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Vol XXX No. 249
DIMAPUR, FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2020 Pages 8 ` 4.00
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State spent `139 cr for COVID activities: CM
Oppn boycott marks NLA session
Correspondent
KOHIMA, AUG 13 (NPN): Nagaland chief minister and leader of House, Neiphiu Rio said altogether Rs 139 crore has been spent so far for both medical and non medical interventions vis-àvis COVID-19, of which the State government’s share was about Rs 112 crore, including Rs 3.35 crore spent approximately from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF). Making a statement on COVID at the 6th session of 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) here on Thursday, Rio said the Nagaland was a revenuedeficit State and did not have enough resources. However, he said that had not stopped his government from doing whatever could be done for taking all possible steps to combat COVID-19 to keep the people safe. For improving medical infrastructure and putting in place systems, equipment and manpower for winning the battle against the pandemic, he claimed that the government had spent more than Rs 62 crore and out of this the assistance received from Government of India and other sources was about
The 6th session of the 13th NLA underway on August 13. (DIPR)
Rs 10 crore. He added that the remaining Rs 52 crore was spent by the State from its own resources. Rio informed the House that getting resources was tough given the overall constraints and reduction in the revenues due to the pandemic and lockdown, which forced the government to take several measures to mobilise additional revenue. He said it had cut down non-essential expenditure by 15% and also mobilised additional revenue by levying COVID cess @ Rs 5 and Rs 6 on per litre of diesel and petrol respectively in the best interest of the people. He said Rs 74 crore was spent on non-medical interventions like relief to stranded people, distribu-
tion of food and dry rations to migrants, needy people, preparation of quarantine centres and entire quarantine arrangements, transport arrangements for bringing people back, IEC (information, education & communication) activities, etc, of which the Central assistance was only about 14 crore. Observing that the pandemic had sweeping across the world, including India, in the past six months and infecting millions of people and causing thousands of deaths, Rio remarked that Nagaland too was affected. But by the grace of God, he said the State remained relatively free from the virus in the initial phase, giving time for preparation.
The one-day sixth session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) was held here on Thursday amidst total boycott by the opposition NPF legislators. While 22 members from the treasury bench attended the session, 18 legislators, including from the opposition bench, sought leave. On, Thursday Leader of Opposition, T.R. Zeliang said that attending the session for obituary reference and passing of government Bills did not make any sense when the State was confronted with numerous issues. Zeliang claimed that the opposition had proposed to discuss Naga political issue, which was rejected. Also NPF legislature party spokesperson Imkong Imchen said that opposition MLAs had filed 29 questions to be answered during the session but only 12 questions were accepted by the Assembly secretariat, while the time allotted to the Opposition for discussion on matters related to COVID was a mere 35 minutes, which he said was insufficient. Reminding the speaker of the dignity of NLA, Imchen alleged that its democratic principles had been repeatedly abused on the pretext of implementing COVID-19 measures. Thus, in order to protect democratic practices and maintain the sanctity of the Assembly, Imchen said the NPF would boycott the one-day session, which had been convened for “mere fulfilment of constitutional obligation”.
NLA session adjourned sine die: After completing all the list of business, the sixth session of the 13th Assembly session was adjourned sine die by the Speaker Sharingain Longkumer. Earlier, the speaker informed the House that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the session was called as it was mandated by the constitution. He said the Assembly authority had conducted a comprehensive COVID test before the session in order to minimise the risk of exposure among the members and (Cont’d on p-3) others attending the session.
Oppn boycotting Health minister updates Assembly on COVID armed forces, 1115 cases in the process of scaling NLA session Correspondent from returnees, 319 cases down. AUG 13 (NPN): from traced contacts and The minister informed unfortunate: Kronu KOHIMA, State Health minister, S. 203 cases are front line that from zero capacity to D I M A P U R , AU G 1 3 (NPN): Minister Planning & Co-ordination, Land Revenue, Parliamentary Affairs and HPC spokesperson for COVID-19 activities, Neiba Kronu, has termed as “unprecedented, unfortunate and not appropriate” the opposition suddenly issuing boycott notice of the assembly session on Wednesday night. In a press release, Kronu said that the assembly session was scheduled to be held on July 30, 2020, but due to emergencies that had arisen out of detection of COVID positive cases amongst staff of the NLA and even legislators and their staff, it became inevitable to reschedule session for August 13, 2020. Despite significant challenges faced out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said the assembly the secretariat and the state government undertook steps and measures to ensure that the session was held without any hindrances. He said the speaker had even allowed members to stay away from the session if any member was keen to avoid the session on precautionary or on health grounds. (Cont’d on p-6)
This is it!
Pangnyu Phom Thursday provided an update on the COVID-19 status of the state, referring to the August 11 data, during the one-day session of the Assembly session on August 13. Reading out a lengthy statement, Pangnyu citing the August 11 COVID update, said that there were 3,031 confirmed cases in Nagaland out of which 2,032 were active cases, 985 recovered, 7 COVID-19 deaths, 1 death due to nonCOVID-19 and 6 migrated. He said a total of 1385 confirmed cases were among Armed Forces, 1,096 are returnees, 200 are frontline workers, 296 are traced contacts and 52 others (cases related to NLA, Raj Bhawan and others). However, as on August 12, COVID positive cases rose to 3118 out of which 1427 cases were from the
workers. Further highlighting the house about the COVID19 activities, Pangnyu said that since January 20, the department started screening and monitoring of Air passengers with history of travel to China and affected countries. He said that so far a total of 4,08,812 travellers have been screened. To prevent the spread of the virus, Phom said 261 quarantine facilities were put in place and a total of 21617 returnees were placed put in quarantine centres and 23,221 persons were kept under Home Quarantine. Currently, the minister said 2,099 persons including 115 frontline workers were in quarantine centres while 3,243 persons were under Home Quarantine. He added that with decrease in number of returnees, the quarantine facilities were
test COVID-19 in the State, Nagaland was able to set up and make functional 2 Biosafety laboratories: BSL-3 lab in NHAK and BSL-2 lab in CIHSR, Dimapur while another BSL-2 laboratory set up at District Hospital Tuensang was expected to be commissioned by the end of August. He mentioned that state has a total of 29 TrueNat machines and said now state have the capacity to test over 1200 samples per day. Additionally, he said Rapid Antigen Detection Tests were also now made available for COVID-19 testing. To meet the demand of unfolding challenges, he said private hospitals and laboratories have been permitted for COVID-19 testing by Truenat as well as by Rapid Antigen Detection Test. (Cont’d on p-3)
All weekly bazaars. Vendors prohibited along the Super Market footpaths.
Wholesale markets - 5 a.m. - 10 a.m. Pharmacies will remain open with no restrictions.
Salons, parlours, barbershops and dine-in restaurants.
Vegetable vendors would be allowed to sell only in the colonies/villages and not in the daily markets.
“I don’t like the idea of going to a shop through backdoor. I’m not looking for a job.” K Y M C
D I M A P U R , AU G 1 3 (NPN): Approving the gradual reopening of shops under Dimapur district as recommended by subcommittee headed by Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) administrator, Albert Ezung, the District Task Force (DTF) Dimapur has agreed to allow opening of all categories of shops from August 17. (See more on graphic)
According to DIPR report, DTF members at an emergency meeting convened by deputy commissioner (DC) Dimapur, Rajesh Soundararajan, on August 13, however, decided to close all shops every Wednesday. DMC administrator told the members that the subcommittee after thorough deliberations considered the suggestion from various
Food delivery and delivery of essential goods are allowed.
quarters and drew a plan so as to avoid overcrowding in the markets. At the meeting, CMO Dimapur, Dr. Mereninla Senlem, emphasised on the need for sensitising the village bodies on the issue of keeping asymptomatic COVID cases at home so the COVID Care Centres could be reserved for serious COVID cases.
Nagaland COVID-19 tally 3168 DIMAPUR, AUG 13 (PN): Nagaland on Thursday registered 50 fresh COVID-19 case, taking the tally to 3168 cases-- 2015 active, 1139 recovered, 8 deaths and 6 migrated. In a tweet, Health minister S. Pangnyu said out for the 50 cases that were detected, 40 were reported in Kohima, 5 in Zunheboto, 4 in Mon and 1 in Dimapur. As per the severity of symptoms, 2,011 cases are asymptomatic 2 mild and 2 moderate. Further, out of the 3,168 positive cases, the distribution across various categories of people are 1,447 cases of Armed Forces, 1,117 cases of Returnees, 203 cases of Frontline Workers, 347 cases of Traced Contacts and 54 cases of Others. Further, a total of 30,183 samples were sent for testing through RT-PCR and results of 28,550 received. According to Health department’s data (cases by domicile district), Dimapur topped the list with 1557 cases, followed by Kohima- 673, Peren- 343, Mon- 283, Zunheboto- 78, Tuensang- 52, Phek- 32, Wokha- 27, Mokokchung18, Longleng- 5, Kiphire- 4 and others- 46.
DIMAPUR, AUG 13 (NPN): Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC) Thursday affirmed that it “fully endorses” the stand of the 14 tribes of Nagaland, Nagaland GB Federation (NGBF) and Zeliangrong Baudi (AMN) in opposing demands for changing Interlocutor for Naga peace talks RN Ravi at the present crucial juncture. CNTC through its media cell described the demand for change of Interlocutor at the present time, was “nothing short of a ploy of playing delaying tactics and a nefarious scheme”. CNTC pointed out that the Naga civil society groups, churches and the people have also invested a lot of their time, energy, resources together with all their prayers for fruitful conclusion of the talks. Therefore, it reiterated that no group should try to thwart or sabotage “this hard earned peace process”. In this regard, CNTC has appealed to all the negotiating groups to come together for a lasting peace in the land in the spirit of unity and oneness.
New Market, Hongkong market, Hazi Park, Millenium market and Purana Bazaar vegetable market.
All shops dealing in non-essential commodities - 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri & Sat)
international, Page 7
COVID-19 STATUS AS ON august 13, 2020 District
Asymptomatic
Dimapur 1235 Kiphire 0 Kohima 562 Longleng 0 Mokokchung 6 Mon 115 Peren 15 Phek 3 Tuensang 2 Wokha 8 Zunheboto 65 Total 2011
ACTIVE CASES RecovMiTotal Symptomatic Death ered grated Cases Mild Moderate 1 2 412 1660 8* 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 221 785 0 2 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 12 18 0 0 0 0 145 262 0 2 0 0 249 264 0 0 0 0 28 31 0 0 0 0 45 47 0 0 1 0 8 17 0 0 0 0 16 81 0 0 2 2 1139 3168 8 6
*1 death is Covid-19 positive but not due to Covid-19
details of COVID-19 cases detected on Aug 13, 2020
Returnees Traced Frontline Inbound Others* Total contacts workers travelers Kohima 11 2 27 0 0 40 Zunheboto 5 0 0 0 0 5 Mon 4 0 0 0 0 4 Dimapur 0 0 1 0 0 1 Total (Today) 20 2 28 0 0 50 Total (Cumulative) 1447 1117 347 203 54 3168 Percentage 45.7% 35.3% 11% 6.4% 1.7% 100% *Others include cases related to NLA, Raj Bhavan, patients excluding returnees District
Armed Forces
India COVID tally nears 24 lakh-mark
PTI Adds: With a record single-day increase of 66,999 cases, India’s COVID-19 tally mounted to 23,96,637 on Thursday. The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 47,033 with 942 people suc-
cumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours, health ministry said. The case fatality rate in the country declined to 1.96%. There are 6,53,622 active COVID cases presently, which account for 27.27% of its total caseload.
CNTC against change of Interlocutor Lokayukta grants prosecution
All shops to open in Dimapur from August 17 All shops dealing in essential commodities - 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Kamala Harris is a proven fighter: Biden
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CMO Dimapur also informed that non COVID centre would be activated within a day or two for treating non COVID patients. M S D i m a p u r, D r. Kuveduyi Theyo, also informed that one OT for Covid positive patients and another OT designated for non COVID patients would be activated within a couple of days.
CNTC also expressed appreciation of all the negotiating parties for their sacrifices, wisdom and endurance for the Naga people. It said the Naga people, who have had enough of bloodshed, were now “waiting eagerly for a peaceful lasting solution to be arrived at.” It may be noted that those who had also expressed opposition against replacing Ravi as Interlocutor included– Working Committee of NNPGs, 14 Apex Tribal Hohos of Nagaland, Nagaland GB Federation, Zeliangrong Baudi (AMN) and Lotha Hoho. Meanwhile, CNTC has supported the demand of Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO) to make public all the agreed points between the negotiating parties. CNTC maintained that Naga public deserved to know what was in store for them in the final agreement. It therefore demanded that it was time to disclose the details of the long awaited solution, which was “finally about to come to a conclusion.”
State submits proposal to MoRTH for Foothill Road Correspondent
KOHIMA, AUG 13 (NPN): The State government has submitted a proposal to the Union Ministry of Road Transpor t & Highways (MoRTH) for taking up the much-anticipated Foothill Road under National Highways. Replying to a starred question by NPF legislator, YM Yollow Konyak on the expected time of completion of the foothill road during the one-day Assembly session, deputy chief minister and minister in-charge of Roads & Bridges, Y Patton said as the decision was still pending, the completion of the road would depend on funding. He said work on the road was discontinued after funding under Special Plan Assistance had stopped.
sanction against retd officers
DIMAPUR, AUG 13 (NPN): Lokayukta Nagaland on August 4, granted prosecution sanction as per Sec. 26 of the Nagaland Lokayukta Act against the two retired IAS officers-- former agriculture production commissioner (APC) and chairman of the Small Farmer’s AgriBusiness Consortium (SFAC) Nagaland and former managing director SFAC Nagaland. IGP and director of Nagaland Lokayukta Police I Meyionen said the chargesheet was submitted to the District & Session Judge & Special Judge, Nagaland Lokayukta on August 13, to proceed with the formal trial. Based on the charges established against the officials and the contractor, the chargesheet was submitted for grant of prosecution sanction against the duo. It said that a case was registered on October 6, 2018 against the then secretary, horticulture department and MD of SFAC Nagaland, who had issued the work order for the Project “Post Harvest Management of Horticulture crops in Dimapur, Peren, Mokokchung, Tuensang, Phek and Wokha” to the contractor without technical approval. The total amount of the project was Rs. 717.90 lakh and an amount of Rs. 24130 lakh was released as first instalment. Payment was released to the contractor within four days after the work order was issued when there was no urgency or justification to do so. The project was implemented in private lands instead of the department’s land.
NGBF president refutes NSCN (I-M) KR claims D I M A P U R , AU G 1 3 (NPN): Nagaland GB Federation (NGBF) president Shahlem Konyak has refuted NSCN (I-M) Konyak region claims, which was published in local dailies on August 12, 2020, and asserted that he was “very disheartened by the false statements published to tarnish my image”. In a press release, NGBF president Shahlem Konyak said it was a deliberate attempt to “assassinate my character, my entire life earned reputation.” Konyak said his “simplicity and honest approaches” have been taken undue advantage. “Nobody should stoop so low that to take advantage and to politicize even on cordial conversations that took placed between Naga brothers, he said and “strongly condemned” the “disquiet”
press release that was issued with the intention to create division and hatred among Naga family. Konyak clarified that on August 5, 2020, two gentlemen, who had introduced themselves as NSCN (I-M) officials had come to his residence and they had a cordial talk about Naga political issues. While having discussion, Konyak claimed that the NSCN (I-M) officials asked him “why NGBF is always seeking an early Naga political solution?” To which, Konyak said he replied that NSCN (I-M) was also demanding for an early solution. Further, on their query as to why NGBF was supporting RN Ravi, Konyak said he told them that it was not a question of supporting (Cont’d on p-3) K Y M C
