Sept 4, 2017

Page 1

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXVII No. 270

DIMAPUR, monday, september 4, 2017 Pages 12 ` 4.00

Russia accuses US of illegally seizing its diplomatic properties

India complete 5-0 clean sweep of SL

Not asked on demonetisation during my tenure, says Rajan

international, Page 9

sports, Page 12

business, Page 8

PM promotes 4, inducts 9 new faces NEW DELHI, SEP 3 (Agencies): Nirmala Sitharaman was on Sunday promoted and appointed as India’s Defence Minister in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who elevated three others to the cabinet and brought in nine new faces including four former bureaucrats in a reshuffle-cum-expansion of his ministry based on performance. Sitharaman became the second woman to head the Defence Ministry after Indira Gandhi when she was Prime Minister. Power Minister Piyush Goyal, also promoted from Minister of State with independent charge to the Cabinet, got the railways portfolio, from which Suresh Prabhu was shifted to Commerce and Industry that was with Sitharaman. Prabhu had offered to quit after a major rail accident in Uttar Pradesh claimed 23 lives last month. The promoted ministers and the new faces were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a 35-minute ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, attended among others by new Vice President M. Venkaiah

Charges against me fabricated, says Ibobi Singh IMPHAL, SEP 3 (IANS): Former Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Sunday termed the charges against him of misappropriating funds as “fabricated”. Ibobi, who is in Delhi, told IANS over the phone that the charges against him are fabricated and on returning to Imphal on Monday, he will speak on the issue after studying the matter. A probe into the financial “scams” in the Manipur Development Society to the tune of Rs 185 crore was one of the pre-election pledges by the BJP in Manipur and FIRs were lodged on Friday against Ibobi, three former chief secretaries and two officials. The Congress termed the registration of an FIR against Ibobi Singh and others a “political vendetta”. “It is very regrettable that the name of the former Chief Minister is thus tarnished. It smacks of a political vendetta,” party lawmaker N. Loken said on Sunday, but added that in course of the investigation, the whole truth shall be unearthed. He contended that the BJP-led government which assumed power on March 15 has not done anything for the welfare of the people except rename the schemes started by the Congress government.

This is it!

“If I’ve commited crime by transporting alcohol,then I have done it to obey VVIPs who asked for them.” K Y M C

President RN Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pose with new members of cabinet at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI)

Naidu, Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and family members of the some new ministers. In all, six ministers resigned ahead of the reshuffle: Kalraj Mishra (Cabinet), Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bandaru Dattatreya (MoS I/c), Faggan Singh Kalaste, Sanjeev Balyan and MN Pandey. Of the other two ministers promoted were Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who also got Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also joined the Cabinet, retaining

the Minority Affairs Ministry. Among the four bureaucrats inducted into the government, three have been made Ministers of State with independent charge: former Home Secretary R.K. Singh, a Lok Sabha member from Bihar, got Power and New and Renewable Energy portfolios held by Goyal while former diplomat Hardeep Puri secured Housing and Urban Affairs. “Demolition Man” K.J. Alphons has been made MOS with independent charge in Tourism and Electronics and IT ministries. Puri and Alphons are not MPs and will have to get elected to Parliament in six

months. Alphons is the second BJP man from Kerala to get a place in the union ministry after party veteran O. Rajagopal who served under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Former Mumabi Police chief Satya Pal Singh got Human Resource Development, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation as Minister of State -- held by Balyan. Both are from western Uttar Pradesh. The other five new Ministers of State are Shiv Pratap Shukla, Ashwini Choubey, Virendra Kumar, Anantkumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. (Ministers list on p-5)

Manipur govt seeks Centre’s help to settle border dispute with Nagaland Correspondent/Agencies

IMPHAL, SEP 3: Manipur government has written to the Centre seeking its help to resolve the protracted inter-state border dispute between Manipur and Nagaland with direct involvement of Survey of India. The border dispute between Tungjoy village of Senapati district, Manipur and Kezhakeno village of Phek district, Nagaland has been ongoing for decades. Highlighting the need for a proper boundary demarcation in order to resolve the border dispute, Manipur’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Dr. J. Suresh Babu in a letter to the MHA Joint Secretary (NE in-charge) Satyendra Garg on August 22 pointed out the need for a proper boundary demarcation between the neighbouring villages and erection of boundary pillars. According to Sangai Express, Dr. Babu also wrote a letter to his Nagaland counterpart a few days back with a proposal to make joint

efforts to resolve the border dispute, which had reportedly started sometime in the early 19th century and it remains unsettled till date. Taking serious note of the tense stand-off that broke out between Tungjoy and Kezhakeno in 2012, the two neighbouring States talked at the level of Chief Secretary and concerned Deputy Commissioners so as to avert such conflicts. Both the Government of Manipur and Nagaland Government directed the two neighbouring villages to maintain status quo until the border dispute was settled and also not to take up any development programme within the disputed area. The border dispute between at Tungjoy and Kezhakeno is not the only dispute that exists along the Manipur-Nagaland border. A dispute over traditional land ownership of Dzukuo valley, dispute between Manipur and Nagaland over Jessami in Ukhrul district is yet to be resolved.

Reshuffle reflects maximum govt, no governance: Cong

post of parliamentary secretaries was unconstitutional. It may be noted that the NTC had initially submitted a representation to Nagaland Governor, P.B. Acharya through the chief secretary on August 19, demanding the removal of the “unconstitutional” posts. NTC later issued a seven-day ultimatum on the Governor seeking immediate action. However, after Governor failed to respond positively to the demand, NTC went ahead and filed a PIL in the High Court. The matter was heard August 31 but the court posted the matter to September 11, 2017 for further order and hearing. Talking to Nagaland Post, NTC’s information and press secretary, Theja Therieh on Sunday said they had no choice but to seek legal redressal since the Governor chose to ignore their petition. He said it was best to allow the law to decide rather than volleying heated words through media. Therieh also said that the chief secretary was bound by duty to appraise the Governor of the matter since the NTC representa-

tion had been submitted through him. He also said that Naga MLAs should emulate the example of Mizo MLAs who resigned on August 30, 2017 by taking a moral stand in lieu of the Supreme Court order even if the Mizoram High Court had not given any ruling. When such unconstitutional posts were instituted, Therieh said executive cannot be expected to function and for which public was made to suffer. Besides, NTC, the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee had also submitted a representation to the Governor in the last week of July demanding the removal of parliamentary secretaries and advisors. Nagaland Voluntary Consumer’s Organization on August 24 also urged upon the governor to remove the unconstitutional posts. E a r l i e r, G ove r n o r Acharya had told The New Indian Express (TNIE) that he would act on the SC judgment only if he received any grievance, in writing, from an organisation, individual etc. He said he would do, whatever was possible constitutionally, if approached.

NSCN (K) yet to decide on peace talks

Musharraf to face trial in Bhutto murder case

NEW DELHI, SEP 3 (IANS): Claiming that PM Narendra Modi does not trust his political colleagues, the Congress on Sunday said the cabinet reshuffle “reflects maximum government and no governance” and, by dropping ministers, the government has admitted its “gigantic failure”. Terming induction of new nine Ministers of State as “senior citizen’s club”, party spokesperson Manish Tewari said the average age of these ministers is 60.44 years when the “median age of India’s 1.24 billion people is about 27 years and the Prime Minister has been waxing eloquent about the youth of this country”. He also claimed that Modi seemed “strangely disconnected from the exercise”. “It seemed as if BJP President Amit Shah is the Prime Minister and not Modi. Never ever has the absence of the Prime Minister in a cabinet reshuffle process been more evident,” he said, adding that the real story is in the dropping and that is where the admission of the gigantic failure of this government comes.

Gov, CM extend Onam greetings DIMAPUR, SEP 3 (NPN): Nagaland Governor, P.B. Acharya has extended greetings to the people of Nagaland particularly the Malayalee community living in the state, on the auspicious occasion of Onam. Nagaland Governor in his message said that Onam, the thanksgiving festival of the harvest season is celebrated with traditional gaiety and enthusiasm. “The mood of rejoicing is vividly captured in the rituals and festivities associated with the festival, transcending all barriers and uniting all in a common brotherhood”, Acharya added. The Governor further hoped that the festival will usher in the true spirit of unity, harmony and prosperity in the soci(Cont’d on p-7) ety.

NTC’s PIL on unconstitutional posts hang in mid-air; GHC to take call on Sept 11 Correspondent

KOHIMA, SEP 3 (NPN): All 26 parliamentary secretaries and nine advisors of Nagaland have another big battle ahead in the court as their fates hang in balance at the Gauhati High Court Kohima bench, which is going to hear the PIL filed by the Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) on September 11 against their appointments. NTC had petitioned the Governor to remove all of them within seven days of receiving their submission, in the light of the July 26, 2017 landmark Supreme Court judgment in the PIL against appointment of parliamentary secretaries in Assam. The SC had ruled that states have no power to enact any law for appointment of parliamentary secretary and deemed that-- “The government of Assam had made the appointments through enactment of the Assam Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004” as unconstitutional. Accordingly, the Sikkim High Court on August 25 had also declared that the

NEW DELHI, SEP 3 (AGENCIES): While it is being increasingly felt that any agreement between Government of India and NSCN (I-M) would not have substantial bearing in ending Naga insurgency, the Khaplang faction (NSCN-K) is yet to take a call on joining the peace process, The Asian Age report stated. A top Myanmar-based functionary of the banned NSCN-K on being contacted by The Asian Age said on condition of anonymity: “We do receive calls from several sections asking to return to peace saying with our involvement in the process no final settlement can be possible, we have however not taken any decision so far.” A cross-section of Naga social activists that The Asian Age spoke to also viewed the NSCN (K)’s involvement as well as that of the other factions as very important for a final solution to one of the world’s longest running insurgencies. Many Naga civic organisations like the Naga Mothers’ Association, Naga Hoho and the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation have been trying to get the NSCN (K) in-

volved in the talks process. Nagaland chief minister T.R. Zeliang, too, had requested that all “stakeholders” be taken into account before signing of the final agreement. Since 1999, the NSCN (I-M) and the government have been deliberating on a set of 33 demands which include demands like a separate official flag, a separate constitution, dual citizenship and a physical integration of all Naga-inhabited areas in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, the report stated. While a separate constitution has been ruled out and the last demand is understood to have been put in the “backburner for now,” the framework for the agreement includes a concept of “shared sovereignty” and special constitutional privileges to safeguard the traditional rights of Nagas with due recognition of the uniqueness of their history. The Naga insurgency movement — with independence as the main demand-- is more than six decades old. Government figures say about 3,000 have died in the conflict till now, unofficial figures put the number at about 50,000.

I S L A M A BA D, S E P 3 (IANS): Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday denied any involvement in the murder of former PM Benazir Bhutto but asserted that he will face trial in the case after he returns to the country. “I have been framed in the Benazir Bhutto murder case by way of political victimisation, while I had nothing to do with her untimely and tragic death,” Pervez Musharraf said in a statement that was cited by Xinhua news agency. An anti-terrorism court last week declared Musharraf as fugitive when it delivered the long-awaited judgement in the case. The court acquitted five suspects and jailed two senior police officers for 17 years each for negligence and removing evidence from the crime scene.

Novel cell death technique may be better than chemo Telecom Commission to decide on North East mobile towers project

LO N D O N, S E P 3 (AGENCIES): Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy are typically used to treat cancer, but they do not work for all patients with the disease. In a new study, scientists have discovered a cancer-killing technique that might be more effective than conventional cancer therapies. Researchers reveal how a process called caspase-independent cell death (CICD) frequently led to the complete eradication of colorectal cancer cells, which is not often the case with current cancer treatments. Study co-author Dr. Stephen Tait, of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the journal Nature Cell Biology. Cancer remains one

of the biggest health burdens of our time. Last year, more than 1.6 million new cases were diagnosed in the United States alone, and almost 600,000 people died from the disease. Dr. Tait and team explain that the majority of current cancer therapies work by inducing apoptosis. Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death, or cell suicide, that helps to rid the body of abnormal or unnecessary cells by activating proteins called caspases. In cancer cells, however, apoptosis is often inactive. Reactivating apoptosis in cancer cells - through chemotherapy or immunotherapy, for example - is one way of killing them. But this is not always effective. Research has shown that cancer cells are sometimes able to evade treatment-induced apoptosis,

and some studies have suggested that apoptosis may even promote cancer growth. CICD, however, takes cancer killing one step further, and Dr. Tait and team suggest that it may be a more effective way to treat cancer than current therapies. In their study, the researchers explain that CICD kills cancer cells through a process called mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP), but it does so without releasing caspases, which are the proteins that are normally released through apoptosis. “Cells typically die following MOMP even in the absence of caspase activity,” the team explains. “This defines MOMP as a point of no return that commits a cell to die.” Importantly, when cancer cells die as a result

of CICD, they send signals to the immune system, prompting it to attack and destroy the cancer cells that managed to escape CICD. When Dr. Tait and team tested this technique on colorectal tumors grown in the laboratory, they found that it managed to kill almost all cancer cells. While further studies are needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of CICD, the researchers believe that it could lead to better treatments for a number of cancers. “In essence, this mechanism has the potential to dramatically improve the effectiveness of anti-cancer therapy and reduce unwanted toxicity,” said Dr. Stephen Tait “Taking into consideration our findings, we propose that engaging CICD as a means of anti-cancer therapy warrants further investigation,” he adds.

NEW DELHI, SEP 3 (PTI): The inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission is likely to consider this week a proposal for setting up mobile towers in unconnected villages of the North East, as per official sources. “Telecom connectivity plan for improving connectivity in the North East will be placed before Telecom Commission on September 8,” a government official, who did not wish to be named, told. The mobile towers will be installed under the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER) which was approved by the Cabinet in September 2014. Under the plan, 8,621 villages out of 9,190 unconnected villages are to

be covered by installation of 6,673 mobile towers with total outlay of Rs 5,336.18 crore. The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which is handling the project, is likely to submit bid proposal for installing around 4,000 out of the 6,673 mobile towers. The state-run BSNL has been entrusted with task of installing network in tough terrain of Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam -- Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao. The state-run telecom firm has submitted bid received from Vihaan Networks Limited and HFCL for installing around 2,000 towers for Rs 1,648 crore. These two domestic telecom equipment firms had rolled out mobile net-

work project for BSNL in Left wing extremist areas across nine states. Rest of the project was to be rolled out with help of private telecom operators. After no show by private telecom players for the tender, the USOF finally received a bid from Bharti Airtel this year. Airtel has placed a bid for installing around 2,000 mobile towers for around Rs 1,660 crore. According to sources, the USOF has deferred plan to roll out mobile towers in Meghalaya for time being and will work on the project through separate tenders. The Telecom Commission has to take call on the price difference between the two bids and validity of single bid received from Bharti Airtel. K Y M C


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.