Vol 6 Issue 19 by G Plus

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Abhinandan Returns

Volume 06 | Issue 19 Mar 02 - Mar 08, 2019 Price `10

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INSIDE

Rahul Gandhi at his aggressive best in Guwahati rally

First time voter? Here’s how to get your name on the voters’ list

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rtistes, including singers, film personalities, musicians and composers took out a rally in Guwahati on Sunday

their property at the venue of the first Itanagar International Film Festival (IIFF). The rally, organised by All Assam Artistes Suraksha Mancha, began from Commerce point to Chandmari area of the city demanding that Arunachal Pradesh government give

Destroyed vehicle at the IIFF venue, Itanagar condemning the Arunachal Pradesh mob attack that damaged

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Assam artists demand compensation from Arunachal government Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

Guwahati’s top officials reshuffled; GMC gets New Commissioner

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Swine flu cases increase to 23 in city, Guwahati hospitals on high alert Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

uwahati registered eight more cases of swine flu within the past one week, taking the total number of patients to 23 till now. Prior to this, G Plus had reported that till last week, at least 15 positive cases of swine flu were detected in Guwahati which increased to 23 this week. “We have recorded 23 positive cases of the disease in Guwahati with one death case. This was revealed in the regular testing which is being conducted at the Gauhati Medical College & Hospital for swine flu,” informed Kabita Devi, an official at the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme

Represntative Image (IDSP) in Guwahati. She added that the only case in which the patient has died till now is the first case which was recorded this year. The person had travelled to Shillong and we

are suspecting the patient carried the virus from there, informed officials.

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Venture capitalist of Guwahati origin ordered to pay $64 million in fines to his former US company The world has truly become a small place, at least for Indian-American venture capitalist Iftikar ‘Ifty’ Ahmed, who is presently on the run from the US law. Chetan Bhattarai @chetbha1

ftikar “Ifty” Ahmed is accused of embezzling funds from his own company Oak Investment Partners where he served as a general partner and has now been ordered to pay $64 million by a US fed-

eral judge. Iftikar originally hails from Guwahati. Iftikar was born and brought up in Guwahati. He was a student of Don Bosco School, Panbazar, Guwahati and was brilliant in academics having stood 2nd in the matriculations of the Secondary Education Board of Assam and topping the state from Cotton College, Guwahati in the higher secondary examinations.

He graduated from IIT Delhi and earned an MBA degree from Harvard. He started his career with the American multinational investment bank and financial services company, Goldman Sachs. Iftikar’s life was an “American Dream” story – from Harvard Business School to Goldman Sachs Group Inc and then becoming a partner at one of the oldest venture-capital firms in the US.

It was a smooth ride until 2015, when things started going awry for this young investment banker. According to various media reports, Iftikar came under suspicion initially in 2015 for alleged insider trading. His own company Oak Investments Partners started an investigation that unearthed the embezzlement scheme that led to Ifty facing criminal and civil charges. Ifty then fled the

US on an invalid passport and was detained by the Indian immigration service due to his invalid passport and even served a jail term of two months. He was later released on a bond. Since then, the investment banker is said to be in hiding in various cities of India, mostly at his friends’

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2 Lead Story Snippets Aadhar Enrollment in Assam Poorest in India

ccording to a report published by The Assam Tribune, Aadhar coverage in Assam is among the poorest in India. The process had only recently started in the state, but is picking up now. The enrollment has been around 14.38 percent in Assam. This enrollment percentage is based on the projected population of 2018. According to an official, a lot of banks in Assam have started the enrollment process. Around 1200 centres have been opened in the state, all in government office premises. The General Administration Department is the nodal agency for the exercise in Assam. Other northeastern states that have high coverage include Tripura that has 93.58 percent, Mizoram has 89.60 percent, Sikkim has 89.59 percent, Manipur has 83.81 percent, Arunachal Pradesh has 80.02 percent and Nagaland has 59.28 percent. According to the source, the Central government had saved around Rs. 1,09,983 crore by linking the Aadhar to several schemes, which also led to the detection of crores of deceptive beneficiaries.

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Swine flu cases increase to 23 in city... From Page 1 Devi further mentioned that apart from the 23 cases which have been registered, four additional cases from people from other districts have been registered who have undergone treatment in Guwahati. The state has been witnessing an increasing number of cases of swine flu for the past few months. Apart from Guwahati, the cases of swine flu are continually increasing across the state too. In addition to Guwahati, patients af-

“Till last week, at least 15 positive cases of swine flu were detected in Guwahati which increased to 23 this week.”

fected by the H1N1 virus have also been reported from Nalbari, Karbi

Anglong, Baksa and other districts of the state. Swine flu is an air-borne infection which is caused by a virus called H1N1. It can spread from person to person and is caused when people come in direct or indirect contact with tiny drops of the virus which are spread in the air through coughing or sneezing by a person infected with the virus. It is also spread through touching a contaminated surface or by coming in close contact with an infected person. The disease originated in pigs

and is hence called “swine flu” since pigs can also get this virus. Currently, the swine flu tests from across Assam are being conducted at two places in the state including the Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) and Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) in Dibrugarh. Experts have said that they have noticed a worrying trend that now the virus has entered Guwahati and is now being spread among people who have not travelled to other cities in the recent past. n

All hospitals on high alert

eeping in view the emergence and spread of the disease, the state health and family welfare department has issued guidelines to all hospitals to maintain precaution. Joint director of health services of Kamrup (Metro), Ganesh Saikia, mentioned, “We are already taking a number of preventive measures for the disease including creating awareness for swine flu. We are hoping that the number of positive cases for H1N1 will come

down in the future.” Some of the precautions which are advised for prevention of transmission of the virus include covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, avoiding touching nose, eyes or mouth. Further, doctors say that one must not come in close contact with people who display flu-like symptoms. Additionally, officials said that all hospitals have been asked to keep an eye on patients displaying symptoms of the disease. They have also advised not to admit all

cases of swine flu. Further, persons suffering from minor flu-like conditions like a little bit of headache with mild fever and without body ache need not undergo testing for swine flu,” said an official. He added that people showing symptoms like respiratory distress, difficulty in breathing, chest pain, belong to the “C category” and should be tested for H1N1 virus. The virus has also taken its toll across the county with at least 377 swine flu deaths being reported

from across India. Further, the number of persons infected with the disease is over 12,000. Rajasthan recorded the highest number of cases in the country with 3,508 cases and 127 deaths followed by Gujarat which registered 1,983 positive cases and 71 deaths. Keeping in mind the data coming in from the rest of country, the health ministry has ordered all state governments to take measures for early detection of the disease. n

Venture capitalist of Guwahati origin... From Page 1 homes. Meanwhile his family

the difference to accounts and companies controlled by him and his wife. The SEC reported that

to his alma mater. “He was one of the sharpest brains I have ever come across. It was only natural to hear that he was placed very

apartment. She requested this reporter that she did not want to comment on anything and nodded when we asked about the li-

well in life as a venture-capitalist in the USA. But it came as a rude shock when we began to first hear of his insider-trading scam. Perhaps greed overtook him,” said one his close old friends who did not wish to be named. Ifty had donated a library in his father’s name to Don Bosco Institute located in Kharguli hills. He donated over Rs 40 lakhs for the modern library now used by the students of the institute. Back in Guwahati, Ahmed’s mother stays all alone in an

brary being donated. During his heydays, Iftikar had flown down to Guwahati in a chartered jet and lived a lavish life like any top investment banker would. Interestingly, he had told during his interview to the Wall Street Journal that he had cancer and was operated once. His friends believe that it was the cancer that made him insecure and he took those steps that led to his downfall. As we write this story very little is known about his whereabouts. n

All Polling stations of Assam to have VVPAT System: CEO

ll polling stations in Assam will have VVPAT system during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Chandra Sahu said here Wednesday. A VVPAT device is a printer attached to the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). The VVPAT devices dispense a slip with the name and symbol of the party candidate for which a person has voted, thus enabling verification of the voting process. The VVPAT slips will be counted along with the votes punched into the EVM from randomly selected polling stations and tally with the counted votes, the CEO told reporters. Sahu said VVPAT awareness campaign has begun across the state with voters participating in mock voting to familiarise themselves with the device.

Iftikar Ahmed (wife and three sons) remains in the US and assets worth around $118 million owned by the couple have been frozen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As per SEC reports, Ahmed allegedly presented Oak’s partners with investment opportunities in overseas businesses. He is accused of misrepresenting the terms of the deals, like the actual value of the company or exchange rates. He then transferred

Ahmed had made at least 10 such fraudulent deals. Not only has Iftikar been asked by the judge to repay $42 million to Oak Investments, he is also to pay $21 million in penalties and a further $1.5 million in interest. Leaving aside his professional life most of his old friends here in Guwahati speak well about him, especially his academic brilliance. He was known to be a great conversationalist and a fine debater and had brought laurels

Politicking

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Rahul Gandhi at his aggressive best in Guwahati rally The much-awaited Rahul Gandhi rally finally took place on 26th February. The rally meant many things for many people, inside the Congress and outside. Chetan Bhattarai @chetbha1

or party members who had submitted application for the 14 Lok Sabha seats it was the time to show their muscle and money power. For those who wanted to remain in the party good books it was time to ensure how efficiently the rally was being organised and of course, the number of people they could muster. The rally gave inputs to those reporting the event that Congress workers from all levels have gained some hope in their young leader. One could witness shouting and cheering that followed after almost every sentence that the leader spoke against the BJP and the RSS. As if the crowd was in-sync with what the party president had to say. Also, Rahul Gandhi’s stance has changed. If we look at his earlier public meetings from 2014 Lok Sabha elections we see a complete makeover – Rahul is aggressive and confident. Now, when he speaks, it just shows that he is in charge and knows what he is talking. This is what is slowly drawing crowd to his rallies and also increasing his popularity among the party workers and common people. One can easily understand by a look at the huge dais set up at the Khanapara veterinary ground on who was in command. Gandhi started his speech by remembering those who died in the hooch tragedy of Golaghat and the Pulwama attack and congratulated the pilots of the Indian Air Force. Then he moved on to the public resentment in nearby Arunachal Pradesh that was making headlines. Attacking the RSS and BJP Rahul said, “There are two types of ideologies in this country at the moment – on one side the BJP-RSS-Narendra Modi’s ideology of hatred and anger and on the other side the Congress party and the citizens of this country.” Rahul Gandhi’s speech was focused on the northeast and how the BJP and RSS were ruining the region through their agenda.

“There is an attack on your history, your language and your way of life. Not only Assam, the RSS is attacking all the states of the northeast. The ideology of RSS has burnt every northeast state. It has burnt Arunachal, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland. They have not spared a single state,” accused Rahul. “After Narendra Modi’s government came to power in 2014 and after Assam and Arunachal saw BJP governments come to power they have started attacking your identity. The Congress is going to stop this and save the history and culture of the northeast. We will give a befitting reply to BJP, Narendra Modi and Mohan Bhagwat,” said Gandhi to a cheering crowd of supporters. The Congress president accused the RSS and BJP of taking back the special status to Assam provided by the erstwhile Congress government. “They have taken away your special status, and from this stage itself I declare, the moment Congress comes back to power we will grant you special status,” promised Gandhi. Rahul has been aggressively at-

Rahul Gandhi (C), Harish Rawat (L), Sushmita Dev (R) at Khanapara veterinary ground could give employment opportunities to just one lakh youth in a year. Narendra modi gives employment to just 450 people in a day but all you hear is Make in India everywhere.” Speaking about the now

All in a Congress rally

For some people in the Assam Congress and All India Congress Committee the recent visit of Rahul Gandhi to Guwahati gave sleepless nights for many days. Starting from inviting delegates and arranging meetings to bringing crowd to the rally, almost all the APCC functionaries were seen rushing in and out of Rajiv Bhawan prior to the rally. The objective was how much crowd they can arrange on the D-day that was 26th February. Matching the recent Narendra Modi rally in Guwahati to a great extent seemed like the objective. The Congress state machinery went into overdrive to ensure that the gathering would save their day. As the meeting was in Guwahati most of the load was to be taken by the assembly constituencies of the Gauhati Lok Sabha. But other Congress strongholds like Barpeta, Nagaon, Kaliabor and Mangaldoi who due to the proximity to the meeting venue provided a large number of Congress supporters. As one approached the venue roads could be seen filled with private buses. Some of the present MLAs and former MLAs have agreed to bring 2000 workers each and that would mean anything from around 20 to 40 buses per entrusted soul. Add that with a little bit of snacks and a lunch and you can imagine the bill that was footed by the operators. Well, the Congress believes it was a good day for the top functionaries and various middle-level leaders employed for the meeting as everything went fine till the end.

on to promise many more and one of them was waiving off education loans of students from the northeast. Rahul continued hitting the BJP-RSS of divisive politics across the country. “RSS spreads hatred and it is their thinking. Our thinking is to join the states, theirs is to divide. We want a peaceful Assam

ed with numbers and joining one plus one. He relates loan waive off to businesses with unemployment. He cites example of how much employment could have been generated through rupees three lakh fifty thousand crore that he claims has been waived off by the BJP government to various businesses. There is very less

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tacking the BJP-led government over the employment issue and it continued in this rally, too. Citing data the president said, “Modi

scrapped North East Industrial Policy, the Congress chief accused the BJP of taking it away and promised to restore it. Rahul went

Congress supporters at Khanapara and BJP-RSS want to burn the state and the country so that it benefits a few businessmen.” Rahul then named the businessmen and related them to Narendra Modi. The new approach of Rahul Gandhi is playing with numbers and blaming everything on prime minister Narendra Modi. His speech has lately been load-

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doubt that this aggressiveness is going to increase as the election approaches. For the Congress party this public meeting was a kick-off to 2019 Lok Sabha polls for the northeast as all the Congress stalwarts and former CMs from the states were present. The rally was well attended by over 75000 people. n

4 Governance Snippets Guwahati to host Women’s cricket series between India and England

he Indian women’s T20 cricket match against England will be held from March 4 to March 10, 2019, at Barsapara stadium in Guwahati. As per reports, the players of the England team have arrived Guwahati today. Both the teams will play a three-match T20 International series under the supervision of International Cricket Council (ICC). It is to be mentioned that with an aim to encourage women’s cricket in the State, the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) has made entry absolutely free. The matches will start from 11 AM. The list of Indian cricketers includes Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keepers), Bharti Fulmali, Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Komal Zanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurty and Harleen Deol.

First train under Awesome Assam campaign flagged off

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

First time voter? Here’s how to get your name on the voters’ list Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

ith the Lok Sabha polls just weeks away, the state election department is gearing up to hold the elections with 7,06,489 new voters (in between 18 and 19 years of age) enrolled in the latest photo electoral rolls in Assam. In Kamrup (Metro) district, as per the latest poll rolls, the total electors are 10,70,234 out of which 21,915 are first time voters. Similarly, the total electors in Assam are 2,17,60,604. Of them, 1,11,32,782 are male voters while 1,06,27,822 number of voters are

Who can cast vote in Lok Sabha elections? Any Indian citizens above the age of 18 years who have registered themselves as voters are eligible to vote. Even non-resident Indians or NRIs can cast their ballots. All eligible voters can register themselves for voter ID by filling Form 6 which is available both online and offline.

Is there a last date of registration? All eligible persons can enroll their names into the voters’ list till the last date of filing of nominations for Assembly polls.

female. In the last electoral roll of 2018, the total voters were 2,12,47,854. Therefore, there is an increase of 5,12,750 voters in the 2019 electoral roll compared to that of 2018 indicating a rise of 2.42

percent. First-time voters are a very important group for any party. The new age voters are often more informed, updated and connected; they are better educated and more tech-savvy

How to register for Voter ID online?

First time voters who wish to enroll themselves with the Election Commission of India are required to fill up Form 6 online at National Voters’ Service Portal. To fill up the form, log on to http://www.nvsp.in/, click on “Apply online for registration of new voter/due to shifting from AC,” Form 6 will open. Fill the form either in Hindi, English or Malayalam. Apart from the usual questions like name of state, district and constituency, you’ll also be asked to fill the Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number of any one of your relative or neighbor. You’ll also be asked to upload photos of the necessary documents including passport size photo, proof of date of birth and proof of address. Once you’re done filling the form and attaching the documents, fill the declaration and submit the form. After submitting the form, you will be delivered a reference ID number. You can track the status of your application using this reference ID number. Once the form is processed, it will go to the related Booth Level Officer (BLO). After necessary verification, your voter ID will be ready and delivered to you.

Can I vote using document other than the election voter ID?

Yes, you can provided you are enrolled through the above process with the Election Commission of India and your name figures on the voters’ list. Following is a list of the government-issued photo identity documents that can be used to vote: Passport

handan Brahma, Minister of Tourism, Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes flagged off the 12551 from Kamakhya Railway Station on February 27. The new train Yesvantpur - Kamakhya AC SF Express will be the first ever train branding under the Awesome Assam Campaign. The 12552/51 Kamakhya Yesvantpur AC Express is a Superfast express train belonging to Indian Railways - Northeast Frontier Railway zone that runs between Kamakhya and Yesvantpur Junction in Bengaluru. It operates as train number 12552 from Kamakhya to Yesvantpur Junction and as train number 12551 in the reverse direction serving 7 states.

Driving license Service identity cards with photograph issued to employees by central or state government-run companies Passbooks with photograph issued by a bank or post office PAN card Smart card issued by the Registrar General of India (RGI) under the National Population Register MNREGA job card Health insurance smart card issued under a Ministry of Labour scheme Pension document with a photograph Authenticated photo voter slip issued by the election machinery Official identity cards issued to lawmakers or legislators Aadhaar card On February 28, the Election Commission of India said in an order that photo voter slips will no longer be accepted as stand-alone identification documents for voting because these do not have any security features and can be misused. Overseas electors will be required to produce their original passport for identification.

than the rest of the voters in the family. In the upcoming Lok Sabha election to be held by the Election Commission of India, millions of voters will cast their franchise for the first time. Here’s a guide for all first time voters for voting in these elections:

How to register for Voter ID offline? Those who wish to apply offline, or are facing any problems with the online process may apply for voter identity card offline as well. For offline registration, you will have to visit the Booth Level Officer (BLO) to obtain Form 6. Like in the online form, you will require to fill the necessary details asked for in the form. After filling the details, submit the form along with two passport size photographs, photocopy of proof of birth and proof of address to the officer. You will also be asked to submit a photocopy of one of your family member’s voter ID card. If no one in your family has voter ID card, you can submit a photocopy of voter ID card of your neighbor or friend. Once you submit all the necessary documents with BLO, the concerned department will verify the papers and you will be delivered with your voter ID card.

Concern

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Assamese book publishing takes a hit compared to English, other languages Harshita Himatsingka @HHimatsingka

he publication of Assamese books, mainly fiction and literature, has taken a hit in comparison to the publication of books in other languages such as English or Hindi. This applies to both within the state and in the country. “Since two-three years, the publication of Assamese books has significantly come down. Earlier, sales were good but now our best-selling book is the Hindito-Assamese dictionary,” said a salesman from a bookstore in

“The market for Assamese writers has diminished and so publication has declined as well. There is lesser margin for them and thus, demand has also decreased,” said the salesman from Pan bazar. One of the main reasons for this diminishing market is that students in English-medium schools now don’t opt to study Assamese if they are given a choice to study another language, according to a saleswoman who owns a bookshop in Pan Bazar. “Even if the children are Assamese, born and brought up here (Assam), since they don’t learn Assamese in school, they don’t know how to read and write the language. So the demand is

surpassed Bengali, which used to dominate India’s book market throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, owing to the fact that Bengal produced some of the best

grammar and language texts, they are still doing well in the market. “Since Assam is not a very city-based place, for a lot of the

said the saleswoman. Another complaint that publishers and book-sellers in the city had regarding the declining number of Assamese publications

Students at North East Book Fair

Visitors browsing through books at a stall at the ongoing North East Book Fair Pan Bazar that only keeps books (fiction, literature, academic) in Assamese. Speaking at the Press Club in Guwahati recently, senior journalist DN Chakravarty said that while publication of books in English and Hindi have increased in India, the rate of publication of Assamese books is very low when compared to English, Hindi, Bengali and south Indian languages.

continuously decreasing. If one cannot understand the words that are written on the page, how will books in that language sustain?” she questioned, saying that it was a rather sad thing to witness. While Chakravarty said that in terms of comparative contemporary Indian literature, the most number of books in the country are being published in English and Hindi, while south Indian languages have now

writers in the country. He however added that important monthly magazines such as ‘Awahan’ and ‘Ramdhenu’ have produced a number of Assamese writers, including several women writers who could give even some of the moreliterature-rich-languages in the world a run for their money. “It’s not like Assamese literature and fiction are dying, but the numbers have significantly gone down. Some people still come in and ask for books by popular authors like Anuradha Sharma Pujari, Rita Choudhury etc but it’s difficult to sell books of new writers. I have to push them to people, give the story and hype it up a little bit to make those sales,”

regional schools here, their main language of learning is Assamese. Thus, the academic Assamese books sell. The strength of the language still exists, even though it might be less in some cases because of English or Hindi,” said a leading publisher from the city. He added that in a lot of the other northeastern states, English has become very popular and they are losing their regional language, but that it is not the case in Assam. At least, not in terms of academic books. “They still sell,” he said. He also mentioned that since they have more books in English, if a certain title does well with the English crowd, they also try and take out a translated version of the said title in Assamese. n

is that the online market is ruining the scene. Since people now mostly buy many things online, they are spoilt for choice and an Assamese title is probably their last choice. “One of the saddest things however is that readers have decreased overall, irrespective of any language they read in. Earlier, people used to read. Nowadays, people are mostly glued to their phones all the time, especially the younger generation. They don’t have a book in their hand, but a screen,” said the saleswoman. In contrast to this, Assamese academic books are not faring so badly. Since there are certain books that have to be published in Assamese, such as Assamese

Statement aboutForm-ownership and other particulars about paper IV (Rule 8, The Registration of Newspapers (Central) Rules, 1956) Place of publication

Guwahati

Editor’s Name

Mr. Swapnil Bharali

Periodicity of publication

Weekly

Whether citizen of India?

Yes

Printer’s Name

Janambhumi Press Pvt. Ltd.

If foreigner, state the country of origin

Does not arise

Address

4-A, 4th Floor, Royal Arcade, B Barooah Road, Ulubari, Guwahati, Assam 781007

Name and address of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than 1 per cent of the total capital.

Insight Brandcom Private Limited, 4-A, 4th Floor, Royal Arcade, B Barooah Road, Ulubari, Guwahati, Assam 781007

Whether citizen of India?

Yes

If foreigner, state the country of origin

Does not arise

Address

Shed No. A1, Mini Industrial Estate, Kalapahar, Guwahati

Publisher’s name

Mr. Sunit Jain

Whether citizen of India?

Yes

If foreigner, state the country of origin

Does not arise

Address

4-A, 4th Floor, Royal Arcade, B Barooah Road, Ulubari, Guwahati, Assam 781007

I, Mr. Sunit Jain, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Dated: 02. 03. 2019

Mr. Sunit Jain Signature of publisher.

6 Governance Snippets Guwahati: driver charges at policeman, drags him on bonnet for metres

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Guwahati’s top officials reshuffled; GMC gets New Commissioner G Plus News @guwahatiplus

n yet another case of complete disregard for traffic rules, a man in Guwahati attacked a traffic policeman and dragged him for several metres on the bonnet of his vehicle (a Tempo Traveler). The policeman escaped a near-death experience even as the passengers kept urging the driver to stop the vehicle. A video of this dangerous incident filmed by a passenger is currently circulating on social media. Speaking to G Plus, DCP Traffic Prashanta Saikia said, “The incident took place at the Jalukbari flyover. The area is a No Parking Zone and the driver had parked the vehicle there. When the traffic policeman asked him to move, he quickly attempted to escape and the incident occurred.” In the video, the vehicle is seen being driven for around 300-400 metres with the traffic policeman latched onto its bonnet before coming to a halt. “The driver of the vehicle has been arrested and forwarded to the court and the vehicle has been seized,” commissioner of police Deepak Kumar informed G Plus.

Dimapur to be connected to Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Imphal by air

he union civil aviation ministry announced on Wednesday, February 27 that Dimapur airport will be connected to Guwahati Dibrugarh and Imphal under the UDAN (Udey Deshka Aam Nagrik) scheme. Under the scheme, the government had earlier decided to make travelling affordable between Guwahati and Dhaka. The state government is likely to provide a subsidy of Rs. 2,370 (Guwahati-Dhaka) and Rs. 4,400 (Guwahati-Bangkok) for a certain number of seats on the flights operating these routes. The official also said that Centre would finalise UDAN-International by March.

n February 28, top officials from the Assam government were reshuffled. Debeswar Malakar, IAS, Director, Land Records, Assam has been transferred as Commissioner, Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) under the Guwahati Development Department (GDD) while Monalisa Goswami, Commissioner, GMC has been transferred and posted as Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Assam, Health & Family Welfare Department. Rupak Kr Mazumdar, IAS, Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Guwahati Development Department and CEO, Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has been transferred as Principal Secretary, North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council under the Hills Areas Department. Moloy Bora, IAS, Secretary to

the Government of Assam, Act East Policy Affairs and Higher Education Departments and Mission Director, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), has been transferred

transferred and posted as the Director, Land Records, Assam. He has also been posted as Revenue and DM Department in addition to his substantive post. Deepak Majumdar, IAS,

the Government of Assam, Transportation and Development, Finance, Hill areas and Soil Conservation Departments and Chairman, SLNA (IWMP), Assam has been transferred and posted as

Debeswar Malakar

Moloy Bora

Manalisa Goswami

as the CEO, GMDA with the additional charge of MD, Guwahati Smart City Ltd under the Guwahati Development Department. Madan Chandra Deka, IAS, Secretary to the Government of Assam, Cooperation and Health & Family Welfare Department and MD, Housefed, Assam has been

Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home, Political and Passport Departments has been transferred and posted as Secretary to the Government of Assam, Higher Education Department and Mission Director, RUSA. Rajiv Kumar Bora, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to

Chairman, Assam Administrative Tribunal with additional charge of Chairman, Assam Board of Revenue. He will also continue as Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, Finance and Soil Conservation Departments in addition to his substantive post. n

Assam Police reshuffle: Ponjit Dowarah transferred and posted as ADCP (Admin) Guwahati

he Assam state government made several transfers and reshuffles in the police department on February 26, 2019. In an order issued by the home department of the government of Assam, 31 police officers of various ranks have been transferred. Ponjit Dowarah APS, ADCP (Police Control Room), Guwahati has been transferred and posted as ADCP (Admin) Guwahati vice Ujjal Pratim Baruah APS who has been posted as Additional SP (HQ), Darrang, Mangaldai with effect from the date of taking over. In another major move, Rosie Kalita, APS, ADCP (Crime) Guwahati was transferred and posted as Additional SP (HQ) Nagaon vice Ripul Das APS, already transferred. Similarly, Bibekananda Das APS, ADCP (West) Guwahati was transferred and posted as Deputy Comdt., CDO Bn, Mandakanta attached to CM Security as Addi-

tional SP; Nabajit Mahanta APS, Additional SP (HQ), Goalpara was transferred and posted as ADCP (East) Guwahati vice Amitabh Basumatary, APS who has been posted as Additional SP (HQ), Goalpara and Mrinal Deka APS, ADCP (Security and Intelligence), Guwahati got transferred and posted as ADCP (West) Guwahati vice Bibekananda Das APS. Further, Madhurima Das APS, Additional SP (HWQ) Sadiya had been transferred and posted as ADCP (Border) Guwahati. Subhasish Barua APS, ADCP (Central) Guwahati was transferred and posted as Additional SP (HQ) Morigaon against vacant post. Gunendra Deka APS of 7th APBn, Kokrajhar had been transferred and posted as ADCP (Central) Guwahati vice Subhasish Barua APS and Munin Deori APS of 8th APBn, Abhayapuri has been transferred and posted as ADCP (Security and Intelligence) Guwa-

hati vice Mrinal Deka APS. The Assam state government had made some transfers and reshuffles in the police department earlier as well. In an order dated February 21, the Assam government had transferred and posted 25 police officers in various ranks. Ranjan Bhuyan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Police Commissionerate, Guwahati had been transferred and posted as Assistant Inspector General of Police (R) Ulubari, Guwahati against existing vacancy. Leena Doley, Additional Superintendent of Police (HQ) Majuli was posted as the Superintendent of Police, CID, Assam, Ulubari, Guwahati. Pratap Sinha, Commandant 6th AP (IR) Bn, Kathal, Silchar was transferred and posted as Commandant, 15th AP (IR) Bn, Eraligool, Karimganj; Kamal Kumar Gupta, Additional Superintendent of Police (S), Kokrajhar was posted as Superintendent of Police, FRRO,

Headquarters, Guwahati and Jayanta Choudhury, Superintendent of Ponjit Dowarah Police, Human Rights Commission, Assam is transferred and posted as Commandant, 2nd APTF Bn., Lumding. The Assam state government had made some transfers and reshuffles in the police department on February 8, 2019 as well. In the interest of public service, IPS Violet Baruah, Commandant, 9th APBn, Barhampur was promoted, transferred and posted as Deputy Inspector General of Police (SB), Assam, Guwahati vice IPS Prashanta Bhuyan. n

Cover Story

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Assam artists demand compensation from Arunachal... From Page 1 them compensation for the damage caused to their musical instruments, sound systems and other equipment. They said on February 22, over 50 artistes went to Itanagar from different parts of the country, including Assam to perform at the IIFF. One of the Assam artists who witnessed the violence unfurl and

What is PRC?

Permanent resident certificate is a legal document issued to Indian citizens that serves as evidence of residence and is required to be submitted as residential proof for official purpose. It helps in availing domicile-linked quotas for admission to educational institutions and in government jobs.

Who gets PRC in Arunachal Pradesh? Communities listed as Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled

lost property worth lakhs, Sumon Kalyan Dutta, informed G Plus that the protesters targeted the venue as the event was supported by the government. “Their protest was against the government’s move on PRC. As the programme was government supported they targeted the festival venue and burnt everything to the ground. In the process, seven generators were also burnt. For the protesters, the

cars inside the venue became easy targets. They started breaking the glasses and used petrol bombs to burn the vehicles. From the looks of it, these were mostly 17-18 year old kids, both boys and girls,” said Dutta. Reportedly, the Arunachal Pradesh government has agreed to pay compensation for the loss of life and there are on-going talks surrounding compensation for

artists who lost their equipments and vehicles. Chief minister Pema Khandu announced ex-gratia of Rs 20 lakhs each to the three killed in police firing during the mob violence in Itanagar and a government job to one of their family members. He said compensation up to Rs 10 lakhs will be provided to those injured. A city-based artist on the

Tribes (APST) have been given PRC status because they are considered the original natives of the state. Several other communities have been demanding the status to get domicile-linked benefits. These non-APST communities say that while their names are on land records, they do not get “pattas” (ownership documents).

communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar. Amongst those communities are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings. Most of these communities are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam.

which says that all non-residents and visitors to Arunachal Pradesh must get a permit to travel to the state and stay there. The APST communities say that allowing residency to other communities will lead to many non-tribals entering the state.

Why do APST communities not want other communities to get PRC?

Why has it become a political fight?

What has the state government proposed? The BJP-led government in Arunachal Pradesh considered issuing the PRC to six non-APST

APST communities say that giving other communities PRC will dilute the Bengal Eastern Frontier (Regulation) Act 1873,

While some APST communities feel the BJP-led government is pursuing the issue for political ends at the cost of “locals” others have

condition of anonymity informed G Plus that the artists have provided details of all the equipments and vehicles lost to the event group which was responsible for organising the film festival on behalf of the government. The event group will now be filing an FIR and follow legal process to seek compensation from the government on behalf of the artists. n

supported giving PRC to nontribals living in the state for a long time, with a caveat that it will only be used for educational and employment purposes.

Has the matter ended?

Amidst protests and violence erupting in the state, chief minister Pema Khandu, on the night of February 24, announced that PRC will never be taken up in the state keeping in mind the sentiments of the people. No incidents of violence have been reported in Arunachal Pradesh since the announcement but the situation remains tense. n

City-based artists narrowly escape mob fury at Itanagar

t was a narrow escape for artists from Guwahati and other parts of the country at the Itanagar International Film Festival (IIFF) as a mob ran amok at the venue destroying everything they could lay their hands on. The people were protesting against the government’s move to grant permanent resident certificate (PRC) to six nontribal communities. Artists and delegates from all over the country had reached the venue to take part in the festival on the request of the Arunachal Pradesh government. Sharing his experience with G Plus, Sumon Kalyan Dutta said, “All our equipments have been destroyed. Two Innova vehicles of ours were burnt along with 30 odd other vehicles inside the concert venue. The lead and bass guitars were inside the cars. Additionally, sound and light equipment worth over Rs 5 crores was burnt down. Four inflated cinema halls worth Rs 4 crores each were reduced to ashes.” Dutta informed G Plus that when the violence erupted around midnight, not a single policeman was present at the location. There were around five hundred people protesting

against the PRC amidst which the government wanted to carry

and artists were staying. They were targeting the government

We lost more than 25 items, some of which had been with us for over a decade,” expressed the lead singer of the band. Another renowned Assamese artist Kopil Bora who was also in

secretariat where the action was going on. In the morning it was a peaceful rally but later it turned violent. There was stone pelting and suddenly they started burning vehicles right in the

A burnt inflated cinema hall at IIFF venue, Itanagar on with the programme. “We reached on 21st February as we were escorted from the state border. Everything was fine till 4.30 PM in the evening and suddenly stone pelting started. At around 11.30 PM as the situation went out of control one guy was shot in the police firing that ignited the whole situation. Their idea was to burn the secretariat right next to the hotel where the delegates

vehicles initially but when a person was shot it spiralled into more violence,” he narrated. Another popular band from the northeast, Alobo Naga & the Band, lost their vehicle and instruments worth Rs 6 lakhs. “It’s hard to explain the relationship and the emotional attachment we had with our instruments, no money can repay the intimacy we build with our instruments over these years.

Digital mixer burnt to ashes Itanagar, sharing his harrowing experience with G Plus said, “It takes just 20 minutes to reach the Assam border from Itanagar but it seemed like the longest journey of my life. It was like a scene out of a movie. We were inside a hotel near the

middle of the road. Thankfully the delegates, participants and artists were not harmed and somehow managed to flee the spot. However, they lost all their belongings and instruments and their vehicles were reduced to ashes.” n

8 In The News Snippets Citizenship bill to create BJP vote bank: Mukul Sangma

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Former AEC student levels medical negligence charge on Dibrugarh doctor Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

he Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has changed the political scenario in the northeast and BJP’s backdoor strategy to get the bill passed has revealed its secret agenda. This was stated by North East Coordination Congress Committee, Chairman, and former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma. Speaking to a local daily, the leader of the opposition, Meghalaya said that while the citizenship bill burnt the whole northeast, the BJP still pushed it till the Rajya Sabha and used various backdoor tactics. The Narendra Modi-led government was hell-bent on passing this controversial bill and this shows the BJP’s intent to give citizenship to 1.9 crore Hindu Bangladeshis. The BJP is trying to give citizenship to these illegal people in those constituencies where they can help the saffron party win said Sangma.

Airlines to pay up to Rs 20,000 if passenger denied boarding or alternative flight

n what comes as a relief to air travelers the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), will be soon issuing revised aviation rules for implementing certain passengersrights like compensation for delays, cancellations or if boarding is denied by the airline. The DGCA on Wednesday released a passenger charter defining the rights of passengers. “The airlines must inform about flight cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure and arrange alternate flights or refund,” said the charter. Passenger will be eligible for a compensation of up to Rs 20,000 if the airline denies boarding to the passenger due to the flight being overbooked. Passengers will be eligible for compensation if they are not informed about the flight cancellation well in advance.

former student of Assam Engineering College levelled allegations of medical negligence on a doctor of Assam Medical College & Hospital (AMCH) Dibrugarh, for wrongly treating an infection on his nose which ultimately led to its permanent disfiguring leaving a scarred face. Shyam Sundar Gupta said that he had an infection on the tip of

“The injection made the condition of my nose even worse and resulted in necrosis of the nose after which my nose began turning black and also swelled up a lot,” informed Shyam in a press conference in Guwahati on Tuesday. He added that he was given the injection without his prior consultation or counselling and his or his family’s consent and the doctor also did not explain any complications or adverse effects of the concerned drug. “After the injection was given, I experienced unbearable pain and my eyes started tearing up as well.

few days, the condition of his nose became worse as it turned completely black, the upper layer of the skin started peeling off and mucus and puss also began to discharge from it. He then consulted several doctors and then ultimately decided to head to Chennai for treatment. “What started off as a simple infection turned this bad only due to the negligence of the doctor who administered the wrong injection,” informed Shyam. He added that due to the negligence on the part of the doctor, he had to undergo five reconstruc-

Chronological depiction of necrosis of the victim’s nose his nose in March 2015 for which he consulted Dr Parthapratim Dutta, a plastic surgeon at AMCH, who administered an injection directly into his nose.

I was not in a condition to return home to Digboi from where I had come to Dibrugarh for treatment,” said Shyam relating his account. He further said that in the next

tive plastic surgeries in Chennai which cost him more than Rs 10 lakhs. “This caused me a lot of physical and emotional trauma. I also

suffered and lost a year academically due to the treatment which was ongoing then,” Shyam fur-

“What started off as a simple infection turned this bad only due to the negligence of the doctor who administered the wrong injection,” – Shyam Sundar Gupta, victim.

ther mentioned. He said that he also wrote to the Medical Council of India (MCI) urging them to take some action against the doctor. But the MCI referred the case to Assam Medical Council but even the state body hasn’t taken any necessary action even after three years, mentioned Shyam. Leaving no stone unturned, Shyam also filed a case with the Assam State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (ASCDRC) where the case is currently subjudice. n

Inadequate action taken on medical negligence cases

n a worrying trend, Guwahati, too, has seen a number of cases of medical negligence in the past few months. However, in a majority of the instances the government has failed to take any action in these cases. Various instances of alleged negligence were reported from across the city which brought to the fore the importance of bringing accountability for hospital authorities. In an example of alleged medical negligence a few months ago, a case was registered with the Bharalumukh police station against the Institute of Human Reproduction (IHR), commonly known as Goenka Nursing Home, for alleged medical negligence. According to reports, a city resident, 31-year-old Nasima Sultana who was pregnant, died a few hours after she was admitted for

delivery to Goenka Nursing Home. Sultana was a dietician at a top hospital in the city.

DCDRFofficials informed G Plus that they receive several cases related to medical negligence in a month.

Additionally, the increasing number of medical negligence cases being registered in the city against government as well as private hospital authorities is forcing people to seek treatment outside

the state for critical ailments. On the other hand, the magnitude of such cases can also be ascertained by the number of cases received by the district consumer court. Kamrup (Metro) District Consumer Disputes Redressal forum (DCDRF) officials informed G Plus that they receive several cases related to medical negligence in a month. The cases range from wrong diagnosis of diseases to negligence in medical services. Officials of the DCDRF informed that such cases of medical negligence have become very frequent with at least three to four cases being filed with the consumer forum every month. In a recent case, a city resident gave his blood sample for testing to a laboratory before donating blood to a friend. However, the reports revealed that he had tested positive for HIV (Human Immuno-

deficiency Virus). After this, the man consulted two doctors and on their advice, gave his blood samples for testing in two different laboratories. Both the results showed a negative result for HIV. “He then filed a case of medical negligence against the first laboratory in which the DCDRF passed a judgement and ordered the laboratory owner to pay compensation to the complainant,” informed Mohammad Sahadat Hussain, president of the DCDRC. In another case, a woman filed a case against a city-based private hospital after her father passed away after being admitted for a week in the hospital. Member of DCDRF, Archana Deka, informed that the complainant’s father was suffering from jaundice and had stopped responding to treatment before he passed away. n

City

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Renovated Rabindra Bhawan set to open its doors by March end Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

he renovation work of Guwahati’s premier cultural centre, Rabindra Bhawan, is nearing completion with a major part of the work having been already completed. The entire renovation of Rabindra Bhawan has taken over a year to complete during which time the auditorium has remained shut. Home to Guwahati’s cultural gatherings and exchanges, Rabindra Bhawan has been undergoing repair and overhaul works since February 2018, although the centre had already been closed down in October 2017. “We have begun the work as per the blueprint provided to us,” said Murali Das, site engineer of the company which has been entrusted with the job after a tender was issued for the same. The work, being done under PWD (Building), includes extension and renovation of toilet box, installation of new equipments, development of the lobby area and refurnishing chairs. Further, officials at the Rabindra Bhawan informed that the stage and ceiling have also been completely remodelled. “An amount of Rs 5.4 crores was sanctioned by the department of Rabindra Bhawan is undergoing overhaul works which is nearing completion The auditorium has remained temporarily shut for the repairs since October, 2017 Authorities informed that the revamp work began in March 2019 Repairing seepage on walls, refurnishing of chairs, construction of additional urinals, remodelling of stage and ceiling have been completed The finishing work, including painting of walls, remains The auditorium is expected to be inaugurated before March end cultural affairs, government of Assam for the overhaul process. Out of the total amount, a large sum of Rs 14 lakhs has been spent as consultancy and architecture fees while the rest has been used for renovation work,” M Kakati, assistant engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) informed G Plus. He further added that water seepage in the walls of the audito-

rium was a major issue which has now been fixed with the use of latest technology. “Since the auditorium is built at a lower level than the Dighalipukhuri, water seeps below the stage during monsoons when the level of Dighalipukhuri rises. This has affected the timber over the course of time,” said an official. He added that the last renovation was undertaken around seven years ago. In addition to the existing urinals, new ones have also been constructed within the premises of Rabindra Bhawan. The lobby area including the doors and windows has been refurbished and false ceiling has been constructed for better aesthetics. A large chunk of the money has been spent on the refurbishment of the seating area which includes the installation of new chairs and carpet. The auditorium now has a seating capacity of 610 people – 272 in the balcony area and 338 on the ground floor, Rabindra Bhawan officials informed. The stage has been renovated with the introduction of high-end lighting, acoustic and sound systems and a new projector has also been purchased for the screening of movies in the future. Rabindra Bhawan is one of the extremely limited cultural centres in Guwahati which provides a platform for artists from various fields such as dance, music, theatre and culture among others to showcase their art. Speaking to G Plus about the future of Rabindra Bhawan, a source in the directorate of cultural affairs informed, “After the inauguration of a renovated and upgraded Rabindra Bhawan, we’re expecting the demand for the auditorium to go high. The rent of the cultural centre will definitely increase owing to the state-of-the-art

facilities that will be provided and the maintenance that it’ll require in the future.” Before it was temporarily shut in October, it hosted shows of national and even international artists on a regular basis and was thronged by art and culture aficionados. The auditorium used to hold about 20-25 programmes every month at a rent of around

Rs 25,000 per day. The renovation work is almost over now, with the final painting and finishing touches remaining. The auditorium is expected to be inaugurated by March end after which it’ll be open for bookings and hosting cultural events. n

Rabindra Bhawan, Guwahati

10 Governance Snippets ANNA Yojana, rice at Re 1/ kg launched in Assam

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

535 govt teachers’ posts vacant in Guwahati at the block level, cluster level and district level. This is being conducted for teachers of all subjects,” Bhuyan told G Plus. Further, taking another step to ensure better quality of hile the state education, the state education government has been department has merged a total continually laying of 140 schools in Kamrup stress on improving (Metro) district over the past the quality of few months since several education in government-run schools witnessed low schools, around 20 enrolment of students per cent of the total during the past year. sanctioned posts of Apart from low government teachers enrolment, there are currently lying were also many such vacant in Kamrup schools across the (Metro) district. state in which not Presently, there are even a single student 535 vacant posts of took admission during teachers in Kamrup the last academic year. (Metro) district, These schools informed officials. Out with zero and low of these, 375 posts are enrolment mostly for secondary assistant included Assamese teachers while the and Bengali medium rest 160 vacancies are schools in the city for elementary school as well as the state, teachers. informed officials. Shortage of teachers Other than the has always been one schools which have of the major reasons already been merged for the poor quality in Kamrup (Metro), of education in education department government schools in officials are planning Guwahati as well as Education minister Siddhartha Bhattacharyya taking part in Gunotsav at a government school in the city to further merge more in the entire state. the category. elementary education officer, schools together. However, the state education On the other hand, taking Buli Gogoi Bhuyan. “We have received requests department is now undertaking steps to ensure better quality She added that in the for around three more steps to bridge the gap. The of education in government initial stage of the recruitment schools for merger from authorities in the elementary schools, the education process, a verification survey is Guwahati and will complete education department informed department has begun teachers’ conducted by the director of the process soon,” said that currently the process of training. elementary education to verify an official of the elementary recruitment of elementary as “The training is taking place the actual number of vacant education department. well as secondary teachers is n

Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

hief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal launched the Affordable and Nourishment Assistance (ANNA) Yojana in Guwahati on February 28. This scheme allows beneficiaries to receive rice at Re 1 per kilogram from March 1. By launching this scheme, the state government aims to strengthen food security and provide free rice for tea garden workers and rice at Re 1 for nontea garden workers. This scheme will cover up to 2,48,89,182 beneficiaries in the state. State Finance Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted, “Along with HCM @sarbanandsonwal happy to launch our flagship program ANNA, as announced in #AssamBudget2019. Rice at Rs 1/kg will be distributed from 1st March to about 2.5 cr families. Budget allocation for #ANNA this year is Rs 330 cr. A matter of great joy.” It should be noted that the Finance Minister had announced this yojana while presenting the State Budget for the fiscal year 2019-20.

Two Assam youths fall prey to mob lynching

ess than a year after the Abhi-Neel incident shook the country, two more youths have fallen victim to mob lynching in Assam’s Chirang district. In yet another incident of mob lynching, two youths from lower Assam’s Chirang district were lynched by villagers who suspected they had killed the village headman the previous night. The lynching took place on Wednesday, February 27. While their bodies have been sent for post-mortem, it appears that the duo had been beaten up with lathis, sticks and other heavy objects, informed police sources. “Bipul Das and Ranjit Das, both from Kochpara in Bijni, were beaten to death by an angry mob. Police reached the spot after being alerted but they succumbed to their injuries,” informed officials at the Bijni police. They further added that the villagers are being questioned but no arrest has been made so far.

ongoing. “We had published advertisements for teacher recruitment for TET qualified teachers. Following this, we received online applications and began the selection process on the basis of marks obtained by the candidates and keeping in mind the reservation categories,” informed district

posts. This survey has already been completed for Kamrup (Metro) district, she said. Officials also informed that while they received adequate number of applications in other categories, they saw a shortage of applicants for Schedule Tribes (Plains) (STP) category against the number of vacant posts reserved for

No new schemes, initiatives since May 2018

ducation department officials told G Plus that since the new education minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya took charge in May 2018, there have been no new initiatives or rules that have been introduced. Recently, Bhattacharya had revealed that one of the reasons behind vacant posts not being filled on time is that school officials do not inform the elementary education department in advance about the teachers who are set to retire. This has given rise to more than 36,500 vacant posts of teachers in schools across Assam, informed the education minister in a written reply to a query by AGP MLA Atul Bora in the state assembly. He added

that 17,293 of these vacant posts are of primary schools. “Now we are asking the schools to inform us 180 days before a teacher retires, so that we can start the process and appoint a new teacher on time,” Bhattacharya said in the assembly. Additionally, the school education department has planned to continue with its major programme – Guntosav - which is aimed at improving the overall quality of education in primary schools. Students between classes 2 to 8 of all primary schools of the district are assessed under the initiative. During the previous rounds of the scheme, external evaluators consisting of the chief minister, other state ministers and

officials visited and marked the schools. The overall assessment was based on academic achievements of students and co-curricular activities comprising the morning assembly, formation of student parliaments, use of library books by students, conduct of physical education classes, availability and utilisation of school infrastructure and other facilities, and participation of school management committees in school activities were a few criteria taken into consideration for the evaluation. The district education officials said that this form of evaluation proved beneficial for them as they were now aware of the shortcomings and are already

working towards actively improving them. This apart, last year the government had also decided to conduct continuous medical assessment camps for differently-abled students in Guwahati. The programme covered a total of 916 differently-abled students between the ages of 6 and 14 in the district. Kamrup (Metro) district resource person for inclusive education, Suranjana Goswami said, “Teachers need to be made more aware about the learning needs of differently-abled children. For this, all teachers across the district were trained in Braille and also developed suitable study material for all students.” n

City

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Eviction drive on illegal hoardings in Guwahati; GMC blacklists many advertising agencies campaign of the illegal hoardings across different parts of the city. The team, headed by GMC

G Plus News @guwahatiplus

n a cleanliness drive, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), on Wednesday, removed illegal hoardings and banners from various main roads of the city. The move came after the GMC had blacklisted 78 advertising firms over non-payment of advertisement tax for the financial year 2018-19. As per an official order of the GMC, the total outstanding amount of these 78 firms comes to more than Rs 5.50 crores. These firms have been barred from carrying out any sort of advertisements within Guwahati. A list of these agencies is published on the official website of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation along with the order. Following this, the municipal body initiated an eviction

As per an official order of the GMC, the total outstanding amount of these 78 firms comes to more than Rs 5.50 crores. These firms have been barred from carrying out any sort of advertisements within Guwahati.

Collector Loni Borpatragohain, cleared 11 huge hoardings from areas like Gauhati Club, Fatasil Ambari, Sarabbhatti and Bhangagarh. The team of GMC

officials also took stock of the situation on the GS Road and removed illegal hoardings. The team started from Paltan Bazar and carried on the drive till Six Mile area. During the drive the GMC officials removed all illegal hoardings on this stretch. The team removed seven hoardings of size 10x20 feet and 20x20 feet. All these hoardings were put up without the permission of GMC. Further according to sources, over the past few years several illegal and unauthorised hoardings and advertising sites have cropped up in Guwahati in various places. Several of these advertising agencies have been patronised by various politicians and thus the hands of GMC officials are tied, said sources. With the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the blacklisting of outdoor advertising agencies comes at a crucial time when all political parties rely heavily on outdoor advertising in the run up to the elections. n

A hoarding in Guwahati

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#NewsThisWeek IIT-Guwahati develops India’s first biodegradable plastic Scientists from IIT-Guwahati have developed biodegradable plastic for the first time in India with homegrown technology. It has been developed by the institute’s Centre of Excellence-Sustainable Polymers (CoE-SusPol). The centre has developed cutlery, household furniture and decorative items such as flower pots and toys using this plastic alternative. Vimal Katiyar, CoE-SusPol coordinator and principal investigator of the project said that their team has been able to make this product at lower costs with home-grown technology when compared to the US, which is a major producer of biodegradable plastic. He said that this product has passed the hot-beverage text as it has no hazardous chemicals.

Assam to build solar park in Amguri To boost power production and promote clean energy, Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stone for a 70 MW Solar Park at Japisajja village in Amguri, Sibsagar district on February 27. The Solar Park will be set up in an area of 340 acres of land and will have a production life of 25 years. It will provide facilities for research and development in the field of solar energy. Sonowal said that this power project will give new momentum to the state government’s self-declared goal of making Assam self-sufficient in terms of power production. He added that the state government has set up a target to generate 6500 MW power in the state by 2030 and that this goal can only be achieved by leveraging the power production capacity of the state.

Adani wins Guwahati Airport bid, to operate for 50 years Gautam Adani’s infra group has emerged as the highest bidder for Guwahati airport. The financial bids for LGBI airport where opened by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Tuesday, February 26. A senior AAI official said that Adani’s per passenger, per month revenue bid of Rs. 160 is the highest for Guwahati. The revenue share amounts offered by the other five bidders are awaited. The official mentioned that the tendering process has been completed and the actual award of work and transfer of the airports to the highest bidder will take place after Cabinet clearance.

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Assam: World-class Police Academy in Dergaon Moving ahead with the modernization of Assam Police, a new Police Academy will be set up at Dergaon, Golaghat. The state-of-the-art facility academy will be located in the Assam Police Training Centre campus and will use modern technological advancements for improving the capacity of the police force. This academy will cater to not only police personnel from Assam but also north east, South Asian nations, South East Asian nations like Laos, Vietnam Cambodia etc and friendly African countries. It is a first of its kind academy in India. The foundation stone for this world-class academy was laid by Assam Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal. The proposed Police Academy with its modern curriculum and training module will help in building the trainees as quality human resource said the chief minister.

SC issues notice to Centre, Assam Govt on plea challenging Citizenship Bill A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued a notice to the Centre and the Assam government on Wednesday and sought a response from on a plea challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The bench has asked both the Assam and Central government to file a response within two weeks. The petition by Nagarikatwa Aain Songsudhan Birodhi Mancha, a forum against Citizenship Act Amendment Bill has opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill on the ground that it had introduced religion as a new principle into the citizenship law and termed it as “communally motivated humanitarianism”.

All NE state capitals to be connected by BG rail link By 2020 As per Indian Railways’ Vision Document, all Northeast state capitals are to be connected by Broad Gauge (BG) Rail Link by 2020, said N.K. Prasad, General Manager, Construction wing, North East Frontier Railway, taking part in the monthly InterMedia Publicity Coordination Committee (IMPCC) meeting held in North East Frontier Railway, construction wing, Maligaon, Guwahati. Apart from the BG Link by 2020, other goals by the NF Railway are, conversion of entire MG to BG in NF Railway, to provide faster connectivity to North East by doubling of railway line from New Jalpaiguri to Lumding, avenues for international connectivity etc.

In The News

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Captured Wing Commander Abhinandan returns home from Pakistan G Plus News @guwahatiplus

ndia welcomed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the Indian Air Force pilot in Pakistan’s captivity, at the Wagah border around 9:20 PM on Friday night, March 1. A five-member team reached the Attari-Wagah border to receive Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. In what is being seen as a diplomatic victory for India, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had, on Thursday, announced that the captured

IAF pilot will be freed as “peace gesture.” It is being reported that Abhinandan Varthaman had shot down the Pakistani Air Force’s F-16 fighter jet by firing an R-73 airto-air missile before his MiG-21 Bison was hit during a fierce aerial dogfight. The incident which caught the attention of the world media for the past two days culminated with the Wing Commander’s return to his homeland after hours of wait. Earlier on February 27, Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had confirmed that one MiG 21 of the Indian Air Force was lost and the pilot went missing in action. “Pakistan claims he is in their

custody but we are ascertaining the facts,” he said during a press briefing. Reportedly, India had shot down a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 that had come close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Jammu & Kashmir. The aircraft fell three kilometres inside Pakistani-administered Kashmir. As the PAF jets approached the LoC, the Indian Air Force immediately retaliated and fired. This forced the F-16s to return but not before one took the hit and went down. Wing Commander Abhinandan landed on Pakistani soil after ejecting from his jet and was arrested by the Pakistani forces. n

Abhinandan swallowed important documents before capture

ndian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman swallowed a quarter of his secret documents before he was captured by Pakistani civilians and handed over to the Pakistan army. Official documents accessed by The Times of India revealed that Abhinandan was held by three Pakistani civilians namely Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry, Shoaid and Razza in Horran Village, 7 kms from the Line of Control (LOC) in Pakistan

occupied Kashmir. The Pakistan English daily, Dawn, had reported on Thursday that 58-year-old Mohammad Razzaq Chaudhry, a political activist, noticed around 8.45 am that there was a dogfight on in the sky. After an Indian aircraft sped across the LoC, Razzaq saw a

parachute descending a kilometre from his house. He immediately called his friends Shoaib, Razza and others and asked them to reach the location. According to the official documents, he swallowed some of his crucial documents and jumped into the nearby pond to escape the mob. He was pulled back and some of his documents were seized while one of the youths shot at his leg. After he was mauled, six Pakistan Army soldiers arrived and took him into custody. n

Pakistani army looked after me well: Abhinandan

he pilot, while being interrogated by Pakistani officials on Wednesday February 27, said on video that he was being looked after well by Pakistan after being taken into custody. When asked if he was being treated well in Pakistan, he replied, “Yes I have, to put this on record, the officers of the Pakistani army have looked after me very well, they are thorough

gentlemen. Starting from the captain who rescued me from the mob and from the soldiers and thereafter the officers in the unit in which I was taken to.” Several videos were released on social media where the Wing Commander was seen unconscious and being beaten up a mob. He added, “This is how I expect my army to behave as and I am very impressed by the Pakistani army.” n

The business of showbiz: Producers fight to register patriotic movie titles post Pulwama attack

ccording to reports, hours before Wing Commander Abhinandan’s release from Pakistan, Bollywood producers fought to register patriotic movie titles post the recent tension on the LOC. Producers fought to register titles like ‘Balakot’, ‘Surgical Strikes 2.0’, ‘Pulwama Attacks’ and ‘Abhinandan.’ February 26, the day India launched air strikes on Pakistan, was an unusually busy day at the cramped offices of the Indian Motion Pictures’ Producers’ Association (IMMPA) in Andheri, Mumbai as representatives of at least five different production companies rushed to reserve jingoistic movie titles for films that they hoped to make in the future. It is to be mentioned that the success of ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ has prompted a surge of titles focused on the India-Pakistan conflict, a review of titles registered in February reveals. To register a title, all a production house needs to do is fill a simple form, with 4-5 alternative titles in order of preference, and pay a sum of Rs 250 along with 18 per cent GST.

14 G Talk E

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019 T

India, Pakistan … some random thoughts

ow seriously do I, along with the rest of the world, take certain recent utterances of US President Donald Trump? Utterances like “reasonably attractive news” coming from India and Pakistan and that it’s “coming to an end?” Trump went on elaborate that the US has been exploring possibilities of brokering peace between the two hostile neighbours and his usage of words like these are indicative of longterm peace being ushered onto the western frontier of the country if not a permanent solution to the vexed Kashmir issue. The vociferous Indian celebrations (not quite muted in Guwahati and rather embarrassingly raucous at the Wagah Border) seemed to have been an example of counting the chickens before they had hatched. With all the “How’s the Jaish…” updates on Facebook, the actual josh lay punctured the very next day with Wing Commander Abhinandan’s capture. After all, as the cliché goes, those who celebrate war do not participate in it and those who are in war do not celebrate it. There will be casualties on both side of two warring nations and premature celebrations led by politicians (cutting across party lines) are rather

mortifying in front of the whole world. And so coming to politicians and their insensitivity to something as destructive as war, the Karnataka chief minister, BS Yedyurappa and his embarrassing statement that India’s airstrikes in Pakistan’s Balakot will “help BJP win 22 seats in Karnataka” took politics to a new low. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party wasted no time in retorting that Indians were “manipulated into war-mongering” by “people who are desperate to win an election.” For the damage control that Yedyurappa engaged in post this outrage, his and ilk’s tactlessness in any matter outside the realm of petty politics stood exposed. Finally, Imran Khan! After all, he was a sportsman one of the world’s greatest cricketers. I distinctly remember his visit to Guwahati during Pakistan’s Indian tour of 1979-80 under Asif Iqbal. He was quite indisposed and couldn’t play much against the East Zone. But if his nature has to be analysed he has always been a man of peace especially with his life’s mission of promoting his cancer hospital in Karachi. All we can hope is that peace and better sense prevail upon all concerned humanity. Swapnil Bharali (Editor) @swapnilbharali

Pilot is back, what next?

urrah! Prime Minister Narendra Modi bags an international award – a prestigious one at that. The PM has become the 14th recipient of the Seoul Peace Prize. Peace award at Seoul for being a “soul.” Get it? Me neither. . At the award ceremony, the PM said, “The time has come for all right-thinking nations to join hands to completely eradicate terrorist networks. Only by doing so, can we replace hate with harmony; destruction with development and transform the landscape of violence and vendetta into a postcard for peace.” This of course happened before the Indo-Pak escalation, but after the Pulwama attacks. At a time when the nation clamors for stern action, maybe PM Modi could’ve have returned the award and said, “Listen, I am not peaceful, at least not at this point. We will take action. We assure you that we will take action.” And that is how he should’ve made a statement. Maybe, just maybe. But then again, India took on

F16’s with their MiG 20 jets, a fighter plane that has been much debated for its poor performance, and also had a movie made on it (ref: Rang De Basanti). Coming back to the award, the past winners include former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and international relief organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. Do you see where the PM has been positioned? And of course PM Modi deserves this. After all, he’s ensured safety and peace in India. And I’m certain that this is because mob lynching, media gagging, religious polarization and political symmetry is at an all time high. And not to forget, PM Modi had a documentary made on him, playing at the event. Maybe that’s also why movie directors are running around to “book” the most searched keywords on Google in the past week – Pulwama, Abhinandan, Indian Air Force and the list goes on!

Sidharth Bedi Varma @sid_bv

Analysing the hooch tragedy

s the number of deaths increases, the magnitude of this humongous tragedy unfolds. With that, the reactions get sharper. On social and other media, the reactions and demands are like: Excise minister should resign. Alcohol should be banned in Assam. Government must own responsibility and pay compensation. Why pay compensation to drunkards? How can people make fun of deceased by calling them drunkards? Government is earning huge revenues and letting people die. The incident is a conspiracy against the government. Tea tribes are different kind of people (sic)! Etc etc etc! Unfortunately, I see very few getting to the root of the problem or the real magnitude of the tragedy. Let me analyse the issue. There seems to be a rather clouded picture of what type of alcohol the victims consumed. Essentially, there are four types of alcohol available for consumption in Assam. One is the typical IMFL and imported stuff sold in innumerable wine shops. Second, the home brews like Sai Mod, Apong etc which are essentially rice brews. Third, the Assam Excise brews sold in pouches and bottles by registered mahaldars. They are essentially crude rum and popularly known as country liquor. These three varieties are legal. Another cheap, illegal variety available all over the state is called 'gela', 'sulai' etc. It’s essentially a crude whiskey made from decomposed jaggery (lali gur) and converted to alcohol. To expedite the process, they add battery water (sulphuric acid) which when, in dangerous quantities , cause poisoning. The government earns no revenue from these illegal outlets. The Golaghat and Titabor victims consumed this variety of illegal hooch. To understand the real picture the pattern needs to be studied. These hooch victims were affected on the same day across two different districts. I can safely assume that none of the deceased were first time drinkers of the stuff or in those particular outlets. Nor it can be a huge coincidence that all these outlets made their hooch separately and by sheer bad luck all became poisonous at the same time, same day. It is evident that the hooch came from a common manufacturing unit or common

rSwine flu breakout

ingredients. That also indicates that a syndicate/cartel exists which runs the smooth yet illegal operations of making, wholesaling and retailing illegal hooch across at least two districts in upper Assam. Now, how could this happen unless it is a well oiled machine? Already, three non-Assamese names who allegedly are the kingpins of this business are in the media. First question is how is it possible for these non-Assamese run illegal businesses to be flourishing in the Assamese heartland? How come law hasn't even accessed them more than 2 days into the tragedy? Secondly, why did the victims take such liquor when legal stuff is available? The fact is, sulai being revenue free, is cheaper than the other legal alternatives. All these consumers were from the lower economic strata and they needed alcohol in quantities enough to

t is evident that the hooch came from a common manufacturing unit or common ingredients. That also indicates that a syndicate/cartel exists which runs the smooth yet illegal operations of making, wholesaling and retailing illegal hooch across at least two districts in upper Assam. get drunk. Also, since no licenses are needed, these illegal outlets are more in number and one need not go too far to find them. Thirdly, should government pay compensation? It’s a difficult question to answer. Collectively, it’s a government failure that such outlets existed, so a liability exists. However, it’s also correct that the victims wilfully became a part of an illegal exercise. So should they deserve sympathy? My take on the point is that the money is not the answer. The government should identify the families whose bread-earners have been lost. It then should provide sustenance to such families.

O pinion Dr Navanil Barua

Would banning of alcohol provide any solution? I am of the firm belief that no knee-jerk solution like this can be farther from the solution! Prohibition has never worked anywhere in the world including USA. Rather, it gave birth to mafia in US. Let’s take the case studies of Bihar, Mizoram, Nagaland etc. Biharis go to UP, Nagas and Mizos come to Assam to enjoy the pleasures of alcohol. Alcohol is as old as humanity. For every irresponsible drunk in the world, there must be one lakh aficionados who drink in moderation, responsibly and taking pleasure out of it. Prohibition affects that one lakh rather than the single drunk who would anyway drink whatever is available for him. Moreover, any government needs revenue to do public works and pay salaries. Who would make up for that shortfall of the already embattled Assam government? I also cannot believe that it is a conspiracy to defame the state government. For those who believe in that must also be also believing that Pulwama was an engineered attack to gain pre-poll sympathy for the government! Another very disturbing narrative is that tea tribes are uneducated, backward, irresponsible drunkards! For Christ’s sake, do not demean a community as if they are from a different planet. It shows your racial attitude. The majority of the dead may have been from the tea tribes but not all are from tea tribes! And not all tea garden workers or descendants are uneducated, drunkards or imbeciles. Now, where does the solution lie? Let’s discuss this in the second part of this article next week. n (The author is a neuro-surgeon by profession and a socio-political activist by choice)

Letter to the Editor

The G Plus story on swine flu breakout has raised concern about sufficient awareness among the common people. Though the state health & family welfare department has issued advisory it has to ensure that the people are aware of the advisory. I hope the government machinery is taking a serious note of this dangerous outbreak. People also need to know what should be done if infected. The media also has a role that it does not spread panic and confusion among the citizens. G Plus should also help raise awareness about it through proper reporting. Anshul Kashyap Guwahati

In Focus

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Anangsha Alomyan Social media influencer

social media influencer and vlogger, Anangsha, 24, works full time making content for YouTube, Instagram and her blog. Currently, she boasts of having a following of almost 20,000 on her Instagram page. She had always been on social media, but she started taking this passion of hers seriously and turned it into a real job in 2017. She is mainly a travel vlogger, but also likes to make lifestyle content. In her words, 90% travel and 10% lifestyle. She was a tennis player when she was in school and had loved travelling since a young age. She did her schooling from Army Public School, Narengi and then went on to pursue her Bachelors in Sociology from Miranda House, Delhi University. She also has a Masters in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. “Travel blogging and becoming an influencer was never my plan. I never imagined this to happen. I tried it and it just clicked. I think it’s was an accident, but a happy one,” said Anangsha. In 2016, Anangsha took a trip to the mountains on a trekking expedition and everything changed. She had this sudden urge to travel. She told her father that she

wanted to go to Uttarakhand. She went there with her friends and she felt so happy. She never thought that she would like it so much. She was doing street photography at the time and had gotten quite good at it by then. By October of that year, she had already done 4 treks.

At that time, she did not have a following that strong, but she was happy as she was building content. “I utilized that time to my full advantage. I was confused and scared, but I did a lot of research and also learnt video editing

She says that it was a little bit difficult to manage with her studies, and her post-graduate course was kicking her a**. So after completing her degree, she did 7 treks continuously as she wanted to explore herself.

which is an absolute must for every vlogger. You have to know how to edit videos, otherwise you can’t survive in this profession,” she mentioned. Last December, Anangsha’s follower count hit 10K and she is

hoping that by March of 2019, she can achieve another milestone, 20k followers on Instagram. In terms of her present work, she has worked with Kesariachaiwala, a tea company, Urban Junction, a restaurant, Breadbox, a bakery, another teashop and a travel company for which she vlogs, creates video content and even photos. Since this is not a conventional profession, she also had to face some challenges. Her parents wanted her to get a stable job. Many people criticized her, told her that she is just one among hundreds of vloggers and social influencers, that she was way in over her head. Some of her friends even criticized her and told her that she was trying to make people jealous and was showing off unnecessarily. “Whenever you are doing something unconventional, people will try and break you down and make you give up. However, that is the moment when you have to show everyone what you are made of. I believed in myself and I always knew I had what it took to make it,” said Anangsha. Anangsha says that she knows it’s not easy, but she is trying to

break the stigma against social influencers and anyone who is not doing a conventional job. She said that she had to do everything on her own and take a stand for herself, and she’s glad she did. Another thing that is challenging is vlogging in Guwahati because people always stare at her when she is filming or vlogging. And even though she is a hardcore professional, the unwanted stares do get to her but she says that it is a small price to pay to live her passion. Anangsha once almost gave up on her passion as the comments from everyone around her was getting to her. She couldn’t make up her mind, but with the help, guidance and counsel of a few close friends, she decided to stay her course and pursue her passion. “I knew there were going to be a lot of challenges and since I had made it this far, I decided not to give up. It’s when you want to give up most that you have to stick with it.” In the future, Anangsha wants to do collaborations with big brands in travel, fashion and lifestyle and hopes to become one of the most influential people in this space of content creation and vlogging.

On 27th February, G Plus, on its digital channels, aired a video showing a traffic policeman latching on to the bonnet of a commercial passenger vehicle even as the driver refused to stop dragging the cop for around 400 metres. Some reactions to the incident: Neelam Goswami The passengers were helpless, they were screaming but the driver didn’t pay any heed to it. And this video made us aware of the incident. Thanks to the passenger in fact who recorded the video. The people who were laughing by watching this video - slow clap for them ... morile react koril hoi sage etya funny jen lagi ase traffic policemen value naikiya hoi gol niki..!! (They find it funny now, perhaps they would reacted differently had he died, don’t policemen have any value…!!) The driver needs to be punished soon. Tamoghna Das The driver should be thrashed, his licence cancelled forever and the vehicle confiscated. All vehicles parking on the Jalukbari flyover need to be penalised. Kudos to the policeman who was doing what he was expected to do. Most of the time, no one bothers about traffic rules being flouted openly. Nilotpal Roy Aisa dhulai dibo lage (Should be properly bashed up) ...utter disregard for law and such audacity.... Make an example out of him so that these tempo travellers and bus drivers learn traffic rules and regulations. They are solely responsible for all Guwahati’s traffic issues.

Madhurjya Phukon Slow claps to those passengers sitting and watching away like a south Indian movie is being displayed... later they will ask the Indian government “kaha hain ache din???” (Where are the good days???) Not a BJP bhakt, I’m being practical here. Thank you.

Tonmoy Nanda The drivers here flout traffic rules like they own the roads and as if their chacha is a vidhayak. They don’t stop at the requisite stops and halt anywhere they wish to clogging traffic, just to overload the vehicle with passengers. Consequently, incessant honking remains the only way out contributing to noise pollution. Most have no tail or brake lights and are polluting as well. They also over speed and their competition to pick up more and more passengers among themselves lead to frequent accidents and lack of indicators too add to the problem for they bend and turn without any indication, leading to road mishaps. Alternatively, the policeman may have been coercing him for bribes, etc, leading to such a belligerent mood of the driver.

16 Feature

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

The beginning of the end of TEA in Assam

ith over 180 years of glorious history under its belt, the ageold tea industry of Assam, the flag bearing industry of the state, synonymous with its identity and essence the world over, and not till long ago, amongst the highest foreign exchange earners for the country, is now in a rather fragile state. For anyone who is from Assam, tea and the one-horned rhinoceros are perhaps the two things that come to the mind when anyone interested inquires about Assam. Over the past few years, a lot of effort and energy has been spent by the government, NGOs and various other private and public pressure groups on the conversion and protection of the one-horned rhino and people are a lot more aware these days. But unfortunately, the case is entirely the opposite for the tea industry as it is being left in the cold to fetch for its own. Unfair competition from the unorganized sector leading to stretched balance sheets and huge losses for most of the organized sector tea companies, ignorance and apathy on part of the government, a mostly illiterate and semi-literate workforce, huge dependence on labour, unfavorable climatic conditions, a largely hostile media that loves to vilify the industry at the slightest of slipups etc, have all created a toxic cocktail that is being served to the tea industry. To begin with, we have to go back a few years when a lot of tea estates and factories were being silently taken over by private owners, mostly from outside Assam. A vast number of these mushrooming unorganized BLFs (Bought Leaf Factories), as well as privately owned tea estates in the state have absolute disregard for the PLA (Plantation Labour Act), labour norms or any other work

ethics of the industry and are driven by only one reasoning - profit making. These organizations have not only tarnished the image and quality of Assam tea globally by accepting and manufacturing tea from extremely poor quality green leaf, thereby dragging down the prices, but they have also exploited the tens of thousands of small tea growers by paying them awfully low prices for their raw

The saddest part is that the government has no concrete plans regarding the industry or how to deal with the ongoing crisis. Considering the millions of lives depending on it, the need of the hour was to have a separate ministry for tea at the state level, solely dedicated towards analyzing its problems and looking for solutions. material by asking them to focus on quantity rather than quality. Majority of them employ child labourers and have furthermore exploited thousands of daily wage workers who are employed under a “hire and fire policy,” with no superannuation bene-

fits, no medical facilities, no housing amenities and absolutely zero responsibility. There are numerous instances where not just the daily-wage workers, but even official staff and management executives have been totally exploited by these types of organisations. Understandably enough, the organised tea sector, which comprises companies and estates that employ over millions of workers and play by the rules have found it difficult to compete and are struggling to stay afloat as price of tea has remained stagnant for years together, while the cost of production has been steadily increasing over the years. Now, we have to keep in mind that in this organized sector, companies and estates which are particularly labour intensive, in addition to providing daily wages and job security, also take care of dwelling, providing rations, hospitals and medical facilities (even for non-workers), maternity benefits to female workers, provident fund, gratuity and complete superannuation benefits, schooling, crèches with free nutritional meals for children, and also carry out various community welfare activities and other social outreach programs etc totally free of cost. All this means that the level of playing field is lopsided and the organised sector is making huge losses and is under tremendous stress. The average cost of production for the organized sector is roughly around Rs 180, while the average price of tea at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre was Rs 141.29 for 2017-18. This is the reason why we are witnessing a number of companies that are gradually exiting the tea

Sooman Mahanta

industry in Assam. Very recently, Mcleod Russel India Ltd, which happened to be the world’s largest tea growing company, sold almost half of its estates in Assam. The saddest part is that the government has no concrete plans regarding the industry or how to deal with the ongoing crisis. Considering the millions of lives depending on it, the need of the hour was to have a separate ministry for tea at the state level, solely dedicated towards analyzing its problems and looking for solutions. But the government, as we all know, is mostly myopic with a vision of five years, that too engulfed in vote bank appeasements and is therefore clueless regarding the nuances facing the industry. More often than not, it is happy to sideline its duty by merely declaring wage hikes for workers or handing out doles during elections. Simply hiking wages is not a solution for improving the lives of workers, let’s be very clear about it. If the government does not adopt a holistic approach to inculcate the values of work, ethics and nutrition at first, then without that, even doubling wages will also be of no use and might actually be

counterproductive, as most of the money will only be spent on country liquor and gambling, or any such negative activity. Moreover, if the government decides to burden the industry with another wage hike, it would serve as a final nail in the coffin for the entire organized tea industry of Assam as it is in no condition to endure it and such a decision would collapse the entire tea industry and render millions of vulnerable workers without income, or any sort of social security. This will not only be an immense human tragedy but it might very well catapult into chaos and fuel civil unrest throughout the state. So, please double check your tea before buying, see where it is coming from, make sure it is coming from an estate and produced in a factory that values its workers and plays by the rules. Because if the common public is ignorant, the government is shortsighted and the media is silent, then the day is not far when the proud age-old tea in-

dustry of Assam will be left in ruins, broken and bruised in the hands of a few greedy individuals. n The author is Assistant Manager (Estate) at Amalgamated Plantations Pvt Ltd and diploma holder in Tea Technology and Plantation Management.

Trotter

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Woman covers her face in period Woman spends £1,100 blood to show they’re ‘beautiful’ on plastic surgery for and ‘powerful’ her ‘ugly’ cat

emetra Nyx spent years hiding her periods from boyfriends and being extremely embarrassed every time she came on. But when a change in her contraception meant she had to start keeping a closer eye on her cycle, she started to see things very differently. She grew to love her time of the month, saying it’s “beautiful and powerful”, and wanted to share her new appreciation with women around the world. She started collecting her blood and one day had an “impulse” to smear it across her face and share photos online. She said, “We hold so much shame in our bodies and most of us do not realise it until we intentionally explore it. Our periods are an incredibly magical time of month that holds immense power and our society keeps us away from that as much as possible. Sharing pictures of blood on my face and body was just an impulse. I was creating a series to help women connect with their menstrual cycle, and I thought

it would be fun. We can also do things like paint with it or pour it into the earth. I believe it’s a beautiful thing to get comfortable with touching your own blood.” Demetra, who lives in Los Angeles and works as a sex coach, had her first period when she was 12. Throughout her teens she was embarrassed about them and viewed them as “disgusting.” She would then hide from boyfriends and was always paranoid the blood would leak through her clothes or onto her sheets. After having the IUD fitted when she was 20, Demetra’s periods

became extremely painful. It was then she had it removed and went back to using condoms that she discovered her new love for her periods. Since sharing her images celebrating her period on Instagram , Demetra has received both positive and negative comments with some people telling her she may as well be wiping poo on her face, something that only encourages her to keep posting honest pictures of her blood. (Source: ladbible)

Pizza-eating man photobombs reporter on air

he internet has a new hero, and it’s a pizza-eating man who hilariously photobombed a reporter on air. A video going viral with over a million views on Twitter shows a congressional staffer in the US unintentionally photobombing a CBSN reporter while eating pizza - and the internet is loving it. The video was shot while the reporter was covering former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s testimony. In the video, as he speaks on camera, a congressional staffer behind him in the hallway proceeds to take a big bite out of his pizza. The short clip captures the moment ‘Hallway pizza guy’ realises he’s in the shot - and it will make you laugh out loud.

pet owner has been accused of “animal abuse” for taking her cat to get plastic surgery on its face. The unnamed woman from China took her cat in to have an operation on its eyes after claiming she didn’t like the shape of them and thought they were “ugly.” The grey cat is said to have undergone a doubleeyelid operation, or Asian blepharoplasty, where a crease is added to the animal’s eyelids, to

revealing that the poor animal’s eyes are very red and swollen. According to staff at the Rupeng Pet Hospital in Nanjing, where the operation was performed, the double-eyelid surgery is common, with many dog owners opting to have it done so their pets can participate in shows. However, they added that there can be a health risk when the surgery is performed on cats and it can cause a lot of discomfort. Since the report aired on Chinese television, the cat owner

create the look of a monolid. In order to do this, vets made a cut on each of the cat’s eyelids with a scalpel. The television station also revealed shocking photos of the cat following the procedure, which is believed to have cost the woman 10,000 yuan (around £1,100). In the pictures, part of the cat’s fur has been shaved off its face,

in question has been heavily criticised on social media. One person said: “It doesn’t even look like the same cat anymore. This is plain torture.” A second commented: “I would go as far to say this is animal abuse complete disregard for the poor cat’s feelings.” “Completely unnecessary,” added a third user. (Source: mirror.co.uk)

Parade of 500 buses breaks Guinness World Record Netizens haven’t stopped laughing at the hilarious photobomb since it was shared online. This isn’t the first time an unsuspecting news anchor has

been photobombed on air. Last year, a scarlet bird landed on a reporter’s head during a live broadcast, and the hilarious footage went viral. (Source: ndtv)

n Indian state broke a Guinness World Record when it gathered 500 buses into the world’s largest bus parade. The Uttar Pradesh government

captured the record from a 390bus convoy convened in Abu Dhabi. The parade covered a distance of 2 miles from the Sahson toll plaza to the Nawabganj toll plaza. Guinness officials were on site

gathered the parade of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation buses, which

during the Wednesday attempt to verify it as a new record. (Source: upi)

Donald Trump dances to Ranveer Singh’s Malhari; mashup goes viral

f the many, many entertaining things on the internet right now, this might just be the funniest one for Bollywood buffs. A video going viral on social media shows US President Donald Trump dancing to Ranveer Singh’s Malhari. The mashup has Trump’s face morphed onto Ranveer Singh, and the result has netizens rolling on the

floor laughing.

Shared online by a Twitter account with the caption “Peshwa Warrior Trump”, the video has been viewed over 3.5 lakh times and has garnered over 2,000 retweets. Since being shared online, the hit mashup has collected a ton of appreciative responses. It seems to have pleased both Donald Trump fans and Bollywood lovers. (Source: ndtv)

18 Review

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Starring: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi, etc. Director: Laxman Utekar

Cinepolis

09854066166 Total Dhamaal

Christian Basti

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09435025808

Luka Chuppi

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Grande Cines

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Paltan Bazar

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Uri: The Surgical Strike

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Kokaideu Bindaas

06:15 PM, 08:45 PM

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Sonchiriya 05:45 PM

Anuradha Cineplex

Luka Chuppi

he film is a sweet romanticcomedy wherein Guddu (Aaryan) meets Rashmi (Sanon) and they soon fall in love. Rashmi wants a live-in relationship before they get married, whereas Guddu, who comes from a small town middle-class family wants to get married. Hilarious adventures soon occur when the duo start living together and their overbearing north-Indian families are on the verge of finding out their little secret. The film is a fun watch

ava Mobiles have been slower than its competitors in 2018, launching very few smartphones in the market. The company wants to start 2019 with the Z92, a budget smartphone priced at the affordable mark of Rs. 10,000 mark.

Design:

The Lava Z92 is one of the better-looking smartphones to come out of the manufacturer's stable. It is sleek, light and feels good when held in the hand. The Z92 has a big 6.22-inch display with a notch at the top which houses a tiny earpiece and a selfie camera. It has thin bezels at the top and sides, but the one below the display is considerably thicker. There is a fingerprint sensor at the back along with a single camera and a dual-LED flash. The positioning of the fingerprint sensor is good and easy to reach. Lava has positioned the power and the volume buttons at the right, while the SIM tray is on the

that tackles societal issues of misogyny, gender inequality, caste bias and moral policing in the Indian society. It is a situational comedy that has cast the perfect actors for the content of the film. It has A plus actors such as Pankaj Tripathi and Vinay Pathak who light up the screen with their performance and comedic timing. Both Aaryan and Sanon fit into the roles well. Individually they do justice to their characters, however, their chemistry in the film was soso and could have been better.

Lava Z92

left. In the bottom, the phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a MicroUSB port and the loudspeaker grille. The top of the phone is bare. Specifications and Software: The Lava Z92 is a budget smartphone with modest specifications. It is powered by the MediaTek Helio P22 SoC, which we have seen powers the Xiaomi Redmi 6. There is 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. You do have the option to expand storage by up to 256GB thanks to the dedicated microSD card slot. The 6.22-inch display has an HD+ (720x1520) resolution with a small notch at the top and a 19:9 aspect ratio. Lava has used

PVR Cinemas

Noonmati Aparshakti Khurana, who plays the eternal best friend reprises that role in the film, and though funny, he deserved better lines and more comedy punchlines. The movie is written well for the most part, is packed with laugh-out-loud moments, however, in some scenes, the comedy does get repetitive. The film boasts of two mainstream songs, Coca-Cola and Poster. Overall, the film is a good and entertaining watch. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re feeling a bit down or just need a good laugh, watch this movie. n

Dona Planet

0361 2656968

08800900009

Luka Chuppi

Total Dhamaal

09:45 AM, 03:15 PM

09:00 AM, 12:15 PM, 05:50 PM

Total Dhamaal

Luka Chuppi

05:45 PM

09:30 AM, 03:05 PM,

Kokaideu Bindaas

06:15 PM, 08:40 PM

08:30 PM

Gully Boy 11:50 AM

Gold Cinema

Sonchiriya

Paltan Bazaar

03:10 PM, 09:00 PM

Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. Connectivity options on the Lava Z92 include 4G as well as VoLTE on both Nano-SIMs. There is support for Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11n, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou. The Lava Z92 has a 3260mAh battery and you get a 10W charger in the box.

f/2.0 aperture and 1.12-micron pixels. The camera app is very basic but has a few modes to play with. These include Studio, AR Sticker, Super Night, Video Beauty, Time Lapse, Filter, Template, Panorama, Intelligent Selfie, and Microspur modes. The 3260mAh battery isn't the largest we've seen on a phone at this price point but power usage is kept under control.

Performance, Battery life and Cameras

The phone offers decent performance for day-today use and did not observe any lag while scrolling through the UI. However, some apps launched relatively slowly. The Lava Z92 has a single 13-megapixel camera at the back with an f/2.0 aperture and 1.12-micron pixels. At the front, there's an 8-megapixel selfie

Verdict:

shooter with an

The Lava Z92 isn't underpowered or horribly overpriced for what it offers. It has a capable processor and offers a usable experience. Its cameras are good in daylight but the quality isn't all that good when it comes to macro and lowlight photography. n

Fiction

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

The Last Moan of the Tiger

t was in a very strange manner that I got to meet Sagir Khan, the then manager of a beautiful, picturesque garden near North Lakhimpur called Dirpai. It was beside the Subansiri River and close to the thickly forested foothills of Arunachal Pradesh. I had been camping at a place called Gogamukh on the river fishing for the Golden Mahseer and other fish up stream. The government of India had set up a camp there for measuring and collecting the necessary data for the proposed Subansiri dam and they had some power boats there. However, the officer there was kind enough to let me use the boats for fishing right up to the confluence upstream at a place called Duimukh, a common term used whenever two rivers meet. It was a favourite fishing place for catching fishes with spoons and the sand bank was useful to play and land the fish but being very remote and with no wood it was not a safe place to set up camp. So my trips were all day trips from the camp I used to put up below the proposed dam site. The river was in a gorge here and very deep and fast. I often casted from the boat towards the ledges and caught quite a number of fishes also in this manner. My camp was set up in a secluded spot in the forest near the river which became a small rapid at this point as it emerged from the mouth of a gorge with a lot of rocks. This also made it difficult to fish here. On the other side I could see the Dirpai Tea Estate and in between there was a small island with rocks. When I had first been to this place it was on a 26th of January and I saw these boulders all white washed in a crisscross manner. I did not realise then the reason for this but after a good night’s rest as I was getting ready to go out fishing the mystery of the painted boulders revealed in a dramatic manner. Above me fighter jet planes were coming in sorties and bombing this island! Although I was on the opposite side but I would be in the direct line of fire if a pilot overflew and made a mistake. It was a tense hour for me by which time the flights stopped. Later upon enquiring from the men at the dam site I came to know that every year during the Republic Day the planes flew from Chabua, Salonibari and as far off as from the Dooars to target practice here and I guess keep them ready for action. I quietly praised the Indian Air Force especially for training the airmen to be accurate in their sorties. A couple of years later, after I had returned from a successful fishing trip from Duimukh, I

heard the sound of a small boat with an outboard motor coming down the river. It must have gone beyond Duimukh for I had not seen it on the river. But it was having some trouble as the engine stopped and the boat hit a boulder. Luckily the occupants managed to halt the boat from capsizing. Seeing their distress I gathered my men and went to their assistance as the boat slowly entered the shallow water on the side of our camp. There were two men, Sagir Khan and Bishnu, his helper from the garden. They were both a little rattled but Sagir soon composed himself and introductions followed. After a hot cup of tea and discussions about their misadventure - the cause of the engine failure was attributed to impure fuel - it was decided that Bishnu would be sent with a note to his garden asking for Sagir’s jeep to be sent the next morning to fetch him from my camp. Sagir was happy to accept my offer of spending the night in my camp and we sent off Bishnu promptly in my jeep. That was the beginning of my friendship with Sagir who, like me, shared the passion of the great outdoors. After a memorable evening, when we talked late, into the night we more or less got to know one another as well as Dr

Livingstone must have done in Africa with the natives there! We often met up in our respective gardens and whenever I was in the North Lakhimpur vicinity on my fishing and hunting camps we invariably would be together. Sagir was from the royal family of Wazirpur in Western UP and he

had joined tea much before me. As he was on the verge of retirement when we met, our acquaintance, although memorable, was short. In fact he left tea within a year and a half of our meeting. Sagir was an intrepid hunter holding an elephant shooting permit and

The garden was also shut for three days and it was an impasse situation. This time Sagir was asked by the department to kill the tigress. Sagir reluctantly agreed to sit up for the tigress and accordingly set up a machan with a goat tied up.

was often called upon by the forest department to hunt down rogue elephants. He had put down 14 such rogue pachyderms. The victims were lone bull elephants at the time of

musth which would stray onto bordering villages causing utter havoc killing and destroying whatever comes their way. Being a seasoned marksman he would regale me with his hunting stories and I distinctly remember the one he narrated the last moan of the tiger. It was in one of the gardens in

the south bank of the Brahmaputra where he was posted near Tinsukia. The area there was full of jungles and deep forests and often tigers and leopards would habitually enter the tea estates to live off the local livestock freely available. This would inevitably lead to man-animal conflicts. The workers would naturally be petrified of the killings and refuse to enter the tea garden areas where there were kills. On one such occasion during the prime tea season month of September a tigress had given birth in a tea area which was traditionally known as the Bagh Section; it had a rocky highland in one corner and many times tigers had used it as a den for their cubs. A tigress with new born cubs is best left alone. But as would luck would have it, she was inside the tea garden and preying upon the livestock at will and had also mauled a few workers in the weeks that it had been there. The tigress had her fate sealed when she attacked a prominent Sirdar of the garden and ripped open his head and back. The workers would have none of it anymore and went on a rampage. The garden was also shut for three days and it was an impasse situation. This time Sagir was asked by the department to kill the tigress. Sagir

reluctantly agreed to sit up for the tigress and accordingly set up a machan with a goat tied up in that very section where the big cat was last seen. He always sat up alone as it was imperative to remain very quiet and any slight sound would be a dead giveaway. As this tigress was producing milk for her cubs she had to eat frequently and the easy

Ranjan Kumar Choudhury prey tied up was tempting. She had given Sagir a sense of her presence with the crunching of leaves and the brushing of her coat in the thickly planted tea bushes. So he was on alert! A keen hunter, Sagir had taken up this task reluctantly but having done so he had to deliver to prevent any more loss of human lives and money if the garden had to continue to remain closed. The tigress pounced on the poor goat which was bleating by this time and Sagir heard the gurgling sound of death. He waited for the animal to start feeding. After a couple of minutes and the cracking of bones he put on his torch and held the tigress in the full beam of the light; she had got up with a “woof” and sat on her hind legs. Before she could move he had fired with his .450 Springfield rifle straight through her heart. The beast fell over and then he heard that last moan from the tigress as she took her dying breath as if she was trying to tell him something. Sagir sat transfixed for some time and felt a great remorse. He swore to himself that this would be the last time he would ever kill such a magnificent beast. The men who were waiting for his signal saw him waving his torch light beam. They removed the dead animal with a lot of merriment and joy thanking the Sahib for ridding them of the demon. The moan of the tigress had a profound effect on Sagir. Soon after that incident he gave up his permit and stopped volunteering for the department altogether locking up his big game rifles. He had seen to it that the two cubs were safely collected and handed over to the forest department for sending to the state zoo. Sagir confessed to me that he was sure that in the last moan of the tigress she was trying to tell him that he had won but please help her little cubs. A man of the outdoors, Sagir and I kept in touch for a long time till he passed away about 12 years ago. n

20 Fun Jayashree Bose

Certified Feng Shui, Chinese astrology, date selection consultant & author, jbose@jayashreebose.com

Sudoku

5th & 8th March will be great days to share your ideas with seniors or simply just connect with them. You could schedule your important meetings on this day. On 7th March, you need to be wary of dealing with the opposite gender.

4th & 6th March will be great days for you to share ideas with seniors or simply just connect with them. You could schedule important meetings on this day. Avoid making any promises on 2nd March. You could be emotionally betrayed by someone at work or your parents on 8th March.

It will be a good week for you. Use 2nd, 3rd & 5th March to connect with your boss & share your ideas. For good results, host your meetings on these dates. You could have Sunday brunch with your seniors. 6th March will be a slow day.

It will be a great week for you. 2nd, 3rd & 5th March will be great days for you to connect with seniors & share ideas with them. You could host your important meetings on this day. You could have issues with seniors or extended family on 4th & 8th March. On 8th March, avoid trusting anyone with your secrets.

4th March will be great day for you to share ideas with seniors & build a relationship with them. On 2nd & 5th March, you could have issues with your seniors & parents. On 7th March, you could be betrayed or emotionally hurt by someone in your work environment. On 8th March, be careful of your words & actions as you will create your own problems.

5th March will be an excellent day for you to schedule important meetings. Your seniors will be receptive to your ideas. On 6th March, you could feel your seniors and/or parents don’t appreciate you. Avoid hosting any meetings, especially with seniors on 8th March.

On 5th & 7th March, you could be betrayed by someone at work & emotionally hurt by your family. 2nd, 3rd & 6th March will be great days for you to share ideas with seniors or simply just connect with them. Schedule your important meetings on this day. Avoid hosting any meetings on 4th March.

3rd & 7th March will be great days for you to build a rapport with seniors & people at work, host important meetings on this day. On 2nd & 5th March, avoid making any promises, as you will have to live up to them. On 5th March, avoid hosting any meetings, you will have disagreements. On 4th March, you could be emotionally hurt by seniors or parents.

4th and 8th March will be ideal days to share ideas with your boss or connect with people at work & family. Avoid socializing or making any promises on 3rd or 6th March. Avoid hosting any meetings on 6th March as you are bound to have disagreements.

5th & 8th March will be great days for you to build your relationship with seniors & people at work. On 2nd March, you will be emotionally hurt either by parents or seniors. Don’t grab a drink with seniors on 4th March. On 7th March, you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate.

Watch yourself on 5th & 8th March, avoid making any promises or getting into a confrontation. On 8th March, you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate. Share your ideas with your seniors or build a relationship with people at work on 6th and 7th March, host your important meetings on this day.

6th & 7th March are ideal days for you to mingle with seniors & people at work & to build your work network. Be careful with your words & actions on 3rd March as you will create your own problems. Other days will be average for you.

What is the name of the lamb/beef stew popular amongst the sailors of Liverpool?

Rayka Zehtabchi is the director of which Oscar winning short documentary film starring Arunachalam Muruganatham?

This is the national beer of which unlikely country? Dr. Soubhadra Chakrabarty This quiz has been brought to you by Brain Jam, a property of Priya Communications

Dilbert By Scott Adams

curio-city

Which town is called “Shuhado ka Sarzameen” by its residents because of its history?

1. 2. 3.

Martin Van Buren Balakot Scouse, which lends the name of ‘Scouser’ to a Liverpool resident Period. End of Sentence. Alcohol content of drinks Pakistan

Who was the first US president to be born in the United States of America?

8 4 1 7

9 8 6 3

9 7 4 6

9 8 4 2 1

6 medium

last week solution 7 8 4 3 2 5 9 1 6

9 1 2 8 4 6 3 7 5

5 3 6 7 1 9 2 4 8

3 6 9 2 7 8 1 5 4

8 5 1 6 3 4 7 9 2

2 4 7 5 9 1 6 8 3

6 7 5 9 8 2 4 3 1

1 9 8 4 6 3 5 2 7

Daily Sudoku: Fri 11-Jan-2019

4 2 3 1 5 7 8 6 9 medium

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

4. 5. 6.

Gay Lussac unit degree is used in France to measure what?

8 2 4 6 5 7 9 3

Daily Sudoku: Fri 11-Jan-2019

curio-city

These predictions are based on the month of birth and are about an individual’s work environment, parents and extended family.

Horoscope of the week

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Word of the week divertissement noun [dih-vur-tis-muhnt] a diversion or entertainment

Crossword Across

Down

1 Loosely woven cloth from Scotland (6,5) 9 Impromptu (9) 10 Animal (with nine nine tails?) (3) 11 Himalayan country (5) 13 Excellent — shining bright? (7) 14 On ship (6) 15 Purist (6) 18 Arctic deer — a Rio cub (anag) (7) 20 Best possible (5) 21 See 23 22 Fling (9) 24 Fifth book of the Bible

2 Fit (3) 3 Person whose speech is not well organised (7) 4 Married partner (6) 5 In which position? (5) 6 Acquit — clear (9) 7 Entertainment area with coin-operated machines (5,6) 8 Narrator (11) 12 TV show (9) 16 Issue (7) 17 Male domestic servant (6) 19 Bathroom basin (5) 23, 21 UK resident who the tax man accepts as having their "true" home elsewhere (abbr) (3-3)

Last week’s solution

Lifestyle

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Vaastu: Analysis of Plots

Hemanta Kumar Sarmah Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

ince a plot of land is a permanent and fixed place, the effects of Vaastu are also permanent. People must exercise caution while building a house. They should go ahead with the process only after Vaastu correction of the plot. A plot becomes good or bad depending on the way it is being used. However, certain features in the plot can make it bad or inauspicious as per Vaastu, but they can be always rectified. Square or rectangular plots are best. All cuts in a plot are not bad. In the diagram, 20 different plots are shown. We will discuss the salient features or appropriateness of each of them. 1. This has a cut in the northwest corner which may be acceptable, but there is a street focus (a road hitting the plot) in the western southwest which is very bad. 2. There is a street focus in the western northwest

in the western northwest which makes it good. The cut in the

that makes it auspicious. 3. The street focus in the western south-

west is very harmful. 4. There is a street focus

southwest is not bad. 5. There is a cut in

the southeast which is acceptable. 6. It has a cut in the northeast (Eshaan Corner) which is very bad. 7. Plot number 7 is a good one. 8. It has a cut in the northeast (Eshaan Corner) which is very bad. 9. Plot numbers 9, 10, 11 and 12 are good plots. 10. Plot numbers 13, 14, 15 and 16 have got cuts, but they are not wrong. 11. Plot number 17 has got a cut in the northeast with a road hitting it at eastern southeast. Totally unacceptable. 12. For plot number 18, the street focus in the eastern northeast is very auspicious and prosperous. 13. Plot number 19 has a street focus in the eastern southeast which is very bad. 14. There is a street focus in the eastern northeast which is very auspicious and prosperous. The cut in the southeast is not bad.

A SILENT VIGIL Kept watch through the long cold night, What started the matter turned into a fight, Only fitting to do what is prudently right Facing a tomorrow, not letting it out of sight... Even troubles become wary when they see That brave front that would just let you be, There was a message I saw, written on a tree Nothing comes easy, you pay for even the free... Wondered what’s in store if all love is true Times hard, love will surely see you through, Hope comes bottled now in a golden shoe The colour golden, though there’s a green hue... Green the colour of envy, wish I somehow knew What lies in store for me when I am without you All night long I missed the essence of the few Of all those times when hope some love threw... Arunav Barua

Bicycles to the Rescue

ur city streets stay congested almost the whole day and the pollution levels are increasing too. Congestion on the roads and air pollution leads to considerable loss that directly impacts us as well as the nation as a whole. According to a study, the biggest Indian cities may be losing Rs 3000 crores annually to traffic congestion. The cost of congestion was calculated on the basis of fuel burned and productivity loss, which includes man-hours and opportunity cost, pollution and accidents (health costs) incurred on an annual basis. In another study done by the World Bank (Cost of Pollution), it was found that India may have almost a tenth of its GDP

due to rising pollution levels. Air pollution robs the nation of significant potential growth which, after being calculated through total ‘welfare losses’ and loss in labour output, reaches a staggering amount, especially for developing countries.

The government is doing its work to improve the scenario and we may or may not agree at the level and pace of such work. We need to do our bit and take responsibility for our own health

as well as the health of our society. A very simple solution to take care of this twin problem of congestion and pollution is to switch over to cycles for our daily commute. For a city like Guwahati, it has been found that most people live only 5-8 kms away from their workplace and still spend more than an hour on the

road commuting during rush hours. This distance can be easily covered in less than 30 minutes on a cycle.

While cycling for your work will certainly reduce your commute time and your contribution to pollution and congestion will be nil, the added benefit will be on your improved fitness levels. Many people complain about the lack of cycling infrastructure in the city which deters them from cycling. In this regard, we need to understand that cycling lanes like the ones that exist in

many European countries didn’t

Arshel Akhter

good

come up overnight. There, it has been a long and continuous process that included active citizen participation and coordination among the public and the authorities. We too can have such facilities here but for that we will need to be on the streets riding our cycles numbers.

22 Buzz

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

TISS Guwahati hosts Tedx event, AEC organizes chess organises walkathon tournament

ata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) organised a TEDx event on February 23 in their campus premises. The theme for their event was “Empathy.” The speakers for the event included Armstrong Pame, an IAS officer, mostly known as miracle man who has been nominated for the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award in the Public Service category, Hasina Kharbhih, a social welfare activist who has helped numerous women and children attain sustainable development, Dabbawalas, defined as healthy, hygienic and patient bringers of food and a Harvard case study that leave the world amazed at their collaborated effort to make sure no one goes hungry and Kenny Basumatary, indigenous actor and filmmaker best known for directing and acting in Assamese film, “Local Kung Fu.” TEDx is a program of local, self-organized event that brings people together to share ideas worth spreading. At a TEDx event, live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized event. A walkathon was organised in the city by Tata Institute of Social Sciences to bring awareness

to make Guwahati a “pedestrian-friendly” city. The event was held on February 24, starting from 7 am onwards at the Gauhati University (GU) campus. The event was conducted in collaboration

propagating to achieve a walkable locality in the city and by creating a change in this sector, helping to reduce pollution, congestion and depletion of resources. Registered participants re-

with Earthful Foundation and Voice of Environment. The route started from GU, went via Assam Engineering College road, headed towards Tetelia road and ended at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati. The event was open to all citizens, regardless of age. Some of the important aspects of the walk included addressing the cause of making Guwahati a pedestrian-friendly city, addressing the increasing number of vehicles in the city, generating awareness and

ceived certificates from the organisers on February 27. The event was led by TISS team coordinator, Meenakshi Menon, volunteers and students. Representatives from partner organisations such as environmentalist Moharana Choudhury and Bhaskar Hazarika from team Voice of Environment were also present. Three participants were given awards for winning the walkathon and several plant saplings were also distributed among the walkathon participants during the event. n

ssam Engineering College (AEC) organised a chess tournament, Shatranj 2.0 under the banner of Pyrokinesis 2019 on February 23. A total of 82 players participated from different colleges, schools and clubs from all across the state. The tournament was conducted in Swiss format with

prize distribution ceremony was attended by Abdul Mataleb, general secretary of Kamrup District Chess Association. The event was supported by India Post, BG Bhawan, Assam Chess Club and Career Flite. Subhajit Dhar won 1st place while Prandeep Bhattacharjya and Amlan Mahanta won the 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

7 rounds. Rituraj Borgohain was the director of the tournament along with his team Rajdeep Singh, Durlav Kalita, Rishav Deuri and Willborn Basumatari. Ravikant Tiwari was the chief arbiter of the tournament. The inauguration was done by Biswajit Bharadwaj, founder of the Assam Chess Club. The

Shahil Dey and Dhrupad Kashyap finished at 4th and 5th positions. The chess tournament also had other categories in the event such as Under 7 for boys and girls, Under 9, Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, Best Girl (Non AECian), Best AECian (Boys) and Best AECian (Girls). n

Governor Mukhi takes part in first convocation of Assam Science and Technology University GCAP wins 3rd prize at National Film Making Competition

ssam Governor, Professor Jagdish Mukhi was part of the first convocation of Assam Science and Technology University on February 23 at GMCH auditorium. At the event, he congratulated all the graduates and their families. “You are graduates now and ready to prove yourself in larger platforms and to work towards the upliftment of the society and the nation. From now onwards, you all have a greater responsibility and I wish all luck for the new phase of your life,” he said at the event. He also urged students to help build the

nation by making technology user-friendly and using it to raise the standard of life. “Convocation of a university is

uwahati College of Architecture & Planning (GCAP) has won 3rd place in the National Film Making Competition by University Grants Commission

the most important event of an academic programme which celebrates the fruition of months and years of commitment, hard work and perseverance of the students,” he added. The convocation conferred

degrees to 1,569 students of postgraduate and under-graduate levels from 2015 to 2018. Vice Chancellor of the university, Dhiraj Bora and a number of other dignitaries were present on the occasion. n

(UGC) and has become the first north-eastern college to reach top 3 for the same. This competition was held throughout the country. Their theme was

“anti-ragging.” Their short film called, “Rohan” was made by Kripasindhu Bordoloi and featured Rohan Dutta, Apurba Dolomoni Das, Pranjal Dutta, Sharang Goswami, Bahniman Bordoloi, Bangkeem Bhattacharya and Divyanshu Agarwal.The cinematography of the movie was done by Tulika Talukdar, the editor of the film is Arunabh Baruah Das, sound has been done by

Dibakar Daya Dutta, set designing has been done by Subajit and lights by Niranjan. n

Entertainment

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

Much awaited Kokaideu Bindaas hits theatres on March 1

irected by Dhruva J Bordoloi, Kokaideu Bindaas is a film about two siblings who embark on a road trip together. While the younger brother is very impulsive, the elder one is kind of subdued and straightforward. They set out on this journey to figure out their life, each other and what it means to be brothers. In the film, you can se e the beautiful landscapes of Assam and the beautiful evolution of the relationship between these two brothers. The film has been shot and is based in Assam, Meghalaya and Bangalore, although it’s mostly focused in Assam. It was released in Assam on March 1 and will subsequently be released in metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore around mid-March - April.

The director, Bordoloi describes the movie as a fun film that will leave audiences with a smile on their faces. “What appealed to me the most about the movie was the fact that both brothers are very different. In the beginning of the film, their thought processes are totally different. But when we reach the crux of the movie, both of their priorities in life change. For me, that was the core of the film and what made it special,” said Bordoloi. The director has earlier made the film Dooronir Nirola Poja, which received good critical acclaim and positive reviews from both audiences and critics. For the lead actor of the film, Monuj Borkotoky working with

Dhruva J Bordoloi was on his wish-list and his wish came true. “When I found out that he (Bordoloi) was doing a second film, I approached him, auditioned for him and was selected for the role. He sent me the script and I loved it and loved the character. These are the three primary things for me to be on board for a film. The whole process was so enjoyable and everyone in the team is very young and enthusiastic and they all wanted to make a good film. It is a very authentic film, has that Assamese flavour and you can easily relate to the characters in the film. There is something in there for everyone,” said Borkotoky. Borkotoky has been part of the popular Indian Netflix

Rongeen: A unique collaboration between Shankar Borua and Kussum Koilash Prantik Deka

t long last, the people of Assam will get to savour the beautiful colours and electrifying music of the widely awaited Assamese film, “Rongeen.” Scheduled for a March 15 theatrical release, the people of Assam are expected to throng the movie theaters to watch Rongeen this election season. In director Shankar Borua’s words, “Rongeen is a political

this moment, just the right time to take this powerful movie with a strong political message to the people of Assam. A down-and-

Shankar Borua (R) with Kussum Koilash

musical with eight songs, primarily what we would call as Assamese rap music. The content is fairly local and reflective of the political mood on the ground in Assam at

out guy who manages singers for a living gets an Assamese rapper to defeat his arch enemy in a by-election to settle an old personal score – that is ‘Rongeen’ (Colourful) in one line.” A unique cinematic experiment conducte d by Borua, the film will also showcase rapper Kussum Koilash in his first movie appearance. Borua further said, “I feel this is precisely the time for ‘Rongeen’ to hit the theaters before the elections coupled with the political situation on the ground here in Assam.” A compelling and uplifting narrative, “Rongeen,” set in rural Assam, is a simple tale of a wronged man seeking justice through participatory democracy.

Domboru Borbora (played by Upamanyu Boruwa) with the help of Assamese rapper Pobitro Sonowal (played by Kussum Koilash) and Middle English (ME) school teacher Digombor Rajkhowa (played by Ranjit Baruah) makes the devious Puna Saikia (played by Hiren Sarma) eat humble pie. “It is essentially a David versus Goliath tale where an ordinary guy from a humble background, in his effort to avenge an old wound inflicted on his family, attempts an extraordinary feat by taking on a powerful guy in a by-election in the interiors of upper Assam. I ventured to craft it as a musical to reach out to a wider audience across the length and breadth of Assam. Music is a fantastic vehicle not just to deliver a political message overtly but also to showcase the splendour of this beautiful land – Assam,” Borua added. Born and raised in Duliajan, independent filmmaker Borua has continued making cinema with a distinct sensibility and a signature style, working largely guerrilla-style with non-actors and extremely low budgets. As an actor, he goes by the screen name Upamanyu Boruwa and has played the lead in all his recent films, “Grief on a Sunday Morning” (alongside the legendary Biju Phukan), “The Curiosity Shop” and now, “Rongeen” (Colourful).

series, Sacred Games and has just finished shooting for Season 2 of the crime-drama series. Two of his films, Headhunter and Ishu have also won national awards and he works both in Assam and Mumbai. The film will also see the musical duo Zubeen Garg and Manash Robin come together again after a long hiatus. The soundtrack of the movie has three songs. The film is written by Chinmoy Sarmah. The cast includes a versatile list of actors including Gunjan Bharadwaj, Alishmita Goswami, Junu Nath, Mintu Borua, Nikumoni Barua, Dr Jayanta Das, Pratibha Choudhury and Suren Mahanta. It has been produced by Dr Anjan Goswami, Naser Hussain, Ramesh Pandey Chetri and Rahul Modi. Anupam Hazarika is the executive producer of the film.

Chalachitram National Film Festival (CNFF) to begin from March 1

he Chalachitram National Film Festival (CNFF) will begin from March 1. It is a three-day film festival that will be held at Jyoti Chitrabon in Kahilipara. On the first day, the festival will begin with movie screenings from the competitive section and the opening film for the day is “Bhor,” directed by

popular film “Upagraha” will be screened on that day and there will be an interactive session with the artistes of the film. Film directors Kamakshya Narayan Singh, Dalton Christopher JL and Ujjwal Chatterjee will grace the festival. On the closing ceremony, the winners of the “Heritage Short Film Competition” will also

Kamakshya Narayan Singh and written by Ranjan Chauhan. The second day is dedicated to eminent film director of Assam, Late Bhaben Das. His

awarded with a prize money of Rs 1 lakh for the best film and Rs 50,000 for the second-best film. The closing film for the festival is “Ottal” by Jayaraj.

Catching Up

G PLUS | MAR 02 - MAR 08, 2019

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