Naga IT professional develops assessment tool to help businesses evaluate preparedness Morung Express News Dimapur | June 25 With lockdown restrictions being relaxed, many businesses are slowly resuming operations. In Nagaland, the district administrations have allowed reopening of shops and business establishments in the respective districts with certain conditions applied. Along with the precautions and safety guidelines laid down by the government, individuals

‘Seasons of Life’- a directorial debut on food cultures of Nagaland by Dolly Kikon   Vishü Rita Krocha Kohima | June 24 “Our ancestors foraged for bamboo shoot. They traded bambooshoot and fed it to us too. This is how we were brought up. Today, we forage and sell bambooshoot and fend for ourselves. If we are committed to this process, the community will progress and prosper.” These are lines captured from the trailer of 'Seasons o

Vishü Rita Krocha Kohima | June 23 From the time the HIV epidemic took seed to the present time of the novel Coronavirus, there has been a major challenge surrounding infectious diseases. While the affected populations have to deal with the stress of handling the disease, they are additionally being severely traumatized with stigma and discrimination. Frontline workers are also not spared from stigmatization as an NST Bus Driver, Imsuba Sangtam dejectedly stated that “

Morung Express News Kohima | June 23 In a world before Coronavirus, 25-year old B Yaji Chang would never have imagined grieving the loss of a loved one all by himself, with not even a shoulder to cry on. When his father passed away today even while he is being quarantined in a centre in Tuensang, he got just a brief 5 minutes to say his final goodbye to his father with no family or friend to stand beside and console him. Chang is one of the stranded Nagas who arrived in Naga

Churches say ‘there is no inter-mingling’   Morung Express News Dimapur | June 23 With almost every activity being severely affected including religious congregations owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, believers of Christ especially in the Christian dominated state of Nagaland have been missing their regular dosage of the word of God from the Church leaders. Many Churches deliver online sermons and also issue order of programmes through social media to be foll

Morung Express News Kohima | June 21  Apart from frontline workers, several services during the pandemic have often gone unnoticed and underappreciated. One such example is that of the essential workers currently employed as ‘cleaners’ at quarantine centres (QCs) in Kohima. Confronted with a number of challenges, many of these ‘cleaners’ expressed resentment that they have been given the short end of the stick as they have been discharging duties

Morung Express News Dimapur | June 21 Rural women in Nagaland have become an invaluable grassroots arm of the government effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. Far from the reaches of the mainstream media, all-women Self Help Groups (SHG) are quietly serving as a multi-tasking volunteer force for disseminating awareness to the rural masses.  The Nagaland State Rural Livelihoods Mission (NSRLM), according to a handout, has activated its network of 12,000 SHGs, working

Atono Tsükrü Kense Kohima | June 20 While most of the countries across the globe are struggling to contain the spread of COVID-19 with high mortality rate, the state of Nagaland is considered fortunate as 97% of all the COVID-19 positive cases fall under the category of ‘asymptomatic’ and the recovery rate stands at 68% as of June 20. However, there is some section of people who are unable to comprehend and beginning to doubt the ‘high recovery ra

Morung Express News Dimapur | June 20 ‘They came, they ate and they left without any words of gratitude.’ This is the sentiment shared by some food caterers who have been feeding the returnees in different quarantine centres since the past two months on a daily basis. “Even after getting bad publicity in the social media from returnees, we continue to serve them since any counter or rejoinder at the present juncture would only compound problems,” said

Frontline Dads on balancing work and family during pandemic   Vishü Rita Krocha Kohima | June 20 Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges, Father’s Day will be nothing like the ones we have experienced in our lifetime. Among the many frontliners who are risking their lives every day, are also fathers, going out of their way, proving once again, that dads will always be heroes. On the eve of Father’s Day, The Morung

Morung Express News Dimapur | June 19 Stress on economy and people due to lockdown have affected primary sector upto 25.34% where 70% of the populations in the state are engaged with. And the need of food sovereignty and self-sustenance has more relevance today than ever. Climate change, food and finance security cannot remain in isolation and is no longer a survival of the fittest for existence but co-existence in which creativity and innovation should be the driving force. 

Morung Express News Kohima | June 19 Like most businesses and specially food businesses, RedMoon Bakery, based in Delhi faced a massive hit during the lockdown with the sudden closure. However, the impact of the lockdown remained unwavered for the thirteen years old bakery, where it continued to remain committed to its staff and clients. On June 12, RedMoon Bakery extended its goodwill to Nagas by baking 1053 breads for the 580 Naga returnees in Delhi who were homeward bound by t

Atono Tsükrü Kense Kohima | June 18  Uniformed personnel probably endure more stress than those in any other profession, as they are exposed to the most challenging occupational hazards including violence, distress, deaths and even cases of negative publicity. Besides their routine duty, overtime shifts and grueling schedules prevents them from spending enough time with their families or even getting a proper rest and sleep, leaving them with traumatic li

Christo Naga’s Club undertakes terrace cultivation in Zhavame village    Vishü Rita Krocha Kohima | June 17  With the rapid growth of urbanization, over the years, many people have fled to towns in search of better opportunities and with fewer farmers in the village every passing year, more and more paddy fields get abandoned. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has revived the age old tradition of farming even as many town dwellers return home during t

Vishü Rita Krocha Kohima | June 16 Nicholas Kharkongor’s film, Axone has created quite a buzz among the movie buffs, having portrayed what no other Indian mainstream movie has ever done before both in terms of casting and exploring the culture from the North East region. It has also gained much popularity for the subject of ‘racism’ that it deals with. When it started streaming on Netflix from June 12, Axone was also among the keenly anticipated movies

Aliba Student’s Union helps children discover their potentials and skills    Limasenla Jamir  Mokokchung | June 16  In an attempt to keep young minds occupied and to value and improve creative skills, the Aliba Student’s Union, Aliba village, Mokokchung, launched the “Skill Development and Training” project on June 9.  “Taking advantage of the unprecedented circumstances, children’s free time is utilized to

1 more expected within few days; another CCC identified   Morung Express News Dimapur | June 15 Two days after the Dimapur-based civil societies urged the state government to provide additional TrueNat machines to the district, Dimapur received two such machines on Monday. Appreciating the government for immediate positive response, In-charge of Dimapur for COVID-19 activities, Y Kikheto Sema, said the two machines were being readied at the State Institute of Heal

Request for exemption of OST doctors & nurses from COVID-19 duty   Morung Express News Kohima | June 14 Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the attention and efforts of the state government and its agencies have shifted towards combating and containing the virus, leaving the key population – PLHIVs on ART, drugs users on OST and TB patients without access to services.  There have been numerous reports from various parts of the state whe

Vishü Rita Krocha Kohima | June 14 “Today, if we cease our work, our reporting system relating to the COVID-19 pandemic will collapse. Reporting is time bound and for that matter, sample collection and testing are handled by NHM,” a doctor from NHM, currently serving in a far flung district of Nagaland asserted. This comes in the wake of the state government’s decision to regularize the post of 27 contractual doctors, following which, the National Health Mi

Ashikho Pfuzhe Dimapur | June 13 A popular meme which circulated on WhatsApp of a man shouting in Nagamese "Colony manu kaunba pera hoilebe Gahori katibi ho...!!" (Anyone from the colony, please slaughter a pig), succinctly conveys the meat-starved scenario in Nagaland. Three months into the lockdown and meat, once a regular menu on the Naga kitchen table, has become not only rarer but dearer in terms of cost too. With the state's borders sealed due to the