Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXVIII No. 254
MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2018 Pages 12 ` 5.00
India will be back on 7.5% plus growth: Virmani
Man City thrash Huddersfield 6-1
Europe must ‘pay price’ to save nuclear deal: Iran FM
business, Page 8
sports, Page 12
international, Page 9
City’s overbridge in disrepair
Railway overbridge: (L) MS rods in the beam exposed and (R) cracks caused by autorickshaws/bikers on the sidewalks. (NP)
Staff Reporter
D i m a p u r , Au g 1 9 (NPN): Dimapur’s landmark railway overbridge near Hotel Sente appears to be showing signs of gradual deterioration due to lack of maintenance and if the neglect continued, it could even lead to a major catastrophe. Authorities such as state PWD, CPWD or central agencies washed their hands off on any responsibility for maintenance of the overbridge. According to some reports, the construction of the overbridge was com-
NTC shocked at Technical Edn dept non-action D IMAPUR , AUG 1 9 (NPN): Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has expressed shock at having learnt from ANCSU and parents of expectant candidates that, despite chief secretary’s clear instruction and its objection, the Technical Education department had not rectified its notification (No.DTE/ CSAB-NEUT/1/2018-19) with inconsistent rules and guidelines, which allegedly enabled many candidates with doubtful credentials to appear the JEE, 2018 and many of whom were now in the merit list as well. NTC in a statement issued on Sunday urged the department to keep the cases of doubtful candidates in abeyance till the local administration rectified the indigenous certificates issued earlier through standard procedures to establish the antecedents. It also cautioned the administration concerned not to play with the rights of indigenous citizens of Nagaland. According to NTC, the irregularities detected by the parents were of a serious nature with far-reaching consequences, if precedence was set and the department proceeded with counseling and nominating doubtful candidates.
This is it!
“Sir, it’ll be better to present bouquets to the minister to avoid comments from Tharoor.” K Y M C
pleted in the early 70s and officially inaugurated in 1973 thereby at least making as old as 45 years. During all these years, the overbridge has been bearing the load of thousands of vehicles each day including huge trucks hauling tons of cargo as it remains the only link for the NH 29 between Numaligarh- Dimapur-Kohima-Imphal. Nagaland Post had carried a special report in 2012 showing how several cracks had appeared in a portion of one of the beams. The columns are still in good shape. Although the bridge’s columns look stable enough,
a fire that broke out in a colony a few months back near the bridge has destabilised the bridge slabs as several cracks have appeared over the area burnt area. Iron rods supporting the main beams of the bridge slabs have been exposed after the fire burned off parts cement plasters on the beams. The 45-year-old bridge serves as a flyover for the railway track and regarded as one of the oldest overbridges in Northeast India. The sidewalks along the bridge on both the sides have all caved in due to weight of two wheelers
which have turned it into a thoroughfare. Potholes on the bridge are also taking their toll as they cause sudden vibrations by bumps from vehicle tyres. Most of the side railings along the bridge on both the ends have been decimated and heavy cables on the sides were also left dangling. So long as the overbridge remains as the only link for normal traffic between East and West Dimapur and also the vital link for the NH 29, the present condition of the bridge is a cause for serious concern. (Cont’d on p-7)
Assam truckers to stop plying to Wokha district from today GOLAGHAT, AUG 19 (AGENCIES): Truck owners of Merapani in Assam’s Golaghat district have decided to stop plying to Wokha district from Monday after drivers claimed that they were allegedly harassed by police and activists during checking of documents like Inner Line Permit (ILP). According to The Telegraph report, the decision was taken during a public meeting on Thursday, which was attended by members of All Assam Students Union (AASU), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), All Assam Scheduled Caste Students Union and Merapani Market Committee, among others. “For the past couple of days, drivers and handymen of taxis and goods vehicles are being harassed... on the pretext of checking ILP or National Register of Citizens (NRC) document,” said Mofizul Hussain, president of Truck Owners’ Association of Merapani. “The student organisations even handed over
two drivers, Faridul Ali and Raju Sonowal, to the police and they were sent to Wokha jail. Though they were released on Thursday, it has created panic among drivers and handymen from Assam who live in Wokha. Most of them have already returned,” he said. “We are aware that one needs an ILP to travel into Nagaland but there are no facilitation counters at the inter-state border check-post to avail of the permit. Earlier, there was no such checking or restriction. Our drivers only needed to show the licence issued by the Nagaland government to enter,” said Hussain. He said the boycott would continue until the ILP requirement is withdrawn. The association also urged the Golaghat administration to properly check documents of taxi drivers who ply from Wokha to other parts of Nagaland through Assam. More than 150 commercial vehicles, including trucks and Tata Sumos, usually ply from Merapani to Wokha.
PAC resolves to curb taxations, syndicates D IMAPUR , AUG 1 9 (NPN): Public Action Committee (PAC) under the aegis of Naga Council Dimapur (NCD) and comprising 19 tribal hohos of Dimapur, N W H D, D U C C F, G B Union Dimapur, DCCI and NCD met at Tourist Lodge here on Saturday in pursuance to the resolution adopted in the last meeting held on July 26 to conduct a consultative meeting with respective tribes and organisations on multiple taxation, syndicates and lease system. The reports of the tribes and organisations were also tabled in the House for deliberation. According to a press note issued by PAC convener Vekhosayi Nyekha and co-convener K Ghokheto Chophy, who is also NCD vice-president, all the tribes and organisations were of the unanimous opinion that every citizen had been adversely affected by the system of rampant collections of multiple taxes by national workers in the form of syndicates and lease systems, along with taxes by different agencies and registered (Cont’d on p-7) unions.
Rs 88k cr crypto scam: Gujarat kingpin Darji held NEW DELHI, AUG 19 (AGENCIES): Main accused of Gujrat Bitcoin scam Divyesh Darji was arrested by police from Delhi Airport after his arrival from Dubai on Saturday. He is the Asia head of Ponzi scheme Bitconnect, registered in the UK and being operated from Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. Darji and associates allegedly siphoned off about Rs 88,000 crore from gullible investors. This money was routed through his company called Bitconnect.com, launched around the time of demonetisation. Most of the promoters of this scheme fled abroad after Gujarat CID started the investigation. Many high-profile names, including politicians, are accused in this scam along with Mahendra Chaudhari, Satish Kumbhani and Divyesh Darji. Divyesh Darji is one of the kingpins of the fraud. These accused launched various websites as platforms, including www.zewanghelp. com, to promote their virtual ponzi (Full report on p-7) scheme.
Kerala toll 370, over 7 lakh in camps T H IRU V A N A N THAPURAM, AUG 19 (IANS): As the rain fury finally abated on Sunday, 724,649 people remained in 5,645 camps in Kerala following “one of the worst ever floods” that has left about 370 dead and caused unprecedented destruction. “Our prime concern was to save lives. It appears it has been met,” chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media. But even as Vijayan maintained that the last stage of rescue act was going on, various WhatsApp groups continued to be flooded with requests for help, especially from Alappuzha. On Sunday morning, the authorities withdrew the red alert issued in the last of the three districts: Idukki, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta. Naturally, with fishermen, NCC, Navy and Air Force continuing to rescue the marooned, Sunday saw the maximum evacuation of people from Chengannur, Pandalam, Thiruvalla, several areas in Pathanamthitta district and in Aluva, Angamaly and Paravur in Ernakulam. The chief minister said 22,034 people had been rescued from flooded homes and buildings. The death toll began on May 29
Rescuers ferrying children on a lifeboat in Kerala.
when Kerala got the first of the monsoon rains. Every fisherman who took part in the rescue act would be given Rs 3,000 each, he said. Students who lost their educational materials and uniforms would get new replacements. Health Minister K.K. Shailaja admitted that although the water level had fallen in many areas, medical facilities might not have reached certain regions due to the magnitude of the crisis. Congress president, Rahul Gandhi and CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the central assistance of Rs 500 crore was too little. Kerala government has estimated the loss at Rs 19,500 crore. Disease outbreaks feared as thousands trapped
by Kerala flood: Aid workers have said they fear outbreaks of disease as thousands of people remain stranded. An estimated 800,000 people have been relocated to 4,000 relief camps as waters continue to surge in Kerala. “The scale of the calamity here is indeed very, very frightening,” Devendra Singh-Tak, a spokesperson for Save the Children, told Sky News. As the severity of the rainfall begins to decline, aid workers fear that stagnant water could prove a breeding ground for diseases like cholera and malaria, and have warned of a chicken pox outbreak. They say some 10,000 people in remote villages could be cut off from medicine, food and water.
NGBF calls for lifting ban PDR seeks clarification on NSCN (K), NNC (Adinno) from Finance department
D IMAPUR , AUG 1 9 (NPN): Nagaland GB Federation (NGBF) has appealed to Government of India (GoI) to lift the ban on NSCN (K), remove the bounty announced on some of its leaders and invite the group, along with NNC (Adinno), for peace talks. It also urged both the militant outfits to come forward and initiate peace and unity. In a statement issued by its general secretary Shikuto Zalipu and media secretary Akhu Naga, the federation also urged everyone concerned not to misinterpret its meetings with Working Committee (WC) of six Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) and NSCN (I-M) as extending support to any one group. NGBF explained that its representatives during the meetings acknowledged both the signing of the his-
toric Framework Agreement between NSCN (I-M) and the Centre on August 3, 2015 and a preamble for political dialogue by WC, NNPGs with GoI on November 17, 2017 and their diligent work in bringing about a permanent peace in Nagaland. Referring to media reports of August 3, the federation clarified that it did not support only signing of the Frame Agreement, but also the preamble for political dialogue. The federation contended that all entities engaged in the political dialogue with GoI are for the good of Naga people, adding that it stood for inclusive, peaceful, honourable and acceptable political solution. NGBF also added that as a traditional and customary body it would not hesitate to correct erroneous reports in or by media.
DIMAPUR, AUG 19 (NPN): Welcoming the release of Rs 45 lakh on two occasions as financial assistance to UPSC candidates who cleared Prelims by budget & monitoring cell (B&MC) of finance department, People for Democratic Rights (PDR) has urged the planning department to reveal how many UPSC candidates were provided financial assistance under Chief Minister’s Corpus Fund (CMCF), how much amount each candidate had received during the last two financial years and how many of them had cleared all exam stages of UPSC. According to a statement issued by its publicity & media affairs, the amounts were released under CMCF in favour of planning & coordination department. While Rs 20 lakh was released on March 18, 2017 for UPSC candidates for 2016-17, Rs 25 lakh was released for 2017-18 on December 12, 2017, it added. However, the civil society group pointed out that no break-up regarding the list of beneficiaries of CMCF were mentioned. (Cont’d on p-7)
UCM storm Manipur Speaker’s residence CSU, NCYO & NCVSU flay Aug 17 incident Correspondent
IMP H A L , Au g 1 9 : Registering strong protest against postponement of special session of the State Assembly, members of the United Committee Manipur (UCM) stormed the residence of Manipur Assembly Speaker, Y Khemchand on Sunday afternoon. Police blocked the agitators from entering the residence, but later after a brief struggle, few representatives were allowed to enter the residence to submit an ultimatum. In the ultimatum, UCM war ned that the people of Manipur were ready to teach them (government and legislators) if the legislators delayed in taking an ultimate resolution to protect the state’s territorial and administrative integrity. They further demand-
Police stop agitators from entering the Speaker’s residence in Imphal on Sunday.
ed that during the proposed special session of the Assembly, each legislator must declare their firm stand against the Centre’s move to distort the territorial integrity of the state. They insisted that legislators must also leave behind their political affiliation and take a firm stand to press the Union
Home minister on the latest development of the Framework Agreement between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) and the stand of the Centre. They said the house must also take a concrete decision against any kind of settlement of the Naga peace talks that would lead to division among the dif-
ferent ethnic communities living together in the state. Talking to reporters after meeting the Speaker, one of the members said that he (Assembly Speaker) claimed that government was also putting in efforts to know the latest development of the peace talks and Centre’s motive in settling the Naga political issue.
D IMAPUR , AUG 1 9 (NPN): Chakhroma Students’ Union (CSU), New Chümoukedima Youth Organization (NCYO) and New Chümoukedima Village Students’ Union (NCVSU) in separate statements condemned the August 17 assault on CSU president Rokovi Kruse and two others at Chümoukedima Police check gate allegedly by personnel led by one ABSI Ruovi Zao and 2IC (ASI) and Mhasi Chadi. In a press note, CSU general secretary Kevisese Krose and information & publicity secy. Mhalevilie Medoze said what initially started as a minor altercation between a constable on duty and the group of three ensued into an unthinkable, uncompromising, senseless act. CSU refuted the allegations, labelling the three as extortionists, of the constable that they
were levying tax of Rs. 100 from a commercial-bound vehicle. CSU claimed that on the pretext of false report by the constable to the 2IC, the latter “directly confronted one of the boys, inflicting physical blows.” After seeing the officer, the other personnel in uniform also started to assault the boys, CSU stated. CSU alleged that the personnel had no mercy, or any sense of compunction for their barbaric act. Though the case may have been amicably settled, out of respect for the sagaciousness of the elderly and village leaders, CSU said the youth had taken the incident seriously. It further claimed that such incidents was not new at the Police check gate, as there were instances where the neighboring villagers and general public had been allegedly manhandled by
the police. In view of this, the union cautioned police personnel manning the check gate to be wary of their own conduct, and to be sensible while dealing with their fellow citizens, failing which the general public will not remain silent spectators. NCYO, NCVSU: New Chümoukedima Youth Organization (NCYO) and New Chümoukedima Village Students’ Union (NCVSU) have also condemned the alleged highhandedness and use of brute force by the police personnel manning the check-gate at Chümoukedima on three of its members--Rokovi Kruse president, Chakhroma Students’ Union & president, New Chümoukedima Youth Organization, Keneingukho Hama, Wrestling secretary and Shezovil Kera, perpetrated on August 17. (Cont’d on p-7) K Y M C