26 november 2015, thursday

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ASSENG/2015/64205

Vol. 1

Issue 171

The Implications of the Bihar Elections

Price -

Dibrugarh, Thursday, November 26, 2015

JOBS & CAREERS

Page 8

Snapdeal distances itself from Aamir Khan amid row

Page 10

Page 6

Page 9

Chalo Loku: Nabam Tuki exhorts preservation, protection of rich local dialect

A fight for survival for the Chakmas and Hajongs Rejection of review petition raises serious concern at an all political party meeting An all political party meeting was held today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki. The meeting has endorsed the State Government to file curative petition before the Supreme Court in respect to permanent settlement of Chakma and Hajong refugees in Arunachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Santosh Chakma, General Secretary of Citizenship Rights Committee for the Chakma and Hajong of Arunachal Pradesh appeal to AAPSU, State Govt. and the people of Arunachal Pradesh to accommodate them in the state.

While speaking exclusively to the Eastern Today the secretary said that Chakma and Hajong are also human being and that they want and can contribute to the development of the State

ET CAPSULES Bandh withdrawn Dibrugarh, Nov 25: The bandh called by Mottock Yuba Chatra Parishad on Friday to press for their demand of ST status was today withdrawn. The community has been seeking ST status since long. (Correspondent)

Police raids motor parts shop Tinsukia, Nov 25: Tinsukia police on Wednesday conducted huge level raids at several motor parts shops in Tinsukia following complaint of stockimg and selling duplicate products of DELPHI TVS company. The shops that were raided included Maheshwari Motors, H.M. Auto Spares and others. According to police till now good amount quantity of products has been seized by police during the raids. However, police has denied to reveal anything including details like complainant, recoveries and shops raided at this stage saying that more raids are to be conducted. (Correspondent)

Free service by Hospital Dibrugarh, Nov 25: Ridip Dowerah (43), the cultural secretary of Amar Jyoti Sangha, passed away on November 22 due to cardiac arrest at Srimanta Sankardev Hospital in Dibrugarh. He used to work at Srimanta Sankardev Hospital as a laboratory technician.

He was a resident of Dibrugarh Nirmali Gaon. However, some days ago he had a pressure stroke while working at the hospital and immediately he was admitted at the hospital.

All his expenses were borne by the Hospital management. For 25 days, his treatment was going on in the hospital. “We thank the Hospital management for their services which they have provided to their staff,’’ said Raju Talukdar, executive president of Amar Jyoti Sangha. The family members are grateful to the Hospital authority. (Staff Reporter)

A PERSPECTIVE OF CHAKMA-HAJONG A Bihari, Punjabi, Marwari, Assamese come to Arunachal for several purposes and their first home is not Arunachal but Chakma and Hajong’s first and last home is Arunachal.

Chakma and Hajong forefathers were resettled by the then Govt. of India in ArunachalPradesh with the consent of the local people, the Khamptis, Singphos and Tangsa.

September 17 Supreme Court verdict is for 7,500 Chakmas and Hajongs who were resettled in 1960.

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Rangia police rescued four boys and three girls from a house in village Dolegaon under PS Rangia in Kamrup district today. In addition, two traffickers were held on charges of alleged trafficking of the minors. Rangia police lead by Bhaskar patowary TSI rescued them from the grasp of the traffickers after acting on a tip off. According to the police officer, one Amal Ch Baro of village Dolegaon and Kailash

The verdict is based on the ‘09th January, 1996 appeal’ filed by the UNHRC versus State Govt. versus Govt. of India.

Sometimes one cannot single out a police station or a crime committed by a Chakma and say that they are a threat to the local people.

There are around 51,000 population of Chakma and Hajong settled in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh; Namsai, Changlang, and Papum Pare.

at large.

Mr. Chakma also informed that the fight in the Supreme Court is for those 7,500 remnants (Chakmas and Hajongs) who were resettled in 1960. He also said that at present the Supreme Court verdict is based on the ‘09th January, 1996 appeal’ filed by the UNHRC versus State Govt. versus Govt. of India.

Legally the descendants of those Chakmas and Hajongs who have entered Arunachal in 1960 around 15,000 at the time, are Indian citizens by birth. Many have even obtained voter identity card. “Our role will come into play only if this review petition was accepted,” Contd. on Page 3

Arunachal Pradesh will get its 20th District on Nov. 27; Preparation is on full swing ET Bureau Itanagar, Nov 25

Preparation for the inauguration of the newly crafted Siang district with its headquarters in Pangin is on full swing. The new Siang District will come into being on 27th

November, 2015 with the Chief Minister Nabam Tuki along with Minister of Education Tapang Taloh and a host of Govt. officials from the Centre and the State and the people of Pagin will witness the inaugural function.

Education Minister Tapang

Taloh who happens to be the local MLA of 35- Pangin Assembly Constituency said that it is a historic day for the Siang people after all the obstacles which have been fought, given the technicalities to decide the District Headquarters which has been pending for many

Bishnu Rana Namsai, Nov 25

Spl Correspondent Pasighat, Nov 25

Amidst protests over their citizenship issue, the hardworking Chakma women expressed confidence over their status as validated by the Supreme Court of India by way of self-assuredly selling their agricultural produce and earning good returns during a weekly market at Namsai. “We are earning good bucks by selling our produce thereby giving our life some sort of meaning.

Contd. on Page 3

In yet another act of law keeper taking law in hands which is no less an act of police “Dada Giri” like those scene of Chulbul Pandey role played by Salman Khan in the film ‘Dabangg’ , one Sub-Inspector S. Dhon under

months and Pangin has been finalised after a series of meeting and analysis based on various factors, to be the headquarter of the newly created district.

The minister informed that preparation is on full swing for the big day.

Contd. on Page 3

A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Nov 25

The sixth day of the 9th Dibrugarh Book Fair saw fewer footfalls as compared to the previous year. A member of the organising committee member, when asked about the fewer footfalls at the book fair, said that due to it being examination season, the students are not visiting the book fair. Various books were today released at the book fair. The stalls which have set up by participants from other places have said to have incurred losses.

Kalita of village Tatarkuchi confined them in the house illegally. After being informed, police rescued them and arrested both the traffickers. The minors are from Bindukuri (Tezpore) and Rangapara under Sonitpur district. Police is interrogating the suspected traffickers at Rangia police station.

The traffickers were taking the minors to Chennai for engaging them in some fish industry as stated by them. Police informed the guardians of the minors and produced the traffickers before the SDJM court.

Pasighat Police Station has been reported of manhandling and assaulting one Kaling Saroh from Mirku village yesterday for non of his fault unlike in the film of ‘Dabangg’.

While making a copy of his FIR letter available to this scribe, Contd. on Page 3

Human trafficker arrested in Tezpur

Dibrugarh Book Fair plods along “Every year we come to Dibrugarh Book Fair, but this time the people are not coming to the book fair. Earlier, it used to be crowded and our business was also higher but this time we are going into loses,’’ said a staff of Manomi Book Stall, Kolkata. A programme based on children was today held at the book fair venue. The Book Fair is being organised by Milanjyoti Sangha in association with All Assam Publishers and Book Sellers’ Association. Altogether, 80 booksellers and publishers have set up stalls for the 10 day fair.

ET Correspondent Tezpur, Nov 25

Tezpur police arrested one human trafficker from Bhomoraguri in the afternoon today. According to police, one

A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Nov 25

Chalo Loku was celebrated today with traditional fervour and gaiety. Echoes of log-

Chakma women self-assured Police manhandles a man as they sell agri-produce without reason, FIR lodged

4 boys, 3 girls rescued from traffickers ET Correspondent Rangia, Nov 25

Pages- 12

$325 billion FY16 export target to be missed by Govt.

CHAKMA-HAJONG ISSUE

A Staff Reporter Itanagar, Nov 25

5.00

Contd. on Page 3

A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Nov 24

Union Minister and BJP leader Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday took charge in Guwahati as the party's state unit president and also the head of an election management committee it constituted for the poll-bound state, and it was also a clear indication that he could also be named the party's chief ministerial candidate.

Contd. on Page 4

FOE TURN FRIEND! BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma offers sweet to Union Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs Sarbananda Sonowal after Sonowal took charge as New BJP State President. Pic - UB Photos

Anup Chetia should be associated with peace talks: Assam Govt Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the State Government has all along been pursuing with the Centre for repatriation of ULFA General Secretary Anup Chetia and now since he has been repatriated, he (Anup Chetia) should

be associated with the ongoing peace talks between the Government and the pro-talk faction of ULFA. In a statement here on Wednesday Gogoi said, “ULFA General Secretary Anup Chetia is an important figure in the context of peace talks and State Government believes that he can play a decisive role in the ongoing

Majuli celebrates 175-year-old Raas festival Bijoy Handique Jorhat, Nov 25

It’s festival time for Majuli islanders as the 175-year-old Raas festival starts at over 75 venues across the length and breadth of the Majuli island here as of today. Raas festival is being organized across a total of 75 venues including big and small sattras with Dhakinpat Sattra, Uttar Kamalabari Sattra, Goromur Sattra, Auniati Sattra, Ghogpur Sattra, Samaguri Sattra,

Kamalabari Sattra, etc. being the leading Sattras. On the other hand, foreign tourists 468 strong from six countries have arrived at the island to witness the traditional Raas festival which is popular throughout the world. The district administration has organized special ferry service arrangement from Neematighat to different five ghats of Majuli Island. Special medical team has been kept ready to face any emergency, Contd. on Page 4

The power-packed ultraluxurious AMGs are roaring for Mercedes Benz. Having recorded a 40% growth in demand for the high-performance cars this year, Mercedes recently drove in its fastest car globally,

Artists of Kaliyani Kristi Kala Kendra, Jorhat during Raas Lila Mahotsav in Jorhat. Pic - UB Photos

Contd. on Page 10

ENTER THE MEAN MACHINE Mercedes recently drove in its fastest car globally, the 'GTS' AMG sports car, pricing the vehicle at Rs 2.4 crore (exshowroom Delhi).

The GTS, which carries a 4litre engine and has a top speed of 310 kmph, delivers peak power of 510 horse power.

peace process”. Since Anup Chetia has been extradited his service should be utilised to give breakthrough in the ongoing peace talks. Chief Minister Gogoi also urged upon the Centre to make all necessary formalities to use Anup Chetia’s service to find a permanent solution to the long standing issue.

Suspected NDFB militants kill businessman ET Correspondent Lakhimpur, Nov 24

Mercedes fastest car hits market, priced at Rs 2.4 crore New Delhi, Nov 25

occasion, Tuki joined Nocte brethren in offering prayers to Almighty Rang for his blessings for good health, happiness and wellbeing of all.

Contd. on Page 3

Sarbananda Sonowal likely to be BJP’s chief ministerial candidate

A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Nov 24

Sankar Kumar was arrested from Bhomoraguri under Tezpur PS in the afternoon today. Police sources said,

drums and gun-shots reverberated in the atmosphere as Noctes of all ages, donning traditional attire, celebrated Chalo-Loku at Itanagar with much fanfare. On the joyous

Mercedes' AMGs are built using hand-crafted engines at the company's Affalterbach plant in Germany. Each AMG engine builder stamps the engine with an engraved plaque depicting his/her signature. Nearly 48,000 AMG units were sold globally by the company in 2014.

The entry AMG is the CLA 45 AMG sedan which costs Rs 70 lakh while the S63 AMG coupe is the most expensive of the lot at Rs 2.7 crore.

The company has five performance centres through which it retails AMG cars and these are in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune.

A businessman had to pay the ultimate price at the cruel hands of suspected NDFB militants last night at Rajgarh Dhekiyajuli in Lakhimpur District. The businessman identified as Tag Bahadur Rai, aged thirty eight years, was a permanent inhabitant of the aforementioned village under Boginadi Police Station. According to reports, the person was demanded Rs. 1,00,000 by the insurgent outfit NDFB on 14 May last.

That day he had to pay Rs. 22000 to some unidentified person as per the demand. He collected this amount of money by selling the pair of bulls that he owned as livestock. Next day, on May 15, he was again initially instructed to pay Rs 3,00,000 as soon as possible and then Rs 15,00,000 or else he would be killed. Then he informed the matter to the Boginadi Police Station filing a complaint against the extortionists.

Contd. on Page 4

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Raj Communications Near SBI bank Changlang

PAGE 2

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Arunachal Governor greets on the occasion of Constitution Day ET Bureau Itanagar, Nov 25: The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh JP Rajkhowa has conveyed his sincere greetings to the people of the State on the occasion of ‘Constitution Day’, to be observed on 26th November, the Day, when the Constitution of India was adopted declaring India a Sovereign, Socialist and Democratic Republic with the principle of secularism enshrined in various articles of the Constitution. The Pre-

amble to the constitution states of the nation’s resolve to secure to all its citizens Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, which is indeed very unique and which came into force on January 26, 1950. The Governor expressed the hope that the Day which marked the beginning of a new era in the history of India will infuse renewed zeal and vigour amongst the citizens of the State and the country as a whole to uphold the values and spirit of the

Indian Constitution. In his message to the people of the State, the Governor said that the Constitution of India is one of the finest legal documents ever drafted and adopted by people of India.

Being one of the lengthiest in the world with 395 Articles and 12 Schedules, its functional efficacy was doubted by many when it came into force on January 26, 1950. But all such doubts were totally dispelled in the course of the functioning of

Chief Justice lays foundation stone for MSLSA ET Correspondent Shillong, Nov 25: The Foundation Stone for the Alternative Disputes Resolution Centre (ADR) of the Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority (MSLSA) was laid by Hon’ble Mr. Justice, Uma Nath Singh, Chief Justice, High Court of Meghalaya & Patron-inChief, Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority today at Mawdiandiang, Shillong in the presence of Hon’ble Mr. Justice T. N. K. Singh, Judge, High Court of Meghalaya & Executive Chairman, Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority and Hon’ble Mr. Justice S. R. Sen, Judge, High Court of Meghalaya.

ADR operates on the principle of consensus, where all perspectives are discussed until a compromise that is acceptable to all sides is reached. The main methods

NECTAR expands services to create livelihood in Meghalaya ET Correspondent Shillong Nov 25: The North East Center for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) has expanded its office at Nongrim Hills on Tuesday to expand their projects in Meghalaya and other parts of the North East in areas of communication, telemedicine, rehabilitation.

Director General, NECTAR Mr. Sanjiv Nair said that there is a plant named as Vetiver that absorbs heavy metals and contaminated place.

NECTAR had suggestion to the State Government to this plant. He said that the NECTAR is tying up with the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority in harvesting aspect and analyzing the Ganol river and also to look for water harvesting solutions.

He informed that as many as 10 watersheds in Meghalaya are being mapped to prepare detailed plans for water management.

The Data Processing Centre established in Shillong along with Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) will process this data to provide solutions so that water is available throughout the year for drinking and agriculture.

Not only this, the natural dye industry in Ri-Bhoi is picking up pace with over 500 liters of indigo being extracted from the indigo plant. The dye will be sent for testing to enable it to be industrially viable.

NECTAR had already facilitated for marketing the Lakadong turmeric from Jaintia Hills to other parts of the country.

On telemedicine connectivity, Nair said that Tura uses the facility that connects the PHCs/CHCs to the hospital.

NECTAR is also tying up with farmer societies in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur in an effort to extract lemongrass oil, to provide cold storage facility for tomatoes, which is still under proposal.

While in Assam, the Geographical Information System (GIS) experts in hydrology will monitor the flood forecast in flood prone areas and to provide an early warning system in any cases of flood occurrences in Assam.

NECTAR is a move to create livelihood opportunities for the people of the North East.

the Indian democracy under the Constitution. The Indian Constitution, which is a complex legal document, not only provides for the legal machinery but also defines and determines the relationship between various institutions and the areas of operation for the executive, the legislature and the judiciary in a harmonious manner. The Constitution of India also prescribes a clear division of power between the Union and States by defining the legislative relations, administrative relations and financial relations. It is, by no means a rigid Constitution, which is evident from the fact that it has already undergone many Amendments till

date. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb, who was Independent India's first law minister and the principal architect of the Constitution of India, immensely contributed in its drafting.

The 'Constitution Day' celebration will be a tribute to Dr. Ambedkar, who played a seminal role in the framing of the Indian Constitution as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly, and all other members of the Constituent Assembly, who also contributed immensely to the framing of the Constitution, the Governor said in his message.

Margherita cleanliness ques“Prime Minister Narendra ET Correspondent tioned

of Alternative Disputes Resolution are; Negotiation, Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration. The Alternative Disputes Resolution mechanism is a pragmatic tool in solving new generation familial conflicts. Litigation, whether for divorce, maintenance, alimony, child custody or any other matrimonial cause, should cease to be

viewed in terms of failure or success of legal action.

The laying of the foundation stone of the ADR Centre was followed by the inauguration and flagging off the Multi Utility Van of the Meghalaya State Legal Services Authority by the Hon’ble Chief Justice and the Hon’ble Judges, High Court of Meghalaya.

Margherita, Nov 25: Alleging neglect of duty, Margherita Mandal Congress Committee Secretary Bikash Sen (Benu) today criticized Margherita Town Committee Vice Chairman Bhim Karmakar.

In this connection, Bikash Sen said that before the Town Committee Election Polls, BJP promised to keep Margherita Town neat and clean but today it seems that Margherita town was better off during the Congress regime.

Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ has failed in Margherita as the BJP ruled Margherita Town Committee has failed to keep the town clean,” alleged Bikash Sen. Margherita Town Committee Vice Chairman and Ward Commissioners must do development work before the public of Margherita town get fed up otherwise in the upcoming 2016 Assembly election of Assam, BJP would have to bite the dust, Bikash Sen added.

Tezpur MP RP Sharma urges people to root out Congress from the state Sambhu Boro Tezpur, Nov 25: Criticizing the Congress government vehemently, the Tezpur MP, RP Sharma today said that the Congress party has created a trend of corruption in the society.

Apart from siphoning off funds allotted for the developmental works, their leaders do not know anything.

The parliamentarian who was attending a series of public meetings including ones at Bandarmari and Puthimari near here attacked the Congress and said that during the last fifteen years of their rule besides Barchala LAC, no any other proper development can be witnessed across the state. In his speech, pointing out rampant corruption against every scheme executed in 72

No. Barchala, RP Sharma further alleged that instead of facilitating developmental works in the constituency, workers are becoming rich. “The local MLA, Tankabahadur Rai has ruined the environment of genuine work as a result of which many roads constructed for rural connectivity have already started to wear off only because of poor construction owing to corruption.” He alleged adding the local MLA has become an escapist now as apart from Congress workers and supporters, he doesn’t know the other denizens of the constituency. “Should it be the attitude of a public representative?” He questioned.

Urging the people of the constituency to teach the Congress party a lesson in

the forthcoming assembly election 2016, he said that BJP would come to the power with an absolute majority and it will provide good governance to the people. The Parliamentarian later interacted with various social organizations including Bahbari Anchalick Boro Sahitya Sabha and West Anchalick ABSU and received memorandum submitted to him demanding fulfillment

of various demands.

Among various demands, the demand of establishment of a degree college in the Khelmati Bandarmari area to absorb the students of the greater area raised by ABSU and a Community Hall in the area raised by Boro Sahitya Sabha were given priority by the MP and consented to do the needful for fulfilling the demands. In the meeting among other dignitaries BJP worker, Kishor Upaidhyai, Ramen Nath were present. On the other hand, the parliamentarian taking part in another meeting at the Salaonibari airport here declared that from January 2016 regular Tezpur-Delhi passenger air service will be offered to the people.

List of hospitals in Dibrugarh with contact details & phone numbers, Assam Aditya Diagnostics & Hospitals Bordoloi Avenue, Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh - 786005 Phone Numbers: 0373 - 2302219, 2302225

G M Hospital

Shrishti Hospital & Research Centre Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh - 786 005 Phone: 0373 - 2300024, 2302099

AMC Road, Jalan Nagar Dibrugarh - 786 005

Archana Trauma & Orthopaedics Hospital

Brahmaputra Diagnostics & Hospital

Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh - 786 005 Phone: 0373 - 2302100, 2302099

Near Indian AirLines City Office Paltan Bazar Dibrugarh - 786 005 Phone Numbers: 0373 - 2303476

Assam Medical College

Marwari Arogya Bhawan Hospital Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2302872, 2302051

Aastha Hospital Graham Bazar, A.T. Road Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2322547

Sanjivani Diagnostic & Hospital Paltan Bazar, Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2303448, 2303458, 2301904

Sankardev Hospital Mancotta Road, Chowkidinghee Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2327717, 2327715, 2326960

Jalan Nagar, Dibrugarh - 786 002 List of Phones numbers: Emergency Room : 0373 - 2300627 Labour Room: 0373 - 2300022 Drug Deaddiction Centre: 0373 - 2302952 Community Medicine: 0373 - 2302994 RIA Centre: 0373 - 2302093

Dr. Pawan Bajaj's Skin Clinic Paltan Bazar, Opposite Aditya Hospital Dibrugarh

Dr Damani's Nursing Home Near Circuit House, Dibrugarh Phone: 0373 - 2300928, 2302873

Devotes offering to a pray Lord Buddha statue on the occasion of Kathina Chivara Dana festival ceremony at Graham Bazaar Buddha Vihar, Dibrugarh. PiC - UB Photos

ASTRO FOR YOU You are very apprehensive about your possessions today, and will not like to share them. This mood may be because of someone particular. Affairs regarding love, are progressing fine, and your married life will bloom.

Your unfailing punctuality, your insistence on following time schedules is due to be noticed and appreciated today. Your colleagues and superiors will be singing praises as soon as you arrive for work. If you are in an artistic or a creative profession, such as designing, journalism, multi media, you have a remarkably eventful and gratifying day ahead. Creative people and professionals having the same sun sign as yours are also in for a great day.

You will feel out of sorts today. This could result in distances between you and your loved ones. You may fall into the wrong sorts of debates on account of your ill-temper. You need to keep a curb on your emotions to perform better.

With God's grace, whatever you think or pursue will be successful. Students will excel and finish pending work. You can display your imagination excellently. In short, a day of happiness and variety.

You will pay more attention to matters at home. You may take up home renovation projects. You may end up replacing the entire furniture at your place even. You will spend the day enjoying with your family members and friends.

Confidently take on the challenges that in all likelihood will test your business abilities, especially the ones that are related to your investments and monetary matters. You will most probably come up with novel ideas to solve long-pending issues which will be very effective.

You will be busy in your work field today and will be able to attain your goals in your work field today. Your level of enthusiasm will be at its peak. Today you may be able to meet with a person from the opposite sex who will be your future partner.

Being a workaholic may divert your attention from your family and you may have to bear the consequences. It’s time to sort differences with your spouse. But, all this while, you need to be calm and patient. Watch your words in case of any arguments.

You need to increase your tolerance power as you may have to face criticism from close ones. However, it is not feasible to please everyone around. You may just be happy doing basic favours for your loved ones.

Not everyday is the same day. And, today is one of those days when you feel extremely confused. While you won’t be able to get rid off negative emotions, your hard work will be paid off and lay a strong foundation for future. You’ll not understand whether to feel good about your achievements or experience sadness of confusion. Keep a calm head over your shoulders.

Meeting people from the different walks of life, having a good conversation with them and widening the horizon of your knowledge – this will be the highlight of today for youl. At work, you will have a busy day with plenty of meetings, discussions, planning and execution. You will fully utilize your energies, but it may also leave you exhausted.

Are you fretting over the obstacles you are facing on the business front? Be patient and have faith in your undertakings. Good things will come your way, in good time. You may find it hard to accomplish even run of the mill tasks that you do easily everyday and this could be because of the unfavorable alignment of the stars but this is only a matter of time and this too shall pass.

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

25-11-15 (WEDNESDAY) 5-35 A.M-Bhaktigeeti (Devotional Songs) 6-10 A.M-Swasthya Charcha (Health Programme) 6-50 A.M-Naam 6-30 A.M-Bidyarthir Anusthan 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- Radio Report on Dibrugarh Book Fair 12-05 P.M-Surar Satsori 2-30 P.M-Western Music Programme 3-45 P.M-Programme in Miju Mishmi 4-05 P.M-Programme in Khamti 4-25 P.M-Programme in Wancho 4-45 P.M-News for Arunachal Pradesh 5-00 P.M-Programme in Idu 5-20 P.M-Programme in Tangsa 5-40 P.M-Programme in Nocte 7-15 P.M-Karpumpuli 7-35 P.M-Ujjwal Bhabishyat 8-15 P.M-University Broadcast 8-00 P.M-Parikrama 10-00 P.M-Sponsored Programme-Classical Music Sd-/H.O.P

PAGE 3

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

18th Rang-Frah Day celebrated across Changlang district

Indrajit Tingwa Miao, Nov 25: The RangFrah faith followers today celebrated the 18th RangFrah Day across various places in Changlang district. The day began with hoisting of Rang-Frah flag followed by offering of prayers in the Rangsomhums (temples) for well being and peace.

Since its commencement in 1997, the faith has been ush-

ering in social reformation amongst the believers. The day was also observed at Rang-Frah Government College, Changlang where Latsam Khimhun, Secretary General of Rang-Frah Faith Promotion Society attended as the chief guest. Khimhun dwelt upon the basic philosophy of Rang-Frah faith and its positive impact on society. Khimhun when asked to give a brief ex-

ample about the positive impact informed that the best impact was removal of superstitious beliefs and practices in the society. He further stated that RangFrah faith stood for unity in diversity, harmonious coexistence and respect for all religions. The other highlights of the day were games and sports activities after the prayers and cultural programmes at night were held.

Arunachal Pradesh will get its 20th District on Nov. 27; Preparation is on full swing Contd. from Page 1

It may be noted that there was a huge controversy about the district headquarters as the people resided at Boleng which is located around 20 kilometres from Pangin had been demanded that their place to be the district headquarters. Even the cabinet has approved for the same, however considering the technical issues which include acquiring of land for construction of district offices buildings, Pangin proves to be better as the people here is ready to donate their community land free of cost.

“As a matter of fact, the people of Boleng have given away their land for the same purpose but theirs are mostly individual land which requires compensation to be paid by the Govt. for building infrastructure,” official sources said.

Sources from both the places have informed that the land donated by the Pangin people is bigger than that of Boleng, which is in another thought the former has a better scope to shelter many developmental infrastructure such as Advanced Landing Ground, etc.

The actual District Headquarters will be located at

Perang Lampang under Pangin circle. It is a jungle, donated by the community of Pangin, which has been cleared to carry out infrastructural projects including DC office for the district.

To continue their protest, the people of Boleng has called for a 12 hrs shutdown on 27th, saying that the matter is under judgment, as they have gone to the court to appeal for a stay order, and expect a recall by the State Govt. However until today, the Guahati High Court has not issue any legal order over this matter.

Police manhandles a man without reason, FIR lodged Contd. from Page 1

victim Kaling Saroh said that, he had done no mistake or did any act of provoking to the police officer, but S. Dhon took him to the police station and locked him up even assaulting and beating him black and white. The only fault of Saroh was that, while driving toward Mirku village from the short road just beside Central Jail Balwadi UPS, a bike rider slightly collided with his car which was mutually re-

solved. But Mr Dhon came and forcefully took Saroh at the PS and beaten and assaulted him badly without knowing the reason. The incident occurred at around 4.55 PM on 24th November.

Victim has lodged an FIR against SI S. Dhon and demanding for stringent punishment for his act.

Meanwhile, District Congress Committee led

by President Takom Mize has strongly condemned the act of assaulting Mr Saroh by the police and has demanded for his dismissal from the service.

He has also appealed the SP Pasighat to act tough upon such officer who has been found acting none sense. All Bogong Students’ Union (E) led

by President Lungkang Ering has also raised their voice against such police officer and demanded for arresting of S. Dhon. When contacted, OC Pasighat PS N. Riba confirmed the receipt of FIR by the victim and SI Dhon has been put under departmental inquiry being initiated by SP Pasighat R. S. Chauhan.

Changlang celebrates 19th Rangfrah Day ET Correspondent Changlang, Nov 25: The 19th ‘Rangfrah Day’ was celebrated in Changlang district with the invoking of blessings of Rangfrah by the secretary of various town and village Rangfrah Rangshumhims (Mandir).

The prayer started at 9.00 am after hoisting of Rangfrah flag by the secretary. Young and old, female and male attended the invoking ceremony by surrendering ‘self’ to the Frah.

Prior to invocation, the Rang ‘frites’ of various clans living in Changlang district and other tribes belonging to different districts under different indigenous faiths lighted the “Dia” and incense sticks and offered prayers at the feet of the Altar for well-being of the

clan members and society.

About 500 various indigenous faith believers attended the prayer. Cultural competition including group songs, dance, solo songs and dance in traditional dresses were performed in the evening of Nov 25. The programme on the main day continued with speeches from faith members on the activities of the Rangfrah Movement since the year of foundation – 1997. Elders of the faith believers briefed about the healthy practices of the rituals and its preservation as well. The daylong programme continued with games and sports activities with participation of children. The grown up were let up with indigenous games and musical chair,

blind hit, etc. Elderly people finished up with bow and arrow shooting and targeting. All partici-

Deomali MLA Wangki Lowang in traditional attire during the Chalo-Loku festival at Deomali today. Pic - Teson Abo

community feast. In the evening, prizes were given away with words of advises.

A fight for survival for the Chakmas and Hajongs Contd. from Page 1

the secretary said. When asked what if being a Chakma who reside in Arunachal Pradesh has to obtain an ILP as it is a law for every non-Arunachalee, the secretary said, “A Bihari, Punjabi, Marwari, Assamese come to Arunachal for several purposes and their first home is not Arunachal but we,

our first and last home is Arunachal.” “We have been given land, money, job, basic facilities and others.

Our forefathers were resettled by the then Govt. of India in Arunachal Pradesh with the consent of the local people, the Khamptis, Singphos and Tangsa,” the secretary further asserted.

“Sometimes you cannot single out a police station or a crime committed by a Chakma and say that we

are a threat to the local people. We are also human beings; we have weakness like any other human. We sensitize our people. Allow us to live a basic dignified human life. We are also like you, we have a Mongoloid face, a proper culture and similar food habits,” the secretary further explained.

Right now, there are around 51,000 population of Chakma and Hajong settled in three districts of

Arunachal Pradesh; Namsai, Changlang, and Papum Pare.

While the Chakmas are praying for a solution to this ever long issue by allowing them to accommodate in the state, the State Govt. is trying every legal ways to stop from permanent settling. Today, representatives in the all party meeting attended by from BJP, PPA, NCP and APCC has raised serious concern

over the “one sided ruling of the apex court of India” in its 17th September judgment and subsequently rejecting the review petition for hearing in open court.

All party meeting also endorsed the state government to take up with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India for filing curative petition from MHA as they being the respondent number one in the 17thSeptember judgment.

Chalo Loku: Nabam Tuki exhorts preservation, protection of rich local dialect Contd. from Page 1

“You are proud bearers of a very rich culture.

Your ancestors have preserved it zealously for you. Now it’s your turn to pass it on to our next generation,” Tuki emphatically said. Lauding the Noctes for embracing peace and development, he assured that Arunachal Pradesh will witness a visible change in terms of socio-economic development of all corners and tribes of the state. Informing that under special development package, fifteen hundred police personnel got job out of nineteen hundred from the dis-

trict while the remainder of the posts would be filled in the second phase.

He said the state was developing in all fronts and the state government is committed in ushering overall development in key sectors like education, health, communication, sports and agrihorti. He specifically informed that under the NARCOM scheme which is being implemented in the three districts of Tirap, Changlang and Longding would give a facelift the economic condition of the people.

While informing about a regional cultural center and construction of guest

house at Itanagar for which he announced provision of two crore rupees, Tuki exhorted all to preserve and protect the rich local dialect which gradually is taking a backseat. He called for documenting the rich cultural heritage and local dialect to preserve them.

Assuring the gathering that the wagon of development would not stop due to absence of a few of the lawmaker friends, CM gave a clarion call that inclusive development has been his mantra and would continue to live up to the people’s aspirations. “On this joyous occasion, we are missing

Chakma women self-assured as they sell agri-produce Contd. from Page 1

Farming is the prime sector where we could toil hard and make a difference in our life. We carry our produce all the way from Diyun till here at the market which is 30 km away from Namsai. Since our agricultural produce are organic, they sell like

hotcakes”, says a Chakma woman coyly. Seasonal vegetables, fowl, pig, goat, local rice and craft items comprise the major chunk of the items they sell.

Meanwhile, another Chakma woman rues their unfortunate fate saying that they are born to do hard work, however still enjoying the challenge of mak-

ing a self-reliant life. The Namsai weekly market is mostly thronged by these dejected people with no local people engaged in such business. Agriculture being the mainstay of the economy, the processes of production and sale takes more time to realise and perhaps, that is why it is not an attractive for the local people.

Winter Session: PM holds meetings with BJP Parliament Executive, NDA constituents New Delhi, Nov. 25 (ANI): With the winter session of Parliament beginning on Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Parliament Executive met under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his official (7, Race Course Road) residence here on Wednesday evening.

The meeting holds importance in the face of several important bills, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, are pending to be passed by both Houses of Parliament. At the meeting, BJP's parliament executives report-

pants were enthralled with the games and sports programme. Games and sports were followed by

edly chalked out strategies on how to navigate the bills through both houses.

NDA constituents also met at the Prime Minister's residence to firm up their strategy for nearly month-long session.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is also holding a meeting with leaders of all political parties to seek their cooperation for the proper functioning of the House.

The meetings are seen as significant amidst anticipation that the session could be a stormy one, as the opposition is

planning to corner the government on various issues.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties have closed ranks to target the government on a range of issues from intolerance to rising prices. Parties, including the Congress, the JD(U) and the Left have already submitted their notices for adjournment motions, demanding a debate on the issue of intolerance and passage of a resolution condemning such incidents.

On Wednesday, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said there were several issues that

the opposition would be raising, including intolerance.

"What is being happening for the past two weeks is very disturbing and the Prime Minister silence on these issues.

The meaning of India is to 'live and let live'. India is a country of brotherhood and love, but the thinking of the BJP and the RSS is to get an Indian in fight with the other Indian, which is damaging for the country," he told reporters after emerging from Mount Carmel College in Bengaluruafter addressing the students.

(ANI)

some of our friends whose presence would have lent colour to the celebration. I would like to appeal to my friends to come back to the state and their home constituency and start developmental works so that what we have promised to our people during elections, are delivered”, Tuki said while adding that the state has limited working season and all should make good use of these seasons to deliver their best to the common people. Earlier, he unfurled the Chalo Loku flag and released a Nocte music CD. “All festivals are harbingers of the

wellbeing and prosperity of humanity and the Noctes also celebrate the festival with the same goal and the festivity would foster better understanding and spirit to work for the greater welfare of the people,” the CM asserted. Also present at the celebrations were Minister Tirong Aboh, Parliamentary Secretaries Nikh Kamin, Pani Taram, Bamang Felix, Gum Tayeng, Karya Bagang and Tapuk Taku and officers from Tirap and Longding. Folk dances and community feast was another highlight of the day.

Human trafficker arrested in Tezpur Contd. from Page 1

several photographs of boys and girls and seven SIMs were recovered from the accused. Meanwhile, the local people said that the accused took two youth and a girl to Delhi by luring them with job prospects in Kunda-Heda factory, Delhi. However, the boys and girls fled from Delhi.

“The accused today tried to entice the youths of Bhomoraguri area with job offers in Delhi”, they alleged. The local people de-

tained the accused and later handed him over to the police. One Rijuwan Ahmed of Bhomoraguri informed that many people came to the area and lured the youths with lucrative jobs in Delhi or other states. The poor unemployed youths are becoming targets of these human traffickers, he added. He further added that unemployment, poor economic conditions, lack of awareness and education are key factors due to which the youths of the area are falling victims to human traffickers.

Gurpurab celebrated with devotion, gaiety in Tripura Tripura, Nov. 25 (ANI): Guru Nanak Jayanti or Gurpurab, the most sacred festival of the Sikhs, was celebrates with devotion and gaiety here on Wednesday.

The main programme was held at Salbagan, the BSF's Tripura Frontier headquarters, where people from various security forces gathered to celebrate the festival.

Gurpurab marks the birth anniversary of

Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikhism, who was born in 1469 and was the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus.

He believed that service to man is supreme and called upon the people to lead a moral and righteous life.

People from various organisations such as ONGC, TSR, GREF, Assam Rifles, BSF, CRPF and local police participated in the celebration.(ANI)

PAGE 4

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Tobacco lobby suffers setback A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Nov 24: The tobacco lobby has suffered a setback following the recent decision of the Supreme Court of India to dispose of a case that challenged the legal validity of the Assam Health (Prohibition of Manufacturing, Advertisement, Trade Storage, Distribution, sale and consumption of Zarda,Gutkha, Panmasala, etc containing Tobacco) Act, 2013. The Assam Health Act, 2013 which is yet to be implemented, when passed by the State Assembly in 2013, generated positive response among the public but the tobacco lobby was up in arms over it.

Allegedly backed by tobacco companies, some petitioners moved the Gauhati Court and Supreme Court against the Act. However, they have now suffered a setback at the apex court. Recently,

the Supreme Court disposed of the case, stating that a similar issue is pending at the Gauhati High Court. Hearing the writ petition no 383/2014 (Udai Chaurasia & Ors VS State of Assam), the apex court, in its judgment said that Gauhati High Court will do the needful for disposing of the matter and also asked the High Court to expedite the hearing of the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1583/2014, so that the matter may be decided within three months time. The Supreme Court also said, “We clarify that we have not considered this petition on merits and we are disposing of this petition simply because similar issue is pending in the High Court.” The health conscious public of Assam has welcomed the verdict of the Supreme Court and is hopeful that Gauhati High Court will

Boy dies after road mishap Manoj Kumar Doomdooma, Nov 25: One Rahul Orang, a seven year old boy, died in a road accident at Mismikata No. 2 which falls under Talap police station in Tinsukia district of upper Assam. In its wake, the accident evoked a strong reaction. According to sources, a green tea leaf carrier vehicle bearing No. AS 06 2938 was on its way to Ullash Tea Estate located at Mismikata, when the boy came across its path as a result of which the boy got seriously injured. Although, the locals rushed him to Doomdooma FRU for emergency treatment, the

child succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital. The locals along with the father Bablu Orang of the deceased expressed their anguish and outrage towards the manager of the Tea Estate. Meanwhile, the Talap police arrested the driver of the vehicle and the vehicle has been seized in this connection. It is noteworthy that mostly accidents occur in these areas by the green tea leaf carriers either due to reckless driving or being under the influence of alcohol. Locals complained that these drivers who run the gardens' vehicles are not properly trained.

NDRF and SDMA conduct mock drill on disaster ET Correspondent Shillong, Nov 25: A mock exercise on Disaster Risk Reduction was conducted today at Polo Service Station, Demseiniong, Shillong. The mock exercise is being conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Bn, Guwahati in collaboration with the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and the District Administration.

Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills District, Shri P. S. Dkhar in his brief speech informed that the whole exercise is to sensitize the public about the various precau-

tionary measures that has to be taken up during the onset of disaster and natural calamity. The demonstration was done under the supervision of Brigadier B. K. Khanna, National Adviser on Training and Capacity Development, NDMA. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Police, Fire Service, Health and other line departments took part in the mock exercise.

It may be mentioned that as part of the Global Conference on Disaster Reduction, a Table Top Exercise was also conducted on 24th November, 2015.

Tarun Gogoi hits back at Rameswar Teli for “controversial remarks” A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Nov 24: After the controversy yesterday when BJP MP from Dibrugarh constituency Rameswar Teli said that those intellectuals and scientists who are returning the awards have received money from Congress to return them and defame Narendra Modi-led government, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has hit out at him saying, "such an allegation is an insult to the fraternity of journalism and intelligentsia in our society”. Teli had also alleged yesterday that Assam's noted litterateur and journalist Homen Borgohain has decided to return the Sahitya Akadem award as he has received Rs 15 lakh from Congress to return his award.His remark sparked off a cont r o v e r s y.

Homen Borgohain said it is unfortunate that such people were politicians.

"One must check facts before making such alle-

gations," he said. Assam C h i e f M i n i s t e r Ta r u n Gogoi said the allegation a g a i n s t B o rg o h a i n i s baseless, unfortunate and disrespectful. While condemning the MP’s allegations on Homen Borghain, Gogoi said, “The person who has all along been serving the society by being an honest journalist and whose integrity is beyond doubt such a statement is a slur against his towering personality who himself is an institution in the field of journalism”. However later coming to a damage control mode, Teli while speaking to reporters said that, "What I meant was awards are being returned for some consideration.However I have not mentioned Borgohain's name. I apologise if I have hurt anyone." It may be mentioned here that Homen Borgohain, a Sahitya Akademi awardee returned his award in protest against growing intolerance in the country.

pronounce a time bound judgment in favour of the Assam Health Act, 2013.

“Banning use of smokeless tobacco products by implementing the Assam Health Act, 2013 was an excellent move on the part of the Assam Govt.

By doing so Assam became the first state in the country to ban all forms of smokeless tobacco.

We are now hopping for positive result from Gauhati High Court so that the act is back in business again,” said Arnab Gogoi, a social activist. According to Sushmita Sarma, a school teacher strict implementation of the Assam Health Act, 2013 is the need considering growing use of smokeless tobacco products mainly pan masala and zarda mixture among students. “The other day only I caught a student with five packets of pan masala and zarda. Earlier

they used to have gutkha, but gutkha is ban now, however, if you mix pan masala with zarda with becomes gutkha only.

Considering such smart techniques of the tobacco companies, only strict implementation of Assam Health Act, 2013 (which ban even zarda and other forms of chewing tobacco) can save the students from the clutches of tobacco menace,” Sarma said. According to the study on the, “Economic Burden of Tobacco Related Diseases in India” was conducted by the Public Health Foundation of India, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare the total economic costs attributable to tobacco use in Assam amounted to Rs 541 crores in the year 2011 for persons aged 35-69, of which 47% was direct medical costs and 53% was indirect mor-

bidity costs. It may be mentioned that under the Assam Health (Prohibition of Manufacturing, Advertisement, Trade Storage, Distribution, sale and consumption of Zarda,Gutkha,Panmasala,etc containing Tobacco) Act, 2013, anyone found consuming smokeless tobacco was supposed to be punished with fine of up to Rs 1000 for the first offence and Rs 2000 for the second and any subsequent offence or offences. In case of offence committed by a company, the company as well as every person who at the time of the commission of the offence is in charge of and responsible for the conduct of the company’s business, was supposed to be deemed to be guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Nalbari Raas is an epitome of religious tolerance: Hem Bhai Ramen Kalita Nalbari, Nov 25: The 82nd Annual Raas Festival of Nalbari at Sri Sri Harimandir premises, which is a major cultural and spiritual festival of the North east India begun here on the full moon night autumn this evening. Chairman of the Guwahati Shanti Sadhana Ashram Hem Bhai formally inaugurated the 82nd Raas Mahotsav of Nalbari at Sri Sri Hari Mandir at 6 pm. Addressing the meeting Hem Bhai said that the Nalbari Raas Mahotsav is considered an epitome of communal harmony among a cross-section of religions. The message spread by the Nalbari people is rare in the world, he said. The inaugural meeting was addressed among others by MP Naba Sarania, MLA of Nalbari LAC Jayanta Malla Baruah, Babul Bora, secretary general of Srimanta Sankardev Sangha. The souvenir brought out on the occasion was released by Dr Hitesh Deka, vice chancellor of KK Handique Open University. Earlier the guests

Lord Sri Krishna during bhawna on the occasion of Raas festival at Jalbhari in Dhakuakhana. Pic - UB Photos

were brought to the Harimandir premises from the Nalbari PWD inspection Bunglow by way of a colourful cultural procession. Due to the Raas festival, a religious and cultural event of the north east, an enthusiastic festive mood is gradually picking up in the district. The secretary of the Raas Celebration Committee Nareswar Kalita said that the committee has taken some special measures to make it attractive to draw the attention of visi-

tors. The artists newly made and repaired more than a thousand idols and displayed during the Raas festival. About one hundred temporary stalls were also constructed where the idols have been installed depicting different incidents from the eventful life of Lord Krishna. Meanwhile, the whole Nalbari town wears a new look with the spectacles of artificial electric light while the long queue of visitors leaves no space on the roads of the town.

Majuli celebrates 175year-old Raas festival Contd. from Page 1

security arrangements have been intensified with river patrolling pressed into service, police patrolling within the island has been kept on high alert for any untoward incidents. The Majuli MLA Mr. Rajiv

Lochan Pegu has arranged for 16 cottages followed by arrangement of food on the banks of river Doria.

Sarbananda Sonowal, the local MP of Majuli Island had sent greetings to the people of Majuli and appreciated the organizers of Kamargaon where Raas will be performed in Mishing

language and further said that the festival makes the people come together as one.

Gayatri Mahanta, noted Assamese actress will perform at Kamalabari Sanmillitta Silpi Samaj of Majuli which is one the attractive Raas venues this year, informed Pratap Barua, a cultural activist of Majuli.

Biennial Conference of AJYCP, Sonari held

ET Correspondent Sonari, Nov 25: The biennial conference of Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Sonari regional committee was held today at the ACKS office premises, here.

The programme got underway with the unfurling of the flag by Sujit Bora, the President of the Sonari regional committee. This was

followed by ‘smriti tarpan’ (paying obeisance to the martyrs) by Kabyaranjan Dutta, the general secretary of the AJYCP, Sonari regional committee. A plantation programme was taken up thereafter which was initiated by Robizeet Baruah, general secretary of Charaideo regional committee. Ranjit Changmai, Vice Presi-

Govt department forced to take action against govt official Spl Correspondent Tinsukia, Nov 25: A case has been registered by forest department on Wednesday against the officer incharge of Labour Community and Welfare Society, Tinsukia under government of Assam for illegally felling trees in his office compound. According to forest department officials, this action against Suresh Kumar Mahato comes after an inquiry following a complaint in this regard by a local. According to sources, colleagues of the accused officer have al-

leged that he has felled the trees illegally without any permission from concerned authorities and disposed the trees at his will. In the meantime, the accused officer has defended himself saying that it is an act of miscreants and robbers but failed to respond why did he not lodge FIR with local police station turning needle of suspicion on him. Another forest official said that it is not his private land but government land and hence cannot dispose trees without following proper procedure.

dent, AJYCP and Palash Changmai, assistant secretary, AJYCP delivered speeches which attending the delegates meeting in the afternoon. At the end of the meeting a 31 member new committee of AJYCP, Sonari regional committee was formed with Sujit Bora as President and Jaan Dutta as general secretary.

Suspected NDFB militants kill businessman Contd. from Page 1

But it is alleged that police paid no attention to the complaint though he knocked the doors of the Police Station thrice. Last night at 9.30 pm, two gunmen entered his home and shot him dead point blank in front of his wife and two children. It came to be known that deceased Rai was a small-time businessman who depended upon cultivation to earn a livelihood for the family. Meanwhile, Lakhimpur SP Brojenjit Singha stated that the NDFB militants did not kill the businessman but that it was a misdeed of dacoits who hanker after easymoney. "Enquiry is going on. Soon the culprits will be traced out"- he said.

Sarbananda Sonowal likely to be BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Contd. from Page 1

Interestingly the saffron party seems to be taking a different strategy for the Assam elections. In the Bihar elections where it suffered a massive setback, it had not formed any state wide election committee and instead put many outside as well as local leaders in charge of various zones. A massive loss in Bihar triggered a backlash within the party over its campaign.

Sonowal currently holds the independent charge of Sports and Youths Affairs Ministry. Sonowal (53), who was All Assam

Students Union president and AGP leader before joining BJP in 2011, headed the party's Assam unit before he was made a Minister in the Narendra Modi government. BJP won most Lok Sabha seats in Assam in 2014 elections and expects to repeat its feat in the Assembly polls likely to be held in April-May. The term of S i d d h a r t h a Bhattacharya, who was was appointed head of Assam BJP, ended in October. According to political analysts, Sonowal's elevation as the party's CM candidate for Assam could be

seen as a move to target the youth populace in the state, and also to get fresh ene rg y i n t h e p a r t y ' s state leadership ahead of the state election next year. "Appointment of a young and vocal leader like Sonowal was an indication that the saffron party wanted to infuse fresh energy in the state leadership before the assembly polls in Assam," said Sabita Devi, deputy director of the Guwahati based think tank group, Centre for Environment, Social and Policy Research.

A group of elephant taking bath in ghogra a pond of balipara tezpur. Pic - Saurav Borkataki

PAGE 5

REGION

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

25 vehicles set on fire Manipur bypoll: BJP writes a new chapter in its victory book Nov 25: a margin of 1907 votes.

Koijam secured more

by Naxals in Kanker Imphal, Scripting a new chapter While Joykishan secured votes than his BJP rival K a n k e r , (Chhattisgarh), Nov 25: Around hundred and fiftyNaxalites set on fire over twenty five vehicles in Chhattisgarh's Kanker

District on Tuesday evening, calling for a shutdown here on Wednesday. No casualties have been reported yet. Further details are awaited.(ANI)

Violence shuns BJPs bypoll victory

in the electoral history of Manipur, BJP has bagged both Thangmeiband and Thongju Assembly Constituencies which went to by-election on November 21. The BJP candidates defeated their rivals belonging to the ruling Congress party by huge margins. The byelection was held following disqualification of Kh Joykishan and Th Bishwajit and now they have returned to the Manipur Legislative Assembly victorious. In Thangmeiband AC, BJP's Kh Joykishan defeated Congress candidate Jyotin Waikhom by

12104 votes, Jyotin Waikhom received 10197 votes. While 72 voters opted for NOTA, G Tonsana of Manipur Democratic People's Front (MDPF) got just 55 votes. Out of the total 41 polling stations of Thangmeiband AC, Joykishan secured more votes than his rivals in 30 polling stations while Jyotin Waikhom led in 11 polling stations. It was 9/ 16 polling station where Joykishan got the highest votes. There he got 508 votes. With just 126 votes, the BJP candidate secured the lowest votes at 9/40 polling station.

The victorious BJP candidates Jyotin Waikhom won the maximum votes of 488 at 9/3 polling station and minimum votes of 155 at 9/20 polling station. In Thongju AC, BJP's

Thongam Bishwajit was a runaway winner. He secured 3213 more votes than his Congress rival Bijoy Koijam. He secured 14,606 votes

Morcha might reject GTA, says Gurung Imphal, Nov 25: At around 3.30 pm on Wednesday at least eight persons have been injured when some persons opened fire in the course of a post poll violence at Khongman within Thongju AC. Subsequently, office of a private firm and a house of the firm's proprietor were set blaze by a mob. According to information culled from the spot, supporters of BJP candidate Th Bishwajit were taking out a rally in a convoy of vehicles after he was declared elected from Thongju AC. As the convoy approached the office of UNACCO, a group of people attacked some motorcycle borne supporters of the BJP candidate with hockey sticks thereby inflicting injuries to some of them. The assailants ran towards UNACCO office and they were chased by a group of people who were taking part in the victory procession. But before they could lay their hands on the attackers, the gate of UNACCO office closed.

As they were chasing the assailants, some other people started opening fire from the UNACCO Tower.

The gun shots enraged the crowd and some of them started pelting stones at the UNACCO office. Those inside the UNACCO tower retaliated by opening fire more rapidly. This led to an intense confrontation between the two sides and five persons were injured by bullets. While the first four persons have been taken to Advanced Hospital and Research Institute, the fifth victim is undergoing treatment at JNIMS. In the meantime, a large mob set ablaze UNACCO Tower as well as the houses of UNACCO proprietor Ningombam Irabanta and his elder brother. Three cars were also burnt. At first, police could not control the mob. It was only after several hours that police could somehow bring the situation under control. Nonetheless, fire tenders were given free passage as the raging fire started spreading to neighbouring houses. It is reported that the mob left UNACCO school unscathed.

Nonetheless, parents of many students who have been staying in the school's hostel have taken home their children. (Agencies)

Credit for victory in Bihar goes to Nitish, not Lalu: Pappu Patna, Nov 25: Stating that it was Nitish Kumar's perception and social engineering that did wonders for the grand alliance, Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav

Madhepura parliamentary seat, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on emotive issues more than development, raking up religious issues by its leaders who resorted to indecent

Kalimpong, Nov 25: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today said if the state government continued to interfere in the functioning of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, his party might "reject" the hill body . The GTA chief executive, who was in Kalimpong subdivision as part of his Gorkhaland Janjagaran Padyatra, also said he would raise the issue of state interference when he meets Union home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi.

Gurung is scheduled to leave for Delhi today.

"There is interference from the state government and if this continuous, we might even reject the GTA in future. I will also raise this interference issue during my meeting with the Union home minister," Gurung said without mentioning the date of the meeting. According to rules, the Morcha-run GTA can be dissolved only by the Assembly and

Gorkha Janmukti president, Bimal Gurung Gurung's rejection would only mean non-participation of the Morcha in running the hill body. In case such a situation arises, the state government can appoint an administrator to run the hill body. But if Gurung starts an agitation in the hills, it would dent Mamata Banerjee's claim of having succeeded in bringing about peace in the region. A seven-member

Morcha delegation led by Gurung is scheduled to leave for Delhi tomorrow. It is likely to return on November 29. Earlier, Gurung had said he would leave for Delhi on Tuesday. The trip was later postponed. Apart from Gurung, Swaraj Thapa, P.T. Ola, Norbu G. Lama, Bijay Sundas, Ram Bahadur Bhujel and Moti Prasad Sharma would be in the delegation that will raise the party's de-

mand for a separate state of Gorkhaland during the meeting with Rajnath Singh. "The team is expected to meet the Union home minister either on November 26 or 27. Our party president is going to Delhi at the invitation of Rajnath Singh," said a Morcha source. Singh had called up Gurung on November 3 and requested him to end his padayatra and visit Delhi after Diwali for talks. Gurung started the padayatra on October 2 and sources said he had clocked closeto1,000km.Earlierthisyear, some RSS leaders had visited Darjeeling at the invitation of Morcha leadership. A Morcha source said Gurung would also raise other issues during the meeting with Singh. "Topping the list will be the demand for Gorkhaland. He will also raise the issue of granting a Scheduled Tribe status to 10 Gorkha communities and seek permission to extend his padayatra all the way to Delhi," he said. Party sources said the state government had not granted permission to start the Delhi march.(Agencies)

while Bijoy could garner only 11,393 votes. Out of the total 45 polling stations of Thongju AC, Bishwajit led in 37 polling stations while Bijoy

in just seven polling stations. Incidentally, Bishwajit and Bijoy Koijam got 356 votes each in 5/12 polling stations. Bishwajit received highest votes at 5/36 polling station. There he got 519 votes. He won the lowest of 183 votes at 5/ 6 polling station. Bijoy Koijam won the maximum vote of 448 at 5/9 polling station and the minimum 136 votes at 5/ 18 polling station. After the due counting process, the victorious candidates were given election certificates by the respective ROs. (Agencies)

Huge victory for the ruling CPI-M in Tripura under Nagar Panchayats Agartala, Nov 25:Tripura has won all the 11 wards of Jirania Nagar Panchayat in West district, six of the eleven wards in Amarpur Nagar Panchayat in Gomati district and seven of the 15member Municipal Council of Khowai district without any contest, a state election official said today. Member Secretary of the state election commission, Tamal Mazumder told reporters that 886 candidates of different political parties and Independents were in the fray for the 20 civic bodies in Tripura, including the 49-member Agartala Municipal Corporation, which would go for poll on December 9. However, in the election to 49 wards of Agartala Mu-

Mazumder said. He said that security arrangements were made to ensure a free, fair and smooth election to civic bodies statewide. The central government informed that no central paramilitary Force would be dispatched in the civic body elections. Altogether 537,968 voters, including 268,754 females, are entitled to cast their votes in the municipal elections through Electronic Voting Machines. The Agartala municipality was elevated to the status of Agartala Municipal Corporation two years ago. The civic body was formed in princely Tripura in 1871 during the reign of Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikya.

Chief minister Manik Sarkar, also CPI-M polit-

Cable digitization completion focus in Geyzing Gangtok, Nov 25: A meeting of the district level monitoring committee for enforcement of the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995 was convened recently under the chairmanship of district collector Aishwarya Singh. Senior superintendent of police and ADC, who is also the nodal officer of the district, were also present. At the onset, the IPR DIO informed all the cable operators about the implementation of the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995 and its extension throughout the State. As per the phase-wise schedule, implementation in municipal areas is to be covered by December 31 under phase- 3 and of the other parts of the district by December 31,

2016 under phase-4. Thereafter, the district collector interacted with the cable operators of the district.

She requested the proprietors of GS Cable which covers the Geyzing municipal areas to provide the committee with a copy of the agreement between All Sikkim Cable Organisation and Sikkim Digital Network and stressed on completing the digitization process within the national deadline.

The chairperson also requested all the cable operators to start preparation for digitization of signal promptly as per their deadlines. She also provided copies of the notification of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting whereby freeto-air channels, regional channels and the band-

width for airing of the same have been notified. All cable operators were informed to ensure implementation of this notification. The random checking of network services being provided would be conducted by the administration, it was informed. The cable operators were also advised to get their individual registration certificates from their respective Multi System Operators (MSO) and have a valid trade licence in their individual names to avoid any legal complications in future. The cable operators agreed to follow the instructions given by the DC and also put forward their grievances regarding decrease in consumer base due to consumers opting for digitized service pro-

viders. They stated that they too were desirous of shifting to digitized network to be able to compete and retain their consumers.

As informed by Shailendra Tamang of GS Cable, the responsibility of digitations of cable networks in Sikkim has been assigned to SDN. He further informed that SDN proposes to utilise the PGCIL in the district for digitization. However, the final guidelines for this have not been worked out till date. The chairperson was also informed the option for digitization services provided by Hinduja's Next Digital Network. The next review meeting regarding this issue would be held during January-February 2016.

(Agencies)

8 hurt in post poll violence, pvt office set ablaze nicipal Corporation (AMC) the opposition has put up candidates in all wards. The CPI (M) has put up 42 candidates, CPI 3, RSP 2 and Forward Bloc 2; the Congress and BJP have put up 49 candidates each.

175 candidates are in the fray for AMC,

buro member, will address altogether 24 rallies in eleven days between November 26 and December 6 in Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) area, 13 Municipal Councils and 6 Nagar Panchayats in the state, party sources said.

(Agencies)

Manipur's own women's day Ningol Chakkouba is a unique festival in Manipur which celebrates the coming of married women to their paternal homes for a meal.

Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on Tuesday credited Kumar and not Lalu Prasad for the victory of JD(U)-RJD-Congress in the assembly polls on Tuesday credited Kumar and not Lalu Prasad for the victory of JD(U)RJD-Congress in the assembly polls. "The credit for GA's win in the recently-concluded Bihar Assembly polls goes not to the RJD supremo, but to Kumar whose experience and his perception among the people, besides social engineering did the tricks at the hustings," he told reporters after presiding over a review meeting of the JAP's performance in the polls. The Yadav-led JAP had fared miserably in the Bihar polls drawing a blank and polled barely over one per cent votes. Dissecting the reasons for NDA's drubbing at the hustings, the JAP president, who is a Lok Sabha member from

language against rivals, besides non-transfer of votes by the allies were among key factors responsible for under-performance of the BJPled coalition. On his own party's abysmal performance, he said the GA succeeded in creating a perception among the voters that the JAP was 'B-Team' of the NDA. The JAP president regretted that he was in 'double mind' over joining forces with the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) Secular led by former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and delayed taking the right decision in this regard. Stating that he was not disheartened at his party's performance at the hustings, Yadav said JAP would hold organisational polls in early next year and fight for the people's issues. (Agencies)

Iboyaima Laithangbam Every November comes an important occasion of festivity for the Manipuri society. This year too, the annual festival of Ningol Chakkouba has just passed. It is a unique festival, one that celebrates daughters in a country which has otherwise an overall discriminatory attitude towards girls. On a November day, married sisters a nd daughters are invited to their paternal home for a sumptuous meal. History records that this practice began in 33 AD when Nongda Lairen Pakhangba was the king of Manipur.

His sister Laishna, had once gone to the house of her brother, Poireiton.

Apart from a multi-course delicious meal, she was given various home-grown fruits and handloom spun clothes as gifts. Since then, this practice has been an inextricable part of the Manipuri society. Initially,

this practice was found only among the Meiteis and the Kabuis. Though now, it has become a catalyst for communal harmony in the State. It began when some decades ago, civil society organisations started hosting feasts here and there where women of all communities were invited for a meal. Each of them was also given a handloom spun sarong or shawl as a gift. The idea behind these mass feasts was to remind people that all communities lived as members of the same family before the advent of Vaishnavism in the State in the 18th century after which untouchability began to be practised in Manipuri society leading to a social divide with a lingering effect. Former Chief Minister Rishang Keishing had also a plan to take forward the idea officially and host a lunch for couples belonging to both tribal and non-tribal communities.

But then, he was ousted from power before his dream was realised. However, the practice of organising feasts where women of all communities are invited is spreading into most parts of the four valley districts dominated by the Meiteis.

Such occasions underline the common belief that the tribals and the non-tribals are brothers of the same parents; that while the elder brother stayed in the hills, the younger brother decided to remain in the valley. However, with an ugly twist of history, an artificial social chasm was created which is deplored by one and all. Yet another change in the last few decades can also be seen taking over the festival. In the early times, families preserved the pristine beauty of the social practice by gifting ordinary clothes and arranging simple but delicious meals for their sisters and daughters.

However, with more and more ill-gotten money trickling in to the State, many began to use the festival as an occasion to show off their riches. There began a competition among many newly rich families about who can afford more expensive gifts for their daughters and sisters. However, there has been appeals time and again from various sections of society not to corrupt the unique practice.

On the day of Ningol Chakkauba, it is a must for married women and their children to don new clothes. They also have the custom of bringing fruits and sweets to their parental homes while coming for the meal. This is the harvest season for the traders who deal in imported fruits, sweets and other heavy demand items. However, the family of Irom Sharmila who has been on fast unto death since November 4, 2000 demanding the repeal

of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 has not hosted Ningol Chakkouba since then.

Sharmila is the youngest and most loved sibling in the family. When she has been on fast unto death, languishing in a prison there is no charm or meaning in hosting such lunches which are meant for festivity and jubilation, said some family members.

Unfortunately, these days, prices of most commodities skyrocket on the eve of Ningol Chakkauba. Prices of many commodities in Manipur are anyway one of the highest in the county due to lack of the Government initiatives to check untrammelled extortion of illegal taxes by militants of many hues.On top of that, most prefer to gift apples and coconuts brought from outside the State over locally grown fruits like the guavas and the berries and end up paying inevitably a

huge sum. Yet another offshoot of the festival is hosting games by some youths, such as dice, housie, etc., for the public, at times from October onwards. One such housie ticket this year was as high as Rs 10,000 which came with the irresistible first prize of a new sleek car. Though such events tarnish the pristine image of the festival, the good outcome of it has been that some have succeeded in making the festival a unifying force for the Manipuri society at large. Even police and other government departments including Assam Rifles now organise feasts for womenfolk. Also, the practice has rubbed off on nonManipuri families living in the State for generations. They too now invite their daughters and sisters home for Ningol Chakkouba. (Agencies)

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

PAGE 6

'Perfectionist' Aamir has Snapdeal distances itself from Aamir Khan amid row instilled fear in society: Lawyer Snapdeal is neither connected nor plays a role in comments made by Aamir Khan in his personal capacity New Delhi, Nov. 25: The e-commerce company Snapdeal on Wednesday distanced itself from its brand ambassador Aamir Khan's 'intolerance' statement, saying the company is not connected to any personal comment made by the Bollywood actor.

"Snapdeal is neither connected nor plays a role in comments made by Aamir Khan in his personal capacity. Snapdeal is a proud Indian company built by passionate young Indians focused on building an inclusive digital India. Everyday we are positively impacting

Metros, Schools finally re-open in Brussels London, Nov. 25: Metro lines and schools in Brussels have finally re-opened after the capital was shut down following fears of Paris-style attack. Police and security services will be deployed to guard the network as it is gradually opened to full capacity.

However, maximum security alert in Brussels will be extended until next Monday. Prosecutors charged a fourth person with terrorist offences following the raids linked to the attacks. Some 300 additional police officers and 200 soldiers will be deployed as the hunt continues for suspects involved in the Islamist militant attacks which killed 130 people. (ANI)

thousands of small businesses and millions of consumers in India. We will continue towards our mission of creating one million successful online entrepreneurs in India," the company said in a statement. Aamir was named as the brand ambassador for the online shopping service in March this year. According to reports, the ratings for the Snapdeal app on Google Play Store took a hit as many of its users took to social media to condemn Khan's remarks against growing intolerance in the nation.On Wednesday,

advocate Manoj Kumar Dixit filed a case against Khan over his 'intolerance' remark, saying that the Bollywood actor had instilled fear within various sections of society by declaring India as unsafe. "He has created a sense of fear within the society by declaring India as insecure. His statement can cause differences between people and incite enmity between religious communities," Dixit told.

While speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, Khan had made the controversial state-

ment that earned him massive whiplash.

"When I chat with Kiran at home, she says 'Should we move out of India?'

That's a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day.

That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm. You feel why this is happening, you feel low. That sense does exist in me," Aamir said. (ANI)

CPI (M) urges Parliament to pass resolution condemning intolerance New Delhi, Nov. 25: Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who attended the all-party meeting ahead of the Winter Session, on Wednesday, urged the Parliament to condemn growing intolerance in the country and direct the government to ensure that communal polarization is brought to an end. Yechury said that he has submitted a notice to the House in this regard. "On the question of rising intolerance and communal polarization, I had given a notice which has been accepted by the chairman. It has been bulletined and therefore that has to be taken up. It is for the house to pass a resolution condemning in-

tolerance and calling upon the government to implement the law of the land to ensure that such hate speeches and polarization is put to an end. It is a one line resolution that has been accepted by the chairman," Yechury told the media persons here.

Parties including the Congress and the JD (U) have already submitted their notices for adjournment motions, demanding a debate on the issue of intolerance and passage of a resolution condemning such incidents. Meanwhile, the government will look to reach out to the opposition parties to ensure smooth business in both Houses amid anticipation that the session could be stormy with the opposition planning to cor-

Protests erupt in Chicago over footage of cops shooting teen '16' times New York, Nov. 25: Protests broke out in Chicago after a video was released showing police reportedly shooting a teenager 16 times. The protesters were seen blocking a police building and chanting "16 shots" for the number of times the officer allegedly shot the teen. Some of the agitators were injured during the protest, according to the Chicago police.

The dash cam video, released a day ahead of a court-ordered deadline, shows officers confronting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who later died at a hospital, as he walked down the street on Oct. 20, 2014.

However, the Chicago police maintain that they were responding to a report of a person walking down the street with a knife and that McDonald refused to drop the knife when ordered. (ANI)

is happening in the neighbourhood and also in the western countries. India is a nation of peace and hope. It is unfortunate that a famous actor like Aamir Khan is making such immature statements," he added.

Naidu, however, said that the Bollywood star had complete freedom and was well within his rights to ex-

press his views, but he should keep in mind if he is 'serving the cause of the nation or hurting it'. The row over Aamir's 'intolerance' row escalated yesterday with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemning his statement and urging the actor to stop making irresponsible statements tarnishing the nation's image. "The country is developing and there is peace in the nation. The nation has given eveythign to Aamir Khan. When you are star, people listen to you, but your statements can also be used by those against to nation to tarnish its image of international platforms. Do not tarnish the image of the nation," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.

ner the government on various issues. The Winter Session of the Parliament is set to begin from tomorrow. During nearly month-long session, around 30 bills, including GST and Real Estate regulation Bills, are slated to be taken up for consideration and passing. In the Monsoon Session, Congress-led opposition had disrupted the Monsoon session of the Parliament over the Lalit Modi row and the Vyapam scam. (ANI)

Earlier on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna also launched a scathing attack on Aamir and questioned the Bollywood actor's patriotism. However, the Congress has strongly backed the actor while lashing out at the BJP-led NDA Government for not handling the problems confronting the nation in the 'right way'. "Instead of branding all those who question the Govt and Modiji - as unpatriotic, anti national or 'motivated', the Govt would do better to reach out to people to understand what's disturbing them," Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wrote in a series of tweets. (ANI)

Congress accuses Sanjeev Balyan of misusing his position New Delhi, Nov. 25: The Congress Party on Wednesday accused Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan of misusing his position and said the latest revelation contradicts the stand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It has been exposed now that Sanjeev Balyan is asking for funds from the companies for his niece.

Narendra Modi says there is no complaint here.

Now these types of maters are getting exposed.

Even Sushma Swaraj had admitted her nephew in a University in England.

She misused her position.

These are matters of con-

cern," Congress leader P.L. Punia said. The Congress' recation came after emails were sent from the minister's office to a few venture capital firms requesting them for an appointment to discuss the issue of raising funds to enable his 'niece' Monika Balyan launch an application called 'A Startup Company'. Meanwhile, Sanjeev Balyan's office employee Sumit Arora attempted to downplay the entire controversy and took the blame on himself. "I had done that when the minister was not present in office. Monika came and she claimed to be the

case has been filed under IPC section 124 A (sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds) 153 B (Imputations) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief). Earlier, speaking at the eighth edition of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, Aamir had expressed alarm and despondency over the rise in cases displaying intolerance in the last six to eight months.

Govt. ready to discuss intolerance issue: Naidu

Aamir's 'immature' remark has boosted 'orchestrated' disinformation campaign: Govt.

New Delhi, Nov. 25: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said that Bollywood actor Aamir Khan had knowingly or unknowingly managed to hurt India and himself with his 'irresponsible' statement, adding that the 'painful' remark has boosted the 'orchestrated' disinformation campaign launched by the political opponents. "Aamir has produced many sensitive, thought provoking and realistic films that have become popular in India.

Unfortunately on Tuesday, knowingly or unknowingly, he has hurt India and himself with what he said," Naidu told here. "India is the most tolerant country in the world and everybody is saying so. We know what

Kanpur, Nov. 25: Advocate Manoj Kumar Dixit, who has filed a case against Aamir Khan over his 'intolerance' remark, said on Wednesday that the Bollywood actor had instilled fear within various sections of society by declaring India as unsafe.

"Have filed a case against his statement that India is not safe and that in 8-10 months a sense of insecurity has been spread. Khan is a star, a perfectionist, and a trendsetter who has crores of fans who may imitate what he does. He is also the brand ambassador of 'Incredible India'," Dixit told.

The advocate asserted that Khan's statement could be misused across the world to promote the message that India was an 'insecure' nation and does not protect its people. "He has created a sense of fear within the society by declaring India as insecure. His statement can cause differences between people and incite enmity between religious communities," Dixit added. The

niece of the minister. I followed her instruction without the approval of the honourable minister.

That is mistake on my part," Arora told. He said it was his mistake as he did not cross check from the minister before sending the emails. "It is communication gap. When I realised my fault, I apologised and asked them not to take any action on the mail as it was not approved by the minister. I was badly scolded by the minister as he had not approved it. I accepted my mistake and said 'I won't repeat it again," he added. (ANI)

New Delhi, Nov. 25: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said the government is ready to discuss any issue, including the intolerance debate.

"The government is ready to discuss all issues, including intolerance. There is nothing to hide in it. Few incidences have taken place in the state. It is an issue of law and order. The government is ready to discuss it," Naidu told media here. Naidu said in the all-party meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed what should be India's stand on climate in the Summit in Paris.

"Prakash Javadekar has done a lot of work on that.

We will take opinions in these two days," he added. "The Prime Minister said that the Finance Minister is holding discussions with all and he is willing to speak to all parties to address the doubts on the GST bill," he said. The Congress has made its stand very clear and insisted that the Winter Session cannot be restricted

to a bill of the government.

The opposition has categorically stated to take up certain issues like debate over rising intolerance in the country and farmers' suicide in the Parliament. "The session cannot be restricted to one bill of the government. Yes, Parliament has legislative agenda and business to transact, but at the same time there are other issues that the Parliament has to discuss. It is the highest forum of discussion and debate in a parliamentary democracy. There are concerns before the country today when it comes to constitutional rights and guarantees which are under attack," Sharma told in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. (ANI)

He had said that a sense of 'insecurity' and 'fear' had seeped deep within society.

"When I go home and talk to Kiran (Aamir's wife), for the first time she says, 'Should we move out of India?'" Khan said , the gov-

Khan is a star, a perfectionist, and a trendsetter who has crores of fans who may imitate what he does. He is also the brand ambassador of 'Incredible India'," - Says Dixit

PM Modi returns home after successful two-nation visit

New Delhi, Nov. 25: Prime Minister Narenda Modi returned to New Delhi last night after his successful four day visit to Malaysia and Singapore. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Satish Upadhyay, RP Singh and Vijay Goel received the Prime Minister at the airport.

The Prime Minister ended his two-day Singapore tour after weaving his charm with the Indian Diaspora, which forms approximately nine percent of the citystate's total population, in Hall Number One and Two

AAP workers demand 'sexist' BJP MLA O.P. Sharma's resignation New Delhi, Nov. 25: The AAP workers staged a protest against BJP MLA O.P. Sharma outside his residence here on Wednesday and demanded his resignation over the sexist remarks against Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba. Several women volunteers of the AAP gathered outside Sharma's residence holding placards in their hands and raised slogans against him demanding his resignation. "Will insult to women continue in India like this? If a woman is outside her residence at night, will you highlight this? Do women have this existence in India? It's been a long time that we have got independence, but when will women get independence to express their views?" asked one of the protestors. She also took the opportunity to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I want to ask this question directly to Modi ji. Stay in India for sometime at

least and witness as to how low your MLAs have stooped to. He is insulting a woman sitting in the Vidhan Sabha, the women of India will never tolerate this," she added. Another protestor said Sharma should be made to resign for his remark on Lamba. "He should learn to respect women," she added.

Sharma has been suspended from Delhi Assembly for two days for making derogatory remarks against AAP legislator Alka Lamba. He had said, "Yeh raat bhar ghoomne wali hai (she roams around all night)."

ernment has condemned Khan's statement saying that knowingly or unknowingly, he had managed to hurt India and himself with his 'irresponsible' statement, adding that the 'painful' remark has boosted the ' o r c h e s t r a t e d ' disinformation campaign launched by the political opponents. "Aamir has produced many sensitive, thought provoking and realistic films that have become popular in India. Unfortunately yesterday, knowingly or unknowingly, he has hurt India and himself with what he said," Naidu told here. However, the Congress has strongly backed the actor while lashing out at the BJP-led NDA Government for not handling the problems confronting the nation in the 'right way'. (ANI)

Sharma was suspended till tomorrow by the Speaker, as AAP's women legislators demanded his permanent suspension and an apology from BJP MLA and Opposition leader Vijendra Gupta. He made the remarks during a discussion on homeless people and night shelters in the city, initiated through a calling attention motion by Vijender Gupta. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had expressed shock over the comments and hoped the BJP would take action against him.

(ANI)

of the Singapore Expo venue. Prime Minister Modi met his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsein Loong and signed the India-Singapore strategic partnership to elevate bilateral relations.

Prime Minister Modi also addressed the IndiaSingapore Economic Convention and interacted with Chief Executive Officers of several companies. Both Prime Ministers also released a joint stamp to mark the 50 years of diplomatic relation of India and Singapore. (ANI)

Tunisia declares state of emergency after explosion on Presidential Guard bus New York, Nov. 25: Tunisia has declared a state of emergency after an explosion on a bus that was carrying the president's security guard through the heart of the capital Tunis, killing at least 12 people. Tunisian President Beji CaAd Essebsi said that the explosion was a "cowardly terrorist attack." Essebi cancelled a scheduled trip to Switzerland and announced a nightly curfew. According to reports, the Tunis airport and tourist sites were shut down after the explosion. Essebsi said that 20 members of the presidential guard had been wounded. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet. (ANI)

Tangdhar: Army jawan killed in terrorist attack New Delhi, Nov. 25: One army jawan was on Wednesday killed in the terrorist attack at army post in Tangdhar near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district. At around 7:40 am, three to four terrorists positioned themselves at a mountainous ridge near the camp located near the LoC. The terrorists also threw grenades.

Heavy exchange of fire is underway as the army has launched a counter-terror operation against the militants. According to reports, an oil depot in the army camp has caught fire amid the gun battle. (ANI)

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

PAGE 7

NEIGHBOURS

ISIS turns to Bangladesh as latest battleground Dhaka, Nov 25: A week after its lethal Paris attacks, the Islamist terror group Isis boasted that the "soldiers" of its declared caliphate had also been murdering targets in Bangladesh, would expand further in south Asia and would "continue to terrorise the crusaders[westerners and their allies until the rule of Allah is established on the earth"Bangladesh and its 160m inhabitants, sandwiched between India and Myanmar, seem to have joined Afghanistan and Pakistan as a new Asian battleground for Isis in its competition with al-Qaeda.In recent weeks Sunni Muslim extremists have killed and maimed liberal writers, foreigners, police officers,

Shia Muslims and clerics of other religions in one of the world's most populous Muslim countries.Residents of the capital Dhaka reject the Isis claim that foreigners live in a "constant state of fear" but the killing of a Japanese farm expert in northern Bangladesh and an Italian aid worker in Dhaka's diplomatic zone - as well as the hacking to death of secular Bangladeshi bloggers over the past year - has certainly made people wary.Western embassies have put their citizens on alert, Australia cancelled a cricket tour and 12 of the 70 writers due to attend last weekend's Dhaka literary festival withdrew for security reasons. Kazi Anis Ahmed, a writer, pub-

Jamaat man held for threatening intellectuals with death Dhaka, Nov 25: The members of Detective Branch of Police have arrested an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami for allegedly threatening noted intellectuals of the country with death.The arrestee is Abdul Haque, of Sunamganj. He is a madrasa teacher in Sylhet.Muntasirul Islam, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told the Dhaka Tribune: "DB members arrested Abdul Haque from the capital's Tejgaon area on Tuesday midnight."In a press briefing, Detective Branch Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said: "So far we have found evidence of Abdul's group giving death threats to some 153 eminent citizens, including Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Professor Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman, Professor Muntasir Mamun, Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee leader Shahriar Kabir and Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal."Abdul himself made threats too many people spo ofing the mobile phone number of three people. He spoofed those people's phone numbers to get them in trouble over the feud of previous rivalry." (Agencies)

Indian SSB acknowledges border firing incident Kathmandu,Nov 25: Indian Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) Satana Post incharge Ranbir Singh as accepted that their security personnel had opened fire at Bhantabari of Sunsari today morning.

Sunsari Police Chief Sanjay Raj Sharma informed that Singh confirmed the shooting through a telephone call and said that it was wrong of his personnel to open fire in Nepal controlled land early this morning and necessary action will be taken against those involved in the incident.A local who was bringing fertiliser in a cycle from of Supoul district in India was stopped by the Indian SSB at Dasgaja area where the dispute escalated and the SSB opened fire at the individual in Nepali side of the border.Locals in the area have said that the Indan SSB entered Nepal controlled area and opened fire.Meanwhile, Ashok Yadav who received injuries to his right hand during the firing is reported to be in serious condition and is receiving medical attention at Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Science. Another injured Naresh Yadav has received bullet injuries to his waist and Saroj Yadav has been hit in his thigh.

The fourth injured, Manoj Yadav, has returned home after receiving medical treatment at Inaruwa District Hospital. (Agencies)

lisher and co-director of the festival, says it is "perplexing and frustrating" for liberal Bengali intellectuals such as himself to face the new reality of intolerance in a society where literature, music and the arts have long been cherished.He hopes that as the extremists move on from attacking prime targets such as suspected atheists (little loved by devout Bengali Muslims) to women's rights activists and progressive society at large, they will lose what support they have. "If they widen the target?which they are now trying to do, I think they will lose a lot of s In the meantime, diplomats, analysts and the Bangladeshi authorities are struggling to identify the killers and terror

groups responsible for the wave of recent attacks.

"There's something amorphous and amoebic about the groups that form," says Mr Ahmed. Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, this month went so far as to complain of an unspecified plot to force her government to admit the role of Isis in order to taint Bangladesh's image.

"We definitely don't expect any situation in Bangladesh similar to that in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Libya," she said. Ms Hasina has, however, cancelled foreign trips, including one to Paris for the climate summit.Her critics - and even some supporters of her governing Awami League - say that by persecuting established political parties and attack-

ing the free media she is threatening to establish a de facto one-party state and helping to drive her opponents into the waiting arms of the Islamists for want of any legitimate outlet for their frustration.

Most investigators conclude that local militants from obscure Islamist groups such as the socalled Ansarullah Bangla Team - which has an expanding hit-list of targeted writers - are eager to associate themselves with the Isis brand because it gives them status and attention."For groups that have been dormant for a very long time, they have suddenly tasted a tremendous amount of success," says one Bangladeshi security analyst who asks not to be named. "We need to

find out what level of direction or communication they are getting from Isis.??The main problem in Bangladesh right now is this state of denial - the government refuses to acknowledge there's a threat."For months, the police have been attributing terror attacks to Isis in 15 cases, by one count - but the government now denies that Isis is relevant and puts most of the blame on its previously mainstream Islamist opponents. Jamaat Islami, along with its ally the Bangladesh Nationalist party, has been mercilessly harassed by the government since the BNP boycotted last year's general election, and most of its leaders are now in jail, in hiding or in exile. (Agencies)

Government to revamp the Sri Lanka Transport Board to minimize losses Colombo, Nov 25: The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) is in total disarray and need to undergo major changes, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said in parliament. During the budget debate, the Minister said special attention has been paid to the public transport from the budget since up to now only ad-hoc measures have been taken to address problems in the transport sector.He pointed out that the annual loss incurred by the

SLTB amounts to nearly 4.5 billion rupees."Therefore we have to modernize the SLTB while minimizing losses. We have to give priority to the needs of passengers," the Minister said.He stressed that the job security of SLTB employees will not be undermined in any manner despite the moves to embark upon a major overhaul of the SLTB."Some trade unions allege that the government is bent on destroying the SLTB.

The former regime had already destroyed it.

There is nothing left to be destroyed. What we can do is revive the SLTB," he said.The Minister remarked that attempts made by certain parties to misinterpret the budget had been a flop."They were expecting a budget that would have heaped more and more tax burdens on the people. But contrary to their expectations, a totally different budget that brought immense relief to the public was pre-

sented," he said.Minister Karunanayake said the price reductions proposed from budget will be effective immediately. He added that even before the budget was presented, the government took measures to bring down the prices of many essential commodities from kerosene to gas."We have taken measures to implement price reductions from the midnight of the budget day itself," the Minister said. (Agencies)

Police: Search for victims of Myanmar jade mining landslide called off Yangon, Nov 25: Police in northern Myanmar said today they have ended efforts to find bodies in a jade mining landslide that killed more than 100 people and highlighted the perilous conditions created by a breakneck effort to dig up the world's richest deposits of the green gem.Separately, the government of Kachin state in the country's far north has offered compensation of 600,000 kyats ($550) to families of identified victims. The desultory sum reflects the limited resources of a state that is largely locked out of a mining bonanza worth billions.The collapse early Saturday of a 60 meter (200-foot)

mountain of dirt and debris created by industrial jade mining in Hpakant enveloped 70 makeshift huts and killed at least 113 people. Officials have said as many as 100 people are still missing.

Many of the dead were itinerant jade pickers and their families who made a living scavenging for scraps of jade in the debris left behind by mining companies. Hpakant police officer Naing Win

said search operations ended today morning.The landslide was the areas worst such disaster in recent memory, but dozens of other people have been killed or maimed in the past year. In January, a

landslide of unstable waste earth killed at least 30 jade pickers. Lajun Ngan Seng, a Kachin state minister, on Tuesday said the families of 72 identified victims are being offered compensation.

Naing Win, the police officer, said an association of the dozens of jade mining companies in Hpakant could decide further compensation. So far there has been no offer of compensation from Triple One and Yadana Yaung Chi, two mining companies that police say contributed in large part to the waste mountain.The death toll of 113 has been unchanged since Monday despite earthmoving machines being used in the search.

(Agencies)

Sri Lanka President to leave for CHOGM 2015 tomorrow Colombo, Nov 25: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena is scheduled to leave for Malta tomorrow to attend the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).The CHOGM 2015 will be held in Malta from 27 to 29 November 2015 under the theme 'The Commonwealth - Adding Global Value'.

Meetings will take place at a number of historical venues around Malta, while the Heads of Government

retreat will be held at Fort St. Angelo, situated in Vittoriosa.

Commonwealth leaders in Malta will address global issues such as climate change, building resilience in small states, trade and sustainable development, the empowerment of youth, gender equality and human rights.Sri Lanka hosted the biennial event, which brings together Heads of State and government from the 53 countries in the Commonwealth, in 2013. (Agencies)

Khaleda will not attend Thursday's hearing

Dhaka, Nov 25: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will not attend the hearings of Zia Charitable and Zia Orphanage Trust corruption cases scheduled to be held on Thursday. Confirming the news Khaleda's lawyer Sanaullah Mia told the media "She will not attend Thursday's hearings in two graft cases due to illness."The court is scheduled to record statements of the witnesses in connection with the Zia Charitable Trust case on the day.The Anti-Corruption Commission filed one of the graft cases against Khaleda and five others for embezzling over Tk2.1 crore by forming a "fake" Zia Orphanage Trust that existed only on paper.The other accused are Khaleda's son Tarique Rahman, Ziaur Rahman's nephew Mominur Rahman, Khaleda's former prin-

cipal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, former BNP lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed.The other case was filed by the anti-graft body in 2011 for abusing power in setting up the Zia Charitable Trust accusing Khaleda, her former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, his assistant private secretary Ziaul Islam Munna, and former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka's assistant personal secretary and Monirul Islam Khan.On March 19 last year, the court indicted Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman in both the cases and began recording depositions of witnesses on September 22.The court has so far recorded depositions of 25 out of 36 prosecution witnesses, including the complainant of the case, in the Zia Charitable Trust Case. (Agencies)

Climate Conference: 'Chinese Prez Xi Will Not Make New Concession Beijing, Nov 25: President Xi Jinping will attend the climate conference in Paris from November 2930 at the invitation of French President Francois Hollande, Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.Xi will be present at the conference which is expected to be attended by top world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to work out a durable deal to reduce the greenhouse gases which are blamed for global warming.Ahead of the Paris meet, China, which is the top emitter of greenhouse gases along with th US, has hoped that "a powerful, ambitious and legally binding deal" can be reached in

Paris.Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a briefing that world leaders will be in attendance in France "to lend political impetus" to the meeting but "are not there for negotiations"."The Paris conference is not about tabling new proposals it's about narrowing differences and reaching agreement on the basis of the existing proposals," he added. Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change, told the media last week that 2015 deal should reflect the principles of "common but differentiated responsibilities (CDR)" and "respective capabilities".The Paris climate change conference, due to begin on

November 30, is the latest attempt by world leaders to reduce carbon emissions through a legally binding treaty after the talks in Copenhagen in 2009 failed to deliver a deal. Now with frequent extreme weather and related natural disasters as well as the imminent sealevel rise, expectations are high that the Paris conference will reach a second legally-binding treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Yet in the run-up to the conference, major differences remain, particularly on the principle of CDR.Accords and conventions reached previously agreed that rich countries should mobilise USD 100 billion a year by

2020 to help developing countries fight climate change.Developed nations still have much to do in their pledges to provide

money and transfer lowcarbon and environmental friendly technologies to developing countries, Xie said."Each country

should deliver what they have promised, which is the basic foundation of political trust," Xie said, adding that mutual trust is a prerequisite to a successful conference. He reiterated China's goals in its own action plan, called "Intended Nationally Determined Contribution" (INDC): cutting its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, increasing non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20 per cent and peaking its carbon emissions by the same date."Yu Qingchan, leader of climate change research at Beijing's Global Environmental Institute, said preparation

work for the Paris summit has been much more efficient than that for Copenhagen. Xie highlighted China's other initiatives to curb greenhouse gases such as a nationwide carbon emissions trading market to be launched in 2017.Xie also said that all CO2 reduction targets set in the 12th Five Year Plan, including nonfossil fuel consumption and forest growing stock, have been achieved.When asked whether China will take further measures or make compromises to deliver fruitful achievements at the conference, Xie said China will ensure that the INDC targets will be accomplished in whatever circumstances. (Agencies)

PAGE 8

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

The Implications of the Bihar Elections Child Protection Policy A must in all Schools A nation-wide consultative process was undertaken, during which, civil society experts came together to evolve child protection standards. Through the study it was revealed that only 10% schools reported having a Child Protection Policy while only 1% schools have a sexual harassment policy. This National Study on Child Protection Mechanisms echoes that it is the responsibility of the schools to have a written child protection policy as schools are considered one of the safest places for children.

Some other key findings of the survey pertaining to Schools were that 28% schools did not have separate toilets for boys and girls. Only 4% of the schools provide filtered water to children. 77% schools provide nonfiltered water to the school children. 19% of schools did not provide any water facility for the children. Whereas 86% of schools have a first-aid box available for emergencies and 14% of the schools surveyed had not even the most basic facility of a first-aid box to deal with a medical emergency. Over 60% of the schools have a teacher-student ratio that is better than the desired measure of 1:30; 64% of schools have a favourable gender ratio with more female than male teachers. More than 90% schools reported the presence of a female teacher.

Less than 2% of schools had school counsellors. It was also found that only 12% of the respondents (the principal) have undergone any training in child rights and child protection. And 92% government schools reported the existence of a PTA as compared to 74% private schools. And 3% of schools reported having grievance committees for issues relating to SC/ST and human rights issues, 2% for gender discrimination and 4% for issues related to corporal punishment.

The percentage of schools that make available a complaint book or a complaint box for children is as low as 20% and 21% respectively. 64% schools said they take no measures to ensure safety of children outside school premises. While only in 5% of schools is no corporal punishment meted out to children. And only 33% of schools resort to beating and 12% to humiliating children in front of their peers as a form of punishment. Of the 36% of schools that reported abuse, 21% of schools took follow-up action against the abuse. Whereas 28% have reported drop-out of students due to child labour and 21% reported drop out due to child marriage.

So keeping the above findings in mind, every school should be required to create a child protection plan which should cover all factors like school transport, medical facilities, physical infrastructure, toilets, staff training and forms of punishments and abuse. The Child Protection Policy of a school must be made freely available to all children, staff, parents/guardians and the public. Every Child Protection Policy must furthermore comprise a policy statement; code of conduct; a whistle blower policy; implementation guidelines and it must have clear accountability resting with a key stakeholder of the school with a child friendly version made freely accessible to children. It is also imperative that orientation to children and staff on the Child Protection Policy must take place. The Child Protection Policy is the minimum standard every institution must adopt. It is also an important part of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) guidelines, which states that both parents of students and the teachers have to sign guidelines to ensure a safe environment when the child joins a school.

Building a protective net around children is the responsibility of all members of society whether directly charged with the care of children or not. A Child Protection Policy in schools is an attempt to extend child protection beyond the legislations pertaining to children and will go a long way in keeping children safe from many dangers.

What's due to martyrs Glory of armed forces needs to be restored Famous as a village of soldiers, Pogarwadi recently bid a tearful adieu to its son, Colonel Santosh Mahadik who was martyred during a fierce gunbattle with militants in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. The officer, who originally belonged to the elite 21 Para unit of the Special Forces, was awarded Sena Medal (Gallantry) for his exceptional service and leadership as a young officer while fighting the terrorists in Lolab Valley in Kupwara in 2003. Despite the inhospitable terrain that made the Kupwara operation immensely challenging, the Colonel particularly chose to lead his battalion. Colonel Mahadik was also awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry during Operation Rhino in the North-East in 2003. Though Mahadik was given a final send-off with full military honours and with defence minister Manohar Parrikarand, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paying tribute to him, it remains to be seen how the defence establishment and the state government look after his family of three - his wife and two young children - in the days to come.

At the end of the day, there is a lot more that needs to be done to protect these sacrifices. It would be something for the families of martyrs if the nation and the people committed themselves to providing emotional and economic support to them. As it is; the importance of taking care of those who take care of the nation's security cannot be undermined.

Many a time, the stakeholders cannot be absolved of the guilt of treating the families of slain soldiers and officers with indifference. The political establishment is no better in this regard, either.

The government needs to do a lot more if it wants to restore the glory once associated with the armed forces.

The army not only needs to take care of its soldiers and officers while they are serving the country, but it should also devise a long-term solution in consultation with the Defence Ministry to tackle the financial problems of the families of the deceased and of those who have had to retire after sustaining injuries.

The recent defeat of the BJP has implications that go well beyond the Indian state.

Anish Mishra Bihar is an East Indian state with a population of more than 100 million, making it the third most populous state of Indian with an area equivalent to Indiana. Bihar has a literacy rate of 63.4 percent, the lowest in India.

The state is well known for lagging behind the rest of India in socioeconomic indicators, and is a major source of migrant workers in other Indian states. Biharis have often been the victims of oppression and state-based nationalism by political parties such as the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Bihar is known for its caste polarization; here, people don't cast their votes, they vote their caste.

During October and November, a five-phase election was held for the Bihar state legislative assembly. The election saw one of the greatest and most aggressive contests in any Indian state - even Prime Minister Narendra Modi descended onto the field of battle. The results, released on November 8, saw Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trounced by the Mahagathbandhan (grand coalition), an alliance of three political parties: Indian National Congress (INC), Janata Dal United (JDU) and Rashtriya Janata Dal ( R J D ) .

TheMahagathbandhan won a total of 178 out of 243 seats, ensuring the re-election of the new rising star of Indian politics, Nitish Kumar of the JDU as chief minister, even though former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's party (the RJD) won 80 seats, making it the largest single party in the Bihar assembly. This victory has reaffirmed the role of Lalu Prasad Yadav as the great kingmaker of India, despite his corruption convictions by the Supreme Court of India.

Thus, the setback for the BJP became a comeback for Lalu, renowned

locally for his political resilience. But the election is likely to have repercussions that extend well beyond Bihar.

Secularism vs. Communalism It is important to understand that there are two ideas of India. The first is that of its founding fathers, and is reflected in the preamble of the Indian Constitution which establishes that India is a democratic secular republic. This camp holds the view that India is a state with no official religion and every religion is equal in the eyes of the establishment.

The second school of thought - which is the view of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BJP & Hindutva right-wing forces - holds that since the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan based on the idea of the religious incompatibility of Hindus and Muslims arising from Quid-E-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's two nation theory, Pakistan became an Islamic republic so what is left should be a Hindu Rashtriya (nation) in which Muslims and other minorities are only tenants and must live under Hindu rule. Adherents to this second idea of India often tell those Muslims asking for their rights to go to Pakistan. Yogi Adityanath, a BJP parliamentarian, recently said

Mahagathbandhan over the communal parties, and reflects the robust support in Bihar for democracy and secularism.

Recent months have witnessed a wave of intolerance and communal tensions in India. At the end of August, M. M. Kalburgi, a recipient of the prestigious National Sahitya Akademi literary award known for his work critical of idolatry in Hinduism, was shot dead in Karnataka. The murder prompted many writers to return their awards as a protest of the intolerance and the failure to condemn the killing. In another incident, at a book launch by former Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Indian activist Sudheendra

The Bihar election was seen as a huge victory for the secular Mahagathbandhan over the communal parties, and reflects the robust support in Bihar for democracy and secularism.

Recent months have witnessed a wave of intolerance and communal tensions in India. as much to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. As a result, Muslims in India often joke that the acronym "BJP" spells out as Bhaijaan jaiya Pakistan ("Brother go to Pakistan").

The Bihar election was seen as a huge victory for the secular

Kulkarni was assaulted by Hindu right-wing Shiv Sena party workers, who threw ink on his face for inviting Kasuri. Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut called the attack a democratic protest, while Shiv Sena youth wing leader Aaditya Thackeray termed it a

non-violent protest.

Then, in October, a Hindu priest in Uttar Pradesh accused a local Muslim family of consuming beef. A mob stormed the home of 50year-old Muslim man named Mohammad Akhlaq, and beat him to death using bricks and stones after finding what the mob alleged to be beef in his refrigerator.

The beef issue became an election issue in Bihar - with some sharp exchanges between Yadav and Modi. Ultimately, though, the young and largely progressive population in Bihar made clear that it does not like being told by the state what they can and cannot eat.

Implications On November 9, when the market opened after the Bihar election results were announced, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex plummeted as much as 600 points, or close to 2 percent. The Indian rupee also dropped 1 percent against the U.S. dollar, crossing the psychologically significant 66.00 barrier.

Clearly, the Bihar election has implications not just for the state alone, but for all of India. The Indian parliament is a bicameral legislature comprising the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Currently the BJP enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha, but the party and its allies are in the minor-

ity in the Rajya Sabha.

To pass crucial reforms, the BJP will need to gain seats in the Rajya Sabha, and to do that it will have to win state elections as Rajya Sabha members are nominated by state governments. As the third most populous state in India, Bihar is allocated a total of 16 seats in the Rajya Sabha. Given that Modi won on an agenda for growth and economic development, this major setback for the BJP has profound repercussions for India's economy. This in turn will influence investor confidence, and could slow the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI).

Looking at India's electoral map, the outcome of the Bihar elections is one the BJP government needs to take very seriously. During the last Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the BJP won a total of 22 out of 40 seats in Bihar. It also won all 7 Lok Sabha seats in the union territory of Delhi.

The BJP also won a whopping 71 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh (UP), of which 61 seats were fresh gains. Since then, the BJP has suffered major losses in the state elections of Delhi and Bihar. This rise of an anti-BJP front in Northern India topped with the anti-incumbency sentiment prevalent in Indian politics could cause the BJP to

lose as many as 100 seats in the next Lok Sabha elections, crippling the Modi government.

The Modi government has indeed made significant progress on the economic front, with India the world's top destination for FDI in 2015. Investors would doubtless prefer a stable BJP government, given that it has been aggressively driving India's economic growth. They may not wait until the outcome of the next Lok Sabha outcome - if signs continue to point to trouble for the Modi government, such as defeats in state elections, investors could slowly begin to withdraw from India, leading to capital outflow, especially for long-term projects where political stability is a critical component of risk assessment.

To ensure his government stays in power and India continues to grow, Modi will have to fulfill his promise ofSabka Saath, Sabka Vikas ("together with all, development for all") and end divisive politics, while uniting Indians against extremism. The government will also have to be firm and fast in condemning the actions of extremist groups as well as outrageous comments by MPs and ministers, or else give the electorate the impression that it endorses them.

Assam's winning run in Ranji Trophy Sir, still miles to go. May the 'Team Assam' register more Cricket-lovers of Assam have every reason to re- victories and bring laurels to Assam. joice over the scintillating victory registered by Assam over some formidable rivals like Delhi on way to the quarter finals. Kudos to the 'Team-Assam' for being Yours etc. on the threshold of writing new history. Particularly Ashok Bordoloi accolades go to Krishna, Arup, Rahul Kartick, Syed Dibrugarh Mohammad, Amit Verma and every other members Best Letter of the team. On the last day of the match, we had some doubt, as cricket is a game of uncertainty but The best letter of the month in the Letter to overcoming all the hurdles our heroes managed to the Editor section will be awarded an amount of Rs 200. So please keep writing. come up trumps. It is interesting to note that in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Delhi remain unvanquished, but this time it has had to confront the ignominy of suffering defeat at the hands of Assam, the dark horse.

Letters to the editor and articles should be sent to : Cricket lovers of Assam must not be let down by the The Eastern Today office-bearers of Assam Cricket Association who Chowkidingee, Near Sankardeva Hospital always fail to highlight our cricketers on the all India Mancotta Road, Dibrugarh-786003 (Assam) Ph: platform. The association has been plagued by the 0373-2328944 likes of Goutam Roy at the helm. We are fully sanWeb : editor.easterntoday@gmail.com guine about the bright future of our boys who have

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Page 9

Job & Career

Various Jobs in NEIAH, Shillong [112 posts] North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy (NEIAH), Shillong.

Last Date: 04/01/2016.

North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy (NEIAH), Shillong, Meghalaya, an autonomous institute under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India invites applications from Indian Citizen for the following posts to be filledup by Direct Recruitment / Deputation / Short Term Contract basis: 1. Deputy Director Administration : 01 post 2. Finance Manager : 01 post 3. Accounts Officer : 02 posts 4. Assistant Administrative Officer : 01 post 5. Junior Engineer (Civil) : 01 post 6. Junior Engineer (Electrical) : 01 post 7. Accountant : 01 post 8. Junior Accountant : 01 post 9. Cashier : 01 post 10. Private Secretary : 01 post 11. Upper Division Clerk : 03 posts 12. Principal Ayurveda college : 01 post 13. Professor (Ayurveda) : 10 posts 14. Associate professor (Ayurveda) : 10 posts 15. Lecturer (Ayurveda) : 10 posts

Various Jobs in NIELIT for a Project on NE Region National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) Last Date: 02/12/2015.

NIELIT is a premier organization with Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) for Capacity Building and Skill Development in Electronics, Information Technology and allied areas. NIELIT is in process of setting up of a Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) for the project titled "Development of NE Region by enhancing Training/Education Capacity in IECT Area" on behalf of Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). For this PMU, and its own operations, NIELIT invites applications in ONLINE mode for the following positions: 1. Asst. Project Coordinator/Jr.Engineer(Civil/Electrical) 1 post Pay: Rs 40000/ 2. Assistant Project Coordinator (Finance) 1 post Pay: Rs 40000/ 3. Executive Assistant (MIS) Pay: Rs 20000/ 4. Office Attendant Pay: Rs 10000/ Note: Details pertaining to Age, Qualifications and Experience along with job roles in respect of all the positions? terms and conditions etc. for application are available at http://www.nielit.gov.in.

Faculty Jobs in NIT Meghalaya National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya.

Last Date: 31/12/2015.

GradeIV Posts in Jorhat Medical College Jorhat Medical College & Hospital Last Date: 14/12/2015.

Applications are invited from Indian Citizens in Standard Form as published in Assam Gazette in PartIX for filling up of the following GradeIV posts of Jorhat Medical College & Hospital.

1.Name of post: Sweeper/ Cleaner No of post: 1 Pay: Rs 2450 Rs 3670 Educational Qualification: Read up to Class X. 2. Name of post: Attendant No of post: 2 Pay: Rs 2450 Rs 3670 Educational Qualification: HSLC Passed.

Age: 18 to 38 years as on 01012015.

National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya invites applications in Prescribed Format from Indian Nationals for appointment on permanent/ contract / deputation basis, possessing consistently good academic record and requisite qualifications and experience, with commitment to work, passion for teaching & research and an inclination towards institutional development, for positions of Assistant Professors and Associate Professor in various disciplines.

Name of post: Assistant Professor / Associate Professor No of posts: 10 posts (UR3, OBC3, SC3, PWD1) on regular/ contract basis in various disciplines Essential Qualification: Ph. D. with 1st Class at UG & PG levels with consistently good academic record Pay Scale : for Assistant Professor Rs. 1560039100 AGP Rs. 6000 / 7000 / 8000 and Rs. 3740067000 AGP Rs. 9500 for Associate Professor posts How to Apply : Apply Online at NIT Meghalaya website on or before 24/12/ 2015 only and hard copy of the system generated application should reach to the Registrar, NIT Meghalaya, Bijni Complex, Laitumkhrah, Shillong793003 on or before 31/12/2015.

Applications are invited for the posts of 3 Data Entry Operator in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Dispur, Assam Applications are invited from the Indian nationals, in the below given application format for 3 (three) vacant posts of Data Entry Operator (Pay scale- Rs. 5200-20200, Grade Pay-Rs. 2400) in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer , Assam Dispur as per below :1) One Post - Un-reserved 2) One Post - OBC /MOBC 3) One Post - Un-reserved (Women) Eligibility & Qualification: i) Minimum education qualification - Bachelor of Computer Applications from a recognized university. ii) Age: Between 18 years to 38 years as on 01/01/ 2016. iii) Should be medically fit to discharge his duties.

How to apply: i) The duly filled application in the prescribed format given below, filled in all respect shall be sent at the following address- Deputy Secretary (Establishment) Election Department, Block- C (4th Floor) Assam Secretariat, Dispur, Guwahati - 781 006 ii) The application may be submitted in person or by post latest by 4:15 PM, 7th December, 2015.

Graduate Teacher Jobs in Model Schools under RMSA, Assam [76 posts] Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan (RMSA), Assam.

Last Date: 03/12/2015.

Online applications are invited by Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan (RMSA), Assam from the intending candidates for the post of Graduate Teachers in Model schools located in 13 nos. of different educationally backward blocks of Assam. The appointment shall be on contractual basis, initially for a period of 05 years, which may be renewed depending on the satisfactory performance. Appointment against New Post: 1. Graduate Teacher (English) 13 posts 2. Graduate Teachers (Science) 13 posts 3. Graduate Teachers (Math) 13 posts 4. Graduate Teachers (Arts) 13 posts 5. Graduate Teachers (Assamese) 13 posts Appointment against post lying vacant in various Model School: 1. Graduate Teacher (Arts) 4 posts 2. Graduate Teacher (Math) 2 posts 3. Graduate Teacher (English) 1 post 4. Graduate Teacher (Science) 1 post

The Eastern Today has taken an initiative to present Questions & Answers to help the aspirants in their competitive exams (SSC, Banks, Insurance, etc.).

1).Among the following which is NOT an electronic banking delivery channel? a) Internet Banking b) Mobile Banking c) ATM d) Mobile Vans Answer is: D 2).The Rate at which the domestic currency can be converted into foreign currency and vice versa is called as_______. a) Exchange rate b) MIBOR c) LIBOR d) Inter Bank Money Rate Answer is: A 3).Crossing on a cheque can be cancelled by the _____ of the cheque, under his full signature. a) Drawee b) Payee c) Holder d) Drawer Answer is: B 4).Which of the following category of advance accounts in NOT an NPA? a) Standard Account b) Substandard Account c) Loss Account d) None of these Answer is: D 5).Which of the following statement is true? a) Banks can accept both demand and time deposits from public b) Banks cannot accept demand and time deposits from public c) Banks can accept only demand deposits from public d) Banks can accept demand and time deposits only from government Answer is: A

6).Among the following which one is correct statement? a) A Nationalized bank is the sole authority to issue and manage currency in India b) A cooperative bank is the sole authority to issue and manage currency in India c) SBI is the sole authority to issue and manage currency in India d) RBI is the sole authority to issue and manage currency in India Answer is: D 7).Interest payable on savings bank accounts is________. a) Regulated by Finance Minister b) Regulated by RBI c) Regulated by Central Government d) Regulated by SBI Answer is: B 8).Which are all the usual deposit accounts of banks? a) Current accounts, saving bank accounts and term deposit accounts b) Current accounts, electricity accounts and premium accounts c) Loan accounts, savings accounts and term deposit accounts d) Current bill accounts and term deposit accounts.

Answer is: A 9).Fixed deposits and recurring deposits are________. a) Repayable on demand b) Repayable after an agreed period c) Non repayable d) Repayable after death of depositors

Answer is: B 10).Accounts are allowed to be operated by cheques in respect of _______. a) Both Current accounts and fixed deposit accounts b) Both Savings bank accounts and fixed deposit accounts c) Both Savings bank accounts and cash accounts d) Both Savings bank accounts and current accounts Answer is: D 11).Which among the following statement is correct? a) Saving deposit are the same as current deposits b) The rate of interest on current account and saving accounts are same c) Interest is paid on current accounts at the same rate as term deposit accounts d) Normally no interest is paid on current deposit accounts Answer is: D 12).Which of the following is known as cross selling? i). Sale of debit card to the credit card holder ii). Sale of insurance policy to a depositor iii). Insurance of cash against cheque presented by a third party a) Only i) b) Only ii) c) Only iii) d) All i), ii) and iii) Answer is: D 13).If a bank returns a cheque unpaid, it is called as______. a) Drawing of the cheque

b) Dishonor of the cheque c) Payment of the cheque d) Cancelling of the cheque Answer is: B 14).Which is the first state in India to launch RBI's e-payment system for commercial tax payers? a) Punjab b) Gujarat c) Karnataka d) Kerala Answer is: C 15).Who is the chairman of the committee constituted by RBI to study issues and concerns in the Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) sectors? a) M Damodran b) C Rangrajan c) Dr. K C Chakraborty d) Y H Malegam Answer is: D 16).Among the following which is known as "Demat Accounts"? a) Accounts in which shares of various companies are traded in electronic form b) Accounts which are operated through internet banking facility c) Accounts which are Zero Balance Accounts d) None of these Answer is: A 17).NEFT stands for_______. a) National Electronic Funds Transfer System b) National Effective Fund Transfer System c) Non Effective Fund Transfer System d) Negotiated Electronic Fund Transfer Solutions Answer is: A 18).What is the pre-

scribed upper limit transaction through RTGS? a) Rs. 5 lakh b) Rs. 1 lakh c) Rs. 2 lakh d) Rs. 3 lakh Answer is: B 19).Distribution of insurance products and insurance policies by banks as corporate agents is called as_______. a) Deposit Insurance b) General Insurance c) Bancassurance d) Banking Insurance Answer is: C 20).Banks are calculating the interest of the savings bank account on________. a) Minimum balance from 10th to last day of the month b) Minimum balance during the month c) Maximum balance during the month d) Daily product basis Answer is: D 21).Among the following who is the largest share holder of a nationalized bank? a) Government of India b) RBI c) SBI d) NABARD Answer is: A 22).Banks in our country normally publicize that additional interest rate is allowed on retail domestic term deposit of_______. a) Married Women b) Minors c) Senior Citizen d) Government Employees Answer is: C 23).When the rate of inflation in-

creases__________. a) Amount of money circulation decreases b) Purchasing power of money decreases c) Value of the money increases d) Purchasing power of money increase Answer is: D 24).Among the following which is NOT considered as the money market instrument? a) Shares and bonds b) Commercial paper c) Repurchase agreement d) Certificate of deposit Answer is: B 25).Which of the following is an example for the financial assets? a) Infrastructure Bonds b) Indira Vikas c) Krishi Vikas d) All the above Answer is: D 26).Capital Market is a market that deals with_______. a) Long term funds b) Gilt-edge securities c) Short term funds d) None of these Answer is: A 27).Regional and Rural Banks fall within supervisory purview of_________. a) RBI b) SEBI c) IRDA d) SBI Answer is: A 28).Among the following which does not comes under the category of Development Banks? a) State Finance Corporation b) Export-Import Banks c) Industrial Development Bank of India

d) Industrial Investment Bank of India Answer is: B 29).Which of the following is not an example of primary securities? a) Bonds b) Bills c) New Currency d) Shares Answer is: C 30).Bombay Stock Exchange was made functional as early as__________. a) 1850 b) 1930 c) 1910 d) 1870 Answer is: D 31).Among the following which rates is decided by the market condition and not by RBI? a) Inflation Rate b) Bank Rate c) SLR d) CRR Answer is: A 32).Which among the following institutions is NOT directly associated with the financial sector in India? a) SEBI b) Planning Commission c) BSE d) BIFR Answer is: B 33).Where was the first Share Market in India

was established? a) Kolkata b) Delhi c) Mumbai d) Gujarat Answer is: C 34).Which of the following is a characteristic of a capital market instrument? a) Long Maturity b) Marketability c) Liquidity d) All of the above Answer is: D 35).T-bills are the financial instruments initially sold by______ to raise funds. a) The government b) The private Sector Banks c) The Public Sector Banks d) Corporate Companies Answer is: A 36).Among the following which is not a money market instruments? a) Treasury Bill b) Treasury Bond c) Commercial Paper d) Negotiable Certificates Answer is: B 37).Money Lent for One day is called as_______. a) Term Money b) Notice Money c) Call Money d) None of these Answer is: C

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

BUSINESS

$325 billion FY16 export target to be missed by Govt Mumbai, Nov 25: The government has resigned to missing the $325-billion export target for FY16 by a wide margin and is now asking traders to look at emerging markets anticipating a prolonged global slump.

New estimates now see exports at below $300 crore. The admission comes at a time when exports declined for the 11th successive month in October due to a slowdown in most countries that import from India.

Speaking at India Engineering Sourcing Show, Ravi Capoor, joint secretary, ministry of commerce, said: "Last year, we hit $312 billion in exports and we expected $325 billion. We are likely to fall very badly short of that. This year we should be very lucky

if we can touch $300 billion and we might end up at less than that." Although the government has taken measures such as 3% interest subsidy to boost exports, there is a thinking that traders should shift focus to emerging markets and at value-added exports rather than petroleum and gems and jewellery where the value addition was a low 10%. "Our largest exports are petroleum, engineering and gems & jewellery. Both in petroleum and gems & jewellery we import raw material and re-export. The value-added is around 10%. Engineering is one sector which adds huge value - above 40%. This is one sector we need to focus and put our money as it generates employment. We

should enter into exports of those areas where value addition is high," said Capoor. He said that rather than try and catch up with China, which has an exportdriven economy, India should focus on emerging markets. "The Indian economy is driven by domestic consumption.

We only export a small part of our production. If China is doing 12%, we do not need to do 12%.

If you cater to emerging markets ... that is a huge market. That's what the whole world is looking at," said Capoor. According to chairman of EEPC, T S Bhasin, exporters are already looking at new emerging markets. "Though the US and Europe remain the top two markets for the Indian engineering

BLEAK EXPORT GROWTH FUTURE The government has resigned to missing the $325-billion export target for FY16 by a wide margin and is now asking traders to look at emerging markets anticipating a prolonged global slump.

Last year, India hit $312 billion in exports and this year the expectation was $325 billion.Last year, India hit $312 billion in exports and this year the expectation was $325 billion.

India's largest exports are petroleum, engineering and gems & jewellery. Both in petroleum and gems & jewellery India import raw material and re-export. The valueadded is around 10%

New estimates now see exports at below $300 crore.

The admission comes at a time when exports declined for the 11th successive month in October due to a slowdown in most countries that import from India.

Although the government has taken measures such as 3% interest subsidy to boost exports, there is a thinking that traders should shift focus to emerging markets and at value-added exports rather than petroleum and gems and jewellery where the value addition was a low 10%.

Though the US and Europe remain the top two markets for the Indian engineering exports (which were around $70 billion in the previous fiscal), Africa, ASEAN and South Asia hold a lot of promise once there is a turnaround in the economic cycle.

exports (which were around $70 billion in the previous fiscal), Africa,

ASEAN and South Asia hold a lot of promise once there is a turnaround in the

economic cycle. We are even focusing on Latin America." (Agencies)

RSCI gets it Loans worth Rs 40k crore converted into equity by banks new chairman

Mumbai, Nov 25: Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI) recently announced that C V L Srinivas, CEO, GroupM, South Asia, has been nominated as chairman for two years. Srini takes over from Hormusji Cama, who was chairman of RSCI for the past two years. RSCI was set up when the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) agreed to undertake joint readership studies as equal part-

ners. Shashi Sinha, chairman of ABC, said, "We are delighted that Srini has taken over as chairman of RSCI, as there can't be a better person to guide RSCI, especially as we kick off IRS 2016."

MRUC chairman I Venkat said, "Srini brings over two decades of rich and varied experience in media planning and buying having worked in some of the best known agencies.

I am confident that Srini, ably assisted by N P Satyamurthy, who has recently taken charge of the technical committee, will help us bring out an improved IRS 2016 with a 3,30,000 sample, the largest such study anywhere in the world."

(Agencies)

Govt inks 11 APAs with MNCs to reduce litigations New Delhi, Nov 25: The government has entered into 11 fresh advance pricing agreements (APAs) with MNCs as part of its strategy to reduce litigation. The latest set of APAs have focused largely on the IT sector.

An APA is meant to provide the criteria for deciding on transfer pricing arrangements between an Indian company and its foreign affiliates. In the past, transfer pricing

the 'GTS' AMG sports car, pricing the vehicle at Rs 2.4 crore (ex-showroom Delhi).

The GTS, which carries a 4litre engine and has a top speed of 310 kmph, delivers peak power of 510 horse power. It can race from 0 to 100 kmph in 3.8 seconds. The car will compete with models such as Audi's 'R8', Jaguar's 'F Type' and Lamborghini's 'Huracan'.

Roland Folger, MD & CEO of Mercedes Benz India, said AMGs are gaining traction in the market as there is a niche but growing set of buyers, who are ready to pay a premium for getting the high-performance vehicles. Rivals of Mercedes also offer high-performance cars in India and these include the M Series by BMW and the S and RS line of cars by Audi.

Mercedes' AMGs are built using hand-crafted engines at the company's Affalterbach plant in Germany. Each AMG engine builder stamps the engine with an engraved plaque depicting his/her signature. Nearly 48,000 AMG units were sold globally by the company in 2014. Refusing to divulge ex-

of restructuring. The companies where SDR in banks have been effected SDR include Lanco Teesta, Electrosteel Steels, Jyoti Structures, Visa Steel and Monnet Ispat. The immediate advantage for lenders is that they do not have to make any provision towards bad loans as they have transformed themselves from being lenders to the business to being its owners. But the downside is that they need to make provisions for fall in the value of shares. Also, they cannot run the business indefinitely and have to exit in 18 months. According to the ICRA report, there has been a moderation in the rate at which bad loans are growing. However, bank loan books continue to be under pressure.The report has said that around 10.7% of bank loans continue to remain stressed as on September 2015, which is marginally higher from 10.6% as on March 2015. The report points

Rs 343 crore raised by Naaptol from Mitsui

Bengaluru, Nov 25: Home shopping company Naaptol has raised Rs 343 crore in a new round of funding from Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co. This is in addition to Rs 136 crore that the company raised in April.

The latest financing increases Mitsui & Co's stake in Naaptol from 5% to 20%. The deal underlines the intensity of Naaptol's imminent growth in the home shopping sector, the company said in a statement.

Manu Agarwal, founder and CEO of Naaptol, said, "The company intends to use the funds for expanding its reach and

building up an efficient supply chain. We would also upgrade our studio capabilities to churn out more and more content in multiple languages every day and invest in technology." Naaptol says it has a daily reach of 160 million TV households in India. The company says it plays over 350 hours of commercials every day in multiple languages. It sells a wide range of categories including electronics, apparel, jewellery and home and lifestyle products. Naaptol competes with Relianceowned HomeShop 18, Star CJ and TVC Skyshop. (Agencies)

Investment by Ratan Tata in Singapore's Crayon Data

out that PA generation has been NPA generation has been tempered partly because of implementation of SDR, which then does not require any NPA provisioning. The rating agency has said that the high exposure of the banking system to the steel and power industry continues to be a source of worry. These two stressed sectors constitute around 14% of bank credit. However only 20% of the loans are classified as stress. "Should one of these large expo-

sures slip in the classification, the `reported' vulnerable numbers could also worsen," ICRA said.

Given the trend in restructuring and refinancing, ICRA has revised its projected gross non-performing assets (NPA) to 5-5.5% as on March 2016. "However, considering the high level of net NPA and the cases classified as fraud, credit provisioning is unlikely to decline materially from H1FY16 levels (1.5% of average advances)," the report said. (Agencies)

Jamshedpur, Nov 25: Tata Sons chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in Singaporebased big data company Crayon Data. The investment was made in his personal capacity.

Crayon, a portfolio company of Jungle Ventures, had previously raised 10 million Singapore dollars in seed and Series A funding from angel institutional investors like Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds. The veteran industrialist has been aggressively investing in startups, ranging from e-commerce firms to cab aggregators. He has invested in firms like Snapdeal, Kaaryah, Urban Ladder, Bluestone, CarDekho, Sabse Technologies, Xiaomi and Ola. Tata, who served

as chairman of Tata Sons for over two decades until his retirement in 2012, has also joined some venture capital funds as advisor, including Kalaari Capital and Jungle Ventures in the past year. "We are excited and honoured.

To meet Ratan Tata and have our vision validated by him is an accolade in itself," Crayon Data founder Srikant Sastri said in a statement.

Founded in 2012, Crayon offers a personalisation engine to empower enterprises to deliver ultra-personalised choices to their consumers. (Agencies)

IRCTC signs MoU with foodpanda has been a major area of dispute between Indian tax authorities and MNCs, prompting the government to introduce APAs. (Agencies)

Mercedes fastest car hits market, priced at Rs 2.4 crore Contd. from Page 1

Mumbai, Nov 25: Banks have converted close to Rs 40,000 crore worth of corporate loans into equity under the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) route. According to a report, by rating agency ICRA, close to 0.5% of bank loans have been reworked through SDR - a process which allows lenders o take control of a business by converting debt into shares.

It has been only five months since the RBI introduced the SDR mechanism n consultation with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Although banks always had the option o convert debt to equity, the SDR allows lenders to bypass he pricing norms which requires the debt-equity swap to take place at a six month average price. It was because of these pricing norms that banks had to take a big hit by converting their loans to Kingfisher Airlines at a huge premium in the first round

PAGE 10

act sales volumes for India, Folger said the company has so far sold AMGs "in three digits" this year. "We have been expanding our AMG portfolio in India and currently have 10 models." The entry AMG is the CLA 45 AMG sedan which costs Rs 70 lakh while the S63 AMG coupe is the most expensive of the lot at Rs 2.7 crore. The company has five performance centres through which it retails AMG cars and these are in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Folger said the company may open more AMG centres in other cities as the demand moves up. Speaking about the luxury car market, he said there has been some improvement in sentiments over the past few months, but reforms and measures such as GST is required to give a further fillip to demand. The company has been riding high on the demand for its new models such as CLA entry sedan and the GLA mini SUV and has seen sales cross 10,000 units in the first nine months of this fiscal. Folger has said the company will topple compatriot and rival Audi from the top position in the Indian luxury market this year. (Agencies)

Kolkata, Nov 25: Taking forward its plan to offer train passengers a wider choice of food, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) decided to enter into an agreement with foodpanda, an aggregator that has tie-ups with restaurants and chains across the country. It takes online orders and delivers food to people's doorsteps. Foopanda will start sending food to New Delhi station from December and soon, extend its services to other

places, including Howrah and Sealdah. "Our association with IRCTC will address a huge consumer need. Consumers have limited food options while travelling with Indian Railways but the e-catering service launched by IRCTC is set to change that," said Saurabh Kochhar, foodpanda CEO. IRCTC, Eastern Zone, has already roped in several food outlets and chains to serve passengers at Howrah and Sealdah stations. At Howrah, travellers can

order food from Switz Foods (mio amore), Dominos, Guha Roy Food Joint and Hotel Pvt Ltd and Travel Food Services, two hours before the start of journey. At Sealdah, food can be booked from Guha Roy Food Joint and Hotel Pvt Ltd and Travel Food Services. While Guha Roy Food Joint and Hotel Pvt Ltd runs the Alibaba chain, Travel Food Services is in charge of food courts, including the one at Quest Mall in south Kolkata.

"We are trying for more

tie-ups. We are in talks with Arambagh's Chicken and Haldiram's as well as another outlet, known as Griham. Our plan is to serve all kinds of food and ensure quality. They should also suit all kinds of pockets, as we deal with different classes of passengers.

For those looking for thaalis, we plan to bring the Jan Ahaar outlets into this fold. We are also trying to ensure the supply of vegetarian meals from outlets that do not serve non-vegetarian food,"

Paisa Bazaar closes Rs 5.7 crore home loan Hyderabad, Nov 25: Indians are not only buying TVs, phones and shoes online. After a consumer shopped for a Rs 6 crore house on Snapdeal earlier this year, Paisa Bazaar, an online destination for loans and credit cards, has closed what is believed to be the country's largest home loan disbursal of Rs 5.68 crore.

The loan disbursed by HDFC (Housing Finance Development Corp) is for a 4 BHK flat in Mumbai's BKC Rustomjee area. It is the largest disbursal online

till date on the platform since a Rs 5-crore disbursal for a mortgage loan made earlier this year. The total value of the apartment is around Rs 9 crore. "We are seeing a spike in high-ticket loan cases on our platform," said Naveen Kukreja, MD of Paisa Bazaar. The online portal, owned by Policy Bazaar, is backed by investors such as Tiger Capital, Temasek and Infoedge and has made disbursals of around Rs 250 crore during the last 45 days, which is close to Paytm's Diwali sales

from its e-tail business.

High-ticket cases (disbursals above Rs 1 crore) currently constitute 15% of the overall home loan cases at Paisa Bazaar. "We are realizing HNIs (high-net-worth individuals) are becoming more comfortable shopping online for loans.

In our conversations with them, they have communicated that they want to go deeper into products and understand them first-hand. This, we believe is stage one.

Since they want minimum intrusion while making financial decisions,

we expect more of them to turn online for all their personal finance needs," said Kukreja. The Rs 5crore mortgage loan that was closed on Paisa Bazaar earlier this year was also disbursed by HDFC to Chennaibased Murli Gnanavel against his commercial property in Coimbatore.

Ajay Sachdewa, national head - marketing at HDFC, said: "The strategic tie-up with Paisa Bazaar has helped us in augmenting our presence online and leveraging the digital channel more effectively." (Agencies)

This is for those passengers who don't have food cooked in kitchens where non-vegetarian items are also cooked," said Debashis Chandra, group general ma8nager (East),

IRCTC. According to sources, the eastern zonal office is looking to a tieup with Govinda's, a restaurant in Kolkata that serves vegetarian food.

(Agencies)

Indian markets remain closed on Wednesday

Mumbai, Nov 25: Indian stocks, debt and currency markets remained closed on Wednesday for a holiday. Trading will resume on Thursday.

The broader NSE index ended 0.22 percent loweron Tuesd a y, w h i l e t h e benchmark BSE index fell 0.17 percent.

The rupee closed at 66.32/33 per dollar compared with its previous close of 66.47/48.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield fell 2 basis points to close at 7.70 percent.

(Agencies)

"The NCA for the last four to five years, it is as good as defunct. And it had no direction. So I will have to focus on the restructuring and make sure that Indian cricket can get good cricketers and we can have a good bench strength"

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26

PAGE 11

Dilip Vengsarkar

Champions League: Barca drub Roma; Arsenal's hopes alive

Agencies Barcelona: Barcelona's Luis Suarez hit a brace and set up a double for a spritely Lionel Messi to score in his first start after injury in a rampant 6-1 Champions League victory over AS Roma. The win ensured Barca go through to the last 16 in first place in Group E. They have 13 points from five games, Roma and Bayer Leverkusen both have five and BATE Borisov have four.

Barcelona are in the last 16 for the 12th consecutive season following another blistering attacking display that comes hot on the back of their 4-0 destruction of

Real Madrid in La Liga last Saturday. Gerard Pique and Adriano also scored for Barcelona with Roma striker Edin Dzeko, who had a penalty saved, netting a consolation goal in stoppage time.

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez scored twice and Mesut Ozil headed the other goal as never-say-die Arsenal beat Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 and kept alive their hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 for a 16th straight season. The Gunners, whose chances of advancing looked remote after defeats by Dinamo, Olympiakos Piraeus and Bayern Munich in their

opening four matches, were given a huge helping hand

by Bayern Munich who thrashed the Greeks 4-0 in the other Group F match.

Those results mean that Bayern are through to the knockout round and Arsenal will join them if they beat Olympiakos by two clear goals in Greece on December 9. Bayern have 12 points, Olympiakos have nine, Arsenal are on six and Dinamo have three.

If Olympiakos gain at least a point against Arsenal they will go through instead of the London side while Dinamo are already eliminated and will finish bottom. Chelsea enjoyed their second 4-0 Champions League victory over 10man Maccabi Tel Aviv this season to move into prime position to reach the knockout stages of the competition from Group G. With Dynamo Kiev winning 2-0 at Porto, however, the qualifiers for the last 16 will only be determined in the last round of matches when Chelsea host Porto and Kiev welcome Maccabi. Goals by Gary Cahill, Willian, Oscar and Kurt Zouma secured the victory for Chelsea whose

task was made easier when Maccabi captain Tal Ben Haim, a key player in the heart of the defence, was sent off five minutes before halftime. After five games, Chelsea, who only need to draw their final match to progress, and Porto each have 10 points with Kiev on eight, while Maccabi are bottom without a point.

Ten-man Bayern Munich eased into the Champions League knockout stages after demolishing Greece's Olympiakos Piraeus 4-0 to secure top spot in Group F with a game to spare. The German champions, who had defender Holger Badstuber, back from injury, sent off early in the second half with a straight red card, were unstoppable in the opening 20 minutes, scoring three times to put the game to bed early. Douglas Costa struck after eight minutes, Robert Lewandowski doubled the lead in the 16th with Mueller adding another four minutes later as dazed Olympiakos found no answer to the continuous attacks. Kingsley Coman headed in their fourth goal in the 70th as Bayern moved up to 12 points

ahead of their final game at Dinamo Zagreb on Dec. 9.

Olympiakos, in second place on nine, need a point against Arsenal to secure a spot in the last 16. A blunder by Iker Casillas helped Dynamo Kiev seal a 2-0 win away to Porto in the Champions League which threw Group G wide open on Tuesday and left the hosts in danger of missing out on the knockout stage.

Andriy Yarmolenko put the Ukrainian champions ahead with a first-half penalty before the former Real Madrid goalkeeper completely misjudged a weak

28th Junior Boys National Beckenbauer admits Germany FA Tug of War Championship 'went to limits' during 2006 WC bid 2015 underway ANI ET Correspondent Golaghat, Nov 25: Tug of War Association of Assam and Golaghat District collaboratively organized the 28th Junior Boys National Tug Of War Championship under-19 and the 17th Sub Junior Boys Under-17 for the first time at Golaghat Stadium. Players from far off places were seen arriving today. Registration and weighing and other process were over by yesterday. The opening ceremony was held today in which chief guests were Tug Of War Association General Secretary Madhuri Patil, All India Sports Journalist Association GS Subudh Malla Barua, Madan Mohan, Dr Ajit Boruah among others. The tournament was inaugurated by Madhuri Patil by

hoisting the flag in the presence of Vivek Hazarika and Purna Rajkhowa. A total of 47 teams comprising more than 500 players from 17 states have participated in this national level tournament. A Bihu Dance was presented by a group of young artists. In his speech, Madan Mohan Chairman Technical Committee said, "Tug of war is not given much importance by Indian government as the game does not produce players for Olympics. I have requested Sports Minister Mr Sarwanand Sonowal to support this game like other national games." From the organizing committee, President Dinesh Gogoi, Working President Purna Rajkhowa, Joint Secretary Porikhit Dutta and Manowar Hussain were present.

Boult shrugs off injury to return with full intensity ANI Adelaide: New Zealand swing specialist Trent Boult made an impressive return from a back injury as he bowled with full intensity during a practice session ahead of the historic day-night Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. The 26-year-old's chances of playing in the third Test were thrown into doubt after he failed to bowl last weekend in New Zealand's practice match

against Western Australia. Coach Mike Hesson said that Boult has passed the first stage of fitness after bowling eight overs, including five at full intensity but admitted that they would take a final call regarding the left-hander's availability on Thursday.

Boult, who has been suffering from a 'disc irritation', also bowled two impressive short-pitched deliveries at McCullum in the nets.

Berlin: Former German football great Franz Beckenbauer has admitted that the committee chaired by him during the bidding process for the 2006 World Cup 'went to the limits'.

Beckenbauer had earlier admitted that he made a mistake in the bidding process for the 2006 World Cup. The 70-year-old revealed that there was no ethics commission in FIFA and they could contact the executive committee of the world's football governing body directly. According to reports, the scandal was pertaining to a hefty payment of 7.2 million dollars made by Germany Football Association in order to purchase the votes of the FIFA's executive committee

revitalise the 'defunct' NCA and put the academy back on the tracks.

"For the last four to five years, it is as good as defunct. And it had no direction. So I will have to focus on the restructuring and make sure that Indian cricket can get good cricketers and we can

it as he had full faith on them. Earlier, the FIFA Ethics Committee had opened an investigation against Beckenbauer and Spain's retired footballer Angel Maria Villar over alleged charges of misconduct.

Pollard to miss Big Bash League with knee injury

ANI Adelaide: West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pol-

Dilip Vengsarkar appointed as National Cricket Academy director ANI Bengaluru: Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has been appointed as the directorof the National Cricket Academy by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Bangalore. Vengsarkar insisted that his primary focus would be to

to win the rights to host the 2006 World Cup. Beckenbauer also reacted to the claims that he signed numerous documents linked to the 2006 World Cup without reading them.

He admitted that he signed

have a good bench strength," Vengsarkar was quoted as saying.

Vengsarkar will succeed Brijesh Patel, who reportedly had to step down from his position after BCCI president Shashank Manohar introduced the conflict-of-interest guidelines.

lard has been ruled out of the Big Bash League ( BBL), Australia's domes-

tic Twenty20tournament, after suffering from knee injury. Confirming the news, South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) chief Tim Nielsen said they are hoping Pollard recover fully from his injury.

Nielsen, however, admitted that the 28-year-old is a unique player with all-round ability and it would be difficult for them to find his perfect replacement. Pollard was about to feature for his side Adelaide Strikers, which will play their first match against the Melbourne Stars.

Derlis Gonzalez shot in the 64th minute. The Paraguayan forward, under pressure and being forced wide by Giannelli Imbula, managed to get in a seemingly harmless shot which Casillas tried to punch away with one hand, only to see the ball loop into the air and land in the net.

Porto, previously unbeaten in all competitions this season, had needed only a

draw to qualify with a game to spare but are now in danger of missing out as they visit Chelsea in their final game probably needing to win.

Ronaldo, Messi named in UEFA's Team of the Year shortlist ANI Madrid: Barcelona star forward Lionel Messi and Read Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo have been named in the 40-man shortlist for the UEFA's Team of the Year.

However, European champions Barcelona dominated the list with eight players including Luis Suarez, Neymar, Dani Alves and Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic featuring in the shortlist. According to reports, Ronaldo has been named in the shortlist for the 12th straight time. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are the next best represented club, with six players to be included in the list. Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu is the youngest player to have been named, while goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus is the oldest to make it to the list.

Shuttlers Sindhu, Prannoy win at Macau Open

ANI Macau: Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu progressed through to the second round of the Macau Open Grand Prix, while H S Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth advanced to the third round in men's singles event on Wednesday. Fifth seed Sindhu, who is a two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, battled past Kim Hyo Min of Korea 2113, 22-20 in a 41-minute contest. In men's singles, seventh seed Prannoy defeated Chinese Taipei's Lin Chia Hsuan 21-19 21-15, while

Praneeth overcame Uzbekistan's Artyom Savatyugin 21-11 21-8 in another match to reach the third round. Meanwhile, it turned out be a disappointing day for Ajay Jayaram and women's doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa.

Jayaram suffered a 11-21 1721 defeat against Lin Guipu of China in the second round, while 2010 Commonwealth Games champion Gutta and Ponnappa crashed out of the opening round as they suffered a 16-21, 15-21 defeat to Japanese pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota.

Wenger confident of Arsenal's last-16 CL qualification ANI London: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has expressed confidence that his side will secure a last-16 spot in the Champions League by defeating Olympiakos in their final Group F fixture next month. The Premier League secured an emphatic 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb to keep alive their chances of quali-

fying for the knockout stages for the 16th successive year. Wenger said that they had to come out of the game with a chance to qualify, adding that his side can qualify for the knockout stages. Arsenal will complete their Champions League escape act only if they manage to beat Olympiakos by at least a two-goal margin on December 9.

Rohmoria Anchalik beat Jamira Sports Correspondent Dibrugarh, Nov 25: Rohmoria Anchalik Football Club defeated Jamira Tea Estate via-tiebreaker 4-3 after regulation time ended goalless in the Arun Jalan memorial prize money inter-garden running trophy football tournament here at Mokalbari Tea Estate playground in Dibrugarh.

Altogether, 22 teams par-

ticipated in the tournament. For Rohmoria Anchalik, Porag Khanikor, Bitupon Chetia, Dipak Chetia and Pranjal Chotodhara converted their spot kicks in the tie-breaker while Prakash Karmarkar, Baba Phukan and Jamon Maji scored for Jamira. Tomorrow, Belogoni Tea Estate will take on Dinjan Udulguri Tea Estate.

Use of Pink ball should be `one-off experiment`, insists SA chief ANI Johannesburg: Idea of pink ball in the first day and night Test should be used as a one-off experiment, as per Tony Irish, chief executive of the South African Cricketer's Association. He added that the players understand the possible commercial benefits of experimenting with the new ball and are ready to try it. Irish believes the views of the players should be taken into account before planning to persist with the new ball, insisting messing with Test format could encounter big problems in future. According to reports, Irish revealed

that the pink ball experiment was done in the Africa Cup, but it was abandoned just before the T20 due to players' concerns.

Meanwhile, Australian chief James Sutherland has backed the idea, say-

ing that if they don't bring any change, then they are putting the format into risk. New Zealand and Australia will play the historic Test at Adelaide commencing from November 27.

Lyon backs Starc to wreak havoc on Kiwis with pink ball ANI Adelaide: Australian offspinner Nathan Lyon has backed his fellow teammate Mitchell Starc to continue his rampaging form with the new pink

ball in the historic daynight Test against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval, which starts on Friday. Pace spearhead Starc recently bowled fastest spell of his career during

the second Test against New Zealand and consequently entered an elite band of fast bowlers who have clocked above 160 km/h. Lyon said that the 25-year-old pace mer-

chant was eagerly waiting to play with the new ball.

Lavishing praise on Starc, Lyon said the former is on top of his game as he is bowling extremely well and with full intensity.

Australia are currently leading the three-match series 1-0 against New Zealand following their 208-run win in the first Test. The second Test ended in a draw.

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Deomali town celebrates Chalo Loku festival Teson Abo Deomali, Nov 25

Deomali town celebrated Chalo loku festival on 25th November 2015.

Thousands people were gathered together to refurbish the glamour of the time immemorial Chalo Loku festival. Hon'ble MLA from Changlang District Mr. Tesam pongtey

and Bisnu Karki were invited as for chief guest and guest honour respectively.

As honourable Chief guest MLA Mr. Tesam Pongtey gave Rs. 50,000 (Fifty thousand) to Chalo Loku Celebration committee and urged the people to preserve the time immemorial rich cultures of Nocte community in his

speech. He highlighted the calligraphic and hieroglyphics works Chalo Loku in amalgamating the Nocte People in every voracious direction. Local MLA Mr. Wangki Lowang gave Rs. 20,000 to Log drum installation committe, Rs.25,000 (twenty five thousands) to dance troupe from Wasathong

village and in his resplendent speech told the huge crowds to know the pulchritudinous and scrumptious of rich Nocte Culture.

Hon'ble MLA Mr. Wanglin Lowangdong also gave Rs. 50,000 (fifty thousand) to Chalo loku celebration committee. Chalo loku festival commitee also gave Rs. 20, 000 to

dance troupe from Wasathong village.

The Loku celebration was attended by many dignitaries, distinguished public leaders , bureaucrats from different governmental departments, PRI 'S leaders and general public. The chalo loku celebration commitee is very grateful to all well wishers.

Caption Top (right) Girls in their traditional attire perform during the festival, (left) Tesam Pongtey, MLA, Changlang (North) who was the chief guest also decided to ‘Shake a leg’ by joining the dance party, (right) a school teacher going through ‘The Eastern Today’ which covered the festival elaborately.

Pic - Teson Abo

Mount Sinai School edge past Lanwang FC 1st Wangnia Pongte Memorial Football Tournament ET Correspondent Changlang, Nov 23: In a close encounter of the 1st Wangnia Pongte Memorial Football Tournament at Changlang, Mount Sinai School defeated Lanwang FC 2-1.

It was a come from behind victory for Mount Sinai School as they

overcame a 1-0 deficit.

Lanwang FC took the lead early on in the 7th minute when Wangjong scored from close range.

The match was back on level terms as Mount Sinai School’s Joikam Siksa equalized in the 18th minute. They took the lead in the 40th

minute courtesy Jamkang Longko superb header. There were numerous oppurtunities for Lanwang FC to draw level but they were denied by the opposition’s defence. Tomorrow, Changlang Football Club (A) will take on Sabban United.

Results Mount Sinai School defeated Lanwang FC

2-1

Today’s Match Changlang Football Club (A)

Vs Sabban United

Indian spinners strike early after batsmen capitulate Agencies Nagpur: India failed to make the best of the first use of the wicket, their batsmen capitulating against both pace and spin as they were dismissed for 215 in the first innings in the third Test against South Africa at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium, in Nagpur, on Wednesday. However, the hosts hit back immediately, claiming two early scalps which left the Proteas reeling on 11 for 2 after nine overs at the end of Day 1.

India's spin attack again responded well, dismissing opener Stiaan van Zyl for a duck and Imran Tahir (4), who came in as a nightwatchman. Openers Dean Elgar (7) and captain Hashim Amla (0) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day. Earlier, on a pitch that offered plenty of turn to the spinners and reverse swing to fast bowler Morne Morkel, India's batsmen came a cropper after opting to bat first and were gasping at 125 for 6 before the tail wagged and took the total past the 200 mark. This is the third time that India were dismissed in the vicinity of 200 in the series, hav-

ing fallen for 201 and 200 in the opening Test at Mohali. In-form opener Murali Vijay top-scored with an innings of 40, while wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha (32) and Ravindra Jadeja (34) revived the tottering innings briefly. Cheteshwar Pujara (21) and skipper Virat Kohli (22) got decent starts only to throw them away. For South Africa, the early damage was done by lanky pacer Morkel, who had figures of 3 for 35 in three spells before limping off the field after bowling the first ball of his fourth. His wickettaking spells, the second and third, read 4-2-8-1 and 4-2-8-2. Off-spinner Simon Harmer, dropped from the team for the

drawn Bengaluru Test after playing in the series opener at Mohali, supported him with a fine haul of 4 for 78, by getting good purchase off the turning track. Young fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and spinners Elgar and Tahir accounted for the other wickets. India, in the space of 15 overs after lunch India lost four wickets for the addition of only 31 runs after being 95 for two, Morkel and Harmer doing the damage. Morkel, who got rid of Vijay in the first session, added the wickets of Kohli and Rahane to his kitty in a fiery third spell of 4-2-8-2. Pujara was taken out by Harmer, who trapped him leg before and later got rid of a struggling

Rohit Sharama (2) as India slumped to 125 for 6 from 50 for no loss in 32.2 overs on either side of lunch and then made a recovery of sorts. Wicketkeeper Saha (32) and Jadeja (34) then repaired the damage with a stand of 48 in 106 balls.

Jadeja played some attacking shots against the spinners before he threw away his wicket by trying a wild heave off Rabada after a brisk 73-minute knock that contained six boundaries.

When South Africa replied, Ashwin again opened the bowling and sent back left hander van Zyl with a sharply turning ball that caught the edge and was pouched by slip fielder Ajinkya Rahane.

Tahir, who narrowly escaped a stumping appeal off Ashwin, was then bowled comprehensively

by Jadeja as he played back to a ball that straightened after pitching and hit the off stump. A tantalizing day's play is on the cards on Day two.

Brief Scores: India - 215 all out ( Vijay 40, Jadeja 34; Harmer 4/78, Morkel 3/35); South Africa - 11/ 2 ( Elgar 7*, Ashwin 1/5, Jadeja 1/2)

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