December 31, 2018

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXIX No. 26

DIMAPUR, MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018 Pages 12 ` 5.0

Govt plans hiring professionals for Air India top positions: Prabhu

India thrash Australia by 137 runs

Colombia probes alleged plot to assassinate President

business, Page 8

sports, Page 12

international, Page 9

2018: An eventful year in Nagaland

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, DEC 30 (NPN): As the year 2018 ends, a flashback on the events that took place indicate that there were several issues that dominated the state besides the assembly elections held in February and the subsequent Lok Sabha by poll held in May 2018.

The year 2018 saw the continuation of the political drama within NPF where three former chief ministers fought bitterly for the chair.

Ultimately Neiphiu Rio had to resign as MP and member of the party he helped found (NPF) and join the newly formed NDPP which he also helped form.

Having three former chief ministers was one of the chief problems for NPF as any shift in combination between any of the three led to crisis.

The other development was the cracks in the alliance between BJP and NPF which came to surface during the internal crisis between Dr. Shürhozelie and T.R. Zeliang for the post of chief minister.

The NPF legislature had split with a majority siding with T.R.Zeliang.

NPF party organisation under Dr.Shürhozelie resolved to end the alliance

I am also an accidental PM: Deve Gowda BENGALURU, DEC 30 (PTI): Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda said he too was an “Accidental Prime Minister” amid a political row over the movie with the same title.

The film is based on Manmohan Singh’s tenure as India’s prime minister from 2004 to 2014 with the Congress alleging it was the BJP’s propaganda against their party.

Reacting to a question over the controversy, the 85-year-old JDS supremo said “actually I don’t know, why that was allowed...I think it started three or four months ago. I don’t know who has permitted, why? honestly, I have not gone through this so called Accidental Prime Minister. I’m also (an) Accidental Prime Minister,” Gowda said in a lighter vein.

In the 1996 general elections, no party won enough seats to form a government.

Holiday Notice Offices of the Nagaland Post will remain closed in

view of ‘New Year’ from December 31, 2018 to January 1, 2019. The offices will resume on January 2, 2019. Wishing all our readers a Happy New Year.

This is it!

“The roads have been widened to four-lane. And so have the potholes.”

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with BJP for not adhering to the spirit of the alliance.

T.R.Zeliang however spoke differently when he said the alliance remained after both he and Dr.Shürhozelie reconciled.

However the eventual separation came before announcement of the polls when the BJP rejected NPF’s stand but instead, agreed to join hands with Neiphiu Rio and his newly formed NDPP. January 2018 was welcomed with several issues in public domain such as excess appointments and demand for Tseminyu district by the Rengma tribe. The other major issue was the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill for Assam which the BJP sought to introduce. The bill seeks to accord Indian citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who migrated to India till December 31, 2014 if they can prove they resided in India for six years.

On the same month the ‘Solution Not Election’ became a big issue where various Naga civil society groups and tribe organisations demanded the postponement of the scheduled February 2018 assembly elections in favour of solution to the Naga politi-

cal issue.

NPCC had blamed the Nagaland Legislative Assembly for causing the uproar by adopting a resolution in December 2017, to urge the government of India/ECI to postpone election in favour of solution.

More and more organisations joined the chorus for postponement of elections.

The opinions differed between those who favour postponement and those who did not.

However, government of India’s Interlocutor to the Naga Peace Talks and Deputy National Security Adviser R.N.Ravi made it clear, that such a demand was not valid.

This stand was enlightened by some legal luminaries who explained that under the constitution there was no provision to postpone polls unless there was a major calamity or serious law and order problem such as civil unrest.

They said holding negotiations and anticipating an agreement did not warrant deferment of elections.

Even the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) urged the government of India to defer elections since the negotiation stage for the even-

tual agreement had reached crucial stage and from which solution/agreement was just on the corner.

The government of India later came out clear on the issue by reiterating that there would be no postponement to the constitutional obligation without any basis.

In the assembly elections held on February 27, 2018 the NPF won the highest number seats at 26. NPP which contested for the first time in alliance with NPF, won two seats.

However, Rio who led NDPP in winning 18 seats and the BJP with 12 seats managed to woo the lone JDU and an independent MLA to stake claim. Eventually the two NPP members also joined the new alliance – Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) which was sworn-in on March 8, 2018.

Formalin (used in preservation of dead bodies) was detected in fishes imported mainly from Andhra Pradesh. As per the findings of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the medical department, the authorities banned fish imports for several months.

The FSSAI team on

wheels also detected chemicals in fruits used for artificial ripening and which are harmful when consumed.

The monsoon also saw major damages inflicted on roads due to landslides besides several hundred houses, many paddy field across Nagaland due to torrential rains and floods.

In the Lok Sabha bypolls held in May, the NDPP candidate Tokheho Yepthomi defeated his long time former Congress colleague and NPF candidate C.Apok Jamir.

NDPP wrested the seat from NPF. NSCN (I-M) vice chairman ‘Gen’(Retd) Khole Konyak died in New Delhi on December 12.

NSCN (K) leader Khango Konyak was ousted by late S.S.Khaplang’s nephew Yung Aung in Myanmar.

NSCN led by Khango has since returned to India and agreed to a cease fire. The first ever dialogue was held in the first week of December with the government of India’s Interlocutor R.N.Ravi .

On the social plane, extortions and abductions especially in Dimapur continue to cause concern. Various incidents in Dimapur had led to protests and bandhs called

2 new NDRF bns. for NE

by organisations including traders.

Petrol pumps closed for a few days in protest against the abduction of a driver and handyman of an oil tanker by armed miscreants.

The Public Action Committee (PAC) under Naga Council held a 12-hour bandh in protest against the shooting incident on November 20.

PAC also demanded action against extortion and syndicates.

The latest was the sensational murder of noted social activist and politician Kevi Zakiesato in Dimapur.

Another worry is the rising number of HIV cases in Nagaland which has been recorded at around 20,000 by October 2018.

As Nagaland looks ahead to 2019, the promise of ‘Change’ which the ruling NDPP promised will be watched. The state is in need for total overhaul in its delivery system.

The roads need massive repairs and construction while power remains abysmal. Nevertheless there is hope that after the years of blatant corruption and mis-governance, the state government will deliver on its promises.

NEW DELHI, DEC 30 (PTI): Two new battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) with approximately 2,000 personnel will be coming up in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh soon.

Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said the battalion headquarters are being set up at Hallongi in Arunachal Pradesh and at Sarangi in Assam.

“It was a happy occasion for the North East as the foundation for establishment of 12th and 1st battalion headquarters of the NDRF were laid at Hollongi in Arunachal Pradesh & Sarangi at near Guwahati,” he said.

The foundation stone at the Arunachal Pradesh event was laid by chief minister Pema Khandu and the Assam event by the state’s chief minister Sarbanand Sonowal Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said the NDRF has always been playing a stellar role during natural calamity in the spheres of disaster management in the country and people depend on their services during such critical times.

Referring to the recent incidents of boat capsize in Brahmaputra and drowning of a family in Dikhow River in Sivasagar, Sonowal said during both these occasions NDRF played a key role.

He said that NDRF is a key pillar in the country’s disaster preparedness mechanism and NDRF and SDRF are both providing services during critical situations which have been instrumental in saving both life and property.

Speaking on the occasion at Hallongi, Khandu said the permanent stationing of the NDRF battalion in Arunachal Pradesh will not only help the state, but will also be available for service to neighbouring Assam.

M’laya: Still no trace of 15 trapped miners More policy reforms in the offing for NE: Niti Aayog

Indian Navy personnel prepare diving equipment before entering the coal mine on Sunday. (Reuters photo)

Correspondent

SHILLONG, DEC 30: Indian Navy and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Sunday began their rescue operation to rescue 15 miners trapped inside a flooded illegal coal pit for 18 days now in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district.

Lieutenant Commander Santosh Khetwal, led a team of six divers, including five from navy and one NDRF and assessed the

depth of the water in the illegal coal mine. Two Naval divers dived about 80 feet inside the main shaft of the flooded coal pit but couldn’t locate any of the trapped miners. The divers spent more than two hours inside pit in an inflatable raft with all necessary equipments.

“They dived about 80 feet inside the main shaft of the coal pit but they couldn’t locate anything due to high accumulation of water in the pit,” Assistant Comman-

dant NDRF, Santosh Kumar Singh said.

“We have decided to resume pumping of water from the pit tomorrow (Monday) morning with 100 horsepower pumps of Odisha fire services. Moreover, we have decided that Navy and NDRF divers will simultaneously dive inside during the pumping of the water so that we can try to get to the bottom of the pit,” he said.

Singh said that the Navy will also use the underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) on Monday’s rescue operation.

Noting that the ultimate aim of the rescuers is to evacuate the trapped miners, Singh said, “rescuers never lose hope and we are all here now working out to rescue them.”

Coal India Limited (CIL) continued to survey the abandoned coal mines located at the adjacent areas of the mining tragedy site.

NEW DELHI, DEC 30 (AGENCIES): Niti Aayog plans to focus in the New Year on steps required to push economic growth, promote e-mobility and ensure expeditious implementation of the Modi government’s reform measures, its vice chairman Rajiv Kumar has said.

“I am certain that some more policy reforms may be announced in the sectors such as e-mobility or in reducing import-dependency in energy sector and development of the North East region,” the Niti Aayog vice chairman said.

“India will grow at around 7.8 per cent in the next calendar year and investment cycle that has already started picking up will gather further strength and we will see more private investments,” Kumar told PTI in interview.

India grew at 6.7 per cent in the last fiscal year

ended March 2018.

“I also hope that liquidity crunch which has been effecting non banking financial company (NBFC) sector would also be addressed and the credit allocation capacity of banks under the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) would be enhanced...

All of that will contribute to strengthening the investment cycle,” Kumar said.

He said various key reforms undertaken by the Modi government has laid foundation stone for high growth and the low inflation and the time is now to focus on their implementation.

“The first time you are getting 7.5 per cent growth, with hardly any inflation.

That makes it a very strong macro fundamental. That is the basis for achieving 9 per cent growth by 2022-23,” he stressed.

In 2018, the government think tank was criticised over the issue of revi-

sion of economic growth rates, which showed that growth during the previous Congress-led UPA’s regime was less than what was estimated earlier.

Recalibrating data of past years using 2011-12 as the base year instead of 2004-05, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) last month lowered the country’s economic growth rate during the previous Congress-led UPA’s regime.

Economists including former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian had questioned the involvement of Niti Aayog in release of the GDP back series data and had also called for review by experts to clear doubts.

“Niti Aayog’s involvement was due to the consultation that was initiated by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) on the back series GDP data for which

the Aayog organised the workshop of leading statisticians of India to vet the figures in the methodology,” Kumar said. “... Preparation had already began by the CSO, which is the technical competent organisation,” he added.

Kumar said it was rather strange that Subramanian chose to question the technical competence and credibility of the CSO as its technical competence and capability was globally recognised.

During 2018, Niti Aayog also finalised indices to measure incremental annual outcomes in critical social sectors like health, education, water and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Besides, it prepared a strategy document for India’s 75th year of independence, presenting goals for 202223 and a way forward to achieve them.

Anti-BJP parties come together, but Federal Front unlikely Petrol price cut to its lowest NEW DELHI, DEC 30 (AGENCIES): The anti-BJP front gained currency this year in the wake of BJP’s defeats in Kairana, Phulpur and Gorakhpur parliamentary by-polls in Uttar Pradesh by the coming together of SP, BSP and RLD and as 2018 winds up the parties are now emboldened to go for the kill against BJP in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Interestingly, however, the Congress victory in the Hindi heartland in the recent Assembly elections has come as a dampener for some of the ambitious regional parties who want to have a major say in how the next government is formed.

In that context, rather than a single focussed anti-BJP front, analysts feel the situation is now ripe for a state-level alliance to take on the saffron party and for a Federal Front post-Lok Sabha polls depending on the final numbers that come out it. Each regional party, except those like DMK and RJD which have shown their preference for Con-

gress, would like to maximise its gains for acquiring bargaining power after the elections.

There is a unity of purpose in Congress and several other opposition parties to “defeat BJP-RSS” in the Lok Sabha polls and several meetings have been held over the past year to build momentum against the Narendra Modi government.

The meeting of 21 antiBJP opposition parties earlier this month decided come out with “a programme of work” over the next few months amid the growing realisation that state-specific alliances will need to be worked out and a panIndia grand alliance was a near impossibility. But there is still no clarity about how and when these ground-level alliances will take shape even though only about four months are left for the general elections.

Barring states where BJP and Congress are major players or where there is an NDA versus UPA battle, most states are likely to witness a multi-

cornered contest in the Lok Sabha polls.

Two important political events next month – Mayawati’s birthday on January 15 and the rally being organised by Mamata Banerjee on January 19 – are expected to bring some clarity on how opposition parties will shape their alliances in the Lok Sabha polls.

Modi’s popularity registers sharp decline in 2018 The popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi registered a sharp decline towards the close of 2018— merely four and a half years after he had come to power with a bang.

During the year he was surrounded by many unsavoury controversies. The recent poll debacle in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh show that he has ceased to be a votecatcher.

According to an IndiaSpend analysis of electoral data, the BJP lost more than 70 per cent of the Assembly con-

stituencies where Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned in the five States. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath fared slightly better than Modi, with a winning percentage of 39 as against Modi’s less than 30.

Even though Prime Minister Modi’s two major “achievements” did not figure prominently in the high-pitched campaigns, these two seemed to have considerably influenced the mind of the voters, particularly in the three Hindi heartland States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The scars created by the demonetisation on the middle and lower classes have not healed so far. Similarly, the GST continues to be a sore point with the middle rung traders. The party leaders in the three States were apparently aware of this because the party in the three States did not seek the vote in the name of Narendra Modi but in the names of their chief ministers.

level, diesel at 9-month low

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI): Petrol price on Sunday was cut by 22 paise per litre to its lowest level in 2018 while diesel rates were reduced by 23 paise to a nine-month low.

Petrol price in Delhi was cut to Rs 69.04 per litre from Rs 69.26 while diesel rates came down to Rs 63.09 from Rs 63.32 a litre, according to the price notification of stateowned oil firms.

Petrol prices, which have been on a decline since October 18 except for one day, are at their lowest level of 2018. Diesel rates are at their lowest since March-end.

In all, petrol price has fallen by Rs 13.79 per litre since October 18, more than negating all of the hike that was witnessed in the two-month period beginning mid-August.

Diesel prices have declined by Rs 12.06 per litre in two and half months. Petrol price had touched a record high of Rs 84 per litre in Delhi and Rs 91.34 in Mumbai on October 4. Diesel on that day had peaked to Rs 75.45 a litre in Delhi and Rs 80.10 in Mumbai.

Prices had started to climb from August 16.

Petrol in Delhi was priced at Rs 77.14 and in Mumbai at Rs 84.58 per litre on August 15. Diesel on that day was priced at Rs 68.72 per litre in Delhi and Rs 72.96 in Mumbai.

Between August 16 and October 4, petrol price was hiked by Rs 6.86 per litre and diesel by Rs 6.73.

On that day, the government decided to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre each and asked state-owned fuel retailers to subsidise the price by another Re 1 a litre by reducing their margins.

Subsequent to this, the petrol price moderated to Rs 81.50 per litre in Delhi and diesel to Rs 72.95 a litre on October 5. In Mumbai, rates fell to Rs 86.97 per litre for petrol and Rs 77.45 in case of diesel.

As the international oil prices continued to rise, price of petrol and diesel in Delhi increased to Rs 82.83 and Rs 75.69 on October 17.

In Mumbai, rates touched Rs 88.29 a litre for petrol and Rs 79.35 for diesel.

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

GSU celebrates Silver Jubilee Free organic growing and masonry training in Phek

Jacob Zhimomi speaking at the GSU Silver Jubille program on December 29.

DIMAPUR: The Ghotovi Students Union (GSU) celebrated its Silver Jubilee at Ghotovi village on December 29 under the theme, “Education is a big weapon.”

A press release from GSU stated that in his address as special guest, minister, PHED, Jacob Zhimomi lauded pioneers of the union for its formation for the students’

welfare. Jacob encouraged the students to strive for excellence, stating that success belonged to those who work hard.

Jacob further stated that parents have a big role in shaping children’s career and proper guidance from parents is one of the basic requirements for children.

The minister also encouraged students to be agents of change, give God the first place, make prayer a weapon and work hard.

Earlier, the minister unveiled the jubilee stone and the guest speaker, CNCCI chairman, Dr. Khekugha Murru released the jubilee souvenir.

KOHIMA: The Khreh Society initiated training centre at Thetsumi village & Chizami village under Phek district will be conducting a series of training for unemployed youth by the second week of January 2019.

A press release from the Khreh Society stated that the training centre at Thetsumi will offer training on general masonry and organic growing under Ministry of Skill Development, Government of India. The motive behind the training

is to promote skilled labour among youth, especially in construction, and also help develop self reliance and self employment. This Training Centre will offer a free three months course with certificates and job placement anywhere in India.

For computer & retailer training at Chizama, interested youth have been asked to contact the Chizami centre- 8837276360, and Thetsumi centre- 9436438003, 8787619769 on or before January 10. Coaching classes will start from January 15.

RCPB, RYO seize coil heaters

A “Nite Carnival” has been organized by North East Women Entrepreneurs’ Association (NEWEA) at Super Market, Dimapur, around Kids Garden A Western Hoolock Gibbon seems to be in a contemplative mood at Nagaland from December 29 till 31. It runs from 6 p.m till 10 Zoological Park, Rangapahar. The Western Hoolock Gibbon is classified as p.m. A total of 35 registered stalls cater children’s ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and games, barbecue, cocktails, fast-food, tambola etc. (NEWEA, Nagaland chapter) they are now entirely dependent on human action for their survival. (NP)

D I M A P U R : Re k u Colony Parents’ Body (RCPB) along with Reku Youth Organisation (RYO) and GBs went on a sur prise checking on December 28 during which 48 ordinary (coiled) heaters were seized.

A press release by chairman Thipuchuyo Yhobu and youth president, Vibi Mero stated that the checking was necessitated after a joint meeting and as the per directive of ADC Pfutsero banning sale and use of ordinary heaters in Pfutsero town.

While appreciating the administration and Power department for their public concern, the Reku Colony representatives have requested for the cooperation of all other colonies and the public of the town in this RCPB, RYO officials along with the colied heaters regard. they seized on December 28.

Reports of Assam Rifles civic action programs

A Phek Battalion officer delivering the lecture in Chieswema Battalion personnel after the hearing A paramilitary doctor checks the respiration of a AR officers and villagers after the medical camp Phek. aids distribution. young boy at L/Shengha. in New Thewati.

The lecture on First Aid and Hygiene in progress The workshop on government schemes in Officers and residents of Tang after the interaction The weapons display at Kohima Orphanage and in Chakbama. progress in Medziphema. session.

Destitute Home.

An AR officer shakes hands with a villager after the interaction in Wokha.

DIMAPUR: Assam Rifles, the oldest of paramilitary force of India, has been conducting a number of civic action programs to improve its relations with local people and in the interest of helping the civilian population. Following are some reports of their activities.

Assam Rifles motivational lecture in Phek: Phek Battalion of Assam Rifles conducted a “motivational lecture on admission to Sainik School, K

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Punglwa” in Phek on December 29.

According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), the aim of the event was to motivate candidates undergoing coaching classes and also to address any problems they may be facing. Phek Battalion has been conducting coaching classes since September 2018 for All India Sainik School Entrance Examination (AISSEE) scheduled on January 6, 2019. Eight students & eight parents

from Phek town attended the program.

Chieswema Battalion distributes hearing aids: Chieswema Battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North) distributed 12 Hearing Aids among the local population at Chiephobozou, Pfutsero, Zeizou and Chakabama Villages on December 28.

A press release from the Assam Rifles PRO stated that the aim of the event was to provide assistance to differently abled people of these areas who do not have access to medical treatment and cannot afford hearing aids.

AR free medical camp at L/Shengha: Mon battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North) conducted a free health care check-up for Langsa Care Home (Orphanage Centre), Lempong/Shengha, under Mon district on December 26.

According to PRO, HQ IGAR (N), the aim of the medical camp was to provide free medical treatment and check up to

children of Langsa Care Home who are devoid of requisite medical facilities.

The medical team that conducted the medical camp was headed by 2IC CMO, Kamlesh Kumar, along with a medical staff comprising of nursing assistants and technicians. A total of 31 children along with five caretakers from the Care Home attended the camp. All the children were administered free health check-ups and requisite medicines by the CMO of Assam Rifles.

AR free medical camp in New Thewati: Phek battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North) conducted a free medical check up camp at New Thewati village, under Phek district on November 20.

According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), the aim of the medical camp was to provide medical check up and treatment to the local populace of New Thewati and neighbouring villages.

Medicines were provided to the ailing patients. The medical team also visited the house of elderly people

who were too weak to attend the medical camp. Basic awareness on epidemic diseases and its precautions was also taught. 85 residents including 29 male, 21 female and 35 children attended the camp.

AR First Aid & Hygiene lecture: Chieswema battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North) organised a lecture on “First Aid and Hygiene” at Government Middle School, Chakbama on November 19.

According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), the Regimental Medical Officer (RMO), in his lecture-&demonstration, covered various first aid procedures. He also enthused the students on the need for awareness in administering first aid, which could be a life saving initiative during emergencies. Issues pertaining to personal hygiene, sanitation, causes of different lifestyle diseases, and routine activities to maintain a healthy life were also covered. 45 children and five teaching staff attended the lecture.

AR workshop on

gover nment schemes: Medziphema battalion under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North), organised an awareness workshop on existing “Central Government Schemes” for residents of Medziphema on November 19.

According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), the aim of organising the workshop was to disseminate information to villagers, students and women of Medziphema on the welfare schemes promulgated by the Government of India pertaining to women empowerment, education, health benefits and the various insurance cover for farmers. Information on the various nodal agencies at district level was also covered. 124 residents comprising 37 males, 80 females and seven children attended the program.

AR interacts with functionaries at Cob Tang: Wokha battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North) organised an interaction session with the local residents of Tang on November 18.

According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), issues on employment opportunities, infrastructure development and education of children were comprehensively discussed expecting a viable outcome. Functionaries from Tanganyu, Phomching, Wetting Longsen and Youching village participated in the interactive session.

AR interacts with orphanage children: Kohima Battalion of Assam Rifles, under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North), organized a get together with students of Kohima Orphanage and Destitute Home on November 17 as a small gesture to express solidarity and encouragement.

According to Assam Rifles, a weapons display was organized to motivate students to join the security forces. A movie “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’’ was also screened for the entertainment of the children at Kenguruse Cinema hall, Kohima garrison. Thirty five students attended the event.

Interaction with

village community in Wokha: 28 Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ 5 Sector Assam Rifles and HQ IGAR (North) held an interaction with village GBs and chairmen of Wokha district program at Battalion Headquarters Wokha on November 20.

According to Assam Rifles, a total of 22 GBs/ chairmen participated in the interaction. The aim of the interaction program was to familiarize the villagers with various opportunities for youth in the security forces.

The meeting focused on bridging the gap between security forces and village traditional bodies through mutual interaction and cooperation to bring peace and harmony in the region.

The battalion assured the villagers of its complete help to address problems faced by the villagers and create a better place to live in. Commandant 28 Assam Rifles, Wokha, Col. Hiren Borah, took part in the discussion hour and thanked all participants for their cooperation.

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nagalandpost.com Poll Q.: Are current Indian opening batsmen not up to the mark overseas?

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

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Nagaland BJP preparatory KVK Kiphire celebrates KKA-2 meeting for National Convention DIMAPUR: BJP Nagaland state held a preparatory meeting for the National Convention and Good Governance Day at the state head office Kohima on December 29.

A press release by BJP Nagaland general secretary, Kavili Achumi stated that Nagaland BJP president and minister for Higher and Technical Education, Temjen Imna Along said that Nagaland BJP was a national party with a regional outlook.

Imna encouraged party workers to leave aside dif-

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Yes No Can’t say

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64% 27% 9%

Next poll

Q: Will the year 2019 be

better, same or worse than 2018?  Better  Same  Worse

WEATHER FORECAST December 31

(Temperature in ºC)

Max Min

Agartala Hazy sunshine

27 11

Aizawl

Plenty of sun; pleasant

Guwahati Hazy sunshine Imphal

Plenty of sun; beautiful

21 6 24 8 22 5

Itanagar Sunny, not as warm

20 7

Shillong Hazy sunshine

17 0

Kohima

Plenty of sun

Dimapur Plenty of sunshine; pleasant Mkg

Plenty of sun

Tuensang Plenty of sun; cooler Wokha

Hazy sunshine; cooler

Zunheboto Plenty of sun

18 3 23 7 19 1 12 2 16 8 17 0

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State

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

ferences and work together for stronger prospects. Imna stressed on the Good Governance Day saying “a person’s birthday is decided by God, not man”, and India celebrates good governance day in honour of Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose birthday falls on December 25.

He said Vajpayee was not only a politician but a great poet, orator and statesman who had brought trajectory programs to Nagaland. Temjen Imna further encouraged party workers to practice humility and accountability in their alloted

responsibilities.

Imna also lauded the 12 full time workers for their tireless services rendered to the party which, he said, led to the party’s big success in the state.

Earlier in the program, all districts and morchas presented their reports followed by a discussion led

by Ananta Narayan Mishra, organising secretary, on the forthcoming BJP national convention scheduled for January 11 and 12, 2019 in New Delhi. The program was led by Kuputo Shohe, chief spokesperson.

SXCC Kidima observes Holy Family

DIMAPUR: St Xavier’s Catholic Church appealed to parents to ensure the spiritual Kidima (SXCCK) observed Holy Family growth of their children. with the rest of the world at its premises, The priest also gave thanks to God with Fr. Rajesh, Eden Garden-&-Children’s for the blessings received and asked for the Home, Khuzama, as the maiden main grace needed in 2019. celebrant on December 30.

Father Rajesh said that a good family A press release by SXCCK media has compassion, kindness, loveliness, neatParticipant farmers walk away with their share of the cardamom saplings after the program on December 23. cell, P. Tetpekrovi Kiso stated that father ness, patience and respect for elders.

DIMAPUR: Krishi Vigyan the district administration, pecially to celebrate farm- cropping practices with Rajesh, in his introductory speech, asked Franciscan Sisters of Saint Mary of the Kendra (KVK) Kiphire, Chenithung Ovung, EAC, ers of the country and their special emphasis on inte- the faithful how they could grow as a Holy Angels and others from different parts of ICAR for NEH Region, who was the special guest contribution to agriculture. grated farming systems. Family like Jesus, Mary and Joseph. He the country joined the sacred ceremony.

Nagaland Centre cel- appreciated the organiz- He reported that the KKA Mosa Yinchunger, NEIDA ebrated Kisan Diwas-&- ers for taking up various was implemented in se- spoke in detail about the demonstration at DAO, programs for the benefit of lected 25 villages where all benefits, maintenance and Kiphire conference hall in farmers of the district. He agri and allied departments installation of drip irrigacollaboration with DAO, also urged the farmers to worked in coordination tion systems.

DIMAPUR: NNC (Parent sage, NNC (PB), Zelian- said.

Kiphire, ATMA, Kiphire cooperate with the depart- to achieve the action plan During the program, Body) Zeliangrong-Region grong-Region said late It conveyed heartfelt and NEIDA Kiphire dur- ments so as to ensure suc- formulated by the Ministry 20000 large cardamom has expressed grief over Huraipi Kalengta sacrificed sympathies to members of ing the occasion of Krishi cess of these programs. of Agriculture and Farm- saplings and 500 packets the demise of “lieutenant his life for the nation’s work bereaved family and prayed Kalyan Abhiyan-2 (KKA-2) Dr. N. Khumdemo ers’ Welfare, Government of biofertilizers were also colonel” and commanding and served the nation self- that the departed soul rest in on December 23.

Ezung, senior scientist and of India. distributed by the special officer 2nd battalion NNC lessly till his death. “His peace. The funeral service A press release from head (i/c), KVK, Kiphire During the technical guest. Altogether around Parent Body Zeliangrong service will be remembered was held at the deceased’s KVK (ICAR) Kiphire in his address said that the session, Dr. N. Khumdemo 50 farmers participated in Region, Huraipi Kalengta. by the Nagas though he has residence at Jalukie Town stated that representing program was organized es- Ezung deliberated in detail the program.

In a condolence mes- gone from us” the message on Sunday, it added.

NNC (PB) Zeliangrong-Region condoles

GMS Iphonumi building inaugurated

DIMAPUR: Government Middle School building, Iphonumi, under Ghathashi block, was inaugurated on December 18 by SDEO, Pughoboto, V. Yeshito Swu. A press release from Area Education Officer (AEO), Bohoto stated that Yeshito in his speech mentioned that education was a gift of God, and it plays a great role throughout

life to help people achieve success and a happy life.

He urged the teachers to be sincere in disseminating quality education to students because, he said, they were the pillars of the nation.

He asserted that teachers and students should work hand in hand to uplift the school.

Earlier, invocation was pronounced by pastor, IBC, Jekivi, welcome address by VCC, Kavito K. Swu in the program chaired by Vikuto Swu, and short speeches were proposed by GB, Nagho Kinimi and P/T, Vikuho Swu. A song was presented by GPS, Iphonumi and benediction by pastor NCRC, Ghokuto.

KSU, PVSU annual session reports

DIMAPUR: An introductory session of the 56th Annual Session of Kidima Students’ Union (KSU) was held at Village Council Hall, Kidima on December 28.

In his address as guest speaker, EAC, Kezocha, Er. Seyiekhrietuo Solo advised students to not only aspire for degrees, but also focus on quality education to bring positive changes to society. He said students should try to grasp the concept and not simply depend on memory and challenged them to absorb as much as information they could like a sponge.

Er. Seyiekhrietuo Solo also pointed out the massive gap between educated unemployed youth and actual availability of jobs.

He added that in order to succeed in competitive exams one should study smartly and work hard.

He lamented that the present generation had lost the old belief in dignity of labour and he challenged the youth to use their hands and make a living off of their creativity. He cited the Naga craze for Western culture and the habit copying it, urging Nagas to go back to their roots and bring about a cultural renaissance to preserve their rich cultural heritage.

The prog ram was chaired by Ruguozetuo Ltu, pastor CRC, Kidima, Videse Pucho invoked 80’s Footprint, on December 24, visited and handed over relief materials to victims of the fire that broke out at God’s blessing, the welcome address was delivered Ura Villa Colony in Dimapur on December 22. (Shiyeto Wotsa)

The introductory session of the 56th Annual Session of KSU in progress on December 28.

by Seyievi Visa, songs were presented by Keneihosale Kiso and Keviyieno Rikha and Videtonu Phinyo hosted the quiz hour.

61st PVSU Annual Session concludes: Pongidong Village Students Union (PVSU) held its 81st Annual Session from December 28 to 29 at Community Hall Pongidong, under the theme “Live and Let Live”, with M. Athungo Lotha, sub divisional education officer (SDEO) Atoizu, as special guest and Rev. Dr. L Tsanso, pastor, Pongidong Baptist Church (PBC) as theme speaker.

A press release from PVSU media cell stated that the special guest, while exhorting the session, stated that “tomorrow’s world belongs to the students.”

He encouraged students to put in more efforts in

their studies, which he said is indispensable in this competitive world. He also briefly highlighted the economy, polity and religion of Pongidong village in the present scenario.

Rev. Dr. L. Tsanso spoke based on the theme, viewed under five perspectives viz, faith, direction, relationship, love and connection with God as the key to “Live and Let Live”.

Earlier in the program, Jonjibemo, president PVSU delivered the welcome address, Shanchopeni & Co presented a special song, Ephyosen presented a guitar recital.

Mhajamo general secretary PVSU and Alex finance secretary highlighted the PVSU annual report.

Rev. Z Elhio Tsopoe, pastor CRC Pongidong

pronounced the invocation, and Ben Lotha youth president PBC offered the benediction. A vote of thanks was proposed by Soyinglo organising secretary PVSU. Senchilo vice president PVSU chaired the program.

The session also raised the tenure of PVSU office bearers to three years from the existing two years tenure.

The 61st annual session concluded with a thanks giving service & dedicatory prayer for the newly selected office bearers at Christian Revival Church (CRC) Pongidong, with Thungchobeni Emangrui, lecturer Harvest Bible College Dimapur as the speaker. Rev. Z Elhio Tsopoe, pastor CRC Pondidong gave the dedicatory payer.

Dimapur Meetei Council donates relief materials to fire victims

Members of Dimapur Meetei Council with victims of the December 22 fire at Ura Village, Dimapur.

K Y M C

DIMAPUR: Dimapur Meetei Council (DMC) donated relief materials to fire victims of Ura village, Dimapur on December 29.

A press release by DMC information and publicity secretary, Prem Singh stated that the relief materials included blankets, crockery and food items.

The relief was handed over in the presence of Katila, convener of the Fire Affected Area.

A brief program was held highlighting the motto of council by Sarat Thangjam, president of DMC, who expressed gratitude to all the NGOs, civil societies and well wishers for their contributions and assistance towards the noble cause.

The program was chaired with an invocation prayer by Oken Khuman, vice president of DMC. Meratombi distributed the relief items. Vote of thanks was pronounced jointly by Amarjit Singh, finance secretary and Sanjit Khuman, joint secretary of DMC. K Y M C

northeast

4

Dwijing will help economy: Sonowal

Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal is seen with WWE fame Great Khali along with BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary and others at Dwijing festival. (Northeast Now)

KOKRAJHAR, Dec 30 (Agencies): Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said that the great civilizations in the world have grown on the bank of the rivers and Assam is blessed to have been located on the bank of the mighty Brahmaputra and Barak.

This locational advantage of the state has been enriched by 121 tributaries of the Brahmaputra and 16 of Barak.

According to Northeast Now, speaking on the third day of the third edition of Dwijing Festival at Aie River Park at Chirang district on Saturday, Chief Minister Sonowal said that

Brahmaputra and Barak are the life lines of the people of Assam and the development of the state has been catapulted by these rivers along with their tributaries.

He said that realizing this, the Govt of Assam organized Namami Brahmaputra and Namami Barak to use water resources to aid development of the state.

The ongoing Dwijing Festival on the bank of the river Aie is yet another testimony of the state’s dependence on river, he added.

Sonowal at the same time thanked the people of all sections to have cooperated for holding Dwijing Festival third time in a row.

Chief Minister Sonowal also said that successful celebrations of these festivals amply testify that good governance is prevailing in the state. He also expressed his hope that Dwijing Festival will help in the growth of economy of the state with direct ramification of developing livelihood of the people along with their living standard.

He also said that spontaneous participation of the people belonging to different caste, creed, class, culture etc into this festival showcases the peaceful coexistence of people in the state.

He also said that festival like this would further help in strengthening this harmo-

nious relation and help the state to march forward.

WWE fame Great Khali was also felicitated at the festival.

BTC Chief Hagrama Mohilary while speaking on the occasion said through Dwijing festival the organiser aimed at showcasing the age-old harmonious coexistence in BTAD areas. He said the BTC administration is trying to transform this festival into a major tourist attraction and working to celebrate the festival in line with Hornbill festival. He also said that efforts have also been made through this festival to showcase indigenous culture to the world.

The 12-day festival which was opened on December 27 will continue up to January 7 and will feature traditional sporting events along some adventure aquatic events, cultural extravaganza, camel riding, helicopter riding etc.

To u r i s m M i n i s t e r Chandan Brahma, Rajyasabha MP Biswajit Daimari, MLA Prasanta Phukan, BTC Deputy Chief Khampa Borgoyari, Chairman ATDC Jayanta Malla Baruah and a host of other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Clarify stand on illegal Bangladeshis, AASU tells Sonowal

GUWAHATI, Dec 30 (Agencies): Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal should clarify whether he is in favour of indigenous people of the State or illegal Bangladeshi nationals, demands the All Assam Students Union (AASU).

The student body also warned that the Central and State governments would be responsible if the situation in Assam deteriorates because of the Centre’s move to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, AASU chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that Sonowal gained the fame of a ‘national hero’ after he fought against the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act and now he is not speaking out against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which would harm the interests of the indigenous people of the State. He also pointed out that despite running a government with support of the BJP, Meghalaya Chief Minister dared to adopt a Cabinet decision opposing the Bill, but unfortunately, the Assam Chief Minister failed to speak out against the Bill.

Bhattacharya, who is

Two arrested with arms in Manipur Bangladesh polls: Indo-Bangla

The two alleged arm smugglers with the seized weapons in police custody. (NP) Correspondent

IMPHAL, Dec 30: Amidst tightened security measures ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on January 4, security forces have apprehended two alleged arms smugglers and seized two automatic weapons with live ammunition from their possessions.

Security measures have been tightened in Manipur, particularly in the twin capital districts in the last few days ahead of the proposed visit of the

Prime Minister.

To prevent any untoward incidents during the Prime Minister’s visit, massive search operations are being carried out in different parts of Imphal, besides house to house searchs since last Wednesday.

The two alleged arm smugglers were nabbed by a combined team of Imphal West police commandos and troops of 6 Assam Rifles during frisking and checking along the Imphal-Moreh section of NH-102 at Langthabal

Kunja under Singjamei police station, Imphal West on Saturday night.

One M4-A1 Carbine with fibre magazine and an M-16 rifle with one magazine and live rounds were recovered from their possessions, police said.

Three mobile handsets were also recovered.

Police has identified the two as Seilenmang Haokip aka Ngamthang (26) son of Seingam Haokip of Saitu village of Kangpokpi district and Deepak Kumar (24) son of Bhusan Prasad of Motbung Bazar of the same district.

During spot verification, the two individuals disclosed that the two arms were handed over to them by two persons - Suresh and Jiten - to deliver them to an individual residing in Churachandpur district.

Meanwhile, a PLA cadre on bail was among ten individuals picked up by Imphal West police commandos during mopping operations at Keishampat areas of the capital city.

The ten individuals were picked up after they could not produce genuine documents to establish their identities. They were handed over to Imphal police station for further verification, the source said.

trade stops for two days

Agartala, Dec 30 (IANS): The India-Bangladesh trade would be stopped for two days - Sunday and Monday - following general election in that country’s parliamentary polls, official said.

“The regular trade between Bangladesh and India would be stopped as elections for the ‘Bangladesh Sangsad’ (Bangladesh Parliament) are now on.

Bangladesh traders’ bodies have informed their Indian counterparts,” said an official of the Customs Department. He said regular trade through all checkposts and land customs stations along the 4,096-km borders is expected to be resumed

by Wednesday.

“The movement of people across the two countries has decreased in the past few weeks,” the official added.

As the trade has been stopped, a shortage of various commodities, particularly the fish, has affected the markets of northeastern states, specially in Tripura.

On an average 14,000 kg of fish varieties, excluding the hilsa, is being imported from Bangladesh to Tripura through the Agartala-Akhaura integrated checkposts along the Agartala capital city.

A fish trader said over 200 labourers and transport workers remained jobless as there was no fish import.

Meanwhile, an official of the Agartala Land Port Authority said Bangladesh has reportedly lifted a 2012 ban on the export of their national fish hilsa (or Elish), whose key markets include India, to check its smuggling and tap into the growing global demand for the popular but scarce food species.

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Commerce had banned the export of hilsa fish on August 1, 2012 due to its low availability.

“Though the Bangladesh government reportedly withdrew the ban on the export of hilsa fish to India, the decision was not executed through the India-Bangladesh border with Tripura,” the Agartala Land Port Authority official said.

Tripura imports on an average 32,000 kg fish daily from other states, specially from Andhra Pradesh, to meet its local demands.

Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) has heightened patrolling along the India-Bangladesh frontiers, said BSF Tripura Frontier officiating Inspector General (IG) Ashok Kumar Yadav.

After Bogibeel, railway focus on double track in Assam

GUWAHATI, Dec 30 (Agencies): After the inauguration of the Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest rail and road span, the Railway Ministry has focussed on doubling the arterial railway track in Assam for faster movement of trains to and from the Northeast.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 4.94 km Bogibeel Bridge on Christmas Day, 21 years after his predecessor H.D. Deve Gowda had laid its foundation stone.

According to The Hindu, addressing a review meeting of senior officers at the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) headquarters in Guwahati’s Maligaon on Saturday evening, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said his ministry would soon approach the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for clearing the double track project in the region.

The initial thrust is

A view of the Bogibeel bridge in Assam. (RituRaj Konwar)

on doubling the railway line from wester n Assam’s New Bongaigaon to Guwahati via Rangiya, a junction from where the track to Bogibeel in

eastern Assam starts. The bridge has a double track in place.

Double track, existing from New Bongaigon to West Bengal westward,

is expected to cut down train travel and consignment deliver y time by three-five hours in the Northeast.

“Prepare a plan of

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

action within a week towards doubling of railway lines in the region for capacity enhancement,” Mr Goyal said, urging Assam’s Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya to ensure quick soil procurement permission that “is hampering the progress of projects” in the State.

Railway officials told Mr. Goyal that several new projects including the international line from Jogbani in Bihar to Biratnagar in Nepal would be ready very soon.

The Railway Minister also praised NFR’s Rangiya Division for using rural innovation to successfully install a mechanism where the sound of bees is amplified whenever elephants are spotted near railway tracks to chase them away. Such mechanism to prevent elephants from being hit by trains would be considered for replication elsewhere in the country.

also the adviser of the North East Students Organisation (NESO), alleged that the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) formed to examine the Bill failed to function in an impartial manner. “The JPC only visited Guwahati and Silchar in Assam and Shillong in Meghalaya. The JPC members should have visited other parts of Assam to know the feelings of the people. The JPC should have also visited all the states of the region. But the committee failed to do so and there is no way an impartial decision can be taken without knowing the feelings of the people,” he added.

Dear Okharo Loch, Birthdays are a new start, a fresh beginning and a time to pursue new endeavors with new goals. Move forward with confidence and courage. You are a very special person.

May today and all of your days be amazing!”

Happ Birthday!!! God bless you With best wishes.

Motor and friends Dearest okharo Lochumi, The heaven’s door opened and sent you down for me..we are so lucky to have you in our life..

Happy birthday sweetiepie!!

From Areno, Sungsalo, Lots, Chum, Ayo & Apo

RECRUITMENT OF MERITORIOUS SPORTSPERSONS (CT/GD) - MALE IN BORDER SECURITY FORCE AGAINST SPORTS QUOTA-2018

Applications are invited from the citizens of India ( Male) to fill up 63 vacancies of Constable (GD) (Male) against Sports Quota in BORDER SECURITY FORCE in various disciplines.

Details of disciplines are as under :S/N Discipline Vacancies 1.

Archery 02 2.

Aquatic (Swimming, Diving & Water Polo) 05 3.

Athletics 06 4.

Basketball 03 5.

Boxing 03 6.

Football 03 7.

Gymnastics 02 8.

Handball 02 9.

Hockey 02 10.

Judo 02 11.

Kabaddi 04 12.

Kho-Kho 03 13.

Tae-kwondo 04 14.

Wushu (Sanshou) 08 15.

Volleyball 04 16.

Water Sports (Kayaking, Canoeing & Rowing) 02 17.

Weightlifting 04 18.

Wrestling (Free Style & Greco Roman) 04 Total 63 Note :Vacancies are subject to change (may increase or decrease within above disciplines). BSF reserves the right to make changes or cancel or postpone the recruitment without assigning any reasons.

2. PAY SCALE Constable (GD) : Rs. 21,700/- (Pay Matrix level-3, cell-I) & other allowances admissible to Central Government Employees from time to time under the rule.

3. ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS Age : Between 18 to 23 years as on 1st Aug' 2018. Relaxation as per Govt orders.

4. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION Matriculation or 10th class pass from a recognized Board/ University.

5. PHYSICAL STANDARDS The physical standards laid down for the post of Constable (GD) as under :(i) Height - 170 Cms (ii) Chest - 80 Cms (unexpanded), Min expansion 5 Cms (iii) Weight: Proportionate to height and age as per medical standards.

Note :- Relaxation as per Govt orders.

MEDICAL EXAMINATION (a) Eye-Sight Visual Acuity unaided Better Worse Eye Eye

Uncorrected Visual Acuity Better Worse Eye Eye

N6

6/6

N9

6/9

Refraction

Color Vision

Visual CP-III BY correction of ISIHARA any kind is not permitted even by glasses.

Remarks

-In right handed person, the Right eye is better eye and vice versa.

-Binocular vision is required.

(b) Should be free from colour blindness. (c) The candidate must not have any defects like knock knee, flat foot, varicose veins and squint in eyes. They must be in good mental and physical health for duties in all places including in high altitude and be fit to serve in border areas with extreme climatic conditions and must be free from any defect likely to interfere with efficient performance of the duties. (d) In case of medical examination, "Temporary unfitness" will not be allowed. (e) Being a secular country, the religious sentiments of our countrymen are to be respected and thus, tattoos depicting religious symbol or figures and the name is permitted. Tattoos marked on traditional sites of the body like inner aspects of forearm but only left forearm, being non saluting limb or dorsum of the hands are to be allowed. Size must be less than 1/4 of the particular part (Elbow or Hand) of the body. (f) Testimonials of the candidates will be checked at the medical examination stage.

7. SPORTS QUALIFICATION Sl. 1.

Post Sports Qualification Constable /GD Representation of Indian teams in Olympic, World Cup, Asian Games, Jr./Sr. World Championship, Common wealth, World University games & SAF games.

OR Won any medal in Jr/Sr. National championship /National Games in individual /team events since Jan 2017 onwards OR Participation in Jr/Sr National championship /National Games since Jan 2017 onwards OR Gold medal in State championship since Jan 2017 onwards.

Note : Physical efficiency test/ trial test of respective event/discipline will be applicable only for those candidates who are applying under Jr/Sr National championship /National games participation category and Gold medalists of State championship only.

8. HOW TO APPLY The eligible and desirous candidates should send their application in the prescribed proforma duly typed or neatly hand written as given in Annexure-'A' duly filled in on full space paper with two self attested passport size photograph, one duly affixed on application form and one on the admit card at the space prescribed for the purpose and duly completed in all respect addressed to "The Commandant, 95 Bn BSF, Bhondsi, Post Office- Bhondsi, District- Gurugram, Haryana- 122102" within 30 days from the publication of this advertisement in Employment News super scribing on the envelope "APPLICATION FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF SPORTSPERSON CT(GD) MALE IN BSF AGAINST SPORTS QUOTA-2018" along with the required documents. However, candidate belonging to far flung areas of States of NE Region, Ladakh division of J&K, Sikkim, Pangi SubDivision of Chamba district, Lahaul & Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, A&N Island, Lakshdweep can submit their application up to 45 days from the publication of this advertisement in employment news.

9. SELECTION PROCESS All eligible candidates whose application form is found to be in order will be issued admit card/call letter to appear in the recruitment process i.e. Candidates will have to undergo the following process of recruitment:i. Checking of Testimonials/documents ii. Physical measurement iii. Physical efficiency test/ Trial Test of respective events (Applicable only for candidates who are applying under National participation category & Gold medalists in state). iv. Medical Examination. v. Merit list 10. For detailed instructions regarding recruitment please log on to BSF website i.e. www.bsf.nic.in 11. Any further notification in regard to this recruitment will be made in BSF website onlv.

Candidates are advised to log on to this website regularly. davp 19110/11/0095/1819

(ASHWINI KUMAR SINGH) COMMANDANT (SPORTS) 17 DECEMBER '2018

national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

5

Wall is a bundle Ghazipur constable’s murder: 19 arrested ofWomen’s contradictions: Congress

Lucknow, Dec 30 (PTI): Nineteen people have been arrested in connection with the killing of a policeman in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district, a senior police official said on Sunday.

Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh, in a tweet, clarified that the deceased policeman, Suresh Pratap Singh Vats, was a head constable.

Vats (48) was killed Saturday when protesters hurled stones at vehicles returning from the venue of a public meeting addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was hit on the head by a stone when he went to end a traffic jam caused by the protests.

“The death of head constable Suresh Pratap Singh Vats in Ghazipur in stone pelting is extremely tragic. So far 19 accused in 3 cases have been arrested, which include 11 in the case of murder. Strict action will be taken against those involved in violence under stringent sections of law (sic),” the DGP said in a tweet.

According to Superintendent of Police (Ghaz-

cow slaughter. The man who allegedly shot the Bulandshahr inspector was arrested last week.

Modi had addressed a public meeting after laying the foundation stone for a medical college and releasing a postal stamp on Maharaj Suheldev. He had left for Varanasi when the violence in Ghazipur took place.

Akhilesh slams govt over incident

O P Singh (File) ipur) Yashveer Singh, the protesters were workers from the Rashtriya Nishad Party who were prevented by the administration and the police from going to the rally venue.

“When the prime minister had left Ghazipur, the party workers blocked traffic at various places and started pelting stones on the vehicles returning from the programme venue,” he told PTI on Saturday.

The SP said the police are trying to identify other protesters by scanning video footage of the incident.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the wife of Vats and Rs 10 lakh for his parents, the state has government said.

Adityanath also directed the district magistrate and the superintendent of police to take strict action against unruly elements and arrest them immediately.

The death comes less than a month after the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in Bulandshahr district. He was shot dead during a mob violence over alleged

S a m a j wa d i P a r t y president Akhilesh Yadav Sunday termed yesterday’s incident of stone- pelting in Ghazipur, which led to the death of a head constable as a failure on the part of the administration.

“The stone pelting incident yesterday in Ghazipur was a failure on the part of the administration.

The administration and the intelligence department knew who is protesting and where. Despite this, the unfortunate incident took place,” Akhilesh Yadav told reporters here.

He also said in the garb of taking action against the culprits, some innocent persons are being harassed.

Meanwhile Congress Saturday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the death of a police constable during stonepelting by a mob, alleging that in Yogi Adityanath’s “jungle rule” neither the people are safe, nor the police.

Po l i c e c o n s t a b l e Suresh Vats, 48, was killed Saturday in Ghazipur when protesters hurled stones at vehicles returning from the venue of a public meeting addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Reacting to the incident, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed, “In Adityanath’s grand jungle rule, neither the people were safe, nor the police.”

“Today in Ghazipur after Modi ji’s rally, a mob mercilessly killed police constable Suresh Vats,” he tweeted.

Before this, a mob had killed police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in Bulandshahr which the chief minister had described as an accident, he said.

“Democracy in BJP r u l e = m o b o c r a c y,” h e tweeted.

T h i ru va na n thapuram, Dec 30 (IANS): The CPI-M’s move to form a Women’s Wall, from Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram on January 1, to uphold renaissance values and gender equality in society is a bundle of contradictions, the Congress said on Sunday.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told reporters that right from day one, when this programme was announced by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, it has been mired in contradictions.

“When Vijayan said the Women’s Wall is being formed in response to the reaction against the Supreme Court verdict of allowing women of all ages into the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, State Devaswom (temple) Minister Kadakampally Surendran and CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the Women’s Wall was not connected to the Sabarimala issue,” said Chennithala.

“Later Vijayan’s government filed an affidavit in the Kerala High Court

Ramesh Chennithala. (File) stating that the event is being organized with a budget of Rs. 50 crore which was drawn from the state’s Women and Children department, while outside the court, in public meetings, he says not a single rupee of the government is being used,” added Chennithala.

Chennithala also said that the first meeting called

by Vijayan for the event was attended by several Hindu organisations.

“They claim that this event is being held to uphold renaissance values and gender equality in society but what he fails to understand is that the renaissance movement in the state was a joint one where all com-

munities took part.

“Vijayan also stated that all communities will take part, but today what has surfaced is that he is playing identity (based on caste, creed and community) politics,” said Chennithala.

And pointing out another contradiction, Chennithala noted that Vijayan says the Wall is being formed to give confidence and security to women.

“If one looks back, since Vijayan assumed office in 2016 , women have faced the worst ever attacks and Vijayan talks of giving confidence to women,” said Chennithala.

Surendran, however, expressed confidence that all the arrangements are in place and it’s going to be a roaring success as five million women will stand in a line from Kasargode to here.

Wi t h t h e Vi j aya n government leaving nothing to chance to make it a resounding success, this event is now being touted to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, as its officials arrive in the state to witness it for themselves.

No blanket India mourns Mrinal Sen’s demise Kumaraswamy refutes PM’s Modi govt’s only agenda is power to snoop, to defame one family: Sharad remarks on K’taka loan waiver MHA clarifies Bengaluru, Dec 30 (IANS): Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks against the farm loan waiver scheme of Karnataka’s coalition government unfortunate, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday reeled out figures to defend it.

“The Prime Minister’s remarks on our loan waiver is incorrect and unfortunate,” said Kumaraswamy in a statement his office issued here.

Interacting with BJP’s booth workers in Karnataka through video-conferencing from New Delhi on Friday, Modi said the state’s loan waiver scheme was a cruel joke on them (farmers).

“The farmers want attention. But those in power in Karnataka are steeped in arrogance. The common man wants development, but those in power want only development of a dynasty. People want corruption-free development, but the state government wants development-free corruption,” Modi said in English on the occasion.

Reiterating that crop

HD Kumaraswamy (File) loan waiver was the state government’s commitment to safeguard the interests of the farmers across the state, which began the process, the Chief Minister’s statement said it was very sad that Modi had termed the scheme as a cruel joke on farmers, which amounts to misleading the people without facts about the scheme.

“Our crop loan waiver is an open book and information is available online, unlike in many other states.

The state government is handling tax payers’ money with caution to reach the real beneficiaries (farmers),” asserted the Chief Minister.

Claiming that about 60,000 farmers had been paid Rs 350 crore by electronic transfer into their individual bank accounts to date, the Chief Minister said by next week, another 1 lakh farmers would be paid Rs 400 crore through their account.

“All middlemen in the cooperative sector have been weeded out. Other states have shown keen interest in our system, which uses Aadhaar unique identification number, electronic authentication of land records and ration cards to ensure only genuine farmers get the waiver,” said Kumaraswamy in the statement.

Lauding the officials for implementing the scheme expeditiously, the chief minister said Modi’s remarks against the loan waiver was not expected.

“In spite of several requests, though the central government did not come to the rescue of our farmers, the Prime Minister’s remarks demean our efforts for political gain,” the Chief Minister lamented.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (AGENCIES): Opposition leader Sharad Yadav on Sunday said the Narendra Modi government’s only agenda was to defame one family and portray that the country made no progress after independence.

Ya d a v ’ s r e m a r k comes after the ED told a Delhi court hearing the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case that middleman Christian Michel was misusing legal access by passing chits to his advocates asking them how to tackle questions on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

In a statement, Yadav, now a Congress ally, said the BJP government at the Centre was indulging in “cheap politics” and had extradited Michel to divert the people’s attention from the Rafale deal and other issues.

Opposition parties have alleged corruption in the purchase of Rafale aircrafts from France, a charge rejected by the government.

“I have no hesitation in saying that the ruling

Sharad Yadav (File) party is playing cheap politics by pressuring investigation agencies to name Congress leaders in the alleged misdeed in the AgustaWestland case,” Yadav said.

People are not so foolish. They can see through the government’s hidden agenda, he added.

Yadav said the Modi government should tell the people what has it done for them since 2014.

Michel, who was extradited from Dubai recently, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on December 22 and produced before a special court on Saturday which extended his custody by seven days.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (AGENCIES): The Central government has not given ‘blanket power’ to any agency to intercept information from any computer, a senior Home Ministry official has said.

The agencies have to strictly adhere to the existing rules while carrying out such action, the official, requesting anonymity, told PTI. There is no new law, no new rule, no new procedure, no new agency, no blanket authorisation. It is the same law, same rule, same procedure and the same agencies, he said.

“There is no change even in a comma or a full stop in the existing rules and regulations,” the official said. The December 20 Home Ministry notification, listing the 10 agencies, had set off a political storm with the Opposition accusing the government of trying to create a “surveillance state.”

The official clarified that the 10 agencies mentioned in the notification were already empowered to intercept electronic communications since 2011.

Ko l k ata , D e c 3 0 (IANS): India mourned for the auteur, Mrinal Sen, on Sunday, as prominent personalities, from politicians to celebrities, paid glowing tributes to the genius filmmaker who died here following age-related ailments.

Sen, 95, the Dadasaheb Phalke award-winning film director, who was famed for his ability to put searching questions before the society - especially the middle class, died at around 10 a.m. at his south Kolkata residence on Sunday. Leading the nation in the mourning were President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kovind lauded Sen for his “penetrating and sensitive portrayal of social realities”.

“Sad to learn of the passing of acclaimed filmmaker Mrinal Sen. From ‘Bhuvan Shome’ to the ‘Calcutta’ trilogy, his penetrating and sensitive portrayal of social realities made him a fine chronicler of our times.

A loss to Bengal, to India and to the world of cinema,” the President said on his official Twitter handle.

Modi said India is grateful to Sen for making

Mrinal Sen. (File) some of the most memorable films. “Our country is grateful to Shri Mrinal Sen for giving us some of the most memorable films.

The dexterity and sensitivity with which he made films is noteworthy. His rich work is admired across generations.

Saddened by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and admirers,” Modi said on Twitter. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Sen’s demise was an “irreparable loss to the world of filmmaking. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan tweeted: “Mrinal Sen no more... a most amiable, distinguished creative cinematic mind, contemporary of Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. I did my first ever voiceover in his film ‘Bhuvan Shome’.

Prayers and condolences.”

Unusual cold LPU to host world’s largest science meet Rahul has qualities to make an excellent PM: Tharoor disrupts normal

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI): Rahul Gandhi has all the right qualities to make an “excellent” prime minister, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said Sunday, even as he emphasised that the issue of PM candidate is likely to be decided after the 2019 polls “collectively” by the party and its allies.

Tharoor also said the recent assembly elections have made it clear that the Congress remains the only alternative political party with a pan-India presence, and therefore, would be the “natural fulcrum” for any national alliance.

“Rahul Gandhi is our leader, which means that if Congress gets a majority, he will be PM. If Congress is in a coalition government, obviously wider discussions will be held with other coalition partners to arrive at a consensus candidate,” he told PTI in an interview.

Tharoor said that any decision on the PM candidate put forward by the Congress and its allies will take place through established processes and conventions which will have to be representative

Shashi Tharoor (File) of the interests of the larger coalition.

It will be a “collective decision” and, as is usually the case, this is only likely to be discussed after the election results, he said.

“At a personal level, having had several interactions and discussions in close quarters with the Congress president, to my mind it is evidently clear that Rahul ji has all the right qualities to make an excellent prime minister for the country,” Tharoor said when asked about Gandhi seemingly emerging as the opposition’s PM face despite them saying that a decision on it will be taken after polls.

He said Gandhi’s in-

clusive style of leadership, a willingness to reach across the political divide, the empathy extended towards aggrieved sections of the society, a commitment to the pluralist fabric of the country, paired with a distinctive charisma, humility and remarkable awareness, all suggest that he would be able to “fittingly live up to the expectations of the top job”.

“And at some level, one could argue that recent statements by nonCongress leaders reflect a growing confidence that Rahul is indeed the right man for the job,” the 62year-old leader said.

His remarks assume significance as they come

after DMK president M K Stalin had vowed to make Gandhi the country’s next prime minister and lauded him for having the ability to defeat the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

Leader of National Conference, Farooq Abdullah, had also recently hailed Gandhi, saying he is no longer a “Pappu” after proving his mettle as a leader by winning elections in three Hindi heartland states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

However, several prospective allies such as the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress have not endorsed Stalin’s views and said that a decision on the PM candidate will be taken after the polls.

On whether the dynamics of a possible grand alliance has changed with the Congress’ win in the Hindi heartland states, Tharoor said he believes that it is still too early to tell, though the signs from the poll results certainly augur well for the fortunes of the Congress.

life in Agra

Agra, Dec 30 (IANS): With the mercury dipping to 1.7 degrees Celsius, normal life remains badly affected in the city of Taj. In view of the severe cold, district authorities have revised school timings.

Schools will now start at 9.30 a.m. instead of 8.30 a.m.

“Extreme cold conditions during morning and evening hours force people to rush back home and stay indoors,” said a shopkeeper of Johri Bazar Bankey Lal. However, owing to the holiday season, the tourist rush continues to remain high with over 50,000 visiting the Taj Mahal on Saturday.

“But people are avoiding late evening outings.

The Agra Municipal Corporation has provided gas heaters at road crossings and the night shelters run by a local NGO, Sri Nathji Nishulk Jal Sewa, are full to capacity,” said Sudheir Gupta, a samaritan of Vijay Nagar Colony.

Voluntary groups are distributing blankets, woollens and eatables to the homeless, Gupta added.

Jalandhar, Dec 30 (IANS): Touted as the world’s largest science meet, massive preparations are being made by the Lovely Professional University (LPU) near here for the Indian Science Congress beginning on its campus on January 3.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the ISC-2019 by addressing nearly 30,000 delegates at the inaugural ceremony at the LPU campus.

The delegates will include Nobel Laureates, union ministers, eminent scientists, science policymakers, administrators, young researchers and school children from across India and other countries. Over 100 conferences and events of scientific and technologylinked themes will be held during the five-day (January 3-7) Congress. This is the 106th edition of the ISC. Scientists and experts from leading institutions like DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), DST (Department of Science and Technology), AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), UGC (University Grants Com-

mission), AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) and universities from US, UK and other countries will participate in the event.

Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) president Manoj Kumar Chakrabarti said the ISC2019 “will be a milestone for the future development of India since it is going to provide a great platform to exchange ideas and innovations among young minds”.

“The event will play a pivotal role in stimulating scientific research effort and raising the scientific temperament in the country and the world,” Chakrabarti said. Nobel Laureates who have confirmed their participation include GermanAmerican biochemist Prof.

Thomas Sudoph (2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology/ Medicine for work on vesicle trafficking); Hungarian-born Israeli biochemist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry Prof. Avram Hershko and physicist Frederick Duncan Michael Haldane (2016 Nobel Prize in Physics).

Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan and Textile Minister Smriti Irani will also

attend the event, an LPU spokesman said on Sunday.

LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal said: “Lovely Professional University is proud to be one of the first private universities in the country to host the Indian Science Congress. I am confident that this edition of the Science Congress will set new benchmarks for scientific discourse in India.”

Mittal said that a special ‘Solar powered MultiSeated Driver-Less Bus’ has been designed and created

by LPU engineering students which will ferry the Prime Minister to the ISC venue.

Since the ISC’s first session in 1914, it is only the second time for a university in Punjab to organise the science congress. The ISC2019 will also have a ‘Children’s Science Congress’, which will target children of 10-17 years age group, to carry forward innovation and research in science to a next level.

“Nearly 150 science projects, finalised by the DST, will be showcased and children will also have the opportunity to interact with eminent scientists and Nobel Laureates,” the spokesman said.

6

OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post Vol. XXIX NO. 26 Dimapur, MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

Hopes and expectations

T

here is little to match the celebration and revelry of New Year with the mood being infectious. As the world steps into the New Year 2006,the hopes of a peaceful and prosperous year ahead is in everyone’s mind. Many people live on hope while some live without it. Hope is positive but doing nothing but hoping is negative. New Year thus provides an opportunity for a review of many aspects in a person’s life and the effort to make life better –spiritually, mentally and physically. These are the epitome of what a progressive resolution ought to be and through which relationships, responsibilities and careers are addressed. Most people adopt, what is now popularly known as ‘New Year Resolutions’, to welcome the new year and hoping to begin anew.

Common resolutions include-giving up some bad habit; promising to be a better person in the family and outside or striving hard toward achieving overall progress. This desire for progress and to see a better tomorrow is exciting and this is where the vision to see and realize the promises comes from. The state of mind therefore, plays a critical part in the entire perspective. The Bible also gives an account of the Hebrew people, later to be called Israelites, who came out of the bondage of Egypt in search the promised land but who failed several tests of obedience. As a consequence of their sins, they did not reach the promised land for over forty years because the Egypt in them led prevented them from moving in the right path. Idolatry, rebellion and ungodliness are strongholds that hold us in bondage. As people in Nagaland step into the new year 2019 ,they cannot ignore the many issues that have spiralled to levels that demand attention and which need to be handled with cooperative wisdom, if society in Nagaland is to come out of the shadows of doubts, confusion and conflicts. The lingering hope is for a better environment that would foster changes for the better. In general, the people of the state would wish for resolution of the political conflict so as to free people from the conflict situation and the ordeals arising from being under parallel authorities. When and how the chapter is closed with an agreement is on everyone’s minds. However haste towards a time-bound agreement without ensuring sustainability, would only ensure that the problem evolves into a serious complication. This would then be like the cure becoming worse than the ailment. There is more than enough reason to seriously ponder over why, since over a decade, governance has taken a back seat and who have been tossing all rules out of the window. One trap which the state has landed into has been the financial expenditure. The year also provides an opportunity to effect cleansing of the electoral practices, which has been blamed as a major contributor of criminalisation of the Naga society. Other issues that demand attention also include- need for quality of education system, bogus appointments in government, rise in anti-social offences, juvenile delinquency, mounting concerns of HIV, thriving black market in alcohol and drugs etc. These are concerns that pose severe challenge on the government, NGOs, society and church and which need to be tackled with urgency, determination and unison in order to stem the tide.

DailyDevotion “And Every Virtue We Possess” …All my springs are in you. —Psalm 87:7 Our Lord never “patches up” our natural virtues, that is, our natural traits, qualities, or characteristics. He completely remakes a person on the inside— “…put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24). In other words, see that your natural human life is putting on all that is in keeping with the new life. The life God places within us develops its own new virtues, not the virtues of the seed of Adam, but of Jesus Christ. Once God has begun the process of sanctification in your life, watch and see how God causes your confidence in your own natural virtues and power to wither away. He will continue until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus. Thank God if you are going through this drying-up experience!

The sign that God is at work in us is that He is destroying our confidence in the natural virtues, because they are not promises of what we are going to be, but only a wasted reminder of what God created man to be. We want to cling to our natural virtues, while all the time God is trying to get us in contact with the life of Jesus Christ— a life that can never be described in terms of natural virtues. It is the saddest thing to see people who are trying to serve God depending on that which the grace of God never gave them. They are depending solely on what they have by virtue of heredity.

God does not take our natural virtues and transform them, because our natural virtues could never even come close to what Jesus Christ wants. No natural love, no natural patience, no natural purity can ever come up to His demands. But as we bring every part of our natural bodily life into harmony with the new life God has placed within us, He will exhibit in us the virtues that were characteristic of the Lord Jesus.

And every virtue we possess Is His alone.

Quotes

If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. ~ J. K. Rowling

T

he year 2019 comes with hopes but the path is murky. Economy needs a new path, resuscitation and people-oriented policies It’s time to rethink.

Manmohanomics has failed the governments and the people. The BJP that followed the Manmohanomics is wondering whether it has lost the way or not. The Congress does not know what the economic outlook should be.

No political party has been able to spell out a new vision. None yet has a plan for resuscitating the economy. The regional parties are fighting a battle of existence be it TMC, TDP, BSP, SP, or the Left. None apparently has an ideology.

Nobody has a plan for the farmers, for the people, for boosting production, increasing purchasing capacity, strengthen the rupee and reducing petrol prices when international prices come down. People of India are in a quandary. They do not know who would have a plan for the farmers or how to reduce the influence of corporate that has ruined the banking system and caused rise in prices.

Education is becoming

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

The murky path to a hope in 2019

expensive every day. It is causing severe uncertainty and negativity among the youth. Jobs are eluding them.

There is no plan to cleanse the education system.

High tuition fee, high coaching costs and fleecing of students by private universities have become the norm.

Some such universities or institutes levy indiscriminate financial penalties, which in many cases are at least half of the tuition they are supposed to pay. The ensuing elections would bring a mere ‘interim’ budget. People may know the figures but not its import.

Indians are wondering whether economy is liberated or under control of the government as the new RBI governor Shaktikant Das says. They are failing to understand why the government needs to have slices of the RBI assets, over which no government has any claim.

The society is now discussing why banks should give any dividend to the government, which is a mere custodian of people’s deposits. As per good banking practices, earnings should be reinvested to incentivise the depositors and not be given to anyone. The taxes

despite reduction in GST are at high levels. Tax on income is being paid by the lowest paid employees or other small businesses. High taxes and tax terror are stymieing economic activities.

It is also being asked how corporate social responsibility covers funding for sculptures. While on the one hand the petrol prices are being increased and so the taxes, profits of oil companies phenomenally rise, how come they are funding activities that are neither Shivaji related to business nor social good?

Overall quality of life is deteriorating. A Gallup survey in September, 2018, finds that Indians’ ratings of their current lives nationwide are the worst in recent record, an average of 4.0 on a 0-to-10 scale in 2017 – down from 4.4 back in 2014.

The Gallup survey finds decline in the percentage of Indians who rate their lives positively enough to rate it as thriving. Only 3 percent of Indians consider themselves thriving in 2017 compared to 14 percent in 2014.

The living family wage in India remains almost flat in the Rs 17300-17400 a month or years. Wages

paid to low-skilled workers decreased to Rs 10300 a month in 2018 from Rs 13300 in 2014.

Food has become expensive even in rural areas.

“Beginning in 2015, rural Indians began reporting increased difficulty paying for food,” says the Gallup report. Over 28 percent rural Indians reported not having enough money to pay for food at some point that year. About 18 percent urban people reported similar hardship. It has Sarkar i n c r e a s e d every year.

About 41 percent of rural people and 26 percent in urban areas said they were not able to afford food in 2017.

The Gallup survey supports the rural dismay. Suicides by farmers continue.

Debt level remains high despite loan waivers. No mechanism has evolved for paying remunerative prices to the farmers. Even the difference between MSP and the actual prices that they were getting called ‘bhavantar’ in MP and Chhattisgarh did not mitigate their woes.

Post demonetization cash crunch has caused severe distress. But officially there is growth. The IMF

World Economic Outlook predicts Indian economy will grow at 7.3 percent in 2018 and 7.4 percent in 2019, up from 6.7 percent in 2017. It is projected to be higher than China’s economic growth at 6.6 percent in 2018 and 6.2 percent in 2019, down from 6.9 percent in 2017. But the volume of Chinese economy is many times larger than India’s.

The New Year does not seem to make much of a change whatever the poll outcome. The nation is looking for a solution. Would 2019, before or after the polls find out the cherished path? It is not easy. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan and Syrian would pose new challenges.

The country needs a politico-economic vision and not rhetoric. The new generation politicians irrespective of their affiliations are clueless. The distrust in them is reflected in the high number of votes polled as NOTA in the recent state assembly polls. The voters do not want anyone or feel everyone is equally ineffective.

It is a sad statement on the lack of vision across the political spectrum. If people are drifting away to the op-

position conglomeration, it indicates not a gain for any party but the lack of an alternative.

The visionary alternative which could be the people’s choice is not there.

That is the crucial issue. The election is still over two months away. Could there be a change? But if the manifestos of 2014 are any indicator, it seems manifestos are mere “jumlas” and have lost most of their meanings. The promises are not delivered. The reforms are for the corporate and not the people.

More the reforms and more the slogan of make in India, the country is being flooded with foreign produced goods, high profit repatriation, high trade deficit, job losses and a crisis of confidence despite higher government expenditure.

The erstwhile Planning Commission at least was guiding to a path, NITI Ayog seems to be still looking for one. Nobody today knows what would be the path to revival of economy.

That is the hope. The 2019 may become a watershed in Indian politics and who knows a new leadership and vision may emerge out of a hopeless situation.

Post-mortem

Ode to radio telegraphy of good old days

M

y HF Receiver suddenly went on clear voice “PAF ONE CRASHLANDED” I was frantic with worry and pressed the record button instantly. With President on board, it was mock drill at Keti Bandar near Karachi.

The passing vehicles are the only noise that disturbs the tranquillity of rural India.

Those were the times when the only entertainment was the ubiquitous Transistor. We were diehard devotees to three band radio. We walked in the night to get the signal and surfing on a tiny knob for navigating national/international radio stations. Those were a real feast to our ears where we spent our childhood in village. Being an air warrior, we felt passionately in love with the erstwhile radio, while we posted to rough terrain that still haunted me. Today a flash of memory passed over the time. Life was beautiful and lonely there.

Apart from listening songs, sometimes we tuned to short hum after hum after hum etc. at shortwave. Also we observed a continuous relay sound nearby airport. We failed to understand - what it actually was? Encyclopaedias were beyond the reach.

I wonder what if Google was never invented. My career with IAF had bought me to come across those mysterious sounds.

It is VHF Omni-directional broadcast of Aerodrome identification. They are weird Morse Codes heard over Short Wave.

At age 18, I was learning ABC. It is like saying the fall of Drona: “Aswathama Hatha, Iti Narova KunjaRova”. But they are actually a Morse Code used in WT - Wireless Telegraphy.

After 12th, we 211 trainees were undergoing Radio Communication at CTI Jalahalli West Bangalore in 1988. Morse code is a character encoding scheme used in telecommunication that encodes text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations called dots and dashes. Learning Morse code is like learning any language. It is like learning a bicycle. Once you learned you will not forget of life time.

The incidents happened in a flicker but those memories are forever.

Morse is named for Samuel FB Morse, an inventor of the telegraph in 1836. It is widely used from defence to civil aviation and international communication for ships in distress.

Morse officially stopped being used on the world’s oceans from 1999. Now it is replaced by Morse Code Decoder/Sender using ham radio software that decodes received CW (Continuous Wave) audio. To ensure safety of flight, modern navigation receivers automatically translate the code into displayed letters facilitating the identification process. SOS (Save Our Souls or Save Our Ship) is most popu-

larly associated with emergency Distress Signal worldwide.

The significance of Morse code was not realised till I saw Titanic in 1997. The Titanic sank on Apr 14, 1912 and it sent out a Mayday. A Distress Signal was broadcasted saying CQD CQD SOS SOS, CQD DE MGY MGY (All Hell Our Distress, All Hell Our Distress!

Save Our Souls Save Our Souls!

All Hell Our Distress! From Titanic Titanic). However wireless controller was off duty and as a result did not receive the Distress Signal. The tragedy over 1600 lives was lost that night.

It was harrowing task to interpret those signals. For learning Morse it is recommended that one does not try to remember dots and dashes, but remember the sounds instead. Besides Letter, there are Punctuation Mark, Prosign, Abbreviation and Q Code.

Our Instructor Warrant Officer Taneja used to play music with dots and dashes. The ringing of a school bell tells a student to follow. The long ringing of the bell was remembered as delight, so does with AR (ditdah-dit-dah-dit - means the end of transmission) at Lunch that provided some respite from the burgeoning 20 speed of Morse WPM. WT had been one of my weakest points. I had somehow qualified. But my Morse journey in WT circuit continued till my VRS. In Western Command WT channels of Leh, Kargil, Thoise, and Awantipur of Northern Kashmir were very weak, noisy and fading signals. Unlike voice, Morse required very strenuous efforts to receive. There was no OFC network at those snow covered region. Field Telephones were absurd what we hear when lines cross (one way telephone).

The other end operators were struggling to withstand with the cold desert. Later on we come across Tele-Printer, Tape-Relay, Trans-Receiver, DMSS (Data Management System Simulator) and Shortwave HF Receiver.

But WT is the only answer to receive/send cryptographic message. In Radio Telegraphy, wireless carries a vital role as it could easily be connected to any long range communication as it is more reliable than the long range voice circuits.

Upon receiving Morse I was vaguely remembered the cock and bull story as provoked by i/c at WACOM Centre New Delhi. Funnily enough, I wasn’t disheartened. Further at the Meteorology Channel, I came across forecast, temp, real-feel, wind, precipitation, rain, snow, ice, sky, UV index, cloud cover, humidity, dew point, visibility, temperature, sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset etc. We learned the know-how to predict weather – it’s amazing!

Those were such monotonous hourly report at 24X7 from difficult channels of low signal

strength and intelligibility for ATC. We experienced those faint noises down at night, drifting off to sleep and kept awakening.

It was harsh winter during January 1990, my promotional examination to Leading Aircraftsmen at Chandigarh.

My fingers had gone almost frozen. I was dispirited by the uncomfortable conditions for WT test on the first day. Within an hour, we half of them were given RTU (Return to Unit). We called the cut off 70% as other Civil Services at IAF. It was very disappointing indeed at back to base. There was something amiss at the second attempt.

I was so close and yet so far. I lost hope but did not give up.

My friend Ajanta and Paresh were affable to me and sent me a light-hearted note. “Examination may come and go what stays behind is the journey of that joie-de-vivre during Bhogali Bihu”. It was full of trivial but amusing chatters. My prayer to God had finally been answered.

And we (three) flew together by Gajraj, the jumbo IL-76.

It sounded like the French word m’aider (MAYDAY) which means ‘help me.’ It is an international Distress Signal voice procedure broadcasted internationally in radio communication by aviators and mariners.

121.5 Or 243 MHz channels are known as Distress/Safety calling frequencies. Now it uses digital 406 MHz signals. The Radio-Telephone Distress Call is the Distress Signal MAYDAY (spoken three times) and its call sign (spoken once). My HF Receiver at Siot Dett (Indo-Pak Gujarat border) suddenly went on clear voice “PAF ONE (Pakistan Air Force One - call sign of Pakistan President aircraft) CRASH-LANDED” I was frantic with worry and pressed the Record Button instantly.

With President on board, it was mock drill at Keti Bandar near Karachi.

My learning to WT has passed three decades. But that NATO Communication Instructions of Radio Telegraph Procedure – ACP 124(B) still haunted me. As it had always been an integral part for Radio Technician. Gone are those days of Radio Telegraphy. Most of our entry mate were taking discharge from service and are settling different parts of India.

There was no contact among us until social media finally bring back together our friendship.

Recently we reunited through a WhatsApp group Purely RT-152 by initiative of Trivedi. And life is moving back to Jalahali days after 30 long years. Discovering our past can be fun. It’s easy swiping across the touch screen.

Today I nostalgically recall those varied path of ode to radio telegraphy of good old days on the eve of New Year.

Kamal Baruah, Guwahati

Leveraging community leaders to build resilience

W

hile cities cover only two per cent of the global land area, they contribute around 70 per cent of the global greenhouse emissions, one of the main drivers of climate change. The UN forecasts that urbanisation and population growth could add another 2.5 billion people to urban populations by 2050, with almost 90 per cent living in Asia and Africa. Consequently, the urban contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change will only increase with time. As a response, various stakeholders have designed climate change resilience products including cool roofs, home insulations, drip irrigation solutions and solar home systems that have seen heightened interest in India.

While such products have seen a market, the uptake is concentrated among the richer sections. The urban poor, who constitute almost 30 per cent of India’s urban population, do not have the knowledge or the capacity to pay for such products. It has always been a challenge to symbiotically combine all four components (informed customer targeting, low-cost marketing, innovative distribution and sales, and nurturing consumer goodwill) to design a marketing strategy for the urban poor.

As a response, some organisations have started leveraging community-level leaders (CLLS) as marketing channels for such products.

The rationale for the CLLs comes from the effectiveness of the model in building long-term products resilient to climate change while simultaneously creating livelihoods. Some best practices that can be used to strengthen the efficacy of the CLL mode are: * Design a product identification framework tool: Each product should be analysed on the basis of four parameters: a) demand for the product (number of households), b) affordability (price), c) profitability (percentage of price), and d) scalability (potential demand across different urban agglomerations). On the basis of analysis, only those products which score high on all parameters should be offered to the market. * Conduct on-ground demand assessment: Understanding the customer becomes more important in such cases, particularly since the customers knowl-

edge of the product is limited. Hence awareness levels, willingness to pay and customer demand becomes more critical. Such an on-ground assessment can help further shortlist products for a particular set of homogeneous households. * Provide easy financing options: It is beneficial to help CLLs establish close networks with MFIs and other financial institutions to provide financing facilities to potential consumers, hence enhancing their ability to pay and increasing uptake. * Segment CLLs based on skillsets and motivation: Classification of CLLs as per their sales skills and motivation is essential for success. Selling different products require different skillsets and a quick analysis can help in this matchmaking. Some parameters which can be used to assess skills include age, educational qualification, business experience, and technical skillsets. * Capacity building: CLLs need a certain degree of training and it is observed that CLLs find it easier to sell better when trained rather than through close association with their communities. * Build ownership in CLLs: Instead of making the product available free-of-cost, CLLs should be asked to invest in the product. If required, finance should be made available by partnering with co-operative banks and MFIs; that way one can build ownership in CLLs. * Design standardised operational procedures (SOPs): Since the business model includes partnerships both with CLLs and product manufacturers, it is necessary to design SOPs to simplify the entire delivery process. * Develop a clear return policy: To avoid compulsive transactions and selling below market price, it is necessary to have a clear and well-defined return policy to avoid any bottlenecks in the CLL model.

As more and more organisations adopt the CLL model, a conscious integration of the above mentioned practices can stimulate sales, while also creating sustainable livelihoods at the last-mile.

(IANS) Vineeth Menon and Shreejith Borthakur

Reader’s Post

Let’s renew our faith and focus on Jesus

Sir,

When our data pack runs out. We need to get recharge for continuation of usage. Likewise, this is the day that the Lord reveals us, to renew our “Faith” and “Focus” on Jesus no matter what types of storms we may face in our lives. Every single day should be a “Christmas” in our hearts and not only on 25th December. Christmas season comes and goes, therefore God has given us this wonderful opportunity to come in HIS presence with true repentance and confession of sins. We need to realize deep in our hearts. Are we increasing our “Faith” on Jesus or decreasing our “Faith.” Many chose to walk in darkness. When Jesus has given us the light. As it is written, “for many are called but few are chosen” and likewise “one will be taken up and the other one will be left behind.” God desires HIS children to build their foundation on the rock of Jesus and not on the sand. On that day, how terrible it’ll be if our name is not found in the “Book of Life.” May the peace of God be with us in our household!

Jabez Jason, Mokokchung

Reader’s note: Articles or letters published in any of the columns do not reflect the view of this newspaper nor that of the Editor in any manner.

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

Seek ‘loftier goals’ in 2019: Modi New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked the people to seek “loftier goals” with “renewed zeal” in the coming year as he recalled the various strides India made in 2018.

Delivering his last ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address of 2018, which was the 51st edition of the monthly radio programme, the Prime Minister summed up the year’s achievements in the field of economy, social sector, solar energy, climate change, sports and others, saying it could happen because of the collective efforts of the people.

“Whether it is the life of a person, life of a nation, or the lifespan of a society, inspiration is the basis of progress,” Modi said, appealing for renewed zeal and loftier goals to “change oneself and the country too.”

Asser ting that the country has taken strides in the area of poverty alleviation at a record pace, the Prime Minister said it has also seen unprecedented improvement in the “ease of doing business” rankings and noted that world

Narendra Modi

institutions have acknowledged India’s growth.

Listing the achievements of the government in 2018, he said: 2018 saw launching of world’s biggest health insurance scheme ‘Ayushman Bharat’; in honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India witnessed the unveiling of the tallest statue in the world, ‘Statue of Unity’; electricity reached each and every village of the country; the ease of doing business in India improved notably; on the 75th anniversary of Azad Hind government, a Tricolour was unfurled at Delhi’s Red Fort for the first time, and the highest United Nations Environment Award ‘Champions of the Earth’ was conferred on India.

Modi said the coun-

try’s self-defence mechanism got further reinforced and that it was during this year that India successfully accomplished the nuclear triad, which means India is now armed with nuclear capabilities in sea, land and sky.

He said the Swachcha Bharat Scheme and sanitation coverage have been rapidly advancing towards crossing the 95 per cent mark and dedicated the success to the people.

He also listed opening of India’s first multi-modal terminal on the Ganga river in Varanasi and Sikkim’s first airport as major achievements.

The Prime Minister also mentioned that India clinched a large number of medals in Asian Games and performed very well in Para Asian Games and cricket too.

The Prime Minister also spoke about the tradition of Kumbh Mela and celebration of Republic Day on January 26.

“The world famous Kumbh Mela is also a huge medium of self-discovery, where every visitor experiences a unique feeling and learns to look at

the worldly things from a spiritual perspective. This is expected to have a footfall from more than 150 countries, the spirituality of Kumbh spreading India’s splendour throughout the world,” he said.

He said this year the country will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.

“South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is going to grace the Republic Day celebrations as chief guest. Mahatma Gandhi and South Africa shared an unbreakable bond,” he said remembering former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

The Prime Minister also called on people to give importance to positive news and make positivity “viral” instead of dwelling on negative news.

Modi referred to certain news and opinion websites like thebetterindia. com, and yourstory.com, which, he said, write about “inspiring lives” and are “infusing more sensitivity into society” through their stories.

Himachal redresses women safety complaints Shimla, Dec 30 (IANS): The ‘Shakti’ mobile app, which was launched for women’s safety in Himachal Pradesh, has redressed 28,968 complaints in less than a year, the government said on Sunday. Likewise, out of 1,233 complaints received on ‘Gudiya’ helpline, 1,196 have been disposed of.

The mobile app and the helpline were part of state’s initiative to fight crimes against women. They were launched simultaneously

by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on January 26 last year. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Rajiv Saizal said the government is working to provide safe and secure environment to women.

The department is ensuring effective implementation of welfare schemes for women. He said awareness camps are being organised regularly, and the department will make ensure that no eligible woman is deprived of benefits of government schemes.

He said the government has enhanced the onetime grant of a girl child belonging to BPL families under the ‘Beti Hai Anmol Yojana’ from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000.

7

Under Modi, ED has become ‘Embarrassing Disaster’: Cong New Delhi, Dec 30 (AGENCIES): Launching a counter-offensive on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter case, the Congress on Sunday said “the new government at the Centres changes in 2019 will investigate the nexus between the Italian helicopter manufacturer and the Modi government”. The principal Opposition party said the Modi government is the “benefactor, protector and supporter ” of AgustaWestland as it removed the company from the category of being a blacklisted one and allowed it to be part of the Make in India programme.

“Why did Prime Minister Modi permit a blacklisted company like AgustaWestland to bid for 100 helicopters for Indian Navy? Modiji, why did your government remove AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica from the blacklist? Why did you permit a blacklisted company like AgustaWestland to manufacture AW119 helicopters by giving them permission through FIPB?”asked Congress’ communication chief

Randeep Singh Surjewala

Randeep Surjewala.

“How did your government lose all the cases internationally against AgustaWestland and why have you chosen not to appeal,” he further asked.

The Congress offensive came a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday told a Delhi court that the alleged middleman in AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, Christian Michel, had passed on a paper containing questions on ‘Mrs Gandhi’ to his counsel Aljo K Joseph, a former Youth Congress office bearer.

“Christian Michel’s lawyer and his sister made statements in July 2018, when he was in custody in Dubai, that Indian Prime Minister and ED were pressurizing him to make a false

and fabricated statement against Congress leadership while he knew nobody in the Gandhi- Nehru family…A conversation that happens between a lawyer and a client, we have nothing to do with it. If there is any evidence, why are they hiding behind some fake or vague innuendo? Why don’t’ they place that evidence in public domain?”resonded Surjewala.

“They will have to face investigation and the link of Modi Government to Agusta Westland will be investigated for sure, once the Government changes in 2019,”he added. The Congress chief spokesperson also said that it was the UPA government that had cancelled the mutlicrore contract, blacklisted AgustaWestland and its subsidiary, Finmeccanica, and recovered money by encashing the bank guarantees.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram too hit out at ED. “If government, ED and the media have their way, in this country cases will be tried on TV channels.

Further, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act will not apply.

No order to back BJP, says Pawar Cong giving political colour 100 Ujjwala Sanitary Napkin to Michel investigation: BJP units launched in Odisha

Pune, Dec 30 (AGENCIES): Categorically denying that there was any directive from the party brass to back the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Ahmednagar civic body, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the Ahmednagar incident would not impact the Congress-NCP alliance in the general election.

Speaking to reporters in Ahmednagar, Pawar admonished the 18 NCP corporators who voted for the BJP in the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation (AMC), while stating that their actions would be investigated within the next five days.

“After I have made our party’s stance clear about not allying with the BJP, it escapes me how they [NCP corporators] disobeyed my orders and took the step to tie up with the saffron party,” said Pawar, who hinted that even the NCP’s MLAs in Ahmednagar could be questioned over the embarrassing affair.

“Even after the party State President [Jayant Patil] had given explicit instructions to the corporators not to vote for the

Sharad Pawar (File)

BJP, they flouted the order …this is a very serious affair and it merits a stern investigation,” the NCP chief said. He said written explanations had been sought from the errant NCP corporators asking them to justify their action which was a clear violation of the party line.

“It is surprising that despite the Sena winning the maximum seats and the NCP emerging second in the AMC poll, the civic body now has a Mayor and Deputy Mayor from the BJP,” he remarked.

He, however, refused to say what penalty would be meted out to the rebel corporators, stating, “The Ahmednagar incident will not have any impact on the Congress-NCP alliance at the Centre and the State.”

Targeting the policies

of the Narendra Modi government, Pawar reiterated the need for the Opposition parties to come together to defeat the BJP. At the same time, he again refused to comment on who would lead the mega-coalition against the BJP. In keeping with their aim of toppling the BJP government at the Centre and the State, the Congress and the NCP had jointly contested the recently concluded Dhule and Ahmednagar civic polls.

The Sena, which won 24 seats, emerged as the largest party while the NCP secured 18, the BJP 14 and the Congress five seats respectively.

Yet, in a startling twist, the NCP supported the BJP in the mayoral elections held on December 28, which led to a BJP Mayor and Deputy Mayor being elected in the 68-member AMC. The political flip-flop

by NCP corporators left the party top brass red-faced, while reviving the mistrust and mutual suspicion that led to the break-up of the Congress-NCP alliance prior to the 2014 general elections.

Telangana police to install Maoists kill 1 15 lakh CCTV cameras in Bihar, torch elections to State Assembly were incident-free.

He said the overall crime rate during the year came down by 5%. The crime against women was reduced by 7%.

The DGP claimed that Telangana was the only state in the country with statewide emergency response system. During the year, the police received 6.12 lakh emergency calls through its technology platform TSCOP and they were attended with average response time of 8.5 minutes.

In Hyderabad the average response time to attend emergency calls is less than 5 minutes. Mahendar Reddy said the response time was not only the best in the country but comparable with the best in the world.

The police force in the coming year would work to ensure citizen friendly and uniform service delivery across the state.

The technology initiatives currently limited to Greater Hyderabad will be extended across the state to achieve the goal of aone state one service one experience for all citizens all time.’

10 vehicles

Aurangabad, Dec 30 (PTI): Maoists shot dead the uncle of a BJP MLC, set a house and 10 vehicles on fire in Bihar’s Aurangabad district, a senior police officer said Sunday.

Superintendent of Police Satya Prakash said the Maoists attacked Sudi Bigaha village under the jurisdiction of Deo Police Station late on Saturday night, during which a man identified as Narendra Singh (55) was shot dead.

Singh is the uncle of Rajan Kumar Singh, a BJP member of Bihar Legislative Council, he said.

According to the SP, the Maoists fired several rounds and set 10 vehicles on fire, including three tractors parked at Narendra Singh’s house.

The Maoists also set a house belonging to one Dhananjay Singh, a dafadar with Deo police station, on fire located near Sudi Bigaha village, SP said. After getting information about the Maoist attack, security forces reached the village and exchanged fire with the Naxals, who then fled from the spot, Prakash said.

investigative agencies a “political colour”, he said: “Let it be examined, everything would be clear in the AgustaWestland case.”

The BJP leader accused the Congress of giving a “cover fire” to Michel and trying to protect him.

“Why is it so that all the foreign nationals accused in corruption cases in India have links with the first family of the Congress,” he asked.

Earlier, the Congress alleged the Modi government was the benefactor and supporter of AugustaWestland, the helicopter manufacturing company involved in VVIP chopper deal, and said it was trying to suppress the truth by hiding behind the Enforcement Directorate.

The ED on Saturday brought in the name of ‘Mrs Gandhi’ and ‘big man R’, an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, in a special court when it got a seven-day extension of custody of British national Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal.

Bhubaneswar, Dec 30 (PTI): Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dhar mendra Pradhan Sunday launched ‘Ujjwala Sanitary Napkins’ initiative saying it will go a long way in making Odisha’s 2.25 crore women empowered and self-reliant.

Under the novel initiative, which will cover 93 blocks in 30 districts of Odisha, oil marketing companies (OMC) will set up 100 manufacturing units at the Common Service Centres (CSC) at an estimated cost of Rs 2.94 crore, he said.

The mission, which forms part of CSR initiative of OMCs in Odisha, is aimed to educate women on female hygiene and health, improve accessibility to low cost eco-friendly sanitary pads and boost r ural employment and economy.

Pradhan said at least 10 women will be able to get employment at each centre. Four to five of them will be engaged in the process of manufacturing the napkins and the rest for selling the product.

Dharmendra Pradhan (File)

Stating that the initiative would provide gainful employment opportunities to the women, the Union minister said the objective is to ensure that all 2.25 crore women of Odisha achieve economic empowerment and self-reliance.

Emphasising the need to make use of sanitary napkins a mass movement, he said as per National Family Health Sur vey (NFHS) report, overall use of sanitary napkins in Odisha is 33.5 per cent.

Each facility will have the capacity to produce 1200 to 2000 pads each day and will have a sterilisation room to ensure that the napkins are sterilised

before they are packed for consumption of rural women, he said.

The CSCs are also being provided with raw material, enough to make 45,000-50,000 pads. These napkins will be priced at Rs 40 per pack; each pack containing 8 pads. “The project will not only provide the rural women with a dignified means to earn their livelihood but also arm them with entrepreneurial skills,” the Petroleum minister said.

It is important to note that the Ujjwala sanitary pads will be made of virgin wood pulp sheet, nonwoven white sheet and a gel sheet which are all biodegradable in nature and will leave minimal carbon footprint, giving further impetus to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The initiative by IOCL, BPCL and HPCL will help change the way rural Odisha perceives menstrual health, achieving the twin objective of improving women’s health and encouraging basic hygiene practices, said an official.

BJD govt accused of ‘cheating’ farmers Bhubaneswar, Dec 30 (PTI): Opposition BJP and Congress Sunday hit out at the Biju Janata Dal government in Odisha accusing it of cheating farmers by announcing KALIA scheme after rejecting demands like like farm loan waiver.

Senior BJP leader and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) scheme ignored basic issues like price, pension and farm loan waiver, Odisha Congress president, Niranjan Patnaik said it was aimed to fool the farmers ahead of polls.

Dismissing opposition allegations, Odisha Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said KALIA scheme will help all farmers, including small, marginal and share-croppers. It will also help wipe out demand of loan waiver as farmers can get regular assistance.

Behera accused opposition parties of indulging in spreading false propaganda as they are afraid that KALIA scheme will become popular among

farmers.

Claiming that Naveen Patnaik government was not sincere about helping farmers, Pradhan said KALIA scheme is an attempt to grab votes by misleading farmers in the state where assembly elections are due along with Lok Sabha polls early next year.

Mounting a scathing attack on the state government, the Union Minister said the ruling BJD has “failed” to keep its promise of providing bonus to farmers and irrigation facilities in additional 10 lakh hectare of land.

The BJP leader further claimed that farmers faced pest menace amid damage caused to crops in many areas by Brown Plant Hoppers (chakada).

Padhan also took a dig at the BJD government over the name of the scheme and claimed there was an attempt to exploit the sentiments of the people by linking it to Lord Jagannath, who is known as Kalia by the devotees all over.

“KALIA scheme is nothing but a ploy to mislead and woo voters,” he said.

The Petroleum Minster said the Centres Ujjwala Yojana scheme has so far covered 35 lakh women in Odisha, while 10 lakh more beneficiaries will be added in next three months.

The OPCC president accused the BJD government of trying to fool farmers with the help of KALIA scheme keeping an eye on the twin elections.

Patnaik alleged the BJD failed to keep its promise to provide bonus over and above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy and other farm produce.

On Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s contention that loan waiver will lead to bankruptcy in economy, the OPCC chief sought to know as to how many times has the BJD government waive off loan of farmers during last 19 years ...

Patnaik further said that Odisha’s farmers are going to Chhattisgarh to sell their paddy after hike in MSP by the new Congress government.

“Congress promises that Odisha’s farmers will see better days very soon,” he said.

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Hyderabad, Dec 30 (IANS): As part of efforts for effective policing leveraging technology, Telangana police plan to install 15 lakh CCTV cameras across the state during next three years.

Director General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy told reporters on Sunday that 10 lakh CCTV cameras would be installed in the limits of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits, covering three police commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda.

Greater Hyderabad already has 5 lakh CCTV cameras and the number will be doubled in next three years.

Another 5 lakh cameras will be installed in the rest of the state. He said the state was already in the forefront in leveraging technology in policing and was taking people related, process related and leadership initiatives to achieve its vision of building a safer Telangana.

The police chief said during 2018 there was no major law and order problem and not a single communal incident. All major religious festivals and the

New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS): The BJP on Sunday accused the Congress of giving a political colour to the investigation process involving AugustaWestland middleman James Christian Michel and said that the anxiety of the opposition party is evident with its behaviour in the case.

Talking to reporters BJP Spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi sought to know from the Congress that why all the foreign nationals accused in corruption cases in India had links with the “first family” of the opposition party.

“The people, who make hue and cry for inquiries into all economic matters, are now working in the rescue of a foreign national who is involved in corruption. Your (Congress’) anxiety is evident,” Trivedi said, pointing towards a slip of paper being passed by Michel to his lawyer Joseph in the ED custody which referred to a set of questions related to Mrs Gandhi.

Condemning the Congress for giving the questioning of Michel by

8

business

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

recover Rs 40,400 cr Govt plans hiring professionals India’s robust economic Banks from defaulters: RBI report for Air India top positions: Prabhu growth to continue in 2019 world’s fastest growing major economy.

It has identified seven key drivers for growth that need to be fostered and suggested policy actions for robust GDP growth to continue in 2019. Among key growth drivers, CII hopes the GST Council will consider extending the tax to currently exempted sectors such as fuel, real estate, electricity and alcohol.

The chamber outlined that credit availability has been a challenge, particularly for the micro, small and medium enterprises, as credit flow to industry grew by a mere 2.3 per cent in first half of the current financial year.

“CII submits that the RBI should introduce measures such as revisiting lending restrictions of PCA (Prompt Corrective Action) banks, opening of a limited special liquidity window to meet emergencies of financial institutions, including Mutual Funds besides others to improve liquidity in the system,” it said.

Besides, the process of insolvency resolution has taken shape, the chamber feels the government should consider setting up additional benches of the

Nine of top-10 firms add Rs 57,263 crore in m-cap

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI): Nine of the 10 most valued Indian firms together added Rs 57,263.16 crore in market valuation last week, with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) topping the chart.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was the only firm to witness a decline in its market capitalisation (m-cap) for the week ended Friday.

Apart from TCS, companies including HDFC Bank, HUL and ITC made gains in their m-cap. RIL’s market valuation soared Rs 17,413.29 crore to Rs 7,13,595.29 crore, becoming the biggest gainer among the top-10 firms.

T h e va l u a t i o n o f HDFC jumped Rs 9,694.54 crore to Rs 3,40,435.54 crore and that of ITC

Crossword

Su doku

KAKURO

surged Rs 6,813.8 crore to Rs 3,45,301.80 crore.

The m-cap of Infosys advanced by Rs 5,194.29 crore to Rs 2,87,282.29 crore and that of ICICI Bank zoomed Rs 5,152.2 crore to Rs 2,32,537.20 crore.

HDFC Bank’s valuation went up by Rs 3,591.95 crore to Rs 5,77,322.95 crore and that of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) climbed Rs 3,571.75 crore to Rs 3,93,987.75 crore.

The m-cap of Kotak Mahindra Bank moved up

by Rs 3,331.86 crore to Rs 2,37,396.86 crore and that of State Bank of India (SBI) rose by Rs 2,499.48 crore to Rs 2,62,784.48 crore. In contrast, the valuation of TCS fell by Rs 543.91 crore to Rs 7,11,377.09 crore.

National Company Law Tribunal to strengthen the judicial infrastructure for easier and faster exit of distressed businesses.

The chamber believes the government will continue to place high priority on simplifying business procedures in 2019, especially in terms of working with states for grassroots improvements.

“We look forward to digitisation of land records, online single window systems in states, and enforcing contracts for even more improvements in ease of doing business,” said Banerjee.

On agriculture reforms, CII suggested that it is important to persuade states to implement the Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing Model Act, which has been implemented in just four states, to strengthen agriculture produce marketing.

Going ahead, it opined that India also needs to increase domestic production of oil, providing a special window for oil marketing companies to procure fuel and stepping up diplomacy with the US to continue to secure purchase from Iran.

of the mortgaged of the mortgaged property within 30 days, may have contributed to better recovery,” the report highlighted.

During the year, recovery through Lok Adalats and DRTs declined alongside the number of cases referred, partly indicative of the growing clout of the IBC mechanism for resolution of stressed assets, the monetary authority noted.

The average recovery through IBC is greater than other mechanisms (SARFAESI, DRTs and Lok Adalats) and is also improving gradually, pointing to the need and efficiency of such a channel, the report said.

“Strengthening the infrastructure of the insolvency resolution process, including the proposed increase in the number of benches of the National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs), should help reduce the overall time currently being taken for resolution under the IBC,” the RBI said.

Besides recover y through various resolution mechanisms, banks are also cleaning up theirs balance sheets through sale of doubtful/ loss assets to assets reconstruction companies (ARCs) and other banks/ NBFCs/financial institutions by taking haircuts, the report said.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI): The government plans to rope in professionals for top positions at Air India through a global search process, as part of efforts to revive the national carrier, according to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu.

With the proposed strategic stake sale of the Air India failing to take off in May this year, the government has been working on various initiatives, including hiving off a significant chunk of over Rs 55,000 crore debt into a special purpose vehicle, to turn-around the ailing airline.

Against this backdrop, the government is now actively considering the proposal to professionalise Air India management.

Talking about steps for reviving the national airline, Prabhu said there are plans for complete professionalisation.

“I have already ordered a global search for professionalisaton of Air India completely. All top positions in Air India should be filled by some sort of a global search. That proposal is now under active consideration of the government,” the minister told PTI in an interview.

A source in the know

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu during an interview with the PTI, in New Delhi, Friday. (PTI)

said the government plans to set up a search committee that would look for aviation professionals from across the world who can brought to Air India.

Currently, the national carrier -- which is staying afloat on taxpayers’ money -- has nine members on the board, including two officials from the civil aviation ministry.

The chair man and managing director is senior IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola while two well known businessmen -- ITC chairman Y C Deveshwar and Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla -- are independent directors on the board.

Ravinder Kumar Tyagi, Syed Zafar Islam, Daggubati Purandeswari are the

other independent directors.

Air India Director (Finance) Vinod Hejmadi as well as Civil Aviation Ministry’s Additional Secretary Gargi Kaul and Joint Secretary Satyendra Kumar Mishra are also part of the board.

Prabhu said debt is one of the biggest problems for revival of Air India, adding that the civil aviation ministry is already working with the finance ministry to address the issue.

The carrier is estimated to have a debt burden of over Rs 55,000 crore and about Rs 29,000 crore is to be transferred into an special purpose vehicle.

On December 27, the Civil Aviation Ministry told the Lok Sabha that the government has prepared a revival plan for Air India.

RBI planning to help visually impaired identify notes Facebook least trusted

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI): The Reserve Bank is looking at a mobile phone-based solution to help visually impaired people easily identify Indian currency notes.

Currently, intaglio printing-based identification marks are present in banknotes of Rs 100 and above for helping the visually challenged identify them. At present, banknotes of Rs 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 2000 are in circulation.

There are about 80 lakh blind or visually impaired people in the country, who are likely to benefit from the initiative of the central bank.

In June, 2018 the Reserve Bank had announced that it will explore the

feasibility of developing a suitable device or mechanism for aiding the visually impaired in the identification of Indian banknotes.

In line with that, the RBI has now invited expression of interest from vendors for developing a ‘mechanism/device’ for Identification of denomination of Indian banknotes.

The device/mechanism should be able to identify the denomination of a banknote with hand held operation, when the banknote is held in front of it/near it/inserted in it/ scrolled across it, within a few seconds (preferably 2 seconds or less) and read out in English/Hindi the denomination, said the tender document.

No. 9095 Yesterday’s solution No. 9094

No. 3714 Yesterday’s solution No. 3713

No. 2740 Yesterday’s solution No. 2739

In case of software based solution, the document said: “The solution can be either totally software based capable to run on mobile phones or hardware driven or a combination of both... .”

Also, it should not require data connection and should function in offline mode, as per the document.

In case of hardware base solution, the device “should be battery operated, rechargeable, small and handy” for ease of operation and should not require additional light s o u r c e i n c l u d i n g d ay light.

The tender document also said it should be amply made clear to the user that the device/mecha-

Across 1 Where actor’s not seen, having cancelled coach? (8) 6 Fuel needed for grilling a sausage? (3) 9 A financial transaction, we hear, that’s not with others (5) 10 A married woman in the USA (7) 11 Drive back from outskirts of Rome with sign of life (7) 12 17 not seen as item in programme? (5) 13 Tempt French nobleman in bishop’s domain (6) 15 Capital letter from Argos followed by one from Sparta (6) 19 Issue that’s upset girl (5) 21 Increase a nutmeg’s nuttiness? (7) 23 In which we serve on the level? (7) 24 Informed about a conflict beginning to escalate (5) 25 Charge for fifty per cent of coffee (3) 26 Natural ability to cook pud and eat it (8) Down 2 Fine cut was a failure (7) 3 Least awkward bargain (5) 4 A labyrinth has daughter dumbfounded (6) 5 Always set out for the highest mountain (7) 6 Move smoothly, taking cover in middle of hedgerow (5) 7 Bright vehicles going north (5) 8 Outlaws holding Irish children (6) 14 Italian city in which more can mingle? (7) 16 Odd male with red and green gem (7) 17 Half of coat in spotted material (6) 18 Male cat and sheep turned up to see rodent (6) 19 Material in gorge (5) 20 Scout leader getting long way with pleasant look (5) 22 Huge American soldier meets small insect (5)

nism does not authenticate the genuineness or otherwise of the banknote and the user may ascertain the same separately.

India has changed its over four-decade-old definition of blindness, bringing it in line with the WHO criteria.

According to the new definition, a person who is unable to count fingers from a distance of three metres would be considered “blind” as against the earlier stipulation of six metres, which was adopted in 1976.

Going by the new definition, the population of blind people in India will reduce from 1.20 crore (as per National Blindness survey 2007 data) to 80 lakh.

tech company: Survey

San Francisco, Dec 30 (IANS): In a reflection of what a series of data leaks and scandals has done to damage the reputation of Facebook, a new survey has found that the world’s largest social network leads the list of companies that people trust the least.

According to a survey of 1,000 people conducted earlier this month by research company Toluna, 40 per cent of respondents said they trusted Facebook the least with their personal information, PCMag.com reported last week.

In terms of lack of trust among its users, Facebook leads other technology companies by a huge

margin, according to the survey.

Facebook is followed

by Twitter and Amazon which tied for the second position with lack of trust from eight per cent of the respondents for each of the companies.

Following Twitter and Amazon are Uber and Google. While seven per cent of the respondents said they did not trust Uber with their personal data, six per cent said the same of Google.

Netflix and Tesla tied for the position of the most trusted companies in the list, with one per cent of the respondents showing lack of trust in each of these two companies.

Govt to infuse Rs 10,086 cr in BoI

New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI): State-owned Bank of India Saturday said the government has decided to infuse Rs 10,086 crore in the bank as part of Rs 28,615 crore capital infusion to be done in about half a dozen public sector lenders.

The finance Ministry had informed the bank about the capital infusion on Wednesday (December 26), Bank of India said in a regulatory filing. The fund infusion would be by way of preferential allotment of shares, it said.

The board of directors would be considering by way of circular resolution on or after January 2, 2019, the proposal for raising capital by this infusion and further issue of equity shares at an

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New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI): The country is expected to witness strong economic growth in 2019, after it has emerged as the fastest growing major world economy this year despite growing global vulnerabilities, industry body CII said Sunday.

The positive outlook is buttressed by strong drivers emanating from services sector and better demand conditions arising out of poll spend, with the general elections slated next year, according to the chamber.

“Better demand conditions, settled GST implementation, capacity expansion from growing investments in infrastructure, continuing positive effects of reform policies and improved credit offtake especially in the services sector at 24 per cent will sustain the robust GDP growth in the range of 7.5 per cent in 2019,” CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said. The industry body observed that despite 2018 being filled with external vulnerabilities arising out of rising oil prices, trade wars between major global trading partners and US monetary tightening, India outshined as the

MUMBAI, Dec 30 (PTI): Banks have seen a significant improvement in recovery of stressed assets helped by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and amendments in the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act, during FY18, according to the RBI data.

In the fiscal ended March 2018, banks recovered Rs 40,400 crore worth of bad loans as against Rs 38,500 crore recovered in FY17. The various channels through which lenders recovered their bad loans include the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), SARFAESI Act, debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) and Lok Adalats.

While banks recovered Rs 4,900 crore of bad loans through the IBC, the amount recovered through SARFAESI was Rs 26,500 crore in FY18, the RBI said in its annual report on Trends and Progress of Banking in 2017-18, released to over the weekend. “Apart from vigorous efforts by banks for speedier recovery, amending the SARFAESI Act to bring in a provision of three months’ imprisonment in case the borrower does not provide asset details and for the lender to get possession

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appropriate time and other incidental matters, it said.

According to sources, the government has decided to pump Rs 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalisation bonds soon.

Out of these seven PSBs, United Bank of India also announced about the capital infusion communication from the finance ministry.

The government had earlier announced an infusion of Rs 65,000 crore in PSBs in 2018-19, of which Rs 23,000 crore has already been disbursed, while Rs

42,000 crore is remaining.

Earlier this month, Arun Jaitley said the government would put an additional Rs 41,000 crore in PSBs. Eleven out of the total 21 PSBs are under the RBI’s PCA framework, which imposes lending restrictions on weak banks. These are Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Dena Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.

international

Voting for B’desh election ends; 17 killed in violence Dhaka, Dec 30 (PTI): Voting in a tense election to choose a new government in Bangladesh ended on Sunday with at least 17 people killed in poll-related violence amid allegations of manipulation by the ruling Awami League led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

According to the Election Commission, 1,848 candidates are contesting for 299 out of 300 Parliament seats. The polls are being held at 40,183 polling stations. Voting was suspended in one seat due to the death of a candidate.

While Hasina is seeking re-election for a fourth term as the prime minister, her chief rival, ex-premier and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khalida Zia, who is reportedly partially paralysed, faces an uncertain future in a Dhaka jail. The voting started at 8 AM (local time) and ended at 4 PM. “The eight-hour long voting has ended as per schedule...preparedness are underway to start the counting,” an Election Commission (EC) spokesman said.

The unofficial results were expected by Monday morning which would be announced by the commission headquarters in the capital, he said.

The EC officials said they have received over a

A man helps an elderly woman enter the voting centre during the general election in Dhaka on Sunday. (Reuters)

hundred complaints from candidates throughout the country amid reports of violence.

At least 17 people, including a member of a security agency, have been killed in eight districts in poll-related violence, the Daily Star newspaper reported, with dozens injured.

The build-up to the election has already been marred by violence.

Reports said most of the dead were ruling party activists while others were workers of opposition BNP or its allies.

Prime Minister Hasina appeared as the first voter in Dhaka centre from where her nephew and party candidate Fazle Nur Taposh was a contender.

“I’m always confident about our victory in the elections... I trust my people and I know that they will choose us so that they can get a better life in future,” she said after casting her vote.

Schools and colleges across Bangladesh were turned into makeshift polling centres for the day while people had begun to line up to cast their vote even before

the election opened.

At least 10 candidates - mostly BNP nominees - announced to stay off the polls alleging that their agents were ousted from polling centres by the ruling party workers.

BNP’s Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that polling centres are being occupied across the country, the party’s agents are being driven out and that its supporters and activists are facing violence.

“From the picture we have received, this is a violent election. We are seeing

Cyberattack hits US newspaper distribution

The Los Angeles Times and other newspapers were hit by a malware attack.

(Los Angeles Times)

Lo n d o n, D e c 3 0 (Agencies): Several US newspapers suffered major printing and delivery disruptions on Saturday following a cyber-attack.

According to BBC, the attack led to delayed distribution of The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and other

titles belonging to Tribune Publishing.

The company said it first detected the malware on Friday, which hit papers sharing the same printing plant. The attack is believed to have come from outside the US, the LA Times said.

West Coast editions of the Wall Street Journal and

The New York Times, which share the same production platform in Los Angeles, were also affected.

“We believe the intention of the attack was to disable infrastructure, more specifically servers, as opposed to looking to steal information,” an anonymous source with knowl-

‘Brexit 50-50’ if May’s deal rejected, says Liam Fox L ON D ON, D EC 3 0 (AGENCIES): Senior Brexiteer minister Liam Fox says there is a 50-50 chance the UK will not leave the EU on March 29 if MPs reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal next month.

According to BBC, the international trade secretary told the Sunday Times it would only be “100% certain” if MPs back the deal.

He said if the deal is rejected, that “would shatter the bond of trust between the electorate and Parliament”.

MPs are due to vote on the withdrawal agreement in January, with the UK scheduled to leave the EU on March 29.

The agreement negotiated by Mrs May with the EU - which sets the terms of the UK’s exit and a declaration on future relations - will only come into force with a majority backing in Parliament.

The Commons vote was due to be held on December 11 but the PM postponed it once it became clear it would be defeated by a large margin.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn this week urged

Liam Fox (File) Mrs May to cut short MPs’ Christmas break - they are due back in the Commons on 7 January - to allow for an earlier vote.

Mr Fox has warned fellow MPs that failure to pass the deal would be “incendiary” and said it was “a matter of honour” for them to support the PM. He said: “What you can be sure of is that if we vote for the prime minister’s deal then it’s 100% certain that we will leave on March 29.

“If we do not vote for that, I’m not sure I would give it much more than 50-50.

“And, for me, that would induce a sense that we had betrayed the people that had voted in the referendum.”

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, a leading supporter of the campaign for another referendum, said: “The only thing that is shattering the bond of trust between electorate and Parliament is the refusal of ministers like Liam Fox to trust people with the final say on Brexit.”

If Mrs May’s deal is rejected, the default position is for the UK to leave in March unless the government seeks to extend the Article 50 negotiating process or Parliament intervenes to stop it happening.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has urged the UK to “get your act together and then tell us what it is you want” for Brexit.

Speaking to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, he said it was “unreasonable” for parts of the British public to expect Brussels to solve “British problems”.

Mr Juncker also rejected the idea that the EU wanted to keep the UK in the EU “by all possible means” and suggested the majority of MPs “deeply distrust” the EU and Theresa May.

edge of the attack told the LA Times.

Tribune Publishing spokeswoman Marisa Kollias confirmed this in a statement, saying the virus hurt back-office systems used to publish and produce “newspapers across our properties”.

“Every market across the company was impacted,” Ms Kollias said, refusing to give more specifications on the disruptions, according to the LA Times.

Other publications owned by the company include the New York Daily News, Orlando Sentinel and the Annapolis CapitalGazette, whose staff were the targets of a deadly shooting earlier this year.

Another publication, the Fort Lauderdale SunSentinel was also “crippled this weekend by a computer virus that shut down production and hampered phone lines,” according to a story on its website.

Moscow is open for dialogue: Putin to Trump M OSCOW, D e c 3 0 (Agencies): Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a New Year letter to his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, said on Sunday that Moscow was ready for dialogue on a “wide-ranging agenda”, the Kremlin said.

At the end of November, Trump abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Argentina, citing tensions about Russian forces opening fire on Ukrainian navy boats and then seizing them, Reuters reported.

“Vladimir Putin stressed that the (Russia - United States) relations are the most important factor for providing strategic stability and international security,” a Kremlin statement said.

“He confirmed that Russia is open for dialogue with the USA on the most wide-ranging agenda.”

In a separate letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Putin pledged continuation of aid to the Syrian government and people in the “fight against terrorism, in defence of state sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

9

Colombia probes alleged plot to assassinate President

a one-sided election environment conducted at the whims of the government.

This paints a clear picture that they want to ensure a favourable result through a one-sided contest,” Rizvi told a media briefing at the party office.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the media from his northwestern Thakurgaon constituency that some of their candidates stayed off the vote in their “personal decisions” but “we will announce our party stance at 4 PM when the voting will end”. No announcement, however, came despite the end of voting.

Veteran lawyer Kamal Hossain, who leads main opposition alliance National Unity Front (NUF) with BNP being its key partner, however, said “the overall environment is not bad” with huge turnout of voters.

“But every minute I receive calls saying ‘Kamal Bhai (brother), it has already happened overnight. It began in the evening. I have gotten so many reports.

These reports are concerning. It’s sad and shameful,” he said. The Jatiya Oikya Front or NUF is a coalition of four parties - Gono Forum, BNP, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD, Nagorik Oikya and Krishak Sramik

Janata League - led by Hossain. Over 600,000 security personnel including several thousand soldiers and paramilitary border guards were deployed across the country to help conduct the election in which 10.41 crore people were eligible to vote.

According to the eyewitnesses, posters bearing the ruling party’s “boat” symbol outnumbered those of the main opposition’s “sheaf of paddy”.

BNP earlier said intimidation and police harassment kept their activists away from the campaign and polling process.

“Barring some unwanted incidents, the polling so far was smooth and peaceful...We could tell you at the end of the day if the election was participatory,” Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda told reporters.

Citing security reasons, authorities temporarily blocked mobile data services and slowed down the internet.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s private Jamuna TV has been taken off the air.

Channel’s chief news editor Fahim Ahmed said private cable operators stopped broadcasting their transmission without giving any reason and “so no one in Bangladesh now can see our channel due to the blackout.”

Guterres calls for unity in New Year’s message

Taliban dismiss Afghanistan’s talks offer

United Nations, Dec 30 (IANS): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday said the UN will continue to bring people together to build bridges and create space for solutions in 2019.

In his New Year message, the UN chief said the world is undergoing a stress test, as climate change is running fast, geo-political divisions are deepening, inequality is growing, and record numbers of people are moving in search of safety and protection.

Despite such challenges, Guterres said there are also reasons for hope, highlighting the progress made on Yemen talks, Ethiopia and Eritrea tensions, South Sudan conflict, and the Paris Agreement implementation.

KABUL/PESHAWAR, Dec 30 (Agencies): The Taliban have rejected Kabul’s offer of talks next month in Saudi Arabia where the militants, fighting to restore strict Islamic law in Afghanistan, will meet U.S. officials to further peace efforts, a Taliban leader said on Sunday.

Representatives from the Taliban, the United States and regional countries met this month in the United Arab Emirates for talks to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.

According to Reuters, but the Taliban have refused to hold formal talks with the Western-backed Afghan government.

“We will meet the U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia in January next year and we will start our talks that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi,” a member of the Taliban’s decisionmaking Leadership Council told Reuters. “However, we have made it clear to all

Nawaz Sharif to challenge conviction in graft case

Nawaz Sharif (File)

Lahore, Dec 30 (PTI): Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif will challenge his conviction in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case in the Islamabad High Court this week, his lawyer said on Sunday, after the PML-N supremo was sentenced to seven years in jail for corruption.

Three cases - Avenfield properties case, Flagship Investment case and Al-Azizia Steel Mills case - were launched against the Sharif family by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on September 8, 2017 following a judgment by the Supreme Court that disqualified Sharif as prime minister in the high-profile Panama Papers case in July last year. Last Monday, an anti-corruption court in Islamabad sentenced 68-yearold Sharif to seven years in jail in the Al-Azizia Steel

Mills case but acquitted him in the Flagship Investment case. The accountability court had also imposed a fine of USD 2.5 million and 1.5 million pounds on Sharif. “We have almost finalised the draft of the appeal against the verdict (against Sharif) and will file it in the Islamabad High Court this week,” Sharif ’s lawyer Khwaja Haris told PTI. He said “We are hopeful to get relief from the high court as there are many loopholes in the judgment of the accountability court”. Sharif ’s legal team also called on him at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore on Saturday and discussed with him legal matters related to the appeal challenging the accountability court’s verdict. They also met his daughter Maryam Nawaz at the Sharif ’s Jati Umra residence in Raiwind and discussed the case.

The accountability court had also barred Sharif from holding public office for 10 years after completing his sentence. It also ordered confiscation of his Hill Metal Establishment firm and issued perpetual warrants of arrest for his sons - Hussain and Hassan - who had been declared proclaimed offenders.

L o n d o n, D e c 3 0 (Agencies): Colombia has condemned an alleged plot to assassinate its president, and says three Venezuelans have been arrested in connection with the plan.

Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said there were “credible” plans to target President Iván Duque.

According to BBC, without going into details, Mr Trujillo also said three Venezuelans had been arrested with “weapons of war”. Tensions have risen between Colombia and Venezuela in recent months, with mutual expulsion of officials. Millions have fled Venezuela’s severe economic crisis in recent years, and many of those migrants have crossed into Colombia.

Mr Duque was elected in August promising to isolate the country diplomatically.

“Intelligence investigations into possible attacks have been going on for several months,” Mr Trujillo said in a video message, arguing the arrest of the three Venezuelans “further increases concerns”.

Police and military sources in Colombia reportedly told Reuters news agency that three Venezuelan men were arrested

the stakeholders that we will not talk to the Afghan government.”

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also said the leaders of the group would not talk to the Afghan government.

The militants have insisted on first reaching an agreement with the United States, which the group sees as the main force in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have intensified after Taliban representatives started meeting U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad this year. Officials from the warring sides have met at least three times to discuss the withdrawal of international forces and a ceasefire in 2019.

But the United States has insisted that any final settlement must be led by the Afghans.

According to data from the NATO-led Resolute

Iván Duque (File)

earlier in December, two of whom were armed with rifles.

President Duque has called on countries to not recognize Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro after his contentious re-election in May, and dubbed the leader a “dictator”.

But Mr Maduro alleges that Colombia and the US have plotted to kill him and topple his government.

The Venezuelan leader recently claimed US National Security Adviser John Bolton was personally involved in the assassination plan.

The arrival of Russian long-range bombers in Venezuela has further increased tensions in the region.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Russian bombers’ visit amounted to “two corrupt governments squandering public funds”.

Support mission published in November, the government of President Ashraf Ghani has control or influence over 65 percent of the population but only 55.5 percent of Afghanistan’s 407 districts, less than at any time since 2001. The Taliban say they control 70 percent of the country.

A close aide to Ghani said the government would keep trying to establish a direct line of diplomatic communication with the Taliban.

“Talks should be Afghan-led and Afghanowned,” the aide said on condition of anonymity. “It is important that the Taliban acknowledge this fact.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a pullout of American troops from Syria, a decision that prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis, and there have been reports that he is considering a partial pullout from Afghanistan.

OFFICE OF THE BHUMNYU UNION DIMAPUR FELICITATION

The Bhumnyu Union Dimapur (BUD) take great honour in congratulating 1. Dr. Yinglong Phom, D/o Mr. C. Hongnya Phom and Mrs. B. Amongla Phom for her success in the recently declared NPSC Exam and securing the post of Medical Officer under Home Dept. Cl-1 Gazetted.

2. Er. Pongman N. Phom, D/o Mr. C. Ngamphü Phom and Mrs. Chingphu Phom of Bhumnyu Village for securing the post of Sectional Officer (S.O II) uinder the Department of Chief Engineer, Water Resources.

The Union further wishes you the best and pray that our Almighty God continue to bless and guide you and your family.

H. Sunep Phom H. Lungpo President, BUD Gen. Secretary, BUD DP-9183

SANGPANG MEPU KUCHACHANGER PUTU LONGKHUM VILLAGE

PELABA LEMSATEPER

29 th Dec 2018 Sangpang Mepu Kuchachanger Putu telongjem sentong nung jaokba ama, Major Toshikaba Longchar (Indian Army) Chungtia yimtiba nungi, aser pa den nubu tabensa arua sentong mera ketdakja takok ngutetdaktsüba atema putu sangeri pelaba lemsateper.

Tsungremi ne takum aser wadang anu tali dang moajang ta ozü putu sanger sarasadem.

Sangpang Mepu Kuchachanger Putu MKC-342 OFFICE OF THE

WAMEKEN SENSO UNION DIMAPUR CONDEMNATION The Wameken Senso Union Dimapur vehemently condemn the barbaric assault on Mr. IMSU LONGKUMER, S/o W. Imo Longkumer (Wameken) on 24th of Dec. 2018 at his residence in Padumphukhri, Dimapur by some unidentified persons with full arms inflicting severe injuries. We urge the law enforcement agency and Administration to arrest the culprits at the earliest.

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Sd/(L.TIATEMJEN) President WSUD

Sd/(S.TEMSUWATI JAMIR) Secretary WSUD

Infotainment

10

Weekend Box Office: ‘Aquaman’ eyes $50M-plus

W

ar ner Bros.’ superhero pic Aquaman continues to top the holiday box office, where it grossed $17.1 million on Friday for a projected second-weekend gross of $50 million or more.

If that number holds, the tentpole will finish Sunday with a domestic total of $189 million, meaning it could clear $200 million by the end of New Year’s Day. Overseas, Aquaman swam past the $500 million mark on Friday for a worldwide haul approaching $700 million in a needed win for DC’s superhero universe.

Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns, easily holding at No. 2, is gaining

ground after a relatively slow first weekend, and is up the most of any film.

The musical earned $10.6 million on Friday for a sophomore outing of $30 million, an uptick of 29 percent. Mary Poppins will jump the $100 million mark sometime on Sunday in North America.

Aquaman and Mary Poppins opened last weekend opposite Bumblebee, which grossed $6.2 million on Friday for a projected second outing of $11.8 million, a gain of 24 percent.

Facing tough competition from Aquaman for fanboys, Bumblebee is eying a domestic total of $65 million through Sunday.

Sony’s Spider-Man:

Into the Spider-Verse follows at No. 3 with a projected $19.4 million.

War ner Bros. and Clint Eastwood’s The Mule rounds out the top five with estimated weekend earnings of $12 million for a domestic cume of $57 million, Eastwood’s best showing in recent years behind Sully and American Sniper.

Warners had triple duty Thursday, when it partnered with Fathom Events for an encore performance of Peter Jackson’s World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old in 1,007 theaters. The doc scored a Fathom record with $3.4 million and, including grosses from a

previous Fathom event, has earned $5.7 million in the U.S. (They Shall Not Grow Old is already available on DVD in the U.K., where it had a limited theatrical run before airing on the BBC).

Elsewhere, Annapurna and director Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic Vice, starring Christian Bale, is overtaking Holmes & Watson with a projected $8.1 million (both films opened on Christmas Day).

Holmes and Watson may only earn $7.5 million for the weekend after getting ravaged by critics — its current score on Rotten Tomatoes is 7 percent — and audiences, who slapped the Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly comedy with a rare D+ CinemaScore.

Holiday comedy Second Act, starring Jennifer Lopez, is also eying a $7.5 million weekend. Now in its second outing, the STX release is pacing to finish Sunday with a muted domestic cume of $21 million.

Universal and DreamWorks’ Welcome to Marwen remains the biggest dud of the Christmas season. The film is looking at a second-weekend gross of $2.3 million for a total through Sunday of just $7.8 million.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

Musicians should not abuse power: Alice Copper

Lady Gaga rocked blue hair for her ‘Enigma’ opening night

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egendar y rocker Alice Cooper has told The Guardian in a new interview that he keeps his political opinions to himself. “I don’t like to mix politics and rock ‘n’ roll,” he said. “I don’t look at Bono, Sting and Bruce Springsteen as political. I look at them as being humanitarian.

I’ll contribute to anything humanitarian. Helping people who can’t help themselves. But when musicians are telling people who to vote for, I think that’s an abuse of power.

You’re telling your fans not to think for themselves, just to think like you. Rock ‘n’ roll is about freedom — and that’s not freedom.”

Two years ago, Cooper said that rock stars offering their political opinions is “the worst idea ever.” “First of all, why do people think rock stars know more than they do?” he said.

“That is the biggest fallacy in the world — if anything, we’re dumber.

We’re not smarter than anybody else. I mean, why do you think we’re rock stars?

“Trust me, we don’t read magazines you don’t

read. Nobody calls us up and gives us as inside information on politics. We know less than you do. If I watch TV, it’s ‘Family Guy’.

“Rock ‘n’ roll was built to go as far away from politics as you could get. When my mom and dad talked about who to vote for, I’d go in the other room and put on The Beatles or Rolling Stones — and I’m still like that.”

Cooper, who considers himself a humanitarian, said that he had no problem with artists using their platform to highlight global issues if it benefited others.

He said: “I think

L

what Bono does and what [Bruce] Springsteen does, Sting and all the people that raise money for others — that’s humanitarian, and I’m all for that.

But I don’t think that’s political.”

In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Cooper stated about thenRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump: “He’s an interesting character.

It seems like he shoots himself in the foot every single day and gets more popular by doing it. It’s the weirdest. It’s like [Kurt] Vonnegut: Everything that shouldn’t happen is happening.”

(Blabbermouth)

ady Gaga is closing out her epic 2018 with the launch of one of her most ambitious endeavors yet, and she’s making an eye-popping return to the vibrant aesthetics of her past for her Las Vegas debut.

The triple-threat has officially taken Sin City by storm, as Gaga opened Enigma, her residency at the Park MGM Las Vegas, on Friday night (Dec. 28).

Though her stellar performance in A Star Is Born has dominated the bulk of Gaga’s 2018, Enigma brings Gaga back to the stage and with futuristic, mind-blowing props, set pieces and costumes worthy of the occasion.

After she shared a brief teaser for the show before the performance, Gaga posted a backstage pic of one of her many Enigma looks that featured a strong brow, vivid tangerine lips and cerulean hair -- a vibe that throws to the pop art-channeling style she sported for her “Telephone” visual for her collaboration with Beyoncé in 2010.

(Billboard)

Jake E Lee says he would play with Ozzy again

Kanye’s $14M surprise First man to cross Antarctica receives Christmas gift to wife call from Paul Simon mid-journey

Ozzy’s wife and manager] had called me somewhere… 2009 maybe, 2010… somewhere in there. She tracked m e d ow n a n d called me and asked me if I’d be interested in doing some festivals with Ozzy and possibly the next record.

At that time, I told her, ‘Yeah, I don’t have any problem with doing that.’ I said, ‘But it’s always irked me. If you could just get my name on to the songs that I wrote on ‘Bark At The Moon’, then we can move forward.

And that was obviously not gonna happen. And it was the same when I talked to [producer Kevin] Churko [who worked on Ozzy’s ‘Scream’ album].

He said if I was gonna do anything with Ozzy, what would it take? And I said that again. I’m not holding a grudge about it — I’m not harboring any ill will about it — but I feel like that was somewhere where

olin O’Brady completed his two-month journey recently to become the first-ever person to cross Antarctica from coast to coast alone and unaided by wind. Along his 900-mile journey, O’Brady turned to Paul Simon for some entertainment.

The adventurer told The New York Times he listened to Paul Simon’s Graceland on repeat for a whole day, and even received a phone call from Simon himself on day 35 of his trek (Dec. 7).

He reflected on his “Fanboy Dance Party For One” on Instagram. “We had a wonderful conversation for 30 minutes over my satellite phone,” he noted.

“We talked about many things, but setting aside celebrity and fame, what struck me most was talking to him about his process of creativity and bringing a masterpiece like Graceland into the world.”

“I’m always so fascinated to talk to people who have worked their whole

C

K

anye West secretly bought a $14 million apartment at Miami’s gleaming “billionaire beach bunker,” as a Christmas present for wife Kim Kardashian, sources exclusively confirmed to Page Six. Page Six previously reported that the famous couple was buying into the 18-storey luxury beachfront tower Faena House, designed by Norman Foster and home to masters of the universe including Goldman Sachs chairman Lloyd Blankfein, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin and Faena co-developer Len Blavatnik.

But now sources have confirmed to us that Kanye privately viewed the apartment while in Miami in December and bought it for Kim as a gift.

One source told us,

Cher helped me quit smoking: Slash

S

lash says that watching Cher perform in concert helped him quit smoking nearly a decade ago.

The Guns N’ Roses guitarist has not smoked since 2009 and admits seeing his mother lose her battle with lung cancer, and a bout of pneumonia he suffered himself, made him realize he needed to ditch his habit for good.

“I quit smoking nine years ago, almost 10 years ago,” Slash told “WTF With Marc Maron”. “When I did it, I had pneumonia, and pneumonia is what helped me quit smoking. That, and I saw Cher the night before, and that’s when I caught the pneumonia. So Cher helped me quit smoking. Anyway, I couldn’t smoke. I tried — I couldn’t breathe — so I had two weeks on my back. So I quit, and then I used the patch to sort of get the edge off. Then I started doing the snus [smokeless tobacco] thing, and I was doing that K Y M C

for years. My significant other talked me out of doing it, and so I started doing the [nicotine] gum. And I sleep with the gum.”

Slash — who has two sons with his ex-wife Perla Ferrar — did not find it difficult to give up smoking once his mother lost her battle with cancer. “She was one of those smokers that always said, ‘I’m gonna quit one day,’” he recalled. “But while she was in the hospital, I would literally sit with her, go outside and smoke a

cigarette, come back and sit with her. And then the Cher thing happened, and that’s when I said, ‘You know what?’”

Slash, who has been open about his previous battles with drugs and alcohol, went on to say that staying smoke-free is “tough.” He explained: “You’ve got these triggers all the time. They only last for maybe two seconds or so, but they’re really, really potent. And you can just get it watching somebody smoke on TV.

I saw somebody smoking at a bus stop, and I said, ‘Ohhh…’ It happens at least once a day every day.”

Slash, who had a 60-cigarette-a-day habit, described himself as “a compulsive smoker. I chainsmoked,” he said. “And I couldn’t handle — this is not why I quit smoking — but I couldn’t handle not being able to smoke wherever I wanted.

Slash said that his cigarette habit affected his live performances, especially after a smoking ban was introduced in enclosed work places in the U.K. back in 2007. Back in 2010, Slash said that he quit smoking once before, only to start lighting up again. “The first time I quit smoking was because me and my wife just had a baby and she claimed the baby smelled like an ashtray,” he said. “So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a shot.’ So I quit for a year and then I started again.”

(Blabbermouth)

“Kanye saw the property during Art Basel in December and bought it as a Christmas present for Kim. It was a complete surprise for her.”

A second source added that the couple are now in contract for the apartment and the sale is expected to close in January.

The rapper bought the four-bedroom 5 ½-bath, 4,700-square-foot apartment with a wraparound terrace from Alex Blavatnik, the brother of energy billionaire and Faena developer Len. Douglas Elliman listing brokers Oren and Tal Alexander of the Alexander Team had no comment.

The building has all the amenities desired by the superrich: a private gym, spa, pool, concierge and underground parking.

(FoxNews)

lives and put their heart and soul into striving for their highest performance, no matter the craft or canvas,” he continued.

“Though his expression is music and mine endurance sport, we both could relate so much on the mindset required to attempt to perform at that level.”

Simon also posted a note on his website. “He was almost half-way through his arduous journey,” the crooner explained. “I asked him if he felt lonely in the desolate landscape with no companionship.

‘Bandersnatch’ offers over one trillion story combinations

B

lack Mirror’s Bandersnatch reportedly offers more than one trillion story combinations, after it was confirmed yesterday that the new offering from Netflix allows users to choose their own adventure.

The 90-minute special follows the story of the titular book, a Choose Your Own Adventure book that proved to be so complex that it drove its author to murder.

As Stefan (Fionn Whitehead) attempts to adapt the book into a video game, he too loses his grip on reality – with viewers being provided with a number of different options about where they wish to take his journey throughout the film.

However, it’s now been confirmed that while the film offers only five possible endings, the numerous ‘choice’ points

throughout mean that there is more than a trillion unique combinations on offer.

Although the combinations mean that viewers could potentially watch a 40 minute offering, most will experience a 90 minute version of the experience.

It was also reported that 312 minutes of footage were shot for the film.

Co-creator Annabel Jones told the BBC: “One of the most challenging things about making this has been the crafting of the world and the various branches, and also limiting the endless, infinite potential offshoots and different stories you can make.”

Meanwhile, it was yesterday revealed that the company included in the film is also being used to recruit designers for Netflix.

(NME)

He said he spoke with his wife, Jenna, every evening. He told me that he wasn’t lonely and had a lot of time to think on all sorts of matters from the mundane to the spiritual, with more time lately on the spiritual.”

“O’Brady is 33 years old and a Yale graduate, an experienced endurance athlete and adventurer,” he continued. “We promised to meet when he comes home and is rested. I’m looking forward to seeing him and hearing more about his amazing achievement.”

(Billboard)

53RD BIRTHDAY 1ST JAN 2019

Dad you are our hero our role model, the man who we look up to and dream to become.

Happy Birthday Dad! Kikheto Assumi

From, Sons, daughter, in-laws and family

DP-9788

Kanye West and Kim Kardashain.

FELICITATION

The Tangjen Shakojong Phang with immense pride and joy would like to congratulate Dr. Yinglong Phom, D/o Mr. C. Hongnya Phom and Mrs. Amongla Phom of Bhumnyu Village for securing the post of Medical Officer under Home Dept.

Your earnest spirit, hard work and success has set a bench mark for the younger generation and brought laurels to our clan and village in particular. May God bless you in abundance as you take up your new position and responsibility.

Taklau Phom Ayuh Phom President General Secretary TS Phang TS Phang

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J

ake E. Lee says that he would be willing to play with Ozzy Osbourne again.

The guitarist, who was a member of Ozzy’s band from 1983 until 1987, made the comments while speaking to YesterdazeNews magazine.

Asked if he would consider rejoining forces with the legendary Black Sabbath singer, Jake said: “I would. I don’t think it’ll ever happen.

“Sharon [Osbourne,

I got screwed. And if we can fix it, then I’m willing to do something with him again.”

Currently promoting his band Red Dragon Cartel’s second album “Patina”, which was released in November via Frontiers Music Srl, Jake continued: “I didn’t want the money.

I didn’t want publishing; I didn’t want money; I didn’t care if I ever made a penny off it. It would just be nice to have my name on music that I wrote.

“Like I said, it came up twice — working with Ozzy [again] — and both times I said, ‘If we can get this squared away, then I have no problem.’ And I would still work with Ozzy.

I think it’d be fun. It’s been so long. And I love Ozzy.

Like I said, I’d be perfectly willing to do it. But there is that one point of contention that we have, and it doesn’t look like that would ever be worked out. So I don’t think the chances of me doing that are very good.”

Lee had been absent from the music business for over a decade before working with Churko on Red Dragon Cartel’s 2014 debut album.

(Blabbermouth)

K Y M C

AC Milan beat SPAL to break out of slump

Milan, Dec 30 (Agencies): Gonzalo Higuain scored for the first time in 10 matches as AC Milan ended their winless run by beating SPAL 2-1 in Serie A to ease the pressure on coach Gennaro Gattuso.

There had been reports in Italy that Gattuso could be sacked if Milan failed to gain a positive result against SPAL, having overseen a run of five games without a win in all competitions.

SPAL appeared to have a chance of extending that streak to six when former Rossoneri academy product Andrea Petagna put them ahead.

However, Samu Castillejo levelled in style before Higuain finally found the net and completed the tur naround for Milan, who, despite losing Suso to a late red card, moved into fifth, a point behind fourth-placed Lazio in the race to secure Champions League football.

Milan found no reward for a sustained spell of early pressure, Alessio Romagnoli correctly flagged for offside as he found the net before then finding himself at fault as SPAL broke the deadlock.

Romagnoli was clev-

AC Milan’s Gonzalo Higuain, center left, and his teammates celebrate at the end of a Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Spal, at the San Siro stadium on Saturday. (AP/PTI)

erly turned by ex-Milan striker Petagna, whose low effort deflected off the centre-back and into the bottom-left corner.

However, the visitors’ lead lasted just three minutes as Lorenzo Dickmann failed to control Filippo Costa’s poor clearance and Castillejo pounced to rifle a volley into the top-right corner.

Tiemoue Bakayoko blazed over with the goal

11

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

at his mercy as a gilt-edged opportunity to complete the turnaround went begging amid more haphazard SPAL defending.

Yet they finally paid the price as Higuain silenced his critics, goalkeeper Alfred Gomis getting both hands to his effort but unable to keep it out after Hakan Calhanoglu had knocked the ball into the path of the former Napoli and Real Madrid forward.

Calhanoglu and Bakayoko each had chances to make it 3-1 before Thiago Cionek went close for SPAL, with Suso’s second yellow card for an ill-advised foul on Mirko Valdifior then setting up a nervy finish that would have ended in heartbreak had Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma not produced a stunning diving save to deny Mohamed Fares.

Rs 100 crore for funding TOPS athletes

New Delhi, Dec 30 (Agencies): The director general of SAI Neelam Kapur has revealed that the Sports Ministry has kept aside Rs 100 crore to be used in the funding of athletes under TOPS ahead of the 2020 Olympics preparations. A TOPS secretariat has also been established to get the preparations on the right track.

Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) was launched in September 2014 and is a programme of the Sports Ministry. This was launched with a motive of providing financial help to the potential medal winners who have the ability to bring laurels for the country during prestigious events like Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the Olympics.

SAI has informed that it has got instructions from the Sports Ministry that there shouldn’t be any shortage of funds for the sportspersons under the scheme.

“We have kept a ballpark (approximate) figure of Rs 100 crores for 2020 Olympics. The sports minister has instructed that there shouldn’t be any shortage of funds for the athletes in TOPS,” Kapur told PTI.

Solskjaer plans Martial, De Gea talks

Anthony Martial

David De Gea

Lo n d o n, D e c 3 0 (Agencies): Ole Gunnar Solskjaer plans to talk David De Gea and Anthony Martial into staying at Manchester United beyond the end of next season.

Both players have had their contracts extended until June 2020 by United vice-chairman Ed Woodward, having failed to agree new long-term deals despite protracted negotiations at the club.

Solskjaer has enjoyed a winning start ‘on loan’ as United’s interim manager since replacing Jose Mourinho but is is due to return to Norwegian side Molde at the end of the campaign.

But having turned down several opportunities to leave United during his 11 seasons as a player at Old Trafford, Solskjaer is keen to convince the current crop

to follow suit.

“I know the club want them to sign because they are top quality players,” said Solskjaer, who believes he will have an input on any transfers at United during the January window.

“It’s down to the players but when you’re at Man United there isn’t a lot of greener grass on the other side. You are at the best place. It’s the biggest club in the world.”

“For me, I would hope I can help or guide these players to maybe tip them over to thinking they want to stay at this club. If you are a regular at Manchester United, I think you should grasp the opportunity to stay here and become part of the history.” Martial’s agent Philippe Lamboley publicly declared Martial wanted to leave United

under Jose Mourinho in the summer and said this month the club were far from agreeing a long-term deal.

De Gea has been repeatedly linked with a move to a number of top European clubs, most notably Real Madrid.

“I had loads of offers and possibilities to move but the manager (Ferguson) sat me down and told me I was going to be an important part of his team, his squad and I was going to play enough games,” said Solskjaer.

“I felt privileged to play here. I am also stubborn. The club agreed to sell me to Spurs one time and I said ‘no, thank you.’

My agent wanted me to go, but I knew I was at the best place. I wasn’t sure the grass was greener somewhere else. I had a period when I wasn’t playing. I would get angry. Then he would put me in the team and I would feel a big part of it and important.”

“Sir Alex was the best when it came to managing squad players. We’re not talking about squad players now, we are talking about top players. If you are a regular at Manchester United, I think you should grasp the opportunity to stay here and become part of the history.”

Kiruphema Youth Organisation sports meet concludes Correspondent

Lotha Colony Council, chairman, R. Lotha with the winners of the 1st Lotha Colony Badminton 2018 organised by Lotha Colony Youth Organisation in collaboration with Lotha Colony Council and Lotha Colony Mother’s Union on December 29. (Mhatsu Odyuo).

Ranji Trophy: Nagaland lead Arunachal

Dimapur, Dec 30 (Agencies): Nagaland made a dominating start to their round eight clash of Ranji Trophy against Arunachal Pradesh having taken a lead of 17 runs with all 10 wickets remaining on Day 1.

After bowling out Arunachal for 135 inside 55 overs, the hosts made an excellent start, reaching 152/0 before the stumps were drawn at the Nagaland Cricket Stadium in Dimapur.

Nagaland captain made the right call at the coin toss and opted to field. Pawan Suyal (4/28) destroyed their top-order with a devastating spell with the new ball. He

struck in the very first over of the innings getting rid of opener Neelam Obi (0) and No. 3 Techi Tahin (0). In his next over, he cleaned up Indiya Toku for four to leave the visitors struggling at 6/3.

Techi Doria tried stabilising the sinking ship but after hitting two fours in his 15-run knock, he became Suyal’s fourth victim. A brief recovery followed with the middle-order pair of Song Tacho and Robin Tako combining for a 44-run partnership. Mughavi Wotsa broke them apart with the scalp of Robin on 24. Abrar Kazi then took over as he ran through the lower order, finishing

with figures of 3/13 from nine overs. Song was the topscorer with 31 off 96 while Techi Neri remained unbeaten on 22. In reply Nagaland openers Paras Sehrawat and Sedezhalie Rupero enjoyed a productive day, hitting halfcenturies each. Sehrawat has so far struck 87 runs off 96 deliveries alongside 11 fours and a six. His opening partner Rupera is unbeaten on 62 off 105 in an innings that features six fours.

Brief Scores: Nagaland 152/0 (Paras Sehrawat 87*, Sedezhalie Rupero 62*) lead Arunachal Pradesh (Song Tacho 31; Pawan Suyal 4/28) by 17 runs

Ko h i m a , D e c 3 0 (NPN): The 44th Kiruphema Youth Organisation (KYO) sports meet concluded Saturday at Kiruphema local ground with Dzuvi-u Zhunyu, vice president of WAPO as the special invitee.

Speaking on the occasion, Zhunyu said the tournament is to promote young talents for future and to bring unity within the people of Kiruphema and others. He urged the youths to be disciplined and excel in their talents.

He also stressed on the importance of unity and said it can bring peace and understanding.

Expressing happiness over the participation of all different age groups in the 44th edition, he said, “all players have added flavour to the tournament and portray a positive image of KYO amongst the sports fraternity.”

Altogether, 426 players from seven different age groups participated in the tournament.

Players and officials with Dzuvi-u Zhunyu before the final match kick off.

Kezie club emerged the champion in football after beating defending champion Kezevi club via tie-breaker. In volleyball, Kezekevi club emerged as champions in men’s category while Nourhe club was the winner in women’s category.

In the exhibition football match, Veteran FC defeated KYO executive council by 4-0.

Meanwhile, Kezevilie Hojha will lead Kiruphema Youth Organisation as president for the tenure 2019-2021.

BORN : 14.08.1944 – DIED : 24.12.2018

When someone you love become a memory the memory becomes a treasure in memory of our beloved

Born on: 25/12/1935 Died on: 12/12/2018

K Y M C

“I have passed the mountain peak and my soul is soaring in the firmament of complete and unbounded freedom; I am in comfort, I am in peace”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Lt. Lirila Sangtam (Advocate) and Lt. Lamtsala Sangtam (Vocalist of Purple Fusion) As another year passed by and as the New Year enters, we cant find words to say how much we miss your presence. Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us everyday unseen unheard but always near still close to heart are very dear.

Papa, mummy, sister, brother & Chichi DP-9789

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our heartfelt gratitude to each and everyone who stood by us through prayers, financial contribution, valued physical presence during the sickness and the sad demise of our dearly beloved Late Tonili Kinimi, wife of Late K. Kihoto Kinimi Head G.B. Alaphumi Village, who breathed her last on 12th December 2018.

Forever in our hearts will remain your never ending optimism, kindness and generosity of your love and prayers.

DP-9786

Loving children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and relatives.

We the bereaved family of Late MRS. SENSAKLEMLA would like to express our sincere and heartfelt gratitude to all who stood by us spiritually, financially and physically at the sudden and untimely demise of our beloved mother who left for her heavenly abode on 24th Dec, 2018.

Our special thanks :1. Rev. Thridong, Pastor, S.B. L. Dimapur 2. Shri. Müthingnyüba Sangtam, MLA 3. Shri. K. Khalo MLA 4. Dimapur Molungyimsen Senso Telongjem 5. Dimapur Molungyimsen Tzüdir Kidong Telongjem 6. Alisopur Union Dimapur 7. Alisopur Union Larü Dimapur 8. Alisopur Baptist Lithro 9. Alisopur Baptist Lithrolarü 10. Sangtam Baptist Lithro Dimapur 11. Sangtam Baptist Lithrolarü Dimapur 12. Sangtam Baptist Lithro Mission Dept 13. Sangtam Baptist Lithro Evangelistic Committee 14. Sangtam Baptist Lithro Youth Endeavour 15. Chakhesang Baptist Church Diphupar B’ 16. Chakhesang Baptist Church Diezephe 17. Sangtam Baptist Fellowship Diphupar B’ 18. Supper Market & Ura Villa Fellowship 19. Govt Town Middle School, United Colony 20. Five Sisters Diphupar B, We deeply regret our inability to thank everyone personally for your immense support, but we pray that our Almighty God will bless you all abundantly.

Loving Children, grandchildren, in-laws & relatives.

DP-9785 K Y M C

12

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018

India thrash Australia by 137 runs Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 1-0 MELBOURNE, Dec 30 (Agencies): India captured Australia’s last two wickets after a raindelayed start Sunday five of the third test on Sunday to complete an emphatic 137-run win and take a 2-1 series lead into the Sydney finale.

India, denied victory on day four by the tail-end resistance of Pat Cummins, were forced to wait nearly two-and-a-half hours for play to begin due to rain at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but when the weather cleared their bowlers wrapped up Australia’s innings for 261 in 22 minutes.

In his second over, seamer Jasprit Bumrah had Cummins edge to Cheteshwar Pujara, who took a sharp, low catch in the slips to remove the bowler for a personal high score of 63.

Paceman Ishant Sharma then sealed the result when he had Nathan Lyon edge behind to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for seven when attempting to slog the ball.

The wicket triggered bear hugs and backslaps among the Indian players as travelling fans in the sparse crowd roared with joy.

Having dominated

Indian team members walk off the field after beating Australia on day five of the third cricket test between India and Australia in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday. (AP/PTI)

with bat and ball throughout the one-sided Boxing Day clash, Virat Kohli’s men will head to the Sydney Cricket Ground with a genuine belief they can become the first Indian team to win a series Down Under.

The win also saw them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy contested between the nations after claiming last year’s series 2-1 at home.

“We’re not going to stop here, this has only given us more confidence to go out in Sydney and

play even more positive cricket,” Kohli said at the trophy presentation.

“The job is not done yet ... We want to win the last test as well. It’s all about taking pride in the roles we were given and executing them.”

Resuming on 258 for eight, 141 runs short of victory, Australia’s best hope was for rain to wash out the final day but the morning showers merely delayed the inevitable.

They had been set a daunting victory target of 399 shortly before lunch

Switzerland beat Britain at Hopman Cup

Roger Federer took just under an hour to beat Cameron Norrie on Sunday.

Perth, Dec 30 (IANS): The defending champions Switzerland and runnersup Germany are a step closer to book their final rematch as both of them triumphed 3-0 in their respective debut against Britain and Spain at the Hopman Cup on Sunday.

Veteran Roger Federer claimed a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory over 23year-old Cameron Norrie to earn Switzerland a first point.

Belinda Bencic stormed seven points in the tie-break of the sec-

ond set to outclass Katie Boulter 6-2, 7-6. The Swiss pair combined for another 4-3, 4-1 win to claim a 3-0 sweep over the Brits in Group B. Switzerland will play the United States on the New Year’s Day, when Federer will play against Serene Williams in the mixed doubles.

In a Group A clash earlier, world no. 2 Angelique Kerber beat Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to put Germany ahead, while snapping her five-match losing streak against the

two-time Grand Slam winner.

ATP finals champion Alexander Zverev fended off David Ferrer 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 to seal the victory for Germany.

Another 4-2, 4-3 victory in the dead rubber mixed doubles enabled the Germans to beat the Spaniards 3-0 in their opening tie at the tournament.

The Germans could enjoy a New Year celebration first before their next match-up against France, who lost to hosts Australia 2-1 on the opening day.

on day four, and crumbled after India’s pacemen attacked the stumps with cold-blooded assurance.

The pride of Cummins and Lyon allowed Australia to limp into day five but the match had slipped away from the hosts on the morning of day three, the rampaging Bumrah taking 6-33 to rout Paine’s side for 151 and carve out a first-innings lead of 292.

Bumrah claimed 3-53 in the second innings for a match haul of 9-86, and was deservedly named

ZVYSO 57th sports meet from Jan 2

Ko h i ma , D e c 3 0 (NPN): The Zhadima Village Youth & Sports Organization (ZVYSO) will hold its 57th annual sports meet 2019 from January 2 at Zhadima village under Kohima district.

Roko Angami, president, Nagaland Football Coaches Association (NFCA) & VDB Secretary Zhadima will be the chief guest while Neizhalie Theiinuo, OC, South Traffic Control Kohima will be the guest of honour.

The meet will be marked by football, volleyball and track & field events.

There will also be youth concert on January 6 from 4:00 PM onwards with Kesovilhou, chairman, Zhadima Village Council as chief host.

The concert will feature Methaneilie Jiitakhrie, The Angelic Choir, Ruokuovotuo, Visetuo, Mhasizolie, Diezebeiu, Asibeiu, Vilavor and Vithezielie.

man of the match.

The recalled Ravindra Jadeja enjoyed a successful return, claiming five wickets for the match with his wily left-arm spin.

Barring Cummins’ heroics, the fast bowler claiming nine wickets for the match and career-best figures of 6-27 in India’s second innings, there were few positives for Tim Paine’s Australia.

The hosts will head into the final match pondering a litany of problems and whether their victory in the second test in Perth was a false dawn rather than a turning point for a depleted team playing without their two top batsmen in former skipper Steve Smith and his vice captain David Warner.

The pair have three months left on their bans for their part in the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal but Australia will be eager to reinstate them as soon as possible.

Brief scores: Australia: 151 & 261 (Pat Cummins 63, Shaun Marsh 44, Usman Khawaja 33; Ravindra Jadeja 3/82, Jasprit Bumrah 3/53) vs India: 443/7(d) & 106/8(d) (Mayank Agarwal 42, Rishabh Pant 33; Pat Cummins 6/27)

Kante is mobbed by Chelsea team-mates after scoring a goal against Crystal Palace.

L ondon , D e c 3 0 (Agencies): Chelsea recorded their third successive away win in the English Premier League this on Sunday defeating Crystal Palace 1-0.

N’Golo Kante put the Blues in front nine minutes after the break with a wellstruck finish inside the area after he received a delightful pass from David Luiz.

Chelsea made a bright start to the game as they keep possession well in the Palace half.

Eden Hazard has started out on the left of midfield with Oliver Giroud returning to the starting line up to lead the attack.

Chelsea were unable to score in the first half at Selhurst Park but they struck the post twice through Willian and Ross Barkley.

At the restart, Chelsea got in front through Kante

who calmly chested down David Luiz’s deep pass before tucking the ball past Vicente Guaita.

Crystal Palace’s only real chance to score in the match came in the 87th minute through Connor Wickham but he fired his shot over the crossbar.

The win sees Chelsea open up a five-point gap over fifth-placed Arsenal going into the New Year and keeps Chelsea in fourth in the Premier League table.

Meanwhile, Liverpool conceded an early goal to Arsenal before rebounding to dispatch the Gunners 5-1 and go nine points clear at the top of EPL. Liverpool, who last won the English top-flight in 1990, are unbeaten after 20 matches with 54 points, nine ahead of second placed Tottenham, reports Efe. Roberto Firmino pro-

duced a hat trick to power Liverpool to a ninth straight EPL triumph.

The visitors were first to strike, as Alex Iwobi found Ainsley MaitlandNiles open at the far post and the 21-year-old midfielder connected to make it 1-0 for Arsenal in the 11th minute.

Liverpool were not slow to respond. Firmino broke his home scoring drought in the 14th minute and added a second goal just two minutes later.

The third Liverpool goal came in the 32nd minute courtesy Sadio Mane, with an assist from Mo Salah, who went on to convert a penalty in first-half stoppage time to make it 4-1 for the hosts.

Another penalty, in the 65th minute, set the stage for Firmino to complete the triple.

Djokovic wins fourth Mubadala title Abu Dhabi, Dec 30 (Agencies): Novak Djokovic capped a remarkable renaissance to the top of men’s tennis on Saturday as he won a recordequalling fourth Mubadala World Tennis Championship title.

The 31-year-old Serb defeated defending champion Kevin Anderson in a tense final, punching the air in delight after a crosscourt forehand winner that clinched a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory at the International Tennis Centre in Zayed Sports City.

Djokovic celebrated by signing autographs courtside and posing for pictures with fans.

“I really am happy to have a match like this,” Djokovic said. “Kevin is one of the best players in the world and he is in form. He was playing a very high level consistently throughout the match and I had to work really hard for the win.”

Saturday’s showdown was a rematch of the Wimbledon final in July. Then Djokovic had won 6-2,

Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy after winning the Mubadala World Tennis Championship trophy for the fourth time.

6-2, 7-6, but Anderson was much more competitive this time around and was pleased with how he had performed.

“I thought I played some real good tennis,” the South African said.

“Overall I am very happy with my overall play. I think I can leave with a lot of positives. I played three competitive matches and I think I played my best tennis today. It would have

been nice to win today but I can take a lot out of it.”

It was Anderson who gained the initial advantage, capitalising on his first decent look at the Djokovic serve in the ninth game.

Having earned his first break point he claimed the set with a forehand winner after his powerful return had pushed the Serbian wide and opened up the court.

The second set was

equally close with both men consistently finding a big serve to get themselves out of trouble when their opponents threatened, But just as a tie-break looked imminent, in the 12th game, it was Anderson who finally cracked, double faulting to give Djokovic two set points.

Djokovic clinched the set at the first opportunity as Anderson netted a forehand.

Anderson had the first chance to break in the third game of the final set. But Djokovic went for broke and was rewarded with a forehand winner from the back of the court that clipped the line to stave off the break point.

Djokovic had three chances to win the tournament in the 10th game, but he was unable to take any of the match points as Anderson’s serve continued to get him out of trouble.

But Djokovic got two more chances in the 12th game, finally sealing the championship with his fifth match point as he ended a long rally with a crosscourt forehand.

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka to seal Test series Project sector RCB win 4th RPL title

WELLINGTON, Dec 30 (Agencies): Trent Boult and Neil Wagner quickly wrapped up Sri Lanka’s second innings on Sunday as New Zealand clinched the series 1-0 with a dominant 423-run victory in the second test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Boult trapped Dushmantha Chameera in front after only 10 minutes of play on the fifth day, and while the batsman asked for a review third umpire Rod Tucker confirmed the onfield decision two minutes later to bring the match to an end.

With the first match in Wellington ending in a damp draw, Sunday’s victory saw the hosts win a fourth successive test series for the first time.

“A fantastic achievement,” said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. “It’s exciting, the four series, even if I wasn’t aware of it. But it’s a proud achievement because we are playing in different conditions and having to adjust our games.”

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson holds the trophy aloft with his teammates after they defeated Sri Lanka by 423 runs to win the series 1-0 on Sunday. (AP/PTI)

The victory was even more impressive given New Zealand had been reduced to 64 for six on the first day, before Tim Southee produced a counter-attacking innings of 68 that pushed their total through to 178.

Southee then blasted the top off Sri Lanka’s reply, reducing them to 21 for three. The performance

on the first day earned him man-of-the match honours.

“It was nice to get some runs,” Southee said.

“We needed to post some sort of score and try and hang in there ... for as long as we could.

“I guess 170 in the first innings was a good score on that wicket.”

Boult followed up Southee’s cameo with a stunning burst of six wickets in 15 deliveries early on the second day, which swung the game in their favour as they took a 74run lead.

New Zealand’s batsmen all got starts in their second innings with Tom Latham (176) and Hen-

ry Nicholls (162 not out) notching their first centuries on their home ground as Williamson declared at 585 for four.

Sri Lanka put up a stronger second innings performance as they sought to either grind out an improbable 660 runs for victory, or bat for more than two days to save the game.

Their resistance was broken late on the fourth day.

After they had battled through to 231 for six at stumps the tourists faced the prospect of having their top batsman Angelo Mathews not appearing again after he retired hurt with a hamstring injury.

Boult wasted little time on Sunday in the overcast conditions as he bowled Suranga Lakmal for 18 on the third ball, before Wagner had Dilruwan Perera caught for 22 on the eighth.

Boult then wrapped up the innings at 236 for nine with Mathews unable to bat.

Project sector- RCB and IG Sector- KXIP before the final match at Police Unit Football Ground, New Reserve, Kohima on December 29.

Correspondent

Ko h i ma , D e c 3 0 (NPN): Defending champions Project sector- Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) defended the title in the 4th edition of the ‘Post Christmas Sports-cumReserve Premier League (RPL)’ on Saturday.

After retaining the trophy for the last three RPL editions, the RCB will take home the trophy permanently.

The RPL tournament was held from December 26 - 29 at Police Unit Football Ground, New Reserve, Kohima.

Project sector-RCB defeated IG Sector- Kings 11 Punjab (KXIP) by 7 wickets in the final match.

KXIP won the toss and elected to bat first and scored 114 in 20 overs.

In reply, RCB managed to chase the target in the 17 over. RCB captain Vilazoto Lerina, the first and

only centurion of the 4th edition of RPL 2018, was the highest runs scorer of the tournament. Kechesin Keppen of Kings 11was the highest wicket taker.

Meanwhile, Tekhuba sector (defending champions) emerged as champions in volleyball after defeating IG sector in the final.

The annual event was initiated by Police Union Baptist Church, Youth Department, New Reserve, Phesama.

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