Vol 6 Issue 9 by G Plus

@guwahatiplus www.guwahatiplus.com

INSIDE

Volume 06 | Issue 09 Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018 Price `10

Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in a shambles

Congress trying to run away from discussion in parliament over Rafale deal: Yogi Adityanath

PG. 6

PG. 7

2,000 families to get 24X7 water from January in JICA 1st phase

Kenny Basumatary in conversation with Swapnil bharali PG. 11

Guwahati under siege!!

After going through several rounds of delays, the much-awaited water supply project assisted by JICA is finally set to be partially commissioned next month Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

he long impending Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) assisted Guwahati Water Supply Project will finally see the light of the day in January. Officials mentioned that partial commissioning of the project will take place towards the end of next month. Talking to G Plus, managing director of Guwahati Smart City Limited, Siddharth Singh informed, “We are trying to get partial commissioning of the project done by the end of January. After the partial commissioning work, we will keep on adding more houses as the work progresses.” He added that additional houses will keep getting water connections as and when the pipelines get ready to deliver the water. In the initial phase, approximately 2,000 houses will be benefitted around the Pan Bazar and Fancy Bazar areas of the city. JICA is assisting a water supply project in the Northern Guwahati region as well as in South Central Guwahati; the project was initiated to ensure uninterrupted 24X7 water supplies to the

respective localities of the city. Officials said that the entire project is expected to be to be completed by 2020 approximately. The Northern Guwahati Water Supply Project is slated to provide 38 million litres of water per day (MLD) to North Guwahati, once completed. As per the authorities, the project consists of four major parts of construction. These include building the intake wells in the Brahmaputra River, construction of the water treatment plant, building of the reservoirs and finally the outlet network. Deputy Chairman of Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Mukuta Deka informed G Plus that the construction work for the water treatment plant has already been completed and water testing is currently underway at the plant. He also mentioned that construction of the Kamakhya reservoir is ongoing and will soon be completed. He further added, “Work is ongoing in full swing under the project at the moment and we are receiving daily updates and are closely monitoring the same. We are hopeful that households in Guwahati will begin getting water supply very soon.” n

Page 2

RELATED STORIES ON PG. 8 & 12

GMC to penalize for littering; move welcomed by citizens Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

ringing a much needed rule into force, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) will penalize people if they are found littering the streets. This is done as per Section 299 of the Guwahati Municipal Act 1971. The GMC order dated December 18, 2018 states that, “no person shall throw or place any rubbish, offensive matter or sewage on any street or in any place that is not earmarked for the purpose.” Additionally, it’s stated that “no person shall wilfully or negligently spill and litter in streets or any place within the jurisdiction of Guwahati

GMC Commissioner Monalisa Goswami | G Plus Photo

Municipal Corporation.” Now, anyone found throwing garbage on streets or littering any place shall be penalized as per Guwahati Municipal Corporation Act of 1971. “It is a noble idea and it's for Guwahati. We all need to work as a team to ensure a better, cleaner and brighter future for our city,” a city resident said, appreciating the efforts being taken by the GMC. Earlier, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) had also formed a special unit - Swachh Guwahati Squad - to act to stop littering, urinating and spitting at public places. This squad was also to check on those who throw garbage at public places and impose penalty for the same. n

Page 3

2 Lead Story Snippets Eminent vocalist Dipali Borthakur passes away

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Poor performance of contractors reason behind delay in water supply project From Page 1

ssam’s eminent vocalist Padma Shri Dipali Borthakur passed away on Friday, 21st December, at the age of 77 at Nemcare Hospital, Guwahati after a prolonged illness. It is to be mentioned that Borthakur received the fourthhighest civilian award of India, the Padma Shri, in 1998. Her songs are sung mainly in the Assamese language and she is known as the “Nightingale of Assam.” She is survived by her husband, eminent painter Neel Pawan Baruah. “The Assam Government will provide a state level farewell to this great soul,” said Naba Kumar Doley, Minister for Culture Affairs.

GuwahatiNorth Guwahati commuters get their second ferry

he ferry commuter of Guwahati-North Guwahati gets a breather with the arrival of the second ferry for the people. The 30-meter-long vessel costing Rs 2 crores has a capacity to carry 60 people, 70 motorcycles and 4 cars in one trip. The new ferry service will be operational from January 2019 and would take eight minutes to complete one trip on either way of Guwahati and North Guwahati.

APSC Prelims 2018 on 30th December

he Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination, 2018 conducted by the Assam

Public Service Commission (APSC) is scheduled to be held on 30th December in 122 venues across 31 district headquarters of Assam.

hrowing some light on the reasons behind the consecutive delay in completion of the project, managing director of Guwahati Smart City Limited, Siddharth Singh mentioned that poor performance by contractors was the primary reason for the delay. “Some of the contractors had to be terminated. Additionally, one or two contractors had gone bankrupt. This caused a lot of delay in completion of the works,” Singh told G Plus. He added that along with the poor performance of contractors, certain land issues had also cropped up. These included the limited availability of land and limited working season. The total project cost is estimated to be around Rs 1,450 crores. Out of this, around Rs 1,300 crores comes as a loan from JICA and the rest from the state government. Apart from the contractor issues, interference by locals in certain areas also hindered the smooth functioning of

Pipeline laying work in progress was a common sight in the city until recently | G Plus Photo the project. The locals had earlier threatened that if they were not involved in the construction process, they will not let the

work be completed. They expressed their demand to supply construction materials to the sites. However, the matter was resolved later.

The physical work of the water supply project began during the first half of 2012 and was supposed to be completed in 28 months. n

Water scarcity a perennial problem in the city

ater scarcity has been a major issue for the residents of the city. G Plus had conducted a survey called “Let’s Talk Guwahati” earlier this year which revealed that four out of every ten houses in the city do not have a water connection, while half of those who have water connection do not receive sufficient water supply from different government agencies. In the survey, more than 10,000 people from over 100 locations in the city were asked about the various issues they face in the city. While 40 per cent of the respondents said that they did not have a water connection in their house, 48.3 per cent of the participants said that they receive insufficient water supply from the various government agencies responsible for supplying water. These departments are Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC),

People still using natural water resources in many parts of Guwahati | G Plus Photo Guwahati Metropolitan Drinking Water & Sewage Board (GMDW & SB) and Public Health Engineering department. The water scarcity problem becomes worse during the winters. Residents of various areas of the city like the RG Baruah Road

(commonly known as Zoo Road) and Christian Basti area have to depend on private water suppliers to fulfil their daily water requirements. Experts say that the main cause for concern is the depleting underground water level which is

decreasing day by day. “Metropolitan cities such as Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai, also face water crisis but there the governments are actively involved in providing relief to the residents,” Debajit Borah, a Guwahati-based builder informed G Plus. He added that the Assam government, too, should follow their footsteps and provide water facility to areas with low levels of ground water. “The city needs to be properly planned and developed by the authorities so that the increasing number of housing complexes can be sustained in a proper manner. The government should think of building some infrastructure for water related projects,” said Borah. Another city-based builder mentioned that an average individual requires 150 litres of water for consumption on a daily basis. n

Cover Story

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

GMC organises cleanliness awareness drive in city, urges people not to litter From Page 1

ith a view to create awareness about cleanliness and hygienic, the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) organised an awareness drive in the city on Friday, December 21. The drive that kicked off from ABC Bus Stand on GS Road concluded at Gauhati Club.

Gohain, Associate Town Planner Deepak Bezbaruah and Executive Engineer of GMC Manojit Bujarbaruah among others. Stressing on the significance of the campaign, Commissioner Monalisa Goswami said, “Our workers take a lot of effort to clean the city every morning. Yet, within minutes, the city again gets filled with garbage. I urge everyone to not litter the streets, not spit on the roads and definitely not urinate on the footpaths.”

GMC Cleanliness awareness campaign in progress | G Plus Photo Officials from the GMC along with municipality workers distributed pamphlets among the citizens and urged them not to make the city their canvas by spitting paan masala and guthka everywhere. They emphasised on the need to keep the city clean and beautiful by throwing garbage and plastic bottles in the dustbins and not on the roads. The awareness program was addressed by GMC Commissioner Monalisa Goswami, Additional Commissioner of GMC Deba Kumar Mishra, Chief Engineer of GMC Tasdiqur Rahman, GMC Collector Loni Borpatra

In the same vein, Md Nurul Islam, a daily wage municipality worker expressed, “I collect garbage everyday from 6 AM to 1 PM but the amount of garbage just doesn’t seem to lessen. I’m here to request all residents of the city, especially the bus and cab drivers, to stop spreading litter.” The municipality officers and labourers also displayed placards carrying basic messages on how to keep the city clean including “Use green bin for wet waste,” “Use blue bin for dry waste,” “Do not spit anywhere and everywhere” and “Cleanliness is the home to happiness.”

Snippets 68 year old man from Germany reaches Assam on foot

uno Jakob (68), from Germany, reached Assam on foot on 19th December. Kuno is a farmer by profession but since the last one and a half years he has started travelling around the world on foot only with his stuff inside a piece of two-wheeler luggage. He said, “I have started my journey one and a half years ago on foot and meanwhile I have covered 14,000 km, including 15 countries and 13 states of India.” Now he has reached a remote area of Barpeta. His next plan is to visit Myanmar through Guwahati along with the seven sisters of the

northeast. Further, he added, “Before going back to Europe I would visit Myanmar, Indonesia, Australia, South America, and North America and the secret of my lifestyle is walking.”

This awareness drive was a part of the “I Love Guwahati” campaign which the GMC had launched with the intention to

create awareness in the city on the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. These awareness drives are one of the steps that

GMC has taken to promote and propagate the idea of “Swachhata” (cleanliness) in the city. n

4 Governance

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Clearing the air about recent farm loan waivers and Assam govt’s decision Not everything is about helping farmers as ruling governments waive off this loan or that and sometimes it can be easily misunderstood. But, yes, for political parties these exchequer-breaking populist measures are all about gaining more votes and more power. to link them to proper markets. This has resulted in farmers’ discontentment and a lot of protests were seen all over the Hindi-heartland. This agrarian turmoil led to the rural population turning towards the Congress which at least had promised to waive off the loans if they come to power. This was a well-played move by the Congress president as regular reports have been coming of farmers having to destroy their crops due to unavailability of markets. One more card used by the Congress was repeated mention of farmers’ suicide in various states related to loan payments. Other states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have already announced farm loan waivers.

Chetan Bhattarai

Loan waiver spree

On December 17, after the swearing-in ceremony, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Kamal Nath signed an order for waiving farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh. The order said, “The Madhya Pradesh Government has taken a decision to write off short-term crop loan of eligible farmers up to the limit of Rs 2 lakhs as on March 31, 2018, from nationalised and cooperative banks.” Given the fact that Madhya Pradesh is largely agrarian (70%) in nature, the burden on the state will be massive. We are yet to know the exact amount that the state is going to lose fulfilling this election promise. Interestingly, as of now, the Madhya Pradesh government has not finalised the eligibility criteria for the farmers and a 22-member committee has been set up for implementation. This waive off by Kamal Nath was after Congress President Rahul Gandhi had announced during the recent election campaign that they would waive the farm loans within 10 days of coming to power in the state. The very next day, news started flowing in the media that the Gujarat government has waived off farmers' electricity bills amounting to Rs 625 crores. Another news story that followed immediately was, Assam government’s decision to waive loans amounting to Rs 600 crores with a maximum waiver of Rs 25,000. Both Gujarat and Assam are BJP-led governments and these decisions seemed to be influenced by the recently concluded assembly elections where they lost power. Next in the line were Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan who took a similar decision as promised in the Congress election manifesto. Rajasthan’s loan waiver would cost Rs 8,000 crores to the state’s exchequer and Chhattisgarh’s would cost Rs 6,100 crores.

Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma explains to Rahul Gandhi over twitter

On 18th December, Congress President Rahul Gandhi took to social media and tweeted, “The Congress party has managed to wake the CM’s of Assam &

Assam Government’s schemes to help the farmers

A beautiful paddy field on the outskirts of Guwahati, Minister HB Sarma (inset) | G Plus Photo Gujarat from their deep slumber. PM is still asleep. We will wake him up, too.” Next day, on 19th December, the finance minister of Assam, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, came up with a press conference where he explained the Assam government's decision to help the farmers. He later used Twitter to tell Rahul Gandhi that the Congress president had misunderstood the Assam government's decision on farm loans. “Rahul Ji, Assam Govt. has not announced any debt waiver scheme. We are offering 25% subsidy on short-term agricultural loan along with full interests subvention. These schemes will continue unlike a one-time loan waiver. Completely opposite to your idea,” tweeted Dr Sarma. He further slammed the Congress president with another tweet, “And we are announcing these schemes to commemorate 125 years of the agrarian uprising against the British in Pathorughat in 1894 (I announced these in my budget 10 months ago). You have failed to respect our sentiments by

linking it to petty politics.” Not only the finance minister, the chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, too, blasted Rahul Gandhi on Twitter. “Mr Gandhi, this attempt to take credit on an issue that is related to the livelihood & development of farmers is quite frivolous. You have no moral right to talk about Assam or its farmers. Everyone knows how your successive Govts in Assam looted the resources meant for farmers,” replied the CM to Gandhi’s tweet.

Gujarat’s Rs 625 crore waiver is about unpaid electricity bills by farmers

Let's talk about the Gujarat government's decision which came immediately after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath wrote off the loans. The Vijay Rupani-led BJP government’s story is about waiving off electricity bills and not related to farm loans directly. Gujarat energy minister Saurabh Patel said that the Rs 625 crore waiver would benefit 6.22 lakh people whose electricity connections were cut off due to power theft and non-

payment of bills. “We had snapped electricity connections of over 6.20 lakh people from rural areas for not paying the energy bills in time. The amount of unpaid bills stands at Rs 625 crores. Now, our government has decided to waive this entire bill amount,” explained Patel. So, it means this is not exactly a farm loan waiver but a step by the Gujarat government to help out the farmers in the state to continue enjoying the use of electricity on farm lands. Albeit, the farmers will have to make a one-time settlement to the tune of Rs 500 to avail the benefits, irrespective of the due amount, including principal and interest.

Harvest season for the Congress The Congress had included the farm loan waiver in its election manifesto. Rahul Gandhi campaigned on this agrarian weakness and is now reaping the dividends with Congress governments in three states. Farmers are in distress due to over production and the failure of the erstwhile governments

According to Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, these schemes were included in his budget in March 2018, and are not influenced by MP, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat's move. He stated that the scheme is not like the Congress governments which are one-time waivers. When asked about the timing, Dr Sarma said that these things do take some time and there was no connection with national politics. As per Dr Sarma, the Assam government will spend under three schemes and the idea is to help improve the interaction of the farmers with the banks. “The schemes are to help the farmers repay the debts and continue using the banks for further advancement.”

The three schemes are: 1. 2. 3.

Assam Farmers’ Credit Subsidy Scheme Assam Farmers’ Interest Relief Scheme Assam Farmers’ Incentives Scheme

All the three schemes will be launched in the second week of January.

Governance

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Swachh ranking for hotels, hospitals, schools, RWAs & markets in Guwahati G Plus News

n order to encourage cities to improve urban sanitation, Swachh Survekshan 2019 will be conducted across the country. Swachh Survekshan is an annual exercise conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India to determine the cleanest city ranking of all cities in India. The objective of the survey

creating cleaner cities. As a part of this major exercise, Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has launched its own “I Love Guwahati” campaign in the city to create awareness and drive citizen participation. Amongst the various activities like waste management workshops in schools and colleges, outdoor promotion, cleanliness drives, etc, GMC is pleased to announce the launch of

GMC officials during an awareness drive on cleanliness at a school in Guwahati | G Plus Photo is to encourage large-scale citizen participation, ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage-free and open defecation-free cities, provide credible outcomes which would be validated by third party certification, institutionalize existing systems through online processes and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in. Additionally, the survey also intends to foster a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens, towards

its own Swachh Competition initiative wherein, the major hotels, hospitals, schools, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) and markets in Guwahati will be surveyed and ranked for sanitation, cleanliness and adherence to solid waste management norms. The basic criteria for evaluation will be placement of twin bin (green & blue),

Snippets Four child labourers rescued in Guwahati

orchuk Police and workers from an NGO, “Bachpan Bachao” rescued four children earlier today. They were working as labourers at a local restaurant on NH 37. The rescued children hail from Bihar and are currently with the Sishu Kalyan department in Guwahati. It is to be mentioned that a large number of children in and around Guwahati are being employed at local places of business. However, the concerned departments are yet to get an actual count on the same and initiate requisite action. The Labour and Employment Department has lodged a formal FIR against the employers at the Gorchuk Police station.

waste segregation within the premise, waste processing facility viz, composting, etc for bulk waste generators, basic cleanliness & sanitation and separate toilet facilities for men, women and differently-abled citizens. “I request all stakeholders in the five categories to support this

exercise and ensure adherence in and around their premises. In the next 2 weeks, Guwahati Municipal Corporation will conduct inspections and surveys to evaluate and rank these institutions,” said Monalisa Goswami, Commissioner, Guwahati Municipal Corporation.

GMC has constituted separate teams to carry out this inspection exercise and has also roped in NGOs and sanitary workers to help with this exercise. The results will be announced in the 1st week of January 2019 and the winners will be given certificates by GMC. n

6 City Snippets Guwahati poet’s work to be translated into Italian

oet, lyricist and columnist, Saikh Md Sabah al-Ahmed’s collection of 10 English poems have been selected for translation into Italian. The poems will be published in a popular publication, Frequenze Poetiche in the January 2019 issue. Italian writer and poet Girogio Moio will translate the poems. Al-Ahmed teaches English and Social Science at Don Bosco School, Panbazar. Al-Ahmed is the author of three books Tranquil Musings – Collected Poems, Contemporary Chronicles – Polity, Society & Culture (2012) and Past of the Present – A Historical Quest (2012). He is currently working on the biography of Dr. Mamoni Raisom Goswami titled ‘The Crimson Enchantress’. Before Al-Ahmed, another Guwahati-based poet, Arunav Barua’s poems were translated into Italian.

iPhone Exchange offer in Guwahati by InTouch

nTouch Guwahati has kickstarted its Grand Exchange offer in Guwahati. The fest started earlier last week and will continue until the next few weeks. The offer is exclusively available for iPhone users where customers can avail heavy discounts as they exchange their old iPhone for the new. The exchange offer is valid for all iPhones and will be valued based on its date of purchase (verified using IMEI) and the condition of the phone. The best part is that there is no exchange limit and the rates will be offered on the condition of the phone. Customers will be entitled to flat cash back on the purchase of a new iPhone from InTouch, Guwahati. The much sought after iPhone X first went on sale in India on November 3 last year with a price tag that left even die-hard Apple fans out of breath. However, this is a bit of a respite for iPhone fans here! In Touch retail stores in Guwahati is a one stop shop for smartphones, tablets, accessories, and repair services. In Touch, works as a preferred MI Partner in Northeast India. In Touch is also the authorized retailer for Bose products and other premium brands such as Apple, One Plus, Go Pro action camera, Devialet Phantom speakers, 1 More, Marshall and Harman/Kardon among others.

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in a shambles Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

he hub of all major cultural activities in Guwahati, Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra located in Panjabari, is fast losing its attraction due to its deplorable condition. The cultural institution - named after the medieval poet-playwright and reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva - includes a cultural museum, library and various facilities for preserving, demonstrating and performing cultural items, besides a children’s park. It was built in the 1990s with the aim to make it the hub of northeast India’s cultural congregation. Yet, the age-old items present in museums lie in a dilapidated state. Visitors feel that Kalakshetra has started to lose its charm. Many of the glass boxes meant to preserve historical items have developed cracks or have shattered over time and have remain unchanged; several casings holding artifacts at the Purbajyoti Museum have discolored and caught some sort of fungus making them look very unappealing. Also some of the objects of cultural significance have started to discolor and develop cracks. “Kalakshetra is visited by hundreds of locals as well as tourists on a daily basis. Such an important institution should

Run down vehicles attached to the Kalakshetra gathering dust | G Plus Photo be well-maintained by the government but I feel like they’re only concerned with exterior beautification,” Harshita Garg, a resident of Guwahati said, speaking to G Plus. Further, in the library, there are more books lying outside the book cabinets than inside them. The unique library that houses rare books and manuscripts on the folk literature and cultural heritage of Assam continues to be in a state of

neglect. While hundreds of books lie on the floor unmanaged and the study tables meant for visitors to have a good reading experience are piled with heaps of books, the book shelves remain empty. Even the doll museum located near the children’s park at Kalakshetra has lost its cultural significance, feel visitors. The museum is filled with modern dolls like Ploto, Cindey Doll and Tina Doll made of fur that does not seem to have any

relevance with Assam’s culture or heritage. “Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra is supposed to be a cultural heritage but I feel that we’re losing our culture to modernization. It’s really disgraceful to see modern day stuffed toys and toy cars on display at the doll section of the Kalakshetra. They’re taking away the charm,” expressed a visitor of the Doll Museum at the Kalakshetra. n

Developmental works ongoing at Kalakshetra

he Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra is currently undergoing major renovation. As soon as one enters the cultural hub, one can smell the scent of fresh paint and see men at work repairing the water bodies. You go further inside and see solar panels getting installed atop the International Convention Centre and Srimanta Sankaradeva International Auditorium. Presently, installation of 300 watt solar panels is ongoing at the Kalakshetra. The project is being carried out under the ministry of renewable energy and is expected to be completed by January 2019, officials informed G Plus. The Kalakshetra has a total of

six water bodies which are also currently undergoing facelifts; they’re being repaired, painted and fitted with musical fountains. The sound and light show will depict stories based on the puranas, an ancient Indian literature. The installation of a 20 feet tall bronze statue of Srimanta Sankaradeva right in the middle of the park is also underway. Additionally, Kalakshetra is coming up with a museum on the life, activities, ideals and the eternal message of Vaisnavite saint Srimanta Sankaradeva. The endeavor of the museum would be to portray the life of the saint, the performing art forms initiated by him, the literary contributions, philosophical views, teachings,

Solar panels being installed at Sankaradeva Kalakshetra | G Plus Photo art and craft among others. “The international museum will be equipped with state-ofthe-art facilities and a hologram projector to showcase the works of Sankaradeva. It’s being set up in a seven-storey building spread across a 10 bigha plot of land,” the civil engineer of Kalakshetra informed G Plus. He further added that the works of the museum is expected to be completed in 3-4 years and upgradation works of the Bhupen Hazarika Museum

are to begin soon. However, while developmental projects are on, it seems they’re being done only for cosmetic beautification. Visitors opine that instead of focusing on preserving the age-old items present in the museums, the authority is more focused on the superficial development of the Kalakshetra. “It’s high time that the authority starts focusing on maintenance of existing property or the Kalakshetra would lose its purpose soon,” Garg expressed. n

Politicking

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Congress trying to run away from discussion in parliament over Rafale deal: Yogi Adityanath Chetan Bhattarai

hief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, addressed a press conference in Guwahati on Monday afternoon on the controversial Rafale deal. The press conference was one of the 70 conferences that the Bharatiya Janata Party organised across the country on Monday where BJP leaders and chief ministers took the BJP’s stand on the issue to the public. Coming directly to the point, Adityanath accused the Congress of spreading lies and illusions in the minds of the common people. He blamed the Congress for taking the security concerns of the country for a ride. “We all know that Congress is the oldest political party in India. So we expect that they should talk sense about the country and its security concerns and issues. They should avoid such propaganda about something that involves the defence and armed forces of the country. But the Congress has adopted a policy in which they are repeating a lie a hundred times to make it sound like the truth. And we are going to nail this lie of the Congress, which has now come out in the public domain after the recent verdict of the Supreme Court of India (SC). The SC has cleared its stand on the Rafale deal and has quashed the PILs based on which Rahul Gandhi and company were spreading lies across the country,” said the chief minister during the press conference. Adityanath questioned the intentions of Congress President Rahul Gandhi in trying to question the Supreme Court’s

The PILs in the Supreme Court were based on the process, deal price and offshore partners and the SC found no problem with any of these. The most important thing is the lie that the Congress has tried to peddle showing its leadership qualities in poor light.

In 2014, when the BJP came to power under PM Narendra Modi, we tried to fulfil the requirement and the demand of the defence forces and put into place a transparent mode, in which, for the Rafale procurement, a government-togovernment deal was done and the buying process was pushed. The Supreme Court has approved of these quality and requirement needs of the government

Yogi Aditynath addressing his press conference in Guwahati | G Plus Photo observation and blaming BJP of misrepresenting the facts in the apex court. “The PILs in the Supreme Court were based on the process, deal price and offshore partners and the SC found no problem with any of these. The most important thing is the lie that the Congress has tried to peddle showing its leadership qualities in poor light,” explained Adityanath. He went on to blame the 10-year UPA rule headed by the Congress for not looking after the defence requirements of the country due to which the army was facing a lot of constraints to keep up with the latest developments across the borders. “We all know that after the Kargil war in 1999, the armed forces requested the governments of those times to augment modernisation. From 2004 to 2014, the UPA ruled the country and in those ten years they could not take strong steps on the modernisation front, especially the air force. It was ageing and there were serious concerns. This process started in 2007 and till 2014, the UPA just sat over it.

The Congress has played with the security of this country and so the party and its functionaries should ask for forgiveness from the countrymen for such negligence,” said Adityanath. Speaking about middlemen being a part of almost all the defence deals during the Congress tenure, Adityanath argued that middlemen in defence deals is now history under BJP rule. “During Congress rule, whenever there was a defence deal there was a mediator. Especially, we all know about Ottavio Quattrocchi and also it is clear that he was close to the Congress leadership. Recently, a middleman Christian Michel was arrested due to the pressure by the Indian government. All defence deals involving middlemen during the Congress regime raise questions on the Congress leadership and the way it goes on with its business of something sensitive like a defence deal. Keeping in mind the 4th and 5th generation fighters of neighbouring countries our air force has been asking for Rafale type fighters. As from 2007 to

2014, the UPA could not decide on the air force’s needs there must be some Quattrocchi or Michel as agents involved for such delays.” Adityanath spoke about the transparency in process in defence deals that he claimed has now been introduced by the BJPled government. “In 2014, when the BJP came to power under PM Narendra Modi, we tried to fulfil the requirement and the demand of the defence forces and put into place a transparent mode, in which, for the Rafale procurement, a government-to-government deal was done and the buying process was pushed. The Supreme Court has approved of these quality and requirement needs of the government,” added Adityanath. Attacking Congress President Rahul Gandhi of trying to disrespect both the security of democracy and the apex court’s view, Adityanath demanded Gandhi’s resignation for being negligent towards the security concerns of the country. He also accused Gandhi of running away from any discussion on Rafale. Adityanath said, “The Congress

should respect the democratic values. The president of the party should resign for spreading wrong information. Naturally, the security of the country had been neglected by the Congress. It is unfortunate that the president himself is saying that they don’t agree with the Supreme Court and the court has been misled. Congress has the habit of disrespecting the constitutional institutions of the country and they are trying to cover the truth but in India we have the term ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (Truth Prevails).” Yogi Adityanath challenged the Congress to engage in a discussion in the parliament over the Rafale deal. “We have already given our clarification that the government is ready to discuss it in the parliament. Congress is running away from this discussion as they fear that this discussion will show their true colours to the general public and are thus avoiding it. Their strategy is to be adamant and question the transparency and the process ignoring the Supreme Court’s observation thereby showing distrust in the democratic process of this country. The Augusta helicopters deal and other defence deals will come out in open once the discussions start, so they are trying to run away from this, but we are going to uncover their lies,” concluded Adityanath. n

8 In The News Snippets Low-cost air ambulances from Guwahati to Kolkata soon

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

BJP’s ‘Cong office gherao’ march without permission; police fails to enforce Sec 144 G Plus News

uwahati is all set to get lowcost air ambulance service from Guwahati and Kolkata in the coming months. The air ambulances will be started by Vedanta and will comprise all state-of-the-art facilities and life support including an advanced ventilator, respirator, defibrillator, suction pump, oxygen cylinder, cardiac monitor and portable power supply on our air ambulances. This apart, the newest facility aboard the ambulances would be a CAT 3C navigation system that would enable the air ambulance to fly and land in dense fog and adverse weather conditions. Additionally, a medical team comprising specialist doctors and paramedics would also be present in the ambulances. Further, on-call assistance and constant feedback will be provided to the relatives till the patient is shifted to the destination city hospital or home.

Assam’s tableau for Republic Day rejected by union ministry

he union ministry of defence has rejected Assam’s tableau for Republic Day celebrations which is held every year in New Delhi on the occasion of Republic Day. According to reports, the reason for rejecting this year’s tableau was “misinterpretation of the theme.”

hile to all appearances the city police have done well to avert a major brawl between the workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress Party on 19th December when the BJP wanted to gherao the Congress party’s office located at Rajiv Bhawan in Bhangagarh, it surely failed to enforce Section 144 which was imposed in the city recently. The gherao was planned to protest against Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s alleged derogatory remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his role in the Rafale deal. Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, Pradeep Saloi talking to G Plus said, “All the parties violated Section 144.” He talked to G Plus on 21st December

when the Congress activists burnt effigies of Assam BJP president Ranjit Dass and chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal; he was referring to both BJP and Congress. The commissioner also reiterated that none of the political parties took the requisite permission from the district administration which otherwise is a mandatory requirement for holding rallies, public meetings, processions etc. The police claimed that on 19th December, the BJP took out the rally from Hengrabari and before reaching Bhangagarh, the procession was stopped by the police. But the rally was so huge that entire city came to a standstill. In brief, “Section 144 confers powers to issue an order absolute at once in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger.” An IPS officer said, “Anyone violating the order could be arrested by the police.”

But in Guwahati nothing of that sort happened and the city police did not arrest anyone. As the 2019 elections are just around the corner, the police need to gear up because more such rallies may be expected until the elections take place. Even before the legislative assembly elections of 2016, there was a major brawl near Rajiv Bhawan between BJP and Congress workers that led to a number of arrests. These processions even affect the city negatively. A shopkeeper in Ganeshguri said, “The BJP workers were very aggressive and blocked the entire road. The traffic police were not there to control the traffic or even stop the BJP workers.” A commuter, who travels from Zoo Road to Lokhra every day and takes around 30 minutes to do so, took around four hours on 19th December. Similarly, the entire city suffered and no one from BJP was arrested.

An IPS officer talking to G Plus in condition of anonymity

said, “If the police want they can arrest anyone during such situations when Section 144 is implemented but it did not happen because the BJP is in power and the police will think twice before arresting anyone who is in power.” Incidents like this demonstrate a new low on the part of political parties and the efficiency levels of the local administration. The political parties have started a new aggressive approach for winning elections coming out on to the roads at the slightest pretext thereby bringing the entire city to a standstill. And the local administration and police, as usual, have failed to control the political parties. The police do not arrest the political workers who are in power and Guwahati remains chaotic with the failure of the traffic department and the administration. n

‘Scared’ BJP allows agencies to spy on computers ahead of 2019 elections

he union home secretary issued an order on 20th December last that states that 10 agencies have been conferred with powers of interception, monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer. Earlier, only the home ministry could scan calls and emails of people. The new order gives the power to the Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, CBI, National Investigation Agency, Cabinet Secretariat (Research and Analysis Wing), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (in Jammu and Kashmir, northeast and Assam only) and the Delhi Police

Commissioner. If the service provider or any person in charge of the computer resource refuses to reveal information to these agencies, they can face seven years in jail and a fine. The union government’s decision of surveillance was slammed by the opposition and the Congress claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “scared,” and is therefore trying out various strategies before the 2019 elections. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) leader Pradyut Bordoloi, talking to G Plus said, “Even before Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India, he and Amit Shah used to snoop on individuals. They are past masters of the game. Now, as they are in power, they are trying to infringe on

the liberty and the individual rights of the people of India.” He also said that they have been snooping on the opposition leaders and people who they think are opposed to their (BJP’s) actions and thought process. Now, as the Lok Sabha elections are around the corner, the BJP is giving it a legal shape so that everyone could be legally spied upon, expressed Bordoloi. Meanwhile, the ministry of home affairs (MHA), on Friday, clarified that its stand on its recent order authorising 10 agencies to snoop on any computer in the country in the interest of national security is based on the UPA-era IT Act and the IT Rules 2009 that allows for surveillance by a competent authority and said all cases of surveillance will be placed

before a review committee headed by the cabinet secretary. The MHA said that the 20th December order doesn’t confer any new powers to any of the security or law enforcement agencies, and that the notification was issued to notify the internet service providers (ISPs), telecom service providers (TSPs) and intermediaries, etc, to codify the existing orders. Contrary to the accusations, the MHA said that the order, in fact, ensures that due law is followed during any interception, monitoring or decryption of information through any computer resource. The government might claim that it is for national security, but the question remains as to why such a step has been taken just ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. n

Weather report for the week Guwahati

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SATURDAY Sunny

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In The News

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

3rd ‘Dwijing Festival’ from 27th Dec - 7th Jan G Plus News

he 3rd edition of the Dwijing Festival was officially announced on 19th December, in a press conference held at Novotel, Guwahati. The festival will commence from 27th December 2018 and will continue till 7th January 2019. The press conference was graced by minister of tourism, Chandan Brahma and chairman, Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), Jayanta Malla Baruah. The 12-day event will witness audiences from all sections of the society and will include the both national and international guests. Speaking on the occasion, Chandan Brahma, said, “We are extremely glad to announce the 3rd edition of the Dwijing Festival. This festival was started in 2016 with an aim to promote

Chandan Brahma (R) addressing the media | G Plus Photo the local tourism and culture of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). Today, when we have reached the 3rd edition of the festival, we plan to make it one of

Snippets Assam Boards 10th & 12th date sheet 2019 released

he Assam state board has released the annual examination schedule for the Class 12 and Class 10 board exams 2019. The Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) which conducts the Class 10 examination in Assam announced that the

Tunnels to accommodate railway tracks at Deepor Beel stretch in Guwahati

examination will be held from February 14 to March 2, 2019. The exams will be held at 857 centres across the state, where about 3.53 lakh students would appear. The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) which conducts the Class 12 examination released the schedule for the 2019 board exams. The class 12 board exam 2019 would be held from February 12 to March 14, 2019. The students can visit the official website of the respective board sebaonline.org for Class 10 and ahsec.nic.in for Class 12 - to check and download the date sheet.

he Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has prepared a proposal for construction of two tunnels on the southern stretch of railway track running through the Deepor Beel area. After a detailed survey of the Deepor Beel area to check the feasibility of constructing a railway tunnel between Gates No. 273 and 274 on the south bank rail track running through the water body NRF prepared a proposal, along with a working drawing for permanent mitigation of the problem and submitted it to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden of the state and all the concerned departments. As per the project, two tunnels, having a length of 570 metres each for accommodating the rail tracks – the existing one and the underconstruction double line – with a provision of elephant corridor over these tunnels are being proposed. However, in order to make a path for elephant movement across the proposed tunnels, earthwork will be done from the hillside and will be sloped towards the Deepor Beel.

the biggest ever and establish it as an annual calendar event at the national and international level.” With the target of promoting river tourism in the rural areas of

BTC and the state, the festival was initiated in the year 2016-17 under the moniker of “Aie River Winter Festival” on the bank of Aie River in Chirang District of BTC. Later in 2017-18, the name was changed to “Dwijing” meaning “River Bank” and it became the annual river festival of the region. The association of the Hagrama Bridge, the longest rural river bridge of the state, with the festival further resulted in increase of visitors to the festival. The festival also provides livelihood opportunities for the locals and focuses on the business activities for better economic generation through rural tourism. The Dwijing Festival this year will also showcase various activities such as display of ethnic food and culture, adventure activities, ethnic games and more. This is aimed at promoting state tourism by harnessing the potential of the river and making it one of the most popular tourist attractions

of the state. “Assam Tourism Development Corporation is leaving no stones unturned to make this festival a great success. By promoting this event on the national platform, we want to change the face and image that BTC has. The artist line-up and events planned for the festival seek to attract crowds from all parts of the country,” said Jayanta Malla Baruah. Artists like Kailash Kher, Amit Trivedi, Malaika Arora, Himesh Reshammiya, Neeraj Shridhar, Bhoomi Trivedi, Shweta Pandit, Great Khali and a galaxy of other stars are expected to attend and perform during the festival. To take the festival forward and also ensure participation from everyone, tourism minister, Chandan Brahma has requested people from all sections of the society including the media to publicise, promote and propagate the festival in order to make it a success. n

10 City Snippets Six panchayat candidates win by “coin toss” in Assam

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Assam State Zoo to introduce e-rickshaws soon for visitors Harshita Himatsingka

n what could only be termed as bizarre, the fate of a village was left to chance where the candidates were finalized by a mere coin toss. As many as six candidates contesting the panchayat election in Barak Valley won by means of a coin toss after their votes were tied. In one such instance, an Independent Candidate, Rajana Begum and Congress candidate Idarjaan Borbhuiyan of Swadhin Bazar Gram Panchayat, member seat no 4 in Sonai Constituency, Cachar District, secured 125 votes each. Idarjaan Barbhuiyan of Congress was declared the winner after a senior election official said that the winner would be selected by a coin toss. Five other candidates - one anchalik panchayat candidate under Lalamukh Gram Panchayat, three-gram panchayat members under Nischintapur and one under Panchgram in Hailakandi - also emerged winners through tossing of coins. In an era of democracy, it is interesting to see that the fate and welfare of a gaon/village would be left to mere chance and a coin toss.

NBAGR registers two new livestock breeds from Assam

he NGABR (National Bureau of Animal Genetics Resources) registered two new livestock breeds from Assam as distinct breeds of the country. The NGABR, which comes under the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) added the swamp buffalo and the local goats of Assam to the list on December 14 of this year. The union agriculture minister, Radha Mohan Singh, along with agriculture ministers of state, Gajendra Singh Sekhawat, Krishna Raj and Purusuttam Rupala handed the registration certificates.

few years ago, the Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden had introduced battery operated e-cars for its visitors. It was an initiative started by the zoo authorities so that more people, including older visitors, pregnant women and small children could see the entirety of the park as it features different terrains such as hills and uneven grounds. Part of the reason was also that since the zoo is spread over a vast area of 1.75 sq kms, it would be a novel way to see and enjoy the park. These facilities however soon came to a halt as the zoo could not keep up with the maintenance of these expensive, high-end battery cars. These cars were then outsourced to a third party two years ago which was supposed to maintain and run them. But sadly, they too failed in the task and there is currently a court case going on in this regard. Currently, the operation of these cars has completely stopped and the cars are lying to waste in a shed near the zoo’s entrance. “What we are doing this time is that we are going to bring deluxe e-rickshaws. We are going to outsource it in such a way that the company who brings these vehicles will be responsible for

Disused battery operated cars parked at the Zoo premises | G Plus Photo everything starting from the maintenance of the automobiles to their operation. But we will be responsible for setting all the rules for their functioning in the zoo. We will decide the routes and fees to be charged,” said Tejas Mariswamy, Divisional Forest Officer of the Assam State Zoo. Mariswamy explained that the

Additional attractions making the Zoo a sought after destination

he zoo has started a bicycle rental system whereby visitors can pay and rent bicycles and cycle across the entire zoo premises. The cost is Rs 30 per hour. Visitors can also bring their own bicycles and that incurs a one-time charge of Rs 30. “Many people like cycling and since they hardly find any place to cycle in Guwahati during the daytime, they come here. We are seeing a lot of kids and young people during the early morning hours, and based on the response we are getting, they are really liking it,” said Mariswamy. The zoo currently has a total of 20 bicycles available for rent and is trying to add more. Another initiative that Mariswamy said that the zoo is

undertaking is the introduction of a new trek route. The trek route is inside the zoo premises and is on a circular path. It covers an area of around 6 kms and takes almost two hours to complete. A staff member of the Assam State Zoo will guide the trekkers and bring them back safely. “The Assam State Zoo has a huge area. The exhibit area where visitors come and see the animals covers only 20 percent of the total area. The remaining 80 percent of the zoo is surrounded by an area of virgin forests and hills. It is a beautiful unexplored area and that’s why we want to start the trek here. The trek too, is beautiful and there is a beautiful lake on top of the hill in the middle of the trek and another one towards the end of it,” said Mariswamy. n

zoo authorities have already issued a notice and the process to bring the e-rickshaws has been finalized and all they have to do now is wait for the approval. Once the approval goes through, the authorities are expecting to start the e-rickshaw service in a month’s time. They had put out tenders for the operation of these vehicles,

and the highest bidder won. “It is easier to maintain e-rickshaws than those battery-operated golf cars. The cost of the golf cars would come to Rs 4 lakhs but the cost for these rickshaws only comes to Rs 2 lakhs approximately. It is much more feasible and works so much better in Assam,” said Mariswamy. n

Current and future aspirations

resently, the Assam State Zoo needs a lot of maintenance and it is working on it. “One of the most important things that happened this year was the infrastructure advancement. We started the underground wiring project. The work has started and it is expected to be completed by February of next year,” said Tejas Mariswamy. He explained that the authorities had submitted a proposal under the Corporate Social Responsibility section to the Airports Authority of India and they have funded approximately Rs 2 crores for the project. Zoo authorities have also submitted a new layout plan. This plan includes details such as where the animals would be kept and the design of the animal enclosures. This project is under process and has yet to be approved. Once it is approved, the zoo will be able to upgrade from its present condition. The Assam State Zoo is also working to ren-

ovate other minor infrastructure, roads and visitor facilities based on the funds received from the state government. “Our target by the end of the 2018 fiscal year is to finish off the basic infrastructure. For 2019, we are targeting to build at least 3 more animal enclosures which are more modern and safe and also, we want to acquire a new collection of animals,” said Mariswamy. He also mentioned that a few years ago, the zoo did not have a salt lake facility, but now it is providing salt lakes, sufficient micro-nutrients and major enrichments. Many improvements have also been made in food and behavioral enrichments. When speaking about funds, Mariswamy said, “In terms of funds, we are not facing any problem for animal feed. We are okay for infrastructure, but we do not have sufficient funds for maintenance. That is one key area where we have to improve.” n

In Conversation

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

‘Releasing an Assamese film is a huge problem,’ Kenny Basumatary Swapnil Bharali caught up with film director and actor Kenny Basumatary to talk about films, filmmaking and his latest offering “Suspected Inspector Boro.” Presenting the excerpts from the conversation. This kind of entertainment in an Assamese movie is rare. For two hours we thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Every frame was a piece of art. Can you tell us about the budget for this kind of a movie? This was our costliest production so far. I am not at liberty to disclose the exact figure but I can tell you this that if we don’t recover the budget I might have to go back to Mumbai and direct TV serials again. The bare bone expenses for the release of an Assamese film: well, you need around five to seven lakh rupees, just to pay the hall screening fees to start with. Then you need money for publicity. Its cost can be infinite. Between five to ten lakh rupees is a good amount for publicity in Assam. Then you have your post production budget and it depends on whom you hire, where you hire from, somebody from Mumbai - depends on their individual fees. Then the studio expenses, dubbing, colour studio expenses. There

are lots of stuff and it can be again anywhere from to 10 lakh to 20 lakh rupees. And then you have your production costs, the cost of shooting. For our crew size, on a daily basis it would be twenty to

twenty five thousand rupees per day on food, transportation and everything else. Then we have cast and crew payments. So, for an Assamese movie, basic budget is thirty to forty lakh rupees.

Was Suspended Inspector Boro (SIB) shot in one stretch? Utkal is a sports teacher at Gurukul Grammar School. So we started on weekends, on second Saturdays in May. In June we got a few weekends and then in July he has a summer vacation. So, most of the shooting was in July and some in August. That’s how it was.

Where has the funding for SIB come from? We have a producer couple, Bishen Rai and Priyamo Goswami who have done most of the funding and the rest of it from me and my family.

How did Utkal and Poonam and the rest come about? I have known Utkal since we were teenagers. He is one of the best students my mama (who is a Kungfu teacher) since 1995. After I came back from Delhi we reconnected again, played some music together and then we got our hands on a handycam one day sometime around 2005-06. So, we thought let’s make a fight video and made a few more fight videos just to see how things work. So we made a couple of shots that way. In 2008, I left for Bombay and after working for two years, in 2010, I realized that a good way to start would be to make my own low-budget film. I already knew them and we had done so many fight videos together and we had

an idea on how to film action scenes. So, mom said she had one lakh rupees to spare and we decided let’s make a Kung-fu comedy and that’s how we started the journey. There is a park in Bombay where we go to practice and there we saw a girl (Poonam) doing long jumps, doing stretching and workout and she was doing pretty good. So, we got introduced to her and learnt that she had done some kickboxing. After that we got connected and rehearsed a few fights. She is so dedicated and has a lot of patience. So, I realized that for this story she is the one.

Did you face any problem in releasing SIB? Releasing an Assamese film is a huge problem. You can somehow make a film but to release it is a big fight. The first fight is to get a release date. Say, you pick out a random release date, for example let’s take February, there will be matriculation exams, March will have HS exams, April is Bihu and people will go to their homes, May there might be flood, June would be the heat. And finally when you get a good date when there are no exams and there are holidays, you will come to know that the Aamir Khans and Shah Rukh Khans are releasing their films during that period. We had a choice between December 7 and December 14. We had Robot 2 in the first week and then Zero on the 21st. If we released on 7th we were not sure if we would get the shows and Robot 2 will eat the second week, too. And if we released on 14th December, Shah Rukh Khan’s movie would come and over-shadow ours on 21st. Plus, outside distributors wield a lot of power because they bring the big budget films plus our theatres also can’t stand up against their pressure; a hall needs to survive after all. If we had released on 14th December we either fight with Shah Rukh Khan or on 7th we fight

with Rajinikanth. So our situation was die with a bullet or be hanged till death, take your pick. That was our choice. So, we

picked 7th expecting a hard first week and then a second week as there were no Hindi movies during that period. So, for this film, this was the difficulty in figuring out the dates.

I have a feedback from a viewer. The comparison between local Kung-fu and SIB. Local Kung-fu had that flavour of a homemade fabulous dish and SIB has this flavour of a finely-finished factory product. I am really happy about it as we had made a conscious effort to make it look like a professional product, with good production values. The whole effort right from the trailer to what you see on the big screen - it should look like a big screen professional movie. This is an action thriller and should look like a film you should bring your family to watch in halls. So, that was what we wanted to present and if we have been successful in that then I am very happy about it.

Is there a conscious attempt in the script or in the making of the movie so that the viewer will watch it again? It just comes from wanting to make engaging movies, entertaining movies. I like making films which people will enjoy in theatres, because I like hearing people laugh or react. So, bringing out this element is my top priority. I think this is one reason that the re-watchability factor is there.

Is Assamese cinema moving towards better productions after yours and earlier Village Rockstars? Good films weren’t made so what will people watch? For many years the quality of Assamese movies was down with only a few good films in between. The audience got used to the fact that Assamese movies aren’t worth spending time over. They didn’t have any hopes left. Thankfully for Mission China and Village Rockstars, their box office performance really encouraged us to believe that it is possible for an Assamese movie to make back its money even in our limited theatres. We have put the movie in 35 theatres. I have realised it’s a two-way street. Unless there are good five to ten Assamese movies each year this industry will be in a fighting back space without the mass reach. When it becomes strong like the Malayalam industry where there are brilliant films every year that become box office hits. At the end of the day it’s a commercial form of the art so it is a requirement. Once we start making films with good box office performances then the audience will be attracted to it. For Local Kung-fu I and II we had hoarding partners. This time when I look at a hoarding it just makes me wonder about the amount spent on it. There are limits to how much one can do. n

12 In The News Snippets Incorrect NCERT textbook labels ‘Kamakhya Temple’ in Sivasagar, Assam

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

BJP-Congress duel on Guwahati streets, citizens and students suffer Nehal Jain jain.nehal@g-plus.in

very popular image of Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati has been printed on an NCERT textbook, “An Introduction to Indian Art.” However, the textbook seems to have been publishing an error for quite some time now. Chapter 6 of the textbook, which is “Temple Architecture and Sculpture,” has a photo of Kamakhya Temple, but labels it as Temple, Sibsagar, Assam which is incorrect, by miles! The textbook is an NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) issued book for students of Fine Arts for class XI. A teacher from a city-based school speaking to G Plus said that CBSE students are taught world history and not temple architecture in class XI at this point. A student under anonymity speaking to G Plus said, “This ignorance is extremely disappointing. It has been years since these books have been published. The ministries monitoring this are clearly doing a terrible job and do not even have the sense to have rectify an error like this.” It has also been reported that this book is read by UPSC aspirants as temple architecture is an important element in the preparation of the same.

Flourishing Rat meat market in Assam’s Baksa District

weekly market in Assam’s Baksa District is one such market that sells meat that might be off the table for many people. Kumarikata market in Baksa District of Assam sells rat meat, which is a preferred delicacy over poultry and mutton. Rated at Rs 200 per kilogram, the traders bring rats from other districts of lower Assam like Nalbari and Barpeta. This market attracts a number of rat meat buyers every Sunday. This unique market also trades pork meat which is also in high demand. Even though it sounds weird to many people, the sellers say that it is the only means of their livelihood.

n December 19, hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) protesters marched from Gopal Boro High School, Ganeshguri in Guwahati and moved towards the Congress headquarters, Rajiv Bhawan located at ABC. The ruling party’s attempt was to gherao Rajiv Bhawan over the allegations made on BJP by Congress on the Rafale Deal. As the BJP workers shouted slogans against the Congress during their march, Guwahatians were stranded in traffic for several hours along the ever-busy stretch of GS Road. “Squabbles take place between political leaders. And as usual, the common man has to suffer,” Bitupan Bora, a resident of Guwahati said. In the same vein, another resident, Devarun Chaki said, “This is the ruling party whom we have given the responsibility to look after the woes of the common

BJP protest at GS Road bringing traffic to a standstill | G Plus Photo man but they themselves have become a woe.” Not only the commuters of GS Road, but also the students of Dispur Higher Secondary School faced a tough time. The protest

India is slowly becoming a fascist country under BJP, says Ranjan Bora

he BJP, after presenting misleading facts in front of the Supreme Court, has no right to gherao the Rajiv Bhawan, said Ranjan Bora, general secretary of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee. The Congress Party is of the belief that the BJP’s vision of India is majoritarian, exclusive, discriminatory and illiberal; and the country under BJP ruling is slowly becoming a fascist country. Speaking to G Plus about the ruling party’s attempt to gherao the opposition’s office, Bora added, “With this gherao, the fascist mentality of the party has come out in front of the citizens. Just because of constitutional obligations, the BJP has to show their faith in democracy while in reality the party is inspired by Hitler’s fascist ideas.”

The Congress has taken a strong note about the apex court’s decision on the deal and has now demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to be set up for the Rafale Deal. “If the Congress can set up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for Bofors scam, Harshad Mehta stock market scam, 2G spectrum allocation scam and VVIP helicopter procurement scam, so why not a JPC for Rafale scam?” officials remarked. “The SC is not an investigating agency. So the corruption in the Rafale deal cannot be expected to be uncovered by them. It is only due to the presentation of wrong facts to the SC that the Court had given its judgement but it has now come to light that the BJP had misinformed the SC at every step,” explained Bora. n

made it difficult for students of Dispur College to concentrate on their final examinations. According to officials of the college, the final examination of degree third-year students and a unit test for second-year higher secondary students was going on while a meeting was being held as part of the BJP protest in the field adjacent to the college premises, hence creating a chaotic situation

in the area for around two hours. The HS examination started at 9 AM and concluded at noon, while the examination for degree students was conducted from 1 PM to 4 PM, around the same time that the massive protest rally took place. A resident of Guwahati, speaking to G Plus, questioned the BJPs move to gherao the Rajiv Bhawan and protest on the streets of Guwahati saying, “Why are they on GS Road? Wasn't Chachal supposed to be the place for protests?” If the attempted gherao wasn’t enough, the Congress officials again took to the streets of Guwahati on December 21 to protest against the BJP. Following a war of words between Rahul Gandhi, Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma after a series of tweets rebutting Congress President Rahul Gandhi's comment by CM Sarbananda Sonowal, Congress workers in Guwahati burnt the effigies of CM Sonowal and Assam Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Ranjeet Kumar Dass. The Congress workers staged a protest outside Rajiv Bhawan against the objectionable comments of Sonowal and Dass about the party and its president Rahul Gandhi. n

Rahul Gandhi should be removed from the position of public servant: BJP

ountering Congress’ allegations, BJP president Ranjit Kumar Dass said, “Whatever the Congress Party and its president has said about the Rafale deal are complete and blatant lies. It is a very serious matter that an elected representative of the country is misleading the citizens on the basis of inaccurate facts. Rahul Gandhi’s behaviour and acts in this matter have been insensitive to the security and safety of the country and they appear anti-national. We demand that in the interest of national security and the international image of the country, Rahul Gandhi should

be removed from the position of public servant for playing with such an important issue of national security.” BJP officials continue to claim that the PILs submitted to the Supreme Court pertaining to the Rafale deal are accurate and the court has given its decision after finding that the overall process in the agreement transparent and as per the rules. “It is unfortunate that the Congress party, that had earlier kept dilly-dallying this important need of the armed forces for years, is today misleading the people of the country on the basis of inaccurate facts,” the BJP president exclaimed. n

In The News

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Sexual abuse cases in children’s homes rock Assam Saumya Mishra saumya.mishra@g-plus.in

wo cases of child sexual abuse in children’s homes have come to the fore in the past four months in the state, raising questions about the security concerns in children’s homes. In a recent case in Sivasagar, a minor girl inmate at a private shelter home in Sivasagar was allegedly repeatedly raped by the superintendent of the home for several months. The matter first came to light when the victim along with two other girls fled Swapnalaya Children Home on September 3 and the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Sivasagar received information regarding the same. In her statement given to the CWC, the 14-year-old girl has stated that she along with other female inmates of the shelter home were subject to sexual, mental as well as physical abuse by the superintendent of the home, Parag Goswami. In her statement, the victim has also accused the housemother of the home, Gita Kakati of inflicting physical and mental torture on her and other inmates. The girl even attempted suicide after finding herself helpless and after losing hope of getting any justice. The victim had told authorities that she had earlier been sexually abused by her stepfather at her house, from where she had run away and came in contact with

a social worker who then shifted her to the shelter home where she was subject to abuse yet again. City-based child rights activist and founder of child rights NGO Utsah, Miguel Das Queah, informed G Plus that the girl had written him a postal letter relating her ordeal, which is when he came to know about the girl’s ordeal. “The details of the case are horrific. The superintendent of the children’s home used to drug them by slipping pills into their drinks and then rape them every day,” said Queah. He added that an FIR was filed in Sivasagar back in September

but the police failed to take any action in the case. The police are yet to file a charge sheet in connection with the case. Goswami has only been currently removed from his post as superintendent of Swapnalaya Children Home. A similar case was reported in Guwahati in August at the SOS Children’s Village where the assistant village director of the NGO SOS Children’s Village Guwahati was arrested by the police for allegedly sexually assaulting three minor girls. n

Questions raised on security of children’s homes

ith such incidents coming to light in the past few months, serious questions are being raised about the security and audit of children’s homes in the city as well as the state. Following these incidents, child protection experts have called for better security and auditing in all children’s homes and shelter homes. Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ASCPCR) has also taken suo moto cognisance in the matter. However, some child protection experts have also alleged that the ASCPCR has failed in its

duty to take action for the protection of child rights in the state. Queah has submitted a memorandum to the chief minister in connection with the case and has appealed to him to take immediate measures. He has asked the CM to ensure closure of the Swapnalaya Children’s Home and the immediate transfer of the children to a safe Child Care Institution (CCI). Further he has demanded arrest of Parag Gowami and all his accomplices including the housemother Gita Kakati. Queah has also appealed the CM to expedite social audit of all CCIs in Assam. n

Don Bosco Ghy celebrates preChristmas with great fervour G Plus News

s part of its annual affair, the students and teachers of Don Bosco School, Panbazar celebrated pre-Christmas on Friday, December 21 at the school auditorium with great fervour. The festive spirit was visible among all. Pre-Christmas is celebrated every year on the last day of the school’s unit test examinations which is followed by a 10day long winter vacation. The importance of caring and sharing and spreading goodness all around is emphasised. The welcome address was delivered by Father Sebastian Mathew, Principal of Don Bosco School, who spread a message on the essence of Christmas. “If you believe that God resides within you, you automatically radiate good vibes,” he said. This year, the children exhibited their talents through carol singing, dance and drama performances. An inter-house drama competition was held

wherein each house performed a tableau on the topic allotted to them (by picking of chits). The four plays were ‘The Birth of Jesus’, ‘The Visit of Magi’, ‘Enunciation of Gabriel to Mary’ and ‘The Shepherds coming and visiting baby Jesus’. This was followed by the grand entry of Santa Claus in the school auditorium packed with children. The delight was uncontained especially as he brought out the

gifts! Santa, after distributing gifts to the children, gave them a message via his assistant – “Try to be happy all the time.” Finally, to conclude the celebration, father Joseph Mung, Vice Principal of the school, offered a formal vote of thanks

and the children went back to their classes where each student was given a cup cake in the spirit of joy and merry making.

Alumni to organize X-MAS carnival Don Bosco Alumni Guwahati is organizing a Christmas carnival, Jingle Mingle X-MAS Carnival, on Saturday, December 22 at the school premises in Panbazar. The carnival is a fullday event that will host a fancy dress competition, an art competition, and the finale of a kid’s event ‘Wonder Kids’ which is a talent show. The event will also feature dance performances and a fashion show. In addition to that, the students of Don Bosco will put up food and game stalls. RASA, a snack bar and restaurant will be providing a food court and 1UP will be providing a game zone for the event. The carnival will also feature DJ Poison and DJ Wish who will be present throughout the day and playing tunes for the event. However, the main highlight of the carnival this year is the much awaited PubG tournament. n

14 G Talk E

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018 T

Rabble rousing outsiders

t’s a wonder how our Guwahati repeatedly gets violated by outsiders bringing the city to a standstill; the perpetrators (read instigators), in each instance, are none else but our politicians. Ironically, most of these politicians are also not original Guwahatians and are basically using Guwahati to further their own political interests without really having those endearing feelings that one has for their own home. Take the recent silly instance: the local fallout of Rahul Gandhi’s thoughtless utterances on the Supreme Court’s verdict giving a clean chit to the union government on the Rafale deal controversy. What on earth has the hard working, office-going Guwahatian and his or her school-going children have to do with this verbal slugfest on Twitter that the ruling BJP had to bring out a morcha of agitationists onto the arterial GS Road in protest thereby disrupting all our schedules? And in response to that was the Congress Party gearing up for a physical rebuttal which had its activists descending in hordes at its headquarters, the Rajiv Bhawan. All this happened without any precursor or prior warning which otherwise would have perhaps alerted Guwahatians

to alter their travel routes. But no! Outsiders with no respect whatsoever towards Guwahati’s citizenry unleashes mayhem at will. Time and again! Funny videos have begun circulating on social media of interviews with these outsiders who basically had no idea why they were in Guwahati as part of this political tussle in the first place. They had no idea who or what was Rafale; one fellow at least managed to mumble the word “Royal” thank goodness! Illiterate people from the nearby villages brought to the city in hordes to protest an instance of “opoprosar” by one Rahul Gandhi and perhaps paid for their presence leaving the city further dirtier, made for an awesomely sickly sight that made our democracy a classic misnomer once more. We are not likely to forget the Akhil Gogoi pandemoniums in a hurry nor those countless cases when picturesque Dighalipukhuri was held to ransom throwing city life out of gear. With the approaching elections next year we have reason to fear of such activities being further stepped up and yet these rabble-rousing outsiders will never learn that protesting has never got them even a shade closer to the solutions they are seeking. Swapnil Bharali Editor

GMC’s ear-pulling exercise

he Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has finally taken an important, or rather a landmark decision of penalizing, if you’re caught littering the street. This decision of course has taken its own sweet time and while I don’t know why it took so long, it is definitely a welcome

move. If my expertise at “half-baked knowledge” is correct, the GMC will also employ flying squads to monitor this. Once again, commendable, but is it going to be followed through? What I have always maintained is that the onus of keeping the city clean does not lie just with the municipality. Our publication, in its ultra-local work, has acquired content enough and beyond to substantiate that citizens have to be more responsible when it comes to having cleaner cities. The GMC, as per Section 299 of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation Act of 1971, is going to penalize people if they do not throw garbage at “earmarked” areas. While the public did raise concerns about “earmarked areas” saying that there aren’t enough garbage or litter bins, it must also be mentioned that our people have not held back when it comes to hooliganism or vandalism. Broken dustbins, failure of responsibly throwing garbage are prime examples of citizen’s apathy. In any case, for those questioning “earmarked areas,” I’m sure the GMC would gladly release a list for the public highlighting all the city dustbins with capacity as appropriate and then our WhatsApp frenzied citizens help circulate this and then, we can do a capacity test whether there are enough dustbins, or if we have mastered the art of complaining. Remember how in school the teacher would pull your ears for not doing you things right? Well, the GMC has clearly resorted to this because we’ve made very little contribution at being better students.

Sidharth Bedi Varma

The Cart-Before-The-Horse syndrome

“

PORIBORTON” or change was the buzzword that upended the State BJP’s fortunes in Assam in 2016. Levitating from being a sidelined and snubbed political party in the state for years to a major force with a landslide victory in the elections behind, it vowed to ameliorate many a thing that had gone askew during the three previous Congress regimes. Now as we appraise them on completion of half-term, their rule can be encapsulated as one interspersed with both achievements and gaffes that have brought delight and ire to the populace in equal measure. Let’s accept without being overly critical about the government that a lot of good initiatives have been taken by it to usher in socio-economic and rural development, wildlife protection, uplifting of the education sector, trade and industries, law and order, digitization etc. But at the same time, their tenure is mired in some cart-before-the-horse actions and decisions, many of them Guwahati-specific that have developed into major irritants for the people over time. ● India’s tallest national flag (from average elevation of city) that was inaugurated amidst a lot of hype and fanfare on 2nd October 2018 has been torn and impaired on three occasions within the first three months of its installation. While it’s a matter of immense national pride to have such a marvellous structure in the city that can direct both spotlight and tourism to Assam, the frequent sights of a damaged

he state BJP’s tenure is mired in some cart-beforethe-horse actions and decisions, many of them Guwahati-specific, that have developed into major irritants for the people over time.

national flag have irked and hurt the sentiments of citizens. This leaves a lot of unanswered questions in terms of its planning and execution. Considering the sheer size, magnitude and weight of the giant flag, it may have been a hasty decision taken by the government where possible postinstallation malfunctions and whether the flag could withstand the high wind velocity and pressure at that height, seem to have been overlooked. A whopping spend of Rs 2.92 crores certainly merits something better than this! ● Customizing a 1.5 km stretch on the busy MG Road into a walking zone every Sunday for six hours brought a sense of excitement among many city residents. The same move however has drawn a lot of flak due to massive traffic snarls on several alternative routes due to diversion of vehicular traffic. What has never been highlighted and grossly neglected was the inconvenience it brought to those driving through Kamarpatty, AT Road and Fancy Bazar on a Sunday evening. Although the intent of the government was good, the execution looks faulty at best. Whether a proper assessment of the volume of vehicular traffic on Sunday evenings was done or not, remains a question. A corresponding study on whether the other roads are capable enough to take the additional load of traffic diversion from MG Road apparently was never done. ● Priyanka Chopra, roped in as the brand ambassador of the state by Assam government, shot a breathtaking video for ATDC that received numerous positive reviews and excited all and sundry. However, on ground, the records do not show any improvement in the footfall of foreign visitors in 2018. The numbers stood below ten thousand till October’18 that sounds almost average. While the actor’s global outreach and the magnificent video definitely can provide a boost to state tourism, the government must also understand that unless the perennial impediments are removed, such extravagant ventures may not yield the desired results. Improvement in overall road infrastructure, availability of quality hotels, lodges, guest

rLosing faith in Supreme Court?

O pinion Subhasish Das

houses and homestays, robust transport and communication system to tourist destinations, improved air connectivity across the state, embargo on calling frequent strikes/bandhs, aggressive advertising etc are some of the more essential steps which, if taken, can provide a massive thrust to Assam’s tourism without breaking a sweat. ● Let’s now talk about another major irritant that has amplified itself and plagued Guwahati residents like never before. Albeit it’s neither related to government actions nor associated with “poriborton” or an otiose attempt to bring about one. It’s more to do with the lack of it. The unabated rise in vehicular traffic, the near inexistent driving etiquette of the masses, the utter disregard for pedestrians and perpetual indiscriminate parking across the city make it one of the most unliveable cities in India from a resident’s perspective. The above problems are man-made and it would be unjust to blame the government that has little control. Nonetheless, implementing strict adherence to traffic rules, inculcating the practice of civilized driving including no or less honking, imposition of hefty fines on defaulters for noncompliance are certain initiatives that are very much within its control. A “poriborton” in this regard or an honest attempt by the present government to revamp things was most required and would have been truly appreciated by the people. However, no change whatsoever has been witnessed yet with the overall problem worsening each day and becoming more and more chronic. Life’s all about hopes, aspirations and expectations. I hope the government, if it agrees to the points mentioned, makes a concerted effort to weed out the flaws and takes corrective measures to let people enjoy the fruits of change, it promised. n

Letter to the Editor

his is with reference to the landmark verdict of the Supreme Court of India on 14th December last regarding the Rafale deal where the apex court gave a clean chit to the NDA government. We the common citizens have immense respect and faith in our judiciary as on many past occasions it has gave come to the rescue of the nation by giving historic judgements and showing the correct path to the citizens . It is simply insane to question its authenticity unlike about our elected representatives. But Congress President Rahul Gandhi, after his victory in the three big states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, has gone overboard questioning the judgement of the honourable Supreme Court with regard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi getting the clean chit. The pseudo Gandhi dynasty scion calls the duly elected Prime Minister a ‘chor’ publicly to vent his frustrations. The rejuvenated Rahul Gandhi is trying his level best to at least put a dark smear on the otherwise clean NDA government. Himadri Chekanidhara, Bihpuria, Assam

In Focus

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Medha Aich Actress, Model

uwahati’s Medha Aich is all set to make her debut in her upcoming Bollywood movie “Motichoor Chaknachoor” in which she’ll be sharing the screen with renowned actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Athiya Shetty. An alumnus of the prestigious National School of Drama (NSD), Medha has been into the performing arts ever since she was a child. Being a trained Bharat Natyam dancer, she claims to have been addicted to the stage since an early age. From dance to dance dramas and from dance drama to theatre, her art form has kept evolving over the years. Medha, who hails from Guwahati, pursued her secondary education from Maharishi Vidya Mandir Silpukhuri, higher secondary from Gurukul Grammar Senior Secondary and graduation in Media Science from West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata. She went on to pursue MA in Mass Communication and Journalism from Tezpur Central University. “Theatre is an inseparable part of media and entertainment. And therefore I decided to study Mass

Communication. My weakness for writing also added to this decision,” Medha expressed. Her decision to start a career as an actor however was highly inspired by her dance gurus who were always impressed by her “Abhinaya” and “Bhava” (the acting part of classical dance) and her mother who always inspired her take up acting when she was young. “My dance gurus, fellow dance mates and mother gave me the strength and courage to take up the decision to be an actor. This is the reason that I decided to apply for National School of Drama (NSD) to undergo a formal training in acting. Today, whatever little I know and can do as an actor is because of NSD,” Medha informed G Plus. After completing her course in NSD, Medha got selected to work in the NSD Repertory Company as an artist where she worked for a year before leaving for Mumbai in 2017. In the past one year, Medha has acted in a couple of ad films, an independent film and a number of theatre productions before finally getting called for a role in the Bollywood film “Motichoor

Chaknachoor” in October 2018. “After working in Mumbai for a year, I finally got a call from a casting company named F The Couch (FTC), which aims at working against casting couch in September end. FTC, owned by the renowned actor Sunil Shetty, was casting for Motichoor Chaknachoor. Soon after I auditioned for a role in the film, I got a call back from FTC that I had been selected,” Medha recalled, speaking to G Plus about getting a break in Bollywood. Motichoor Chaknachoor, shot mostly in Bhopal, is a quirky wedding comedy that revolves around an odd couple. In the film, Medha plays the character of Gauri Tyagi, the younger daughter-in-law of the Tyagi family. Speaking to G Plus about her character, Medha said, “Gauri represents all those women who are sincere but have never been educated enough. They have been eternally kept under the impression that it is okay to get domestically dominated by the elders of the family and a protocol to obey them quietly as a younger female member.” While Motichoor Chaknachoor

is Medha’s first commercial film, she had earlier acted in an Assamese film as a child actress when she was merely 7 years of age. The film, directed by Late Shiba Prasad Thakur, never got released due to production oriented problems, but certainly gave her an experience of acting in front of the camera. G Medha informed t Plus that she first me Nawazuddin Siddiqui during her first year in the NSD. “I met him as a star senior from the institute and at that time, I couldn’t even imagine working with him as a co-star. I feel really fortune to have gotten the chance to work with him in my first film itself. There is so much to learn from an actor like him, especially when you have got the chance to see him work live,” said Medha. Medha is presently rehearsing for a play “Ashadh Ka Ek Din,” to be staged in Kolkata on December 25. In this modern Indian

play written by Mohan Rakesh and directed by Bapi Bose, the Guwahati girl is playing the lead character named Mallika. She also has a series of acting workshops lined up for the next month and the dubbing for Motichoor Chaknachoor is also to be done.

GMC to penalize for littering on the streets

“Anyone found throwing garbage on streets or littering any place shall be penalized as per Guwahati Municipal Corporation Act of 1971.” The statement got us an avalanche of response on our social media handles. Here are some: Gulam Ommar Ahmed First of all, the Indian government should ban paan Rajnigandha, Shikar etc and all types of tobacco items as these products lead to spitting and painting in red of the walls of government offices, institutions etc. Then people should be made aware of cleanliness despite of their graduate/ postgraduate/PhD degrees as the illiterate and under privileged people clean this so-called smart city. Prope r aware ne ss should be ge ne rate d among the people as it is very important in today’s time especially when we are heading towards smart city. If all this continues then we can never even reach the ‘S’ of smart city.

Bibhuranjan Nath People complaining about lack of bins are: 1. Too lazy to walk to the nearest bin to dispose of the garbage. 2. Too cheap to pay 30 bucks to the GMC garbage collection per month (I’m not even kidding on this one, my neighbour refuses to do it). Some people complain that there needs to be one garbage disposal bin every 500 metres, to which I’ll say that there probably is one near your locality and you just haven’t found it yet. Or you might be living deep inside.

Prem Narayan Tamuly Convergence with other line departments need to be strengthened with capacity building of eligible functionaries. Clean India Initiative will be a success only after citizens’ behaviour changes towards cleanliness and hygiene. Segregation of waste at household level should be given due importance and reduce the use of single use plastics. Mixed waste creates more environmental hazard, if it is dumped in dustbin also. Composting methods should be made aware to citizens under the framework of SBM. Adhar Kothari I don’t understand. That GMC is coming up with orders is fine but why don’t I find a single dustbin in the Fancy Bazar area? Are they planning to make Guwahati like Delhi? If yes, then how? I don’t find any officials improving their work or taking these matters seriously. Once in a blue moon these officials come to check if the road is clean or not. The whole year they are seen sitting in their offices and enjoying. I would like to bring one thing to light that everyday some GMC worker comes and collects Rs 20 from everyone in the name of cleaning but till date I’ve never seen the roads clean. It feels like ‘Gunda Raj’. Can the GMC department explain where is this money going after being collected from us? Vaivav Todi GMC garbage bins are everywhere filled to the top. We need to make the city look beautiful but these bins kind of make me sick as I see them everywhere I go. First fix this problem and then fine people. The GMC needs to first improve their working habits. I hardly see any dustbins in Guwahati and the one which we have are full to the top. Though the step taken is a good one, I hope people will now throw garbage and all wastes in dustbin.

16 Feature

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Jumbo on the line Ranjan Kumar Choudhury

t was a beautiful day in late November when we three siblings went on an overnight fishing trip on the river Boroi. This river originates from the deep mountains of Arunachal Pradesh and like most of the rivers coming down from Arunachal, the Boroi has two tributaries known as the Papum and Pare; the Papum is snow-fed while the Pare is a regular mountain stream which becomes a raging torrent of water with the monsoon rains. From the point of the last gorge at a place called Ramghat one would have to travel upstream for two full days to arrive at the confluence of these rivers which becomes the Boroi as it meanders on its way to Assam and then drains into the Brahmaputra about 20 kms downstream from Ramghat. We got onto our rubber boats and had with us an aluminium boat loaded with our gear, tents, rations and about 5 men for the trip. Extra hands were essential as it was compulsory to keep the bonfire alight all night to keep away the wild animals and also for warmth in the cold edge of the river. I had also sent up two men a day earlier with a bamboo raft to make the camp ready. I had been fishing on this river for over a decade and knew each bend and rapid up to the mouth of the third gorge quite well although I had been to the confluence only a couple of times. It was quite a tough trek as the river beyond that was narrow with a lot of boulders strewn on the sides. One had to walk along the boat for long stretches as the water became low at places and there were also a few difficult rapids which was tough to negotiate with loaded boats. Coming downstream was much easier as we could run these rapids fairly well. However the river was narrow in the winter months and it had very deep pools where the big fish lay in wait. Our target on this trip was to get to the end of the third gorge where the river took a bend creating the deepest pool of water on the river after a rapid, creating swirling waters on the pool. On one side was a massive mountain of rock which an English tea planter had named the Cathedral. It remained a solid reference point for us to try and make the camp on the other side of this rock which had a big elephant apple tree and some sand which helped to make a comfortable camp. Fishing was always good on this river and on our way up to the camp

site we had caught about half a dozen fish, a mix of Mahseer and Broker, enough for snacks and the next day’s lunch. Prior to our trip we had been cautioned by the Forest Beat Officer about an elephant who was prowling on this river and used to come up close to camp sites in search of food. We however did not worry too much as we were carrying guns and mainly small “atom bombs” of Diwali stock which were very useful to keep away wild animals who come close. The camp site was well prepared with some huts put up using the ready branches and leaves and a good stock of timber was cut and ready for the fire. We changed into fresh warm clothes and enjoyed the luxury of immersing our tired feet in hot water which was indeed very relaxing after a day walking up stones, sand and boulder alongside the boat casting for the fish in the river. In those days we mainly used rods/reels made by Mitchell and Ambassadors. The former is an open face casting reel and the latter a fixed spool reel which was more difficult to control the over spin of the line. It was great fun when we had a fish on our spoons and though small in size, the Boroi waters were fast and the fish always gave a good fight. Night fall in the wild is a lovely experience when the light of day fades away rather quickly in the shadows of trees and the night skies shine with the brilliance of thousands of stars. The bonfire emanates both light and heat slowly relaxing your body along with sips of brandy or rum and the conversation is always of nature, wildlife and fishing stories…. with the roar of the river slowly lulling one to sleep after a robust tasty dinner. I had casually asked the

advance party if they had heard or seen the elephant of which they were also warned but they had a quiet night taking care however to sleep up on a cliff which had a nice cave to keep out the danger. After setting the night guard duties for 2 persons at a time for

Before I could admire a frightened elephant swimming off in to the night my fishing assistant ran for my fishing rod which was just about to disappear in to the river. I had the elephant entangled on my line!

3 hour shifts and checking that my shotgun was loaded with the safety switch on we retired for the night at around 9.30 pm. We wanted to be relaxed and ready for a long day of fishing the next day. But as was the custom we had set out our strongest rods/ reels with live prawn bait caught there only on the riversides hiding beneath small rocks and had also ensured that the equipment was well tethered to some weight in case a big fish was caught. I am basically a light sleeper and

after about 3 hours of sound sleep I woke up once to check on the boys on duty. It was all fine with sticks being regularly fed to the fire to keep it burning well. Then I must have dozed off into a light sleep before being woken up with the cries of “Hati Hati” i.e. elephant. I quickly turned on my 5 battery torch light and shone the beam right on the mighty elephant just on the riverside barely meters away from our camp. It had its trunk raised sniffing the air and must have been also quite alarmed at the sudden bedlam of torches flashing and human shouts. I had the gun ready with birdshot to scare the elephant in case it came closer; it however decided that the scene was not to its liking and it simply dashed off downstream into the water. I could clearly see its back immersed in the river as it started to swim off and I let fly both the rounds to scare it off well and good. However, before I could admire a frightened elephant swimming off in to the night my fishing assistant ran for my fishing rod which was just about to disappear in to the river. I had the elephant entangled on my line! I caught the rod tightly and felt the tug on the reel and the rod bending wildly with the jumbo at one end; luckily my brother had the sense to cut my line off to set my reel/rod free without any damage. This entire drama must have lasted for barely 5 minutes at around 2.30 am. For some time I had the greatest feeling of having hooked an elephant and after that incident I have been fishing all over the world but have not ever felt this huge pull again. Maybe if I can hook a shark or a whale I would

feel this great jumbo tug. Whenever I remember that incident I can still feel the tug; something probably very few in this world has experienced. Perhaps I can patent it. But can one ever patent a feeling, an elation, a sensation? The fishing was not over as in the morning after the huge adrenaline rush and revived by a good breakfast we set out our lines again in the deep pool; also the three of us took turns casting in the mouth of the rapid and this must have lasted for about 3 hours. In this time we again picked up a nice catch of 5 mid-sized fishes and decided that we would break camp after a quick lunch by 2 pm so that we would be back in the ghat well before evening. Suddenly my youngest brother felt a big bite and he quickly got up to control and play the fish better. It carried on for awhile and we realised that he had a big one on his line. It took him around 45 minutes to tire out the Mahseer which weighed around 8 kgs and it was indeed a beautiful specimen. It was a great feeling when he finally landed the fish and we were all elated by this beauty. In the excitement we forgot all about the elephant; I think it had actually come to bless our trip. In the end we made it back to the boarding ghat without any further incident with me savouring my special jumbo connection even to this day. n ranjanchou@hotmail.com

Illustration by: Abidur Rahman

Trotter

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

parrot shops Obama plays Santa to Naughty using Amazon Alexa children’s delight in in owner’s absence surprise hospital visit R

ormer US president Barack Obama took on a new high-profile role as Father Christmas in a surprise visit to sick children in Washington. Sporting a festive Santa hat and armed with a sack of gifts, he delighted young patients at Children’s National hospital with gifts and hugs. “I just want to say thank you to all of you guys,” Obama told staff, who greeted him with rapturous cheers, in a video he shared on his Twitter account.

“We’ve had the chance to talk

to some of the wonderful kids and their families,” he added. “As the dad of two girls, I can only imagine in that situation to have nurses and staff and doctors and people who are caring for them, and looking after them, that’s the most important thing there is.” The 44th president of the United States still lives in Washington, where he, last year, dressed up as Santa to visit middle school students at a Boys & Girls Club in the capital. (Source: ndtv)

Woman solves crime after matching with thief and his victim on Tinder

he world of dating apps is a strange place where horrible exchanges sometimes take place with your matches. One such strange incident occurred recently with Emily Cochran when she started chatting with someone on Tinder who had unfortunately lost an entire crate of La Croix a brand of flavoured sparkling water - they just bought. In a very bizarre turn of events, she also matched with the sparkling water thief and was able to reunite the goods with their rightful owner. Emily first matched with a guy named Drew, who told her that he was having a very good day as he had just found an entire “rack” of La Croix unattended, so he decided

to take it home for himself. A few minutes later she then matched with another guy, Raymond, who wasn’t having a very good day at all. He had just brought an entire crate of the La Croix only to have it stolen, after leaving it unattended for a moment. Emily put two and two together and determined that Drew was the thief who had stolen Raymond’s drinks, and shared the conversation on Twitter where it went viral. She then put them in touch so they could reunite the La Croix to its rightful owner - solving the crime. Case closed. She then shared cute videos and pictures they sent her of their meeting, where they shared a

drink together. According to a local daily, Drew immediately expressed remorse after learning that he’d left someone without their La Croix and offered to take them back. (Source: mirror.co)

Couple to serve Christmas dinner made entirely from roadkill

im Alexander, 41, has already collected nearly 50 fresh animal corpses from near his home in Torquay, Devon, where he butchers the meat. He and girlfriend Betina Bradshaw, 54, will serve their menu to their family and friends, which includes deer, pheasant, rabbits and even badgers. Jim says he started to eat roadkill for environmental reasons, to cut down on food waste but beauty therapist Betina admits her family refer to him as a ‘serial killer’ as a result. He said, “I know people will think it’s unusual but really it just makes sense. I do it because I can’t stand to see the waste of life and by taking the animals

home and eating them, I’m at least somehow reducing that waste.” He says badger tastes similar to pork, but fox has its own unique taste

“which isn’t particularly nice.” And it’s not just roadkill that Jim has a passion for. He also searched the woods near his home in Torquay, Devon, for mushrooms and herbs.

“I only really go to the shop now for things that I can’t find outside like toothpaste and shower gel,” he said. Jim said he learned how to forage for food while growing up on a farm in the former Czechoslovakia. “We were very rural,” he said adding, “We were the sort of people who never went to the shops. I was five years old when I killed my first rabbit. That was the sort of thing we did. It was in my blood. They always look at me a bit strange when I tell them what I’m up to, but once they realise I’m doing nothing wrong they are fine and one even helped me lift an animal into the van.” (Source: metro.co)

occo, an African grey parrot, used his owner’s Amazon Alexa device to order a range of his favourite snacks including watermelons, raisins, broccoli and ice cream, along with

for his antics. Rocco was rehomed from the National Animal Welfare Trust sanctuary in Berkshire because staff thought his foul language might upset visitors. Marion Wischnewski, an employee of the sanctuary,

a light bulb and a kite. Rocco’s owner, Marion Wischnewski, said that she was shocked when she saw what he had done. “I had to check the shopping list when I came in from work and cancel all the items he’d ordered,” she said. This is not the first time that the parrot has gotten into trouble

then brought Rocco to her home in Oxfordshire. And despite his mischievous behaviour, she thinks he’s the sweetest parrot. “I’ve come home before and he has romantic music playing,” Ms Wischnewski said. “He loves to dance and has the sweetest personality.” (Source: indianexpress)

Man develops lung infection after sniffing his own smelly socks every day

mong all the bizarre news from around the world is a man who developed a fungal infection in his lungs after smelling his own socks every day after work. The unnamed man from China would sniff his own socks every

where an x-ray confirmed the infection. A doctor told that the man’s unusual sock-sniffing habit led to the infection. The doctor also added that the man’s immune system had been weakened by staying up too late while taking care of a baby,

day while changing clothes after work. As a result, he caught an infection from a fungus that had developed in his footwear because of his sweaty feet. The infection spread to his lungs after he breathed in spores. The man was admitted at a hospital in the city of Zhangzhou,

getting very little sleep and other factors as well. While this may well be the first time where stinky socks have created a health problem, it is definitely not the first time where socks have been blamed for creating a public nuisance. (Source: mirror.co)

18 Review

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Abhay Deol, etc. Director: Aanand L. Rai

Z Movie Review

ZERO

ero is a romantic drama film written by Himanshu Sharma. It is produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Colour Yellow Productions. It was released on 21 December and has a running time of 164 minutes. It has a budget of Rs 200 crores and is Shahrukh Khan’s most expensive film to-date. The soundtrack is composed by AjayAtul, lyrics are written by Irshad Kamil under the T-Series label. The film follows the story of Bauua, a 38-year-old man from Meerut who has trouble finding a woman to get married to. He uses a few matrimonial sites and finds a partner in Anushka Sharma’s character, Aafia Bhinder, a NASA scientist with cerebral palsy. However, Katrina Kaif’s character, Babita, a leading superstar also starts to fall for

him testing his relationship with Bhinder. A love triangle forms between the three of them, taking them to different cities. Bauua thus embarks on an adventure to find both his true love and his self-worth in terms of what it means to be a real man. It has received mixed reviews from viewers. While the story has a good concept and is an inspiring saga, it lacks in its execution. Looking at Rai’s previous hits such as the Tanu Weds Manu movies, one would expect a healthy dose of storytelling with complete visual elements. The writing of the film makes it a slow movie and viewers are left somewhat distracted. A good effort, but given the big names of the movie and heavy promotions, we were expecting more. n

Starring: Yash, Srinidhi Shetty, Achyuth Kumar , Malavika Avinash, etc. Director: Prashanth Neel

his film is an IndianKannada language actionperiod drama set in the Kolar Gold Fields. It is written and directed by Prashanth Neel and produced by Vijay Kiragandur of Hombale films. It is the first installment in the two-part series. This movie will be followed by a second film, K.G.F: Chapter 2. The movie is set in 1951 and features two main plot points:The birth of the hero and finding gold in the Kolar Gold Fields (K. G. F). The hero of the film is brought up in poverty and when he is very young, he goes to Mumbai to become a mafia don. His mother’s wish was to see her son be a wealthy and powerful man. After being in Mumbai for some time, he goes back to his hometown. The movie ends on the premise

aunched in December of this year, the Asus ZenFone Max M2 comes with a 6.26inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720 pixels by 1520 pixels. The price in India starts from Rs. 9,999.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc., known as ASUS, is a Taiwanese multinational computer hardware and electronics company that was founded in 1989 in Taiwan. It is one of the world’s largest computer hardware companies. Its products include desktops, PC peripherals, laptops, smartphones, tablets and hybrid devices. The company makes Android phones powered by Intel and Qualcomm SoCs.

Specifications:

It is powered by a 4000mAh battery. It measures 158.41 x 76.28 x 7.70 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 160.00 grams. The Asus ZenFone Max M2 is a DualSIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Nano-SIMs.

Display:

The phone has a screen size of 6.26 inches and is a touchscreen phone. It has a resolution of 720x1520 pixels and has an aspect ratio of 19:9. The phone has a strong visual impact that helps make this phone seem impressive. It features a standard plastic frame with a metal panel on the rear. One major advantage is that you don’t have to keep wiping fingerprints off the back of this phone. Its corners are very rounded, which makes it feel as though some useful space has been lost.

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of if he can become become a Don and set his people free from age old slavery. This movie received mixed reviews from both the critics and the viewers. It is the kind of the film that brings back the hero-worship genre, similar from the time period it is set in. While some lauded the film saying it is a great foray into the genre, others criticised the effort saying it is the same old story where the hero wins big and saves everyone. It is a big entertainment movie where you know what happens in the end, yet you watch, just hoping for something new to emerge. The cliffhanger of the movie does create a suspense, making the audience come back for the second film. n

Asus ZenFone Max M2

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The Asus ZenFone Max M2 is powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core processor and has a processor make of Qualcomm Snapdragon 632. It comes with 3GB RAM. The phone has the capacity to hold 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded to 200GB via a microSD card.

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The phone has a 13-megapixel (f/1.8, 1.12-micron) primary camera and a +2-megapixel secondary camera on the rear and a 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies. Both front and back cameras have LED flash services.

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Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, USB OTG, Micro-USB, FM, 3G

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in India). Sensors on the phone include Face unlock, Fingerprint

It is said to have a good stock android program with promised updates and good battery life. One of its drawbacks include very poor lowlight camera and minor UI bugs. It scores highest on categories such as battery life, software and value for money. It has a mid-range range score for design, display and performance. But its lowest rating is for its camera, so it is not the best option for people looking for good camera phones. The phone is available to purchase at Flipkart.com and is a good choice for people who want extended phone life and good performance in general. n

Entertainment

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Assamese film fraternity offers encouraging words to Oscar entries

ima Das’s “Village Rockstars” and Adil Hussain starrer, “What Will People Say” are out of the Oscars race. Das’s film was India’s official entry to the 91st Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category and Hussain’s film had just recently been announced as Norway’s official entry to the Oscars in the same category. Even though they didn’t make it through the final rounds, the Assamese film fraternity has nothing but love for them. “We are very proud of Rima Das. We are from the same fraternity and her movie. Village Rockstars got nominated for the Oscars and for us that is good enough. When we heard about the nomination, it was an inspiration to us, a way to boost our morale. We felt that even people from Assam can tell stories. It shows us that we

ruah.

‘Village Rockstars’ is written and directed by Rima Das and is about a 10-year-old girl living in

poverty who wants to own a guitar and form a band with the local boys in her village in Assam, India. Actor Kopil Bora said praising Rima Das, “Rima got the Swarna Kamal Award for Assam after 27 years. It is a prestigious award and we are so happy for her. Her film has also done many rounds in international film festivals across the world. I think she is doing lots and lots for the Indian cinema industry. She is a winner all the way and hats off to Rima.” Adil Hussain’s film, ‘What Will People Say’ is a film set in Norway about a 16-year-old-girl who leads a double life as a conservative Pakistani daughter at home and a Norwegian teenager at school. The movie recounts how her whole being comes crashing down when these two worlds collide. The film is written and directed by Iram Haq and also stars Maria Mozhdah.

Mockumentary from Assam wins at Film Festivals across the globe

atyakam Dutta’s “Finding Beauty in Garbage” is a 7-minute long mockumentary that is winning praise across many film festivals in the world. It is a satirical take on the horrors of garbage disposal in our society and how that has beautified the city of Dibrugarh, (the filmmaker’s city) and cities in the state in general. Dutta said that it took him one and a half years to make the 7-minute long film but the hard work has paid off as the film has won many accolades. The film won Best Short Documentary award in the Asia South East Short Film Festival at Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It has also been selected for official screenings at the Short and Sweet Film Festival in Utah, USA, Ooty Film Festival and Bengal’s International Film

Adil Hussain starrer ‘Hotel Salvation’ winning hearts in Japan

T can also achieve what Rima has achieved through her film and that we can also dream and make the world stand up and take notice of our work. Whether we win or not, that is secondary. Our state has achieved so much through her beautiful film. We are very proud of her and wish her all the best for the future,” said film director Manash Ba-

Festival. This movie was a first-time attempt for Dutta and most of his team. However, he said he had the support of some veterans including, Partha Bhuyan and Chandan Kakoty, who run Rumanthan-A Tryst against Time and Chanimation Films. Mayuraj Borah, Rajkumar Thakuriya and Subir Kejriwal also assisted the filmmaker at various stages. Rituparna Bora helped him with the posters and graphics. Dutta said that his main attempt by making this film was to bring about awareness regarding how people should treat garbage waste. He said it was an attempt for his side to let the municipality know that they are somewhat lacking in their efforts to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene levels in the city.

“For me, I think the biggest achievement would be to actually see some change in my city, to know that my film is making an impact and bringing about the necessary change,” said Dutta, speaking to G Plus. Based on popular demand, Dutta will re le ase the film on YouTube on 1st January 2019.

he film, ‘Mukti Bhawan’ (Hotel Salvation) which was released as ‘Ganges Ni Kaeru’ (Return to the Ganges) in Japan has acquired a new fan following all the way in the country. A fatherson drama, the film is directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani and stars Adil Hussain and Lalit Behl. Even though the film initially released in April of 2017 in India, it premiered in Japan on October 27 of this year. The film is doing tremendously well there and is on its way to its seventh week. The director of the film, Bhutiani, said that he was quite surprised by the response. The morning shows of the movie are 8090 percent full and people were lining up in queues to watch the film in Tokyo on the first day of its release. Bhutiani mentioned that they have also been getting a lot of messages and tweets on Twitter, showing a lot of love and admiration for the film. The director also mentioned the distributer of the film, Yuji Sadai and his company, Bitters Inc who helped reach audiences

in Japan. The translation of the film into Japane se was especially taken care of so that the audiences in Japan would enjoy the film thoroughly. The movie tells the story of a 76-year old man (Behl) who forces his son (Hussain) to take him to Varanasi so that he can live out the rest of his days in

the city of salvation, Varanasi. The adventures that these two characters encounter make up most of the film. It has premiered in many film festivals across the world and is available to stream in Netfilx.

Assam filmmaker wins 2 awards at an Awards show in Mumbai

hargav Saikia, a filmmaker from Assam has won two awards for his film, The Black Cat at the Critics Choice Short Film Awards in Mumbai. The film is a 22-minute short English film that is adapted from Ruskin Bond’s short story and is directed and produced by Saikia. A. Vasanth won the award for ‘Best Cinematography’ for the film and Advait Nemlekar won an award for ‘Best Music’ for the film. The film was also nominated in the ‘Best Film’ (Fiction) category and ‘Best Director’ category at the awards show. The film stars Tom Alte r as Ruskin Bond, Shernaz Patel as Miss Bellows and Uday Chandra as Jaffer. The short film received the ‘Best Cinematography Award’ at the summer edition of Asians on

Film Festival of Shorts held in USA in 2017 and received an honourable mention in the ‘Best Fantasy/SciFi’ category at the film festival. Critics’ Choice Short Film Awards is an annual award show presented by the Film Critics Guild, a newlyformed association of India’s top film critics, in partnership with the Motion Content Group.

20 Fun

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

Horoscope of the week Matters related to family and siblings are likely to be the focus of the week. You will have to put in extra efforts in order to maintain a harmonious relationship with your sibling. Lack of communication and expression gives way to hostility and bitterness. Avoid that. Instead, spend more time and interact with them; know their aspirations so that you can guide them.

Mars moving through the 10th House shall push you to work tirelessly to realize your dreams. Mars viewing your Sign will add to your vitality. You are likely to come across a lucrative deal to make money. This, in turn, will uplift your mood and motivate you to work hard. Around midweek, you may be tempted to enjoy some pampering and luxury.

This week, the situation is likely to improve as Moon is now traversing through the 10th House in a fiery Sign Aries, which in turn, shall prod you to be creative, start afresh and push ahead your prospects in a big way. Saturn too, now being combust shall be less obstructive. Again the positive influence of Jupiter seems to be a blessing for you.

This week, you may be on a high after meeting an influential personality from the industry. This association can churn out great results, enhancing your professional prospects. Combination of Sun, Mercury and Jupiter traversing through the 5th House shall shower its blessings on you – no wonder you enjoy great monetary gains at this point in time.

You are likely to miss a crucial opportunity to make good money during the beginning of the week. This, due to laid back attitude. However, exceptionally for you, the opportunity seems to be knocking twice! Around midweek, you may again come across a promising, lucrative chance to boost your bank balance.

Two different people can have very diverse thought process and opinions; nothing to worry about it. Yes, the problem may arise when these two people live under the same roof, but the matter can be sorted out. You too can arrive on a mutual decision if you have differences with your spouse.

Matters related to finance, career and academics are likely to take the forefront this week. Benevolent Jupiter being out from the state of combustion shall ease out the pressure on your wallet. Although household expenses shall mount, you need not worry much. In fact, you may want the family to enjoy a better lifestyle.

Optimistic as you are, you will be highly charged and determined to think afresh to make way for progress. And here, you have all the reasons to cheer and rejoice as powerful planets traversing through your Sign are supportive of your endeavours. At home front, some unrest or disturbance shall make you unhappy.

Domestic matters are likely to take the forefront this week. Some issue/repair work may demand your attention. As a result, you may need to increase the provision for household expenses. Mars moving through the 3rd House shall prod you to take some risk, if need be, to push ahead of your prospects.

You shall be beaming with new ideas and fresh strategies as Moon traverses through your Sign at the beginning of the week.. Unleash your imagination and explore new avenues to push ahead your prospects, especially on the financial front. Besides, this is a great period to strengthen your faith in spirituality.

Energetic, upbeat and cheerful – you define all of these as the week begins – as Mars traverses through your Sign. Exceptionally favourable planetary alignment ensures that money pours in from all sides, strengthening your financial position. Moreover, ruler of your Sign Jupiter and Mercury moving through the 10th House will gradually take your career graph upwards.

3 7 8 5 6 1 6 9 5 2 5 6 4 3 4

9 1 4 7 5

8 4 3 2 1 5 8 1 4 9 6 3 2 5 8 9 7 9 3 8 1 4 9 5 6 3 2 5 2 6 3 9 5 4 7 3 4 1 2 4 3 Daily Sudoku: Fri 21-Dec-2018 5 6 9 Daily Sudoku: Fri 14-Dec-2018

Which monumental event occurred for the first time on December 17, 1903 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina?

What is a Mosasaur?

What extends from the Cape York Peninsula in the North to Bundaberg in the South and is 2,300 kms long?

Rupert Francis Kettle holds which unique record in the history of cricket in Assam?

Which popular Christmas tradition was started by Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert in the mid 19th century?

Identify this hybrid cat breed which is said to be the most expensive in the world with costs rising to $125,000 per cat. Dr. Soubhadra Chakrabarty This quiz has been brought to you by Brain Jam, a property of Priya Communications

curio-city

3 7 5 6 9 2 4 8 1 Daily Sudoku: Fri 14-Dec-2018

2 last 3 4week 8 7 solution 9 1 5 6 7 8 5 1 6 4 3 2 9 4 8 3 1 6 7 5 2 9 1 6 9 5 2 3 7 4 8 5 6 1 9 2 8 7 4 3 9 5 6 4 3 7 2 8 1 7 9 2 4 3 5 1 6 8 4 7 8 9 1 2 5 6 3 1 2 4 7 5 3 8 9 6 3 1 2 6 5 8 9 7 4 8 5 9 2 1 6 3 7 4 6 2 3 7 8 1 4 9 5 8 49 95 26 13 57 86 43 17 2 5 74 46 68 31 22 59 91 78 3 2 4 6 3 8 1 9 5 7easy Daily Sudoku: Fri 21-Dec-2018 very hard

http://www.dailysudoku.com/

1. The first flight of an airplane by the Wright Brothers 2. It’s the sea or water equivalent of the T-rex dinosaur 3. The Great Barrier Reef 4. He was the first Ranji captain and also the first person to score a first class century representing Assam 5. The Christmas tree 6. Ashera

curio-city

Get Fuzzy By Darby Conley

Sudoku

The situation is likely to improve compared to the last week. Moon now traversing through your sign shall prod you to work with renewed zest and great vision. Wily Saturn is now combust. The obstructive influence of Saturn has mellowed down by now, so no force is likely to halt your progress.

Word of the week joyance noun[joi-uh ns] joyous feeling; gladness.

Crossword Across

Down

1 Puzzle — foil (6) 1 Be cautious about (6) 4 Spider trap (6) 2 Clean between the teeth (5) 9, 23 Inflatable source of much 3 Salve used around the mouth (3,4) mirth? (7,7) 5 Internal organs of an animal some 10 Definitely not fat-free food (3-2) find tasty (5) 11 Follower of Haile Selassie (5) 6 Route to a destination — 12, 24 Black comedy or jokes (7,6) preferred course of action (3,2,2) 13 Action that is vile (11) 7 Go around (6) 18 Token amount (7) 8 US fiscal and monetary policies, 20 Culinary herb (5) 1981-89 (11) 22 Smell (5) 14 Boudoir (7) 23 See 9 15 ASBO Act (anag) — hot stuff! (7) 24 See 12 16 Polished (6) 25 Tricky cricket delivery (6) 17 Awkwardly heavy and clumsy (6) 19 Largest of the Ionian Islands (5) 21 Catapult — shoe — support (5)

Last week’s solution

Lifestyle

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

The Homoeopathic way to address lifestyle disorders Madhu Raghavendra

ndians, for long, have had their lifestyle and food practices in tandem with the surrounding habitat. This may be gradually fading away with globalization and cross-culture influences from the west, coupled with the stress people are adding to their modern lives. From a public health perspective we are currently facing a double burden of disease, that is, we are still dealing with the struggle to reduce infectious diseases, vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue, maternal and child health issues but added to it is the gradually increasing lifestyle, chronic diseases like diabetes, heart diseases due to increasing sedentary lifestyle. The clinical and empirical health benefits of yoga and pranayam have been repeatedly highlighted through research. Yoga is being adopted as a system to alleviate the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across the globe. One of the key alternative systems of medicine that is widely practiced in India is Homoeopathy. Reportedly, many global celebrities like

David Beckham, Usain Bolt and Prince Charles believe in Homoeopathy. This comprehensive system of medicine helps in treating lifestyle disorders and plays a significant role in delaying the occurrence of lifestyle diseases and in its management. This sys-

tem is holistic from the view point that it considers the physical, mental and psychological nature of an individual for treatment. The treatment pathways chosen are from empirical global research and not merely symptomatic treatment. Health, in homoeopathy, is the state of harmo-

ny between the parts of the body, the person as a whole being and the cosmos. Technically speaking, it is based on the nature’s law of cure ‘Similia Similibus Curantur’ which means likes cures likes. Dr Raj K Manchanda, Director General of the Central Council

for Research in Homoeopathy in one of his peer reviewed papers suggests that the homoeopathic system of medicine improves the general wellbeing and quality of life in addition to reducing the pain and disability.The Regional Research Institute (Homoeopathy) in Bhetapara, Guwa-

hati has started the Lifestyle Disorder Clinic since past four months on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and it is open to all. With increasing lifestyle disorders in our country there is a need to focus more on lifestyle interventions and with this objective the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy under Ministry of AYUSH, GOI has initiated Lifestyle Disorder Clinics in all its units and institutes across the country. Reportedly, there is considerable patient footfall at the Lifestyle Clinic which has started at RRI (H) Guwahati, which shows that people have become self-aware about leading a healthy lifestyle. The response to the challenge of rising lifestyle disorders needs to be from all the systems of medicine and the Central Council of Research of Homoeopathy is proactively engaging through their clinics and camps to provide behavioural change communication to lead an active lifestyle, adopting healthy eating behaviours, alongside providing treatment. Madhu Raghavendra works in public health and women empowerment, and is based in Guwahati.

FOR ALL Distance, a journey not complete until oblivion, The walk meant a journey enacted from birth The expressed opinion duels with the obvious, That we had to arrive was written by fate Which expresses the obvious in hidden detail The colours that result are warranted by choice A fate written in stone expresses the deepest Feelings that result from the immune heart Which covers all eyes to the resultant light We hear, we feel, we know, yet we can’t see, That light, which beckons from its solitary tower Unless the eyes are opened by captive epiphany The green shade makes the journey worthwhile, A moment of rest allows the minutes some calm Rested, we breathe, yet the heart remains tired The distance increases as we draw ever near, Never do we reach, yet the search continues, When suddenly, we find we can finally see...

Arunav Barua

How to eat and drink better this holiday season are only taking small portions. When you consume food in this way, you might end up overeating. This is because when you eat a regularsized portion, you know how much you need to eat to be full. However, when taking bite-sized portions, you have no idea of how much food and calories you are actually consuming. To avoid this, eat a few things from the menu that really catch your eye and leave the rest for the next time.

Harshita Himatsingka

ecember is here in full swing and tis’ the season to be jolly! With holidays come joy, laughter, excitement and a few kilograms here and there. While no one wants to be a Grinch and advise their fellow citizens to cut back on the delicacies of the season, we at G Plus are here to let you know how you can be smart about your eating habits. Follow the tips below and see the changes for yourself.

1. Avoid starving yourself before a party It might seem like a good idea to not eat anything the entire day and then binge on all the holiday snacks and goodies when at a party. But, that is the worst thing you can do to yourself as you are prone to eating two times more than you normally would if you are starving. This is because all your rational mind can think about in that moment

is acquiring food. Serotonin levels drop when you are hungry and it might also make you will feel anxious and stressed. Thus, to avoid these feelings, try to eat a light snack before you leave the house like a fruit, nuts or even a protein bar. The snack should be taken at least 20-30 minutes before you reach the party.

2. Do not eat small portions of everything on the menu

3. Do not skip breakfast

While this might seem counterproductive to every advice you’ve ever heard, trust us. Do not eat every item on the buffet counter even though you

This point cannot be stressed enough. Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day and it is said so for a reason. Eating a good breakfast that includes proteins and fibre is important because it regulates our blood

sugar levels and keeps us full for a longer period of time. Starting the day with a healthy meal also sets the mood for the rest of the day. Therefore, during the holiday season when you are bound to over indulge, you should make sure that you are consuming more healthy foods than unhealthy ones and one of the easiest ways to do that is by eating a good, hearty breakfast.

4. Be mindful of your alcohol consumption One might say that there is a direct correlation between the onset of the holiday season and the increase in alcohol consumption. And, with alcohol consumption comes responsibility. So, make sure not to mix your drinks. Choose one drink of choice for the entire evening and stick to it. Never drink on an empty stomach as you might get drunk sooner and might even get sick and no one wants that at a party. Also, be mindful to hydrate as much as possible. Drink a glass of water for every alcoholic beverage you consume.

22 Buzz

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

SBI hosted second edition of its Green Marathon in Guwahati

n Sunday, December 16, the State Bank of India hosted its second annual “SBI Green Marathon.” The company held this event to promote sustainability in the city. State Bank of India’s DMD and COO, Ramesh Babu and the bank’s NorthEast Circle CGM, Sunil Kumar Tandon flagged off the event. Approximately 3,000 runners turned up for the marathon, the starting point of which was the Khanapara

Veterinary Ground. Other guests attended the event included

who

Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, Finance

department, Rajiv Kumar Bora and singer and social activist, Zublee Baruah. Winners of the Iron Man Malaysia Challenge 2018, Prakash Basumatary, Amitabh Dutta, Dr Bibhas Bhagawati and Dr Santanu Dutta also came to show their support. Wellknown bodybuilder and winner of Mr Universe 2018, Golap Rabha also participated in the event. n

Training program at city university for unemployed youth

ssam Don Bosco University (ADBU) in coordination with five of its engineering departments viz mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer science engineering and IT, electronics and communication engineering and electrical and electronics engineering conducted a training programme for the city’s unemployed youth. The event, called “Swabalamban-2018” was held from December 10-15 at its Azara campus imparting training to the participants in welding, fitting and blacksmithy for mechanical fabrication, desktop publishing and PC maintenance, design of solar-powered chargeable LED lamps, plumbing and house wiring. Approximately 48 people, unemployed, both male and female from neighboring areas of the university participated in this programme. The event was held

in collaboration with Rotary Club of Guwahati, Assam Railway Employees’ Cooperative Association Ltd, Hills Woodcraft Pvt Ltd, DS Systems Ltd and Aashaa Bora Foundation. This programme was created as part of a social commitment organised by

the School of Technology, ADBU, and aims at developing and enhancing the skills of young Guwahatians by training them in various fields to develop their skills in a multitude of areas so that the

problem of unemployment can be tackled. The inauguration ceremony for the event was held on December 10 and it was attended by Fr Joseph Nellant, Pro-VC; Professor Manoranjan Kalita, Director, SoT; Professor Sunandan Baruah, Director, Centre of Excellence in Nanotechnology; Rotarian AN Lashkar, President, Rotary Club of Guwahati; Rotarian Dr M Rahman, secretary, Rotary Club of Guwahati; Rotarian S R Saikia, former chief engineer, Public Health and Engineering department; Rotarian Manoj Das, DRO, EDFi and Shobha Dey from Assam Railway Employees Cooperative Association Limited. Participants received certificates at the valedictory function held on Sunday, December 16. n

Guwahati girl bags gold in ‘Open National Arm Wrestling Championship’

uwahati’s Chetna Sharma won the gold medal in the Open National Arm Wrestling Championship in the Women’s open category organised by Lions Empire Sports Club in New Delhi. The venue for the event was Thyagaraj Stadium in Laxmi Bai Nagar. In the same championship, Debojit Sharma of Assam won Gold in the Men’s 100

Kg-plus category. The event was attended by

Snizhana Bavaieva from Slovakia and Devon Larratt, World heavyweight arm wrestling champion from Canada. Chetna, a resident of Guwahati, is an alumnus of Hindustan Kendriya Vidyalaya. She has done her MSc in Computer Science from Punjab Technical University and MCA from Assam Engineering College and is currently working as a software consultant. n

BSF Guwahati Frontier’s ‘SwachhtaPakhwada’ comes to an end

SF Guwahati Frontier had organised “SwachhtaPakhwada,” a 15-day long program that concluded on Saturday, December 15. The program emphasized on making Guwahati a green and clean city and to bring about awareness for the same. Frontier IG, Rakesh Agarwal, reviewed the events and said that he wanted to emphasize on working towards making “Swachhta” a “Jan Andolan” (mass campaign) so that it promotes behavioral and attitudinal changes. Students and staff also participated in this program and some activities included cleaning of Patgaon, Guwahati BSF camp and its surrounding areas, cleaning of

Coochbehar Railway Station etc. Along with these activities, the program also hosted an awareness session on personal hygiene and environmental hygiene. There were a number of seminars, discussions, rallies and posters that were also organised in nearby villages and BSF camps to create awareness and bring about a positive change. n

Second phase of Impact Week Guwahati is underway

mpact week Guwahati, which started on 14th December, has ended its first phase strongly and the second phase of its program began on 17th December. The event, which is being hosted by the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE)in collaboration with German Design Thinking Impact Team will host 100 students from the entire northeast region and will train students to use design thinking as a method to build a sustainable business model. The final session of the event, the Valedictory Programme will be held on 20th December at IIE and will start at 3 pm. The chief guest for the evening will be Ravi Capoor, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, Industries & Commerce Department.

The first phase of the program saw a total of 35 participants from the northeast region and around the world. This program was created with the aim to create a pool of design thinking coaches. During this event, participants were trained by a group of 12 international coaches from companies such as Lufthansa and SAP. n

32nd Guwahati Book Fair to be held from December 22

he 32nd Guwahati Book Fair is being organised by the Assam Publication Board at the Assam Engineering Institute (AEI) playground from December 22 to January 2. The event will also feature a “National Youth Writer Conclave” which is being jointly organised by the Assam Publication Board and Sahitya Akademi. It will be a part of the book fair wherein a number of writers of national and international fame will participate. This conclave will be a two-day long

schedule for which the inauguration will be done by Dr Dhrubajyoti Borah. Other attendees for the event will include Madhab Koushik and Sri Nivas Rao from Sahitya Akademi. Some prominent writers that will be attending the event include Sujata Sahani, Satyamangal Mahadev, Mahammad Sarfaraz Peri, Swamik Ghosh, Sanghita Syanal, Sneha Sabnish, Anil Pratap Giri, Souri Swari, Apramya Misra, Rupesh Kumar Jha, Jagdish Singh, Shiv Bodhi among others. n

Fiction

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018

The Flood Nisha Mahanta Bordoloi nishabordoloi@ yahoo.com

t was the month of August. The air was heavily laden with unshed humidity. Dark clouds hung low over the night sky, obscuring the moon which was on the last leg of its journey towards unleashing its full splendour. Deepika lowered her sleeping baby inside the mosquito net on the 18th century, teak, four-poster bed that had belonged to her husband’s great grand-parents and handed down over the generations. As she lowered the flame on the kerosene lamp on the dressing table, an ominous feeling engulfed her. Her heart seemed as heavy as the clouds that hovered over their dilapidated home; another 18th century handover of their great grand-parents. Lost in thought, she loosened the hair that had been wrung up into a

waist and coming to rest on her bosom, lulling her to sleep. He had gone to Guwahati to attend his nephew’s wedding, which Deepika had to miss because of young Niyor. Besides that, the ominous feeling hadn’t left her yet and it now squeezed her heart and constricted her throat. An unknown fear! As a city girl and an only child, Deepika had grown up like a tomboy and had never felt any fear. So this feeling now

shut her almond shaped eyes. It was then that she noticed that, except for Damayanti’s mooing, the night was eerily silent. There was a strange reprieve from the endless barking of the street dogs and even the buzz of the crickets and fireflies and the hum of the cloud of mosquitoes that hovered over the mosquito net, were absent. Deepika was sure that some evil was about to enter her life and destroy it. She ran her

was whipping up a storm. Those who had not yet winded their day heard the wind howling and came out to their front porches, wondering at the destruction of vegetation that was sure to follow. But they were thankful that, at least, they would be reprieved from the unbearable heat that bore down on them since the last month. They were thankful that monsoon had arrived. Other states of Assam dreaded

calloused hands over the scrawny body of her baby to ensure if he was alright. She hugged him tightly for more reassurance. Gradually the warmth from Niyor’s tiny body seeped into her body and soul. She felt her eyelid grow heavy and allowed herself to drown into a fitful slumber. Unknown to her, outside, the wind had gathered speed and

the arrival of monsoon that was the harbinger of destruction of lives, homes and properties. But Kaliabor had never reeled under floods since 1968. Many had almost forgotten about it, and the new generation had only heard of it as a fireside tale. As Deepika slumbered, the rain started to fall in torrents. It took countless precious minutes for the banging

The ominous feeling hadn’t left her yet and it now squeezed her heart and constricted her throat. An unknown fear! As a city girl and an only child, Deepika had grown up like a tomboy and had never felt any fear. So this feeling now puzzled and deeply disturbed her.

tight bun at the nape of her slender neck and let it tumble down her gently sloping shoulder to lay quietly on her pert bosom heavy with the milk for her 7 month old Niyor. She removed her “chador” and with only her petticoat and blouse, slipped in inside the mosquito net, lay down beside the sleeping Niyor and kissed the top of his perfect round hairless crown. Finally, embracing the moment she had been craving for since the sun went down, Deepika lay down her own head on the soft cotton pillow that Dilip, her husband, had made with his own hands. A sigh of relief heaved out of her, thankful that the day had come to an end and she can let the bed bear the burden of her tired aching body. Unlike other days, sleep did not come easily today. She missed the loving hands of Dilip softly caressing her hair and moving, delicately over her back , the curves of her hips and

Illustration by: Shaheen Khurshid

puzzled and deeply disturbed her. She tried singing a naam ghoxa that she had learnt from her late mother-in-law, hoping for relief from that feeling and praying for sleep. But sleep still eluded her. The incessant mooing of Damayanti, the milking cow, and their only property of any value, added to her distress. With a prayer to Krishna, she forcefully

on the window to penetrate the deep fog of sleep that lay upon Deepika’s fatigued brain. As the loud rattling sound finally reached Deepika, she jumped up with a start and scrambling out of the bed, raised the wick of the lamp that lay flickering on the bottom of the wick tube. Covering herself with the discarded chador, she forced out a strong voice, “Who is it?” “It’s me, Jagat, Bou.” The voice of her neighbour, full of alarm and concern came floating overriding the sound of the rain pellets on the tin roof. Relieved, Deepika opened the window and asked, “What’s the matter Jagat? Why did you have to wake me up at this hour and just when I had finally grabbed a few winks of sleep?” she asked in a frustrated voice. Seeing Jagat’s face etched with worry, the dark thoughts resurfaced and she again felt her heart squeeze. “Does this have anything to do with Dilip? Is he alright?” Fear for Dilip assailed her. Though, Jagat’s next words comforted her regarding Dilip, she understood the reason for the unreasonable fear she had been feeling since the late evening. “The Hatimura Dyke has broken, Bou and the Brahmaputra is rushing towards us in full force.” The words sent a chill down Deepika’s spine. Dilip was away. What was she going to do all alone? How was she going to shield Niyor from the angry river’s onslaught? As myriad thoughts swirled in her mind, Jagat’s voice brought her back to face the present predicament. “Don’t waste time trying to save anything Bou. Take just the bare necessities and come out quickly. We are all moving towards Xonarigaon. The land there is at a higher level and hopefully the Brahmaputra won’t reach it. Be quick! There is no time.” Just as he finished his warning, Damayanti wailed more frantically and Jagat became more alarmed. “Bou, run to our place through the front door, the backyard is starting to flood,” Jagat shouted. “I’ll release Damayanti and join you.” Saying so, Jagat ran towards the cowshed leaving Deepika stranded alone and really frightened. Forcing herself to be calm and chanting Krishna’s name, Damayanti wrapped the sleeping Niyor in a bed sheet, picked up a water bottle a few of Niyor’s clothes, a packet of biscuits and tied it into a bundle in a gamocha. A rumbling sound approaching from almost behind her made her steps quicker and she ran towards the front door. Just as she opened the front door, she heard a loud creak followed by a whooshing sound and knew she was doomed. (To be continued…)

24 Catching Up

G PLUS | Dec 22 - Dec 28, 2018