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Vol. II

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Dibrugarh, Thursday, November 24, 2016

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Demonetization cripples militants Deban villagers in Miao Circle facing the ire of militants’ frustration Prahlad Hammey Dibrugarh, Nov 23

outfits have been torturing the villagers at gun points to exchange their old currency notes with new ones.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent scrapping of higher denomination notes has cut all outfits to size due to the money in their possession turning completely useless after high denomination notes stopped becoming legal tender.

Reliable sources claim that 10-12 militants belong to NSCN (K), ULFA (I) and militants from Manipur have taken refuge in the forest in Deban, adjacent to a village called as ‘Nandakanoon’ under Miao circle are giving sleepless nights to the villagers of Nandakanoon village in Deban near Namdappa National Park. The villagers are bearing the brunt of demonetization the most as for the past 15 days cadres affiliating to various banned

According to sources on last Sunday, few armed militants approached the head of the village with 5- 6 Lakhs of cash comprising old currency notes.

They have forced him to exchange the notes for them in banks and threatened of his life if failed to do so. He in spite of informing them that he don’t hold an bank accounts just like any other villagers, the militants torture him on several day until he had to fled the village and taken shelter in Miao along with another exvillage head.

villagers as they are being questioned rigorously every now and then.

Three days back, two village youths were picked up and brought to Miao by the Security Forces for questioning and later were released. Clearly the poor villagers are sandwiched from both the Army and the militants. “Now with no options left, villagers are running for their life. It has come to light that several villagers are fleeing Nandakanoon village and taking shelter in Diyun and Miao circle,” the source added.

The villagers apparently are caught in intriguing wrath from both the Army and militants.

Often villagers are either interrogated or picked up for questioning by the Security Forces during any counter insurgency man hunt

According to an intelligent input Assam Rifle of Miao were informed however instead of getting relieve from their visit it has become another burden for the

operation. At the same time, poor villagers face the wrath of the militants.

Last week, few villagers from Dharmapur under Miao circle went to collect timber in M-pen, a village lying across Deban. They too were made hostage to their demand to exchange old currency notes for them. However they could flee only after making false promises and persuasion.

The villagers now demand for an Army outpost in their village, Nandakanoon. A villager while talking to the Eastern Today shared that their vicinity with the forest makes militants to stopover at their village frequently and end up torturing them in the process.

The demonetization has had surely hit militancy but clearly the hardest hits are the

Dutta’s suicide hits Govt honours Hangpan Assam Sahitya Sabha Dada; renamed CM’s with fresh controversy Trophy in his memory ET Correspondent Jorhat, Nov 23

Ahead of its centenary celebration, Assam Sahitya Sabha has been rocked with fresh controversy following the suicide of Rajendra Nath Dutta who had earlier served as Head Assistant in the organisation. The retired head assistant, Rajendra Nath Dutta's body was found hanging outside the building of Radhakanta Handique Bhawan on Wednesday morning around 9.30 am. The suicide could potentially lead to opening of Pandora box of alleged misappropriation of funds in its internal operation as Rajendra Nath Dutta had mentioned the names of Chief General Secretary and Biren Goshwami, current Head Assistant of Assam Sahitya Sabha.

The deceased, Rajendra Nath Dutta, on his five- -page long suicide note mentioned the names of Paramananda Rajbonshi and Biren Goshwami as the main cause behind his suicide. The suicide note can potentially unearth organisational corruption as suicide note had alleged that

ET Bureau Itanagar, Nov 23

massive corruption has hit Assam Sahitya Sabha and he has been forcefully blamed for it. He also wrote that Paramananda Rajbonshi, had illegally taken more than a lakh of rupees in which he was accused falsely. He also alleged that Rajbonshi had drawn 2 Lakh 89 thousand of membership fees, 1lakh 40 thousand of membership donation and 42 thousands of admission fees from him. The former Head Assistant of Assam Sahitya Sabha also attached two voucher of 4 lakh with the Rajbonshi’s signature on them. "The whole scenario

is in suspense” said Samiran Bordoloi, General Secretary of Jorhat District Sahitya Sabha.

"A thorough investigation should be carried out by Police,” said Eshwar Prashanna Bordoloi, a general public. While officials of Assam Sahitya Sabha believed that Rajendra Nath Dutta’s death is a clear case suicide, some segment of people believe that murder cannot be ruled out altogether. When the body was found the deceased’s legs were tied. "We don't know yet, but as his legs were tied, it indicates murder" said one of the police officials.

The state-level trophy for football and volleyball, both for men and women, would henceforth be called as Hangpan Dada Memorial Trophy.

Havildar Dada, who died in Kupwara on May 27 after killing three terrorists, was awarded Ashok Chakra on the eve of Independence Day this year by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Hav. Dada, 36, hailed from Boduria village in Arunachal Pradesh and was posted in the high mountain in north Kashmir since late last year.

The trophy, now renamed in his memory, was formally launched at Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy at

On 15 Nov last, in what appears to be a ripple effect of Modi’s demonetisation move, one civilian died while two other have been critically injured including a CISF personnel when militants attacked a commercial van bound to fetch currency notes from Doomdama for payment of wages to the tea garden workers.

Commoners still nervy, stayed out of socio-cultural plays’ rakh' and bhawana' Laxman Sharma Digboi, Nov 23

The state Sports department has officially adopted the decision of Chief Minister Pema Khandu made yesterday during the SDC meeting of renaming the Chief Minister’s Trophy for Football and Volleyball (men and women) in memory of martyr Hangpan Dada. This was informed by the department in a meeting here with the Chief Minister.

Rajendra Nath Dutta's body was found hanging outside the building of Radhakanta Handique Bhawan on Wednesday morning around 9.30 am. Photo by Nekib Ahmed

common people! The villagers who are often seen as soft targets by the militants are now in the crossfire of ire of the militants as the banned outfits operating from the dense jungles of Eastern Arunachal have run out of cash. The cash crunch due to monetization has taken the militant outfits’ offguard and now that most of the militant outfits are facing cash crunch, clearly they are venting their frustration and anger on the innocent villagers.

Following the fatal ambush on the Army on 19 November and with normalcy yet to return as sense of fear still prevailing in the minds of common people around Pengaree in Tinsukia District of Assam, socio-cultural plays' RAKH' and BHAWANA' could not be staged as per schedule.

Ashok Chakra For Havildar Hangpan Dada Who Died Fighting Terrorists At LoC Chimpu in November 2013 by the then Chief Minister NabamTuki.

The Sports Department holds competitions for men and women from the block level. The winners of block level competitions then compete in the district level, followed by state level competition. Finals of the competitions coincide with statehood day celebrations every year.

The Chief Minister appreciated the department for prompt action on his announcement and said this would be a tribute by the people of

Arunachal to the brave son of the state.

“Late Hangpan Dada made the supreme sacrifice fighting for his country. He needs to be immortalized,” he said.

Taking a review of the sportsand youth affairs departments, Khandu called for increasing activities to streamline the immense energy of the youths for constructive purposes.

Contd. on Page 3

According to the organising committee Notun Gaon Namghar Committee which was all set to hold a socio-religious events in the said village informed that committee socio-cultural plays’ RAKH' and BHAWANA' could not be staged as per schedule as common people are still yet to come out apparent fear that has firmly gripped the minds of the people after the ULFA ambush was carried out upon the security forces on PengareeDigboi Road on 19th last.

Talking to the Eastern Today, an office bearer of the Namghar Committees told that people are refusing to come out of their houses fearing impending attacks again which might take place in the course of combing operation.

Musical night at Chalo Loku rocks Deomali

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Musical band from Tinsukia, Assam along with local artist rocks the deomali town on Chalo Loku this evening. The Noctes usually are music lovers and a musical shows like this one is like a royal feast to them. Even from music, there were several rounds of dances, mostly traditional dances in colorful dresses. The local dance competition was won by Nocte Dance troop who walked away with an undisclosed cash prize.

More than 10 dance troops participated in the competition.

The Chalo Loku, a pre harvest festival of the Nocte which began on Tuesday is celebrated at Deomali general ground for the 2nd Day with much fanfare and gaiety. The food festivals and the stalls at display were a big hit among the visitors.

There were cuisines almost from all the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. The grand festival has witnessed a large number of visitors and tourists even in the second day. The main festival will held on 25th Nov where the Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal will graced the day

on as chief guest.

The Chalo Loku Committee president Wangphoon Lowang and General Secretary Thatwang Boi had also expressed their pleasure and thanks Chief Minister Pema Khandu for acknowledging the event by offering a financial assistant as well as psychological encouragement. Photo on the right is the Nocte Dance troop which have won the local dance competition.

The General secretary of Chalo Loku committee, Thatwang Boi had informed the Eastern Today’s correspondent that the local Minister Wangki Lowang has assisted the entire Chalo Loku committee in all possible way to make the event successful and besides that his electorates are extremely happy for him for getting a berth in the state cabinet after having elected four times in a row.

Contd. on Page 2

cmyk

Lomhom Tangha Deomali, 23 Nov

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P2

2 elephant calves electrocuted within one week A Staff Reporter Dibrugarh, Nov 23 : The escalation in humanelephant conflict has resulted in the death of two elephant calves in the Lezai-Kalakhowa area under Khowang forest range in Dibrugarh district in a span of five days. On Wednesday morning, a male elephant calf was found dead by locals in a paddy field at Panigaon, about 22-km from here. It is suspected that the calf came in contact with a fatal live electric wire. On November 19, another elephant calf had died of suspected electrocution at Bordoibam village in the same area.

According to locals, the elephant herd has come out from the nearby Dehing Medela reserve forest in search of food.

In 2005, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, USA sanctioned an amount of Rs 5.3 lakh under the Asian Elephant Welfare Fund for construction of Sources said that some a 3-strand electric power cultivators in the area fence along the Dehing have resorted to laying Medela Reserve Forest to

HOROSCOPE Aries

It could be that close friends or family members are in sharp disagreement regarding a certain issue, Aries.

Try not to be too distressed by divisions among the people you love. Some may want you to take sides and express yourself fully on the situation. You may feel as if you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Try your best to compromise.

Taurus

There is a great deal of emotion and drive to the day, just the way you like it, Taurus. Make sure you don't get stuck with the short end of the stick as the day comes to a close. An honest fight or debate is one thing, but a harsh manipulation of people is another. Make sure you're involved in the former and not the latter.

Gemini

You're going to be a valuable asset to others today because of your rational mind and ability to think things through clearly.

The stubborn forces around you aren't going to bend, but you have the unique ability to do so. Do your best to avoid fights, even though it will be tempting for you and others to want to let off some steam.

Cancer

Leo

In your attempts to always be the nice, helpful one, Cancer, you might find that you're compromising some of your values. Know that balance and harmony are wonderful things, but they aren't always worth the price of self-sacrifice. Don't be someone you aren't just to maintain the peace.

Your tolerance is apt to be tested today. Don't feel bad if you suddenly feel like fighting.

Your playful attitude is apt to be opposed by someone who refuses to see things your way, Virgo. Walk away from those who aren't committed to helping the situation. It could be that there are people who purposefully try to sabotage your plans. You're too smart to fall into this trap. Prove to others that even though you may be happy, it doesn't mean you're gullible.

Libra

This is the end of the first stage in your "socialization," Libra. Are you satisfied with the people you've met? You can usually make the most out of these encounters, but did your political savvy let you down? Did it lead you in directions you didn't want to go? Take advantage of this pause to catch your breath and figure out where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.

You may be barking up the wrong tree today, Scorpio. Before you waste all your energy on your podium proclaiming your thoughts to the world, it would behoove you to stop, look around, and notice your audience. How are they reacting to your tirade? Are people walking away or are they cheering? Perhaps you need to let someone else have a turn at the microphone.

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

“An FIR was lodged and we are in the investigation process that how the elephant calve came in touch with the electric wires. It is very unfortunate because within a week two elephants died due to electrocution in Dibrugarh,’’ a forest official said. He added, “We have stocked crackers to drive back the elephant but sometimes they chased and we have to flee away from that area’’. The elephant calf was later buried in front of the forest officials.

An elephant calf which died of suspected electrocution being buried at Panigaon village in Lezai area of Dibrugarh on Wednesday. Photo by Manoj Pandey

In an attempt to merge with infinity, you might overlook some basic life principles, Sagittarius. Be careful about being seduced by those who want you to be involved in their drama. You might willingly acquiesce at first. You may not even realize how deep a hole you've dug until it's too late. Make sure you haven't alienated everyone so that there's still someone left to dig you out.

The day ahead should give you an opportunity to analyze the events of the past three weeks, Capricorn. You will draw many important conclusions about your love life. You may conclude that matters have evolved little, if at all. This is discouraging, to be sure, but don't place too much trust in appearances.

Remember, things aren't always as they seem.

Your mind is apt to be fixed on one thing today, Aquarius, and you won't rest until you've obtained it. Perhaps it's a physical place you're trying to get to, a new gadget that you want to own, or a person you'd like to go out with.

Don't be surprised if you have to put up a bit of a fight in order to accomplish this goal, whatever it may be.

Things may happen right under your nose today, Pisces, and you may not even be aware of it. The thing that will be obvious is your reaction to the situation when this hidden event suddenly comes to light.

A passionate explosion is likely, due to people's heightened emotional state. Try to work with this energy instead of against it.

“The elephant herd was coming from Kazaringa through

Dehing Medela reserve forest and creates problems by destroying our paddy fields,’’ said a villager. The wild herd usually comes out in the evening, raid swathes of paddy crops and returns back to the forest by morning during the harvesting season.

“With no help forthcoming from the forest department, the villagers have been resorting to traditional methods like bursting crackers and beating drums to drive away the elephants,” a local said.

According to wildlife experts, shrinking forest cover and encroachment upon elephant corridors have forced the animals to move out from their ecological space.

SSA Gunutsav 10th TRI-annualconvention of AGP training programme Dibrugarh district held at Naharkatia at Morigaon held Dalim Phukan Morigaon, Nov. 23 : To provide quality based primary education in all LP and ME schools in Morigaon district a one day training programme of Resource Persons under the "Gunutsav " programme was held here at Morigaon Kala Bithika under the auspices of Morigaon district unit of Assam Sarba Sikha Abhiyan Mission on November 22. Inaugurating the training camp, Aruna Rajoria, Missision Director, Assam Sarba sikha

Abhiyan empasized upon the need of the better environment in LP Schools for which ideal teachers must be trained. Speaking on the occasion Hemen Das, Deputy Commissioner, Morigaon appealed to all teachers of the LP Schools in Morigaon district to impart lessons to childrens carefully. In the programme, all Resource persons of the all education blocks of Morigaon district took part, Earlier, Jayanta Bora, ADC, Education explained the purpose of the programme.

Bikul Gogoi Naharkatia, 23 Nov: The 10th tri-Annual Convention of AGP Dibrugarh district was held at Naharkatia Lengrijan playground today in presence of large gathering of party workers and public. The convention which was held with an aim

of strengthening their foothold at District level began with the flag hosting ceremony by Dibrugarh district president, Punakon Boruah followed by torpon by ex MLA Kusumbar Tarai Gogoi. An open air meeting which was presided by Dibrugarh district president,

Punakon Boruah. Later talking to news person, Mr.Bora said that it is important to keep the alliance and work together for the welfare of the state irrespective of their party MLA gets ministerial portfolios in the BJP AGP alliance party of Assam.

It must be noted that a reception committee with

Naharkatia MLA Naren Sonowal as president, Dhrubo Saikia as secretary and Ex MLA Kusumbar Tarai Gogoi as advisor was formed few days back for the convention.The convention also had book fair, art competition and handloom exhibition.

BJP attributes byelection victories to Demonetization

RESPECT PAID

Actions could be quick and intense today, Leo. Things may hit you like lightning, so be prepared for just about anything. Mentally stabilize yourself before interacting with others.

Dress to demonstrate your power. You're a force to be reckoned with, not one to be stepped on.

Violent emotions are apt to emerge. Don't fight the urge to release any anger you feel. Direct it appropriately.

Virgo

Scorpio

check elephant depredation in the area.

live electric wires in their paddy fields by tapping power directly from nearby high tension wires to protect their crops from wild elephants.

Since the last few days, a herd of around 30 wild elephants from the nearby Dehingmukh reserve forest has been rampaging paddy fields and granaries in the area.

Guwahati, Nov 23 : The BJP attributed its two byelection victories in the state to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonization effect saying that 'jihad' against black money has been accepted by people of the state.

Ex Sahitya Sava President Imran Shah was felicited on his 83rd Birth Day by Pragatisil Youth Association’s President, Mofidul Islam at Sivasagar Today. Photo by Firuz Ahmed

Cinema Galleria Cinema Dibrugarh Junction Mall

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Six months ago, the saffron party thrashed Congress to win its first assembly election in the state riding on illegal migrants issue, which has been a tried and tested election winning subject every election.

BJP had scripted a similar success story in the Lok Sabha election in 2014 in Assam with the same issue.

in Lakhimpur Lok Sabha and Baithalangsu assembly constituencies have come at a time when the BJP governments both at the centre and state have been drawing flak over the Centre's proposal to amend the Citizenship Act to convert illegal Hindu Bangladeshi migrants to Indian citizens. BJP claims this issue was overshadowed by the storm created by the mega demonetization exercise.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, after meeting Modi earlier in the day in New Delhi, said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unleashed a The two b-poll victories jihad against corrup-

tion and people of Assam have approved the stand taken by the PM in regard to demonization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

The mandate signifies people's faith in the efforts of the present dispensation for bringing a tangible change in their lives."

Taking a dig at Congress, Sonowal said, "Congress tried to misguide the people of Assam but failed miserably. All sections of people in Assam have supported the PM. I believe that the situation is same across the country. I think Congress should go to the people instead of trying to misguide the people.

Musical night at Chalo Loku rocks Deomali

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This is one of the main reasons of celebrating the Chalo Loku with more vigor this time by the local denizens with much happiness.

The people of Deomali constituency are very much obliged and thankful to the chief minister Pema Khandu for having delegated responsible portfolios

like DOTCL, Agriculture, Trade and commerce to their leader Wangki Lowang after 17 years on the coveted throne of 54th Namsang ST Assembly constituency. The Chalo Loku Committee president Wangphoon Lowang and General Secretary Thatwang Boi had also expressed their pleasure and thanks Chief Minister Pema Khandu for

acknowledging the event by offering a financial assistant as well as psychological encouragement.

The Chalo Loku committee has extended their gratitude even to the media houses especially to the Eastern Today, an English Daily and arunachal24.in, a news portal for covering the unprecedented event at Deomali.

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P3

East Siang Gaon Burah Gen. Secy. Additional Secretary, GOI, MM Odiyang Tayeng passes away Kutty urges CM Khandu to spread awareness on demonetization

Staff Reporter Pasighat Nov 23: Gaon Burah Association East Siang District, General Secretary, Odiyang Tayeng passed away at General Hospital Pasighat on Tuesday, 22nd November evening at 5.56 PM after a prolong illness.

Late Odiyang Tayeng was born in the year 1944 at Sadiya and he did his ini-

Odiyang Tayeng

tial studies from Mebo and then high school from Pasighat after which he opted for B.Pharma and became a pharmacist till his retirement.

Late Tayeng was so popular among the rural people while treating patients which reflected from movement of patient preferring him more than to a doctor.

Late Tayeng was also a veteran footballer during his

youthful days and he represented the state as player in the 1st Subroto Mukherjee Cup team from the then NEFA, informed Er. Mugling Tayeng, EE RWD. After retirement he was choose by villagers to lead them as Gaon Burah and later late Tayeng was selected as General Secretary, Gaon Burah Association East Siang by the GBs of the district.

Executive Committee members of CoSAAP visits Namsai A Staff Reporter Itanagar,, 23 NOV : A three-member central executive committee of the Confederation of Services Association of Arunachal Pradesh (CoSAAP), led by its secretary general Gonya Riba, along with president (Women Wing) N P C Khrime and Assistant Secretary (Finance) G R Richo visited Namsai on November 20 and paid a courtesy visit to C K Mein, Superintendent of Police (SP) Namsai.

SP Mein and his police team were physically assaulted by miscreants in Silatoo village on September 10 last when they went to raid drug peddlers.

He had sustained grievous injuries and had to go for a major operation in Apollo Hospital, Chennai.

The members opined that instructions to check use of drugs should be given to authorities of every school, college and university as growing children are most vulnerable to drug abuses.

Meanwhile, the team conducted a meeting of the state government employees of Namsai district on November 21 for formation of district CoSAAP, where about 100 employees from various departments participated.

In the meeting, Khrime highlighted the achievements of CoSAAP like upgrading scale of pay of Group “D” staff from Rs 4400-7440+1300(GP) to Rs 5200-20200+1800 (GP) and re-designated the Grpoup “D” as Multi Tasking Staff (MTS),

Grant of Child Care Leave (CCL) as per 6th CPC for female employees, family planning incentives, travelling allowances rates as per 6th CPC and Grant of House Rent Allowance.

The pending legitimate demands of state government employees were discussed, which included implementation of FR-56 pertaining to retirement age at 60 years, immediate implementation of 7th Central Pay Commission, Withdrawal of NOC system in the matters of promotion and retirement and etc by Riba.

Riba also urged the employees to be sincere and discipline towards the duty assign to them and to improve the work culture for speedy development of state and nation

One dies in road accident at Namsai Indrajit Tingwa Namsai Nov 23 : A first year student of Mahabodhi Lord Buddha College, Chow Thammika Manchey about 22 years, s/o Chow Ongsan Manchey of Momong village died in an accident on the highway in the Tengapani reserve forest area on Tuesday. The deceased was riding pillion on a Yamaha FZ bike bearing registration No.AR 01 D 7853 while his friend Chow Soma Namchoom who has also received major injuries was driving it. The bike was hit by a tipper bearing regis-

Chow Thammika Ma®nchey

tration No.NL 04 D 5541 around 4 pm on 22 November . The tipper and its driver have been taken under police custody subsequently.

An FIR was lodged at Namsai PS instantly and a case has been registered

vide No.148/16 u/s 279/ 337/304A. This was informed by by OC Namsai PS Inspector Lod Tari.

After the incident people gathered at the place of occurrence and halted vehicular movement for sometime. Only after the district administration gave a written assurance to apprehend the driver and tipper within two days besides putting up speed breakers in vulnerable stretches on the Chongkham -Namsai highway that the dead body was taken to CHC Namsai for post mortem and the vehicular traffic resumed.

Awareness programme on demonetization held in Tezu

as a whole.

He told the employees that the government employees are well paid and we should reciprocate it by improving our work culture.

G R Richo, Assistant Secretary (Finance) also spoke in the meeting regarding streamlining and improving of associations’ fund.

Members of the district CoSAAP unit of Namsai were also selected in the meeting.

They include Dr C M Thamoung, DPO (NVBDCD) as president, Chau Longzing Mounglang, UDC as general secretary and S Hussain, District Treasury Officer as finance secretary.

MM Kutty, Additional Secretary, Govt. of India called on Pema Khandu, Chief Minister today to discuss on impact of demonetization in the state.

ET Bureau Itanagar, Nov 23 : MM Kutty, Additional Secretary, Govt. of India called on Pema Khandu, Chief Minister today to discuss on impact of demonetization in the state.

Due to liquidity crunch, there is serious shortage of money especially the small denomination notes. However, in 10-15 days the situation will improve as more money will be made available in all denominations, the Additional Secretary assured.

Mr Kutty urged the state government to spread awareness on demonetization especially in remote areas of the state. Words must reach every individual

to deposit their old notes by December 30 or they may exchange old notes at designated offices of the RBI

by March 31, 2017.

As people have now started to visit banks in large number, Kutty advised the state government to use the opportunity to open more banks and ATMs in the state, especially in all subdivisional level to bring more people under the bank coverage.

To spread awareness on demonetization, the Chief Minister informed that all Deputy Commissioners will be instructed to relay a 15minute Radio talk in every local dialect for 3-4 days.

Also he called for an outreach programme to be

organised by the respective Deputy Commissioners.

Informing on the current situation in the state in the aftermath of demonetization, Khandu said that despite the rush in banks and ATMs, there has been no law and order problems reported. Also informing on frauds likely to take place on account of tribal people being exempted from taxes, he expressed concern that people from outside the state could use their bank accounts to deposit money in huge amount. So he urged the Income Tax department to trace all such accounts that deviates from its normal account history and pattern.

To cover more number of

ET Bureau Tezu, Nov 23: Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP), Govt. of India, Ministry of I & B, Tezu unit today organized awareness programme on Demonetization at Tezu area of Lohit District of Arunachal Pradesh.

Mihir Kumar Jha, FPO, Tezu explain the gathering about the advantages of De-

monetization. He said that Government has been changed only Rs.500/- and Rs.1000/- currency to Rs.500/- and Rs.2000/- new currency.

He also informed that People should deposit as well as exchange their old Rs.500/- and Rs.1000/- currency till 30th December’2016 and after that people will have to deposit

their old Rs.500/- and Rs.1000/- currency at specific Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Office with a declaration letter till 31st March’2017.

He appealed the people who present during programme that not to panic upon demonetization, because the demonetization helps the Government to stop and check the black money and corruptions.

Further to ensure no financial hurdles in development works, the Chief Secretary said that an interim arrangement be made to allow cash flow for labour payment engaged in construction activities who are mostly the daily wage workers.

MP Ering raises Tobacco control awareness camp in Kalaktang Visa Denial issue in Lok Sabha ET Bureau NEW DELHI, 23 NOV : Member of Parliament Ninong Ering raised the recent issue of visa denial of India badminton team manager Bamang Tago by China in the Lok Sabha today and said that the Chinese Embassy should apoligise to Tago.

He said that the issue has serious implications as Arunachalee sportspersons have been denied visa by China repeatedly, which in turn has denied several Arunachal sportsperson from participating in sports event in China.

In 2011, a five-member Karate team; in January 2012, a team of Arunachal weightlifters and in October 2013, two archers from Arunachal Pradesh could

not participate in China.

He stressed that the problem has serious concerns as China is an emerging prominent place for international sports.

According to Tago, he was denied visa and his passport was in custody of the Chinese Embassy due to which he could not participate in the Thailot China Open 2016.

“It is highly unfair and unreasonable against the people of Arunachal Pradesh”, said Ering while condemning this act of discrimination.

He also sought that the Government of India take serious action against it so that people of Arunachal do not suffer in the future.

ET Bureau Bomdila, Nov 23 : The District Control Cell of West Kameng district conducted a four-day school programme on IEC and awareness of tobacco addiction and its effects from November 15 to 21.

The programmes were held at Government Higher Secondary School, Kalaktang, Gov-

ernment Secondary School, Shergoan, Roop Land School, Rupa and Government Higher Secondary School, Singchung.

The Programmme started with well come address by principal of respective Schools and NCD epidemiologist Dr Hage Tam, Tamchi Para, district consultant and Tage Yakang, social worker gave awareness on

tobacco addiction and its effects, followed by distribution of IEC material to the staffs and students of the school.

Principals of the schools also spoke on the occasion.

The programme was attended by as many as 800 school children, including teachers and medical officers of the health institution of the respective school areas.

Govt honours Hangpan Dada; renamed CM’s Trophy in his memory Contd. from Page 1

“Sports and Youth Affairs are very important sectors as they cater to the youths, who form the major chunk of the population. Our government is committed to their welfare and upliftment,” Khandu said.

Hailing Arunachal Pradesh as one of the upcoming sporting state of the country, he urged the departments to focus on moulding

sportspersons of Olympic level.

“Our youths have the potential to compete with the best in the country as well as in the world. Time and again they have showcased this potential. Our responsibility is to guide them and provide them with basic infrastructure and facilities,” Khandu pointed.

To the request of the department for adequate funds for completing ongoing sports infrastructures and sporting activities, the Chief

Minister assured that funds won’t be a constraint for productive and essential projects.

The meeting was attended

by Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rajesh Tacho, Parliamentary Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, Nyamar Karbak, Chairman, Sports Authority of Arunachal, Gora Makik, Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, Dani Salu, Directors of Sports and Youth Affairs and other departmental officials.

World Vasectomy Day observed at General Hospital, Khonsa ET Bureau Khonsa, Nov 23 : World Vasectomy Day, along with Vasectomy Fortnight was observed at General Hospital, Khonsa with the theme ‘Parivar Niyojan Mein Sajedari, Ab Hogi Puruso Ki Sakriya Bhagedari’.

Tezu unit today organized awareness programme on Demonetization at Tezu area of Lohit District of Aru

people under banking services, Smt Shakuntala Gamlin, Chief Secretary, suggested that ASHA workers in remote villages can be deputed to work as banking correspondence by opening customer service point (CSP). Also fair price shops, shopkeepers, gaonburahs and Political Interpreters can be encouraged to work as banking correspondence, Ashish Kundra, Commissioner (finance) added.

Organized by District Health Society, Tirap, the programme was inaugurated on November 22 by ZPC Songtung Bangsia, in presence of all medical officers and staff of General Hospital, Khonsa.

Speaking on the occasion as chief guest, Bangsia stressed on creating more awareness and sought active participation from all sections of the society with grass-root involvement, especially in the rural community residing in remote villages.

He informed how the con-

Chief guest, Bangsia stressed on creating more awareness and sought active participation from all sections of the society cept of vasectomy –a permanent method of family planning –done on a male is as important as tubectomy done on a female. He urged

men to come forward and participate in the family planning process equally with their female counterparts.

Earlier, Dr O Taggu Incharge DMO, highlighted the importance of males as they are mostly active mem-

bers among couples taking part in family planning process. MD Dr Roto Robo gave a power point presentation on vasectomy operation, its procedure, effectiveness and psychological impact on males following operation, while adding that it is as safer, easier and convenient than a tubectomy done on female over a long period of time.

Medical Superintendent Dr K Socia highlighted how among couples in society, women are the ones who always bear the burden of sacrificing or adopting family planning methods, right from using temporary oral pills, cu-T insertion to permanent sterilization like tubal ligation. She hoped that observation of World Vasectomy Day would encourage acceptance and galvanize the male participation equally in the family planning process.

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P4

Elephant injured at Patanjali Mega Herbal and Food Park, Ghoramari

ET Correspondent Tezpur, November 23: One female elephant was critically injured after falling down in excavated trench at the construction site of Patanjali Mega Herbal and Food Park in AIDC Complex,

Ghoramari in Sonitpur district. According to forest department sources here the incident occurred at around 6 Am today when a calf ran out of herd towards the construction site which was followed by his mother leading to

the tragic incident.

The sources further informed that the calf was rescued and translocated to Kaziranga. “The injured mother that has been laid in the trench till to the filling of this report is under treatment and constant

observation.” The forest department source informed.

Diganta Borborah, Divisional forest Officer, Sonitpur West Division informed this correspondent that the treatment of the injured female elephant is going on.

The doctors from KNP arrived at site. “One of the rear legs might be fractured as suspected by the doctors.” He said adding that the treatment will be continued till the elephant gets stable. “The forest department made adequate arrange for continuing treatment in the night by installing flush light and other required infrastructures.” He also mentioned and informed that one the moment respond received from the elephant it would be shifted to Sonai-Rupai sanctuary.

Uday Goswami, of Patanjali

Mega Herbal and Food Park informed that the incident took place around 6 am.

“Our people along with the forest personals use to guard the site for elephant depredation in the night regularly.” Said Uday Goswami mentioning the herd was not there for last couple of days but suddenly the herd appeared near the site in the morning. He further informed that generally the herd of elephants leaves the area within by the wee hour but today they arrived late and the unfortunate and the incident took place.

“The calf ran out of the herd towards the construction site and the mother followed him and the unfortunate incident took place.” He added. He further informed that their organization had provided all logistic supports as requested by the forest department to shift the female elephant.

Seminar held on “commerce education and beyond” at Tezpur university ET Correspondent Tezpur, Nov 23 : The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) in association with the Department of Commerce, Tezpur University organized a one-day National Seminar on “Commerce Education and Beyond: The Professional Edge” recently at Tezpur University in it’s KBR Auditorium.

More than 800 students and teachers of commerce discipline from various college and schools attended the programme.

The programme was inaugurated by Prof. Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri, Vice Chancellor of Tezpur University. In his speech Prof.

Chaudhuri mentioned about the growing trend of commerce education in the country and also narrated the rationale for introducing the Department of Commerce at Tezpur University. He urged upon students of commerce to take the challenge of the current economic environment of the country.

Prof. Chandana Goswami, Dean, School of Manage-

ment Sciences, Tezpur University highlighted the issue of recent demonetization in the country and how students of commerce should get their knowledge updated to have a clear conception of the topic. CMA Manas Kumar Thakur, President, ICAI in his address emphasised on creating human values amongst the students’ community. He strongly put the view that an honest and value-based human being is always successful in life. On the occasion, the November 2016 issue of Institute’s monthly journal “The Management Accountant” was also released by the Vice Chancellor Prof.

Chaudhuri.

Dr. Deboprasanna Nandi, Director (Research), ICAI took a session on career counselling in different aspects of commerce with special emphasis on the cost accountancy course.

CMA Arup Sankar Bagchi, Director (Finance), ICAI mesmerised the participants with his session on motivation. The session had been so effective that

VKV Tezpur shines in the 5th Srimanta Sankardev Natya Samaroh held at VKV Nalbari.

ET Correspondent Tezpur, Nov 23 : A Grand drama competition of 5th Srimanta Sankardev Natya Samaroh was held from during 11 to 13 November organised by Vivekananda Kendra Shiksha Prasar Vibhag, Guwahati at VKV Nalbari. The First best drama awarded was begged

by VKV Tezpur among the 19 different VKV’s of Assam and Nagaland. The Drama titled “Ati Rangeen Sadhur Kothare” written and directed by a renowned director and script writer Ganesh Chandra Das. Different roles played by the students of the Vidyalaya are Liza Devi, Sangyukta Kalita, Rohan Kalita, Divya Nath, Abinash Bora, Mayur

place on commodities.

Prof. Subhrangshu Sekhar Sarkar, Head, Department of Commerce, Tezpur University expressed his feelings about commerce education in the region. He suggested that students of commerce should pursue various professional courses and claimed that students studying commerce in the region are as good as their counterparts studying anywhere in India. It is worth mentioning that the entire event was managed by the students of

Integrated M Com programme of Tezpur University with utmost professionalism. The participants of the programme also enjoyed the contents of the programme. The mass gathering in an academic seminar has created history in the region, where students from Kaliabor College, Tezpur College, Darrang College, LOKD College, Chaiduar College, St. Xaviers’ College and nearby Kendriya Vidyalayas took part in the event.

Bora.

The drama group received trophies from Ranjit Kr. Dass, Speaker , Assam Legislative Assembly, Ashok Sharma, MLA, Nalbari LAC, Sanjib Das, Regional Officer, CBSE, Guwahati Region and Hanumanta Rao, Treasurer, V.K. Kanyakumari.

Constitution Day to be celebrated on 25th November ET Bureau Guwahati, November 23: The Government of India has decided that the “Constitution Day” would be celebrated every year in the line it was celebrated in previous year. As part of the celebration the Preamble to the Constitution

may be read aloud at a specified time in all State Government Offices, State PSUs and Educational Institutions on 25th November 2016 instead of 26th November 2016.Apart from reading out of the Preamble other activities like organizing mock parlia-

ment, essay, debate competition and lectures, etc may be included in the programme and to indentify more activities at District/ Sub-division level to celebrate Constitution Day in order to create awareness among the people about the Constitution of India.

SBI recalibrates 2600 ATMs in northeast

Assam Governor Conveys his Lachit Divas Message

ET Bureau

some young participants, who never faced big audience earlier, took the courage to come to the stage to narrate their life stories. Mr. Vibhor Pandey, Assistant Vice President of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) along with Mr. Diptendu Moulik introduced the audience with MCX, one of the newest exchanges of India. He explained the concept of derivatives, hedging to the audience and also explained how trading in MCX take

Sharma, Dhrubajyoti Tamuli, Madhurjya Nath, Harshit Ali and Pankaj Nath. The Stage and costume was designed by the escort Teachers of the school Mandira Singh Das and Dhrubajyoti Saikia. It needs mention here that Drama light and Music was

by Prasanta Bora and Mridul

Guwahati, Nov 23 : As part of a series of moves to tide over the demonetization crisis, the State Bank of India, the country's largest bank, has recalibrated 2,618 out of 2,845 ATMs in the northeast for dispensing Rs 2,000 notes, a statement issued by the bank of Tuesday said.

Most ATMs in the country were not calibrated for the new Rs 2,000 notes and could only dispense Rs 100 notes. The statement said a total of 2,653 ATMs are dispensing both Rs 100 and Rs 2,000 notes. In Guwahati, 301 ATMs are working and 288 have been recalibrated out of the total 318 ATMs. "SBI is continuing its outdoor drive of mobile cash van service throughout the northeast region, including Guwahati, to dispense cash in smaller denominations at different locations, especially in major hospitals, nursing homes, market places and sabji mandis," said a senior SBI official.

As many as 48 such vans have been pressed into service across the region, bank officials said. The bank's customer service points (CSPs) linked to their nearest SBI branches are also contributing in the mission of demonetization. Since November 10, a total of 1,156 CSPs in rural areas has contributed to serve 3,53,871 customers for cash transactions.

"A revolution was created in rural areas by using bank's business correspondent channel," the statement said.

SBI said there has been tremendous response and an increasing demand for Point of Sale (POS) machines throughout the northeast, especially in Guwahati city.

"Besides cash transactions, SBI has already brought the facility of internet banking (both personal and corporate), mobile banking (State Bank Freedom), wallet banking (State Bank Buddy) and many other app-based banking facilities, playing an effective role in the current situation," the statement said.

ET Bureau Guwahati, November 23: Governor of Assam Shri Banwarilal Purohit greeted the people of Assam on the eve of Lachit Divas. In a message Shri Purohit said, “Lachit Borphukan was a great commander and a patriot who fought indomitably for the cause of motherland. His love for the motherland and the supreme sacrifice is a glaring example of a true leader.”

The Governor also urged upon the people of Assam to emulate the great hero and keep working for the sake of the motherland.

He said, “Lachit Borphukan, a great leader of Assam is an important figure in our history and has had a cascading effect on our civilization. I hope the observance of the birthday of the Great like Lachit will give our younger generation an opportunity to get themselves abreast with the rich legacy that the commander had left behind.”

Swachh Bharat Mission making steady progress in Hailakandi District A Staff Reporter Guwahati, 23 Nov: Swachh Bharat Mission has been making steady strides in Hailakandi district, thanks to the slew of initiatives by the district administration headed by Moloy Bora.

Under Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBMG) good progress has been made in so far as construction of Individual Household Latrines (IHHLs) is concerned. Of the total 1,43,013IHHLs, 84,851 IHHLs are without toilets as per 2012 ‘Base Line Data’. Added to this are 21,006 defunct toilets.36,328 have already been built (as on November 22 last).

“A summary revision of Base Line Survey 2012 is going on to include the left out and new households under SBMG. There is likely to be an increase of 15 per cent in the number of new households.

The complete survey report will be out by first week of December,” said Executive Engineer, Hailakandi Public Health Engineering Division, AB Choudhury.

Of the six villages targeted this year, two have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).

They are Appin I and Batisanjurai. The remaining ones viz., Mohanpur Pt III, Rangabak I, Rajyeswarpur II and Alloicherra I are on the threshold of becoming ODF. Moreover, five Gaon Panchayats viz., Sayedbond, Monacherra, KoiyaRamchandi, Monipur-Niskar and Matijuri Paikan are well on the way to becoming ODF with percentage of coverage achieved so far ranging from 80 to 90 per cent. “We are in the process of making moregaon panchayats and villages ODF,” said Deputy Commissioner Bora and appealed to all, including the gaon panchayats to join hands and work towards creating an ODF district.

Meanwhile, the good news is Kanchanpur RA and Alloicherra Pt I under Serishpur and Monipur-Niskar Gaon Panchayats respectively have been declared clean villages according to Integrated Management Information System survey.

Of the 17 tea estates in the entire district, three gardens viz., Koiya, Monipur and Burnibrease are on the verge of attaining ODF by December

this year. For the remaining tea estates, ODF status is likely to be achieved within the next six months, claims Choudhury. Of the 7,993 IHHLs, 3,778 have been constructed in the tea gardens so far.

Governor of Assam Banwarilal Purohit during his visit to Hailakandi on November 17 praised the district administration for the achievements made under Swachh Bharat Mission in both rural and urban areas. “Hailakandi district is making good and steady progress insofar as implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in both rural and urban areas is concerned.

Deputy Commissioner and the officials working under him deserve commendation for the good work,” he added.

Steps are being initiated to collect solid waste from door to door under the jurisdiction of Hailakandi Municipal Board and Lala Town Committee. Strict directive has been issued by the district administration to the traders, merchants and transport associations not to litter the surroundings and to use containers, bags and dustbins for storage of

waste. 45 concrete dustbins have been constructed in the municipal areas for dumping of garbage.

Penalties have been imposed on those not complying with the order.

The district administration has warned that those found flouting the order with impunity will have to face dire consequences, including cancellation of trade licenses.

Under a new enactment, it has been made compulsory that building permission within the municipal areas will be issued only if the proposed structure/ establishmenth as provisions for proper toilet facilities coupled with space for plantations.

“This has been done to create a congenial hygienic environment as well as to extend the green cover in town areas,”said Chairperson of Hailakandi Municipal Board, Shyamoli Roy. Deputy Commissioner Bora diligently monitors the activities of Hailakandi Municipal Board and Lala Town Committee. Early morning he makes it a point to visit the main thoroughfares to oversee the cleanliness drive. And the outcome of it all: the

towns have become literally neat and clean with no visible signs of garbage on roadsides and on banks of the riverDholeswari.

Plans are on the anvil to build more pay and use toilets. 100 low-cost sanitary latrines have been constructed in Hailakandi municipal areas.But building toilets is the easy part. Getting people to use them is the real challenge, officials said. It is against this backdrop, the administration is promoting toilet use by advocating the health benefits.

On the Swachh Bharat Mission in the district, Bora said, “We are accelerating our efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage, improve cleanliness and eliminate open defecation through two sub-missions – Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) for rural areas and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) for towns,” he said, adding focus is on to reducing open defecation among the poor.

Bora said emphasis is on to create awareness, triggering behaviour change and demand generation for sanitation facilities in houses, schools,

anganwadicentres and places of community congregation and for solid waste management activities through community action, NGOs and peer pressure.

The administration is contemplating to offer incentives individually to households or to the village as a whole after the entire village becomes ODF. The Deputy Commissioner has appealed to the tea garden management – the only major industry here – to fulfil their corporate social responsibility towards a good cause.

“Talks are on with the tea garden owners and we are expecting a positive outcome. Help from the tea sector will provide the much needed impetus to the mission,” said Choudhury.

Bora has directed all the line departments for convergence of schemes and resources under MGNREGA, MLA/ MPLADS and other schemesto give a boost to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

620 left out households will be brought under IHHLs, and for this the administration has directed the Project Director, DRDA to give the go-

ahead to PHE Division.

Strategies have been formulated on intensive training and capacity building of stakeholders along with dedicated visits, follow-ups and meetings. “The goal is to free the villages of open defecation. But for that, each and every person has to fall in line,” he said.

As part of the mission, efforts are on to ensure supply of clean drinking water to all households.

PHE Division, Hailakandi has already commissioned 295 piped water supply schemes and creation of spot sources that include ring wells and hand pumps covering 1519 of the total 1701 habitations. Water supply has been provided to 522 schools and 155 anganwadi centres in rural areas.

Officials of Public Health Engineering Department, Zila Parishad and PRIs working in the fields said the dawning of realization by a person or community of the need to stop open defecation, and therefore take steps to construct and use toilets, is more important than a supply-driven approach.

“Acceptability and proper usage of toilets built in

rural areas is a major focal area for Swachh Bharat programme,” said Executive Engineer Choudhury.

“Sanitation is primarily a behavioral issue to be undertaken by people themselves for their own good.

The role of the administration is only to facilitate all this positive change by providing incentives and assisting people,” added Deputy Commissioner Bora.

Emphasizing the importance of this mission, Bora said that elimination of open defecation would help in containing the spread of infectious diseases besides creating a clean and healthy environment. Towards this end, inter personal contacts have been geared up to create general awareness through street plays, songs and drama, rally, procession and other modes.

Indeed, a silent revolution is brewing, with Hailakandi district spearheading the Swachh Bharat movement by making significant strides. And if the momentum continues, the district is well on its way to becoming an ODF district well ahead of the 2019 deadline.

REST OF

NORTHEAST P5 Dedication service held for Winter session of 12th NLA begins in Nagaland new CCC building in Dimapur

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

Dimapur, Nov 23: Cornerstone Community Church (CCC), Dimapur on November 20 held its Church building dedication cum commissioning service program at Cornerstone Community Church, Dimapur.

The church building was dedicated by Dr Yang Tuck Loong and dedicatory prayer was offered

by Rev. Tim O' Connell.

Dr. Yang Tuck Loong in his message stressed upon one language to bring the people together from all shades of life. He also stated that Nagaland had many languages and stressed on taking up a common language which could benefit the general public and said that the new Church was based on English.

He also called upon the Naga Christians to build God's kingdom rather than narrow down to build own tribal or denominational kingdoms. "Christ is for every nation", so he

Dr. Yang Tuck Loong centre with Rev Dr Suluveyi Rhakho right and Tim O Connell inaugurating the new building. called upon Nagas to reach every unevangelised people with the gospel as the ambassador of Christ.

Nine students were commissioned and two field evangelists were given ministry license based on their work performance.

Cornerstone Community Church is an independent, Pentecostal multi-congregational Church based in Singapore which has recently spread its wings to

Nagaland; also have affiliate congregations in Kenya, Uganda, Myanmar, Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Australia and other parts of the world.

Earlier, the programme was chaired by Rev. Dr Suluveyi Rhakho, special song was presented by the Logos college of Dimapur and voice of praise was sung by Harvest Ministry students. (Agencies)

GPRN/NSCN observes '9th Unification Day'

Kitovi Zhimomi and Neokpao Konyak wave at the crowd.

Kohima, Nov 23: GPRN/ NSCN observed the '9th Unification Day' at the Khehoi designated camp.

More than two thousand delegates from various Naga and non-Naga communities attended the celebration programme.

GPRN/NSCN president 'gen.' (retd) MB Neokpao Konyak, in his short address, extended greetings and gave a clarion call for "unity and reconciliation".

He further urged the leaders present to speak up their mind and contribute ideas towards the GPRN/ NSCN for the wellbeing of the whole Nagas as a whole.

Earlier, Neopkao unfurled the "National flag" and took salute from four Naga Army parade contingents.

In his speech, GPRN/ NSCN ato kilonser Kitovi Zhimomi queried who was responsible for the divisions and disunity amongst the Nagas by various tribal organizations.

Kitovi maintained that each Naga should introspect and retrospect the elements that led to the

division and disunity amongst Nagas.

Kitovi said that "Nagaland State creation was just political game and politics of the Indian Union".

Dwelling on the Naga women reservation issue, Kitovi stated that the Naga women were much advanced in all fields. "Naga womenfolk are excelling more than the male counterpart and it is the male who are desperately in need of such reservations", said Kitovi on a lighter note.

Lambasting the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and AADHAR card policies of the government of India, Kitovi asserted that such policy (s) should be scrutinized through proper channels/terms and should not be politicized upon keeping in mind of the unique Naga customs and traditions.

Accusing the contemporary Naga politicians, elected for five-year tenure, of doing nothing for the common Naga goal, he said they were rather prolonging and hampering the Naga issue for another

five centuries.

While concluding his speech, Kitovi cautioned that "we are prepared to face any eventualities" and reiterated on the inclusive solution.

Earlier, the programme began with the "arrival of the collective leadership" followed by invocation by Senior Pastor Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima Rev Dr. Vevo Phesao.

Highlights of the programme included unfurling of 'National Flag', drill display by Naga Army units; presentation and introduction.

On the occasion, GPRN/ NSCN calendar 2017 was released by veteran Naga leaders namely 'Brig" (Retd) Kakiho Tuccu, Heqheto Zhimo and "Lt Gen" (Retd) Mohpa Konyak.

Special numbers were presented by Coloured Keys and Tetseo Sisters while Lotha and Konyak troupes enthralled the gathering with cultural presentation.

Solidarity messages were delivered by NTC president Lendinokdang Ao; ENPO president Koiwang Konyak; CNTC vice president R. Yanthan; NGBF president Shalem Konyak; senior citizen and former SH president Dr Hokishe Yepthomi respectively.

GPRN/NSCN Kilonser and convenor organising committee Akato Chophi extended note of appreciation while senior pastor Sangtam Baptist Church Kohima, Rev Y Imtipa Sangtam said the benediction prayer.

(Agencies)

New Rs 500 may finally come by end of this week Shillong, Nov 23: The new Rs 500 notes are likely to be available in the State by this week, the Reserve Bank said in a meeting with the chief secretary and representatives from prominent banks.

Chief Secretary KS Kropha on Tuesday took stock of the fund available in banks and post offices in the presence of additional secretary and financial advisor to the Ministry of External Affairs Dr Sumeeth Jerath who has been deputed to the State to assess the situation and the officers of RBI, all major banks and the Postal Dept.

People here are finding it difficult to use the Rs 2,000 note, which are in adequate amount, as most banks and ATMs are running out of

small denomination notes.

Life will be so much easier with the issuance of the new Rs 500 notes.

Jerath said he had spoken to the regional director of RBI in Guwahati and "he has assured all possible support to the State. He further informed that adequate directions have been issued by the Ministry of Finance to ensure that availability of funds to the State is assured. Jerath will also visit Ri Bhoi, West Khasi Hills and West Jaintia Hills districts.

Most of the ATMs in the State have been calibrated to dispense Rs 2,000 notes and the work on calibration for Rs 500 notes will be complete shortly.

The postal department in-

formed that besides the 68 sub-offices in the State, 438 branch offices will also distribute and exchange money and this is expected to further ease the pressure on the banks as well as help the public in rural areas.

SBI was advised to ensure adequate supply of lower denomination currencies and coins to the postal department.

'Fake' Rs 10 coins The hullaballoo over fake Rs 10 coins was also a topic of discussion at Tuesday's meeting. The CGM at RBI Shillong said the central office had already clarified that all Rs 10 coins are genuine and can be used for transaction.

(Agencies)

Kohima, Nov 23: A motion has been introduced in the 14th session of the 12th NLA on its first day, by parliamentary secretary Municipal Affairs R.Tohanba under Article 371 A (1)(a) of the constitution of India, with regard to 33% women reservation in municipalities .

The motion will seek the adoption of the resolution by the house on November 24,2016(Thursday) for immediate revocation of the resolution earlier passed under Article 371A(1)(a) of the constitution of India on September 22,2012 which exempted Nagaland from the application of Part IX A of the constitution of India in Urban and Local Bodies(ULBs) polls .

NLA Speaker, Chotisuh Sazo said consideration and passing will be held on November 24. He also informed members that any amendments to be made should be submitted on November 23 before 12 noon.

Parliamentary secretary for municipal affairs, economic and statistics R. Tohanba also introduced the Nagaland municipal (third amendment) Bill, 2016.

It was explained that the objective of the bill came after nearly a decade of inconclusive debate and discussion on women reservation in municipal and

town councils and for which the state government decided to conduct polls under the provision of the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 with one third reservation for women.

However, Tohanba stated that some tribal bodies pointed out some discrepancies in the NM Act 2001 with respect to reservation of SC/ST and with respect to non-compliance of the Act with Article 371 A (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution in regard to levy and recovery process of taxes on land and buildings.

He said the amendments have been accordingly proposed to the Act through the bill.

The parliamentary secretary further said the provisions in the bill did not involve any recurring or non-recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of the state therefore the bill was not a money bill or a finance bill.

Review 33% women quota: NH, ENPO Objecting to the decision of the state government to revoke the September 22, 2012 Assembly resolution on 33% women reservation, during the ongoing Assembly session on Tuesday, Naga Hoho and Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) demanded that the T.R. Zeliang led-government

Bangladeshi currency worth 5.30 lakh and large stock of Marijuana recovered from bordering village in Tripura Agartala, Nov 23: A combined police team from Bishalgarh police station, Womens police station of Bishalgarh and Madhupur outpost yesterday conducted a raid on two houses on the border with Bangladesh at Kamala Sagar and recovered Bangladeshi currency worth Rs 5.30 lakh and a big stockade of illegal Marijuana collected for smuggling to Bangladesh.

Police sources said that acting on a tip-off a combined police team from Bishalgarh and Madhupur led by SDPO (Bishalgarh) Pradip Paul and DSP (Headquarter) Tapas

Paul raided the bordering Miapara and Harihar Dola villages in Kamalasagar area.

The raid was conducted in the houses of Musta Mia and Noor Mia and the Bangladeshi currency notes as well as stocks of Marijuana were recovered . However, both Musta Mia and Noor Mia were found to have escaped from their houses. The cash and Marijuana had been recovered from underground in both the houses as the culprits had stashed them away to prevent detection. (Agencies)

Kiyanilie reacts to NPCC Dimapur, Nov 23: Reacting to NPCC's statement that the directive issued by the NPF to its MLAs was "unprecedented and unparalleled in the annals of Indian parliamentary democracy", parliamentary affairs and social welfare minister, Kiyanilie Peseyie, who is also the NPF chief whip, has termed the allegations as "ridiculous bordering on hilarity".

Peseyie in a rejoinder said it was normal to issue Whips to party legislators on the eve of any Legislature/Parliamentary session, especially when any Bill is to be introduced and passed in the House. He said Congress party, going ballistic over a normal parliamentary practice, by using all sorts of colourful phrases could only have emanated from someone who has an imaginative bent of mind but devoid of any understanding of actual parliamentary practices.

The absence of MLAs of the Congress party in the Assembly, to familiarize the rules and procedures, may have been the reason for party functionaries to let their imagination get the better of their reasoning and shot off their missives to the media, Peseyie said.

Further, Peseyie reminded Congress that there were 8 independent MLAs in the Assembly and not only one, as pointed out. "And all these Independent MLAs are part of the DAN government because no one has withdrawn their support from the present ministry or Leader of the House," he stated.

He said "if the Congress party thinks that proceedings of the Assembly are a 'winking' business, it has another thinking coming: The affairs of the State and the Constitutional procedures are never carried out by anyone winking at any body, as the Congress party seems to believe".

Peseyie also reminded that when the chief minister T.R. Zeliang moved a confidence motion on February 5, 2015,

all 59 MLAs excluding the Speaker, voted in his favour.

"And if there is anyone who is nervous, paranoid and have shivers running down their spines, it would be the Congress party which is now composed of a few handful political has-beens and wannabes whose political fortunes in the coming years are as bleak as a cloudy day," he said.

He said the then Congress chief whip, on the eve of the vote on confidence motion, had issued a whip directing all its MLAs to vote in favour of the motion moved by the chief minister. "Was this whip deemed as dictatorial or unprecedented by anyone then?" he questioned.

He further said it was absurd to say that the presence of large number of MLAs who extend unflinching support to the Leader of the House could ever take a toll on the leader.

"Lack of support of legislators could make any chief minister in a democratic set such as ours uncomfortable, but whoever has heard of a chief minister enjoying the support of all the legislators in the House like the present chief minister T.R. Zeliang does, might as well say he or she is lying through the teeth!," he said.

Peseyie said he recently pointed out to journalists that as the chief Whip of the NPF Legislature Party, it was required for him to issue Whip as and when necessary to ensure that members of the NPF Legislature Party stand together on certain pertinent issues and to maintain discipline within the legislators of the party.

He said the whip issued by him was however non-binding on non-NPF legislators and said the Congress too would have done the same only if it had legislators in the House. "It should also be forgiven for not understanding what a whip is," he added. (Agencies)

14th Session of the 12th NLA in progress first constitute a committee to review the matter rather than rushing things and creating serious problems in the state.

Talking to Nagaland Post, Naga Hoho president P. Chuba Ozukum cautioned the state government, saying "going against the wishes of the people, would only invite protest". The government should rather try to resolve the matter in consultation with the people and not undermine the peoples' will, he added.

Ozukum further said that the state government should first set up a committee to look into the issue and make amendments accordingly after thorough consultation with the stakeholders.

"The government should act as per the wishes of the people and should not allow division amongst men and women," he said.

On the other hand, ENPO has also demanded that the

state government first form a committee-comprising of both men and women from all walks of life, to review the contentious issue and come up with a logical solution rather than dividing the society and making it a gender issue.

ENPO said "the sanctity and power of the NLA should be maintained and should not accept all Central Act which was not applicable to the Nagas".

Almost all tribal hohos had strongly opposed any move by the government to hold civic polls "in a haste" without resolving various issues with all stakeholders. The point is whether the T.R.Zeliangled DAN government would bulldoze the concerns of the hohos. Voices from the legal, political and tribal hoho representatives had cautioned the government against taking

any hasty decision to hold civic polls for the sake of getting huge grants from the ministry of urban development. (Agencies) One of the leader had gone to the extent of cautioning that they would consider every democratic means to express their disapproval.

The tribal bodies objecting to the conduct of polls without resolving the concerns included- Ao Senden, Sumi Hoho, CNTC,ENPO, Naga Hoho, CPO, APO, KVC, Medziphema Village Council, while Lotha Hoho had said it would "wait-andwatch."

It may also be recalled, that the cabinet had decided to hold polls during August after a letter dated April 9, 2016 to chief minister T.R.Zeliang was issued by NMA Advisor Rosemary Dzuvichu. The latter claimed that the Supreme Court in its April 5,2016 order while granting the SPL had ordered holding of civic polls under 33% women reservation.

In the light of observations about the cabinet bypassing the house resolution of September 22,2012 the government decided to reverse the resolution adopted then, which prepared by T.R.Zeliang as then minister of parliamentary affairs. (Agencies)

Tripura Congress, 'Amra Bangali' forfeit security deposit in by-polls Agartala, Nov 23: Indian National Congress (INC), the second pole in Tripura's traditional bipolar polity, seems to have completely run out of steam and is on the verge of exiting the political arena. Eversince the drubbing in the 2013 assembly polls the party has been steadily on a downslide, thanks to largescale exodus, continuing factional feuding of the avaricious leaders and finally the emergence of BJP as a force. The last nail in the Congress's coffin was hit by the defection of six MLAs to Trinamool in May this year, evidently on an ulterior agenda. Despite changes in the stewardship of the party at the state level the erosion has not been arrested.

This had come to the fore in the by-elections to Surma (SC), Nalchhar (SC), Pratapgarh (SC) and Amarpur assembly constituencies. After consecutive debacles in the three assembly constituencies , the Congress candidate in Amarpur managed to secure 4th position and lost his security deposit. A similar drubbing has been replicated in the just-concluded twin byelections to Barjala (SC) and Khowai assembly constituencies , the results of which were declared on November 22. In both the seats the Congress candidates, Rajendra Das (Barjala) and Pranab Biswas (Khowai) forfeited their security deposits , securing 4th positioins.

According to leaders in

the party, Congress in Tripura is unlikely to revive.

Controversial 'Amra Bangali' which had emerged as a major force in state politics by opposing the setting up of ADC for trbals lost its steam long ago . In the just-concluded by-elections to Barjala (SC) and Khowai also the party came last and duly forfeited security deposits. There is not even a remote chance of the 'Amra Bangali' reviving political fortunes in the near future. Official sources in the election department said that unless a candidate secures at least six percent of valid votes polled , he or she loses security deposits.

(Agencies)

Meghalaya BJP gains UDP leader before council by-poll Shillong, Nov 23: The State BJP got another shot in the arm before the December 13 by-election after former Cabinet minister and UDP leader JA Lyngdoh, along with his supporters, joined the party on Tuesday.

The BJP will contest all the seven district council seats in the by-polls as the party wants to strengthen the traditional institutions, said its State president Shibun Lyngdoh and added that the "by-polls will be a major test for the party".

On NDA's performance, JA Lyngdoh said he "fell in love with the BJP" during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the NDA government created the DoNER Ministry for the welfare of the northeastern region.

"The BJP is the only party that can bring development and change in the State," said JA Lyngdoh and assured "full co-operation" in strengthening the BJP in Meghalaya.

"There was a time when the Congress would tell people not to vote for regional parties because its government existed in Assam as well as at the Centre. But now the BJP government exists in Assam and New Delhi and the party should form government in Meghalaya as well," said the former min-

Ex-Cabinet minister JA Lyngdoh is formally welcomed as member of the BJP by State president Shibun Lyngdoh in the city.

ister, who lost the polls in 2013 "due to delimitation factor".

Former Congress leader and sitting MDC Neil Antonio War, who was present at the function on Tuesday, had said he "fell in love" with the saffron party despite being a Congress man because of the BJP government's way of working and the simplicity of its leaders.

War recalled that a few months ago, the district councils were facing financial crunch and all the 10 district councils formed a committee and approach the Centre on the matter.

"We were amazed how the central leaders treated us despite the fact that the chairman of the committee belonged to an EC led by a

Congress party," he said, adding that they got the appointment of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi within an hour.

"After meeting for 15 minutes, Arun Jaitley told us to meet MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju and later within two months, Rs 1,000 crore was sanctioned as special funds for the district council," he said.

War said the Congress leadership has failed in the State and that some of his "friends" are waiting for the right time to join the BJP. Supporters of JA Lyngdoh and party functionaries were also present on the occasion and he, along with his 10 senior supporters, was felicitated after joining the party. (Agencies)

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

Today's quote

“

To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear

Gautama Buddha

How will India destroy 20 billion banknotes?

India's central bank will have to destroy, by one estimate, some 20 billion "expired" banknotes after it scrapped two high-value denominations - the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes - this month to crack down on "black money" or illegal cash holdings.

To give some idea of the amount of the currency that represents - there were more than 90 billion banknotes in circulation in India last March.

Most central banks destroy soiled and mutilated banknotes on a regular basis and replace them with new, crisp ones.

The Reserve Bank of India, similarly, shreds such notes and makes briquettes of them. But they are not your usual briquettes.

Briquettes - usually made of farm waste in India are used for cooking, lighting and heating. They are cheaper than coal, have lower ash content, are less polluting, and easier to store and pack. They are mostly used as fuel in factory boilers.

But briquettes made out of shredded cash are brittle and serve no such purpose, a senior central bank official told me.

So the bank's 27 shredding and briquetting machines in 19 offices across India will now snip the expired banknotes into the smallest of pieces and the resulting briquettes will be then dumped in India's vast landfills.

Sometimes the shredded currency is also recycled to make files, calendars and paper weights and ballpoint pen shells, tea coasters, cups and small trays as souvenirs for guests.

The practice is similar in the US: counterfeit banknotes are sent to the Secret Service, while unfit notes are shredded and sent to landfills or given away as souvenirs to the public touring the Federal Reserve Bank.

Central bank officials believe shredding 20 billion banknotes will not be a huge challenge. In 2015-16 the Reserve Bank of India destroyed more than 16 billion soiled notes. More than 14 billion were removed in 2012-2013 after nearly 500,000 fake notes were found in the system.

"Destroying so much cash is not a challenge because we have enough shredding and briquetting machines with very high capacities. These are automatic machines which shred the cash into the finest of pieces," says an official. So, India's mountain of expired currency will soon become rubbish, literally.

No complacency on Zika The World Health Organisation has declared that the Zika virus no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. This brings to an end the heightened global focus on the virus that has caused about 2,300 confirmed cases of microcephaly (a birth defect manifesting in a smaller head size) since May 2015. The WHO had declared the Zika virus a public health emergency on February 1, considering the high number of neurological disorders reported in Brazil and a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014. Among the reasons cited were the unknown causal link between the virus and microcephaly and neurological complications, the possibility of its global spread, lack of vaccines and diagnostic tools, and the lack of immunity to the virus in newly affected countries. The link between Zika and microcephaly was established in May, the hunt for a potent vaccine and reliable diagnostic tool has begun, and scientists have been able to find the routes of transmission. However, the global risk assessment has not changed. The spread of Zika to 67 countries and territories is a grim reminder of the lack of immunity against the virus and the abundance of mosquito vectors. A dozen countries have reported local transmission.

Despite the link between the Zika virus infection and microcephaly being well established, the entire spectrum of challenges posed by the disease is not known.

The WHO Emergency Committee has called for sustained research and dedicated resources to address the long-term challenges posed by babies born with microcephaly, but signaling the end of the global emergency may lead to lowering of the global alert. There should be no setback to funding, the global search for effective vaccines and diagnostic tests, and creating awareness about the risk of sexual transmission. For instance, it is not clear why more babies were born with microcephaly in northeast Brazil compared to the rest of the country or why the country had a higher caseload than others. This information is crucial to understanding the link between Zika infection and microcephaly, and thereby to containing incidence where the mosquito vector is predominant. Medical journals should continue to provide free and immediate access to papers on the Zika virus, which played a crucial role in information-sharing. The WHO has said it is "not downgrading the importance of Zika" and that its "response is here to stay".

It now needs to ensure that vigilance remains high despite the decline in incidence.

EDITORIAL P6 Melodrama on the campaign trail Politics sometimes has to be understood more as a performative act than a rational argument or an ideological battle Decoding politics is not easy, especially after election time. The calculus of victory and defeat creates a virtual reductionist effect, vitiating the complexity of events to the inevitability of a score. It is not just, as Camus said, that statistics do not bleed, but that number is too rudimentary a portrait of the complexity of politics. Watching Donald Trump convinced me that it is not Mr. Trump that we need to understand, but the way we construct him.

At a recent college election, I heard a candidate describe himself as the Trump of the college. The candidate was shrewd. He sensed in actuality there was little to recommend him. But as a caricature, a Rorschach, an inflatable version of himself, he made sense. People realise today that politics is virtual. The image makes more sense than the real.

The battle is between virtual realities, of metaphors caught in dialects. Words like immigration, unemployment are mere triggers; the pictures we construct must go beyond the real and the measurable.

The real Mr. Trump would be quite boring in real life. It is like meeting Arnab Goswami in a bus.

After a minute, you wonder if it is the same man. Without TV, neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Goswami seems real. TV shows that the real is inflatable, that exaggerations are more true than empirical sentences. They tap into an unconscious that virtually picks the candidate. Simply put, it is only as part of dream works that American politics makes sense.

Collapse of three concepts

Yet politics is caught between the reality of exaggeration and the devastating way it interrogates key concepts. Three concepts collapsed in recent times, or rather were reworked to suit the current state of the imagination. The American elections reworked the idea of politics, Brexit demanded a redefinition of economics, and the BJP victory in India showed us that some democracies need to be more authoritarian than others.

American politics, despite evidence to the contrary, was not a battle of left and right. The right won but the Republican right had very little to do with strategies and trajectories. The party was pushed into victory as a part of the Trump caravan. His top leaders treated Mr. Trump as an outsider. They made little sense of a man who, while rich, did not convey the snootiness of the elite, the inclusiveness of club membership, and the quiet snobbishness of Ivy League genealogy. Mr. Trump looked like something out of folklore, a combination of a Barnum circus and a peddler of patent medicines, promising quick and understandable solutions to problems neither he nor the voters understood. But Mr. Trump realised that the ordinary citizen is a combination of a hard hat and a hypochondriac. As a hard hat, his solutions are violent; and as a hypochondriac, he incessantly talks about pain and his helplessness. The latter conveys the message that politics is no longer a process of empowerment.

The citizen's message does not reach the people in power, and if it does, it has a distorted quality which alienates him further.

Mr. Trump realised that politics is Shakespearean in

Ms. Clinton's text with facility.

an epic world. In everyday politics, it's the Charles Lambs that capture the prose of the world, to simplify and bowdlerise it so that reality, even if distorted, becomes recognisable. The world of globalisation and finance capital is full of gobbledygook, technical terms which make no sense of the feeling and experiences of the people. Mr. Trump simplified things by showing you do not have to summon a Henry Kissinger and an Alan Greenspan to explain things to people. A village idiot could do it provided he spoke the right language. Mr. Trump did. His homespun American sermons were a combination of Playboy shorthand and salesman's smooth talk. One merely spun it out like Old Testament spoof, and Americans loved it. In fact, his bawdiness gave people a sense that he was being inclusive, like a millionaire who was a street fighter.

This was an immediacy Hillary Clinton could never create. She was the ice maiden and if she thawed,

she was the bumbler. She sounded like a textbook, or some forgotten piece of catechism located in a development handbook. Ms. Clinton often sounded like an embalmed text. She might have the right answers but to use local idioms, she sounded like a prissy first class first addressing a chorus of alsorans. They wanted to cut her to size, make her smell defeat, fade into anonymity, while they gloated over her defeat. Ironically, Ms. Clinton won the majority, that is custodian of the great American repressions. Intriguingly, she was like the great American text, ponderous, sophisticated, correct, but it was Mr. Trump's oral eloquence which rang true. Orality and Populism go together. In the age of digital competence and textual hermeneutics, people play down the drama of orality, its invocation of memory, its ability to catch the core tropes of a citizen's world. Orality, as folk wisdom or a caricature of it, allowed Mr. Trump to trump

American elections are always a performative tour de force. But what changed this time was the logic of reading a performance. It was not the standard critic's choice of a classic and correct performance with a full sense of ritual and recitation. Ms. Clinton had shades of it. She sounded like wellgroomed recitation with most of the right references.

She was correct but never rang true to the American audience, while Mr. Trump produced a version of the idiots' wisdom.

A psychological ritual Three factors contributed to that consequence. Firstly, globalisation had introduced a fear of the expert.

An expert truth lacks a sense of the vernacular and the dialect. It lacks inclusiveness while Mr. Trump's bawdy jokes and coinages which sounded like proverbs made an effort to create an inclusive public. Secondly, language becomes important. When politics seeks to be empowering, it need not be correct. It can be folksy, bawdy-body talk.

It conveys he is one of us, rather than someone outsourced by the establishment. Thirdly and more critically, this election went beyond political correctness to include both the idiom of physical threat and menace and the sense of symbolic violence. Mr. Trump's bully boy language pretended to be the language of everyday exorcism. There is a psychological ritual here that we must emphasise.

Today the American election, or even Brexit, appears more like an act of emotional catharsis than a campaign around ideologies, arguments, platforms and facts. It is as if the nation becomes the public couch, where all manner of dreams,

jokes, repressions and fantasies are paraded. It is more an emotional outpouring than the national arguments that deliberate democracy boasts of. Ms. Clinton appears cold and frozen in such a crowd while Mr. Trump not only appears at home, he realises that it is a homecoming into American politics where the second best is always more endearing, human, than the imperious front runner. It is as Indian voters would say "everyone has to have a chance" and Ms. Clinton already had one. It was Mr. Trump's turn, and it provided a sense of poetic justice, that the establishment was pipped at the finishing line. There is a sense of populist ambush as most of the media and the Ivy League finds it difficult to utter the words "President Trump". It sounded like history's favourite oxymoron till yesterday.

Not ideology alone Politics sometimes has to be understood more as a performative act than a rational argument or an ideological battle. If one reads it as an ideological war, one sees it as a victory of the right, but the right was as surprised by victory as the left. It was actually a semiotic war where symbols, languages which were more empowering won. In an odd way, it was not the party the citizen voted for.

It was for a politics which was more empowering, and which made him feel assured about the future. Ideology was important, but a semiotic war, a politics of the symbolic, became more important than the ideological tussle. The symbolic ease of Mr. Trump's stand beat the cold communications of Ms. Clinton.

Semiotics trumped ideology to leave American pundits even more confused than before.

Black Money And Terror Quality of counter-terrorism, not currency crackdown, will prevent terrorism Vappala Balachandran On November 10 our prime minister said that demonetisation of high value currency notes was "a decisive war against the menace of corruption, black money and terrorism". Social media claimed that the "PM had nuked terror funding". Subsequent discourses saw official assertions that a "cashless economy" would end "black money" to make us "terror-free".

But a "cashless economy" need not be "terror-free". In November 2014, CNBC conducted a survey of the 10 top "cashless" societies.

It found Belgium to be the world's top cashless society with 93 per cent non-cash consumer payments and 83 per cent debit card use.

France was second, then Canada, the UK, Sweden, Australia, Holland, the US, Germany and South Korea.

Unfortunately, Belgium and France were also the worst victims of indigenous and trans-border terrorism.

This rampage started on January 7, 2015, with the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. France did not detect that Amedy Coulibaly and Medi Nemmouche had bought their weapons from Brussels. Nor did Belgian agencies know that Molenbeek, a small 5.8-sq km area in their country was Islamic State's busiest terror incubating unit in the world.

This long bloody spree saw 15 serious terror incidents, killing 254 innocents and 16 terrorists.

Global research has now found that terrorists seldom use tax dodgers or hawala agents of target countries as they are known to local agencies. "Black money" is not preferred since it does

not satisfy the principle of "volume, risk, convenience, simplicity, costs and speed".

Terrorists never hire crime cartels because they shift loyalty. Dawood might have been used by a hostile government once, but terror cartels never "outsource" their campaigns. Funds are moved using phoney legal means, although their origin might be through crimes like robbery, extortion or fraud. Terrorists usually do not collect funds from the places of their residence and certainly not in the country where attacks are planned.

The US Treasury Department's National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment (2015) report gives the details of innovative terror financing, mostly with a legal facade.

Centralised inter-agency coordination is done to deal with global criminal activities like kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, charities, bank frauds and state

The Chinese farmer There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and, when all the farmer's neighbours sympathised with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, 'Bad luck?

Good luck? Who knows?'

A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply

was, 'Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?'

Then, when the farmer's son was attempted to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, 'Bad luck? Good luck?

Who knows?'

Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there.

When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

sponsorship to link with funding. Many individuals not directly connected to "charities" were collecting funds through their personal bank accounts and transferring funds to terrorist organisations under proper "cover".

Another great risk they faced was when money lands up in the US through foreign banks which do not follow the US's due diligence practices and "suspicious activity identification" processes. Another problem is from a multitude of Money Service Businesses (MSB) in the US which could range from Fortune 500 companies to small stores who exchange currency as a side business.

The same experience is evident through the report on ISIS financing by the Parisbased Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body against terror financing and money laundering. Detecting terror

financing through legal channels is an extremely onerous task, as the US Treasury and FATF reports would indicate.

Unfortunately, in India, such centralised monitoring is rendered difficult with a structural inadequacy and bureaucratic inelasticity to keep pace with innovative terrorism. Our counter-terrorism (CT) machinery is under 29 state governments and the NIA has not expanded to take over a country-wide mandate. That is why we had to be alerted by the British Channel 4 to locate the "Shami Witness" in December 2014. As a result, India never took note of the ISIS threat until late 2015, although the government was warned since 2014 by many, including this writer.

Strangely even as late as May 24, 2016, our home minister had maintained that ISIS posed no threat to India.

Again it was only during late 2015 that we started

considering the need for deradicalisation despite global indications of its benefits.

The UK was saved from the ISIS when it was trampling upon Europe only because of its "channel process" programme from 2009. Under this, 4, 50,000 frontline staff was trained on the legal "prevent" strategy, supplementing vigilance by the MI-5 and local police.

UK has been terror free since 2013 even though nearly 850 of its youth had joined ISIS. Finally, it is the quality of our CT machinery which prevents terrorism and not our currency. The joint ambush by the anti-talks ULFA and NSCN (K) in Pengari, Assam on November 19 killing three army Jawans is a clear indication that terrorists would strike with or without demonetisation.

Thus "ending terrorism through demonetisation" will remain only a political slogan.

Demonetisation and after There are no major setbacks to the demonetisation process which is going on smoothly. Therefore, parties such as the Congress, the AAP and the TMC queering the pitch have no meaning. Rahul Gandhi's tirade that 15-20 people close to the Prime Minister will benefit from demonetisation is a preposterous statement. The Congress vice-president should know that the UPA lost a golden opportunity to set demonetisation in motion. Had it happened, the country would have been better prepared to now be on the growth path.

Sanjay Ghosh Duliajaan, Assam

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P7

Mother's depression may affect kid's brain development Depressive symptoms in women during and after pregnancy are linked to reduced thickness of the cortex - the outer layer of the brain responsible for complex thought and behaviour - in preschool-age kids, says a new study.

"Our findings underscore the importance of monitoring and supporting mental health in mothers not just in the post-partum period, but also during pregnancy," said

have been associated with negative outcomes in children.

lead researcher Catherine Lebel of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

The findings, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, suggest that a mother's mood may affect her child's brain development at critical stages in life.

Eighteen per cent of women experience depression some time during pregnancy, and both peri-natal and post-partum depression

But the associations between maternal depression and abnormal brain structure in kids at this age were not known.

For the study, the researchers screened 52 women for depressive symptoms during each trimester of pregnancy and a few months after the child

was born.

The women ranged in the presence of symptoms, some with no or few symptoms, and some meeting the screening criteria for depression.

When the children reached about 2.5 to 5 years of age, the researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure their brain structure.

Women with higher de-

pressive symptoms tended to have children with thinner frontal and temporal areas, cortical regions implicated in tasks involving inhibition and attention control.

The researchers also found an association between depressive symptoms and abnormal white matter in the frontal area, the fiber tracts connecting the region to other areas in the brain.

These associations were

only found when symptoms occurred during the second trimester and post-partum, suggesting these periods are particularly critical times for child brain development.

Abnormalities in brain structure during critical periods in development have often been associated with negative outcomes, such as learning disabilities and behavioural disorders, the researchers said.

'Viewing violent, sexual media may influence your dreams' The violent and sexual media you consume during the day may infiltrate your dreams at night, new research suggests. People who reported consuming violent media within 90 minutes of bedtime were 13 times more likely to have a violent dream that night, the study found. Those viewing sexual media were six times more likely to have a sexrelated dream, researchers said. Researchers at Ohio State University in the US found that the more violent media content participants reported consuming on a regular basis, the more often they had violent dreams in general. The same link was found between sexual media content and sexual dreams, although the connection was not as strong.

"The media we consume can have an impact on us even when we are sleeping.

We knew our violent and sexual media consumption

had an impact on our waking lives. Now we have evidence of how it may influence our dreams," said Brad Bushman, professor at Ohio State University.

The study involved 1,287 people aged 10 to 60, half were students at schools in Istanbul, Turkey and rest were adults recruited from social networking sites that discussed media. They completed a survey about their media consumption and dreams. All participants were asked whether they had viewed any violent or sexual media content within 90 minutes of going to bed the night before the study, and whether they had any violent or sexual dreams that night. Slightly less than half of participants (45 per cent) reported consuming violent media before bed that night, whereas slightly less than one-quarter reported exposure to sexual media content. Whether

they had consumed violent or sexual media content was not associated with whether they dreamed that night.

However the fact that violent and sexual media use was related to a huge in-

crease in related dreams showed the power media may have on our sleeping lives, Bushman said.

"The magnitude of the increase in violent and sexual dreams linked to media con-

sumption was surprising," he said. Participants were asked the number of hours they spent consuming media - including TV, internet, DVDs, movies, video games and music - on any

devices on weekdays and on weekends. Next, they were asked to rate whether the media they consumed contained violence and whether it contained sex on a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always).

They were then asked whether they dreamed and whether their dreams included violent content and sexual content. Again, they rated how often on a scale of 1 to 5. Overall, 67 per cent of participants said they dreamed at least sometimes. Over 80 per cent of participants said they were exposed to violent media content at least sometimes, whereas half said they were exposed to sexual media content at least sometimes.

About 80 per cent of those surveyed said they had violent dreams sometimes, whereas slightly less than half said they had sexual dreams sometimes. The study was published in the journal Dreaming.

Karma Sutra: The difference between Knowing and Becoming, Learned and Wise The unwanted persons, situations and things that we find ourselves surrounded with, forms the basis of all our struggles in life. And so we take it upon ourselves to change these to ameliorate our sense of well-being in life. But gradually, we realise that all our efforts are in vain. No amount of domination, cunning or control that we exercise over our environment relieves us from our reality.

able to transcend our ego and all the negative reactions that stem from it, such as - aggression, hasty judgement, impatience and intolerance.

When the true import of the higher knowledge reaches us, our transformation is effortless. We live the knowledge by becoming non-judgemental, tolerant and accepting of our reality.

It is only when our knowledge reflects in our conduct that we have truly become wise.

According to Elie Wiesel, "Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself".

But where does he acquire the means to such a power?

The human mind is capable of two kinds of knowledge - the higher knowledge, which is traditionally associated with religion and the lower knowledge, which is associated with various sciences. The two modes of consciousness that we use to acquire them are the rational for

conditional truth and the intuitive for transcendental truth.

The aim of balancing lower knowledge with higher knowledge is to enable us to go beyond our ego self. The ego-self operates on empirical truth.

Higher knowledge helps us introspect and observe the forces that govern the rational world. It gives us an insight on the principles that govern the two forces of the cosmos, kama - desire and karma - fate. Having thus acquired the knowledge, we

sublimate our ego and align our actions in keeping with these principles.

However, unfortunately for most of us, this higher knowledge does not translate into our actions. It just becomes a means for us to

enhance our self-image. We use it as a tool to dominate and exploit our environment. We expect people to subscribe to our way of living and thinking.

The purpose of higher knowledge is to help us transform ourselves; to be

Otherwise like Ravana and Duryodhana we can claim to be learned but not wise, they were consumed by their self-image and used their knowledge to feel superior to others. They tried to dominate, exploit and control their environment rather than evolve as human beings. As the Sufi saint Rumi summed it up beautifully in these lines, "Yesterday I was clever so I was changing the world, Today, I am wise so I am changing myself."

10 common reasons why women break up with men Breaking up with your partner might be a hard thing to do but sometimes it's the right thing. Talking to a lot of people, we were surprised to hear some whacky yet common reasons people broke up with their partners.

It feels like I am babysitting!

Immaturity can be really harmful for a relationship.

Most women complain about having to deal with immature men who can't get serious about anything in their lives and we pity them. Cute little childish moments are important but being with an immature guy?

No way!

You've changed...

Topping the list of breaking up reasons, 'You have changed' is a common reason for break ups. Funny as it may sound, changing is not a negative sign unless it's for the greater good. You can't remain stagnant for long, right?

His priorities have changed Not picking up your calls, cancelling a date, cutting down on those gifts (YES), or just any similar reason can make the girl wonder that his boyfriend's priorities have changed (sometimes yes, sometimes not) and it ultimately leads to the split.

You can't buy me a Mercedes We can't deny the fact that girls are thought to be a little money minded when it comes to being in a relationship and thinking about having a secure future if not bad until it is JUST about money. Right or not, it is one of the reasons for girls to break up!

He smells like a trash can Are you one of those who broke up with her boyfriend due to his smelly socks? Or stinky breath? Or the worst, because he didn't wash himself for days together? If yes, we are proud of you that you're no more with a guy for whom hygiene is just a word.

Long distance relationships don't really work out Skype and phone calls take over those eye locking conversations; you are no longer available for pillow talks, sip coffee together or even for a walk together.

Your initial excitement of meeting your other half after months turns into infuriation due to lack of intimacy. You are left miserable. Your patience level gives up and soon what we hear is, break up!

His friend is way more hotter than him Let's be honest. Hotness is something that also tops the priority list for women when looking for a boyfriend. Right? And when your boyfriend's friend is hotter than him, you just won't be able to keep your mind at peace. Would ya?

My parents don't like him Who wants to be constantly crushed between your parents and your guy. Many girls call it quits because they are not able to handle the constant nagging from their parents.

He is not able to satisfy me in bed Sexual pleasure is of foremost important in a relationship. Any denial to that? I guess, no. If your partner is not able to give you the pleasure you look for sexually, your relationship will sooner or later collapse.

I think our honeymoon period is over Everyone loves the honeymoon period. Don't you?

It is full of passion, love and intimacy. And once that period fades out, your relationship misses out on something. You no longer have that spark left and you bidadieu your relationship soon. (Source: Bombay Times)

3 Ways To Stay Warm & Look Cool This Winter Ah, winter. That style-forsaken time of year when aesthetic considerations are sacrificed on the altar of more practical concerns like staying dry, not dying of hypothermia, etc. The season when unpredictable conditions make a mockery of even the best laid-outthe-night-before outfit plans, leaving you simultaneously freezing and a bona fide hot mess.

Thankfully, some style moves have a dual purpose, promising both practical and aesthetic benefits. Follow these five steps to winterise your wardrobe

and you'll beat the cold while looking hot.

Take the Rough Fabrics to Look Smooth If you're part of the majority of men who wear suits in the same generic, shiny worsted wool twelve months of the year, then you're missing out in more ways than one.

Modern men often shy away from these fabrics because they seem old-fashioned, with corduroy in particular getting a bad rap. But (predominantly Italian) fabric mills have done wonders

in making them less stuffy and bulletproof. Slim cuts, colours other than brown and, in the case of corduroy, thinner 'wale'' or ridges, will all help expel any professorial associations. If anybody queries your corduroy, shut them down by pointing to Burberry's AW15 offering.

Layer Like A Player You're probably familiar with the science of layering: multiple thin coverings trap warm air. And climate control is as simple as putting more on or taking some off.

But layering is also an art.

Take the denim-jacket-

under-a-coat thing, for example. It sounds weird (albeit sensible from a temperature perspective) but it works - provided the denim jacket fits you like a glove (more on those below) and its collar isn't too big. A thin bomber jacket can also work. And we've even seen a trucker worn successfully under a bomber and biker (not all three together, mind).

In a similar vein, you can also slip a lightweight gilet or bodywarmer under, rather than over, your tailored jacket, if you're so inclined. Just don't try it with

your chunky Penfield puffa.

Loads of brands are doing these slimline gilets, but it's difficult to look beyond Uniqlo's exceptionally good value for money Ultra Light Down option.

Layering knitwear is another pro move: say, a chunky cardigan over a Vneck jumper over a roll neck. The rule of thumb?

Thin layers kept close to your body, thicker ones further away. And if you're doing the knitwear as outerwear thing, then make sure your cardie is chunky enough, maybe ribbed, with functional outerwear details

like roomy pockets, big-ass buttons or toggles and even a hood. Otherwise you just look like you forgot your coat.

If in doubt, follow the example of the multi-layered Topman campaign and just stick a roll neck under a shirt, hoodie, whatever.

Stick The Boot On Like suits, most men wear the same shoes all year round; Tim Little, founder and creative director of Grenson, is a little smarter: "For cold but dry days I upgrade from a singleleather sole to a double-

leather one, which provides a bit more insulation from the cold pavement."

Wear any leather sole in the wet though, and you'll be like Bambi on ice. "A Dainite sole doesn't soak up water, gives you more grip and still looks smart with a suit," says Little. And in biblical floods or actual ice, deploy a Commando sole: "It's higher off the ground and gives the best grip," says Little. "You'll also want an upper leather that is heavily waxed."

On a style-related note, rugged footwear pairs better with the beefier fabrics

above both in terms of feel and heft, balancing out the top-heaviness of your layered-up silhouette. Impracticality isn't the only reason you look stupid padding around in plimsolls during winter. Instead, step things up.

"Boots keep your ankles warm and stop cold air from whistling around your feet," says Little. "Pair them with a chunky wool sock and you can survive almost anything." Almost.

(Source: www.fashionbeans.com)

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P8

NATION

Indian Army launches counter- Mamata hits Delhi's streets, gets offensive after soldier mutilated JD-U, SP and NCP support

Jammu, Nov 23 : Army on Wednesday launched a counter offensive against Pakistan along the LoC, a day after three Indian soldiers were killed, with body of one of them being mutilated in a cross-LoC attack The offensive comes hours after the Indian Army vowed "heavy retribution" to the attack on its soldiers Brigadier, Northern Command, S Gotra said India Army launched a counter offensive along the LoC in retaliation to Tuesday's offensive in Machhil sector of Kashmir Indian Army posts are responding strongly and giving a befitting reply, Defence PRO Manish Mehta said Pakistan Army also fired at Indian posts along the LoC in Bhimber Gali, Krishna Ghati and Nowshera sectors In the cross-LoC attack by suspected Pakistani terrorists, three Indian

Image for representational purpose. soldiers were on Tuesday killed, with body of one of them being mutilated The ambush on the army patrol took place in Machhil sector of Kashmir, following which the Indian Army vowed heavy "retribution" The Northern Command spokesman had on Tuesday tweeted, "3 soldiers killed in action on LC (Line of Control) in Machhal Body of one soldier mutilated." He said the "ret-

ribution will be heavy for this cowardly act."

This is the second such incident of mutilation of the body of an Indian soldier in the same sector since October 28 On that day, terrorists, aided by the cover fire by Pakistani Army, had crossed the Line of Control and killed an Indian army jawan and mutilated his body in Macchil sector One attacker was killed in that incident. (PTI)

New Delhi, Nov 23: In a show of strength, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday rallied four parties behind her with a demonstration against demonetisation and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modisaying the government must go because the country was not safe in his hands.

Flanked by leaders of SP, JD-U, NCP and AAP, Banerjee addressed a gathering at Jantar Mantar, where she alleged the BJP dispensation had lost all its "credentials and credibility" because of the currency restrictions.

"This government will have to go...I am sorry to say, the country is not secure under you Modiji.

You do things at your whims and fancies," she said.

Banerjee alleged that abolition of high-value currency notes had heaped pain on people and snatched away democratic rights of almost every section of the society includ-

ing farmers, youth, women, labourers and traders, besides halting the country's economic growth.

Accusing the BJP-led dispensation of "looting" the common man, she wondered why those having Swiss bank accounts were "not touched at all", and warned that people will teach a "good lesson" to the ruling party in the upcoming assembly polls for implementing a "black law".

"I can challenge that no one will vote for BJP. If I were you (PM), I would have apologised to the public. Why you are so egoistic? You have branded everyone in the country a black marketeer and have yourself turned into a saint ," she said.

Hitting out at Modi, she wondered whether the government led by him has become more arrogant than even Hitler, asking why it did not hold consultations before enacting the measure.

In his address, JD-U

Banks in TN to disburse new Rs 500 notes from tomorrow 'Oppn parties trying Chennai, Nov 23 : In a huge relief to people of Tamil Nadu hit by shortage of smaller denomination notes postdemonetisation, banks in the state have received the first tranche of newly introduced Rs 500 notes and would start dispensing them to public from tomorrow.

Many ATMs in the state have been calibrated to dispense the new notes which were expected to be in large circulation, senior officials said here today.

"The Rs 500 notes which are expected to be in large circulation compared to the high value Rs 2,000 notes have reached Tamil Nadu. Some banks have received the first batch already. Some are receiving as we speak," an official said.

After the withdrawal of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes under the demonetisation move, the Centre had released Rs 2,000 denomination notes.

However, people have been facing difficulty in getting change for the Rs 2,000 note in view of shortage of smaller denomination notes.

This has affected the

trade, including small retailers and wholesale markets such as the vegetable market at Koyambedu here.

"We have received one box of Rs five crore worth of Rs 500 notes. Most of the ATMs have been recalibrated for the distribution. We will be dispensing Rs 500 from tomorrow," a senior official of a nationalised bank said, while requesting anonymity.

Asked about delay in availability of the new Rs 500 notes, another bank official said, "while most of these denomination notes have already reached the banks in North India to meet the demand, we are getting them here now".

Following demonetisation move, several people since November nine have been running from banks to ATMs to withdraw cash to meet daily expenses but stuck with the Rs 2,000 notes unable to get change for smaller transactions.

While the government capped withdrawal from banks at Rs 24,000, it was fixed at Rs 2,500 for ATMs. Responding to a query by the Madras High Court, the Reserve Bank of India

had last week submitted that it cannot disclose details regarding the timing of release of new Rs 500 denomination currency to the banks due to security reasons.

Meanwhile, the All India Bank Employees' Association representing the private and public sector employees, has urged the Finance Ministry to direct Reserve Bank to issue revised guidelines enabling cooperative banks to take up banking operations.

About 65 per cent of the co-operative Banks out of the total 10,000 engage in banking business and handle about Rs six lakh crore towards working capital and deposits, said AIBEA, General Secretary, CH Venkatachalam.

Stating that the several district-level central cooperative banks across the country were not allowed to carry out the banking operations, Venkatach alam, in his letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said, "It is these base level organisations which deal with majority of the banking public in villages and were also the prime source of distribution of essential commodities. (PTI)

to corner PM but citizens behind him'

New Delhi, Nov 23: Union Minister Vijay Sampla today alleged that opposition parties, including Congress and AAP, were leaving no stone unturned to corner the Prime Minister on the demonetisation issue but the citizens of the country were behind Narendra Modi.

The Punjab BJP president alleged that when Modi scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, declaring war against black money and fake currency, then all political parties, which earlier used to raise questions on the steps taken by government against black money, united and are crying foul.

"Guilty conscience does prick the mind. Congress, AAP, BSP, SP, TMC, all the opposition parties are trying to sabotage demonetisation. The common man is facing trouble and is standing in long queues to deposit or exchange his hard-earned money, yet he is supporting Modi," he alleged.

"But these people are just crying hoarse. Maybe they

have lost something really dear to them. When I see them unite and oppose a just and conscientious move," he said.

He claimed that according to surveys 85 per cent of the people are supporting the demonetisation move initiated by the Prime Minister.

People are facing some difficulty but they are ready to do it for the bright future of the country and they firmly believe that whatever Modi does will be in the interest of the nation, the state BJP chief said.

It's true that everyone has to unite for the progress of the nation or a state, he said, adding, be it at the Centre or in Punjab, the opposition has always tried to draw political mileage and divide the common man on basis of religion, society and economy.

"But people are now aware of these antics and hence, are standing behind him like a rock," Sampla added.

(Agencies)

Modi's arrogance doesn't serve our democracy well: Mulayam Singh Yadav Jkhand: 6 Naxals killed;

Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Ghazipur, Nov 23: Attacking Narendra Modi over the demonetisationmove, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday said the Prime Minister is being "too arrogant" which "does not augur well" for democracy.

Addressing Samajwadi Party's campaign rally at the RTI ground here, he accused the Prime Minister of working as per his "own whims and fancies" and "cautioned" him to change his policies.

"Pradhan Mantriji ghamand me na choor hon...Aaj hum unko savadhan karna chahte hain ke woh apni nitiyon mein sanshodhan karen...Loktantra mein

manmani nahi chalti...(The PM should not be arrogant.

Today I caution him to change his policies. There is no place for individual's whims and fancies in a democracy," he said.

"This won't work...People are very wise," he said.

Uttar Pradesh goes to polls next year. Samajwadi Party had won 227 MLAs in the 403-member Assembly in 2012.

"I have often said farmers and traders are like real brothers...Farmers grow crop and traders sell it...But I don't know what is going on in the PM's mind...He threatens and says that honest people are sleeping a sound sleep...Are we dis-

honest that we are opposing it?" Yadav said.

Without directly mentioning the demonetisation move, he said the BJP has taken a "wrong step" and "it is a conspiracy to ruin our traders...Along with the farmers and jawans".

"The country is today faced with the most challenging times," he said.

Referring to continued tension on the LoC and International Border, the former defence minister said, "We read about the situation on the borders in newspapers daily...Our soldiers are being martyred while facing the challenge and I can say that it is not an unimportant thing.

"When the entire country is standing in support of the Central government (over its action on Pakistan), how can Pakistan dare to do so?" he asked.

He said the Centre "is not telling" the Opposition parties about the steps being taken against Pakistan.

"What will happen if the Centre calls all the parties and tells them about the steps being taken when the entire country is with the government," h e s o u g h t t o k n o w.

(Agencies)

600 bullets, ammunition recovered Ranchi, Nov 23: Six Naxals were today killed and over 600 bullets and a dozen IEDs recovered after a gunbattle with CRPF commandos in the jungles of Jharkhands Maoist hotbed of Latehar district.

Officials said the encounter began at about 7:00 AM in the KaramdihChhipadohar jungles on the banks of north Koel River of the said district where a squad of CoBRA commandos of the CRPF was out for operations.

"We have recovered six male bodies of Naxals in uniform, 600 bullets of various calibre, about 12 Improvised Explosive Devices, an INSAS rifle, an SLR, a carbine and three other firearms.

Search operations are still on," CRPF Inspector General (Operations) in Jharkhand Sanjay A

Lathkar told media.

The IG added some more explosives and cordex wires, used to trigger IEDs, has also been recovered from the spot, over 130 km from here.

Officials said the team of 209th battalion of the CoBRA along with other units was out for operation since last two days and the encounter started when the squad received fire from the Maoists side.

The gunbattle continued for sometime after which the bodies of the Naxals, wearing black uniforms, were recovered, the IG said.

The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) is an elite jungle warfare unit of the Central Reserve Police Force deployed extensively for anti-Naxal operations in Jharkhand and other states. (PTI)

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee . leader Sharad Yadav questioned the legality of the demonetisation exercise and challenged the Prime Minister to explain to the Parliament how the decision will benefit the country.

"Under which law have you enforced this measure? You are stopping a person from withdrawing his hard-earned money which is his fundamental right. Demonetisation has destroyed the business of small traders. Come to Parliament and explain the

logic as to how it will curb black money," Yadav said.

The presence of Yadav at the protest assumes significance as Bihar chief minister and JD-U chief Nitish Kumar continues to support the measure. The protest was also addressed by SP's Dharmendra Yadav, AAP's Raghav Chadha and NCP's Majid Memon.

The West Bengal chief minister also lashed out at a group of people who were shouting pro-Modi slogans, alleging that they

were sent to disrupt her public meeting and wondered what the police and administration were doing.

Referring to Tuesday's bypoll results, the TMC chief said BJP's victory margins have come down significantly in Madhya Pradesh and that Modi has left the country in the lurch (Modiji ne desh ka barah baja diya)."

She said she will support a country-wide protest called by the Opposition parties on November 28 against demonetisation.

Referring to the Prime Minister's assertion that more steps to curb black money will follow, she also expressed apprehension that government may aim to get hold of the gold, land and other properties of common man.

"This is not a fight for political gains. People in my state are suffering.

People across the country are suffering where should they go? This fight is for the rights of the poor and the downtrodden," she said. (Agencies)

NIA asks banks to freeze accounts of Zakir Naik, IRF HIGHLIGHTS NIA on Wednesday asked banks to freeze accounts belonging to Zakir Naik & his banned NGO, Islamic Research Foundation

Zakir Naik New Delhi, Nov 23: Seeking to starve controversial preacher Zakir Naik and his organisation of funds, the NIA on Wednesday asked banks to freeze accounts belonging to him and his Islamic Research Foundation, which has been banned under the anti-terror law.

Official sources said all the banks, where Naik's and his organisation's accounts were in operation, have been asked to immediately freeze those till further directions.

NIA had registered a case against Naik, IRF and unnamed office bearers of the foundation under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), besides various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Following this, searches were conducted for three days at 20 premises during which details of bank accounts and other finan-

cial activities related to Naik and IRF were seized.

The sources said the move to block his bank accounts was taken after the NIA claimed to have seized documents which showed that ISIS recruit Abu Anas had received Rs 80,000 from the IRF as scholarship in October 2015.

Anas, an engineer and a resident of Tonk in Rajasthan, had quit job in a Hyderabad-based company when he was arrested by the NIA in January for allegedly planning to carry out a terror strike ahead of Republic Day. The NIA claimed the probe into the IRF's funding and distribution of money showed that Anas, who was among 16 people arrested for ISIS links at that time, had received Rs 80,000 from IRF as scholarship.

NIA has also written to Union Home Ministry for banning the website run by the IRF as well as suspending its online activities which inlcudes videos of speeches on social net-

The move came after the NIA claimed to have seized documents which showed that ISIS recruit Abu Anas had received Rs 80,000 from the IRF as scholarship in Oct 2015 working sites, the sources said.

The Home Ministry will pass on the request to Information Technology ministry for blocking the Universal Resource Locator (URL) of the website.

The NIA has been conducting searches since November 19 and raided at least 20 premises in Mumbai which are connected to the proscribed IRF or its trustees.

During the search operations, video tapes and DVDs of Naik's public speeches, documents related to property and investment, financial transactions, foreign and domestic funding to IRF as well as its associated companies, and electronic storage devices have been recovered.

The NIA alleged that IRF, which was banned by the government last week under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), had close connections with some companies dealing in media, perfumes and some other sectors. (Agencies)

3 women detained in Baduria child trafficking case Kolkata, Nov 23: Three more women have been detained in connection with the international child trafficking racket busted in North 24 Parganas district's Baduria area, a CID official said today.

"Three more women have been detained (by CID) for interrogation in connection with the Baduria case. We have got their names after interrogating those arrested from the locality. All these three women are linked to different nursing homes running in the metropolis" the IPS officer said.

Another highly placed source in the CID said that most of the questions asked to these women did not elicit satisfactory replies.

"Chances are quite high that they can be arrested... we are still interrogating them," he said.

Parmita Chatterjee of a nursing home in College Street area, Prabha Parmanik and Putul Banerjee of a nursing home in Behala have been detained for their alleged involvement in the trafficking case, he said.

Eight persons were arrested for their alleged in-

volvement with the international racket of child trafficking following a CID raid at Baduria yesterday.

They were identified as -Najma Bibi, Utpala Byapari, a quack Amirul Biswas, owner of a local nursing home Asadur Jaman, an NGO activist Satyajit Sinha, a clinicowner Bakbul Baidya and lawyer Prabhat Sarkar along with his associate Jhantu Biswas.

Newborns were smuggled to other states and also overseas inside card board boxes meant for biscuit packaging. (PTI)

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

EDUCATION

P9

How to Be a Successful Business Owner 8 Back To School Tips Every Student Should Know It's that time of year again and we can hear the school bells ringing! It can be hard to adjust from the dog days of summer to the busy and fast pace of the school year.

Here are eight tips to get back into the school mode and start this year off right!

Tip #1: Have the Proper School Supplies that you need for your classes!

I highly suggest getting folders and binder with patterns and designs to make note taking more fun. During the first day of class most teachers will tell you everything they require for their courses. Make sure that you get the specified supplies so that you are able to keep up with the class work and stay organized.

Tip #2: Get an Agenda!

During the school year is such a busy time! Between taking test, doing home work, attending activities, and school events it can be really hard to keep track of everything. By keeping an updated agenda you can better manage your time and know what you have to accomplish. Having an agenda will definitely help you with time management.

Time management is key to being successful and staying on top of everything you need to do!

Tip #3: Know your Course Syllabus Knowing your class schedule is so important for being successful in the course your taking. Teachers will typical hand out your syllabus in class or post it online. I highly suggest keeping it in a safe and convenient place so you can frequently view. Knowing when you have papers and projects due is so important for passing the course and keeping up your grades. Having the syllabus will allow you to plan ahead and give yourself proper time to complete every assignment and get great grades!

Tip #4: Do Not Procrastinate This is something that we have all been guilty of in the past and have learned the stressful repercussions. A habit is created in three weeks so if you study for every course your taking daily in 21 days that will be a new habit for you. Dedicating a little bit of time everyday to the courses you are taking is definitely going to positively impact your grades and make you a better student!

Tip #5: Know What is Expected of You rIt is very important to know what your teachers are expecting from you. Pay attention to what the teacher is saying about the workload of the class and what they are hoping for

you to get out of it. Teacher is supposed to want you to succeed so most likely they will provide you with what you need to do to thrive.

Knowing their expectations and achieving them will help your year start smoothly. Always remember that communicating with your teachers is key for understanding their expectations.

Tip #6: Get Involved Getting involved with your school community is great because you can pursue your interest and meet peers who have the same and similar interest as you.

Many studies have shown that students who are involved in sports and school activities are able to achieve higher GPA's. If you enjoy playing sports try out for the school team. If you are a musician or actor then join your school band or theatre company and share your talent with your fellow peers. Join clubs that you are interested in and attend all the meetings. If your school doesn't have the sports you play, a club you want to join, or a musical or theatre program then talk to your school administrators and see if you are able to start your own! It is amazing to have something that you are passionate about and enjoy doing so never be afraid to pursue your interests.

Tip #7: Learn What Type of Leaner You Are Everyone is individual and so is the way you learn!

There are three main types of learning styles which are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Knowing what type of leaner you are is going to help you be a better student and have better studying habits.When you are able to determine the type of learning style that is best for you, you will find better results when you are studying and it will result in higher test scores! I highly encourage you to do some research and determine the type of learner you are so you can personalize your studying.

Tip #8: List of academic goals Write out a list of goals that you want to achieve for the upcoming school year!

Do you want to make the lead role in the play, get that varsity spot on the basket ball team, improve your grades; you can reach all the goals you set for this year! When you write down every goal you are able to plan and realize what you need to do to prepare for them. Having that list can be a driving and motivating force to help you work to achieve those goals.

Every new school year is a opportunity for a fresh start, new friends, and to make it count. You have the potential to make this year one of the best ones yet!

Most business owners will tell you that starting a business is both one of the most challenging and most rewarding ways to earn a living. Being a successful business owner requires a large amount of hard work and dedication, but also generally relies on a set of personal qualities and business practices that are common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs.

These characteristics lie as much in a business's founding principles as in its dayto-day operations and dictate every decision the entrepreneur makes. By following these guidelines, you can up your chances of founding a successful business or getting your existing business back on track.

Finding the Right Mindset Do what you know That is, you should start a business that focuses on what you have experience in. That experience can be either prior work experience or a personal hobby that you're ready to turn into a career. Even if a business idea seems highly profitable

used on a smaller scale. This proves to potential investors that your idea is a valid way of making money, and increasing your odds of ever getting investment money (if that's what you're looking for). ØFor example, imagine that in our example, you want to start a large operation that sources, imports, roasts, and packages its own coffee beans that are then either sold or served to customers at its coffee shops. Rather than seeking huge contributions from investors to buy all of this equipment, you should start with a small coffee shop first, then maybe try sourcing and importing beans, and work up from there to build a brand.

Create a support network One of the most important parts of successful business ownership is getting over your own ego and seeking help. Your biggest sources of advice are going to be your group of business associates and other professionals that share your goals. Surround yourself with knowledgable and

ample, imagine that you see another coffee shop making money by selling customized coffee-related merchandise. This may make you want to jump into this market as well. However, doing so before establishing your primary objective, making coffee, would introduce significant risk, and may detract from your ability to focus on coffee quality.

Keep detailed records In order to be successful, you'll have to make a habit of recording each and every expense and revenue that your company has, as well as every dollar that flows through it. By knowing where exactly your money is coming in and where it's going, you're more capable of recognizing financial difficulties before they arise. In addition, doing this will give you a better idea of where exactly you can make cuts to expenses or increases to revenues. ØFor example, in our example, you would keep detailed records of how much coffee you bought and sold in a given month and what you paid for it. This could

your profits, depend on a successful supply chain organization. By fostering good relationships with your suppliers, organizing deliveries, and consistently providing customers with timely service, you can increase your profitability and reputation. Successful supply chain management can also help you eliminate any part of your business with wasted resources, like raw materials or labor. ØFor example, our example coffee shop would want to be on good terms with its coffee bean supplier and have an organized supply chain structure for a number of reasons. This is especially crucial for ensuring that you never run out of coffee, but could also mean that you could get more consistent deliveries, try new types of coffee bean when they become available, or negotiate lower prices.

in theory, don't start that business unless your heart is in it. While profit is important, it likely won't keep you coming in early every day and driving growth. ØFor example, imagine you have experience making coffee as a barista or waiter and want to turn your passion for good coffee into a small business. You would already know a good amount about the industry and be able to apply not only your knowledge but your passion to your work.

Start with a well-defined purpose While the financial benefits of business ownership can be great, most successful business owners don't start with money in mind. To get your business off the ground, you'll need a clear purpose. This purpose should be something more intangible than money, like giving back to your community by creating jobs, solving a problem that you see in your daily life, or pursuing a passion. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't also strive for profitability, just that your primary goal should be the achievement of a greater purpose. ØFor our coffee shop example, your purpose would be serving the perfect cup of coffee to every customer.

Alternately, it could be to form a community in your coffee shop where people can meet and spend time with friends.

Find a first step instead of a destination You should always start with a business model that can be up and running quickly on a low budget.

Too many small businesses start with grandiose goals that will require a large amount of startup capital and investors. However, successful businesses will have a model that can be

successful people and feed off of their ideas and enthusiasm. ØAlso seek general small business tips online; the web is a goldmine of information. Just be sure your information is from a reliable source.

Find a mentor A good mentor in this case is someone who has already run or is running a successful business of their own. A good example would be a family member or family friend that has been successful in business. This mentor can help you with anything from knowing how to manage your employees to properly filing your taxes.

Because their knowledge comes from direct experience, they're able to help you more personally than any other source could. Ø While your mentor doesn't have to have founded the same type of business you are starting, it would help. For example, another coffee shop founder would be the best source of information in our coffee shop example, but a restaurateur could also be of significant help.

Running Your Business Efficiently Focus only on your primary operations at first That is, avoid being caught up in every business opportunity that comes your way. It's better to be perfect at one thing than mediocre at five. This applies as much to making decisions to diversify your business as it does to deciding to take on additional projects for yourself outside of your primary business. Focusing on one thing will allow you to commit all of your resources there and be more productive in that endeavor. ØContinuing with our ex-

you help you identify if, for example, the price of coffee beans was steadily increasing and help you plan whether or not to raise your own prices or consider switching suppliers.

Limit expenses as much as possible While this may seem obvious, just try to think of areas where you could generate the same effect by spending less money. Consider using pre-owned equipment, finding cheaper forms of advertising (for example, fliers rather than newspaper ads), or negotiating better payment terms with suppliers or customers to save a few dollars here and there. Try to maintain very low spending habits and only spent money when and where you absolutely have to. Ø In our example, this could mean starting out with used coffee grinders (as long as they still functioned well) and trying to get as many supplies as possible from the same supplier (cups, lids, straws, etc.).

Consider supply chain efficiency Your costs, and therefore

Consider finding strategic partners Much like a good mentor, a strategic partner can provide you the boost you need to grow your business.

Foster strategic partnerships by reaching out to businesses you think could benefit yours, whether they are suppliers, technology providers, or complementary businesses. A good relationship with another company can provide you both free advertising, lower your costs of doing business, or allow you to expand to new markets, depending on the partners you choose. ØFor example, your coffee shop could benefit from a strategic relationship with a supplier that gives you access to discounts or new products. Alternately, a strategic partner in a complementary business, such as a pastry shop, could help you both reach new customers and increase your revenues. This could be done either through recommending each other or by offering product's from your partner's business and vice-versa.

Be responsible when it comes to debt It's very important that you realistically assess your ability to pay back any debt that you take on. While starting and running a business is always risk, try to minimize your liabilities by

only taking out as much as you absolutely need. And when you do take on debt, be sure to structure your cash flows such that you are paying it off as quickly as possible. Prioritize debt repayment before you do anything else. ØFor example, if you took out $20,000 to get your coffee shop started, don't think about expanding your product offerings or upgrading your coffee grinders until you've paid that loan back.

Growing Your Business Perfect your business pitch Have a 30-second speech ready that explains your business as briefly and efficiently as possible, including information about your purpose, your service/products, and your goals. Having a practiced pitch that you can rattle off to anyone can help you in situations where you're trying to make a sale to a customer as well as it can when you're trying to bring an investor on board. If you can't explain your business in this short time, your business plan needs refining. ØFor your coffee shop, you'd want to explain what you do (sell coffee), your services (the drinks you offer), what makes you special (maybe the coffee you serve is rare or locallyroasted), and what you plan to do next (expand to another location, new products, etc.).

Earn a reputation for good service Earning a positive reputation is like free advertising; your customers will spread the word of your business to friends and come back frequently. Treat each and every sale like the success or failure of your business depends on it.

This also means that you should be consistent with every action your business takes and every interaction with customers.

you're starting out. Chances are, they're doing something right. If you can figure out what that is, you can implement it in your own business and avoid the trial-and-error they probably went through to get there. ØOne of the best ways to do this when you're starting out is to examine your competitors' pricing strategies. In our coffee shop example, it would be much simpler to price your coffee similarly to competitors rather than to experiment with different prices on your own.

Always be looking for growth opportunities Once you've gotten established, you should always be on the lookout for places you can expand.

Whether that means moving to a larger storefront, increasing manufacturing space, or opening a new location will depend on your business and goals. Successful business owners realize that one of the primary opponents to longterm growth is remaining stagnant. This means taking the risk of expansion rather than resting on your laurels at one, original location. ØFor our coffee example, maybe there is a nearby area that you find is underserved by coffee shops. Once your primary location is up and running smoothly, you should investigate opening a new shop in that area. This could also mean moving up from a small stand to a full coffee shop, depending on your circumstances.

ØFor your coffee shop, this may mean throwing out a burnt batch of coffee so that your customers are always served the absolutely best product you can offer.

Diversify your income streams Another way to increase the value of your business is by seeking out other areas where you can make money. Assuming you've already established your primary business, look around and see where you could offer a different service or product. Maybe your customers frequently visit your store for one item and then immediately go to another store for a different item. Find out what that other item is and offer it.

Watch your competition closely You should always look to your competitors for ideas, especially when

ØSome easy diversification options for your coffee shop would be offering pastries, sandwiches, or books for purchase. (Wikihow)

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P10

INTERNATIONAL

Indus Water Treaty: Pakistan warns against US airstrikes top 1,000 use of water as an instrument of coercion against IS in Iraq and Syria UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon mentioned Indus Water Treaty, saying it withstood frequent tensions between India and Pakistan, including wars.

United Nation, Nov 23: In an apparent reference to row over Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan has warned against use of water as an instrument of coercion or war and asserted that international community must remain vigilant to any sign of unwillingness to maintain cooperation on resolving water issues.

"The international community must assume a responsibility to develop, nurture and protect normative frameworks, at multilateral and bilateral levels, to ensure that states remain willing to resolve water issues cooperatively," Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi said in her address to the UN Secu-

Indus water treaty war. rity Council during an open debate on water, peace and security.

"It must promote bilateral and regional agreements on waterways; and once they are evolved, ensure that they are not undermined through unilateral or coercive measures," Lodhi said as she described the

India-Pak Indus Water Treaty of 1960, with the World Bank as guarantor, a model of what can be achieved through bilateral agreements.

"But this Treaty is equally a good case study of what could go wrong if such agreements are not honoured or threatened by

China successfully launches 4th data satellite Beijing, Nov 23: China has successfully launched its fourth data satellite to achieve global network operation that will provide data relay, measurement and control services for its manned spacecraft.

The satellite, Tianlian I-04, was launched on a Long March-3C carrier rocket at 11:24 pm Beijing time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest Sichuan province last night, state-run Xinhua quoted officials of the centre as saying.

Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation,

the satellite will join its three predecessors to achieve global network operation.

The network is expected to provide data relay, measurement and control services for Chinas manned spacecraft, space labs and space stations, according to the centre.

The network will also offer data relay services for the countrys medium- and low-Earth orbiting resources satellites, as well as measurement and control support for spacecraft launches.

China launched its first data relay satellite, the Tianlian I-01, in April 2008.

The second satellite was launched in July 2011, and the third was launched in July 2012.

The launch of the Tianlian I-04 marked the 241st mission of Chinas Long March series of rockets.

Since Chinas first experimental communications satellite was launched in the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in 1984, it has sent more than 100 spacecraft into space in recent decades, including over 20 BeiDou navigation satellites and the countrys first lunar probe, Change-1.

According to the centre, 10 or more satellites will be launched there next year. (PTI)

Singapore attaches importance to its ties with India: Tan Singapore, Nov 23: Singapore attaches importance to its "excellent" relations with India and hopes for further transformation of the bilateral ties, country's President Tony Tan Keng Yam said today.

Lauding the rapid progress in expansion of bilateral ties, Tan emphasised the importance that Singaporeattaches to its relations with India during his meeting with India's newly-appointed High Commissioner to the country Jawed Ashraf who presented his credentials to him.

Expressing happiness at the "excellent" state of bi-

lateral relations, Tan hoped for further transformation of the relationship between the two countries that are bound by history, culture, strong people-topeople ties, broad range of common interests and shared pursuit of prosperity, said an official statement.

Tan conveyed his admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic vision, his bold decisions and India's impressive progress under his leadership, it said.

Ashraf, who assumed office on November 16, conveyed to Tan the high level of importance that India attaches to its stra-

tegic partnership with Singapore and Singapore's key role in India's economic transformation and regional and global endeavours.

He also Singapore's growing dynamism, diversity and depth in IndiaSingapore cooperation, the excellent people-topeople ties and an extraordinary range of regional and global challenges of common interest.

The High Commissioner also conveyed India's gratitude for Tan's personal contribution in diverse capacities to the strengthening of bilateral relations. (PTI)

one of the state parties to be abrogated altogether.

The international community must remain vigilant to any sign of unwillingness to maintain cooperation and be willing act to avert any conflict," Lodhi said. In his address, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also mentioned Indus Water Treaty, saying it withstood frequent tensions between India and Pakistan, including wars.

"In the second half of the 20th century, more than 200 water treaties were successfully negotiated.

International river agreements have enhanced security and stability in river basins," he said.

"The 1960 Indus Waters agreement between India

and Pakistan has famously survived at least two wars and numerous clashes and diplomatic crises," Ban said.

The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission which includes a commissioner from each of the two countries. It also sets out a process for resolving socalled "questions", "differences" and "disputes" that may arise between the parties. He said management of more than 200 international rivers and at least that many trans boundary aquifers was especially important. (PTI)

Raheel Sharif's retirement internal matter of Pakistan: US

Pakistan's Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.

Islamabad, Nov 23: The US today declined to comment on the impending retirement of Pakistan's Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, describing it as an internal matter of the country.

"We have seen the reports about the chief of army staff transition. This is an internal Pakistani matter, and I would direct you to the government of Pakistan for any further information," a US State Department spokesperson said.

"We have seen the state-

ments from ISPR announcing that Gen Raheel Sharif is stepping down as Chief of Army Staff at the end of his three-year term," Dawn newspaper quoted a statement as saying.

The statement noted that Raheel was "a valued and respected partner in the regional fight against terrorismthroughout his years as army chief".

"We congratulate him and his family and wish them well," it added.

Raheel, 60, is set to retire on November 29. (PTI)

I have open an mind on quitting climate accords, Trump tells NYT

Tracksuited Thai junta chief leads workout for bureaucrats Bangkok,Nov 23: He's a mercurial army general known for penning saccharine ballads and angry tirades against his critics.

Now Thailand's junta chief has launched a new eyecatching project: trimming the waistlines of the kingdom's civil servants.

Former army chief turned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Chaditched his fatigues for a tracksuit and trainers Wednesday as he led hundreds of bureaucrats in an mass exercise session.

As music blasted out of loudspeakers he boxed, played volleyball and led an aerobics class, complete with star-jumps and squats, alongside hundreds of employees of Government House.

The trim 62-year-old, who seized power in 2014, has ordered all civil servants to exercise every Wednesday afternoon following concerns that Thailand's famously laid back attitude to life has thickened their waistlines.

Prayut revels in being macho, plain-speaking and unpredictable -- a demeanour that creates many amusing press appearances and is a gift to social media meme-makers.

Highlights have included him kicking a muay thai boxer, throwing a banana at a cameraman, tickling a reporter's ear and riding a bike around Government House as his security detail jogged behind in the tropical heat.

Each Friday night he delivers a nationally broadcast "bringing happiness back" speech in which he doles out advice to Thais - anything from how to get foreigners to appreciate pungent durian fruit to the best Korean soap opera.

He has also written two ballads since his coup emphasising love for the nation and what it means to be Thai.

Thailand has been politically divided since the military launched a coup in 2006 that toppled Prime

Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his elected government.

Years of debilitating street protests and another coup in 2014 that toppled Yingluck Shinawatra -Thaksin's sister -- followed.

The Shinawatra clan is loved by Thailand's rural and urban poor.

But they are loathed by Bangkok's middle classes and military elite, who say the family were corrupt.

Prayut has vowed to bridge the country's divides but reconciliation seems far off.

His critics see him as the most authoritarian ruler Thailand has had in a generation.

Some have likened him to Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram, a Second World War-era dictator who famously issued decrees on how Thais should behave, including how long they should sleep for, how they should spend their days off and how they should dress. (Agencies)

Syria, Nov 23: One after another, fighter jets catapult from the flight deck of the USS Eisenhower, a thousand-foot (305meter) American aircraft carrier, afterburners glowing amber above the blue Persian Gulf, on their way northwest to join the fight in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State.

The fighter jets refuel on the way before receiving from coalition partners targets like convoys, hideouts and mortar positions in IScontrolled territories such as Mosul and Raqqa, said Rear Adm. James Malloy, commander of the Eisenhower carrier strike group.

From his office aboard the USS Eisenhower, Malloy described coalition success around Mosul while cautioning that victory is close at hand.

"Mosul is the last large city in Iraq that is held by Daesh, but Daesh is by no means finished in Iraq, so our mission in Iraq won't end as Mosul falls," he

said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. While inter-coalition coordination was "seamless," communication with Russia was limited to "deconfliction," Malloy said.

"There's no coordination there because the goals are not the same," the admiral said.

The carrier's captain Paul Spedero said sorties from the Eisenhower have dropped nearly 1,100 bombs on IS targets since June when the ship entered the Persian Gulf after launching strikes from the eastern Mediterranean.

The ship's 5,200 sailors arm, repair, launch and recover 7-20 Super Hornet F18 fighter jets every day that drop on average 10 bombs each or reconnoiter in support of antiIS coalition forces.

The crew catapults the jets from the ship at 145mph, and they use a hook and cable to rapidly catch the fighter jets on the 500foot long carrier deck.

"For a catapult shot, if you think about a Porsche 911, zero to sixty in about 2.5 seconds, these aircraft will go from 0 to 145 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds," said commander Jeremy Rifas, the carrier's air boss, from inside the ship's control tower overlooking launches.

The fighters on these sorties head north by northwest for an hour before refueling midair and then approaching coalition ground forces that provide the pilots with targets for airstrikes or reconnaissance.

"They go into harm's way every single time, every single mission. I don't really close my eyes until 2300 when the last one comes back," admiral Malloy said.

The U.S.-led coalition has flown more than 125,000 sorties in Iraq and Syria since Operation Inherent Resolve began in Aug. 8, 2014, according to the US Department of Defense.

(PTI)

South Korea, Japan Sign Controversial Intelligence Deal Seoul, Nov 23: Japan and South Korea signed a controversial agreement on Wednesday to share defence intelligence on North Korea, despite protests from opposition parties and activists in Seoul.

South Korea's defence ministry said the accord was "necessary" in the face of growing military threats from Pyongyang, which has conducted two nuclear tests and more than 20 missile launches this year.

"It is ready to conduct additional nuclear tests and missile launches at any time," the ministry said in a statement.

"Since we can now utilise Japan's intelligence capability to effectively deal with North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats, it will enhance our security interests."

Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement that the military agreement will allow the two governments to "share information even more smoothly and swiftly".

Seoul and Tokyo currently use Washington as an intermediary when sharing military intelligence on Pyongyang under a deal signed in 2014.

The new agreement is controversial in South Korea, where the legacy of Japan's harsh 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula is a deep well of anti-Japanese sentiment

Han Min-Koo (R) and Yasumasa Nagamine (L) at the General Security of Military Information Agreement and a belief that Tokyo has never properly atoned for the abuses of that era.

South Korea and Japan were on the verge of signing an intelligencesharing deal in June 2012, but Seoul backtracked at the last minute in response to public outcry.

Noting Tokyo's surveillance assets and geographic location, South Korea's defence ministry said the deal would be a "big help" in better analysing Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes and collecting more intelligence about its submarinelaunched ballistic missiles.

North Korea has slammed the military pact, labelling it as "a dangerous act" that would further raise already-elevated tensions

on the Korean peninsula and open a door to Japan's "re-invasion".

The contentious issue comes as South Korean President Park Geun-Hye faces growing calls for her resignation over a widening corruption and influence-peddling scandal that has sparked huge street demonstrations.

The deal has been fiercely opposed by South Korean opposition parties and activists, who point to Seoul's failure to seek public support and historical sensitivities.

South Korea's main opposition party has called the deal "unpatriotic and humiliating" and has threatened to impeach Defence Minister Han Min-Koo if the agreement was pushed through. (PTI)

Pakistan exhumes bodies of Karachi airport attackers for DNA tests U.S. President-elect Donald Trump waves to the crowd after a meeting in New York.

New York, Nov 23: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has an open mind on pulling out of world climate accords and admitted global warming may be in some way linked to human activity.

"I think there is some connectivity. Some, something. It depends on how much," he told a panel of journalist.

Asked whether he would make good on his threat to pull the United States out of U.N. climate accords, he said: "I'm looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it."

But he said he also wanted to see how much the Paris climate accord "will cost our companies" and its impact on U.S. competitiveness.

The Republican billionaire businessman has called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and threatened to pull out of the agreement on limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

The United States, the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, ratified the accord in early September, with strong backing from President Barack Obama.

(Agencies)

Karachi, Nov 23: Bodies of 10 terrorists killed in a gun battle during the June 2014 Karachi airport attackhave been exhumed from the graveyard here to collect DNAsamples as authorities suspect two of them were from Pakistan.

The militants' bodies were exhumed yesterday from the Edhi Foundation's graveyard in Mowachh Goth by health officials under the supervision of a judicial magistrate and police to establish their identities.

This was done to collect DNA samples after officials leaned during the probe that not all them were foreigners but two belonged to Karachi, Dawn quoted officials as saying.

The police along with a team of doctors and judi-

cial magistrate reached the graveyard under tight security and took more than five hours to complete the job- where they had to dig up 10 graves to take DNA samples from the bodies.

According to police surgeon Dr Ejaz Ahmed Khokhar, DNA samples had been collected from all the bodies.

"We have collected samples of the clavicle bone, teeth, nails and hair from the bodies," Khokhar said.

The samples would be examined here initially and then sent to Islamabad for further examination and final DNA matching.

More than 20 people were killed and 18 others injured in the 2014 attack on the Haj terminal of Karachi airport.

The militants armed with automatic weapons, gre-

nades and a rocket launcher were later killed in a gun battle with security forces. The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bodies of the unidentified attackers, presumed to be of Central Asian-origin, were buried after DNA samples had been collected by police investigators for identification purposes.

However, after the recent arrest of two Lashkar-iJhangvi militants, it was learnt that at least two of the 10 militants were locals and belonged to Karachi.

Police said that the DNA samples would help the police trace family links and history to expand the scope of investigation.

(Agencies)

DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P11

BUSINESS

New vehicles to have digital tag for toll payments Rs 3.5 crore old currency notes seized All government offices have been asked to use only digital payment methods for making payments to stakeholders, contractors and employees.

New Delhi, Nov 23: Government has asked automobile manufacturers to provide a digital identity tag in all new vehicles, including cars, to enable electronic payment at all toll plazas and ensure seamless movement at check posts.

Moving towards a cashless digital economy was one of the objectives behind Prime Minister Narenda Modi's surprise announcement earlier this month to ban old 500 and 1000 rupee notes, sweeping away 86 per cent of total currency in circulation.

In a nation where a majority of consumers still deal in cash, the government is pushing for electronic transactions to improve transparency and weed out black money.

Vehicles at Kherki Daula toll plaza of Delhi- Gurugram on Wednesday.

"So, as far as toll plazas are concerned, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways is advising vehicle manufacturers that in all new vehicles, the manufacturers must provide Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) facility," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters.

He said the provision of Electronics Product Code Global Incorporated (EPCG)-compliant RFID facility in all new vehicles will ensure payment of toll digitally and also avoid the waiting time, and the vehicles will move seamlessly without having to wait at check posts. "This will improve

the functioning of toll plaza, digital payments," Das said.

In view of the crunch in availability of lower denomination and new currency following the demonetisation move, the government has exempted all national highways from payment of toll till November 28. RFID tag will ensure that the electronic toll collection system will ensure that when vehicle pass the toll tax booths, they can pass without stopping at the toll booths. The toll amount is deducted from the RFID card. Those tags could be recharged for future use.

Das further said all government offices have been asked to use only digital payment methods for making payments to stakeholders, contractors and employees.

"Government organisat ions, PSUs and other government authorities have been advised to use only digital payment methods

such as internet banking, unified payment interface, cards, Aadhar-enabled payment systems to make payments to all stakeholders and their employees," he added.

Also, an option for payment through cards, digital banking, unified payment interface (UPI) and Aadhar-enabled payments will be provided at the point of disbursing of payment to various private agencies, contractors and private parties.

"In other words, the option of digital payments to private parties will be mandatorily provided. It will be an option that will be provided and instead of issuing a check or a demand draft, you can make payment through online transactions. "All these measures are meant to promote digital penetration.

It will help farmers in current Rabi season to ensure normal Rabi crops on the back of a good monsoon," he added. (PTI)

at Nagaland airport vanishes in jiffy

Image for representation purpose.

New Delhi, Nov 23: A Biharbased businessman, travelling alone in a chartered jet, was apprehended on Tuesday at the airport here for allegedly carrying Rs. 3.5 crore in demonetised currency; however the seized currency went missing in just a matter of hours.

The flight from Hissar landed at Nagaland's Dimapur airport at 10:07 am on Tuesday but two hours later at 12.15 pm the cash

vanished, after the flight had taken off for Delhi.

Officials said sleuths of central security agencies and CISF questioned the man, identified as A Singh from Bihar's Munger district, soon after his jet landed here.

The case was later handed over to local Income Tax authorities.

"CISF sleuths acted on some prior inputs and intercepted the passenger

as soon as he landed here.

Initially, the amount detected was said to be Rs. 5.5 crore but later I-T authorities reported the final amount with him to be Rs. 3.5 crore. The taxman is investigating the source of the currency," officials said.

A special vigil has been deployed by security agencies and the airport guarding Central Industrial Security Force in the wake of the demonetisation of the two large currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 by the government.

As per media reports "someone big" in Delhi had allegedly sent the cash for a Naga businessman.

There has been heavy rush and long queues in banks and ATMs ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on November 8 that Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes would no longer be legal tender.(Agencies)

GST Council meet Ratan Tata wanted to sell Tata Groups 'crown jewel' TCS to IBM: Cyrus Mistry postponed to Dec 2-3 Govt. shifts focus on measures to boost digital transactions

Mumbai, Nov 23: Hitting back at Tatas, ousted Chairman Cyrus Mistry on Tuesday rejected charges of not contributing anything to the group's cashcows TCS and JLR and alleged that patriarch Ratan Tata once tried to sell the IT firm to IBM and his "ego" led to bad business decisions like Corus acquisition at double the original cost.

"It is important to set the record straight since insinuations and leaks are being made explicitly to create an illusion that Mistry was a 'hands off' chairman and TCS/JLR were on 'auto-pilot' during his leadership," Cyrus Mistry's office said in a five-page letter today.

Listing out details of the efforts undertaken by him as the non-executive chairman at both the companies, which contribute a whopping 90 per cent of the group profit, the letter said the salt-to-software conglomerate is "busy apportioning credit" for the stellar performances.

The letter said Ratan Tata, who took over as the interim chairman following Cyrus Mistry's controversial dismissal from the group on October 24, had once tried to sell the group's crown jewel TCS to global giant IBM. Without giving the timelines, the letter claimed the then chief FC Kohli's illness had prevented JRD Tata from going ahead with Ratan Tata's proposal.

"Ratan Tata was then heading Tata Industries' joint venture with IBM and had approached JRD Tata with a proposal from IBM to buyout TCS. JRD refused to discuss the deal because Kohli was still recovering in the hospital," it said.

However, Kohli, considered the doyen of the domestic software industry, flatly refused the proposal saying "TCS has a bright future and the group should not sell the company".

"JRD turned down the offer, demonstrating true vision.

But it was also a neardeath experience for TCS

at the hands of Ratan Tata," the letter claimed.

The Tatas and IBM had started the joint venture with equal holding in 1992, and dissolved it in 1999, while TCS was founded in 1968 and was taken public in 2004. JRD stepped down from chairmanship of the group in 1991, while Kohli stepped down from TCS in 2000.

The letter, which is third in a series of clarifications issued by Mistry's office, also blamed Ratan Tata's "ego" for bad business decisions, including the buyout of British steelmaker Corus at a high cost and also sticking to the CDMA technology for its telecom business imperiling thousands of jobs.

A section of the letter headlined 'One man's ego versus an institution' claimed that Tata's ego resulted in the Corus deal for USD 12 billion--twice the cost of what it was available for one year before-- despite opposition from some board members and senior executives.

"The overpayment for Corus made it harder to invest in it, which had been neglected, and thereby, placed many jobs at risk," the letter from Mistry's office said.

In the telecom business, Tata made a "strategic" decision to enter CDMA space as against the popular GSM, despite advices to the contrary, Mistry said calling it "a case of one person's judgment adversely affecting jobs of thousands".

In its earlier two clarifications, Mistry camp had focused on the allegations of the group drifting away from the Tata values during his tenure, independence of directors in group companies, explanations on a surge in expenses and the huge write-offs, which the group had to take under his leadership.

In a nine-page letter on November 10, Tata Sons had accused Mistry of not really contributing to the success of JLR and TCS, saying these assets were inherited by him from Ratan Tata who had nurtured them and that the ousted chairman could not take credit for their stellar performance.

In today's statement, the

Mistry camp gave credit for these two companies' success to their leadership under Kohli and N Chandrasekaran at TCS, and Ralph Speth and Ravi Kanth at JLR. Mistry, being the non-executive chairman, gave them a strategic direction, ensured a 'future proofing' of the businesses and also gave them time, the letter said.

"As chairman of Tata Sons and TCS, Mistry's access to senior stakeholders across the world was an enabling platform," the letter said, while claiming that he met at least 60 global chief executives to help TCS. To buttress the point, Mistry's letter enlisted training of 1.35 lakh people in digital area, the Japanese joint venture, industry leading growth in Europe and a surge in high revenue clientele during his tenure.

During Mistry's four-year tenor between December 2012 and October 2016, TCS' cash and equivalents doubled to Rs 20,500 crore with a surge in cash conversion, which helped it declare a special dividend last year, it said.

The letter also said that "the best is yet to come" for TCS. JLR, the letter said, is at a "critical juncture" where decisions taken today will decide its future resilience.

"JLR strategy under Cyrus Mistry's chairmanship has been to achieve scale as well as minimise currency and supply chain risks by investing in new facilities," it said, while underlining that it is now a stronger company that will reward the shareholders more consistently in future.

Excluding the board and budget meetings, Mistry spent over 120 days, including 38 days on JLR design review, 56 days on offsite strategy meetings as well as market visits to dealers in China, the US, and India, the letter said.

It said that other group companies like Tata Chemicals, Tata Elixi, Tata Global Beverages, Titan and Voltas are also leaders in their respective fields.

(Agencies)

RBI sets rupee reference rate at 68.4772 against US dollar Mumbai, Nov 23: The Reserve Bank of India today fixed the reference rate of the rupee at 68.4772 against the US dollar and 72.7844 for the euro.

The corresponding rates were 68.2371 and 72.4348 yesterday.

According to an RBI statement, the exchange rates for the pound an d the yen against the rupee were 84.9665 and 61.71 per 100 yens, respectively, based on reference rates for the dollar and crosscurrency quotes at

Image for represtentational purpose New Delhi, Nov 23: With several states suggesting changes in the model GST and compensation laws, the GST Council meetingscheduled for November 25 has been postponed to December 2-3.

The officers' committee of both the Centre and states, however, will meet on November 25 to finalise the three draft legislations -CGST, IGST and compensation law. These will be placed in public domain for stakeholders' comments.

The Centre proposes to introduce these legislations as money bills to ensure they are not stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA does not have a majority.

Sources said that since the legal changes in the draft laws would take some time, it was decided to postpone the November 25 meeting of the all-powerful GST Council.

"The states have suggested certain changes relating to

returns procedures in model GST law. Also, they have asked for changes in wordings in compensation law.

We will finalise the three draft laws at the November 25 meeting," a source said.

The source, however, added that Centre is on track to introduce the legislations in the ongoing Winter session of Parliament, which ends on December 16.

The officers committee would not discuss the issue of cross empowerment to avoid dual control as it would be decided at the ministerial level.

Centre had on November 16 circulated the draft legislation among the states.

The officers committee in their meeting on November 21-22 discussed the issue, with states giving their views.

The Central GST (CGST) will be framed based on the model GST law. The IGST law would deal with interstate movement of goods and services. (PTI)

Rupee in free fall, slides 21 paise to new 9-month low

Dealers said, however, a higher opening of the equity market, capped the fall.

Mumbai, Nov 23: Extending losses for the fourth session, the rupeeweakened by 21 paise to trade at fresh 9month low of 68.46 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on sustained capital outflows amid the American currency strengthening overseas.

Forex dealers said apart from heavy demand for The corresponding rates were 68.2371 and 72.4348 the American currency yesterday from importers, persistent noon. be based on this rate, the outflows by foreign funds The SDR-rupee figure will statement added. (PTI) and the dollar's strength

against other currencies overseas mainly weighed on the domestic unit.

The rupee ended lower by 9 paise yesterday at 68.25 - its lowest in nine months - on heightened capital outflows.

Dealers said, however, a higher opening of the equity market, capped the fall.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading higher 169.71 points, or 0.65 per cent, at 26,130.49 in early trade. (PTI)

New Delhi, Nov 23: The government on Wednesday announced disbursal of Rs 21,000 crore to the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB) to ensure smooth farm operations in the current rabi season, even as it began a new phase of the demonetisation exercise and efforts to make India a less-cash economy by shifting focus on measures aimed at boosting digital transactions.

Acknowledging that farmers have been among the hardest hit due to the demonetisation move, the government said that though a special limit of Rs 21,000 crore to the DCCBs was announced, an additional limit would be sanctioned by the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) as and when required.

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told reporters that a list of all DCCBs in the country and their requirements were forwarded to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NABARD. The DCCBs, in turn, would provide credit to agricultural cooperative credit societies.

Mr. Das said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had held a video conference with the RBI and NABARD and they were advised to make cash available to the DCCBs. The top priority of the government now was to ensure that there iwas no cash shortage in rural areas. Around 82,000 of the 2.2 lakh ATMs in the country had been recalibrated to dispense new currency. within a few days, the remaining ATMs would be recalibrated.

On seizures of unaccounted cash, Mr. Das said the Revenue Department would soon make a statement on the exact quantum.

E-payments incentivised The government also announced incentives, including waiver of certain service charges till December-end, to help promote electronic payments using debit card, Internet and mobile phones.

Mr. Das said following the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) waiving 'switching charges' till December 31, to ensure greater usage of RuPay cards, banks -- including private ones -- and service providers have agreed to waive the service charge on use of debit cards till December-end.

"This will ensure greater penetration of digital transactions. Banks will soon issue their own circulars in this regard."

Rs. 21,000 cr for smooth farm operations during Rabi season; Digital tags for automobiles.

Also, the railways have announced that till December 31, there will be no service charge on online booking of tickets.

One of the positive outcomes of the demonetisation drive was that a large number of people have shifted to digital transactions. The public sector banks have informed the government that there was a great surge in various modes of digital payments, he said.

Mr. Das pointed out that 65 per cent of the over a billion mobile phone subscribers in the country were using feature phones (low-end affordable mobile phones that are not smart phones).

Following the telecom regulator TRAI's announcement to reduce tariffs for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)-based mobile banking transactions from the earlier rate of Rs 1.50 per session to 50 paise per transaction, telecom operators have now agreed to do away with service charges on feature phones by agreeing to waive the 50 paise charge till December 31 on such mobile phones.

New vehicles with digital tag Also, to promote digital payments at check posts and toll plazas, the Ministry of Road Rransport and Highways had advised automobile manufacturers to make sure that all new vehicles have an Electronics Product Code Global Incorporated (EPCG)-compliant Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) facility so that it would be easy for people to make payments digitally at such places without having to wait in long queues.

Besides, all public sector units and government agencies have been advised to use only digital payments, Internet banking, Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and aadhar-enabled pay-

ments for all the payments to employees.

Mr. Das said the government hoped that private sector companies would also make all their payments, including salaries /wages to employees/ workers digitally.

In cases of transactions with private contractors or agencies, it has been made mandatory for government and its agencies to provide digital payments as an option instead of payments only through cheque or demand draft.

NPCI officials said all public sector banks now have an UPI app that people can make use of to promote digital transactions. The RBI has also announced measures to boost payments through e-wallets or pre-paid payment instruments.

Mr. Das said the RBI would release details, including on the exchange of old notes, the amount withdrawn from banks and the currency replaced. He did not state whether the government will extend the November 24 deadline for accepting notes in Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denomination. On challenges, including those related to violence, being faced in the Northeastern region of the country following the demonetisation exercise, Mr. Das said the security agencies concerned would address all the law and order problems in various parts of the country.

Asked why the RBI Governor Urjit Patel has not addressed the media on demonetisation and the measures being brought out by the central bank in this regard, Mr. Das said it was only important that the government and the RBI communicated to the media on a regular basis.

"For communication purposes, it is irrelevant who speaks to the media. I am speaking to you on behalf of the government and not in my individual capacity," he said. (PTI)

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DIBRUGARH, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24

P12 India go down against Australia in 4-nation tourney opener

Mumbai City FC seal maiden semis berth after 2-0 win over Chennai

Mumbai City FC seal maiden semis berth after 2-0 win over Chennai Mumbai , Nov 23 : Mumbai City FC entered the semi-finals of the Hero Indian Super League for the first time as they eased past Chennaiyin FC 2-0 in front of almost 8,000 spectators at the Mumbai Football Arena on Wednesday night. Matias Defederico scored in the 32nd minute, while Krisztian Vadocz hit the back of the net in the 60th minute to ensure a smooth passage for the Mumbaikars into the semis.

The game took some time to come into life as both teams began with short exchanges without creating any real opportunities. The very first chance of the game came Mumbai’s way in the 13th minute when Diego Forlan’s shot from outside the box was deflected behind. The resulting short corner saw the first shot on

target as Defederico drilled his shot into the penalty area and Sunil Chhetri’s clever back-flick was grabbed by Chennaiyin goalkeeper Karanjit Singh.

Mumbai kept seeing more of the ball and made their pressure count in the 32nd minute when Chhetri played in a lovely ball from the left and Defederico was at hand in the box to smash home the 100th goal of Hero ISL 2016 and Mumbai’s opener.

Raphael Augusto tried his luck from distance in the 37th minute as Chennaiyin went for a quick response but his shot was straight at goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, who caught the ball comfortably. As half time approached, chances were few and far between, barring Forlan’s free-kick that took a slight deflection off

the wall and was parried away by a diving Karanjit.

The teams went into half time with the score-line 1-0 in Mumbai’s favour.

The second half started off much like the first, with no clear-cut chances for either team till the 60th minute when Forlan looped in a cross from the right and found Vadocz, who chested the ball down and volleyed a belter into the back of the net to double Mumbai’s advantage.

Chennaiyin tried really hard to get back into the game but failed to create any decisive chances.

Chhetri, at the other end, then had a double chance within the span of a minute. First he was on his way towards the goal after Forlan put in a clever pass over Bernard Mendy from the left in the 79th

minute but the Indian blasted his shot over as the Frenchman closed in with a last-ditch tackle. The very next minute, Chettri was again through from the left, and although this time he had more time to shoot, he only managed to blaze his shot over goal one more time.

Chennaiyin then had a chance in the 85th minute as Davide Succi tried a shot from just outside the box but it went agonisingly over the crossbar. Mumbai then wasted a great chance to go 3-0 up in the 89th minute when Forlan put the ball on a plate for Thiago Cunha from the right. But Cunha was denied by Karanjit, who managed to get a strong hand to the ball. That turned out to be the last chance of the match as it ended 2-0 in

Match Awards: Club award: Mumbai City FC

Fittest Player of the Match: Bernard Mendy

Winning Pass of the Match: Sunil Chhetri Swift Moment of the Match: Matias Defederico

ISL Emerging Player of the Match: Sena Ralte

The task at hand looks difficult to achieve but with the return of defender Rafael Dumas and Luciano Sobrosa after serving suspensions, FC Goa would fancy their chances tomorrow.

Lack of precision upfront has been the main reason for the team to languish at the bottom of the table with 11 points from 11 matches.

FC Goa head coach Zico believes that the chances of qualifying for the play-offs are still

in their own hands and is hoping that his players convert all the half chances they get in order to keep them alive till the end.

"The teams realise the competition, so they don't open too much. They play a little more at the back and wait for the counter-attack. I think our team just needed to adjust our aim, we had so many opportunities in so many games," said Zico.

FC Goa have never won against Atletico de Kolkata, the last

time they played against each other ended in a draw and coach Zico is likely to adopt an attacking formation against ATK in order to garner full points.

With three matches left to be played, ATK are placed third with 15 points from 11 matches and coach Jose Molina will have to inspire his team for a win tomorrow. ATK had three draws in the last three matches, including the game against defending champions Chennaiyin FC.

ANI Melbourne, Nov 23: The e Indian men's hockey team suffered a 2-3 defeat against Australia, despite Rupinder Pal Singh scoring twice in the opening game of the Four Nations Invitational Tournament here on Wednesday.

The Indian side began positively against top-ranked Australia, showing positive intent and energy in the first quarter as they looked to better their record against their opponents.

However, the first fifteen minutes ended with a 0-0 score line as both teams kept searching for goal-scoring opportunities. Indian youngster Affan Yousuf's attacking approach almost paid dividends early on had it not been for a solid defense from the Kookaburras.

A high-voltage encounter in the offing, India, who had recently won the Asian Champions

Trophy in Malaysia, managed to gain three successive penalty corners in the second quarter of the match.

The team's bankable dragflicker, Rupinder Pal Singh missed out on the first two opportunities, but did not disappoint the third time around as his powerful and precise hit went past Australian goalkeeper Tristan Clemons. India scored their first goal in the 21st minute to take the lead.

However, the drama intensified as Jeremy Hayward scored the equaliser three minutes later, using his dragflicking skills to beat a diving Akash Chikte. At halftime, the game was beautifully poised at 1-1.

India had a tough time in the third quarter as the Australians scored two more goals to take the lead to 3-1. Hayward scored his second pen-

alty goal in the 36th minute and Trent Mitton scored his team's third off a difficult angle in the 43rd minute.

However, the men in blue did not give up easily as they entered the final quarter.

Talwinder Singh lifted the spirits in the camp with a superb counter-attacking approach initially and then it was Akash Chikte's miraculous save of a powerful hit from Dylan Wotherspoon.

Rupinder Pal Singh brought India back in the game with a penalty corner goal in the 53rd minute as India headed into the tense last minutes of the match. However, the Australians denied India any further chance to score an equaliser as the visitors conceded a 2-3 defeat.

India will next lock horns against Malaysia on November 24.

Hero of the Match: Krisztian Vadocz favour of Mumbai. With the win, they also became the first team to qualify for the semis this season.

Do or die battle for FC Goa ag'st Atletico de Kolkata PTI Margao, Nov 23: It's a do or die battle for FC Goa when they take on Atletico de Kolkata in an Indian Super League football match at Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.

After their draw against Mumbai City in their last match, FC Goa need to win all their three remaining matches and see results of other teams if they are to make it to the semifinals for the third consecutive year.

India go down against Australia in 4-nation tourney opener

"We put our full energy trying to win against Chennaiyin but (the game) ended in a draw and the one point we got is always good. Yes, we prefer to win but with this point we are third on the table and we have just got to continue to keep fighting and trying to win," said Molina.

Iain Hume, who did not play in the last match due to injury, is expected to be fit for tomorrow's clash as a win will enhance their chance for a place in the knock-out round.

Saina Nehwal enters second round of Hong Kong Open PTI Kowloon, Nov 23: On a comeback trail, Saina Nehwal made a resounding start to her campaign at the Hong Kong Super Series, advancing to the second round of women's singles with a hard-fought win over Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, here today.

London Olympics bronze medallist, Saina, who had lost to Porntip in the opening round at China Open after making a comeback following a threemonth lay-off due to injury, avenged the loss with a 12-21 21-19 21-17 win over the World No. 12 Thai shuttler.

match between Chiang Mei Hui and Japan's Sayaka Sato at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

In men's singles, Swiss Open winner H S Prannoy defeated China's Qiao Bin 21-16 21-18, while National champion Sameer Verma edged past Japan's Takuma Ueda 22-20 21-18 in another match.

Saina Nehwal The fifth seeded Indian, who is looking to seal her Dubai Super Series Final spot, will next take on the winner of the

Men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, who represented India at the Rio Olympics, however, suffered a 15-21 8-21 loss to Korean combo of Solgyu Choi and KO Sung Hyun.

Top ranked Amandeep to strive for fifth title of season PTI Lucknow, Nov 23: Panchkula's Amandeep Drall, one of the most consistent players this season with four titles, will would look to consolidate her top rank when she tees at the 16th leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour, beginning here tomorrow.

Amandeep, who currently leads the Hero Order of Merit with earnings of INR 10,61,534, has registered four wins from 12 appearances.

Delhi's Vani Kapoor is currently placed second in the Order of Merit

with a total earning of INR 10,21,150 and has posted six wins in 11 appearances this season. A win here will help her equalise the record for most wins in a season currently held by Smriti Mehra. Vani, who showcased a commendable performance at the recently concluded Hero Women's Indian Open 2016, will however face a strong challenge from Amandeep Drall.

A notable absentee in the 16th leg is Kolkata's Neha Tripathi, who is currently placed third on the Hero Order of Merit with total earnings of 9,97,383. She had to miss

the Lucknow event due to her overseas commitments.

Kapurthala's Gursimar Badwal, sitting fourth in the money list with total earnings of INR 8,83,200, will be eager to register her second win this year.

Gursimar, who has been guilty of letting potentially winning situations slip away, will look to break the jinx and climb up the money ladder.

Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma occupying the fifth position in the money list with a total of INR 7,08,425 will also be hoping for her first professional title this season.

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Editor: Prahlad Hammey

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