NAGALAND: Weekly News Round-up
Nagaland to start Aadhaar-linked birth registration
Nagaland is set to become the first state in the Northeast to officially launch the Aadhaar linked birth registration (ALBR), which is a system for Aadhaar enrollment of children below 5 years at the time of Birth Registration, called Baal Aadhaar.
A key benefit of the Baal Aadhar enrolment is that a child receives his/her own unique identity and can easily track immunization, ICDS, school education and other social welfare benefits.
Baal Aadhaar is in blue colour to visibly distinguish the card for children and no biometric fingerprint and iris images of the child is recorded. Only photograph of the child is taken and birth registration number is added to the registration. The guardian’s or parents’ physical proof of identity is required and Baal Aadhaar can be used till the age of 5 years.
GNI workshop on fact-checking held in Patkai College, Nagaland
The Department of Mass Communication under Patkai Christian College, Nagaland hosted a Google News Initiative (GNI) workshop on ‘Fact-checking through visual verification’ on August 30.
Dr Moalemba Jamir, GNI India Training Network trainer, conducted an exercise to gauge the alertness of the gathering in spotting fake news and highlighted the various characteristics (propaganda, clickbait, conspiracy theories etc) of fake news and techniques (what about ism, name-calling, emotional words etc.) used in dissemination of fake news. He also demonstrated the various tools available like Google Reverse Image Search, Yandex, Tineeye, InVid etc that can be used to verify visual information.
Dr. Jamir however added that there is “no silver bullet” to verify photos and videos. “It is a combination of reverse image search, smart key word search, strong observational skills and good old-fashioned journalism,” he stated.
Senior Citizens Association oppose Forest Rights Act amendment
The Senior Citizens’ Association of Nagaland (SCAN) has opposed the implementation of the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act 2023 in the state, pointing out that its provisions were not suitable for the state.
The Association asserted that land in Nagaland belonged to Naga people since time immemorial and every Naga village had its own sovereign authority over its land.
It is seriously concerned about the implementation of the amended Act, particularly the ‘100-km exemption for environmental clearance for forests along the international borders to be used for construction of strategic linear projects of national importance and those concerning national security’.
SCAN cautioned that implementation of the Act would mean that the Central Government can take any arbitrary decision which would leave the Naga lands without any protection, as the amendment excludes obtaining prior consent from village councils and local district authorities.
Nagaland Gorkha Students Union elects new team
The All Nagaland Gorkha Students’ Union (ANGSU), one of the oldest Gorkha organizations in the State elected new executive body – John Thakuri from Kohima as President, Sunil Limbu of Dimapur & Michael Subba of Mokokchung as vice presidents, Yommi Rai from Kohima as General Secretary, Prabhat Rai of Mokokchung as Assistant General Secretary, Maya Bardewa of Chümoukedima as Finance & Treasure and Upasna Rai of Chümoukedima as Press & Information secretary.
The Union had been defunct for several years and is now being reformed with the election of the new executive body, at its general meeting held in Kohima.
