Vol 5 Issue 43 by G Plus

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018 @guwahatiplus www.guwahatiplus.com

Inside

Volume 05 | Issue 43 Aug 18 - Aug 24, 2018 Price `10

Guwahati ranks 85th in the Ease of Living Index 2018; performs poorly PG 02

Majority of pvt universities in Ghy lack NAAC accreditation PG 05

Let’s Talk Guwahati Survey special 4 pages inside

Guwahati Medical College and Hospital | G Plus Photo

Water theft causes crisis at GMCH Avishek Sengupta avishek.sengupta@g-plus.in

he Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) recently faced an acute water crisis due to the alleged siphoning off of water from the Pan Bazaar water treatment plant (WTP). The attendants to the patients complained that they did not get water in the bathrooms and had to go out to procure water for the patients admitted in the government hospital – the largest

in central Assam. “My husband is admitted here for about seven days. I am his attendant and have to go out for water three times every day. For a patient, the water requirement is high. Most of the time there is no water in the bathroom and even if it comes, it is for a brief period of 10-15 minutes, within which we have to fill up our containers. When it doesn’t, we have to go outside for water,” said Sikha Biswas, an attendant. Another, Nafiza Khatun, said “My son has jaundice and he is admitted here for three days now. It is well-known that such patients

require a lot of clean water. I have to go out to fetch water at least 6-7 times and then stand in the queue in front of the bathrooms when water comes. All this time, I just ran to and fro looking for water and could not attend to my son properly.” The GMCH procures water from two major sources – 60 per cent of which is from the Pan Bazar WTP that has a capacity of 25 million litres per day and and the rest 40 per cent from a pump station at Bhangagarh. Water from these sources not only provides for the hospital, but also to the college atop the Narakasur hill,

doctor’s quarters and the hostels. A student residing in one of the hostels under condition of anonymity, said, “We don’t get enough water. We have informed our warden regarding the same but the crisis still persists.” When contacted, Ramen Talukdar, the superintendent of GMCH, terming the water supply as “erratic” said that the hospital is somehow managing. “There is a lack of water regarding which we have already appeased the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department. Right now, no official works of the hospital are getting hampered, but we

are somehow managing,” Ramen Talukdar told G Plus here. A source in the hospital, however, said that the water supply is only enough to run the various machines and the basic functioning of the hospital. “A lot of machines require regular supply of water. Next comes the cleaning of the hospital which again needs a lot of water. But, besides this, the water in the bathrooms and for the patients is not available on a regular basis,” the source revealed. n

Continued ON page » 3

City Snippets

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee dies at 93

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Guwahati ranks 85th in the Ease of Living Index 2018; performs poorly

ormer Prime Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee died on Thursday, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said. He was admitted to Delhi’s AIIMS in June. He was 93. Prior to his death, he was on life support systems. The BJP veteran was a diabetic and had one functional kidney. Vajpayee was the Prime Minister between 1998 and 2004 when the National Democratic Alliance government was in power. n

Assam kid in viral 2017 Independence Day pic not in NRC

aydor Khan, the nine-yearold boy whose photo of saluting the National Flag during Independence Day 2017, standing chest deep in flood water, has been left out of NRC. The photo where the boy was seen saluting the Tricolour with his teacher went viral on social media and had set a new benchmark of patriotism among the people across the nation. According to sources, Haydor’s family members’ names appeared on the list, whereas his name was excluded. The final draft of NRC has the names of Haydor’s mother, brother and his sister. But much to the disappointment of the family, Haydor’s name did not appear in the NRC. n

Youth crushed to death by speeding truck at Boragaon

n an unfortunate road mishap that took place at Boragaon, NH-37, on Thursday evening, one youth identified as Nilotpal Dutta was crushed to death by a speeding truck. According to eye witness, the mishap occurred after the truck driver refused to slow down the speed, even after signals were given by traffic police. The truck involved in the accident was bearing registration number - AS-01-DD-7479 The victim, who lost his life on the spot was riding a Royal Enfield bike bearing registration number AS-01-BU-6005. n

File photo of Guwahati city

he Ease of Living Index 2018 released by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri on 14th August has pitted the top cities in India against each other in a bid to assess cities' 'livability' with regards to global and national benchmarks and to encourage these cities towards urban planning and management. Of total 111 cities ranked under the index, Pune has ranked first with 58.11 points out of 100 while Navi Mumbai has surfaced as the second preferred with a score of 58.02 in terms of 'livability'. The top 8 cities that follow are Greater Mumbai (57.78), Tirupati (57.52), Chandigarh (53.16), Thane (52.27), Raipur (50.58), Indore (50.16), Vijaywada (49.27) and Bhopal (49.11). Guwahati has ranked 85 out of the 111 cities with a mere score of 29.03 out of 100 which positions it as one of the poorly performing cities. Reet Sharma (name changed), a resident of Guwahati speaking to G Plus said, “Guwahati is extremely cluttered. There are buildings and projects everywhere. There is no management in place. Waterlogging, traffic, languishing economy and Housing and inclusiveness continue to be a very big challenge, referring to the results published here. No wonder we have performed so poorly in the Ease of Living Index.” Cities like Navi Mumbai have scored highest in Governance, Faridabad in Education, Chandigarh in Identity, Culture and Economy and Employment indices. After the ten most livable cities, Karim Nagar (Telangana)

has been ranked 11th, followed by Tiruchirappalli, Bilaspur, Chennai, Jabalpur, Amravati,

Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Surat, Vasai-Virar city, Nashik, Solarpur, Ahmedabad, Ujjain,

Coimbatore, Erode, Hyderabad, Madurai, Tiruppur, Jainpur, Nagpur and Gwalior among others. The Ease of Living Index is fundamentally tied to physical amenities such as water supply, solid waste management, parks and green space etc; for others it relates to cultural offerings, opportunities, economic dynamism or safety. All the cities have been ranked on the basis of four parameters -- institutional, social, economic and physical. During the survey, the entire data was compiled on a new portal and a monitoring dashboard for a real-time update. Based on over 50,000 points, the government surveyed over 60,000 people, conducted the secondary audit of 10,000 documents, and the physical audit of 14,000 units before finalizing the list. A government statement said the Ease of Living assessment standards is closely linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, which will provide a strong impetus to India’s effort for systematic tracking progress of SDGs in the urban areas. n

Here are the scores attained by Guwahati city Pillars

Category

City Score

Best City in Category

Max. Score

Institutional

Governance

8.46

16.7 - Navi Mumbai

Identity and Culture

0.81

4.39 - Chandigarh

6.25

Education

3.11

6.01 - Faridabad

6.25

Health

2.74

6.16 - Tiruchirappalli

6.25

Safety and Security

2.45

4.54 - Sagar

6.25

Economy and Employment

1.98

3.78 - Chandigarh

5.00

Housing and Inclusiveness

0.1

2.82 - Ghaziabad

5.00

Public Open Spaces

0.46

5 - Gandhinagar

5.00

Mixed Land Use and Compactness

0.3

4.75 - Greater Mumbai

5.00

Power Supply

1.4

2.91 - Thane

5.00

Transportation and Mobility

1.01

3.46 - Thane

5.00

Assured Water Supply

0.64

4.7 - Erode

5.00

Waste Water Management

1.23

4.2 - Vijayawada

5.00

Solid Waste Management

2.12

5.01 - Tirupati

5.00

Reduced Pollution

2.21

4.42 - Ludhiana

5.00

Social

Economic

Physical

Lead Story

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

25 lakh litres water siphoned off daily through 367 unauthorised water connections Continued from page » 1

ue to an alleged scam in the Public Health department, as much as 25 lakh litres of water gets siphoned off daily through 367 unauthorised lines from the Pan Bazar WTP. This was exposed after an internal inquiry conducted by the department months back. According to a reliable

source in the department, this unauthorised supply of water has been going on for over a period of 5 years since the tenure of Amal Bhagawati, an executive engineer of PHE. “The water channels from the WTP run through Pan Bazar and end at GMCH. It also channels to the IAS colony. While GMCH consumes bulk of the supplied water, it also gets distributed to personal and commercial lines through small channels. While,

Other WTPs under GMC scanner

he PHE, after inquiry had informed the Guwahati Municipal Corporation regarding the alleged siphoning off of water following which, the latter is now mulling into conducting an inquiry whether such anomalies are prevalent in other procuring sources and water pipeline distribution channels. Besides the Pan Bazar WTP, the GMC supplies water from plants at Satpukhuri and Kamakhya and eight deep tube wells at different localities of the city. “The city is already facing a major water crisis and it will remain the same until the complete commissioning of the three water supply projects that are being constructed in the city. But, till then, we will have to manage within whatever little resources we have. We have started inquiry into the various water channels and will weed out the illegal connections so that the genuine connection holders can receive water seamlessly,” a highly-placed source in the Water branch said. While the city’s water requirement has increased, the capacity of WTPs has decreased over the years. The quantity of

water supply has decreased from 74 million litres daily to 44.50 million litres now. Besides Pan Bazar, the filtering capacity of Satpukhuri WTP, which was built in 1930 and then rebuilt again in 1980, has decreased from 22.50 million litres daily to 15 million litres daily and the Kamakhya WTP, built in 1992 has decreased from 4.5 million litres daily to 3 million litres daily. It procures another 2 million litres through the rest eight deep tube wells. This available quantity serves only 30 per cent of the city’s population and until the three water supply projects – the Japan International Corporation Agency-funded South Central Guwahati Water Supply Project, the Asian Development Bankfunded East Guwahati water project and the JNNURM project of West Guwahati water project – are completed, water scarcity will remain a common issue for Guwahatians. “Even after these projects, the onus will be on the Jal Board while the GMC will have to maintain its water network and WTPs under it. Right now, besides the major loss of water, it is incurring a loss in the state exchequer, too,” the source said. n

many of those are legal lines taken through GMC, several are unauthorised,” the source said. Installed in 1963, the Pan Bazar WTP had an initial capacity of 45 million litre daily that decreased by about 55.5 per cent to 25 million litre daily. The source revealed that most of the restaurants and hotels in Paltan Bazar operate by procuring water from these illegal connections. “Among the unauthorised

connections detected, several are restaurants and hotels at Paltan Bazar. The enquiry revealed that a bribe of Rs. 5-6 lakh was paid to the employees involved by the restaurants for getting these connections. It still is cheaper for those who got the connections as, digging a boring well would have cost them about Rs. 8-9 lakh. Also, they do not have to pay any monthly tax for water,” revealed the source. While the WTP and the water

pipeline network belong to the PHE, the water supply tax is collected by the GMC. Bhagawati, has already been transferred to Haflong after the inquiry, while the source shared that several other employees are under scanner. “At least 8 more employees including two engineers are under the department’s scanner. After the inquiry is over, either they will be suspended, or transferred,” said the source. n

In The News Snippets

Parallel office running inside Dispur Revenue Circle Office

he Basistha Police have arrested a gang of 10 middlemen who have been running a parallel office inside the Dispur Revenue Circle Office. This gang-of-10 has been successfully operating for over five years, right under the nose of the State Revenue Department. Interestingly, the middlemen had brazenly set up their own tables inside the government office. There is no doubt that there existed a smooth relation between the revenue officials and the middlemen for many years now. This gang was so well-placed within the office that a common citizen must have taken them to be government employees. The arrest also proves that there surely is a deep nexus with favouritism by someone higherup in the revenue office. According to Commissioner of Police, Hiren Chandra Nath, with the ongoing police investigation, everyone related to this nexus will be brought to book. The CP confirmed that the connections and the dealings between higher officials and the middlemen will also be unearthed. He did not rule out the role of some higher official under whose patronage this gang was operating and said that the investigation will throw more light into this illegal activity. The fingers are all pointed towards the officials of the Dispur Revenue Circle Office under whose blessings these middlemen collected bribes and commissions from common citizens. It is obvious that the buck stopped at some higher-up in the Dispur Revenue Circle Office, under whose backing the ring operated. As of now, the arrested are being interrogated by the Basistha Police and the police are trying to collect information about the officials involved. n

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G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

4 lakh children to receive MR vaccine in Kamrup (Metro) Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

ith a view to combat Measles and Rubella in the district, the state health and family welfare department has launched a vaccination campaign in Kamrup (Metro) from August 17. The programme will be part of the national strategy to eliminate measles and control Rubella and will also be implemented in all other districts across the state. Joint director of health of Kamrup (Metro) district, Ganesh Saikia, told G Plus that all children aged between 9 and 15 years will be provided with an additional dose of the vaccine irrespective of their previous vaccination status. “Since this programme will be conducted at a large scale, several workers have been involved in the process. Also, we have already trained the auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) workers and the accredited social health activists (ASHA) workers in the state,” added Saikia. The authorities have targeted more than 4 lakh beneficiaries within the district. Further, with the programme, officials are aiming to cover 100% of the targeted children. According to official figures, the authorities have targeted a total of 407272 children. Out of these, around 2.8 lakh beneficiaries will be covered in schools while the rest, around 1.2 lakh children will be provided the vaccine in outreach and fix sessions. For this campaign, the

department of health, social welfare department and the department of education have collaborated to jointly participate in the Measles Rubella (MR) vaccination drive. Measles is a highly infectious disease caused by virus making it one of the leading causes of child deaths in India. It can, however, be prevented by immunizing children with two doses of measles vaccine. On the other hand, Rubella is an infectious but mild viral illness

Representative image of a vaccination drive

Since this programme will be conducted at a large scale, several workers have been involved in the process. Also, we have already trained the auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) workers and the accredited social health activists (ASHA) workers in the state Ganesh Saikia Joint director of health, Kamrup (M)

Vaccination statistics for Kamrup (M) Estimated targeted beneficiaries

407272

Total doctors

123

Total vaccinators (ANM)

305

Social mobilizers (ASHA & AWW)

915

Total vaccination sites

2785

Total no. of government schools

725

Total no. of private schools

455

Total AWC

1120

affecting both children as well as adults. Explaining the break-up of the vaccination drive, officials from the healthy and family welfare department informed G Plus that the drive will be conducted in schools in the first two weeks. Further, during the third and the fourth week village and community programme will be undertaken by the officials. Finally, all left out children will be covered during the fifth week. As per the district health officials, 123 doctors and 305 total vaccinators (ANMs) have been involved to achieve the set targets. Additionally, 915 social mobilizers including ASHA and Anganwadi workers in Kamrup (Metro) have also been involved to complete this mammoth task. According to experts, the measles virus is found in the mouth, throat and nose of the infected person. Further, the infection is characterised by rash and cough. The disease is highly infectious and may even lead to death of the patient. The measles virus is transmitted through the air via respiratory droplets expelled by an infected individual in the form of sneezing and coughing. Further, Rubella, also known as German measles, is marked by flu-like symptoms. It is marked by rashes on face, trunk and limb which disappear after a few days. It is also characterised by swollen glands, joint pain and headache. The disease typically affects people of all ages; however, it is not so common in infants. Launched by the central ministry of health and family

Authorities have targeted more than 4 lakh beneficiaries within the district. Further, with the programme, officials are aiming to cover 100% of the targeted children. According to official figures, the authorities have targeted a total of 407272 children.

welfare, Mission Indradhanush vaccination also covers Measles along with six other preventable diseases in children below the age of two years. Mission Indradhanush was launched by health minister J P Nadda in 2014. “Government of India has targeted to eliminate both measles and rubella by 2020. Across India, around 9 crore children have already been covered under this programme. But our target is to cover around 44 crore children. In Assam alone, we will cover 1 crore children,” informed immunization officer for Kamrup (Metro) Dr K Pathak. n

In The News

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Private universities in city lack NAAC accreditation

File photo of The National Assessment and Accreditation Council campus in Bengaluru

Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

ith quality of education being a cause of concern for the students and their parents at large, a majority of the private universities in the city do not have accreditation by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Getting accredited by NAAC ensures that the university or institute has met certain quality standards across its operations. Going through the NAAC accreditation process puts the university in a good stead and has numerous benefits for the students as well as the university

since it consists of a thorough assessment of the university. Obtaining the NAAC accreditation helps the university in understanding its own strengths and weaknesses through the review process. The NAAC committee review the institutes in various parameters and accordingly accord them with grades such as A++, A+, A, B++, B+, B , C and D . The universities also get to know where they lack and the fields where they need to improve. Further, it also boosts the employment opportunity for students as the companies which come for placements often choose NAAC accredited universities and colleges. It also promotes modern method of teachings and innovation. In Guwahati, however, many

For private universities, education a means to make money, allege students

current student at a private university in the city told G Plus that her university is merely concerned with making money and does not provide quality education at par with the government universities in the state. “Earlier, we had good faculty members, but many of them left over the past years and now the quality of education is not satisfactory. Instead of focussing on the academics and related aspects, the authorities are more concerned about providing external facilities to students, which is not going to help us build

our future at the end of the day,” said the student on condition of anonymity. Further, a professor at the Gauhati University informed that many private universities have come up in the past few years. However they, too, will have to apply for NAAC accreditation at some point of time. “Institutions have their own priorities and they also have to make themselves ready to be able to go through the NAAC mechanism since it is an exhaustive one. Till they don’t do it, all stakeholders will be concerned about the quality of education,” he said. n

private universities do not have NAAC accreditation raising concern over the quality of education in these universities. Vice-chancellor of Assam Down Town University Amarjyoti Choudhury informed G Plus that the university has not applied for accreditation by NAAC till now. However, he added that the university is planning to apply for it soon. “We are preparing to apply to NAAC to obtain the accreditation and will apply for it within this month,” said Choudhury. Recently a cash-for-marks scam was also unearthed at the university in which police found involvement of examination department officials with the deputy controller of examination being arrested recently. Police authorities informed that during the investigation of the case, they have observed anomalies and discrepancies in the conduct of examinations as well as the declaration of results

btaining the NAAC accreditation helps the university in understanding its own strengths and weaknesses through the review process. The NAAC committee review the institutes in various parameters and accordingly accord them with grades

at the university. Before this, the police had apprehended one former student of the university as well as a teacher in connection with the case. They first identified students who were academically weak and then lured them into paying them by assuring passing marks in their examinations in various subjects. Further, authorities at the University of Science and Technology (USTM) told G Plus that they have applied for NAAC and are waiting for the team to visit. Alpana Choudhury, director student affairs at the USTM said, “We are now waiting for the visit by their official team to conduct their assessment, we are expecting them soon and hoping that they visit by the end of this year and.” On the other hand, Royal Global University is waiting for two of terms to be completed before they become eligible to apply for the accreditation. As per the NAAC rules, the institutions are eligible to apply for NAAC accreditation if they have a record of at least two batches of students graduated or been in existence for six years, whichever is earlier. Apart from this, the institutes need to fulfil other criteria, too. “We are a university since 2017 and the condition to apply is only after two batches pass out. So, we are eligible to apply for it in 2020,” said registrar of the university Angira Mimani. However, prior to becoming a university in 2017, the RGU was running as an institute for the past few years and was known as Royal Group of Institutions. n

Gauhati University gets ‘A’ grade by NAAC

auhati University (GU) was scored 3.04 CGPA and was granted the ‘A’ grade accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). This will be valid for the next five years. “NAAC has revised their methodology wherein a lot of information related to the university needs to be submitted to them prior to the inspection of the team which constitutes 70% of the weightage and is called the quantitative metric. On the other hand, the qualitative metric is determined by the team of officials who visit the institute for assessment,” said Amit

Choudhury, director of GU’s Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL). He added that the entire process is very exhaustive and there are seven broad criteria on which the institutes are marked including teaching learning, infrastructure and student feedback mechanism among others. “It is a huge exercise which involves all the teachers in some form or the other including a major part of the administration. All faculty members are very happy with this feat as we could not achieve the A grade during the last accreditation in 2010,” informed Choudhury. n

Snippets GAIL awards Rs. 125 Cr BarauniGuwahati pipeline project to M/S Ratnamani

AIL (India) Limited has awarded the first contract for the purchase of 108 km 24-inch diameter line pipes under the Barauni-Guwahati segment of the Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project. The contract for the purchase of line pipes of 108 km was awarded to M/s Ratnamani at a total cost of Rs 125 crore. Line pipe procurement activities for the rest of the 600 km trunkline up to Guwahati is at an advanced stage of the tender process. The Barauni-Guwahati pipeline section executed on a capital outlay of Rs 3,300 crore is an integral part of the prestigious 3,405 km-long JHBDPL project, popularly known as ‘Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga’, executed by GAIL, and envisages to connect eastern and north-eastern India to the existing natural gas grid. GAIL officials said that JHBDPL project is progressing in full swing and the first phase is scheduled for completion by December 2018. n

Milind SomanAnkita Konwar to appear in Big Boss Season 12?

ome September and people across the nation would get hooked to one of the most entertaining and controversial TV show of the year - Big Boss Season 12. Reports surfacing on the internet and social media say that this season will feature a mix of celeb and commoner jodis. If reports are to be believed, one of the jodis shortlisted for this season is that of MilindSoman and his Assamese wife, AnkitaKonwar. Known as India’s hottest supermodel, MilindSoman broke many girls hearts when he married Assamese beauty AnkitaKonwar. The duo didn’t care about social norms and got hitched in a beautiful wedding this year. It will be interesting to see the ‘marathon’ couple take the lead in this interesting reality TV show. n

In The News Snippets

Assam can become a top fish exporting state: CM Sonowal

ssam with its abundant water resources has the potential to become the largest producer and exporter of fish in the country said Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal while distributing appointment letters to 32 Junior Engineers of fisheries department. The CM stressed for the adoption of the latest scientific technologies for augmenting fish production. Sonowal asked the new appointees to spend a night with the fishermen and the fish producers for understanding their difficulties and challenges. He also directed the fishery department to prepare an assessment report of the required quantity of fish in the state for gaining a clear picture about the potential of the market. The Act East Policy has opened a window of opportunity for the state fish producers to gain access to South East Asian market and they must be prepared to compete with the best in the world, he stated. n

Blood Donation Camp for iDay celebrations

rahmaputra Harley Davidson, organised a Blood Donation Camp on the 72nd Independence Day (15th August, 2018) at its store near Sarusajai Stadium, The Blood Donation camp was facilitated by North East Cancer Hospital And Research Institute and Saharia Path Lab & Blood Bank, Guwahati. Around 65 Units of Blood was collected in the blood donation drive. The day-long camp continued with full enthusiasm, commencing with the hoisting of the Indian National Flag followed by a Freedom Ride within the periphery of Guwahati city which was attended by 40 H.O.G Riders. The donors were offered certificates from North East Cancer Hospital And Research Institute and were issued appreciation letters. The event was co-hosted by Khoon- Guwahati Chapter an N.G.O., supported by Novotel, Guwahati and Monster Energy Drinks and Barcode Restaurant. n

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Guwahati’s Muslim community in favour of Triple Talaq Bill Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

lmost a year after the Supreme Court delivered a landmark verdict on Triple Talaq, striking it down as unconstitutional by 3:2 majority, the Triple Talaq Bill - officially called Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, remains to be passed in the parliament. While some say that the bill interferes with the personal law of the Muslim community, the Muslim community of Guwahati seems largely to be in favour of the decision. Muslim women of Guwahati rejoiced when the bill was earlier passed in the Lok Sabha last year. “Talaq-e-Biddat was never in favour of the women. If the bill is rightfully enforced, Muslim men will not be able to misuse the law for their own benefit and we’ll be provided with allowance in the form of maintenance which was not the case earlier,” said a woman on the condition of anonymity. The draft law making Triple Talaq, or instant divorce, a criminal offence is likely to be taken up in the next session of the parliament as parties in the Rajya Sabha failed to reach an agreement over it during the Monsoon Session, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu informed the House during the latter half of the session on August 10. The bill has been postponed as no consensus could be built around it. But, it’s being said that the centre could also bring in an ordinance, or emergency executive order, to enact the law. The Gauhati High Court as well as the Family Court has seen cases of misuse of Triple Talaq.

File photo Supreme Court While most of these incidents go unreported, there are some women who gather the courage to approach the court and file a case against their spouses. A case had been registered at the Family Court in 2017 wherein a woman reported that she had gone to her father’s house for some time and when she returned, her husband had already married another woman claiming that he had sent a letter addressed to her announcing talaq. In another case registered nine months ago, a woman had been sent an e-mail by the husband that carried an announcement for their talaq. Speaking to G Plus, Baharun Saikia, an advocate of Gauhati High Court, informed that she has herself been a victim of male chauvinism. Married in 1999, Saikia received two Talaqnamas in 2009, stating that her husband

Government makes amendments for clearance in RS

he bill that prohibits divorce of Muslim couples by pronouncing ‘talaq’ backto-back thrice by their husbands was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 28, 2017 but it has been stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP-led national coalition NDA is in minority. Earlier, the cabinet signed off on changes to the triple talaq law

to dilute two contentious provisions in hopes that it could pass through the opposition-dominated upper house. The first change allows only a woman or a close relative to file a police case against her husband for instant triple talaq, the second amendment allows her to drop the case if the husband comes around later and they arrive at a compromise and

wanted to divorce her because she did not go by the Sharia. Being a liberal and educated woman, she knew the law and her rights. So she filed a case against her husband at the Gauhati High Court. The case had remained pending in the High Court until the Supreme Court’s judgement was announced and all cases of Triple Talaq became null and void. Speaking on the Muslim Women Bill being pending in the parliament, she said, “We the victims of triple talaq had high hopes that the bill would be passed at the earliest and even now, I think that it is imperative that the bill gets passed in the next parliamentary session. Once the bill is passed, the law will become fair for women as the men who practice triple talaq will not be able to declare talaq without proper reasoning.” n

Talaq-e-Biddat was never in favour of the women. If the bill is rightfully enforced, Muslim men will not be able to misuse the law

the third amendment mandates that the magistrate can decide on releasing the husband on bail only after hearing the wife. But the government hasn’t toned down the three year jail penalty for the husband or the provision that only empowers a magistrate, and not a local police officer, to release the accused on bail. The government had hoped that the tweaks cleared by the cabinet would persuade some non-NDA parties, which had concerns about the misuse of the law, to support the bill in its new form. In his Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too underlined his commitment to the passage of the instant triple talaq legislation in the Parliament. “The practice of triple talaq has

created problems in the lives of Muslim women. We brought the law in the parliament, but some people are not allowing it to pass. I assure you would not be let down. I will do all it needs (to bring the law),” PM Modi said. Speaking to G Plus about the delay in passing of the bill, Irfanullah Nizami, a prominent businessman of Guwahati pointed out, “The bill should come into effect at the earliest. I feel that the amendments in the bill and the punishments proposed are justifiable. According to the community law also, a wife is accustomed to getting maintenance from her husband. And if the law is passed, the husband will be jailed and liable to fine, he shall fear before unjustly declaring triple talaq.” n

Survey Special

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

42% Guwahatians feel authorities should step up women’s security: Survey Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

t least 42% of city residents feel that the government authorities are not taking enough steps to ensure safety of women in the city. This was revealed during a month-long survey conducted by G Plus titled 'Let's Talk Guwahati' in which close to a sample size of 10000 citizens took part through an online as well as offline medium. When asked “what steps can be taken to make Guwahati safer for women?” close to 43% people said that the government should go all out with their efforts to make Guwahati safer for women. 41.6% of the respondents feel that business establishments in the city should be mandated to provide drop facilities for women after 8 pm. The next most popular opinion of Guwahatians according to the poll was the requirement of more women police officials deployed across Guwahati and strict enforcement against moral policing of women -- both the responses stood at 28.5%. Further, 19.9% participants feel that making self defence classes mandatory at school

With a thick and short distance of police vigilance, it may help us a lot.” He added, “Since the police cannot be available at all places and at all times, hence we request the administration to install CC cameras to overlook the shabby and less populated places in Guwahati to prevent crimes against women.” On the other hand, indicating towards an improved scenario for women on streets in the city, no cases of eve teasing in Guwahati were registered with the police upto October 2017. Police officials feel that this has been the result of extensive police patrolling and vigil. Commissioner of Police, Hiren Nath said that one of the most important steps in this regard has been control over bars and wine (liquor) shops. On the contrary, a total of 13 eve teasing cases for Guwahati were registered in 2016. “Throughout the year, we have especially concentrated on increasing police presence outside wine shops and bars since many harassment cases are usually reported from outside these places. We do not allow them to operate till late in the night as cases of eve teasing and drunken driving will increase,” said Nath. He added that in order to

case of serious offences, police officials also seized licences. Upto October 2017, close to 4000 licences were seized and were sent to the Transport Department for cancellation. Out of these, 2000 licences have already been cancelled. However, senior police officials also gave credit to conscientious citizens and people participation. “Good sense has been prevailing over the youngsters. The younger generation are like clay pots, the way you shape them, they take shape accordingly. It is the responsibility of the society to shape the future generation and to make them responsible citizens of society,” said the Commissioner of Police. Further, the police registered maximum number of cases this year against cruelty by husband and relatives with 590 cases being filed in Guwahati till October 2017.

What steps can be taken to make Guwahati safer for women?

level would help girls feel self empowered to take on eve teasers and harassers in the city. While 17.3% residents said that special online vigilance should be mandated for tackling cyber crimes against women. Suresh Hazarika, a resident of Hatigaon told G Plus, “There should be adequate on-road assistance for females of the city.

keep a check on eve teasing on the streets, extensive checking of bikes and two-wheelers was also conducted across the city, since most of these crimes are committed by youngsters riding two-wheelers. Further, the police have also been coming down heavily on drunken driving in Guwahati, informed officials to G Plus. In

This was the highest among all categories of cases under violence against women. According to the data provided by the crime branch, last year saw a slight increase in the number of cases of cruelty by husband and relatives as compared to 2016. A total of 507 cases were registered under this category in 2016.

Cases against domestic violence or cruelty by husband and relatives were followed by cases of kidnapping and

abduction under which as many as 433 cases have been registered. However, officials in the crime branch revealed that some cases under these two categories also turn out to be false. “In some cases, women falsely accuse their inlaws if they do not want to live with them under the same roof and wish to live separately with their husbands,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Crime, Pahari Konwar. Officials informed that these cases are a result of family disputes and domestic matters where the police can intervene at a later stage and can do little to prevent them apart from creating sensitisation. Even in cases of kidnapping and abduction which registered the second highest number of cases in Guwahati, sources in the crime branch said that elopement cases constitute a considerable number of these cases. n

City Snippets

Cats loiter and defecate inside GMCH Wards

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

GMC kicks off door-to-door waste segregation campaign formed a special unit - Swachch Guwahati Squad - which will act to stop littering, urinating and spitting in public places. This squad will also be checking on those who throw garbage at public places. The offenders will also be penalized if found guilty, under the GMC Act. While carrying out the awareness campaign, members of GMC were also accompanied by members of the Swachch Guwahati Squad. The team comprised of associate planner (building permissions) Deepak Bezbaruah, health officer Dr Chanda, deputy commissioner (trade license) Gautam Das and Preety Goswami, collector Loni Borpatra Gohain, additional commissioner Deba Kumar Mishra and executive engineer Manojit Bujarbaruah. The resource person on the project is Dr Pradip Baishya of Assam Engineering College (AEC). Speaking to G Plus about the awareness campaign, Manojit Bujarbaruah said, “The initiative has been taken to educate the citizens of Guwahati about waste segregation and waste disposal. Our aim is to sensitize them in order to gain their support in moving towards a cleaner and greener Guwahati.” He further added that it’s an on-going project/awareness campaign and the team will be visiting all vulnerable places in the coming days. n

Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

ssam’s healthcare industry has enjoyed making headlines in the past and it seems like it wants to continue doing so, for the wrong reasons. Taking the lead this time is one of the state’s biggest healthcare institutions, the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). This time, the GMCH is making headlines for having cats run amok the hospital premises. Cats were seen loitering around the medical wards at Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) which raises concerns about infections and diseases among patients and of course, the maintenance of basic hygiene, in what is one of the largest medical facilities in Northeast India. Two cats were spotted in the female ward on the second floor at GMCH which is one of the biggest government-run hospitals in Guwahati. An attendant of one of the patients told G Plus that she has been seeing these cats for at least the past three days. “Some of the patients have been recovering from serious diseases and these cats pose a serious threat to their health,” said Rukmini Kalita whose relative was admitted in the hospital. She added that the cats keep roaming around on the floor and their fecal matter is found lying all over. Another attendant said that cats also carry the risk of rabies if they bite anyone. “The authorities should take some steps to remove the cats from the hospital premises,” he said. Authorities have turned a blind eye towards the presence of animals in the wards. This apathy of the medical staff and authorities at GMCH is a cause of serious concern for patients and the fate of the healthcare establishment in the region at large. n

n a move to curb with the evergrowing problem of waste and its disposal, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has launched an awareness campaign in the city with the aim to promote waste segregation at source. Waste segregation is the process of dividing waste into dry and wet - dry waste includes wood and related products, metals and glass, while wet waste typically refers to organic waste usually generated by eating establishments and heavy in weight due to dampness. The campaign kicked off on August 13, Monday, when the commissioner of GMC Monalisa Goswami IAS, along with her team, visited SRCB Road in Fancy Bazaar to raise awareness. The team visited around 10 market complexes where they demonstrated how to segregate waste at individual levels. The following day, that is, on August 14, Tuesday, Goswami and her team visited Dr Bhupen Hazarika Road in Kharguli. There, they paid visit to over 25 households, most of which agreed to take active part in the waste segregation program. During the awareness campaign, GMC officials also distributed awareness leaflets.

GMC officials flagging off the campaign for door-to-door waste segregation The leaflets had information about the NGO that would collect the waste from their wards along with the contact numbers. “These two areas were specifically chosen to start the campaign from because they’re very vulnerable to waste. At any time of the day, people can be found throwing garbage and littering the roads here. By the end of the day, heaps of garbage can be found at multiple places,” said a highly-placed source at the GMC. The GMC, in a positive step,

Customized garbage trucks to roam the streets of Guwahati

ustomized garbage collection vehicles will be seen in the streets of Guwahati soon, informed a highlyplaced source at the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) to G Plus. These vehicles, designed specifically to incorporate both dry waste and wet waste separately, are expected to be

launched in September. The initiative has been taken after studying many cities of India and the cleanliness strategies adopted by the clean cities in the country, the source revealed. He further added that two such vehicles have already been made and personnel have been trained to smoothly carry out the process of collection of waste

Waste segregation is the process of dividing waste into dry and wet - dry waste includes wood and related products, while wet waste is typically generated by eating establishments.

after segregation. The project is expected to start full-fledged from September first week. In September first week, the GMC is also mulling plans to formally launch the waste segregation project along with the Swachch Guwahati Squad. GMC is divided into 31 wards and there is one NGO each assigned for the job of primary collection and street sweeping within their respective wards. These NGOs have assigned members to collect wet, as well as dry waste from all of the wards. While the wet waste products will

be collected on a daily basis, dry waste will be collected twice a week - on Tuesdays and Fridays. Earlier, the GMC had organized a cleanliness competition among the 31 Wards and 58 NGOs involved in the door-to-door garbage collection, with junior technical officers (JTOs) monitoring the cleanliness of the wards and the sanitary supervisors involved in the cleanliness process in every ward. The survey for the competition was conducted from May 1 and continued till July end, the results for which are yet to be announced. n

Weather report for the week Guwahati

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

Storm

31°/25° C

31°/27° C

29°/24° C

30°/25° C

30°/26° C

31°/28° C

SATURDAY Storm

30°/24° C

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Glimpses of the 72nd Independence Day celebrations from across the city Patriotic fervour gripped the city as Guwahatians donned the three colours of the national flag to mark the occasion. Flag hoisting took place at multiple places with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal taking part in the main programme at Khanapara Veterinary Ground. Further, bike rallies were also organised and colourful cultural events took place across educational instituions.

Photo Feature

Ward Watch

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Traffic menace at RG Baruah road continues despite No-Parking Zone New drain balm for water logging woes at RG Baruah Road

M Traffic congestion at RG Baruah road | G Plus Photo

In this week’s ward watch, G Plus takes a look in the traffic congestions on R.G. Baruah road that runs through three wards. Avishek Sengupta avishek.sengupta@g-plus.in

stretch of about 4 km from Gauhati Commerce College to Ganeshguri Chariali that runs through three Guwahati Municipal Corporation wards of the city – Ward no 19, 20 and 21 – has made commute a nightmare for almost the entire city. The stretch of the R.G. Baruah Road popularly known as Zoo Road connects major arteries of the city such as Chandmari, Rajgarh, Geetanagar, Tarun Nagar and the G.S. Road via Ganeshguri. Traffic congestions begins here from 9 am in the morning and lasts till 10.30 - 11 pm at night, commuters said. “Every time I have to commute through this area, I always plan to keep an extra half hour in my hand because I am sure that I will get stuck in a traffic jam and invariably, it is more than half hour that I remain stuck here,” Jayanta Hazarika, a resident of Chandmari who often has to take this road to travel to G.S. Road, said. While the average speed along

this stretch during peak hours remains confined within 15-30 kms per hour, major congestion is noticed at the three traffic points – Gauhati Commerce College point, Zoo Tiniali and Ganeshguri Chariali. “While there is an automatic traffic signal installed near the Commerce point, the Zoo Tiniali and the Ganeshguri Tiniali are manually managed. The standard time for halting at the automatic signals is around 30 seconds, 60 seconds and 120 seconds depending on the traffic flow. This time period is not enough and hence, even after getting halted at those signals, cars tend to crowd near Zoo Tiniali point where we manually have to halt vehicles for more than three to 5 minutes. This has a cascading effect on the movement of the vehicles,”

Major congestion is noticed at the three traffic points – Gauhati Commerce College point, Zoo Tiniali and Ganeshguri Chariali.

Hitesh Deka, a traffic personnel appointed at Zoo Tiniali said. A major addition to the traffic woes, is also the illegal parking of vehicles along the stretch of the road, which has seen a boom of commercialisation with new shops thronging every other day. “While the residential areas are in the by-lanes, new shops have been opened along the road which attract a lot of people. However, most of those shops don’t have parking facilities and people just park their vehicles along the road. Traffic jams are caused here most of the times by these illegally parked vehicles. It has not changed even after the Guwahati Traffic Police (GTP) had made this stretch a no-parking zone,” Debabrata Sarma, a resident at Rajgarh said. For this stretch of 4 km, there is a multi-storeyed parking facility recently inaugurated near the Shradhanjali Kanan, but it is not used by people who choose to travel beyond Junali. All the councillors – Ranjit Barman of Ward 19, Anima Deka of Ward 20 and Sashanka Jyoti Deka of Ward 21 – had appeased the traffic department regarding the same, but the traffic menace remained unchanged. “This stretch has been made a no-parking zone. There are ample traffic personnel appointed at the traffic points and along the areas with high congestion propensity and yet, the menace remains. Most of the times, it is due to people’s negligence,” a senior police official at GTP said. n

maputra through Bonda Jan onsoon is almost area,” Debajit Das, chief engiover and the otherneer of GMDA told G Plus here wise water-logging prone RG Baruah The about Rs. 35 Crore road has not received worth drainage system that a single instance of prolonged was proposed in 2013 is about water logging this year, thanks 5 km long and was built in two to the newly constructed drain phases – Rs. 18 Crore in the by the Guwahati Metropolifirst and Rs. 17 Crore in the sectan Development Authority ond. The width of the drain is (GMDA) 6 metres and the depth varies There were instances of from 3 metres to 5.50 metres water logging at three or four (including foundation depth). occasions on this road, but the The drain has been constructwater receded as fast as it had ed with RCC framed structure risen. as per the requirement of the “Earlier, not just the road, railway department as it is but the low--lying areas of Raconstructed on railway land. A jgarh, Nabin Nagar, Anil Nagar pump has also been installed to used to remain inundated unpump out the water which has der flash floods a capacity of 4000 as the water litres per second. spilled from the “The pump overburdened capacity right Bharalu. But this now is enough The pump year, the water to draw out the capacity right level of Bharalu water coming did not rise to a down from the now is enough chronic level, due hills as evident to draw out the to which, even from the lack of water coming though there was flash-floods this a brief period of year. As the load down from water logging increases in the the hills. from the water coming days, we that came down will increase the Debajit Das, from the hills, it pump capacity Chief engineer of GMDA got channelled as and when reout,” Ranjit Barquired,” Das addman, Councillor ed. of Ward 19, said. This comes While majorias a breather for ty of the credit goes to decomthose living in Zoo Road, Nabin missioning of the Noonmati Nagar, Anil Nagar areas, as Drainage system by GMDA, one these areas were inundated of the main civic bodies executunder flood waters for 12-24 ing various projects to curb wahours in last year’s monsoon. terlogging, de-siltation drives “It is about end of August, taken by GMDA, Guwahati and we have almost reached Municipal Corporation (GMC) to the end of the monsoon. But and Public Works Department there were no major flash-flood (PWD) also shares a part of the woes in the city. It happened credit. in a few selected areas, but the “The Nabin Nagar and Anil water receded within half an Nagar area act as a natural bahour, which is quite impressive sin for the city where, water as compared to the past few from Jyotinagar and Sunsali years,” Dwipen Deka, a resident Hills flow in via the Noonmati, of Jonali area, said. Bamunimaidam and Zoo Road Deka’s residence, last inundating those areas too. year was inundated under The Bharalu River thus gets water which had over-flown overloaded and causes floods. from the Bharalu River for We have diverted that water almost 12 hours damaging his through the drain which will be furniture and books on the channelled directly to the Brahground floor. n

Survey Special

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Snippets NFR recovers more than Rs. 5 crores from ticketless travelers during July

T File photo of a public toilet in the city

80% Guwahatians feel public toilets are dirty: Let’s Talk Guwahati Survey Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

n tandem with Guwahati’s rank in Swachch Survekshan, over 80% population of Guwahati feel that the public toilets of the city are dirty. This was revealed during a month-long survey conducted by G Plus named ‘Let’s Talk Guwahati’ in which 8,707 citizens took part through online and offline medium. In the first question, ‘How hygienic and well-maintained do you think public toilets are,’ 80.8% of the respondents were of the opinion that the public toilets are unhygienic and poorly-maintained. While 50% out of these 80.8% said that the toilets are dirty, the remaining 30.8% said that they were very dirty. Further, 13.6% responded by saying that the toilets are clean and merely 5.6% responded that they’re very clean. “It feels disgusting to be in a public toilet in most parts of the country. In Guwahati, the scenario is worse. I haven’t found any pub-

lic toilet in our city that does not stink. What I don’t understand is that when the city has developed so much in other aspects, why isn’t there proper toilet facilities, especially for women?” expressed Sneha Jain, a student pursuing higher education in Guwahati. At a time when the city has been selected to be developed as a Smart City, the result of this year’s Swachch Survekshan shows that Guwahati’s cleanliness ranking has dropped drastically as compared to the past two years. Swachch Survekshan, the nation-wide cleanliness survey, is conducted by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry in various cities and towns across India. In the year 2016, Guwahati secured the 50th position in the cleanliness category but it dropped to 134th position in 2017 and 207th position in 2018. There has always been a shortage of public toilets in the city and although the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has come up with many schemes of installing public toilets there has been very little to show on the ground.

Men do have the urge to use public toilets but the condition of the toilets maintained by our government is such that they force us not to use the same. Atiqul Habib A resident of Hatigaon

“Public toilets are one area that we’re lagging behind in, but we’re constantly working on it. A lot of projects have been taken up by GMC in the recent years to solve the issue. We are not just coming up with more public toilets for men and women, but also for the disabled,” Commissioner of GMC, Monalisa Goswami had earlier told G Plus. Earlier, Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), Assam launched a massive campaign titled “Swachh Survekshan Grameen” (SSG 2018) across the state on July 26, 2018. Giving his inauguration speech at the NEDFI Convention Centre, PHE Minister Rihon Daimari had said, “Around 28 lakhs toilets have been constructed in Assam till now and 12 districts have been declared as Open Defecation Free (ODF) in the state.” Meanwhile, plenty number of respondents opined that there is a lack of public toilets in the city. They further added that this shortage and non-availability of public toilets in the city are causing females to suffer from many diseases. n

31.6% people have never used a public toilet

n yet another question asked during the ‘Let’s Talk Guwahati’ survey, the citizens of Guwahati responded to the question “How often have you used public toilets in the past year?” The result pointed out towards something very shocking – over 30% of the people revealed that they didn’t use public toilet even once in the past one year. Among the respondents 31.6% people said that they never used a public toilet, 37.2% said that they seldom used public toilets, meaning that they have used it less than five times, 23.2% said

they’ve used it more than five times while merely 8% of the total sample size responded that they frequently use public toilets. Roughly 60 percent of the country’s 1.2 billion people still defecate in the open. And the consequences for women are huge. The situation is worse in Guwahati. Even as the city seems to be flourishing, the general public, especially the female population continue to face problems due to lack of public toilets. Although the public toilets are a concern for the people as a

whole in the city, it is the women who suffer a lot. While the female population of our society continue to face sanitation problems, the concerned officials keep saying that they’re working towards it and there are just enough toilets for women as there are for men. The officials of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) also said that the existing toilets are well maintained although the general public seems to have an altogether different opinion. Some of the major reasons cited by the respondents for not using public toilets include: public

toilets lack proper maintenance, a foul smell prevails in public toilets and that public toilets are breeding ground for bacteria. “Men do have the urge to use public toilets but the condition of the toilets maintained by our government is such that they force us not to use the same. They’re dirty, unhygienic and filthy to say the least. Further, there is a section of people in our society who do not seem to know the difference between a urinal and a lavatory,” Atiqul Habib, a resident of Hatigaon, Guwahati told G Plus. n

he number of people attempting to travel without tickets in various mail express and passenger trains from different stations under the Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway has increased by 14 per cent than last year with as many as 74,432 people attempting the same this month itself. According to a report released by the NF Railway, this month itself, the department has realised Rs 5.33 crores by fining the 74,432 persons who had attempted to dodge ticketing. It is about 9.25 per cent higher than last month when 70,057 persons were caught and a total of Rs 4.48 crore was realised, a rise in earnings by 6.25 per cent. With just four months passed this financial year, the rate of such offender has increased by about 14 per cent with as many as 28,0443 persons caught on the act and a total of 19. 24 crore was realised from them, a rise of 22 per cent in the earning. “Earlier, a lot of people travelled without tickets undetected, but with proactive steps taken by the department, that loophole has been sealed and it is apparent from the money realised from them,” P.J. Sarma, chief public relations officer of NF railway said. He further added, “To discourage ticketless travelling, Northeast Frontier Railway has put systems in place whereby surprise ticket checking drive is conducted by Flying Ticket Checking Squads of Divisions as well as HQ. Fortress checks are also conducted in stations. For this officers are nominated at HQ and Divisional levels from different department who are accompanied by security personal from Railway Protection Force and Govt. Railway Police.” As per section 137, of the Indian Railway Act of 1989, travelling without ticket, improper ticket or un-booked luggage is an offence punishable by imprisonment or fine or both. n

Rs 8000 per month as state pension to 20 retired journalists

n the occasion of 72nd Independence Day, the State Government has declared the names of 20 retired senior Journalists for awarding pension under the Assam Pension Scheme for Journalists 2018. The amount of pension will be Rs. 8000 per month per person with effect from 1st April 2018. n

Survey Special

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Let’s Talk Guwahati: the city’s commuting woes

Plus reached out to more than 10,000 citizens in more than 100 locations in Guwahati as part of a campaign: ‘Let’s Talk Guwahati’ to find out about the various issues pertaining to the city. With no major expansion in the roads despite a sharp rise in vehicles, commuting has become one of the biggest problems that the citizens face on a day to day basis. The entire problem of daily commuting can be looked through three perspectives mainly – traffic congestions, parking troubles and lack of public conveyance.

82 per cent of Guwahati residents spend more than 15 minutes in traffic jams daily

Responding to the questionnaire, overall 82 per cent of the respondents replied that they spend more than 15 minutes stuck in traffic jams every day. More than 800 people (9.3 per cent) said that they spend more than an hour every day trying to get to their destination. Around 3000 respondents (29.2 per cent) said that they spend more than half an hour every day to

How much of your time is wasted in traffic jams?

commute to their place of business. Of the total respondents around 4000 (43.8 per cent) spend more than 15 minutes stuck in traffic jams daily. Around 1500 respondents, on the other hand, said that they spend less than 15 minutes in traffic jams. While almost the entire city reels under massive traffic jams during the peak hours, the conditions are more chaotic on the R.G. Baruah Road, at parts of the G.S.

Road, Maligaon and Paltan Bazar. Sajid Ahmed, a resident of Ganeshguri, who spends at least an hour every day in traffic congestions said, “Ganeshguri happens to be the most traffic jam-prone areas of the city. Whichever way I travel, be it towards, R.G. Baruah Road, or Beltola, or towards Christian Basti, I have to go through a traffic snarl that lasts more than 15-20 minutes. If I have to make four or five round trips, I spend more than an hour easily.”

56.3% people avoid using their own vehicle due to parking constraints

he lack of parking spaces in the city has now affected city dwellers so much that more than half the four wheeler owners of the city said that they avoid using their own vehicle due to parking issues in the city. While 20% respondents said that they often avoid taking out their vehicles, 36.3% said that they do it sometimes. However, 43.7% people use their vehicles. “It is more hassle than convenience if I take out my car. Firstly, the four wheelers always get stuck in traffic jams while the two wheelers zigzag their way through it. So, I choose to travel mostly on two-wheelers. It is only when I have to take my family out that I take out my car,” Gaurav Chakraborty, a resident of Rehabari said. More than 10000 people participated in this section of the

Do you avoid using your vehicle because of parking problems?

survey where G Plus attempted to find out how many people had their own conveyance and if they still had to opt for public conveyance due to traffic or parking issues.

Of the total respondents, 38.7% said that they have their own four wheelers, 51.6% said that they have their own two-wheelers while it was found that 12.9% have

Do you have a private vehicle of your own?

both. Only 26.2% don’t have their vehicles and commute using public conveyance. “I have a car, but for short distances or for places where I

know that there will be no parking spaces, I mostly take public conveyance or the app-operated cab services,” Sundeep Porja, a resident of Ulubari said.

Survey Special

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Lack of parking space major reason for traffic congestion How do you think Guwahati’s traffic problems can be solved?

early 10,000 respondents in the G Plus campaign ‘Let’s Talk Guwahati’ were given multiple options that could ease the prevalent traffic congestions in the city. A majority, 54 per cent (more than 5ooo) said that it could be solved by setting up more parking lots in the city. Unregulated parking at noparking zones and on the narrow roads of the city has been a perennial problem for a long period of time. “Most of the time, the traffic congestions are caused because someone had double-parked or diagonally-parked in a parallel parking zone. One must understand

Are you satisfied with the public transport system of Guwahati?

ver 8000 people who responded to the issue of public transport in the G-Plus ‘Let’s Talk Guwahati’ survey, more than fifty per cent expressed that the public conveyance arrangements in the city are not up to the mark, while 28.6 per cent said that there are several scopes

for development. In Guwahati, the public conveyance is mostly by bus and share cabs. However, in the link roads and lanes one has to hire a rickshaw to travel. Respondents have complaints that city buses don’t cover all the areas of the city. “Bus routes are only confined to certain major roads while the

that the loads of vehicles on the roads have increased, but the roads did not expand accordingly. Traffic can only be managed when people follow rules and park vehicles accordingly,” a senior police official of the Guwahati Traffic Police told G Plus. People, however, said that they have to park at places where they do not want due to the lack of parking spaces. “While there are only a few government public spaces, most of the shops and eateries in the city do not have parking spaces. So, we are bound to park by the side of the road at times,” Gitartha Goswami, a resident of Maligaon said. The next most popular

suggestion, however is to raise awareness (53.3 per cent) and put strict enforcement to control traffic. “We are doing the best with the existing manpower, but people often tend to take traffic regulations very lightly and jump signals, or park wrongly,” the police official said. Next follows the suggestion to build more flyovers (49.3 per cent) and widen the roads (40.2 per cent). Interestingly, 33.6 per cent of respondents suggested against stopping of traffic for VIP convoys, a trend that still exists occasionally despite the incumbent chief minister’s stooping claims of getting rid of the VIP culture.

51.4% unsatisfied with city’s public transport system smaller link roads are covered by share cabs. The number of such cabs is very low in these routes and the vehicles are mostly crowded. Many a times passengers have to travel by clinging to the doors,” Prakash Sarma, a resident of Chatribari said. When G Plus asked for suggestions on how to develop the public transport system, a majority 77.4 per cent of the total respondents said that public transportation should be made available 24 hours. “It is very difficult to get vehicles after 9 PM and we have to depend on Uber or Ola, but those are not cost efficient,” said Deepankar Das a resident of Uzan Bazar. On app-based cab services 46.2

per cent of the total respondents said that the number of app-based cab services needs to be regulated so that more public conveyance can ply on the roads. “While Uber and Ola are not affordable for many, government should give opportunity to other public means of conveyance using which, people can travel economically even late at night.

In place of a regular cab that only takes one ride at a time, an extra share cab can carry atleast 10 passengers at a time and will be cheaper for the commuters, too,” opined Arvita Kemprai, a resident of Uzan Bazar. A total of 42.4 per cent respondents suggested that auto rickshaws should be given a chance by enforcing the meter reading system.

How do you think the public transport system can be improved in Guwahati?

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G Talk D

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

NRC: Has the government failed to stand by its citizens?

he Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being discussed, argued and presented threadbare in various mediums. The larger picture is almost clear as to what has happened – the process and everything. But questions remain unanswered on what would be the fate of the 40 lakh applicants whose names did not appear in the complete draft published on July 30th. I personally know a number of cases in which they applicants have been plain ignorant and are now in a quandary to prove their identity as Indian citizens. To prove an identity by pulling out documents from before 1971 is not an easy task for many. The voters’ list has been the primary source for getting the identity straight but there will be many who have been displaced due to erosion and floods. Erosion and flooding is so common in Assam that it would take a lot of effort for nonAssamese people to prove that they were actually born in this part of the country – thanks to the surnames. Again, if you take the case of Bengali-speaking, Hindi-speaking and Nepali-

speaking applicants the onus of verification of the documents lie on the state from which their forefathers came from. Like in the case of West Bengal which has proven in-efficient in terms of verifying and returning the documents sent by NRC Assam. Moreover, there are allegations that hundreds of documents submitted in Hindi or Urdu were rejected by the NRC office as there were very few officials who understand Hindi or Urdu. These are only a few examples of how we have failed our own citizens and brought distrust upon ourselves. As of now we only know that if the names don’t make it to the final NRC (to be supposedly published sometime in December) the applicants can always take refuge in the judicial system. But is it right to suddenly send 40 lakh people, of whom many would be legitimate Indians, to go knocking at the courts just because they don’t have the right papers? The maibaap sarkar has to come up with better explanation and plans to bring back the faith that it is losing each day.

Brain in the Drain

uring Emergency, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in one of the meetings with her bureaucrats asked how the “brain drain” from India could be stopped. An outspoken IAS officer blurted out, “Madam it’s always better to have brain drain than to have the brain in the drain.” The silence that followed was deafening. The meeting was dismissed. And the officer must have landed himself in a drain. The statement made in utter nonchalance and disregard to consequences, spelt out the bitter truth at the highest level. More than four decades have elapsed and the Statistics reveal a constant rise in brain drain since then till date. The Nadelas, the Pichais or the Nooyis have proved that the drained brains have indeed reached the pinnacle of their callings. The part of the statement “brain in the drain” which derogates our country is perhaps the bitterest. We have collectively failed to uplift the image in so many years. The smart bureaucrat himself is no exception in making the truth bitterer. One would like

chetan bhattarai

The obsession with ‘longest’ and ‘tallest’

his year, the patriotic fervour of Independence Day celebrations gripped the nation with an unforeseen zeal. While iDay has traditionally been marked with small celebrations; over the years, this has started getting bigger and fervent. Assam possibly wanted to pack an extra punch with their Independence Day celebrations this year. Keeping this in mind, two such instances in the state drew attention. In one of the cases, in a village in Baksa, residents worked on the longest National Flag and stitched a record-making 3.5 km long (11,340foot) tricolour and took out a rally on August 15th. The second was an ABVP rally in Guwahati with a 72- metre long National Flag. What our people often forget is that in the pursuit of ‘making a statement’, the guidelines of ‘respecting the flag’ are often sidelined. Both of these flags are a violation of the ‘Flag Code of India’. While there is a thin line of noble intention behind such TRP stunts, there are still protocols and ethics that must be followed. The violation of the Flag Code of India can attract a prison term of up to 3 years along with a fine. Our people however seem to be obsessed with the idea of having the longest, tallest, record-breaking or ‘one of a kind’ installations – whether they are puja idols which collapse halfway through construction or flagpoles which remain barren on Independence Day. What we need to obsess about is the pathetic result that was accorded to Guwahati in the Ease of Living Index – 85th rank. The question that I ask is, if the most sought after city in Northeast, touted to be the gateway to NE has performed so poorly, what have we been doing all this while? The authorities have to learn from this result and define a way forward for Guwahati and how they aim to achieve better scores in the coming years. Aizawl scored better than Guwahati by 0.22 points. No matter how small or large the gap, this is ‘size’ we should be looking to bridge – not with tall and long flags.

Sidharth Bedi Varma

to imagine what would the above three globally-acclaimed Indians achieved had they had not moved to the greener pastures. At best, they would have become CEOs of the country’s top companies and indeed their present global fame would have remained elusive. One pertinent question that pervades into most minds is why the same people who failed to deliver in India become stalwarts abroad in their fields. The best answer circulating in the social media is – they take away the “deserved” and we get the “reserved”. Looking beyond the

O pinion Tridib Borah

humor one would be inclined to accept this as a valid reason for the “drain” image of our country. Quality happens to occupy a back seat in every scheme of things; so much so that the Prime Minister of the country had to be told that intellectuals living in India are rotting in drains. Perhaps no country would witness a ninety fiver running from pillar to post for good education and a student notching 59% walking the red carpet into the best of educational institutions. The governance has changed many hands in the country yet the policy to accept the “reserved” over the “deserved” hasn’t changed. One can appreciate the need to elevate the deprived and the down trodden; but no civilized country would adopt a policy in this century to do this by compromising on quality.

Perhaps no country would witness a ninety fiver running from pillar to post for good education and a student notching 59% walking the red carpet into the best of educational institutions.

rThe dog menace of Guwahati

It was in September 2013, I had the opportunity to attend the Japan Education Fair in Bangalore, where Professor Kaori Yomonouchi of Tokyo University delivered the keynote address. The Japanese professor enthralled the gathering by relating the connection of Japan with India from the period of Gautam Buddha. He informed that Japan today has the highest number of Nobel Laureates in Asia. But the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize was Rabindra Nath Tagore in 1913. And the first Scientist in Asia to clinch this coveted award was C V Raman in 1930. He declared that the breakthroughs in molecular Chemistry in Japan would not have been possible without the aid of Raman spectroscopy, to the resounding applause from the august gathering in the auditorium. “But after that”, he added “Surprisingly not many Indians in India have been able to carry the flag forward”. It was indeed a speech which reminded many of us in the audience of India’s glorious past when neither the brain drained nor the brain was in the drain. A deeper insight into the woes will reveal that the best of present brains are at par with those that brought glory to India in the past. But to bloom and flourish the brains of present day India need extra territorial environs. All is perhaps not lost. People in India have started cleaning the Ganges to the local drains off the plastic bags and bottles. There are also some encouraging signs from the developed nations by way of clogging the drains which were free ways for modern Indian brains to drain. Lastly, we can hope that a few more eccentric leaders come to rule the western world and reverse the drain of brains back to India. A collective effort can surely ensure ways not to retain again these brains in the drains. n

Letter to the Editor

ccording to a recent article, a city based animal welfare organization - Just Be Friendly is yet to receive Rs 6.63 lakhs from the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) for the surgeries for dogs and Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Anti-Rabies Vaccination (ARV) programmes. This is a huge amount which can be utilised to effectively control the city’s stray dog population which can sometimes prove to be a menace for residents. In the past few years, Guwahati has witnessed a tremendous rise in the stray dog population. This increase has led to an increase in instances of dog bites and rabies too. Authorities should also conduct awareness programmes for the residents to sensitise them about rabies and other risks associated with the stray dog population. JBF, in association with GMC, the nodal agency for tackling such activities, did start a sterilisation and vaccination drive in Guwahati.

Subhashini Kakoti

In Focus

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Anangsha Alammyan Author

nangsha Alammyan, a two-time Quora Top Writer (2016 and 2018) and top writer in ‘fiction’ and ‘short story’ categories on Medium, specializes in poetry and short fiction. Her short stories have won several national and international awards and her self-published poetry debut ‘Stolen Reflections’ ended up as an Amazon bestseller within four days of its release and is still going strong on the Amazon Bestsellers list. Born in Guwahati, Assam, Anangsha had to move to Jorhat with her parents due to their transfer when she was just oneyear-old. At Jorhat, Anangsha studied at Carmel School and did her higher secondary education in science stream from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Golaghat. Her family moved back to Guwahati soon after, but Anangsha moved to Silchar to study civil engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Silchar. She also holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati where she is currently

pursuing her PhD part-time in the same department. Her father, Deeptarka Deka is a professor at Assam Engineering College (AEC) and her mother, Karabi Bora Deka is a Deputy General Manager at Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL). Anangsha, who made her debut as a professional author this April, has been writing for a long time. She published several poems and short stories in newspapers and online platforms. “I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. In fact, my first poem got published in a regional newspaper when I was four. As a kid, my parents encouraged me a lot to send my better pieces to newspapers. One of the reasons why I continued writing is that I used to love to see my name in print,” Anangsha recalls. With more than 50,000 followers on Quora, Anangsha was the only writer from the Northeast to feature in 2016’s top writer list. Having published her first book at the young age of 26, she has already completed her second book which is in talks with publishing houses for publication soon. It is a collection of hundred

micro-tales spanning several genres like science-fiction, love, horror, etc. She is also working on her first full-length novel which is a piece of historical fiction set in the Assam of 1600s. Speaking to G Plus about her first novel, Anangsha says, “Most Indians are unaware of the rich history of the northeastern region. Not a lot of people know that at a time when the whole of India was on its knees under the Mughal rule, the Assamese were the only people standing defiant and independent. Emperor Aurangzeb had sent a huge army to conquer the state, but the courageous warriors of Assam fought with all their might to defeat the Mughal army. Not accepting this defeat, the emperor kept sending forces one after the other. The brave Asomiyas defeated the Mughals not once but as many as 17 times. My book would chronicle the valour of the Assamese people at that time; it would be my tribute to the land I was born in.” Her first book, Stolen Reflections, has garnered positive responses across various bookreviewing websites. It is an anthology of poems celebrating

love through the traditional poetry forms. It is a journey told through the eyes of a young woman as she discovers love, revels in its many little joys, goes through the pain of heartbreak and then, with all the courage in her little heart, manages to start over again. An avid reader and a huge Harry Potter fan, Anangsha claims to have read all the Harry Potter books at least 7 times.“Growing up, JK Rowling used to be my favorite author. Even now, whenever I feel low, I pick up one of the Harry Potter books and randomly start reading a few chapters. Somehow, it calms me down and makes me feel better,” Anangsha told G Plus. Her current favourite authors are the Canadian novelist Steven Erikson and India’s Arundhati Roy, who have greatly inspired her writing. “I don’t believe in giving up on dreams, and writing has always been a part of me for as long as I can remember. It is important to find the right balance between your work and your passion.” Anangsha told G Plus, speaking about her current writing engagements. Currently, Anangsha is working as a trainee teacher in NIT Silchar and she’s a part-time

PhD student at IIT Guwahati. Her topic for PhD is ‘Response of foundations in hill slopes under earthquake conditions.’ “Because Assam has so many constructions on hill slopes and is ever so frequently racked by earthquakes, I believe I can do my bit towards making life here better through my research,” says Anangsha.

Guwahati speaks out on poor ‘Ease of Living Index’ performance Arunabh Saikia Over population, congested area, too much traffic are the common problems of our city because of which our city performed so poorly. Very few people maintain or follow traffic rules and most don’t even bother to keep our city clean. So, Citizens are to be blamed first for such a result. We should understand that how much these small things matter in the development of a city or nation. Alas, people in our country lack sense. Jeem Moriarty Well, if smart city project of a city is to raise the tallest flag, then it is bound to happen. Spending crores of rupees on a flag is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. Guwahati has so many problems that needs to be looked upon and action should be taken immediately. But our dear government is more interested in more useless things. We have problems of housing, parking, traffic, roads and what not. Only if the government works on these sections with full dedication and truly care about the betterment of the society for development then only something will happen in near future. Hope we perform better in coming time. Snehal Deb Lack of economic activity i.e jobs, improper movement of traffic, poor planning and zero garbage segregation and management can be some reasons why Guwahati performs poorly. Both government and people are responsible for this and mostly the locals who throw garbage here and there and don’t believe in keeping the city clean. Every day when we are on roads, we see people spitting so what are we going to expect? Of Couse, we will perform poor. Actually there is no point complaining as when people are only not willing to change then nothing can happen. People need to be educated and treat city as their own home then only change will come.

Abhishek Dutta Increasing number of vehicles with no new flyovers/ overbridges in the past decade are some of the causes. Secondly, roads should have been widened long ago which seems to be impossible in this life I guess. Every year, roads are constructed and in monsoon everything gets destroyed. I don’t feel, we will ever grow in such field because neither the government wants to work nor the people want to initiate something good from their part for their own city. So, such ranking was totally expected. Ajitesh Dey Guwahati is changing into a concrete jungle in a very fast pace and a traffic system which will almost collapse gradually due to the increasing number of vehicles and poor management of traffic. If not immediately checked, the consequences will be destructive. Proper action should be taken immediately for the development of the city. Honestly, the increasing pollution due to the increase in vehicles is also a major concern which acts as a barrier in the development. Also, we don’t have proper management for anything. Our state is often termed as the state of ‘LaheLahe’, and it is true, as we lag behind because of our damncare attitude and negligence towards all wrong things happening around.

Feature

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Atal Bihari Vajpayee A Tribute to the Statesman These poetic yet esoteric lines were written by none other than our beloved former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. If we carefully analyze these lines, we will clearly understand how beautifully our beloved ‘Atal Ji’ understood the reality of life and death. Not many born in this world get a life where he or she remains immortal in every phase of his existence, and while we confabulate about the fact that an artiste remains immortal even after leaving the mortal world, but seldom we allow a political figure to remain engraved in our hearts, until and unless that politician creates a monumental influence in our lives. However in ‘Atal Ji’, we have always descried an artiste, who showed his mastery and excellence in the field of politics. For a 90’s kid residing in India, his knowledge about political science might have started by repeating the name of the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee again and again. And whenever we think of ‘Atal Ji’, a picture floats in front of our eyes of a luminary individual who led a simple life, but was equivalently a gigantic figure in terms of

his ideologies, thought processes and policies. would be no sign of Pakistan on the world map The enormous pressure of leading a nation for by tomorrow.’’ And that indeed showed the three times even couldn’t shake or trouble the reason as to why he always remained people’s indomitable psyche of ‘Atal Ji’, as one could most favourite Prime Minister. always find him with a calm, composed and The political career of ‘Atal Ji’ also spoke sober smile. A personality like him in the true volumes of his tremendous capacity as a sense of the word is born only once in a lifetime. politician. He was a member of the Indian ‘Atal Ji’ was like a ship sailing across oceans. Parliament for over four decades, having been He had a vision in his mind to create a strong elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house ten India, whose pillars would be cemented with times and twice to the Rajya Sabha, the upper bravery, modernization and unity in diversity. house. He also served as the member of the This is evident from the fact that whenever Parliament for Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh until the talk came about showing the power of the 2009. ‘Vajpayee Ji’ was also the pioneer behind nation, ‘Vajpayee Ji’ didn’t ever establishment of Bharatiya Janata take a back step. During the Party in 1980. infamous 1999 Kargil War, when India’s first non Congress America made a phone call to Prime Minister was responsible Maut ki umar kya Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and for carrying out many crucial hai? Do pal bhi nhi, advised him to give Kashmir international assignments Zindagi silsila, aaj to Pakistan, or else Pakistan between India and Foreign Nations, would launch nuclear bomb on significantly improving relation kal ki nhi. India, to that ‘Atal Ji’ replied, “I with the United States, China already have considered that and Israel. Under his leadership, 50% of India has been wiped off, India got her largest highway Mai ji bhar jiya, but I can assure you that there project- Golden Quadrilateral, the Mai man se maru, successful carrying out of Pokhran lautkar aunga, Nuclear Test, the biggest telecom revolution and the first metro rail kooch se kyu daru? project. ‘Atal Ji’ also understood the importance of water for future perspectives, and hence he laid his emphasis on the preservation of water and tried his level best to ensure that each state of the nation was not deprived from the privilege of having sufficient water. Moreover, when Dr APJ Abdul Kalam joined Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the duo together completely changed the perspectives of orthodox politics that were residing in people’s mind. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s impact on Indian politics was something that made him very popular among the people. That is the reason; the former Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh called him the ‘Bhisma Pitamah’ of Indian politics. The Bharat Ratna awardee was also an excellent orator as his speeches in the Indian Parliament enthralled one and all. And when he spoke in the Parliament, even the opposition members were left awestruck at his oratory skills. Such was the eye catching charisma of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, on 16th of August 2018, ‘Atal Ji’ at the age of 93 left us all, making the entire India heart broken in a state of complete shock. ‘Atal Ji’ was an astute statesman and a visionary leader, who was always appreciated because of his good governance policies. Hence his birthday is celebrated all over India as ‘Good Governance Day’ as a mark of respect and tribute to him. But since now he is no more with us, it would be really difficult for anyone to fill in the void or fill in his shoes, that he left behind. Nevertheless, ‘Atal Ji’ shall always remain immortal in every breath of the Indians, and as India will keep on climbing the ladder of success, a poetic statesman shall always smile from the unknown and the unheard with satisfaction and contentment.

~ Bishaldeep Kakati

Trotter

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Orca whale mother finally lets go of dead calf she carried around for weeks

grieving orca whale has released the body of her dead calf after carrying it for at least 17 days through the Pacific Ocean in an unprecedented act of mourning, according to researchers. Tahlequah, as the mother has come to be called, was observed swimming without the body of her calf, according to Centre for Whale Research Founder Ken Balcomb.”Her tour of grief is now over and her behaviour is remarkably frisky,” read an update on the research centre’s website. The centre said whalewatchers near Vancouver, British Columbia, had reported seeing Tahlequah without her calf’s body last week, but recently was the first time researchers were able to confirm those reports. Tahlequah’s mourning had astonished and devastated much of the world. The orca gave birth

on July 25 in what should have been a happy milestone for her long-suffering clan. So, when Tahlequah did not let her emaciated calf sink to the bottom of the Pacific, but rather balanced it on her head and pushed it along as she followed her pod, researchers thought they understood what was happening. “You cannot interpret it any other way,” Deborah Giles, a killer whale biologist with the University of Washington, told Chiu. “This is an animal that is grieving for its dead baby, and

she doesn’t want to let it go. She’s not ready.” The act itself was not unprecedented, but researchers said it was rare to see a mother carry her dead for so long. It couldn’t have been easy for her. Researchers with the Canadian and U.S. governments and other organizations tracked her all the while. They hoped to capture the calf once Tahlequah finally let go, and discover why it had died - as nearly all the babies in this pod seemed to. (Source: theguardian)

AIIMS cures 4-year-old’s ‘whistling cough’ who had whistle stuck in throat

four-year-old boy who suffered from a strange, whistling cough was cured by doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. They removed a toy whistle that was lodged in his throat. According to a case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine on August 9, the unnamed patient was brought to an otorhinolaryngology outpatient clinic last year with

a “2-day history of persistent cough that had an intermittent whistling character.” His parents reported that he had been playing with a whistle before the cough began. When doctors took an X-ray of his chest, they found his left lung to be hyperinflated. According to Live Science, such hyperinflation can be caused by an object blocking the air passages to the lungs, so doctors decided to perform a rigid bronchoscopy - a

procedure that involves inserting a thin tube called a bronchoscope down through the throat and into the lungs. Using the bronchoscope, they were able to remove the object which turned out to be a toy whistle. “If it had been another foreign object lodged in his lungs, it would have caused noisy breathing or wheezing, but not a whistling sound,” said report co-author, Dr Pirabu Sakthivel, a senior resident of head and neck surgery and oncology at AIIMS, to Live Science. An eight-second clip of the boy’s “whistling cough” was shared on Facebook by The New England Journal of Medicine on August 10. The child remained well at his one-year follow-up visit, said the New England Journal of Medicine report. (Source: indiatimes)

On independence day, Sudarsan Pattnaik’s beautiful sand tribute

s India celebrates its 72nd Independence Day, many expressed their love for the country in different, unique ways. Padma Shri-winning sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik celebrated the 72nd Independence Day by creating a beautiful sand tribute to mark the occasion. “72nd #HappyIndependenceDay to all my countrymen,” he wrote on Twitter, sharing a picture of his sand sculpture. Created at the Puri Beach

in Odisha, the striking sand sculpture wishes everyone a happy Independence Day. It has been created with saffron, white and green-coloured sand - the colours of India’s National Flag. Shared just one hour ago, the picture of the sculpture on Independence Day has already collected over 1,000 ‘likes’. The Ministry of Human Resource Development also shared a video of Sudarsan Pattnaik creating another sand

sculpture for Independence Day - this one on the theme “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.” (Source: ndtv)

Polish tourist’s kiki challenge gets Pakistan International Airlines into trouble

akistan International Airlines (PIA) has come under fire over a promotional video made by the national flag carrier in collaboration with a Polish tourist who is seen doing the ‘’Kiki challenge’’ inside an empty aircraft. Recently a video went viral of Polish tourist Eva Bianka Zubeck performed the popular ‘’Kiki challenge’’ with the national flag wrapped on her body. “Eva Zubeck from Poland/ England is a Global Citizen travelling around the world, but now her heart is set on Pakistan! She has been exploring Pakistan flying #PIA. She will be celebrating Independence Day in a style never before attempted in the world!

Stay tuned for updates,” the airlines said in a tweet along with the video. However, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) later said the woman not only disgraced the flag but also violated the security codes of the national airlines.”We want to know that who allowed the woman to go into an empty aircraft and dance at the airport,” an NAB spokesman told. He said the NAB will officially send a letter to the PIA to seek its management’s point of view on the issue.”We want to ascertain that who had permitted the women to freely move into a highly-secured runway of the airport.”Due to the immediate escalation of the issue, Zubeck had to issue a clarification. (Source: ndtv)

VIP Koala gets own seat on flight to his new home

koala scaled new heights this week after flying by passenger plane from Germany to Scotland to become Edinburgh Zoo’s newest resident. Tanami, a 19-month-old male Queensland koala, had his own seat on Eurowings flight from Dusseldorf to the Scottish capital, as sensitive animals cannot be placed in the hold on aircraft. The upwardly-mobile marsupial, which remained in a cage for the one hour, 45-minute ride through the skies, left Duisburg Zoo to join Scotland’s only koalas in a conservation breeding programme. He will trade places with Toorie, a young male koala already in Edinburgh who is set to make the 700-mile reverse journey next week. “Koalas are very sensitive animals, so special care needs to be taken when transporting them,” said Darren McGarry, head of living collections at the British zoo. “They travel in the plane’s cabin and not in the hold so keepers can

easily make sure everything’s okay during the flight.” The sight of a koala aboard a commercial plane reportedly turned some heads on the plane and on disembarkation. Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar said: “We welcome passengers from all over the world... but not all of them are as special or as cute as a koala. “It was quite exciting to have Tanami arriving here and he joins a list of famous animals who have touched down here to make Edinburgh Zoo their new home.” (Source: mirror.co)

Review

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Vineet Kumar Singh, Amit Sadh, etc Director: Reema Kagti

T w

Movie Revie

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his film is mainly about avenging “do sau saal ki ghulami (200 years of slavery)”, so the essential enemy is England, not Pakistan. That is probably the only thing which sets this movie apart in a good way from other Bollywood sports films. When the Indians take on Great Britain in the London Olympic final, Pakistani players in the stands cheer them on. And before Pakistan plays the Netherlands in the semis, the Indian manager greets the captain. The rest of the film’s nationalism however, fails to bring the goosebumps on, despite the presence of the national anthem, the tricolour, and a story based on India’s first Olympics win. Everything in the movie feels staged, not just about

recreating the ghulami period but also the reticence with which the actors perform in this movie. The casting of Mouni Roy, as Das’ wife Monobina is really bizarre — her look, makeup and body language have no connection with the period in which her character belongs to. The movie opens with the Berlin Olympics hockey final, in the end of which the Indian team receives a gold medal as the Union Jack flutters. And the film ends with the London Olympics, by the time of which India isn’t British India anymore. Both these parts at least are pretty well scripted and shown in the film. But the real events that inspired the script, take a backseat in the film. As a result, what could have been an eye-opener of a film, barely manages to shamble its way to a climax that holds no surprises at all. n

Starring: Manoj Bajpayee, John Abraham, Aisha Sharma, Amruta Khanvilkar Director: Milap Milan Zaveri

ohn Abraham’s character, Veer, in this film takes on the mission of ritualistically murdering corrupt cops in the Mumbai police force. Obsessed by the frightening incidents from his past, he turns into a vigilante and has his own strange plan of action. Meanwhile, the sincere and able cop character of Manoj Bajpayee, Shivnash takes up the gruelling task of tracking down the cop killer. Satyameva Jayate is an action thriller with the foundation of a fuming angry man, trying to fight corruption with his intense zeal and aggression. While the setup of the movie is kind of relevant, its execution is far from ideal. The noisy background score with Sanskrit chants being used to heighten the drama in several

he ZenFone Max Pro M1 is debatably the best budget smartphone from Asus yet. The phone had previously launched in India in two variants, one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Asus has now launched a third variant, with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, priced at Rs. 14,999. This variant also has upgraded cameras on the front as well as the rear.

scenes and the over-the-top action in this film will surely give you a headache. The film starts off with Veer burning a cop alive. It sets the tone for the rest of the film, which over a course of 2 and half hours, does not deviate from the set path. Veer magically shows up every time a cop is committing a crime in various suburbs of the city. The funniest thing about the movie is, amid the murdering spree that John’s character is on, he also finds the time to romance a pretty veterinary doctor (Aisha Sharma) and the way they meet is as “Bollywood” as it can get. All in all we’d say, Satyameva Jayate is a film which clearly has no reason to exist and should not, must not, exist. Not a mince of the movie is original and it defies all kinds of logic. n

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 (6GB) with separate slots for two NanoSIMs and a microSD card. The power button and volume rocker are on the right, and are quite small but well placed. The lack of USB Type-C is disappointing. The age-old Micro-USB port is present on the bottom, flanked by a 3.5mm headphone jack and a single loudspeaker, which is quite harsh and clanging.

Specifications and display

Design

The model has a metal back plate with plastic inserts at the top and bottom. Weighing in at 180g, it is quite a bulky phone, with its 5,000mAh battery contributing to the relative bulk. There is a SIM tray on the left,

The phone runs a near-stock version of Android 8.1 Oreo. It is powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC with an integrated Adreno 506 GPU. There is a 5,000mAh battery under the hood. The phones storage can be expanded using a microSD card (up to 2TB). Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (only on the 2.4GHz band), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS,

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most of the front fascia but is not exactly borderless. The screen is bright enough for outdoor use and there is a night mode as well as a manual colour temperature adjustment in the Settings app.

Performance, software, and battery life

The phone tackles everything from basic day-to-day use such as browsing the Web and using social media applications, to intensive workloads - without any problems. The software is fluid and very responsive. Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Go2Pay are preinstalled and cannot be removed by users. The phones battery on usage involving two hours of navigation using Google Maps, frequent use of social media applications, games such as the recently launched Asphalt 9, and taking a couple of photos and selfies has been noted to last more than 12 hours and 50 minutes.

Cameras

Both the primary rear sensor and the selfie camera are 16 megapixels and f/2.0 apertures. The 5-megapixel secondary sensor at the back allows for depth-of-field effects. Shots taken in portrait mode are decent, but still need some work. Edge detection is average and processing is extremely slow. Shots also get fuzzy at night. Video capture maxes out at 4K for the rear camera and 1080p for the front camera. Videos are detailed but suffer from focus shifting.

Verdict:

The ZenFone Max Pro M1 is an extremely capable smartphone, and is well worth its Rs. 14,999 price tag. Battery life is stellar, performance is great, the software is fluid, and build quality is top-notch. The rear camera captures good detail in all lighting conditions. However, there are a few rough edges. n

Entertainment

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

‘Poets of the Fall’ to perform at Meghalaya edition of NH7 Weekender

Lateral releases first Assamese single ‘Hepaah’

n its ninth edition, BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender, India’s largest multi-genre music festival is heading to the gorgeous hills of Meghalaya on November 2-3 and back to the city it calls home, Pune on December 7-9. Announcing the much awaited artist line up for the Meghalaya edition of the festival, organisers of the festival said, “Marking their return to the Indian stage, we bring back the most requested international act - the legends of alt-rock Poets of the Fall.” The line up also features some very prominent artists from India and abroad, including Switchfoot, Shankar Mahadevan: My country my music, Tripti Kharbangar & the Clansman, Zubeen Garg: Tribute to Bhupen Hazarika, Guthrie Govan, Pentagram, Zero, TM Krishna, Dualist Inquiry, Scribe, Mohini Dey, Ritviz, Sandunes Live, Tiny Fingers, LANDS, Dewdrops, Summersalt. “This time, the festival is also excited to feature a wealth of talent from the northeast India including Tripti Kharbangar and the Clansmen, Dewdrops, Summersalt and Zubeen Garg, who will also be paying a tribute to Bhupen Hazarika,” an official

statement said. Talking about the Meghalaya lineup, Supreet Kaur, Festival Director commented, “The core of our festival this year is variety and diversity, and the line up is undoubtedly the most diverse it’s ever been. Over 83% of the artists performing at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender in Meghalaya are making their Weekender debut this year and 35% of this year’s festival line up is from all over the NorthEast.” Since its inception, the BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender has featured over 540 artistes from India and around

the world, across a variety of genres, to over 500,000 fans. The festival has evolved to become one of the country’s most beloved musical weekends as thousands of fans and discerning music lovers converge for an unforgettable experience. The 2017 edition of NH7 Weekender in Meghalaya witnessed performances by some of the most acclaimed international headliners and stellar names from the Indian music scene like Steve Vai, Textures, Karsh Kale, Sky Harbour, Thaikkudam Bridge and Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate to name a few.

Hillol Kumar Pathak’s ‘Mission Oxomiya’ at Ashirbaad Theatre

Kalyan Kumar Kalita

o bring a new kind of taste to the mobile theatre audience, rehearsals are in full swing at the Ashirbaad Theatre’s Rangia camp. The music of the most-awaited drama of this year ‘Mission Oxomiya’ which will be staged by Ashirbaad Theatre has already been completed. The play has been written by well-known dramatist of Assam, Hillol Kumar Pathak. Notably, when the name of the play was announced, it created

an excitement among the theatre lovers, who were attracted due to its unique title and wanted to know more about the content. “The story consists of some characters who focus on the happiness and sorrow of a family. With the help of a lover and a friend, an elder sister is searching the male protagonist of the play,” shared the play-writer. ‘Mission Oxomiya’ mainly showcases the political corruption. The play revolves around the story of a family and a village which loses everything due to political corruption.

Popular cine-artist Gunjan Bhardwaj will make his mobile theatre debut this year through Ashirbaad Theatre. He will be in a key role in ‘Mission Oxomiya’. The other characters of the play have been essayed by Itee Phukan, Priyanka Baruah, Muhi Bora, Biki Kashyap, Dipankar Malakar, Nilotpal Bora, Sunayan Sarma and senior actor Dharmeswar Kakati. The role of the villain has been essayed by Pranjit Das, who is also the director of this play. The producers Sourav Goswami and Kangkan Goswami are doing their best to make this drama a successful one. The music has been scored by Ahir Bhairav, whereas songs have been rendered by Zubeen Garg, Ailita Kashyap, Hiranjit, Anamika Nath etc. The play-writer Hillol Kumar Pathak emphasized that Assam has earned the dubious distinction of being the most corrupt state in the country, on the basis of corruption in 11 vital services. ‘Mission Oxomiya’ will be an open ‘Jehad’ against corruption. All the artists associated with the theatre troupe are very excited about this play. Also, the theatre loving audience of Assam is eagerly waiting to enjoy this high-voltage drama. The other two plays that will be staged by Ashirbaad are Anuradha Sarma Pujari’s ‘Manab Aranyar Jontu’ and ‘Salam Premik’.

usical duo from Guwahati – Amitabh Barooa and Siddharth Barooa - has released their new single ‘Hepaah’ under the banner of ‘Lateral’. Lateral is Amitabh and Sidharth’s live electronic act that released its debut EP ‘Us’ in 2017. Speaking to G Plus about the first Assamese song released by Lateral, Amitabh said, “We had been planning to write Assamese songs for a while but it never really connected with the kind of music we do as Lucid Recess. With Lateral, we got the platform we needed to just make our kind of Assamese songs. This is the first one and we’re working on a few more.” The lyrics of the Assamese song Hepaah have been penned by Samudragupta Dutta and Amitabh Barooa. While the video cast includes Surajit Barooa, Kaushik Bharadwaj, Apsarah Bhuyan, it has been cinematographed, choreographed and

edited by Enosh Olivera. The concept of the video has been designed by Maharshi Kashyap, Srinivas Kashyap, Krrishna Kt. Borah and Enosh Olivera, its creative director is Krrishna Kt. Borah, assistant director is Tonmoy Borah, assistant cameraperson is Chandan GM, line producers are Omraj Saikia, Arpit Chakroborty, aeriel photography has been done by Helim Hannan. The entire video has been produced by Lucid Recess Studio and Unit One Films. The audio has been recorded, mixed and mastered at Lucid Recess Studio, and produced by Siddharth Barooa and Amitabh Barooa. The duo has been making it huge in the music circuit of the region ever since they first formed ‘Lucid Recess’ a decade ago. They started Lateral to explore new ideas and to build something fresh with a clean slate with all kinds of ideas as long as it sounded and felt good.

Rima Das’s new movie to be premiered at Toronto festival

ational Film Award-winning director Rima Das’s new movie ‘Bulbul Can Sing’ is set to be premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The film festival is scheduled to be held from September 6-16 where Das’s film will be screened in the competition segment ‘Contemporary World Cinema’. Bulbul Can Sing, according to its official synopsis, is a visceral coming-of-age drama about a teenage girl, Bulbul, living in a vil-

lage in Assam, fighting her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is. The writer-director-producer has made the film independently, in the same way as her earlier film Village Rockstars. After winning hearts with the internationally acclaimed and national-award winning feature film Village Rockstars, the writer-producer will return to the prestigious TIFF with this new Assamese film. “It’s a huge honour to return to TIFF after Village Rockstars. It’s like homecoming for me,” Das said in a statement. Das made her debut in 2016 with Man with Binoculars (Antardrishti), which was premiered at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Village Rockstars, her second film, premiered at TIFF 2017 under ‘Discovery’ section. The film has been screened at more than 70 renowned film festivals and has reportedly won 44 awards including 4 awards at the National Film Festival 2018 - Best Feature, Best Editing, Best Audiography and Best Child Artist.

Fun

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Horoscope of the week Sudoku

Leisure, fun and getting up close and personal with a special friend shall be on your mind, as the week begins. Ones interested in partying, flings, physical advances and new (albeit short-lived) romances shall be helped by the cosmic flavour. But, if you have something long-term on your mind – better clear it, right in the beginning, suggests Ganesha.

The unrest in your family seems to continue this week too. You’ve tried hard to settle the matters but maybe you need to invest some more time in doing so. It’s better to try harder than getting bogged down by the situation. Mars re-enters its Sign of exaltation on Tuesday and will move retrograde in your 8th House. It is joining Saturn which is also retrograde in the 8th House.

Career seems to be your top priority this week. You are now eager to do something that will give your career a boost. Mars moves backwards and enters Capricorn, its Sign of exaltation, on Tuesday. Now, Saturn and Mars both are in retrogression in the 7th House, and this does not spell good times for long-term relationships.

Your family is whom you turn to when in need. This time around, it is your family that needs your support. Make sure you take care of all their needs even if it may not seem easy. Mars, which is believed to be the most favourable planet for the Lions, is moving in retrograde motion and will be re-entering Capricorn on Tuesday.

This will be a good time to look within and accept that you are not perfect. No one is! So, give a good hearing to this person – in your friend or social circle – when he/ she attempts to give you some tips. Personality and skill development are areas, where you should invest time and energy. Over Tuesday, Mars re-enters Capricorn – your 5th House.

Endeavours like training, learning and development shall be scheduled for the early part of the week. As a business owner, you may spend money to train your staff. Over Tuesday, Mars (in retrograde mode) re-enters its Sign of exaltation Capricorn. Now, two strong planets move in retrogression, through your 4th House, and both have a direct aspect on your 10th House of Karma.

You may remain busy exchanging views and discussing, with someone who holds an important place in your personal or professional life. While the topic may center around ways to enhance your prospects, the overall meeting shall be quite stimulating, promises Ganesha. Over Tuesday, the ruler of your Sign Mars (while moving in retrogression) re-enters Capricorn - your 3rd House.

Occupation related matter will keep you busy this week. Over Tuesday, Mars - moving in retrograde mode – re-enters its Sign of exaltation – Capricorn -your 2nd House. Now, it joins Saturn (already retrograde). With two of these strong planets in retrogression in family and finances sector, you will have to exrcsie great care in these matters – for at least a fortnight now.

With career on the top of your mind, you shall work harder to make progress. In business, you may find yourself busy trying to convince a worthy customer to sign a deal. On Tuesday, as Mars moves backwards and re-enters Capricorn, and with another important planet of a different culture also moving retrograde in this House, you might feel stuck.

Feeling new enthusiasm, you will plan to go the extra mile this week. But, Mars may play a spoiler, as it becomes retrograde to re-enter Capricorn, its Sign of exaltation on Tuesday. With two major planets in retrograde mode in your 12th House (the House of expenses), you need to gear up to deal with some financial issues.

Romance is in the air! In fact, it’s more to do with the sparkling, sizzling physical chemistry that you may share with an admired one. Ones already in love relationships too may share an intense chemistry with their beloved. Yet, there may be something amiss, which may not let you enjoy the whole deal to the fullest. Are you anxious about something?

Thang Ta (Armed Combat) and Sarit Sarak (Unarmed Combat) are the two components of which martial arts form of the North East?

Juan Rulfo’s Pedroi Paramo is said to be the precursor of which style of literature?

Which alternative rock band from Finland has the following members, Marko Saaresto (lead vocals), Olli Tukiainen (lead guitar), Markus “Captain” Kaarlonen (keyboards, production), Jani Snellman (bass guitar), Jaska Mäkinen (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), and Jari Salminen (drums, percussion)?

Shahzada Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shahjehan is said to have invented which popular and colourful Mutton Dish?

Which unique cricketing distinction is shared by the legendary cricketers, Ajit Wadekar and Chandu Borde?

Identify this Scientist, a builder of modern India.

Dr. Soubhadra Chakrabarty This quiz has been brought to you by Brain Jam, a property of Priya Communications

Garfield by Jim Davis

curio-city

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1. Huyen Langlon of Manipur 2. Magic Realism, made famous by the novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie 3. Poets of the Fall, the headliner at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender Rock Concert to be held in Shillong in November 4. Mutton Rogan Josh 5. They have represented India as Player, Captain, Coach, Manager and Chairman of Selectors. 6. MS Swaminathan, the man who ushered in the Green Revolution

curio-city

Mars, the ruler of your Sign, will be in retrograde motion from Tuesday. It now moves backwards into its Sign of exaltation, Capricorn. And all this drama is happening in the 10th House, where another important planet is already retrograde. Brace yourself for a few challenges at the work front.

Word of the week laeotropic adjective [lee-uh-trop-ik] oriented or coiled in a leftward direction, as a left-spiraling snail shell.

Crossword Across

Down

1 Cooking instructions (6) 4 Paris music hall dance (6) 9 Indicator (7) 10 Elderly pompous reactionary person (5) 11 System for teaching singing (3-2) 12 Acute (7) 13 Delighted (7,4) 18 A Wright brother, d.1948 (7) 20 Buffoon (5) 22 Foolishness (5) 23 Using bad language (7) 24 Long overnight passenger flight (6) 25 Young swan (6)

1 Food — tapers (anag) (6) 2 Cool (5) 3 Replace (3,4) 5 Scope (5) 6 Roll of hair worn at the nape (7) 7 Kid (6) 8 Italian farewell (11) 14 Void (7) 15 Region of northern France (with roses?) (7) 16 Idler (6) 17 Chess piece (6) 19 Area off a busy road (3-2) 21 Edible bulb (5)

Last week’s solution

Lifestyle

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Vaastu and the rice bowl

ice is the staple food of more than 65% of world’s population comprising of countries like China, India, Bangladesh and a host of South East Asian countries. Besides the food value of rice, it is used in many rituals in these countries. Rice is used as confetti in Western and European countries also. In Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, there is a separate community festival of harvesting rice during Makar Sankranti. In South India, people wear Tilaks on the forehead with rice. Vaastu as well as Feng Shui have a high regard for rice. The rice bowl is supposed to indicate the fortune of the family. In villages of India, the richness of people is measured by the possession of number of rice storage bowls or bhorals. There are certain rules for keeping rice. 1. The rice urn should never be allowed to be empty. It is considered bad luck for the household to run out of rice. So fill it up before it is empty. 2. The rice urn should be always kept closed. Besides keeping it away from rats and cockroaches, having the rice urn closed means your wealth is protected. 3. Plastic containers should not be

used to store rice. Ceramic or clay pots are better to store rice so that the earth energy is obtained. Wooden urns are also not bad. 4. Feng Shui recommends that some real money Hemanta Kumar Sarmah like coins Engineer, Businessman, wrapped Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure in red specialist. packets should be kept at the bottom of the rice urn. This is supposed to increase the family wealth. Every year, this should be topped up with a fresh red packet. 5. The rice urn should be kept hidden from general view. It is like hiding your money or jewels! 6. Vaastu says that the rice bowl should be kept at the southwest, west or south of the kitchen or store as it is one of the heaviest items. 7. The rice cooker or pot should not be kept upside down after washing because it signifies that it is empty. It should be kept upright. In Mahabharata, there is a story of Draupadi being tested by Lord Vishnu when he appeared in disguise as a hungry sage at an odd time and demanded food or else there would be dire consequences. There was nothing in the house but there was a grain of rice left in the rice pot Akshaya Patra, which never ran short of food. Draupadi offered that grain of rice to Lord Vishnu and he was pleased and blessed her. So it is said that the rice bowl should never be kept empty.

Screen-smart parenting

hildren have miraculous powers of absorbing and learning things. This is particularly true of device-use. Children take to devices like fish to water. When parents talk with pride about how quickly their little one has picked up these new skills, I smile for their joy. But a part of me feels scared because I have seen how damaging device-use can get for children. Research shows that overexposure to screens causes speech delays in toddlers. In children, overexposure leads to issues with attention, memory and thinking skills; it leads to impulsivity, hyperactivity and risk-taking behaviours. By the way, screens also include television, not just devices. Spending unsupervised time online increases the risk of exposure to age-inappropriate content and online predators.

Recommended use

Between the ages of 0-2, it is best not to have any exposure to screens; between 2-4 years, the maximum recreational screentime should be 1 hour/day; between 5-17 years the maximum should be 2 hours/day.

Being a screen-smart parent

Screen-smart parenting starts with you. If your screen habits are not up to scratch, your children won’t listen to you. Ask yourself - what are my screen habits? What do I need to change?

mended number of hours.

Have alternatives

Have books and magazines around. Have a collection of board games to enjoy as a family – chess, Ludo, Monopoly. Good old antakshari is a fabulous game to indulge in. Prepare ahead and impress them by crooning the latest chartbuster.

Enjoy together

Enjoy screen-time together with your child. This way you know what your child is watching and learning. It also gives you a chance to stay connected with your child and guide them.

Choose wisely

Choose programs that resemble real life. Observe the visuals, language, tone, volume and pace – whether these resemble real life or not. Choose programs that teach as well as entertain. Before you give your child a phone ask yourself – does my child really need a smart phone?

Stay safe

Make it a house rule that no devices are to be used in private. Keep laptops and computers in a common area of the house. Use parental controls when available. Predators look for children who are disconnected from adults. Stay involved, teach your children about online-safety.

Have house rules

Designate screen-free times such as study or meal times. Have screen-free zones in the house such as bedrooms and dining room. Limit device use to the recom-

Bornali Borah Family Counsellor, Parent Coach and Mediator. Email: bornali.borah@gmail.com

Hip Fracture

ip fracture means fracture of our thigh bone, femur, at its upper part which articulates with our pelvic bone. It occurs in a bone which is weakened tremendously by a condition called Osteoporosis. It becomes so weak that a trivial fall is enough to cause a fracture. The affected are invariably elderly, majority being women and almost all resulting from a fall. The affected limb becomes short and rotate outwards and there is severe pain. The patient is unable to stand or move and may never do so if not operated. Not only does the fracture confine you to bed, it significantly decreases your odds of survival at the end of one year. 30% or more of these patients die due to various reasons even if operated. Thus prevention is paramount, this involves fighting osteoporosis and preventing falls. Fall is a significant health concern in the elderly but never receives any attention. Most of these patients arrive in the Emergency with a history of fall and nobody can appreciate that a catastrophic event has occurred. The patient is just on bed, unable to move but appears all healthy. It never looks like an urgency, sometimes even in the mindset of the doctor, especially if the pain is

relieved. The best outcomes are if the operation is done early, preferably within 36 hours. This seldom happens because of the concerns of both the medical team and the family. The patient may have multiple comorbidities, maybe

on blood thinners, multiple medicines, poorly-controlled BP and sugar and lot of abnormalities on the biochemical and other tests. The law-fearing surgeon and anaesthetist are already on the back foot. Then follows a series of referrals and everyone talks about

the risks of surgery. By now it looks like the orthopaedic surgeon is the only person interested in the surgery. And surgical skills alone do not determine the outcomes. It needs an excellent anaesthesia team, a good post-operative unit which may be an ICU, excellent

physiotherapy and nursing care, optimum use of medicines and good rehab. There isn’t enough time to optimise the medical care of the patient as delayed surgery is one of the most adverse prognostic factor. Deep vein thrombosis is another huge risk which hovers for almost a month. The patient needs early mobilisation, physiotherapy, early discharge and an extended domiciliary care. Prevention of infections and cardiac complications is of utmost importance. Pressure sores are another menace. How a hip fracture is managed in a hospital is a testimony to the quality of a hospital, which encompasses both the clinical and ancillary services. Good communication, early surgery, protocolised post operative management and good medical treatment thereafter has dramatically changed outcomes. So the next time someone needs a hip surgery, don’t be driven by the individual charisma of a doctor. You need a team. And encourage the team to do its work. Dr Rakesh Periwal Critical Care Medicine and Sleep Specialist drperiwal@gmail.com

Buzz

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

Akshayam Independence Day inter-school chess championship

Inter-house patriotic song competition at city school

n the occasion on 72nd Independence Day, the Assam Chess Club organised Independence Day inter-school chess championship at Aarohan, Wireless, Guwahati. Altogether 82 players from the various school of Guwahati participated in this daylong rapid chess event. Dhrupad Kashyap of Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti School won the chess championship while Delhi Public School Guwahati bagged the best school participant award. The tournament was conducted by Fide Arbiter Swaraj Buragohain as chief arbiter and Ravikant Tiwari as assistant arbiter. In the final ranking, the winners were: In the open category, Dhrupad Kashyap stood first, Manthan Kashyap Dutta second and Rishideep Bordoloi third. In class 10 to 12 category, Daipayan Kashyap and Manisha Kumari won in the boys and girls categories respectively. Similarly, in class 7 to 9 category, Mridumoloy Das and

Anchita Sharma won in the boys and girls categories respectively; in class 4 to 6 category, Ashvin Sarma and Jigisha Thool were the winners in the boys and girls categories each; in class 2 to 3 category, Abhirup Saikia and Afsheen Afsha Zaman were announced winners in boys and girls categories resperctively, and in class up to 1 category, Harshadeep Dek won among the

boys and Nibhriti Goswami won among the girls. The awards for the youngest players went to Rajasmit Isas Goswami, Ekansh Bagaria and Krishnabh Borthakur. On the other hand, Niveer Nitul Saikia, Niveer Nitul Saikia and Advaith Thambisetty were recognised as the most promising players. n

World Elephant Day celebrated at Assam State Zoo

he Assam State Zoo celebrated the seventh World Elephant Day in partnership with the Wildlife of Africa Conservation Initiative on 12th August. World Elephant Day was launched on August 12, 2012, by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and Canadian documentary filmmaker Patricia Sims. The initiative is aimed at inspiring “a growing generation,

knowledgeable and motivated to take positive actions on behalf of the wildlife that shares our land and sea with us and the environment.” The vision of the program was to inspire a growing generation, knowledgeable and motivated to take positive actions on behalf of the Wildlife - plants and animals - that share our land and sea with us and the environment. The event started with an interactive session with Zoo

elephants named ‘Madhavi’ and ‘Fulfuli’ during which students got an opportunity to feed the elephants. An art competition, a story competition, and a quiz competition were also held during the event. This is the first outreach program of the Wildlife of Africa Conservation Initiative in India, coordinated by the first member of Team Wildlife Africa from India, Akash Harizan, a wildlife conservationist. August 12 is a day when people come together to honor elephants, to spread awareness about the critical threats they are facing, and to support positive solutions that will help ensure their survival. World Elephant Day supporters can act in a multitude of ways, both locally and globally, to help protect elephants from the devastating impacts of poaching, the destruction of wilderness, the demand for ivory, human population growth and humanelephant conflict, and the social, economic, and environmental factors that fuel this tragic situation. n

he annual patriotic song competition was held at Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti School, Guwahati on August 16, Thursday. The competition was organised to mark the celebration of Independence Day 2018. All four houses, namely Jal, Vayu, Agni and Prithvi put up a great show singing renowned patriotic songs. However, Jal House and Vayu House were

Dibrugarh University becomes 1st university in Assam to install sanitary napkin dispensing machines

ibrugarh University has become the first university in Assam to install as many as 26 sanitary napkin dispensing machines in all of its nine girls’ hostels. The installation process has been divided into two phases. Total 26 machines have been installed in the first phase, 26 more machines will be installed in the second phase. The machines were formally opened to the students on August 9 by the newly-appointed Registrar of the university, Hari Chandra Mahanta and

at different parts of the city. These kits consisted of rice, dal, sugar, soya nuggets, oil, turmeric powder and other such grocery items. The program, supported by Leo Club of Gauhati and Leo Club of Gauhati Girls, was flagged off from the Gauhati Lions Eye Hospital located at Chatribari, Guwahati. It was headed by

president Lion Kamal Agarwal, secretary Lion Rajesh Hansaria and program chairperson Lion Deepak Mittal. The organisation has pledged to distribute such kits every month for at least one year. The project has been funded by the members of the club themselves. n

the Dean of Students’ Affairs, Jiten Hazarika. n

Child artist from Assam rocks ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’

City-based organisation takes up initiative to relieve 500 families of hunger o mark the first project of its golden jubilee celebrations, Lions Club of Gauhati launched its project ‘Bag of Hope’ relieve the hunger on the occasion of the 72nd Independence Day. Under the project, the organisation distributed over 500 grocery kits to the needy families

adjudged winner and runners up respectively. The chief guests and judges on the occasion were popular Assamese singers Krittika Karabi and Bandish Bhattacharjee. Announcing the winners and addressing the students, the judges praised the efforts of the students and expressed hope that the school would continue to organise such events in the future. n

hildren drama school, Sammanay Khetra located at Panigaon, Nalbari has recently been making headlines. Shubangi Manjit, a seven-year-old student of this school is creating sensation in a drama-based show ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’ at the national television.

Shubangi, also known as Marffi, has managed to enthral the audience and judges of the show with her stellar performance. Contesting with kids of her age from all over India, Shubangi has managed to enter the top 12-round of the show and has grabbed the attention of the viewers. With her performance, Subhangi has floored the top Bollywood actors and actresses coming to the show. The drama school Sammanay Khetra has now become an incubation centre for little kids trying to improve their drama skills. Set up in 2010 by Satadal Baishya the mission of the school is to develop the mental and physical state of the kids. n

Events

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

August 18, Saturday Social Saturday ft. DJ Eshna The Socialite 8PM onwards

August 18, Saturday

Renowned Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif inaugurates Kalyan Jewellers Showroom in Guwahati on Sunday, August 12

Global Illusion ft. Brian CID Terra Mayaa 8PM onwards

August 18, Saturday Bismil Band Live Underdoggs 8PM onwards

med rgreen as perfor ’s heart with eve hers. h d U j a k ong ot eryone ree Pan Padmash ere he touched ev ijiye Baatein’, am r e g in s l Ghaza nday, wh nd ‘Aur Aahista K ati on Su h a ai a w u G in hi Aayi H t it h C e k li melodies

August 18, Saturday Time Lapse XS The place to be 8PM onwards

August 18, Saturday Hip Hop gig

keleton

ft. DJ S od Night

g Bollywo i B : t n e v E & DJ Rik Saturday , 1 1 t s u g Date: Au in Oza unk Venue: D

NYX, Hotel Palacio 7PM onwards

August 19, Sunday Stand Along Comedy Abijit Ganguly Live XS The place to be 7PM onwards August 22, Wednesday

Event: Unplugged Fridays ft. Parwaz Date: August 18, Friday Venue: The Socialite

Barely Funny & Acoustic Vibes Retro Town 8:30PM onwards

Catching Up

G PLUS | AUG 18 - AUG 24, 2018

PIC OF THE