May 21st, 2017

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

SunDAY • MAY 21 • 2017

DIMAPUR • Vol. XII • Issue 137• 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won Iranians demanding change deliver emphatic victory for Rouhani

T R u T H

— Mahatma Gandhi

Clean Dimapur Penalty Shootout Tournament held

A people’s movement for Clean Election

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‘ULB conflict arose due to lack of communication’ Morung Express News Kohima | May 20

The Ex-Parliamentarians Association of Nagaland (PAN) today held a workshop on the ULB election vis-à-vis Article 371A at Capital Convention Center, Kohima.

The resource persons for the workshop were Justice HK Sema, Supreme Court Judge (Retd) and Justice Zelre Angami, High Court Judge (Retd), while the Chief Guest for the workshop was Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu, Nagaland Chief Minister.

The Nagaland CM said that the State Government had declared its intention to amend the Nagaland Municipal Act, or to enact an altogether new Municipal Act in consultation with all stakeholders, and to hold ULB election only after that.

The CM clarified that the main interest and intention of the State Government in deciding to go ahead with the ULB elections with women reservation was the desire to protect Article 371-A of the Constitution.

“It is very necessary that proper dialogue and discussions are held on this sensitive issue, so that we do not commit mistakes

reflections

By Sandemo Ngullie

which we may regret later,” he said and hoped that with the collective wisdom and experience of past and present parliamentarians of Nagaland, and with the presence of constitutional and legal experts, the workshop will throw some light on this contentious issue. He expressed optimism that the workshop would also set the course for further consultations with other vital stakeholders in the State.

Chairing the occasion, Medokul Sophie, General Secretary, Ex-PAN stated that the conflict on the ULB arose due to the lack of communication between the people and the State Legislature. He said that the PAN hence felt it necessary as leaders of the people to come out clear on this.

Justice HK Sema meanwhile appealed the leaders to go back to the grassroots, listen to the people and also makethemawareoftheprospects of the ULB. Despite being a small people, Nagas today suffer mostly due to divisions and especially the idea of ‘Ism,’ which Justice Sema termed as the biggest enemy of Naga society.

The ULB was an unnecessary burning issue, viewed Justice Sema. He meanwhile pointed out that there is a lack of awareness

Jcc/ntAc urges govt to revoke UlB resolution

Participants of the workshop on ULB election vis-à-vis Article 371A held at Capital Convention Center, Kohima on May 20.

on the Judiciary and the Constitution in Naga society. The concepts being new ideas for the Nagas, Justice Sema also attributed the issue to the lack of communication between the representatives and the people.

“Nagas think that because of the application of Article 371A, other provisions are not applicable in the State, which will produce perilous results. There will be constitutional breakdown,” claimed Sema.

He reminded that Nagaland State is a creation of the Constitution of India and that any democratic State is governed by the rule of law, and therefore the liberty

and freedom of the citizens have the effect of validatare under the law. ing all customary laws, but only speaks of procedure to Article 371A be adopted. “The same proOn Article 371 A, Justice vision speaks of the proceZelre Angami called for a dure to be adopted for the considered interpretation application of central laws regarding application of on the matters mentioned. the Article to ensure that it The customary laws would does not become a hurdle have to be tested by the proto the progress of the State. visions of the Constitution.

“There is a temptation Custom as such is also a to block the application of question of fact and as such social welfare and devel- the same is required to be opment legislations on the judicially declared as havground of Article 371A and ing the force of law.” as such a duty is cast on the Although the Article law makers to judicious- highlights the unique ly use the procedure laid Constitutional history of down in the Article,” he said. the State of Nagaland, JusHe further stated that tice Angami appealed for Article 371 A would not “a careful thinking” of the

DIMAPUR, MAY 20 (MExN): The Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) and the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) today reiterated its appeal to the Nagaland State Government to revoke the resolution dated November 24, 2016 regarding holding of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) election with 33% reservation for women. A press note from the JCC informed that it had made the same appeal earlier to be discussed in the previously held Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) session. It however lamented that the matter was not taken up “despite being a serious issue confronting the aspiration and wishes of the people of Nagaland.”

It therefore asked the state government to take up the matter on priority basis in the forthcoming assembly session and revoke the said cabinet resolution “as the same is against the wishes and interest of the people of Nagaland.”

Article as a matter of legal concept, as “Law is an instrument for change for the better and therefore the concept of the existing law should have attention of the law makers.”

Justice Sema meanwhile viewed that the article has been misused, misunderstood and misinterpreted because of the lack of education and lack communication between the public and the executive, legislatures and lawmaking authority.

Angami stated that ULBs are beyond the control of village administration or local bodies in rural areas, where the customary practice and usages have no relation with the functions of ULBs. “Therefore, a view may be taken that it may not be legally sound to resist the statutory provisions of making reservation of women in the composition of ULBs. The process of urbanization would continue to pick up and as such ULBs have to be strengthened,” ULB and women he stated. He added that in reservation order to provide efficient Regarding women res- municipal service, the ULB ervation and ULBs, Justice must have access to its own

sources of revenues.

“In a traditional bound orthodox male dominated society, can we say men and women are equal?

No. Women Reservation is simply creating a leveling field,” asserted Justice Sema, adding that the ULB is for progress and to provide better facilities to the urban areas, and therefore Municipal tax is required to provide convenient facilities for each citizen.

“Our state is very old but our knowledge of the law is still very young,” he lamented and suggested that the government set up a State Law Commission headed by a Retired Judge.

EC picks up gauntlet on EVMs, NNPGs Working Group dialogues with concerned Nagas hacking challenge from June 3

NEW DElhI, MAY 20 (IANS): The Election Commission on Saturday announced it will hold a hacking challenge from June 3 to prove that its electronic voting machines (EVMs) cannot be tampered with or hacked and came out with a framework of conditions under which this will be done.

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the challenge will be open to national and state parties which took part in the recent elections in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur and who claimed the EVMs were tampered despite technical and administrative safeguards of the poll panel. The parties should demLook dad, this is 2017. I cant onstrate their claims within the security stay in a hostel that has no protocols prescribed by the Commission free WI-FI facility ok?

3 at its headquarters here, Zaidi said.

He said any political party taking part in the hacking challenge must confirm participation by May 26. If their representatives fail to turn up on the appointed day and time, they will forfeit their right to take part. He said the Commission will offer

four EVMs from any four constituencies or booths of the choice of parties to demonstrate tamperability.

The ‘Challenge Statement I’ said the doubters should prove that the EVMs used in the five states were tampered to favoured a candidate or party by altering the results stored in the EVMs. The claimants will have to alter the results in the Control Units used during the polls in exactly the same scenario as the EVMs remain within the technical and administrative safeguards of the EC after the polls.

‘Challenge Statement II’ asked the naysayers to prove that the EVMs used in the five states were tampered before or during the election day. The claimants will have to alter the results in the EVMs used during these polls in exactly the same scenario as the EVMs remain within the technical and administrative safeguards of the Commission before the poll during the storage in strong rooms or during polling.

The poll panel said each party can nominate up to three persons for the challenge.

DIMAPUR, MAY 20 (MExN): In the spirit of openness and dialogue a group of concerned Naga individuals had an interaction with the leaders of the Working Group of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), which includes the GPRN/NSCN, NSCN (R), NNC (Parent Body), NNC/ NPGN and the NNC/GDRN. A press note from the Working Group stated that while discussing a wide range of pressing concerns facing the Naga people, the meeting “acknowledged the personal sacrifices of the leaders.”

In the interest of the shared Naga future, the meeting recognized the need for all leaders to transcend their self-interests and put aside their “ego” problems, to erase the

Leaders of the five NNPGs are seen here with concerned Naga individuals after an interaction on May 20.

hurts of the painful past and create an inclusive and respectful space so that the Naga people’s political and historical rights can be collectively pursued in a transparent, realistic and practical manner.

The Working Group

was led by its convenor N. Kitovi Zhimomi along with co-convenors Y. Wangtin Naga, V. Nagi, Hozheto and Kiumukam. Whereas, the individuals who attended the meeting included Dr P Ngully, Dr Rosemary Dzüvichü, Dr PS Lorin, Dr Visier

Sanyu, Dr Pangernungba Kechu, Dr Ellen Jamir, Dr Lanusangla Tzudir, Dr Salikyu Sangtam, Kevidezo Peter Rutsa, G. Vashum, Kapani Krichena, Joel Naga, Sovenyi Nyekha, KK Sema, Dr Wati Aier and Dr Aküm Longchari.

Nagaland Elections 2018: BJP’s target is to form next ‘sarkar’ No pre-poll alliance, to contest in all 60 A/Cs: State BJP Prez

Morung Express News Mokokchung | May 20

NSCN (R) on May 15 shooting

C M Y K

DIMAPUR, MAY 20 (MExN): The NSCN (R) today issued a statement with regard to the May 15 shooting incident where one person was shot dead in Dimapur. A press release from the MIP of the NSCN (R) claimed that before the incident, the victim identified as one Vivito Zhimomi, “was found collecting taxation in the name of its government claiming as the town commander, and called his name as James, which is against the government.” The NSCN (R) further stated that it had “warned him several times not to collect or involve the tax in the name of NSCN(R).” “But Viveto had failed to comply with its directive. So the NSCN/ GPRN (Reformation) has taken action against him as per Azha of the government,” it added.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary (Organization) Nagaland State, Ananda Narayan Mishra today said that the party’s aim is not to elect just four or five MLAs in the next general election but to form a BJP government. ‘My target is government,” said Mishra at the 5th district executive meeting of BJP Mokokchung division here today. He challenged the BJP workers that if they cooperate with him, then he would give them ‘government’.

Mishra, who was the keynote speaker at the executive meeting, gave a nearly two hour lecture to the BJP workers and challenged them to focus on strengthening the party. He informed party workers on the BJP membership drive, the party working system etc.

He also informed about the massive membership drive that will be undertaken in the month of June, starting from June 6 to 25. This membership drive will be taken through mobile phone, in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of Digital India.

The Co-convener (finance)

Morung Express News Mokokchung | May 20

BJP officials and party workers from the division and state level posing for a group photo after its 5th executive meeting held at its office conference hall at Mokokchung town on May 20.

and State Executive Nagaland, Temjen Imna Along Longkumer, while delivering a short speech, challenged the party workers to strengthen the organizational might so that it can reach the grass-root levels. He said that the mandals are very strong and willing, but the party is lacking in deploying the organizational activities and logistical supports to the mandals.

Therefore, he called for building up the party from ‘cadre-based’ to ‘leader based’ so as the make the party strong in the grassroot level.

He also cited Mokokchung district – which has 10 MLAs and considered as the ‘bastion of our faith.’

He asserted that if the BJP can have victory in Mokokchung district, then the party can establish its victory in the whole of Nagaland. Therefore, he encouraged the party to focus on Mokokchung district.

The Nagaland state BJP president, Visasolie Lhoungo, who was also present at the meeting asserted that the BJP is a secular party. He said that the different central programmes, which are

‘poor-oriented’, will reach the beneficiaries once the BJP forms the government in the state. He further informed that the central BJP leadership has formulated a strategy to form the next government in Nagaland and added that the central BJP president, the Prime Minister and other organizational leaders will be campaigning for the BJP candidates for the next election.

Meanwhile others who spoke at the programme were BJP Vice President and in-charge of Mokokchung district, Vizo Pal and former MLA L Temjen.

Nagaland State BJP President, Visasolie Lhongou today said that the BJP has not entered into any pre-poll alliance with any party as of now; any alliances will be done at the advice and direction of the central BJP leaders.

The state BJP chief, while speaking with The Morung Express after the 5th Mokokchung district BJP executive meeting, disclosed that the party will be fielding candidates in all the sixty assembly candidates in the forthcoming elections.

However, he shrugged off any queries regarding any prepoll alliance. He admitted that the BJP is a part of the present DAN government and in alliance with the NPF party at present, but for 2018, there is no talk with any party as of now. “…but 2018 election…the final decision will be given by the central government and our party as we discussed today we are trying to put up our candidate in all the sixty constituencies,” said the BJP President.

He shrugged off any hint about

the BJP alliance with the newly formed DPP and termed it as ‘public speculation’.

On being asked about the position of the formation of the new regional party Lhongou simply said that the formation of the new regional party will not have much impact on the BJP’s standing in the state. He asserted that the BJP is a national party, and for a national party, “the more regional party (like DPP) comes, the better for us.”

When asked how important a state like Nagaland was for the BJP, Lhongou said that the BJP stands for development, for corruption free governance and for good governance; and because of all this “the BJP is very, very important for the Nagas.”

“For everything we depend on the centre, and when the party (BJP) is in ruling in centre, why should we go against the centre. So what I feel is that only BJP can bring the good governance, only BJP can bring corruption free government… of course, there are many other things…but I think that should suffice for now,” said the state BJP president.

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Sunday 21•05•2017

NAGALAND

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

A people’s movement for Clean Election Vishü Rita Krocha Kohima | May 20

If Nagaland state is not developingwith its proxy teachers, backdoor appointments, poor health care, deplorable road conditions, unemployment, etc- the Sumi Kiphimi Kukhalu (SKK), which is the apex body of all Sumi Students’ Union has recognized that whatever problem the state is facing is because of “corruption” and that, the root cause of corruption in Nagaland is the “Election System”.

With the state general elections close at hand, the SKK, led by its 29year old president, Ninoto Awomi, has taken a bold step by extensively initiating the ‘Clean Election Campaign’ in Zunheboto district that comprises of 7 constituencies and 17 ranges. In terms of expenditure, the district figures as one of the highest, having spent an approximate amount of Rs. 166 Crore during the 2013 elections that saw a huge jump from Rs. 89 Crore in the 2008 elections. The state expenditure was estimated to be about Rs. 938 Crore during the 2013 elections, almost twice the amount of Rs. 569 Crore in the 2008 elections.

While many people also view students’ unions across the state to be politically motivated in one way or the other, the SKK has gone all out to ensure that the clean election campaign is strictly implemented in the district in the forthcoming general elections and officially kicked off the campaign on 12th April this year in the district headquarter.

To work towards the conduct of clean election in all Sumi inhabited areas is an agenda under “Mission Achipiu Mlahnnani” (Mission Doing Right) of SKK which was launched in October 2016 with four main agendas

that also include ban on proxy teachers, to work towards clean and sincere execution of public offices & institutions, to see that all contract works were carried out under right specifications and implemented accordingly in all Sumi inhabited areas. The Sumi Hoho during its general conference on February 11 has also endorsed SKK to spearhead the ‘Clean Election Campaign’ in Zunheboto district and Sumi inhabited areas.

Speaking to The Morung Express, Hekani Jakhalu, who is a member of the Coordination Committee of the SKK Mission while reiterating that the root cause of corruption in Nagaland is the election system, asserted that in order to tackle corruption, “we have to start with the basics and make an intervention in the election system.” She specifically stated that the campaign is a “people’s movement” wherein they themselves are coming forward to give financial assistance.

“So, we are doing this with crowd funding. We are not taking any money from politicians or ministers and every public who thinks and feels that this is a good campaign and is important and feels for it, we are open to it even if it’s one rupee or 10,000, 1 lac, 10 lacs or whatever”, she said.

Substantiating to this, she added, “people are also asking this is a campaign and you are taking contribution but if you want to run a campaign professionally, money has to be involved and we want it to be crowd funded.” Interestingly, politicians themselves want to contribute towards the campaign as it also means less expenditure for them during the elections. However, the Committee is clear on making it a crowd funded campaign.

Taking forward their mission on

The 11 point resolution adopted on April 12, 2017 during the kick off rally at Zunheboto

1. No political camps will be allowed to set up in colonies, village and towns 2. Use of intoxicants such as alcohol and drugs will be strictly prohibited 3. No political parties and candidates should involve national workers to use arms and threaten voters for their selfish agendas 4. Will not solicit or give away cash/kind or offer jobs or commit such promises for selling or buying votes 5. Will not allow booth capturing or cast any proxy vote or multiple casting or impersonate any other person in any way or knowingly allow anyone to cast his/her vote on behalf of all the family members. Booth Level Officer (BLO) will not distribute proxy cards Clean Election, the group had already gone to all the 7 constituencies for consultation with all the local community leaders and has also conducted a public rally primarily to ignite and start the awareness process as the first and second phase respectively. Talking about the response from the public, Hekani Jakhalu said, “Everyone is really excited and happy although they have their own apprehensions stating ‘you can’t have the change overnight’”. In the third phase, core implementing committee is being set up in all the 17 ranges and at the village level, while asserting that “at the end of the day, it’s about implementation.”

She further said that under this campaign, many sub committees such as research, media, funding/finance, resolution drafting, etc have been formed since a campaign like this needs a deep thinking strategy.

Using different mediums to raise awareness for the Clean Election Campaign, a theme song was also composed by Alobo Naga. A leadership workshop will further be held in June at Tuophema village wherein about 70 youth leaders are expected to converge together and be empowered on leadership skills and qualities in collaboration with Youth Net. Hekani Jakhalu also felt that whatever was sown under the NBCC

Clean Election Campaign made rooms and prepared them to carry it forward more extensively. “I really feel this is going to work but this one has to work like a wildfire”, she said.

She went on to add that “people are really forthcoming…we are explaining to them about this vicious cycle we are stuck in. When an MLA takes his position, the first thing he does is to make sure he is recovering his money and our development work is compromised. People are frustrated; they are not able to earn their livelihood. When there is no economy that person is so frustrated and so when villagers and voters take money during elections, they have no sense of

6. No collective decisions will be made by clans, khels and villages to cast for a candidate 7. Community/Election feasting will be prohibited 8. Organize common platform for intending candidates to persuade voters democratically 9. All the candidates shall sign a declaratory pledge to uphold the clean election resolution 10. Core committee shall be set up in all the booth/village/constituency level and on the voting day the core committee(s) shall implement the adopted resolutions 11. Violations of any of the adopted resolutions shall be reported to the competent authority for punitive action as per the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of Peoples’ Act 1951. guilt but feel it is their right.”

Emphasizing on the need to break this vicious circle, get out of it and see how corruption is affecting us, she is hopeful that the campaign is going to bring some change as it is also being planned and implemented systematically and strategically.

It may be mentioned here that a group of young professionals who are experts in their own fields are part of the coordination committee and include Hekani Jakhalu, Joshua Sheqi, Akanito Assumi, Kitoho Rotokha, Jonah Achumi, Vitoka Aye, Inakali Aye, Alobo Naga, Betoka Swu, Jackto Wotsa, Kakheto Jakhalu, Vikyeto Noel, Abokali Zhimo and Tomtsa Chishi.

Nagaland team visits Lovely KYO appeal to repair road affected by landslides Professional and Thapar University

Explores possibilities of getting seats for students to study professional courses

Kohima, may 20 (mExN): Parliamentary Secretary, Higher & Technical Education Deo Nukhu accompanied by his wife, Er Arjun Singh, Director Technical Education, Er Vipulhou Lhoungu, Principal Government Polytechnic Kohima and Er David Tsela, Deputy Director Technical Education visited Lovely Professional University (LPU) Jalandhar and Thapar University (TU) Patiala on May 18 and 19.

Technical Education, Director, Er Arjun Singh in a press release informed that the visit was necessitated due to lack of technical and vocational institution in the state and also to explore the possibilities of getting seats from reputed universities for our students to study professional courses.

During the visit to LPU, the officials visited the laboratories and workshops, classrooms and other amenities created for the students. They also met the ProChancellor, Director and Officials of the University and interacted with students community from Nagaland and were satisfied with what is been offered to the students by the University.

The Officials also visited Thapar University Patiala and inspected its 250 acres campus and facilities created in the campus. The Director of the University agreed in principle to allocate some seats reserved for ST candidates across the country to students from Nagaland provided our students meet the minimum criteria for admission.

Thapar University is ranked 26th by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) under the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India.

Kohima, may 20 (mExN): Major landslides have occurred at Peducha under Kiruphema village jurisdiction due to the incessant rainfall and the “mindless dumping of soil at unstable areas” by the four lane construction company (Gayatri) while undertaking earth cutting between Dimapur and Kohima.

Kiruphema Youth Organisation (KYO) in a press release stated that the movement of the vehicles has been adversely affected causing untold miseries to the travelers. The light vehicles have been diverted from Peducha to Kiruphema (Basa/ Bawe) to Shalom Bible seminary to Secü Zubza which is the only alternative road and is very narrow and in deplorable condition.

The KYO appeals to the state Government to make necessary repairing work and widen the narrow portions of this “by-pass” road, for which the KYO shall handle and supervise the work for public and road safety.

It informed that in case the Government fails to take necessary action at an early date, the condition of the road can no longer bear the heavy traffic and may pose a grave danger for vehicle safety in the hilly terrain, and the KYO may blocked vehicles to ply on this “by-pass” route and make repairing work at their own available resources.

KYO president Kezevilie Hojha; general secretary Mhasisieto Zhünyü with Neicasato Visienyü, Advisor and Makolie Shosahie, Action Secretary in the press release cautioned the four lane construction company not to dump soil in Kiruphema jurisdiction (from River Noumvürü near Bamboo Hotel, and River Dierü near Essar petrol pump) without consulting the KYO and appeals the four lane construction company to assess the loss caused by the work under Kiruphema jurisdiction both be-

Hectic work underway at Peducha landslide area to normalize the movement along the highway.

low and above the road and compensate the affected properties at the earliest, moreover to execute the construction work with safety and preventative measures.

Meanwhile, KYO assures all possible help to the authori-

ties and requests both the public and VIPs to co-operate in easing the traffic problems. Helpline for travelers affected by landslides under Kiruphema jurisdiction are 8730953383, 8974343540, 9862667194 & 8730877857.

Tzürangkong gears up to host NSF 27th general conference Morung Express News Mokokchung | May 20

The 27th General Conference of the Naga Students’ Federation will be held from May 30 through June 2, 2017 at Tzürangkong Range, hosted by the Ao Students’ Conference under the theme ‘Amelioration’ with Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Government of India, Kiren Rijiju as chief guest and the chief minister of Nagaland, Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu as chief host.

More than 2000 delegates from the 17 federating units of NSF and the 21 subordinate units of NSF as well as invitees from the Eastern Naga Students’ Federation, Eastern Naga Students’ Association (Myanmar), NESO, AASU and a host of apex student organizations from neighbouring regions including Myanmar are expected to attend the conference.

Nagaland Parliamentary Secretary

as a nation,” a thematic presentation

by Dr. Xavier Pfokrehe, Professor and HoD of Philosophy, NEHU Shillong followed by a brainstorming session, election of new NSF office bearers, a conference feast, and a special appearance by Dreamz Unlimited, among others, will be the major highlights of the conference.

The NSF Central Organizing Committee led by its convener Kelhouneizo Yhome and NSF president Subenthung Kithan, AKM organizing committee led by its convener Imchatoba Imchen and AKM president Imkongwati, and Local Organizing Committee Tzürangkong held a joint coordination meeting on May 19 Friday to ensure successfully organizing the conference.

Tzürangkong range is situated in NSF Central Organizing Committee, AKM Organizing Committee and Tzürangkong Local Organizing Committee members at the the border belt of Nagaland and Asvenue for the 27th general conference of the Naga Students’ Federation. (Morung Photo) sam states amassing an area of approxDr. Benjongliba Aier, Nagaland MP Parliamentary Secretary Laisam Sa- special guests. imately 226 sq.kms and stands at 155 Neiphiu Rio, Nagaland Chief Secretary mai and Nagaland Minister Y. Vikheho Cultural regale, a debate of the top- meters above sea level with hot and huPankaj Kumar IAS, Arunachal Pradesh Swu will also grace the conference as ic “Nagas are economically sustaining mid climatic conditions.

OFFICE OF THE

OLD BOYS ASSOCIATION OF SAINIK SCHOOL IMPHAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We the bereaved family members of Late K.KIUTHSANG Male Nurse PHC Shamator like to express our humble and sincere gratitude to each and every individuals, families, friends, staffs, churches and organisations who helped and stood by us through physical, financial, material and prayer support during his sudden demise on 3/5/2017 at SHOWUBA Village .

We regret our inability to personally acknowledge each and every individual and groups, however we pray that Almighty God bless you all abundantly.

NAGALAND CHAPTER

The 9th General Conference of the Old Boys Association of Sainik School Imphal, Nagaland Chapter will be held at the Rhododendron Hall, Police Complex, Chumukedima on 27th May, 2017 from 4:00 PM onwards.

All the esteemed members of OBASSI are requested to attend the same positively.

Sd/- C Lima Imsong, General Secretary, OBASSI, Nagaland Chapter

Late K. KIUTHSANG Died on 3/5/2017

Loving wife, children & family members.

ASLTT visits Merangkong Village

D i m a p u r , m ay 20 (mExN): The Ao Senso Linük Tenzüker Telongjem (ASLTT) visited Merangkong Village, the native village of Late Imsongti (Angh) as a part of its goodwill mission tour and held a historic and significant meeting with the Medemsanger Putu on May 18.

The team discussed matters related to the present status of Ao national workers and the importance of maintaining peace and unity.

ASLTT media cell in a press release stated that the Medemsanger Putu expressed appreciation to the entire Ao national worker for taking the historic step by uniting the entire Ao (Naga) National Workers which is the need of the hour.

The Mandemsanger Putu has also extended full co-operation to the ASLTT in all aspects to maintain peace and unity in the Ao area and in entire Nagaland.

Meanwhile, the ASLTT goodwill team appealed the house and the villagers to abide by the rules and regulation of ASLTT to fulfill the aspiration of the Nagas and maintain peace and unity. It also disclosed plans to continue its goodwill mission tour and request all led by ABAM to pray for the success of this mission.

Sunday 21•05•2017

NORTH-EAST 3

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Meira Paibis, youth demand stop to oil exploration works in Manipur

Ms.Aram of CPNRM sharing concerns with oil exploration plan in Manipur- 18 May 17- Khaidem village meet

Imphal, may 20 (mExN): Women bodies (Meira Paibi) and youth clubs in Imphal West have condemned the oil exploration surveys and demanded that Oil India Limited stop all exploration

related works in all parts of Manipur.

A resolution to this effect was taken during a Community Meet on Oil Exploration on May 18 at Khaidem Mayai Leikai, Laibung, Imphal West, a press

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release informed.

The meeting was organised by Meira Paibi association and youth clubs of Khaidem village, Awang Leikai, Makha Leikai and Mayai Leikai in Imphal West along with Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources in Manipur (CPNRM), All Manipur United Clubs Organization (AMUCO), and North East Dialogue Forum (NEDF).

The Consultation is organized in view of the 2D surveys for oil exploration works in Manipur by Asian Oilfield, contracted by the Oil India Limited, the release added.

“The participants condemned the oil exploration surveys and multiple blasting by Asian Oilfield in Khaidem area and resolved that oil companies, viz, the Asian Oilfield, Oil India Limited should stop all exploration related works in Khaidem area and in all parts of Manipur,” the release stated.

The participants also

resolved that the Asian Oilfield should mandatorily provide to the people of Manipur all details of their project, such as Detailed Project Report, Environmental Impact Assessments, Social Impact Assessment, Environment Management Plan and all agreements with the Government of India and Government of Manipur for oil exploration.

Gunni, a Meira Paibi leader of Khumbong Area, and Jiten, of Khaidem Village, shared experiences of how Asian Oilfield conducted oil surveys in Khaidem Area, by blasting multiple bombs in agricultural land without conducting any environmental or social impact assessments and without providing any details of the proposed oil exploration plan and surveys etc.

Aram Pamei, Ex-President, Naga Women Union shared that villagers of Tamenglong rejected No Objection Certificates

(NOC) due to social, environmental impacts and on consideration of their rights over their land and territories. She claimed that villagers of Tamenglong District were duped by oil companies into giving NOC’s by bribing local leaders and propagating misinformation.

Nando Luwang, Vice President, AMUCO, condemned how Oil India Limited and Asian Oilfield commenced survey and oil exploration works without even informing the people of Manipur. Luwang maintained that oil resources belong to people of Manipur.

Y Jiten of CPNRM shared that oil resource is classified as Union Government property and how such classification with multiple oil related laws on exploration and extraction constitute “deprivation and negation” of the rights of the people of Manipur on their own resources and their right to develop it.

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND STATE RURAL LIVELIHOODS MISSION NAGALAND: KOHIMA NO.NSRLM/SMMU/Eol-DDU GKY/2017/1919

Dated the 20th May, 2017

Notice Inviting Expression of Interest for Project Proposals under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna ( DDU-GKY)in the State of Nagaland National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), MoRD GOI is implementing placement linked skill development program under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna (DDU-GKY). Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods Mission (NSRLM), Rural Development Department Nagaland is the Nodal Agency for implementation of the program in the State.

NSRLM invites proposals from registered Project Implementing Agency (PIA) with valid Permanent Registration Number (PRN) No.(MoRD, GoI) for implementation of DDU-GKY Project in the State of Nagaland for skill training and placement of 6924 beneficiaries for the year 2017-20. Interested Agencies may submit their proposal online at http//www.rural.skills.in./ along with application fee of `25,000/- drawn in favour of NSRLM (DDU-GKY), SBI Sect. Branch Kohima 797001, A/c No. 36609481959, IFS Code-SBIN0010671. Further, project appraisal fee will be applicable to the applicant PIA separately as per Notification No. 20/2017 Dated 3rd April 2017, Rural Skills Division of MoRD, Government of India.

The proposals should be submitted on or before 20th June, 2017, application received after aforesaid date shall not be entertained in this round of appraisal.

Incomplete proposal in any respect shall be summarily rejected.

Training duration will be for 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months.

As per target assigned by the Ministry of Rural Development, preference will be given to long term duration course (residential) and to agencies providing captive placement and only those PIAs with training centres in Nagaland will be entertained.

PIAs are encouraged to apply for projects in the following sectors 1. Aviation 2. Constructions 3. IT/ITES & Telecom 4. Tourism & Hospitality 5. Electronics 6. Green energy 7. Automotive 8. Capital goods 9. Textiles 10. Financial services The application process is a complete online process hence there is no need to send the hard copy of documents. The entire process of application of proposals, screening & selection will be done strictly as per the guidelines and norms laid down by MoRD for the purpose.

Sd/- State Mission Director, Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods Mission Email: mdnsrlm@gmail.com Website: www.nsrlm.in

Kenji Hiramatsu Japan ambassador to India, Akiko MacDonald chairperson Burma Campaign Society stands alongside Apok Jamir, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Nagaland along with delegates from Japan at the floral tribute on the occasion of 73rd anniversary of Battle of Imphal, World War –II at India Peace Memorial, Maibam Lotpa Ching Imphal on May 20.

Surrender policy for mili- Senapati Taxi tants a failure: Manipur CM Union condemns Imphal, may 20 (IaNS): Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Saturday said the surrender policy designed for militants was "a total failure".

Speaking at a function here, the Chief Minister said he had discussed the matter with union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

"It is disappointing that there is no proper supervision over the outfits which have joined the national mainstream," he said. "This has rendered the surrender policy meaningless."

According to rules, weapons surrendered by militants should be deposited with the Army and members of the surrendered outfits must stay inside designated camps.

Biren Singh said there

alleged assault

was "a system failure since there is no effective control over the former insurgents".

He added: "There is no proper surrender policy. The former insurgents are not given adequate assistance in terms of building houses and more. There is no means of livelihood for these people and their families."

While the Army has signed Suspension of Operations with some militant outfits, the Manipur government had refused to honour them.

And so police and paramilitary forces continued to hunt, kill or arrest the tribal insurgents despite their signing the pacts.

The neglected former insurgents were left to fend for themselves once they were lured overground, one official said.

SENapatI, may 20 (mExN): The Senapati District Taxi Welfare Union has strongly condemned the alleged physical assault one of its driver by volunteers of the Southern Angami Tata Sumo Union (SATSU). A press release from the union condemning the assault alleged that volunteers of SATSU physically assaulted one of its driver on May 18 at Khuzama while he was going down to Dimapur with passengers. “Such kind of threat and hooliganism should be looked into by the concerned Authority/Union at the earliest,” the SDTWU stated and asserted that it will not tolerate such action in future.

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND

OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES NAGALAND: KOHIMA

NOTIFICATION

Dated Kohima, the 18th May 2017

No.T&PC-112/2013-14/ In exercise of the Power conferred by the Section 100 and 92 of the Nagaland Cooperative Societies Act 2017, the following directions are hereby notified for strict compliance: 1. All loanee Cooperative Societies are directed to recover their outstanding dues at the earliest. Stern legal actions as laid down in the Act, will be initiated against the defaulting societies.

2. All Non-functioning Cooperative Societies will be identified and their registration will be cancelled without further notice.

Cooperative Societies are directed to report to their respective District Offices for further clarification and necessary action.

Sd/- (WEPE RITSE) Registrar of Cooperative Societies Nagaland, Kohima.

NAGALAND TENNIS ASSOCIATION

CORDIALLY

INVITE YOU TO

THE FOUNDATION STONE LAYING OF THE INDOOR TENNIS STADIUM AT IG STADIUM COMPLEX KOHIMA BY

DR. SHÜRHOZELIE LIEZIETSU

HON’BLE CHIEF MINISTER, NAGALAND

DATE:- 23-05-17 C. APOK JAMIR Hon President

TIME:- 10.00 AM DAVID KIRE Hon Gen Secretary

PLEASE BE SEATED BY 9:30 A.M

4

sundAY 21•05•2017

business

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Central government Uber warns employee who employees pay hike 'stole' self-driving technology

Here's what you should know about revised structure under 7th Pay Commission New Delhi, May 20 (BusiNess ToDay): Earlier in May, the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its go ahead for modifications in the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission (7th CPC) over method of pension revision of pre-2016 pensioners and family pensioners.

The benefit of the proposed modifications would be available with effect from 1st January, 2016. It will benefit over 55 lakh pre-2016 civil and defence pensioners and family pensioners. However, with the increase approved by the Cabinet, the annual pension bill alone of the Central Government is likely to be Rs 1,76,071 crore.

While approving the

implementation of the 7th CPC recommendations on 29th June, 2016, the Cabinet had approved the changed method of pension revision recommended by the 7th CPC for pre-2016 pensioners, comprising of two alternative formulations.

• Pensions of pre-2016 pensioners were revised as per the second formulation multiplying existing pension by a multiplication factor of 2.57, though the pensioners were to be given the option of choosing the more beneficial of the two formulations according to the 7th CPC recommendations.

In order to provide the more beneficial option to the pensioners,Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the Committee,

which has suggested revision of pension based on information contained in the Pension Payment Order (PPO) issued to every pensioner.

Disability Pension for defence pensioners • The Cabinet also approved the retention of percentage-based regime of disability pension implemented post 6th CPC, which the 7th CPC had recommended to be replaced by a slabbased system.

• The decision will benefit existing and future Defence pensioners would entail an additional expenditure of approximately Rs 130 crore per annum.

Meanwhile, central government employees would have to wait for yet another week to receive any update on

the revised allowance structure as recommended by the 7th Central Pay Commission.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) is expected to convene next week to ponder on the recommendations before being presented before the Union Cabinet for their nod.

The 7th pay commission had proposed a total of 196 allowances; a Committee of Allowances was formed under the Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa to screen them.

On April 24 this year, the Committee submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, recommending that 52 allowances suggested by the pay commission be entirely scraped and 36 of them be incorporated with other allowances instead of dealing with them separately.

Artificial intelligence not a threat to qualified humans: Adobe New Delhi, May 20 (iaNs): As artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart devices and solutions gather momentum globally amid fears of “bots” taking over jobs soon, a top Adobe executive has allayed such fears, saying AI will actually assist people intelligently.

“Saying AI will take over the creativity of humans is not right. It will take away a lot of stuff that you have to do in a mundane way. A human mind is a lot more creative than a machine,” Shanmugh Natarajan, Executive Director and Vice President (Products) at Adobe, told IANS in an interview.

“With AI, we are trying to make the work easier. It is not like self-driving cars where your driver is getting replaced. I think creativity is going to stay for a long time,” Natarajan added.

Market research firm Gartner recently said that CIOs will have a major role to play in preparing businesses for the impact that AI will

have on business strategy and human employment.

Global enterprises like Adobe are now betting on India to boost AI in diverse sectors across the country.

The company has a massive set-up in India, with over 5,200 employees spread across four campuses in Noida and Bengaluru and its R&D labs claim a significant share of global innovations.

According to Natarajan, a lot of work related to AI, machine learning and Internet of Things (IoT) is being done in Adobe’s India R&D Labs. “The way we have structured our India labs is very similar to how larger companies have structured it. There are separate lab initiatives and areas, including digital media, creative lab, Big Data and marketing-related labs and, obviously, document is a big part and we have labs associated with it as well,” the executive said.

“With the Cloud platform, we are trying to pro-

vide a framework where people with the domain expertise can come and set their data and machine learning algorithms in play and then train the systems and let the systems learn,” Natarajan explained.

Speaking on the significance of India R&D labs, Natarajan said earlier the R&D labs were focused on North America where scientists used to come in from esteemed universities.

With India becoming a crucial market for research and development, Adobe started its data labs in Bengaluru under the leadership of Shriram Revankar.

“Nearly 30 per cent of our total R&D staff is here.

Apart from other works, we file patents. Every year, Adobe India has been filing nearly 100 patents from a global perspective. We have eight patents coming in soon,” Natarajan told IANS. Interestingly, a big part of “Adobe Sensei” — a new framework and set of in-

leisure

CROSSWORD # 3949

SUDOKU

ACROSS 1. Booty 5. Oodles 10. Stepped 14. Leisure 15. Large bulrushes 16. Greeting at sea 17. Written material 19. Demolish 20. 56 in Roman numerals 21. Japanese cartoon art 22. Shrilled 23. Work for another 25. Flips (through) 27. Lyric poem 28. Wallet 31. Foundation 34. Candle “strings” 35. Twosome 36. Footnote note 37. Immunizations 38. Swine 39. Lair 40. Hard fats 41. Ceremonial staffs 42. And so on 44. Not near 45. Avoid 46. Ripple 50. Driller 52. Found around a painting 54. Before, poetically 55. Biblical garden 56. Creator 58. Fog 59. Book of fiction 60. Clothing 61. Picnic insects 62. Manicurist’s board 63. Type of sword DOWN 1. Trades 2. Do without 3. Active 4. G 5. Position 6. Good-looker

Answer Number # 3945

man luxury automaker BMW opened its third intelligent assembly plant in China where the firm operates one of its major global production centres.

The plant located in Shenyang city, with an investment of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), can manufacture 450,000 units annually, Efe news reported on Saturday.

The new assembly line has been designed with the German industrial 4.0 concept and has incorporated sophisticated technologies such as

turing, laser scanning and bug data analysis in the whole production process, according to company officials.

The newly-inaugurated facility also houses the other two plants, one of which manufactures engines and the other is a research and development centre.

In 2016, 316,000 cars were produced in Shenyang, one-eighth of BMW's total production. Since the establishment of the Shenyang factory in 2003, the German company has generated 16,000 jobs in the city.

MuMBai, May 20 (iaNs): India's foreign exchange (Forex) reserves declined by $443.6 million as on May 12, 2017.

The Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement released on Friday showed that the overall Forex reserves decreased to $375.27 billion from $375.71 billion reported for the week ended May 5.

India's Forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the RBI's position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Segment-wise, FCAs -- the largest component of the Forex

Answer to Crossword 3948

reserves -- edged lower by $429.4 million to $351.10 billion during the week under review.

Besides the US dollar, FCAs consist of nearly 20-30 per cent of major (non-US)globalcurrencies.TheFCAs also include investments in US Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments, deposits with foreign central and commercial banks.

The country's gold reserves were stagnant at $20.43 billion.

However, the SDRs' value fell by $5.5 million to $1.45 billion. The country's reserve position with the IMF inched down by $8.7 million to $2.28 billion. std code: 03862

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and its parent company Uber for misappropriating Waymo trade secrets and infringing our patents," Waymo wrote in a blog post.

The company said it found that six weeks before his resignation, Levandowski downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymo's various hardware systems, including designs of Waymo's custom-built "Light Detection and Ranging" (LiDAR) and circuit board.

"To gain access to Waymo's design server, Levandowski searched for and installed specialised software onto his company-issued laptop. Once inside, he downloaded 9.7GB of Waymo's highly confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files and testing documentation," the company noted.

Levandowski copied the data to an external drive. He later wiped and reformatted the laptop in an attempt to erase forensic fingerprints.

New Delhi, May 20 (FiNaNcial express):The government has charted out a multi-billion dollar investment plan for electric vehicles and aims for bulk tendering of EVs on the lines of the LED bulbs scheme, reports CNBC-TV18.

It looks like the Indian government has re-visited their green initiative with some added vigour. CNBC-TV18 reports that to reduce our fossil fuel dependency, the government has charted out a multi-billion dollar investment plan for an electric vehicle. A closer look reveals that it might be aiming for a bulk tendering of EVs’ on the lines of the recently started LED bulb campaign.

According to their plan, the country’s top PSU led by NTPC will invest over Rs. 10,000 crore to set up the infrastructure for charging and battery swap stations. PSUs like IOC and PGCL are set to study the feasibility of investing in the infrastructure.

The mission is likely to start from October and will be led by e-Rickshaws and buses. The buses will hit the road ground in cosmopolitans by December 2017.

M&M, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland have confirmed their participation in the project. M&M and Tata Motors are, in fact, developing an electric prototype for a December launch.

To further promote the cause, the government is likely to tender the use of 1000 EVs to be used by various departments.

India's Forex reserves decline by $443 mn

7. Astringent 8. Abandoned ships 9. South southeast 10. A government tax 11. Rapturous 12. Exude 13. Not the original color 18. Forays 22. Friends 24. Cancel 26. North American deer (plural) 28. Flora and fauna 29. Olympic sled 30. Sleep in a convenient place 31. Remain 32. Incite 33. Most genuine 34. Whence 37. Sought damages 38. Cut back 40. Sun 41. Expert 43. Happenings 44. Your immediate relatives 46. Bet 47. Abatement 48. Wear away 49. Brusque 50. Chancel 51. Norse god 53. Rend 56. Half of a pair 57. Citrus drink

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force Levandowski to return any downloaded materials to Waymo.

Following that, Uber sent a letter to Levandowski giving him a choice between "deny(ing) ever having taken any downloaded materials from Google" or hand over any materials he might have taken from Google.

If he failed to comply, he would risk termination of his employment.

Google's self-driving car company Waymo in February filed a lawsuit against Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets and technology from it.

The lawsuit, filed against Uber's self-driving vehicle unit Otto, argued that former Waymo manager Levandowski took information when he left the company and later co-founded Otto in January 2016.

"We uncovered evidence that Otto and Uber have taken and are using key parts of Waymo's selfdriving technology. Today, we're taking legal action against Otto

BMW opens 3rd intelligent assembly plant in China Indian fast-tracks green BeijiNg, May 20 (iaNs): Ger- virtual reality, augmented manufac- initiative for Electric vehicles

DiMaPUR

Simple Rules - Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Game Number # 3946

telligent services that use deep learning and AI to tackle complex experience challenges — was developed in India.

On why there is a technology gap between India and other developed economies in terms of use of concepts like AI, machine learning and IoT, Natarajan said that people underestimate the country. “The transitions and generational things might not be at the same level and sophistication, or the pace as compared to other countries, but here, the changes are dramatic,” Natarajan told IANS. “Everyone has a smartphone now and people have figured out that they can speak to their smartphones and retrive data.

The data may be small as compared to 100 trillion that Adobe gets, but it is a Cloud and IoT device.

People are interacting with them and machine is learning from this,” the executive noted.

New york, May 20 (iaNs): Cab-hailing app Uber has warned an engineer who allegedly stole trade secrets and self-driving car technology from Google parent company Alphabet's unit Waymo to comply with court orders or risk being fired.

Uber issued a warning letter to Anthony Levandowski, saying it would take "adverse employment action against" him if he fails to comply the court's orders, TechCrunch reported on Saturday.

This came after Waymo argued that discovery in the case has been held up by Levandowski refusing to answer questions related to the alleged theft of proprietary data.

"Levandowski has repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment in the case, citing the potential for criminal action that could lead to self-incrimination," the report said.

Last week, a judge ordered that Uber "exercise the full extent of (its) corporate, employment, contractual and other authority" to

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CURRENCY NOTES BUY (rs) seLL (rs)

Us dollars sterling Pound Hong Kong dollar Australian dollar singapore dollar Canadian dollar Japanese Yen euro thai Baht Korean won UAe dirham (Aed) Chinese Yuan

62.66 80.71 7.79 46.29 44.75 45.83 54.86 69.18 1.76 0.0542 16.51 8.8

65.48 84.62 8.67 48.57 46.93 48.07 57.94 72.53 1.96 0.0604 18.39 9.81

sunday 21•05•2017

NAGALAND

Aadhaar: Strictly follow all security Naga struggle is a defensive one: Wangtin Naga guidelines, says Chief Secretary Nagaland AHoDs and HoDs meeting held in Kohima Kohima, may 20 (DiPR): A meeting of the Administrative Heads of Departments (AHoDs) and Heads of Departments (HoDs) was held on May 20 at the Secretariat Conference Hall, Kohima under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary, Nagaland, Pankaj Kumar (IAS).

Aadhaar safety: Strictly follow all security guidelines specified by UIDAI Highlighting the secrecy of Aadhaar data, the Chief Secretary said that government departments should be careful about protecting the secrecy of Aadhaar data of any person, be it beneficiaries or otherwise, while uploading information on department websites. He said that departments cannot publish in any form the Aadhaar number of any person. He also instructed that departments’ websites should be made secure to protect from hackers.

The Chief Secretary further highlighted guidelines on the Do’s & Don’ts with regard to the usage of Aadhaar data. With regard to ‘Storage and data protection guidelines’, he said, an agency using Aadhaar must strictly follow all security guidelines

specified by UIDAI. If an agency is storing Aadhaar number in database, data must be encrypted and stored. It should also be ensured that no Aadhaar data is displayed or disclosed to external agencies or unauthorized persons. Regular audit must be conducted to ensure Aadhaar number and linked data is protected, the guidelines states.

The Chief Secretary also pointed out that although Aadhaar is based on biometrics, it should not be assumed that it is totally iron-clad and stressed on the need for multiple barriers for security of such data.

Land and Assets Management – encroachment and related issues Giving a presentation on ‘Land and Assets Management – encroachment and related issues’, Deputy Commissioner, Kohima, Rajesh Soundararajan highlighted the various issues with regard to government land. He said that encroachments take place due to various reasons such as delay in lodging complaints or not lodging any complaint at all. In certain instances, government officials are in connivance with private indi-

viduals, he alleged, adding lack of database of assets and other documents such as survey maps etc pose a problem in protecting government land. He said that government properties lack demarcation and protective fencing. He highlighted about the eviction process followed, which normally takes upto two to three months.

The DC suggested that departments should have a database of assets and continuously update the database. Departments, he added, can prepare an annual statement of land or assets and carry out demarcation or fencing works. He further suggested that whenever an area is acquired for development, the area should be contiguous. Commenting on the issue of government land encroachments, Chief Secretary said that the issue of protecting government land should be taken up on a regular basis.

NSMDC industrial unit production T. Longri Ao, Managing Director, NSMDC gave a presentation on the products of the Nagaland State Mineral Development Corporation Ltd that are pro-

duced through its three industrial units –Decorative & Dimensional Stone Plant (DDSP) Chumukedima, DDSP Wazeho and Mineral Industry Growth Centre (MIGC), Kiruphema.

These units produce high quality slabs, artifacts, bricks, wall cladding, sandstone floor tiles, monoliths, pillars, hollow bricks, load bearing paver blocks and many others, it was informed. Stating that the quality of products is in no way inferior to those brought from outside the State and that the rates are also very reasonable, T. Longri Ao suggested that government departments may encourage usage of these locally made products in all government initiated projects or constructions.

Earlier, the house took a pledge in observance of Anti-Terrorism Day, which falls on May 21. As the date falls on a Sunday which is a holiday for state government offices, the day was observed on May 20. The Chief Secretary led the house in taking the pledge to oppose all forms of terrorism and violence and to fight the forces of disruption threatening human lives and values.

Pughoboto gets two new Govt Primary Schools Kohima, may 20 (mExn): Nagaland Minister for Roads & Bridges, Y Vikheho Swu today inaugurated two new Government Primary Schools (GPS) in Pughoboto subdivision under Zunheboto district.

Accompanied by his wife Ahikali Swu, ADC Pughoboto Avelu Ruho and SDEO Vikuto and other officers, the Minister inaugurated GPS Natsumi and GPS Heboluqa.

Addressing the gathering, the minister expressed hope that opening of the two GPS would help mould a good foundation of education while the children would be able to attain quality education.

Swu further informed that with a view to encourage students of Pughoboto sub-division, he as the local elected representative will be soon launching a programme ‘Beyond Books’, where officers, musicians, entrepreneurs and artists will visit schools to have interactive session with students so as to motivate them not only towards excelling in education but

mon, may 20 (mExn): President of NSCN/GPRN (Reformation), Y Wangtin Naga on Thursday asserted that the Naga struggle was and is a defensive one and only for protecting the “country” against illegal invasion. He was speaking at the second anniversary of the group at CFSB office in Mon. “We are here to proclaim to the world that we are ‘champion of peace’ who retrieved back peaceful atmosphere after SS Khaplang unilaterally pulled out 14 years old ceasefire with GoI without consulting his coworkers,” Wangtin added, according to a press release from MIP, NSCN (R).

“One can create history in his own interest unless

President of NSCN (R), Y Wangtin Naga speaking at the second anniversary of the group at CFSB office, Mon on May 18.

God works behind him but in our case, we have created the history of peace contributing much.”

This, he said, is how the NSCN/GPRN (Reformation) came into being on May 18, 2015 based

56 from various political groups join NSCN (IM) hEbRon, may 20 (mExn): 56 people from different Naga political organizations have joined the NSCN (IM), according to a press release from MIP, NSCN (IM). Among the 56, 7 were from NNC, 3 from NNC (N/A), 1 from FGN, 8 from NNC/GDRN, 32 from GPRN/NSCN, 2 from NSCN (K), and 3 were from NSCN (R).

The Joint Council of NSCN (IM) consisting of the Steering Committee Executives, Cabinet Kilonsers, Deputy Kilonsers and Heads of Departments while welcoming the new members appreciated the “bold and mature decision taken by them keeping in mind the positive changes taking place since the signing of the Framework Agreement on 3rd August, 2015 and the aspirations of the Nagas,” it said. The home-comers, the release added, expressed their sincere commitment and unreserved confidence with the NSCN (IM) leadership and vowed to strive togeth-

er to bring about a final solution.

It was further informed that home-comers from GPRN/NSCN while addressing the Vice-President of the NSCN (IM) Gen. (retd.) Kholi Konyak, Ato Kilonser Th. Muivah, Kilo Kilonser Rh. Raising, Tatars, Heads of Departments, and other top ranking leaders expressed belief that the NSCN (IM) leaders are the true leaders who can bring a lasting solution.

The home-comers also appreciated the Collective Leadership of the NSCN (IM) for welcoming them into their fold.

The Kilo Kilonser of NSCN (IM) Rh. Raising while welcoming the home comers on behalf of the Collective Leadership expressed appreciation and exhorted the homecomers and the gathered members to give their best for the cause of the Nagas.

He encouraged the members to give what they can for the nation without expecting anything in return.

Demo on mushroom cultivation technology Minister Vikheho Swu and others during the inauguration of GPS Natsumi under DimaPuR, may 20 tance of mushroom in hu(mExn): A method dem- man diet and its nutritional Pughoboto sub-division on May 20.

also develop their skills and talents for sustainability in the future.

Meanwhile, he pointed out that as part of the Year of Economic Development of Pughoboto, various projects have been initiated since 2013, including Piggery Project, Cycle Network, Tree Plantation, and Skilling Pughoboto and also holding Thuwuni.

“We should use the

equipments and materials to generate self employment while the piggery project and other agricultural activities should be a source of income,” the Minister added.

Emphasizing on the important of planting trees, Swu encouraged the citizens to actively participate in tree plantation as it is not only for environment purification but a source of

economic uplift in the long run.

The minister, his wife and ADC Pughoboto also led in planting trees around the new schools.

GPS Natsumi has 32 students and 4 teachers, while GPS Heboluqa has 33 students with six teachers. The schools were constructed through SSA funding while desk and benches were donated by Minister Swu.

onstration on ‘Entrepreneurship development through mushroom cultivation’ was conducted at Sangtamtilla village on May 20, funded by NABARD and in collaboration with the ‘Innovative Attribute Society’, Sangtamtilla. During the training, Dr. Rajesha G, Scientist (Plant Pathology), ICAR Research Complex NEH Region, Nagaland Centre Medziphema explained about the impor-

and medicinal properties followed by the method demonstration of oyster mushroom cultivation, informed a press release. A total of 34 farm labours including 26 women from different villages of Dimapur district attended the training. 30 spawn packets, 20 hand sprayers and water drum were distributed to the participants under TSP to take up mushroom cultivation.

PDLSA conducts legal awareness with church elders Girls’ hostel inaugurated in Chiechama PEREn, may 20 (mExn): To impart legal awareness on schemes under Nagaland Legal Services Authority (NSLSA), the Peren District Legal Services Authority (PDLSA) conducted legal awareness programme with the Pastor Union Samzuiram, church elders and church workers at Samzuiram village council hall on May 19.

Speaking on Consumer Rights, Enchang, Panel Lawyer PDLSA apprised that the Consumer Protection Act 1986 was enacted to provide better protection of interest of consumers and to make provisions for the establishment of Consumer Councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumer disputes.

He said that a complaint can be filed by a consumer under allegations of – an unfair or restrictive trade practice is practiced by trader or service provider, goods bought or to be bought or services hired or to be hired suffered from any deficiency, trader or service provider has charged excess price and goods and services are hazardous or are likely to be hazardous to life and safety.

Highlighting that there are consumer dispute re-

dressal machinery, Enchang informed there are consumer forum at the district level, state commission at the state level and national commission at national level.

He also explained that the time limit for filing compliant is within two years from the date on which the cause of action arises; even when the time expires, the complaint can be taken up provided complainant is able to satisfy the forum or commission about the reasonableness in the delay.

Speaking on domestic violence, Asuni, Panel Lawyer PDLSA said that domestic violence means any act, omission or conduct which harms or injures or endangers the health safety, life, limb or well being of a woman.

On how an aggrieved woman can get relief from domestic violence, she said that the aggrieved woman may directly approach the court of judicial magistrate seeking redresses.

Asuni further informed that on the aggrieved woman’s behalf, any protection officer or any other person can also file petition before the magistrate seeking re-

liefs, while she or any other person having knowledge of such domestic violence can give information to the protection officer.

She stated that the aggrieved woman can also approach the legal service authority for redressal of her grievances.

Speaking on rights of an arrested person and Village Council Act, Asungbe, Retainer Lawyer PDLSA said that under the Nagaland Village Council Act 1978, the village council has the power and duties to formulate development schemes, to supervise proper maintenance of water supply, roads, power, forest, education and other welfare activities.

He further informed that the village council also has administration of justice and village administration.

Somet C Chang, Secretary PDLSA also spoke on the importance and relevancy of the legal service authority in the present Naga society and in particular Peren district. She also encouraged the participants not to be hesitant in approaching the Court for justice and legal aid.

This was followed by an interaction session.

on the principle of peace.

The president on behalf of NSCN (R) appealed to all the Naga freedom fighters from all Naga political institutions to “rebuild our broken home before any solution.” He equally ap-

pealed to all comrades under NSCN (Reformation) to work for Naga peace and tranquility.

Meanwhile, Wangtin proclaimed unending guide and protection of God in the Naga struggle.

Earlier, the foundation programme was chaired

by Zupeng, Kilonser, Planning & Development and Tia Temjen, Under Secretary. Silent prayer for “martyred” NSCN workers and invoking God’s blessing was pronounced by Chingo, Chaplain, CFSB Fellowship. Kavishe, Kilonser, Defence also spoke on the occasion. The celebration was well attended by host of Kilonsers, all ranks and files of both Civil and Military, the release informed.

MEx FILE Mopungchuket village bans movement of log laden trucks moKoKchung, may 20 (mExn): The Mopungchuket Village Council has banned movement of log laden trucks within the village’s jurisdiction with immediate effect. In a public notification issued by the village council chairman of Mopungchuket, it was informed that no log laden trucks would be allowed to ply within its jurisdiction and that defaulters would be imposed heavy fines as penalty. It may be mentioned that NH2Mangkolemba road which passes through Mopungchuket is being paved under DoNER/NLCPR, works of which are under progress, and the road is now the arterial road for Jangpetkong range and parts of Mangkolemba block under Mokokchung district.

AR apprehend alleged arms dealer DimaPuR, may 20 (mExn): 32 Assam Rifles apprehended an alleged arms dealer during an operation conducted along with police representatives at Burma Camp in Dimapur on May 19. One .32 mm pistol with magazine and two live rounds of .32 mm were recovered from the apprehended person identified as Xvihosha Zhimo (65), informed a press release from Assam Rifles.

The apprehended along with recovered arms and ammunitions was handed over to East Police Station, Dimapur for further investigation, it said.

BJP Nagaland mourns Anil Madhav’s demise DimaPuR, may 20 (mExn): BJP Nagaland has expressed sorrow at the demise of Anil Madhav Dave, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change in New Delhi on May 18. “The country and the party have lost a veteran and distinguished leader who held many eminent positions as a Member of Parliament,” stated a press release from Jaangsillung Gonmei, General Secretary (Media), BJP Nagaland. The party stated that Madhav who hailed from Madhya Pradesh specialized in Rural Development and Management and was a river conservationist, environmentalist and a social worker. “He was also a prolific writer, authoring several books in Hindi and English as well as a trained pilot. As a true social worker and an environmentalist, he worked tirelessly for conservation of Narmada river with empathy for the welfare of the most needy section of society,” it added. The BJP Nagaland further prayed for strength and peace of the family he has left behind.

NNC asks to prepare for general meeting Kohima, may 20 (mExn): The Naga National Council (NNC) under the leadership of Z. Royim and V. Nagi will convene a general meeting “in the interest of the people and NNC in particular to deliberate and do all necessity for strengthening the Parent Body (Institution) for the larger interest of our homeland.”

Therefore, all the Central Executive Council officials/ members, regional councils, sub-regional councils and women federation have been asked to be prepared for the above mentioned general meeting to be held in the near future. This was informed in a press release issued

by Information & Publicity Wing, NNC.

Training on Community First Responder in Zbto

Commissioner and Secretary, Khrienuo Metha with Principal and staff of GHSS Chiechama, village elders at the newly inaugurated girls’ hostel on May 20 in Chiechama.

chiEchama, may 20 (DiPR): Government Higher Secondary School, Chiechama organized a felicitation programme cum inauguration of newly constructed girls’ hostel on May 20 in Chiechama.

Commissioner and Secretary, Khrienuo Metha was the chief guest.

Addressing the gathering, the chief guest encouraged the teachers and village leaders to continue to work for the betterment of the student’s community.

She expressed hope that every student who resides in the newly constructed girls’ hostel would understand the value of education and be determined to do well.

Acknowledging the difficulties faced by teachers in the rural areas, she further pointed out that it is less taxing for the teachers in urban areas as educated parents support them along. She thanked the Village Vision Cell Chiechama, teachers and village leaders for their contribution and efforts in constructing the hostel and timely completion of the same.

Principal, GHSS, Chiechama, Visetonuo Angami apprised that it was the first felicitation programme being held for class-X and XII successful students of GHSS, Chiechama since its up-gradation to Higher Secondary School. She ex-

pressed gratitude to the Convenor and his team and all the members of the Village Vision Cell for their support in the upliftment of the school, building the girls hostel, and maintenance of the approach road from the highway till the school.

The function was chaired by Convenor, Village Vision Cell, Neilasa Sopfü. Short speeches were delivered by Chairman, Chiechama Village Council and officials from School Education Department.

Special song was presented by students of GHSS, Chiechama. Earlier Rev. Sonei-u Metha pronounced the invocation.

ZunhEboto, may 20 (mExn): To acquaint and build confidence among people as well as identify disaster prone and rehabilitation areas, a refresher course training for 35 TOTs on Community First Responder (CFR) was held on May 20 at Circuit House, Zunheboto. It was organised by NSDMA, DDMA, HG&CD and SDRF Zunheboto. A familarization Exercise (FAMEX) was held in order to acquaint with the local areas where the TOTs will be imparting training to 70 CFRs from 7 wards and 350 CFRs from 5 wards and 7 sub-divisional towns. Apart from training on emergency rescue and first aid, a basic training kits were also distributed to all sub-divisional CFRs TOTs. District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Zunheboto has informed all participants from 7 wards that training on CFR has been scheduled from May 22–26 at Zunheboto Government College. All participants have been asked to attend the training positively.

Life skills prog from NSS volunteers of GHSS Medziphema DimaPuR, may 20 (mExn): The NSS unit of Government Higher Secondary School Medziphema organised a one day life skills programme on food preparation and catering management on May 19 at the school. 53 NSS volunteers along with the Programme Officer and teachers participated in the programme, where the teachers guided the volunteers in preparation of various food items, packaging and catering, informed a press release from Rukuzo Hoshi, Programme Officer, NSS unit GHSS Medziphema.

6

The Chalkboard

SunDAY 21•05•2017

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

_____________________________ Because Children Matters

Can you spot the Differences?

The Fox and the Pig

O

ne day, a Fox wanted to cross to the other side of a river. He decided to swim across and reach there.

Now, the river was flowing very fast. The Fox tried to swim but was swept away by the force of the water. Tumbling along

the bumpy river and rocks, he was finally thrown into a deep ditch.

He could not move, as he was hurt and tired and was feeling very sick. He lay still. Soon, many hungry, bloodsucking flies settled on him.

A Pig, who was passing by, saw the Fox was hurt and was in great pain. He said, “Shall I drive away the flies? They are sucking your blood. You will feel

much better when they are gone.” “No! Not at all!” said the Fox. “Do not disturb them.”

The Pig was surprised.

“Why won’t you let me drive away the flies?” he asked the Fox. “You see, kind Pig, these flies are full of blood.

They are hurting me very little. The new ones who will take their place, will drink all the blood I have and I will be worse.”

Think as carefully ed r e f help of be the may not need. help you

Busy

T

his button craft is a delight for kids and easy for moms (simple supplies and little clean up!). Your kids will love getting creative as they learn how to make a button bracelet. Kids Activities Blog hopes you enjoy these easy bracelets to make with your kids.

To make a button bracelet all you need are some buttons, a length of ribbon or elastic, and a pair of scissors. Depending on the size of the holes in your buttons, you may also need a sewing needle. The type of ribbon or cord that you use for threading the buttons will depend on the size of the holes in the buttons. You need the holes to be large enough for your ribbon to be threaded through either by hand or with the assistance of a needle.

Image 1

Alexandra H (Age 12)

Peace is not rude or unkind.

Peace is the most essential part of mind.

Peace is to be devoted to God, others and even you.

Peace is radiance and love.

Peace is the vivid glow from above.

Button Craft:

Lets Get Make A Button Bracelet

Weave the ribbon through the buttons, coming up from underneath the button, crossing over the top, and dipping back down again on the other side of the button as shown in the photo above. This will ensure that the buttons sit neatly side by side and the bracelet will sit comfortably flat on the wearer’s wrist. Once you have threaded on enough buttons for the length of your bracelet, tie the two ends of ribbon together and you’re done!

Image 2

FAITH LEAF

SunDAY 21•05•2017

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

INSPIRATIONAL STORIES, MESSAGES, POEMS & SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES

7

The final interview of C. S. Lewis

Sherwood Eliot Wirt | Assist News Service

I

drove to Cambridge, England, on May 7 [1963] to interview Mr. Clive Staples Lewis, author of The Screwtape Letters and one of the world’s most brilliant and widely read Christian authors. I hoped to learn from him how young men and women could be encouraged to take up the defense of the faith through the written word.

It was quickly evident that this interview was going to be different from any that I had ever been granted. I found Mr. Lewis in a wing of the brick quadrangle at Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where he is professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature. I climbed a flight of narrow, incredibly worn wooden steps, knocked at an ancient wooden door with the simple designation, “Prof. Lewis,” and was shown in by the housekeeper.

Passing through a simply furnished parlor, I came into a study that was quite Spartan in appearance. Professor Lewis was seated at a plain table upon which reposed an old-fashioned alarm clock and an old-fashioned inkwell. I was immediately warmed by his jovial smile and cordial manner as he rose to greet me; he seemed the classic, friendly, jolly Englishman. He indicated a straight-backed chair, then sat down, snug in his tweed jacket and two sweaters, and we were away.

Wirt: Professor Lewis, if you had a young friend with some interest in writing on Christian subjects, how would you advise him to prepare himself?

Lewis: “I would say if a man is going to write on chemistry, he learns chemistry. The same is true of Christianity. But to speak of the craft itself, I would not know how to advise a man how to write. It is a matter of talent and interest. I believe he must be strongly moved if he is to become a writer. Writing is like a ‘lust,’ or like ‘scratching when you itch.’ Writing comes as a result of a very strong impulse, and when it does come, I for one must get it out.”

Wirt: Can you suggest an approach that would spark the creation of a body of Christian literature strong enough to influence our generation?

Lewis: “There is no formula in these matters. I have no recipe, no tablets. Writers are trained in so many individual ways that it is not for us to prescribe. Scripture itself is not systematic; the New Testament shows the greatest variety. God has shown us that he can use any instrument. Balaam’s ass, you remember, preached a very effective sermon in the midst of his ‘hee-haws.’”

By this time the mettle of the man I was interviewing was evident. I decided to shift to more open ground.

Wirt: A light touch has been characteristic of your writings, even when you are dealing with heavy theological themes. Would you say there is a key to the cultivation of such an attitude?

Lewis: “I believe this is a matter of temperament. However, I was helped in achieving this attitude by my studies of the literary men of the Middle Ages, and by the writings of G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton, for example, was not afraid to combine serious Christian themes with buffoonery. In the same way the miracle plays of the Middle Ages would

deal with a sacred subject such as the nativity of Christ, yet would combine it with a farce.”

Wirt: Should Christian writers, then, in your opinion, attempt to be funny?

Lewis: “No. I think that forced jocularities on spiritual subjects are an abomination, and the attempts of some religious writers to be humorous are simply appalling. Some people write heavily, some write lightly. I prefer the light approach because I believe there is a great deal of false reverence about. There is too much solemnity and intensity in dealing with sacred matters; too much speaking in holy tones.”

Wirt: But is not solemnity proper and conducive to a sacred atmosphere?

Lewis: “Yes and no. There is a difference between a private devotional life and a corporate one.

Solemnity is proper in church, but things that are proper in church are not necessarily proper outside, and vice versa. For example, I can say a prayer while washing my teeth, but that does not mean I should wash my teeth in church.”

Where trust is being violated the Church must speak

Howard Gregory | Jamaica Observer intended management of pub- ent ends, it does raise the ques-

I

t is perhaps fortuitous that on the day on which I am responding to the editorial of this newspaper, there is a report within the print media that Jamaica has jumped two places to eighth on the 2017 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders out of a possible 180 places. It speaks to a level of freedom and exchange of ideas which we often take for granted, but which makes possible the dialogue which the Jamaica Observer editorial of April 27, 2017 invites, and which is vital to the life of a vibrant democratic society.

It is essential that in this era of “facts” and “alternative facts” that we ensure that we are on the same page and dealing with the same reality for meaningful dialogue to take place. Let me first of all correct the notion that the Church does not pay taxes. While there is an abundance of entities registered by law in this country as churches, the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (Anglican) pays millions of dollars each year in taxes into the Government's coffers for property and other taxes, and has been subject to tax audits by the tax administration of Jamaica.

Additionally, we have our financial audits done each year, and are pleased to say that, unlike many public and private entities in this country, our audit for the year ended 2016 is ready and was released at our annual synod, which concluded a week ago, and can be viewed by the Tax Administration Jamaica or any government entity entitled so to do.

I am sure that the editorial board of the Observer is fully aware of how simple punctuation or rephrasing of a sentence or a few words can falsify the intended meaning of a speaker. The full text of my sermon, which is available, is not a plea for exemption of churches from

lic funds to include “church, trust and government-owned schools”.

The point is that schools are already underfunded and raise funds for developmental projects such as laboratories, information and communications technology centres, as well as classrooms. Anyone who is in touch with the reality of building costs today would be aware of the fact that it takes millions of dollars to undertake any one of these projects. My caution relates to the fact that simply looking at surplus funds in a school's accounts, to which the Government currently is privy, and to see these funds as idle funds which can be garnered for government use, is not only misguided, but it fails to take cognisance of the sums that must be accumulated over time to initiate planned projects and, if tampered with, will not only be a disincentive to those who have invested in raising these funds, but a retardation of developments in our educational institutions which this country can ill afford.

The editorial was right to indicate that National Housing Trust funds have been “raided” by two governments to date and we have received the explanation of the use of these funds to pay down the debt, but does that put the matter to rest? There are two issues which I raised in relation to this matter which are not going away.

The first has to do with the increasing withdrawal of our citizens from participation in the political process because many do not trust Government to act in their interest — a situation which is not peculiar to Jamaica. When, therefore, changes of this nature are being made to an institution which was sold to the nation — with resistance by many at the time of introduction — that it would be able to address the matter of housing solutions for contributors, one

tion of the extent to which citizens can maintain their trust in any government when they give certain undertakings.

Additionally, one reason there is the significant surplus is the fact that some of the contributors at the lower economic levels are not able to access and service loans. The nation stands in need of 20,000 housing solutions per year for us to adequately house the nation, and the National Housing Trust has not reached anywhere near that number. In the meantime, the squatter communities thrive all over the nation. In short, at whose expense has this accumulated surplus been channelled to service our debts? Truth is, I have had my National Housing Trust benefit and serviced the same.

How many contributors cannot access that source of funding, and is it on their backs that those of us better placed in society are satisfied to settle our national debts once more?

On the matter of growth, I pointed out that the nation needs growth and prosperity and acknowledged that the tight financial management of recent years has placed us in good stead. At the same time, I drew attention to the growing economic and social disparities in this country. We cannot continue to assume that every initiative benefits everyone in the society. If we pay attention to what has been happening in elections in major Western societies we will see that those who have not been the beneficiaries of the prosperity of their nation are not prepared to remain voiceless. Hopefully, we will heed the warning signs.

Finally, I muse at the thought that preaching the sermon may be no easier than writing the editorial on this matter of the economy.

Right Reverend Howard Gregory is the Anglican Bishop

Wirt: What is your opinion of the kind of writing being done within the Christian church today?

Lewis: “A great deal of what is being published by writers in the religious tradition is a scandal and is actually turning people away from the church. The liberal writers who are continually accommodating and whittling down the truth of the Gospel are responsible. I cannot understand how a man can appear in print claiming to disbelieve everything that he presupposes when he puts on the surplice. I feel it is a form of prostitution.”

Wirt: What do you think of the controversial new book, Honest to God, by John Robinson, the bishop of Woolwich?

Lewis: “I prefer being honest to being ‘honest to God.’” Wirt: What Christian writers have helped you?

Lewis: “The contemporary book that has helped me the most is Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man. Others are Edwyn Bevan’s book, Symbolism and Belief, Rudolf Otto’s The Idea of the Holy, and the plays of Dorothy Sayers.”

Wirt: I believe it was Chesterton who was asked why he became a member of the church, and he replied, “To get rid of my sins.”

At this point I was surprised by the suddenness of Professor Lewis’ reply.

Lewis: “It is not enough to want to get rid of one’s sins,” he said. “We also need to believe in the One who saves us from our sins. Not only do we need to recognize that we are sinners; we need to believe in a Savior who takes away sin. Matthew Arnold once wrote, ‘Nor does the being hungry prove that we have bread.’ Because we know we are sinners, it does not follow that we are saved.”

Wirt: In your book Surprised

by Joy you remark that you were brought into the faith kicking and struggling and resentful, with eyes darting in every direction looking for an escape. You suggest that you were compelled, as it were, to become a Christian. Do you feel that you made a decision at the time of your conversion?

Lewis: “I would not put it that way. What I wrote in Surprised by Joy was that ‘before God closed in on me, I was offered what now appears a moment of wholly free choice.’ But I feel my decision was not so important. I was the object rather than the subject in this affair. I was decided upon. I was glad afterwards at the way it came out, but at the moment what I heard was God saying, ‘Put down your gun and we’ll talk.’”

Wirt: That sounds to me as if you came to a very definite point of decision.

Lewis: “Well, I would say that the most deeply compelled action is also the freest action. By that I mean, no part of you is outside the action.

It is a paradox. I expressed it in Surprised by Joy by saying that I chose, yet it really did not seem possible to do the opposite.”

Wirt: You wrote 20 years ago that “a man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool; you can spit at

him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Would you say your view of this matter has changed since then?

Lewis: “I would say there is no substantial change.”

Wirt: Would you say that the aim of Christian writing, including your own writing, is to bring about an encounter of the reader with Jesus Christ?

Lewis: “That is not my language, yet it is the purpose I have in view.

For example, I have just finished a book on prayer, an imaginary correspondence with someone who raises questions about difficulties in prayer.”

Wirt: How can we foster the encounter of people with Jesus Christ?

Lewis: “You can’t lay down any pattern for God. There are many different ways of bringing people into his Kingdom, even some ways that I specially dislike! I have therefore learned to be cautious in my judgment.

“But we can block it in many ways. As Christians we are tempted to make unnecessary concessions to those outside the faith. We give in too much. Now, I don’t mean that we should run the risk of making a nuisance of ourselves by witnessing at improper times, but there comes a time when we must show that we disagree. We must show our Christian colors, if we are to be true to Jesus Christ. We cannot remain silent or concede everything away.

“There is a character in one of my children’s stories named Aslan, who says, ‘I never tell anyone any story except his own.’ I cannot speak for the way God deals with others; I only know how he deals with me personally. Of course, we are to pray for spiritual awakening, and in various ways we can do something toward it. But we must remember that neither Paul nor Apollos gives the increase. As Charles Williams once said, ‘The altar must often be built in one place so that the fire may come down in another place.’”

This article was taken from Decision magazine, September 1963; © 1963 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Better Than Busy | Recovering Rest in a Burnout Culture Colin Noble | Desiring God

Jesus for rest (Matthew 11:28) regularly took a day of rest from distraction, The cry of our age is “busy.” work, and busyness? What would this How are you? “Busy.” weekly habit have to offer to the world How’s work? “Busy.” in which we find ourselves — a world How are the kids doing? “Their that restlessly continues to search for lives are so busy. I feel like I’m just peace amid busyness?

a taxi driver.”

How was the shopping mall today? “Too busy.”

Can you help me? “I’m busy at the moment.”

T

he fast-paced busyness of life that pushes God to the margins can easily turn into burnout. Lots of us are crying out for ways of handling the busyness before it does.

Yet expectations of keeping up with everything continually escalate, courtesy of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Netflix, and the rest. We are all susceptible to the expectation that we always are available, aware of everything that is happening, and capable of achieving anything. Unsurprisingly, this demand to be omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent places pressure on all of us, whatever our level of social media dexterity.

Add some more ingredients — inadequate sleep, poor dietary habits, caffeine addiction, the urge to project our preferred identity, a sedentary lifestyle — and we have the perfect recipe for unremitting anxiety and restlessness.

But each of us is, if you like, the chief cook in our own kitchen. We can choose to rethink the ingredients we stir into the mix of life that leave us feeling bloated and stressed rather than nourished and sustained. The 24/7 hustle and bustle is of our own making, at least to some extent. Just as people go on detox diets, we would do well to heed calls for digital detox and reconsider how much we try to pack into life.

A good starter is the practical suggestions for a twelve-step digital detox by Tony Reinke, followed with the richly nourishing poetry of Wendell Berry’s This Day. The futile attempt to sustain ourselves by our own efforts is not new.

Our digital age simply offers new manifestations of the age-old temptation to usurp God’s role for ourselves.

But against this age-old temptation, God offers an age-old response: what

3. Taking a weekly day of rest proclaims Christ’s supremacy.

Taking one day a week to loosen our hearts’ grip on our own achievements clears space for remembering and reminding each other of Christ’s achievements. Everything we cannot do, even with endless striving, Christ has done already. In our rest, we proclaim that he has fulfilled the requirement of perfect obedience to his Father (Romans 8:3–4). We proclaim that he has provided the true rest our pursuit of leisure activities and restless sleep cannot provide (Matthew 11:28–30).

Since those who die in the Lord will rest from their hard labor (Revelation 14:13), resting one day a week now helps us to remember and prepare for that future, when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess he is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11). We declare that our ambition is much bigger than career progression, or status elevation, or completing earthly tasks — it is to make Christ known.

1. Taking a weekly day of rest is a sign that we desire God. Taking one day a week to cease our strivings and focus on God shouts out that we desire God above status, financial reward, promotion in the workplace, achievement, and all other things that would distract us from the one we love.

Not taking time with someone we love when given the chance is a sure sign of diminished desire to be with them, to reflect together on the good times spent together in the past, and to consider what the future holds.

When we specifically and intentionally set a day a week aside to focus on the Lord, as the old covenant people of God were commanded to do as they journeyed (Exodus 16:23, 25), we signal to the world that our hearts belong to him.

4. Taking a weekly day Treasuring a day of rest and wor- of rest declares our freedom. ship lets people know where our Freeing one day a week from the heart lies. tyranny of the urgent and the neverfinished to-do list reminds us and 2. Taking a weekly day of those around us that we are no lonrest is a sign that we trust God. ger slaves. The original recipients of Taking one day a week to let go of the command to rest one day in seven our endeavors to survive the present were reminded that the Lord rescued and prepare for the future shows that them from slavery in Egypt (Deuterwe trust God that his provision for the onomy 5:15). But for Israel — and for present is adequate and his promise us — redemption from physical bondfor the future is sure. age was merely a picture of the greater When we have a weekly rhythm of a freedom from sin and death (Romans day of rest, we stand alongside the old 6:15–23). We see more clearly than did covenant saints who trusted God to Israel that we “were called to freedom” provide for their needs (Exodus 16:22– (Galatians 5:13), and therefore our 30). We stand alongside Jesus, who re- cause for remembrance and celebrajected Satan’s attempt to convince him tion is greater. to look after his own needs, by recallWe take a day of rest not by obliing that we live not on bread alone, gation, but out of a greater desire to but on every word that comes from the pause, to remember, to look forward, mouth of the Lord (Matthew 4:4). and to worship. Declaring that we We live with integrity as people freely choose to celebrate freedom is a who pray “give us this day our dai- message sorely needed by those who ly bread” (Matthew 6:11), and then are enslaved to the obligations of busytrust God to do it. As finite creatures, ness and who feel like they cannot eswe declare our trust in the resources cape the tyranny of burnout. of the infinite Creator, who provides us with every blessing (Ephesians Colin Noble is the author of Working for God. He lives with his wife and 1:3; 1 Timothy 6:17). When we comtwo children near bushland in Sydmit to enjoy a weekly day of rest in ney, Australia, and serves as chapthe busiest seasons of life (see Exo-

8

SunDAY 21•05•2017

INDIA

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

GST to help improve India's exports: Nirmala Sitharaman

new DelhI, May 20 (IanS): Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will help improve India's export growth. "The way the fitment discussions have happened in the GST Council and the way commodities and services have been treated, GST is only going to help in improving our exports," she said a briefing on three years of initiatives and achievements of the Commerce Ministry.

India's total exports rebounded with a growth of 4.95 per cent in 2016-17 despite a negative growth in services.

Merchandise exports touched $276.5 billion and rebounded with a growth of 5.44 per cent in 2016-17 after two years of non-positive growth.

"Because of GST, exporters will benefit. Export taxation under GST is zero per cent. They will also get input credit. Taxation structure will simplify and cascading effect will be reduced. Tax incidence will be reduced. There would be simplification of taxes under GST, so good returns for exporters," she added.

Hailing GST as a big-ticket reform, Sitharaman said that by way of input credits, the goods are going to cost less and benefit exporters.

"The smoothness with which GST has been brought about is a big ticket reform.

Since the input credits have been worked out for exporters, the raw materials for any form of commodity are going to cost lesser," she said.

Under GST, the exports are zero rated by way of refund, i.e. GST has to be paid initially but the input credit on raw materials can be claimed by way of refunds.

Sitharaman said that the ministry has been in constant dialogue with the Revenue Department and it has been arranged that 90 per cent of the advance paid money

will be refunded in 6-10 days post which an interest of 6 per cent will be given for any delay.

The minister said that she has also requested the GST Council for an alternative for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) but yet to hear from them.

"Our request with the Council for refund for SMEs was of an alternative rather than asking them to pay first and then get a refund. We are yet to hear from them," she said. Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) A. K. Bhalla assured that the system of refund under GST will be easier.

"Whatever tax is paid with different inputs will be refunded to the exporter or can take input tax credit. This will lead to ease of refund in the whole system. We should be better off under GST," he said at the briefing.

"The refund process for exporters has been definitely put on a fast track. While for a normal trader under GST, the time for response to his application/query is 15 days, for a exporter it is only three days.

The application/query of an exporter has to be responded within three days and he gets refund in seven days," he added.

The GST Council on Friday announced the fitment of services and 1,211 goods in the GST tax rates, heading towards the July 1 rollout of the new indirect tax regime.

Meanwhile, at the briefing, it was disclosed that services exports contributed $160.68 billion and imports remained at $95.47 billion, leaving a surplus of $65.21 billion in 2016-17. Total deficit (merchandise and services) reduced from $61.17 billion in 2014-15 to $40.98 billion in 2016-17.

The US was India's top export market in 2016-17 with export reaching $42.33 billion, a growth of 4.94 per cent. It was followed by United Arab Emirates ($31.26 billion) and Hong Kong ($14.16 billion).

Rajnath Singh chairs security review meeting with five CMs GanGtok, May 20 (IanS): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired here on Saturday the first security review meeting with Chief Ministers of five states bordering China.

The Home Minister brought up the issue of connectivity in border areas and stressed the need to overcome these challenges.

Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti (Jammu and Kashmir), Virbhadra Singh (Himachal Pradesh), Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), Pawan Kumar Chamling (Sikkim) and Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh) attended the meeting.

A Home Ministry official said the objective of the meeting was to strengthen coordination between the Ministry and the five states to improve overall border security.

The Minister is on a three-day visit to Sikkim from Friday.

Border infrastructure work undertaken by the Home Ministry, border area development programme, and coordination issues between the states

The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh chairing a review meeting of the Chief Ministers of five States on Indo-China Border Infrastructure and other issues, in Gangtok, Sikkim on May 20. (PIB Photo)

and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police came up at the meeting.

The ITBP is responsible for the security of the 3,488 km India-ChinaborderinJammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km) and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km).

He said the Home Ministry, in the first stage, is building 27 roads near the border which will be completed by 2019-20. "Ap-

proval is being given for 48 other roads."

Rajnath Singh also stressed the need to strengthen basic infrastructure in the border areas in view of "thinning population and migration" from the border.

The Minister also advocated development of model villages in border districts and asked the states to send more proposals to the central government in this regard.

"The Centre is focussing on consolidated development of model villages in border districts. Last year, funds were released for 41 such villages," he said.

Rajnath Singh said the states should remove obstacles in border infrastructure development and that the problems pertaining to land acquisition and clearances need to be resolved.

He advised the Chief Ministers to send senior officers every six months

to border areas in their respective states to review and implement the developmental work done in the villages.

Earlier in the day, the Home Minister visited Nathula Pass and an ITBP border post at Lachung, where he met troopers deployed on the Sino-Indian border.

He praised the ITBP personnel and asked them to be very vigilant while performing their border duties.

Kerala girl 'bobbitises' godman, CM hails her India will lose 2,305 sq km forest cover by 2025: Study

thIruvananthaPuraM, May 20 (IanS): A 54-year-old godman who was bobbitised by a young woman here remained in hospital on Saturday even as police registered a case against him.

A police officer said they were yet to decide what course of action needed to be taken vis-a-vis the 23-year-old woman, who cut off the man's genitals a day earlier after accusing him of sexual harassment.

"Due process of law will be followed after taking the statement of the accused," a police officer who did not want to be named told IANS. Hari Swami, as the ac-

cused is known, remained warded at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital after the woman severed almost 90 per cent of his genitals.

The woman has reportedly told police that she was subjected to sexual harassment at the hands of the godman for the past five years.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came out in support of the woman.

Asked if "strong action" would be taken against the accused, he shot back: "Strong action has already taken place. All we need is to extend our support to her." The hospital said

a team of medical professional conducted plastic surgery on Hari Swami, who is from a Hindu ashram near Kollam, and he was now out of danger.

According to the woman, the Swami was a frequent visitor to their home here and used to conduct rituals right from the time when she was a Class 12 student.

Her father was apparently keeping unwell for a long time. On Friday, the woman grabbed a knife and attacked the Swami.

Prameela Devi, a member of the Kerala State Women's Commission, said she felt proud of the woman.

"Such acts by anyone, especially when it comes under the guise of a religious tag, irrespective of the religion, is not acceptable," she said.

The Swami, however, is in a denial mode and has told the doctors that it was he who slashed his own genitals "as I do not need it". But with journalists trying to reach out to him, the Swami has reportedly turned rebellious and was abusing visitors, a doctor said.

BJP leader K. Rajashekharan also demanded action against the godman.

"Anyone who does a crime needs to face consequences," he said.

kolkata, May 20 (IanS): A staggering 2,305 sq km of forest cover in northeast India and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands -- slightly more than the size of Mauritius -- could disappear by 2025, a simulation study by ISRO scientists has predicted.

"The overall predicted loss of forest cover by 2025 is estimated to be 2,305 km square in the Northeast and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The modelling results predicted widespread deforestation in these areas and hence is likely to affect the remaining forests significantly before 2025," said the study carried out to simulate the forest cover changes in India using Land Change Modeler software.

Published in the Journal of Earth System Science in February, the study investigated the distribution of forest cover in India by reconstructing the previous forest cover and predicted

the ever-continuing deforestation in selected parts of India with high deforestation rates.

The predicted forest cover in 1880 indicates an area of 10,42,008 km square, which represents 31.7 per cent of the geographical area of India.

It points out about 40 per cent of the forest cover in India was lost during 1880-2013 (in around 133 years).

The ownership of majority of forest lands by non-governmental agencies and large scale shifting cultivation are responsible for higher deforestation rates in the northeastern states, the study noted.

"Previously, the six states of the northeast (Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura) and one union territory (Andaman & Nicobar Islands) had shown rate of deforestation of more than 0.3 percentage per year from 2005 to 2013 and has been considered in the pres-

ent study for the prediction of future forest cover in 2025," the authors reported. The simulation scenario for the year 1880 showed a significant increase in forest area, whereas as a declining trend in the area was observed for 2025.

It highlighted "the majority of the protected areas are successful in the protection of the forest cover in the northeast due to management practices, with the exception of Manas, Sonai-Rupai, Nameri and Marat Longri."

The study is authored by C Sudhakar Reddy, Sonali Singh, V K Dadhwal, C S Jha, N Rama Rao, and P G Diwakar from National Remote Sensing Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Balanagar, Hyderabad and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. It is a part of ISRO's National Carbon Project."

Army foils infiltration bid; 2 soldiers, India taking part in global disaster No reduction in H1B visas to India: Sitharaman risk reduction meet in Mexico 2 militants killed in encounter The attack came on the day of Arun Jaitley's visit to the Kashmir Valley to review the overall security situation.

Indian army soldiers take position during an encounter with militants in Jammu and Kashmir. (AFP/File)

SrInaGar, May 20 (PtI/anI): Two militants and two soldiers were killed in a fierce encounter as the Army today foiled an infiltration bid in Naugam sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

"An infiltration bid was foiled by alert troops along the LoC in Naugam sector.

Two infiltrating terrorists were killed," an army official told PTI. He said two soldiers attained martyrdom in the operation, which was continuing till last reports were received.

Earlier on Saturday, a group of terrorists were intercepted near LoC in Handwara sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on Saturday.

According to sources, p6 RR and Handwara police had cordoned off the Behak area where the ter-

rorists were believed to have managed to sneak in through the LoC. The attack came in the wake of Defence Minister Arun Jaitley reviewing the overall security situation in the Kashmir Valley with Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat and other senior Army officers.

The Defence Minister was apprised of various measures to strengthen the robust counter infiltration grid along the Line of Control.

He was also briefed on the close coordination amongst all government agencies towards restoring normalcy in the region.

He urged all defence personnel to continue their good job and ensure safety of the innocent people while dealing firmly with inimical elements.

He also directed the commanders to maintain

a strict vigil along the Line of Control and remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure from across the border following the ceasefire violation earlier on Tuesday by the Pakistan Army in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Pakistan Army, earlier on Sunday, instigated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Chiti Bakri area of Rajouri sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Army also retaliated to the unprovoked act strongly and effectively.

At least two civilians including a minor girl were killed and nine people, including four soldiers were injured in the unprovoked firing by Pakistan in Rajouri district.

new DelhI, May 20 (IanS): India is participating in a five-day long Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) summit being held in Mexico from Tuesday.

An Indian delegation led

by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju left for the summit on Saturday.

The summit, held at Mexico's Cancun between May 22 and 26, is expected to be attended by over 5,000 delegates comprising heads of state, ministers, CEOs, disaster experts, volunteers, representatives from science and technology sectors and academia.

The GPDRR is a global forum for strategic advice, coordination, partnership development and review of progress in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 20152030 which was adopted at the 3rd UN World conference on disaster risk reduction held in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan.

The summit will mark the first opportunity since 2015 to review global progress in the implementation of SFDRR, a Home Ministry statement said.

It will also provide a platform for all stakeholders to galvanise their efforts in sustainable development and climate change adaptation, sharing of experiences, discussing innovative solutions, and charting out the course for an integrated approach at the international, regional, national and local levels.

Apart from presenting India's statement on May 24, Rijiju, the UN designated disaster risk reduction champion for Asia region, will co-chair the plenary session on national and local disaster risk reduction strategies to "pave the way for action by all" on May 25.

Rijiju will also participate in leaders forum, besides leading various bilateral meetings, and release the National Disaster Management Authority guidelines on protection of

museums.

During various sessions, the Indian delegation will highlight initiatives taken by its government in disaster risk reduction including the outcomes of the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) held at New Delhi in November 2016 and national platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) organised in New Delhi on May 15-16.

Additional Principal Secretary to the PM P.K. Mishra and NDMA member Kamal Kishore will be the speakers for the working sessions "Ensuring Risk-Resilient Critical Infrastructure" and "Sendai Framework Prototype Consultation" on May 24 respectively.

Other members of Indian delegation are Joint Secretary, NDMA, V. Thiruppugazh, Joint Secretary, Home, Sanjeev Jindal and Executive Director of National Institute of Disaster Management Santosh Kumar.

new DelhI, May 20 (IanS): In a bid to ease apprehensions of the IT industry over the H1B visas, Commerce Ministry Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that India will get the same number of visas, though only the category of people to whom these are awarded may undergo a change.

"Whatever number of H1B visas we get, that number is same. The type of people selected will change but the numbers will not be cut," Sitharaman said at a briefing on three years of initiatives and achievements of the Commerce Ministry.

"Only in place of lottery system, there will be some other system to give visas. But, there will be no cut in numbers," she added.

The minister said that with the change in system of giving out visas, only the category of people will undergo a change with an increase in the "high-end workers".

She said that the IT industry is ready to address the issue and there is no need to panic as the fear was more out of the uncertainty on the number of visas gettting affected.

"Even National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) is saying that the impact will not be much. There is no need for apprehension and panic. After going through the details we have found that there will be no change in the number of visas," she added.

Strategic partnership model in defense sector finalised

new DelhI, May 20 (IanS): The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Saturday finalised the broad contours of a longterm strategic partnership with the Indian private sector in defence manufacturing, official sources said.

The policy will be implemented in a few select segments to begin with -- fighter aircraft, submarines, armoured vehicles and helicopters.

Additional segments may be added in future.

One company can be a strategic partner in one segment only.

The DAC is the top decision-making body

on defence procurement, chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.

"The policy aims to develop Indian defenceindustrial eco-system through involvement of both major Indian corporates and the micro, small and medium enterprises sector," a Defence Ministry statement said.

The policy will provide a mechanism for a long-term strategic partnership with industry majors through a competitive process, wherein industry partners will tie up with global manufacturers to seek technology transfers and manufacturing knowhow to set

up domestic manufacturing infrastructure and supply chains. The policy will give a boost to the 'Make in India' initiative in the defence sector and set Indian industry on the path to acquire cutting-edge capabilities, it said.

The DAC met on Monday to discuss the issue but could not finalise the model.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley held a meeting on May 11 with industry representatives to discuss the proposed model.

The strategic partnership model was proposed after a committee led by former Director General

(Acquisition) Dhirendra Singh suggested finding strategic partners for highend defence production.

A task force was constituted by the Defence Ministry under former Defence Research and Development Organisation chief V.K. Aatre which, among other things, suggested finalising only one or two partners for each sector.

As per the committee report, the defence manufacturing sector has been categorised into two groups. The first group includes the segments of aircraft, helicopters, aero engines, submarines, warships, guns, including ar-

tillery guns, armoured vehicles that include tanks.

It was suggested that only one partner should be finalised in each segment in this group.

The second group includes metallic material and alloys, non-metallic material, including composites and polymers, and ammunition including smart ammunition, for which the task force said the number of partners can go up to two in each segment.

A chapter on this model was supposed to be there in the new Defence Procurement Procedure released by the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar last year.

SundAY 21•05•2017

WORLD

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

9

Iranians demanding change deliver Propulsion problems put emphatic victory for Hassan Rouhani Australian warships out of action DUBAI/BEIRUT, MAy 20 (REUTERs): Iranians yearning for more freedom at home and less isolation abroad have emphatically re-elected President Hassan Rouhani, throwing down a challenge to the conservative clergy that still holds ultimate sway.

State television congratulated Rouhani on his victory. The architect of Iran’s still-fragile detente with the West, he led with 58.6 percent of the vote, compared with 39.8 percent for his main challenger, hardline judge Ebrahim Raisi, according to nearcomplete results broadcast on Saturday.

Although the powers of the elected president are limited by those of unelected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who outranks him, the scale of Rouhani’s victory gives the pro-reform camp a strong mandate.

Rouhani’s opponent Raisi was a protege of Khamenei, tipped in Iranian media as a potential successor for the 77-year-old supreme leader who has been in power since 1989.

The re-election is likely to safeguard the nuclear agreement Rouhani’s government reached with global powers in 2015, under which most international sanctions have been lifted in return for Iran curbing its nuclear programme.

And it delivers a setback to the Revolutionary Guards, the powerful security force which controls

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani waves to supporters at a polling station during the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, May 19. (REUTERS)

a vast industrial empire in Iran. They had thrown their support behind Raisi to safeguard its interests.

“I am very happy for Rouhani’s win. We won. We did not yield to pressure.

We showed them that we still exist,” said 37-year-old Mahnaz, a reformist voter reached by telephone in the early hours of Saturday.

“I want Rouhani to carry out his promises.”

Nevertheless, Rouhani stills faces the same restrictions on his ability to transform Iran that prevented him from delivering substantial social change in his first term and thwarted reform efforts by one of his predecessors, Mohammad Khatami.

The supreme leader has veto power over all policies and ultimate control of the security forces. Rouhani has been unable to secure the release of reformist

leaders from house arrest, and media are barred from publishing the words or images of his reformist predecessor Khatami.

“The last two decades of presidential elections have been short days of euphoria followed by long years of disillusionment,” said Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment who focuses on Iran. “Democracy in Iran is allowed to bloom only a few days every four years, while autocracy is evergreen.”

The re-elected president will also have to navigate a tricky relationship with Washington, which appears at best ambivalent about the nuclear accord signed by former U.S. president Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has repeatedly described it as “one of the worst deals ever signed”, although his administration re-authorised waivers from

sanctions this week.

Trump arrived on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, his first stop on the first trip abroad of his presidency. The Saudis are Iran’s biggest enemies in the region and deplore the nuclear deal.

TURN-OUT Rouhani, known for decades as a mild-mannered member of the establishment, campaigned as an ardent reformist to stir up the passions of young, urban voters yearning for change.

At times he crossed traditional rhetorical boundaries, openly attacking the human rights record of the security forces and the judiciary.

During one rally he referred to hardliners as “those who cut out tongues and sewed mouths shut”.

In a debate last week he accused Raisi of seeking to “abuse religion for power”.

The rhetoric at the debate

earned a rare public rebuke from Khamenei, who called it “unworthy”.

The big turnout appeared to have favoured Rouhani, whose backers’ main concern had been apathy among reformist-leaning voters disappointed with the slow pace of change.

Many voters were particularly determined to block the rise of Raisi, one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in the 1980s, regarded by reformers as a symbol of the security state at its most fearsome.

“The wide mobilisation of the hardline groups and the real prospect of Raisi winning scared many people into coming out to vote,” said Nasser, a 52-year-old journalist.

“We had a bet among friends, and I said Raisi would win and I think that encouraged a few of my friends who might not have voted to come out and vote.”

The election was important “for Iran’s future role in the region and the world”, Rouhani said on Friday after voting.

Raisi, 56, had accused Rouhani of mismanaging the economy, travelling to poor areas and holding rallies where he promised more welfare benefits and jobs.

Despite the removal of nuclear-related sanctions in 2016, lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions that target Iran’s record on human rights and terrorism have kept foreign companies wary of investing, limiting the economic benefits so far.

Under fire, Trump launches first foreign trip in Saudi

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud walks with U.S. President Donald Trump during a reception ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 20. (REUTERS)

RIyADH, MAy 20 (REUTERs): Dogged by controversy at home, President Donald Trump opened a nine-day foreign trip on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, looking to shift attention from a spiraling political firestorm over his firing of former FBI Director James Comey last week.

With delicate diplomatic meetings facing him, including three summits, Trump faces a challenge of advancing his “America First” agenda without alienating key allies during his first trip abroad.

Stepping off Air Force One in sweltering heat with his wife, Melania, Trump and his entourage received a red-carpet welcome from Saudi King Salman.

The trip has been billed by the White House as a chance to visit places sacred to three of the world’s major religions while giving Trump time to meet with Arab, Israeli and European leaders.

But uproar in Washington threatened to cast a long shadow over the trip.

His firing of Comey and the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his campaign’s ties to Russia last year has triggered a stream of bad headlines.

The New York Times reported Trump had called Comey a “nut job” in a private meeting last week in the Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak.

The White House did not deny the report, but said the “the real story is that our national security has been undermined by the leaking of private and highly classified conversations.” Trump and King Salman seemed at ease with each other, chat-

ting through an interpreter.

Walking with a cane, the king greeted Trump on the tarmac. A military brass band played, cannons boomed and seven Saudi jets flew over in V-formation, trailing red, white and blue smoke.

The two leaders sat side by side at the VIP section of the airport terminal and drank cups of Arabic coffee.

“Do you spend a lot of time in New York?” Trump was overheard asking the king. On the drive to the Ritz hotel where Trump is staying, King Salman rode with the president in the heavily armored presidential limousine nicknamed “the Beast”.

ARMS DEAL After a royal banquet, Trump and the king were to have private talks and participate in a signing ceremony for a number of U.S.-Saudi agreements, including a $100 billion deal for Saudi Arabia to buy American arms.

National oil giant Saudi Aramco expected to sign $50 billion of deals with U.S. companies on Saturday, part of a drive to diversify the kingdom’s economy beyond oil exports, Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said.

Trump is to deliver a speech on Sunday aimed at rallying Muslims in the fight against Islamic militants in Riyadh on Sunday.

He will also attend a summit with Gulf leaders as part of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

Shortly after taking office, Trump had sought to block people from several Muslimmajority nations from entering the United States, but the travel ban has been blocked by federal courts.

The 70-year-old presi-

dent’s travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium will be Trump’s longest time away from the White House since he took office four months ago.

Even his hand gestures were likely to draw scrutiny in the Middle East, where the thumbs-up sign, a sig-

nature move of Trump’s, is considered taboo.

The uproar over Comey’s firing looked unlikely to go away. “It’s almost always true that when a president goes on a big foreign trip, especially one that has some important summits ... that that dominates the news and knocks most other stuff out,” said Republican strategist Charlie Black.

Trump, who has expressed a desire for friendlier relations with Moscow, drew a storm of criticism this week when it emerged that he had shared sensitive national security information with Russia’s foreign minister during a meeting last week in the White House. The president was already under attack for firing Comey in the midst of an FBI probe into Russia’s role in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump campaign members. Moscow has denied any such interference.

Trump has denied collusion and denounced the appointment of a special counsel as a witch hunt.

His fellow Republicans in Congress have expressed frustration that Trump’s probusiness economic agenda, featuring a plan to cut corporate and individual taxes, has been pushed to the backburner by the turmoil.

syDNEy, MAy 20 (REUTERs): Australia is investigating if problems in the propulsion systems of two $1.5 billion warships built by manufacturers from Spain, Germany and Britain are the result of design flaws.

Naval engineers are trying to figure out exactly what is causing the problems onboard the HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Canberra, the largest ships ever constructed for the the Royal Australian Navy.

Both Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs) were built by Spanish firm Navantia using propulsion pods from German company Siemens, and fitted with with combat and communications systems by British company BAE Systems.

Oils have leaked into parts of the vessels’ propulsion system where they shouldn’t be, naval chiefs said in a briefing on Friday.

“Am I disappointed? Yes. We were not expecting to find this,” said Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, the chief of the Royal Australian Navy. Rear Admiral Adam Grunsell,

NAGALAND

the head of maritime systems in defence force’s capability acquisition and sustainment group, said the problem could be a design issue, but stressed it was too early to speculate.

The HMAS Adelaide, which is currently dry docked in Sydney Harbour, will miss the biennial Talisman Sabre joint military training exercise with the United States in June, Barrett said. It was unknown, as yet, what role HMAS Canberra would take.

The three companies are working with the navy to help identify the problems.

A spokeswoman for BAE Systems in Australia said the company was working with the navy to restore the ships’ capabilities. A representative from Navantia was not immediately available for to answer questions. Siemens declined to comment.

HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide were commissioned in late 2014 and 2015 respectively, and were touted as a the next generation of Australian naval ships when they took to the sea.

UNIVERSITY

NU-MAT 2017 For MBA Admission 2017

This is for kind information of all prospective students that Nagaland University-Management Aptitude Test (NU-MAT) for Admission into MBA Programme of Nagaland University, Kohima Campus will be held on 10th June, 2017 at Nagaland University Kohima Campus and SET, Nagaland University, Dimapur at 10 AM. (Note: Candidates having valid MAT composite score of 500 and above may apply directly for GD & PI) Eligibility/ Selection criteria for Admission: i) Graduate in any discipline with 50% marks (45% for SC/ST). ii) Candidates who have appeared their Bachelor Degree final semester exams and waiting for results are also eligible to apply. iii) Written Test centres will be in Kohima and Dimapur. iv) The written test will be followed by Group Discussions (GD) and Personal Interview (PI). However, GD & PI will be held only at Department of Management, Nagaland University, Kohima. v) Final. Selection will be based on the performances of written test, GD and PT. vi) Mode of application will only be online. Candidates have to log in to "admissions.nagalanduniversity.ac.in" to apply online. vii) Application Fee is Rs 600/- for General and OBC candidates and Rs 500/- for SC and ST. The fee has to be paid online in "SBI Collect".

Important Dates: i) Start of online registration for NU MAT : 15th May, 2017 ii) Last date for submission of online application : 06th June 2017 iii) Date of NU-MAT (written exams) : 10th June 2017 iv) Date of GD and PT (Group Discussion & Personal Interview) : 17th June 2017 v) Declaration of Result : 20th June 2017 Correspondence address: Head, Department of Management Nagaland University Kohima Email: mba@nagalanduniversity.ac.in 9436896150/9402830063 Sd/- Administration and Academic incharge

10

SunDAY 21•05•2017

sports

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

Usmanov makes Bundesliga signs up first full takeover woman referee for next season BERLIN, May 20 (REutERs): bid of Arsenal A 38-year-old police officer will be-

LoNdoN, May 20 (IaNs): Alisher Usmanov, who owns 30.04 per cent of English Premier League (EPL) giants Arsenal, has made a one billion pound ($1.30 billion) bid to take control of the north London football club from majority shareholder Stan Kroenke.

English media reported that Kroenke has yet to formally respond to the offer, which was made last month and was reported initially by the Financial Times.

Uzbek-born Russian billionaire Usmanov, who is not part of the board or decision-making at the club, said in April that Kroenke must "bear huge responsibility" for the club's failures on the pitch, reports Xinhua news agency.

Kroenke, who also owns the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, has been Arsenal's majority shareholder since 2011.

The American increased his shareholding -- through his company Kroenke Sports Enterprise -- to 67.05 per cent of the club with a purchase of 23 ordinary shares in May 2016, the Sky news said.

come the first woman to referee a top-flight soccer match in Germany next season after being promoted to the Bundesliga, the country's football association (DFB) said on Friday.

Bibiana Steinhaus has been a German FA referee since 1999 and taken charge of 80 second division matches since 2007.

She also officiated during the 2011 and 2015 women's World Cups and the 2012 London Olympics, and will referee the women's Champions League final in Cardiff on June 1.

"For every referee, male or female, it is the goal to officiate in the Bundesliga," said Steinhaus, who is being promoted with three male colleagues, in a statement.

"I worked towards that in the past years and had to also suffer some setbacks. That is why I am happy about the trust the referee commission has shown."

German FA President Reinhard Grindel said he hoped Steinhaus would not be the last woman to referee in the top league. "Hopefully (she)... will motivate many young girls in our country to imitate her," he said.

Alonso fires warning shot on Fast Friday INdIaNapoLIs, May 20 (REutERs): Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais posted the top speed while IndyCar rookie Fernando Alonso fired a warning shot on the final day of practice before qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on Saturday.

Bourdais, who spent parts of two seasons in Formula One with Toro Rosso, posted the fastest lap of 233.116 mph (375.164 kph) around the famed 2.5 mile super speedway on what is known as 'Fast Friday'.

Qualifying is on Saturday with 33 spots on the starting grid for the May 28th race up for grabs. The

fastest nine cars will battle for pole on Sunday.

The Frenchman was the only driver to crack 233 mph with American Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, posting the second best effort of 232.132.

"Never a bad day when you're at the front," smiled Bourdais. "It's pretty exciting just to be in the mix knowing that we seemingly have a chance to do well in qualifying.

Japan's Takuma Sato was third quickest with a 231.969 mph and Alonso fourth best with 231.827 mph in his McLaren Andretti Autosport Honda.

It was a particularly

impressive performance from the Spaniard given the two time Formula One champion had never driven an IndyCar before this week with the exception of one brief test earlier in May. The effort impressed his Alonso's Andretti Autosport team mate Sato, who also had considerable experience in Formula One with Jordan, BAR and Super Aguri, before making the jump to IndyCar. "I think it's very impressive," Sato told reporters.

"Although, it's what you expected, what we expected, to be honest.

"Fernando is one of the

best drivers in the world. I think we expected him to be up to speed very quickly.

"Obviously today is something new for him again. Fast Friday you break 230 miles per hour for the first time. He did drive extremely well."

Alonso has endured a miserable F1 season with McLaren, who have struggled with an unreliable and uncompetitive Honda engine and are the only team on the grid yet to score a point after five races.

Honda, however, have dominated at the Brickyard powering 11 of the top 12 cars on Fast Friday, including the top four.

Pune take on Mumbai in IPL title showdown HydERaBad, May 20 (aFp): Steve Smith's Rising Pune Supergiant eye their maiden Indian Premier League crown as they meet tournament favourites Mumbai Indians in a mouth-watering title clash in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Pune, who ended seventh in the eight-team Twenty20 tournament last year, had a mixed start this season only to pick up momentum towards the business end.

Pune's record buy Ben Stokes proved to be the trump card as the England all-rounder's showing with the bat and ball was instrumental in the side clinching a play-off berth.

But the team showed in the first qualifier against Mumbai that it is not a oneman army after young spinner Washington Sundar turned out to be the unlikely hero with his match-winning haul of three wickets.

Sundar's performance made up for Stokes' absence, after he left for national duty before the knockouts.

However Pune, whose two-year run along with Gujarat Lions ends this season, may be playing their last game in the cashrich league after being denied an extension by the league's governing council early this month.

The two banned franchises — Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals — are all set to come back in the next edition of the league, having served two year suspensions for their involvement in 2013 spotfixing saga.

But captain Smith, who took charge from Mahen-

Rising Pune Supergiant celebrate during the first 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 Qualifier against Mumbai Indians on May 16, 2017. (AFP Photo)

dra Singh Dhoni ahead of this season, is focussed on the task at hand as he praised the team for its stupendous showing.

"You really need to peak at the right time in tournaments like this... It is a really exciting time for us," Smith, who has accumulated 421 runs in 14 matches, said after his team booked the final spot.

Dhoni's finishing powers might be on the wane but the gutsy wicketkeeper-batsman's presence is enough to intimidate the opposition. His 26-ball unbeaten 40 in the previous game was a proof of his game-changing ability.

"Steve Smith has led the side admirably and got Pune into the finals.

Of course he has had great help from Dhoni," former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said in a column in The

Times of India.

Pune's bowling arsenal boasts fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat who is getting adequate support from fellow paceman Dan Christian, leg-spinner Adam Zampa and Sundar.

- One more hurdle But two-time champions Mumbai would be no pushovers as skipper Rohit Sharma insisted that the team would take their confidence forward from the win against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the second qualifier.

Mumbai, who would be playing their fourth IPL final, have been the team to beat in this edition with 11 wins out of their 16 matches.

"We have been really working hard. We don't shy away from going into the finals the hard way. Today was the perfect day. Gives you a lot of confidence,"

Sharma said after their thumping win against Kolkata on Friday.

"We've not had a great history against (Pune). Just one more hurdle," Sharma said, whose team has lost all its three games against Pune this season.

Champions in 2013 and 2015, Mumbai boast of a number of match-winners including some powerpacked foreign presence in big-hitter Kieron Pollard and New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan.

Wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel has given the team many good starts in the tournament with Sharma, burly West Indian Pollard and Sharma also rising to the challenge.

Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah has been the perfect death bowler for Mumbai with his ability to bowl consistent yorkers.

public discourse

Critique of poems by Mona Zote and Monalisa Changkija Liz Ralte

M

(Courtesy: The Hindu)

ona Zote lives in Aizawl in the Northeast Indian state of Mizoram. She describes herself as a poet “disguised as a government employee”. She writes in English.

She has published her poetry in various journals, including Indian Literature and Carapace. Her work was also featured in the Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, edited by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih and Robin Ngangom. She publishes sparingly.

Zote’s poetry startles with its unsentimental and disquieting imagery, its register that moves from the formal to the colloquial and its determinedly fragmentary, non-linear style.

An IAS officer’s daughter, Mona Zote spent her childhood in Bihar before moving to Mizoram in her 20s.

To Mona Zote, “There are only two ways of writing a poem: either a line comes to you or you reach out for that crucial line”. She also mentions that she does not ever consciously work towards building a world. She says that part of her present frustration is rooted in the sense of not being able to piece together the shapes of her environment. She claims, “It’s like standing too close to a stained glass window; you glimpse colours and suggestions of forms but the picture in its entirely is not discernible”. (The Hindu, Online edition of India's National Newspaper, Sunday, Jan 2, 2011. Building the universe of the poem, Ashley Tellis) (1) In “Gunrunning”, she gives an insight into tribal insurgency but her stance is of studied nonchalance, almost cruelly ideal. The poem shows in part the complex history of Mizoram – the violence of believing in the violence of the insurgents when words have failed or they are of no purpose. Give up cigarettes, take up Opium instead…because, you know, it sends us dreams. (Nongkynrih, Kynpham Sing & S Ngangong,Robin (eds), Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, 2003, NEHU Publications, print.)

These lines seems to suggest that dreams are all that one had to hold onto in those times of turmoil and strife or it could be that Mona Zote is playing with her satirical view of the Mizo society. The lines could also point to the pretentious lifestyle of the Mizo people, who want the newest things, the most in “vogue” material things that they could reach.

In the last lines, Mona Zote proclaims “We all like to feel so special”, seems to point out the individual feeling of wanting to feel unique, solidifying her stance of style of writing poetry. The poem captures the theme of post modernism like techno culture and hyper reality. According to this logic, society has moved beyond capitalism into the information age, in which one is bombarded with advertisements, videos and product placement. Mona Zote thus sets her poem in such a way that it is evident one is not able to escape the confines of the modern world itself – its restricting customs and traditions. In an interview she gave in The Hindu on January 2, 2011, Mona Zote on asked about her influences on her work, said that it was life.

For her, “writing is partly an effort to make sense of things and partly an attempt to keep from going insane. The absurdity of life, the inherent strangeness of whatever is considered normal. People and their byzantine reasons for doing what they do”. (The Hindu, Online edition of India's National Newspaper, Sunday, Jan 2, 2011. Building the universe of the poem,

Ashley Tellis) (3) In “The Whores of Augus”, Mona Zote touch on the taboo subject of prostitution. One cannot but think about the state of Mizo Christianity, where rigid Christianity is propounded, and the existence of prostitutes or “fallen” women are ironical. Mona Zote seems to glorify their existence describing their “clean hands…. cleanly folded” and questions why “we’re mad about them?” She gave these women a voice, not merely giving them negative effects like the majority of the community and in turn the world. She seems to establish the picture that these “whores” are women and human as well and the reader is reminded of that bit of humanity even in the lowest station of society. Zote challenged the established order of these stereotyped women because her identity as a “Mizo” and being a “Woman” are inseparable in the process of her writing poetry. She called the “whores”: Loving and wise Unpinning their damp dark hair, eyes gleaming Mona Zote looks underneath the surface, with her describing the “damp dark hair” also points to the potent sexuality of women in these women and women in general. She in passing praised the sexuality of a woman and the powers she held in it. The gleaming eyes gave a view into a woman’s intelligence as these women are obviously clever and brilliant enough to “snare” men with their vivid sexuality and intelligence.

What is evident in most of Mona Zote’s poems is her criticism of society or religion pertaining to Mizo society. It is evident too in “The Whores of August”, when she speaks of: And in the madonnaic embrace find What no perfect daughters would deny Sweetness in all their ways.

She compares the “fallen” women’s embraces as pure as that of the Madonna and critics the construction of the “perfect daughters” of the society, who are so constructed in the ways of society that they are left with no individuality.

Mona Zote proclaims that these “whores” have “Sweetness in all their ways”, they might be on the borders of society but they escaped the molding plastics that society would ensnare them in. The neglect of the Christian society, the poetry seems to suggest, is the salvation to their expression of women’s individuality. (Nongkynrih, Kynpham Sing & S Ngangong,Robin (eds), Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, 2003, NEHU Publications, print) Even though Mona Zote’s criticisms of society and the church are varied in her poems, what readers must be certain is that her tribal identity is always present – albeit bitter and ironic. She is a great contributor to the awakening of Mizo society in terms of poetry in the mainstream modern literature of India. In one of her very famous poem “Rez”, she wrote: if they ask you about life on the reservation if they say they want to hear about stilt houses and the dry clack of rain on bamboo and the preservation of tribal ways give them a slaughter.

But Mona Zote gleefully informs “Rez” came out of an obscure news item about a shootout on a Native American reservation. She does acknowledge that she was “wresting with things here too - but not just from the Northeast. It doesn’t matter where you’re from; we’re all in our own reservations”. Zote’s poems are manic, wildly lyrical and on the spot in catching the feeling of modern Mizo culture and society.

Monalisa Changkija is a poet and writer from Nagaland. She is the Editor and Proprietor of the

Nagaland Page, an English Daily. Her books include Weapons of Words on Pages of Pain.

She distinguishes herself as an intrepid journalist with her coverage of the Merapani wars fought between the police forces of Nagaland and Assam. Her articles, published in Nagaland and other parts of the country, on the grievances of the Angh of Chui and the gross human rights violations, especially of women there, created a consciousness amongst people of the often forgotten people. Monalisa Changkija has been at the receiving end of both insurgent groups and the armed forces for her reportage and her upholding of journalistic ethic. She has presented numerous seminar papers across India on varied subjects particularly on Naga issues, women’s status, human rights and media. (Poetry International Rotterdam. http://www. poetryinternationalweb.net/) Monalisa Changkija’s writings are political, cultural, feminists and over-powering. Monalisa Changkija, while bringing out the finer analytical element underlying each word in her poems speak against the socially constructed norms in “bracketing” and oppressing women and hopes that within the undying spirit their “silenced voice” will one day emerge collectively towards real change and towards a gender equitable society she wants the women of today to believe in themselves as being the most important in life above all priorities in truly celebrating womanhood. The highlight of her poems are the raw honesty in which gave the freedom to read her poems in different contexts changing times and realities.

I see it nowhere written That your unironed shirts Deserve my attention More than my flying lessons.

(Nongkynrih,Kynpham Sing & SNgangong, Robin (eds), Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, 2003, NEHU Publications, print. Also printed in Weapons of Words on Pages of Pain) Simple but yet ultimately powerful she speaks for the woman individuality, taking a stance for women in general and particular of her state. She states how there is no written law or rule that household chores like ironing should fall into the women’s hands. Her mention of “flying lessons” which is rather fantastical seems to point out the free state of the poet’s mind and also indicates that a woman’s personal indications are no less important than that of a man’s.

The poem brings forth the refusal of accepting conventional patriarchal society and that simple household chores are a form of women’s subjugation as well.

The short 4-lined poem by Monalisa Changkija is a clear indication of her stance on feminism.

It is also featured in her book Weapons of Words on Pages of Pain. The book contains several other short 4-lined poems which proved Changkija’s stance on women’s individuality. The poems are short yet overwhelming in their voices that shout out for the “women”. Another example would be – In bodies battered, bruise and bent Live unbroken spirits, Children call them, “Mother” Society defined them, “Wives”. (Changkija, Monalisa, (Weapons of Words on Pages of Pain, 2013, Heritage Publication, Dimapur, print) In “Of a People Unanswered” (Section 3), Monalisa Changkija embodies her angst and hope, tracing a part of Naga history through the prism of poetry.

Don’t waste your time Laying out diktats and guidelines On how to conduct my life On matters personal and political. (Nongkynrih, Kynpham Sing & S Ngangong, Robin (eds), Anthology of Contemporary

Poetry from the Northeast, 2003, NEHU Publications, print.)

Changkija’s voice is sharp and loud in this poem.

She might be, as seen, be talking about herself, of the women’s status or the identity as a tribal of her community. The three combinations are strong as it is a cry each to establish a particular identity. It could be Changkija’s derision against opposers in her business and personal conduct. It could also be a Woman’s voice against subjugation against established patriarchal norms or the cry of a tribal individual fighting against the current of mainstream society. Whatever it is, the half of this poem can be taken as a cry against a threat of triple subjugation. “You may not know for you do not know beyond the AK-47 And so you survive and Prosper in darkness.” (Nongkynrih, Kynpham Sing & S Ngangong, Robin (eds), Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, 2003, NEHU Publications, print.)

In the following lines, Monalisa Changkija brings forth her strong gender consciousness. It is a memorable snub for the masculine gender signified by the gun “AK – 47”. The line “Prosper in darkness” is also a way in which the poet portrays the set ways of the patriarchal male. She seems to suggest that the old ways are “darkness” and that the man is too obtuse for the “light” - a new change. In the last three lines, she proclaims: But I am more Than a machine Or a mass of molecules. (Nongkynrih, Kynpham Sing & S Ngangong, Robin (eds), Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, 2003, NEHU Publications, print.)

Like Mona Zote, Changkija reaches out to the humanity in the readers. She gave an insight into individuality and that of being a human being, not that of one who is defined by social norms or identity. The poet proclaims that each individual has depth and that one is more than one what appears at the surface level.

Rootedness is visible both in the poems of Mona Zote’s and Monalisa Changkija’s poems.

Though they are satirical, vicious and critical of their respective land and culture, the roots of their people’s culture, the roots of their times and most of all, the roots of their past that is lost to them, have sunken deep into their poetry. Their irony is doubleedged as they rail themselves and others in the same breathe. There is a lot of it in their poetry as they denounce, with anger and disgust, those who are turning their land into a habitation of headless and bodiless monsters. This can be observed as the chief reason why their respective poetries are found to have similar subject matters and “bonding” even though they come from different regions. The language of contemporary women writing from the Northeast is thus multi-faceted. There is a war with words; there is a subaltern history which is unwritten, a chain of folklore unsung.

Poetry to them, critics claim acts as a resistance of any form of cultural hegemony of the mainland.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Changkija, Monalisa, Weapons of Words on Pages of Pain, 2013, Heritage Publication, Dimapur, print Nongkynrih, Kynpham Sing & S Ngangong, Robin(eds), Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast, 2003, NEHU Publications, print.

The Hindu, Online edition of India's National Newspaper, Sunday, Jan 02, 2011. Building the universe of the poem, ASHLEY TELLIS, website.

Poetry International Rotterdam. http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net.

Readers may please note that the contents of the articles, letters and opinions published do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.

Sunday 21•05•2017

Katy Perry breaks own YouTube record

EntErtainmEnt

T

he 32-year-old singer dropped the music video for her latest single last week, and has smashed the record for most views in 24 hours with a whopping 16.8 million views, beating the record previously held by her 2013 single 'Roar'. According to Variety.com, the video also surpassed two other records held by the star, by having the most channel views in a single calendar day with 25 million hits on May 13, and highest number of playlist adds in a single day the day before.

Almost four years ago, Katy released the music video for 'Roar' and it became the fourth video to reach one billion views on Vevo, making her the first artist in history to have two music videos - the other being 'Dark Horse' - reach the milestone. The publication also reports 'Roar' is the eleventh most viewed YouTube video of all time, and recently surpassed more than two billion views. 'Dark Horse' was ranked at number 14 overall with 1.878 billion views.

Katy's latest single is the second to be taken from her upcoming fifth studio album 'Witness', which is scheduled for release on June 9, after she previously debuted 'Chained To The Rhythm' in February.

Katy shot to fame after her 2008 album 'One of the Boys' and cemented her global superstar status with the follow-up album 'Teenage Dream' in 2010. Her third album 'PRISM' - released in 2013 - debuted at number one on iTunes in 100 countries and has sold more than 12.5 million albums worldwide.

Source: Contactmusic

Tetseo Sisters perform Naga folk music at the opening night of ShiRock during the 5 day Shirui Lily Festival in Ukhrul, Manipur. This is the first edition of the State Level Festival being held from May 16 to 20 in Ukhrul district of Manipur.

Royal sister-in-law Pippa takes spotlight Tom Hardy to star in in star-studded British wedding

Venom A

P C M Y K

ippa Middleton, younger sister of Kate, Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge, was married in a small English country church on Saturday surrounded by royals and celebrities but those hoping for a dash of Hollywood were left in the cold.

The event had been at risk of being overshadowed by the most highprofile appearance yet of Prince Harry’s girlfriend, Meghan Markle.

But the U.S. actress failed to appear before cameras.

Three-year-old Prince George, third in line to the throne after grandfather Charles and father William, took a starring role with his younger sister as attendants to the bride.

Middleton, 33, who married financier James Matthews, wore an el-

egant white lace gown with a cut-out in the back and a full long skirt. She arrived in a open-top car accompanied by her father, smiling broadly and waving to crowds gathered near St. Mark’s church in Englefield, about 50 miles west of London.

Matthews sported a three-piece morning suit with a pale waistcoat and tails.

Prince William walked up to the church accompanied by younger brother Harry. Celebrity guests included 18-times grand slam tennis champion Roger Federer and the fashion editor of British Vogue magazine.

Middleton took the spotlight by surprise when she acted as maid of honor at the 2011 wedding of her sister to William mainly due to her

ctor Tom Hardy has been roped in to star in the upcoming superhero film "Venom", a spin-off to the "Spider-Man" franchise.

The Sony Pictures-backed project will be directed by "Zombieland" fame Ruben Fleischer, reports theguardian.com. According to sources, Hardy is a huge svelte figure, the back of which was fan of Venom. His only film in the superhero genre was captured by many a camera.

“Rear comes the bride,” joked the Daily Star newspaper.

Security was tight amid a media frenzy in which #PippasWedding was trending on social media but guests were forbidden from sharing pictures there.

Tabloids have focused on details such as a rumored Spitfire flypast and a 100,000 pound ($130,000) glass marquee erected specially for the reception at the Middleton’s home in the nearby village of Bucklebury.

Ferocious interest also centered on Markle, star of the TV legal drama “Suits”, whose relationship with Prince Harry was made public last November.

Source: Reuters

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan looked every inch a royal princess at the the 70th Annual Cannes Film festival in a floor-sweeping powder blue ballroom gown by Dubai-based Filipino fashion designer Michael Cinco. She looked breathtaking and left the fashion police in awe of her. The moments captured at the red carpet are nothing short of magical, and Aishwarya is the princess of this fairytale land. From flying kisses to elegant poses, Aishwarya Rai proved once again that she is the queen of Bollywood.

2012's "The Dark Knight Rises", in which he played Bane.

Hardy will play Eddie Brock, a freelance photographer who becomes infected by an alien life form that needs a host in order to survive. Meanwhile, actor Tom Holland will next be seen playing Spider-Man in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe project, "Spider-Man: Homecoming", which is slated to release on July 7 in US. "Venom" is set to hit theaters on October 5, 2018.

Source: IANS

12

Sunday 21•05•2017

SPORTS

THE MORUNG EXPRESS

James powers Cavs in Clean Dimapur Penalty Tourney held record rout of Celtics

LeBron James (23) drives past Boston Celtics players. (AP Photo)

C M Y K

WashiNgtoN, may 20 (aFP): LeBron James continued his dynamic playoff run scoring 30 points as the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers exploded for a 130-86 blowout of the Boston Celtics to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series.

James scored 22 points in the first half on Friday night as the Cavaliers led 72-31 at the break -- the largest halftime advantage in NBA postseason history.

It was the biggest playoff win ever for the Cavaliers, who now have the luxury of hosting games three and four in Cleveland.

"I am a guy that lives in the moment. Our team is in a great groove right now," James said.

"We want to try to get better. I said before that we had

another level and (people) looked at me like I was crazy," he added.

"I believe we have another level as well. We can continue to get better. No complacency with us right now."

The Celtics team had its heart ripped out for the second game in a row at the Boston Garden. It marked the worst home playoff loss in franchise history, falling three points shy of matching Boston's worst postseason defeat.

James's performance came in front of a crowd of 18,600 and just hours after he was snubbed as a nominee for the league's MVP award.

Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue didn't agree with leaving James's name off the threeman nominee list.

"I look at LeBron like Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal)," said Lue.

"I think every year he's the MVP and you could give him the award every year if you wanted to."

James has scored 30 points in eight straight games as he looks to visit the finals for the seventh-straight season. He has never lost a playoff series when his team has been up 2-0.

Heading into the game, James was averaging 34.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game in these playoffs.

He dished out seven assists and added four rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots, while Kevin Love had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Kyrie Irving 23 points.

The win was the Cavaliers' 13th straight in the playoffs, dating back to the last three games of the finals last year.

The streak equals an NBA record.

Boston guard Avery Bradley said he was stunned the Celtics weren't able to bring more offense to the table.

"It is embarrassing," he said. "The games is over and we already been embarrassed. Not much can happen now."

Adding to Boston's woes, Isaiah Thomas was lost to a right hip strain at halftime.

Before that, he was hounded by the Cavaliers, missing all six shots in the first half.

But he did assist on six of his team's 11 baskets in the half.

The Celtics, who lost the first two games of their firstround series with the Chicago Bulls at home, had won five straight at home since then before losing the opener of this NBA semi-final series.

Adroit Boys win Open Futsal tournament

Adroit Boys with match patron and others. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | May 20

Adroit Boys, Zubza lifted the champion’s trophy of the 1st Open Futsal Tournament which concluded here today at the Kohima Local Ground.

The tournament was held under the aegis of Naga FC. Adroit Boys edged Soccer Heroes FC 1-0 to lift the winning trophy and pocketed cash prize of Rs. 30,000 along with trophy and certificate. The win-

ning goal for Adroit Boys came through Zeanikho Miasalhou.

Runners-up Soccer Heroes FC were awarded cash prize of Rs. 15,000. Semifinalists Legend Lads and A Yhome FC pocketed cash prize of Rs. 5000 each.

Shiirhosiil Zhotso of Adroit Boys, Neikethozo Yhome of Soccer Heroes, Rajusito Nagi of Adroit Boys and Keyidwasapiung Kulimbe of Legend Lads FC were declared as man of the match,

player of the tournament, best goalkeeper and highest goal scorer respectively.

Ropfii Meyase, state football coach acted as match patron and gave away the prizes to the winners.

Earlier, the valedictory function was chaired by senior journalist Xavier Rutsa while Naga FC president Kezevituo Vizo proposed vote of thanks.

Altogether, 45 teams joined the tournament.

Players in action at the Clean Dimapur Penalty Shootout Tournament. (Photo: Achen Yanthan) Morung Express News Dimapur | May 20

The Clean Dimapur Penalty Shootout Tournament was successfully held at the State Stadium, Dimapur on Saturday with 24 teams participating.

Torrential rain halted play for about half an hour but despite the water-logged ground conditions, participants remained upbeat and were seen helping organizers drain the penalty area off excess water.

In the end, Flying Ducks edged Frontiers to emerge as winners and pocketed Rs. 20000.

Runner-up Frontiers was awarded Rs. 10000. Frontiers’ custodian Imsumeren was adjudged the best goalkeeper and was awarded cash prize of Rs. 2000.

The tournament also witnessed a Crossbar Challenge with a number of participants successfully hitting the crossbar.

However, with about 15 people hitting the crossbar, the Nagaland Motorcycle Club (NMC)

and Anglers Association of Nagaland (AAN) – who also took part in the tournament with four and two teams respectively – came to the rescue of the organizers donating the prize money for the Crossbar challenge.

A voluntary initiative, the Clean Dimapur Initiative is an outcome of the Facebook Page “Naga Discussion Forum” where a few concerned denizens of Dimapur expressed sadness at the lack of cleanliness.

Realizing that people need

to take matters into their own hands, a few like-minded people gathered on WhatsApp – a mobile messaging platform – and undertook a cleanliness drive in the main town. For the first drive, empty ghee tins were collected, painted and placed in the main town. Unfortunately it disappeared after a few days. The Clean Dimapur Initiative is however undeterred and aims to fix durable dustbins to iron poles in the second drive.

20 teams to take part in 9th OBT

Kohima, may 20 (mExN): 20 teams will take part in the 9th Open Basketball Tournament (OBT) organised by the Nagaland Basketball Association (NBA) and Suncity Club Kohima.

The tournament will be played from May 24 to 27 at Khouchiezie, Kohima Local Ground, a press release informed.

The participating teams are: Amplified, Kohima; Taurus, Kohima; Team Mystic Ballers (A), Kohima; Werewolves, Kohima; Dorians, Dimapur; Highland Dazzlers, Mokokchung; Tiyi Hoppers, Wokha; Buzzards; S. Naga Trouncers; Skyhooks, Kohima; Team Oroa, Kohima; Stingrays, Kohima; Waxbill, Kohima; St. Joseph College, Jakhama; Kohima Chiefs; Team Titans; Doberman; Team Mystic Ballers(B); and Team Airhogs Kohima.

Four teams viz., Amplified, Kohima; Taurus, Kohima; Team Mystic Ballers (A), Kohima and Werewolves, Kohima received byes in the 1st round and are Pool leaders.

16 teams will play the 1st round on a knock-out basis with the eight winning team joining the four pool leaders in 2nd round which will be played on a league basis with the top four team (Group leaders) entering the semi-finals.

New additional features of the tournament will be indoor roofing, food courts set up for the players and spectators, digital score board, hydraulic rings, LED board display , Live coverage, and Live DJ on the final day.

Basketball fans are expected to turn out in huge numbers to witness the tournament which will have both day and night matches, with gallery tickets fixed at Rs.50 per head.

The opening ceremony of the tournament will be held on May 24 at 3:00 pm with Khekaho Assumi, Parliamentary Secretary, Youth Resources and Sports as the chief guest, while the welcome address will be delivered by Zhaleo Rio, Member Legislative Assembly (MLA) and President of Nagaland Basketball Association (NBA).

The inaugural match will be played between St. Joseph College, Jakhama and S. Naga Trouncers.

On May 27, a sub-junior exhibition match will be played before the grand final match.

A video of the theme song of the 9th OBT was officially release on YouTube on Saturday.

NFCA conducts refreshers course for coaches

Roko Angami and William Koso during refreshers course for coaches in Kohima on May 20. (Morung Photo) Our Correspondent Kohima | May 20

The Nagaland Football Coaches Association (NFCA) today conducted a refreshers course for coaches at D. Khel Ground, Seikhazou, Kohima village.

Altogether, 14 coaches attended the course. The

coaches include: Kechangulie Dul, Akho Angami, Thangchapu Rongmei, Beilie Rio, Diethozotuo, G Daniel Rongmei, Nzangthung Ezung, Zakietuolie Khrodi, Besupra Kezo, Chon, Neizokhrielie Sanchu, Rukuzo Ruho and Zakielatuo Seletsu.

The course was con-

ducted by NFCA President Roko Angami and NFCA Technical Director William Koso.

Meanwhile, the NFCA will be conducting free football grassroots camp from May 22 to 26 at Kohima Local Ground under the theme “Make Football Happen.”

In this connection, the NFCA has invited all interested young upcoming footballers aged between 6 to12 years to register for the camp with sports kits along with birth certificate.

They have been asked to register at the venue (Kohima Local Ground) at 2:45 pm on May 22.

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