5 professional footballers, back home due to pandemic, launch their own league in Nagaland

Snippets from the vibrant Northeast that capture politics, culture, society and more in the eight states.

Players during a league match | Dimapur Division League | Facebook

New Delhi: Five footballers from Nagaland who returned home from various parts of India and abroad due to the pandemic have now launched their own championship, called the Dimapur Division League (DDL), to train local youth.

They are Wonito Akashe Zhimomi, Kevilhulie Zakiesato, Tove Hokato Zhimomi, Hitova Ayemi and Inonito Ghukhui Zhimomi, all of whom have played in several national and international football clubs. The league was launched in October.

“Our main goal (in launching DDL) is to provide a platform to the young Naga footballers who are hungry to learn and acquire skills,” Wonito, whose last stint was with the Kolkata-based Mohammedan Sporting Club as a central defensive midfielder, told The Morung Express.

Tove, a midfielder who trained in Spain and played for Nervion FC and Montequinto FC, said, “Leagues help a player to build consistency and focus for a longer period of time, which are very important for a person aspiring to be a footballer and that’s what DDL is all about.”

Zakiesato played for Estoril Praia FC, a Portugese sports club, while Inonito trained under the Deutsches Fussball Internat Academy and played for Tus Badaibling under the Bayern League. Ayemi, meanwhile, went to South Korea for training and played for the Fateh Hyderabad AFC and DSK Shivajians Football Academy.

Assamese man spends 23 years trying to save world’s smallest pig species

Parag Deka, a veterinarian and conservationist from Assam, has been working tirelessly for the past 23 years towards the conservation of pygmy hogs — the world’s smallest species of wild pigs.

Deka heads the Pygmy Hog Conservation Program (PHCP), which is run jointly by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and an NGO called Aaranyak. Since 1997, Deka and his team have been working closely with communities living near pygmy hog habitats to spread awareness about the importance of conserving this rare species.

The PHCP team does what is known as conservation breeding — the captive breeding of pygmy hogs with an aim to reintroduce them into the wild. The hogs are trained to survive in the wild before they are reintroduced into a natural habitat.

“It has given my life purpose. The way I see it, I am spending my one human life to save a whole species from extinction,” Deka told The Better India.

Manipuri woman, who sold street food, is state’s first female MMA fighter

Jojo Rajkumari has become the first woman mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter in Manipur. Rajkumari, who used to run small businesses, including selling street food to make a living, was Thursday felicitated by the 13 Dogra Regiment in Imphal for her achievement.

Rajkumari, 23, started out as a kickboxer and took part in several state and national events. She bagged a total of 12 medals in kickboxing, including a gold and a silver. She switched to MMA in 2017 under instructor Nandeibam Frank Mangang of the Kanglei Mixed Martial Arts Club located at Singjamei Chingamakha in Imphal West. She has secured two wins so far.

“I will try to achieve more medals within the country in the MMA female category. But I am aiming to become champion in ‘One Championship’ tournament so that the world could recognise Manipur has such fighters who can compete in the international arena,” Rajkumari was quoted as saying.

This Nagaland town council is buying discarded plastic from residents

The Kiphire Town Council (KTC) has decided to buy plastics every Saturday from the residents of Nagaland’s Kiphire town. The decision has been taken to reduce the impact of plastic on the environment and encourage locals to keep their surroundings clean.

A notification was recently issued by the council that said plastics will be bought by the local authorities from 9 am to 3 pm every Saturday, at the KTC Solid Waste Management site.

The plastics will be bought by KTC at fixed rates. While mineral water bottles will be bought at Rs 5 per kg, other plastics such as bottles of shampoo, cream, vegetable oil, etc. will be bought at Rs 3 per kilogram.