January 7, 2019

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXIX No. 31

DIMAPUR, MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019 Pages 12 ` 5.0

Brexit deal will ‘definitely’ happen: May

Asian Cup: India thrash Thailand 4-1

Aadhaar a game changer, says Jaitley

international, Page 9

sports, Page 12

business, Page 8

All NPF charges baseless: NDPP

DIMAPUR, JAN 6 (NPN): Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has dismissed outright the allegation made by opposition NPF that it (NDPP) was attempting to poach on NPF MLAs and termed them as “nothing but public display of insecurity on their own elected representatives”.

NDPP media & communication committee also termed as “wild and false” the allegations made by the Leader of Opposition (LoO) T.R. Zeliang that the PDA government had misused VDB funds. NDPP said the allegation lacked factual authenticity and truth and was politically motivated.

On the issue of NDPP trying to poach NPF MLAs, the media & communication committee (MCC) refuted it and instead said that it was “an open secret” that NPF MLAs were highly frustrated and restless for having to sit in the opposition for almost one year.

NDPP instead advised NPF to concentrate on keeping its flock together other than raise false allegations.

It also stated that by raising the issue in public domain, NPF only exposed how it used “threat and intimida-

Rajnath to head BJP’s manifesto committee for Lok Sabha polls NEW DELHI, JAN 6 (AGENCIES): The BJP on Sunday appointed senior leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley as the head of 20-member ‘sankalp patra’ (manifesto) committee and publicity wing respectively for the Lok Sabha polls as its president Amit Shah formed 17 groups in preparation for the elections.

Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan are the other members of the committee tasked with preparing the party’s manifesto, a statement said.

Jaitley will also be a member of this committee. Union minister Nitin Gadkari will head a committee which will reach out to social and volunteer organisations while his Cabinet colleague Sushma Swaraj will head a group that will produce literature for the polls, it added.

Prasad will head the party’s media group while Union minister Prakash Javadekar will lead the wing which will organise meetings of intellectuals.

The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May with the BJP under Narendra Modi seeking re-election.

This is it!

“Seems we in UP have voted for a government for cows.”

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tion to keep its party rank and file, including its elected members in order.”

Further, NDPP said NPF should be the last to question the PDA government over instilling confidence and security in the minds of the people since the people still recalled the kind of governance under DANIII for the last four years; such as the “tumultuous intra-party political upheavals” never before experienced in the last 55 years that “invariably denied the people of the state their rights.”

NDPP also pointed out that it was during the NPF regime that the severest of public outrage was witnessed over ULB polls which also led to the deaths of two “promising young lives.”

NDPP said these undermined the NPF’s own motto “Fide Non Armis” (By Faith, Not Arms) because NPF leaders “could not keep their commitment to the wishes of their people”.

NDPP also hit out at NPF for claiming achievements for ongoing road projects which it said again highlighted “the selfish attitude of NPF” and a public admittance that it (NPF) was a party for accolades

and not welfare of people.

NDPP said it had reiterated time and again that any development for the state was for people of the state regardless of which party was in power. Further it reiterated its commitment to work for fulfilling the needs and wants of people and not to indulge in “petty selfish political dramatics.”

NDPP reminded NPF that though PDA was still trying to overcome the huge financial burden left behind by the previous NPF-led DAN-III government, it was trill trying to provide necessary development to cater to the welfare of people. While totally refuting the allegations made by NPF that PDA government had “parked” VDB funds to the tune of Rs.96 crore, NDPP said it has brought positive changes in keeping its promises with the cooperation and contribution from the people.

NDPP extended New Year greeting to the people of Nagaland and placed on record its unwavering commitment to the development of Nagaland, the welfare of the people and good governance through accountability, transparency and sustainability.

RD dept rejoinder to NPF allegation

Rural Development department denied outright any misuse/misappropriation of VDB funds (Grant-in-Aid) as alleged by opposition NPF. Rural Development director Imlimeren Jamir in a statement clarified that release of Rs 96 crore was meant for restoration of backlogs for the periods 2014-15, 2015-16 and 201718 and not as claimed.

The director also explained that criteria for household allocation was Rs 66,000 (lumpsum) for 0-66 households and Rs 1,000 per household for 67 and above households.

The director also pointed out that once the department made allocation as per VDB Model Rules 1980, VDBs have to formulate their own schemes and submit to the block.

After satisfying all procedures and formalities, the block tenders a full report to the district planning & development board (DP&DB) for deliberation and approval.

On receipt of clearance from the DP&DB, the

Director explained that the block prepares technical estimates and submit these to the directorate, along with utilisation certificates, audit reports and VDB welfare fund fixed deposit of the last release.

Thereafter, the engineering wing of the directorate scrutinises the technical estimates and forward them for approval. After approval of the same, the directorate then prepares and sends demand draft to the deputy commissioner, who is also the VDB chairman.

The director pointed out that release of fund to VDBs was subject to the procedure explained above. As such, he said that grant-in-aid fund to VDBs could not be misused by the department since the DPDB is responsible for implementation of the VDB schemes.

He disclosed that so far funds for all the blocks in Peren and Dimapur districts and some blocks in Mon had been cleared, while remaining blocks were yet to complete the required formalities.

NSF to impose 11-hr bandh on Jan 8 DIMAPUR, JAN 6 (NPN): Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), as a constituent of North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), has extended support to the umbrella students’ platform-sponsored bandh on January 8.

In a statement issued by its president Kesosul Christopher Ltu and general secretary Imtiyapang Imsong, Naga Students’ Federation announced that it would impose the bandh within its jurisdiction from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day to show its deepest resentment against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to table the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Parliament.

It has asked all its federating units and subordinate bodies to enforce the bandh in their respective jurisdiction, while appealing to all civil society groups, business community and the general public to extend cooperate to the strike.

Medical emergency, administration officials, police, paramilitary personnel and media personnel and students have, however, been exempted from the purview of the bandh,

Warns GoI not to gamble with the future of indigenous people along with pre-scheduled programmes like wedding, conventions and conferences.

While strongly condemning the announcement made by the Prime Minister to table the controversial Bill and push for its passage, NSF warned Gover nment of India against gambling with the future of the indigenous people of the North East.

The federation claimed that as a constituent unit of NESO it had consistently appraised GoI about the detrimental effects if the Bill was adopted by the Parliament.

It pointed out that unabated influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh had posed a serious challenge to the indigenous people of the Northeast.

NSF and NESO representatives had also met JPC on several occasions to express resentment against the Bill, besides pointing

out the detrimental effects on the indigenous people of the Northeast, if the Bill was passed.

CSU backs bandh: Heeding to the call of Naga Students’ Federation, Chakhesang Students’ Union (CSU) has extended support to North East Students’ Organisation-sponsored bandh on January 8 within its jurisdiction against the NDA government’s move to table the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament.

CSU appealed to the district administration, law enforcing agencies, business establishments and all school and colleges to remain closed that day as the Bill posed a threat to rights of indigenous people, Chakhesang Students’ Union president Lavoto Chizo also sought the cooperation and support from student leaders, right-thinking citizens and general public, while asking the student body’s affiliated units and subordinate bodies to remain vigilant and active during the bandh.

Weddings and medical emergency have been exempted from the purview of the bandh, he added.

In Railways’ airport-like plan: No 2 miners die in M’laya; fate of trapped miners uncertain boarding 20 mins before departures Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (PTI): Railways is planning to seal stations just like airports and passengers would have to arrive 15-20 minutes before scheduled departure of trains to complete the process of security checks.

The security plan - with high end technology - has already been put in motion at Allahabad, in anticipation of the Kumbh Mela which begins this month and at Hoobly railway station in Karnataka with a blueprint for 202 more stations ready for implementation, Railway Protection Force Director General Arun Kumar told PTI. “The plan is to seal the railway stations. It is primarily about identifying openings and to determine how many can be closed. There are areas which will be closed through permanent boundary walls, others will be manned by RPF

personnel and yet others will have collapsible gates.

“At each entry point there will be random security checks. However, unlike at airports, passengers need not come hours in advance, but just 15-20 minutes ahead of their departure times to ensure that they are not delayed because of the security process,” he said.

Kumar said that while security will increase, presence of security personnel will not.

“If we are inventing in technology, then manpower requirement will reduce,” he said.

These steps are a part of a security plan under the Integrated Security System (ISS) which was approved in 2016 to strengthen surveillance mechanism at 202 railway stations.

The ISS will comprise

CCTV cameras, access control, personal and baggage screening system and bomb detection and disposal system which together provide multiple checking of passengers and baggage from the point of entry in the station premises till boarding of train. The anticipated cost of the ISS project stands at Rs 385.06 crore.

“The security plan envisages a layered security check where passengers will be scrutinised even before they enter the station premises to ease the pressure at stations during peak hours,” Kumar said.

It will also include realtime face recognition software which will alert the RPF command centre of any known offenders.

Passengers will be checked randomly - every eighth or ninth passenger will undergo the process on his arrival at the station,” he said.

SHILLONG, JAN 6: Two more coal miners were killed after another illegal coal mine collapsed in another fresh coal mine accident in Meghalaya’s East Jain even as the fate of 15 miners, who are trapped inside a flooded coal pit remains uncertain, an official said on Sunday.

The fresh mining accident at Mooknor, Jalyiah village, about 5 Km from the district headquarters in East Jaintia Hills came to fore after one Philip Bareh filed a missing report that his nephew Elad Bareh went missing since Friday.

“A search was conducted and his body was found today (Sunday) in front of a rat-hole coal mine and when we further checked inside the rat-hole mine, another dead body was found and identified as

Workers lower the pipes into the mine shaft to pump out water. (The Telegraph)

Monoj Basumatry,” district police chief, Sylvester Nongtnger said.

Rescue ops hit fresh roadblock: Rescue operations for the 15 miners trapped in a flooded illegal coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district for the past 24 days hit a roadblock Sunday as the two high-powered pumps engaged in dewatering encountered technical glitches, officials said.

The high-powered pumps of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd were recently pressed into action to dewater the main shaft, where the miners are trapped.

Another submersible pump from Coal India Ltd (CIL) also faced a snag, affecting dewatering operations in the nearby abandoned mines.

The CIL is expected to put into operation at least three more pumps on

Monday, said R Susngi, spokesperson of the operation. However, little headway could be made in reducing the water levels in the main shaft and the nearby mines due to the malfunctioning of the pumps and fresh seepage, the official said.

Rescue divers from the Indian Navy and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) too could not venture down to gauge the water level inside the main shaft as it was beyond the safe diving limit of 100 feet, the spokesperson said.

The current water level in the main shaft is about 160 feet, while its total depth is around 370 feet. Rescue work is suspended daily at around 5 pm as night falls. The Kirloskar Brothers pumps could be used for just one hour on Saturday, he said.

If polls held now, NDA may fall short of majority by 15 seats: survey Jan 19 rally to put oppn unity to NEW DELHI, JAN 6 (IANS): The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre may fall nearly 15 seats short of the magic mark of 272 in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, if elections are held now, says the India TVCNX opinion poll.

According to the survey, conducted between December 15-25 at the fag end of last year in all 543 parliamentary constituencies, the NDA may get 257 seats and the Congress-led UPA (minus SP and BSP) may get 146 seats, far off the magic mark.

The survey was done after the results of Assembly polls in five states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where Congress has formed governments. The survey said on Saturday that the key to government formation could lie in the hands of ‘others’ who may get 140 seats in a House of 543. ‘Others’

include Samajwadi Party, BSP, AIADMK, Trinamool Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress Party, Left Front, PDP of Mehbooba Mufti, AIUDF of Badruddin Ajmal, AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi, INLD, Aam Aadmi Party, JVM(P), AMMK of Tamil Nadu and independent MPs. NDA includes the ruling BJP, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, JD(U), Mizo National Front, Apna Dal, Sikkim Democratic Front, LJP of Ramvilas Paswan, NPP of Meghalaya, INRC of Puducherry, PMK and NDPP of Nagaland.

An India TV release said that UPA includes the main opposition Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, DMK, TDP, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Devegowda’s JD(S), Ajit Singh’s RLD, National Conference, RSP, JMM, IUML, Kerala Congress (Mani) and RLSP. The earlier nation-

wide survey conducted by India TV-CNX in November, before the Assembly polls, had given NDA a clear majority with 281 seats, UPA 124, and ‘Others’ 138. Since then there has been a reduction of 24 seats in NDA and an addition of 22 seats in UPA, says the survey. The survey says that NDA could get 37.15 per cent votes, UPA 29.92 per cent and ‘others’ 32.93 per cent.

Within the NDA, the BJP may win 223 seats, Shiv Sena 8, JD(U) 11, Akali Dal 5, LJP 3, PMK 1, NDPP 1, AINRC 1, NPP 1, SDF 1, Apna Dal 1, and MNF 1.

The survey said that Congress may win 85 seats (almost double that it won in 2014), DMK 21, Lalu Prasad’s RJD 10, NCP 9, JMM 4, JD(S) 4, RLD 2, RLSP 1, RSP 1, IUML 2, TDP 4, JK National Conference 2, and Kerala Congress (M) 1.

Among ‘others’, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool

Congress could get 26 seats, Samajwadi Party 20, Mayawati’s BSP 15, YSR Congress 19, Telangana Rashtra Samithi 16, Biju Janata Dal 13, AIADMK 10, AMMK 4, Left Front 8, Aam Aadmi Party 2, AIUDF 2, PDP 1, JVM (P) 1 and AIMIM 1.

State wise break up of seat prediction is: Uttar Pradesh: BJP 40, BSP 15, SP 20, Congress 2, RLD 2, Apna Dal 1; Uttarakhand: BJP 4, Congress 1; Rajasthan: BJP 15, Congress 10; West Bengal: Trinamool Congress 26, BJP 10, Congress 2, Left Front 4; Odisha: Biju Janata Dal 13, BJP 8; Madhya Pradesh: BJP 18, Congress 11; Chhattisgarh: BJP 5, Congress 6; Punjab: Congress 7, Akali Dal 5, AAP 1; Haryana: BJP 8, Congress 2; Bihar: BJP 13, RJD 10, JD(U) 11, Congress 2, LJP 3, RLSP 1; Jharkhand: BJP 7, JMM 4, Congress 2, JVM(P) 1; Gujarat : BJP 24, Congress 2; Hi-

machal Pradesh: BJP 4; Maharashtra: BJP 22, Shiv Sena 8, Congress 9, NCP 9; Goa: BJP 1, Congress 1; Tamil Nadu: DMK 21, AIADMK 10, AMMK 4, Congress 3, PMK 1;A Andhra Pradesh: YSR Congress 19, TDP 4, Congress 2; Telangana: Telangana Rashtra Samithi 16, AIMIM 1; Karnataka: BJP 15, Congress 9, JD(S) 4; Kerala: Congress 8, Left Front 5, IUML 2, BJP 1, KC(M) 1, RSP 1, Independent 2; Jammu & Kashmir: BJP 2, NC 2, Congress 1, PDP 1; Assam: BJP 12, AIUDF 2; Arunachal Pradesh: BJP 2; Mizoram: MNF 1; Manipur: BJP 2; Meghalaya: Congress 1, NPP 1; Tripura: BJP 1, CPI(M) 1; Nagaland: NDPP 1, NPF 1; Sikkim: SDF 1; Delhi: BJP 5, AAP 1, Congress 1; Chandigarh: BJP 1; Andaman & Nicobar: BJP 1; Dadra, Nagar Haveli: BJP1; Daman & Diu: BJP 1; Lakshadweep: Congress 1; Puducherry: INRC 1.

test as BJP mulls counter plan

K O L K A T A , J an 6 (AGENCEIS): Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is leaving no stone unturned to give a tough contest to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2019. An example of the same is a mega rally called by her in Kolkata on January 19, which is being seen as a litmus test for the Opposition’s unity. On the other hand, the state unit of the BJP, in a bid to counter TMC, is mulling to organise a mega public meeting at the same venue which may be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Notably, the mega rally comes at a time when the BJP has approached the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court order not allowing the party to undertake Rath Yatra (Save Democracy Rally), which

would cover 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state.

While the CPI has refused to participate in the mega rally, top leaders like National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, DMK president MK Stalin, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, will attend the event. BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha and noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani have also accepted the invitation.

The January 19 Brigade Rally will also see the participation of Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav. Meanwhile, BSP chief Mayawati is yet to take a decision in this regard. The Congress, meanwhile, has said that the party is aware about the event and someone will surely attend it.

However, a decision on the same is yet to be taken.

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state

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Y. Patton graces STCC Jubilee

Tsopo Students Union meeting

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

A health tribute to mothers

DIMAPUR: All office bearers of the Tsopo Students Union, seniors, elders and all students of Tsopo village are being informed that an annual meeting will be held on January 8 at Community Hall, Tsopo Village Wokha district, at 3 pm. They have all been requested to attend the meeting without fail.

AR medical camp

Y. Patton with DC Wokha, Dr. Manazir Jeelani Samoon, Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil and others after the Jubilee monolith unveiling and dedication on January 6.

DIMAPUR: Y. Patton, deputy chief minister of Nagaland, has urged the people to abstain from indulging in and using intoxicating substances as, he said, it brings more problems and chaos into the present society.

According to a press release by the deputy CM’s media cell, Patton said this while addressing the 25th Silver Jubilee Celebrations

of St. Thomas Catholic Church (STCC) Doyang under Wokha district as special guest on January 6.

Patton pointed out that 25 years was a long time and he considered jubilee a blessing that requires praise and thanks giving to almighty God for His grace. He added that a jubilee was also a time to receive and seek blessings from God. Patton hoped

that this celebration would bring plentiful blessings to the St. Thomas Catholic Church in particular and people of Doyang as a whole. Patton also exhorted the student community to not be complacent with their studies but inculcate in themselves a work culture and concentrate more on their duties with full dedication in order to excel in life.

Expressing admiration for the locality, Patton said that Doyang was a significant place in Nagaland with its hydro electric project and scenic beauty.

Earlier, Most Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima, dedicated the jubilee monolith at St. Thomas Catholic Church Doyang, which was also unveiled by the deputy chief minister.

DIMAPUR: Chieswema battalion of Assam Rifles under the aegis of HQ IGAR (North) conducted a free medical camp at Zeizou village under Chiephobozou sub-division, Kohima district on December 20.

According to PRO HQ IGAR (N), the aim of the medical camp was to provide free medical treatment to local residents devoid of requisite medical facilities. A specially constituted medical team of two doctors and four medical staff under the chief medical officer commandant Ch Saleo Mao conducted the medical camp where it treated patients besides providing medicines to the needy. Basic knowledge on health education, including precautions against common viral diseases was also taught. Emphasis on importance of hygiene and sanitation were explained to the villagers. 184 patients -- 72 male, 81 female and 31 children -- were treated during the medical camp.

Ahthibung Running Club officials with mothers, village and youth authorities and others at the dedication program on January 6.

DIMAPUR: Ahthibung Running Club (ARC) organised a small dedication ceremony for a badminton court that it built, to reach out to women who played a greater role in “upholding society,” on January 6 at Ahthibung town.

ARC media secretary, Lhingneilhai Singson, in a press release stated that mothers are the true frontrunner of society whose contribution to it is immense, and who through their selfless service, raise the next generation.

In acknowledgement of this, the ARC built a badminton court for them, complete with accessories and badminton racquets, so that they may use the court to play the sport and better their health.

The release mentioned that a full-fledged indoor badminton court is already available in the town, but because professionals and the youth use it regularly, it is hard for mothers to utilise the facility.

With the new badmin-

ton court, the mothers can utilize their recreational time to make use of the court and keep themselves in good health, the release added.

The chairperson of the Mother’s Association, along with village and youth authorities, were present at the dedication program.

Ahthibung Running Club authorities also pledged that in the coming days, they will explore more of such initiatives for the caretakers of society.

KASU Biennial General Conference concludes DIMAPUR: Kuhuboto Area Students’ Union’s (KASU) three-day 35th biennial general conference, hosted by Kuhuboto Town Students Union (KTSU) at Kuhuboto town concluded on Sunday evening.

A press release from KASU media cell stated that, the union flag was also hoisted during the inaugural session.

Speaking on the occasion, Conference Host, Hollen K. Yepthomi asked the students to be hard The flyover in New Market, Dimapur, which has apparently been abandoned working and lead disciplined lives in order to be and left incomplete for years. (Citizen journalist, Vikato Zhimo) successful. As the speaker of the conference, Dr. Kivika K. Yepthomi, assistant professor MGM and NECU, spoke on the topic “Reaffirming our future together” in the theme session held on Sunday morning.

Kakheli Inato Jimomi, women secretary, department of Women Ministry, WSBAK, was the literary guest of the event. Speaking in a session on Saturday, she challenged the students to give People thronging the last night of the Mela at Burma Camp Dimapur on importance to education as it was only through eduSunday night. (NP)

Delegates at the KASU 35th Biennial General Conference on January 6. cation that society could progress.

Electo Yesca, who graced the valedictory session on Sunday evening, reminded the students to uphold the values of

student life and make best use of them.

Other dignitaries Kuhovi Zhimomi, president, KGPO, Kawoto Ayemi, head GB and president KGPO, Kakiho

Awomi, president, WSSU and Kakheto Assumi, GB and president, KGSA, also exhorted the students during the conference.

Competitions of various indigenous games,

sports, literary and cultural items were conducted during the entire run of the conference. More than thousand students representing 23 units of the union attended the event.

Sunday Service held outside Wokha AG Church Unity College cultural day

The Sunday Service in progress outside AG Church Wokha premises on January 6.

DIMAPUR: Following a division that emerged in AG Church Wokha recently, and with the Wokha District administration subsequently restricting entry into the Church premises on December 21, 2018, a Sunday Service was conducted outside the Church on January 6.

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AG Church, Wokha Press Desk, in a press release said that associate pastor, AG Church Wokha, Chandemo Ngullie, in his sermon encouraged the faithful to remain deeply rooted in Almighty God through prayer and fasting so that the present internal issues could be

resolved and reconciliation could be brought about among the divided groups and sow seeds of love, unity, peace and harmony.

He added that prayers will be answered by God in His ways and times. He urged the faithful to have patience and continue fer-

vently in their prayers.

The release also stated that the congregation expressed displeasure over the order passed by the District Administration restricting the faithful to enter into the Church services to worship, curtailing the basic fundamental rights to freedom of

religion given in the Indian Constitution under Articles 25, 26, 27 and 28.

It prayed to the concerned authority to relax the order and allow the congregation to worship freely. The release, on behalf of the congregation, also appealed to the Naga brethren to remember them in their prayers so that God’s wisdom could prevail and deliver justice to the just.

It further notified the AG faithful congregation Wokha, that “the Bonafide General Body Representatives (BGBRs) had submitted representation to the General Superintendent, AG East India (AGEI) Dimapur; Nagaland and Wokha District Administration on 29th Dec 2018 and latter assured the representatives to look into the matter during the executives meeting.”

The Sunday service concluded with a prayer for Church leaders, and the community, to allow the Holy Spirit to prevail over the present situation and deliver justice on time.

Students and staff of Unity College Dimapur during the college’s Cultural Day. DIMAPUR: Unity ColThe prog ram was delicious traditional food lege held its 3rd Annual hosted by Nouneno Vis- from different tribes and Cultural Day under the wensto and Hotingla. The incredible performances theme “In Tune with Our events of the day-long pro- prepared by various deRoots,” on December 14. gram included folk songs, partments of the college, A press release issued folk dances, drama and it was a lively day for the by the college stated that an Indian cultural fusion hundreds of students, staff, the event involved students dance. alumni and friends who atand staff coming together According to the press tended the program. to share food and perfor- release, the cultural day is The program conmances from many of the held to celebrate the broad cluded with a show of ethnic groups of Unity cultural diversity of the indigenous games and a College. college. With a variety of traditional feast.

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nagalandpost.com Poll Q.: Will the Rafale issue adversely affect Modi in 2019 polls?

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

A B C

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A

B

Yes No Can’t say

C

82% 14% 4%

Next poll

Q: What are causes of

perennial traffic jam in Dimapur?  Indisciplined drivers  Narrow highways  Random vehicle parking

WEATHER FORECAST January 7

(Temperature in ºC)

Max Min

Agartala Hazy sunshine

28 12

Aizawl

Plenty of sunshine; pleasant

Guwahati Hazy sunshine

24 7 25 9

Plenty of sunshine; pleasant

24 6

Itanagar Hazy sunshine, not as warm

22 8

Imphal Shillong

Hazy sunshine

19 2

Kohima

Hazy sunshine

20 6

Dimapur Hazy sunshine

25 10

Hazy sunshine

22 5

Tuensang Plenty of sunshine; cooler

14 5

Mkg

Hazy sunshine; cooler

18 9

Zunheboto Hazy sun; not as warm

19 3

Wokha

Sonowal must quit: Mukul Sangma

Correspondent

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Northeast

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

SHILLONG, JAN 6: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of lacking knowledge about the huge diversity of India’s North Eastern states, former Meghalaya Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma on Sunday, demanded the resignation of Assam Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal over the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Sangma, leader of opposition, urged ruling regional parties, who are partners in the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance in the North Eastern states, to sever ties with the saffron party in the interest of indigenous people of the region. “… I am amused by the statement of Sonowal who said that he will protect the interests of the people. Can he (Sonowal) dictate terms to Narendra Modi when he (Modi) is taking decision (Citizenship (Amendment) Bill) and Sonowal is saying don’t worry? What is this tamasha?” he asked.

“Therefore, I am demanding his resignation from his post and the BJP” the Congress leader told journalists after chairing

Mukul Sangma (File)

an emergent Congress legislature party meeting.

“He (Sonowal) must resign and tell Modi that he is not going to be party to this anti-people decision.

So also, all other friends whether it is in Manipur or Nagaland or Mizoram and across the region, if they really feel that they are there to protect the interests of the indigenous people from becoming extinct. We should send a very strong signal to them (central government) that we love our people,” he added.

Sangma urged regional political parties across the region to “scrutinize” and “audit” the intent and agenda of the ruling BJP-led NDA government with its decision to go ahead with the proposed amendment Bill that seeks

to grant citizenship to religious minority communities - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians - from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan - in India Noting that there is much anger among all stakeholders in the region over the proposed Bill, he said, “Anger and frustration are precursors to chaos and disorder and this does not augur well for the integration of the nation.” Moreover, Sangma said that the ramifications of the Citizenship (amendment) Bill will have a negative impact in the entire sub-continent.

Accusing Modi of not knowing about the intricacies of the huge diversity in India, the former Chief Minister said, “… they should know how it (Citizenship (amendment) Bill) threatens the nation and indigenous communities.

Don’t they know the history on the culmination of Assam Accord and what was happening prior to the Assam accord? … We know what can happen if this Bill is passed in the parliament. Let us have the power to anticipate.

We as policy makers must actually look at the fallout

of every decision and will only further send a sense of alienation amongst the people of this region.”

“They (government) must not ignore North Eastern states, especially when the whole region is a frontier state and North Eastern states insulate national security, and they must understand the value of frontier states. They must remember anti-national forces have always tried to make inroads into the region and engaged in their anti-India (policies) and how the states have withstood volatile situations and restored peace and ensured stability and contributed to the integration of this nation,” Sangma said.

Asked if the Congress party was supporting the North East shutdown sponsored by the apex North East Students’ Organisation in protest against the proposed Bill, Sangma said, “We are with the people. We will not get distracted by any other issue. This important issue is something which deserves focus and attention because we are talking about the unity and integration of the region and the nation as a whole.”

India will disintegrate if NDA remains in power: Ibobi Singh

Correspondent

IMPHAL, JAN 6: Former Manipur chief minister, O Ibobi Singh has expressed apprehension of India disintegrating if the BJP-led NDA continues to rule the country.

“As democracy has been under threat under the BJP-led NDA government, the Indian Union may be broken at any time if the alliance continues to rule,” Singh said.

The former three-time chief minister was speaking at the launching function of the door to door “Jan Sapak Abhiyan” of the AICC in Thoubal district on Sunday.

There is no democratic institution whose functioning has not been interfered in by the BJP, the party leading the NDA, he said.

“Actually, the present BJP-led governments, both at the Centre and state, are not people oriented governments but authoritarian.

People have nothing to hope from these governments,” Ibobi said.

The BJP has been claiming that it is giving special emphasis to the North East region of the

O Ibobi Singh (File)

country with frequent visits

by Union ministers, including the Prime Minister, he said.

Narendra Modi visited the region three times as Prime Minister of the country. However, what has he announced especially for the states or the regions, he asked.

Dr Manmohan Singh had visited Manipur only twice during his tenure as Prime Minister of the country. But, during each visit, he announced special packages for the state, Ibobi asserted.

During his visit, the then Prime Minister announced taking over of Manipur University to become a Central university including the Centre bearing all expenditure required to run the university, and the conversion of the Re-

gional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) hospital into a full-fledged Central institution.

“What has been gifted

by Narendra Modi even though he visited the state three times? He visited the state or the region only for political mileage,” he said.

If he is really concerned about the state or know the financial hardship being faced by the state government, he might have announced at least conversion of the newly setup cluster university- Dhanamanjuri University into a central university, Ibobi continued.

Citing these things, Ibobi asked how it could be said that the BJP-led NDA government was focusing on the development of the region.

He added that inaugurating a project by the present government if completed, even if it was initiated by previous governments, was natural.

“Let them inaugurate it. Congress has no problem with it and will never claim credit for it. But, inaugurating a small project unworthy of being inaugurated by a Prime Minister will be mocked by all” he added.

Defying SC ruling on Sabarimala Scribes celebrate MPC foundation day in Imphal not contempt: Action Committee Correspondent

GUWAHATI, JAN 6 (PTI): The Sabarimala Action Committee, a group of various Hindutva outfits, Sunday said defying the Supreme Court ruling on the Lord Ayyappa temple does not amount to its contempt as the order was against tradition and faith.

Constitutional and religious moralities are different and these should not be mixed and confused at all, SAC General Secretary A R Mohan said here. Mohan is in Assam to gather information about diversified characteristics of places of worships in the state to present them before the Supreme Court during hearing of the review petitions for the Sabarimala case. “The Supreme Court ruling is against the tradition and religious faith. Defying it cannot be termed as contempt of the court as 49 review petitions have been filed and hearing will start soon,” he told a press conference.

The Supreme Court on September 29 lifted the ban on entry of girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age into Sabarimala temple, the shrine of Lord

Ayyappa, the “eternally celibate” deity.

Mohan alleged that the CPI (M)-led Kerala government have been pushing women allied with various “ultra organisations”, especially those having close links with the Maoist ideology. “People who have no faith in religion or in Lord Ayyappa were brought in to the temple with active support of the administration and the police. The devotees who opposed them were lathicharged and over 5,000 FIRs were lodged against them,” Mohan said.

Kerala has been on boil since January 2 following the visit of two women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala under police protection. He claimed the state government has unleashed an “administrative terror” on innocent devotees, who are agitating to protect their right to worship in the traditional way. The “state sponsored violence” on the Ayyappa devotees in the name of upholding the Supreme Court judgement is a challenge to the spirit of democracy, he added.

IMPHAL, JAN 6: The Manipur Press Club’s (MPC’s) 44th foundation day was celebrated on Sunday by scribes of the state under the aegis of All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union (AMWJU).

Floral tributes offered to departed journalists of the state and felicitation of veteran journalists and families of departed journalists marked the celebration programme.

State forest and environment minister, Thounaojam Shyamkumar, who attended the celebration programme, reminded the gathering of the role played by the media in a democratic country in leading the people in the right direction.

“Not only society, but the media has a major role in leading the government in the right direction,” he said.

Shyamkumar added the media had a great role to play in promoting good governance. The aspects of good governance are facilitated by a strong and independent media-scape within a society, he opined.

“Only when journalists are free to monitor, investigate and criticize the public

Th Shyamkumar leading scribes in paying floral tributes to departed journalists during the MPC 44th foundation day on Sunday. (NP)

administration’s policies and actions, good governance takes hold,” he said.

Shyamkumar suggested that all the journalists in the state follow the basic principles of journalism - balanced reporting, and taking accounts and feedback of all stakeholders, rather than reporting onesided stories.

As the media often highlights the problems and flaws of the government, likewise it should also highlight good works and journalists should report from interior parts of the state for effective implementation of

various welfare schemes and programmes, he opined.

Stating that media should act as a guide and a tutor to all, he said everybody has flaws which can be corrected with timely intervention.

Director of the state’s Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Heisnam Balkrisna Singh, highlighted various welfare schemes and programmes being initiated by the government while asserting that the directorate was committed to the welfare of media persons of the state, and that it was working

towards this end.

He said that the state government was considering covering non-subscriber senior media persons under the Manipur State Journalists’ Pension Scheme with a one-time relaxation. A meeting regarding the matter will be held soon with representatives of the Editors’ Guild Manipur (EGM) and AMWJU, he added.

According to Heisnam, DIPR is preparing a proposal to increase pension amounts and was seeking government approval. “It will be soon tabled in a cabinet meeting,” he added.

While pointing out that the state chief minister had recently announced the coverage of journalists and hawkers under the “Chief Minister-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang (CMHT)”, he said that process for issuing CMHT card to journalists had already been started.

“An insurance policy for the journalists and newspaper hawkers is also in the pipeline,” he said and invited genuine suggestions from journalists.

Speaking on the occasion, AMWJU president Brozendro Ningomba expressed concern about declining ethics, morality and discipline among a few journalists of electronic, print and digital media.

He advised the journalists of the state to follow discipline and ethics while asking how media people could take a lead role in shaping the society when they went outside of their ethics and discipline.

The scribes celebrated the foundation day of Manipur Press Club by suspending their duties for the day like every years. Except one, other newspapers will not hit the stands on Monday owing to scribes being off their duties.

Sonowal lays foundation stone of Kokrajhar Medical College

Solophok Chardham, Namchi, South Sikkim. This unique Pilgrim Centre has a main temple of 108 feet height on which is based the 87 feet high statue of Shiva in the sitting posture at the Solophok Hill. Apart from the Shiva statue, it also has replicas of the twelve Jyotirlingas, to offer one platform for Shiva devotees. (Sikkim Tourism)

KMSS shows black flag to CM over citizenship bill, others protest

TEZPUR/GUWAHATI, JAN 6 (PTI): A number of organisations, including the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) took out protest rallies across Assam to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

The protestors burnt effigies of Modi and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

A group of KMSS members showed black flags in front of Sonowal’s SUV at Dibrugarh and briefly interrupted the high- security convoy, forcing the NSG commandos to disembark and clear the way with the help of the CM’s personal security provided by Assam K Y M C

Police.

Hundreds of members of a women’s organisations took everyone by surprise when they gheraoed the BJP state office at Hengerabari area in Guwahati without prior intimation to anyone to lodge their protest against the proposed move by the BJP-led Centre.

“The decision to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is a historic injustice. It is a total dishonour shown to the people of Assam,” Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Ripun Bora said at Tezpur.

Addressing a press conference, he said the party will launch a series of agitational programmes under

‘Jagao Assam, Bachao Assam’ and will demonstrate outside the Parliament on Monday.

The prime minister announced at a rally at Silchar in Assam on Friday that the government is moving ahead with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

I The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955. It seeks to grant citizenship to people from minority communities Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh after six years of residence in India instead of 12 even if they do not possess any proper document.

Kokrajhar, Jan 6 (Agencies): Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday laid the foundation stone of Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital at Kokrajhar. According to Northeast Now, this is in a bid to make healthcare facilities more accessible, affordable, accountable and yet advanced in the BTAD areas.

The 500 bedded Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital will have the intake capacity of 100 students for MBBS degree. The hospital will be built on a plot of land measuring 81.75 acre involving an approximate financial outlay of Rs. 382.70 crore and is projected to be completed within 30 months.

Speaking on the occasion Chief Minister Sonowal said that with the foundation stone being laid the long standing need for a state of the art medical college in BTAD areas has been fulfilled. He also termed the day as the red letter day in the history of BTC as he hoped that the proposed medical college will be able to impart state of the art medical education using advanced technology to the students especially belonging to BTAD areas.

Stating about the sequel of developments taking place in BTAD areas, Sonowal said that this has been possible because of the able

leadership of BTC Chief Hagrama Mohilary. He also thanked Hagrama Mohilary for transforming BTAD area into an epicenter of development. The once violence ridden area has been turned into an area symbolizing peace, prosperity and harmony, Sonowal added. Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma while speaking on the occasion said that Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital is the latest addition to the revolutionary changes that health sector in Assam has been witnessing under the BJP led coalition government in the state.He also said that a Cancer hospital and a Mother and Child Hospital will also be set up adjacent to Kokrajhar Medical College. He also said that under Assam Mala scheme new bridges and roads will be built in BTAD areas to stimulate it’s connectivity.

BTC Chief Hagrama Mohilary speaking on the occasion gave a brief snapshot of the developmental activities taking place in BTAD areas.

He also said a Sports Academy and Engineering college will also be built in BTAD areas. Social Welfare Minister Pramila Rani Brahma, Tourism Minister Chandan Brahma, Deputy Chief BTC Khampa Borgoiary, MP Biswajit Daimari, President Bodo Sahitya Sabha Toren Boro, it’s general secretary Prasanta Boro, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Samir Kumar Sinha were present on the occasion.

K Y M C

northeast

4

Sonowal assures ST status to Santhal students’ body

Tezpur, Jan 6 (Agencies): Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said that there is a major role of the Santhal community living in the region in the nation building process and as a recognition to it, the BJP government will do all sorts of necessary work for giving Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to them, Northeast Now reported.

Attending as the chief guest of the 11th annual conference of All Santhal Student’s Union (ASSU) held at Kawoimari under Dhekiajuli LAC in Sonitpur district, Sonowal also said that the landless people of the very community will be provided land patta.

“Moreover, for the skill development of the youth section of the Santhal community, the government will take up special programmes besides setting up of a cultural hub in Guwahati along with a hostel for the students coming from far-flung areas to Guwahati for their studies,” Sonowal said.

He also announced an allocation of Rs 1 crore for the project. Besides this event, the Chief Minister attended a series of meetings including in Dhekiajuli and Tezpur. In Dhekiajuli, he also laid foundation stone

Sarbananda Sonowal being presented a bow and arrow during the 11th Annual Conference of All Santal Students' Union, at Kawaimari, in Sonitpur, Saturday. (PTI)

of construction work of roads at various locations in and around Dhekiajuli town that are named after the martyrs of the 1942 Quit India movement.

Meanwhile, Tezpur parliamentarian Ram Prashad Sarma who accompanied the Chief Minister briefing the media regarding the Central Government’s Cabinet decision on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, said that the BJP is working on the citizenship bill as per their commitment to the people.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi was committed

to pass this Bill in 201416. Even a notification on Hindu Bangladeshis was also issued on September23, 2015,” he said.

Since it is party’s principle, it must happen. He also mentioned that Hindu Bangladeshis wouldn’t harm the region. However, in protest against the government’s decision on the bill, the CPI,CPI-M, CPI-ML and NCP on Saturday staged protest and demanded the government to withdraw their decision stating any foreigners either, Hindu or Muslim will not be accepted

by Assam.

7 KVs to be opened soon, Javadekar assures Arunachal Itanagar, Jan 6 (PTI): Union minister Prakash Javadekar has assured the Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) Dr B D Mishra that seven proposed Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) in the state would be opened this financial year, an official release said Sunday.

The Union human resource development minister gave the assurance when the governor called on him in New Delhi and discussed issues regarding education in the state on Saturday.

Javadekar said the seven KVs would be opened within this financial year and the requisite cabinet proposal will be moved shortly.

The proposed KVs are in Kurung Kumey, Dibang Valley, Namsai, Upper Subansiri, Anjaw, West Siang and Upper Siang districts.

The minister stated that the Centre is committed to improve primary education and overcome the dropout rate in Arunachal Pradesh.

Mishra requested the minister for three Navodaya Vidyalayas for the three newly created districts of Shi Yomi, Lepa Rada and Pakke Kessang and Javadekar assured him that the proposal would be moved in the next Cabinet meeting, the release said.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

5 entrepreneurs from Northeast get National Entrepreneurship Awards

National awardees from Northeast with members of IIT Guwahati (regional partner) at National Entrepreneurship Awards ceremony in New Delhi. (Northeast Now)

G u wa h at i , Ja n 6 (Agencies): Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has awarded five young entrepreneurs from Northeast with National Entrepreneurship Awards 2018 in New Delhi.

According to Northeast Now, the awardees are Tana Sumpa, Dulu Moni Kalita, Rahul Baruah & Anupam Nath, Vanramhlimpuii and Maipaksana Rajkumar.

They were honoured at Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on Friday for their exceptional contribution towards nation building through entrepreneurship.

The awards were conferred in the presence of Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation; Anant

Kumar Hegde, Minister of State for Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE); and Dr KP Krishnan, Secretary, MSDE & Jyotsna Sitling, Joint Secretary, MSDE. Each awardee received a cash price of Rs. 5, 00,000, a certificate and a trophy.

35-year-old Tana from Arunachal Pradesh is successfully running piggery farms and fisheries and Dulu Moni, 28, from Assam’s Darang district, is successfully running her venture Moni Handicraft Centre.

Rahul & Anupam from Assam are the founders of www.getkraft.in– an e-commerce platform dedicated to connecting the artisan from various areas of Northeast India Vanramhlimpuii, 32, from Mizoram is the found-

er of M/s Zonu Meat Processing.

38-year-old Maipaksana from Manipur has indigenously designed & developed trolleys for lifting LPG cylinders and other heavy objects.

For the first time in 2018 IIT Guwahati –Technology Incubation Centre’ (IITG-TIC) was appointed as the regional partner institute, with headship of Konjengbam.

Darunkumar Singh & Himujjall Sarmah, Regional Programme Coordinator, IIT Guwahati team has done massive exercise to reach out every possible corners of Northeast states, in a very short time, to promote & encourage young generation entrepreneurs to participate in the NEA Programme.

Manipur: 518 drug traffickers arrested in 2018

Imphal, Jan 6 (Agencies): Security forces in Manipur arrested 518 people including 406 men and 112 women under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and registered 378 cases in the year 2018, The Indian Express reported.

According to the source, forces seized over 22 kg of heroin worth over Rs 4.4 crore, 250 kg of Opium and 22.240 kg of Opium seeds amounting close to Rs 1.8 crore, 19 kg of Brown Sugar valued at Rs 3.8 crore, and 9,05327 tablets of World is Yours (WY) drug was also confiscated.

Officials suggested that the amount revealed is the value of the seized substances in the local markets, it is likely to go up in the international markets. “The WY tablet, which, is a synthetic drug is the most sought-after in the market for it is cheaper than Heroin,” said a NAB official.

Of the total seizure, Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB) alone seized over 13 kg heroin valued at over Rs 2.60 crores, 203 kg of Ganja worth over Rs 10.15 lakhs and 9,05327 Amphetamine tablets (WY) costing over Rs 45.26 crores, 17 kg of Brown Sugar and 107 kg of Opium was also seized by the department.

8000 patients treated by Lifeline Express in remote Tripura Govt forms panel to implement

Churaibari (Tripura), Jan 6 (PTI): Biswajit Chanda, a 30-year-old labourer, was worried that it might take him years to pull together money for his son’s cleft lip surgery, but a train that chugged into Tripura’s Churaibari station last month brought smile back on his two-year-old boy’s face. Chanda happens to be just one among 8,000 cases attended over the past 20 days by Lifeline Express – a hospital train that travels to inaccessible rural areas where medical services are limited.

Set up by NGO Impact India Foundation and Indian Railways and Ministry of Health in 1991, the express train has conducted 199 heath camps in different parts of the country since its inauguration.

“Lifeline Express arranged for my accommodation and food for a week and

The train, started in 1991, is a flagship project of the Impact India Foundation, an NGO, and the Indian Railways. (Twitter)

performed the surgery on my son without any cost,” said the 30-year-old daily wage labourer, who hails from Nandigram village in neighbouring Assam.

Anil Premsagar, the joint director of the hospital train, said 1200 patients have undergone cataract operation in the first two

Maintain professional ethics: Manipur minister to doctors Imphal, Jan 6 (Agencies): Manipur Health and Family Welfare Minister Langpoklakpam Jayantakumar Singh on Saturday appealed to the doctors and nurses to maintain their professional ethics while serving the patients.

According to Northeast Now, the minister Jayentakumar made the appeal while inaugurating a newly constructed Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Moirangpurel under Imphal East District on Saturday.

Stating that the government has been giving due importance to boost the health sector of the State, he said, the new trend of health services in the present context is moving towards a new direction. He said that with the rapid change and new development of the society, various complex diseases come in. ‘We need to prepare to meet the new challenges in the contemporary society,’ he added.

Stating the necessity to improve the health service Jayantakumar maintained that the present government has opened health and wellness centres to keep tab on mental wellness of the people.

The government also has opened free diagnostic

centres at different district hospitals in the interest of the poor and needy people, he added.

In his presidential speech, the Forest and Municipal Administration, Housing & Urban Development Minister Th Shyamkumar Singh said that the people of Moirang Purel and adjoining villages should take the benefit from the newly opened PHC. The locals should also feel the new facility as their own, he said.

Minister Shyamkumar who is also the local MLA of the area assured for improvement of major district road from Nongdam Lamkhai to Maphou Dam before January 20, 2019 besides taking up the improvement works of the mobile phone services at Moirangpurel and surrounding areas.

Director Dr K Rajo Singh of Health Services, Director Ng Uttam Singh of Minority Affairs, Government of Manipur, Director Dr S Manikanta Singh of State Mission, National Health Mission, Managing Director Rajen Haobijam of Raj Medicity, Imphal and Social Worker Th Babita Devi also attended the inaugural function as guests of honour.

days.

“We started functioning since December 18 here and opened two out patient departments with 20 permanent staff, including doctors from Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. More than 900 cancer victims and equal number of patients suffering from dental problems

were treated in 17 days,” he said.

Pawan Kumar, who looks after the managerial aspects of the train, said the initiative has received funding from Tripura Bharat Petroleum and voluntary support from local NGOs and district hospitals at Churaibari, near Assam

border.

“I am associated with this mobile hospital for the past two years. It gives me immense joy to work for people in rural areas of the country, where facilities are limited. This is the first camp we organised in Tripura,” he said.

The air-conditioned train, which received two more coaches in 2017, has travelled to 22 states.

“Earlier we had 3 coaches, then 5, and now we have seven coaches, which was added to the rake in December 2017.

The government and the Railways help us carry out our job successfully,” Kumar added.

Ja g a d i s h C h a n d r a Nama, the chief medical officer (CMO) of North Tripura district, said the state health department provided 11 personnel for assisting the Lifeline Express.

clause 6 of Assam Accord

New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS): Former bureaucrat M.P. Bezbaruah will head a nine-member high-level committee constituted by the Union government to look into the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985 that provides for constitutional guaranttes to protect the state’s indegenous communities.

Clause 6 obligates the Centre to provide constitutional, legislative and administrative measures to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of Assam’s indigenous communities.

The Union Cabinet had on January 2 approved the setting up of the high-level committee. The Committee has been asked to submit its report within six months.

Tripura to set up international Buddhist university

Ag a rta l a , J a n 6 (Agencies): The International Buddhist Confederation is hoping to set up a Buddhist university in Tripura shortly to attract students from South East Asian countries like Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, International Buddhist Confederation Secretary General Dhammapiya Sunday said that a delegation from the Buddhist community met Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb last week to discuss the proposal.

“I along with few other members of the Buddhist community met Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb at his office in Tripura secretariat last week. He was very positive and encouraging

about the proposal. We have requested the state government to legislate a university act after which we shall take it up with the central government for formal consent”, the supreme Buddhist leader said.

Dhammapiya founded Dhamma Dipa (Buddhist) Foundation at Manubankul in South Tripura district, 130 Km from Agartala several years back. He was unanimously selected secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation – an international body of Buddhist world leaders in December 2017 at New Delhi.

He said there are a lot of students interested in studying Buddhist culture in South East Asian studies but academic institutions set up so far have failed to suf-

ficiently attract them.

He also said such a university can work perfectly if set up in Northeast India since the region shares cultural affinity with adjoining South East Asian nations.

“In NE India, we have cultural affinity with these countries. People from those countries have been requesting us to have a Buddhist educational institution in India with well infrastructure. We are considering to build it in NE, especially in Tripura since we are culturally closer here”, Dhammapiya said.

Preliminary estimates say around Rs 100 crores might be spent for the project. The entire expenditure would be borne by the Buddhist community. “We hope to have top planners from

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND

NAGALAND STATE AIDS CONTROL SOCIETY NAGALAND: KOHIMA

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Expression of Interest is hereby invited from Event Management Agencies for management of Regional Multi Media Campaign 2019 to be held at Kohima on the 18th of February 2019. The Agency should have at least 5 (five) years of experience in the field of managing musical concerts/mega events at the State/ Regional/National Level.

Interested event management agency may collect the deliverables and guideline from NSACS office on any working day from 8th to 10th January 2019.

DC-

SD/(DR. NGANGSHIMEREN) Project Director, NSACS

Malaysia to do the planning for this institute. So, final expenditure is yet to be estimated. We shall request our Buddhist high community to bear the expenses”, he said.

The university, if built, would offer Buddhist education along with courses in other disciplines of modern education as well.

On BJP led state government’s approach towards Buddhism in Tripura, Dhammapiya said, “They are positive. Buddhists have our roots in Indian culture.

It is part of the Indian philosophical system. We have seen the new state government has shown positive and encouraging approach towards Buddhism so far”.

Bezbar uah, a 1964 batch IAS officer, was a member of the North Eastern Council. He headed the Bezbaruah Committee which was set up in the wake of the killing of Arunachal Pradesh youth Nido Tania in Delhi in 2014 to recommend corrective measures.

He has also served in several places including Mizoram and Assam and was the Union Tourism Secretary under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He is also the permanent honorary representative of UN World Tourism Organisation.

According to a Home Ministry notification, eminent personalities of Assam from different fields have been made members of the committee.

The members include Subhash Das, a retired IAS

officer; former Presidents of Assam Sahitya Sabha Nagen Saikia and Sabha Rongbong Terang; , founder-editor of The Sentinel newspaper Dhiren Bezbar uah; educationalist Mukunda Rajbangshi; and Assam Advocate General Ramesh Borpatragohain.

A representative of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and a Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry would also be the members of the Committee.

The Assam Accord was signed on August, 15, 1985.

Its Clause 6 states: “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND OFFICE OF THE COMMANDANT 12TH NAP BN (INDIA RESERVE) CHINGTOK, LONGLENG : NAGALAND

NO.12BN (IR) Q-28/2018-19/1153

Dated, Chingtok, the 03rd Jan' 2019

TENDER NOTICE Sealed Tenders are invited by the undersigned for supply of the following ration items to 12th NAP Battalion (India Reserve) Chingtok, Longleng for the year 2019-2020.

1. All kinds of Dal 2. Iodised Salt 3. Potato 4. Onion 5. Fresh Vegetables 6. Pork (MOH) 7. Khasi/ Goat/ Sheep (MOH) 8. Firewood 9. Charcoal (for ironing purpose) Tender Forms can be obtained from the Office of the undersigned on any working day. The last date for submission of the tender will be on 16/01/2019 at 1200 hrs and opening of the tender will be at 1230 hrs on the same day.

DC-16

(M. RHOVISIE NYUWI) NPS Commandant, 12th NAP BN (India Reserve) Chingtok, Longleng: Nagaland

GOVERNMENT OF NAGALAND DIRECTORATE OF INDUSTRIES & COMMERCE email : industrynaga@gmail.com, e-fax : 08468825666 www.industry.nagaland.gov.in

NOTIFICATION

Dated Kohima, the 5th January, 2019 No.IND/ESTT/APPT-GEN/550/2015: In continuation to this office advertisement of even number dated 6th December, 2018, it is hereby informed to all eligible candidates that the written examination for the posts of (1) Field Supervisor (EP), (2) Mechanic-cum-Operator, (3) LDA-cumComputer Assistant will be held on 16.01.2019 between 10:00 A.M to 12:00 Noon at the Nagaland Public Service Commission’s (NPSC) Examination Hall, Kohima.

List of rejected candidates have been displayed in the Directorate Office Notice Board as well as Department’s website.

All eligible candidates are instructed to report to the Office of the Directorate of Industries & Commerce, Kohima for collection of their admit cards from 8th - 11th January, 2019 during office working hours. Failing to collect Admit Cards during the stipulated period will be debarred from appearing the said examination.

(Er. S. Temsulong Jamir) Director of Industries & Commerce Issued by DIPR DC-17

national

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

5

BJP accuses Kerala govt of Shiv Sena to oppose Citizenship Chandrababu daydreaming detaining Sabrimala devotees Amendment Bill in Parliament of becoming PM, says Modi V i j ayawa da / N e w Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is daydreaming of becoming Prime Minister and alleged that he backstabbed TDP founder and his father-in-law N. T. Rama Rao twice.

For the second time in less than a week, Modi launched a direct attack on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President.

During a video-conference with workers of Bharatiya Janata Party from five Lok Sabha constituencies, he said Naidu backstabbed NTR for a second time by joining hands with the Congress. He said Naidu was daydreaming of becoming PM though he had failed as the chief minister.

“It was NTR who led ‘Congress-mukt’ Bharat movement with anti-Congress National Front, but today his son-in-law bowed his head before Congress to save his power. NTR was a true icon of Telugu pride.

NTR never forgot Congress for hurting Telugu pride and for betrayal of Telugu interests. Today those in power in Andhra Pradesh are so desperate to cling to their power that they betrayed Telugu interests and stabbed NTR in the back for second a time.”

Modi called the opposition’s alliance a crowd of “family-ruled parties”, saying those unable to win over the people are resorting to violence.

Narendra Modi (File) “Those failed to win the hearts of the people or being rejected by them, are resorting to violence. Yesterday, a bomb was found outside the home of our Kerala MP V. Muralitharan.

A conspiracy was hatched to kill him. Every day our workers are being targeted in Kerala and also in Andhra Pradesh,” he said.

A BJP leader had said that Naidu on Friday vented his anger on a group of party workers after they blocked the CM’s convoy to protest his comments against Modi.

Naidu had reportedly said, “You will get beaten up. Don’t invite unnecessary trouble. You will be finished.

Do you support the injustice meted out to Andhra Pradesh? People will teach you a lesson.”

“The threat is an outcome of nervousness and insecurity. This means despite a huge government machinery, those in power are afraid. The threat means the BJP workers are succeeding,” he said.

Modi warned opposition parties to never underestimate the power of BJP workers, saying once

Centre committed to protection of tribal rights, says Jual Oram Hyderabad, Jan 6 (PTI): Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram Sunday said the Centre is committed to protecting the rights of tribals.

He was speaking at the valedictory function of the two-day workshop on effective implementation of Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996 at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj here. Oram said the fundamental spirit of the PESA Act devolves power and authority to gram sabhas and panchayats than delegation, an official release quoted him as saying.

The states need to implement it more effectively and endow powers and authority to make gram sabhas and panchayats function as institutions of local governance, he said. This will lead to enforcing prohibition of sale and consumption of alcohol, ownership of minor forest produce and restoration of unlawfully alienated land, he added. Oram fur-

Jual Oram (File) ther said that the ministries of Forests, Tribal Affairs and Panchayat Raj have to work together and collaborate for effective implementation of the Act. The PESA Act is a special Act by the Parliament to facilitate a separate and progressive legal and administrative regime of rural India, the release said.

The Act came into force on December 24, 1996 in the tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and also Telangana, the release added.

the party workers decide something, “no force can stop the party from getting success.”

“For BJP what matter is the passion to serve Bharat Mata. In some parties what matters is a family. In others, what matters is one’s fortune. And for many others, both family and fortune matter,” Modi said.

PM interacted with BJP workers and volunteers from Anantapur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Narasaraopet and Tirupati constituencies in Rayalaseema region through Narendra Modi App. Modi also targeted Naidu for promoting his son Nara Lokesh.

“The CM is so fixated with the rise of his son that he does not realise how his policies and corruption can lead to sunset of the state.

To set the son, he (Naidu) is creating an atmosphere for the sunset of the state.

He is promoting only his son, he is forgetting the sons and daughters of the state,” he said.

“Today I ask you how is Telugu pride served by the hold of one family on power in Andhra Pradesh.

How Telugu pride is served by neglecting people and sacrificing their interests by lying and abusing Modi day and night just because you are worried about losing power. Telugu pride can be restored when you have respect for all people just like NTR. It can be restored when you put interests of Andhra Pradesh above your interests and lust for power,” Modi added.

New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI): Amid an increasing bickering between the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena, the latter said Sunday it would oppose the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament.

The decision has been taken after the Asom Gana Parishad appealed to the Shiv Sena to oppose the legislation, party leader Sanjay Raut said in a statement.

“We are determined to oppose the Citizenship Smriti Irani during the inaugural session of the national Amendment Bill 2016 in conclave of ‘Accomplishments and Way Forward for Parliament,” Raut said.

Textiles Sector’, in New Delhi, Sunday. (PTI) The people of Assam, New Delhi, Jan 6 It is noted that close to (IANS): Union Textile 3,170 citizens are in cusMinister Smriti Irani on tody and 1,286 cases have Sunday launched a scath- been registered. Be it a ing attack on Kerala gov- citizen or an MP, none is ernment accusing it of de- safe in Kerala. taining Sabarimala temple “The former BJP devotees for raising voice President in Kerala and Hyderabad, Jan 6 against it, and condemned MP from Rajya Sabha (IANS): The Congress the bomb attack on the Muraleedharan ji’s ances- on Sunday suspended forancestral home of former tral home was attacked by mer central minister Sarve BJP state President and a countrymade bomb on Satyanarayana from the Rajya Sabha MP V. Mu- Friday night. On behalf party for making objectionraleedharan. of the BJP, we condemn able remarks against the Kerala witnessed fresh this dastardly attack,” Irani top party leaders during a meeting. violence over the Sabarima- said.

The Disciplinary la issue after two women of Union Minister Ramenstruating age entered jyavardhan Singh Rathore Committee of Telangana the Lord Ayyappa shrine also called the Kerala situ- Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) took the to offer their prayers earlier ation “very alarming”. this week.

“The law and order action against Sarve after Speaking on the vio- situation in Kerala is very he attacked All India Conlence followed by deten- alarming. when the Chief gress Committee secretary tions and arrests of the Minister gives a one-sided and in-charge of party devotees who are protesting statement, it flares up the affairs in Telangana R.C. against the entry of female situation,” Rathore said. Khuntia and party’s state devotees of menstruating V i o l e n c e i n v o l v - unit president Uttam Kuage, Irani said the social, ing BJP-RSS and ruling mar Reddy.

During a meeting held political and law and order CPI(M) workers rocked situation in the state has parts of Kerala, particu- to analyse the elections deteriorated. larly Kannur, on Saturday results in Malkajgiri par“Currently, Kerala’s with a number of houses liamentary constituency, anarchy is such that over and shops of rival leaders Sarve slammed Kuntia 37,000 citizens stand ac- and workers being attacked and Uttam Kumar Reddy, cused of going up against following the Sabarimala blaming them for the party’s defeat. the government of Kerala. row.

Cong suspends former central minister Sarve

Maha student alleges Tawde ordered his ‘arrest’ Mumbai, Jan 6 (PTI): An undergraduate student in Maharashtra’s Amravati district has alleged that state Education Minister Vinod Tawde ordered his arrest when he was recording a conversation between him and a fellow student, a charge denied by the minister.

The student, Yuvraj Dabad, also claimed that following the alleged order, the local police detained him for a couple of hours, seized his smartphone and returned it after the video-recording was deleted from it.

Tawde, however, refuted the allegation, saying he did not order the student’s arrest and that “lies” were being spread against him.

A top police official in Amravati said the student was neither arrested nor detained, and nothing was deleted from his mobile phone.

The alleged incident took place on Friday after Tawde inaugurated an elocution competition at

a college in Amravati, located around 680 km from here.

The minister was leaving after his speech at the event when some students of a journalism course reached out to him near his vehicle, seeking his response on a freeeducation policy.

Prashant Rathod, a student of the college, said, “I was told by Education Minister Vinod Tawde to start working somewhere if I could not afford the educational expenses. My question to him was whether the state could have a freeeducation policy.”

Dabad was videorecording the interaction, when the minister “first asked him to stop the recording and later ordered the police to arrest him”, Rathod claimed while talking to reporters in Amravati on Saturday.

Dabad said he declined the minister’s order to stop the recording because “he (Tawde) was not answering our queries”.

“We were simply asking questions to him and seeking his views,” he told reporters.

“As Tawde ordered the police to arrest me, I was taken out of the college premises and detained for some time in the police vehicle. My handset was returned later in the evening. All the videos and recordings in my phone were deleted by the police without my permission,” Dabad said.

Tawde later termed the allegations “false”.

“It is some sort of a lie that is being spread against me. I did not order the arrest of any student in Amravati,” he told PTI on Sunday.

The minister said he had a “good interaction” with students at the college for almost two-anda-half hours.

“The students, who have levelled charges against me, met me outside the hall and tried to ask some questions to me.

They are the ones who are spreading lies about me.

“Some of those students also came with pamphlets with ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ written on those and distributed them among the other students.

They were the ones who alleged that I ordered the arrest. It is completely false,” he said.

When contacted, Amravati Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Baviskar said neither any student was arrested or detained nor anything deleted from anyone’s mobile phone.

“In the midst of chaos in the college, the student concerned was taken outside the college, that’s it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dabad said that he has submitted a letter to the police commissionerate in Amravati and the district collectorate on Saturday against Tawde and police officials concerned for allegedly detaining him without the permission of his college authorities and deleting data from his mobile phone.

irrespective of their caste, religion and creed, oppose the proposed legislation, he said.

The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act to make illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for citizenship on the basis of religion.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the bill is slated to table it in Parliament on January 7.

The Shiv Sena noted that the proposed legislation would “frustrate” the efforts made under the Assam Ac-

cord for safeguarding cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

Secondly, the entire process of the National Register of Citizens monitored by the Supreme Court will be meaningless if the bill is passed, he added.

With the Lok Sabha polls around the corner, the Shiv Sena has adopted a more aggressive posture against the BJP, with whom it has shared an uneasy relationship over the past four years.

Gujarat constable recruitment exam held successfully: Official Ahmedabad, Jan 6 (PTI): Written examination for the recruitment of Gujarat police constables was successfully held Sunday, over a month after it was cancelled due to paper leak. As many as 7.15 lakh candidates appeared for the exam across 2,440 centres for 9,713 posts as against 8.76 lakh candidates who were allotted letters, Vikas Sahay, chairman of the Lokrakshak Recruitment Board, the body that conducts exams for recruitment of constables, said.

The exam was cancelled on December 2, hours before it was earlier scheduled, after it was found that the question paper had got leaked.

“The exam has been conducted successfully. As per information available till now, 7.15 lakh candidates, out of 8.76 lakh who were issued letters,

appeared for the exam,” Sahay told reporters Sunday.

He added that support of the Gujarat police, state Education department, transport corporation and district administrations among others ensured the exam was held properly.

Sahay said a standard operating procedure (SOP) was issued before the exam to all stakeholders to ensure it was conducted hasslefree across all 2,440 centres in the state.

Investigations into the December 2 paper leak have revealed that the exam paper was stolen from a printing press in Manipal in Karnataka in November and sold to few candidates, officials said. Police investigation in the paper leak has led to the arrest of 15 persons so far, including three key accused who were held four days ago.

STF recovers over 1,300 phones robbed last year Noida (UP), Jan 6 (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force arrested four persons and recovered over 1,300 smartphones, worth Rs 1.31 crore, which were robbed by their gang, officials said.

The accused were held around 3.30 am under a newly-constructed metro station in Sector Alpha 2, under Kasna police station limits, by the Noida unit of the STF, the officials said.

In July last year, a truck carrying 6,000 units of Vivo smart phones was looted by the gang, which would often target vehicles on highways and roads, a senior STF official said.

The STF had earlier arrested nine members of the gang involved in the case and recovered some phones in September and October. “Those arrested are being interrogated and the information received from them developed to further finding out the others linked in the robberies,” Deputy Superintendent of

Police, STF Noida, R K Mishra said.

“On a specific input about the movement of the four members of the gang in the commercial belt of Sector Alpha 2, a team reached the spot,” Mishra said. “A total of 1,305 smart phones have been recovered which are estimated worth Rs 1.31 crore in the market,” he said. Those arrested have been identified as Abhishek Giri, Ajit Kumar Singh, Yashveer Singh and Subhash Singh, all residents of Aligarh, he said.

The agency has also recovered a country-made pistol with bullets from their possession and impounded two SUVs which were being used by the accused men, he said.

The officer said the gang was active in the National Capital Region (NCR) and despite some of its members’ arrest in the case, those at large were at times try to sell the stolen phones in open market.

Farmers to join strike called by central trade unions Akhilesh Yadav attacks BJP over

New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI): Farmers across the country under the aegis of the Left peasant wings would join the two-day nationwide general strike on January 8 and 9 called by central trade unions against the alleged repressive policies for workers adopted by the Narendra Modi-led BJP gover nment.

“AIKS and Bhumi Adhikar Andolan will observe ‘gramin hartal’, rail roko and road roko on January 8 and 9, the day trade unions are observing nationwide general strike.

This move is against the Modi government’s failure to address rural distress issues, to save rural farmers’ lands from the corporates.

The farmers will extend all support to the ensuing general strike,” said Hannan

Mollah, general secretary of the CPI(M)-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha.

Atul Kumar Anjaan of the CPI’s peasant wing said that the action committee of farmers in their meeting decided that when the workers, employees and common people are protesting against the Modi government’s policies, the farmers will also join them.

“The farmers will join road jam, demonstration, protest meetings throughout the country to make the nationwide strike a success and register their disenchantment with PM Narendra Modi and his policies,” said Anjaan.

Anjaan said that the farmers organisations who last year organised a massive march on November 29, 30 in front of Parlia-

ment were of the opinion that four-and-a- half years of the Modi government failed to fulfil promises made by the BJP. Tapan Sen, general secretary of CITU, said that the public sector employees, unorganised sector workers, port and dock workers, bank and insurance employees are going to observe nationwide protest on January 8 and 9 against growing economic crisis, price rise and acute unemployment on the call of central trade unions and mass organisations.

The CITU denounced the unilateral move of the government of India to amend the Trade Union Act 1926 in the name of bringing about “so-called transparency” and avoiding “duplicacy” as noted in the press briefing by the

union cabinet.

Sen alleged that the proposed Trade Union (Amendment) Bill 2018 as cleared by the Cabinet is designed to impose conditions of slavery on the working people and totally abrogate trade union rights.

“It is not merely labour reform, it is an allout degeneration in the life of productive people in the whole economy,” Sen said.

He alleged that under the regime of the Modi government a repressive atmosphere has been created for working class people.

“It is just not distress and destitution, there is an altogether a repressive atmosphere creating in the total uncertainty in the world of works,” Sen alleged.

CITU was critical of the Modi government’s policy of ‘Make in India’ and alleged that the government has been killing the work culture of the country’s public sectors by favouring major contracts of manufacturing works to private players.

“In Rafale deal, there was no transfer of technology. State owned HAL was kept away from the entire deal. This government will do similar practice when it will sign another two mega defence deals for F-16 fighter aircraft with Lockheed Martin Corporation of US and purchase of Naval frigates from Russia,” said Sen. He was also critical on the Modi government’s move to purchase rail locomotive and coaches from foreign company.

timing of probe in mining scam

L u c k n ow, J a n 6 (AGENCIES): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who is under the scanner in the Uttar Pradesh mining scam, today said he is not afraid to face the CBI but accused the ruling BJP of using the probe agency for its own political purposes.

“Once again, I will get a chance to meet the CBI. Once a similar thing had happened during the Congress regime. If CBI asks questions, we will reply; but the BJP will get a reply from people..... So far as the neutrality of the CBI is concerned, guess you all have to analyse that,” Akhilesh Yadav, who was chief minister when the scam allegedly took place, told media persons on the

sidelines of an event at the party headquarters here.

Akhilesh Yadav and another senior party leader are likely to be summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which conducted searches on Saturday at 14 locations in connection with the scam where it is alleged that the public servants allowed illegal mining during 201216 and illegally renewed licences despite a ban by National Green Tribunal, officials said, according to PTI. The SP chief warned the BJP that it will have to face “the same culture that it is leaving behind”.

“It (the BJP) had spent Rs 5,000 crore in last polls.

Don’t know from where all, and from whom all it

took money.

This time BJP also has CBI so it will use CBI,” he alleged. “BJP has shown its true colours... that it will go to any extent in the next polls, using anything - be it money or CBI. BJP must understand that CBI does not vote, it is people who vote,” he added.

With the CBI, which had taken over the case in 2016 on the directions of the Allahabad High Court, making public its FIR on Saturday when the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party indicated they were close to ironing their seatsharing agreement for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said that the two parties will ally and contest polls together.

6

OPINiON/EDITORIAL

Nagaland Post Vol. XXIX NO. 31 Dimapur, MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

Colonisation of NE

N

orth East Students Organisation(NESO) consisting of All Assam Students’ Union, Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Garo Students’ Union (GSU), All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), Tripura Students’ Federation (TSF) has called for an 11-hour NE bandh on January 8 (5a.m. to 4p.m.). NESO has been airing serious concern over the BJP’s initiative through the Bill to accord citizenship mainly to Bangladeshi Hindus and not Bangladeshi Muslims. It may be recalled that during an election campaign in Kalinagar near Silchar, prime minister Narendra Modi had said that his government was hoping for final clearance of the amendment to the proposed Citizenship Bill 2016 in parliament. The Citizenship Amendment Bill seeks to allow illegal migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian religious communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan to not be imprisoned or deported. The Bill also appeals for the minimum years of residency in India to apply for citizenship to be lessened from at least 11 to six years for such migrants. The cat was out of the bag when the Bill sought to not extend the leniency to what it described as “illegal Muslim migrants”. Further, the Bill does not also mention about other minority communities in the three neighbouring countries, such as Jews, Bahais etc. There is every reason for the people of Assam not being happy about the proposed amendment. The Citizenship Amendment Bill has not gone down well with the Assamese as it contradicts the Assam Accord of 1985, which clearly states that illegal migrants( anyone from any community) heading in from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971, would be deported. Under the Citizenship Act of 1955, foreigners who come into India without valid travel documents, or stay in the country beyond their visa period, are considered illegal migrants. However, after BJP came to power and set its eyes on the north east and in particular Tripura and Assam which have a major presence of Hindus, exceptions were made in the Citizenship Act. In September 2015, illegal migrants belonging to minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan and coming to India on or before December 31, 2014, were allowed to stay. This allowed the illegal migrants to stay in India without being imprisoned or deported. Of course, the other communities, except Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh, were of no consequence. This exception was sought again in July 2016. As per the Citizenship Act, anybody who is born in India, has an Indian parent, or has lived in India for over 11 years, is eligible for Indian citizenship. At present, illegal migrants to do not fit this category. People in Assam object to the very agenda of enabling Bangladeshi Hindus from being granted Indian citizenship through exceptional clauses. They are incensed by vote bank politics which turns Assam and the region into a living space for colonisation. The Congress may be guilty of using Muslims for vote bank politics in the past but it did not legally shield aliens from prosecution. The BJP is causing worse harm by trying to alter the law to legalise illegal entry of certain communities and this is what has rankled the Assamese who view any alien is an alien, irrespective of religious background.

DailyDevotion Worship He moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

—Genesis 12:8 Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have.

Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love-gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard it for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded (see Exodus 16:20). God will never allow you to keep a spiritual blessing completely for yourself. It must be given back to Him so that He can make it a blessing to others.

Bethel is the symbol of fellowship with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abram “pitched his tent” between the two. The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him. Rushing in and out of worship is wrong every time— there is always plenty of time to worship God. Days set apart for quiet can be a trap, detracting from the need to have daily quiet time with God. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be. There are not three levels of spiritual life— worship, waiting, and work. Yet some of us seem to jump like spiritual frogs from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one. They were always together in the life of our Lord and in perfect harmony. It is a discipline that must be developed; it will not happen overnight.

Quotes

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. ~ Saint Augustine

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

Growth sure, boosting confidence is challenge

T

he Indian economy is poised to grow to over 7 percent in 2019 – a momentum it has established during the past few years despite slowdown in 2016-17.

The growth at macro level is not the country’s problem. Its micro-economic managements are creating inequality, stymieing job growth and crisis in the banking sector. Even people with good qualification have not been able to manage properly paid jobs.

The private sector from education to industry is sustaining by offering low-paid jobs to teachers, engineers, management experts or any other.

While the problem is there in the major metros, where salaries are paid at 30 percent of the government stipulated norms a little away even jobs in higher education or any level of private employment hovers around less than Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 (if so).

The managements of private sector admit the fact. They also say that their earnings are also low.

The enterprises are struggling to stay afloat by slashing their charges, fees or cut on expenses. In such a scenario, they find that

provisions and penalties of the GST impact their activities.

The central and state governments operations are becoming expensive.

They go on increasing taxes despite GST. Since new levies could not be called tax, they name it as cess. The latest to add to the list is the “cow cess” in UP. It was already there in Punjab and Rajasthan.

While technically indirect tax after GST is coming down, with the highest slab being 28 percent, various levies are adding to the problem.

Even income tax has about 3 percent cess. On the part of the states, various cesses, profession tax and increasing tolls remain as unseen and less discussed taxes. Even municipal levies are rising.

So the inequality is growing. The poor loses more of their income to such levies further impoverishing them.

Oxfam in its 2018 reports says, “In the context of the acceleration of growth rate of Indian economy, the rise in inequality raises issues of the distribution of gains from the growth.”

The Oxfam repor t concludes that since 2010

till now more and more of the country’s income is going “to the top 10 percent and top 1 percent of the population.”

The Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Repor t Gini coefficient for wealth points to overall inequality.

It has risen to 0.854 in Shivaji 2018 from 0.804 in 2011 and 0.83 in 2017. The closer the Gini value gets to 1.0, the more unequally distributed is an economy.

It is a public perception that inequality is a political choice. It acts through the hold of powerful lobbies over government policy. They do no miss an opportunity to increase levies in any name and the latest is the environment.

In the name of environment car lobbies acting through government organisations are forcing people to abandon their working vehicles and increasing various charges on industry and for parking as in Delhi. The citizen loses on their income and lobbies maximise profits.

Even the 2016 demonetisation for mopping up black money turned into a nightmare for the poor and small businesses.

India remains even

now a cash-based economy.

Digital transfers are not accepted even at governmentrun highway toll booths.

Apart the rationale of toll, leading to more corrupt practices, is being questioned as every Indian is paying a fuel cess for road construction Sarkar amounting to Rs 1.13 lakh crore a year.

In an election year, when the government traditionally, not constitutionally, is supposed to present an interim budget, no new proposals should normally be there. But the government has the opportunity to avail of the window to reduce many levies and abolish atrocious cess and tolls. It would be a great relief to the people, increase their income and also pave the way for growth. Lower levies also could be an incentive for the enterprises to employ more.

The 2008 to 2010 loan bonanza to the industry, flight of defaulters like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, led to the severe NPA crisis over Rs 12 lakh crore. A mere Rs 50,000 crore has been realized.

The recent mergers of five SBI subsidiaries and now Vijaya Bank and Dena

Bank into Bank of Baroda (BoB) are not being seen as a solution. The SBI merger led to depressed operating performance and its bad loans surged. It is found that the mergers increase costs. The latest mergers into BoB has shaken the stock market. It saddles BoB with Dena Bank’s Rs 16,140 crore stock pile of bad loan.

The merger of Air India and Indian Airlines has led to the virtual collapse of the public sector entity. Though bank mergers were done for good, finally it may cause many hiccups for the economy in 2019. More job losses in the banking sector are also predicted. Dena Bank alone has 13,440 strong workforce. The mergers are now being touted as unwise.

Saddling one’s losses on another is not wise.

One reason for high banking cost is stated to be over 30 crore Jandhan Accounts. Though conceptually they are fine, compulsion has added to the cost for the banking system and problems for those who were forced to open accounts.

Around 7.5 million youth join India’s job market each year. As government encompasses all activ-

ities, not providing jobs or remunerative prices to the farmers is seen as problem of the government.

It is leading to the waning of business confidence. The October 2018 Global Business Outlok survey of 12,000 manufacturers and services by HIS Markit spells concerns of political issues, cost pressures and currency stability. In fact, business sentiment in the country was weaker than the average in emerging markets as well as globally.

Despite this India is poised to grow. Its exports increase over 20 percent to $ 221 billion till August 2018, PMI at 51.7 shows expansion, I-T collection touches Rs 10.03 lakh crore, companies raise Rs 21,000 crore IPOs, FDI equity inflows reach $ 389.6 billion, IIP output rises by 7.1 percent, primary goods production rise by 3.7 percent and capital goods by 16.4 percent.

But the country has to rethink on bringing all activities under government.

This is against the concept of “less government”. It is adding to administrative, financial, economic and functional problems. If this is solved many inequities could be addressed.

Post-mortem

Where to? A highway of common hope Looking beyond government jobs:

P

rologue: The common dream of the Naga people needs unmasking. For years, we have absorbed all sorts of myths and prejudiced claims about our existence and about each other. We are unable to fathom that we are pathetic victims of the past, and eventually we even fail to recognize our unpleasantness to each other. As a consequence, we are lost in the puzzle of “where to?”

Where are we going? Which path should we take? As we attempt to answer these questions, we feel hopelessly limited and measurably suffocated. This is the ditch of annoyance in the highway of common hope.

There are many values that contribute to our common belonging—from the safe-guarding of one’s nation (tribe) to the advancement and development of human flourishing. Of these, the most valued, and accordingly the most at stake, is the aliveness of common hope.

The truth of the matter is if Nagas are under threat, it is through the vibrancy of our common hope that we can solve the problems that we have created.

Under the shadow of “given importance” from “tamed trainers,” the Nagas are seemingly at a helpless point of “no exit,” where the axiom of “either/or” is no longer an option. “We are stuck” is the feeling of many Naga onlookers.

It all boils down to “my righteousness and others’ unrighteousness.” Such programmed utterances only end up being rejected by the common woman and man.

Simply, Naga people are completely fed up by selfrighteous rhetoric, which essentially renders the Naga flag colorless and tattered beyond recognition. This rhetoric, and the impulses behind it, harmfully encapsulates the notion that there is no shared ethos of safe-guarding our common belonging, and neither is there any wisdom-driven cooperation that paves the highway of common hope.

Ultimately, Nagas are living in a caged society that is at war with itself. A symptom of such an environment is the prevalence of onedimensional mindsets that leads to speaking and writing with an incredible contempt about the “other.” Unlike constructive criticism, con-

tempt is dangerously toxic because it “assumes a moral superiority” in the writer or the speaker.

Today, the rhetoric coming out of the jurisdictional and national (tribal) disputes is a dangerous waste of time because of the relativity of interests. How then do we bring together our fragmented family without abandoning our aspirations and advancement? The deep longing, in context, is to accentuate the things that bind us together—our common belonging.

Unfortunately, forces both internal and external have patronizingly domesticated some gullible iconoclasts to focus on our differences.

Why are we focusing on how different we are from one another, and not on matters of common hope?

Action 2019: Unite to take common action: The hallowed being of Nagahood has been organically sewn and nurtured by our Naga pioneers. This organic evolution of identity is different from one that is mechanically constructed through the forces of compulsive manipulation, coercion, and deception. The common political will of Naga sovereignty and independence as understood and practiced by our pioneers is, accordingly, our sacred trust and must be honored and upheld at all cost. Our saving grace is that we have not let go of what has been organically nurtured.

The year 2019 must be one in which we unite to take common action: creating a citizenry of common political will that affirms our historical reality and knows how to differentiate between idealistic nationalism and a frozen identity that has lost its relevancy.

Nagas must carefully move on without departing then. The Naga political quest must move away from the generalities of political science, which have mesmerized us to the point of immobility. Rather, politics should decisively be a question of context and situation.

Is it a betrayal to think of revisiting the traditional definition of self-determination?

Can Naga-Land (not to be confused with the Indian state of Nagaland) implore a constructive definition of “identity” in relation to other people’s identity, and discover a new way of thinking about identity

itself, without being frozen in the past?

Likewise, can our neighbors, without being selfcentric, think of the question of the Naga situation in a creative and humane manner? Nagas believe that our identity is empowered by our neighbors and conversely that Nagas empower our neighbors. The sooner that Nagas and our neighbors understand this political truth, the faster we open the ways to our posterity and the present generation towards a semblance of understanding in the fragmented, messy world of the Look East Policy. We all—Meiteis, Kukis, Assamese, people of Arunachal—must uphold the values of progressive democracy of respect and ensure the rights of all. An identity without responsibility for the “other” is a weak one, just as a radical “responsibility” minus respect for the “other” is utter fanaticism.

Action 2019: Embrace our common political will: Again, self-awareness leading to human aspirations of love and advancement should never replicate selfcenteredness, and our spirituality must overtake narcissism, a disease of self-love.

What Nagas can do in 2019 is to embrace our own common political will, without diminishing the aspirations of the east, west, north, south and central NagaLand and say “We are one” and “We need each other.”

Let us embrace this truth today.

In this, there is no room for suspicion of one another.

This disposition of mind cannot be a paradigm for transformation and construction. The tool of communal “rightness” needs immediate reshaping under the anvil of transformation.

Shall Nagas, young and old, not say, “We have changed today”! The answer that seems so far away is indeed close enough for us to apprehend. We must not let it slip by. A Naga youngster said, “When the Naga world was going through an earthquake, it shook someone’s heart and this is what we need.” Shall we see a completely different approach of common hope today? Shall we do it? Yes! (This article is a personal reflection and does not carry the mandate of any group or organization.)

Wati Aier

Easing the burden of unemployment

W

ithout necessarily getting into extensive research on unemployment situation in our state, we can reasonably infer that the lack of gainful employment amongst the young Naga job seekers has been and continues to be one of our biggest existential issues.

Even a cursory glance at our unemployment situation informs us that Nagaland, according to the Fifth Annual Employment – Unemployment Survey Report of 2015-2016 (survey discontinued since then) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, has a high unemployment rate (A measure of the prevalence of unemployment among a given labour force).

With an unemployment rate of 8.5 per cent, the State’s position presents a grim picture relative to that of some of our neighbouring states like Manipur (5.7 %), Meghalaya (4.8 %) and Mizoram (3.0 %); going further, it pales sharply in comparison to states like Gujarat (0.9 %), Karnataka (1.5 %) and Chhattisgarh (1.9 %). In fact, the state’s unemployment rate exceeds that of the national average (5 %).

The above datais, however, only a small statistical illustration. It is not up-to-date. Nor does it, to put it plainly, reveal the full picture of unemployment situation. The small illustration, however, does serve to highlight the gravity of unemployment level in our state on a comparative scale. Our unemployment scenario can be reasonably gauged when we factor in, among other things, the near absence of a viable private sector that could play avital role in contributing towards creation of jobs or job opportunities and absorption of job seekers.

Juxtaposed with this gloomy picture is the axiomatic and paradoxical situation of a bloated government sector, where the number of government employees is in growing excess of the state’s fiscal capacity. Put simply, the problem of unemployment is evidently pervasive and chronic, yet, on the other hand, we have a curious situation of an overstaffed/excessively employed government machinery, with zilch or barely enough room for additional absorption.

It is an acknowledged fact that for a variety of reasons and circumstantial imperatives, the government sector continues to be a most popular and sought

after career choice for a vast majority of our job aspirants. And justifiably so because of the perceived instrumentality and associated benefits that government jobs generally afford. It will, therefore, be only fair to say that the government sector should continue to remain as an attractive gateway to those aspirants that are passionate about serving in it.

However, with a rising number of job aspirants and a virtually stagnant job growth in the government sector, we need to understand that it is impossible for the government – or for that matter, any government around the world – to absorb virtually all government job seekers. It is neither feasible nor desirable. An economy that is solely dependent on the limited government sector to run cannot be sustainable or productive. A strong and competitive private sector that, inter alia, contributes toward employment generation and economic growth is of fundamental importance.

Time is of the essence But while the emergence and consolidation of the private sector as a complementary driver of employment and economic growth is something to be hoped for, we need also to understand that time is of the essence. The lack of any major industry that could have created jobs and absorbed a substantial share of the available pool of job seekers implies that the burden of the increasing number of job seekers in general is not being offloaded with contributory share of even partial job absorption from, say, the private sector. What this entails is that even as the lopsided concentration of job seekers towards the government side heightens the job competition, the average amount of time invested in pursuit of government jobs will only appear to prolong especially when correlated with the limited and minuscule absorption of government job seekers at a given point.

In other words, the rigid fixation on government jobs to the point of exclusion of others, given the prevailing circumstances of limited job vacancies but crowded and growing number of job applicants, could risk becoming costly not only in terms of the time factor but – in the eventual failure to secure gainful employment– on a host of personal and the larger socioeconomic aspects.

(To be concluded) Tsutsowe Kupa NCS.

Reader’s Post Sir,

Not child’s play

The culture of celebratory firing seems to have caught on as one hears of fatal incidents across the nation. Firearms should not be used as a status symbol to be shot off during celebrations thereby justifying one’s importance. Take the case of the recent incident wherein an elected member’s ‘untrained’ bodyguard had accidentally killed a festive participant. This tragic incident could have been averted if the owner of the pistol had not brandished and shot off in the air. Such careless status exhibitions are not needed at all as firearms are not child’s play.

Chumbenthung K Lotha, Bayavu, Kohima 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 MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

Defence Minister lied on HAL order, says Rahul

Rahul Gandhi and Nirmala Sitharaman. (File)

New Delhi, Jan 6 (AGENCIES): Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman “lied” in Parliament that government orders worth Rs 1 lakh crore were provided to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), while demanding that she should either place the documents in support of her statement in the House or resign.

G a n d h i ’s a t t a c k came after a media report

claimed that “not a single rupee of the said Rs 1 lakh crore has come to HAL, since not a single order, as claimed, has been signed till now”. The media report cited senior HAL management officials in order to back its claim.

Defence Minister Sitharaman hit back at Gandhi for his remarks, saying read “the complete report” to “which you are referring”.

H o w e v e r, a s t h e Lok Sabha record shows,

Sitharaman did not claim the orders were signed, saying they were in the works, Sitharaman tweeted, quoting from the media report to assert that she had not stated in Parliament that the orders to HAL had been signed.

Her remarks came in response to Gandhi’s scathing attack in which he said, “When you tell one lie, you need to keep spinning out more lies, to cover up the first one. In her eagerness to defend the PM’s Rafale lie, the RM [Raksha Mantri/Defence Minister] lied to Parliament.”

“Tomorrow, RM must place before Parliament documents showing 1 Lakh crore of Govt orders to HAL. Or resign,” he tweeted.

Sitharaman’s office later also tweeted, “Dear Shri @RahulGandhi , looks like you really need to start from ABCs. Someone like you who is hell-

MP Cong accuses BJP of horse-trading

Bhopal, Jan 6 (PTI): Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly session beginning Monday, the Congress Sunday alleged that the BJP had been attempting horse-trading, a charge refuted by the saffron party.

The Congress unseated the BJP in the state after 15 years by winning 114 seats, two short of a majority, in the 230-member House in the Assembly polls held in November.

The Congress will have to face its first floor test to get a Speaker elected during the five-day Assembly session.

“It is the habit of the BJP to play destructive politics but they will not succeed. They have talked to several of our MLAs. We (MLAs) will meet in the evening and take a decision on what to do next,” Jitu Patwari, Minister for Sports and Higher Education, told PTI. Asked about the offers allegedly being made by the BJP, Patwari said, “They (BJP) make different offers.”

Earlier, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, while talking to a news channel, had also alleged that BJP was re-

Digvijaya Singh (File)

sorting to horse-trading in Madhya Pradesh.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, however, denied the allegations, stating, “If we wanted to form a government, we would have done this on the day of the election results.”

Taking a swipe at Singh, Vijayvargiya said his statement need not be taken seriously as he spreads “political pollution”.

Another BJP MLA and former minister Sanjay Pathak said, “If BJP had to form the government, then why did Shivraj ji (former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan) resign?”

Pa t h a k , w h o h a d resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in April 2014, also praised CM Kamal Nath terming him a good manager

and said, “He (Nath) has been a Union minister for 20 years and hopefully he will run the government well.”

The Congress has formed the government with the support of four Independent, one SP and two BSP MLAs. The BJP has 109 MLAs. The session will begin with MLAs being administered oath on January 7 and 8, an Assembly Secretariat official informed earlier.

The Speaker will be elected on January 8 and the MP Governor will address the House on the same day, the official added.

The Congress has already announced the candidature of Gotegaon MLA Narmada Prasad Prajapati for the post of Speaker while the BJP is yet to disclose its strategy in this regard.

Meanwhile, the BJP has convened a meeting of its MLAs on Monday evening with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and party national vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe expected to be present, a party spokesperson said.

bent on misleading the public will quote an article even before reading it.”

Her office also accused Gandhi of “lying” and said HAL has signed contracts worth Rs 26,570.8 crore between 2014 and 2018 and contracts worth Rs 73,000 crore are in the pipeline.

“Will @RahulGandhi apologise to the country from the floor of the house and resign?” her office tweeted.

The Congress has been targeting the government, alleging that it denied the HAL an offset contract under the Rafale fighter jets deal with France, a charge the government has denied.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has accused the Congress of not supporting HAL during its rule and asserted that the government is now strengthening the

Delhi’s pollution levels fall to year’s lowest New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI): Delhi recorded its lowest pollution level of the year on Sunday after a spell of rain but the air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category, authorities said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city was 347.

A n AQ I b e t we e n 100 and 200 comes under ‘moderate’ category, 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, 301 and 400 is ‘very poor’ and that between 401 and 500 is ‘severe’.

Thirty-one areas in Delhi recorded ‘very poor’ air quality, while it was ‘poor’ in two areas, the CPCB said. In the National Capital Region, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Noida recorded ‘very poor’ air quality, it said.

D e l h i ’s a i r q u a l ity improved significantly on Sunday after rainfall washed away pollutants and cleansed the air, authorities said. The city’s air quality has been oscillating between the upper range of the ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ category for the past two weeks.

defence public sector undertaking.

Gandhi had on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “weakening” HAL to help his “suit-boot” friend.

Gandhi’s attack on Saturday had come over a media repor t which claimed that HAL, grappling with low finances, was forced to borrow ₹1,000 crore to pay salaries to its employees for the first time in years.

C o n g r e s s ’s c h i e f spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted on January 6, “The Lying Defence Minister’s Lies Get Exposed! Defence Minister claimed that procurement orders worth Rs 1 Lakh Crore provided to HAL! HAL says Not a SINGLE PAISA has come, as Not a SINGLE ORDER has been signed!”

“For the first time, HAL forced to take a loan of Rs 1000 Cr to pay sala-

7

‘Seat-sharing announcement in a week’ L u c k n ow, J a n 6 (AGENCIES): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that details of seat sharing with Mayawati’s BSP may be announced in a week, but kept cards close to his chest on the possibility of having any ties with the Congress.

The Samajwadi Party and the BSP have decided to fight the upcoming national elections together and have already worked out a seat sharing arrangement to take on the BJP, which along with its allies won 73 seats from the state in 2014.

“You will come to know about it (alliance) in a week or so,” Yadav said when asked as to when an official announcement will be made.

On the possibility of the Congress joining the alliance, Yadav said, “The two leaders of the ‘gathbandhan’ have to decide whether Congress will be there or not.”

Yadav declined to elaborate further, leaving the opposi-

Bhubaneswar, Jan 6 (PTI): Odisha Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy resigned Sunday after sparking a controversy for his remarks on the acquittal of the accused in a gang rape-and-murder case of 2011-2012, sources said.

“Maharathy has sent his resignation letter to the chief minister’s office.

He has resigned on moral grounds,” a source in the CMO said. Maharathy said he tendered resignation on his own and there was no pressure on him to step down. “I have high respect for the chief minister and the BJD. I resigned voluntarily to ensure there is no pressure on the party,” he told reporters.

The development came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a public meeting at Baripada on Saturday, accused the Odisha government of not being serious about the welfare of women and girls and urged it to reinvestigate the Pipili gang rape-and-murder case.

“This (state) government failed to give justice to a girl in an incident that took place 7 to 8 years ago in Puri district. It is natural that women and girls are angry

Pradeep Maharathy (File)

over laxity in investigation into the case for which the victim has been denied justice,” Modi said at the BJP rally. Reacting to Modi’s remarks, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said, “We are following the case vigorously.”

A 19-year-old Dalit girl was raped in November, 2011 and died in June, 2012 after remaining in a semicomatose state, sparking a state-wide furore. It was alleged that the accused in the case had been sheltered

by Maharathy.

As the incident triggered massive public outcry amid allegation that Maharathy, the local BJD MLA and also a minister then, was sheltering the accused, the state government handed over the case

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An “Orange” warning had been issued for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a home ministry official said, quoting from a weather bulletin. An “orange” weather warning means people should “be prepared” and there is an increased likelihood of bad or extreme weather, which may disrupt road and air travel and threaten life and property. “Pabuk” is now over the Andaman sea and its neighbourhood and it has moved north-northwestwards at a speed of 20 kmph in the last six hours.

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to the crime branch of the police. Maharathy was also asked to put in his papers.

On December 24, 2018, the court of additional district judge in Bhubaneswar had acquitted the two persons arrested in the case for lack of evidence.

Reacting to the court judgement, Maharathy had said, “I welcome the court judgement. It is victory of truth. The victim girl got justice.” 63-year-old Maharathy’s statement had angered opposition political parties as well as the victim’s family who had sought stringent action against the accused.

“How come the victim got justice when the accused persons are acquitted?” asked Odisha Mahila Congress president Sumitra Jena. The women’s wings of both the BJP and the Congress had launched an agitation demanding Maharathy’s resignation.

Though Maharathy, who represents Pipili in the assembly, had subsequently apologised for his remarks following widespread condemnation, opposition parties stepped up their demand for his removal as minister.

‘Orange’ alert for Andaman due to cyclone ‘Pabuk’

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tion parties guessing on whether the Congress will be accommodated.

Yadav had recently expressed displeasure against the Congress for not including its lone MLA in the new Madhya Pradesh ministry headed by Kamal Nath.

BSP leader Mayawati too has said it may withdraw its support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan if the cases against Dalits lodged during a protest last year are not withdrawn.

The SP and the BSP have, however, decided not to field candidates in Amethi and Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituencies of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and

Odisha minister quits over remark

1.

2.

3.

4.

Nursing Courses : Dimapur.

Akhilesh Yadav (File)

UPA chief Sonia Gandhi.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has a presence in western UP, has also been accommodated in the alliance.

The politically crucial Uttar Pradesh sends 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha. The ruling BJP has dubbed the development as “opportunistic” and “anti-people”.

By joining hands, the opposition parties had defeated the BJP in three Lok Sabha bypolls in the state last year, the first show of strength after the 2017 Assembly elections which saw the saffron party storm to power in the state after a 14year hiatus.

In the last parliamentary elections in 2014, the BJP won 71 seats in the state, securing 42.63 per cent of the votes. BJP ally Apna Dal bagged two more.

The Samajwadi Party had won five seats with a vote share of 22.35 per cent.

The BSP did not win any seat while securing 19.77 per cent votes.

8

Aadhaar a game changer, says Jaitley

New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS): Crediting a “decisive” Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the evolution of the Aadhaar as a “game changer”, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said Unique Identity Number (UID) has helped the government save around Rs 90,000 crore in the last few years by eliminating several duplicate and fake beneficiaries.

Two days after the Lok Sabha passed a bill to amend three laws to provide legal support to the government’s decision to allow voluntary linkage of Aadhaar with mobile phone numbers and bank accounts, Jaitley in his latest blogpost said the Aadhaar under the erstwhile Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was “inadequate” because of its contradictions and indecision.

“The government estimates that Rs 90,000 crore have been saved in the last few years till March 2018 by the use of Aadhaar. Several duplicate beneficiaries, nonexistent beneficiaries and fake beneficiaries have been eliminated.

“The Digital Dividend Report prepared by the World Bank estimates that India can save Rs 77,000 crore every year by the use of Aadhaar. The savings through Aadhaar can fund three schemes the size of

Arun Jaitley (File)

Ayushman Bharat,” said Jaitley.

He said the Aadhaar under the UPA being nonstatutory, posed a serious legal challenge.

“The UPA itself was a divided house. While Nandan Nilekani pushed hard, a senior minister blocked it. The Prime Minister was indecisive. The enrolment continued, though at a very moderate pace.

“The UPA legislation was inadequate. It provided for the methodology by which the UID would be issued. It did not contain adequate safeguards on privacy. It did not mention for which purpose the UID would be used,” he said.

Listing out the benefits of Aadhaar, Jaitley said that in the last 28 months, over 122 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued, covering 99 per cent of the country’s adult population.

Pointing out that 2,579 crore authentications have

been undertaken till date, Jaitley said: “Everyday, 2.7 crore authentications are done. UIDAI has the capacity of 10 crore transactions to be authenticated per day,” he said.

“Many state support schemes, including some by the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism have been linked to Aadhaar.

22.80 crore of PAHAL and Ujjwala beneficiaries are given cooking gas subsidies through DBT in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.

This apar t, “58.24 crore ration card holders stand linked. 10.33 crore MGNREGA card holders get wage payment through DBT in their bank accounts.

So do the 1.93 crore beneficiaries and other beneficiaries of the national social assistance programme. The Income Tax Department has already linked 21 crore PAN card holders with their Aadhaar numbers,” Jaitley said.

“In most schemes the DBT takes place to the beneficiaries’ 63.52 crore bank accounts that had been linked with the unique identity as on December 15, 2018. The total number of subsidy transactions through Aadhaar are almost about 425 crore. The total amount of subsidy transferred through Aadhaar now equals Rs 169,868 crore.

business

Tax collection numbers ‘matter of serious concern’: CBDT chief

New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI): With the growth in direct tax collections sluggish, the CBDT has directed income tax department officials to “maximise” their efforts and conduct targeted surveys and file court cases against those who willfully evade taxes.

CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra has shot off a letter to all Principal Chief Commissioners of I-T Department, asking them to pull up their socks as only three months are left for the current financial year to close on March 31.

“On review of the trends of growth under different minor heads, it is noted that the growth in the collection under regular assessment tax (recovery from arrear and current demand) is extremely low at 1.1 per cent as compared to 15.6 per cent growth during the corresponding period last year.

“Most of the regions are, in fact, showing negative growth under regular assessment tax. This is a matter of serious concern and concerted efforts are now required to be made to drive up recovery from arrear and current demand,” the board chief said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) frames policy for the I-T Department and supervises its work.

Talking about direct tax collections, Chandra said that by the end of December, 2018 the growth rate has been 13.6 per cent as against the target of 14.7 per cent.

“The position of growth in gross collections is marginally better at 14.1 per cent but still below achieving the budget estimates of Rs 11,50,000 crore,” he said.

The CBDT chief also suggested some “strategies” to be adopted and implemented to achieve the targets.

He asked the income tax department to conduct “targeted recovery surveys in potential cases where high amount of recovery is likely”.

“Sale of attached properties in appropriate cases by tax recovery officers to recover confirmed demand where normal measures of recovery have not yielded results” to be deployed, undertaking action to recover outstanding dues from companies and filing prosecution complaints in courts against those people who are wilfully evading payment of outstanding taxes.

The CBDT chief also asked tax officials to train their scanner on tax deducted at source (TDS) collections and launch prosecution against those who are at “substantial default”.

It has also been asked to “verify advance tax payment” by those who sell properties and monitoring of dividend distribution tax.

The tax department has also been asked to timely complete regular assessments (non time-barring) in cases where demand is likely to be raised and collected during the current fiscal.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

Samsung dials ‘M’ for millennials, set to disrupt Xiaomi’s Redmi

New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS): The Indian smartphone market -- currently undergoing great churning at both the hardware and software levels -- is set to witness a game-changing moment this month in the Samsung Galaxy ‘M’ series devices that may redefine the affordable and mid-level price segments currently dominated by the Chinese players.

The South Korean giant, which has a significant presence across price points in the country, would this month launch two smartphones -- M10 for around Rs 9,500 and M20 for nearly Rs 15,000 -- with not-seenbefore specifications like Infinity-V display in this segment.

According to reliable industry sources, the third smar tphone M30 with triple-rear camera system will probably arrive next month.

The first-ever ‘M’ series smartphones with industryfirst features are currently being manufactured for the millennials at Samsung’s factory in Noida. It will be a global launch for the ‘M’ series in India and may reach other markets later.

According to experts, Samsung which is still the most vertical integrated player in the Indian market, has set its eyes firmly on dethrowning Xiaomi’s highlysuccessful Redmi series in the affordable and mid-price range segment.

“Samsung has access to latest display, camera, memory and connectivity technologies from hardware perspective. Further, it can enjoy global scale for the same ‘M’ models more than Xiaomi,” Neil Shah, Partner and Research Director at Counterpoint Research told IANS. According to Shah, Samsung can surely compete well if it has the right value proposition in terms of design, specs and more so camera to take on Xiaomi.

“Samsung is also in better position in offline market and a robust service network. The only caveat has been Xiaomi sacrificing margins and out-pricing competition -- the challenge which Samsung will have to crack with these new models,” Shah noted.

Galaxy M20 will house a massive 5,000mAh battery -- the first-ever on any Samsung smartphone -- a big plus for phone users in the country who treat battery life as one of their key requirements. M20 will house a 3,500mAh battery.

“Samsung’s new Galaxy ‘M’ series of smartphones with industry-first features indicates the importance it accords to India as a growth market,” said Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR).

“It would look at bolstering and taking the fight to Xiaomi in this price segment, and further cement its leadership in Indian market,” Ram told IANS. The launch of the ‘M’ series in India, following months of R&D carried out

by Samsung India, would be in line with the company’s strategy to consolidate its position among the country’s millennials.

“There is a need for Samsung to pep up their presence in the affordable and mid-price segment. For sometime, the company emphasised on the premium and luxury segments but now is the time to refresh the bouquet for the highlysaleable segments in our country,” emphasised Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Principal Analyst, techARC.

RBI asked to fix dysfunctional ATMs PSBs to either shut or rationalise 69 unviable overseas branches

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No. 3719 Yesterday’s solution No. 3718

Across 1 Good-looking workers love yours truly (8) 5 Stage villain not entirely wicked (4) 8 Entertain Erato, for example (5) 9 Clothing was first to be mixed up (7) 11 Stupid alien seen in coppice (7) 12 Tool found in quiet country road? (5) 13 No reversal - keep waiting for connection (2,4) 15 Careless about unmarried woman (6) 18 Princess sheltered by guardian angel (5) 20 See it as anagram - nothing could be simpler (7) 23 Kitchen implements for old policemen (7) 24 Superficial brightness observed outside hospital (5) 25 Son of Adam in Somerset House (4) 26 Window supporter of little substance (8) Down 1 He has skill and courage (5) 2 Feed in hours for recreation (7) 3 Small vegetable not at all rough (5) 4 Powerful? Very! (6) 6 Six lines above a house (5) 7 Shelves about right for books (7) 10 Europe possibly missing old currency (5) 13 Pious Ed, strangely complex character (7) 14 Permission to depart (5) 16 I caught bird that’s pulled up lettuce (7) 17 A Japanese entertainer - she gets involved with a GI (6) 19 Turn aside from state capital in Texas (5) 21 Fibre used in ropes is allpurpose (5) 22 Principle unaffected by revolution (5)

owned banks even as Hong Kong and the UAE, each have 13 such branches while Singapore has 12 branches.

SBI topped the list of lossmaking branches in 2016-17 with a total 9 such branches followed by 8 branches of Bank of India and 7 of Bank

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No. 9100 Yesterday’s solution No. 9099

for rationalisation, sources said.

While unviable foreign operations are being shut, multiple branches in same cities or nearby areas are being rationalised, sources added. PSBs had around 165 foreign branches apart from subsidiaries, joint ventures and representative offices as on January 31, 2018.

C o u n t r y ’s l a r g e s t lender SBI has the biggest overseas presence with 52 branches followed by 50 branches of Bank of Baroda and 29 of Bank of India. 32 branches in the UK is the maximum number by state-

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New Delhi, Jan 6 (Agencies): Rationalisation of overseas banking operations will continue this year as public sector banks (PSB) are working on either shutting or rationalising about 69 overseas operations in the coming months to drive cost efficiency, PTI reported.

Planned rationalisation of operations and examination of a total of 216 overseas operations of PSBs was undertaken last year, said sources quoted by PTI. Out of that, as many as 35 overseas operations were shut and 69 are under process or being considered

DP-54

Su doku

report said.

The panel headed by senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily also noted that RBI’s remonetisation drive has not augmented/ resolved the cash supply to ATMs in rural/semi-urban areas, forcing shutdown of many ATMs. The committee has expressed concern that “there are just not enough” ATMs being installed or added to cater to the rising demand for cash in an expanding economy, even as more and more debit cards are being issued and large number of Jan Dhan accounts opened by banks.

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Crossword

banks, 59,645 ATMs of private banks and 18,003 of foreign banks, payments banks, small fiance banks and White Label ATMs (WLAs), which are owned and operated by non-bank entities.

“As digital transactions have not become anywhere near universal, the committee would urge upon RBI to pursue the lingering problem of dysfunctionality as well as shortage of ATMs vigorously with banks, while ensuring the economic viability of ATMs for all stakeholders, so that a forced cash crunch is not imposed on the public,” the

DP-9003

New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI): A parliamentary panel has asked the Reserve Bank to address the problem of perpetually dysfunctional ATMs so as to avoid any situation of forced cash crunch.

The Standing Committee on Finance has also asked banks to install adequate number of ATMs. The panel tabled its report in Parliament last week.

As per a data of RBI, there were 2,21,492 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in the country as at September-end 2018.

These include 1,43,844 ATMs of public sector

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9

‘Yellow vest’ protestors storm French ministry Malaysia’s king abdicates in historic first

Tear gas is thrown by riot police as demonstrators wearing yellow vests try to cross a pedestrian bridge during march in Paris, Saturday. (AP/PTI)

Macron did not specifically refer to the incident, but tweeted his condemnation of the “extreme violence” against “the Republic, its guardians, its representatives and its symbols”.

Griveaux had on Friday criticised the yellow vest movement, describing those still involved as “agitators” who were seeking “to overthrow the government”.

Police said some 3,500 demonstrators turned up on the Champs-Elysees on Saturday morning. Some then made their way south of the river to the wealthy area around Boulevard St Germain, where they set light to a car and several mo-

torbikes and set up burning barricades, prompting police to fire tear gas to try and disperse them. Police said 35 people were arrested.

Demonstrators took to the streets of several other cities across France, with up to 2,000 people in Rouen northwest of Paris, where some set up burning barricades. One protester was injured and at least two others were arrested, police said. Some 4,600 protesters hit the streets of the southwestern city of Bordeaux, with some hurling stones at police who answered with tear gas and water cannon.

Five police were hurt and 11 people arrested, local

authorities said, adding that several cars were torched and shop windows broken.

Further south in Toulouse, 22 people were detained following clashes that erupted after 2,000 people turned out to demonstrate.

And in the centraleastern city of Lyon, several thousands took to the streets, blocking access to the A7 motorway and causing traffic jams for those returning from Christmas holidays in the mountains.

The yellow vest movement began in rural France over plans to increase fuel taxes. But it later ballooned into a wider revolt against Macron’s pro-market poli-

China passes law to to ‘Sinicize’ Islam

Practicing Islam is forbidden in parts of China, with individuals caught praying, fasting, growing a beard or wearing a hijab facing arrest. [Thomas Peter/Reuters]

Beijing, Jan 6 (IANS): China has passed a law that seeks to “Sinicize” Islam within five years and might do that with other four religions in the country, according to the state media.

Under the all-powerful Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has heavily cracked down on religion, especially Islam practised by most Uighurs in the country’s Xinjiang province who Beijing suspects of having separatist and extremist tendencies.

“China passed a fiveyear plan to Sinicize Islam at a meeting on Saturday with representatives from China’s eight Islamic associations,” said a report in the Global Times.

“During the meeting, participants agreed to guide Islam to be compatible with socialism and implement measures to Sinicize the religion. This is China’s important act to explore ways of governing religion in modern countries,” the report said.

There are over 20 mil-

lion Muslims in the country.

Islam is one of the five officially recognised religions in atheist China.

The other four are Taoism, Buddhism, Catholicism, and Protestantism.

The top officials in the Chinese government have often likened the religion to “mental disease” that “needs to be cured.”

China has come under heavy international criticism for reportedly detaining over 1 million Muslim Uighurs in indoctrination

camps in Xinjiang.

In the past, Beijing has adopted heavy-handed measures with the authorities confiscating copies of the Quran, issuing diktats to Muslims not to grow beards, and not choose names for their wards which sound “too Islamic.”

Defending the “Sinicization” of Islam move, the Global Times in an opinionated report, said: “Generally speaking, modern countries are secular and diverse in a globalized world. But the revival and spread of religion have somewhat impacted secular society.

Fundamentalism has caused more religious violence and religious nationalism is threatening countries’ legitimate governments and leading to social instability.”

“Governing religion is a common challenge faced by all modern countries. The main purpose of China’s five-year plan to sinicize Islam is to seek governance that tallies with Chinese practice, and it is not only limited to Islam.”

cies and governing style, with 282,000 people joining the first Saturday rally on November 17.

Macron initially refused to make any concessions, but in mid-December, after weeks of violence, he scrapped the planned fuel tax hike and promised extra cash for minimum wage earners as well as tax cuts for pensioners.

T h e p r o t e s t s h ave turned into the biggest political crisis of Macron’s 20-month presidency and brought his popularity ratings to an all-time low.

Although public anger appeared to abate following his concessions and over the holiday period, the brief arrest on Wednesday of Eric Drouet, one of the leaders of the movement, appeared to rekindle resentment among his supporters.

The latest opinion poll, published on Thursday by Odoxa Dentsu, indicated 55 percent support the protests -- a figure which, although lower than the 75 percent back in November, is still important enough to suggest the anti-austerity movement retains political clout.

Former cinema icon Brigitte Bardot, who is known today for her rightwing views and animal rights activism, on Sunday said she understood what motivated the yellow vest movement.

30 killed in gold mine collapse in Afghanistan Kunduz, Jan 6 (Agencies): At least 30 people were killed when a gold mine collapsed in northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, officials said, in the latest tragedy to strike the war-torn country, AFP reported.

Another seven were injured in the incident in Kohistan district of Badakhshan province, district governor Mohammad Rustam Raghi told AFP. Villagers had dug a 60metre (200-feet) deep shaft in a river bed to search for gold. They were inside when the walls fell in.

“The people were using an excavator to dig a big hole in the river when it collapsed, trapping dozens of workers,” Raghi said.

“At least 30 people have been killed and seven wounded.” It was not clear why the shaft collapsed, but the provincial governor’s spokesman Nik Mohammad Nazari told AFP the miners were not professionals.

“The villagers have been involved in this business for decades with no government control over them,” Nazari said.

London, Jan 6 (Agencies): Department of Defence chief of staff Kevin Sweeney has resigned, a month after the Defence Secretary James Mattis announced his departure.

According to BBC, Rear Admiral Sweeney said in a statement that “the time is right to return to the private sector”. He is now the third senior Pentagon official to announce his resignation since President Donald Trump announced US forces would leave Syria.

Officials have said there is no timetable for the troop departure. Rear Adm Sweeney held his post for two years from January 2017.

In a terse resignation letter, he said it had been an “an honour to serve” alongside his colleagues in the department, but made no mention of Mr Trump.

His announcement comes days after General Mattis left his post early, after initially planning to stay in his role until February.

His departure adds to a sense of uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s defence and foreign policies since the surprise announcement of the planned withdrawal

and the EU - but it needs to pass a vote by MPs in Parliament before it is accepted.

MPs are expected to be asked to vote on it either January 14 or 15.

The crunch vote was due to take place in December but was postponed at the last minute as Mrs May faced almost certain defeat amid opposition from many of her MPs, as well as Labour and other parties.

Asked by the BBC’s Andrew Marr if the vote would “definitely” go ahead in the second week of January, she replied “yes, we are going to hold the vote”.

She said she truly be-

Kevin Sweeney

from Syria, analysts say.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will embark on a week-long tour of the Middle East designed to reassure allies

chy system has been in place since independence from Britain in 1957, and Sultan Muhammad V is the first monarch to have renounced the throne.

Sultan Muhammad V studied at St Cross College at Oxford and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, according to official media.

He is known for a relaxed public persona, taking part in walkathons to promote health, and has been photographed wearing a baseball cap backwards.

Portraits of the king and queen adorn government buildings throughout the country. The king is also the symbolic head of Islam in the nation, as well as the nominal chief of the military. Malaysia’s sultans trace a lineage back to Malay sultanates of the 15th century. The king is referred to as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, or “He Who Is Made Lord”.

in the region.

The former defence secretary hinted at policy differences with President Trump in his resignation letter. Addressed to Mr Trump directly, Gen Mattis’s letter described his views on “treating allies with respect” and using “all the tools of American power to provide for the common defence”.

“Because you have the right to have a secretary of defence whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” he wrote.

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Theresa May

lieved hers was a “good deal” for the country and that it was up to its opponents to spell out the alternatives to it.

Asked what had changed since last month, she said the EU had agreed to some “changes” and she was continuing to talk to European leaders as she tried and give MPs the “confidence” to support the deal.

She promised to give more detail in three areas in the coming days.

She said there were a “number of ways” of giving MPs more input in the next phase of the Brexit process, including allowing them a real say in shaping the “mandate for the negotiations for the future relationship”.

“The deal is on the table. We’ve got people who want to see their perfect Brexit. And I would say don’t let the search for the perfect be the enemy of the good. The danger there is that we end up with no Brexit at all.”

November.

Reports then circulated online that he had married a former Miss Moscow in Russia.

Royal officials in Malaysia have so far not commented on the rumoured marriage, or given any details about his health condition.

While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia’s Islamic royalty command great respect, especially from Muslim Malays, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

Speculation intensified about the king’s future this week when the country’s Islamic royals reportedly held a special meeting.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty.

The rotating monar-

Pentagon chief of staff Sweeney resigns

Brexit deal will ‘definitely’ happen: May

London, Jan 6 (Agencies): Theresa May has said the Commons vote on her Brexit deal will “definitely” go ahead next week as she vowed to redouble her efforts to win MPs round.

She said she would set out new measures on Northern Ireland and look at giving MPs more say in shaping negotiations over future trade relations.

Warning of “uncharted” territory if MPs rejected the deal, she declined to rule out holding more than one vote.

But one Tory Brexiteer said support for a no-deal exit was “hardening”.

And a poll carried out for the People’s Vote campaign suggests fewer than one in four voters support the prime minister’s Brexit deal.

The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019.

A deal on the terms of the UK’s divorce and the framework of future relations has been agreed between the prime minister

Sultan Muhammad V

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Paris, Jan 6 (Agencies): “Yellow vest” protesters returned in force to the streets of France this weekend, clashing with police in several cities and smashing their way into a government ministry in Paris with the help of a forklift truck, AFP reported.

The interior ministry put the number of protesters who took to the streets on Saturday at 50,000, compared with 32,000 on December 29 when the movement appeared to be weakening after holding a series of weekly Saturday protests since mid-November.

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, who was evacuated from his ministry in central Paris when a handful of protesters in high-visibility vests smashed down the large wooden door to the ministry compound, denounced the break-in as an “unacceptable attack on the Republic”.

“Some yellow vest protesters and other people dressed in black ... got hold of a construction vehicle which was in the street nearby and smashed open the entrance gate to the ministry,” he told AFP. They briefly entered the courtyard where they smashed up two cars, broke some windows then escaped, he added, saying police were trying to identify them from security footage.

President Emmanuel

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 6 (Agencies): Malaysia’s king has abdicated, royal officials said Sunday, in a historic first for the country that ended weeks of speculation about his future after he took medical leave, AFP reported.

Sultan Muhammad V’s decision marks the first time a king has abdicated in the Muslim-majority country since it gained independence from Britain in 1957.

It came after the king took leave at the start of November for two months, during which time unconfirmed reports circulated that he had married a Russian former beauty queen.

A statement from the national palace confirmed the resignation of the relatively youthful monarch, known for his fondness for four-wheel driving and other extreme sports.

“His majesty tells the people of Malaysia to continue to be united to maintain unity, tolerance, and work together,” said the statement, signed by the Comptroller of the Royal Household, Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.

It gave no reason for the 49-year-old’s move.

But there had been a question mark over the reign of the king, who ascended to the throne in December 2016, since he took a leave of absence for medical treatment in

Infotainment

10

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

Jim Parsons explains his BSB spend quality time Music industry greets decision to step away from TBBT with families in new video AR Rahman on turning 52 B

A

Sir, on your birthday, sending you wishes for continued unparalleled musical creations, constantly raising the bar. Thank you for being so incredibly honest and keeping yourself so real. You have been my guardian angel and my guru for life. Thank you for your magic.

Bejoy Nambiar: Happy birthday Sir. Not a single day goes by wthout listening to your music. You always were and always will be an inspiration.

Harshdeep Kaur: Happy birthday Sir. My musical journey would have been incomplete without you.

Daler Mehndi: Wishing you a very happy birthday! May you have a very happy, healthy, blessed year ahead.

Anirudh Ravichander: Happy birthday to the Mozart of Madras.

Amit Trivedi: Dear Sir, wishing you a very happy birthday. I wish for you to have a successful year ahead and you continue to inspire us with your music.

Lots of love.

(IANS)

W

ith “The Big Bang Theory” (TBBT) about to take its final bow at CBS, one of the series’ principal stars is opening up about why he chose now as the perfect time to hang up his nerd cape and move on to new things.

Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon Cooper, perhaps the most popular character on the long-running comedy, spoke with Entertainment Weekly for its upcoming cover story about the show’s final season, which debuts in the spring. It turns out, the actor had two good reasons for leaving. First, he feels there’s no more ground for the show to cover.

“It’s both as complex and as simple as just feeling innately that it was time.

It speaks to a lot of things, none of them bad. There is no negative reason to stop doing ‘Big Bang,’” he told the outlet. “It felt like we have been able to do this

s composer-singer A.R. Rahman turned 52 on Sunday, several members from the Indian music industry wished their “inspiration”, love and happiness.

The music maestro has been wooing audiences for over three decades with his soulfoul and dance songs like “Tu hi re”, “Urvasi Urvasi” and “Jai ho”.

Many Indian artistes took to Twitter to shower the Oscar and Grammy winner with birthday wishes. Here’s what some of them tweeted: Neeti Mohan: Dearest Sir, wishing you a very happy birthday. It is such

an honour to know you!

Ten years of being a part of your band has taught me not only about music but lessons on life. Thank you for the music and being the best mentor. More peace, good health and success to you.

Shreya Ghoshal: Wishing you a very happy birthday Sir! May you have a very happy, healthy, blessed year ahead.

Anil Kapoor: Wishing the infinitely talented guru of timeless music a very happy birthday! May your musical magic continue to win hearts and souls for years to come.

Shweta Pandit: Dear

Streaming has changed films for better: Sandra Bullock

Gene Simmons shares about life, earnings

A

ctress Sandra Bullock, who stars in Netflix's acclaimed thriller "Bird Box", believes that "streaming has elevated the bar" in terms of opportunities for actors.

"Cinema is not going anywhere, streaming has elevated the bar. Before, if you were a superhero, you were able to get a movie made; anything else was not getting made. Now, with streaming, we have all kinds of work available," Bullock told The I Paper.

She added: "The movie business is changing, and providing so many more opportunities for women and for people of colour."

The "Ocean's 8" star went on to explain that she feels the industry is changing in all ways and said she saw a notable difference in attitudes towards women before and after filming the all-female heist flick, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She said: "We started that film before #MeToo and we ended it during.

I saw a noticeable difference."

Despite changing attitudes, the "Proposal" actress also noticed a difference while filming "Bird Box" due to the presence of a female director, Susanne Bier.

(IANS)

U

.K.’s This Is Money website recently conducted an interview with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons.

Asked if he has ever struggled to make ends meet, Gene said: “No. I have never lived above my means. I washed dishes and picked up garbage, but I never struggled to make ends meet.

If I was down and out, I never knew it at the time. I always had a job and could pay my way.”

Simmons also spoke about an instance when he was paid “silly money.” He said: “There was a royal event I had to speak at for an hour and they paid me millions of pounds.

It is not proper to say which royal family it was, but they just wanted me there. God knows why.

I did not even perform, I just spoke.”

Asked what his biggest money mistake was, Simmons said: “The biggest was lending $400,000 to someone I thought was a friend. I never saw that money again.”

Gene also revealed that 2016 was the best year of his financial life. “I made millions of pounds, but I have made millions every year for more than

40 years,” he said.

Back in 2017, Simmons said that taking breaks from work is the biggest thing holding people back from becoming rich and achieving their career goals.

“It’s too easy to sit back,” he told “CNBC Make It”. “We like to binge watch TV.” Simmons said that most people live in an “entitlement area” in which they want to enjoy the perks of being rich but don’t want to put in the work that it takes to get there.

“You take two days off every week and do nothing, if you even have a job,” he said. “Times 52 weeks is 104 days.”

That doesn’t even

for so many years now, it doesn’t feel like there is anything left on the table.

Not that we couldn’t keep doing it, but it feels like we’ve chewed all the meat off this bone.”

The star continued noting that he’s excited for what the future holds, despite having no idea what’s next for him after “Big Bang Theory” wraps. However, he explained that the timing was right to try new things given that he worries he’s too old to continue playing Sheldon.

“I guess at a personal level, it feels like the right time in my life. I don’t know what’s next for me. It’s not like there is something specific I am aiming for.

I’m firmly in my middle age now. I don’t know how much longer I can wear [the T-shirts] without looking really long in the tooth,” he said. “In a way, it’s exciting.

What is this next chapter of life? What is this next chapter for all of us? It will be very, very sad when it does end, even knowing [I am] okay with it. People are okay when they graduate but there are frequently tears at graduation. It’s hard to say goodbye to people that you have worked with for so long.”

(FoxNews)

R

ackstreet Boys have unveiled the music video of their new track “No place”. The video centers around the importance of family, as the pop group is shown playing with their children and spending time with their wives.

There are many sweet moments, including the band’s oldest member Kevin Richardson roasting marshmallows with his children, AJ McLean dancing around with his daughters, Nick Carter reading to his son and Brian Littrell cooking with his wife and son while they all sing along,

reports billboard.com.

The lyric “There ain’t no place, ain’t no place like you” repeats in the chorus, explaining that despite all the cities and sights, Backstreet Boys have visited across the globe, nothing

compares to being with the ones they love.

The single is from their upcoming album “DNA”.

It is the pop group’s 10th studio album and will be released on January 25.

(IANS)

Why your computer can cause neck pain

D

o you tend to suffer from headaches or neck and backaches from computer work? If so, checking your posture may help, researchers say.

Sitting at a computer with jutting head forward to look more closely at the screen compresses the neck and can cause fatigue, headaches, poor concentration, increased muscle tension and can even lead to injury to the vertebrae over time.

It can even limit the ability to turn the head, the researchers explained.

"When your posture is tall and erect, the muscles of your back can easily support the weight of your head and neck -- as much as 12

pounds," said Erik Peper, Associate Professor at San Francisco State University.

"But when your head juts forward at a 45 degree angle, your neck acts like a fulcrum, like a long lever lifting a heavy object. Now the muscle weight of your head and neck is the equivalent of about 45 pounds.

It is not surprising people get stiff necks and shoulder and back pain," Peper added. For the study, published in the journal Biofeedback, the team first asked 87 students to sit upright with their heads properly aligned on their necks and asked them to turn their heads.

(IANS)

Drake under fire for kissing a minor

apper Drake is receiving a lot of backlash on social media over a video in which he can be seen kissing and inappropriately touching a 17-year-old girl during one of his previous concerts.

According to a YouTube user, the video that is now viral, was filmed in 2010 and took place

a t a s h ow i n Denver, reports e o n l i n e. c o m .

In the clip, the rapper, then 23 years old, is seen dancing with the girl, then kissing her shoulder and hugging her around her chest while standing behind her.

After calling the girl onstage, Drake even asked her age, to which the girl replied that she is 17.

Many people took to Twitter to voice criticism of Drake over the video, with some also mentioning his controversial friendship with 14-year-old "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown.

(IANS)

include the time you take off for holidays and vacations, which are generally spent shopping and gossiping, he said. That lost time could be better spent making money.

In September, KISS announced its “End Of The Road” farewell tour on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”, and a month later, the band revealed the first set of dates and cities in North America, produced

by Live Nation.

International markets were announced simultaneously.

The first North American leg of “End Of The Road” will launch January 31 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at Rogers Arena and will hit an additional 43 cities.

K Y M C

davp 44101/13/0008/1819

as saying.

For the study, published in the journal EClinicalMedicine, the team included interviews with almost 11,000 14-year-olds.

They found that twofifths of girls have suffered online harassments or online bullying compared to one-quarter of boys.

Compared to 28 per cent of boys, 40 per cent of girls have suffered sleep loss because of online habits.

(IANS)

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T

eenage girls who spend more time on social media have a higher risk of depression than boys, a study has found.

Researchers led by Yvonne Kelly from the University College London (UCL) found that almost 40 per cent of girls who spend more than five hours a day on social media show symptoms of depression, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, the rate is much lower for boys, which is less than 15 per cent.

According to Simon Wessely, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the underlying processes of this phenomenon are not well understood.

The researchers “still cannot definitely say that social media usage causes poor mental health, although the evidence is starting to point in that direction”, The Guardian quoted Wessely

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Higher use of social media linked to depression in girls

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Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

India on course for historic series win EYL beat Waxen by 6 wkts in WCC

Australia’s Mitchell Starc lets a high ball go past on day 4 of their cricket test match against India in Sydney, Sunday. (AP/PTI)

Sydney, Jan 6 (PTI): Fickle weather on day four prevented India from closing in on a big win in the fourth Test but they were well on course for their maiden series victory in Australia after forcing the hosts to follow-on at home for the first time since 1988.

Bad light and intermitted rain led to substantial loss of play with only 25.2 overs bowled on day four.

Australia were placed at 6-0 in 4 overs after Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul in his maiden Test Down Under helped India bowl the home team out for

300 in the first innings.

Umpires took players off the field with eight minutes remaining in the belated afternoon session.

Marcus Harris (2) and Usman Khawaja (4) were the unbeaten batsmen with Australia still trailing by 316 runs.

But play didn’t resume at all once the scheduled tea break was over, as bad light hampered proceedings once again. The umpires waited for nearly an hour, coming out for inspection in between, before making a decision at 5 pm local time.

The match officials

were ready to wait until 6 pm for light to improve, but a slight drizzle put paid to the wait and the day was called off at 5.20 pm local time.

This was after Australia were bowled out for 300 runs (104.5 overs) in their first innings and were asked to follow on, surrendering a lead of 322 runs. Kuldeep Yadav took 5-99, making instant impact his first game of the series.

After the morning session was washed out, play resumed at 1.50 pm local time with 230 minutes lost to bad light and rain since

day three.

India took the second new ball immediately and made quick inroads.

Mohammed Shami (2-58) bowled Pat Cummins (25) with a ball that kept low on the sixth ball after resumption of play.

At the other end, Jasprit Bumrah (1-62) set up Peter Handscomb (37) who played on after a resilient innings facing 111 balls.

Yadav then trapped Nathan Lyon (0) lbw as Australia lost three wickets for 22 runs in the space of 44 balls.

And he could have immediately completed his five-wicket haul, but Hanuma Vihari put down a skier from Josh Hazlewood (21) at mid on. In the process, Vihari hurt his left shoulder whilst fielding and didn’t take the field later on in the session, with Hardik Pandya coming on as a substitute fielder.

Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc (29 not out) then added 42 runs for the 10th wicket as Australia reached 300 despite another pitiful batting display.

Yadav got his reward thereafter with Hazlewood trapped lbw on a close umpire’s call, and the decision stayed in the wrist-spinner’s favour despite DRS. Australia were then forced to follow on for the first time in Test cricket since 2005 when England had enforced the same in

Nottingham. On their home soil, this was the first instance of Australia following on since 1988, again in Sydney, versus England.

Earlier, incessant rain and bad light prevented the start of play. It couldn’t commence at the scheduled early 10 am local time start due to bad light and wet conditions from overnight heavy rain.

The light improved in some time and the two umpires stipulated 11 am local time as the start of play, but rain arrived to prevent that from happening.

The inclement weather didn’t relent until lunchtime and the morning session was completely washed out.

Australia were reduced to 236-6 at stumps on day three when bad light had stopped play.

On days one and two, Cheteshwar Pujara (193) and Rishabh Pant (159 not out) helped India to a grand first innings’ total of 622-7 declared.

India have an unassailable 2-1 series’ lead after winning the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs and the third Test in Melbourne by 137 runs. Australia had won the second Test in Perth by 146 runs.

BRIEF SCORES: India first innings: 622/7 (Declared) against Australia first innings: 300 (Marcus Harris 79; Kuldeep Yadav 5/99) and second innings: 6/0 at stumps on Day four.

Match between EYL and Waxen CC in progress.

DIMAPUR, JAN 6 (NPN): EYL beat Waxen CC by six wickets and Athlete Brothers Club (ABC) defeated Veterans XI by 44 runs in the ongoing 23rd edition of Winter Cricket Challenge (WCC), at local ground, Wokha on Sunday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Waxen CC managed to score only 69 runs. Imomenba, Nchumbemo and Manju were the only batsmen managed to score double figures of 14, 13 and 10 runs respectively.

The strong and tidy bowling of EYL was led by man of the match, James, who took three wickets.

Phyodemo, Alamo and Liren shared two wickets each.

In reply, EYL reached the target in the 15th over losing four wickets. Tsenpon remained unbeaten on 23 runs, while Nzanthung scored 17 runs.

Manju claimed two wickets while Thungjamo and Imomenba took one wicket each.

In the second match of the day, ABC batting first after winning the toss, set a victory target of 148 losing eight wickets. Renben Ngullie top scored with 36 runs, the other run getters were Limhathung Kit 20 runs, Tumchobemo 20 runs and Nongothung 18

runs. Kumchen and Johny shared two wickets each and Ponathung, David, Mezetong and Janbemo claimed one wicket each.

Veterans XI batsmen were bowled out in the 18th over. Ashish top scored with 19 r uns, Libenthung was unbeaten on 19 runs and Moyo 12 runs.

Chumlanthung took three wickets, Yanren and Nzan shared two wickets each.

Renben Ngullie was named man of the match.

MONDAY’S MATCHES Mavericks Mokokchung Vs Kohima Orphanage Destitute Home Royal Strikers Vs Hurricane CC

I-League: Real Kashmir stun Mohun Bagan South Africa beat Pak by 9 wickets

Real Kashmir players celebrate a goal against Mohun Bagan.

Kolkata, Jan 6 (PTI): Real Kashmir humbled heavyweights Mohun Bagan 2-1, in the ongoing I-League, kept their title hopes alive, in Kolkata on Sunday.

The win against a profligate Mohun Bagan helped Real Kashmir, the first team from the valley to play in India’s top-flight, continue their fairytale run.

Goerges wins ASB Classic

AU C K L A N D, Jan 6 (Agencies): Julia Goerges defended her singles title at the WTA Tour’s ASB Classic, ending the amazing run of Canadian qualifier Bianca Andreescu 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in Sunday’s final.

At first, the 18-year-old Andreesecu, ranked 152, looked likely to continue the form that saw her emerge from the qualifying tournament to beat Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and third-seeded Hsieh SuWei on the way to her first final She took the first set in only 30 minutes, unsettling second-seeded Goerges with the same aggressive return game and mixture of strokes which had flummoxed her earlier opponents.

But the tide of the match changed late in the second set as Goerges began to put more first serves in play and to gain more depth with her ground strokes, forcing Andreescu onto the defensive. Georges clinched the second set in 45 minutes with a pivotal break in the 11th game, then took the deciding third set in only 23 minutes as Andreescu tired in her eighth match at the tournament. She broke Andreescu in the first, fifth and seventh games to clinch her seventh WTA Tour singles title.

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The team’s sixth victory was achieved on the back of a brace by Mason Robertson, who struck in the 33rd and 74th minute at the Salt Lake Stadium.

League winning star winger Sony Norde, who made a comeback after missing four matches due to his leg injury, scored the solitary goal for the home side in

the 42nd minute. The Snow Leopards now have a threepoint deficit against leaders Chennai City (24) in the standings. Mohun Bagan slipped to sixth place with 15 points from 11 matches and saw their title hopes virtually go up in smoke.

Mason, who missed their last match against East Bengal due to food poisoning, quickly switched to the attacking third and make an instant impact.

At the halfway mark, the newcomers drew first blood against the run of play when Mason deceived Arijit Bagui in an aerial battle and headed home a cross floated in by Surchandra Singh, stunning the boisterous home crowd.

The Shankarlal Chakraborty-coached side started pressing hard with more urgency after con-

ceding and kept knocking on Kashmir’s door for the equaliser.

It paid dividends, as Norde brought the Mariners back into the game with a sublime free-kick, which flew into the top corner.

Mohun Bagan got a chance to snatch the lead moments later with a perfect cross by Henry Kisseka but midfielder Sourav Das’ header failed to make an impact. The 24-year-old Mason, who quit Scottish club Peterhead FC after being roped in by his father on a full-time contract for Real Kashmir, brought up his brace with a thunderbolt strike.

From an assist by Abednego Tetteh, who played a through ball, the Scottish player blasted a shot that went in, touching the inside of the near post.

CAPE TOWN, JAN 6 (AGENCIES): South Africa strolled to a nine-wicket win over Pakistan in the second Test in Cape Town to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

After bowling Pakistan out for 294 in their second innings on day three, the Proteas began day four needing to score only 41 to wrap up victory.

They did so for the loss of Theunis de Bruyn, caught behind for four, while Hashim Amla retired hurt

for two. But Dean Elgar’s 24 not out helped see them over the line in 9.5 overs.

De Bruyn was elevated to open in place of Aiden Markram, who made 78 in the first innings but suffered a bruised thigh while fielding on day three at Newlands.

M e a n w h i l e, A m l a went off after being hit on the elbow by pace bowler Mohammad Amir - leaving slight question marks over him and Markrem for the third and final Test, which

begins in Johannesburg on Friday. But there were no further worries for the hosts as skipper Faf du Plessis

joined Elgar, who sealed victory with back-to-back boundaries off part-time bowler Azhar Ali.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

1st Death Anniversary of our Beloved Lt. Dennis V. Sheqi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Words are not enough to express our profound gratitude to every individual for your kind gestures expressed towards our beloved grandfather LT. SALUMO P. SHEQI, who served God as a Prayer warrior at NCRC Sumi Mishilimi Prayer House until his last breath on 29th Dec 2018. May our Almighty God bless each individual for your kind deeds. Our inability to mention every individual is regretted.

Though it's been a year since you left us, your sweet memories are fresh in our hearts. Death ends the life but not memories. It will forever be precious and the blessing is that you are still alive in us.

Deeply loved, sorely missed and always remembered by your Dad, Mom, Brother, Sisters and Relatives. DP-148

12th December 1956 – 3rd January 2018 The family of Lt. Mrs. Sübongienla Ozüküm wishes to acknowledge the kind and loving expressions of sympathy during the sad loss of a precious family member on 3rd January 2019.

Words are inadequate to express our gratitude to all those who provided to the many needs, attended the wake service and burial besides the prayer support making our loss more bearable.

May God shower His riches blessings to you all for the strength and the emotional touch we received through your presence and condolences during the entire process of her sickness and sad demise.

The family extend our special thanks to the following : 1. Aoyimti Baptist Arogo 2. Aoyimti Village Council and all Departments 3. Dimapur Dibuia Union 4. Dimapur Mopungchuket Union 5. Aoyimti Lanur Telongjem 6. Darogapathar Village Council, Dimapur 7. Joint Council DEEHA 8. Unity Village Council Dimapur 9. Chumukedima Area Village Council Association 10. Guwahati Ao Baptist Church 11. Guwahati Aor Telongjem 12. Doctors and Nurses of Zion Hospital (Dimapur), BLK Super Speciality Hospital (New Delhi) and Apollo Hospital (Guwahati) DP-165

LOVING HUSBAND, CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN and RELATIVES.

(1918 – 29th Dec 2018 1.

2.

3.

NCRC Sumi, Doyapur Road, Dimapur NCRC Sumi, Pughoboto Town NCRC Sumi Prayer Centre Hq. Pughoboto 4. NCRC Sumi Akhemi Kuposhukulu 5. NCRC Sumi Laza Khulqa 6. NCRC Sumi Tukuliqa 7. NCRC Sumi Ighanumi 8. NCRC Sumi Ghathashi 9. NCRC Sumi Lazami 10. NCRC Sumi Sastami DP-146

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

Mishilimi Phuye Baptist Church Mishilimi Yepaqa Baptist Church Mishilimi Kiphimi Kuqhakulu Mishilimi Kuqhakulu Dimapur Rev. Kihoshe Assumi, Pastor NCRC Mishilimi Mr. Aloto K Wotsa, Chairman MVC Er. L. Kisheto Swu Prof. Dr. John Sheqi, NU Lumami Mr.& Mrs Meren Jamir, Dimapur

Dearly Loved Ones & NCRC Sumi Mishilimi DC-18

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Asian Cup: India thrash Thailand 4-1

India’s forward Sunil Chhetri, left, and India’s midfielder Anirudh Thaparight, celebrate their third goal during the AFC Asian Cup group A soccer match between Thailand and India at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Sunday. (AP/PTI)

Abu Dhabi, Jan 6 (IANS): India thrashed Thailand 4-1 to start their campaign at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup on an emphatic note here on Sunday.

This was India’s first victory against Thailand since the Merdeka Cup of 1986.

This was also India’s highest victory margin against Thailand. In 1986, India had won 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick by the legend-

ary Krishanu Dey. The win put India at the top of the points table in Group A. They are followed by Bahrain and hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), who had played out a 1-1 stalemate in the tournament opener on Saturday.

The astonishing scoreline, which perhaps surprised even the Indian players themselves, came on the back of a brace by star

striker Sunil Chhetri (27th, 46th minutes) a maiden international goal by the young Anir udh Thapa (68th) and an exccellent finish by Jeje Lalpekhlua (80th).

Teerasil Dangda found the only goal for Thailand when he found the eqaliser in the 33rd minute.

India started on an attacking note before the Thai players found their rhytmn and gradually started to

dominate proceedings.

But India took the lead against the run of play when they were awarded a penalty after the ball hit Thai defender Theerathon Bunmathan’s arm inside the box.

Chhetri stepped forward to calmly push the ball in even as Thailand goalkeeper Chatchai Budprom dived the other way.

Thailand continued to press forward and Bun-

mathan made amends for conceding the penalty when he whipped in an accurate free-kick into the Indian penalty area which was headed in by Dangda.

The equaliser was followed by a prolonged spell of domination by Thailand with the Indians forced to come up with some gritty defending to keep their opponents at bay.

The Indians were a transformed bunch after the break and retook the lead almost immediately after the re-start off a fast counter-attack.

Udanta Singh caught the Thai defence on the wrong foot with his scorching pace and played a square ball into the box and Ashique Kuruniyan produced a superb one-touch pass for Chhetri who met the ball with an excellent finish.

Udanta was at the heart of India’s third goal as well. Fed by a Chhetri pass from the midfield, the fleet-footed Manipuri beat two Thai defenders before finding Thapa with a back pass.

Thapa almost let the ball slip by but re-positioned himself swiftly to chip the ball into the net.

That seemed to kill of the Thais mentally and Jeje underlined India’s domination by scoring the fourth goal only a couple of minutes after coming on as a replacement for Kuruniyan.

Nagaland Post, Dimapur MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019

Khelo India Youth Games commences from Wednesday

New Delhi, Jan 6 (Agencies): An aspiring, sporting and young India will find complete representation in the Khelo India Youth Games, scheduled to take place here from January 9.

According to ANI, the prestigious event brings many arms of Indian sport like Indian Olympic Association (IOC), Sports Authority of India (SAI), National Sports Federations, Association of Indian Universities and School Games Federation of India together under one platform.

The 6000-plus athletes will reflect the diversity of the nation’s youth and showcase their dreams, hopes and desire to make India shine on global platforms.

They will not only come from urban and rural areas but also span a wide range of 10-21 years.

Athletes like Jisna Mathew, who was part of the Indian campaign in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, backstroke swimming specialist Srihari Nataraj, who has already been to the Commonwealth and Asian Games, will come with experience.

On the contrary, three 10-year-old athletes including footballer Pratima Kumar from Jharkhand, hockey player Laltlanchhungi from Mizoram and West Bengal’s 10m air rifle shooter Abhinav Shaw, who became India’s youngest National shooting gold medalist in November last year will pick up their first

experience of competing in a large-scale multi-discipline event.

The athletes will compete in 18 different disciplines, including a variety of individual and team sport, disciplines in which India has a tradition of excellence and traditional

games like Kabaddi and Kho-Kho. Like Khelo India School Games (KISG2018), Khelo India Youth Games will be the beacon that will proclaim India’s unity in diversity, by bringing together diverse stakeholders.

Man City rout Rotherham 7-0 in FA Cup

Sterling (centre) watches on as his right footed effort flies past Rotherham goalkeeper Marek Rodak (right).

London, Jan 6 (Agencies): Manchester City cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup by thrashing Championship Rotherham 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and a Semi Ajayi own goal put a strong City side into a comfortable halftime lead.

Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane completed the rout as the Millers were outclassed after the break.

Some of the build-up to the game had focused on the

resemblance between Guardiola and his Rotherham counterpart Paul Warne, but the similarities between the teams ended there.

The gulf in class was soon apparent as Jesus sent a header against the crossbar the first of a hat-trick of giltedged chances he spurned in the first half - after just one minute.

Guardiola had made eight changes from the side which beat Liverpool on Thursday but his team was still stacked with quality and experience, with Kevin De

Bruyne, fit again after injury, among those returning.

De Bruyne was at the heart of much of City’s good play as they continually picked their way through the Millers defence. Sterling saw a chance deflected wide in the third minute and Jesus missed another as he failed to get a touch on a Mahrez cross.

Mahrez then had an effort turned away by goalkeeper Marek Rodak before Sterling exchanged passes with De Bruyne and clipped home the opener after some fine footwork in the 12th minute. Rotherham did cause City some anxious moments, notably when Anthony Forde hurried Ederson into mishitting a pass but John Stones cleared.

Jesus had another shot blocked from a De Bruyne pass before Foden doubled the lead after 43 minutes. It was hardly the cleanest of touches from the youngster as he attempted to control a cross from Ilkay Gundogan but his contact was firm enough to take the ball past Rodak. City added

another moments later as Ajayi smashed the ball into his own net attempting to cut out a Kyle Walker cross and Jesus tapped in the fourth following a blistering Sterling run after the break.

Things hardly got easier for Rotherham as City introduced Sane but Guardiola did take an opportunity to hand a debut to Dutch youngster Philippe Sandler off the bench.

Rodak had to claw off the line from team-mate Zak Vyner and he saved from Walker but Mahrez tucked home the fifth after playing a one-two with Gundogan and Otamendi headed number six from a corner.

Sane completed the scoring with a deflected shot while Ederson made a late save from Michael Smith to deny the visitors a consolation.

RESULTS Fulham 1-2 Oldham Millwall 2-1 Hull Preston 1-3 Doncaster QPR 2-1 Leeds Sheff Utd 0-1Barnet Woking 0-2 Watford

PBL: Srikanth continues unbeaten run

Kidambi Srikanth

New Delhi, Jan 6 (Agencies): Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth combined to take the Bengaluru Raptors to a win over the Saina Nehwal-led North Eastern Warriors at the Premier Badminton League 4 on Saturday.

According to scroll. in, Saina’s scintillating performance in her Trump match could not make much of a difference to her team’s fortunes as the Warriors slumped to their

second consecutive defeat.

Bengalur u skipper Srikanth took the court against Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of the North Eastern franchise. The two are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head record on the international circuit and the Thai had even won their last encounter.

But that mattered little as Srikanth was on song throughout, notching up a 15-11, 15-12 win – his fourth win in as

many matches this season.

Breaking away from 6-6, the former world no 1 did not face any more resistance from Tanongsak in the opener, except for the last few points.

An attacking Srikanth then wrested the momentum from Tanongsak, who was leading 8-7, to wrap up the match. Saina’s smashes were top drawer in her trump match against Bengaluru’s world no 59 Vu Thi Trang.

Having lost her first match of the season to PV Sindhu, the Commonwealth Games champion was determined to make a statement, which she did with consummate ease. A clinical Saina went up 8-5 and maintained her lead to get the first game 1510. In the second, Saina upped the ante to leap to 8-6 before closing it out 15-10, 15-7.

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