If you smoke, now’s the time to quit. Smokers are 30% to 40% more

likely to get type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers. And if you get diabetes and still smoke, your symptoms may be worse and your blood sugar may be harder to control.

Medication

Certain drugs can help with blood sugar levels and obesity, as well as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. And you’re more likely to have those if you have prediabetes. If you do, take your medication as prescribed -- it can improve your health and help you live longer.

Get Support

When you have people to share your good days and bad days with, it can make a big difference. Peer support groups can be a place to learn from others and get and give encouragement and understanding.

Your doctor can help you find one that works for you.

Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD

Royal biographer ‘perplexed’ by Prince Harry’s memoir

thinks King Charles will be “extremely pained” by the claims made in the memoir.

He told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme: “I can only imagine he is extremely pained, very frustrated and would be very anxious to bring it to an end.”

Jessica Chastain heaps praise on SS Rajamouli’s epic ‘RRR’

Oscar winner Jessica Chastain is the latest Hollywood Alister to come out in praise of SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus “RRR”.

Jonathan Dimbleby admits that he’s “at a loss” to understand Prince Harry’s memoir.

A royal biographer feels “perplexed” by the claims made in Prince Harry’s memoir.

Jonathan Dimbleby has been baffled by the 38-year-old prince’s ‘Spare’ memoir, observing that it contains revelations that you might to see from a “B-list celebrity”.

He said: “I am perplexed. I am at a loss. He is clearly a very troubled man.

“I’m concerned incidentally that everyone uses the word revelations. Yes, there are obviously revelations about how he lost his virginity, taking drugs, and how many people he feels he might have shot down from his Apache. But those are the kind of revelations, in part, that you would expect, I suppose, from a B-list celebrity.”

Jonathan, 78, also

In his memoir, Harry claims that he killed 25 people while serving in Afghanistan.

The prince - who undertook two tours of the country - explained that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his time in the British army. He wrote: “It seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number [of people killed]. So my number is 25.

“It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me.” Harry even likened the Taliban fighters to “chess pieces removed from the board”.

Despite this, the prince actually relished his time in the British military as it allowed him to escape the dramas of royal life.

He said: “I was no longer Prince Harry, I was Second Lieutenant Wales of the Blues and Royals, second oldest regiment of the British army.” (Contact music)

The actor, known for her performances in “Zero Dark Thirty”, “Interstellar”, “A Most Violent Year” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”, shared her excitement about watching the film in a Twitter post.

“Watching this film was such a party,” Chastain wrote, sharing a post on Friday by Variance Films, the official distributor of “RRR” in the US.

The movie’s official Twitter handle replied to her tweet and wrote, “Jessica, you enjoying RRR made us happy.”

Starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR in the lead, “RRR” follows a pre-Independence fictional story woven around two real-life Indian revolutionaries — Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem — in the 1920s. It also stars Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn in key roles.

Released theatrically last March, “RRR” raised reported earnings over Rs 1,200 crore at the global box office. The Hindi version of the film premiered on Netflix on May 20, 2022

and soon became the most popular movie from India on the streamer globally.

In the past, the movie received praise from the who’s who of Hollywood such as Edgar Wright (“Baby Driver”), “Doctor Strange” director Scott Derrickson and writer C Robert Cargill, Joe Dante of “Gremlins” fame, “Guardians of the Galaxy” films director James Gunn, “Dune” screenwriter Jon Spaihts, filmmaker Christopher Miller and “The Gray Man” directors Anthony and Joe Russo.

The makers are currently gearing up for the Hollywood award season where its distributor Variance Films has mounted a substantial campaign to have the film recognised in the general categories at various ceremonies.

Last year, “RRR” bagged two Golden Globe nominations -- Best Picture - Non-English and Best Song for ‘Naatu Naatu’. It was followed by five nods for Critics Choice Awards -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Song for “Naatu Naatu”, and Best Visual Effects.

On Friday, the movie made it to the BAFTA longlist for Film not in English Language category. It shares space with “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “Argentina, 1985”, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”, “Close”, “Corsage”, “Decision To Leave”, “EO”, “Holy Spider”, and “The Quiet Girl”.

The 10 films will compete to secure a place in the final five for the BAFTA honour. (PTI)

winners along with officials at Odisha

Prince Harry

Dr Soumya Swaminathan

Serie A: Juventus keep winning streak

ROME, JAN 8 (IANS):

Juventus registered their eighth consecutive victory in Serie A as they beat Udinese 1-0 thanks to Danilo’s late winner.

Juve opened the new year with a 1-0 win over Cremonese on Wednesday and entered Saturday’s game having Angel Di Maria and Adrien Rabiot back in the starting lineup, reports Xinhua news agency.

There was a minute’s silence before the kick-off to mourn for former Juve players Gianluca Vialli and Ernesto Castano who passed away recently.

It was a fairly even game as both sides created a couple of chances, with the only goal emerging in the 85th minute when Leandro Paredes’ long pass over the top found Federico Chiesa, who chested it down and rolled across for Danilo to tap in from close range.

With the win, Juve provisionally moved into

NBA roundup: Luka Doncic sizzles as Mavs best Pelicans

lead to 78-67. Dallas took a 97-81 lead into the fourth quarter, and New Orleans got within six points with 32 seconds left but didn’t score again.

Lakers 136, Kings 134

Dennis Schroder made two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, LeBron James recorded 37 points and Los Angeles increased its season-best winning streak to five games with a highoctane victory over host Sacramento.

Also on Saturday, Monza fought to a 2-2 draw with Inter Milan as former Inter player Luca Caldirola scored a late equalizer.

Inter’s Matteo Darmian scored the opener in the 10th minute, one minute before Patrick Ciurria leveled the game with a curler. Lautaro Martinez restored the lead for the Nerazzurri in the 22nd minute as the World cup winner won back possession in the box and fired home.

Francesco Acerbi thought he had extended Inter’s lead in the 80th minute, but the goal was canceled out, while Lautaro hit the upright minutes later.

Monza punished Inter in the dying minute as Caldirola saw his loop header go beyond goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Elsewhere, Fiorentina edged Sassuolo 2-1 with Nicolas Gonzalez converting a stoppage time penalty for the Viola.

Coco Gauff clinches her first title of the season at ASB Classic

AUCKLAND, JAN 8 (IANS): World No.7 Coco Gauff captured her first title of the season at the ASB Classic, defeating Spanish qualifier Rebeka Masarova 6-1, 6-1 in the final, here on Sunday.

The title is Gauff’s first since 2021 Parma and her first on the hard court since winning her first at 2019 Linz. The 18-year-old American’s straight-set victory over Masarova capped off a dominant week for her. She did not drop a set through five matches, losing just 22 games.

Playing as the top seed in Auckland, Gauff managed the unpredictable and rainy conditions throughout the week, as the tournament was forced to utilize indoor courts to keep the event on the schedule.

But the rain held off on Sunday as Gauff readied to face No.130 Masarova, who was into her first WTA final after an outstanding

Naomi Osaka withdraws from Australian Open 2023

MELBOURNE, JAN 8

(IANS): Former two-time champion Naomi Osaka of Japan has withdrawn from this year’s Australian Open, the tournament announced on Sunday.

With Osaka’s withdrawal, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska moves into the main draw.

“Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at #AO2023. Dayana Yastremska moves into the main draw,” the Australian

DALLAS, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): Luka Doncic had his ninth triple-double of the season and the host Dallas Mavericks rode a dominant start to a 127-117 victory over the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.

Doncic had 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his third triple-double in his last six games. Christian Wood scored 28 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 18, Jaden Hardy 15 and Spencer Dinwiddie 12 as the Mavericks raced to a 19-point lead at the end of the first quarter and remained in control.

Jonas Valanciunas had 25 points and 10 rebounds,

Naji Marshall added a career-high 24 points, Herbert Jones scored 16, Jose Alvarado 14 and Kira Lewis Jr. 12 to lead the Pelicans, who played without their top three scorers -- Zion Williamson (hamstring), Brandon Ingram (toe) and CJ McCollum (rest) -- who average a com bined 67.2 points per game.

The Pelicans trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half, but Alvarado scored six quick points to get them within 14 early in the third quarter. The Mavericks rebuilt the lead to 18 before Alvarado made a 3-pointer and assisted on a basket by Jones to trim the

James added eight rebounds and seven assists, while Thomas Bryant scored a season-high 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting and collected 14 rebounds for Los Angeles. Schroder was 4 of 5 from 3-point range while scoring 27 points, and Russell Westbrook had 23 points and matched his season best of 15 assists for the Lakers.

De’Aaron Fox had 34 points and nine assists and Domantas Sabonis had 25 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out for the Kings. Harrison Barnes scored 18 points, Kevin Huerter added 17, Keegan Murray tallied 16 and Trey Lyles had 11 for Sacramento.

SA dig in to hold Aus to Sydney draw

Hamilton in March 2017. Australia will still take huge confidence out of a dominant home summer in which they also beat West Indies 2-0 before putting South Africa to the sword.

Australia’s hopes of sweeping both series and securing a place in June’s World Test Championship final were dashed in the main by the Sydney weather that took the best part of two days out of the final test.

SYDNEY, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): South Africa dug deep and denied Australia a 3-0 series sweep with a battling draw in the raindisrupted third test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, finally finding some fight on the final day of a miserable tour.

The hosts, who declared on 475-4 on Saturday to try and force a result, dismissed South Africa for 255 in their first innings after lunch to enforce

the follow on, but came up short in their bid to bowl out the tourists again.

Sarel Erwee and Temba Bavuma guided the Proteas to stumps on 106 for two, enabling South Africa to take something out of the series after being thoroughly outclassed in the first two matches in Brisbane and Melbourne.

It was the first draw in 47 tests for South Africa going back to a match against New Zealand in

Tailenders Simon Harmer (47) and Keshav Maharaj (53) played a big part too under sunny skies on Sunday, with a partnership of 85 for the eighth wicket, which extended South Africa’s first innings well into the afternoon.

Brief Scores: South Africa 255 and 106/2 (Sarel Erwee 42 not out, Temba Bavuma 17 not out, Josh Hazlewood 1/9) drew with Australia 475/4 declared

elle Collins of the United States in straight sets 6-7 (5-7), 3-6.

Last year in Melbourne, the former No.1 advanced to the third round, where she bowed out after losing to Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Osaka’s name is the latest addition in the Australian Open players

withdrawal list. Earlier, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams has also pulled out of season’s first Grand Slam after sustaining an injury at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. World No. 1 men’s singles player Carlos Alcaraz of Spain has also pulled out of the 2023 season’s first major.

second with 37 points, one ahead of AC Milan who will host Roma on Sunday.

Juventus’ Danilo scores their winning goal against Udinese during the Serie A football match on Sunday.

week. After qualifying for the main draw, the 23-yearold Spaniard ousted No.2 seed Sloane Stephens and Karolina Muchova en route to her first meeting with Gauff.

The American showed

her quality and experience from the start. After rain delayed the start of the final, Gauff broke immediately in the opening game and built a 5-1 lead before the rain returned as she was set to serve on set point.

Coco Gauff

Open tweeted on Sunday. A champion in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021, Osaka has not played a

competitive match since the US Open 2022 where she lost her first-round match in women’s singles to Dani-

Naomi Osaka

Luka Doncic (77) motions to the crown as he runs back up the court after making an assist against New Orleans Pelicans.

The Northern Angami Sports Association Group-D (NASA-D) organised a one-day training camp on belt wrestling players, referees, judge & mat chairman on January 7 at Tuophema village with International Bronze medallist, Keduovilie Zumvü, as the resource person. 61 trainees/belt wrestling enthusiasts availed training in the camp.

Australia’s Pat Cummins celebrates winning the series with the trophy and teammates. (Reuters)

Djokovic beats Korda to win Adelaide Int’l 1

won 34 consecutive matches in Australia since the start of 2019. Djokovic had treatment on his left leg during Saturday’s semi-final win against Daniil Medvedev, but he moved well in an intense baseline exchange on the first point of the match that set the tone for an absorbing match.

The American player played fearless baseline tennis to take the action against the Serbian. With Djokovic serving at 5-6, 30/40 in the second set, Korda needed just one more clutch strike to earn the biggest win of his career.

ADELAIDE, JAN 8

(IANS): Word No.5 Novak Djokovic pulled off a remarkable escape to clinch the Adelaide International 1 men’s singles title on Sunday, saving a championship point to beat American Sebastian Korda in the final.

The top seed Serb saved a championship point at 5-6 in the second set before rallying past the American 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 6-4 after a gruelling three hours and nine minutes.

The 22-year-old Korda was on the cusp of becom-

ing the first man since Hyeon Chung in the 2018 Australian Open fourth round to defeat the Serbian Down Under, but his opponent snuffed out his chance with an overhead winner.

This is Djokovic’s 92nd tour-level title from his 131st final.

The 35-year-old Serb is now tied with Rafael Nadal at the fourth position in the list of most men’s singles titles in the Open Era, trailing only Jimmy Connors (109), Roger Federer (103) and Ivan Lendl (94). He has

But Djokovic took the initiative in the point and finished it off by putting away a tricky overhead. From there, he surged through the tiebreak and forced a decider.

Despite the disappointment of letting slip his opportunity, Korda continued to battle as he saved two break points at 1-2 and slowed down Djokovic’s momentum.

But at 5-4 in the third set with Korda serving, Djokovic pounced on his first chance to seal his victory. The top seed won 85 per cent of his first-serve points in the match and converted two of his seven break points.

Dropping Rashford was necessary to maintain discipline: Erik ten Hag

Ten Hag said.

“If you allow (players) to be undisciplined, if they don’t match the standards, values, rules we set together – that is the staff, players, and in the dressing room – then it will come back and blow in your face because on the pitch it does not then add the discipline which is necessary to win games.”

Rashford, 25, has rediscovered his form under Ten Hag and scored 13 league goals in 24 appearances so far.

Aryna Sabalenka ended her 20-month title drought, as she claimed her 11th career singles title with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over Czech player Linda Noskova in the Adelaide International 1 final on Sunday.

This is World No.5 Sabalenka’s first title since she took the crown at Madrid in May of 2021, where she beat Australian Ashleigh Barty It is the third time Sabalenka has won a title in the opening week of the season. She pulled off the same feat with Week 1 titles in both 2019 (Shenzhen) and 2021 (Abu Dhabi), according to WTA.

Sabalenka hit 12 aces

Chennai Marathon: Vinod, Kimitwai win

CHENNAI, JAN 8 (IANS): Coimbatore’s Vinod Kumar Srinivasan and Brigid Jerend Kimitwai of Kenya won the men’s and women’s full marathon respectively at the 11th Freshworks Chennai Marathon 2023, here on Sunday.

Srinivasan finished the race in a time of 02:37:28 to win the title while Gyan Babu (02:48:46) and Jegadheesan Munasamy (02:57:39) got the second and third places.

and saved all three break points she faced in the final match.

Both the players dodged a pair of early break points, but Sabalenka took control by breaking for 4-2 behind a powerful backhand. She raced through the rest of the first set, dropping only one more point on her delivery as she deployed excellent serves and forehands.

She claimed her first two top-10 wins over Daria Kasatkina and top seed Ons Jabeur en route to the final.

Having started the week just outside the top 100 Noskova was bound for Melbourne as the new world No.56.

India’s Anahat Singh wins Girls’ U-15 title in British Junior Open

NEW DELHI, JAN 8 (IANS): India’s Anahat Singh started the year 2023 on a superb note by winning the Girls’ Under-15 squash title in the British Junior Open, one of the most prestigious tournaments of the season, here in Birmingham, U.K, on Sunday.

The Delhi girl Anahat Singh, beat Sohaila Hazem of Egypt, 3-1 in the final. The British Junior Open is held in January every year in the U.K. where all the best players from all over the world compete to win the coveted title. Anahat defeated Sohaila Hazem 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5).

The victory makes Anahat the most successful Indian player in the British Junior Open.

This was her third final at the Most prestigious squash tournament in the world. Anahat, who represented India in the Commonwealth Games at the same venue in August 2022, has reached the finals in all her three appearances at the British Junior Open.

Anahat won the Girls’ Under-11 title in 2019, came runners-up in 2020

Anahat Singh

in the Girls’ Under-13 category and won her British Junior Open, Girls’ Under-15 title on Sunday. This makes it two gold medals and one silver in her three appearances which is the highest medal tally by any Indian in the British Junior Open in all categories.

This year the British Open Junior was held after a gap of two years following the Covid-19 pandemic, which was held from January 4-8, 2023.

In the semifinals, top seed Anahat secured her

place in the final in confident style against 3/4 seeded Malak Samir from Egypt, winning 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-2). In the quarterfinals, Anahat beat Harleen Tan of Malaysia 3-0. This is her first title of 2023, and she will now be preparing for the Asian Junior team championships to be held in Chennai in February 2023. She has also won the Scottish Junior Open held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from December 28-30, 2022 in the Girls under-17 categories.

Mumbai City breeze past Kerala Blasters 4-0

MUMBAI, JAN 8 (PTI): Mumbai City FC registered a commanding 4-0 win against Kerala Blasters to move to the top of the Indian Super League table here on Sunday.

The win brought an end to Kerala Blasters’ eight-match unbeaten run and vaulted Mumbai City FC back to the top of the table, as they brought up a league record eight wins in a row.

LONDON, JAN 8 (AGENCIES): Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said it was a risk to relegate Marcus Rashford to the bench for disciplinary reasons but maintained it was necessary to create a winning culture at the club.

Rashford, who later said he had overslept and was late for a team meet-

ing, started as a substitute against Wolverhampton Wanderers on New Year’s Eve as punishment. He came on for the second half and scored the winner in a United 1-0 victory.

“Maybe it is a risk but if you want to develop something to create a winning attitude and culture you have to go this way,”

“If it is the right person and the right characters, they will react like this,” Ten Hag added. “In relation to Marcus I was quite convinced, knowing him for seven or eight months, that I could expect this reaction he showed.”

United will host Charlton Athletic in the League Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday before returning to Premier League action against rivals Manchester City in Saturday’s derby.

Meanwhile, Brigid Jerend Kimitwai won the women’s title with a time of 03:31:36 as Sandhya Shanker (03:33:57) and Mamta Rawat (03:53:41) took the second and third place.

The Chennai Marathon 2023 saw over 20,000 enthusiastic runners participating across categories. Twenty thousand plus runners were cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd that had gathered at various points along the route of the marathon early this morning.

FA Cup: Liverpool held to 2-2 draw by Wolves

LIVERPOOL, JAN 8 (IANS): Liverpool played out a 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Emirates FA Cup at Anfield.

The Reds were forced to come from behind in L4 in a topsy-turvy third-round encounter before being held by the visitors, on Saturday evening, reports liverpoolfc. com. Wolves opened the scoring through Goncalo Guedes though Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah both struck either side of the half-time interval.

Wanderers had the final say through substitute Hee-Chan Hwang in the 66th-minute, earning a replay at Molineux Stadium for Julien Lopetegui’s outfit.

Mohamed Salah and Gakpo both threatened early for the Reds, with the former seeing a free-kick fly inches over the bar while the latter’s low shot was saved.

Both teams exchanged possession in the early stages as they fought for dominance, and Ibrahima Konate provided solid defensive work to thwart Wolves’ first real attack through Raul Jimenez. The visitors did take the lead, though, shortly before the half hour mark as Guedes pounced on a loose pass out from

goalkeeper Alisson Becker to break the deadlock. The goalscorer then threatened from distance, forcing a strong save from the Reds’ No.1 ahead of the interval.

With half-time looming, Liverpool levelled after a quick break forward was finished off by a well-placed Nunez volley. Trent Alexander-Arnold -- who was making his 250th appearance for the club -- burst forward to halfway and found the run of the front man with an inch-perfect ball to bring the scores level. It took Liv-

erpool just seven minutes of the second period to edge themselves in front thanks to a Salah strike.

The forward kept his cool inside the area to collect himself and find the bottom corner of the net after a loose defensive header fell into his path on the attack.

Nun ez then headed over in an attempt to make it three shortly afterwards, with the Reds looking to take control of the encounter. Alisson again saved well from Rayan Ait-Nouri while

The visitors, however, brought themselves level in the tie as substitute HeeChan Hwang finished off inside the area following a well crafted move.

Both teams battled for a winner and Wolves were denied another strike through Tote Gomes by the offside flag with VAR upholding the decision.

The Reds pushed for a crucial third goal late on but were unable to make the breakthrough.

The visitors tried to keep pace with Mumbai City FC for the opening ten minutes of the game, but couldn’t keep Mumbai City FC’s relentless frontline at bay.

In the fourth minute, Bipin Singh received a long ball from the back on the wings and played a onetwo with Greg Stewart to break into the box. His shot was saved by Prabhsukhan Gill, but the deflection fell in the path of Jorge Diaz who swept the ball home for the first of his two goals.

Some close tackles ensued in midfield immediately after but just as the Blasters seemed to have

Shiffrin equals Vonn’s women’s WC wins record

KRANJSKA GORA, JAN

8

lifted themselves, Stewart was on hand to deflate them in the 10th minute. This time it was Lallianzuala Chhangte who received a long diagonal pass on the opposite wing, before floating it into the box for Stewart, who got to the ball before Gill to nod it home.

Before the Blasters could regroup, another long ball split their de -

fence. Mehtab Singh found Diaz’s run in the channels, and the striker held it up in the box before cutting it back for Bipin on the left.

The winger took his time before curling the ball into the top left corner.

Diaz then put the fixture to bed in the 22nd minute, running onto a through ball from Ahmed Jahouh and finding the net via a deflection off Victor

Mongil. Kerala Blasters’ commitment to attack meant the fixture seemed to have gotten away from them before they could react.

The result comes as a strong statement from Mumbai City FC in the title race, with the Blasters being the most in-form team alongside them this season coming into the match.

US win United Cup inaugural title

SYDNEY, JAN 8

(AGENCIES):

Mikaela Shiffrin equalled the women’s record for World Cup skiing victories with the 82nd win of her career. The American, 27, moved alongside compatriot Lindsey Vonn’s mark with victory in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

She finished 0.77 seconds ahead of the field in Sunday’s giant slalom to claim an eighth win of the season. The two-time Olympic gold medallist is now only four World Cup victories short of the overall record held by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark.

She opened a 0.24-second lead over the field with a dominant first run and stretched that further in the second to finish well ahead of Italy’s Federica Brignone, while Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami was third.

Shiffrin is the reigning overall women’s World Cup champion, with four Crystal Globe titles in her career, and comfortably leads this year’s overall standings. Swedish legend Stenmark dominated the men’s slalom and giant slalom disciplines from 1975 up to his retirement in 1989.

Fritz clinched the title for his country with a 7-6(4), 7-6 win over Matteo Berrettini in a nail-biting duel between two of the biggest hitters on the ATP Tour to give the USA an unassailable 3-0 lead over Italy.

Pegula and Tiafoe each earned a point for the Americans earlier in the day with defeats of Martina Trevisan and Lorenzo Musetti respectively. Pegula gave her country a good start with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Trevisan. Tiafoe then surged through the first set against Musetti when the Italian retired trailing 6-2 due to a right shoulder injury.

The first rubber was far from straightforward for the World No.3. as Trevisan came out firing with an aggressive strategy, and remained committed to front-foot tennis throughout. Pegula found herself forced onto the back foot.

Though she led 3-0 and then 4-2 in the first set, Trevisan managed to level at 4-4 after

coming up with a series of fizzing forehands.

Surprisingly, the set turned on a rare shot that Trevisan backed off. Serving at 4-5, 30-30, a tentative drive volley allowed Pegula to crunch a forehand of her own to reach set point. The American promptly converted it with a superb backhand winner down the line.

Pegula settled in the second set, reducing her unforced error tally from 17 to seven. Trevisan’s do-or-die approach ultimately didn’t pay off as she racked up 31 unforced errors against 14 winners.

Tiafoe picked up where Pegula left off, breaking Musetti’s serve early and cruising through the opener 6-2,

saving all three break points he faced. The Italian increasingly touched his right shoulder as the set wore on before receiving treatment from a physio during a changeover. At the end of the set, Musetti shook hands with Tiafoe and retired.

Then, reigning Indian Wells champion Fritz triumphed over Berrettini in 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Berrettini saved the first championship point he faced in the secondset tiebreak by crushing a forehand winner. But after switching sides, Fritz won a gruelling rally to claim what proved to be the deciding mini-break when the Italian missed a forehand on the full stretch.

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Novak Djokovic

Sabalenka beats Noskova to claim 11th career title

Aryna Sabalenka

Konate also headed over the crossbar at a corner ball.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scores their second goal. (Reuters)

(IANS): Jessica Pegula, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz captured the inaugural United Cup title for the USA after beating Italy 3-0 in the final here on Sunday.

Team United S tates celebrate with the trophy.

Marcus Rashford and Erik ten Hag

Lallianzuala Chhangte of Mumbai City FC during the Hero ISL match between Mumbai City FC and KBFC at the Mumbai Football Arena, in Mumbai, Sunday. (PTI)