G Plus Vol 6 Issue 42 by G Plus

@guwahatiplus | /c/gplusguwahati www.guwahatiplus.com

INSIDE

Volume 06 | Issue 42 Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019 Price `10 Three-day programme to be organised for Independence Day

Karabi Das suicide: Enough evidence against lover, say police

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Swachh Bharat Praharis: Guwahati youths’ initiative to clean up city

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Bhubaneswar Kalita joins BJP

Assam floods: The All ROTTEN annual destruction of a state POTATOES in BJP kitchen, says Cong History & major reasons behind floods What is the role of climate change?

Veteran Congress leader, Bhubaneswar Kalita, has chosen to join the BJP causing severe heartburn to his excolleagues who have virtually termed him as a betrayer. Full story on Page 2.

Dredging the Brahmaputra River: Viability questioned Proposed solutions undertaken What can be the way forward?

Assam Tea: The challenges, concerns & the way forward

Tea labourers: Asset or liability?

Per capita consumption of tea on the decline

Competition is killing the business

Govt should intervene: Tea estate owners

An indepth analysis on the Assam floods on the points mentioned above: See pages 4-5 A detailed look at the current struggles of Assam’s famed tea industry: See pages 8-9

Lead Story Snippets

City university hosting 3-day refresher course

ssam Down Town University is currently hosting a threeday “Refresher Course” organized by Assam Higher Secondary Education Council in association with Assam Down Town University at the premises of the university in Panikhaiti from August 8 to August 10. The workshop is mainly to educate teachers on how to impart quality education to students which would facilitate them in building their overall personality. The dignitaries who are chairing this event include Dr Dayananda Buragohain - Chairman, Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, Kamal Gogoi – Secretary, Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, Dr Amarjyoti Choudhury - Vice Chancellor, Assam Down Town University and Joutishman Dutta - Managing Trustee, Assam Down Town University. Teachers from six districts – Nalbari, Kamrup, Baksa, Bongaigaon, Darrang and Barpeta are present at the event. Around 151 teachers have registered from these districts. Refresher courses on physics, chemistry, economics, geography, history, Swadesh Adhayan etc are being covered in this three-day session.

Mary Kom, Lovlina selected for women’s World Boxing Championships

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

All rotten potatoes are in BJP’s kitchen now, says Congress after Kalita’s exit G Plus News @guwahatiplus

he Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rajya Sabha member of the parliament (MP) Bhubaneshwar Kalita who resigned from the Congress Party on 5th August (Monday) last to protest against his party’s stand on the scrapping of Article 370.

He thereafter joined the BJP on 9th August (Friday). Slamming the move of the erstwhile senior Congress leader, the APCC dubbed him as a “rotten potato.” “All the rotten potatoes are in the BJP,”said APCC general secretary and chief spokesperson Apurba Bhattacharya. He said that BJP’s motto used to be “Congress Mukt Bharat,” but now it is now becoming “Congress Jukt BJP.” “If some leaders like Bhubaneshwar Kalita leave

Congress, the party will not be affected,” said Bhattacharya expressing his anger on Kalita as according to him the Congress Party had done a lot for Kalita but Kalita had finally betrayed the party. Kalita was also the chief whip in the Rajya Sabha. On Monday (5th August), Kalita resigned from the membership of the Upper House opposing the party’s stand on the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Rajya Sabha Chairman, M

Venkaih Naidu, announced in the House that he has accepted Kalita’s resignation. Samajwadi Party member from Uttar Pradesh Sanjay Seth also resigned from the Upper House and the chairman accepted his resignation as well. The resignations from Rajya Sabha came ahead of the crucial vote on a resolution scrapping Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir and a bill to bifurcate the state into two union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Pawan Singh Ghatowar & family likely to join BJP With a number of Congress leaders gradually joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Assam, Pawan Singh Ghatowar is the next Congress leader who is likely to join the BJP. A highly placed source in the BJP, talking to G Plus, revealed that Pawan Singh Ghatowar might join the BJP along with his wife and son. “The talks are in process. Nothing has been finalised. But Ghatowar and family are interested in joining the BJP. It may take some time,” informed the source. It was being gauged by political observers that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was working towards enticing Congress leaders and converting them into the BJP fold, but the RSS rubbished the observation. A top RSS leader of Assam,

talking to G Plus under condition of anonymity said, “RSS is not persuading Congress leaders to join the BJP. It is the BJP who are taking decisions themselves.” The leader said that RSS works for BJP during general elections and therefore BJP wins, but other than that RSS never works to convert members from other parties into the BJP fold. “They (BJP) take our permission when they want,” said the leader expressing that Bhubaneshwar Kalita’s permission was not taken from RSS and they do not have any information about Ghatowar either. The leader claimed that across India, BJP mostly loses elections during by-election and not general elections because during general elections the RSS works 24X7 at the grassroots level for BJP’s victory. But the same does

not happen during byelections. Similarly, when any leader from a different party joins the BJP, the decision is mostly taken by BJP itself; it is only sometimes that the RSS opinion is sought. There are many Congress leaders who are planning to join the BJP but again they are apprehensive of not getting tickets during elections, expressed the RSS leader. Some leaders are even

restricted by RSS as they might harm the sentiments of the sevaks and the Sangh as a whole, the leader said.

RSS restricts Gautam Roy’s entry to BJP

ix-time world champion MC Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain have been selected for the upcoming women’s world boxing championships based on their recent performances. Mary Kom, who has already claimed two gold medals this year, has been selected in the 51 kg category while World and Asian bronze-medallist Borgohain will be competing in the 69 kg category. The world championships are scheduled from October 3 to 13 in Russia.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has restricted the entry of the Congress heavyweight from Barak Valley, Gautam Roy’s entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Many BJP leaders are trying to induct Gautam Roy into the party, but the RSS has restricted the entry because of the complications involved in the issue,” said a top RSS leader from Assam under condition of anonymity. The leader expressed that when Roy was in power, he had “tortured” many RSS and BJP members in the Barak Valley.

Therefore, the RSS is totally against his induction into the saffron party. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Roy tried his best to join the BJP and it was also rumoured that he might contest on a BJP ticket from Silchar against Congress leader Sushmita Dev. A BJP source in Hailakandi district, talking to G Plus, said that there are a few BJP leaders who have some connivance with Roy and they pulled the strings with the BJP high command to induct Roy into the BJP. But the RSS and the local BJP members protested against the decision.

Gautam Roy is a heavyweight Congress leader and even backed former Congress and present BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma during the dissidence which erupted in Assam Congress after BJP won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But later, after Himanta’s demands were not addressed by the Congress high command, Roy parted ways with Himanta and backed the Tarun Gogoi lobby to get the social welfare ministry in Assam. “He can never join BJP,” said the top RSS leader.

Governance

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Three-day programme to be organised for Independence Day Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

amrup (Metro) district administration is set to observe a three-day programme for the upcoming Independence Day celebrations. Addressing a press meet on Thursday, August 8, deputy commissioner Kamrup (Metro) Biswajit Pegu, said that the celebrations will take

place from August 13-15 and programmes on different themes will be undertaken each day. For August 13, a Swachhta drive would be conducted under which cleaning of

statues of freedom fighters, martyrs, leading citizens along with cleaning of parks and distribution and plantation of saplings will take place. Further, essay-writing, painting and speech competition will be held in schools and colleges. The district administration would hand out cash prizes to the winners of these competitions. Additionally, cultural programmes with patriotic song competition will take place in the evening. “The second day of the Independence Day celebrations will see awareness rallies and quiz competitions in educational institutions. Also, street plays on drug awareness will be held. Apart from this, an Independence Day Run for Unity will be held in every district,” informed Pegu. On the other hand, the district administration will host the main programme on August

August 13 Swachhta drive with cleaning of statues of freedom fighters, martyrs, leading citizens, parks Distribution and plantation of saplings Essay-writing, painting, speech competition in schools and colleges Cultural programmes with patriotic song competition

August 14 Awareness rallies, quiz competitions in educational institutions. Street plays on drug awareness Independence Day Run for Unity in every district

August 15 Main programme with ceremonial flag hoisting Participation from students, NGOs and leaders among others Felicitation of persons who showed exemplary service during the recent floods, personalities related to “Mann Ki Baat,” progressive farmers and sports personalities Thematic cinema shows about patriotism to be screened for students

DC Kamrup (M), Biswajit Pegu briefing the media on the Independence Day celebration plans 15 with ceremonial flag hoisting which will see participation from students, NGOs and leaders among others. Additionally, on the occasion of Independence Day,

felicitation of persons who showed exemplary service during the recent floods, personalities related to “Mann Ki Baat,” progressive farmers and sports personalities will

also take place. “We will also organise free thematic cinema shows about patriotism which will be screened for students,” said the DC. n

Special task force formed to check plastic waste

eputy Commissioner Kamrup (Metro) district, Biswajit Pegu, informed that they have noticed that during the Bol Bom celebrations, a stretch of GS Road becomes especially dirty with littered plastic bottles and plastic glasses. “It has been seen that the devotees litter the road side with plastic bottles and glasses. In order to check this, we have constituted special task force in consultation with the temple committees,” informed Pegu. He added that keeping this in mind, the entire GuwahatiShillong Road (GS Road) has been divided into five zones and one task force will be present in each zone to ensure cleanliness. The DC mentioned that the task force will consist of officials from the police, Guwahati Municipal Corporation, volunteers as well as district administration members. “Our basic aim with this initiative is to bring in some behavioural change in the general public. The GMC workers

will perform their duty and clean the garbage every day but if there is no positive response or cooperation from the citizens then it would be very difficult to bring in some change,” said Pegu adding that their motive is not to impose fines and penalties but to encourage people to throw garbage only in dustbins and thereby to avoid littering. Along similar lines, the GMC had recently launched flying squads with the aim to penalise city residents for littering and spitting on roads, footpaths, road dividers or any other public place. With a view to make the city cleaner and more hygienic, the GMC launched a total of six flying squads last month. These squads were launched to look into the garbage collection system of the city. They are equipped with a vehicle and all necessary equipment to clear out garbage dumped on roadsides and they keep moving around different areas of the city. The flying squads consist of six

It has been seen that the devotees litter the road side with plastic bottles and glasses. In order to check this, we have constituted special task force in consultation with the temple committees.” Biswajit Pegu, DC, Kamrup (M) multi-tasking workers equipped with tools and all necessary equipment to clear out garbage dumped on roadsides. Each team is headed by a supervisor from the GMC. The squads have also been given the responsibility to monitor the work of the NGOs involved in door-to-door collection of garbage in the city.

4 Cover Story

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Assam floods: The annual destruction of a state Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

ssam has almost become synonymous with floods. Each year the state witnesses devastation caused the overflowing of the

Brahmaputra River - the mighty river which flows through the entire state – and its numerous tributaries. The Brahmaputra river system is a mega river system which dissects the entire Brahmaputra river valley. The water of the main stem of Brahmaputra is also supplemented by around 57 north bank tributaries and 33

south bank tributaries. This year alone the floods have claimed 91 lives so far in Assam and affected more than 53 lakh people. As per a Central Water Commission report on the annual Assam floods between the years 1953 and 2016, close to 26 lakh people are affected on an average every year

due to floods in Assam. The total annual average damages to crops, houses and public utilities stands at Rs 123.39 crores. Additionally, the floods kill 47 people on an average each year. The flood of 2004 was a particularly devastating one in recent times as it recorded 1.26 crore people affected - which is

the maximum since 1953. The year also saw the highest death toll which stood at 497. Further, 2012 saw the highest damage worth Rs 3,200 crores due to floods. Here’s a look at the history of the floods and the reasons why they occur every year causing destruction to humans, wildlife and property.

History & major reasons behind floods Floods are not a new phenomenon for Assam and its people as the state has been experiencing flooding every year for centuries. Experts claim that even the chronicles of Ahom monarchs repeatedly mention floods. Since ages, the people of the

it enters Arunachal Pradesh and then flows across Assam. On the way, the river also merges with its tributaries in Bangladesh and finally flows into the Bay of Bengal. As the river flows from a higher altitude to the plains in Assam at a high speed on the slope, it carries with it a large load of

area without causing damage to flowing from the river but now Brahmaputra River. This is why property as well as human lives. with the large-scale destruction of flooding occurs continuously,” But now due to population wetlands, water holding capacity said Arup Kumar Dutta, author of pressure, a large number of of banks has reduced aggravating “The Brahmaputra.” people have started utilising the the problem. To add to this, meteorologically, areas near the river for living Rising population also Assam is part of a zone which purposes. This has ultimately led contributes to floods. Previously receives excess monsoon rains to reduction of flow path of river because of lesser population, and is also prone to earthquakes basin which has aggravated the people used to stay away from the which only makes matters worse. problem and has accentuated the banks. So, excess water in the river Dutta mentioned flood damages, claim experts. n also used to pass through a given that another important factor which majorly affected the flood scenario Population affected Total damages: crops, in Assam Year (in millions) Human lives lost houses & public was the utilities (in Rs crores) destruction caused by a 2003 5.65 52 347.09 devastating earthquake in 2004 12.63 497 57.34 1950 which led to change in 2005 1.02 29 32.88 the topography of the region. 2006 0.55 7 2.98 “The earthquake 2007 10.86 134 0 of 1950 was a devastating 2008 2.90 40 3.55 one which lifted up the 2009 0 0 0 bed of the Brahmaputra 2010 2.54 17 67.56 River by almost 3-5 metres 2011 0 0 0 therefore reducing the river channel’s capacity to 2012 2.9 144 3200 hold water,” he explained. This is why the impact of (Source: Central Water Commission) flooding has worsened in the state after 1950. Experts point out that some other factors which contribute to floods People affected: 26 lakh include the man-induced destruction of wetlands. Damages to crops, house and public utilities: Rs 123.39 crores These wetlands used to Human lives lost: 47 absorb the excess water

Flood damage from 2003-2012 in Assam

Morigaon district facing the brunt of the 2019 floods | G Plus photo Brahmaputra valley have learnt to live with floods. For instance, people of the Mising community are intimately connected with the river and they build their houses at a raised level to prevent flood water from entering their houses. Most of them also own boats making them self-sufficient when the deluge occurs. The Brahmaputra River originates in Tibet traversing the Tibetan Plateau after which

Lighter and faster

sediments and debris. It also causes landslides and the silt is deposited in the river bed thereby continuously raising its height. During the summer season, melting of the Himalayan glaciers and monsoon rains combine together resulting in the annual floods. “Both of these factors contribute a huge amount of water into the main stem as well as the tributaries. All the water flow comes and gets discharged in the

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Cover Story

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

What is the role of climate change? Guwahati based civil engineer, JN Khataniar, is of the opinion that in the coming years, climate change could play a major role in floods. “Rainfall is dependent on global warming and climate change. So,

we sometimes experience heavy rains and in other years, moderate rains and temperature,” he said adding that climate change and increased population coupled with deforestation and emission of green

house gases could make matters worse for Assam floods. Khataniar has also recently developed a model of a floating residential house for flood prone areas. He is now trying to get his

concept of the floating house included in the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY). “Whenever floods will come, the house will vertically move upwards and when the water recedes, it will

come back to its original position without displacement. I am also writing to the Prime Minister to include this model in the Prime Minister Awas Yojana for flood prone areas,” he told G Plus.

Dredging the Brahmaputra River: Viability questioned The Assam government had planned to conduct dredging along a 891 kilometre stretch of the Brahmaputra River a few years ago. This project was also sanctioned by the central government and the estimated project cost for this was Rs 40,000 crores. The process of dredging involves removing debris and silt from the bottom of the river using a dredging machine. The proposed project also included construction of an expressway on both sides of the Brahmaputra River.

Regarding this, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also held a meeting with officials from Dredging Corporation of India. A press release stated, “In order to give succour to the people ravaged by perennial floods and erosion, state government with the help of Dredging Corporation of India, will start dredging of river Brahmaputra.” It was also decided that first a survey would be conducted based on which an action plan would be prepared for dredging on an annual basis. But the plan is yet to come to

life and still remains on paper. On the other hand, environmental experts claim that dredging is not a viable solution to the floods and have questioned its sustainability. “As the river flows downstream from the hills, it is at a high momentum and carries with it a large amount of silt which gets deposited in the river bed when the river enters the plain. This is a continuous process. So if the government plans dredging, they will have to do it continually,” said Dutta.

Proposed solutions undertaken Experts claim that given the complexity of the matter, a permanent solution to the flood problem of Assam is almost impossible. However, the government, in collaboration with the Brahmaputra Board - a body established under the central government to mitigate floods in the Brahmaputra, has undertaken some measures with a view to mitigate damages caused by floods. VD Roy, secretary of the Brahmaputra Board told G Plus that they have been working on a number of flood prevention measures throughout the year to control the wrath of floods. He said that the Board is carrying out continuous surveys of the Brahmaputra River from time to time and are also building different kinds of structures to control flood water. These include: Embankments: These are constructed to check the spillage of

flood water and to control erosion and are a temporary solution for floods. However, poorly maintained embankments are proving to be a problem in itself. Now, the embankments are becoming old and there is a lot of erosion which is aggravating the problem rather than solving it, says Dutta. Geo bags: Geo bags or geotextile bags are filled with sand and placed along the banks of the river to prevent flood water from spilling over and are also used to check erosion, said Roy. This has been majorly implemented in Majuli, he added. RCC porcupine screens: These structures are installed to slow down the speed of the river flow, induce siltation from the bank and decelerate the erosion from the bank. Water flows through this structure and thus reduces the flow the river. Drainage development scheme:

Representative image of a dredger | Internet image Officials informed that apart from anti-erosion work, the Brahmaputra Board is also working on drainage development scheme. “During floods, water logging in low lying areas proves to be a problem. Drainage development will help to provide suitable channel for water from the low lying area to the river system,” informed Roy. Construction of raised platforms: Apart from

What can be the way forward? Experts say that a combination of various measures and a holistic approach is the only way to deal with floods. The Brahmaputra Board is working with Assam State Disaster Management Authority for flood forecasting. Authorities claim that flood forecasting has helped in reducing the death toll from floods over the years. Roy informed that another solution to mitigate the destruction caused by floods is flood plane zoning. It consists of creating some zones on the banks of the river based on floods of past years. For this, areas are identified as flood prone and construction of establishments is allowed according to how prone the area

is to flooding. For example, in areas immediately next to the river bank, no permanent structure is allowed. Further, in areas which can be easily evacuated and are only sometimes flooded, here those establishments can be constructed which can be easily evacuated in case of flood like playground, schools and colleges. Additionally, in the next zone which is rarely flooded, important installations like hospitals, grain godowns etc can be given the permission to be constructed. However, this requires proper identification and regulation which is possible only after the government enacts a bill. “Central water commission has been emphasising on it for

a long time now. But till now only a few states including Manipur, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan have enacted the bill,” said Roy. Experts say that governments shy away from implementing it since regulation is a big challenge in flood plane zoning.

the above-mentioned measures, raised platforms have also been

constructed in some areas for victims to take shelter.

6 In The News

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

May Shweta’s soul rest in peace! Killer handed death sentence by local court While the three were sent to the Guwahati Central Jail, the defense counsel said they would move the High Court against the verdict.

Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

he fast track trial for the Shweta Agarwal murder case, which began on March 6, 2018, finally concluded on August 3, 2019. With the local court announcing death sentence for the prime accused Govind Singhal and life imprisonment for his mother, Kamla Devi Singhal and sister, Bhawani Singhal under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC, justice finally prevailed.

The Crime:

On December 4, 2017, the charred body of Shweta Agarwal was recovered from her alleged boyfriend Govind Singhal’s house in Shantipur. Shweta, a brilliant girl with a promising future, was a student of KC Das Commerce College where she was pursuing B Com. She was a meritorious student who made it to the merit list of class 10 examination as well as commerce stream in the higher secondary examination of 2015. While all else was fine in her life, December 4 turned into a cursed day when she lost her life over a scuffle with Singhal. As per police reports, Govind had taken Shweta to his rented residence on his bike, but in a bitter turn of a scuffle between the two, Govind pushed Shweta hard. Due to the push, her head hit against the wall of the room and she started bleeding uncontrollably. Clueless and in a fix, Govind decided to conceal the crime. He carried Shweta’s body on a bike to dispose it off in the Bharalu River. However, unable to dispose the body there, he brought it back home for the fear of being caught. He then burned the body inside the bathroom of the house with the help of his sister and mother. During investigation, Govind Singhal confessed to the murder and explained to the

Agarwal family’s take on the verdict:

Shweta Agarwal’s family, friends and the masses finally got justice on August 3, Saturday. Killer Govind Singhal arriving at court for his sentencing and Shweta Agarwal (inset) After the police the pre and post-murder she was burnt alive after the announcement of the court’s circumstances. injuries were inflicted on her,” verdict, Shweta’s father, Om The police submitted the charge Bhattacharya said. Prakash Agarwal broke down in sheet against Govind Singhal, his He further added, “We front of the media. “Today my mother, Kamala Devi Singhal provided a proof before the court daughter’s soul will rest in peace. and sister, Bhawani Singhal that Singhal’s mother and sister I thank the team of policemen under Section 302/120(B)/201 had helped him in assaulting her and doctors who helped solve for murder, conspiracy and and burning her alive as a single the case and the judiciary for destroying evidence. person cannot inflict 13 wounds.” ensuring justice,” he said. Further, it was proved in the Speaking exclusively to G The Court Proceedings: court that Agarwal was never Plus after the verdict, Shweta’s in a relationship with Singhal, mother, Sunita Agarwal said, “My The one and a half year long although a section of the media daughter was the best daughter court proceedings in the Shweta has alleged it to be. A document a mother could have. She never Agarwal murder case began soon of November 16, 2017 in which she lied to me about anything and after her death with the filing of said “my answer is no and always always emerged meritorious. a charge sheet just 2 months 13 is no” proved Singhal’s motive She did not deserve such an end. days after the incident. for killing her, Bhattacharjee said Govind Singhal deserves to be Public prosecutor, Abhijit without explaining what sort of hanged for brutally killing her.” Bhattacharjee, said that they document it was. The mysterious death of produced more than 20 witnesses On July 30, the fast track Shweta had triggered huge before the court throughout the court convicted all three accused public outcry in the state due to proceedings which included under Section 302 of the Indian which the case was sent for fast police officers and doctors to Penal Code (IPC) for murdering track trial. Her family expressed prove that it was a case of Shweta Agarwal. gratitude towards the people at murder. On the other hand, the Then, on August 3, the large who extended their support defense was able to produce only quantum of punishment was to the family, especially those three witnesses in court. announced. Sessions Judge who came forward as witnesses. “It was clear from the postAparesh Chakraborty said, “All of this wouldn’t have been mortem examination report that “Singhal killed the woman in possible without Investigating Shweta was attacked with sharp a premeditated cold-blooded Officer (IO) Sudeep Choudhury weapons. There were 13 injury manner and he has no right to and the then ADCP Crime Rosie marks on her body and the live.” Kalita. Their roles were crucial post-mortem report stated that

in winning the case,” informed Shweta’s family members.

Lesser known facts about Shweta Agarwal: Shweta was a studious girl who always secured good marks and remained a rank holder all throughout her school and college life. She was pursuing Chartered Accountancy (CA) and had cleared the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) as well as Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) on her first attempts. She was undergoing articleship at a renowned CA firm in the city where she met Govind Singhal. Shweta was always the teacher’s favourite and also loved to help other students with their studies and projects. She lived in a joint family with her father Om Prakash Agarwal, mother Sunita Agarwal, brother Bharat Agarwal along with her grandmother (who passed away after Shweta’ s death), uncles, aunts and cousin siblings. She had a cupboard filled with awards and certificates, all for her academic achievements, which she loved to show to all family members and friends. Shweta was a familyoriented girl, pampered by everyone for being one of the only two girl children in the entire family.

Weather report for the week Guwahati

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Crime

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Karabi Das suicide: Enough evidence against lover, say police G Plus News @guwahatiplus

uwahati police arrested Rituparna Das in connection with the death of popular Assamese singer Krittika Karabi Das who was found hanging inside Rituparna’s residence in Srimantapur locality of Guwahati on Wednesday, August 7. Rituparna, a civil engineer who works in a private multi-national company, originally hails from Dudhnoi. He was earlier arrested for questioning by Bhangagarh police on the basis of a suicide note left behind by Karabi. In the suicide note, Karabi mentioned that she was physically and mentally tortured which drove her to take the drastic step. Karabi was found hanging from a ceiling fan and the sudden demise of the singer triggered sensation throughout the state. As per reports, she had come to Ritupana’s rented house on Tuesday evening after which residents of the building allegedly heard quarrels between the couple. It has been alleged that she could have committed suicide because of some serious trouble in her relationship. “Karabi’s body was found in House No. 19 of Srimantapur located in the Bhangagarh area of the city. The body has been taken to the hospital for postmortem. However, based on initial examination, doctors have said that it’s a case of suicide. Moreover, a suicide note has been

recovered from the premises and the boyfriend has been arrested,” informed Commissioner of

speaking to the media said, “After our father expired on 18th November 2018, he (Rituparna)

pushed a well-known singer like her into taking the drastic step at her lover’s place.

File photo of Krittika Karabi Das during a stage performance Police, Deepak Kumar speaking to G Plus. According to reports, post Karabi’s demise, a diary was recovered wherein she had written about the torture she was going through. In her dairy, Karabi mentioned that Rituparna used to hit her and even slapped her on various occasions. It has also been mentioned that he threatened her by saying that if she deserted him she wouldn’t be able to survive in the music industry of Assam. Karabi’s elder brother, while

showered sympathy towards Karabi and that’s how they became close. Maybe Rituparna has taken some private photos of Karabi and was blackmailing her using those.” While the tragic incident has led to a pall of gloom among her friends, family and also fans who are waiting for justice for the singer, the city police have gathered enough evidence against Rituparna. During investigation, it has been proved that he has indeed

Police informed that the deceased was unhappy with the relationship and was suffering from mental trauma. They also informed that she was mentally and physically harassed by Rituparna. Karabi, who originally hailed from Barpeta district of Assam, had been working as a co-singer with Assamese singing star Simanta Shekhar for the last three years. Condolences have poured in from all quarters following the sudden death of the singer. n

Guwahati likely to face water crisis for 4 days

ater supply in several parts of the city will take a hit as one of the raw water pumps of the Zoo Road Water Supply Scheme (ZRWSS) has broken down due to technical issues. In a notification issued on August 8, the Guwahati Metropolitan Drinking Water & Sewerage Board stated that a few areas of the city may have to face issues related to supply water from today due to breakage of the

water pump. As per the notice, the water supply will be interrupted in the areas covered by ZRWSS which connects some of the busiest and posh roads of the city including Ganeshguri, Christian Basti, Rajgarh, Rukminigaon, Srinagar, Tarun Nagar, Ambikagiri Nagar, Hengrabari, Rupnagar, Japorigag, Bhaskar Nagar and Sarumotoria and Jatia. It is to be mentioned that the Zoo Road water supply pipeline area has two pumps for water

supply. However with one pump down, the water will be supplied

via one pump for which people will face a shortage in water. Speaking on this matter, deputy commissioner Kamrup (Metro) Biswajit Pegu said, “I urge all people residing in these areas to collect and store water during this period.”

Snippets NRL to process imported crude oil

umaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) received its first consignment of imported Miri crude oil from Petronas, Malaysia on August 4, 2019. A railway rake comprising 50 tank wagons, carrying around 2,760 metric tonnes of crude oil reached Numaligarh from Haldia port, West Bengal from where it was dispatched on July 31. Miri crude oil is low in sulphur and is close in specifications to Assam crude oil, also known as “Sweet Crude” for its low sulphur content, which the refinery is currently processing from the oil fields of upper Assam. This is for the first time that crude oil is being imported by NRL to be processed in the refinery. This would help NRL attain better capacity utilization of its existing refining capacity of 3 MMTPA, which has till now been constrained due to nonavailability of adequate domestic crude oil. The refinery has also embarked on a mega refinery expansion project to treble its capacity from 3 to 9 MMTPA and developing capabilities for sourcing of crude oil augurs well for its future. “This landmark development would assist us in enhancing the refinery throughput and as our distillate yield is high, this will increase our margins,” MD NRL, SK Barua said on the development. Crude oil availability in northeast region has gradually declined over the years and is not able to cater to the requirement of 7 MMTPA for all the 4 refineries in the northeast put together. As a result, the Guwahati–Barauni pipeline, which was earlier being used to transport crude oil from the region to other parts of the country, is now being utilized for reverse flow of crude oil into the region. Earlier on July 26, a vessel named, “M/T SAND SHINER” containing 19,600 metric tonnes of Miri crude oil reached Haldia Port from Miri Port, Malaysia after sailing for 10 days. The consignment of crude oil was ceremonially received by MD NRL, SK Barua in the presence of Chairman, Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), Vinit Kumar and other senior officials of both the companies.

8 Cover Story

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Assam Tea: The challenges, concerns & the way forward G Plus looks into the troubled tea industry of Assam that is currently hit by surplus production, rising cost of production and archaic government policies. a mismatch between production and consumption and that has been supplemented by a huge increase in costs for tea estate owners and proprietors,” said Arun Thekedath, former chairman, Assam Tea Planters’ Association (ATPA). The industry is currently producing about 1,300 million kgs of tea annually. Out of that, about 80 to 90 million kgs of tea have remained unsold, informed Ranjan Chowdhury, a tea connoisseur who has been working in the industry for about 45 years now. “The tea industry has gone through this process many times. It is the nature of this industry. The current situation has been continuing for the past two to three years. Sometimes it’s a fiveyear cycle, sometimes it’s a 10year cycle. It all depends on the market,” added Ranjit Chaliha, owner of Korangani Tea. n

Harshita Himatsingka @HHimatsingka

here are a number of markers that define Assam and make it stand out from the rest of the world. One such prestige that is local to the state is the production of tea. Assam tea is known world over and has been revered by all for almost 150 years now. However, during recent times, the market has been hit and the industry blend is not looking its best. Thus, to get to the root of the problem, G Plus spoke to some tea experts to understand why and how the tea industry is currently suffering and if there is a solution to end this phenomenon. “Presently, the main challenge that the tea industry is facing is the excess surplus. There is

Representative image of a tea garden

Tea labourers: Asset or liability?

haliha further mentioned that one of the other main challenges facing the tea business is in understanding how to contain the cost of production, labour productivity and labour absenteeism. Since tea is primarily a labour intensive industry, labour is its biggest asset, but also its biggest liability. In Assam, tea estate owners are entirely responsible for the labourers working for them. Chowdhury mentions that most, if not all these labourers, are in the estates “from their birth to death.” Thus, it becomes the duty of the estate owner/manager to provide the labourers with their wages, job security, living quarters, food, medical facilities and maternity benefits to female workers, provident fund, schooling, nutritional meals for children etc. “Almost 60-65 percent of our cost is wage and this cost is increasing at a rate that is

much higher than what the products are selling at. Costs in all our inputs are going up, while the price of our produce is not keeping up,” explained Thekedath. He further informed that even though the tea industry goes through this market cyclic process of surplus every few years, it is more challenging now as the pressure on cost is much more than what it used to be earlier. Since wage is divided into two components - cash and kind (welfare facilities) components - the cash component of this exchange is going up exponentially, and since this kind of increase in cost had not happened in earlier years, the impact is now much more visible and prevalent than before. “There was a time when we had profits and we could do that (provide welfare facilities to labourers), but now, you can’t expect the industry to take the burden all the time. A lot of places are closing down,

lots of places are up for sale. That is a bad situation,” added Chowdhury, expressing serious concern. Another reason why the industry is so dependent on labourers is because in Assam, the tea is plucked by hand which ensures better quality, which in turn assures higher prices. In many other places however, tea is plucked by machines, thereby compromising quality. Thus, to maintain quality, the labour force is an absolute necessity, explained Chaliha. The tea estate owner also mentioned that in general, the productivity of the labourers is not up to par due to their health, genetics and poor diet. The productivity of a labourer in Assam is 2.4 kgs to 3.2 kgs per man day, i.e., work production by a single labourer done in 8 hours in one day. In south India, it is almost double - a labourer’s productivity is 8 kgs per man day. It is all part of the cyclic process and the rising costs for everything are not helping. n

Per capita consumption of tea on the decline

dding to the tea business’s woes, it has come to the notice of many tea enthusiasts and businessmen that the per capita consumption of tea in India is very less compared to the rest of the world, which is continuously adding to the problem of the demand-supply gap. “In India, the consumption of tea per capita is about 750800 gms per year, whereas in other countries such as those in the Middle East, Ireland, United Kingdom etc., the per capita consumption is about 3 kgs per year. So, there is a need to increase the demand of tea so that the supply does not go into excess thereby rendering losses in the business,” said Chowdhury. He also noted that this decline in consumption of tea is quite noticeable as the younger generation prefers to have coffee instead of this local beverage. One important aspect that was extending this period of stagnant growth in the industry that Chaliha mentioned is the prevalence of climate change. He informed that it is producing a devastating condition on the plantations. There is too much

rainfall and too much drought, as a result of which, there is a lot of pest infestation and disease, which leads to the crop failing and causing more harm than good. Also, an additional burden that tea growers in Assam have to face is to do with the climate conditions in the state which prevents it from growing tea all year round unlike in many south Indian states. “In south India, they produce tea from January to December, because tea is a light-sensitive plant. There’s a critical requirement of 11 hours of sunlight that it must have. So, in the winter months in Assam, we do not have 11 hours of sunlight and as a result, the boost goes dormant and it does not produce green leaves,” explained Chaliha. He further mentioned that in northeast India, tea production starts from March, when production levels are at two to three percent. Then until June, the production goes up to 14 to 16 percent and following that, in July, August, September and October, 60 percent of the crop is produced. Then, in November and December, the production drops again.

Cover Story

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Competition is killing the business

ne more major factor affecting the tea business is competition from various other markets. Chowdhury explained that a lot of tea is being produced in Africa, which has access to relative technology and better planting materials. Since they operate at almost half the cost when compared

to India, their tea market is growing and the market here is collapsing. India is fast losing its monopoly in the tea business as many other countries have started producing this beverage. Agreeing to this fact, Chaliha stated that tea is a global commodity and the import and export of tea is a big factor in this business being a success. Iran is one

Representative image of a tea garden factory

of the countries that imports orthodox tea (a lighter and milder version of tea) from India. A while ago, because of the sanctions made by the United States against Iran, it was unable to import tea from India. But now, the sanctions have been overcome and orthodox tea is again exported to Iran, which has led to a boost in the profits of that particular brand of tea. Similarly in India, since the introduction of cheaper varieties of teas such as CTC, which is the most preferred in the country because of its ‘kadak’ and ‘danedaar’ properties, the production of other teas which are of higher quality has taken a back seat. These teas which are produced mostly by the unorganised sector and other Bought Leaf Factories (BLFs) are another reason why the tea estates in Assam are suffering from the surplus problem.

Govt should intervene: Tea estate owners

ooking to the future, most experts have stated that the government has to intervene and help out. Even though they have taken some measures such as reducing cess and duties for three years, it is not enough. Talking of the Rationalisation of the Plantation Labour Act 1951, which provides for the welfare of labour and regulates the conditions of work in tea plantations, Thekedath explained that this Act needs a serious rethink because it was made a long time ago and most of the clauses are not relevant to this day and age. “One direct way in which the government can help us is by supporting and taking up our welfare responsibilities like housing, hospitals and medical and schooling. These three things which are provided by the estate owners as per the Plantation Labour Act can be taken over by the government just like they provide it for any other citizen of the country. This will be a big help to the industry,” informed Thekedath. Another thing that the government can help out with, as mentioned by almost all the tea men, is that it should look into the generic promotion of tea. “If the domestic consumption of tea

goes up, then that will be a great help for us to meet the demand-supply mismatch and the government can help with generic promotion, which we, as individuals cannot do because it’s a very expansive population,” stated Thekedath. He also added that the concerned authorities can also help to increase awareness about good quality tea and help buy generic promotion so that the industry here is able to buy and push up their per capita consumption of tea, which is the goal to help the industry overcome all of these issues. “Tea will ultimately recover, by hook or by crook. But the thing is, this model of tea industry will not remain as it is for very long. It will change; I don’t know how it will change, but it will change,” said Chaliha, the veteran tea planter in closing.

10 Governance Snippets Isuzu Motors opens first outlet in NE

suzu Motors India enters the North-East market by setting up a new authorized 3S (Sales, Service and Spares) dealership facility of ‘NORTH EAST ISUZU’ in Guwahati. ISUZU launched its range of reliable and performanceoriented utility vehicles - the V-Cross, lifestyle and adventure vehicle, mu-X - 7-seater premium SUV and the range of D-MAX commercial vehicles - S-CAB and Regular Cab in the city, marking the start of sale from the new outlet. The management executives from Isuzu Motors India and the Dealer Partner inaugurated the new facility, today. The outlet is spread over an expansive area of 12,000 sq ft with the showroom designed according to ISUZU global dealership standards, exuding lifestyle and performance characteristics of the brand and its products. The workshop is equipped with 5 service bays, dedicated paint booth, modern tools and ISUZU trained service technicians to offer high level of service for customer vehicles. The facility is located on NH 37, near IOCL Petrol Station, Balughat, Guwahati. Sanjive Narain, Managing Director, North East ISUZU said, “With the growing demand for ISUZU vehicles in the Northeast region, we are happy to partner with ISUZU to provide customers’ access to the range of D-MAX personal and commercial pick-ups and mu-X SUV. These exciting range of utility vehicles from ISUZU have become the preferred choice for many traders and businessmen, thanks to its versatility, performance and value it offers. We will continue to deliver on our customers’ expectations and provide the right service at all times.”

Haj pilgrim from Assam dies In Mecca

n 80-year-old Haj pilgrim from Assam’s Cachar district, Azizur Rahman, died in Mecca on August 7. According to his family members, he was suffering from age-related health issues. He fell sick on Wednesday evening after which he was admitted to a hospital in Mecca. His final rites would be performed in Mecca. This year a total of 3,515 pilgrims from Assam flew to Saudi Arabia for Haj last month.

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Transgender community opposes Transgender Persons Bill 2019 G Plus News @guwahatiplus

embers of the transgender community of Assam are opposing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019 which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 5. The Bill provides with various measures for prohibition against discrimination of a transgender person. The All Assam

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill was being criticized since it was introduced in the Parliament on July 19. The current Bill provides for prohibition against discrimination of transgender persons. It prohibits discrimination against members of the transgender community for denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to any aspect of education, employment, healthcare; access to, or enjoyment of goods, facilities,

“We don’t support this draconian Bill as the government talks about some district committee to be represented by the district magistrate,” Swati Bidhan Barua, AATA founder.

Members of the transgender community carrying out a protest in the city recently for their various demands Transgender Association (AATA) members had earlier condemned the bill for its definition of transgender. The association had mentioned that the earlier definition of transgenders was draconian in nature and defeated the entire purpose of the Bill. Based on the first draft of the policy, transgenders were defined as people who are neither wholly female nor wholly male. They are not a combination of female and male and their sense of gender does not match the gender assigned to them at birth. It includes trans-men, transwomen, people with intersex variations and gender-queers. However, the definition has been changed in the Bill. The

opportunities available to the public; right to movement; right to reside, rent, or otherwise occupy property; opportunity to hold public or private office; and access to a government or private establishment in whose care or custody a transgender person is. Swati Bidhan Barua, the first transgender judge of Assam and founder of All Assam Transgender Association told G Plus, “We don’t support this draconian Bill as the government talks about some district committee to be represented by the district magistrate. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgement of the Supreme Court says that transgenders have the power

to self identify themselves. But now, after this Bill, the district magistrate will decide who is a transgender and who is not. This is a problematic aspect.” She further added that this Bill mentions for national council but does not have any provison for state council. “This will be failure in its principles,” she added. The Bill also states that members of the transgender community need to go through sex reassignment surgery or SRS to be able to be identified as a male or a female. However, this is in direct contrast to the Supreme Court’s National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgement

on trangenders which stated that members of the community have the power to self identify themselves as either male, female or belonging to the third gender and do not need anybody’s approval. Swati further informed that the transgender community has formed an alliance and have written to the speaker of the Rajya Sabha, M Venkaiah Naidu. The Bill also mentions the formation of a National Council for Transgender persons (NCT) wherein the Union Minister for Social Justice will be the chairperson of the council and Minister of State for Social Justice will be the vicechairperson. Other members would include secretary of Ministry of Social Justice, one representative each from Health, Home Affairs, and Human Resources Development ministries. Among other members, the council will also comprise five members from the transgender community and five experts from NGOs. As per the Bill, the role of the National Council for Transgender persons would be to advise the central government and to monitor the impact of policies, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons. The council would also help in redressal of grievances of transgender persons. Additionally, the Bill recognises a few offences against members of the transgender community. These include denial of use of public place, forced or bonded labour, physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse, removal from household and village. Further, according to the Bill, penalties can also be imposed for these offences which would vary between six months and two years, and a fine. n

News This Week

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

A quick round up of the news that mattered during the past week

Dr Bhupen Hazarika conferred Bharat Ratna

Music legend from Assam, Bhupen Hazarika, was conferred with Bharat Ratna posthumously on August 8. His son, Tej Hazarika received the award on behalf of his father from President Ramnath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. Hazarika is the second Assamese to receive the highest civilian honour after Assam’s first chief minister Gopinath Bordoloi. Along with Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh who have been awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously, former president Pranab Mukherjee was also awarded the Bharat Ratna.

Rima Das’s Bulbul Can Sing wins national award

Assam: Sukhoi fighter plane crashes in Tezpur

No intention to remove Article 371 in northeastern states: Amit Shah

Rima Das’s critically acclaimed film ‘Bulbul Can Sing’ won the national award on Friday, August 9 for the Best Assamese Film category. The winners of the 66th National Film Awards were announced on Friday, August 9. The film had earlier on Friday also won the ‘Best Indie Film’ at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Das’s film has already been screened at international platforms such as Toronto Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival.

In an unfortunate incident, a Sukhoi 30 airplane crashed in Assam’s Tezpur on August 8.The incident happened near Saikia Suburi in Tezpur. On the evening of August 8, a Su-30 aircraft on a routine training mission from Tezpur crashed in the local flying area. Meanwhile both pilots were ejected safely from the aircraft and have been rescued. However, a court of inquiry will ascertain cause of the accident.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, August 6 informed states designated with special powers under Article 371 that the Modi government has no intention to remove this provision. It should be noted that most states that have been accorded these special provisions are in the northeast and that the special status is provided to preserve their tribal culture. Other states that include special provisions include Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa. During his reply to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Amit Shah said he would like to assure the Northeastern states that Article 371 would not be removed.

Abhinandan likely to get Vir Chakra

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who had shot down a Pakistani F-16 near the Line of Control (LoC) in February resulting in his capture and subsequent release by Islamabad, is likely to be decorated with the Vir Chakra. The Indian Air force (IAF) has recommended Abhinandan’s name for the Vir Chakra. Along with Abhinandan, pilots of the five Mirage-2000 fighter jets, who had dropped bombs on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror launch-pad in Balakot area in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunhkwa province, are also likely to be decorated with Vayu Sena medals

Pakistan condemns Indian govt’s decision on J&K

The Pakistan government has condemned the Indian government’s decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, removing the special status granted to the state of J&K. “Pakistan strongly condemns and rejects the announcements made today (August 5) by the Indian Government regarding the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” said Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. Pakistan’s external affairs ministry mentioned, “the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed territory”, and that no unilateral step by Indian government can change this disputed status, as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. “This will never be acceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.” The statement added, “As the party to this international dispute, Pakistan will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps. Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to the Kashmir cause.”

”I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime”: Sushma Swaraj’s last tweet

Just hours before former foreign minister and veteran leader Sushma Swaraj breathed her last on August 6, she had thanked PM Modi for the Centre’s move on revoking Article 370 and said she had been ‘waiting to see this day in my lifetime’. Taking to her Twitter handle Swaraj wrote, “@narendramodi ji - Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime.” Sushma Swaraj’s last tweet was liked over 261.2K times and retweeted over 61.3K times till the filing of this report. Earlier on August 6, former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj died at AIIMS hospital following cardiac arrest.

Centre revokes article 370, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh to be separate UTs

Home Minister Amit Shah had announced in the Rajya Sabha that the government has decided to repeal Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to Jammu & Kashmir on August 5. Shah’s announcement was immediately followed by a massive uproar in the Upper House with opposition MPs protesting in the Well of the House. It is to be mentioned that Amit Shah also proposed to make a separate Union Territory for Jammu and Kashmir with the Legislature. However the Union territory of Ladakh will be without legislature.

LS passes bill banning commercial surrogacy

Lok Sabha on August 5 by a voice vote passed the Commercial Surrogacy Bill which seeks to outlaw commercial surrogacy, and allows only “altruistic” surrogacy for “needy” couples with proven conditions of infertility. The bill states that only Indian couples who have been legally married for at least five years would be allowed to opt for surrogacy, as per the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill. The bill seeks to “allow ethical altruistic surrogacy to the intending infertile Indian married couple between the age of 23-50 years and 26-55 years for female and male, respectively”.

Bollywood producers rush to secure movie titles after revocation of Article 370

The Modi government has recently revoked Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Following this, numerous producers from Bollywood have reportedly been circling the Indian film industry’s administrative offices trying to register film titles. Since the Article has been revoked, around 50 titles have been registered at the offices of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) and Producers Guild of India and Indian Film TV Producers Council (IFTPC). Some of the proposed titles include ‘Article 370,’ ‘Article 35A,’ ‘Kashmir Mein Tiranga,’ ‘Kashmir Hamara Hai,’ ‘Dhara 370,’ ‘Dhara 35A’ etc.

12 City

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Swachh Bharat Praharis: Guwahati youths’ initiative to clean up city Gunjan Sharma @guwahatiplus

casual plan on a Sunday afternoon among a group of friends is turning out to be a major initiative among a few residents of Guwahati. The same could have ended up like any other plan to visit Goa but a team of “Swachh Bharat Praharis” is pulling out all stops to make it successful. Swachh Bharat Prahari (SBP)

While we are leading the initiative, we want everyone to come and join us to keep this mission alive. A relay race cannot be won alone and this is a very similar instance,” Amit Maloo, founding member, SBP. is a group of volunteers from Guwahati who believe in the idea of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. They started working on this mission from 22nd July last and people from various spheres of life have joined and supported the movement. As a part of their program, they have initiated “Mission 15th August.” Amit Maloo, a resident of Guwahati and one of the founding members of SBP believes that it should be the responsibility of every individual to keep the nation clean. The idea behind Mission 15th August is to sensitize people about cleanliness. “Every year before Diwali or any major festival, people clean their homes. So, why not clean the nation before Independence Day? Independence Day is not only about hoisting the National Flag but it comes with a responsibility; a responsibility that the citizens of a nation must abide by every day. A pledge to come together and keep nation our clean,” he added. Members of the group posted their idea on Facebook which received a very good response from the public. “The main idea behind this program is to communicate with the government machinery and share our ideas with them to make this mission a success. We have also communicated our ideas and problems with various NGOs and government officials too,” said

Amit to G Plus. The on-ground report Amit said that their on-ground findings led them to asses that the government has been working to resolve the issue of cleanliness, but the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) workers do not have sufficient raw materials. Apart from the lack of funds and raw materials, there is a need for awareness among people concerning cleanliness. Ravi Dhoot, a co-founder of the movement said, “Our team is focusing on creating awareness among street vendors, commercial shops & establishments and parks. In the next phase, we will be focusing on residential areas and educational intuitions.” The team has been communicating with the masses about their mission and explaining to them the pros and cons of cleanliness. Their main objective is to clean Guwahati city and change the mindset of people concerning cleanliness. They have also provided an appreciation tag of “Swachhata Hero” to diligent citizens who are trying to keep the city clean. On the occasion of Friendship Day, the SBPs visited various areas in Guwahati with a mass campaign to keep the city clean. They also conducted a street play to raise awareness about cleanliness on the streets of Fancy Bazar.

Speaking to G Plus the SBP team said, “Our mission is not a one day mission but a continuous process to bring a structural change in people’s habits and mentality towards cleanliness and sanitation. We are meeting people and warning them about how unhygienic conditions can lead to diseases like Japanese Encephalitis, Malaria or Dengue.” “Cleanliness would also be vital in solving the problem of flash floods in Guwahati. We have witnessed people throwing garbage in the drains through manholes, but if a net is used to cover the drains, we can prevent garbage from entering the drain which, in turn, will stop the drain from overflowing,” he added.

The SBP team is attempting to make people more sensitive about improper garbage disposal rather than questioning officials every single time. “While we are leading the initiative, we want everyone to come and join us to keep this mission alive. A relay race cannot be won alone and this is a very similar instance,” said Maloo. Their team has pointed out several areas in the city that emit a foul odour when passing by and have also identified 10-12 dumping areas with no garbage bins, due to which garbage is dumped on the roadside. In certain cases, the capacity and the number of garbage bins have been insufficient.

According to team SBPs groundwork, some of the major issues which require immediate attention include non-availability of garbage bins and garbage collectors, no strict law and monitoring to penalize violations, failure of restaurants to pay for proper garbage disposal, nonavailability of small spit bins and a few others. These should be further monitored with CCTVs and overloaded garbage bins and sufficient garbage collection carts need to be actioned on priority. To name a few, lack of public awareness regarding GMC rules and regulations, non-availability of squads, especially during night hours, regulations related to dustbins at commercial outlets are being violated. Recently, GMC has initiated a new plan that involves the active participation of citizens in keeping the city clean. Authorities from GMC have appealed to citizens to send photographs of people littering the roads via WhatsApp or e-mail and citizens would be awarded prize money of Rs 500. Members of SBP said that they also expect the GMC to aggressively implement the fine of Rs 500 for public littering. Members of the Swachh Bharat Prahari want Guwahatians to come up and support this movement and be a part of it. n

Guest Column

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Assam floods: Beyond embankments and donations

f tea, rhino and silk have popularized Assam in the global level in an efficacious manner, then we cannot even deny the fact that the annual floods occurring in Assam have also made the state gather the center stage of all pivotal deliberations across the globe, but might be in a way that cannot be at all considered to be buoyant, especially when we take into consideration the throes of the common burgess of Assam. A normal individual might delineate about floods simply as a particular kind of natural calamity, but the same is not the case for the people of Assam. The denizens of Assam see floods as no less than a never-ending nightmare. And it is literally impossible to imagine the havoc caused by floods in Assam, until and unless we view it with our naked eyes. The floods make the state go in complete disarray, and all that becomes audible is the painful hollers of the flood affected individuals. Houses, fields, ways of earning a livelihood all get submerged under the water and the solitary thing that people hope is for the bright sun to come out at the earliest and dry out the flooded areas. The scenes that prevail during floods are somewhat known to one and all, but there are certain

also get destroyed. And these scenes are thereby followed by three basic events: a) people show their wrath towards the central government for not recognizing the floods of Assam as a national disaster and also for ignoring the flood affected individuals, b) a certain section of people criticizes the state government for not constructing proper embankments and, c)the process of donation in the form of relief, either to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or handto-hand relief by individuals or NGOs to the flood victims. While these events would of course be there, it’s time we needed to go “a step further” from these repetitive events. “A step further” in this context basically means to find out some permanent solutions to the problem of floods in Assam. And if the individuals having the authority honestly try to figure out solutions, then of course this particular issue can also be resolved for good. The floods in Assam mainly occur because of overflow of the mighty Brahmaputra, along with its tributaries. And to solve this issue, we have to basically prevent Brahmaputra from overflowing. Some might say that things in theory look much easier than in practice, but even this thing can be understood by taking a small example

China’s administration has taken out an innovative programme to make “sponge cities” to ensure that water is absorbed when there’s an excess: instead of waterresistant concrete. Over China, permeable material and green spaces would be used to soak up rainfall and rivers and streams would be interconnected so that water would be able to flow away from flooded areas.

from our day-to-day lives. For instance, if we try to pour 1 litre of water in a 500 ml bottle, then of course the water shall overflow from the bottle. So to create a balance, we have to simply pour the remaining 500 ml in a different bottle. Thus if possible, the government should try to find out an alternative to

GUEST COLUMN

Bishaldeep Kakati the chance of failure of such a system in a given year is one in 10,000. Assam can also look up to China, if it has to come up with ways to tackle the flood issue. China’s administration has taken out an innovative programme to make “sponge cities” to ensure that water is absorbed when there’s an excess: instead of water-resistant concrete. Over China, permeable material and green spaces would be used to soak up rainfall and rivers and streams would be interconnected so that water would be able to flow away from flooded areas. Thus if Assam hovers around some of the specific countries of the world, then it would surely be able to come up with solutions, which might be instrumental to at least reduce the disastrous effect of floods, if those solutions cannot remove the issue completely. But at present, it seems that it is turning out to be almost impossible for the government to come up with permanent solutions to the problems of floods in Assam. However, if the citizens

Netherlands flood defence system, Inaternet image

China floods, Internet image by-products associated with the occurrence of floods in Assam, that have now started creating a great deal of annoyance especially among the concerned citizens. The conspicuous fact is that every year during floods, lakhs and lakhs of people are affected and along with that the habitat of many flora and fauna

international website, www. independent.co.uk, in one of its articles, mentioned 10 different measures to prevent floods. And out of the 10 measures, solutions like modifying homes and businesses to help them withstand floods, constructing houses above flood levels, protecting wetlands, introducing water storage areas, restoring rivers to their natural courses, improving soil condition etc might work brilliantly in solving the flood issue of Assam as well. However, this entire discussion would become completely useless if we don’t bring into consideration the case study of countries like Netherlands and China, in relation to the steps taken by them or about to be taken in order to cease the disastrous effect of floods. The fact being whenever we speak of ways to solve the problem of floods, the province of Netherlands comes first to our mind, especially because of the exemplary steps taken by them to solve the issue of floods. The palpable fact is that much of Netherlands is below sea level and that is the reason the people of Netherlands has faced issues regarding floods generation after generation. But now the citizens of Netherlands have developed the concept of “room for the rivers,” which basically means

bypass the over accumulated water of Brahmaputra to another source, so that the water level of Brahmaputra doesn’t go beyond the danger level. And it is up to the highly qualified scientists to figure out whether this particular way would be feasible or not. Furthermore, the

allowing a particular river to expand, when large volumes of water are entering the country. Further they are also trying their best to use parks and public spaces as emergency reservoirs for floodwater created by severe rainfall. Thus they have created a “multilevel protection system” which, reports say, that

and the government of Assam amalgamate together and move away from doing some monotonous acts that they have been doing every year and try to figure out solutions then the time is not far when floods in Assam would simply remain scripted in the pages of history as a bitter memory. n

14 G Talk E

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019 T

The surprise tactic

o say that it has been a newsy week would be the understatement of the year. While the fate of Jammu & Kashmir has changed forever with one stroke of the President’s pen, in quick succession, the nation has lost one of its tallest leaders – Sushma Swaraj. May her soul rest in eternal peace! With the J&K overhauling, the perception that has instantly come to the fore is the no-nonsense attitude of the central government led by Narendra Modi and his able home minister, Amit Shah. Opposition, criticism and the narrative of democratic ideals being compromised stood no chance as, in a shade under two days, the 74-yearold vexed Kashmir issue seemed to have been solved in a manner that no one had envisaged. And today, it hardly looks like there could have been any other “solution” if at all. However, what took everyone in the country by surprise is … well… the surprise tactic of the government itself. The move was stunning to say the least and it caught all and sundry unawares. Speaking of surprise tactics, Modi and his government excels at it, it seems. Be it demonetisation, the first surgical strike, the

Balakot bombings and now Kashmir, the element of surprise has been the key factor of the government in getting its vital agenda going. And while I would venture to add that it would be no surprise to see the next item on the agenda being the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 or the CAB as it is referred to now, Assam might well be taken by surprise one fine morning of the next parliamentary session. Given the numbers that the government commands in both the Houses of Parliament these days, making the CAB a law overnight would be no big deal and all entities who stand against the CAB and seek to demonstrate or agitate against it might do well to be prepared for that fine morning because the government might hardly allow the time for such agitations. All said and done, the central government may now turn its full focus on the other backward region of the country - the northeast and this includes Assam. We require to be brought at par with the rest of the country in terms of development and growth and we would welcome any surprise tactic for the same. Swapnil Bharali (Editor) @swapnilbharali

Kashmir and Jai Shree Ram! yy Bhakt: Bhai kya decision lia hai! Wah! yy Bhakt ka dost: I know man. Modi ji finally delivered his promise. Ab Kashmir leke dikhao! Jai Shree Ram! yy Practical banda: But don’t you think that the decision was a violation of a certain moral and constitutional codes? No one was even consulted and they just went ahead with it like it was a drawing room decision between Amit ji and Modi ji. yy Bande ka dost: Taking “Home Ministry” too literally I think. yy Bhakt: Honestly, all this trouble of asking people is just another waste of time. India has given the mandate to the BJP to take such decisions. This is why they were brought to power in such a way. Good thing that the NC and PDP leaders were held otherwise they’d have initiated some of drama.

Alternative classrooms

e have to separate the “bad” news from the “good” news. Much in the manner of economics, good news must drive out bad news like good money driving out bad. Bad news is unhealthy for society and knowledge transmission. Information is something else and sometimes indistinguishable from misinformation. But the challenge is knowledge transference transferring information to knowledge. But if the basics are wrong, that is information then we have a society bereft of knowledge and thriving on rapacity, passion to incite and divide people. Using knowledge and information towards divisive ends spells doom for society. Hence information which is wrongly propagandist is today dubbed as fake news which the double edged sword of

technology is aiding and abetting. Man’s ingenuity in garbling and distorting information has reached a new high nay a new low. The problem begins when we are out to malign: individuals, communities, those who we regard as adversaries. Yet technologically, a globalised world meant a borderless world on the face of technology where human barriers are broken withstanding nationalities and races. Yet, the

The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), both in India and abroad, have a positive role to play in the years to come. They must divert human attention from the frivolities of the internet to its seriousness as digital repositories of solid information, knowledge and wisdom where knowledge is intellectual property of communities worldwide. preposterous fake news can break minuscule of societies and herald worst acts of criminality. Social media forces which initially brought the world into a unified cosmos has now fallen prey to invidious actions of defamation, maligning and instigating people towards false information. Yet the antidote lies in education. Education can channelize technology in creating alternative colleges, universities and classrooms. These can question fake news and dismantle them by illustrating to the public their pernicious and ill effects. These institutions on the internet and without walls will have the social responsibility to edifying and instructing on the two sidedness of the internet. We have the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), both in India and abroad, they have a positive role to play in the years to come. They must divert human attention from the frivolities of the internet to its

Farmer’s despair

seriousness as digital repositories of solid information, knowledge and wisdom where knowledge is intellectual property of communities worldwide. Knowledge transference would then mean a knowledge paradigm right from the young to the old. This will be our endeavour to create more “classrooms” worldwide out of space, time and place. Good knowledge will drive out bad knowledge and alternative models of education will be

created. The internet must be used more and more for education and less and less for personal and political aggrandisement. (The author was a Senior Lecturer and Head of the English Department at St. Edmund’s College, Shillong. He has also worked in areas of conventional teaching, distance education and vocational education and training)

Sanjukta Sarania

ndia being an agrarian country, about 70 percent of the population’s livelihood depends on agriculture. Unfortunately, farmers’ suicide is an incessant problem experienced at a national level. Maharashtra has been reported as the highest farmers’ suicide risk state with an average of 10 suicides per day. In 2014, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) had

there have been no new reports by the NCRB since 2015, giving no current solid statistics on the issue. The common causes of these cases are noted to be indebtedness, and natural factors like flood. Often the farmers are unable to repay the loans taken from banks and NBFCs to purchase expensive seeds and fertilizers. Economists have suggested that poor

presented data of the suicide rates in India in which 5,650 suicides were committed by farmers. In the 2015 reports, 84 such cases had been reported in Assam. However

government policies that favour privatization, liberalization and globalization can also be considered as root causes. The actions and policies

yy Bhakt: Kya baat! Kya Baat! yy Bhakt ka dost: Arrey Pakistan trade bandh karke kya karega? Bro, Kohli charges more for an Instagram post than the annual transaction between India and Pakistan. Also, J&K has stayed as a “special state” for far too long. Now we want to feel united, the true “Akhand Bharat.”

yy Bhakt: Who sab mai nahi jaanta, just that abhi Kashmir hamara hai. Jai Shree Ram!

Ananya S Guha

O pinion

yy Bhakt ka dost: Ya, like one of those Hunger Strikes where they stop eating for 2 days, so they can feed their generations for decades!

yy Practical banda: So you’re saying that you’ll be okay if a decision like this is taken for the Northeastern states by repealing Article 371?

O pinion

implemented by the government have resulted in inefficient and misleading farming practices. The flaw in these policies is considered to be the emphasis put on credit and loan, rather than productivity and farmer prosperity. For instance, the Agriculture Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008, benefitted the moneylenders by paying off the outstanding principals and interests of the farmers, but failed to provide a reliable and stable source of income for the farmers. The government has to realize that debt relief schemes only prolong the problem, not eradicate them. The Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti has been demanding 12 bighas land to each of the indigenous landless farmers to ensure cultivation of 3 crops in a year. More reliable irrigation and other agriculture infrastructure are extremely necessary to address the distressed farmers. Also taking note of the current circumstances, the agriculture sector is expected to be severely affected. Effective provisions and immediate assistance by the government will be in great need at this difficult moment.

In Focus

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Littering: A serious concern in the state L ittering has become a serious concern in the state, be it in the main metropolis or in transportation vehicles such as trains. Authorities responsible for maintaining cleanliness in all areas of the state are taking active steps to let people know about the perils of keeping unclean surroundings and are trying to impose stringent fines on those

who are caught littering publicly. Recently, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) had collected Rs 3,65,895 by way of fines from 1,818 people for littering in trains and stations in the current year. The organisation’s Twitter page posted a picture of a train compartment littered with plastic bottles on the floor and disposable plates and cups on the table. “1,818 persons have been

fined for littering in trains and stations in the current year Rs 365895 collected as fine. Why do some people want to pay a fine rather than correct themselves....? Please help us keep railways clean. #swachhbharatabhiyan,” they wrote on Twitter. In a similar incident, Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) rewarded the first batch of citizens who provided photographs of persons with relevant information on littering, spitting and indulging in other nuisance activities to the department in a programme organised on August 7. The participants were rewarded with Rs 500 and Rs 100. The event was

chaired by GMC Commissioner, Debeswar Malakar. During the event, the attendees shared opinions, thoughts and suggestions for consideration of the on-going cleanliness drive around the city. Malakar said that the sanitation drive by GMC exemplifies the team work, coordination and sincere active participation of civil society in keeping the city clean. The Corporation has also come up with an additional service to ease the needs of the citizens of Guwahati. GMC has now has started an additional service on demand to dispose of bulk garbage accumulated by citizens by levying an extra amount. To

avail these services, the citizens have to make their payment at the Garage Branch near the Gauhati Club over-bridge. However, the collection and disposal of garbage will be done in the night hours only. Thus, any dumping and littering of items including that of construction and demolition waste (C&D Waste), pruned tree trunks, branches, etc, and disposal of bulk garbage generated in festivals and functions etc in public places will be treated as an offence under the Solid Waste Management Rule, 2016 and Guwahati Municipal Corporation Act, 1971 and penalty will be imposed accordingly.

Northeast Frontier Railway collects over Rs 3 lakhs in fines for littering in 2019 so far. The move caught the attention of G Plus followers who commented overwhelmingly on its digital channels. Monisha Gogoi

Scored on fine. I remember the tour guide narrative on cleanliness in Singapore. As like Aadhar card, they too have unique identification number for each citizen. The first time offence of just throwing a cigarette stub - fine plus letting go. Second time repeated offence (because all are recorded online) - 6 hours of public sweeping. Third time is jail for 1 month. The fear is imbibed and kids learn from childhood. This is something our country should adopt too. We see kids littering in trains in India but this is what they learn from elders.

Utpal Baruah

Photographs of such passengers should be published in the social media and can be used for hoardings/banners meant for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. People will learn a good lesson from this. As the government is working so hard to keep our country clean, it’s our moral duty to help the government. One day we ourselves will feel proud of our country.

Tonmoy Nanda

Arnab Deb

This was much needed. Until and unless the government becomes strict, these people will not understand the importance of cleanliness. I just don’t understand when this country will develop and understand the importance of keeping our own city or country clean. Jaha khate hain, wohi thukte hain (They spit where they eat). That’s the reality. Whenever I have travelled in trains, I have found them clean but as the train starts moving with time we will find chips packets, bottles, waste food all lying inside the compartment. This is really pathetic. Heavier fines should be imposed I feel.

Sunil Akash Gohain

Good to see such action from NFR. But just one request, kindly keep at least one dustbin in each compartment. If this is done, then a lot of problems can be solved. Today, because of this problem, we can see people littering inside the train and throwing waste material outside the windows making the railway tracks dirty.

This move was long overdue. Some stupid, ignorant commuters think that the Railway is their Baap Ka Property. Also if the coaches have to remain clean then perishables items must be strictly prohibited and instead all-time good quality food and drink (non-alcoholic) must be provided by the Railways. Regular cleaning also should be undertaken. There is no regular cleaning until and unless a complaint is made. Yes, no doubt we people are at fault but Railway should also take some steps. There are some stations which are so clean while some are so dirty that you don’t feel like putting your feet on the platforms.

16 Buzz

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Guwahati girl bags bronze at international karate championship

eating all odds, the daughter of a gardener from Guwahati, Umabati Rai (9), won the bronze medal at the 5 th International Karate Championship held in Kolkata from July 26 to July 28, 2019. The championship was organized by the All India Seikhinkai Shito-Ryu Karatedo Foundation. Speaking to local media, Rai said that she was happy with her performance and hopes that she has been able to make her father proud as that is all that matters to her. Rai’s father had encouraged her to take up the sport after witnessing the present scenario of women’s safety in today’s society. He added that

he hopes that he will get financial assistance from the authorities so that his daughter can continue on her path to excel in the sport. n

State U-9 chess team sets off to Gujarat for national championship

10-member team has made its way to Ahmedabad to participate in the 33rd National U-9 Chess Championship which is being organised by the Gujarat State Chess Association on behalf of All India Chess Federation. For the boys’ tournament, Assam champion Mrinmoy Rajkhowa from Guwahati along with Aditya Kiran Borgohain of Sivasagar, Abhishek Bordoloi of Jorahat, Vedant Veer Heda

of Guwahati and Abhirup Saikia of Guwahati have been chosen. In the girls’ category, state champion Hridika Das of Guwahati and runners-up Angana JP Dutta of Sivasagar will represent Assam. Afhseen Afsha Jaman of Guwahati, Prisheta Goneka and Debarati Dey from Cachar will also participate as special entries in the competition. The team is being managed by Nirmalya Chakraborty from Cachar. n

City school students win awards at Youth Initiative Summit 2019 City boy wins 4 gold in Mauritius medals at Taekwondo championships across state

PS International School participated in the 8 th Quality Youth Initiatives Summit 2019 in Mauritius from July 27 to August 2 and won more than 10 awards by participating in various activities at the summit. Some of the awards they won include “Best Disciplined Team,” “Excellence Award in Cultural Programme,” “Best Team Award in Poster and Slogan Competition,”

R “MSQCC Award in Debate Competition” etc. A group of 11 students from NPS International School were part of this programme The event which was organised by Mauritian Society for Quality Control Circle (MSQCC) 2019 had more than 50 schools from several countries participating in the program, the theme for which was “Sustainable Development through Quality and Peace Initiative.” n

ishith Bharadwaj has recently won four gold medals in several Taekwondo championships in the 57 kg weight category. These championships include the 4th Kamrup (Metro) district Taekwondo Championship in under 57 kg weight category cadet boys (KYORUGI) held in Guwahati on July 7 and 8, the 3rd Kamrup (Rural) district Taekwondo Championship in under 57 kg weight category cadet boys (KYORUGI and POOMSAE Group) held in Amingaon on July 13 and 14 and the 36th State

Taekwondo Championship in under 57 kg weight category cadet boys (KYORUGI) held in Tezpur from July 25 to July 28. Bharadwaj is a class 9 student from Sanskriti the Gurukul School in the city.

Feature

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Couchsurfing through Vietnam I was in Vietnam for 3 months after leaving my full time comfortable job because I felt I was missing something in life - the excitement, the adventure and something novel. Now you might think: 3 months in a foreign country? Wow! That must have cost him a fortune. But it actually didn’t.

There is a community called Couchsurfing (we usually call it CS). For those who are new to this term, it is a community of travellers, hosts and travel enthusiasts. Here, those who are hosting offer a place to stay for travellers in their own homes for free. My whole budget was 50,000 INR which included flights, food and accommodation. But how did I do that? Is Vietnam that cheap? Well no, it is not cheap. The cost of living is similar to that in India.

While travelling, the major expense heads are usually accommodation, food and transportation. Let me address the aspect of accommodation today to give you a clear view on how you can stay cheaply. I did so.

Accommodation:

When it comes to travelling, you have to sleep somewhere. But accommodation can get pretty expensive, especially in the fancy hotels. But why pay thousands of rupees just to sleep for 4-5 hours when travelling actually means exploring, learning and experiencing what a new place has to offer. By staying in a hotel you are actually missing a huge chunk of fun. The best way to travel is to interact with the locals at a personal level. There is a community called Couchsurfing (we usually call it CS). For those who are new to this term, it is a community of travellers, hosts and travel enthusiasts. Here, those who are hosting offer a place to stay for travellers in their own homes for free. But why free? To some unknown traveller for that matter? That’s precisely the beauty of this community. People are looking forward to having some cultural exchange, learning and sharing, rather than their

Europe just by walking; people who have crossed the Atlantic for free by helping the ship’s crew; people who are in their university gap year and have been travelling for the past one year; people who did the whole of Vietnam on a bicycle and then went to Thailand and are now in Myanmar. And from the traveller’s side, the best way to explore a place is with a local. The local can give you the best advice that you would

financial benefit. When you let in a person from some other place, you are opening your doors to learn a whole lot of things that you never thought might have been possible; you learn about their food habits, their culture and get important tips about travelling etc. I have met people who have completed the whole of

never find in a blog or vlog. For example, if someone comes to Guwahati, as a local you will be highly equipped with knowledge that you can offer to the person you are hosting. You can tell where to find the best pork in Guwahati, or that the famous dating place is Dighalipukhuri or give tips about city bus numbers

etc. That is huge for a new person coming into the city. It is just like inviting your friend from Nalbari or Jorhat to stay at your place in Guwahati or vice versa where you aren’t charging any money and letting that person stay at your place. Imagine a person from Egypt or Sydney or anywhere else coming to your place. What a chance to learn and share! But how do you trust a traveller or a host? Well, for that, you have to trust the review system in the Couchsurfing platform. Good reviews about that person mean that person is trustworthy. If you can’t find a host in Couchsurfing, hostels are your next best choice. Hostels offer you the best of everything at very less price. In hostels you get to meet travellers like you or who are crazier and locals who are visiting the same place as you are. You can easily get travel partners for your next destination or the local places. I was in a nice hostel in Da Lat where I made a lot of friends and girlfriends. Yes, we are still “good friends.” There are other ways to cut your accommodation expenses.

total cost for accommodation was less than 3500 INR - that was just in a single place called Da Lat because the plan happened quickly and I didn’t have time to search and contact hosts. All the other places I stayed at, I was volunteering and couchsurfing. I was teaching English in one English centre in Da Nang and one home-stay in Hanoi. I was learning and sharing martial arts in a Pagoda in Nghe An Province. I was singing in bars. I taught little kids basic English etc. And the best part is, I interacted with around 150 university students, who in return, taught me Vietnamese and accents, about their culture,

Like volunteering, for example. There are popular platforms for it. Some notable ones are Workaway, HelpX, WWOOF, Hippohelp, etc. Here the hosts put up work where they ask volunteers to come and help them and they usually offer free food and accommodation. While I was in Vietnam, my

about food, took me to musical events and the university numerous times, showed me places on their own motorbikes etc. And yes, everyone I met now knows where Guwahati is! (The author is a pocketfriendly traveller, a professional photographer and former web developer and designer) n

PRAGYAN BEZBARUAH

18 Review

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Starring: Sidharth Malhotra, Parineeti Chopra, Jaaved Jaaferi, Sanjay Mishra and Aparshakti Khurana Director: Prashant Singh

JABARIYA JODI

bhay Singh (Sidharth Malhotra) runs a syndicate of kidnapping greedy grooms, who demand dowry in Bihar’s Madhopur. He then, forcefully marries them off to the girl, calling it a ‘surprise party’. But when his childhood sweetheart Babli (Parineeti Chopra) re-enters his life, he must choose between love and his long-term ambitions. Prepaid kidnappings followed by Shotgun shaadis – this is the dowry central of Bihar where grooms and goons are the only

two, who mint money. Abhay Singh is at the top his game ensuring no dulha demanding dahej is spared of becoming a Jabariya Jodi (forced couple) – a real problem in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where it’s called pakadwa shaadi. Director Prashant Singh and writer Sanjeev K Jha try to tackle these serious societal issues with a pinch of humour. They succeed in making you chuckle quite a few times in the first half with hilarious punches like ‘rukawat ke liye khed hai, tumhara kidnap

prepaid hai’ and ‘yeh toh emotion ka loose motion lagta hain’. This ensures that the first half remains breezy and light, even though a lot of it doesn’t make much sense. However, the writing in the second half is all over the place and banal. The story becomes increasingly melodramatic, robbing the film of its humour or the impact for the message that it tries to deliver. Film’s leading man, Sidharth Malhotra makes the frame look good, but feels like a misfit in the role of a small town gunda. Even with colourful shirts, dark scarfs and tacky sunglasses, he doesn’t quite make the cut as a menacing goon that he is supposed to be. Ditto for Parineeti, who is always glammed up in chic designer wear, even when she’s in an emotional turmoil. Her character starts off being quite feisty, earning the moniker ‘Babli Bomb’ for publicly beating up her boyfriend, for being stood up. But her transition from a ‘bomb’ to a bechari isn’t convincing at all. While both the actors put in their best, with Parineeti getting the Bihari accent bang on, the writing is what eventually lets them down. Among the character actors, Javed Jaffrey and Sanjay Mishra are impressive and entertaining. Aparshakti Khurana, as the forever friendzoned lover is decent, but his character seems way too good to be real. Jabariya Jodi starts on a promising note, but loses steam along the way. It tries to throw light on serious issues with lighter moments, but gets tangled in a melodramatic and unrealistic narrative that doesn’t feel all that jabardust. (Review from Times of India)

Oppo A9 I

f we step back and take a look at the smart phones that have recently been launched in India, it is evident that most manufacturers are focusing on the sub-Rs. 20,000 price segment. Oppo has now launched the Oppo A9, priced at Rs. 15,490, pitting it against some of these popular devices.

Design: The Oppo A9 has a big 6.5-inch display with a tear-drop notch and a tiny earpiece. There is Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for protection, which should help the display resist scratches to an extent. The phone comes with a plastic screen protector pre-applied. The Oppo A9 gets sleek bezels on the top and sides, while the bottom chin is comparatively thicker. Pick the phone up and it sits well in the palm thanks to its curved sides. It is tall and narrow, and you will need to stretch a bit to reach the top half of the display.

Oppo has positioned the power button on the right side where the thumb rests naturally. The volume buttons are on the left and are also easy to reach. These buttons have decent feedback, so you won’t be second-guessing any input. The Oppo A9 has a capacitive fingerprint scanner at the back since it does not get a fancy indisplay fingerprint scanner like some of its siblings. There is a dual-camera module above the fingerprint scanner, along with a single LED flash. At the bottom, this phone sports a Micro-USB port. There’s

also a 3.5mm headphone jack and a bottom-firing loudspeaker. The Oppo A9 is available in two colour variants, Fluorite Purple and Marble Green. Oppo ships a 10W charger in the box along with a transparent case and a pair of headphones.

Specifications and Software:

Cinepolis, Christian Basti

Jabariya Jodi

09435025808 The Lion King (Hindi, 3D)

03:00 PM, 08:15 PM

08:55 AM, 04:20 PM Jabariya Jodi

in the Dark (English)

Scary Stories to Tell 05:50 PM

09:00 AM, 11:45 AM, 02:50 PM, 05:55 PM, 09:00 PM Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (English, 3D) 09:05 AM, 12:00 PM, 05:50 PM, 08:45 PM Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (Hindi, 3D) 02:55 PM Super 30 09:10 AM, 08:15 PM Chicken Curry Law 11:15 AM Bring The Soul: The Movie (BTS) (Korean) 12:30 PM, 03:05 PM, 05:50 PM Mushkil 06:55 PM

Grande Cines, Paltan Bazar 09854017771 Jabariya Jodi 10:00 AM, 03:15 PM, 06:00 PM, 09:00 PM Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (English, 3D) 12:45 PM PVR Cinemas, Dona Planet 08800900009 Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (English, 3D) 09:05 AM, 03:30 PM, 09:10 PM Jabariya Jodi 09:20 AM, 12:20 PM, 06:00 PM, 09:00 PM

Anuradha Cineplex, Noonmati

Super 30

0361 2656968 Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (Hindi, 3D)

Judgementall Hai Kya

10:00 AM Bring The Soul: The Movie (BTS) (Korean)

12:00 PM 03:20 PM The Lion King (English, 3D) 06:25 PM

12:40 PM

This phone is powered by the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC, which is a decent processor. For a smartphone priced at Rs. 15,490, it does feel underpowered compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675. Oppo has launched the A9 in only one configuration, with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There are no variants with more RAM, but if the storage is inadequate for you, this phone does have a hybrid dual-SIM tray for storage expansion. The Oppo A9 packs in a 4020mAh battery and weighs 190g. There is support for dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, Wi-Fi, four satellite positioning systems, and USB-OTG. You also get the usual array of sensors including light, proximity, and gyro, among others. The Oppo A9 has more bloatware preinstalled. It has apps including UC Browser, Facebook, WPS Office, NewsPoint,

Dailyhunt, Helo, Paytm, Wynk Music, Webnovel, and Amazon Shopping. There’s also Game Center, Game Space, and an Oppo AppStore for apps and games. We found the installed apps such as UC Browser and Helo to be spammy, and they kept sending push notifications every hour. Thankfully, these apps can be uninstalled from the smartphone.

Verdict:

The Oppo A9 is a decent smartphone, but its current competition makes it less appealing. Camera performance would have been acceptable for the price, but here again, the competition has recently upped the ante. Also, while the MediaTek Helio P70 is a capable processor, it is competing with the likes of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 powering many other smart phones in the same price range. However, if you are buying a smart phone in the offline market, it might be a lot easier to get your hands on the Oppo A9 than any of these alternatives. (Review from NDTV Gadget)

Trotter

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Story of father being daughter’s Man walks 700 kms in college junior goes viral on internet reverse to save forests

lovely post is bringing smiles to people’s faces. Shared by the popular Facebook page Humans of Bombay, it’s the story of a father rediscovering his love for education and studying at the same college as his daughter.

The story was related by his daughter who said, “My father was always interested in the world of law. He wanted to study law. But when he was younger, his family couldn’t afford it. So instead he became a consultant and worked at a firm.” She goes on to talk about how, when she started studying law, her “intrigued” father would ask her about her classes and her subjects. Eventually, he realised he had the time to go back to college and do something he had always wanted to do - study law. “So believe it or not, now my father and I are in the same college and he’s actually my

junior!” The rest of the post is a heart-warming read about how the father and daughter duo have fun in college, discussing professors, classmates, assignments and even sitting together. “Watching him revive his passion, makes me so happy,” said his daughter.

“Taking the whole fatherdaughter combo to a whole new level. Guess they are setting the ‘bar’ very high eh?” quipped one person. “Haven’t seen anything more beautiful than this,” said another, while a third wrote: “This is so endearing!” (Source: ndtv)

Man abhorring chewing noises cuts off ties with relatives

man has revealed that he suffers from such a hatred of chewing that he has estranged himself from relatives over fears he might “fly into a rage.” Derrol Murphy, 41, has ended relationships because of the noise his partners make while eating or when clearing their throat. He even said he has left dates and almost come to blows with colleagues for

clicking pens. Derrol diagnosed himself with Misophonia - a condition that makes people irritable about ordinary sounds humans make. He says he is learning to manage his condition but wants more people to be aware of it. He said, “I thought I was crazy for many years. Little noises would make me just fly into a rage. “People don’t understand it and I can’t explain it. It’s affected relationships,

especially people I’ve been dating and family members, because you take it out on the people closest to you because you think they should understand.” Derrol eventually started to search for answers when he was 30 and became concerned about what was wrong with him. He can be triggered off by breathing or yawning, but chewing is his biggest nemesis. “One noise can stick out and, if I’m in a restaurant, I hear one person’s voice and then I hear the cutlery, it makes me go crazy,” he said. He is now dating co-worker Kurt Vin, 41, who he has been with for two years. However, Kurt’s jaw clicks and he used to eat with his mouth open. So he warned him early on and Vin makes a “warning signal” if he thinks he’s about to make a noise that will irritate Derrol. He overcomes the noises by listening to music, watching TV or putting on headphones. The NHS recommends relaxation techniques such as concentrating on breathing to remove stress. (Source: metro.co.uk)

n Indonesian man is walking 700 kilometres (435 miles) from his home on a volcano in East Java to Jakarta in the hope of drawing attention to the archipelago’s quickly shrinking forests. And he is doing it backwards. Medi Bastoni, a 43-year-old father of four, set out on his arduous, in-reverse journey in mid-July, with the goal of reaching the capital by August 16, a day before the Southeast Asian nation’s Independence Day anniversary. “Of course I’m exhausted, but I’m willing to do this to fight for the next generation,” Bastoni said. “(My home) is losing all of its trees so I have to do something. I can take the pain and fatigue.” When he arrives, Bastoni said he hopes to meet with President

Joko Widodo and highlight deforestation across the archipelago including at his home on Mt Wilis, a dormant volcano. Indonesia suffers from one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, according to Greenpeace. Bastoni walks 20 to 30 kilometres backwards every day under the scorching sun, with a rear-view mirror attached to his backpack to avoid bumping into objects. Along the way, supporters cheer him on, offer him meals or a place to stay overnight. But Bastoni always leaves at dawn to stay on schedule. Walking backwards is meant as a signal to Indonesians to reflect on the past and remember how national heroes fought for the good of the country, he said. (Source: indiatimes)

20 Fun Jayashree Bose

Share your ideas with your seniors or generally build a relationship with people at work on 11th & 15th August. On 10th August, be wary of dealing with the opposite gender. On 13th August, avoid scheduling any meetings as you are bound to have disagreements. On 14th August, you will be emotionally hurt either by your parents or seniors. Utilize 14th & 15th August to share ideas with your seniors & host important meetings. Avoid scheduling any important meetings on 16th August, as you could get into disagreements. You could have issues with your seniors or your extended family on 11th & 13th August. On 11th August, avoid trusting anyone with your secrets.

Avoid dealing with seniors & extended family on 11th, 13th & 14th August. On 13th August, you will be emotionally hurt by your seniors or parent’s words & actions. On 14th August, you could have disagreements with your boss. 16th August will be an ideal day for you share ideas with your seniors & host your important meetings. 15th & 16th August will be great days to share your ideas with seniors & host important meetings. You could host an Independence Day party. On 10th August, you could be betrayed or emotionally hurt by someone at work. On 19th August, be careful of your words & actions as you will create your own problems.

Certified Feng Shui, Chinese astrology, date selection consultant & author, www.facebook.com/geoprinciples

Brace yourself for a slow week and a crazy month. 13th August will be a great day to share ideas & host all your important meetings. 12th August will be a slow day, you could feel your parents or your boss don’t appreciate your efforts at all. On 15th August, spend time with family, avoid hosting any Independence day parties as you could easily get into confrontations. 15th & 16th August will be excellent days for you to connect with work mates & schedule important meetings. Your seniors will be receptive to your ideas. On 15th August, you could feel your seniors and/or parents are ungrateful, they don’t appreciate you. 12th August will be a slow day for you.

10th & 13th August will be great days to build a rapport with your seniors & people at work, host your important meetings on these dates. Your seniors will be receptive to your ideas. Avoid scheduling any meetings on 12th August, as results will not be as you expected. 14th August will be a slow day for you.

10th & 11th August will be ideal days to share ideas with your boss or connect with people at work & family. Host your important meetings on 10th August & probably have a Sunday brunch with your business network. Avoid socializing or making any promises on 12th August. On 15th August, just relax at home.

On 10th August, you could have a disagreement with seniors or work associates, don’t schedule any important meetings. 11th August will be a great day to connect with your seniors & extended family. Host a Sunday brunch or have coffee with them, put your best foot forward. On 16th August, be careful of your words & actions as you will create your own problems.

Watch yourself on 11th & 14th August, avoid making any promises or getting into a confrontation. Share your ideas with seniors or generally build a relationship with people at work on 10th & 13th August, host your important meetings on these dates. You could feel emotionally betrayed by your seniors or extended family on 16th August, not a day to share secrets.

10th, 13th & 14th August are ideal days to mingle with your seniors, people at work & build your work network. Host your important meetings on these dates. Avoid everyone & anyone on 12th August, as you are bound to get into a disagreement. On 15th August, you could feel emotionally hurt.

Pyrenees Tour de France

curio-city

Dilbert By Scott Adams

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

Toni Morrison

Identify this famous Indian personality from this photo of her as a NCC cadre.

Which Guwahati born boxer became the youngest Indian to qualify for the Summer Olympics in 2012?

Abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu &

Kashmir and Ladakh

Which contentious issue was dealt with by the President of India’s order C.0.272?

Shiva Thapa

Born as Chloe Ardelia Wofford, which recently deceased author’s most famous novels include ‘Song of Solomon’ and ‘Beloved’?

Sushma Swaraj

Which range of mountains form a natural border between Spain and France extending from the Bay of Biscay (Cap Higuer) to the Mediterranean Sea (Cap de Creus)?

2 1 7 61 97 6 9 2 9 2 9 4

7 1

4 4 1

6 1 2 6

Daily Sudoku: Fri 2-Aug-2019

4 1

7 1 9 2 5 9 23 5 3 7 2 1 79 28 19 9 8 5 94 4 5

last week solution

4 8 6 5 9 24 18 56 35 49 72 31 95 13 64 17 73 89 21 56 61 97 48 82 15 36 59 24 68 71 83 25 72 46 37 98 62 37 74 83 59 46 13 97 28 Daily Sudoku: Fri 2-Aug-2019 5 4 1 9 2

2 7 1 7 76 18 2 8 62 85 7 9 23 54 8 3 35 47 9 4 3 5 4 1 5

51 19 94

3 39 94 46

62 79 28 96 81 62 15

6 48 23 57 1 easy 6 8 3 7

Daily Sudoku: Fri 2-Aug-2019

easy

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

curio-city Which famous event currently organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation was started in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper L’Auto?

5 9 5 35 49 95 3 64 89 2 6 8 2 2 72 3 83 7 1 28

Daily Sudoku: Fri 2-Aug-2019

On 10th August, you could be betrayed by someone at work & emotionally hurt by your family. On 13th August, be careful of your words & actions as you will create your own problems. 14th August will be a great day to share your ideas with seniors or simply just connect with them. You could schedule your important meetings on this day.

Sudoku

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

Word of the week fascicle knackered

noun [fas-i-kuhl] adjective [nak-erd] a section of a book or set of books being British Slang. published in installments as separate pamphlets or volumes. exhausted; very tired

Crossword Across

Down

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

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

Horoscope of the week

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

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

Last week’s solution

Fiction

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

The Apparition The mirror stares…… watching At our day-to-day affairs Unmindful, we pass its presence Everyday of our lives It minds not at being ignored Nor at being taken for granted For it’s actually the other way around. Mocking at the pretense It seems to laugh At how all the secrets Have come tumbling out

eaching the stop just as the bus left for its destination, Huma muttered under her breath. She had failed to board the bus on time, yet again. This was the third time in a week. It would be another twenty minutes or so before the next and last bus for the day arrived. Her agitation grew as she was late again for dinner that night. She was beginning to grow tired of the cold stares – stares that were even colder than the food she would serve herself that night. She was designated as a manager in a large corporate; her husband worked in another in a different city. Huma was thus stuck in a long-distance marriage. She had put in a request for transfer about two months earlier. The wait seemed endless, adding to her restlessness. She had hoped to relocate so that she could be together with her husband again, like any normal family. This very thought had kept her rather preoccupied these days. After almost a year of multiple attempts at job interviews, even as the recession was in full force, she had finally managed to clinch one about eight months ago. But the continuous late hours, alongside the responsibilities of raising a five-year-old in addition to her domestic chores, were beginning to burden her now. It did not help matters that she was staying with her in-laws. The formalities in the arrangement irritated her. She often found herself reminiscing about her life prior to moving to Kolkata – her current city. The last bus arrived packed with the last commuters of the day and Huma boarded it. She stood still for a few seconds near

the doorway trying to gather her bearings while sucking in a deep breath. Relieved that she could finally get inside, Huma heaved a sigh and instinctively, a small prayer escaped her lips as her eyes veered upwards. Her small reverie though was broken by the loud voice of the bus conductor. He seemed to be addressing her from the rear of the bus. “Didi, please come up the aisle. Do not stand near the doorway.” She became conscious as all eyes fell on her. She slowly made her way past the other passengers, squeezing through for a more comfortable position in order to gain a foothold. In life, Huma had constantly challenged herself, trying hard not to get used to the luxuries of life. Commuting by public transport was one of the ways she tested herself, perhaps conditioned by her strict middleclass upbringing. She hadn’t brought her car that day also. The Salt Lake Sector-V area where Huma’s office was located housed offices of other big MNCs. A few of them were companies she had worked for earlier or had attended interviews at when she was residing in her previous city. Life now seemed so far removed from what she had been used to earlier. The twelve to fourteenhour long weekdays, constant firefighting, end-of-day extended team meetings et al had left

her drained and exhausted. The excitement of her job was wearing off and her patience with her daughter, Rida, during most days was thinning. Today

was another one of those bad days. She had just been informed about having to work on two extended weekends with no weekly offs. The job was leaving her personal life on a perpetual hold. She recalled with dismay that she had promised to take Rida to the mall for a movie, ice cream and a haircut that Sunday. “Huma, would you come over to the training room? There seems to be a problem with one of the new recruits,” her manager had beckoned. Huma had stood up pushing her chair against the table and straightening her attire to attend to the summons from her boss. Her wistful mind longed for a warm greeting at the doorway, an appreciation of the little efforts where she tried to accommodate everyone in her life, small gestures that would go a long way in making her feel special. Well, such desires remained buried deep inside her. She was almost afraid to address them; afraid that they might overwhelm her now. The urge to hide and lose herself in some far, remote corner of the world grew intense. On long days, she fantasized about being forgotten; no one calling out to her, needing her or even remembering her. To remain oblivious to the world was a strange fantasy that had germinated inside her and which had begun to grow strong with

pressing the calling bell. A less than enthused face would let her in. The silent greeting at the door would set the tone for the rest of the evening. Her life seemed to be on board a superfast train. Blankly staring at the fast receding background, she would, at times, pause to ponder over her current status. At other times, she would let herself go with the flow, too tired to attempt any change in the course of direction. Huma stared outside the large bus window as parts of the cityscape disappeared behind her gradually. And as she did, a strange reflection on the glass window suddenly caught her attention! Its icy stare was fixated upon her. Uneasily, she turned away from it, trying to get distracted by someone else’s conversation in the bus. A few moments later, she turned back to the window only to find the apparition staring back at her in exactly the same manner that it had been doing. Astonished, Huma stared back, intending to embarrass it perhaps. Strangely, it continued its stony, relentless stare as if reading her mind. It betrayed no emotions, nor paid attention to anyone else other than Huma. The apparition made her shudder! Helpless and shaken, she looked around for some route of escape. Unable to break its constant gaze that was

each passing day. As the bus sped towards its destination, she could almost visualize the scenario she would encounter at home, while

constantly pulling her even closer, she found herself in its vice-like grip as if it was peering right into her soul. Surrendering to this intrusion, she gathered enough courage to finally confront the stare. And when she did, it took

Zerine Wahid her completely by surprise! The apparition that she had been trying to fend off was none other than her very own reflection. Stunned with this realisation, Huma felt that her pride and confidence were in tatters. She stood where she was momentarily frozen. The world around her disintegrated; she felt vulnerable and cold. She stumbled, groping around to hold on to someone or something to halt her fall. As she did, Huma realized that she had missed the signs. Exactly, when did it happen? This regression into a distant and unfamiliar shape. She had no clue. Was it six months ago, when she had confronted her husband about exchanging intimate messages with his colleague? Or was it prior to that, when the doctors had informed her that her mother had Stage IV cancer? She had believed she was coping well. In fact, she had always prided herself on her strengths and capabilities – one who had excelled in her multiple roles and surpassed them. Preferring to hide the pain, realizing she would have to shoulder it alone, she had actually confided in no one. She had considered herself the quintessential confident career woman – someone to be either envied or emulated. She had not let the mask slip even for a moment. And yet, she no longer resembled her former self now; it had been a sad and unnoticeably gradual transformation into another entity. A grotesque figure that now seemed to mock at her! The bus screeched to a halt, jerking the passengers forward. Huma jostled for space once again while attempting to walk past the crowd of passengers. She alighted. The weary night air, heavy and humid, greeted her with an occasional gust of wind. The leaves fluttering on the roadside trees made rustling noises. A few shops had already downed their shutters while some were in the process of doing so. The residents had by then retired to the warm, familiar confines of their homes. Huma slowly trudged along the alley leading to her home dazed, exhausted and oblivious of the world around her even though she noticed a few men on the roadside pavement staring at her with leery looks. n

22 Lifestyle

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Vaastu and its effect on different plots Hemanta Kumar Sarmah Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

he Vaastu of the plot should be corrected before looking at the Vaastu of the house. The foremost factors for the Vaastu of the plot are its shape and slope.

Here are some points to keep in mind when looking at the Vaastu of a plot: A square plot with all angles at 90 degrees is very auspicious in terms of success and prosperity in all fields of life. A rectangular plot with all angles at 90 degrees is also very auspicious and it gives good luck, prosperity and overall growth.

An extension to the northern northeast or eastern northeast in both square and rectangular plots is a positive Vaastu

addition. A circular plot is good for wealth and knowledge. However, there should not be a square shaped construction in a circular plot as it will upset the flow of energy. In such a plot, the building constructed inside also must be circular.

dangers of litigation as the northwest is also disturbed. If the shape of the plot is that of a parallelogram or having extensions in opposite corners while the sides

there is an extension towards the northeast. A Gaumukhi or cowshaped plot is good to live in. This plot is smaller in front but larger on both directions in the back.

Plots that have the shape of a wheel are not good just like a semi-circular plot. It is good to construct residences on a hexagonal plot though such plots are rare. Triangular plots are not good. If residences are constructed on such a plot, there may be fire hazards as the southeast is disturbed. There are

are parallel, it will cause financial losses in addition to enmity and unhappiness in the family. A star-shaped plot is rare but if there is any plot like this, it is highly avoidable because it will never allow the residents to live in peace and happiness. L-shaped plots should be avoided except when

Residents living in such a plot are happy, however, business establishments on such plots are not good. A shermukhi or lionfaceted house is very good for business. It is wider at front but smaller on both sides in the back. It has bigger roadside frontage required for business. However, residences should not be built in such a plot.

Ayurveda: Pulse Diagnosis

Treatments usually come in one of two forms: Panchakarma:

The cycling stops for a moment, In between the sucking she looks around. She opens her bright eyes suddenly, Her smile turns into a cry.

My touch is new to her, She immediately becomes still. The touch of her mother she cannot recollect, Therefore gradually she giggles. I put my hand behind her neck, The other goes under her legs. With very little effort I lift her, In my lap comfortably she takes her place. My arm has secured her up, Comfortably her head rests on my chest. She is looking for something not known to me, Something that I am yet to trace. When she had lost in the treasure hunt, She starts to shed tears. She may be hungry I conclude, So I give my nipple to her. She latches on to my nipple, Gradually she sucks me dry. She has worked really hard, In no time she goes into a slumber.

shri shri ravi shankar Founder- Art of Living Foundation. ccording to Ayurveda, the presence of disease in our system indicates an imbalance in our ‘doshas’. Bringing our system back into balance is the key to the cure. Ayurveda has an effective tool for the diagnosis of disease called ‘nadipareeksha’ or pulse diagnosis. This is done by an Ayurvedic doctor who checks the individual’s pulse on his/ her wrist and he/she can easily detect the imbalances in the body and prescribe an effective treatment.

The infant lay on the cot, Unknown that her mother has gone to the fairies. She sucks on her finger raising her legs, Cycling in the air she is happy.

I am looking at the child, I cannot hold myself any more. Putting my hand on her head, I play with her new grown coat.

A semi-circular plot should be avoided for residence because it will bring losses. An oval or egg shaped plot is not good and it brings losses and harm in many ways.

If Only

Putting her head on my shoulder, I gradually pat her back. She may be in a siesta, But a burp she has to give back.

A 5-staged body purification programme that consists of herbal remedies, light diet and exercise, specific massages and cleansing treatments Herbal medicines to balance the

body: Ayurveda supports health without disturbing the natural intelligence of the body; Ayurvedic treatments have no negative side effects. Because of this, people around

the world are now turning to the ancient science of Ayurveda to help them regain and maintain optimal health. Ayurveda can be used on its own or as a complement to allopathic treatment.

Once she has given what I wanted, I put her in the cradle kissing her good night. I am suddenly back to where I was, I see a crying infant who has just lost her mother. I can do all it takes to be, A teddy bear for her I can be. I belong to the world of men, Only if I could be a mother to her.

Sandeep Roy

Entertainment

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

Adil Hussain withdraws association with Pondicherry International Film Festival

enowned actor Adil Hussain has ended his association with Pondicherry International Film Festival as its brand ambassador. It is to be mentioned that festival director Saibal

Chatterjee and advisors Utpal Borpujari and Sanjay Sarma have also followed suit. Utpal Borpujari tweeted saying, “Festival Director Saibal Chatterjee, Brand Ambassador Adil Hussain, and Advisors Utpal Borpujari and Sanjay Sarma, are withdrawing their

association with the 2nd Edition of the Pondicherry International Film Festival scheduled for September 2019 with immediate effect.” The advisory team remains deeply committed to Pondicherry and its cinema lovers. They promise to return with a new format that “celebrates cinema and the arts,” which will be announced shortly.

Biswanath town to host its first ever film festival

iswanath town is all set to host its first film festival, the Biswanath Film Festival 2019. It is being held from August 8 to August 12. The festival is supported by the Directorate of Cultural Affairs and Directorate of Information & Public Relations, Assam. The five-day festival will showcase 13 films chosen from the state, made in the past few years. The movies that will be screened at the festival include Maj Rati Keteki by Santwana Bordoloi, Bornodi Bhotia by Anupam Kaushik

Borah, Handuk by Jaycheng Jai Dahatia, Bokul by Reeam Bora, Kothanodi by Bhaskar Hazarika, Calender by Himjyoti Talukdar, Alifa by Deep Choudhury, Beautuful Lives by Kankan Deka, Kaneen by Majul Baruah, Mishing by Bobby Sarma Baruah, Shrinkhol by Prabin Hazarika, Fehujali by Biswajit Bora and Ajeyo by Jahnu Baruah.

Rock band Parikrama shoots upcoming music video in NE

ock band Parikrama has shot their upcoming music video for their song, “Tears of the Wizard” in the town of Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. The state’s government took to Twitter and thanked the band stating, “Thank You Parikrama for choosing Arunachal Pradesh to shoot ‘Tears of The Wizard,’ which is their second official video after ‘But it rained.’

The song has been shot in the scenic location of Mechuka. #Tearsofthewizard #Parikrama #ArunchalTourism” Mechuka is a small town, 600 feet above sea level and close to the Indo-China border in Mechuka Valley of Arunachal Pradesh. Parikrama is a Delhi-based rock band which has a 9-member team and has been active in the music scene since 1991.

Sattriya exponent Jatin Goswami felicitated by Sonowal

attriya exponent Jatin Goswami was felicitated by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the city on Friday, August 2, at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra.

was all praises for the Sattriya exponent and thanked him for his contributions to the Assamese classical dance form. It should be noted that Goswami is the third person from Assam to be conferred with the prestigious Akademi

He was felicitated with an Eri shawl, a certificate and a Xorai after he had recently been honoured with the Akademi Ratna Award by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. At the ceremony, Sonowal

Ratna Award after scholar Maheswar Neog and singer and composer Dr Bhupen Hazarika. He is also the recipient of the Padma Shri for his contributions to Sattriya dance, which he received in 2008.

24 Catching Up

G PLUS | Aug 10 - Aug 16, 2019

PIC OF THE