VOLUME 02 | ISSUE 38 by G Plus

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VOLUME 02 | ISSUE 38 JUN 27 - JUL 03 , 2015

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Bloody

DAYS o f G U WA H AT I

The city was left shocked as a series of horrific crimes were reported one after the other over the last week. Contd. on PG 02

A TICKING TIME BOMB PG 15

Tanushree Baruah New chic on the block

Page 24

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Lead Story

7DAYS Bloody o f G U WA H AT I

Kalyan Deb

In a week to forget, Guwahati was shocked and shaken with news of murder, rape, suicide and vengeance trickling in day after day. In the backdrop of a major change at the city’s police commissionerate, these tales caught the Guwahatians off-guard, with the triple homicide at Hatigaon having caused the most ripples.

recent homicide shook Guwahati, where a husband and father of two, Pranab Mahanta allegedly killed his wife and two daughters at their residence in Banphul Path in Hatigaon. A 48-yearold woman, Priyanka Mahanta, and her two daughters, Adrita, 18, and Akshunna, 12, were found murdered inside their house at Hatigaon on the morning of June 20th. As the car of Priyanka’s businessman husband, Pranab Mahanta, 54, was found near the Saraighat Bridge , it is suspected that Mahanta jumped into the river after killing his family. Police found the three bodies on two beds in two separate rooms on the first floor of the Mahantas’ three-storey building. Since blood was oozing from their heads and the note recovered from the crime scene police has confirmed the incident as homicide. The family members were hit by a hammer found on one of the beds of the two rooms that were locked from the outside. As stated by neighbours, prior to his departure from his residence, Mahanta called his brother-in-law, Naba Kumar Mahanta, a lecturer of geography in Nagaon College, offering an apology, following which both Mahanta’s and his wife’s mobile phones were switched off. Naba, then rushed to Guwahati after hearing the news of the murders. After he found Priyanka and Pranab’s mobiles switched off, Naba called a few people who went to Pranab’s house and found it locked. They then contacted the police, who broke open the door and found the bodies. Shocked residents of the area crowded in front of Mahanta’s house till the three bodies were taken to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem around 1.30 pm on

CASE 1 Crime Triple homicide Location Banphul Path Victim(s) Priyanka Mahanta(48), Adrita (18), and Akshunna (12) Suspect Pranab Mahanta (54), Nayanjyoti Bhattacharya the same day. The Mahantas’ tenants on the ground floor and second floor and neighbours said they had no abstraction of the incident as they were asleep or had no clue that such an incident was waiting to happen. It was found that Mahanta was depressed for some time over a financial matter. Pranab had lent his business partner, Nayanjyoti Bhattacharya, a sum of `12 lakhs and even after approaching Nayanjyoti several times, he refused to repay Pranab and ill treated him. According to neighbours, Mahanta was a very polite and calm natured person and during their stay in the area for around 8-10 years, there had never been any kind of incident

of nuisance or mishap that had taken place. They lived like every other normal family although, over the past month, the family’s social indulgence had lessened. Mahanta’s wife would rarely leave the premises of the house. It was found that Mahanta’s deceased wife tried to commit suicide over a month ago and was rushed to GNRC Hospitals located in 6th Mile, the reason for which, however, remains undiscovered. According to sources, she was admitted to the hospital with a history of overdose of sleeping pills and was treated for the same. In response to treatment and her quick recovery, she was discharged the very next day. Born and brought up at Kalugaon in Upper Assam’s Sivasagar district,

Pranab came to Guwahati in 1986. He used to run an LPG agency at Bhurbandha in Morigaon district, about 60 km east of Guwahati and a tent house at Survey and used to stay at Bhurbandha and kept visiting his home on weekends. Guwahati police commissioner Mukesh Agarwala said circumstantial evidence confirmed that the three were murdered. “There was blood in both the rooms and faces of the deceased were covered with cloth. We have found a hand-written note apparently signed by him, saying Mahanta himself was responsible for the murders. Jumping to a conclusion until forensic reports arrive will be premature but it is clear that it is a case of homicide and sui-

cide,” he added. “We also collected some medicines and substances from two glasses found on a table which were also found in Mahanta’s car and we will examine everything. We have formed an SIT (Special Invstigation Team) under an ACP to crack the case and are following certain leads.” he said. Notice has been issued to the absconding Nayanjyoti Bhattacharya and his family members. Meanwhile, river police personnel searched the Brahmaputra till late this evening but could not trace Pranab’s body and are continuing the search.

Case status Suspects absconding

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Lead Story

CASE 2 Crime Rape and murder Location Noonmati Victim Name Withheld Suspect Akbar Ali In yet another incident that has shaken the city of Guwahati was the brutal murder following rape of a college student which took place on Tuesday evening. It was only after the local people of Noonmati found the body of a 21 year old college student in a shrubbery in that area around 2 pm, that the matter came into notice. The body was found with the throat slit and partially clothed. The police later confirmed that the girl was brutally raped by someone in the jungle. Later that day, locals of the area took out a protest rally with the body of the girl against the failure of the administration to tackle the law and

order situation and protect women’s safety in Guwahati. Following this, members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) also staged a demonstration in front of Prasanti Uddyan, Dighalipukhuri on Wednesday, protesting against the killing of the college student. Meanwhile, one Akabr Ali has been apprehended as a suspect in the case after suspicion arose about injury marks on his face and hands indicating injuries he might have received during a scuffle. Ali (22) was arrested by police and is currently

being interrogated by senior police officials involved in the sensational Noonmati rape and murder case. He stays in a rented house at Ananda Nagar, Noonmati and is originally from Koyakuchi, Barpeta. Earlier, Mukesh Agarwal, police

CASE 3

CASE 4

Crime Attempt to murder

Crime Rape

Location Nayanpur

Location Boragaon

Victim Sabina Begum

Victim Name Withheld

Suspect Jannatul Fardus

Suspect Absconding

In another attempt to murder that took place in Nayanpur in the Ganeshguri area of Guwahati, a 20 year old girl named Sabina Begum was attacked in broad day light by her male friend. The guy threatened her to come out of her hostel in the evening and later over a fight, he took out a blade from his pocket and started silting her neck. Later, the locals rescued the girl and admitted her at the Dispur hospital in a serious condition and handed over the guy, identified as Jannatul Fardus hailing from Barpeta, to Dispur police station. As informed by police, the murder attempt came as revenge on the victim who was earlier in a relationship with the suspect. The victim moved to Guwahati for her further studies after completing her Higher Secondary and was staying in a hostel in Nayanpur. The attempt came out of revenge and abandonment when Sabina wanted out of the relation. Fardus has been booked under charges of attempt to murder under (Section 307), wrongful restrain (Section 341) and voluntarily causing grievous harm by dangerous weapons or means (Section 326) of the IPC and has been sent to jail to be presented in the court of law. The weapon used by Fardus was also been recovered.

Status Suspect apprehended and sent to jail

Commissioner of Guwahati had constituted a five-member Special Investigation Team under an ACP to probe the alleged rape and murder of the college girl in Noonmati. ACP Hemanta Kumar of the Noonmati Range is heading the SIT.

Following Tuesday’s brutal incident of rape and murder, another similar case came to focus the very next day when police on Wednesday registered another rape case against two unidentified youths at Gorchuk police station after they rescued a girl, aged around 15, from a garage in Boragaon on the outskirts of the city early that morning. According to police sources, she was called to the garage by two youths who later raped her on Tuesday night. People staying near the garage, informed the police early this morning after spotting the girl and the police rescued her after they

Case status Suspects APPREHENDED

reached the spot. The two youths are absconding. “We have registered a case against the youths who, according to the victim, had raped her. We are questioning her and she has been sent for medical tests. The reports are awaited. Investigations are on and we are trying to trace the duo,” said a police officer. “We are also trying to contact the victim’s family, but she is changing her versions during questioning. Once she said she hails from Tinsukia and then changed it to Dhemaji. She said she lives with her mother and later said it is her father with whom she stays. If she is found to be a minor, we will entrust her responsibility to Childline,” he said.

Status investigation in Progress

CASE 5 Crime Suicide Location Rukminigaon Victim Himakshi Barman Suspect Undisclosed In a sad incident that took place in Rukminigaon area of Guwahati, a girl hanged herself to the fan in her room. Himakshi (18) was recovered from her room at around 8pm although she reportedly committed suicide at around 5:30pm the same evening. It is suspected that the victim hanged herself after splitting up with her paramour who was a tenant of the victim’s family. However, according to the police, the reason for her suicide is yet to be ascertained.

CASE 6 Crime Unnatural Death Location Borsola Beel

Status CASE UNDER INVESTIGATION

Victim Unidentified Suspect

The body of an unidentified man was found in Borsola beel near Chabipool on Wednesday morning. The Paltan Bazaar Police said the identification of the victim and the cause of death can only be established after the post-mortem report has arrived. The case is currently filed under unnatural death and any required measure will be taken only after the postmortem report is attained. On Wednesday morning, the locals saw the body floating on the water body and informed the police.

Status POST MOTEM REPORT AWAITED kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

In The News

LIQUOR PRICE HIKE NOT AFFECTING SALES CITY BARS CONTEMPLATING TARIFF CHANGE

Rahul Chanda

he city witnessed much chaos and confusion in the initial days of June after the Central Government decided to hike liquor prices substantially since June 1st 2015 after a period of five years. Initially there were many disagreements and heated debates witnessed at the wine shops as shop owners increased the price of the old stock as well, with majority of consumers raising questions at the justification of paying revised rates on products with older price tags. The wine shops have already increased the liquor price since June 1st but the city bars are still brainstorming on how much should they increase the price of the liquor and liquor based items in their menu card. Later, however, the excise department circulated a notification informing the customers that the prices were being raised in calculation to the hike as there are still many bottles of liquor in the bonded warehouse with old price tags but will be charged according to the new fixed rates, so, the shopkeepers cannot be faulted for charging according to the newly set price. But the question that arises isWith the new decision, who is gaining the most and has the increased liquor prices managed to discourage Guwahatians from boozing?

The market A city based businessman who has been in the liquor business since the last 17 years said that the market is affected not monetarily, but in quantity of products sold as customers with a budget of 100 rupees will no doubt purchase something in the same budget, but now with the increased prices, buy less. He said that the decision of hiking the price of liquor might be rolled back as the decision is mostly helping the neighbouring states as the liquor stores in Khanapara which falls under Meghalaya state are earning the most because their excise duty has not increased and people in Guwahati prefer to buy liquor from Khanapara. He also said that after the prices were hiked in Assam, authorities in excise department have increased the number of raids and checks along the inter-state borders. “One of my friend is a big shot and he was coming from Sonapur with his wife and friends. While coming back home, he thought of buying two bottles of Civas Regal from Meghalaya as it is cheaper there, but while coming back, the excise people stopped him and seized both the bottles. He is irked at this move

as according to him, as consumers anyone can buy anything from anywhere.” According to him, the city people are going to Khanapara to buy liquor and it will increase the revenue of the other state so the implementation of the new rates will not bring profit to the state. Moon Saikia, Manager, HD Wine Shop said that there is no decrease in the sale and the price rise did not affect the market as people are still buying liquor in the same quantity. He said, “In the initial two days, the situation was chaotic as we had to explain a lot to the customers but after the notification from the excise department, people got used to it and they buy the same quantity. Regular drinkers have their selected wine shops and whatever may be the price, they will adjust the budget and buy from the same shop. People say that customers might go to Khanapara, but I don’t think so, as the quality of Assam liquor is better than Meghalaya and people do not plan on buying liquor from a faraway place.” Saikia is confident that there is no difference in the market and as liquor is not an essential commodity, people will not protest if the price is hiked. He also said the wine stores will earn the same profit as before but the government will gain a huge amount of revenue. Trying to find out about the Khanapara liquor market, our team visited the wine shops at Khanapara to know the actual reality.

Khanapara Nayanjyoti Kalita of Border Wine Shop at Khanapara said, “Since June 1st our business has drastically gone down as very less people buy liquor from our shop. On the first day there was a rush but very soon everyone started vanishing and later we discovered that the excise and police officials of Assam were checking every vehicle going towards Guwahati. They were not allowing people to take even a quarter bottle of liquor. Before we had some fixed customers from Six Mile and also the people who come from Shillong every evening buy liquor from here, but after the price hike in Assam, the checking is very strict and no one can carry liquor to Guwahati. We are suffering as our sales has gone down.” As almost all the wine stores at Khanapara had the same view, so, we thought of asking the excise officials on duty at Khanapara. Excise Intelligence Assistant Inspector Pradip Tumung was heading an excise department team below the Khanapara bridge checking all the

vehicles and seizing liquors if anyone was bringing it towards the Six Mile side. He said, “We have strict orders from our higher authorities to check all the vehicles and we are not allowing anyone to take even a quarter bottle of liquor across. We are also not imposing any fines but are forwarding the cases to the court where the judge will decide what fine should be imposed.” He said that he is following the orders he received and said that his senior officials can explain the rest. Seeking to know what is illegal about transporting liquor from one state to another in even minimal quantities, we decided to meet the higher authorities in the excise department.

Higher authority Assam Commissioner of Excise, Shamsher Singh said, “I have recently joined as the excise commissioner and I have at present two main challenges, one to stop the production and sale of illicit country made liquor as it is very unhealthy and there is no control in the market, and second is to stop the entry of liquor coming from other states as it will increase the revenue of other states and not Assam.” He said liquor coming from other states which explain the restare not meant for sale in Assam can be spurious as they do not have any control over the production and distribution and it is illegal to transport liquor from one state to other state. Not even a single drop of liquor from other states can be brought as it is illegal under section 53 (1)(a) of Assam Excise Act 1910. Singh said that since June 1st,,

the advalorem levy is imposed and because the excise levy is imposed, the price of the liquor is hiked. Regarding the market he said that the state government will benefit from the increase as it will earn more revenue for the state which is used for development and it is also an indirect prohibition encouraging the people to drink less. Singh asked the people not to consume illicit country made liquor to stay healthy and to drink liquor which is meant for sale in Assam. Singh said that his target this year is to generate Rs 1000 crore plus revenue for the state.

Always check the label if it is ‘for sale in Assam’ before buying

It is mandatory for all the off and on(bars) wine stores to install CCTV cameras

Check the MRP and always ask for cash memo as if anyone is charging more the customers can complain

Wine stores should not sell liquor to people below 21 years of age

The excise levy increase varies from one product to another like for beer 50.42 per cent of levy is imposed on the cost price subject to minimum of Rs 300.00 per case of 12 bottles of 650 ml size or equivalent quantity or 7.8 BL.

Revenue chart 2012-13 `567.9 crore 2013-14 `616.82 crore 2014-15 `665.82 crore Target for 2015-16 `1000 crore plus Similarly in luxury brand 89.91per cent levy is imposed on the cost price subject to a minimum of Rs 1078 per case of 12 bottles of 750 ml size or equivalent quantity or 48 bottles of 180 ml size or equivalent quantity all at 75 per cent proof spirit. So, the rate of price hike varies from product to product but according to maximum city wine shops Guwahatians are paying more but drinking the same. rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

In The News

GMC parking

finds poor response Juthika Baruah

expEnses run amok of revenue

nspite of reopening the much hyped parking under the city’s flyovers, the parking under the Ganeshguri Flyover has not yielded satisfactory results with the revenue generation showing poor results compared to the expenses for maintaining the parking place according to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC). Speaking to G Plus, Commissioner of GMC, Narayan Konwar said, “The security system has been handed over to the ex-servicemen and it is completely under CCTV surveillance for foolproof security. At a time, 50 four wheeler and 100 bikes can be parked which helps minimize traffic congestion. The parking has not been given to any lessee and is maintained by GMC itself to ensure its smooth functioning.” Konwar said that the people don’t want to park their vehicles in the paid parking space and instead they will park their vehicles on the roadside which creates traffic conges-

tion. “We incur an expense of Rs. 2.5 lakhs per month for maintaining the parking place but the revenue earned is not satisfactory. We are thinking of opening parking places under the Athgaon, Sixmile and Ulubari flyovers as well but if we do not get positive response from the public, we will have to think of an alternate parking spot according to public convenience. The rate for four wheelers is `20 for two hours while for bikes, it is `5 per hour,” said Konwar. The Commissioner informed that the parking is open from 6 AM to 10 PM every day and there are five entry and five exit gates besides the emergency gates. Security was the main issue after the 2008 serial blasts which shakes people’s consciousness even now when they are reminded of the incident but it has been taken care of. The GMC officials said that the security has been emphasized and therefore, the ex-army servicemen have been given the responsibility besides other secu-

rity system like metal detector, under vehicle inspection system and CCTV. Parking has been a huge problem in the city as maximum vehicles enters the city from outside with most working people coming for their jobs from outside the city. The vehicles are being parked on the roadside which creates

traffic congestion as the roads are too narrow to park the vehicles and for free flow of vehicles on the roads. A businessman who owns a shop in Ganeshguri said that reopening of the parking spaces under the flyovers is a good step but high level security should be maintained in order to pre-

vent any untoward incident. He said that the 2008 serial blasts is still remembered by the people and as the city is filled with many outsiders for different purpose, it should be taken care of to maintain the safety of the people. “The traffic in front of the St. Mary’s School, Guwahati Club harass commuters when parents come to pick up and drop their children in their own vehicles which creates traffic congestion. The traffic in that area occurs due to the parking of the vehicles on the road by the guardians and the district administration is inspecting the schools for proper parking of the vehicles to reduce the traffic congestion. As of now, the administration is looking after the issue and we can’t intervene in the situation. If the administration seeks any help from us then we will definitely look after the matter to reduce the traffic by allotting proper parking place for the people who come to pick and drop their children in their own vehicles,” said Konwar. juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

In The News

Guwahati pollution

Satisfactory in 2014

Juthika Baruah

he Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city for 2014 has been measured by Pollution Control Board, Assam as satisfactory. The quality of air, if touches the highest levels affects the health of the people. The PCBA has worked out the AQI as a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms which are easy to understand. “It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour following the same method adopted by Central Pollution Control Board for the city of Guwahati for the year 2014,” said Member Secretary of PCBA B.K. Baruah while speaking to G Plus. The AQI is measured in six categories• • • • • •

AQI 0-50 (Good) AQI 51-100 (Satisfactory) AQI 101-200 (Moderate) AQI 201- 300 (Poor) AQI 301- 400 (Very Poor) AQI 400+ (Severe)

Baruah said that if the AQI is measured 0-50 it has minimal impact, 51-100 may indicate minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people, 101200 means breathing discomfort to the people with lung, heart disease, children and older adults, 201-300 is symptomatic to breathing discomfort to people on prolonged exposure, 301- 400 augurs respiratory illness

Syeda Ambia Zahan

he struggle of a newly married couple to save their lives from their families who disapproved of the marriage has served as eye opener about the role that public representatives play in heinous crimes like honour killing. A legally married couple is constantly running for their lives in this region for the last one month fearing an ‘Assam MP’. Not only this, the witness to the marriage, which was registered in a court of Guwahati in the last of April is also on the run as they and their families have been facing immense harassment from the police. Shahbaz, 24 and Archiya Habib 19, a newly- wed couple has been absconding in Manipur after Archiya’s father Dr. Chaidul Islam filed an FIR in the Dispur police station of Assam accusing Shahbaz of “kidnapping” his daughter. “The police raided our house at one am at night suddenly. They were on the lookout for me. At that time, my sister-in-law, my mother and my sister were sleeping inside the house. How can they suddenly

to the people on prolonged exposure and if the AQI is measured above 400 then it cnnots respiratory effects even on healthy people. The Mean Monthly and Mean Annual AQI for the city for 2014 has been worked out based on results for six NAMP stations located at Bamunimaidam, Gopinath Nagar, Khanapara, Santipur, Gauhati University and Boragaon. The results show that the Mean Annual AQI for Guwahati for 2014 is 87 which falls under the Satisfactory category. The pattern of AQI round the year changes from month to month. During the year 2014, the AQI for the months January, February, March and April was found to be more than 199 and therefore, during these months the air of the city fell under the Moderate category. During the remaining eight months of the year 2014 i.e. May to

December, the AQI was found to be in the range of 46 to 73 while for July and September 2014, the AQI showed the best quality categorization i.e. Good. For the remaining six months, the AQI has been the second best category i.e. Satisfactory. The AQI can increase due to an increase of air emissions during rush hour traffic or when there is an upwind forest fire or from a lack of dilution of air pollutants. AQI needs to be measured frequently so that people could be aware of it and could take precautions accordingly if the AQI is measured severe or high. The board will release the AQI for the month of January to May 2015 soon. “The suspended particulate matter (SPM) and Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) in the Kamrup (M) district is found to be more in the critical pollution level category. RSPM is a primary concern

The pattern of AQI round the year changes from month to month. During the year 2014, the AQI for the months January, February, March and April is found to be more than 199 and therefore during these months the air of the city fall under the Moderate category of mortality and morbidity. Fine particles on their own or in combination with other air pollutants are linked with a number of health problems like premature death, aggravated asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, chronic

bronchitis and decreased lung function,” said Baruah. Various studies in recent time s have put Guwahati among the most polluted cities not only in India but in the world. The analysis of the ambient air quality data from 2004 till 2010 shows that the Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) and Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) in almost all the monitoring stations in Guwahati is alarmingly high, beyond the prescribed standards set by the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme in India. The Air Quality Index for Guwahati falls under the very unhealthy category wherein, the general public is at greater risk and the groups are at greatest risk. An increase in vehicular pollution is the primary causes of air pollution in Guwahati along with dust pollution and exhaust from the brick kiln industries. juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

Political high handedness Couple on the run

raid a house at midnight where women stay? And as far as my knowledge goes, I do not have a case registered against me,” said a witness of the marriage on the condition of anonymity. “The Dispur police station is under influence of MP Badruddin Ajmal. His hooligans are constantly

searching for us,” he added. At present, the witness is also on the run fearing high handedness of the Dispur police. Dr. Chaidul Islam, father of Archiya, is the managing director of three hospitals — Haji Abdul Majid Memorial Hospital in Hojai and two others in Goalpara and Badarpur in Silchar. All three belong to Assam MP Badruddin Ajmal. Dr. Chaidul Islam, reportedly requested MP Badruddin Ajmal to help him in getting his daughter back. MP Badruddin Ajmal came to Imphal on June 4 along with his entourage and stayed at Hotel Classic. He had talked over the phone with Archiya promising that nothing would happen to the couple and they would be married by the MP himself. When some local friends met the MP at Hotel Classic, the real intention came to light. It was understood that the girl was wanted back and not the boy. Then accompanied by a local MLA, Badruddin Ajmal met Chief

Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and asked him to help them nab the couple. The Imphal police then launched the operation at the instance of the CM. Archiya Habib had moved a domestic case against her parents at the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Imphal West under section 23 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Archiya Habib, meanwhile has left a video message to concerned people from some unknown areas in Imphal stating that “MP Badruddin Ajmal is pressurizing the police to nab us. We have not done anything wrong. I am not kidnapped. I have come with Shahbaz on my own terms. I have attained the marriageable age and so has Shahbaz. The MP is violating the constitution of India as he wants to prove our legal marriage nullified.” The magistrate has passed an interim relief for Archiya and a copy of the order was sent to the OC of Imphal Police Station Shantikumar.

One of the prime witness of the marriage who himself is a magistrate of Guwahati High Court has accused that the Dispur Police Station has constantly been pressurizing the marriage registrar to declare the marriage of Archiya and Shahbaz as invalid. “The Dispur police station is violating human rights. A witness should always be protected not harassed. But they are raiding our houses. The brother of one witness was called to the police station and the police made him sit for hours and interrogated him. These are happening under the influence of Badruddin Ajmal.” However, the OC of Dispur police station has refused to clear his stand regarding the allegations leveled against them. Notably, the inglorious cases of honour killings continue to take place in many places of Northeast even now. The incident has proved how public figures can influence people to look down upon couples marrying as per their wishes.

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

City

15 city schools apply for registration

after inspection by the District Administration Juthika Baruah

fter a joint operation by the District Administration, the District Transport Office (DTO) and the Inspector of Schools on private schools regarding their registration and infrastructure, 15 out of 25 schools which were earlier inspected for anomalies, have applied for registration. Speaking to G Plus, Inspector of Schools, Kamaljyoti Gogoi said, “There are many loopholes in the private schools and it is doubtful whether the students are being provided with quality education. Maximum teachers in such schools are not trained whereas in Government schools, the teachers appointed are highly qualified with B. Ed or PhD. The schools do not have fitness certificate, do not have proper infrastructure like fire safety or any other disaster safety norms. The children spend most of the time in school and the Nepal earthquake is an example which might occur anytime in Assam also.” Gogoi said that the schools also do not have any norms regarding the

fees and they collect the fees according to their wish but most of the schools do not pay the salaries of the teachers according to the pay commission. “The Little Flower School collected donation of Rs. 300 per student per month but they do not have the adequate infrastructure. The Government should make the fee structure rigid and it is the responsibility of the Government to bring the private schools under control,” added Gogoi. He further stated that 15 schools have applied for registration although schools do not want to register themselves because most of them have land problems. The lands are not in the name of school authorities. The schools which have applied for registration are Maharshi Vidya Mandir (Silpukhuri and North Guwahati), Royal Group of Institutions, Delhi Public School, Heritage Public School, Pragjyotish English Medium School, Axel Public School, Maria’s Public School, Sankardev Sishu Vidya Niketan (Moloibari and Khetri). Little Flower School, Holy Child School and

Schools do not want to register themselves because most of them have land problems. The lands are not in the name of school authorities. St. Mary’s School are registered under Central Government. Gogoi informed that the schools that have applied for registration will have to submit No Objection Certificate (NOC) from health department, land documents, profile of the school, safety certificate etc. after which it will be sent to the Education department for verification of registration. He said, “We can’t take any action until and unless the schools are registered under the government and the government too should instruct action against such schools if they violate any norms. Most of the schools are violating the RTE Act.” According to Gogoi, the government should have inspected the

schools earlier but due to negligence and irresponsibility, the schools are running without any rules and regulations. The school buses are run by the private schools and not by the government schools which create traffic congestion in the city. The GPS system will also be installed in the school buses which will monitored by the Principal from the school with the staff of the bus so that they could have a record at what time a student has been dropped and picked up. Earlier, District Commissioner of Kamrup (M), M. Angamuthu asked the parents to put their children in school buses as this will reduce the traffic congestion because most of the parents drop their children by their own vehi-

cles which leads to traffic jams as a result of which the general public have to face problems. If 50 per cent of the parents followed the guidelines, at least the traffic congestion will be reduced to some extent. The School Inspector also said that private schools are doing business in the name of providing education. “Putting a tie and dressing up like gentlepersons do not mean that the students are educated. The school authorities should be concerned about quality education provided to the students, rather than maintain only discipline,” the inspector said. He also said that the inspection will be continued after the Ambubachi Mela as the administration and DTO are busy with the Ambubachi fair at present as lakhs of devotees throng the Kamakhya temple. After the inspection was started in Kamrup (M), the schools in other parts of the state have also become concerned. The district administration of all the districts will start the mission soon in other parts of the state as well so that the education system could be improved. juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

City

Rahul Chanda

n January 2015, a major change was effected in the city’s police department when the regular functioning of the police was replaced by a Commissionerate and Jyotirmay Chakravarty became the first commissioner of police of the city. A 1986 IPS officer who has worked in almost all areas of Assam, Chakravarty also worked in central deputation at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad for four years and in Special Protection Group in Delhi for seven years. Interestingly, Chakravarty was chosen as the first city police commissioner after a lengthy and proper scrutiny, but was removed from the post within just five months. This has raised various questions about the sudden shift. But why was the commissioner transferred to a different role in just five months?

The crime chart Analysing the performance of the police, G Plus reviewed the crime chart of the city from January to April. Though four months is a very short span of time to determine the performance of a new system like the Police Commissionerate, the data shows that the crime scenario was average during the said period, with certain crimes witnessing an increase and certain others a decrease. However, with apprehension of criminals like Anil Chauhan and even the arrest of Congress legislator Rumi Nath, the police seemed to have sent a message that it is not going to spare anyone involved in criminal activities. According to sources in the police, vehicle theft has decreased drastically in these days and in the month of March and April, not even a single four wheeler was reported stolen. The frequent checks across the city at nights has reduced cases of drunken driving and many more crimes happening mostly at nights. Sources in the police also said that during Chakravarty’s tenure, special police teams were formed that used to patrol the city’s usual hangout places in civil dresses for drunkards and addicts like Chandmari Flyover, Paltan Bazar, Maligaon Station, Pandu, Chatribari etc which made it difficult for such anti social elements to gang up and commit crimes, especially at nights. Similarly, other big money businesses of the city like the coal business were badly affected as strict norms were implemented on the transportation of coal following directions by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). According to police sources, the police personnel were directed to do away with class-consciousness and asked to act against anyone who breaks the law. If all these were the initiatives taken by Chakravorty, why did the authorities judge him in just five months?

According to many police officials, Chakravarty was a no nonsense man who worked according to the law and did not hesitate to question the higher authorities if he did not like any decision.

The problem An OC of a city based police station said on condition of anonymity that there used to be several meetings involving officers of all levels by the then commissioner and the one thing the OC noticed was, “The commissioner did not use to waste even a single second. The meetings used to sometimes last for three-four hours and every second was utilised by him. He did not even used to take a bathroom break.” Similarly the police personnel across the city were very happy with the sincerity of their top boss while few others were even scared to indulge in anomalies as many tainted police personnel were transferred or suspended by him. According to a very highly placed source in the police reserve, before the formation of commissionerate, many police department vehicles in the reserve were used by high profile people for personnel use, but after January 1st, the incidents were very less. The commissioner did not allow anyone to use the departmental vehicles for personal use. According to the source, high profile people like the PAs of politicians, relatives of senior police officers etc. had to take permission from the commissioner directly to use the vehicles which he would allow only if there is a valid reason. So, the sudden halt by the police helping the well connected people of the city irked many.

Why was Chakravarty transferred

in just five months?

Cases registered in Guwahati from January to April 2015 Crime head

January

February

March

April

Murder

Rape

Kidnapping

Dacoity

Nil

Robbery

Extortion

Burglary

Theft

228

251

240

198

Rioting

Nil

CBT

Cheating

Counterfeiting

Nil

Other IPC

432

496

606

568

Total IPC

902

1043

1084

1008

Minor Act

Besides, according to many police officials, Chakravarty was a no-nonsense man who worked according to the law and did not hesitate to question the higher authorities if he did not like any decision. A very highly placed source in the police department said that as Chakravarty is a very democratic man and his latest move of permitting the special police officers and KMSS chief Akhil Gogoi to protest in certain part of the city irked the authorities sitting at the state Secretariat who decided to transfer him to a different role. At present he is shifted to the post of ADGP, Prosecution. On being asked Chakravarty said, “I don’t know the reason for my transfer, I just received a transfer order from the CM’s office and I handed over the charge to the new commissioner.” According to some senior police officials, there is no fixed tenure in police service and anyone can be transferred at any moment depending on the requirement, but the question remains that why was an officer, who was appointed to the coveted post of the first commissioner of city police commissionerate after much analysis and scrutiny, was transferred in just five months.

Total Cognizable crime

943

1087

1143

1063

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

City

FREE LEGAL AID SERVICES

Messiah to the less privilledged individuals of the society

mayuri goswami

he judiciary system is a pyramid that comes to the rescue of all who need it. However, this escalating pyramid comes with a cost that most people in our developing nation cannot afford. A great proportion of our population is not even aware of the existence of legal processes that could rid them of their troubles. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and its greatest aim is to provide free legal services to the weaker sections of the society. In every state and district, State Legal Services and District Legal Services have been constituted, respectively, to put into effect the directions and policies of NALSA. The apex body also disburses funds to legal NGOs for implementing legal aid schemes and programmes. Some NGOs are also funded by national or foreign parent organisations/ foundations. The Gauhati High Court Legal Aid Committee has its principal seat at the Gauhati High Court. It came into being in 1987, under the chairmanship of the then Chief Justice, P. C. Reddy with the very purpose of assuring and securing equal justice for all, especially to the weaker sections of the society, irrespective of caste, creed and race. Apart from this, Legal Cell for Human Rights (LCHR) are present in the city where one can go to if he/ she cannot afford the costs or hassles of the conventional legal system. G Plus delved deeper into the issue to find out about the fundamental characteristics of such organisations in the city. The following came into light:

Who is eligible for services from State/ District Legal Services? A member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe; a victim of human trafficking or beggars; a woman or child; a mentally or physically disabled person; a victim of natural or man-made disaster; victims of ethnic violence; an industrial workman; a person in custody or in protective homes and people with an income lower than a prescribed limit. The aforementioned individuals must fall into certain Articles of the Constitution of India and the Aid Cells will examine their eligibility before offering services. The ‘case’ must include some proceedings before a court (civil, criminal, revenue and includes any tribunal or any other authority constituted under law for the time being in force, to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial functions) .

Activities of Legal Cell for Human Rights: Legal Cells for Human Rights have provisions for Out of Court Settlements in keeping with Alternative Dispute Resolutions methods in which they encourage and facilitate poor people to settle their disputes through mutual dialogue and reconciliation to save their money, time and peace of mind. These cells have successfully contributed to spreading awareness among the rural population as well as the under priviledged in the state. They send out advocates to rural areas to reach out to people there. They provide counselling and assistance

The Gauhati High Court Legal Aid Committee has its principal seat at the Gauhati High Court. It came into being in 1987, under the chairmanship of the then Chief Justice, P. C. Reddy with the very purpose of assuring and securing equal justice for all, especially to the weaker sections of the society, irrespective of caste, creed and race.

to the eligible individuals on a preferential basis. They also assist under trials with bail and help them defend their cases. Tea-plantations labourers are some of the greatest beneficiaries of the programmes of these Cells. The LCHR run by Paul Foundation (18/12 M C Bordoloi lane, Jorpukhuri, Uzanbazar, Guwahati) claims to have reached out to over 5000 tea plantation labourers. It has also helped almost 9000 rural people from 10 districts around Kamrup to learn the Provisions of The Right to Information Act, 2005. These cells also undertake the task of publishing booklets of rights for people from different backgrounds to spread awareness among them.

Jagriti, Arunodoi Path, GMCH Road, Christian Basti, Guwahati-5; to learn about some of their success stories. This is what we gathered: Sonjit Proja says that it had become easier for him to work after he came to know about social welfare schemes of the government like MGNREGA, RTI, Right to food, Plantation labours Act etc, after he trained at an LCHR programme in June, 2013. Bikash Murah and Ashman Mahali say that they have benefited greatly from the programmes provided by LCHR and have been taking up many initiatives to promote human rights as well as assist in solving disputes in their local areas.

BENEFICIARIES SPEAK

ADVOCATES SPEAK

Karabi Morang has a very low and uncertain income which does not allow her to pay even the advocate’s fee. She is in the process of settling her claim to her dead husband’s property, thanks the Gauhati High Court Legal Aid Committee who is assisting her in the case. G Plus also contacted the LCHR

Debasmita Ghosh, Coordinator of Human Rights Law Network and Advocate, Guwahati High Court, says, “Having a unit in Assam was a long felt need when in 2008, HRLN decided to set up a unit in Guwahati which is also the principal bench of Gauhati High Court and the main hub of litiga-

tion in the North-East. Today, we have a unit with one coordinator, two lawyers, one social worker, a few interns and several enthusiastic volunteers. It has been successful in the past seven years and has managed to reach out to the masses.” Murchana Sarmah, Advocate, Gauhati High Court says, “The expenses borne by an individual to settle matters inside courts cannot necessarily be termed ‘overpriced’ because the court proceedings involve complex steps and also people who need to earn their daily bread. However, on a daily basis, I encounter people from less privilledged sections of the society who cannot even afford the fee in lower courts. Legal Aid Cells and Legal NGOs are a good option for such people as they are less expensive and comparatively hassle-free. The most important thing is to make people aware of the existence of such organisations and I am happy to have been a part of projects promoting awareness during my student life in J. B. Law College, Guwahati.”

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

City

State Museum upgradation

New Initiatives to be

UNDERtaken

Juthika Baruah

he Assam State Museum has set different plans for upgradation of the museum as suggested by the Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam V.K. Pipersenia to make it a state-of-the art museum during his visit to the Museum. Pipersenia appreciated the artefacts displayed at the museum but instructed the Museum authorities to build more galleries so that the culture and history of the state could be spread amongst the people especially among the youths who are still not aware of the history of the state. “We want the people to enjoy the culture and history of the state through the museum so that it gives a wider knowledge about the state, about its culture. Assam history will be spread through the museum and it could be possible only with the interest of the people,” said Director of the Assam State Museum, Y.S Wunglengton while speaking to G Plus. Wunglengton said that the Chief Secretary also emphasized on the culture and heritage to be placed at the centre stage for development and peace. “We are trying to include the culture of all the tribes and even the culture of smaller tribes like Baite and Paite will be included in the museum. Most people are not aware of tribes like Baite, a popular tribe which includes Bodo, Rabha and Kachari and similarly, Paite, a tribe of Manipur will also be displayed in the museum so that people could get to know about such tribes. Living in

the same state we are not aware of each other’s culture and traditions which need to be spread amongst the people through the museum,” said Wunglengton. The Museum has also developed a new initiative by trying to organize creative events every week on culture, tradition, history for children, school students and even families so that they could exchange ideas about their tradition and culture. The Museum has also introduced Lighting Testimonies which is a multiple projection video installation that reflects upon a history of conflict in the Indian subcontinent through experiences of sexual vio-

lence. In this exploration, multiple submerged narratives are revealed, sometimes through people, images and memories and at other times through nature and objects from everyday life that stands as silent but surviving witnesses. “The main objective of setting up of Lighting Testimonies is to create awareness and sensitize the youngsters about the conflicts that took place due to misunderstanding, hatred etc. and that this kind of mindset, attitude needs to be changed. In all the narratives, the body is central as a site of honour, hatred and humiliation and also for dignity and protest,” said Wunglengton.

The Lighting Testimonies creates an experience that emerges from a constellation of eight synchronized video projections with sound tracks that leads to disparate narratives that then converge into a single projection. As the stories unfold, women from different times and regions come forward and the multiple projections speak to them directly in an effort to understand how such violence is resisted, remembered and recorded by individuals and communities. The Lighting Testimonies were created with the support of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and the participation of Amar Kanwar whose films and installa-

tions are complex, contemporary narratives that connect intimate personal spheres of existence to larger social political processes. Finding a contextual relationship with diverse audiences, Kanwar’s work maps a journey of exploration revealing the relationship with the politics of power, violence, sexuality, ecology and justice. Wunglengton stated that it is not only historic items that have been displayed at the Museum but artists have also displayed their handwork products made of bamboo and items of handicraft and handloom at the museum. He said, “To make a state of the art world class museum, it is also the responsibility of every citizen to show interest in developing the museum by introducing different cultures and traditions of the state.” Assam State Museum was established in 1940 and it currently houses close to 14,000 artefacts. Of this, around 5,000 objects are on display. The museum is considered to be a premier antiquarian institute in the northeast and its roots can be traced back to 1912. It has separate sections on ethnography, sculpture, manuscript, arms, textile and a conservation laboratory. An exhibition on state’s culture, tradition and history will also be held from 7-9th July at Don Bosco University in collaboration with Assam Don Bosco University and Hupei University, China. juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

Vatican Ambassador recognises contribution of the Salesians to NE

rchbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, the Vatican Ambassador to India, during his recent visit at a recent function held at the Don Bosco headquarter, Panbazar on 24th June, presented the statue of the educator saint and friend of the young St. John Bosco to the Salesian Provincial of Guwahati as gesture of appreciation for the significant contribution of the Don Bosco family to the North East Region. He also offered floral tributes to the statue of Don Bosco. The visiting Ambassador on his way to Shillong was warmly received by the Salesians at the LGB International Airport, Guwahati on 23rd June. At the airport the visiting dignitary was presented with a

plaque by the Salesian Provincial of Guwahati and the President of the Conference of Religious of India Reverend Father VM Thomas. Most Reverend Dominic Jala, the Archbishop of Shillong was also present at the airport to receive the ambassador. “It is indeed a matter of great honour and pride for the Salesian family to be recognized by the Church, especially, during the bicentenary year of the birth of Don Bosco.” Fr. VM Thomas said on receiving the statue from Archbishop Salvatore. “I deem it a privilege that the Papal delegate himself presented the statue. This kind gesture speaks volume of the Church’s recognition of our contribution to the people of

North East,” Fr. Thomas said. The Vatican Ambassador recalled the visit of the relic of Don Bosco to India. He said that the relic has brought about a new spirit and vigour in the Salesian work. “Today the Salesians have contributed significantly to the region, especially in the field of education and youth empowerment. The Salesians are being remembered with much love for their humanitarian services which have impacted almost every nook and corner of this region,” Archbishop Salvatore said. Archbishop Salvatore also conveyed the greetings of Pope Francis who addressed the youth in Turin, the birth place of Don Bosco. juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Ward Watch

MILANPUR WARD NO 12

Kalyan Deb

LOCALS CRAVE COMMUNITY HALL

Concentrated area Milanpur Ward number 12 Sub division 12(c) Councilor Balendra Bharali Phone number 93501662 Area sabha member Pramila Das Phone number 90853 17065 Population of Ward number 12 25,000 Voters 18,000 Population of Milanpur 3,000 Voters 2,500 Problems Narrow streets, Requirement of community hall

culturally diverse residential area with a peaceful environment, the history of Milanpur goes way back before the 1950s when for people in the nearby areas, Guwahati was only limited up to Silpukhuri. If one was travelling to Silpukhuri from the Bamunimaidam area that was earlier a part of Chandmari, the person would say, “I am going to Guwahati”. Earlier surrounded with rich flora and fauna in adition to several wild animals, Milanpur (then only known as Bamunimaidam) was transformed into a residential area only after the 50s. Gradually, as people started to settle near areas such as Chandmari, that was earlier considered as an outskirt, residences kept growing and that was when homes started to be built around the Milanpur area. Among the indigenous people who first resided in the Milanpur area, majority were Nepalis, Mikirs and Kacharis when the people themselves built the streets to connect the roads amidst the heavy shrubs. People used to earn their livelihood through farming, selling diary goods or by selling country liquor. Prior to settlement of civilisation, the area was used as a camp by the American army who were then allies with the British during the Second World War. For the passersby, there was the constant fear of wild animals and of being robbed during the afterhours as among the very few buses in the city

then, the last stop was Chandmari and one had to walk all the way the home. The area started developing in the 60s after the establishment of the Indian Oil Corporation, the Khadi Board and the Guwahati centre of the All India Radio. Gradually, the influx of people of different communities, ethnic backgrounds and religion settled in the area and giving the area its own name, Milanpur. It is an area that consists of two mosques, two temples and even a colony of Christians known as Christianbasti. The Milanpur that hardly had any residences during the 50s, today interconnects several surrounding areas such as Jyoti Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Chandmari, Bamunimaidam, etc. However, over the span of 70 years, along with the geographical structures, a lot more has changed in the area. After the indigenous settlers had to sell their lands due to personal problems, there have been an influx of several new faces that are not known to people living in the same society. The people have lost the social connection among themselves and the same is a growing concern as it stands as a barrier in mutually solving any kind of problems faced by the society. Ranendra Kr. Buragohain, who has been residing in the area for over sixty years pointed towards some of the problems faced by them. “The lack of social involvement with the

surroundings is a great barrier. The area is not perfect but we need to work together for its development. Most streets in the area are very narrow but the solution is not to have the government pass an order to residents to give up parts of their lands. It should rather discuss the problems with the people of the area. A much better approach would be providing certain compensation according to the value of the land and rebuilding the boundary walls for which the authorities should come and interact with the people. A solution can certainly be reached if equal parts of land is collected from both sides of the street.” Another resident Damodar Baruah, who has been residing in the area since the year 1965 also mentioned the similar problem of narrow streets. Buragohain, while suggesting the requirement of a community hall for each area of the city said, “There should also be a community hall for people of a particular area to gather and interact with each other. Earlier, there were no lack of playgrounds for children but the generation now hardly indulges into any such activity. Besides children, the community hall in each area will also provide the opportunity to the youths, adults and women to interact with each other through the medium of sport or cultural activity.” “Organising debate competitions for children in such places will also

Councilor’s say Talking to G Plus councillor Balendra Bharali mentioned that in some of the areas, residents are building their entry gates without adhering to the building norms in the Milanpur area encroaching parts of the road whereas, in order to widen the streets the District Administration will have to be approached as the matter is not in the hands of GMC. “For the purpose of widening the streets, an eviction drive will have to be carried out for which the power is only bestowed upon the District Administration and the problem cannot be solved by the GMC. The welfare committee of the area will have to approach the District Administration on the basis of a copy of the map of the road and an application for the widening of the road”, the councillor said, adding, “For the areas to serve the purpose of community hall there are few places in the ward number 12 such as HDM Institute where with the permission of the principal, several social and sports activities were organised and the gate is opened for elderly people to take a walk in the evening and also the Kali Mandir ground is also used to fulfil the same purpose.” make the children more smart and extrovert. People can share conversations during an evening jog or over a music session. These are some of the requirements that every area should be provided with and such community halls need not be for just one

particular group but for a larger area where everyone can come and participate freely”, said the Buragohain, a retired personnel of NIST (RRL Jorhat). kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Special

akhs of devotees paid obeisance to Goddess Kamakhya atop the Nilachal Hills as the Ambubachi Mela concluded on Friday morning with the reopening of the temple doors amid the presence of a large number of people. The Festival saw over 12 lakh devotees visiting the temple. Lakhs of devotees from outside the state as well as innumerous faces from abroad were seen participating in the fourday Mela. People from different corners of the country visited the city along with their family members and friends to pay homage to the goddess. While for some it was their first visit, there were many who have been visiting the temple every year since the past few decades. With the opening of the door of the temple at 6 am on Friday, the curtains came down on the most famous festival at

the Shakti shrine of Kamakhya. While the temple doors were closed and all forms of worship stopped early on the morning of June 23rd, thousands of devotees queued up since Thursday night, to be among the first to pay obeisance to the Goddess when worship resumes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There will be several hundreds of more devotees coming for darshan in the next few days. After the door of the temple reopened on Friday morning, people from various parts of the country queued up for a glimpse of the Goddess,â&#x20AC;? said Utpal Sharma, secretary of the Ambubachi Mela Parichalana Samiti. Goddess Kamakhya is believed to undergo her menstrual cycle during this period of the year and worship is closed in the temple. G Plus brings you an overview of the happenings of the past week that had been involved in the successful conclusion of the Mela.

Ambubachi concludes as lakhs pay obeisance to Goddess Kamakya

Kalyan Deb

The Market

The Artists and Performers

Besides the religious aspect of the Mela that include sadhus and tantrics from different parts of the country, an important part of the Mela were the hundreds of temporary stalls that were set up atop the Nilachal Hills which were among the attention grabbers. Besides the permanent stalls around the temple premises, the temporary stalls displayed objects that are rarely seen in the market places around the city. From accessories that started from a mere cost of `10 to toys for children, idols and framed paintings of gods and goddesses, shiva lingas, herbs of several kinds that claimed guaranteed cure for several diseases and protection from the evil eye, instruments for the purpose of worshipping, rudrakashas of several types (ekmukhi to ekkismukhi) of which some are claimed to be imported from Indonesia, smoking pipes (chilams) of different shapes and sizes made of different materials. Among other items that grabbed attention were witch bones, monkey skulls, fox skulls, buffalo horns and innumerous types of gems and stones meant to ward off evil from one were displayed in the markets to be sold to the devotees and visitors of the Mela. Outnumbering the number of stalls by locals, most vendors came from various corners of the state, with a majority of vendors from several corners of the country such as West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the list goes on.

Keeping in rhythm with the environment filled with tourists, devotees and visitors, were the performers who did the same by roaming around the temple premises impersonating different gods that caught the eyes of all and sundry or the bhajans and kirtans sung in different corners of the temple. While onlookers could be seen rounding up to have a glimpse of the performers and paying homage, some devotees could be seen dancing and humming along the tunes of those who called themselves sadhus. The music of the kashis, taals, dotaras, and the singersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interactive performance by indulging the audience entertained many. However, in cases where no such performers were present to amuse and entertain, pre-recorded bhajans fulfilled the requirement.

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Special Bhandaras Bhandaras were one of the major contributors of the Ambubachi Mela while the other requirements were bestowed upon the shoulders of the government and the concerned authorities with people of the city stepping forward to fulfil the requirement of food. Along with several NGOs and individuals that were seen distributing the free food and drinking water to the devotees, the groups that take part in the Bhandaras have a major role to play in the smooth functioning of the Mela. The District Administration had allotted 16 numbers of Bhandaras in specific locations of which four were allotted space in Naharbari atop the Nilachal Hills. Although, those allotted space in Naharbari suffered certain inadequacies such as lack of sufficient number of water taps and lights even after the Debutter Board had reportedly installed four taps. However, ignoring such deficiencies that hampered the functioning, the Bhandars carried on with full steam. Each Bhandara in the Naharbari area served devotees numbering upto 8,000 each day where distribution of meals was carried throughout the day till late at night. Several NGOs were also seen actively participating in the same in different areas near the temple by providing the devotees with drinking water and other goods during their stay.

Role of the authorities Even days before the Mela began, the District Administration along with various concerned authorities geared up for smooth conduct and successful celebration of the greatest religious festival of the region. Meanwhile, around 5 lakhs devotees thronged the Kamakhya Temple on the second day itself of the Mela raising the count to 7 lakhs on the third. Kamrup Metro Deputy Commissioner Dr. M Angamuthu in a press meet on Wednesday said, “Till Tuesday the total footfall had crossed 5 lakhs and by end of the Mela on June 26, the expected total number of visitors will cross ten lakhs, which will be the biggest ever during Ambubachi Mela.” This time, hundreds of pilgrims have come from abroad as well. To tighten the grip over incidents of drunken driving, breath analysis was also carried out and the use of tobacco based products was also restricted within the temple premises. The restriction was enforced after complaints were received of drunken driving at the Kamakhya road and traffic department personnel with breath analyzers have been put on duty, along with four checkpoints manned by excise department personnel. “Continuous cleaning of the Soubhagya Kunda was carried out by GMC under the supervision of the Pollution Control Board, Assam.

The Chief Minister had also directed the tourism department to facilitate movement of pilgrims to other important places of pilgrimage like Umananda, Sukreswar, Basistha, etc.,” DC Kamrup (Metro) Angamuthu said. The entire area for the Mela, including the rest camps, had been divided into five zones, which had further been divided into sectors. Each zone was looked after by a team headed by one Additional Deputy Commissioner and assisted by senior officials from various departments. The administration had also taken initiatives to ensure uninterrupted power supply, sufficient lighting, supply of drinking water and toilets, proper crowd and vehicular traffic management and cleanliness and hygiene. Four camps were set up for pilgrims at Naharbari, Sonaram Field, Kamakhya Railway Station and Old Pandu Railway Station along with arrangement for 500 toilets. Besides the police, there were over 700 volunteers from civil defence, Scouts and Guides and Red Cross.1500 workers had been engaged round the clock in three different shifts for cleaning and maintenance of the camps in and around the temple. 65 numbers of free buses were pressed into service to the Temple from various locations. Provisions were also made for CCTVs and river patrolling roundthe-clock by River Police and NDRF

teams stationed at Pandu and behind the Sonaram Field. A control room was set up at the DC’s office and help desks were set up at all the camps and at the Temple premises to help the visitors and devotees. With regard to security, a multi-layered structure had been put in place consisting of central forces, local police, plainclothes personnel and the River Police. Binoculars, night vision equipment and metal detectors were also used. Traffic management, which was a concern for the people had also been tackled gracefully by traffic police office deployed in and around the temple. Photos by Adib Zamali

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Life

I WISH

I want to write A poem A really long one Not specific... Just random. There, see! You’re already Criticising. Alright Let me be specific then. Like you always want Me to beSpecific? So, how about I write About my country? I have written endlessly about it Before! Ah! Wait~ Do you think You’re patriotic enough? Do you have any legal standing To write about your country? Yes, but why not? It is my country, I was born here I am growing younger Or should that be elder? Alright, let me tell you. There was never a single Independence Day Or Republic Day When I didn’t Paint a tri-colour On an one-fourth piece Of chart paper And painstakingly Glued a stick And tied it To the rose-bush For all to see! Everybody else Had flags atop their homes, Fluttering on proud masts, Which they bought from The only store that sold khadi! Gandhiji would have been So proud! Yes- you guessed right! He would have smiled Seeing politicians Strut in what he wove with passion! But will he ever know Of my countrymen, my brothers, Who are banished To a life of nothingness? And we regale and rejoice Everyday, Looking askance at Crystallised tears Of mothers, children? Would he have been happy To see a Nation Killing brothers Gouging out eyes, Slitting throats and

Burning their homes? And then laughing in glee? Alright, I know, By the look on Your face That all this doesn’t matter anymore! Fine. So, what should I write About? A love song? You’re saying that? But..... For whom? How can I write A love song When my Luit laments In pain and agony Everyday! Of what it had seen And what it will see! Last night, remember? I told you, I wanted to compose A poemA lyrical poem! Something fraught with pain! And you asked me To write about love! But I am so tired of Writing About love!? Love, love, love As if! I am reiterating I want to write about My people! So you remember? The people who were brutally Murdered By their friends For no fault of theirs, Early one morning, Remember? Yes, I want to write Compose, sing About their lives, Their children, the women, Who now have no future To call their own! Of their constant fear, Even now, Of dying a thousand Deaths! I wish to write this Really long poem! See, I know you like this idea too! You’re smiling! So, that’s it! I will compose A long poem For my people In Nellie!

tinat ATIFA MASOOD

GO GREEN

Why Should I Become a Vegetarian? Welcome to the Vegetarian World! Vegans are frequently misunderstood as unconventional eaters with an unnatural passion for Earth’s natural resources and are ethically opposed to eating them. While many vegans do feel passionately about animals, it’s time for others to see how a vegetarian or vegan diet and lifestyle, go way beyond animal rights. Following a healthy, balanced vegan diet ensures a host of health benefits as well as prevention of some of the major diseases striking people in the modern era. So if you’ve been toying with the idea of going vegetarian, then let the following lists inform and inspire! Nutritionists’ Favorite! Majority of nutritional benefits come from a vegetarian diet full of foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, milk and milk products, and soy products. A balanced vegetarian meal consisting of healthy fats (unsaturated fats), carbohydrates, high fiber, essential vitamins, and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus and calcium can add immense nutritive value to your diet. The quality and quantity of all essential nutrients is much better as compared to processed meat and chemically treated. Healthy Heart – Happy Heart! Vegetarian diets are naturally lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and higher in plant nutrients than most meat-based diets. Vegetarians have been shown to have a 24% lower risk of dying of heart disease than nonvegetarians. There are numerous researches available that shown high consumption of red meat may increase the risk of heart dis-

ease by 50% amongst diabetics. A lowfat vegetarian diet is the single most effective way to stop the progression of coronary artery disease or prevent it entirely. Cardiac patients moving on to a vegetarian diet have also found to reverse the critical coronary heart conditions in various researches. Cancer Alert! Vegetarians are about 40% less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters are. In every bite, a typical beefpork hotdog contains seven cancercausing pesticides, and a quarter pound burger contains three cancercausing substances. The primary source of nuclear radiation contamination in humans is from beef and dairy products. Various researches have linked meat consumption to breast, colon, prostate, pancreatic, and gastric cancers as well. Studies done at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg suggest that a vegetarian’s immune system is more effective in killing tumor cells than meat eaters. Live Strong! Live Long! Switch on to a healthy and rich vegetarian diet today to add another 6-13 years to your life span! People who consume meat and meat products have a shorter life span as they are more prone to illnesses and toxins. They also tend to have more disability at the end of their lives. Meat foods rich in saturated fats clog your arteries, lower your energy and slow down your immune system. Meat eaters also experience accelerated cognitive and sexual dysfunction at a younger age.

Perfect Abs and a Glowing You – Inside Out! The meat and weight relationship goes beyond the calorie math. A study from Imperial College, London found that those who ate about 250 grams of red meat, poultry, or processed meat in a day gained more weight over five years than those who ate less meat, even if they consumed the same amount of calories overall. It is also a known fact that the BMI of non-vegetarians is higher than that of vegetarians because of the high fiber and less saturated fat content of vegetarian foods. As a vegetarian, you tend to eat a lot more fruits, vegetables and whole grains that are packed with antioxidants. This helps neutralize the free radicals that cause spots and wrinkles. This can literally create a healthy glow, since antioxidants improve circulation and alter skin pigmentation. Go Green! Spare the Fauna! Ten billion animals are slaughtered for human consumption each year. Unlike the old times, today most animals are factory farmed, crammed into cages where they can barely move and fed a diet tainted with pesticides and antibiotics. Eating a plant-based meal for lunch instead of meat saves 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, 133 gallons of water, and 24 sq. ft. of land, according to research reports. Therefore, in three meals, you will have saved more water than you will save by switching to a low-flow shower-head. A vegetarian lifestyle awakens our spirit of compassion and guides us towards a kinder, gentler society in which we exercise a moral choice to protect animals— not exploit them.

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji

www.artofliving.org/yoga, Follow Sri Sri @SriSriSpeaks on twitter

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Health

OBESITY A TICKING TIME BOMB

he incidence of obesity is steadily rising worldwide and India comes in the list of top 10 countries with the highest number of obese people. Contrary to the common belief North-east India also contributes in a large way to this serious and potentially life threatening disease. The rates of over-weight and obesity have increased overtime across all states in the North-east, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) results. Morbid obesity is associated with multiple other health hazards like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, sleep apnea, cancers, sexual and psychosocial disorders. Weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is offered to those morbidly obese people who have failed the usual way of dietary restrictions and exercise to lose weight. Bariatric Surgery is already a proven treatment internationally and in India too, more than 20,000 bariatric surgeries have been done till date. The surgery is slowly gaining popularity and acceptance in the North-east too with cases of obesity and related diseases on the rise. Benefits of the surgery include durable weight loss, resolution of diabetes, improvement in hypertension, improved cardiovascular profile,

resolution of multiple other weight related co morbidities and lower risk of premature death. Bariatric procedure is different from liposuction, which acts locally on the fat cells, and does not lead to resolution of associated diseases. On the other hand bariatric surgery acts completely from head to toe, leading to uniform and gradual reduction of fats along with the added benefits of

resolution of multiple dreadful associated co morbidities. The standard procedures are, Sleeve Gastrectomy and Gastric bypass both of which are done laparoscopically, giving the patients all the benefits of laparoscopy. Sleeve gastrectomy greatly reduces the size of the stomach and limits the amount of food that can be eaten at one time, along with multi-

ple hormonal changes which leads to decreased appetite, sustained weight loss and resolution of associated co morbidities. Gastric Bypass in addition, involves by passing a segment of small intestine, leading to malabsorption of food taken, adding further to weight loss. The weight-loss operations are gaining popularity as evidence builds of their usefulness in fighting diabe-

tes, cardiovascular disease and other obesity-related conditions. Trends reveal a growing number of patients in the country finding this procedure attractive and affordable for combating weighty issues.

By Dr. Pinak Dasgupta â&#x20AC;&#x2039;( The writer is a Consultant GI & Bariatric Surgeon at Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Guwahati)

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Sports

Former Portuguese international

Simão SABROSA

NEUFC’s Marquee Player

Aditya Gogoi

ormer Portuguese International and 2004 UEFA Euro finalist, Simão Sabrosa has signed the dotted line with North East United FC (NEUFC) as their Marquee Player for the second season of the Hero Indian Super League. The news was officially revealed by the club on its social media feeds on Thursday. The former Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona attacking mid-fielder will don the number 20 jersey at NEUFC. Speaking at his contract signing, Simão revealed his excitement about coming to India and participating in the Hero ISL to NEUFC’s media team, “I am looking forward to this new challenge. India is a wonderful country full of rich culture and heritage. The Indian Super League has brought football in India to everybody’s attention and I cannot wait to participate in it”. Simão shared that his decision to sign for NEUFC was based on several conversations with the club owner, John Abraham, “Why North East United FC? I felt that it was the right time to take up a new challenge. Every conversation I had with John, made me feel that the club is one big family and that everyone would love to have me as a member. I also spoke to Capdevila (NEUFC’s marquee player for last season) who confirmed everything that John told me. I am very pleased to be a part of this family now.” The ex-Benfica man also talked about his aims for the season, “I have had many challenges in the past. Every challenge has been different; the clubs, the fans and the countries. All of them were highly important to me in my professional life because I love football and everywhere I went, I gave my all as a result of which, I won titles. I am training hard, every single day to be fitter and stronger before the season starts. Make no mistake about it, I come to India and to NorthEast United FC to win!” NEUFC’s owner, Bollywood star John Abraham, was visibly excited at having secured the ace footballer’s signature, “As a club, having a player of Simão’s pedigree as our marquee, is a great feeling. He has played at the biggest stage in some of the world’s most premier football competitions – the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro, UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. It feels good to have

APRO initiates grassroot Football Coaching Centre

G PLUS NEWS

he Grassroot Football Coaching Centre under APRO Training School, Jalukbari, Guwahati has been promoting football since 10 Sept 2014 amongst young children from 6- 16 years of age. Under the expert coaching of Luchan Saikia, Games Instructor of APRO, the Grassroot Football Team has made excellent progress and has participated in most of the U-14 to 16 Football Tournaments in the West Guwahati region and exhibited commendable performance. Two children of the APRO Grassroots FCC, Jalukbarinamely Hirokjyoti Kalita and Biswajit Das were amongst the 25 shortlisted participants of Northeast United FC who attended the Reliance Foundation Young

Champs (RFYC) Selection camp at Mumbai in May 2015. The Assam Football Association (AFA) has recognised the APRO Grassroots FCC as one of the 21 Centres selected from six districts of Assam under the Grassroots Development Programme of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for children aged 6 – 12 years. Anju Turambekar, AIFF Manager for Grassroots Development Programme in Assam visited the APRO Centre recently on 8 June, 2015 accompanied by Ankur Dutta, General Secretary, AFA and attended a workshop. Both expressed happiness at the enthusiastic participation of the young children and promised support from AIFF for development of the Centre.

Max launches store in Guwahati

M all that knowledge and experience on your side, especially when it’s coming from a guy who has played for the likes of Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona. I am sure Simão would love to let his football do all the talking! He is a winner and a proven attacking threat. I am positive that he will pass his winning mentality on to the rest of the team” After he began his career at Sporting Club de Portugal, a breeding ground for talent like Cristiano Ronaldo, Luís Figo and Nani, Simão was transferred to FC Barcelona at the age of twenty. In 2001, he returned to his native land by signing with Benfica. He became club captain and won the Portuguese Cup with the team in 2004, the Championship and the Supercup of Portugal in 2005. He then stood out as a key player, becoming the top scor-

er of the Portuguese championship in 2003 and bagging the Best Player honour in 2005. In 2007, Simão signed for five years with Atletico Madrid. The team won the 2010 UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup. With the national team of Portugal, he was selected 85 times and scored 22 goals between 1990 and 2010. Simão also has the distinction of having captained his country eight times. He was a finalist at the European Championship in 2004. His last two stints were at Turkish club, Beşiktaş and La Liga side, Espanyol. In all, Simão has racked up 486 club appearances and has found the net an impressive 102 times. He has also turned provider on 66 occasions highlighting his value at every club that he has played for.

ax claims to redefine the fashion space of the city with the launch of its first store at Fortune Tower, GS Road, Bhangagarh besides Hub. The brand intends to continue investing in this region through innovative, forward-looking business strategies to mark its dominance in the value fashion market. The new Max store promises to provide customers a one stop shop for international styles at affordable prices. Spread across 14000 sq ft, the store offers more than 10,000 designs across different categories - apparel, footwear and accessories offering the best fashion solutions for everyone. The store provides an international shopping experience with dedicated sections for men, women and children making shopping a pleasurable experience. Max retails out its own private label merchandise which is created by a team of in-house designers who are exposed to international fashion trends and excel in tailor making the styles to suit the Indian sensibilities. Raghu Rajagopalan, Senior Vice President, Finance, Max said, “Being the pioneers of value fashion retail in the country, we aim to take our

offering to customers across the nation. We currently have a presence of over 90 stores across 41 cities and plan to expand our retail footprint further. MAX is a brand synonymous to the growing population of global Indians who are trendy & fashion conscious but at the same time, intelligent shoppers who seek value for money. We are certain this store too will be welcomed warmly by the discerning residents of Guwahati.” To mark the occasion, Max invited singer Zubeen Garg to inaugurate the store on Friday.

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

In Focus

Has the

urban flood situation Rahul Mark Baruah

improved in Guwahati?

uwahati has apparently witnessed more rainfall in comparison to last year but unlike previous years, prior to the monsoon, concerned authorities were seen taking active part in clearing the drainage system and the outlets this time around. Authorities also claimed that flood like situation will be lesser than that of past few years. G Plus talks to Guwahatians to know their views about the urban flood situation in the city and whether they are happy with the authorities’ various initiatives to control flood.

Pranjoy Das

Freelance lecturer “I stay in Panbazar and I see GMC people working in my locality, the garbage are being collected every day, the water logging problem is less than before and whatever I have seen so far around makes me feel that the authorities have done a good job this time. I don’t know about the people staying in Anil Nagar and Nabin Nagar but whatever I experienced makes the city looks better than before.”

Rabi Sharma Actor

“I was just talking about this flood issue with one of my friend when you called me. The situation of the city looks better but it is not still perfect. I see Bhanu visiting city areas and the authorities feel that they have done a good job this time but the work should continue and never stop. Our drainage system should be proper and the drains should be cleaned on an everyday basis. The garbage management also has to be more precise so that no waste is dumped in the drains. There are many other requirements too like tree plantation etc, but the city still needs a lot of work.”

Mahavir Jain

President, Kamrup Chamber of Commerce “Since last six months I feel the authorities are working really hard to resolve the urban flood problem but they need to technically examine the reasons more efficiently. There are around sixteen hillocks in Guwahati and there used to be low lying areas or wet lands near the hillocks before which do not exist anymore. All the wet lands in the city are getting filled and the channels in Meghalaya which used to carry the city water to river Umtru is also filled by encroachment so all the excess water from Meghalaya comes to Guwahati. Guwahati is a self developed city and not planned so the main reasons for urban flood should be technically examined and solved for making it one of the best cities in India which it is capable of becoming.”

Dipankar Nath AASU President

“The steps that the administration has taken to mitigate the flood problem of the city is not sufficient but still it has improved to some extent. As the water level of Brahmaputra has not risen, the artificial flood has not been an issue but if the water level rises, it will be a problem. A scientific study should be taken for a big project to solve the problem of artificial flood.”

Ajoy Dutta Social Activist

“The steps taken by the administration will never solve the problem of artificial flood of the city. Until and unless the underground drainage and sewerage system be taken up, the problem of artificial flood will still exist. Sewerage and drainage project is more important than the metro rail project and emphasis should be laid on that. Additional Chief Secretary M.G.V.K. Bhanu has done a great job but still a permanent solution is necessary.”

CHEF

ahul Mark Barua, a chef par excellence and the co-proprietor of Hot Pot Resturant is the man behind the exotic recipes and food, with over 12 years of experience in creating culinary delights not only in India but also overseas. His tryst with food began with his parents who worked for Assam Oil Digboi. Growing up in Digboi, they were exposed to some great colonial continental food. All the officers’ wives cooked some amazing food. Lots of dinners and lunch get-togethers hosted by his parents got him into the kitchen. His mother used to check on the cooks and he ended up helping them. After finishing his 12th , he did his diploma in Restaurant and Hotel Management in Switzerland, followed by his graduation in Hospitality and Culinary Art in Las Vegas, USA. He joined Walt Disney World and then Four Seasons Hotel and started working all the positions of the hotel and finally ended up in the kitchen where he was happy creating and playing with food. After finishing his diploma in Switzerland, Mark went to work for Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World Orlando at their hotels and restaurants. He then got an opportunity to work for the Disney Cruise line. After that, he finished his graduation in Hotel and Culinary Management from UNLV, Las Vegas. Nevada. He worked for number of restaurants doing all kinds of jobs and different positions. He got into management at the Four Seasons Hotel and worked with them for five years before moving back to India in 2005. Bouyed by his experiences abroad, Mark opened two restaurants, one in Bangalore before moving to Guwahati in 2010 to open Hot Pot. And the rest is history. The one thing about food that gets Mark going is his intense passion for creating something new and unique with the raw materials at hand. His favourite chefs include

Gordon Ramsay, Emeril Lagasse, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, Jonathan Lane, Wolfgang Puck, although locally he is still to find an inspiration. Talking about his pet project, Hot Pot, Mark said that the resturant was started in collaboration with his cousin Ranjeev Lal Barua. They opened in June 2010. The idea was to serve food which was Pan Asian and using ingredients from the region to create global cuisine. Its speciality is Fusion North East and Asian. Pad Thai, Nasi Goreng , Asian BBQ ribs and our famous Dumplings (MoMo). Mark believes that the average Guwahatian’s palate is evolving, although it is not yet there. The city denizens are still behind when it comes to experimenting with food. The people have their own comfort zones and uncomfortable tasting new or innovative food. The younger generation is experiencing new food as they go out to study and come back with an open mind. But there is still a long way to go, although Mark’s dream project is to finally open up a culinary school in Assam.

A 5-minute Rahul-recipe!

Spicy Grilled Chicken Salad with Mango. Ingredients 150 gm of Chicken (boneless), Half a Head Ice berg Lettuce, 1 Tomato, 1/2 Cucumber, 1/2 Red Onions, 5 pcs basil and 1/2 Mango.

Dressing 5 gm Garlic, 3 tbl Fish sauce, 5 gm Plam Sugar, 3 tbl water and 2 green chilli. Season the chicken and sear the chicken on a hot pan both sides for 2 mins. Once done let it rest for a min. Cut up rest of the ingredience bit size and mix dressing into the vegetable. Slice the Chicken and mix into the salad. Voila you are done! Bon Appetite.

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Fashion

FASHION

BY CHANCE

Designer Santashree Malik steps into the world of fashion boutiques with her own studio Hansini.

G PLUS FEATURE

hen it comes to fashion and style, North-East is considered to be a major fashion hub, where being stylish and trendy is a major part of the lives of the residents of this region. This passion to cater to the fashion crazy population have often been witnessed in the emergence of impeccable and brilliant designers from the region, who have made to various stages both nationally and internationally and made us proud. Along with that, many dynamic designers have also proved themselves with a fresh wave style and elegance that holds a great future for the fashion enthusiasts in the region. G Plus had a conversation with a talented andupcoming designer, who is rapidly making a name for herself, Santashree Mallik, the brain behind the fashion boutique, Hansini situated in Christian Basti, Guwahati. Along with being a designer, this full time lecturer and a dedicated mother and wife, shared her views and enthusiasm to give and do something for the existing fashion industry in Assam. Santashree became a designer by chance. A lecturer by profession, she had a tendency to make designed dresses which were worn by her as well as her relatives since her childhood. She knew she had a weakness for fashion. She started working professionally in 2007 with Assamese traditional wear paat / muga. She took actress Gitabali Rajkumari as her model and some of her designs

were published in Priyo Sakhi, a renowned Assamese magazine. For Santashree, the most favourite and interesting part of fashion designing is that one can express themselves -their creativity, passion, satisfaction and innovation. In short one can do anything one like. Her inspiration was the weavers weaving traditional clothes in traditionally built weaving machines and while at the same time, the style of Mughal era inspired her a lot. Her

new summer collection include dresses basically based on cotton, linen and light weight Khadi materials. Describing her style, Santashree said that she believes in power dress as she is strong supporter of women empowerment. Simple cuts, neutral colour and minimal accessories is her style, her inspiration being Neeta Lulla, the famous designer who created or designed dresses for over 100 Bollywood movies.

For Santashree, the most favourite and interesting part of fashion designing is that one can express themselves -their creativity, passion, satisfaction and innovation. In short one can do anything one like.

Sharing some tips on colors for summer, Mallik suggested avoiding very dark colours in summer and wearing light shades like peach, light pink, lemon yellow, royal blue, firoza and certainly white and off white. But one can also try orange, its little bit dark but not eye catching. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sunrise as well as sunset colour. Talking about her workplace, she said that they have their own artisans and weavers for their creations. They have three units - Stitching, handmade embroidery like Zardosi / Resham work/ zari work/ katha stitch etc., and handloom or weaving section. Santashree also stated that her designs are different because they are prepared and customized for individuals depending on their body shapes. Her collection offers a wide

range of wears for different occasions, right from casual-wear to customized bridal-wear. Regarding the future of the fashion industry in the region, Santashree said that fashion in NE has always been among the noted regions for fashion and style. Right from traditional to new generation fashion it has tremendous future and scope, because the designs and vibrant colour combinations of NE traditional wear is unique in itself. Designers can experiment with a lot of fusion wear, which is highly anticipated in the fashion world today. She plans to work for the promotion and development of NE fashion industry. She want every person in this world to know about Assamese traditional and cultural wear and love and adore it in the world stage.

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Events

World Music Day Celebration Date: June 21st Venue: Shilpagram

ucto Creation recently organised its ninth edition of the World Music Day at Silpagram. Artists and bands of different genres, from various parts of the region took the stage and made it a memorable evening. As always, the event saw a fairly large audience. Many of the prominent musicians from the industry too participated to mark this special celebration.

Launch of

Triumph Motorcycles in Guwahati Date: June 20th Venue: Yo China

inally after waiting for an eternity, motorcycle enthusiasts were left sighing as the legendary Triumph launched its bikes officially at an event in the city. Attended by quite a few excited bikers, Triumph displayed the Daytona, Thunderbird and Speed 333 from its stable.

Photo courtesy: Avishek Dey

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Reviews

u Yo LD TEN SHOU LIS Album: Pageant Material Artist: Kacey Musgraves

GAME IEW REV

f Kacey Musgraves didn’t possess a sense of irony, there’d be a sense of triumph to Pageant Material, the title of her second album. Her first, 2013’s Same Trailer Different Park, caused a sensation in certain quarters, racking up accolades that outweighed its sales -a situation reflecting country radio’s systematic resistance to female artists more than the music itself. Despite this conspicuous lack of hits, Pageant Material doesn’t make concessions to commercial radio. It is of a piece with Same Trailer Different Park, partially because a chunk of it was written around the same time, partially because Musgraves decides to move forward by harnessing the subtlety of “Merry Go ‘Round” and “Follow Your Arrow,” using their understated folk as a touchstone for her sophomore set. Despite the briskness of the near-novelty “Biscuits”- its chorus call of “Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy” revealing a taste for country corn somewhat at odds with a progressive reputation based on the all-inclusive “Follow Your Arrow,” not to mention her fondness for weed - Pageant Material favors softness, sometimes nearly swooning in its slowness.

Batman: Arkham Knight

P Mov Revi ie ew Cast: Annu Kapoor, Hrishita Bhatt, Rahul

Bagga, Ravi Kishan, Sanjay Mishra, Om Puri Director: Vinod Kapri

rjun is having an affair with Pradhan’s wife, Maya (Hrishita Bhatt), but instead of meeting secretly to avoid her husband’s wrath, they roam freely together, quite literally, in broad daylight, like two teenagers recently hit by puberty. The two of them are caught, and an extended sequence is forced out of this plot point. Now since this film is supposed to be a “comedy”, we have a scene where Pandit, whispering into a skull and invoking a malevolent spirit, advises Pradhan to procure dirt from Arjun’s feet and his stool sample. You wonder why Pradhan, who appears resourceful enough to come up with a devious plan of his own, would fall for such a stupid trick. You wonder why Arjun, who dotes on his younger sister, should leave her wedding to meet Maya—an encounter that’s both risky and less important than his sister’s marriage. Film characters can, of course, be stupid and not make sense; however, in Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho, their stupidity is not a function of who they are but an attempt to appear needlessly funny. There’s so much that doesn’t make sense in Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho. For the good first hour, you have absolutely no clue where its story is headed. How many times will we watch a film revolving around an old and af-

fluent husband, his considerably young and disinterested wife and her scared love interest? It’s only around the film’s halfway mark that its story changes track and tells us what it’s really about. When Pradhan fails to harm Arjun, he implicates him in a false case: the latter’s accused of raping a buffalo. This bizarre plot turn comes across as pleasant surprise, because it’s ripe material for satire, which this film really wants to be, but you wonder what took so long for director Vinod Kapri to come to this point. It is famously said that a story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order, and this quote is true for this film as well. Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho is centered on a plot that’s essentially a distilled version of “facts are stranger than fiction”. The dialogues’ are clunky, the plot points are convenient and characters’ motivations, well, who are we kidding? The biggest disappointment in Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho is that unlike other mediocre Bollywood films, it held a lot of promise; it could have said so much and so easily about the kind of people we are slowly becoming, about us being buffoons living gratuitously serious lives. But then Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho is not the first film to have got lost in the haze between intent and execution.

erhaps if Arkham Origins hadn’t existed as a desperate stopgap attempt by Warner Bros. to have its own annualized franchise, Batman: Arkham Knight might have packed a little more punch. Though a quality game for the most part, it’s hard not to feel thoroughly fatigued while playing it – the marketing lines excitedly order us to “be the bat,” but we’ve been the bat three times already, and it basically feels the same as it always did. This issue of fatigue isn’t helped by the fact that a more appropriate tagline would’ve been “be the Batmobile.” One seemingly spends more time behind the wheel than actually feeling like the stealthy, crime-solving Dark Knight himself – a noble attempt to add something fresh to the series, but a thorough blunder in practice. The Batmobile is – for want of a more diplomatic term – com-

plete trash. Obeying bizarre laws of physics that have no known real-life parallel, the classic comic vehicle slides and skids on the road, flips itself over at the slightest nudge, and generally controls like a bag full of angry snakes in a puddle of soapy water. It’s also a tank for some reason, able to transform into a battle mode with full 360 degree movement and sluggish firepower that feels underwhelmingly slow and disconnected. The Bat must regularly wage war against generic drones that roll in and fire unsubtly telegraphed missiles at him, with a combat system reminiscent of a half-hearted Transformers: War For Cybertron. Except at least in that game, you got to turn into a cool robot and have more control over a fight. Here you’re just gliding around and brainlessly hitting the attack button until everything has exploded.

Book: A Good Girl Author: Chandana Roy

aised to be a good girl, by her elderly uncle and aunt, Ellora Chatterjee lives by the rules of her orthodox society…until she falls in love at eighteen. The news of her romantic involvement with a debutant batsman playing for the Indian Cricket Team makes national headlines. Overnight, a shy Ellora turns into a sexy poster girl chased by the college hooligans, shunned by her prudish classmates and condemned by the parochial population of her provincial

You SHOU Rea LD d

NOW SHOWING ABCD-2D

Jurassic World

town. Set in India and America, A Good Girl is a heartrending story of a bright and beautiful young woman haunted by her scandalous past and caught up in a struggle to reinvent herself, after her whole life is turned upside down by one bad choice she had made as a naïve teenager. Now thirty-three, Ellora is once again facing a tough choice that will scandalize her community and hurt the people she cares for very deeply. Will she follow her heart this time?

Hamari Adhuri Kahani

Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Miss Tanakpur Hazir Ho

Daily at 11.30 AM

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Apsara Cinema

Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.00, 5.00 & 8.00 PM

Anuradha Cineplex

Daily at 11.30 AM, 5.15 & 8.30 PM

Daily at 9.15 & 2.30 PM

Fun Cinemas

Daily at 11.35 AM, 5.00 & 8.30 PM

Daily at 9.15 AM & 2.35 PM

Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar)

Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.00, 5.00 & 8.00 PM

Daily at 5.30 PM

Daily at 2.30 PM

Gold Cinema (Fancy Bazar)

Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.00, 5.00 & 8.00 PM

Daily at 5.30 PM

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Gold Cinema Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.00 & Daily at 5.00 PM (Narengi) 8.00 PM Telebooking numbers: Anuradha Cineplex; 03612656968, 9954544738, Fun Cinemas: 9864800100, 9864800200, Gold Cinema (Fancy Bazaar): 03612735367, 9854077177, Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar): 9854066166, Gold Cinema (Narengi): 8811001898

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

ONE LITTLE STICK

hat happens when your desktop is compressed into one little stick? I’ll tell you - A revolution. Welcome to the world of stick computing. Android TV, Smart Box, Windows stick, Stick PC; whatever you call it, these devices will surely revolutionise the way you compute. The idea behind stick computing began back in 2012, which obviously suffered from heating and performance issues. Since then, PC sticks have come a long way and now offer excellent bang for your back.

What it offers? • Low energy usage • Small form factor (extreme portability) • Low prices for decent performance • Connectivity options: Bluetooth, HDMI, USB, Wifi • Variants in Windows, Android and Linux • Compatibility with general and smart TVs • Portable media, gaming, social networking centre • Customisable with a range of USB compatible devices

With a simple HDMI input, this device can give you a media centre or a secondary PC within minutes. All you need is a screen. The device supports 1080p video, supports major audio and video codec and lets you have access to Google and Windows store. The advent of computing sticks began with FXI Technologies’ bringing out ‘Cotton Candy’ back in 2012. It brought about HD computing, a Quad Core ARM™ Mali 400MP GPU, with A9 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM and expandable memory upto 64GB. But today these specs seem lower than standard offerings. While it did not rock the markets the way it was supposed to, but it did set a benchmark for Android based PC sticks. The Cotton Candy is unavailable for purchase currently because the market is flooded with new products at a more competitive pricing.

INTEL COMPUTE STICK

CHROMEBIT

ntel has created and launched the INTEL Compute Stick all set to hit retailers soon. The device has been released for online purchase and is priced at around `15,000 for Indian markets. It is equipped with the Intel Atom Z3735F Quad Core Bay Trail processor clocked at 1.33GHz and burst frequency at 1.8GHz. It comes with Windows 8.1 and is upgradable to Windows 10. It comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage. The device has a 64bit SoC command instruction and 2MB of cache memory so it offers good multi-tasking. The compute stick features a USB port that can be used to connect peripherals like keyboards, mouse, gamepads, and a MicroUSB port that will be used to charge the device. The device comes with Intel HD graphics processor clocked at 646MHz to deliver decent graphics without taxing the device. It features connectivity options of Bluetooth 4.0 and Wifi and has expandable memory via MicroSD card. The 4 inch long device unfortunately has its cons. The major flaw is that it’s not really ‘out-of-the-box’ as the company claims. They don’t offer

T you a mouse and a keyboard. Without a USB hub, this device is useless. You cannot connect a keyboard and mouse and a gamepad and your phone with one USB, so that makes the USB hub vital. The device is great for surfing the web, entertainment and documentation, but not really meant for gaming. You can’t expect to run Crysis with this setup. At the most, Tekken 3 is your best option if you want to go back to 1997 that is. Point is, the Intel compute stick will be a targeted purchase, maybe for someone who wants a portable computer, and has screens to spare.

LENOVO Ideacentre Stick 300

ew in the race, smarter than the rest, Lenovo waited for its competitors to announce their pricing and while it offers the same hardware and software as the Intel Compute Stick, they’ve priced it at `9000 (approx.). The device features a Quad

Core Intel Atom Z3735F processor clocked at 1.33GHz with Intel HD 7000 GPU for 1080p streaming and 2GB RAM. It offers similar options of Bluetooth 4.0 and dual-band Wifi. The Lenovo Ideacentre Stick 300 will be available online and in stores next month.

he Taiwanese giant Asus in collaboration with Google is launching a new device called Chromebit. As the name suggests, it features the Linux based Chrome OS which is known for its minimalist design and seamless web surfing features. The Chromebit will use the 2.0GHz quad-core Rockchip RK3288 ARM processor with Mali 764 graphics processor. Featuring the A17 architecture (first in its class), it will also come with 2GB RAM, 16GB of

internal storage, dual-band 802.11ac Wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a single fullsize USB 2.0 port. The Chromebit also has an excellent new feature of a rotatable head to plug into your TVs regardless of the clutter around it. Much like the Intel compute stick, it has the similar drawbacks of a single USB port. It is basically powered by the HDMI so you can’t expect gaming on this either. The device is expected to be priced at `8000

CHROMECAST

hromecast has been around for a while although very few people still understand what an amazing device it can be. What it does is gives you a basic android based OS for web browsing, and streaming movies. I understand that features like HBO Go and Netflix are not India centric, but there is a buzz around the tech world that Netflix is coming to India pretty soon. Now what Chromecast does is, it connects to the TV via the HDMI port. This 2-inch dongle only has 256MB of memory. Unlike the other devices featured, this is not about power in a small/compact device, but

more about a mirroring and entertainment setup for less than `3000. Just connecting it to your home’s Wi-Fi network lets you mirror your phone on to the TV screen. The Chromecast uses your phone’s hardware, so it depends on your phone how well you find the Chromecast experience. The drawbacks of this device however are obvious. First is the need for a Wifi setup which is an unnecessary added cost, and secondly there is an apparent delay if you use graphics intensive applications. The verdict is simple, Chromecast, is just ‘eh’ there are better option available.

In the world of Stick computing, the squeeze is on. The demand is for more computing with less computer at the cheaper price, better your chances of winning this war

Tech Watch

Facebook moments app sends your images from camera roll with facial recognition

any people do not upload the photos from the camera rolls in their mobile devices because the process of syncing photos to the cloud, creating albums and sharing the albums with others can be a great privacy risk (we all know about the iCloud disaster). A new photo-sharing application has been released by Facebook this week called Moments. This app utilizes facial recognition technology to tag and send your pictures from your private camera roll.

Facebook says the following regarding the Moment app : Syncing photos with the Moments app is a private way to give photos to friends and get the photos you didnít take. Moments groups the photos on your phone based on when they were taken and, using facial recognition technology, which friends are in them. You can then privately sync those photos quickly and easily with specific friends. The use of facial recognition tools can prove to be a privacy disaster and it has already created concerns about privacy issues and caused problems for Facebook. In Europe, the launch of the app has been suspended indefinitely, precisely because of its facial recognition tool that allows your Facebook friends to be identified. Many users are not happy with the Facial recognition since every taken picture will automatically be sent to your Private folder present on the app. This means, you will have to take some extra steps to finally share it publicly. Indrajeet Bhuyan is a 17 year old tech blogger and security researcher. He is passionate about computers and believes in sharing knowledge and information . He uses his spare time helping people and companies secure themselves. fb.me/indrajeet.bhuyan

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Entertainment Assamese Short film to be featured at Kerala Film Festival

Aachor/Stroke in life’, an Assamese short fiction film has been selected for the 8th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala to be held on 26th June. The 4 day event will last until 30th June, 2015. The category for the screening has been deemed Short Fiction The film is based on a boy who is mentally abused by his father and has been made by Jyotish Kumar Nath, belonging to Sipajhar. The film has been shot in beautiful Solpam village. The movie has no dialogues. Jyotish Kumar Nath, who has completed his animation degree from Pune Film Institute, is one of Assam’s young, emerging and dynamic directors. Moreover the short film ‘Aachor’ was also highly appreciated in 8th International

Film Festival held in Uttar Pradesh’s Muslim University. The script and directions is by Jyotish Kumar Nath. The concept and story belongs to Ridipjyoti Kalita. The different roles are played by Piyushkanti Saikia, Ashim Kumar Nath, Tarulata Nath, Tuleswar Nath, Prabin Kumar Nath, Chandiraam Nath, Naba, Rinku etc. The cinematography is by Phul Kumar Shivam, Rakesh Chetia and Dipankar Nath. The editing has been done by Pragjyotish Bhuyan and music by Rideep Das. Fact: Jyotish Kumar Nath’s mother, Brinda Bhuyan, is an assistant teacher of Maligoshani Moidhyo Engraji Vidyalaya and also a social worker. She was recently awarded the Dr. Ambedkar Award of Teaching presented by Haryana Government. His father Buddheswar Nath is a retired Animal Husbandry Officer.

Assamese Thriller movie ‘CAR NO 0271’

new Assamese psycho thriller movie titled ‘CAR NO 0271’ is ready to hit the theatres. The film has been directed by Swaroop Dutta and produced by Anish Verma. The movie follows the journey of Nihal and Priya and their encounter with four people: a priest, a local don, an engineer and an insurance agent. They travel through the mountains, taking a shortcut through a dense forest to reach their destination early, and thus begin the thriller experience the movie promises to offer.

New single

‘Jivan Aazi Bhagaruwa’

emanta Debnath, a singer who has risen in the ranks of popularity by sheer hard work and dedication, is not only blessed with a fabulous voice but backs it up with a solid technique and compelling stage presence. The concept of making singles has become more popular than making an album containing multiple tracks. Social networking sites like Reverbnation, Sound Cloud and Facebook have played a major role in making these songs popular. Hemanta’s two tracks ‘Amare Umola Dinbor’ and ‘Oretu Nixa’ have caught popular attention through Facebook and YouTube. ‘Amare Umola Dinbor’ was written by noted singer, Late Charu Gohain and is tuned by Charu Gohain and J.P. Das, and ‘Oretu Nixa’ is written by journalist–lyricist Rajdweep and tuned by Abhijeet Barman. Now, Hemanta Debnath has come up with his third single ‘Jivan Aazi Bhagaruwa’. The song written by Sachin Das tries to explain the vastness of true love, its multi-faceted emotions. It has

been composed by J.P. Das. Music is directed by Pulak Nath. The song’s cinematography and direction are done by Bidya Sagar Baruah. It has been produced by Debasish Gogoi and Hemanta Debnath. The song video features J.P. Das, Pulak Nath, Partha Pratim Goswami, Hiranya Kumar Bora, Reeky Sharma, Gayatree Dutta and Hemanta Debnath. J.P. Das started his musical career as a guitarist at the age of 14 in Shillong. Later he followed his endeavors to become a singer and composer. J.P. Das has rendered his songs in over 60 audio cassettes and CDs. He

has 5 solo albums to his credit and is responsible for music direction in three Assamese films –‘Pahari Kanya’, ‘Prabhati Pokhir Gan’ and ‘Shesh Upahar’. In ‘Jivan Azi Bhagaruwa’, J.P. Das has taken up the guitar. There are also occasional shots of paintings by renowned painter Noni Borpujari and Naren Das. Still–photography has been done by Rana Konwar, Surajit Sarmah and Neeraj Phookan. While Himangshu Lahkar worked as the production controller, Daniel, Debasish Saikia and Harry S John provided their services as make–up artists.

Kalyan Kumar Kalita

The movie will be packed with adventure and thrill but we hear that it comes with a strong message for the society. The cast and crew of the film include Bishnu Kharghoria, Rajdeep Konwar, Diganta Konwar, Darathy Bhardwaj, Gunjan Sarma, Rupantar, Bijit, Sidhartha Dutta, Hasas Ikbal, Prasurjya Baruah, Bedanta and Seuj. The film’s story and screenplay have been penned by Rajdeep Konwar. The movie has been filmed in Dibrugarh, Ledo and the dense forests of Arunachal. The film’s music has been directed

ssamese filmmaker Bidyut Kotoky’s feature film, Xhoixobote Demalite (Rainbow Fields) has been selected for the second season of the Prestigious Clinik Kathmandu. It is a script and project development programme that bridges the gap among selected filmmakers from nine South Asian countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. After successfully providing development support to seven projects in 2014, this year, Clinik has selected nine projects which include Kotoky’s film which will be made in Assamese and Hindi.

uwahati is going to get a taste of an acting workshop on the nine flavours of emotions or Navarasa, which are at the core of human expressions. The workshop will be conducted by Medha Aich, a classical dancer trained in Bharatnatyam and Sattriya. Medha is training in acting and theatre at the prestigious National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi which has produced gems in acting like Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddique. Even our own Baharul Islam and Pabitra

by Bobi Baruah. All the songs have been written and tuned by Rajdeep Konwar and rendered by Homen Molia and Pritam Bora. The cinematography and editing is done by Swaroop Dutta. Publicity has been done by Kalyan Kumar Kalita. The movie ‘CAR NO 0271’, made under the banner of ‘Aaideo Talkies’ and is expected to release in mid-2015. The film is expected to give Assamese film lovers a different type of excitement while offering a new and different entertainment.

Kalyan Kumar Kalita

Assamese filmmaker’s project for Clinik Kathmandu Clinik brings together film projects from the nine countries into a yearlong collaboration infused development programme that provides mentorship and capacity support in finalizing scripts and production strategies for film projects. Bidyut’s documentary ‘Bhraimoman Theatre- where Othello sails with Titanic’ had own a special mention in 2006 at the National Awards. He made his feature film debut as writer-director with the bilingual film ‘Ekhon Nedekha Nadir Xhipare’ (As the River Flows), produced by National

Film Development Corporation. Clinik 2015 kicks off with a week long incubation camp in Bengaluru from June 21, following which the projects will continue to receive development assistance over the following few months. Clinik is developed and initiated by Docskool, a South Asian network representing a body of filmmakers based in Nepal and has Cinemart of International Film Festival of Rotterdam, Open Doors of Festival de film Locarno and Hongkong Asian Film Forum as their industry partners.

Aditya Gogoi

BHAAVMANTRA Rabha from Assam are products of NSD. This is an 8 day acting workshop on Navarasa (Sringara Rasa, Adbhuta Rasa, Veera Rasa, Raudra Rasa, Bhayanaka Rasa, Karuna Rasa, Hasya Rasa, Bibhatsa Rasa and Shantam). The workshop will consist of theatre games pertaining to Navarasa, exercises that will help generate intense emotions, and many other activites.

The workshop is open to anyone above the age of 14 and applicants do not need to have prior knowledge of acting or any experience. BhaavMantra has pulled out all the stops to make this an open and a fun learning experience. The workshop will be conducted at the Silpukhuri Naamghar. For more details check out their Facebook page or contact them at bhaavmantra@ gmail.com

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

Horoscope Taurus Good news can make all the difference to your family situation, particularly if you’ve been waiting on a decision or information. It seems you have reason to celebrate! There’s also a powerful focus on communication, encouraging you to be compassionate and forgiving regarding past hurts. This isn’t a time to hold grudges. Reach out and make amends.

A dynamic transit could coincide with a windfall, the chance of a new job, or an opportunity that’s too good to pass up. Whatever experience comes your way, you’ll feel all the richer because of it. Get ready as Mars hikes into your sign midweek, giving you additional vitality and courage. Even so, it helps to respect different opinions, as this influence can encourage you to rise to the bait.

Virgo

Leo An idea or inspiration could spur you to action, and it might result in a plan that brings you satisfaction and fulfillment. Be sure to listen to your intuition on Monday, as it may be crucial in bringing a special opportunity your way. Meanwhile, it helps to take care of matters close to your heart, particularly if a situation needs a sensitive touch to resolve.

An intuitive hunch could lead you to just the bargain you’ve been hoping for. Pay attention if you feel you should visit a certain shop or online site or even call a friend. The item you’re pining for could soon be yours. There’s also a lively social scene showing up, particularly from midweek, when friends rally round and invitations become more plentiful.

Scorpio

Libra The start of the week has excellent potential and may involve a stroke of good fortune. A meeting could put you in touch with information or opportunities that make quite a difference in your life. Plus, a desire to forge ahead can see you pushing past doubts and fears to achieve a personal goal or career plan. Don’t wait until you’re in the right mood. Go for it and the results should follow.

Progress at work could be the result of an upbeat transit that enhances your chance of success. If the offer of a job or contract comes up and it’s something you desire - grab it right away. This is one chance that won’t last long. Later, travel plans could be on the agenda - and you may be drawn to places that have a certain mystique about them.

Capricorn

Sagittarius Information or fresh perspectives could inspire you to take a new path. Whether this is the result of reading a book or hearing a talk, you may discover new tools with which to shape your destiny. The focus shifts to your zone of shared finances midweek, stirring things up and encouraging you to take action to resolve any money difficulties.

There’s the chance of a windfall, small raise, or other money coming your way early in the week. What’s more, it could be unexpected and so a bit of a surprise. It’s also possible that you’ll hear positive news about a loan or other credit. The focus swings to relationships and interactions as Mars moves into Cancer for the next six weeks or so.

Pisces

Aquarius

Sudoku

Finances get a boost early on. It’s possible you’ll get a windfall or raise out of the blue. A lucrative deal or contract could also show up, and you’ll be eager to accept. There’s more good news, too, as Mars moves into your romance and pleasure sector to enhance your chances of finding that special date.

BLOOD BANK

Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665 Ganga Blood Bank 2454742, 2455029 Lion’s Club of Ghy Central 2546611 Marwari Yuva Manch 2546470, 2547251 Saharia’s Path Lab (24 hours) 2458594

HOSPITALS Arya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665) B Baruah Cancer Institute (2472364/66) Brahmaputra Hospital Ltd (2451634/678) Chatribari Christian Hospital 0361-2600051, 9207044374 Downtown Hospital 2331003, 9864079366, 9435012669 Guwahati Medical College (2529457, 2529561) Guwahati Medical College Emergency (2263444) International Hospital 0361-7135005

Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (2541477, 2543998) Marwari Hospital & Research Centre 0361-2602738/39 Marwari Maternity Hospital 0361-2541202/01 Nemcare Hospital 0361-2528587, 2455906, 2457344 Pratiksha Hospital 0361-2337260, 2337183/84 Basistha Military Hospital (2304617/0351)

Railway Central Hospital Casuality (2671025) Redcross Hospital (2665114) Sri Sankardeva Netralaya 0361-2233444, 2228879, 2228921 TB Hospital (2540193) Wintrobe Hospital 0361-2519860, 98647-77986 IHR-Institute of Human Reproduction 0361-2482619,09864103333 GNRC Hospital 0361 2227702 GNRC Life First Ambulance 9401194011

24-HOUR PHARMACIES Arya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665) DEAD BODY CARRYING VAN GLP Social Circle 2737373, 9435047046 Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251 GGUMTA 98640-16740 ELECTRICITY SUPPLY Call Centre – 9678005171

OTHERS Fire Emergency 101 State Zoo 2201363 GMC Carcass Pickup 9435190720, 9864047222 LPG Emergency/Leakage 2385209, 2541118

RADIO TAXI SERVICES Prime Cabs 0361- 2222233 Green Cabs 0361-7151515 My Taxi 0361-2228888 Cherry Cabs 8876222288

Cinema Hall Anuradha Cineplex – 0361-2656968, 99545-44738 Fun Cinema (HUB)- 98648-00100, 98648-00200 Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar) – 98540-66166 Gold Cinema (Salasar) – 0361-2735367, 98540-77177 Gold Cinema (Narengi) – 88110-01898

police station A Sudoku puzzle consists of 81 cells which are divided into nine columns, rows and regions. The task is now to place the numbers from 1 to 9 into the empty cells in such a way that in every row, column and 3×3 region each number appears only once.

last week solution

Friends seem to be very supportive of you, so much so that the early part of the week could bring a pleasant surprise your way. Perhaps someone will make an offer that you can’t refuse - and that you’re unlikely to receive again. Even so, be on the alert, as surprises can show up out of the blue. Health and lifestyle matters gain in importance, too.

Ambulance 102 Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665 Downtown Hospital 9864101111, 9435012669 GLP Social Circle 2737373 GGUMTA (Mirza) 03623-227109 Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251

Cancer

Gemini Monday’s positive transit can coincide with an unexpected encounter that could have soul-mate potential. It’s also possible you’ll be inspired by this person to collaborate on a special project, one that’s deeply meaningful to you. Personal desires are also emphasized and might be the reason you’re tempted to go bargain hunting this week.

Citypedia

AMBULANCE

Aries Monday could be an especially fortunate time for you, particularly if you’ve been working hard and are hoping to see your efforts rewarded. Stay alert - this is the time when opportunities can appear out of the blue. Even so, make the time on Tuesday to read through important documents to avoid mistakes.

SP, Kamrup District: Ph- 2540278 DGP Control Room: Ph- 2540242 SB Control Room: Ph-2261511 Police Control Room: Ph-2540138, 2540113 Azara PS: Ph2840287 Basista PS: Ph-2302158 Bharalumukh PS: Ph- 2540137, 2731199 Borjhar PS: Ph-2840351 Chandmari PS: Ph- 2660204 Chandrapur PS: Ph-2788237, 2785237 Dispur PS: Ph-2261510 Fancybazar PS: Ph- 2540285

Fatasil Ambari PS: Ph-2471412 Geetanagar PS: Ph-2417323 Hatigaon: Ph-2562383 Jalukbari PS: Ph-2570587 Jalukbari Out Post: Ph-2570522 Jorabat: Ph-2896853 Khanapara: Ph- 2281501 Khetri PS: Ph-2787699, 2787220 Latasil PS: Ph-2540136 Noonmati PS: Ph- 2550281 North Guwahati PS: Ph-2690255 Paltanbazar PS: Ph-2540126 Panbazar PS: Ph-2540106 Pragjyotishpur Ps: Ph-2785237 Women PS Panbazar: Ph-2524627

G PLUS JUN 27 - JUL 03, 2015

Catching Up

Young teens craft ‘smart’ condoms that ‘glows’ if you have STD

bunch of young teens have fashioned a unique “smart condom” that will glow a different colour if a person has STD. Aiming towards a healthier, cleaner sexual environment, 13 and 14-yearold students Muaz Nawaz, Daanyaal Ali, and Chirag Shah respectively, from London’s Isaac Newton Academy, invented the condoms to “make detecting harmful STIs safer than ever before,” without any need to get tested. Ali, 14, said they wanted to help people take immediate action privately at their homes without the invasive

Tanushree Baruah

procedures at the doctors, and wanted to ensure that people could be even more responsible. The creation named the S.T.EYE has a built-in indicator that changes to a different color depending on the bacteria or infection, and may glow green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple for human papillomavirus, or blue for syphilis. The invention also helped the students win health innovation prize at the city’s TeenTech Awards, which included 1,000 pounds and a trip to Buckingham Palace.

Ka m u r of the week

ome any big event in the city and the authorities find a good excuse to declare themselves busy with it. As Ambubachi witnessed around 12 lakh devotees, the officials of almost all the city offices were found to be postponing all work claiming that they are busy with the Ambubachi arrangements. This also happens during elections or even when a VIP like the Prime Minister visits the city.

Guwahati

GYAN

About me Hi! I’m Tanushree Baruah. I’m 18 years old. I recently was declared the Title pageant of Miss Pink Villa Beauty Pageant 2015. I was also declared ‘Miss Tantalizing Tresses’ in the Amway Fashion Fiesta and secured the second prize in a beauty pageant organized by Imagic Beauty Clinic. Personally, I love making new friends, meeting new people because I’m good with everyone and my helpful attitude makes me great company. I love animals, especially dogs and spiders and like most girls have a fear of Cockroaches. I enjoy sketching and dancing Mojo My mom is my inspiration. She has been supportive of all my endeavours. I see her as my role model, my teacher and my guide. There’s no one else I’d rather be like; a caring, loving and a super cool mother. And how can I forget? She’s the boss of the house. route in the woods I don’t have any plans for future in particular. It’s best just to go with the flow. But yes, I definitely want to be a part of the fashion industry.

Did you know?

Chandmari

he term Chandmari is derived from a shooting range as it was used as one during the Second World War in 1939-40 by the American army who were then allied forces with the British. The reason behind was that such ranges were made amidst hilly terrains to avoid any kind of harm to civilians or people residing in the surrounding areas. The area was also used as one of the base camps of the army. The lesser known fact is that there is a Chandmari in every part or city of the state of Assam where there has been army movements. Tinsukia and Lakhimpur are some of the examples. Chandmari is also among the oldest localities of Guwahati. Situated towards the eastern side of the city, the area is home to the All India Radio, Guwahati centre, Assam Engineering Institute among several others land-

marks. The Podum Konari Pukhuri also once existed in the current location of Gauhati Commerce College. This part of the city is also known for its recreational facilities. Bohag Bihu (Rongali Bihu) is being regularly organized since 1961at the Assam Engineering Institute playground

The heat is on in Guwahati. Photo: Adib Zamali

PIC OF THE

WEEK

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