G Plus vol 5 issue 12 by G Plus

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Volume 05 | Issue 12 Jan 13 - Jan 19, 2018 Price `10

Completion of city water supply project delayed till 2021

Modi to lay foundation stone of new LGBI Airport terminal

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Legacy data was a game changer for NRC, says Prateek Hajela With the update of the NRC still on at a hectic pace, coordinator Prateek Hajela speaks exclusively to G Plus about the challenges ahead and the enormous work yet to be accomplished for the final list

NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela

Rahul Chanda rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

What are the challenges you faced since you became the National Register of Citizens (NRC) Coordinator in 2013 till the publication of the first draft list?

RC has been an unprecedented activity; it has never happened anywhere else. There was no model which was available to follow and we had to create our own model. The only experience which was there was a failed pilot attempt at Barpeta and Chaygaon undertaken in 2010. It ended within a few weeks of the

programme’s commencement. The NRC in 1951 was again just a reproduction of the census records; there was no citizenship check done then. Moreover, the exercise in Assam is very different from the rest of the country. The rule 4A {Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003} under which we work in Assam is different. In the rest of the country, officers go house-to-house to enumerate. In Assam, people have to apply. We thought about the mechanism which will be implemented. I created that mechanism. Then I thought out what the Continued ON page » 12

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“Building hospitals and buying expensive material is fine, but people visit the hospitals when it’s too late...” PG 15

Lead Story

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G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Govt cracks whip on errant water supply project contractors Completion of city water supply project delayed till 2021 Avishek Sengupta avishek.sengupta@g-plus.in

he government has finally swung into action against contractors who have repeatedly failed to meet the deadlines in the city’s vital water supply project. While one contractor has already been terminated from further engagement in the multi-crore project, an official said that action would soon be initiated against another who has been found to lag behind in completion of the work allocated to him. Now, according to Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program (AUIIP), after the various delays, the project that was supposed to have been completed by December last year will now be completed only by 2021 if it doesn’t hit any further snags. The AUIIP has a total outlay of Rs 1105.81 crores for the project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project is estimated to supply 98 million litres of water daily by December 2017, but it has suffered snags at regular intervals due to the errant behaviour of contractors. “Due to non-performance, the original contractor M/S

IVRCL was terminated back in December 2015. After that, the contracts were put on for bidding again and were awarded to a different contractor, M/S Shivam Transcon (P) Limited. But, even after completion of more than one and half years, one of the contractors showed zero progress for which the termination notice was served in December this year. Due to such non compliance of the contractors, the project delayed a lot,” an official at AUIIP said. ADB is funding 77.4 per cent amounting to Rs 855.90 crores of the project while the state government has contributed Rs 214.91 crores. The work was supposed to be completed in two phases and a loan amount of Rs 146.9 crores was already sanctioned by the bank for the first phase. Due to the negligence of contractors, 53 per cent of the sanctioned money has already been spent while only 17 per cent of the work for the first phase had so far been completed, a AUIIP report revealed. “A total of Rs 62.19 crores – Rs 46.17 crores of ADB loan and Rs 16.02 crores of the contribution by the state government - have already been spent. ADB will sanction the second instalment of Rs 709 crores after completion of the

first phase only,” the official added. In the first phase, three contracts were floated for the construction of three storage reservoirs at Gopal Nagar (17 million litres), North Jyoti Nagar (3.2 million litres) and Kenduguri (3.6 million litres) for Rs 37.11 crores, construction of three other reservoirs at Hengerabari (13 million litres), Nabajyoti Nagar (3.2 million

litres) and Basistha (5 million litres) for Rs 30.8 crores and construction of transmission of pipelines for Rs 78.99 crores. Sivam Transcon had bagged the first two projects and M/S Tirupati Cement Products got the third contract. “The pipe-laying works are the only section that showed good product. Almost 8.37 kilometres out of a total of 23.7 km has already been completed.

The works of the reservoir for the first contract saw only 16.35 per cent completion while the rest three reservoir’s works in the second contract has not started yet due to which, the contractor was served termination notice,” the official said. Despite several attempts, Shivam Transcon could not be contacted for a comment on the termination of the contract. n

Prolonged water supply works damaging roads becoming a major irritant in the city | G Plus Photo

Project delayed due to lack of public cooperation: AUIIP

UIIP has alleged that lack of public cooperation has also contributed to the delay in the completion of the water supply project in Guwahati. Even though there was not much resistance from the locals in the reservoir construction

works at Gopalnagar, North Jyotinagar and Kenduguri , land for reservoirs at Hengerabari and Basistha of the second contract have still remain disputed. “We couldn’t initiate construction works in Basistha and Hengrabari due to protest from the locals despite the fact

that the land belongs to the government. The government had attempted negotiation with the locals at several instances, but failed to convince them,” an official of AUIIP said. The plot at Basistha is behind a school where some local bodies have been protesting

against the construction which was subsequently shifted to Panchakanya hills. In Hengrabari, which is also a government owned land currently used as a cemetery for Karbi people, the engineers and construction workers had been attacked by locals.

The official added, “In the Hengrabari location, with police protection, we had been able build the walls. But after that, the locals had abducted the engineers. The land is a cemetery and considered holy to them. We are in talks and if that fails, we will have to relocate.” n

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

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Mirza man found dead at Athgaon Rahul Chanda rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

he 21-year-old Ramen Kumar from Mirza was found dead at East India Gali in Athgaon under suspicious conditions. The local police are investigating the matter. According to his aunt, Ramen Kumar had come to Guwahati on 7th January in search of work. He was a Class 10th failed and was job-hunting since many days. The Bharalu Police said that its team found Ramen at East India Gali in an unconscious state at around 6.40 pm and immediately sent him to Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH), where he was declared brought dead. The residents of East India Gali alleged that many drug addicts keep visiting the area at nights and gather opposite an industrial godown. The residents have complained to the police about it many times but the police have failed to resolve the issue. The residents expressed doubts that Ramen might have died of drug overdose. The police said that the local residents of East India Gali informed them that Ramen had visited the area with one of his friends.

Later he was found lying over a drain opposite Mangalam Apartment. The police have only registered a case of unnatural death and are awaiting the post mortem report. The local police said that the family members did not register any complaint but if the post mortem report reveals a murder angle a murder case will be registered. DCP (West), Mridulananda Sarma said, “East India Gali will be under strict vigil and all anti-social elements will be nabbed if seen in the area,” East India Gali residents revealed that the Bharalu Police reached very late in response to the repeated calls made to the police station. A resident of Mangalam Apartment said, “I saw the body at 6 pm and called the local police station immediately,” adding that the police reached the spot after 50 minutes. The resident said that he was going towards Fancy Bazar and had seen a police patrolling van located near the Athgaon petrol pump. Yet the police reached rather late. The police attributed the same to its “walking zone” duties. n

In The News

Concern

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G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

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Sale of tobacco products continues unchecked near schools Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

oon after the final bell rings for the day, students of a private school in Chandmari can be seen flocking at nearby shops. While some buy packets of chips and chocolate, a few of them also approach a betel nut shop to buy paan masala. This is not the sole example of such a school. Despite a ban on the sale of tobacco products within a 100-yard radius outside educational institutions, one can find several shops selling cigarettes and other tobacco products outside schools and colleges in the city. The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA) which was enacted in 2003, prohibits sale of any tobacco

product or cigarettes to anyone below 18 years of age and in an area within a radius of 100 yards of any educational institution. It also prohibits smoking in public places. Chairperson of the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR), Sunita Changkakoti, termed the matter as a “serious concern” and said that there is a need for proper monitoring to check the sale of paan masala and other tobacco products to minors. She added that the ASCPCR conducts talks with school authorities in the city from time to time and flags this issue. “A few months ago, we had visited a school and found empty packets of paan masala lying around near the toilets. We immediately took up the issue with the school authorities and asked them to ensure that no shops sell tobacco products outside schools and to counsel students,” said Changkakoti. However, parents remain

Tobacco on sale bang in front of Cotton University | G Plus Photo concerned for their children. “We also find people standing outside such shops and

smoking cigarettes which can adversely affect the impressionable minds of the

young ones,” said a parent of a child studying in a school in Pan Bazar. n

Need stricter implementation of laws: Authorities

uthorities working in the field of child protection have called for a better implementation of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. It states stricter penalty for those selling cigarettes, beedis and chewable tobacco to minors and mentions a jail term of seven years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Dr Amal Chandra Kataki, Director of Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute had met with Governor Jagdish Mukhi last month and urged him to intensify tobacco control initiative in the state.

Dr Kataki said that they are witnessing a rise in the number of youngsters with health issues related to the consumption of tobacco. They have also appealed to the Governor to undertake an initiative to make all the educational institutes of the state tobacco-free zones. As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), tobacco consumption in Assam has increased from 39.3 percent in 2010 to 48.2 percent in 2017. On the contrary, the national prevalence of tobacco consumption decreased from

34.6 percent in 2010 to 28.6 percent in 2017. All other states of the

northeast except Sikkim have a high prevalence of tobacco consumption. Due to this,

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tobacco related cancers (TRC) in the north-eastern states are the highest in the country, as per the National Cancer Registry Programme of the Indian Council of Medical Research. However, district administration officials said that they conduct regular drives to check sale of cigarettes and tobacco products outside educational institutes. Pranati Majumdar, ADC Kamrup (Metro) informed, “We have a mechanism in place wherein we conduct monitoring of such shops on a regular basis.” n

Weather report for the week Guwahati

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

Shower

Partly Cloudy

Mostly Sunny

Sunny

23°/15° C

22°/15° C

24°/14° C

25°/14° C

SATURDAY Mostly Sunny

24°/15° C

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

City

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Many city bars, restaurants vulnerable to disasters Rahul Chanda rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

fter 14 people were killed in a fire incident in a roof top restaurant in Mumbai during New Years, the Kamrup (Metro) district administration feels that the bars and restaurants in Guwahati are also vulnerable to disasters. A senior ADC level official of the district administration said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many of our teams were monitoring the New Years Eve parties and observed that many bars

and restaurants in the which do not have any city are flouting the safety emergency exit facilities norms.â&#x20AC;? during emergencies. Some bars and resThe owners of such taurants do not maintain establishments give least basic minimum safety reimportance to the safety quirements like fire safety aspects which puts the provisions, electrical safeguests and visitors in a ty equipments and other vulnerable situation, the emergency provisions like district administration ofemergency exits, the official said. ficer added. A source in the fire & The excise superinten- A city bar located on the upper floor of its building | G Plus Photo emergency department dent of Kamrup (Metro), revealed that most of the Debajit Nath, informed that a New Years Eve. bars and restaurants did not show cause notice was served There are bars and restauobtain any fire safety certificate to Hotel Palacio for violating rants located at the roof tops of from the fire department and certain safety norms during the high-rise buildings in the city are operating with licenses pro-

cured by bribing the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and district excise officials. The source said that the district administration should verify all the fire safety certificates and then allow them to function. Only keeping a fire extinguisher does not fulfil all the required criteria, the source suggested. Along with fire safety, other safety norms are also being violated by some bars and restaurants. According to a food safety inspector, many bars and restaurants are not following any food safety norms. n

Administration to cancel licenses if safety norms not followed

n a notification issued on 2nd January 2018, the deputy commissioner (DC) of Kamrup (Metro) district has asked all the bars and restaurants of the city to submit a safety certificate within 30 days, defaulting which their licences would be

suspended or cancelled. Deputy Commissioner M Angamuthu, in the notification, stated that fire certificate declaring safety measures like functional inbuilt fire installations, functional fire extinguishers and proper exit plan will have to be

mentioned. The bars and restaurants will have to produce electrical safety certificates from the chief electrical inspector cum advisor of the government of Assam. Updated food safety certificate will have to be

submitted from health and family welfare department. The notification also mandated safety audit of the lifts/ elevators of the bars and restaurants located on the upper floors of high-rise buildings. The DC said that the directions have been issued as

per provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Even after the 8 days of the notification being issued, no bar or restaurant has applied for a fire safety certificate, a source in the fire & emergency department revealed. n

Ward Watch

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G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

G Plus ‘Ward Talks’ complements GMC efforts of taking cleanliness message to ward level Avishek Sengupta avishek.sengupta@g-plus.in

ith the launch of Swachh Sarvekshan 2018 - the Centre’s city ranking exercise on the basis of cleanliness - Guwahati has pulled up its socks to emerge on top of the list. This week, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) reached out to three wards of the city – 13, 22 and 12 - through G Plus Ward Talks which was organised by G Plus on January 6, 7 and 8 respectively. While the focus of the discussions was to educate the people about waste segregation and how the city can prepare for the competition, residents utilised the platform to share their problems with the participating officials, councillors, area sabha members and NGO functionaries. Here is the gist of the interaction during the Ward Talks:

A Ward Talk session in progress at Ward No 13 | G Plus Photo Ward 13: Close to 80 people from Sarania, Lachit Nagar and Ulubari areas thronged Dakhin Sarania Primary School where the GMC executive engineers explained about waste management. “There are two types of garbage – dry and wet. Wet garbage can be used as manure and a lot of solid wastes can be recycled,” additional commissioner of GMC, Dwijen Singh explained.

Geographic Information System (GIS) scientist, UItpal Sarma, made a case that the citizens should observe Tuesdays and Fridays as dry waste days in which they will dispose only dry wastes. Residents however pointed out that regular spillage of faulty drains during the monsoon is a major impediment in attaining cleanliness. Ward 22: Hundreds came

from different locations, some with children in their arms and beating the shivering winter chill on January 7, to Swahid Nagar which is one of the worst erosion affected zones in the city. Ward 22 is located on the outskirts of the city where the pace of development has been tardy compared to other areas. As a majority of the residents dwell in the hills which have not yet been connected with roads, the house-to-house garbage collection has been a major hurdle for the GMC. “If the people here find a specific common area where they will dump the garbage, it will be helpful for the NGOs to collect the garbage. But it will be much better that while dumping the garbage, they should segregate it in wet and dry garbage,” Chittaranjan Dutta, GMC additional engineer said. The residents on the other hand have asked for motorable roads and drains to channel out the storm water during the monsoon for maintenance of hygiene

and cleanliness. Ward 12: Councillor Balendra Bharali landed in troubled waters when the residents who participated in the Ward Talks pinned him down with lack of development in their neighbourhood. While many residents alleged that the NGOs do not dedicate much time to the interiors of the ward, others pointed out that the ward is full of leaking underground pipelines that flood the area. Bharali’s reply was “lack of funds” from the government which had been the prime reason for the problems remaining unaddressed. The GMC and the NGOs have however reiterated their commitment to provide the best services for keeping the area clean with the “limited resources” they have at their disposal. The residents have assured full assistance to keep the ward clean in a bid to put Guwahati on the list of cleanest citn ies in the country.

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Governance

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Amchang evicted residents seek new survey and demarcation Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

victed residents of Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary have made a case for a new survey to demarcate the forest area more than a month after their homes were demolished in an anti-encroachment drive by the government. Some residents said that there was a conflict of opinion between the departments of environment & forests and revenue on the actual area. “Officials from both the departments have visited us and claim that the area where we live falls under their jurisdiction. They should end the confusion and clearly demarcate the forest land first,” said Tarun Chandra Deka, a resident of the locality who claimed to have lived in Amchang for the past 60 years. Echoing Deka, Mili Bairagi said that the state government should take a decision on the issue at the earliest. “We are the ones who are suffering as a result of the lack of coordination between these two

Residents of Amchang staging dharna demanding stoppage of eviction | G Plus Photo departments and because of the government’s apathy towards us. We have nowhere to live and are feeling alienated in our own state,” she added. Some residents that G Plus spoke to were groping in the dark about their future as the government has not yet firmed up a rehabilitation plan. Many locals whose houses were demolished in the eviction drive still continue to live in the area in make-shift houses. They say even if they are offered rehabilitation, it is now impossible for them to leave the place as it

Students yet to be shifted

ore than a month after the demolition drive, the government is yet to decide on the fate of the Janasimalu High School (JHS) in Amchang and the rehabilitation of students. The students are studying in make-shift tents after the school was razed to the ground during the anti-encroachment drive. The new academic session had also begun from January 8. “With no school building, we are facing a lot of trouble while conducting classes under tents but we are left with no other option at the moment. We can’t refuse to provide education to students who are willing to study even under such circumstances,” said Kanak Kalita, headmaster of JHS. He added that currently, classes for students of Grades 6 to 8 were being conducted under one tent with cloth partitions in between. Further, classes for Grades 9 and 10 are held in the second tent. Close to 257 students

between Grades 6 - 10 are enrolled in the school. According to the authorities, the high school was a government-recognised school and they had also received financial aid from the government from time to time for the upkeep of the school. n

With no school building, we are facing a lot of trouble while conducting classes under tents but we are left with no other option at the moment. We can’t refuse to provide education to students who are willing to study even under such circumstances,” Kanak Kalita, Headmaster, JHS

is the only place they call home. “While the rest of the state will celebrate Bihu, there will be no celebrations for us this year. Our local MLA did not visit us even once ever since the first demolition drive was carried out. The government authorities have no concern for us and the MLAs only visit at the time of elections to ask for votes,” said n Pranjit Bora, a local.

Officials against new survey

section of government officials said that it was fruitless to conduct a new survey since the encroached region in the sanctuary has already been identified. “We have already made a digitised map in 2015-16 jointly with the department of revenue. The Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary falls under the jurisdiction of the state forest department and the evictions were carried out against the illegal settlers living inside the wildlife sanctuary area,” informed Paradipta Baruah, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife). Officials informed that Amchang was first declared a reserve forest in 1953. It was then converted into Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in 2004 after combining the Amchang, Khanapara and South Amchang reserve forests. “Some people argue that the locality was made into a sanctuary only in 2004, but it was originally declared as a reserved forest back in 1953. So whoever has been living after that is an illegal settler,” said an official. Baruah added that they will

follow the Gauhati High Court’s order which very clearly states that those who have settled inside the wildlife sanctuary would have to be evicted. n

Feature

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G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Transitions in Bhogali Bihu celebrations Nehal Jain

id January marks the end of the season of harvest. Many agriculture related festivals are celebrated during this period all across India, like Pongal and Makar Sankranti. Magh Bihu, also known as Bhogali Bihu, is one of the most important harvest festivals celebrated in the

north-eastern state of Assam. It is celebrated in similar fashion as Makar Sankranti and Pongal – with women cooking various delicacies, men playing traditional games and participating in competitions. Bhogali Bihu is the last of the Bihus in the Assamese calendar and marks the time when all the hard work of farmers comes to

fruition. Farmers work hard all through the year to grow the crops. It is during the month of January that farmers sell their harvest. The granaries filled with harvest bring immense joy to farmers. Apart from its cultural significance, Bhogali Bihu also has a lot of economic significance as farmers get money by selling their harvest. The word ‘Bhog’ in Assamese means food. From the word Bhog the name of the festival Bhogali Bihu was derived. It involves feasting and enjoyment – the main highlight of the festival. Traditionally, Bhogali Bihu celebration was confined to homes and its inclination was more on the agricultural side than the religious. On the occasion of this festival, people start their day early. They clean their homes and wear new clothes. They throw their useless articles into fire, known as Bhogi Mantalu, which is made up of cow-dung cakes and wood. The reason behind the celebration of Bhogi festival is to please Lord Indra, i.e., the God of clouds and rains. With Lord Indra’s blessings, abundance of harvest can be possible which brings prosperity to the land. Women of the family gather together to cook a sumptuous feast that includes laru and pee-

tha for the entire family to eat together. All members of the family bond over feasting as freshly harvested rice paves its way into the kitchen. For some people, this is a time to stay with their family and for some this is a reunion. People spend the day with their near and dear ones. Another major attraction of this festival is the Buffalo fights.

Bhogali Bihu has undergone changes over the years

Right before the festival, melas are held where stalls sell varieties of food items. Most families have started buying laru, peetha, etc from these melas instead of preparing them at home. In the process, the traditional practice of preparing a feast and bonding over it is vanishing. This is especially the case in

urban areas. The positive side to this change in tradition is that it saves time for the working class, as they are able to spend more time with the family. Another significant change that has occurred is the addition of loud music, dance and alcohol consumption to the celebration. This has blurred the distinction between the three different Bihus. While Bhogali Bihu used to be all about the ‘Bhog’, that is, feast, it has now turned into a grand celebration that includes dancing and drinking. The festival is no more confined to the four walls of a house; it has pro-

gressed beyond. The prices of items essential to Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu celebrations such as pitha, laru, curd, cream, jaggery, chira (flattened rice) and other food items have also been spiraling over the years.

Pre-Bihu fairs gaining massive popularity

At pre-Bihu fairs that started in Guwahati on Tuesday, December 9, it has been observed that the prices of items have gone up compared to previous years. A packet of pitha containing 10 pieces cost around Rs 70-100; the same cost around Rs 4070 in 2017. Similarly, cream from Sorbhog is being sold at Rs 500 per kg as opposed to previous year’s cost of Rs 350-400 per kg and the prices of curd, palm jaggery, bora rice, etc have also increased significantly. One of the major highlights of this year’s pre-Bihu mela being organized at Lakhiram Baruah Sadan is women preparing rice powder in traditional dheki and making pithas in front n of customers.

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Health

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Guwahati to see several new health initiatives in 2018 Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

he state health and family welfare department has planned to introduce a number of new health initiatives during this year apart from strengthening the pre-existing services in the Kamrup (Metro) district as well as the state, according to officials. One of the most important priority areas of the state health and family welfare department is the establishment of the health and wellness centres in the city and across the state. Under this initiative, the

File photo of a city dispensary basic services of the health sub centres will be extended to provide “comprehensive primary health services in

Optimizing the number of doctors and nurses in different health facilities

n order to meet the requirement of doctors and other health officials in Kamrup (Metro) and other districts, the department has decided to rationalize the number of doctors and paramedical staff. “In a number of hospitals and health sub centres, we find that there is a shortage of doctors and nurses whereas in some places they are in excess. We are taking steps to rationalize their strength and bring in doctors where there is a shortage,” said an official of the health and family welfare department. The state has been reeling under acute shortage of doctors for a long time especially in remote and hilly areas as doctors are reluctant to get posted in such areas. Apart from rationalizing the manpower, the NHM will also re-

We are also looking at outsourcing the recruitment works to an outside agency. This is also under process,” NHM official

cruit close to 2,000 health professionals in Assam this year. There are a total of 22,000 sanctioned posts in NHM. “We are also looking at outsourcing the recruitment works to an outside agency. This is also under process,” said an NHM official. With a view to boost the district-level health services, the department is also planning to make more first referral units (FRUs) operational in the state. FRUs need to have a complete range of doctors and other health professionals in order to perform surgeries. These include gynaecologists, paediatricians, and anaesthesia specialists among others. According to authorities, there are currently 60 FRUs which are operational in different districts. In terms of preventive measures, the officials said that they have targeted to improve the coverage under routine immunization. At present, the immunization coverage is 92 percent and the government hopes to cover all children so that no child is left out under their immunization drive. n

the district.” This will include maternal and child health services along with other diagnostic services, said an

official. For this, community health officers (CHOs) will be engaged in these health and wellness centres. The health and family welfare department under the National Health Mission (NHM) has targeted to establish 562 such centres all over the state by the end of this year. Nilim Borah, Consultant (Planning) at NHM Assam, said that a proposal has already been sent to the central government for the same. He further added that they are also laying emphasis on providing free essential drugs and diagnostic services in every district including X-ray service, CT scan and free laboratory services.

Under free essential services, prevention and screening of non-communicable diseases for citizens above 30 years of age will also be included from this year onwards. This programme was carried out in five districts as a pilot project in 2017 including Kamrup (Rural), Barpeta, Nagaon, Jorhat and Dibrugarh. It will now be extended to other districts in 2018. Additionally, authorities have planned to strengthen the ongoing Tuberculosis (TB) prevention programme in each district with nutritional support for TB patients, who will now receive some financial assistance to meet their nutritional needs. n

Strengthening of district hospitals, converting them into training hubs

n order to improve the quality of care at government health institutes, the state government has now planned to impart training to different health officials in district hospitals. “Apart from providing the regular services, the district hospitals will now also conduct trainings for auxiliary nurse midwifery (ANM), general nursing and midwifery (GNM) and for technicians for lab services,” said an NHM official. These trainings will first be started as a pilot project in six districts including Kamrup

(Metro) and will then be implemented all over the state. Additionally, construction of new district hospitals is also in the pipeline for this year in places like Sonari, Majuli and Hojai. On the other hand, with regards to maintenance of biomedical equipment, the state government has already started conducting a survey with the help of an agency to assess the functioning of equipments in different hospitals. “In government hospitals and medical colleges, we often find that several machines become defunct and lie unused

due to lack of proper maintenance. If the survey team finds any non-functional machines during assessments, the technicians will repair it on the spot.” Further, the authorities also plan to bring in a new fleet of 250 emergency 108 Mrityunjay ambulances by the end of 2018 in order to replace the old and worn out vehicles. New mobile medical units will also be introduced especially for tea garden areas. As per a survey conducted by the authorities, 130 such areas were found to be lacking proper medical facilities, said an official. n

Snippets

fter being exported to 19 countries across the globe, NRL Wax now makes its way into the European market. The first consignment of 132 metric tonnes (MT) of wax has been flagged off to Poland from the company’s marketing terminal at Numaligarh on 12th January last by Chief General Manager (Finance), Indranil Mitra, in the presence of senior officials of the company. Export to Europe assumes special significance since the European market is known

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NRL exports 132 MT wax to Europe

Flagging off of export consignment of wax to Poland by CGM (Finance), Indranil Mitra on 12-01-18 in presence of senior NRL officials

Concept Educations announces launch of three new centres

autam Saha, Director of Concept Educations, on Tuesday, announced the launch of three new centres in Dibrugarh, Bongaigaon and Beltola in Guwahati to cater to a larger number of students preparing for medical and engineering entrances. The offices are operational and classes for the new session will begin from April. Speaking about the new centres Saha said, “We are glad to

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

be expanding not only in terms of infrastructure but also on students count. Our main idea behind setting up these new centres is to cater to the students in these places. We have a good number of students coming from places like Bongaigaon and Dibrugarh to our Guwahati centres and this is why we are coming up with the idea of reaching out to the students rather than them coming to us.” Currently, the institute functions from three different centres

in Guwahati, apart from having centres in Sivasagar, Jorhat, Duliajan and Silchar. The existing batches amount to more than n 2500 students.

to be quality conscious and entry into this prestigious market will further enhance the brand value of NRL Wax. This is also a testimony to the high quality of NRL wax, which has, within a span of two years, been able to establish a foothold in more than a dozen countries worldwide including Mexico, Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Thailand, Hong Kong (China) and Brazil. With this consignment, the total export of NRL Wax stands at around 6,000 MT.

The company is also exploring opportunities of exporting wax to more countries in the near future. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, had dedicated NRL’s wax plant to the Nation on February 5, 2016. The 50,000 MT wax plant, commissioned in March 2015 at a cost of Rs 676 crores, is the country’s largest wax producing unit with indigenous technology developed by the Indian Institute of PetroleumDehradun, Engineers India Ltd and NRL. n

East India Fashion Week successfully held

he two-day fashion event, East India Fashion Week, witnessed glitz, glitterati and top fashionistas of the city. The CGM (Northeastern Circle) of State Bank of India PVSLN Murty, Monalisha Goswami, Commissioner, Guwahati Municipal Corporation and Kazi Muntashir Murshed, Asst High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India were the chief guests of the event on Day

1. 12 designers showcased their designs along with 10 student designers from Royal School of Fashion & Technology, who stressed on the importance of environmental-friendly fashion. Anu Rajbongshi, a weaver was awarded Rs 25,000/- as part of the FNDC Purbashree Award. The 2nd day of the show featured 13 designers with the grand finale showcased by Anuradha Kuli who is a President’s Award n Winning crafts person.

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

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Modi to lay foundation stone of new LGBI Airport terminal

Avishek Sengupta avishek.sengupta@g-plus.in

rime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay the foundation stone for the new integrated terminal worth Rs 912 crores for the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport on February 3. “As per the Central Aviation Ministry, the Prime Minister was confirmed to be laying the foundation stone during his visit to Assam this February. The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for construction of a storage unit for the airport,” the North East Regional office of the General Manager (Engineering) of Airport Authority of India (AAI) located at Borjhar here told G Plus. Prime Minister Modi is visiting Assam to attend the Global Investor’s Summit to be held here on February 3 and 4. According to the GM’s office, the project is expected to be completed by 2020. The AAI has made the draft of the DPR (detailed project report) (See figure) according to which, the terminal will spread across 77,500 sq mtrs of land near SOS village and shall be able to handle traffic of 2,900 domestic and 200 international passengers at a time. “The proposed new integrated terminal building at the existing LGBI Airport has become necessary because the existing terminal building has saturated. The new terminal building will be built as per the four-star standards of GRIHA rating,” the GM’s office said. GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) is a national ranking agency for greenhouse and eco-friendly public places. “The land for the proposed development and integrated terminal building is free from trees. No water body is going to be affected by the proposed Terminal Building at the existing LGBI airport. About 3,100 kgs of solid waste will be generated daily by the airport, which, after separating the recyclable wastes, will be dumped at the Boragaon dumping ground,” the DPR proposed. Waste disposal becomes an issue as the airport is located only 3 kilometres away from the Ramsar site, Deepor Beel.

According to the draft DPR, an additional area of 12,500 sq mtrs has been kept for retail/ commercial outlets. Besides, there will also be a multilevel car parking with all amenities for at least 1,500 cars, surface parking for VIP cars and 10 buses and separate car/scooter parking area for AAI and airlines’ staff. A four‐lane vehicular road has also been proposed from the terminal building/car parking with canopy covering two lanes in front of the terminal building connecting the main approach road to the city. Out of the sprawling 1,275 acres of land of the LGBI Airport in Borjhar, located about 26 kms from Guwahati, the current airport terminal is built over 2,03,050 sq ft and is capable of holding 2,000 domestic passengers and 125 international passengers per day. The airport takes a load of about 5,000 passengers daily and handles about 64 domestic flights n every day.

Renovation and expansion works in progress at the LGBI Airport | G Plus Photo

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G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

An exclusive conversation with Prateek Hajela... Continued from page » 1 process will be. The first game changer was the development of the legacy data where the applicant will have to submit the 1951 NRC or pre-1971 electoral roll which they would search for. But searching manually could never happen, so digitising it along with the images was a very important aspect. Making it unified for the entire state was important because since 1951, 1966 and 1971, a lot of movement among the people had taken place between the states. So unifying it and making it searchable in English (otherwise all the data was in Assamese) was a big game changer. Without that I couldn’t have been able to start the process. I had to build a strong force which would grow as we grew forward, which would handle all the challenges as we can’t have a system where we could know what challenges we would face. So I created a manpower system similar to the missions. I created a state project management unit here where you have sector-based expertise, HR (human resource), media, MIS (management information system) and project management. Similar to the missions like NHM (National Health Mission) and SSA (Sarba Siksha Abhijan), we put

We thought about the mechanism which will be implemented. I created that mechanism. Then I thought out what the process will be. The first game changer was the development of the legacy data where the applicant will have to submit the 1951 NRC or pre-1971 electoral roll which they would search for.

NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela announcing the publication of the draft NRC on 31st Dec 2017 | File photo in subject matter specialists. We also took IT (information technology) consultants from NISG (National Institute of Smart Government) which is promoted by the Department of IT, Government of India. We then recruited our district project management units. We created a system where the implementation mechanism is similar to the mission mode schemes in the government. All these missions were developed in Delhi and had examples of earlier work. But we had to create everything from the scratch. I had to create finance, accounts, procurement. I recruited 5 persons initially which happened in mid2014 which was increased to 15 by the latter half of 2014. Thereafter, from Assam Institute of Management we recruited our district and circle staff. So eventually, I reached the strength of around 500 to 600. By the early part of 2015 I had a strength of around 1,000 people. Then I took the system

integrator through competitive bidding and tendering process and I took another 7,000 people to handle tasks at different NSKs (nagrik seva kendras). In the meantime we were having capacity building of the existing governmental staff so that they could handle our work. By 2015, we had a workforce of around 15,000 people. So putting in place the administrative machinery and the workforce which could handle any kind of challenge coming our way was the first thing which we did. Till 2015 we were forming our base; from 1st September 2015 we started our verification process.

You also held other portfolios along with the responsibility of the NRC coordinator; did you get time to work on the other responsibilities? I was home commissioner and was involved with a few

other responsibilities also. For example, towards the end of 2013, there were the NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland) killings. I handled that for some time. I also handled the Guwahati floods, the worst floods which happened in 2014. I was appointed the special commissioner for emergency operations and that was the time I made a relief camp on the bridge over Bharalu at Bhangagarh. Through home department I carried out constable recruitments for over 5,000 people. I received the chief minister’s award for transparency. There are other things also that I did but from mid-2015 I have concentrated only on NRC.

The first draft list has been published with only 1.9 crore names whereas the Supreme Court wanted the full list of applicants. Doesn’t this fall short of the expectations of the

Supreme Court? Whatever expectations the Supreme Court had I will explain that to the court. If I explain to the public people will start having a lot of speculations. The thing is that there are certain submissions I made before the court and whatever submissions beyond this, as far as numbers are concerned, I will make before the court only.

Did you inform the Supreme Court earlier that names of only 1.9 crores will come out in the first draft list? How many get qualified and how many don’t is something which cannot be told beforehand. Those names which are not there are still under verification because till the time the complete draft is not published it is not legal to say that those who are not there are doubtful or they are ineligible.

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Many state governments are not responding to your verification requests. Topping the list is West Bengal. If they do not reply to the verifications you have asked for, what will you do? The documents which have been sent to the other states are just 5.5 lakhs which is not even 1% of the 6 crore documents that we have verified in the state. If we look at it from that aspect the number is very small. I had also informed this to the Supreme Court once and it had issued very strong orders. Thereafter, the states started responding. I will again inform the SC and we will try to get the results back for as many persons as possible.

Which are the other states which responded poorly? The states neighbouring Assam are the ones whose documents have been submitted in large numbers by the public. They are the ones who have large numbers but otherwise documents were submitted from all the states of the country. 402 documents have come from other countries as well. Those which have been submitted by the public relating to the neighbouring states are higher.

There are many central government issuing authorities in and outside Guwahati who did not respond to verification requests. Are you sending them reminders? We are pursuing matters with them and trying to get the results back from most of them. We are sending them reminders and we are also sending our officers to expedite.

There are many wellestablished Guwahatians who submitted documents belonging to offices in Guwahati. Even their names did not figure in the first list. Even if you look at SEBA (Secondary Education Board of Assam) as an example, it had more than 29 lakh documents. If you give one admit card of 1987, we send it to SEBA. They have the centre of this admit card. Similarly, they have

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many backhand records which are kept in a large number of almirahs in a large number of halls. They have to go there and match it one by one and then verify. Within Guwahati or outside Guwahati is not of major consequence. You send a document to a hospital which is located at Nalbari which has only a small number of documents that it has issued. So, they will not take much time, but Gauhati Medical College & Hospitals (GMCH) will have a heavy role. So from where you submitted the document is not a big point. Now, as 31st December became the cut-off, those which I could complete till then and entered into my computer I could publish. It is a cut-off based on time and not on quantum of works.

Verification for panchayat documents as link documents is yet to be done. You have initiated 38 lakh cases of investigation on December 1. Will this not be very time consuming given the scant resources at your disposal? It is there in the Supreme Court order that you complete it with deployment of additional resources. So we have deployed additional resources; we are trying to use the resources in a better manner and we will ensure that they are completed as soon as possible without compromising on the quality. The house-to-house verification works will be completed very shortly. We will be able to complete all these within this month itself. The verification will be done by our own officers taken from different departments.

Don’t you think a lot of applicants who have applied with the panchayat documents will be left out of NRC? What is your estimate?

and take decisions; can’t they be biased or bribed? It is a considered opinion of the officers concerned. It cannot be a straight-jacketed formula. A certain amount of considered opinion of officers is essential for an exercise like this because the statutes require the officers to have their considered opinion and they have to apply their mind. But you should not have unbridled discretion. So unbridled discretion has been reduced by bringing into place standardised formats like what are the questions that will be asked, how the answers will be recorded. Every person is given a copy of whatever particulars which will have to be verified. So, the public also has a copy of it. In all these there is a supervisory mechanism which has been built in so the teams that go house-to-house give their findings. Then the senior officers also go through this and only then the final decision is taken. So, it is a multi-layered mechanism which does provide for quality checks.

huge establishment is required for this one-time work. Later on, continuous update will not require a very heavy work load. We can continue with a slimmer workforce where we can continue with a DC (Deputy Commissioner) circle officer system and I think that will suffice.

The documents which have been sent to the other states are just 5.5 lakhs which is not even 1% of the 6 crore documents that we have verified in the state. If we look at it from that aspect the number is very small. There are many people who did not apply for NRC for various reasons. What will happen to them? Maybe at the time of claims and objections we will try to accommodate those persons. As of now I cannot guarantee

that; it is a possibility. Let’s hope for the best. They might get a chance to apply.

In spite of repeated reminders to the public not to panic if their names do not appear in the first list, people have been apprehensive and there were rallies across the state. Should the applicants just sit at home and wait for the next list or should they contact their local administration or the NRC authorities? They just have to wait like they did before the 31st December publication. There is no requirement for them to visit anywhere or fill up any form. Whatever is required to be done we will do it. They have submitted their documents; now it is our responsibility to make sure that the names of all the genuine citizens are listed in the NRC. n The interview was conducted by Rahul Chanda, senior journalist of G Plus.

The Supreme Court will decide the timeframe on February 20. But how much time will you claim? What is your estimate about the date of completion of NRC? It is a very sensitive issue and so I will not reveal the estimates to anybody but the court. But one thing I can say is that at the shortest and as soon as possible is our motto, without compromising on the quality because for these 1.39 crore people who have been left out, it is our duty to dispose off their cases at our earliest.

The opposition is alleging that the NRC process will drag beyond 2019. Is it true?

Right now there are 29 lakh such persons and their cases have been kept pending. Their cases will be verified based on the judgement which the Supreme Court has given on 5th December. First we have to complete the court’s directive to complete the 38 lakh cases. Only after that I will be able to take those cases.

It will get dragged as much as it is required physically to complete the process, not beyond that.

Update of the NRC will have to be a continuous process. What are the future plans? Will there be a permanent NRC secretariat?

The verification teams visit households to verify

Right now, because we are having 3.29 crore applicants, a

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Complaint number: 8811007000 Guwahati Municipal Corporation

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Industrialisation challenges

M Sonowal saab is confusing me totally. He is doing road shows in foreign lands in his attempt to woo investors. He wants industries set up in Assam. He wants the heavyweights to make a beeline to the state – all of this when his own government’s preparedness is so bereft of the basics that the poor response elicited is understandable. Let me explain starting with the announcement of the Global Investors’ Summit scheduled for February. Trust me this one is going to be nothing more than a roly-poly picnic; where is any special industrial policy to back up the enticing lollipops that will be dangled? And what reason does the “friendly” central government have to keep procrastinating the way it has in this matter when its rhetoric is diametrically opposite? Assam currently ranks 22nd in the ease-of-doingbusiness list – a discouraging figure by any reckoning and which is a direct pointer to the sluggishness and apathy that continues to plague the bureaucratic machinery of the state. Consider this situation as an example: An investor seeking to set up an industry is allotted a plot in one of our industrial parks on

say, a 30-year lease. During the earlier dispensation, the investor had the provision of mortgaging the lease hold (not the government land on which the industry is sitting on, mind you) with a financial institution or bank to secure some working finance – a happy situation that often went a long way in ensuring viability of the industry in question. The current government has stopped this under the pretext of a certain memo by the disaster management authority of the state government. Another clear deterrent for an investor! Just a Google search and the other many inadequacies spring up on the screen in nanoseconds. Perpetually bad roads, inadequate power, lack of raw materials, a general anti-development mindset that triggers agitations and bandhs at the drop of a hat, a general sense of inertia that pervades the populace, demographic imbalances making the state socially shaky … the list is endless. Clean up your backyard CM Sir, the cart before the horse never went anywhere! This way, Assam will forever remain industrially challenged and the road shows a waste. Swapnil Bharali Editor

Mistiming the repair

rust our powers that be to get their timings wrong at every instance. It is Bhogali Bihu time and it is old Saraighat Bridge repair time too. With total disregard for the teeming millions of the city who seek to go to their ancestral villages to have their promised Uruka feast with their near and dear ones, this is a serious dent to their hopefully smooth travel plans. Homesickness, after all, affects everyone who stays and works away from home. More so during Bhogali Bihu – the festival that mandates families to be together. Guwahati has its share of people who take this Bihu time homesickness very seriously. For all the ordeals over the last several years that the single Saraighat Bridge offered with its traffic jams which ensured that their Uruka feasts were disrupted more often than not, these people were indeed hopeful of the situation easing out post the commissioning of the new broader bridge. But the powers that be have to throw a spanner in the works. And it has chosen the date of January 12 to effect the repair works that has ensured total closure of the old bridge for half the day. It makes us all wonder whether this repair work has turned out to be as “urgent” as this which, if not carried out, would result in the bridge collapsing. Or is it just another instance of brazen nonchalance where the plight of our homesick people just does not matter? For all we know, Sunday would have been the ideal date to repair the bridge.

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Death of Guwahati’s winter

or someone born and raised in Guwahati, having experienced the wonderful yet at times, harsh winters all his life, it’s agonizingly painful to witness the season’s slow death year after year. December has ended. We’ve stepped into January and Guwahatians have barely felt the typical chill associated with these months except for two days in the early part of this week. It’s all the more frightening to see other parts of the state experiencing a rather normal cold winter and the mercury hardly dipping here to single digit so far. So, who killed Guwahati’s winter? What has been happening in Guwahati city in the name of urbanisation and development in the last decade or so is scary to say the least. One need not be an environmentalist to point out the apparent causes that have driven us to the despairing situation we are in today. Let’s talk about some of the most obvious causes that are entirely manmade and unless corrective measures are taken, the cold winter months in the city could well be a thing of the past pretty soon. Firstly, unabated construction of residential flats across the city has led to a substantial reduction of the green cover in the city. The cutting down of large expanses of CO2 absorbing trees and plants seem to have started making big time impact on the ecology. By removing forests, we also have effectively re-

moved the natural systems that absorb carbon. Real estate business is booming and the strong lobby in collusion with the government authorities has flouted norms with impunity and unleashed a systematic ruination process of the city’s ecosystem not giving two hoots about its dangerous impact on the weather patterns. Secondly, vehicular density of the city is one of the highest in the country with more than 1 million vehicles registered with DTO (Kamrup) as per recent data. Add to it another 10,000 ve-

The author justifiably expresses his concerns on Guwahati’s fading winter chill and pinpoints the pertinent reasons that have seemingly hastened the same besides indicating the impending disaster that the future holds should the concerns not be addressed. The objective of this writeup is to underscore the environmental degradation that people living in the city have been witnessing for years helplessly, that has lead to some serious ecological changes. hicles coming in daily from the nearby states of Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. These vehicles, apart from choking the city roads, emit seriously harmful gases like hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide etc that get easily trapped and retained in the

rThree unsung heroes

O p i n i o n Subhasish Das

ozone layer due to the absence/ insufficiency of the green cover within the city. But despite this, more than 300 vehicles get registered in the city every day on an average and it’s dispiriting to see no controls/actions/policies on the part of the authorities concerned to stop, change or improve things. The continuous abuse inflicted on the city by its own populace coupled with perpetual neglect from the authorities is a heads up to the future generations of the hellish times ahead with possibly no winter existing at all. Thirdly, the burgeoning population of the city is a pressing issue that needs to be dealt with immediately and head-on. The estimated population of the city is a little over 2 million with an average yearly increase of 0.14 million. The gradual and unrestrained growth in the city’s population is no less an irritant than its vehicle population and is critically linked to the previous two causes. The necessity to accommodate this evermultiplying population has majorly contributed to the real estate boom and constantly increasing vehicle density. Urbanisation is never a scourge nor is acquiring a residential property or owning a car. But the manner in which these things have taken shape in Guwahati city in the last few years is definitely a concern. The gradual surge in temperature of the city irrespective of season, major alterations in weather pattern and the overall ecosystem, the slow and painful death of the once prominent winter are some of the prices that generations, present and future would n have to pay heavily. Subhasish Das is a resident of Guwahati and works in an IT company. He has been writing intermittently for years and loves to write on social, political, environmental issues, sports etc.

Letter to the Editor

he midnight of 31st December 2017 and 1st January 2018 will always be written in golden letters in the annals of Assam’s history. After years of wait and later on with so many delays due to insincerity shown by the previous Congress government, the first draft of the NRC was published. The correct NRC is the only ray of hope to eliminate the foreigners’ issue once and for all. I would fail in my duty if I do not mention the three gentlemen namely Pradip Bhuyan, Ranjit Gogoi and Aabhijit Sarmah. Due to the untiring efforts of the above mentioned trio, the NRC update work started under the watchful eyes of Apex court. Truly, the above mentioned trio are the unsung heroes of Assam who themselves are all successful persons in their personal lives. Dr. Ashim Chowdhury , Ambari, Guwahati.

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

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“Building hospitals and buying expensive material is fine, but people visit the hospitals when it’s too late...” Devasish Sharma, Joint Resident Commissioner of Assam Bhawan, Mumbai and Founder Chairman and Trustee of Deepsikha Foundation Barpeta. Back then, officers had to learn on the job with a lot of trial and error,” said Sharma. After this, he was posted as the OSD to the then Governor of Assam, Lt General S K Sinha (retd.). “I was lucky to be working under people like him who could inspire. He used

Sidharth Bedi Varma

orn in Jorhat, Assam and an alumnus of Ramjas College in Delhi University, G Plus spoke to Devashish Sharma, Joint Resident Commissioner of the Assam Bhawan in Mumbai and Founder Chairman and Trustee, Deepsikha Foundation. Deepsikha Foundation is an NGO that is well on its way to revolutionize cancer care in the country and in its roots has the idea that if our community participates in cancer eradication, cancer as a disease can be nipped in the bud.

His Journey

After graduating in English Literature and completing his post graduation in Mass Communication, Devashish Sharma joined the Assam Civil Services in 1992 where he was first posted at Barpeta. “I was straight out of college and with one month of training, I was thrown into ‘Operation Bajrang’ - the flood relief operations at

to say that an individual should always try to leave a place, better than he found it,” added Sharma. In 2003, Sharma was posted as the Deputy Resident Commissioner of the Assam Bhawan in Mumbai.

How the idea of Deepsikha was conceived:

The image of an Assam Bhawan brings to mind, bureaucrats, red lights, minsters and other government functionaries. However, the Assam Bhawan at Mumbai is the only bhawan in the country where every room is dedicated to a cancer patient, thanks to one man’s tireless efforts in cancer eradication. The Assam Bhawan in Mumbai was spread over 25000 sq.ft of area. When Sharma was posted in Mumbai, the building was in shambles, had no electricity and was surrounded with barbed wires. “The Assamese diaspora in Navi Mumbai would consider this as an eyesore and everyone would question as to why the building was left there to rot,” says

Sharma. After Sharma took over as the Deputy Resident Commissioner, of the Assam Bhawan, he identified that the Bhawan was built as a shelter for cancer patients. “Everything is available in Mumbai, except a roof over your head which is very expensive. People who come to Mumbai for treatment are only in a position to get treated for a few months after which, they are financially exhausted, and they leave their treatment to go back home and die,” he said. He then wrote a 100 (hundred) page report to the Government citing all the problems with a written petition from the cancer patients at Tata Memorial Hospital to help with their accommodation. The Government heard their plea, and in June 2004, Assam Bhawan in Mumbai opened its doors for cancer patients. Word about this facility spread like wildfire and within two months, the entire Assam Bhawan was occupied by cancer patients. However, it was often found that patients were too late in coming for their treatment. He realized that more than treatment, people needed better and efficient screening and awareness. Sharma, then worked on translating the cancer awareness material issued by the Tata Memorial Hospital in Assamese (vernacular) and with his musician friend, Nupur Bordoloi (who passed away with cancer), and embarked on a journey to spread awareness about cancer and its detection across several places in Assam. His journey started in Barpeta and moved to places like Mangaldai, Jorhat, Morigaon and Dibrugarh. All of this was made possible with the help of the District Administration, and this is how Deepsikha was born. Deepsikha Trust, now provides support to patients who come to Mumbai for cancer treatment by providing affordable or free (to the needy) accommodation, hygienic food,

transport from their place of stay to the hospital and back, organizing blood and platelets for out station patients, financial support for patients who are economically challenged etc, simultaneously keeping in mind the very low rate of Cancer detection at early stages for which, they had initiated cancer awareness and screening camps in the North Eastern states in the country. The vision of Deepsikha is funded by donors and good Samaritans, who volunteer financial support and help as required. Among several donors, the names of Ratanlal Didwania and family, Nita Doshi of MESO group and Hasomal CharitableTrust, found their way into the conversation. “Gujaratis, Marwaris and Assamese are all a part of our goodwill fund. The idea of the goodwill fund is that you don’t pay money directly to Deepsikha. The donors can provide support however they see fit, whether it is accommodation, treatment, food or transportation,” said Sharma to G Plus. However, adding to that, he said, “We have been able to fill only around twenty percent (20%) of the needs of the patients and there are a lot of patients who still need our help despite our want of doing it. But we feel that we have built some kind of in-roads into voluntary donation among people and the ultimate goal is that people with cancer should be helped and now, there is no looking back.”

The Government’s role in fighting cancer:

While the sale of smokeless tobacco is illegal in Assam, it continues to be sold out in the open and is one of the major reasons for the rise in cancer cases in Assam. Sharma speaking on the matter said, “Any amount of regulations and stringent laws can be put in place, but laws can be interpreted and misinterpreted in different ways. The onus is on the society and on educating the younger generations on its ill-effects. It is upon the manufacturer, who is producing it knowing fully-well, how it is harming the society. If the society can say no, then this is what is going to make a difference in the long run.” While he feels so strongly about cancer and its eradication, we him asked about the Health Minister’s recent remark about ‘cancer and divine justice’ that drew massive flak from the people and media to which he said,”I am a part of the government now and being a part of the government, I should not be commenting. Once you are in government service, you no longer have to right to comment on what your Minister has said. It would be wrong on my part to say anything.” Today, Deepsikha has four centres in Mumbai alone and several other projects opening up across Assam. He along with his team envisions that they would like to set up a radiation centre and then graduate to a small hospital for the patients. n

The site of the upcoming Deepsikha care centre at Six Mile | G Plus Photo

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

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Indian-origin man beaten to death for refusing to sell cigarettes to UK teens

n Indian-origin shopkeeper died after he was punched for refusing to serve cigarette paper to under-age UK teenagers at his shop in north London. Vijay Patel, 49, was attacked

in Mill Hill area of the city and rushed to hospital, where he died of head injuries. Patel’s death bed photograph showing him hooked up to a life-support machine has been released by his family as part of an appeal to hunt for suspects involved in the attack. A 16-year-old boy appeared in court later and was charged with murdering Patel, a father of two. “The Homicide and Major Crime Command continue to investigate and appeal for information about the events leading up to the incident which resulted in Patel’s death. It is believed that three persons were involved in the incident,” Scotland Yard said in a statement.

Detective Inspector Ian Lott, from the Metropolitan Police Homicide and Major Crime Command, described the attack as an “unprovoked spontaneous incident sparked entirely by refusal to let the suspects buy what they wanted”.”A man has lost his life for no reason other than trying to uphold the law,” he said. Patel was struck in the chest and fell backwards, hitting his head as he landed. Patel had moved to London with his family from India in 2006 and his wife, Vibha, was visiting relatives in India at the time of the fatal attack. The Met Police are appealing for witnesses to track down the remaining suspects in the case. (Source: scroll.in)

Odisha man moves mountains to send children to school

man in Odisha has single-handedly been moving mountains to construct a 15 kilometre road - all so he can send his sons to schools. Armed with a hammer, digging bar and chisel, vegetable seller Jalandhar Nayak, has worked eight hours every day for two years to connect his village Gumsahi to the main road in Phulbani town of Kandhamal district. He has carved out an 8-kilometre-long stretch through hillocks and needs to extend it by another 7 kilometres in the next three years. The 45-year-old tribal man, who has never had access to education, said the problems faced by his three sons in crossing the hillocks to reach school

in the town prompted him to take up the hammer and chisel. The district administration has now decided to honour and support Nayak’s efforts by paying him under the MGNREGS scheme. “Nayak’s effort and determination to cut mountains to build a road left me spellbound. He will be paid under MGNREGS scheme for all the days he has worked,” Brundha D said. Nayak’s efforts went largely unnoticed until the collector invited him to her office, having read reports about him in a local newspaper. The collector offered him financial support and directed the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Phulbani to engage labourers and complete the road construction work. Inter-

estingly, Nayak and his family are the only residents of the village. Others have left Gumisahi long ago owing to lack of proper road and essential facilities. He thanked the district administration for recognising his efforts. “The district collector has assured me to complete the construction of the road to my village,” Nayak said. The collector said they are planning to felicitate Nayak for his determination and hard work during the Kandhamal Utsav.”We are thinking of felicitating Jalandhar Nayak during the Kandhamal Utsav for his strong determination to construct a road in this remote part of the state,” she said. (Source: indiatoday)

Palestinian woman stuffs pillows with 67 years’ worth of hair

alestinian mother Ezzeya Daraghmeh opened up a pillowcase and pulled out large clumps of her multi-coloured hair that she had kept for nearly seven decades. “I like my hair and I hate to throw it away. Even when I comb my hair or wash it I keep the hair that falls off,” the 82-year-old told Reuters at her

home in Tubas in the West Bank. Daraghmeh started collect-

ing her hair when she was 15, storing the different shades of black, brown, grey and white coloured locks in a mattress before opting to use it to stuff three big pillows in her home. She uses the hair pillows as decoration. “God is great, all this hair came from a single head, my head,” she said. (Source: businessinsider)

Man calls 911 to report himself for drunk driving

n what is probably one of the most bizarre telephone conversations, a man from Winter Haven called up 911 and reported himself for drink driving on New Year’s Eve. An audio clip of the conversation was released on Facebook and emphasised on the need for driving free of the influence of alcohol or drugs. “DUI (Driving Under Influence) is not a laughing matter. However, in this particular incident, nobody was hurt.” the post read. The ‘entertaining’ conversation between Michael and the dispatcher is thus: “Hello, 911, what’s your emergency?” “I’m just drunk, I don’t know

where I am.” “What is it you’re trying to report, sir?” I’m just drunk driving. I’ve been driving around all night to get pulled over.” The audio clip goes on to reveal that Michael Lester had slept for only four hours in the past four days and admitted to swallowing meth instead of smoking it. The dispatcher can be heard engaging the man in a conversation for over 3 minutes, constantly asking him to pull over to a safe place, while directing a deputy to Michael’s location. Fortunately, Michael was stopped before anyone got hurt. The man first told the deputy he had only two beers, and then changed it to ‘three or four.’ “Michael is having a hard time learning this lesson. He has a criminal history which includes a previous DUI, as well as aggravated battery, drug possession, disorderly conduct, resisting, and hit & run,” the Facebook post read. (Source: hindustantimes)

Man, sitting on loo, shot at by wife for bizarre reason

n angry wife from Arizona, US is accused of firing shots at her

husband while he was in the toilet. Recently cops received a call from a man who claimed his wife was shooting at him. According to the report, the man told police that his wife of over three decades had been mad at him and yelling for two days. The tension reached a violent climax when she started firing shots at him when he was in the toilet. The man told police that his wife entered the loo and fired two shots above his head. The woman, who was detained in her home, reportedly

told police that she fired at him to get his attention.”I shot two bullets at the wall above his head to make him listen to me,” she allegedly said. While the woman confessed to the crime, her version of how things unfolded was slightly different. “He would have to be ten feet tall to be hit by the bullets,” she said Challenging her version, police estimated that the shots were fired about seven inches above the man’s head as he was slouched on the toilet. It is reported that the woman was charged with aggravated assault. (Source: ndtv)

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Review

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Vijay Raaz, Deepak Dobriyal, Shobhita Dhulipala, etc Director: Akshat Verma

K vie Mo view Re

Kaalakandi

aalakaandi is the story of a man who finds out he has cancer, and decides to let loose one night — which ends up being the craziest night of his life, involving drugs, raves, car races through Mumbai’s seedy underbelly, and a smattering of good ol’ sex. A few moments are spent establishing his frustration, and then we jump right into the ensemble stories that comprise Kaalakaandi. Each story is quirky, quick and gives you small bursts of information — but cuts away just as you’re about to settle into the sub-plot. Within the first few glimpses

of Kaalakaandi, you can tell Mumbai is as much a character of the movie as Saif. It’s like a game to catch up with the plot of Kaalakaandi: at times you want to give up, sit back and just let everything take over, but some moments make you sit up and take notice. Most of them involve Saif and his ‘massacre’ of things around him due to the fact that he’s high. Saif is in form, delivers the punches with abandon and delivers a brave performance in the film. His character is expected to do a crazy dance once he gets to know his diagnosis and we can see the emotions in his irrational moves and spaced out jokes. n

Cast: Vineet Singh, Jimmy Shergill, Zoya Hussain Director: Anurag Kashyap

ukkabaaz is a rare sports film which steps away from jingoistic chest thumping to stare hard at the casteist and corrupt face of sports management in the country. The Hindi heartland, with its grime, sweat and prejudices, somehow always proves to be the perfect turf for Anurag Kashyap to display his best – with Mukkabaaz, he pulls no punches. From taking on cow vigilantes to the disturbingly vocal class and caste venom being spewed, he spares no one. The characters pulse and throb; be it the upright coach played with fitness and restrain

by Ravi Kishen or the bloodshot eyes of Shergill’s Bhagwan Das, who delivers another solid performance. Zoya Hussain is a find. Never less than astonishingly convincing as a girl who conveys so much without uttering a single word. And then there is Vineet Kumar Singh and his full-blooded commitment to dexterously build up his boxer character, who punches back as hard as he gets . It isn’t as much about an underdog sportsperson breaking free from social shackles as about a sport that is fighting for its own dignity. The 145-min-long film plays out much like a bout itself, the adrenaline rush unrelenting. n

Gadget Review

Smartron t.phone P

martron has unveiled its latest smartphone as the t.phone P, a device that boasts of a massive 5000 mAh battery, at a price point of just Rs 7,999. The new smartphone will be exclusively available through Flipkart and the first flash sale will begin on January 17 at 12 noon.

Specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Smartron t.phone P runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat and comes with a full metal body. The smartphone features a 5.2-inch HD (720x1280 pixels)

IPS display and is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 SoC with four processing cores at 1.4GHz and the other four cores at 1.1GHz, coupled with 3GB of RAM. A fingerprint sensor is also available on the back of the smartphone that not just secures the experience but also lets users take pictures or answer calls with just one tap.

Camera

It has a 13-megapixel camera sensor on the rear with f/2.2 aperture and an LED flash, while a 5-megapixel, fixedfocus, f/2.2 aperture-equipped

Cinepolis Christian Basti 09435025808 Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle 10:15 AM, 01:15 PM, 05:35 PM Mukkabaaz 12:15 PM, 03:05 PM, 05:45 PM, 08:40 PM Kaalakaandi 12:40 PM, 03:10 PM, 06:15 PM Insidious: The Last Key 12:50 PM, 03:25 PM, 08:10 PM Tiger Zinda Hai 03:50 PM, 07:05 PM, 08:55 PM

Anuradha Cineplex Noonmati 0361 2656968 1921 11:00 AM, 05:15 PM Kaalakaandi 02:15 PM Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle 08:15 PM

Gold Cinema Lakhtokia 0361 2735367 1921 11:00 AM, 02:00 PM, 05:15 PM, 08:00 PM Tiger Zinda Hai 11:15 AM, 02:15 PM, 08:15 PM Mukkabaaz 05:00 PM

vie Mo view Re

Gold Cinema Paltan Bazaar 09854066166

Mukkabaaz

Tiger Zinda Hai 11:00 AM, 05:00 PM Mukkabaaz 11:15 AM 1921 02:00 PM, 05:15 PM, 08:00 PM

Kaalakaandi 02:15 PM, 08:15 PM

Grande Cines Paltan Bazar 09854017771

Kaalakaandi 10:00 AM, 06:15 PM 1921 10:30 AM, 02:15 PM, 08:30 PM Insidious: The Last Key 12:15 PM Mukkabaaz 01:10 PM Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle 04:00 PM Tiger Zinda Hai 05:00 PM, 08:00 PM

PVR Cinemas Dona Planet 08800900009

Kaalakaandi 09:35 AM, 06:45 PM Tiger Zinda Hai 10:00 AM, 03:05 PM Mukkabaaz 01:15 PM, 09:15 PM Insidious: The Last Key 04:30 PM Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle 09:20 PM

Galleria Cinemas HUB 09706989143 Hosa Prem 10:00 AM

Kaalakaandi 12:00 PM, 06:00 PM Mukkabaaz 03:00 PM, 08:45 PM

Apsara Cinema Paltan Bazaar 0361 2541335 1921 11:00 AM, 02:00 PM, 05:00 PM, 08:00 PM

secondary camera sensor is available on the front along with a low-light flash. There are preloaded features such as Beautify, HDR, Panorama, Time Lapse, and Burst mode alongside a selfie-centric Wide Selfie to accompany the available camera hardware.

Storage

Smartron has provided 32GB onboard storage on the t.phone P that is expandable via microSD card (up to 128GB) that comes in a hybrid dual-SIM configuration. Smartron is also offering 1TB free cloud storage via its t.cloud service. Commenting on the launch, Amit Boni, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Smartron said, “The tphone P is inspired by the multi-faceted, on the move, globally aware Indian

consumer. This is a person who expects more from his phone without any compromises and without stretching the seams of his pockets. With a massive 5000mAh battery and an all metal body, we’ve merged

power and beauty into the tphone P. To top it, we have layered it with Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processing might to give millions of Indians an enviable device at an exceptional price.” n

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Entertainment

Year’s first Assamese film ‘Hosa Prem’ released Kalyan Kumar Kalita

he New Year’s first fulllength Assamese feature film titled ‘Hosa Prem’ released on January 6, in theatres across the state. Directed by Pramod S, the film is a comedy, replete with commercial elements like songs and dances, romance and action. The film has been produced by Niladdri Chowdhury under the banner of ‘Aabegg Entertainment’. The story and screenplay of the film has been written by the director himself, dialogues have been penned by Jintumoni Kalita. ‘Hosa Prem’ is a situational comedy which turns the concept of true love and the process of film making on its head spinning into a hilarious adventure leading to a startling climax. According to the director, it is a unique romantic comedy. The theme and concept of the movie has never been explored in cinemas worldwide making it a first-of-its-kind romantic

comedy in the whole world. He also added that in this movie, almost every community in Assam namely Rajbonsghi, Bengali, Nepali, Tea-tribe, Bodo, Missing, Karbi, Marwari, Punjabi, Bihari etc has been represented by a talking character in the movie. Also, for the first time, all seven states of northeast India has been represented along with dialogues in all seven languages of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The key roles in the film have been essayed by Brojen Bora, Kalpa Jyoti Gogoi, Tapashree Kalita, Raaj Bidya, Sangina Brahma, Rajiv Kro, Rahul Das (Khaplang Kai), Manash Sarma, Shyamolima Deka, Rupam Boruah, Jitu Mahanta, Kakoli Handique, Raj Karmakar, Safiqul Hoque and Kazal Bordoloi among others. The film’s music has been scored by Babli Haque; songs have been penned by Rekibul and Krishna Raaz whereas the songs have been beautifully rendered by Zubeen Garg

‘Legacy of King Narak’ shines at international film fest

F and Krishna Raaz. The film’s cinematography has been done by Papu Deka, choreography by Sikandar, edited by Akhim Sarmah, background-score is by Rajiv Kashyap and action director is B. Kumbang. The assistant directors of the film are Dilip Dutta and Kanika Das, art director is Bhuson Thakuria, line producer is Utpol Kalita, make-up has been done by n Biswajit Kalita.

ilms produced under the banner of Ri-Mita Bolsabi have been winning the hearts of audiences worldwide. City-based general surgeon-cumdocumentary filmmaker, Dr Satyakam Phukan, has won another award at the 12 Month International Film Festival (12MFF). Dr Phukan has been selected for the second best award for his direction of the documentary “Legacy of King Narak” at the December 2017 edition of the festival. Earlier, “Garbage Bin Meals” won the second Best Documentary for the month of May 2017 at the

deals with the heritage of the Assamese people beginning with the legend of King Narak, considered as the founding monarch of Kamrup kingdom which was the older name of Assam. Giving the synopsis of the film, Dr Phukan said that in Hindu mythology, asura or asur means demon which is considered the antithesis of the Gods. Narkasur or Narakasura is one such asur. In many places of India, Narkasur Chaturthi is celebrated with the burning of effigies of Narkasur. In other places, plays in traditional dance forms are enacted, depicting pieces on slaying

12 MFF held in Romania and Best Documentary in Omichka International Film Festival held in December 2017 in Russia. Another documentary named “The Great Wall of Guwahati” won the 3rd Best Documentary for the month of July 2017 at the 12 MFF while ‘Mother’s Gurdwara’ bagged the Best Direction Award at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Film Festival held in Pune. The film was directed by Dr Satyakam Phukan as Director while its cinematographer, Raphael Warjri, was also included in that award. The documentary, “Legacy of King Narak”

of Narkasur. But it is a different story altogether in Assam. This place is intricately associated with the legend of Narakasur where his personality is treated with respect. Narakasur is considered the founder of the kingdom of Kamrup, the older name of Assam. Narakasur, called ‘Narakaaxur’ in Assamese, is mentioned honourably as King Narak. The documentary depicts and discusses the way in which the personalities depicted as asurs in Hindu mythology are treated by the Assamese people whose mindset and attitude differ significantly from other Indians of mainland India. n

2nd Sailadhar Baruah film awards held in city

nstituted by the SailJanuary 1 and December adhar Baruah Trust, the 31, 2016 participated for the 2nd Sailadhar Baruah awards. The five-member Memorial Film Awards jury led by veteran directorwas organised at the District cinematographer Arup Library, Guwahati on JanuManna selected the films. ary 10 to commemorate the The other jury members death anniversary of the rewere actress Runu Devi, nowned film producer. The music composer-sound awards were given to winrecordist Jatin Sharma, ners in six categories - best director-editor Ranjit Das film, director, actor (male and journalist-film critic and female), music director Munin Bhuyan. and technician. Sailadhar Baruah was Santwana Bordoloi dia prominent film producer rected ‘Maj Rati Keteki’ won of Assam who along with top awards at the festival. Santwana Bordoloi receiving the Best Film award ‘Maj Rati Jahnu Barua made several Keteki’ from Nipon Goswami ‘Maj Rati Keteki’ won the best award-winning films and film award, Narayan Seal brought laurels to the state. won the best director award Baruah was adjudged the best Baruah passed away on January for his film Li: Len in Mising actor for ‘Dooronir Nirola Poja’ 10, 2010. He is best remembered language. Anurag Saikia was while the best actress award for his visionary contribution awarded the best music direcwas bagged by Pranami Bora for to Assamese Cinema as the tor award for ‘Dikchow Banat ‘Sonar Baran Pakhi’. producer of some of the greatest Palaax’ and ‘Maj Rati Keteki’. Altogether 12 films in Assamese movies ever made, The best technician award went Assamese, Bodo, Karbi, Rabha, such as ‘Halodhia Choraye to Debajit Gayan for Jaicheng Mising and other local languages Baodhan Khai’ and ‘Xagoroloi Jai Dohutia’s ‘Haanduk’. Mintu of the state censored between Bohudoor’. n

Fun

Happy

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Magh Bihu

Horoscope of the week Business affairs could go swimmingly over this week, and with some effort in the right places you could go far. You could even see some powerful transformations occurring to your finances through your own work and determination. Be prepared to be led forward by a series of events and encounters that could be very practical yet extremely exciting. Mercury, your guide planet, moves into Capricorn and this, too, could see you handling money and business in a very skillful way.

The week ahead could be filled with powerful interactions that build new relationships and enhance those you already have. Leisure and pleasure options could also bring you closer to others, as you may be eager to share your fun times with them. You might be drawn to collaborate with certain people on new projects, and this can be very rewarding for you. Setting firm boundaries could be key, though, as a potent Venus-Pluto link suggests someone may push for their intended outcome.

You might be ready to make some lifestyle changes that could affect you and your family for the better. A very lively blend of energies hints that making a start now could see you transforming your own health and perhaps that of others. In particular, a link between stirring Mars and fervent Pluto might encourage you to make a clean sweep. This could mean altering your diet or perhaps exercise routine in a very radical way. Once you’ve made up your mind, there may be no going back.

There seem to be so many ideas available to you, as well as an opportunity to collaborate with others. This could be a very busy and promising week that gets 2018 off to a wonderful start. It isn’t a time to hold back and keep things yourself. Rather, share your thoughts and allow others to contribute. This process could be very creative for all involved, and might result in projects and plans that greatly benefit everyone and even prove very lucrative.

You might need to use your powers of persuasion to convince family members that your ideas are in their best interests. With both the sun and lovely Venus aligning with passionate Pluto, certain others may have their own agenda, and this could delay your plans. In the end, you might have to prove it to them by making a start and letting them see for themselves. Once they do, you may find that they back you wholeheartedly. Try to be flexible with your social plans over the weekend.

You could be on a personal mission over the days ahead, and this might show through your dedication and determination to turn an idea into reality. It might seem as though you need to be very persuasive to convince others to join you, but this might not be necessary at all. Your sheer enthusiasm might be what encourages others to come on board. What results from this could bring positive outcomes that truly benefit everyone. And with feisty Mars in your sign aligning with expansive Jupiter, anything is possible.

Your understanding and knowledge of your inner life and thoughts and feelings can have a direct influence on your finances. The more confidence you have in yourself, the more this will be reflected in your ability to enhance your income and feel secure. The presence of expansive Jupiter in your spiritual sector suggests that hiring the services of a life coach or other professional could be helpful, as he or she might be able to help you move beyond any perceived limits and feel even more abundant.

Your social life continues to be very buoyant and positive. And you seem to have friends in positions of power or authority who can be a great help to you at this time. With both feisty Mars and jovial Jupiter in your friendship zone, key alignments to planets in your sign could see you making fabulous progress with their help. In addition, you have much experience to add to the mix, and this combination can be perfect for creating much success.

If you can lighten your schedule on January 1, consider doing it. The full Cancer moon encourages you to ease off the accelerator and listen to your feelings. With a major focus on your spiritual sector, you might need time to reflect on issues and perhaps resolve them. If you can talk about them with a close friend, it might help you let them go. Relieving yourself of any emotional baggage can help get 2018 off to a positive start.

With dynamic Mars aligning with expansive Jupiter in your sector of travel and adventure, you could be fired up with ideas that may require a leap of faith. However, with the help of your friends, you could find that you have the courage to do whatever is required of you. They may be only too willing to join forces with you and lend you courage and support. However, avoid any impromptu purchases over the weekend, because the sun’s link with restless Uranus could encourage you to splurge.

Which legendary Bollywood duo first met on the sets of the 1966 movie “Sarhadi Looterey?”

Whose only published work during his lifetime was titled “The Lords and the New Creatures?”

How is the Tsangestar Tso better known to us?

The controversial 1998 movie “Jinnah” also had the last on-screen appearance of which famous actor?

Why is a wolf called Zabivaka going to be in the news in a few months?

Identify these Bollywood legends (hints given in the picture). Dr. Soubhadra Chakrabarty This quiz has been brought to you by Brain Jam, a property of Priya Communications

Luann by Greg Evans

curio-city

1. The scriptwriting masters Salim-Javed 2. Jim Morrison of ‘The Doors’ 3. Madhuri lake (after Madhuri Dixit shot a dance number by this lake in Arunachal Pradesh for the film “Koyla”) 4. Shashi Kapoor 5. It is the name of the mascot at the Football World Cup 2018 to be held at Russia. 6. Shankar Jai Kishan, the music directing maestros

curio-city

Sudoku 8

4 9 3 6 4 1 6 2 4 1 1 6 7 2 8 6 4 86 7 5 4 4 5 9 9 8 5 3 3 4 2 5 92 6 Daily Sudoku: Thu 6 11-Jan-2018 2 9

9 5 4 8

2 73 3 68 23 1 7

very hard

Daily Sudoku: Thu 4-Jan-2018

medium

last week solution 6 8 2 1 3 3 8 72 36 97 8 6 9 8 3 1 6 4 1 5 7 9 9 7 51 65 74 3 2 8 4 86 47 32 6 1 5 4 9 6 2 9 2 1 4 5 5 9 23 51 48 9 7 8 9 5 4 3 3 7 8 5 4 7 5 14 92 61 2 8 Daily 7 Sudoku: 3 Thu 6 11-Jan-2018 2 1

5 4 52 28

4 11 23 69

9 52 46 34

7 95 78 81

39 97 15 17 88 73 71 46 68 6 72 21

52 36 23 19

83 35 97 64 9 5 8 very4hard

Daily Sudoku: Thu 4-Jan-2018

medium

http://www.dailysudoku.com/ http://www.dailysudoku.com/

Word of the week Turncoat noun [turn-koht]

A person who changes to the opposite party or faction, reverses principles, etc.; renegade

Crossword Across

Down

1 Hot condiment (7,6) 8 Doorpost (4) 9 Chicken dish braised in red wine (3,2,3) 10 Astronomers (10) 12 Our near continent? (6) 14 Inland route for use by seagoing ships (6) 15 Staring in astonishment (6-4) 19 George du Maurier’s controlling character (8) 20 Blues/soul music with a strong rhythm (4) 21 Stall (13)

2 Widely grown Mediterranean plant with spiny leaves (8) 3 Fire remnant (5) 4 Blink — enact it (anag) (7) 5 Provoke (5) 6 Leading German state from 1525 to 1945 (7) 7 Way to go! (4) 11 Cobnut or filbert (8) 13 Derived from living matter (7) 14 Lone performer (7) 16 West African country getting independence from the UK in 1957 (5) 17 Mischievous sprite (5) 18 More than — six balls (4)

New opportunities are going to continue to beckon for some weeks and even months to come, but this week things could take a turn in a new direction. You could find you’re almost propelled along a new path by events or the encouragement of another. In fact, your friends and loved ones can be instrumental in pushing you forward into new adventures. However, as lovely Venus aligns with fervent Pluto, don’t try to push events before they’re ready to happen. Allow things to flow naturally.

There is so much positive activity this coming week that it could be very productive for you. For instance, when determined Mars, your ruler, links to fervent Pluto, you might be willing to put a lot of effort into a goal that is of prime importance. Once you take that first step, it could begin to snowball. The right people and the right timing can also show up to assist you in other ways. The weekend could see you adopting a more independent path.

Last week’s solution

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Lifestyle

Meditation Can Increase IQ

f you look back at your life, there must have been many moments when somebody remarked, “That was very intelligent of you”, “Smart thinking!”, or “You are an intelligent person”. These moments fill us with pride, admiration, and confidence about ourselves. Don’t you want this to happen more often? How would you like to approach your day-to-day activities with more dexterity, be a defter person, and be seen as a moon among stars? We are all sure that we want this to happen to us. The route to this upgrade is indeed a short one. The cheat code is to meditate regularly. Regular meditation lubricates your mind to be more efficient and reflective.

1. A Crystal-clear Mind

Our mind is a mirror of our past thoughts and experiences, future anticipations, and present interactions. It is wholly tedious to keep it at

work and keep it effective. Meditation helps you drop these tendencies. It helps you connect to the source and be natural. Meditation is quite simply mental hygiene: clear out the junk, tune your talents, and get

in touch with yourself. As a consequence of regular meditation, you’ll feel less burdened and see things with greater perspective. When you are clear of mind and unaffected by your tendencies, it is much easier to align your mind to situations and be more perceptive to what is required.

2. Focus and Concentration

We have all felt at one time or another that there is a powerful source of unlimited energy within our body. We all know there is a quiet strength within us that is unmatchable. The more we experience this, the stronger we become. Meditation establishes this strong connection with your source. It helps maintain inner peace and tranquility, thereby unleashing your mind as a sturdy asset. Practicing regular meditation helps you keep your mind sharp. The quality of our life depends on the quality of our mind. We can’t control what happens in this world, but we can control the quality of our thinking through meditation.

3. The Intuitive Mind

In some moments of idyllic harmony, there is a voice within us that springs unique thoughts, ideas, and opinions. It sparks our perception and blossoms our understanding. It is elaborate yet natural at the same time. The thoughts come right out of your gut. You feel your gut is doing all the talking. Referred to as “gut feeling”, intuition is regarded as a blessing to the human mind. Research supports the fact that an intuitive mind helps you be more thoughtful, astute, and incisive. Meditation is to intuition what carrots are to Vitamin A. They fuel your ability to think more originally and stay more connected.

4. The Creative Burst

Have you observed when creative bursts occur? While walking by the lake, in the middle of a shower, while hiking, or when you are swinging to your favorite tunes on your iPod? The trick to creativity actually lies in the loss of control: effortlessness, relaxation,

and well-being. Control is fatiguing, while brain-imaging research shows that relaxation is not only restorative, but actually leads to enhanced memory and facilitated intellectual understanding. The more creative you are, the more unique and indispensable you are at work. Meditation helps you relax and in turn be more creative.

5. Middle Path

Unique and discerning thoughts are like a well baked pizza. They need to be balanced and harnessed well. They have a distinct style to themselves. Meditation helps you strike that style and balance of thinking. It creates a marked balance between your left-hand side and right-hand side brain, thereby inducing the right kind of emotion, objectivity, logic, and analyses, making you not only think right but also think cool.

shri shri ravi shankar

Founder- Art of Living Foundation.

NEI Fashion Weekend 2018: Changing the fashion scenario of NE India

orth East India Fashion Week (NEIFW) 2018 is coming to Guwahati on 24th and 25th February. The 2-day event will be hosted in Kiranshree Grand, Azara, near Guwahati Airport. Prasantt Ghosh, a topnotch fashion designer of the northeast and the brain behind NEIFW talked to G Plus about what’s new with this edition saying, “This time, it’s not just about fashion. The fashion week is a platform to showcase upcoming designers and discover new talents. It is a professionally managed show, with top models being flown in to present the creations. It has potential for fashion trade and will give youngsters the opening they need to make an impression in the market.” After the resounding success of the first and second seasons of NEIFW, the organisers feel it is time to take it to the next level. Most importantly, the objective

of the event is to create brand awareness among the public and media associated with the fashion industry of the northeast. Season 3 will target the domestic/ international buyers with the right trends and promote northeast handloom and handicrafts. The game changer, however, is the impressive line up of designers and models from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. “We have invited and received confirmation from designers from many foreign countries. It is a landmark event in the sense that the northeast will be the latest fashion destination for all designers of the neighbouring regions,” said Prasantt Ghosh. This event has many fashion gurus, film and theatre personalities in its advisory panel. Sanjay Choudhury, Kanchan More Sabharwal, Kuntanil Das and Prasantt Ghosh will mentor and lead the upcoming designers in showcasing their talents. Season 3 of NEIFW promises to be a unique event for various reasons. It plans to bring together 36 designers from India and neighbouring countries. National

living legends of the fashion industry like Hemant Trevedi, Mona Pali, Abhishek Dutta and James Fariera will showcase their designs along with top names of the fashion industry in northeast. There would be special seminars for upcoming fashion designers with these top designers of India. After-

parties will provide the best environment for connecting and forging professional relationships in the circuit. There would be also stalls from budding and established entrepreneurs.

Actress Nishita Goswami strikes a pose at the event held last year

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Happy

Magh Bihu

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

City school hosts annual sports meet City school drama team

outh Point School, Guwahati held its annual sports at Nehru Stadium on the 5th and 6th January. The event was inaugurated by Sanjit Das, Regional Officer of CBSE, by hoisting the meet flag. The flag hoisting was followed by a march past by various school contingents including the brass and bagpipe bands, NCC units and Scouts & Guides. Events of the junior section of the school were held on the inaugural day. These included sprints and other events like sack race, wheel-barrow race and spoon and marble race, among others. On the second day, middle, secondary and senior secondary level students competed in various events like sprints, high jump, long jump, discuss throw, shot-put, etc. The sports meet was attend-

wins at Kala Utsav 2017

ed by the parents and guardians of the students who also participated in events organized specially for them. Members of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school also took part in various events. The two-day event concluded

with an award ceremony where the top three winners of each competition were bestowed with the gold, silver and bronze medals respectively. The concluding ceremony was attended by T Matei, Assistant Secretary of CBSE, as the chief guest. n

220 dogs of 24 different breeds take part in Dog Show 2018

mall Animal Practitioners’ Association (SAPA), Guwahati organised a dog show on January 7, Sunday. The event took place at Veterinary College Ground, Khanapara from 9 AM to 2 PM. More than 220 dogs from 24 different breeds took part in what can be called the biggest dog reunion in northeast India. Along with dogs from across Guwahati, many dogs also came from other parts of the state like Jokholabandha, Nagaon and Tezpur.

The main objective of the dog show was to promote the adoption of local breeds amongst dog lovers of the city. Speaking to G Plus, Dr Pradyut Kumar Sharma, General Secretary of SAPA and owner of Pet & Vet informed, “Our main aim was to request all dog lovers to adopt local street dogs and we were very happy to see a tremendous increase in the number of street dogs that took part this year, compared to the previous year.”

He further informed that more than 30 local dogs took part in the dog show. Other breeds included German Shepherd, Lhasa Apso, Labrador, Bulldog, Pug, Pit Bull, Chow Chow, Dalmatian, Siberian Husky, Chihuahua, St Bernard, Shih Tzu and Pomeranian, to name a few. The competition was judged by Dr Kushal Sharma, Professor, CVS; Dr Bhupen Sharma, Professor, CVS; and Captain Dhananjay Rao, Dean, CVS Nagaland. While the first prize went to a Siberian Husky, a Labrador took away the second prize and the third prize went to a Rottweiler. The judges expressed appreciation and satisfaction about the initiative and the increase in the number of participants. Compared to last year, this edition saw an increase in participation and

the judges were very satisfied to see the enthusiasm amongst people. Animal welfare organisation, Just Be Friendly (JBF) and the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) were also associated in the event. GMC officials requested all the participants and pet owners to register their pets under the municipality corporation as per the law. Over 40 dog owners registered their dogs on the same day and others took the registration forms to register in the near future.

Various animal food and medicine companies also took part in the event and free products were distributed to the pets and their owners. Talking about the response, Dr Sharma said, “The dog show received overwhelming response from people belonging to various walks of life. Being a practitioner, I feel really happy to see that more and more people are adopting street dogs and giving them the care that they deserve.” n

he drama team of the senior classes of Modern English School, Kahilipara represented Assam at the ‘Kala Utsav-2017’ held in Bhopal from January 3 to 6 and won the 2nd Best Team Award in the drama competition. Kala Utsav witnessed huge participation by students from various parts of the country. Altogether 35 teams from different states took part in the drama competition held at the Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhopal (MP). The theme of Kala Utsav 2017 is ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’. It aims to enhance the various skills of the participants and prepare them as ambassadors of Indian culture. It helps the secondary school students in identifying and understanding India’s diverse tangible and intangible cultural expressions. The play that fetched Mod-

ern English School the award was inspired by Atul Chandra Hazarika’s famous poem “Ulat Palat.” The play narrates a story of an old man and a woman who quarrel with each other about the laboriousness of the work each of them does. They exchange their responsibilities to prove themselves right and the crux of the story “cultivating a mindset of demeaning any work is unwise” comes to life. The play is constructed as a form of ‘Pala Bhaona,’ a folk drama style of Assam. The unique feature of this form is that the entire play runs on a musical rhythm. The team was led by the play’s scriptwriter/director Anjan Bhuyan, who is also the drama instructor of the school. The actors included Arpan Lahon, Ajay Sarkar, Pritviraj Kalita, Swapnil Gogoi, Rachi Saikia, Beauty Barman, Tonmoyee Sarma and Lowali Priyam Parasar. n

Don Bosco students participate in inter-district basketball championship

tudents of Don Bosco High School, Guwahati took part in the Chaitanya Kumar Das Memorial 34th senior (men & women) all Assam inter-district basketball championship which was held in the city. The championship was organised at RG Baruah Sports Complex, Nehru Stadium from January 9 to 12. A total of five girls from classes 7 and 8 from the school participated in the championship. Don Bosco officials informed that this was the first time that girl students of the school have participated in a state-level championship for which they had been training for the past several weeks in the school. Principal of Don Bosco High School, Father Sebastian

Mathew, said that they lay special emphasis on cocurricular activities in the school. “We encourage students to be involved in co-curricular activities. For the overall development of the students, extra-curricular activities and sports play a major role and books alone cannot help in their holistic development,” said Father Mathew. He further added that sports are part and parcel of life and they also teach children a number of life skills including discipline, teamwork, patience and leadership among others. “Even if they do not win tournaments but they will always learn about life from participating in these sports,” Father Mathew said. n

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

Events

Happy

Magh Bihu

Date: January 12-13 Event: East India Fashion Week Venue: Vivanta by Taj y on East India Fashion Week went underwa ed retir ah, Baru nil pna Swa Thursday with -day IAS Officer as the chief guest. The two and ns bitio exhi event witnessed fashion ness shows representing the cultural rich d case show t even The t. heas nort of the like ts artis d the collections of renowne hi, Mehzabin Ershad, Kabita Baruah Med i Jyot wal, Agar sha Shik hya, Bais ti Deepjyo few. a e nam to Kashmiri and Kunal Kaushik

Date

January 7, Sunday Event

Swachh Bharat Run 2018 Venue

Nehru Stadium to Khanapara Veterinary Field

January 13, Saturday Desi Lohri Night ft. DJ Mani Topaz 2.0 7PM onwards Date: January 5, Friday, Event: Acoustic night with Naaz Venue: Terra Mayaa

‘Kopil Bora & Company’ launched Renowned Assamese actor Kopil Bora launched his production house ‘Kopil Bora & Company’ on January 8, Monday. The Chief Guest for the event was Padma Shri Jahnu Baruah, renowned Indian film director and one of the pioneers of Assamese Art Cinema. The event took place at Pragati Silpi Sangha, Barowari. Among guests present were Partha Sarathi Mahanta, Avinash Sarma, Florence Handique, Dr Asha Kuthari Chaudhuri, Dr Padmini Boruah among others.

January 13, Saturday Bolly Commercial Night Terra Mayaa 8PM onwards January 13, Saturday Strictly Hip-Hop NYX, Hotel Palacio 5PM onwards January 13, Saturday Bollywood Buzz ft. DJ Esha Club XS 8PM onwards January 13, Saturday Saturday’s Gig ft. Abraham Brothers Urban Mantra 8PM onwards January 7 Roohdari Chapter 3 The Basement Cafe 6PM onwards January 19-21 Rongali Festival Sankardeva Kalakshetra

G PLUS | Jan 13 - JAN 19, 2018

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