Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXIX No. 132
DIMAPUR, FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2019 Pages 12 ` 5.00
Pak PM axes FM amid IMF talks
Spurs edge City on away goal to enter CL semis
Farmers’ budget to declare MSP in advance, says Rahul
international, Page 9
sports, Page 12
national, Page 5
Sporadic violence mars phase 2 LS polls
NEW DELHI, APR 18 (AGENCIES): An IED blast in Chhattisgarh, firing in West Bengal and Manipur, clashes in Karnataka and EVM glitches in Bihar and Tamil Nadu marred polling for 95 seats across 11 states and the Union Territory of Puducherry in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. According to the official figures released by the Election Commission, the second phase of Lok Sabha polls witnessed 67.84 per cent voter turnout. “Barring sporadic incidents of violence, the polling went off peacefully,” Umesh Sinha, senior deputy election commissioner was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. P o l l i n g i n Ta m i l Nadu’s Vellore seat was cancelled on Tuesday after the Election Commission received reports of cash seizure. Similarly, the EC also announced that the polling in Tripura (East) Lok Sabha constituency will take place during the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2019, citing law and order situation in the state. Incidents of violence, road blockades, bombings and police firing
NSDMA issues weather updates
DIMAPUR, APR 18 (NPN): Heavy rain along with thunderstorm and gusty winds/lightning is expected at isolated places in Kohima, Peren, Mokokchung, Longleng, Kiphire from April 19-21, 2019. According to NSDMA, thunderstorm with gusty wind was expected at isolated places in Mon and Tuensang districts on April 21, 2019. NSDMA stated that maximum temperature would see a dip during this time, settling even below 200C over the hilly areas. NSDMA has requested all DDMAs and other line departments responsible for attending to any emergencies caused by natural calamities to be on alert. NSDMA has also urged the public to be vigilant during this pre-monsoon period Offices of the Nagaland fromwill lightning, Post remain gusty closedwinds on and 19, thunderstorms. Public April 2019 on account cautioned not ofhave Goodbeen Friday. Next issue to shelter under large trees will appear on April 21, and near the river banks to 2019. prevent unnecessary risk to life from lightning and flash flood.
HOLIDAY NOTICE
HOLIDAY Notice
Police personnel take away a protester after violent clashes at Chopra in Siliguri, Thursday, (PTI)
were recorded in West Bengal and parts of Odisha. According to reports, a reporter and a cameraperson were allegedly manhandled when they were covering elections in Raiganj constituency, West Bengal. Voters in Uttar Dinajpur district’s Chopra under the Raiganj constituency reportedly put up a road blockade, complaining about the absence of central forces at the polling stations, the sources said. Police fired in the air and lobbed tear gas shells to control a mob, after stones were pelted at them and bombs were hurled by un-
known persons in Chopra, a senior EC official in the district said. At least three persons were detained by police in this connection, he said. Two people-- a polling officer and a voter died of heart attack during the voting process, news agency PTI reported. There were reports of EVM damages in Manipur and West Bengal. “A total of 1,000 ballot units, 769 control units 2,766 paper trail machines were replaced,” deputy election commissioner Sudip Jain told news agency PTI. According to
EC figures, the interim voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir was 43.4 per cent-- the lowest during the second phase of elections, and 78 per cent in Puducherry. Manipur, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu witnessed a voter turnout of above 70 per cent. Srinagar had witnessed 12.43 per cent voting till 3 pm. In 2014, Srinagar had witnessed the lowest polling percentage of 25.86. As many as 90 polling booths in Srinagar’s downtown area witnessed no voting, though former chief min-
DIMAPUR, APR 18 (NPN): In an oblique reference to withdrawal of nomination by two candidates for the recently held by-election to Aonglenden A/C and the recent merger of two NPP legislators with the NDPP, Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) lamented that the politics of corruption and defection has “defaced” the spirit of “Nagaland for Christ”. In a statement, NPCC president K Therie alleged that the current council of ministers did not feel guilty or ashamed in robbing every department’s development project funds. “We have a leader who believes in engineering defections by offering huge gratification to stick to the chair at all costs, including Christ. He is responsible for the sins and defacing Nagaland for Christ,” he Therie. He opined that people cannot believe that MLAs and can-
DIMAPUR, APR 18 (NPN): Department of Food & Civil Supplies (F&CS) Thursday responded to the concerns raised by the Konyak Village Councils’ Union (KVCU) with regard to compulsory seeding of Aadhaar with ration cards. In a letter addressed to the KVSU president, the F&CS director Asangla Imti pointed out that the Centre had directed the States to link Aadhaar numbers with the ration card(s). F&CS director also stated that several other directives from the government insisted on requirement of Aadhaar enrolment under National Food Security Act (NFSA). Further, the director stated that the department has been implementing “End-to-End computisation of TPDS operations” in the state since 2013 as per the Supreme Court order, which directed the States/UTs to link Aadhaar number with beneficiaries’ data in order to detect bogus/ghost ration card(s). Accordingly, the director said the department has done 100% digitization of the NFSA beneficiaries and launched online allocation of food grains till the FPS in the state followed by launching of Supply Chain Management in Dimapur district. Asangla Imti pointed out that the ministry has designed the online NIC-CAS (Common Application Software) for compulsory seeding of Aadhaar with the beneficiaries’ data. In response to KVCU’s another concern that coverage of Aadhaar capturing in Mon district was very poor, the F&CS director stated that the department had requested the Commissioner Nagaland to ad(Cont’d on p-7) dress Aadhaar related issues. (Cont’d on p-7)
didates have defected without accepting money and risk disqualification and loss of future. He referred to social media where it was being alleged that the MLAs were paid Rs 5 crore each with promise of portfolios. Stating that defectors were worst as they sell their faithful followers along with their mandate, Therie called them as “mass human traffickers” for the buyer as they have certain voters behind them. He said those who sold themselves have not only finished their personal future, but also sold their soul, spirit and faith. Therie also said the defectors were bereft of moral, principles, ideas and vision in life without any plan for their people as they cannot see the future. He warned that anyone cooperating and supporting defectors will suffer the same fate before God.
NEW DELHI, APR 18 (AGENCIES): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying he is not contesting from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency to Narendra Modi send a message to the South, but he is doing so for “appeasement politics”. “Congress’ Naamdaar says he is contesting from Wayanad because he wanted to send a message to South. Couldn’t you contest from Trivandrum to give the message? It’s the capital. It’s not a message to South but a message of appeasement politics,” PM Modi said while addressing a public rally in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. Modi accused Rahul Gandhi of pretending to side against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, while secretly befriending the party in Delhi. The PM alleged Rahul Gandhi is doing so only to secure his place in Parliament. “Congress president had to come to Wayanad here to secure his place in Parliament. He says he won’t speak a word against CPI(M). Kerala main kushti aur Delhi main dosti, yahi inka khel hai,” PM Modi stated. “The faith and affection towards the BJP and me has only increased over time. Today I am here to seek your blessings so that we continue to convert your faith and affection to record development,” PM Narendra Modi said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying “there’s a clear link between national and livelihood security and the aspirations of youngsters and farmers; Rahul Gandhi PM Modi is missing it completely.” In interview with The Hindu, Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP has sought to divert the narrative of this election by making national security their key election narrative. “But this has failed to fire as people will not be fooled: the fact is that the biggest national security issue is unemployment. And the other big livelihood and national security problem for India is the huge rural distress and the state of our farmers,” he added. Rahul stated that the Congress manifesto has set down a framework to draw India out of the mess that Modi’s policies have created. “Compare it with the BJP manifesto, which doesn’t even talk of jobs or the issues that matter to the people of India,” he stated. “We have the highest unemployment rate in the last 45 years, but Modi doesn’t have a word to say about it!,” he said. Reacting to Prime Minister’s speech of a “dumdaar sarkar”, Rahul said: “If you want a dumdaar sarkar, you need to first employ India’s youth and give them opportunities to reshape their future and simultaneously rewrite India’s future. Only then will India become a powerful country.”
DIMAPUR, APR 18 (NPN): Chakhroma GBs’ Union (CGBU) has expressed concern over, what it said was, non-adherence to specifications at some places in the ongoing four-lane road construction along Purana Bazaar-Chümoukedima stretch. In a press release, CGBU president, Thepfukedo Kuotsu, and general secretary, Atso Gwizan, urged the responsible contractor to strictly adhere to the specification re-
garding the breadth and quality of the work. CGBU also appealed to the public to cooperate and support the works in the interest of all. The union pointed out that the National Highway has been existing for many years and the requisite size of a National Highway was known to all. CGBU urged plot owners and property holders to clear their properties for unhindered execution of the ongoing work. (Cont’d on p-7)
Descendants of Naga WW-II veterans awarded
This is it! Temjen Toy and Bob Cook (6th from R) with officials and descendants of the awardees of gallantry award in Kohima on Thursday (NP).
Correspondent
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Kerala mein kushti, Delhi mein dosti: PM, the missing link between national PM questions Rahul’s Wayanad choice security and livelihood security: Rahul
Defectors defaced the spirit of F&CS deptt responds to Adhere to specification: CGBU on 4-lane works Christianity: NPCC president KVCU on Aadhaar seeding
Offices of Nagaland Post will remain closed on April 19, 2019 on the occasion of Good Friday and reopen on April 20, 2019.
“Along with banning them from campaigning, they should also be made to attend class on public speaking.”
isters Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah cast their votes in Sonawar assembly segment. Polling in Chhattisgarh witnessed violence with an ITBP jawan suffering minor injuries after Naxals triggered an IED blast in Rajnandgaon district. In Assam, an estimated 46.42 per cent of over 69 lakh electorate exercised their franchise till 1 p.m. in five parliamentary constituencies. According to the official, there were reports of EVM glitches in several booths, but the polling personnel have addressed the issues. A former prime minister and four union ministers are in the fray in this phase of Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP is looking to defend 27 seats. The Congress, besides seeking to defend 12 of the seats it won in 2014 polls and aiming to improve its performance in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha. Lok Sabha polls are being held in seven-phases for 543 seats on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19, and counting will be on May 23.
LS campaign: Modi, Rahul trade barbs
KOHIMA, APR 18 (NPN): As part of the yearlong celebration to commemorate 75th anniversary of the battle of Kohima, gallantry award were restored to descendants of Naga veterans at an event held at Hotel Vivor here on Thursday. The event was organised by Kohima Education Trust (KET) and Kohima Educational Society (KES).
Speaking on the occasion as a guest of honour, chief secretary Temjen Toy remarked that the battle that was fought in “our land” had changed the history of the Nagas as well as the world forever. He said the State government had decided to observe the 75th anniversary of the battle by organising various yearlong activities to remember those who took part and lost lives, besides acting as a platform for
reconciliation and look for a better future. Welcoming the descendants of soldiers who had come from the UK, Toy also paid rich tributes to those who had lost their lives and those involved in the fierce battle and suffered immensely. He lauded Kohima Educational Trust and Kohima Educational Society for organising the programme in honour of Naga war veterans in a befitting manner.
Addressing the gathering as guest of honour, Curator of Kohima Museum at York (UK), Bob Cook said he was pleased and honoured to be part of the commemoration of 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kohima. Bob Cook said personnel of Assam and Naga regiments and Naga people had provided key support to British troops and had fought very well together. He said the medal presentation was to ensure that they were not forgotten but remembered. He said they fought against the Japanese soldiers, who were forced to retreat to Burma (now Myanmar). In his address, KES president Charles Chasie said the task of identifying Naga gallantry award winners and recovery of documents and medals had been an arduous task that began without any proper planning. (Cont’d on p-7)
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