January 23, 2021

Page 1

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXXI No. 47

DIMAPUR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2021 Pages 12 ` 5.00

Mumbai FC beat SC East Bengal 1-0; tops table

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sports, Page 12

Govt-farmers talks hit roadblock

Farmers threaten to intensify protest

Govt says no further concessions to offer NEW DELHI, JAN 22 (PTI): The government’s negotiations with representatives of thousands of protesting farmers hit a roadblock on Friday as the unions squarely rejected the Centre’s proposal to put three contentious laws on hold, while the Agriculture Minister blamed external “forces” for their rigid stand and said no resolution is possible when the sanctity of agitation is lost. Unlike the last 10 rounds of talks, the 11th round saw both the sides hardening their positions and could not even reach a decision on the next date for the meeting. The government asked unions to revert by Saturday in case they agree to the suspension proposal and the talks can continue only thereafter. This followed a big climbdown made by the Centre in the last round of talks on Wednesday when it

Bird flu outbreaks in 12 states: Govt Spl. Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN 22 (NPN): Outbreaks of Avian Influenza (Bird flu) have been confirmed in nine States (Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab) for poultry birds and in 12 states (Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab) for crow/migratory/ wild birds till January 22, 2021. According to the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, control and containment operations (cleaning and disinfection) were going on in the affected epicentres of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala. The ministry stated that all states were reporting to the department on daily basis regarding the control measures adopted by them based on the Revised Action Plan for Preparedness, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza 2021. It said that the department was taking continuous efforts to generate awareness about Avian through platforms including social media platforms.

This is it!

“Even after Unlock, people are yet to unlock their wallets.” K Y M C

Farmers take out a tractor march as part of the preparations for their planned R-Day tractor parade in Delhi, Friday. (PTI)

offered to suspend the laws for 1-1.5 years and form a joint committee to find solutions, in return for protesting farmers going back to their respective homes. Farmer leaders, however, said they would settle for nothing less than a complete repeal of the laws, enacted in September last year, which they find pro-corporate, and a legal guarantee for the procurement of crops at government-fixed minimum support price. The unions said they will intensify their agitation now and alleged that the government’s approach was not right during the meeting. They also said their tractor rally will go ahead as per the plans on January 26 and

unions have told the police that it is the government’s responsibility to maintain peace. While the meeting lasted for almost five hours, the two sides sat face to face for not even half an hour. The three Central ministers, including Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, urged the representatives to reconsider their stand, after which the two sides went for a break that lasted for more than three hours. After the meeting, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said the discussions have broken down as the unions rejected the government’s proposal. Another farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said the min-

isters said the suspension period can be increased to up to two years, but the unions remained firm on their demand for a complete repeal and a legal guarantee for MSP. Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the farmers that they have been given all possible options and they must discuss internally the proposal of suspending the laws. Tomar said the unions have been asked to revert till Saturday if they agree to the government’s proposal for putting the laws on hold and forming a joint committee to reach a solution, after which the talks can continue. Farmer leaders allege conspiracy hatched to kill 4 of them: Protesting farmer leaders Friday alleged that a conspiracy has been hatched to kill four of them and create disturbance during their proposed tractor rally on January 26. At a late night press conference at Singhu border, the farmer leaders presented a person who claimed that during the tractor rally, his team members were allegedly asked to pose as policemen and baton-charge on the crowd.

Biden launches ‘100 days mask challenge’

nagalandpostofficial nagalandpostofficial

Fuel prices rise again, reach new highs DIMAPUR, JAN 22 (NPN): State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) increased prices of petrol and diesel after a two-day hiatus on Friday reaching new all-time high levels. Price of petrol increased between 22-25 paise per litre across all major metros while diesel price increase ranged 23-27 paise per litre. After today’s rate revision, petrol is now priced at Rs 85.45 per litre in Delhi and diesel price rose 25 paise per litre to Rs 75.63 per litre. According to IOCL website, petrol price in Dimapur increased to Rs.87.84 per litre and diesel price rose to Rs.78.62 per litre. In the state capital Kohima, petrol price was hiked to Rs. 88.81 per litre while diesel price soared to Rs.79.31 per litre. According to IANS report, increase in retail price of auto fuel came on a day when global crude prices showed some signs of softening declining by less than one per cent to close to $ 55 a barrel.

international, Page 9

In-service doctors to sport black armbands as protest from Monday Correspondent

KOHIMA, JAN 22 (NPN): Nagaland In-service Doctors’ Association (NIDA) members will sport black armbands from Monday onwards in protest against the State government’s lack of response to their demands. Announcing this at a press conference at Hotel Japfü here on Friday after an emergency meeting, NIDA president Dr E Phyantsuthung said the association had issued and reissued several memorandums to the government asking it to implement the commitment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He recalled that, citing shortage of doctors in the country, Modi had during his speech at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on May 25, 2016 declared raising the age of retirement (superannuation) of government doctors from the present 60 to 65 in order to meet the shortfall of doctors faced all over the country. He claimed that this decision has been imple-

NIDA members during the press conference in Kohima. (NP)

mented in every State, including the North-eastern States. However Nagaland was yet to implement this and the State government had cited vague reasons as to why this could not be implemented, he disclosed. The NIDA president said the association had submitted a memorandum to the government in 2017, but did not follow it up due to several problems plaguing the State then as NIDA thought it would be wise to not pursue the issue then. Thereafter, the general elections of 2018 followed, he pointed out. He explained that the issue thus remained unresolved, even as COVID-19 pandemic broke out for which the doctors had to focus on the pandemic.

Phyantsuthung said as the government failed to respond to another NIDA memorandum submitted in October 2020, the same memorandum was resubmitted on January 7, 2021, which also went unheeded. “All these have forced us to register our resentment against the State government by putting on black arm-bands while carrying out our daily duties at our respective places of posting,” he remarked. And staying true to its motto “Service to Humanity”, he said NIDA would ensure that no healthcare activities were disrupted during the entire duration of the symbolic protest, adding that all doctors would carry out their regular du(Cont’d on p-8) ties.

GHC notice on State govt over non- After row at meeting, Cong decides State COVID tally 12072 implementation of SBM scheme to elect new party president in June COVID-19 STATUS AS ON jan 22, 2021

DIMAPUR, JAN 22 (NPN): Gauhati High Court (GHC) has issued notice to Centre, Nagaland government and others in a plea filed by the petitioner-- Society (Global Trust Club), Chizami on the issue of non-implementation of schemes under Swachh Bharat Mission in the State of Nagaland. According to LiveLaw report, the bench of Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Achintya Malla Bujor Barua heard the plea (public interest litigation), alleging non-implementation of schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission in Nagaland in spite of funds being given by the Centre for the said purposes. The petitioner alleged that as a result of this, development work, particularly relating to supply of drinking water to rural areas and other such works of public purposes were not being properly implemented in the State of Nagaland.

After hearing the parties, the Court, while issuing notice of motion returnable in four weeks, said: “We are, prima facie, of the opinion that the petition raises an issue of public importance. Consequently, we issue notices in this case.” The respondents-- Union of India, State government represented by secretary Public Health Engineering (PHE) department, Chief Engineer PHE, executive engineer PHE and SDO PHE, PHEK SubDivision have been asked to file their counter affidavit within a period of three weeks. It may be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ (Clean India Mission) on 2nd October 2014 to accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put the focus on sanitation. The ‘Abhiyan’ was launched on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 145th birth anniversary.

NEW DELHI, JAN 22 (AGENCIES): A new Congress president will be elected in June after five state elections, it was decided at a party meeting today after an argument between two groups, during which Rahul Gandhi reportedly said: “Once and for all, finish it and move on.” The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has decided that there will be a new elected Congress president in June 2021, KC Venugopal told reporters after a meeting of the party’s top decision-making body. At the CWC meeting, senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik and P Chidambaram reportedly asked for immediate organisational polls. They are among the Congress leaders who have raised uncomfortable questions over the party’s leadership and management in

recent months after multiple election defeats. Ranged against them were the so-called Gandhi loyalists -- Ashok Gehlot, Amarinder Singh, AK Antony, Tariq Anwar and Oommen Chandy, who said the Congress president’s election should be held after polls in five states including Bengal and Tamil Nadu. One leader commented: “Whose agenda are we working towards? The BJP doesn’t talk about internal elections like our party? The first priority is to fight the state elections then organisational elections.” Finally, the second group prevailed. The dates for the election of a Congress president and the CWC will be announced shortly and Sonia Gandhi will take the final decision, leaders said. The last election to the CWC was held in 1997. The next president will

be chosen at a time the leadership of the Gandhis has come under unprecedented scrutiny and attacks within. Sonia Gandhi, who took over as interim president in 2019 after her son Rahul Gandhi stepped down over the Congress’s national election drubbing in 2019, has made it clear that she is not in the running. So has Rahul Gandhi, who has stubbornly refused to reconsider his resignation and has maintained that a non-Gandhi should be given a chance. But while the Gandhis have declined the top job, they continue to be the centre of power in the Congress. No big decision is taken without their signoff. A section of leaders have, since last year, raised their voice against the leadership but they have failed to draw the support of the party at large.

AsACTIVE CASES Death MiympRecovunder Symptomatic Death grattomered Investied atic Mild Moderate Severe gation Dimapur 32 9 0 1 6287 59 0 74 Kiphire 0 0 0 0 40 1 0 0 Kohima 47 0 3 0 3669 21 0 38 Longleng 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 9 Mokokchung 7 2 1 1 171 3 0 6 Mon 1 0 0 0 593 2 0 9 Peren 0 0 0 0 504 0 0 0 Phek 0 0 0 0 47 0 0 0 Tuensang 0 0 0 0 243 1 0 1 District

Wokha

0

0

0

0

35

1

0

Zunheboto Total

0 87

0 11

0 4

0 2

139 11738

0 88

0 0

Total Cases 6462 41 3777 19 191 605 504 47 245

2

39

3 142 142 12072

*10 deaths not due to Covid-19 *0 deaths under investigation

DIMAPUR, JAN 22 (NPN): Nagaland on Friday reported two new COVID cases-- one each in Dimapur and Kohima, taking the tally 12072. Meanwhile, the distribution across various categories include 4667 cases from the armed forces/police, 1857 returnees, 4976 traced contacts and 572 frontline workers.

India’s virus tally 1,06,25,428

PTI adds: India’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,06,25,428 with 14,545 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, while the recoveries have surged to 1,02,83,708, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll increased to 1,53,032 with 163 fresh fatalities, the Health ministry stated.

Over 12.7L healthcare workers received vax till Jan 22 NH-129A issue: Peren town bodies NEW DELHI, JAN 22 (PTI): Over 12.7 lakh healthcare workers have received COVID-19 vaccine jabs in the country till the evening of the seventh day of the nationwide immunisation as per a provisional report, the Health Ministry said on Friday. It said that on Friday, 2,28,563 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 6 pm through 6,230 sessions, while adding that the final report would be completed by late in the night. “The COVID-19 vaccination programme was conducted successfully on the seventh day of the countrywide massive exercise,” the ministry said. “The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated against COVID19 has surpassed 12.7 lakh (12,72,097) (till 6 pm today) through 24,397 sessions, as per the provisional report,” it said. According to the minis-

try, 267 cases of adverse effect after vaccination (AEFI) have been reported till 6 p.m. on the seventh day of the vaccination drive. Since the launch of the nationwide anti-coronavirus vaccination drive, over 1,110 AEFIs have been reported till now. In Gurgaon, a healthcare worker who had received a coronavirus vaccine six days ago died but officials said there was nothing yet to suggest any link with the inoculation. The 55-yearold woman Rajwanti used to work at the Bhangrola primary health centre and her viscera has been sent for investigation, CMO said. Two health workers in Odisha were admitted to hospital as they reported AEFI after receiving the jabs. The condition of the duo was stated to be stable. Five minor AEFI cases were reported in West Bengal and Assam.

4,480 inoculated across Nagaland till date District Kohima Dimapur Mokokchung Zunheboto Mon Phek Wokha Peren Tuensang Longleng Kiphire Total

Day 6 (22.1.2020) 256

256

DIMAPUR, JAN 22 (NPN): State Health & Family Welfare department Friday informed that 4,480 healthcare workers across the State have been vaccinated till date. In a statement, state immunization officer (UIP) Dr. Ritu Thurr, the vaccine drive was conducted only in Kohima district on Friday

Cumulative (Till date) 823 784 655 435 418 375 367 255 180 114 74 4,480

with special permission from the state. He said that Covishield vaccine was administered across seven session sites in the district and 256 healthcare workers were inoculated without any adverse events. The vaccination drives will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

support dist administration proposal

D I M A P U R , JA N 2 2 (NPN): Five Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) of Peren Town in a memorandum addressed to the Commissioner Nagaland, have reacted to an earlier representation issued “for on behalf of the public of Peren town” by one Pingkam Namdau regarding the NH129A, package 1-A(twolane road from Peren to Dimapur) through the DC Peren. The signatories-- Haisui Lungalang (Head GB Peren Town); Tingbapeung Elu Ndang (president Ward Chairman Peren Town); Pelingrangle (president PTWWO); Nduzeu Herie (president PTYO) and Mireulung Sephe (chairman, Peren Village Council) termed the earlier representation as being “far behind

reality and concocted”. The signatories said they were aware of “certain misinformed elements” trying to sabotage the process of land compensation. According to the memorandum, Namdau and few individuals representing Peren Town public were out to “malign the image of the local assessment committee and CSOs of Peren town” and does not reflect the view of the general public. They said the CSOs of Peren town had unanimously elected the President of Ward Chairman Union Peren Town to represent them as member of Local Assessment Committee so as to work along with the district administration Peren with regard to NH 129A package 1-A on August 31,2020.

The signatories said, under the prevailing circumstances, they fully endorse and support the proposal undertaken by the district administration along with the NHIDCL and the Local Assessment Committee with regard to the construction of the two-lane road within Peren town area as per the popular decision of CSOs and stakeholders. Further, the signatories that they will not entertain nor tolerate any organisation/groups/individuals trying to sabotage the long cherished desire of the general public for good roads. They have further offered “unconditional support and cooperation” with the state government and NHIDCL “to ensure that our common agenda of good road is finally realised.” K Y M C


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