February 27, 2018 by Nagaland Post

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXVIII No. 81

TUESDAY, February 27, 2018 Pages 12 ` 5.00

PNB fraud a systemic failure: Venkaiah

Man City beat Arsenal to win League Cup

‘Wake up’ and stop Rohingya abuses: Nobel laureates to Suu Kyi

national, Page 5

sports, Page 12

international, Page 9

Clean Election campaign a farce

Correspondent/Staff Reporter

KOHIMA/DIMAPUR, FEB 26 (NPN): Election campaign in Nagaland has been very low key in most districts barring the explosive conflicts in Mokokchung district where the only death occurred after a youth died when supporters of a rival candidate allegedly pelted stones in Tuli town on February 22. Two were shot and injured after exchange of weapons fire between rival party supporters at Chungtia village on February 24. Such incidents have exposed the inability of administration in devising effective means of nipping trouble in the bud. ‘Clean Election’ was reduced to a farce when money and liquor were poured into the campaign as proven ‘weapons of election war’ to buy votes along with camps and open feasts throughout the state . All the candidates who posed with church functionaries before launching their campaigns by vowing to adhere to ‘Clean Election’ were suddenly hit with amnesia as they resorted to ‘Unclean election’ with full force to win favour of the

Over 90 pc votes cast in Tripura re-poll AGARTALA, FEB 26 (AGENCIES): Altogether 90.58 per cent votes were polled in six booths in as many Assembly constituencies of Tripura, where repolling was held peacefully today, state CEO Sriram Taranikanti said here. The EC ordered repolling in one booth each in Sonamura, Teliamura, Sabroom, Ampinagar, Kadamtala-Kurti and Dhanpur Assembly constituencies after elections were held on February 18. Dhanpur is the home turf of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar since 1998. “It was an incident free election. Around 90.58 per cent of voters exercised their franchise today,” Taranikanti said. Of the 5,582 voters in the six booths, 5,056 cast their votes, the chief electoral officer said. Polling for 59 of the 60 Assembly seats was held in the North Eastern state on February 18 and 91.54 per cent polling was reported on that day. Polling was countermanded in the Charilam constituency due to the death of CPI(M) candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma ahead of the election. The results will be declared on March 3.

Hoardings and flex banners of political parties erected across Dimapur. (NP)

ravenous multitude. The electioneering this time was drastically limited to around 13 days after the last date of withdrawal on February 12, to the end of campaign on February 25. There was hardly any meaning left to the word ‘campaign’ as the only means of winning favour was material (money) and not verbal (speech). Coupled with short space for electioneering, candidates preferred to adopt a ‘personal touch’ of placing money to the never-ending line of outstretched hands. Liquor was a must along with non-vegetarian dishes. Even those who could hardly

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hub Dimapur, are witnessing a marked decrease in population, as many voters were going to their respective villages or towns to cast votes. For those who are remaining, this has meant an enormous improvement in traffic conditions. Kohima: The state capital is by and large peaceful with no report of any violent incident till Monday, the last day before polls. Speaking to Nagaland Post, a student in Kohima town said the contest in the town was competitive and also clean in the sense, of absence of pasting of bills and also restriction on youth camps.

However he said money remained as the permanent feature as candidates poured money like pouring liquor. Another youth hit out at proxy voting saying that those involved should be exposed by publishing their photos and names in local newspapers to name and shame them. Dimapur: Talking to Nagaland Post, a Ph. D student disclosed she would be voting for the first time after returning from study outside Nagaland. She encouraged youths to vote exercise their franchise and not only criticise. (Cont’d on p-5)

DIMAPUR/SHILLONG, FEB 26: Battlelines have been drawn for Tuesday’s crucial assembly elections in Nagaland and Meghalaya. Polling will be held between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., except in some polling stations of the interior districts of Nagaland, where the process is scheduled to conclude at 3 pm. Though the two states have a 60-member house each, the voting will be held for 59 constituencies in both. Polling in Meghalaya’s Williamnagar constituency was countermanded following the death of NCP candidate, Jonathone N Sangma while in Nagaland, NDPP’s chief ministerial candidate, Neiphiu was declared uncontested from the 11 Northern Angami-II assembly constituency. The results of the polls in the two states, along with that of Tripura, will be declared on March 3. A high-decibel campaign for the polls in the two states came to an end Sunday evening. Buoyed by the formation of governments in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP is making a determined bid to expand its footprint

in the north-east. For the Congress, the poll outcome in Meghalaya is particularly significant as it has been ruling the state for the last 10 years. But this time, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to throw the Congress out of power and add Meghalaya into its kitty. Political observers have been keenly watching the BJP’s push in the North East, a Congress stronghold, where the saffron party has traditionally been a marginal player. In Meghalaya, the Congress and the BJP are pitted against each other. While the former has fielded 59 candidates, the latter has put up nominees in 47 constituencies. Though they are contesting the polls separately, in Meghalaya, the National People’s Party (NPP) of Conrad Sangma, son of former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, is the BJP’s partner in the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA). In Nagaland, BJP’s hope hinges on its alliance partner NDPP (the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party) of Neiphiu Rio, which is contesting from 40 seats. The saffron party has fielded candidates from the

remaining 20 seats. The Congress, which has given three chief ministers to Nagaland since the state’s inception in 1963, is contesting from only 18 seats, two less than the BJP, an emerging entity in the North East. There are 370 candidates in the fray in Meghalaya. A total of 18.4 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in 3,083 polling stations in the state. In Nagaland, a total of 11,91,513 voters -- 6,01,707 (50.50 per cent) men and 5,89,806 (49.50 per cent) women -- will exercise their franchise on Tuesday. There are also 5,925 service voters. Voting will be conducted in 2,156 polling stations as 40 polling stations fall under the Northern Angami-II seat, from where Rio has been declared elected unopposed. As many as 281 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), beside the state police force, are deployed throughout Nagaland to ensure a peaceful election. Nagaland’s CEO Abhijit Sinha said all the polling stations would be manned by the CAPF personnel, while the state police would also be assisting them.

Most massive black holes ever Sec 144 CrPC clamped in sensitive areas NPF accuses NDPP-BJP I M A P U R , F E B 2 6 stations to cast their vote Soundararajan on Monday in the Universe discovered D(NPN): of violating poll conduct Prohibitory or- on Tuesday too have been imposed prohibitory orders NEW DELHI, FEB 26 (AGENCIES): A set of gargantuan black holes has been detected by scientists that are quite likely the most massive ever discovered in the universe. Located up to 3.5 billion light-years from Earth, the ‘ultra-massive’ black holes were spotted using data captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope, a space observatory that has greatly advanced the field of X-ray astronomy. Black holes and their behavior have long since been on the list of mysterious space phenomena that scientists crave to decipher. Found in abundance in the universe, these gravity-pulling black holes have always been known to exist in distant galaxies. Scientists have time and again revealed discoveries of various black holes – sometimes wandering, at times still and some which rip stars into shreds before devouring them. For the research,72 galaxies in the middle of some of the universe’s most massive and brightest galaxy clusters were examined by astrophysicists from the University of Montreal and the Institute of Space Sciences (ISS) in Spain. At the center of each of these galaxies – like virtually every other galaxy – lies a supermassive black hole, an area of space with an exceptionally high gravitational field. According to a report in Newsweek, the astrophysicists determined the mass of the black holes by analyzing radio waves and X-ray emissions that were picked up by Chandra.

ders have been imposed under Section 144 CrPC in Dhansiripar sub-division under Dimapur district, Tseminyu sub-division of Kohima district, Phek town, Wokha, Kiphire while prohibitory order was imposed in the entire district of in Mokokchung on Sunday. The orders issued by various District Magistrates prohibit assembly of five or more persons and carrying of fire arms, stones, lathis, explosive materials or any such items. The orders will come into force with immediate effect and shall remain till completion of the polling process. Government officials involved in the conduct of election and maintenance of law and order and essential services have been exempted. Voters going to their respective polling

exempted from the purview of the order. Apprehending breach of peace on election day, Dimapur police commissioner & District Magistrate Limasunep Jamir on Monday imposed prohibitory orders in Dhansiripar sub-division with immediate effect and shall remain in force till completion of poll process. According to Limasunep, since the order has been passed ex parte, aggrieved individuals may approach the competent authority for modification, waiver, alteration or rescindment of the order. Persons found guilty of violating the order shall be liable for punishment under relevant sections of the law, the order stated. Kohima Deputy Commissioner (DC) & District Magistrate (DM) Rajesh

in Tseminyu sub-division in view of reports of violence, vandalism etc. The order will remain in force at all hours. Similarly, taking into consideration the volatile situation in the area and to ensure free and fair election in Phek town, DC & DM Phek has also imposed prohibitory orders in the town from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily till further order, a UNI report stated. DM Kiphire has also clamped prohibitory orders from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. within Kiphire district with effect from February 25, till the election process is over. Following tension among supporters of rival candidates for the security of the life and properties of citizens and voters, DM Wokha has also clamped prohibitory orders, UNI stated.

DIMAPUR, FEB 26 (NPN): Alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-BJP alliance, the NPF party has demanded stringent action against the alliance partners. A complaint letter to the Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer from NPF associate press secretary, Atou Liezietsu referred to the directions of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to all ministers and other authorities to not “announce any financial grants in any form or promises thereof ” or “make any promise of construction of roads, etc.” NPF party pointed out that the NDPP-BJP alliance had published full page advertisements in local dailies on February 26 which “blatantly violated the Model Code of Conduct by way

of making a slew of promises....” NPF party in the complaint letter listed the promises as: i) promising 100% funding of Centrally-sponsored schemes for Northeast region (which was earlier in the ratio of 90:10) and to provide 5300 crore for infrastructure in the next three years; ii) promising Rs. 10,000 crore for roads in Nagaland; iii) promising Rs. 3000 crore for Dimapur-Kohima railway line; iv) promising Rs. 800 crore for power connectivity; v) promising Rs. 1800 crore for Kohima Smart City. Calling this a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the ruling NPF party demanded that the Election Commission of India take cognizance of these acts as “corrupt practices” and offences under election law and take stringent action as per the law at the earliest.

Over 26,000 first time voters registered Councils refute NDPP allegation Correspondent

KOHIMA, FEB 26 (NPN): Altogether a total number of 26,900 voters within the ages of 18-19 years-- 14077 male and 12823 female, have been registered to cast (Full report on p-4) their votes for the first time for the February 27 polls in Nagaland. According to assistant chief electoral officer, Awa Lorin, along with the first time voters, 11,70,548 voters will participate in the election-- 591440 male voters and 579108 female voters. Lorin said there are total of 5884 service voters-- 43 female and 5841 male voters. He further informed that in 103 polling stations in six districts-- 9 constituencies in Kiphire, Mon-41, Phek 12, Tuen“Walking so far for election sang- 8, Wokha 30 and 3 in duty, I’ll never complain of Zunheboto, the timings for potholed roads again.” polling will be between 7

This is it!

afford cheap rum, demanded choice whisky brands and meat in every meal. On an average, candidates in some constituencies spend around Rs.5 crore each while in other constituencies, the expenditure could be as high as Rs.10-12 crore each. In exceptional cases, some candidate spend even as much as Rs.20-25 crore. To arrive at the colossal figure of how much is being spent by all the candidates, the average expenditure x 195 candidates x 59 constituencies (one was elected unopposed) will reveal the colossal figure. The state capital Kohima and commercial

Nagaland, Meghalaya go to polls today

a.m. to 3 p.m. He said that the timing was set for the convenience of the polling parties while the others will follow the same timing i.e 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lorin said out of 2156 polling stations, 1062 was identified as critical, 530 vulnerable and 564 normal. Besides these, there are 178 polling stations established for women voters. He said besides Mokokchung, 144 CrPC has been promulgated in Dhansaripar, Tseminyu, and surrounding areas of Phek town. One polling station in Wokha town will be manned by Persons with Disabilities (PWD), the assistant chief electoral officer explained. Meanwhile the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nagaland, Abhijit Sinha informed media persons that sector in-charges and

striking forces had been prepositioned at strategic areas covering 280 sectors. Informing of this in a press conference, the CEO said deposition of arms has been initiated on a large scale where 5440 arms were deposited so far. On issues of law and order, Sinha said that 41 FIRs was registered related to electoral offences out of which 81 persons were arrested and also there were reports of one death and 23 injured due to pre-poll violence. Sinha explained that a major law and order issue arises from village councils issuing diktats in favour of particular candidates which lead to unrest and disturbance of the peace. He said FIRs had been lodged on this matter for certain villages. He said there were 46 non-bailable warrants had

been executed against accused persons after the announcement of elections. Meanwhile, CEO informed that besides security personnel and CAPF, about 17500 people were involved in the election process. 8000 vehicles have been requisitioned where 3000 vehicles were from Assam. He said all polling stations will be under CCTV surveillance and 432 micro observers, from the Centre, were being deployed. CEO further stated that 2156 machines will be used, 820 VVPATS, 634 control units and 787 ballot units will be in reserve. 282 sector officers will also be deployed to change the machines if required, he said, adding that the sector officers will be stationed in sector where not more than 30 minutes will be required to reach the polling station.

DIMAPUR, FEB 26 (NPN): Several village councils including Northern Zeme Council (NZC) have denied and condemned the allegation by NDPP that an official of the Urban Development department was canvassing for a candidate of the 7-Peren Assembly Constituency. NZC comprising of seven beneficiary villages of RURBAN namely, Punglwa, Gaili, Gaili Namdi, Ngwalwa, Heningkunglwa, Punglwa ‘B’ and Ngwalwa Headquarter “out rightly” denounced and condemned the complaint alleging that a government official was alluring “the innocent voters with government schemes.” A press release from NZC president, Peidaheing Iralu and vice president, Lungbwa Haikube said that the complaint was “false, malicious and more like an attempt at character assassination.”

Calling the official a respectable and senior government officer who initiated various developmental activities in the district, especially in the Northern Zeme Area, it said that he was one among a few officials who had “sacrificed to successfully implement the RURBAN scheme which has come as the biggest blessing for Northern Zeme Area.” NZC said that it was unfortunate that the official’s good intentions and initiative had been politically twisted and it sought to inform the complainant that the official takes tours to monitor and verify the project’s implementation. “It is one such tour which was alleged as canvassing for a particular candidate by ‘alluring innocent voters with government schemes’.” The press release stated. NZC clarified that the official had never visited

any village with political intentions and said that it was unbecoming and disrespectful to the senior officer to be targeted in this manner for “cheap political gain.” It warned no such future false allegations would be tolerated against officers “tirelessly working for the welfare and upliftment of Northern Zeme area.” GVC: Gaili Village Council (GVC) chairman, Hegapungbe, general secretary, Hangda, VDB secretary Iteibambe Hau and GB Rangzeu Haikube said that the official had never visited their village for canvassing/ campaigning except on official departmental duty. In a letter to Peren DC & DEO, GVC termed the allegation as unfortunate and unexpected and requested DEO to take necessary actions against the complainant for defaming the good image of the official. (Cont’d on p-5) K Y M C

DC-463

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state

2 nagalandpost.com Poll Q.: What people generally vote for in candidate/ party? 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A Issues B Party’s record C Money

18% 7% 75%

Next poll

Q: Which of the two is likely

–1. Hung house 2. Majority for alliance(s) ?  Hung House  Majority for alliance(s)  Can’t say

WEATHER FORECAST February 27

(Temperature in ºC)

Max Min

Agartala Hazy sunshine

32 17

Sunny and pleasant

Aizawl

Guwahati Hazy sunshine

Sunny and pleasant

Imphal

26 11 28 16 26 9

Itanagar Hazy sunshine

24 13

Shillong

Hazy sunshine

18 8

Kohima

A p.m. shower in places

21 7

Dimapur Mostly sunny and beautiful

27 13

Sunny and pleasant

23 6

Tuensang Cool with sunshine

14 5

Mkg

Sunshine and a few clouds

Wokha

Zunheboto Plenty of sunshine

20 12 20 5

Information on general election DIMAPUR: In view of the general election, DCs, DEOs and others have laid out information to all concerned through DIPR. Control Room number for Kohima district: Kohima EAC (sadar) and officer-in-charge, control room, Wangan has informed that a control room has been set up at DC & DEO Office, Kohima for any query and complaints under Kohima district. One may call the following landline phone numbers at 03702291254, 0370-2291250, 0370-2291146 and 03702291136 for any query and complaints. General Observer for Thonoknyu: MP, R a j e s h Ku m a r K a u l has been deputed as the general observer for 57 A/C, Thonoknyu, Tuensang district. For any queries or information, he can be contacted at 8974232830/9402053767. Returning officer, 37 Tyui and 38 Wokha A/C notifies: With regard to the general election and in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), returning officer for 37 Tyui and 38 Wokha assembly constituencies has

informed all concerned that the scrutiny of form 17A and other relevant documents will be done on February 28 as per the following schedule - Customary court, office of the deputy commissioner, Wokha, 37-Tyui A/C --11 a.m and 38-Wokha A/C --1:30 a.m. All the candidates of 37-Tyui and 38-Wokha A/Cs have been informed to take note of the date, venue and time for the scrutiny. The RO has further notified that the candidates themselves or their election agents may be present at the time of the scrutiny. Meanwhile, if a candidate is represented by their election agent, the election agent should come with a copy of his appointment in form 8. Security personnel deployed in Bhandari: Security personnel have been deployed to all 76 polling stations under 40Bhandari A/C, along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) on February 26 for the voting day of the upcoming assembly elections. ADC & RO, 40-Bhandari A/C, Tiameren

Chang assisted by SDPO Bhandari, Lanu Aier supervised the deployment. Polling materials disbursed for Kohima district: Polling officials reached the office of DC & DEO, Kohima on February 26 to collect their polling materials/EVMs for the ensuing election. DIPR reported that there were a total of 183 polling parties including nine all women polling parties assigned to 183 polling stations besides 37 polling parties including five women polling parties as reserve teams under Kohima district. Polling officials deployed for Pughoboto: Presiding officers and polling personnel with election machineries have been deployed to all the 33 polling stations in 24 villages under 13-Pughoboto A/C on February 26. Altogether, seven women polling official groups have been detailed in seven polling stations for the constituency. For live webcasting, seven polling stations have been earmarked, namely 1-Kitami, 5-Awohumi, 11-Laza Iquqa, 17-Chishilimi, 21Ghathashi, 22-Laza Iyinu, and 24-Asukiqa.

Meanwhile, five sector commanders and eight micro observers have also been sent to different locations to oversee the election process on the polling day. General observer, Mahesh I. Patel also distributed the EVMs, VVPAT and other essential materials. Polling parties sent off at Longleng: All polling parties along with adequate security force for 108 polling stations under 49 A/C Tamlu and 50 A/C Longleng were sent off successfully from Longleng district headquarter on February 26 to conduct the general election. It may be noted that out of the total 108 polling stations in the district, 47 polling stations fall under 49 A/C Tamlu while 61 fall under 50 A/C Longleng. The polling personnel include 18 women polling parties, ten under 49 A/C Tamlu and eight under 50 A/C Longleng. Meanwhile, till the filing of this report, no unpleasant incidents were reported from any of the polling parties proceeding to their respective polling station as confirm from the control room, DC & DEO office Longleng.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, February 27, 2018

news in Brief EDSYO calls for a fair election: East Dimapur Sumi Youth Organization (EDSYO) has appealed to all for a fair and clean election wherein it stated that “no one should create any problem and hamper the process of exercising our rights”. It has requested all leaders, both young and old of respective political parties not to entertain any outsiders to its area during the elections and that if any untoward incident occurred, leaders of the party entertaining the outsiders will be solely responsible. Further, the press note by EDSYO president, Reuben Chophy has informed that EDYSO would take it as a “responsibility to initiate action against those violators” for the general welfare of all. It extended its best wishes to candidates and the party workers of 3 Dimapur III assembly constituency. Legal services camp at Mitelephe: Nagaland State Legal Services Authority (NSLSA) has informed that it will be organising “legal services camp” under NALSA’s legal services camp module at Government Primary School Assembly Hall, Mitelephe on February 28, 10 a.m onwards. The camp will provide medical assistance by Dr. Pusasul Martin, general physician and nurses, while medicine will also be provided after examination. Officials of labour department will be present for spot registration of workers in unorganised sector under Nagaland Building and Other Construction Workers scheme (NBOCWS). Mitelephe village is located in Kezocha Tehsil Circle of Kohima district, approximately 20 kilometers away from Kohima town. Governor greets on Sekrenyi: Nagaland Governor, P. B. Acharya has extended greetings to the Angami community on the occasion of Sekrenyi festival. According to Raj Bhavan’s PRO, the governor said that “Sekrenyi is one of the most significant festivals of the Angamis, and observed that such festivals give everyone the opportunity to sanctify and purify oneself ”. governor Acharya further stated that Sekrenyi is an occasion for merry making and that it was an occasion to rededicate oneself with renewed vigour to achieve peace, progress and prosperity. He added that the festival should be a source for building unity and called upon all to come together and make the atmosphere conducive in towns and villages for peaceful co-existence and all round development in the State. “May the festival of Sekrenyi bring peace, unity and prosperity to the Angamis in particular and Nagas in general”, the governor said.

Excise Kohima seize 559 bottles of IMFL

Biannual ‘TOLIC meet’ held at ARTC&S

ADC & RO, 40-Bhandari A/C, Tiameren Chang assisted by SDPO Bhandari, Lanu Aier overseeing the deployment of personnel.

Polling officials collection polling materials/EVM at DC&DEO’s office Kohima on February 26 for the ensuing election 2018 to be held Tuesday. (DPRO)

Near 7 hours traffic jam in Mon town

A glimpse of the traffic in Mon town on Monday. (NP)

Correspondent

Mon, Feb 26 (NPN): Denizens of Mon experienced a heavy traffic jam caused by the vehicles transporting polling personnel to various constituencies under Mon district on Monday. The jam, which lasted from around 11:30 a.m till 6:15 p.m, also ensnared vehicles despatched K

to 47 A/C Aboi. The jam was caused by the numerous vehicles that had to form a queue to re-fuel before departing to their destinations. Around 340 vehicles were dispatched to transport 1,164 (including IV grade staff) polling personnel to 194 polling stations, excluding the security forces. It may be mentioned that polling

personnel for interior areas like 55 Tobu A/C and polling personnel of 11 polling stations under 48 Moka A/C were dispatched on Sunday, who have reportedly arrived at their destinations. Around 1,37,231 eligible voters will be exercising their franchise in nine constituencies today to elect their representatives for Mon district.

DIMAPUR: Second biannual meeting of Dimapur TOLIC (Town Official Language Implementation Committee) was held at Assam rifles training center & school (ARTC&S), Dimapur under the chairmanship of commandant, ARTC &S, brigadier Gurjap Singh on February 23. During the meeting, TOLIC Major, Bhavana Sharm addressed the gathering with a welcome speech while Naib Subedar (Hindi translator) Deshraj of ARTC&S gave a detailed brief on various aspects of the TOLIC meet. Representative members of various government offices presented their inputs and reports on their progress on implementation of Rajbhasha Hiondi in their respective sectors. After assessing the progress on implementation of Hindi in central government offices in Dimapur, brigadier Gurjap Singh stressed upon importance of progressive use of Hindi and exhorted all members to implement the policies issued by the government of India regarding publicity and implementation of the official language policy. Earlier, the commandant also emphasised on how motivational steps can be resorted for implementation of Hindi by means of incentives and appreciations in all Central Government Offices. Commandant applauded efforts of the members of TOLIC Dimapur for their keen efforts on wide publicity of the official language. Meanwhile, in order to enhance the spirit of healthy competition amongst the offices of central government, TOLIC shield scheme 2016-2017 was introduced in which offices were adjudged as first, second and third in order of their dedicated efforts on implementation of official language policy. Office of the chief engineer, Sevak Project, food corporation of India, regional office, Dimapur and office of DIG, Range , CRPF, Khatkhati were awarded first, second and third positions respectively. 11 tactical air centre, 173 Bn CRPF, No.1 main group Assam Rifles, Headquarters 6 Sector Assam Rifles and 32 Assam Rifles were also given commendation certificate for their good work in the field of official language implementation. Later, valuable suggestions and feedbacks on implementation of “Rajbhasha Hindi” were invited by the secretary Major Bhavana Sharma and the same was addressed and discussed in the meet. 39 members of central government offices situated in Dimapur attended the meet.

The seized IMFL.

DIMAPUR: While performing EEM duty on February 24, the Kohima Excise check gate duty personnel recovered 559 bottles of assorted IMFL from a passenger bus (Regd.

ASIC-2222) at Peducha check gate. According to Commissioner of Excise & prohibition Dimapur, Tarep Imchen, a case was registered in this regard under the

NLTP Act 1989. The commissioner further stated that the department would continue to check and maintain strict surveillance to curb the illegal flow of liquor in the State.

First ever all women webcasting team for the upcoming 13th Nagaland legislative Assembly election 2018, under Kiphire district ready to go for poll duty. (Correspondent)

Polling parties with election machineries being deployed to all the 33 polling stations in 24 villages under 13 A/C Pughoboto on February 26. (APRO)

Consolidated statement of FST/SST

DIMAPUR: A consolidated statement by Flying Squad Team/Static Surveillance Team (FST/ SST) forwarded by media cell of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) are as follows - A. Daily Activity Report: Cash of Rs. 12,58,600, 36 litres of liquor, five Spasmo proxyvon (SP) capsules, one local made explosive and one FIR. Cumulative Report: 28,951.929 litres of liquor and 8107.625 litres of canned beer, six pots

of local rice brew, cash of Rs. 55,50,070, ten arms, 93 ammo, nine explosives, 22 detonators, ten cordex, two high beam torch, one carry bag, 20,660 SP capsules, 38 Nitrosumtablets, 133 cough syrup, six mobile handsets, 55 SIM cards, one catapult, 54 marble balls , six vehicles and 106 FIR. Static Surveillance Team (SST) – A. Daily activity report: 57.750 litres. B. Cumulative re-

port: 3316.125 litres of liquor, 15.9 litres of canned beer, 30 litres of local made liquor, cash of Rs. 64,45,510, 170 kgs of ganja, 5 grams of heroine, 22 pistol, magazine and 4 live ammo (arms and ammo), 5989 SP capsules, 99 Nitrosum tablets, 288 bottles of cough syrup, 66 grams of brown sugar, 300 grams and 5 rolls opium, 21 packs of suspected opium, eight catapults, five mobile handsets and 46 FIR. K

northeast

Cong confident of retaining power in M’laya Shillong, Feb 26 (IANS): With Meghalaya all set to vote on Tuesday to elect a new Assembly, the Congress exuded confidence of retaining power while the BJP and regional parties were equally gungho about unseating the ruling party in the northeastern state. The Congress - ruling the state for a decade - has fielded candidates in all 60 seats, of which 59 will go to polls. Seven of its legislators have since quit and jumped on to the bandwagon of the Bharatiya Janata Party, National People’s Party (NPP) and newly floated People’s Democratic Front (PDF). Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, the chief architect of the Congress win on 29 seats in the 2013 elections, said he was confident of increasing the number of its MLAs in the new house. “We (Congress) are confident of coming to power again for the third consecutive time,” Sangma, Meghalaya’s longest serving Chief Minister, told IANS. “I don’t see any anti-incumbency. Instead, there is so much of proincumbency. People of the state have faith and confidence in the Congress,” he added. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who vis-

Polling officers carry electronic voting machines after collecting it from a distribution centre ahead of Meghalaya Assembly election at Nongpoh. (PTI) ited Meghalaya twice in the past one month and campaigned in Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills regions, had told IANS: “We have the people’s support and I am confident we will retain power in Meghalaya.” The BJP, fighting the polls alone by fielding 47 candidates, is equally confident of winning a good number of seats and forming a non-Congress government. Prime Minister Naren-

dra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons were among a host of top BJP leaders, apart from Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who campaigned in the state. “Meghalaya is also getting ready for change. People have grown wary of misdeeds and misrule of the Congress and pinning their hopes on change,” BJP’s election strategist and Assam Finance Min-

Assam, Arunachal can solve ‘Congress focus border dispute via talks: Minister on traditional I ta nag a r , F e b 2 6 (PTI): Assam minister Ranjit Dutta, who was here to attend a tribal festival, has exuded confidence that the decades-old boundary dispute between the two BJP-ruled states can be resolved through “meaningful” dialogue. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has been initiating measures with his Arunachal counterpart Pema Khandu to hammer out a permanent solution to the border issue, the irrigation minister from Assam said today in his address at the Nyokum Yullo festival here. The festival is celebrated by the Nyishi community of the state every year to invoke God’s blessings for good harvest and communal harmony. Clad in Nyishi Bopia (headgear), Dutta, who attended the festival on behalf of Sonowal, said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is serious about the dispute between North East states, so is Sonowal. The CM has already initiated a similar dialogue with Na-

galand counterpart T R Zeliang,” he said. Stating that “divisive forces” were trying to “destabilize peace” in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Dutta called upon the people of both the states to thwart such attempts. “Till 1978 both the states were under one administrative unit of ‘bor Axom’ (Greater Assam). The people of both the states since time immemorial have been maintaining cordial relations,” the minister said. Dutta called upon the Assamese people staying in Arunachal Pradesh to uphold the age-old relations through cultural exchange programmes. Lauding the Nyishi community for preserving the age-old rich culture and traditions, Dutta also exhorted the elderly people in the state to pass on the baton of tradition and culture to the younger generations. Nyokum Yullo Celebration Committee chairman Ha Tatu, on his part, said the presence of a minister from neighbouring Assam will cement the ties between the people of both the states.

strongholds in NE’

Guwahati, Feb 26 ( Ag e n c i e s ) : S e n i o r Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday dismissed the notion that Congress gave up in Tripura and Nagaland even before the battle, saying that the Grand Old Party focussed its energies on its stronghold Meghalaya.”I would say that we have not given up, but our organization has been traditionally weak in Nagaland and Tripura,” said Azad, who was here after campaigning in Shillong. Fighting to retain power in Meghalaya, Congress has been reduced to a point of near-oblivion in Tripura and Nagaland. In the last two years, Congress lost Assam and Manipur to BJP. In Arunachal Pradesh, BJP took over from Congress through a coup. Mizoram, which is going to polls by the yearend, is the only other state under Congress.Azad said Congress is directing all its efforts at protecting the states where it has a strong organization.

ister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The NPP, an ally of the BJP with two MLAs, is hopeful of increasing the numbers as five former Congress legislators are contesting on NPP symbol this time. “People’s voice is for change. We are hopeful to emerge as the single largest party in the Assembly and form the government,” NPP President Conrad K. Sangma said. The combined regional alliance comprising United Democratic Party, Hill State People’s Democratic Party and Garo National Council also was gung-ho about electoral victory. The HSPDP and the UDP forged a pre-poll alliance in 36 seats in Khasi and Jaintia Hills, while the UDP tied up with the Garo National Council for 24 seats in the Garo Hills. “I hope people will reject the Congress, which even its own people have rejected by not contesting,” UDP leader Bindo Mathew Lanong said. He said he is hopeful of the regional alliance leading in the new government. Voting to 59 of the 60 constituencies will be held between 7 a.m. and 4 pm. The counting of votes will take place on March 3, Chief Electoral Officer

Frederick Roy Kharkongor said. Polling in Williamnagar seat was countermanded following the killing of Nationalist Congress Party candidate Jonathone Sangma in an IED blast at Sawilgre area in East Garo Hills district on February 18. A total of 18,09,918 electors, including 9,13,701 females, will be eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 361 candidates -- including 32 women -- across 3,025 polling stations. As many as 340 polling stations have been categorised as ‘critical’ and 580 ‘vulnerable’. Balloting in 183 polling stations will be webcast, to be made available at the offices of Chief Electoral Officer or District Electoral Officer and the Election Commission of India, Kharkongor said As many as 66 allwomen polling stations and 61 model polling stations have been set up. Mawlai constituency in East Khasi Hills district has the highest voters at 42,670, and Dalu in West Garo Hills the lowest 18,640 voters. In all, 106 companies of central armed police forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful polls, he said.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, February 27, 2018

Mnp MP adopts village under SAGY Correspondent

IMPHAL, Feb 26: Man i p u r L o k S a b h a M P, Thangso Baite Monday adopted a village in Kakching district as model village under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY). The MP from Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency announced his decision at a public function held at Serou Mayai Leikai community hall today. Addressing the function Baite stressed the need to understand the concept of model village first. “Being a model village is not all about implementing the project and schemes. One needs to maintain cleanliness and hygienic environment with proper sanitation in our own household and with neighbours as well,” he added. The MP also said that enrolment of all the local populace to Aadhaar, immunization of all children and maintaining proper birth and death record are the three main factors for a village to become a model village. Delivering the key-note address, BDO Langmeidong Anjali Chongtham informed that Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna/the MP Model Village Scheme was based on the ideology of father of the nation, Mahatama Gandhi. The scheme was announced on August 15, 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Assam border residents to vote in Meghalaya polls Diphu, Feb 26 (Agencies): Unhappy at alleged under-development of their areas, a large section of border people of Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district has decided to vote in February 27 Meghalaya Assembly polls. Diphu-based United Karbi Students’ Association Monday claimed that the people in border areas will cast vote in tomorrow’s elections in the neighbouring state. President of the organization Ratan Terang, in presence of prominent social activist Angtong Engti, alleged consistent lack of concern of the ruling party towards the people of West Karbi Anglong and Karbi Anglong districts. He claimed that the population of Chinthong and Amri general areas, totalling around 50,000, possess voter identity cards of both Assam and Meghalaya and this time, they

are preparing to vote in Meghalaya election. “People of Panpura, Umteli, Umwang, Sabuda, Umlapher, Ummat under Amri and Chinthong area, who have dual voter cards, are likely to cast their vote in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya,” Terang said. Terang alleged that that constant disregard of Assam Government and Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council for development of the people of these areas have made them completely lose faith in the elected representatives. Most of these areas are yet to witness any noticeable development inside Assam, while the adjoining areas of Meghalaya have progressed considerably. People of West Karbi Anglong have to depend on Meghalaya almost for everything round the year, and the situation has remained unchanged.

Over 90 percent voting recorded in Tripura re-poll Agartala, Feb 26 (IANS): Over 90 per cent of electors cast their votes at the six polling stations where re-polling was held on Monday after the Election Commission (EC) declared void the polling at these centres on February 18, a senior EC official said. “Out of the 5,582 voters in six polling stations, over 95 per cent voters cast their votes today (Monday) in the re-polling at these polling stations,” Tripura Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Taranikanti told IANS. According to him, no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the six polling station areas spread across six assembly constituencies. One such polling station falls in Dhanpur segment (in western Tripura’s Sepahijala district), from where Chief Minister and Communist Party of IndiaMarxist (CPI-M) politburo member Manik Sarkar is contesting. The CEO said the Commission has also issued

order that during the counting of votes on March 3, the slips of VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails) of seven polling stations in seven Assembly constituencies also be counted, since their Presiding Officers did not get clearance from EVM (Electronic Voting Machines) control units for the votes cast during the mandatory mock poll before the start of actual polling on February 18. The EC has also told the Tripura CEO that in four other polling stations in four Assembly seats, the total number of electorate did not match with the total number of votes recorded. “The Election Commission has also asked the Returning Officers of these four Assembly constituencies not to declare results without prior permission, if the winning margin is one vote,” Taranikanti added. CPI-M Tripura State Secretary Bijan Dhar earlier criticised the Election Department for what he called “criminal negligence” regarding polling on February 18 in 59 of the 60 As-

A woman shows her id card during re-polls at Kurti Village in Kadamtala constituency of Dharmanagar subdivision on Monday. (PTI) sembly seats. “Due to technical problems in EVMs-VVPATs, the voters suffered inordinate delays in casting their ballots...(in some cases) till February 18 midnight. This happened because of the incompetence and apathy of election officials,” Dhar said. Dhar said he came to know of technical glitches in EVMs-VVPATs at around 520 polling stations through

his party’s polling agents, and demanded a probe. The CEO earlier said that 191 (6 per cent) VVPATs and 89 (5 per cent) EVMs malfunctioned across the state during the polling on February 18. Tripura Pradesh Congress Vice President Tapas Dey, without naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said that the officials of Election Commission and the state Election

Department were biased in favour of a particular party. Over 92 per cent of Tripura’s 2,536,589 voters cast their votes in Sunday’s peaceful elections in 59 of the 60 Assembly seats, setting a new record in the electoral history of India. In the 2013 and 2008 assembly polls, Tripura registered 92 per cent and 91 per cent voting, respectively.

Wild elephant Mizoram to hold festival Manipur to inaugurate 80 to 100 projects in March electrocuted in KA

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh attending people during the joint Meeyamgi Numit and Hill Leaders’ Day on Monday. (NP) Correspondent

IMPHAL, Feb 26: Manipur government will inaugurate a series of projects during the first half of March to commemorate the first anniversary of BJP-led coalition government. The present N Biren Singh led BJP’s coalition government was installed on March 15, 2017.

“We are going to inaugurate 80-100 projects from March 1 to 15 as part of the first anniversary celebration of the BJP-led government,” chief minister N Biren Singh told media on the sideline of joint Hill Leaders’ Day and Meeyamgi Numit on Monday. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit

Shah and other national leaders have been invited to attend the anniversary celebration. Union home minister Rajnath Singh has confirmed his presence at grand celebration function on March 15. Singh has left Imphal for Delhi Monday afternoon to attend a meeting of chief ministers of states

ruled by BJP or BJP-led coalitions on February 28. He will be camping at the national capital till March 1. “I would personally seek a confirmation for Prime Minister’s visit to the state during my stay at the national capital,” he said. If the Prime Minister confirmed his visit, state government would prepare for laying foundation stone for National Sports University besides inauguration of ministerial block of civil secretariat, Dolaithabi and Thoubal multi-purpose projects etc, the chief minister added. “I will also seek permission from Prime Minister to lay the foundation stone for the construction of a regional football academy in the state during his visit,” he added. Meanwhile, the chief minister attended to as many as 380 complaints and personally met nearly 800 people in today’s joint Meeyamgi Numit and Hill Leaders’ Day. On the sideline of the programme, the chief minister told media persons that

the performance of the new government towards accelerating development pace in the state was satisfactory. “The number of grievances/people on Meeyamgi Numit and Hill Leaders’ Day has been reduced drastically and it is a sign of positive change in the state,” he claimed. Stating that he would continue to hold Meeyamgi Numit and Hill Leaders’ Day till the problems faced by people are solved, Biren said that such meetings offer an opportunity to hear the grievances and problems faced by the people personally. The chief minister said that grievances regarding health and disabled people have also been reduced. Officials of various banks including SBI and Manipur Rural Bank are being deputed to assist those people who need financial help/loans. The chief minister said that officials of health department have been deployed to issue health card under the CM-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang scheme.

D i map u r , F e b 2 6 (NPN): Two wild elephants were electrocuted in Dhansiri Tea Estate under Silonijan Range in East Karbi Anglong. The incident happened when the two adult elephant trying to cross NH 39 came in contact with a high tension wire hanging too low alongside the highway. Locals, forest officials have reportedly taken up the issue with the APDCL several times in the past. However, nothing was done by the department in this regard. “The tragedy resulted due to the negligence of the power department. We have raised the issue with the department officials many times but they seldom pay attention due to apathy and lack of work culture amongst the officials,” a local resident said. It may be mentioned here that the high tension electric wires are dangling at height of 8 feet against the stipulated height of 17 feet in the reserve forest areas.

on flagship project

Aizawl, Feb 26 (Agencies): Mizoram government is gearing up to hold a grand festival on its flagship project New Land Use Policy (NLUP) that will serve as a fair-cum-exhibition for beneficiaries of the flagship programme. During the four-day NLUP Festival, to start from March 6 at Assembly Annexe in Aizawl, various products of NLUP beneficiaries - rice, ghur, fruits, vegetables, silk, dairy products and local-made machines – will be showcased. Farm tools and machineries will also be on display. There will be more than 100 stalls where local producers will exhibit their produce which will be sold at lower rates than market. There will also be photo exhibition and film documentaries highlighting success stories of NLP beneficiaries, official sources said.

Rs 38 lakhs seized in M’aya a day before polls

Shillong, Feb 26 (PTI): Election authorities in pollbound Meghalaya seized over Rs 38 lakh in cash from East Khasi Hills district today, just a day of the polling for the state assembly. The seizure was made from the Lad Smit area and follows the seizure of Rs 12 lakh in Ri-Bhoi district yesterday. “The static surveillance team has seized Rs 38.67 lakh from one person under Madanrting police station limits Monday,” chief electoral officer F R Kharkongor told PTI. The seizure was made from a coal trader and a resident of West Jaintia Hills district who was travelling on a brand new SUV. The cash was handed over to concerned authorities and investigation is on to find out the source and destination, an election official who was involved in monitoring movements, said. Till date over Rs 70 lakh have been seized from several persons in the state which is going to poll Tuesday.

national/state

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, February 27, 2018

PNB fraud a systemic failure: Venkaiah

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS): In wake of an alleged Rs 11,300 crore fraud on state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said there was no use of blame game as the banking system in the country was going through a systemic falure. “There have to be some regulations and those regulations must work effectively. If there is a systemic failure, we have seen what will happen like in the banks. Systems have to be rectified. There is no meaning and no use of blame game,” Naidu said after giving away the Prime Minister’s Shram Awards to over 300 workers here. “The solution can be found only by understanding the reason behind the systemic failure and trying to correct it... Politics would go on,” he said. The Vice President said that India was the economic hope of the world and that the picture was both “fascinating and complex as our economy is fast expanding”.

M. Venkaiah Naidu He also called for improving the education level of labour force and improving their access to quality training. “A small difference in annual productivity growth can add up to a big difference in standards of living of a generation. It was pointed out that a productivity growth of 2 per cent per year can double the living standards in about 35 years,” he said. “But if productivity growth is slower, say at 1 per cent every year, it means doubling of average standards of life only every 70 years. “So, it is essential that all necessary initiatives and

interventions are undertaken to improve the productivity of our workforce by ensuring an enabling environment both at workplace and home,” Naidu added. The Vice President also called for evolving a political consensus on reforms in labour laws. “We can not live with rules which come in the way of creating more job opportunities. Rules that make running of an enterprise difficult need to be relooked at. “There is widespread acknowledgement that present labour laws are coming in the way of increased investment flows. If that is the case, should they not be examined to find solutions?” he asked. Naidu asked the government and private sector to address the concerns, needs and aspirations of the work force by ensuring an appropriate ecosystem. “At the same time, we need to create enough opportunities for those aspiring to join the ranks of workforce,” he said.

CBI raids top Mumbai law firm

The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) raided the offices of a wellknown legal firm as part of the ongoing probe into the Rs 11,300 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud involving billionaire diamond trader Nirav Modi, official sources said here on Monday. The CBI sleuths last week swooped on the offices of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, a leading firm which was reportedly hired by Modi around a month before the scam broke in mid-February, at their offices in Lower Parel here. The CBI examined the documents provided by the firm pertaining to the Nirav Modi-related mandate, which the company later reportedly terminated after the scam erupted on February 14. Business and political circles are viewing the raid in the light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that his government will “take stern ac-

tion” in any economic irregularity. Addressing a global leaders summit on Saturday, Modi had said: “The system will not accept the theft of public money. That is the key to New Economy, New Rules.” CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma too on Monday directed the officials in charge of the investigation to “complete (it) within the stipulated time” and has also asked them “not to spare anyone found involved”. Po l i t i c a l s o u r c e s pointed out that Cyril Shroff of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has family ties through marriage with noted industrialist Gautam Adani. The questioning of Vipul Ambani, of the Ambani family, is also being viewed in the same light, they added. Despite repeated attempts, senior officials at the Mumbai branch of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas -- which has offices pan-India -were not available for comments in the matter.

Citizens’ opinion on 2018 elections (From p-1) She was happy that there are five women candidates and hoped they will be able to give a tough fight and win their seats. She said it was her prayer that the five will prove that women are prepared to fight on equal terms and not all for quota. A social activist appealed to voters to “vote wisely.” He said whichever candidate wins should not neglect development of infrastructure and public should make the elected accountable. He also sought to send a message to which ever candidates win that they should remember that great public hope is placed on them and that is the reason they had won. Likewise, they should hear the general public’s aspirations and hopes

and act on these once they occupy the seat of power. He appreciated the women who were contesting which, according to him, was a “great challenge” for women. He hoped that women would be elected and, with their unique views, they would be able to look into matters that had been ignored by the male politicians. A prominent businessman from Church Road lauded the NBCC and ABAM for spearheading the “Clean Election Campaign”. He claimed it has impacted Dimapur in particular. “We have had to down our shutters during the previous elections. There was an atmosphere of doubt and uncertainty about the safety of our businesses but this time, we don’t have to close shop.”

Councils refute NDPP allegation Odisha launches (From p-1) NVC: Ngwalwa Village Council (NVC), in a letter to the Peren DC & DEO also clarified that the official had never visited Ngwalwa village at any point of time for canvassing. NVC however said that the official had officially visited the village “for project verification under RURBAN scheme.” The letter, signed by NVC chairman, Heigwang, Head GB, Hingleu, sec-

retary, Imningbuing and VDB secretary, Ramdeuhingbe, said the official had no intention of conducting any meetings, however on the request of the village council and beneficiaries an interactive meeting was held to highlight the various guidelines for proper implementation of the scheme. N g w a lw a V i l l a g e Council expressed hurt over the complaint and appealed to the DC to ignore the complaint outright.

‘Khushi’ to provide free napkins

Bhubaneswar, Feb 26 (IANS): The Odisha government on Monday launched a scheme ‘Khushi’ to provide free sanitary pads to 17 lakh girl students across the state. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the free sanitary napkin scheme for girl students from Class 6 to 12 in all the government and government-aided schools in the state.

AAP submits video ‘evidence’ of ‘Working on new marine BJP CMs meeting to discuss assault on MLAs to Delhi Police technologies to cut costs’ simultaneous polls: Chouhan

AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh after meeting Delhi Police Commissioner. New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS): Senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders Sanjay Singh and Ashutosh met Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik here on Monday and submitted video “evidence” of an assault on two AAP MLAs a few days back. After handing over the videos to the police, Singh told the media that they have been assured of police action against the perpetrators. Ashish Khetan and Imran Hussein were allegedly heckled and their party volunteers thrashed

by a mob inside the Delhi Secretariat on February 20, after Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash alleged that he was assaulted by party MLAs at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence the night before. Earlier in the day, Delhi Police told a court that CCTV cameras at the Chief Minister’s house were tampered with. In response to which, Singh said: “CCTV cameras come under the supervision of the police. Delhi Police should be questioned if they were tampered with.”

The Delhi Government Employees Joint Forum on Monday alleged that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were part of a conspiracy that led to an alleged attack on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by two AAP MLAs and called for action against them. Pooja Joshi, one of the members of the forum, said: “The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister are in denial. This shows they are part of the conspiracy.” “We request the LG and Commissioner of Police to take action as per law against CM and DyCM,” she added. Joshi also said that they would continue to not meet the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and MLAs for meetings or talk over phone and will keep contact through notes and file notings only. The forum has also turned down an invitation by Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam for a meeting and said that there would not be any compromise till the Kejriwal tenders a “written public apology” for the incident.

Nitin Gadkari C h e nna i , F e b 2 6 (IANS): The Central government is working on different new technologies, including fuel, for maritime transport to cut costs, said Union Shipping and Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari here on Monday. “We are working with lot of new technologies nowadays. We are planning to use methanol as a fuel for all our maritime transport, which is highly cost effective and less polluting in comparison to diesel,” he said after laying the foundation stone for the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC), at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IITM). The NTCPWC will work towards modernising India’s ports and fast track

waterways, said Gadkari. The Centre will be a strategic and innovationoriented initiative tasked with bringing cutting edge technology to India’s ports, waterways and maritime sector, he said, adding that the Central government is extending a financial support of around Rs 70 crore initially and later the centre will become self-sustaining. However the event had its share of controversy over charges that the Central government trying to impose Sanskrit after the students sang the invocation song in the classical language without playing the “Tamizh Thai Vazhthu (Invocation for Mother Tamil)”. In a statement issued here, PMK founder S. Ramadoss condemened the act of not singing “Tamizh Thai Vazthu” while singing an invocation in Sanskrit. However IITM Director Bhakar Ramamurthi clarified that it was the students who came forward on their own to sing the invocation song in Sanskrit. He said IITM does not have the practice of playing a recorded song and added that there is nothing wrong in singing “Tamizh Thai Vazhthu” and it could be sung in the future.

Bhopal, Feb 26 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said the issue of simultaneous elections will be discussed at the meeting of Chief Ministers of BJPruled states in New Delhi on Wednesday as part of efforts to build a consensus on the issue. “There’s a meeting of Chief Ministers on February 28 in Delhi. We will discuss and try for a consensus on holding simultaneous elections for state Assemblies and Parliament,” he said in reply to a query at a meeting with a select group of journalists arranged by the BJP’s Good Governance Cell. Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states and Deputy Chief Ministers of states where the BJP is in alliance, altogether representing 19 states, would attend a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review development work and to plan a strategy for the upcoming polls in some states. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are some of the major BJPgoverned states that are due to go to the polls this year end.

Kerala backtracks on CBI probe into Cong worker’s murder T h i r u v anan thapuram, Feb 26 (IANS): Two days after the Kerala government said it was open to any probe, even one by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), into the murder of a Youth Congress worker in Kannur, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said there was no need for an investigation by the central agency. Unhappy with Vijayan’s statement in the assembly on the murder of 30-year-old Shoaib in Kannur on February 12, the entire opposition went into protest mode, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for the day. As the Kerala Assembly began its session on Monday at 8.30 a.m., the Congress-led opposition walked into the House wearing black badges. When question hour began, the party demanded suspension of House proceedings and a debate into Shoaib’s murder that took place at an eatery near Mattanoor -- four persons in a car hurled bombs and then fatally injured Shoaib, slashing at him with a sword. But Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan was in no mood

Pinarayi Vijayan to relent, worsening the situation as angry opposition members trooped near the Chair’s podium and shouted slogans. Sreeramakrishnan was then forced to adjourn the House. When the House resumed at 9.30 a.m., Sunny Joseph, senior Congress legislator from Kannur district, moved an adjournment motion and said that the CPI-M has delivered “the unkindest of all cuts” on Shoaib -- an active Congress worker. “It took six days for you (Vijayan) to react on it. The Director General of Police has already gone on record to say that the accused are CPI-M workers. “The first and second accused in this murder case are already accused in another murder case, but you (Vijayan) were silent on it.

“Instead, you pointed out Sohaib was arrested in a street fight case. The pictures of Shoaib that have come out now show how brutally he was butchered,” said Joseph. Vijayan, replying to Joseph, pointed out that no murder can be justified and said that the overall situation in the state has improved compared to the previous years. “The police have been doing a smart job and have arrested five people, and the probe is going in the right direction. So, at the moment there is no need for a CBI probe,” said Vijayan. Soon, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala also stepped in and said that it was just two days back that, at an all-party meeting in Kannur, Minister for SC/ ST and Culture A.K. Balan had categorically said that the state government was open to any probe, even a CBI probe. “Now, you (Vijayan) say the CBI probe is not needed. The smell of blood on the hands of the Communist Party of IndiaMarxist in this murder will not be washed away even if you use all the perfume in the world. “The very fact that you have gone back on

your assurance of any probe clearly indicates that you have things to hide. This is not acceptable and we will protest till you announce a CBI probe into this murder,” said Chennithala. Following the speech,

angry opposition members stepped up their protest, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for the day. In Kannur, Shoaib’s father told the media that it’s imperative to know why his son was killed.

“He (Shoaib) did not know any of the five accused who have been arrested and hence it is very clear that this was a planned one. We want to know the reason why my son was killed,” said Shoaib’s father.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan “I am always of the view that the elections should be held simultaneously. Regular elections are a major hurdle to development. We are always in a 24 by 7 mode preparing for the elections,” said the Chief Minister. “Even if there’s an election in another state, our officers are called for election duty in that state and it hampers work here. We have Assembly elections in December and we would have just started work, then Parliament elections would be on us and there would be model code of conduct,” he said. Chouhan said regular elections do not only hurt the states but is also a major hurdle to the central government.

“And people have a weird parameter that even if you lose one election, they start saying that the government has lost faith (of the people),” he said adding that it (simultaneous polls) was in the interest of the country and all should go for it. To a q u e r y a b o u t farmer suicides, Chouhan, who is completing his third straight term this December, said, “Any suicide whether of a farmer or from another section of society is unfortunate. There are several reasons for suicide but I do not defend them. My effort has been that no suicide should happen due to agriculture.”

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Delhi govt employees demand action

NOTICE

All the Private Candidates of Class 10, and 12 are informed to collect their Admit Card on 3rd March 2018 during School Hour.

DC-461

davp 06123/11/0004/1718

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OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post

Post-mortem

Vol. XXVIII NO. 81 Dimapur, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Earth under threat

t is a fact that climate change is a happening all over the world and not only in the polar caps of the globe. Climate change happens when Carbon emissions causes the greenhouse effect which is the trapping of the sun’s warmth in a planet’s lower atmosphere, due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet’s surface. There are both natural and human sources of carbon dioxide emissions. Natural sources include decomposition, ocean release and respiration. Human sources come from activities like cement production, deforestation as well as the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. The countries responsible for contributing the most to carbon emission comes from the European Union which contributes 79%, the USA contributes 22% and China contributes 9%. In all, India contributes 2% while Japan contributes 3% and Russia 6% etc. There are many different ways to compare national responsibility for climate change. These include current emissions – which can be viewed in absolute figures or on a per capita basis – as well as historical emissions and the carbon footprint of consumption, including imported goods. There’s also the question of whether you include deforestation, or even the extraction of fossil fuels. Each approach gives a different insight – and none tells the whole story on its own. The problem with focusing purely on CO₂ from burning fossil fuels is that it ignores other greenhouse gases and non-fossil-fuel sources of CO₂. When these are included, the figures change considerably, with countries such as Brazil and Indonesia shooting up the list due to emissions caused by deforestation. Reliable data isn’t available, but as of 2005, the top 10 emitters as measured in total greenhouse gases include- China: 7,216 MT or 16.4%; 2. US: 6,931 MT or 15.7%; 3. Brazil: 2,856 MT or 6.5%;;4. Indonesia: 2,046 MT or 4.6%;;5. Russia: 2,028 MT or 4.6%;;6. India: 1,870 MT or 4.2%;;7. Japan: 1,387 MT or 3.1%;;8. Germany: 1,005 MT or 2.3%;9. Canada: 808 MT or 1.8%;;10. Mexico: 696 MT or 1.6%. On the other hand, comparing nations can be misleading, given their vastly varied sizes and populations. To get a more meaningful picture, it’s essential also to consider emissions on a per-person basis. From this perspective, the list is topped by small countries with energy-intensive industries such as Qatar and Bahrain, and the large developing nations such as India and China look significantly less polluting. Since carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere can stay there for centuries, historical emissions are just as important – or even more important – than current emissions. The tricky question of historical responsibility is one of the key tensions in the process of negotiating a global climate deal. The months of November- December 2017 to January 2018 were among the coldest in history as experienced in many countries in the northern hemisphere. Even north India also experienced a bitter winter. With spring already setting in, the last week of January and mid-February has been recorded as being the warmest in Delhi and some north Indian cities in the past 12 years. Climate Change and global warming are two sides of the same coin. The change means faster melting of glaciers and subsequent rise in ocean levels. This is a potentially catastrophic phenomenon with far reaching implications. However the US under president Trump believes all these are hoaxes and figment of imagination of environmentalists.

DailyDevotion Our Misgivings About Jesus

The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep.” —John 4:11 Have you ever said to yourself, “I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!” When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality— that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, “Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?” Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, “It’s easy to say, ‘Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water— no means to be able to give us these things.” And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, “Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself.” If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t. My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly— “Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it.”

Quotes

A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone. ~ Billy Graham

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Voting for the Hope of Possibilities

here is still a resistance to one man one vote and adapting clean politics. However, there are also insistences to follow clean politics in fear of the dark history of politics prevailed as unjust society. Clean election mission could be the ingredient that promulgates the sensitivity of human realization towards seeking change within the unstable voters to vote for the hope of possibilities. There are few hours remaining for the entire Naga voters to renovate the broken mind of every individual that affected the good society for the past many years. Whether the few remaining hours before the voting moment brings the Naga voters to bring change from the day after tomorrow is based on the undisputed heart of the entire voters according to the characters of every candidate in the constituencies. To substantiate the hope of possibilities for the good and clean politics, there are very few candidates who did not spend a penny to buy a single vote today when the opponents pour money to win the election. Julia Carney’s “Little drops of water and little grains of sand make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land” (1845) relates to these few candidates who will ride the crest of political change and become the pioneers of clean politics in the history of the Naga politics. They are the little one to make more clean politics to produce equal rights to equal accessibility of every haves and haves-not citizen. In addition, the strength of the government implemented in every polling station like fixing CCTV camera and other modern technologies to monitor the process of voting inevitably streamlined the hearts of voters towards change in vote casting. For instance, there are many voters returning to their respective villages with a fear that only one man one vote will be followed with no proxy politics like it existed before. These evidences assure that the journey of political transformation among Naga voters has begun and there is a hope of possibilities for the predominant Nagas

s time rolls through unseen days, the hour of Billy Graham’s retire for heavenly abode early morning on 21st Feb., 2018, greets the world with unusually felt one. Regards of love poured in like continuous droplets as the world’s beloved evangelist laid to rest at his mountain home in Montreat North Carolina USA. Christian leaders call him ‘the faithful’, earning much admiration from millions for his noble public life. Indeed he was priced for his yield into the gospel. President Donald Trump tweeted: There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions- a very special man. Queen Elizabeth II describes him as the crown, and the list runs with many great personalities and Medias telling how much they found solace in Billy’s matchless voice. This certainly makes his sketch personal. Who is this man talking anyway, deserves mention in time when his life is revered for serving humanity so faithfully. Reports on his death contains of course, the physical ailments running up till the last breathe; similar to the last days of his wife Ruth, a decade back. Hence it confirmed a natural cause of death. Perhaps one would like dying in life’s natural worth than otherwise cost life by moral decay. A media network in USA by the Citizen Time shows that Billy Graham’s death was a tribute to his wife Ruth. The language comes complete in Billy Graham’s loving credit to his wife for the ministry’s great success, without whose role it squared impossible. This write up is humbly aware of the ‘great injustice’ to Billy Graham and his numerous credits; however, it is a simple act to appreciate his life’s contributions, accessed from his biographies and literature, which has personal attribution too. The minister grew up in the upheavals of a farm boy. He would rise up early at 4 am to milk his father’s cow, regularly with other chores and cattle. His father Frank Graham lived

to join the fair and free politics. There is possibility for the end of the long political history of discriminatory voting practices and procedures through the small initiative of clean politics and the few clean candidates emerging in the 2018 general election of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. Segregation of people on the basis of disparities in political parties of money power and clean hearts will extinct gradually. True democracy and accountability, political rights, equality and equal participation of men and women would come to a larger existence in a larger community. As promoting and consolidating democracy describes that it develops respect of human rights and fundamental freedom of every individual and best serves to facilitate individual and collective expression of freedom of opinion (Gill. 2006), rights for women to participate in the current election is beautifully indicated. Most significantly, women participations in the current election engender the sensibility of the common people to see the importance of women in the Naga society. Unity in diversity among the clean and unclean politics and male and female candidates in this election ascends the equal opportunity for the Nagas in the field of politics that had remained as gender discriminated for the decades. Robert Loyd “Slow and steady wins the race” would possibly be the best and suitable for the growth of the current clean candidates to spread the entire Nagaland in the future elections. The primary actors to give birth to clean politics are the voters than the candidates. To a wide range, restoration of clean politics between the candidates and voters can be maintained as a result of the emergence of few candidates and women participation in the current election. If this beginning happens then there is a hope for future possibilities of giving birth to good society through good politics. Lemwang Chuhwanglim, Ph.D, (lemswang@gmail.com)

My dream for Nagaland as we approach another state election

e cannot decide our future by accepting money that curbs our fundamental right to Vote. The power of One vote is not just provisional or mere constitutional requirements, but rather it’s tool that is rightfully given to all INDIAN citizens made eligible after 18 years so that one can decide and rightfully vote for the person who can lead us progressively, remember it is not to rule us but to be our spokesperson and fight for our needs. Sadly what we are witnessing is that we not only sale our vote by accepting the money but we give all authority to the one to manipulate, also make they free to take control of our funds for their(elected candidates) own greedy and selfish reasons. And because of this practice, we not only surrender our voice, our right, our fight against corruption, but also everyone’s right along with it. It’s a collateral damage done at the expense of one’s selfish means. Time has come for us to say no to practices that will dump us, cripple us and take us to our own dogged grave. Are we not tired of blame game? Can we instead allow the voices of dissent to take the center stage because I believe that dissent is the essence of all progressive democracy. Let’s correct our self for we cannot afford to stay silent or point fingers at each other and allow passages for those who wish to gain maximum out of our disintegrating relationship. I pray that we get the wisdom

of discernment that will determine our way to vote right. An election cannot be reduced to business like nature where the winner is determined by how much money they spend and not on the merit of how many rightful votes they get from us. Democracy is not about a system where one that is elected is made to rule us like the king/queen, and we have no access to its system, but rather, it’s all about being able to question, argue and fight for what is rightfully ours and this can be realized only if we vote right. An election is also not about endorsing or voicing our support or discontentment to an intending candidate only in social media but abstaining oneself from going out to vote, for at the end of the day it’s the ballot paper that decides who will represent us. It is also not about engaging in violence where we even go to the extent of taking lives. Violence and hatred will only deepen our division. Can we get away from the crime that we commit in the pretext of an election, we may get away from law of the land but I believe there is the even greater law that will judge us-God. How can we advocate clean election and enforce it to the poor and deprived while we (few or many) have already gotten to the place where we are now through unlawful means and through the help of elected candidate, it will a venomous for the one they have not even know what elected candidates can do for him/her. We should do away

Thanks Billy Graham, Your Life Speaks

with characters of integrity and prudence which makes the children recall the family overcoming hard times, besides managing the farm’s economy judiciously. The story of the Grahams’ farm-hood life had left great impact not only in America but wide around the world. Facing dropped-out challenges from school, temperately due to his poor lessons, young Billy looked for other interest than a diploma in school. He initially liked career of a baseball player. And after managing to shake hands with baseball legend Babe Ruth (arranged by his father Graham), Billy didn’t wash his hands for days. Heroes enthralled him at an early age. He picked up reading as much as possible that his younger brother Melvin, a farmer, said he had read books more than anyone else I knew. Billy liked the Tarzan comic in his collections of other books on history, civil war, and world affairs, including Gibbon’s classic ‘The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’. His mother Morrow would fetch used books that might serve him interest. He was hardly fourteen then. Sometimes he would jump down from the trees and yelled to people and horses like Tarzan. His father quaintly said that yell made him a preacher. At 16, Billy made up his mind to fight for a worthy cause. He converted into a Southern Baptist missionary after listening to a street evangelist at his home town in 1934. Still Billy went to meet another failure in the Bible College, where he rolled down the campus lawn in agony, calling out Lord now you got me, take me and do what you want to, I am ready. He got enrolled into another College at Wheaton, and one day heard a fellow student in her graduating speech challenging it was time for another revival like those days of Wesley, Finney or Moody, which made Graham felt why shouldn’t I be that person. He met the person in the same College where Graham also graduated with to share his dream of life and together lived for

64 years of happy marriage – Ruth Graham. Never did Ruth think of becoming a missionary, let alone be married, possibly due to her early days witnessing horrible tortures of the missionaries. Born in China to a medical missionary, Dr. Nelson Bell, Ruth spent some years of school in North Korea. She recalled how the nights were spent listening to gun shots and fights throughout her 17 years in China and around. Missionaries there were called foreign devils and were often met with deaths. Apparently in fright of bad days and her love for mission, she whispered a prayer to die a martyr for the Lord, which invoked her elder sister ‘repudiated’ at the same time, Lord please don’t take her words seriously. The Grahams, in their sweat of brow, had then led marvelous missions of saving lost souls, beyond China to the far stretch of the world. Their work engages along with the gospel, in much desire of Ruth, helps people stricken in needy and poverty. Billy Graham, in order to finance his education had worked as door-to-door Fuller Brush salesman during college. Ruth’s notice on Billy happened in college when she heard him prayed next door and she felt that he seemed talking to someone whom he knows was talking with. They got married in 1943. Billy would be fully engaged in preaching and was therefore hardly together with the family. Ruth stood firmly with her task at home and ensured the role to not let her husband lack any support from the family while working outside for the gospel. She raised five kids all by herself. The children are now all devoted in the ministry. Billy mentioned the hard times staying apart from the family, and once said - saying goodbye to Ruth have become all usual, and following the brief vacation sat home from hectic ministry, he recalled driving out the driveway with tears rolling down the cheek as he didn’t want to leave. Billy truly had lived a testimony

he wanted to be, in sheer obedience to his call. In his emphatic expression to God he once said not wanting to be a great preacher but a soul winner, which kept a record that lives on Graham so high. The couple were both given the Congressional Awards by the US Congress in 1966, and in 1983, received America’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It’ll be helpful taking some words by Billy Graham– “… Societal transformation is always the result of personal transformation through the Holy Spirit and that change always happens from the inside out. The basic problem of all societal problems lies mainly in sin, which leads to lovelessness and selfish behaviour… when wealth is lost, nothing is lost, when health is lost, it lose something, but when character is lost, everything is lost…. when it comes to spiritual things, my wife has had the greatest influence on my ministry, Billy said”. Ruth herself was a gifted poet and writer. She was often noticed by her husband reading scriptures keenly and teaching them out to the children and prayed together. Their children remarked: Mother’s room always lighted late at night and then she would rise early – Daddy, although the world acclaimed him and sought his advice would be seen regularly on knees praying to the Lord for guidance. They established Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1950, and Billy Graham is today listed among the ten most admired people in the world. The Association puts nearly 215 million people as his lifetime audiences, spanning over six decades of ministry in more than 185 countries and areas. He would be invited and consulted by many Presidents of the United States, and would let him lead the nation invoking moral conscience. George W. Bush confessed that it was through him that he quit drinking. Billy Graham said that amongst the Presidents whom he had personally

worked with, it was Jimmy Carter who matched up effectively for the cause of the gospel. Billy’s words remains - “My greatest comfort comes from knowing that I belong to Christ, and that no matter what happens, he will never leave me or forsake me. He will be with me as long as I’m on this earth, and someday I will go to be with him in heaven forever. My home is in heaven, I am just traveling through this world, and I look forward to that day

with the culture of allowing the elite and the rich to decide for us. Time is not and it’s up to all of us whether to make it a right and progressive time or go back to our own dug grave. Let’s not blame the candidates alone for the potholes, let’s not blame them blame them alone fallen bridges, let’s not blame them alone for irregularities of pay, let’s not blame the poor power (electricity), let’s not blame them alone for lack of officiating their office (remember we are ahead in proxy service). We need to reason, introspect and vision together, I know there will be memories that are painful and not easy to erase, but I also believe that if we courageous decide now by voting RIGHT, we can still journey together towards our dream of GREATNESS, that will transcend beyond tribalism, nepotism, classifications, greed, ignorance. It’s time we not only wish and raise our slogan for great Nagaland but work together collectively toward Greater, Clean, transparent and progressive NAGALAND. Friends Above all it is our vote that will determine which vehicle we choose to ride. ONE VOTE Equals GREATER NAGALAND. Come out voice out and please let us all vote right, Period. P.S. To all Naga’s who will go out to vote on 27 March 2018. Ghunato Assumi, United Theological College, Bengaluru, (amughunaassumi@ gmail.com)

of going home”, he once told the Minneapolis Tribune. Billy Graham indeed is gone. He leaves behind his story to be told by believers on his footsteps, lest it be overstated and become like any other story. Nevertheless, no mankind given its fallibility would have lived in disposition of giving so much selflessly, unless so by the Master’s hand. There’s life visiting Billy Graham’s account. Roviso, University of Delhi

Reader’s Post

Sir,

Vote: power to change your future

What a time to live and witness. We are all living in a perpetual mess. Chaos seems to be our daily news and our only hope is God. Our inaction is only leading to more monumental breakdown. It is a deep scar. None of us will have positive things to say about the current situation. Our inefficient leaders have brought little solution to this mess. The public on the other hand have been equally responsible for this making. The candidates have entered countless homes to buy votes. Many people have accepted the money. They are selling their integrity and wisdom at the expense of money. Neighbours have started to fight over party differences, some are bullying others to vote at gun point, houses are ransacked and everyone is losing their light in this darkness. If money is more important than one’s integrity, human relation and good government, we are a doomed state. I received the news of a family who denied taking money from the candidate. Instead the mother replied, “We cannot afford to disappoint God. We will support clean election as emphasized by ABAM.” and rejected the offer of free money. We need more people like them to shape our society. In fact, if we do not accept the money or demand money for our votes, the candidates will never spend money in the wrong means. After election, they will collect more money to recover their debts and eat more without contributing to the growth of the state. The churches have been actively involved in spreading the importance of clean election everywhere. Now the final call is all about your moral fibre. Moral uprightness is an individual choice. Your choice will decide the kind of leaders who will lead our people. The leader’s part is over. It’s time to do our part. Vote for the right candidate. Support clean election. Don’t sell your votes or bark like a dog for the next five years. Before you go for voting think about 1. The horrible roads, 2. Irregular electricity, 3. The bridges falling off, 4. Stable government who will function diligently to provide the salary of government servants on time! 5. Vote for a government who will not give you chance to say “Scholarship khoi?” 6. Vote for your future Before you go for voting please pray and remember God. Vote wisely. Allan Aley, Dimapur, (aley8136@gmail.com) 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.

national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, FEBrUARY 27, 2018

Bird flu: Culling begins in Odisha after outbreak

Culling begins at Keranga after bird flu detection.

Bhubaneswar, Feb 26 (IANS/PTI): Following an outbreak of bird flu, culling of poultry has begun in Paradip area of Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district as a preventive measure to curb further spread of avian influenza to other areas, said an official on Monday. The Jagatsinghpur district administration and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department (F and ARD) have formed six teams for the culling operation in the affected areas. “There will be a continuous surveillance by the teams constituted by the district administration. Hardly

Ransomware set to become more vicious in 2018: Quick Heal Pune, Feb 26 (IANS): Ransomware grew 300 per cent in 2017 in comparison with 2016 and in the current year such attacks are set to become even more vicious, according to a Quick Heal report on Monday. Ransomware, cryptocurrency mining and zeroday exploits headlined the threat landscape in 2017, said the global IT security firm’s “Annual Threat Report - 2018”. The problem of ransomware is going to exacerbate because of growing availability of exploit kits and ransomware-as-a-service, it said. “The rising usage of advanced techniques by cybercriminals to propagate into endpoints indicates that the threat landscape will continue to evolve and become more sophisticated with each passing year,” said Sanjay Katkar, Joint Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, Quick Heal Technologies Limited. In 2017, Quick Heal’s Security Labs detected over 930 million Windows malware that targetted individuals and businesses. The year was dominated by several exploits leaked by the hacker Group “The Shadow Brokers” such as EternalBlue, EternalChampion, EternalRomance and EternalScholar which were responsible for advanced ransomware campaigns such as WannaCry and Notpetya, and a few cryptocurrency mining campaigns. Also, with the sudden rise in Bitcoin’s valuation, cryptocurrency miner malware became a hot attack vector for cybercriminals, according to the analysis. On the Android platform, Quick Heal Security Labs detected over one million Android malware in 2017. The proliferation of fake apps and downloading of apps from third-party stores were the biggest mobile security concerns in the previous year. Towards the end of 2017, it observed cryptocurrency mining to have spread from personal computers to smartphones where attackers targetted gaming, adult entertainment and browsing related apps.

around 2,000 poultry birds have been identified in that area and the culling will be done within three days,” said F and ARD secretary Vishal Gagan. The district administration is providing adequate compensations to the farm owners in exchange for the culling. The carcasses are being buried in a dump yard with all preventive measures to check the spread of the virus. The poultry farms have been asked not sell and transport their items for a temporary period of at least three months. On the other hand, massive awareness drive is being organised in

the affected villages not to consume chicken and eggs. “We are making people aware of the outbreak of bird flu and advised them not to eat chicken and eggs,” said Rajendra Nayak, Health Officer of Paradip Municipality. PTI Adds: Culling of chicken has begun and sale of poultry banned in this port town following the detection of H5NI avaian influenza, official sources said today. Poultry farms were also shut as a precautionary measure after samples were collected from different farms and dead crows in and around the town tested positive for H5N1

virus, collector in-charge of Jagatsinghpur district, Sachinanda Sahu said. More than 500 chicken have been culled since the decision was taken yesterday, said Paradip municipality health officer Rajendra Nayak. Nayak, who is monitoring the situation along with Jagatsinghpur chief district veterinary officer Ramesh Behera said that the culled birds are being buried in deep pits after adopting all required safeguards. Blood samples of chicken were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal for examination, were tested positive positive for H5N1, Behera said. Ten rapid response teams were formed and sent to the affected area by the administration. The teams comprising 40 members have been constituted to sanitise the area, Behera said adding the culling operation would continue. As a precautionary measure, all poultry firms and outlets have been shut in and around the port town and sale of chicken and eggs was banned. Necessary steps have been taken to prevent transportation of the poultry products out of the district, Sahu said.

Maha Gov irked over Gujarati speech audio M u mb a i , F e b 2 6 (IANS): In huge embarrassment for Maharashtra’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday had to tender an unconditional apology in the legislature after a Gujarati translation audio of Governor C.V. Rao’s speech was played in the House. His action followed the Governor taking the issue with Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade soon after his speech. “During my address to the Joint Session of the Legislature in the morning today (Monday), it was observed that the Marathi translation of my speech was not taking place. I am of the view that it needs to be considered with utmost seriousness and a strong action needs to be taken against those responsible for this serious lapse,” Rao said in his letter. He also asked the Speaker to take appropriate action in the matter and inform him of the same. Earlier, when the matter came to light, Fadnavis got up and tendered an unconditional apology to the House and the members for the gaffe which he termed “a very serious issue”.

FIR against Bihar BJP leader after his car mows down 9 school kids

Patna, Feb 26 (AGENCIES): The Bihar Police on Sunday filed an FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manoj Baitha for the death of nine school children in Muzaffarpur district. Moh Ansari of Dharampur village, who lost five grandchildren in the tragedy on Saturday, had filed the complaint. The parents of the killed children want to see Baitha behind bars. On Sunday, shocked villagers staged a protest by blocking the National Highway to demand the arrest of Baitha, who hails from Sitamarhi district. “We have registered an FIR against Baitha on Sunday on the basis of a complaint by Moh Ansari of Dharampur village, who lost five grandchildren in the tragedy on Saturday,” news agency IANS quoted Station House Officer of Meenapur police station Sona Prasad

The accused.

Singh as saying. Raids have been conducted to catch Baitha, who is absconding. In his police statement, Ansari said that Baitha was behind the wheel when the speeding vehicle mowed down the children on Saturday. Clad in a white cotton kurta-pyjama, he fled after the vehicle hit and killed the school children, he added. Ansari said a closedcircuit television footage also showed the BJP leader driving the vehicle. The accident took place near Dharampur school on National Highway-77 in Mi-

napur block when a Bolero hit the children while they were crossing the road. Angry over the deaths, area residents beat up teachers and set ablaze chairs and benches there on Saturday. Muzaffarpur Senior Superintendent of Police Vivek Kumar said the injured children were admitted to a city hospital. Nine students crushed to death in Bihar; Tejashwi Yadav claims driver was drunk, slams CM Nitish The state has announced Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the killed children. Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has already demanded stern action against the culprit. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, after visiting the injured, said their families told him that the killer vehicle belonged to the BJP leader and no arrest had been made so far.

King of Jordan to visit India New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS): King of Jordan Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, accompanied by a business delegation, will come on a three-day visit to India starting on Tuesday, the External Affairs Ministry announced on Monday. This will be his second visit to India after his visit along with Queen Rania in 2006. According to an External Affairs Ministry statement, King Abdullah will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra during the course of which the two sides

will discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest. The two sides are expected to sign a number of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and agreements in diverse areas of bilateral cooperation. President Ram Nath Kovind will host a banquet in honour of King Abdullah while Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on the visiting dignitary.

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA No.491/Media-FAQ/2017

Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi-110001

FAQs ON SECURITY FEATURES OF THE ECI-EVMs

In the recent past, there have been some queries in the minds of common people about the security features Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) of Election Commission of India (ECI). The Election Commission has, time and gain, stated that ECI-EVMs and its systems are robust, secure and tamper-proof. The following FAQs give a detailed view of security features including latest technological features of EVMs and stringent administrative measures taken at every step of its usage from manufacturing to storage. 1. What is meant by tampering of EVM? Tampering means alteration in the software program written either on existing microchips of Control Unit (CU) or introducing malicious software program by inserting new microchip in CU and also making keys -pressed in Ballot Unit (BU) not record faithfully in the Control Unit. 2. Are the ECI-EVMs hack-able? No. M1(model one) of EVM machines were manufactured till 2006 and had all necessary technical features making M1 non-hackable contrary to claims made by some activities. On the recommendation of the Technical Evaluation Committee in 2006,M2 model of EVMs produced after 2006 and up to 2012 incorporated dynamic coding of key codes thereby enabling transfer of the key -press message from Ballot Unit (BUs) to Control Unit (CUs) ,in an encrypted form as an additional security features .It also contains real time setting of each key press so that sequencing of key presses including so called malicious sequenced key presses can be detected and wrapped. Further, the ECI-EVMs are not computer controlled, are stand alone machines and not connected to the internet and/or any other network at any point of time. Hence, there is no chance of hacking by remote devices. The ECI-EVMs do not have any frequency receiver or decoder for data for wireless or any external hardware port for connection to any other non0EVM accessory or device. Hence no tampering is possible either through hardware port or through wireless, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth device because CU accepts on encrypted and dynamically coded data from BU. No other kind of data can be accepted by CU. 3. Can ECI-EVMs be manipulated by manufacturers? Not possible. There is very stringent security protocol at manufacturer level regarding security of software. The machines have been manufactured in different years starting from 2006. After manufacturing, EVMs are sent to State and district to district within a State. The manufacturers are in no position to know several years ahead which candidate will be contesting from a particular constituency and what will be the sequence of the candidates on the BU. Also, each ECI-EVM has a serial number and the Election Commission by use of EVM- tracking software can find out from its database which machine is located where. So, any manipulation at manufacturing stage is ruled out. 4. Can Trojan Horse be incorporated into the chip in CU? Sequence of voting in EVM eliminates the possibility of injection of Trojan Horse as mentioned below. The stringent security measures by ECI make it impossible to introduce Trojan Horse in the field. Once a ballot key is pressed in CU, the CU enables BU for registering the vote and waits for the key pressing in the BU. During this period, all keys in the CU become inactive till the entire sequence of casting of that vote is complete. Once any of the keys (candidates vote button) is pressed by a voter in BU, the BU transmits the key information to CU. The CU gets the data and acknowledges it by glowing the corresponding LED lamps in BU. After the enabling of ballot in CU, only the 'first key press' is sensed and accepted by CU. After this, even if a voter keeps on pressing the other buttons that is of no use as there will not be any communication between CU and BU as the result of those subsequent key presses, nor will BU register any key press. To put it in other words, there can be only one valid key press (the first key press) for every ballot enabled using CU. Once a valid key press (voting process) is complete, until another ballot enabling key press is made there will not be any activity between the CU and the BU. Hence, sending of any malicious signal, by way of so called 'sequenced key press', is impossible in the Electronic Voting Machines being used in the country. 5. Are Old model ECI-EVMs still in use? M1 model of EVM machines were produced up to 2006 and were last used in 2014 General Elections. In 2014, EVM machines which completed 15 years of economic life and also because M1 were not compatible with VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail), ECI decided to discontinue use of all M1 EVMs manufactured up to 2006. There is a Standard Operating Procedure laid down by ECI to discard EVMs. The process of destruction of EVM & its chip is carried out in the presence of Chief Electoral Officer of the state or his representatives inside the factory of manufacturers. 6. Can ECI-EVMs be Physically Tampered with/ their components be changed without anyone noticing? In addition to the existing security features in earlier models M1 & M2 of ECI-EVMs, the new M3 EVM produced after 2013 have additional features like Tamper Detection as Self Diagnostics. The tamper detection feature makes an EVM inoperative the moment anyone tries to open the machine. The Self Diagnostics feature checks the EVM fully every time it is switched on. Any change in its hardware or software will be detected . A prototype of a new model M3 with the above features is going to be ready shortly. A Technical Expert Committee will examine it and then production will commence. About Rs 2,000 crores have been released by the Government to procure M3 EVMs with above additional features and new technological advancement. 7. What are the latest technological feature to make ECI-EVMs tamper proof? The ECI-EVMs use some of the most sophisticated technological features like one time password (OTP) microcontroller, dynamics coding of key codes, date and time stamping of each and every key press, advanced encryption technology and EVM tracking software to handle EVM logistics, among others to make the machine 100% tamper proof. In additional to these, new model M3 EVMs also have tamper detection and self-diagnostics as added features. Since software is based on OTP the programme cannot be altered, re-written or Re-read. Thus, making EVM tamper proof . If anyone make, attempt, the machine will become in operative. 8. Do the ECI-EVMs use foreign technology? Contrary to misinformation and as alleged by some ,India do not use any EVMs produced abroad. EVMs are produced indigenously by 2 PSUs. Bharat Electronics Limited., Bengaluru and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd., Hyderabd. The software programme code is written in-house, by these two companies, not outsource,

Dated:14th April, 2017

and subjected to security procedure at factory level to maintain the highest level of integrity. The programme is converted to machine code and only then given to the chip manufacturer abroad because we don't the capacity of producing semi-conductor microchips within the country. Every microchips has an identification number embedded into memory and the producers have their digital signatures on them. So, the questions of their does not arise at all because microchips are subjected to functional tests with regard to the software. Any attempt to replace the microchip is detectable and can make EVM in-operative. Thus, both changing existing programme or introducing new one are detectable making EVM in-operative. 9. What are the possibilities of manipulation at the place of storage? At the district headquarters. EVMs are kept in a double-lock system under appropriate security. Their safety is periodically checked. The Officers do not open the strong room, but they check whether it's fully protected and whether the lock is in proper condition or not. No unauthorized person can get access to the EVM at any point of time. During non-election period, annual physical verification of all EVMs is done by DEOs and report sent to ECI. Inspection and checking have recently been completed. 10. To what extend are allegations of EVM tampering in local body polls true? There is a misunderstanding in this regard due to lack of knowledge about jurisdiction. In case of elections to Municipal Bodies or Rural Bodies like Panchayat Elections, the EVMs used do not belong to the Election Commission of India. Above local bodies elections come under the jurisdiction of State Election Commission/s (SECs), which procure their own machines and have their handling system. ECI is not responsible for EVMs used by SECs in above elections. 11. What are the different levels of checks and balances ensuring tamper proofing of ECI-EVMs? • First Level Checking : BEL/ECIL engineers certify originality of components after technical and physical examination of each EVM, undertaken in front of representatives of political parties. Defective EVMS are sent back to factory. Mock poll of at least 1000 votes is conducted on 5% EVMs selected randomly by representatives of political parties and the result shown to them. The entire process is video graphed. • Randomization: EVMs are randomized twice while being allocated to an Assembly and then to a polling booth ruling out any fixed allocation. Mock Poll at polling station is conducted in front of polling agents of candidates on the poll day, before Polls begin. After Poll, EVMs are sealed and Polling agents put their signature on the seal. Polling agents can travel up to strong room during transportations. • Strong Rooms: Candidates or their representatives can put their signature on their own seal on the strong rooms where polled EVMs are stored after the poll and also camp in front of strong room. These strong rooms are guarded 24*7 in multilayers. • Counting Centers: The Polled EVMs are brought to the counting Centers and unique IDs of the seals and CU are shown to reps of candidates before start of counting . 12. Can a manipulated ECI-EVM be re-introduced in the polling process without anyone coming to know? Question does not arise. Looking at the above of fool-proof check and balances that are undertaken by the ECI to make EVMs tamper proof, it is evident that neither the machines can be tampered-with nor defective machines can get re-inducted into the polling process at any point of timed because Non ECI-EVMs will get detected by the above process and mismatch of BU & CU .Due to different level of stringent checks and balances neither ECI-EVMs can leave the ECI system nor any outside machine (Non ECI-EVM) can be inducted into the system. 13. Why have Developed Nations like the US and European Union not adopted EVMs and some have discontinued? Some countries have experimented with electronics voting in the past .The problem faced with the machines in these countries was they were computer controlled and connected to the network, which in turn, made them prone to hacking and hence totally defeating the purpose. Moreover, there were not adequate security measures and safeguards in their corresponding laws regulations for security, safety and protection. In some countries, courts struck down the use of EVMs on these legal grounds only. Indian EVM is stand-alone whereas, USA, The Netherland, Ireland & Germany had direct recording machines. India has introduced paper audit trail, though partly. Others did not have audit trail. Source code is closed during polling in all of the above Countries. India also has closed source burnt into memory and is OTP. ECI-EVMs, on the other hand, are stand-alone devices not connected to any network, thus making it impossible for anyone to tamper with over 1.4 million machines in India individually. EVMs are most suited for India, looking at the country’s past poll violence and other electoral malpractices like rigging, booth capturing etc during the polls. It is worth mentioning that in contrast with countries like Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Indian laws & ECI regulations have in-built adequate safeguards for security & safety of EVMs. Besides, Indian EVMs are far superior on account of secured technological features. Indian EVMs also stand apart because VVPATs going to be used with EVMs in phases to make entire process transparent for voters. In case of The Netherlands, rules regarding storage, transparent and security of machine were lacking. Machines produced in the Netherlands were also used in Ireland & Germany. In a judgment in 2005, German court found voting device ordnance unconstitutional on the ground of violation of the privilege of the public nature of election & the basic law. So, these countries discontinued the use of machines produced in the Netherlands. Even, today many countries including USA are using machines for voting. ECI-EVMs are fundamentally different from the voting machines and processes adopted in foreign countries. any comparison based on computer controlled, operating system based machines elsewhere will be erroneous and ECI-EVM cannot be compared with. 14. What is the status of VVPAT enabled machines? The ECI has conducted elections in 255 assembly constituency and nine Lok Sabha constituencies using Voters Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) .The use of M2 and new-generation M3 EVMs along with VVPAT is the way forward for further confidence and transparency of the voters. DC-458

business

This level was last seen on February 5, when the Sensex had closed at 34,757.16. The index had rallied 322.65 points in the previous session on Friday on value-buying by investors in recently-battered blue-chip stocks. The Nifty finished the day at 10,582.60, showing a hefty gain of 91.55 points, or 0.87 per cent, after shuttling between 10,592.95 and 10,520.20. “Market is gradually recovering lost ground, supported by positive global cues. Investors are waiting for Q3 GDP and IIP data. GDP is expected to grow at 6.9 per cent which has raised a positive sentiment while reducing the volatility in the market,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. Gains were led by realty, auto, capital goods, banking, infrastructure, metals, power, oil & gas, PSU and consumer durables sectors, which rose up to 3.30 per cent. IT, teck and healthcare indices ended in the red. Domestic institutional

investors (DIIs) net bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,514.03 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 486.32 crore on Friday, provisional data showed. Maruti Suzuki emerged as the leader of the Sensex pack today, with a 3.41 per cent rise, followed by Tata Motors at 3.22 per cent. Other gainers were IndusInd Bank, L&T, Axis Bank, M&M, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, Dr Reddy’s, HDFC Ltd, HUL, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, RIL, ONGC, Tata Steel and NTPC, gaining up to 2.94 per cent. In contrast, Sun Pharma, TCS, Infosys, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and SBI succumbed to profitbooking and fell by up to 2.46 per cent. In keeping with the overall trend, the small-cap and mid-cap indices rose 0.88 per cent and 0.74 per cent. Shares of scam-hit Punjab National Bank lost another 1.32 per cent. Gitan-

Indian asset-backed securities not affected by PNB fraud: Fitch NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (PTI): Fitch Ratings Monday said Indian asset-backed securities (ABS) transactions are unlikely to be affected by the Rs 11,400 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB). PNB, it says, still remains eligible as an account bank for Indian ABS transactions rated at ‘BBB-sf ’. ABS are bonds or notes backed by financial assets. Typically, these assets consist of receivables other than mortgage loans, such as credit card receivables, auto loans, manufactured-housing contracts and homeequity loans. “The recent banking fraud at Punjab National Bank, uncovered on February 14, 2018, is unlikely to affect the Indian

Crossword

Su doku

KAKURO

ABS transactions rated by Fitch,” the rating agency said in a statement. “Our view takes into account the replacement triggers for the transactions’ counterparties; a stable performance; and significant build-up of credit enhancement (CE).” Fitch said, should PNB be downgraded to below ‘BBB-’, it expects the replacement triggers will be executed, and the account bank will be replaced with another eligible entity. “ Fo u r F i t c h - r a t e d transactions had exposure to PNB as an account bank as of February 21, 2018,” it said without giving details. “However, all have amortised by at least 70 per cent since closing, resulting in available CE (as a percent-

age of the notes outstanding) at least 3.5x the closing CE (as a percentage of the closing notes’ amount).” The transactions’ performance has also been relatively stable, with reported 90+days past due (dpd) delinquencies (as of the February trustee reports) only around or less than 1 per cent of the closing notes’ balance. “The transactions are likely to suffer only a minimal impact, if any, even if the entire CE with PNB were to be written off. The current available CE, excluding the portion with PNB, is at least 3.25x the closing CE for three out of four related transactions, and around 0.8x for the fourth transaction,” Fitch added.

jali Gems too slumped 4.84 per cent to Rs 23.60. Shares of Simbhaoli Sugars plunged 15.73 per cent today after CBI registered a case against the company, its chairman Gurmit Singh Mann, deputy MD Gurpal Singh and others in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 97.85 crore. The company’s lender Oriental Bank of Commerce also fell by 10.02 per cent. Most Asian and European markets rallied after US stocks rose last Friday to end a bumpy week with slight gains, as falling bond yields provided a reprieve for investors concerned about rising inflation. In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.19 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.74 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.23 per cent. European shares too were in the positive zone in their early deals, with Frankfurt’s DAX rising 0.78 per cent and Paris CAC 40 up 0.72 per cent. London’s FTSE was up 0.42 per cent.

Gold up on global cues, buying New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI): Gold rose by Rs 80 to Rs 31,660 per ten gram at the bullion market Monday, tracking a firm trend overseas amid increased buying by local jewellers. Silver also recovered by Rs 225 to Rs 39,700 per kg due to increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers. Marketmen said apart from a firm trend overseas as weakness in dollar boosted safe haven demand, persistent buying by local jewellers kept gold prices higher. Globally, gold rose 0.82 per cent to USD 1,339.10 an ounce and silver by 1.33 per cent to USD 16.72 an ounce in Singapore. In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity advanced by Rs 80 each to Rs 31,660 and Rs 31,510 per ten gram, respectively. The

No. 8793 Yesterday’s solution No. 8792

No. 3412 Yesterday’s solution No. 3411

No. 2438 Yesterday’s solution No. 2437

yellow metal had gained Rs 230 in the previous two sessions. Sovereign however remained unaltered at Rs 24,800 per piece of eight gram. S i l ve r r e a d y a l s o bounced back by Rs 225 to Rs 39,700 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 105 to Rs 38,605 per kg.

Across 1 Papa’s predecessor needs very large wheels (5) 4 Dance and drink with a graduate (5) 7 Turning out to grabhandkerchief? There’s gratitude! (5,3) 8 Jack has trouble in prison (4) 9 Bambi, for example, comes back for plant (4) 10 Where to find someone to speak to (7) 12 Holy Island could be finer island (11) 14 Dogs start to bark in front of birds (7) 16 Very keen prima donna does a turn (4) 19 Spare cash finally found in can (4) 20 Singer in Fielding’s novel (3,5) 21 Cry after second lottery (5) 22 Cab heading off to the centre of Rome? That’s taken for granted (5) Down 1 Article in operating room? This is different (5) 2 It holds cutlery for the dining room (7) 3 Put up sound beams (4) 4 Complete section of boxing match gets cancelled (5,3) 5 Part from a Jordanian officer (5) 6 A disposable item under discussion (2,5) 11 I’ve chucked in tulip cultivation to paint the town red (4,2,2) 12 Blood-suckers left runny cheese (7) 13 Food for a violinist, partly (7) 15 Information that is provided by spirit (5) 17 Fancy sort of ticket (5) 18 Mame changes her name (4)

Farm credit of Rs 11 lakh cr is achievable: Jaitley

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI): The government has categorised about 9,500 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the country as “high risk” prone as they have not complied with a stipulated provision of the anti-money laundering law. A list of 9,491 “high risk financial institutions” has been published by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) that works under the Union Finance Ministry to check crimes in the Indian economy and alert enforcement agencies against such instances. The list, containing the names of the firms, has been updated till January this year. Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the NBFCs, which includes cooperative banks, are required to furnish details about their financial operations and transactions to the FIU. The FIU processed the data of these companies and found that they did not comply largely on one stipulated condition of appointing a principal officer who is responsible to check and report suspicious transactions and cash transactions of Rs 10 lakh and above,

and report it to the agency, sources said. The activities of these institutions -- post the demonetisation of large currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 in November, 2016 -- were under the scanner of the FIU and it published their names after analysing their data from various information sources, they said. “The publication of names is primarily a step by the FIU to make aware the public that these NBFCs are not law compliant and that they should refrain from indulging into transactions with them,” a senior official said. NBFC is defined as a company registered under the Companies Act which is engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares, stocks, bonds, debentures and securities issued by the government or local authority or other marketable securities. NBFCs lend and make investments and hence, their activities are akin to that of banks, however, there they cannot accept demand deposits and do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself.

Home prices in small towns may spike on infra focus

Bank unions call off strike

Mumbai, Feb 26 (PTI): Home prices in small cities and towns are likely to see a gradual rise on increased infrastructure activities and real estate developers focusing on affordable housing, says a report. Price growth will be higher and faster in cities coming under the smart cities programme, according to a report by Anarock Property Consultant. “After a protracted period where interest for real estate investment was concentrated primarily in the metros, we are now seeing a resurgence in smaller cities,” said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Property Consultant in a report.

Vadodara, Feb 26 (PTI): The United Forum of Bank Emplyees Unions (UFBU) Monday said they withdrew the nationwide strike call on March 15, citing the present situation in the banking system following the massive fraud at Punjab National Bank and the overall vitiated atmosphere in the sector. “The forum met over the weekend and decided to withdraw the strike called on March 15,” CH Venkatchalam, general secretary of the All-India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said in a statement today. The statement furtehr said the forum is seriously concerned over the manner

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS): Exhorting the Indian banking sector to invest in long-term assets to improve capital formation in the agriculture sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the credit flow target of Rs 11 lakh crore for the sector during 2018-19 is achievable. “Investments in financial technology over the past few years have brought in efficiency, speed and transparency in the rural financial ecosystem. Agriculture credit flow target of Rs 11 lakh crore for 2018-19 is achievable by the banking sector and would add to the momentum towards doubling the farmers’ income by 2022. The banking sector must invest in long term assets to improve the capital formation in agriculture sector,” Jaitley said in the annual address here to the Board of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. In line with the expected thrust on the farm sector, Budget 2018-19 announced that the minimum support price (MSP) for all agriculture produce would be fixed at a level to ensure the farmer a minimum return of one and a half times over the production cost.

in which a mega fraud has taken place at PNB and the way banks stand exposed to such unthinkable risks. “However, the meeting also noted that instead of a full-scale investigation, attempts are being made to single out a few lower level employees as if they alone are responsible for the fraud.” The forum also quetioned the efficacy of the bank’s monetoring system saying, “no one can hide the fact that there is gross negligence of control, supervision and monitoring as well as possibilities of complicity at various higher levels of management including the top PNB officials.”

OFFICE OF THE

ETSUTCHUKHA YOUTH LEAGUE DISTRICT WOKHA – 797111 : NAGALAND

TRAINING FREE BEAUTICIAN TRAINING IN KOHIMA. LIMITED SEATS Contact No : 8787373052 9402222036 K-495

LAND FOR SALE

Address : Lierie Colony, Opp NST Garage, Kohima Dimension : 45 feet (Facing NH) x 150 feet Contact : 7640815181 8794409531 K-519

MISSING

Name : Kidi Dreed : Pug Mix Age : 1 Year Colour : Brown Missing since : 23.02.2018

DP-1677

Mumbai, Feb 26 (PTI): Benchmark Sensex ratcheted up by more than 300 points for the second session in a row Monday on optimism over India’s growth recovery amid positive global cues. The Sensex closed at a three-week high of 34,445.75, while the wider NSE Nifty went past the 10,550-mark. Investor sentiment was bolstered after a Morgan Stanley report said India’s economic recovery is expected to have gathered momentum and GDP growth for the December quarter is likely to have accelerated to 7 per cent. The GDP numbers will be released on Wednesday. A firming trend on Asian and European bourses following a good show by Wall Street on Friday added to the buying momentum, brokers said. The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing at 34,225.72 and maintained its upward trend to hit the day’s high of 34,483.39 before ending at 34,445.75, up 303.60 points, or 0.89 per cent.

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI): Inflation is expected to trend higher and though RBI may keep policy rates on hold in 2018-19, there are also increasing chances of a rate hike, says a UBS report. According to the global financial services major, minutes from the February 7 meet of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) seem “hawkish”, and highlight upside risks to inflation. The Reser ve Bank kept the key policy rate unchanged at 6 per cent for the third consecutive time in the last policy meet in view of the firming inflation. As per the minutes , there was broad consensus that risks to inflation are clearly tilted to the upside. Moreover, fiscal slippage and higher MSP are the key concerns, UBS said in the research note. UBS expects headline CPI inflation to remain in the range of 5.1-5.6 per cent over the next few months and average 4.9 per cent year-on-year in 2018-19. “In our base case, we expect the MPC to keep rates on hold in 2018-19,” UBS said. However, factors that may lead to a rate hike include higher MSP pushing up food inflation, firming up of global crude oil prices and populist spending in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Govt publishes names of 9,500 ‘high risk’ NBFCs

DP-1672

Sensex vaults 300 pts on global leads, macro optimism

CPI inflation to trend higher

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018

Finders may kindly contact : 7005619205/9969226880

DC-459

The Etsutchukha Youth League (EYL) with general consensus on 25 th February 2018 impeached Shri. Chanbemo Humtsoe from the post of the EYL President. all executive power vested upon him shall be nulliﬁed with immediate effect. DC-462

Sd/- General Secretary

OFFICE OF THE CORE COMMITTEE RAZUVE/TEWAMI VILLAGE Near Seithekie ‘A’ Village P.O Chumukedima District-Dimapur-797103, Nagaland

MEETING CALL

A general meeting of the plot holders of Razuve & Tewami Village near Seithekie ‘A’ will be held at the Conference Hall of Chakhesang Baptist Church Kohima on 8th March 2018 at 11:00 AM. All members are therefore, requested to make themselves available for the said meeting without fail. Er. THENUVECHO PURO Chairman Core Committee K-523

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, FEBrUARY 27, 2018

Four dead in UK building blast

The scene on Hinckley Road, Leicester, where firefighters continue to battle flames after an explosion at a shop. London, Feb 26 (PTI): A powerful explosion and subsequent fire at a threestorey building killed four people in the English city of Leicester, police said today but ruled out a terror link to the blast. Police declared a “major incident” after the explosion occurred last evening on a stretch of road containing commercial and residential properties in Hinckley Road area of Leicester, over 143 km away from London

with a large Gujarati-origin population. Four people were killed in the explosion and subsequent fire that destroyed the building which consisted of a shop premises on the ground level and a twostorey flat above it, police said. “At this stage, there are four confirmed fatalities and four people remain in hospital, one with serious injuries,” Leicestershire police said in a statement.

Police Superintendent Shane O’Neill warned that the toll may rise further as the emergency services are still conducting a search and rescue operation and it is unclear if more people were trapped in the rubble. British police said there was no indication at this stage that the explosion was linked to terrorism. “The cause of the explosion will be the subject of a joint investigation by the police and Leicestershire

Fire and Rescue Service,” police said in a statement. “We would ask that the media and public do not speculate about the circumstances surrounding the incident, but at this stage there is no indication this is terrorist related,” it said. The emergency services said they were called to reports of a blast shortly after 7 pm (local time) and six fire engines were sent to the scene, the BBC reported. A fire service spokeswoman said the property was a two-floor building with a loft conversion that had suffered a “pancake collapse”. The emergency services have cordoned off about 60 houses in the area, which was a mix of apartments and small shops, including a convenience store, a kebab restaurant and a Polish grocery. Eyewitnesses said there was thick smoke in the area. One neighbour said she heard “this big thud, like an earthquake.” “The building had gone down and people were trying to help where they could by taking the bricks off. But the fire was getting bigger and bigger so people were told to leave the scene,” she

told BBC. She said she and others helped a boy, believed to be aged about 15, who was hurt in the blast. “He was in there when it happened. I think he was in the flat above the shop. We were keeping him warm and assuring him he’d be OK and the ambulance would be there,” she said. Harish Pattni, who was in a pizza shop which was six shops down when the explosion occurred, described the vibrations from the blast. “I’ve never experienced anything like this. It sounded like those big, loud boom speakers that people have in their cars, real vibration. The bass sound was so loud that it shattered the car windows,” he told the BBC. “The flames started more or less upstairs so I thought it must be something to do with upstairs, the flats. My immediate worry was when I saw the floorboards, all the wood on the floor level, I thought there must be people in the shop trapped,” he said. The building affected is in a row of shops and debris from it was blasted across both carriageways of the road.

‘Wake up’ and stop Rohingya abuses: Nobel laureates to Suu Kyi COX’S BAZAR, Feb 26 (Agencies): Three Nobel Peace Prize winners on Monday urged fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out about violence against the Rohingya minority, warning she otherwise risks prosecution for “genocide”. The trio - Tawakkol Karman, Shirin Ebadi and Mairead Maguire - implored the embattled Myanmar leader to “wake up” to the atrocities after visiting squalid camps in Bangladesh home to nearly one million Rohingya refugees. “This is clearly, clearly, clearly genocide that is going on by the Burmese government and military against the Rohingya people,” Maguire said Monday, using another name for Myanmar. “We refuse this genocide policy of the Burmese government. They will be taken to the ICC (International Criminal Court) and those who are committing genocide will be held responsible.” The UN has described the systematic violence by Myanmar against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state as possible genocide and ethnic cleansing, but has stopped short of outright accusing

Aung San Suu Kyi

the army of war crimes. Suu Kyi, once a global rights icon, has witnessed her reputation among the international community crumble over her handling of the Rohingya crisis. Critics have called for the Nobel prize she won under house arrest in 1991 to be revoked. Her fellow three female laureates issued a personal appeal to the beleaguered leader as they toured the overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar district on Sunday and Monday, hearing firsthand stories of rape and murder against the Muslim minority. Karman, a Yemeni rights activist, warned Suu Kyi that she risked being hauled to the ICC if she did not intervene. “If she will continue her silence, she

will be one of them,” said Karman, fighting back tears, after meeting Rohingya refugees. “It’s an appeal to our sister Aung San Suu Kyi to wake up, otherwise she will be betrayed (as) one of the perpetrators of this crime.” Myanmar has staunchly denied the charges and blocked UN investigators from the conflict zone in Rakhine state, souring relations with a host of western allies. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have sought sanctuary in Cox’s Bazar after fleeing a Myanmar army crackdown launched last August, sparking a humanitarian emergency in the Bangladesh border district. Critics have accused Suu Kyi of adopting a siege mentality as global condemnation has mounted. Myanmar considers the Rohingya illegal “Bengali” immigrants but has signed an agreement with Bangladesh to repatriate some 750,000 refugees back across the border. The process has stalled, as the UN warns any returns must be voluntary and rights groups warn Rohingya could be forced into ghettoes once in Myanmar.

Ex-journalist US-led airstrikes kill 25 civilians in Syria UN chief calls for Syria ceasefire elected Australia’s to be ‘immediately implemented’ new Deputy PM Geneva, Feb 26 (AFP): The United Nations secretary-general Monday demanded the immediate implementation of 30-day ceasefire in Syria as the Damascus regime continued its deadly bombardment of the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta. UN chief Antonio Guterres praised the adoption of a Security Council resolution on Saturday calling for the truce but underscored “Security Council resolutions are only meaningful if they are effectively implemented. “That is why I expect the resolution to be immediately implemented and sustained,” he told the opening of the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Addressing the rights council after Guterres, UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said that Syria -- and other conflict zones -- had “become some of the most prolific slaughterhouses of humans in recent times”.

Antonio Guterres On the proposed Syria truce, Zeid warned that “we have every reason to remain cautious.” The resolution “must be viewed against a backdrop of seven years of failure to stop the violence, seven years of unremitting and frightful mass killing.” Fresh bombardment by the Syrian regime killed at least 10 civilians in Eastern Ghouta on Monday, including nine members of a same family, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group said. Air strikes destroyed a building in Douma, the main town in the Eastern Ghouta area east of Damascus, and buried alive

an entire family, according to the Observatory. More than 500 civilians have been killed in regime and Russian bombardment on the enclave, which is controlled by Islamist and jihadist fighters, since February 18, the Observatory further said. Zeid has repeatedly and forcefully chastised the Security Council throughout the Syrian conflict for failing to refer the case to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He has blamed the council’s inability to act on Syria on the veto power held by several permanent members. Today, Zeid blasted veto-wielding members for the council’s intransigence on Syria and other conflicts, saying they bore “responsibility for the continuation of so much pain.” “It is time, for the love of mercy, that China, Russia and the United States... end the pernicious use of the veto,” he told the rights council.

Canberra, Feb 26 (IANS): Michael McCormack, a former regional newspaper editor, was elected as Australia’s new Deputy Prime Minister on Monday. He replaces Barnaby Joyce as leader of the Nationals, the governing coalition’s junior partner, reports the BBC. Joyce stepped down on Friday following questions over his relationship with media adviser Vikki Campion, and an allegation sexual harassment by another woman. He called the latter complaint “spurious and defamatory”. As leader of the Nationals, he automatically becomes deputy to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull - who heads the Liberal Party. McCormack said Joyce had been an “outstanding leader”, the BBC reported. “His service to our party and to our nation will never be diminished. His legacy will endure,” he told the media.

‘US trying to embarrass Pak with terror financing list’ ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (Agencies): Pakistan’s de facto finance minister, Miftah Ismail, has brushed off concerns that economic growth will suffer because of the country’s re-inclusion on a terrorist financing watch list, and lashed out against the United States for seeking to “embarrass” his nation. Washington last week persuaded member states of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to place Pakistan back on the “grey list” of nations with inadequate terrorist financing or money laundering controls. Pakistan was on the list for three years, until 2015. The diplomatic setback has sparked anger in Islamabad against United States, which championed the motion against Pakistan at the FATF meeting in Paris. It represented another blow to the worsening relationship between the uneasy allies, who have long differed on how to combat Islamist militants waging war in Afghanistan. It has also heightened concerns that Pakistan is becoming internationally isolated, and that its economy could suffer if global

Miftah Ismail

banking intuitions cut links with the nuclear-armed nation, or otherwise increase the cost of doing business with Pakistan. Ismail, officially the adviser on finance, revenue and economic affairs to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, led Pakistan’s negotiations in Paris. He told Reuters that Washington did not seem genuinely eager to see Pakistan boost its terrorist financing regulations and was instead bent on humiliating the country. “If the Americans were interested in working with us and improving our CTF (counter-terrorist financing) regulations, they would have taken the offer I was making them,” Ismail said.

“But their idea was just to embarrass Pakistan.” Diplomatic and Pakistani government sources say Pakistan fended off a U.S.-led motion on Tuesday as Turkey, China and the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) countries objected to it. But in a break from tradition, the motion was brought up again on Thursday and passed as the GCC and China dropped their objections. Ismail said that he urged the United States to allow Pakistan until June to fix any outstanding CTF issues and ceded ground in negotiations to strike a deal, but that the U.S. was determined to see Pakistan suffer. US officials say Pakistan remains weak on terrorist financing prosecutions and has not done enough to combat money-raising capabilities of Islamic charities controlled by Hafiz Saeed, whom the U.S. has designated a terrorist. The officials blame Saeed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people. In the run up to the FATF meeting, Pakistan sought to gain favour by

seizing control of parts of Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) charities, which the United States terms “terrorist fronts” for militant group Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT). Saeed, who founded LeT in 1980s, denies orchestrating the Mumbai attacks. Diplomats have cast doubt on whether the takeovers are long-lasting, or simply a short-term move to appease FATF member states and ease pressure on Pakistan. Ismail said Pakistan’s law-enforcement shortcomings are often confused for lack of desire, especially at provincial level, where police officers are poorly trained when it comes to terrorist financing legislation. “The will is there,” he added. Ismail ruled out Pakistan’s retaliating against Washington over the FATF listing. He said the country would keep working to improve its CTF capabilities and win the confidence of Britain, Germany and France, who co-sponsored the U.S. motion in Paris.

Beirut, Feb 26 (AFP): Air strikes on the last pocket of Islamic State jihadists in eastern Syria have killed at least 25 civilians, including seven children, a monitor said Monday. The strikes were conducted on Sunday on and around the village of AlShaafah, north of the former IS bastion of Albu Kamal near the border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The head of the Britainbased Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the air strikes were carried out by the US-led coalition. “Twenty-five civilians, including seven children, were killed in the village of Al-Shaafah and in surrounding desert areas in coalition strikes all through Sunday,” he said. “This village is in the last pocket controlled by IS in the east of Syria,” he said of Al-Shaafah, which lies on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. Air strikes against jihadists forces holding out in remote areas of Deir Ezzor province have killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks,

Bangladesh court extends bail for Zia until March 13

Dhaka, Feb 26 (PTI): A court in Bangladesh Monday extended the bail of imprisoned ex-prime minister and main opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia until March 13 in a graft case, a day after the High Court deferred the judgement on a separate bail plea in a corruption case, media reports said. The 72-year-old threetime former prime minister was jailed for five years on February 8 in connection with the embezzlement of 21 million taka (about USD 250,000) in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust, named after her late husband Ziaur Rahman, a military rulerturned-politician. The Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-5 set March 13 as the date for the next hearing of arguments in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case and extended the bail of Zia, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief, until then, bdnews24 reported. “The court has set March 13 and March 14 for the next two days of arguments. Zia’s bail has been extended until March 13,” her lawyer Nuruzzaman Tapan was quoted as saying in the report.

A Syrian man walks next to damaged buildings following regime air strikes in the Syrian rebel-held town of Douma on February 25.

many of them relatives of the fighters. Coalition-backed Kurdish-led forces have been trying to flush out IS from the east bank of the Euphrates, while Russianbacked regime and allied forces are stationed west of the river. Abdel Rahman could not say how many IS com-

batants were taken out by the latest wave of air strikes. “IS now holds less than three percent of Syrian territory,” he said. The self-styled “caliphate” IS proclaimed over swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014 effectively died when anti-jihadist forces retook its de facto capital Raqa and other strongholds such as

Albu Kamal late last year. However the US-led coalition has continued to carry out strikes against small pockets of IS fighters hunkering down in and around small villages in Deir Ezzor province. Small groups of ISaffiliated fighters are also still active in other parts of Syria.

N. Korea willing to hold talks with US, says S. Korea Seoul, Feb 26 (IANS): North Korea is willing to hold talks with the US, South Korea says. The announcement came after Gen. Kim Yongchol, who headed North Korea’s delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics closing ceremony, met South Korean President Moon Jae-in before the closing ceremony of Olympics, BBC reported on Sunday. The US state department responded by saying nuclear disarmament must be the end goal of “any dialogue”. “We will see if Pyongyang’s message today, that it is willing to hold talks, represents the first steps,” it said in a statement. Pyongyang has not confirmed the offer, but it has often said it is willing to talk without any preconditions. US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka also attended the closing ceremony, but she is not expected to talk with any North Koreans, even though she sat a few feet from Gen. Kim at the Olympic Stadi-

um. The Korean peninsula has been divided since the 1950-53 war and the two sides have never signed a peace treaty. The rapprochement between the two Koreas has been seen as a move by the North to drive a wedge between the South and the US. Experts have cautioned that the latest developments do not put an end to underlying regional tensions, particularly following last year’s nuclear and missile tests carried out by the North. T h e P ye o n g c h a n g Winter Olympics ended as it started with geopolitics being played out in a packed stadium and in front of a global television audience. The US president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, sat one row in front of North Korean general Kim Yong-chol. Two seats down from him was Gen Vincent Brooks, commander of US forces in South Korea and in the middle of them all -- Moon Jae-in, giving handshakes all round. South Korea’s President Moon has tried to bring

Washington and Pyongyang together at these Olympics. He’s met two rounds of delegations from both countries and his message has been clear: You need to talk. We could be some way off any major discussions between them -- we have heard of the North’s readiness to talk to the US before and it’s led to nothing. But coming after a period of such high tension on the Korean peninsula, this does seem to show a shift in mood all round. And, if there is a breakthrough of sorts, many will remember President Moon’s Winter Olympic strategy as the time it all began. While South Korea’s President held out a hand to Gen. Kim, not everyone in his country was as accepting. Gen. Kim has been accused of orchestrating attacks on the Cheonan warship and Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, leading to the death of 46 South Korean sailors. He arrived in the South with families of the victims and conservative MPs trying to block his entry.

Infotainment

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and Weinstein Company to file for bankruptcy Bollywood star Sridevi LeedsReading boss responds ‘drowned in hotel bath’ to criticism T T

Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor along with their daughter Khushi Kapoor and Jahnavi Kapoor.

uperstar Bollywood actress Sridevi Kapoor died of accidental drowning, a Dubai postmortem report has said. The 54-year-old actress, known simply as Sridevi, drowned in her hotel apartment’s bathtub following loss of consciousness, it says. It had earlier been reported that she died of cardiac arrest on Saturday while at a family wedding in Dubai. Bollywood stars, sporting giants and leading politicians have reacted with shock to her death. The media arm of the Dubai government said the post-mortem analysis had been completed and the cause of death ascertained. The case has been passed to the Dubai Public Prosecution for what officials said were “regular legal procedures”. The postmortem report has been released by Dubai police to Sridevi’s family and the Indian consulate, the Gulf News says. The paper said the report could mean a delay to

the repatriation of the body. It had been expected to be flown home on Monday. Crowds have gathered outside Sridevi’s home in Mumbai to pay their last respects ahead of a cremation. The Dubai government tweet did not reveal the results of any toxicology tests. The full post-mortem report has not yet been made public and will be expected to explain how the original report of cardiac arrest and the listing of “accidental drowning” are linked. The actress had been in the United Arab Emirates to attend the wedding of her nephew, Mohit Marwah. Few details had been given about the case prior to Monday’s release of the cause of death. Here’s what celebrities had to say: Actress Priyanka Chopra tweeted: “I have no words. Condolences to everyone who loved #Sridevi. A dark day. RIP” Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar said: “We all grew up watching her and

We learned to play big shows in London: Foo Fighters

Rolling Stones to tour UK in 2018

embers of American rock band Foo Fighters say they love to perform here. “One of our legitimate shows was here in London 22 years ago, which was a really long time ago. We came back and started doing festivals. So this is kinda where we learned to play big shows,” Foo Fighters said in a joint statement. “England’s always been the first for so many things, first stadium we played, first arena we played, first headline festival shows. So we feel at home here,” they added. Foo Fighters include Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and Rami Jaffee. Foo Fighters were awarded Best International Group at the 2018 Brit Awards, which will air in India on Vh1 on Monday. (IANS)

suddenly to hear that she is no longer with us is hard to digest” Indian President Ram Nath Kovind said her death had left millions of fans heartbroken Shahid Kapoor: Want to sincerely thank you all for your wishes. But today is the day to remember Srideviji. To remember her for her brilliance and the magic she brought into our lives. All our love and wishes must be for her today. May she rest in peace. Jacqueline Fernandez: Today has been a daze for me. So, many things to digest. She went too soon. I was always an admiring fan to her, she was always so gracious and kind to me. Her passing has taught me something. Life is so short and so fragile, every moment counts, this is not a rehearsal.. There will never be anyone like her.. RIP Sridevi. Raveena Tandon: Difficult to say goodbye to someone who was so larger than life itself.. you will always be missed my friend Sridevi.

Aanand L Rai: Heroes get remembered but legends never die. Sridevi forever. Divya Khosla Kumar: Mein toh unse tabse pyaar Karti hoon Jabse mein five saal ki thi (I love her since I was five-years-old) - ‘Lamhe’ My favorite Sridevi dialogue and the one which so well resonates my hearts feelings for her. Shekhar Kapur: Comic timing in a blink of an eyelid. Even As I grieve for Sridevi I cou’dn’t help admiring her amazing comic timing. ‘on’t know a single actor in the world that could have pulled this scene off like she did -- Sridevi Charlie Chaplin sequence. Aditi Rao Hydari: Shaken and shocked beyond words... RIP Srideviji. She will truly shine forever... prayers and condolences to her family and fans. Varun Dhawan: An icon, legend and superstar actor who was a big inspiration for me. Really shocked with this news. She was always so nice and encouraging. RIP Srideviji. Prayers. The star of such classics as Mr India, Chandni, ChaalBaaz and Sadma, Sridevi worked in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi languages. Her acting career began at the age of four and by 13 she was cast in the adult role of a woman avenging her lover’s death. Sridevi debuted as a lead actress in a Bollywood film in 1978, soon becoming one of India’s biggest film stars. She was considered one of the very few Indian female superstars capable of huge box-office success without the support of a male hero. (BBC/IANS)

he head of Reading and Leeds festivals has responded after fans branded this year’s line up as the “worst ever”. The first wave of acts for the twin festivals was announced earlier this month, with Fall Out Boy, Kendrick Lamar and Kings Of Leon taking top billing. But the line-up soon faced backlash from fans, with some claiming that it was a far cry from the festival’s strong association with guitar bands. Others criticised the apparent lack of gender equality, claiming that the festival had a substantial lack of female acts on offer. Now, Festival Boss Melvin Benn has responded for the first time, claiming that the line-up is an accurate representation of current musical trends. “The key thing about any festival is that you don’t stand still,” Benn told the BBC. “I’m ver y clear on that.” He added: “You can’t keep drumming up the same acts and expect people to continue to come and see them. “Festivals have to be a reflection of what the public are listening to.” As for gender equality, Benn remains sceptical of a new initiative, announced by PRS for music, that will see 45 festivals working together to achieve a 50/50 gender balance by 2022. “Is that the right way to go about it – to say it’s got to be 50/50? I don’t know that it is”, he said. Last year, Festival Republic also announced the launch of ReBalance, a new initiative that will address the gender imbalance in the music industry. (NME)

he New York studio co-founded by disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein is to file for bankruptcy after talks to sell its assets to an investor group collapsed, reports say. Talks ended two weeks ago when the New York attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein Company. Directors were quoted as saying bankruptcy was the only viable option. Weinstein faces dozens of allegations of sexual abuse, including rape, but denies non-consensual sex. “The Weinstein Company has been engaged in an active sale process in the hopes of preserving assets and jobs,” the board said in a statement reported by several US newspapers. “Today, those discussions concluded without a signed agreement.” The statement said “an orderly bankruptcy process” was the “only viable option to maximise the company’s remaining value”. The civil rights lawsuit against the company alleges that Weinstein sexually harassed and abused women employed by the studio for years, as well as making

verbal threats to kill staff members. It accuses senior executives at the company, including Mr Weinstein’s brother Robert, of failing to prevent the mistreatment of staff despite being presented with evidence. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is seeking an unspecified sum to cover damages, plus penalties, for victims of alleged abuse. A lawyer for Mr Weinstein has said a “fair investigation” will show that many of the allegations are without merit, while the company’s board of directors has said many of the allegations relating to the board are “inaccurate”. The Weinstein Company: Biggest US box-office gross successes: Django Unchained (2012) ($162.8m) The King’s Speech

(2010) ($138.8m) Silver Linings Playbook (2012) ($132.1m) Inglourious Basterds (2009) ($120.5m) The Butler (2013) ($116.6m) The allegations against Weinstein first surfaced in October last year, when the New York Times published a story detailing decades of allegations of sexual harassment against Weinstein. Since then, more than 50 women, among them some of the biggest names in Hollywood, have accused the film producer of sexual assault, harassment, abuse and rape. In the wake of the allegations, Weinstein was sacked by the board of his company. He is under investigation by UK and US police, but no criminal charges have been brought. (BBC)

BVB denied entry to Canada; Vancouver chow cancelled

os Angeles rockers Black Veil Brides (BVB) have been forced to cancel their appearance at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia after being denied entry to Canada. The band said in a statement: “This morning we arrived at the Canadian border in order to gain access to a country that we have not only played countless shows in but also recorded an album and spent a great deal of time in over the years. Instead, several members of our tour were denied entry, berated and treated with utter contempt by the agents on duty.

“We have been touring internationally for a decade and have never experienced such a lack of civility at any border crossing or passport control in any country we have ever visited. “We have a fantastic relationship with our Canadian fans and it’s with a very heavy heart that we must share that tonight’s show in Vancouver will be cancelled. Asking Alexandria will continue on and still perform tonight as scheduled. We encourage everyone to still go to the show and have a great time. (Blabbermouth)

t’s enough to make a grown man cry: The Rolling Stones are starting up their first UK tour since 2006. Mick, Keith and the band will play five stadium dates as part of their No Filter tour this May and June. “It’s such a joy to play with this band,” said Keith Richards. “We’re only just getting started really.” The band last played the UK five years ago, with headline performances at Glastonbury and the BST Festival, but they haven’t toured here for 12 years. They promised to play hits including Satisfaction, Paint It Black, Tumbling Dice and Brown Sugar but said each night would feature “a couple of unexpected tracks and randomly selected surprises from their formidable arsenal of songs” The group kick off the European leg of their tour at Dublin’s Croke Park on 17

May, before playing the London Stadium on 22 May. Other dates include Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, the Principality Stadium in Cardiff and London’s Twickenham Stadium. “We are looking forward to getting back onstage in the summer,” said Mick Jagger. “It’s always exhilarating going to cities we haven’t played for quite a while.” “The Stones audience is the glue that keeps us together,” added drummer Charlie Watts. “The best and most satisfying moment is when you are reaching the end of the show and they are

all going nuts.” The band broke box office records on their 2017 European tour, with box office receipts of up to $11.7 million (£8.3 million). Four of the dates - in Germany, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands - became the highest-grossing concert in that country’s history. Prices for the 2018 tour have yet to be revealed, but the cheapest seats for last year’s tour started at €99 (£86). Fan club members can buy tickets for the UK dates from Tuesday 27 February, with the general sale starting on Friday. (BBC)

101 designed elephants at first Elephant Parade India

oliticians, celebrities, artists and designers came together on Monday at Gateway of India here, where, in a stunning display, 101 artistic elephants have been assembled to celebrate the launch of the first Elephant Parade India. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the parade along with Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, and Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and Parade Ambassador Poonam Mahajan. “Having worked as an environmentalist and animal lover for so long, I was thrilled to be approached by the Elephant Family to support the same cause which we have been working on with People K Y M C

for Animals for Asiatic Elephants. It’s important to us as over the past 100 years we’ve lost 90 per cent of Asian Elephants, and now as nature, the environment and human beings all coexist together, awareness is now coming, and it is time for action. “By showcasing these beautifully painted 101 elephants by renowned artists and designers all across

the city of Mumbai we are bringing everyone together to increase that awareness. Through this initiative we’d like to raise significant funds to help India’s 101 corridors for elephants, and build the crucial rescue centres around the forests that are so needed. This wonderful art exhibition we have launched is the first step and the exhibition is open to all Mumbaikars,”

Mahajan said in a statement. Created as part of the UK India Year of Culture, Elephant Parade India is organised by Elephant Family, an international NGO dedicated to protecting the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild. The elephants will be paraded across the city in a series of public art exhibitions and simultaneously be sold at an online auction on Paddle8, going live on Wednesday. The sales generated through the online auction will raise funds to secure 101 crucial Indian elephant corridors, the pathways that elephants depend upon to get from one forest feeding ground to the next. (IANS)

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PSG stroll towards French title

PSG players celebrate after scoring a goal against Marseille.

PARIS, Feb 26 (Agencies): Paris St Germain continued their stroll towards the French title with a 3-0 home win against bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille on Sunday but forward Neymar left the field on a stretcher late in the game as they extended their Ligue 1 lead to 14 points. Kylian Mbappe, a Rolando own goal and Edinson Cavani put the capital side on 71 points from 27 games after a clinical performance at the Parc des

Princes in an ill-tempered game in which the hosts got six yellow cards and the visitors five. PSG finished with 10 men after Neymar was carried off with a suspected ankle injury eight minutes from time after coach Unai Emery had already made his three replacements. “We showed that it’s a very special match for us and we got an excellent result,” Emery said. “The injury to Neymar was the only negative. We hope it’s nothing serious, but

we have to wait for further medical exams.” The coach said initial tests showed it was a twisted ankle but he added further exams would reveal if there was more serious damage. The Paris club will now sweat over his availability for the March 6 Champions League game with Real Madrid. PSG lost the first leg of the last 16 tie 3-1 in Spain on Feb 14 but Emery was optimistic his worldrecord signing would be fit

WADA backs IOC decision on Russian Olympic Committee’s status

M o s c ow, F e b 2 6 (IANS): The World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) agrees with the decision of the International Olympic Committees Executive Board on the status of the Russian Olympic Committee, WADA said in a statement. The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee decided on Sunday not to reinstate the membership of the ROC by the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, reports Tass news agency. The IOC Executive Board said the suspension of the ROC would be considered again once the Doping Free Sports Unit (DFSU) confirmed that no additional AntiDoping Rule Violations (ADRVs) were committed by members of the Olympic Athletes from Russia

delegation. Two Russian athletes, curler Alexander Krushelnitsky and bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva, were earlier accused of violating anti-doping rules at the PyeongChang Games. Later, the Olympic Athletes of Russia Implementation Review Panel head, Nicole Hoevertsz, told Tass the IOC may make its decision on reinstating the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee in early March. “The World Anti-Doping Agency acknowledges the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) decision today not to lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee for the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018,” the statement said. “WADA notes that subject to the continued compliance with

sports

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, FEBrUARY 27, 2018

the IOC Executive Board decision of December 5 2017, the suspension of the ROC is considered to be lifted once the Doping Free Sport Unit of the Global Association of International Sports Federations has confirmed that there are no additional AntiDoping Rule Violations by members of the Olympic Athletes from Russia delegation.” On December 5, 2017, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee over alleged violations of anti-doping rules, particularly during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. Russia’s team was banned from participating in the 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea. At the same time, the IOC allowed clean Russian athletes to participate in the Games as “Olympic Athletes of Russia.”

for the return leg. “We must be patient but if I had to say something today then I would say yes, he will play.” Sunday’s result left Marseille in third on 55 points, two behind secondplaced Monaco who were held to a 3-3 draw at Toulouse on Saturday. O ly m p i q u e Lyo n nais were denied their first Ligue 1 win in over a month when St Etienne’s Mathieu Debuchy scored a last-gasp goal to secure a 1-1 away draw in France’s hottest derby. In Paris, Mbappe scored his first league goal since last month when he dribbled past Rolando and found the back of the net with a low cross-shot in the 10th minute. Rolando had more trouble in the 28th as he deflected Neymar’s attempt into his own goal. Marseille failed to threaten and PSG’s Ligue 1 top scorer Cavani added a third for his 24th goal of the season with a shot on the turn from Neymar’s cross 11 minutes into the second half. It was the 13th time Neymar had set up a goal in Ligue 1 this season, beating his previous best of 12 assists in a league season with Barcelona in 2015-16.

Motorcycle ace Marquez extends Honda deal

PARIS, Feb 26 (Agencies): The four-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has extended his current deal with the Honda-Repsol racing team by two years through the 2020 season, the Japanese company said on Monday. The daredevil Spaniard is the youngest rider to have won four top level world titles and had been in pre-season testing of the latest model Honda this week. “With this new extension I can now concentrate fully on the new season,” Marquez said in a Honda statement. Known for his tight cornering skills and go for broke attitude Marquez won the world title in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017 - suffering a broken leg in a fall in 2015.

Schwartzman back in winners’ circle

Edmund takes over Murray as British No 1

Lo n d o n, F e b 2 6 (Agencies): Kyle Edmund has taken over from Andy Murray as the British men’s No 1.Yorkshireman Edmund leapfrogs training partner and Davis Cup team-mate Murray to become Britain’s top-ranked male tennis player in the latest ATP singles rankings. The change comes about after Murray’s points for winning the Dubai Championships in 2016 were eliminated from the calculations. The Scot has not played a competitive match since last year’s Wimbledon and remains sidelined after undergoing surgery on his troublesome hip last month. Edmund, 23, reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January which enabled him to jump from the 49th-ranked player on the tour, up to world No 26. Tennis analyst Barry Cowan says Edmund’s rise has been well deserved but he must now concentrate on making further progress up the world rankings. “It’s big news because Murray has held that position for a long period of time,” said Cowan. “For Kyle, what’s been important is that he’s very much established himself as a top player, and also his world ranking in how he can take his tennis to the next level.”

Diego Schwartzman of Argentina celebrates after winning his final match against Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

Rio de Janeiro, Feb 26 (Agencies): Diego Schwartzman defeated Fer nando Verdasco in commanding fashion to claim the Rio Open and his first ATP Tour title in more than a year. The diminutive Argentinean, whose only previous tournament victory came in Istanbul in 2016, extended his unbeaten record against Verdasco to two matches with a 6-2 6-3 win in the clay-court tournament at Jockey Club Brasileiro. Schwartzman, who will enter the world’s top 20 for the first time on Monday, had defeated France’s Gael Monfils on his way to Sunday’s final and proved too consistent for his Spanish op-

a good match, really solid, and just a few points made the difference.” The first set saw the 21-year-old ninth seed start the stronger of the two players, but he was broken when serving for the opener, only to respond immediately and serve out at the second opportunity. Pouille, 24, secured the only break of the second set in the sixth game on his way to forcing a decider, to the delight of his home supporters. Khachanov prevailed in a tight and tense final set with a decisive break as Pouille served to force a final-set tie-break to secure the championship and back-to-back victories over top-20 players after his semi-final defeat of Tomas Berdych. Pouille, who was aiming to win his sixth career title, was pleased with his week’s efforts and offered

Marseille, Feb 26 (Agencies): Karen Khachanov defeated home favourite Lucas Pouille to claim his second ATP Tour title at the Open 13 Provence. The Russian world No 47 prevented Pouille securing his second title this month in southern France - after the French No 1 won at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier with a determined 7-5 3-6 7-5 success. Khachanov, whose first tournament victory came at the inaugural Chengdu Open in 2016, fired 16 aces to upset his higher ranked opponent in a one-hour and 49-minute encounter. “It is the second title in my career, so I am extremely happy,” said Khachanov. “I just need to keep working and keep going. I think both of us played

lamshire Hospital. “God bless Scott Westgarth. To promote a boxing show and a young man doing a job he loves losing his life, I have no words,” Stefy Bull, Westgarth’s promoter, wrote on social media on

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was a great match,” Pouille said. “Another final is always positive. I hope that I can continue to play well in the next few weeks.”

2ND DEATH ANNIVERSARY

Monday. Spelman also reacted to the news. “Absolutely heartbroken and lost for words, all continue to pray for Scott’s family and the people close to him rest easy my friend,” he said on Twitter.

Loving wife, son, daughter, grandchildren and relatives

Born on : 10/05/1943 Died on : 27/02/2016

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

1ST DEATH ANNIVERSARY of

KEHOSEL KIKHI (27. 02. 2017)

The day God called your name broke our hearts into pieces A feeling of loss so intense we’ve never ever felt this way You always lived life to the full but ours won’t be the same How we wish we could relive those memories But God has a better plan beyond all of our own understandings You heard the voice of Jesus gently calling you from above We could not say “Goodbye” We said “See you Again” For one day we will be together again In that beautiful place for eternal life Always in our hearts Loved Ones

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Ronaldinho

Rio de Janeiro, Feb 26 (IANS): Ronaldinho has delivered a warning to Brazil’s 2018 World Cup rivals, predicting the attacking talisman Neymar will bring the team “a lot of joy” in Russia. “Neymar is our best player at the moment, the man who will give us great joy along with the others,” Ronaldinho, who announced his retirement last

high praise for his Russian counterpart. “It was a good week. Karen is a young player who will be top 20 soon. Congrats to him. Overall it

OF LATE SP. TINY (KHAI SHANGNE) Two years have passed since you left us for your heavenly abode. You will forever remain alive in our hearts with silent tears and memories but this loss has taught us many things. We sill miss you so much Daddy.

Neymar will bring Brazil WC joy: Ronaldinho month, told Globo Esporte, Xinhua reported. Neymar has been in fine form for Paris SaintGermain season, scoring 28 goals in 30 matches after leaving Barcelona for a world record transfer fee of 222 million euros. Ronaldinho said Brazil have rediscovered their old swagger after a harrowing 7-1 semifinal defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup. “I’ll be cheering the team on a lot. It’s a group of great quality, young players, who are already playing at great clubs, meaning they will arrive with a certain level of experience,” Ronaldinho said. Brazil have been drawn in the same group as Costa Rica, Switzerland and Serbia for the June 14-July 15 tournament.

Karen Khachanov of Russia holds his trophy after defeating Lucas Pouille of France at the Open 13 Provence tournament.

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terviewed ringside after his points victory over Dec Spelman in Doncaster and was taken to hospital having deteriorated backstage. The 31-year-old, who had been chasing an English title fight, died in Royal Hal-

family, my friends and my aunt who is having a hard time.” The pair will not have to wait long to meet each other next as the pair have been drawn together in the first round in Acapulco. Elsewhere, wildcard Frances Tiafoe captured his maiden ATP Tour title with victory against Peter Gojowczyk in the Delray Beach Open final to become the youngest American to win an ATP Tour title in 15 years. The 20-year-old, who has already beaten Juan Mar tin del Potro and Denis Shapovalov this season, won 6-1 6-4 against his German counterpart to replace Andy Roddick, who won the 2002 Houston tournament.

Khachanov secures Marseille title

British boxer Westgarth dies after heavyweight bout LONDON , F e b 2 6 (Agencies): British boxer Scott Westgarth has died after falling ill following a heavyweight bout on Saturday. Westgarth looked uncomfortable as he was in-

ponent in the one-hour and twenty-three minute encounter. The 24-year-old reached the fourth round at the Australian Open last month and has maintained his form, despite the switch in surfaces, to secure the title without losing a set. Schwartzman saved eight of nine break point opportunities against his ser ve to underline his fighting qualities and was dominant on the return of serve to break three times in the first set and once in the second. “I know it is not easy to see an Argentine win here. But thanks for the support.” Schwarzman said during the trophy presentation. “This title is for my

Born on : 01-03-1948 – Died on : 24-02-2018 We would like to thank and share our heartfelt gratitude to all the people who stood by us and supported us in various forms at the demise of our beloved Late S. Kaikho Mao, husband of Mrs. S. Amongla, on 24-02-2018. We would like to convey special thanks to:1. Individuals, relatives, neighbours and friends. 2. Mao Baptist Church Kohima 3. Mao AG Fellowship 4. Tsiepfutsiepfhe Council Kohima 5. Mao Union Kohima 6. AG Youth 7. Mao Baptist Church, Rabunamei 8. Rabunamei Village Council and Youth 9. Asufü Christian Institute, Punanamei: Principal, Staff and Students 10. Eastern Theological College, Jorhat. 11. Dr. Loli Noba, MS General Surgery, Eden Medical Centre Dimapur. Loving wife, children, in-laws & grandchildren K-524 K Y M C

sports

Nagaland Post, Dimapur TUESDAY, FEBrUARY 27, 2018

Vikas adjudged Man City beat Arsenal to win League Cup Comeback-man ‘Best Boxer’ at Strandja

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany lifts the Carabao Cup at Wembley following their 3-0 victory over Arsenal.

LO N D O N, F e b 2 6 ( Ag e n c i e s ) : M a n chester City rolled back the years on Sunday to win the first trophy of the Pep Guardiola era with three of their veteran players scoring in an emphatic 3-0 win against Arsenal at Wembley. Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva were all on the scoresheet as City lifted the trophy for the fifth time -- only Liverpool have won it more. It was an stirring response from the Premier League leaders after their bid for a historic quadruple

came to an end with a shock FA Cup defeat to League One Wigan on Monday. “It’s important,” said Guardiola. “We’re so happy, and a big congratulations to all of Manchester City, and our fans. This trophy is for Manchester City and not for me. The first half we were not good, there were a lot of mistakes. In the second half we played with a lot more courage and personality -we were outstanding.” City’s first goal, in the first half, came in unlikely circumstances for a side lauded for their slick

passing style. A long punt upfield from goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was controlled by Sergio Aguero, who coolly lifted the ball over a helpless David Ospina in the Arsenal goal. Captain Kompany doubled the lead in the second half with just over half an hour to go and Silva put the game out of the reach of Arsene Wenger’s team. The runaway Premier League leaders will be hoping to use the victory as a springboard to greater glory as the season approaches its final stretch but defeat for Wenger means he has never lifted the League

Cup. On a bitterly cold, clear day in London, City, in their light blue kit, took control early, playing measured football and enjoying the lion’s share of possession against a side who have made Wembley a second home in recent years. But Arsenal went closest to taking the lead within the first 10 minutes, with new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang seeing his scuffed shot saved by a sprawling Bravo. Seconds later Aguero found the side netting after an incisive break from City, who looked short of their fluent best.

But it was Aguero who broke the deadlock, controlling the ball as Arsenal’s defence failed to deal with the danger. The Argentine striker has scored in each of his past five games in all competitions against Arsenal and this was his 199th goal in City colours. It was an unusual goal for Guardiola’s team, who have been lauded for their silky passing game this season, which has already seen them hailed as one of the finest sides in Premier League history. City made a bright start to the second half and captain Kompany was in the right place to steer home Ilkay Gundogan’s shot from the edge of the box after a Kevin De Bruyne corner in the 58th minute. It was no more than City deserved against a lacklustre Arsenal and the Belgian celebrated wildly in front of his own fans. Just seven minutes later Arsenal were left with a mountain to climb when Silva smashed the ball past Ospina into the far corner of the net to make it 3-0. For mer Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola kept faith with reserve goalkeeper Bravo for the Wembley showpiece ahead of first-choice Ederson. Bravo has played in every round of the competition so far.

NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (PTI): It was double delight for Indian boxer Vikas Krishan at the Strandja Memorial Tournament as he didn’t just claim a gold medal but was also adjudged the best boxer of the event in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia -- a first for an Indian. The 26-year-old defeated world championships bronze-medallist Troy Isley of the USA in the middle-weight (75kg) finals to claim his first medal since the Asian Championships bronze last year in April-May. It was a massive turnaround for Vikas, who had not just been laid low by a hand injury but had also found himself in the disciplinary line of fire after giving a walkover in his Asian Championships semifinal last year. “It is a big comeback for me and I feel I am a much stronger boxer now. Maintaining my weight at an optimum level, which used to be a problem earlier, is no longer an issue for me. I have also improved my technique and endurance,” Vikas said. “The hand injury was also bothering me for a quite a while but I have got a grip on that too. So things are looking bright. I used to sometimes deflate after the first round but

Vikas Krishan

that’s no longer the case, I am in a good space,” added the boxer, who is currently training with former teammate Jay Patil. Along with Vikas, A m i t Pa n g h a l ( 4 9 k g ) claimed a gold medal, rounding off India’s best ever performance at the tournament. The country ended with a whopping 11 medals -- five from men and six from women boxers. In all, the contingent clinched two gold, three silver and six bronze medals. “I beat some good opponents in the run-up to the final and that is a massive boost for my confidence,” said Vikas.

The former Asian Games gold medal winner, who is also a world championships bronze-medallist, said he also cleared some mental cobwebs to get back in form. “I read a quote by a chess player a few days back in which he said ‘I started winning after I realised that even my opponent is as scared of losing as I am’. I liked it, in fact it helped me in understanding that it’s no big deal to be anxious before a fight,” he said. “Now if my rival is as anxious as I am, I can certainly capitalise on that, which I did in this tournament,” he added.

maintains PyeongChang to host largest Winter Paralympics Shooting not scrapped from Federer top spot in ATP 2022 CWG: CEO Grevemberg rankings

David Grevemberg

which a Commonwealth Games Host City has the choice to include on its Sports Programme should it so wish, and if it feels the sport is in line with its transformative ambitions for the Games,” Grevemberg added. Even though shooting remains an “optional sport”, Grevemberg termed reports of its scrapping as an “inaccurate” piece of news. “Though it was already an optional sport, its status (as an optional sport) was reconfirmed by the entire

Commonwealth of Nations at the 2015 CGF General Assembly. It is wholly inaccurate to suggest that the CGF has ‘scrapped’ shooting from the 2022 programme. One of the unique benefits a future Games Host City partner has is the ability to tailor the Games in line with its very own ambitions and aspirations,” Grevemberg said. Shooting’s status as a CWG sport has been a matter of speculation for a while with Birmingham expressing its reservations about putting together facilities to host the event. If shooting is axed from the Games roster, it would come as a massive blow to India, which has done quite well in the sport. India is second in the CWG’s alltime medal list for shooting, having 118 medals so far -- 56 of them gold.

M ad r i d, F e b 2 6 (IANS): Switzerland’s Roger Federer stayed on top of the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals world singles rankings released on Monday with 10,105 points ahead of Spain’s Rafael Nadal. Fe d e r e r, 2 0 - t i m e Grand Slam champion, reclaimed the No.1 position for the first time since October 29, 2012 last week when he overtook Nadal following his victory at the Rotterdam Open, reports Efe. Croatia’s Marin Cilic was third, followed by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Germany’s Alexander Zverev. South Africa’s Kevin Anderson and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro jumped to the eighth and ninth positions respectively, while United States’ Jack Sock fell to 10th.

International Paralympic Committee, will have two athletes in cross-country skiing. Russia has registered 30 para athletes in four sports, but due to the doping scandal, they will compete under the name Neutral Paralympic Athlete (NPA), according to the organisers. The organisers added

Atletico Madrid rout Sevilla 5-2; Valencia win Madrid, Feb 26 (Agencies): Antoine Griezmann scored a hat trick as Atletico Madrid closed the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to seven points after beating Sevilla 5-2 at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Diego Costa gave Atletico Madrid the lead in the 29th minute as he pounced on a poor back pass by the Sevilla defence to slam the ball past Sergio Rico. Griezmann made it 2-0 with a stunning finish three minutes before half-time picking up a headed clearance on the edge of the box and curling his shot into the top left hand corner. The visitors wrapped the victory up five minutes after half-time with both goalscorers involved. Costa was brought down by Rico and Griezmann converted the penalty to give Madrid a 3-0 lead. Another defensive howler gifted Atletico a fourth when Griezmann intercepted Gabriel Mercado’s pass to his keeper and back-heeled it for the supporting Koke to score. With nine minutes remain-

Antoine Griezmann scored his first hat-trick this season as Atletico Madrid hammered Sevilla.

ing, the France international completed his hat trick slotting home after being set up by Saul Niguez. Sevilla managed to score twice in the final five minutes through Pablo Sarabia and Nolito before being denied a penalty in injury

time. Meanwhile, Valencia battled Real Sociedad to a 2-1 victory, although the latter squad was considerably better than the home team during many stretches of the match. It was Valencia’s third consecutive win on Sunday.

Santi Mina got the home team on the board in the 34th minute on a header, after a nice pass by Martin Montoya, and the game was 1-0 at the half, but Mikel Oyarzabal came back to notch the equaliser in the 53rd minute, discom-

bobulating Valencia for a time. It was Mina again, however, 14 minutes later who scored what proved to be the winning goal after Real Sociedad’s goaltender, Toño Ramirez, was unable to stop a low crossing shot by Rodrigo into the area.

Mina is Valencia’s top scorer with 11 tallies so far this season. Valencia is now eight points in front of No. 5-ranked Villarreal, which blanked Getafe 1-0 earlier in the day, but two points behind third-place Real Madrid and six points in back of Atletico Madrid. Barcelona leads the Spanish First Division table, 10 points ahead of Atletico. After the loss at Mestalla Stadium before some 37,000 spectators, Real Sociedad is now in 14th place. Athletic Bilbao ended a six-game winless streak, beating 10-man Malaga 2-1. Youssef En-Nesyri opened the scoring for Malaga in the 13th minute, but Markel Susaeta netted the equaliser just four minutes later on Sunday, reports Efe. Mikel San Jose scored the second goal for Athletic one minute before the end of the first half. Last-place Malaga fought to score the equalizer, but forward En-Nesyri failed to convert a penalty kick in the 61st minute. With the home win, Athletic is in 12th place, with 31 points.

that three nations - North Korea, Georgia and Tajikistan - will make their first Winter Paralympics appearances. The PyeongChang Paralympics will also offer the most gold medals in Winter Paralympics history with 80, eight more than at Sochi 2014. The Winter Paralympic Games will take place

at the same venues as the Winter Olympic Games, which ended its 17-day journey Sunday. The opening and closing ceremonies, as well as most snow sports, will be staged in PyeongChang, while alpine skiing events will be contested in Jeongseon, 215 km east of Seoul. Gangneung, a coastal city in Gangwon Province, will host all ice sports during the Paralympics. At the PyeongChang Paralympics, 78 gold medals are up for grabs in four snow sports - para alpine skiing, para snowboard, para biathlon and para cross-country skiing. Two ice sports - para ice hockey and wheelchair curling - offer one gold medal each. South Korea aims to finish inside the top 10 with four medals - one gold, one silver and two bronze medals - at the Winter Paralympics at home.

IPL: Ashwin named KXIP captain M ohal i , F e b 2 6 (IANS): India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named the captain of the Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 31-year-old offspinner was picked up for Rs. 7.60 crores during the 2018 auction. He was a part of the Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2016-2017 season and represented Chennai Super Kings from 2009 to 2015. “Ravichandran Ashwin has officially succeeded the throne as the new captain of Kings XI Punjab

for the upcoming Indian Premier League season. He will lead the pride of Punjab into battle in the hopes of getting them to their maiden title triumph,” the Mohali franchise announced. Ashwin promised fans that the franchise will play a brand of cricket that both players and fans can be proud about. “I feel honoured to be trusted with the responsibility of leading such a talented bunch of cricketers,” Ashwin told kxip.in “I am confident of bringing out the best out of team mates. This is indeed a proud moment for me.”

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NEW DELHI, Feb 26 (PTI): Shooting has not been “scrapped” from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the CGF said on Monday, insisting that the sport continues to remain in the optional category. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) CEO David Grevemberg refuted reports that shooting has been dropped from the Birmingham Games roster on the organisers’ request. “In response to erroneous media reports, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) would like to clarify that shooting has not been ‘scrapped’ from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England,” Grevemberg told PTI in an official response. “In no uncertain terms, the CGF wishes to clarify that shooting is, and always has been, an optional sport

Seoul, Feb 26 (IANS): The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games will be the largest Winter Paralympics in history, local organisers said on Monday. PyeongChang’s organising committee said 570 athletes from 49 countries had registered for the March 9-18 competition as of Saturday, reports Yonhap news agency. The 2014 Sochi Paralympics had previously been the biggest, with 547 athletes from 45 countries. According to the organisers, the United States has the greatest number of athletes at 68, followed by Canada at 52 and Japan at 38. Host nation South Korea will send a record 36 athletes competing in all six sports to the Winter Olympics. North Korea, which has been granted an exceptional invitation by the

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