July 25, 2020

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXX No. 229

DIMAPUR, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020 Pages 12 ` 5.00

China-US in consulate closure war international, Page 9

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8-day total lockdown of Dimapur from Jul 26

DIMAPUR, JUL 24 (NPN): A day after it announced partial lockdown of Dimapur from July 26 to August 2, 2020, the District Task Force (DTF) Dimapur, in an emergency meeting Friday, instead decided to impose an 8-day total lockdown of the district.

On Friday, the deputy commissioner Dimapur, Anoop Khinchi issued a revised order, dated July 24 with lockdown measures to be strictly implemented and followed by all.

(See infographic) He said that the lockdown measures were being imposed to enhance active surveillance and to ensure comprehensive contact tracing, detection of suspected cases and implementation of isolation measures so that the chain of transmission can be slowed down and to contain the spread of COVID-19 infection.

Exempted categories: As per the order, functioning of the offices of the District Administration, Police, Security Forces and Medical and essential service providers like Treasury, fire & emergency Service, Home Guards &

Reopening of schools uncertain: PD School Edn Correspondent

KOHIMA, JUL 24 (NPN): With over 4000 parents that took part in the recent survey to seek opinion on re-opening of schools, principal director Department of School Education (DoSE) Shanavas C said that the department received a mixed response from the parents.

However, majority of parents were not in favour of the schools reopening now in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most were of the opinion to reopen schools only in January next year.

With COVID-19 spike across the state, Shanavas also said that they were not certain when to open the schools. For this, he said the department will be holding monthly reviews to ascertain the ground situation. He said that online classes will continue as usual.

He also informed that the department has decided to open a ‘control room’ similar to the COVID war room where the directorate will monitor teachers’ diaries, activities of students etc.

For classes 10 and 12, he said an alternate mechanism would be worked out since the students would require an evaluation before being promoted.

This is it!

REVISED lockdown measures

All public movement is prohibited except for medical emergencies.

Movement of all types of vehicles are prohibited except for medical emergencies.

Inter-State & Inter District Movement of all goods Vehicles will be allowed with proper safety measures in place.

Civil Defence, Prisons, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Airport Authority of India & Airlines, District Courts, Life Insurance, PHED, Power, NIC, DIPR, Food & Civil Supplies, Social welfare, IT &C, Municipality/Town Council, AIR, Doordar-

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shan, Central Institute of Horticulture, Medziphema, ICAR Jharnapani, Agri & Allied departments.

Postal Services, Pharmacies, Medical Clinics, Nursing Homes, BSNL & Private Telecom Services, Internet Service Providers, Media, LPG, Banks with

minimal staff & ATMs, Petroleum outlets, Quarantine Centres, Persons/patients with Medical Emergencies and those person/ individual involved in authorized COVID-19 related duties have been exempted from the purview of the lockdown measures.

KOHIMA, JUL 24 (NPN): A day ahead of the 7-day lockdown of Kohima municipality areas (from July 25-31), denizens in the state capital thronged the market, resorting to panic buying and forgetting all safety norms/social distancing etc.

People in hundreds were seen rushing to grocery stores to stock up essential commodities while the main town areas witnessed massive traffic jams.

Those dealing with perishable items were also seen selling their items at lesser rates.

As per the order issued by deputy commissioner Kohima on July 23, all categories of shops will remain closed except pharmacies outside the containment zone and all movements, including vehicles, have been restricted except for rare medical emergencies.

sports, Page 12

Nagaland COVID-19 tally 1239 702 active 537 recovered 1 death yet to be confirmed COVID-19 STATUS AS ON july 24, 2020 2 more deaths in Dmu spark COVID-19 fears ICU On Moderate Ventilator District

Dimapur

ACTIVE CASES AsympMild tomatic 335 1 1

1

Recov- Total ered Cases

163

501

Kiphire

0

0

0

0

0

0

Kohima

182

0

0

0

117

299

Longleng

3

0

0

0

0

3

Mokokchung

5

0

0

0

4

9

Mon

91

0

0

0

8

99

Peren

58

1

0

0

193

252

Phek

9

0

0

0

9

18

Tuensang

6

0

0

0

39

45

Wokha

1

0

0

0

0

1

Zunheboto

8

0

0

0

4

12

Total

698

2

1

1

537

1239

DIMAPUR, JUL 24 (NPN): Nagaland on Friday registered 65 fresh COVID-19 cases while 7 more recovered from the infection, taking the state’s total tally to 1239-- 702 active and 537 recovered cases. The Health department in its daily bulletin stated that “1 death reported from Dimapur is yet to be established as due to COVID-19.”

According to state Health department ‘situation update’, 32 cases were reported from the

armed forces, 25 returnees (including 8 non-resident technical persons on duty), 1 frontline worker and 7 traced contacts.

In a tweet, Health minister S. Pangnyu Phom informed that 41 cases were reported from Dimapur, 21 from Kohima, Peren-2 and Tuensang-1. The 7 persons who recovered were from Kohima, he added.

As per the severity of symptoms, 697 cases were asymptomatic, 2 mild, 1 moderate and 1 admitted to ICU on ventilator.

No large Independence Day State govt reiterates India’s Covid-19 tally nears 13 lakh gatherings: Centre to states on self-declaration OM NEW DELHI, JUL 24 (PTI): The Centre has asked all states to avoid large congregation, ensure social distancing and webcast the Independence Day events as the novel coronavirus cases continue to spiral unabated.

I n a n a d v i s o r y, the Home Ministry said COVID-19 warriors like doctors, health and sanitation workers should be invited in the ceremony as a recognition of their noble service in the fight against the pandemic. It said some people who recovered from the infection might also be invited.

The events organised could be webcast in order to reach out people at large, who are not able to participate, it said.

In its advisory, the Home Ministry said it was imperative to follow certain preventive measures

while organising various programmes or activities for the Independence Day celebrations amid the pandemic.

The measures include maintaining social distancing, wearing of masks, proper sanitisation, avoiding large congregations, protecting vulnerable persons and follow all COVID-19 guidelines issued by the ministries of health and home, it said.

The event in Delhi’s Red Fort shall consist of a guard of honour by the armed forces and the Delhi Police to the prime minister, unfurling of the national flag and firing of the 21-gun salute, speech by the prime minister, singing of the national anthem immediately after the speech and release of tricoloured balloons at the end. The ‘At Home’ reception will be conducted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

DIMAPUR, JUL 24 (NPN): State government Friday reiterated that the office memorandum (OM) dated July 7, 2020 relating to furnishing of self-declaration form by state government employees with respect to family members and relatives in “underground organizations” was issued on the direction of the governor.

A statement issued by the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) reiterated that “the letter of this direction was sent to the Chief Secretary from the Commissioner & Secretary to Governor on 14th February, 2020 asking for the information to be furnished by 2nd April, 2020. A reminder letter was received from the Governor’s office on 24th June, 2020 requesting to furnish the information urgently for the perusal of the Governor.”

Further, the state government clarified that the term “underground organisations” used in the OM dated July 7, 2020 was conveyed by the Raj Bhavan. The state government said it had used the term “Naga political organizations” in its press release dated July 22, 2020.

NEW DELHI, JUL 24 (PTI): India saw a record single-day spike of 49,310 COVID-19 cases taking the country’s tally to 12,87,945 on Friday, while the recoveries surged to 8,17,208, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll mounted to 30,601 with 740 new fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. There are 4,40,135 active cases of coronavirus infection presently in the country. Thus, around 63.45 per cent people have recovered so far. The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,54,28,170 samples have been tested up to July 23 with 3,52,801 samples being tested on Thursday.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR,” the ministry said, adding state-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

For the third day in a row, the number of COVID-19 recoveries in a 24-hour span saw another record high, with 34,602 patients having recuperated pushing the recovery rate to 63.45 per cent, the Union health ministry said on Friday. The case fatality rate has further declined to 2.38 per cent, it said.

Mon district set to use rapid antigen test kits Only Assembly can adopt or

Paiwang handing over the antigen testing kit to DC Mon. (NP)

Correspondent

“Are you taking up food distribution business during lockdown?”

Total lockdown of Kohima town areas from today

Correspondent

All categories of shops are to remain closed except pharmacies.

Juventus made to wait for Serie A title

nagalandpostofficial

KOHIMA, JUL 24 (NPN): Amidst the spike in COVID19 cases across Nagaland, rapid antigen test kit was introduced in Mon district on Friday to ramp up testing.

Minister in charge of Mon district P Paiwang Konyak donated 1,000 rapid antigen test, antibody test and confirmatory kits each to Mon District Task Force (DTF). Following

the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the State, Mon was one of the few districts that took a proactive approach of combating the virus by procuring PPE kits from China for the frontline workers, Truenat machines and came out with local standard operating procedure (SOP) under which returnees were made to stay additional 14 days at quarantine centres, among many other such initiatives.

Even for COVID re-

covery cases, the patients were not released till they tested negative thrice.

Speaking to Nagaland Post, Paiwang said the rapid antigen kits and antibody test kits would now be used in the district. He added the kits would be distributed in border sub-divisions like Tizit, Tobu and Wakching.

He said medical officers would train staff on using rapid antigen kits in remotest parts of the district to keep track of contact tracing and in containment zones as it was difficult to collect samples from such areas.

According to the minister, all returnees from outside the district would be tested, adding that option would also be given to the returnees and travellers whether they would like to undergo test by Truenat or rapid antigen kit. He

said Truenat test would be free but Rs 504 would be charged for rapid antigen kit test.

For government-sponsored returnees and frontline workers, he said tests would be done by Truenat machine and later RT-PCR performed for confirmation at ICMR centre, Dibrugarh.

He informed this correspondent that, if DTF wanted, rapid antigen test kit would be utilised for emergency purposes too without any charges.

Sensing the need of the kits, the legislator also assured to buy more in future.

Rapid antigen kit was approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with an aim to evaluate its sensitivity, specificity and feasibility of use as a pointof-care test for early detection of SARS-CoV-2 and its cost of Rs 450 was low.

reject SARFAESI Act: NPCC

DIMAPUR, JUL 24 (NPN): Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has asserted that the power to adopt or reject the SARFAESI Act lay with Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) and not with the speaker or any department.

Referring to a letter issued by the law department directing AGM of SBI Dimapur not to apply SARFAESI Act in Nagaland, NPCC president K Therie in a release termed it as unauthorised and illegal as it did not have the mandate of the Assembly.

Mentioning that Nagaland had sealed the doors of banks and other financial institutions due to restrictions on application of SARFAESI Act, 2002, also known as the Securitisation Act, Therie pointed out that farmers and entrepreneurs

required both collateral and collateral-free loans for micro, small or medium enterprises and farming.

He said no major private investments could come to the State as blocking loans was blocking the growth of economy, job creation, selfemployment and value addition industries. He termed the action of the State government as anti-people.

Therie suggested that village councils be allowed to stand as guarantors for farmers and be responsible to the banks and financial Institutions to ensure that land, if required for auction, did not pass on to non-indigenous individuals. Further, he advised declaring towns and municipal councils as cadastral areas to enable entrepreneurs in these areas to avail the benefits of the (Cont’d on p-8) Act.

Amidst the spike in COVID-19 cases in Nagaland, the deaths of two more persons-- one in Dimapur and the other in Medziphema- confront the state health authorities on COVID-19 deaths where, till July 24, it was recorded as ‘Nil’.

Out of four who died, three had tested positive for COVID-19 through TrueNat machine and only one who died at Medziphema had tested negative on TrueNat. However, after the death of the patient on July 21, the COVID-19 test through RT-PCR was confirmed as positive. This was stated by the Senior Medical Officer (SMO) of Medziphema CHC in a letter to Chief Medical Officer Dimapur.

According to official sources, a 70-year old person died on Friday morning at the COVID-19 Hospital, Dimapur of suspected COVID-19 and multiple health issues. The deceased was a resident of Dimapur.

(Cont’d on p-8)

TrueNat testing free for citizens DIMAPUR, JUL 24 (NPN): Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) department Friday clarified that there would be no charges for citizens requiring COVID-19 testing.

In a clarification, H&FW principal director said that the statement issued on Thursday, that Rs. 1500 would be charged per testing, was not for returnees or general public but specified for special categories of non-resident people entering the state. He said that the special category people, whose services are urgently required, but may be deterred to enter the state by 14 days of facility quarantine and 14 days home quarantine were being facilitated by this special SOP as notified on June 7, 2020. Only this people will be charged Rs. 1500 per TrueNat test. PD also said that government officials on duty will be exempted from the testing charge.

3 held in Kma assault case

DIMAPUR, JUL 24 (NPN): Kohima police on July 23, arrested three persons in connection with the physical assault of two drivers of LPG truck below Belho Gas Service godown at Kohima town on July 4 and July 9, and robbing mobile phones of the drivers.

According to Kohima police PRO, a team of Kohima police led by SDPO (North), apprehended all the three accused from Paramedical, Kohima.

The arrested accused persons have identified as Medophretuo Medeo (29) of Khulazu Bawe village, Pipenthung Humtsoe (29) of Pongitong village, Wokha, and Seyievilhou Phesao (26), Chozuba village.

PRO said the trio admitted to have committed the crime of assaulting the drivers. The accused have been forwarded to court and remanded to 48 hours police custody.

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state

2

DC Dimapur launches MHMP

DC Dimapur Anoop Kinchi, CHI officials along with principal DGC and faculty members after the launching of the MHMP at DGC on July 24. (DIPR)

Longchar by inaugurating the sanitary napkin machine and incinerator at the college premises.

In his address, DC Kinchi said through MHMP sanitary napkin machine and incinerator would be installed in all the government schools and colleges across Dimapur. He added that this initiative would “go a long way in helping the girl child of our society”.

Kinchi also asserted the importance to talk about menstruation with family and male members of the

society so as to do away with the taboo/stigma associated with it.

The DC also emphasised on creating more awareness and training on menstrual hygiene management programme and pointed out the vital role of NGOs in disseminating the information.

Speaking on health challenges in Nagaland, Dr. Rhondemo Kikon cited isolated geography, poor infrastructure, lack of skilled health care, low percent of hospitals/ health centers,

Organisations, villages to implement lockdown norms DIMAPUR: In view of the current COVID-19 pandemic, several organisations and village councils have issued guidelines to be enforced within its respective jurisdictions.

Joint council 4-lane: Joint Council of 4-lane Foothill Cross-Road in an emergency meeting Friday has adopted sevenpoint resolution. In a press release, the joint council chairman, Hetozu Chishi and secretary, Z Ato Yimchunger informed that the following resolutions were adopted during the meeting – any information regarding the detection of any positive case of the pandemic within its jurisdiction should be shared among the member villages, including epidemic dieses of livelihood and domestic animals.

The house resolved to strictly adhere to the lockdown measures as promulgated by the government and to be enforced by respective member villages; the house also resolved not to allow vehicular stoppage within its jurisdiction.

It resolved that contractors of the road under construction be moved to undertake the construction work as per the detail specification of the work order issued thereto and for which the village authority within which such work is in progress to supervise and monitor.

The joint council also resolved to support the ongoing road construction work and to protect from any unwanted and anti-social elements that are likely to obstruct the progress of such work.

The house also resolved not to allow vehicle washing, swimming, picnic or any form of gathering along the Chathe River and the 4-lane highway. The joint council also resolved to impose fine on any person found obstructing any joint council official on duty.

IECYF: Industrial Estate Colony Youth Forum (IECYF), has informed all neighbouring colonies and villages depending on Tinali market of Industrial Estate Colony for daily es-

Tobacco products seized in Mon Training on women empowerment

through agri entrepreneurship

Mon district administration, security forces and others with the seized items.

Commissioner (DC) Mon Thavaseelan K informed that around 20 shops were found selling tobacco products.

A squad led by EAC (P) Nitile Tep, EAC (P) S. Chingmei, district nodal officer Dr. I. Simon Sumi,

NTCP Mon, security forces and KSU officials conducted the drive and seized the banned products.

The DC informed that seized products were burnt by the team at Mon Town Council dumping site.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We the bereaved family members of Lt. Mr. E. Mhonthung Ngullie would like to express our heartfelt and sincere gratitude to each and everyone, friends, relatives, doctors and nurses who stood by us to render their support and help in every way possible during the prolonged illness and sad demise of our beloved on 12th July 2020.

We would also like to say thank you to: 1. The Wokha Town Baptist Church.

2. Old Changsu Baptist Church.

3. United Baptist Church, DHEP Doyang.

4. Englan Baptist Church.

5. Etsutchukha Colony members, Council and Youth.

6. NEEPCO Staff.

7. Wokha Town Ngullie Ekhung.

8. Wokha Town Riphyim and Changsu Ngullie Ekhung.

9. Old Changsu Union Wokha Town.

10. Old and New Changsu Union Doyang.

11. Elumyo Eloe Yanpoe Yanpi Okho.

12. Nzanta SHG Okho Etsutchukha.

13. His contemporary friends circle.

14. Lotha Eloe Hoho.

SSUNT changes its nomenclature to NSU: Sümi Students’ Union Niuland Town (SSUNT) has changed its nomenclature to Niuland Students’ Union (NSU) on July 23. Henceforth, Niuland Students’ Union (NSU) shall be used in all official correspondence with immediate effect.

DC Wokha notifies on road clearance: In the interest of public and in view of the proposed construction of road starting from Km 83.000 to Km 101.00 along New Wokha Village till Tsungiki 2nd bazaar, Deputy Commissioner, Wokha Orenthung Lotha has informed all private individuals along the stretch starting from said road to remove private water pipeline and other building materials within the Right of Way (RoW). The clearing of all such private pipeline and other building materials within the RoW as demarcated by the verification committee may be cleared on or before August 10 for smooth and early completion of the road project.

Heavy vehicles restricted along coco-Doyang road: With the onset of monsoon season and high risk of causing mishap/accidents especially for heavy/loaded vehicles due to the deplorable conditions along cocoDoyang road, Deputy Commissioner Zunheboto Peter Lichamo has issued an order and directed that movement of heavy/loaded vehicles along the coco-Doyang road is strictly prohibited with immediate effect from the date of issue of this order till further notice.

JVYO clarifies: Apropos the news item “JVYO installs new team of office bearers” published on July 18, Jalukie Valley Youth Organization (JVYO) has clarified that the sentence should be read as “the declaration and installation of office bearers was pronounced by K. Pinghabo” and not as published.

JVYO has regretted the error.

1st DEATH ANNIVERSARY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Late Khrieneilhulie Nagi 25 July 2019

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

- Psalm 73:26

Dearest Father, One year has passed since you left us for your heavenly abode. On this day, we remember you with fondest love.

We know the biggest star in the sky that is shinning the most is you. We hope you are living well in the world of the Creator. He has you in His arms. So we have you always in our hearts, we still miss you.

Loving Mother, Wife, Children & Grand Children

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

13/03/1973 – 19/07/2020 We the bereaved family members, would like to convey our sincere gratitude to every individual, churches, villages, colonies, communities, relatives, friends and well-wishers who stood by us in our time of bereavement at the sudden and sad demise of our beloved Late TIAYANGER AMRI on the 19th July 2020.

We are profoundly grateful and humbled by the love you have shown through prayers and physical, financial and moral support to our family at this time of grief. We are unable to thank everyone individually but our Almighty God bless each and every one of you abundantly.

Loving Family Members DP-3300

IN REMEMBRANCE

Talimeren Aier

29/04/1980 – 25/07/2019 On the anniversary of the Day you went away, We hold you tightly within our hearts.

Today brings special thoughts of you, Of happy times and caring things you used to do.

For you were someone special, Who will always be remembered with affection, warmth, and love.

So sending thoughts to heaven, To let you know you're missed, More than words can say!

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Mary N Odyuo and deputy project director SAMETI, Medziphema, Tiajungla Longchar. Topics on rural women empowerment through “agripreneurship”, issues and prospects; empowering women in agribusiness; role of women in agriculture and social & economic empowerment through agri & allied enterprises were covered during the training.

imposing fine on persons found without wearing face mask within its jurisdiction.

In a press release, KVC chairman, Sukheto Chishi, and secretary, KVC, Temjen Mozer also informed shops to keep hand wash/sanitizer outside their shop and to ensure social distancing.

The council also informed that “outsiders” would not be allowed entry within the village. However, there will be no restriction to pass the village through the main road.

news in Brief

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Words are inadequate to express our gratitude yet we pray the good Lord will shower His abundant blessings in return for what you have done good to us. God bless and thank you all once again.

Loving wife and children.

DP-3307

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speech, director SAMETI & principal IETC i/c, Dr. Watimongla Jamir gave a brief overview of women entrepreneurship and explained the important role played by women in society in general and agriculture in particular.

Resource persons for the training were assistant professor, department of rural development, NU: SASRD, Medziphema Dr.

DP-3298

Neksunger, Aren and Loved Ones.

We the bereaved sons & daughters of Lt. N. Zubeni Kikon, Blue Hill, Wokha Town would like to express our profound gratitude to all individuals, relatives, neighbors, friends, churches, organizations and well wishers who stood by us spiritually, materially, physically & financially during the prolonged illness and sad demise of our beloved mother on 15th July 2020.

We deeply regret our inability to thank each and every one of you individually, but we shall ever remain grateful in our hearts. It is our sincerest prayer that Almighty God bless everyone abundantly.

DP-3299

Bereaved Sons & Daughters of Lt. N. Zubeni Kikon Blue Hill Colony; Wokha Town

GRATITUDE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Words are inadequate to express our profound and sincere gratitude to all individuals, churches, organizations, friends and families who stood by us through unceasing prayers and supported us physically, financially, morally and mentally at the sudden demise of our beloved Late Aowati Lkr. on 07.05.2020.

Late Aowati Lkr (Chakpa) We convey our special Born on : 15.12.1977 Died on : 07.05.2020 thanks to : 1. DIG – Nagaland Fire and Emergency Services, All ranks and files, NFES Chumukedima and NFES Mokokchung.

2. Chakpa Senso Telongjem, Dimapur.

3. Chakpa Senso Telongjem, Mokokchung.

4. Sangtemla Ward Yimden.

5. Chakpa Yimden 6. Chakpa Baptist Church.

MKC-169

DIMAPUR: An enforcement drive against the sale of tobacco and other related products was carried out on July 21 at Mon Town under National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP).

A press release by Deputy

DIMAPUR: Two-day online training on “women empowerment through agricultural entrepreneurship” was organised by State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI) for ATMA functionaries from July 23-24 at SAMETI, Medziphema.

A press release by SAMETI, Medziphema stated that in an inaugural

sentials to “stock up”.

In a press release, IECYF president, Bendang Pongener said the decision was taken so as to discourage people from coming out of their homes during the lockdown period called in by Dimapur District Task Force. IECYF also informed that people from other colonies and jurisdictions would not be allowed entry within its jurisdiction.

It has also asked the people to follow the guidelines.

KVC: Kushiabill Village Council (KVC) has informed that it would be

Loving Wife Mrs. Lucy, Children and Relatives.

09-07-1986 – 21-07-2020 Through this column, we the bereaved family members of Lt. DANIEL ROMEO MAO, Fireman NFS Nagaland wish to acknowledge the many expressions of sympathy and gesture of kindness bestowed on us at the loss of our dearest brother.

We offer our heartfelt gratitude to all his friends, neighbours, well wishers, who visited our home, attended the service, burial and who provided emotional and practical support to us at this critical pandemic point of time, we also specially thank I.G Sir, all ranks & files/staff (Nagaland Fire & Emergency Services), also who telephoned us and sent a thousand messages of heartfelt condolences from different walks of life, we can’t express our all.

Thanks to: 1. Mother Church (Mao Baptist Church -Kalinamai) 2. Fauji Union Kalinamai 3. USB Members 4. Kalinamai Village Authority 5. Mao Baptist Church (Senapati) 6. Manipur Prayer Center (Senapati) Loving Family & Relatives

DP-3293

DIMAPUR: Menstr ual Hygiene Management programme (MHMP) for Dimapur based government schools and colleges was launched Friday here at Dimapur Government College (DGC).

According to DIPR report, the programme initiated by Dimapur district administration in collaboration with Community Health Initiative (CHI) was launched by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dimapur, Anoop Kinchi and DGC principal, Dr. Moanochet

low percent mother and child health care, low vaccine coverage in children as some of the challenges.

Director, CHI, Loreni Sophia also spoke on taboo/ stigma associated with menstruation. She said there are 355 million menstruating women in India out of which 23 million females drop out of school annually due to lack of menstrual hygiene and management.

Sophia cited lack of sanitary napkins, lack of functional toilets and low awareness on menstruation as the main reasons for early school drop outs.

DGC principal termed the day as “momentous” and welcomed the initiative on behalf of around 800 female students. He also informed that out of the 15 government colleges in Nagaland, DGC would be the first college with the facility.

Associate professor, Meripeni Ngully chaired the program while assistant professor, DGC, Moamongla Aier delivered the vote of thanks.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

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nagalandpost.com Poll Q.: Is there still much left to be learnt about COVID-19?

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

A B C

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

B

Yes. No. Can’t Say.

C

89% 11% 0%

Next poll

Q: Will Lockdown help

break the COVID-19 transmission chain?  Yes.  No.  Can’t Say.

WEATHER FORECAST July 25

(Temperature in ºC)

Max Min

Agartala Cloudy with a stray t-storm

33 26

Aizawl

Cloudy with a shower

29 21

Guwahati Cloudy with a stray t-storm

33 26

A morning shower

30 22

Imphal

Itanagar A bit of morning rain

28 24

Shillong Overcast with a thunderstorm 25 19 Kohima

Cloudy with a thunderstorm

Dimapur A thunderstorm in spots

25 19 32 24

Cloudy, a t-storm in spots

27 20

Tuensang Cloudy, a t-storm in spots

21 16

Cloudy, a t-storm in spots

27 21

Zunheboto Cloudy, a t-storm in spots

24 18

Mkg Wokha

e-workshop on exploitation of children

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A

e-workshop on “Combating Online Exploitation of Children” underway on July 23

by Nagaland Police in collaboration with International Justice Mission. (DIPR)

DIMAPUR: To address the threat that comes along with the undeniable benefit from the internet connectivity for education and entertainment for children during pandemic, Nagaland Police in collaboration with International Justice Mission (IJM) organised e-Workshop on “combating online exploitation of children” on July 23.

A press release by superintendent of police (Crime) & PRO informed that the first of its kind eworkshop was organized to spread awareness on “combating online exploitation of children”.

Delivering the opening remarks, vice- president, partnerships – South Asia, International Justice Mission, Sanjay Macwan said,

“Law enforcement agencies are the change makers, to bring social change by enforcing law and protecting people, especially those who cannot protect themselves.

In this digital age, the vulnerability of the children has gone up. We need to ensure safety for them by controlling the power of the criminals.”

In a keynote address, ADGP, (Admin), Nagaland, Sandeep M. Tamgadge, threw light on how serious this crime is today and how it needs to be controlled.

“This is the first-of its-kind, an e-workshop on the online crimes against children in Nagaland. The natural disasters are an advantage for human trafficking includes paedophiles and human traffickers. We

need to take precautionary measures and standard operating measures to ensure that our children are protected from the crimes of online sexual exploitation,” Tamgadge said.

Director of law enforcement training and technology, international centre for missing and exploited children, Guillermo Galarza, gave a presentation on the global trends of online exploitation of children.

“We as a community need to protect the children before they get into the hands of the offenders. It is a collaborative effort and need multi-disciplinary approach to tackle the crime,” said Galarza.

C y b e r H i g h Te c h Crimes Unit, Florida Department of Law, Mike

Duffey, gave a presentation on the best practices for law enforcement in combating online sexual exploitation.

He said, “We see a lot of youngsters today spending hours and hours on Internet especially during this pandemic. This makes them more vulnerable to the crime. The molester, on the other hand is also present on the same platform, trying to lure the children.”

Director, Data Security Council of India, Venkatesh Murthy, shared on the engaging digital forensics & evidence in combating online sexual exploitation.

“The most important part of digital forensic investigation is documentation.

In today’s digital age, school should conduct awareness campaign for students and parents too. Schools need to ensure proper password for online classes and practice digital hygiene,” said Murthey. The e-workshop was participated by more than 90 participants from different departments like national informatic centre, social welfare department, school education department, information technology and communication, and police officials from different districts headquarters. Vote of thanks was delivered by SP (HR&SJ) PHQ, Soyimna Aier.

MTLT extends a month time to PHED over water supply issue DIMAPUR: The Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem (MTLT) on receiving a written assurance given by the Executive Engineer, PHED Mokokchung division asking for a month’s time to ensure proper water supply to the registered water consumers in the town, has decided to wait till the end of August for the department to deliver

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on its assurance.

A press release issued

by MTLT president, Imkummeren Jamir and general secretary, Lanu Pongen stated that the June 9 MTLT’s ultimatum to the PHED which expired on July 23 was about the supply of drinking water to the 2500 water subscribers in Mokokchung town. “The

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State

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

MTLT in its ultimatum had categorically declared to the PHED that the department would not be allowed to be a department of excuses and demanded realistic actions within 45 days”, it stated.

The release stated that the EE, PHED Mokokchung division, Er. Yanger Pongen, in his letter to the MTLT has assured that the

department will complete all repair works of the existing water supply system of Mokokchung town and resume water supply of available water to all registered consumers within a month’s time. It reminded that the MTLT has planned some dire measures to act against the PHED for its failure to supply potable

drinking water to the registered consumers for the past many years. However, in good faith and also in the greater interest of the public, the MTLT decided to wait till the month of August.

The MTLT had decided to ‘wait and watch’ whether the department would be able to deliver and remain true to its words.

CAPPA under Meluri demands TrueNat machine to state govt

DIMAPUR: Confederation of Apoksah, Phoyisha and Phokhungri Area (CAPPA) under Meluri sub-division has urged the state government to install TrueNat machine at Meluri sub-division at the earliest.

In a joint letter addressed to Nagaland chief secretary, CAPPA expressed displeasure that despite representations and petitions by various civil societies, the government was yet to initiate any step for installation of TrueNat machine at Meluri sub-division under Phek district.

The signatories – CAPPA president, Z Junte, Apoksah Range Public Organisation (ARPO), president, Chunta Tsang Phoyisha Public Organisa-

tion (PPO) president, R Thuchu and Phokhungri Area Public Organisation (PAPO) president, Krutu Thurr – pointed out that around 120 returnees have reached the sub division out of which three positive cases were detected.

However, with no testing facilities, CAPPA said the front line workers and the public are “undergoing untold hardships in tackling the pandemic”.

CAPPA said there were “high risk of community transmission” unless contact tracing was carried out and testing of suspected individuals done immediately to contain further spread.

CAPPA claimed that the government official vehicles are not allotted to

GMS Longya students briefed on COVID-19

MHSU backs MHPF’s demand

DIMAPUR: Students of Government Middle School (GMS) Longya Ward Kiphire were briefed on the dos and don’ts of COVID pandemic during Mid Day Meal distribution day Friday at the school premises.

A press release by GMS Longya head teacher, Rechungkiu Tikhir informed that during a short assembly programme before MDM distribution, the students were briefed on COVID guidelines and asked to follow the same. The students were also advised to maintain good hygiene at home and remain indoor.

As many students have gone back to their respective villages, he said information from the school department could not be disseminated to the students due to network connectivity.

DIMAPUR: Mopong Hongkong Students Union (MHSU) has extended support to Mopong Hongkong Public Forum (MHPF) decision for reinstating Mopong administrative circle under Tobu subdivision. In a press release, MHSU president, L. Kholee and general secretary, Moba Konyak, reminded the government that the move initiated by MHPF implied people’s “democratic will”.

the medical officials due to which they are unable to discharge normal duties. It said the sub division also lacks “readily available transportation means like ambulance”.

At such circumstances, CAPPA said acquiring samples, sending it to Phek and retrieving results has become a “herculean task and takes dangerously long time”.

In some cases, CAPPA claimed that some positive results were known only after completion of quarantine period and the patients had been sent home. Therefore, CAPPA has urged for immediate installation of TrueNat machine so as to avoid community transmission.

MHSU said the rights of common people should be justified without any delay adding that the mandate of the people was to reinstate Mopong circle under Tobu Sub-Division.

It reminded that the leaders of Mopong Hongkong on February 4, 2020 reiterated the demand at Commissioner Office.

However, MHSU lamented that the government was yet to give any positive response.

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northeast

Tribal Affairs to focus on NE: Munda

Correspondent

Shillong, Ju l 24: Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Arjun Munda on Friday informed that his Ministry was working in a focused and coordinated manner with other ministries and stakeholders with the urgency to ensure how development aspects can be brought about in the North Eastern region.

“When things are viewed primarily through a management perspective, one can realize that the society and lifestyle in India, particularly North Eastern region is traditionally bound by art and culture, which is a definitive strength in itself, and is the reason why there is an earnest effort to make it even more relevant,” he said.

“However, perhaps we have not been successful as desired in introducing this strength into the economy and to capitalize on it,” Munda said, addressing an e-symposium on Handicraft Sector under the e-Symposia Series on ‘Emergent North East India: Strategic and Developmental Imperatives’ hosted by the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research & Analysis under the

42 new COVID cases in Arunachal; tally 991 Ita nag ar , J u l 2 4 (PTI): Forty-two more people, including three Army personnel, tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, taking the tally to 991, the Health Department said.

Of the new cases, 33 were from the Capital Complex, followed by four in Namsai district, three from West Siang and one each from Lower Dibang Valley and Papum Pare, State Surveillance Officer L Jampa said.

There are 654 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), while 334 people have recovered from the disease and three died of the infection so far “The recovery rate in the state stands at 35 per cent,” Jampa said, adding that 48,880 samples had been tested so far. The three fresh patients from West Siang are Army personnel, who had come to the district from Guwahati and were in a quarantine centre.

Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda speaking as Chief Guest. aegis of Indian Institute of of our tribal society where Management Shillong. we are increasingly losing Elaborating on bamboo our cultural heritage. Handias an essential resource, craft also presents an avenue particularly that of NER, for business and income for Munda expressed desire to those skilled in the art”. ensure that usage and planThe Naga legislator tation are commensurate so also stressed on certain imas to ascertain sustainability, pending issues beseeching given the immense scope for the handicraft sector and its utilization. He stressed on the livelihood options availa working plan for maximiz- able; such as weak producing judicious returns from tion base, quality assurance, this resource. problems with marketing Advisor for Industries and logistics mechanism, and Commerce, Labour, and institutional support Employment, skill develop- which if addressed correctly ment and Entrepreneurship could offer ample scope to to Nagaland government, promote handicraft as a viImnatiba said, “The impor- able livelihood option and a tance of handicraft today sustainable economic activnot only concerns with the ity Chairman of the Board livelihood aspect, but also of Governors, IIM Shillong, preservation of one’s culture Shishir Bajoria said, “When and this is particularly true we look at handicrafts, while

North Eastern region has the largest production, it exports only about 5 percent to the rest of the country. This will receive a huge boost with the promise of infrastructural development assured by our prime minister”.

Director, IIM Shillong, Prof DP Goyal said, “Handicrafts form an integral part of the lifestyle of the indigenous people of this region.

Crafted goods and magical weaves are not only made for their own use but also as a means of livelihood for various artisans scattered all over the region”.

During a technical session on ‘Creating sustainable livelihoods’, Prof Keya Sengupta, Centre Coordinator, said, “Artisans belonging to the handicrafts sector are mostly self-employed, and fall outside the safety nets of secured jobs, and are amongst the most vulnerable people. In addition, they encounter many challenges such as cash flow and market access to state a few. The Centre therefore proposes to fill in the urgent gaps in the sector by working at the grassroots levels and building learning capacity on access to funds, digital marketing, and further the scope for digital transactions”.

6 BSF men test COVID positive in Mizoram; total 332

Aizawl, Jul 24 (PTI): Mizoram on Friday reported six more COVID-19 cases, all BSF personnel, taking the state’s tally to 332, a health department official said.

The six Border Security Force staffers had recently come from West Bengal and were in a quarantine centre at their camp in Vanhne in Lunglei district, he said.

“A total of 127 security personnel and National Disaster Response Force staffers have so far tested positive for the disease in the state, and 15 of them have already recovered,” the official said.

The state now has 149 actives cases, while 183 people have been cured of the disease. The recovery rate in Mizoram currently stands at 55.12 per cent, the official said.

“Of the active patients, 112 are security personnel,” he said.

Meanwhile, newlyelected Rajya Sabha member from Mizoram K Vanlalvena met BSF Director General S S Deswal in New Delhi and discussed about the rising number of coronavirus cases among security personnel.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

Assam oil well fire: Leakage expected to be capped in 2-3 days G u wa h at i , J u l 2 4 (IANS): Indian and foreign experts are now in the final stages of capping the oil well leakage and the fire at the state-owned Oil India (OIL) field in Assam. They are expected to control and douse the blaze by early next week, a top official said here on Friday.

“We are in the final phase of capping the well and dousing the fire at the Baghjan oil field in Assam’s Tinsukia district. We expect the operation to be over in two-three days,” a senior OIL official told IANS over phone.

Natural gas and oil condensate started leaking from an oil well two months ago.

It caught fire one-and-a-half months ago. The official said that the excavation of ramps and cellar and opening of a wellhead flange are complete while other technical formalities and requirements are underway.

“As part of the final phase of preparation for the killing operation after capping of the well, sufficient chemicals are in place at site.

Recce has been carried out for coil tubing job and BP

for higher compensation in a few locations in Tinsukia district.

Though some of the agitators called off the protests and lifted the road blockade last month, others continue to demand higher compensation for the affected people and hold OIL responsible for the mishap. OIL has so far provided Rs 30,000 to each of the affected families and arranged shelter and relief for them.

OIL officials said transportation of consignments, comprising heavy machinery and equipment, from Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh), Vadodara (Gujarat) and other places was delayed due to the COVID19 protocols and standard operating procedures.

In the meantime, the Army has built a 150-metre bridge over a water body to facilitate technical work to control the gas leak and oil well fire, following a request from Tinsukia Deputy Commissioner Bhaskar Pegu.

Around 10,000 people have been evacuated and sheltered in 14 relief camps as the fire damaged many houses and other property.

Lockdown in Shillong from Sunday Total lockdown hits life in Manipur

Correspondent

Shillong, Jul 24 :The Meghalaya government has decided to re-impose total lockdown in Shillong agglomeration and its suburbs from July 26 midnight till July 29 following spike in COVID-19 cases.

Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said the decision was taken after inputs and suggestions from the State Health Department were reviewed in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday. Shillong, the district headquarters of East Khasi Hills as well as Meghalaya’s state Capital, is the worst hit COVID-19 district as it accounts for 419 out of the 495 active cases in the State. The BSF has 287 active cases. “The lockdown is to ensure that there is no community spread in the entire state following spike of positive cases from day to day. The government is concerned about the spike in cases and hence this decision,” Tynsong said. “If

the situation worsens, the lockdown may be further extended,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

During the lockdown, Health authorities will be aggressively engaged in contact tracing, he said and urged all concerned stakeholders to co-operate with the authorities. The government has also declared Mawbah, Barapathar, Jhalupara, Upper Mawprem, parts of Mawlai, Lachumiere, Nongrim Hills Laitumkhrah, Golf Link and Nongrah (all in the State Capital) as containment zone from Friday midnight.

Tynsong said that in addition to these areas, the health department has been authorized to declare any other area as a containment zone if they feel necessary.

Health and Family Welfare Minister, Alexander Laloo Hek termed the situation in the State as “alarming” with sudden spurt of active cases.

As on Friday, 32,401 swab samples have been sent for testing out of which

31,085 tested negative while outcome of 730 is still awaited. “We are ready to deal with the spike in cases and we have to face it,” Hek said, even as he appealed to the citizens to avoid venturing out of their homes unnecessarily. He also informed that a 67-year-old woman died due to COVID-19 in the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) last night even as 52 new COVID 19 cases were detected on the Friday which included 47 from East Khasi Hills district out of which nine are BSF personnel, seven Armed Forces personnel and 31 civilians; three from West Jaintia Hills district and two from East Jaintia Hills district.

In other districts, the numbers are; Ri-Bhoi-41, East Jaintia Hills-4, West Jaintia Hills-8, West Garo Hills-15, South West Garo Hills-2, East Garo Hills-1, North Garo Hills-1. total recovery is 87 with five deceased.

Correspondent

IMPHAL, Jul 24: Re-imposition of a strict lockdown in Manipur following surge in COVID-19 cases that triggered fears of community transmission disrupted normal life and forced residents to stay home on the first day of the total lockdown on Friday.

As decided by the state government, strict lockdown was re-imposed for seven days in the entire state to contain the corona virus spread and reduce the spread with effect from 2 pm on Thursday.

Except for movement of essential service vehicles, almost all private and commercial vehicles stayed off the road. The few private vehicles seen plying on the roads were also stopped by the police to enforce the stringent lockdown.

Those who came out without valid reason and violated the COVID-19 guidelines like wearing face masks in the public places were detained and panel-

ised, a police said.

The report said that as many as 227 persons were detained for violating the lockdown, not wearing face masks in public and not maintaining social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus in the state.

They were released after warning, the report said.

Further, 23 vehicles were detained and imposed a total of Rs 8,100 as fine, it added.

While announcing re-imposition of the strict lockdown in the entire state for a week with effect from 2 pm on Thursday , state chief minister N Biren Singh warned of penalties imposed on violators during the period.

He informed that Rs 1000 will be fined for violation of quarantine guidelines, Rs 200 each for not wearing face masks in public places , not following social distancing norms. Spitting in public places will be fined Rs. 500, chewing of gudka, pan etc Rs 200, he added.

Meanwhile, six persons

President speaks to Assam CM; takes stock of flood situation Guwahati, Jul 24 (PTI): President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday spoke to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over the flood situation and expressed solidarity with the affected people of the state.

Kovind stated that the entire nation is standing with the people of Assam and this difficult phase will pass soon, the chief minister said.

“Hon’ble President Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji took stock of the flood & overall situation of the state over phone. I am humbled by his statement that the entire nation is with the people of Assam & thank him for his deep concern, constant support and guidance,” Sonowal tweeted.

Earlier in the day, the President flagged off nine trucks carrying Red Cross relief supplies for the flood and COVID-19 affected people of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“Expressing solidarity with the affected people, the President said that the nation today stands with the people of Assam who are going through a very difficult time. He also hoped that the challenging times would soon be over and normalcy would return to the State,” a statement is-

placement after well killing operation,” the OIL official clarified.

“All necessary arrangements for capping operations are being made including the smoke stack on the 90ft Athey Wagon. The capping stack was ready and wrapped with ceramic blanket and ceramic cloth.”

American and Canadian experts and engineers, who are associated with Singapore-based M/S ALERT, firefighters, NDRF personnel and OIL and ONGC engineers continued their efforts to check the gas leak and douse the well fire at Baghjan.

The OIL officials said that besides hostile weather, the experts, engineers and workers have been facing numerous other problems in putting out the fire and capping the gas leak at Baghjan, around 550 kms east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.

So far, since May 27, over 16,217 MT of crude oil and around 36.32 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas have been lost as a section of agitators continue with their protests

Prince William, Kate Middleton shocked by devastation in Kaziranga

An aerial view of the flood-affected areas in Assam, Friday. So far, the flood and landslides in the state have claimed at least 119 lives. (PTI) sued by the Chief Minister’s Office said.

During the telephonic conversation, Sonowal informed Kovind that along with the flood situation, the state is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, erosion, storm, landslides, African swine fever and gas well fire at Baghjan in Tinsukia district.

“The Chief Minister informed that huge areas, including farm lands and houses, have been severely affected by flood and erosion in the state. He said that the government machinery has been put on high alert,” the statement said.

The district administrations have made adequate arrangements for sheltering the affected people and sufficient measures are taken for the children and elderly, Sonowal said.

“The Chief Minister further said that he has been visiting different places to monitor and assess the damage caused by flood and erosion and the rescue and relief operations.

“Chief Minister Sonowal thanked the President on behalf of the people of Assam for his call and sought his blessings to tide over the present crisis,” the statement said. The flood

situation in Assam remained critical on Friday with three more persons losing their lives, even as nearly 28 lakh people are suffering across 26 districts, as per an official bulletin.

With this, the total number of people losing their lives in this year’s flood and landslide has gone up to 122 across the state, of whom 96 persons were killed by flood-related incidents and 26 due to landslides.

Cumulatively, more than 56.6 lakh people have been affected by the flood havoc across the state during this year.

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton expressed concern and distress over the devastation caused in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park by flood which has killed many animals and affected livelihood of several people.

The park has been hit by three waves of flood so far this year with 92 per cent of its area submerged in waters and 123 animals, including 12 rhinos, dead.

In a letter to the park’s Director P Sivakumar, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said they were heartbroken to hear about the appalling devastation to the Kaziranga National Park and its wildlife caused by very heavy monsoon flooding.

“We have the happiest memories of our visit to Kaziranga in April 2016 and are shocked by what has happened,” Prince William wrote in the letter, which was made available to the press by park authorities on Friday. The deaths of so many animals, including the one- horned rhino, is deeply upsetting, he said.

“We know from our visit how dedicated all the staff in Kaziranga are in caring for the park’s wildlife, and can only begin to imagine what a difficult time this must be,” he said. Expressing their appreciation for the park’s rangers, the Duke said, “Catherine and I greatly admire all the work that you and the rangers at Kaziranga are doing to risk your own safety, rescue animals and contain the damage.”

Birthday boy Kherito Tsongs. !!!!

Happy 11th Birth Day......Wishing you a very happy birthday as you enter into a new life journey. May our good Lord bless you long life, knowledge and wisdom . Have a fabulous Birthday.

With lot of Love and Regards, Thulunsori Tsongs, Alun, Achim, Aji, Apu, dad & mom...

Imphal city wears a deserted look on the first day of strict lockdown on Friday. with no travel history were among 31 new COVID-19 infections detected in Manipur in the last 24 hours (from 6.30 pm of July 23 till 6.30 pm of July 24), as per report of the state health department on Friday.

Of the six locally transmitted cases, two were from Imphal West district, indicating local transmission also taking place in the district after Thoubal and Jiribam districts.

Eleven personnel of the 37th Assam Rifles were also among the 31 new infections. The 31 new infections were detected during testing of a total of 1,318 samples

in the last 24 hours, out of which 425 were conducted using antigen testing kits.

Fifteen persons were found to have been infected by the virus during the antigen tests, the report showed.

Similar number (31) COVID-19 patients were discharged after recovering from the disease during the same period, taking the total recovery to 1491.

Including the recovered cases, COVID-19 infections in the state rose to 2146 comprising 655 actives cases. The recovery rate was 69.47 percent, the report added.

Driver of M’laya Power minister tests negative for COVID-19 Correspondent Shillong, Jul 24: The driver of Meghalaya Power Minister James Sangma, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday in Antigen test kit, has yielded negative for the viral flu infection in RT-PCR test on Friday. “The result for my driver who was tested yesterday with the RT-PCR test has come out negative,” Sangma posted on Facebook. “However, just to be

extra cautious he (driver) will continue to be under quarantine for some more days till another test is conducted again,” the Power Minister said. On Thursday, Sangma and his family along with his staff members got themselves tested for COVID-19 with the Antigen and Truenat tests at Tura, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills, even though none of them came in contact with any COVID19 positive patients.

IN THE COURT OF DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE ZUNHEBOTO: NAGALAND No.JUD/SUCC-34/19-20/26

Dt. Zbto. the 1st July 2020

Notice Calling Objection for the issue of Succession Certificate Whereas application has received from Smti K. Toshili Zhimomi, U/s 372 of Indian Succession Act, resident of Phushito Colony, Aghunato Town, for Succession of P.P.O No-PEN /M/S/NL/ 25484, SBI A/C No- 30481493209 of Late P. Khehovi Sema.

Notice is hereby issued for filling objections to all who has interest in the said claim/s within thirty days from the date of publication to this notice.

Mrs. Khesheli Chishi District and Sessions Judge, Zunheboto, Nagaland K-1277

IN THE COURT OF DISTRICT & SESSIONS JUDGE ZUNHEBOTO : NAGALAND No. JUD/SUCC-34/19-20/33 Dt. Zbto. the 21st July 2020 Notice Calling Objection for the issue of Succession Certificate Whereas application has received from Smti. Tokhuli Roy U/s 372 of Indian Succession Act, resident of Old Town Colony for Succession of SBI A/c No - 11736620290, all the intestate properties, pension benefits and other allowances, other movable & immovable properties of Late R.K. Roy. Notice is hereby issued for filling objections to all who has interest in the said claim/s within thirty days from the date of publication to this notice.

Sd/(Mrs. Khesheli Chishi) District & Sessions Judge Zunheboto : Nagaland DP-3304

national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

Raj Cong ends dharna after gov agrees to spl session

Cong to hold protests across Rajasthan against BJP on Saturday

Ashok Gehlot camps stage a sit-in protest at the Raj Bhawan demanding Governor Kalraj Mishra convene an urgent Assembly session, in Jaipur, Friday. (PTI) Jaipur, Jul 24 (IANS): Congress MLAs in the Ashok Gehlot camp on Friday ended a five-hour dharna at the Raj Bhawan after Governor Kalraj Mishra assured that he will call a session of the state assembly.

Mishra, however, wanted the government’s clarification on some points before he makes the announcement, Congress leaders said as they emerged from the Raj Bhawan.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said these points will be taken care of at a Cabinet meeting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is calling at 9.30 pm.

The MLAs went to the Raj Bhawan in the afternoon, complaining that the Gov-

ernor was sitting on letter that the Cabinet had sent seeking an assembly session on Monday.

Behave in Gandhian way: Gehlot tells MLAs

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday urged Congress MLAs sitting on a ‘dharna’ at the Raj Bhawan here to behave in the Gandhian way as confrontation is not desirable.

The chief minister said the governor not giving his approval for calling an assembly session is unprecedented and hoped that he will soon let the government know his reasons. State Congress MLAs of the Gehlot camp, led by the chief minister, arrived at the Raj

Bhawan earlier in the day in four buses from a hotel on the city outskirts where they have been camping for the past few days.

They began a ‘dharna’ saying they will stay put till the governor summons a session of the state assembly.

Gehlot has “requested all the MLAs to behave in the Gandhian way and we do not want any confrontation,” according to a statement issued by the chief minister after he met Governor Kalraj Mishra. “It has never happened in the history of the country that the governor has not given the approval to call an assembly session. The governor is bound by the decisions of the cabinet,” Gehlot said.

MP civic staff pushes minor egg vendor’s cart; sparks outrage

Street side vendor Paras Raikwar (12) and his overturned egg cart.

INDORE, JUL 24 (PTI): A video purportedly showing Indore civic staff pushing a handcart of a boy and the eggs he was selling falling to the ground and getting smashed, has gone viral on social media and triggered an outrage among local leaders as well as people.

The incident took place on Wednesday at Piplyahana square in the city and the action taken against the minor vendor by the employees and officials of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) was part

Ghaziabad journalist killing: Cop suspended Ghaziabad (UP), Jul 24 (PTI): The Ghaziabad Police has suspended for negligence the police station incharge of the area where journalist Vikram Joshi was shot at and subsequently died at a hospital, an officer said on Friday.

The probe in the case has been transferred from the local Vijay Nagar police station to the Kotwali Nagar police station, Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani said.

The action has been taken in view of the report submitted by a circle officer who was probing the matter, Naithani said.

Joshi succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday, two days after he was shot at by assailants in front of his minor daughters.

It is alleged that the attackers included a group of men against whom Joshi had filed a complaint accusing them of harassing his niece after he had objected to their betting racket in the locality. The journalist’s family claimed that the police did not take action on his complaint.

of the civic body’s ongoing drive of seizing the roadside hawkers’ handcarts amid the pandemic.

The boy, identified as Paras Raikwar (12), said he earned his living by selling eggs on a handcart at Piplyahana square.

Talking to reporters after the incident, the Class VII boy said,”They (civic officials) asked me to remove my handcart from spot saying there was no permission for it. Then they pushed the cart, following which the eggs fell to the ground and

were broken.”

The video of the incident went viral on Thursday, following which the IMC officials were criticised for their “insensitive” attitude.

After the criticism by the people and leaders belonging to the BJP as well as the Congress, the IMC has stopped its ongoing drive of seizing handcarts.

A public relations officer of the IMC said, “After strong objections by the public representatives over the Piplyahana incident, the ongoing drive of seizing handcarts in the city has been stopped till further orders.”

As per the COVID19 protocols, those selling goods on handcarts cannot stand at one place so that it does not lead to crowding.

Such vendors were asked to sell their products by keep moving from one place to another in residential areas to do their business.

The Congress in Rajasthan will hold demonstrations in all district headquarters on Saturday against the BJP’s “conspiracy to murder democracy”, the party said.

This comes amid the political crisis in Rajasthan. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has accused the BJP of trying to topple his government. He has also accused his former deputy Sachin Pilot, who he is locked in a power tussle with, of colluding with the BJP to make his own party sink.

“Congress workers will hold demonstrations in all district headquarters tomorrow at 11 am against the BJP’s

conspiracy to murder democracy,” PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra said on Friday.

Earlier this week, Gehlot wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, other BJP leaders and some “overambitious leaders” of his own party of being involved in the alleged attempt to bring down the Congress government in Rajasthan.

The BJP, however, has rejected the Congress’s allegations saying whatever is going on is the result of infighting between Gehlot and Pilot.

The Rajasthan High Court on Friday allowed the application moved by sacked Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 dissident Congress MLAs seeking impleadment of the Union of India as a party to the proceedings in the disqualification matter.

A bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta allowed the application that was moved by the petitioners on Thursday.

The court then adjourned for 20 minutes.

The application for impleadment was moved on the grounds that the constitutional amendment is under challenge and, therefore, the Union of India is a necessary party now.

The dissident Congress MLAs led by Pilot have challenged their disqualification notices through the writ petition which was taken up by the bench on Friday last week and arguments were held.

The hearing continued on Monday and the arguments concluded on Tuesday.

The court on Tuesday said it will give appropriate order on the writ petition on Friday.

The notices to MLAs were served after the party complained to the Speaker that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings, on Monday and Tuesday last week.

The Pilot camp, however, argued that a party whip applies only when the assembly is in session.

In its complaint to the Legislative Assembly Speaker, the Congress had sought action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

The provision disqualifies MLAs if they ‘voluntarily’ give up the membership of the party which they represent in the House.

Pilot was sacked as deputy chief minister and the president of the state unit of the party after he rebelled against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Rajasthan HC allows Centre as party to proceedings in disqualification matter

UP Health Minister tests corona positive Lu c k now, J u l 2 4 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh has tested positive for coronavirus and has been put in home isolation.

The minister is asymptomatic and is isolating at his Lucknow residence.

According to sources, Singh was suffering from mild fever after which he decided to get himself tested. He was found to be positive after testing was done through the TruNat machine. However, a sample has also been sent to Lucknow’s KGMU lab for confirmation, the reports of which are expected later in the evening.

The minister had earlier quarantined himself in March when he attended a party in which Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor was also present. Kanika Kapoor later tested positive and even though the minister tested negative, he was asked to quarantine himself for a fortnight.

President flags off relief material for three flood affected states

Ram Nath Kovind along with Union Minister for Health Dr. Harsh Vardhan flags off the trucks loaded with relief materials in New Delhi, Friday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Jul 24 (IANS): President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday flagged off nine trucks of Red Cross relief supplies for the flood affected people of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The President is

also the President of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS).

The nine trucks loaded with relief material were flagged off by Kovind in the presence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. A statement from the

Rashtrapati Bhavan said that these relief supplies for the flood affected people of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh shall be carried from Delhi to the concerned states by train and will be received by the state Red Cross branches of respective states. It said, the relief material included items such as tarpaulins, tents, saris, dhotis, cotton blankets, kitchen sets, mosquito nets, bed sheets, buckets and two water purification units.

In further said that Covid-19 protection items such as surgical masks, PPE kits, gloves and face shields are also part of the relief material flagged off by the President.

“These items are meant to safeguard and protect health workers associated with IRCS medical services in these states as well as the volunteers of IRCS who are at the forefront of flood relief and rehabilitation efforts,” it said.

The supply of the above materials is in continuation and in addition to the material already provided by IRCS to be distributed by the state Red Cross branches to the affected people.

5

Rajnath discusses China row with Israeli counterpart New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart Lt Gen Benjamin Gantz during which India’s border row with China in eastern Ladakh figured prominently, government sources said.

The main focus of the talks was speedy implementation of ongoing defence procurement programmes as well as further expansion of overall defence and security ties between the two countries, they said.

India’s border with China in eastern Ladakh figured prominently when the two defence ministers delved into the evolving regional security scenario, the sources said.

They said issues relating to procurement of various weapons and ammunition by India from Israel on a fast-track mode was discussed during the conversation.

Singh apprised Gantz about major reforms initiated by India in the defence manufacturing sector and called for greater participation of Israeli defence firms in joint development of weapons and military hardware with Indian companies, they said.

India has been the largest buyer of Israel’s military hardware and the latter has been supplying various weapon systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the last few years but the transactions have largely remained behind the curtains.

In a statement, the defence ministry said Singh and Gantz expressed satisfaction at the progress of strategic cooperation between the two countries and discussed possibilities of further strengthening the defence engagements.

“They also expressed satisfaction at the ongoing collaboration in research and development in fighting pandemic COVID-19 which will not only benefit the two countries but also aid the larger humanitarian cause,” it said.

The ministr y said Singh invited greater participation of Israeli defence companies under new liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) regime in defence manufacturing.

“The two ministers exchanged views on regional developments. Defence minister of Israel responded positively to an invitation from Singh to visit India at the earliest opportunity,” it said.

Soil from RSS HQ sent for Ram temple ‘bhoomi pujan’ Nagpur, Jul 24 (PTI): Soil from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters here has been sent to Ayodhya for the August 5 ‘bhoomi pujan’ ceremony of the Ram temple, a VHP functionary said on Friday.

Ta l k i n g t o P T I , Govind Shende, the Vidarbha prant pramukh of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), said that soil from a temple in Ramtek and water from the confluence of five rivers, both near Nagpur city, have also been sent for the upcoming event.

“Earlier, it was decided that soil and water from different places in the country, including the religious places, would be collected and people in thousands would go for the bhoomi pujan of Ram temple in March. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it could not happen,” he said.

“Now, as August 5 was suddenly fixed as the bhoomi pujan date, we de-

On Wednesday, a member of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra trust had said in Pune that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple on August 5.

Advani gets statement recorded in CBI court in Babri mosque case Lu c k now, J u l 2 4 (IANS): Veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani on Friday got recorded his statement in a special CBI court here in the Babri mosque demolition case through videoconferencing from Delhi.

The veteran politician maintained in his statement in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court that the case registered against him was “politically motivated”.

The c our t had on Thursday recorded the statement of another BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi in the case. Joshi had told the court that he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case by the then Congress government at the Centre.

The BJP leader had also called the prosecution witnesses in the case as “liars”.

“The entire investigation was conducted under the political influence and I was charged on the basis of false and fabricated evidence,” Joshi had told the court.

The court is recording the statements of as many as 32 accused in the case after examination of the prosecu-

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

Alok Kumar cided to gather the soil and water from the places that we could visit and send it to Ayodhya,” he added.

As part of the exercise, we collected the soil from RSS headquarters in Nagpur and from Shree Ram Mandir in Ramtek, besides water from Ambhora (confluence of five rivers), Shende said.

“The intention is that we will feel that we have also taken part in the bhoomi pujan ceremony,” he said.

According to him, the soil and water has been sent to Ayodhya by courier on Thursday.

tion witnesses. It is conducting day-to-day hearings in the case to complete the trial

by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court.

Another co-accused BJP leader Uma Bharti had appeared in person in the court earlier this month to depose in the case.

In her testimony, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister too had accused the then central government of falsely implicating her in the case due to “political vendetta”.

The trust member, Swami Govind Devgiri Maharaj, had also said that in view of the coronavirus pandemic, only 200 people would attend the ceremony and all social distancing norms will be followed at the event.

(An Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)

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6

OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post Vol. XXx NO. 229 Dimapur, SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

C

Bent on lockdown

lamour among public for imposing total lockdown in Kohima and Dimapur arose after more COVID-19 cases were reported even as the state’s tally surpassed 1200-mark as on July 24. In Kohima, fresh cases of COVID-19 were confirmed from those not involved with measures to contain COVID-19 and not having contacts with quarantine inmates. After having rejected the request for a total lockdown in Kohima and similar situation arising in Dimapur, the state level High Powered Committee(HPC) headed by the chief minister eventually allowed the District Task Force of Dimapur and Kohima to decide. In Kohima, the All Kohima Municipal Wards Panchayat(AKMWP) had urged upon the district task force to impose total lockdown but the latter’s recommendation to the HPC was rejected. The AKMWP had warned that if the state or district authorities failed to accede to its demands within five days(w.e.f July 21,2020) then it will, along with all wards under the municipality, impose lockdown . HPC passed the buck at the district task forces. On July 23, both Kohima and Dimapur district task force announced lockdowns on varying dates. While in Kohima the lockdown will be for seven days from July 25 to July 31; in Dimapur the lockdown will be for 8 days from July 26 to August 2,2020. The objective of a lockdown is to enforce preventive measures that make people remain where they are and not leave their areas for another area within the period as specified by authorities. Lockdowns have been implemented throughout the world with varying degrees, depending on the understanding of the situation. However, lockdown on its own has not succeeded in breaking the transmission chain. This can be seen in India which is on day 122 of the nationwide lockdown as on July 24. The lockdown from March 24 when the number of covid cases was 564 has been multiplying. Today the virus has reached 13,37,021 and it continues to rise alarmingly across India. Pharmaceutical giants across the world are frantically searching for a vaccine to halt coronavirus infections. However, till then, even lockdowns involving stopping movement of people etc will not help. What should be understood is that unless there is more testing to ascertain the near-exact number of COVID-19 cases, it will be meaningless to indulge in shooting in the dark. Despite lockdown, not many states in India have gone further than mere tokenism.

Like a patient who is first sedated before surgery, a lockdown is somewhat similar; it prepares for vigorous contact tracing and voluntary testing of those showing symptoms of COVID-19. To suppress their epidemics to manageable levels, countries around the world have turned to contact tracing - tracking down people who might have been exposed to the coronavirus to ensure they don’t pass it to others, a way of stalking routes of viral spread and severing them before they reach more people. Effective contact tracing demands more people, more money and more time.

The COVID-19 graph continues to show a stiff climb while the so-called ‘curve’ exists only in the minds of the proponents. Indeed COVID-19 is only beginning to show how destructive it can be. Many health experts especially immunologists, virologists and epidemiologists have said that the COVID-19 war should be handled by professionals- like generals leading the army- and not politicians and bureaucrats. This is perhaps the problem for the confusion.

DailyDevotion His Nature and Our Motives

…unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 5:20

The characteristic of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in his motives, having been made good by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doingis right-being. Jesus Christ came to place within anyone who would let Him a new heredity that would have a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is saying, “If you are My disciple, you must be right not only in your actions, but also in your motives, your aspirations, and in the deep recesses of the thoughts of your mind.” Your motives must be so pure that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke. Who can stand in the eternal light of God and have nothing for Him to rebuke?

Only the Son of God, and Jesus Christ claims that through His redemption He can place within anyone His own nature and make that person as pure and as simple as a child. The purity that God demands is impossible unless I can be remade within, and that is exactly what Jesus has undertaken to do through His redemption.

No one can make himself pure by obeying laws. Jesus Christ does not give us rules and regulations— He gives us His teachings which are truths that can only be interpreted by His nature which He places within us. The great wonder of Jesus Christ’s salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature— He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.

Quotes

You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. ~ Vernon Howard

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

Post-mortem

the decision to conduct exam during covid-19 pandemic: the right decision?

W

e can call 2020 as the worst year of the century till date. The outbreak of the pandemic, COVID-19 has put a stop to all the regular human activities. As a measure to fight against it, there have been many restrictions which have also affected human lives immensely. Many of us are suffering a lot because of it physically, financially, emotionally and most importantly mentally. We can no longer live our lives the normal way.

Offices, institutions, public transport, cinema halls, parks, etc. have been shut down since April inorder to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The number of cases affected by COVID-19 is increasing on a daily basis.

The total number of cases of COVID-19 worldwide is over 1.15 million and in India itself, has crossed 11 lakhs. At this point of time, the decision taken by the University Grant Commission(UGC) and Nagaland University(NU) to conduct exams for final year students! Is this appropriate?

A lot of students have been suffering mentally because of the pandemic and another burden has been added upon the lives of the final year students. Despite the ongo-

ing requests of the students across the country to cancel the exams, UGC has decided to conduct the exams.

On 16th July, the students of Nagaland University received the news about the routine for the final year exams which will begin from the last week of August and go on till the second week of September.

The news of conducting the exam caused a lot of panic and chaos among the final year students. Students were filled with many concerns regarding the guidelines for the exam are provided by Nagaland University which is to be followed while appearing the said examination. My question is why was there nothing mentioned about who will be responsible for our health if we are infected with Covid-19 while appearing for our exams? Who will take the responsibility? Why was there nothing mentioned about that?

Is the exam more important than our lives? We should know who will be responsible for our lives. Let me take an example from the students of Nagaland who are studying here in Dimapur.Not everyone is a permanent resident of Dimapur and most of the students are right now in their respective hometowns. If we were to appear for our exam, they have to

return to Dimapur. Some stay in rent while some stay in hostels. Hostels have been asked to close. Some hostels have been set up as a quarantine centre including even some colleges, so, how are the students going to return to Dimapur? And if they return where will they stay? Hostels won’t be opening anytime soon. Even our college boys’ hostel has been set up as a quarantine centre.

So my concern and question is where are the boys’ hostellers going to stay? On the streets?

Where?

If we are to appear for the exams, is our safety guaranteed? Are the colleges across the country ready for it? How are the students, who don’t have their own means of transportation, commute while appearing the exams? Using public transport to travel in order to appear the exams but maintaining social distance while doing so is just absurd!

Also concerning the students from other states, will they be appearing their exams or will they be spending their time in quarantine centers’? Has the UGC and NU thought about all these matters before they came to the decision for the exams to be conducted?

Some institutions have been set up as quarantine

centers’. Some localities have banned the entry of outsiders in their locality. How are the UGC/ NU going to tackle all these issues? Are they just going to leave the students like that? Just deciding that students should give their exam and not look after all these matters, is not fair! Students are suffering emotionally and mentally and full of stress this year. If we are to appear for our exam then they should also look after all these matters so that us, the students wouldn’t face any problems.

Let’s say before our exam gets over a student turns out to be a Covid-19 positive person, then will we have to stop appearing our exam just like that because the college will obviously be sealed. There is also a high chance that we might get infected with it while appearing our exam. It’s too risky. It can also lead to spreadthe virus to our family members. Some people said final year students can’t just graduate without appearing our exam and that we don’t deserve free marks. I want to ask all those people, will you be able to take responsibility for our lives? Can you provide PPE kits for all the students?

You said we don’t deserve free marks, well, the final

Identity politics in Nagaland and beyond “...Spoke of their problems with the Burmese Army; of beatings, rapes, and boys pressed into service as porters.

Conditions in their villages were Spartan enough, there being no roads, no schools, no health centres, so if people took seriously ill they died without help. However, sometimes they lost everything if their village was burned by the Burmese Army” recollected Prof.

Visier Meyasetsu Sanyü in his ‘A Naga Odyssey’ when he ventured into a Naga village in Burma (Myanmar) way back in 1993. The suffering brothers on the other side of the ‘fence’ further interrogated the professor on possible extension of developmental activities since they had been incapacitated to go to their fields and farms during the rainy season.

The Naga Students Organization of Myanmar in 2019 appealed to the two governments namely, India and Myanmar, for peaceful residence as the situation deteriorated in the backdrop of the joint military operation in the Naga Self Administered Zone (SAZ) and pleaded with the two governments to instead wage for joint development in the region. The famous historical slogan of ‘leave them alone’ once again emerged in SAZ, Myanmar, in the event the two governments failed to end sufferings in the region.

The Hindu on July 10, 2020 reported the plight of the people in SAZ area while quoting the Eastern Konyak Union on the deployment of army “in every village of the Naga-inhabited areas of Myanmar. It talked on the fear psychosis pervading “the minds of the people who have not been getting rice and other essential commodities since February due to the crackdown, combined with the Coronavirus situation”.

The Union was reported to have made a call for ceasing of military activities and asked the rights groups to raise the sufferings of the Eastern Konyaks caused by “inhuman activities”, while lamenting the unwelcoming gunfights in the midst of the pandemic.

Revisiting the documented sufferings of the people of Eastern Nagaland (Myanmar) and the current reported shortage of essential commodities which was further compounded with joint military operation in this pandemic-induced crisis has been no less than a nightmare. It reminded us of the earlier existential crisis encountered by our grandparents at the peak of political instability. Documented events and the traditions on the ordeal of the Nagas that are being passed down vertically had in common one or the other reason to be in full empathy with our gone but brave parents.

An anecdote of Zapohülü Rhakho who hails from Khulazu Basa village, and is still a worth treasure with many memories in store, is no less insignificant. She lost her father to chronic poverty. She lived with her single mother. She is the lone sibling. As the Indo-Naga problem aggravated in the 1950s, villagers had been compelled to leave villages with properties behind and lived in exile in forests. She was not an exception.

She escaped into the terraced paddy field (more than 03 km off the village proper) with her mother and dwelled

in the tiny hut, braving the dense forest on the narrow and wild animal attackprone thoroughfare to the field. On the one hand, she feared attack from wild animals; on the other, she was persistently frightened at the trepidation of falling into the hand of the army. In between, she was caught by the most unsuspected disquiet episode.

Her ailing mother passed away at the stroke of midnight, far away from anybody’s hide out. Her desperate need for passing on information was beyond the audible range of anyone, let alone bringing men from village. With limited options, she beheld the reality, embraced the corpse of her mother and stayed the wake herself all alone throughout the forsaken night. Tears rolled down across her cheeks and looked away into the blue mountain as she narrated her ordeal.

Supply of basic everyday items was never secured at the peak of instability. Villages, therefore, established cordial proximity with each other for the purpose of lending and borrowing essential items. A case in point is the close connection between Phusachodümi and Khulazu Basa villages in frequent access to mineral spring located at the former village in the ancient of days. Water collected from the spring was being used in cooking when salt ran out of stock due to guerrilla war back then. The historicity of mineral spring and its free access dated back to early coordination centuries back.

The writings above thus broach forth an idea for imperative solidarity and call for appreciative coordination amongst the people of same blood temporarily residing in Myanmar, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Assam and Nagaland. Naga people in all the aforesaid regions had been subjected to most inhuman rampage all because of a singular but common interest – a respectable political settlement with India and Myanmar.

Notwithstanding the stated objective at large, identity politics stemming from parochially constructed regional spheres of influence – western, eastern, southern, northern Nagas – and its petty agenda of regional luxury and wannabe kings (and queens) of the ascribed regions has long been associated with grand collapse of diverse attempts to unify the Nagas culturally, socially, emotionally, politically and even geographically.

The debates in media have unleashed the four ugly truths about us: (1) we openly receive people in our land (present Nagaland) whose culture threatens to subsume our culture but openly reject our own people from coming to our land; (2) we accept competition from outsiders who possess much more skills in doing business and pose risk of controlling our economy but resorting to unofficial sanction to deny the same opportunity to our own people; (3) we are hospitable with people from diverse background and culture and gifting them handsomely but we immediately turn hostile when we hear the news of our own people from other regions other than the present Nagaland; (4) we provide security to those who address us ‘dadda’ and

surreptitiously skinning us by raping our women, castigate our men, looting our properties backstage yet the security of our own people beyond the boundary do not warrant our concern. Oh! What a hypocrite, Nagas in Nagaland.

Identity politics unfortunately crept into the old bastion of traditional broad-based unified politics, breaking apart the legacies of our pioneers which they fought hard in blood and tears. The ongoing political debates mainly between the (Southern) Nagas and the (Western) Nagas trespass political decency and have trodden where the angels fear to tread. In doing so, we have deliberately identified ourselves based on the regions where we temporarily reside in, as opposed to the much wider fundamental of what we have been aspired for – Nagas as one. In the process, we have successfully overturned what had been done for us by our pioneers.

First, we accepted the definition about us given by others and reduced ourselves to the status of tribals. Second, we have relegated our identity to the extent of addressing ourselves as Nagas of Myanmar, of Nagaland, of Arunachal, of Assam and of Manipur.

The onlookers derive pleasure in our immature dialogues. But sadly we have undefined ourselves in our search for our own meaning. Our concerted effort to deface ourselves in this crucial period is ricocheting back to us. Nagas living in Arunachal Pradesh had in October 2019 opted to stay out of the proposed peace deal, echoing the step taken by the southern Nagas earlier.

History will testify on behalf of us and hold us accountable should we further fragment our idea of nationhood when we all hope for a definition about us unattached from external influence. Nagas, everyone of us, have to comprehend the very meaning of our sufferings – exile in jungles, days and weeks without food, beheading of well-bodied men, concentration camps and herding, desecration of places of worship, denuding and sexual assault against women, reducing our granaries and our villages (some upto 7 times) to ashes, torture to the most inhuman degree, nursing babies by foster mothers inside forests and in the sight of wild animals, sickness away from the comfort of homes, forsaken bodies lying in the jungles without proper burials – that our grandparents had been subjected to for a simple reason of our common desire for indigenous identity. The blood and tears shed are not for ostentatious luxury for the Nagas in Nagaland.

Nagas on the other sides are in need of our presence. Appreciative coordination will pay us great dividends even if the results may not be immediate.

Let us make a major departure from the redundant belief that geography is destiny and hence “you cannot choose your neighbours” and instead realise the truth that close proximity is a matter of definition whereby we can choose our neighbours as well. The malicious version of identity politics has to be put to a halt. Let us look beyond the boundary, beyond the fence, beyond our idiosyncrasies.

Nukhosa Chüzho, Kohima

year students never asked for it. It’s not like we don’t want to give the exams but the situation compels us to.

We don’t want ourselves to be called corona graduates! We have been working and striving to give our level best to reach the 6th semester/ final semester clearing all obstacles and even we don’t want to just graduate. Of course we want to graduate with our own hard work! How can we let our hard work of 3 years just end like that? We don’t want that. But the concern which we have as students is, “Are the colleges across the country ready to conduct exams where the safety of the student is guaranteed? Will the UGC and the universities be able to take responsibility for the safety of the students?”

I remember when I first joined my college, we were told by the college authorities and teachers that all the semester’s results mattered a lot and we shouldn’t neglect any semester. I remember my classmates and myself studying and giving our best to get through all the semesters. Our juniors in first and second year are promoted so why not us. What makes us different from them? Are the final year students immune to

COVID-19? Will appearing our exams and graduating guarantee us a job? Well if there is a sure thing that we will get a job, we don’t mind giving our exam. Will UGC and different universities take responsibility if one, two or thousands of students get infected while giving our exam?

Who will be responsible? If UGC or NU will take the responsibility and pay for all the treatments, then I and I believe all students wouldn’t mind giving the exams.

Covid-19 doesn’t discriminate between the rich and poor, black and white, religion, caste, race, etc. Anyone can be a victim of it. They say students are the pillar of society but they are putting our life at risk and are letting us appear for our exam.

I want to ask all citizens of India “Does our exam hold more weight than our lives?”

Is the exam more important than our lives? Can the UGC and NU come up with better guidelines and protocols and answer these questions of thousands of students who wants to know, who will be responsible for our lives?

SoreithingRamror, 6th Sem, Dept. of Political Science, Tetso College, Dimapur

NSCN (I-M) on ban of dog meat

A

fter the Nagaland state cabinet banned dog meat in Nagaland state on 3rd July, 2020 the immediate question that arise is “what is the urgency to ban dog meat without taking into consideration the culture of the indigenous Naga people?”. One cannot forget that India is a land of diverse characteristics encompassing language, religion, physical traits, cuisine (food habits), social habits, music and arts. One cannot also forget that Nagalim is under forced occupation of India.

Nowhere the Nagas share something common with the mainland Indians. In as much as facial structure is different, so is the food habits. Thus, racially or ethnically, Nagas and Indians are nowhere near to share anything similar. Our origin of civilization is also different. Whether we belong to backward civilization or advance civilization it does not matter. Nagas are proud of their rich culture and traditions. Let no force on earth impose alien culture on the Naga people. Leave us alone as we have been for decades. Leave the Naga food habit alone.

This is not the first time that the Nagaland state government has gone far enough to ban food item in Nagaland. Earlier, the state government tried to ban cow meat under the influence of Hindutva. Nagaland state government went for the unthinkable to ban dog meat just to please some political celebrities. But it would be far-fetched to imagine that the Naga food habit will change simply because the Cabinet has passed the order banning dog meat.

Since time immemorial dog is bred for different purposes like hunting, pet, house guard and for food. These has become the cultural traits of the Nagas as far as keeping dog is concern.

Moreover, the right to eat anything as per one’s culture should not be put under restriction simply to satisfy the whims and fancy of somebody in power. The Nagas are equally concern on cruelty to any kind of animals. But to force us to stop eating dog meat on the ground of cruelty to animal is not acceptable to us.

What about other animals or birds? What to eat and what not eat is not anybody’s business to enforce or decide. This is against the natural freedom of choice of food. Our kitchen menu is of owner’s choice and not something to come from any authority.

Today is dog meat ban. What next tomorrow? Nagaland state government cannot be so spineless to surrender everything to the Government of India without first taking its people into confidence. Interestingly, besides Nagalim, there are other dog meat eating nations like South Korea, China, arctic Antarctica, Nigeria, Vietnam and Switzerland.

What is important is Nagas must fight off any kind of social, cultural, religious, political assimilation being pursued by India in different forms from the time of its forceful occupation of Nagalim and till today. India under BJP has become more aggressive and chauvinistic in such pursuit in order to create Hindu way of living, thinking, worship and eating.

We should be proud of our ancestors who offered tough resistance to alien culture and the strong bond they shared with our culture, tradition and custom that differentiate the Nagas from the rest of the world as a unique and interesting entity.

The day Naga people shy away from our past and fall short of embracing our glorious legacy we will become people without identity. We are proud of what we are, no matter what and no force on earth should try to change it for their vested interest.

Significantly, the history of India and Nagalim is something not related in any respect. The relation between India and Nagalim is a matter of forced occupation and political suppression. The Naga people will not accept intrusion into our cultural character.

What belongs to the Naga culture must stay and what does not belong to the Naga culture should not be entertained so as not to pollute the Naga culture.

MIP, NSCN/GPRN

Reader’s Post

Frontline workers unnoticed Sir,

Giving due credit to all the frontline workers especially to the police department, health department etc. I feel the banking sector and the staffs need to be collectively given much appreciation at par with the rest of the other striving and risk taking members. They also attend to the daily needs of the public which they adhere to daily without comprising their call of duty during this pandemic.

Lily Pongen Dimapur

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

national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

‘Bhabhiji papad’ to fight COVID-19: A.R Meghwal

Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal posing with ‘Bhabhiji Papad’.

New Delhi, Jul 24 (IANS): At a time when the government is determined to be “vocal for local”, Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has gone a step ahead and endorsed an indigenous ‘papad’ brand claiming that eating the ‘papad’ will create antibodies in the human body that will help fight the deadly coronavirus that has afflicted more than 12 lakh Indians so far.

A pack of the brand called ‘Bhabhiji papad’ was held up by Meghwal while

recording a video vouching for its corona fighting ability. The Union Minister for State for Parliamentary Affairs said, “This Bhabhiji Papad has come out in the market in line with Atma Nirbhar Bharat, which has edible elements that can help create antibodies which will prove to be helpful in fighting coronavirus.”

Meghwal also wished the company “success”.

Meanwhile, there’s no scientific evidence presented by the minister as to how

ingredients of the papad can help create COVID-fighting antibodies in the human body.

The World Health Organization, earlier had said, “While no foods or dietary supplements can prevent or cure COVID-19 infection, healthy diets are important for supporting immune systems. Good nutrition can also reduce the likelihood of developing other health problems, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer.”

Temporary jail for those not wearing mask in MP’s Ujjain Ujjain (MP), Jul 24 (PTI): Over 300 people caught without masks in public and violating social distancing norms were kept in a temporary jail for nearly three hours in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, a senior official said on Friday.

The temporary jail has been set up at Dewas Gate, said Additional District Magistrate Bidisha Mukherjee.

“The 320 people who were apprehended were confined in the temporary jail for nearly three hours so that they wear masks, follow social distancing norms, and also inspire others to do the same”.

“They were given masks made by Rashtriya Aajivika Mission on payment basis,” Mukherjee told reporters.

“They were also administered an oath that they will wear masks and follow social distancing norms,” the ADM said.

Ujjain currently has 1,080 COVID-19 cases, though the number of active ones is 186 as 823 people have been discharged and 71 have died.

India, China agree on ‘early and complete’ disengagement New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI): India and China on Friday agreed for an “early and complete” disengagement of the troops from the friction points in eastern Ladakh, holding that full restoration of peace and tranquility in border areas was essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.

The two countries reviewed the situation in the region during a fresh round of online diplomatic talks under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs.

The parleys took place against the backdrop of reports that the disengagement process has not moved forward as expected following the last round of marathon Corps Commander-level talks on July 14.

The Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) said the two sides agreed at the Friday talks that another meeting of their senior army commanders may be held soon to work out further steps to ensure complete disengagement “expeditiously”.

“They agreed that early and complete disengage-

UP Congress leaders tonsure Kanpur kidnapping-murder heads; seek Yogi’s resignation case: 4 cops suspended

A Congress Party worker gets his head shaved as part of their protest against the alleged hike in crimes in the state, at Sangam in Prayagraj, Friday. (PTI)

Lu c k n ow, J u l 2 4 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh Congress leaders, on Friday, tonsured their heads and performed Pind Daan or last rites of the Yogi Adityanath government after UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu was prevent-

ed from going to Kanpur to meet the family of Sanjeet Yadav who was kidnapped and then murdered.

Cong ress workers squatted in the party office, carrying placards demanding Adityanath’s resignation. They chanted

Sack minister Shekhawat, Congress demands again

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

New Delhi, Jul 24 (IANS): The Congress on Friday again demanded that Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat should be sacked from the Cabinet, this time for an investigation ordered by a Rajasthan court into his alleged role in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam.

The Congress, which dubbed it as the “biggest ponzi scheme” in the desert state, had earlier demanded the sacking of Shekhawat after his alleged role in attempts to topple the Ashok Gehlot government came to light through audio clips released by the party.

“Till the investigation in the scam is not over, Shekhawat should either resign or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack him,” Congress leader Pawan Khera said.

The Congress has upped the ante for Shekhawat’s removal after a Jaipur Court ordered the probe into the around Rs 884crore scam. Society Director Vikram singh, alleged to be close to the Union Minister,

is in judicial custody since September 2019 on charge of forgery and in connection with other cases.

The Congress alleged that the cooperative society, which was registered in 2008, was active in Gujarat and Rajasthan, and its 2,14,472 investors had deposited Rs 883.88 crore till June 2019 into its accounts.

The party alleged that the money was transferred to society employees and then to Navprabha Buildtech, Lucid Pharma, Arihant Theatre, and Jan Constructions.

The Congress claimed that 2,500 hectares of land was bought in Ethiopia with part of this investors’ money, with banana cultivation done on 500 hectares.

Khera alleged that the money used in the attempts to topple the Congress government in Rajasthan was routed through corrupt means.

The Jaipur court had directed the Rajasthan Special Operations Group on July 21 to investigate the scam.

slogans like ‘Ram naam satya hai’.

Lallu told reporters that the Yogi government had failed to control the law and order situation, and ‘incident after incident’ was proving the government’s incompetence.

Lu c k n ow, J u l 2 4 (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday suspended four police personnel, including an Additional SP and a Circle Officer, for laxity in the probe into the kidnapping and murder of a lab technician in Kanpur.

The government also said Additional Director General (ADG-Police Headquarters) B P Jogdand will probe whether ransom was paid by the family of the lab technician or not.

“The state government after going through the matter has suspended ASP- South Aparna Gupta and then Circle Officer Manoj Kumar Gupta for their alleged laxity in probing the Kanpur kidnapping case,” according to an official statement.

Former SHO Barra

7

Ranjit Rai and in-charge of the outpost Rajesh Kumar have also been suspended by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Kanpur, it said.

The lab technician, who had been kidnapped last month, was killed within a week of being held captive, the police said.

The man’s family claimed that Rs 30 lakh ransom was paid for his release in the presence of police, but Circle Officer Vikas Pandey said the allegation was not true.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Kanpur) Dinesh Kumar Prabhu said on Friday that several key suspects were detained in connection with the case and grilled intensively, during which two of them confessed to the crime.

China is yet to honour its commitment to complete disengagement and de-escalation from border areas along the LAC. (PTI Photo. Representative)

ment of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from India-China border areas in accordance with bilateral agreement and protocols and full restoration of peace and tranquility was essential for smooth overall development of bilateral relations,” it said in a statement.

The MEA said the two sides noted that this was in accordance with the agreement reached between the two Special Representatives during their

telephonic conversation on July 5. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a nearly twohour-long telephonic conversation on July 5 to bring down tension between the armies of the two countries in eastern Ladakh.

Both sides commenced the disengagement process from July 6 following talks between Doval and Wang who are Special Representatives for the boundary question.

In Friday’s talks,

the MEA said both sides agreed that it was necessary to “sincerely” implement the understandings reached between senior commanders in their meetings till date.

“The two sides agreed that another meeting of the Senior Commanders may be held soon so as to work out further steps to ensure expeditiously complete disengagement and deescalation and restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas,” the MEA added.

FIR against Bhim Army chief Azad for lockdown violation Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jul 24 (IANS): The Saharanpur Police have registered an FIR under various sections of lockdown violation and Epidemic Diseases Act against Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad, national president Vinay Ratan and 500 others.

The FIR comes following a public gathering at a residential colony on the Delhi Road under the Sadar Bazar police station to commemorate the foundation day of the “Bhim Army Bharat Ekta mission” on Tuesday.

Saharanpur Superintendent of Police (city), Vineet Bhatnagar, said: “There was a function for the inauguration of a party office two days ago.

Chandra Shekhar Azad

We were in touch with the party office bearers and had warned them in advance that holding functions and inviting a large number of people will be a violation of the lockdown norms.

A day before the function, we even held talks

with the party leaders, served them notice, but they continued with their scheduled programme.”

According to sources, a large number of people were present at the function on Tuesday which was attended by Chandra Shekhar and other senior office bearers of the Bhim Army.

Heavy police force and a PAC platoon were deployed at the spot. The SP (city) said, “Lockdown rules were flouted. Videography of the entire function has been done.

Some people have been identified and the remaining will be traced, based on their vehicle registration numbers. An FIR against 22-25 named and 500 unnamed people has been registered.”

‘Young Congress leaders increasingly restless’ Spurt in snatching cases Kolkata, Jul 24 (PTI): Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury feels a section of young “overambitious” leaders is becoming increasingly restless and deserting the party due to the growing perception that it is not going to return to power at the Centre anytime soon.

Conceding that their exit might adversely impact the party “temporarily”, the veteran Congress MP, however, said party “discipline and ideology can’t be compromised to satisfy the individual aspirations of leaders who lack ideological commitment.

The Congress has been reeling from the high-profile desertion of Jyotiraditya Scindia and rebellion by Sachin Pilot.

“There is a certain section of overambitious young leaders.....they are becoming restless and feeling they are not getting their due in the party and are looking for other options to satisfy their individual ambitions.

“This is happening due to a growing perception that as the Congress won’t return to power (at the Centre) shortly, so the party won’t be able to satisfy all their demands. So they are either jumping the ship or are planning to do so, Chowdhury told PTI in an interview.

Talking about Scindia and Pilot, he said they were never neglected or given short shrift by the party.

He said there have been

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

leaders with great potential in several political parties who did not get their due.

“But did they leave their party to enjoy the fruits of power? The answer is no.

The problem is the lack of commitment,” he said.

Chowdhury also rejected the claim that Jyotiraditya Scindia won Madhya Pradesh for the Congress as its campaign committee chief for the assembly polls. If that were the case, he would not have lost his Lok Sabha seat, the veteran Congress leader said.

Rajasthan, where Sachin Pilot has risen in revolt against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, has a history of change of guard every five years, Chowdhury said.

“Had he (Pilot) been the only factor which led to our victory in the 2018 assembly polls we wouldn’t have fared so badly in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Rajasthan, he said.

Scindia left the Congress with his band of loyal MLAs in March and joined the BJP, resulting in the fall of the Kamal Nath government and the saffron party’s return to power.

Pilot was removed as deputy chief minister

and Rajasthan Congress president after he revolted against Gehlot, a representative of the old guard in the Congress. He has neither left the party nor been expelled. Former union minister Milind Deora, one of the young faces in the Congress had last year proposed Pilot and Scindia for the post of the party’s national president.

Deora had told PTI he agreed with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh that the new Congress president should be young, capable and possess electoral, administrative and organisational experience, and a pan-India appeal.

“In my view, Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia have all these qualities and can provide strength to the organisation and vigour to the opposition space,” he had said.

When asked whether the disillusionment of the young leaders stems from the power struggle between the old guard and the Young Turks in the party, with the former holding sway, Chowdhury replied in the negative. Can you show me one political party in India which has leaders of only one age group? Any political party or organisation is a blend of young and experienced leaders. Just because I am over 60 will you throw me out of the party? In BJP, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani were leaders, they had groomed others like Narendra Modi and the present-day BJP leadership,

he said.

Chowdhury blamed a section of media for presenting the difference of opinion as disputes within the party.

He dismissed as “untrue” suggestions that Scindia and Pilot were sidelined as they could pose a threat to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.

“This is completely untrue. Had Rahul Ji felt threatened by them, he wont have encouraged them to take up important assignments both in the party and in governments, he said.

When asked whether the problems the Congress is facing stemmed from a leadership crisis, the fivetime MP from West Bengals Beharampore said the party is just going through a bad, rough patch, which is quite common in politics.

There is no leadership crisis in our party. It’s a media creation. We have Sonia Gandhi as our leader and no one should question her political acumen as it under her leadership that the party won two successive terms from 2004- 2014, he said.

Responding to a question about who will take over the mantle from interim president Sonia Gandhi, Chowdhury, a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, said though there were several good leaders they lack the stature and charisma of the Gandhi family which acts as glue for the party.

in capital during lockdown

New Delhi, Jul 24 (IANS): Snatching has remained a menace for Delhi residents since decades. It was assumed that during the lockdown the number of snatching cases may fall due to heightened security and less footfall on Delhi roads, however a glimpse at the number of cases reported during the period suggests otherwise.

Up till June 30 this year, a total number of 3,063 cases of snatchings have been reported in the national capital. During the same period last year a total of 3,320 cases of snatching were recorded. The difference is just 257 cases despite a long lockdown of several months.

So, can it be assumed that the lockdown and the heightened police presence on Delhi roads failed to deter snatchers in the city?

“Many criminals involved in the cases of snatching and robbery are those who have a previous record. Many who have been involved in multiple cases of snatching and robbery have been out on parole from the jails due to the ongoing pandemic. They are back to business. This might have amplified the cases of snatching and robbery in the capital,” said a senior police officer. Many criminals were given parole due to the ongoing pandemic in an attempt to decongest the jails.

Many eateries, factories and small businesses

were shut during the lockdown period throwing many people out of work. A recent survey of CVoter has also shown that nearly 24 per cent of people were out of work during the lockdown.

This hints that unemployment might also be a reason why street crime is on the rise despite the lockdown and the Unlock period after that. “Though most of the snatchers and robbers arrested are historysheeters and some have as many as 25-30 cases registered against them but there are also instances where firsttimers have also resorted to snatching and robbery,” the officer said.

In a recent case of snatching in Malviya Nagar, the police arrested a Swiggy deliveryman who was unemployed due to the lockdown.

The deliveryman had no previous criminal involvement. He along with one of his associates was involved in robbery of a woman in Panchsheel Vihar in Delhi on July 23. The assailants not just snatched her phone but also assaulted her.

“In one of the footages, two boys on a blue scooty were seen lurking near the place of the incident. The police team activated their secret informers to collect information about the accused persons involved in such cases. The investigation led to the identification of suspects as Farookh and Rinku, both residents of Hauz Rani.

8

business/state DSU Bangalore organises webinar the fiscal year 2020-21 and on employability fiscal year 2020-22, respec-

‘Need reforms to attract investment’

Washington, Jul 24 (PTI): India’s concerted efforts to strengthen the business climate and encourage investment in trade have helped attract investment, but the country needs further economic reforms to ensure sustainable and more inclusive growth, according to the IMF. The remarks by International Monetary Fund’s Chief Spokesperson Gerry Rice on Thursday came in response to a question on the recent FDI announcements made by global giants like Facebook and Google in India.

In recent weeks, several international companies have pledged USD 20 billion FDI in India, and a whopping USD 40 billion this year so far.

“Concerted efforts have been made in recent years, in India, to strengthen the business climate and encourage investment in trade, and these have helped to attract investment and improve the cur-

rent account financing mix and also help to contain external vulnerabilities,” Rice told reporters at a news conference here.

“Relevant reforms have included the new bankruptcy code, the National Goods and Services Tax. These have helped to gain in India’s doing business ranking, moving up rapidly in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, up to 63 in 2020, from 100 in 2018, significant progress there, indeed,” Rice said.

“Nonetheless, further economic reforms, including labour, product mixed land, and others, and additional infrastructure investment are necessary, in our view, to attract even more investment, and to ensure sustainable and more inclusive growth in India,” he said in response to the question.

Recently, the IMF in its update to the World Economic Outlook projected India’s growth rate at -4.5 per cent, and then six per cent recovery, for

tively, he said.

“Our projection for fiscal year ‘20-2021 was revised down, as was the case for most countries driven by the impact of the pandemic,” Rice said.

“On balance, I think we would say the risks to the economic outlook remain,” he said.

Despite gradual recovery in activities and a solid agricultural performance, the downside risks remain.

“The main downside risk is, of course, the continued spread of the pandemic,” he noted, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Further outbreaks could require additional lockdowns, and concerns about the virus could also dampen consumer confidence and delay the economic recovery. Again, this is the case not just in India, but in many countries, Rice said.

Dimapur, Jul 24 (Agencies): Dayananda Sagar University (DSU), Bengaluru organised a free webinar on employability post COVID-19 on July 19.

The moderator of the webinar was N.G.Raju, alumnus, Tech Mahindra Ltd and KPIT Systems.

The speakers were S N Giri (co-founder, Managing Director & CEO, Nichi-In Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore), Vasuki (vice president, Business Partnership, Bemco Fluidtechnik LLP), Nagarajan Srinivasan (former chairperson, Confederation of Indian Industry, Mysore Zone) and Govind (alumnus, ADA, Plexion Technologies, Geometric Software, DSQ Software).

The hosts were Prof.

R. Janardhan (Pro Vice Chancellor DSU) and M.N. Gur u Venkatesh (vice president, skill development)

Nagaland Post, Dimapur saturDAY, JULY 25, 2020

NNF plea on NGOs registration renewal period D IMA P UR , J UL 2 4 (NPN): Nagaland NGOs Forum (NNF) has appealed to the state government for enhancement of NGOs registration renewal period from the current two years to five years.

In a representation addressed to the state chief minister, NNF president Dr. Hesheto Y Chishi and general secretary Chenithung Humtsoe asserted that the societies’ registration

renewal period should not go along in line with commercial or trade licence system as it was non- profit organisations in nature.

The forum also said that to check and detach non functional NGOs by means of reducing renewal period into two-year period was not a proper mechanism and unfair to all the functional NGOs that were assisting government in multifarious activities in

their best possible effort.

Due to the limited period of renewal year, NNF said the functional NGOs faced certain legality constrains.

NNF has, therefore, appealed to the chief minister to initiate to deliberate the issue in the ensuing Assembly session and Legislate an Act to enhance the NGO registration renewal period to five years instead.

TNSA flays deployment of troops in Naga SAZ DIMAPUR, JUL 24 (NPN): Tangshang Naga Student’s Association (TNSA) Myanmar has strongly condemned the deployment of thousands of Burmese military troops in Naga Self-Administrated Zone (SAZ) such as Nanyun Township, Donhe sub-township and Pangsaung sub-township and demanded immediate withdrawal of the troops.

In a press release, TNSA vice president Yangring Hangmu and information secretary Mowang expressed shock that Myanmar military junta was campaigning in Naga SAZ to operate against the Naga national group at Nanyun Township amidst COVID-19 pandemic.

As the humanity, at this point in

time, needed more love and care than ever before, TNSA said every government was concerned over how to protect their citizens from the deadly coronavirus.

However, TNSA said that the Myanmar government, instead of providing foods and medicines to fight against the COVID19, was deploying thousands of soldiers in Naga soil and “ready to confront with the NSCN/GPRN at this period of time.”

Reminding the Myanmar government that Naga people had experienced enough of untold sufferings and hardships for several decades due to aggressive actions of the Burma military, the Naga student body said the scars and stigma were still fresh in the minds of the people.

2 more deaths in Dmu spark COVID-19 fears RIL’s valuation crosses Rs 14L cr NMA seeks probe into Arunachal killings

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state government’s order to employees to declare relationships with any Naga political groups and demanded that the state revoke its order and form and instil trust and confidence in its employees.

Expressing deep resentment against the extension of the Disturbed Area Act (DAA) and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), NMA said peace cannot come through the barrel of the guns anymore and urged for the repeal of AFSPA. Meanwhile, NMA has urged the governor to address issues of rampant corruption within the governance systems.

NMA expressed belief that the governor as the constitutional head of the state had the authority to seek and issue directions for exemplary investigations and action.

NMA asserted that it supported any actions that seek to bring accountability in governance systems in the State. It also said that the Lokayukta Act needed to be revisited with more powers.

Only Assembly can adopt or reject SARFAESI... tive to fund the farmers and entrepreneurs, it could stop the SARFAESI Act. Stating that only NLA could debate on the Act’s merits and demerits, adopt or reject it and understand its objective, the NPCC president explained that the objective of the Act was to facilitate recovery of dues of banks and other financial institutions by nonadjudicatory body, adding the Act enabled banks and financial institutions to enforce their security interests expeditiously without being required to move to a court or tribunal. He pointed out that this did not encroach upon the Nagaland Land Revenue and Regulation Act, 1978, amended in

2002.

He pointed out that Article 371(A) clearly states “Notwithstanding anything in the Constitution; no Act of Parliament shall apply in the State of Nagaland in respect of: i-iv clause, unless the State Assembly of Nagaland so decides by a resolution”.

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Stressing that banks and other financial institutions play a major role in building the economy of a nation, he said he hoped that MLAs understood that these institutions funded farmers and entrepreneurs.

He also said if the Assembly had a better alterna-

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No. 4253 Yesterday’s solution No. 4252

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spirit of bringing a settlement to the long drawn Naga political issue.

NMA stated that the Cease Fire Monitoring Group stands as a testament that there were ground rules if any violations took place and action thereof.

Unless there was mutual respect and an honest will, devoid of biasness, NMA said “we may not see sustainable peace in the days ahead.”

The Naga mothers asserted that peace must be inclusive of all NPGs to bring about a just peace and a settlement for all Nagas. “We are aware of the intricate responsibility of your role as the Interlocutor and the Governor of the State. However, the Naga political issue must be resolved, without denigrating our years of struggle into a problem of law and order,” NMA stated.

NMA urged democratic processes be respected in the spirit of “bringing peace into our land.”

Further, NMA expressed deep concern over

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No. 9634 Yesterday’s solution No. 9633

D IMA P UR , J UL 2 4 (NPN): Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) Friday reiterated its deep grief over the “gruesome killings of the six Naga youth” in Arunachal in the midst of a ceasefire and ongoing peace process” and demanded an inquiry into “such extra judicial killings” in the interest of human rights and justice.

In a representation addressed to the governor, NMA president Abeiu Meru and secretary Lochumbeni Humtose stated that solution has to lie in a genuine earnestness for peace so no more blood was shed.

NMA also apprised the governor of its July 9, 2020 executive meeting resolution that expressed “deep concern” over the issues raised by the governor’s letter to chief minister, particularly on ‘armed gangs’ and its impact on the ongoing peace process.

NMA urged the Raj Bhavan to reflect on mutual respect between the peace talk, interlocutor and the negotiating Naga Political Groups (NPGs) in the

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KAKURO

close at Rs 2,148.40.

Shares of Reliance Industries had on Thursday also jumped nearly 3 per cent amid reports that Amazon was eyeing a stake in the conglomerate’s retail arm. The company’s partly paid-up shares zoomed 8.77 per cent to close at Rs 1,284.50 on the BSE. ReliancePP, the partly paid-up shares issued in the recently concluded rights issue, had listed on the stock exchanges on June 15 this year.

While RIL is the country’s most-valuable listed company, the second-placed TCS has a market capitalisation of Rs 8,09,408.14 crore, followed by HDFC Bank at the third place with an m-cap of Rs 6,14,252.37 crore. Since last Thursday, RIL’s shares have jumped 16.44 per cent.

So far this year, RIL shares have gained 41.74 per cent.

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Sudoku

New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI): Reliance Industries’ market valuation crossed the Rs 14-lakh crore mark on Friday as its stock rallied over 4 per cent to scale its fresh peak.

The company’s partly paid-up shares, listed separately, have a market capitalisation of Rs 54,262.45 crore. The combined market capitalisation (m-cap) of Reliance Industries now stands at Rs 14,14,825.44 crore.

The stock of the countr y’s most-valued firm jumped 4.15 per cent to close at Rs 2,146.20 on the BSE. During the day, it gained 4.95 per cent to a record high of Rs 2,162.80.

This took its market valuation to Rs 13,60,562.99 crore at the close of trade on the BSE. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), shares of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate rose 4.40 per cent to

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22 (both from Assam) were still awaited.

Meanwhile, the gag order on government officers except AHoD has resulted in blockade on vital information since no doctor, medical or administrative officials were willing to provide any information.

When some officials are contacted they either say that they are not authorized to speak or share any information. Even those “authorized” to speak such as senior officials when contacted, are either “unreachable” or don’t respond to calls. Even in the very few instances, officials would say they were not in a position to confirm even if they have heard/learnt about the report.

What the media is left with are bits of information from social media or from twitter accounts of top officials and politicians instead of getting timely briefings.

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mitted after falling sick on July 19 passed away on July 21. SMO had said that the patient tested negative for COVID through TrueNat on July 19. However, the confirmation result testing positive for COVID-19 through RT-PCR at BSL-2 lab was received on July 24, stated the SMO. The SMO therefore requested the CMO for sealing of the CHC and arrangements for quarantine centre for medical staff and all primary contacts.

When contacted, a senior health department official said that confirmation on the cause of death was yet to be established.

It may also be mentioned that the RT-PCR confirmatory test results of two persons-- 72-year old male who died on July 21 at Nikos Hospital Dimapur and a female who died at a paid quarantine centre in MP road Dimapur on July

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(From p-1) He was first admitted to a private hospital on July 21 for complaints of chronic pneumonia and Myocardial Infarction (MI) and later shifted to COVID Hospital on July 23 after showing symptoms for COVID, sources said.

On TrueNat machine, the patient tested positive for COVID-19 on July 22 but a second confirmatory test at the BSL-3 laboratory at Kohima through RT-PCR was awaited, the sources added.

District health officials had stated that all Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were carried out in handling the body.

It has been learnt that the body was handed over to the family members of the deceased.

With regard to Medziphema CHC case, SMO in his letter stated that a 50year-old man, who was ad-

China-US in consulate closure war Beijing, Jul 24 (IANS): The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday ordered the closure of the US Consulate General in the southwestern city of Chengdu as a retaliatory move against Washington’s decision to close the Asian giant’s mission in Houston. In a statement, the Ministry also made specific requirements on the ceasing of all operations and events by the Consulate General, which was established in 1985 and currently has more than 200 staff, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The US’ move seriously breached international law, the basic norms of international relations, and the terms of the China-US Consular Convention. It gravely harmed China-US relations,” the statement said. It justified China’s decision as “a legitimate and necessary response to the unjustified act by the US”.

“The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this. We once again urge the US to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary con-

People walk past the entrance of the US consulate in Chengdu in China.

ditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track,” the statement added.

China gave the US till July 27 to close the consulate, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday ordered the closure of China’s mission in Houston, saying it was involved in

9

international

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

stealing intellectual property, the BBC reported.

The administration gave China 72 hours to close the consulate “to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information”.

The consulate is one of five in the US, not counting the embassy in Washington. China’s move on Friday came hours after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hardened his tone

further in a speech on Thursday at the library of former President Richard Nixon, whose 1972 Beijinf visit heralded a period of improved relations.

“Today, China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in its hostility to freedom everywhere else,” Pompeo said. “The free world must triumph over this new tyranny.”

The decision to close

the Houston mission came after a New York Post report said the city’s police had received reports that Chinese officials were burning documents at the Consulate on Tuesday evening. A news reporter’s video showed several people surrounding multiple trash cans with documents on fire, in the consulate’s courtyard. Houston firefighters and police, the New York Post said, responded to the fire at the Consulate General office but did not have the authority to access the building.

Responding to Tuesday’s move, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the reasons given by the US for closing the Consulate were “unbelievably ridiculous”, the BBC reported.

Hua urged the US to reverse its “erroneous decision”, or China would “react with firm countermeasures”. The relationship between the US and China has been on a downward spiral ever since the Trump administration renegotiated new terms for bilateral trade with the Xi Jinping government.

Nepal floods: Death toll reaches 132 Kathmandu, Jul 24 (Agencies): At least 132 people lost their lives as a result of heavy rains triggering landslides, and flash floods in Nepal.

“132 people dead, 128 injured, 53 missing and 998 families affected due to rainfall, landslides and floods in the country,” Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said.

Within the last two weeks, the Myagdi district of western Nepal was the worst affected with 27 reported deaths. Search and rescue operations are being conducted continuously with officials and police personnel who are looking through the debris to find missing people.

Monsoon-induced disasters are common in Nepal owing to the country’s mountainous topography.

Hundreds have been displaced as landslides have swept away their homes.

They ended up taking refuge in local schools and community centers. Nepal’s Meteorological Forecasting Division earlier last week had predicted heavy downpour across the country.

Putin, Trump discuss arms control issues

Vladimir Putin

Donald Trump

Moscow, Jul 24 (AP): Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump discussed arms control and cooperation in fighting the coronavirus during a phone call between the two leaders Thursday, the Kremlin and White House said.

The presidents “thoroughly considered” various arms control issues “given the special responsibility of Russia and the U.S. for maintaining international peace and security,” the Kremlin said. According to the White House, Trump reiterated his hope of avoiding an expensive three-way arms race between China, Russia, and the United States and “looked forward to progress on upcoming arms control negotiations

in Vienna.”

The Kremlin’s readout of the call said the parties reaffirmed “the timeliness of bilateral consultations” on arms control issues, including the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

The only remaining U.S.-Russia arms control pact expires in February 2021. If it is not extended, the world will be without legal restrictions on American and Russian nuclear weapons for the first time in nearly half a century. Russia has offered to extend the treaty for up to five years, but Trump has rebuffed the offer. During Thursday’s call, he and Putin “touched upon” the situation with Iran’s nuclear program, the Kremlin said.

EU-UK post-Brexit trade deal ‘unlikely’: Barnier Vietnam bans wildlife ‘We’ll be past coronavirus by mid-2021’ imports and markets

B ru ss e l s, J u l 2 4 (IANS): The European Union’s (EU) chief negotiator for relations with the United Kingdom (UK), Michel Barnier, said that the UK’s approach was making a post-Brexit trade deal “unlikely” as the sixth round of talks ended with little progress.

Barnier told a news conference in London on Thursday that the UK was refusing to move on its red lines and was not showing “the same level of engagement and readiness to find a solution” as the EU, Xinhua news agency reported.

“By its current refusal to commit to conditions of open and fair competition and to a balanced agreement on fisheries, the UK makes a trade agreement at this point unlikely,” he said.

Barnier said the two

sides remained far apart on how to ensure a level playing field between EU and UK businesses, as well as on access of EU fishing vessels to British waters, warning that “the time for answers is quickly running out” as “the UK did not show a willingness to break the deadlock.”

On the issue of a level playing field, Barnier said the UK was refusing to commit to maintaining high standards in a meaningful way. “This is all the more worrying because we have no visibility on the UK’s intention on its future domestic subsidy control regime...

The UK wants to regain its regulatory autonomy. We respect that. But can the UK use this new regulatory autonomy to distort competition with us?” he asked.

On fisheries, Barnier explained that the UK was

effectively asking for a neartotal exclusion of EU fishing vessels from UK waters.

“That is simply unacceptable,” he said, adding that “any agreement cannot lead to the partial destruction of the EU fishing industry.”

He noted that the UK had chosen to leave the EU Single Market and the Customs Union on January 1, 2021, but with just more than five months to go, the timeframes were tight.

“If we want to avoid additional friction, we must come to an agreement in October at the latest, so that our new treaty can enter into force on January 1 next year.

This means that we only have a few weeks left and we should not waste them.”

Barnier said talks will continue in London next week before the next formal round of negotiations in mid-August.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan

to get on with their lives.

“For this concept of herd immunity, you need 50 to 60 per cent of the population to have this immunity to be actually able to break those chains of transmission,” explained Swaminathan.

“That’s much easier to do with a vaccine; we can achieve it faster and without people getting sick and dying. So, it is much better to do it that way, to achieve herd immunity through natural infection. We would have several waves [of infection] and unfortunately also the mortality that we see,” she said.

She added, “Over a period of time, people will start developing natural immunity. We know now from the studies that have been done in many of the affected countries that usually between 5 to 10 per cent of the population has developed antibodies. In some places it’s been higher than that, up to 20 per cent.”

“As there are waves of this infection going through countries, people are going to develop antibodies and those people will be hopefully immune for some time and so they will also act as barriers and brakes to the spread of this infection,” Swaminathan, a paediatrician from India and a globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, said.

The scientist, who was addressing a range of questions on coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics, said that for the foreseeable future it is important to be focussed on doing the “right thing” such as public health

Boris Johnson

told medical workers. “They are nuts, they are nuts.”

In the year since Johnson became the British leader, he has won a landslide election victory, delivered on his pledge to lead Britain out of the European Union and came close to death with COVID-19.

But opposition parties say Johnson was too slow to impose a lockdown, failed to identify care homes as a vulnerability, botched the testand-trace system and failed to sack his senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, for travelling during lockdown.

Speaking a year since he became prime minister, Johnson said his experience was that government needed “to move faster and be more responsive to the needs of the people.”

He mentioned that people were unable to get their passports or birth certificates in time and that there was a backlog of court cases.

“Sometimes government can be slow,” Johnson told reporters while reflecting on his year in power.

“We are learning the whole time.” He added that proposals would be brought forward on the funding of social care to protect people from the risk of having to sell their homes to fund care. Asked how long people would have to wear face masks, Johnson said he would rely on the common sense of the British people but refused to give any sense of when the COVID measures would be relaxed.

Abbas ready to resume talks if Israel retracts annexation plan

Ramallah, Jul 24 (IANS): Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas he was willing to resume peace negotiations with Israel as soon as the latter retracts its plan to annex parts of the West Bank.

In a phone call with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg on Thursday, Abbas expressed appreciation for Norway’s principled support of the two-state solution of the Palestinian-

COVID herd immunity will take time: WHO’s Swaminathan London, Jul 24 (PTI): The chief scientist of the WHO, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, on Friday said “herd immunity” - which is when enough people become resistant to a disease to stop its spread - is still a long way ahead for COVID19 since 50 to 60 per cent of the population will need to be immune to the novel coronavirus to protect the uninfected.

In a social media live event organised by the World Health Organisation from Geneva on Friday, the scientist said that more waves of the infection would be required to get to a stage of natural immunity.

Therefore, she warned, that at least for the next year or so, the world needs to be “geared up” to do everything possible to keep the novel coronavirus at bay while scientists work on vaccines.

Meanwhile, therapeutics will help keep death rates low and allow people

virus, which is thought to have jumped from animals to humans.

“The existence of wildlife markets in many locations has been a big problem in Vietnam for a long time,” said Phuong Tham, country director for the Humane Society International Vietnam.

“This rapacious appetite for wildlife is endangering not just these species’ survival, but as we have seen with the coronavirus outbreak, it is endangering people’s lives too. So this ban can’t come soon enough,” Tham said.

The new directive includes recommendations that conservationists have been making for years, including cracking down on domestic markets, said Steve Galster, the director of Freeland, a group working on ending the wildlife trade.

measures that are known to work while the world waits for a vaccine.

“Even if the clinical trials are successful and we have a couple of vaccines by the end of this year, we still need the hundreds of billions of doses, which will take time,” she said.

Elaborating on vaccine development, the chief scientist said there are over 200 candidates in some stage of development as she highlighted the extraordinary speed at which the science has been moving around the understanding of the novel coronavirus. “Vaccine development is normally quite a lengthy and laborious process… the more candidates we have, the more opportunities we have for success,” she said.

“Most people who recover from COVID-19 develop neutralising antibodies, which means a vaccine has a good chance of offering protective immunity,” she said.

Israeli conflict and its rejection of any unilateral steps that disregard international law, reports Xinhua news agency. Abbas said that Palestine “is ready to engage in serious negotiations with the Israeli government the moment it refrains from its unilateral annexation plan, to be sponsored by the Quartet and any other countries of the world”.

The Palestinian leader briefed Solberg on the latest

Mahmoud Abbas

developments in Palestine, and the consequences of the Israeli plan to annex portions of the occupied West Bank. He thanked Norway

With immense pride and joy, the Ruchan Village Students' Union (RVSU) congratulates Shri. T. Sulanthung Khenchung NCS, EAC Champang on being promoted to the post of SDO (Civil).

The Union wishes him good health and success in all his future endeavours.

(Achum. Y. Khenchung) (Benathung Mozhüi) President Secretary

Ruchan Village Students' Union Ruchan Village Students' Union

‘MCTE, Mokokchung, calls for B.Ed. applicants under Economically Weaker Quota The Mokokchung College of Teacher Education has a reserved quota for one (1) seat, under Economically Weaker category, from the current Academic Year (July, 2020), the fees for which will be sponsored by the Principal and Faculty of the College. Those desirous of applying for a seat under this quota are informed to log in to the College Website (www.mcte-mokokchung.in), for the prescribed criteria for application.

Kindly note that the last date for Online Application, as notified through the Nagaland University website, is 31st July, 2020.’

MKC-170

for its generous support and economic aid provided to the Palestinian national institutions since 1993.

For her part, Solberg expressed Norway’s support to achieving peace on the basis of the two-state solution, and its commitment to implement the international resolutions. She reaffirmed that her country will continue to play its role in sponsoring the annual donor conference to help the Pal-

estinian people build their institutions and economy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has planned to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as the strategic Jordan Valley. But it remained unclear whether the Israeli government intends to follow through with the plans to apply Israeli law over contentious territories in the West Bank and to what extent.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

FELICITATION

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EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in London.

Hanoi, Jul 24 (AP): Vietnam announced Friday that it was banning wildlife imports and would close wildlife markets in response to renewed concerns about the threat from diseases that can jump from animals to humans, such as the virus that causes COVID-19.

An order signed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday bans all imports of wildlife dead or alive and includes eggs and larvae. It also merits tougher penalties for crimes involving the trade in wildlife. Vietnam has been a popular destination for wildlife products — often from endangered species — that are used in traditional medicine or in preparing exotic cuisine. The move comes amid increased scrutiny of the health risks of the wildlife trade as the world deals with the new corona-

LON D ON , J u l 2 4 (Agencies): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he thought the country would be through the coronavirus crisis by mid-2021 but feared there may be a second spike that could overwhelm the health service.

“Whether it came from... a bat, a pangolin or however it emerged, it was a very, very nasty thing for the human race. And I think by the middle of next year we will be well on the way past it,” he told reporters.

“This country is going to bounce back stronger than ever before,” Johnson said. “We’ve still got the threat of a second spike.”

On a visit to a doctor’s surgery, Johnson said he hoped everybody would get a flu vaccine to lower the pressure on the health service during the winter months. “There’s all these anti-vaxxers now,” Johnson

(T. ALEMLA LONGKUMER) Principal MCTE Mokokchung : Nagaland

The Board of Trustees, School Managing Committee and Staff of S.M. Baptist High School: Wokha, heartedly acknowledge and deeply appreciate Mr. & Mrs. Kehousilie Angami & Family for establishing a Memorial Award in remembrance of their beloved son, Lt. Medoleo Angami (Alumni) for the HSLC Topper of the School.

We pray that God continue to shower His bountiful blessing upon your family at all times and it is our earnest prayer that Lt. Medoleo's soul will find peace and solace in Heaven.

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APPRECIATION

The Phom People's Council (PPC) would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the Civil Societies, general public of all the wards of Longleng town and villages under Longleng district for extending and adhering to the 3 day total shut down called by the apex bodies of the district from 20th-22nd July 2020 after detecting Covid-19 positive cases at quarantine centre Longleng.

During the shut down there was no disturbances and obstacles to the frontline workers and general public's being reported from any corners of the district.

The PPC once again thank all the people for making the bandh successful for the safety of its citizens and we look forward for the same cooperation even in the near future.

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Sd/Shri. Tenchem Phom Vice President Phom People's Council

Infotainment

10

The Chicks wanted name change for a long time T he Chicks had wanted to drop Dixie from their name for several years.

The country group recently announced they were to be known by the shortened moniker in response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, but the trio singer Natalie Maines and siblings Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer - admitted the move had been a long time coming as they weren’t all thrilled by their name at the start of their career and they more seriously considered a change following the backlash they experienced over their comments about then-US President George W. Bush in 2003.

Natalie said: ‘’The other girls never liked the name. When I joined, we discussed changing it but I thought it was the best thing about them . . .

‘Nooo, Dixie Chicks is great!’ I said. ‘’But after the Bush controversy, I wanted to change it too because I felt

people had misunderstood who we were as people. ‘’Once this racist connotation dawned on me, it felt icky and I didn’t like it. I mean, none of us did!’’

The ‘’point of no return’’ for the trio came when NASCAR banned the Confederate flag -

which represented the Southern states below the Mason-Dixon Line during the American Civil War - from their events following the wave of Black Lives Matter protests sparked by George’s death.

Natalie added to The Sun newspaper: ‘’We tried

calling ourselves DCX and we always referred to ourselves as the Chicks but for me the point of no return, ‘Oh my gosh we’re doing this’, came when NASCAR banned the Dixie flag. ‘’Could we really defend the word Dixie? No, we had to lose it.

‘’Though there wasn’t any racist intention behind our name, it came from a historically hateful and negative place.’’

And Emily insisted it was ‘’important’’ for them to take a stand.

She said: ‘’It’s such an important time to show solidarity with what’s going on and the long overdue changes. Being from Texas we don’t really consider ourselves Dixie anyway.

Mar tie added: ‘’I remember interviewers asking how we felt about calling ourselves ‘chicks’ and whether it was degrading to women. ‘’Dixie was never brought up as the troublesome part of our name but George Floyd’s murder makes me emotional just thinking about it. ‘’When the pot boils over, how could we hold on to a name that represents so much pain for so many people? There was no choice and we are so relieved -- relieved is the word!’’ (Contactmusic)

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

GNR Slash recalls first time he heard Axl Rose’s ‘bluesy, melodic’ voice

G

uns ‘N Roses guitarist Slash has recalled the first time he heard Axl Rose’s voice at the very beginning of the iconic band’s career.

In an interview with Kerrang, Slash said that Rose’s voice was played to him on a cassette by cofounding Guns N’ Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin before he eventually joined the group.

“The first time was on a cassette that Izzy brought over to my house,” he said.

“There was all this noise and then there’s this really intense high voice over the top of it. My first impression was that it was very soulful. It had a bluesy, melodic thing to it, which was rare for that type of voice. You didn’t often hear somebody hold that melody together so naturally. Then I went to see him and Izzy play one time.

“I didn’t actually rea-

Axl Rose and Slash of Guns N’ Roses.

lise I was going to see the same person that was on that cassette. They were f**king hardcore on stage. Izzy was doing knee slides and Axl was bashing down. It was cool, like, ‘F**k…’”

Opening up on their early rehearsals, he added: “The first time that we jammed together was at a rehearsal place in Hollywood and it was intense.

We started working together at that point, we did some shows and it was always very unpredictable

and wild. Like, ‘Okay, let’s see what happens.”

The group – who reunited with Slash and Duff McKagan in 2016 – have seen the majority of their 2020 shows cancelled due the coronavirus crisis, including gigs in London, Glasgow and Dublin — will be going ahead this year. They will now play the shows in 2021.

In May, they launched the ‘Not In This Lifetime’ video series sharing live clips from recent dates on their world tour. (NME)

Simon Cowell reflects on Kanye West refusing to see Kim Kardashian West One Direction anniversary

Mel Gibson was hospitalised with coronavirus

Pawan Kalyan fans attack Ram Gopal Varma’s office

F

M

el Gibson spent a week in hospital with coronavirus.

The 64-year-old actor was taken to a medical facility in Los Angeles in April after falling ill with but made a full recovery after being treated with an antiviral drug.

His spokesperson confirmed: “He tested positive in April and spent a week in the hospital. He was treated with the drug Remdesivir, while in the hospital, and has tested negative numerous times since then as well as positive for the antibodies.’’

A number of stars have battled coronavirus, including Idris Elba, Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, Olga Kurylenko, Pink, Kristofer Hivju, Andy Cohen, and Daniel Dae Kim. Broadway star Nick Cordero and Fountains of Wayne frontman Adam Schlesinger tragically died after contracting the virus.

Tom and Rita were K Y M C

the first famous stars to be stricken by the condition and the ‘Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’ actor has subsequently become an outspoken advocate for the importance of wearing masks while out in public.

Speaking about those who don’t wear face coverings, he said recently: “I don’t get it, I simply do not get it, it is literally the least you can do.

“If anybody wants to build up an argument about doing the least they can do, I wouldn’t trust them with a driver’s licence.

“I mean, when you drive a car, you’ve got to obey speed limits, you’ve got to use your turn signals [indicators], you’ve got to avoid hitting pedestrians.

“If you can’t do those three things, you shouldn’t be driving a car. If you can’t wear a mask and wash your hands and social distance, I’ve got no respect for you, man. I don’t buy your argument.’’ (Contactmusic)

ilmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has irked fans of Telugu superstar Pawan Kalyan with his new film that reportedly parodies the actor. The fans attacked Varmas office in the city to express their ire.

The group of fans smashed window panes of Varma’s office by pelting stones, reports indiatoday. in.

The anger of the fans is owing to Varma’s parody film titled “Power Star”, which is said to be loosely based on Pawan Kalyan’s life and his failed political career. The actor’s fans have been slamming Varma on social media ever since he announced the film, which is slated to release on his official website, RGV World.

The filmmaker has filed a complaint with the Jubilee Hills police in the city after the attack. According to reports, six men have been detained in relation to the case.

Talking about the attack, Varma said: “This is a democratic country and I have the right to make a film. I kept insisting that this is a fictional movie and not related to anyone, but they’re making a mess out of it. No one can stop me from releasing the film on my platform.” (IANS)

K

currently staying, in order to help him.

Kim - who has North, seven, Saint, four, Chicago, two, and Psalm, 14 months, with the ‘Heartless’ rapper - was said to have been concerned about her husband’s behaviour for some time, and earlier this month she

flew out to join him in the Dominican Republic because of her worries, but had to leave to get back to their children. After that, without any warning, Kanye flew to South Carolina for his rally.

Earlier this week, the brunette beauty spoke in

‘Avatar 2’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ among films delayed again

“A

vatar 2” and “ To p G u n : Maverick” are among the movies that have suffered fresh delays due to the coronavirus pandemic. A number of films have been delayed again because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Disney has pushed back the release of the upcoming ‘Avatar 2’ and ‘Star Wars’ movies to 2022 and 2023 respectively, while the live-action adaptation of ‘Mulan’ has been removed from the release schedule completely.

Meanwhile, Paramount has pushed back ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘A Quiet Place 2’ until 2021.

The ‘Avatar’ sequel has been subject to a number of delays and director James Cameron has addressed fans about the project being moved back by a year.

The 65-year-old filmmaker wrote: ‘’As many of you are aware, due to COVID-19, we were forced into an unexpected lengthy delay in starting the live-action filming we are currently doing in New Zealand. ‘’What most of you likely do not know is that the pandemic is still preventing us from being allowed to recommence most of our virtual production work on stages in Los Angeles. That work is just as critical to the films as the live-action work. ‘’Prior to the COVID-

detail about how ‘’powerless’’ she is to persuade Kanye to seek help for his bipolar disorder unless he chooses to do so himself.

She said in a lengthy statement: ‘’As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder. Anyone who has this or has a loved

OFFICE OF THE

SHENA OLD UNION DIMAPUR AREA Dist. Dimapur, Nagaland

Motto : "Unity our Shield"

FELICITATION With immense pride and honour, the Shena Old Union Dimapur Area (SOUDA) convey our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Bonoto Achumi, S/o Dr. P. Toiho Sema & Er. Kahuli Sema for securing Top-2 position from Royal Global School, Guwahati in the recent CBSE Class 12 examination.

The Union wishes and pray for his successful career with good health & wisdom.

Chairman Gen. Secretary SOUDA SOUDA

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on their 10th anniversary, where he revealed how proud he was of them and all they had achieved together.

Harry tweeted: ‘’I’ve been struggling to put into words how grateful I am for everything that’s happened over the last ten years. I’ve seen things and places that I’d only ever dreamt of when I was growing up. ‘’I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working

with some of the most incredible people, and gained friendships that I know I will treasure for the rest of my life. None of this would be possible without the support you’ve given along the way. And for that, I will be forever thankful. I just can’t believe it’s been ten years. Thank you to our crew, our team, and everyone else who helped us along the way. To all the fans, I love you, and I thank you with all my heart. You did it all, and you changed everything. And finally.. to the boys, I love you so much, and I couldn’t be prouder of everything we achieved together. Here’s to ten. H (sic).’’

Louis, Niall and Liam all shared their own messages about the anniversary on social media. (Contactmusic)

one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand. I’ve never spoken publicly about how this has affected us at home because I am very protective of our children and Kanye’s right to privacy when it comes to his health. ‘’But today, I feel like I should comment on it because of the stigma and misconceptions about mental health. Those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behavior know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor. People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.’’

(Contactmusic)

OFFICE OF THE

SHENA OLD STUDENTS' UNION H.Q. Zunheboto, P.O. Satakha

FELICITATION

19, everything was on track to bring you the first sequel in December of 2021. Unfortunately, due to the impact that the pandemic has had on our schedule it is no longer possible for us to make that date.’’

A Disney spokesperson told Deadline: ‘’Over the last few months, it’s become clear that nothing can be set in stone when it comes to how we release films during this global health crisis, and today that means pausing our release plans for ‘Mulan’ as we assess how we can most effectively bring this film to audiences around

the world.’’

Paramount’s head of distribution Chris Aronson wants audiences to see the upcoming films in cinemas.

He said: ‘’We truly believe that there is no movie-viewing experience like the one enjoyed in theatres. ‘’We are committed to the theatrical experience and our exhibition partners, and want to stress that we are confident that, when the time comes, audiences, will once again enjoy the singular joy of seeing Paramount films on the big screen.’’ (Contactmusic)

The Shena Old Students' Union takes immense pride in cogratulating Mr. Bonoto Achumi, S/o Dr. P. Toiho Sema and Mrs. Er. Kahuli Sema, for securing Top 2 Rank 96.4% (Humanities) from Royal Global School, Guwahati, Assam in the recently declared All India Senior School Certificate Examination 2020 result conducted by CBSE. The Union wishes him the best and pray that the Almighty God bless and guide him to reach greater heights in his future endeavours.

(PITO SWU) (KALIVI A. ACHUMI) President Secretary

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S

imon Cowell feels ‘’lucky’’ to have met One Direction. The music mogul put together the boy band - which comprises of Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson - 10 years ago after they appeared on ‘X Factor’ as solo artists, and to mark their tenth anniversary, he remembered the ‘’special’’ day.

Alongside a picture of himself with the band, celebrating getting through the next round of the show, he wrote: ‘’Today is a very special day. I was lucky enough to meet five guys.

Who were so much fun.

So talented. It feels like 10 minutes ago. And you made it happen.’’

E l s ew h e r e, H a r r y Styles paid tribute to his One Direction bandmates

anye West is reportedly refusing to see his wife, Kim Kardashian West.

The ‘All Day’ hitmaker has sparked concern in recent days with a string of erratic social media posts and a bizarre appearance at a rally for his presidential campaign in South Carolina - during which he wept hysterically as he and his spouse had planned to abort their eldest child and criticised activist Harriet Tubman - and it’s now been claimed he’s had very little communication with the ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ star this week.

Sources told TMZ that Kim has made attempts to talk to her husband about his mental state but he is ‘’not receptive’’ and he’s dismissed her suggestions she fly out to their Wyoming ranch, where he’s

CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE

We , t h e D i m a p u r Boktilar Telongjem (Khar) is honoured to extend our heartiest congratulations to Miss. Chokjenchila T. Jamir, daughter of Mr. Tarepmongba Jamir and Mrs. Rev. Tajenlemla Walling for securing 95% in Grade X from Livingstone Foundation International School, Dimapur in the recent CBSE Examination, 2020.

The Telongjem further wishes and prays that the Almighty God guide and grant her great success in her future endeavours.

Dimapur Boktilar Telongjem DP-3297 K Y M C

Liverpool’s Lovren set for Zenit move Lo n d o n, J u l 2 4 ( Ag e n c i e s ) : D e j a n Lovren’s six-year stay at Liverpool is coming to an end with Zenit St. Petersburg closing in on a €12 million (£10.9m/$9.4m) deal to sign the Croatian.

The Russian club have made their move to sign the 31-year-old, with talks already at an advanced stage. The transfer is expected to be finalised after Liverpool’s final game of the Premier League season away at Newcastle on Sunday.

Lovren has been with the Reds since 2014 but made it clear he was ready to move this summer in search of regular first-team football.

The former Southampton man is behind both Joe Gomez and Joel Matip in the Anfield pecking order, and has made only 15 appearances in all competitions this season. His last start came at Watford in February, when Jurgen Klopp’s side were beaten for the first time in the Premier League this season.

Zenit expressed their interest in signing Lovren back in May, though reports in Russia suggest-

Dejan Lovren

ing he may be available for a knockdown price or even on a free transfer were quickly dismissed by Liverpool, who took up an option to extend the defender’s contract by a year in order to protect his value.

Roma were another club to have been linked, having tried to sign him on loan last year, while there have also been enquiries from at least two Premier League clubs during the last six months.

Lovren had earlier

Pak ready to play bilateral series with India, says Mani

Dele available for Spurs trip to Crystal Palace

Ehsan Mani

Lahore, Jul 24 (IANS): Pakistan are ready to play a bilateral series with India whenever the latter is ready, but they won’t be running after them for a series, said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani.

“I have taken the view, and I have let it be known to the BCCI, that we are always there to play, but we are not going to be running after them. It is their call, when they are ready to play, we will be willing to play,” Mani said during a discussion with cricket authors Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their podcast ‘Oborne & Heller On Cricket.’

“It’s a great pity. When India and Pakistan play, there is no other cricket match in the world that is

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

followed as closely or as passionately. I have been told anywhere between 200 and 250 million people watch when India and Pakistan play in the ICC events.

Clearly, the public wants it but the politicians in some countries don’t,” Mani said.

While the two countries have faced each other numerous times in multi-nation tournaments organised by the International Cricket Council or the Asian Cricket Council, India and Pakistan have not faced each other in a bilateral series since Pakistan’s 2012/13 tour of India for two T20Is and three ODIs. The last time the two sides played a Test series against each other was when Pakistan toured India for a three-match series in 2007/08.

Lo n d o n, J u l 2 4 (Agencies): Tottenham will have Dele Alli available for the final game of the Premier League season at Crystal Palace, Jose Mourinho has confirmed.

Alli has missed the last five games with a hamstring injury but is ready to start in Sunday’s game at Selhurst Park.

“All good apart from (Tanguy) Ndombele, everybody is ready, including Dele Alli,” Mourinho said on Friday. “He’s ready, he worked with the team all week, he is ready.”

Mourinho also revealed there will be a change in his backroom staff this summer.

Ricardo Formosinho is leaving the club to pursue a head coach role and Mourinho has voiced his intent to appoint a young coach with a connection to the club, which is to be announced soon.

“Ricardo is leaving and he’s leaving because he feels he would like to have one of his last opportunities, probably because of his age, to be a head coach,” Mourinho said.

admitted that he has struggled to accept being fourth choice under Klopp.

“It has been a test for me,” he said.

“But in these moments, I think you should stick with the team even more, to show your quality even if you are not on the pitch with the first XI. The next day in training, you should give everything, just to respect your teammates.”

“Of course, it’s not the happiest moment when I see myself on the bench, but it’s the decision of the manager. I respect it and I am always the guy who will work 200 per cent behind closed doors. It’s just part of football. If 20 players could play, it would be nice, but there are only 11 places. Whoever is in the best shape will play and that’s fair enough.”

Lovren’s departure will leave Liverpool light on centre-back options.

Matip and Gomez have shared duties alongside Virgil van Dijk this season, but both have a history of injury problems - Matip is ruled out for the rest of this campaign with a foot problem.

2020/21 PL season to begin on September 12

Lampard escapes punishment after foul-mouthed rant aimed at Klopp

Lo n d o n, J u l 2 4 (IANS): The 2020/21 season of the Premier League will start on September 12 this year and the final match day will take place on May 23, 2021, the league announced on Friday.

The league however did not announce a fixture list, which according to reports in the British media is expected closer to the start date.

“Premier League Shareholders today agreed to start the 2020/21 Premier League season on 12 September, 2020. The final match round of the campaign will take place on 23 May, 2021. The Premier League will continue to consult The FA (Football Association) and EFL (English Football League) regarding the scheduling of all domestic competitions,” said the league in its statement.

The last match day of the ongoing 2019/20 season will be played on July 26. The season had to be halted for over three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lo n d o n, J u l 2 4 (IANS): Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has reportedly escaped punishment from his club following his foul-mouthed rant aimed at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his assistant manager during the two teams’ Premier League clash recently.

During the first half of the contest at Anfield, Lampard was seen engaging in a heated argument with Klopp and his number two Pep Lijnders, before fourth official stopped the verbal altercation.

Lampard used cuss words after Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita was felled near the Chelsea box by Mateo Kovacic. Lampard wasn’t happy with the foul being given and also something that was said by Lijnders, who was sitting on the Liverpool bench, behind Klopp. Lampard was heard using abusive language towards Lijnders and when Klopp tried to intervene, the former Chelsea midfielder used cuss words for him as well.

To make matters worse for Lampard, Trent Alex-

Lo n d o n, J u l 2 4 (Agencies): Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel says the criticism being levelled at his Manchester United counterpart David de Gea was building a “dangerous nar-

rative”.

With Leicester set to meet United on Sunday, Schmeichel said media coverage of De Gea’s performances could give viewers the impression the Spaniard was constantly making mis-

takes. “That’s sometimes quite a dangerous narrative because all of a sudden it starts building momentum and for someone like David, I really feel for him because he’s been unbelievable for so many years and every goal-

S y d n e y, J u l 2 4 (Agencies): In tennis, every single year, players and fans look forward to the Grand Slams. But every four years, players from all sports look forward to one of the biggest events ever – the Olympics. World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty has just talked about how she can’t wait to play at the Olympics.

As reported by the ITF, Australian tennis star Ashleigh Barty talked a lot about playing the Olympics and also watching many other events at the Games K Y M C

as she wants to support her country’s athletes. She said, “I can’t wait. There is no better feeling than representing Australia and it will be my first Olympic Games. I’d obviously love to bring home a gold medal for my country! As a sport lover, I’m also hoping to spend some time watching and supporting Australia’s other athletes.”

The Olympics was scheduled to happen this year in Tokyo, Japan. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was postponed to 2021. Nobody

keeper goes through periods (of poor form),” he added.

“There’s a lot of pressure also in the sense that you now have an England goalkeeper (Henderson) coming through and, like it or not, in this country when

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

being arrogant in their victory. “For me, it wasn’t a foul from Kovacic, and there were a lot of things that weren’t going our way. But I’ve not got a problem with Jurgen Klopp. The way he’s managed this team has been fantastic,” Lampard told Sky Sports.

“Fair play to Liverpool Football Club, they’ve won the league, but also don’t get too arrogant with it. That was my point, but it’s done.

In match play, you can get emotional and that was it,” he added.

“For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” We the bereaved family of Late GHOHENI ACHUMI would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all those who stood by us through physically, morally, financially, materially and spiritually during illness and a sad demise of our beloved.

We would like to convey our special gratitude to:1. Doctors, nurses and staff CIHSR Dimapur.

2. Doctors, nurses and staff Apollo Hospital Guwahati.

3. Doctors, nurses and staff Faith Hospital Dimapur.

4. Dr. Sukhato A. Sema Retd. Principal Director and Family.

5. Chekiye Village Baptist Church.

6. Chekiye Village Council.

7. Chekiye Village Block V. 8. Children Department Chekiye Village.

9. Kichilimi Baptist Church.

10. Kichilimi Kuqhakulu Dimapur Area.

11. Sumi Welfare Geology and Mining Department.

12. All relatives, neighbours, friends and well wishers.

We deeply regret our inability to thank each and everyone individually but we pray that God bless you all abundantly.

Loving Husband, Children and Relatives

OF LATE VIZOTUONO MARY

Colossians 3:3

DP-3305

you have an English goalkeeper, that means so much and they do tend to build them up.”

“I genuinely hope for someone like Henderson that he can be allowed to develop,” he said.

1ST DEATH ANNIVERSARY

25/07/2019 It has been a year since you left us for your heavenly abode.

The pain of losing you never fades away. Remembering your good deeds, good moral and your love that you left behind, we miss you and love you.

Loving family members.

K-1268

1st DEATH ANNIVERSARY Late Pusayi Lohe

1 April 1919 – 25th July 2019 st

Apotsa, A year had gone since you left for eternity, Yet those memories of you still brings us smile, You always meant so much to us and will always do, The fact that you are no longer here will always cause pain, But you'll always be remembered in our hearts until we meet again.

Born : 03/03/1966 Died : 14/07/2020

DP-3292

Loving wife, children, grand children and great-grand children

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

DP-3308

Ashleigh Barty

ander-Arnold converted from the free-kick to help Liverpool go 2-0 up. Chelsea eventually lost the match 3-5 and it saw them drop to fourth on the Premier League table.

According to The Times, Chelsea won’t be punishing Lampard for his touchline behaviour despite his choice of words going viral on social media.

Following the end of the match, Lampard had warned champions Liverpool against complacency and also urged them against

Leicester keeper Schmeichel defends under-fire De Gea

Ashleigh Barty confirms appearance at 2021 Olympics was happy about this as they were looking forward to the event which happens only once every four years.

At the Olympics, Australia has managed to win only a single gold medal in tennis which was won way back in 1996. Ashleigh Barty certainly wants to add another gold in 2021 and possibly more in the future editions of the Olympic Games.

While the Australian certainly wants to do this, that is not going to be her main focus right now. She is going to focus on the WTA Tour which is restarting after many months.

The new schedule is an extremely grueling one with events being played almost every week.

After winning the 2019 French Open last year, Barty will want to do very well on the Tour and possibly win another Slam.

Her next opportunity to do it will be at the US Open but she has not confirmed her participation. Hopefully, she will play the event and more importantly, win the title.

Lampard and Klopp were involved in a touchline argument during Chelsea's defeat at Liverpool.

Born on 16-12-1979 :: Died on 02-07-2020 Through this esteemed column, we the family members of Lt. Mrs. Thenukrono Koza (Zheto) of Toluvi Village take this privilege to express our heartfelt gratitude to various organisations and every individuals far and near who stood by us during our sad moment and showered your love and assistance.

We are unable to repay your kind deeds but will remain indebted to you forever. God bless you all.

Loving husband, children and relatives DP-3301 K Y M C

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Juventus made to wait for Serie A title net but goalkeeper Juan Musso pushed it wide just in time.

Musso also did well to turn away a Paulo Dybala shot and Cristiano Ronaldo was close from long range before Juve broke the deadlock three minutes before halftime.

A Udinese clearance landed at the feet of De Ligt and the Dutchman took one touch and drove a low shot into the net from 25 metres.

However, Udinese

found a deserved equaliser seven minutes after the restart. Sema swung a cross over to the far post where Nestorovski met it with a diving header which flew into the net.

Udinese defended doggedly before snatching the winner on the break.

Ivorian Fofana collected a loose ball on the halfway line, charged forward, nutmegged De Ligt and slotted his shot under Wojciech Szczesny to give his side a memorable win.

Lazio book Champions League spot

Players of Juventus and Udinese vie for the ball during their Serie A match.

UDINE, Jul 24 (Agencies): Juventus must wait to claim a ninth successive Serie A title after they slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat at lowly Udinese on Thursday after Seko Fofana scoring a stoppage-time winner with a solo goal.

Needing a victory to wrap up the title with three games to spare, Juve produced another strangely subdued performance but went ahead with a longrange shot by defender Matthijs de Ligt three minutes before halftime.

However, Ilija Nestorovski’s diving header and Fofana’s superb individual effort stunned the Turin side on a stifling evening.

Juventus, who have won only one of their last five games and have dropped 18 points from winning positions this season, stay on 80 points followed by Atalanta with 74 and Inter Milan on 73 with three games each to play.

The win took Udinese up to 15th place on 39 points, seven points clear of the relegation zone.

It was the latest twist in an extraordinary title race which has seen three of the four contenders repeatedly drop points. Inter have won only two of their last six matches and Lazio had taken one point from a possible 15 before Thursday.

Juventus had a lucky escape when Danilo headed Ken Sema’s cross against the post while Udinese’s Bram Nuytinck was also spared embarrassment when his back pass almost trickled into the

Tyson to make boxing comeback in Sep

Mike Tyson L o nd o n, J u l 2 4 (IANS): Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has announced that he will be coming out of retirement and will fight Roy Jones Jr. in an eightround exhibition match on September 12 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles.

On his Legends Only League website, Tyson has announced the bout against Jones Jr., a 51-

year-old fighter. “It’s just going to be amazing,” the 54-year-old said. Jones last fought in 2018.

Tyson, who became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time when he defeated Trevor Berbick in 1986 aged 20, won 50 of his 58 professional fights before retiring after his loss to Kevin McBride in 2005.

In May, Tyson had teased fans about his pos-

sible comeback to the ring by posting a cryptic message on social media.

In a video put on Instagram, Tyson was seen growling through a workout hitting the pads. “Anything is possible when you are smart about it. Train Smart. Recover Smarter,” he had written as the caption.

Towards the end of the video, he said: “I am back.”

Lazio claimed a Champions League place, ending a 13-year absence from the competition, when they came from behind to beat Cagliari 2-1 in Serie A on Thursday following five games without a win.

Serie A leading scorer Ciro Immobile netted the winner with his 31st goal of the season as Lazio, fourth with 72 points, clinched the final Italian place in Europe’s elite club competition next season.

With three games left to play, Lazio still have a mathematical chance of overhauling leaders Juventus, who lost 2-1 at Udinese on Thursday and have 80 points.

Cagliari forward Joao Pedro scored with a stunning free kick early on but it was disallowed because the referee had signalled it was indirect.

Lazio were kept at bay by Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno and were caught out when Giovanni Simeone gave the Sardinians the lead with a deflected shot at the end of the first half.

However, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic volleyed Lazio level two minutes after the break and, after hitting the post with a shot on the turn, Immobile latched on to Luis Alberto’s through ball to slot the winner past Cragno on the hour.

Croatia extend coach Dalic’s contract Zagreb, Jul 24 (IANS): Zlatko Dalic has signed a new contract with Croatia’s national football team, extending his stay as head coach to the end of 2022 FIFA World Cup, Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has announced.

The 53-year-old has been at the helm since October 2017, leading the team to an historic FIFA World Cup final in 2018, reports Xinhua news agency. “I’m very glad that we agreed to cooperate until the 2022 Qatar tournament,” said HNS president Davor Suker, adding that the federation will provide “maximum working conditions” for Dalic and the team. Dalic also praised the HNS’s work and revealed chasing the trophy at the 2022 FIFA World Cup inspired him to make the decision. “As long as I have lots of motivation, energy and ambition, I will lead the team full of pride,” Dalic said on the HNS’s official website.

‘Tokyo Olympics must be simple and safe’

A man walks in front of mascots for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics at a park in Tokyo.

S Y D N E Y, J u l 2 4 (Agencies): Senior Olympic official John Coates has reiterated that Tokyo must stage a simplified Summer Games next year with the health and safety of athletes the most important consideration in the planning.

Australian Coates heads up the Inter national Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Tokyo 2020 Games, which

have been postponed until 2021 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“The good news is that all 42 Games’ venues ... have been resecured.

The competition schedule is the same,” the IOC Vice President wrote in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph on Friday, a day after the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony.

“But we must reduce the cost impact of postponement as well as sim-

plify the Games to ensure they can be organised efficiently, safely and sustainably, in this new context.

With one year to go, there is no clear picture of what shape the simplified Games will take. The situation with COVID-19, both domestically and internationally, is constantly changing.”

Coates wrote that putting in place counter-measures against COVID-19 would be no easy task but welcomed the top level

commitment from the Japanese government, Tokyo regional government and Games organising committee to get it done.

“The IOC and our Japanese partners ... are doing everything in their power to ensure that not only will the Games go ahead next year, but the athletes remain first and foremost in all our planning,” he added.

“Yes, we want the athletes of the world to have their Olympic moment of competition, just as they would have dreamt. But critically, they must experience that moment in an environment where their health and safety ... is assured.”

Coates is also President of the Australian Olympic Committee and added that the reaction of his country’s athletes to the postponement had been “inspirational”.

“All athletes with a Tokyo dream in their hearts have had to recalibrate their plans for a Games ... they have demonstrated remarkable resilience in making that adjustment,” he wrote.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2020

ATP, WTA cancel all tennis tourneys in China New York, Jul 24 (IANS): All tennis tournaments slated to be held in China this year, including the Shanghai Masters and the WTA Finals, have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ATP and WTA announced on Friday.

This comes after the directive, issued earlier this month by the General Administration of Sport in China, which mandates that no international sporting events will proceed in China for the remainder of the year.

Apart from the Shanghai Masters, the China Open in Beijing as well as the Chengdu Open and Zhuhai Championships will not take place in 2020, said ATP. Among the seven WTA events cancelled is the China Open, Wuhan Open, Jiangxi Open, Zhengzhou Open, Elite Trophy and Guangzhou Open.

“We are extremely disappointed that our worldclass events in China will not take place this year,” stated Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO in an official statement.

“Unfortunately, this decision also includes the cancellation of the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen and as result, the Porsche Race to Shenzhen.”

Hopeful to have sporting events from Sep or Oct: Rijiju New Delhi, Jul 24 (IANS): Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has said that he hopes sporting activities in the country, which have been on a standstill since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume by September of October.

Rijiju recently attended the Ministerial Forum of Commonwealth countries to share India’s road to resumption of sport, post COVID-19 pandemic, and also to contribute to the creation of a collaborative sports policy in the post pandemic era. Speaking at the global forum, which saw participation from all Commonwealth countries, Rijiju said, “As members of Commonwealth nations we need to stand in solidarity on all issues, especially at a time like this. I am glad to be on this forum with all other Commonwealth nations to collaborate on the way forward.”

“Most of the points raised here by ministers from other countries are similar to that of India’s. However, there are some significant learnings and achievements that we have had during this period, which I would like to share.”

However, in the second phase of lockdown, on-ground training and con-

Kiren Rijiju ducting sporting activities will be the focus of the Indian government, he reiterated. “The government has allowed some sporting activities with certain restrictions while following a stringent SOP, the guidelines that must be followed by every sporting organisation.”

“I am happy to inform that the training of our elite, Olympic-bound athletes has begun in specialised camps, recently. I have also spoken to the sports ministers of all states and union territories, as well as the National Sports Federations and asked them to slowly resume some sporting events.

We need that to boost the confidence of people.”

“I am hopeful India will have sporting events from September or October, even the big leagues in various sports are considering resumption,” the Sports Minister added.

Henderson named FWA Footballer of the Year Liverpool, Jul 24 (IANS): Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson on Friday won the prestigious Football Writers’ Association’s (FWA) Footballer of the Year award. Henderson was the driving force in the Liverpool midfield that saw them clinch their first topflight title in 30 years.

Henderson was named as the winner of the annual prize ahead of Kevin de Bruyne (Man City), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd) and teammates Virgil Van Dijk and Sadio Mane.

“I’d like to say how appreciative I am of the support of those who voted for me and the Football Writers’ Association in general. You only have to look at the past winners of it, a number of whom I’ve been blessed to play with here at Liverpool, like Stevie [Gerrard], Luis [Suarez] and Mo [Salah] to know how prestigious it is,” Henderson was quoted as saying by Liverpool’s official website.

“But as grateful as I am I don’t feel like I can

accept this on my own.

I don’t feel like anything I’ve achieved this season or in fact during my whole career has been done on my own. I owe a lot to so many different people - but none more so than my current teammates - who have just been incredible and deserve this every bit as much as I do,” he added.

The title completes a full circle for Henderson, who has lifted multiple titles with Liverpool in the last couple of years. Under his leadership, ‘The Reds’ have won the Champions League, Premier League, Super Cup and also Club World Cup. Henderson becomes only the 12th Liverpool player to win the prize, after Ian Callaghan (1974), Kevin Keegan (1976), Emlyn Hughes (1977), Kenny Dalglish (1979 and 1983), Terry McDermott (1980), Ian Rush (1984), John Barnes (1988 and 1990), Steve Nicol (1989), Steven Gerrard (2009), Luis Suarez (2014) and Mohamed Salah (2018).

S Korea set to allow fans back in stadiums

IPL set to start on Sep 19; final on Nov 8

Seoul, Jul 24 (IANS): South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Friday stated they are looking to welcome back spectators into stadiums in limited capacity from August.

The government is looking to restore a bit of normalcy after coronavirus pandemic hit the entire world hard and stopped all sport across the world.

South Korea’s basketball and football leagues returned after COVID-19 stoppage in May but fans had to be content with following the action at home.

According to a report in world.kbs.co.kr, Only 10 percent seats have been directed to be sold for matches as fans will have to maintain strict social distancing protocols.

Every spectator will be checked for temperature before entering the stadiums and wearing face masks have been made mandatory. Also, fans have been banned from eating and drinking during the games and also from excessive shouting.

New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI): The eagerly-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated on November 8, well-placed BCCI sources have told PTI. While the IPL Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

“IPL, in all likelihood, will start on September 19 (Saturday) and the final will be held on November 8 (Sunday). It is a 51-day

Jordan Henderson

window which will suit the franchises as well as the broadcasters and other stakeholders,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity on Thursday night.

The IPL has been made possible by the ICC’s decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.

While there was speculation that the IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order

to ensure that the Indian team’s tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

“The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire,” the official said.

“The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and there will be much less double headers. We could stick to original five double headers in seven week window,” he added.

The Indians are set to play a four-match Test series against Australia starting December 3 in Brisbane.

It is expected that with each and every team needing at least a month’s time to train, the IPL franchises will be leaving base by August 20 which gives them exactly four weeks time to prepare. The cash-rich event was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that were put in place to contain the virus, led to an indefinite postponement.

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