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The Morung ExpressThe least of learning is done in the classrooms

Dimapur VOL. III ISSUE 334 www.morungexpress.com

“ -Thomas Merton

A Daily Publication of Morung for Indigenous Affairs & JustPeace

”Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12 pages Rs. 3

ExCOME AND VISIT

MISSIONS BOOK LOVER’S FESTIVALOrganised by: Nagaland Missions Movement and OM Books DimapurFeaturing: Books on Missions, Film Show & Re� eshmentDecember 1-6, 2008HORNBILL FESTIVAL at KISAMA (Naga Heritage Village)

Tickets available at: Gravity, Big Bite, Dream Café, Crossword, Razhüprü. Unitex, Bible House, Central Café and at the Venue.

Chizokho VeroKisama | December 1

THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED week-long annual Hornbill Festival of Na-galand 2008 got off to a colorful start here this morning at the Naga Heritage village—showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the Nagas in presence of dig-nitaries and tourists from different parts of the world. “As Nagaland marches to-wards an era of peace and development, Hornbill festival symbolizes the emerg-ing Nagaland,” said Governor K. Sankar-aranarayanan, inaugurating the festival.

“Visitors and tourists visiting Na-galand will realize that Nagaland is peaceful and it is vibrant. The colours of Nagaland, its youthfulness and hos-pitality will touch one and all. Nagaland is modern but our traditions and cultural heritage is intact,” Governor said adding that the Hornbill Festival is an opportu-nity where the Naga people showcase the best of its culture.

Saying that peace has been the most cherished goal for the state for all these years, he said “Today it is more than a goal. It is a right. A basic fundamen-tal right for all the citizens of the state we have to stop killing of brothers by brothers.” He said peace is a must in or-der to have growth and development. “Our youth have got dreams; they need to get a chance to realize them. We have to ensure that we live in harmony with one another, have unity cutting across tribes and communities and rise above narrow sectarian interests to take a view that is beneficial for the society. The cause for a better future for our youth is reason enough for all leaders to come together and join hands to foster the spirit of unity and brotherhood. It will lead to better cohesion and harmony in society leading to peace, thereby creat-ing an environment for rapid growth and economic development”.

Naga men and women, in ceremonial dress, look on as they wait to perform during the fi rst day of the annual celebration of Hornbill Festival at Kisama on Monday, December 1. (Caisii Mao)

Hornbill Festival: Marks the rising Nagas

“Nagaland is truly the land of festi-vals. Almost every month, we have a dis-tinct colourful festival in some part of our beautiful state,’ the Governor said while adding that the Hornbill festival truly represented the fusion of tradition and modernity, bringing together all tribes

and communities together in the cele-bration of Nagaland. “The hornbill is a distinct part of our traditional folklores, customs and dresses, specially the head-gear. It also represents the inherent unity and oneness of all Naga tribes,” he said.

The governor also said the state has

a great potential in agriculture, horti-culture, tourism and IT sector, and the youth are amongst the best in the hos-pitality and service sectors. Stressing on the need to take the plans of infrastruc-ture development and that roads, water, electricity and connectivity formed as

vital for economic growth, the Gov-ernor urged the people to strengthen the hands of the state government and march the path of growth. “I am confi-dent that together we will overcome all obstacles and realize the vision of a vi-brant and economically developed Na-galand that the founding fathers of the state had dreamed of.”

The festival has been organized with a view to showcasing all tribal festival of the state in one place, for the conve-nience of tourists, guests and everyone else, said Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. He said, in order to let sustainable tour-ism to take place, “we need continuing peace and tranquility.” In the atmo-sphere of fear and violence, no worth-while development or progress can take place anywhere, Rio reminded and chal-lenged the people to make concerted ef-forts to maintain and promote peaceful atmosphere, which “we have cultivated and nurtured over the years.”

“It also goes to the credit of different Naga nationalistic groups that they have never engaged in senseless destruction of life and properties. They have never harmed tourists and any of our guests, or individual in any activity, that may have detrimental effect of the image of the state,” Rio said. While celebrat-ing Hornbill Festival this year, he said, ‘our hearts go out to the people of Maha-rashtra, whose capital, Mumbai has just faced the most senseless and barbaric attack from terrorists’. He challenged the people to unite and strengthen “our resolve to collectively and individually fight this menace of terrorism.”

Rio said the Government of India has now recognized the Hornbill Festival as a national event. He maintained that the reputation of the festival has also spread far and wide. The festival is a joint ven-ture of the state government and all the Naga tribes, he said.

Continued on page 3

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1(MExN): One person was today shot at, and injured by an unidentified gunman, early noon at the Nuton Basti junction today. The victim, one Vikashe Zhimo, is recuperating from his wounds. The victims is said to be a for-mer NSCN (IM) cadre, who left the organi-zation about three years ago, and now “at-tached” with a businessman.

It was around 12:10 noon, 33-year old Vikashe Zhimo was chatting with a friend at a medical store, Centaurs Medicos, at the Nuton Basti junction, when a gunman the victim said to have never seen before,

Man escapes bid on life

Vikashe Zhimo relates the details right af-ter recieving treatment for gun wounds.

opened fired. The gunman shot at Zhimo four times but two bullets missed him. With blood dripping from his injuries, the vic-tim, son of one Hoishe from Sheyipu village in Zunheboto, scrambled out through the backdoor and entered another shop. He ran out to safety from a small alley behind a row of shops. The victim climbed a wall twice his size, got into an autorickshaw and admitted himself into Metro Hospital.

Vikashe sustained two bullet injuries. One of the shots went in just below his right shoulder while the second bullet went in near his left pelvic bone. Though reportedly out of danger, Vikashe, in between gasps of pain, told police that he did not recognize the as-sailant. Zhimo testified that he had in fact been in the NSCN (IM) about three years back but now no longer involved with any faction. Vikashe’s cousin who was also in the hospital, confirmed the statement and added the victim was now attached with a business-man who is the son of a senior politician, from whom ‘he received his salary’.

The incident is, as usual, “under inves-tigation”, with the culprit still unidentified. For the first half hour, the police who arrived at the scene was unable to figure out the na-ture of the shooting as the victim could not be traced. However, local residents informed the police that the victim was admitted in Metro Hospital.

Limalenden LongkumerMokokchung | December 1

HUNTING TO MANY a Naga is a favourite leisure ac-tivity. Almost every Naga fam-ily owns a 12 bore shot-gun or a

.22 rifle or at least an air rifle, if not a rubber catapult. ‘Hunt-ing season’ normally begins by October end and goes on till the month of March. During this time of the year, hunters with their guns slung across

Community Forests: Last hope for vanishing habitat

their shoulders out into the jungle are a common sight. They may or may not be aware of the importance of preserva-tion of wildlife, but except for an ‘unlucky few’, most hunt-ers return home with a kill.

Nonetheless, giving a sigh of relief (at least to nature lov-ers), there seems to be a grow-ing interest among the people in preservation of wildlife, in Mokokchung. According to Bendangkokba, the Deputy Commissioner of Mokokc-hung, the sense among the common people over preserv-ing wildlife is “best in Mokokc-hung” and cited several vil-lages in the district that had demarcated areas within their respective jurisdictions as re-served forests. These “commu-nity reserve forests”, according to the deputy commissioner, is largely due to the initiatives taken by village councils.

Continued on page 5

On way for a game or two, a local hunter pauses to read a notice board prohibiting hunting, in Mokochung.

US astronaut talks to Shillong from outer spaceThannganing HungyoShillong | December 1

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION to Earth, Shillong: Khublei, khublei! These were the very first words of Ameri-can astronaut Edward Michael Fincke, popularly known as Mike, whose voice was beamed down to Earth in Shillong this afternoon from the ISS, situated 240 miles from Earth. The call was routed through locations in Brussels and Hono-lulu. A silent crew of listeners tuned their ears to the speakers, positioned at the au-ditorium of St. Anthony’s College to listen to answers to questions posed to Mike by 11 students, made possible through the initiative of Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS), an international non-prof-it welfare organization.

“I can fly and it’s super.” That’s how the gravity-free man replied to a query on how the human body adjusts to bal-ance in outer space. What Mike, the As-samese son-in-law, misses most in space

Spaceman talks the walk

is the company of his wife, Renita Sai-kia, and three children: Chandra, Tarali and newborn Surya. Conversant in sev-en languages, Mike said he would want to learn Khasi. After today, a Khasi song especially arranged for him will circu-late in space. He also relayed season’s greetings in Asomiya.

“Do you notice any affect of pollu-tion destroying the beauty of the Earth?” To this question he replied that certain changes can now be seen. The first pho-tographs of Earth from space were taken forty years ago. The commander of Ex-pedition 18 also answered various other questions on life in outer space.

Continued on page 5

Edward Michael Fincke (File Photo)

Elephants kill one man in Wokha DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): Rogue elephants have killed another man in Wokha, this time in Yanm-hon. One Belka Orang, an Ad-ivasi, was killed on November 29, when elephants went on a spree destroying paddy fields, fishery ponds and plantations and even government and private houses in and around Yanmhon. A laborer, one Bor-li Orang was killed by an el-ephant on November 18 ear-lier. It is also reported that the Asian Oilfields Survey Service Limited is unable to carry out survey works for seismic ac-tivities in Yanmhon areas due to the presence of the rogue elephants while laborers are afraid to venture out.

The Yanmhon Area Public Organization has ap-pealed to the Chief Wildlife Warden of Dimapur to initi-ate a course of action to miti-gate the problem of elephants and the toll they are taking on the people of the area. The spot of the accidents may be verified and position of ca-sualties and damage taken to be reported to the govern-ment, the YAPO said in a message today. The Wildlife department is also appealed to compensate the families of the two victims, on humani-tarian grounds. The organi-zation has appreciated the administration and police of ADC Bandhari headquarter for visiting the area and as-suring action. Condolences to the families of the victims were also expressed.

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): Into its third day now, the ‘standoff ’ between the se-curity forces and cadres of the NSCN (IM) near Patkai Chris-tian College is reportedly forcing students from the old campus to pack, fearing a showdown. The tension created by both the sides refusing to leave, was heightened today morning when several loud bursts were heard in the area. The situation in the area, especially in the lower regions of Patkai Chris-tian College’s old campus is said to be extremely tense.

A good number of students from hostels located in the lower swathes of the old campus are said to have packed, notwith-standing their examinations which is now underway. More students are expected to leave if the situation continues.

Sources said there are about 140 Assam Rifles personnel stationed at the soccer ground, which is on the lower fringes of the college’s old campus. An

NSCN (IM) leader is said to have a residence in the area, where, ac-cording to Seithekiema villagers, an unspecified number of NSCN (IM) “bodyguards” are said to have taken up positions.

Civil society leaders, who were in “negotiations” today that both the Assam Rifles forces and the NSCN (IM) activists leave the campus, said both sides continue to be adamant. Today’s “negotia-tions” were led by the Naga Stu-dents’ Federation, Naga Women Hoho and the GBs and DBs as well as the college’s authorities. They tried to negotiate with both the sides to vacate from the civil-ian and students’ areas. Though tensions prevailed in the morn-ing, normal examinations for to-day could be somehow held, ac-cording to a reliable source.

In a related matter, an irate Naga Student’s Federation today strongly protested the stand-off between the Assam Rifles and NSCN (IM).

Continued on page 3

AR-NSCN (IM) stand-off:Patkai students leave

CMYK

CMYK

2 December 2008Tuesday2 Dimapur The Morung ExpressLOCAL

Our CorrespondentKohima | December 1

MINISTER FOR HEALTH & family welfare Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu today said the government is committed to fight against the menace of HIV/AIDS in the state on war footing. Speaking at the World AIDS Day here at the Red Ribbon Pavilion, Naga Heritage Complex, the minister said that Nagaland which ranked as the 6th high-est prevalence rate in the country needs care, support and preventive measures.

He also stressed on the need intensify an awareness campaign across the state to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS in Nagaland. “The State government is committed to combat this dis-ease, he said” He also sought cooperation from various NGOs, churches, youths, students to collectively fight against the menace of HIV/AIDS in the society. Azo also felt that the elected represen-tatives must figure the danger of HIV/AIDS in their speech-es so as to spread awareness among the community.

In his keynote address, Moulik D. Berkana, Deputy Director, American Centre said that the America leads

Government committed to fi ght against AIDS

Minister for health and family welfare Kuzholuzo Nienu speaking at the World AIDS Day on Monday at Kisama (Morung Photo/Chizokho Vero)

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The fifth gener-al conference of Network of Nagaland Drugs and AIDS Organizations (N Naga DAO) culminated with the commemoration of World AIDS Day on December 1, today at Town Hall, Dima-pur. The programme start-ed with dedicating a minute of silent prayer to all those people around the world who have lost their lives to AIDS. Never dreaming of taking the lead, speaking on this year’s theme for World AIDS Day, “Lead-Empow-er-Deliver,’ Seyie, a PLHIV (people living with HIV) conveyed a strong message across while giving his life testimony. “Two years ago

when I was in a hospital bed fearing the worst and regretting my past; I never dreamed I would be taking the lead today and speaking before this gathering,” he said with pride. He stressed on the points of misconcep-tions people keep about HIV. He said, most people think only people who do drugs are infected with HIV, which is very wrong. There is too much information about HIV but people let down their guards think-ing they will not be infected, Seyie said and added “HIV does not mean end of life.”

Seyie also said he felt encouraged by the efforts and commitments being put in by leaders to fight

AIDS. “I am very encour-aged that we have such committed and concerned leaders who have taken the lead and we need such leaders to keep the promise to stop AIDS,” he said. Fo-cusing on the State AIDS policy, Seyie pointed out the need for such policy to safeguard the future from HIV and AIDS. He said, “The goal for universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and sup-port by 2010 can only be a reality of the government deliver on the promises they have made.” Each in-dividual, Seyie felt, must feel empowered to access treatment, to know their

rights and take action against stigma and dis-crimination, and to know and use methods of preven-tion against receiving and transmitting HIV.

He urged all PLHIV to do their bit to reduce stigma and discrimination and be more responsible, and contribute to society the best they can while continuing to live a strong and healthy life. In the pro-gramme, Guardian Angel and Pretty Women, both non-governmental organi-zations, presented a play on stigma and discrimina-tion, and CAD Foundation performed a tributary song to all those people living with the virus.

PLHIV takes lead in fi ght against stigma

the world in its level of sup-port for HIV/AIDS relief. In 2003, President George W. Bush promised to lead the fight against global HIV/AIDS with President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease internationally in history. Through PEPFAR,

the US government has al-ready provided $18.8 billion in HIV/AIDS funding, and the US Congress has autho-rized upto $48 billion for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the next five years, Since 2004, the United States Government has allocated $166.4 million for PEPFAR’s programme in India. India will receive

an additional $30 million next year, he said.

He said the US Consul-ate in Kolkata was glad to bring “Photos of Hope (Ex-hibition) to the people of Nagaland at the Red Ribbon Pavilion. He also thanked the Nagaland State AIDS Control Society and Naga Mother’s Association for co-sponsoring the event and

working with them for the series of programmes that will be held in the pavilion over the next few days. “This is our way of “Celebrating Life”- by helping people un-derstand the need to care for those who are HIV positive and by spreading awareness about the way the disease is transmitted, and the meth-ods of protecting oneself

against it,” he added. Let us pledge to “Celebrate Life” by helping people living with HIV/ AIDS overcome fear, uncertainty, stigma, discrim-ination and sickness, and in-stead, lead healthy, hopeful lives with the help of ART and the compassion and care of others, Berkana added.

He said that exhibit “Pho-tos of Hope”- depicts how

brave and courageous people “Celebrate Life” and prove that the seemingly impos-sible is possible. “All of them are HIV positive, yet they continue to “Celebrate Life” with the use of Anti Retrovi-ral Therapy. We salute them, and the many other like them, who also “Celebrate Life” de-spite their HIV/AIDS status,” he said. Earlier, Toshinaro,

NSACS Naga Idol 3.08 pre-sented a special number.

Photo exhibition, film screening, puppet show and quiz will continue at the Red Ribbon Pavilion till Decem-ber 3. It may be recalled that the event is being organized by US Consulate Kolkata, Nagaland State AIDS Con-trol Society and Naga Moth-er’s Association.

AKUMEN VILLAGE, DECEM-BER 1 (MExN): A 15 member del-egations from the Southwick Chris-tian Community from England are tirelessly endeavouring many sig-nificant works at Akumen village in Mokokchung district. These include medical care to sports, vocational trainings to animal raring techniques and most significant is the Akumen Olympic. This Olympic is being held every year since 2005. This year Eng-land team could beat Nagaland team 3-1, informed a press note issued by Er. Temsu Wathi Ao District infor-matics Officer (NIC) Deputy com-missioner’s Office, Mokokchung & Consultant for Akumen Project.

Another interesting aspect is that of Exchange Baptism, the press note

informed. An Englishman by name Si-mon Twiss and lads from Akumen vil-lage were given baptism by Revd. Lyn-da Hulcoop assisted by Akumen Pastor P. Yanger, Paul Gyoury and Paul Hooper senior deacons respectively from South-wick church. On querying as to why he chooses to get baptized at jungle like vil-lage at Akumen Simon Twiss quipped – he was only 7 years old when his par-ents had to move to England. He had a great vision to visit his mother’s native and birthplace; now, on finally being able to reach and seeing his birthplace after a gap of 30 odd years, he decided to get baptized at his birth place. Inci-dentally, Simon is the eldest son of John Twiss, the then tea planter in Assam and mother an Ao lady Alemla hailing from Akumen village.

Olympic, Exchange Baptism held at Akumen Our CorrespondentKisama | December 1

NAGALAND TODAY set another tour-ist destination with the inauguration of World War II Museum here at the Naga Heritage Village. Inaugurating the muse-um, Governor K. Sankaranarayanan was hopeful that the museum will become a landmark in the tourist map of Kohima and will also attract interest of research-ers and history students. “This museum will also help students learn about the history of Kohima and the role played by soldiers in ensuring the future that we are living today,” the Governor said. Saying that, so far most of people had access to only the Commonwealth War Memorial and graves which were testimony to the sacrifices made by the brave soldiers of the 2nd British Division, he said “This museum will exhibit other aspects of the war and I am sure over a period of time with a better collection and more detailed documentation of the Battle of Kohima, it will become one of the best war muse-ums in the world.”

Congratulating the state government for taken initiative, Governor was hopeful that the museum will reminds the people forever of the sacrifices made by the valiant soldiers as enunciated by the famous words on the war memorial, that goes “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your to-morrow, we gave our today.”

“We all are aware of the importance of Battle of Kohima in the second world war and how it is proved to “The turning

point in the war with Japan.” The period from April 4 to June 22, 1944 was crucial for the future of the whole world. It is be-fitting that this museum is being inaugu-rated today to immortalize the memories of the Second World War for the genera-tions to come to remember the sacrifices of the valiant soldiers more than 60 years ago. I remember that Winston Churchill had said, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.” Stating that as we go through the various memorabilia exhibited in this mu-seum we are also reminded of the damage war and battles cause to society and people in general, he said “Fortunately for us, the world order as shaped after the second world war and with the efforts of the Unit-ed Nations, we have not had another fully bloom war. However, in the present day, we face the challenges of a war of another kind – of terrorism and attacks being planned and executed by fundamentalists.”

Saying that the nation is faced with se-rious challenges from terrorism and fun-damentalists, he said “The recent terror attack in Mumbai needs to be condemned by one and all. Terrorists do not belong to any community or religion. They are en-emies of the society and nation.”

Further, Governor stressed on the need to join hands and ensure that such events do not repeat and “we are able to defeat the evil designs of perpetrators of such violence.”

In his address, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said that despite the six decade old unresolved Naga political problem, the state has made tremen-dous strides on all fronts during the last 45 years. “While the developments in the fields of economic and infrastruc-tures are quite impressive, it is in the area of human resource development that the transition has been more im-

pressive,” he said,Rio congratulated the art & art cul-

ture department and people of Nagaland for having the bright idea of having a Second World War Museum. “I want to say it is a bright idea, considering the fact that the only fame that Nagaland, or more particularly Kohima has on a glob-al scale is “the battle of Kohima.” This “Battle of Kohima” has given Kohima and Nagaland a permanent place in the world’s history books.

The Chief Minister was optimistic that the museum will further enhance the attractiveness of Kohima and Na-galand as a tourist destination, both for Indian nationals and foreigners. “Let us also remember that we had constructed this war museum, not to glorify war, or to propagate the idea of philosophy of war, but to the contrary. This museum is intended to convey the folly of war, it costs and destructivity in terms of lives and properties, and to convey the need of building peace and brotherhood amongst mankind,” Rio said adding that the museum would also serve as a memorial for the those who had made the supreme sacrifice in defence of na-tions, to and to honour their memories, so that the younger generation may also imbibe the true spirit of sacrifice and pa-triotism, which is much needed toady.”

Earlier, the function was chaired by Yitachu, parliamentary secretary for tourism, art & culture and law and jus-tice while vote of thanks was tendered by Chief Secretary Lalhuma.

Governor inaugurates World War II Museum

KCCI informs Kohima Business CommunityKOHIMA, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): In view of the An-nual Hornbill festival, the Kohima Chambers of Com-merce and Industry has re-minded the Business Com-munity within Kohima town to illuminate a CLF Bulb on their premises. KCCI offi-cials will follow inspection on December 1, and any business establishment fail-ing to comply with the re-quest will be penalized.

In addition, it is in-formed that “Night Bazar” as such will not be held this year but provisions have been made by Kohima Mu-nicipal Council (KMC) for individuals or groups to run roadside food stalls at certain identified locations namely Phool Bari Junction and New NST. Therefore, interested persons /groups may contact KMC and not the KCCI. A nominal fee of Rs.21 per day is levied by the KMC for sanitation.

Further, KCCI Presi-den, Khriehuzo Lohe ex-pressed displeased at the apathy of the concern au-thorities in organizing the event. The KCCI’s left to speculate whether ade-quate security will be pro-vided to the business com-munity during the Hornbill Festival, where shops will be open till late evenings. KCCI in a press release has informed that any un-toward incident leading to harm or damages to any business establishment will not be tolerated and cannot be held accountable.

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The 3rd annual session of Kuhuboto Ghakhu Sumi Totimi Hoho (KGSTH) was held on November 28 at Kuhuboto town. The chief guest Tokheho Yeptho, MLA, lauded KGSTH for being a front runner in promoting peace and tranquility in the area. Stressing on the role of women in the society, he said women play an equally re-sponsible role in building of the nation. Hokhuli Wotsa, CEO, Faith Hospital, Dima-pur and guest of honour, ex-horted the congregation in the second session. Besides contributing cash amount towards the Hoho, she also brought along with her a team of doctors and conducted a free medical check-up and distributed medicine free of cost. The chief guest donated

a sum of Rs. 1 lakh towards KGSTH and Rs. 5,000 each to nine participating villages. Local STH of different villag-es under Kuhuboto area par-ticipated in various cultural competitions during the day.

Meanwhile, Shikheli K. Yeptho, President, KGSTH, on behalf of the Hoho, has thanked Tokheho Yeptho and Hokhuli Wotsa, for not only gracing and exhort-ing the occasion but also contributing cash and kind towards the organization. Their words of encourage-ment and generosity have further renewed the Hoho’s commitment towards social service, she said. The Hoho also expressed profound gratitude to all respective local STH, GBs, VCCs, pub-lic leaders, elders and well-wishers for their support.

KGSTH 3rd annual session held

“Walk for change”on

World Disability Day3rd of December 2008

From Old MLA Junction to Heritage , Old DC Bungalow

at 8:00 AMAnd thereafter a programme at Heritage,

Old DC Bungalow where

The Hon’ble Minister of Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Shri Kuzholuzo Nienu will grace

the function as Chief Guest.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Ao Baptist Church, Kohima (KABA) is pleased to announce a proposal for construction of a new Church Complex at the present Church Building area. The Church Complex Construction Committee of the KABA therefore invites

all intending Architect / Design Consultants to take part by way of competing to bring forth an unparalleled church building design in this part of the country.

The fi rst prize design will be adopted and the individual / fi rm will be given contract for consultancy. Prize money shall be given for the second and third designs.

Forms will be available from 15th December 2008 to 15th January 2008, at the Offi ce of the Ao Baptist Church, Kohima from 10:30

AM to 2:00 PM on all working days except Sundays & Mondays. ** Any changes in above mentioned dates will be promptly notifi ed.

Kindly contact the address given below for further information.Convener,

Church Complex Construction Committee,Kohima Ao Baptist Church, Kohima, Nagaland-797 001

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A Design Competition for New Ao Church Complex of the Ao Baptist Church Kohima

Tuesday2 December 2008 Dimapur 3The Morung Express LOCAL

STARTING LINE-UPYour daily Meetings, Appointments, Information and Reminder column

Meeting for allottees of DMC Millennium MarketA meeting has been convened by the DMC with all allottees of DMC Millennium Market on December 2, 2008, at 11:00 am in the DMC Conference Hall for some important discussion. K Khekaho Assumi, Chairperson, DMC has directed all in concern to attend the said meeting in time without fail.

LASU meet on December 3The Longmatra Area Students’ Union has convened an emer-gency meeting on December 3 at 9:00 am at its headquarter Longmatra town. All offi cer bearers, senior public leaders, leaders of different social organization, Village Heads, GBs and Council chairman under Longmatra Area are hereby requested to at-tend the meeting positively. LASU offi ce bearers are informed to reach the venue one day ahead of the meeting.

GoMTruB World Disabled on Dec 3Goodwill Mission Trust for the Blind will observe the ‘World Disabled Day’ on December 3 at Diphupar Village Council Hall at 9:00 am with Sedievikho Khro and Vekhosayi Nyekha as the Chief Guest and Guest of Honour respectively. All are cordially invited to attend the function.

DOVISIT

USAT THE

4TH NATIONAL HANDLOOM EXPOAT URBAN HAAT, OLD DANSIRI BRIDGE ,

DIMAPUR TOWN .FROM 2ND TO 16TH DECEMBER 2008.

Participants from:-Various State & Abroad .i.e, Thailand , Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, New Delhi , West Bengal ,

Assam , Manipur, Meghalaya,Tripura, Mizoram ,Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim & Nagaland.

ENJOY THE HANDLOOM COLOURS OF INDIA & ABROADThere will be a open air musical concert to be presented

By the Higher Ground Band from 3:00 to 5:00 P.Mon 3rd December2008.

ENTRY FREEOrganised by: Nagaland Handloom & Handicraft Development Corporation Ltd, Dimapur. Sponsored by: Offi ce of the Development Commissioner for Handloom, Ministry of Textiles, Govt.of India, New Delhi

Sd/- N.HUSHILI SEMA

Managing Director

CongratulationThe Yhome Youth Organization of Lhisemia Khel, Ko-hima village have the honour to congratulate Dr. Kevi-sosienuo Elizabeth Yhome daughter of Lt. Kevingulie Yhome for successfully acquiring degree in Doctor of Philosophy in Poultry Science, under Assam Agricul-tural University, Guwahati.The organization is proud that she is the fi rst lady in service Veterinary Doctor to acquire Ph.D. Further, she is the fi rst amongst the clan members who brought glory and credit to the clan and the village as a whole and wishes her the best in her endeavor and success in days to come.

Menuolhoulie YhomePresident, YYO, L. Khel Kohima village

Kohima

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* Conditions apply

GEAR UP TO CELEBRATE

GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION The Chiephobozou D.Bs would like to appreciate and express our gratitude to all the Contractors, Offi cer’s individuals and the NPF party of the Northern Angami-2, for sponsoring us to go for a week long exposure tour to Mizoram via Assam and Meghalaya, from 10th of November’08 to 16th November ’08. The exposure tour was successful, due to the contributions and support by each one of our neighboring states and also has given us the chance to understand and know the tradition and culture of the sister states. We would especially like to acknowledge the gesture of the ADC, Chiephobozou, for granting us permission for the exposure tour.

(Lhaliezhü) (Vitsüzhü)Secretary Treasurer

D.Bs W K.Chiephobozou D.Bs W K.Chiephobozou

DOVISITUS

AT THECRAFT BAZAR

IN COMMEMORATING THE HORN BILL FESTIVALAT

NAGA HERITAGE VILLAGE , KISAMA, KOHIMAFOR 10 DAYS FROM 1ST DECEMBER 2008.

Participants from:Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram ,

Arunachal Pradesh , Sikkim & Nagaland.

a mega shopping event!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEE FOR YOURSELFOrganised by : Nagaland Handloom & Handicraft Development

Corporation Ltd, Dimapur.Sponsored by : Office of the Development Commissioner for Handicraft,

Ministry of Textiles, Govt.of India , New Delhi .

Sd/- N.HUSHILI SEMA Managing Director

Winter Book Covers Festival 2008Date: 1st – 20th December 2008.

Time: 9:00AM to 4:30PMVenue: OM Books, City Tower, Dimapur

: 03862 – 229370 (O)

SPECIAL OFFER ON SELECTED BOOKS & MUSICFrom 10% to 75% OFF

Sunday Closed.

Brave New World

Temsuyanger LongkumerIris YingzenJimmy Chishi

Seyiekelie Tepa

2nd December - 7th December, 2008

An Art Exhibit

Morung for Indigenous Affairs and JustPeace

(Private Viewing on 1st December)

The Heritage, Old DC Bungalow, Kohima10 am to 6 pm

CHIEF PATRON PATRON

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): Enraged by what it terms as “violation of fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitu-tion of India”, the Garo Stu-dents Union of Nagaland has submitted a complaint to Recruiting Director, 3 Core Rangapahar, Dima-pur alleging discrimination of candidates belonging to the Garo Community at the Recruitment Rally held at Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kohima on November 24, 2008.

The complaint submit-ted by president, Biplap K. Sangma relates how a num-ber of youths belonging to the Garo Community of Dimapur had come to the recruitment as per adver-tisement published with the requisite indigenous criteria since they were inhabitants of Dimapur District. Howev-er, on reaching the venue, the aspirants found to their dis-may that they would not be

allowed to participate in the rally on the reason that they did not belong to the State of Nagaland and that were ad-vised to go to Meghalaya.

As such, the students’ union stated that this deni-al of opportunity to eligible candidates who fulfilled the requisite preliminary crite-ria is discriminatory and un-constitutional. “The Garos are recognized Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland and their status as such has never been questioned at any time,” stated the com-plaint letter adding that their existence in the State of Nagaland has been given due recognition even in the official Gazette of 1970. “As such, the State Government has empowered the Office of the Deputy Commis-sioner to issue Indigenous Certificates to members of the Garo Community who are found to be Indigenous Inhabitants of the State. The State Government has

also made provisions for the Indigenous Garos as seen in the Notification issued by the Home Department Vide Order No. APPT-I8/6/67 Dt. Kohima 6/7/73.”

In view of such “arbitrary and irrational denial of op-portunity to the said candi-dates from Dimapur District is founded on no reasonable basis and amounts the viola-tion of Fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India”, the union expresses sincere hopes that such inci-dents will be avoided in future. The Union also urged Recruit-ing Director, Colonel Rakesh Nair to ensure that the person-nel in charge of recruitments are better informed as to the rights and status of the genu-ine Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland. It also cautions that in the event of continued dis-crimination on the commu-nity, the Garos of Nagaland would be constrained to air their constitutional grievances before the High Court.

Garos of Nagaland quetch discrimination

Morung Express NewsDimapur| December 1, 2008

THE DIMAPUR Municipal Council (DMC) today carried out another round of demoli-tion in Dimapur town. Ar-eas of centrally located Hotel Fantasy and Tourist Lodge bore the brunt of today’s de-molition. Despite some initial resistance DMC went about with the drive. The proprietor of Hotel Fantasy was also over-heard telling the councilors in fair dealing those structures on the opposite side of the road should also be brought down.

In circular road too, heat-ed exchanges between DMC councilors and the owner of a marketing complex were wit-nessed. The owner of the com-plex was seen producing ‘land patta’ for the same. Meanwhile, DMC have pointed out that several electric and telephone posts are causing obstruction to the ongoing demolition drive. Despite repeated no-

DMC Demolition mows down obstructing structures

An excavator picking rubbles from a demolished wall in circular road. Electric posts like the one in front of the JCB have been causing inconvenience for proper demolition. (Morung Photos)

tices to the concerned depart-ments to relocate the posts, there has been no response, councilors informed. So far

DMC has refrained from pulling down the posts for public convenience, but such non-cooperation from the de-

partments might prompt the DMC to take up steps even if it might cause public incon-venience, DMC said.

From page 1Rio also stated that the

government was also explor-ing the possibility of form-ing a consortium for orga-nizing the Hornbill Festival, that will comprise corporate bodies, event managers, cultural experts etc, who would be able to profes-sionally manage the whole show. “This will be in total consonance with the pres-ent government’s policy of privatization and commu-nitisation.”

The Chief Minister also stressed on the need to make the venue opera-tional throughout the year and later suggested that various tribal festivals and other events be organized in the venue so that there is always some activity or other going on at the site. Stating that the state gov-ernment has been trying to enlist people’s participa-tion and initiative in the

tourism sector, Rio said the government has taken up communitisation and privatization of tourism as a policy in a big way.

“People should come forward as stakeholders and managers for maintaining and running of the govern-ment’s properties in tour-ism and other sectors,” said Rio. Chairing the inaugu-ral function, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Art & Culture and Law & Justice Yitachu said that an occa-sion like Hornbill Festival provides a time to make peace, maintaining that peace is pre-requisite for advancement of mankind. Traditional blessing was led by Chato Paphino, Presi-dent, Southern Angami GB Association. This year’s edi-tion of the Hornbill festival registered the highest num-ber of international tourist. The festival will go on till December 7.

Hornbill Festival: Marks the rising Nagas

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The Telegu Baptist Church Dimapur today took their Christianity beyond the walls of their Church and into the Railway station Dimapur where their ministered to the underprivileged people there. After holding a short service the Church, along with Jesus

Seeks Ministry, distributed relief materials in the form of some clothes and food to the poverty stricken people there. The service was led by Pastor Stephen Rao while the Invo-cation and Benedictions were pronounced by president of GCM, Rajen and president of GNM, Prakash.

Reaching out beyond the church

Dr. Nicky to grace Oriental College parting socialKOHIMA, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): MLA Dr. Nicky Kire, chair-man Khadi & Village Industries Board will grace the 13th parting social of Oriental College Kohima on December 2 at 10:00 am in the college auditorium. Principal address will be delivered by Dr. Ketshukietuo Dzuvichu. The programme will be marked by distri-bution of prizes and meritorious award, entertainment etc.

HGZ competition on Dec 3DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The Hutsu Ghranyü Ziruwa (HGZ) is organising a competition on painting, quiz and handicraft on December 3 at Government High School, Phoyisha (Yisi), with Zaveyi Nyekha, District Education Officer (DEO) Phek, as the chief guest and Ghachu, VCC of Hutsu as the guest of honour. Informing this in a release, the organising committee has requested that all schools (both government and private) under Phoyisha area participate in the competition. Ruchu Trakha, President of HGZ, further directed all the members of HGZ to “get ready for the said programme.”

PMA conferenceDIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The 19th general conference of Pochury Mothers’ Association (PMA) will be held from December 4 to 5 under the theme ‘Living deeply rooted’ at Meluri with Yitachu, Parliamentary Secretary, Law & Justice, Tourism, Art and Culture as chief guest. Virhothsü, headmistress of Christian Mission School, Meluri will be the main speaker at the conference. PMA president, Zhitho Poji has requested village women chairpersons under Pochury to make arrangement of members for attending the conference.

RP Awards Rally rescheduledKOHIMA, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The Rajya Puraskar Awards Rally, earlier fixed for December 4 has been resched-uled to December 8 at 11:00 am at Durbar Hall, Raj Bhavan Kohima. Participants have been directed to report on De-cember 6 to State Training Center, Nerhema positively. This was informed in a release issued by Zakieo Metha, state sec-retary, Nagaland State Bharat Scouts &Guides Kohima.

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1, (MExN): Two persons died on the spot dead and three others sus-tained serious injuries including a handyman from the Manipur based truck when their Maruti Alto (NL-07-5456) collided with a speeding truck (MN04A-0822) late this eve-ning at Naharbari Junction .

The injured were taken to Civil Hospital immediately for treatment. One deceased was iden-tified as Hukato, s/o Akuto Achu-mi, Model Colony, Purana Bazar, Dimapur while the other was yet to be identified until the filling of this report. Police disclosed that it might be case of rash driving.

Two spot dead, three injured

CMYK

CMYK

Tuesday2 December 2008 4 Dimapur The Morung Express

DAILY CROSS WORDLEISURECROSSWORD # 1169

The Morung Express number gameS U D O K U

Sudoku # 1152

Simple Rules - There is just one simple rule: “Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.”

Yesterdays answer Sudoku #1151

W O R D S E A R C H

BUSINESS

CURRENCY EXCHANGECURRENCY NOTES BUY(Rs) SELL(Rs)US Dollars 48.65 51.19Sterling Pound 74.73 78.84Hong Kong Dollar 5.41 7.42Japanese Yen /1000 498.51 551.46Malaysian Ringtt 12.23 15.17Singapore Dollar 30.23 35.37Thai Bhat / 100 135.05 146.55U.A.E. Dirhams 12.46 14.59Euro 63.12 66.42

For details contact: Urban Station, Near NSC Petrol Pump, 6th Mile Dimapur. Ph No : 240994

DIMAPUR STD CODE: 03862Civil Hospital: 232224; Emergency- 229529, 229474Metro Hospital: 227930, 231081Faith Hospital: 233044, 228846Shamrock Hospital 228254Zion Hospital: 231864, 230889Fire Service: 232201Police Control Room 228400Police Traffi c Control 232106East Police Station 227607, 228400West Police Station 232181CIHSR (Referral Hospital) 242555/ 242531

KOHIMA STD CODE: 0370Police Control Room: 2244279North Police Station: 2244923South Police Station: 2242897Fire Brigade: 2222952Naga Hospital: 2222916Oking Hospital: 2243339Bethel Nursing Home: 2224202

BRUSHBUCKCALIFORNIACANDYCARLSONCROOKSCURLEYDEPRESSIONDISCRIMINATIONDREAMSFIGHTFORESHADOWINGFUTUREGEORGEITINERANT

LENNIELONELINESSMICENATUREPUPPIESRABBITSRANCHRIVERSALINASSLIMSTABLESWAMPERWEEDWIFEWORKERS

ACROSS1. Storm in a ___ (6)4. ___ of friends (6)8. Boxing term, ___ out! (7)9. Diminutive hero, Tom ___ (5)10. Public ___ No1 (5)12. ___ standard time (7)14. The ___ that broke the camel’s back (5)15. The lesser of two ___ (5)20. A snappy ___ (7)22. ___ courage (5)23. Business as ___ (5)24. Rest ___ (7)26. Walkie- ___ (6)27. ___ fight (6)

26. Snakes and ___ (7)

DOWN1. Tried and ___ (6)2. The ___ Mariner (7)3. A Grecian ___ (3)5. ___ and effect (5)6. ___ and flowing (6)7. ___ faced (5)11. Holding back the ___ (5)13. ___ by the bell (5)16. ___ thinking (7)17. Do not ___ your set (6)18. ___ and butter (5)19. ___ boxing (6)21. All things being ___ (5)25. Apres ___ (3)

Answers to CROSSWORD #1168

R I K V L A K Y B E O X C A L T B V W CA Q U C H Z W D W A O C Y Q I G D M G XC K I P G D Y N W R B U H K O U U U E OI B V U J L X A C A X Y E L R U C M O MX E O P G A T C O A E R U T U F N S R TN X O P V O A S S E N I L E N O L U G YC Y M I N X I E L A S R E V I R E F E YW P L E R Y N B I C L M V T Q E N P E BR T Q S S P R E M E O I A P R S N L T KB H H A R L O H J C N N N E O H I W V LR K S G A M F C F I I A E A R A E K K TP P C U I Q I N C M C B N F S D R D V OG G A U R F L A I Q M Q H D I O E W C JU S T I B B A R D S R E K R O W E E D LN O S L R A C R O O K S E K K I A T M KE L B A T S W A M P E R U T A N T P U QO B T T I T I N E R A N T W R G K P F PF R Y D E P R E S S I O N P W U A Z L NF F H T I A X S J N X X N P L A N R Y SA N D T F Q U E U R G R N L F Z T Q X I

CHEVROLET CARS PRICE LIST DECEMBER’ 2008SPARK 1.0 BASE 268,648SPARK 1.0 PS 294,992SPARK 1.0 LS 309,641SPARK 1.0 LT 339,123U-VA 1.2 BASE 401,753U-VA 1.2 LS 444,299U-VA 1.2 LT 484,090SRV 1.6 OPT. PACK 790,100AVEO 1.4 BASE 611,461AVEO 1.4 LTD EDI 666,631AVEO 1.4 LT OPT.PACK 759,930TAVERA 2.5 LT 9S BS3 877,748TAVERA 2.5 SSD1 7S (C) BS3 993,249OPTRA ROYAL 1.6 LT (PETROL) 967,686OPTRA MAGNUM 2.0 LT ACC (DIESEL) 1,079,547CAPTIVA 2.0 LT VCDI 1,862,688

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 1 (PTI): Home Minister P Chi-dambaram today expressed con-fidence that the economy would register a very satisfactory growth, although there may be a tempo-rary slowdown. "We will have a reasonable growth rate... Infla-tion will moderate and growth rate would be very satisfactory," he told reporters as he wound up work in the Finance Ministry be-fore moving to the other part of North Block as Home Minister.

"In the case of India it will only amount to slowdown and not reces-sion," said Chidambaram, while

expressing confidence that the economy would notch up 7-8 per cent growth rate in the current fis-cal. Chidambaram was yesterday appointed Home Minister and the Finance portfolio would be looked after by the Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister can handle this Finance portfolio far better than anyone else and I am confident that the people of this country when they look back at five years of UPA rule will applaud its economic per-formance under the guidance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," he said.

NEW DELHI, DECEM-BER 1 (AGENCIES): The global meltdown has damp-ened spirits in the domestic garment industry ahead of the most bullish period of the year — the Christmas. Tradi-tionally there is a 25 per cent jump in orders from Europe and United States during Au-gust-November when orders are placed but this year they have been hard to come by.

“There is nothing for gar-ment exporters this Christ-mas,” said DK Nair, secretary general, Confederation of In-dian Textile Industries. “Be-tween January and August,

there has been a 1 per cent de-cline in exports to US and this figure is expected to go down to 3 per cent by the end of the year. It’s a similar situation in other markets like Europe and Japan as well.”

Overall production in the textile industry has dipped by 2 per cent in April-November and it is tipped to fall by another 2 per cent by the end of this fiscal. An es-timated seven lakh jobs have been lost and a further five lakh may be lost by March 2009. The sector employs 33 million people, second only to the agriculture sector. An-

other 55 million are associat-ed indirectly by the sector.

“Exports of readymade garments in the current fis-cal year are likely to fall 24 per cent, short of the $11.6 billion target and may to-tal up to only $ 8.8 billion,” said Rakesh Vaid, chair-man, Apparel Export Pro-motion Council. “It will be just 91 per cent of the actual achievement in 2007-08. Winter business has fallen by around 25 per cent as many importers have either can-celled orders or postponed their delivery schedules.”

In 2007-08, India exported

garments worth $9.7 billion with a growth of over nine per cent over the previous year.

Buyers like Steeve and Barry’s, alongwith Mervyns, have filed for bankruptcy while Pacific Sunwear, Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines are closing 150 outlets. Foot Locker is wind-ing up 140 stores and Ann Taylor is closing 117 outlets. Others like Eddie Bauer, Cache, Talbots, J Jill, Gap Inc, Goodbye Levitz, Home Depot, Macy’s, Pep Boys, JC Penney, Lowe and Office De-pot are also scaling down op-erations due to falling sales.

Chidambaram confi dent of good growth

Nissan Motor Co.'s Chief Operating Offi cer Toshiyuki Shiga poses with the automaker's fully redesigned Fairlady Z sports car in Tokyo December 1. The new Fairlady Z features a refi ned sculptural exterior,shorter wheelbase, reduced weight and powerful VQ37VHR 3.7-liter V6 engine. It offers the world's fi rst 6-speed manual transmission with synchronized rev control or newly developed 7-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift mode. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 1 (PTI): With the US and Eu-ropean markets facing severe slowdown, India's handicraft exports have been hit hard re-sulting in job losses for

over five lakh workers, industry officials said. "The initial industrial estimates of handicraft exports show a decline of 30% in the April-October period this fiscal," an Export Promotional Council for Handicraft (EPCH) of-ficial said. Over one million people are employed in the most affected handicraft clus-ters of Moradabad, Jaipur, Sa-haranpur, Jodhpur and Nar-sapur (Andhra Pradesh).

"40% exporters have closed down their factories and 50% people in the four most affected clusters have lost their jobs," All India Handicraft Board vice chair-man Sudhir Tyagi said. Art metal wares, laces, wooden and wrought iron handi-crafts, embroidered and crocheted goods had huge buyers in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan and Middle

Eastern nations. According to EPCH data, handicraft export in April-September this year declined by 22.10% to $1.04 billion, against $1.34 billion in the same period last year. "Export orders have al-most frozen," Tyagi said add-ing, "December, especially the Christmas season, is very crucial for buyers abroad, the sale during the festival will decide on further export or-ders." Last week, commerce secretary G K Pillai had said, five lakh people would lose jobs in the textile sector in the next five months. Mo-radabad (Uttar Pradesh) is a major exporting hub of art metal wares and imitation jewellery, while Saharanpur and Jodhpur are known for wooden, wrought iron and sea shell handicrafts.

These products com-mand big markets in US, Germany, the UK, Italy and Saudi Arabia. Lace and lace goods, which go to the US, the UK, Germany and Canada, are crafted in the Narsapur cluster in Andhra Pradesh.

Five lakh jobs lost in handicrafts

BANGALORE, DECEM-BER 1 (CNN-IBN): The war on Mumbai has left the India Inc angry and vulner-able sectors want much more than a constable with a lathi. A meeting convened by the Karnataka government with industry heads led to strong suggestions from an industry that’s scared.

“We’re losing faith in the political leadership of this country. There’s no doubt about that,” T V Mohandas Pai, director (HR), Infosys, adding, “To take care of the political class, they have

Z-plus security. They have arms. What about us? Isn’t our life important? We’re citizens. The government is unable to protect us, then amend the law. Let us bear arms, we’ll protect ourselves to whatever extent we can”.

A worried Bangalore Inc said they’d rather have ma-chine guns than be sitting ducks to a torrent of bullets. While government instal-lations have forces who can combat an emergency, the private sector has to make do with metal detectors, frisking and CCTV security. The lat-

est addition are sniffer dogs, which some organizations have opted for, but nothing that can combat an AK-47.

“We’ll not be in a position to answer these kinds of AK-47s and grenades. We need much stronger help from the government. And we’ll need military intervention. May be we could start some military patrolling at least, then there can be confidence that help can come at short notice,” chairman and MD, Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

But it’s a debate the gov-ernment refused to be drawn

into. “They’re talking about equipping private guards with automatic weapons, that’s a central subject and has to go to the Centre,” said DG and IGP, R Srikumar. We’ve seen bomb blasts be-fore but the audacity of the terror attack on Mumbai has got the industry in Banga-lore sitting up. Most compa-nies have decided that they will do whatever it takes to review and reboot their secu-rity internally, over the next week. But whether the law helps them or not is another question.

LONDON, DECEMBER 1 (RE-UTERS): A report in the Sunday Times that Microsoft Inc is in talks with Yahoo Inc to buy the U.S. internet company’s online search business for $20 billion is “total fiction,” according to a key executive cited by an influential U.S. blog. The Sunday Times, which did not cite its sources, said the proposal under discussion in-volves a complex transaction that would see the U.S. software giant support a new management team to take control of Yahoo.

The team would be led by ex-AOL Chairman and CEO Jona-than Miller and former Fox In-teractive Media President Ross Levinsohn, the report said. But the AllThingsDigital blog, affili-ated with the Wall Street Journal, quoted Levinsohn as saying the report was “total fiction.” Top sources at Yahoo and Microsoft also scoffed at the report, the blog said. Yahoo spokesman Brad Wil-liams said: “We don’t comment on rumors, and all this is a rumor.”

A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment. Microsoft withdrew its $47.5 billion buyout offer for Yahoo in May after Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang and his board rejected the bid as too low.

Bid speculation was sparked again earlier this month when Yang an-nounced he was stepping down. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer ruled a bid out at the time, but said he was “open” to talks on a deal for Yahoo’s search business.

Activist investor Carl Icahn -- who sits on Yahoo’s board and in-creased his stake in the company to 5.4 percent last week -- reiterat-ed he favored the sale of the search business, according to an interview in the December 1 edition of Bar-ron’s. “Microsoft has said publicly that they are not interested in buy-ing the whole company, and I be-lieve them. But they are interested in doing a deal on search, and we should pursue that,” Icahn was quoted by Barron’s.

Earlier this year, Icahn threat-ened to launch a proxy fight against Yahoo and oust Yang in an effort to push the company to accept Microsoft’s offer. He later struck a deal with Yahoo and joined its board. Icahn began amassing Ya-hoo shares during the company’s merger talks with Microsoft. The Sunday Times said senior direc-tors at Microsoft and Yahoo are understood to have agreed on the broad terms of the deal, but there is no guarantee it will succeed.

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 1 (PTI): The terror attack on the country’s financial capi-tal, say economists, will have a short-term impact on the econ-omy, but sentiments could be given a boost in the medium- to long-term if the Government responds by improving the law and order. However, Chief Eco-nomic Advisor in the Finance Ministry Arvind Virmani said non-economic shocks of this na-ture generally have a very little direct impact on the economy.

Virmani said, “What ac-tually turns out to be more important in the medium- to long-term is how the system re-sponds and deals with it.” The

reforms, he pointed out, have not only to be on the economic front but they have to be in law and order sphere as well. The confidence and sentiments, he said, depends less on one sin-gle event that happens in one or two days than what is the government’s response to it.

Crisil Chief Economist Subir Gokarn said, “The terror attack will have a short-term impact, but it would be a posi-tive thing if there is a policy response to it (by the govern-ment). Gokarn said a policy re-sponse in terms of law and or-der and people’s security needs to happen. The policies, he added, should be above party

politics and not dependent on the party in power, he added.

Virmani said, “Governance is one of the fundamental pub-lic goods, and so is law and or-der. So, in some sense, law and order is a public good which is not adequately supplied.” Echoing a similar view, Prime Minster’s Economic Advisory Council member Saumitra Chaudhuri said that the terror attack should have a short-term impact on the economy. Also, Chaudhuri mentioned that the only hope at the moment is that the attack does not have a long-term impact, which could happen if there are consequent attacks in the future.

Microsoft-Yahoo deal “total fi ction”

This Christmas, garment exports may miss Santa Give us guns, India Inc demands from government

Terror attack to have short-term impact on economy

A broker reacts while trading in a brokerage fi rm in Mumbai, December 1. India's benchmark Sensex index reversed early gains, falling 2.9 percent to 8,829.76 in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that left 172 people dead. (AP Photo)

Dimapur 5Tuesday2 December 2008The Morung Express REGIONAL/LOCAL

AIZAWL, DECEMBER 1 (PTI): Campaign for the elections to the 40-member Mizoram Legislative As-sembly to be held on Tuesday ended at 4 pm on Sunday. Extremely low-key canvassing was witnessed every-where during the past few weeks in the absence of noisy street campaigns with loud speakers where famous singers enriched public rallies and concerts as in previous elections, ex-cept on the day Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh addressed a mammoth rally at the Assam Rifles ground here on November 25.

The canvassing was low-key thanks to the diktats of the powerful church-sponsored Mizoram People's Forum (MPF) which banned door-to-door canvassing and excessive display of party flags, banners and posters of the candidates. One or two public meetings, organised by the lo-cal forums of the MPF, were allowed in each locality or village, where all the candidates contesting from the constituency shared a common plat-form to address the voters.

Public rallies and door-to-door campaigns, strictly prohibited by the MPF, were replaced by interviews of the candidates by journalists inside studios of the three main local tele-vision networks - LPS, Zonet and Skylinks. Political parties, candi-dates and campaigners resorted to sending SMS to ask for votes and a

large number of mobile handsets and activated SIM cards were reported to have been distributed to party work-ers and voters, especially in the rural areas, free of cost.

Mobile phone shop-keepers said that their sale of handsets and SIM cards increased manifold during the hustings. While many people hailed the efforts of the MPF, the raison d'etre of which is to ensure free, fair and inexpensive polls, many oth-ers felt that some of the restrictions were unreasonable and undemo-cratic. Mizoram has an electorate of 6,11,124 and women voters outnum-bered their male counterparts by 6,654. The nine women candidates fielded by major political parties is a good sign for the fairer sex as women had been unrepresented in the state law-making body for the past two de-cades.

Women bodies like the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or the Mizo Women's Feder-ation and the newly-formed Women Welfare Front (WWF) are optimis-tic that with women nominees be-ing fielded by major political parties women now have a better chance to make it to the state legislature. State election officials said that majority of the 2,900 service voters and around 8,000 Bru voters, now lodged in six relief camps in neighbouring Tripu-ra have exercised franchise through

postal ballots.There are 205 candidates seeking

their fortunes which included more than 30 people below 40 years of age, most of them first-timers. The oldest candidate is the 85-year-old former chief minister and chief ministerial candidate of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Brig. Thenphunga Sailo who is contesting from the pres-tigious Aizawl West-II seat where he is pitted against 36-year-old Lalru-atkima of the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and the Congress lone woman candidate Zothankimi.

The MNF contested 39 seats while its pre-poll partner the Mara Democratic Front (MDF) is contest-ing from one constituency. The Con-gress is contesting all the 40 seats and the UDA, a pre-poll alliance of the Mizoram People's Conference and the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) is contesting 37 seats. Political par-ties like the BJP, the NCP, the Lok Janshakti Party and Lok Bharti also fielded candidates and there are 36 independent candidates.

Mizoram-Bangladesh border Mamit constituency has the largest number of candidates with 11 nomi-nees including three independents in the fray while South Mizoram's Lunglei West seat has only three contestants - Education Minister Dr R Lalthangliana of the MNF, former legislator J Lawmzuala of the Con-

gress and C Zokhuma of the UDA. State election officials told PTI that most of the polling parties have left their district headquarters for duty and very few would be leaving by to-morrow.

The state government has sealed 722-kilometre-long international border with Myanmar and Bangla-desh and also its border with Ma-nipur, Assam and Tripura to ensure that insurgent groups should not in-terfere during the polls. Most of the polling stations in the border areas are classified as hyper-sensitive or sensitive and additional state police personnel were deployed along the borders, especially with Manipur and Assam while the BSF and the Assam Rifles are manning the inter-national borders.

State Deputy Inspector General of Police L Hrangnawn told PTI that besides deploying more forces on the border areas, intensive patrol-ling have also been undertaken in the sensitive areas where militants had earlier sneaked into the state. The Centre has sent five additional companies of central para-military forces as against the state's plea for 15 additional companies Hrang-nawna added. Mizoram has three Mizoram Armed Police battalions and four India Reserve battalions besides state police spread over all the eight districts.

Campaign for Mizoram Assembly polls ends

Security officials checking commuters on November 30 night in Mizoram ahead of state assembly elections scheduled to take place today. Voting is scheduled to be held in 40 constituencies in Mizoram which borders Myanmar where some 600,000 voters are ex-pected to cast their ballots. (UB Photos)

SHILLONG, DECEMBER 1 (UNI): The unabated cross-border smuggling of cattle from the northeastern states to Bangladesh has raised se-curity concerns as it creates breaches on the border fence.

‘’Cattle smuggling is destroying the expensive barbed wire fence and leav-ing gaps for militants to infil-trate inside India,’’ Inspector General of Border Security Force (BSF), P K Mishra told reporters on the sidelines of BSF’s 44th Raising Day.

The Home Ministry was aware of the damage caused to the fence, he said, while re-vealing that the ministry was yet to react in this connec-tion. ‘’The modus operandi

is simple. Smugglers forcibly chase these marauding cattle across the fence, sometimes numbering in thousands, across the fence after breach-ing the fence,’’ Mishra said.

He said the breach of the fence is not only expensive but repairing the fence is time consuming. ‘’To rebuild a small breach, it costs anything between Rs 20,000 to 30,000’’ the IG of BSF said. The smug-gling of cattle escalates espe-cially during the festive season when on an average 18-20 lakh cattle are slaughtered.

Mishra said the cattle are smuggled from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to the Indo-Bangla border. The cattle are smuggled to

the border in trucks and are driven through the orchards in order to avoid the frontier guards. ‘’It is difficult to catch the smugglers as local villag-ers claim the cattle as theirs,’’ the BSF official said.

Cattle smuggling across the border has literally turned into a lucrative industry in Bangladesh. The leather in-dustry located at Hazaribagh, the northwestern part of Dha-ka is estimated to be worth Rs 2500 crore a year. The export figures stand at about 300 mil-lion dollar. Bangladesh pro-duces two to three per cent of the world’s leather market. ‘’Some of the finished leather goods are then exported to In-dia,’’ Mishra said.

GUWAHATI, DECEM-BER 1 (THE TELE-GRAPH): Dispur prepared a security blueprint to fortify judicial establishments across the state, exactly a month af-ter an explosives-laden car ripped through the chief judi-cial magistrate’s court prem-ises in Guwahati on October 30. The need for stronger vigil was felt immediately after the October serial blasts but the Mumbai terror attacks last week forced Dispur to step on the accelerator and expedite the process.

Instructions have been sent to all district administra-tions to construct boundary walls and deploy adequate security personnel at exit and entry points in all courts. Marking out designated park-ing lots, making it compulsory for all bar members and court employees to carry identity

cards, arrangement for gate pass for visitors and checking of bags are some of the other steps Dispur is considering to secure the state’s courts. The possibility of installing closed-circuit televisions in lower courts is also being discussed.

Three advocates — Dee-pamoni Akia, Anup Bhuyan and Bipul Das — lost their lives and 40 others were in-jured in the October serial blasts, which turned 52 two-wheelers and 24 cars into mangled pieces of metal. To-day’s security instructions came after a round of discus-sions between chief secretary P.C. Sharma, director-gener-al of police R.N. Mathur and Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Jasti Chelameswar, followed by meetings be-tween Kamrup district ad-ministration officials with the CJM authorities.

“A blueprint has been prepared in consultation with court authorities in the state to ensure there is no repeti-tion of the October 30 blasts. Some steps have been con-cretised and the rest is in an advanced stage,” an official said. The Chief Justice has informed the Gauhati High Court Bar Association secre-tary general, Nabajyoti Dut-ta, of the decision to install X-Ray machines at the court’s entry point so that bags and briefcases by lawyers and visi-tors can be properly scanned.

“The court will bear the expenses. We have already decided to allow vehicles of only bar members with ap-proved security stickers to park in the designated park-ing lot and make identity cards mandatory on the court premises. We already have CCTVs,” he said. A senior

office-bearer of the Lawyers’ Association, Gauhati, D. Das, said they have also submitted a list of suggestions to beef up security around the court.

Moving the parking lot to the along the riverside near Kachari, installation of metal detectors and spy cameras with provision for scanning the footages once a week by ex-perts, eviction of unauthorised vendors and 24-hour deploy-ment of security personnel at entry and exit points are some of the proposals put forward by the lawyer’s association.

“We have placed our demands. After the blast, a metal detector was installed at the CJM court and two homeguards deployed. On our own, we will also make identity cards a must and is-sue car passes. Hope we don’t have to see another October 30,” Das said.

AIZAWL, DECEMBER 1 (AGENCIES): Unlike in most other Indian states, en-vironment and global warm-ing rank very high as issues in the assembly elections in green Mizoram. With almost 80 percent of its total area of 21,000 square kilometres car-peted by forests, most of Miz-oram’s political parties have made protecting the environ-ment and forests key issues in their manifestos.

The main opposition Congress party’s manifesto for Tuesday’s elections de-clares that ecological bal-ance and saving the forest cover are essential for the survival of mankind. “We have specifically highlighted the issue of global warming,” Congress’ chief ministerial candidate Lal Thanhawla says. “The Congress is com-mitted to taking forward en-vironmental issues if we are voted to power,”

The Congress has accused the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) of failing to protect the environment and the forests. The party’s candi-dates stress in their election meetings around the state that during the last 10 years of the MNF government, the state saw “wanton” destruc-tion of forests, leading to the state’s environmental degra-dation.

The manifesto of the op-

position United Democratic Alliance (UDA) comprising the Mizoram People’s Con-ference (MPC) and Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) also expresses concern over what it describes as the state’s de-forestation. As a remedy, “we will try to work out forest-based livelihood for the poor people and farmers,” says a leader of the UDA.

The ruling MNF too promises environment pro-tection measures but asserts that it would transform Mi-zoram into an industrially developed state using its rich natural resources. The party promises a green revolution by encouraging scientific bamboo cultivation. Bamboo plays an important role in the state where it grows wild in 6,000 square kilometres. Mi-zoram produces 40 percent of India’s 80-million-tonne an-nual bamboo crop.

C h i e f M i n i s t e r Zoramthanga is nicknamed “the bamboo minister” for his enthusiasm for using bamboo as the keystone of his vision of a prosperous Mizoram. “We need to harvest bamboo or else we are going to waste bil-lions and billions of rupees,” he says.

Zoramthanga lists their uses: bamboo chips are used for making paper, bamboo charcoal for fuel and bamboo “vinegar” to nourish the soil.

His list is endless. So too, he says, is global demand. New plantations of more profit-able bamboo strains can be sown on Mizoram’s plenti-ful hills. In a decade, he says, bamboo-rich Mizoram could become India’s richest state -- but only if private inves-tors follow his lead. The oth-er parties have also promised bamboo-based schemes and projects, besides scientific cultivation of bamboo for generating employment.

Bamboo also has a de-structive side. Every 49 or 50 years the bamboo put out an abundance of flow-ers and their fruits act as rodent magnets, drawing millions of them from even other states. The rodents play havoc with other crops and food supplies, leading to famine conditions. The last such phenomenon called mautam was in 1959 and an-other has probably started. Official statistics say that the rat menace has hit nearly 150,000 agrarian families.

“By properly harvesting bamboo, you can not only fight the famine but also bring in wealth for the state,” Zoramthanga says.

But the UDA has ac-cused the MNF government of misusing funds doled out by New Delhi to deal with the destructive effects of periodic bamboo flowering.

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): An old boys get-together of Sainik School Kunjpura (Harayana) was held in Rangapahar Mili-tary Station on November 30. Eight ex-Naga students with their families partici-pated. Lt Gen RK Loomba, General Officer Command-ing 3 Corps, ex-alumni, and Anita Loomba grace the oc-casion alongwith a host of ex- student (Army/CRPF officers) with families. The old boys recalled their happy times and nostalgic memories as students.

They also remembered the sacrifices and commitment made by their teachers and old boys and expressed their gratitude to them for making their Alma mater proud. The school has the distinction of many a distinguished alumni

Old Naga boys of Sainik School, Kunjpura with Lt Gen Rk Loomba, Goc 3 Corps, an ex-alumini(centre) and other ex-students officers during school get-together in RMS.

AGARTALA, NOVEMBER 30 (UNI): As part of its internal secu-rity management, Tripura police has decided to send two contingents of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans for a special training imparted by Nation-al Security Guards (NSG), in the first week of December and February.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Director General of Tripura Police Pranay Sahaya said, ‘’With the recent spurt in terrorist activities across the country, the state has de-cided to impart anti-terrorism train-ing to the selected TSR personnel.’’ The state government has also decid-ed to set up an Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in the state, he added.

The Inspector General TSR was asked to identify them for immediate

deployment in strategic locations and disturbed areas of the state. Tripura has as many as 50 NSG-trained per-sonnel at present, who had received special training for combating ter-rorism in the state a few years ago. But despite several attempts, the plan of sending fresh jawans could not be materialised.

‘’We have already contacted NSG Director General J K Dutt and he agreed to impart training to our TSR jawans initially in two batches, who will be included in handling high-power explosives, modern weapons, mobilise sniffer dogs and composite strikes on organised terrorists,’’ Mr Sahaya underlined.

Moreover, two proposals un-der police modernisation project

worth Rs 23 crore were being sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, besides regular allocation for vehicles and other gadgets, he said, adding the intelligence wing of state police was also revamped with senior officials.

Meanwhile, state Home depart-ment officials said the issue was discussed in recently-held meeting of DGP and the Chief Secretary of Northeastern states with the Union Home Ministry and it was also de-cided that the Centre would bear the expenditure for the new initiative. The Union Home Ministry has also asked the states to identify some po-lice officers and diligent constables who would be undergoing anti-ter-rorist training under Special Protec-

tion Force.The Ministry also suggested

to strengthen their intelligence wings and effect better coordina-tion between the Centre and state intelligence as well as among the states of the region. It had decided to post a senior central intelligence officer in the region to ensure the highest level of co-ordination in intelligence gathering, the sourc-es stated. Besides reorientation of intelligence network in NE states, the Centre had assured to use latest technology in all sectors of policing and intelligence gathering. BSF pa-trolling along the Indo-Bangladesh border would also be strengthened to prevent transborder movement of militants, officials said.

Sainik School Kunjpura get together

which includes the Chief Min-ister of Harayana, Bhupinder Hooda; the Chief of the Army

Staff, Gen Deepak Kapoor PVSM, AVSM,SM, VSM, ADC and a host of serving

generals and senior officers in central and state administra-tion amongst others.

Security blueprint for Assam courts

Cattle paves way for militants to cross Indo-Bangla border NSG to impart special training to Tripura policemen

Environment issues rank high in Mizoram pollENPUK elects new teamKOHIMA, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The 7th general session of the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Union Kohima held on November 13 last at the DUDA Guest House, Kohima elected a new team of office bear-ers for the tenure 2008-2011. President- T Kekongchim Yimchunger, vice presidents- P Longang Konyak and S Toshi Angh Phom, general secretary-Yanghose Sangtam, joint secretary-Y B Along Phom, press and information & statistical secretary-Shromong Sangtam, social & cultural secretary-B Among Yimchunger, finance secretary-I Khoney Chang, assistant finance secretary-H Nyampong Chang, and N Yona Konyak, treasurer comprise the new executives of ENPUK.

JVSA golden jubilee KOHIMA, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The Jakhama Village Sports Association (JVSA) will celebrate its golden jubilee from January 13 to 16 next at the local ground of the village. Zhodi Jakhama and releasing of souvenir will also be part of the celebration. A press note issued by Kezhokhoto Savi, convener of the souvenir committee has informed its villagers to contribute articles, poems, jokes etc and also the theme/motto and the emblem for jubilee on or before November 30 next. It also requested the Jakhama business community and individual to contribute for advertisements column either for a size of full page or half page. “The Committees of Golden Jubilee are requested to submit their committee group photograph at the earliest. The Jakhama Youth Society will be taking care of sports and games of which the Khel wise games will be starting from December 9 next and only the finals will be played during the celebrations,” the note concluded.

GHS Tamlu celebrates silver jubileeKOHIMA, DECEMBER 1 (DIPR): Government High School, Tam-lu, celebrated its Silver Jubilee on November 15, 2008, at the school premises, with Minister for Forest, Environment, Ecology, Wildlife & Excise, M C Konyak, as the chief guest and Parliamentary Secretary for Transport & Communication, P Dako Phom, as guest of honour. Short speeches were delivered by the Deputy Director for Education (Retd), T Imdong Phom, and former Deputy Commissioner, L T Konyak. The highlights of the programme were presentation of songs by students of Christian English School and St. Thomas School and folksong by stu-dents of GHS Tamlu. The programme was chaired by the Head Master of GHS, Sangyumanen.

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): The District Youth Con-gress (DYC) Wokha in coordination with Nagaland Pradesh Youth Con-gress (NPYC) conducted a daylong training on National Rural Employ-ment Guaranteed Act (NREGA) and Right to Information (RTI) Act on November 25 last at Wokha.

Speaking at the camp, Kuputo Sohe, president of NPYC, highlighted the need for organising such programs to create awareness among the rural masses. He pointed out some ‘pro-poor policies and schemes’ launched by the Congress-led UPA government at the centre, such as NREGA, Old Age Pension, RTI, etc. whereby the people of rural areas are benefited. He emphasised on the operational guide-lines of NREGA, its implementation, and how the rural people could derive maximum benefit from it.

Dokiu Kecham, State Level Coor-dinator of AAKS, spoke on NREGA and how the Act was formulated and bought about with the initiative of the UPA government after extensive con-sultations from various NGOs, social activists, administrators, parliamen-tarians and people from rural areas. Stating that the aim of NREGA is to uphold the livelihood and security of the people living in rural areas and to uplift their economic condition, Ke-cham reminded that the Act also aims at eliminating poverty in the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment to every household in rural areas.

Mhonchumo Ovung, General Secretary, NPYC, who spoke on the Right to Information (RTI) Act, said that this was a very important right given to every citizen of India that can bridge the gap between the public and the government. It is a mechanism that enables the public to judge and know whether the government and its agencies functions in the public inter-est, he said. The RTI Act empowers any citizen to seek and receive infor-mation from any government agen-cies, which ensures transparency and accountability in the functioning of government agencies, he stated. Cit-ing different sections of the Act, he ex-plained what RTI is and how to seek and receive information and make use of it as a good instrument for pub-lic interest and benefit.

As a part of the program, the re-source persons also interacted with the participants whereby the partici-pants raised many important issues and questions on NREGA and RTI Act and on being trained, they vowed to carry forward the message of pro-poor policies of the UPA government to every rural village in the district to create awareness. The training, chaired by Mhondamo Shitiri, Dis-trict Level Coordinator, Aam Admi Ka Sepahi (AAKS), was attended by more than 70 participants from dif-ferent villages and intellectuals from various organisations. Officials from the NPYC and State Level Coordina-tors of AAKS also attended the train-ing as resource persons.

DYC, NPYC conduct training on ‘pro-poor’ policies

Readers may please note that the contents of the articles, letters and opinions published do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.

Letters to the Editor should be sent to: The Morung Express, House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur - 797112, Or –email: editor@morungexpress.com.All letters (including those via email) should have the full name and Postal address of the sender.

Shantanu Guha RaySource: Tehelka

A Chinese chef and his young daughter gamely make light of surviving the terror attack

Shi Xi Lin can whip up a brilliant Sichuan dish in just eight minutes flat. That, he says proudly, is a

skill acquired after being a chef for nearly three decades. But right now Lin would not mind taking things relatively slow. A survivor of the recent terror at-tacks on Mumbai’s landmark ho-tel that stands tall in front of the Gateway of India, Lin jokes that he wants to make a movie on these three days of mayhem that he calls his worst nightmare. “I am still coming to grips with the situation. I went into my room for some papers and to ask my daughter to have her dinner. Suddenly it seemed as if a million lightning bolts had struck us.

The lights went off, the phones were dead. There were just the sounds of gunfire and grenade blasts,” said Lin, who has been working at the Golden Dragon restaurant of Taj Mahal for more than a decade.

Standing close, his daughter, Shi Jingwei who is a third-year commerce

student of the city SNDT College, nods her head in unison. “I told Daddy not to panic and stay calm. We even heard loud knocks on our door and someone running past our room. We waited for al-most three hours before we stepped out. Daddy kept writing on small bits and

pieces of paper. He told me to write on anything, even toilet paper. It seemed he wanted to remember every moment.”

Lin says he and his daughter took notes of the blast, the black-out, the screams and all that happened on the first night of the attack before they were res-

cued. Lin wants to meet a Chinese producer who could finance a full-fledged film about his experience. “I want to bring in actors and stunt men to make this movie,” said Lin, standing outside the hotel, amidst the deafening roars of the elite NSG commandos moving out of the ho-tel in three special buses. Some even hurled marigold flowers, shouting patriotic slogans.

“Isn’t this the perfect backdrop for a classic movie?” Lin laughed. Except, he would not want to act in it. “Not me, Sir. And not my daugh-ter. This is the second time I have

seen death here.” The first one happened some years ago when he just opened the curtains of his room at the Taj Mahal, only to see a car blown up by a remote control device. That had been a sleepless night too. But not quite the same way the last four days have been.

I N - F O C U S6 THE EDIT PAGE

C O M M E N T A R Y Kalpana Sharma

LEFT WING | Paul Krugman

The Power of Truth

The Morung ExpressTUESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2008 VOL. III ISSUE 334

W R I T E - W I N G

Letters to the Editor

The attack on Mumbai by ten highly trained gunmen on the night of Wednesday, November 26, and the dra-ma that followed over the next 60 hours, was physi-

cally confined to one corner of a very big city. But it extended its ambit to the rest of the city, the country and the world be-cause of the non-stop media coverage.

For two days and three nights, tele-vision channels gave blan-ket coverage to the drama around the siege of two ho-tels, the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers, and the Oberoi and Trident Hotels, as well as Nariman House in Cola-ba, a synagogue and centre for a Jewish sect. And the entire country watched in horror and fascination. The audacious attack caught everyone off guard, the po-lice, the government and the media. When the first reports came of firing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Termi-nus, no one knew what this was about. But within less than an hour, almost 40 people had been gunned down at CST, the Cama Hospital just down the road had been attacked, three top police officials, includ-ing the head of the Anti Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare had been killed. The gunmen had seized the very vehicle in which these top officials were travelling and had continued on their journey southwards while spraying bullets from their automatic ri-fles on people on the way at the junction where Metro cinema stands.

Even as these two continued on their killing spree from one end, two had en-tered the Trident at Nariman Point and begun killing people in one of its res-taurants and four had made their way to the Taj Mahal Hotel, on the eastern sea front opposite the Gateway of India, and launched into a murderous journey. On the way to the Taj, these men had casual-ly walked into the popular Leopold Café on Colaba Causeway, thrown a hand gre-nade and opened fire on customers. Eight people died including two waiters.

When such developments hit a city, it is understandable that there is a time lag before the media, particularly the electronic media, can react. As a result, in those first hours, there was a lot of con-fused reporting about the number of gun-men, the locations of the attacks, etc. For example, some channels repeated flashed that nine terrorists had been arrested. Yet, later it turned out this was untrue. The numbers of gunmen varied from eight to 25. This led to the resultant fear in the city that there were gunmen, with automatic weapons, roaming around the city.

The siege of Nariman House went al-most unnoticed initially. Few knew that it was a Jewish centre. Its location was unclear. The fact of hostages taken there only registered with the Indian media once news about this appeared in some foreign papers, notably The New York Times. Even on Thursday, it was unclear how many gunmen were in the building and whether they had hostages. Many of these details emerged as the foreign media followed the story through relatives and friends of the occupants of Nariman House. But when

we assess 60 hours and more of continu-ous media coverage of this unprecedented and chilling incident, there are several is-sues that have to be considered even as we acknowledge the constraints within which the media operates. The electronic media, in particular, has to ask whether at a time when they were the only source of infor-mation for most of the city, and indeed the country, there should have been some re-straint placed on information given out.

For example, on the morning on No-vember 27, when the media concentrated on the Trident-Oberoi hotels, some chan-nels spoke about “hostages” and hinted at possible negotiations with them. The information was attributed to “sources”. NDTV went as far as to compare the sit-uation to the IC 814 hijacking and kept quoting a “diplomatic” source that had spoken of this possibility.

We know now that the “hostages” that the gunmen had seized from the Kanda-har restaurant at the Oberoi on Wednes-day night were taken to the roof and shot dead that very night. So was it right to give out information about 30-40 hostages without ensuring that there was some ba-sis for suggesting that these people were alive? At such a time, is it right to broad-cast unsubstantiated information, partic-ularly when anxious people were waiting for news of their relatives? In attempting to score points and claim exclusives, the electronic media tripped up badly here. Another major goof up was the story of a fresh shootout at CST on Friday, No-vember 28. Several channels ran this as a running strip. There was fresh panic in the city. The train services were sus-pended and the government compounded the problem by asking cable operators to blank out news channels.

CNN/IBN had a reporter stating that she had seen three men with their hands over their heads emerging from GT hos-pital, which is close to CST. A print re-porter would never have run with such a story without checking with the police what this was all about. Why did the TV channel air this kind of half-baked report that would have added to the panic?

There were widely differing estimates given through the two days and three

nights about the number of gunmen. For this, the media cannot be entirely faulted. This attack has exposed the to-tal absence of an information manage-ment system in the government. Surely, by Thursday morning, when the serious-ness of the situation had registered with everyone, including the Union Govern-ment, somebody should have been ap-pointed as the information spokesperson who could coordinate between all the dif-

ferent elements involved – the police, the Army, the Rapid Action Force, the Navy and the National Security Guard.

Instead, viewers were subjected to different “authorities” giving out vary-ing figures about the number of gunmen and also figures of whether there were hostages, how many people in each of the hotels and the casualty figures.

Even if such a centralised information system did not exist, it is inexplicable that until a day after the drama ended, none of the Mumbai newspapers had lists of the wounded and the dead. After every major terror attack in the city in the past, this is a routine that every newspaper has fol-lowed. In fact, during the 1992-93 commu-nal riots, some newspapers sent reporters to morgues and hospitals to put together a body count and published this alongside government figures to expose the discrep-ancies. This time none of this was done.

Interestingly, the one area in which the electronic and print media showed some restraint was in showing visuals of those who died. In the past incidents, newspa-pers were full of gory pictures of the dead. This time, we only saw dead gunmen. The exception was DNA that inexcusably car-ried a photograph of bloated bodies of people who had been gunned down in one of the restaurants at the Trident. Was this restraint exercised because the peo-ple who died at these luxury hotels were a part of the elite? When poor people die in bomb blasts or other attacks, few journal-ists bother to consider what their families feel when these photographs are used.

Also, with the focus on the unfold-ing drama at the two hotels – and also on Nariman House after the comman-dos made a dramatic helicopter landing – stories about the first people who were

killed were almost forgotten. When the gunmen opened fire at CST, they killed people who were waiting for their trains. These were ordinary people. Till today, little is known about them. There are many more points that can be raised about the hits and misses of the cover-age. But more relevant, if we consider the role media plays in opinion formation, is the way the story played out once the last of the gunmen had been killed at the Taj

Mahal Hotel.“Enough is Enough:

India’s 9/11” was NDTV’s slug for the programmes that followed.

“War on Mumbai – The Longest Running Horror Show” was CNN/IBN.

And “India Stands Unit-ed: Ops still on” against a saffron, white and saffron strip was Times TV.

The programmes analysing the attack were tinged with more than a lit-tle hyper-nationalism. The comparison to 9/11 was par-ticularly questionable given the imagery of retaliation by the American government that it inevitably raises. This was also accompanied by in-terviews with celebrities and others who lambasted politi-cians, spoke about citizens taking control, and basical-ly vented their frustration without any questions being asked about what actually could be done.

Most of the voices heard were those of the elite, fa-miliar faces who now ap-

pear across the TV channels. And much of what they said has been heard in the past. It’s as if Mumbai was peopled by only by this class. What about the rest of the city? How come their opinion about what had happened, whether they really felt secure or not, did not count this time? Much was made, and rightly so, about the police and NSG officers who died. But we heard little about the ordinary policemen who were also killed – 11 of them – and the staff of the two hotels who played a heroic role in rescuing many of the hotel residents. The real “unsung heroes” – a favourite phrase used by many channels – were these un-known men and women.

And finally there is the question of terminology. The BBC and CNN used terms like “attackers” or “gunmen” while all the Indian channels immediately used the term “terrorist”, even before the nature of the attack was determined. English channels, however, were careful about not adding an epithet like “Jeha-di” or “Islamic” to the term even as un-substantiated news began to be telecast about the link to Laskhar-e-Toiba.

Media rarely pauses to analyse itself as it hurtles from one breaking story to another. But the Mumbai terror attack shows us that it is essential that report-ers be trained to handle such extraordi-nary situations, that they learn the im-portance of restraint and cross-checking as at such times the media is the main source of information. Professionalism and accuracy will ensure that we don’t contribute to prejudice and panic.

Kalpana Sharma is an independent journalist based in Mumbai who was,

until last year, Deputy Editor and Chief of Bureau of The Hindu in Mumbai

Unpacking The PixelKalpana assesses 60 hours of continuous media coverage

of the Mumbai crisis and notes the significant gaps

Time to Introspect & Correct

As we enter the last month of yet another year gone by, there will be several reasons to celebrate and cheer about. The first week of December—the annual Na-galand Hornbill Festival—is something that people in

general always look forward to—basking in the colourful tradi-tion of Nagas rich culture and proudly showcasing the event to the rest of the world. There are many positive aspects about this particular event and things have only gotten better over the years. This is to the credit of the government. But even as we partake in this wonderful carnival, yet one should not forget that December 1 has other significant reminders, which likewise would demand our attention. This includes Statehood day and World AIDS day, both falling on December 1. Whether it is merely of a coincidence or a symbolic signpost yet it requires the Naga people to confront the issues posed by the question of Statehood as also the dangers posed by AIDS to the vibrancy and health of our society. The latter is a serious warning deserving the utmost political atten-tion. Likewise, as Nagaland observes its Statehood Day it will be only fair to say that while countless number of challenges is to be addressed on the socio-economic front, the unresolved Naga political problem stands in the way of the aspirations of the Naga people. A peaceful negotiated settlement acceptable to all sec-tions of the people needs the urgent attention of all concerned Nagas—from national groups, civil society to State politicians. The challenges are many but opportunities are few. This call for society’s collective wisdom and the leadership’s political will in rebuilding of a divided nation.

At another level, Statehood is as much a celebration of our democratic experience as it is about the failure to improve lives of ordinary people who continue to live a life of uncertainty and insecurity, both in terms of economic and human wellbeing. Even though we may consider another year of Statehood as a feather in our cap—of democratically elected government, development & peace—yet if we smash the glasshouses from where we view—it will not take much effort to see that the fruits of development has not reached to the common people. Successive governments since Statehood have done more of sloganeering then doing real work for welfare of the people. We hope that the past and pres-ent politicians will not deny this—because there is evidence all around to show the ill effects of corruption, nepotism and pure manipulation. Even as we write, we know that there are those who have no proper access to healthcare; schools are in a debili-tated condition because public funds have disappeared; there are absentees’ of teachers and doctors because they would rather be in Kohima or Dimapur. One can go on to list the inadequacies—of more than 45 years of statehood. Why should we only list the achievement/s? Why not also confront the failure/s? As we enter another year of Statehood day this December 1, it is time to intro-spect, correct and move on.

Lest we ForgetA few months ago I found myself at a meeting of economists

and finance officials, discussing - what else? - the crisis. There was a lot of soul-searching going on. One senior pol-icymaker asked, “Why didn’t we see this coming?” There

was, of course, only one thing to say in reply, so I said it: “What do you mean ‘we,’ white man?” Seriously, though, the official had a point. Some people say that the current crisis is unprecedented, but the truth is that there were plenty of precedents, some of them of very recent vintage. Yet these precedents were ignored. And the story of how “we” failed to see this coming has a clear policy im-plication - namely, that financial market reform should be pressed quickly, that it shouldn’t wait until the crisis is resolved.

About those precedents: Why did so many observers dismiss the obvious signs of a housing bubble, even though the 1990s dot-com bubble was fresh in our memories? Why did so many people insist that our financial system was “resilient,” as Alan Greenspan put it, when in 1998 the collapse of a single hedge fund, Long-Term Capi-tal Management, temporarily paralyzed credit markets around the world? Why did almost everyone believe in the omnipotence of the Federal Reserve when its counterpart, the Bank of Japan, spent a decade trying and failing to jump-start a stalled economy? One an-swer to these questions is that nobody likes a party pooper. While the housing bubble was still inflating, lenders were making lots of money issuing mortgages to anyone who walked in the door; in-vestment banks were making even more money repackaging those mortgages into shiny new securities; and money managers who booked big paper profits by buying those securities with borrowed funds looked like geniuses, and were paid accordingly. Who want-ed to hear from dismal economists warning that the whole thing was, in effect, a giant Ponzi scheme?

There’s also another reason the economic policy establish-ment failed to see the current crisis coming. The crises of the 1990s and the early years of this decade should have been seen as dire omens, as intimations of still worse troubles to come. But ev-eryone was too busy celebrating success in getting through those crises to notice. Consider, in particular, what happened after the crisis of 1997-98. This crisis showed that the modern financial system, with its deregulated markets, highly leveraged players and global capital flows, was becoming dangerously fragile. But when the crisis abated, the order of the day was triumphalism, not soul-searching. Time magazine famously named Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers “The Committee to Save the World” - the “Three Marketeers” who “prevented a global meltdown.” In effect, everyone declared a victory party over our pullback from the brink, while forgetting to ask how we got so close to the brink in the first place.

In fact, both the crisis of 1997-98 and the bursting of the dot-com bubble probably had the perverse effect of making both in-vestors and public officials more, not less, complacent. Because neither crisis quite lived up to our worst fears, because neither brought about another Great Depression, investors came to be-lieve that Greenspan had the magical power to solve all problems - and so, one suspects, did Greenspan himself, who opposed all proposals for prudential regulation of the financial system.

Now we’re in the midst of another crisis, the worst since the 1930s. For the moment, all eyes are on the immediate response to that crisis. Will the Fed’s ever more aggressive efforts to un-freeze the credit markets finally start getting somewhere? Will the Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus turn output and em-ployment around? (I’m still not sure, by the way, whether the eco-nomic team is thinking big enough.)

And because we’re all so worried about the current crisis, it’s hard to focus on the longer-term issues - on reining in the out-of-control financial system, so as to prevent or at least limit the next crisis. Yet the experience of the last decade suggests that we should be worry-ing about financial reform, above all regulating the “shadow banking system” at the heart of the current mess, sooner rather than later. For once the economy is on the road to recovery, the wheeler-dealers will be making easy money again - and will lobby hard against anyone who tries to limit their bottom lines. Moreover, the success of recovery ef-forts will come to seem preordained, even though it wasn’t, and the ur-gency of action will be lost. So here’s my plea: Even though the incom-ing administration’s agenda is already very full, it should not put off financial reform. The time to start preventing the next crisis is now.

RIGHT TO EQUALITY•Sir- Our Constitution grants the right to equality to all citizens of India, a secular state should be respect all kinds of religions and treated equality. Every religion have a right to practice their own religion. Every religion has freedom to grow and prosper under the India constitution. Therefore, Government should give equally education to young generation and protected to all kinds of religions. Every religion in India has the right to worship their own God. India is a secular country and there are many religions. In this respect, the educa-tion Department should not fixed Board Exam on Saturday because of this day some particu-lar religion like Seventh Day Adventists and Judaism use to worship to God on Sabbath day as Jesus teach them. Especially their children cannot write their exam on this holy day in the case many students fail in this connection many students out side of Nagaland. Since Na-galand is a Christian state should considered other religion too. Our country does not favour any particular religion nor does not discrimi-nate against other religion. Under the Indian Constitution we earnestly requesting to educa-tion department not hold exam on Saturday nor run the classes.

Tovihe Achumi, Former Evangelist, S.D.A.

Mumbai Survivor seeks to make film

CorrectionThe number of people infected with HIV worldwide is 33 million (official)

and 44 million (unofficial), and not 4 million as mentioned in the editorial. The error is regretted.

TUESDAYTHE MORUNG EXPRESS2 DECEMBER 2008

Readers may please note that, the contents of the articles published on this page do not reflect the outlook of this paper nor of the Editor in any form.

NEWS ANALYSIS, FEATURE AND DISCOURSE7 P E R S P E C T I V E

General secretary of the Manipur Network of Positive People Sorokhaibam Thoibi Devi has individually approached and coaxed 230 HIV-positive women in Thoubal town to declare their positive status, join the network, and learn to re-live their livesAnjulika Thingnam Samom

Sorokhaibam Thoibi Devi, or Thoibi as she is called, understands the anguish of Rani, 36, an AIDS w i d o w who, un-

til a short while ago, struggled to earn a liv-ing for herself and her three young children by selling pakoras (fried savouries) by the roadside. Thoibi, 36, is an AIDS widow too. With two young children and no fam-ily to call her own, she has been a vic-tim of the stigma and discrimination that comes with the ill-ness. But since 2005, she has been trying to better the lives of oth-ers like her, serving as general secretary of the Manipur Network of Positive People (MNP+) at the Thou-bal district unit.

Thoibi’s life as an AIDS widow has been traumatic, to say the least. This is her tale. “When I learnt that my husband, Ibosana, was hooked on drugs I had an argument with him. Subsequently, our quarrels would become violent,” recalls Thoibi, who, as a young bride worked as a weaver and farm labourer to support her husband and her family. Thoibi and Ibosana were married when they were just 19.

Due to the frequent heated argu-ments, their marriage went through a rough patch and Thoibi chose to return to her maternal home. But she was soon back, as her husband became ill and needed care. “We lived in a room in Im-phal and rented out cycle-rickshaws for a living. For a while we were happy. But

then he had a relapse... it was around the time I was expecting my second child,” she recalls.

The couple decided to return to Wangjing, in Thoubal district, only to discover that Thoibi’s brother-in-law had usurped their land and house. In-tervention from the local community en-sured that the couple was able to build a new house on the land.

Unfortunately, despite wanting to make a fresh start, Thoibi’s troubles con-tinued to dog her. Ibosana was plastering the bamboo walls of their new home with straw and mud when he fell seriously ill.

A visit to the voluntary counselling and testing centre at RIMS Hospital in Imphal confirmed Ibosana’s HIV-posi-tive status. Ibosana concealed his status from Thoibi and continued to have un-protected sex with his wife, beating her up if she declined. “I refused one night... he beat me so badly that my kneecap fractured. Fed up with life, I tried to hang myself but I couldn’t even stand up due to the pain in my leg,” she says.

In the midst of the domestic crisis, her in-laws decided to boycott the cou-ple. With no support, Thoibi was left to care for the ailing Ibosana and make

ends meet. The familial -- even societal -- discrimination lasted much after her husband’s death.

Ibosana was just 26 when he died. “I was so traumatised by the stigma that accompanied my husband’s death (in April 1998) that I couldn’t bring myself to step out of my own house... and within its four walls I was losing my mind and my strength,” says Thoibi.

“One day, I was cooking in the kitch-en with my two young daughters study-

ing beside me. Suddenly, one of Ibosana’s cousins barged in and dragged me out by the hair, abusing me -- all because some-one had mentioned my name in a family argument. I was innocent, yet the degree of suppression I had endured sapped me of the courage to defend myself.”

Thoibi tried to kill herself once again but her daughter’s cries alerted everyone and she was saved. She was then accused of trying to defame the family by trying to take her own life. But it wasn’t as if they were helping her to live either. “I did manual labour for about three years after my husband’s death, to feed my family. On one side of my house was Ibo-sana’s younger brother, and on the other side was his cousin’s house. Both families were on bad terms with each other. They didn’t speak to me either,” she says.

In 2001, three years after her hus-band’s death, Thoibi took the test once again and was declared HIV-positive. On the advice of counsellors at the test-ing centre she began interacting with the MNP+ head office in the Yaiskul area of Imphal. Meeting other women like her-self helped Thoibi come to terms with her situation.

But the discrimination and accusa-

tions continued, with her in-laws going out of their way to malign her. “When I went for Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+) pro-grammes, my husband’s relatives ac-cused me of going to search for a ‘son’, meaning that I was prostituting myself. I thought disclosing my status would make things better. But things only got worse. They banned me from taking water from the family pond, stopped me from going through their courtyard, and even threw

empty medicine bottles at me. They said I intended to spread my sickness to their children,” she says.

Undeterred, Thoibi began to organ-ise awareness programmes in Thoubal, encouraging HIV-positive women to re-veal their status.

Thoubal, with a total land area of 514 sq km and a population of 41,149 (2001 census), ranks second to Imphal (Im-phal east and Imphal west districts) in the HIV-positive sero-surveillance tally, with 2,309 cases, according to the Feb-ruary 2008 epidemiological analysis re-port of the Manipur State AIDS Control Society (MSACS). The total number of HIV-positive people in Manipur stands at 28,917.

Largely a result of Thoibi’s mobili-sation, MNP+ Thoubal now has 230 women among its total of 400 members. Thoibi has individually approached and coaxed AIDS widows to declare their HIV status, join the network, and learn to re-live their lives. Exemplifying the impact of Thoibi’s efforts is Rani, who is now an executive board member of MNP+ Thoubal and an outreach worker for the Access to Care and Treatment (ACT) project by the NGO ActionAid. It was

on Thoibi’s insistence that Rani disclosed her status and joined the network. When she was selling pakoras, Rani’s daily earnings were around Rs 100-200. Now she draws a monthly income of Rs 8,000-10,000. “Today my eldest daughter has completed high school. That, for me, is achievement enough,” says Rani proudly.

“The fact that I have been able to help other women like me is what makes me happi-est,” says Thoibi, who is also joint secretary and state women co-ordinator, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), Manipur. The network has representatives from nine districts in the Manipur and Sug-nu areas.

Thoibi has also helped many women become self-reliant. As general secretary of MNP+ Thoubal she runs income-gen-eration programmes -- in food preserva-tion, weaving, embroi-

dery and traditional mat weaving -- for HIV affected and infected women. Most women used to work in self-help groups, but as they find the fare to and from the unit an additional burden they are now encouraged to work from home.

Thoibi also contested the panchayat elections last year but lost by a minus-cule margin of 14 votes. She says: “Noth-ing pleases me more than the fact that I am helping others realise that there is life after HIV/AIDS.”

Naro Tali

Hallyu. Aka Korean wave. The cultural export from South Korea that currently captivates a good chunk of Asia. One of

the key factors that work in its favor can be attributed to a sense of affinity it generates among the people owing to similar likeness. As an enthu-siast of Asian pop culture, I can relate to the current state of Hallyu craze prevailing among the youngsters today. While there does exist a clear fascination for all things Ko-rean at present, it is partly frowned upon all the same.

My affair with Koreana started after I developed a fondness of an epic propor-tion for K-pop few years back. Prior to that, I had no knowledge about the Kore-an peninsula and the mere mention of its civil war in my history textbook didn’t exactly arouse my curiosity. So yes, I was pleasantly sur-prised to witness the incred-ible charm of Korea and its gradual progress to emerge as a cultural powerhouse in Asia alongside Japan and China of the old world.

Initially, like many people, I was in-toxicated on the superficial aspects like the clothes, hairdos, the metal chopsticks and all the myriad furnishings you can think of. However, I soon realized that my curiosity went beyond the surface and I wanted to learn whatever I could while I was at it. With this seeming epiphany at hand, I started marveling at the values that lay beneath the façade. The depic-tion of subtleties such as deep rooted re-

sponsibilities, respect and a keen sense of duty that are well entrenched in Korean society became clearer to me.

Their constant emphasis on strong family ties is obviously hard to miss. Whether it’s sharing a drink of soju in a Po

Jang Ma Cha (snack stall), gobbling a bowl of Jja Jang Myun (black bean noodles) or a walk along the banks of Han River, it pro-vides a window into their culture. To me, it tells a story about the hardworking nature of the people and their determination to press forward without losing their spirit to indulge in life’s little pleasures.

Sometimes profound realizations come from unexpected sources. When-ever I see the Korean wave of red and the resounding cheer of the crowd go-

ing ‘Daehanminguk’, I can’t help but show greatest admiration towards their sense of national pride and identity. On shifting focus to our home turf, even though we can’t really match the same level of patriotism, I do feel we can be

just as proud of the legacy of our fore-fathers and martyrs who stood for free-dom, equality and preservation of our self identity. It’ll do us a world of good if we try to imbibe the qualities which they stood for, as somewhere along the way, we have become disillusioned, pessimis-tic, confused and every generation seems to be blaming the one before.

When I look at the Hallyu stars, I see cultural ambassadors who are suc-cessfully promoting and spreading the

awareness of Korea in their own capaci-ties. I see individuals who have stuck through heart wrenching hardships and struggle to be where they are today. They knew what they wanted and never lost their focus. Some of them left the com-

fort of their homes to strike it on their own at young age, juggling odd jobs to support themselves, constantly starv-ing and even rendered home-less. The point here is not to romanticize the concept of hard earned success but to put emphasis on their in-ner strength and ‘not giving up’ attitude in the pursuit of their dreams.

There are lessons to be drawn from all this. How many of us are willing to leave our comfort zones and venture out with the inten-tion of making a name for ourselves? Sadly, I find that many forgo their fundamen-tal right to choose or have a say in the matter of their careers. They are rather pro-grammed to opt for an easy life where everything is laid out for them. For me, I be-lieve that the greatest satis-faction in life comes out of doing something you love.

Personally, I feel that it’s awesome to get fascinated by different culture(s). It’s even better to take a ho-listic approach and try to emulate the best qualities which they have to offer and incorporate them into our existing values. In retrospect, Hallyu has helped me strike some sort of balance in my out-look and cultivate a discerning mind. It even propelled me to touch base with my roots. Maybe, someday people will be talking about the Naga Wave. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Mumbai Terror/International ImplicationFor the past fifty years India is waging a war against terror and the recent Mumbai terrorists act simply indicates that India is still vulnerable to terror. Till 9/11 United States, U.K. and some western countries boomed Afghanistan and imposed force Democracy in retaliation to the 9/11 followed by Iraq.

The most interesting and amusing developments in Mum-bai terror is that:1) The terrorists were searching for U.S, U.K and Israel na-

tionals. In this scenario one can assume that innocent In-dian citizens are paying the price for the attack in Afghani-stan, Iraq or for that matter Palestine problem.

2) Scotland Yard and FBI team are already in India to as-sist Indian agencies in collecting evidence. Analyzing and developments, It is also protected that a country that as-pires to become a superpower (India) who has waged a war against terrorism for more than four to five decades needs help from the countries like U.S and U.K who have little experience about terrorism (6 to 7 years).

3) India Government is pointing fingers to our neighboring country Pakistan and the common people of Mumbai are shouting the slogan “boom Pakistan” which is ridiculous and a sad turn. As the investigation is on full swing, only time will tell who were involved and who are to be blamed for the mayhem. Now the Indian politicians should re-member that only the hands of peace process, free trade and memorandum of understanding will be too idealistic in handling the menace of terror.

4) According to the media report around twenty to thirty ter-rorists attacked Mumbai which have shattered not only Mumbai but the whole country. India’s Air Force, Navy, Army, Police, Anti Terrorists Squad (ATS) and hundreds of National Security Guards (NSG)- the premium armed body in our country were involved in rescue operation and to trap twenty to thirty terrorists that took more than 50 hours with more than one fifty (150) lives lost and above three hundred injured.

Now, if such few hundred terrorist enters in some parts of our country in the near future, one wonders?, only time will tell.

5) Terrorism knows no religion, no political party, no government, it would be inappropriate to assume the success of democracy in a country where the lives of its citizens are insecure. The po-litical leaders should be ashamed to think about vote bank of such tragedies. Once Bipin Chandra, the renowned scholar re-marked “communal ideology and politics of separatism which the terrorists were to follow to its conclusion”.Terrorism has failed and will never succeed in its sinister

motive to destroy our country but the reality is that it has suc-ceeded in demoralizing the citizens. Mumbai terror is another wake up call not only to the Indians but to the humanity. The need of the hour is a global war against terrorism under the United Nations and not the United States. The war on terror is not an easy task but we have more than forty to fifty years to prevent but we didn’t and now we face the reality.

Vihepu Yeptho, Purana Bazaar

Terrorism that's PersonalNicholas D. Kristof

Terrorism in this part of the world usually means bombs explod-ing or hotels burning, as the latest horrific scenes from Mumbai attest. Yet alongside the brutal public terrorism that fills the television screens, there is an equally cruel form of terrorism that gets almost no attention and thrives as a result: flinging acid on a woman's face to leave her hideously deformed.

Here in Pakistan, I've been investigating such acid attacks, which are commonly used to terrorize and subjugate women and girls in a swath of Asia from Afghanistan through Cam-bodia (men are almost never attacked with acid). Because women usually don't matter in this part of the world, their attackers are rarely prosecuted and acid sales are usually not controlled. It's a kind of terrorism that becomes accepted as part of the background noise in the region.

This month in Afghanistan, men on motorcycles threw acid on a group of girls who dared to attend school. One of the girls, a 17-year-old named Shamsia, told reporters from her hospital bed: "I will go to my school even if they kill me. My message for the enemies is that if they do this 100 times, I am still going to continue my studies."

When I met Naeema Azar, a Pakistani woman who had once been an attractive, self-confident real estate agent, she was wear-ing a black cloak that enveloped her head and face. Then she removed the covering, and I flinched. Acid had burned away her left ear and most of her right ear. It had blinded her and burned away her eyelids and most of her face, leaving just bone. Six skin grafts with flesh from her leg have helped, but she still cannot close her eyes or her mouth; she will not eat in front of others because it is too humiliating to have food slip out as she chews. "Look at Naeema, she has lost her eyes," sighed Shah-naz Bukhari, a Pakistani activist who founded an organization to help such women, and who was beginning to tear up. "She makes me cry every time she comes in front of me."

Azar had earned a good income and was supporting her three small children when she decided to divorce her hus-band, Azar Jamsheed, a fruit seller who rarely brought money home. He agreed to end the (arranged) marriage because he had his eye on another woman.

After the divorce was final, Jamsheed came to say goodbye to the children, and then pulled out a bottle and poured acid on his wife's face, according to her account and that of their son. "I screamed," Azar recalled. "The flesh of my cheeks was falling off. The bones on my face were showing, and all of my skin was falling off." Neighbors came running, as smoke rose from her burning flesh and she ran about blindly, crashing into walls. Jamsheed was never arrested, and he has since dis-appeared. (I couldn't reach him for his side of the story.)

Azar has survived on the charity of friends and with sup-port from Bukhari's group, the Progressive Women's Associa-tion (www.pwaisbd.org). Bukhari is raising money for a law-yer to push the police to prosecute Jamsheed, and to pay for eye surgery that - with a skilled surgeon - might be able to restore sight to one eye. Bangladesh has imposed controls on acid sales to curb such attacks, but otherwise it is fairly easy in Asia to walk into a shop and buy sulfuric or hydrochloric acid suitable for destroying a human face.

Acid attacks and wife-burnings are common in parts of Asia because the victims are the most voiceless in these societ-ies: They are poor and female. The first step is simply for the world to take note, to give voice to these women.

Since 1994, Bukhari has documented 7,800 cases of wom-en who were deliberately burned, scalded or subjected to acid attacks, just in the Islamabad area. In only 2 percent of those cases was anyone convicted.

For the last two years, Senators Joe Biden and Richard Lugar have co-sponsored an International Violence Against Women Act, which would adopt a range of measures to spot-light such brutality and nudge foreign governments to pay heed to it. Let's hope that with Biden's new influence the bill will pass in the next Congress. That might help end the silence and culture of impunity surrounding this kind of terrorism.

The most haunting part of my visit with Azar, aside from seeing her face, was a remark by her 12-year-old son, Ahsan Shah, who lovingly leads her around everywhere. He told me that in one house where they stayed for a time after the attack, a man upstairs used to beat his wife every day and taunt her, saying: "You see the woman downstairs who was burned by her husband? I'll burn you just the same way."

LIFE AFTER HIV/AIDS

My two cents worth on Hallyu

CMYK

CMYK

2 December 2008Tuesday8 Dimapur The Morung ExpressNATIONAL

NEW DELHI, DECEM-BER 1 (REUTERS): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's political survival may depend on finding a strong response to the attacks in Mumbai as In-dians clamour for answers and action to the country's "9/11".

But if the track record of the quietly spoken "prime minister by accident" is any-thing to go by, the Congress-led government may find it hard to both appease voters ahead of general elections, and persuade Pakistan to act against militants. "We have a figurehead prime minister," strategic affairs expert K. Subrahmanyam said. "There is an impression that the gov-ernment is weak and not able to deal with terrorism."

Many voters want some kind of clear response to the attack that killed 183 people, from identifying and punish-ing the masterminds to trade sanctions against Pakistan, or passing harsh anti-terrorism laws within India. At stake is not only whether the Con-gress party, already unpopu-lar due to high inflation, gets beaten in elections in early 2009 against an alliance led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Also on the line is whether an In-dia with perceived weak lead-ership will have the clout to pressure both the interna-tional community and Paki-stan into clamping down on militants that New Delhi blames for the attacks.

"The government must find the right calibration of response," said Siddharth Varadarajan, diplomatic editor of the Hindu newspa-per. "If it over-reacts it will please the domestic audi-ence but alienate the inter-national community. If it

under-reacts it will alienate the voter." "With elections round the corner... my fear is they could resort to the past," Varadarajan said, referring to India's massing of troops along the border in 2002 af-ter an attack by militants on its parliament.

The Economic Times, citing unnamed sources at a government meeting, report-ed on Monday that Singh had offered to resign following the attacks. But Sonia Gan-dhi, the head of the ruling Congress party, rejected it. Singh has often been called an accidental prime minister since he was named by Gan-dhi -- the power behind the throne -- after the last elec-tion in 2004. The soft-spoken and grey-bearded economist only took the job after Gan-dhi, worried about attacks over her Italian birth, re-nounced her claim. In some ways, that decision has paid dividends. India has a re-spected leader, a darling of investors who seemed to rise above the corruption and in-trigue for which Indian poli-tics is known. But his under-stated style could now prove a liability for Congress.

Since the attacks, Singh has promised a new central investigative agency. He fired his home minister. But many say it is too little too late, coming after the gov-ernment did little following a string of bombings in Indi-an cities this year. The BJP is already demanding the gov-ernment reinstate a tough anti-terrorism law that Con-gress had earlier repealed. "The restraint that the ruling Congress party has exhibit-ed so far, however, could end up being the party's political death sentence," U.S. private

MUMBAI, DECEMBER 1 (REUTERS): Indian investi-gators said on Monday the mili-tants who attacked Mumbai un-derwent months of commando training in Pakistan, raising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours as recrimi-nations mounted in India.

The fallout prompted a second top politician from the ruling Congress party to resign, amid growing fury at intelligence lapses many In-dians believe let 10 Islamist gunmen kill 183 people and besiege India's financial capi-tal for three days. The attacks, which struck Mumbai's two best-known luxury hotels and other landmarks in the city of 18 million, are a ma-jor setback for improving ties between India and Pakistan. The White House said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleez-za Rice would visit India on Wednesday, underscoring the seriousness with which Wash-ington viewed the attacks.

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions myself on this, but I do think that this is a time for complete, absolute, to-tal transparency and coopera-tion and that is what we expect (from Pakistan)," Rice told re-porters travelling with her to London. She downplayed the threat of conflict between two countries, who almost came to war in 2002 after an earlier attack on India's parliament which also was blamed on Pakistani militants. "This is a different relationship than it was a number of years ago. Obviously they share a com-mon enemy because extrem-ists in any form are a threat to the Pakistanis as well as the In-

dians," Rice said.

Pakistan TrainingTwo senior investigators

told Reuters on condition of anonymity that evidence from the interrogation of Azam Amir Kasav, the only gunmen of the 10 not killed by commandos, clearly showed that Pakistani militants had a hand in the attack. The clean-shaven, 21-year-old with flu-ent English was photographed during the attack wearing a black t-shirt emblazoned with the Versace logo. He has said his team took orders from "their command in Pakistan", police officials said.

The training was organised by the Lashkar-e-Taiba mili-tant group, and conducted by a former member of the Pakistani army, a police offi-cer close to the interrogation told Reuters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak. "They underwent training in several phases, which included train-ing in handling weapons, bomb making, survival strat-egies, survival in a marine en-vironment and even dietary habits," another senior officer told Reuters. The Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Taiba made its name fighting Indian rule in Kashmir but was also blamed for an attack on the Indian par-liament in 2001 that brought the nuclear-armed neighbours close to war the next year. Lash-kar had had close links to Paki-stan's military spy agency in the past, security experts say, although the government in Islamabad insists it too is fight-ing the group and other Isla-mist militants based on its soil.

LONDON, DECEMBER 1 (RE-UTERS): U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday urged Pakistan to give its "absolute, total" cooperation in finding those respon-sible for last week's attacks on Mum-bai. Rice, who is due in India on Wednesday to try and lower tensions with its rival Pakistan, said the Unit-ed States made clear to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari there must be complete transparency in the investigation into the Mumbai attacks that killed nearly 200 people, including six Americans.

"What we are emphasising to the Pakistani government is the need to follow the evidence wherever it leads and to do that in the most committed and firmest possible way," she told re-porters travelling with her to London, where she will discuss India-Pakistan tensions with Britain's foreign min-ister. Indian officials have said the Islamist militants who went on the rampage in Mumbai for three days were from an anti-India group based in Pakistan, a Muslim nation carved out of Hindu-majority India in 1947.

"I don't want to jump to any con-clusions myself on this but I do think that this is a time for complete, abso-lute, total transparency and coopera-tion and that is what we expect (from Pakistan)," Rice added. Zardari,

whose wife Benazir Bhutto was assas-sinated by Islamist militants last year, has vowed to crack down if given proof but has urged India not to punish his country for the Mumbai attacks, say-ing militants have the power to pre-cipitate a war in the region.

Rice said there needed to be the "highest levels" of cooperation by law enforcement and intelligence agen-cies from both countries. Rice will drop at least two stops -- Rome and Helsinki -- from a European tour this week and visit New Delhi in-stead, aiming to ease growing antag-onism between two nuclear-armed nations who have fought three wars since 1947. Asked whether she was concerned these latest tensions could lead to a full-blown conflict, Rice played down the risk.

"This is a different relationship than it was a number of years ago. Obviously they share a common en-emy because extremists in any form are a threat to the Pakistanis as well as the Indians," she said. But she conceded a difficult task lay ahead for the new civilian government in Pakistan, which has threatened to move troops from its western bor-der with Afghanistan to the Indian frontier if tensions escalated. "But in speaking to President Zardari and in speaking to the (Pakistani)

foreign minister they know that this is a time to step up to the task that they have got."

Some experts say the singling out by the attackers of foreigners in Mumbai, especially Britons and Americans, could be a dangerous emerging trend in international terrorism and Rice said Washing-ton was watching this closely. "This terrorism threat has been very deep and growing for a long time. We have made a lot of progress against these organizations but yes I do think that this is an element that bears watch-ing and that gives us ... more reason to make sure that we get to the bot-tom of it and as quickly as possible."

Rice said while bodies were still being identified from the Mumbai attacks, she believed all "known" Americans were accounted for. "We share the grief and the anger of the In-dian people," said Rice. "Americans were also killed in this attack and they were killed deliberately because they were Americans. That makes this of special interest and concern ... to the United States." Rice will be in Brussels on Tuesday for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers and then moves on to New Delhi, after which U.S. officials said she still planned to make a scheduled stop in Copenha-gen to meet Danish officials.

After attacks, PM battles for political life

Moshe Holtzberg, the 2-year-old orphan of the rabbi and his wife slain in the Mumbai Jewish center, cries during a me-morial service at a synagogue in Mumbai, December 1. Holtzberg will fly to Israel Monday on an Israeli Air Force jet with his parents' remains and the Indian woman who rescued him, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said. (AP Photo)

intelligence firm Stratfor said in a report.

SNUBBED BY PAKISTAN'S SPYS

Singh, according to some commentators, has already made one mistake -- by calling on the head of Pakistan's mili-tary spy service to come to India to give evidence over the attacks. In a snub, Pakistan only said it will send a junior official.

"Singh was being more

than naive" wrote Bharat Bhushan in the Mail Today. Singh has raised the politi-cal stakes by warning India's neighbours -- read Pakistan -- "there will be a cost" if suit-able measures are not taken by them. Strategic expert C. Raja Mohan says India's friends will wonder whether Singh has the resolve to stand up to Pakistan, adding its en-emies have already bet on the government's weakness. "If he

fails to act on his promise to raise the costs to Pakistan, the credibility of his government will sink even lower," he wrote in the Indian Express.

Singh can be underesti-mated. He was criticised a year ago for backing down on a civil nuclear deal with the United States due to left-ist opposition. A year later he bounced back to pass the deal and win a vote of con-fidence in his government.

But that issue was divorced from the concerns of mil-lions of Indians. The attacks have touched a much deeper nerve. Anger has risen that the attacks have shown an abyss between politicians -- many guarded daily by elite commandos -- and ordinary people who are defenceless victims. "It's all a blow to Congress before elections," said Varadarajan. "But there are still six months to go."

Mumbai gunmen trained in Pakistan-investigators

NEW DELHI, DECEM-BER 1 (PTI): Union Pow-er Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today appeared emerging as the frontrun-ner to succeed Maharash-tra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who has offered to resign in the aftermath of terror attacks in Mumbai.Considered to be a loy-alist of the Gandhi fam-ily, Shinde had succeeded Deshmukh towards the end of the tenure of the pre-vious Congress-NCP gov-ernment in 2003.

Shinde met Congress President Sonia Gandhi this morning soon after Deshmukh announced that he had offered to quit as Chief Minister at the meet-ing of the Congress Work-ing Committee on Satur-day. Besides Shinde, the name of Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan is doing the rounds in party circles as a possible succes-sor to Deshmukh. When contacted, Shinde refused to comment on the political developments in Maharash-tra. "No comments," was his

Shinde emerges frontrunner to succeed Deshmukh

constant refrain to a volley of questions from reporters here. Shinde is talked about as a possible successor as he is known to have a good rap-port with leaders of the co-alition partner NCP, includ-ing its chief Sharad Pawar.

The search for Deshmukh's successor has gained urgency as Maha-rashtra Deputy Chief Minis-ter R R Patil resigned today a day after Shivraj Patil was eased out as Union Home

Minister. Gandhi met Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister and in-charge of party affairs in Ma-harashtra A K Antony and senior party leader Ahmed Patel. "A coalition govern-ment is there (in Maharash-tra) and we have to consult the allies. Consultations are on. At this point I cannot say anything. I can say some-thing later today or tomor-row," Antony told reporters after the meeting.

Heads roll: Maharastra Deputy CM R R Patil gave his res-ignation to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who may also resign.

NEW DELHI, DECEM-BER 1 (AGENCIES): Priti sits in a bright red and white bedspread, tracing her fin-gers along the lines of a book as she mumbles the words to herself. At 10 years old, she’s eloquent in both English and Hindi. She’s reading Thum-belina, the tale of a tiny girl who meets adversity in ev-eryone she meets: kidnapped by a toad, rejected by a bee-tle, bitten by the winter cold. Eventually, a fieldmouse encourages her to find her handsome prince. She grows wings to fly away with him.

Priti was born HIV posi-tive. Both her parents are dead, and, here in India, she has slim chance of grow-ing up in a family. She’s a lifelong burden to whoever might otherwise foster her. She has to keep her status secret from the school she attends, for otherwise other parents, if not teachers, are sure to hound her out. When she is older, she’s unlikely to get a good job, and even less likely to find a husband.

But she has found her fieldmouse in the NAZ foun-dation, the orphanage where

she lives. Here, another 35 other children are schooled, fed, and cared for. They sleep in brightly coloured dormi-tories, scattered with toys and adorned with glittered decorations and cartoon-pattered curtains. A book-case in the corner is full of books. Other children jump off beds and on to the floor, giggling and throwing paper aeroplanes.

“Most of them are the highest five in their class,” says Anjali Gopalan, who has run the orphanage for eight years, alongside a peer edu-

JAKARTA, DECEMBER 1 (PTI): India is keen on ce-menting its strategic ties with Indonesia in various fields, in-cluding security cooperation for the benefit of the countries in the South East Asian region and increasing bilateral trade ties to ten billion US dollars by 2010. Observing both In-dia and Indonesia are large democracies sharing many common interests, visiting President Pratibha Patil said that it was only appropriate that the two countries devel-op strategic ties in an expedi-tious manner.

"We are looking for a sig-nificant enhancement in our bilateral ties over the next five yeas in keeping with our com-mitment as strategic part-ners," she said in an interview to 'The Jakarta Post'. This would mean, she said, the two countries would significantly upgrade the bilateral interac-tion through the exchange of high level visits, security co-operation, cooperation in sci-ence and technology, culture and other areas. "It is only appropriate that we develop strategic ties in an expedi-tious manner. This would not only benefit the two countries but also other countries of the region," Patil, who is on a state visit here, said.

India keen on enhancing strategic ties with Indonesia

Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, left, talks with her Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono upon arrival for their meeting at Merdeka (freedom) Palace in Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia, December 1 . (AP Photo)

Noting that the India-ASEAN Free Trade in Goods Agreement has been con-cluded and is expected to be signed soon, the President, who would have wide rang-ing discussions with her counterpart Susilo Bam-bang Yudhoyono, said India and Indonesia would ben-

efit from the facilitating en-vironment created by this agreement. She said that a joint study group has been established to examine the feasibility of a comprehen-sive economic cooperation agreement between the two countries which is expected to submit its report soon.

WORLD AIDS DAY: Society still shuns HIV+ kids

Rice urges Pak to cooperate in Mumbai inquiry Pregnant Indians risk passing diabetes to babiesCHENNAI, DECEMBER 1 (REU-TERS): Up to 15 percent of pregnant wom-en in India are developing diabetes, raising the risk of their children developing the dis-ease, said experts on Sunday, who blamed factors including malnutrition. Experts at a diabetes summit in Chennai in southern India said genetics, a sedentary lifestyle, as well as women simply being undernour-ished and unable to cope with pregnancy, were the main reasons for the high rate of diabetes in pregnancy.

“If a young girl is healthy, she produces eggs that are appropriately nourished,” Chittaranjan Yajnik, director of the diabe-tes unit at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Pune, India, told Reuters in an interview. “If there is a problem there, you can be sure that there is a problem for the next genera-tion,” he said. Rates of diabetes in pregnan-cy, or gestational diabetes, in Western coun-tries are typically around 5 percent.

Experts at the summit urged earlier and more intensive screening of pregnant women in India, which has the world’s high-est rate of diabetes. The placenta produces more hormones during pregnancy, which create resistance to insulin in the mother. Usually, the mother’s pancreas would re-spond by producing extra insulin, but some-times their bodies cannot keep up, leading to gestational diabetes. Such women are more likely to develop diabetes later on in life.

Children play near the Red Ribbon Express, on World Aids Day in New Delhi, December 1. The train is a specially-designed seven coach train, which will travel across the country carrying HIV/AIDS prevention messages. (AP Photo)

cation programme and an outreach group for infected adults and the gay commu-nity. “I can see them giving back to society. They are as-piring to be engineers and doctors and anything they want to be.” But society does not want to give back to them. Many of these children have been rejected by their fami-lies, and even by doctors and other orphanages.

The misunderstandings such children face are both physical and moral. Go-palan says that while people believe they can be infected simply by touching HIV in-fected individuals, they also see them - even children - as being sexually promiscu-ous, or otherwise behaving against society’s norms.

“One child was brought to me by a woman from a major orphanage who was wearing gloves up to her elbows,” she says. “A lot has to do with the fact that the medical profession is still reluctant to even touch people with HIV. Doctors are not touching patients.”

In June of this year, the Na-tional AIDS Control Organi-sation (NACO) said it would work with the National AIDS Control Board (NACB) to set up 10 care homes in the most AIDS-ravaged regions of India - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Manipur. No indication was given as to

when these homes would actu-ally be built. Gopalan says she feels these are empty promises. NACO has identified 32,000 AIDS orphans in India. In 2005 the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated the real num-ber to be more than 2 million.

“I’m very grateful to the government for having done what they claim to be do-ing,” says Gopalan. “But I know at the ground level, it’s not reaching people who re-ally need it.” said Gopalan. “There’s nothing being done for children. Any govern-ment minister who says that is lying through their teeth.”

Tarundeep, at 15, is the oldest child at the NAZ foun-dation. He is a singer, whose reputation at the orphanage precedes him, though he’s too shy to sing for the cameras. He has plans for the future. “First I want to become a playback singer,” He says. Though he’s too shy to dance up front, he’ll fill the lips of the stars who will.

Tarundeep must soon leave NAZ and join a soci-ety that will treat him and his illness with hostility. The orphanage has given him wings; now it’s his turn to fly. And if he can’t fly to Bollywood? “I’ll take care of NAZ,” he says, chuckling gently, before going down-stairs to have dinner, finish his evening studies, and say his prayers.

The Morung ExpressTuesday

2 December 2008Dimapur 9INTERNATIONAL

BANGKOK, DECEMBER 1 (REUTERS): Thai pro-testers prepared to end their three-month occupation of the Prime Minister’s office on Monday to consolidate their grip on the main airport ahead of a court verdict that could dissolve the elected government. Leaders of the anti-government People’s Al-liance for Democracy (PAD) said they would invite neu-tral observers into the Gov-ernment House compound, which they overran in late August, prior to a hoped-for handover later on Tuesday.

“We want to show the authorities that the damage wasn’t 100 to 200 million baht ($5.6 million) as claimed by the government,” PAD spokesman Suriyasai Katasi-la said. “If everybody is hap-py, we may hold a returning ceremony tomorrow.” PAD supporters streamed from the central Bangkok site to Suvarnabhumi airport, sug-gesting it is merely shifting its focus rather than giving up. Government House site was hit by several grenades in the past two weeks, killing one and wounding dozens.

The yellow-shirted dem-onstrators are trying to top-ple Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, whom they ac-cuse of being a pawn for his brother-in-law, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and is now in exile. The main do-mestic hub, Don Muang, has also been occupied, and the air cargo industry has ground to a halt. Forecasts for an economy already suffering from the glob-al financial crisis are grim.

Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech told Reuters on Monday the econ-omy might be flat next year, or grow by just 1 to 2 percent, after earlier growth forecasts of between 4-5 percent. Thai-land’s Board of Trade director said the cost of the airport clo-sure was “incalculable”, but a senior board member offered a figure, telling the Nation news-paper lost export earnings ran at around 3 billion baht ($85 million) a day. Rating agency S&P cut Thailand’s outlook to negative from stable, saying there was a possibility of wide-spread violence.

The chaos has worried Thailand’s neighbours, due

Thai protesters consolidate hold on airport

COLOMBO, DECEMBER 1 (REU-TERS): Sri Lankan troops captured a town held by Tamil Tiger rebels for 18 years, after monsoon rains eased and soldiers resumed an advance on the separatists' self-declared capital, the military said on Monday. Troops took Kokavil on Sunday after heavy clashes along the road that leads to Kilinochchi, the town the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) have set up as the seat of the separate state they want to create for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority.

"We have taken over Kokavil town which is located along the A9 highway," military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. He gave no details of

casualties. Kokavil is about 20 km south of Kilinochchi, in the northern jungles of the Indian Ocean island. The LTTE could not be reached for comment. In-dependent confirmation is all but im-possible since both sides limit media access to the war zone.

The military since September has been converging on Kilinochchi. Last week, the military said its fall was im-minent with units moving in from three directions. The next day, it said monsoon flooding had slowed combat operations to a crawl. "It is still raining but the flooding in certain areas had subsided," Nanayakkara said. Over the weekend, the air force said it bombed rebel posi-

tions in support of troop advances.The pro-rebel web site www.Tamil-

Net.com said one attack had killed three people, including a child, who had fled fighting. The report quoted eyewitness-es TamilNet did not name. Kilinochchi is a strategic target for a government that has made the most military prog-ress of any in one of Asia's longest mod-ern insurgencies, and a symbol of the separate state the LTTE has been fight-ing since 1983 to establish. Aid agencies estimate 230,000 people are displaced by the war, and diplomats say they are trapped between rebels who won't let them leave and soldiers they do not trust for safe passage.

JOHANNESBURG, DECEMBER 1 (AFP): Governments across the globe pledged Monday to step up the fight against HIV, combating the stigma as-sociated with the disease and promising to bankroll treatment programmes on World AIDS Day. US President George W. Bush was to announce his adminis-tration had already met its goal of treat-ing two million people living with HIV/AIDS by the end of the year, while his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao visited patients with the virus as part of a gov-ernment effort to fight discrimination.

In South Africa, the country with the highest number of sufferers in the world, the government was mapping out its AIDS strategy under a new health minister as part of a sea-change in attitudes from the ANC government. South Africans held a moment of si-lence at midday (1000 GMT) as a mark of respect for victims of the virus which has affected some 5.5 million people. Speaking at a ceremony in the eastern port city of Durban, newly-appointed Health Minister Barbara Hogan urged men to overcome their traditional re-luctance and voluntarily test for HIV.

"We enourage all men, I repeat all men, to test themelsves for HIV to pro-tect themselves and the people they love," Hogan said. "We all know that together we shall overcome," she said. In Johan-nesburg, the celebrated Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo also called for reducing the stigma still attached to the disease. "HIV-AIDS has become a huge issue for my continent and the fight against it must be relentless and determined," Ki-djo told AFP. "There is a need in Africa to educate people on the the killer diseases and ailments such as AIDS, malaria, dysentary, cholera," said Kidjo, a UNI-

CEF goodwill ambassador."It is pleasing to note that treatment

for these diseases is becoming more ac-cessible to people," said Kidjo. Kidjo, who performed in South Africa on Sat-urday, is travelling to Dakar later Mon-day for a two-day musical campaign aimed at reducing the stigma of AIDS. Hu's visit to a hospital in Beijing was also designed to strip away some of the stigma attached to the virus, following the launch on Sunday of a campaign be-ing conducted with the United Nations to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.

"Stigma and discrimination are major obstacles in an effective response to AIDS," said Health Minister Chen Zhu at the launch of the campaign at the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium. "We need to engage all sectors of society in China to combat these issues and work to stop the disease." Chi-na has about 700,000 people who are HIV-positive, according to a previously released estimate by the Chinese government and UN health organisations. However only about 260,000 have been officially identi-fied as having the disease.

Meanwhile in Washington, the White House said that Bush's emer-gency plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) had now supported life-saving antiret-roviral treatment for over 2.1 million men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS around the world, includ-ing more than two million people in Sub Saharan Africa. The programme provides funding for HIV/AIDS, ma-laria and tuberculosis treatment in 15 focus countries among the world's poor-est, mainly in Africa. "PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human his-tory," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.

CAPE TOWN, DECEMBER 1 (AP): In a sign of hope on a continent ravaged by AIDS, a South African fertility clinic has started a service allowing couples infected with the virus to have a healthy baby. The Cape Fertility Clinic is the first in Africa to open a laboratory for HIV-positive patients, enabling them to conceive and give birth to HIV-nega-tive babies by using procedures such as in-vitro fertilization.

"HIV is no longer seen as a death sen-tence but a chronic disease," says Klaus Wiswedel, one of the clinic's directors. "And people with chronic diseases are entitled to have fertility treatment. We can safely deliver an HIV negative child and, with the right treatment, the par-ent can live a long life." About five or six couples, with either one or both part-ners carrying the AIDS virus, visit the clinic every month. It is only for the fa-vored few with enough money to pay for fertility treatment and is a drop in the ocean compared to the huge numbers of infected people.

But it is a small symbol that, after years of despair, Africa is making prog-ress in protecting unborn child from AIDS - and in prolonging the life of the parents. About 2 million people are re-ceiving lifesaving antiretroviral medi-cines in Africa, which bears the brunt of the AIDS epidemic, up from 100,000 in 2003. This has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the number of pregnant women receiving drugs to stop them from passing the HIV virus to their children. According to a U.N. report on "Children and AIDS" pub-lished for World AIDS Day, the num-ber of pregnant women getting therapy in low and middle income countries has tripled in the past three years.

For some countries the gains have been even more striking, thanks to an increase in donor interest and fund-ing. In dirt-poor Malawi and Lesotho, less than 5 percent of pregnant women infected with the AIDS virus got drugs to protect their unborn babies in 2003. This increased to 32 percent in 2007, according to the report, which was pre-pared by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and the U.N. Population Fund. In Mozambique the proportion of pregnant women on therapy increased from 3 percent to 46 percent; in Uganda from 9 percent to 34 percent; in Swaziland from 5 percent to 67 percent; in Zambia 18 percent to

Anti-government demonstrators stand watch at roadblock Sunday, November 30, at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bang-kok, Thailand. Demonstrators with the People’s Alliance for Democracy continue to hold both of Bangkok’s airports and say they will not leave until Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns from office. (AP Photo)

to meet in the country in two weeks for a regional summit. Surin Pitsuwan, head of the 10-nation, Southeast Asian grouping, ASEAN, said a post-ponement might be wise. The

general manager of Suvarnab-humi said it could take a week to resume operations when the protesters finally leave, because security and computer systems had been compromised. “Nor-

mally, checking the IT systems takes one week,” Serirat Pra-sutanond told Reuters, adding the delay would be even longer if any of the airport’s systems needed repair.

Somchai has been in the north of the country since re-turning from an overseas trip last week but is supposed to attend a ceremony in Bang-kok on Tuesday to mark the

king’s birthday. Also on Tues-day comes the end of a vote fraud case that could deliver a crippling blow to the six-party coalition government. The Constitutional Court has moved with uncharac-teristic speed to wrap up the case and is expected to order the disbanding of Somchai’s People Power Party (PPP) and two coalition partners.

If it does, Somchai and other leaders would be barred from politics and many cabi-net ministers would have to step down. The PPP’s dissolu-tion, however, will not neces-sarily mean a snap election as many MPs will simply switch to a new “shell” party. The stakes have risen with thou-sands of government sup-porters now also rallying in the capital, the first show of strength by the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) in a week. DAAD leader Veera Musikapong has denounced the court case as a “concealed coup” and govern-ment supporters have threat-ened to take to the streets if the ruling goes against Somchai.

There was some cheer on Monday for the tens of thou-

sands of tourists affected by the airport closures when PAD of-ficials said they would allow 88 aircraft stuck at Suvarnabhu-mi to leave. They will be able to pick up passengers from airports outside Bangkok. The government is providing free hotel rooms and meals for those stranded, but deal-ing with the estimated 100,000 people affected is proving a lo-gistical nightmare and many are falling through the net.

“We are so tired. When can we go?” 25-year-old Ira-nian Ali Golbabaei said at Su-varnabhumi airport on Mon-day, recounting his real-life version of Hollywood movie “The Terminal”. Golbabaei said he and two friends were told accommodation vouch-ers had run out, and they had no money left after holidaying in the beach resort town of Pat-taya. “Nobody is helping us. We are the last tourists in this airport.” “The Terminal” -- in which Tom Hanks plays a trav-eller stuck in New York’s JFK airport after his passport is revoked -- was inspired by the true story of an Iranian man who lived in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport for 18 years.

Hillary Clinton faces world of challenges as top US diplomat

WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 1 (AFP): Hillary Clinton may have fallen short in her quest to become the first woman US president, but as secretary of state she will have a unique opportunity to carve her name into global history. The feisty former first lady will face monumen-tal challenges overseas, including the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghani-stan, as well as the threat of terror-ism, brought once again into sharp focus by the attacks in Mumbai.

But perhaps the biggest task facing the 61-year-old, high-profile senator from New York will be restor-ing the country's tarnished reputa-tion and ushering in a new era of US diplomacy promised by president-elect Barack Obama. She can already count on massive support overseas thanks to the image she built as first lady and the goodwill still felt around the world for her husband, former president Bill Clinton.

But following her defeat in the Democratic primaries, Clinton worked hard for Obama, urging her millions

of loyal supporters to back his bid and elect the country's first African-Amer-ican president. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has said her nomination as America's top diplomat "would be very well taken" abroad.

"She is a strong personality. She is an appropriate person, capable, with experience, well known. I think it would be very well taken by the ma-jority of people," Solana said during a recent visit to Washington. Clinton has not yet confirmed the reports, but a person close to her told AFP: "I can confirm that she will be in Chica-go tomorrow to be named Secretary of State. Obama's formal roll-out of Clinton at a Monday press confer-ence in Chicago nearly a month af-ter his historic election triumph will cement a remarkable alliance after their acrimonious Democratic pri-mary duel. "It's an amazing national security team that Obama appears to have selected. It's, kind of, like Gold-ilocks and the three bears," said jour-nalist Bob Woodward on CBS "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

"You've got 'too cool,' which might be -- or at least 'appropriately cool' General Jones as the national security adviser; Gates is, kind of, just right, in the middle; and Hillary Clinton, hot." Clinton is said to have been initially reluctant to accept the post. But re-ports indicate that she won a guaran-tee of direct access to the president.

Fears that her nomination could falter because of her husband's charitable foundation and lucrative speechmaking also appear to have been resolved under a deal between the former president and the Obama team. Democratic Senator Jack Reed said the ex-president's "framework of transparency and disclosure" is a key step in defusing concerns about how he may influence his wife's work.

"I think the presumption will be that both the secretary of state Clinton and... former president Clinton will be very judicious in what they take on, because there's a new dimension here," he said on ABC's "This Week." As secretary of state, Clinton will face high expectations from a world weary

of eight years of President George W. Bush, which has enthusiastically em-braced Obama's promise of change.

It will also cap a remarkable po-litical career, catapulting her out of a relatively junior position in the Senate to become the face of US di-plomacy. The challenges ahead are staggering, as Clinton herself has acknowledged. "The next president will be the first to inherit two wars, a long-term campaign against global terrorist networks, and growing ten-sion with Iran as it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons," Clinton wrote during her White House bid.

She also stressed in the specialist Foreign Affairs magazine the need for Arab-Israeli peace, and warned of the need to address "the looming long-term threats of climate change and a new wave of global health epi-demics. "To meet these challenges, we will have to replenish American power by getting out of Iraq, rebuild-ing our military, and developing a much broader arsenal of tools in the fight against terrorism," she argued.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., arrives at the 17th Annual Salute to Freedom Gala on the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum in New York. President-elect Barack Obama is expected to name Clinton as his secretary of state Monday December 1. (AP Photo)

Lanka captures town after 18 years

Female service personnel line up before the National Day military parade in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, December 1. Romanians celebrate 90 years since the unification of Transylvania, Walachia and Moldova into one state in 1918. (AP Photo)

New hope on AIDS in Africa47 percent and in South Africa from 15 percent to 67 percent, the report says.

Even stricken Zimbabwe, where the health service has collapsed, man-aged an increase from 8 percent to 29 percent. In Botswana, which has one of the highest AIDS rates in the world but has enough resources and commit-ment to provide treatment, 95 percent of HIV positive pregnant women were

given antiretroviral drugs to protect their children in 2007. "The prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is not only effective, but also a human right," said UNAIDS Executive Direc-tor Dr. Peter Piot, "We are seeing good progress in many countries, especially in parts of Africa, but we need to signifi-cantly scale up HIV testing and treat-ment for pregnant women."

Governments tackle HIV stigma on World AIDS Day

Tuesday2 December 2008 10 Dimapur The Morung ExpressSPORTS

LONDON, DECEMBER 1 (REUTERS): Arsenal stunned Premier League leaders Chelsea at Stam-ford Bridge on Sunday as two Robin van Persie goals earned the Gunners a 2-1 victory. Johan Djourou's own goal gave Chelsea a halftime lead but Dutchman van Per-sie struck twice in three sec-ond-half minutes as Chelsea slid to a second home league defeat of the season to turn the spotlight on manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Champions Manchester United are now just five points behind Chelsea with a game in hand after they won 1-0 at Manchester City de-spite having Cristiano Ron-aldo sent off. Wayne Rooney poached United's winner just before halftime. Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 1-0 at home by Everton while Ports-mouth beat Blackburn Rovers 3-2 at Fratton Park. Liverpool can now move three points clear at the top of the table on Monday if they beat West

Ham United at Anfield.Arsenal manager Arsene

Wenger had refused to con-cede that his side's title challenge was over despite five league defeats and a 10-point deficit to the leaders. The Frenchman's claims seemed wildly optimistic af-ter 31 minutes when Arsenal went behind. Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia was guilty of a careless throw-out and after Chelsea won posses-sion Jose Bosingwa's cross was turned in by Djourou.

Arsenal seemed to be go-ing nowhere until the 59th minute when Chelsea failed to clear and an offside-look-ing Van Persie turned and smashed a shot past Petr Cech. "Van Persie was one metre in front of our play-ers," moaned Scolari, whose side also lost at home to Liv-erpool. "If a referee makes a mistake, sometimes it's dif-ficult to win." There was no doubt about Van Persie's sec-ond as he spun on the edge of the area and hit a low left-foot

shot past Cech into the corner of the net. "I felt they had very few chances and I thought we could go on and last longer than they do," Wenger told Sky Sports. "We've had a bad spell in the Premier League and we were 1-0 down so there's no better test of char-acter." United manager Alex Ferguson would have cheered Van Persie's contribution af-ter his side deservedly won the Manchester derby with Wayne Rooney's 100th club goal. "We needed three points

today because we are chasing," Ferguson told Sky Sports. "This was a significant result today and takes us closer." Rooney scored a tap-in three minutes before halftime after the ball pinged around the area and Michael Carrick's shot was parried into his path by City goalkeeper Joe Hart. United had to play the last 23 minutes with 10 men after Ronaldo was shown a second yellow card when he inexpli-cably met a corner using his hands rather than his head

and referee Howard Webb deemed it to be gamesman-ship. Ferguson, who is soon to serve a touchline ban for abusing a referee, was guard-ed when asked about the Ron-aldo red card.

"I've seen it again and in actual fact he's tried to pro-tect the ball from his face," Ferguson said. "He thought he heard the referee's whis-tle, but I'm not going to get into the referee because I could be here all day."

United dominated to

such an extent that it would have been an injustice if Richard Dunne had equa-lised for City in stoppage time -- his shot cleared off the line by Patrice Evra. Rooney almost grabbed a spectacular second after Dunne's near-miss for City. With Hart up supporting City's attack, United broke out an Rooney's audacious lob was clawed away by the keeper who ran the length of the pitch to regain his ground.

Arsenal stuns league leaders Chelsea

Chelsea's Michael Ballack, right, is held off by Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor during their English Premier League soccer match at the Stamford Bridge Stadium, London on November 30. (AP Photo)

Chelsea's John Terry, left, goes for the ball with Arsenal's Robin Van Persie during their English Premiership League soccer match at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in London on November 30. (AP Photo)

LONDON, DECEMBER 1 (REUTERS): Fortress Stamford Bridge has sud-denly become a far less in-hospitable hunting ground for visiting teams as Chel-sea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's honeymoon period fades into the English winter gloom. The Brazilian World Cup winner made a stun-ning start to life in Premier League club management, gaining plaudits for his side's free-flowing football and his relaxed, modest de-meanour when dealing with the media.

Chelsea have set a hot pace in the title race, albeit matched by Liverpool, since the start of the season with a bulging goal difference and a 100 percent away league re-cord. The first cracks are be-ginning to appear, however, and the coach once famed for his angry rants in Brazil was clearly rattled after Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1 on Sunday. He had a legiti-mate gripe about the first of Robin van Persie's two goals but he did not shy away from his side's own shortcomings either as they dropped their 12th home point.

"It's a problem in our last three games," Scolari told Sky Sports, referring to his side's lack of goal threat. "We scored one goal but we only had one or two chances. "We don't shoot outside the area or inside the area and we are not building the play to ar-rive in front (of goal), this is our mistake. "Yes, I'm wor-ried. I'm sad not happy. I think we are not playing very well. Sometimes you are un-lucky. We are giving chances for the big teams at home."

Chelsea never lost at home in the league under Jose Mourinho and the much maligned Avram Grant, a record going back to 2004. With Scolari at the helm that sequence was snapped by Liverpool last month. They were then bundled out of the League Cup on penalties by Championship (second di-vision) Burnley and drew 0-0 with Newcastle United. Now Arsenal have resurrect-

Chelsea honeymoon well and truly over for Scolari

ed their ailing season at the Bridge thanks to van Persie's smash and grab raid.

Worryingly, Chelsea have picked up just one point from their clashes with Arse-nal, Liverpool and champi-ons Manchester United this season -- the mini league which often determines the destination of the title. On Wednesday they were hugely disappointing in a 1-1 draw away to Bordeaux

in the Champions League -- a result that means they are still not guaranteed a place in the last 16 going into a fi-nal match at home to Roma-nians CFR Cluj.

No wonder Scolari looked so agitated on Sun-day. His side are badly miss-ing the midfield drive of the injured Michael Essien while Joe Cole's niggling injuries often rob Scolari of the flair needed to unlock

defences. Injured Ricardo Carvalho's calm assurance is missed at the back but the biggest problem for Scolari is the stop-start season of striker Didier Drogba.

The Ivorian is still serv-ing a three-match ban for throwing a coin at Burnley fans and the sooner Chelsea can call on his pace, power and hold-up play the better if Scolari's mood is not to darken further.

Chelsea's coach Luiz Felipe Scolari reacts during the English Premier League soccer match against Arsenal at the Stamford Bridge Stadium, London on November 30. (AP Photo)

Aussies, Kiwis likely to host 2011 cricket World CupMELBOURNE, DECEM-BER 1 (ANI): Given the fre-quency of terror strikes in both India and Pakistan and the unstable political situa-tion in Sri Lanka and Ban-gladesh, there is a possibility of the International Cricket Council (ICC) seriously con-sidering a proposal to shift the 2011 cricket World Cup to Australia and New Zealand.

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are scheduled to stage cricket’s marquee tournament in Feb-ruary and March of 2011,but a meeting of ICC CEOs in South Africa next weekend is likely to consider putting another country or countries on standby to host the event. According to a leading sports news channel, Australia and New Zealand will host the World Cup in 2015.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said safe-ty and security issues sur-rounding the 2011 World Cup were "bound to come up" next weekend. "It hasn’t been talked about but that may well have changed out of this Mumbai incident but one would hope the World Cup and other events that are planned for various places in the sub-continent can go ahead as planned. But there will be plenty of things that will need to be planned in the fullness of time," he said. Australia was put on standby to host the 2007 World Cup when it appeared the West Indies were labouring in their attempts to have new stadi-ums and general infrastruc-

ture built on time.Sutherland said he did

not know if another coun-try had already been put on standby for the 2011 tourna-ment, and was non-committal when asked if Australia would have enough time to prepare for the event if it was switched. "I don’t know the answer to that," he said. "It’s something that down the track would need to be looked at, but we are very keen for it to go ahead where it has already been al-located. Let’s see how things settle down after the tragic events of Mumbai." ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald said there had yet to be any discussions about shifting the tournament. An Australian team source said if the blood-shed and political uncertainty continued in the four cricket-ing nations then players may be loathe to make the trip.

Several tours of Pakistan have been cancelled for se-curity reasons while Federal Government advice encour-ages Australians to avoid Sri Lanka (civil war) and Bangla-desh (general trouble).

These countries are all but certain to resist any attempt to shift the billion-dollar tourna-ment, even though the ICC recently criticized them for being 10 months behind in preparations. Former Aus-tralian captain Greg Chap-pell said the Mumbai terror rampage will now change the players`` perspective on In-dia. "It will have a profound effect, I think, on cricket and where and how tournaments are conducted," he said.

Australia's Cameron Sinclair falls into the water after suc-cessfully completing a double backflip on his motorbike into Sydney Harbor Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. The event was held to promote the "Crusty Demons" extreme sports show. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Professional Sports cum CD & HGs Raising DayMorung Express NewsDimapur | December 1

ALTOGETHER 10 teams, including 8 districts and Central Training Institute (CTI), Civil Defence and Home Guards, Dimapur and Kohima are taking part at the weeklong annu-al Professional Sports cum Civil Defence and Home Guards Raising Day at the CTI, Toluvi village in Di-mapur. The first of its kind weeklong event in the State started today and would culminate on December 6 next. Er. W Kithan, Parlia-mentary Secretary for Pris-

ons, Home Guards, Fire and Emergency Services will grace the closing ceremony as the chief guest at 9 am.

After inaugurating the weeklong meet, including approximately 200 partici-pants including volunteers, officers and staff, Burkum-zuk, IPS, Director of Civil Defence and Commandant General of Home Guards, said that games and sports was nothing new but the member should participate well and play in the spirit of games and sports.

N Itoshe Kibami, Com-mandant of the Central Train-ing Institute, Civil Defence

and Home Guards, Dimapur, said that this was the first of its kind in the State and only volunteers are taking part in the event under the supervi-sion of officers and staff.

The inauguration was followed by an exhibition volleyball match between Dimapur district and CTI, Toluvi, which was won by Dimapur district.

Earlier, M Pienyu, Dep-uty Controller and District Commandant of Kohima welcomed the participants while the oath taking was undertaken by S Rotokha Zhimomi, Deputy Control-ler and District Comman-

dant of Dimapur. The events taking place

are professional items and sports. Professional items include, fire fighting, first-aid (artificial respiration (CPR) and bandaging using triangular/roller)emergen-cy method of rescue (ERM), stretcher lashing, stretcher drill (four men), ladder climbing, pitching and leg lock, ladder drill (four men), knots and lashing, blocks and tackles (construction), hold fast (construction) and air rifle shooting. Sports in-clude football, volleyball, tug of war and badminton (officers only).

An exhibition match of volleyball between Dimapur district and CTI, Toluvi that was won by Dimapur district at the CTI, Toluvi village in Dimapur, on Monday. (Morung Photo)

18th Inter-district football tourneyTHE 18TH Inter-district football championship (Dr. T Ao Trophy 2008) will start today at 1.00 pm at IG stadium, Kohima under the theme “Unity and Friendship through Sports”. Minister for forest, ecology environment, wildlife and excise, MC Konyak will grace the occasion as the chief guest.

Fixture of Dr. T. Ao trophy 2008Group -A 1. Kohima

2. Mon3. ZunhebotoGroup -B

1. Mokokchung2. Longleng3. KiphireGroup -C1. Wokha

2. TuensangGroup -D1. Dimapur

2. PhekLEAGUE

2nd December 01:00 p.m.

Kohima Vs Mon3rd December

10:00 a.m. Wokha Vs Tuensang

12:00 noon Dimapur Vs Phek

02:00 p.m. Mokokchung Vs Longleng

4th December 12:00 noon

Kohima Vs Zunheboto02:00 p.m.

Tuensang Vs Kiphire5th December

12:00 noon Kiphire Vs Wokha

02:00 p.m. Zunheboto Vs MonQuarter Final6th December.

08:00 a.m. Winner of A

Vs Loser of B------U

10:00 a.m. Winner of B Vs Loser of A------V

12:00 Noon winner of C Vs Loser of D------W

02:00 p.m. Winner of D Vs Loser of C------X

7th Dec Rest DaySemi Final

8th December 11:00 a.m.

Winner of U Vs Winner of W ----- Y1:00 p.m.

Winner of V Vs Winner of X ------ ZThird Place9th December

1:00 p.m. Loser of Y Vs Loser of Z

Final10th December

1:00 p.m. Winner of Y Vs Winner of Z

CMYK

CMYK

The Morung Express TuesdayDimapur 112 December 2008Ent/Tabloid

06:00 - Film The Year Without a Santa Claus 07:45 - Film Curly Sue 09:45 - Film Deadly Encounter 11:30 - Hollywood One On One 18 12:00 - Film Hush! 14:00 - Sweet Nothing In My Ear 16:00 - Hollywood’s 10 Best 16:30 - Jerry Maguire 19:15 - Alien Cargo 21:00 - A Few Good Men 23:45 - Eastern Promises 01:30 - Chameleon 03:15 - Elizabeth 05:45 - The Making Of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee

06:00 - The New Adventures Of Lucky Luke 06:55 - V First Day First Show 07:00 - D. O. N. 07:55 - V First Day First Show 08:00 - Asian Sky Shop 08:25 - V First Day First Show 08:30 - V Trailers 09:00 - Asian Sky Shop 09:30 - Dill Mill Gayye 09:55 - V First Day First Show 10:00 - Siddhanth 11:00 - Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun 11:25 - V First Day First Show 11:30 - V Trailers 12:00 - V First Day First Show 12:05Guns and Roses 13:00 - India Calling 13:30 - Dill Mill Gayye 13:55 - V First Day First Show 14:00 - Movie 17:00 - D. O. N. 18:00 - Dill Mill Gayye 18:30 - Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa 19:00 - Special Squad 19:55 - V First Day First Show 20:00 - Instant Khichdi 20:30 - Dill Mill Gayye 21:00 - Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa

21:30 - Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai 22:00 - Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun 22:30 - Yeh Dil Chahe More 23:00 - Dill Mill Gayye23:30 - Darna Mana Hai 00:00 - V First Day First Show 00:05V Trailers 00:30 - V First Day First Show 00:35 - Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai 01:00 - India Calling 01:30 - Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai 02:00 - Ranvir Vinay Aur Kaun 02:30 - Instant Khichdi 03:00 - Hey Yehii To Haii Who 03:30 - The Great Indian Laughter Chal-lenge 04:30 - Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai

06:00 - Telebrands 07:00 - Wildlife Specials 08:00 - Hunters 09:00 - Fight Quest 10:00 - Futureweapons 11:00 - I Shouldn’t Be Alive 12:00 - A Baby Story 12:30 - Bringing Baby Home 13:00 - Raw Nature 14:00 - Futureweapons 15:00 - Fearless Planet 16:00 - Wild Discovery 17:00 - I Shouldn’t Be Alive 18:00 - Michael Wood: The Story of India 19:00 - Raw Nature 20:00 - Deadliest Catch 2 21:00 - Man Vs. Wild 22:00 - A Haunting 23:00 - Man Made Marvels 00:00 - Wild Discovery 01:00 - Telebrands 02:00 - Man Made Marvels 03:00 - Michael Wood: The Story of India 04:00 - A Haunting 05:00 - Man Made Marvels

6:00 - The Amazing Race Asia7:00 - The Amazing Race

8:00 - Kidnapped9:00 - The Amazing Race Asia11:00 - Early Edition 12:00 - Pirate Master1:00 - Top Design 2:00 - Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! 3:00 - CSI: NY 5:00 - Amazing Race Asia Memories 6:00 - The Amazing Race Asia7:00 - Kidnapped8:00 - Pirate Master9:00 - WHACKED OUT SPORTS 10:00 - So You Think You Can Dance 11:00 - House 12:00 - WHACKED OUT SPORTS 1:00 - So You Think You Can Dance 2:00 - House 3:00 - Early Edition 4:00 - Kidnapped5:00 - Amazing Race Asia Memories

06:00 - Seva Ganga 06:30 - Vignan Shashwat Sukh Ka 07:00 - Sangam 07:30 - Raja Ki Ayegi 08:00 - Kyunki Saas Bhi 08:30 - Kayamath 09:00 - Kumkum 09:30 - Kahaani Ghar 10:00 - Kis Desh Mein Hai 10:30 - Hamari Devrani 11:00 - Grihasti 11:30 - Raja Ki Ayegi 12:00 - Bidaai 12:30 - Kis Desh Mein Hai 13:00 - Kumkum 13:30 - Hamari Devrani 14:00 - Karam 14:30 - Grihasti 15:00 - Kyunki Saas Bhi 15:30 - Kayamath 16:00 - Sangam 16:30 - Santaan 17:00 - Kasturi 17:30 - Raja Ki Ayegi 18:00 - Bidaai 18:30 - Hamari Devrani 19:00 - Sangam 19:30 - Santaan

20:00 - Raja Ki Ayegi 20:30 - Kis Desh Mein Hai 21:00 - Bidaai 21:30 - Kasturi 22:00 - Kahaani Ghar 22:30 - Kyunki Saas Bhi 23:00 - Kayamath 23:30 - Karam 00:00 - Kasturi 00:30 - Kumkum 01:00 - Bidaai 01:30 - Kis Desh Mein Hai 02:00 - Grihasti 02:30 - Kayamath 03:00 - Hamari Devrani 03:30 - Kahaani Ghar 04:00 - Kyunki Saas Bhi

06:00 - Chhattisgarh - The Tribal Planet 06:30 - Feast India 07:00 - Jet Set 08:00 - Globe Trekker 10 09:00 - Indian Rendezvous 09:30 - Adventures Of The Ladies Tailor 10:00 - Trinny And Susannah Undress 11:00 - Monster House 12:00 - Overhaulin’ 5 13:00 - Kylie Kwong 13:30 - Nigella Feasts 14:00 - Cruiseline 15:00 - Great Hotels Iii 15:30 - Cocktail Kings 16:00 - Jet Set 17:00 - America The Wright Way 18:00 - Finest And Luxurious 19:00 - Feast Bazaar Year 200 - 6 19:30 - The Hairy Bikers Cookbook 20:00 - Cheese Slices 20:30 - Living With Modernism 21:00 - Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavours of India 21:30 - Kylie Kwong Cooking with Heart and Soul 22:00 - Kylie Kwong: My China 22:30 - Lawrence Of America 23:00 - Beach Blast 00:00 - Work Out 01:00 - Monster Garage 02:00 - Globe Trekker 10 03:00 - Surf And Snack 04:00 - Trinny And Susannah Undress

05:00 - While You Were Out 3

06:00 - Fashion House 07:00 - Friday Night Lights 08:00 - Friends 09:00 - 30 - Rock 09:30 - Scrubs 10:00 - Grey’s Anatomy 11:00 - Friday Night Lights 12:00 - Jimmy Kimmel 13:00 - Ugly Betty 14:00 - The Ellen Degeneres Show 15:00 - Fashion House 16:00 - Cold Case 17:00 - Grey’s Anatomy 18:00 - Whistler 19:00 - Friends 20:00 - Seinfeld 20:30 - Whose Line is It Anyway? 21:00 - 30 - Rock 21:30 - Scrubs 22:00 - Code Red 23:00 - Jimmy Kimmel 00:00 - Friends 01:00 - Seinfeld 01:30 - Whose Line is It Anyway? 02:00 - Grey’s Anatomy 03:00 - The Ellen Degeneres Show 04:00 - Cold Case 05:00 - The Simpsons 05:30 - Kenneth Copeland

06:00 - Shore Ditch 07:30 - Infomercial 08:00 - Legend Of The Red Dragon 10:00 - Asterix And Obelix - Versus Caesar 12:30 - Forever Mine 15:00 - Hell Boats 17:00 - Charlie Chaplin 17:30 - Sweet Home Alabama 20:00 - Pinocchio 22:30 - 50 First Dates 00:45 - Epk 01:00 - The In-Laws 02:30 - Intermission

04:00 - Air Rage 05:45 - Citizen Verdict

04:30 - Balle Balle! Amritsar to L.A. 07:15 - Sabsey Favourite Kaun 07:45 - Telemall 08:00 - Subah Ho Gayi Mamu 09:30 - Kismat 13:30 - Desh Devi 16:30 - Albela 20:00 - Zameen 23:40Subah Ho Gayi Mamu 02:30 - Aansoo Bane Angaaray 05:00 - Azaad Desh Ke Gulam

06:00 - Devi 07:00 - Telebrands 07:30 - Teleshopping 08:30 - Movie 12:30 - Aathvaan Vachan 13:00 - Waqt Batayega Kaun 13:30 - Sujata 14:00 - Mann Mein Hai Visshwas 15:00 - Aathvaan Vachan 15:30 - Waqt Batayega Kaun 16:00 - Babul Ka Aangann 16:30 - Arslaan 17:30 - Aathvaan Vachan 18:00 - Boogie Woogie 18:30 - Babul Ka Aangann 19:00 - Jai Hanuman 19:30 - Sujata 20:00 - Mann Mein Hai Visshwas 21:00 - Aathvaan Vachan 21:30 - Babul Ka Aangann 22:00 - Sujata 22:30 - Waqt Batayega Kaun 23:00 - Aahat - 3 00:00 - Telebrands 00:30 - Teleshopping

01:00 - Sujata 01:30 - Waqt Batayega Kaun 02:00 - Babul Ka Aangann 02:30 - Aathvaan Vachan 03:00 - Mann Mein Hai Visshwas 04:00 - Devi 04:30 - Jai Hanuman 05:00 - Babul Ka Aangann

06:00 - Shakti Yug 06:30 - The Faith Show 07:00 - Enjoying Everyday Life 07:25 - Ek Nazar 07:30 - Sales Slot 07:55 - Exposure Jhalak 08:00 - Teleshopping 08:25 - Ek Nazar 08:30 - Jai Ganesh 09:00 - Ramayan 09:30 - Naaginn 10:00 - Vivaah 10:30 - Betiyann 11:00 - Maayka 11:30 - Saat Phere 12:00 - Dulhann 12:30 - Kasamh Se 13:00 - Parrivaar 13:30 - Rakhi 14:00 - Teen Bahuraaniyaan 14:30 - Ranbir Rano 15:00 - Dulhann 15:30 - Maayka 16:00 - Saat Phere 16:30 - Naaginn 17:00 - Teen Bahuraaniyaan 17:30 - Betiyann 18:00 - Kasamh Se 18:30 - Saat Phere 19:00 - Vivaah 19:30 - Shrii 20:00 - Dulhann 20:30 - Maayka 21:00 - Kasamh Se 21:30 - Saat Phere

22:00 - Betiyann 22:30 - Ranbir Rano 23:00 - Waaris 23:30 - Kasamh Se 23:55 - Ek Nazar 00:00 - Asian Sky Shop 00:55 - Exposure 01:00 - Asian Sky Shop 02:00 - Teen Bahuraaniyaan 02:30 - Kasamh Se 03:00 - Ek Se Badhkar Ek - Chota packet Bada Dhamaka 04:00 - Vivaah 04:30 - Urja 05:00 - Parrivaar 05:30 - Narseva Narayan Seva

06:00 - Animal Planet Safari 07:00 - Teleshopping 08:00 - Baby Planet 09:00 - Incredible Journeys with Steve Leonard 10:00 - Meerkat Manor 11:00 - Penguin Safari With Nigel Marven 12:00 - The Most Extreme 13:00 - Lyndal’s Lifeline 14:00 - Animal Planet Safari 15:00 - Wild South America 16:00 - Animal Battlegrounds 16:30 - Predators’ Prey 17:00 - Incredible Journeys with Steve Leonard 18:00 - Baby Planet 19:00 - Penguin Safari With Nigel Marven 20:00 - The Most Extreme 21:00 - Wild South America 22:00 - Animal Planet Safari 23:00 - Animal Battlegrounds 23:30Predators’ Prey 00:00 - Baby Planet 01:00 - Teleshopping 02:00 - Petsburgh USA (II) 03:00 - Monkey Business 8 04:00 - Petsburgh USA (II) 05:00 - Monkey Business 8

PRIME TIME TV GUIDESPRIME TIME TV GUIDESPRIME TIME TV GUIDES

Hornbi l l F e s t i val

Festival of festivals: The Morung Express brings a glimpse of Hornbill Festival of Nagaland which got underway today, December 1, 2008 at the Na-galand Heritage Complex Kisama, under the theme ‘Progress through Culture’. (Morung Photo)

“Hornbill festival truly represents the fusion of tradition and modernity, bringing together all tribes and communities together in the celebration of Nagaland” K. Sankaranarayanan, Governor of Nagaland

L to R Esther Lee; Lee Sung Wan, vice president Arirang TV; VJ Isak, Ilac and Abu Metha, organizing secretary Korea India Music festival.

The cast members of the musical show The Prodigal Son rehearsing today at the State Academy Hall. The Prodigal Son – A Musical will be performed on December 2 to 4 at the State Academy Hall as part of the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland and it features some well known musicians such as Nise Meruno, Naga Idol 2007 Ruokuovotuo and NSACS Naga Idol 2008 fi nalist Kenei.

Our CorrespondentKohima | December 1

Most popular Video Jockey (VJ) of the Korean Arirang Television, VJ Isak today appreciated Nagaland as one of the ‘very beautiful place’ she visited. Interacting with local media persons after reaching Kohima this evening along with popular Arirang performer Ilak at Heritage Bunga-low here today, she appreciated the fact that the State has an Arirang Fan Club and the people are so fond of the Arirang TV programme. She hoped that through this visit, till December 5, the two sides would build the true sense of friendship through culture. “I am honoured to have fans at such distance,” she said. Stating that on her way from Dimapur she consumed lo-cal bananas and pineapples, Isak lauded the flavour and said ‘the fruits were very delicious’.

Ilak, another popular performer of the Arirang TV fondly expressed ‘the feeling and familiarization of the Korean culture was more in Nagaland then in the metropolitan cities of In-dia. Lee Sung Wan, Vice President of Arirang TV after attending the first

Our CorrespondentKohima | December 1

The week long art exhibit fea-turing talented London based Naga artist, Temsuyanger Longkumer and other three Naga artist Jimmy Chishi, Seyiekelie Tepa and Iris Ying-zen got underway here today at The Heritage, Old DC Bunga-low. The exhibit is presented by the Morung Foundation under the theme, ‘Brave new World’ and is held under the patronage of the North East Zone Cultural Center and De-partment of Art &Cultu Na-

Korean music stars arrive for Hornbill

Tourist fi nding their way around Kisama during the opening day of the Hornbill Festival

day of the Hornbill Festival said he was glad that Naga people had simi-lar appearances with the Koreans and hoped that the ties between the two countries would strengthen with the popularization of Korean Arirang Fan Club in the State. Global Marketing Manager of the channel, Esther Lee was also present during the interac-tion.

The Arirang TV officials and jockey’s are in the State for the Korea-India Musical Festival, which will be held tomorrow (Tuesday) at Secretar-iat Plaza from 5:00 pm onwards. The Arirang team would also be having an interaction session with the Arirang Fan Club on December 3 at Heritage Bungalow.

Meanwhile, Organising Secre-tary of the Korea-India Music Festi-val, Abu Metha while expressing that culture and music does not have any boundaries, hoped that the two coun-tries would become friendlier. He, on behalf of the State Government and the Organising Committee has re-quested the Mini Bus and Taxi owners of Kohima to ply their vehicles from Kohima town Secretariat for conve-nience of the general public.

Morung Foundation art exhibit opensgaland.

More than 50 excellent arts are put on display, of which around 40 impressive arts work are of Temsuyanger Longkum-er. Temsuyanger is renown in the art circles in Europe who is also a multiple award win-ning international. In the present exhibit, most of his work’s that have been “saved for Naga audience” are exhib-ited, that highlights the artist’s close feeling with Nagaland. The exhibit will continue till December 7 from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM and is open for private viewing for invitees.

CMYK

CMYK

Middle

Published, Printed and Edited by Aküm Longchari on behalf of Morung for Indigenous Affairs and JustPeace from House No. 4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur at Themba Printers and Telecommunications, Padum Pukhuri Village, Dimapur, Nagaland. Email : editor@morungexpress.com/newsdesk@morungexpress.com, morung@gmail.com. RNI No : NAGENG /2005/15430. House No.4, Duncan Bosti, Dimapur 797112, Nagaland. Phone: Dimapur -(03862) News Desk- 281043, Admin -236871, Fax: (03862) 235194, Kohima - (0370) 2291952

For advertisements and circulation, please contact: (03862) 236871, Fax-235194 or email : morungad@yahoo.com PO Reg No. NE/RN-722

HOLLOTOLI SCHOOLN.H. 39, PADAMPUKHIRI,DIMAPUR, NAGALAND : 03862 : 234175/234171

E-mail : hollotolischool@yahoo.co.in

Applicants are invited for the following posts for the Session 2009-2010

1. Subject Teacher - Maths (M.Sc./B.Sc., B.Ed.) English (M.A./B.A., B.Ed.) Hindi (B.A., B.Ed.)2. PRT - B.A. with Montessori Training or NTT3. Computer Teacher - MCA or equivalent.4. Warden - B.A. with experience in Child care. 5. Driver - Experience in heavy vehicle.

Apply on or before 16th December 2008.Interview will be held on 14th January 2009 at 10.00 am.

HORNBILL FESTIVAL 2008KOREAN-NAGA WRESTLING

Naga Style Competition- 4th Dec’08Naga-Korean Style Exhibition- 5th Dec’08

10:00 a.m to 12:00 Noon

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONKids below 10 years Wrestling

The best selected Wrestlers fromPhek/Kohima/Peren District

Tuesday2 December 2008 12 Dimapur The Morung ExpressMORUNG SPORTS

Taekwon-do belt examination held

North East Twenty20 league on the cardsEngland criticised for dropping India tourSYDNEY, DECEMBER 1 (REUTERS): England's cricketers were guilty of em-ploying double-standards for quitting their tour of In-dia because of security fears, former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson said on Monday. Lawson, who was sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board in October, urged England's players to return to India and complete the series, citing the case of the 2005 Ashes series in England that went ahead despite bomb-ings in London.

"It's interesting that Eng-land are heading home and certain players don't want to play the test series and yet we go back to 2005, bombs went off in London while there was a big series on there and it didn't affect one iota the cricket," Lawson told a Syd-ney radio station. "I think a few of the England players should reflect on what hap-pened in their country be-fore they start pulling out of cricket matches in India."

England's players re-turned home last week dur-ing the attacks in Mumbai, abandoning the last two matches of their seven game one-day international series. They are waiting on securi-ty reports before deciding whether they will return for the scheduled test series but Lawson said they should. "If you stop events that aren't particularly and directly threatened you're just suc-cumbing to terrorism and they succeed," Lawson said.

"So far, the facts are, no sporting event, let alone a cricket event, has ever been threatened." Lawson, who was highly critical of his na-tive Australia when they re-fused to tour Pakistan earlier this year, also called on the International Cricket Coun-cil to proceed with plans to play the 2011 World Cup on the Indian subcontinent amid media speculation it may be moved to Australia and New Zealand.

SHILLONG, DECEM-BVER 1 (AGENCIES): The Meghalaya Crick-et Association (MCA) has planned a Twenty20 cricket tournament, com-prising teams from all the BCCI-affiliated states

in north eastern India. Shillong will host the tournament scheduled for January 19-23. Besides Meghalaya, Assam, Tripu-ra, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, are expected to feature

in the tournament, which will carry a prize money of Rs 3 lakh.

The MCA is also try-ing to get a few former international cricketers to represent the different teams, said Naba Bhat-

tacharjee, the associa-tion's secretary.

The move will not only prove to be a shot in the arm for cricket in the region but also pro-vide teams like Assam and Tripura with a good

"dress rehearsal" ahead of the BCCI East Zone Twenty20 tournament to be held in Guwahati in March. Both are rep-resenting the North East this year in the Ranji Trophy and are currently

placed at fourth and fifth respectively, among the six teams in Group B of the Plate League.

The Indian board, in September, had granted Affiliate Memberships to the Meghalaya Cricket

Association, Nagaland Cricket Association, and Arunachal Cricket Asso-ciation while Chhattis-garh State Cricket Asso-ciation and Bihar Cricket Association were given Associate Membership.

DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 1 (MExN): Altogether 22 students of Mount View School were promoted to Yellow stripe 9 GUP in the Taekwon-do belt examina-tion that was held on No-vember 22 last.

The examination was conducted by Amos Yimc-hungru, Black Belt, 2nd Dan on behalf of Israel G Xuixi,

Chief Instructor of Nagaland Taekwon-do Federation.

Meanwhile, the school authority has expressed grat-itude to Israel G Xuixi, Black Belt, 4th Dan and the chief instructor, for approving the holding of the examination at MVS, Suruhuto. This was stated in a press note issued by Hotoshe Awomi, propri-etor of the school.