Imlisanen Jamir The number of COVID-19 cases in Nagaland is increasing at an alarming rate and the current measures employed by the State Government to contain this second wave of the pandemic seem to be less than effective. There is a growing sense that the current containments measures need to made harsher or at the least more effectively implemented. Since May 5, most parts of Dimapur and Kohima have been declared as containment zones and orders have been issued as to what act

The Kenyan political writer Ali Mazrui uses the illustration of the Caravan of Culture to help us understand the struggles and dilemmas of colonized peoples and nations. In Mazrui’s metaphoric caravan of culture, a caravan is meandering towards its own destination under the stars of history. However, during its journey a major interruption takes place in the form of colonialism. This caravan had not seen strangers from this other caravan approaching. Eventually, a struggle fol

Akangjungla The entire world is reeling under the Coronavirus pandemic since the winter of 2019. Numerous researches and thoughts on the origin of the virus have not come to any conclusion nor has there been any scientific proof to the unlimited conspiracy theories around the different aspects of the virus.  The first COVID-19 case, according to the South China Morning Post, dates back to November 17, 2019. It reports of a 55-year-old individual from Hubei province in China

Veroli Zhimo The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision to indefinitely suspend the world’s richest cricket competition—the Indian Premier League (IPL), midway through the season after its players tested positive for COVID-19 proves that no one and no economic activity is safe until the pandemic is controlled. Earlier when many within the cricket fraternity and outside started questioning the BCCI’s rationale for staging the IPL amid a pub

Dr Asangba Tzudir An estimated 690 million (8.9%) people go to bed hungry regularly according to a report from United Nations food agencies. Global hunger index for 2020 puts hunger at a moderate level and shows a constant rise. Sadly, the world is not on the track to achieve the sustainable development goal for zero hunger and it is said that due to the effects of Covid-19, an additional 83 to 132 million more people will be chronically hungry due to the pandemic which has really u

Moa Jamir The announcement to depute selected officers drawn from various departments for effective management of COVID-19 situation in Nagaland on May 1 is a 'timely' course correction, but concerns remain as to whether the intervention is a tad late. The order from the State Chief Secretary cited the steady increase in new COVID-19 cases as the main reason behind the deputation of the team of officers with various responsibilities effective immediately.  The office

Imlisanen Jamir “Every time a newspaper dies, even a bad one, the country moves a little closer to authoritarianism,” said the author and former journalist Richard Kluger once. Today is World Press Freedom Day and we take this opportunity to highlight how crucial the press is, especially in our current situation where it has become even more acute today when confusing information is bombarded on us every second. Society is torn with information that cannot be consiste

Akangjungla Truth is the spirit of a virtuous person. It is the core foundation of every great character, the guardian of every ideal individual and institution. Truth is the revelation and manifestation of justice, integrity and loyalty.  Truth can never be misquoted. Just as truth is the oldest virtue, so is lying the iniquity; but the divinity of truth and the vices of lying can never be matched. Untruthfulness bears conflict, doubt, inconsistency, and misgiving. Truth is

Veroli Zhimo On Tuesday, the Nagaland state government made two major announcements during a press briefing —free vaccines for those above the age of 18 and the decision to “impose a lockdown with new guidelines from April 30.” Regardless of the fact that the government spokesperson repeatedly used the term ‘lockdown’ during the briefing, hours later, he backtracked and tweeted that “...It is not a lockdown! This is a clarification.” Perh

Dr Asangba Tzudir The NLTP Act issue has cropped up again with DNSU giving the government 20-day ultimatum to set up committee to review NLTP on 19 April 2021.  Following this, a unanimous decision was arrived between the Excise department and the DNSU to reconstitute committee on NLTP Act within 45 days. The 45 days time frame was given considering the processes that involve a lot of “consensus building and dialogue involving all stakeholders.”  To this end

Imlisanen Jamir “Well Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one thing with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn't very much in it one way or the other. As far as one can see, at this stage.&r

Moa Jamir New COVID-19 cases, which were increasing consistently in recent times in Nagaland, albeit in small numbers, surged to 385 in the April 17-23 period, the highest weekly surge since December 2020. However, a degree of callousness is perceptible in tackling the so-called ‘second wave’ in the state. Such approach is currently triggering a health crisis across the country, including India's seat of power, New Delhi. True, the State Government has issued &ldq

Moa Jamir New COVID-19 cases, which were increasing consistently in recent times in Nagaland, albeit in small numbers, surged to 385 in the April 17-23 period, the highest weekly surge since December 2020. However, a degree of callousness is perceptible in tackling the so-called ‘second wave’ in the state. Such approach is currently triggering a health crisis across the country, including India's seat of power, New Delhi. True, the State Government has issued &ldq

Witoubou Newmai It has become extremely important for our ‘society’ to critically examine why some ‘societies’ easily split while other ‘societies’ sustain longer.  The terms ‘society’, ‘evil’, ‘formulation’ and ‘components’ are under inverted commas in this editorial to mean that they are not limited to their literal meanings or they may not be necessarily carrying their literal meanings.

Imkong Walling The issue of liquor proliferation has risen once again in a place where it is forbidden by law but a failed one. It has pitted morals against materialism- the church’s justification versus the state’s revenue/economic interest.  The latter though has hardly been verbal, let alone act, choosing to be a mute spectator, while allowing the debate to carry on without a key player in the mix. In recent times, the Dimapur Naga Students Union (DNSU) has

Asangba Tzudir It is said that without greed we would still be living in the caves, but when it is left unchecked the insatiable desire for more and better material things only grows and gets more destructive.  Greed is a general characteristic feature going as far back to the times when human species began life, and with the evolution of times greed is further manifested even as societal values breaks down. This is quite an anthropological argument where the process of evol

Imlisanen Jamir On April 18 at around 11:30 pm, an announcement was made which ensures that football does not remain the same ever again. This announcement also reaffirms a concerning worldview that beneath the veneer of ‘woke-ism’ PR stunts, power and wealth trumps everything else in this world.  The 12 richest clubs in the world, European all of them, announced the formation of a European Super League. There will be 20 teams of which 15 pretentiously calling th

Language and Religion have served as two vital pillars in the history of Empire building that were inherited by the modern Westphalian State. These pillars have been the touchstone for a unifying and uniforming status, as well as the point of diversion.  The Kenyan political activist Ngũgũ wa Thiong’o informs us that language is central to a people’s definition in relation to the world around them. Thiong’o in Decolonizing the Mind wrote that language has a

Akangjungla Indigenous language is not essentially a national language but it is undeniably the language of the indigenous peoples belonging to a particular region which is not always defined by fixed boundaries. It is the central to the identity, culture, heritage and element of self-determination of indigenous peoples.  “For indigenous peoples, languages not only identify their origin or membership in a community, they also carry the ethical values of their ancestors

Imkong Walling Nagaland has not much to boast of as far as the parameters of growth and development are concerned. Infrastructure is one area where the state takes a beating, which has further dealt a festering wound to all round growth.  Barring a relative improvement in roads in the district headquarters over the past two-three years, the deficiency is all pervasive, be it in healthcare, education, roads, power, water, communications, transport, sports et cetera.