Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXXII No. 258
DIMAPUR, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022 Pages 12 ` 5.00
Rio exhorts sportspersons at 1st NOPG 2022
Imran gets protective bail in terrorism case
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Nagaland sitting on wealth of organic products: FM
INAUGURATES ‘NAGALAND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY & INVESTMENT CONCLAVE 2022’ Correspondent
KOHIMA, AUG 22 (NPN): Union minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman who is on a three-day visit to Nagaland on Monday launched several projects under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and acknowledged Nagaland’s potential as an organic producer by saying the state was endowed with a wealth of organic products which should be aggregated by the people for markets within and outside India. Addressing at the inaugural programme of the ‘Nagaland CSR and Investment Conclave 2022’ at NBCC Convention Hall, Monday evening, the finance minister referred the call of the Prime Minister to identify one product from each district and assured that the Centre along with banks, upon identification, would help in setting up primary infrastructure required. Sitharaman suggested that millets, fruits, turmeric
Nirmala Sitharaman addressing the ‘Nagaland CSR and Investment Conclave 2022’ at NBCC Convention Hall on Monday.
and ginger could be organic, while acknowledging the difficulties faced by farmers in marketing their produce considering the State’s hilly terrain and poor transport infrastructure. She pointed out that besides marketing, the branding was a big deal and so Naga products should be branded in order to find the best way to communicate about the unique product of the state as there is a global market waiting to lap them up. Sitharaman said CSR in many parts of the country
was pushed depending on board decisions and the potential area for social activity. She said Nagaland was facing conundrum and investments were taking time to come. However, she said a lot of investors have begun to arrive and exuded confidence that conclave was the stepping stone for the state for opening more opportunities so that possible potential investments will take place. In the list of CSR, she said maximum projects were in healthcare sector, and hoped that this would help
strengthen the State’s public healthcare facilities. She said youth of Nagaland were well educated, carried themselves well and had great strengths and a lot of government and private investment were in the pipeline aiming to strengthen infrastructure in the country, both existing and new, brown field and green field. To create a synergy among projects like railways, airports, seaports, seaports, water ways and manufacturing hubs, she said energy of young people was required. She appealed to the youth to prepare themselves in this regard and take leadership roles. Sitharaman appreciated Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for recognising the potential in the youth of Nagaland and coming forward to set up a skill training centre in that State, which would equip local youth with skills to work in any part of the country. To promote interest in Science, she said NITI
Aayog had come up with Atal Innovative Mission (AIM) under which science labs could be set up in every school. Though Nagaland could have set up such labs in all schools, she regretted that this had not been done yet and asked the State government to ensure that these labs were installed as soon as possible. In tourism sector, she remarked that home stay had a huge potential in boosting the local economy. She advised that visitors should be encouraged to stay at Naga homes to familiarise them with Naga culture. She asked the State’s Tourism Department to come up with innovative ideas in this regard. In Agri sector, she said drones were helping in improving agricultural output as these helped in better mapping, understanding of the terrain and knowledge to farmers regarding soil nutrition to help them decide what crop was best cultivated, the union min-
Nirmala Sitharaman launches various CSR initiatives Correspondent
KOHIMA, AUG 22 (NPN): Union minister for finance and corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman launched various projects to be sponsored by various companies under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. Some of the projects include-- Credit Outreach Facilitation Unit: to be set up in all the districts, sponsored by Boeing India and the implementing partner will be Learning Links Foundation with Support of tEA. Dialysis Unit at Dis-
State logs 2 fresh Covid-19 cases D I M A P U R , AU G 2 2 (NPN): Nagaland on Monday recorded two fresh Covid-19 positive cases while no deaths were reported during the day. One case each were reported in Dimapur and Longleng, taking the total caseload to 35,890. With four more patients recovering from the infection, the State currently has 16 active cases while the death toll remained unchanged at 776. I n d i a o n M o n d ay logged 9,531 fresh Covid-19 cases pushing its tally to 4,43,48,960, while the toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 5,27,368 with 26 more fatalities.
This is it!
“At the rate politicians are arrested or detained, soon there won’t be any opposition parties left.” K Y M C
trict Hospital, Dimapur: Sponsored by Boeing India and Doctors For You as implementing partner Entrepreneurship Development Centres: To be setup in Tuensang sponsored by Sri Kumaraswami Mineral Exports Pvt. Ltd; in Peren district by Astral Foundation and RNB Project Aspire Today to Eternity Foundation for Wokha district. Mobile Science Labs (Lab on Wheels): To be installed in Dimapur and Mon, sponsored by VRL Logistics, Coromandel International Ltd. & Agastya
International Foundation. World Class Toilet Facility: Toilet facility for District Hospital Dimapur sponsored by Boeing India and SULABH International as implementing partner. Stem Labs: Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) Labs with Amazon Alexa Support (10 Schools) will be installed across Nagaland sponsored by Mphasis and implementing agency Children’s LoveCastles Trust India (CLT). Nursing Schools: Upgradation of Library and Lab Facility in Nursing Schools
for conversion to Nursing Colleges in Dimapur and Kohima. Further Nursing schools will be sponsored by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Housing and Urban Development Corporation in Mokokchung with Doctors For You as implementing partner. CT Scan facility: At Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) sponsored by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and for Mokokchung to be sponsored by Power Grid Corporation Ltd. Mobile Science labs: For four districts sponsored
by Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL). Solar Cold Storage Unit: For Phek district to be sponsored by Credit Access Grameen Pvt. Ltd. and District Administration as the implementing agency. Abode Creative Academy: A MoU based engagement (Creative University/ Academy) to be setup across Nagaland with Adobe as partnering agency. Most of the projects among those listed are related to health, education and skill and entrepreneurship development.
Complete High Court within this year: NLSF
D I M A P U R , AU G 2 2 (NPN): Nagaland Law Students’ Federation (NLSF) has threatened to take up any democratic means of protest if the state government failed to complete High Court building within this year. NLSF through its media and publicity wing stated that as per its federal assembly resolution for completion of High Court construction by 2022, the federation visited the construction site on August 16, 2022 to find out the status of the ongoing project construction. Nagaland Law Students’ Federation claimed that it had obtained detailed information concerning the delay in construction. While interacting with a contractor, the NLSF said it was “baffled” to find out that there were 81 contractors in the ongoing High Court Construction, thereby causing problems. NLSF said that the contractors were trying (Cont’d on p-8) their best to complete the
ister appealed to youth to develop interest in drones. She appreciated chief minister Neiphiu Rio for bringing many CSR projects to Nagaland and hoped that youth of the State will support him. She suggested forming a task group that would move around the country, convey the message of Nagaland to the industry and help build Nagaland as a brand and destination for investment. She also thanked the companies that invested in CSR projects in Nagaland, stressing that Nagaland also required to develop like any other State, as India would not develop unless each and every State developed equally. In his address, Rio, who was host of the event, thanked the Central government for giving greater focus on development in the Northeast because of which the private sector was looking at the region with a fresh perspective.
High Court Building at the earliest subject to the release of payment of running bills by the government. The federation has expressed shock that state government was not releasing the fund meant for High Court Construction well in time. NLSF has, therefore, appealed to the state government to start releasing the liability fund to the contractors so the construction works could be carried out smoothly before the end of this year. It said that the foundation stone of the High Court was laid on May 21, 2007, but the project still remained incomplete after 15 years “making a mockery of the governing system of our State”. The federation has, therefore, appealed to the state government to speed up the release of funds so the construction of the High Court was completed by this year without dragging into 2023.
AWUMT asks govt to declare CGWA notice unconstitutional
D I M A P U R , AU G 2 2 (NPN): Drawing attention to the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) notice on mandatory permission for groundwater withdrawal, the All Ward Union Mokokchung Town (AWUMT) has demanded that the state government “declare the order unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void.” AWUMT president Limanungsang and general secretary Jongpongtemjen stated that CGWA order was in total contravention of the
traditional Naga customary procedures, social practices and ownership of land and its resources. It said that the order directly infringes upon the constitutional provisions of Article 371 (A) that safeguards the Naga way of life. F u r t h e r, AW U M T pointed out that the Dimapur Urban Council Chairmen Federation, Association of Kohima Municipal Wards Panchayat, AWUMT and Naga civil society organizations have long been demanding review and amend-
ment of the Nagaland Municipal Act (NMA) 2001 by deleting various sections of the Act that infringed upon the constitutional rights of the Nagas-- Art. 371(A). AWUMT pointed out that Sec. 215-220 of the NMA 2001 pertaining to tube wells, wells, springs and other water-course infringed upon Art. 371 (A). Meanwhile, AWUMT has directed all the residents of Mokokchung town not to honour CGWA public notice.
Linking voter ID with Aadhaar voluntary: EC NHA issues hardware guidelines for healthcare institutions NEW DELHI, AUG 22 (PTI): Election Commission of India Monday reiterated that seeding of Aadhaar with Voter ID was voluntary while responding to TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale claim that poll officials were forcing people to link their Aadhaar numbers with voter ID. Citing tweets by the Internet Freedom Foundation, Gokhale said there have been “many cases” of election officials calling up people forcing them to link voter ID with Aadhaar numbers. “We’ve written to the Election Commission today
asking to issue a clarification & immediately cease & desist from doing this,” he wrote on Twitter. The poll panel too responded on Twitter saying that submission of Aadhaar in Form 6B -- a new form issued to share Aadhaar details -- is “voluntary”. “No entry in electoral roll shall be deleted on the ground of non-submission of Aadhaar,” the EC said
sharing a link of instructions issued to state chief electoral officers in this regard. In his representation to the EC on behalf of the TMC, Gokhale pointed out that the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which allows for the linking of electoral data with the Aadhaar number, was passed by Parliament in December 2021. “Subsequent to the passing of the Bill, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju informed Parliament that linking of voter I cards with Aadhaar was ‘voluntary’ and ‘not mandatory’”, he said.
Spl. Correspondent
NEW DELHI, AUG 22 (NPN): The National Health Authority (NHA) has issued hardware guidelines across States and Union Territories for healthcare institutions like hospitals, clinics and health and wellness centres to promote digitization in hospitals. The guidelines provide a basic framework to States for planning, assessment and procurement of the IT hardware (including IT specifications of various hardware equipment) to operate applications compliant with Ayushman Bharat Digital
Mission (ABDM). Talking about the guidelines, Dr. R. S. Sharma, CEO, NHA said – “The first step towards ABDM implementation is digitization of hospitals. Several States and UTs expressed the need for some guidelines that gives them an overview of the IT infrastructure requirements based on the health facility size. The hardware guidelines issued by NHA will help the states/ UTs in assessing the requirement and facilitate the adoption of ABDM in their healthcare institutions.” ABDM will simplify the processes and increase
ease of living by connecting the digital health solutions of hospitals and other health facilities across the country with each other. The digital ecosystem will also enable a host of other facilities like teleconsultation, paper-less health records, QR code based OPD registrations etc. The digitization of health records will ensure that old medical records of patients cannot get lost and are accessible to them anytime anywhere. Ensuring necessary IT infrastructure and implementation of Hospital Information Management Systems across health fa-
RPP appeals FM to fulfil its demand for PR in Nagaland DIMAPUR, AUG 22 (NPN): Rising People’s Party (RPP) has appealed to Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to fulfil its demands for President’s Rule in Nagaland and CBI investigation into the various irregularities. In a representation, RPP president Joel Naga and secretary Akum Longkumer stated the party had submitted a memorandum to the Governor on May 12, 2022 demanding the President’s Rule in Nagaland citing financial emergency in the state. RPP also appealed for expediting all the pending CBI and ED enquiries in the state including giving prosecution sanction
to the CBI on the High Court construction scam. RPP stated that Nagaland happened to be the most corrupted state in India “with absolutely nothing to show in terms of growth”. It pointed out that as per NITI Aayog’s SDGI index 2021, Nagaland was the ‘Worst Performing State’ in India in terms of poverty, health, affordable energy, sustainable cities, industries and infrastructure. RPP stated that Nagaland was also the Worst Performing State as per State Energy and Climate index and was ranked 33rd out of 35 states & UTs. Further, RPP stated that the state government was un-
able to pay the outstanding salaries of 130,000 government employees, including teachers, police personnel, administrative officials, and national mission employees. It stated that perpetual deficit state budget with the latest being minus Rs.2212.74 Crore for the year 2022-23 was a major cause for concern. According to finance ministry report published on July 25 2022, RPP said the total outstanding liabilities (Debt) of Nagaland Government stands at Rs.15620.80 crore as of March 2022. It also stated that according to the latest CAG Report 2022 for the financial year 2019- 2020,
some of the serious offences of the state government included: Rs. 200.65 crore siphoned off in 12 departments and Rs. 6.6 crore in other departments; Rs. 25.28 crore siphoned off in the power department awaits departmental and criminal investigation; Rs. 82.79 crore embezzled by the department of school education awaits criminal investigation in two cases; three misappropriation cases amounting to Rs. 223.79 crore found in the PWD (R&B) department; planning and coordination department misappropriated Rs. 20.23 crore; tourism department misappropriated Rs.14.20 crore and health and family welfare
department misappropriation case of Rs.13.70 crore. RPP also highlighted the status of medical college, which still remained incomplete after nine long years. It said the amount sanctioned by the Centre stands at Rs.171.10 crore. The party also stated that Nagaland High Court building remained incomplete at 35% work done even after 15 years and the exorbitant amount of Rs.52.63 crore stands withdrawn till date. “The above irregularities and misappropriations are just the tip of the ice-berg, and perhaps it’s important for you to ask hard questions during your visit,” RPP stated.
cilities at the State/UT level will play a pivotal role in creation and exchange of digital health records across the ecosystem. The guidelines on the IT hardware specifications to support this ecosystem is available at https://abdm. gov.in:8081/uploads/Hardware_Guidelines_ABDM_ e162cf7a7b.pdf. The document will help the States in assessing the hardware requirements while planning and procurement of IT assets for healthcare institutions of all scales. The guidelines published by NHA is suggestive and recommendatory in nature.
Cong ‘unanimously’ in favour of Rahul for party prez: Gehlot JAIPUR, AUG 22 (PTI): As the countdown began for the election of Congress president, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said the party is “unanimously” in favour of Rahul Gandhi for the post. The party’s election authority has said it will stick to the schedule of electing a new chief by September 20. “If Rahul Gandhi does not become the party president, it will be a disappointment for the Congressmen in the country. Many people will sit at home and we will suffer…,” Gehlot told reporters here. The chief minister said even within the party, there is an opinion in favour of making Rahul Gandhi the new president. “The unanimous opinion is in support of his becoming the president. So, I think he should accept it. It is not about Gandhi or non-Gandhi family. It is the work of the organisation and no one is becoming a prime minister,” he said. K Y M C