August 18, 2020

Page 1

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXX No. 253

DIMAPUR, TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020 Pages 8 ` 4.00

Sevilla beat Man Utd to reach Europa final

Follow us on @Nagaland_Post

sports, Page 8

Central block, other offices in Sectt sealed D I M A P U R , AU G 1 7 (NPN): Following the detection of COVID-19 positive case, the Central block of the state Civil Secretariat, Social Welfare and DUDA department in the Secretariat, Gate-2 of the Secretariat and Social Welfare directorate have been sealed for 48 hours with effect from August 17. In a notification, ADC Kohima, L. Tongpi Rutsa said that besides sealing, fumigation and disinfection of the office premises will be carried out, following all health safety measures and SOPs of the government. Since the proposed ‘sealed areas’ have been mapped and cordoned off, public have been advised to follow all safety precautions and to ensure public hygiene and personal safety within the proximity of the sealed areas.

BSL-2 lab in Tuensang to be opened on Aug 28

KOHIMA, AUG 17 (NPN): Bio Safety Level 2 (BSL) laboratory in Tuensang will be inaugurated on August 28 by Health & Family Welfare minister, S. Pangnyu Phom. This was stated by Ongshem Angh, press secretary to Pangnyu. The minister will be accompanied by advisor Prison & Printing and Stationery, H. Haying and advisor SCERT, IPR & VGs, Toshi Wungtung, along with Health department officials.

KSU, KMH flay firing incident

D I M A P U R , AU G 1 7 (NPN): Khiamniungan Students’ Union (KSU) and Khiamniungan Menyiu Hoikam (KMH) have strongly condemned the firing incident that occurred at International Trade centre (ITC) Dan, Pangsha under Noklak district on August 15, 2020. KSU through its media cell asserted that prior to the setting up of army camp at ITC Dan, no such incident had occurred. However, it said that the current location of army camp, which was close to public dwelling, was putting the lives of people at risk. It asserted that ITC Dan was established for socio-economic prosperity of the region and not battle ground to exchange bullets. KSU said that the incident where a student leader of Pangsha old village was shot dead during the conflict between the Naga nationalist and Assam rifles in early 1990s was still afresh in the minds of the villagers. As regards, KSU has appealed to the Indian Army to set up the camp outside the residential area for public (Cont’d on p-5) safety.

international, Page 7

COVID-19 STATUS AS ON august 17, 2020 District

KUALA LUMPUR, AUG 17 (AGENCIES): A new strain of the novel coronavirus called ‘D614G’, deemed ten times more infectious, has been detected in Malaysia, said Director General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah in a Facebook post, Bloomberg report stated. Abdullah said the neighborhood needed to be careful, after a D614G mutation of the novel coronavirus was discovered. “It’s is found to be 10 times easier to infect different people and easier to spread, if spread by ‘super spreader’ individuals,” Dr Noor Hisham said in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Sunday (Aug 16). The mutation was detected by the Malaysian Institute for Medical Research, because of culture and isolation tests on three instances from the nation’s Sivagangga audience and one case from the Ulu Tiram cluster. “So far, these two clusters have been found to be

Covid-19 strain D614G Found in July 2020 Detected in Malaysia by Institute for Medical Research (IMR) Comprising:

3 cases (Sivagangga cluster) 1 cases (Ulu Tiram cluster)

Mutated virus 10 times more infectious

Easier to spread if transmitted by ‘super spreader’ individuals Vaccines currently being developed may prove ineffective against mutation Pubic advised to be cautious and comply with standard operating procedure (SOP)

Wear a Observe Social distancing self-hygiene face mask Source: Health Ministry

under control as a consequence of the rapid public health management actions,” explained Dr Noor Hisham. “This first test and many follow-up evaluations are being conducted to examine several different cases, including for the index case for both clusters,”

The Stargraphics

he said. Dr. Noor added that the D614G mutation was detected by scientists in July, also is likely to induce current vaccine research to be faulty or ineffective towards this mutation. As per a Bloomberg report, the mutation has been spotted in three cases from a cluster that apparently

started when a restaurant owner and permanent resident returned to the country from India. The man had reportedly breached the mandatory 14-day home quarantine and since then sentenced to five months in prison and fined. The strain was also found in another cluster involving people returning from the Philippines. Dr Noor Hisham advised the public to continue to apply preventive measures and general health management by taking steps involving physical distancing, self-hygiene practices and wearing face masks. “People need to be wary and take greater precautions because this strain has now been found in Malaysia. The people’s cooperation is very needed so that we can together break the chain of infection from any mutation,” he further said. Malaysia reported 25 brand new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, nine of which were local broadcasts while 16 were imported.

Asymptomatic

Dimapur 1127 Kiphire 0 Kohima 598 Longleng 0 Mokokchung 2 Mon 71 Peren 14 Phek 0 Tuensang 3 Wokha 8 Zunheboto 84 Total 1907

ACTIVE CASES RecovMiTotal Symptomatic Death ered grated Cases Mild Moderate 0 3 633 1773 8* 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 335 935 0 2 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 17 19 0 0 0 0 190 263 0 2 0 0 250 264 0 0 0 0 31 31 0 0 0 0 45 48 0 0 1 0 10 19 0 0 0 0 16 100 0 0 1 3 1530 3455 8 6

*1 death is Covid-19 positive but not due to Covid-19

details of COVID-19 cases detected on Aug 17, 2020 District

Armed Returnees/ Traced Frontline Others* Forces Travelers contacts workers

Total

Dimapur 8 7 11 8 0 34 Kohima 22 1 1 0 0 24 Zunheboto 0 0 2 0 0 2 Mokokchung 0 1 0 0 0 1 Total (Today) 30 9 14 8 0 61 Total (Till date) 1511 1177 490 223 54 3455 Percentage 44% 34% 14% 6% 2% 100% * Others include cases related to NLA, Raj Bhavan, patients excluding returnees

D I M A P U R , AU G 1 7 (NPN): A total of 61 fresh COVID-19 cases was recorded in Nagaland on Monday, taking the tally to 3,455 cases-- 1911 active, 1530 recovered, 8 deaths and 6 migrated. According to Health minister, S. Pangnyu Phom,

34 new cases were reported from Dimapur, 24 in Kohima, 2 in Zunheboto and 1 in Mokokchung. As per the severity of symptoms, 1,907 active cases are asymptomatic, 1 mild and 3 moderate. According to Health department’s data (cases by domicile district), Dimapur

has 1671 cases, followed by Kohima- 863, Peren- 343, Mon- 288, Zunheboto- 102, Tuensang- 53, Phek- 32, Wokha- 29, Mokokchung19, Longleng- 5, Kiphire- 4 and others- 46.

India’s COVID death toll crosses 50,000

P T I a d d s : I n d i a ’s C OV I D - 1 9 d e a t h t o l l crossed the 50,000-mark with 941 fresh fatalities while COVID-19 cases rose to 26,47,663 on Monday, according to the Union health ministry. The number of people who have recovered from the disease went up to 19,19,842 in the country, pushing the recovery rate to 72.51 per cent, according to health ministry data updated at 8 am. The number of tests for detection of COVID-19 also crossed the three crore-mark in the country, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 50,921 with 941 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours. The case fatality rate has declined to 1.92 per cent. There are 6,76,900 active COVID-19 cases in the country currently.

Gowda expresses concern about Naga FB accused of bias towards BJP; India head alleges threat peace talks running into ‘rough weather’ BENGALURU, AUG 17 (PTI): Expressing concern over the Centre’s negotiations with NSCN (IM) to resolve the Naga problem running into ‘rough weather’, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Monday hoped distrust is put aside and a peace accord is reached at the earliest. “Newspaper reports indicate that the Union government’s negotiations with NSCN (IM) to resolve the Naga problem has run into rough weather. From recent statements made by those involved in the negotiations it is apparent that distrust has crept in,” the former Prime Minister and Rajya Sabha MP said in a statement. He said the ceasefire agreement in 1997, which followed his meeting as Prime Minister with Naga leaders Isak Chishi Swu

H.D. Deve Gowda (File)

and Thuingaleng Muivah in Zurich, in February that year, was a result of constructive diplomacy. “We should ensure that the progress made in the last 23 years by successive governments is not forsaken now. There is the Constitution and also the 2015 framework agreement, which should help its move towards a solution,” Gowda added. The NSCN (IM) had attacked the Nagaland Governor and interlocutor

for Naga peace talks R N Ravi on Sunday, accusing him of converting a political issue into a law and order problem and adopting a ‘stratagem’ that resulted in the killing and arrest of its members. In a statement, the NSCN (IM), which has been engaged in peace negotiations with the Centre for the last 23 years, also alleged that Ravi was trying to divide the Naga people and ‘misled’ the central government and a parliamentary standing committee on the framework agreement signed on August 3, 2015. Stating that he sincerely hopes that distrust is put aside, talks continue, and a peace accord is reached at the earliest, Gowda said, ‘the people of the North East deserve to live in harmony and witness economic progress.

NEW DELHI, AUG 17 (AGENCIES): Public policy director of Facebook India, South and Central Asia, Ankhi Das, has filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against a number of people who allegedly issued “violent threats” to her online. Ankhi Das, the Facebook public policy director for India, in a written complaint to the Delhi Police, claimed that she has been receiving “violent threats against my life and body”. In her complaint, Das mentioned Facebook and Twitter accounts that had allegedly threatened her as a result of the WSJ article. The Facebook executive said that these threats came after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article on August 14 said that the platform had failed to take action against posts by BJP MLA Raja Singh, although the post fell under Facebook’s hate speech rules

Shoppers, vehicles flood Dimapur city as markets reopen

(From top) Shoppers at a market place and surge in vehicular traffic witnessed on Monday. (NP)

Staff Reporter

K Y M C

nagalandpostofficial

Malaysia detects new coronavirus State COVID-19 tally up by 61 cases strain ‘10 times’ more infectious

This is it!

“Sir, the men felt it was wiser to use face shields than masks due to the humidity here.”

Nepal agrees to speed up India-aided projects

nagalandpostofficial

D I M A P U R , AU G 1 7 (NPN): With relaxations on public movement and shops allowed to open from

10 a.m. till 5 p.m. from August 17 to August 31 after months of lockdown, Dimapur witnessed heavy rush Monday as thousands rushed to markets and hun-

dreds of vehicles clogging the main arterial roads. Shops will be open for five days (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and remain closed on Wednesday and Sunday as per the decision of the Dimapur District Task Force (DTF) on COVID-19. Despite strict warning being issued by the authorities, in most cases, shoppers were not concerned about maintaining social distancing. Though the odd-even number order on vehicles allowed to ply was in place, there was huge surge in number of vehicles causing traffic snarls at some points during the day. Public transport resumed with auto-rickshaws plying on the road, albeit with a limited number of passengers. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dimapur, Rajesh Soundararajan told Nagaland Post that Monday being first

day of total reopening after months of partial lockdown, it was not unexpected that the shopping places were crowded. Keeping in mind that everything could not be in lockdown and as people had to earn their livelihoods, the DC said that the DTF decided on a balanced and re-calibrated opening, even as some restrictions were still there. He said a committee had been formed to enforce all COVID-related precautionary measures. The DC however said New Market, Hazi Park and Hongkong Market areas remained closed as per the directives of the Home department. Further, he said DTF had received a proposal regarding phase-wise reopening of the shopping areas which has been forwarded to the Home department. (Cont’d on p-5)

Ankhi Das (File)

and had been marked as dangerous. An August 14 article published in the WSJ claims that Das was opposed to applying Facebook’s hate speech rules to four individuals and groups with links to BJP. The article stated that despite being internally flagged for promoting violence, she was against applying the rules due to business imperatives. The report says that Ankhi Das opposed applying hate speech rules to the BJP’s T Raja Singh

CTAN objects to cancelling NSEE 2020 D I M A P U R , AU G 1 7 (NPN): Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN) has objected to the cancellation of Nagaland State Entrance Examination (NSEE) 2020 and demanded that the state government nullify the August 4, 2020 notification, which declared list of candidates provisionally selected by Common Selection Board for undergoing studies in various undergraduate courses in para medical, agri. & allied courses during the session 2020-21. The association CTAN through its media cell asserted that equal opportunity must be given to all applicants for open competition and not by some committee.

out of fear of ruining the company’s relationship with the ruling party. Raja Singh is the BJP’s lone MLA in Telangana assembly and is notorious for making communally provocative statements. WSJ quoting unnamed current and former company officials said Das, whose job also includes lobbying India’s government on Facebook’s behalf, told staff members that punishing violations by politicians from Modi’s party would damage the company’s business prospects in the country…” According to WSJ, Das’s team also took “no action” after BJP politicians posted content accusing Muslims of intentionally spreading the coronavirus, plotting against the nation and making a noise about “love jihad”. In addition to this, unnamed former employees quoted by WSJ claim that Das had also provided the BJP with “favourable treatment on election-

related issues”. “In April of last year, days before voting began in India’s general election, Facebook announced it had taken down inauthentic pages tied to Pakistan’s military and the Congress party. But it didn’t disclose it also removed pages with false news tied to BJP, because Ms. Das intervened,” the report said, quoting unnamed former Facebook employees. While BJP accused the social media giant of censoring nationalist voices, opposition Congress seized on WSJ report that alleged that Facebook’s content policies favour the ruling party. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has stated that it will look into the WSJ report. “I will certainly look into the issue and the committee will seek the views of Facebook,” committee chairman Shashi Tharoor told The Indian Express.

Landslides damage houses in Zbto

Houses damaged by landslide at DC Hill west colony in Zunheboto town on Monday. (DIPR)

D I M A P U R , AU G 1 7 (NPN): At least five houses including Home Guards office were severely damaged by landslides that occurred at DC Hill West Colony, Zunheboto town on August 17 morning. According to an official bulletin, no casualty has been reported as the alert residents evacuated (Cont’d on p-5) in advance. It stated that

no proper drainage system in the vicinity caused landslides. Zunheboto had received heavy downpour over the past couple of weeks. In another incident, one house was swept away while four were affected at Akuluto town on August 14 evening after heavy rainfall that triggered multiple landslides. One person was reportedly injured in the incident. K Y M C


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