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ASSENG/2015/64205

PAGE 12

Vol. 1

Issue 310

Dibrugarh, Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Price -

5.00

PAGE 11

Pages- 12

Chief Minister Kalikho Pul stresses Parallel IPL match on equal preference for all districts played at Jorhat too…

In his first visit to native Anjaw district as head of the government, Chief Minister Kalikho Pul reminded his constituents that his service to the people has moved beyond the district.

“I stand here not as Chief Minister of Anjaw district or any community, but I stand for entire people of Arunachal Pradesh,” he said while addressing a public gathering here today.

Saying that “people of Anjaw should not expect special preference”, he stressed that there would be no discrimination to any constituencies, and all development issues would be addressed on the basis of merit The CM, however, pointed that development need of Anjaw district would be taken care as usual and expressed optimism that in days to come it would

ET CAPSULES

Major fire at Baragolai Margherita, Apr 18: A major fire broke out at Baragolai Chariali under Margherita Police Station where Two Maruti Van were completely gutted where a Garage was partially got gutted.The incident occurred on Sunday Midnight. The garage belongs to Pradip Bora and the two Maruti Van were kept for repairing. Fire Tender came but could not save the Two Maruti Van which got totally gutted. Pradip Bora who owns the garage suspect that miscreants have allegedly burnt the Two Maruti Van and Garage so that they can rob the garage. More than Six lakhs amount of property were totally gutted. Pradip Bora has lodged an FIR at Margherita Police Station where further investigation is going on. (Correspondent)

Prof meets with accident Dibrugarh, Apr 18: Rajib Rudra Tariang, associate professor at Digboi College and a renowned wildlife expert met with an accident at Bhadoi Panchali in Duliajan early this morning. He bore seriously injures and has been admitted at a hospital in Dibrugarh after receiving initial treatment at OIL Hospital, Duliajan. According to sources, Tariang was going to Digboi College to take class from Dibrugarh on his Mahindra Bolero car and near Bhadoi panchali he met with an accident when he tried to save a street dog.

Rajib Rudra Tariang is an avid nature lover and working tersely for the conservation of nature. His well wisher wishes for his speedy recovery. (Staff Reporter)

emerge as ‘model district’.

For that to achieve, the CM urged the people to cooperate with the government officials and to work together. He informed that all ministries and department officials have been given independent powers and asked the people to liaise accordingly on any development issues.

The CM also urged the people to take benefit of the centre’s special preference for the state informing that central government is today keen on development of all north eastern states.

He said his recent two-day visit to New Delhi had been fruitful where he met eleven ministries including the Prime Minister himself. This was unlike earlier times when Arunachal political representatives couldn’t garner much importance from the centre, said the CM. He informed that PM has made it compulsory for all

In a press conference held at Arunachal Press Club, the Anti Corruption and Crime Control Committee of Arunachal Pradesh (ACCCCAP) while alleging of police atrocities and brutalities allegedly committed

by Sub-Inspector P Nobin Jomoh of Nirjuli Police Station, demanded for his suspension by the concerned authorities within a week’s time.

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Claiming that the victims Tana Rasso Tara and Tana Tado, both law students, were wrongly implicated and thereafter brutality assaulted by SI Jomoh and later put behind bars without any proper investigation and understanding of the case on April 9 last,

union ministers with their officials to visit north eastern states once in a month, which shows their high level of commitment for development towards the region.

The CM informed that special attention is being given to education, health, road networks, water and power supply, he informed. On education

and health sector, there would be no special preference for any district and every district will have uniform infrastructure and manpower facilities, he said.

Hailing people as being supreme in a democracy, he said he was ready to undermine individual interests over government’s decision that

Chief Minister assures to provide 16-slide CT scanner for Pasighat general hospital their services couldn’t be availed because of lack of such state-of-the-art equipments in our hospitals.

ET Bureau Pasighat, Apr 18

To improve access to health care services closer to home, Chief Minister Kalikho Pul has asked for immediate procurement of 16-slide CT scanner for Pasighat General Hospital in a meeting held here today with the district health authority.

The cost of machine estimated at Rs 1.70 crore would be procured in 3-month time, which would help doctors to investigate many types of diseases that will enable them to establish diagnosis,” informed the chief minister.

The CM hoped that the state-of-the-art equipment would offer scans to patients not only from Pasighat but even cater to people from neighbouring districts of West Siang, Upper Siang, Lower

For operation of the CT scan, the CM assured to provide one radiologist, one CT technician with degree in Bachelor in Radio Imagining Technology (BRIT) and two radiographers trained in CT scan operation, according to the requirement specified by the health authority.

Dibang Valley and Dibang Valley, providing subsidized health care to the needy.

availability of a CT scan would be helpful especially to emergency patients and those in critical state.”

“Earlier, patients had to be referred outside the state for CT scan, which becomes a costly affair for them with travel, lodging and food expenses involved. In emergency cases, patients have to be airlifted in chopper. The local

Also the availability of such services could open up employment opportunities for local doctors and hone their skills, said the CM. He observed that the state has many local medical professionals but

On infrastructure support, he assured to provide funds for the main machine room, a console room and a doctor’s room with all air condition facility.

Every week, the hospital receives about 10-15 patients requiring the service of CT scan and the numbers could go high if people were to come from the neighbouring districts, informed the health authority.

AACWA demands revocation of notification A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Apr 18

Addressing the media persons at Press Club, All Arunachal Contractor’s Welfare Association (AACWA) demanded on the state government to revoke the standing notification of Finance Commissioner to not entertain clearance of cheque either in treasury or bank which was issued prior to April 1 last.

Maintaining that the

ACCCCAP alleges police atrocity A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Apr 18

Chief Minister Kalikho Pul being felicitated by DC, Anjaw

served the interest of larger number of people.

Saying that all public representatives and government officials are meant to serve the people, he advised that no time be fixed as ‘visiting hours’ as seen practiced in several offices. He urged that people be given enough time to put down their grievances and no restrictions be forced upon them.

On meeting the power shortages in all administrative centres, the CM said the Anjaw model of micro hydel development would be implemented in the state soon. He said eleven micro hydels developed in the district is today supplying uninterrupted power supply in all major administrative centres and villages.

Also he revealed that the concept of ‘mini-secretariat’ – the Anjaw model of deputy commissioner’s office that also houses offices of all the departments is now being implemented in rest of the districts.

ACCCCAP maintained that the failure to initiate any actions against the SI would invite public agitation against the concern authorities.

Highlighting on the sequence of events that led to the duos arrest, Tana Parbati while refuting the earlier press statements of SI Jomoh of acting as per the FIR filed by Parbati, asserted that she has not mentioned the names of Tana Rasso Tara and Tana Tado in her complaints to the police. Adding that “SI P Nobin Jomoh has given baseless press statements,” Parbati went on to inform that both Rasso and Tado had done no offence whatsoever and therefore, the police against them are wrong.

Contd. on Page 4

cheques issued by various department of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and allocation under various work head issued to contractors are not being entertained by the banks and treasury, AACWA President, Takam Padu said that due to the commissioner Finance’s notification, the genuine contractors are facing lots of hardship.

Also, reiterating the claims of his president, AACWA General Secretary Nabam Akin

Hina while highlighting on the plights of the employees of SSA and RAMSA among others, appealed on the state government to transfer the funds directly to their various respective directorates or society and not hold up the salaries sanctioned by the central government in the state exchequer.

Meanwhile, the AACWA team while demanding on the state government to take note of its plea within a week’s time,

warned of embarking on a democratic movement if the state government fails to meet their demand within the given time period.

It is to be noted that the Commissioner Finance has on April 6 last, notified all treasury officers and branch managers of State Bank of India to not entertain clearance of cheques either in treasury or bank issued prior to April 1 last owing to ‘declining cash balance.’

Bijoy Handique Jorhat, Apr 18

After Indian Premier League match between Rising Pune Super Giant and Kings XI Punjab, another parallel match was played between life- taking vs life-saving IPL match at Lichubari under Jorhat district on Sunday night last.

As it was after Maxwell who help the team Romp home in 18.4 over, which was their first match in their third encounter as Pune Super Giant lost.

Following Pune’s lost, a fight started between two groups at Lichubari colony carrying sharp weapons, axe which was about to be a in-

nings for the team called lifetaking while other group innings was for life-saving. As life-taking team was cheated to pay the amount which they have fixed (betted) by life-saving team to the tune of Rupees 10,000 which was meant to enjoy with drinks and roasted tonduries .

The incidents started after several calls from the life-taking team to the life-saving team to hand over the fixed amount as they have lost the bet. As life-saving team turned their deaf ear to their request section of its member grew wild and situation turned worst between the young boys from Lichubari New Colony and from

Lichubari Old Colony.

But it was after quick intervention of police patrol team when the matches was declared abandon by the police, informed Nirmal Das-the VDPI/ C of Lichubari.

It may be mentioned that during such IPL matches it has become a trend for a sections of youth to bet each other who will win or who will lose and the issue had become a matter of serious concern specially in Lichubari colony where so far one Sibu Das committed suicide while dozens of youths lost property which has turn a game of gambling during the hour of ILP matches for this innocent emotional out smart youths of Jorhat.

High alert sounded

by Met office A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Apr 18

The Indian Meteorology department has issued a red alert to the Assam and the

Meghalaya government of massive rainfall, hailstorm and has asked the districts administrations of all the districts to be prepared for any situation which might occur.

The red alert which has been

issued from the office of the IMD based at Shillong, has further warned that the situation is likely to remain till coming Friday, and till then has requested the district administrations to be on high alert.

Oxford qualified student seeks govt assistance for pursuing the course Maksam Tayeng Pasighat, Apr 18

In what could be a matter of great pride for whole of the state, one Miss Zilpha Modi a resident of Napit Village, here at Pasighat presently teaching Tribal Studies at Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh as Asst.

Prof. has qualified for admission in University of Oxford, United Kingdom this year. She has secured admission in Graduate Studies Programme in the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography.

But even after qualifying for admission in one of the Word’s most reputed university, Miss Modi is helpless in joining the university as there involves lots of monetary requirement to pursue the course. And hence, she has written to Chief Minister Kalikho Pul for grant of financial aids as scholarship which would helped her completing the course and the knowledge and expertise she gain would help her in further giving and imparting world class education back home at Arunachal and her institute, Rajiv Gandhi University. “My presence at Oxford can also be treated as the representation of Tribals of Arunachal (a very marginalized section of the Indian society) in the world academic stage”, said Modi who

Miss Zilpha Modi is anxiously looking forward for government’s help as CM Pul has also assured for the help while congratulating her some days ago. Now her application file is said to be pending at the table of education minister and her fate to join the prestigious university lies on the hand of the government.

The other state like Sikkim has their streamlined Chief Minister Merit Scholarship Scheme to help such meritorious student and back here in Arunachal Pradesh too the similar scheme could be implemented so that students like Modi could be funded in near days. Meanwhile, the apex and

appellate body of Adis, the Adi Baane Kebang led by its President Kangir Jamoh who accompanied her while approaching the Chief Minister has also strongly pleaded Chief Minister Pul to help the student at any manner as Miss Modi could be an inspiration for other students of the state.

Born on 7th May 1988, she did her graduation on Political Science (Hons), Dept of International Relations from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and MA in Sociology, Department of Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, , Delhi University during 2009 and 2011 respectively.

The saga of struggle and triumph of a courageous woman Tapas Samaddar Rangia April 18

Sangita Das was born to an Akhomi couple residents of village Rangmahal on 10 Jan 1986 in an agrarian environment. She schooled up to std VIII in Balika High School, Gachbari. On 12 Mar 2000 she was married to Sepoy Pradip Das. A daughter Dinisha was born out of this wedlock. Pradip Das was serving with 5 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion (JAT) in the J&K valley on secondment from Army Service Corps(ASC). In 2001, he arrived on 45 days Balance of Annual Leave and spent time with his wife & child and left to return back to his unit on 30 May 2001, where he never reached. Thereafter the whereabouts of the soldier are not known till date.

Sangita Das was intimated by his unit of his non reporting back post expiry of leave. On three occasions the unit sent representatives who went back post meeting her. After demise of her father, financial condition of her family weakened compelling her to work as a house maid in Guwahati.

Thereafter she continued working in a noodle making plant at Nine Mile for a paltry sum of Rs 3000/- staying in a cramped one room shanty for a Rs 500/- monthly rental.

Wandering from pillar to post with documents received from 5 RR(JAT) declaring her husband as a ‘deserter’ she received no assistance from anybody. Finally taking the help of her relatives she approached Armed Forces Tribunal, Guwahati Bench in 2004 for seeking justice and help to get

Sangita Das ‘Family Pension’ as authorized to her. In 2013 the AFT ruled in her favour yet no benefits were passed to her. Feeling totally aggrieved and frustrated she sought to highlight her struggle and case to Veterans

Cell, HQ 51 Sub Area during the Ex Seviceman Rally at Narangi on 09 Dec 2015.

Veterans Cell on the explicit orders of Maj Gen AK Jha, GOC 51 Sub Area swung

into immediate action. 5 RR was intimated who after 15 years republished orders amending Pradip’s status from ‘Deserter’ to ‘Missing’. The Cell then coordinated with ASC Records(South) to process her documents which are facilitated by the Cell through Zonal Sainik Welfare Office Kamrup & Amingaon. After herculean coordination efforts by the Cell, ASC Records and Pay Account Office (Other Ranks) ASC (MT) pushed the case and her documents were sent to PCDA(Pension) Allahabad who finally issued her the necessary Pension Payment Order(PPO) on 21 Mar 16. Her 15 years struggle was taken over and processed in merely 90 days time. Not only this,Sangita Das has been given a job by the HQ 51 Sub Area and her daughter Dinisha has been admitted to Army

Public School Narangi Cantt, with all the expenditure of School fees, uniform and books being borne by HQ 51 Sub Area.

It is pertinent to mention that the Veterans Cell of 51 Sub Area under the able guidance of Maj Gen AK Jha, GOC 51 Sub Area Narangi Cantt Guwahati, with Col Zahl Tantra as the Coordinating Officer is making all efforts, inline with the policy of the Indian Army to reach out to the ex-serviceman, widows and their dependents to resolve such issues and make life better for them with a sense of dignity and pride. In this regards the Veterans Cell of 51 Sub Area has established a 24X7 helpline with mobile number 7086070860, on which a missed call can be given for any such assistance.

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A Staff Reporter Hawai, Apr 18

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

PAGE 2 ASTRO FOR YOU Aries Good news may bring cheer to you today! A job, a wedding, some profit… it could be personal or professional. Giving your best is almost a habit with you and it will pay off today.

Taurus There is, at best, only an outside chance that any stimulating event or thrilling escapade will occur today. In short, the day may be boring. Fret not as the dreary day may change into an exhilarating evening.

Gemini A long and hectic day awaits you. You will be in the mood to finish off long-pending projects at work or at home. There is a chance that your personal life may get affected due to the extra attention you pay towards work.

Cancer You will not only make plans, but will also act on them. So you can save money, time and energy for creative pursuits. The quality of your work and accomplishments will be high.

Your creativity plays a key role in your accomplishments in career or business.

Leo You will need to work hard to achieve your goals today. Those who are serious about their work will be easily able to tide over the day. You need to be cautious today. Not only at work, but even in personal relationships, you need to be on guard.

Virgo Domestic responsibilities will rule the roost today. Subordinates will offer the best of their support to you. But remember that the value of what you seek will exact the maximum efforts on your part. Be wary of people.

Libra Some things on the personal front may undergo a turning point today. Now is the time for change. Changes are good and maybe even needed, although you may not see it that way at the moment. Expect monetary gains that will help you go a long way in life (a handsome bequest perhaps!). Think with your heart, and attach importance to relationships. Spending quality time with your near and dear ones is a very good habit.

Scorpio Small problems and tiny things will keep you on your feet as you tackle them with tact and precision. On the family front, you will enjoy marital bliss as you communicate on a spiritual level with your partner. You may end up planning a romantic vacation for the near future. On the whole, it will be an animated and lively day.

Sagittarius Trouble is brewing, and there is a strong possibility of you being caught up in it real bad.

But as things progress, you will become high-spirited and noble-minded. Later in the day, a cozy time spent with friends and family will bring much peace and calm.

Capricorn Many a time, we emulate others or get inspired by certain thought-provoking actions which explain most of the initiatives we undertake. Your actions today will be inspired too, says Ganesha. However, later in the day, you are likely to get into arguments that may drag you into legal disputes.

Aquarius Money ahoy! You are blessed with the Midas touch today, and you need to take advantage of it! Competition will be left far behind as you zoom off into the skies of success. But watch out for the envious ones, who are ready to pull the rug from under your feet at the slightest excuse.

Pisces While your day at work ought to begin with a whirlwind of creative ideas and suggestions from your side, you will run out of juice by mid-day. Perhaps, it is time to take a short break over the weekend from work to recharge your batteries.

PRASAR BHARATI (India's Public Service Broadcaster) ALL INDIA RADIO : DIBRUGARH (M.W.529.1m/KHz567 F.M. 101.30 MHz) Phone No.-03732325456 E-mail -dibrugarh@air.org.in Facebook Page-All India Radio Dibrugarh Programme Highlights 19-4-16 (TUESDAY) 5-35 A.M-Bhaktigeeti(Devotional Songs) 6-10 A.M-Swasthya Charcha (Health Programme) 6-25 A.M-Employment News 6-30 A.M-Vidyarthir Anusthan (School Broadcast) 6-50 A.M-Bihu Geet (By: Badan Chandra Saikia and Party) 7-15 A.M-Aajir Dinto (Morning Information Service) 7-30 A.M-Geetanjali (Assamese Modern Song) 8-35 A.M-Surar Panchoi(Composite Programme of Assamese Film Songs) 9-05 A.M- Antara (Composite Programme of Hindi Film Songs) 12-05 P.M-Dhol Recital (By: Som Nath Bora Ojha) 12.30 P.M-Geetimanjari (Assamese Modern songs) 2-30 P.M-Western Music 3-45 P.M-Programme in Miju Mishmi 4-05 P.M-Programme in Khamti 4-25 P.M-Programme in Wancho 5-00 P.M-Programme in Idu 5-20 P.M-Programme in Tangsa 5-40 P.M-Programme in Nocte 6-15 P.M-Ganya Raijor Anusthan (Rural Programme) 7-15 P.M-Chah Sramikar Asor (Tea Garden Programme) 8-00 P.M-Krira Jagat (Sports Programme) 9-30 P.M- Sahitya Kanan (Literary Magazine Programme) Sd-/H.O.P

Director (Onshore) flags off new fire tender fleet on Fire Service Day at ONGC, Assam Asset ET Correspondent Nazira, Apr 18 : The week long observance of ''Fire Service Week'' commenced at ONGC, Assam Asset with the theme, "Prevent Fire Accident- Promote Nation's Development" On the occasion Mr. V.P Mahawar, Director (Onshore), accompanied by Mr. Budhin Deuri, EDAsset Manager and senior executives of the asset paid homage at Central Fire Station, Sivasagar to the brave fire personnel who sacrificed their life for the noble cause of saving life and property.

To mark the event, Mr. V. P. Mahawar, Director (onshore) and Mr. Budhin Deuri, ED-Asset manager flagged off two Multipurpose Fire Ten-

ders (25 ton capacity each). Director (Onshore) while flagging off the new fire tenders with latest technology, expressed his confidence that the addition of the

fleets will definitely strengthen the existing capacity of Fire Services, Assam to deal with any emergency.

It is worth mentioning that Fire Services of

ONGC Assam Asset has also been rendering its services to the areas in and around ONGC operational area in case of emergency.

A soft copy of a Booklet

on ''Fire Safety - Prevention and Protection'' was also unveiled by Director (Onshore) on the occasion.

The program began with the administration of Fire pledge by Director (Onshore), ED- Asset Manager, Assam Asset, Mr. Budhin Deuri and Mr. Bhavesh Mishra, GMHead MM and Support Manager in Hindi, Assamese and English respectively, followed by lighting of lamp marking the inauguration of Fire Service Week-2016.

Mr. Dhananjay N. Patil, DGM- I/C Fire Services, Assam Asset proposed the vote of thanks and expressed his gratitude to Mr. V. P. Mahawar, Director (Onshore) for his gracious presence on the momentous occasion and gracing the function.

BRO labourers union demands closing of execution of works through contractors ET Correspondent Tezpur, Apr 18 : The Border Roads labourers union (BRO) has expressed their strong resentment over alleged discrimination in executing construction works in various fields executed under the very central government agency. In a press meet held today here at the office of the Sonitpur Press club, President of the labour organization, Leki Tsering stated that the union, headquartered at Basantipur here with the registration under trade Union Vide No- 2453

dated February 27, 2012 has been raising their voice for the cause of the labourers, serving under the BRO over the years. Alleging sever discrimination upon them in every case by the BRO, Leki also said in his address that it has been noticed that 97 Road Construction Company (RCC) is involved in executing the works of Border roads Organization by violating it’s constitution. “It is seen that the works like BT and construction of culvert/ wall and drains are done through contractors. Due to

this system, it is found that Rotation system of workers is introduced i.e the workers under mates/supervisors are engaged weekly basis which is quite unlawful. So we strongly condemn and protest this illegal practice of execution of work and demand immediate cancellation of work allowed to the contractors and cancel if any type of contract agreement is done for the welfare of the organization and for the poor workers as well.” He said adding the 97 RCC is already having bad reputation

Youth lynched to death by murderers gang Sushanta Roy Diphu April 18: In a brutal incident of torturing to death, one Bengali youth of about 23 years was lynched to death by a gang of fanatic youths at Dengaon, a small town covered by Dokmoka police station, around 85 kilometers from Diphu, the official headquarter town of Karbi Anglong autonomous district yesterday noon.

According to eyewitnesses Pranab Das the victim was picked up from his two wheeler garage around 2.00 PM and was taken at government Inspection Bungalow of Irrigation department where he was crushed, trampled and pounded by a large gang of youths of a particular community.

The murderous gangs’ later slice various parts of the victim’s unconscious body with sharp instrument and put brackish in the fresh wounds. Allegedly the inhuman torture contin-

ued in presence of local police who reached the place of incident receiving information, the police present their brought severely wounded Pranab Das to Dokmoka Primary Health Centre but the gang also reached the PHC and keep on pounding the lifeless Pranab in the hospital bed till he died. The vicious band of the youths later attacked the house of the victim and damaged it including the household properties.

“We have arrested 2 persons till now and some more will be arrested, we are investigating the whole matter, right now police is suspecting some sort of illicit relation between the victim and a girl of a particular community responsible for the occurrence” Debojit Deoury S.P Karbi Anglong told this reporter from Dokmoka.

Today large number of protesters blocked national highway 36 for

several hours and demonstrated before Dokmoka police station demanding arrest of the criminals involved in the heinous offense.

“This is like the reappearance of Jhankar Saikia murder incidence of July 1, 2012. The teenager was lynched by a similar group of killer in Diphu market in presence of a dozen armed police personals; his father advocate Saikia was also beaten almost to death, but police did nothing to protect them.

The case is still awaiting verdict but the accused police personals are back to duty, no action has been taken against them who allowed the incident to happen” said an advocate of Diphu court while commenting on the incident. Various organizations and individuals have condemned the incident and have demanded strong legal action.

for inferior quality works.

And such practice by execution of work through contractor by engaging poor workers weekly system have already created problem for the livelihood of poor workers. He also said that for this reason, the union has demanded the authority concerned to immediately stop the execution of works through contractors and engage all the workers immediately. Otherwise the union will be bound to go for democratic movement against the alleged violation

of constitution of the borde roard organization. “In addition to this we are having lots of issues which need immediate redress.” He maintained and added that the union will observe the May day on May 1, christening as “Mazdoor Diwas” at Kalaktang, under West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh and after this if their problems are not addressed in an adequate manner it will launch a vigorous movement against the central government run construction agency.

NSLA cadre arrested

ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, Apr 18: Security forces belonging to police and army, in a joint operation arrested a cadre of National Santhali Liberation Army(NSLA) from Kashiabari area in Kokrajhar district on Monday.The cadre was identified as Pranjit

Tudu(38) of Kashiabari under Gossaigaon sub-division of Kokrajhar district,was involved with money collection,extortion,arms peddling in the area.A country made pistol along with live bullet was recovered from him.

Basanti puja celebration in Dibrugarh Hindu Milan Mandir

A view of the cultural procession taken out on the occasion of Brihattar Golaghat Nagar Rongali bihu Sanmelan. Pic - Amit Nagori

A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Apr 18: Dibrugarh Hindu Milan Mandir Committee celebrated Shri Shri Basanti puja for the eight successive years in Mandir premises from April 12 to 16. In this connection an inaugural function was organised on April 12.

Professor Shekhar Purakayastha of M.D.K. girls' college, Dibrugarh formally started the religious function by open-

ing the door of puja mandap and later lighting a traditional lamp. Advocate Shyamal Seal, Chandrakanta Baruah, ex- chairman and other dignitaries were present during the inauguration.

The opening song was sung by Paramita Bose, Ritashree Chowdhury performed dance and Rumi Dey recited a poem.

On the second day, open quize, sound of Conch, memory test and fill up

the empty bottles with water competition were held in the puja mandap.

On the occasion of Maha Astami Snan a Seva Kendra was installed at the bathing ghat of the Brahmaputra river to provide first aid, distributing water, tea and biscuits etc to the pilgrim who came for a holy dip into the river.

In the evening a 'Dharma-Sanskriti Sanmelan' was held un-

der the presidentship of Madhusudan Ghosh, president of Dibrugarh Hindu Milan Mandir.

Swami Sadhananandaj, Chief organiser of Northeast India Hindu Mandir, Swami Padmanv anandaji Maharaj of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Ranaghat branch and Brahmachari Biswajit Maharaj graced the function as appointed speakers. Mosquito nets were distributed amongst

the seventy poorest persons and exercise books and geometry boxes were given to thirty needy pupils of elementary schools. On April, 14 cultural programme was held under the guidance of Gopa Chowdhury , Pranabendu Ghosh, Biswajit Chowdhury and Rumi Dey. The idol was immersed in the river Brahmaputra in the evening of April 16.

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

PAGE 3

17 years old student drown in Jengthu River ET Bureau Namsai, Apr 18: The Adi Students Union (AdiSU) has come down heavily upon the Arunachal Pradesh government and the Namsai district administration for its lack of preparedness to tackle emergency situations, particularly in times of natural disaster.

It might be mentioned that Deepak Deori, son of Raghu Deori aged about 17 years old boy, who hails from Namsai and was studying at Namsai Government higher Secondary School in 10th standard got drowned on 17th April 2016 at around 9-10 A.M when

he along with some friends went near the bank of the River Jengthu. His friends said that Deepak accidently

fell into the river and were swept away. The union's general secretary Butung Tayeng said in a press release that the ad-

ministration has failed to rescue a single boy who got drowned in the Jengthu River on Sunday. "The status of the

DDMO, Namsai is very pathetic, it does not even has a single country boat, how will it tackle flash floods or disaster like earthquake?", Tayeng said. The authorities are still clueless after the 17yr old boy drowned in the river. The authorities do not have any equipment nor they have any trainned man power, instead of experts they have deployed local fishermen, Tayeng said. AdiSU also demanded that modern and scientific tools should be provided to the district level authorities so that they can handle and tackle emergency situations and natural disasters.

New IGP takes charge of Central Range Pasighat, Apr 18: LH Shanliana took charge as the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Central Range here at Pasighat Headquarter.

According to official source, thirty six IPS Officers under AGMUT were promoted to the rank of DGP, Addl.

DGP,IGP DIG and SP Selection Grades.This time only LH Shanliana, a 1998 batch IPS officer from Arunachal Pradesh was promoted to IGP rank.

In the year 2012, Shanliana was promoted to DIG and served his native state Mizoram and later joined Arunachal

Pradesh police in September 2014 as DIGP (Central Range), Pasighat in same capacity upto March 2016.

Soon after taking over

charge of IGP, Shanliana in his first message to the officers has said maintenance of law and order will be his priority. Police personnel should be

sincere, dedicated and disciplined and should take every issue seriously and ensure prompt service to the people. While seeking wholehearted cooperation from the society for better tomorrow, the IGP said that his thrust was to make policing people-friendly.

Shanliana started his career in Mizoram Police Service in 1982, undergone training at Police Training College, Phillaur (Punjab) during 1982-83 and during his long service period had attended 28 special courses and rendered a remarkable service to the

nation. He was inducted to IPS in the year 1998 and for his meritorious services; Shanliana was conferred with four medals. In 2008, as Dy. Commissioner of Police, Delhi, he demonstrated exemplary performances for stability, sustainability, peace and harmony of human society and successfully recruited seventeen thousand constables and one thousand Sub-Inspectors during his short tenure of three years. Notably, he participated (in Indian delegation team) during Indo-Myanmar Talk twice in 2004 and 2012.

Symposium on Social Harmony and Rural Development ET Bureau Tezu, Apr 18 : Lohit District Administration organised a symposium at Amik Ringya Hall on 18 April 2016 as part of Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan in order to buttress the cause of Social Harmony and Rural Development. Welcoming the audience, the cocoordinator of the programme, SDO, Tezu, Gautam Hazarika spelt out the objectives of the programme and spoke on the need to imbibe the cherished values of Dr. B R. Ambedkar, the architect of Indian constitution.

Addressing the District

Heads/Govt. Staff, ZPC/ ZPMs, PRI Members, GBs, Lohit Deputy Commissioner, Danish Ashraf, IAS called upon participants to translate the vision of Babasaheb in to social action while reaching out to the people at the grass root level. He assured to provide full support to all the stakeholders in implementing various rural development projects to bring in all round development of the rural poor. Highlighting on theory and practice of rural development, the resource person of the symposium, Dr. Jajati K. Pattnaik, Associate Pro-

fessor in Political science, India Gandhi Government College thrust upon the relevance of empower-

ment paradigm to bring in inclusive development while reinforcing the conditions of marginalised

sections at the periphery.

While speaking on the occasion, another resource person, Dr. M.S Sharma, Associate Professor in Hindi, India Gandhi Government College made a comparative analysis of Gandhi, Ambedkar and Deen Dayal on rural development. All District Heads, ZPMs, PRI Members and GBs made their viewpoints on several developmental issues thereby making the programme a grand success. In the concluding session, Lohit ZPM Mrs. H. Kri offered vote of thanks.

(DIPRO )

NSS Unit of S.F.S. College conducts Summer Special Camp at Paya Village

ET Bureau Aalo, April 18 : Three days summer special camp was organized at Paya Village by the NSS unit of SFS College, Aalo under the active initiation of Mr. Reyom Ete (Prgramme Officer). The activities covered during the camp included tCultural Night, Trekking, Rock climbing,

sports activities, Cleanliness drive and social service. One of the most interesting events was cultural night where the village folks also took part.

Sri Marge Ete, ASM of the Village who attended the Valedictory Function as the Chief Guest expressed his happiness over the adoption of Paya Village as a part of NSS

programme by SFS College and congratulated all the volunteers for giving such life skills to the village people and assured full cooperation from the village authority in near future. The programme was attended by all the faculties including Vice Principal Sr. Belsy Jose and village authorities.

Fire safety awareness programme organised at Naharlagun

A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Apr 18: The Naharlagun Fire Service Station today organised a fire safety awareness programme under the Department of Arunachal Pradesh Fire Service at United Brother distillery Pvt Ltd (UBDPL) here at Papu Nallah.

Held under the supervision of Station Officer Sujit Chakraborty and SFO Nabam Dokho, the fire service personnel

demonstrated rescue operations and ways to provide immediate relief to the victims, like first aid, transportation, supervision during the emergency in case of fire and other disasters. Leaflets were also distributed to all the workers and staffs of the factory, besides local residents were also present on the occasion.

UBDPL Manager, Pankaj Awasthi said that they impart training every three to six months to

the staff on fire safety and other hazardous substances for the safety and security of the factory workers with the help of fire service personnel and others.

SFO Dokho said that this programme is being held in line with the ongoing fire safety week celebration and they are trying to reach nearby schools and market areas for mass awareness among the citizens of Naharlagun area.

125th Annivesary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar celebrated in West Kameng District

Accident at Kharsang MESSAGE ET Correspondent Kharsang, Apr 18 : Road mishap at Namchik road at 6.15pm last night caused one life and two more seriously injured who have been refered to Dibrugarh hospital for further treatment. It is said that the deceased were on the scooty carrying the three on board just after crossing the check gate. They were hit by the bolero pick up bearing vehicle no.

AS23BC1634 from the backside that ply under the contractual basis at Geo enpro petroleum limited for few years.

The kharsang police OC mr.Ajay Kumar had rushed to the spot to take stock of the incident who tactfully caught the culprit driver Mr. Sanjay Chetri within few hours and had been kept under his official custody at P.S,

Kharsang for further investigation.

The name of the victim is late Miss Sujhata Mishra,

daughter of Shri Kumar Chetan Mishra who is a constable at the Kharsang police station itself.

ET Bureau Itanagar, Apr 18 : Chief Minister, Kalikho Pul extends warm wishes to all the brothers and sisters of Nyishi community on Nyishi Day that falls on April 19.

In his message, the Chief Minister said that Nyishi being the largest tribe of the state has a big role to play as a big brother in the growth and development of the state.

The contribution made by the Nyishi community in the prevailing peace and harmony in the state is highly appreciable. Hope the Nyishi brothers and sisters shall continue to support the endeavour of the govt in maintaining peaceful co-existence and brotherhood for over all progress and prosperity of the state.

He further said that Nyishi community is the fastest advancing community in the state.

The members of the community has not only made progress in the field of education and business, it has also make strides in games & sports, art and music, which is a matter of pride for the community and the state as a whole. Indeed it is an inspiration for all other communities to follow.

The Chief Minister extend his good wishes for the ensuing General Conference of the Nyishi Elite Society (NES) which is commencing from 20th April 2016 at Sagalee.

The message further said that the govt will give support to the community in their endeavours taken in public interest.

ET Bureau Bomdila, April 18: 125th Anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was celebrated on 14th April, 2016 at different Gram Panchayat of Anchal Block and Villages in the West Kameng District.

Hence, kick starting the Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan w.e.f 14th April to 24th April, 2016.

Wherein social harmony programme from 14th to 16th April, 2016, Village Kisan Sabha from 17th to 20th April and Village Assembly from 21st to 24th April with Hon'ble

Prime Minister's address to Gram on 24th April with live telecast is to be held.The Deptt. Of ICDS at Bomdila organized the meet at Sera Village where schemes of ICDS and National Social Assistance Programme were explained and highlighted.

The deptt. Education organized the celebration of Dr. Br. Ambedkar's birthday at Pedung village under Bomdila circle which was attended by denizen of Pedung, PRI members, GBs teachers and

SMC members of Govt.

Middle School, Pedung.

Shri D.W. Kharma, DDSE, Bomdila chaired the celebration, The celebration begins with light offering and garlanding to the portrait of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar followed by briefing of short life history of Dr.B.R. Ambedkar by Shri S.N. Ojha, J/T, Govt. Middle School, Bomdila town. Shri Lobsang Genchen, SMC, Chairman has readout all ongoing and new rural schemes for the development of villagers.

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

PAGE 4

Visit of Sh Dharmendra Pradhan Hon'ble Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas to Bangladesh (17-19 April 2016).

A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Apr 18 : Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon'ble Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas is visiting Bangladesh from 17-19 April 2016.

The visit is aimed at following up on the ambitious agenda set between India and Bangladesh during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh in June 2015.

On arrival in Dhaka Sh Pradhan called on Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. He conveyed that the IndiaBangladesh bilateral relationship has become pragmatic and mature over the last few years.

He discussed all bilateral issues pertaining to hydrocarbon sector between the two countries.

Sh Pradhan referred to the supply of 2200 MT

High Speed Diesel (HSD) to Bangladesh from Siliguri Marketing Terminal of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) to Parbatipur Depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) in Bangladesh and said that India was planning to continue supply of HSD in a sustainable manner.

He noted the ongoing collaboration between companies from both

countries in the hydrocarbon sector ranging from trade in petroleum products, exploration work and consultancy services. Sh Pradhan thanked Prime Minister Sheik Hasina for encouraging support received from her government. He shared the details of Indian hydrocarbon infrastructure project proposals in Bangladesh, including

setting up of LPG import terminal at Chittagong by IOCL and sought favourable consideration for creating win-win situation for both sides. Sh Pradhan also discussed the 'Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline' and called it as an important project for both countries. During his stay in Bangladesh, Sh Pradhan will meet Dr

Ta w f i q - e - E l a h i Chowdhury, Adviser on Energy, Power and Mineral Resources to the Prime Minister and Mr Nasrul Hamid, Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh.

On 18th April, Sh Pradhan will witness signing of an MoU on broad aspects of cooperation in downstream oil and gas sector opportunities in Bangladesh between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and BPC. He will also visit Chittagong on 19th April to witness award of contract by Eastern Refineries Ltd to Engineers India Limited (EIL) as Project Management and Consultant for its 3 MMTPA refinery expansion project. He is accompanied by CEOs of major Public Sector oil and gas companies and senior officials of his Ministry.

Putu Debi working president of Lekhika Sanstha Morigaon feted by Morigaon Rajagaon Rongali Bihu Sanmilan on Sunday. Pic - Dalim Phukan Morigaon

157th birth anniversary of Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma observed

A coordination meeting with hon'ble minister for power, ncer and research shri t.n. thondok at dc's conference hall on 18th april, 2016.

ET Bureau Bomdila, April18: A coordination meeting was conducted in the DC's conference Hall on 18th April,2016 which was chaired by Hon'ble Minister for Power, NCER and Research Shri T.N. Thondok in the presence of Dr. Sonal Swaroop, IAS, DC, West Kameng District and District Heads. Dr. Swaroop, IAS, DC, West Kameng while welcomed all stated that the meeting had been conveyed with the specific purpose of development of the District as a whole.

The Hon'ble Minister while welcoming all expressed his happiness for the warm re-

ception as a Minister on his maiden visit. He reiterated that there has been shift in the pattern of the entire process of planning in the State with the formation of the new Govt. Financial management to curb the financial problems in the state is a major task. He informed that plans are to be prepared and subsequently sanction of schemes to be completed by the end of May, so as to enable expedites the work by September.

He urged the deptt. Concerned to prepare schemes at the earliest and make consultation with the main work deptts. wherever necessary.

The Hon'ble Minister spoke in details on Health, Education, Irrigation, Horticulture, Power, Tourism and cutting cross all the departments. Timely release of pay on monthly basis to SSA teachers, increase of wages for Skilled and Unskilled works, creation of posts for subject teachers in the District, increase of stipends for schools students from class I to Class XII, increase of stipends and book grant for college students.

He also laid stress on developing indigenous plauling materials in the Horticulture sector. Deputy Director, State Horticulture Farm,

Shergoan informed that construction of Building for imparting training in underway.

Discussion on maintenance fund to ensure uninterrupted power supply and deployment of trained persons and equipments for the same, ensure continuous water supply were made.

The Hon'ble Minister requested the District Administration to expedite the matter of de- reservation of areas in the KamengbariDoimara in the West Kameng District to curb illegal extraction of Timber across the border.

He also directed DMO to placed proposal for ambulance for Rupa

CHC and Bomdila District Hospital.

He assured full cooperation to all the District Heads and in return requested the same from them. He appealed all to help each other and extend cooperation with each other.

Lastly, the Hon'ble Minister extended his gratitude to the Deputy Commissioner, West Kameng for having conveyed the meeting and also thanked all district Heads for their attendance.

He ended with the note that knowledge is power hence do not feel small to consult each other.

Tarun Gogoi gives a big thank-you to party workers at Titabor ET Correspondent Jorhat, Apr 18: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi attended a party workers meet at Titabor and thanked his sainiks whom he respects all the time as because of their hard work he could return to Dispur for past three consecutive terms and this time too without his presence, they his party workers led by Putul Borgohain, Kumud Kachari, Pratap Kachari, Saffikul Haque, all made a grand success during the election hours for the first phase. As Congress will form the next government with the blessings of the

people he will be the Chief Minister for the fourth time, Gogoi said during the meeting held at the Dr. Manmohan Singh Public Auditorium and at Titabor Chah Jonogusti Public Auditorium both at Titabor town area today.

During the first phase of polls we will get three to four seats less than earlier years, but from the second phase poll in the lower Assam side we will get maximum which will equalize the seats which we will lose in upper Assam, and without any bodies help we will be able to form the government.

In 1978 the Janata party came to power but could not show any development, then in 1986 AGP came to power for two terms they could not perform well instead brought all kinds of scams and other abnormal activities within the state, when in 2001 we came to power we showed the path of development which was a big sea change today.

On the other hand while talking to media Tarun Gogoi clarified his stand that AGP has direct , indirect link with RSS, stating that AGP themselves have proved their link after having tie ups with BJP before

the election. They the AGP need not worry now as they have already proved and now why do they have to react and be afraid for the link with RSS. Gogoi said Assam agitation was an agitation which was one-to-all dictated by BJP leaders like Atal Behari Vajpayee, LK Adwani and others then. He said, these (AGP leaders) jumping frogs in first five years from 1986 to 1990 could not do anything for the sake of the people of Assam who had voted with the hope that all foreigners will be chased out, not a single, but instead they looted and went for

secret killing, but ultimately again before MP election they played the Modi magic and now playing the same old game AGP-BJP joins hands together by giving false promises which is before the polls.

The people of Assam again voted the AGP in 1996 Assembly poll but AGP-BJP failed again so the people voted the congress and we came to power in 2001 for three consecutive terms which the people of Assam had seen the change and development, which need not to be repeated, said Tarun Gogoi.

Natl. Agricultural Arcarology BSNL provides meet from April 21st at AAU network connectivity ET Correspondent Jorhat, Apr 18 : The Fourteen Biennial Group meeting of All India Network Project on Agricultural Arcarology will be held in the Department of Entomology Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Jorhat campus from April 21st to April 23rd, 2016 next, informed Dr Ranjit Kumar Saud, the Public Relation Officer, AAU Jorhat here today.

The PRO AAU, further informed that during the

meet Additional Director General (Plant Perotection) of ICAR, New Delhi, Dr. PK Chakraborty will attend as the Chief Guest, Dr. KM Buzarbaruah-the Vice Chancellor of AAU among galaxy of scientists from AAU will be present, among 25 Acarologists from different institutions and universities throughout the country will arrive for the three day meet and will discuss about the programme and develop-

ment, will also formulate technical programmes that is to be develop for the next two years.

The organizing secretary of the meet Dr. Sahidur Rahman who is the Principal Investigator of the project said that farmers will be more benefitted after such meets where over 100s of such scientist and Acarologists will gather and share the different varieties of insects that creating headache in the tea sector especially.

A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Apr 18: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has provided network connectivity to 404 police stations for Crime and Criminal Network System project in Assam.

Chief General Manager of Assam circle M K Seth said that the BSNL has given priority in network connectivity of the region. He said that BSNL established Wi Fi connectivity at Gauhati High

Court and five airports of North East.

Seth said that 200 veterinary hospital and offices in Assam have been covered by network connectivity.

He said that two thousands new mobile exchanges are likely to be set up in coming days by the BSNL. Also, over 1 thousand gram panchyats of the state will be covered by optical fibre in the current financial year.

ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, Apr 18: The 157th birth anniversary of Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma was observed on Monday at Gurudham, Kazigaon in Kokrajhar district, was organized by Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma Trust (GKBT).

As part of the programme scheduled,Rabi Basumatary, president of All Brahma Dharma Committee paid floral tribute to Guridev Kalicharan Brahma in the morning followed by Sachindra Nath Brahma, retired teacher, Samar Kumar Brahma, Amarendra Brahma and devotees.

A seminar on the life activities of Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma was organized to mark the observation with Rakeswar Brahma, Mazbat MLA and chairman of the trust in the chair.

Padmashri (Dr)

Kameswar Brahma, president of Bodo sahitya sabha graced the occasion as chief guest.

Brahma,in his addressed said that Gurudev Kalicharan contributed his whole life towards building of social uplift of Bodo and other down trodden communities in the early 20th century in the Western Assam as well undivided the then Goalpara district.He had advocated good human living and development of human resources among society,so he had adopted Brahma dharma from Shri Shri Paramhangsa Gurudev and guided the Brahma dharma among society in the region.

Ajit Boro, secretary of the trust said that Gurudev Kalicharan dedicated lots towards development and social change among Bodo and other down trodden communities in the western

Assam. He had been stressed to gain education and social integration through adopting Brahma dharma.

Janil Kumar Brahma, sahitya academy awarded, Manik Kumar Brahma, principal Gurudev Kalicharan Academy,Dotma, Ajit Kumar Brahma, retired ADC, Kokrajhar, Bathendra Nath Brahma, social worker, Jyotindra Nath Brahma, BTC MCLA were prominent speakers on the occasion.

A souvenir Gurudevni Bwswn was also unveiled on the occasion, besides performing a Jagyahuti.

Art completion among school children, delegate session was also organized to mark the celebration.

Delegates from different districts of the state participated the occasion and worshiped to the Gurudev.

Adivasi bandh evokes mixed response in Jorhat ET Correspondent Jorhat, Apr 18: The 12hour bandh called by All Adivasi Students Association of Assam (AASAA) got a mixed response within the district of Jorhat, while areas like Mariani, Titabor, Amguri, Dergaon and Teok’s normal life was

affected, but on the National Highway 37, 39 and the AT Road look deserted as both small-big and long distance vehicles remained off the road during the bandh hours, informed administrative sources here today.

Ferry services between Neematighat to

Dakhinpat, Afalamukh, Sumoimari and Phulani was normal and even bus, mini-bus services plied normally between Neematighat to ISBT at Jorhat, while no untoward incident has been reported from and within the district, informs senior police officials here.

ACCCCAP alleges police atrocity Contd. from Page 1

On their part, both Tana Rasso Tara and Tana Tado claimed that they had intervened in the land related dispute as a pacifier by trying to stop the scuffle that broke out between two opposing parties of the same clan.

Adding that SI Jomoh arrested them without even

understanding the situation, the duo also alleged that SI Jomoh while paying no heed to their plea, started inflicting a “Third degree methods of torture” before locking them up in the UTP Cell.

Meanwhile, the ACCCCAP President, Techi Gambo Tara while observing that “It is unbecoming on the part of

the police and in that particularly of SI P Nobin Jomoh who came in from the sports quota with huge credentials internationally to indulge in such gross injustice and atrocities against innocent citizen,” advocated for exemplary disciplinary actions from the higher authorities by immediately terminating SI Jomoh from the job.

REGION

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

Manipur drivers launch strike against colleague's arrest

Okram Ibobi Singh AGENCIES Imphal, Apr 18: Drivers of inter-state public transport vans in Manipur launched an indefinite strike from midnight of Saturday, accusing Nagaland Police of arresting a fellow driver on April 12 without any reason.

The All Manipur Interstate Winger and Cruiser Drivers Welfare Union launched the strike, saying driver Mohammad Nasir was arrested at the police check post at Lalmati in Nagaland on April 12.

"Nasir drives a van along the Imphal-Dimapur national highway. On that day, he was ferrying passengers when he was flagged down by policemen at Lalmati in Nagaland and detained.

After receiving the news, we rushed there, but police failed to furnish any specific reason for the arrest.

Till date, police are refusing to release him," said union president K. Sankarjit.

Representatives of the drivers' union have submitted memoranda to Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and Director General of Police

L.M. Khoute over the incident.

Sources said the chief minister and senior Manipur Police officials are in touch with their Nagaland counterparts to secure Nasir's release.

The drivers' union's vice president, K. Sanatomba, said interstate buses have also assured their support to the strike.

Meanwhile, tension prevails in Ukhrul district of Manipur following the kidnapping of driver P.A. Chinaosung on April 13 night by tribal militants.

Chinaosung was engaged in transporting construction materials for a project in the district.

Police fear the kidnapping may be connected with extortions by some underground organi sations.

Tangkhul Naga Long, a social organisation in Ukhrul, has set April 19 as the deadline for freeing the driver, and threatened that people of two nearby villages, Songphel and Gangbikot, will have to face the consequences.

PAGE 5

Solve Naga problem during our lifetime: TR Zeliang AGENCIES Dimapur, Apr 18: State chief minister, TR Zeliang, appealed the people to concertedly solve the protracted Naga political problem as soon as possible rather than passing it on to future generations.

"If the Naga political problem is allowed to linger on, I am afraid more political groups might crop up in the years to come and that will only compound the problem and solution would be more elusive than ever.

At present, we have five NNC groups and four NSCN groups whose goals are the same, but it is difficult to bring them together to present a single voice and opinion to the Government of India," CMO statement quoting the chief minister said. Zeliang said this

in his addressing at the silver jubilee celebration of the Phom People's Council (PPC) at Longleng district headquarters on April 16.

Zeliang said after he took up the reins of the government, opposing political parties which fought tooth and nail barely a few years ago, had come together under the banner of the NPF and the BJP with the sole idea to facilitate an early solution to the Naga political problem. Saying that all 60 legislators of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly have come together with no opposition in the government, he said this has never happened in any Legislative Assembly in the country nor might it happen again very soon.

"When erstwhile political opponents can come

TR Zeliang together for the cause of the Naga problem, why can't the Naga political groups come together?

Why can't all sections of the Naga society come together for an early resolution of the problem which has been the main stumbling block for peace, harmony and allround development in

our society?" he asked.

He expressed happiness that the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi was genuinely determined to bring about an early solution to the Naga political problem. He said Modi had assured to work out a formula taking into consideration the views, opinions and aspi-

rations of all sections of the Naga people for an early solution which is acceptable and honourable to all.

Zeliang said the PWC had made it very clear that the Naga political problem is not a factional or tribal problem, nor is it a problem of Nagas living in a particular administrative jurisdiction, but a common problem of Nagas as a whole since sacrifices and contributions have been made to the Naga cause over the six decades or so by all Nagas. Also given to understand that the Interlocutor Ravi has been consulting various Naga political groups, NGOs and civil societies on a weekly basis, Zeliang said "it is not fair to criticise us as blindly supporting the Framework Agreement without knowing the

Mixed response to Congress's strike call in Tripura IANS Agartala, Aprl 18 : A 24hour shutdown call given by the opposition Congress on Monday over former health minister Bimal Sinha's assassination 18 years ago evoked mixed response in Leftruled Tripura.

The call was given to press for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into Sinha's assassination and seeking resignation of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

The state's Left Front government, dominated by the Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M), has already rejected both demands.

There was a mixed response to the shutdown call, with attendance in some government offices being thin but little enthu-

siasm evinced to the call at various markets.

"In some places, shops and business establishments were opened while in most areas across Tripura, including capital Agartala, shutters remained down.

Turnout in government, semi-government offices and in banks was thin," police spokesman Uttam Bhowmik told reporters.

"Most educational institutions also remained closed in view of the strike," he added.

Most private and government vehicles, including passenger buses, remained off the roads.

Over 500 Congressmen, including state party chief Birajit Sinha, legislator Gopal Roy and Congress leader Pijush Biswas, were arrested from different parts of the state for

organising picketing at important locations, the police official said.

The bandh supporters vandalised some vehicles and auto-rickshaws.

Sinha, a former minister, accompanied by party legislator Gopal Roy, said the Yusuf Commission report blamed the Left Front government, Left parties and the chief minister for Bimal Sinha's assassination. "Hence, Sarkar has no morality to remain the chief minister and home minister of the state."

The judicial inquiry commission, headed by retired Calcutta High Court Justice M.A. Yusuf, submitted its report to the state government in January 2000.

It was presented in the assembly on March 23 last following a Tripura High Court order.

The commission was formed in 1998 to probe the assassination of Bimal Sinha and his brother by the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura on March 31, 1998, at Kamalpur in northern Tripura.

The just concluded budget session of the Tripura assembly witnessed bedlam over the assassination report.

According to the Yusuf Commission report, neither the state government nor Tripura Police were responsible for Bimal Sinha's killing.

Talking to reporters, Sinha told reporters that Monday's strike was total and successful.

"People spontaneously observed the strike across the state and accused the Left government of not

even protecting its own leader and minister," Sinha told reporters.

Reacting to the Congress's allegations, CPI-M central committee member Bijan Dhar said: "Their allegations are wild and a complete lie. If they have any such evidence, why did they not submit the same before the judicial commission when it sought the views of all concerned during the probe?"

Dhar, also a state secretary of the CPI-M, said: "People rejected Monday's Congress-sponsored illogical strike.

Most of the shops, markets and business centres have conducted business normally and presence in government and semigovernment offices was as usual."

UCRC foundation Elections Completed Peacefully in ?Darjeeling? day prog ends AGENCIES Kohima, Apr 18: A three-day long 23rd foundation day of Union Christian Revival Church (UCRC), which began on April 15 on the theme "And find out what pleases the lord," concluded on April 17 evening at UCRC, New Market, Kohima. The main speakers of the foundation were Rev. Dr. Luozilie Sanchu and Pastor UCRC, Zhabu Kuotsu.

Pastor Zhabu Kuotsu, who shared the gospel this evening said the three-day long services were successful as many

people who attended the services had received the blessings. He called upon the congregation to rededicate their life and serve God with commitment from beginning to end.

During the three days service, Associate pastor of UCRC Kikruneilie Yiese, Dicon Kruzo Rutsa and Vira Seyie chaired the programmes, while special songs were presented by junior CYE, senior CYE, teens group, women group, father group and solo by Neivilie Dzuvichu. The Jubalite group led the praise and worship in all the services.

Roy calls for 18 member Cabinet Shillong, Apr 18 : Former Chief Minister Donkupar Roy on Sunday advocated the need to increase the number of ministers in Meghalaya from the present 12 to 18 which according to him will help the State government to do away with the appointment of parliamentary secretaries.

The controversies related to the parliamentary secretaries had compelled the State government to recently amend the existing Act in this regard to do away with a clause which equated the rank and status of the parliamentary secretaries to those of ministers of state.

The existing Meghalaya Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2005 had equated the rank and status to that of a minister of state.

According to Roy, considering the coalition government which is a trend, the State

government should move the Centre to further amend the 91st amendment of the Constitution to increase the number of ministers to 18.

As per the 91st amendment of the Constitution, small states like Meghalaya can have only 12 ministers. Roy also called for complete repeal of Meghalaya Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2005.

He pointed out that the State government had not brought out any Act for the appointment of chairman of State Planning Board and other members and hence no Act is required for the appointment of parliamentary secretaries.

“I am against appointment of parliamentary secretaries as they do not even get any files to go through and hence this defeats the very purpose of their appointments,” Roy added.

AGENCIES Darjeeling, Apr 18: Amid allegations and counter allegations by candidates notwithstanding, the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly election in the three constituencies of Darjeeling district ended on Sunday in a peaceful manner , with voter turnout recorded at 69 per cent.

The overall turnout in the six Assembly Constituencies of the district was recorded at 74 per cent when voting ended. The six constituencies comprise Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Kurseong in the hills, and Matigara-Naxalbari, Siliguri and Phansidewa in the plains.

In the hills, voters were seen queued up outside polling booths from early in the

morning even as the weather remained cloudy and chilly throughout the day. Central forces personnel manned the booths to ensure voters got to exercise their franchise freely and without any kind of intimidation.

Even so, candidates of the five parties in the fray, namely of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Trinamool Congress, Jan Andolan Party, Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxist and Gorkha Rastriya Congress, didn't stop from accusing one another of rigging and intimidation although there were no reports of violence anywhere.

JAP candidate Harka Bahadur Chhetri, who cast his vote at Chandraloke

Junior Basic School in Kalimpong, complained about GJM activists intimidating voters outside polling booths even as he maintained he was confident of winning. "They (GJM) have lost the people's faith and are resorting to intimidation. I am confident the majority of votes will be cast for me," he said.

Shanta Chhetri of the TMC and Govind Chhetri of the CPRM, who cast their votes at Kurseong College in Kurseong and Hindi Himachal School in Darjeeling, respectively voiced similar allegations.

"GJM agents were asking voters to vote for their party's candidates. I will complain to the election commission about this.

However, this (election) is

a court and voters are the judges, and I am sure they will make the correct decision by voting for me," said Govind Chhetri.

Meanwhile, Amar Singh Rai, the GJM candidate from Darjeeling, said he was satisfied with the voting process and sounded confident of an outright win by the Morcha. "There were two incidents where TMC polling agents tried to enter booths they were not assigned to. I apprised the returning officer about this.

Other than that, polling went off well and I am satisfied. I am getting reports from our party members in Kalimpong and Kurseong that our candidates are doing well," he said.

GJM president Bimal Gurung, who cast his vote

early in the morning at the Patleybas Community Hall booth, said, "Voting went off peacefully and in a disciplined manner and I am satisfied. I am 100 per cent certain that we will win not only in the hills, but also in the Terai and Dooars regions."

According to a report by the district election commission, overall polling stood at 74 percentage points by 5pm, and of the 89 complaints received, 83 had been disposed of while the remaining six were in the process. "Several complaints were received from the participating parties and most were redressed," informed Darjeeling district magistrate Anurag Srivastava, who is also the District Election Officer.

LAEF ends armed struggle with leadership surrender Tura, Apr 18 : One of the oldest Garo militant outfits after the ANVC that operated extensively in the North and East Garo Hills region much before the arrival of the GNLA and had spread terror with its grenade attack inside the Tura Supermarket has finally bid farewell to its armed struggle.

The last of the two factions of the Garo outfit Liberation of Achik Elite Force (LAEF) which had continued its criminal activities and evaded capture for so long has at last called it a day with the surrender of its military chief and his aides on Sunday morning at Dainadubi police outpost in North Garo Hills.

LAEF commander-in-chief Mathew G Momin, from Kamalpara-Bakrapur village of Dudhnoi, led his faction to the surrender ceremony handing over an AK 47 rifle, a shotgun and two pistols along with several rounds of ammunition.

The surrender was made possible through the intervention of church leaders, families and villagers, particularly United Christian Peace Forum (UCPF) elder Panpan Marak, Damas MDC and GHADC ex-

ecutive member Dolly K Sangma and village elders.

Along with Mathew was his deputy military chief Ravan Basumatary (28) of Chitukhona village in Damas and four other senior cadres of the outfit – Tenik Sangma (30) of Naringgre Rongjeng, Negrus Sangma (25) of Khardang Dorengtop (Krishnai), Lepjin Shira (25) of Chitukhona and Heswar Areng (31) of Songsak.

The surrender comes just three days after East Garo Hills police shot dead Augustine Marak who was the head of the other LAEF faction. Augustine was killed during an encounter with police at Chichra reserve forest of Rongjeng on April 13.

Both Augustine and Mathew were part of the original LAEF that had been formed by a rebel police commando called Peter Marak. Peter was arrested from a vehicle near Jorabat on the AssamMeghalaya border while returning from Nagaland. He was subsequently killed while leading police to a hideout of the LAEF in a forest in East Garo Hills, the same night.

LAEF leaders with their family members and other villagers during their surrender at Dainadubi police outpost in North Garo Hills on Sunday morning. (ST) The LAEF had earned notoriety for the attack on the Tura Supermarket on a busy summer evening in which two persons were killed. Despite the death of Peter and his younger brother Darong, who had taken over the leadership mantle, the group continued to be a problem for security forces for many years until the split into two factions.

Both LAEF factions had been

involved in a series of extortion and kidnapping incidents in the Garo Hills. They previously operated in the West Khasi Hills region after the killing of Peter Marak but shifted base two years ago taking up refuge in the North and East Garo Hills districts.

The Garo rebel outfit was actively involved with NSCN-IM militants post Peter’s death and a handful of Naga rebels jointly

operated with the group deep in the jungles of West Khasi Hills and East Garo Hills region targeting the lucrative coal export.

On December 7, 2008, during a raid on the new LAEF militant chief’s hideout at Damit village of Shallang in West Khasi Hills, a police commando (SoT) R.D. Sangma was killed in the exchange of fire as the Garo rebels and their Naga ally tried to fight back. The new chief of the LAEF Kimrey K Sangma was also shot dead in the encounter and his AK rifle recovered.

Following Augustine Marak’s death and the surrender of Mathew Momin, this week, Garo Hills police are optimistic the rest of the rebels who continue to evade capture will ultimately give themselves up to authorities. Police intelligence sources reveal that just a handful of militants from both factions remain underground and attempts are being made through church leaders and village elders to persuade them to return to the mainstream.

contents."

On the issue of sending a delegation of the Naga Hoho and the Eastern Naga Public Organisation to Myanmar to meet NSCN (K) supremo SS Khaplang, the Chief Minister said the unilateral abrogation of ceasefire by the NSCN (K) and the resultant violence and loss of lives had caused hardship and insecurity in the minds of the people and that the people wanted ceasefire to be continued.

"The State Government had appealed to both the Government of India and the NSCN (K) to enter once again into ceasefire agreement and the Government had therefore, sent a delegation to convey the wishes and aspirations of the people and the Government to the NSCN (K) leadership," he said.

No funds for fast track courts in State Shillong, Apr 18 : Though there is demand from several quarters including from Chairperson of State Women’s Commission, Theilin Phanbuh, to set up fast track courts in Meghalaya for speedy disposal of cases in the wake of spurt in crimes against women and children, paucity of funds has delayed the matter for the last one year.

An official source said that the State government, in April 2015, was compelled to discontinue the fast track courts set up in Shillong, Tura, Jowai and another Special Court set up in Nongstoin to try rape cases due to paucity of funds.

Earlier, fast track courts in the State which were headed by retired judges worked on funds provided by the Union government; however, in 2010, the Centre discontinued funding and the State government took on the endeavour to fund the fast track courts from 2010 till 2015.

The official source added that the Centre has left it to the State to continue with the fast track courts at its own expenditure.

The existence of the fast track took a different turn when the State government had to stop the funding due to paucity of funds. Separation of judiciary from executive was another reason.

According to sources, at least Rs 20 lakh is required per annum for maintaining a fast track court in the State.

Rape cases and other crimes against women are now dealt with by sessions Judge following the discontinuation of fast track courts. But the cases are very often adjourned resulting in delay in delivery of justice to the victims.

According to Phanbuh, there is a need to revive fast track courts in the State considering the rise of crime against women and less convictions cases that has emboldened criminals.

“Fast track court was discontinued due to lack of funds and looking at the present dire situation, the system needs to be revived,” she demanded.

On Saturday, the Joint Action Committee of Seng Kynthei Upper Shillong demanded the establishment of fast track courts to try rape cases in the State.

With the recent rape of a 19 year old girl from Upper Shillong still making headlines, the residents and NGOs have tried to strike the iron while it’s hot by calling for setting up of fast track courts to try several cases and for creating a helpline to help a woman in need.

On the other hand, with the name and photographs of the recent victim of rape and murder being displayed in banners during rallies and candle vigils, it caught the attention of the Meghalaya State Commission for Women which took exception to this.

“Identity of the rape victim must be protected and there should be efforts not to reveal the name in the media at all costs,” said chairperson of the Commission.

This comes in the wake of the rape and murder of the 19 year old girl from Upper Shillong on March 17, which led to a display of solidarity and candlelight vigils where her name and photographs were displayed.

This did not go too well with Phanbuh who was aggrieved with the display of pictures and have told people to not reveal the identity of the victim.

“Revealing the name of the victim is all due to ignorance of the public,” she said.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

PAGE 6

stands by 'RSSMallya misusing his freedom courtesy NDA Govt.: Congress Nitish free India' chant

New Delhi, Apr. 18 : Congress leader Manish Tewari on Monday alleged that the BJP-led NDA Government facilitated Vijay Mallya's escape from the nation as a result of which the liquor baron is misusing that freedom to make all sorts of statements and claims.

Tewari, who was responding to a poser about Mallya's UB Group denying the Enforcement Directorate's allegation that he siphoned off nearly Rs. 430 crore from the loan extended to

Kingfisher Airlines by IDBI bank for acquiring property abroad, said the fundamental question is why this government allowed the liquor baron to flee from the country.

"Sitting outside safe from the arms of the law, they can keep claiming what they want. So, therefore, this government facilitated Mr. Mallaya's escape and now he is misusing that freedom to make all sorts of statements," he added.

Rubbishing all charges, the UB Group yesterday

SC seeks Centre's reply on establishment of SHRC in Delhi

Supreme Court New Delhi, Apr.18 : The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to file a reply on the plea seeking the establishment of State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in Delhi.

The apex court has asked the Centre to file its reply within one week.

The court had on April 9 asked the Centre as to why there was delay in setting up the SHRC in the national capital despite the AAP Government completing the nec-

essary groundwork and sending the recommendation to the Lieutenant Governor.

The apex court had in July last year questioned why an SHRC had not been set up in Delhi, which witnessed the second largest number of rights violation cases and set a six-month deadline.

The court also directed the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland to set up SHRCs. (ANI)

Govt. tells SC, India should not claim Kohinoor

Govt. tells SC, India should not claim Kohinoor

New Delhi, Apr.18 : The NDA Government on Monday told the Supreme Court that as per the Ministry of Culture, India should not stake a claim to the famed Kohinoor diamond as 'it was neither stolen nor forcibly taken away.'

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the government, said this was the stand of the Culture Ministry.

"Ministry of External Affairs is also a party and their response is yet to come," he informed the court.

He also told the apex court that the Kohinoor diamond was handed over by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to the East India Company.

Chief Justice T.S Thakur asked the Centre if it wants the case to be dismissed as they would face a problem in the future when putting forward any legitimate claim.

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to file a

detailed reply within six weeks.

The apex court had on April 9 asked the Centre to disclose its stand on bringing back the diamond.

The apex court made this observation while hearing a petition filed by All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front.

The petition had said that the government was not making efforts to bring the diamond back.

The Solicitor General said that he would seek an instruction from the government and then inform the court.

The diamond was, by force, made to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850, by the Marquess of Dalhousie, the British governor-general of Punjab.

The people have been demanding the return of the 105-carat stone for years.

The British Government had in 2013 rejected demands for the return of the Kohinoor. (ANI)

Manish Tewari said that Mallya would provide full details of

foreign exchange remittances in the next few

days.

"We are shocked at the allegation made by the Enforcement Department before the PMLA Court for the very first time," the UB Group said in a statement.

"The basis of seeking a Non Bailable Warrant against our Chairman is erroneous and unjustified," the statement added.

Meanwhile, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai will today pronounce its order

on Enforcement Directorate's plea for the Non Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Mallya in a money laundering case.

The special court had on Saturday reserved its order till today on the agency's plea.

The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Mallya diverted Rs. 430 crores for purchase of a property abroad from the Rs. 950 crores IDBI loan for his Kingfisher Airlines. (ANI)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi reaches out to rebels with federalism vow Yangon, Apr 18 : Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi today vowed to press for greater autonomy for the nation's ethnic minorities, in an early move to soothe the rebellions roiling the country after her party's ascent to power.

The country has been swept up in optimism for a more peaceful and prosperous future since the National League for Democracy (NLD) took power from the military on April 1.

But the democracy figurehead warned Myanmar's prospects pivot on ending ethnic conflicts that have blistered the country since its independence in 1948.

To do so, the NLD government would seek "a real federal democratic union", she said in a televised address marking Myanmar's New Year.

"Peace and a federal democratic union are closely intertwined and

that's why we need to change the constitution.

The most important thing is national reconciliation."

They were Suu Kyi's first major comments as "state counsellor" -- a role she took on following the handover from an army that dominated the country for 50 years.

The current charter, penned by the military in 2008, centralises power.

The former junta in part justified its tight control of the country with fears that ethnic divisions would fracture the nation.

But federalism has gradually become central to peace discussions steered by a quasi-civilian government that replaced outright military rule in 2011.

Reiterating the federal pledge, Suu Kyi sought to reassure ethnic leaders that the NLD would govern for all, despite its leadership being drawn

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi heavily from the Buddhist Bamar majority.

The country's ethnic minorities have often complained of their treatment by the Bamar who form much of the military, economic and political elite.

The NLD nevertheless picked up seats in many of Myanmar's ethnic areas in last year's election, giving it a massive mandate to rule.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi is beloved by many in Myanmar but blocked from becoming president

Her 25-year-old spouse, Javier Sangucho, the father of their two young children, worked at the property.

"He did the painting. He had just gone down to rest a bit when it happened," the 24-year-old woman told AFP. "It" was the earthquake, a 7.8-magnitude monster that late Saturday toppled buildings along the coast and a ways inland, killing by last count more than 270 people and injuring at least 2,500.

The toll, authorities say, is certain to rise in the next days.

A dozen men, friends and relatives, helped Paladines pick away at the rubble.

The group had been at it for more than a day, ever since the earth

shook and brought down the hotel and many other buildings along the town's main road.

A helmeted fireman finally turned up with a jackhammer to chip apart the concrete floor that had collapsed on Paladines' husband.

Energised by the mechanical aid, Paladines redoubled her own manual efforts. Tears flooded down her cheeks as she hurled debris aside.

The captain of the fire brigade, Javier Carpo, said he had just 30 men and women under his command to help in a town ravaged from end to end. The team has more pleas for help than they could handle.

"Yesterday, we brought out the bodies of three

children from a hotel," he said.

The quake destroyed and damaged homes, shops and hotels across this coastal town of some 200,000.

Cracks on buildings left standing hint that the structures may be too fragile to withstand the dozens of aftershocks rattling the region.

Some earthmovers and trucks arrived in Manta late Sunday to help remove debris.

"Throughout the town there are a lot of people trapped," Carpo said, with a resigned air. "We don't know how many."

He left to inspect a set of ruins that had attracted the attention of several hungry cats.

(AFP)

Curfew reimposed in Handwara Handwara (Jammu and Kashmir), Apr.18 : The curfew has been reimposed in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara district.

The curfew, which was imposed in wake of protests triggered by the death of four people over 'molestation' of a girl allegedly by a soldier in Handwara, was, however, lifted till 11:00 a.m. on the sixth day today.

Restrictions have been imposed in downtown Srinagar where stone pelting incidents take place almost every Friday.

Mobile Internet services remain snapped across the valley.

The girl yesterday recorded her statement before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in the Jammu High Court.

It is reported that the girl stood by her earlier state-

ment that she was not molested by any army soldier on Tuesday.

The girl along with her father was presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Handwara, last evening and her statement was recorded.

The army, had on Wednesday, circulated a video in which the school girl denied molestation by a trooper and alleged that local boys had harassed and

Patna, Apr.18 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that his call for an RSSfree India was just his personal opinion, adding the Sangh's ideology is not in the nation's benefit.

"This is my opinion, nothing else. It's my political view. The ideology of the RSS is not in benefit of the nation," he said.

Addressing an event in Patna on Saturday, Kumar had mounted a counteroffensive against

Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 'Congressmukt Bharat' slogan and said all the non-BJP parties will have to come together to usher in a Sangh-free India.

"Uniting against the BJP and its divisive ideology is the only way to save democracy," he added.

He asserted that the country was heading towards a bipolar political divide with the BJP-RSS on one side and the rest on the other. (ANI)

One should not tamper with Odd-Even scheme: Kejriwal tells Goel

by the same charter as her two sons carry foreign citizenship.

She is the daughter of the country's independence hero, who supported a federalist future for Myanmar before his assassination.

Attempts to amend the army's charter under the former quasi-civilian government were stymied by the military -- which is Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gifted 25 per cent of all parliamentary seats by the New Delhi, Apr. 18 : Ex- "The people have voluntarconstitution it scripted. pressing disappointment ily come forward and are over BJP MP Vijay Goel's participating in the Odd(AFP)

Ecuador quake survivors dig for kin with bare hands Manta (Ecuador), Apr 18 : The desperation driving survivors of Ecuador's powerful earthquake to find loved ones trapped under rubble could be seen in the tools many used in their amateur rescue attempts: none.

A small crowd of residents in Manta, a popular beach town in the disaster zone on Ecuador's Pacific coast, clawed away yesterday at big blocks of broken cement and scraps of twisted metal with their bare hands.

"My husband is under there," said Veronica Paladines, a tiny woman tearing at a mound of debris that used to be a hotel and throwing what she could aside, with fury and tears in her eyes.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

slapped her when she returned from a washroom located close to the army bunker at Kashmir's Handwara town.

On Tuesday, security forces opened fire on protesters, who accused a trooper of molesting the school girl, killing two and injuring 20 others. In subsequent protests two more civilians including a woman were killed in firing. (ANI)

move to violate the OddEven scheme, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that one should not tamper with a move, which has received immense public support.

Kejriwal said the reports state that the people of Delhi are following the initiative very positively.

Responding to a poser about Goel being fined Rs. 3500 for violating the Odd-Even scheme, Kejriwal said "Vijay Goel ji was driving without license.This is a very dangerous thing."

He further congratulated the people of Delhi for the success of Odd-Even formula.

Even programme," he added.

Earlier in the day, Goel violated the Odd-Even scheme as a mark of protest following which he was penalised by the traffic police.

"I don't oppose the OddEven scheme rather I oppose the amount of public money being used by the Kejriwal government to advertise it. If they remove those advertisements, I won't protest with regard to this scheme," Goel told ANI. Goel earlier met Transport Minister Gopal Rai during which the latter urged him to refrain from breaking the rule. (ANI)

Pratyusha suicide: Bombay HC adjourns Rahul's bail plea till Apr. 25 Mumbai, Apr.18 : The Bombay High Court on Monday adjourned the anticipatory bail plea of deceased actor Pratyusha Banerjee's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh till April 25.

Rahul has been asked to appear before the Bangur Nagar Police Station on April 23.

Meanwhile, Rahul's father has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alleging that some people are trying to sabotage the probe in the case.

Rejecting his bail plea earlier, the High Court had observed that Pratyusha was abused several times, adding it cannot be said that he neither abetted nor instigated her to commit suicide.

The sessions' court had earlier stated the matter should be thoroughly investigated in the light of accusations against Rahul, adding that it was not possible in his absence as the police will find it difficult to collect the best possible evidence.

On April 7, a Mumbai sessions court had rejected Rahul's anticipatory bail application, following which he filed a plea in the High Court.

Rahul was granted an interim relief from arrest for a week by the Bombay High Court on April 12.

An FIR was registered against the producer-actor, who was in a live-in relationship with Pratyusha after her mother Soma alleged that he had abetted and instigated the suicide.

24-year-old Pratyusha, who shot to fame for her role as Anandi in 'Balika Vadhu', allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself inside her flat in suburban Goregaon on April 1.

Two days later, a case under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 504, 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC was registered against Rahul following a complaint lodged by Pratyusha's parents. (ANI)

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

PAGE 7

NEIGHBOURS

Swaraj raises Masood Azhar issue with Chinese counterpart Moscow, Apr. 18 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has raised the issue of China blocking India's bid at UN to ban Masood Azhar with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Monday.

Swaraj met Wang on the sidelines of annual Foreign Ministers' meeting of Russia, India and China here.

Vikas Swarup, Official Spokesperson Ministry of External Affairs tweeted, "First bilateral of the day in Moscow before RIC Session: EAM @SushmaSwaraj meets her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi ."

India had criticised the use of hidden veto by

Brazil's lower house green-lights presidential impeachment

China, blocking its bid at the United Nations (U.N.) to ban Jaish-eMohammad chief Masood Azhar.

Following that Swarup had said, "India is in constant touch with China on the matter. The issue has already been taken up at high level. There cannot be two sets of rules for judging terrorists."

After the attack on the Pathankot airbase in January, India had in February written to the U.N. calling for immediate action to list Masood Azhar under the U.N. Sanctions Committee.

All were told that if there are no objections, the designation will be an-

meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to strengthen ties between the two allies.

She will also be meting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to exchange views and coordinate positions on international and regional issues of mutual interest.

Swaraj is scheduled to attend the RIC meeting today.

Sushma Swaraj and Masood Azhar nounced after the expiry of the deadline, but just hours before the deadline, China requested the U.N. committee to keep on hold the designation.

China had said any listing would have to meet

Should a simple majority be reached in its first vote, the Senate would take up the measure, and Rousseff would be forced to suspend her presidency for 180 days, during which Vice President Michel Temer would serve as acting president.

Should a two-thirds margin be reached in the Senate's second vote, Rousseff would be removed from office, and Temer would take over the presidency. (ANI )

Upon her arrival in Moscow, Vikas Swarup, Official Spokesperson Ministry of External Affairs tweeted, "Namaste Moscow!

EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in Russia to attend RIC Foreign Ministers Conference tomorrow."

Swaraj had a wide range of engagements with several top Iranian leaders, including President Hassan Rouhani in Iran.

During the visit, Tehran pressed on enhancing energy cooperation between both nations.

(ANI)

Parrikar holds bilateral meeting with General Chang in Beijing

Washington, Apr.18 : The lower house of Brazil's parliament has green lighted impeachment proceedings against the country's President, Dilma Rousseff.

According to reports from Brazil's capital Brasilia, the Chamber of Deputies voted for the impeachment of Rousseff by a twothirds majority. The lower house is composed of 342 lawmakers.

The issue has now moved to the Senate, which is expected to open a formal impeachment trial in the coming weeks.

the requirements, stressing that it was the Council members' responsibility to ensure that the criteria were followed.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the RIC meeting, Swaraj will hold bilateral

According to reports, the three Foreign Ministers will exchange views on international and regional issues of common concern and discuss ways to push trilateral pragmatic cooperation forward.

Swaraj arrived here last night for the second leg of her two-nation visit after Iran.

India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Beijing, Apr. 18 : India's Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday held bilateral talks with his Chinese

counterpart General Chang Wanquan in Beijing.

"Bilateral meeting with Gen Chang Wanquan,

Min of National Defence & State Councillor of People's Republic of China," Parrikar tweeted.

Prior to the meeting, the visiting Defence Minister accompanied by General Chang was given a grand welcome at the People's Liberation Army (PLA) sprawling headquarters in Beijing west of Tiananmen Square.

"At welcome ceremony in Beijing t'day with Gen Chang Wanquan, Min of Nat'l Defence & State Councillor of PRC," he tweeted.

Parrikar, who is presently on a five-day visit to

China, is the first Indian Defence Minister to visit the country after A.K. Antony in 2013. He will also be meeting the top Chinese military officials.

Parrikar and Chang inspected a guard of honour before heading for talks.

The incidents of incursions, implementation of an agreement to reduce tensions between border patrols and Sino-India strategic concerns are among the issues expected to be discussed during the talks.

Parrikar will also call on

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. He would also visit China's recently integrated western command military headquarters, which has jurisdiction over border with India.

Parrikar arrived at Shanghai yesterday, accompanied by senior officials from the Army and Navy besides the Defence Ministry.

Addressing the Indian community members in Shanghai, he assured the Government of India's steadfast commitment at securing their interests. (ANI)

Dahal to hold talks with agitating Madhesi leaders Kathmandu, Apr. 18 : The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who also heads the High-Level Political Coordination Committee to oversee the activities of the CPN-UML-led coalition government, is set to hold talks with agitating Madhesi parties.

Dahal said that he would take the lead in resolving issues raised by Madhesi parties as soon as he returned to Kathmandu, yesterday while addressing different functions outside the capital.

UCPN-M General Secretary Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that Dahal was taking the initiative since the government was least interested in bringing the agitating Madhesi par-

ties on board through talks.

"Though there has been no official decision Chairman Dahal has been taking the initiative to resolve the outstanding Madhesi issues through dialogue," the Himalayan Times quoted Mahara as saying.

Dahal during his meeting with senior Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Paudel stressed on the need of a working alliance among major parties to address the grievance of Madhesi parties.

Madhesi-based the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader Biswonath Sah also said that since there was no alternate to talks in resolving issues raised by the Madhesi parties, his party could act as a mediator as

Chairman Pushpa Kamal it shared agenda closer to that of Madhesis.

In the recently concluded Central Committee meeting of the CPN-UML, the party has called the agitating Madhesi parties for

dialogue to resolve outstanding issues and urged the government to withdraw all political cases against agitators of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) and create an environment

for talks.

Nepali Congress leader and former member of the talks team Mahesh Acharya also expressed that government hasn't been serious in resolving the issues in bringing the agitating parties to the talks table.

Following which, Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party, Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that his party would now take the lead in resolving the concerns of the agitating UDMF. Meanwhile, Ram Naresh Raya, leader of Tarai Madhes Sadbhawana Party has announced that UDMF will be launching a national level movement scheduled today with 17 different forces.

(ANI)

UN chief condoles Ecuador quake

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon New York, Apr. 18 : United Nations Secretary General Ban Kimoon has condoles the loss of lives in the earthquake in Ecuador.

In a statement issued by his office, Ban commended the Ecuadorian authorities for their leadership in the rescue effort and in providing relief to affected communities.

It was also revealed that the UN emergency relief coordinator has de-

ployed a coordination team to the affected area, and the United Nations and its humanitarian partners stand ready to provide additional support, the statement said.

Saturday's devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the strongest to have jolted Ecuador since 1979, has killed at least 246 people and injured 2,527 others.

(ANI with inputs)

China announces criteria for capital punishment in graft cases

China announces criteria for capital punishment in graft cases Hong Kong, Apr.18 : China has said that convicts found guilty of embezzling or accepting bribes worth 3 million Yuan (about 463,000 U.S. dollars), will be sentenced to death.

However, it said that the handing out of capital punishment would be based on the severity of corruption and its overall impact on society.

The Xinhua news agency said that the ruling was jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The court said that a twoyear suspended death sentence may be issued if there are mitigating fac-

tors.

In practice, however, courts tend to be more lenient when sentencing those who have cooperated during the investigation.

In cases where the death penalty may be too strong, convicts may receive a life sentence without commutation or parole, according to the document.

The ruling is a supplement to the Criminal Law, which was revised in late 2015.

The law gives judicial departments more authority to set precise standards, as it is easier to revise a judicial explanation than amend the law. (A N I with inputs)

Lankan Constitutional Council to decide on Police Chief today

Key world powers need to end double standards on nuke weapons, says Kazakh president New Delhi, Apr.18 : Reaffirming his country's commitment to realizing a world free of nuclear weapons and urging the international community to consider this goal as the main objective of humanity in the 21st century. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev used the platform of the recently held Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in Washington to question the double standards of some world powers on the issue of creating and maintaining their respective nuclear arsenal, while urging other nations to destroy theirs.

Warning that the risk of conflict has increased globally over the past few decades, President Nazabayev maintained that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has not fulfilled its purpose, and added that It may be just a matter of time before these weapons fall into the hands of terrorists.

"International terrorism has gained a more sinister character. It has moved from isolated acts in individual countries to a large scale terrorist aggression across Europe, Asia and Africa.

The exodus of millions of refu-

gees, the destruction of sites and historic monuments has become an everyday reality.

Economic sanctions and trade wars are commonplace. Our planet is now on the edge of a new Cold War which could have devastating consequences for all humankind. This threatens the achievements of the last four decades," he warned.

However, he said, that he was happy to note that the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia have been reduced substantially and that the dive nuclear powers have announced and kept a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing.

This, he said, had been made possible only through several rounds of negotiations.

He also spoke about the accelerated formation of regional security systems, and in particular made a mention of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which he described as a unique and comprehensive security structure created on principles of mutual trust.

President Nazarbayev further said that while there is coordinated action between the world

powers and UN peacekeeping operations that has seen the end of many conflicts, the international community nevertheless is witnessing an erosion of these "international security achievements".

He said that there is every possibility of a new long-term confrontation because of the existing tensions and jostling for power around the globe.

He asked, "Which country could be the next victim of the so-called 'proxy-wars' between the world and regional powers?

Which territory, flourishing for now, will be torn apart by tank tracks and explosive shells? In which cities will children die from heavy rocket fire? From where and where to will the refugees fleeing conflicts migrate next?"

During his address, he made a specific mention of two prominent scientists - Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell - who more than 60 years ago asked "a dreadful but an inescapable question -"Shall we put an end to the human race, or will mankind be able to renounce war?"

President Nazarbayev said that the most brilliant minds of the

20th century have warned the people that in a future world war nuclear weapons will inevitably be used leading to the destruction of all life on Earth.

Einstein and Russell, he said, had demanded that disputes between countries cannot and should not be resolved by military means, and this remains hugely relevant now in the 21st century.

Insisting that world leaders must look for and accept reasonable alternatives on the highest priority, the Kazakh president said, "In the 21st century, humanity must take decisive steps towards demilitarization. We won't get another chance. If this objective is not achieved, our planet will end as a graveyard of radioactive materials. We need a new comprehensive program - a 21st century, a world without wars."

He listed three key principles that required adoption and adaptation. These were: .The acceptance that there will be no winners in any modern war and that everyone engaged in such activity would be on the losing side. .That any new war will inevita-

bly entail the use of weapons of mass destruction which could lead to the destruction of all humankind, and that it might be too late to argue over who is responsible for such catastrophes. .Acceptance that the main tool for resolving all disputes should be peaceful dialogue and constructive negotiations. Everyone would have equal responsibility for peace and security, mutual respect and non-interference in domestic affairs.

He further stated that the world community must take comprehensive action towards achieving these goals.

He there must be gradual progress towards a world free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. In this regard, he said Kazakhstan made a significant contribution by championing the adoption of the Universal Declaration for the Achievement of a Nuclear-WeaponsFree World at the UN in December 2015.

He reminded the world that 25 years ago Kazakhstan had permanently closed its nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk. He

said at that time Kazakhstan had the world's fourth largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, and willingly chose to destroy it as it was seen as a menacing legacy of the collapsed Soviet Union.

President Nazarbayev said that while global nuclear security summits are of great importance, "We now need global decisions to prohibit deploying lethal weapons in outer space, on the seabed and in international waters of the World Ocean, as well as in the Arctic."

He concluded with a warning, "Our civilization, by scholars' estimates, has survived more than 15,000 wars, approximately three every year. Hundreds of millions of people have died, cities and countries have been destroyed, cultures and civilizations have vanished.

The world is on the verge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but the virus of war continues to poison the international community. Militarism has deeply penetrated our minds and behavior."

(ANI)

Constitutional Council of Sri Lankan Parliament is scheduled to meet Colombo, Apr. 18 : The Constitutional Council of Sri Lankan Parliament is scheduled to meet today under the patronage of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to decide on the appointment of the next police chief.

Following the procedure adopted in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the President has sent three names to the Constitutional Council to be considered for the appointment of the 34th Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Sri Lanka, reports Lanka Page.

Senior Deputy Inspectors General Pujitha Jayasundera, S.M. Wickramasinghe and Chandana Wickramaratne

have been nominated by President Maithripala Sirisena for the consideration of the Council.

During the meeting, special attention will be given on the recommendations sent by the President on appointing the next IGP and a final decision will be reached.

The three senior DIGs nominated for the vacant post of IGP will appear before the Council when it convenes.

The Council's decision will immediately be informed to the President.

Sri Lanka's 33rd Police Chief N. K. Illangakoon, who joined the police in 1982, officially retired on April 11 after five years of service at the helm. (ANI)

PAGE 8

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

Why the US Needs Conventional Submarines Boost Textile NE Gets Rs.1,038 cr Push To boost textile exports, increase jobs and and curb the migration of workers the Union government has undertaken a Rs. 1,038 crore ($156 million) scheme in the Northeast. Funded by the union Ministry of Tex(Photo: averyweigh-tronix) tiles under the North-East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS), the project is also aimed at developing and modernising the textile sector by providing region-specific flexibility in execution. According to Textiles Secretary, under the NERTPS, the textile ministry has been providing Rs.18 crore each for setting up of a readymade garment manufacturing unit or 'Apparel and Garment Making Centre' (AGMC) in each of the eight northeastern states. It would also provide financial assistance to run the units after their commissioning.

The first AGMC was inaugurated in Nagaland on April 6 and the second one in Tripura on April 8. The AGMCs in other six states are expected to start manufacturing in a month. After starting production of all the eight AGMCs, there would be a landmark development in the textile sector in the northeastern region. It also aims to boost the scopes of employment and exports and curb migration of workers from this region to other parts of the country. And as a result three hundred Japanese computerised sewing machines will be installed in each of the eight AGMCs. The Tokyo-based Juki company, which started making sewing machines in 1947, has customers in 170 countries from China to the Vatican. Of the 300 sewing machines, 200 would be used for manufacturing and 100 for providing training. Each AGMC will provide direct employment to 1,200-1,500 people, mostly women, and take care of skill up-gradation and marketing of finished products. Each unit is expected to meet the demand for uniforms and garments of the police, security and paramilitary forces - as also schoolchildren and civilians - in the region.

Also a host of schemes are planned in the northeastern states under the NERTPS, which covers projects across the textiles sector ranging from sericulture, handlooms, handicrafts, power looms to apparel and garmenting. With a 46 million population, the northeastern states share a more than 5,435-km border with China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Some of the states have trade ties with a few of these countries, especially Bangladesh and Myanmar. Thus, the AGMCs have scope to exporting readymade apparel to these adjoining and other countries. It can be noted that the readymade garments contribute 11 percent of India's exports, seven percent to GDP and provides the maximum employment after agriculture. India's current share in the global apparel and garment market is a mere 3.7 percent against Bangladesh's 6.1 percent and Vietnam's 4.3 percent, signifying that India has the potential to step up output, both for domestic requirements and exports.

Devastated coast zone About 230 aftershocks have rattled survivors The magnitude-7.8 quake, the strongest to hit Ecuador since 1979, was centered on Ecuador's sparsely populated fishing ports and tourist beaches, 105 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Quito, the capital killing at least 272 people and flattening resort towns.

The 7.8 magnitude quake ripped apart buildings and roads, knocked out power, and injured at least 2,068 people in the largely poor Andean country causing panic as far away as the highland capital Quito and collapsing buildings and roads in a swath of western towns. The tremor followed two large and deadly quakes that struck Japan since Thursday. Both countries are located on the seismically active "Ring of Fire" that circles the Pacific, but according to the U.S. Geological Survey large quakes separated by such distances would probably not be related. About 230 aftershocks have rattled survivors, who huddled in the streets, worried the flow of tremors could topple their already cracked homes. And a state of emergency was declared in six provinces. Some 130 inmates in Portoviejo too took advantage of the quake's destruction and chaos to climb over the collapsed walls of the low-security El Rodeo prison but as per reports more than 35 prisoners had been recaptured.

Coastal areas nearest the epicenter were hit hardest, especially Pedernales, a rustic tourist spot with beaches and palm trees now laden with debris from its pastel-colored houses.

It has been decades since the government dealt with an earthquake of this magnitude. In a 1979 disaster, 600 people were killed and 20,000 injured, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Reports said that Venezuela, Chile and Mexico are sending personnel and supplies, the left-leaning Correa government. The Ecuadorean Red Cross mobilized more than 800 volunteers and staff and medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was sending a team from Colombia. Also about 13,500 security force personnel were mobilized to keep order around Ecuador, and $600 million in credit from multilateral lenders was immediately activated for the emergency, the government said. The quake has piled pain on the economy of OPEC's smallest member, already reeling from low oil prices, with economic growth this year projected at near-zero. It has also propelled Glas - a possible candidate in Ecuador's February 2017 presidential election - into the limelight

Filling a capability gap in the U.S Navy's Pacific operations.

The U.S. Armed Forces Whereas the Soviet Union operate a wide array of had submarines cruising sophisticated weaponry, in the globe's waters, the next many cases superior to big naval challenge for the anything else in the world. United States isn't a reviBut while the new destroy- talized Russian navy, but ers, carrit h e ers, or the People's Torsten Heinrich Liberation F - 2 2 m i g h t A r m y have no equal, the U.S. Navy's subs and ships Armed Forces face a sig- lurking in the South China nificant gap in their capa- Sea and East China Sea. bilities: the total lack of These submarines could any conventional subma- play a key role in trying to rines. enforce China's A2/AD The United States hasn't (anti-access/area denial) produced any conven- strategy against a superior tional submarines since USN, with the goal of prethe Barbel-class in the late venting the United States 1950s; every submarine from intervening in any class since then has been conflict involving the nuclear powered. This Spratly Islands, the might have made sense in Paracel Islands, the the context of the Cold Senkaku Islands, and TaiWar, where Soviet nuclear- wan. powered ballistic missile With the PLAN's mostly submarines had to be shad- conventional submarine owed, but times have force, the USN's superior changed. anti-submarine warfare caWhile previously conven- pabilities will continue to tional submarines had to severely hinder any Chisnorkel roughly at least ev- nese submarine operations ery two days of time un- outside the first island der water to recharge their chain and outside of batteries, air-independent China's land-based air propulsion (AIP) has cover. This limits the thechanged the game. Ger- ater of operations to a high man Type 212 submarines degree and puts it well into can stay under water with- range for conventional out snorkeling for up to submarines using only three weeks, traveling their AIP based in 1,500 miles (2,400 kilo- Okinawa, Singapore, meters) or more. Without Subic Bay, Guam, or posemitting heat and with no sibly Zuoying Naval Base need for constant cooling on Taiwan. due to the lack of a nuclear Whereas China can and reactor, these German sub- will create a bigger subsurmarines and comparable face fleet than the USN by designs are more than a mixing conventional submatch for nuclear-pow- marines with nuclear powered submarines in terms ered ones, the financial of stealthiness. burden of matching hull

with hull is practically impossible for the United States, at least as long as it limits the USN to SSNs. Conventional submarines might change this.

While one Virginia-class submarine costs roughly $2.7 billion per unit, the same money could buy six to seven conventional submarines of the German Type 212 class. While U.S. nuclear-attack submarines are superb, many examples have shown that sophisticated conventional submarines aren't just a match for surface fleets but also for older SSNs under the right circumstances.

In case of a conflict with China, the majority of naval combat will happen well within the first island chain, where a purely nuclear-powered fleet seems like a waste of assets. Neither their range nor their speed will be needed in most cases. As conventional submarines will be able to handle most tasks, the dramatically more expensive SSNs could stay out of the first island chain concentration on shadowing the PLAN's SSBNs and SSNs outside this area, while keeping enough in reserve and out of harm's way to maintain a credible deterrence against Russia at the same time. Additional conventional subs would also prevent the projected sub shortfallstarting in 2021.

But going back into the business of building conventional submarines for the USN wouldn't just

A Conventional Submarine (Photo: realclear) make sense from an fiscal point of view for a navy that has limited resources. It would also offer various economic and political options for the United States.

President George W. Bush promised Taiwan eight conventional subs in 2001, which were never delivered. If the United States were to start building conventional submarines again, the pledge to Taiwan could finally be fulfilled.

Moreover, the market for conventional submarines is gigantic. Most Asian nations are looking to establish, increase, or modernize their submarine fleets; Germany and France have both enjoyed particular success marketing their submarines to countries like South Ko-

rea, Indonesia, India, and Malaysia. Many of these nations are close U.S. allies or friends. The market for modern conventional submarines built in the United States would probably amount to several dozen hulls within the next two decades.

Built in the U.S., employing U.S. workers, and spreading the development costs over ever more hulls, Washington could seriously consider subsidizing some of those submarines for navies which are direly in need for a naval deterrence against an ever more aggressive China. If the United States doesn't want to hand Asia over to China on China's terms, a price might have to be paid in the end. It'll be either money or blood. Subsidized submarines for the Philip-

pines and Taiwan might just be what it takes to show the steadfast commitment for the status quo and the support for those two nations, which are under heavy pressure from the Middle Kingdom.

Conventional submarines with AIP wouldn't just bolster the USN's capabilities in this crucial theater for a comparative bargain, they would also allow the U.S. to enter a sizable weapons market while giving it the power to supply precious allies with exactly those tools they need for deterrence. The technology transfer necessary for building subs like the Type 212 could very easily be attained by a joint venture or even licensing the German subs from a company desperately looking for sales like Howaldwerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW). Courtesy: The Diplomat

India, Iran, Afghanistan Finalize Chabahar Port Agreement The agreement may be signed during a visit later this year by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran.

India, Iran, and Afghani- counterpart, Javad Zarif, stan have finalized the pa- the Iranian president, rameters of a trilateral Hassan Rouhani, and Iran's agreement known as the supreme leader, Ayatollah Chabahar A l i Agreement, Ankit Panda K h a m e n e i . which will alSwaraj addilow India access to Af- tionally addressed memghanistan via the strategi- bers of Tehran's Indian cally located Iranian port of community at an Indian Chabahar, which sits on the school and a Sikh Gulf of Oman. The Gurudwara.

Chabahar route to Afghani- According to India's Minstan will allow Indian istry of External Affairs, the goods to reach Afghanistan agreement will "signifiwithout having to first by- cantly enhance utilisation pass Pakistan, which has a of Chabahar Port, contriblimited trade relationship ute to economic growth of with New Delhi due to dip- Afghanistan and facilitate lomatic tensions and a ter- better regional connectivritorial dispute between the ity, including between Intwo countries. dia and connections to AfThe finalization of the ghanistan and central Chabahar agreement Asia." comes after a visit to Iran It added that the agreement by an Indian diplomatic "will be a strategic bulwark delegation led by Foreign for greater flow of people Minister Sushma Swaraj. and goods among the three Swaraj arrived in Iran on countries, as well as in the Saturday, her first visit to region." the country as India's exter- Swaraj and Zarif additionnal affairs minister. In Iran, ally discussed an accompashe met with her Iranian nying project: the railway

link along the ChabaharZahedan-Mashhad route, connecting the Iranian port with the Iranian cities of Zahedan and Masshhad, along the country's eastern border. The completed rail-

Vikas Swarup, notes that India will "supply $400 million of steel rails" for the railway link.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to visit Iran later this year. The

Flag of India, Iran, Afghanistan (Photo: southasianmedia) way will extend 1,380 kilometers. The Economic Times, citing Indian foreign ministry spokesperson

final signing of the Chabahar agreement will likely occur during his state visit.

Over a Decade in the Making India and Iran had first broached the idea of Indian access to Chabahar in 2003, when they agreed to jointly develop the port. In part due to increased Western sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program and India's rapprochement with the United States following the landmark 2005 framework between the two countries, the development of Chabahar stagnated on the India-Iran agenda.

Last year, in May 2015, two months before world powers and Iran announced the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program, Indian Transportation Minister Nitin Gadkari visited Iran to sign a memorandum of understanding on Chabahar. Last week, ahead of Swaraj's visit to Iran, representatives from Iran, Afghanistan, and India met in New Delhi to finalize a draft of the Chabahar agreement.

Dilution Of A System

Image for representational purpose (Photo: cbc.ca)

Sir, To regain power by fair means or foul has become an agenda of priority for to-day's politicians. Particularly, those who tasted the power. These politicians behave crazily like a 'Man - Eater', the man - eater, (Tiger) after tasting the flesh of human - beings becomes desperate to kill human beings and eat. So, breach of model code of conduct by these politicians who rule the state has become a way of life. We feel that the election commission too in a bid of show that it exists appears to serve simply a show - cause notice to the erring politicians. Despite specific strictures of the Election commission the Chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi addressed a press - conference in a reputed Hotel on the very date of the second phase of assembly election in a bizarre show of arrogance and then dared the commission to arrest him. The Elec-

The finalization of the Chabahar agreement is not only an important development in the India-Iran relationship, but it also shows that New Delhi is serious on delivering on its commitments in Afghanistan.

In December 2015, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Afghanistan, he and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani discussed Chabahar and urged a conclusion of a final agreement.

The increase in connectivity afforded by the port could allow Afghan exports cheaper access to markets in India. Currently, an overwhelming amount of Afghan manufactured goods travel through Karachi, Pakistan. In February 2016, Afghan officials said that Afghan exports through Karachi had declined 40 percent amid political tensions between Kabul and Islamabad. Courtesy: The Diplomat

Best Letter The best letter of the month in the Letter to the Editor section will be awarded an amount of Rs 200.

So please keep writing.

tion commission simply filed an FIR in a nearby Police - station. Likewise, the Chief-minister of West - Bengal too passes myriad of inflammatory comments that are tantamount to breach of model code of conduct with impunity.

Recently, in an election meeting Ms. Mamata Banerjee declared that if voted Letters to the to power, she would open a new dis- editor and articles trict. The Election commission is a helpless onlooker. They cannot go be- should be sent to : The Eastern Toyond serving a show-cause notice. Is day the entire system is diluted?

Chowkidingee, Near Sankardeva Hospital Mancotta Road, Dibrugarh786003 (Assam) Yours etc. Ph: 0373-2328944 Ashok Bordoloi Web : Dibrugarh editor.easterntoday@gmail.com

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What Your Emojis Say About You Linda Kaye, Helen Wall, Stephanie Malone When you add a smiley face to the end of a message, you may be saying more than you realise.

Emoticons, faces formed from punctuation symbols such as :-), and emojis, picture symbols such as , are now common features of the way we communicate using phone and internet messaging services and social media. They can help your recipient understand a potentially ambiguous message, reinforce the emotion in what you're saying, or communicate your feelings rapidly with a single character. But not everyone uses them - or interprets them - in the same way.

So we set out to discover how the use of these symbols influences the way others perceive us.

Do different types of people use emoticons for a particular purpose, such as managing their image, for example? If so, what psychological factors are associated

with these actions? To do this, we asked a group of students to complete questionnaires about themselves and then allow us to study their textual communication in a staged conversation.

The questions covered the students' views on their personalities, selfesteem, social anxiety and self-presentation concerns (how worried they were about how other people perceived them). We also asked about the amount of emoticons they used and why they used them for text messages, emails and Facebook. We then took screenshots of their Facebook profiles and recorded a 10-minute conversation they had with another, unknown student via Facebook messenger.

We found that those people who rated themselves as agreeable (pleasant, likeable) were more likely to use emoticons on social media sites. We also found that those who were less worried about how other

people perceived them were more likely to use sad emoticons.

Mirror to the real world It seems that different people use emoticons differently depending on their personalities.

People who are agreeable tend to use social and emotional cues in the real world to communicate that to other people, such as smiling and being encouraging. And to some degree that is mirrored in the virtual world through the use of smiling emoticons.

This is particularly the case on social networking sites such as Facebook, where messages may have bigger, wider audiences and where the interactions are richer and more complex than simple, one-to-one plain text messages. We can speculate that people who see themselves as more agreeable are stimulated in these virtual environments and make more of an attempt to convey that part of their personality through emoticons.

At the same time, if you're less bothered about how people perceive you, you may be more comfortable displaying all your emotions, including sadness.

And so a sad face on a message may be an indication that you're more concerned with expressing yourself than with how others may judge you.

Some of our other findings also show how we're more likely to use emoticons in some kinds of virtual communication than others.

Perhaps understandably, our participants deemed emoticons inappropriate for more professional contexts, which probably explains why they said they used emoticons less in email than in text messages or social media.

Regardless of this, our participants reported that emoticons were a useful way of expressing themselves and reducing the ambiguity of messages.

This suggests emoticons may be particularly important for individuals who find it difficult to express or interpret emotion or social intent using just text

and the cues it can provide.

This has prompted us to start planning further research into whether emoticons could be beneficial for those on the autism spectrum. These individuals can struggle with social interaction and picking up emotional cues, so the clarity that emoticons bring to potentially ambiguous messages may help them to communicate.

Judging emoticons For the final part of our research, we asked another group of people to look at the conversations and profiles we had recorded, in order to study how other people judge us based on our use of emoticons. We found that the more smiley emoticons a person had used, the more they were seen as agreeable, conscientious and open to new experiences.

But this didn't always correspond to how people saw themselves. The emoticon users and those being asked to judge them were most likely to agree on how extroverted and

'A Game Of Convenience Is Being Played In The Name Of Nationalism': NIT Protests With the recent stir at NIT garding the way it is per- Everyone jumped into the and challenging aspect to Srinagar, the nationalism ceived and is supposed to debate with leaders spew- understand is the NIT indebate has crossed all ver- be followed but it has now ing verbal venom and the cident being pitted against bal boundaries. The brand become a 'brahmastra' - public acting out the script the JNU episode given that new narrative of national- the ultimate weapon - for on the streets - beating up in both cases students ism is serving the exact those who want to rule people for not complying were the victims of state purpose that religion did the country. Earlier they with this 'ultimate' idea of oppression! Posts and for the educated and the used religion to pit the being an Indian.While this tweets kept circulating over 'modern' Indian. blindfolded, unaware, less turned the social media social media questioning Those informed into a virtual battleground, this double standard of havpreaching Shatakshi Asthana or ill in- in another scenario the ing made 'those who culture f o r m e d University of Hyderabad chanted anti-India slogans' and traditions select text people of India against became the stage for the heroes, completely ignorout of Holy books accord- each other; now they have war to play out. Brutal ing the situation at NIT. ing to their convenience, realized that for educated police assault against stu- Now, forgetting the auinterpret it in their way and people religion has taken dents continued for days, thenticity of the sources then pass judgements over a back-seat. So, those inside and outside the cam- that claimed that JNU stupeople who differ from who feel the need to di- pus. Media blackout in the dents had raised anti-India their ideology. This is the vide have come up with university and the gradu- slogans, I fail to understand purpose religion helped this brilliant binary of 'na- ally rising rage over how media had made them serve so far. Be it the use of the term 'LakshmanRekha' as a moral limit or side-lining the respect shown by Lord Rama towards the lower caste 'Shabri', the modern 'saviours of religion' have filtered out ancient values and propagated myths to serve their vested interests.The importance of idols and stones prevails while the greatness of love borne by Hanuman in his heart (not requiring any physical manifestation of it) for Lord Rama, is forgotten. After all, love that can't be seen can't be sold as lockets or threads.

NIT Srinagar (Photo: cdn.youthkiawaaz) A similar game of convenience is being played in tional' and 'anti-national' sloganeering as a proof of heroes! In fact, as far as I the name of nationalism which has not only influ- nationalism kept the public remember it had left no now. Sloganeering, flag enced the unaware, un- away from the real and stones unturned to profile waving and other sym- educated masses but has grave issues of student students as terrorists. It bolic, materialistic masks also found support among suppression. was the doctored videos are being projected as the the well educated. After all But the latest disgrace run by the news channels proof of the ultimate love who doesn't love their added to this list is the that got Kanhaiyya arrested towards one's nation. motherland? pseudo-nationalism of the and beaten up in the Patiala Ironically, this is being For once, the divide that NIT Srinagar issue.

House Court. done by the same people has been created does not With many versions of the It was the debates on news who turn a blind eye to depend on one's immedi- story spilling out daily, the channels that created the their role towards the so- ate identity as an indi- most disturbing one was fear of lynching for the ciety. Why be loyal to the vidual! I do not know where students, protesting accused students. No nation by carrying out whether to be happy with the national flag, matter how many articles small duties like abiding by about the fact that we are chanting 'Bharat Mata ki and news reports were traffic rules, being eco- not fighting over religion Jai', were lathi-charged by written trying to prove friendly, not littering, treat- or panic that this new the police, leaving many them innocent, the abuses ing everyone equally? battle is way more danger- severely injured. that followed served an When having the 'tiranga' ous.

After the questionable role entirely different purpose. on the car dashboard or The angst caused played by the police in JNU In fact, they became 'hesharing patriotic posts on amongst the people after and then in HCU, this was roes' (if they did) because social media and abusing the JNU issue due to the another instance of the the media's actions backthose who do not fit into sensationalized news re- khaki going out of its way fired. this definition of national- ports, could have settled in the name of restoring Kanhaiyya earned support ism, is enough to down once the videos peace. In all these cases the after getting assaulted. The show(off) one's love to- were found to have been students were on the losing shattering of the well-fabwards their motherland, doctored but before that side. It was the student ricated profiling of Umar who needs to do things to could happen, chanting against the state machinery Khalid won him sympathy. make a difference?

'Bharat mata ki Jai' be- (used liberally to oppress These students became 'heNot only has nationalism came the sole definition of them). roes' because they raised a become like religion re- nationalism.

But the most disappointing voice against what was

happening; not because of the media. These students were interviewed much later by news channels because they were victims of a media trial, not because they had allegedly spoken against the nation.

JNU was particularly under the media radar, and I doubt if this was because of virtuous reasons. Had it just been for nationalism, HCU should also have been given similar attention. After all, it was also declared a 'den of anti-national' activities. And if the media is skewed towards JNU, why don't I see channels covering the HCU issue that the JNU students continue to fight over? Both, JNU and HCU, along with many campuses across the nation have been raising their voices against this.

On the other hand, public figures, politicians and other enthusiasts who have been fuelling this online by slamming media for covering the 'anti-nationals' of JNU extensively, have forgotten that the government in J&K is their favourite one. Why were the 'evidently patriotic' students still lathi-charged?

Instead of dividing the student community, propagating the 'anti-national' JNU vs. 'patriotic' NIT, why don't they question the government?

It seems the whole idea was to curb the voices of these protests along with other outbursts. JNU has been made into a villain and, thus, everything they talk about is now necessarily 'anti-national'. The 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' series wanted to give the 'nationalism' debate a whole new dimension and intensify the divide on that basis. Minor clashes here and there didn't serve the purpose the way the violence at NIT has. Everyone has turned towards it and is completely unaware of the turmoil in the HCU. When all other campuses are burning in the fire of discrimination against students on various grounds, NIT Srinagar - the most suitable place to kindle the fire over questions of desh bhakti - is burning with flames of suspicious colours. Courtesy: Youthkiawaaz

Image for representational purpose (Photo: hellogiggles) open to new experiences they were. This suggests that while smiling emoticons may make people seem more agreeable and conscientious, that may not match up with their own real-world personalities.

All of this hints at how much the way we use emoticons and emojis appears to shape other people's impressions of us - and the fact that we should be aware of how we use them online. Although we recorded ex-

amples of observers making positive judgements about other people's emoticon usage, other behaviour could lead to less favourable impressions.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Book Review: The Sialkot saga In his latest, Ashwin a page later, to a camp That's not where Sanghi pulls off another where a Baba called Sanghi's ambitions end. feat of imagination as he Mahashiv, rumoured to The fictional plot-line frelinks two men, one from have lived for 300 years, quently touches upon Kolkata and the other has set up camp for the real events and real charfrom Mumbai, with a refugees pouring in across acters. One of the most curious fate the border - interesting of these is Atal going back to Gargi Gupta that's more Behari Vajpayee who Ashoka the than 2000 crops up time and again Great, says Gargi Gupta years in the space of the - the first time in Book: The Sialkot Saga first 20 pages!

Srinagar where the then Author: Ashwin Sanghi The jumpy pace, very cin- 11-year-old Arvind runs Publisher: Westland ematic in the way it jump- into a young man "in his Pages: 584 cuts from character to late twenties and early Rs: 350 character, from one set thirties" just as Shyama Starting with his first novel piece to another, settles Prasad Mukherjee, Jana The Rozabal Line nearly down for the next hun- Sangh founder and 10 years ago, Ashwin dred pages or so as the Vajpayee's mentor, is arSanghi has established boys grow up - Arvind, rested for protesting himself as India's answer to Dan Brown. Sanghi's books, all bestsellers like those of the writer of The Da Vinci Code, are speculative novels about the past, combining just enough real historical truth with hearsay, myth and arcane ideas from here and there to admit the question - could it be so?

Could Christ have survived the crucifixion and travelled far out to Kashmir (The Rozabal Line)?

What if Chanakya were to reincarnate as a poor Brahmin in India today (Chanakya's Chant)?

With this novel, his fattest yet, Sanghi pulls off another feat of imagination, linking two men -Arvind Bagadia, the son of a minor Marwari businessman Cover page of The Sialkot Saga (Photo: in Kolkata, and Arbaaz static.dnaindia.)

Sheikh, the son of a poor dockyard worker in Mumbai - with a curious comfortable in his affluent against Sheikh Abdullah's fate that goes back to Calcutta home and the permit policy. Mukherjee Ashoka the Great in 250 high-profile La Martiniere was imprisoned and died BC! school, while Arbaaz has in jail some days later - a The Sialkot Saga begins in a rough childhood grow- momentous happening in Amritsar sometime in ing up in a Dongri chawl Indian politics. Other those blood-filled months and drops out of school prominent figures who around the time of Parti- when his father dies and make an appearance in tion, in a train that rumbles takes up a job at the docks their own skin are PV into the railway station to support his mother.

Narasimha Rao and from Sialkot across the To most readers, espe- Harshad Mehta. Then border carrying more cially keen followers of there's a whole cast of dead bodies than live ones. Bollywood movies of the historical figures and That's the first three pages 1970s and 1980s, or those kings down from of the prologue. The of Amitabh Bachchan, the Samudragupta, the Chiscene then shifts to Arbaaz track will have a nese traveller Xuanzang Pataliputra in 250 BC to a familiar ring: the poor, de- and Harshavardhan, meeting of Ashoka's fiant dockyard worker Krishnadevaraya, and so court, at which there's talk who defies the goons on - all possessors of an of some pathbreaking re- who exploit his fellow ancient manuscript on search that has yielded workers (think Hum), whose wooden cover knowledge that "emperors kills the leader and be- was a carving of a jellywould willingly give up comes a smuggler fish, a mystery that ties their kingdoms to acquire" (Deewar) and gets into in with a Bhutanese comwhich it is necessary to the good books of the pany researching the sepreserve. The action then boss Abdul Dada, who cret of everlasting life. shifts back to relatively propels his rise in the Sanghi's research is immodern times, 1950, to a city's underworld (Once peccable, but will the impublic meeting addressed Upon a Time in probable plot convince his

by Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mumbaai). fans? Courtesy:dnaindia

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

BUSINESS

Honda to give a tough competition to Creta, Duster with upcoming BR-V Pune, Apr 18: Honda Cars India is all set to intensify competition in the fast growing SUV segment, which is dominated by the likes of Hyundai and Renault, with the launch of its seven-seater model BR-V next month.

The segment has been growing around 35 per cent for the past two years and ruled by Hyundai Creta, Renault Duster, Mahindra Scorpio and Ford EcoSport. The latest entrant in the fray -Maruti's sub-four metre SUV Brezza Vitara has also been received well with over 40,000 bookings so far received by the company. "This space which

Stressed assets of banks may touch Rs 10 lakh crore in Q4 New Delhi, Apr 18: Stressed assets of banks may touch Rs 10 lakh crore in the fourth quarter of 2015-16 amid slowdown in sectors like steel and ongoing asset quality review by the RBI, a report said. At the end of December, the total stressed assets (Gross NPAs plus restructured assets) of all the banks were at Rs 8 lakh crore, which is expected to see a significant jump, according to a report by industry body Assocham. "The slowdown in certain important sectors like steel, textiles and aluminium, and the ongoing Asset Quality Review (AQR) may push stressed assets of the banks to Rs 10 lakh crore mark in the fourth quarter of 201516," the report said. An asset quality review undertaken by the Reserve Bank last December has resulted in a spike in bad assets with lenders recognising over Rs 1 lakh crore of bad assets in the December quarter alone.

While releasing the report here, an Assocham spokesman said, "Gross NPAs of state-run banks increased from Rs 2,67,065 lakh crore in March 2015 to Rs 3,61,731 lakh crore in December 2015. In contrast, the private sector banks?

Gross NPAs rose to Rs 39,859 crore at the end of December from Rs 31,576 crore at the end of March 2015." The report said mounting bad loans have eroded the profitability of all banks, with 11 public sector lenders reporting losses of Rs 12,867 crore in the third quarter of last fiscal.

(Agencies)

we are entering has been growing for last two years. The compact sports utility segment grew by over 40 per cent last year.

Customer traits are evolving as aspirations are going up," said Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) Senior Vice-President (Marketing and Sales) Jnaneswar Sen. With BR-V, which is big on versatility, the company has a winner on its hands, he added. "Success of a product depends on pricing, positioning and network. We will price it competitively, position it well and we have a growing network," Sen said. As of March 31, the company had a network of 295

CUT-THROAT COMPETITION Honda Cars India is all set to intensify competition in the fast growing SUV segment, which is dominated by the likes of Hyundai and Renault, with the launch of its sevenseater model BR-V next month.

The segment has been growing around 35 per cent for the past two years and ruled by Hyundai Creta, Renault Duster, Mahindra Scorpio and Ford EcoSport.

The company would manufacture the SUV at its Tapukara plant in Rajasthan. Honda is in the process of expanding the production capacity of this facility from the current 1.2 lakh units per annum to 1.8 lakh units per annum.

achieved on the product by the company, Sen said: "All our current vehicles, barring CR-V, have localisation levels beyond 90 per cent. So it is going to be on similar lines for BR-V too." BR-V has already been launched in Indonesia and Thailand where it has been received well, he added. On exports, the company is yet to come out with a concrete plan, Sen said. Besides, BR-V, the company also plans to introduce Accord Hybrid during the festive season. It has already launched an updated version of its compact sedan Amaze last month.

(Agencies)

Electric driven cars to be launched into other European markets by Mahindra Zurich, Apr 18: Having launched its electric car 'e2o' in the UK, Indian auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is now keen to drive into other advanced European markets including Sweden and Norway as part of its business expansion plans for this new vehicle segment.

The company is bullish on advanced countries in terms of electric vehicle markets on account of affordability and other issues. To cash in on opportunities available, e2o was launched just two months after rolling out GenZe electric scooter in California (USA). "When you look at countries which are going to be early adopters, those are countries which are more advanced because the affordability is the key issue given battery costs are

Mahindra Group Chairman, Anand Mahindra.

(Photo: motoroids) high at this stage. So by definition, electric cars will be more affordable in affluent economies," said Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra. "Secondly, the concerns over climate change and the regulations concerning climate change are also much

more stringent in the Western countries. So by that logic, the markets in the West and affluent countries will move faster towards electric vehicle than the Indian market," he said.

Thus, M&M is looking at northern European markets including the Netherlands

for launching its electric vehicle offering. "Once we see traction here (in the UK) we certainly want to expand the market to other European countries. Some of the priority markets are the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden," he said. M&M recently launched 'e2o' in the UK market priced up to 15,995 pounds (over Rs. 15 lakh) designed specifically for urban commuting.

"Electric vehicle is exempt from congestion surcharge and road tax that immediately provides a competitive advantage which offsets some of the cost disadvantages in India and that is why the UK was the right place to foray into Europe," he said. The entry-level e2o City is priced at 12,995 pounds, while the higher-spec TechX version would retail at 15,995

pounds and includes a host of features like touchscreen infotainment centre with reversing camera, telematics, leather seats, alloy wheels and a rapid charging port. The interesting part is that the e2o involves a complete online buying bypassing dealership network. At 12,995 pounds, it is competitively priced vis-is models such as the Nissan Leaf. The new vehicle is an innovative combination of advancements in automotive, electronics and information technology paired with minimal running costs and zero tailpipe emissions, he said. "This makes it the ideal urban runabout or second car for the two-and-a-halfmillion UK households that can charge the car at home in a driveway or garage," he added. (Agencies)

Cola, ice cream & AC sales reaches heights as temperature rises

Fall in shares of TCS by 3% Ahmedabad, Apr 18: The shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) fell nearly 3% in an early trade on Monday after the US jury slapped last week two companies of Tata Group-Tata Consultancy Services and Tata America International Corporationwith $940 million (nearly Rs 6,253.6 crore) fine in a trade secret lawsuit filed by Epic Systems in the US District Court in Madison in October 2014. In the early morning trade, TCS stocks were trading down 2.94% at Rs 2,449.00 per scrip on the BSE. India's largest software services firm TCS will also report its fourth quarter (Q4) earnings in the evening on Monday. In its lawsuit, Epic Systems had accused TCS and Tata America International Corporation of "brazenly stealing trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data". It said that TCS took that the data while consulting for its customer.

TCS, however, said on Saturday that there was no IP infringement in the Epic Systems case and said it plans to "defend its position vigorously in appeals to higher courts". The Mumbai-based firm said it remains committed to protecting IP as well as its reputation and financial interests fully.

"While TCS respects the legal process, the jury's verdict on liability and damages was unexpected as the company believes they are unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial," TCS said in a statement. (Agencies)

As of March 31, the company had a network of 295 outlets across the country. The vehicle which will be launched on May 5 will come with premium interiors, high road.

outlets across the country.

The vehicle, that will be launched on May 5, will come with premium interiors, high road clearance and powerful engine, Sen said. "Though the exact pricing would be announced next month, one thing I can say right now is that we would price it very competitively," he added. The company would manufacture the SUV at its Tapukara plant in Rajasthan. Honda is in the process of expanding the production capacity of this facility from the current 1.2 lakh units per annum to 1.8 lakh units per annum. When asked about the localisation level

Pradeep Bakshi, president and chief operating officer at Tata-owned Voltas. (Photo: 2.bp.blogspot) Mumbai, Apr 18: Heat waves in several parts of the country may have reached dangerous levels, prompting the weather department to issue a warning, but they have brought some relief to marketers of air

conditioners, refrigerators, beverages and ice creams who were reeling under poor demand since Diwali. Sales of air-conditioners have jumped more than 50% year -on-year for the last fortnight and refrigerator

sales are up by 18%, industry insiders said. Soft drink sales have surged 15%-20% while ice cream sales are up 30%40%. The early and sudden onset of summer, marked by heat waves and scanty pre-monsoon rains in most parts of the country, has caught several consumer goods marketers unawares and there is already a shortage of air-conditioners and refrigerators in several markets, according to trade sources. Industry experts said the early trends point to a record summer quarter for these product segments. "After years, sales have surged from March itself," said Pradeep Bakshi, president and chief operating officer at

Tata-owned Voltas, leading air conditioner maker in the country. "Since airconditioner sales is directly proportionate to discomfort, the high temperatures since March should lead to a strong industry growth this season," he said. Voltas has sold more than double the air-conditioners of what it had sold last year during the first fortnight of April. LG India, the other top player in this market, reported doubling of airconditioner sales in some markets, while overall sales grew by 50% in South and West, with East and North too picking up now. Vijaya Babu, LG India's business head for air-conditioners, said demand is high even from tier two towns like

Patiala, Anand and Vijayawada. He said the real surprise has been Bengaluru, which is traditionally one of the smaller markets due to its usually pleasant and moderate climate throughout the year, but has reported highest growth this year. Cola trade insiders said both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are seeing a revival of sorts in consumption of aerated drinks on an average of 15%-20% already. "Demand is up and we're seeing comparatively higher growth rates this season after a lull. Volume growth remains higher than value growth," a top official representing the cola industry said.

(Agencies)

Analysts upgrade Infosys stock after strong Q4 numbers Noida, Apr 18: A strong revenue growth guidance for fiscal 2017 and industry-average growth rate for the previous quarter by software services major Infosys have prompted broking ho uses to upgrade their ratings on the Bangalore-based IT giant. Since Infosys announced its January March (Q4FY16) results, at least five brokerage houses have upgraded the target price for the stock to as high as Rs 1,470, a 25% rise from its pre-results close at Rs 1,172 on the BSE. "Infosys' strong FY2017 revenue growth guidance

and retention of gross profit margin band should allay concerns around profitable growth. Infosys is well-positioned to sustain leadership in growth, courtesy structural changes implemented by (its MD)," wrote analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities. The brokerage has a target price of Rs 1,425 for the stock, up from Rs 1,300 earlier. Analysts at Religare Capital Market said going ahead, for Infosys margin management would be the key for better performance.

"Higher growth and an aggressive pricing stance should help Infy offset some

Vishal Sikka, CEO and MD of Infosys. (Photo: infosys) of the pricing-led margin pressures and drive market share gains. We slightly raise our FY17FY18 EPS estimates and our March 2017 target price to Rs 1,330 (from Rs 1,300 ear-

lier)," the broking house said. On valuation parameters, it also put a 10% premium on Infosys over TCS, the current industry leader.

Analysts are also very positive about Vishal Sikka's

leadership and how he is transforming the company to its old glory days.

"Infosys (result) confirms our view that it is on the verge of a full-blown lift-off post the inspiring transformation triggered by the appointment of Sikka as CEO," said analyst at HDFC Securities. "What is more heartening is that structural (and indeed transformational) initiatives such as design thin king, automation, products and platforms, and AI are buil ding up to deliver inflection in business traction and nonline arity in operating metrics," the analyst said.

(Agencies)

PAGE 10

India R&D strength to be increased by Kronos

Aron Ain, Chief Executive Officer, Kronos Inc. (Photo: hebrewcollege) Mumbai, Apr 18: In a bid to strengthen India presence, the U.S.-based workforce management solution provider Kronos will increase its India headcount by around 25 per cent over the next four years. India R&D centre is the second largest centre outside the U.S. The company has around 700 people and aims to increase the number to 1,000. "India is an emerging market for us and we want to significantly

grow the India business.

We are scaling our operations in India and localising our product to make it more relevant to this diverse country," said Aron Ain, Chief Executive Officer, Kronos Inc. The company is also introducing Hindi language in Kronos InTouch a solution sold in India.

The U.S.-based company is also planning to open a customer experience centre in Noida.

(Agencies)

Airbnb, Times Group join hands in strategic partnership Nagpur, Apr 18: Airbnb, the world's leading community-driven hospitality company, has announced a strategic partnership with the Times Group.

The tie-up is part of Airbnb's plans to focus on developing the Indian travel market. The Times Group will drive awareness of Airbnb accommodations, and help the San Francisco-based company create a localized presence for India, leveraging the group's vast network of media and operational resources.

This is a key partnership for Times Global Partners, an initiative from the Times Group, that supports the launch and expansion of emerging global digital companies in India. Previously, Times Global Partners has partnered with The Huffington Post, Coursera, as well as other

digital companies. Commenting on the partnership, Times Internet managing director Satyan Gajwani said, "We are excited to partner with Airbnb to transform the way Indians travel. As a personal user, I've found that Airbnb has brought a new dimension of convenience, value, and uniqueness to travel. We look forward to working closely with Airbnb to evangelize communitydriven hospitality." Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder & chief technology officer, Airbnb, said, "We are excited about the opportunity that India presents, and to have one of the most respected partners in the Times Group. We are working on adapting our product for the Indian market so that Indian travellers can live like a local anywhere in the world."

(Agencies)

Inflow of FDI up 37% to $39.32 billion in 2015 New Delhi, Apr 18: Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country increased by 37 percent to USD 39.32 billion during 2015. The foreign investment inflows stood at USD 28.78 billion in 2014, according to data by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Computer hardware and software sector attracted the highest FDI, followed by services, trading business, automobile industry and chemicals.

Singapore emerged as the biggest FDI source, followed by Mauritius, US, Netherlands and Japan.

The government has taken several steps to promote investments through a liberal FDI policy. It has relaxed norms in several sectors, including single brand retail, e-commerce and construction. "The focus on improving ease of doing business in the country and relaxation of norms would help in attracting more and more FDI," an official said. The Economic Survey 201516 had said that a favourable policy regime and sound business environment have facilitated increase in FDI flows into the country. (Agencies)

HIGH FLOW FDI into the country increased by 37 percent to USD 39.32 billion during 2015.

The foreign investment inflows stood at USD 28.78 billion in 2014.

Computer hardware and software sector attracted the highest FDI, followed by services, trading business, automobile industry and chemicals.

Singapore emerged as the biggest FDI source, followed by Mauritius, US, Netherlands and Japan.

The government has taken several steps to promote investments through a liberal FDI policy.

It has relaxed norms in several sectors, including single brand retail, e-commerce and construction.

DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

Features

PAGE 11

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE Summer skincare beauty regimen Summer is approaching! But with summer, comes the dangers that not only induce the odds of your health, but skin as well.

It is essential to take care of your skin during the summertime as ultraviolet (UV) levels can wreak havoc on your exposed skin. Below are a few tips to keep your skin healthy during summer: Sunscreen: Always apply sunscreens to help protect your skin from the season's harsh sun damage. Experts generally recommend a minimum of SFP 30 for everyday sunscreen and SFP 50 for long stints outside.

Remember, UV rays can cause your skin to age prematurely. It can also lead to pigmentation.

You should always note that applying moisturizer with SFP is a must regardless of the season.

Exfoliate: Exfoliation is an essential part in skincare regime. The process helps remove dead, dulling skin de-

Summer skincare (Photo: ecogenics) bris while improving congestion and skin texture.

Exfoliate prior to toner, moisturizer, sunscreen and other make-up application.

Revive: Your face, neck and other exposed parts of the body need serious skin revival - perhaps, a triple/quad action approach. First, wash your face with cold water and

a gentle cleanser. Apply a toner to help your pores close. Then, apply a dark spot correcting serum to diminish sunspots, followed by a deepacting moisturizer to re-hydrate and help fight wrinkles.

Water: Drinking an adequate amount of water is important for overall good health. Water flushes toxins out of your

body and clears your skin of any dirt and bacteria. Drink water as much as you can to keep your skin hydrated and healthy.

Also go for seasonal summer foods such as watermelon, berries, leafy greens that have a higher concentration of water to help you stay hydrated in the heat.

Turns out, smoking pot can affect your brain ANI According to a recent study, smoking cannabis does have a detrimental effect on the brain.

The drug compromises the release of dopamine, a chemical that is integral to the brain's reward system, in areas of the brain linked to learning and memory.

Lead author Anissa AbiDargham, from Columbia University Medical Center, said that the bottom line is that long-term, heavy cannabis use may impair the dopaminergic system, which could have a variety of negative effects on learning and behavior.

Researchers noted lower levels of dopamine release in the striatum, a region of the brain that is involved in working memory, impulsive behaviour and attention.

Their study included 11 adults, between the ages of 21 and 40, who were severely dependent on can-

Smoking pot can affect your brain (Photo: greatist ) nabis and 12 matched, healthy control participants.

Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, chair of psychiatry at CUMC and past president of the American Psychiatric Asso-

ciation, noted that these findings add to the growing body of research demonstrating the potentially adverse effects of cannabis, particularly in youth, at the same

time that government policies and laws are increasing access and use.

The research is published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Tips to beautify your apartment balcony In the concrete jungle called metropolis, lush lawns, large verandah and lofty courtyards are reminiscences of the luxury that we were blessed with, in the happy past. With burgeoning population and shrinking living space, we have to be content with 'that little open hanging thing called balcony', in our apartments.

Balcony holds a special place in our lives, because it is our window to the world. It is the place where we can lay down and gaze at the stars, bask in the sunny warmth, indulge in hush-hush gossips and kill time by looking around. No wonder it needs to be looked after and decorated in a special way too.

Here are some creative ideas.

Garden on wall: According to a designer, " With the concept of nuclear families becoming more prominent, "balconies" have become more significant in our lives. , I strongly feel that getting a person close to nature increases the scope of him getting close to his inner soul.

Hence, wall mounted in balconies gardens are becoming popular. " The price for setting up a wall garden varies from Rs 700 to Rs 1000 per square feet and the types of plants can be decided on the basis of the availability

of sunshine in the balcony.

Drip irrigation system is usually employed in these gardens.

For a kitschy and funky look, not just hanging pots, even soft drink cans, old buckets, toy trays and glass and steel jars can be used in planting saplings. Earthen miniatures, bird houses and garden accessories will add a classic look to the decor.

Smart furniture work: If you want to shun the traditional Indian look and optimize space without compromising on looks, go for furniture which is light, portable, contemporary and weather resistant. Placing wooden ledged planters and bistro style wrought iron chairs can help you achieve the perfect French look. Your balcony can also hold all the practical items you need. Incorporate a shelving system on the wall to free the floor space.

But the furniture and design you choose should also take account of your requirements.

For example, if your want to use your balcony for lazing around, reading and relaxing, a comfy ottoman will be a great idea. If you are short of space, go for bean bags or small leather couches. Including a swing in the balcony is a playful idea. This will definitely

swing the aesthetics of your balcony to a higher level. You can add more charm to your balcony with a hammock or jhula.

Investing on basics: A little investment on the basic structure of your balcony will add a greater charm to your creative efforts. Instead of aluminum & marble railings, have glass railing because it is not just low on maintenance, but also gives a sense of openness. It is important to pay attention to the wall colour and flooring. For walls, green or yellow or white look best as they give a feeling of closeness with nature. The floor should have weather tiles or normal flooring which is scratch proof.

Trendy decor: The decoration of your balcony should also take into account the current design and decor trends. Include the following for a vibrant look.

Bird cage: It looks cool, is inexpensive and can be used in multifarious ways. Place some artificial plants in it and hang from the roof, use it as a planter, employ it as a tea light holder or you can also use it as a source of light by placing a colourful bulb amidst some greenery and flowers.

-Hanging lights: Tea lights, specially hanging ones can be used in abundance in your balcony for a warm, inviting look. They will also add a touch of festivity to the decor. Glow bulbs and fairy lights will add a romantic touch to the entire set up.

-Rugs and cushions: Bright coloured rugs and cushions will add richness and glamour to your balcony. Use an electric blend of colours like bright pink, blue, orange and green. While doing up balconies, the key aspect is to make sure that it is not overly cluttered. Setting up a seating area, with a bright coloured rug and with some pretty potted plants should do the trick.

Whites and pastel shades I feel are ideal for balconies and adding a rug to the setting can give rich look. In fact, the area could be built around a statement rug to add that extra character to the setting.

Covered or uncovered, big or small-the balcony is your space where you can spend your 'me' time. So it is important to make this area inviting and snug. Rack your brains and get inspired by these ideas to create your perfect retreat! (Agencies)

Common heartburn drugs may put you at increased kidney risk ANI According to a recent study, drugs commonly prescribed to combat heartburn may increase a person's risk of serious kidney damage.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) suppress production of acid in the stomach and are used to treat heartburn, acid reflux and gastric ulcers.

Researchers who compared patients taking the medicines and histamine H2 blockers, another type of drug that reduces

Common heartburn drugs(Photo: i2.wp ) stomach acid, found a strong association between PPIs and declining kidney function.

Lead scientist Dr Ziyad

Al-Aly, from the VA Saint Louis Health Care System in the US, said that the results emphasise the impor-

tance of limiting PPI use to only when it is medically necessary, and also limiting the duration of use to the shortest possible.

The research analysed information from national databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, identifying 173,321 new users of PPIs and 20,270 new users of histamine H2 receptor blockers.

The study appears in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Powerhouses of health!

Vegetables are something that we have been literally forced to eat ever since our childhood. But, somehow, that likeness for veggies still remains the same, which is none.

However, the fact that these vegetables offer us a wealth of benefits in connection with our health is also something not to be forgotten.

These superfoods pack a mean punch when it comes to nutritious components such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein and fibre.

Below, we have compiled a list of 10 such vegetables - and all that they provide us with that we normally make faces at, but which are actually full of health!

Have a look!

1. Ladyfinger: Low in sodium and containing zero cholestrol, a 100 grams of this super veggie contains only 30 calories. Apart from this, Okra contains a slimy fiber, which aids in diabetes prevention and is also good for digestion. Because of its wealth of vitamin-rich nutrients and antioxidants, it is also good for the skin and even prevents cancer along with boosting immunity and maintaining good eye health.

2. Cauliflower: Cauliflower comes from the same family as Broccoli. Lately, various studies have shown that it can prevent several different types of cancer, including bladder cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer and ovarian cancer. Again, low on calories, a 100 grams of this vegetable only has 26 calories, along with approximately 48.2 mg or 80% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C! It contains a number of B vitamins, as well as essential minerals like manganese, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium.

3. Bitter gourd: This is one vegetable we're sure almost everyone muct have detested in their childhood days, however, this is even better. Because a 100 grams of bitter gourd contains

only 17 calories! It helps prevent and cure diabetes and is good for digestion, while also being an excellent food for overall health and immunity.

4. French Beans: An excellent source of fiber, a 100 grams of beans contains 26 calories and 3.4 grams of dietary fibre, which improves digestion, promotes weight loss, and lowers blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

that! It boosts digestion, prevents constipation, improves kidney, spleen and bowel health and is even used as a home remedy for piles. Ridge gourd also acts as a natural cure to reduce blood sugar levels.

7. Spinach: All of us remember saag (an Indian dish made with spinach) being force fed to us sometimes, by our grandmothers and/or mothers. Now we know

is known for its numerous health benefits is Fenugreek. It lowers blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, regulates blood pressure and contains galactomannan, a compound that improves heart health and lowers blood sugar. Besides this, it also prevents constipation and relieves stomach aches and acidity and is an excellent natural remedy

Indian superfoods for good health (Photo: i3.mirror ) French beans also ensure a healthy pregnancy 5. Cabbage: Also a descendant of the cauliflower and broccoli family, cabbage is full of good health. In fact, we're sure that many of you must have heard of someone or the other who has gone on a "cabbage diet", wherein the main meal is cabbage soup. Why, you ask? This is because a 100 grams of cabbage contains only 25 calories. The nutrients and minerals in this green leafy veggie prevents various forms of cancer and controls cholesterol levels. Besides this, cabbage is also good for maintaining immunity and bone health.

6. Ridge gourd: Another green vegetable, ridge gourd is known to purify the blood and boost liver health, thereby also being considered as an ancient cure for jaundice. Not only

why spinach was an integral part of our growing up years. With nutrients like Iron, Vitamins A, B, C, and K and a number of minerals and phytonutrients, spinach is considered as a powerhouse of nutrition. Every 100 gram has just 23 calories and a 1 cup serving has 10 times your daily requirement of Vitamin K, your complete requirement of Vitamin A and huge amounts of iron, folate, manganese, magnesium and copper.

It is good for your eyes, bones, skin and tissues, while also preventing cancer, neurological problems and a number of diseases. It also aids in sperm regeneration.

8. Fenugreek: Most of this list is made up of green leafy vegetables, but the truth remains that these veggies are actually a source of all that is good for your health. Another one that

to eliminate toxins from the body.

9. Eggplant/Brinjal: This fiber-rich vegetable helps in controlling blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels. The plant compounds present in it prevents cancer, slows down ageing, reduces inflammation and keeps the brain healthy.

Brinjals also contain natural nicotine which can also help you kick the butt!

10. Pumpkin: No, its not just good to use as jack-o-lanterns on Halloween. In fact, one cup of Pumpkin make up 200% of your daily Vitamin A requirement! It improves eyesight, prevents cancer, acts as a shield to protect your skin, boosts your mood as well as your immunity. Good for blood pressure and heart health, they even help you sleep better.

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DIBRUGARH, TUESDAY, APRIL 19

PAGE 12

I am not too worried about Jubilee Club beat Evergreen by 23 runs, CCD win Gayle's form, says Kohli PTI Bengaluru, Apr 18 : Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli on Sunday said that Chris Gayle's indifferent form is not a cause of worry as he feels that the dashing Jamaican is just one knock away from a big score.

Gayle has had scores of 1 and 0 in the first two matches for RCB and if one counts from the ICC World T20, he has not been able to hit double digits in five consecutive games.

"I am sure he will come good at some stage of the tournament. Probably, he may get hundred for us when it's required the

most. I am not too worried about Gayle, because the other guys are stepping up nicely. Cricket is all about grabbing the opportunity, if some others fail," Kohli told reporters after his team's seven wicket defeat at the hands of Delhi Daredevils.

Terming Gayle as a "standout player" for the RCB, Kohli reminded one and all that 17 hundreds that the West Indian scored across all his career T20 games is "not a joke".

"Chris takes lot of pride playing for RCB. He has been a standout player for us. I think people just expect a lot out of him every T20 match he plays be-

when he fires! Four guys - Gayle, AB de Villiers, myself and Shane Watson - of international calibre playing in one team, it always helps. You can rely on those four and turn the game for you," he said.

Commenting on De Kock's magnificent 108 runs, Kohli said that De Kock handled the spinners exceedingly well.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli cause he is good at it and has scored 17 centuries, which is not a joke. So, expectations are high and Gayle wants to live up to them," he said.

Despite of Gayle's failures, the team scored 227

in the first game and then almost 200 (191) in the next.

"Well we got 230 in the first match and then almost 200 in this match, without Gayle firing.

Guess what would happen

India Hockey team Nadal eyeing Guillermo Vilas's record at returns with silver Barcelona Open in Azlan Shah

Indian hockey team PTI New Delhi, Apr 18 : The Indian hockey team returned home after clinching the silver medal at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia.

The 2016 performance was the team's best since 2010, when they won the gold at the tournament.

India beat Japan, Canada, Pakistan and Malaysia in the tournament but lost the finals to Australia to end with the silver medal.

Fielding an experimental team, which featured a lot of young, inexperienced faces, they scored 18 goals in the tournament, the second most by any side.

Speaking after arriving in the country, captain Sardar Singh said, "This was a good experience for youngsters, who were playing with the senior team for the first time. In particular, Harmanpreet, Surender and Harjeet showed that they are capable of playing at the higher level and fit into the team perfectly."

Coach Roelant Oltmans also added, "It is a good preparation for Rio. We have identified some of our weaknesses, which a tournament like this highlights, and can now work on them extensively to make sure we can have a strong showing at the Olympics.

ANI Johannesburg, Apr.18 : Spanish tennis maestro Rafael Nadal, who recently clinched his ninth Monte Carlo Masters, will aim to equal Guillermo Vilas's record of 49 claycourt titles in this week's Barcelona Open.

The 29-year-old, who has won the title at Barcelona for eight times, slumped to shock defeats at the hands of Nicolas Almagro and Fabio Fognini in past two years.

Reflecting on the same, Nadal admitted he had a tough time in last few years, but added he is better prepared at the moment despite having poor start of the season, Sport24 reported.

Nadal kicked off his season with a first-round defeat against countrymen Fernando Verdasco at Australian Open, but improved tremendously and claimed a morale-boosting victory at Monte Carlo.

Insisting that he had been performing well in the recent times, the Spaniard hopes that his recent win would help in boosting his confidence for the upcoming tournaments.

By ending his two-year title drought, Nadal has also equalized the record of 28th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and brought himself back alongside top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

Spanish tennis maestro Rafael Nadal

"I think it was wonderful, especially how he handled spinners. It always helps as wicketkeeper to know the pace of the wicket, and knowing which he settled down rather quickly," he said.

Sports Reporter Radhashayam Sharma Dibrugarh, Apr 18: Ju- captured two wickets bilee Club defeated Ev- for 13 in 3 overs for Evergreen Club by 23 runs ergreen Club. in the third Dembi Bori In run chase, Evergreen and Kusum Bori T20 Club were bowled out Cricket tournament for 53 in 12. 5 overs. organised by Dibrugarh Krishna Sundas reDismained t r i c t Dibrugarh T20 Cricket u n Sports beaten Association at DDSA on 12 off 15 balls. stadium here today.

For Jubilee Club, MePut into bat, Jubilee dium pacer Sunil Boro Club scored 76 for nine with his decent line and in 15 overs. Mayank length scalped five Sharma unbeaten on 23 wickets for 7 in 4.5 off 28 balls, with one overs. David Gogoi hit, while Shomraj Paul took two. Sunil was adcontributed 16 off 18 judged man of the balls, laced with three match. boundaries.

In another match,

Kings XI Punjab face tough home test vs KKR PTI Mohali, Apr 18 : Having notched up their first victory against Pune Supergiants, an upbeat Kings XI Punjab face the all-round might of twotime champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, here tomorrow.

While KKR have four points from three games with two wins under their belt, Kings XI opened their account with a sixwicket win against Pune yesterday.

On paper, KKR are overwhelming favourites against Punjab with a more balanced outfit but reputations count for little in the shortest format as most of the contests are won on the day.

Expect an interesting battle between KKR's much vaunted batting line-up against KXIP's bowling which has looked disciplined during their last match against Pune on a twopaced wicket.

So there could be some intriguing smaller battle within the battles. How Gambhir tackles Mohit Sharma's slower deliveries or how Sandeep Sharma can stop Andre

Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders Russell from hitting those towering sixes.

It will also be a challenge for KXIP spinners like Axar Patel as KKR is one side which has quality batsmen against slow bowlers.

For Knight Riders, the best part about their journey since Gambhir taking over in 2011 is the amount of consistency that they have shown over the years.

Not only have they won the title twice in 2012 and 2014 but more importantly have stuck with their core group of players in thick and thin during these years.

Skipper Gambhir, opener Robin Uthappa, Manish

Dipa becomes 1st Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics PTI Rio de Janeiro, Apr 18 : Dipa Karmakar today created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics as she booked a berth for the Rio Games after a strong performance at the final qualifying and test event here.

The 22-year-old garnered a total score of 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnastics in Rio Games to be held here in August.

Apart from being the first Indian woman, she will also be an Indian gymnast qualifying for the quadrennial extravaganza after 52 long years.

Since the independence of the country, 11 Indian male gymnast have taken

part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964) but this will be the first for an Indian woman at the Olympics.

The International Federation of Gymnastics (Federation Internationale de Gymnastique) has confirmed Dipa's Rio Games qualification in its official release.

"Following the Women's Qualification Competition at the Gymnastics Test Event in Rio, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) herewith confirms the list of nations and individual gymnasts that have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games," the world body said in its release.

Dipa has been listed as the 79th gymnast among individual qualifiers in the list of women's artistic gym-

Dipa Karmakar nast who have qualified for the Rio Olympics.

Her first vault, the much difficult Produnova, gave Dipa 15.066 points, the highest among the 14 competitors. But a poor show in the uneven bars

took her points down as she collected 11.700, the second worse among the 14 participants.

The Tripura girl secured 13.366 and 12.566 points in beam and floor exercises.

Cricket Club of Dibrugarh beat Shanti Sangha by 54 runs. Batting first, CCD scored 109 for five in 15 overs.

Jyotiraditya Chetia smashed quick fired 43 off 29 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes, while Tridip Das chipped in with 31.

Vivek Gogoi took two for Shanti Sangha.

In reply, Shanti Sangha scored 55 for nine in 15 overs. Dipankar Boro scored 16.

Ridip Mohan took three wickets for CCD. Jyotiraditya Chetia was adjudged Man of the match.

Deepak Kagra, an international referee, said that after's Dipa's strong performance it was certain that she would qualify for Rio Olympics.

"It was a very good score from Dipa and we were certain that she would qualify. Now the world body has published the names of the gymnasts who have qualified for the Olympics and her name is there. The gymnastics community is proud of Dipa's achievements," he told PTI. The 22-year-old could not clinch an Olympic berth in the World Championships in November last as she finished outside the podium (fifth place).

She was earlier put as second reserve for the ongoing Olympic Test

event in Rio but was informed last month that she had sneaked into the shortlist of participants.

Dipa had created history by becoming the first woman gymnast to win a medal -- a bronze -- in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. He then became the first Indian woman gymnast to feature in the finals of World Championships in November last.

The sport of gymnastics has been in turmoil in the country in the the last few years with rival factions holding elections and claiming to be the national federation.

Even the camps for the gymnasts has been held under the aegis of Sports Authority of India.

Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have all settled down in their respective roles in the past few years giving them a dangerous look despite the absence of a huge star in the ranks of a Kohli, Dhoni or AB de Villiers.

They have been more or less clinical in their two wins against Daredevils at home and Sunrisers in an away game. The loss against Mumbai Indians could be attributed more to Rohit Sharma's individual brilliance backed up nicely by Jos Buttler's pyrotechnics.

The best part about KKR's campaign so far has been Gambhir's form as he is on

top of the run-getters' table with 192 runs at a healthy strike-rate of 125.49. He has been playing the role of sheet anchor to perfection as has forged a good opening partnership with Robin Uthappa.

Uthappa's 81 runs in three matches may not look big in terms of volume but in both the wins, his contributions have been 35 and 38.

While it may not actually be a cause of worry, the nine-wicket win against Daredevils and eightwicket win against Sunrisers but KKR's middle-order has not been put to test during the three matches that they have played.

Guru Teg Bahadur Academy defeat Kendriya Vidyalaya Sports Reporter 26 runs.

Dibrugarh, Apr 18: Guru Gunjan Sharma notched Teg Bahadur Academy up three for 30 in 3 overs beat Kendriya Vidyalaya for Kendriya Vidyalaya. by 56 runs in the Kamal In reply, Kendriya Hazarika Inter school Vidyalaya managed to score cricket tourna117 for nine in m e n t Hazarika Cricket 20 overs. organised

by Tinsukia District sports Vishal Yadav played a Association at TDSA sta- steady knock of 37 off 45 balls with five boundaries dium in Tinsukia today.

Put into bat, Guru Teg and Gunjan Sharma reBahadur Academy piled mained unbeaten on 26 off up 173 for loss of five 16 balls, with three fours. wickets in 20 overs. Guru Teg Bahadur , Kaushik Saikia top scored Kaushik Saikia becomes with 70 off 60 balls, hit- the highest wicket taker ting six sixes and four with three wickets for 18 fours, while Bhringesh in 4 overs.

Rai chipped in with 36 off Tomorrow, Our ABC 25 balls, laced with four Academy will lock horn boundaries and one six. with Hindi English High Arzoo Khan contributed School.

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