May 10 2021

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXXI No. 153

DIMAPUR, MONDAY,

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State govt disinclined on lockdown State’s Covid tally breaches 16,000-mark; 3 more deaths

INTERNATIONAL, PAGE 7

India records over 4 lakh new COVID-19 cases, 4092 deaths

DIMAPUR/KOHIMA, MAY 9 (NPN): In the face of raging new coronavirus cases across India, some states have ordered lockdown for a certain period, while many states have declared several areas as containment zones or imposed prohibitory orders under Section144 of the CrPC, that barred assembly of more than five people.

In Nagaland the state government had declared municipal areas under Kohima and Dimapur including specified areas as containment areas with the objective of breaking the transmission of the virus.

However, cases of coronavirus have not shown marked decline.

On Saturday the state recorded its highest ever single-day spike of 333 fresh Covid cases and 15 deaths while on Sunday it recorded 237 new coronavirus cases.

Even though the thought of a lockdown is not seen as an option, several health care workers feel that a limited total lockdown was necessary to break the transmission chain.

Despite mounting evidence of raging cases even after Kohima and Dimapur municipal areas were declared as containment zones, new Covid cases continue to rise.

However, it was learnt that the cabinet at its recent meeting did not bring the matter for discussion as some among the members shot down any such likelihood.

The Dimapur Municipal Council area, Chumukedima Town Council and colonies and villages along Dimapur-Chumukedima four lane road have also been declared as containment zones. The timing of night curfew in Dimapur was also revised (6 pm to 5 am). All vegetable, fish/ meat vendors, milk booths, all local grocery stores including animal feed shops for public purchase have been permitted to open from 6 a.m. to 2 pm Several states in the North East have imposed total to partial lockdown as the virus continues on its upward spiral.

In Mizoram, the state government announced a 7-day “total lockdown” commencing from 4 a.m.

WHO’s top scientist on factors behind Covid explosion

Himanta is next Assam Oxygen plant in Dimapur to be operational by May 11 CM; swearing in today

Staff Reporter/Correspondent

GENEVA, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): A COVID-19 variant spreading in India is more contagious and may be dodging vaccine protections, – contributing to the country’s explosive outbreak, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said Saturday.

In an interview with AFP, Soumya Swaminathan warned that “the epidemiological features that we see in India today do indicate that it’s an extremely rapidly spreading variant”.

India on Saturday for the first time registered more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths in just 24 hours, and more than 400,000 new infections.

Ms Swaminathan, a paediatrician and clinical scientist, said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19, which was first detected in last October, was clearly a contributing factor to the catastrophe unfolding in her homeland.

“There have been many accelerators that are fed into this,” the 62-year-old said, stressing that “a more rapidly spreading virus is one of them”. The WHO recently listed B.1.617 -- which counts several sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics-- as a “variant of interest”.

(Cont’d on p-2)

This is it!

“We will come out of the crisis. The world believes in us so let us believe in ourselves.”

K Y M C

of May 10 till May 17, to curtail the spread COVID19 in the state, a government order said.

Manipur government on Friday decided to impose 24-hour curfew in seven districts for nine days starting Saturday to check spread of the virus.

In Meghalaya the state government also extended lockdown in East Khasi Hills district, which includes the state capital Shillong till May 17.

The Arunachal Pradesh government has announced to impose a 7-day-lockdown in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) from May 10 in view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation. ICR consists of Itanagar, the state capital, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa.

The lockdown would come into force from 5 a.m. on May 10 and would remain till 5 a.m. on May 17.

In Sikkim the government imposed lockdownlike restrictions till May 16 while Assam and Tripura governments have opted for restricted market, business and office hours and imposition of night curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. till further orders.

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COVID-19 STATUS AS ON MAY 9, 2021 District

Dimapur Kiphire Kohima Longleng Mokokchung Mon Peren Phek Tuensang Wokha Zunheboto Total

ACTIVE CASES Symptomatic AsympCritical-ICU tomMod- Se- With- With On Mild atic erate vere out Oxy- VentiOxygen gen lator 0 1622 92 36 74 7 7 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 742 6 8 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 5

GUWAHATI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): BJP strongman and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma will be the new Assam chief minister.

His name as the BJP Legislature Party leader was proposed by outgoing CM Sarbananda Sonowal and seconded by BJP state unit chief and MLA Ranjeet Kumar Dass and MLA Nandita Garlosa.

In the 126-member Assam House, BJP has 60 MLAs. Its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal

(UPPL) have nine and six MLAs respectively. Both parties backed Sarma as the CM. The swearing in of the new ministry is likely to be held on Monday afternoon at the Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra.

Earlier in the day, outgoing chief minister Sonowal submitted his resignation to Governor Jagdish Mukhi.

“With the blessings of the people, tendered my resignation as the Chief Minister of Assam to the Hon’ble Governor Shri @jagdishmukhi ji in Raj Bhavan, Guwahati,” Sonowal tweeted.

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Nagaland’s Covid-19 caseload breached the 16000 mark on Sunday after 237 new positive cases were detected while three more deaths were reported from across the State.

Of the fresh cases, recorded on Sunday Kohima reported 128 cases, Dimapur- 89, five cases in Mon, four in Tuensang, three cases each in Phek, Mokokchung and Longleng and two cases in Peren, taking the total caseload to 16150.

Staff Reporter

(L) CM-designate Himanta Sarma is greeted by outgoing CM Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati, Sunday. (PTI)

Death Miunder RecovTotal gratDeath Investiered Cases ed gation

D I M A P U R , M AY 9 (NPN): The pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plant at District Hospital Dimapur (DHD) is likely to be operational

by Tuesday.

Health department officials led by principal director Dr Neikhrielie Khimiao inspected the ongoing work of the oxygen plant here on Sunday.

Talking to Nagaland Post, a doctor at the Coviddesignated hospital (DHD) said the principal director assured to provide necessary equipment as requested by DHD officials like portable X-ray machines for Covid wards, biochemical analyzer machine to test Covid mark-

12686 140

0

514 16150

The death toll rose to 140 (10 non-Covid cases) after three patients succumbed to the infection-- two in Dimapur and one in Mokokchung. The state currently has 2809 active cases and with the recovery of 128 more patients, a total of 12686 patients have recuperated from the infection till date.

Meanwhile, a total of 2,25,361 eligible persons have been inoculated till May 9 (1,77,113 first dose and 48,248 second dose).

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (PTI): India recorded 4,03,738 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day, which pushed the tally to 2,22,96,414, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.

The death toll climbed to 2,42,362 with 4,092 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 37,36,648, comprising 16.76 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 82.15 per cent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,83,17,404 with 3,86,444 patients recovering in a day, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.09 per cent, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the 1-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone

Patients on oxygen support, wait outside a Covid-19 facility of the Chest Disease Hospital in Jammu, Sunday. (PTI)

of 2 crore on May 4. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 30,22,75,471 samples have been tested up to May 8 with 18,65,428 samples being tested on Saturday.

The 4,092 new fatalities include 864 from Maharashtra, 482 from Karnataka, 332 from Delhi, 297 from Uttar Pradesh, 241 from Tamil Nadu, 223 from Chhattisgarh, 171 from Punjab, 160 from Rajasthan, 155 from Haryana, 141 from Jharkhand, 127 from West Bengal, 119 from Gujarat and 118 from Uttarakhand.

A total of 2,42,362 deaths have been reported so

ers, etc. He also assured to provide the latest state-ofthe-art operation theatre with all the latest equipments, a doctor said.

The principal director also met doctors of private hospitals where several issues were discussed regarding Covid preparedness and also the recent directive issued by the State government to private hospitals to reserve 50% of their beds to treat Covid patients.

In the course of discussion, it was learnt that the private hospitals had suggested setting up of a dedicated Covid centre at one location, which can be earmarked by the State government in areas like the Covid care centre located (L) H&FW principal director Dr Neikhrielie Khimiao inspecting the PSA at Chümoukedima or any oxygen generation plant at District Hospital Dimapur, Sunday.

far in the country, including 75,277 from Maharashtra, 19,071 from Delhi, 18,286 from Karnataka, 15,412 from Tamil Nadu, 15,170 from Uttar Pradesh, 12,203 from West Bengal, 10,381 from Chhattisgarh and 10,315 from Punjab.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that statewise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

facility that may be made available.

The hospitals also assured to provide all necessary manpower like doctors, nurses and equipment to treat Covid patients.

A doctor present at the meeting said the suggestion was primarily made so that all Covid cases could be treated at one location keeping in mind the safety of other non-Covid patients who would be treated at various hospitals.

The principal director was accompanied by NHM mission director Dr I Talitemsula Jamir, Dimapur chief medical officer Dr Mereninla Senlem, DHD medical superintendent Dr Keveduyi Theyo and others.

Talks for national alliance of Oppn parties to start soon: Raut NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (PTI): Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that talks for the formation of an alliance of opposition parties at the national level will start in a few days, and he has discussed the issue with NCP chief Sharad Pawar. He also said that Congress will be the soul of such an alliance. “There is a need to have a strong alliance of op-

position parties in the country. But there can’t be an alliance without the Congress party. It will be the soul.

Leadership can be decided through consultations,” Raut told reporters.

“The Maha Vikas aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra was formed after three ideologically different parties (Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) came together and the

leadership was unanimously given to Uddhav Thackeray. This is an ideal alliance, which is working fine,” he said.

The Congress has done well in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the recent Assembly elections.

But it did not win a single seat in West Bengal and this is not good.

The party needs to be strengthened

further, he said. The Congress is a pan-India party, whether in government or in opposition, he said.

“I discussed these issues with NCP president Sharad Pawar, but since he is indisposed, he is in Mumbai. Talks of forming an alliance of opposition parties will start in a few days,” the Sena’s Rajya Sabha member said.

Advisory for black fungus infection in Covid patients Independent party reacts to Therie’s remark NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (PTI): Mucormycosis, a fungal infection being found in COVID-19 patients with uncontrolled diabetes and prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) stay, may turn fatal if uncared for, the Centre said on Sunday. In an advisory, it also said the fungal infection mainly affects people who are on medication that reduces their ability to fight environmental pathogens.

The evidence-based advisory for screening, diagnosis and management of the disease was released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Union health ministry.

“Mucormycosis, if un-

cared for, may turn fatal.

Sinuses or lungs of such individuals get affected after fungal spores are inhaled from the air,” it said. Warning symptoms include pain and redness around eyes and nose, fever, headache, coughing, shortness of breath, bloody vomits and altered mental status, it said.

In COVID-19 patients with diabetes and immunosuppressed individuals, one must suspect of mucormycosis if there is sinusitis, oneside facial pain or numbness, blackish discoloration over the bridge of the nose or palate, toothache, blurred or double vision with pain, skin lesion, thrombosis, chest

pain and worsening respiratory symptoms, it said.

Major risk factors for this disease include uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression by steroids, prolonged ICU stay, malignancy and voriconazole therapy, the ICMRhealth ministry advisory stated. To prevent the disease, blood glucose level should be monitored postCOVID discharge and also in diabetic patients; steroids should be used judiciously in correct timing, dose and duration; clean sterile water should be used in humidifiers during oxygen therapy; and antibiotics and antifungal medicines should be

used correctly, it said.

The disease can be managed by controlling diabetes, discontinuing immunomodulating drugs, reducing steroids and extensive surgical debridement- to remove all necrotic materials, according to the advisory.

Medical treatment includes installing peripherally inserted central catheter, maintaining adequate systemic hydration, infusion of normal saline intravenously before Amphotericin B infusion and anti-fungal therapy for at least six weeks besides monitoring the patient clinically with radio imaging for response and to detect disease progression, it said.

D I M A P U R , M AY 9 (NPN): Independent party of 24-Angetyongpang assembly constituency has asserted that Nagas too, like all human beings that are social creatures, cannot live in isolation, seclusion or separateness.

Reacting to doubts expressed by Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) president K Therie over minister of Mechanical and Housing (PWD) Tongpang Ozukum’s remark “Nagas cannot survive alone” at the recently-concluded 29th general conference of Naga Students’ Federation at the historic Naga Solidar-

ity Park, Kohima, party’s president Nungshimangyang and general secretary Repachuba in a rejoinder pointed out that this was the simple message of the minister The duo said they did not understand how Therie was confused or why he took the sentence out of context and chose to confuse himself.

Acknowledging that early Naga villages were self-dependent, Independent party, whose legislator Ozukum represents 24-Angetyongpang A/C, however pointed out that as civilisation progressed, they started to develop

friendship, have better relationship and co-existed with other villages or entity in peace, harmony, understanding and cooperation.

In this globalised world when even powerful nations were collectively coming to work as a team, the party asked Therie whether he suggested that Nagas should retrace their steps back to the bygone days and live in “our” own cocoon, devoid of any relationship with anyone around them.

It however added that it did not need an answer on this because it did not pass judgement on someone’s personal opinion.

(Cont’d on p-2) K Y M C

2

State

nagalandpost.com Poll Q.: Will it be necessary for the state govt enlist help of private practitioners to tackle Covid-19?

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

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

A

B

A Yes. B No. C Can’t Say.

C

86% 7% 7%

Next poll

Q: If private schools reduce

fees due to closure owing to Covid, should state govt grant subsidy?

 Yes.  No.  Can’t Say.

WEATHER FORECAST may 10

(Temperature in ºC)

Max Min

Agartala A strong morning thunderstorm 34 22 Aizawl

A strong morning thunderstorm 25 18

Guwahati A t-storm around in the morning 31 20 Imphal

A t-storm around in the morning 29 17

Itanagar A couple of thunderstorms

27 19

Shillong

A morning t-storm in spots

21 14

Kohima

A stray morning thunderstorm 24 15

Dimapur Periods of sun with a thunderstorm 31 20 Mkg

Some sun with a thunderstorm 25 15

Tuensang A thunderstorm in spots Wokha

19 11

Partly sunny with a thunderstorm 25 18

Zunheboto Sunny intervals, a thunderstorm 23 13

AR conducts various activities DIMAPUR: Assam Rifles under the aegis of Inspector General of Assam Rifles (IGAR-North) has been conducting various humanitarian work across the state.

Phek Bn: Phek battalion on May 2 took the initiative of integrating village guards of Phek under flagship programme of “Securing Own Borders”.

The integration mainly started with honing skills at firing, enhancement of basic battle drills, development of technical acumen and training on basic first aid, stated a press statement by Assam Rifles.

Kiphire Bn: As part of its outreach program to promote modernization in villages through civic action initiative, Kiphire Battalion of Assam Rifles gifted computer with accessories to Langzanger Village, Kiphire district, Nagaland on April 30.

Zunheboto Bn: Zunheboto Battalion of Assam Rifles undertook installation of portable toilets under AR Civic action Programme 2020-21 on April 30 at Zunheboto Town.

People flout SOPs despite surge in cases

Staff Reporter

D I M A P U R , M AY 9 (NPN): As Nagaland has been witnessing surge in COVID-19 positive cases with at least over 100 cases on a daily basis in the recent past, the public seemed to remain complacent about the dangers of the deadly virus, making them more vulnerable to the infectious disease.

Despite repeated appeals by the State Health a n d F a m i l y We l f a r e (H&FW) department to follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and safety guidelines being issued from time to time, the public continue to flout all protocols. Even after making it mandatory to wear mask in public areas, most people are seen without a mask, and even those wearing one appear to hang mask below chin.

In public places, most labourers or daily wage earners are seen with dirty cloth mask or overused masks (surgical masks/ three-ply mask), which are supposed to be a disposable mask.

Dimapur district authorities providing mask to a passerby in Dimapur. (DIPR File)

A daily wage labour in New Market area, Ramprasad, who was seen wearing an old worn-out mask, said that he couldn’t afford to buy three-ply masks, as it was “very expensive”.

He said he had only two cloth masks, which he wears on alternate days.

Though he is over 50 years old, Ramprasad has not been vaccinated.

Amongla Tzudir, a housewife, admitted that most of her known circle,

including herself forgo wearing mask while sitting together, with the thinking that all was well and safe.

Lashikali Sumi, a vegetable vendor, said she uses cloth mask whenever she is out selling vegetables along the roadside.

However, she also admitted that she often removes her mask while with friends or when customers were not around.

With the ebbing of new cases, large doses of

carelessness and complacency have crept into the attitude of the people, a doctor said.

“Unless we ourselves take extra precaution and follow all safety guidelines, follow COVID-appropriate behaviour, the virus count will continue to surge,” the doctor added.

Bendang, a youth in his early 20s, expressed deep concern over the lackadaisical attitude of the people. He said it was not

only the common people, labourers or daily wagers but even the educated ones who are seen flouting the guidelines and SOP. “People think we are immune to the virus, we are not. Why wear mask only to cover your mouth and not nose. Why wear the mask only when you see a police personnel?”

Bendang rued.

As published in Nagaland Post on Sunday, state health department expressed serious concern over high positivity rate of 61% in Kohima after random tests were carried out in market areas.

Random testing was carried out amongst local taxi drivers, shopkeepers and vegetable vendors, where many had tested positive.

According to the department, out of 122 random samples that were collected from amongst the local taxi drivers 58 returned positive (48% positivity rate) while 70 shopkeepers had tested positive out of 88 samples that were collected (80% positivity).

Nagaland Post, Dimapur Monday, may 10, 2021

NSUB forms counselling & COVID response team

DIMAPUR: Naga Students Union Bangalore (NSUB) has formed counselling team and COVID response team to address and attend to the needs of its members residing in Bangalore.

In a press release, NSUB president, Zakietuo Noudi and general secretary, Yhungwale Semp have asked its members to reach out to the counselling team for issues such as mental trauma, health care and spiritual assistance. For immediate assistance on COVID related issues like hospital bed, oxygen etc., members have been asked to contact the COVID response team.

Following are the details: Counselling

team – Rev. Zhabu Yimsung, pastor NCF Bangalore (6362124603/ 9886503992), Dr. Kavito D Sumi, Apollo Hospital Bangalore (7022637471), Kedorianuo Sirie, psychologist (6009355907) and Angel Ngullie, psychologist (9863526866); COVID response team – Zakietuo Noudi, NSUB president (8147597131), Vezokhu Resu, convenor NSUB COVID response team (9108723370), Danny Khomlu, general secretary NSUB COVID response team (7829973162), Dr. IIin Kimini, MD (paediatrics) Manipal Hospital (9980306721) and Onenmenla Imsong, chaplain Baptist Hospital Bangalore (9886090852).

Independent party reacts to Therie’s remark

(From p-1) did the best for everyone.

On the NPCC presiMentioning that givdent’s remark that Ozukum ing a rejoinder could fulfil did not deserve to enjoy the his wish of getting publicity fruit of “our ancestors who and public attention that he have given their lives, wealth wanted, Independent Party and health for which we explained that, leaving aside have sovereign state”, the that petty concern, when party said let Almighty God a senior leader like him judge who deserved what seemed to be in confusion, for, God was the only judge it felt the need to clear his frightening not only due to who knew what was best and mind. the horrifying number of people who are sick and dying there, but also because the exploding infection numbers dramatically increase the chances of new and more dangerous variants emerging.

“The more the virus is replicating and spreading and transmitting, the more chances are that... mutations will develop and adapt,” Swaminathan said.

“Variants which accumulate a lot of mutations may ultimately become resistant to the current vaccines that we have,” she warned. “That’s going to Assam Rifles along with the the surrendered ULFA (I) cadre. be a problem for the whole DIMAPUR: Assam Rifles der while he was returning world.” claimed to have obtained from Myanmar. the surrender of an active Mentioning that the cadre of ULFA (I) along cadre revealed that the Indo-Myanmar border in third kidnapped ONGC Mon district. employee Ritul Saikia was Defence PRO Lt Col with ULFA (I) in all problate Rhakho joined the “national defence” service Sumit K Sharma in a press ability, the PRO claimed on July 21, 1989 and served release said concerted ef- that the surrendered miliforts of Tuensang Battalion tant also mentioned that he in different capacities.

FGN said late Rhak- of IGAR (North) under had led a difficult life while ho rendered his entire life Spear Corps to convince in the armed outfit and in “national defence” ser- insurgent cadres to rejoin made an appeal to his comvice and upheld the prin- the mainstream led to an- rades to shun violence.

According to Sharma, ciple of the “nation” till other major success when a border domination pa- the surrender of the ULFA his last breath.

FGN further added trol obtained surrender of cadre will motivate other that his demise was a great the active ULFA (I) cadre cadres of the region to reloss yet his true sacrifice along the international bor- turn to the mainstream. for the “nation” would remain alive in “our hearts and in the history of our nation”.

Further, FGN has prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace and that Almighty God would grant peace and solace to the bereaved family members and relatives at this hour of grief.

WHO’s top scientist on factors behind Covid explosion (From p-1) Resistant to antibodies? But so far it has stopped short of adding it to its short list of “variant of concern” -- a label indicating it is more dangerous than the original version of the virus by being more transmissible, deadly or able to get past vaccine protections.

Several national health authorities, including in the United States and Britain, have meanwhile said they consider B.1.617 a variant of concern, and Swaminathan said she expected the WHO to soon follow suit.

“B 1.617 is likely to be a variant of concern because it has some muta-

tions which increase transmission, and which also potentially could make (it) resistant to antibodies that are generated by vaccination or by natural infection,” she said.

But she insisted that the variant alone could not be blamed for the dramatic surge in cases and deaths seen in India, lamenting that the country appeared to have let down its guard down, with “huge social mixing and large gatherings”.

But even as many in India felt the crisis was over, dropping mask-wearing and other protection measures, the virus was quietly spreading.

‘Taking off vertical-

ly’: “In a large country like India, you could have transmission at low levels, which is what happened for many months,” Swaminathan said.

“It was endemic (and) probably gradually increasing,” she said, decrying that “those early signs were missed until it reached the point at which it was taking off vertically.”

“At that point it’s very hard to suppress, because it’s then involving tens of thousands of people and it’s multiplying at a rate at which it’s very difficult to stop.”

While India is now trying to scale up vaccination to rein in the outbreak, Swaminathan warned that

the jabs alone would not be enough to gain control of the situation.

She pointed out that India, the world’s largest vaccine-making nation, had only fully vaccinated around two percent of the 1.3 billion-plus population.

“It’s going to take many months if not years to get to the point of 70 to 80 percent coverage,” she said.

With that prospect, Swaminathan stressed that “for the foreseeable future, we need to depend on our tried and tested public health and social measures” to bring down transmission.

The surge in India is

crime beat ULFA (I) cadre surrenders in Mon

Rio condoles Dr. Taka’s demise NSCN (I-M), FGN condole demise of members DIMAPUR: Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio has condoled the demise of Dr. Taka, who passed away on May 8 at a ripe age of 91 years.

In a condolence message, Rio said late Dr. Taka served the government of Nagaland as a dedicated and sincere doctor and retired as the director of Health and Family Welfare department.

He said late Dr. Taka was among the pioneers who put their efforts in establishing the medical department in Nagaland.

Looking at Dr. Taka’s life journey, Rio said it was evident that he was not only an efficient doctor but also someone who worked selflessly for the

welfare of the people, especially for those in need, for which all would dearly remember him.

In his demise, Rio said the state has lost a father figure and a guardian and that his absence would be difficult to be replaced.

However, Rio added that Dr. Taka’s life should be celebrated for the benevolent deeds he had done for the society.

Rio along with his family has conveyed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed that the Almighty g rant them strength and courage to bear the irreplaceable loss, and for the departed soul to rest in enteral peace.

DIMAPUR: NSCN (I-M) and Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN), in separate condolence messages, have mourned the demise of its members.

NSCN/GPRN: NSCN (I-M) has expressed grief over the demise of its tatar, Rhanbenthung Ovung of Hankvu village under Lotha Region, who passed away on May 3.

In a condolence message, NSCN (I-M) MIP said late Ovung enrolled in the “Naga national service” in 2005 and served the “Naga nation” with unwavering patriotism until his demise.

Stating that the void created by Ovung’s demise would be difficult to fill, NSCN (I-M) said his

name would be recorded in the pages of the Naga history for his selfless contributions to the “Naga national cause” and that his sacrifices would be cherished by all.

Further, NSCN (I-M) has conveyed its condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed for the departed to rest in peace.

FGN: Federal Gover nment of Nagaland (FGN) has expressed shock and sadness at the untimely demise of its ‘major general’, Nievehu Rhakho of Lozaphuhu village on May 7 at his residence.

In a condolence message, FGN ‘commander-in-chief, Naga Army’, ‘Gen’. Tavecho Lala said

Kohima police arrest two

ATMA Dimapur, Phek, Longleng organise training and interactions DIMAPUR: Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) of Nagaland has been organising training, demonstrations, interaction etc. for farmers and others across the state.

With an objective to offer modular skill training opportunities for rural youth based on local needs and to create a pool of skilled manpower to perform farm and non-farm operations, ATMA Dimapur in association with SAMETI, Nagaland and MANAGE, Hyderabad organised Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY) on the topic, “vermicomposting for enhancing rural livelihood” from April 26 to May 1 at SDAO, Niuland.

A press release by ATMA Dimapur stated that during the six day training programme, resource persons from SDAO Niuland, department soil and water conservation

The two arrested persons in Kohima police custody.

(L-R): Participants along with ATMA officials and others after the programme in Dimapur, Phek and Longleng respectively.

a n d AT M A D i m a p u r spoke on the importance of organic farming and vermicomposting, requirements of raw materials, role of earthworm, methods of vermicomposting, handling and harvesting of vermicompost, vermiwash, benefits in terms of soil health and crop productivity and economic importance of vermicompost.

Field visit for 18 youths was conducted to practicing vermicompost farmers and women farm-

ers who shared their experiences and success stories with the trainees. Hands-on training and step-by-step demonstration while setting up one low cost vermi bed was also conducted both by the trainees and resource persons.

Phek: A six-day training programme on post harvest management & packaging under STRY was organised by ATMA Phek at Pfutsero HRF from April 19-24 in association with the SAMETI Na-

galand and MANAGE Hyderabad. A press release

by PD ATMA, Levi Benneth stated that the main objective of the training programme was to provide skill development training to rural youth aged 18-34 years. It said the main focus of the training was on post harvest management and packaging of horticultural crops.

Key resource persons during the training were ACTO, KVK Porba Dr. Hannah, KVK Porba farm

manager Keni, Kelhouzakie HO (HRF) Pfutsero and Chapi Chale HEA (HRF) Pfutsero.

Longleng: Farmer scientist interaction programme was organised by ATMA Longleng on April 20 at KVK Training hall, Longleng. A press release

by ATMA Longleng stated that during the programme SMS KVK, Dr. Lily Ngullie, presented PowerPoint presentation on “aspects of backyard poultry rearing”.

She highlighted the

importance of vaccination of livestock and cited example of huge loss of recent pig mortality due to non-vaccination.

Ngullie spoke on the economics of backyard poultry rearing and encouraged the farmers to take agricultural activities a serious business, as it will gives good returns.

DPD ATMA Longleng, Akam Zeliang deliberated on management of pest and diseases of crops shared by the farmers.

DIMAPUR: Kohima police on April 6 arrested two miscreants impersonating as “national workers” after police received “specific input of extortion”.

In a press release, PRO Kohima Police informed that two persons identified as Shakulo Thong (21) son of Zelhoulie Thong of Sendenyu village under Tseminyu and presently residing at Merhülitsa, Kohima and Yaliezo Kuotsu (27) son of late Vitsonyü Kuotsu of Phesama village under Khuzama and presently residing at Middle Midland Colony, Kohima were arrested from Midland Colony after a hot

pursuit.

PRO said that police swung into action after a “specific input of extortion” from a residence at Upper Chandamr Colony, Kohima by unknown miscreants impersonating as “national workers” was received. Though the residence was cordoned off, PRO said the miscreants had left the area before the arrival of the police team.

After ascertaining the description of the two miscreants, PRO said the police team followed their trail and subsequently apprehended the duo. In this connection, PRO said a case has been registered and investigation was on.

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northeast

Nagaland Post, Dimapur Monday, may 10, 2021

How Sarma rose to become Assam CM Three rhino poachers held in Assam

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): It is not unusual for BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is set to be sworn in as Assam’s next chief minister, to call meetings past midnight and keep civil servants on their toes at ungodly hours. According to those close to Sarma, he catches up on sleep while travelling from one constituency to another, or, as the NDA’s point person for the Northeast, between different states in the region, ThePrint report stated.

And this works out well for the Assamese leader because, as an unrelenting election machine, he is known to travel extensively.

This is precisely what made this “outsider” an indispensable warhorse for the BJP. Sarma was Sunday appointed as the BJP’s chief ministerial pick for Assam, a week after assembly election results for the state were announced.

He succeeds Sarbananda Sonowal, who served as the

Himanta Biswa Sarma

BJP’s first Chief Minister in the Northeast from 2016 to 2021. The decision was taken at a meeting of the BJP legislature party in Guwahati, a day after he and Sonowal were summoned to Delhi by the party brass to thrash out consensus on the CM issue.

In August 2015, when Sarma joined the BJP following differences with the Congress leadership in Assam, 10 MLAs followed him. Then chief minister Tarun Gogoi gave a twoworded response to his exit— “good riddance”.

But Gogoi’s response

hasn’t aged well, with Sarma playing a crucial role in helping the BJP gain a strong footing not only in Assam but five other states in the Northeast — Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

Sarma has never hidden his political ambitions.

He quit the Congress after Tarun Gogoi projected his son Gaurav, now a parliamentarian, as the face of Assam’s Congress leadership.

This, despite Sarma managing the 2011 election campaign for the party, and helping it win an unprecedented 79 seats in the 126-member assembly.

Sarma had also deftly managed the 2006 campaign for the Congress and it was this political astuteness that once made him one of Gogoi’s most trusted lieutenants.

ThePrint reached Sarma, 52, for a comment via text messages but he did not respond till the publishing of this report.

Opposition Congress, AIUDF greet Assam CM-elect Himanta Biswa Sarma

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he opposition Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Sunday conveyed their greetings to the chief minister-designate of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma and hoped that it will become one of the most developed states of the country under his tenure.

Ending seven days of speculations, Sarma on Sunday was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party and the NDA Legislature Party, clearing the stage for him ton become the chief minister of the only non-Congress government returning to power in the state for the second consecutive term.

“Many congratulations to @himantabiswa on being elected as the next Chief Minister of Assam.

Our only vision must be to work in tandem to make Assam one of the most developed states of India. Best

wishes!” Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora tweeted.

AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal also congratulated the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the NDA’s version in the region, on being elected as the BJP’s Legislative Party leader. “I hope Dr. Sharma with his experience and dedication will pull out Assam from the critical juncture it is at. I wish him a successful tenure (sic),” the Lok Sabha MP said in a Twitter post. The Congress had formed a ‘Grand Alliance’ with the AIUDF and several other parties to contest the assembly election.

Out of the 126 Assembly seats in Assam, the ruling alliance has secured 75 seats. The BJP has won 60 seats, while its alliance partners, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) got nine and six seats respectively.

GUWAHATI, MAY 9 (IANS): In a major breakthrough, three rhino poachers and smugglers of rhino horns were arrested by the Assam police on Sunday from Karbi Anglong district, officials said.

Assam police spokesman said that acting on a tip-off the police arrested Welson Teron, 34, Dereshang Rengma, 36 and Alo Rengma, 29 and recovered some sophisticated arms and ammunition from their possession. While Welson and Dereshang are residents of Karbi Anglong and Alo is a resident of Nagaland’s Dimapur.

Police recovered two AK-47 rifles, two loaded magazines, 30 rounds of live AK ammunition and other equipments from the custody of the rhino poachers.

Smugglers and poachers are poaching rhinos in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNP & TR) and other national parks in Assam and selling their horns in international markets.After the government and the forest authori-

The three accused who were arrested by Karbi Anglong police.

ties have taken a series of steps including increasing the numbers of trained security personnel, the poaching activities drastically reduced over the years.

The KNP & TR, extending across Assam’s Golaghat, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Karbi Anglong districts and along the Arunachal border, is home to more than 2,400 one-horned Indian rhinos, approximately two third of the total world population.

Set up in 1908, the

KNP & TR, one of India’s seven UNESCO world heritage sites in the natural and environment category since 1985.Besides rhinos, the KNP & TR has 121 tigers, 1,089 elephants and huge numbers of Asiatic buffalo, swamp deer, wild boar, hog deer, porcupine and other endangered animals and snakes.

With an estimated rhinoceros population of 2,640, Assam has the largest number of Indian one-horned rhinos in the world.

Covid-19 fatalities in Docs in Arunachal call off protest after assurance from minister Meghalaya, Assam rise

Fire erupts in Assam market, over 300 shops gutted

Correspondent/Agencies SHILLONG/GUWAHATI, MAY 9: Meghalaya on Sunday reported 418 fresh COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths, the highest singleday surge in positive cases and fatalities so far from the contagious infection, health officials said.

With the new detection and deaths, the active COVID-19 cases surged up to 2899, while the death toll has mounted to 228 as on Sunday.

Terming the situation “very serious”, Meghalaya Health and Family Welfare Minister, Alexander Laloo Hek said, “Cases (COVID19) may double in coming days, and urged citizens to take utmost precautions.”

“I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Vaccination not only help protect oneself from COVID-19 but also reduces risk for each one of us,” Hek said.

Director Health Services (MI) Dr. Aman War

said the COVID-19 fatality rate has climbed to 1.16 per cent with 18 deaths that include 14 in East Khasi Hills district, three in West Jaintia Hills district and one in West Garo Hills district on Sunday.

Assam: The number of Covid related deaths continued to go up in Assam, with the state health department confirming on Sunday evening that 48 more people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours. After 4,045 patients getting discharged during the day, the number of active cases in the state, however, has declined to 36,005. Till Saturday evening, the number of active cases was 36,799. Total 3,299 new cases were detected in the state on Sunday, when the positivity stood at 9.13 percent.

Kamrup (Metropolitan) district reported the highest 1,346 new cases on Sunday, followed by Dibrugarh (228), Tinsukia (148) and Kamrup (137).

ITANAGAR, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): The Indian Medical AssociationArunachal Pradesh (IMAAP) has called off their ongoing protest against the alleged physical assault on a doctor in Naharlagun recently, following a written assurance by the state’s health minister to address their grievances.

The IMA-AP and the Arunachal Pradesh Doctors’ Association (APDA) had, on Wednesday, announced a two-day statewide strike on May 7 and 8 in protest against the alleged act of violence against a doctor and vandalism at the Samaritan Hormin Hospital in Naharlagun.

The incident took place on Monday, following the death of a female patient who had undergone minor knee surgery.

The state’s medical fraternity had, however, later announced they would curtail the strike to a day.

The IMA-AP had again on Friday announced to carry on with the protest.

Arunachal doctors during a press conference (East Mojo).

They also threatened to launch the second phase of agitation in a more intensified manner if the culprits aren’t arrested within the next 10 days.

Addressing media persons on Saturday, IMA-AP president Lobsang Tsetim said: “We (doctors) are constantly trying to upgrade our services, and we being

humans as well, mistakes are bound to happen. We are no God, and we also sympathise and empathise with our patients.”

Dr Tsetim said in case of medical negligence people, can take legal action, however, physically assaulting the doctors or vandalising hospitals are not signs of a civilised

society.

IMA-AP general secretary Jego Ori said that they received a written assurance from the state government, wherein it assured to book the person(s) involved in the incident.

“We will closely monitor the assurance given by the state government and will decide on the future

course of action accordingly. As of now, all the services of government and private medical establishments within the Itanagar Capital Region will resume as normal in the public interest,” he added.

Dr Ori also informed that a notification was served to the entire medical fraternity falling under the aegis of the IMA-AP to resume their respective responsibilities.

Health Minister Alo Libang appealed to the doctors to resume their duties.

“The state government was committed to providing a safe and conducive atmosphere to medical professionals at their workplace where they can discharge their duties without any fear or duress,” said Libang in a letter.

“The law enforcing agencies would book the culprits under appropriate sections of the Arunachal Pradesh Medical Professional and Medical Institution Protection Act 2019, and justice would be delivered at the earliest,” Libang added in his letter.

Tezpur (Assam), May 9 (PTI): Over 300 shops were gutted after a major fire broke out at Chowk Bazar here in Sonitpur district of Assam, officials said on Sunday.

The incident took place post midnight and more than two dozen fire tenders from different districts were pressed into service to douse the flames, a senior official of the district administration said.

According to reports, the blaze erupted at one shop possibly due to a short circuit and spread rapidly, engulfing the entire market in Tezpur’s Borghola Chariali, he said.

No one was injured in the mishap, the officials said.

Newly elected AGP MLA from Tezpur, Prithviraj Rabha, visited the market and took stock of the situation.

Around 1,200 families depend on the market proceeds for their livelihood, they added.

Manipur reports highest Security forces nab Manipur govt opens oxygen bank ever single-day death toll of 15 KYKL cadre in Manipur in Delhi to help students, others

Correspondent

IMPHAL, MAY 9: Manipur on Sunday reported its highest ever single-day Covid-19 death toll, as cases continued to rise, while the state has also imposed stringent curfew in seven districts where the maximum number of infections was reported.

Manipur’s Health department reported 15 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 476, breaking the highest single-day fatalities of 13 recorded earlier on May 6 last.

The infection toll also

crossed 35,000-mark after 579 new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 35,354.

As per the bulletin of the state health department updated on Sunday at 5 pm, the twin capital districts alone shared 13 fatalities with seven in Imphal West and six in Imphal East district. Of the rest, one each was reported in Churachandpur and Kakching districts.

Of the 3,164 samples subjected to test for the virus in the past 24 hours, 579 came out with positive results. The state has so far

tested 6,37,265 samples.

In view of the grim situation of the COVID19 second wave, Manipur government imposed nineday-long curfew in seven districts- Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur Thoubal, Kakching, Churachandpur and Ukhrul-to break the chain of Covid infection.

Meanwhile, police continuing its struggle to keep people indoors penalised 285 persons who came out defying the curfew as well as other guidelines and restrictions and released them imposing a total fine of Rs 99,050.

D I M A P U R , M AY 9 (NPN): Moreh battalion of IGAR (South) under the aegis of Spear Corps apprehended a cadre of the KYKL group from Moreh, Manipur.

According to PRO(Defence) Kohima, based on specific inputs, a joint operation was launched by AR troops and Manipur police commandos leading to arrest of the cadre on May 8 along the Indo Myanmar border area.

The team also seized one pistol, two magazines and five rounds. The cadre was later handed over to

Moreh police station.

In another incident, a joint team of 23 sector Assam Rifles and Mizoram police apprehended one person along with a weapon.

PRO IGAR (East) said that one Ishapore MKIII .303 Rifle was recovered in Chhinga Vengthar area in Aizawl on May 9.

The operation-- crusade against smuggling activities, was based on confirmed intelligence inputs about the war like stores. The individual was later handed over to the Aizawl Police Station, PRO stated.

Lockdowns, curfews, restrictions in NE states

G U WA H AT I / D I M A PUR, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): State governments of the North Eastern region have announced several measures like imposing lockdowns, night curfews, containment zones etc. to tackle the spread of the COVID-19, TNT report stated.

Arunachal Pradesh: The state government, on Friday, announced a seven-day lockdown, starting from May 10 in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR). “The lockdown would come into effect from 5 am on May 10 and would remain in force till 5 am on May 17,” ICR Deputy Commissioner Talo Potom said.

Assam: Partial lock-

down has not been announced, but new restrictions and night curfew orders were given from the 5 am of May 5. Shops and offices are to shut down by 2 pm on all days, and night curfew has been imposed from 6 pm to 5 am. The order will remain in force until further orders.

Manipur: Manipur gover nment announced complete curfew in seven districts for nine days starting from May 8 to May 17, to contain the spread of the virus. Night curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 am, for rest of the state shall remain in place.

Meghalaya: Meghalaya chief minister on Saturday announced extension of lockdown in the East Khasi

Hills district of Meghalaya till 5 a.m. of May 17. Weekend lockdown will continue throughout the state from 10 p.m. of Friday to 5 a.m. of Monday. “We understand the ground reality but we cannot wait for tomorrow and we have to save precious lives. Please bear with us. The new strain is very strong. If the need arises, we may take extreme steps,” said deputy CM Prestone Tynsong said on Saturday after the review meeting on Covid situation. East Khasi Hills, that includes Shillong, has been the worst affected out of the 11 districts of the state.

Mizoram: A seven- day complete lockdown from May 10 has been announced

by the state government, in view of the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state. The lockdown restrictions will come into effect from 4 a.m. on May 10 till 4 a.m. on May 17.

Nagaland: The state government has declared most parts of Kohima and Dimapur districts as containment zones and imposed a night curfew until further order, to contain the spread of the virus. Nagaland on Saturday reported the highest ever single-day spike of 333 Covid-19 positive cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, pushing the total caseload to nearly 16,000 cases.

Sikkim: Night curfew and fresh restrictions have

been imposed by the state government from May 6 to May 16, from 5 p.m. till 9 p.m., following the rise in COVID-19 cases.

Inter-district movements for both private and government vehicles is prohibited. Businesses can remain open from 10 am till 4 pm, but shall remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays, until May 16.

Tripura: Night curfew has been announced by the state government in all local and urban bodies and nagar panchayat areas and the number of hours under it has been extended from 6 pm to 5 am. The night curfew was reinforced from May 4, after an order passed

by Tripura chief secretary, Manoj Kumar.

Correspondent

IMPHAL, MAY 9: Manipur gover nment has opened an oxygen cylinder bank with 10 cylinders at the national capital to assist students, patients and citizens from the State residing in Delhi and NCR. The bank which was installed at Manipur Bhavan, New Delhi was one of the several measures the state government took up to assist Manipuris residing in Delhi and NCR, an official release of the chief minister’s office (CMO) said on Sunday.

The oxygen cylinder

bank will provide oxygen to needy patients through student organisations against medical prescription or report, it said.

The Delhi government has also made arrangements to refill cylinders and the Bhavan authority will assist natives of Manipur whenever required.

It was lear nt that some cylinders were also issued through student organisations like KSO, Zillai, Tangkhul Students’ Union, NSUD, ZSUD, etc., the release added.

Manipur Bhavan has also provided 200 oxyme-

tres, N95 masks and sanitizers to student bodies for community use.

Tele consultation facility has also been activated through the medical officer of Manipur Bhavan.

In addition, COVID helpline numbers of Manipur and RIMS mental health helpline number have been shared to facilitate consultation.

Further, to facilitate home based RT-PCR tests, Manipur Bhavan has tied up with a private diagnostic laboratory, which has agreed to provide testing at a discounted rate to all Manipur residents of Delhi.

M’laya govt authorities refute ‘rumours’ on issuance of fake negative report

NONGPOH, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): Meghalaya Principal Health Secretary Sampath Kumar on Sunday rubbished the ‘rumours’ on ‘Fake Negative Results’ being provided by the staff manning the COVID-19 Screening Check Point in Umling, Ri Bhoi.

Terming the report, that has been doing its round on social media, as ‘fake’, Kumar said, “We do only testing at entry point. No negative report is accepted and everyone has to be tested again when they enter.” The Deputy Commissioner of Ri Bhoi district RM Kurbah also termed the report as ‘fake news’ and said that those who are spreading the news must come forward and prove it publicly.

According to the report, the procurement of fake negative COVID-19 test reports are being provided by some officials who were manning the COVID-19 screen-

ing checkpoint at Umling. It further added that even tourist cab drivers are facilitating this process.

“This is false news which has been spread by some people who want to tarnish the prestige of the district administration and the health department who has been working round the clock to contain the spread of the disease,” Kurbah said.

“Anyone who is spreading such fake news, are welcome to rectify it and also make it publicly. If needed they can also ask for an independent enquiry so that such false news would not be entertained,” the DC added.

Kurbah further stated that the COVID-19 screening check point has been mandated only to test people entering the state through RT-PCR test and the samples are sent to the authorities in Shillong to provide the results.

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OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post Vol. XXxI NO. 153 Dimapur, Monday, may 10, 2021

Fragile health system

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very day appears to mark a new recordhighest number of daily cases in India.

On May 7, India broke its previous world record of new covid cases when it recorded over 4.12 lakh. The following day on May 8 India also recorded its highest even single day covid deaths at 4,197. India’s new covid cases continue to remain as the highest in the world, both in terms of new infection and deaths. India has a home-grown variant called B.1.617, which some in the news media and medical industry have concluded, as being responsible for the ferocious second wave. However, researchers abroad believe that limited data so far suggests that a better-known variant may be more to blame: the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant first found in the UK. The situation in India has gone past the danger zone and which, according to US health specialist Dr. Fauci, the situation is “desperate”.

Many renowned health experts have been suggesting that an aggressive lockdown be imposed for at least two weeks to bring down the record new infections and deaths. Hospitals across India are in shambles as patients are made to sleep on hospital floors and even wheel chairs. What is worse in the current scenario is that India faces acute shortage of oxygen much needed for covid patients. This item has been released by the Centre but the distribution appears to not be fair and the matter has even gone to the court. With people dying in their thousands across India, even crematoriums are unable to provide space.

The entire health care system in India is under intense pressure. Doctors and medical staff are overworked and yet there seem to be no let up in fresh cases. A leading US-based global health research body- the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation- has projected over 1 million (10 lakh) cumulative deaths from COVID-19 in India by August 2021. Another of America’s highly regarded epidemiologists and biostatisticians - Professor Bhramar Mukherjee of Michigan University -has said that according to her mathematical projections, India could have 500,000 daily COVID-19 cases and 3,000 daily COVID-19 deaths by May 1. This figure may now seem farfetched but against the backdrop of earlier reports that India is missing four out of five covid cases is indeed worrisome. The happening across India should ring an alarm bell in Nagaland where the state’s health care system leaves much to be desired. The health care system will be seriously challenged as number of covid-19 patients seeking hospital beds is rising while most government hospitals have limited number of beds and reportedly are already full.

On May 8, Nagaland recorded 311 new cases, which is the highest ever since the pandemic.

According to recent reports quoting medical experts, most of the new cases are young people below the age of 40 etc. It is gratifying that the state government has asked private hospitals to reserve some beds for covid patients. Hopefully, this will be followed up early so that those in need of critical care will be attended to.

DailyDevotion Reaching Beyond Our Grasp

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint… —Proverbs 29:18 There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “…I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.

Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?

“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]….” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path.

We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?

Quotes

“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.

That will be the beginning.”

– Louis L’Amour

Nagaland Post, Dimapur Monday, may 10, 2021

Post-mortem

Recent poll outcomes propel Mamata to lead oppn!

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he recent election results reflect more than politics. Indian voters have larger issues and economy at the core of their concern. Tamilnadu, Kerala and Bengal have separately endorsed a new economic course for the nation.

Bengal definitely remains at the centre. A hawai chappal and white sari donning Mamata Banerjee has virtually challenged the dazzling development model that has put India’s public sector on sale and entered into a visual extravaganza of over Rs 30,000 crore (actually may be over Rs 50,000 crore) to change the Delhi’s central vista. Nobody explains why that should be a priority instead of creating a strong health sector, and hospitals capable of producing their own oxygen.

Nobody has tried to change that since the massive failure at the Gorakhpur hospital, where oxygen failure claimed 1317 lives in 2017 or the beginning of SAARS infections since 2002.

Populism of Mamata’s largesse for women, youth and Duare sarkar (goverment at doorstep), welfare policies of DMK in Tamilnadu or Left alliance in Kerala studied closely virtually

refutes the “aggressive privatized development” model of the Centre. All these states have voted against farm bills, that seek to create large house monopolies, junk scrapping policy of poor man’s vehicles, high fuel prices, fares, tolls, taxes and so called user charges.

The vote endorses that the country has more poverty to address than create cosmetic central vista that serves none but a few large corporate houses.

They have together rejected the Manmohanomics – that is causing political disaster for its proponent the Congress and their followers the BJP. The people are pitted against the disinvestment of prime banks, LIC, other financial institutions, defence establishments and others with a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore in 2021-22.

This is lower than Rs 2.1 lakh crore it hoped to garner from divestment in 2020-21 – an admission of failure of government bid. This failed economic concept is rejected now by the voters.

While in Tamil Nadu the change was inevitable, Kerala not very surprisingly voted for the Left government that in their perception has been delivering. The

voters perShivaji ceived that Congress-led UDF was incapable of opposing the BJP’s onslaught for privatization, now a national concern. So the LDF has returned with a bigger mandate. In2016, it had 91 out of 140 seats and this time its tally has gone up to 99. Vote percentage increased from 43.3 percent in 2016 to 45.3 percent in 2021 The massive vote surge in Bengal for Trinamool Congress was not possible had not the people perceived a grave threat to the economic policies being pursued by the Centre. The Left-Congress-TMC and even a section of the BJP voted for the economic policy changes that ironically Mamata Banerjee symbolizes. The 47.93 percent votes for TMC up from 43.3 percent in 2019 and reduced numbers of votes for BJP to 38.13 percent from 40.2 percent in 2019 reveals a lot.

The loss of all other parties was gain for TMC. It has also busted the myth that Bengal votes in communal terms. The wash out of the Left and Congress for its alliance with highly communalized ISF is the testimony.

History of pandemics

A

T h i s also proves that Bengal votes for social and economic issues and rejects any polarization, except in parts, either for Furfura or Ram. Another noticeable aspect is the Bengal’s vote for Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, whose anniversary BJP presented as Prakaram (Divas) and Mamata as Deshnayak – a person who conceptualized the Indian planning system, now rejected by the BJP. The venue chosen, Victoria Memorial, a colonial structure that still echoes the British colonial exploitation was also not suited for the occasion to celebrate anniversary of a national leader, who had raised a worldwide opposition to the exploitative British system during the World War II. Bengal in particular and nation as a whole wondered at the central government symbolism. This was no tribute to a leader who virtually led to the end of the colonial rule and its practices.

Surprisingly nobody pointed out this incongruity, which Mamata aptly encashed with heightened nationalistic presentation – a message went strong that the centre is not only not re-

Sarkar

spectful to Netaji but is also blatantly promoting some private houses. No wonder some days later the Rafael bribery became an issue by the French government exposure. It raised once again the high cost of Rs 36,000 crore for a deal that is again supposed to benefit some private parties.

India is not against private companies. Many have contributed significantly; many enjoy trust and set standards. The nation, however, is against overt domineering by any group.

The present elections have bared that. The country wants private neither at the cost of the public sector nor wants to get it enslaved to any private player. It wants private to serve the social cause without hurting a system the country built during the last 70 years. That is where the BJP’s desperate bid to capture Bengal did not succeed.

The loss of the centrist party, which gained significantly for a supposed nationalist approach during 2019 Lok Sabha election, should now reorient Indian economy, if the party led

by Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani wants to survive. Else it

may be the beginning of a regression endorsed also by its severe losses in the UP’s Hindu rural heartland panchayats. The BJP gets only 580 against SP’s 782, BSP’s 361, Congress’ 61 and 1266 others.

So will this election lead to an overt cry for economic changes? The rightist centrist party too inclined to the corporate may not do it.

But the opposition though too has its corporate connections may try to forge an alliance to clinch a political change. Its leadership is not yet obvious. Mamata may emerge as one but her allIndia acceptability may not be easy.

Some like SP’s Akhilesh Yadav has spoken for her. But change of guard may be inevitable. The combine would have to come out with a new economic policy – against privatization and for strengthening the people’s economy, one may call it socialist or by any other name. It has to be contrary to a centrist aggressive privatization that the present rulers are trying to dispense with. India is at the threshold of an economic and political change. It may gel before the UP elections next year.

4 routes for India out of the Covid crisis

U

S President Joe Biden also quickly rallied when they West Bengal. The distribution of s we all know, a pandemic quarantines, that’s right, the same convened the inaugural realised that India was unpre- oxygen production units or conis an epidemic of an in- quarantine that we are currently summit of QUAD na- pared for the Covid surge created centrators, life-saving equipment fectious disease that has stuck in. The uninfected would spread across the world and cre- typically remain in their homes tions, consisting of Australia, In- by new variants. Experts concede like ventilators, anti-viral drugs, ated havoc. For instance, you and only leave when it was neces- dia, Japan and US, on March 12. India had confirmation bias as etc. needed to be handled effimight have heard this term when sary, while those who could afford Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla the political leadership jumped ciently and equitably. Standard COVID-19 was declared a global to do so would leave the more said the other three agreed to to accepted sero-surveys after the Operating Procedure (SOP) took pandemic by the WHO. Although densely populated areas and live in finance a vaccine initiative led first wave last year. Estimates of some days to surface. Initially, the history of pandemics is quite isolation. I believe that if this same by India. There was, he cheerily those exposed to the virus were to avoid charges of favouritism, long and extensive, from the 1918 faith and patronage are to be fol- added, “Wholesome appreciation 20-30% in Delhi and 50-60% in material was rushed to central Spanish Flu to COVID-19 now, lowed now, the current COVID-19 of the Vaccine Maitri Initiative”. Mumbai, and were apparently medical institutions all over Inpandemics have always impacted cases will drop and we can return South Block’s optimistic spin took wrong. And with vaccinations dia. But transparency is needed the lead from BJP’s top leadership, commencing, Indian decision- to explain on a daily basis what life as we know it. It all started with to normalcy. the earliest recorded pandemic Coming to the West Afri- which, instead of postponing the makers calculated they would norms are followed. Meanwhile, which happened during the Pelo- can Ebola virus epidemic, which state elections, were marshalling stay ahead of any fresh wave. courts were forced to intervene ponnesian War. After it affected started on Dec 26, 2013 and ended forces for an all-out attack. Ad- But as against World Health Or- and figure out how smoothen Libya, Ethiopia and Egypt, it not by Jun 9, 2016, it killed over 11,323 ditionally, the Kumbh dates were ganisation’s norm for sequencing supply chains linking oxygen only crossed the Athenian walls people. It was deadly and danger- preponed from 2022, after debate to be .3% of confirmed cases, in producers to users, particularly in Delhi. but also lay siege to the Spartans ous and people again had no clue amongst Hindu clerics, to April, India the number was .05%. coinciding with Election ComIn 2001, after the Bhuj earthLate last night, the US gov-- as many as two-thirds of the about the symptoms or how to stay population died of it. Even though safe from the virus. Researchers mission’s irrational month-long quake, I was India’s ambassador ernment announced support for this was the first ever pandemic, it and scientists eventually found a election jamboree. Everything in Abu Dhabi, and material the waiver of Intellectual Propwas in place for a perfect storm collected by the community was erty (IP) protections on Covid-19 was not as deadly in comparison to solution i.e., a vaccine. flown to Ahmedabad but got piled vaccinations. US Trade Represenother subsequent pandemics.

On December 31, 2020, the to hit India.

Some epidemiologists now up and it was difficult to quickly tative Ambassador Katherine Tai One of the worst pandemics first-ever coronavirus case was was “The Plague of Justinian”. recorded. As we all know, ‘CO’ claim they had warned the gov- disburse to the needy. India was added that the US will “actively The number of deaths is unknown. stands for corona, ‘VI’ stands for ernment in writing that a massive now accepting aid after 17 years participate in WTO negotiations It was the beginning of the first virus and ‘D’ for disease. The coro- second wave was upon us. But the from 40 odd nations. Each nation to make that happen”. This was Old World pandemic of plague, navirus originated in Wuhan, Chi- BJP was keen to capture power sends a different mix of medical an Indian demand and a major the contagious disease caused na and from there it travelled and in West Bengal, the jewel of the equipment and medicines, some success for the developing world. by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. spread across the globe. The cause East. The Kumbh, if held next with non-English etchings, dif- So, the Indian path out of the criIt started in 541 AD and ended of the coronavirus is unknown but year, would have followed the ficult for end-users to read. Chi- sis is clear. One, quickly get mediaround 750 AD. Scientists believe that doesn’t change the fact that it state election in Uttar Pradesh. nese ambassador Sun Weidong cal supplies to hospitals so that The BJP could not miss out on a claimed 61 flights had been sent patients do not lie unattended. that the Plague of Justinian spread is fatal and destructive. through fleas.

In 2020, when the first lock- crore-strong religious gathering in the past two weeks carrying Two, gear up the vaccination for political posturing.

5,000 ventilators, 21,569 oxygen programme by making producStudies indicate the plague down happened, we were all quite The question arises whether producers and 3,800 tonnes of ers deliver on time and as per the may have originated in China or alarmed and frightened as to where the top BJP leadership exists in medicines. Acknowledging such deal. Three, cut the pricing and India and was then transported to this would lead and how we would a bubble that neither internal help from China which has still procuring differentiations - the the fertile valleys of Egypt through manage. We didn’t realise that it warnings from scientists, or social not withdrawn its troops from In- union government must procure trade routes since technology and was just the tip of the iceberg. Now media posts or stories in respect- dian areas in Ladakh, presented vaccines at the same price for medicines were quite old and some that it’s 2021, the situation has not ed international journals, pen- Delhi with a conundrum. China, itself, for states, and ideally, even had not yet been discovered. Sur- gotten better but worsened. The etrate. Thus, unsurprisingly, the in turn, was running down US for private hospitals. Four, prepare prisingly, the plague doctors had cases are higher than ever, people situation swung quickly from the assistance, late in coming, as well for massive expansion of vaccine to guess as to what might end this are dying and in need of oxygen Prime Minister proclaiming In- as underscoring Indian weakness production in anticipation of the pandemic. They attempted treat- or plasma. In India, things are not dia a ‘Vishwa Guru’ or ‘Thought for the world to see.

IP waiver clearing at the WTO ments such as vinegar and water looking good but we can also curb Leader’ to India becoming the The distribution of essential by using existing and shut units or told the patients to carry flowers this situation and help out each global Covid hub. Countries be- relief material has to contend all over India, particularly in the around all day, but they all failed. other in these difficult times by gan blocking flights from India. with toxic relations between the public sector.

Now, let’s come to one of the donating plasma or money or even QUAD partner Australia added BJP-run union government and K.C. Singh, former ambassador major pandemics, the ‘Spanish basic supplies, volunteering virtu- insult to injury by threatening to many opposition-ruled states, to Iran. (The article was first Flu’. The Spanish Flu, which is ally. There is always something you jail even their own citizens if they sharpened after BJP’s rout in published by NDTV) also known as the 1918 Influenza can do to help others. returned from India by surreptivirus, was an unusually deadly Although this article doesn’t tious indirect travel. Pictures and influenza pandemic caused by the even come close to capturing all videos, many very disturbing, H1N1 influenza virus. Lasting the deadly and disastrous pandem- of ill and dying patients, unable from February 1918 to April 1920, ics, what we do know is that these to get admission to hospitals, it infected 500 million people -- pandemics have brought untimely or perishing in hospitals when about a third of the world’s popula- deaths of our near and dear ones oxygen ran out, spread across tion at the time -- in four successive and a lot of pain and suffering to the globe. Questions began being waves. By the summer of 1919 the mankind. Not only this, but pan- asked about India’s partnership flu pandemic came to an end, as demics are also known to create with US, as not a vial of vaccine Sir, The recent recommendation of the Government of India to those that were infected either died havoc in human civilizations and was promised despite millions or developed immunity. disrupt life as we know it. of doses of Astra Zeneca lying regularise and give preference to doctors who rendered service when History tells us that the worst But what I have learnt is that unused in US warehouses, or the called for during COVID-19 crisis is laudable. When COVID-19 pandemic recorded to date is ‘Black in the midst of a pandemic, there slightest public recognition of was at its peak last year, many doctors have responded to the call of Death’, which killed roughly is always a greater sense of unity India’s existential crisis. Some duty and enrolled to rendered their professional service when their over 75-200 million people. Black amongst the people also bringing blame rests on India, as a na- service was needed the most. The Government of India, having Death was essentially a bubonic out the goodness and kindness in tionalistic government boasting realised the importance of their services during the peak of the crisis plague pandemic occurring in people. As history is witness, we about leading the fight against the has recommended to the state Governments to give preference to Afro-Eurasia from 1346 to 1353. It always end up adapting to such epidemic and shipping millions these doctors for appointment as well as to regularise their services was present mainly in Eurasia and situations and find a solution to of vaccines to developing nations, as the case may be. Many of the medical professionals opted out of North Africa. This plague was also make it out of these pandemics. was reluctant to acknowledge the interview/ selection process when the pandemic was at its peak caused by the Yersinia pestis.

So, with this we must realise that and accept a national crisis, es- and it will be grossly inhuman on the part of the Government to It was spread around through a crisis can bring misery, difficulty pecially in the mist of important dump them after utilising their services. Besides, the second wave of COVID-19 is knocking at our doorstep with more ferocity. In the fleas. These bugs picked up the and death, but it also brings forth state elections. germs when they bit infected hope, the strength of human spirit, Finally, US National Secu- light of the facts and circumstances stated above, the Government animals, then passed them to the the goodness of the human heart, rity Adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted of Nagaland should take necessary steps to regularise the serving next animal or person they bit. and formidable will to say: “The on April 25, promising America doctors and also give preference to medical professionals who renThis pandemic eventually ended show must go on.” was “deploying more supplies dered service during the COVID-19 crisis.

Kahoto Zhimomi, Dimapur. through the implementation of Ojjus Chawla (IANS) and resources”. Other nations Reader’s note: Articles or letters published in any of the columns do not reflect the view of this newspaper nor that of the Editor in any manner.

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Prudent to regularise doctors who rendered service during COVID-19

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur Monday, may 10, 2021

EPS, OPS tussle continues Delhi to remain under lockdown till May 17 over Opposition leader Marriage only at home or court

C H E N N A I , M AY 9 (IANS): The fight for the top slot as opposition leader in Tamil Nadu continues unabated between former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) and his Deputy, O. Panneerselvam (OPS) in the AIADMK. While the supporters of EPS are pitching to make him the opposition leader as they argue that the party won maximum seats from his home turf of Salem where the party won 10 out of the 11 seats at stake. In western Tamil Nadu and northern Tamil Nadu also the writ of EPS ran across the constituencies. Moreover, EPS won his Edappadi seat with a margin of 93,802 votes over his DMK rival Sampath Kumar, which is the highest vote margin of an incumbent Chief minister in the history of Tamil Nadu elections.

While the AIADMK could win 32 of the 54 seats in Western Tamil Nadu, which is the bastion of EPS, in South Tamil Nadu which is considered the stronghold of OPS, the party could muster only 16 of the 60 seats. The AIADMK was strong in this area where

(L-R) O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami.

the “Thevar” community of OPS was ruling the roost especially in Theni district- the home turf of OPS. However in the 2021 assembly elections, the only AIADMK leader who was elected from Theni district was OPS from his traditional constituency of Bodinayakanur with a victory margin of 11,021 votes over his nearest DMK rival Thanga Tamil Selvan.

T h e r e wa s s l o g a n shouting for both EPS and OPS during the party executive meeting held at the AIADMK headquarters on Friday. The OPS faction is of the feeling that the last minute reservation announced by EPS for the Vanniyar community resulted in the defeat of several

AIADMK candidates from other communities in many parts of Tamil Nadu and the outgoing Chief minister has to be held responsible for that.

The Tamil Nadu assembly secretariat on Saturday announced the election date of the Speaker of the assembly on May 12. It is customary that the Speaker is to be led to the chair by the Chief minister and the leader of opposition. This means that the opposition leader has to be announced

by May 11.

It also remains to be seen whether the BJP which had played a key role in bringing up a bonhomie between the two warring leaders will chip in with a compromise formula.

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (IANS): Amid crisis for medical services and oxygen supply in Delhi’s hospitals for over last three weeks, the city will remain under lockdown till next Monday (May 17) as part of measures to break the chain of corornavirus infections.

Lockdown was imposed in the national capital on April 20 with some restrictions and the extended lockdown was supposed to end on Monday morning (May 10 a.m.), but the state government decided to extend it for further one more week.

Announcing ‘lockdown extension’ through a digital press conference on Sunday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “Delhi had imposed lockdown on April 20 and has been extended again. With the support from people of Delhi cases have started to come down in the last few days and the positivity rate is also down to 23 per cent.

However, we are not in a situation to give any relaxation in restrictions.

I will request people of Delhi to continue to follow lockdown rules, otherwise,

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Delhi metro rail to remain shut

Photo for representation only

we will lose what we have gained (medical facilities) in the last few days.”

The Chief Minister said that the fresh round of lockdown will be more stringent than before. “To combat the spread of Covid we have decided to take some more stringent measures including shutting down metro services from Monday morning,” he added.

The Chief Minister urged the people of Delhi not to let down their guard in the fight against Covid.

“The positivity rate has

gone down but still we can’t afford leniency. We need to extend the lockdown,” Kejriwal said.

While the positivity rate, which stood at 35 per cent in mid-April, has dropped to 23 per cent, doctors say even this is very high and there is a need to break the chain of transmission.

This would be the fourth week of the lockdown imposed as the Covid numbers in the national capital skyrocketed, bringing hospitals to their knees and pushing patients and

doctors to look to social media for help amid a huge crisis of oxygen, beds and drugs.

“During the lockdown we utilised the time to enhance our healthcare infrastructure. The main issue in Delhi was oxygen shortage.

With Centre’s help, the condition is better now,” the Chief Minister said.

Amid a bitter fight with the Centre over oxygen availability in the Delhi High Court, the Supreme Court, which had taken up the issue, ordered the formation of a 12-member

National Task Force to assess availability and distribution of medical oxygen.

The DDMA has directed Delhi police to ensure effective checking of movement of persons and vehicles by putting adequate number of barricades.

“Police authority shall ensure effective checking of movement of persons and vehicles by putting adequate number of checking points with objective to prevent unnecessary movement of people on roads during curfew,” DDMA order stated.

2 central observers appointed to ‘Exempt oxygen tanks, Covid medicines from taxes’: Mamata CRPF DIG under probe for L K ATA , M AY 9 from duty/SGST/CGST/ She pointed out that misbehaving with lady doctor elect Bengal BJP party leader KO (AGENCIES): West BenIGST. As the rate structure the centre - which assesses

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (IANS): The BJP has appointed two central observers for the election of the leader of party MLAs in the West Bengal Assembly.

By winning 77 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly in the recently concluded polls, the BJP has emerged as the main opposition party in the state.

In a statement on Saturday, the party said: “The Parliamentary Board of the BJP has appointed central observers for the election of the leader of the party MLAs in West Bengal assembly.” Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and

party National General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav have been appointed as the central Observers.

Earlier, the BJP had appointed Union Agriculture Minister Narednra Singh Tomar and party National General Secretary Arun Singh as central observers for Assam, while Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy, was appointed as the central observer for Tamil Nadu.

The decision to appoint central observers has been taken by the BJP’s Parliamentary Board but the party has not called its meeting after the poll results.

gal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, asking for tax waivers on the import of medicines and equipment needed to fight the Covid pandemic.

She also called on the Prime Minister to strengthen health infrastructure and augment supplies of medicines and oxygen for treatment of coronaviruspositive patients in Bengal and across India.

Banerjee said “organisations, individuals and benevolent agencies” had offered aid - from oxygen concentrators and cylinders to cryogenic storage tanks and COVID-19 med-

Mamata Banerjee (File)

icines. She urged the centre to exempt such items from GST and customs duty, so as to “encourage private aid”. “... many of the donors and agencies have approached the state government to consider exemption of these items

falls under the purview of the centre, I would request that these items may be exempted from GST/customs duty and other such duties and taxes, to help remove supply constraints...” she wrote.

Donations like these, Mamata stressed, would “greatly supplement the efforts of the state government in meeting the huge gap in demand and supply” of medical resources.

This is Baner jee’s third letter to PM Modisince being sworn in for a third term on Wednesday - on the Covid crisis in the state. On Friday she wrote to highlight a potential oxygen supply crisis.

More states extend curfew, lockdown NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (IANS): More states across the country have decided to enforce stringent measure and extend lockdowns in view of the surge in Covid19 cases.

Tamil Nadu: People of Chennai have entered a buying spree as Tamil Nadu is set for a complete lockdown from May 10 to May 24. Most are filling their stocks with groceries, medicines, utensils, toiletries and other materials that they fear will run out of anytime.

While the M.K. Stalin government has allowed shops to function till 9 p.m. on Sunday, from Monday onwards, fish and meat stalls will be allowed to function everyday till noon

with 50 per cent capacity.

Last April when the government announced a four day complete lockdown, only a nine hour window was there and hence there was panic buying in all shops.

People are also travelling out of Chennai to their hometowns, especially IT professionals as they have the option to work from home.

UP: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to extend the lockdown till May 17 in the state to break the chain of coronavirus infections, the government said here on Sunday.

State Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Navneet Sehgal said it would be like a partial

Modi pays tribute to Tagore on his birth anniversary

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on his 160th birth anniversary.

Tagore was born on May 7 but his birthday is celebrated in West Bengal, where he was born and is revered, according to the traditional Bengali calendar, and this year it falls on Sunday.

“On Tagore Jayanti, I bow to the great Gurudev Tagore. May his exemplary ideals keep giving us strength and inspiration to build the India he dreamt of,” he said, paying tributes to the man of many talents.

Tagore was a play-

wright, philosopher, composer and poet. He had won the Nobel prize for literature.

The prime minister also paid tributes to freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale and celebrated warrior king Maharana Pratap, both of whom were born on this day.

Gokhale’s life was devoted to serving the nation, and it will always inspire the countrymen, the prime minister said.

Paying tributes to Maharana Pratap, PM Modi said he brought glory to India with his valour, boundless courage and battle skills. His sacrifice and devotion to the motherland will always be memorable, he said.

corona curfew. During this time all necessary services will continue as before.

In view of the fast spreading infections in the villages after the panchayat elections and the festival of Eid on May 14, the Yogi Adityanath government has extended the lockdown for a week, the official said.

In a review meeting with the chief minister, Team-9 decided to extend the lockdown till May 17 at 7 a.m. to break the chain of infections. All restrictions will remain in force as before. Essential services will continue to be exempted. Strict action will be taken against those who roam unnecessarily. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

has said that the objective of the corona curfew will only be successful if the protocols are strictly implemented.

Karnataka: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa hinted that the lockdown-like restrictions imposed across the state is likely to be extended beyond May 12.

“We are discussing this with officials... It has become inevitable to take stricter action,” Yediyurappa told reporters after visiting a temple in Bengaluru’s Gandhi Nagar on Friday morning.

“What kind of action should be take will be decided in today and tomorrow’s meetings,” he said.

The possibility of an

extension comes even as several other states have announced lockdown and other restrictions to contain the surge of Covid- 19.

J&K: Corona curfew was extended on Sunday for the entire Jammu and Kashmir for seven more days up to May 17.

Authorities said the ongoing corona curfew which would end at 7 a.m. on Monday has been extended by another week till 7 a.m. next Monday.

“The extended lockdown shall remain effective in all the 20 districts of J&K,” officials said.

J&K has been reporting an alarming number of new Covid cases and deaths with each passing day.

and allocates oxygen to states - had increased supply of oxygen produced in Bengal to other states, rather than allowing it to remain in Bengal.

On Monday the centre said IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax, levied on inter-state movement of goods and imports) on Covid-related relief material from abroad would be waived till June 30.

Two weeks ago the centre also waived, with immediate effect for three months, customs duty and health cess on the import of Covid vaccines, oxygen and oxygen-related equipment.

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (IANS): An enquiry was initiated on Sunday against a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for allegedly misbehaving with a lady doctor of the force deputed in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.

The enquiry was set up after the victim lodged a complaint against Surinder Prasad, the DIG Range Muzaffarpur in Bihar, on Sunday morning with concerned officials in the CRPF. In her complaint, the lady doctor complained that the DIG “made repeated phone calls late in the night followed by inappropriate advances at her place of

stay in drunken state”. The complainant is posted at CRPF Composite Hospital Muzaffarpur. “An inquiry has been ordered to establish the facts and appropriate action will be taken against the delinquent,” the CRPF said in a statement.

The CRPF fur ther made it clear that the force is committed to creating a safe and secure environment for its women personnel and has a zero-tolerance policy for misbehaviour.

The CRPF, a 3.25 lakh strong force, is mandated to provide internal security in the country especially in terrorist torn Jammu and Kashmir region and Maoistaffected states.

Terror bid foiled in J&K, 19 grenades recovered in Poonch NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): A major terrorist attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir was foiled with the recovery of 19 hand grenades from a terrorist hideout in Poonch district on Sunday, claimed a defence spokesperson.

“In a major success for a joint effort of security forces and police, nefarious designs of inimical elements to disrupt peace and tranquillity in Poonch region were foiled Sunday morning,” the spokesman said.

The Indian Army’s Rashtriya Rifles and the Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a “well coordinated joint operation” in

The grenades recovered from a terrorist hideout in Poonch district.

Phagla area of Surankote in Jammu’s Poonch after receiving a specific input that terrorists were planning to target security forces on NH 144A (Jammu-RajouriPoonch highway). “Relentless development of intelligence by both the agencies led to [the] recovery of a

huge cache of grenades in general area Phagla, hidden in a well concealed natural hideout,” said the spokesman. A total of 19 hand grenades have been recovered, he added. This is the second major recovery of explosives in Jammu region in as many days.

Covid-norms, vaccination shields against mutants, future waves: Experts NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): With the second wave of the COVID19 pandemic ravaging the country and concerns being raised about a possible third wave, experts caution that the next wave could be less severe if people keep following COVID-appropriate behaviour and a large portion of the population is vaccinated.

Several experts believe that a casual approach that followed the trough of the first wave could be a possible reason for the pandemic raising its head again, though others are also putting the blame on the new mutants and variants of the virus being more virulent.

K Vi j ay R a g h ava n , Principal Scientific Adviser, had said on Wednesday last week that the third wave was

inevitable and it was necessary to be prepared for new waves, but clarified two days later that the “insidious asymptomatic transmission” can be stopped if prescribed guidelines about precautions, surveillance, containment, treatment and testing are followed.

According to experts, in a few months when the immunity people have developed naturally or with the help of vaccination fades, the virus strikes again and the only thing that can stop the virus from bouncing back is how people are guarding themselves.

“Early this year, as the new cases receded, people started interacting as if there was no virus. The immunity had already started declining. They organised mass gatherings, they stopped

wearing masks, giving the opportunity to the virus to strike again,” said Dr Anurag Agarwal, director, Institute of Genomics and Integral Biology, New Delhi. “While we anticipate a third wave, we cannot say when exactly it will come or how severe it will be. But if people keep following COVID-appropriate behaviour in coming months and we are able to vaccinate a large number of people, the third wave could be less severe,” Dr Agarwal added.

While the sudden surge in the number of cases during the second wave has led to panic among people, what is adding to their fear is the constant threat of new mutants of the virus and how these mutants could potentially harm them.

Some experts, however,

believe that mutations are a common phenomenon, and the mutations do not generally affect the prevention, treatment, or vaccination.

“Every virus, while replicating in the host’s body, mutates. The virus is a prolific multiplier, but its replication is error-prone and so every copy it makes of itself may not be its exact replica.”

“Any change, minor or major, that occurs in its structure is known as a mutation. A virus undergoes hundreds and thousands of such mutations,” said Dr Saumitra Das, Director, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG ), Kalyani, and professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Experts also said that every mutation cannot be a cause of concern and ge-

nome sequencing of a virus is done to keep a track of any mutation that can make a virus more dangerous.

“What concerns us is whether a mutation is making it more transmissible, or virulent; whether a mutation has the potential to make the existing medicines or vaccines ineffective against the virus. If so, the mutant is classified as a variant of concern (VoC),” said Dr Das. Mutations shown so far in the novel coronavirus have not warranted any change in the required treatment or vaccines, but experts believe it is technologically possible to tweak the medicine or a vaccine quickly to fight a mutant that poses a threat to their efficacy.

“But in the case of COVID-19, since its spread has been so rapid, it is not

giving our scientists enough time to identify all the mutants. And so, the role of COVID-appropriate behaviour is as critical as ever in controlling its spread,” said Dr Arun Sharma, a community medicine expert and director of NIIRNCD (ICMR), Jodhpur.

He said a virus mutant can escape the body’s immunity and undo the efforts to developing an effective vaccine or medicine against it, but chances of it escaping the shield called COVIDappropriate behaviour are low.

“A three-ply mask, frequent hand washing or sanitising, maintaining physical distance, avoiding crowd, especially indoors, are still most effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19 virus,” Dr Sharma added.

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Cong demands all party meet, writes to PM Modi

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (IANS): Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the Prime Minister and the Rajya Sabha Chairman demanding to convene an all party meet to discuss Covid crisis and free vaccination for all.

Kharge in his letter gave six suggestions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for tackling Covid -- Convene all party meeting and use Rs 35,000 allocated in Union Budget to ensure free vaccination for all; leverage compulsory licensing to increase production of vaccines; waive GST on vaccines, PPE, ambulances, ventilators, oxygen and sanitisers;

Mallikarjun Kharge

expedite the distribution of relief material and proactively disclose where it is shipped; increase MNREGA to 200 days; and leverage our collective strengths by governing consensually and inclusively.

In his letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Venka-

iah Naidu, Kharge said, “Convene Virtual meetings of the Standing Committees, bring to the notice of Chairman the 123rd Report of the Department Related Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, which made vital recommendations vis-à-vis coping with the Covid-19 pandemic and take cognisance of the report and secure the action taken report on it, as deemed fit. Such an action taken report can provide a fresh a blueprint in further tackling the Covid menace in the country, he said.

Earlier Sonia Gandhi on Friday had demanded an all party to discuss Covid crisis.

national Centre releases ` 8,923 Cr for rural nodies in 25 states NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): The centre on Sunday released an amount of Rs. 8,923 crore to 25 states for providing grants to the rural local bodies in view of the pandemic. The grants are meant for all the three tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions - village, block and district. It will augment resources to the three tiers of panchayats for fighting the contagion, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The grant was released to panchayats a month in advance for various prevention and mitigation measures needed to combat the pandemic, among other things. As per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, the first tranche of the grants was to be released in June.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur Monday, may 10, 2021

States under some lockdown, score on GSI jumps to 74

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): On April 1, India’s score on the Global Stringency Index stood at 58. The score touched 74 on April 30. India-specific data has not been updated since then. Once updated, the score is likely to go up given the kind of restrictions in place in most parts of the country. The Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker has prepared a composite stringency index that uses metrics like school and workplace closures; cancellation of public events; restrictions on public gatherings and internal and external movements; stay-at-home requirements; and closure of public transport among others.

India’s score touched 100 in the last week of March last year and stayed at that level during the nationwide lockdown. Data show that while

we may not have nationwide lockdown in place, as many as 26 states and union territories have some form of restrictions in place.

In other words, nearly 98% of India’s population is under some form of lockdown. Among states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra have full lockdown in place. Even in other states such as Gujarat, Telangana, Assam, and Himachal Pradesh, there are restrictions in place. But they are not as stringent as full lockdown. While states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala have been giving cash handouts and food packets to the ration cardholders, other states are yet to announce welfare schemes to cushion the blow of lockdown on the vulnerable sections of the population.

Lakshadweep, Haryana, Assam top in Covid vax wastage NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (IANS): Lakshadweep, Haryana and Assam for the second consecutive day on Sunday maintained their position among top 10 states for the maximum loss of Covid vaccines amid the crisis when the country is passing through a shortage of the medicine necessary to keep people safe from the deadly virus.

Amidst increasing Covid-19 vaccine demands in the country, wastage of the key injection has been a matter of concern for the government with reports of highest 22.74 per cent wastage reported in Lakshadweep till 8 a.m. on Sunday. The Union Territory reportedly wasted 22 per cent Covid vaccines till Saturday 8 a.m.

After Lakshadweep, Haryana accounts for the second highest state with wastage of 6.65 per cent

Photo for representation only

Covid vaccines followed by Assam (6.07 per cent), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s (MoHFW) latest data said.

Rajasthan has reported 5.50 per cent wastage of Covid vaccine, Punjab reports 5.05 per cent and

Bihar recorded 4.96 per cent wastage of Covid vaccines.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli reported 4.93 per cent Covid vaccine wastage followed by Meghalaya (4.21 per cent), Tamil Nadu (3.94 per cent) and

Manipur (3.56 per cent).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself took the issue of wastage of Covid vaccine very seriously, and requested people three days ago through his Twitter to “reduce vaccine wastage to strengthen the fight against

Covid-19”.

Modi praised Kerala for reducing vaccine wastage, saying “Good to see our healthcare workers and nurses set an example in reducing vaccine wastage”.

The nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive was started on January 16 for the healthcare workers.

The country had launched its third phase of the vaccination drive on May 1 for people aged between 18-44 years.

As per the official data, the Centre has so far provided more than 17.56 crore vaccine doses (17,56,20,810) to states and UTs free of cost. Of this, the total consumption including wastages is 16,83,78,796 doses.

The total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered stands at 16,94,39,663, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Now villages also left to the mercy of God: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (IANS): Amid surge of Covid cases in the rural areas, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at the Narendra Modi-led Central government for not tackling the situation.

“Shehron ke baad ab gaon bhi parmatma-nirbhar (After cities, villages also left to the mercy of God,” he said in a tweet, attach-

ing an image of an Hindi caption reading “Covid-19: Mahamari ki dusri lahar ab gaaon mein barpa rahi hai kehr (Covid-19: The second wave of the pandemic now overwhelming villages)”.

Gandhi had earlier tweeted the country doesn’t need a new house for the PM but oxygen, attaching photos of people in line

for the life-saving gas, and work on the Central Vista.

I n a n o t h e r t we e t which displayed a graph on the Covid surge and falling vaccinations, he had termed the situation “The Movid pandemic.”

India on Sunday recorded 4,03,738 fresh cases in last 24 hours with 4,092 fatalities, taking the total number of cases in the country to 2,22,96,414, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

It is the fifth time after May 1 that India has crossed the four-lakh-mark of new cases in last 24 hours.

India’s total tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,22,96,414 with 37,36,648 active cases and a total of 2,42,362 deaths so far.

Military set to employ 400 retired 13 Covid-19 undertrials ‘India, UK variants equally transmissible’ doctors to strengthen Covid-19 fight escape from Haryana jail

Photo for representation only

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): The Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) is set to recruit 400 retired medical doctors for 11 months to strengthen the fight against the Coviid-19 pandemic, officials said on Sunday. The defence ministry passed an order on Saturday to allow the AFMS to recruit these

doctors who were released from service between 2017 and 2019.

“The order says fixed monthly lump sum amount will be admissible by deducting the basic pension from the salary drawn at the time of retirement plus specialist pay wherever applicable. The amount would remain unchanged for the term of the contract

and no other allowances would be paid,” said a defence ministry statement on Sunday.

The armed forces are operating in full battle mode for Covid-19 relief and foresee a bigger role for themselves in the coming weeks and months to help tackle the devastating second wave of the pandemic even as they cater to the health needs of serving soldiers, veterans and their dependents, as reported by HT on May 6.

The armed forces are in the vanguard of the fight against the deadly disease --- from helping meet the exploding demand for oxygen to setting up dedicated Covid-19 hospitals and opening doors of military hospitals to civilians to transporting critical medical stores.

Photo for representation only

CHANDIGARH, MAY 9 (IANS): Thirteen undertrials escaped from a Covid19 special jail in Haryana after cutting iron grills of a barrack, police said on Sunday.

While four belonged to a jail in Rewari, nine from Mahendragarh.

All escapees, lodged in under-construction jail in Rewari, were Covid positive and managed to escape late Saturday night,

a police official said. Some of the escapees have been facing charges for rape, murder and dacoity.

A total of 493 Covid positive prisoners from across the state have been lodged in the Rewari jail.

The incident came to light when jail officials counted the prisoners in the morning, sources added. Four teams of the police have launched a search operation to arrest the inmates.

HYDERABAD, MAY 9 (AGECNIES): Public Health England, the executive agency of the UK department of health, has equated the novel coronavirus sub-lineage, B.1.617.2 of Indian variant or double mutant B.1.617, with the UK strain B.1.1.7 in terms of transmission rate, Times of India report stated.

This sub-lineage was earlier declared as a ‘variant of concern’. Apart from the UK, the sub-lineage B.1.617.2 is prevalent in Maharashtra and other parts of India.

Its presence, however, is yet to be established in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, though the main variant, B.1.617, is present in the Telugu states. The UK variant B.1.1.7 is also found in the Telugu states to a lesser extent.

According to the latest update of novel coronavirus variants by

Photo for representation only

Public Health England, B.1.617.2 is assessed as at least as transmissible as B.1.1.7 with moderate confidence.

This is biologically plausible based on the mutation profile. “It can compete with B.1.1.7 in the population and modelled growth estimates, suggesting transmissibility at least equal to B.1.1.7,” the UK health agency said.

Referring to its neutralising potential against known Covid-19 vaccines, the report said as of now

there is insufficient data to assess the potential for immune escape.

“B.1.617.2 has spread rapidly in India based on available data. In some regions, S gene target data suggests that this variant may be more frequent than is indicated by the current sequence data, due to the lag in sequencing, and may have replaced B.1.1.7 to some extent. Modelled growth estimates suggest that the variant is at least as transmissible as B.1.1.7,” the report added.

JNU application process ‘Many catching virus even after first jab in Bengal, turning silent spreaders’ on hold till May 16 NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has clarified that the registration fee for the semester exams will not be increased. It also informed that the registration process has been kept on hold till May 16 due to the on-going COVID-19 situation.

This comes after various fake circulars and information was being passed on the internet regarding the semester exam fee and dates.

The JNU students have been asked to refer to the official website jnu. ac.in for further information about the exams and registration process.

JNU said in a notice that, “The students’ registration has been kept on hold till May 16 in view of

the prevailing situation”.

University has given strict directions to the students and the faculty members to not follow any information given by sources other than the official website.

The university statement also said that the schools, centres or special centres, where end-semester examinations have been completed can continue with online teaching for the next semesters for these students without registration, which can be completed later.

This is the second time JNU has put on hold the Winter Semester registration process.

Earlier on April 28, the university said that it will start the application process on May 8.

KO L K AT A , M AY 9 (AGENCIES): Doctors and scientists have flagged off concerns about a section of vaccinated population becoming silent carriers and infecting those yet to be inoculated. There have been several instances of vaccine recipients developing symptoms within days of vaccination and testing positive but doctors are more concerned about several others who may also have contracted the virus but are asymptomatic and so a greater threat to others.

While the early breakthrough Covid cases could be due to different strains of viruses getting accelerated after the vaccine dose as has been detected in a study in Israel, others say it could be due to people dropping their guard a little too early after vaccination or catching the virus while waiting

for the jab at vaccination centres.

A majority of the critical cases in hospitals are those who have not been vaccinated. While they could have acquired the infection from anywhere, doctors suspect some of them may have received it from inoculated family members who got infected, were asymptomatic, and then spread it.

Subhrojyoti Bhowmick, clinical director (research & academics) at Peerless Hospital, said it could take six-eight weeks from the first dose for a vaccinated person to develop the maximum level of antibody provided the second dose has also been administered. “In the intervening period, the person is susceptible to infection but in a majority of cases, he or she will be asymptomatic.

Hence, they will not know

Photo for representation only

that they are infected and will infect others around them,” he said.

Clinical trial specialist and former head of clinical and experimental pharmacology at School of Tropical Medicine, Santanu Tripathi, also cautioned that letting the guard down after the vaccine poses a threat.

“The vaccine is not meant to stop transmission. It is meant to boost a person’s immunity against the virus

and reduce the severity of the infection. So while they may be relatively safe after the shot, others may not,” he explained.

According to virologist Amirul Mallick of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (IISER Kolkata), a person who does not have vaccine-induced protective immunity against the virus may pose a substantial risk to others. Since vaccines

being administered in India follow the “prime-boost” regimen (same vaccine for 1st and 2nd dose), it is important to get two doses of the same vaccine within the recommended interval.

“Antibody response reaches the peak around 14 days after the first dose.

This will subside eventually unless a booster or second dose is given, which provides us with a longer and heightened antibody response to protect us from subsequent infection. Although we do not have sufficient data to answer this, given that there is a gap of 28 days between the two shots, one has to be very careful, not only for oneself but also for others,” explained Mallick.

Sangam Banerjee, a former senior professor at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics who has worked on non-enzymatic biosensors

and bactericidal activities using nanomaterial, further argued that imperfect vaccinal antibodies that are unable to combat a mutated virus can turn recipients into asymptomatic spreaders and infect nonimmunized segments of the population.

Behavior scientists say it is the irresponsible behaviour of people post the first dose that puts them at risk of turning into a carrier.

Even those who have been carefully following Covid protocols like wearing masks and maintaining distance have started indulging in high-risk behaviour post vaccination. Known as the Peltzman Effect after Sam Peltzman who taught microeconomics in Chicago in the 1980s, it points out how safety perception increases risk appetite. In this case, it will end up putting others in harm’s way.

7

international

Nagaland Post, Dimapur Monday, may 10, 2021

Australia’s borders to remain Myanmar junta approves 15 investments closed indefinitely: PM Morrison

K O L K AT A , M AY 9 (IANS): China has started reaping rewards for backing the February 1 military takeover in Myammar.

The military regimecontrolled Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) this week approved 15 projects, including a Chinese $2.5-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) power project, easily the biggest single investment since the new military takeover.

The MIC, headed by Lt General Moe Myint Tun, did not specify details of the mega project but IANS reliably learned from Myanmarese Planning Department sources that the LNG project approved on Friday is likely to be the Chinesebacked Mee Lin Gyaing power project in the country’s Irrawaddy Delta.

The nature and cost revealed by Lt Gen Tun’s office matches the Mee Lin Gyaing project first discussed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Myanmar in 2020.

An artist’s rendering of the Mee Lin Gyaing LNG project.

At that time, Beijing and the National League for Democracy (NLD) government ousted by the February 1 coup signed a letter of intent to speed up implementation of the project under the countries’ Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreement.

At the time of the coup, the Mee Lin Gyaing project was one of two LNG projects awaiting official approval. The other is worth $2 billion. The 1,390 MW

Mee Lin Gyaing project is to be developed jointly by Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group Co Ltd, the UREC, Zhefu Holding Group Co Ltd, and thee Supreme Group. The project is expected to be complete in 2023; 35 per cent of the power produced will be distributed to Ayeyarwady Region, with the rest going to Yangon via the national grid.

Myanmar’s Supreme

Sadiq Khan wins 2nd term as London Mayor

Sadiq Khan

LONDON, MAY 9 (IANS): Incumbent London Mayor Sadiq Khan has won a second term in office, beating his Conservative rival Shaun Bailey, following the local elections held last week, the media reported on Sunday.

“I will always be a Mayor for all Londoners, working to improve the lives of every single person in this city,” the BBC quoted the 51-year-old Labour Party

member, first elected as Mayor in 2016, was quoted as saying after the results were declared on Saturday night. “The results of the elections around the UK shows our country, and even our city, remains deeply divided. “The scars of Brexit have yet to heal. A crude culture war is pushing us further apart,” he added.

He won 55.2%of the popular vote, after entering

a run-off with Bailey when neither managed to secure a majority in the first round of voting, the BBC report said.

“Economic inequality is getting worse both within London and in different parts of our country. “As we seek to confront the enormity of the challenge ahead, and as we endeavour to rebuild from this pandemic, we must use this moment of national recovery to heal those damaging divisions,” Khan, also the first Muslim mayor of an European capital city, added.

Labour continues its dominance in the capital, remaining the largest party on the London Assembly. Labour took nine constituency seats, with the Conservatives winning the remaining five.

Group’s Deputy CEO U Htu Htu Aung told IANS that the joint venture company has been awaiting approval for the Mee Lin Gyaing project and is yet to be formally intimated .

However, the company has picked up information about the project clearance, Aung said. Asked about possible delays due to the aftershocks of the coup, Aung said: “It all depended on the foreign investor.” “As a local com-

pany, we will not say that. It would depend on the main foreign investors,” he said.

The MIC said 100 per cent power from these new approval LNG projects would be sold domestically, in pursuit of power selfreliance target set for 2030.

The MIC said that it has also approved new projects for livestock, manufacturing and other sectors, and increases in the capital of two existing projects.

The World Bank’s latest forecast reveals that Myanmar’s economy is on a nose dive projected to contract by 10 per cent this year due to the impact of the military takeover.

Recently, the United Nations Development Programme warned that all financial reports since the coup indicated Myanmar is approaching economic collapse.The number of new registered companies declined nearly 87 per cent following the coup compared to the same period last year.

CANBER RA, MAY 9 (IANS): Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday said that the country’s borders will remain closed indefinitely amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Morrison said in a media interview that there is no “appetite” among Australians to re-open the country’s borders to international travellers as Covid-19 continues to spread throughout the world, reports Xinhua news agency. “I don’t see an appetite for that at the moment,” he said. “I think what we’re seeing at the moment is the appreciation of the people that the pandemic isn’t going anywhere.

“All I know is once you let it (Covid-19) back in again, you cannot get it out. You’ve crossed that threshold,” the Prime Minister added.

The government had previously said that the borders will re-open once the adult population has been vaccinated against the virus.

Scott Morrison

However, Morrison said that he could not guarantee that would be the case. He said there was not yet “considerable clinical evidence that tells us transmission is preventable”. “I think Australians want to ensure that the way we’re living at the moment is maintained.”

As of Sunday morning, there had been 2.63 million vaccines administered in Australia, while the overall Covid-19 caseload and death toll stood at 29,906 and 910, respectively. The government initially planned to vaccinate the entire population by October but hopes

were dashed after the early stages of the rollout were plagued by supply issues.

In the meantime, Morrison said the government was continuing to work on how vaccinated people could be given greater freedoms.

“The next big step that can be taken is that Australians who are vaccinated, based on clear evidence that this prevents transmissibility, are able to travel and return to Australia without having to hotel quarantine, and ideally we only have to engage in some sort of home quarantine of a less restrictive nature,” he said.

German churches plan to bless same-sex couples

BERLIN, MAY 9 (IANS): Churches across Germany are planning services to bless same-sex couples this week, in defiance of a Vatican decree clarifying that such blessings are banned in the Catholic Church.

The Church of St Benedict in Munich is holding one of just four planned blessing Masses in the majority-Catholic state of Bavaria on Sunday, reports dpa news agency.

“It was not so easy to find a church,” said Renate Spannig, spokesperson for the reform initiative Maria 2.0, which is co-organising the service.

Maria 2.0 is a grassroots reform initiative, which among other things campaigns for greater roles

for women in the Catholic Church. The other three are set to take place in Wuerzburg.

Burkhard Hose, chaplain for the Catholic community of Wuerzburg Universities, began collecting signatures from people in the church shortly after the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration in March that the Catholic Church does not have the authority to bless homosexual couples.

By signing, the roughly 2,600 signatories declared their willingness to continue blessing same-sex couples.

Under the motto ‘liebege winnt’ (love wins), a number of events are now

Representational image

planned around the main day of action on Monday, one week before the International Day against Homophobia.

Blessings are expected to take place in many cities

and towns, including Munich, Wuerzburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Aachen and Berlin.

There is a clear focus on the north and west of the country.

Catholic priests in Germany have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Vatican ban and have said they want to bless all loving couples, whether gay or straight.

Lay members of the church have also expressed their opposition to the Vatican’s stance.

President of the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Georg Baetzing, criticized the action, saying it was not “a way forward”.

“Blessing ser vices have their own theological dignity and pastoral significance. They are not suitable as instruments for ecclesiastical political manifestations or protest actions,” he said.

Iranian FM urges US 44 killed in ‘bloody’ battles in Yemen’s Marib Toll from blasts near to help revive n-deal Kabul school reaches 50

T E H R A N, M AY 9 (IANS): Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged the US to help revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), adding that the crisis was started by Washington with its withdrawal from the deal three years ago.

“As we try to revive JCPOA in Vienna, it’s necessary to remember how it all started. Three years ago today, a disgraced buffoon violated U.S. obligations,” Zarif tweeted on Saturday referring to the withdrawal by the previous US government under Donald Trump. “Today, @POTUS

(President Joe Biden) has to decide whether the US continues lawlessness or adheres to law. Onus is on the US, not Iran,” Xinhua news agency quoted Zarif as further saying.

The US administration under former President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and unilaterally re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

In response, Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its JCPOA commitments from May 2019. The JCPOA Joint Commission began to meet in Vienna on April 6, aiming at getting the US to return to the deal, and Iran to resume full compliance with it.

SANAA, MAY 9 (IANS): At least 44 people were killed in “bloody” battles between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels in the oil-rich province of Marib, an official has confirmed.

“Houthi fighters carried out large-scale military operations from different directions against several sites of pro-government forces in western Marib,” the official told Xinhua news agency on Saturday. Pro-government local tribesmen also engaged in the armed confrontations with the Houthi attackers who used heavy weapons including artillery shelling, he added.

The battles resulted in the killing of 27 Houthi fighters and 17 pro-government soldiers, while dozens were injured, according to

Photo for representation only

the official. Warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition carried out a series of airstrikes and targeted military reinforcements of the Houthi group near Marib, the official noted.

Fighting has continued in various Yemeni provinces as regional and international

powers are still making efforts to end the long-lasting conflict and achieve permanent peace in the impoverished Arab country.

Ye m e n h a s b e e n mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iranbacked Houthi rebels seized control of several northern

provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni military conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi’s government.

KABUL, MAY 9 (IANS): The death toll from a car bombing near a school in Kabul followed by two mine blasts has increased to 50, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

At least 100 more people were wounded in the bombing that took place on Saturday near a school in Dasht-e-Barchi, a ShiaHazara-populated area of the Afghan capital, dpa news agency quoted Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian as saying.

Most of the victims were civilians, mainly students, who were leaving the school when the bombings took place.

The number of victims might still increase as

ambulances were transferring wounded and dead people until late Saturday night, Arian added.

The bombing targeting students was widely condemned domestically and internationally.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The Taliban were quick to reject their involvement in the attack.

However, the government has blamed the militant group.

President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack and instructed the health officials to provide the best possible medical treatment for the wounded.

Jerusalem clashes: 90 Palestinians injured China says its rocket debris landed in the Indian Ocean

Israeli security forces during a demonstration against the planned eviction process in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in Jerusalem, on May 8.

JERUSALEM, MAY 9 (IANS): Some 90 Palestinians were injured in the second night of the ongoing violent clashes with Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem, it was reported on Sunday. Sixteen of them were taken to hospital, Israeli radio reported, citing Palestinian medics.

An Israeli police spokesman said on Sunday morning that confrontations took place on Saturday night at the Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City, and around the holy

site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, reports dpa nws agency.

Several arrests were made, the spokesman added.

Near the Damascus Gate, Palestinian demonstrators threw stones, bottles and firecrackers at security forces, according to the police.

Police used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, media reports said.

On Saturday, more than 90,000 devout Muslims had gathered in the Noble Sanctuary, where al-Aqsa

Mosque is located, to pray on the last weekend before the fasting month of Ramadan ends. The situation around the Old City and the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood had already escalated the previous night. Afterwards, there was talk of more than 200 people being injured, and police spoke of almost 20 security forces who had been injured. The situation in the West Bank and in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem has been tense since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Many Palestinians are angry because Israeli police had cordoned off areas of the Old City to prevent gatherings. In addition, some Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah are facing eviction from their homes

by Israeli authorities, further heightening tensions. Police presence has been stepped up amid concerns about renewed violence on Israel’s Jerusalem Day, which begins on Sunday evening.

BEIJING, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): Debris from a large Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, which said most parts had burned up on reentry.

The uncontrolled nature of the rocket’s fall to Earth had left experts concerned about the potential impact it could have on inhabited areas. Earlier in the week, some space trackers had predicted that it could have landed as far north as New York.

The Chinese agency said early Sunday that the rocket, called the Long March 5B, had re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time, landing at a location with coordinates of longitude 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north. That would put the impact location in the Indian Ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago.

“The vast majority of the device burned up during

A Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe modul, blasts off from Wenchang in south China’s Hainan province, April 29.

the reentry, and the landing area of the debris is around a sea area with the center at 2.65 degrees north latitude and 72.47 degrees east longitude,” the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a statement on its website.

U.S. Space Command said in a statement that the Long March 5B had reentered over the Arabian Peninsula at approximately 10:15 p.m. ET on May 8.

“It is unknown if the debris impacted land or water,” it said. The rocket was

launched on April 29 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan province. It measured 98 feet long and 16.5 feet wide, and it weighed 21 metric tons.

Its mission was to carry into orbit a module containing living quarters for a future Chinese space station. But after completing that task, the body of the rocket circled Earth in an uncontrolled manner before reentering the lower atmosphere.

Chinese Foreign Min-

istry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference Friday that it was “common practice” across the world for the upper stages of rockets to burn up while reentering the atmosphere. “China is following closely the upper stage’s reentry into the atmosphere.

To my knowledge, the upper stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means that most of its parts will burn up upon reentry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low,” he said, according to a translation on the ministry’s website.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin bemoaned the negligence involved in the rocket’s fall to Earth and said Washington had no plans to shoot it down.

“I think this speaks to the fact that for those of us who operate in the space domain, that there is a requirement — there should be a requirement to — to operate in

a safe and thoughtful mode, and make sure that we take those kinds of things into consideration as we plan and conduct operations,” he told reporters.

In a statement shortly after the debris landed, NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson said it was clear that China “is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.”

“It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities,” he said.

Indeed, it is common for rockets and pieces of space junk to fall back to Earth and experts say that the chances of actually being hit are very small. According to Reuters, parts from the first Long March 5B fell onto the Ivory Coast in Africa last year, damaging several buildings but with no reported injuries.

8

sports

Man Utd comeback to beat Aston Villa 3-1

L O N D O N , M AY 9 (AGENCIES): Manchester United virtually guaranteed a Premier League top-four finish and ensured rivals Manchester City must wait to be crowned champions as they came from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park.

Having sealed their place in the Europa League final despite a 3-2 second-leg defeat by Roma on Thursday, second-half goals from Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and substitute Edinson Cavani ensured Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side require a single point from their remaining four games to secure a Champions League place. A win for Villa would have sealed the title for leaders City beaten 2-1 by Chelsea on Saturday - and Bertrand Traore’s emphatic finish into the top corner midway through the first half threatened to do just that.

Emiliano Martinez was equal to attempts from Greenwood and Marcus Rashford as United struggled to respond initially,

la forward Watkins also received a red card for a second booking for simulation when under pressure from goalkeeper Henderson.

United are 10 points

behind champions-elect City but will have the chance to move within four points as they face Leicester and Liverpool before the leaders next play.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur Monday, may 10, 2021

Sabalenka beats world No.1 Barty to win Madrid Open

City lose 2-1 to Chelsea, made to wait for Premier League crown

M

Bruno Fernandes has scored 27 goals for Manchester United in all competitions this season.

while Dean Henderson kept out Ollie Watkins’ strike to deny Villa a second before half-time.

United levelled shortly after the restart when Fernandes calmly slotted in a penalty after Douglas Luiz needlessly fouled Paul

Pogba, and Greenwood completed a four-minute turnaround when his low strike found the bottom corner.

A VAR check for handball against Greenwood was dismissed after Luiz headed the ball onto

the arm of the United forward and the visitors successfully resisted late Villa pressure despite the loss of captain Harry Maguire to injury before Cavani confirmed victory in the closing stages.

In a frantic finale, Vil-

anchester City will have to wait at least 24 hours before they are crowned Premier League champions for this season after they lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea on Saturday evening.

A win for Pep Guardiola’s men would have assured the title, but now they need Manchester United to lose away to Aston Villa on Sunday to confirm their crown after losing to their fellow Champions League finalists at the Etihad Stadium Xinhua reports.

Guardiola made plenty of changes to the side that beat Paris Saint Germain on Tuesday but saw his side take the lead through Raheem

Sterling on the stroke of halftime.

It should have been game over moments later when City was awarded a penalty, but Kun Aguero tried to score a chipped ‘Panenka’ style penalty only for Chelsea keeper Eduoard Mendy to stand tall and make an easy save.

Chelsea improved drastically after the break with Hakim Ziyech taking advantage of good work by Christian Pulisic to level with his left foot.

Marcos Alonso put down a marker for the Champions League final with a finish into the top corner of the net after excellent work from Timo Werner.

Aryna Sabalenka

M A D R I D, M A Y 9 (IANS): Aryna Sabalenka turned the tables on world No.1 Ashleigh Barty to win the Madrid Open title.

Sabalenka, one of the biggest hitters on tour, powered her way through the final in three games for a 6-0 3-6 6-4 triumph and a 10th career title on Saturday, DPA reports.

Two weeks ago, Barty came from a set down to defeat Sabalenka in the final of the WTA event in Stuttgart, and it looked as if history would repeat itself on Saturday when the Australian assumed the momentum going into the

deciding set here.

Barty had not lost a match on red clay for nearly two years since before she won her maiden grand slam title at Roland Garros in 2019.

She had no answer to the power of her 23year-old Belarusian opponent in the first set here, though, as Sabalenka produced the shots that have seen her tipped as a future slam champion for several years.

Sabalenka appears closer to that than ever now and she will hit a new career-high ranking of four on Monday.

Dominant Strempfl wins Spanish Grand Prix: Hamilton wins after late Verstappen overtake online shooting competition Martin Strempfl

NEW DELHI, MAY 9 (PTI): Martin Strempfl of Austria capped off his dominant run with a convincing 2-0 whitewash of Serbian Milenko Sebic to win the TOPGUN online shooting competition. The tournament, which concluded on Saturday night, was organised by former India shooter Shimon Sharif.

From the start of the 10-day event, Strempfl was in sublime form with his Steyr air rifle. He won the qualification match by a distance with a score of 636.6 (3.1 more than world record), and was hardly tested by Israel’s Shiri Strenberg and world no. 3 Lucas Kozeniesky of USA in the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively. The final was expected to be a close affair but the experienced Serbian failed to test the Austrian Olympic quota winner.

Milenko didn’t look in his best shape in the competition. Apart from par-

ticipating in the online meet, the Olympian took part in events in Croatia and Austria.

This saw Milenko drive long hours as he competed in various stages of this competition from three countries.

Though he shot from the comfort of his home in the final, fatigue prevented him from giving his best.

If this played to Strempfl’s advantage, what swung the final firmly in his way was the experience gained over the past few months in online competitions across platforms. The pressure of the ‘Race to 10’ is not for the faint hearted and for once even Strempfl succumbed to it towards the closing stages of the first match.

Rarely would a shooter at the top level score a point with a sub-10 score, but that’s what happened when Strempfl floundered with a 9.4 in response to Milenko’s 9.8. He went on to wrap it up with two high 10s to

make it 10-7.

Milenko lost, but it was in no way a surrender.

Like Strempfl, he too shot a sub-10 just once, but what made the difference was the intensity of his rival’s performance. Two perfect scores and six 10.8s are tough to reply to, and it was to Milenko’s credit that he fought back in the second match after Strempfl looked to be cruising with a 6-1 lead.

The World Cup Final silver medallist paused to have a word with wife and coach Alina, which led him to close the gap to 5-7.

‘She told me to keep fighting, that made me feel better but it wasn’t enough,’ said Milenko. ‘I arrived in Serbia from Austria at 2 AM and was tired, but it is not an excuse. It was a tough match,’ he added.

Despite the fatigue Milenko will be turning up for his country’s national trials in 3 position on Sunday.

Strempfl wrapped up the final in the next three shots to cap a performance that was in sync with his stature as one of the best in the business.

‘I could feel my heart beat during every shot and the pressure of a final was real. There were a few shaky shots but this has been very good preparation for the forthcoming European Championships,’ said Strempfl.

MADRID, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes produced a brilliant, attacking, strategic race to beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s third win in four races this season came despite losing the lead to Verstappen at the first corner. Mercedes put Hamilton on a two-stop strategy and the seven-time champion closed a 23-second deficit in 18 laps to pass the Red Bull with six laps to go.

Verstappen baled on his one-stop strategy after losing the lead and took second and the point for fastest lap as consolation.

Hamilton’s victory was the 98th of his career, after he set his 100th pole position on Saturday and it extends his championship lead to

14 points.

Verstappen put himself in control of the race with a brave pass on Hamilton at the first corner, braking late and throwing his Red Bull inside the Mercedes, forcing its driver to take evasive action to avoid contact. But the Dutchman was unable to shake Hamilton, who tracked him closely towards the first pit stops.

Mercedes were unable to pass Verstappen by stopping first because the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was just close enough to mean Hamilton would come out behind the Mexican if he stopped. The enabled Verstappen to make his stop first, and Mercedes decided to delay Hamilton’s stop by four laps to give him a tyre advantage.

Hamilton rejoined

L O N D O N, M AY 9 (AGENCIES): Chelsea retained their Women’s Super League title as Fran Kirby scored twice in their ruthless 5-0 victory over Reading.

Knowing a final-day win would crown them champions, Melanie Leupolz put the hosts ahead with a halfvolley from a low corner after just 68 seconds.

Kirby guided a second into the top corner and again linked up with Sam Kerr to power home after the interval. Golden boot winner Kerr volleyed past Grace Moloney from

Mexican boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (left) throughs a jab at British boxer Billy Joe Saunders during their super middleweight title fight in Texas, on May 8.

it became clear Saunders would not rise for the ninth.

He had married patience with ferocity in seeing off the seventh British opponent of his career to now hold three of the four world titles at super-middleweight. As an emotional Alvarez was left in the ring in front of a record indoor crowd for a boxing event in the US, foot-

age on the big screen inside Arlington’s AT&T Stadium showed a heartbroken Saunders visibly in pain on his walk back to his changing room. The 31-year-old was quickly taken to hospital with a suspected broken eye socket, an injury which has proven difficult to overcome for the likes of British fighter Kell Brook in recent years.

5.5secs behind the Red Bull but was on its tail within three laps. He stayed within a second of Verstappen for another nine laps, clearly faster but unable to pass on

this track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

Then, with 24 laps to go, Mercedes brought Hamilton in again for a new set of tyres, rejoining 22.4secs

behind.

F1’s computers predicted that Hamilton would catch Verstappen on the last lap, but he was soon lapping nearly two seconds faster than the Red Bull.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas cost Hamilton well over a second when the Briton caught him, despite the Finn being ordered by the team not to delay the other car.

But once past Bottas, Hamilton caught Verstappen on lap 60 of 66, immediately sweeping around the outside of Verstappen at Turn One to take a superb team victory after a drive from the top drawer.

It was the fourth race in succession this season in which the two title contenders have gone wheel to wheel.

Chelsea retains Women’s Super League title

Chelsea Women’s teammates

Kirby’s lofted pass and Erin Cuthbert bundled in a fifth.

Second-placed Manchester City won at West Ham to finish two points behind as runners-up, but needed Chelsea to slip up to have

Alvarez stops Saunders to unify Supper-middleweight titles TEXAS, MAY 9 (AGENCIES): Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez produced a devastating uppercut to leave a distraught Billy Joe Saunders unable to rise from his stool after eight rounds of their world title unification bout.

Just as Saunders looked to be gaining a footing, the Mexican found a shot which caused an instant swelling over the British fighter’s right eye. Saunders’ trainer called the bout off, with his fighter unable to see. “I think I broke his cheek,” said Alvarez. “The truth is I knew it.”

Alvarez, 30, added: “I guessed in the corner and told my trainer Eddie Reynoso ‘I broke his cheek’.”

Within seconds of landing the pin-point blow - made more forceful by the fact Saunders was crouching into the shot - Alvarez raised his hands in front of his rival, ruthlessly letting the 73,126 in attendance know that he had broken the resistance of a man now at his mercy.

The champion beat his chest defiantly when

Lewis Hamilton

Saunders - who was unbeaten in 30 fights - was down on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage but he had unquestionably posed a puzzle and - albeit briefly - threatened to turn the tide in the middle rounds.

Early on the Briton struggled to hold off the calculated pressure of Alvarez,

who threw with spite when up close while his rival could merely flick out shots in a bid to maintain distance.

But through rounds six and seven Saunders landed more and his confidence peaked with every minute that Alvarez failed to pin him in.

Some 59 fights - and only one defeat - have however given the Mexican an assurance few ever enjoy between the ropes. When his moment came, he countered a Saunders attack with a decisive right uppercut and mercilessly followed it with an attack of head and body punches until the bell sounded.

Now the owner of the WBA, WBC and WBO world titles in the super-middleweight division, Alvarez wants to fight American Caleb Plant for the IBF title in a bid to become the only Mexican in history to hold all four belts at 168lbs.

Few would bet against him doing it and continuing a remarkable career he has said may go on for another seven years.

a chance of snatching top spot. The Blues held off the challenge of Manchester City, who finished second in the standings two points behind, while Arsenal secured third. It is the fourth

time that Chelsea have won the Women’s Super League, having previously picked up the titles in 2015 as well as 2017-18 and 2019-20. This tally takes them ahead of Arsenal’s previous tally of three.

The Super League’s key issues There was also the relegation issue to be decided on the final day of the season.

Bristol City came into the final day bottom of the table and in need of a victory to secure survival. The basement side, though, suffered a 3-1 loss away to Brighton

and Hove Albion to finish the campaign with just 12 points and a goal difference of -54. As such, they will go down to the Championship. Chelsea’s campaign got off to a low-key start as they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Manchester United, but they soon showed their quality by running out 9-0 winners over Bristol. It was that thumping success at Kingsmeadow that set the tone for the remainder of their campaign, which has seen them drop only nine points over the course of the 22-match season.

Bayern win record-extending 9th straight Bundesliga title

BERLIN, MAY 8 (IANS): Bayern Munich were confirmed as German champions for the 31st time on Saturday and extended their record run of consecutive Bundesliga titles to nine after RB Leipzig lost 3-2 at Borussia Dortmund.

Bayer n, who host Borussia Moenchengladbach later, top the table by seven points from secondplaced Leipzig with only two games left for Leipzig, reports DPA. Bayern coach Hansi Flick, leaving at the end of the campaign after winning seven trophies, said, “Of course we have celebrated a little. It has been great to coach this team for two seasons. We have a team with enormous quality.”

Jadon Sancho scored twice, including a late winner which not only sealed the title for rivals Bayern but also boosted Dortmund’s Champions League hopes as they moved up to fourth - two points ahead

Bayern Munich players celebrate after the match after winning the Bundesliga. (Reuters)

of Eintracht Frankfurt who host Mainz on Sunday.

Third-placed Wolfsburg look well set to achieve their European dream after a 3-0 win over Union Berlin. Werder Bremen, who had lost seven straight in the league, drew 0-0 with sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim beat relegated Schalke 4-2 having been 2-0 down.

A well-worked move put Dortmund ahead early with Thorgan Hazard’s flick releasing Marco Reus who finished with aplomb.

Dortmund, without the injured Erling Haaland,

thought they should have had a penalty for Kevin Kampl’s handball just before the break but appeals were waved away.

Sancho then made it 2-0 early in the second period when he fired home amid lax Leipzig defending.

Lukas Klostermann headed in a corner to reduce the deficit and out of nowhere it was suddenly 2-2 on 77 minutes through Leipzig’s Dani Olmo.

But Sancho was on fire and won it for Dortmund after another superb move on 87 minutes.

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