Local legislator finally sees Dimapur as deserving Smart City
Staff Reporter
Dimapur requires a greater chunk of urban development and needs solutions yet the city ‘did not come out with constructive suggestions’ to demand for ‘Smart City’–in actuality, the commercial hub of Nagaland is the one deserving to be a ‘Smart City’ in every perspective.
This was implied by parliamentary secretary for Labour and Employment, Skill Development and Border Affairs, Mmhonlumo Kikon, on Monday.
The politician was addressing an environmental seminar at Unity Hall at the Naga Council in Dimapur on July 4. The event was organized by the Save Environment Network (SEN), a local nongovernmental group, and sponsored by the Nagaland Contractors and Suppliers’ Union.
In his address, the legislator said that for a ‘Smart City’
to be, ‘We should be smart citizens and prepare a strong argument to demand for
smart city.’
Remarking that environment issues were a global concern, the legislator said ‘We are ecological citizens and fighting for immediate solution against environment problem.’ In the context of Dimapur, he said there was no concept of waste segregation and it was “not properly implemented.” Instead of civil societies ‘indulging in paper war’ through the local media, Kikon encouraged them to place their opinions before the state government “with proper documentation.”
Also, the politician claimed that ‘law and order is in place in the state’ but citizens’ participation was ‘integral for any development.’ The legislator was referring this to the compensation demand by land owners of the four-lane road project which continues to await materialization.
Kikon claimed that the landowners were seeking ‘undue
compensation.’ This is hampering development from seeing objective, the said.
He said that the central government was ‘ready to sanction funds for
development’ but ‘not without concrete solutions.’
“We will be accountable for not contributing ourselves as a citizen for development of the state,” Kikon said.
Social Audit on DMC
The parliament secretary also took opportunity from the presence of Dimapur Naga Students’ Union (DNSU) and Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) leaders and officials attending the seminar. Mmhunlumo Kikon suggested to the DNSU to collaborate with Save Environment Network and plan a ‘citizen audit to check on the toll collection by DMC and the developmental work done so far by the department and work collectively for progress of Dimapur. ‘
Kikon also suggested to the SEN ‘to be honest while organizing seminars’ and not to organize seminars ‘just for the sake of managing as a nongovernmental organization.’ He called upon the organization to take serious note of river bed mining and ‘garbagedumping issues’ sincerely’ as advocates of the environment.
During the occasion, Kikon also called against the ‘chief guest culture’ in the state of Nagaland. He called upon the public not to seek donations from chief guests. They must also stop the practice of asking for donations.
The politician also took a jibe at IGP Robin Hibu, the nodal officer for the North East, Delhi, for ‘dragging the Nagaland government’ into the recent issue of ‘40 Naga youths employed at the King Catering Services at Rajkot without payment of salary for months.’ Kikon articulated that a learned man like Hibu should make his statement after thorough verification and not jump into conclusion and going public through social media.
Since he (Kikon) holds the Skill development department and was alerted, the legislator said it was confirmed that they (40 Naga youths) were employed through a middleman and not the state government.
Another speaker at the event was the dean of science of Patkai Christian College, Angel Sonare. Speaking on the theme of the seminar “role of civil society in environment protection,” the teacher cited civil society to be a third way of governing a society.
Supplementing to Mmhonlumo’s take on development in the society, the resource person remarked that as a society we cannot undo or go backward by stopping developmental activities in our society but we can encourage and negotiate with the government and help in reducing the effect of development of bio diversity.
Citing environment polices she said that those policies will remain irrelevant when civil societies do not participate and abide.
Advocating strongly for churches to be active with environment issues, she maintained Churches has a very crucial role to play and remarked that environment issues is not a problem of just the government, departments or nongovernmental organizations but everyone’ problem. Therefore we should start preaching at church pulpit to address this issue.
No Stiff Upper Lip to Bad English: School Edu. gets snazzy
Our Correspondent
A three-day long training event on phonetics for government teachers began today at Zonal Council Hall, Kohima. The training is being organized by the department of School Education, Government of Nagaland, in collaboration with Jolly Phonics of United Kingdom.
The training, with Shainaz Jussa, principal and managing director Phonickids, Mumbai Jolly Phonics, UK, as the resource person, is aimed at educating the teachers on phonetics so that they would be able to disseminate the right knowledge to the students.
As a pilot project, similar programmes were organized by the same department last year in the month of October and February this year.
The resource person, during the course of training, stressed the need for teachers to learn synthetic phonics.
“Children need to know the alphabetic codes, and they should start learning at an early stage,” she said maintaining that, once the teachers learn phonetics, then it becomes easy to teach children.
She said Jolly phonics is children friendly and it teaches
children how to read and spell. She went on to say that the sound of the
letters is (always) more important than the letters, adding that teachers
should understand synthetic phonetics in order to teach children beginning
from a tender age.
Earlier during the inaugural function, additional director, Wonthungoe Tsopoe also underscored the need to disseminate the right knowledge to the students at early age.
“Qualification alone is not enough. We need to disseminate the right knowledge to the students. Once the teachers are well trained, their services can go even beyond State,” he said adding that there is a high demand of English teachers all over the world.
Over 50 teachers from Kohima and Dimapur, mostly primary teachers, are attending the three-day training.
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs (phones): their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory perception, and neurophysiological status. Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of sounds or signs.
The field of phonetics is a multilayered subject of
linguistics that focuses on speech. In the case of oral languages there are
three basic areas of study:
Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production of speech sounds by the articulatory and vocal tract by the speaker.
Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical transmission of speech sounds from the speaker to the listener.
Auditory phonetics: the study of the reception and perception of speech sounds by the listener.
These areas are inter-connected through the common mechanism
of sound, such as wavelength (pitch), amplitude, and harmonics. (Inputs about phonetics: Wikipedia)
Vandals and the antisocial mar Kohima facelift works
Kohima Correspondent
Human waste was found this morning on the old MLA junction footbridge, where the Kohima Ao Baptist Arogo (KABA Care) had recently undertaken a voluntary ‘beautification’ works in Kohima town.
This is the third such incident of individuals believed to be trying to spoil the ‘beautification’ works, since KABA CARE started the voluntary social services in its efforts to give the capital town a face lift.
On June 23, some vandals also ruined paintings and smashed paint buckets on the footbridge above Mezhür Higher Secondary School. Also, some cross markings were found on the painted footbridge at Razhü point earlier.
Talking to Eastern Mirror, Kovi Meyase, the administrator of Kohima Municipal Council said that he was disappointed by the lack of civic sense among the public in the town. Volunteers are working without any pay, lending social services for the benefit of all the town’s citizens, he said.
In this regard, the official has fervently appealed to the
public to maintain some decency, and do away with ‘this kind of mentality and
to respect the efforts of the volunteers.’
Lightning and staying safe: NSDMA issues caution
Dimapur, July 4
The Nagaland State Disaster Management Agency (NSDMA) issued an advisory warning the public about the Do-and-Don’t in staying safe from lightning and storms. It is understood that the caution was issued amid heavy rains, and reports of people in India being killed by lightning.
The agency stated in the statement:
Lightning is defined or understood as the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder.
It literally means "tremendous flash of lightning". If the time delay between seeing the flash (lightning) and hearing a thunderclap is less than 30 seconds, you should be in, or seek a safe location. Whenever you hear or see lighting, it’s a reminder that you are at risk and need to take precautionary measures.
‘It is learnt that a large number of people have been killed by lightning strikes across northern and eastern India just in the last few days due to torrential rains in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. In Bihar itself, 57 people died and 37 others sustained severe injuries,’ the agency stated.
“There is an urgent need to provide information to the people about the steps to be taken when indoors, outdoors and if infected by a lightning strike,” it stated.
Following the Do’s and Dont’s to stay safe
1. When Thunder starts to strike:
Take shelter in a home, large building or substantial fully-enclosed building, preferably protected with a lightning protection system. Stay indoors and avoid travel if possible. Prevention is better than cure.
2. Avoid areas where you will be the highest object:
If you are caught in an open field with no nearby shelter drop down and crouch with hands on knees, rocking up on the balls of your feet. (The idea is to make as little less contact with the ground as possible.) Never lie down flat or place your hands on the ground.
3. Certain locations are extremely hazardous during thunderstorms:
No place is absolutely free from a lightning threat. However, some places are safer than others. Avoid lakes, beaches or open water, fishing from a boat or dock, riding on golf carts, farm equipment, motor cycles or bicycles. If caught on high ground or in an open area, seek shelter in a low area. Take shelter in tunnels, subways, even ditches or caves if necessary—but never under a tree!
4. Stay off the telephone etc:
Avoid contact with Software Defined Radios (SDR), toasters, hairdryers and any electrical appliance which has electrical wirings.
In your home, don’t stand near open windows, doorways or metal piping. Stay away from the television, plumbing, sinks, tubs, radiators and stoves.
5. Wait at least 30 minutes after a lightning storm has passed to resume outdoor activities.
6. Unplug unnecessary electrical appliances (to isolate them from the main power supply which may conduct a power surge during a lightning storm).
7. If at work:
Look for darkening skies and increased wind. If you hear thunder, then you are close enough to be struck by lightning. Keep on monitoring local media for updates and warning instructions.
8. If at home:
Close windows and doors, and secure objects outside the home (example: furniture, bins, patio etc). Ensure that children and animals (domestic pets) are inside proper shelters.
9. Avoid taking bath or showers the time of lightning. This is because lightning can travel through metal pipes.
10. Avoid staying near communication towers (television dish or mobile towers).
11. If on foot:
Response: Go to a safe shelter immediately. Avoid contact with metal structures and constructions with metal sheeting. Ideally find shelter in a low lying area and make sure that the spot chosen is not likely to flood. Do not take shelter under trees as these conduct electricity.
12. If travelling:
Response: Get off bicycles, motor-cycles or farm vehicles. Get to a safer shelter. During a storm, remain in your vehicle until help arrives or the storm has passed.(The metal roof will provide protection, if you are not touching metal inside; windows should be up; park away from trees and power lines. If there is a tornado involved in a storm, evacuate the vehicle and seek shelter.
Treatment for Lightning:
If at all possible, give basic first aid to the injured and rush him to the nearest hospital. People struck by lightning carry no electrical charge and can be handled safely. Check for broken bones, loss of hearing and eyesight. A victim of lightning strike can suffer varying degrees of burning. Check the impact point and where the electricity left the body. Many lightning casualties occur because people ignore these precursors and warnings.
“Educate yourself and educate others too. Be safe,” the NSDMA added.
Kohima police goes digital with own website
Kohima Correspondent
Better late than never. Kohima police today joined the space age by launching its official website. The website, www.kohimapolice.com, was formally launched by the Director General of Police (DGP) Nagaland, LL Doungel in the office premises of the district’s superintendent of police in Kohima town.
In his address during the ceremony, the police official said that the website would act as a ‘force multiplier’ and also help the public to reach the police without any difficulty. Kohima district police is spread over eight police stations and has seven special units.
Besides contact details about a police stations and traffic enforcement control units in Kohima district, the website also contains information for public services.
With the launch, Kohima police has become the second district in Nagaland to have a fully-functional website after the Dimapur police whose website was launched in November last year.
(Al Ngullie, July 4, 2016. Eastern Mirror)
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