G Plus Vol 3 issue 18

recipe PG 18 of the week

Pride parade in Ghy offers a bold statement against social discrimination

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Madhurima Kalita New Chic on the block

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VOLUME 03 | ISSUE 18 FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

PRICE `10

Smart city funding to depend on transparent utilisation reports

Epitomizing Womanhood

CHITRANGADA

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14 State govt puts top priority for early completion of water supply schemes

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06 Consumption of marijuana as Prasad by sadhus has nothing to do with religious beliefs Kamakhya Temple doloi

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India dominates the 12th edition of PG 12 South Asian Games

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G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Lead Story

Smart city funding to depend on transparent utilisation reports

rahul chanda

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fter Guwahati entered the first list of 20 smart cities, its citizens are eager to know when exactly the city will become smart and what is the entire workflow which will be followed by the authorities in the process. Union Urban Development Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu, recently announced the names of the first 20 cities which will be developed into smart cities in 2016 and the list included Guwahati. Who all are exactly responsible for this first list entry?

Who will be responsible to initiate the work? What is the budget and when will the work start? G Plus tries to present the scenario.

bilateral and multilateral institutions, both domestic and external sources • State may also access the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), which was announced by the Finance Minister in his 2015 Budget Speech, and is likely to be set up in 2016 • Private sector funds through PPPs

Project management cell According to GMC officials, many exercises were carried out to get opinions from city people, government officials and experts before making the proposal. The officials understood exactly what the city’s requirements were for it to be termed as smart. Many people participated in the process and the feedback was analysed and incorporated in the proposal. The project management cell of GMC, located at Lamb Road, is responsible for planning and managing the development projects like Adabari land development, construction of public toilets, portable toilets, e-toilets, parking under flyovers, solid waste management and other development projects. Also the cell actively looks after centrally sponsored flagship programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Development, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, National Urban Livelihood Mission and Smart City. The cell has GIS specialists, town planning specialists, training coordinators and architects. The cell worked day and night during the preparation of the smart city proposal and finally Guwahati found place in the first list.

But now the smart city work will be carried out by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

Special purpose vehicle The implementation of the mission at the city level will be done by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created for the purpose. The SPV will plan, appraise, approve, release funds, implement, manage, operate, monitor and evaluate the smart city development projects. Each smart city will have an SPV which will be headed by a full time CEO and have nominees of cen-

A panoramic view of Guwahati city - G Plus photo

With the GDD all set to form the Special Purpose Vehicle to initiate the smart city project, the city can well become smart in just five years if the authorities are transparent with the financial reports tral government and state government on its board. The state or the urban local body (ULB) shall ensure that a dedicated and substantial revenue stream is made available to the SPV so as to make it self-sustainable and evolve its own credit worthiness for raising additional resources from the market. Government contribution for smart city is used only to create infrastructure that has public benefit outcomes. The execution of projects may be done through joint ventures, subsidiaries, public-private partnership (PPP), turnkey contracts, etc. suitably dovetailed with revenue streams. The SPV will be a limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 at the city-level, in which the state and the ULB will be the promoters having 50:50 equity shareholdings.

The private sector or financial institutions could be considered for taking equity stake in the SPV, provided the shareholding pattern of 50:50 of the state and the ULB is maintained and the state and the ULB together have majority shareholding and control of the SPV. Funds provided by the Government of India in the smart cities Mission to the SPV will be in the form of tied grant and kept in a separate grant fund. These funds will be utilized only for the purposes for which the grants have been given and subject to the conditions laid down by the MoUD. According to sources in GMC,

the Guwahati Development Department of Assam government will form the SPV within two months following the guidelines issued by MoUD. After selection of the cities in Stage II of the Challenge, the process of implementation will start with the setting up of the SPV. The SPV may appoint Project Management Consultants (PMC) for designing, developing, managing and implementing area-based projects.

SPVs may take assistance from any of the empanelled consulting firms in the list prepared by MoUD and the handholding agencies. For procurement of goods and services, transparent and fair procedures as prescribed under the financial rules should be followed.

When the smart city proposal was submitted an approximate budget of Rs. 2256 crores was suggested as the requirement but the budget might vary depending on the Detailed Project Report which will be made.

The smart city mission will be operated as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) and the Central Government proposes to give financial support to the mission to the extent of Rs. 48,000 crores over five years, i.e. an average Rs. 100 crore per city per year. An equal amount, on a matching basis, will have to be contributed by the state/ULB. The project cost of each Smart City proposal will vary depending upon the level of ambition, model and capacity to execute and repay. It is

anticipated that substantial funds will be required to implement the smart city proposal and towards this end, government grants of both the centre and state will be leveraged to attract funding from internal and external sources. The success of this endeavour will depend upon the robustness of SPV’s revenue model and comfort provided to lenders and investors.

The Government of India funds and the matching contribution by the state will meet only a part of the project cost. Balance funds are expected to be mobilized from: • ULBs own resources from collection of user fees, beneficiary charges and impact fees, land monetization, debt, loans, etc.

• Additional resources transferred due to acceptance of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission • Innovative finance mechanisms such as municipal bonds with credit rating of ULBs, pooled finance mechanism, tax increment financing • Other Central government schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission, AMRUT, National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), etc.

• Leverage borrowings from financial institutions, including

After the Stage 1 of the challenge which Guwahati has passed, each potential smart city were given an advance of Rs. 2 crores for preparation of smart city proposal which came from the city’s share of the A&OE funds and will be adjusted in the share of the city.

In the first year, Government proposes to give Rs. 200 crores to the selected smart cities to create a higher initial corpus.

The yearly instalment of funds will be released to SPVs after they meet the following conditions: • Timely submission of the city score card every quarter to the MoUD • Satisfactory physical and financial progress as shown in the utilization certificate and the annual city score card • Achievement of milestones given in the roadmap contained in the proposal • A Board Resolution should certify that all these conditions have been met, including a certificate that all the conditions relating to establishment, structure, functions and operations of the SPV as given in the guidelines have been adhered to All said and done, things look good. But any new scheme essentially increases the opportunity of corruption. The MoUD guidelines look pretty strict but again is the GDD forming the SPV with officials who are honest?

The role of the urban local body is very important in the process of making a smart city, but all will depend on the SPV. Even now the state government is criticised as many projects are pending due to non-submission of utilisation certificates. Will the hard work of the officials who took Guwahati to the first list of smart cities be respected and finally, will Guwahatians get a chance to live in a smart city?

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

3

In The News

Cinema exhibitors urge Assamese movie makers to improve standards

Bipasa Saikia Kashyap

Salient features of old policy: 1.

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L-R: BN Sharma, Rajiv Bora, Chinmoy Sharma and JP Behani addressing the press conference

Movie hall owners pass the buck - blame the bad content of Assamese cinema for its death “We are conducting a business; maybe movie makers should work harder,” comments a prominent movie hall owner of Guwahati city Hall owners blame directors for the death of the 80-year-old Assamese movie industry

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n Sunday last at a press conference held in Gauhati Town Club, the movie halls owners in city addressed the media in defense of the allegations made against them by the film fraternity of Assam. The cinema exhibitors of Guwahati openly challenged the Assamese film fraternity to prove on paper that they were involved in the collapse of the 80-year-old film industry. JP Behani of Apsara Cinema, while addressing the audience said that his involvement with cinema started in 1952. “We ran businesses in Nagaon and Guwahati where the miniscule attendance for Assamese cinema screenings made us incur heavy losses.” He stated that the quality of the content was probably a big reason why Assamese cinema’s popularity has dipped amongst its own people. Giving an example of failed Assamese movies screened in his halls, he said his hall, on one occasion, received a total number of only 452 people for a movie that ran for four weeks at consecutive time slots leaving him with considerable losses. The Face, a popular Assamese movie, amassed a total audience of only 38 people.

Chinmoy Sharma, owner of Anuradha Cineplex, also countered the fraternity’s claim of not giving them prime time slots. Accusing the fraternity of bad judgment amongst themselves, he stated, “Prime time slots are at 2 pm and 5 pm every day.

They themselves are not sure which

time slots they want.” Chinmoy Sharma’s claim of the indecisiveness in time slot decisions was given in clarification to the allegation made by the fraternity that most Assamese movies were screened during the day time when most of the people are at work. Sharma also claimed that they were going out of their way to accommodate Assamese film artists and their work, but a common ground was yet to be found.

Regarding the most important point among the various allegations, where the Assamese film fraternity slammed the movie hall owners for charging Rs. 40 per ticket as service charges while the best halls in Maharastra and Gujarat charged just Rs. 14 per ticket, Chinmoy Sharma stated that only 14 movie halls in the city levied this level of service charge.

He augmented his claim by stating that as movie hall owners, they have to spend a lot of money by way of maintenance, salaries, etc. “We spend more than a crore each year that costs us an extra 10% of what we make as service charges. We have to invest on expensive seating, lighting and maintenance. We spent Rs. 65 lakhs on one screening machine and that is just expense on the surface.”

Rajiv Bora, owner of the Gold Cinema chain in Guwahati, said that regional moves were failing and there were many a reason for this failure. “The state of Assamese cinema is falling due to the low quality of content displayed. Maybe if better

films were made, Assamese cinema would actually retain an audience.

Assamese cinema needs to raise its standards.”

This move by the movie hall owners in the city was an attempt to nullify the allegations of the Assamese film fraternity against a supposedly lop-sided film policy loaded in favour of exhibitors leaving just a pittance for the film producers. The fraternity has taken to protests in the city in the past week in retaliation to the “unfair” treatment that they have received from the government and the hall owners. These protests are being spearheaded by senior members of the Assamese film fraternity including Manju Borah, Bani Das, Jatin Borah, Munin Barua, Pranjal Saikia, Kopil Bora and Angarag Mahanta. In the recent past and as reported in the 5th February edition of G Plus, the fraternity got together for a press conference at the Guwahati Press Club calling for media attention to air their grievances against what appears to be a lop-sided film policy tilted entirely in favour of exhibitors and hall owners. According to them, the 80 year old Assamese film industry has fallen prey to the business-minded nature of the hall owners in connivance with the state government and so, is today lying in ruins. The fraternity came out with a proposed policy with recommendations from EIMPA (Eastern India Motion Picture Association) in 2007 that they now want to revive.

All hall owners were allowed to keep Rs. 5 per ticket as service charge, before sharing any revenue with the distributors/producers. This amount was for maintaining the cinema auditorium.

In case the cinema halls planned to upgrade to a digital sound system, they could entail an additional service charge of Rs. 10 per ticket.

In case they installed push back seats, an additional amount of Rs. 8 per ticket could be charged.

Further, if the halls planned to install central air-conditioning with a 100% generator back-up, then an additional amount of Rs. 17 per ticket could be charged as service charges.

The Assamese film fraternity has resolved to approach the government with a new and modified policy that they believe will work towards the revival of Assamese cinema in the state.

Salient features of the new policy: 1.

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Service charges should be brought down and the producer should be entitled to a 50% share of the service charges.

All the proceeds from the ebox office release should be handed over to the producer on submission of proper taxable documents.

The Assamese film industry should be considered as a separate individual entity for the revival of arts and the state government must maintain a separate budget for this.

Addressing the media, the representatives of the film fraternity had labeled the current policy as a sinister design of the hall owners to finish off the Assamese film industry. “State patronage is necessary for regional creative industries. This has been going on since kings ruled the country,” Kopil Bora had said while addressing the media during the fraternity’s press conference earlier. bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

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G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

In The News

G Plus News

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Hydrocarbon Vision 2030, huge investment to dramatically increase production

ith the launch of the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 here in the city on 9th February by the Union Petroleum Minister Dharmender Pradhan, the Minister announced that each and every family will be benefitted with LPG. The Petroleum Minister said that his ministry has proposed to invest Rs. 1.3 lakh crores in 15 years to increase hydrocarbon production in the northeast region. “Every year an amount of Rs. 10,000 crores will be invested with around Rs. 80,000 crores being required for the upstream activities, Rs. 20,000 crores for midstream and Rs. 30,000 crores for the downstream activities. The utilization of hydrocarbon has been initiated for the growth of the region and also to improve the standard of living by generating opportunities for the youth and creating sustainable energy for a secure future,” said Pradhan. He added, “The broad objectives are to leverage the region’s hydrocarbon potential, enhance access to clean fuels, improve availability of petroleum products and facilitate economic development. To achieve these goals a time bound action plan for immediate term, medium term and long term has been prepared for each segment.”

The key initiative in the upstream sector will include introduction of

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmender Pradhan along with BJP’s CM candidate Sarbananda Sonowal and other dignitaries releasing the Hydrocarbon Vision Document

production enhancement contracts, promotion of new technology for investment linked to increase in production, enhancing exploration activities in the region, possibility of providing premium on gas price for gas produced from challenging blocks in the region, national oil companies to extend services to private players on chargeable basis, future oil and gas block awards to bring in favourable contractual terms for exploration and production players,

development of service provider hubs.

The midstream initiatives include new pipeline projects for crude, natural gas, petroleum products and LPG, viability gap funding/budgetary support for implementation of pipelines, assessment of other funding options, strategic or basic storage of LPG and POL in the states and development of energy corridor.

The downstream activities include expansion plan of refinery capacity

from 7 MTPA to about 16 MTPA, facilitation of cooperation between the northeast region and SAARC countries, enhancing availability of POL products and LPG in region and thereby increasing the availability of clean fuel, development of city gas distribution networks and CNG highways, ensuring utilisation of flared gas for downstream segment industries and promotion of production of bio ethanol and other special products in the

Gogoi’s Vision 2030 Plan to put environment and development in sync

Bipasa Saikia Kashyap

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n 10th February last, Assam as a state, became the first in the world to have a vision document for the year 2030. This is based on the United Nations’ 17 point Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs).

The basic 17 SDGs according to the United Nations are: 1. No poverty 2. Zero hunger 3. Good health and well-being 4. Quality education 5. Gender equality 6. Clean water and sanitation 7. Affordable and clean energy 8.

Decent work and economic growth 9.

Industry, innovation and infrastructure 10. Reduce inequality 11. Sustainable cities and communities 12. Responsible consumption and production 13.

Climate action 14. Life below water 15. Life on land 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions 17. Partnership for the goals.

The draft vision titled “Vision Assam 2030” was released on 10th February at the Administrative Staff College. This huge initiative was also

lauded by world-renowned economist and special adviser to UN’s Secretary General, Prof. Jaffrey David Sachs, who interacted with Gogoi via an online video conference during the program.

He said that Assam’s decision will be conveyed to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. During the integration Sachs also mentioned that he was with this wholeheartedly and he was sure this dream will turn into a reality. Sachs highlighted the implementation of the 17 SDGs and stressed on its importance for a well-functioning country. He dwelt on all the 17 SGDs in detail and stated that it was the need of the world to come together for an allround development. Speaking about the ongoing ethnic violence all over the State, Sachs also stated that SGD Point 16’s implementation was crucial.

While addressing the audience, Tarun Gogoi said “I am committed to realizing Vision Assam 2030 where environment and development are in

Assam CM Tarun Gogoi along with Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia at the unveiling of the draft Vision Document, ‘Vision Assam 2030.’

region.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal while speaking on the occasion said, “The Petroleum Minister is the first to take initiative on the petroleum sector and the initiative has been taken to encourage the young generation who will get the opportunity for employment generation.”

The major projects underway under the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 are the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd., Dibrugarh, Numaligarh Refinery expansion plan, Fertiliser Plant in Tripura-ONGC and Chambal Fertilizers and Plastic Park in Tinsukia. Assam Industrial Development Corporation Limited (AIDCL) is in the process of setting up a 360 acre plastic park in Tinsukia, north of Guwahati that will use raw material produced by Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) that is likely to come on stream in around a year’s time.

To maximise the use of gas and enhance project viability, the Guwahati and Bongaigaon refineries may be considered as major anchor loads which, between them, can absorb 1MMSCMD of gas at existing capacities. Currently, LPG penetration in Assam is 55%. The projected LPG demand for the northeast is based on the target of 80% coverage by 2029-30.

Pradhan also added that around 7,000 KM of pipeline will be added in the region. The region presently has pipeline network of 3,263 km. Work for state-run oil refiner-marketer Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.’s Assam based refinery and Numaligarh Refinery Limited’s (NRL) ambitious bio-refinery project will start this year. He also said that 15,000 direct and 15,000 indirect employments will be generated through the projects.

Gogoi announces Vision 2030 for Assam Assam becomes first state in the world to have a vision document Draft of Vision 2030 released at Administrative Staff College in city sync. It will give a broad framework and direction to all efforts of the government to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and hunger for ensuring healthy lives and achieving gender equality through women’s empowerment.” He also stated that even though there were problems, inclusive and sustainable development in Assam needs to become the crux of society, only then there will be a scope of a better tomorrow.

With 101.27 lakh people living below the poverty line, the state has the 12th highest number of poor people in the country and the highest in the region, according to Planning Commission’s Poverty Estimates, 2011-12.

Percentage wise, Assam’s BPL population in 2011-12 was 31.98% of its total population. bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Concern

Child marriage still prevails in Guwahati

Childline rescued 1710 children from Guwahati between February 2001 to January 2016

With cases of crime against children increasing in Guwahati every year, it is shameful that the city still witnesses cases of child marriage and sexual abuse rahul chanda of minors

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t was 10th February, 2001 when Childline Guwahati received its first call to rescue a child. On 10th February 2016, the 24/7 toll-free emergency phone outreach service for children in need and protection celebrated its 15th foundation day with various programmes for children at Kalyani Nivas Shelter Home, Amaya Chaliha Open Shelter Home and Fatasil Government Children Home.

According to officials, since its inception up to September 2015, Childline Guwahati has intervened in 5819 cases of different categories such as medical, shelter, protection from abuse, missing children, restoration, emotional support, guidance, etc. G Plus tries to see what the situation in Guwahati is and are people here still witnessing cases of crimes like child marriage, etc.?

The cases From February 2001 to January 2016, Childline intervened into 6130 cases which include restoration, missing shelter, rescue/protection from abuse, medical help, child marriage, etc., and in the same duration 1710 children were rescued by Childline and were provided protection from abuse. From 2001 to 2002, 13 children were rescued and the following data portrays and rising graph that is worrying: 2002-03, 57 children, 2003-04: 59, 2004-05: 63, 2005-06: 81, 2006-07: 102, 2007-08: 80, 2008-09: 68, 2009-10: 72, 2010-11: 107, 2011-12: 131, 201213: 216, 2013-14: 226, 2014 to March 2015: 203. Since then till January 2016, 242 children were rescued. So according to the data it can be seen that the number of children rescued from crimes like child labour, child abuse, child trafficking, child marriage, etc. is increasing hinting towards a concern that children are prone to being victims of such crimes and Childline with its toll free number 1098 is trying to intervene in the maximum number of cases which are reported to them.

In 2015 Guwahati witnessed many crimes against children and some of them are shocking.

Guwahati crime in 2015 Early in 2015, according to Dispur police, the labour commissioner, Chohan Doley was arrested and sent to judicial custody on 17th February,

2015. A case was registered in Dispur Police Station (case number – 327/15 under section 376 of IPC, 6 POSCO Act and also a section of JJ Act). According to sources in Childline, the 16-year-old victim was staying with the labour commissioner as a domestic help. There were three girls staying in the commissioner’s house located at the Hengrabari-Barbari area and all three of them belonged to Lakhimpur District. As the girls came from poor families, someone known to their parents brought them from Lakhimpur promising a wage of Rs. 1500 per month. Doley lived with his wife and a daughter who was an adult. According to the victim’s statement to Childline, in the month of December 2014, Doley’s wife went to Dhemaji for a few days and the victim and the other two girls were staying with the labour commissioner in his house. “He asked me for tea. I took a cup of tea to his room when he closed the door and forced me to do wrong things with him. I resisted and also shouted but he slapped me and sexually abused me forcefully,” the victim told Childline. She further informed Childline that the next day Doley’s wife returned from Dhemaji and she narrated the horrifying story to his wife. But the wife laughed the incident off and told the victim that she will soon be sent her back to her village. Similarly, child labourers were rescued from the houses of prominent politicians, government officials and even from government offices, a source in Childline said. But the incident of child marriage getting reported in Guwahati is a shame for all.

Child marriage prevails in Guwahati According to sources in Childline, very recently a case of child marriage was detected in the Dhirenpara area of Guwahati. The source said that Childline received a call on their helpline number (1098) from an informer that there was a marriage being arranged between a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. Childline then contacted the task force and the police and reached the marriage venue.

The ages of the bride and the groom were verified and it was found that both were minors. The marriage was stopped and the parents of both the children were arrested. They are still in jail for the crime. The Childline

source said that usually they do not get child marriage cases in Guwahati and this case came as a shock proving that child marriage still prevails in Guwahati. Meanwhile, Childline faces many problems in rescuing children.

Childline task force inactive A special task force was formed in the city by the district administration in the financial year 2013-14.

The task force is expected to have some doctors, a team of police, a magistrate from the district administration court, NGOs and the media.

The task force was formed on the basis that it will dedicatedly work only for children who require protection from abuse. But the irony is that as the authorities have an old habit of coming up with various schemes for the society and thereafter not implementing it, the district administration, after forming the task force, has not implemented it fully yet. Childline now does not have any dedicated team to work for rescuing the victimized kids. According to sources in Childline, they face a lot of problems rescuing the children working as domestic helps as, to enter someone’s house they require permission from the magistrate. As there is no dedicated magistrate working for Childline, getting permission for raids becomes a time consuming process. At present whenever the unit receives a call to rescue any child, Childline has to contact the labour department and the police. They have to take permission from the magistrate and then rescue the child from the spot. The rescued child is then taken to the Child Welfare Commission (CWC) which decides on what should be the next course of action with the kid. The labour department decides on the fate of the employer and accordingly files a case or sets the employer free. If the special task force formed by district administration starts working efficiently, there will be a specialized team who can work in unison and more effectively.

Child labour Child labour is illegal but there are many reasons that force children to work like lack of education, lack of awareness of child labour laws, etc.

But the top factor is poverty. When

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parents are not able to feed their children and in order to earn some money by engaging the child in some work, child labour occurs. All child labourers are also not treated badly.

According to Childline, there have been cases where the employer has treated the child nicely and has even taken care of the education part. A source in Childline said, “Once we went for an investigation where two girls below the age of 14 where working as domestic helps. We brought the girls to CWC and returned them to the foster care of the employer because they were willing to stay with the employer. In foster care, the employer has to take care of all the requirements of the child till the age of 14.” The source added that similarly there are many cases were children are found to be living in decent situation in spite of being engaged in work. But that there are also cases of child abuse and sexual harassment cannot be denied. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act of 2012 (POCSO), as accorded by the President of India, aims to offer protection to children (individuals below the age of 18) from sexual violence, namely sexual assault, sexual harassment and the inclusion of children in pornography. The Act also stipulates special courts for the prosecution of

Children were rescued from being victims of crimes like child labour, child marriage, child trafficking and child abuse Some children were rescued from the homes of bureaucrats, prominent politicians, businessmen and even from government offices Task force formed by district administration in 2013-14 is still not active fully Main cause of child labour identified as poverty such sexual crimes committed against children. The POSCO Act has stricter punishments but the police are not that aware of such acts and do not book the culprits under such acts. So, sensitising the police of the various laws and acts is vital.

Child labour and protecting children from any kind of abuse is not tough, but before eradicating the problem completely from the society, major problems like poverty which gives birth to such social problems should be dealt with. rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

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G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Governance

Bipasa Saikia Kashyap

State govt putting top priority for early completion of water supply schemes State government undertakes new water supply schemes for uninterrupted, clean drinking water Work progress in west zone almost over; trial run of pipelines to begin

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he Government of Assam has taken up several projects to improve the condition of Guwahati, a soon-to-be smart city.

One of them is drinking water. A 24hour access to continuous, supply of clean drinking water to the city is what the government is assuring. This initiative was undertaken by the state government along with the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC). The prevailing system has been unable to meet the demands of the entire city which is why this step is being given a priority thrust. The state government has taken up four projects - the Asian Development Bank (ABD) funded Tranche-I and Tranche-II drinking water projects being implemented by the GMDA and two other projects which are being implemented by the Guwahati Jal Board. The total cost involved in the implementation of the projects is around Rs. 4863 crores.

Guwahati, as a city, has a population of about 13 lakhs. These new projects that are being undertaken will work towards providing the entire city a continuous supply of clean drinking water. Under this project, four zones of West, East, North and Central Guwahati have been taken up and the work of supplying water will be divided between the different water supply departments of the respective zones. The work in the west

zone is 95% complete according to Anurag Singh, Chief Executive Officer of GMDA. “We are almost over with the work in the west zone, but we can only be sure once we run our first set of trials which should begin in June or early August this year. This is a 107 MLD (million litres per day) water supply project.” The central and north zone water supply projects too have started and are under progress.

Both these zones are being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and according to Singh, are scheduled to be completed in 2017. “As for the projects undertaken for the east zone, it is an Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded project and we have completed the tendering

process. We are also finally decided and secured about the sites and work will start in the next three months. We are aiming to complete all installations by the end of 2018 for the east zone.”

The west zone progress Trials for the west zone are to start with all the work being almost 95% complete. An amount of Rs. 389.53 crores have been spent on this project that will comprise of GMC wards 1 to 13 and has 454.45 kms of pipelines. The concerned areas are - the West Bharalumukh area, Santipur, Kamakhya, Pandu, Maligaon, Fatasil, Ganeshpara, Gorchuk, Jaluk-

West Zone water supply details

bari, Dharapur, Azara, Mirjapur and Borjhar. The project is divided into 5 major areas namely West Kamakhya, Ganeshpara, Jalukbari, Mirjapur and Borjhar. Water will be extracted from the Brahmaputra by installing an intake well near the Pandu Ghat.

The water to be treated at WTP will be installed at Sadilapur. The treated water will be distributed to the consumer round the clock from 8 reservoirs through approximately 500 kms of pipeline network. The water supply pipe line is to be connected to each consumer end through a water meter.

However, the GMDA still has reservations regarding the time-frame for the physical implementation of the entire project. The west zone trial run

was earlier announced to be up and running in April 2016. “This is a huge venture that the state government has undertaken and things cannot be done hastily. This is a great initiative and progress has been immense, but a lot of obstacles are in the way too - like the dynamics of Guwahati as a city.

We face numerous problems ranging from electricity, the geographic factors that offer major challenges when we are planning out the pipelines here, etc.,” Anurag Singh stated.

Currently, the water supply in Guwahati Metropolitan area is being operated by three Departments - the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), the Assam Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Board (AUWSSB) and the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). It may also be mentioned that the Zoo Road water supply scheme, Rukminigaon water supply scheme and the Rupnagar-Jatia water supply scheme have been maintaining a standard health and hygiene level. All these projects were initiated by the current Government not only to ensure that city dwellers get 24X7 water supply but also to provide global standard drinking water, quality and sewerage system. All of this, the government is aiming to achieve by the year 2040.

bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

7

City

Consumption of marijuana as Prasad by sadhus has nothing to do with religious beliefs

Kamakhya Temple doloi

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fter just over a month of declaring the Kamakhya Temple, one of the holiest shrines of the Hindu community atop Nilachal Hills, as a no tobacco zone, the environment around the temple is certainly providing a breath of fresh air for visitors. The Kamakhya Devalaya Committee, the body entrusted with the task of managing the temple and related affairs, had declared the temple including the hillock as a tobacco-free zone from 1st January last.

The temple committee has launched a no smoking drive and has served notices to all the shopkeepers and vendors in the Nilachal Hills to ensure that there is no sale of any kind of tobacco within the temple premises. Kabindra Sarma, Doloi of the Kamakhya Devalaya Committee said, “The purpose of declaring the hillock as a no tobacco zone is to make the temple premises and other surrounding areas a clean, safe and eco-friendly place to step in and promote environment. Along with the temple premises we have urged the residents as well to abstain from using any kind of tobacco-based products.”

“Our main priority is to restrict the sale of tobacco-based products at the shops in the surroundings of the hillock for which we have also served notices to all the shopkeepers and vendors and anyone found violating the rules will be imposed a fine up to Rs. 500. The same will also be applied for anyone found consuming any tobacco product within the temple premises,” Sarma added. Kamakhya Devalaya Committee has deployed several security personnel to keep an eye on the guideline being enforced. So far, four cases have come up where shopkeepers have been imposed fines for selling tobacco-based products within the

temple premises. However, a greater challenge lies ahead for the committee during the Ambubachi Mela when the temple draws lakhs of devotees every year. Kamakhya Temple is considered the center for Tantra form of worship and hence, it attracts thousands of tantric devotees to the annual festival and the number keeps increasing every passing year. The rampant consumption of bhang — cannabis leaves in smoke form as known in Assam — by thousands of sadhus and sanyasis who arrive from all over the country is a common sight during the Mela. Apart from the sadhus several others can also be seen consuming the same and enforcing a no tobacco zone refraining the sadhus from consuming marijuana will be a quite a repressive battle.

“During the Ambubachi Mela we will enforce the rules with help of the district administration and urge them to provide all the support. It would be difficult to enforce the restrictions without the support of the district administration. As far as the consumption of marijuana by the sadhus goes they consider it as a Prasad but the consumption of such narcotic items has nothing to do with religious beliefs and we will take adequate preventive measures,” Sarma said.

Sarma informed that there will check posts installed at several places during the Mela such as the railway stations and the entrance of the temple. Sarma has also urged the devotees to lend a helping hand and co-operate in maintaining a clean and eco-friendly environment in the hillock and the temple premises. Last year too, the sadhus congregating from various parts of India during Ambubachi Mela were asked not to smoke marijuana and other forms of tobacco during the

KALYAN DEB

Mela. However, it could not be controlled to the expected extent.

Ambubachi Mela is celebrated during the monsoons in the Assamese month of Ahaar, when the Brahmaputra River is in spate. It is the celebration of the yearly menstruation of Goddess Kamakhya. It is believed that the presiding Goddess of the temple, Devi Kamakhya, is the Mother Shakti. She goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this period.

It is also believed that during the monsoon rains the creative and nurturing power of the ‘menses’ of Mother Earth becomes accessible to devotees at this site during the Mela. She is worshipped in the form of a yoni-like stone over which a natural spring flows.

The centuries-old Kamakhya temple is an important destination for thousands of pilgrims round the year and is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Piths. The main temple is in a complex of individual temples dedicated to ten Mahavidyas – Kali, Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala.

Tripurasundari, Matangi and Kamala reside inside the main temple and the remaining seven other deities reside in individual temples. The current structure of the temple was built and renovated several times from 8th to the 17th century. As a result of this one sees a hybrid indigenous style that is called the Nilachal type meaning hemispherical dome on a cruciform base. There are four chambers comprising Garbhagriha and three mandapas - Kalanta, Pancharatna and Natamandira aligned from east to west. kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

8

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

City

Pride parade in Ghy offers a bold statement against social discrimination

Bipasa Saikia Kashyap

O

n Sunday last, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & others (LGBT+) communities of Guwahati came out in a fancy ensembles and marched against the Supreme Court of India’s decision to reconsider Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Celebrating its third year in the city, the parade saw numerous people even from non LGBT+ communities. This was the first ever parade of its kind that was actually an initiative of the city’s people to stand up in unison to fight for the rights of not only the gay community but also the queers. The first pride parade was organized in Guwahati in the year 2014 against the Supreme Court’s judgment to criminalize homosexuality in 2013 - a time when the entire country rose against the Court’s decision. The 2014 parade in Guwahati was the first of its kind in the entire northeast which happened successfully despite protests from various right wing groups in the state.

On the morning of 7th February, people from all corners of the city came forward to take part in the pride walk. The parade was organized by the Guwahati unit of the LGBT+ community and was supported by several other LGBT rights enthusiasts. The march was also attended by students from various schools and colleges in and around the city, working professionals and a few media representatives, who stood hand-in-hand with the LGBT+ community of the city.

The march began at the Dighalipukhuri main gate at 11 am and traversed from the Reserve Bank of India point towards the old SP office to reach Lamb Road via Latasil. From there it came to a halt at the roundabout in front of the TC Girls’ School.

The people who participated in the pride parade wore an array of creative attires - skirts, pants, wigs, masks and costumes celebrating the colors of freedom that gave the area a carni-

LGBT communities of Guwahati come out in celebratory mood Guwahatians protest and demand for the reconsideration of Sec 377 of the IPC Over 200 people participate in the parade

Pride parade in Guwahati - G Plus photo.

val atmosphere. This initiative, being the first of its kind, also reflected the progressive mindset of Guwahatians.

There was also huge participation of women.

However, the acceptance of the equal rights of the LGBT+ community in our country is at a very initial stage.

Guwahati too, is still assessing the existence of the LGBT+ community but a visit to the pride parade demonstrated that the city is actually coming out of its shell in this regard. The event however, was largely ignored by the regional media - especially the broadcast media. Fact remains that a larger part of the Assamese community is still unable to accept the LGBT communities wholeheartedly. Interestingly, while a lot of people who were gath-

ered at the spot did not participate in the parade, they cheered and encouraged the march. Mili Dutta, one of the organizing committee members, stated that instances of labeling the LGBT+ community as ‘immoral’ and ‘unnatural’ are not rare. “The suppression, violence and terror that the community has to live with every day for not conforming to the deep rooted, stereotypical social norms and notions of sexuality are often ignored.

These people are not alien or abnormal. They are just like other human beings. We protest against the Section 377, which suppresses the basic human rights of the community.”

Another member of the organizing committee, Minakshi, stated that in the northeast, Manipur has a

vibrant LGBTQ (Q is for Queer) community but no LGBTQ pride march has been organized in the state yet. She expressed lament and stated that this sad state of affairs still exists despite the long time existence of the LGBTQ community in India including Assam and other north-eastern states.

During the parade, most people on the streets were also informed about the LGBT+ rights and a lot of people came in support for the same cause.

Anuksha Khargharia, an onlooker, who was informed about the parade right after it started, was awe-struck.

“I work in Bangalore. We would always wonder when such an initiative will be taken in our city. And today, this immense participation has filled me with hope. Section 377 is ridicu-

lous and has to be reconsidered.” The parade saw the active participation of more than 200 people who protested with slogans and placards.

It should be mentioned that the Delhi High Court in 2009 made a judgment ending 150 years of criminalization and oppression under the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

The court confirmed that the people of the LGBT community are equal citizens of this country and thus entitled to all the constitutional protections of equality, liberty, privacy, dignity and health. However in 2013, the same was dismissed by the Supreme Court and it was declared that consensual sex between two persons belonging to the same gender is an offence and punishable with up to life imprisonment. A petition made for its revival was also refused. This SC verdict on Section 377 and the Court’s subsequent refusal to review the verdict has outraged the entire world.

Photo credit Sunil Deepak bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

Dreams are important regardless of age: Dr. Abraham

T Dr Abraham along with the participants

he Psychology department of Cotton College State University (CCSU) had organized a colloquium on ‘Dynamics of Mind and Personal Excellence using Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)’ on Tuesday, 9th February at the University premises.

Dr. A. Abraham, Speaker of the Colloquium spoke on the changes of the people’s behavior and how it is influenced by our mind. He also spoke about how important dreams are regardless of one’s age.

Abraham also described about the eye movement which is a vital factor for communication and that eyes never lie.

The other members present in the colloquium were Dhrubajyoti Saikia, Vice Chancellor, Dr. Dimpy Mahanta, Convener, Sushma Lama, Associate Professor, Kamal Saikia and Dolly Kalita, Class Representative and students of Psychology department (CCSU) and Handique Girls’ College.

9

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Making the statue of Lachit Borphukan was a big challenge: Singha The long-awaited statue of Lachit Borphukan has finally been installed in the middle of the Brahmaputra River enhancing Guwahati’s cityscape

T

he statue of Bir Lachit Borphukan unveiled at Fancy Bazaar river front is the only statue which is situated in the middle of the River and it has been a challenging task for sculptor Biren Singha to make and install the 35-feet statue.

Speaking to G Plus, sculptor Biren Singha said, “It has been a challenging task for me to install such a huge statue in the middle of the river as the wind force on the river is very strong and the Brahmaputra is very unpredictable. I am very lucky to get such a project as Lachit has been the symbol of heroism for the state and we have heard of him and his exploits from a very young age. I am grateful to the Government that they had chosen me for the work and it has been a great experience as well as a challenging task.”

The installation project, foundation for which was laid in 2011, depicts the Battle of Saraighat of 1671 in which Lachit and his soldiers stopped the marauding Mughal army from invading the Ahom kingdom. “The bronze statue weighs 16 tonnes and the installation has eight 18-feet statues of soldiers and two 32-feet-long water cannons. The soldiers and the cannons are made of fibre glass. The total size of the pedestal on which the statues rests is 12 by 12 by 1.5 meters and it stands on a well 8.5 meters wide. The main statue stands four feet

above the pedestal while the soldiers are placed below Lachit,” said Singha.

Singha said that they faced many difficulties while lifting the statue as the wind force is very strong and the pedestal is placed five meters above the high flood level of the river and 50 meters below water. “As the wind force is strong it was very difficult to make the statue stand and at the same time very risky. I did my best so that the statue did not fall down due to the wind force.

I have made more than 200 statues but this project has given a completely different feeling as no one has seen Lachit nor does anyone have his true depictions. The design was approved by an expert committee and accordingly I have made the statue which is an artistic tribute to the hero of the state,” Singha said.

Borphukan, a legendry general of the Ahom army, had thwarted an attempt made by the Mughals to take control of Kamrup (now Guwahati) by defeating them in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671. It is said he beheaded his own maternal uncle for negligence in the construction of a rampart near Saraighat to stop the invasion of the Mughal army under Aurangzeb’s general Raja Ram Singha. “Lachit killed his own uncle which depicts that even blood relation did not matter when it came to fighting for the nation. The facial expression depicts Lachit’s battlec-

The Lachit statue on the Brahmaputra - G Plus photo.

ry which pushed his men during the battle,” said Singha.

The project’s foundation stone that was laid in 2011 and was expected to be completed in 2012 has been delayed due to the release of funds and was finally inaugurated on 31st January, 2016.

Singha said that more than two and half years has been necessitated only for the bronze casting. The cost of the entire installation is Rs. 8 crores of which Rs.

6 crores was required for Gammon to construct the pedestal. The work of the statue had been done at Sarusajai Stadium as it was a huge project.

The Mughal army had sailed up the Brahmaputra River from Dhaka towards Assam advancing to Guwahati.

The Mughal Army under Ram Singh consisted of 30,000 infantry, 15,000 archers, 18,000 Turkish cavalry, 5,000 gunners and over 1000 cannons be-

City

Juthika Baruah sides a large flotilla of boats. Ram Singh failed to make any advance against the Ahom army during the first phase of the war. An arrow carrying a letter

by Ram Singh mentioning that Lachit had been paid one lakh rupees to evacuate Guwahati was fired into the Ahom camp which eventually reached the Ahom king, Chakradhwaj Singha. Although the king started to doubt Lachit’s loyalty and patriotism, his Prime Minister Atanu Buragohain convinced the King this was just a trick against Lachit.

During the last stage of the Battle of Saraighat, when the Mughals attacked from the river in Saraighat, the Assamese soldiers began to lose their will to fight. Some of them retreated. Though Lachit was seriously ill he boarded a boat and with seven boats advanced against the Mughal fleet. He said “If you (the soldiers) want to flee, flee. The king has given me a task here and I will do it well. Let the Mughals take me away. You report to the king that his general fought well following his orders”. His soldiers rallied and a desperate battle ensued on the Brahmaputra. Lachit Borphukan was victorious. The Mughals were forced to retreat from Guwahati with the Mughal Commander-in-Chief acknowledging his defeat at the hands of Lachit. juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

Inebriated cop’s careless utterances brings excise department under scanner

Bipasa Saikia Kashyap

A

city-based NGO, Universal Team for Social Action and Help (UTSAH) has leveled allegations against the city’s excise department stating that it might be a part of a nexus that fuels the trade of cheap and harmful liquor in Guwahati.

On 31st January, Pabitra Bhuyan, a thana level officer of the Panbazar Police Station was found reeking of alcohol in the slums of the Fancy Bazar Gate No. 3 area. When he was confronted, he claimed that he had actually come to shut down all the illegal liquor joints that were operating in the area. “Sir, I have come to close this shop actually,” the cop slurred to Miguel Das Queah, founder of UTSAH, who immediately reported this on the city police’s Facebook page.

According to him, thana level officers, officers from the police reserve and officers who are staying at the Jail Camp for the SA Games often come to source alcohol from these illegal liquor bhattis.

Queah, who was a first-hand witness to this, followed the trail and went inside the house where the inebriated cop was consuming alcohol. After a few minutes of conversation with the slum dwellers,

an entirely new account surfaced.

passes by. According to claims made by the slum dwellers to the NGO founder, the excise department is well aware of this ongoing nexus and instead of curbing it, they are encouraging it and also earning revenue from it.

The Issue The slums in Guwahati are predictably in pathetic conditions and their numbers are growing. The Fancy Bazar slums have generations of people from the lowest strata of the society and over the years, it has grown to be a community. These people, mostly migrants with no kind of authentication, survive on odd old jobs and thus pass a life time.

City-based NGOs like UTSAH are working with the people of these slums to improve their condition. This community usually consists of rag pickers, rickshaw pullers and the like. Due to the extremely poor economic conditions of these people in trying to eke out a living, most of them have taken to operating small, illegal liquor shacks in the slums.

They purchase cheap alcohol from the city, dilute them with water to increase the quantity and add other toxic substances like hazardous drugs to balance out the strength of the alcohol and sell them in cups. So it becomes some sort of a “refreshment break” for anyone who

The other side

Pabitra Bhuyan in an inebriated state

Officials in the excise department were approached and they denied the allegations saying that if such a nexus was running they were unaware of it.

“If such a thing is going on then we will surely look into it. These kinds of operations require special drives against liquor and liquor distribution in the city and very soon we are going to launch one such drive,” the official said without mentioning an exact date as to when this drive would be launched. However, he mentioned that a drive like this was due.

“As soon as the assembly election dates are announced, we are going to launch a massive drive to stop the flow of illegal liquor which is also the root cause of many other problems in the city, like synthetic drugs and the like.” bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

10

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Buzz

First ever Wedding Expo set to deliver wedding preparations to the doorstep

The first ever NE Wedding Expo is being organized at Brindaban Garden to bring buyers and sellers under one roof and also to provide an opportunity to the people to make their wedding events as grand as possible

Juthika Baruah

Visitors at the Wedding Expo

W

ith the on-going wedding season, Events Unlimited has organised the first ever Wedding Expo in the city showcasing an exhaustive wedding collection under one roof making it easier to make their choices in having a grand wedding event as per their budgets.

The wedding expo which started from 10th February in Brindaban Garden has a variety of wedding related requirements like traditional Assamese jewellery, traditional dress, catering, make-up, tour planners, spa, beauty parlour, gift items, matrimonial bureaus, fitness & nutrition and decorators.

Speaking to G Plus, Proprietor of Sunshine Academy of Make-up and

Style, Juri Saikia said, “The event has been conceptualised by Jupitora Das who is an experienced exhibitor and has also dealt with wedding events.

The wedding expo has been organised to bring the buyers and sellers under one roof. Its concept is to allow people to get the best deals when it comes to handling a wedding. Everything related to weddings will be displayed in the expo and people will get a rough idea as to how the weddings can be best organised nowadays.”

A wedding is the most memorable event in one’s life and to make it an outstanding event people choose wedding themes and make the best arrangements for its success. “Wedding is definitely the most memorable event

The wedding expo has been organised to bring the buyers and sellers under one roof. Its concept is to allow people to get the best deals when it comes to handling a wedding. Everything related to weddings will be displayed in the expo and people will get a rough idea as to how the weddings can be best organised nowadays. in a person’s life and the new generation of brides and grooms want their weddings to be unique. Therefore they choose wedding themes so that it becomes an extraordinary event and to make the wedding a grand event people often seek event managers who

can organize such events on a grand scale. To provide an opportunity to the people to meet their requirements the expo has been organized. Here people will be able to choose their own caterers, decorators, designers, make-up artists, etc. under one roof,”

said Saikia.

The five-day wedding expo has also incorporated a fashion show and one of the shows choreographed by designer Dipankar Kashyap has highlighted the traditional wedding wear.

“The expo provides an opportunity to the people to meet their expectations and they can talk to the designer or make-up artist directly and choose from the best according to their capacities. The bride wants to be the best looking bride and for that they want the best designer who can choose the clothes according to their features and accordingly they find the best makeup artist as make-up is one of the main features that makes a bride look beautiful,” said Saikia.

She also informed that the wouldbe brides will be able to talk directly to the designer or the make-up artist as to what kind of dress they should wear during the wedding. The designer will help them to choose the dresses according to their facial and physical features. It will also help the people to contact decorators, caterers, tour planners, etc. who are important when it comes to pre and post wedding activities. People usually do not get the reliable contacts on time and the expo will help the people to get in touch with such organizations or people which will be helpful in the future.

The expo which will end on 14th February has 30 stalls. It will be organized every year during the Valentine week as most of the weddings take place during this time and it is also known as the week of love and affection. juthika.baruah@g-plus.in

Weather report for the week SAT 13 February

SUN 14 February

MON 15 February

TUE 16 February

WED 17 February

THU 18 February

FRI 19 February

Sunny

Sunny

Mostly sunny.

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

12 / 25 °C

12 / 26 °C

11 / 25 °C

12 / 27 °C

12 / 29 °C

15 / 31 °C

16 / 30 °C

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

11

Politicking

T

he BJP is officially in an alliance with Hagrama Mohilary’s political party BPF and at present all eyes are on a possible alliance between BJP and AGP. According to sources in both the parties, senior leaders of both parties are in talks but are not being able to finalise the deal. Recently there were some reports in the electronic media about the declaration of BJP’s first list which the BJP leaders rubbished as according to the leaders the list will be announced in Delhi and the candidate selection scrutiny is still going on.

If there is any kind of pre-poll alliance agreement by the both parties, then there will be seat sharing and according to rumours there will be 28 seats from which AGP will contest and BJP won’t which will again shatter the dreams of many BJP ticket aspirants from those seats. But will there be an alliance between BJP and AGP? Why are both the parties not being able to reach any agreement?

Seat sharing risk In the matter of an alliance with the BPF, 12 seats shared with BPF will help BJP because the constituencies where only BPF will contest are its strongholds and BJP might have to face a tough time winning in the Hagrama bastions. But according to some BJP sources the same policy cannot be easily struck with the AGP as many AGP members are converting to BJP. Himanta Biswa Sarma, recently talking to the media, said that talks are yet

Will BJP ally with AGP? Rumours suggest that BJP and AGP are forging an alliance to unitedly contest in 2016 with a seat sharing deal but things remain unclear

Prafulla Mahanta

to be finalized with AGP. He however revealed that the AGP leaders are not that keen for the alliance as some issues are yet to be resolved between the two parties. He said that the issues cannot be discussed with the media. Observers feel that it is only the seat sharing policy which decides the fate of any pre-poll alliance. After the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, many people are joining BJP and there are also some very old BJP workers who have been working continuously for the party. In the 2011 assembly elections results, it was evident that AGP were losing the voters’ confidence and the 2014 Lok Sabha

rahul chanda

Sarbananda Sonowal

elections proved that BJP had gained substantial ground resulting in many AGP members joining BJP. Even the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP was once in AGP but always portrayed himself as a regionalist. Himanta Biswa Sarma, taking to the media, said that the BJP is talking with AGP for an alliance because there are some similarities in their ideologies. So, if people think that both the parties have similar ideologies then it would be realistic to assume that AGP votes can come to BJP and vice versa. So if the seats are shared the aspiring AGP candidates hoping to contest in the seats where BJP will

¿˚≈Ó¬ Ó¬1n∏Ì ·Õ·1 ŒÚÓ‘¬QÓ¬

eventually contest will lose hope. And similarly BJP aspirants will lose hope in the constituencies where AGP will field candidates. All the aspiring candidates will have some voters with them who can be negatively inspired by the candidate whose dreams will be shattered with the alliance move. But what if the pre-poll alliance is not finalised?

Pre-poll alliance failure If the pre-poll alliance fails between BJP and AGP than there might be a post poll-alliance depending on

how many seats each party wins but the votes might be distributed and other parties might gain from the vote distribution.

It is also shocking that many leaders do not want to talk about the alliance as when G Plus tried to talk to former chief minister, Prafulla Mahanta, and one of the founder member of AGP, he said that he is unaware about the alliance updates and he doesn’t know who is talking to the BJP for an alliance. Was the answer just to avoid an uncomfortable question or was it an actual cause of discomfort? In the wake of Sarbananda Sonowal being named the party’s chief ministerial candidate by the BJP’s parliamentary board, the saffron party in Assam is now all geared up to take on the ruling Congress led by veteran Tarun Gogoi by forging poll alliance with like-minded parties so that anti-Congress votes in the state don’t go waste in the coming Assembly polls. According to sources in the AGP, 17th February is a crucial date as the AGP will have a general party meeting and the alliance issue will be discussed and that being the case, it will be out in the public. rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

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12

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Sports

India dominates the 12th edition of South Asian Games

KALYAN DEB

T

he twelfth edition of the South Asian Games, being hosted by the cities of Guwahati and Shillong saw the Indians expectedly dominating in almost every event.

Overpowering their South Asian peers and topping the medals tally right from day one India has claimed 248 medals till the eighth day of the event. The Indian contingent brought laurels to the nation in all disciplines.

Cycling The host nation started the 12th edition of the game on a winning note as the women led the glory run.

Bidyaluxmi Tourangbam claimed the first Gold for the country by winning the 30m Individual Time Trial cycling event. Chaoba Devi, again from India, won the Silver. In the Men’s cycling 40km event, Arvind Panwar won the Gold. Manjeet Singh won silver while Sri Lankan Janaka Hemantha Kumara Gonagalage won the Bronze medal.

In the Women’s 40km Criterium Race cycling event, Lidiyamol Sunny Menamparambil won the Gold medal while India’s Manorama Devi Tongbram won Silver. Sri Lankan Sudarika Priyadarshani P. Arachchige won the Bronze medal.

However, in Men’s 60km Criterium Race, the Sri Lankans captured both Gold and Silver medals while Indian cyclist was placed third. Sri Lanka’s Jeevan Manjula Jayasinghe Silva Pilippenge got 34 points – the highest - and won Gold while his compatriot Navin Ruchira Appuhamy Mahappu Arachchige won Silver. Indian cyclist Pankaj Kumar settled for the Bronze.

In the 80km Individual Road cycling race event Indian women clinched all three medals. Bidyaluxmi Tourangbam won the Gold, Lidiyamol Sunny Menamparambil won the Silver medal while the Bronze medal was won by Geethu Raj NN.

Tennis It was a clean sweep of medals by the Indian tennis contingent. Each of the events in tennis had two Indians, who were the top seeds all of whom eventually brushed aside their opponents to reach the final round. The only top 100 player in the event was Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi who fell convincingly to Indian opponents in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Therefore, Indian interest was mainly centered around the five Gold medal

Cyclists seen during 40km Criterium Race (women Elite) of 12th South Asian Games, at Chakanibari on the outskirts of Guwahati.- G Plus photo

matches.

Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni played the last match of the tournament. The No. 2 and No. 4 ranked Indians battled it out for the Gold medal on Thursday. Ramkumar was the better player for most of the match and managed a 7-5, 6-2 win. In women’s singles Ankita Raina rolled past Prerna Bhambri with a 6-1, 6-0 win.

A day prior to his singles win, Ramkumar Ramanathan teamed up with state mate from Chennai Vijay Sundar Prashanth to clinch the men’s doubles title. It was another upset as they defeated Challenger tour regulars Divij Sharan and Sanam Singh 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the Gold medal. En route to the finals, the second seeds also recorded a convincing straight sets win over Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi and Aqueel Khan.

Arguably the most successful players after Sania Mirza in doubles currently, though at a drastically lower level, Prarthana Thombare and Sharrmadaa Baluu managed to thwart off the stiff challenge from second seeds Natasha Palha and Rishika Sunkara.

The duo of Divij Sharan and Ankita Raina clinched the Gold medal with a final score of 6-2, 7-6(3) against the second seeds Sanam Singh and Prarthana Thombare. They had earlier seen off Aisam Qureshi and Ushna Suhail of Pakistan in the semifinals.

Squash Playing some outstanding squash, the Indian men and women players won the Gold medal with victories over Pakistan in the team event on Wednesday.

With this, the squash competition ended and for all the sadness that engulfed the Indian camp after the individual competitions, where the men had finished with just two bronze medals, vanished as things turned around to a historic finish. For the first time in the SAG, India was able to

win the honours in both the men’s and women’s sections. In all, India finished with three Gold medals overall out of the four at stake.

Saurav Ghosal showed his ability in no uncertain terms by sweeping aside Nasir Iqbal’s challenge in three straight games. Playing with great control over his drives and volleys, the Indian had the Pakistan opponent in knots before long.

Ravi Dixit thus faced Danish Atlas Khan and even though he did well to take one game, he could not sustain the pressure for long. The Pakistan player overwhelmed him to balance

the pitch.

With one victory for each team, the competition was tied, and Kush Kumar had to face Farhan Zaman in the decider. Kumar did struggle a bit, even trailed 7-9, but clawed back and won the match 11-3, 11-8, 12-10 much to the jubilation of the Indian camp.

In the women’s section, again an India-Pakistan affair, Joshna Chinappa defeated Maria Toorpaki in four games. After the eventful combat that the two had in the individual final earlier, Chinappa appeared ready for the occasion and played with care.

Though she suffered a momentary loss of touch, the Indian never lost the grip over her opponent and made it 1-0.

The sixteen-year-old Sunayna Kuruvilla’s big moment came next.

Against an experienced campaigner, Sammer Anjum, it was not easy. She got her drives and cross court shots to make dents into the opponent’s game, as the tussle went on for five games before Sunayna came up victorious and gave India the winning margin.

Wushu Indian men and women players proved their mettle in Wushu’s 16 categories and won 11 Gold, two Silvers and three Bronze medals. Pakistan was placed second with two Golds, equal number of Silver and four Bronze medals. Afghanistan got third place by winning one Gold and Silver Medal each and four Bronze medals.

Sri Lankan team could manage only one Gold and one Silver and two Bronze. Nepal’s team won one Gold and 10 Silver medals while the Bangladesh team clinched three Bronze medals only.

Joshana Chinappa of India wins the final of the Women’s Squash by beating Pakistan’s Maria Toorpika Wazir - G Plus photo

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Sports Athletics Indian athlete Dharun A won Gold at the Men’s 400m hurdles with compatriot Jithin Paul winning the silver medal. L Surya won the Gold in the women’s 10000m event while Swaty Gadhave won the Silver.

At the long jump, Indian jumper Ranjith Maheshwari aced his 6th and final attempt with a near perfect effort, winning the Gold medal for India, while Surendhar J, also of India, won silver. Mayookha Jhony won Gold and Shradha Ghule Bhaskar won Silver in the women’s category.

In women’s high jump, India’s Sahana Kumari won Gold and Swapna Burman won Bronze medals while in men’s long jump, Indian athletes Ankit Sharma won Gold and K. Prem Kumar won Silver medal.

India’s female athletes also saw double medals, with Suman Devi winning Gold in the women’s javelin throw, while her colleague Annu Rani won Silver. Neeraj Chopra won the Gold in men’s javelin throw.

Om Prakash Singh won the Gold in the men’s Shot Put while Jasdeep Singh clinched the silver. Meanwhile, in women’s Shot Put Manpreeth Kaur senior won Gold while Manpreet Kaur junior took Silver medal.

In men’s discus throw, India’s Arjun and Kripal Singh won Gold and Silver medals respectively.

India won the Gold in the women’s 1500m run with Chitra Devi taking home the top prize, and Gold and bronze in the men’s. Indian runner Ajay Kumar Saroj won Gold at the men’s 1500m run while Rahul won the Bronze.

The 400m Women’s event saw similar scenes unfold as that of the men’s with Jauna Murmu winning Gold and Ashwani Akunji winning Silver. The 4x100m and 4x400m team event also saw the hosts win Gold.

Shooting The Indian shooting contingent also got off to a winning start right from day one of the competition winning three of the four Gold medals on offer.

Indian shooter Gagan Narang set a new national record on Thursday when he fired a score of 628.9 in the 50m Air Rifle event which was also his new personal best. The 32-year-old fired a final shot of 10.8 to overhaul the previous mark and put in impressive scores throughout the qualification period, including a perfect score of 10.9 of his 51st shot.

India had a superb opening day in the women’s 10m Air Rifle team, consisting of Apurvi Chandela, Elizabeth Susan Koshy and Pooja Ghatkar winning the Gold. Chandela also won the top prize in the Individual event of the same category.

Rio Olympics-bound top Indian woman Air Rifle specialist Apurvi Chandela won the Gold easily in her pet 10M Air Rifle event. Apurvi, who just got back from Europe after shooting world record equaling scores in competitions there, also bagged a double when she teamed up with Pooja Ghatkar and Elizabeth Susan Koshy to win the team Gold in the event. The

other Gold medal came in the men’s 50m Pistol team event won by the trio of Omkar Singh, Prakash Nanjappa and Om Prakash.

Swimming Indian swimmers dominated the pool once again as they picked five Golds on the final day to stamp their authority in the event on Wednesday. Seasoned swimmer Veerdhawal Khade clinched his first Gold by winning the men’s 50m butterfly event.

Other Gold winners for India were Shraddha Sudhir in 200m medley for women, Jyotsna Pansare in 50m but-

Medals Tally Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

India Sri Lanka Pakistan Bangladesh Nepal Afghanistan Maldives Bhutan

146 25 7 4 1 1 0 0

79 53 23 12 12 3 2 1

23 79 43 41 20 11 1 4

248 157 73 57 33 15 3 5

Sahana Kumari of India during the finals of the High Jump event at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium on February 10. She bagged the goal medal - G Plus photo

terfly for women and both the men’s and women’s 4x100 medley relay teams. In total, India won five Golds, three Silvers and one Bronze medal with the swimming event ending on Wednesday. Khade clinched the Gold in 50m butterfly for men in a Games record of 24.54 seconds. The Indian men’s 4x100m medley team also set a new Games record of 3:49.78 while winning the Gold.

Football India will go head-to-head against Bangladesh in the semi final of SAG on Saturday. The U-23 national team started their campaign on a disastrous note as they went down 1-0 against Sri Lanka in the opening match on Saturday afternoon. However, the team stormed into the semi-finals out-

classing the Maldives on Wednesday.

An Udanta Singh brace and a Pritam Kotal strike ensured a 3-2 win for India in a topsy-turvy match against Maldives wherein Maldives equalized twice, before finally surrendering to India’s attacking prowess. The 42nd minute Maldives equalizer gave the match a new turn after Kotal scored an own goal. However, India managed to surge into the lead in the 59th minute through Udanta, who slotted his opportunity cheekily past the Maldivian custodian to make it 3-2.

The Maldivian attack pressed for the equalizer for the third time but the Indian defense line kept them at bay.

Meanwhile, the India women’s football team will clash with Bangladesh in a must-win match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Saturday looking to advance to the final.

Ajay Kumar Saroj and Rahul of India comes 1st and 3rd respectively in the Men’s 1500 metres - G Plus photo

India are third in the group standings courtesy five points after three matches, while Bangladesh are second with six points and need only a draw to progress to the final. Nepal have already qualified for the final.

Despite dominating all three matches in terms of possession and shots on target, the hosts have been able to garner only one win, as they squandered the majority of the chances created. The Indian women’s football team are on a high after thrashing Sri Lanka 5-0. India’s first victory in the competition came against the island nation after a goalless draw with the Maldives. On the other hand, Nepal are yet to concede a goal in the on-going championship and are sitting pretty on top grabbing maximum points out of two matches courtesy a 2-0 win over Maldives and a 3-0 win

The Indian Women’s Hockey team poses with winners’ medal after beating Sri Lanka in the finals - G Plus photo.

over Bangladesh. However, it will also be a litmus test for the Nepalese attack force when they face a compact Indian defense line, which has allowed only one shot at its goal in over 180 minutes.

Hockey Indian men settled for Silver for third time in a row after facing 1-0 defeat against arch rivals Pakistan. It was also a Gold hat trick by Pakistan in SAG. Earlier, Gaganpreet Singh struck twice as Indian men’s hockey team spanked Sri Lanka 3-0 to set up a mouth-watering clash with arch rivals Pakistan for the finals. Gagandeep Singh produced a superb field goal in the 11th minute to draw first blood for India but it was Gaganpreet who showed his skills, converting two penalty corners in the 34th and 64th minute respectively to inflict a crushing defeat on the islanders.

Meanwhile, the Indian Women’s Hockey team won the Gold in absolutely dominating fashion, defeating Sri Lanka 10-0 in the final. Rani Rampal was the star for the hosts, scoring a hat trick. Indians had come here with a mix of some senior players and some youngsters with the aim to avail as many as international games as possible as part of preparations for the Rio Olympics. India had last year qualified for the Olympics after a gap of 36 years.

The opposition side was nondescript, not even listed in the FIH ranking charts while India are 13th in the world but the Neil Hawgood-coached team did not relax a bit throughout the match as they looked for goals all the time. kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

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Art

CHITRANGADA

Epitomizing Womanhood

Subhrajit Roy

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mong the creations of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the characterization of Manipuri warrior princess Chitrangada, in his literary masterpiece “Chitrangada,” is indeed magnificent.

Inspired by the epic of Mahabharata, Gurudev’s vision and sensitivity portrayed the woman as a confluence of love, courage, dignity and substance.

The embodiment of this martial princess inspires women in today’s world as well. In 1892, Tagore gave a new dimension to the story of Chitrangada and set it in the form of a dance drama, which turned out to be one of his most popular theatrical works till date.

Many artists and directors have adapted the character with their own vision, keeping the essence of womanhood intact. Enactments with messages like, “being in one individual’s own self ”, “victory over own desire”, “women empowerment” etc. were already presented on various stages in Guwahati. The latest is by Padamashree Ranjana Gauhar, who along with her disciples presented the same in Odissi style at Pragjyoti, ITA Centre for Performing Arts, Machkhowa, Guwahati on 7th February last. Produced by “Utsav” - Ranjana’s Odissi Dance Academy, Delhi, this presentation was a part of “Dharohar” - a festival of the diverse culture of India with special focus on northeast, organized jointly by Sangeet Natak Akademi, North East Centre, Guwahati and Organizing Committee, 12th South Asian Games 2016.

The iconic character of Chitrangada, plotted in the north-eastern state of Manipur, showed the strength and valor of the princess who remained the protector of her citizens

as a warrior. Her upbringing projected her as a man. When she eventually met the third Pandava, Arjuna, who during his period of exile came to the territory of her kingdom for meditation, the feelings of love so far suppressed in her emerged. For one who had never known a life other than the battlefield and defending her kingdom, Chitrangada got transfixed by the attractive Arjuna and fell in love with him. She felt shattered, hurt and humiliated as Arjuna summarily rejected her overtures of love.

The dormant emotions of love started sprouting and like a determined and undefeated warrior she sought the blessings of Lord Madana to grant

her ‘beauty’ for one year - the weapon with which she could subjugate Arjuna.

The transformed Chitrangada impressed Arjuna with her femininity and he too got besotted by her beauty. On the other hand, with the progress of the romance she began to feel suffocated with the borrowed beauty and started introspecting.

Incidentally, one day Arjuna found the citizens fleeing and asked them the reason for the panic. Apparently the citizens were attacked by dacoits and there was no one to protect them as their princess Chitrangada, who loved them like a mother and fought like a tigress to protect them, had

gone on a pilgrimage to an unknown destination. The people’s love and admiration for the princess ignited Arjuna to meet her once.

On sharing with the beautiful Chitrangada about his desire to meet the princess, she dissuaded him by saying that the warrior princess did not have attractive eyes like her nor a complexion as fair as hers. In response, Arjuna expressed his willingness to fight along with the warrior princess to save the citizens. Thus it turned out to be a moment of realization for Chitrangada about her true strength, her duty towards her people and kingdom and her desire to remove the mask of falsehood. Chi-

trangada released herself from the make-believe life and returned to her originality with dignity and responsibility. Finally, on reaching her court Arjuna sought her love and wanted to marry her as he understood both the dimensions of her character, a beautiful woman full of love and a capable fighter full of courage. On his proposal, Chitrangada declared that although she wanted Arjuna as her companion, she asserted her right to be his equal in all respects and wanted him to accept her the way she was.

Finally, their love reached its logical conclusion as all conflicts between them got dissolved with the wave of love.

A colourful presentation with elegant Odissi recital by Padmashree Gauhar as the title protagonist left the audience spell bound. She has been honoured with the Padmashree in 2003 and National Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2007 for her longstanding services in the field Odissi dance and research. On conceptualizing, scripting and directing this dance drama she had gathered her thoughts both from “Chitra,” the one-act play in English and “Chitrangada,” the Bengali dance drama both written by Rabindranath Tagore and found that the true essence of a woman lies beneath her external beauty. A woman of substance believes in her independence and freedom of expression. The grandeur of Vrinda Chadha as the transformed Chitrangada was impressive, while the synchronization of Vinod Kevin Bachan as Arjuna with both the Chitrangadas was an added advantage.

Sanjib Bhattacharya enacted the role of Lord Madana. The other dancers in the presentation were Zofia Lichota, Pragya Ghosh, Ankita Bakshi, Nitika Saran and Guwahati based artist Borish Dutta.

The music was arranged by Saroj Mohanty. Although the dialogues were adapted into English, the Rabindra Sangeet, which was an integral part of the creation, was presented in Bengali. The narrative voice over and vocals of the presentation were of Avery Chaurey, Sangeeta Bahadur and Punendu. Although the dance drama did not have any set design to support the enactment, the chromatic light arrangement by Sandeep Dutta made it both technically and visually appealing and was evident in the climax scene. The musical dance drama was a lyrical portrayal of emotions in a woman, her dignity, individuality, desire, courage, strength and worthiness which is relevant through all ages. The most important vision of the creator was to project a woman in her true identity and as a tribute to the legend of Gurudev. The presentation by such a renowned exponent was also an experience to cherish for the audience of Guwahati.

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Ward Watch

WARD NO

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Concentrated Area: Hedayetpur Ward number: 11 Sub-division: 11 (b) Councilor: Deepa Hazarika Phone number: 9954255329 Area Sabha Member: Satyan Doloi Phone number: 9435101395 Problems: Poor road condition, drainage system, flood, garbage bins

Long-standing development issue of Hedayatpur resolved After years of struggle the locals of Hedayatpur to get proper road and drainage system

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he long-standing problem of flood, poor road condition and drainage system of PD Chaliha Road in Hedayetpur was finally addressed in a public meeting held in the area. The meeting held on 10th February was chaired

by MLA Guwahati East, Capt. Robin Bordoloi, Councillor of Ward No. 11, Deepa Hazarika, Councillor of Ward No. 14, Ashima Bordoloi and several ward members in the presence of the locals of the area which included mostly females.

The initiative A breath of relief has been provided to the residents of the area when, after a long tussle, the road has finally been sanctioned. It was announced in the meeting that the construction of the 500 metre road and the drainage system will be started the very next day and will be completed within a span of two months. Addressing the meeting, Ashima Bordoloi said, “It is after a long tussle that Hedayatpur will be delivered with the amenities of a developed area and now it is up to the locals of the area to keep an eye if the work is being done in a proper manner. Since there are mostly women present in the meeting so I will be looking forward for the woman to take up the initiative. Meanwhile,

there were complaints of door-todoor garbage collection. We are taking several steps to address the problem. The flood situation has also improved to some extent as massive de-siltation process was carried out throughout the city due to which it could be controlled during last year’s monsoon.”

“The cleanliness of the city has also improved and the people are also to be credited for the same. People should develop the consciousness not to litter the city streets and dump garbage in the litterbins.

With the equal initiative of the people we can create a better picture of the city,” Bordoloi added. It was also

informed that de-siltation process of the drains also been initiated which will address the problem of flood in the coming monsoon.

MLA, Capt. Robin Bordoloi, expressed his contentment on the development of the area. “If the departments are not doing the work properly the people can always approach me and I want the area to be fully developed,” the MLA stated.

The problems As a connecting road from the Gauhati Club area to B. Borooah Road, the Hedayetpur area had been deprived of the basic requirements

of constructed road and proper drainage system, which has resulted in flood and several other inconveniences for the people residing in the area. Although partly developed, a major part of the area still suffers from inconveniences caused by poor road and drainage system. The area under the bridge had been occupied by waste dumped by the residents of the area which has turned the place into a dumping ground causing stink to emanate from the unattended garbage. “The area has been in a ravaged condition for the past 3 years. Though some part of the road was developed a few months ago, the road that connects to the B. Borooah Road has been turned a blind eye.

Several applications were forwarded to the GMC and MLA Robin Bordoloi but no initiative was taken,” asserted a resident of PD Chaliha Road.

“Drainage has also been a major problem in the area. Though there are drains on each side of the road and also an underground passage through the middle, with the passage of time both the drains got filled with soil eroded from the road due to flood and the one in the middle of the road is also probably filled because the gaps within the road meant for the logged water to drain away have also been blocked,” the resident added.

KALYAN DEB Garbage had also been a major concern for the residents of the area.

People complained of irregularity in the door-to-door garbage collection process. Another resident stated that GMC workers do not visit regularly to collect the garbage from the homes. Thus many of the residents dispose the garbage in the bin located under the bridge at B. Borooah Road.

“It is the responsibility of GMC to clear off stacked garbage and once the area is cleared of garbage, the people will hesitate to dump any kind of garbage. Rather, the authority personnel only visit when the condition only gets worse”, asserted Eliza Begum, a local resident.

The root cause The water that runs down the Nabagraha hill clears off via this road to the drain that is connected to the Borchala Beel. Since the road is low lying than that of the surrounding roads and there is absence of proper drainage system, it keeps the water from clearing away and remains logged for hours. As stated by locals during heavy rainfall the water level on the road rises up to 3 feet, which makes it impossible for vehicles to ply through the area. kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

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G Talk

SAG Musings Are the David Headley

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he sporting fervour has gripped the city and Facebook with updates about SAG and its stupendous effect on the denizens. And yet, there are a few hollow feelings when the realization dawns that all those gold medals that the Indian athletes winning are so perfunctory – almost obligatory at this level of sport. Time permitting, I would have been interested in comparing the timings, scores, etc. against the world and Olympic records just to know where we stand in each discipline. Perhaps, that kind of an analysis by the leading sports commentators, writers and pundits would have given our athletes a more realistic idea on how to train for and perform better on a bigger platform like the impending Rio Olympics this year.

Winning gold against Nepal in Tennis for example is hardly an achievement.

That is one thought.

Coming to controversies, luckily there haven’t been any notable ones so far. And in all likelihood, there aren’t going to be any major ones the way things are panning out. But then, one can trust the leading newspaper of the country to find a lacuna and one such caught my eye – Guwahati is sabotaging Shillong! Last Sunday the organizing committee of the Shillong leg accused Guwahati of “sabotaging” its work as it was unable to place their updates with the media on time. Apparently, the central server which disseminates the news to the media is in Guwahati and while the communications and media officials of Shillong

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were doing their best to get the news to the media on time, Guwahati had wilfully put the brakes in its attempts to project the organizational efforts of Shillong in poor light.

Added to this is the provision of just 5 work terminals when a requisition was placed for 30. No wonder, the Shillong segment of news of SAG is trickling in faster on Facebook than on the regular media. That is the second thought.

The over enthusiastic security for the Pakistan contingent is the third thing. Sport is always an assimilative factor and it is quite natural for the visiting players to soak in the city that they are performing in. However, the security arrangements have apparently been so tight that the players are usually confined to their hotels and can move only with a posse of gun-toting security personnel. A better security plan that would have allowed the players free movement within the city and helped them purchase memorabilia and souvenirs would have worked wonders for the city’s trade besides allowing the players to embrace the city’s social fabric. The organizers would do well in making up while there is still time by conducting some tours for the athletes who can go back thereafter with fond memories of Guwahati.

Be that as it may, congratulations organizers!

Swapnil Bharali Executive Editor

INEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION

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Sidharth Bedi Varma

he State is a mechanism that must look out for all the elements that make it whole.

From the services to the industries to the downtrodden onto the ones born with a silver spoon, the State’s job is to ensure ‘equitable distribution.’ However, the Commissions thus formed have time and again proved how illogical their recommendations are.

In the backdrop of the braveheart who miraculously survived an avalanche burial only to die after days of struggle, I have an observation. For officers posted at Siachen, the 7th Pay Commission has suggested a monthly hardship allowance of Rs. 31,000. For Jawans, it is Rs. 22,000. In contrast, IPS and IAS officers posted in areas like Guwahati get a ‘hardship’ allowance of Rs. 55,000; the commendably strange logic apart, this can only be the brain-child of a commission of politicians and bureaucrats. Add to this is the recent demand raised by the Backward Classes Commission which recommended up to 27% reservation in the private sector. The concept of reservation is so mired in political lies that it has lost all its sanctity.

The ones that deserve uplift do

not figure in the picture. Children of top government officials are cutting the line and picking up admissions in the top colleges under Delhi University and JNU. This brings to question whether the system of reservation is actually addressing the issue of inequality at hand. My seniors tell me that 20 years back, the ‘press card’ was a powerful thing but now holds no relevance.

All this just spurs me to advise the future generation that the key to an easier life is an SC, ST, OBC or any other certificate that labels you as someone who has faced hardship regardless of the size and comfort your bungalow offered when you were growing up.

The Government in power must address inequalities that have built up over the years but not at the cost of people who are really struggling and need the support system that the government has to offer.

The issues must be addressed at the lowest of levels and everything must just not be ‘reserved’ because there are general people with real hardships and struggling for jobs in this cutthroat, fast-paced world which must not be swept away by the standard utterance: ‘I have Quota!’

“confessions” good enough to put Pakistan sponsored terrorism on the backburner?

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lea bargain in the American judicial system is a worthwhile tool for convicts to get a reduced/lighter sentence than the gamble of a full jury trial. While his hatred for India is undeniable, it is quite clear that Headley loves his life more and he has plea bargained for a 35-year prison term in an American prison from the comfort of which he chose to depose before an Indian court through a video link. Yes, he is an approver now. He has gone on to reveal the macabre nature of LeT founder “Hafiz Saeed sahib’s” activities vis-à-vis the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in rather graphic terms and the world stands to understand the mindlessness of this variety of terrorism better.

From this remote corner of the world, I am inclined to think Headley might have well put Pakistan in an embarrassing position given his confessions that the erstwhile Dawood Gilani changed his name to David Headley and on instructions of the LeT and ISI, carried out a recce in India for the attack – an “adventurous” task for him. He also went on to mention that the 10 idiots who struck at various locations of Mumbai on 26th November, 2008 had miscarried earlier plans twice simply because on one occasion, they lost their arms and ammunition at sea due to a freak accident. In this sense, Headley’s deposition puts the glare on Pakistan who still harbours Hafeez Saeed with much adoration and respect. The problem with Pakistan is that it wears this cloak of invisibility which blanks out whatever is happening inside that country. So, if the Pakistani government at all has any power and is at all in touch with its terrorists, Headley’s expose might well have succeeded in putting its sponsored terrorism on the back-burner – albeit temporarily.

Swapnil bharali

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am doubtful and sceptical – even cynical. As much as the deposition and testimony of David Headley can be viewed by Indian agencies as hard and admissible evidence in court, a follow-up action by Pakistan cannot and need not be expected. While Headley turning approver could have been the best deal for India considering that America would not have extradited him anyway under the plea bargain agreement, the evidence placed by him only strengthens India’s case in front of the international forum. All India can do is expose Pakistan more convincingly for failing to even launch a proper probe against all those whom Headley has named – be it Hafiz Saeed and the other serving or retired ISI and army officers like Major Samir Ali, Major Iqbal and Major Abdur Rahman ‘Pasha.’ These names are pseudonyms anyways and hardly likely to pinpoint the actual people who aided, guided and nurtured Headley. Given this situation, one can hardly expect Pakistan to act against some faceless, undercover ISI agents whose mind sets have already been superbly brainwashed by ‘God-knows-who!’ Just to mention a worthwhile observation, Headley’s current confessions are no different from the ones he made to NIA in Chicago in 2010.

Everything put together, it is quite clear that the terrorism emanating from Pakistan is independent of its current rulers who simply have no control over these divisive elements and their conveniently termed “non-state actors.” So it would be foolhardy to expect any permanent abatement of terrorism from that country.

Koushik Hazarika

Interactive Hello sir,

Guwahati is soon becoming a smart city, but there is going to be nothing smart about a city if every second man on the street is spitting around clearing his mouth of pan masala debris. This is an obnoxious and disgusting sight! As a citizen of Guwahati, I am thoroughly ashamed and disgusted. This was also more humiliating when a friend of mine from Ahmedabad had to point this out to me. I urge you and your team to raise this concern as something important and hopefully someday, the DA will implement strict penalties against spitting on the streets.

Rajeeb Hazarika via email

Letter to the Editor Dear Sir, The centre spread of your last week’s issue dedicated to the track reports of all the wards in the city was a commendable effort. The breakdown of all wards along with a detailed report of their pre and post development statuses gave the reader a good insight as to what is happening to the infrastructure in the city. This highlights the power of the media. I myself am a resident of ward 27, the area near Udalbakra and it was an immense relief to hear that our problems have been acknowledged by ward councillors and organizations like the Asian Development Bank are coming forth with funds to improve our road conditions and the issue of water logging which had been our major concern over the years. Progress in such rapid measure has been observed for the first time and all the residents of my ward are grateful to you and your team. Keep up the good work!

Baibhav Raj Choudhury Via email

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Meet Meet ‘Are Political parties over Meet involved in Social Media for Indrani Baruah Political Campaigns’?

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In Focus

Superintendent of Police, CID

With Politicos attending social media Hangouts and making tweeting about worldly issues a habit, a lot of criticism has come into play regarding politics losing its grass-root relevance.

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ocial media is an important tool today. We out rightly can’t say that it is the political parties who are suffering from social media overusing syndrome as we all are its victim, knowingly and unknowingly. Being the ‘fastest’ mode of communication, it is a necessary tool nowadays.

However, we hope they deliver their promises at the same speed. Don’t forget to note that someone became the prime minister of this country with the help of social media.

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believe, if you have to make an impact, any which way, whether it is politics or any other field for that matter, you have to be active on social media and why not? You get good coverage, reach and done wisely, gives you good results.

But, sometimes as we Indians are famous for, we tend to overdo it. It becomes a drag. The seriousness gets lost. That has to stop. They should know where to draw the line.

Anirudha Bhakat Ch

Debarupa Bhattacharjee

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Nibir Bhuyan

Abu Malik

es. After the tremendous success of BJP in the general elections which was possible only due to social media campaigns, every political party and candidate is trying to create an image. Facebook and Twitter being the most popular platforms both among youths and middle aged people, they can’t afford to miss this chance to advertise themselves in it.

asically in the present scenario, social media has become a must for the political campaigns as most of the youth of our country are so active on social media. Starting from online payments to reading articles we prefer to do it online. In that case, for the political parties to create an impact, they must be active on social media to a large extent.

C

T

Mrinmoy Khataniar

Manoj Sharma

onsidering our population pattern we have majority of voters from age of 18 to 35. Majority of this percentage belongs to the tech savvy stratum. So, social media is a good fishing area for political parties to come up with all sorts of nonsense, while they themselves move like a rudderless boat away from the grass root from micro to macro level.

hat BJP got a big leg up in elections 2014 due to social media is without question and every party is using it now. Ministers like Suresh Prabhu have made Twitter a service tool for rail passengers. I see it as a good trend as politicians get an instant and direct connect with the people and the people in turn get a ready platform to vent their spleen too.

W

e all acclaim a successful woman after the person’s achievements has brought in the laurels. Indrani Baruah, Superintendent of Police, CID is an outstanding example of the empowered woman.

Born in the oil town of Digboi, Indrani was brought up in an ideal family of father Dr. Harendranath Baruah and mother Nani Baruah. She is the third of four siblings. Indrani had her early education at Carmel School, Digboi and completed her HSLC from there. She was involved in all kinds of sporting activities cricket, tennis, swimming, badminton among several others.

Tragedy struck the family when her father passed away in a car accident where the entire family survived a close call. The family thereafter shifted to Tinsukia from where Indrani continued her education.

She topped in her graduation as an English Major student from Women’s College and went on to join Gauhati University to pursue her masters. However, it was after she moved to Guwahati that she came to know that she had already cleared her APSC during her graduation.

“The demise of my father came as a big shock. We were very young then.

Many of us were seriously injured in the accident including my mother who had to be confined to bed for five months. I took a conscious decision to stay with my mother and continue my college in Tinsukia. Moreover, I always wanted to join the police service. So, after clearing APSC, I opted for the same,” Indrani stated in a conversation with G Plus.

Indrani joined the force in 1993 and her first posting was in Guwahati. In her career, she has served in the Special Branch, Kamrup as Additional SP, Assistant Inspector General (Training) where she served for eight long years, SP - Bureau of Investigation & Economic Offences, SP - Kamrup and is currently serving as SP - CID. Over the two decades of her career in the police service she has had to tackle several sensitive situations including apprehending the AIUDF legislator from Boko, Gopi Nath Das, who was accused of raping his minor domestic help. Talking to G Plus, the SP mentioned that it was one of those incidents where there was immense pressure from all around for quick action following which the accused was arrested by a police team led by Indrani herself. At the time when Indrani joined the force, the state was under a lot of tension due to ULFA’s insurgency activities. She also faced dissuasion by many well-wishers from joining the force as the problem of insurgency was at it its peak. However, it was her mother who provided her the required support and gave her the goahead.

“This is one particular job where every day is different. One cannot predict how the next day will go. We could be spending the day in office or might be investigating a case in the field. Another reason that encouraged me to join the force was that we are able to help a lot

of people. One can never imagine the problems that people suffer from and we hold the position where we can provide them help. I try to serve them to the best of my ability,” the SP said.

The police force is always criticized by the people but there is no second opinion that the officials face a lot of trouble in balancing their personal and professional lives. There are times when they don’t get to visit their family members for months together. Indrani got married to her batch-mate Partha Sarathi Mahanta, Commandant, 4th Assam Police Battalion and is blessed with two children, Arshia and Chandril.

Like all other police officials she has also struggled to balance her personal and professional life. “It is hard work for everyone - right from the constables or the sub-inspector up to the Director General. Even the senior most officials cannot tell where his daily program would take him and at what time he will get back home. There are innumerous moments in all police officers’ lives where we miss the presence and support of our family members. Since both my husband and I are in the force we make it a point that one of us is with the children when they need us. There have been several occasions when the children required medical attention or a special occasion where I could not be present,” Indrani said.

Although leisure time is rare in her life, Indrani loves to read fiction books whenever she can. She is also an avid lover of music. A lesser-known fact about Indrani is that she used to be the executive editor of a magazine called SaReGaMa. “I am a voracious reader but there are very few occasions when I get such time.

I make it a point to able to serve people.

It is only through the co-operation of the people that the police-public relationship can be developed. From the time I joined the force till date, Assam is a much more peaceful place now,” Indrani concluded.

18

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Lifestyle

VAASTU SHASTRA

yon gyan I

t is often spicy and interesting to gossip about other people’s personal lives rendering their lives vulnerable and difficult.

Please look at your own sex life first. If all is good, then you should not be having time to peep into others’ lives. If however you are not satisfied, stop wasting your time on other people and instead focus on rebuilding your life with your partner.

Is being a homosexual or lesbian a disease? Is it something that needs rectification? If so, can we actually do it? Are we Gods to de-

cide what is correct and incorrect between two mutually consenting adults?

In 2009, the Delhi High Court exempted gay sex between consenting adults from Section 377 - the 1860 law which bans “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal.”

However the Supreme Court overturned it in 2013 mentioning that only the parliament can form or modify laws. In 2014, a review of the decision was rejected. Now there is a curative petition in the Supreme Court regarding the same.

Have the Lesbian-Gay-BisexualTranssexual (LGBT) community not suffered enough already?

“When millions of people the world over are having alternative sexual preferences, it is too late in the day to propound a view that they should be jailed,” said Mr. Arun Jaitley, a very powerful minister in the union cabinet. However, whether he will put his weight behind his words and get the BJP to ensure the change in the parliament is the million dollar question!!!

As for Guwahati city, the recent pride parade was a bold statement in asserting one’s sexual choices and preference. Coming out of the closet, the parade made the requisite amount of noise that is required. The most encouraging part was that the LGBT community has managed to shed their inhibitions even in Guwahati – a small town as compared to the liberal and supposedly broad-minded metros of the country.

Dr. Mithun Bhartia is an expert in Diabetes, Thyroid and Sexual matters. He has returned from England after 12 years. His clinic is in Panbazar near Hari Sabha. advicesexologist@gmail.com

VAASTU ASPECTS ON

D

DISPUR CAPITAL COMPLEX

ispur is located at the southern part of Guwahati and the state capital complex was formally shifted here from Shillong in 1972. The construction of the capital complex started few years back by Assam Government Construction Corporation and it is still undergoing some construction in its northwestern part. Dispur locality houses the secretariat of the Assam government, the Assam Assembly House, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Regional Office, the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi) House and the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).

The Guwahati-Shillong Road , which runs from southeast to northwest of Guwahati, lies on the northeast of the main capital complex.

The tea auction centre is a heavy building which has blocked the northern-northeast of the complex. This is not right as per Vaastu. Recently, a bigger structure - Krishna Kanta Handique Open University - has been built at the northwest which has further added to weight imbalance of the complex. So Dispur has never faced financial stability and solvency. There are several huge water tanks at east, north and northwest adding unwanted weight. There is a big playground at northeast with a large water body which has given some improvement to the Secretariat.

If you all notice, you will find that the southwest portion of the capital complex is circumvented and truncated by the RP Road and the Secretariat Road. This has led to the reduction of the southwest and the head of the

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Secretariat, i.e. the Chief Minister, is never in control over his subordinates! The complex has several entrances. The best one to enter the secretariat is located at eastern-northeast. The MLA Hostel and the ministers’ residences have an entrance from the northwest and southernsouthwest which are not good. Most of the sewerage water from the residences is made to run off from the south which is again bad. The capital complex as a whole is extended towards southeast which is not good. That is why there have been numerous agitations against the administration.

The Guwahati Tea Auction Centre, which was started in 1970 has several Vaastu f laws.

Though its main entrance is from northeast, it has more open space at southeast in the form of a tennis court and a swimming pool at southwest which has affected its finances throughout. The main tea auction hall is sloping from north to south which is adverse as per Vaastu.

The Administrative office is located at north making it heavier. Moreover, the toilet block is placed at northern-northeast and north.

The offices and the chambers of the ministers and senior administrative officers are located within the secretariat buildings. The concerned persons will do well if they face the G S Road at northeast or north.

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KULKUL RAHMAN Entrepreneur, mother and a passionate cook

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

DAMAGE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH

O

ne question I am asked often is what to do if you’re suddenly faced with an injury that will force you to take a few weeks off from the gym. Or the layoff from the gym may be due to severe illness, or even a long vacation where time and equipment is limited and it’s likely that training won’t take place. These questions usually have to do with preventing muscle and strength losses and whether or not to bother taking supplements during the down time.

My answers to both of these questions actually go together: You should continue taking your supplements during a layoff to prevent muscle and strength losses. Specifically, a high protein diet, creatine, BCAAs and fish oil have all been shown to help prevent muscle and strength losses during inactivity. So be sure to take these supplements even when you’re not training.

My supplement recommendations include include BCAAs and creatine, so feel free to choose between those two and take one scoop a day of one or the other during your layoff whereas you’d normally take both on training days. Additionally one can have blended protein powder which will help to reach your protein intake goals. So take 1-3 scoops daily depending on how much protein you’re getting through whole foods. And

in fact, fish oil is a supplement that virtually everyone should take; even non-exercisers are recommended dosage of 3000 mgs every day. Similarly, a multivitamin/multimineral is always a good idea to stick with for general health benefits and I recommend one cap every day.

And then there’s HMB, which a recent study found can help prevent muscle loss as well. HMB (beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate) is a metabolite of leucine that has shown a lot of promise for preventing muscle breakdown and improving muscle growth, and even aiding fat loss. Researchers from the University of Arkansas reported in the journal “Clinical Nutrition” that healthy subjects undergoing 10 days of complete bed rest and taking a placebo lost about 5 pounds of muscle mass. However, a group undergoing the same 10 days of bed rest but taking 3 grams of HMB per day (two 1.5-gram doses) lost zero muscle mass!

TAKE HOME POINTS: If you’re faced with a layoff from the gym for a week or longer, be sure to do the following to prevent muscle and strength loss.

1.) Consume at least 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight

Secrets for better skin au naturel

N

ature has an abundance of tricks up its sleeves to make your skin glow naturally. So here are a few vegetables and fruits that you should incorporate in your diet to get some amazing results.

Amla or Indian gooseberry Why you need it: Full of vitamin A, Amla helps in increasing the collagen production which is essential to keep your skin looking taut and glowing.

How to use it: The best way to eat Amla is to consume it on an empty stomach.

Apple Why you need it: An apple a day certainly keeps ageing skin at bay! This fruit has an abundance of vitamins which keep your skin firm and gives it an inner radiance. Apple also prevents free-radical damage which causes premature skin ageing.

How to use it: Try eating an apple a day or as an alternative, you could apply the apple juice on your face and wash it off after 10 minutes.

Beetroot Why you need it: The more an-

tioxidants you have in your body, the more your skin will glow. Beetroot is a rich source of anthocyanins which is a powerful antioxidant and prevents appearance of wrinkles.

How to use it: Boil slices of beetroot and then consume it. Beetroot is often difficult to digest if eaten raw.

You can add a bit of lemon to it to kill two birds with one stone. Rubbing beetroot on your lips will also give a pink tinge to it.

Carrot Why you need it: Carrot is high in beta carotene which is converted by the body to vitamin A. This makes it a must-eat vegetable for your daily diet.

Not only will it give your skin a glow, but it will also fight wrinkles and improve your skin, making it healthy.

How to use it: Eat it raw as a salad or cook it to make a dish. Drinking carrot juice with its fibre intact is also a great way to take in the nutrients.

Pumpkin seeds Why you need it: A sure-fire way of brightening your complexion is to eat a handful of pumpkin seeds. These little seeds are packed with zinc and are vital in the creation of new skin cells. They also improve skin tone and control oil production in your skin.

How to use it: Snack on some

pumpkin seeds in the evening or use them to garnish curries or you can also add them to your sandwiches for an extra crunch.

Spinach Why you need it: Loaded with antioxidants, spinach can help reduce the onset of wrinkles. It also helps strengthen skin tissue and possesses anti-inflammatory properties which flush out toxins, giving clear, glowing skin.

How to use it: Usually spinach has to be boiled and then added to salads or you can make a curry out of it such as palak paneer. Spinach juice is equally effective in keeping your skin healthy.

Sweet potato Why you need it: Anti-inflammatory in nature, sweet potato has a high concentration of vitamin A which fights acne-causing bacteria.

The presence of vitamin C further improves skin tone and heals pimple scars.

How to use it: Eat it as an evening snack. Boil sweet potato and add salt, pepper and lemon juice to it. Eat it with the skin intact for maximum benefits. If it is treated with wax or is too shiny in appearance then it is a good idea to peel off the skin.

19

Lifestyle

daily, and preferably closer to 1.2 grams per kilogram. Use a protein powder like blend protein that contains both whey and casein to help you hit this much protein per day and to get in ample amounts of quality dairy protein, which are superior for maintaining and building muscle mass.

2.) To prevent fat gain during the layoff, keep carbohydrate intake to about 1 gram per kilogram of body weight.

3.) Take one scoop of either creatine or BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids), both of which will help you hold on to your hard-earned muscle.

If you have a separate BCAA product, take 5 grams of that another 1-2 times per day.

4.) Take full daily doses of 3000 mgs (three capsules) of Omega 3 fatty acid capsules.

5.) Take 1.5 - 3 grams of HMB with a protein shake twice per day for a total of 3 grams of HMB daily.

So that’s it folk’s! Take control of your health & fitness. Nobody else can do that for you, only you can.

BIBHU MONI SINGHA, Fitness Expert & Sports Nutritionist Gym Manager, Training & Nutrition Head, SFL Fitness, Guwahati

20

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Reviews Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Yami Gautam, Urvashi Rautela Director: Divya Khosla Kumar

A

vie Mo view Re

akash hails from Tanakpur, a small town that has now been abandoned by most youngsters in search of their future. In a bustling city like Mumbai, Aakash is struggling with his job and an irritating boss. Back home, his Daadu (Rishi Kapoor) is now suffering from Alzheimers. Once a famous photographer in town, Daadu is now too old to run his shop and hence Aakash is called upon by his parents for the final settlement of the property.

As Aakash visits his hometown after years, nostalgia takes over. He is reminded of his first love Shruti (Yami Gautam).

The childhood sweethearts get separated when Aakash chooses to move to the city for his future over his love.

Due to an office emergency, Aakash leaves for Canada where he has to woo Mrs. Pablo (Urvashi Rautela) for his promotion. His plans go haywire when he meets his long lost love Shruti

at the camp.

Will Shruti forgive him and patch up with Aakash?

Sanam Re is so predictable and done to death that it becomes a yawn fest in the first half itself. It takes off with a party song featuring the director herself. Later we are introduced to a string of unnecessary characters like Aakash’s stupid boss who cracks repetitive jokes which are not even funny.

Interestingly, Aakash’s character has enough money to own a sedan and travel to and fro from Canada but none for his rent.

The script is written so amateurishly that Aakash’s phone has his Boss’ name as ‘Boss’ on it. What world is this?

His Daddu on the other hand is seen giving life lessons on love. If he had taught him to be professional and competent enough, Aakash would’t have to woo a lady to get his contract.

That’s what happens when impressionable minds are served

with fairytales.

There are so many loopholes in this story that I would have to sit with a checklist.

Like, tell me one person who had to decide his future in one hour. Aakash’s uncle does some ‘jugaad’ and gets him admission in a city college but he has to take the decision of taking the opportunity in an hour. What sort of a jugaad is that?

Urvashi Rautela’s character is the stupidest. She is a divorcee who falls in love with a guy who is trying to use her for her business and is in love with someone else. Couldn’t they have shown her to be a powerful b*tch who now owns her ex-husband’s business? Please stop showing why a woman’s life has no goals if there is no man with her.

There is a big twist in the second half and honestly, you will see it if you can actually sit through till then. And if you do sit through it, you would want to leave after the big secret is out.

N

years, Noor becomes art sensation in Delhi and it is there that he has a rendezvous with Firdaus for the first time as adults.

While we knew it right from start that Fitoor is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, we were obviously expecting some twists in the tale. With respect to the book, the writers keep their focus only on the three main characters, they have played with a few instances in their lives but the characteristics remain the same.

Choosing the setting as Kashmir is a good move since it gives the already, partly sad story an icy, gloomy touch at the same time a lush red of the Chinar leaves when it comes to love.

As mentioned earlier, what pulls this film down is its pace. I don’t have a problem that it is slow, the point is that

it hurries up towards the end, exactly where it was not required. The script has loopholes and they are quite evidently visible especially in the second half. I honestly feel, there could have been a deeper analysis of the lead characters and that could have given a stronger script. The story is emotional and filled with innocence but it is now on the audiences to look beyond its flaws. The dialogues are something that I truly loved and I have to say can be enjoyed only when one actually attempts to understand their deeper meaning. One of my favorite would be ‘Khud Se Azaadi Toh Sirf Maut Hi Dila Sakti Hai Ya Phir Ishq’.

Clarity of some crucial things easily gets lost in the second half and many may find the story confusing towards the end.

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Author:

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Anuj Tiwari

My Wild West

Artist: Lissie

u Yo LD OU N SH ISTE L

T

Sanam re 9.30 AM & 8.15 PM Fitoor 11.45 AM & 5.15 PM Deadpool (E) 2.45 PM

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Book:

earnest and also bold, her burnished vocals had the grit in the gloss, a combination that amounted to a U.K. hit and set the stage for 2013’s Back to Forever. With the help of producer Jacknife Lee, Lissie embraced a crossover that never came, so the moodiness of 2016’s My Wild West reads as something of a retreat: she didn’t harness the stars, so she’s turning inward. At first,

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It’s Not Right...

But it’s Okay

he possessive in the title of Lissie’s third album is telling: no matter how often this echoes the slow, narcotic sway of Lana Del Rey, this California is conjured by Illinois native Lissie, an adult-alternative singer/songwriter who has slowly crept away from the folk roots she displayed on her 2010 debut, Catching a Tiger.

Back then, she was bright and

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Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Tabu Director: Abhishek Kapoor

oor (Aditya Roy Kapur) is a young Shikara boy from Kashmir who lives with his elder sister and her husband. The innocent lad is born artist who sketches and soon finds his perfect muse in Firdaus (Katrina Kaif). She is beautiful enough to be a heartbreaker and it takes no time for little Noor to fall in love with her.

Little does Noor know what his love will cost him but Firdaus’ mother Begum Hazrat (Tabu) surely knows the price. Herself being a victim of love’s flipside, she plays with Noor and Firdaus’ emotions as though seeking a revenge for her own lost love.

After creating a bond between the duo, Begum sends her daughter to London for further studies while Noor’s love remains still strong. After

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GOLD Cinema

u Yo LD OUad H S re My Wild West feels as if Lissie is borrowing too many clothes from Lana Del Rey, choosing to write about the sad sunsets and tarnished dreams of Hollywood, a borrowing that seems blatant only with the blessing of distance. As the record plays, the melancholy tides of Lissie’s tunes are quite alluring, a testament to her sense of craft, a gift that bears a double edge.

‘...if we have a past that we aren’t particularly proud of, it doesn’t mean that we can’t have a promising future.’

Everyone has a past.

But what if it becomes daunting baggage and spills over into the future?

A fiercely independent, career-driven girl, Angira, has recently changed her Facebook status to ‘single in Mumbai’. While work has been her only priority, a

Salasar Building, Lakhtokia 9854077177 twist of fate brings Ved - a strikingly handsome footballer, the heart-throb of the college - into her life.

He seems genuine and funloving, but based on past experiences, Angira knows better than to trust him.

Despite their contrasting personalities, the two develop an unexpected bond - a link for which they are about to risk everything they have.

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G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

21

Entertainment

Suresh Medhi adjudged year’s best choreographer

Nirode Chaudhury Awards

N

irode Chaudhury, one of the most well-known Assamese writers, has written many stories. A number of his works like ‘Chameli Memsaab’ and ‘Banahanxa’ have been made into classic movies. To offer tributes to this journalistcum-writer-cum-critic, ‘NirodeSamudra…’ a Nirode Chaudhury Foundation, had commemorated his 15th death anniversary on 10th February, 2016. On this prestigious occasion, to promote Assamese media, film and television industry, the Foundation presented the ‘Nirode Chaudhury Awards 2016’ by recognizing a few Assamese film & television personalities and journalists. The award ceremony, held at Rudra Baruah Auditorium of Jyoti Chitraban, Guwahati, was graced by the presence of Binita Borgohain Mitra, the leading lady of Chameli Memsaab. The editor of Asom Bani, Dilip Chandan and eminent Assamese movie director, Pulak Gogoi, also spoke of their feelings about Nirode Chaudhury. The Nirode Chaudhury Lifetime Achievement award was conferred on Kulada Kumar Bhattacharjee for his contribution to the field of drama and movie, whereas veteran actor Nipon Goswami was presented the Nirode Chaudhury Award for his contribution in the field of Assamese cinema. The other categories and awardees were: Best film - Ahetuk (Raj Rani Production), Best director - Ashok Kumar Bishaya (Khel – The Game), Best actor – Ankur Kumar Bishaya (Khel – The

A

ssam born Joi Barua, who has worked in Bollywood movies like ‘Margarita with a Straw’ and ‘Udaan’, collaborated with American saxophonist George Brooks for the fresh and unusual ‘Rabha…,’ which continues to elicit tremendous appeal on the TV channels and social media. The song is a tribute to the legendary artist and revolutionary figure, Bishnu Prasad Rabha, who has been a great influence in the singer’s life.

The singer really enjoyed working with George Brooks, who found the traditional tune much to his liking.

Themed around a story about love, passion and sacrifice, the melody filled ‘Rabha…’ is written

by Joi’s bandmate, songwriter Ibson Lal Barua. The song is about one fateful night when legendary artist, Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha and his leader Gajiram Rabha, were out fighting the establishment and getting away from it. Gajiram Rabha underwent severe physical torture in imprisonment when he refused to reveal the secrets of Rabha and

2016 presented

Game), Best actress – Meghranjani (Anuradha), Best serial – Osin-Chinaki (Jonakk Channel), Best comedy serial – Beharbarir Outpost (Rengoni Channel), Best actor – Mridul Baruah (Dahan, Rang Channel), Best actress – Gayatree Mahanta (Osin-Chinaki, Jonakk Channel), Best comedy actor – Siddhartha Sharma (Beharbarir Outpost, Rengoni Channel), Popular comedy actor – Deepjyoti Keot (Beharbarir Outpost, Rengoni Channel) and Pranab Baruah (Moromor Potni, Jonakk Channel), Best supporting actresses – Sagarika Goswami (Bharaghar, Rang Channel) and Moni Bordoloi (Xahu-Bowari, Rang Channel) and special award of serial – Chameli Memsaab (Rang Channel). In the field of

cine journalism: Best film critic – Utpal Dutta, Best cine journalist (Print media) – Prafulla Kumar Dutta, Best cine journalist (Electronic media) – Gautam Hazarika (DY 365). The cine journalist (Youth) award went to Hemanta Sarma and Kalyan Kumar Kalita.

On this occasion a souvenir titled ‘Nirode-Smaran,’ conceptualized and edited by Pankaj Kumar Dutta, was also released. The souvenir contains the life-story of this multi-talented person with some limited photographs that will allow a closer understanding of the person. The ‘Nirode Chaudhury Foundation’, which had organized the Nirode Chaudhury Awards for the first time, has decided to continue it as an annual event.

Joi Barua’s new song featuring George Brooks

his adherents. He even severed his tongue to save his fellow comrades.

The dedication, commitment and sacrifice of Gajiram Rabha are supreme examples to every Assamese. It’s vital to know and imbibe

the ideologies of Bishnu Prasad Rabha for the progress of the country and its people. Samudra Kajal Saikia has created the animated music video accompanying the song.

KALYAN KUMAR KALITA

N

owadays, with hard work and courage, a lot of young talented singers are coming to the music industry and enriching it.

One such promising singer is Ganadip Kakati who has raised the popularity ranks by dint of his hard work and dedication. Ganadip Kakati, son of late Satya Kakati and Runu Kakati, is not only blessed with a fabulous voice but backs it up with a solid technique and compelling stage presence. He has started singing at a very young age and is undergoing training in Indian Classical music under his father who was also involved in the musical world and is also trained in Tabla. At present he has released a number of Assamese albums such as Spondon, Ganadipr Kanai, Tik Tok Tik Tok, Jhok Jhok

Rail Sole, Mur Xopunor Gaan, Paahi, etc. He has also sung Bihu chorus for the first time in the feature film ‘Purab Ki Awaz.’ Each and every album of his has been highly appreciated by the Assamese music lovers. He is now busy with his new song titled ‘Uposi Uposi Morom Ache Bhori’ which is written and tuned by Hrituv Hazarika and composed by Palash Gogoi, which will be released soon. This song will be a remarkable addition in the forthcoming Rongali Bihu. According to him, success has no shortcut and to fulfill his dream of becoming an established singer, he is also facing a lot of problems. But he always believes in quality not quantity. Ganadip has already performed in various stage functions held in various places all over Assam.

22

G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

Citypedia

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

Horoscope Aries Even though there’s a New Moon in sociable Aquarius, think carefully about making a fresh start this week. While this can be an excellent opportunity to move in new circles, it might help to do a little detective work before you get too involved. This applies to budding relationships, too. Valentine’s Day weekend looks sensuous, a little intense, and fun.

Taurus You could find yourself at odds with another just when you’re most excited about forging ahead with a new plan or idea. As a result, a heart-to-heart chat may be necessary. Either you’ll find a way to compromise or you’ll make it clear that you intend to follow your own star. Tension eases by the weekend, although the passion stays strong as Valentine’s Day arrives.

Cancer

Gemini Although you might want to explore new opportunities, responsibilities could be holding you back. This is the dilemma you may find yourself in at the start of the week when an opportunity that seems too good to miss might need to be missed because you have other things on your plate. Valentine’s Day could revive a secret crush.

Leo While Monday’s New Moon could encourage a new direction in a budding romance or ongoing relationship, some influences might cause you to delay decisions. Objections from family members or certain reservations on your part could be the problem. Don’t ignore these, as they could be important. You’ll likely feel happier about proceeding once you’ve resolved them.

You could be pulled in two directions, particularly if you’re eager to commit resources to a new business idea. Other plans or projects could affect your ability to move ahead. You might have to choose one over the other if it’s impossible to manage both at once. There’s still an intense focus on partnerships, and with this being the week of Valentine’s Day, the passion in a relationship could begin to spill over.

Virgo

Your creative side is out in force, with upbeat energies encouraging you to showcase your abilities. Although Jupiter continues retrograde in Virgo, it’s worth going ahead even if the fruits of your labors show up later. At the same time, you may be eager to make a fresh start regarding health and wellness matters.

Scorpio

Libra

Issues of self-worth could play a part in deciding whether to go ahead with a new romance. The start of the week could be a crucial time when a budding relationship needs a decision. But you’ll have greater clarity if you can put it off for a few days. Confiding in friends could help you get a fresh perspective, particularly once Mercury dances into Aquarius on Saturday.

Monday’s New Moon in your family sector needs careful handling, as you could act on impulse and make a wrong move. Waiting a few days might help you feel more confident about a decision. On another note, you have no problem knowing what to do about a project that deeply fascinates you. Valentine’s Day looks like it should be quite thrilling, with a sensuous Taurus Moon enhancing passion.

Capricorn

Sagittarius Unresolved issues could be the reason you refrain from making a move or beginning a new phase or project. If one matter has been causing you to lose energy and feel bad for a while, it’s worth taking the time to resolve it. Once you do, you’ll have a lot more vitality to put into your everyday life and those new plans you’ve been mulling over.

This might not be the best time to join an expensive club, even though the New Moon may be urging you to invest in your social life. It’s better to do a little research on prices before you proceed.

In addition, this isn’t an ideal time to lend money to friends. Also, Mercury’s move into your financial sector on Saturday could get you thinking about how you might enhance your income.

Pisces

Aquarius

Sudoku

This could be an excellent opportunity to make a fresh start regarding your spiritual path. The New Moon on Monday may encourage you to learn to meditate, take up yoga, or connect with others who share your ideas and ideals. Even so, beliefs inherited from childhood or earlier in life could conflict with ideas you’re eager to adopt.

You’ll need to resolve this in whatever way you feel is best.

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

Although the New Moon in your sign can be the best of the year for you, you’ll need to consider your priorities before making any decisions. The choice between running with plans that pertain to your career or goals that are meaningful to you personally is a big one that could impinge on your future. Valentine’s Day could be delightful, although you may share more than you intend where feelings are concerned.

AMBULANCE

Ambulance 102 Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665 Downtown Hospital 9864101111, 9435012669 GLP Social Circle 2737373 GGUMTA (Mirza) 03623-227109 Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251 Free Ambulance to GNRC Hospitals Toll Free: 1800-345-0011 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

BLOOD BANK

HOSPITALS

Arya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665) B Baruah Cancer Institute (2472364/66) Brahmaputra Hospital Ltd (2451634/678) Chatribari Christian Hospital 0361-2600051, 92070-44374 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, 098641-03333 Dispur Hospital Reception 97070 20370 82539 99124 361-2235759 (Landline No. / Fax) Hayat Hospital

8011003110 GNRC Hospital 1800-345-0022 (Toll Free) GNRC Ambulance 1800-345-0011 (Toll Free)

24-HOUR PHARMACIES Arya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665) D Modern Medicos, Maligaon (9864366763) Candid 24x7, Panbazar (2604422) 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, LPG Booking (ivr System) 7670024365 Child line Guwahati 1098

GMC helpline number for garbage collection

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

Vigilance and anti corruption toll free number

8811007000

1800-345-3767 police station

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 FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

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Catching Up Most shared story of the week

New

Chic

on the block

Madhurima Kalita The Assam Ranji team’s victory over Punjab by 51 runs that ensured Assam sailing into the Ranji Cup Semi-Finals for the first time was the G Plus social media highlight. With 373 likes and 44 shares, comments flooded the post with best wishes and requests to bring the cup home.

facebook.com/guwahatiplus twitter.com/guwahatiplus

Guwahati

GYAN

Did you know?

Shankar Hotel

About Me

Hey there! I’m Madhurima Kalita. I am a 24 year old from Guwahati. I am a graduate in Arts from Guwahati College.

I am an extremely positive person who believes in simplicity.

I am a fun loving girl and I love to hang out with friends and family.

Mojo

I am very passionate about modeling and acting. But other than that, I think we should open ourselves to a world of activities like sports, reading and art and crafts because I feel they facilitate in the overall growth of an individual.

Route in the Woods

A

n unlikely name to be given to an area, Shankar Hotel is a locality rather than a landmark. Situated in Jyotikuchi in Lokhra Road, Shankar Hotel was initially established as a roadside tea and rice stall in the area. It was

T

Shankar Sahu who put up the stall during late 60s which gradually gained popularity among the locals. Though on this date the original Shankar Hotel does not exist but since 90s it is run as a rented stall in the same location.

Ka m u r of the week

he 12th South Asian Games might be an international event in the city and has been lauded by many, but according to some Guwahatians the strange non-availability of tickets has been a big kamur for them. From inaugural function to closing ceremony, many city people wanting to witness the event just could not get the tickets as it seemed an impossible task. Adding to the pain was the fact that the match venues remained mostly unoccupied.

In the near future I would like to become a successful model first. Modeling is my passion and so it is necessary that I give it my best shot. I would also like to contribute to the Assamese Film Industry and later to the society.

There are so many pressing issues in our society which are often neglected and so I would like to do my bit for women empowerment, poverty alleviation and other such issues in whatever small or big way I can.

PIC OF THE

WEEK

WHAT DID I JUST HEAR?

D

uring the recent visit to Kokrajhar, BJP president, Amit Shah, slamming Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said, “For the last 15 years there is Congress government in Assam, but I regret that the state is lagging behind due to corruption and family promotion that Tarun Gogoi is indulging in, he has done nothing else.”

In Association with The Godess in the making

Photo: Adib Zamali

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G PLUS FEB 13 - FEB 19, 2016

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Phone: 0361 2737737, Email: info@g-plus.in, RNI No: ASSENG/2013/52641