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w w w . m o r u n g e x p r e s s . c o m The Morung ExpressDimapur VOL. V ISSUE 55 www.morungexpress.com

A determined heart will not be counseled“ -Spanish Proverb

A Daily Publication of Morung for Indigenous Affairs & JustPeace

”Friday, February 26, 2010 12 pages Rs. 3

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REFLECTIONSby Sandemo Ngullie

We must steal it first tonight before our chief does it…

‘Number given to PC belongs to constable’KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 25 (PTI): The phone number given by Maoists to the media asking Union Home Minster P Chidambaram to call on Thursday for peace nego-tiations belongs to a police constable who was abducted by the rebels. The Vodafone number 9734695789 be-longs to Sisir Kanti Nag, the constable who was abduct-ed by the Maoists demand-ing the release of the PCPA leader Chatradhar Mahato. “The Vodafone SIM card was purchased from Kharagpur and it belongs to Nag. But right now it is impossible to say from which dealer it was purchased,” a senior district police officer said on condi-tion of anonymity. “We are questioning the concerned constable and trying to find out the details,” he said.

Morung Express NewsDimapur | February 25

ITS 30 DAYS to Earth Hour 2010 and al-ready a lot of people in Dimapur seem to be making the countdown, thinking of ideas to best observe the global call to action. Earth Hour is organized by WWF and in-cludes the simple act of turning off your lights for an hour. Last year Earth Hour in Nagaland was observed with much enthusiasm and success with people of Dimapur, Kohima and Mokokchung ob-serving the event which was coordinated by CCL with the help of municipals.

So what is in store for 2010’s Earth Hour? The Morung Express contacted Im-rong Mongro, Climate Change Leader. She said that the CCL has been having vigorous

meetings since the last week. CCL plans to do more of a follow-up and to build on what they did last year, she said. “We especially aim to reach out to the students whom we reached out last year,” Mongro said add-ing that the CCL wants to reach more in less time. For this year’s Earth Hour they

plan on reach-ing out to schools and colleges and even the NBCC. CCL feels that the church can play

a big role in sensitizing people, especially those in the interiors of Nagaland.

The global act of ‘Turning off the lights together’ was started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against cli-mate change and energy depletion.

Continued on page 5

Earth Hour 2010 on March 27; 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm

A night view of Dimapur town, Nagaland’s busiest and fastest-growing urban dis-trict. Growth has also brought with it the issue of growing energy-demand that re-mains far from being met.(Sorei Mahong/Photo)

Talk About TalksIndo-Pak meet constructive but ‘trust deficit’ remains

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, left, shakes hand with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir before the start of a delegation-level meeting, in New Delhi on Thurs-day. India and Pakistan held high-level peace talks Thurs-day for the first time since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in an effort to rebuild confidence and reduce tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. (AP Photo)

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 25 (MExN): As reported, the National Crime Re-cords Bureau (NCRB) has listed Nagaland to be the state with the highest death rate, 92.1 % at a rate of per 100 cases of road accidents. In an interaction, the OC of Traffic Control Dimapur, A Zeliang said drunkenness and negligent driving are the two chief menaces that he found to be the causes of road accidents in Dimapur.

The Traffic officer re-vealed that in his years of being a Traffic OC he has

found accidents resulting from mechanical failure much fewer. ‘Drunken driv-ing is still the biggest threat to our society,’ Zeliang said.

He informed that in 2008, there were 546 ac-cidents reported and 21 deaths; in 2009 there were 614 accidents and 47 deaths while in 2010 within just a span of just two months there were al-ready 60 accidents and 11 deaths. “There is a major increase in the number of accidents” he said.

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DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 25 (MExN): The Nagaland University Teachers’ Asso-ciation has served the Ex-ecutive Council, Academic Council and the Vice Chan-cellor of Nagaland Univer-sity ultimatums including one that gave 14 days time to revoke the suspension of three NUTA leaders. With-in the given time, the chair-man of the council must convene an emergency meeting for the demanded action, a NUTA ultimatum addressed to the council’s chairman today, stated.

The NUTA’s general body met on February 24 at SASARD in Medziphema and condemned what was stated to be the action of the vice chancellor ‘in ille-

gal suspension of the three NUTA leaders.’

The NUTA also cen-sured “the illegal action of the chairman, Academic Council of Nagaland Uni-versity in conducting the Academic Council meeting with only 7 departments consisting of 14 members plus 6 invitees, which do not meet the quorum re-quirement of 34 members, in spite of the boycott of the Academic Council meet-ing by 18 departments of Kohima (6) and SASARD, Medziphema (12), in pro-test against the illegal sus-pension of teachers, two of whom are Academic Coun-cil members.”

Continued on page 5

Morung Express NewsKohima | February 25

GOVERNOR OF NAGA-LAND Nikhil Kumar, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and top army commanders of the armed forces in Naga-land today appealed to the Nagas to create a peaceful atmosphere in the state so that more development can take place for the ben-efit of the people. The ap-peal came in the backdrop

of the ‘Sekrenyi’ festival of the Angami.

Kohima local ground today became a riot of tra-ditional colors as Anga-mi from all over the state congregated at the venue to celebrate ‘Sekrenyi’ or ‘Phousanyi,’ the commu-nity’s premier festival. The event is being pro-moted by the state govern-ment as part of the State Road Show for Kohima. Themed ‘Confluence: Past

and Present,’ the Sekrenyi-Kohima Road Show was inaugurated by Governor of Nagaland Nikhil Kumar this morning.

Addressing the gath-ering, the governor was impressed at the concept of having state road shows and congratulated all in concern. He said that the road show coinciding with the premier festi-val of a district simulta-neously becomes a great

platform for showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the people.

Kumar was also im-pressed by the exhibition stalls set up by various de-partments/NGOs. They create awareness about the developmental works of the government and would help one to come forward in a more effective manner to associate with develop-mental endeavors, he said.

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NUTA serves ultimatium Hurrying Nagas push increase in road deaths

Nagas urged to work for peaceSekrenyi brings alive traditional colors

It’s showtime for climate conscious folks in Nagaland

Dimapur registers all-time high

Cabinet clears Women BillNEW DELHI, FEBRU-ARY 25 (AGENCIES): The Union Cabinet on Thursday evening ap-proved the much-awaited Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, and Personnel in its report in December last had recommended pas-sage of the Bill in its pres-ent form and suggested that the issue should not be left to the discretion of political parties.

NEW DELHI, FEBRU-ARY 25 (AGENCIES): Foreign Secretary Niru-pama Rao on Thursday said that the Indo-Pak talks were constructive, but there is an overriding need to restore trust and confidence be-tween the two nations. Rao, who arrived for a press brief-

ing directly from the Hyder-abad House after talks were extended, revealed that India handed to Pakistan three dossiers – new leads on Mumbai attacks, new threats from Illyas Kashmiri and other terror groups on February 05, and a list of In-dian fugitives believed to be

DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 25 (MExN): The “GPRN/NSCN” today issued a state-ment expressing its opinion to the Government of India and NSCN (IM), “who are reportedly preparing to meet” in Delhi. Express-ing that it was making the statement “for clarity of vi-sion and purpose in the In-do-Naga-Burma political struggle” the MIP in a press note said “that, GPRN/NSCN has never objected to in the past, nor will it do so for the forthcoming meet between GoI and Th. Mui-vah because it is merely a bilateral meeting between two parties and not a politi-

cal talk between GoI and the Nagas. Let it be known very clear to both the parties that the Naga political problem shall be solved by the Na-gas themselves only after reconciliation and unity is achieved in Nagaland.”

Any discussion, the MIP said, between Indian Prime Minister Manmo-han Singh and Th. Muivah on the Naga political issue “would be premature and unwise.” “Th. Muivah has every right to seek solutions to social problems and oth-er issues in Ukhrul district and other Naga inhabited areas of Manipur state but solution to the Indo-Naga-

Burma political problem shall be the sole prerogative of the Naga people at a right opportune time,” it said.

The “GPRN/NSCN” said that “if New Delhi is re-ally willing to solve the Naga political issue, it should check the ground reality in Nagaland through its many agencies and realize who truly represents the Na-gas.” The group added that a “composite dialogue” among different sections of society is taking place for genuine reconciliation and it is for the Government of India to make a “choice be-tween the Naga people and a single faction.”

“GPRN/NSCN” makes stand on GoI, NSCN (IM) meeting

in Pakistan including some new names.

“We went into the talks with an open mind, but were also fully conscious of the large trust deficit that exists between the two countries,” she pointed out. On the line taken by India during the talks, the for-eign secretary said, “Our aims were modest, but we spelt forth our concerns on terrorism emanating from Pakistan or the territories under its control.” “It is the duty of Pakistan to disman-tle terror infrastructure targeted against India, said Rao adding, “steps taken by Pakistan to bring perpetra-tors of Mumbai attacks to justice are not enough.”

Elaborating further on the Indian stand, Rao said that India has stressed on the importance of expe-ditious action on the per-petrators of the Mumbai attacks especially in view of the emergence of new leads from the US - Tahaw-wur Rana and David Head-ley. On a question whether India had put forth its con-cerns regarding the slow progress of the 26/11 trail in Pakistan “We told them that 26/11 investigations have been not satisfactory, while they responded by saying that they themselves had a spate of terror attacks in their country and were in the process of prosecuting the Mumbai culprits.”

Continued on page 5

In a magnificent show of color and heritage, the Angami Nagas gathered at Kohima today to celebrate ‘Sekrenyi’ fes-tival. The event is being promoted by the state government as part of the State Road Show for Kohima. Themed ‘Con-fluence: Past and Present,’ the Sekrenyi-Kohima Road Show was inaugurated by Governor of Nagaland Nikhil Kumar. (Photo Courtesy/Menosau Kevichusa)