G Plus Vol 6 Issue 51 by G Plus

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

INSIDE

Volume 06 | Issue 51 Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019 Price `10 Assam NCC cadets to undertake historic Brahmaputra expedition

Sonowal backs GMDA on building bye-laws modification request

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Durga Puja Celebrations 2019

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Political Economic motive behind GMC elections slowdown hits delay? festive market in Guwahati G Plus News @guwahatiplus

ven after the term of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) council ended more than a year ago, there still seems to be a lot of uncertainty about the next date of elections and many are calculating that it might be a political motive to delay the elections. “Even the Panchayat elections were similarly delayed but after some aspirants approached the court, the Panchayat elections were conducted before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” said a highly-placed source in the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) committee. Talking about the councillors not moving the court, the source expressed

that maximum number of candidates in Guwahati are aspirants of BJP tickets for the GMC elections, and if they go to the court, they might not get the BJP ticket. The source also revealed that the state BJP president and the chief minister of the ruling party had committed to some former BJP councillors of Guwahati that the GMC elections will be conducted in September 2019, but it never happened. It seems that National Register of Citizens (NRC) was raised as an excuse and the party leaders had mentioned in a closed door meeting that after the final NRC list is out, the elections will be conducted. The councillors are irked now and smell a political conspiracy.

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Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

he festivals of Durga Puja and Diwali have always been associated with bonus, shopping and spending. However, the shadow of a countrywide economic slowdown, following demonetisation and implementation of goods and services tax (GST), was quite evident during this year’s festivities. A change has been observed in the spending pattern of consumers since demonetisation - while many consumers have cut down on their discretionary spending, some are not spending at all (wanting to hold on to cash in case the situation worsens). A sizeable number of consumers have also made the shift from

retail outlets to e-commerce websites to get better bargains. Business owners and roadside hawkers in Guwahati also claim to have witnessed a substantial slump in their sales. “I have noticed that consumers are not willing to spend. There seems to be fear in their minds as they are holding on to their money,” a renowned businessman told G Plus . A street vendor in Fancy Bazar, Komen Das, talking to G Plus said that every year he invests Rs 2 lakhs before pujas, but this year he invested just Rs 50,000 as he did not have enough money. “There is a dip in the sales,” said Das explaining that somehow after demonetisation, the market is witnessing less flow of customers. Das has been running a roadside shop in

Fancy Bazar since the last 20 years. Similarly, the sales of many branded showrooms have also gone down in the city and they are not making profits like previous years. In addition, even the spending capacity of householders has decreased drastically in Guwahati. “I had a budget of Rs 40,000 last year for festive shopping, but this year, I could manage only Rs 20,000 as I am facing a financial crisis,” said Kedar Nath, a city-based businessman. His wife and children are irked with him for not fulfilling all their demands. The puja pandals also experienced financial crisis as they received very less sponsorship this year.

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In The News

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Smooth traffic management ensures hassle-free Puja for pandal-hoppers G Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

GTP applauded by public for smooth traffic management during puja.

DCP traffic credits team spirit, good enforcement and public cooperation for smooth traffic. Fines worth Rs 1.72 lakhs collected by traffic police during Durga Puja. 630 cases booked, 161 persons fined and 369 non FIR cases recorded during four days of puja. Over 120 cases of drunk driving registered. More than 40 licenses seized for suspension. Kamrup (Metro) district witnessed 19 road traffic accidents during Durga Puja. Assam witnessed 550 accidents during Durga Puja.

nder the amended Motor Vehicle (MV) Act 2019, the Guwahati Traffic Police (GTP) collected fines worth Rs. 1.72 lakhs during Durga Puja festivities that were observed from October 5 to October 8, 2019. As per reports, a total of 630 cases were booked, wherein 161 persons were fined on the spot and 369 non FIR cases were recorded during the four days. “While the entire city was engrossed in festivities, our team of traffic police remained on duty to ensure smooth traffic. Apart from controlling the traffic, policemen also monitored traffic violations and kept a check on

uwahati sees a massive influx of commuters during Durga Puja. Most years, Guwahatians end up spending more time stuck in traffic jams than in visiting puja pandals. However, this year, the scenario was completely different owing to the smoothtrafficmanagement. It is the task of Guwahati Traffic Police (GTP) to ensure that no roads are blocked during puja and this year, they have been rightly applaudedforthesame. “I have personally experienced non-congested roads during evening hours in areas like Athgaon, Sarabhatti, etc which are generally over-crowded,” expressedaresidentofAthgaon. In the same vein, a pandalhopper told G Plus, “Guwahati Traffic Police is to be thanked for keeping the traffic moving with meticulous planning and execution. For the first time in years, the spirit of festivity wasn’t dithered by getting stuck in crazy trafficjams.” Speaking to G Plus on the occasion of Dussehra, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) PrasantaSaikiasaid,“I’vereceived lots of appreciation for traffic management during puja and it gives me immense happiness to

A Guwahati traffic cop in action | G Plus photo have successfully ensured smooth traffic during puja days as well as duringimmersion.” He added that team spirit among policemen, good enforcement and cooperation from the public resultedinsmoothtraffic. Keeping in mind the safety of public, especially vulnerable

road users like children, women, senior citizens and differentlyabled persons on the roads during the period of Durga Puja, the GTP had imposed various traffic restrictions across the city ahead ofthefestival. The GTP released a list of guidelines for vehicles that

included routes for movement of city buses, routes for movement of light commercial vehicles, parking of vehicles and no entry restrictions,amongothers. “Our sole effort is to make Durga Puja celebrations in the city a hassle free one,” Saikia had said while issuing the guidelines.

Guwahati Traffic Police collects Rs 1.72 L fine during Durga Puja drunk drivers, people travelling without helmets, etc,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Prasanta Saikia informed G Plus. He further added that over 120 cases of drunk driving were registered during the festival and over 40 licenses were also seized for suspension. The new Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act 2019 was implemented in Guwahati from September 24, Tuesday. Under the Act, the penalty for traffic violations was increased by 5 to 10 times in different cases. On the first day of implementation, that is, September 24, the city police realised merely Rs 84,500 from

the third day, a whopping Rs 1, 50,500 was realised from 156 cases. Meanwhile, Kamrup (Metro) district saw a total of 19 road traffic accidents during the four days of File Photo of traffic police checking vehicles Durga Puja, as per reports by Mrityunjoy 108 ambulance a total of 77 cases of violations. service. The next day, Rs 94,500 was Out of this, on October 5 or realised off 106 cases while on

Saptami, Guwahati witnessed no road traffic accidents. However, one accident was reported on October 6, while 8 accidents were reported on October 7 and 10 cases were reported on the day of Dussehra, that is, on October 8. It may be mentioned here that a total of 550 accidents were reported to Mrityunjoy 108 ambulance service across Assam during the four days of Durga Puja. While Kamrup (metro) district topped the list with 19 road accidents, Golaghat witnessed second highest number of accidents with 13 cases and Morigaon was third with 12 cases.

Cover Story

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Amidst economic slowdown, puja footfall remains unaffected From Page 01

ommittee members of various puja pandals who had earlier expressed concern over economic slowdown which was reflected in the dip in sponsorship amount and donations have informed G Plus that amidst the economic slowdown, footfall in pandals remained unaffected. “People from all walks of life, in large numbers, visited our pandal this year. The footfall was much more than what was witnessed in previous years,” informed BK Goswami, member of Noonmati Sarbajanin Puja Committee. This year, the Noonmati puja committee installed idols made of marble instead of clay at the puja mandap with the aim to prevent water pollution caused by the immersion of clay idols.

Similarly, other puja pandals including Bishnupur, Athgaon, Tokobari, Chatribari, Pandu, Shantipur and Nayantara also registered immense footfall this year. It may be mentioned that the pandals gave precedence to various themes that instantly attracted pandal-hoppers this time around. “I had seen pictures of meticulously decorated pandals and thus decided to go pandalhopping on the occasion of ashtami; to my surprise, I was able to visit merely four pandals due to the long queues outside each pandal,” exclaimed a resident of Guwahati. However, some pandal-hoppers opined that while puja pandals remained abuzz throughout the four days of festivities, there was barely any crowd to be seen on the roads of Guwahati, owing to the traffic management.

IMF warns of economic slowdown in 90% countries, India to be hit hard

he world economy is experiencing a “synchronized slowdown” and in some of the largest emerging market economies, such as India and Brazil, the slowdown is even more pronounced this year. This was stated by the new head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva in her inaugural speech since taking the helm of the multilateral lender. The IMF managing director pointed out that the widespread deceleration meant that growth this year would fall to its lowest rate since the beginning of the decade. She projected that the IMF expects slower growth in nearly 90% of the world this year. The IMF chief warned that there is a serious risk that services and consumption could soon be affected as global trade growth has come to a near standstill. The precarious outlook presents challenges for countries already facing difficulties. It may be mentioned that India’s economic growth slowed to 5% in the June quarter, the lowest over six years. Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of

File photo of IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva India (RBI) lowered India’s GDP growth estimate for the year to 6.1% from the earlier 6.9% due to the ongoing period of economic slowdown. Despite this overall deceleration, Georgieva said that close to 40 emerging markets and developing economies are forecast to have real GDP growth rates above 5% — including 19 in subSaharan Africa. In the U.S. and Germany, unemployment is at historic lows, she added. The IMF chief thus called for using monetary policy wisely and enhancing financial stability.

Crowd at a Durga puja pandal in Guwahati | G Plus photo

4 In The News

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Assam NCC cadets to undertake historic Brahmaputra expedition Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

80 Assam NCC cadets will participate in first ever Brahmaputra sailing expedition Expedition which will cover a distance of 220 kilometres It has been named ‘Lachit 1’ after Assamese war hero Lachit Borphukan The expedition will begin from October 16 and will end on October 25 Sailing expedition will cover the area where the battle of Saraighat was fought DK Whaler Sailing boats of naval NCC units will be used

total of 80 NCC (National Cadet Corps) cadets from Assam are all set to take part in the first ever Brahmaputra sailing expedition in the northeast region. The sailing expedition which will cover a distance of 220 kilometres has been named ‘Lachit 1’ after 17th century Assamese war hero Lachit Borphukan who was the chief commander of the Ahom army in the naval battle of Saraighat in 1671. The expedition will begin from October 16 and will end on October 25. The cadets will be undertaking the expedition in DK Whaler

Major General Bipin Bakshi (L) (ADG, NCC, NER) addressing a press conference at Guwahati Press Club | G Plus photo Sailing boats of the naval NCC units. These boats are not motorised and thus the cadets will complete the expedition only using the wind and muscle power, said army officials during a press conference which was addressed by Major General Bipin Bakshi (ADG, NCC, NER), Brigadier DB Pany, group commander, NCC group Guwahati, and Captain (IN) LD Sharma, CO, 48 Naval NCC. Addressing the media on Friday October 11, Major General Bipin Bakshi (ADG, NCC, NER) said, “We are stepping into an uncharted area, nobody has ever attempted a sailing expedition on the Brahmaputra. The cadets will cross the area where the naval battle of Saraighat took place in 1671 between the Ahom kindgdom and the Mughal empire in which the Mughal empire was defeated.”

He added that he had moved a proposal for a sailing expedition back in 1988 but due to lack of resources available then, the proposal was not approved. This sailing expedition is being undertaken by the NCC Directorate Shillong with help from Assam government and Army Eastern Command. Authorities said that the major objective of the sailing expedition is to train the cadets to face challenges and to instil a sense of team spirit, patience, endurance, leadership and camaraderie in them. Apart from sailing, the cadets, in collaboration with the principal conservator of forest, Assam, will also spread awareness among the nearby villages about the dangers to Brahmaputra and its marine life and role of the riverine population in protecting it.

The team of NCC cadets, which consists of 10 girl cadets too, has been preparing to undertake the adventure for the past few months. They will halt every night and will sail only during the daytime. The army authorities are planning to make this expedition an annual feature from this year onwards. The flag off ceremony will take place at Biswanath ghat and authorities informed that chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal will preside over the flagging in ceremony which will take place on October 25 at Pandu port. With a view to pay tribute to Lachit Borphukan and the battle of Saraighat, the officials decided to explore the naval area where the historical battle had taken place. The National Defence Academy (NDA), gives out the Lachit Borphukan gold medal to the best

passing out cadet. Wanted to pay tribute to First Lachit Borphukan award winner will also be present at the flagging in ceremony. Major General Bipin Bakshi informed that the first recipient of the Lachit Borphukan award winner commander Malshe will also be present when the cadets return from their sailing expedition on October 25. In his message for youth of Assam, Major General Bipin Bakshi said, “Through this expedition, we want to spread out the message to the youth of Assam that we need to face challenges and move forward and need to step away from mobiles and video games and get into real activities. There’s a need to go out into the real world, meet people and learn to interact with people.”

Weather report for the week Guwahati

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SATURDAY Partly Cloudy

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Cover Story

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Political motive behind GMC elections delay? From Page 01

former BJP councillor talking to G Plus on the condition of anonymity said, “In the area sabha and ward level, many workers are eyeing BJP tickets. If one gets the ticket, another aspirant will be unhappy; therefore there might be a strategy by the political leaders to delay the elections so that it doesn’t affect the 2021 Assembly elections vote banks.” The councillor also said that this time there are many criteria like a councillor post aspirant can’t have more than two children, graduation must be the minimum qualification and many more such rules, which will upset many old party workers creating a chaos. For the overall development of the city, the urban local body requires to be guided by representatives of the citizens.

Further, commissioner of GMC, Debeswar Malakar, was also unsure of the probable date of elections. He informed G Plus that the elections do not look likely to take place within the next two months. Additionally, the State Election Commissioner, Harendra Nath Bora said that the state election commission had requested the district administration Kamrup (Metro) to undertake the process of conducting the elections but Bora alleged that the district administration was not willing to take the responsibility. The district administration is always guided by the political forces, said sources. As per reports, the state election commission had also

In absence of councillors, wards reeling under various issues

n such a scenario when the tenure of the previous council ended more than a year ago, and the position of councillors remaining vacant, several places in the city are suffering from garbage and sanitation issues. Some of these areas include Ulubari Volvo point which is consistently littered and a pungent smell emanates from the area which is home to a number of restaurants, hotels and guest houses which are mostly occupied by national and international tourists. Residents claim that the area has acquired a permanent stink because of the dustbins which are always full of garbage. A local resident told G Plus , “This area has consistently remained littered for the past several years even after the GMC pick-up truck collects garbage from the area.” KC Patowary Lane of Manipuri Rajbari is another locality which lies in a poor state. Residents complain that nearly two years ago, the entire area of KC Patowary Lane was broken down in order to replace the pipes for supply water passage. Since then, there hasn’t been any initiative regarding the

reconstruction of the roads. The roads are filled with large potholes which add to the woes. During a rainy day, the situation becomes worse as these potholes are filled with mud and the entire area gets waterlogged, increasing the water level which then seeps into the houses of the residents nearby. “It’s been around two months that the NGO workers did not visit our locality to collect garbage,” a resident of Ujjol Path, Jyotikuchi, Dipali Das said, adding that earlier the NGO workers used to collect garbage from the Jyotikuchi area once in four days. Similarly a resident of Rupnagar said that the NGO workers visit their locality only once in three days and sometimes they do not show up for even a week.

given the order to begin the work of correction of voter list for Kamrup (Metro) district. Further, a few important decisions were also taken in the cabinet meeting. One of the important decisions taken in the cabinet meeting included increasing the number of wards from the present 31 to

60. This will again lengthen the time of planning for the elections if the authorities are planning to conduct it soon. Meanwhile, it is said by the former councillors that because they cannot officially participate in the GMC workflow, the garbage collection work and other

GMC-related work is not being monitored by the councillors resulting in poor performance by the NGOs and GMC officials. “Even the new NGOs are hired by the GMC officials and no suggestions were taken by the former councillors,” said a former GMC councillor.

6 Governance Snippets NF Railway provides free Wifi across 198 Stations

ndian Railways is providing free Wi-Fi to passengers at Railway stations as a giant leap towards Digital India. Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) covers total nine states (07 Northeastern states and 02 Eastern India states). All A1, A, B, D class stations of N. F. Railway’s jurisdiction were covered with Wi-Fi facility in phase -I. Majority of taluk headquarters that have railway stations have now been provided with Wi-Fi network. This year 295 stations on NFR (Katihar Division 54 stations, Alipurduar Division 55 stations, Rangiya Division 64 stations, Lumding Division 87 stations and Tinsukia Division 35 stations) will be provided with Wi-Fi under Corporate Social Responsibility by M/s Tata Trust. With this all the 363 stations of NFR will have (except halt stations) free Wi-Fi hotspots by the end of current financial year.

‘Bullet’ thieves on prowl, another nicked from GU campus in broad day light

f you own a two-wheeler in the city, then you need to be more cautious as the reports of stolen bikes in Guwahati are on the rise. After the Government Railway Police (GRP) se ize d 45 bulle t motorcycles since October 2 from the Guwahati Railway Station, another case of bike theft has been lodged in Jalukbari police station by a student of Guwahati University. According to the student, his bike was stolen from the university premises on September 30 and he has also recovered CCTV footage of the person who stole his bike.

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Sonowal backs GMDA on building bye-laws modification request Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

GMDA has written to the state govt for modifying building bye-laws This was a longstanding demand of real-estate developers Assam CM directed GDD to prepare contemporary building bye-laws The deadline has been set as October 31 Sonowal asked authorities to speed up construction under affordable housing scheme Building by-laws are a set of norms by authorities for construction Builders complain of a tedious process of obtaining approvals

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal recently agreed to the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) on modification of building byelaws. Earlier, the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has written to the state government for modification of the building byelaws, informed sources. “Currently there are a few errors in the building bye-laws and there is a need for some modifications too. For this, the GMDA has written to the state government and the modifications would be done shortly,” a senior official informed G Plus on the condition of anonymity. The demand for modifications in the building bye-laws has been a long-standing one in the state from the real-estate developers. Further, in the same vein, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on

File photo of GMDA office October 9, directed the Guwahati Development Department (GDD) to prepare a contemporary set of building bye-laws within October 31 in order to boost the real estate sector. Sonowal also asked the authorities to take measures to speed up the process of construction under the affordable housing scheme. Building bye-laws are a set of norms set by the authorities for construction of buildings which mention its various requirements. The regulatory authorities grant permission for building plan only when the bye-laws are adhered to. As per the current building bye-laws, there is a time limit set for issuing building permit in Assam. The bye-laws mention: “Application for Planning Permit shall be disposed of within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the application. Application for Building Permit shall be disposed of within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of Planning Permit.” However, the builders complained of a tedious process of obtaining approvals from authorities. “Assam is the only state in India which is operating with an outdated multiple window building bye-laws where applicants have to run from table to table and from office to office for months, sometimes years on end, for approval,” said PK Sharma, President, AREIDA (Assam

Real Estate and Infrastructure Developers’ Association). He further added that the central government had formulated the Model Building Bye-laws 2016 in a bid to promote ease-of-doing business, promote the real estate and the housing sector and to eliminate corruption. It mandates single window, time bound approvals and accountability of officials. Further, all states were to amend their building by laws accordingly. However, the bye-laws remained unchanged in Assam. “The main issue in Assam is that the building bye-laws are not yet corrected and there are 28 errors. This is why most of the builders are not taking up new projects and the ones which are ongoing are the earlier projects,” said Debajit Borah, a Guwahati-based builder. He added that many projects including those under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) are held up due to the problems with the by-laws. Borah mentioned that they have been asking the government to rectify it for a long time but to no avail. Further, architects, too, feel that obtaining building permission in the state is a tedious process. “Even with the online system which is now in place; the building permission can take anywhere between six months to even a year. This causes unnecessary delays,” said Guwahati-based architect Ranel Das. Additionally, the economic

slowdown has also affected the real estate sector for the past few months as the real estate developers claimed to have lost out on business. “The real estate business has halted now due to the economic slowdown. There is 60-70% less work now as compared to the previous years. The earlier boom in the real estate sector no longer exists,” said Debajit Borah. On the other hand, the authorities at the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) informed that since online system of issuing building permission was adopted a few months ago, all evaluation related to adherence with bye-laws is done by the software itself. “Since there is no human interface and the machine scrutinises it, many discrepancies are found. The machine catches discrepancies which are as small as 1 millimetre and thus the software doesn’t send it to the higher level for permission until it’s rectified,” town planner at GMC, Deepak Bezbaruah, informed G Plus. He added that there have been instances where the buildings have been passed in a single go while others have been pending for years. “Since the system is new, I think it will take some time for the architects to get used to it. Nowadays, the objections are reducing as the architects now know the protocol,” he said.

Concern

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Durga Idol immersions add to river Brahmaputra’s woes G Plus News @guwahatiplus

urga Puja ended in Guwahati with much fanfare which was witnessed during the four-day festival. The celebrations ended on the day of Bijoya Dashami with more than

pollution. As per the Pollution Control Board Assam (PCBA), coliform bacteria level of the Brahmaputra River at Chandrapur was found to be 1500 MPN/100 ml in October 2018. Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) Biswajit Pegu told G Plus, “This year, there were seven ghats in various places

Durga idol immersed in Brahmaputra during Dashami 400 idols being immersed at various places in Guwahati. However, experts as well as residents have questioned the environmental impact of the same. The idols immersed in the water are mostly made of plaster of paris and other synthetic material and paints. They have been known to disturb marine life and also contribute to water

of Guwahati where immersion took place. The major ones are Kachomari ghat, Pandu ghat, and Sunsali ghat.” When asked about the district administration’s plans to pick up the idols from the water bodies after immersion, he said, “We have thought of that but in the major ghats like Pandu, Kachomari and Sunsali, the immersion will be done in the Brahmaputra River.

Puja procession stops music during ‘Azaan’

n what can be termed as an incident showcasing communal harmony, people taking out a procession for the immersion of ‘Durga Idol’ in Guwahati’s Machkhowa area on October 8, brought their celebration to a halt as they approached a local mosque. The first call known as ‘Azaan’ was being recited and after the members of the Durga Puja procession heard it, they immediately stopped their music which they felt might interrupt the evening prayers going on in the mosque. This noble gesture by the

procession of ‘Shantipur Sluice Gate Puja Committee’ was applauded by the local Muslims of the area. Speaking to G Plus, one of the locals, Shehnaz Anwar said, “The people along with the procession went via Machkhowa and knowing the fact that it was namaz time they showed respect and turned the music off. This was a commendable gesture.” “The people from Athgaon, Machkhowa, Bharalu and Santipur areas are always like family and we have been respecting each other’s sentiment since a long time”, she added.

So, it will be a little difficult to pick up immediately from the river but still we will see what we can do. We will try to pick up the idols from the other smaller places.” In the same vein, as Assam is fighting to curb the use of singleuse plastic, roads in Guwahati’s Kasomari Ghat area portrayed a different story after the Bijoya Dashami celebrations.

The road leading to the ghat was filled with disposable cups and a quick walkthrough of the area was enough to realize the futility of the overwhelming discussions about ‘plastic ban.’ As per reports, the plastic waste generated by Guwahati is increasing at an alarming rate. The city generates around 37,000 kgs of plastic waste every day,

about 12.37 percent of the entire state’s production. It covers 0.42 per cent of the state’s land cover but is already contributing up to 12 percent of the total plastic generation in the state. Recently, amidst the high-end discussions, ‘Assam Secretariat’ banned the use of single-use plastic in its premises.

8 Guest Column

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

A dream called ‘Shiksha’

GUEST COLUMN

“Education ought to be related to life, needs and aspirations of the people so as to be a powerful instrument of social, economic and cultural transformation”-The Indian Education Commission 1964-66.

irst of all, I must admit that I was born and bought up in a remote village in Sivasagar district of Assam. Naturally, the only option for me was to enroll in the village government primary school of vernacular medium. There was only one primary school in the entire village and the second school was several kilometers away from the village. I was lucky enough to get shifted to a nearby small town in the later part of my childhood for better and further education, but most of my childhood friends were not and had to drop out before completion of primary education or somehow completed it. Why I am rehearsing my childhood memory here is to present the gloomy state of educational scenario in our state. This is the case of almost every village, which holds its relevance till today. We might feel proud of those students who excel in matriculation or secondary schooling despite their poverty or the pathetic conditions of their educational institutions, but not many seem giving any heed to the poor infrastructural conditions of their schools, pathetic conditions of roads, communication system etc. Why not many of us are raising our voices or not sitting in demonstrations demanding these basic necessities that make the child the future of the nation? Today wastage and stagnations are big hurdles in the way of realizing universalisation of primary education in our country. There are several reports highlighting the poor conditions of primary and secondary schooling in Assam as well. Former Union HRD minister Prakash Javedkar in a reply in Lok Sabha session revealed that during 2016-17, Assam recorded a dropout rate of 5.60% as against the national average of 6.35% in primary level. This rate is as high as 27.6% in secondary level as against the national average of 22.13%. This is a serious matter of concern for all of us. Most of the students, especially from villages leave schools within a few months of their schooling.

Whenever I talk to any headmaster or teacher of a village regarding it, almost all agree that owing to poor family background and for other domestic and agricultural related helps, the students have to leave the school much before completion of their education. Also I personally feel that infrastructure of government schools are not attracted enough to hold these children back in their schools.

(PENGUIN BOOKS), authored by Manish Sisodia himself, to know in more details about the journey of this transformation of government schools in Delhi. The book contains so many interesting facts about this journey and the real hard work and dedication that the AAP government has invested in this progress. I feel happy by the fact that ‘education’ now finds a place in the political agenda of their

couple of years. Also a lesson on entrepreneurship mindset development will definitely help the students of government schools to compete with the rest of the people in this cut throat competitive age. When I think of these developments in a state from our very own country I feel positive but at the same time wonder why Assam is not able to achieve such a milestone.

Representative image of primary School Though unnoticed, I believe infrastructure has a bigger role to play in the educational development of children. Also the overpopulation of children in each classroom is something very common in primary and especially in high and secondary schools. The other day I was watching an interview of Delhi’s education minister Manish Sisodia in YouTube and I was completely moved by the facts that the government schools in Delhi have developed a great deal. I was so touched by the amount of praise that the minister was getting from the school students, parents as well as teachers from these government schools. The same day I ordered online the book ‘Shiksha- My experiments as an education minister’

government. Though I am not a voter from any of the Delhi constituencies, I must admit without any political propaganda that I was so encouraged with the concepts like ‘happiness classes,’ ‘entrepreneurship mindset curriculum’ etc. being adopted by the Delhi governments in their government schools. In a globalised competitive mechanical age it is very important to teach children about happiness and mental well-being, where India is lacking far behind than many of the developing countries including Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka etc. With a global rank of 140 in the World Happiness Report of 2019, India is constantly degrading its rank in the happiness index since

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What saddens me more is the worrying state of both primary as well as secondary educational institutions in Assam, which can be corroborated from the passing rates in the HSLC results of the state. With only 60.23% overall pass percentage in 2019 Assam HSLC result, it is far behind the overall pass percentage of 80.97% in Delhi in class X results for 2019. Here also the government schools perform poorly with compared to the private schools. Today due to the lack of proper educational environment and other facilities in government schools, most of the parents prefer their children to enroll in private schools. As said by Manish Sisodia, we must determine the bottom limit for our schools; thereafter the sky is the upper limit.

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Dhirendra Newar After more than three decades since National Policy of Education 1986, the draft committee for National Education Policy of 2019, headed by K. Kasturirangan, has suggested several recommendations in the primary as well as secondary level of education other than higher education sectors. Among the recommendations, the suggestions for doubling the budget allocation for education, improvement of school nutrition programme etc are laudable. However the important recommendation is the proposal for amendment of Right to Education Act to include the children from 3 to 18 years of age under its jurisdiction. This means inclusion of both early childhood care and secondary education under the purview of Right to Education Act. Other than these, I believe giving more emphasis on vocational education, skill learning and job oriented courses is the need of the hour. It is good sign that Assam has improved in the School Education Quality Index 2019, recently published by NITI Ayog and has shown progress in different parameters like learning outcome, equity, infrastructure and facility etc. However much needed to be done including checking the rates of dropouts, regularization of teachers appointment to deal with single teacher schools as well as infrastructural developments etc. Parents still preferring private schools over government schools for their children need political attention. It should be the political will of each and every government not only to give quality education but also affordable and accessible education. (The author is currently pursuing LL.M. from J.B. Law College under Gauhati University and he has also completed M.A. in Political Science from IGNOU)

City

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Guwahatians put their ‘stamp’ on dividers along GS Road

ithin a couple of months after the construction of the new dividers along the stretch of the GS Road (Srimanta Sankardev Path), the citizens have put their ‘stamp’ as a mark of their presence on the road by spitting on them. It is to be mentioned that the new dividers and footpaths are being constructed in several parts of the city under the Smart

dividers. The Public Works Department (PWD) had undertaken beautification works on the GS Road in November 2018. New wider dividers have been built along the road with tree plantation. In the first phase, the PWD is covering the stretch from Ulubari to Ganeshguri. The department is doing away with the existing road dividers and replacing

City Project wherein the Assam government has invested crores of rupees. It looks like the stains have been sprayed from a fast-moving vehicle thereby leaving a modernday graffiti feel on the concrete

them with better and wider ones. It is also removing the uneven footpaths and replacing them with colourful tiles with patterns. The estimated budget for this city beautification project is Rs 47 crores.

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10 News This Week

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

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

Making voice calls from Reliance Jio won’t be free anymore

On October 9, 2019 Reliance Jio announced that its customers will be charged 6 paise per minute for voice calls made to other cellular networks. The company said that for all the outgoing calls to other mobile operators, Jio users will have to buy an additional IUC top up voucher from October 10. This is the first time Jio users will pay for voice calls.”Jio will provide additional data entitlement of equivalent value based on IUC top-up voucher consumption. This will ensure no increase in tariff for customers,” Jio said. Currently, Jio only charges for data and voice calls to anywhere in the country is free.

Now over-speeding and rash driving can be booked under IPC: SC

With the rapid growth of motorisation, commuters are also facing an increasing burden of road traffic injuries and fatalities. A person committing offence under the Motor Vehicles Act like over-speeding and rash driving can also be booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as both the statutes “operate with full vigour, in their own independent spheres,” the apex court said. The Apex court also stated that the ingredients of offences under both statutes are different and an offender can be tried and punished independently under both of them.

Only five states implemented the new MV Act with full force

Only five states — Assam, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Kerala and Karnataka have implemented the amended Motor Vehicles Act nearly five weeks after the Centre notified the new law. The transport departments of some states which have not implemented the new act have forwarded the proposal with revised fines to the respective governments. As per the revised Act, driving without a licence will be fined at Rs 5,000, violating air and noise pollution Rs 10,000, driver or passenger without seatbelt Rs 1,000, and carrying children below 14 years without safety belt/ child restraint system Rs 1,000.

Saudi Arabia women can now join armed forces

On October 9, 2019 Saudi Arabia announced that women of the country will now be allowed to work in the armed forces. The Finance Ministry of Saudi Arabia tweeted, “Another step to empowerment, #Saudi women to join the army for the first time.” It must be noted that since Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia took charge, he has taken a number of initiatives for the upliftment of women which includes allowing Saudi Arabian women to join its security services, drive and travel abroad without consent of a male “guardian,” allowing first Saudi public concert by a female singer and establishment of the first Saudi sports stadium to admit women.

Rafale fighter jets to be in India by mid-2020

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was in France for the official handover of the first Rifale aircraft. Speaking to the media, Singh informed that the visit to France was a success and that he also held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron for over 35 minutes. Informing about the aircrafts, he said, “Seven Rafale jets will arrive in India by April or May. The aircraft is capable of reaching up to the speed of 1800 kmph. I flew in a Rafale jet at the speed of 1300 kmph. The credit for the successful acquisition of the jets goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

CAB: New clause to protect Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal from infiltrators

Union home minister Amit Shah held a separate meeting with Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga, NGOs and civil society organisations in Aizawl on October 6. In the meeting, Amit Shah assured that a special clause will be incorporated in the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill so that their state, along with Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh is not affected by settlement of people from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who are granted Indian citizenship. The three states are governed by the Inner Line Permit (ILP). According to a report, Vanlalruata, chairman of Mizo NGO Coordination Committee added: “We have been assured that the ILP will be there and will continue to safeguard us against foreign infiltrators.”

Virat Kohli becomes 2nd Indian skipper to lead 50 test matches; scores double century

Skipper Virat Kohli became the second Indian to lead in 50 tests after MS Dhoni. He played his 50th test against South Africa in Pune on October 10. Virat also became the most successful ‘Test Captain’ in the history of Indian cricket during the tour to West Indies in August 2019. It is to be noted that prior to the Pune Test, Virat led the team in 49 tests out of which the team won 29, lost 10 and drew 10. Currently, playing his 50th test match as a captain, Virat scored 254 not out giving a target of 602. Kohli also became the seventh captain to score a double century against South Africa in Test matches.

Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Ali awarded Noble Peace Prize 2019

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has been awarded the Noble Peace Prize for 2019. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has selected him for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation and in particular for his decisive initiative to dissolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea. In close cooperation with Isaias Afwerki, the president of Eritreaz, Ali quickly worked out the principles of a peace agreement to end the long “no peace, no war” statement between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Nobel Peace Prize is also meant to recognize all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.

4 Female boxers from India part of World Boxing Championships semi-final

Mary Kom (51kg), Jamuna Boro (54kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69 kg) and Manju Rani (48kg) advanced into the semifinals of the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Ulan Ude, Russia, on October 10, 2019. Mary Kom defeated her Thai counterpart Jutamas Jitpong by 5-0. Whereas, Kom is the only woman to become the World Amateur Boxing champion for a record six times and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships. Borgohain defeated reigning European Games Champion Karolina Koszewska of Poland 4:1. Boro defeated Ursula Gottlob of Germany by 4:1. Rani defeated Kim Hyang Mi of North Korea by 4-1. They will be playing the semi-final match on October 12.

Oil firms issue notice to Air India for payment of dues

State-run oil marketing companies have issued warnings to carrier Air India to notify them that they will stop fuel supplies at six major domestic airports from October 18 if the company is unable to pay a monthly lump sum payment towards outstanding dues. Earlier in August, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum had stopped fuel supplies to the national carrier in Kochi, Mohali, Pune, Patna, Ranchi and Visakhapatnam airports.

City

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Hawa Mahal-themed puja pandal in Guwahati creates nation-wide buzz Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

hile the festival of Durga Puja might mean different things to different people, puja pandals remain the undisputed pivot around which the festival is centred. Like every year, this year too, the various Durga Puja pandals decorated across the city were worth a dekko. One such decoration was at the Hawa Mahal themed pandal put up by Bhairabhtala Sarbajanin Durgotsav Samiti in Kahilipara area of the city. The pandal, that took two months and a budget of over Rs 25 lakhs to make, was inspired by the pink city of Jaipur. From the entry of the Bhairabhtala lane to the interiors of the Hawa Mahal,

everything was in shades of pink and gave a very Rajasthani feel. It was one of the most innovative and modern pujas the city witnessed this year. The whole set up of the pandal was conceptualised by Satyajit Mandal with assistance from Jayanta Krishna Das. It was made by artisans from SM Set Designers, a Guwahati-based company. Its idol, also widely appreciated, was made by Ramu Paul. “The set composition was done in a single colour tone (pink) in order to present the mood of unity and peace. We thought of replicating the Hawa Mahal so that people could get a feel of Jaipur right here in Guwahati,” said Satyajit Mandal, art director of the puja pandal. The intricately designed pandal gained massive popularity when people started posting pictures

and information about it on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Apart from individuals, various media houses of the state also posted pictures and videos of the 52-feet tall pandal. “The Hawa Mahal replica put up by Bhairabhtala Sarbajanin Durgotsav Samiti ... set to charm the eyes of visitors this time both in and out of the pandal. A must visit puja of Guwahati,” posted Sashank Chakraborty on Facebook. People from other parts of the state and from metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata also shared the pictures of Bhairabhtala’s very own Hawa Mahal and the artisans were applauded. Speaking to G Plus about the popularity of the Hawa

Hawa mahal themed puja pandal at Kahilipara Mahal replica, Mandal said, “Our creativity has been widely appreciated by the people and we couldn’t have been happier by the

positive response. This year, the pandal received a 50% increase in footfall, especially from the Hindi speaking community.”

12 Photo Feature

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Durga Celebrations

Guwahatians celebrat fervour and excitement and thought-provoking enchanted the cit Dhakis perform during evening aarti at Kamakhya Colony

Nayantara puja at Kumarpara

Ram Mandir themed Bishnupur Sarbajanin Durga puja

Santipur Sluice Gate puja

Illuminated Durga puja gate of Athgaon

Immersion proce at Kasomari gha

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Photo Feature

urga Puja elebrations 2019

ted Durga Puja festivities with much t this year. There were numerous novel g displays which both surprised and tizens. Here are some glimpses.

Hawa mahal themed puja pandal at Kahilipara The Bholanath Mandir Barowari Durga puja at Ulubari pays tribute to Pulwama martyrs

ession of Durga idols at

Guwahati bids adieu to Maa Durga until next year

Huge crowd hopping Puja pandals during Navami

14 G Talk E

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019 T

Animal sacrifice and rituals

he Durga Puja festivity is over. The festival which heralds the start of autumn season gets most of us in a jovial mood. But in the midst of puja revelry, sacrifice of tens of thousands of innocent animals in the name of puja ritual is something which can’t be digested if we call ourselves a civilised society. If life cannot be given, then no one has the authority to sniff out life. Time and again the animal sacrifice done during various festivals of many religions has been questioned but sadly we educated lot are mute spectators to such pogrom which is done with impunity. Many would argue that even in day to day life thousands of animals are slaughtered for consumption, then why raise this question. The manner in which in a moment’s notice thousands of animals being slaughtered in various places during the festival time will pain a person who loves life. Secondly, no festivity which calls for celebration of life preaches you to take life of an innocent soul, that too, in public glare. The kind of inhuman torture being meted out to these animals

when they are readied for sacrifice will melt the heart of any right-thinking individual. The debate will go on and we will live another day to fight over right and wrong of the sacrifice ritual. If somebody has to bell the cat, it has to be the educated lot who can’t pretend to be under the disguise that IGNORANCE IS PLAIN BLISS. At least when it comes to mass animal sacrifice during any festival of any religion, we must ask that question. The Tripura High Court recently banned sacrifice of animals or birds for religious reasons in all temples of the state. The court said that no person including the State shall be allowed to sacrifice any animal/bird within the precincts of any of the temples within the State of Tripura. After the order, many political parties revolted against the order and some are even mulling to move the Supreme Court. But the question which needs to be brainstormed is why do we need courts for such a decision, why can’t we stop thinking of wooing the almighty by sacrificing the innocent creatures?

Carpe diem: One day or day one?

he only way for one to achieve greatness in life is through love for what one does. “Do what you love, what you’re passionate about, and you won’t have to work for a single day in your life,” is what we’ve all been hearing since each one of us stepped into the corporate world, but how true is this? How many of us actually do what we want to do, rather than what we ought to do. How many of us have the liberty to choose what sets our souls on fire? Doing what we love sure must be freedom, but loving what we do is where true happiness lies. We must really be decisive of what is best for us whether people approve of it or not. The first lady of the United States, a diplomat and a great political figure in history, Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you’ll be criticized anyway.” We kill thousands of dreams every

O pinion Rifa Deka

you’re a boy and you fear you’ll look too feminine. In the never ending debate of “do what you love” vs. “do what you must,” the worst piece of advice one can get is ‘safety first’. Unfortunately, it’s the most common one too. In my quest, as I set out to find where we millennials went wrong in choosing between the two, I stumbled upon the ideas of another like-minded individual who spoke for every young adult and gave advice worthy of being brought out in the open. “Every time we find ourselves confused, we turn to our friends, family, well-wishers for counsel and that’s where it all starts to go downhill,” said Fahd Hazarika, a local news anchor. “It is evident that obviously none of your near and dear ones want any harm to come to you. They do not wish to see you get in trouble and in order to protect you, they make you believe that avoiding trouble is your only

to make you happy. You’re only going to end up living one half of your life according to somebody else’s choices and the other half imagining what your life would have been like, had you made those choices yourself.” He went on to add that, “The next time you want to consider taking advice from someone, ask yourself, whether you want to trade lives with them. If not, then it’s probably the best to say ‘Thank you, but that’s exactly where I don’t want to be.’” A civil engineer by profession, Fahd gave up engineering and took up a career in the television industry

way out. Even if a few among others do feel like giving you the right advice, they don’t, because nobody wants to be blamed for anything. Either ways, you end up being directed towards caution and not progression,” he said on seeking the right advice from the right person when in a fix. “If you want to live a life free of regrets, you should do the exact opposite. There is no problem with being safe and sensible when needed, but the trouble with always having a way out is that you will always take it. Hence, your ‘safety first’ ends up becoming ‘safety always’ and before you know it, it’s too late to do what you really want to. Keep in mind that you’re going to live only once and that certainly does not mean you use this as an excuse to throw everything away, of course not! But stop behaving like you’re going to live forever!” exclaimed the 28-year-old who switched lanes in his own career and went after what he loved. “Don’t study or keep at a stressful, monotonous job just to make your parents proud if it’s not something that’s going

as a news anchor at the age of 26 and there has been no turning back for him since then. Every single day, millions of people seated behind big desks and their fancy cubicles wait for the clock to strike 5 so they can leave for home. They wait 8 hours a day, 5 days a week just to do what they love and what adds value to their lives on the weekend. Why wait for the weekend? Why wait at all? Why not seize the day? We cannot choose what or who we fall in love with, but we have total control over taking the road less travelled by, the one leading to what we love, leading us to our destiny. When we stop chasing money, security and stability, and approval from others, we step out of our comfort zone. People strangle their dreams, one after the other, every single day without even realizing that there is no escape route that way... No superhero to rescue these damsels in distress. One has to grab hold of the steering wheel of their own life. The time to do what you love is now, this is where life happens!

Raul Mathews

Thanda-Munda Puja celebrations Das: This time puja went by without much hullabaloo. I mean pandals were less crowded, roads were less chaotic and people just seem to have disappeared this time around. Kalita: Yeah, I heard it was because people are upset about not having much money to spend. What with the economy going down and costs rising. Bannerjee: Well, I heard that people were actually out of Guwahati, making the most of the extended weekend. Hotels were booked out several months ago. Das: Hmm, doesn’t make sense. But either way, Guwahati was a pretty dull place to be in for puja. Pandals tried their best to deliver interesting stuff, but Guwahati wasn’t too excited. Kalita: I also heard pandals failed to generate enough money with sponsorships and “chandas.” In fact, even in Kolkata, pandals had to cut down their 3 day bhoj to just one day. This happened in Guwahati too. Das: I guess that’s it then. The economic slow-down is going to affect the rest of the year now. We’ll need a miracle for people to be optimistic in investing in any upcoming celebrations. Bannerjee: For now, let’s just enjoy the rest of October. The streets are empty still. Private offices are yet to recover from their 3 day slumber and well, government offices are always in need of a miracle for healthy attendance. Kalita: And before you know it, Diwali will be upon us and then some winter carnival and then Christmas and lo, the year ends! Lord Ram save us! *sigh* Das: So much for meeting targets.

Sidharth Bedi Varma @sid_bv

Representative image single day, some are lost to the fear of losing someone, and some are lost to the fear of not being able to earn enough, while many are lost to ‘doubt.’ We doubt whether what we love will result in a positive outcome. We doubt whether what we love will fetch us more money. We doubt whether what we love is something we’d be capable of doing. Doubts kill dreams. More dreams succumb to doubtfulness than people to cancer! What we ‘love’ doesn’t necessarily have to be a job, although many of us spend years and years of our lives working that 9 to 5, waiting for that paycheck to clear bills, crawling through the week, desperately waiting for the weekend. What we ‘love’ could be a person, it could be a situation and it could be a commodity... It could just be food! Giving up what you love is like giving up that giant tub of ice cream you’re craving because of the fear of being called glutton. It is like giving up on someone you love because your social circles don’t approve of that person. It is like putting down that fancy pink shirt you love at the mall because

In Focus

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Guwahati languishes at 303rd position in National Cleanliness Rankings, still 2nd cleanest capital of NE G Plus News @guwahatiplus

espite being listed as the second cleanest capital in the northeastern region in the Swachh Surveksan 2019 results, Guwahati has been ranked in 303rd position out of the 425 cleanest cities of the nation. Last year, Guwahati was ranked 207th in the Swachh Surveksan 2018 results. Swachh Surveksan is an annual survey of cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene among the towns and cities of the country. It was launched under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which aims to clean the streets, towns, urban and rural areas of the nation. Gangtok topped the charts as the cleanest capital city in the northeast and secured the rank of 275 among the cleanest in the nationwide ranking system. Silchar and Dibrugarh have

been ranked 1st and 2nd among the dirtiest cities in the northeastern region according to the survey. Silchar got an all India rank of 423 out of the 425 dirtiest cities in the country and Dibrugarh is listed in the 415th position. Indore topped the charts being the cleanest city in the country, followed by Ambikapur

in Chhattisgarh and Mysore in Karnataka. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared India as open defecation free during the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Some residents have criticised GMC officials and its workers for not properly following procedures

and keeping the city clean. Speaking of the matter, a Guwahatian, Ishan Das said, “We are proud of the efforts the GMC takes and special thanks to the local garbage collector party in my locality for his stupendous efforts he takes and the pain he takes when he comes for door to door garbage collection twice in a week but charges us for the entire 30 days instead of the 8 days. I really feel proud of the people of my city and the GMC officials who are enjoying the salary and big cars they get and they ride with the tax I pay to them. Really proud of GMC for its efforts towards cleaning.” While, others were hopeful that Guwahati can do better and learn from the winners of the cleanliness drive. “Guwahatians should emulate what good things Indore is doing. Probably govt can send a team there and get some ideas and

implement. More than that, the common people should want Ghys rank to improve. Then the feeling of involvement will come and hopefully things will change for the better,” noted Himanka Goswami, another concerned citizen. Another frequent visitor to this northeastern city stated, “With cleanliness, this ranking is based on definite parameters, a remarkable improvement in cleanliness is visible in Guwahati. However, a lot more behavioural change is still a big challenge amongst the citizens. Locality welfare associations, schools, colleges, government institutions should adopt localities for ensuring cleanliness and ensure community participation and inculcate mass behavioural change towards public hygiene and cleanliness. This would strengthen the bond between GMC and the stakeholders and Guwahati can create a different benchmark on its own.”

Guwahatians React to Animal Sacrifice 10 Buffaloes, More Than 500 Goats Sacrificed To Mark ‘Asthami’ In Purani Tangla Habigaon Sarvajanik Durga-Shiva Mandir in Assam’s Udalguri. Prahar Borah

If one thinks that God needs someone’s blood as sacrifice, I would suggest the one who wants to give sacrifice can give some of his/her own blood instead of innocent animals and here I am talking about all religions. I hope by doing this God will be more pleased and according to my personal view, each and everything that is said/written in the past by our ancestors may not always be right as how can killing anyone by any means please the Gods I don’t understand. Use

Chandrakant Prasad

Bolendu Thausen

We need to stop this kind of superstitious belief in Assam. In Tripura the High court has banned animal sacrifices in temples. And I think now it’s time for Assam to stop this kind of inhuman activities everywhere. This is not the right way to please god. Illiteracy is at its peak and god knows when will this stop.

Be Be Rai

Chandrakant Prasad People should not drag religion in every matter. Someone’s personal belief should not be hurt and I must say to those sitting in KFC or in their dining table with Roasted Duck and Mutton not to speak on saving of lives of animals and remember food chain. I hope everyone studied about it.

Be Be Rai Extremist and orthodox still exists on earth. I think people need to change with time and education. In which scriptures, it is written that Maa Durga need blood of animals? It is all about the people self created culture, just to fill self stomach in olden days and the people are still under their subconscious state of worshipping. God wants animals to be saved not to Kill.

Siddhartha Das

Rajkamal Pandey

To be honest animal sacrifice in any form isn’t acceptable (in any religion). It is a different thing to be a non vegetarian. A person eats meat and kills an animal in doing so but he does not hide that he is doing it for his personal needs. That is a part of food chain. But to kill an animal in the name of God (in any religion) is a different angle. It is wrong. The same God has created humans and animals. God would never want to get an animal killed in his name. Someone’s personal belief cannot be an excuse for killing a being.

People are against animal scarifice only in social media because I know many socially active intalectual Guwahatians were queing at Ugratara Temple on Navami to witness sacrifice of animals for the rituals. They even took their families. It is just social media where people become saints, otherwise all the hands are stained with blood. I am a vegetarian and against sacrifice but feel that the hypocrisy is more dangerous than superstition.

16 Buzz

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Guwahati girl becomes UK Deputy High Commissioner of Kolkata for a day

onjita Baruah, a student of National Institute of Technology Silchar, became the British

deputy high commissioner, Kolkata for a day to mark the International Girl Child Day on October 10, 2019. Monjita spent the day

overseeing the British Kolkata diplomatic mission network, departmental briefings and interacted with important stakeholders and the media. The second-year B Tech student was the winner of ‘The High Commissioner for a Day’ competition, now in its third year, which is open to young Indian women, aged 1823. Applicants were asked to record a one-minute video on gender equality as a part of the selection process. Since 2016, the British High Commission has been offering young Indian women across the country a unique opportunity to head a diplomatic mission for a day.

Walkathon to be organised for Guwahati-based school in New Jersey, USA

n a show of support from successful Assamese NRIs in the USA and Canada, the Assam Foundation of North America (AFNA), with support from the Mayor of Plainsboro, New Jersey, USA, (neighbouring Princeton University) is organising a 5 km fund raising marathon on 3 November 2019 at Morris Davison Park, Plainsboro Township, New Jersey. Akshar Foundation is the Assam-based education NGO that recently made headlines around the world for the innovative policy of “Plastic School Fees,” whereby students are required to submit household plastic to the school recycling centre on a weekly basis. Akshar accelerates learning and eliminates dropouts by employing older children in school, as teachers and development workers, to improve their own

3rd Open International Rating Chess Tournament Underway

he 3rd RGS Guwahati Open International Rating Chess Tournament is underway since October 7 wherein 365 players from seven countries are participating in a 10-round Swiss League International Rating Tournament which is recognised by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). After four rounds of the competition were over, a group

Shahil Dey of Assam, International Master Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad of Andhra Pradesh, Vipul Subhashi of Bihar, Apollosana Mangang Rajkumar of Manipur, Grand Master Sriram Jha of Delhi (LIC), Fide Master Kulpruethanon Thanadon of Thailand, Prakash Ram of Punjab, Babe Tom of Belgium, International Master Ramnathan Balasubramanium of Tamil Nadu and Gias Uddin

of 13 players share the lead with four points each which include GM Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo of Chile, FIDE Master Habla Jony of Philippines, Koustav Chatterjee of West Bengal, Candidate Master

Ahmed of Bangladesh. It should be noted that the tournament is being organised by Assam Chess Club and RGS and it has an award of total prize money worth Rs. 10 lakh.

Shiva Thapa clinches gold at National Boxing Championships

sian Games boxing gold medallist from Assam, Shiva Thapa, won gold in the finals of the 4th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships on Thursday, October 10. The event was held at Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology in Himachal Pradesh.

communities in accordance with Gandhian teachings. Recently, Parmita Sarma, cofounder and Principal of Akshar received the prestigious New Indian Express “Devi Award” from Central Minister Smriti Irani. Akshar Forum Guwahati has also recently received “The Caring Mind Award for A School That

Cares” at the Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2019. Two of Akshar’s outstanding teachers, proudly representing the village of Pamohi, Gitamoni Tumung and Gitika Rangshal were awarded “Teachers Par Excellence” at the International Institute of Hotel Management Teacher’s Day Awards 2019.

Thapa defeated Akash Sangwan with a 4-1 verdict in the final in the 63kg category. Shiva started slowly but once he was settled in, he dominated the proceedings and controlled the bout. It is to be mentioned that Thapa is a two-time Olympian and a four-time Asian medallist.

Feature

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

The ‘Incredible Hulk’ syndrome: Women and weightlifting Rifa Deka

alking into most gyms of Guwahati, one will witness the sight of macho looking men on one side, screaming and lifting heavy weights and on the other side, a couple of ladies either spinning, running on a treadmill or working out on some other swanky looking cardio machine. Most women are afraid of ‘bulking up’ like men by lifting weights but little do they know that their bodies do not produce as much testosterone (a male

hormone) as men. Women can head to the weights section and start lifting lighter weights and gradually increase the weight as and when their body adjusts to it. Now, most women wonder what would happen to them if they lift heavy weights. Will they get

bulkier? No, you will not bulk up. Although lifting heavy weights does produce some amount of testosterone in females, female bodies have higher levels of estrogen and progesterone which make it impossible for women to grow new muscle tissue to the same degree as men. Most women would also cite examples of how women body builders have a much muscular and masculine looking body. Here’s why they look like thatthose professional female body builders prepare their bodies to look that way. They use various substances without which, it

would be impossible for them to achieve that level of masculinity. Most female body builders take up anabolic androgenic steroids and testosterone to supplement their bodies in order to achieve increased muscle mass goals at a much faster pace. That degree of

masculinity cannot be achieved simply by lifting weights at the gym. It is not expected of women hitting the gym to have a detailed knowledge about all this when they first enter a gym. The sad reality that has lead to the continuation of this ‘incredible hulk’ misconception saga among women begins with trainers who have little to no knowledge or formal training when it comes to fitness. Most gyms compromise on the quality of their trainers to save on money and instead,

they hire people willing to work part time at the gym as a source of earning extra income. Both the trainer and the client are exploited in this case. Most trainers themselves believe that women are more likely to build muscle like men and end up with

swollen biceps hence; the female clients are bound to think that way too. Overweight women too, are misguided into believing that cardiovascular exercises are the word of the bible and the key to attaining that cover girl body. However, the truth is that the key to weight loss lies in maintaining a balance between both cardiovascular exercises and weight training which deliver best results when paired with the right calorie deficit diet. Do not even get me started on the diet part! The diet

proteins are not calories- they have calories. These calories are a unit of measurement of energy. Counting calories helps one gain, lose and maintain their body weight. Different types of food provide different levels of energy. That is, the three macronutrients are not all equal in the number of calories they provide. Long story short, most trainers lack this knowledge as well and they end up providing their clients with wrong food charts, which makes dieters quit due to lack of visible results. Coming back to weight lifting,

misconception has lead to this trend of starvation and bulimia which most young girls suffer from today than ever before. Women fear calories like kids fear cooties! Fats are not calories, carbohydrates are not calories,

it not only helps increase muscle strength in women but also increases bone density, reduces the risk of osteoporosis, in addition to keeping them fit and keeping chronic illnesses at bay. Women who lift weights can always be found beaming with self-confidence, which is just another one of its perks. Mainstream media is another culprit propagating the incredible hulk syndrome. Films, television serials and advertisements often show men doing pushups and lifting heavy weights at the gym, whereas women are shown walking, jogging, running, stretching, dancing or doing yoga, aerobics and zumba. Although these exercises are effective in weight loss and help one remain fit and healthy, where are the women that lift? Thanks to Instagram and other social media, we now know how our favourite stars manage to stay in shape all the time. We can follow their accounts and watch what they eat and how they exercise to get fitter, or we can just take notes for another New Year’s resolution! But, one thing is clear: Lifting weights for women is a boon, and not a bane.

18 Review

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Starring: Jatin Bora, Barsha Rani Bishaya, Nishita Goswami Director: Jatin Bora

Ratnakar- A New Myth of Love Rana Pratap Saikia

atnakar - A New Myth of Love is yet another high-profile commercial release from Assam which has been anxiously awaited by the cinephiles of the state. Often touted as a ‘dream project’ of Assamese heartthrob Jatin Bora, Ratnakar is molded like a ‘masala entertainer’ flick where he assumes dual roles both behind the camera as well as in front of it. The film sees Bora, who is mostly remembered for his roles as a romantic hero in the late 90’s, reinvent himself as an action star (with soaring rock riffs to announce his arrival, to boot!) The Plot: At its core, Ratnakar is about the bond between a father Jayanta (played by Jatin Bora) and his

daughter (Ashramika Saikia). The film also explores other forms of love, such as conjugal love and romantic love. Bora, in his dream venture, explores the themes of love, loss and renewal. And much like a Machiavellian Hercules, Bora’s character eliminates all who create obstacles along his love path. The overarching message in the movie is that love conquers all and no amount of lucre or power can put the brakes on love that is true and unconditional. The Acting: The veteran actor Jatin Bora plays the role of a rogue with a heart of gold with elan, and switches between ‘menacingly bad’ and ‘adoringly soft’ with ease. The chemistry between Bora and the child actress who plays his daughter truly dazzles and the child actress, who delivers an evocative performance, is a true

revelation. The two leading ladies look good and act well in roles which seem to be tailor-made for them. However, the comic actors (Jayanta Das, Chetana Das etc.) who play residents of an old age home run by Jatin Bora’s character, provide some-much needed comic relief in between the overthe-top action scenes and melodramatic romance. The Action: Ratnakar has been hailed as a step ahead for action sequences in Assamese movie industry and the scenes have been choreographed by fightmaster Rajesh Kannan from Bollywood. The fights are over-the-top and lack finesse, but lovers of ‘masala’ Bollywood flicks are sure to be thrilled. The Verdict: Ratnakar is a step in the right direction as far as the spectacle in Assamese cinema is concerned and the music and dazzling locations add to the lustre surrounding the product. However, the film suffers from uneven pacing and is let down by its predictability. Moreover, some tropes which have attached themselves to Assamese cinema in a hampering way refuse to let go, even in this film. However, the film wins through in the ‘heart’ department and its universal message of “love wins over wealth,” which is sure to resonate with family audiences. You should definitely give Ratnakar a shot if you wish to support Assamese film industry that seems to be coming to life once again. With offerings like Ratnakar and Kanchanjangha captivating people once again and creating a myth around Assamese cinema, it seems like the modern Assamese film is here to stay.

Redmi 8A Design: One glance at the Redmi 8A and it is hard to believe that this is such an affordable smartphone. Xiaomi has done a good job of designing this device, which is priced below Rs. 7,000. The front of the Redmi 8A has a big 6.22inch display with a waterdrop notch at the top. Xiaomi has pushed the earpiece towards the frame of the device. The Redmi 8A has noticeable bezels on all sides. The chin is quite thick and Xiaomi has put a Redmi logo here. Xiaomi has curved the sides of the Redmi 8A, which makes it comfortable to hold. The power and volume buttons are to the right and are easy to reach. Xiaomi has positioned the SIM

tray on the left which is otherwise bare. The top and bottom of the phone are flat and you can see a secondary microphone at the top. At the bottom, the Redmi 8A sports a USB Type-C port, which is great to see on a smartphone in this price bracket. The 3.5mm headphone jack, the primary microphone, and the loudspeaker are also on the bottom. The back of the Redmi 8A only has a single camera with an LED flash. There is no fingerprint sensor on this device, something we can potentially excuse given its price.

Specifications and Software:

Cinepolis Christian Basti 09435025808

The Sky Is Pink 09:10 AM, 02:50 PM, 06:00 PM, 09:10 PM Joker (English) 10:00 AM, 12:40 PM, 06:10 PM War 10:10 AM, 01:25 PM, 04:40 PM, 07:55 PM, 08:50 PM Ratnakar (Assamese) 10:50 AM, 01:20 PM, 06:30 PM, 09:00 PM Gemini Man (English) 12:05 PM, 03:50 PM Dream Girl 03:20 PM

Anuradha Cineplex Noonmati 0361 2656968 Ratnakar (Assamese) 10:00 AM, 03:10 PM, 08:20 PM War 12:10 PM, 05:25 PM

Grande Cines Paltan Bazar 09854017771 The Sky Is Pink 10:00 AM, 05:30 PM Ratnakar (Assamese) 10:15 AM, 03:30 PM, 08:50 PM War 12:30 PM, 05:45 PM, 08:30 PM

Xiaomi has opted for an HD+ display with a resolution of 720x1440 pixels and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for protection. The Redmi 8A sports the same Snapdragon 439 SoC as the Redmi 7A. This is an octacore processor with eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2GHz. The smartphone is available in two variants; one with 2GB of RAM with 32GB of storage priced at Rs. 6,499, and the other with 3GB of RAM with 32GB of storage priced at Rs. 6,999. Xiaomi has slowly been bumping up the battery capacities of phones in this series. The Redmi 8A

Joker (English) 12:45 PM, 03:10 PM

PVR Cinemas Dona Planet 08800900009

Gemini Man (English) 09:00 AM, 06:55 PM The Sky Is Pink 10:00 AM, 03:50 PM War 11:40 AM, 05:30 PM, 08:45 PM Joker (English) 01:05 PM Ratnakar (Assamese) 02:55 PM, 09:35 PM

PVR Cinemas CITY CENTRE 0124 470 8100

Gemini Man (English) 09:00 AM, 03:25 PM, 10:15 PM Ratnakar (Assamese) 09:00 AM, 11:35 AM, 05:00 PM, 07:35 PM, 10:10 PM War 09:00 AM, 11:20 AM, 12:15 PM, 02:35 PM, 03:30 PM, 05:50 PM, 06:45 PM, 09:05 PM Joker (English) 09:05 AM, 02:15 PM, 04:55 PM, 07:35 PM The Sky Is Pink 09:15 AM, 12:20 PM, 06:05 PM, 09:10 PM Weathering With You (Japanese With English Subtitles) 11:45 AM

packs in a significantly bigger 5,000mAh battery. The Redmi 8A also supports 18W fast charging, but Xiaomi ships only a 10W charger in the box. The Redmi 8A has two NanoSIM slots and a dedicated microSD slot for storage expansion. There is support for 4G as well as VoLTE on both SIMs as well as Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, and four satellite navigation systems. The Redmi 8A also has wireless FM functionality, so you won’t have to plug a headset in to listen to FM radio. In terms of software, the Xiaomi Redmi 8A runs MIUI 10 on top of Android 9 Pie. There is no app drawer, and all app icons are placed on the home screens. There is a fair amount of bloatware pre-installed, including Mi Community, Paytm, Mi Credit, Mi Store, Amazon, Facebook, WPS Office, Dailyhunt, Gaana, and Opera Mini. There’s even an app store called GetApps which can be used as an alternative to the Google Play Store. (Review from NDTV Gadget)

Trotter

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Instagram star gets paid staggering £1.2million for sharing photos of her bum

f you’re sitting at your desk right now, thinking you really don’t get paid enough for the work you do and wondering if there’s an easier option out there, it seems there just might be. But you’ll have to be prepared to post plenty of photos of your posterior online. An Instagram model from Romania has just revealed the staggering amount of money she makes each year from her account despite it being set to private. Andrea Abeli used to work as a web designer, but now shares snaps of her surgically-enhanced figure with more than three million followers and claims to earn around £1.2 million annually from it. Broken down,

that’s between £410 and £4100 per Instagram post. Wow! The 35-year-old influencer who lives in Bucharest thinks it’s her “honesty” that makes her so popular on the social media platform. An example of her cheeky honesty can be found in the bio on her page, which reads “Team not natural” and is paired with a shrugging emoji. “I am blunt about my plastic surgeries,” she told, “I’m always trying to

combine humour and sex appeal to make entertaining content.” As well as scantily clad photos of her bum, Andrea admits her account is also supported by sponsored posts from “every brand under the sun”. Moreover she offers her fans the chance to get their hands on more ‘exclusive content’ on OnlyFans.com for the price of £5.72 a month. And while many of her followers regularly shower her photos with praise, not everyone is keen on her social media approach - with trolls sending hateful messages from time to time. “The worst [comment I’ve received] is one person telling me that I’m going to burn in hell, and when I do, it will smell like plastic,” she recalled. (Source: mirror.co.uk)

Teen eats her own horse after it was put down and says it was the ‘best meat ever’

teenager who has received death threats for eating her own horse says it was the best way to honour the animal. Pia Olden, 18, lost her horse Drifting Speed in 2018, when it was put down due to illness. In a now deleted Facebook post, the keen rider and apprentice chef revealed her family kept fillets of Drifting Speed in their freezer, writing: “If I’m going to eat horse meat, it’s going to be my own.” Pia described how she prepared the dish, uploading a photo of the meat mixed together with chilli and mango, adding ‘it’s not better for the meat to be buried and eaten by the worms’. The teen, whose family are farmers in Norway, received huge backlash

and even death threats after the post was widely shared on social media. “Many wrote that I too deserve to be killed for eating my own horse,” she told a daily. “One wrote that I should lose the right to have animals.” Replies included: “Oh my god, don’t have words! This is really awful to do, you probably don’t eat your best friend!?” A few hours later the abuse got so bad Pia took down her original post and asked the pages which

had shared it to do the same. Some of the fiercest responses came from the equestrian community, for who Pia says eating a horse is like eating a family member. Having grown up on a farm, the teen feels she has a more ‘realistic’ relationship with animals and understands meat differently from those who have directed hate in her direction. The teen also writes about her experiences on the farm on Facebook, where she attempts to answer questions frequently faced by the profession over farming ethics. Pia stands by her decision, arguing that horse meat is a delicacy and Drifting Speed had to be put down in any case, adding: “It was some of the best meat we have eaten.” (Source: mirror.co.uk)

Paintings of 80-Year-Old Madhya Pradesh Woman Displayed In Italy

orks of art by an 80-year-old tribal woman from Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh, who has been painting for over half her life, is now being showcased at an ongoing exhibition at Milan in Italy. Jodhaiya Bai Baiga a local resident of Lorha village in Madhya Pradesh says she began painting after her partner passed away four decades ago. Speaking to ANI, she said, “I paint all kind of animals and whatever I see around. I have

visited several parts of India to paint. Nowadays, I don’t do anything else than painting. I started this when I lost my partner 40 years ago. I had to do something for survival and to take care of my family.” “I’m feeling glad that my painting is being recognised at the

international platform,” she added. Her teacher Ashish Swami said, “Leaving her pain and sorrow behind she has always been focused. Her painting is being shown in Italy and I’m really happy for her, but it seems that she has more to achieve.” “It is a proud moment for the Adivasi community as they have not had the proper education. This will motivate other community people to come forward and get indulge in these kinds of activities,” he added. (Source: ndtv)

Mumbai beggar found dead on railway tracks, leaves behind Rs 1.75 lakh in coins and Rs 8.77 lakh in FD

olice inquiring about a beggar found dead by the railway tracks here stumbled upon a sackful of coins totalling Rs 1.75 lakh, certificates of fixed deposits of Rs 8.77 lakh and Rs 96,000 in bank savings accounts at his home, an official said. Biradichand Pannaramji Azad (82), who hailed from Rajasthan, lived in a rundown tarpaulin-topped shanty near a drain between Govandi and Mankhurd stations on the Harbour corridor of the Central Railway’s suburban network, the official said. “We got a call about a man lying by the tracks between Govandi and Mankhurd. People living in the vicinity identified him as a beggar who made regular trips on Harbour line suburban trains begging for alms. They showed us the way to his home,” the Vashi railway police official said. On going through his belongings as is routine to create a file in such accidental death cases, the police came across a sack with Re 1 and Rs 2 coins, some bank documents,

his Aadhaar, PAN and senior citizen cards, he informed. “He had kept coins in plastic bags and hidden it inside four containers kept in a barrel. The coins totalled Rs 1.75 lakh. He had FDs worth Rs 8.77 lakh in two banks apart from Rs 96,000 in savings accounts. The FDs’ nominee is Azad’s son Sukhdev, a resident of Ramgarh in Rajasthan,” he said. In all, he left behind nearly Rs 11.5 lakh in assets, the official said. As per his ID cards, he was born on February 27, 1937 and was earlier a resident of Baiganwadi in Govandi’s Shivaji Nagar area, the official added. Efforts were on to contact his son through the Rajasthan police, he informed. (Source: indiatoday)

Man sues Apple because his iPhone ‘turned him gay’

man in Russia has launched a lawsuit against Apple after he alleged that his phone turned him gay. D Razumilov wants 1 million rubles (£16,500) after he was given 69 Gay Coins of cryptocurrency instead of Bitcoin he had been expecting. The money came with the message, in English, ‘don’t judge without trying’. He did what he was told, tried it, and is now in a relationship. He wrote in court papers: ‘I thought, indeed, how I can judge something without trying it? And decided to try same-sex relationships. ‘I can say after the passage of two months that I’m mired in intimacy with a member of my own sex and can’t get out. I have a steady boyfriend and I don’t know how to explain it to my parents. ‘After receiving the aforementioned message, my life has changed for the worse

and will never be normal again.’ Razumilov has accused Apple of ‘manipulatively pushing me toward homosexuality’ since sending him the GayCoins in 2017 and was suing because of ‘moral suffering and harm to mental health.’ The app was created by a third party, but he believes Apple has a responsibility for programs they host. His lawyer Sapizhat Gusnieva said that her client is scared and the case is serious. It will be heard at a court in Moscow on October 17. (Source: metro.co.uk)

20 Fun Jayashree Bose

14th October will be a great day to schedule important meetings & share your ideas with seniors. Avoid any confrontations on 12th October. On 13th October, you will be emotionally hurt by your colleagues or superiors. On 15th October, you could have a fall out with a superior or someone at work. It will be a great week for you. 13th, 14th, 16th & 17th October will be great days to connect with your seniors & share ideas with them. You could host important meetings on these dates. You could have issues with your seniors or extended family on 12th, 15th & 18th October, don’t get into a confrontation.

15th & 18th October are ideal days to mingle with your seniors, people at work & build your work network. On 12th October, you will be emotionally hurt by your colleagues, superiors or extended family. Lay low on 13th October as you are bound to have disagreements with others. Avoid making any promises on 13th & 16th October as you will have to live up to them. You have a good week ahead. 14th, 15th & 18th October will be great days to share ideas with seniors & build a relationship with them. Host your important meetings on these dates. On 16th October, you could have issues at work with your seniors or clients, avoid hosting any meetings.

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

It will be a good week for you, especially 13th, 16th & 17th October; for good results, host your meetings on these dates, share your ideas with superiors & network with business associates. Avoid hosting any meetings on 14th October as you are bound to have disagreements. This week will be better than average for you. 14th & 15th October will be excellent days to schedule your important meetings. Your seniors will be receptive to your ideas. Avoid hosting any meetings, especially with your seniors on 17th October as you are bound to have disagreements.

Sudoku 7 1 6 5 6 8 8 2 1 9 1 58 5 1 6 2 6 94 2 4 9 8 8 62 3 Daily Sudoku: Fri 11-Oct-2019 6

6 3 8

3 5 1

12 3 2 4 1 8 77 9 33 7 8

6 12 very hard 7

Daily Sudoku: Thu 3-Oct-2019

You have a great week ahead of you. 13th, 16th & 17th October will be great days to share your ideas with your seniors or simply just connect with them. You could schedule important meetings on these dates. Watch your words & actions on 12th October as you could create your own problems. On 18th October, avoid hosting any meetings.

You will have a good week. 12th & 17th October will be great days to build a rapport with seniors & people at work, host your important meetings on these dates. On 16th October, avoid making any promises as you will have to live up to them. 13th October will be a slow day for you. On 18th October, you will be emotionally hurt by your seniors or extended family.

14th October will be a slow day for you. You will have issues at work, with superiors or clients on 17th October, so try not to get into a confrontation. Share ideas with your seniors or host your important meetings on 18th October.

Watch your words & actions on 15th October, as you could create your own problems. On 16th October, you will be emotionally hurt either by your parents or seniors. Not a day to schedule important meetings. Avoid drinking with your work mates or your extended family on 18th October.

Share ideas with your seniors, build your business network or host your important meetings on 12th October. Watch yourself on 13th October, avoid making any promises or getting into a confrontation. On 18th October, you will be emotionally hurt either by your parents or seniors.

A great week ahead. 12th & 13th October are ideal days to mingle with seniors, people at work & build your work network. On 14th October, you will be emotionally hurt by your colleagues or superiors. Be careful with your words & actions on 17th October as you will create your own problems.

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

hard

last week solution

7 4 1 8 9 97 21 63 56 45 36 58 84 12 79 19 75 92 47 21 63 37 58 75 16 22 86 49 64 33 55 94 71 28 87 44 19 27 31 68 88 62 35 93 54 Daily Sudoku: Fri 11-Oct-2019 1 3 6 9 2

2 6 3 3 47 98 8 6 79 12 3 8 65 36 4 9 12 44 2 5 1 4 9 7 6

5 21 54 83

98 89 77 21 66 55 39

51 33 28

Horoscope of the week

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

1 94 67 12 7 very hard 5 8 7 4

Daily Sudoku: Thu 3-Oct-2019

hard

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

curio-city

Dilbert By Scott Adams

Durga Puja

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

curio-city

Identify this Indian tennis sensation.

Beijing

They are known to occur in West Jaintia Hills district and East Khasi Hills district. What are we talking about?

Silicon Valley

This term was first used as a pejorative term in professional wired telegraphy during the 19th century to mock operators with poor Morse code sending skills. Which term are we talking about?

Ham radio or amateur radio operators

The name of this place in California was coined by Don Hoeffler in 1971 and it gained fame in the 1980s with the advent of firms such as IBM and Apple. Which place is this?

Living Root Bridges

Which is the most populous capital city of the world?

Sumit Nagal

It is celebrated as Bommai Golu in Tamil Nadu, Bommala koluvu in Andhra Pradesh and Bathukamma in Telangana. By what name do we know it in Eastern India?

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

Word of of the the week week Word felicitate knackered

verb (used with object) adjective [nak-erd] [fi-lis-i-teyt] British Slang. to compliment upon a happy event; exhausted; very tired congratulate.

Crossword Across

Down

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

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

Last week’s solution

Fiction

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

The Elephant that was stuck in the swamp

hat evening as I started out for my hunt picking up my dear old friend and guide Nikib from his house, I had no idea about the events that would unfold. It was towards the end of January and the late planted mustard fields were flowering which was ideal conditions for the sambar to come down from the mountain to feed on this delicacy. Nikib insisted that we should not waste any time and drive directly to the grassy plateau where the fields of this crop was being cultivated. Before nearing the site, I checked my guns and lights and then proceeded slowly checking out for the eyes of the deer to be reflected in the darkness when spotted. It must have been after seven at night but to our disappointment, we did not sight anything except for a solitary night jar which flew up in front of the jeep. I called for a halt and checked with Nikib what could have gone wrong and he opined that most probably there were some local hunters in the vicinity for which the sambar must have been spooked off. In the distance, we heard the sound of thunder and lightening. So to make matters worse, a freak storm up in the mountains was threatening to further spoil our chances. Generally there is no rain in the winter months, but up in the hills, there could be some sudden localised storms. As we were quite far from any human habitation, if the storm developed, we would get drenched. Nikib knew of a forested patch of trees up ahead where we could get some shelter in a grove of teak and sal trees planted by the forest under a reforestation programme to which we went as fast as possible. The storm struck us just before we entered through the trees, but we could not get deeper as the ground would get more slippery with the falling rain. The storm was fierce and the worst part was that it was accompanied by a severe hailstorm, with the icy hailstones hitting us through the gaps in the canopy. The jeep was fully opened as no one expected such a storm at that time of the year and the lightning bolts were falling around us. We were trapped in the middle of nowhere with this massive storm blasting and numbing our senses. It was the last place in the world I wanted to be in then, wet to the bone and shivering. But as with storms of this magnitude and hail, it stopped after about twenty minutes and petered out into a light drizzle before stopping completely. Nikib remained quite cool and composed as he was more used to the elements causing disruptions

and accepted this as fate for some misdeed done by us. We tried our hands at making a fire by mixing a bit of petrol taken out from the fuel pump of the jeep and managed to somehow light a small fire. Everyone pitched in to collect some fallen branches and twigs and soon we got a bit revived but by then, all of us had forgotten about the shoot. I had no choice but to open the bottle of Brandy which was supposed to be enjoyed back at Nikib’s house and gave everyone a raw swig from the bottle. We finally decided to call the shoot off and go back. I however did dry the weapons and checked the shots once again making sure that the safety catch was on. I had experienced rains and storms before, especially on fishing trips which lasted for a few days, but never on this magnitude. The effect of the brandy was only momentary and in the moving vehicle, the wind hit us badly and again I started shivering. In the jeep’s headlight, a lone big wild boar sauntered across and none of us were eager to shoot it or even make any effort as it was freezing cold. On our way back, another problem occurred which I was apprehensive of. Our jeep got stuck in the mud while manoeuvring through a dip in the road that had gotten flooded. So, all of us got down and pushed the jeep back and in the process, also got some mud plastering adding to our misery. Nikib then suggested that there was an alternative road by a detour around the hillock which was called Diphu and though it was longer, we would be able to at least get to his village safely. The pushing exercise had caused us to sweat it out and I personally felt a bit better so I asked everyone to get back to hunting mode, spotlights on for sighting purpose. We didn’t slow

down, however, but searched the sides of the road we were moving along to keep occupied and forget the cold. It worked and we all felt better but we did not get any sighting. Then, as we were coming down a hilly section with a swampy area to our right, the spotlight picked up eyes with a pinkish red glow quite close to the road. We stopped and to our surprise, saw that it was an elephant, not very big and probably of an adolescent age. It seemed to be stuck in the mud as it was unable to move and I could make out that it was struggling to release its hind legs. Nikib informed us that the area was actually a swamp but a big elephant would have the strength to free its legs from the sludge. This poor creature however, was struggling and seemed tired out with all the exertion and I presumed that it must have got separated from the herd in the recent storm. It was trumpeting for help but the sounds were feeble and it must have been drowned out in the thunder when it was desperately trying to call out to the herd. There was no way we could push it out physically but I was determined to help out in some manner. We discussed the situation and even if there was a mahout with us, we could have tried to pull out the elephant with the jeep using a rope, an item that was always in the vehicle for any emergency. Nikib then told me of a Miri mahajan who was currently engaged in some logging work nearby, who had two big elephants with him. I assessed the fuel stock in the jeep which was enough, so we set off to this

person’s camp about six kilometres away and woke up the camp. I explained the issue to the mahajan who listened to me patiently. But as was the practice, his two elephants were set free to forage in the nearby forest after finishing work and they could only be located at daylight when the mahouts could fetch them back to the camp. We did not have time, so I fervently requested him and also told him that I would pay him for the service and he reluctantly agreed but questioned me as to why I was intending to help this animal especially since I was a hunter and should realise that a tiger may have found the helpless elephant by now and killed it. When I took up hunting, my father made me promise that no one in the family should ever harm an elephant and I have followed this diktat very diligently. In fact, I have survived many occasions of close encounters with wild elephants and have always silently prayed to this incarnation of Lord Ganesha and am hale and hearty now to write all these experiences I had in the wild. Anyway, I did not have time to discuss polemics with him and taking charge, I directly told the mahouts to go and fetch their elephants for the rescue operation and that I would reward them handsomely. By this time, the mahajan also relented and agreed to help us so we got the two elephants ready with ropes and started back to the area where we had seen the elephant. I checked the time and saw that it was around midnight but with this problem in hand, I did not feel any hunger pangs and my entire group was also fired up to try and save this elephant. Elephants can walk quite fast and we managed to cover this distance within an hour. I was elated to find the stuck elephant alive, stuck slightly

Ranjan Kumar Choudhury ranjanchou@hotmail.com

deeper now, but I felt that it seemed to sense that we were trying to help, especially when the two elephants arrived on the scene. The mahouts assessed the situation and first checked the depth of the swamp before entering. The bigger one went in with the rope and the second elephant stood on the roadside holding one end of the rope which the mahout expertly tied around the front part of the elephant to pull as required. The first elephant reached the stuck beast and started to nudge it from behind and it did move a bit. But, being exhausted, it was not going to make it out on its own. The mahout then tied the rope around the body of the elephant like a howdah rope, and started to push it from behind, while the other one on the road also pulled with all its strength. The smaller elephant moved a bit and became free but then it suddenly slipped and fell down when it was pushed very hard from behind. It finally emerged from the swamp and lay still on the hard ground to recoup its strength. The best part was that this wild animal submitted to all that we were doing to help him. The senior mahout opined that it was a male adolescent around four to five years old. The small elephant was big enough to have pushed us down but the presence of the two big elephants calmed it and the mahouts tied it securely and positioned it between them and took off for their camp. We waited for some time and then we also went off to Nikib’s village to dry out before a big bonfire and ate our dinner hungrily. Even though the hunt was unsuccessful, I felt a great satisfaction for having saved the stuck elephant. Perhaps it could have also been saved by some forest officials the next morning or the parent herd may have come searching for the lost member. Anyway, the scene of the three elephants ambling away on the road is indelibly sketched in my mind and I fondly remember this wonderful experience. Many years later, I heard that the Miri mahajan had taken this rescued elephant back with him to his village along with his other elephants as it was not wandering off after being rescued and was staying around his campsite. The mahajan actually gained as the elephant served him for many years after being properly trained in logging work.

22 Lifestyle

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Vaastu: Auspicious flowers Hemanta Kumar Sarmah Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

he festive season is now on and it will continue for about six more months. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, religious festivals such as Diwali, Christmas, New Years, harvest festival, Holi and so on. These occasions are celebrated with pomp and show. The place of celebration is decorated with flowers and many other attractive items. Flowers are made an integral part of any wedding as they carry with themselves a divine aura which makes the atmosphere positive and refreshing. Any wedding in India or across the globe is incomplete without the use of fresh roses, jasmines, carnations, lilies etc. The beauty of flowers and their fragrance can change the entire atmosphere positively. Some flowers which can transform a place according to vaastu and Feng shui are:

Roses are always associated with love, romance, passion and beauty. This beautiful flower brings vibrations of togetherness, bonding and love. Whether it is used in the garlands of the bride and groom, for the mandap decoration or placed gracefully on dinner tables. Roses are and will always be auspicious for weddings. Hotels and many commercial establishments keep rose petals in a bowl

of water in the lobby or reception area to attract positive energy. This flower is also used for car decorations. Along with red roses, yellow and white roses can also be used creatively. Yellow represents friendship and companionship, whereas white is an indicator of peace and harmony.

are carriers of good fortune, prosperity and abundance. Jasmines are believed to strongly absorb negativity and are used all over India for instilling romance in the relationship. Jasmines must definitely be used in the mandap and around the washroom area. They are a natural way to keep negative vibrations of washrooms at bay.

Flowers are extensively used in south Indian marriages as well. It is a tradition for south Indian ladies to wear flowers on their hair buns or plaits even on a normal day. One can find jasmine flowers beaded together in strings as gajras, decoration of mandaps, ornaments for the bride or even as decoration of the car or the traditional palki (carriage). This amazingly fragrant flower is enough to sprinkle fragrance all across the area. Jasmines

Marigolds have the legacy of being used from the time of Satyug as the flower of happiness and prosperity. With its rich natural hues that nature has bestowed upon this flower, marigolds are a part of almost all Indian weddings. They are believed to ward off negative energy as the deities we worship are offered garlands made of marigold. This flower type is connected to sacrifice, faith and trust. All these attributes are vital for strengthening the bond

of any relationship. The garlands that the bride and groom exchange must have marigolds as this sweet smelling flower provides the strength and courage to the couple to start this relationship with new vigour and passion. Tulips are great if you need to make the wedding area look very different and unique. Tulips are associated with wealth and fortune. For a married life which is full of love, laughter and prosperity, tulips are the best bet. They are used widely in Europe and other western countries. The Lotus is believed to be a spiritual flower as many Gods and Goddesses sit on them. They are also used for wedding decorations to add spirituality in addition to beauty as Goddess Saraswati (sitting on a Lotus) symbolises beauty.

Taking care of your skin Dr. Sravya Tipirneni

he definition of beauty has evolved over time and while times are changing now, the perfect skin we see on our screens all the time has become a benchmark for females to feel beautiful. Our country has an industry that thrives on the popularity of fairness. Amid the absence of adequate awareness around the harmful effects of popular fairness creams, most of these often continue to be produced as a vulnerable cocktail of steroids, hydroquinone, and tretinoin. The prolonged use of these leads to grave health concerns and damage the skin deeply and sometimes even irreversibly. Many times, we end up taking suggestions from social media, blogs, beauty parlour employees, our neighbours, sisters or even friends and tend to believe in the product that they use. What we fail to understand is that what works for one person, may not work for the other one because of differences in skin type, skin sensitivity and the exposure the skin has suffered. Instead of highly expected fairness results, this rather leaves the person distressed after usage. It might even feel very nice and effective in the beginning, but you start seeing the ill effects, sooner or later. As we age, our skin is exposed to a lot, climatic change, dust, pollution and sometimes just our lack of care

that makes the gradually appearing ageing signs more evident. Steroids are used by dermatologists sometimes to treat eczemas, inflammatory and autoimmune conditions such as pemphigus, sarcoidosis, vitiligo and lichen planus, some kind of scars such as keloids, hypertrophic scars and some kinds of hair loss. Dermatologists highlight that while steroids can prove to be useful drugs, it is extremely important to know when, where, how, how much and for how long should these be used. The inappropriate use of steroids causes side-effects that can even lead to serious fungal infections and can even make the skin very thin. These creams can cause acne, rashes, redness and wrinkles on the skin and can also result in stretch marks on the skin. Many creams today contain steroids because there are many skin diseases which are treated with steroids. But steroids in skin whitening creams make the skin more acne-prone, sensitive and wrinkly. Some dermatologists even state that skin problems are becoming not just more common but almost non-treatable and most of it is due to the widespread use of creams containing steroids and our lifestyle especially eating habits. Just to get a few shades fairer, people are unknowingly risking their skin quality and making room for serious infections and grave side-effects, they say. Experts also say that doctors usually prescribe ointments for

acne. Worsening of a pre-existing skin infection. Folliculitis – inflamed hair follicles.

some particular time duration. However, many a time when patients see positive effects, they tend to continue using these products even beyond the suggested time period and this selfadministration causes a lot of skin damage. Even the so-called herbal products may shroud steroids while endorsing their products as ‘Ayurveda’ but one can actually not know how truly natural elements are used in those products and so it becomes important to use them with care and under guidance for the required duration to avoid concerns likes permanent pigmentation, skin cancer, liver damage, mercury poisoning and others. Acne has become the most common problem irrespective of age and gender these days. This is a rising concern not just among the teenagers but adults alike. Some of the common side effects of these ‘steroid – containing’ fairness creams include:

Acne or worsening of existing

easily.

Thinning of the skin – this can make the affected skin more vulnerable to damage; for example, you may bruise more

Stretch marks – that can become permanent, although they’ll probably become less noticeable over time. Contact dermatitis – this is characterised by skin irritation caused by a mild allergic reaction to the substances in a particular topical corticosteroid. Rosacea, which is a condition that causes the face to become red and flushed. Changes in skin colour – this is usually more noticeable in people with dark skin. Excess amount of hair growth on the area of skin being treated. There are other treatments which can help also in skin lightening,

fairness creams are not the only solution, experts point out. Fairness creams with lighter ingredients are safer to use. But one has to be careful about the ingredients as there are many different kinds of fairness creams available. The best way to make your skin get fairer is to avoid getting tanned and using a very safe de-pigmenting regimen. The above mentioned side effects are more likely if you are:

Using a more potent corticosteroid (If potent or very potent topical corticosteroids are used for a long time or over a large area, there’s a risk of the medication being absorbed into the bloodstream and causing internal side effects as well). Using it for a very long time, or over a large area. The older generation and the very young ones are more vulnerable to side effects Hence, it is of utmost important to not be careless with your most sensitive sense organ, your skin. Always consult certified dermatologists before exposing your skin to any products. (The author is a consultant dermatologist and cosmetologist)

Entertainment

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

Assam woman set to represent India at Miss Asia Pacific International

onalisa Sona from Assam’s North Lakhimpur district represented India at the Miss Asia Pacific International 2019 in Manila, Philippines on October 9, 2019. Bollywood Actress Dia Mirza was the last Indian to win the title in the year 2000. According to the official organization, “Miss Asia Pacific International inspires women to be comfortable in their own skin and to believe that their

individuality is one of the key qualities that make them distinctly beautiful.” The competition also provides opportunities for them to develop their skills, achieve their highest potential and be the epitome of a strong, confident and powerful woman.

Sharmila Tagore & Soha Ali Khan walk the ramp for Assamese designer

ollywood motherdaughter duo Sharmila Tagore and Soha Ali Khan walked the ramp for Assamese designer Sanjukta Dutta at the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) Lotus MakeUp India Fashion Week on Thursday, October 10 in New Delhi. The duo was the

showstoppers for Dutta’s show. Tagore was clad in a shaded blue mekhela chador and Khan was seen in a royal blue lehenga, both of which are a part of the designer’s new festive collection, ‘Aakaash.’ Dutta said that this collection is a tribute and sensitisation towards handloom and nature conservation.

Taking to Instagram, Soha Ali Khan wrote, “Was so happy to walk the ramp with my mother after so many years in support of the beautiful weave from Assam crafted by @ sanjukta_dutta_ .Her collection AAKAASH was a tribute to the environment and the handloom industry and it was really a beautiful collection.”

Actor Adil Hussain joins cast of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

oted film actor from India Adil Hussain has joined the cast of the third season of American SciFi franchise ‘Star Trek: Discovery.’ The first trailer of the same was premiered at New York Comic-Con on Saturday, October 5. According to reports, ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 3 will premiere in 2020. Adil Hussain, who hails from Goalpara town in Assam, is best known for his roles in the films English Vinglish, Life of Pi and What Will People Say. The 56-year-old actor has acted in many English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam,

Norwegian movies.

and

even

French

Majuli rap artist to perform in MTV Hustle

ssamese rap artist Maan Borah also known as Island Warrior from Majuli will perform in MTV’s music reality show, ‘Hustle.’ ‘Hustle’ is a reality show wherein contestants come and perform in different kinds of musical genres. The show’s judges include Raftaar, Nucleya and Raja Kumari. Borah is the first jip hop artist from Majuli to take part in the show and showcase his talent. Taking to Facebook, the rapper wrote, “I am proud to have represented Assamese Rap

and hip hop culture on National Television. Thank you MTV Hustle for giving me this platform to showcase the talent of my region.” The rap artist was also invited to a united cypher as a guest of honour which is an informal gathering of rappers, beat boxers and dancers in a circle. Borah mentioned that even though the artists there did not understand Assamese, they still appreciated his content is based on social issues. He has released six videos till now and the show ‘Hustle’ will air on October 12 and October 13, 2019 on MTV India.

24 Catching Up

G PLUS | Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2019

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