Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXXII No. 237
DIMAPUR, TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2022 Pages 12 ` 5.00
CWG: Lifter Sheuli wins 3rd gold for India SPORTS, PAGE 12
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Cong walk-out as FM explains price rise
NEW DELHI, AUG 1 (AGENCIES): Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman, responding to the debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha today, gave an account of all the parameters to assess the economy, and said there is no chance of the country going into recession or stagflation. In the middle of her response, the Congress staged a walkout, saying they were not satisfied with her response. “The pandemic, second wave of Covid, Omicron, Russia-Ukraine—in spite of all this we have held the inflation at 7 per cent or below. And that has to be recognised,” Sitharaman said. “Currently retail inflation is at 7 per cent. During UPA rule from 2004 to 2014, the inflation went into double digits. During that period, the inflation was above 9 per cent for 22 consecutive months,” she said. Most of the inflation,
NPAC appeals on Aug 5 public rally D I M A P U R , AU G 1 (NPN): Nagaland People’s Action Committee (NPAC) has appealed to all citizens of Dimapur and neighbouring areas to participate in its August 5 rally to press for an early Naga political solution. In a statement, the committee said the motive behind organising the rally was to express public sentiments and anguish over the unending negotiations that had been dragging on for the past 25 years. NPAC said that it would like to send a clear message to Government of India on behalf of citizens of Nagaland that enough was enough and that the public had suffered enough, adding that it would continue to press for an early solution through democratic process.
CNC to hold ‘goodwill prayer fellowship’
DIMAPUR, AUG 1 (NPN): As part of its “goodwill prayer fellowship” with all NSCN members, the Council of Nagalim Churches (CNC) would be holding prayer fellowship with the steering committee at Diphupar Ao Baptist Church on August 5 at 10 am. CNC general secretary Rev. Seksim Kasar has requested all executive members and steering committee members to participate and also Naga Freedom Fighter’s Widows Welfare Federation, NSWON, kilonsers, dy. kilonsers, Tatars, all central secretariat staff and senior members of NSCN.
This is it!
“It’s only two of us in the opposition, after all our colleagues have been suspended.” K Y M C
Nirmala Sitharaman addressing the Lok Sabha on Monday.
she said, is in food and fuel. “Food inflation is coming down in the world, and it will come down in India also,” she added. Declaring that India is still better off than other nations, Sitharaman said the GDP of US fell 0.7 per cent in second quarter, after logging 1.9 per cent in the first quarter. The minister’s response came after 10 days of chaos in parliament as the opposi-
tion demanded a discussion on price rise. Treasury and Opposition benches agreed for discussion on the price rise issue in the lower house. Around 20 members across parties participated in the discussion. Even likeminded parties like Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal and the YSR Congress urged the government to intervene to arrest inflation. Congress MP Manish Tewari, starting the discussion, said the government’s decisions have hit hard 25 crore households in the country and widened the divide between the rich and the poor. Sangeeta Azad (BSP) said prices of fruits and vegetables have gone up adding to the hardship of the common man. Nama Nageswara Rao (TRS) demanded that the Centre should protect the farmers by increasing the procurement of foodgrains.
Countering the Centre’s defence that fuel prices are rising due to the fuel bonds purchased by Congress, BJD’s Pinaki Misra said the Centre has collected
27.27 lakh crore through fuel taxes. Expressing regret over hike in GST on some essential food items, Supriya Sule (NCP) said it has burdened the poor people.
TMC MP bites raw brinjal in Lok Sabha In a dramatic twist to the debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha on Monday, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar bit into a raw brinjal to ask if the Modi government was encouraging people to consume raw food as cooking gas or LPG cylinders were no longer affordable. Dastidar highlighted that high gas prices have made cooking expensive for the poor section of society. “I thank the chair for allowing a debate on price rise,” the MP said, and added, “It has taken a long time for even the debate to take place”. Subsequently, she asked, “Does the govern-
TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar in Lok Sabha, Monday.
ment want us to eat raw vegetables,” and bit into brinjal to show that LPG gas cylinders have become costly and that one-day people will have to eat uncooked vegetables.
Chinese military celebrates 95th anniversary INTERNATIONAL, PAGE 9
CNTC asks hohos, CSO to pressurize govt for oil exploration, peace process D I M A P U R , AU G 1 (NPN): Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) has appealed to all apex hohos and civil society organisations (CSOs) to put more pressure on the State government for resumption of oil exploration and extraction as early as possible. CNTC said some oilbearing land fell under Niuland and Changpang areas in Wokha district and some foothill areas under Mokokchung, Longleng and Mon districts. But due to the negligence on exploration by the State government, it claimed that Nagaland was incurring heavy losses to the tune of several crores of rupees. CNTC president T Lanu Imchen reiterated that Lothas in particular were facing losses due to non-exploration of oil from their land. The council also
appealed to all CSOs and NGOs to pressurise the Central government and negotiating parties to sign the final Naga solution at the earliest as various NPGs were levying exorbitant taxes on their own people by taking advantage of the prolonged peace process. CNTC and Central Nagaland Women Association (CNWA) took up these issues at separate meetings with various Sumi organisations of Zunheboto district and Ao organisations of remote areas in Mokokchung, including Ao Senden. Status on the Foothill Road construction was also shared at the meeting along with the recent amount sanctioned by the State government. The council acknowledged the responsibilities shouldered by the public of bordering villages for
defending rights for welfare of entire Nagas and called for peaceful co-existence with neighbours. CNTC leaders explained the vision and purpose of the formation of the council, clarifying that it was not a political party or organisation but a pressure group to voice the grievances and needs of the entire Nagas in general, particularly to establish unity of the three tribes, for their social, economic and political betterment. At the meeting, CNTC vice-president Hukiye Yepthomi alleged that people were losing crores of rupees everyday due to non-exploration and extraction of oil. He said CNTC had participated in the consultation meets called by the State government on Naga political issue, RIIN, ULB, NLTP Act, etc. (Cont’d on p-8)
EC begins drive to link voter ID with Aadhaar Tizit CSOs temporarily Delhi records second monkeypox call off ‘indefinite bandh’ case, nationwide tally reaches 6
NEW DELHI, AUG 1 (AGENCIES): The Election Commission of India (EC) on Monday launched a nationwide drive to link voter ID cards with Aadhaar cards. As per the EC, the voter ID and Aadhaar linking drive will help in establishing identity of the voters and prevent duplicate entries in the electoral roll. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill that authorised the linking of Aadhaar with voter ID was passed by the Lok Sabha last year, according to a report by Mint. The EC has decided to set up camps across Maharashtra to assist people to
link their Aadhaar with their voter IDs. Why is it needed? Linking of voter ID with Aadhaar will establish the identity of an elector and will prevent a person from registering his or her name in more than one constituency. The move will also make voters aware about the latest updates from the Election Commission through mobile notifications, according to an Indian Express report. The drive to link voter ID with Aadhaar is voluntary and voters can choose not to link their cards. The name of a voter will not be deleted from the
voter list if he or she doesn’t provide his or her Aadhaar number. How to link voter ID with Aadhaar? Following self-authentication, voters can fill form 6-B either online or offline, available at the election commission website or at electoral registration offices. The Aadhaar number will be provided by the voters in the same form, which is notified by sub-rule 26B of the Electoral Registration Rules of 1980. In addition to this, booth level officers (BLO) will conduct door-to-door visits to get people to fill the form after which records will be digitised accordingly.
DIMAPUR, AUG 1 (NPN): Tizit civil society organisations (CSOs), which launched “indefinite bandh” on NH-702 starting 6am of August 1, as part of its phase-II agitation, have temporarily called off the bandh. The CSOs launched agitation against the failure to resume construction of N-M road (NH-702). In a press release, Konyak Union Tizit unit president T Wangdun Konyak and Tizit Area Students’ Union president James Konyak stated that the concern contractor has “wilfully complied” with the demand made by Tizit CSOs and have resumed the work along NH-702. CSOs had decided to launch phase-II agitation after the contractor failed to resume construction work on NH-702.Tizit CSOs had cautioned that the bandh would not be withdraw until the work resumed in full swing.
ANGTF urges DoSE to keep proposed LDE on hold D I M A P U R , AU G 1 (NPN): All Nagaland Graduate Teachers’ Forum (ANGTF) has urged Department of School Education (DoSE) to keep in abeyance its proposal on Limited Departmental Exam (LDE) till such time ongoing revision of department service rules was completed. In a representation to DoSE commissioner & secretary, forum’s general secretary Temjenyapang, adviser Ponchulo Wanth and convener Kekuolhouthie stated that due to presence of various inherent anomalies in Nagaland School Education Service Rules, 2017, employees’ associations of the department had demanded its review. Thereafter, after
a series of consultative meetings on the issue, the State government had on March 21, 2018 decided to set up a Review Committee to review the service rules. However, due to Covid-19 pandemic, the revision of the service rules could not be completed in time and the exercise was still currently on. The trio therefore requested the commissioner & secretary to keep the proposal on LDE in abeyance till such time the revision of service rules was completed. Further, they pointed out that the seniority list of graduate teachers (GTs) was under preparation in DoSE. So long GT seniority list was under preparation, they reasoned that there could
be no basis to determine the actual seniority of GTs. And since the list could not be finalised to date, they said they did not know who was senior or junior in the list and who were eligible for the proposed LDE because some GTs did not have both appointment and regularisation orders. Moreover, the forum leaders said the professional degree of B Ed in the proposal was made equivalent to pre-service teacher education (PSTE) programmes and Diploma in Elementary Education (D El Ed), which was unbecoming and unacceptable since the hard-earned professional degree of B Ed had been compromised from the purview of the proposal.
They also brought to the notice of the commissioner & secretary that the posts of AHM/JEO were the immediate higher posts for trained GTs to be filled up through promotion, adding the post of GT was the feeder post AHM/JEO in the department’s promotion hierarchy. Hence, they insisted that AHM/JEO post could not be reserved for PT/PGT, etc, through exam or by other means. Doing so, they warned would lead to supersession and encroachment of GTs’ promotional avenues. Over and above this, the nature of appointment, the cadre, nature/level of work and scale pay of PT & GT were different.
NEW DELHI, AUG 1 (PTI): A 35-year-old Nigerian man, living in Delhi and having no recent history of foreign travel, has tested positive for monkeypox, taking the total number of infected people in the country to six, official sources said on Monday. He is the second person in Delhi to test positive for the infection. The man, who has been staying in Delhi for a year now, has no recent history of foreign or local travel, sources told PTI. Meanwhile, two suspected monkeypox patients, both Nigerian nationals, have been admitted to the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital, the nodal hospital for treat-
ment of the infection, since Sunday. The 35-year-old man, with blisters and fever, were admitted to the LNJP Hospital two days ago. His samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. The report which arrived Monday evening showed he was positive, an official source said. The two suspected patients of monkeypox also have fever and rashes. They too do not have any recent travel history. One of them was admitted to the hospital on Sunday and the second on Monday and samples sent for testing. Sources said Delhi’s first monkeypox patient is doing fine and is likely to be discharged from the hospital soon.
NSCN (I-M) observes 25 years of ‘Indo-Naga’ ceasefire
D I M A P U R , AU G 1 (NPN): NSCN (I-M) observed the 25 years of the “Indo-Naga” ceasefire at the Mission Centre, WBCC, 7th Mile here on Monday. According to MIP, the chairman of Cease Fire Monitoring Group (CFMG), Lt. Gen. Amarjeet Singh Bedi, attended the programme as a special invitee. Delivering the keynote speech, “lt. gen.” (Retd.) V.S. Atem, Member Collective Leadership, NSCN and Team Leader, Cease Fire Ground Rules Review Committee (CFGRRC) said (Cont’d on p-8) “25 years is a long period in
human life and 25 years of ceasefire is not a joke.” Atem said that many things have happened during this period, good and bad, but NSCN was still struggling to solve the problem. According to MIP, various organizations who attended the meeting included leaders from Naga Hoho, Eastern Nagaland People’s Organization (ENPO), United Naga Council (UNC), Naga Council Dimapur (NCD), Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), Naga Mother’s As-
sociation (NMA), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Global Naga Forum (GNF) and Tenyimi Union, Dimapur (TUD). MIP said they all expressed concern over the long years of the “IndoNaga” ceasefire, “which is yet to find a solution to the Naga political issue.” The occasion was marked by releasing a booklet “25 Years of Indo-Naga Ceasefire (1997-2022)”. It may be mentioned that the cease-fire agreem e n t s i g n e d b e t we e n Government of India and NSCN (I-M) came into effect on August 1, 1997.
NLA panel asks Municipal deptt to expedite Smart City projects State Covid: 15 new cases, 1 death D I M A P U R , AU G 1 (NPN): Committee on Estimates (2022-2023) Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) has advised the municipal affairs department (Kohima Smart City project) to expedite the works at multi-level car parking, Old Medical Directorate; Old NST, Kohima and Waste Management Unit, Meriema and finish the projects as per the given schedule. Members of committee on estimates led by chairman Dr. Chotisuh Sazo undertook an “on-thespot-verification-visit” with the department of munici-
Members of the Committee on Estimates (2022-2023) with officials during the spot verification visit.
pal affairs (Kohima smart city project), Nagaland Bee-Keeping & Honey Mission and Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency on
July 28 & 29, 2022 respectively, stated a press release issued by NLA secretariat additional secretary Jenny Ndang.
On the first day, the committee visited the multilevel car parking located at Old Medical Directorate, Kohima, multi-level
D I M A P U R , AU G 1 (NPN): Nagaland on Monday recorded 15 fresh Covid-19 positive cases while one more patient succumbed to the infection. Of the fresh cases, three were from Wokha, two each in Dimapur, Kohima, Longleng, Mokokchung and Mon and one each in Kiphire and Zunheboto, taking the total caseload to 35,793. With one more Covid-19 fatality in Dimapur, the death toll rose to 771 (including 5 non-Covid deaths but with positivity). The State currently has 87 active cases-- 11 admitted (Cont’d on p-8) to Covid hospitals and 76
car parking at Old NST, Kohima and waste management unit, Meriema under the municipal affairs department. During the visit of the two Kohima smart city projects, the department informed that the actual timeline for completion of the two multi-level car parking projects was for 24 Months i.e., October 10, 2020. However, it was informed that the pace of the work slowed down and got delayed due to the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
under home isolation. PTI: India added 16,464 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,40,36,275, while the active cases increased to 1,43,989, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll climbed to 5,26,396 with 24 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.48 per cent, the health ministry said. K Y M C