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INSIDE

Guwahati air quality deteriorates despite use of green crackers

Guwahati reports highest number of fire incidents during Diwali

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Students urged to undertake better waste disposal practices

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‘Scared’ BJP-led govt to conduct Panchayat polls ‘under pressure’

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BJP trying to wreck crucial institutions like the RBI: P Chidambaram Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

File photo of Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma G Plus News

he Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Assam government might be claiming that they have announced the panchayat elections dates prior to the Lok Sabha elections 2019, but the fact remains that the decision was taken under pressure. A source in the BJP talking to G Plus under condition of anonymity said, “It was decided that the Panchayat and Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections will be conducted after Lok Sabha elections but due to pressure from the Gauhati High Court (GHC), the Panchayat elections will be conducted before December 15.” The same is not happening in the case of GMC elections though because neither any GMC councillor nor any citizen has approached the court for holding GMC elections on time despite the tenure of the councillors having ended way back in July. The panchayat tenure ended last year and the polls have remained pending since then but the BJP government, “scared” of anti-incumbency issues, tried their best to postpone the polls offering excuses like the National Register of Citizens (NRC) updating process et al. The BJP source said, “The party feels that there might be an antiincumbency factor which might get highlighted if the polls are conducted, but now that the GHC has ordered it, the government

has to complete the polls before 15th January.” The source revealed that as there are exams in schools and colleges towards December end and early January, the government will be conducting the polls before 15th December. The poll notification was announced by the State Election Commissioner, HN Bora, on 5th November, bringing into force the model code of conduct with immediate effect. Though the dates for the panchayat polls have been announced, the GMC polls are likely to be conducted after the Lok Sabha polls of 2019. A BJP councillor of Guwahati, talking to G Plus said, “We enquired about the GMC elections after the panchayat poll dates were announced; the party wants to conduct it after the 2019 general elections.” The Congress Party is drawing mileage on the issue and the leader of opposition, Debabrata Saikia, talking to G Plus said, “Scared of the anti-incumbency factor, BJP tried to postpone the panchayat elections but now they will witness the result of the mistakes they made in the last three years.” Is the BJP scared on the antiincumbency factor front? G Plus tried contacting BJP leaders but they did not want to comment on the issue and said that they will reply to the question after the elections are conducted and the results are out. n

Related stories ON page » 2

Financial crisis mars Diwali for many Guwahatians G Plus News

“

It was the worst Diwali for me in the last five years. I was not even able to buy new clothes for my children this year,” said a city-based businessman Rajiv Nath. Nath, a transport operator who used to have a yearly turnover of around Rs 4 crores, is virtually on way to bankruptcy; since the last two years he even had to mortgage his house to pay off his debts. Nath’s is not the only story; the business community of Guwahati are a worried lot so far as their earnings are concerned as there is an unpredicted financial crisis being faced by everyone.

A steel utensil wholesaler based in Fancy Bazar, talking to G Plus said, “All the businessmen in Fancy Bazar have been affected and it was seen during this Diwali.” The market is reducing as people are buying less these days; all this started since the demonetisation, the wholesaler expressed. After demonetisation the Guwahati market witnessed a collapse in business and the trend continues till date as demonetisation woes are clearly still not over and the government implemented unplanned Goods & Services Tax (GST) which has further increased the chaos, said another businessman from Lal Ganesh, Manoj Deb. For the first time during Diwali there were very less shops selling

crackers noticed in Guwahati and the overall business was disheartening. Every year near the Lal Ganesh temple, there would be around 12 shops selling crackers which come up during Diwali. This year there were only two shops. The situation was the same in areas like Ganeshguri, Six Mile, Maligaon and Colony Bazar. The wholesalers in Fancy Bazar also claimed that there was around 40% dip in the sale of crackers. A similar situation was observed in the jewellery market and people purchased less jewellery this year. Deepika Das, a housewife said, “I did not purchase any jewellery this year during Dhanteras as we are facing some financial crisis.” n

2 Lead Story

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Snippets Guwahati: LGBI Airport to be leased out through PPP

he Centre, on 8th November, gave “in-principle” approval for leasing out of Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport and five other airports for operation, management and development through Public-Private Partnership (PPP). It is to be mentioned that these six airports are part of the first phase for development, operation and management under PPP mode. Besides Guwahati, the airports at Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangalore, and Thiruvananthapuram will be leased out for operation, management, and development through the PPP route. Union Law & Justice Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said that the PPP experiments have helped create world-class airports, helped Airports Authority of India enhance revenues and focus on building air navigation infrastructure in the rest of the country. With the increase in domestic and international air travel in India, combined with strong traffic growth at the five airports has attracted the attention of several international operators and investors. An official statement said that the PPP model in airport projects has brought world-class infrastructure at airports, delivery of efficient and timely services to the passengers and augmenting revenue stream to the Airports Authority of India without making any investment. This is expected to enhance the revenue of the AAI and increase economic development in these areas in terms of job creation and related infrastructure.

Former union minister P. Chidambaram delivering speech during Your Voice Manifesto 2019 organized by Assam Pradesh Congress Committee in Guwahati on Friday | G Plus Photo

Demonetisation was ill-conceived, consequences were ‘catastrophic’: P Chidambaram at Ghy Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

ongress stalwart and former finance minister, P Chidambaram, on Friday addressed the media at Rajiv Bhawan, Guwahati and spoke about the completion of two years of demonetisation in the country and its “catastrophic consequences.” Delivering the opening statement, Chidambaram said, “Demonetisation was an ill-conceived move inspired by people who are totally unqualified on matters concerning money and the economy. Its consequences

were catastrophic. Two years after demonetisation derailed the Indian economy, the government should put out self-defence of demonetisation and its benefits without admitting its mistake.” He further added that such a government does not deserve to be re-elected. P Chidambaram also quoted Dr Gita Gopinath, the recently appointed Chief Economist of the IMF, who had said at the time of demonetisation two years ago that she had not come across an economist anywhere in the world who had a good word to say about demonetisation. Chidambaram informed the gathering that the Congress Party is opposed to the Bhartiya Janata

Party because it believes that the BJP’s vision of India is majoritarian, exclusive, discriminatory and illiberal. Further, it believes that the BJP has not fulfilled any of the promises that it had made to come to power and termed them as a “Jumla.” The senior former minister informed the gathering that the BJP President, in a moment of candour, admitted that the promise to bring back the black money allegedly stashed abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakhs in the bank account of every citizen was a chunavi jumla. Just as this promise, the other promises of the BJP have also vanished in thin air, he alleged. “Where is the promise of

creating 2 crore jobs a year? Where is the promise of doubling the farmers’ income? Where is the promise of reducing the prices of food and fuel, especially the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG? Where is the promise of restoring the exchange value of the rupee to Rs 40 per US dollar? Where is the promise of creating world class universities? Where is the promise of eliminating terrorism and militancy? Where is the promise of putting an end to alleged tax terrorism? Where is the promise of achieving double digit GDP growth rate?” said Chidambaram questioning the present government and its promises that seem to have gone up in smoke. n

Congress manifesto for 2019 election to focus on an inclusive India

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he former finance minister arrived in Guwahati on Thursday night to chalk out a strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and also presented the objectives of the Congress Party. In an Open House consultation on the manifesto of the Congress

Party for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Chidambaram presented the following goals and aims of the party. • To reflect the voice of the citizens • To be in conversation with the people A manifesto will serve two

purposes, he said. One, it will lay out a work programme for five years and set out the goals that can be achieved in five years. Two, it will outline a vision for the future and the path that the country should take towards becoming a truly free, open, liberal, equal, inclusive, prosperous, just and

humane society. Addressing the gathering at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati, Chidambaram expressed happiness over visiting Guwahati – the gateway to northeast India and getting the opportunity to engage in a conversation with the people of Assam. n

Cover Story

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

We are prepared: Congress We have been preparing since the last one year and we are confident of winning. Debabrata Saikia Leader of opposition

Debabrata Saikia, Leader of opposition G Plus News

hough, with the announcement of the panchayat poll dates, there is hardly around one month for the preparation, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) claimed that

they are confident of winning the polls. Leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia said, “We have been preparing since the last one year and we are confident of winning.” He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying its best to woo the rural population by its “false” promises but the masses understand what problems

they went through in the last three years and they will vote accordingly. Saikia said that the announcements like Jan Dhan Yojana to tea workers and subsidised seeds to the farmers will not help because the rural masses have only suffered in the last three years. “There has been no development,” said Saikia. Saikia said that decisions like demonetisation and unplanned Goods & Services Tax (GST) implementation will benefit the Congress. n

“Citizenship Bill to harm BJP” – BJP source

he Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 might impact the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) negatively during the panchayat polls as the Assamese people are not happy with the Bill. A source in BJP said, “The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill might harm the party as many people of the state are against the decision.” The source also revealed that the rural population are still

ignorant about the bill and many feel that the bill, if amended, might allow many migrants to settle down in Assam. The recent state-wide stirs were supported by the people of Assam with even many state government officials observing the day as a bandh. 60 organisations are totally against the bill and there are political allies like Asom Gana Parishad which has announced that it will break ties with BJP if the bill is amended. n

4 Concern

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Snippets SBI opens NE’s first wealth service branch in Guwahati

tate Bank of India, the nation’s largest bank, launched its Wealth Business Services in the region by opening “Wealth Hub” in Guwahati on Sunday, November 4. The bank recently rebranded its Wealth Business as ‘SBI Wealth’ offering best-in-class personalised banking and investment services to its elite HNI Clients through a dedicated team of relationship managers. PK Gupta, Managing Director (Retail & Digital Banking), SBI, inaugurated this service at the bank’s Brahmaputra Premium Branch at NEDFi House, Guwahati. SBI has plans to expand wealth hub footprint to 50 centres by 2020 as the state bank tries to tap into the country’s growing number of HNWIs. With this, the bank aims to cover 1,25,000 clients over the next two years. At present, SBI Wealth has nearly 36,000 clients. The bank has also launched a wealth business service for NRIs.

Road projects worth Rs 22K crores underway in Assam in FY-19: HBS

ssam PWD Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Sunday, said that road projects to the tune of over Rs 22,000 crores are being implemented across Assam during the 2018-19 fiscal. Sarma said the state government has begun repairing some of the national highways (NH), as it takes “inordinate delays”, due to the “bureaucratic procedure” in sanctioning such work by the Centre. “For NH, everything has to be done through Delhi. When one paper goes there, it takes three months. It takes too long while following all the bureaucratic procedure. That is why, we have started repairing many sites with our own funds,” he said. In total, Assam will be spending Rs 22,160 crores on road projects during the current financial year, he said during a press conference here. Out of these, projects of Rs 13,960.72 crore are currently being carried out, while new work amounting to Rs 8,200 crore will be taken up soon, Sarma informed. He said the existing state projects are related to construction of bridges, repair of roads in tea gardens and for building new ones at various places.

Standard air quality parameter breached during Diwali in Guwahati | G Plus Photo

Guwahati air quality deteriorates despite use of green crackers Hiranya Barman

ith Diwali celebrations coming to an end, citizens now find themselves vulnerable to the threat posed by the degrading air quality - the threat which is still lingering in the air we are breathing. The Diwali celebrations in Guwahati have breached standard air quality parameters even though the celebrations turned out to be less noisy than last year. The Pollution Control Board, Assam, through its report on ambient air quality monitoring on November 6 in the city found presence of 186 mg/m3 of PM10 (course particle) against standard parameters of 100 mg/m3 of PM10 particle. There was presence of 299 mg/m3 of PM10 particle on November 7. Last year 108 mg/m3 PM10 particle were found present in air during Diwali celebrations. Pollution Control Board officials raised concerns about the presence of high levels of fine particles (PM2.5) in the air during

Diwali celebrations in the city. November 6 saw presence of 149 mg/m3 of PM 2.5 particles in the air against standard parameters of 60 mg/m3. Air quality of Guwahati degraded 4 times on November7. The day recorded presence of 240 mg/m3 of PM 2.5 in the air. “Although the noise level during Diwali Celebrations had comparatively come down from last year, the air quality is in a very hazardous state. The authorities, to a level, were able to bring down the noise level but more innovative ideas are the need of the hour to improve the air quality. While the crackers that were made available during Diwali made lesser noise, they were very strong emitters of smoke,” PCBA Principal Scientist, Monoj Saikia said. “The colours in the fireworks are created using metal salts. Calcium chloride is used for the orange colour, sodium nitrate for the yellow colour, barium chloride for the green colour and copper chloride for the blue colour. Use of these metals in fireworks can cause diseases in living beings. Sulphur dioxide causes sneezing and shortness of breath, cadmium can damage kidneys, copper irritates

the respiratory tract and lead affects the nervous system,” Saikia added. The Pollution Control Board carried out a report on ambient noise monitoring during Diwali festival at Panbazar, Rehabari and Ganeshguri in the city before and during Diwali celebrations. Panbazar is designated as Silence Zone, Rehabari as Residential Zone and Ganeshguri as Commercial Zone. This year on November 6 Panbazar recorded 69.9 decibel

against 71.3 decibel last year and 75.4 decibel on November 7. The noise standard in silence zone is set at 50 decibel. Rehabari recorded 69.3 decibel on November 6 and 76.1 decibel on November 7 this year against 79.8 decibel last year. The noise standard in Residential Zone is set at 55 decibel. Ganeshguri recorded 70.3 decibel on November 6 and 71.8 on November 7 compared to 79.1 last year. The noise standard in commercial Zone is set at 65 decibel. n

Call for more efforts

ollution Control Board officials are calling for more inclusive efforts to improve air quality and in a way bring about total ban on crackers. “All living in the society will have to come forward to improve the air quality. It is degrading day and night in the city. We would soon be making

headlines like Delhi if we don’t improve. The smog that is still enveloping the air has hazardous particles in it and is slowly poisoning people. There was no sign of using green crackers this year. We can see animals in shock even 10 -15 days after Diwali due to the noise pollution on the two days,” officials said. n

City

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Guwahati reports highest number of fire incidents during Diwali Fire incidents reported in Kamrup (M) during Kali Puja and Diwali

Nehal Jain and Chetan Bhattarai

etween the festivities of Kali Puja and Diwali many fire incidents were reported from across the city as well as the state of Assam. It was not an easy Diwali for the fire service department this time. As many as 39 cases of fire were reported during the two days from various parts of the state including Udalguri, Nalbari, Tezpur and Golaghat. Interestingly, 17 of these 39 fire cases were reported from Guwahati, making Guwahati one of the most unsafe and dangerous places in the state to be in during Diwali. Among the 17 incidences of fire reported in Guwahati, crackers were the reason behind a total of six fires. Further, fire was caused at two places due to short circuit and two places due to LPG cylinder leakage. The cause of fire remains unknown for the remaining seven fires.

Fire due to crackers

Fire due to short circuit

Fire due to LPG cylinder leakage

Cause of fire unknown

Total

Fire incidents reported throughout the state during Kali Puja and Diwali

Fire at Dhirenpara during Diwali | G Plus Photo In Guwahati, crackers caused fire at six locations – Chandrapur, Ulubari, Bishnupur, Dispur, Rukminigaon and Milan Chowk. While in four of these six places, fire was caught on coconut trees, in the other two it was caught on piles of garbage (Bagarbari area of Dispur and Bishnu Path area of

Rukminigaon). Speaking to G Plus, Deputy Director of Fire & Emergency Services, Jayshree Khesra said, “Guwahati reports a large number of fire incidences during Diwali every year. However, this year, the number of cases reported due to crackers was comparatively less and so

Fire due to crackers

Fire due to short circuit

Fire due to LPG cylinder leakage

Cause of fire unknown

Total

was the loss incurred.” She further informed that the efforts of the fire department could be credited for the same. Fire & Emergency Services station at Pan Bazaar that generally has 52 personnel stationed, got in ten additional personnel from the regional training centre. They

stationed three fire tenders at the busy areas of the city – Bharalumukh, Fatasil Ambari and Fancy Bazar – and also sent in motorcycle-bearing teams with extinguishers at other areas. Additionally, they conducted television campaigns and mock exercises to raise awareness. n

Fire during Diwali brings doom and gloom to certain city areas

(BJP) Member of Parliament, media houses, Deputy Director mong the 17 instances of Bijoya Chakraborty, visited the of Fire & Emergency Services, fire reported during the colony and chalked out plans to Jayshree Khesra informed G Plus festival, two were those rehabilitate the families. of massive infernos that that crackers weren’t the reason “Since the fire took place on broke at residential areas behind the fire caused at Harijan government property and the of the city. One such incident Colony. employees were affected, a was reported from Kahilipara 4th One of the elderly women of temporary community home for the colony, Golap Koli, reported Assam Battalion campus where the families will be set up on the that she had kept Rs 12 lakhs for a massive fire gutted 11 houses instructions of the Chief Minister, buying a piece of land and for in the Harijan Colony. The fire Sarbananda Sonowal. Till the medical expenses; the same was so intense that the poor time the community home is was destroyed in the fire. families could not save ready the affected families will Similarly, a blind person anything. It was indeed be accommodated in the nearby by the name of Rajen a very bad Diwali for drill shed of the 4th APBN,” the Dom reportedly lost these souls. families reside Guwahati MP said. Rs 2 lakhs. Ranjit Dom It was around 8:20 in the Harijan The Kamrup District who is the neighbour in the evening on 7th Administration informed of Uma Shankar could November, when the Colony Chakraborty that it is working not get the time to save fire was reported and in providing food and other Rs 5 lakhs that he had immediately fire tenders amenities to the people. Later, kept to buy a piece of land. A lot were pressed into service. The the MP informed that a doubleof burnt currency notes were inferno quickly engulfed the storey structure will be built recovered from the spot by houses in the Harijan Colony. It for the families. the fire service officials. took over three hours and nine The other major One resident, Vijay Dom, fire tenders to bring the fire fire that kept the The fire reportedly lost his under control. Three families authorities at the Apache motorcycle whose everything got gutted in singed a single Fire & Emergency and an Activa scooter the fire reported that a total of Services busy this in the fire while Rs 19 lakhs turned into ash in line of Diwali was at the another resident this inferno, including two twohouses Fatasil Ambari area. Karan Dom’s scooter wheelers. As per reports the fire got damaged by the fire. A total of 40 families reside took place at Raghunath The Director General in the Harijan Colony. The fire Path near Barsapara in the of Police, Assam, Kuladhar singed a single line of 11 houses. premises of Subodh Mallick and Saikia and Commissioner of As per locals, the people of the Shibu Chakraborty that housed Police, Guwahati Pradip Saloi colony were busy lighting diyas 12 families. and other high government and bursting crackers when the Residents alleged that the officials visited Harijan Colony fire started from the house of one fire started after crackers hit to understand the plight of the Uma Shankar due to a cracker. the house and slowly the fire residents and assured all help. However, clarifying the engulfed the whole house and Even the Bharatiya Janata Party reports published by various

that led to the three cooking gas cylinders catching fire and bursting. Soon, the fire went out of control and the whole campus came under its grip. All the houses were affected and everything inside them was destroyed. Initially, two fire tenders rushed to the spot but were not able to

control the fire and five more fire tenders were put into service. It took the fire tenders almost two and a half hours to bring the fire under control. The fire managed to destroy property and personal belongings of the residents worth lakhs of rupees but thankfully no lives were lost. n

6 Politicking Snippets Goalpara woman becomes second contestant from Assam on KBC hot seat

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Panchayat polls dates announced, parties geared up Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

alima Khatoon, a resident of Goalpara, Assam is the second lady from Assam to contest in the Indian Reality TV Show, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). After losing 3 of her lifelines, Khatoon is currently playing at Rs. 1,60,000. Her final amount will be revealed in the upcoming episode. One of the interesting questions she was asked included the meaning of “Guwahati”, which means a market for Beetel Nuts (Tamul). Halima Khatoon is retired bank employee and currently running her own business as an embroidery artist.

Guwahati vegetables now in markets of Europe

ow Guwahati vegetables are going global as the produce from Assam as well as the entire northeast has found a place in the markets of Europe. In a boost to local farmers, the state is now exporting indigenously produced vegetables to places like London and Doha. Vegetables including flat beans, radish and brinjal were dispatched from Guwahati airport on November 3. Informing about the same, State Health & Family Welfare Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted: “Glad that in a unique intervention to support Farmers Producer Organisations (FPO) IndiGo6E dispatched about one tonne of vegetables from Guwahati airport to Kolkata then London & Doha. Happy that my idea of 1st Cargo end-to-end solution with FPOs has fructified.” Further, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, under the central government’s ministry of commerce & industry also tweeted: “APEDA in its ever striving effort has facilitated another consignment containing flat beans, radish & Brinjal (egg plant) from Guwahati Airport to London and Doha on 3rd November 2018.”

ll contesting parties have begun preparations in full swing for the upcoming panchayat elections, the dates of which were announced recently. The state election commission on Monday announced the dates for panchayat polls in the state which will begin on December 5. The elections will be conducted in two phases on December 5 and December 9 in a total of 26 districts, including 14 civil subdivisions. The poll notification was announced here by State Election Commissioner, HN Bora, bringing into force the model code of conduct with immediate effect. Bora informed that strict security measures will be followed. “As far as the police are concerned, they have assured us that they will provide us with full

There are a total of 23,505 polling stations in the districts where the polls will be conducted. Out of these, the officials have identified 8,243 polling stations as sensitive while 3,665 have been identified as very sensitive.

State Election Commissioner Harendra Nath Bora addressing a press conference in Guwahati to announce dates of Panchayat polls | G Plus Photo security during the polls.” He added that the state election commission had earlier planned to conduct the polls in three phases across the state but due to security reasons and police constraints, they had to restrict themselves to two phases. It is to be mentioned that a total of 1.56 lakh civil officials will be required for the smooth conduct of the election process. The Assam state election commission needs to complete the conduct of the ensuing panchayat elections latest by December 15, keeping in view the constitutional mandate and orders of the Gauhati High Court. The state election commission had already requested the state education department to arrange the holding of examinations in the

‘Development’ a major agenda across parties

ll the major parties including BJP, Congress, AGP and BPF have geared up for the panchayat polls and have already begun making their base in all constituencies. “We are completely prepared for panchayat polls and have been working towards it for the past

one year and we have already completed selection of booth presidents,” said Dilip Saikia, general secretary of state BJP unit. He added that they have also formed 5,800 Shakti Kendras across the state by combining 4-5 booths. BJP officials further informed that they had successfully formed

schools and colleges (to be held in the month of December 2018) after 15th December. Officials informed that the notification for the second phase will be announced on November 9. Further, the polling will be conducted on ballot papers. There are a total of 23,505 polling stations in the districts where the polls will be conducted. Out of these, the officials have identified 8,243 polling stations as sensitive while 3,665 have been identified as very sensitive. Further, authorities have considered less than half of the polling stations or 11,597 stations as comparatively safe. Bora informed that the nomination papers will be received on all working days including the second Saturday and excluding the

public holidays declared under N.I. Act from 11 am to 3 pm. Officials informed that a total of Rs 149.91 crores has been sanctioned for the conduct of polls in the state. Out of this, Rs 96.08 crores have been sanctioned for the deputy commissioners, Rs 42.58 crores for SPs while Rs 11.25 crores has been sanctioned for the state election commission. The polling timing has been scheduled from 7 am to 3 pm on the day of the poll and re-poll (if any). Further, Bora mentioned that the deputy commissioners of every district will set up “help desks” to assist the prospective candidates in filing nominations in the offices of the DCs, SDOs and BDOs where the nominations will be received. n

booth committees a year ago. “Since the past one year, we have been conducting regular monthly meetings in each of these booth committees. The party is committed towards the development of every individual especially of village dwellers and we hope that residents will support us,” said Saikia. He added that they are confident this time and the people of Assam have benefitted from the numerous development schemes undertaken by the state and central government like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana and Atal Amrit Abhiyaan. On the other hand, talking about their preparations for the panchayat elections, leader of the opposition, Debabrata Saikia told G Plus, “Currently the process of candidate selection is ongoing after which nominations will be

filed. The people are fed up with the anti-Assam policies of the BJP. There has been hardly any development works undertaken by the administration which need to be streamlined.” Analysts feel that the Congress party is in a triangular fight with the BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). Saikia added that they will make people aware about these issues and gain their trust to vote for the Congress. The Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) and AGP have decided to contest the polls alone in constituencies where they have strong support bases. “Not only the forthcoming panchayat polls, we are also going to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 assembly polls alone,” said senior AGP leader and former health minister, Dr Kamala Kalita. n

Poll

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Violating Supreme Court order shows our lack of education on air and noise pollution Do you think the Supreme Court order on firecrackers (8 to 10 PM) was violated in Guwahati and the District Administration was just a spectator?

Yes

84% Votes

1.8K No

16% Chetan Bhattarai

he Supreme Court of India, in a recent order, stated that on Diwali night, crackers should be burst between 8 PM and 10 PM. The apex court, stressed on bursting eco-friendly green crackers that were less toxic and low on noise. The order led to a lot of curiosity among the people as what might happen if it was violated. Jokes were cracked and memes were made on the social media. Well, honestly, it seemed that the people were ready to violate the order as the intense bursting of crackers was reported just after 10 PM. That may be due to post dinner and post puja celebrations when everyone goes out and starts lighting the crackers. Most parts of the city reported crackers being lit after the 10 PM deadline and in some areas it continued till midnight and beyond. In order to understand the mood of the city, G Plus conducted a poll on what people have to say about the Supreme Court order. The poll on whether the order was violated and so the district administration was rendered helpless got us many responses. The G Plus poll findings would have raised a lot of eyebrows in the top court as almost 84% of the 1,800 participants agreed that the order was violated. Only a meagre 16% agreed that it was not and the district administration was on

its toes and levying fines on a few citizens who were found violating the order. The majority of respondents were of the opinion that the SC order had not been understood well. The SC was concerned about the noise and air pollution due to the bursting of crackers and gave its view on what should be done. Some of the participants pointed out that it was mainly meant for bigger cities like Delhi which already has a lot of vehicular air pollution, resulting in smog and other visibility issues. Guwahati is not like Delhi and the smog during Diwali is not an issue here, felt many. Many respondents were worried about the environment and some were of the opinion that Diwali was harmful for pets and other animals of the city. Apart from noise pollution, the splinters, bright light and other burning parts from pyrotechnics are responsible for ruining the habitats of birds and also injuring many. The noise pollution is bad for pets like dogs and cats that run from one place to the other during Diwali in a state of fear. It is indeed a very bad evening for the pets, opined many. Elderly and those having respiratory problems are badly affected, so are new-borns, pointed out the respondents. Respondents were also furious that the administration did almost nothing about the order. A few eyewash detentions were made and there was no awareness drive on the part of

the administration to educate Guwahatians about the health effects of air pollution during Diwali. Some respondents were of the opinion that traditionally, Diwali was about lighting earthen lamps or diyas and decorating the homes with rangolis and not about bursting

crackers. Well, our poll was about Guwahati on Diwali night and as news poured in from other parts of the country, it was clear that the Supreme Court order was clearly violated. In Delhi, where the apex court sits, air pollution levels shot up from around 280

units at 7 PM on Diwali evening to 999+ within hours which was more than ten times the permissible limits making the air purely toxic to breathe. The Supreme Court order was indeed issued with good intent; it is we the citizens, who failed to understand it. n

8 City Snippets Dr Bhupen Hazarika museum inaugurated

museum containing the memorabilia of late Dr Bhupen Hazarika named ‘Sonowali Suworoni’ was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on the occasion of 7th death anniversary of the ‘Bard of Brahmaputra’. The museum located at the ‘Samadhi Kshetra’, Jalukbari will let visitors get insight into the maestro’s creative process, witness some rare photographs, interviews etc. “Transcending the boundaries of country and region, Dr Bhupen Hazarika was able to establish Assamese identity on the global cultural map and introduced the world to the music and culture of the land. It was the dream of Dr Hazarika to build a greater Assamese society based on the humanitarian values and we must strive hard to realise his dreams following his ideals of universal brotherhood,” said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal while taking part in the programme. Cultural Minister Naba Kumar Doley, MP Bijoya Chakrabarti, Legal and Media Advisers to the Chief Minister Shantanu Bharali and Hrishikesh Goswami, MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Chairman of Jyoti Chitraban Film Society Pabitra Margherita, Director of Cultural Affairs Barnali Sarma, Nripen Hazarika and Samar Hazarika (brothers of Dr Bhupen Hazarika) were also present among others. Informing that both the houses of the Assamese cultural doyen at Kolkata and Kuthori at Kaziranga would be preserved by the state government, Sonowal said that 300 bighas of land have been acquired by the government for the purpose of setting up Dr Bhupen Hazarika Samadhi Kshetra near the Dr Bhupen Hazarika Setu connecting Dhola and Sadiya.

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Students urged to undertake better waste disposal practices

over the coming months. Speaking earlier during the launch of the ‘I love Guwahati’ campaign, GMC Commissioner Monalisa Goswami said, “I appeal to all citizens, if they love Guwahati, to come forward and help the GMC in segregation of waste. They must dispose waste segregating them into organic and non-organic waste. Green coloured bins are for disposing organic waste while blue is for non-organic waste. Please help the GMC in making the campaign a success.” Officials informed that youth, being the future torch-bearers of the nation, need to be moulded and guided properly to run the nation smoothly. Keeping this in mind, GMC has targeted all schools and colleges of Guwahati for the orientation programmes. Stressing on the significance of the campaign, principal, Happy Child High School, Neelanjana Chakravarty said, “It is a noble idea and it’s for Guwahati. We all need to work as a team to ensure a better, cleaner and brighter future

I appeal to all citizens, if they love Guwahati, to come forward and help the GMC in segregation of waste. They must dispose waste segregating them into organic and non-organic waste. Monalisa Goswami GMC Commissioner

we have made it very clear and I hope that with the efforts of the principal and the other teachers, we will eventually be successful.” Specialist in waste segregation and assistant professor at Assam Engineering College, Dr Pradip Baishya reiterated the need to segregate waste right at the source into wet and dry waste.

G Plus News

ith a view to create awareness about better waste disposal practices among students, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) organised an orientation programme on waste management at Happy Child High School on November 5. This was a part of the ‘I Love Guwahati’ campaign which the GMC had launched which intended to create awareness in the city on the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. These orientation programmes are one of the steps that GMC has taken to promote and propagate the idea of ‘Swachhata’ (cleanliness) in the city. The Swachh Bharat Mission organizes Swachh Survekshan every year wherein all the urban local bodies (ULBs) are ranked on basis of cleanliness standards of the city. Guwahati has been participating in this competition for the last three years and the officials are trying their best to increase the city ranking. The orientation programme on November 5 was addressed by GMC Commissioner Monalisa Goswami, Additional

GMC commissioner Monalisa Goswami delivering speech during the workshop | G Plus Photo Commissioner GMC Deba Kumar Mishra, Specialist on Waste Segregation Dr Pradip Baishya among others. A similar programme was earlier also organised in Cotton Collegiate and shall be conducted in other schools and colleges too

for Guwahati. So as a team we will work for it, and we will and we can.” Further, speaking during the programme, chairperson of the school, Nirmal Aggarwal mentioned, “Children know about cleanliness, particularly today

“It is important to segregate the waste at the source otherwise it gets very difficult to separate the waste at a later stage. It is an appeal to all the citizens to help the waste collectors by keeping dry and wet waste separately,” said Baishya. n

Weather report for the week Guwahati

SUN

MON

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FRI

Sunny

Mostly Sunny

Sunny

Mostly Sunny

29°/17° C

28°/18° C

27°/17° C

SATURDAY Sunny

29°/17° C

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

10 Special

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Why The Statue of Unity does NOT deserve the criticisms it is facing Bishaldeep Kakati

t is a conspicuous fact that any structure, monument or statue of crucial and pivotal importance always becomes instrumental in designing a particular nation in a pristine way, be it the statue of Christ The Redeemer, The Great Sphinx or the most popular The Statue of Liberty. However in this regard, a contrasting scenario was prevalent in India till a few months back, when India didn’t possess any mind boggling or stupendous statues to be proud of or to boast about. And because of this limitation, somewhere down the line, the nation was probably not being able to show her brilliance in terms of constructing remarkable or striking statues or glorifying her heroes by making their statues. But even this limitation was taken out of equation, when on 31st October 2018, the respected Prime Minister of India inaugurated the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel or popularly known as “The Statue of Unity.” The Statue of Unity however cannot be just viewed as another ordinary statue being erected in a remote area. If we carefully analyze, we will notice that this statue has many aspects associated with it. And if we try to understand each one of these aspects in a detailed manner, we will slowly begin to understand and appreciate the substantial

impact that this statue might have on India in the years to come. Not to forget the fact that this statue has every potential to glorify and carry forward the rich legacy of a diverse nation like India. However, the unfortunate thing is that criticism of all sorts from almost all the corners of the country started pouring in as soon as the statue was unveiled. Some people were of the opinion that the amount of Rs 2,989 crore that was spent on constructing the statue should have been used in developing the nation rather than wasting on the statue. In fact, some of the denizens even went a step ahead to expound that a giant and mammoth statue can never come in handy to save a

nation that is still suffering from the woes of poverty. In a way, the concerns put forward were logical, but perhaps these were placed without an in-depth understanding of The Statue of Unity. The matter of the fact is that as soon as The Statue of Unity was inaugurated, it made headlines even in the international media for the very reason that it became the tallest statue to be erected, standing at a height of 182 metres from the base level, or in simple terms, the statue is about two times as tall as the Statue of Liberty. However it’s high time that we need to look at the broader picture of it, by balancing the criticisms with the advantages and the benefits that The Statue of Unity might bring to India. The perspicuous fact is that it becomes really necessary for a country to immortalize her legends not only by keeping their work culture confined to books and journals, but also by creating a sensation in people’s mind as to why a particular individual should study about a particular legend. For instance, if we want an individual to study about the legend of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, we need to create a sensation in his or her mind. And the sensation can be created only when the eyes will perceive the thing and the mind will instigate

the senses to study about that invigorating thing. The same can be related to The Statue of Unity as well. The simple logic behind this is that the statue will always arouse curiosity among people to query and know as to why India invested so much in making a statue on Sardar Vallabhbhai and then renaming it as the Statue of Unity, which happens to be the tallest statue in the world. And when people will search for the answers, it will further popularize India; glorify the hard work of the ‘Iron Man of India’ and his role in uniting all diverse 562 princely states to build one great Republic of India. So the artistic brilliance of The Statue of Unity is a direct tribute to the ‘Architect of Independent India’, which will directly or indirectly aggrandize India to a great extent. The second benefit that the statue can gift India is a thing that is at the present juncture an absolute necessity for a diverse country like India. It is known to one and all that the three greatest things that make India unique from the rest are - the democracy factor, the secularism factor and the unity in diversity factor. However, currently if we think of India, we will realize that there has been a major degradation in terms of maintaining the secularism factor or the unity in diversity factor. India is continuously facing tribulation due to internal predicaments arising because of lack of tolerance and unity. Hence, in

this regard as well, the statue can come as a blessing well sought for. The Statue of Unity can once again make the people of India realize the importance of unity which was really instrumental in making India free from the colonial rule. Added to this, the statue has another potential associated with it that can directly or indirectly dismiss all those criticisms that were imposed upon it, especially regarding the revenue spent in its construction. No doubt India spent crores in erecting the statue, but the statue also has the capacity to make India step into the pedestal of financial success. The Statue of Unity, being the tallest in the world, will surely attract a lot of people including global citizens towards it and that will further boost the tourism sector of India. This will also lead to an increase in revenue generation, and in a very short while, India will earn double or triple of the revenue spent on erecting the statue. Thus the Statue of Unity, if maintained properly, can really be the new dawn of India’s development and progress. Therefore, the bevy of India should refrain from criticizing the government’s decree to erect The Statue of Unity by taking into consideration only one perspective. The people should rather try to dig in deeper into this issue, carefully analyze the benefits of erecting the statue and that would surely help them understand and appreciate The Statue of Unity better. n

In The News

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Officials hope for better performance in 2nd round of Gunotsav Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

ducation department officials are hoping for a better performance from schools after the second round of Gunotsav (PhaseII) which concluded on November 4 in Kamrup (Metro) district. A total of 635 schools including elementary as well as secondary schools, took part in the evaluation programme. Around 300 external evaluators assessed the performances of government school students over the course of three days. Gunotsav is an initiative of the

Snippets AccorHotels app to ensure a hassle free stay

Education minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya taking part in Gunotsav at Latashil L. P. School in Guwahati | G Plus Photo

parliaments, use of library books by students, conduct of physical education classes, state government which aims at availability and utilisation of improving the overall quality of school infrastructure and education in primary schools. other facilities, and District elementary education participation of school external officials are hoping that management committees the results will see an in school activities were evaluators assessed improvement this a few criteria taken into the performances of time as compared to consideration for the government school the last round. evaluation. schools including students over the “Since the In this round, Guwahati students have MP Bijoya Chakravarty, elementary as well as course of three already gone state education minister secondary schools, took days. through a round Siddhartha Bhattacharya, part in the evaluation of evaluation Dispur MLA Atul Bora, West programme. under Gunotsav, we Guwahati MLA Ramendra feel that they will be Narayan Kalita and Kamrup assessment was able to perform better Metro Deputy Commissioner based on academic in this round,” an official of Virendra Mittal acted as achievements of students the district elementary education external evaluators at different and co-curricular activities office informed G Plus. schools of the district during comprising the morning the programme. assembly, formation of student Under the scheme, external n evaluators consisting of the chief minister, other state ministers and officials visited and marked the schools. The overall

300

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Quality of education in govt schools still a deterrent

t least 72% Guwahatians choose private schools over government schools, revealed a survey conducted by G Plus called ‘Let’s Talk Guwahati’. Around 10,000 people participated in this month-long survey from different localities of the city. When asked which school they would prefer sending their children to, between government and private schools, a whopping 72% Guwahatians voted against government schools saying they would prefer private school education for their wards. The quality of education in government-run schools has been a cause of concern for a long time now and proves to be a deterrent for a majority of people when they think of sending their children to government schools. In order to improve the the overall quality of education in primary schools, the state government had undertaken Gunotsav. Students between

classes 2 to 8 of all primary schools of the district were assessed under the initiative. However, around 75 per cent primary schools in the Kamrup (Metro) district scored low grades during the first phase of Gunotsav. According to data provided by the Assam Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Mission (ASSAM), a total of 708 elementary schools in the district were evaluated under the scheme, out of which 534 schools scored C and D grades. In Kamrup (Metro), only 18 schools were graded as A+, while 14 scored the A grade and 142 schools were given B grade. As many as 54,837 students were evaluated in the district on their academic as well as extracurricular performance. 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 improving them. n

Merger of low enrolment schools

aking another step to ensure better quality of education, the state education department has merged a total of 20 schools in Kamrup (Metro) district recently since several schools witnessed low enrolment of students during the past year. Apart from low enrolment, there were also many such schools across the state in which not even a single student took admission during the last academic year. These schools with zero and low enrolment mostly included Assamese and Bengali medium schools in the city as well as the state, informed officials. Apart from the 20 schools which have already been merged in Kamrup (Metro), education department officials are planning to further merge more schools together. Additionally, there were three schools in the district in which no student took admission in 2017. “All three of these schools, were Assamese or Bengali medium schools where parents do not want to enrol their children

anymore. People are rejecting vernacular medium of study and a majority of parents now want to send their children to English-medium schools,” district elementary education officer Buli Gogoi Bhuyan told G Plus. She added that the decision to amalgamate schools was taken by the authorities in order to bring schools located nearby, which have zero or low enrolment, under one administrative and academic unit. Further, no student took admission in 476 government lower primary schools and 95 upper primary schools in the state in 2017. Authorities mentioned that there are close to 48,000 government-run upper and lower primary schools in Assam and around 5,000 private schools. “There are a number of private schools which have opened up in Guwahati as well as in the state. There has also been a considerable rise in the number of students opting for private schools instead of government schools,” said another official of the state education department. n

ccorHotels has launched an interactive mobile app for its guests to ensure a hasslefree booking experience. Guests just need to scan the QR Code to download the AccorHotels App and book their stay at Novotel, Guwahati. By using the app guests can plan their stay in the properties of AccorHotels. The app will enable the guests to get the details of the hotel room. With the app, guests can get access of the photographs of the rooms, view the different types of rooms and go through the facilities provided in the hotel and much more. Another exciting feature of the app is, guests who are members of Le Club AccorHotels and Accor Plus can avail a special ten percent discount on the best unrestricted rate available.

ASTC App for tickets launched

handra Mohan Patowary, the minister of Transport, Industry and Commerce, Skill Development, Act East Policy and Parliamentary Affairs launched the ASTC app for booking tickets and also flagged off the PPP Mode six Volvo Buses from ISBT, Betkuchi. The Volvo buses will be operated by Chartered Speed Private Limited on PPP mode. Tickets can be booked through the newly launched ASTC mobile application and ASTC website. The introduction of Volvo service from Guwahati to Shillong and Guwahati to Itanagar has scripted a new chapter in the history of the Assam State Transport Corporation. Citizens can now book their tickets at their convenience from anywhere within the state or country for travel within Assam and to neighbouring states. ASTC tickets were previously available for booking online on https://astcbus.in. Now, the indigenously developed app will be available on Google Playstore. Patowary talked at length on a slew of measures taken during the rule of the present government for development of the ASTC and its service to the people of the state.

12 Photo Feature

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

C i t y D i w a li i n p i c t u r e s

Rangoli at SK Girls Hostel of Cotton University

Tower of light at Panbazar Designer Diyas at Fancy Bazar

Traditional diyas are all time favourite

Joy and happiness

Diwali night from Gandhi Mandap Cotton University Hostel

A girl lighting up diyas at Panbazar

When friends get together

Flower pot Bhangra at Panbazar

In The News

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Wasn’t much of a Diwali this time despite its great religious significance... Lord Rama, to his kingdom after 14 years in exile. According to mythology, his subjects lit diyas on his return. 2. Houses are cleaned ahead of Diwali from top to bottom and lit well to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. 3. Brightly coloured rangolis are drawn using fingers on the ground at the entrances to homes and offices. The purpose of rangoli is to welcome guests and to encourage Goddess Lakshmi to come inside. 4. Card games are played among family and friends, as it is considered auspicious to gamble during Diwali. Some Hindus also believe that Lakshmi can be invoked through gambling.

Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in The Supreme Court of India had restricted the timings for bursting of crackers and allowed only green crackers to be burst. The apex court directed that only green firecrackers which are less polluting would be sold in the country but didn’t impose a blanket ban on firecracker sale. It had also fixed 8 pm to 10 pm as the time period for bursting of firecrackers during Diwali on November 7. While people were afraid that this move would dampen the spirit of the festival, nothing of that sort happened. Guwahatians celebrated the festival of lights with great fervour throughout the five days. Dhanteras, Kali Puja, Diwali, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Duj - each day of the festival was celebrated in grandeur. Diwali is one of the most important Hindu festivals in India, but the colourful customs and meanings associated with it can vary. While Hindus celebrate the return

Pyrotechnics on Diwali night | G Plus Photo of Lord Rama from exile, Jains celebrate the final nirvana of Lord Mahavira and Sikhs celebrate the release of Guru Hargobind from the Gwalior Fort prison. However,

some Diwali rituals remain common. 1. Small oil lamps made of clay (diyas) are placed at the

thresholds of homes, shops and offices throughout the festival to celebrate the legend of the return of the Hindu god,

This year too, the entire city was glowing with diyas and lights. People cleaned their houses, dressed up in new clothes, did puja at their homes, shops, offices and factories. The city sky as well was glowing on the main day of Diwali with bright coloured firecrackers lighting up the sky. n

14 G Talk E

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018 T

Flipside of the Gunotsav exercise

follower of G Plus from Guwahati, who also happens to be a good friend of mine, had to visit the Kazaringa Circle Office for some work related to his plot of land that happens to be located within the jurisdiction of that Circle. A fair bit of coordination was required because his mother-inlaw, who stays in a town of upper Assam and who happens to be the co-owner of the plot, had to also time her arrival at the Kaziranga Circle Office concurrently with my friend. While they matched their arrival to perfection taking for granted the fact that the Circle Officer would obviously be available since it was a normal working day, they were in for a shock on learning that the situation was quite the contrary. Why? No, the Circle Officer wasn’t ill or anything but was busy with Gunotsav work thrust on her at the expense of her regular duties. My poor friend’s schedules went completely haywire and last heard, he was whining to the point of wailing at the precious loss of his time and effort. Guwahati’s situation with the recent Gunotsav (Phase II) activities was no different with various government personnel pressed into Gunotsav duty at the expense of their

regular work. Professors of various colleges had to cancel their regular classes for days at a stretch to complete their evaluations of government-run schools under Gunotsav. The point of concern here is the suffering of regular work at government offices when such exercises are undertaken. Prior to this was the NRC exercise that picked up solid pace towards the end of July last so as to meet the strict deadline set by the Supreme Court of India. With many government officials pressed into meeting the deadline, especially at the circle office level, regular work went for a toss which meant that land transfers, flat or apartment registrations, land demarcation work, etc could not be done until the circle office personnel got “free” from their NRC workload. The government trying to evaluate its schools through an elaborate initiative is a good thing to do. After all, education is of paramount importance. But the current situation definitely calls for a mechanism whereby regular business in government offices does not take a backseat. Hope the government gives this a thought. Swapnil Bharali Editor

How was your Diwali? Funny Man: The Supreme Court and I are the same. Apne ghar me, humari koi nahi sunta… No izzat we have. Sensible Man: Well I think that’s the entire learning this Diwali. Our country is just not fit for democracy and harmonious living. We think only about ourselves and despite all the information and data we have access to, we continue to live with the ‘jo ukhaad na hai, ukhaad le’ attitude. Oversmart Man: Added to that, there’s is always that one ‘Indian’ guy trying to one up the other. It’s like, “Supreme Court ki himmat kaise hui to tell us when and what to burst. Ye le baccha, ek aur phod. We have to do more than Mr Sharma.” Inciter: Oh and don’t forget, they don’t take out such niyam out for other (read: Muslim) religions.

Guwahatians and the Conduct of Urbanity

, at times, wonder what we feel about the term “Urban” which most of us consider to be. We claim we stay in a city space with modern thoughts and ideologies. However, I see more of the reflection in the clothes people wear considering that “Urban” is usually used as opposed to “rural.” Only considering ourselves to be Urban and living in areas like Guwahati where tigers and leopards don’t roam our streets anymore does make us Urban? Not to forget the way we kill them in Urban space. I personally reside in Guwahati with an area pin code of 1

(781001 to be precise). So I see more bad than good in our so-called developed areas. I am not even touching upon our roads, garbage, drainage and floods here. If mindsets of our residents would have improved with the years of residing in a cultured space things would have been so much better by now. Let’s not bring in the government all the time knowing very well that we are the tax payers without any defaults. I speak for myself here. To a casual visitor, any city usually appears to be a monolithic collection of houses, buildings, people and open spaces, all somehow connected by a hidden code of conduct that eludes outsiders. Here, in our once small town of Guwahati which today has grown into a city “of sorts,” I

Sensible Man: I mean, the entire move just seems like it was meant to mock the police and district administrations across the country. Inciter: Oh well, our DA is headed by a ‘bhaiji’ looking fellow anyway. I don’t think anyone takes him seriously. Sensible Man: But my question is why was no action put in place, in case of violation of norms? Guwahati saw more crackers bursting right after 10:30 PM; something that our people seemed to have been doing possibly out of spite. But well, that’s just my two-cents. I think the Supreme Court ended up making a joke out of itself. With no regard for L&O, environment, or the judiciary, our public has set the benchmark for being an uncivilized lot. And you know how uncivilized people should be controlled? By a dictator! Someone from the back: Har har Modi!

Sidharth Bedi Varma

rStop VIP culture

wonder what we have to offer in term of urbanity. It’s a common sight to see empty bottled water (Bisleri we call it ) and more so empty chips packets thrown out of switch controlled windows of fancy big cars- that’s just an example. So I feel that although we claim to be Urbanites in all our glory, we do not have the basic CONDUCT of Urbanity for which our progress is limited. Over and above we are considering to covert our city into a “Smart-City”- how ridiculous can we get? A Smart City for whom, if I may ask? For the “Oversmart Urban Dwellers.” Such

I have regularly started telling my students, “You simply cannot be Urban until and unless you have the Conduct of Urbanity within you!” Considering the fact that with the urbanization process worldwide, modeling the dynamics of people’s activities in urban environments, it has indeed become a crucial socio-economic task.

O pinion

Sattyakee D’com Bhuyan

practices inadvertently create confusion in my mind in terms of what urbanity exactly means. As stated by cultural anthropologists in the past, one of the most important constituents of urbanity in governmental evaluations today is the attribute of urban morphology. However, urban morphology – along with the derivative attribute urban consciousness – is considered to be the most difficult to assess, most likely as a result of its close association with the subjective arts of architecture and urban design. Reflections are better seen during the festivities. I won’t comment on the final day of Durga Puja when the immersion of the Goddess takes place but what about our conduct during what we call the “Festival of Lights?” Considering the present situation Sound would makes a better replacement- that’s food for thought. I have regularly started telling my students, “You simply cannot be Urban until and unless you have the conduct of Urbanity within you!” Considering the fact that with the urbanization process worldwide, modeling the dynamics of people’s activities in urban environments, it has indeed become a crucial socio-economic task. However, if you believe in what images from satellites tell us about built-up areas, a whopping 63% of India is urban, with urban settlements concentrated in the relatively underdeveloped belts and precisely that is the WORRY. n

Letter to the Editor

he VIP convey are always in a hurry as if they are about to catch a flight. The security guards behave as though they are the owners of the roads. On 7th November, a resident of Tripura, who was riding a motorcycle in Bharalumukh area was hit by a convoy car of PWD and Health Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. Though the minister immediately alighted from his car and speedily arranged the shifting of the victim to GMCH, unfortunately the boy succumbed to his injuries. Now will the district administration take action against the driver and also against the concerned minister? The VIP culture is simply killing us. Even during traffic congestions, the VIP convoy's drivers try to muscle their vehicle through without caring about the other stranded vehicles. Many a time the security guards show batons and use abusive language against the common people. But who is going to control the unruly VIP convoys as lawmakers make law for common people sans themselves. Gaurrav Chowdhury GNB Road, Guwahati

In Focus

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Rohan Kumar Das Magician, Theatre actor-director

ohan Kumar Das, popularly known as Nix ‘The Mystery Entertainer’, is a well-known magician and mentalist from Guwahati. He is also a businessman, theatre actor and director par excellence. Born and brought up in Guwahati, Rohan pursued education from Don Bosco School, Pan Bazaar from where he passed matriculation. He then moved to Delhi where he took admission in Kulachi Hansraj Model School in the commerce stream. But due to certain circumstances he had to quit in the middle of class 11 and come back to his hometown. Here, he completed his education from Hindustan Kendriya Vidyalaya. To pursue higher education, Rohan moved to Bangalore where he studied Commerce from Ballwin’s College. After graduation, he again came back to Guwahati and joined his father’s construction business. Rohan however informed G Plus that he desired to become a movie director after graduation. “I watched a lot of movies when I was young, still do. I used to dream of making my own films so

when my father asked me what I wanted to do after graduation; I told him I wanted to make my own films. But, he strictly disagreed because I lacked vision and I had no idea how to go about it. Today, after all these years, I’m glad that he didn’t agree back then,” said Rohan. While he worked with his father for over a decade, he simultaneously also opened his own business – Baker’s Treat, a coffee shop with a video parlour called Video Options that opened with a collection of over 400 movies in CD format. Although the video section was flourishing when it opened, it saw a bane as soon as the internet era began in 2010. Soon, Rohan shut it down with a collection of over 7,000 movies. The retail unit of Baker’s Treat too shut down in 2014, followed by its wholesale section in 2017 so that Rohan could focus on the field of entertainment. Rohan, who’s been practicing and performing magic since he was a young boy studying in class 4. No matter what phase of life he’s in, magic has always been a part of it. Rohan has performed magic in hundreds of corporate events and club shows includ-

ing the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival, Guwahati Food Awards and the rewards and recognition shows of corporations like HDFC Bank and Yes Bank to name a few. A common thread that runs through all of Nix’s performances, be it on-stage or up-close, is the way he engages the viewers with brilliant storytelling and acting, owing largely to his interest in theatre and movies. This, together with the appropriate background music on stage creates an atmosphere of mystery and anticipation with just the right amount of wit and humour thrown in, to integrate a series of flawless performances into one cohesive experience that is thoroughly entertaining. After years of being involved in his father’s business and performing magic, Rohan’s passion for films led to him performing in his first play ‘Plot for Murder’ in 2012, kick starting a career in the theatre

and entertainment industry. Speaking to G Plus about the experience of working in ‘Plot for Murder’, Rohan said, “It was a learning experience for me. Not only did I get introduced to the field of acting and directing, it also boosted my confidence and helped me understand the importance of preparation.” After a positive reception to his role of a detective, Rohan went on to direct his first play ‘Art for Art’s Sake’ after which his career just took off. He went on to direct two more plays ‘Murder Game’ and ‘Pay Off’. Additionally, he started making short films. So far, Rohan has directed three short films – ‘Alcoholics Anonymous Anyone’, Objects in the Mirror’ and ‘Whole in One’ which got released on October 31. Giving a brief description of his latest short film

‘Whole in One’, Rohan told G Plus, “It’s the story of a fight between two friends gone wrong, leading to a plot of deceit and deception. The film has been shot entirely on a phone and in a budget of merely Rs 15,000.” A multi-faceted personality and a single father to Riyan, Rohan believes that “a pat on the back is more important than a buck in the wallet” because that’s what stays forever. He’s currently working on an upcoming play ‘True and False’ to be staged next month.

Do you think the Supreme Court order on timing of bursting firecrackers (8 to 10 PM) was violated in Guwahati? If so, why? Bishaldeep Kakati The honourable Supreme Court’s decision was really an important one. But unfortunately our people didn’t follow it and the district administration failed to implement the honourable Supreme Court’s decree in an efficient way. The decree in no way was contradicting our tradition. Burning of crackers was never there in our tradition. Diwali was only marked by lighting of Diyas as Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya. In the time when global warming is at its peak, and the effect of smog has destroyed the capital city Delhi, I found it really perplexing that the denizens didn’t realize the importance of the decree given by honourable Supreme Court. I sincerely hope that in the upcoming years the learned citizens will refrain from burning crackers.

Gunajit Yogi This year also in Diwali, fireworks caused supreme air and sound pollution within a very short time. It left dangerous toxins, harmful chemicals and smoke in the air, terrifying pets, wild animals and also humans. The bright glare of burning firecrackers burnt and permanently blinded many flying birds. Owls, kites and bats are the worst-affected. This Diwali too we disobeyed the directions provided by Supreme Court of India. This year too we didn’t care about our children, patients, environment, animals, birds and even ourselves. Let’s work together to spread awareness with a motive to bring a change for ourselves and the environment.

Shiv Mangal Singh The Supreme Court should have requested us rather than impose a one sided judgement without understanding sentiments of the Hindi speaking people. It’s very clear that the order was violated as no one cared about the verdict and people won’t stop celebrating festivals the way they have been celebrated for so many years and people are clearly following the traditions. SC should have taken other things into consideration before making this judgement as one day of Diwali celebration won’t pollute the environment as much as the vehicles on the streets do every day. Aanis Zaman Not to give this a religious connotation, but we all know that our environment is getting polluted more with every passing day. It’s not just Diwali, but every day we should ensure that we don’t pollute our environment. Diwali is not the only reason for pollution but the increasing number of vehicles and garbage thrown by the citizens also creates pollution every day. The order by SC was somewhere justified but it was also known that the people won’t be following. Diwali comes once a year and people wait for 365 days to celebrate this festival. So expecting to follow the order was a hopeless thing. subha_syndrome The Supreme Court even banned production and consumption of weed! So what happens in Shivratri? The court did their job, now it’s up to us and our civic sense and we can’t blame the court. No one should spoil their day or mood on a happy occasion like Diwali. One should enjoy it and be happy. It’s good if people followed the verdict otherwise it’s ok! With time people will understand the importance of this judgement. People in my area were seen bursting crackers till 2 AM and I don’t think any action was taken against them. People enjoyed to their fullest by bursting crackers and didn’t follow the timing imposed by the Supreme Court.

16 Feature

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

NH7 Weekender Meghalaya concludes on a high note

ne of the most anticipated live music events in India – BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender – received a spirited response in Meghalaya. The event was held at Wenfield, the festive hills in Lad Mukhla, Jaintia Hills on November 2 and 3. Tickets for the two-day music festival sold out like hot cakes, with music lovers coming in huge numbers from all over the country. Also known as the happiest music festival, it is one of the most anticipated music festivals of India. Thousands of music fans thronged to see their favourite acts and discover new music in the ninth edition of NH7 Weekender. The first day was headlined by the much awaited Finnish alt rock band Poets of the Fall (on-tour with their eighth studio

album Ultraviolet), which played to a huge passionate crowd. Day 1 also saw strong performances by guitar virtuoso Guthrie Govan who performed with Mohini Dey and Gino Banks, and Israeli psychedelic post-rock act Tiny Fingers. Some of India’s most popular acts also took the stage, such as Dualist Inquiry, Scribe, Kumail (Live) and Sandunes Live, acoustic folk jam band Fiddler’s Green, singer-songwriter Mahesh Raghunandan, fusion act Shadow

and Light, and vocalists Abhilash Choudhury and Aditi Ramesh. A special set was also played by Zubeen Garg as a tribute to Bhupen Hazarika, both being beloved musicians of the region. Local artists from the northeast too shone at the festival. Tipriti Kharbangar and the Clansmen, Summersalt, adL x k.ly & The Other Soul Collective from

with fans coming from all over the country to watch them perform a power-packed set. This was also the second time Bollywood

also enjoyed the performance of Carnatic Classical legend TM Krishna who played at Meghalaya for the first time.

multi-genre music festival also saw Hindustani dance music producer Ritviz, electronica outfit Komorebi and electro-

Day 2 saw the always energetic Zero, Pentagram and Mohini Dey. Stellar performances were also displayed by Morning Mourning, blues and instrumental act The Kush Upadhyay Group. The

acoustic trio The Yellow Bucket, Ape Echoes, Aarifah Rebello and Mali. Among the local talents that shone on the concluding day were Summersalt, Dewdrops, Dossers Urge, Sky Level, adL x k.ly and The Other Soul Collective and Tipriti Kharbangar & the Clansmen from Meghalaya, Rain in Sahara from Assam, The Twin Effect and Avancer from Nagaland, Minutes of Decay from Manipur as well as Takar Nabam Trio and The Vinyl Records from Arunachal Pradesh who played across the festival’s four stages. “2018 is the most successful edition we have had in our four years here, said Supreet Kaur, Festival Director. “The love and support that we have been welcomed with have truly made us feel at home. We look forward to being back next year for another fantastic experience in such a beautiful part of the country,” she added. The festival grounds also saw a vibrant bazaar with shops displaying and selling fashion, accessories and local finds. Food stalls catered to various tastes, and were a great way to check out a lot of local cuisine, especially for fans traveling from outside the region. The setting of the festival, the proximity to the Thadlaskein Lake and the hilly region made it all the more enjoyable. n

Meghalaya, The Pirates from Assam, The Twin Effect and Avancer from Nagaland, The Vinyl Records from Arunachal Pradesh enthraled the audience

with their music. The headlining acts for the second and final day of the festival included the highly anticipated alternative rock band Switchfoot

music composer and performer Shankar Mahadevan played at the festival with his music collective - My Country, My Music, with the audience calling for an encore when he finished. The audience

Trotter

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Drunk airline employee falls asleep in plane’s cargo hold, flies to Chicago

Woman buys baby shower cake for sister showing reality of childbirth poo - and it’s disturbingly realistic

hen it comes to cake, the sweet treat comes in all shapes and sizes. One cake maker from Wigan is used to getting creative commissions for her baked goods, but she recently got a request that even she admits was rather “random”.

n American Airlines baggage handler who fell asleep in the cargo hold of a plane has admitted to being drunk at the time of the incident. Reportedly, the employee was working on the ramp when he decided to take a nap inside the plane. This happened in Kansas City. However, when no one noticed that the employee was missing, the plane took off for Chicago, with him still inside the cargo hold of the Boeing 737. The baggage handler, who has not been identified, wasn’t discovered until the plane landed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, about two hours later. The employee was interviewed by the Chicago Police Department,

FBI and US Attorney’s Office. He told officers that he was intoxicated and fell asleep, according to Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielm. Though

the 23-year-old was not charged with any crime, the airline is investigating the matter and he has been suspended from his job. (Source: ndtv)

When doughnut shop owner’s wife fell ill, customers came early to buy all

t’s been about two weeks since customers have been arriving at Donut City in Seal Beach, California, starting at 4:30 a.m. to buy dozens of doughnuts. Recently, the shop sold out at 7:30 a.m. - hours before its usual 2 p.m. closing time. Customers say the doughnuts are delicious. But that’s not why they’ve been waiting in line to buy them in recent weeks. It started a few weeks ago, when customers started noticing that something was amiss. Every day for the past 28 years, the friendly husband-and-wife owners - Stella and John Chhan - have stood behind the counter selling their freshly made breakfast treats. But then one day, Stella Chhan wasn’t there. When customers inquired, John Chhan, 62, told them she had suffered an aneurysm and was recovering in a nursing home. He

would go visit his wife, 63, in the afternoon once all the doughnuts were sold and the shop was clean, he said. That’s all it took.

“Days went by and I just couldn’t get it out of my head,” customer Dawn Caviola told the Orange County Register. “So I thought, if enough people would buy a dozen doughnuts every morning, he could close early and go be with his wife.” Caviola posted the idea on the neighbourhood message board Next-door, and neighbours and

fans of Donut City responded in a big way. They started showing up in the dark, ordering dozens of doughnuts and croissants. By 6 a.m., there’s often a line to the door. Rogers said she and all of her friends started to spread the word to go to the shop early and buy doughnuts. As John Chhan cleaned up his store Monday morning, he said he would finish up and then head over to see his wife. He said the two came from Cambodia in the late 1970s, bought Donut City in 1990, and have been happy smallbusiness owners since. When Stella Chhan initially fell ill a few weeks ago, he said, she couldn’t speak and had trouble moving. Now she’s talking some and can sit down on her own. “She’s getting better and better,” he said. (Source: independent.co.uk)

Diwali celebration sets world record with 301,152 lamps

n Indian town set a Guinness World Record by lighting more than 300,000 Diwali lamps on the bank of a river. Guinness confirmed the Ayodhya Deepostav 2018 Diwali celebration in Ayodhya set a world record when 301,152 earthen lamps were illuminated on the bank of the River Sarayu. Rishi Nath, a Guinness adjudicator, said the lamps remained lit for at least five minutes, qualifying the feat for the world record. The event was attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who announced Faizabad district was being renamed to Ayodhya district. (Source: upi)

Rebecca Pilkington, founder of Cake O Rama, makes all kinds of celebration and occasion cakes from birthday cakes to Halloween cupcakes - and the orders come in thick and fast. A few weeks ago the 40-yearold received a rather bizarre order for a baby shower cake. A woman

got in touch with Rebecca to have a cake made for her sister’s baby shower - but not just any cake, she wanted an incredibly lifelike cake showing a baby being born in all its gory glory. Specifically speaking, she wanted a cake that showed a person pooping while giving birth. Unsurprisingly Rebecca was a little taken aback by the request. She said, “They came to me and said they had seen a picture of a baby’s head being born and they wanted one for a baby shower. I thought it was a bit of a random request especially when they specified the poo had to look as real as possible.” Not one to back down from a challenge, Rebecca was determined to create the most disturbingly realistic cake she could possibly make. According to the mum-of-three, the whole thing only took an hour to decorate after the initial baking time was over. She added, “I wouldn’t be happy if it was for my baby shower but for some reason loads of people love the idea. They thought it was hilarious.” In a comment on Facebook the original customer also revealed that her sister “loved” the cake - so it’s fair to say it was a big success. (Source: mirror.co.uk)

Chinese company ‘forces staff to drink urine as punishment’

isturbing footage shows staff at a Chinese company drinking urine and being whipped after “failing to reach their sales targets.” They were filmed performing the sickening acts inside the office of a decorating company based in Zunyi city, in south-western Guizhou Province. The workers were also reportedly ordered to eat cockroaches by the management, who believed they had let the team down. A video circulating shows cups of yellow liquid being picked up by the staff; two employees hold their noses as they down the cups in front of everyone else. The employees are seen waiting in line to receive their punishment while some of the staff are whipped. After the video went viral online, Zunyi police confirmed

that three management staff, surnamed Guo, Cai and Huang, had been arrested pending investigation. (Source: metro.co)

18 Review

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya

t takes a lot to make pirates boring. Without a doubt, Thugs Of Hindostan is a whole lot of movie - the biggest budget Yash Raj production of all time, the first film to star both Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan — and yet this giant period epic turns out to be feeble, formulaic and entirely forgettable. Directed by Dhoom 3’s Vijay Krishna Acharya, here is a film so dull and unoriginal that it can only inspire the shrugs of Hindustan. This is Pirates Of The Caribbean without a pirate or Caribbean. In this 1810-set adventure, Aamir borrows the Jack Sparrow eyeliner, while Amitabh is literally given the bird, his entrances on screen preceded by a noisy hawk. Bachchan plays a rebel, a

Movie Review

THUGS OF HINDOSTAN

freedom fighter rallying troops against the colonisers, while Khan is a two-faced rogue on the Company payroll sent to infiltrate Bachchan’s squad and bring him down. The girls have it worse. Fatima Sana Shaikh, who was so good in Dangal, plays a princess who doesn’t have a line for the first hour, but is a fierce combatant - just, mind you, not fierce enough. Shaikh doesn’t bring much to the part, and when she does speak, she does it flatly enough to justify her lack of lines. In the other corner, dancing whenever you look is Katrina Kaif. Kaif, who presumably did crunches instead of acting classes in preparation for her role, shakes her abs with gusto, but the songs are odd. n

amsung is one of the few manufacturers that diligently updates its tablet lineup year on year. Samsung is only selling the LTE version of this tablet in India, but it comes in at a pretty decent price of Rs. 29,990. The Galaxy Tab A 10.5 doesn't have much competition here in the Android space, and only real alternative is the Wi-Fi-only Apple 2018 iPad.

Design:

The Galaxy Tab A 10.5 has a large footprint due to the big display, but thankfully, it's quite slim. It doesn't feel too heavy either. The edges and corners of the tablet are rounded, which prevents it from looking overly boxy.

Specifications:

The Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is powered by an octa-core SoC, which sounds good at first, but the reality is a little disappointing. It can handle basic tasks well and UI navigation is smooth, but it is

quite underpowered for heavy multitasking and gaming. This reflects in benchmarks too as AnTuTu gave us a score of just 70,570 points while the T-Rex gaming test from GFXbench returned only 20fps. The tablet also has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 runs on a skinned version of Android 8.1 Oreo.

Display:

Brightness is good and colours have good saturation too. You don't get any option in the display settings to adjust the colour pro-

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sardonic depth) who lives in the nearby mountain and despises Christmas for unknown reasons. Angry and incapable of coming up with any other plan to deal with the situation, the Grinch decides to sabotage the town’s Christmas by pretending to be Santa Claus and stealing all the décor. The problem here is the faithfulness to the source material, which is fine when it comes down to paying respect to Dr Seuss, but not offering anything new except for animated versions of the exact same story and comedy beats is disappointing. Moreover, the lesson that the film offers is something that seems hackneyed now. The story is after all a metaphor for the grumpy old man in every neighborhood who hates everyone else having fun just because he’s lonely. n

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Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Estevez, Rashida Jones, Ramone Hamilton, etc. Director: Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier f you’ve seen the 2000 Jim Carrey film, there’s nothing new that you’ll find in this animated remake of The Grinch. This is a pretty looking but oddly timed film that neither makes a lasting dramatic impression nor renders a single throwaway chuckle that you expect in a comedy. Very young children might be distracted by the lights and sounds, but that’s barely a reason to head to the theatres. The story beats remain exactly the same as the Seuss book and the earlier film adaptations – everyone in the town of Whoville is preparing for Christmas, and this year is panning out to be the biggest celebration in history. This does not bode well with the Grinch (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch with predictable

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Movie Review

THE GRINCH file or temperature. Viewing angles are decent, and there's no visible colour shift when you view the display off-axis. The full-HD resolution (1200x1920) is just about adequate for rendering crisp text and images when using the tablet at arm's length. The pixel density is slightly on the lower side at 215ppi, when compared to something like the iPad, which has a 264ppi display.

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sides selfies, it's also useful for face recognition and video calls. The rear 8-megapixel sensor has autofocus and can shoot video at up to 1080p resolution. Image quality is not bad in daylight but it takes a while to focus due to the lack of PDAF. The tablet really struggles

from the viewfinder.

Battery:

Battery life is one of the strong suits of the Galaxy Tab A 10.5. The 7,300mAh battery easily lasted us a couple of days with a mix of light to medium usage, which typically involved some gaming, Web browsing, and watching videos. Samsung claims that the tablet will last you up to 15 hours for video playback, which was nearly true in our experience, as our HD video loop test ran for 14 hours and 11 minutes. The Galaxy Tab A 10.5 also supports Samsung's Adaptive Fast Charging.

Verdict:

Camera:

This low-cost tablet features front- and rear-facing camerasThe 5-megapixel selfie shooter manages decent image quality under good light, and be-

HUB

with focus in low light, and images are expectedly grainy and lack good detail. The camera app is simple to use, with all the basic shooting modes just a swipe away

In India, we don't have a lot of choice when it comes to Android tablets, as Samsung is pretty much the only manufacturer with an up-to-date portfolio. At Rs. 29,990, the Galaxy Tab A 10.5 is one of the better models of this size around. n

Entertainment

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Guwahati girl working with deaf students wins Best Choreographer Award

angeeta Bhattacharjee, serving as a dance choreographer at the college of Assam Association of the Deaf, Guwahati has been awarded the Best Choreographer Award in the 16th All India Cultural Festival for the Deaf, held in University of Kashmir, Srinagar. The event was organised by the All India Deaf Arts and Cultural Society, New Delhi. Also, the team that Sangeeta has been guiding was judged the third best team in the national level dance competition. Sangeeta has been involved with the mammoth task of teaching dance to deaf students. Teaching students, who can’t even listen to the song on which they are performing is really a challenging

task and Sangeeta does just that. This is not the first time that deaf students from Assam have performed outside the state. Sangeeta keeps on taking her students to events and one such was in Kerala recently. This enormous task that

Sangeeta has undertaken needs a lot of patience as it entails understanding each dancer’s needs individually. Sangeeta’s hard work has started paying returns and this indeed is a moment of glory for the students of Assam.

Guwahati’s Geetanjali Lukhrakhan to vie for Mrs Universe crown in Philippines

he recently crowned winner of Black Carpet Mrs India 2018, Geetanjali Lukhrakhan, is all set to participate for the Mrs Universe crown to be held in the Philippines. Geetanjali Lukhrakhan, who originally hails from Sivasagar

district and is presently settled in Guwahati with her husband, won the Black Carpet Mrs India 2018 title in Guwahati. In the dazzling contest held in Guwahati for the first time, Pallavi Das was the first runners-up, Harleen Kaur the sec-

ond runners-up, Anisha Ghosh occupied the third spot among runners-up and the last place was grabbed by Monideepa Bose. Significantly, all the five glamorous married women will represent the country in different beauty pageants involving married women across the globe.

While Black Carpet Mrs India 2018 Geetanjali Lukhrakhan will represent India in the Mrs Universe beauty pageant in the Phillipines, first runners-up Pallavi Das will represent the country in Mrs World beauty pageant to be held in Peru.

Further, second runners-up Harleen Kaur will contest for Mrs Asia Pacific at Singapore, Anisha Ghosh will compete at the Mrs Grand International beauty pageant at Dubai and Monideepa Bose will contest for Mrs Worldwide in Singapore. Black Carpet Mrs India 2018 was held at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Guwahati on October 28. The competition took place in two categories – Mrs India Regular (married women below the age of 37 years) and Mrs India Classic (married women above 38 years of age). In the classic category, Mamta Handique was crowned the winner. She was followed by first runners-up Sarita Choudhury and second runners-up Sikha Bora. The event at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre was organized after the auditions from all over the country among more than 100 applicants. Out of all the applicants, 25 participants made it to the final event after days of grooming.

Assamese actress to feature in Bollywood singer Shaan’s music video

pcoming Assamese actor Sunita Kaushik is on cloud nine afte r ge tting an opportunity to work with Bollywood singer Shaan, recently when he visited Assam for a musical tour. She worked with Shaan for his upcoming single and described it as a wonderful experience. “Got an amazing opportunity to work with @singer_shaan for his upcoming musical single.. it was a wonderful experience working with him,” wrote Sunita on an Instagram post. Sunita Kaushik is a promising and upcoming actor from the Assamese entertainment industry who has made her presence felt both on television and the silver screen. She has acted in TV shows like Ki Naam Di Matim, Anuradha and Moromor Anuradha. She has also featured in several advertisements and music videos.

Apart from these, Sunita’s major achievement on the big screen was in 2017 when she acted in late director Munin Barua’s romantic-comedy, Priyaar Priyo that had an imposing star cast of several veterans like Zubeen Garg, Manjula Baruah, Biki Rajkhowa, Pranjal Saikia, Saurabh Hazarika, Gunjan Bhardwaj and Aradhana Buragohain.

A trained Kathak dancer who has performed on many prestigious stages all around the country, Sunita has featured in over 60 music videos in her career as an actor.

Top honors for Bulbul Can Sing at MAMI Film Fest

ational Awardwinning filmmaker Rima Das took home the Golden Gateway award in the India Gold category for her film “Bulbul Can Sing” at the 20th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star. She clinched the top award at the fest for the second year in a row. Last year, Das’ Village Rockstars won three awards at the Mumbai Film Festival. Bulbul Can Sing, according to its official synopsis, is a visceral coming-of-age drama about a teenage girl, Bulbul, living in a village in Assam, fighting her way through love and loss as she figures out who she really is. The writer-director-producer has made the film independently, in the same way as her earlier film Village Rockstars. Rima Das’ latest film Bulbul Can Sing premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September this year where it received huge acclaim from the audience. Receiving the award at the Mumbai Film Festival, an elated

Rima dedicated the award to her mother and sought blessings. “I am giving this award to my mom. Last time Village Rockstars received three awards at MAMI and this is our first win for this film. I’d like to thank the universe and God for giving me so much strength,” a visibly emotional Rima told the audience. She also sought from the audience blessings and love for the Oscar journey of Village Rockstars. The film, which won two National Awards this year, has been selected as India’s entry in the best foreign language film category at the 2019 Academy Awards.

20 Fun

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Horoscope of the week In spite of a good opportunity to make big money in sight, you may not really be able to cash in on it, all thanks to retrograde Mercury and Venus. At the personal front, if you are in a relationship, a row over a petty matter or surprisingly weird behavior of your sweetheart may make you unhappy. However, do not lose hope, says Ganesha be it your career or love life.

Home and loved ones are on the top of your mind this week. You will probably contemplate about looking for a bigger apartment for your family. But as Venus is in the 4th House, there seems to be nothing positive working in that direction. Moreover, all may not be well at your personal front; remember that a calm mind helps to cruise through the roughest of weathers.

If you are looking for a superficial relationship with just physical intimacy in mind, you need to be very careful this week as the chances of you landing in trouble are high. At the professional front, you will be in quite a comfortable position. With Jupiter and Sun both in your 10th House, you will do rather well. Gains are likely and you will enjoy a good financial stability.

Finance and family related matters take your time, at the week’s beginning. It is not that you earn less, but your desire for more seems to become stronger now. A luxurious lifestyle, probably, is on your agenda. Be realistic, says Ganesha. Singles ones may remain under family pressure – for getting married.

You now recognize how important it is to explain your thoughts and ideas in an effective manner. With this realization, you will want to work on your personality and communication skills but unfortunately, with Venus, the ruler of your Sign moving retrograde in your Sign, you may not totally succeed in this objective.

Moon naturally holds the charge of your zone of luck – the 9th House. When the week begins, Moon moves from your 12th House. You may not be thinking right. Wrong decisions, owing to misunderstandings and temptations, are likely. So, avoid any major moves on Monday or Tuesday, warns Ganesha. Pipe dreams and wild thinking won’t do you any benefit.

As the week begins, an encouraging opportunity for monetary gain comes your way. However, you need to respond to this promptly, or it may fizzle soon. On the whole, you may not be in your best moods, as there will be uneasiness in your relationships. You may not be getting due support from your near ones – or so you may think.

Time to smile for businessmen as an amazingly lucrative deal is likely to fall in your lap this week. Don’t be discouraged if the finalizing of the deal gets delayed; it’s because of retrogression of Venus in the 10th House of which it is the ruler. On the other hand, Jupiter and Sun in the 11th House will have a benevolent influence on your bank balance.

Get ready for turbulent times if you own a business, says Ganesha. The planets are aligned in such a way that there is a great possibility of a minor loss in business. When you sit down to think about it and seek the reason behind the setback, you will realize that it is due to the negligence and lack of commitment of some of your key staff members.

Positions of planets at the week’s beginning indicate that you may be dismayed by the unbecoming conduct of someone, with whom you are emotionally attached. Parents of school-going children may be concerned by something or the other. Try to relax! This will get better soon. Moon connecting with retrograde Venus seems to be responsible for this little chaos.

Sudoku 9 3 1 4 2

2 6 6 9 7 7 1 3 4 5 1 5 8 5 9 2 4 5 2 7 9 6 5 2 3 1 4 3 6 7 9 6 9 6 7 8 1 3 8 7 6 1 9 2 6 9 4 5 3 1 9 7 6 5 1 easy Daily Sudoku: Fri 9-Nov-2018

You may be keen to do something special to enhance your growth prospects, as the week begins. However, do not indulge in kind of unethical short cuts, which may hurt you later. Career oriented professionals may have differences or conflict with a colleague, over working methods. Do not stretch things too far, just to prove your point.

Daily Sudoku: Fri 2-Nov-2018

The various names for this art form are Muggu in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Kolam in Tamil Nadu, Mandana/Mandas in Rajasthan, Chowkpurana in Chhattisgarh and so on How do we know it better? 2 Which structure, recently in the news, is present on an island named Sadhu Bet, 3.2 km away from and facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam downstream, near Rajpipla, 100 kilometres, southeast of the city of Vadodara? 3 Which Indian military hero was crowned as King on June 6, 1674 at Raigad? 4 Henri Delauney Trophy is awarded to the winners of which football tournament? 5 In 2015, Adarsh Gupta’s research team at Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India discovered the complete sequence and the protein structure of something which is very dear to the Assamese and published it in Nature Scientific Reports What? 6 What is the ornamental name for this popular dish of bacon wrapped prawns? Dr. Soubhadra Chakrabarty This quiz has been brought to you by Brain Jam, a property of Priya Communications

Wizard of Id By Parker and Hart

curio-city

7 last 5 9week 1 8 solution 4 2 6 3 3 1 4 2 5 6 9 8 7 8 6 2 3 7 9 5 4 1 6 8 2 3 7 9 4 1 5 3 1 7 5 8 4 9 2 6 4 6 5 9 2 8 3 7 1 9 4 5 6 1 2 7 3 8 2 9 3 7 6 1 8 5 4 2 9 3 1 5 6 8 7 4 1 7 8 5 4 3 6 2 9 1 7 8 4 9 3 2 6 5 9 2 6 4 1 7 5 3 8 7 23 85 11 99 32 86 45 74 6 9 39 12 47 54 26 57 38 16 8 4 2 9 8 6 5 3 1 7easy Daily Sudoku: Fri 9-Nov-2018

5 3 1 2 4 7 6 8 9 Daily Sudoku: Fri 2-Nov-2018

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1. Rangoli, widely used to decorate homes all across India during Diwali 2. Statue of Unity 3. Shivaji 4. UEFA European Championships, for countries 5. Muga silk Fibroin 6. Angels on Horseback

curio-city

hard

Venus is considered to be the ruler of your 7th House linked with marital life and your relationship with spouse. As the planet will be in retrograde mode this week, that too in the 7th House, you might experience some unrest in your marriage. Remember one thing that differences and tiffs are temporary; so do not take any such step for which you might have to repent later.

Word of the week bewhiskered adjective [bih-hwis-kerd] ancient, as a witticism, expression, etc.; passé; hoary.

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1 Be thorough over a task (4,5) 8 Nigerian currency unit (5) 9 Church tower (7) 10 Glue (8) 11 Encourage (4) 13 Lower part of uterus (6) 14 Story in instalments (6) 16 Way from A to B (4) 17 Diver’s breathing apparatus (8) 19 Russian empress (7) 20 Shape (anag) — lots (5) 21 Differed (9)

1 Broadcast (8) 2 Pristina is its capital (6) 3 Homework (4) 4 Especially (2,10) 5 Potholer — I’ll goose-step (anag) (12) 6 Locked up (12) 7 Watership Down author (7,5) 12 Disconnected (8) 15 Chess board unit (6) 18 Chicken portion (4)

Last week’s solution

Lifestyle

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

Vaastu of cabinets

abinets and wardrobes are built to store items and clothes so that things do not lie scattered. In many houses and offices, they are missing and you can see clutter all around. A cluttered room is not only an eyesore but it also creates Vaastu defects. A disorganized bedroom will distort the energy of the area and peace will be disturbed. So almirahs or wardrobes should be provided to keep things in order. Vaastu has laid down certain rules when placing wardrobes in the bedroom.

Vaastu of calendars

The calendar is indispensable in our life to know the dates, week or months of a particular year. It also indicates important events like festivals or holidays. Some calendars are so beautifully printed that people hang them on the wall for decorative purpose even when the year has ended. With the advent of mobile phones, dates can be seen digitally in our fingertips only. Many wrist watches also provide this facility of displaying the date besides the time. Still calendars are popular with people and at least one wall or table calendar can be seen in everyone’s house. While keeping wall calendars in the home, it is necessary to know the possible consequences of Vaastu if they are placed in the wrong directions. Calendars are either placed on desks or hung on a wall. According to Vaastu Shastra, calendars are like clocks and serve as indicators of time. So, the same rules apply to both these objects. Many hang calendars on the door unknowingly. Vaastu prohibits the placement of calendars on the front or back side of the doors.

1. The south-west direction is ideal for placing bedroom wardrobes or cabinets or cupboards. The south and west are other directions. If not possible, the north-west is another suitable direction. But a heavy almirah should be always placed either on the south or the west wall. 2. The wardrobes should not touch the walls and should be placed at least three inches away from the wall. This is to avoid the obstruction of the flow of positive energy. 3. Almirahs should be placed in such a way that their doors open towards the east or the north direction.

Directions for hanging calendars

4. Always use light colours are for cabinets. Black or deep colours absorb energy. 5. Go for normal shapes of furniture like square or rectangle and avoid unbalanced shapes such as

6. Many wardrobes have mirrors fitted. The mirrors should not reflect the person sleeping on the bed as it attracts negative energies which can affect the health. Avoid mirrors at south and west.

oval, circle or triangle. Use regular materials for the cabinets or cupboards such as

wood instead of marble or other stones. Steel cabinets are not recommended inside the house

The ideal directions for placing a calendar are the north, the north-east, the east or the west walls of the house. They should never be hung in the south direction as it can bring bad luck or stagnation and may affect health of family members. Remember that the south is ruled by

Yama, the Lord of death.

Few dos and don’ts The drawing room is the best place to hang a calendar. Old and Outdated calendars should not be left hanging in the room. They can be a source of depleting energies and can hinder progress in your lives. Do not use calendars with pictures that spread negativity such as violence or sadness. Avoid calendars having pictures of ferocious animals or war. Always choose calendars with pleasant pictures such as greenery or fountain for the north direction. It is very auspicious to have the picture of a rising sun in the east. The calendars on the desk or the walls are not visible from main entrance of the house. This can disturb the flow of positive energies. Pictures of greenery and water are auspicious at north. Pictures of flowers and trees are lucky at east as per Feng Shui. Calendars can also be kept at west and northwest for success. But they should not have any picture of water. It is good to have a calendar with a picture of a mountain behind your back in the office. It provides support. But avoid it if you are sitting facing the north. Hemanta Kumar Sarmah Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

The philosophy of fashion Nafisa Tasnem Habib

rom the very beginning when the world started to evolve in sense of fashion, it delineated every bit of minute modifications that spurred up with some eminent personalities. It was with this escalating burgeon factor that was accentuated everywhere. Trends of mix and match got prevalent once started, in fact sportswear got associated with the upgradation of fashion. Traditional designs got its platform on international ramps. The world is the raw form from which the thesaurus of art and culture is derived. Like other industries have its own fusion fashion industry is just the apex to limn it. From north to south, east to west everything gives a kaleidoscopic view of the world! As rightly quoted “Beauty is a short lived tyranny” but when it comes

to fashion it comes to us thousand times, in thousand different faces and lives thereafter. Fashion industry has widened up to include new ideas and ways for attracting youth. Pseudo fashion hubs has also given many opportunities to people from different background and with various skills to get a glance of what fashion is all about . It gives courses to develop personality as well so as to burn the

ramps. Designing is also a great part of it. Fashion and lifestyle industry has to face many challenges as it needs to be omni-present may it be media or what not so as to create

its own league. It tries to vogue up as to compete in the competition of sustainability with its dynamic character. New hubs of fashion related works have increased the

nexus among people of different background and skills. “Fashion is everything one carries so as to procure everything the way it needs to be”.

22 Buzz

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

NSS East zone pre-Republic Day parade training begins in city

Khound congratulated the students for getting the opportunity to participate in this prestigious camp. He thanked Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque for providing the infrastructure of USTM to the participants and asked the Cultural Procession at NSS East Zone Pre Republic students to gear up and Day Parade Camp at USTM give their best to impart training on parade, to get selected for the life skills, yoga and cultural proRepublic Day parade in grammes to the participants. New Delhi. A cultural procession took A total of 200 NSS place as part of the inaugural volunteers from 10 ceremony on Sunday. Particistates, including West Dipak Kumar, Regional Director, NSS addressing pants from all over north-eastBengal and Odisha are inaugural of at NSS East Zone Pre Republic Day ern states and West Bengal and participating in the Orissa joined the procession in camp, out of which the Parade Camp at USTM colourful traditional dresses. The best 40 NSS volunteers aim was to strengthen the unity will be selected to participate in formally inaugurated Dipak Kuand brotherhood of the country. the Republic Day parade of 2019 mar, Regional Director, NSS in the Earlier, Mahbubul Hoque welto be held in New Delhi. Experts presence of PR Khaund, Director, comed all the volunteers and from different government and Directorate of Sports & Youth wished them a pleasant and non-government organizations Welfare, Assam. learning stay in the university. n from across the country are here Addressing the gathering, PR he National Service Scheme’s pre Republic Day parade camp for the Eastern Region is being held at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM). The camp, which started on 4th November, was

IIT Guwahati holds Japan Edu Fair

ndian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) recently organised a Japan Education Fair in collaboration with University of Tokyo, New Delhi office, which focused on higher studies in Japan, student exchange programmes and internships. The event, held at the IITG campus on October 31, was attended by a large number of students and faculty members of the institute. Representatives from top universities in Japan and the industry highlighted the benefits of studying in that country. Masahiro Kobayashi, first secretary at the embassy of Japan in India, called upon the students to not only select Japan as a destination for education but also to opt for work in Japan, keeping in mind the relaxation in rules for Indians to apply for work permits or perma-

nent residency in that country. He said Japan’s keenness to have students from India merges well with the Look East policy of the government of India. Representatives from University of Tokyo, Yokohama National University, Saitama University, Ritsumekan, Gifu University, and representatives from companies like Hitachi

stressed the fact that education in Japan was now being imparted completely in English and that a large number of foreign students study in the country. On October 30, a one-day bilateral symposium with Yokohama National University saw paper presentations from faculty members of Yokohama National University and IITG. n

Chimera 2018 sees active participation from Assam students

ocio cultural organization, Amrapali, recently organized the cultural extravaganza and prize distribution ceremony of their 3rd Chimera 2018 on November 2, 2018 at District Library, Guwahati. The mega cultural event was celebrated with grandeur wherein governor of Assam Prof Jagdish Mukhi was the chief guest along with guest of honor, Dr Arun Kumar Sarma (former Member of Parliament), Dr Amar-

jyoti Choudhury (vice chancellor, Assam Downtown University) and Drona Bhagawati (author and social activist). The 3rd Chimera 2018 had 20

competitions this year for students from Nursery to Class XII in various categories like Dance, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Creative Writing, Art, Children Fashion Show, Greeting Card Making, Children Fashion Show, etc. and the International Youth Arts Olympiad, the first ever Olympiad upon arts, culture and heritage. Students from different schools and also from districts like Sonitpur, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Mangaldoi, etc. actively participated. n

Balipara Foundation Awards 2018 conferred

new eco-crusaders were honoured at the 6th Balipara Foundation Awards held at Guwahati on November 2, Friday. The Annual Balipara Foundation Award was accorded to Maksudur Rahman for social impact

conferred the ‘Eastern Himalayan Global Environmental Ambassador’ award by Dr KK Sarma, in the presence of over 1,000 delegates from 13 countries. Among other recipients of the Balipara Award 2018 were Narmohan Das, Tambor Lyngdoh, Tenzing Bodosa, Dimbeswar Rabha,

Balipara award conferred to Jensempa in Bangladesh and preserving the bio-cultural heritage of the Sunderbans through his organization Bangladesh Environment and Development Society. The Award was presented by Mike Korchinsky, Wildlife Works, USA. The Green Journalist Award was accorded to Honorary Wildlife Warden of Kaziranga, Uttam Saikia for educating the forest department through his knowledge and a deep-rooted empathy towards the World Heritage site. Everester Anshu Jamsenpa was

Alemba Yinchunger, Dorji Wangchuk, Mehdi Arif Hussain, Usha Lachungpa and High-Altitude Training Centre. Evolutionary Ecologist, Dr Kamaljit Singh Bawa, ATREE delivered the Rabindranath Barthakur Memorial Lecture and highlighted the importance of cataloguing the abundance of our natural assets vis-a-vis our consumption to preserve our forests and the biodiversity in the Eastern Himalayas, on which the lives of millions depend. n

Guwahati boy secures 2nd position in national chess championship

anthan Kashyap Datta, a Class 8 student of Delhi Public School Guwahati, secured the 2nd position in the under 19 (Mixed category) of the CBSE National Chess Championship 2018 at Gwalior on Saturday, November 3. Manthan scored 4 points out of 5 points in 5 rounds and finished runner-up behind Fide master Mitrabha Guha who scored 4.5 points and became the champion in the category. Manthan is the first player from Assam to secure a medal in this prestigious event organised by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) annually. Manthan, who was the 2nd runner up in the 26th National Under-7 Chess championship 2012

at Pondicherry is currently having a Fide rating of 1824 and is among the leading sub junior players of Assam. Assam Chess Club congratulated Manthan on his achievement and wished him success for future events. n

Events

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018

The glitterati of Guwahati came together at a private residence and it turned out to be one of the finest pre-Diwali parties of the city ever.

November 10, Saturday Anirudh Bhola Live Underdoggs 8PM onwards November 10, Saturday Big EDM Night ft. Carnivore The Socialite 8PM onwards November 10, Saturday Time Lapse ft. Jay Ramani NYX Lounge and Deck 8PM onwards November 10, Saturday Street Jammers Live Xtreme Sports Bar and Grill 8PM onwards November 10, Saturday Siddhant Sharma Live Cafe Hendrix 8PM onwards November 10, Saturday GenNext Night ft. Make Shift Terra Mayaa 8PM onwards

Event: Diwali celebration by team NEUFC Date: November 6, Tuesday Venue: Hotel Radisson Blu

Event: Halloween Weekened Date: November 3-4 Venue: The Socialite

Event: Club Night ft. House DJ Date: November 4, Sunday Venue: Dunkin Oza

November 11, Sunday Herfunmola Live The Socialite 8PM onwards November 15, Thursday Eat Street Festival The Square, Hotel Novotel 7:30PM onwards November 16, Friday Maine Karna Hai Comedy ft. Parinder Singh The Socialite 8PM onwards November 16-18 Guwahati Theatre Festival Pragjyoti ITA Centre

24 Catching Up

G PLUS | NOV 10 - Nov 16, 2018