June 22, 2020

Nagaland Post

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Vol XXX No. 196

DIMAPUR, MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020 Pages 12 ` 5.00

Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-1 in EPL sports, Page 12

3 returnees detained after sneaking out of QC

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Beijing tests millions for COVID-19

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international, Page 9

Manipur: BJP-NPP Oppn demand Parl panel meeting pursuing to patch up on Galwan incident; BJP opposes to brief the panel on the violence faceoff.”

Former Home Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said all top officials who could throw light on the incident should be called to brief the members.

But BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi said political leaders from across parties should stand united with the government in a time of crisis. She also said there was politics behind this demand at such a moment.

“To fight the Chinese wall, political leaders should stand united with the government as a firewall and avoid propaganda and politics,” Lekhi said. Wondering why MPs from opposition parties didn’t demand a meeting of the standing committee amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she asserted that “there is definitely politics behind this meeting (call).”

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu have asked the secretary generals to explore the possibility of arranging a meeting via video-conference.

PM’s remark endorsed China’s stand: Cong

DIMAPUR, JUN 21 (NPN): Three returnees housed in a government quarantine centre (QC) at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) Jalukie-B, sneaked out but were later caught and transferred to police quarantine/detention facility for violating quarantine protocols.

In the first incident, that happened on June 20, a returnee who was lodged in one of the JNV quarantine blocks under “containment”, was caught by police when he sneaked out to buy some items from a shop.

It was learnt that the inmate had met one of his friends outside the facility.

The inmate, along with his

friend, was later taken to the police quarantine facility.

In another incident, on June 21, two more inmates of one of the non-containment JNV quarantine blocks had sneaked out to get “home food”. However, when some youth volunteers discovered the duo, they were warned to return to the QC. Sources said the duo had come in contact with two other persons outside the QC and the latter were sent to the community quarantine facility while the duo who sneaked out, were shifted to police quarantine facility.

When contacted, police and district officials confirmed the incidents. They said the first case involved a returnee sneaking out from a block that was under

IMPHAL, JUN 21 (AGENCEIS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National People’s Party (NPP) are pursuing the possibility of patching up in Manipur to bring the N. Biren government back on rails.

The NPP, which had four MLAs in the BJP-led coalition government, had pulled out on June 17 along with five other legislators, including three of the BJP. This reduced the Biren government to a minority, but the BJP pulled off the Rajya Sabha election two days later with the support of a few MLAs of the Opposition Congress, which had staked claim to form an alternative coalition government.

On Sunday, Meghalaya chief minister and NPP national president Conrad K. Sangma and Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took a special flight to Manipur capital Imphal to hammer out an agreement between the legislators of the two parties.

The outcome of the meeting was not immediately known, but leaders of both parties exuded confidence of “carrying on

from where we left off ”.

Officials said the two had checked into a high-end hotel designated as an institutional quarantine centre for a meeting with key leaders of both parties in Manipur.

Former chief minister and senior Congress leader O Ibobi insisted that the BJP-led government had lost majority and said a trial of strength would make things clear. He was also critical of Governor Najma Heptulla for taking time in summoning a special session of the Assembly.

Officials said Sangma and Sarma were not required to be quarantined as they were scheduled to fly out the same day. On the other hand, two Congress leaders — former Union minister Ajay Maken and Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi— have been in quarantine in an Imphal hotel since their arrival on June 18.

Maken said they had booked the quarantine facility in advance for a long stay. However, local Congress leaders have not been able to meet them at the hotel for discussing party matters.

NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the external affairs should be called at the earliest and briefed by the Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and other top officials on the violent face-off with China in which 20 Indian soldiers died, several panel members from the Opposition parties said on Sunday.

However, panel members from the ruling party termed the demand an act of politics and said it wouldn’t be feasible to call the meeting when the country was grappling with COVID-19 crisis.

The committee is chaired by former Union Minister and BJP MP PP Chaudhary.

Following the Galwan incident, members from various Opposition parties demanded that a meeting of the standing committee on external affairs be called to discuss the matter.

The RSP MP, NK Premchandran, a member of the panel, said: “A meeting has to be called at the earliest as it is an issue of national importance. Foreign secretary and defense secretary should be invited

NSUD seeks reexamination of beneficiary list

DoNER ministry sanctions `190 cr to augment healtcare facilities in NE

5.1 magnitude quake hits NE

Nagaland COVID tally at 211 with 10 new cases

View of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Jalukie-B. (Facebook)

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, JUN 21 (NPN): Naga Students’ Union Delhi (NSUD) has called for re-examination of the beneficiary list of Chief Minister Special Package announced on May 20 as there are listed beneficiaries who have not received any benefit till date.

In a representation to Nagaland chief minister, NSUD president Hinoto P Aomi and general secretary Isaac Charenamei regretted that despite repeated requests by various student bodies, the State government failed to take up the matter with seriousness.

They said the special package had lapsed, but the plight of stranded Nagas have not, adding receipt of complaints and queries regarding the package were stopped even before the beneficiaries could avail the fund.

Mentioning that there were still patients trying to meet their medical expenses even has some of them had already reached home by enduring untold sufferings throughout their stay and journey, the union regretted the delay by the government in paying the stranded people as upon reaching home they would not qualify for receiving the benefit.

Spl. Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (NPN): Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh Sunday reviewed the COVID status and healthcare facility in “Aspirational” districts with special focus on North East. He also disclosed that in the wake of COVID pandemic, DoNER ministry has decided to sanction Rs.190 crore for augmentation of healthcare facility in the eight North Eastern states, particularly for developing infrastructure for management of infectious diseases.

Addressing a virtual meeting, attended by the Health secretaries as well as Deputy Commissioners and Health officials of the 14 Aspirational districts of North East, Dr. Singh said,

“containment zone” and the other two were from another block of JNV QC. There have been reports of unruly behaviour of some among the thousands of returnees presently quarantined at various facilities throughout the state over quality of food, accommodation and enforcement of rules under Standard Operating Procedures.

The state government has spent a huge amount as financial assistance to the returnees while some who chose to remain and not return were paid Rs.10,000 each. In addition, the government arranged for travel back home and also the food and lodging facilities at various facilities. Social media is rife with clips of unruly returnees protesting against being confined inside the facilities.

There are also reports that returnees often slip out of the quarantine centres, to either roam around or shop.

This has led to deep concern among many people who fear that such occurrences could only lead to a critical stage of community transmission.

the concept of Aspirational District was based on 49 key indicators, of which the status of healthcare was an important component.

Through a scientifically designed mechanism, each Aspirational District was to focus on improving these key indicators and raise its rating viz-a-viz the best performing district of the State and the best performing district of the country in the given indicators, he added.

An important experience from the COVID pandemic, said Dr Jitendra Singh, is that in future, preemptive preparedness for epidemic and infection was imperative for optimum healthcare. Considering this, he said the DoNER ministry has given the North Eastern States the option to send proposals for health related projects to be funded

up to over Rs. 500 crore from North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NEISDS), under the ministry.

Accordingly, he said, proposals have been received from the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Mizoram and Nagaland, while the proposal from the eighth State of Tripura was awaited.

Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that long before the lockdown, in the very early stage of impending Corona pandemic, the Ministry of North East (DoNER) had promptly released Rs.25 crores as an immediate assistance for gap-funding.

This was later followed by the option to avail from over Rs. 500 crore North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NEISDS) fund.

This is it!

This combo picture shows various phases of the eclipse as seen in the sky from Delhi. (PTI)

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Nagaland COVID-19 STATUS as ON June 21, 2020 COVID HOSPITAL

Total Cases

Dimapur DH AR Hospital Dimapur Kohima NHAK Kohima Chedema Jakhama Army Hospital Mon DH Peren CHC Jalukie Tuensang DH Wokha DH Zunheboto DH Kiphire DH Longleng DH Mokokchung IMDH Phek DH State Total

119 10 28 13 1 23 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 211

DIMAPUR, JUN 21 (NPN): Nagaland registered 10 fresh COVID-19 positive cases while three more recovered from the infection, taking the state’s tally to 211-- 70 active cases and 141 recovered.

According to Health & Family Welfare minister, S. Pangnyu Phom, the 10 cases were detected out of 308 samples. He said that 7 cases were reported from Kohima quarantine centre

Active Cases Recovered Asymptomatic cases 13 106 3 7 20 8 0 13 1 0 23 0 6 2 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 70 141

(QC), 2 from Tuensang QC and 1 from Phek QC. All the patients were taken to the designated COVID-19 hospitals for treatment.

Further, out for three patients that recovered, 2 were from Kohima and 1 from Dimapur. The recovered patients have been shifted to the COVID care centre. In his daily briefing, principal secretary Home, Abhijit Sinha said out of the 211 cases, four were

in the age-group of 0-17 years, 200 between 18 and 44 years, five between 45 and 64 years and two cases between 65 and 74 years. As per gender classification, he said there were 135 males and 76 females.

Results of 1563 awaited: Meanwhile, out of the 9,447 samples sent for testing till 4 pm on Sunday, results of 7,879 samples had been received, while results of 1,563 samples are awaited.

Also, out of the 9,447 samples, 6,405 samples were sent to BSL-3 lab at Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK), and a total of 5,063 samples tested, of which 152 samples tested positive.

Besides, 2,443 samples were tested by TrueNat machine in which 23 samples tested positive and had been sent for confirmation by RT-PCR. Further, 1,896 samples had tested negative and results of 523 samples are awaited.

India witnesses rare annular solar eclipse India’s COVID-19 tally crosses 4 lakh

(Cont’d on p-8)

“Was told that our department is spending a lot on sanitizers and face masks.”

NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (AGENCIES): An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale, occurred 25 km east-northeast of Aizawl, Mizoram at 16. 24 PM on Sunday. Tremers were also felt in neighbouring states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam.

The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said that an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 was recorded in the region on June 21 with the epicentre being in Mizoram’s Aizawl district.

NCS has marked this earthquake as ‘reviewed’ while confirming that the epicentre was 25 km east North East of Aizawl in Mizoram. The depth of the quake was 35 km while the coordinates of the epicentre are 23.80 (latitude) and 92.26 (longitude).

On June 18, a medium intensity quake pegged at a magnitude of 5 rocked North Eastern states.

Stepping up the offensive against the government on the Ladakh standoff, the Congress on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “endorsed the Chinese position” by saying that there was no intrusion into Indian territory.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the government should not remain in denial.

At an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the situation along the India-China border, Modi had said: Neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured.” It asked where the 20 Indian soldiers were killed if the Chinese military did not come to the Indian side of LAC. “When China violated the LAC and staked claim on the Galwan Valley and you (PM) said no one intruded into Indian territory, you are yourself saying what China is,” Sibal said.

Sibal said the prime minister’s remarks contradict statements made by the defence minister, the external affairs minister and the Army chief.

NEW DELHI/DIMAPUR, JUN 21 (AGENCIES/NPN): Thousands across the country, including Nagaland, were able to observe the annular solar eclipse on June 21, 2020.

From some parts of India, the sight resembled that of the Sun like a ring of fire.

This was the last annular solar eclipse of the decade. With the next solar eclipse visible in India 11 years away in 2031, this

marks a big astronomical event here.

The solar eclipse started from around 9 a.m. across the Indian map as the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth came in a straight line, and the country witnessed the ‘deepest’ annular solar eclipse in over a century and the third eclipse even for this year after first two lunar eclipses took place in January and June. Most parts of India witnessed a partial

solar eclipse, certain states observed the phenomenon of Baily’s Beads.

The maximum coverage of Sun was witnessed in Chandigarh (96.62%) followed by Shimla (96.46%), New Delhi (93.77%), Jaipur (88.46%), Jammu (87.36%), Itanagar (84.40) and Lucknow (84.25%).

Astrologers said it is a fourth super rare hybrid eclipse which is a mix between an annular and total

solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the new Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth, blocking the Sun’s rays to the Earth. The three celestial bodies are in a straight line.

A n a n nu l a r s o l a r eclipse occurs when the apparent size of the moon is only slightly less than the Sun’s - or the Moon almost covers the Sun - leaving only the outer rim of the Sun uncovered, and hence giving the appearance of a “ring of fire” or as a necklace of pearls.

The ring this time was very thin, as the Moon covered over 98.8 per cent of the Sun, making it the deepest annular eclipse of the century in India. The COVID-19 pandemic has dampened the plans of many eclipse chasers trying to capture the event due to curbs on public gathering.

NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): Eight days after recording three lakh COVID19 cases, India went past the four lakh-mark on Sunday with the biggest single-day spike of 15,413 new infections, while the death toll

rose to 13,254 with 306 fatalities, according to Union Health Ministry data.

India took 64 days to cross the one lakh-mark from 100 cases, another fortnight to reach the grim milestone of two lakh cases

and then in another 10 days, it went past the three-lakh mark. The country has been registering record singleday spikes for the past four days.

The jump of 15,413 cases has taken India’s case load to 4,10,461.

The number of recoveries also continued to surge with 2,27,755 patients cured so far, while there were 1,69,451 active cases, according to the updated official figures at 8 am. One patient has migrated.

The number of recovered patients has crossed the number of active patients by 58,305.

During the last 24 hours, a total of 13,925 COVID-19 patients have recovered, taking the recovery rate to 55.49 per cent amongst novel coronavirus patients. India registered over 10,000 cases for the 10th day in a row.

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state

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

‘International Day of Yoga’ observed in Nagaland

Yoga session conducted by Ashok Singh as per yoga protocol on Faculty and staff members during the yoga session held at Zunheboto Battalion observing the day with yoga session in the COVs&VH Jalukie on June 21. local ground.

IDY at Kohima on June 21.

DIMAPUR: Along with the rest of the world, Nagaland observed the International Day of Yoga on June 21 in various districts.

PYSK: Pantajali Yog Samity Kohima (PYSK), promoting yoga for well being of people of the state, conducted “International Day of Yoga” (IDY) on June 21.

A press release from

PYSK, stated that in view of restrictions on public gatherings due to COVID19 pandemic, it celebrated the 6th IDY at Kohima, Nagaland under the Theme “Yoga at home, and yoga with family” on digital media platform connecting members of the Samity and people at home.

The programme was addressed by president, PYSK, Santu Thapa, and

Fire incidents contained at Mokokchung, Dimapur

the yoga session was conducted by Ashok Singh, as per yoga protocol framed

by AYUSH Ministry, India.

The release stated that the ongoing health crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic had affected millions of lives, with mental and psychological impact, being as grave as the physical ailment. In such times, having strong immunity

and sound health was the key to fighting the rapidly spreading disease. Yoga focuses on strengthening the immunity and provide effective, accessible, and affordable means to fight the negative impacts of COVID-19, the release added.

COVSc&AH: Faculty and staff of College of Veterinary Sciences & AH (COVSc&AH),

Jalukie, observed 6th IDY on June 21.

A press release from the college stated that, temperature and oxygen level of all faculty and staff were recorded before entry, using Thermoscan a n d O x i m e t e r. D e a n COVSc&AH, Dr. Arun Kumar Sangwan, briefed about importance of yoga.

The yoga session was conducted by Dr. Uday Um-

rikar, maintaining social distancing norms.

HQ 5 Sector: Battalions of Headquarters 5 Sector Assam Rifles celebrated the day with the theme “My life my yoga”. According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), troops and families of Assam Rifles practiced various yoga exercises and asanas in their homes and place of living following strict

social distancing norms.

1068 personnel comprising all ranks from various Battalion Headquarters and Company Operating Bases, 49 families and 56 children participated.

HQ 6 Sector: Battalions of Headquarters 6 Sector Assam Rifles celebrated with participants who practiced yoga in their respective barracks and family quarters. A to-

tal of 2000 personnel, 500 families and 150 children participated in the event.

HQ 7 Sector: Battalions of Headquarters 7 Sector Assam Rifles observed the day where the exercise was organized in barracks, posts and in quarters.

A total of 2750 including personnel, families and children participated in the yoga sessions.

Phek Battalion clears landslide area

JCB provided by Phek Battalion clearing the landslide area on June 19.

DIMAPUR: Phek Battalion assisted civil administration in clearing landslide on Lephori-Kanjang road on June 19. According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), various stretches between Lephori and Kanjang villages was blocked by landslide

amid heavy rainfall. who was suffering from BDO Wozhuro, Chumthungo Khuvung unveiling the monolith of L. Yanthung village, Guest House on June 20. (DIPR) The road being the gastritis. only medium for vehicular movement was cleared to ensure continuity and hassle-free movement.

Battalion also donated blood to a patient at District Hospital Phek,

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

1 st Death Anniversary of Late Mary Humtsoe

Fire personnel containing fire at Kumlong Ward, Mokokchung on June 21.

DIMAPUR: Fire and Emergency Services Nagaland contained fire incidents at Mokokchung and 4th Mile Diphupar ‘A’ Dimapur respectively on June 21.

Mokokchung: In Mokokchung, fire broke out at Kumlong Ward on June 21 in the morning, whereby Fire and Emergency Services mobilized a quick response team from Fire Station Mokokchung to control the fire.

A press release from F&ES Kohima deputy SP. T. Shilu Jamir stated that two fire tenders along with sufficient fire personnel were pressed into action.

One kutcha house comprising of two rooms and kitchen were completely razed down in the inferno. However due to timely response, the fire was prevented from spreading to the adjoining houses. Cause of fire was due to LPG leakage but no casualty was reported.

The response team was led by duty commander ASI Meyilemba Jamir & ASI Libanthung Humtsoe.

Dimapur: Fire and Emergency Services mobilized a quick response team from Fire Station Chumoukedima & Dimapur (central) to control the fire at 4th Mile Diphupar ‘A’, Dimapur on June 21.

Three fire tenders along with sufficient fire personnel and equipments were dispatched. Due to timely response, the fire K Y M C

was brought under control and also from further spreading.

One Assam type house was completely razed down in the inferno.

Property worth 70 lakhs was destroyed but no casualty was reported. The cause of the fire was due to short circuit.

The response team was led by duty commander ASI Jonaba from Fire Station Chumoukedima & ASI Khamlu Phom from Fire Station Dimapur (central).

It was on this day the 22nd June 2019 you left us for your heavenly abode, leaving us all in grief and pain.

Not a single day goes by without missing you and cherishing the good deeds you had done, it will remain an inspiration for us.

We still can't believe that you are gone forever, but we hope that the memories you left will comfort us always till we meet again in heaven.

Loving Husband, Son & Families DP-2850

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The family of Late G. Vihoto Achumi wishes to acknowledge the many expressions of sympathy and gesture of kindness shown to us following our sad loss.

We offer our heartfelt thanks to all individuals, friends, families, neighbours and well-wishers who supported us morally, physically, materially, financially and through unconditional prayer support during his prolonged illness till his demise.

To those who helped in any way, your contribution made our loss more bearable. We regret not mentioning all.

1. Dimapur Sumi Baptist Church / DSBC Women Ministry/ DSBC Town Area Fellowship.

2. Lazami Social Welfare, Dimapur and Kohima.

3. Lazami Baptist Church.

4. Lazami Village Baptist Church.

5. Women Department SABAK Mission Centre, Pughoboto.

6. Shri. Y. Vikheho Swu, Hon’ble MLA. 7. Dr. Sukhato A. Sema, Faith Hospital, Dimapur.

8. Dr. Victo A. Wotsa, Nikos Hospital & Research Centre, Dimapur.

9. Dr. Kihoto Achumi, Nikos Hospital & Research Born on: 20/05/1948 Centre, Dimapur.

Died on: 11/06/2020 10. Mr &Mrs Shikaho P. Yepthomi (Addl. General Manager, N.S.T).

11. Sumi Aphuyemi Kuqhakulu, Dimapur.

12. N.S.T Colony Council & Youth Wing, Dimapur.

Your loving Wife, Children, Grandchildren and Relatives.

DP-2860

LATE T. NOKRUNBA, HEAD G.B, CHESSORE VILLAGE Born: 10.07.1935 – Died: 18.06.2020 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” Psalm 73:26 The family of LATE T NOKRUNBA, HEAD G.B, CHESSORE VILLAGE, would like to extend and express our words of appreciation and acknowledgement through this column. We offer our heartfelt gratitude and love to family, friends and well-wishers who stood by us during the sickness and untimely demise of our father. We would like to thank everyone who sympathized with us, grieved with us and supported us both physically and morally during these difficult times. It would be incomplete on our part without thanking you all but it may also be hard for us to reach out to each and every one of you individually. We apologize for not being able to do the same but we pray, you will accept this insignificant thanks and appreciation expressed here. We thank you profusely for sending and sharing your love with us and helping us get through these difficult times. We pray that God will show you his favour and bless you all abundantly for the love and support shown towards us at this juncture.

We extend special thanks to following individuals, organizations, churches and institutions; 1. Fraternity of Zion Hospital, Dimapur, Doctors, 11. Huker Village Council nurses and staff 12. Kenuwongru Village 2. Shri. Kekongchim, President ENPO 13. Aiponger Village Council 3. Mr & Mrs Richard Yimto, IPS IGP 14. Shiponger Village Council 4. Mr & Mrs R Tohanba Ex MLA 15. Y.Anner Village Council 5. Mr & Mrs Zungkum Ex Minister 16. Longsoru Village Council 6. Mr & Mrs Toshi Wungtung, Advisor, I&PR, 17. Longtoker Village Council Village Guard 18. Chessore Village Gazetted Officers 7. Yimchunger Baptist Church, Dimapur 19. Chessore Town 8. Naga United Baptist Church, Dimapur 20. Chessore Village Baptist Church 9. Yimchunger Baptist Church, Kohima 21. St. Augustine Church, Chessore 10. Chessore Village Council Loving Family Members DP-2857 K Y M C

nagalandpost.com Poll Q.: Can Indian firms 60% of various items and machineries which are imported from China?

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

A B C

Imnatiba visits NFVPP for Father’s Day celebrated in Kohima verification of land encroachment

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

A

B

Yes No Can’t Say

C

75% 25% 0%

Next poll

Q: Are prices of various

essential items being checked by the govt?  Yes.  No.  Can’t say.

WEATHER FORECAST June 22

(Temperature in ºC)

Max Min

Agartala An afternoon thunderstorm

32 26

Aizawl

Clouds and sun, a few showers 29 21

Guwahati Some sun, then turning cloudy 34 26 Imphal

A touch of morning rain

30 22

Itanagar A t-storm around in the a.m.

29 23

Shillong

A shower or t-storm in spots

25 19

Kohima

Couple of thunderstorms

25 19

Dimapur A t-storm around in the a.m.

Mkg

A thunderstorm in the area

Tuensang A shower and t-storm around Wokha

A thunderstorm in the spots

Zunheboto Clouds and sun a t-storm

32 24 27 20 21 16 27 21 25 18

Church members celebrating the day by following special protocols of social distancing.

DIMAPUR: Few churches in Kohima were opened to celebrate Father’s Day on June 21, following proper protocols of social distancing, while hand wash basins and sanitisers were kept at the entrance of the church.

A press release from organisers informed that, in Faith Harvest Church, Kohima some members attended the church, while the rest attended through online live Youtube streaming. There was also a virtual cake cutting ceremony for

the fathers who were watching online.

Senior pastor Faith Harvest Church, Rev. Shan Kikon said that father’s voice was important for their children, whereby he encouraged fathers to speak good news to their children.

He exhorted fathers to be supportive towards their children by giving them positive thoughts as “in life you will go through difficulty, but do not give up. You have the ability and you can do it.”

Worship director of Faith Har vest Church, pastor Akumtila Kikon, said “fathers are like the foundation of our building, we usually do not see the foundation, its hiding beneath the ground. But they are the strength and pillars of our families and our hope.”

Kohima, Union Christian Revival Church (UCRC), New Market road celebrated Father’s Day with gift packages and special sermon for fathers. Pastor of UCRC Zhabu Gwirie highlighted how father’s day celebrations started in order to commemorate and honour fathers around the world. He said many people acknowledge their father’s efforts and contributions towards their life, while for some who have lost their father, it becomes a day of remembrance.

Some of the illegal construction at the departmental land.

DIMAPUR: Advisor of Industries and Commerce, Labour and Skill and Entrepreneurship, Imnatiba, paid a surprise visit to Nagaland Fruit & Vegetable Processing Plant (NFVPP), accompanied by commissioner and secretary, Industry and Commerce, director and other officers of the department and council members of Viola Colony, to verify rumours of encroachment

on departmental land on June 20.

In a press release by department of Industries and Commerce, Kohima, it stated that on inspection, it was found that there had been some unauthorised construction.

However, the release stated that whereas the land in question had been leased to a private concern, for industrial development, any additional construc-

tion was to be done with permission of the department.

The release further notified that all present construction, at the entrance of the plot and rear of the plot, were to be stopped immediately and that the department would take necessary action in this regard. Department further clarified that it had no intention of selling the land to any party.

SBAK devotional service with DTHWF visits various frontline workers in Dimapur quarantine inmates at Zunheboto DIMAPUR: Dimapur Town Hostels Welfare Forum (DTHWF) paid a visit to various frontline workers at train, bus stations, quarantine centres, Nagaland Police and Traffic control room, commissioner of Police office and East Police Station on June 20, as a gesture of recognition for the selfless services rendered by the mentioned during this COVID-19 pandemic.

A press release from DTHWF general secretary, Dr. Imna Imchen stated that, during visit to Nagaland Police station, one personnel expressed that, “we are like shadows. People do not recognise us for our works.” While visiting the Traffic control room, a personnel said, “we are not perfect but we are also trying our best to make ev-

Assam Rifles civic action programmes DIMAPUR: Kiphire Battalion attended to an SOS call received from a critically ill patient Yangchumong, aged 49 years, resident of a border village of Tukhinkiu, Tuensang. According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), the medical staff from COB Thongsonyu immediately rushed to the village and undertook screening and evaluation of the patient for COVID-19 symptoms.

No symptoms of COVID was found and patient was resuscitated with timely medical care.

Phek Battalion averted a major accident on the Laniye-Jessami road on June 18. The oil tanker which was travelling towards Meluri town got stuck in slush and skidded towards a gorge. A quick response team along with a recovery vehicle was sent to the spot and the oil tanker retrieved.

Shamator Battalion contained a fire incident at Noklak village on June 18 with fire extinguishers and water bowser and assisted in dousing the fire. Battalion also provided basic essentials. Reason behind the fire outbreak could not be ascertained.

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State

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

DTHWF officials with Traffic control room personnel during the visit on June 20.

eryone comfortable. Sadly, many people are not cooperative with us and the traffic rules, making it more difficult for everyone.”

During the visit to NST bus station, the DTHWF were dismayed by the fact that drivers of NST buses, ambulance and private buses were one of the

most neglected and ignored frontline workers. With bare minimum facilities and comfort, they risk their lives transporting both positive and negative COVID-19 passengers. Expressing that hardly any NGO or civil organization have visited them, a driver said that they no longer stay with their

families but in a hotel and drive hundreds of miles on pathetic roads, unsure if the passengers were free of COVID-19.

DTHWF also held fellowship with the frontline workers and shared home cooked meals prepared by DTHWF executive members and volunteers.

Senior pastor of SBAK Nito Mount and other church leaders during the Sunday devotional service at quarantine centre on June 21. (DIPR)

DIMAPUR: Sumi Baptist Church Zunheboto (SBAK Nito Mount) comprising of 28 church leaders, led by senior pastor, Rev, Dr. Yevito Sumi and pastor, Dr. Hutton Sumi, visited and held Sunday devotional service, simultaneously in

all the facility quarantine centres at Zunheboto district on June 21.

According to DIPR report, at the service, the team exhorted the inmates and ever yone present, about the values of self discipline, dedication and

courteous attitude, through the words of God. SBCZ who had earlier been working selflessly hand in hand with the task force in catering and other required acts, also provided refreshment packages to the inmates In view of the onset of monsoon, social work was conducted in all the offices under Noklak on June 20, where drainage was cleared, weeds were cut and footpath repaired. (DIPR) and frontline workers.

Giloy and drumstick cuttings distributed to Longleng villagers Staff Reporter DIMAPUR: In an attempt to encourage the villagers to adopt cultivation of different types of crop and plant that would add to improve the living standard, the district project office (DPO), Land Resource department in Longleng district introduced drumstick (Moringa) and giloy (Tinospora cordifolia) plants to the villagers under the district.

District project officer, Kughalu Chishi informed that he along with his staff had distributed giloy and drumstick plant cuttings in all the project villages during the last week. He said initiative was taken with an objective to let every household have at least one plant each in their backyard/kitchen garden to meet their nutritional/ medicinal requirement Mass social work was undertaken in all the eleven and keep themselves fit wards of Kiphire town under the intitiative of ward and strong to fight against chairmen on June 20 as preventive measures any adverse infectious and against COVID-19 pandemic. (DIPR) contagious disease during K Y M C

Cuttings of giloy and drumstick plants. (NP)

unpredictable life risking environmental conditions that the world is faced with.

DPO maintained that drumstick was one of those rare plant species whose seeds, flowers, leaves, and stems are edible and extremely nutritious with powerful properties that can combat different ailments in the human system.

Drumstick is said to be great for people with diabetes, fights pimple, good for hair and skin, prevents the outburst of chickenpox, keeps heart healthy and improves bone health.

Giloy is used in Indian

ayurvedic system because of its wide medicinal properties. It is an evergreen climbing shrub and is of extremely useful with its property of strengthening the immune system and it keeps a check on various body functions.

It is an all-rounder tonic and rejuvenator with no side effects. This herb has the capacity to cure fever, malaria, typhoid, jaundice, tuberculosis etc.

It is anti-diabetic in nature besides improving immunity, protecting liver and its extract helps against cancer, HIV, anaemia, stress, indigestion etc.

K Y M C

4

northeast

International Yoga Day observed in NE

S o n owa l t we e t e d : gifts to the world... let us “Practiced Yoga with col- all contribute by religiously leagues. Yoga has given the practicing and introducworld India’s ancient heri- ing Yoga to others,” Singh tage of physical, mental and said. spiritual wellness. Let’s do Arunachal Pradesh Yoga and build a healthier Chief Minister Pema Khansociety.” du said: “The longest jourTripura Chief Min- ney begins with a single ister Biplab Kumar Deb step. On International Yoga performed Yoga along with Day, let us resolve to start wife Niti Deb and two chil- our days with Pranayam to dren at his official residence boost our immunity to fight in Agartala. “I urge every- COVID-19.” one to practice Yoga and There were no tweets make it a daily habit for a from Meghalaya Chief Minhealthy and stress-free life,” ister Conrad K. Sangma Deb tweeted. and his Mizoram counManipur Chief Min- terpart Zoramthanga, but ister N. Biren Singh in his Nagaland Chief Minister ITBP personnel practice ‘yoga’ on the 6th International Day of Yoga, in Sikkim tweet said that the ancient Neiphiu Rio greeted the science of Yoga keeps mind people on ‘World Music Himalayas, Sunday. (PTI) and body healthy and fit. Day’ and ‘Father’s Day’ on G u wa h at i / Ag a r Unlike previous years, spective complexes across “This is one of our greatest Sunday. tala, June 21 (IANS): no mass gatherings were all the eight states while The 6th International Yoga held in view of the COVID- adhering to the COVID-19 Day was observed with 19 guidelines and protocols guidelines.

Assam Rifles celebrated the sixth International enthusiasm in five of the in place.

Besides, Yoga Day was Yoga Day on Sunday with enthusiastic participation eight northeastern states on T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l also observed in Nehru Sunday while it was a very Yoga Day was observed in Yuva Kendras, Kendriya of all ranks, families and children in consonance with low-key affair in Mizoram, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Vidyalaya and other central the theme of “Yoga at Home, Yoga with Family” while Meghalaya, and Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sik- government offices in all also adhering to COVID-19 precautions.

A press release by PRO ( Defence) stated that particiofficials said. kim on limited platforms, these states. pants were introduced to Kapalbhati, Pranayama, Dhyna, Chief Ministers of five mostly at homes.

Assam Chief Minister northeastern states and Officials of central Sarbananda Sonowal did Sankalpa, meditation and other Yoga sanas, as per the Governors of eight NE paramilitary forces like As- Yoga along with legisla- common protocol issued by Ministry of Ayush, Govt. states apart from prominent sam rifles, Central Reserve tors Prasanta Phukan and of India. An enthralling yoga session was conducted personalities performed Police Force, and Border Rituparna Baruah at his Di- wherein participants did not let COVID-19 discourage Yoga at their respective Security Force observed brugarh residence to mark them from keeping fit and practiced Yoga at their homes, barracks and forward posts, the release added.. residences. the Yoga Day at their re- the day.

Assam Rifles observes international yoga day

Northeast adopts traditional practice to fight COVID-19

I M P H AL / AI Z AWL , JUN 21 ( AGENCIES): To contain the spread of Covid-19, shops in Manipur and Mizoram are practising a traditional method to maintain social distancing while aiding farmers in running their businesses, reports The Northeast Today.

The tradition is known as Nghah-loh-dawr, meaning shops without shopkeepers, where buyers

could purchase goods and deposit the money in jars placed at the stalls.

One of the owners of a shop in Ukhrul said that sometimes, she finds the amount dropped in the box is more than the price of vegetables taken away by travellers. People give extra money out of love.

Shops like these are found beside highways, selling fresh green vegetables, along with small

boxes tied to bamboo poles for placing money.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga tweeted, The year is 2020; #Honesty #Hospitality #Trust comes handy again for #Mizoram during these trying times of #COVID19 outbreak.

Traditional NghahLoh-Dawr,(shops without shopkeepers) comes handy for many sellers & buyers in maintaining safe social distancing, he said.

VHF collars for wild elephant in Tripura

AGARTALA, JUN 21 (AGENCIES): The Tripura Forest Department, on Sunday, informed that it will start fitting satellite and very high frequency (VHF) collars on wild elephants to track their movements, reports The Northeast Today.

The collars will help reduce the occurrence of human-animal conflict in the state and will allow forest officials to track the movement of wild elephants.

This will help the Forest Department take up measures to prevent the elephants from wandering into nearby human habitations. According to sources, discussions concerning the procurement of radio collars are ongoing.

“We hope to receive the first consignment of radio collars by December,” said a forest official.

While speaking to The Northeast Today, chief wildlife warden, D.K. Sharma said, “Forests in Tripura are fragmented. So, when there is no food source, elephants wander from one place to another and there is a high possibility of conflict between elephants and humans.”

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Blockades lifted, operations resume at OIL’s Baghjan wells Guwahati, Jun 21 (PTI): Oil India Limited on Sunday said most of its wells in Assam’s Baghjan, which were shut due to protests by locals over a fire at a gas well after a days-long blowout, have resumed operations following a meeting with a representative body of residents mediated by the Tinsukia district administration. The operations started between 7 pm and 8 pm on Saturday after the locals lifted their blockades of most of the oil and gas wells, it said.

A meeting was held between Tinsukia district administration, OIL representatives and Baghjan Gaon Milanjyoti Yuva Sangha, a local organisation, on Saturday to sort out the issues related to the blockade of the oil and gas wells across the district, the state-owned OIL said in a statement.

However, drilling and associated operations in five more areas, outside Baghjan, are still disrupted due to the agitation, it said.

With gas flowing uncontrollably and the blaze raging at the PSU major’s

File photo of Baghjan oilfield in Tinsukia in flames.

gas well in Tinsukia for the last 26 days, the company said it had lost 8,013 metric tonnes (MT) of crude oil and 10.24 million metric standard cubic metres (MMSCM) of natural gas output due to bandhs and blockades. OIL said there was a production loss of 386 MT of crude oil and 0.37 MMSCM of natural gas on Saturday due to disruptions in 30 oil wells and three gas wells.

Well no. 5 at Baghjan has been spewing gas uncontrollably since May 27 and it caught fire on June 9, killing two of OIL’s firefighters at the site.

Talking about the on-

going process to control the situation, OIL said, it has placed a second air compressor unit at the site to start the pump engine, while transportation of tested equipment and machinery from the company’s yard is underway.

The PSU said 90 per cent construction of a bailey bridge by the Army over a water body abutting the well has been completed.

Various assessments and impact studies of the blowout and the blaze in villages and nearby forest areas are being conducted by multiple agencies such as TERI, CSIR-NEIST and Assam Agricultural University.

Cong observers Gogoi, Maken held under quarantine in Imphal IMPHAL, JUN 21 (PTI): AICC observers Ajay Maken and Gaurav Gogoi, who had flown here Friday evening, were kept under quarantine for the second consecutive day as per COVID-19 protocols in Manipur, while a war of words erupted between the ruling BJP and the Congress.

While the Congress claimed that the BJP-led government has lost the majority, the BJP claimed the issue had been settled with the victory of its candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.

Nobody has been allowed to see Ajay Maken, Congress spokesperson, and Gaurav Gogoi, general secretary in-charge of North East, who came here as AICC observers after the sudden political developments in Manipur including the formation of Secular Progressive Front (SPF) led by O Ibobi Singh following the resignation of four ministers belonging to National People’s Party and five others from the government.

The state authority had placed the two Congress leaders in a paid quarantine centre at an Imphal Hotel in accordance with the state’s guidelines on the pandemic.

Ajay Maken, Gaurav Gogoi and Ram Madhav

As they had already booked rooms at the said hotel before their arrival here, they were guided by an Addl SP rank officer to the hotel, official sources said.

Both of them have to stay in isolation and undergo COVID- 19 test, a government spokesperson said.

A state Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, said they are not allowed to see the AICC leaders as they are in quarantine centre.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav took a swipe at the Congress, saying it could not win the Rajya Sabha seat and was claiming majority in the Assembly.

“Congress party couldn’t wind RS seat in Manipur. Yet went to gov-

ernor claiming they have a majority in Assembly. Their leader Ajay Maken and MP Gaurav Gogoi entered Manipur disregarding Corona guidelines. They have been promptly quarantined by d state health authorities (sic),” he tweeted.

In a counter to Ram Madhav, Ajay Maken tweeted, “Congress always regards rules & traditions-We came here with permission with full knowledge & booked quarantine center in advance. It is a support to the Manipur PCC & its people in the fight against a Govt formed by manipulation against popular votes!”

Gaurav Gogoi, MP, also hit back at Ram Madhav, saying “You are a senior leader of your party.

I would have hoped that

you would check your facts before tweeting. Maybe the last minute manipulation to block four Congress votes has induced a false sense of confidence.”

Three Congress defectors -- Ksh Biren Singh, S Bira Singh, and Surchandra Singh -- were not allowed to cast their votes as cases are pending against them.

However, the other four defectors could vote.

The seven Congress legislators who had crossed over to the BJP shortly after the 2017 state polls have been facing anti-defection cases. Their disqualification matter is with the Manipur High Court as well as the Speaker’s Tribunal.

One recently disqualified MLA was also barred from taking part in the voting process. Of the nine members who tendered resignation on Wednesday, BJP MLAs S Subhashchandra Singh, T T Haokip and Samuel Jendai could not cast their votes. The lone Trinamool Congress MLA T Robindro Singh, who also pulled out of the N Biren Singh-led dispensation, was not allowed to cast his vote.

He lodged a complaint to the Election Commission in this regard.

Wettest places on Earth run dry with no visitors M’laya extends night curfew, Rhino poachers arrested

Correspondent

Shillong, Jun 21: Usually on a Sunday afternoon, Sohra (Cherrapunjee), the wettest place on earth and dotted with waterfalls cascading over deep gorges in the southern slopes of Meghalaya , would be crowded with thousands of visitors to catch a glimpse of these breathtaking waterfalls, splendid lush green valley and cloud-kissing mountains.

But this tourist destination, arguably one of the biggest tourist getaways in the North East region is devoid of tourists these days since the nationwide lockdown imposed nearly three months ago to fight the COVID-19 virus.

In fact, tourism in Meghalaya, particularly Sohra, had plummeted since last Winter due to anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests which raged across the region and the demand for implementation of Inner Line Permit in the State and finally the lockdown due to the global pandemic.

Noh-Kalikai waterfalls, the tallest plunge waterfall in India that attracts visitors from near and far is now bereft of its usual thousands of visitors. The same is the

The famous Noh-Kalikai waterfalls.

case with the other falls; Nohsngithiang Falls, Dainthlen Falls, Kynrem Falls and others.

“Ever since the global pandemic, not a single tourist has visited any of the waterfalls. Otherwise, this is a peak season for tourists from across the world visiting Sohra,” said Angel Syiemlieh, a native Sohra.

Despite this, most of the people, especially those involved directly in the tourism industryare optimistic that the footfall of tourists will slowly pick up once people start travelling with no restrictions.

With tourism witnessing a a surge in recent years,

many had turned to the smokeless industry and the results could be seen all over Sohra and along the route to the ‘wettest spot on earth’, an immensely popular tourist destination.

The impact of tourism can be seen with home-stays, guest houses, hotels and restaurants dotting Sohra and its approach road.

Not only the owners of the home-stays, guest houses or restaurants who are affected by the lockdown but even employees, many of whom have lost their jobs since employers cannot afford to pay them.

“We came into the tourism industry thinking

that it would be profitable but when the pandemic came we are now running at a loss,” Shemsuk Suting said.

Suting’s family was earlier involved in limestone and coal trade but after the National Green Tribunal ban they opted for tourism and opened the resort in March last year.

The Meghalaya government has already taken steps on reopening of hotels and places of tourist interest, even as Chief Minister Conrad Sangma stressed on the need to adapt to a new kind of tourism in the State due to the new COVID-19 landscape.

“The idea is to really work in future in terms of how we need to adapt to tourism when it comes to the COVID-19 situation,” Sangma, who also handles the Tourism portfolio, said.

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong also informed that the government had recently discussed about the local tourists, and livelihood of the people and re-opening up of home stays, and hotels and Deputy Commissioners have been directed to hold consultative meetings with the stakeholders’ up to village level before taking any decision.

ban on inter-state movement

Shillong, Jun 21 (PTI): The Meghalaya government has extended the night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am till June 30 to contain the spread of coronavirus, officials said on Sunday. The night curfew was to be in force till Monday.

The state government has also extended the ban on inter-state movement of people till June 30, they said.

“District deputy commissioners have been asked to issue extension of night curfew orders and directives to extend ban on inter-state movement of people,” a senior government official told PTI. The official orders, however, will not apply to security forces, medical teams on duty, wholesale and retail pharmacies and other essential services, he said.

As part of measures to ease the lockdown norms, the Meghalaya government has allowed operationalisation of over 400 shops out of th e 1,222 shops identified at the IewDuh market, from Monday.

It has also allowed

operations of beauty parlours, salons and barber shops but in strict adherence to social distancing norms and stipulated time limits, the official said.

We e k l y m a r k e t s across the state, except the ones in areas along the India-Bangladesh border and the inter-state border with Assam, have got the nod to open, too.

Educational institutions will continue to remain closed along with religious places, he said, adding, large public gatherings are also not allowed.

Meanwhile, the state’s COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 84 per cent after five more patients were cured on Saturday, a health official said.

Meghalaya has reported a total of 44 coronavirus cases, making it the state with the “least number of infections”, the official said.

“Meghalaya - 5 more persons have recovered and test negative for COVID19.

Total cases: 44. Total active cases: 6. Recovered: 37,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said in a tweet.

Correspondent

Diphu June 21: Security forces and Karbi Anglong police led by Superintendent of Police Karbi Anglong Debojit Deury arrested three absconding rhino poachers from a remote village under Dillai police station yesterday during undisclosed time.

The arrested poachers hail from Manipur, the rhino poachers have been identified as; Johnthang alias Thabgboi, Muamuan alias Oversize and Ningmianlun alias Lulun all from Churandpur district of Manipur.

The arrested persons have confessed to their involvement in the sensational Agoratoli rhino poaching case near Kagiranga national park that took place in the first week of May. They have also confessed to their involvement in five other rhino poaching cases in recent past. The apprehended persons led to recovery of another A K series assault rifle (AK 81) from concealed underground place near a hill in close proximity to Kaziranga National Park.

It may be mentioned that cases are pending on various charges against the whole gang in Dolamara police station (Case No. 4/2020), Diphu police station (Case No. 110/2020) as well as Bokakhat police station (Case No. 131/2020). “Such poachers are operating and our police force is also working with dedication to neutralize them.

With this operation, one of the dangerous gang has been counter-acted,” Superintendent of Police Karbi Anglong Debojit Deury said when contacted.

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

World feeling need for yoga more than ever: PM

minister said that all that is needed is some part of one’s time and an empty space.

Yoga is giving us not only the physical strength, but also mental balance and emotional stability to confidently negotiate the challenges before us, Modi said.

“If we can fine-tune our chords of health and hope, the day is not far away when world will witness the success of a healthy and happy humanity. Yoga can definitely help us make this happen,” he said.

With the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic looming large, International Day of Yoga is being marked on digital media platforms sans mass gatherings. This year’s theme is ‘Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family’.

Yoga Day is going digital for the first time since June 21, 2015, when it began to be celebrated annually across the world, coinciding with the Summer Solstice

Rahul Gandhi

urday of having “surrendered” Indian territory to Chinese aggression, after the latter’s remarks made at an all-party meeting that neither is anyone inside India’s territory nor has anyone captured its posts.

“The PM has surrendered Indian territory to Chinese aggression. If the land was Chinese: Why were our soldiers killed?

Where were they killed,” he had asked on Twitter, highlighting the prime minister’s comments.

A statement issued by the government after Friday’s all-party meeting called by Modi to discuss the situation at the Sino-India border in Ladakh said, “At the outset, the prime minister clarified that neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our posts captured.”

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said attempts are being made to give a “mischievous interpretation” to Modi’s remarks made at the allparty meet.

It said the prime minister’s comments pertained to the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces, who foiled an attempt

by Chinese troops to transgress into Galwan Valley.

Indian and Chinese armies have been on a sixweek standoff in several areas of eastern Ladakh.

The ties between the two countries came under severe strain after Chinese troops killed 20 Indian Army personnel and injured around 76 in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15.

Nepal’s radio stations beam propaganda ‘60k ventilators through PM-Cares fund by June end’ across border, say Lipulekh theirs

Deserted road in Chennai.

vehicles) have been seized.

While vegetable shops, groceries and petrol pumps have been allowed to function from 6 am till 2 pm during the 12-day lockdown period that began on June 19, such outlets too are closed today.

The government had already announced that on two Sundays (June 21 and 28) barring milk supply, pharmacies, hospitals and ambulance services, no other services or shops will be permitted to function.

The present spell of lockdown was implemented in view of continuing surge in coronavirus cases and before that most servicesand businesses were allowed to function.

On Saturday, of the 2,396 fresh virus cases in Tamil Nadu, Chennai accounted for 1,254 and the

state capital’s tally stood at 39,641.

GCC Commissioner K Prakash said as many as 533 medicalcamps were conducted on a single day on Saturday in which 36,671 people took part and over 1,198 Influenza Like Illness cases were detected and swab samples were taken from 1,029 people.

“The fever clinics run by the Corporation have evoked tremendous response from the people. The services came in handy for people for many ailments (apart from helping detection of coronavirus symptoms) especiallywhen many clinics and dispensaries in private sector remain unopened,” he said.

According to the civic body, the fever camps, which were 100 plus during the end of May steadily increased and crossed the 500-mark on June 18 and touched 533 on Saturday.

Fever camps were held

by GCC on Sunday as well in several locations here and people were given immunity boosting herbal drink “Kabasurakudineer,” which means a concoction to beat cold and fever. Chennai Police Commissioner A K Viswanathan said senior police officers were leading patrols in the city.

Indian side of the border.

These radio stations have also started giving weather reports on Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, treating them as Nepalese territory, Krishna Garbiyal, a Rang community leader based in Dharchula said.

However, the district administration and police said they have no information about any anti-India propaganda launched by Nepal through its FM radio channels.

“We have no feedback from our intelligence units on the subject,” Pithoragarh Superintendent of Police Preeti Priyadarshini said.

Dharchula Circle Officer V K Acharya also expressed ignorance.

JP Nadda (File)

not producing any PPE kits.

Today very proudly I can say that Modi Ji has motivated local manufactures and now we are producing 4.5 lakhs PPE kits daily,” he said.

BJP Chief said that at least 19 crore food packets and 45 lakh ration kits have been distributed by party workers to needy people amid coronavirus-induced lockdown.

“When we were in the lockdown, We thought about how we will be able to serve crores of people. Using digital tools, we worked to engage the workers and put them in service. In the lockdown, about 19 crore food packets have been sent by BJP workers to the needy. Around 5 crore ration kits have been distributed. BJP workers of Uttar Pradesh have distributed about 5 crore food packets and about 45 lakh ration kits,” he further added.

“Using digital tools, I connected all MPs, Mayors, MLAs for service through 150 video conferences. All the state presidents, national officials held around 4,000 video conferences and engaged the party in

service work from the top to the booth level. I want to congratulate all of you who worked hard to help the people,” he added.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanth also spoke on the initiatives taken by his government to contain the spread of lethal diease, saying there are only 6,000 active cases of the Covid-19 disease in the state.

Addressing ‘UP Jansamvad’ virtual rally from Lucknow, Yogi said, “When we look at the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, we find ourselves in a satisfactory situation. In a state of around 24 crore population, there are only 6,000 active cases of the disease.”

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Nepali songs, they also hear the anti-India speeches delivered by Nepalese Maoist leaders in between them,” he said.

The main FM stations playing anti-India content between songs are Naya Nepal and Kalapani Radio, Datal said.

“Some old channels like Mallikarjun Radio and a website named annapurna. online are also broadcasting reports depicting Kalapani as Nepalese territory,” he said.

The FM stations are situated at Chabrigar near the district headquarters in Nepal’s Dharchula.

The stations have a range of about three kilometers and can be heard in Dharchula, Baluakot, Jauljibi and Kalika on the

NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (AGENCIES): BJP President JP Nadda on Sunday said that currently the country has 21,000 ventilators and assured that by June end around 60,000 ventilators will be made available through PM-CARES fund. “ We h a d n o t a n y dedicated Covid hospitals when the lockdown was announced. Today, we have 1,000 dedicated Covid hospitals and 2 lakh Covid dedicated beds. We have 21,000 ventilators and 60,000 ventilators will be available, through PM-CARES fund

by June end,” Nadda said at “Uttar Pradesh Jam Samvad Rally” here.

Nadda further said that the country is manufacturing 4.5 lakhs PPE kits daily.

“When the lockdown was announced, we were

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PITHORAGARH (U’KHAND), JUN 21 (PTI): Nepal’s FM radio channels close to the border with India are broadcasting propaganda to back Kathmandu’s claim on Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, residents in India’s border villages said.

Nepalese parliament recently adopted a new political map of the country showing these areas as part of its own territory, a move strongly opposed by India.

“Some Nepalese FM channels have of late started playing anti-India speeches in between Nepali songs,” said Shalu Datal, a resident of Dantu village in Pithoragarh’s Dharchula sub-division.

“As people on both sides of the border listen to

Chennai comes to a virtual standstill on first ‘Sunday shutdown’

C H E N NA I , J U N 2 1 (PTI): The first “Sunday shutdown” with exception only for hospitals and allied health services brought Chennai and suburbs to a standstill while the city’s civic body said its fever camps to help detect coronavirus cases have evoked tremendous response from the people.

It was a virtual curfew with deserted roads, bridges and intersections fully blocked by police using barricades and with the exception of police, sanitary workers and health personnel of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) most of others stayed indoors.

City police said as many as 4,799 cases have been filed for violation of curbs and 7,907 vehicles (7,395 two-wheelers, 168 autorickshaws, 344 light motor

NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): A day after accusing the prime minister of having “surrendered” Indian territory to Chinese aggression, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at him on Sunday, saying “Narendra Modi is actually Surender Modi”.

Gandhi took the dig at the prime minister in a tweet, wherein he tagged an article in a foreign publication with the headline -- “India’s appeasement policy toward China unravels”.

“Narendra Modi is actually Surender Modi,” he said in the tweet.

In another tweet, the Congress leader said even though the prime minister says no one has taken over Indian territory, satellite images show that the Chinese have “captured” Indian territory near Pangong Tso in Ladakh.

“The prime minister said - no one entered the country, nor did anyone take over our land. But satellite images clearly show that China has captured Mother India’s sacred land near Pangong Lake,” he said in the tweet in Hindi.

Gandhi also posted a television news clip with his tweet, showing Indian territories under Chinese occupation with the help of satellite imagery.

The Congress leader had accused Modi on Sat-

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NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said practicing yoga can help keep the body fit and mind serene amid the coronavirus pandemic. Extending greetings on the International Day of Yoga, he said the ancient science of yoga is India’s great gift to the world.

“Glad to see more and more people adopting it,” he tweeted and shared some of his pictures in which he is seen performing yoga.

“Amid stress and strife, especially with #Covid19, practicing Yoga can help keep the body fit and mind serene,” the president said in another tweet.

President Kovind practices yoga daily, a Rashtrapati Bhavan official said.

strong, it is of great help in defeating this disease. For boosting immunity, there are several methods in yoga, various ‘asanas’ are there.

These asanas are such that they increase the strength of the body and also strengthen our metabolism,” he said.

Talking about the benefits of ‘pranayama’ -- a form of breathing exercise, Modi said it is very effective and has countless variations like ‘Sheetali, Kapalbhati and Bhrastika’.

“All these forms of yoga, help a lot in strengthening both our respiratory and immune system,” he said, urging people to include ‘pranayama’ in their daily routine.

A large number of COVID-19 patients all over the world are taking the benefits of all these techniques of yoga. The strength of yoga is helping them defeat this disease, Modi said.

Asserting that anybody can embrace yoga, the prime

selflessness,” he said.

The power as an individual, society and country increases manifold when people act according to yoga and with the spirit of ‘karmayoga’, Modi said.

Today we have to take a pledge in this spirit -- we will do everything possible for our health, for the health of our loved ones. As a conscious citizen, we will move forward unitedly as a family and society, he said.

The PM’s message was followed by a live demonstration of Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) by the experts of Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga followed by discussions with yoga experts.

Yoga programmes are organised across the globe

by Indian missions every year, but this year was different. Several missions, however, organised digital events to mark the occasion.

Minister of State for AYUSH, Shripad Naik, “Now every country of the world celebrates IDY and the public has embraced this event and adopting it as a celebration of India’s culture and tradition.”

The minister said that this year Yoga Day comes in the middle of a health emergency and so the AYUSH Ministry has been facilitating the trend of practising yoga at home through various online and hybrid-online initiatives since the last three months.

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Yoga can help keep body fit and mind serene: Prez

Narendra Modi performing yoga

each year. On December 11, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as ‘International Day of Yoga’, months after Prime Minister Modi had proposed the idea.

The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) had planned to hold a grand event in Leh, but cancelled it due to the pandemic.

In his message on Sunday, Modi said the International Yoga Day is a day of unity and gives the message of universal brotherhood.

“It is a day of oneness and humanness. What brings us together, unites us, that is yoga. What bridges distances is yoga. In times of this coronavirus pandemic, people’s participation in the ‘My Life - My Yoga’ across the world shows that people’s interest in yoga is increasing,” he said. He said that doing work properly and fulfilling one’s duties is also a form of yoga.

“Eating the right food, playing the right sports, having right habits of sleeping and waking, and doing your work and your duties is yoga,” Modi said.

“With this ‘karmayoga’, we get the solution to all the problems. ‘Karmayoga’ is also helping others selflessly. This spirit of ‘karmayoga’ is embedded in the spirit of India. Whenever the need arose, the whole world witnessed India’s

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NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): The world is feeling the need for yoga more than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic and the ancient Indian practice is helping a large number of COVID-19 patients across the globe in defeating the disease, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

The coronavirus specifically attacks the respiratory system and ‘pranayama’ or breathing exercise helps in strengthening the respiratory system the most, Modi said in his message on the sixth International Day of Yoga.

The sixth International Day of Yoga was celebrated with great enthusiasm across the country through electronic and digital media, an official statement said. Modi said yoga has emerged as a force for unity and it does not discriminate as it goes beyond race, colour, gender, faith and nations.

“Yoga enhances our quest for a healthier planet.

It has emerged as a force for unity and deepens the bonds of humanity. It does not discriminate. It goes beyond race, colour, gender, faith and nations. Anybody can embrace yoga,” the prime minister said.

In his nearly 15-minute address early Sunday morning, Modi said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world is feeling the need for yoga more than ever.

“If our immunity is

5 ‘Narendra Modi is actually Surender Modi’: Rahul’s swipe at Modi over LAC face-off

6

OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post Vol. XXx NO. 196 Dimapur, MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Democracy hijacked

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hat happened in Manipur after the BJP-led coalition government under chief minister Biren Singh which was reduced to minority after nine legislators withdrew support on June 17 but was able to win the Rajya Sabha election just two days later on June 19, is a classic case of the worst kind of unethical politics which has made a mockery of the principles of democracy. The strength of the Manipur assembly was technically reduced to 49 with the newly formed Secular Progressive Front(SPF) led by the Congress having 26 ( Cong-20;NPP-4;TMC-1 and Independent-1) while the BJP coalition had 23(BJP-18,NPF-4 and LJP-1). This was when seven Congress MLAs were under the disqualification proceedings and three BJP legislators had resigned after quitting the government and party. Earlier one Congress defector who was made minister had been disqualified by the Supreme Court. The seven Congress MLAs had reportedly rejoined their party prior to the Rajya Sabha election but their votes were not considered since their fates hanged under the guillotine of disqualification for which the high court debarred their entry into the assembly premises and the Manipur speaker directed to conclude disqualification proceedings against them before June 22. That reduced the effective strength of the house to 49. However, to get around the high court stricture, the speaker took up the issue of the seven rebel Congress MLAs who were not supposed to be allowed inside till their cases were decided.

Informed sources had disclosed that the Speaker was upto something on the eve of the vote which meant that he was taking up the issue of the seven MLAs on June 18 evening but again the high court restrained him from pronouncing his verdict till June 19. That meant that the house strength rose to 57 on June 18 evening. The speaker then pronounced his ruling on June 19 on the day of the voting when four MLAs would have voted against the government were disqualified but three who were going to vote for the government were left untouched. For good effect, the speaker also debarred the lone TMC legislator from voting. That was how the BJP managed to “steal victory” in a most unethical and highly controversial manner. The Congress-led SPF also have themselves to blame for not being able to think out of the box in considering various possibilities that the Biren Singh camp would attempt in a desperate bid to remain in power. Now that the Biren Singh coalition has won the Rajya Sabha election, they are not wrong in concluding that there is no need for the government to face a trust vote any longer. In that way, perhaps even the governor would not go beyond the realm in trying to rock the boat. It is thus, most likely that the governor would refuse to convene the assembly for the trust vote. The newly formed SPF will have to knock on the door of the courts for justice but that is going to be a very long process and by which time, much water would have flown with possibility of the NPP legislators returning back to the coalition fold and even some Congress MLAs being poached. The BJP has more than exhibited this while grabbing power was done in Manipur (in 2017), Karnataka, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand. The anti-defection law has thus become a mere piece of legislation which can be interpreted at the whims of speakers.

DailyDevotion The Ministry of the Inner Life

You are…a royal priesthood… —1 Peter 2:9 By what right have we become “a royal priesthood”? It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our “hanging on by the skin of our teeth,” although we say, “What a wonderful victory I have!” Yet there is nothing at all in that which indicates the miracle of redemption. Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief that the redemption is complete. Then don’t worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said, in essence, “Pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints of God, and pray for all men.” Pray with the realization that you are perfect only in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of this argument: “Oh, Lord, I have done my best; please hear me now.”

How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves?

We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Christ Jesus. Once we are there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in this ministry of the inner life.

Quotes

A man is what he thinks about all day long. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

T

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Trade to continue with China

he tension on the borders with China reaching inflection point, trade relations except for semantics may not be impacted, as the world faces multi-dimensional economic problems, many from pro-corona period.

The clashes caused 23 Indian soldier deaths and over 100 injuries.

Except some moderation trade is likely to continue.

The world growth, including India, started stunting long before corona.

In February itself, the Economist Intelligence Unit, London, forecasted a mere 2.9 percent global growth. The UNCTAD in its latest report says global merchandise trade to drop 20 percent in 2020 owing to pandemic. The value of international trade 5 percent by February and may actually drop to 27 percent this year.

India’s trade prospects have also not on a smooth drive. Despite tensions with China, the trade volume is $ 78 billion – imports from China $ 62.37 billion and exports $ 15.54 billion. China has trade surplus of $ 47 billion. Key imports are electronics, organic chemicals and machinery along with consumer durables, FMCG, toys and similar low-cost items.

Indian exports include crucial ores, fish and organic chemicals. If

it lowers the relationship, its exports may get hit affecting many companies.

Instead it may consider Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) suggestion of 450 items that may reduce import bill by $ 13 billion, about Rs 1 lakh crore by December 2021. The list includes items like fashion apparel, footwear, furnishing fabrics, kitchen items, handbags, cosmetics, food, watches, toys, consumer durables, FMCG and electronics.

The wish list is not easy to implement in WTO regime of allowing level-playing field. Many domestic companies are marketing these low-cost products and need an alternative for survival.

Their fortunes are likely to be hit when economy is anything but happy.

Apart the plan to produce these items indigenously, though being mulled, is not easy. However, atmanirbhar Bharat has drawn up lists for import substitution and raising the quality and safety standards as per WTO norms. This is expected to curb sub-standard imports.

Some car manufacturers stopped imports of some accessories from China and awarded its manufacture to the Indian ancillary units. It was expected to reduce

imports. But the suppliers prospected it from China again to meet the car makers’ needs. The pricing and quality aspects, the ancillary units found, are not easy to match.

The cost of indigenous production increases and the buyers are unwilling to pay higher prices.

This is critical aspect of atmanirbhar Bharat. The country has not yet come out with a model rules and taxation pattern to ensure quality and low prices.

Research is poor and impractical. Harassment of indigenous procurers or manufacturers is built into the system, more so despite supposed simplification of GST rules.

Shivaji G e t ting back to the level even of 1970s self-reliance is not easy. Ophthalmologists often cite the instance of low-cost, high quality South Korean fixedpower lens spectacles.

With curb on Chinese goods, imports of these also virtually stopped.

Indian manufacturers, however, neither could meet the quality nor the prices of these ophthalmic products.

That is the critical need of a self-reliant countr y. The consumers with their earnings lowered, job losses and other problems are unable to pay high prices but

they clamour for quality.

Indian market faces twin problems of low quality and high prices. This reduces competitiveness.

The self-reliance mode has to take its care.

It calls for total revamp of Indian policies of manufacturing rules, taxes, pricing of petroleum products and electricity per unit cost. All these raise the cost of production as well as lead to compromise of quality.

Another aspect is the system of multiple-layer of rent-seeking. It makes business difficult, particularly manufacturing. The inspectorate, introduced in various other names, harasses the Sarkar p r o d u c e r s in a number of ways. This has led many producers to turn traders as investment cost reduces.

The country has become a difficult place to start a business despite many efforts by the Narendra Modi government.

This hits the most during times of economic stress.

This has not helped many start-ups or MUDRA loan beneficiaries. The cost is borne by the bankers who lose their precious deposits euphemistically termed NPAs. The NITI Aaayog has proposed 17 measures to improve competitiveness, in a report on May 30, to

improve competitiveness of India’s external trade.

It calls for setting up a national trade network (NTN) for ensuring all export-import compliance online. It also suggests customs reform for reducing time for movement of goods from factory to final exports.

The Aayog makes critical observations on rent-seeking. It says, “Even in the absence of rent-seeking, officers often demand cars/free meals/other personalized services that brokers or operators have to provide to ensure presence of officers on location and expeditiously undertaking their job. Customs despite a sophisticated risk management system (RMS), many times, reject RMS and go for inspection of the goods”.

The report observes that these reforms could further improve India’s ranking on ‘trading across borders’ parameter in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business. Every year merchandise worth $ 780 billion or about 28 percent of GDP passes through Indian customs before it could be exported or imported.

Even the Economic Survey 2019-20 speaks of crony capitalism. Citing the misuse the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, it says about 76,000

raids under this law was conducted during 2019 alone.

It hints that the law enables rent-seeking and harassment as the conviction rate is low. The law has on June 5 been amended widely through an ordinance by the Modi government to end the malpractice.

The Rs 91,000 crore collapse of IL&FS in August 2018 is a testimony how the system malfunctions. It has led to severe liquidity shortage in the financial system and has severely hit non-banking financial institutions (NBFC). The NBFC and housing finance companies face immense difficulty in raising funds from the market.

N I T I A ayo g v i c e chairman Rajiv Kumar says, “a large chunk of regulatory burden is in the states. Regulator y cholesterol has to be reduced. Unless we reduce the compliance and regulatory burden, we won’t be able to reduce the rentseeking”.

This shows that ills of the system are not unknown but has not been easy to tackle. Almost all trade associations unofficially discuss and rue it.

This adds to the cost and pricing. For self-reliant production system a lot has to be done for correction.

Post-mortem NECDBs representation to Commr Delimitation a solemn exercise of Nagaland seeking scale-pay

A

gainst the backdrop of sweeping service regularization accorded to the Medical Officers appointed on contractual/contingency basis on 13.06.2020, the undersigned, on behalf of the Nagaland Ex-Cadre Dobashis (NECDBs), submit this representation seeking equal treatment – 1. The institution of the DBs in the context of Nagaland is sui generis. This has also been echoed by the incumbent Hon’ble Chief Minister in the General Conference of Nagaland Dobashi DBs is the ‘backbone of district administration’ for its practical usefulness. While this has been rightly acknowledged, yet the manner in which the ex-cadre DBs are being treated is far from what the state professes.

2. Until 2019, the manner of appointment of DBs has remained the same for the past 3-4 decades. Wherein individuals are firstly appointed on ex-cadre basis and thereafter. On the basis of resulting vacancies the ex-cadre DBs are regularized based on their proficiency.

3. The ex-cadre Dbs are also being paid only on fixed-pay basis amounting to Rs. 6500/- (rupees six thousand five hundred only) per month. However, some of the ex-cadre DBs are also granted pay-scale, which reflects the discriminatory nature of employment.

Despite this. The ex-cadre DBs have laboriously continued to perform their works dutifully with the hope of being regularized in a timely manner. At present, majority of the ex-cadre DBs who are awaiting regularization have served for more than 8 (eight) years.

4. Set n such debilitating background, the ex-cadre DBs have once again being called, from DAY ONE, to serve as frontline workers along with the rest of the other service personnel in Nagaland to battle the pandemic, COVID-19.

5. The ex-cadre DBs are, however, being treated as expendables by the State Government in this pandemic, demanding work from them wherever required, every day.

W

e all know that Delimitation exercise is not for Nagaland alone, it is affecting Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir. This is the second Delimitation exercise the Nagaland is going to get its benefits of equal representation after Nagaland Statehood. The first was in 1973, during which many segments of constituencies were not very enthusiastic about participation in Election and even thought that voting in Election was considered anti-national. Some people were unwilling to even enroll their name in the conduct of decadal Population Census. Thereby, the Delimitation of 1973 was let alone to the Delimitation Commission and their Advisors to exercise for unbiased report. But when it came out, there happened to be some lacunae, as alleged (only the Commission of that time knew it). When the Commission’s report was implemented, some people their own MLAs that they could not protect their seat and was taken away. But the deprived constituencies finally cool down with a concessional settlement: a. The Constituency seat was not reduce/abolished. b. The Assembly seat was taken to somewhere, not outside but inside Nagaland, where it was needed most. c. A time of Delimitation would re-visit and the benefit will come back one day. d. Wait the opportunity with patience.

Thus, the anger of deprivation was subsided. It is undeniable that at the concession of someone, some other reap the benefits. We can consider the concession so made by someone as the act of humane and sentient being as well.

The Second Delimitation visited in 2002, but somehow on the assumption of faulty Census figure of 2001, the second train of delimitation was derailed and those who were waiting eagerly could not embark the train for their second journey. Now, Nagaland could be enjoying the third Delimitation benefits, but unfortunately we are still stranded in the Second Delimitation exercise.

Out of 5 (five) States under Delimitation Exercise, hardly other states raise their complain or they are silent, presumably they have their absolute confidence on the Delimitation Commission. Rationally, maybe they are unselfish in their distribution of resources.

Many Naga observers are bewildered how and where Naga Political Solution has emerged in the midst of Delimitation! Many have the opinion that this Delimitation Exercise will never and no way can alter the Framework of Agreement already

While the ex-cadre DBs are not averse to working in any condition, the manner in which they are being treated is highly deplorable.

For instance, the excadre Dbs in Dimapur are being ordered to visit and check all the godowns of essential commodities where huge number of trucks comes daily from Red Zones in other states. In doing so, none of the DBs are being provided with adequate safety kits/ gears. Further, the DBs are ordered to distribute food in the quarantine centres without being provided adequate kits that would protect them from the virus.

6. In addition to the above, the ex-cadre DBs are also sent for inter-state gate duty, manning the railways station during the arrival of returnees, maintaining law and order at quarantine centres, and any other emergency work whenever called for.

7. In carrying out all the above duties and functions, there is no differentiation in the nature of work between the regular DBs and ex-cadre DBs. The only stark irregularity is the salary of an ex-cadre DB, which is highly disproportionate and discriminatory to its counterparts.

In light of the above, the undersigned demands the following from the State Government: a. To regularize the serving ex-cadre DBs to all resultant vacancies, excluding newly created posts, in accordance with the letter of the Commissioner date 28.04.2010: or. b. To grant scale pay to the entire ex-cadre DBs equivalent to DB Grade II. That, the Nagaland excadre DBs stand in solidarity with the staffs of the NHM. Nagaland, and as such, failure to consider the above prayer(s) promptly shall compel all the ex-cadre DBs in Nagaland to reconsider their employment and take any drastic measure which may be detrimental to the district administrations.

Akangtemjen, President and Chichamo Kikon, General Secretary of NECDBs Reader’s note: Articles or letters published in any of the columns do not reflect

signed and kept under Cool Storage.

Further, there is strong apprehension, the Naga Political Solution conceived in the form of Framework Agreement cannot be predicted when it would be born. Many people set a time line that it would be within 3 months or certain month was even mentioned, no doubt, the pain continues, yet nothing is materializing. In this matter, I have concurring opinion of our Honourable MLA Azo, Quote “Delaying delimitation will not solve the problem” unquote. Delaying of Delimitation or hastening it will not bring Naga Political Solution early or lately. The cause of this lingering unsolved problem one can definitely attribute to discord among the Nagas.

It appears to be sufficiently evident that the culprit of disunity among Nagas is no other than self-interested - selfish motive so rampantly dancing in the minds of the Nagas. As long as we allow the disunity to lurk around us, we cannot expect the so call “Early Solution” to happen. One can ask, “how long Nagas are going to dance according to the music of disunity”? Have we not learned the lesson yet!

Now, the 11 (Eleven) Naga tribes have gone ahead with their petition to Prime Minister, not to impose Delimitation Exercise. As civilized citizen, this Delimitation will even come in the future whether we like it or not. Should we Nagas go on opposing every time it comes to level down the inequality? The Delimitation may not be taken as imposing but let us consider that it is an exercise of the Constitutional mandate. I think, before the Govt. of India, Nagas are all same, whether one Assembly is readjusted to other segment, it would be immaterial for the Delimitation Commission so

long there is justification and with moral integrity. Instead we should give our staunch solidarity, so that the Commission will do the needed exercise with confidence which may meant a lot in the delivery system under process.

In my mind there are few thought to be made known: 1. Better if we can feed the Delimitation Commission with the Census figure of 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 and let them do their job without prejudice.

2. All Naga MLAs and MP who are going to clear the doubts if any or going to advice, do resolve in their minds that they are doing it for Nagas and not for their own constituency’s interest alone.

3. If one constituency seat is taken away to other area, accept that the beneficiary is not other but a Naga.(Example of similar case was in 1973 Delimitation).

4. Accept that Delimitation is a balancing exercise for equitable distribution of MLA seat.

5. Trust that all 15 MPs chosen out of thousand of matured, wise and intellectual Country leaders will exercise their absolute authority over the Delimitation of constituencies in their best moral integrity.

Lastly, when any situation arise in Naga society, the lack of sympathy, Empathy and compassion become very obvious, which really appears ugly before the world.. Let us create a peaceful environment for the Delimitation Commission members to execute their works with efficiency.

Also let us shed away hypocritical words and attitude from among Nagas. It is said that “Love without action is hypocrisy”.

Pollem Tep

Reader’s Post

Sir,

In times like this COVID-19

People, governments, systems, everything changes but who ever thought of this unprecedented alteration in the world order due to COVID-19. Apparently, affecting all sections and sectors of human existence beyond man’s wildest imagination. We once thought that in happened only in movies and at the most dreams or nightmares.

Who do we blame? Why do we blame? How do we control? How do we get rid of it? Is this a divine manifest of a power greater than humans?

It all depends on one’s choice of intellection. To be or not to be is one’s discretion. But, in times like this, it would be better if not the best to jointly work together, at all levels, professional, community, inter and intra state, inter and intracontinental etc. with love, compassion and an irrepressible zeal to heal this world from the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic in so as to overcome a crisis such as this. Salute to all the frontline workers the world over. Together we can!

Ashing Muivah the view of this newspaper nor that of the Editor in any manner.

national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Armed forces told to deal with Chinese aggression NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): The armed forces deployed along the 3,500-km de-facto border with China have been given “full freedom” to give a “befitting” response to any Chinese misadventure, government sources said after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the situation in eastern Ladakh at a meeting with the top military brass on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

India has already mobilised fighter jets and sent thousands of additional Army troops to forward locations along the border with China after 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in a brutal attack by Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on June 15.

The clash in Galwan

Rajnath Singh (File)

Valley, the worst cross-border violence in 45 years, significantly frayed ties between the two countries, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi sending a strong message to China that “India wants peace but if provoked, India is capable of giving a befitting reply”.

In the meeting on Sunday, Singh told the top military officers to maintain a strict vigil on Chinese activities around the land border, the airspace and in strategic sea lanes, the sources said.

Following the Galwan

incident, military sources said Indian troops will no longer be bound by the longheld practice of not using firearms in faceoffs.

The armed forces were told to be fully ready to give a befitting reply to any Chinese misadventure, the sources said, adding a “tough” approach is being adopted to guard the border.

Seventy-six Indian soldiers were also injured in the Galwan Valley clash.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has not yet talked about the number of casualties it suffered. The sources said the armed forces have been given full freedom to deal with any act of aggression by China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border between the two countries.

The two armies had mutually decided not to resort to use firearms during face-offs in sync with provisions of two agreements on border management. The

agreements were signed in 1996 and 2005.

“Henceforth, our approach will be different. The ground commanders have been given full freedom to take decisions depending on the situation,” a top military official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

The IAF has already moved a sizeable number of its frontline Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000 aircraft and Apache attack helicopters to several key air bases including Leh and Srinagar in the last five days.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria on Saturday said the IAF is “well prepared” and “suitably deployed” to counter any security challenge along the border with China and even hinted that his force has flown combat air patrols in the Ladakh region as part of heightened preparedness.

Under combat air patrols, fully armed fighter jets can be scrambled at short notices for specific mis-

4 militants, including a Pakistani killed in Srinagar, Kulgam S R I NAG A R , J U N 2 1 (PTI): Four militants, including a Pakistani national, were killed in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar and Kulgam districts during the past 24 hours, a senior police official said on Sunday.

Among the slain militants was Shakoor Farooq Langoo who, according to police records, was involved in the killing of two BSF personnel in Soura area on May 20 this year.

An AK rifle snatched from one of the BSF jawans was recovered from the site of the encounter.

Acting on a specific input regarding the presence of militants in Zoonimar area of district Srinagar, a cordon and search operation was launched jointly by police and CRPF, the official said.

“During the search operation, repeated appeals to surrender were made to the hiding terrorists through their families and community members of the area,

Include Yoga as part of online prog: Vice Prez

Security personnel take position behind a vehicle during an encounter with militants at Zoonimar area of Srinagar. (PTI)

but they started firing indiscriminately upon the search party, which retaliated leading to an encounter,” he said. The official said in the ensuing gunfight, three militants were killed and their bodies retrieved from the site of the encounter.

“Two of the slain terrorists have been identified as Shakoor Farooq Langoo from Barthana in Srinagar and Shahid Ahmad Bhat of Semthan in Bijbehara. The identification of the other slain terrorist is yet to be ascertained,” he said.

Mobile internet ser-

Condition of Delhi Health Minister Jain improving

vices have been suspended in view of the operation.

The official said the three slain militants were affiliated to proscribed terror outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir.

Security force have eliminated 31 militants in June while 105 ultras have been been killed this year so far.

The official said the Srinagar operation came within 24 hours of the killing of a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant in Kulgam district on Saturday.

New Delhi, June 21 (IANS): Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday urged educational institutions to include Yoga as part of online learning programmes being conducted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to improve immunity. He said, children must be introduced to the ancient Indian technique at a young age. Naidu was speaking at the digital ‘Yoga and Meditation Shivir’ organised by SPIC MACAY on the occasion of International Day of Yoga. Naidu said that Yoga is a unique gift of India to the world which is successfully transforming millions of lives around the globe.

“I am glad that ‘UNICEF Kid Power’ has listed 13 Yoga stretches and poses for children,” Naidu said on the occasion of the 6th International Yoga Day. Observing that the 5,000-year-old tradition is not a mere workout, he said, “It is a science that emphasizes balance, poise, grace, equanimity, peace and harmony”.

sions. The two armies were engaged in a standoff in Galwan and several other areas of eastern Ladakh since May 5 when their troops clashed on the banks of the Pangong Tso. The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on May 5 and 6. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.

Prior to the clashes, both sides had been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it was necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

Singh’s review of the situation in eastern Ladakh came a day before he embarks on a three-day visit to Russia to attend a grand military parade in Moscow to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Germany in the Second World War.

7

Retired MEA official attacked, his wife stabbed to death during robbery attempt

NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): A 94-year-old retired External Affairs Ministry official was attacked and his 88-year-old wife stabbed to death during a robbery bid, allegedly by their security guard, at their home in south Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave, police said on Sunday.

B R Chawla and his wife Kanta Chawla lived alone in the upper ground floor of the building after the death of their two children a few years ago. The incident took place around 9 PM on Saturday when their personal security guard, who was hired recently through a domestic help, arrived at their home with his twothree associates, the police said, adding that the accused have been arrested.

According to police, the guard and his associates barged inside the Chawla house, overpowered the couple and forced them to sit on a sofa. They tied the man’s hands and legs with a

a rope. When Kanta tried to resist the robbery bid, one of the accused stabbed her with a sharp object. She became unconscious and fell on the sofa, a senior police officer said. The men then went to their bedroom and took away all the cash and jewellery kept in their cupboard, he said.

While his wife was lying injured, the retired MEA official managed to go outside the house to alert their neighbours, who informed the Residents Welfare Association president.

The woman was taken to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to the injuries, he said. The couple had hired the guard with the help of their building security guard Jitendra Kumar, who has been working in the society for the last 25 years.

Recalling the incident, Kumar said he had just come for his shift in the night when he received a call from Chawlas’ neighbours

from the third floor about the robbery.

Kumar said he immediately rushed to their home and found that the man was sitting on a chair while his wife was lying injured on the floor. She had injuries in the neck and her clothes were soaked with blood stains.

“Mr Chawla was in shock. He told us that robbers took away all the cash and jewellery. I along with my reliever then placed her body on a bed and called up the RWA president to inform him about the incident,” Kumar told PTI. Kumar said this is for the first time that such an incident was reported in the colony in his 25 years of experience. The society is under 24x7 watch and has eight CCTV cameras, he said. A case has been registered and teams have been formed to nab the culprits, police said, adding that CCTV cameras in the area are also being scanned.

PM must explain if he endorsed China’s position: Cong NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (IANS): The Congress on Sunday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the statement he made at the all-party meeting and then on the PMO’s clarification on the statement, demanding an explanation from him.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, in a press conference, asked: “Has not the PM in a way endorsed the Chinese position that they never intruded into our territories? PM must explain.”

The Congress alleged that the Prime Minister has contradicted his own ministers. “It is clear that Prime Minister’s statement of June 19, 2020 is in contradiction of the statements made by the Defence Minister, Foreign Affairs Minister and Army Chief,” Sibal said.

“Until the Chinese retreat and status quo is restored, our Government should not let up or appear to cede any part of these territories to the Chinese,” he further said.

Sibal posed five questions to the government -- Isn’t the statement of PM

Kapil Sibal (File)

an affront to the valour and supreme sacrifice of Colonel B. Santosh Babu? Is it not correct that China had never claimed Galwan Valley as its territory? Is it also not correct that China has now committed brazen transgressions into Galwan Valley?

The Congress asked, despite the statement of security experts, army generals & satellite imagery depicting Chinese intrusion into Pangong Tso Lake up to nearly eight km, construction of over 60 permanent structures, including bunkers and boat pads & occupation up to Finger 4, why is the government denying the brazen Chinese transgression?

The Congress leader

raised the issue of the PM’s statement in the all-party meeting that “no one intruded into our territory” and asked “Why did PMO delete these words from the official statement?

“And if no one intruded into our territory, how did our 20 soldiers die? How were 85 jawans seriously injured and how were 10 officers and jawans captured by the Chinese? Why does the statement of the External Affairs Ministry dated June 20, 2020, contradict the PM’s statement on incursions by the Chinese?”

The party asked why the Prime Minister was denying his own Defence Minister and External Affairs Minister’s statements that Chinese have sought to “erect structure in the Galwan Valley on our side?

“Why is PM refuting the statement of Raksha Mantri on ‘Chinese presence in large numbers’ and EAM’s statement that we seek to restore ‘status quo ante’? Didn’t the Army Chief clearly state that ‘disengagement’is underway? If ‘no one has intruded

into our territory’ and ‘no one is occupying our territory’, what was being erected

by China or what status quo ante or disengagement were we seeking?

The Congress said that entire nation stands solidly behind the armed forces and the government on every step that they will take to defend India’s territorial integrity. “India’s armed forces and the people of India will protect our territorial integrity with all the might. We will never compromise on issues of national security,” Sibal said.

“Our territorial integrity will not be compromised under any circumstances.

We will repulse every sinister design of China to usurp India’s territory. Any attempt by China to illegally appropriate India’s territory will be repelled. India’s forces have in the last 53 years successfully repulsed all attempts by China to foray across the LAC - Be it in 1967 in Nathu La, in 1986 in Sum Dorong Chu Valley, Arunachal Pradesh or in 2013 in the Depsang Valley in Ladakh.

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if needed, the sources told PTI. T h e a d d i t i o n a l team includes doctors from Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH), Maulana Azad Medical College and another leading private hospital, they said.

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“We had done all the formalities for it before sending him to Max Hospital for the plasma therapy, as his condition was deteriorating,” a source at the city government hospital said.

Doctors at the RGSSH on Thursday said the minister had been diagnosed with pneumonia and his oxygen saturation level had also dipped, prompting hospital authorities to shift him to an intensive care unit.

He had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 17, a day after he was admitted to RGSSH due to high-grade fever.

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NEW DELHI, JUN 21 (PTI): The condition of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has improved and fever subsided, officials said on Sunday, a day after he was administered plasma therapy at a private COVID19 facility here.

Also, a team of senior doctors from a few government and private hospitals has been kept on standby to ensure the best medical care for Jain who is admitted in ICU of Max hospital, Saket, according to sources.

The condition of the 55-year-old minister is improving and he is being monitored by doctors, the officials said.

His fever has subsided and his oxygen saturation level (Spo2) has increased, and he’s likely to come out of the ICU by Monday, they said. Jain was administered plasma therapy at the Max Hospital in Saket on Saturday and his condition is stable now, they said.

A team of doctors from a few government and private hospitals has been kept on standby to assist the doctors attending to him,

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business/state Tea exports dip by 5.6% in last fiscal

India ‘pharmacy of the world’ during crisis ship, said that the country’s entry into the powerful UN organ is more than symbolic.

“This is more than symbolic now as India secures its non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for the period of 2021-2022. I am sure that highly qualified scientists and medical professionals in India will take an active part in the efforts of the world community to study and research the coronavirus pandemic and develop a vaccine,” Norov said.

India plays the role of the pharmacy of the world’ and in terms of a pandemic it is crucial in a global context, he said.

Beijing-headquartered SCO is an eight-member economic and security bloc.

India and Pakistan were admitted into the grouping in 2017. Its founding members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“India today sets the tone in many regional and global initiatives. It has a good reason for this: it relies on its vast experience and deep knowledge in the field of medicine and health management,

including the production of high quality, affordable medicines, equipment and vaccines,” said Norov, the former foreign minister of Uzbekistan.

India has become the world’s largest producer of generic medicines, accounting for 20 per cent of the total global production, and meeting 62 per cent of the global demand for vaccines, he said.

Norov said that taking into account India’s commitment to international cooperation and solidarity, as well as its positive contribution to supporting the world’s most important institutions of cooperation, he gives it a priority in efforts to reach a consensus on the central role of the UN and the World health Organization (WHO).

He said that India has also played an active role in providing assistance to many countries, including the SCO member states, in the supply of medicines and essential drugs.

With India’s accession into the SCO as a full member, new opportunities for further development and deepening of full-scale cooperation have opened up, the Secretary-General of the grouping said.

China loses WTO dispute over market economy status New Delhi, Jun 21 (IANS): In a landmark development, China has lost a dispute to the European Union at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a market economy status, as the former allowed the dispute to lapse.

T h e d eve l o p m e n t comes after four years of battle for the market-economy status by China. The designation would have put the country in a stronger position in respect of its commercial and trade partners.

A note by the WTO Secretariat said China al-

lowed the dispute to lapse.

“At the request of China, the panel suspended its work on 14 June 2019 (WT/DS516/13). Since the panel has not been requested to resume its work, pursuant to Article 12.12 of the DSU, the authority for establishment of the panel lapsed as of 15 June 2020,” read the Secretariat’s note.

According to the EU, China subsidises its industries to a great extent, particularly steel and aluminum, making their sales prices in the international market unfair.

Crossword

Su doku

KAKURO

After the latest development, to protect their industries, the EU and the United States will be able to apply high antidumping tariffs on goods from China.

Similar issues have also been faced by India in terms of “dumping” of low-cost products by China. India has imposed anti-dumping duties on several occasions on several items.

Further, amid the ongoing border tussle, India may impose higher tariffs on products that are mostly imported from China.

India’s policy and practice in the international arena in the context of the coronavirus pandemic have fully proved the correctness of the course outlined by Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi at the Bishkek Summit in 2019 - the priority of cooperation in the field of health, he said.

Norov also made a special mention of Modi’s proposals to evolve a common vision for strengthening healthy cooperation in the region.

At the last SCO Summit, Modi made a number of proposals to activate key areas of interaction.

He noted that there should be a common vision of strengthening healthy cooperation in our region.

In his opinion, the letters that add up as the word HEALTH can be a great format for collaboration: H- Healthcare cooperation, E- Economic cooperation, A- Alternative energy sources, L- Literature and culture, T- Terrorism free society, H- Humanitarian cooperation, he said.

India has far-reaching broad plans to increase the role and authority of the SCO in the international arena, Norov added.

Kolkata, Jun 21 (PTI): Tea exports have dipped marginally in the last fiscal to 240 million kg from 254.50 million kg the year before -- a fall of 5.6 per cent -- according to data.

Exports to CIS countries -- the biggest importer of India tea -- also declined marginally to 59.40m kg in the last fiscal from 60.72 mkg in 2018-19, the Tea Board data said. Sources in the Tea Board attributed the dip to economic slowdown across the globe. Iran continued to be second largest importer with the country buying 46.47 mkg in 201920 - up from 41.02 mkg in the previous fiscal. Offtake

by China also increased to 12.71 mkg from 10.58 mkg.

Exports to neighbouring Pakistan, however, saw a significant drop - from 14.6 mkg in 2018-19 to 3.3 mkg the previous fiscal.

Apart from that, the US, the UK and the UAE are the other three destinations where the exports had touched double digits in 2019-20, the data said.

Meanwhile, production of tea in March, the last month of fiscal 201920, witnessed a steep fall to 43.45 mkg from 74.59 mkg in the corresponding period of 2018-19.

NSUD seeks re-examination of beneficiary list (From p-1) NSUD hoped that the one-time assistance would not produce the same result like the previous relief fund where 2,475 Nagas were left out due to bank account issues As ever y stranded Naga, irrespective of his or her occupation and background was facing a tough challenge of sustenance and survival, the union demanded that this humanitarian package should not leave out a single stranded citizen of Nagaland due to his or her inability to provide all the required documents.

Asserting that NSUD was committed to serving all community members in every possible way, the representation stated that as COVID-19 cases increased,

the challenges and issues had also risen, adding that its executives had been receiving distress calls on a daily basis.

The representation mentioned about the services rendered by the union’s representatives at the risk of exposing themselves while visiting hospitals to attend to emergency calls and sought emergency fund from the chief minister.

NSUD appreciated Rio and all those working on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, besides acknowledging the assistances given to denizens of the State stranded in various cities of India through State Bhawan or directly. The deputy resident commissioner of Nagaland House, Delhi had done a

commendable work in this regard, it added.

Claiming that it had been coordinating with different NGOs and Northeastern State bhawans in providing basic needs to stranded people of Nagaland, the union said it had been visiting hospitals to cater to the patients, attending distress calls along with Delhi Police and dealing with various forms of discrimination faced by people from the Northeast since the first week of March 2020.

It also appreciated the successful evacuation of Nagaland’s stranded citizen from Delhi and National Capital Region on June 14

by Shramik Special Train Phase-1 from Delhi to Dimapur.

Need more ease of doing business: CII

New Delhi, Jun 21 (IANS): Steps for bringing further ease of doing business in the country will help bring more domestic and foreign investments, and help India in its aim of becoming self-reliant, a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) statement said on Sunday.

The industry body has identified immediate and medium term measures in terms of ease of doing business to boost the economy.

“While many policies have been announced for a facilitative investment cli-

mate, effective translation into ground-level outcomes will help investor perceptions and further boost confidence. We believe that taking the ease of doing business route can unlock huge potential at a time when the world is seeking new investment opportunities,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII. The statement noted that central and state governments have introduced a plethora of reforms across the various areas of doing business, which helped India leap to the 63rd rank in the latest Doing Business Report of the World Bank.

Govt extends Rs 50 L insurance scheme for healthcare providers

New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI): Amid rising number of COVID-19 cases, the government has extended the Rs 50 lakh insurance scheme for about 22 lakh healthcare providers for another three months till September.

The scheme implemented by New India Assurance was slated to end on June 30, as per the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of the Rs 1.70 lakh Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package in March.

The insurance provides a comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to a total of around 22.12 lakh public health-

care providers, including community health workers, who may have to be in direct contact and care of patients suffering from coronavirus infection and who may be at risk of being impacted by this.

Insurance Scheme for health workers in government hospitals and healthcare centres operationalised with effect from March 30, 2020, an official statement said, adding the scheme has been extended up to September.

The scheme is funded through the National Disaster Response Fund, operated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Doctors, nurses, paramedics,

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sanitation workers and a few others working in hospitals under the central and state governments will be covered under the insurance scheme. While announcing the scheme, the Finance Minister had said, safai karamcharis, ward-boys, nurses, ASHA workers, paramedics, technicians, doctors and specialists and

other health workers would be covered by the special insurance scheme.

“Any health professional, who while treating COVID-19 patients, meet with some accident, then he/she would be compensated with an amount of Rs 50 lakh under the scheme,” she had said.

All government health

centres, wellness centres and hospitals of the Centre as well as states would be covered under this scheme, she had said. However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare later in an FAQ clarified that private hospital staff treating COVID-19 patients will also be covered.

“Private persons those who are engaged by both public & private health care institutions/organisation through an agency and were deployed or drafted for care and may have come in direct contact of the COVID-19 patient (with the proof that the service of the agencies were engaged by the institution/organisation),” the FAQ said.

Hetero gets nod to make COVID-19 drug Hyderabad, Jun 21 (Agencies): Hyderabad-based drug maker Hetero said on Sunday that it had received approval of regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and market investigational antiviral medicine Remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 disease.

The company said its generic version of US-based Gilead Science’s experimental COVID-19 treatment Remdesivir will be marketed under brand name Covifor in India. Covifor will be available in 100 milligram vials (injectable) which have to be administered intravenously in a hospital setting under the supervision of a healthcare practitioner, it said.

“In the light of increasing COVID19 cases in India, the approval of Covifor (Remdesivir) can prove to be a gamechanger given its positive clinical outcomes.

Backed by strong backward integration capabilities, we can ensure that the product is

immediately made available to patients across the country,” said Dr B Partha Saradhi Reddy, chairman, Hetero Group of Companies.

“We are prepared for ensuring enough stocks required to cater to the present needs. We will continue to work closely with the government and medical community to make a difference in the fight against COVID-19,” he said. Hetero said Covifor will likely be priced at Rs 5,000-6,000 for a 100-mg dose, news agency Reuters reported.

Remdesivir has received approval of the country’s drug regulator “for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in adults and children, hospitalised with severe symptoms of the disease”, Hetero said.

The product is launched under a licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences to expand access to COVID-19 treatment in low- and middle-income countries, Hetero said.

PNB’s net loss narrows to Rs 697 cr

New Delhi, Jun 21 (IANS): State-run lending major Punjab National Banks standalone Q4FY20 net loss narrowed to Rs 697.20 crore. The bank had posted a loss of Rs 4,750 crore during the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal.

In the quarter under review, PNB’s total provision was down to Rs 4,629 crore against Rs 7,611 crore on this account for the same period a year ago.

Similarly, the NPA or bad loan provision for the quarter was down Rs 4,618 crore from Rs 9,154 crore reported for corresponding period of previous fiscal.

However, the bank’s net interest income, was up 11.4 per cent in Q4FY20 to Rs 4,678 crore from Rs

4,200 crore reported for from a loss Rs 9,975 crore the corresponding period reported for the previous of tthe previous year. fiscal.

For the fiscal year 2019-20, the bank posted a profit of Rs 336 crore

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Beijing, Jun 21 (PTI): India is playing the role as the pharmacy of the world during the Covid-19 pandemic with its vast experience and deep knowledge in medicine, setting the tone for many regional and global initiatives, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Secretary-General Vladimir Norov has said.

India has so far supplied medicines to 133 countries in the fight against Covid-19, which shows India’s generosity, despite the fact that the country’s government has taken urgent measures to prevent and treat the disease on a national scale, Norov told PTI in an interview.

This is a worthy and responsible example of the behaviour of a major power, and at the same time demonstrates the complementarity and mutual support of the SCO member states, he said.

India last week overwhelmingly won the election to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a non-permanent seat.

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Beijing tests millions for COVID-19 PepsiCo suspends ops after workers test positive Beijing, Jun 21 (PTI): Food and beverage giant PepsiCo has suspended operations in Beijing after some of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus in the Chinese capital, where the city officials are conducting COVID-19 tests on millions, especially employees of restaurants, food delivery services and market vendors. China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday that it had reported 32 new COVID-19 cases in the country.

Of the domestically transmitted cases, 22 cases were detected in Beijing and three in neighbouring Hebei Province, the NHC said.

Also on Saturday, seven new asymptomatic cases were reported, it said, adding that 111 asymptomatic cases, including 58 from overseas, were still under medical observation. Municipal Health Commission of Beijing, where the new cluster of cases were reported, said that from June 11 to 20, the capital had reported 227 confirmed domestically transmitted cases, all

From June 11 to 20, the capital had reported 227 confirmed domestically transmitted cases.

acid tests during its screening for COVID-19 cases between June 11 to 20, local officials said. The is part of the efforts to test employees of all food-related services including restaurants and food delivery firms.

An Indian restaurant owner said that tests of all his employees had come as negative. Beijing is the second Chinese city which resorted to mass testing.

Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December

last year, tested almost all of its 11 million residents last month. Beijing began efforts to contain coronavirus on war footing after the new clusters of cases emerged from May 30 from the city’s main Xinfadi wholesale market.

Persons who did not have contact with people at Beijing’s Xinfadi seafood market between May 30 and June 12 have a very low risk of being infected with COVID-19, city of-

Indonesia volcano erupts, flight alert issued

Nepal says its COVID cases are mostly from India

of whom were receiving treatment in hospitals.

There are 18 asymptomatic cases still under medical observation, and one imported case hospitalised in Beijing, the commission said. The state-run People’s Daily reported that PepsiCo Beijing has suspended operations after some of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

Till Saturday, Beijing had sampled a total of 2.29 million people for nucleic

Residents living near the volcano which is situated in Indonesia’s main Java Island are barred from entering the area within a radius of 3 kms.

Ja k a rta , J u n 2 1 (IANS): Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano erupted on Sunday, spewing a column of ash by up to 6 km high, and the highest level of flight alert was issued.

The wind was blowing to the west of the crater and the residents living near the

9

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

volcano which is situated in Indonesia’s main Java Island are barred from entering the area within a radius of 3 km from the crater, Xinhua news agency quoted the National Volcanology Agency as saying. A volcano observatory notice for aviation with red code was issued by

the agency after the eruption as it endangers planes which are prohibited from passing through the air space around the volcano.

The 2.930-metre high Mount Merapi last erupted on April 2 with a column of ash spreading by up to 3 km to the sky.

Kathmandu, Jun 21 (PTI):Nepal on Sunday claimed that 90 per cent of its coronavirus cases are migrant workers who returned from abroad, mostly from India, as the country’s tally inched closer to the 10,000-mark with 421 new cases.

The virus has now spread to 75 of the total 77 districts in the country, the Health Ministry said.

The confirmation of 421 new cases pushed Nepal’s coronavirus infection tally to 9,026.

Dr Basudev Pandey, director at Department of Epidemiology, Ministry of Health said 90 per cent of Nepal’s coronavirus cases are migrant workers, who returned from abroad, mostly from India, and 98 per cent of the infected people did not show any symptom.

Of the 421 new cases, 64 are female while 357 are male, the Health Ministry said at its daily media briefing.

ficials said. All residents of 40 sealed-off communities in Beijing have been asked not to leave their homes to avoid cross-infection, Zhang Qiang, the state-run Global Times quoted an official with Beijing’s COVID-19 prevention team as saying.

People under 14-day collective quarantine in Beijing for medical observation can only be released if their nucleic acid test results are negative at the end of the quarantine.

At present, a total of 474 sample collection sites and 2,083 sample booths have been set up at both urban and rural areas in the capital, with 7,472 workers having been mobilised to participate in the screening across the city, Zhang said.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is also offering free tests to all drivers in Beijing. Didi said its drivers can also go to nine newly-opened epidemic prevention stations to have their vehicles disinfected, according to a report in the Beijing Daily. All employees of public transport and taxi companies in Beijing’s Daxing district are also being tested. Already, 1,471 bus and taxi drivers in the district have been tested, The Beijing News reported on Saturday.

Three feared dead, several injured in multiple stabbings in UK city of Reading

Unconfirmed reports say that three people may have died and a man-believed to be a Libyan-has been arrested at the scene.

London, Jun 21 (PTI): Three persons were feared dead and several others injured in a stabbing spree on Saturday evening in a central park in the city of Reading in south East England park, prompting police to launch probe into the case with counter-terror officials too joining the investigation.

Unconfirmed reports say that three people may have died and a man — believed to be a Libyan — has been arrested at the scene.

“A number of people sustained injuries and were taken to hospital,” Thames Valley Police said in a statement. “A police cordon is in place in Forbury Gardens in Reading as officers investi-

gate. We are asking the public to avoid the area at this time,” the statement said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his “thoughts are with all of those affected by the appalling incident in Reading”.

“My thanks to the emergency services on the scene,” he said. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel expressed her deep concern soon after the incident. “Deeply concerned to hear reports of an incident in Reading. My thoughts are with everyone involved, including police and emergency responders at the scene,” she said. Eyewitness accounts on social media have reported paramedics and police tending to

several wounded people in the park where the incident took place.

The news came soon after an anti-racism Black Lives Matter protest in the area earlier. The police say there is no suggestion so far that the incident is linked to any protests. “There is no indication that this incident is linked to the Black Lives Matter protest that took place in Reading today,” Thames Valley Police said in a Twitter statement. Some media reports said a police officer was seen as he “rugby tackled” a suspect to the ground. Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said the stabbing was “very concerning”.

2 killed in US cities shootings; 11 injured

Washington, Jun 21 (IANS): At least two people were killed in shooting incidents that took place in the US cities of Minneapolis and Seattle, police said.

In Minneapolis, the city’s police force tweeted early Sunday morning that some 11 people who were injured in the shooting have been hospitalised, without giving any further details of the incident, reports 10 WBNS news.

In an earlier tweet, the police asked the residents of the city to avoid the Upper Minneapolis area.

Minneapolis was the city where the unarmed African-American man George Floyd was killed by a white police officer on May 25, which has led to widespread protests against racism and police brutalities across the US and also the world.

Meanwhile in Seattle, police were probing a shooting that killed one person and another critically injured inside the city’s Capitol Hill Or-

The 11 injured in the shooting have been hospitalised.

ganized Protest (CHOP) zone. Calls to the police to report shots fired in Cal Anderson Park started coming in at about 2.30 a.m. on Saturday, the Seattle-based King 5 news reported.

“Officers attempted to locate a shooting victim but were met by a violent

crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims,” a police statement said.

Police said they were later informed that CHOP medics had taken the two victims to hospital.

The 19-year-old victims died from his injuries, while the other person re-

mains in the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The police are reviewing public-source video and body-camera video for clues.

“The suspect or suspects fled and are still at large. There is no description at this time,” the statement added.

US talking to India and China, will try and help them out: Trump Spain welcomes tourists as emergency ends Washington, Jun 21 (PTI): The United states is talking to both India and China to help them resolve their ongoing border tensions, President Donald Trump said on Saturday.

“It’s a very tough situation. We’re talking to India.

We’re talking to China.

They’ve got a big problem there,” Trump told reporters at the White House before boarding Marine 1 on his way to his first postCOVID19 election rally in Oklahoma. “They’ve come to blows, and we’ll see what happens. We’ll try and help them out,” Trump said when asked about his assessment of the situation between India and China.

Over the past few days, the entire Trump Administration has rallied behind India against the illegitimate incursions of the Chinese Army into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.

As many as 20 Indian soldiers achieved martyrdom in fierce clashes against Chinese intr uders into Galwan Valley in Ladakh early this week. Indians, according to US intelligence sources, killed more than 35 Chinese soldiers during the skirmish.

Donald Trump (File)

The United States has accused China of escalating border tension with India and other neighbours by trying to take benefit of these countries busy fighting coronavirus pandemic.

“The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) has escalated border tensions with India, the world’s most populous democracy. It’s militarizing the South China Sea and illegally claiming more territory there, threatening vital sea lanes,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, in a major speech on China a day earlier.

In his virtual address on ‘Europe and the China Challenge’ during the 2020 Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Friday, Pompeo described the ruling Chinese Communist Party as a ‘rogue actor.’

Early this week, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president is aware of the situation and the US is monitoring the situation between Indian and Chinese forces along the line of actual control in Eastern Ladakh.

During a phone call on June 2nd that Trump had with Prime Minister Modi, they did discuss the situation on the Indo-China border, McEnany said.

“Trump and Modi have a terrific relationship and trust between them,” Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee said, adding that the statements coming from the White House, the State Department and the US Embassy in New Delhi is reflective of this.

Coming out in support of

India, Texas Congressman Lance Gooden said that China cannot be trusted.

“As more news comes out about the deadly conflict between China and India, once again CHINA appears to be an aggressive bad actor,” the Republican Congressman said.

“The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) cannot be taken at their word, EVER,” Gooden said in a tweet.

On the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that “on land, for the sake of grabbing territory, the PLA appears to have instigated the most violent clash between China and India since those nations went to war in 1962”. Needless to say, the rest of the world has watched with grave concern this violent exchange between two nuclear states.

We are encouraging deescalation and hoping for peace,” McConnell said.

Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell earlier said that this Chinese activity is similar to activity the world has seen in the past on border disputes with the Peoples Republic of China.

“I would point you to those – I think it was 2015

when Xi Jinping traveled to India the first time,” he said.

“The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) invaded this contested area deeper and longer, with more people, than ever before historically.

Whether that was a negotiating tactic or just a punch in the nose to demonstrate their superiority, I don’t know,” he told reporters early this week.

“But then we saw the Doklam issue down near Bhutan, where we saw similar concerns. I wish I knew.

Again, we don’t have a lot of visibility and we don’t have a lot of open dialogue with our Chinese counterparts, and honestly I’d like to see more of that if we can,” Stillwell said.

US experts feel that the latest Chinese behavior will swing India towards China.

“Even before the latest flareup, a majority of Indian strategists saw Chinese assertiveness as India’s biggest foreign-policy challenge.

This has resulted in an unspoken but unmistakable swing toward the US,” Jeff Smith from The Heritage Foundation think tank said.

“The bullying of US partners and allies needs to come at a cost,” Smith said in a tweet.

Madrid, Jun 21 (IANS): Spain on Sunday lifted its state of emergency imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening its borders to visitors from most of Europe and allowing British tourists in without having to quarantine.

For three months Spain has been under one of Europe’s toughest lockdowns to stop the spread of coronavirus, the BBC reported.

The state of emergency was decreed on March 14, and for several weeks people could not go out to exercise and children were not allowed to leave their homes for any reason.

Spain normally attracts 80 million tourists a year, with tourism providing more than 12 per cent of the country’s GDP. Arrivals will have their temperature taken at the airport, state if they have had the virus and provide contact details.

Spain is opening up again to the rest of the European Union (EU) and Schengen zone countries outside the bloc.

And now Spaniards can once again enjoy unrestricted travel in their own country. But social distancing rules remain in

Spain is opening up again to the rest of the European Union (EU) and Schengen zone countries outside the bloc.

place: people have to stay 1.5-metres apart in public, wear masks in shops and on public transport, where that rule cannot always be kept, and clean their hands frequently.

In a statement, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “We must remain on our guard and strictly follow hygiene and protection measures.” He warned of the risk of a second coronavirus wave, “which must be avoided at all costs”.

Spain’s land border with Portugal remains shut until July 1, at the latter’s request. Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told the BBC that there

would no longer be a twoweek quarantine for British tourists. Spain is still in discussions over whether the UK will reciprocate.

But she said Spain’s move was “out of respect for the 400,000 British citizens who have second residences in Spain” and who are “dying to benefit” from them.

In recent weeks Spain has been gradually easing restrictions, like its EU neighbours, reopening businesses and public spaces such as parks.

Spain, one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, has so far reported 245,938 COVID-19 cases, with 28,322 deaths.

Infotainment

Music heals: Madhuri Dixit on World Music Day

Salman Khan requests fans to stand with Sushant’s family A B ollywood superstar Salman Khan has appealed to his fans to extend support to Sushant Singh Rajput’s family and admirers after a criminal complaint was filed against him for abetting the suicide of the late actor.

Salman’s appeal comes days after Sushants’s fans and netizens trolled the bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor and others by calling out the hypocritic bollywood industry.

Earlier this week, a Muzaffarpur-based advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha filed a petition naming Bollywood bigwigs like Khan, producers Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali as accused.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday, Khan asked his fans to understand the emotions Sushant’s admirers were going through after his demise.

“A request to all my fans to stand with Sushant’s fans and not to go by the language and the curses used but to go with the

emotion behind it. Please support and stand by his family and fans as the loss of a loved one is extremely painful,” he wrote.

Ojha had alleged that the heavyweights had tried to stall the career of the upcoming star. The Patnaborn actor was known for films including “Kai Po Che!”, “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story”, “Chhichhore”.

A couple of other

filmmakers have also been named as co-accused in the case.

A complaint was also filed before a court in Bihar on Saturday accusing actor Rhea Chakraborty of having abetted Rajput’s suicide.

Rajput’s death has reignited discussions around the struggle of survival in Bollywood, navigating cliques, particularly for outsiders.

(PTI)

ctress Madhuri Dixit believes that music heals and she hopes that this year’s World Music Day, which is celebrated on June 21, is all about that.

She has posted a video of herself reading a book and humming a song.

“Caught in the act of chilling & humming! Music heals & I hope this year’s #WorldMusicDay is all about that.#NainaBarse #LifeAtHome,” she has captioned the video shared on her Instagram. The dancing diva has officially become a singer too. She recently unveiled her song “Candle”.

“Candle” is a symbol of hope, positivity and faith for her. “Candle signifies so many things. So we talked about candle in the song.

Now when I look around, there is hopelessness and uncertainty. I had never thought that we would face something like this,” she had said referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

“So, I thought this was the time when people needed that positivity. The feeling that everything is going to be okay. If we stay strong, we will all come out of this together and stronger,” she had added.

(IANS)

K-Pop fans register fake tickets for Trump rally in Oklahoma

mostly through Alt TikTok — we kept it on the quiet side where people do pranks and a lot of activism. K-pop Twitter and Alt TikTok have a good alliance where they spread information amongst each other very quickly. They all know the algorithms and how they can boost videos to get where they want.”

New York congresswoman Alexandria Oca-

sio-Cortez lauded the KPop fans and TikTokers for their work in registering the fake tickets, writing: “You just got ROCKED by teens on TikTok who flooded the Trump campaign w/ fake ticket reservations & tricked you into believing a million people wanted your white supremacist open mic enough to pack an arena during COVID.” The new stunt isn’t the first time K-Pop fans have turned political and used their vast numbers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, as Black Lives Matter protests spread across the United States and the rest of the world, K-Pop fans flooded a new app set up by the Dallas Police Department, which encouraged members of the public to share videos of protestors with the police, with FanCam videos of their favourite KPop stars, causing the controversial app to crash.

K - Po p f a n s a l s o drowned out the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter this month, using the same phrase but attaching nonsensical or anti-racist messages.

(NME)

Kurt Cobain’s ‘MTV Unplugged’ guitar sells for record-breaking $6million

Kirti Kulhari’s first tattoo is a tribute to her father

K

-Pop fans online seemingly registered hundreds of thousands of fake tickets for a Donald Trump rally in Oklahoma this weekend.

Trump held a gathering in Tulsa yesterday (June 20), reporting before the event that a million people had registered for tickets.

The event was poorly attended, though, and as

K

urt Cobain‘s legendary ‘MTV Unplugged’ guitar has broken the record for most expensive guitar ever sold, selling for US$6million at auction, a rough equivalent of £4.85million.

The 1959 Martin D-18E used in Nirvana‘s iconic ‘MTV Unplugged’ performance in 1993 was originally expected to sell for somewhere between $1 and 2 million as part of the ‘Music Icons’ sale at Julien’s Auctions on June 19 and 20. Bidding had reached $1 million before the auction’s official openK Y M C

the New York Times report, the discrepancy of ticket requests to attendees likely came from an undercover campaign by K-Pop fans to sabotage the event.

The report says that K-pop fans and TikTok users worked together to register thousands of fake ticket requests for the Tulsa rally, with one organiser telling the NYT: “It spread

ing. The winning bid of $6,010,000 (from a total of just seven bids) was made by Peter Freedman, founder of RØDE Microphones.

The previous record for most expensive guitar ever sold was a black Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour, which sold at auction for $3.95 million in 2019.

When the auction was first announced in May, the auction house CEO Darren Julien said, “This important guitar has earned its rightful place in rock & roll history as the instrument

played by one of rock’s most influential musicians and icons in one of the greatest and most memorable live performances of all time.”

The guitar was sold with its original hard-case, stamped with a flyer for Poison Idea’s 1990 album ‘Feel The Darkness’ and containing a half-used pack of guitar strings, picks and a suede “stash” bag.

Other Nirvana relics that were up for grabs included a smashed up Fender Stratocaster used

by Cobain on the band’s 1994 ‘In Utero’ tour, the t-shirt he wore in their music video for ‘HeartShaped Box’ and the setlist from the ‘MTV Unplugged’ performance.

Last year the green cardigan Cobain wore during the same performance also broke records when it sold for $334,000 (£184,864).

Nir vana’s acoustic performance for ‘MTV Unplugged’ was recorded in November 1993, five months before Cobain died, aged 27.

(NME)

O

n Father’s Day, actress Kirti Kulhari says she always has been close to her dad, and his quality of being there for everybody is what she would like to get into her life.

Asked about her favourite childhood memory with him, she said: “He enrolled my elder sister and me in Kathak classes.

He used to take us to the classes on his scooter and wait until they finished, and bring us home. I cherish that scooter ride and how it made me feel.”

Kirti’s father Khyali Ram Kulhari is a retired commander of the Indian Navy. The actress describes him as a child, and says she feels that the ‘parenting’ roles have reversed.

Narrating the history behind her first tattoo, she said: “Whenever we spot dad overeating sugar and we reprimand him he goes, ‘What is the problem yaar?’ My husband suggested that I should ink his hilarious response.”

(IANS)

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Map of world’s uncharted ocean beds takes shape

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lans to map the entire ocean floor by 2030 are going ahead despite the challenges of the coronavirus crisis, officials leading the project said, with almost a fifth covered so far.

Scientists say the topography of the ocean floor is less well known than the surfaces of Mars, Mercury or Venus and that charting the depth and shape of the seabed will help understand the impact oceans have on the earth’s climate.

As the world’s ocean economy grows in coming years, data will also be vital to boost knowledge of marine ecosystems and marine life as well as future food supply patterns.

Seabed 2030, which is working to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce a comprehensive map said on Sunday that the area mapped had risen from 15% to 19% in the last year, from only 6% when the initiative began in 2017.

“Over the next year, we anticipate similar levels of data contributions through donations of archive material and, as COVID restrictions abate, new data from surveys,

ships transits and crowd sourcing,” project director Jamie McMichael-Phillips told Reuters in comments to coincide with World Hydrography Day. Data used includes contributions from governments, academia and commercial sources such as ships. These are pulled together by experts at vari-

Proud that Yoga is India’s gift to world: Manushi Chhillar

Bryce Dallas Howard discusses ‘exhilarating’ ‘Jurassic World 3’ script

ctress and former Miss World Manushi Chhillar says she feels extremely proud that Yoga is India’s gift to the world and that it is benefitting people worldwide.

“Yoga has invaluable and innumerable health benefits and I’m proud that it is India’s gift to the world.

Yoga has become a sanctuary for so many people across the world and helped them in so many ways,” Manushi said on International Yoga Day. She urged everyone to include Yoga into their daily life. “I recommend everyone should add yoga to their routines to understand the benefits that one can unlock for themselves,” says the former Miss World.

Manushi credits Yoga for her svelte figure.

“Yoga has been a part of my life since school. More than what it does physically, I feel it has made me more aware, more conscious and I can say, in a way, yoga has made me stronger. I’ve enjoyed adding it to my rest days as it helps me maintain my flexibility,” she said.

(IANS)

urassic World star Bryce Dallas Howard has discussed the “exhilarating” script for the series’ forthcoming third movie.

Jurassic World: Dominion is due out in June 2021, and began production in February before being shut down due to coronavirus concerns.

Speaking to Collider via video call Howard spoke of how the film’s director Colin Trevorrow gave Howard and her husband Seth Gabel the script to read together. “The script was awesome, it was so exhilarating reading it,” she said. “My husband got to read it too. Colin was like, ‘Yeah, you and Seth can read it,’ and we were like, just the whole time, kinda flipping out.”

She added: “Which is like, that was exhilarating because we are all so excited to come back together.”

The third film in the franchise was

A

Beaches on the Pacific Ocean lie empty after Los Angeles issued a stay-at-home order and closed beaches and state parks in Manhattan Beach, California, April 2. (Reuters)

J

ous regional centres around the world in an initiative estimated to cost between $3 billion and $5 billion.

“We have already been gifted hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of data which would cost tens of millions of dollars to acquire ourselves,” McMichael-Phillips said.

But there was still

around 293 million square kilometres of ocean floor to map, he added.

The project is a collaboration between Japan’s philanthropic Nippon Foundation and GEBCO, a non-profit association of experts that is already involved in charting the ocean floor.

(Reuters)

confirmed last year and will see the return of Howard alongside co-stars Chris Pratt and Daniella Pineda, with a handful of stars from the original saga, including Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, also on board.

“They spare no expense and they’re bringing everybody back,” Pratt said of the upcoming film, teasing that it will be “the biggest and best yet” in the franchise.

Reviewing the second Jurassic World film, 2018’s Fallen Kingdom, NME wrote: “The series all about evolution has devolved into something that’s significantly less smart and more savage than it once was.

“Fallen Kingdom is the chimp flinging its own poo compared to Jurassic Park’s advanced genius, but that crap-handed chimp is still entertaining, in its idiotic way. The end promises even dafter things to come.

Call me a fool, but I’m all in.”

(NME)

Ansel Elgort denies sexual assault allegations

B

aby Driver actor Ansel Elgort has responded after he was accused of sexual assault.

Posting a lengthy message on Instagram, Elgort denies the allegations, saying he “[has] never and would never assault anyone”. The actor has been accused of assaulting a 17year-old fan in 2014, who shared a post accusing him on Twitter, which quickly went viral.

In a response shared yesterday (June 20), Elgort said he “was distressed to see the social media posts about me that have been circulating in the past 24 hours.

“I cannot claim to understand [her] feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened. I have never and would never assault anyone,” he wrote.

The message continued with Elgort saying that it was “true” that he had a “brief legal and entirely consensual relationship” with the accuser in 2014, adding: “Unfortunately, I did not handle the breakup well. I stopped responding to her, which is an immature and cruel thing to do to someone. I know this

belated apology does not He added: “As I look absolve me of my unac- back at my attitude, I ceptable behaviour when I am disgusted and deeply disappeared.” ashamed of the way I acted.

I am truly sorry. I know I must continue to reflect, learn, and work to grow in empathy.”

The alleged victim claimed in a now-deleted statement on Twitter that she private messaged Elgort on Twitter, before he invited her to message him on his private Snapchat account.

“I was sexually assaulted a couple of days after I just turned 17,” she wrote.

“I was only f**king 17. And he was in his 20s”.

(NME)

DP-2359

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K Y M C

Verona hold on for win after VAR controversy

Verona players celebrate after scoring against Cagliari.

Milan, Jun 21 (Agencies): Verona scored twice in the first half hour but had to hang on for a 2-1 win over Cagliari on Saturday as Serie A produced a VAR controversy on its first day of action since the coronavirus stoppage.

The hosts appeared to be cruising to a win thanks to a brace from Samuel Di Carmine until forward Fabio Borini was sent off in the 35th minute for a late challenge on Marko Rog following a long VAR review, infuriating the home team.

Giovanni Simeone quickly pulled one back but the visitors could not find an equaliser.

Former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga, who replaced Rolando Maran as Cagliari coach days before Serie A was suspended for three months in

Aim is to start next season in same fashion: Van Dijk

Virgil Van Dijk

Liverpool, Jun 21 (IANS): Liverpool centre back Virgil Van Dijk said that the team wants to carry on its form into next season. The Merseyside giants are two wins away from sealing their first title in over three decades with nine games to go.

“With two wins, we will be champions. But it doesn’t stop there,” Van

11

sports

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Dijk is quoted as saying

by Daily Mail. “We want to keep going, we want to take it into next season as well because that will start pretty quickly after the last game of this season. The manager spoke to us as well and said that what we do in these last nine games will set the tone for next season as well.

“We have not won

the title yet. We have not won anything yet. But the aim is to start next season in the same fashion. We can be a team that can keep progressing. We have players who can progress and make big steps in their development. Winning the league would be a big experience that could take them to the next level.”

Van Dijk has had a highly successful stay at Anfield, reaching the Champions League final in his first season and winning the title in his second.

The 28-year-old said that next season, their aim will be to retain the Premier League title if they win it this year.

“We can achieve that first and foremost this season and then we will see what can happen next season. If we win the title this season, we will try to retain it. That’s what we are aiming for but everyone knows how difficult it is to retain the title, especially in England and we are not there this season yet. We tried to retain our Champions League title and it wasn’t possible. It’s very difficult.

“We will try to focus on the nine games we have left but we hope to set the pace for the rest of next season with the title as well,” he said.

early March, finally made his debut in charge of the struggling Sardinians but could not prevent them extending their winless run to 12 matches in the league.

Promoted Verona, who have performed far above expectations this

Burnley to not extend Hart’s contract

London, Jun 21 (IANS): English Premier League side Burnley will not extend the contract of former England goalkeeper Joe Hart beyond the end of this month, as per a BBC report. The 33year-old Hart joined the team from Manchester City in 2018.

Hart had recently conceded being dropped as No.1 custodian at Manchester City by then new manager Pep Guardiola was the lowest point of his football career.

Guardiola brought in Claudio Bravo from Barcelona to take over goalkeeping duties as Hart became the second choice keeper behind him.

“It will sound pathetic but it’s the truth, it’s not playing and not being wanted,” Hart said on show ‘Football, Prince William and our mental health’ as per Daily Mail.

“Things happened with the new manager at Manchester City, probably the most important manager in the world.”

“He didn’t even necessarily not like me, he just had a certain aspect which he didn’t feel I was up to, and it kind of dropped from there. It’s certainly the lowest point of my footballing career but it’s not a dark cloud,” he said.

season, climbed to seventh with 38 points. Earlier, Torino and Parma drew 1-1 in the first match of the restarted season.

Ve r o n a q u i c k l y brushed off the cobwebs as they dominated the opening 30 minutes.

Di Carmine got in front of his marker to head in from Darko Lazovic’s cross after 14 minutes and then curled in a 25-metre shot from another Lazovic assist. Lazovic himself smashed a shot against the crossbar in between.

But the game changed completely after Borini was given a straight red card. Although he crashed into Rog with his foot raised, it looked unintentional as Borini did not seem to be aware of the Croat’s presence.

Cagliari quickly replied when Luca Pellegrini headed a cross down and Giovanni Simeone lashed the ball home.

The Sardinians had more possession after halftime but failed to create many openings and were also reduced to 10 men when Luca Cigarini was sent off for a second bookable with 20 minutes left.

Cavani and Meunier reject short-term contract extensions

Edinson Cavani

PARIS, Jun 21 (Agencies): Edinson Cavani and Thomas Meunier have declined to sign short-term contract extensions that would allow them to play cup finals and the Champions League final tournament with Paris St Germain, French radio RMC reported on Sunday.

The Uruguay striker and the Belgium defender’s contracts expire on June 30, which, unless they had agreed to sign a two-month extension, rules them out

Thomas Meunier

of the French Cup and League Cup finals as well as the Champions League final eight in Lisbon.

Paris St Germain were not immediately available for comment. Reuters was not able to contact Cavani and Meunier for their comments.

Last weekend, PSG sports director Leonardo said that Cavani would not be offered a deal for the next season, but the Brazilian was hoping to keep the club’s all-time top scorer

to play the Champions League after PSG qualified for the quarter-finals.

The Ligue 1 season was ended on April 30 amid the COVID-19 crisis with PSG being crowned French champions.

The novel coronavirus outbreak also suspended European competitions, with UEFA changing the Champions League format and delaying its conclusion to August while most contracts finish at the end of June.

Warner sure of playing IPL if WC postponed Melbourne, Jun 21 (PTI): Opener David Warner is “very sure and positive” that he and other Australian players will be able to play the Indian Premier League if the T20 World Cup is postponed in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Though Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings has said that it is a bit “unrealistic” to host the 16-team tournament in October-November, the ICC is yet to decide the fate of the event and is expected to do so next month. “…and if it is unlikely if the World Cup can’t go ahead, then I am very sure and positive that we will be able to come and play in the IPL if that replaces the World Cup schedule,” Warner was quoted as saying by India Today.

“If that permits us from Cricket Australia giving the go-ahead to go over there, I am sure we will put our hands up and come and play cricket which at the end of the day is what we love.”

The southpaw himself had said earlier that hosting the T20 World Cup would be a tough ask considering the number of teams involved. He said everybody is waiting for ICC’s decision on the

David Warner

matter. “Look, there has been a lot of talk about the T20 World Cup being postponed, the challenges around getting every single nation that participates in the World Cup into Australia, given the fact that we have the quarantine for 14 days.”

“Nevertheless, making sure we are restricting the chances of a Covid-19 outbreak back into Australia. Those restrictions are in place with the Aus-

tralian government at the moment. We have to obviously abide by those rules and obviously we await the decision from the ICC,” said Warner.

He said most Australian players would want to play the IPL, which can be held in September-October, if T20 World Cup and Asia Cup are postponed.

“Look, most definitely all the players who have been selected and picked in the auction will put their

hand up if we are permitted. One we have to get government clearance as well to travel.

“If Cricket Australia allows us to go over there and participate, I am sure the guys will definitely be on board with that to be back up and running and playing cricket again,” said Warner.

Having missed the previous home series against India in 2018-2019 due the ball-tampering ban, Warner is looking forward to the next one in Australia this summer when two teams play four Tests.

However, he would not want to provoke India captain Virat Kohli during the high-profile series.

“Virat Kohli is not a person to be poked and no point poking the bear,” he said.

On the upcoming series, he added, “It would be very surreal playing against India without the crowd.

I want to be selected and be part of that series.

Last time we were not bad but we were beaten by a good team and their bowling was relentless.”

“Now, India has got the best batting line up and our bowlers will like to target and the Indian crowd will be eager to see that.”

Andy Murray putting ‘reputation’ on the line Barcelona confirm De Jong injury

Andy Murray

Lo n d o n, J u n 2 1 (Agencies): Andy Murray will be putting his “reputation” on the line when he makes his long-awaited return to action at the ‘Battle of the Brits’ on Tuesday, says his brother Jamie.

The former world No 1 has not played since he struggled with a bruise on his pelvic bone at November’s Davis Cup Finals in Madrid.

Britain’s top-ranked K Y M C

men’s singles and doubles players will compete across six days at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, with the hope to raise upwards of £100,000 for NHS Charities Together.

“For him it will be an important event to see where his game is at,” said Jamie Murray, who has organised the event. “He has obviously not had a competitive match for maybe seven or eight months, so it is a long time.

From what I have seen over the last couple of weeks he has been training hard with the other boys. I know he is excited about it.”

“Everyone is putting their reputation on the line he has got the biggest reputation out of everyone so there will be a bit of performance pressure on him to kind of show these boys that he is still the top dog.” The threetime Grand Slam singles champion has been drawn

in the “Henman Group” alongside Kyle Edmund, Liam Broady and James Ward. British No 1 Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie, Jay Clarke and Jack Draper make up the “Rusedski Group” and Jamie Murray is certain of entertaining encounters.

“I know that the players are really fired up for the event,” Murray, who will be playing alongside regular doubles partner and Davis Cup team-mate Neal Skupski, said.

“Nobody wants to lose to each other! There has been a great sort of energy, intensity to the practices at Roehampton over the last couple of weeks. It has been really good fun to be honest. Everyone is preparing it as best they can for the tournament.” “It is going to be fun to see the guys compete in that unique environment. Unique event, unique environment. Very scaled back [almost] to the conditions when we grew up. No fans, lucky if we have got an umpire and just

stripped back. The fact that there aren’t fans there in the stadium [and] because there is so much riding on it for the players, that energy and intensity will come across well on the TV.” With the series of grasscourt lead-up tournaments and Wimbledon cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Murray believes his brand-new event will provide British fans an intriguing insight into the players’ different personalities.

“They will see the players almost competing in their natural habitat or environment,” he said.

“You have to remember that this is the first time this generation of players has actually had the opportunity to come together and compete against one another. It is very unique in that regard. People always get excited when two Brits face off at a regular tournament because there are so few of them, especially in singles, competing at the top level.”

M a d r i d, J u n 2 1 (Agencies): Frenkie de Jong is facing a period on the sidelines after sustaining a muscle injury. Barcelona confirmed on Sunday that tests have revealed an injury on right leg.

De Jong started for the Catalan giants on their return to La Liga action in the 4-0 victory over Mallorca on June 13, but missed the subsequent clash against Leganes and the 0-0 draw against Sevilla on Friday.

The Primera Division leaders are unsure when the 23-year-old Netherlands international will be fit to play again as they wait to see how he recovers. “The clinical follow-up on Frenkie De Jong has uncovered an injury in the soleus of his right leg,” a statement on the club’s website read.

“The evolution of the injury will condition the player’s availability.”

De Jong joined the Camp Nou outfit from Ajax last summer and has been ever-present in the team this campaign, though the way

Frenkie de Jong

the club have used him so far has been questioned by Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman, who uses him in a deeper role alongside another defensive midfielder.

The Netherlands international has made 38 appearances in all competitions this season and missed just three matches so far, chipping in with two goals and two assists.

While Argentine sensation Lionel Messi remains the undisputed star at Barca, former Ajax, Real Madrid and Netherlands attacking midfielder Wesley Sneijder recently tipped his compatriot to take over as the team’s

leader and hero when it is time for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner to leave.

“De Jong made the best choice because he understood that his football is perfect for Spain and Barcelona,” Sneijder said earlier this month. “He did very well to choose Barcelona: it is a club suitable for him, when Messi will stop with football Frenkie will become even more of a leader.”

Barca sit top of La Liga having played 30 matches and sit three points clear of Real Madrid. Quique Setien’s team are in action again on Tuesday when they take on Athletic Club.

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sports

Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-1 in EPL

Players of Chelsea and Aston Villa fight for the ball during their EPL match.

Lo n d o n, J u n 2 1 (Agencies): Chelsea came from behind at Aston Villa to move five points clear in fourth as two goals in second-half earned them a 2-1 win on Sunday.

Kortney Hause scored his first Premier League goal two minutes before the interval to give struggling Villa a half-time advantage.

However, substitute Christian Pulisic levelled for Frank Lampard's side before Olivier Giroud made it eight goals in his previ-

ous six games against Villa when grabbing the winner.

It was Chelsea's first away win in the Premier League in 2020, the victory providing Lampard with cause for celebration on his 100th match as a manager.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek made his first appearance in 13 months following his Achilles injury and there was evidence of some rust when he miscued an early header.

Chelsea dominated the opening exchanges and only a fine one-handed stop

from Orjan Nyland denied the lively Mason Mount from distance.

Nyland was fortunate the ball did not roll back over his line when he spilled what should have been a routine save from Mateo Kovacic before snaffling at the second attempt, with Kepa Arrizabalaga more convincing at the other end in denying Anwar El Ghazi.

Loftus-Cheek almost got on the end of a cross following a twisting, turning run from Mount but,

Prannoy recommended for Arjuna

H S Prannoy

New Delhi, Jun 21 (PTI): Indian shuttler H S Prannoy has been recommended for the Arjuna award by chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand after the Badminton Association of India ignored him for a second successive year due to disciplinary issues.

On June 2, BAI had recommended Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and Sameer Verma for Arjuna award, leaving out Prannoy which prompted

the shuttler to express his displeasure on twitter.

“Same old story. Guy who has medals in CWG and Asian Championships not even recommended by the association. And guy who was not there on any of these major events recommended. #waah #thiscountryisajoke,” Prannoy had said in his now-deleted tweet.

It has emerged now that Prannoy’s name was recommended by Gopichand on June 3 in his capacity as a

Khel Ratna Award recipient.

“Gopichand recommended Prannoy for Arjuna on June 3 after BAI decided not to send his name. He did it as a winner of Khel Ratna and not as the chief India coach. He was not aware of the disciplinary issues,” a source close to the development told PTI. Gopichand, however, refused to comment on the issue, while Prannoy didn’t respond despite repeated calls. On Friday, Prannoy was served a showcause notice asking him to respond for his outburst against BAI within 15 days.

The governing body was not happy with Prannoy and his teammate Kidambi Srikanth for not playing the semifinal of the Asian Team Championship at Manila.

The BAI recommended Srikanth for the Khel Ratna award on Friday after the top Indian shuttler apologised for pulling out of a tournament midway.

against the run of play, it was Villa who claimed the half-time advantage.

Hause's first effort from Douglas Luiz's delivery was stopped by Kepa yet the Villa defender picked himself up and stuck away the rebound.

There was a sense it might be one of those days for Chelsea when Giroud arrived just too late to divert Cesar Azpilicueta's cross home at the near post.

However, the Spaniard's next delivery found its way through to an unmarked Pulisic and the substitute steered his finish under the crossbar on the hour mark just five minutes after coming on.

And, two minutes after equalising, the Blues went ahead through Giroud as the Frenchman collected Azpilicueta's pass, swivelled and fired an effort that deflected in off Conor Hourihane.

Hause headed a Hourihane free-kick over the top but there was no stirring comeback attempt from Villa, who remain in the bottom three.

Newcastle United and Wolves, who both won their first games back, are Villa's next two opponents. Chelsea have a couple of difficult fixtures next week, with a home clash against Manchester City preceding a trip to third-placed Leicester City.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020

Nagaland selected for Khelo India SCE

Dimapur, Jun 21 (NPN): Advisor for Youth Resources and Sports, Er. Zale Neikha said that it was a historic and defining moment for the people of Nagaland that the State Sports Academy, IG Stadium, Kohima has been selected to be established as Khelo India State Centre

of Excellence (KISCE).

It maybe mentioned that sports ministry has identified state-owned sports facilities in the first phase of setting up KISCE. The selected states are Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Kerala, Telangana, Nagaland, Karnataka, and Odisha.

Neikha thanked the Prime Minister of India, Union sports minister and chief minister of Nagaland for recognising the effort of the state and giving the opportunity to upgrade its sporting facilities into a national level centre of excellence.

The advisor also ad-

vised that the department of Youth Resources & Sports, Nagaland to make the best use of the opportunity.

The advisor further challenged the sportspersons to hone their skills as KISCE will give a platform to train and to compete at the national level.

Real Betis sack coach Rubi

Madrid, Jun 21 (IANS): Spanish LaLiga side Real Betis have sacked coach Joan Francesc “Rubi” Ferrer, as per a BBC report. After just three matches into the resumption of league which was stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rubi was asked to step down.

Betis lost to Athletic Bilbao 0-1 which left the club 14th in the table, eight points clear of the relegation places with eight matches to play.

Sports director Alexis Trujillo will take over until the end of the season, with Betis next in action against bottom club Espanyol on Thursday, the report said. Top-flight football returned in Spain with Sevilla enjoying a relatively comfortable 2-0 win at home over Betis in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium last week.

Although football returned in Spain on Wednesday night with Rayo Vallecano’s 1-0 win over Albacete in the second division, the Seville derby on Thursday night was the big test of how football in the “new normal” would be without fans in the stands.

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