Vol 6 Issue 6 by G Plus

@guwahatiplus www.guwahatiplus.com

Would love to act in Assamese films: Boman Irani

INSIDE

Volume 06 | Issue 06 Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018 Price `10

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PG inmates of city narrate some bitter experiences

Rajdhani Express proving to be the most convenient ganja smuggling vehicle

NEUFC head coach, Eelco Schattorie speaks to G Plus on his experience of running the show

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Nexus of RPF and criminal gangs allow encroachment on city railway land

New AC bus shelters born out of wrong planning, feel experts File photo of a slum area near a railway track in Guwahati G Plus News

he stretch from Lakhtokia Gate number 2 to Aathgaon flyover is populated by migrants and slum dwellers who are encroaching upon the railway land and it is all happening right under the nose of Railway Police Force (RPF). A member of the Divisional Railway User Consultative Committee (DRUCC) has alleged that some of the RPF officials are in collusion with middlemen who are allowing the encroachment upon the railway land. A DRUCC member, Tony Das, talking to G Plus said, “I had filed a written complaint with the RPF station located within the Guwahati railway station but the officials did not take any action.” He further said that later he tweeted the issue to the Railway authorities and after talking to the assistant security commissioner (ASC) a case was registered on two weeks back. Das said, “Some RPF officials based in Guwahati Railway Station are in nexus with the middlemen who allow encroachment on such lands.” A source in Guwahati railway station talking to G Plus said, “There is a huge nexus involved

in the encroachment of railway land in Guwahati.” The source described that some gangs identify vacant railway land near the tracks and construct jhuggis (huts) there. Later, if a slum dweller is searching for a place to live in these gangs allot spaces to him in those areas and take rent from him on a daily basis. Rs 20 to Rs 50 are taken from the slum dwellers every day. To make sure that they do not get evicted some officials of the RPF are bribed on a monthly basis by the gangs. The source said, “These gangs are also involved in many illegal activities like drug peddling, smuggling and prostitution.” Even the slum dwellers are gradually pulled into the criminal activities. Small children of the area are provided with intoxicants at a very early age so that as they grow into adults, they start working for the gang. It’s a cycle of crime going on since many years, revealed the source. At times, after the railway authorities order eviction, the huts are demolished for a few days, but gradually the dwellers return and the RPF officials do not check the encroachment as they are “managed” by the gangs. n

CITY

GMC gives city two new AC bus shelters

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Missing postmaster, missing mails - Beltola PO in a mess Page 7

2 City Snippets Governor inaugurates high-end equipment at BBCI

n a step to improve the infrastructure facilities at the Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi inaugurated a state-of-theart CT scan machine and high dose radio-isotope therapy ward in the nuclear medicine department on November 27. The inauguration coincided with one year of taking over of the BBCI by the Department of Atomic Energy, government of India as a unit of Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. As per the BBCI officials, this facility is first-of-its-kind in the northeast. In his address, the Governor stated that considering high incidence of cancer in the northeast region and limited human resource in the field of oncology, the initiative of BBCI to start various post graduate courses will benefit all the upcoming cancer centres in the region. Principal Secretary of State, Health and Family Welfare Department, Samir Kumar Sinha, and Dean of Academics at TMC Dr Kailash Sharma, were the distinguished guests for the event. Speaking during the occasion, Sinha laid emphasis on prevention and early detection of cancer through community awareness and importance of palliative care.

Assam cricket prodigy Riyan Parag tears ligament during practice

oung Indian cricket player and Assam’s brightest prospect, Riyan Parag, tore his left ligament during practice at the ACA Stadium, Barsapara. He is currently on an intensive rehab program and the doctors have ruled out any reconstruction surgery given Riyan’s young age. Riyan will miss two important matches because of the injury. Son of former Ranji player Parag Das and national record holder swimmer Mithoo Baruah Das, Riyan is a hard-hitting batsman and a spin bowler who was selected for the winning ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup team. People from the cricket fraternity of Assam are wishing for his speedy recovery.

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

From food quality to security: PG inmates of city narrate some bitter experiences Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

n spite of the mushroom growth of paying guest (PG) accommodations in Guwahati, they continue to remain unregulated and it’s ultimately the boarders – be it students or working folk - who face a bad experience. Many students and PG residents complain of poor food quality, unhygienic environment, lack of security and a host of other problems in the PGs of the city. And it goes without saying that especially for female students, security is one of the most important criteria while selecting a PG. It seems, however, picking a PG with good security is an arduous task for the students here. While CCTV cameras still remain a distant dream for PG residents, girls living in various PGs in the city have informed G Plus that their PGs run without a security guard. “We neither have a strict vigil on what time the girls enter nor is there a guard to restrict boys from entering. The owners make tall promises when students come for admission but invariably fail to keep them,” a resident of a PG located in Zoo Road told G Plus in anonymity. Guwahati being the gateway to the northeast as well as home to the educational and business hubs of the region, students from all over come here to pursue higher education. With a rise in the student population, there has been a tremendous growth in the number of paying guest and hostel facilities in the city as well. Students and working professionals who’ve come to Guwahati from other cities and are forced to stay in PGs are the worst sufferers. G Plus spoke to the residents of a few of the PGs functioning in the city and has found that the conditions are not quite up to the mark. A resident of Bongaigaon who shifted to Guwahati to undergo a course in company secretary and has been residing in a PG told G Plus, “Food quality is the biggest problem we face – the taste is not up to the mark and the vegetables are watery. Even the milk has more water than milk.” She further added that while hygiene and cleanliness is a problem, the biggest problem is that the rooms are enclosed

A paying guest room in the city (internet photo) by wooden partitions instead of concrete walls. Whenever a new student needs to be accommodated, the owner simply puts a new partition in one of the rooms to make space for her. In the same vein, another resident of a PG in Kumarpara area said, “PGs in Guwahati are not well maintained. The owners only care for their money and once the students take admission, they face multiple problems. In our PG, the biggest problem is that of dirty water. We face the same problem every few days when dirty water starts coming out of the taps. You close your eyes to wash your face and when you open them again, you see that you’ve been using water that is virtually black.” The average monthly rent for PG accommodation in Guwahati is around Rs 7,000, which includes food and electricity but excludes air-conditioning. While the students pay a hefty amount as rent, they complain of not receiving the services commensurate to the money. “A month ago, we found insects in the vegetables lying in our kitchen. If that wasn’t enough, we recently found that the ‘ghee’ meant for burning purpose and not for consumption was being

used for cooking purpose,” informed a student of Sanskar Boys’ PG located at Chatribari. He informed G Plus that the students found that the cook was preparing food using ‘Laddoo Shyam Pooja Ghee’ that has ‘Not for human consumption purpose’ written in block letters. Speaking to G Plus about the claims, Ankit Agarwal, the owner of the PG said, “Due to miscommunication, the grocery store vendor had sent us the wrong ghee and the cook, being uneducated, used it for cooking for a few days. But as soon as the students informed me, I immediately asked the cook to buy a new carton of cooking ghee. I’ve myself stayed in hostels and PGs so I understand how important good food is for the students and I’d never intentionally bring bad quality products into the kitchen. The students of the PG also claimed that the PG has LPG cylinders meant for residential use rather than those meant for commercial use. This has created suspicion among the students about whether the PG is registered or not. “Our PG is only 6 months old (opened in July 2018) and the documents are still in process,” said Agarwal.

Among the oldest PGs running in the city, with proper registration and security, is Deepika’s PG located in Bhangagarh. Yet, the students had certain complaints to make. While my PG is among some of the better ones, there’s still the problem of food. At least five days a week, the residents are served with potato curry which has become very monotonous to most of the girls and sometimes the food quality is also not up to the mark, said an interior designer who’s been staying at Deepika’s PG for over 6 years now. The owner of Deepika’s PG, Nirmala Keyal clarified saying, “I’ve been running this PG for over 17 years now and I myself supervise everything – from food to cleanliness. I maintain complete decorum in the PG and there are always two to three varieties of vegetables available for lunch and dinner both. Those who do not like one of the vegetables can have the other.” “There are problems in almost all of the PGs in the city. PGs can never be compared to our homes no matter what facilities they provide,” a working professional from Goalpara residing in the city said. n

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Cover Story

4 City Snippets ABA Secretary Mukut Medhi arrested

ssam Basketball Association Secretary Mukut Medhi was arrested by Paltanbazar police on Wednesday, November 28. Medhi was arrested following a complaint by the parents of under-14 basketball players of the state. He was accused of betraying the players. “A complaint was registered here by the parents of under-14 basketball players against Assam Basketball Association Secretary Mukut Medhi and we have made the arrest following the complaint,” informed a police official of Paltanbazar Police Station. The parents accused that the secretary had betrayed the players, who have gone out of the state. Earlier, in October 2018, the parents of two players of state team, which took part in the Youth National Basketball Championship at Udaipur, alleged that their son and daughter were dropped from the team at the very last moment to accommodate a few players via the back door. Medhi termed the allegations as baseless and said, “There were some anomalies in the documents which were submitted by both the players and it was because of that we had decided to replace them with other players.”

Software engineer from Dibrugarh joins ULFA (I)

t a time when the United Liberation Front of Assam, Independent, ULFA(I) is trying to rise from its ashes, a video clip is going viral in which a former software engineer by the name of Chow Abhijeet Gogoi is seen confirming his step to join the banned outfit. The video was first shared on Facebook on Friday in the profile of one Chow Abhijeet Gogoi (Abhi). The video has been removed as we report. In the video, Gogoi is seen in a forest, dressed in a camouflage uniform, flaunting a gun and confessing his desire to join the banned outfit. Gogoi goes on to disclose his identity and personal life and the reason to leave his job and join ULFA (I). Partial transcript from the video: “My name is Abhijeet Gogoi. I hail from Moran, Dibrugarh. I received my degree in Information Technology from Chennai’s SRM Institute of Science and Technology. I got engaged with a company named Hitachi as a software engineer. Later, I got a degree in MBA from Bengaluru. I worked in Bengaluru, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Now I have decided to join ULFA (I) as I am worried about the future of Assam.”

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

New AC bus shelters born out of wrong planning, feel experts

Sidharth Bhattcharya inaugurating the new AC bus shelter at Bora Service | G Plus Photo G Plus News

he Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) might have proudly inaugurated two air conditioned (AC) bus shelters – at Bora Service and Panbazar - but these might not be beneficial to Guwahatians by any measure. The shelters were inaugurated on 28th November last. Firstly, the bus shelters are not “aesthetically designed” and thereafter, the city does not require air conditioned bus shelters, feel some Guwahatians. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Councillor Rajkumar Tewari, talking to G Plus said, “GMC should take initiatives to develop the necessary amenities in Guwahati like improving the road conditions, ensuring water supply 24/7 and ensuring installation of streetlights in all the streets of Guwahati rather than wasting time and money on such shelters.”

The councillor said that the shelters will not serve the purpose as only couples and unemployed youths will use the bus shelters as places to hang out. Further, he

described the shelters as looking like closed rooms and not like true bus shelters because with bus shelters the public should be able to move in and out easily and

AC bus shelters might only help anti-social elements

he newly inaugurated bus shelters might be very useful only for the anti-social elements as during the night, only drunkards and drug addicts will find comfort in them. Councillor of ward number 9, Rajkumar Tewari said, “The shelters will become a safe heaven for drug addicts and

many criminal activities will be carried out there.” Local residents of Bora Service feel that during the nights the bus stands on GS Road anyway turn into drinking dens. The new AC bus shelters will be an added advantage for the anti-social elements during the summer. A resident of Panbazar said, “The breast feeding

After Ugratara robbery, centuries-old idols stolen from Sidheswar Devalaya, Sualkuchi

arely a week after the Ugratara Temple idol robbery in Guwahati, a similar incident occurred in Sualkuchi as the residents woke up with a rude shock when they got to know that the centuries-old idols from Sidheswar Devalaya

conveniently which is not the case with the new AC bus shelters. “The bus shelters are not aesthetically appealing or designed,” said the councillor. He said that around 15 people can sit in the shelter but the seating is placed in such a way that people sitting on the stools placed at the back will find it tough exiting from the bus stand. Moreover, the councillor said that when the entire state is trying to save electricity by converting neon lamp streetlights into LED lights, GMC is planning to eat up huge amount of electricity through these bus shelters. An architect, Nilanjana Das, talking to G Plus said, “If at all they (GMC) wanted to make an AC bus shelter, they should have put an air curtain at the top and kept it open. Now there will be huge congestion during summers and we can just imagine the rush 3 months later.” Ranel Kumar Das, a city-based architect and construction consultant said, “I will comment after one year looking at the condition of the AC bus shelters. I would like to ask GMC if they are planning to convert all the bus shelters to air conditioned.” Das said that he never heard about AC bus shelters and has not seen it anywhere in the country. “Even the capital (Delhi), does not have AC bus shelters,” said Das. n

temple have been stolen. The idols of Goddess Durga and Lord Krishna were found missing from the temple on the morning of November 24. It is to be mentioned that Siddheswari Devalaya in Sualkuchi is a historic Shiva temple situated

on top of a hillock. Sidheswar Devalaya is one of the major temples of this silk village dedicated to Lord Shiva and was renovated by the Ahom king Shiba Singha. The police are conducting an investigation into the matter.

room in the bus shelter will be wrongly used during the night.” The GMC sources revealed that the police will make sure about the security of the bus shelters at night but the Panbazar police revealed that till now they haven’t got any orders to allot extra police personnel for the bus shelter at night. n

17 ULFA-I linkmen detained

s part of the counter-insurgency operations against the militant outfits, city police on Saturday detained as many as 17 ULFA-I linkmen from different parts of the city. Each linkman was detained for several cases related to the ULFA-I activities and are currently being interrogated by the police.

Concern

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Rajdhani Express proving to be the most convenient ganja A smuggling vehicle

Snippets

Woman from Assam dies in Israel

Hiranya Barman

ttempts to smuggle ganja (cannabis) from the northeastern states to the northern and western cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai etc has become a regular affair and so has confiscation of ganja by the Government Railway Police (GRP) at the Guwahati railway station. Now questions have been making rounds on the fate of this confiscated ganja. According to media reports it is seen that the Rajdhani Express (Down) is the most convenient and frequently used train to transport ganja from the northeastern states to other states. Recently, GRP personnel had seized 15 kgs of ganja and arrested one person in this connection from Guwahati railway station. The person, KR Rang from Manipur, was travelling by Rajdhani Express (Down) from Dimapur to New Delhi. In another instance, a team of

Assam-bound train avoids mishap as engine detaches from bogies

ssam-bound train narrowly avoided mishap on Thursday after its engine detached from the coaches.

The Bengaluru–Tinsukia weekly superfast express was on its way to Tinsukia when the engine got detached from the 21 coaches and travelled close to two kilometres in Alipurduar, West Bengal. None of the passengers were injured as the coaches eventually came to a stop after the engine was delinked. The driver realised about the incident a few minutes later and informed the Alipurduar division after which the bogies were attached to the engine.

Government Railway Police (GRP) seized at least 50 kgs of Cannabis from the Rajdhani Express (Down) train (No 12423) from Coach Number A1, berth number 1/3 on November 27. On July 3 last, at least 34 kilos

revealed that the Rajdhani Express has become the most convenient smuggle wagon. “The Rajdhani Express is a fully air-conditioned train. Compared to other trains security personnel tend to give the train a more

File photo of ganja seized from Guwahati Railway Station of ganja was seized by the GRP. One Subhuraj Dasgupta tried to smuggle the consignment to New Delhi from Agartala on the Rajdhani Express. These are only few instances that are being highlighted. Highly placed police sources however

cursory look. The first impression of the peddlers on the train is that the passengers are well off and they would get away unnoticed from being among them. This happens when the peddlers carry small consignments with them. However huge consignments are

Rash driver rams car, hits parked motorcycles in Guwahati

Nurses’ strike turns dangerous for patients in Assam, pregnant woman dies in Jorhat

speeding Mahindra Bolero rammed into another car and then in a bid to e scape , hit five othe r parked motorbikes in the city’s Jayanagar area on the night of November 23.

According to the eyewitnesses present, a Mahindra Bolero bearing registration number AS 01 BJ 4849 travelling from Beltola hit a Ford Figo near Jayanagar and tried to escape the spot. In an attempt to flee from the accident spot, the driver hit five other two-wheelers parked nearby. The accused is allegedly an influential person, said, locals. The police, however, has taken the driver into safe custody and the investigation is underway.

he nurses at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) are at strike from 26 November. This indefinite strike has majorly affected the health services in the state.

Reportedly, a pregnant woman died in Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) following a delay in surgery due to the lack of nurses in the hospital and another young girl died in a similar incident at a Sivasagar hospital.

carried elsewhere in the train,” sources said. “Sometimes for repairing purpose we have to cut down the whole body of a particular coach. Upon cutting we find ganja in huge quantities wrapped in plastic and pasted underneath the train. Sometimes ganja is found pasted adjacent to the wheels. There are multiple spots in a train where items can be hidden and carried to wherever one wants. Ganja is also found hidden inside the seats. The upper and lower berths on the side are more convenient to hide ganja. In one instance we found ganja inside the head rest above the side lower berth. The head rest was stitched multiple times after the consignment was hidden. Whenever we find such things we report it to GRP. After that nobody knows where the ganja goes,” a technician with the Northeast Frontier Railway, on anonymity, said. According to the data available with GRP over 2,000 kilos of ganja of worth Rs 40 lakhs have been confiscated by the GRP since 2012 till date. n

girl from Udalguri district in Assam has died in Israel’s Tel Aviv on Thursday. The deceased has been identified as Neha Sharma, daughter of Pushkar Raj Sharma from Merabil, Udalguri. The cause of her death is not known yet. As per the affidavit submitted by Neha Sharma at Noida in Uttar Pradesh she had gone to Israel to work as a caregiver. Inspector General of Delhi Police, Robin Hibu was informed about the death by one Jessica Thanjam of Manipur who is working in Isreal. Later IG Hibu used Facebook to get in touch with the family members, “Miss Neha Sharma from Merabil, Assam has died in Isreal at Tel Aviv today. Her parent/relatives need to be informed to bring back her dead body.” The Udalguri Deputy Commissioner has been informed and Hibu has assured full help and cooperation in Delhi.

Brown sugar seized from a retail shop in Guwahati

cting on a tip-off, the city police seized over 800 gms of narcotics from a shop in the Birubari area on 28th November. The narcotics, suspected to be brown sugar was packed in over 100 containers and was meant to be distributed to customers and peddlers. Meanwhile, the owner of the retail shop is still absconding.

6 Governance Snippets Home Ministry revises height norms for men from NE in armed forces

n a historic decision on 29 November, the union ministry removed the discrimination in height norms for the scheduled tribes of north-eastern region and Gorkhas for recruitment in central armed forces. Union minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju tweeted, “With this relaxation, a large number of youths from the northeast and Gorkhas will be recruited in CAPFs.” The ministry further said that the decision had been made to maintain “uniformity in height norms of male Gorkhas and male schedule tribe candidates” from the northeast region. According to the revised norms, the height of male ST candidates from the northeast for recruitment as constables has been reduced from 162.5 cm to 157 cm. For the post of sub-inspector (general duty), the height for ST candidates from the region and Gorkhas has been reduced to 157 cm from 165 cm.

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 on hold as JPC fails to reach consensus

he much-awaited and debated Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has been put on hold as the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has failed to reach a consensus. The opposition argued that religion should not be made the base for citizenship as India is a secular country. “The members have given various suggestions and the panel will decide in its next meeting which amendments will have to be taken up for consideration which has to be passed through a consensus. But if there is no consensus we will go for voting,” said BJP MP and panel Chairman Rajendra Agarwal. As the NDA maintains majority in the committee the BJP intends to clear the bill through voting as the consensus looks remote now.

APSC prelims to be held on 30th December

he Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) has announced the date for the preliminary examination. The exam which got postponed will now be held on 30th December. Earlier APSC had scheduled the exam for 23rd December.

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

One-stop-shop for SHG products and services inaugurated in Ghy Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

elf help groups (SHGs) functioning in Guwahati now have a permanent address - a one stop shop where they can sell their products and services – in the form of City Livelihood Centre (CLC). The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has established the City Livelihoods Centre at the GMC office premise in Lakhtokia under Deen Dayal Antodoya- National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM). The centre was inaugurated on November 28 by Guwahati Development Department (GDD) Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya in the presence of GMC Commissioner Monalisa Goswami, Additional Commissioner of GMC Deba Kumar Mishra and Chief Engineer Tasdiqur Rahman. Additionally, CMMU (NULM) staff, GMC staff and 150 SHG members were also present. Speaking on the occasion, the GDD minister said, “Most of the times the SHG members face difficulty in finding a market. The centre will help them find potential buyers.” Currently, there are a total of 1,400 self help groups functioning in Kamrup (Metro) and altogether 8,074 self help groups are functioning in the state of Assam. The

Siddhartha Bhattacharya addressing the media at the City Livelihoods Centre in Lakhtokia CLC set up in Lakhtokia is the first step towards organizing the business of these SHGs. In the near future, NULM plans to open more such centers across the state, officials informed G Plus. “The City Livelihoods Centre is a one-stop shop where people can come, see the products, purchase or even place bulk orders,” informed Sarmistha Deka, additional state project manager of Assam State Urban Livelihood Mission (ASULM). They can also access information and business support servic-

es when needed. For example, the centre will help them avail loans from various banks, she added. The centre, covering 1,200 square feet area, has been set up at a cost of Rs 5.46 lakhs. It aims at providing a platform to the urban poor whereby women Self Help Group members can offer their goods and services in an organized manner to the potential buyers and various public utility services can be extended by skilled human resource. The CLC will act as a ‘one-stop shop’ for those seeking services

| G Plus Photo

from the informal sector as well as for the urban poor promoting their services and product. The CLC will also be positioned as resource centre for those seeking information related to employment and skills training opportunities etc. The CLC will run under direct supervision of City Mission Management Unit (CMMU), GMC for two years, after which its operation will be handed over to Area Level Federations formed by the Self Help Groups under DAY-NULM. n

SHG members elated with the opening of the CLC

he inauguration of City Livelihood Centre at GMC office, Lakhtokia was attended by a large number of women who are part of various self help groups functioning in the city. From welcoming chief guest Siddhartha Bhattacharya with great fervor to serving food to the guests, the SHG members seemed visibly elated at the opening of the centre. “I have been making candles and other decorative items for over three years now but it has always been very difficult to find buyers. Seeing my products on display here gives me a ray of hope

and I’m hopeful that our products will now reach the masses and we’ll get more orders,” expressed an elated Jayanti Kathar, a resident of Hatigarh Chariali in Guwahati. In the same vein, another SHG member Mini Kumari told G Plus, “We have always found difficulty in finding a place for our products in the market. The established shops give a tough competition and various middlemen try to manipulate us for their own gain. The best thing about this City Livelihood Centre is that there’s no involvement of middlemen.” With the setting up of the CLC, middle and higher income groups

can now easily access various services from urban poor which, in turn, will generate or augment livelihoods for the urban poor. The NULM plans to provide free vocational training to the urban youth in the second phase of the project, informed Sarmistha Deka while speaking to G Plus. The beneficiaries who are trained in various sectors viz. beautician, nursing, electrician, computer etc. under employment through skill training component of DAY-NULM will be enrolled under the CLC and will be provided with market for employment. Skilled or semi-skilled persons of various trades will be identified

and registered ward-wise, whose service can be availed by the city people with just a phone call to CLC. Thus, in one way, livelihood can be ensured to urban poor section and in other way, good quality service can be ensured at justified price through a very easy process. Further, plans are in place to develop various livelihood opportunities for urban poor by disseminating information related to employment, services and government schemes. Hand holding support will also be provided to the self help groups and the urban poor wherever required. n

Concern

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Missing postmaster, missing mails, Beltola PO in a mess Hiranya Barman

t seems the Beltola Post Office is hit by a manpower crunch. The customers and account holders of the post office are facing delays in their financial proceedings at the post office. As per the regular customers, the post office has been lacking in manpower for more than two years. Customers have alleged that their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. “I am having my worst experience with Beltola Post Office. For the past one-and-ahalf years, I am not receiving any posts sent to me. If I go to enquire they keep on delaying the work. Sometimes they would tell me to come the next day, and when I go

back, I have to wait for at least 3 hours to receive my posts. It has become a regular affair now,” Chandra Kalita, a resident of Beltola complained. While it has been a concern among citizens that parcels meant for door-step delivery by respective post offices are not being delivered, citizens are also of the view that whenever one goes to the post office to receive the delivery, officials don’t respond to the queries. “I have three savings accounts with the Beltola post office. I frequently have to go to deposit or withdraw money. For long hours I have to wait in the queue and the officials don’t behave properly with the customers. The system of delivering posts is at its worst. I have completely lost

Don Bosco celebrates Annual Day 2018 with focus on Woman Power

he students and teachers of Don Bosco School, Panbazar celebrated Annual Day 2018 with great fervour with a two-day cultural evening on Thursday and Friday at the school auditorium. This year, the central theme of the celebrations was ‘Stree Shakti’ - ‘Woman Power’, with the play ‘Sati Joymoti’ being the main attraction. This legendary play from the annals of Assam’s history deals with the girl child and the related themes of women’s emancipation and liberation. It also throws light on the personification of Stree Shakti – woman power. “Woman Power is not a new concept; it has been in existence since time immemorial. Through the play, we hope to bring out the inherent dichotomy – where on the one hand, we in India worship ‘Stree Shakti’ and on the other, the same ‘Stree’ (woman) is at the receiving end of all prejudices and social ills – sati, dowry, illiteracy, homelessness, domestic violence, et al,” said Father Sebastian Mathew, Principal of Don Bosco School. The play has been scripted and dramatized by Jyoti Prakash Choudhury, a member of Don

Bosco School’s Assamese faculty. The concept and compilation of the theme of the girl child has been done by Mollika Sharma, a member of the school’s Mathematics faculty. Around 900 students from classes KG up to Higher Secondary took part on both days of the annual day, which took place on November 29 and 30, 2018. The chief guest on the first day was IPS Kuladhar Saikia, Director General of Police, Assam. The guest of honor

was KK Choudhury, Regional Officer of CBSE, Guwahati who attended the program along with Father Joseph Teron, SDB, Vice Provincial, Guwahati Province and Father Sebastian Mathew, SDB, Principal of Don Bosco School. On the second day, Nurul Islam Laskar, former Consulting Editor of The Sentinel attended the program as the chief guest. The guest of honour was NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela. n

trust on the Indian postal system. I have lost many posts meant to be delivered to me. It has been a long time that I have seen a postman at my door step leave alone a post being delivered to me. In multiple instances, when I went to the post office with queries related to my posts they never answer

in affirmative,” Dhaneswar Das, a resident of Basistha said. G Plus tried to get in touch with the head postmaster of the Beltola Post Office but to no avail. He has reportedly been out of station and this is a frequent occurrence according to the customers of the post office.

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“If we try to contact the head postmaster with complaints, we are told by the post office authorities that he is out of station. He frequently remains out of station bunking official work,” lamented another resident of Beltola. n

8 Exclusive

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

NEUFC head coach, Eelco Schattorie speaks to G Plus on his experience of running the show G Plus Exclusive

If you look at the history of the ISL, quite a few big names have got managerial positions. Did you really expect this top job this season? First of all, this is not arrogant if you look at my CV. I worked a big part of my life in Asia, meaning a lot of middle east. The job before

and when did you devise a plan for the season?

Has the experience of working in the league helped you to understand how football in the country is played or do you think ISL is a completely different beast?

I got appointed in the end of July or somewhere in the beginning of August. Planning for the season was very difficult because still their foreign players were not signed. So, getting into the job day by day I had to plan. We did not go for a pre-season camp. So, along the way was a rocky ride. Overall, if you ask me what exactly the plan was, I did that day by day, adjust to the situation and as I said I always

I don’t think there is too much difference regarding football itself, of course, you have more foreigners so the level is a bit higher, also the facilities are better. Overall, yeah there is an advantage,

win anything. That means we still have to keep going to reach the play-offs. But we are on the right way and we got a certain stability at this moment and that’s good. But the thing is that looking at the challenges we had during the pre-season, I emphasised a lot on having good team spirit, that worked well and I really have to say also that the players we recruited or mainly the club recruited, they have very good characters and that makes my job a little bit easier. If you have characters who are difficult, who may come from different country, and then think

I don’t think there is too much difference regarding football itself, of course, you have more foreigners so the level is a bit higher, also the facilities are better.

Indian League is not so good, and they have certain attitude and that makes it always more difficult. But on that level we have good players, with good attitudes and as I said I emphasised a lot to get everybody together and start first working and then we look at the techniques and the technical part of the job.

NEUFC coach Eelco Schattorie | G Plus Photo this, I worked in Saudi Arabia, that’s a very high league. So me getting appointed here in ISL is absolutely an honour. At the same time, I think to appoint a coach in ISL should not be based on a big name or based on some previous championship. We should always give the club in my opinion the chance to appoint a coach that fits the club that fits the culture. Me having worked in Asia is in my opinion is a pre because you understand certain limitations and I think that’s a good thing.

but the bigger advantage is that I worked for a long time in Asia, I know how to deal with certain issues, certain problems, I think for someone who never worked in a foreign country or maybe starts his career as a coach have to deal with certain limitations, they will probably get frustrated. I try to deal with them in a calm way and I having worked here for a long time, I think it is absolutely a positive in this job.

When did you find out about your appointment

try to work in planning, executing, evaluating and normally do it over a longer period of time, but in this case was short term and we managed to do well till now.

After a difficult pre-season did you expect the boys to be leading the table at this stage? Of course, this expectation you never know from the beginning when you are in a situation. Now we are good, but still, we did not

Quite a few of the players have really shot under you including Rowllin Borges, how have you impacted the domestic players? My way of working for sure is improving players. Anywhere I work that is my aim, because in the end you need them. I am not that right away focused on results but if you improve players then you also get results. That’s normally a long-term process. That we got results in the beginning was good. It only gives more confidence. Rowllin, I know him for

last year. I think Rowllin has a lot of potential, still needs to improve a lot, but I am happy that the potential, that I see in him at this moment is blooming. But again we did not win anything yet, we still have a long way to go.

In terms of tactics the NEUFC this time around has managed to get points even though on some occasions the team has not played well that particularly well. I don’t agree to that. As I am saying we are not playing that particularly well. Normally when you start a season there are always moments when things go lax, so that’s a process. I think in patches we played really well football and in patches there are moments, especially defensively, where you can improve. I am talking more about personal mistakes. As a team, I think offensively and defensively we are pretty well-organised but the execution of technical things; that means, the controlling of the ball, certain runs that you have to make and defensively marking your opponent; these things always get improved and these are personal things and we try to work on.

Your aim for the season from personal and team point of view The aim is to win our next game, I don’t look for other, because as I said, in football, today you are hero tomorrow you are a zero. There are so many things that can influence a process. So, I only aim on today’s training and on our next game. And as a team for sure, I tried to improve our players, especially young Indian players, to build them in and give them a chance to grow. I think that is in short the aim. And hopefully in the end we get what we, for the end goal looking for, is of course, to qualify for the play-offs. But that I am not looking at it now as I said I only look for the next game to win that game, step by step hopefully we get to our end goal. n

Weather report for the week Guwahati

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In The News

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

NEUFC gets ready to strike Jamshedpur FC at the Furnace

orthEast United FC (NEUFC) is looking for a 5th consecutive win as they clash with Jamshedpur FC at the steel city this Saturday. This would be a very crucial game for the team from northeast on its road to the playoffs. NEUFC continued their excellent form collecting another 3 points after beating FC Pune City by a 2-0 margin on Tuesday night at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium, Pune. The 23rd minute strike by A Bartholomew Ogbeche and a clean penalty by Juan Mascia deep into the game ensured all 3 points for the Higlanders. The win took them straight to the second position on the league table with 17 points from 8 matches. At present, they are at the third position tied up with FC Goa at 17 points each. Well, FC Goa’s 17 points came from 9 matches and the Highlanders have a tight match in the Furnace on Saturday. With 4 away wins out of 4, the Highlanders now make their way

play football. But I had to play 4-42 but the opponent also played 4-4-2 and it becomes a bit direct and it becomes a case of fight. You can still play but we were a bit of negative in there because I had to put Gurwinder in there. So that was very difficult. Before the game, I

to face a daunting task against the Men of Steel, Jamshedpur FC, at JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur this Saturday. The NorthEast United FC played a calculated defensive game to beat FC Pune City. Both the teams played with similar formations and it was a really tight game. NEUFC head coach, Eelco Schattorie seemed pleased with

the win over Pune and talked about the tactics employed. It seems the tweak in the formation that led to a change in the playing style helped the NEUFC get ahead in the game. “If we play 4-3-3, we have an extra midfielder that’s great to

know it was going to be difficult. The first 15 minutes was not actually that bad. The game was won by the goal that we scored,”

Schattorie said. Schattorie said that the win against Pune FC was beating the odds and by far the best performance by the Highlanders. “It was a very difficult situation. With the travelling there was fatigue. The most difficult thing was that Mislav Komorski was injured. And that means we had to bring in Gurwinder Singh. He is a fantastic boy. Only problem is that we had to play with an extra forward, Juan (Mascia) and I cannot play 4-3-3. Which meant we had to change to 4-4-2. Pune also played 4-4-2 and it was almost one against one. The first 15 minutes we were decent, we were in control. But after that suddenly, we stopped doing that. They got a lot of corners. At half-time I told them don’t be scared to play. Have the guts to do it from the back. But the performance was something that I’m happy with. This is how I want to play football,” he said. n

10 Concern Snippets Public holiday declared on 5th December for Panchayat Election

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

GNM nurses call off their strike after four days

or the smooth conduct of 1st phase of panchayat polls the government of Assam has declared December 5, 2018 (Wednesday) as a public holiday. It is to be mentioned that all the govt-non govt offices, educational institutions, and business establishments including banks, tea gardens and industries etc. will remain closed on account of this public holiday under Section 25 of N.I. Act, 1881. The government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs via a notification has declared a public hoilday in the districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat, Majuli, Golaghat, Nagaon, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Morigaon, Kamrup (M) and Kamrup District.

Conman takes money from 328 people to provide car loan, held

ased on a complaint, Dispur Police, on 29th November, arrested one person for allegedly taking money to provide car loans. The accused, Kuldip Das, is a resident of Christian Basti and was arrested from Abhayapuri based on complaints filed by people promising them car loans. According to the complaint filed to the police, Das had taken advance of more than Rs 4,25,740 from 328 customers for booking new vehicles and had vanished. Dispur police has lodge an FIR and investigation in underway.

Illegal foreign cigarettes seized in Guwahati

n a major haul of illicit cigarettes, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized 33,60,000 sticks of cigarettes of foreign origin in Guwahati from a warehouse. The consignment is valued at Rs 3,98,00,000. It is to be mentioned that the illegal cigarette trade comprising internationally smuggled and locally manufactured products, tax-evaded cigarettes accounts for as much as 1/4th of the cigarette industry in India. Based on the current tax rates on cigarettes, it is estimated that the government loses Rs 13,000 crore per annum due to the illegal cigarette trade.

We asked the nurses to not carry on the strike at the cost of the lives of the patients. The nurses should be a little considerate about the patients who have travelled long distances to come to receive treatment Pijush Hazarika, Minister of state for health and family welfare

Members of All Assam Nurse Association during the protest | G Plus Photo Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

lose to 1,500 GNM nurses of the state called an indefinite strike to demand “same post same salary.” The strike continued for three continuous days adversely impacting health services The general nursing midwifery (GNM) nurses in the state called off their strike after four days on November 29. Their strike affected the health services across the city as well as the state. At least 380 nurses of the Guwahati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) had suspended their services continuously for four days. One of their major demands included “same post same salary.”

The AANA members will hold a meeting with senior officials of the health department on December 4 to decide on the future course of action. However, the members said that they will intensify their protest if the meeting does not yield any positive result in their favour.

A nurse taking care of a patient at a government hospital | G Plus Photo Some other main demands of the All Assam Nurses Association (AANA) included the implementation of the revision of the pay of seventh pay commission and the service rules as prescribed. They have also been asking the government to restore their designation from staff nurse to nurse. “We had been putting forth our demands in front of the government for a long time but to no avail. After receiving no favourable response from, we were forced to call this strike,” Barnali Dehngia, central committee executive member of the AANA informed G Plus. Additionally, in Jorhat the nurses of Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) had withdrawn their services since November 26. During the four days of the strike called by the GNM nurses,

the health services remained badly hit in the city and across the entire state. Reportedly, two pregnant women died in Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) following a delay in surgery due to the lack of nurses in the hospital and another young girl died in a similar incident at a Sivasagar hospital. However, the JMCH hospital authorities informed that the two women were admitted in an already critical state and the nurses’ strike did not have any role to play in their death. “We did not intentionally want to create any trouble for the general public but were forced to take this step due to government’s apathy,” said another protesting GNM nurse at GMCH. Further, on the second day of the strike, close to 1,500 nurses from across the state had assembled at GMCH for a demonstration

regarding their various demands. Protesting nurses from Dibrugarh, Silchar, Dhubri, Tezpur, Barpeta and Nalbari among others had gathered in Guwahati to raise slogans and protests for their demands. On the other hand, cracking down on the striking nurses, the police arrested around 500 nurses from GMCH whereas 200 nurses were arrested from Jorhat too. However, they were later released. In the absence of the GNM nurses, the GMCH was being operated by regional nursing colleges, GNM first year student nurses and other paramedical staff who filled in their posts. “We asked the nurses to not carry on the strike at the cost of the lives of the patients. The nurses should be a little considerate about the patients who have travelled long distances to come and receive treatment,” said minister of state for health and family welfare Pijush Hazarika. Additionally on November 29, the AANA secretary Junu Chetia informed that the state government had assured them that all their demands would be looked into and be acted upon soon and they ended their indefinite strike. “We held a meeting with the officials of the health and family welfare department and they convinced us that our long-pending demands will be considered seriously by the department. We have therefore called off our strike,” said Chetia. She further added that they will hold a meeting with senior officials of the health department on December 4 to decide on the future course of action. She, however, added that they will intensify their protest if the meeting does not yield any positive result in their favour. n

Governance

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Govt to set up control rooms, procure vehicles to manage man-elephant conflict Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

We need to first identify the areas which are most prone to man-animal conflict and set up control rooms in these areas. The control rooms should be functional 24 hours so as to cut the response time in case of any emergency. Parimal Sukhlabaidya, State forest minister

Villagers scatter as a herd of wild elephants advance towards them near Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary | G Plus Photo officers (DFOs) from across the state, members of NGOs working in the field and other concerned officials. “We need to first identify the areas which are most prone to man-animal conflict and set up control rooms in these areas. The control rooms should be functional 24 hours so as to cut the response time in case of any emergency,” said Sukhlabaidya. He added that the department will also conduct a total survey in this regard, so as to identify the root cause of the problem. This apart, following the footsteps of West Bengal’s ‘Airavat’ vehicles, the state will also procure four vehicles to decrease the trouble caused by man-animal conflict in the state.

Dept faces staff crunch, lack of equipment and vehicles

he forest department officials of several divisions are facing staff shortage. They also informed the minister that they lack proper equipment and vehicles to tackle the advent of pachyderms into the city. “Many of our field officers are old and are not fit enough to visit the field. We face staff crunch as there has been no new recruitment for the past several years. In such a situation, it becomes difficult to manage in times of crisis,” informed the DFO of Nagaon.

Snippets Pobitora Wildlife personnel get wireless handsets

ith the increasing instances of manelephant conflict in the state, the forest department will set up control rooms in 11 divisions in order to manage the manelephant conflict in the state. This was decided in a meeting held at the office of the principal chief conservator of forests, Panjabari on Wednesday. During the meeting, the state forest minister Parimal Sukhlabaidya called for suggestions from the officials on mitigating the man-elephant conflict in the state. Some of the suggestions included setting up of a control room in all divisions with adequate manpower. The meeting was chaired by the forest minister and was attended by the chairman of Pollution Control Board of Assam (PCBA), AM Singh, divisional forest

Following the footsteps of West Bengal’s ‘Airavat’ vehicles, the state will also procure four vehicles to decrease the trouble caused by mananimal conflict in the state. These vehicles will have all state-of-the-art equipment.

These vehicles will be equipped with all state-of-the-art equipment. Airavat vehicles used in West Bengal are GPS enabled and have space for keeping equipment like tranquiliser guns so that the forest officials are equipped to face any emergency situation. Authorities revealed that this year alone as many as 54 elephants were killed in conflicts in Assam. During the meeting, officials informed that earlier the incidents were limited to the winter months between November and January. However, now they have become more frequent and such incidents occur throughout the year. While putting forth their suggestions to control the man-

animal conflict in the state, one of the divisional forest officers informed the minister that there was an urgent need to secure corridors. He further added that more patrolling was required, including increasing the number of trackers and informers to effectively control the situation. “Trackers and field personnel need to be equipped with torches and other equipment. We also need to involve village dwellers and work in tandem with them,” he said. Habitat improvement for elephants was also raised as a significant issue. The authorities said they needed to look at long-term measures instead of concentrating on short-term solution to the problem. n

Another official from Guwahati said, “We need to map the elephant distribution to be better prepared. If we know the distribution, the division would be in a better position to manage the situation.” As per reports, last year a total of 70 elephants had died due to various reasons including electrocution, poisoning and train accidents. Further, a total of 48 people were trampled to death by elephants till November 2017. Elephants usually venture out in search of food and water in the dry seasons between the months of November and January. Further, the state’s declining forest cover is making matters worse for the elephants. Moreover, late payment of exgratia to the families of victims of man-elephant conflict was also identified as one of the

prime concerns by the forest department. In a recent case of such an incident, at least four people including one woman were severely injured during an elephant rampage in the city’s Panjabari area. The residents of the area stated that an elephant herd was regularly seen moving in the area but that day one elephant attacked the locals injuring at least four people. The injured people have been identified as Hari Das, Bobita Das, Rahul Das and Upen Das. According to reports, the elephant entered Bagharbori and Panjabari of Guwahati and went on a rampage, destroying vehicles and houses. Following the incident, the forest department officials reached the spot and managed to chase the herd away. n

he wildlife personnel entrusted to protect the treasure trove of onehorned rhinos in the tiny Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary had an occasion to rejoice when Aaranyak with support from Born Free of Australia provided 20 wireless communication handsets and two base stations for augmenting wildlife conservation and protection. The CEO, Dr. Bibhab Kumar Talukdar of Aaranyak, a frontline bio-diversity conservation, and research organisation, presented the equipment to forest staff in presence of the Divisional Forest Officer, Pradipta Baruah, Ranger Mukul Tamuli, Dr. Arup Dutta of Assam Veterinary Science College and Manas Kumar Bhattacharya of Aaranyak. While lauding Aaranyak for the support it has been extending towards conservation and protection of wildlife in the state in general and Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary in particular, the DFO of Guwahati Wildlife Division, Pradipta Baruah said that the wireless communication gadgets provided on Friday would be a major boon to conservation and protection of rhinos in Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary.

CM Sonowal pays tribute to Lachit Borphukan on Lachit Diwas

hief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal took part in the Lachit Diwas celebration at the statue of Lachit Borphukan at Brahmaputra riverfront on 24 November. Sonowal offered floral tributes to legendary General Lachit Borphukan on the occasion of his birth anniversary at Jalukbari and Kachomari Ghat in Guwahati. Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said, “Lachit Borphukan was one of Assam’s bravest sons. His courage, brilliance in war strategy and patriotism continue to inspire us.” On 24 November each year, Lachit Diwas (Lachit Day) is celebrated state wide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan and the victory of the Assamese army at the Battle of Saraighat. Lachit Diwas is celebrated to promote the ideals of the fighter.

12 In The News

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Would love to act in Assamese films: Boman Irani at BVFF Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

ollywood actor Boman Irani who is known for movies like 3 idiots, Main Hoon Na, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Dostana and Housefull 2 visited Guwahati this week to attend a film festival. A special discussion was held between film and theatre actor, Boman Irani and senior journalist Karma Paljor at the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival. However, instead of posing questions in the usual format, Karma threw selected keywords, designed to prompt a memory or a story, at the always-entertaining Boman. The result was a personal and amusing retelling of his life’s journey, in his own words. The ever-cheerful Boman spoke about his past experiences as a nervous child with a speech defect, as the proprietor of a potato chips shop, a waiter at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, a theatre practitioner and a successful Bollywood actor. The audience not only enjoyed the session, they also asked some amazing questions to the film and theatre personality. Within a few minutes of the session, Boman commented, “I sense that the Guwahati audience is extremely engaging, perceptive and very evolved.” The most heart-warming part of the session, though, was Boman singing ‘Give Me Some Sunshine’ a popular song from his movie ‘3 Idiots’. Boman enthralled the audience with his singing talent and they all sang along with him, cheering loud. At the end of the song, everybody in the auditorium started shouting ‘once more’, touching the actor’s heart. Another interesting point during the audience interaction was when one Raju from the audience asked Boman to do some lines as the infamous Dr Viru Sahastrabuddhe from 3 Idiots, and to respond to Raju’s own portrayal of Sharman Joshi’s Raju Rastogi. Being the sport that he is, Boman

I sense that the Guwahati audience is extremely engaging, perceptive and very evolved. Boman Irani

Boman Irani presents the Lifetime Achievement Award to Pulak Gogoi | G Plus Photo

Irani addressing the gathering | G Plus Photo called Raju on stage and gave improvising a shot. Upon eager prompting by the fan, Boman replied to Raju’s dialogue with a thickly enunciated “as expected!” complete with Viru’s trademark lisp. Post the discussion with Karma Paljor, G Plus got into a candid conversation with Boman Irani. The actor, who was visiting Assam for the first time, seemed visibly impressed with the audience here. He said, “There are generally two kinds of audiences - ones who come to see a celebrity or just to be seen at a festival and there’s another set of audience that really wants to gain experience from the event. The Guwahati audience clearly falls in the latter category. I loved how sharp they were in picking up even

the slightest of humour.” When asked if he’s had the chance to watch Village Rockstars by Rima Das, the actor expressed his disappointment at not having seen the national award winning film but showed a keen interest on watching the same. Boman further showed an interest in being associated with the Assamese film industry. “If I see a foreign language film without the subtitles and still understand it, that for me is a great movie. So, of course I’d love to work in Assamese movies as long as the subject is engaging and it’s good cinema,” exclaimed Boman Irani speaking to G Plus. “Cinema itself is a language - there are a lot of movies that have barely any dialogues and the pictures do the talking. I’d

Tete-a-tete with Karma Paljor, editor EastMojo | G Plus Photo like to work with great cinema, no matter what language it’s in,” he added. The 6th Edition of Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival 2018 got underway at Pragjyoti ITA Centre in Guwahati on November 28. The festival will culminate on Saturday, December 1. Film personalities such as Boman Irani, Shakun Batra, Shahnaab Alam, Ronnie Lahiri and many others took part in the 4-day festival. An initiative by Tattva Creations, the festival included film screenings, interactive sessions, panel discussions, film quiz and more. Many films from across India are being screened at the festival. The opening film of the festival, Spring Thunder directed by Sriram Dalton, observed its India premiere at the festival. Another

film Rockumentary: Evolution of Indian Rock also saw its India premiere at the festival. Among the critically acclaimed films screened during the Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival 2018 were What Will People Say directed by Iram Haq, Nani Teri Morni directed by Akashaditya Lama, the Lost Idea by Amartya Bhattacharyya and Chor (The Bicycle) by Khanjan Kishore Nath. Anupam Kaushik Borah’s Assamese film, Bornodi Bhotiai, will be the closing film of the festival. The second day at the 6th Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival 2018 concluded with Assamese film director Pulak Gogoi being conferred the Lifetime Achievement award by Boman Irani. n

Politicking

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Voters watch as BJP, AGP slug it out in the open, Congress gets ready for the kill The fight is out in the open for all to see as the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are baying for each other’s blood. With the panchayat polls gaining momentum, the political tiff between the two partners is getting worse. Chetan Bhattarai

he AGP being a partner in the coalition of the state government has been trying to get mileage from the ruckus created by the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. It has been raising its voice against the bill and has staged a large number of protests and rallies across Assam. The party kept the political pot simmering by accusing the BJP of discriminating people on the basis of religion for the bill. Much to the chagrin of the BJP, each and every leader of AGP spoke about relinquishing the friendship in public meetings if the bill is passed. Well, it seems, the diatribe by the regional party did not go well with NEDA convenor and senior BJP cabinet minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma who came out and blasted the AGP. “A partner in a coalition should not be behaving in such a manner. AGP leaders, during the campaign trail of the ensuing panchayat polls, have been spreading the news that it was due to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that its partnership with the BJP was cancelled. Well, AGP has no moral right to oppose the bill as it was due to them that over 1 crore people were made Indian citizens and Assam is carrying the burden. They should have opposed way back in 1979 when it came up (inclusion of immigrants from 1951 to 1971) and should have done the NRC during their rule. We would not have been facing such a demographic change had the AGP taken its stand,” stated the BJP stalwart. Dr Sarma was pretty miffed that some of the AGP leaders were mollycoddling with the Congress and it would harm everyone in the long run. The minister stressed on the friendship code and wanted the AGP to get it right. “AGP leaders have been attacking us in public meetings. Some of the MLAs have openly indicated friendship with the Congress, especially seen in the case of Naharkatia MLA, Naren Sonowal. It is a matter of concern for everyone. For the last two-and-a-half years nobody from the BJP spoke against the AGP but we cannot just sit and watch. We have been following the friendship dharma (code) and did not take these things to the public but the continuous attack in the aegis of friendship dharma cannot be tolerated forever. We were silent as we were following

(L-R) Atul Bora (AGP), Himanta Biswa Sarma (BJP), Tarun Gogoi (Congress) | G Plus Photo the friendship code but repeated breaking of the code by AGP is unbecoming of the regional party. Congress is our political enemy and AIUDF is our existential enemy. We should all make sure that we keep them away. I request that AGP and BJP should come together and weed out the greater threats,” stated Dr Sarma. As Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma continues to campaign for the BJP and given the stand AGP has taken, more such confrontations may become the norm in the coming months as the general elections near. Moreover, Dr Sarma’s response could put the AGP leadership in a poor light. The people of the state are aware that the AGP sits in the government and aggressively protests the coalition partner’s move. The counter by Dr Sarma sent AGP leaders in a huddle as they quickly gathered for a meeting at the office of water resources minister, Keshab Mahanta. After the meeting Atul Bora, President, AGP looked doubly-charged as he stated, “In politics breaking a friendship takes just a moment and we are ready for it. We will fight till the end and if need be, we will do it. Why is BJP trying to discriminate foreigners on the basis of religion? AGP will never accept it.”

It seems AGP has made up its mind. Buoyed by the public support it has been receiving across the state for its stand against the bill it is unlikely that the party would tone down the rhetoric. “AGP is getting stronger in the grassroots and people are joining us in great numbers and we don’t understand why he (Dr Sarma) has said it. If, for the sake of the Assamese identity and for Assam we have to break such a friendship, we will break it end number of times.” The meeting was attended by top AGP leaders, Prafulla Mahanta, Keshav Mahanta, Birendra Prasad Baishya, Phani Bhusan Choudhury, Nurul Hussain and Pravin Hazarika. Taking advantage of the tension between the two parties, the Congress is seeing an opportunity. Congress desperately needs a break in state politics and is trying to go for the jugular. A lot can be derived from threetime chief minister and Congress stalwart, Tarun Gogoi’s sudden interest on a partnership with the AGP. “Congress’s doors are open as we want the AGP and regionalism to survive. We want a friendship with the AGP and we should work together to oust BJP. If they go against BJP we would like to support them. Though friendship will

be decided by the party, I personally feel that we should be friends with AGP. I am a supporter of regionalism and not against it,” said the veteran Congressman. Actually, nobody from BJP came out hammer and tongs against the AGP’s continuous assault on the bill like Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. It is election time and we are just a week away from the panchayat polls and since AGP is not a partner in the polls, Dr Sarma or the BJP have very little to lose from assaulting the AGP. In fact, they will gain more by attacking AGP as it would encourage the confused BJP workers to go for the kill. BJP workers, right from grassroots to the top level, had to sacrifice a lot of seats and other positions in the government to their coalition partner AGP. They would love to see AGP go, as it would not only open up political slots but also administrative berths and seats in future polls. But politics is not just about berths and seats. It is much more beyond it and leaders of both the parties are aware of the ramifications if the partnership discontinues. Both the BJP and AGP need each other as BJP cannot push AGP out and AGP cannot leave the coalition. The AGP-BJP partnership dates back to 1999 general elections and

might complete 20 years if all goes well. The vote bank in the state due to the demographic change caused by the influx has put AGP in a situation where it cannot achieve much by negating BJP. Its long absence from power for over 15 years has eroded its base, not to speak of its leaders switching over to other parties. They are still reaping the benefits of the 2016 coalition as they not only increased their seats but also got political power in the Sarbananda Sonowal cabinet. It would be politically foolish to think that the people of Assam will give them a full majority just for their stand against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The people already gave them two terms and were terribly disappointed by the overall performance and the internal fights. Similarly, the BJP cannot get the story straight without the AGP on its side, as the Modi wave of the 2014 is not there to pull them out of this political storm. For the BJP, it would be very difficult to get more seats in the general elections which are barely six months away if they decide to go without the AGP. With 2019’s mega-fight knocking, it would be insane for both the parties to break the coalition. For now, they have to act like the conjoined twins. n

14 G Talk E

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018 T

Disturbed, confused!

here was a disturbing video on a certain profile on Facebook yesterday. We at office managed to catch it and download it before it was swiftly removed. The video was a poor quality footage of a youngster of upper Assam dressed in battle fatigues brandishing a sophisticated firearm and he was speaking directly into the camera that was being held by someone. The backdrop was clearly the jungles of our region. The youngster claimed himself to be a highly educated person with a degree in software engineering as also in business management. He has travelled to many countries as part of his corporate career and so has seen the world. And thereafter, having given up his corporate career, besides offering his justifications for joining the banned militant outfit United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I), he is seen exhorting the youths of Assam to follow suit. Yes, this is disturbing! From almost two decades of irrelevance the state of Assam has suddenly been woken up and thrust into the national political scenario thanks largely to the ongoing to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise. And also suddenly, thanks to amazing social media, the various sections of

self-righteous stakeholders stand distinct: indigenous Assamese, indigenous non-Assamese, illegal immigrants, 70 odd ethnic groups, a resurgent ULFA-I and, among others, a state government desperate to implement the ideologies of its Hindu nationalist party thereby totally stalling its election promises. Add to this huge mess is the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and we have a state that is totally confused and divided with suspicions running high plus an Assamese society who is clearly unsure who to drive out: the “Miya” or the “Bongal!” In the fracas between the ruling coalition partners, AGP and BJP, on their differences over the aforementioned Bill, it is clearly the abominable nearly-dead militancy that is getting a new lease of life. The youngster’s video is only a case in point that has come out to the media and it not only reflects one variety of love for the motherland but clearly a sense of distrust towards the current system of governance in place and on all that is being dished out in the name of growth and development. While we wonder what Assam aspires for itself at this stage, we are all clearly disturbed and confused. Swapnil Bharali Editor

Pine trees on a November night

ith due respect, the city beautification drive is most welcome. But, there are some issues that we should clear before we delve into the topic. As per the honourable PWD minister there will be three more flyovers coming up in the city, in a few months (as announced). Soil testing was also done at all the three places and media went all crazy. I could imagine the plight of the daily commuters near the already confusing, Ganeshguri flyover. A few weeks of beautification drive was enough to leave them high and dry. Cuss words were the norm of the day as they tried to get past that administration-created literal bottleneck. Thankfully, the Ganeshguri pine plantation drive is peacefully over and the labourers have now started digging the Christian Basti and the Rajiv Bhawan areas in full swing. Let’s not even ask why they aren’t doing it at night. Coming back to the flyover business, the simple thought of an underconstruction flyover, that, too, a clover-leafed criss-cross one at Ganeshguri, would really be a sight to see, once the work starts. Yes, everybody will agree that once it is complete after those painful months our lives would be easier and hopefully faster by a few seconds, maybe a minute. But we are not all ambulances or fire tenders, are we? We are simple Guwahati residents who want to reach from one place to another within a reasonable time. The angst is because why can't we borrow the best practices when we try to inanely fiddle with the rush hour time of thousands of commuters? Delhi Metro, does that ring a bell? Yes, the PWD should send a small mail saying, “We are going to ruin a few thousand hours of commuting life here in Guwahati, could you help us reduce it to hundreds?” Well, we all know what the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is going to say.

Chetan Bhattarai

Bridge: reflections of life “You can judge a person by the way he plays Bridge,” said Zia Mahmood referring to himself. Some say that there are basically four types of people in this world while psychologists have added one more type to this list. If you look closely at your fellow bridge players at the table, you will find all these people! You don’t have to read Sigmund Freud or any Shiv Khera book for this. Just watch their bidding style, speed and correctness of the play and their body language on the table. The first type is the steady and dependable one. He holds his cards right, never makes phony or frivolous bids, takes control of the game not allowing opponents any undue advantage. These people are successful in life too and happily married because they increase the confidence of the spouse because of their dependability thereby increasing productivity. Partners can depend on such players knowing fully well that he will not massacre any hand. The second type is the extrovert who likes to show off. He plays to the gallery and loves to play in the open room often exhibiting finer points of the hand to the kibitzers. He likes to psyche the opponents by asking them meanings of different bids or discards. In real life, they may not be very comfortable in their area or field as they are attention seekers and thrive superficially on many occasions. But they do have knowledge in whatever they do and makes no hesitation in showing it off. The third type has been referred as the Rabbit by Victor Mollo who is the meek guy at the table. He agrees with his partner and never tries to take the upper hand. In real life, these people

r”Thugs of Hindostan”

are trustworthy, good workers and like to help others socially or within their capacity. They help the opponents with free finesses or wrong discards. But their passive nature helps them not take undue risks in life like investing in the stock market or gambling. “Curiosity killed the cat” describes this type of bridge player. He is open to ideas and is the self-made expert. He invents his own bids (sometimes his own convention!) and experiments with them on the table. So he often finds it hard to get in the team! He is often avoided by people because of his curious ways and mannerisms

at times. This nutty genius professor is a gem at heart and on his day might get the Nobel Prize because he is very unpredictable. Be careful when playing against him. His highly unusual methods can upset your applecart. There is another guy at the table who is always unstable and insecure. He suffers from anxiety all the time and is easily irritated. You will find him calling the director constantly. He shouts at his partner and opponents alike at the slightest of reasons. On social media, you will find him putting up lot of pictures on Facebook without attracting much likes or comments! His acquired friend list is not responsive to his posts. You can also relate to the character of the person by the way he bids. The first one is the

O pinion Hemanta Kumar Sarma

aggressive guy at the table who is always optimistic about the lay of the cards. He hopes for particular cards with partner and bids accordingly. He will try to disturb opponents by jamming the bidding and often gets punished for this. He is least bothered about consequences in real life also and is a carefree soul. But you will find that he has many friends who like his attitude towards life. There is this guy who is exactly the opposite in nature. He is a born pessimist who will think about a 3-0 break with a 10 card fit! He is scared to bid without points and on many occasions fail to bid games or slams because of this. His shy and mild nature has earned him friends but he could not climb up the ladder in the corporate sector or service. He should not be in sales or marketing and is at best working at a desk under someone. The slow and steady bidder is feared even by experts. His bids are predictable as he calls a spade a spade. You are likely to find the missing honour with him if he calls that suit. His steady approach to life takes him to the top but it will be over some time after his hair has turned grey. He finds it difficult to adjust with new players and persons with different or modern approaches. n

Letter to the Editor

he readers are definitely aware as the movie “Thugs of Hindostan” recently got released worldwide. The multi starrer film has an ensemble cast with superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Amir Khan, Katrina Kaif and others. The movie which is running in the theatres across the nation is an epic action adventure film. Coming away from the film otherwise to real life the same title, i.e. Thugs of Hindostan, fits very well with a particular family of India. Post independence this family has been dominating India by various political tricks and thus they have made huge assets which are enough for their next 14 generations to sustain without working. The readers might have guessed it correctly who are the real "Thugs of Hindostan." Dr Ashim Chowdhury, Ambari, Guwahati

In Focus

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Bidisha Baruah Entrepreneur, educationist

ith an experience of over 20 years in the field of teaching, Bidisha Baruah is an eminent educationist from Guwahati who has recently opened her own educational institute – Chrysalis Kindergarten. Before she established Chrysalis, she used to teach English at various schools. A simple personality, highly understanding by nature, supportive, willing with excellent management skills, she carries the perfect traits of a teacher. Born and brought up in Guwahati, Bidisha did her schooling from Holy Child School and went on to pursue graduation in Arts with English major from Handique Girls’ College and post graduation from Cotton College. She then did a course on Bachelors of Education from College of Education, Guwahati. Bidisha started her teaching career with Disneyland High School where she taught for a year. In the beginning of her career as a teacher, she changed quite a few schools – she taught at St Mary’s Higher Secondary School and Maria’s Public School

for a year each. Thereafter she taught at a school in Bangalore for two years and finally joined Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti (SBGJ) in 2004 where she taught for 11 years. At SBGJ, not only did she teach English, she was also the middle school coordinator. Bidisha went on to join Delhi Public School, Kamrup in the role of Headmistress, where she spent two and a half years. Finally, in November 2018, she embarked on her entrepreneurial journey and opened Chrysalis with the aim to give importance to the social and emotional development of the child. “I have always dreamt of doing something on my own. In the 20 years of my teaching career, I donned several hats – I’ve been a teacher, a coordinator and a headmistress. This long journey enabled me to gather a lot of experience in teaching and administration and boosted my confidence. With Chrysalis, I want to give importance to activity based learning, doing away with text books,” said Bidisha, speaking to G Plus about the inception of her school.

Bidisha describes the journey of venturing into the field of entrepreneurship from teaching as a big challenge. But she has a firm belief that prioritizing her goals will help her establish a reputed school that will develop confident, responsible and independent individuals. She wishes to establish Chrysalis as one of the best schools in the city. Married to Prasanta Kumar Baruah, Bidisha is the mother of two talented daughters – Swagata Gautam and Srishti Gautam. Being surrounded by children both at home and at work, Bidisha opined that social media now plays a tremendous role in education. Internet has its advantages and disadvantages – while it makes education convenient, it can also act as a distraction for children, she says. Bidisha, talking to G Plus about the present scenario of education in Assam said, “The present scenario of education in Assam is satisfactory. However, I believe that private schools are doing much better than the government schools. There’s still a huge gap between the

two and the government needs to do much better work in terms of appointing quality teachers, maintaining student teacher ratio and ensuring regularity.” She further informed about the difference in education that she sees today, compared to her own days in school, and said, “During our school days the system of education and teaching was very conventional but now we see a vast difference. Now students are

exposed to a variety of things – there’s a wide array of options to choose from.” To all the women who aspire to become entrepreneurs, Bidisha’s word of advice is, “Have faith in yourself, build a strong team and work hard towards reaching your goal.”

A plan was submitted to the government for the beautification project with an estimated budget of Rs 47 crores. The preliminary works for the same has already begun and the first phase is expected to be completed by March 2019. Guwahatians comment on the beautification of the city with colourful footpaths and green dividers. Dhrubajyoti Ghoxh Whenever there is a plan from the government to do something good for the city, the keyboard warriors rise and give negative comments on social media. What are they doing for the development of Guwahati city? What have they done till now? Nothing except blaming the government every time. We should appreciate the efforts that are being made by the government. Why can’t the people be simply happy with the initiatives? Sanjana Raj It’s a great step taken by the PWD. It will increase greenery and air purification which will lead to a better physical and psychological wellbeing. However, beautification of the city should not be confined to planting of trees and maintaining them for 3 years as mentioned and should not only be limited to highways or the areas that are on focus. It should be maintained in and around the city. Though it will take time and money but the seed should be sown now. Along with this beautiful project the focus should also be on roads to build more safety and beauty in the relationship of man and environment. Anil Kumar Jain Whatever construction had taken place till now, it has become extremely difficult for commuters and school going children to cross the roads. Absolutely foolish on the part of the authorities to block it completely without any alternative arrangement for crossing the road. They should take this issue seriously. Beautification is fine but the problems people will be facing should also be kept in mind.

Mosfika H. Zaman What development and planning? It’s all foolish. At least there should have been alternative arrangements. It’s so difficult to reach office and also crossing roads are really difficult. Our government just comes with ideas but lacks planning. Every single day it takes me around 45 minutes to cover a particular distance which actually used to take me 15 minutes earlier. Worst traffic management in city right now and all they care about is beautification. People can’t even cross the roads. Half the vehicles are on the zebra crossing. The very first thing the government should do is to educate people about different signs and traffic signals.

Joy Prakash Ghosh Guwahati does not need any beautification right now, it needs free space to commute. No thought over underground crossover to reduce the traffic in the city. But doing these sorts of things to the liking of the ministers so that they will fly on helicopters to have a view of the city is pointless. And also these green dividers will soon be covered with red spots which will double its beauty. It will appear like red roses with green leaves. I also think it is more important to clean the city’s drainage. A hazardous health issue is plaguing the city. No idea how people are living in this city; it’s so dusty with garbage filled drains everywhere.

16 Feature

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Mary Kom’s journey to the top

A look back on her previous 5 world championship golds Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

5-year-old Mary Kom recently became the first ever boxer to win six AIBA Women’s Boxing Championship titles. 16 years after winning her maiden World Championship crown – and eight years since her last – Mary became the most successful female boxer in the history of the competition, and the joint-most successful pugilist overall along with Cuban all-time great Felix Savon. Mary’s five previous world championship titles had come over five successive editions from 2002 to 2010, after a silver medal at the inaugural Worlds in 2001. She remains the only Indian female boxer to have won an Olympic medal, a bronze at the 2012 London Games, and also the only one with a Commonwealth Games gold, won in Gold Coast earlier this year. G Plus looks back at Mary Kom’s previous five World Championship title: 1. 2002 - In 2002, Mary participated at the Women’s World Amateur Boxing Championships hosted by Turkey in Antalya. She won the gold medal in 45 kg pinweight category, after

beating Jang Song-Ae from North Korea. It was the 2nd championship, which debuted 2001 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. 2. 2005 - In the third edition of Women’s World Amateur Boxing Championships which was hosted by Russia in Podolsk, Mary Kom won the gold medal in 46 kg category, beating Jong Ok from North Korea, again. That year, India was ranked number 3 in the tournament with a total of 5 medals. 3. 2006 The 2006

Mary Kom was declared the best pugilist of the 10th Women’s World Boxing Championships by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

Women’s World Amateur Boxing Championships was hosted by India in New Delhi. This time, Mary went against Steluta Duta from Romania in the finals and won the title in 46 kg category. India ranked number 1 that year, scoring a total of 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. 4. 2008 - For the third consecutive year, Mary participated in the 46 kg category, but this time at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. In the tournament hosted by China in Ningbo City, Mary won the Gold medal defeating Romania’s Steluta Duta in the

finals for the second time. 5. 2010 - In the 2010 AIBA Women World Boxing Championships hosted by Barbados in Bridgetown, Mary Kom once again defeated Romania’s Steluta Duta in the finals to win her fifth world title. They competed in Barbados in the 48 kg weight category, after AIBA had stopped offering the 46 kg category. Finally, in 2018, after winning the historic sixth world title, Mary Kom was declared the best pugilist of the 10th Women’s World Boxing Championships by

was a richly deserved honour to the 35-year-old Manipuri, whose endurance, perseverance and the never-say-die attitude is unparalleled in history. The mother-of-three was under immense pressure which was evident and still, she continued to fight, persist. Her pride for her nation became apparent when she declared after her win amidst hounding reporters, “I would like to dedicate this win to my country.” Next up, Kom’s eyes are now firmly set on the 2020 Olympics that will take place in Tokyo. The Manipuri boxer has so far won a whopping 22 international medals in boxing.

All Hail Mary

the International Boxing Association (AIBA). Kom beat Ukraine’s Hanna Okhota in a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the 48 kg category summit clash in the finals of the championship. It was her seventh overall world medal, making her the most successful boxer in the tournament’s 10-edition history. “To be the first woman boxer to achieve all that I have achieved, I am quite pleased with how I have done. Everyone has dreams, I am no different and I am glad that I am able to live my dreams,” Mary Kom was quoted as saying. The AIBA panel which chose the Indian as the best among the competitors

Minutes after Mary Kom was declared the winner, congratulatory messages started pouring in from all corners of the nation. Everyone from the B-Town celebs to the top politicians and fellow athletes hailed her win. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “A proud moment for Indian sports. Congratulations to Mary Kom for winning a Gold in the Women’s World Boxing Championships. The diligence with which she’s pursued sports and excelled at the world stage is extremely inspiring. Her win is truly special.” Among others who wished her on her most brilliant win were Amitabh Bachchan, Shekhar Kapur, Hima Das, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Anushka Sharma and even Priyanka Chopra, who played the ace boxer in a biopic by the same name. Mary Kom’s win is unprecedented and will remain deeply etched in the annals of Indian sports history. From a time when boxing never really grabbed the spotlight as much as other sports did, today, it is getting due recognition because of the wonders this woman from the Indian soil is creating. Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh announced that the state government will honor MC Mary Kom by conferring an appropriate title in recognition to her unprecedented feat of winning the sixth gold medal in the World Boxing Championship and her illustrious career in the field. The title would soon be announced in a grand reception ceremony for the boxing ace, to be organized after her arrival in Manipur. MC Mary Kom has made the state and the entire country proud, said CM Singh. n

Trotter

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Assam Police warns against fake news with Bohemian Rhapsody post

f social media can be used to spread fake news and false information, it can also be used to raise awareness about them. That’s exactly what the Assam Police did when it shared a creative post warning against fake news - using a Bohemian Rhapsody reference, no less! Recently, Assam Police shared an altered version of the iconic Freddie Mercury song from its official Twitter handle, and the tweet is winning netizens over with its clever wordplay and creativity. Considered to be one of the greatest songs of all times, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody was released in 1975 and has delighted music lovers since then. Assam Police took the lyrics of the song and altered them to make a point about fake news and forwarded

messages. “Fact check before you forward. There’s no escape from reality,” they wrote, further tweaking

“Mama, I don’t want to die,” to “Mama, I don’t want to lie.” The tweet comes on the heels of the recently released biographical movie on Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, and even uses the movie’s poster. However, instead of the word ‘rhapsody’, Assam Police’s tweet reads ‘Bohemian Factsody’ and states that fake news is not factual. Since being shared online, the tweet has collected over 400 ‘likes’ and more than 200 ‘retweets’, along with a ton of delighted comments from fans of the singersongwriter. In the past too, Assam Police’s witty tweets have won social media over. Their tweet on stalking was appreciated by hundreds, including Kajol. (Source: ndtv)

Irish woman jailed for criminal damage to €1.50 crisps

athleen McDonagh, aged 25, opened some Pringles in a Tesco in the city of Cork before she had paid for them. The woman had been banned from the store, and told the court she opened the crisps so that security would be forced to let her pay for it. Instead, she was sentenced to two months in prison for damaging the product, which could no longer be sold.The judge was told that McDonagh had a series of previous convictions, including a number for theft or criminal damage. The crisp damage in question took place nearly two years ago, on 27 December 2016, at the Mahon Point shopping centre in Cork, near McDonagh’s home in Inchera Close. In court, police said McDonagh had been banned from the store and was known to its staff when

she took the tin of Pringles and headed to the self-checkout area. Security staff approached her to order her to leave the store when she popped the Pringles top and opened the foil seal. An inspector told the court that she said, “I opened it so you have to leave me pay for it”. “It was not fit for resale with a loss of €1.50,” the officer told the judge, adding that although the woman wanted to buy the crisps, “she had no permission to be in the store. “McDonagh’s legal representation asked for leniency from the court, explaining that she was recently married and several months pregnant, and had en-

tered a guilty plea. The judge, however, decided to impose a four-month prison sentence with two months suspended, noting that the accused had deliberately opened the product when asked to leave by security. He said that it was difficult to see her actions as anything but “Smart Alec behaviour”. (Source: bbc.co)

Nepal teen breaks Guinness record with 126-hour dance

Nepal teenager danced her way to a Guinness World Record when she performed a solo dance routine for 126 hours. Bandana Nepal, 17, began her record attempt on 23rd November and stopped dancing on 28th November afternoon, when she was awarded the record by a Guinness adjudicator. Nepal’s dance, performed at the Big Foodland restaurant located in Kathmandu, lasted for a total 126 hours, beating

the previous record-holder, India resident Kalamandalam Hemlatha, who danced for 123 hours and 15 minutes in 2011. “I am very glad to see my daughter being able to keep the world record,” the girl’s father, Ram Nepal, told Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. “This achievement is not just of hers, but she has also set the nation’s name at the global front. It’s a moment of pride for all of us.” (Source: upi)

McDonald’s customer tries to pay for meal with chips, single sock

drunk McDonald’s customer who tried to pay for his meal with a packet of potato chips and a sock ended up regretting his foolishness when it cost him hundreds of pounds and the chance to witness the birth of his child. Shamsher Butt, driving under the influence of alcohol, made a late-night run to the fast food chain in King’s Lynn, UK, earlier this month. According to a local daily, after drink driving to the drive-thru window, he tried to pay for his order by offering the McDonald’s employee a potato chip package. When that did not work, he offered him a sock. The employee told his colleagues to call the police and asked Butt to wait while he prepared his order. Once cops arrived at around 4.40 am in the morning, they administered a breathanalyser

test and found his blood alcohol level to be two-times the legal limit. Butt, 29, pleaded guilty to drink driving and told the police he had vodka at a nightclub before driving. He was then arrested and taken to jail the following day - the day when he was supposed to drive his wife to the hospital where she was giving birth to their baby. In mitigation, Alison Muir said, “He was in high jinks. His wife was going to give birth the following day. He was supposed to take her to hospital but he was in the police station.” Butt has now been asked to pay a fine of 120 pounds, along with 85 pounds in court costs and 35 pounds victim surcharge. He has also been banned from driving for 18 months. (Source: Foxnews)

Thief steals laptop, writes apologetic email to owner

thief has become an unlikely social media star after stealing a laptop and writing an apology note to the student he stole it from. A Twitter user who goes by the name Stevie Valentine shared a pic of the email that his flatmate received from the thief who stole his laptop - and the bizarrely endearing email has gone viral online. In the email, not only did the thief apologise profusely for stealing the laptop, he even offered to forward any assignments or university work that the student might have on the laptop. “I am very very sorry for taking your laptop I am extremely poor and needed the money,” read the unsigned email. “I left your phone and wallet so I hope that slightly makes up for something.” The thief then offered to forward any files such as university work that the poor exowner of the laptop might need. Since being shared online, the thief’s bizarre email with

its generous offer has managed to gain the sympathy of some, and the amusement of others. The tweet, posted yesterday, has already collected over 59,000 retweets and over 1.8 lakh ‘likes’. (Source: ndtv)

18 Review

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, etc. Director: Bryan Singer

Bohemian Rhopsody

Kavita Rabha

he Bryan singer helmed musical-biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ serves as a tribute to ‘Queen’ vocalist Freddie Mercury’s life as a musician and the genius of his musicianship, while also coping with his fluid sexuality and his struggle in acknowledging his attraction towards men, especially since he belonged to an orthodox Parsi family of Indian origin. The film documents the band’s meteoric rise from playing in small pubs in their native UK to headlining at the ‘Live Aid’ concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985, watched by two billion people worldwide. It follows the

okia 7.1 was launched in India on Friday. The smartphone features a PureDisplay panel as its primary highlight, supporting HDR10. Other Nokia 7.1 highlights include its dual rear camera setup with Zeiss optics and a 3,060mAh battery with 18W fast charging. The Nokia 7.1 price in India is set at Rs. 19,999 (recommended best buy price) for its 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant. Speaking of reasons why you'll maybe want to pick this phone up, it's also important to note that this is an Android One phone – that means stock Android, free from pointless tweaks and unwanted bloatware, and with a guarantee of speedy updates in the future.

Design:

The Nokia 7.1’s physical presence is just as important, though. It’s a fairly petite phone among Androids, similar in stature to the iPhone XS, but it looks and feels

metamorphosis of Farrokh Bulsara, a baggage handler at Heathrow airport, into Freddie Mercury, the charismatic front man of arguably the most popular rock n’ roll act of the 1980’s, ‘Queen’. The film chronicles Movie the life of Freddie Review Mercury in relation to his band, his myriad lovers, and also explores his relationship with Mary Austin (played compellingly by the very talented Lucy Boynton). Freddie’s vulnerability and his insecurities have been highlighted in the film and more often than not, he is depicted as a victim. It seems like a missed chance to exhibit the trademark flair, chutzpah and confidence which Freddie exhibited in his sporadic public appearances. Where the film falters is in its depiction of Freddie’s queer sexuality as one of his vices and insecurities, the real Freddie was always comfortable in his skin. The film shows Freddie’s rise and eventually, towards the latter stages, deals with his struggle with AIDS. The film also takes some liberties with the timeline as well (for instance, Queen had been actively touring before the ‘Live Aid’ concert and their hiatus had occurred earlier). The hair and make-up department must be lauded for their efforts as they have perfectly replicated the glamorous costumes and

hairstyles of the band members. The bright and vibrant colour palette and it’s distinct perioddrama style lends it an aesthetic appeal and the brilliance of the cinematography ensures that this film will go down as one of the most visually stunning films shot this year. The performances too have been performed with a certain nuance and the entire cast does a commendable job in bringing the rock ‘n roll era of the late-70’s and early 80’s to life. Rami Malek inhabits the skin of the embattled crooner with tremendous energy as well as emotional depth and has been able to capture the electrifying nature of Freddie’s live performances, to a large extent. “I want to give the audience a song that they can perform, so stomp to this beat and clap on the third beat”, says guitarist Brian May at one point in the film, laying the foundation for the iconic hit ‘We Will Rock You’. These snippets, which show how their iconic songs came into being, are the stand-out moments in the film. The climax at the ‘Live Aid’ performance is electrifying and will have you crooning along if you happen to be a fan of the band. In retrospect, the film is a feel-good affair which could have added a bit more depth by diving deeper into the world of ‘Queen’ and the enigma of Freddie Mercury. While Singer does depict the tale of a talented performer’s rise to lofty heights and his eventual fall from grace with technical dexterity, where he fails to convince is in Mercury’s depiction as a son, a lover, and a friend; in other words, as a human being. n

Nokia 7.1 HDR

expandable via microSD card (up to 400GB). Connectivity options on the Nokia 7.1 include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. You don't get anything fancy

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PureDisplay panel as its primary highlight, supporting HDR10. It sports a 5.84-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) PureDisplay panel with a 19:9 aspect ratio, HDR10 support, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. We

expensive and compromise-free. Nokia hasn’t opted for any Honor-like eye-catching finishes, instead relying on the combination of metal and glass, and bright silver highlights cut into the bevelled sides. The Nokia 7.1 looks very like a Motorola Moto One with a hint of flashiness.

Specifications:

The dual-SIM (Nano) Nokia 7.1 runs Android Oreo, based on the Android One programme, with an update to Android 9.0 Pie arriving over-the-air for buyers in India. The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM. There is 64GB of inbuilt storage,

Grande Cines

and clean, and you could be fooled into thinking this is a display from a much more expensive phone.

Camera:

In terms of optics, the Nokia 7.1 bears a vertically aligned pair of dual rear camera setup that consists of a 12-megapixel primary sensor, with autofocus and f/1.8 aperture, and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor with fixed focus and f/2.4 aperture. The company is also touting two-phase detection and Zeiss optics for the rear camera setup, apart from EIS. On the front, the handset sports an 8-megapixel fixed focus sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 84-degree field-of-view.

Verdict:

like an in-screen fingerprint scanner – the fingerprint scanner is around the back, as usual.

Display:

The smartphone features a

found the LCD display bright, sharp and perfectly good for watching movies or checking through emails (that 19:9 aspect ratio really gives you a lot of scrolling room). Colors are vibrant

With the Nokia 7.1, the brand continues its run of impressive mid-range phones carrying close-to-stock Android. While the phone has weaknesses, overall it offers better quality and features than you would expect at this price. n

Entertainment

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Assam’s scriptwriter receives award from Aamir Khan

ajdweep, a celebrated scriptwriter and lyricist from Assam, has won the fourth best prize for his script ‘Ishqology’ at the first edition of the Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Contest held in Mumbai on November 26. Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan gave away the award to Rajdweep. The contest saw entries from more than 3,500 aspiring screenwriters from across India, with a total prize amount was Rs 50 lakhs. Not only have the winners received their cash prizes, they will also get an opportunity to pitch their scripts to studios and production houses. Rajdweep received Rs 4 lakhs as prize money. “It’s a great moment for me to

receive the award from none other than Aamir Khan. I have been a big fan of Aamir Khan. Prior to this, I have never been to Mumbai and I always had the belief that I will come to Mumbai when the city would call me. I’m happy that it happened that way,” said Rajdweep. Rajdweep made his debut as a script-writer with ‘Khel – the Game’, an Assamese film by Ashok Kumar Bishoya in 2015. He has also penned a number of scripts for popular plays which have been staged across the state in various theatres. Additionally, he has also written songs for Konkona Sen Sharma directed ‘A Death in the Gunj’ and Anurag Basu directed Jagga Jasoos.’

‘Spring Thunder’ makes its India premiere at 6th Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival

he 6th Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival 2018 got underway at Pragjyoti ITA Centre in Guwahati from Wednesday, November 28. The opening film of the festival, Spring Thunder directed by Sriram Dalton observed its India Premiere at the festival. Sriram Dalton and lead actor of the film Ravi Shah addressed the opening day press conference. Tanushree Hazarika, Festival Director of Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival delivered the welcome address. Spring Thunder showcases the tussle between development and sustainability, in the context of rural India. The film is set up around the uranium mining region of erstwhile Bihar (now Jharkhand) and Chhattisgarh, and the crime, money, politics and rage that come associated with it. It showcases over 1 lakh tribals struggling to save their ‘water, land, and forest’ (jal, jangal and jameen).

National award winning filmmaker Sriram Dalton directed the film with ove r 200 cre w members in three years, during which he went to the region to highlight its issues. Renowned composer Lesle Luise has given the

music for the film. The film has been made in Hindi but encompasses four regional languages of eastern India, including the ancient tribal language Kuduk. During the festival, films from across India are being screened and the festival will culminate on 1st December. Film personalities such as Boman Irani, Shakun Batra, Shahnaab Alam, Ronnie Lahiri

and many others will take part in the 4-day festival. The schedule includes film screenings, interactive sessions, panel discussions, film quiz and more. Over the 4 days of the festival acclaimed films such as What Will People Say, Devil, Nani Teri Morni, Ralang Road, Rockumentary: Evolution of Indian Rock, Chor (The Bicycle), Endharor Bheta Bhangi... (Breaking the Cocoon), Do Cup Chai, Adi- At The Confluence, The Lost Idea, IYE : The Others will be screened. Anupam Kaushik Borah’s Assamese film, Bornodi Bhotiai, will be the closing film of the festival. The film is based on a man from Majuli, the river island, searching for a cure to his strangely prolonged cold. Four other men are in search of love, pursuing the same woman. The woman probably doesn’t know what to search for. Majuli, too, is searching for a cure to its own ‘cold’ - of flood and erosion caused by the Bornodi Brahmaputra.

2nd Guwahati International Guitar Festival to be held in city

he Directorate of Museums, Government of Assam is all set to organize the 2nd edition of Guwahati International Guitar Festival 2018 from December 20. The programme, to be organized at the Assam State Museum in Guwahati, will feature renowned guitarists Johannes Moller from Sweden, Thu Le & Lorenzo Bernardi from Italy, and Ricardo J Martins & Fernando Ponte. Johannes Moller, the winner of the GFA (Guitar Foundation of America) award in 2010, is a self-taught guitarist and prolific composer. He has earned popularity across global audiences with his lucid artistry. Originally from Vietnam and currently living in Bahrain, Thu Le began learning guitar from her father, Le Hanh, when she was four and at the age of seven, she entered the Hanoi National Conservatory of Music, now called the Vietnam Music Academy, where she studied for 15 years. Born in Trento, Bernardi graduated from Conservatorio FA Bonporti in Trento in 2015. Bernardi continued his studies with Emanuele Buono at the Conservatorio L Canepa in Sassari where he obtained his

Master. Bernardi studied at Conservatorio Manuel Castillo of Seville, Spain, under the guidance of internationally renowned guitarist Francisco Bernier. Ricardo J Martins was always influenced by various musical genres. It was through the Portuguese Guitar that he could truly express his musicality. Ricardo was struck by the music of Carlos Paredes, and his songs and this instrument naturally led him to his musical journey. Born in Faro (Algarve/ Portugal), Ponte started his musical studies in the Conservatório Regional do Algarve “Maria Campina” in 1989. He finished 8th grade in Classical Guitar with the teacher Eudoro Grade. Graduated in music, variant of execution, in the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, with Piñero Nagy. He has the master level in Music Teaching by ISEIT – Almada, Instituto Piaget. Posting a promo, the organisers on the social networking site Facebook stated: “Like last year, some of the masters of guitar and other nylon string instruments from across the world are coming to enthral us with their music, in this city on the bank of the river Brahmaputra.”

Assamese film ‘Jyoti and Joymoti’ at Bogota Short Film Festival

ssamese short fiction film ‘Jyoti and Joymoti’ has been selected for screening at the 16th Bogota Short Film Festival to be held in Bogota, Colombia from December 4 to 11. The film is produced, written and directed by Guwahati-based independent filmmaker Mehdi Jahan and stars Pratiksha Gogoi, Prashanta Bora, Aabha Bai, Rahul Rabha, K D Chandrakant, Dheeraj Chetia and Kriti Kamal Das. The short film has be e n creating a buzz in the national and

international film festival circuit. Fablelike and politically charged, Jyoti and Joymoti recently won the 12th National Award for Best Film-Short Feature at the prestigious SiGNS 2018 film festival held in Trichur, Kerala,

where some of the finest recent short films and documentaries from India competed for the top honours. ‘Jyoti and Joymoti’ got selected in the final list of 20 films by competing against 3924 films from 110 countries. The film will be screened in the International Competition Fiction Category at the festival. Out of 3,924 short films from 110 countries, only 20 made it to the International Competition Fiction category and Jyoti and Joymoti is the only Indian film in this category.

20 Fun

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Horoscope of the week Moon is the ruler of your 2nd House associated with finance and family. Rahu and Moon both will be in the 2nd House at the beginning of the week. This planetary position may tempt you to adopt unethical ways to make money. Avoid even the thought of doing something like that because Mercury, which is retrograde at the moment, can actually make you land in big trouble.

A strange aggression is likely to take charge of your mind this week. Instead of using your persuasive skills to put forth your point, you may resort to belligerent ways. Aggression has never taken anyone anywhere, says Ganesha. If you try to remain calm in every situation and work on your personality, the sky would be your limit.

With few monetary gains and unexpected expenses to make matters worse, you may have a slightly tough time managing your finances this week. Blame it on malefic Rahu’s transit through your 12th House in opposition to Saturn in your 6th. But you need not worry because now that you know all this is likely, you can save for this rainy day well in advance.

You may get lured by some illusive opportunity to earn fast money. However, soon you may realize the non-viability of this, basically, fruitless pursuit. So, go slow! The ruler of your Sign Mercury moves in the retrograde mode. Viewing this, it would be best to not jump at every new chance or take risks. Take time to review your strategies and identify lacuna in your current methodologies, says Ganesha.

Busy times are in the offing for you this week. While businessmen will be running after an important prospect (without much success thanks to Combust Jupiter and retrograde Mercury), those in a job will be bogged down by work pressure and your boss’ attitude. Since there doesn’t seem to be respite any soon, you are expected to remain calm.

Sun now traverses through your 2nd House, in company of combust Jupiter and retrograde Mercury. This does not paint a bright picture for monetary and family matters for you. Viewing this, Ganesha advises you to handle money matters cautiously; look for ways to reduce your expenses. Business person will be keen to go abroad to find opportunities for new trade.

Moon connects with Rahu in your 8th House, when the week begins. You may not be thinking straight. Approach everything with double care, till Tuesday. With Mercury in retrogression, anyway, it is time for reviewing and rethinking. This is not the time for result-oriented action. Sit back and reflect – identify the chinks in your armour, says Ganesha.

Partnership, personal and professional, might go through trying times this week, notifies Ganesha. In marriage, although you may try your very best to keep discords and misapprehensions at bay, problems will keep haunting your relationship. What’s expected of you two right now is keeping your egos aside and changing your attitude.

With a complex task in hand, you are likely to feel a little restless at the beginning of the week. But worry not for assistance will come from a senior colleague, whose tips will help you do a great job. As Mars is viewing Venus, which is moving through the 9th House, you may experience a strong urge to make a mark.

Moon is natural ruler of your 5th House. This zone also corresponds to gains from speculation. Moon now connects with malefic Rahu in your 5th House. Viewing this, you may be tempted to gain big money - by speculation, shares or lotteries.

Which popular character from the world of literature was born on 19th September 1979 and derived her first name from a character in William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale?” 2 Brothers Siddharth and Amitabh Barooah founded which famous heavy metal band of Guwahati in 2004? 3 Which former princely city of India, also known as the “Palace city of India” is located at the base of Chamundi hills and has Devi Chamundeswari as its patron Goddess? 4 Which popular liqueur was first distilled by Curt Mast in Wolfenbuttel, Germany in 1934 and literally means “Masterhunter?” 5 To prepare for this role, the actor moved to London where he had a dialect coach, a movement coach and took piano and singing lessons. For four hours each day, he studied videos of the character with his movement coach which included watching the 1985 Live Aid concert video on YouTube at least 1,500 times to perfect the performance for the movie. Name the character and the role. 6 Identify this recently deceased artist, creator of the Marvel Universe.

curio-city

6 5 4 8 3 2 7 1 6 4 6 2 4 1 5 9 8 1 3 8 3 6 9 7 7 3 9 1 9 2 7 5 4 1 9 3 6 2 7 1 5 2 8 7 2 6 4 3 2 9 6 3 very hard Daily Sudoku: Fri 30-Nov-2018

Daily Sudoku: Thu 22-Nov-2018

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6 last 5 9week 4 2 solution 8 1 3 7 3 2 8 1 5 7 4 9 6 2 3 5 8 7 9 1 4 6 4 1 7 9 6 3 8 2 5 8 7 4 6 1 5 9 2 3 8 9 2 5 7 1 3 6 4 1 9 6 4 3 2 7 8 5 1 3 5 6 4 9 2 7 8 5 2 7 3 4 1 8 6 9 7 6 4 8 3 2 9 5 1 6 4 9 2 8 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 3 1 5 7 8 9 5 99 64 26 71 42 53 88 31 7 7 28 46 65 14 83 99 75 13 2 4 1 2 9 6 8 3 5 very7hard Daily Sudoku: Fri 30-Nov-2018

7 6 8 1 5 3 4 9 2 Daily Sudoku: Thu 22-Nov-2018

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http://www.dailysudoku.com/

1. Hermione Granger of the Harry Potter Universe 2. Lucid Recess 3. Mysore 4. Jagermeister 5. Rami Malek, preparing for the character of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody 6. Stan Lee

curio-city

Sudoku

Business personnel and professionals are busy this week, but if possible, they must avoid travelling for work on Monday and Tuesday. Either, there may be some niggling troubles during short-term travel, or you may not get desired response from your valued customers/ associates – it would be better to reschedule, says Ganesha.

Word of the week serry verb [ser-ee] to crowd closely together.

Crossword Across

Down

5 Cocktail of whiskey and sweet vermouth (9) 8 Landlord’s income (4) 9 Dormant (8) 10 Go aboard (6) 11 E-book device (6) 13 Dab hand (6) 15 One who can’t be a chooser? (6) 16 Sheath for a sword (8) 18 Therefore (4) 19 Workable (9)

1 Hannibal’s home city (8) 2 Become smaller (6) 3 Assault (6) 4 Separate — role (4) 6 US state since 1912 (3,6) 7 Prestigious group of US universities (3,6) 12 Bedtime drink (8) 14 Hypnotic state (6) 15 Villain in film or story (6) 17 Brought into existence (4)

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

Garfield Garfield By Jim Davis

Rahu is moving through Capricorn in your 4th House. Moon, too, enters the 4th House this week and both these planets are now in opposition to Saturn in the 10th House. Dilemma over what to do, which direction to take, what choices to make, may prevail. You can find the right direction, assures Ganesha but for that you need to try a little harder be it in your job or business.

Last week’s solution

Lifestyle

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Color scheme for shops

Horses in the Sky I tried to reason with her rampaging thoughts on love she felt had passed her by, Like the fierce winds that make the fishermen afraid to venture out to sea, When the birds will go hungry again flying above empty nets left out to dry, Her tears write their own stories like rivulets, Chasing horses in the sky

When do you stop loving Someone who had touched your soul and mind with the magic of love That made you lose the roads into forests and crowds in the cities, And sounds not heard except that music of her laughter, A strange ebb and flow of waves dancing To welcome a new Sun chasing horses in the sky

In the ancient city of Athens, the cradle of the Gods, Were born stories that became myths for

hough there are four main directions, their intersections point to directions like northwest, southwest etc. These intersecting directions also have different effects both to their right and left. So 16 directions can be sub-divided which will have different Vaastu bearings. Some of them are overlapping directions. Offwhite or cream is a Vaastu neutral colour for all directions.

1. Vaastu colors for shops in the Northeast If the shop in the Northeast zone is balanced, then use any light shade of Blue. If the shop in Northeast is cut or low, then use any light shade of Silver Grey, White, or any Metallic colour. If the shop area at Northeast is extended, then use any light shade of Brown or Green colour.

2. Shops in the East of Northeast

If the shop area in East of Northeast is balanced, then use any light shade of Brown or Green colour. If the shop area in East of Northeast is cut or low, then use any light shade of Blue colour. If the shop zone at East of Northeast is extended, then use any light shade of Red, Pink, Orange, Violet, Purple, or Lilac colours.

3. Shops at East and East of Southeast

If the shop zone in East is balanced, then use any light shade of Brown or Green colour. If the shop zone in East is cut or low, then use any light shade of Blue colour. If the shop zone is East is extended, then use any light shade of Red, Pink, Orange, Violet, Purple, or Lilac colours. The colour

scheme for East is same that of East of Southeast.

4. Shop in Southeast and South of Southeast If the shop area in Southeast is balanced, then use any light shade of Red, Pink, Orange, Violet, Purple, or Lilac colour. If the shop zone in Southeast is cut or low, then use any light shade of Brown or Green colour. If the shop zone is Southeast is extended, then use any light shade of Yellow or Beige.

5. Vaastu colours for shops in South

If the shop area in South is balanced, then use any light shade of Red, Pink, Orange, Violet, Purple, or Lilac colour. If the shop zone in South is cut or low, then use any light shade of Brown or Green colour. If the shop zone is South is extended, then use any light shade of Yellow or Beige.

6. Vaastu colours for shops in Southwest and South of Southwest If the shop area in South of South West is balanced, then use any light shade of Yellow or Beige colour. If the shop zone in South of South West is cut or low, then use any light shade of Red, Pink, Orange, Violet, Purple, or Lilac. If the shop zone is South of South West is extended, then use any light shade of Silver, White, or Metallic Colour.

7. Vaastu colours for shops in West or West of Southwest If the shop area in West or West of

us today,

Southwest is balanced, then use any light shade of Silver, White, or Metallic colour. If the shop zone in West of Southwest is cut or low, then use any light shade of Yellow or Beige. If the shop zone is West of Southwest is extended, then use any light shade of Blue colour.

To marvel amongst the ruins once alive with crowds of children, Their Time of games would soon pass in the stadiums built

8. Vaastu colours for shop in Northwest or West of Northwest

To witness gory battles, with the fierce lions of the desert

If the shop in West of Northwest is balanced, then use any light shade of Silver, White, or Metallic colour. If the shop zone in West of Northwest is cut or low, then use any light shade of Yellow or Beige colour. If the shop zone is West of Northwest is extended, then use any light shade of Blue colour. The colour scheme for Northwest is same as that of West of Northwest.

9. Vaastu Colours for Shop in North or North of Northwest or North of Northeast

If the shop in North of Northwest is balanced, then use any light shade of Blue colour. If the living zone in North of Northwest is cut or low, then use any light shade of Silver, White, or Metallic colour. If the living zone is North of Northwest is extended, then use any light shade of Green or Brown colour. The colour scheme for North and North of Northeast is same as that of North of Northwest. Hemanta Kumar Sarmah Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

To feast on the losers, making A lonely child look up in pain At clouds chasing horses in the sky

I met her again years later in a tavern where cobbled Stone roads came to life, Like strangers greeting one another in the evening of their lives, As if long lost friends will meet again in the future, they cannot conceive of deathâ&#x20AC;Ś But her smile told me that the demons in her mind were stilled forever And she no Longer chased the horses in the sky...

Ranjan Kumar Choudhury

22 Buzz

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

GU teacher bags All India Best Media Educator Award

r Ankuran Dutta of Gauhati University (GU) has become the first from the northeast to bag the All India Best Media Educator Award. Dutta, who heads GU’s Communication & Journalism department, received the award

under the associate professor category at India International Centre in New Delhi. The award was given at the Media and Media Education Summit jointly organised by Exchange for Media, Business World and ABP News on November 22. Dr Ujjala Bharve of Pune

University and Dr Sanjay Ranade of Bombay University were the co-recipients of the award in the same category. Tezpur University professor of eminence Sunil Behera, who retired from Berhampur University, was also honoured. Dr Dutta dedicated the award to his wife, Late Dr Anamika Ray, who he said became a victim of ‘medical terrorism’. He was appreciated by more than 200 media educators and noted journalists of the country present during the daylong programme for leading a nationwide movement against ‘medical terrorism’ and his effort to include ‘right to health’ as one of the fundamental rights in the Constitution. The jury members included some of the top names in the field of media in the country. “Today is our 12th marriage anniversary. I dedicate the Best Media Educator of India award to my lovely wife Dr Anamika Ray as a token of love commemorating the day,” Dr Dutta said. n

Mega Job Fair held at RIST and USTM

he Regional Institute of Science & Technology (RIST) and University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) in association with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) & ICT Academy organized Mega Job Fair in the city on November 26. The job fair was exclusively organized for the Employability Enhancement Training Program (EETP) beneficiary students of all the AICTE approved institutions of North Eastern Region. Various renowned companies such as Bank Bazaar from Chennai, Health & Glow from Chennai, S10 from Shillong and Debamaitry ITES Consultancy from Guwahati participated in this Mega Job Fair to pick up engineers, developers and other graduates. Altogether 300 students from all over the northeast enrolled in this job fair and they appeared in the written tests and interviews

held at Techno City Campus, 9th Mile, Khanapara, Meghalaya. Overall 60 to 70 students were shortlisted in this job fair out of which 30 students were from RIST & USTM. All the respective HRs from the various companies elaborated detailed information about their

companies and job roles for which they require candidates. Narender Kumar, Coordinator of ICT Academy, Guwahati expressed his happiness for conducting this job fair. He thanked all the HRs for coming to this job fair and he also promised to conduct Mega Job Fair in the month of January, 2019. n

Awareness program on organ donation organised

ublee Foundation, on November 27, observed a special organ donation awareness programme by painting a wall with the message ‘deceased organ donation.’ The program marked the end of the Indian Organ Donation Month and observed the 9th Indian Organ Donation Day. Wall painting on ‘deceased organ donation’ was done to spread awareness. The paintings were done by artist Dusmanta Das on the wall which takes a turn towards Ulubari from TC Girls High School at Gauhati Club. To mark the occasion, a street play on ‘deceased organ donation’ was also performed by Zublee Baruah and students of NERIM in front of Cotton University and Gauhati

Commerce College. Speaking on the occasion, Zublee Baruah, founder of Zublee Foundation said, “We are hopeful that the message will reach people in the right manner and will have a positive impact. We are most grateful to Monalisa Goswami, Commissioner, GMC, Loni Borpatra Gohain, Collector, GMC and Chayanika Sarma, Principal, TC Girls’ High School, for their utmost support and encouragement.” “Zublee Foundation would like to thank each and every individual of our society, who has been supporting this noble cause all these years and also we hope that this support and cooperation continues forever,” she further added. n

Assam boy cracks Indian Economic Service Examination upam Talukdar of Pathsala in Assam has brought laurels to the entire state. Talukdar cracked the Indian Economic Service (IES)

The results of the IES examination were declared by the UPSC on Tuesday. Rupam Talukdar also secured first class first position in Economics in his

examination, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in the first attempt itself.

degree final examination from BH College in Barpeta in the year 2013. n

DPS Guwahati emerge champions in Inter School Cricket Tournament

elhi Public School (DPS), Guwahati emerged Kamrup district champions in the Inter School Cricket Tournament played under School Sports Promotion Foundation. In the final played at the Dispur Parade Ground on November 26, DPS posted a facile five-wicket victory against Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti.

Put in to bat, the Sarala Birla team managed to build up a challenging total of 169 for the loss of six wickets in their stipulated 35 overs. Tanuj Sharma was their leading scorer with 61 while Vivek Sandilya (32) and Pulkit Jain (30) were the other notable contributors. The DPS batsmen made good use of their skills and successfully reached the target in 32.2 overs. Abhishek Gupta

(44), Adwait Bajoria (36) and Anchit Dutta (28 not out) were their major contributors. Abhishek Gupta of DPS was adjudged man-of-the match. Brief scores: Sarala Birla 169/6 (Tanuj Sharma 61, Vivek Sandilya 32, Pulkit Jain 30; Victor Kashyap 2/22, Lokesh Ojha 2/41). DPS 172/5 (Abhishek Gupta 44, Adwait Bajoria 36, Anchit Dutta 28 not out, Nabaneel Paul 2/42). n

Events

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

Event: Social Saturday ft. DJ Evan Date: November 24, Saturday Venue: The Socialite

December 1, Saturday Bollywood Night ft. Ankita Arya G-Adda 7PM onwards December 1, Saturday Bollywood Shanivaar ft.

Zubeen Garg performing during the closing ceremony of Japorigog Ras Mahotsav on Thursday evening.

DJ Perisha The Socialite 8PM onwards December 1, Saturday Sunburn Club Night ft. RAY Xtreme Sports Bar 9PM onwards December 1, Saturday Hot Cue Hustle ft. Shanaya Terra Mayaa

Event: Unplugged Night ft. Swaran Dhaliwal

8PM onwards December 1,

Date: November 23, Friday

Saturday

Venue: G-Adda

Abhi Meer Live NYX Lounge and Deck 8PM onwards December 2, Sunday Acoustic Night ft. Swadhyay G-Adda 7PM onwards December 2, Sunday Bollywood Acoustic Night ft. Ravi The Socialite

Event: Acoustic Night ft. Risky Biscuit Date: November 23, Friday Venue: NYX Lounge and Deck

8PM onwards December 2, Sunday Sorabh Pant Live Celebration Hall, Novotel Hotel 7:30PM onwards

24 Catching Up

G PLUS | Dec 01 - Dec 07, 2018

PIC OF THE