Nagaland Post This issue 12 + 4 = 16 Pages @ ` 5.00
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Vol XXIX No. 119
Petrol price up, diesel unchanged
DIMAPUR, APR 5 (NPN): Petrol prices Friday rose by 5 paise while diesel prices remain unchanged across four metropolitan cities in the country. Petrol prices in New Delhi were raised by 5 paise (Rs 72.91 a litre) while diesel was retailing at Rs 66.14 a litre, according to data from Indian Oil. In Dimapur, a litre of petrol was Rs. 70.52 after a 5 paise increase. Diesel prices remained unchanged at 63.58 per litre. Retail petrol price in Kohima was hiked by 5 paise to Rs 71.34 a litre while diesel remained unchanged.
This is it!
“Son, a manifesto is like a politician who says much but does nothing.”
DIMAPUR, SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2019 Pages 16 ` 5.00
NRC, CAB lollipops to fool people: Mamata
Sevilla boost top four hopes
Trump backtracks on border closure
northeast, Page 5
sports, Page 15
international, Page 13
4000 Konyak women dance Agusta case: Modi, Cong trade barbs Over to set Guinness World Record Michel quashes ED’s claim; says didn’t name anyone
NEW DELHI, APR 5 (AGENCIES): Enforcement Directorate (ED’s) supplementary charge sheet in the AgustaWestland chopper scam case raised the political temperature ahead of the Lok Sabha polls with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday bringing it up to attack the Congress even as the alleged middleman Christian Michel claimed before a court he has not named anyone during an investigation. Congress on the other hand said the charge sheet filed by the ED before a Delhi court on Thursday was a ‘cheap election stunt’ to divert people’s attention from the ‘imminent defeat’ of the Modi government in the polls while senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley insisted that the opposition party answer as to who were ‘RG’, ‘AP’ and ‘FAM’ in the documents cited by the probe agency. The ED in its fourth supplementary charge sheet also claimed that kickbacks
Christian Michel (File)
worth 70 million euros were paid to “important political persons of the ruling party, media persons, defence officials and bureaucrats” in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. Michel, who alleged that the Central government was using agencies for political agenda, filed an application before the court after reports appeared that the ED in its charge sheet named politicians of the previous UPA dispensation, defence personnel, bureaucrats and journalists as beneficiaries of kickbacks in the controversial defence deal. Alleging that Congress and corruption were inseparable partners, Modi told a rally in Uttarakhand that Michel has hinted at the Congress’ first family’s involvement in the chopper
deal.
Modi claimed that Michel, whom his government had brought from Dubai, had disclosed two names to his interrogators. “One was ‘AP’ and the other was ‘FAM’. ‘AP’ stands for Ahmed Patel and ‘FAM’ stands for family. Have you heard of Ahmed Patel? Which family is he close to?” he asked the audience at the rally at the parade ground in Dehradun. Reacting to Modi’s veiled reference to him, Ahmed Patel, a senior Congress leader who has been former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political adviser, said it seems the ED has become an important part of the NDA alliance. He noted that such “antics” would not work as the public is demanding answers to un-
employment, farm distress and sagging economy. “The chowkidar and his cronies have targeted the wrong place without evidence. The ‘dalals’ (middlemen) of Note ban and Rafale cannot escape now. The people will teach them a lesson. But, you must have heard the saying that a thief sees a thief in everyone,” Patel said. Addressing a press conference at the BJP office in Delhi, Jaitley questioned Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s ‘silence’. “Right to silence is for accused not for the one who is dreaming to be the country’s prime minister,” Jaitley said, adding if no reply is given in case of such serious allegations, the country is “entitled to presume that no reply could have been given”. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said parts of the charge sheet were “selectively leaked” to the media to score political points. Michel’s counsel appeared with an application before Special Judge Arvind Kumar who issued a notice to the ED and sought its reply by Saturday when he will take up the matter.
Konyak womenfolk participate in the ‘largest traditional Konyak dance’ in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record in Mon Friday. (NP)
Correspondent
MON, APR 5 (NPN): Konyak women etched their names in history by creating Guinness World Record for the largest performance of Konyak traditional dance when over 4000 women performed together on the third day of Aoleang Mini Hornbill Festival here on Friday. Day-3 of the event was set aside specifically for women of Konyak community to perform to achieving the rare feat under the theme “Empowering Women for Cultural Heritage”. The event was organised by Konyak Union, Konyak Nyupuh Sheko Khong (Cont’d on p-11) (KNSK) and Konyak Stu-
dents’ Union (KSU). Two officials – Veswuzo Phesao from Nor th East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC) and Performing Arts with Fitness choreographer Tali Temjen – witnessed the event. Later, speaking to Nagaland Post, Temjen said the performers had succeeded in their attempt to create a world record by performing for 5.01 minutes, adding that the performance was stunning. He also appreciated the performers’ energy and enthusiasm by standing for more than three hours while making necessary preparations for creating the record. He informed this correspondent that necessary
documents in this regard would be sent to Guinness World Record for certification, adding the formal announcement could come anytime – within the next 12 hours or within the next five days. The organisers explained that as Guinness World Record adjudicators could not come to witness the event owing to security reasons, the NEZCC official and choreographer were assigned the task of monitoring the event as per guidelines. Women from 115 villages thronged Mon town local ground to try in achieving the feat with an objective to preserve the rich cultural tradition of Konyaks for their younger generation. (Cont’d on p-11)
IAF rejects US report that no Pak F-16 shot down WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI, APR 5 (PTI): A US count of Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets has found that none of them are missing, contradicting India’s claim that one of its war planes downed a Pakistani F-16 during an aerial dogfight on February 27, a leading American magazine reported, even as the IAF on Friday stuck to its stand and said it had conclusive proof. Two senior US defence officials
with direct knowledge of the situation told the Foreign Policy magazine that American personnel recently counted Islamabad’s F-16s and found none of the planes missing. “The findings directly contradict the account of Indian Air Force officials, who said that Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman managed to shoot down a Pakistani F-16 before his own plane was downed by a Pakistani missile,” the report said
Thursday. Reacting to the report, the Indian Air Force Friday asserted that it had shot down an F-16 aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force on February 27 during aerial combat. In a statement in New Delhi, the IAF said, “during the aerial engagement, one MiG 21 Bison of the IAF shot down an F-16 in Nowshera sector.”
ECI finds NITI Aayog VC guilty of violating poll code NEW DELHI, APR 5 (IANS): Election Commission (EC) on Friday found NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s remarks on the Congress’ promise of minimum income guarantee scheme “Nyay” as a violation of model code of conduct (MCC) and asked him to “exercise caution” in the future. “The Commission has come to the conclusion that your comments violate the said MCC norms. The Commission has, therefore, decided to convey its displeasure to you for your comments and expects that you shall exercise caution in future,”EC said in a letter to Kumar. Kumar had slammed the Congress’ antipoverty scheme Nyay, saying that its cost at 2 per cent of the GDP and 13 per cent of the Budget will ensure that the real needs of the people remained unsatisfied.
‘50 p/ltr fuel discount to people with inked fingers’
DC-506
K Y M C
NEW DELHI, APR 5 (AGENCIES): In a bid to promote voting in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA) on Friday announced a discount of 50 paisa per litre on petrol and diesel on elections days. The association said that for availing the discount one needs to show the voting mark on their finger. Speaking to ANI, AIPDA president, Ajay Bansal said, “...Any voter can avail this discount after showing the voting mark on his/her finger on the day of election.” K Y M C