March 8, 2021

Page 1

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXXI No. 91

DIMAPUR, MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2021 Pages 8 ` 4.00

Vinesh wins gold; reclaims no.1 rank

Follow us on @Nagaland_Post

sports, Page 8

nagalandpostofficial nagalandpostofficial

Violence ups pressure on Myanmar sanctions international, Page 7

AR asked to prevent influx from Myanmar KO L K AT A , M A R 7 (IANS): Union Home Ministry has asked the Assam Rifles to prevent any Myanmar national from crossing into Indian territory and push back any found attempting to cross over. Top sources in the paramilitary force said that the “instructions from the top” was clear and unambiguous-- no Myanmar national should be allowed to enter India without valid visa or travel permit. The India-Myanmar border has a Free Movement Regime (FMR) which allows tribes living along the border to travel 16 km across either side without visa restrictions and on a simple permit issued by local authorities. There are over 250 villages with over 300,000 people living within 10 km of the border who frequently cross through 150 small and large formal and informal crossings. The order follows the considerable embarrassment now faced by New Delhi after Myanmar officially asked for immediate return of eight policemen who had crossed over and sought shelter in Mizoram. The policemen told state authorities that they were hounded down by the army after they refused to open fire on peaceful

demonstrators in the Chin state. It is not clear why the Chin state administration has asked for return of only eight policemen when reports from Mizoram suggest nearly 30 people, mostly policemen and their family members, had taken shelter in Mizoram’s Champhai district after the February 1 military takeover in Myanmar. The Mizoram Home Department confirmed that at least 16 Myanmar nationals, including some policemen, have crossed over into the state. An Indian intelligence official said the Myanmarese are perhaps not yet aware of all those who have fled the country and had confirmed information about only eight policemen whose repatriation has been sought. Champhai district’s Deputy Commissioner Maria CT Zuali said she had received a formal letter from her counterpart in Chin state requesting a “friendly gesture” by handing over the eight Myanmar policemen. Zuali said she was waiting for instructions from the Centre and the Mizoram government. During the 1988 uprising and the massacre of thousands that rocked Myanmar, India opened its borders to those fleeing the crackdown.

Battle for Bengal: ModiCandle light vigil for Myanmar Mamata in a war of words Mamata’s game is up, she betrayed Bengal: PM Modi

Participants at the candle vigil in Dimapur on Sunday. (NP)

Staff Eeporter

DIMAPUR, MAR 7 (NPN): Hundreds of people mostly youths, gathered at The Garden at Naga Shopping Arcade Sunday evening to hold solidarity with the people of Myanmar protesting against the military rulers and to hold prayers for peace. Martial law was imposed in Myanmar and new laws passed which enabled the military rulers to restrict or suspend fundamental rights of citizens, including arrests, searches, warrants and detentions without court approvals. Addressing the gathering, Kevitho Kera narrated

how the Myanmar military staged a coup d’etat on February 1, a day before Myanmar parliament was to swear-in newly elected members of the house to prevent the civilian government under Aung San Suu Kyi to take over the reins of power after the landslide win in the November 2020 election. The coup elicited massive protests from health care workers and civil servants across the country on February 2. The people of Myanmar launched a national civil disobedience movement while , health care workers from state run hospitals and institutions initiated labour strike on February 3.

He said there were massive public protests all over Myanmar, which also led to brutal reprisals against the peaceful protests and resulting in scores of deaths. The Myanmar rulers also imposed internet black to prevent news of the brutalities on social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, youTube etc. Even domestic news and foreign news channel have been blocked. One of the participants, urged upon the crowd to remember the people of Myanmar who lost their lives in the week long protests against the military (Cont’d on p-6) coup.

Covid-19 pandemic in endgame in India: Vardhan NEW DELHI, MAR 7 (IANS): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan stated on Sunday that the Covid-19 pandemic which brought the whole world to its knees is in the endgame here in India, given that the people adhere to three steps. “We are in the endgame of the COVID-19 pandemic in India and to succeed at this stage, we need to follow three steps - Keep politics

out of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, trust the science behind Covid-19 vaccines, and ensure our near and dear ones get vaccinated on time,” he said. He also urged people to embrace vaccine appropriate behaviour like they adhered to the call of Covid appropriate behaviour, emphasising that it is the need of the hour. “My request to every-

one is that just like people embraced the ‘Jan Andolan’ for Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, they should embrace another Jan Andolan for Covid-19 vaccination and get all Covid-19 vaccine shots whenever they are eligible,” the minister said. “The government has already involved private players in Covid-19 vaccination, and if hospitals want, they can conduct vaccina-

tion 24x7,” he added. Vardhan made these remarks during Delhi Medical Association’s (DMA) 62nd Annual Delhi State Medical Conference (MEDICON 2021) where he was felicitated for outstanding service and exemplary work during the Covid-19 pandemic. The minister is a past president of the association. D r B. B. Wa d h wa , president, DMA, recalled

Assam CM pick after polls, says BJP G U WA H A T I , M A R 7 (AGENCIES): The BJP in Assam has said it will decide on the chief ministerial candidate only after the results of the state election are out on May 2. The BJP earlier this week announced the names of candidates for 70 seats in Assam. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal will contest the assembly election from Majauli seat. Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, widely known as a key BJP strategist for the North East, will contest from Jalukbari, a seat that he currently holds. Sarma was not keen to

This is it!

“I really don’t see a link between his one hand push up for children for us winning election.” K Y M C

contest the election, but the party decided that Sonowal would not be projected as the chief ministerial candidate and the BJP would fight the election under the joint leadership of Sonowal and Sarma, sources have said. Assam BJP chief Ranjit Dass Sunday told NDTV the party will decide on the chief ministerial candidate only after the results. “The parliamentary board will decide and a chief ministerial face won’t be projected before or during the election,” Dass said. In 2016, the BJP projected Sonowal as the chief ministe-

rial face in Assam. This time, it seems the BJP is keeping the option of chief ministership open, likely for either Sonowal or Sarma. “We will not project a CM face since BJP is in power in Assam. We usually choose a chief ministerial candidate where we are not in power,” the Assam BJP chief told NDTV. The BJP will not field 11 MLAs again. Its regional ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) allowed the BJP to contest from Barhampur seat and stopped AGP’s founder president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta from contesting from there.

Vardhan’s work in the polio eradication programme when he was Delhi’s health minister. “Dr Harsh Vardhan is the pride of the medical fraternity. He has been the president of DMA in the past. We acknowledge and appreciate his exemplary missionary zeal in getting India polio-free when he was the president of DMA in 1993-1994.

Parl Budget session likely to be cut short New Delhi, Mar 7 (Agencies): The second half of the budget session of Parliament is all set to be shortened by almost two weeks due to the ensuing assembly elections in four states. The remaining part of the session might also see resumption of the normal parliamentary schedule of simultaneous proceedings in both Houses from 11 am, Hindustan Times reported. Parliament officials said that the government managers as well as many opposition leaders have requested Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to cut short the session as leaders would be busy in the campaign for the polls. The second half of the budget session was scheduled to end on April 8. It was indicated that the second half of the session that starts on Monday, may run for a maximum of two weeks.

KOLKATA/SILIGURI, MAR 7 (AGENCIES/ PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday went full throttle against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the ruling Trinamool Congress and Bengal was betrayed by her when they had hoped for a change and now it’s time for “ashol poriborton” (real change). Addressing the mega rally at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground, Modi urged people of the state to vote fearlessly for the BJP, and against “bad governance”. Countering Trinamool’s ‘Khela hobe’ campaign slogan, he said: “Trinamool ka khela khatam, vikas shuru… What game have you not played with people of Bengal? Extortion, syndicate, commission cut! You have done so many scams that a ‘Corruption Olympics’ game can be organized. You have played with the hard-earned money of the people and their lives. Your game is up,” the prime minister added. “I have come here to make you believe in ‘Asol Poribortan’. Belief in Bengal’s development, in change of Bengal’s situation, in increasing investment & industries in Bengal, and in the reconstruction of Bengal. I have come here to make you believe that we’ll work hard for farmers, businessmen & the development of sisters and daughters. We will live every moment to fulfill your dreams,” Modi said at the mega rally. “...a lot has been said about me.. sometimes Ravan, sometimes devil, sometimes goon.. Didi, why

Narendra Modi

so angry,” Modi said. “My opponents say that I work for my friends. Who we grow up with are our best friends. I grew up in poverty hence I understand the plight of poor people living in every corner of India. All 130 crore people of

PM peddling lies to mislead voters: Mamata Launching a fresh tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said he was “peddling lies to mislead the voters” in the poll-bound state. Banerjee, addressing a rally here following her protest march over LPG price hike, said the prime minister made many “empty” promises over the years, and people no longer trust him. She sought to know “why the PM has not yet deposited Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of every citizen, as promised by him before 2014 Lok Sabha polls”. “You have made many empty promises. People will not accept your falsehood every day. We demand you make LPG cylinder affordable to every citizen of the country. You have made LPG cylinders inaccessible for the common man,” Banerjee said. “He gives speech in Bangla, but the script is always written in Gujarati, and kept under a transparent sheet of glass before

rebate, there are provisions of green taxes and other levies on old polluting vehicles. These will be required to undergo mandatory fitness and pollution tests in automated facilities. For this automated fitness centres would be required throughout in the country and we are working in that direction,” he said. Automated fitness tests will be set up under public private partnership (PPP) mode while the government will assist private partners and state governments for scrapping centres, he said. Driving such vehicles that fail to pass automated

SCRAPPING POLICY Initially about one crore polluting vehicles to go for scrapping An estimated 85 lakh LMVs above 20 years and 15 years old to be scrapped Around 17 lakh medium and heavy MVs above 15 years, without valid fitness certificates to be scrapped Driving vehicles that fail to pass automated tests will attract huge penalties and also be impounded

tests will attract huge penalties and also be impounded, the minister said. This policy is going to be a boon for the automobile sector, making it one of the most profitable sectors which in turn would generate huge employment, the minister said. He said the policy will give a boost to new technologies with better mileage of vehicles besides promoting green fuel and electricity and cut on India’s huge Rs 8 lakh crore crude import bill which is likely to increase to about Rs 18 lakh crore. Gadkari said initially about one crore polluting

Mamata Banerjee

him. He just pretends that he knows Bangla well,” she said. “Your party had vandalised Vidyasagar’s bust. Your party dishonoured Birsa Munda. Your party wrongly said Rabindranath Tagore was born in Santiniketan. This shows your depth of knowledge about Bengal and its culture,” she said. Asking people to raise their voice against the “riotmongering BJP,” Banerjee said, “People of Bengal, who had been living in peace casting aside barriers of community and language, would come under grave threat if a divisive force such as the saffron party comes to power in the state.”

Allow public transport to run at full capacity: PRSU DIMAPUR, MAR 7 (NPN): A day after the Tenyimi Students’ Union Dimapur (TSUD) had issued a seven-day ultimatum on the state government to review the rates of public transport services with improvement in COVID-19 situation and gradual relaxation of numerous other restrictions, the Pathso Range Students’ Union (PRSU) Sunday has urged the State government to allow public transport facilities to operate with full capacity, so that the rates could be brought back to normal level. In a release, PRSU

president P Zuhing and information & publicity secretary Khumong T stated that seeing the hardship faced by the public and student community in particular, the union had already approached the district administration at the circle level in January in this regard. But they said the circle officer responded that he would abide by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and orders from higher authorities. They also backed the March 6 demand of Tenyimi Students’ Union Dimapur in this regard and termed it as

Junk your old car and get 5% rebate on new buy: Gadkari NEW DELHI, MAR 7 (PTI): There is good news for consumers who are going to junk their old vehicles and buy a new one under the Vehicle Scrapping Policy as automakers will give about 5 per cent rebate on the new purchase, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said. “Automobile manufacturers will provide about 5 per cent rebate on new car purchases” to the consumers in lieu of scrapping of the old, Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Minister Gakdari told PTI. “There are four major components of the policy...Apart from

India are his friends. I work for them and will always do,” he said. Modi accused the Trinamool Congress of pushing Bengal towards separation instead of development. “Thus, the lotus is blooming,” Modi said, adding that the Mamataled party divided people on religious lines. Modi said he has known Mamata Banerjee since ages, and that she is not the same person who raised her voice against the Left. “She speaks someone else’s language now and is being controlled,” he said. Ahead of Modi’s mega rally, veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty joined the BJP at Brigade Parade Ground.

vehicles would go for scrapping. Of this an estimated 51 lakh will be light motor vehicles (LMVs) that are above 20 years of age and another 34 lakh LMVs that are above 15 years. It would also cover 17 lakh medium and heavy motor vehicles, which are above 15 years, and currently without valid fitness certificates. “Structure and framework of scrapping policy is under work and green tax has already been notified. Many states have notified in ineffective way ....We want to advise the state governments through notification

under Motor Vehicles Act to consider imposing green tax on older vehicles which cause more pollution,” Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane had said last month. The voluntary vehicle scrapping policy announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22 provides for fitness test after 20 years for personal vehicles while commercial vehicles would require it after the completion of 15 years. According to GlobalData, there were approximately 2.34 million passenger vehicles in India with the age of 15 years and above in 2019.

very genuine and necessary at the present situation. With positive signs like decline in positive cases and availability of vaccines, the PRSU leaders said it was time the State government removed COVID-induced restriction on transport at the earliest not only in Dimapur, but in the entire State. Mentioning that Pathso range being geographically located in the interior of Nagaland knew sufferings of the public more than anyone else, they stressed that people from far-flung places “like us are the most affected”.

6 new COVID-19 cases in Kohima DIMAPUR, MAR 7 (NPN): Six new COVID19 cases were reported in Kohima on Sunday, taking the total caseload to 12217. As on March 7, the active cases in the State stood at 20. With the recovery of one more patient in Kohima, the number of those who recovered from the infection rose to 11953. PTI adds: New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded above 18,000 for the second consecutive day taking the country’s tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,12,10,799. K Y M C


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
March 8, 2021 by Nagaland Post - Issuu