G Plus Vol 7 Issue 18 by G Plus

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

INSIDE

Volume 07 | Issue 18 Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020 Price `10 Assam Madrassa teachers oppose govt decision to shut down Madrassas

Eviction of vendors across Guwahati draws mixed response from citizens

Centre Spread Pages 12-13

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Post Delhi success AAP

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eyes all 126 seats in 2021

Assam elections B

uoyed by its massive victory in the Delhi assembly polls in 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to contest the 2021 Assam legislative assembly elections and it is targeting to field candidates in all the 126 constituencies. Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal’s party, is formulating a strategy to chalk out a proper plan for the upcoming polls in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)ruled Assam and accordingly, many probable candidates are joining the party. AAP Assam state coordinator Dr Bhaben Choudhury, talking to G Plus said, “We are planning to contest from all the 126 seats and accordingly we are working on a plan now.” He further expressed that after the massive victory of the party in Delhi, the people of Assam have recognised the ideology of the party which is development and nothing else. According to sources in AAP, there are 16,000 volunteers across Assam actively working at the grassroots level presently and therefore many members are joining the party. Talking about Guwahati, the source said that at present there are 3,000 active volunteers. The figure of the members in Guwahati and Assam are not yet revealed as the source said that after the Delhi victory, a large number of people are joining the party. The exact membership details could be revealed after a month or so. Many social organisations are backing the party and Lachit Sena is one of the prominent organisations

G Plus News @guwahatiplus standing with AAP, the source revealed. Discussing who all are joining the party, the source said, “A prominent Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) sitting MLA will join the party soon.” The source also revealed that a team of BJP members from lower Assam will also join the party. An entire constituency in one of the districts in upper Assam will join the AAP very soon, revealed the source. The source also said that the party has formed committees in all the districts of Assam except Kokrajhar; a plan for Kokrajhar is being worked upon currently. Enquiring if AAP

founder Arvind Kejriwal will visit Assam or not, the source said that as of now there is no such news but as soon as the party is ready with all the candidates, Kejriwal will definitely visit Assam to talk to the voters. AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, while taking oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, hinted at the party's interest to expand pan-India. He had said that the Delhi election had given birth to a new kind of politics which will build 21st century India. All state units of the party will launch a campaign to expand the party's membership and outreach through a missed call campaign. Even Assam AAP is planning to start the similar campaign soon. The social media outreach has already started in the state and the AAP volunteers are working extensively to spread the “Join AAP” campaign. Meanwhile, anti Citizenship Amendment Act activists Arup Borbora and Jahnu Baruah are also working towards launching a new political party. The All Assam Students’ Union have also pitched for a different political party within the next 3 to 6 months. The BJP has claimed that they will win 100 seats in 2021 elections and Congress bragged of winning 80 seats. The upcoming election bugle has already been sounded and it seems like the voters in Assam will get a lot of options this time. But who will again capture Dispur remains a question.

The Great Indian Telecom Mess Atiqul Habib @guwahatiplus

ith the progress of the telecom revolution in India, the entire ball game has changed to such an extent that reputed telecom service providers are either facing a harrowing time meeting statutory requirements or are faced with declaring bankruptcy.

Such is the case of the government-owned and cashstrapped Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) that it has been constantly struggling to cope up with the new age technology in order to sustain in the ‘data driven spectrum.’ Meanwhile, the BSNL board has approved reducing retirement age to 58 years, VRS for employees 50 years or above and reportedly approved the proposal to lay off over 54,000 employees in which employees from Guwahati had already faced the burnt in the month of January 2020. This move by the state conglomerate is expected to help the government-run telecom firm save Rs 13,895 crores on the wage bill over the next six years, whereas the VRS might help it save Rs 1,671 crores to Rs 1,921.24 crores every year, a report said. The decision to announce a VRS package could help the embattled telecom operator save up to Rs 1,921 crores annually but at a cost of Rs 13,000 crores. Vodafone Idea, which was created after the merger of the Indian arm of UK telecom player Vodafone and Idea Cellular - an entity of Aditya Birla Group, is on the brink of closure as the Supreme

Court has ordered it to pay its Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues of Rs 53,000 crores. Speaking to G Plus, one of the senior employees at Vodafone said, “As there is no clarity with regard to the company’s call on the pay out of the AGR, the staff is a bit shaky now and considering alternatives.” It is to be mentioned that there was a shake-up recently in the company’s hierarchy but with the latest round of the Apex Court’s order, it has come as a bombshell to the employees making them think about the fate of Vodafone. Earlier, Vodafone in the northeast had a good share of the market and enjoyed a feasible profit. However, with the advent of the merger with IDEA, the market share went down in the northeast, hence becoming the smallest market pan-India. While Reliance Jio and Airtel delivered a sizeable customer base with freebies of free data and extended validity in northeast, Vodafone Idea decided to take out most of its business structure in a ‘Hub and Spoke Model’, wherein the vested control will be outside the northeast, likely in West Bengal. With this, there is concrete certainty of layoffs of employees among the higher-ups of the organisation. From the customers’ mindset, it’s quite apparent that if Vodafone Idea, with its 370 million subscribers, is pushed to bankruptcy, everybody will lose. The Indian telecom sector will turn into a private sector duopoly with Reliance Jio and Bharati Airtel being the only players to offer services.

In The News

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Assam Madrassa teachers oppose

govt decision to shut down Madrassas

706 madrassas in Assam which include provincialised as well as government-recognised madrassas to be converted into regular high schools Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

embers of the Assam Madrassa Coordination Committee (AMCC) opposed the government's recent decision to shut down madrassas in the state. Recently, state education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the government will shut down all governmentrun Madrassas as well as Sanskrit Tols within the next 4-5 months. He had added that the

AMCC has appealed to the state government that the Madrassas already impart education which comes under the SEBA board and also provide theological knowledge to students.

Madrassas will be modernised and will be converted into high schools. It is to be mentioned that there are a total of 706 Madrassas in Assam which include provincialised as well as government-recognised

Madrassas. Further, a total of more than 70,000 students study in these Madrassas currently. Addressing a press meet in Guwahati after the education minister mentioned the state government’s decision to shut down all institutes providing religious education, members of the AMCC said that the government recognised Madrassas as well as provincialised Madrassas provide general education in addition to theological education. They have appealed to the state government that the Madrassas already impart education which comes under the SEBA board and also provide theological knowledge to students. Thus, they said that there is no need to modernise the Madrassas. The teachers said that Madrassas impart education in three levels; these include Pre-senior Madrassas, Senior Madrassas and Title Madrassa and Arabic College. They further informed that the Dakhil examination conducted by the Madrassa is equivalent to matriculation degree. “Students already learn the subjects which are included in the SEBA board including English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Arabic, Hindi, vocational studies and computer education as well," informed Faruq Ahmed Lashkar, member AMCC. During the press meet, they also showed a notification by the Assam Higher Secondary Council (AHSEC) to media

Members of Assam Madrassa Coordination Committee addressing the media to express their displeasure | G Plus photo persons which mentioned, “It is notified to all concerned that the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council has allowed the passed out candidates of Madrassa matriculation ‘Dakhil’ examination conducted by the State Madrassa Education Board, Assam to take admission into the HS First Year in Higher Secondary School, Senior Secondary Schools and Degree Colleges under the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council in all the streams- Arts, Science, Commerce and Vocational.”

It further states that the candidates must pass under the same syllabus of HSLC course as prescribed by SEBA for the subjects - English, MIL, General Science, Mathematics and Social Science. Farikuudin Ahmed, chief coordinator of AMCC mentioned, “It is not as though the Madrassas were established privately, the government has given them recognition as well as permission.” He added that Madrassas are not merely restricted to

providing religious education. “Students learn the SEBA course in Madrassas and are eligible to take admission in any professional course such as engineering, medical or any other field after passing out from Madrassas.” The teachers added that by making Madrassas equivalent to high schools, the government will demote them. Instead they feel that the government should start a university for the board. The AMCC members will take their plea to the chief minister.

Govt’s decision draws flak from minority community The Assam government’s decision to close down Madrassas has not gone down well with the members of the Muslim community. They feel that it has hurt the sentiments of their community. Several people from the minority community feel that the BJP-led government is deliberately taking such decisions to make Muslims feel like second class citizens in their home state. “We are indigenous Assamese Muslims and have always lived together with people from other communities with a sense of equality and brotherhood. However, with

the government bringing in such new policies, it seems like they are discriminating against the Muslims,” said Imran Rasul, a senior citizen of Guwahati. Further, another member of the community told G Plus that the BJP-government is almost resorting to “bullying” in order to pass their decisions which suit their larger agenda. “Instead of focussing on development works and welfare of people, it feels as if the government is only concerned about religion and other such issues. The politicians should remember that the people of Assam had voted for them with the hopes that they would

help in bringing about a better standard of living for them, but in vain,” said another Guwahatian on the condition of anonymity. On the other hand, it is to

be mentioned that in contrast the Uttar Pradesh government in its recently-presented 202021 budget, Yogi Adityanath government has allocated a total of Rs 479 crore has

been allocated for Madrassas and ‘maktabs’. Further, the UP government made a provision of Rs 459 crore for modernisation of ArabicPersian Madrassas.

G Plus spoke to the chairman of the State Madrassa Education Board, Imran Hussain, who said that they have not received any official communication regarding shutting down of madrassas form the state government yet. “Till now we have only heard about the news through the media and have not received any official letter regarding the same and it won’t be appropriate to comment on the matter till we receive an official communication from the state government,” mentioned Hussain.

City

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Eviction of vendors across Guwahati draws mixed response from citizens Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

he Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) along with the city police and other district authorities are conducting eviction drives across the city in an effort to remove the illegal vendors, as they are one of the major causes of traffic congestion in Guwahati. The drives have been conducted as per directives of a division bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Chief Justice Ajai Lamba and Justice Soumitra Saikia, in response to the PIL (72/2016) filed by Rita Das Mozumdar in the Gauhati High Court to ease traffic congestion in the city arising out of haphazard parking, ill-management of traffic, unscientific traffic control, illegal street vendors etc. In this regard, GMC has evicted the vendors from Fancy Bazar, Nehru Park, Bhangaghar opposite Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) amongst others. Talking to G Plus, Naren Rajbongshi, President of Assam Street Vendors’ Association

(ASVA) said, “The authorities have evicted both legal as well as illegal vendors. The legal vendors are those that are included in the survey conducted by GMC in 2015 that had a total of 7183 vendors in the list. These people should have been provided proper establishment, instead even they were evicted as well.” Debajit Senapati, working president of ASVA, who also has a shop opposite GMCH said, “When we were evicted in 2017, we had registered a case (Case No. I.A.(Civil).1878/2017) with regard to the eviction in the Gauhati High Court. The Court had asked GMC to settle the dispute before 23rd January 2020 and allot settlement to eleven vendors. We have met the Commissioner of GMC but there seems to be no progress although we had been assured. Now that the same court has passed an order to evict vendors, they have forced us out of our livelihood without any consideration for the earlier ruling.” Earlier, GMC Commissioner, Debeswar Malakar, had informed G Plus that they could have proceeded with the settlement of the vendors in Bhangagarh, but

are awaiting the NOC from the DC’s office as the vending zone falls under ‘Protected Area’ which has not yet been received. As such GMC was unable to proceed with the work. Most people have applauded the work of the civil authorities in this regard that have eased the city’s traffic to a great extend. However, some students of Cotton College have stood against the authorities when the vendors opposite Outside GMCH, Bhangagarh: Post eviction of vendors a tea stall seeking to set up shop again their college were evicted. He further said that many prices. So, removing them would Trinayan Baruah, State students have supported them in be highly inconvenient for us as President of AGP Students’ Union, this regard. well. We don’t have issues with who has supported the vendors However, Rahul Bordoloi, evicting the ones that are illegal during the eviction said, “I along general secretary of Cotton or are selling rotten food, but the with two other students of our University Students’ Union said, others have no other means of college have voiced our concern “The union is not involved in livelihood. They should not be with the authorities and we won’t this but we are aware that many evicted and the authorities should let them evict the vendors from students have raised concern in also talk to the students about our this area. They mostly cater to the this matter.” requirements.” needs of the students at very low

The Great Indian Telecom Mess FROM Page 01

his will also allow existing telecom operators to charge substantially more than the current net charges. In the context of the recharge plans offered by the duo-players, it is

seen that the price war in placing their packs have eventually burnt a hole in the commoners’ pockets. Customers will be the worst off having to choose between just two private telecom services providers. On the other hand, Airtel in a quick response has agreed that they will

cough up Rs 10,000 crores by 20th February and the remaining before the next hearing. The promoters of Vodafone-Idea, Kumarmanglam Birla, speaking to media said that they are not going to infuse fresh equity into the project.

Who will gain from the debacle of Vodafone Idea? In the post Vodafone Idea closure scenario, assuming a 40:60 share of Vodafone Idea’s subscribers for Jio and Airtel, Jio could see an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation addition of Rs 15,000 crores, while that figure could be Rs 10,000 crores for Airtel, according to an analysis by Motilal Oswal. It added that these figures could have a 50% margin. For Jio, this would mean a jump of 29% on EBITDA to Rs 67,100 crores in the

financial year 2021-2022. For Airtel, this would mean a 22% jump to Rs 54,700 crores. Rajiv Sharma, research head at SBI Cap Securities, estimates the adjusted value of Vodafone Idea’s spectrum that the company acquired in the previous auctions is roughly $14 billion. Analysts said that Bharti Airtel will be the biggest beneficiary if Vodafone Idea fails. “In case of Vodafone Idea going into National Company Law Tribunal,

Bharti will gain substantial market share and will be the beneficiary," Jefferies India Pvt Ltd said in a note. Currently, Vodafone Idea has 304 million subscribers out of which 104 million are 4G users. Jio has 370 million 4G subscribers. Bharti Airtel has 283 million subscribers out of which 123 million are 4G users. So, will Vodafone Idea Limited shut shop? It is a tricky situation as the company can go in any direction.

4 City

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Guwahati sees 20% dip in road mishaps in last 5 years, fine collections however increase Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

Road accidents in Guwahati decreased from 1,156 in 2015 to 931 in 2019. 5,157 road mishaps have occurred in Guwahati in the last 5 years. In last 5 years, 1,361 people have died in road accidents and 3,887 have been left injured. GTP has seen increase in collection of on-thespot fines. More than Rs 4.60 crores was collected as fines for traffic violations in 2019. In 2014, GTP had collected Rs 3.95 crores as fines. The number of cases of traffic rule violations has also been increasing in the city. Speed driving, overtaking, wrong side driving and drunken driving are major reasons behind accidents. GTP taking slew of measures to curb with traffic congestion and accidents.

uwahati has been witnessing a steady decline in the number of road traffic accidents over the years. From 1,156 accidents in 2015 to 931 accidents in 2019, the gateway to the northeast has witnessed 19.5% decrease in the total number of road accidents. On

the contrary, however, the onthe-spot fine collection has seen a massive increase during the same period of time. In the year 2019, 931 number of road accidents occurred in Guwahati. Out of these accidents, 240 have been fatal and a total of 249 people died. The number of non-fatal accidents was 691 where 836 people were left injured. As per police sources, the main reason behind accidents in Guwahati are speed driving, overtaking, wrong side driving and drunken driving. In January 2019, a total of 84 accidents occurred out of which 19 were fatal and in the following month, a total of 64 accidents occurred out of which 15 were fatal. In March, a total of 91 accidents occurred out of which 27 were fatal and in April, 18 fatal accidents occurred of a total of 68 accidents. In May, 78 accidents led to 27 fatal accidents. In June, in 62 accidents, 14 turned out to be fatal and in July out of 75 accidents 18 turned out to be fatal. For the month of August out of 77 accidents, 17 were fatal. In September, out of 75 cases, 21 were fatal and in October, 18 accidents were fatal out of a total of 79. In November, 92 accident cases were registered in which 24 were fatal and in December, out of 86 cases 22 were fatal. As per records obtained from the Guwahati police commissionerate, Guwahati witnessed 1,051 numbers of road accidents in 2018, 977 accidents in 2017, 1,042 accidents in 2016 and 1,156 accidents in 2015. Out of the total of 5,157 accidents that occurred in the city over the last five years (from January 2015 to December 2019), 1,270 were fatal leading to the death of 1,361 persons while 3,887 accidents were non-fatal wherein 4,258 persons were left injured. The collection of fines for traffic violation has been on the rise in Assam, specifically in Assam. Guwahati Traffic Police (GTP) registered a total of 1,45,476 cases of traffic violation and collected over Rs 4.60 crores as on-the-spot fines for traffic violations in 2019, apart from fines collected for non-FIR cases that are paid at the court.

In 2018, GTP detected 2,00,855 number of cases of traffic violation and collected over Rs 4.70 crores as fines. In 2017, the number of cases of violation stood at 1,40,536 which resulted in the collection of over Rs 4.10 crores as fines. 2016 witnessed 1,16,645 cases of traffic violation with over Rs 3.76 crores collected as fines and 2015 witnessed 1,15,604 cases of violation leading to the GTP collecting Rs 3.95 crores as onthe-spot fines. With the aim to curb accidents taking place in the metropolitan city, GTP has been adopting a slew of measures. It has been keeping a close watch on city buses plying in the city as they are notorious for violating traffic rules and the DTO has recently taken stringent actions against city buses for violation of rules. “The Guwahati Police has taken many steps to mitigate the traffic problems viz round the clock functioning of Dial 100, installation of CCTV, procurement of traffic interceptors and breath analysers, realization of huge fines, traffic awareness programs, deployment of additional traffic personnel (200 in 2018) and motorcycles,” said a traffic police official speaking to G Plus. An innovative arrangement adopted by the GTP recently is the placement of red cones to demarcate the roads where people are likely to take u-turn. The initiative has been put in place at ABC point and below Ulubari flyover, among other points on GS Road. The initiative seems to have eased traffic congestion to a large extent.

Representative Image Adding that the city police are going to take more measures to ease traffic congestion and avoid accidents in the city, the commissioner of police Munna Prasad Gupta said, “Citizens

should be motivated to drive responsibly. We have been taking measures to ensure the same and are also accepting valuable suggestions from the public to help curb the problem.”

Governance

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Land allotment for GMC’s solid waste management project in a fix

ven after several months of the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order to Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) to shift the dumping ground to a different location from Boragaon, there seems to have been a logjam over shifting of the dumping ground. In another recent order, the NGT has asked the Assam government to hand over the plots of land which were identified for the purpose of setting up of an integrated solid waste management (ISWM) plant

to the GMC within one month’s time or face “imposition of heavy environmental compensation.” On the other hand, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kamrup (Metro) district, Biswajit Pegu told G Plus that they have allotted the lands to GMC. “We have already allotted them land in four places, including ones in Basistha, Odalbakar, Sonapur and Narengi.” The authorities have decided to set up waste-to-energy projects and waste-to-manure projects at these selected locations. Pegu added that another plot of land which amounts to around 40 bighas which belongs to Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited (AEGCL)

has been identified. They have signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the GMC for setting up an integrated waste management plant as well as a waste to energy plant. Talking about the ground realities, Pegu mentioned that there has been some resistance from the local residents in Chandrapur and Sonapur areas. The DC also said that the plot of land in Odalbakra is located near a residential locality and it does not seem feasible for setting up the plant. “The plot of land in Basistha is quite a good plot for setting up the integrated solid waste management plant but someone has filed a petition in the High

Court and that land is also in limbo right now and the matter is subjudice,” informed Pegu. The officials are now focussing on the land in Chandrapur and Sonapur. The Boragaon dumping ground of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) is posing a threat to the natural habitation at Deepor Beel just on the outskirts of the city. The site is protected under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, 1971. The area has been suffering from environmental degradation due to continuous waste dumping since 2004. The GMC had however, given up the idea of creating another dumping ground, and will now be establishing the ISWM plant.

“Once it becomes operational, there will be no need of another dumping ground. So, the question of relocating the dumping site does not arise,” GMC commissioner, Debeswar Malakar told G Plus. He added that once the project starts, garbage will no longer be dumped at Boragaon, but will be sent to the plants for treatment. However, it seems that it might take several years for the ISWM plant to come up given the delays in allotment of land and the actual construction work to begin. The GMC has already been allotted Rs 10 crores for the project by the state government, said sources.

Janasanyog No. 2789/19

Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

Published by Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Assam

6 City

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Construction of BharalumukhNorth Ghy Brahmaputra Bridge to commence from 25th Feb Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

he construction of the proposed bridge over Brahmaputra River connecting its north bank to its south within the city premises is to be started from 25th February. The first test pile of the mega structure would be done on that day in the probable presence of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal who has given his tentative approval to his presence on the occasion. As per reports, soil testing on the southern bank has been completed and sample of soil from the middle of the river is being undertaken. PWD officials informed that the samples are being sent to Delhi as there is no laboratory in Assam certified by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), as mentioned in the contract. As per the project agreement, the project is to be completed by 13th August, 2023. The design of the superstructure has been

done by a Singapore based company, Wiecon Co Ltd as per international standards and proof checked by Alok Bhowmick, an authority on structural engineering. The total length of the bridge will be 1,600 metres measured from south to north bank, of which 1,240 meters will be designed as a multi-span extradosed bridge with individual span length of 200 metres between consecutive pylons, the longest in the country. The bridge is to have five main spans on the river. Engineers in charge of the project informed that the bridge would be of international standards and the concrete to be used is to be infused with blast furnace fly ash and corrosion inhibitors for longer durability of the steel. The complete project with an estimated budget of Rs 2,608 crores is the largest project ever undertaken by PWD. The project is to be financed mostly by the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). The super-structure will start as a six-lane bridge at the northern bank and would

diverge at a Y-arm at the southern bank to two three-lane ways, one connecting the main road at Santipur opposite Swagat Hospital, and the other end at Azan Pir Park in Machkhowa. Both these ends are to be further connected by an elevated corridor of 1.4 kms (1.24 kms main bridge), Ongoing pre-construction work being carried out on the south bank of Brahmaputra River | G Plus Photo parallel to width of the bridge will be 33 the already existing Mahatma metres. Also a rail over-bridge is Gandhi Road. The PWD has to be constructed near Gauripur also proposed the construction The design of the over the existing railway track. of two rotaries at both these superstructure has The contract for the points. been done by a construction of the complete The six-lane road is to extend project has been awarded to SP up to Gauripur, increasing the Singapore based Singla Construction Pvt Ltd of total length of the project to company, Wiecon Co Haryana. around 6.2 kilometers. The

Ltd.

No trees to be cut for Guwahati-North Guwahati Bridge The Guwahati to North Guwahati Bridge that had earlier proposed cutting down of around 250 trees at its vantage point in Bharalumukh will now be built without cutting down any trees. G Plus had earlier reported that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) finalized by the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) had proposed the cutting down of as many as 250 age-old trees located along the riverbank starting from Azan Pir Park to Kalipur.

In this regard, a co-ordination committee – Citizens’ Coordination Committee, was formed by the citizens of the city, and residents including senior citizens and children formed a human chain on November 10 last demanding redesign of the proposed bridge in order to protect the trees. After failing to get any positive response from the state government, the committee, on November 18, called in Padma Shri Jadav Payeng, famously

known as the “Forest Man of India” to represent the trees which have been giving a breather to the city for decades. G Plus had done a detailed report of the same on November 16 under the headline "Killer Bridge: The project that will destroy more than 250 trees in South Guwahati" as well as on November 23 under "Jadav Payeng bats for Guwahati’s illfated trees." Subsequently, the DPR was re-designed and the said bridge

has been moved back around 15 metres towards the river so that now the tress would not have to be chopped down. Although a few of the trees in the Ajan Pir Park, where one end of the southern part will be located, might have to be mowed down, the forest department has not given a final number yet. Talking to G Plus, Assistant Executive Engineer of PWD and the contractor in charge of the project presented the new DPR and confirmed the news.

New bridge to ease traffic congestion in Machkhowa-Santipur stretch The new state-of-the-art bridge would help to ease traffic congestion along the Machkhowa to Santipur area as the Mahatma Gandhi Road would be converted to oneway at that particular stretch.

Vehicles travelling from Panbazar towards Maligoan will have to take the MG Road while the traffic moving from Bhootnath towards Panbazar will have to take the elevated corridor (bridge)

along the Y-arm of the bridge. A temporary PWD office is to be constructed at the northern bank with a finance of over Rs 2 crores inclusive in the Engineering, Procurement and Construction

(EPC) contract. Also VIP conference rooms and labour and staff accommodation rooms are to be constructed at the southern bank and will remain till the completion of the project. n

The total length of the bridge will be 1,600 metres measured from south to north bank. 1.4 metres elevated corridor connecting Santipur and Machkhowa. The complete project with an estimated budget of Rs 2,608 crores is the largest project ever undertaken by PWD. The bridge is to be of international standards. DPR re-designed; no trees to be mowed down. MG Road to become one-way on Machkhowa to Santipur stretch

In The News

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Chimps and Binturongs to join Assam Zoo in next 10 months Chayanika Das @cdchayanika95

Assam State Zoo all set to bring Chimpanzees and Binturongs from Indonesia 4 chimps and 4 binturongs will arrive in the next 10 months MoU signed between the Assam State Zoo and Indonesian safari on February 16 DFO of Assam State Zoo said that the zoo authority has approved but are yet to get permissions from central zoo authority, government of India According to the MoU, the parties will cooperate and consult each other in relation to several exchange programmes

he Assam State Zoo which is home to 112 species of animals is all set to welcome chimpanzees and binturongs from Indonesia in the next 10 months. On February 16, the Assam State Zoo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Taman Safari, Bogor, Indonesia. According to the MoU, the Assam State Zoo will receive two male and two female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

and two male and two female binturongs (Aretictis binturong) from the Indonesian safari and in return they will send back a male and female rhino. Tejas Mariswamy, Divisional Forest Officer of Assam State Zoo told G Plus, “Two species are coming down from Indonesia - chimpanzees and binturang. Right now only the zoo authority has approved. We have to take permissions from many other authorities like Central Zoo Authority and government of India.” Visitors have been eagerly waiting for chimps to arrive at the zoo. Talks were on between the two parties before the MoU was signed. According to the MoU, the zoos will cooperate and consult each other in relation to several exchange programmes which were verbally agreed in this understanding. Mariswamy said that it will take around six months to take permissions and another four for the animals to arrive at the zoo. So in another 10 months, the Assam State Zoo will have new members to the family. Talking about the arrangements, Mariswamy said, “For the chimps we are planning to get a new enclosure and for the binturongs we have an existing one.” According to the agreement, the animals shall be in good condition and should be capable of breeding when they reach their breeding age. Goatrade Farming Co Ltd, a Bangkok-based company, will assist both the parties in everything related to the animal exchange. They will also provide advisory service in obtaining permission in procurement of CITES and health certificate, staff exchange programme, crating and transportation.

File photo of Assam State Zoo in Guwahati and (inset) a Binturong Dr Rathin Barman, Joint Director Cum In-Charge of Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), WTI talked about the exchange in animals and said, “Exchanging animals is always good. It will definitely upgrade the value of our zoo.” When asked about the present state of the animals at the Assam State Zoo he said, “There is no end of betterment and I would love to see our zoo in a world standard state in the coming years.” Talking about rhinos being sent to Indonesia, Dr Barman said, “It will be good if we keep rhinos in our country since they are our pride and we should give more importance to them.” In December 2019, the administration of Assam State Zoo Cum Botanical Garden had taken special measures to keep the animals warm and

healthy. The zoo authorities had installed heaters inside the shelters of aged animals like tigers and also provided paddy straws around the shelters to keep them warm. “The enclosures are too cramped for the animals and the heaters seem pointless since animals can find their way to keep themselves warm if provided with the right environment. It is not like they have heaters in the wild,” said a visitor. “The animals did not look like they were in a good state. I wonder if the animals being brought down from Indonesia will be taken care of,” the zoogoer added. The Assam state zoo is located in the Hengrabari Reserve Forest in Guwahati. It is spread across an area of 175 hectares which also includes a botanical garden. Though the flora and fauna attracts tons of

visitors, it is not doing much for the animals. Azam Siddique, animal welfare activist, said that 1520 years ago the Assam State Zoo was supposed to get Orangutans from Thailand and in return, send rhinos. “Thailand does not have the environment for Indian rhinos nor does Assam for orangutans so the deal was blocked,” said Siddique. “Today, the animal right activism in the northeast, especially for wildlife, has completely taken a back seat because there are no people to defend all these things,” he added. He then went on to talk about how there was an instance of rhino poaching inside the Assam State Zoo by laying electric wires. “They almost managed to kill the rhino. All these instances are not reported.”

Weather report for the week Guwahati

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

Partly Cloudy

Rain

Scattered T-Storms

AM Showers

Mostly Sunny

31°17° C

28°18° C

23°17° C

24°16° C

25°15° C

27°15° C

SATURDAY

Mostly Cloudy 30°17° C

8 City

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Teething problems apart, new city bus rules give hope for better commuting experience Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

he Regional Transport Authority has issued new rules as per the directives of a division bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Chief Justice Ajai Lamba and Justice Soumitra Saikia. Bapan Kalita, DTO (RTA) has

passengers have to board the bus from the back door, and get out from the front door. But how are we to move to the front if the bus is so crowded? Even when we are near to the back door we have to push forward which is very difficult.” It has to be mentioned that as per the new rules, passengers have to board the bus from the back door and alight through

made for the safety of the passengers but this problem has become a major issue for many.” Many female passengers have raised concern that some elements, taking the chance of the packed buses, indulge in anti-social activities like physical harassment, inappropriate touching etc making the situation further uncomfortable.

The rules printed in the new permits of the city buses are as follows and have been reproduced verbatim The Bus will strictly follow the Route as per permit. Route No., Route details & Permit Route Number to be prominently displayed on front, back and left side of the City Buses as notified vide Notification No. TSTA/I4/2017 Dated Guwahati the 14th Feb, 2020. Door of the City Buses must be dosed at the time of running. The Door will be open only at the Bus Stoppages. The Bus would not move out of the parking slot / Bus lay bay, until both the doors are closed. Rear Door shall be used to ingress and Front Side Door is kept for Exit from the Bus. Time Card has to be maintained by the Associations. The Buses will be allowed to wait only for one minute at a stop. GPS device must Be Installed and activated in the Bus. Police WhatsApp Complaint No must be displayed on the back side of the City Buses. Ticket must be issued to the Passengers. The Behavior of Driver / Conductor / Staff of the City Buses should be polite Left side Overtaking is totally prohibited. One Bus will not overtake another Bus running on the same route. Uniform must be worn by the staff of the City Buses. Seat Belt use is Mandatory for the Driver of the City Buses.

As per the new rules, city buses have to keep its doors closed while in motion | G Plus Photo been conducting drives against the errant city buses since last week. Around 85 buses have been seized and many other buses have gone off the roads to avoid paying the fines that are being imposed. Moreover, 30% of the buses had been shifted to other routes from the ones that are believed to be over congested. Consequently, many commuters were seen stranded at the designated bus stops and having a tough time due to lack of sufficient buses. One of the office goers said, “Although the buses are coming on time, there is not enough space to even set foot on the bus.” Drishti Das, a commuter said, “As per the new rules,

the front door. Given that there is no fixed capacity of the buses, every vehicle is over filled and the conductors push the passengers farther inside so that they can close the doors. As such, it has become inconvenient for commuters to push to the front to get down. Talking to G Plus , Kalita informed, “The bus capacity is actually limited to the availability of seats. However, the rule is not strictly imposed as of yet.” Rosie Bayan, “A very recent problem many are facing is the claustrophobic situation arising because both the doors of the bus are shut and the windows are kept closed because of the dusty weather. I appreciate the different rules

In this regard Kalita said, “ A helpline number for women – 181 - has already been issued and we have asked every commercial vehicle including city buses, Uber and Ola vehicles, Rapido, etc. to ensure that the same number is written prominently on the body of the bus.” However, the same has not been mentioned in the rules issued by the department. The new permit also directs all city buses to have a stoppage time of not more than one minute at bus stoppages which was agreed in accordance with the government and the bus associations. Contrary to this, the banners displayed behind buses with the WhatsApp numbers for complaint

Smoking by the staff and passengers is totally prohibited inside the City Buses. Over Loading of Passenger is prohibited. Driving dangerously and Excessive Speed is Un-Lawful. Unauthorized Parking of the City Buses is Un-Lawful. Noise and Air Pollution is an offence. Blowing Horn near notified areas i.e. School, College, Hospital, Educational Institute, etc, is prohibited. Driving under influence of Alcohol by the staff is strictly prohibited. In no case the Buses will divert from the route allowed in the Permit. Violation of any of the above condition will result in suspension / cancellation of Permit. mentions two minutes as stoppage time. In Guwahati, 12 enforcement teams have been deployed to check the city buses to

ease the problems faced by commuters and the Kamrup (M) administration has realized Rs 5.71 lakh in fines and registered 217 cases.

Poll

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Guwahatians optimistic about effective implementation of new city bus rules Do you think the WhatsApp number for registering complaints against city buses will help in easing commuters’ issues? Yes: 64% No: 36% Total votes: 2.1K Chayanika Das @cdchayanika95

n order to mitigate traffic congestion, the transport department had issued several guidelines for plying of city buses in Guwahati. WhatsApp numbers have been provided for commuters to file complaints about rule violations. Commuters can register their complaints against city bus drivers, handymen as well as ticket collectors on WhatsApp. These numbers are displayed on all the city buses that are currently plying on Guwahati’s roads. G Plus conducted a poll asking netizens to cast their votes on whether they think the WhatsApp numbers for registering complaints against city buses will help in easing commuters' issues. A total of 2,100 participants took part. Out of this, 64% said “yes” while 36% said “no, it was not going to help in easing commuters’ issues.” A majority of the voters said that it is an “excellent initiative” while the rest think it to be “useless.” Few said that just filing

complaints will not work if authorities do not take any action. “If action is taken by authorities against the offenders then it will work. Only giving complaints doesn't work,” said James Anthony, a Guwahati resident. “The complaint department (need to) take necessary action in response to the complaints,” said Pratik Dey. Another user said that such implementations tend to fade away after a while. “Initiatives and policies are always formulated with good motive, but it starts to fade away after few days of its initiation. Good moves to manage the excessive traffic jam of Guwahati and a temporary relief to the commuters. Continuous surveillance by the transport department will be required in translating the intention of the move to an accepted norm,” said Manoj Das, another resident. A few of the users said that Guwahati traffic department had taken such initiatives earlier but the authorities do not respond. “The department doesn't respond. Guwahati traffic had started the same but they don't respond,” said Aditya Todi. Reports suggest that the rear door would be used as the entry while the front door will be used as the exit for the passengers. Further, instructions have been issued to keep both the

All the new requirements in place on this particular bus | G Plus Photo doors of the bus shut while it is moving. The doors will open only when the buses halt at stoppages. Additionally, the department is also planning to change the previously set routes of the buses. Meanwhile, the Kamrup (M) administration realized Rs 5.71 lakhs in fines and seized 85 city buses. According to officials, 12

enforcement teams have been deployed in Guwahati to check the city buses and ease the problems faced by commuters. Five city buses were seized on February 20. Earlier, in a press meet held at the premises of the Regional Transport Authority, Kamrup (M) DTO, Bapan Kalita said that the drive against city buses

plying on the streets of Guwahati will be conducted in a rigorous manner. "We have given the bus operators two days’ time to display route numbers, permit numbers and also the Whatsapp number is to be displayed on the bus in the dimension as instructed by the government," he added.

Power tariff likely to be hiked by 24% in Assam G Plus News @guwahatiplus

he power tariff may go up by 24 per cent in Assam from April 2020. Speaking to G Plus Priyom Dutta, the Public Relation Officer of Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) said, “As of now we have proposed this hike and this will completely depend on the regulatory commission, whether it is for us or against us.” She further added that the APDCL is incurring losses and most of the power is being purchased from the

neighbouring state hence the cost factor is more in terms of revenue. Thus, this proposal is being sent to bring out a balance. It is to be mentioned that the tariff is completely decided by the regulatory commission and every year the company has to place a proposal on whether to hike the tariff or reduce the same. Meanwhile on February 19, in a public hearing wherein both the parties- the public and representatives of APDCL discussed with regards to the hike in price of power tariff. After hearing both the parties, it’s now the regulatory commission which will take a call of the tariff

rates. According to reports, from the existing 7.25 kWh, power tariff in the domestic category may be hiked to 8.85 kWh. Further, in the commercial category, the tariff may be hiked to 9.45 kWh from the existing 7.60 kWh. The increase in energy charge per unit, after finalisation, is going to be Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.85 for domestic and commercial category consumers respectively. Regulatory Commission is likely to address the proposal by the end of March 2020 or early April 2020.

Representative Image

10 Guest Column

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Playing the Trump card for another shot at victory

he nation is counting days until Donald Trump’s visit to India. The US president is scheduled to land in India next week and although slightly disappointed by his statement, which makes the chances of a possible bilateral trade tie between both countries pretty thin, the country still waits in anticipation of a green light. A statement in which the US President accused India of not treating the western country “well” and another statement where he said that he is “saving the big deal for later” makes people question whether the president is saving his “Trump Card” for the American presidential elections approaching in November. This further lowers our already low expectations of mutual interests of both countries catching any speed. An occurrence we must not forget is that India was removed from the list of countries which would receive preferential access to the American markets. India was also labelled “Tariff King” as POTUS repeatedly used the term to refer to India as only taking the right steps to protect the interest of our domestic producers. Another actuality is that Indian immigrants contribute trillions of dollars to the US economy and Indians are some of the most entrepreneurial groups, generating employment for many Americans. The US

president had also previously made remarks on how Indian immigrants settled in the US compete directly against “vulnerable” Americans. India and the United States however, both look forward to trade and investment exchange and both had earlier emphasized on their need to collaborate in space research, defence deals and commitment to fight radical Islamic terrorism. It is not news to us anymore that Modi government’s decision to revoke Article 370 and deny persecuted Muslims from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan the right to seek

Will India’s “Namaste Trump” benefit us earning us a bigger quota for H1B visas and will Indian aluminium and steel find their way into the American markets? Only time will tell…

asylum in India ignited sparks or protests and lit fires of rebellion across the Indian subcontinent. Although India has relied on global support to fight crossborder terrorism allegedly sponsored by Pakistan to defend its decision, the same has heavily disrupted India’s diplomatic ties especially with the United States. India previously dismissed the US president’s offers to mediate on the Indo-Pak affair. It is clear that the Trump administration could stipulate concerns over human rights in India in a reelection year for Trump. “The United States and India

GUEST COLUMN

Rifa Deka will make our future brighter than ever,” said the Donald Trump at the “Howdy Modi” in Texas last year, eager to strengthen ties with India to benefit from the Indian Diaspora which is an enormous vote bank to the Republicans. Will India’s “Namaste Trump” benefit us and ease our intricacies, earning us a bigger quota for H1B visas and will Indian aluminium and steel find their way into the American markets? Only time will tell whether the meet-up has potential of turning into a tryst for the two countries, especially at a time like this, when India’s economy seems to be moving at a pace slower than that of a slug and when a blanket of turmoil envelops the most populous democracy in the world. (The author is a student of Mass Comm at Royal Global University, Guwahati. Views expressed are her own)

Vlogger Gaurav Taneja to explore and make film on NE tourism G Plus News @guwahatiplus

ndia’s #1 vlogger on YouTube, Gaurav Taneja is a pilot by profession, a body builder with a civil engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur. Gaurav has won several competitions, state and national, in body building which led him to start his popular YouTube channel Fitmuscle TV. Today, he runs two successful YouTube channels (Flying Beast and FitMuscleTv) with over 3.4 million subscribers where he posts vlogs around fitness, family, personal life and travel.

Being a pilot, Gaurav has always been fond of exploring new places and that’s where the idea of bringing attention to travel and tourism in India was born. He has been travelling across the country starting with Meghalaya where the chief minister of the state supported him by retweeting his vlog. After a successful trip to Meghalaya, Gujarat tourism board invited him for The White Sand Festival “Rann Utsav” to the state. Following covering Sikkim, Meghalaya, Gujarat and IIT Guwahati's Alcheringa fest, he is all set for his next voyage to Yomgo River Festival in Arunachal Pradesh. The

tourism board of the state has invited him to explore and record the festival for his audience to see. Gaurav has always been keen on promoting tourism in North East India. “North East is one of the most beautiful places of India. It is home to most diverse and unique cultures and traditions. I want to explore and familiarize my viewers with the underrated beauty of the place. According to me, tourism can definitely help boost economy of the locals, it's a perfect destination to experience harmony amongst diverse culture,” said Gaurav. Originally from Delhi, Gaurav’s ability to personally

connect with his audience has garnered him much love and popularity on social media. Gaurav also recently met former President Barack Obama in Singapore with his wife Ritu through Google where they were one of the three Indians, and one of the 6 people from Asia Pacific. Flying Beast crossed 293

million views in 2019 which is the highest for a vlogger in India.

News This Week

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

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

Coronavirus Outbreak: Drug Prices Expected to Rise in India: IDMA

India depends heavily on China for active raw ingredients as well as bulk drugs for the pharmaceutical industry. With the country’s lockdown to control the spread of COVID 19, popularly known as the Coronavirus, the hit in the supply chain has affected the price of drugs in India. According to report, the cost of azithromycin, a common drug used to treat bacterial infections has increased by 70 percent. J Jayaseelan, Joint Secretary of Indian Drug Manufacturing Association (IDMA) had earlier informed media that prices of painkillers, multivitamins and a few antibiotics could also increase by 20 to 30 percent. He further said that though prices would rise, there would be no shortage of drugs in the market.

Indian Railways’ tallest ever pier bridge coming up in Manipur

NF Railway Construction Organisation has recently achieved a major advancement in constructing the first ever over 100 metre tall pier bridge in Manipur. The tallest ever pier bridge will come up across river Makru in Tamenglong District of Manipur. The Bridge is a part of Jiribam-TupulImphal new BG line project (111 Km). There are a total of 47 tunnels in the project. The 555 metre-long bridge is being constructed across the valley of river Makru in Tamenglong district of Manipur with a pier height of 100 metres (equivalent to 33 storey building). Further, the total cost of the bridge is Rs 283.50 crores (approx.).

India to host FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Navi Mumbai will be the venues for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India. “There is unlimited potential for football to grow in India. There is amazing passion too. We have picked venues that offer best logistics and sporting facilities and the platform for the players to perform,” said Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. He thanked FIFA for allowing India to add an extra venue. This is for the first time India is hosting the event since its inception in 2008. The tournament will be held from November 2-21, 2020. The opening ceremony will see participation by 17 national teams which will be held in Guwahati.

Centre revises pension rules of government employees

The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has taken out an order through which all central government employees whose selection for appointment was finalized before January 1, 2004 but who joined service on or after 01.01.2004, can now opt to be covered under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 instead of the NPS (National Pension System). Minister of State (I/C) for the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh said the order effectively gives those central government employees who were recruited before 2004 the option of either switching over to the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 or continue to be covered under the National Pension System.

Veteran actor and former Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul passes away

Veteran Bengali actor and former Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Paul passed away of a cardiac arrest in a Mumbai hospital on February 18. It is to be mentioned that the two-term former MP from Krishnanagar moved away from both cinema and active politics after the CBI arrested him in the Rose Valley chit-fund scam in December 2016. Paul is survived by his daughter Sohini and wife Nandini. Reportedly Tapas Paul had been suffering from heart ailments and been in and out of hospitals for treatment during the past two years.

Universities won’t be able to offer PGDM & MBA courses simultaneously

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) said that government or private universities will no longer be able to offer both PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) and MBA courses simultaneously and will have to choose between either of the two. “Over a period of time, deemed to be universities have added PGDM course under the banner of “Management Programme” in contravention of norms. According to the AICTE Regulations, 2020, conducting PGDM and MBA courses in the same institution is not permissible,” a senior AICTE official said. Henceforth, central, state and private universities and institutions deemed to be universities, which are running PGDM and MBA courses under the banner of management programme, are requested to convert all courses into MBA completely and comply with the AICTE norms.

Centre scraps tenders worth Rs 30,000 Cr to promote ‘Make in India’

In order to promote participation of domestic companies in government procurements, government tenders worth Rs 30,000 crore were cancelled. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has intervened to change conditions in those tenders in order to promote ‘Made in India’ goods. “Many of the restrictive and discriminative tender practices have been identified. Almost Rs 30,000 crore (worth) of tenders has been cancelled because of discriminatory practices,” DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra said at a function.

Women should be granted permanent commission in Indian Army: SC

A Supreme Court bench ruled that women should be granted permanent commission in the Indian Army. A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Ajoy Rastogi pronounced its order on a plea by some women officers of the Army seeking extension of permanent commission rules for women officers. It is to be mentioned that the women petitioners, who joined the Army via Short-Service Commission, were granted an initial extension of five years after serving five mandatory years. This was then increased by four more years, without a policy. The women officers would have to retire after 14 years of service, with lesser benefits than their male counterparts.

PAN Card will become inactive if not linked with Aadhaar after March 31

“Permanent Account Number (PAN) will become inoperative if it is not linked with Aadhaar by March 31, 2020,” informed the Income Tax department. The department further said that after linking the PAN with the Aadhaar, the PAN cards would become inoperative from the date of intimation of Aadhaar number. Inoperative PAN means one will not be able to do several financial transactions where PAN is required. However, 18 financial transactions have been specified by the department where quoting of PAN is mandatory by the individual. For linking Aadhaar with PAN card, one may visit the e-filing website of the IT Department and may use log-in credentials or even without logging.

ESPN India Annual Multi-Sport Award held; Sindhu wins for the third consecutive time P V Sindhu won the ESPN’s Female Sportsperson of the Year award for the third consecutive time on February 20. Shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged ESPN’s Male Sportsperson of the Year award. It is to be mentioned that Sindhu’s World Championship win, the first by an Indian in badminton, has also been selected as the Moment of the Year. Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary won the Team of the Year award while Manasi Joshi won the Differently-abled Athlete of the Year/ Para-Athlete of the Year award. Hockey legend Balbir Singh Senior, one of India’s most celebrated Olympians, has been conferred with ESPN’s Lifetime Achievement award.

12 Centre Spread

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

South West Guwahati Water Supply Project The West Guwahati Water Supply Project is being funded by JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission). The project initially began in 2009 at an initial project cost of Rs 355.31 crores. It was supposed to be completed within a period of 30 months, but it has missed several deadlines since then.

The project is now slated to be completed by December 2020. The project contract was given to Gammon Engineers and Contractors Pvt Ltd. Further, Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd was engaged as the Project Management Consultant (PMC) for the project.

PERCENTAGE OF THE PROJECT COMPLETE: 95.75% TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS TO BE BENEFITTED: 30,000 Areas to be covered: Kamakhya Gate to Maligaon up to Adabari Project to be completed by: December 2020 Works completed: Water treatment plant (WTP) work completed, pipeline laying work is also complete, house connections have been provided to 1,200 households. Work ongoing: Individual household connections are being given by the Guwahati Jal Board; currently one additional intake well is being constructed. Officials informed that they will complete the work phase-wise and testing will be done. Project management consultant Tahal Consulting Engineers Limited Capacity: The JNNURM project will supply a total of 107 million litres per day (MLD) water upon completion. Initial project cost: Rs 355.31 crores Total project cost (current): Rs 389.53 crores (to be revised further)

Key Highlights The project has a command area of 100 sq kilometres in South West Guwahati area It will cover 54 district metering area (DMA) under 13 municipal wards It will comprise

G Plus offers a reality check on t supply projects that are und The Assam government had taken up four ambitious water supply projects for Guwahati and the implementation work for all the four projects is ongoing simultaneously in the city with the objective to provide uninterrupted 24X7 water supply to residents. However, all four projects have missed their deadlines several times and have faced delays due to several reasons. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is assisting the North Guwahati Water Supply Project as well as the South-Central Guwahati Water Supply Project. Further, the West Guwahati Water Supply Project is being funded by JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) while the ADB (Asian Development Bank) is funding the South East Guwahati Water Supply Project. On completion of the projects, the Guwahati Jal Board will be given the responsibility for operation and maintenance of all four projects. G Plus takes stock of the implementation status of the projects and the reasons behind the continuous delays.

yy 3 intake wells situated at Pandu Ghat yy Raw water pumping mains having total length of 6.32 kms yy Clear water pumping mains having total length of 5.73 kms yy 2 modules of water treatment plant (with capacity 53.5 MLD each) yy 8 water storage reservoirs yy 423.54 km long distribution pipe network

Reasons for delay: yy Delay in handing over of land for WTP construction yy Pipeline damage yy Delay in obtaining clearance from NHAI & APWD for road crossing for laying of pipes yy WTP was washed away by Brahmaputra River in 2012 yy Encroachment over the pipeline yy Resistance by locals

While campaigning for Lok Sabha elections, Gauhati MP Queen Oja had promised that she will lay a lot of emphasis to solve the drinking water problem in Guwahati within

1 year

South East Guwahati The Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded South East Guwahati Water Supply Project began in August 2016. As per authorities, a total of six water reservoirs are to be constructed under the

Capacity: 98 MLD Work for two packages is ongoing simultaneously under Reservoir package: 63% complete Transmission line package: 83% complete Total project cost: Rs 1,105.81 crore Works ongoing: Three reservoirs are to be built under th work is expected to be completed by June 2020. Simulta Works completed: Water pipelines have been laid under Areas to be covered: Gopal Nagar to Bashistha

Reasons for delay: yy Delay in getting permission yy Obtaining permission for excavation

yy Delays in getting approvals from various organis India Limited etc

Centre Spread

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

the progress of the various water der construction in the city.

The last mile connectivity from the mail water pipelines into the household at Pandu | G Plus Photo

North Guwahati, South-Central Guwahati Water Supply Project Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

Water Supply Project project, out of which construction for three is ongoing while three other reservoirs are yet to be contracted.

the ADB-funded project namely:

he project for which the work is currently underway. The aneously, transmission line is also ongoing. r the project.

sations like PWD, Indian Oil Limited, Oil

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is assisting a water supply project in the North Guwahati region as well as in South-Central Guwahati. The project began in 2010 but the execution work could only begin from 2012-13 owing to the logjam over land acquisition and permission issues, said officials.

Hyderabad-based contractor IVRCL Pvt Ltd was undertaking the pipeline laying work for the distribution network for the project; it went bankrupt and abandoned the work halfway. Now fresh tenders have been floated for prospective contractors to take up the work for laying the remaining portion of the distribution network.

Total loan amount provided by JICA: Rs 1,426 Crores Percentage of the project complete: 60% Total households to be benefitted: 1.20 lakh households The areas to be covered: Uzan Bazar, Fancy Bazar, Pan Bazar, Dighalipukhuri, Chenikuthi and Chandmari. Project to be completed by: July 2022 The loan period from JICA was earlier valid till 2019, which was later extended up to July 2022. Total project cost: Rs 1,450 crores. Total loan from JICA: Rs 1,426 crores Work ongoing: Construction of the WTP is ongoing for which the work is 55 per cent complete. The work of the distribution network is also in progress and is slated to be finished by March 2021. Officials informed that partial commissioning of the project is underway and 100 households have been provided with house service connections till now. Capacity: North Guwahati Water Supply Project: 37 million litres per day (MLD) South Central Water Supply Project: 191 million litres per day (MLD)

Reasons for delay: yy Monsoon season yy Lack of availability of labourers yy Land acquisition yy Obtaining permission from various departments

14 G Talk E

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020 T

The Madrassa Contradiction

ow here is a big time confusion. Take a look at two headlines from the past week, one from G Plus and the other from a national media portal. G Plus: ‘HBS stops state funding of religious education, Madrassas, Sanskrit Tols to close down.’ The other one: ‘Yogi Govt Allocates Rs 479 Crore for Madrasas in Biggest State Budget Till Date.’ The same Bharatiya Janata Party is currently holding power in both Assam and Uttar Pradesh (UP). However, the two state governments have come up with decisions on one particular issue that are basically ideologically contradictory to each other. While on the one hand, the reason given in the case of the Assam madrassas was that the government would not “fund” religious teaching – be it Islamic or Hindu – the UP government, on the other hand, has gone on to allocate a massive Rs 479 crores for the same. The two moves do beget some confusion. Uttar Pradesh has 16,461 madrassas; 560 of these are government-aided and 8,171 are attached to the Madrassa Modernisation Scheme. These figures are reflected on the madrassa portal of the UP Board of Madrasa Education. In contrast, the State Madrasa Education Board recognises 614 madrassas in Assam. As per the education minister’s

announcement, all these madrassas will be converted into regular high schools and religious teaching (of the Quran basically) will be abolished. Additionally, the Sanskrit Tols of the state would also be closed down. In essence, this is diametrically opposite to the plans that UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has made for his state’s madrassas as reflected in his latest budget. Now, the point I want to make from this madrassa contradiction is the general confusion that has cropped up with regard to the ideological pursuits of the same political party. While the BJP has always thrived with holding on strong to its ideology, does this situation give hints of a compromise somewhere or is it all about opportunistic and selective implementation of ideology? Further, if one may raise questions about this selective implementation factor, would answers be such that the madrassas in Assam are producing the wrong kind of students in these Islamic schools and the whole move is basically to nip a certain problem in the bud? The BJP has never come across as inconsistent in its policies but this move in Assam and UP does beget some answers. Swapnil Bharali (Editor) @swapnilbharali

Ticket politics

s the 2021 Assam legislative assembly elections noise has started echoing from all political party offices, lobbying with prominent party leaders for the tickets has already started and for prominent political parties like the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), ticket politics is visible in party offices. The BJP state president Ranjit Kumar Dass expressed to media that it won’t be easy for anyone to get tickets easily. The BJP claims that a survey is conducted in the booth level to find out the performance of the present legislatures and other probable candidates, thereafter the tickets are allotted accordingly. Similarly, the Congress too claims that tickets are allotted after reviewing the report card of the candidates given by the booth level party workers. No doubt that the political parties claim that allotting tickets is an objective process for fielding candidates, the fact remains that a lot of strings get pulled in the process. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is believed to be playing a major role in recommending candidates for BJP tickets. Therefore, the RSS leaders are also wooed by the ticket aspirants. For Congress, the Rajiv Bhawan, which usually remains deserted becomes very active before the polls in Guwahati with ticket aspirants thronging the office most of the time. The AGP leaders have a strategy of proving their mettle for tickets by showing off their supporters. Constituency party workers are invited to the AGP office and treated with good lunch or dinner to gain their support. The candidate bringing more supporters is expected to confirm his/her ticket for the polls. These processes have already started and ticket politics is very much visible in the political party offices. With the announcement of new parties, the ticket politics is further expected to widen its ambit. Hope that the party leaders do not take bribes for providing tickets for 2021 Assam assembly elections.

ILP in Assam: More a futility than a utility

y two experiences of procuring an Inner Line Permit (ILP) were upon visiting Arunachal Pradesh. Not that it was a difficult experience unlike say a tough interview that you need to face while trying to get a US visa, but it surely served as a deterrent to any casual or touristy visit that I might have wanted to undertake on any other occasion. Yes, the hassle of securing permission from authorities to go somewhere is indeed a put-off to travel plans. Assam has been forever free of such a requirement for its visitors. And so now, what is being mulled by the central government is not a good thing to happen. A committee set up by the Union

Situated as it is in a Zone V seismic location that deters heavy industries from being set up within its fragile ecology, thus rendering the state industrydeficient, the only possible growth track for Assam is by trade within India and beyond towards the east. Also, blessed as the state is with its natural beauty and rich wilderness, tourism is the other industry that can foster a semblance of progress. This is another reason that the Modi government had come up with the Look East Policy whereby the entire northeast was supposed to be a bridge connecting India to the rest of Southeast Asia by surface. Essentially, what the ILP will do is

O pinion Swapnil Bharali

the country illegally. Putting an ILP in place now would hardly be instrumental in flushing out these people who have already settled down in the state and is certainly no tool to assuage this hurt. The CAA now seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, who had entered the state up to the date of 31st December, 2014. And the number here could be anywhere beyond 5 lakhs! Well, suggesting the ILP is a strange logic and is certainly no solution at all in controlling the influx of these “outsiders” unless the government has reasonable intelligence inputs that suggest that it can expect more such

The ILP is a strange logic in controlling the influx of “outsiders” unless the government has reasonable intelligence inputs that suggest that it can expect more such illegal migrants in the future.

Ministry of Home Affairs to find ways and means to implement the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord – a clause that is meant to protect the interests and rights of the indigenous Assamese population – has apparently recommended introduction of the ILP to control the influx of outsiders. Now this begs the question as to who are these “outsiders” and why is the government trying to bring their influx under control with an instrument like the ILP? Clearly, should the ILP be put into practice, Indians from outside the state would also need the same to visit Assam just as I had to while visiting Arunachal Pradesh. What effectively this would mean is total disruption of the business machinery and investment channels for a state that is already beleaguered by an assortment of other problems – be it demographic or geographic.

Representative Image to defeat the very purpose of the Look East Policy and that would be a rather laughable remedial measure from this government – a self-goal basically. But why exactly is the ILP under the consideration of the Home Ministry? The restiveness stemming in the state in the aftermath of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is something that the central government had not bargained for it seems. And this restiveness is perhaps justified given that Assamese sentiments over the historic Assam Accord have been badly hurt. The state has done more than its bit to be accommodative of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and today harbours fears of losing its land, identity and resources to such foreigners. And these are foreigners who had entered

rStray dogs need sympathy

illegal migrants in the future. While on the one hand, with the scrapping of Article 370, Jammu & Kashmir has been fully integrated into India, exactly the opposite is happening with the northeastern states with a number of new ILP zones being put in place in the name of identity politics. This is basically throwing the “one nation” theory - nay logic - out of the window and creating parochial ghettos all over the northeast and creating such barriers that would deter Indian and international business houses from setting up shop. We need better administration of the state and defter handling of our resources that would generate employment for our youths. Creating barriers with instruments like the ILP is not the way forward.

Letter to the Editor

would like to draw attention to the increasing number of accidents occurring to stray dogs. While travelling through the road stretching from Orang to Mangaldai on 7th February last, I found many bodies of stray dogs crushed under the vehicles. These sights are very disturbing to the eyes of the onlookers passing through the road.

Through your column, I would like to ask the government to bring safety rules for stray dogs to be put under and be followed by the vehicle drivers. At the end of the day, even dogs have their right to live.

Neha Singh Royal Global University, Guwahati

In Focus

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Cash incentive likely for Bengali Hindus who marry Assamese Hindus

engali Hindu brides and grooms in Assam who choose to get married to Assamese Hindu partners are likely to receive around Rs 40,000 each as financial assistance under a scheme proposed by the state Linguistic Minority Development Board “to strengthen the bond between the two communities,” as per reports. Board chairman Alok Kumar Ghose told TOI, “Couples in intercommunity marriages are often deprived of property rights, besides facing a social boycott. We intend to assist such couples in setting up shops, beauty salons and also in farming.” “The proposal was submitted to the state government two days ago,” he added. A website is already being designed for Bengali-Assamese Hindu couples to register their details online. Guwahatians took to the social media handles of G Plus and expressed their views on the proposed scheme. Saurav Biswas said, “What the hell? There is already a very strong and cohesive relationship between the two communities in Assam. No need of such crap schemes.”

Representative Image Prativa Pathak said, “What is this? Is marriage a consolation prize that you are distributing an amount? If you really want to distribute money then better utilise it in a good place where it is absolutely required.”

Mousumi Rajbangshi Das said, “This so called government should concentrate on other issues like employment, education etc rather than playing such games with marriage. They should not politicize something

which is so sacred.” Kaushik Malla Bujar Barua, disagreeing with the policy said, “Somehow the government hits a new low. This is just unbelievable how they want to spend taxpayers’ hard earned money.

Why should people pay tax to a government like this?” Amit Chetry questioning the government said, “What the c*** is this? Provoking young couples to fall in love just for the sake of money? Rs 40,000 is a huge amount. They know this generation can easily be motivated by the money. I can see some people trying to convince the people of Assam to accept the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Smart move but all you'll get is hatred.” Another resident Dipul Das expressed his displeasure and said, “Is this a scheme to create difference between Bengali and Assamese? Marriage and love is a sacred bond between two people, money has no value. Earlier also we saw marriage between Bengali and Assamese without money. Marriage is not a business but for BJP it seems it is business.” Shyana Boruah took a jibe at the present government and said, “Honestly, I am not surprised at all. There are other possible permutations too, like someday in the near future, we might get incentives for marrying a cow or a bull. Believe me, such crazy things are possible in this country.”

City Bus Monitoring to get more Rigorous: Kamrup (M) DTO In a press meet held at the premises of the Regional Transport Authority, Kamrup (M) DTO, Bapan Kalita said that the drive against errant city buses of Guwahati will be further tightened. Laishram G Singh

RatanBasotia

AjiteshDey

Utpal Malakar

BhaswatiChatterjee

DrishKashyapBordoloi

Laishram G Singh In Guwahati spitting red paan juice on the Zebra dividers should also be banned and punishment should be given. Happy that unruly city buses will be controlled from now on. Also please remove tea stalls on the footpaths of Guwahati city. This is a request to transport department and Guwahati municipal authority. Please look into it as soon as possible.

Good initiative but there’s also another side of the story. And transportation is the only business accommodating local youths on a large scale. A mini industry you can say! It’s good correcting the anomalies of buses but don’t impose absurd financial burden on the owners in the name of penalties.

BhaswatiChatterjeeThis initiative should have been taken long back. God knows what they were waiting for so many years. And this should not be in news as it’s not something great that these people are doing. This is their duty to check and collect fines. If proper inspection was done before hand then very less number of accidents would have come to our notice.

RatanBasotia I support the initiative but DTO and traffic police should concentrate on the parking and No Parking areas, such as on AT Road, where all the footpaths and half of the road is blocked allowing just one car/vehicle to pass. And for the driver of the vehicle there is no option to give pass to an ambulance. I encounter this problem daily. Is there any solution with the authorities? If yes, please do something.

What about illegal/unauthorised auto-rickshaw and e-rickshaw stands in Guwahati? There are 3 to 4 illegal auto stands that occupy space at a specific point or in front of shopping malls. It creates parking problems. There should be two stands, one on right side and one on the opposite side of the road.

Its probably nothing, still I want to say something. The step of getting into the bus through the back door and getting down through the front is good. But since the buses are always packed, it gets really hard to do so especially for the ladies and seniors amidst the crowd. These things should be taken into consideration at the earliest.

16 Buzz

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Guwahati girl wins Best National GU to hold 28th Costume award at Miss Diva 2020 Convocation on Feb 24

alashya Kashyap from Guwahati, Assam won the Best National Costume award at Miss Diva 2020 Jaipur preliminary event on February 15. Her costume was designed by a young fashion designer from Dibrugarh, Assam Chao Chang

Rajknowar. It is to be mentioned that Kashyap is also a Miss Diva 2020 finalist. This is the third subtitle won by her in Miss Diva 2020 after Best Body and Miss Talented. The 18-year old Kashyap has done her schooling from

Shankardev Vidyaniketan, Guwahati. She was sashed by Indian model and film actress Waluscha De Sousa. It is to be mentioned that Kashyap had earlier won North East Diva 2019 and was also the Miss Universe India Finalist.

auhati University (GU) will hold its 28 th Convocation on February 24 at the sports complex of the university. During the convocation, eligible Degree, Diploma, and Certificate holders will be awarded their certificates, for which, final results were

University Prof Jagdish Mukhi will preside over the convocation ceremony. Students of DSc, PhD, MPhil, Masters, Bachelor will be part of the ceremony. The ceremony will begin after the academic procession arrives at the convocation venue.

declared between 1st January, 2018 and 31st December, 2019 (both days included). Governor of Assam and Chancellor of Gauhati

PSU Leadership Award conferred upon NRL MD

NRL sets up CoE for sustainable materials at IIT-G

umaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has tied up with Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) to set up ‘NRL Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Sustainable Materials’ in the IITG campus. The centre is being set up with an objective

to develop sustainable/biodegradable materials from oil and bio refinery streams. The centre was inaugurated on February 14 by Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal, Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India in the presence of

Prof TG Sitharam, Director IIT Guwahati and SK Barua, Managing Director, NRL. The centre is a first of its kind academic-industrial collaborative venture with the broad objective of developing sustainable materials from various waste and by-products sourced from multiple sectors like petroleum industries bio-refineries and agro-industries. NRL has extended an initial research grant of Rs 4 crores through the CoE to the Chemical Engineering Department for the first project identified for ‘Development of Bio-Degradable Plastics from Refinery and BioRefinery Streams’. The project will facilitate pilot scale production of blown film grade poly (e-caprolecton) resin from bio-degradable waste products.

K Barua, Chairman, CII North East Council & Managing Director, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd has been conferred with the PSU Leadership Award by the Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries, Arjun Ram Meghwal on February 19. Taking to his Twitter handle, Barua wrote, "Thank you. I am deeply honoured

to receive the PSU Leadership Award from Hon'ble Sri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise and Parliamentary Affairs" Barua who is a Cost & Management Accountant with a degree in law has decades of rich and varied experience in finance & business development with disciplines in oil & gas industry.

Trotter

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Grandma gets naughty bum tattoo to celebrate her new sex life

Mark Zuckerberg gets employees to blow-dry his armpits

andy Jones is having the best sex of her life and she’s got a new tattoo to celebrate it. Mandy, 59, says her sex life is better in her 50s than it’s ever been after meeting HGV driver Andrew Clayden, 52. Since they started dating after meeting online in 2007, the pair has christened every room in her house in Runcorn, Cheshire – including the greenhouse. The retired social worker and mum-of-three had almost given up on love after getting divorced twice, once in 1992 and once in 2006. She decided to give dating sites a go and went on a bunch of meet ups before meeting Andrew, which helped her to discover her ‘naughty’ side. To celebrate her sex drive, Mandy has had a naughty angel tattooed on her bum cheek. “Since the age of 50, I have finally become a sexual woman,” says Mandy. “When Andrew and I met he said he wanted me to have the most and the best sex I’d ever had in my life. Now, I’m doing things I never would have done before,” she added. “In my first marriages, I had stepchildren so it was all about putting them first. But there are no boundaries now so it’s more exciting – if we want to walk around the house in the nude we will. I feel free and relaxed and when you’re post-menopausal, anything goes. He promoted that naughty side in me. I wouldn’t have got a tattoo without him,” Mandy gleefully said. andy first married at the age of 26 but the marriage broke down five years later, before her second husband left her without warning in 2006. She spent one year exploring online dating before meeting Andrew the following year. The mum-of-three said, “When I started online dating, I’d never even heard of sexting and

I’ve never had anyone asking for photos of my t*** before. It was a different world. I couldn’t believe the attention I was getting but I definitely enjoyed it. It gave me a massive confidence boost. One man asked for a pic of my t*** so I sent him a photo of my knees, but he obviously wasn’t a joker. I had some horror story dates too though. “One man sent me a photo of himself from a distance and when he turned up he was so smelly so I went to the toilet and made my daughter called me with an emergency. My kids applaud me because I don’t take any crap anymore – I’ve become feisty.” (Source: metro.co.uk)

Woman plays violin as surgeons remove tumour from her brain

woman has undergone brain surgery while playing the violin to ensure surgeons did not damage the part which controls the fine movement of her hands. Dagmar Turner, a 53-year-old management consultant and passionate violinist from the Isle of Wight, had a tumour removed at King's College Hospital. She was worried she may lose her musical skills so she suggested she be allowed to play the violin during the operation. Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, a consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital, came up with the plan to reduce the risk. Surgeons mapped her brain, opened the skull and then got her to play the violin as the tumour was removed. Footage shows her picking up the instrument during the surgery and playing scales with her eyes shut. "This was the first time I've had a patient play an instrument," he said. "We managed to remove over 90% of the tumour, including all the areas suspicious

of aggressive activity, while retaining full function in her left hand." Turner thanked the surgeons afterwards for preserving her 40-year love for the instrument. "The violin is my passion," she said. "I've been playing since I was 10 years old. The thought of losing my ability to play was heartbreaking." (Source: skynews)

ark Zuckerberg has his communications staff blow-dry his armpits before big events and speeches, a new book on the Facebook founder and CEO claims. The 35-year-old had become famous for his perspiration during a 2010 televised interview when he became visibly nervous and started sweating profusely. Technology journalist Steven Levy, in his book “Facebook: The Inside Story,” claims that Mark Zuckerberg appears to be "consumed by his public image" and now has his staff blow-dry his armpits to eliminate any sweat before public appearances. "A communications exec is shown blow-drying the CEO's armpits before speaking appearances to eliminate anxiety sweat," he claims in his book, according to a review by Bloomberg. The idea that Mark Zuckerberg gets someone to blow-dry his armpits has created a huge buzz on social media, sparking several jokes. However, when asked about the armpit claims, Facebook spokesperson Liz Bourgeois told Business Insider, "I doubt this is true and if so it would have been at our

communications team's request, but surely anyone who has ever worn a grey t-shirt can relate." “Facebook: The Inside Story” will be released later this month. According to the review by Bloomberg's Austin Carr, the book describes Zuckerberg as someone "consumed by his public image" and "too idealistic about technology's use for good vs bad". Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, meanwhile, is portrayed as a micromanager and someone who is "fanatical about her public image." (Source: ndtv)

Restaurant worker fired for bathing in kitchen sink

video of a restaurant employee taking a bath in the kitchen sink went viral shortly after it surfaced online. According to media reports, the man was an employee at American fast food chain Wendy's in Michigan, US. He and other employees were fired for the stunt. The video was shared on Facebook by Connor Somerfield with the caption, "So yeah I'm just gonna tell everyone right now...Do not go to the Greenville Wendy's. This is disgusting." The video was originally posted on TikTok by user @paulkash2, and then shared on Facebook, where it quickly went viral. In the video, the man is seen getting in the restaurant's oversized kitchen sink while another man, wearing a Wendy's uniform, is seen throwing something into the sink and saying: "Wash yourself!" "It feels like a hot tub," the man responds as he scrubs himself in soapy water. "I'm just enjoying life," he added, as others are heard laughing in the background. As the video went viral, people questioned the restaurant's hygiene and

flooded the social media with their reactions. A user wrote, "Wow, I'm sure your parents are so proud of you. Very unprofessional and disrespectful to your customers." Another wrote, "Oh it's real alright, and that is certainly all commercial equipment he's using and the equipment nearby. However it may not be a real Wendy's most likely a rival restaurant trying to set Wendy's up for a fail." "I work at a restaurant, Where was the manager? Disgusting, needs to be fired, manager too!!" asked one user. (Source: ndtv)

18 Review

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Jitendra Kumar, Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta Director: Hitesh Kewalya

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan

mack in the middle of Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Ayushmann Khurana’s character Kartik says to his boyfriends’ homophobic father that gay people have to fight every day, but there is no fight harder than the one with your family. There is unmistakable dignity in the way that the same-sex relationship at the centre of this film has been treated. When we meet the flamboyantly filmy Kartik and his boyfriend Aman (Jitendra Kumar), they are already in love and living together in Delhi. It’s just that Aman hasn’t come out to his family back home in Allahabad. When Aman does open up about his love for Kartik to his scientist

father (Gajraj Rao) and his straighttalking mother (Neena Gupta), he talks of dopamine, oxytocin, and of his hypothalamus. Aman explains his feelings in chemical terms, but it nicely captures the sheer splendour of love. Admirably, writer-director Hitesh Kewalya doesn’t mine laughs from stereotyping gay characters in the way that mainstream Hindi films have done for as long as one can remember. Aside from an innocuous nose-ring that Ayushmann wears, there are no obvious markers of femininity. What’s especially refreshing is that the lovers or their relationship is never the source of comedy; it’s the extreme reactions by those around them to their relationship that is treated with humor. In that,

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is not so much about homosexuality as it is about homophobia. But the humour, as it turns out, is hit and misses. 2017’s Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan cleverly and amusingly beefed up the role of the extended family in what was essentially the story of a soonto-be-married couple and the ‘problem’ they’re confronted with. This film too puts the family centrestage, but that overcomplicates the story. There’s a trying-too-hard quest for laughs that starts wearing thin. Aman’s folks argue incessantly and blame each other while trying to deal with the ‘situation’, until the story feels stretched and silly. The bullying relationship between Gajraj’s character Shankar Tripathi and his brother Chaman (Manu Rishi) is funny initially, but it works strictly as a side act and loses steam when it becomes the film’s main source of drama and laughs. But while all the slowmotion entries and exits go to Ayushmann, the film’s secret weapon is Jitendra Kumar whose Everyman portrayal of Aman is one of the film’s big strengths. The actor, who has appeared in many web series including Kota Factory, has a warm, grounded presence that makes the character’s vulnerability all too authentic. Jitendra and Ayushmann have real chemistry; their little moments together bring depth to the film. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan isn’t consistent. The script spends too much time focused on the infighting within Aman’s family instead of staying with the leads. Despite that there is enough to enjoy and appreciate here. It takes a difficult subject and executes it with some flair. (Review by indianexpress)

Specifications and

Software

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite is powered by the Exynos 9810 SoC, not the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC like the Galaxy S10 Lite. The Exynos 9810 SoC is the exact same processor that Samsung used for the Galaxy S9 (Review) so it is two years old, and not something we were expecting on a smartphone at this price point today. Connectivity options on the Galaxy Note 10 Lite include Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, NFC, and four navigation systems.

Performance

Samsung has used an older processor on the Galaxy Note 10 Lite, but you won't notice this till you run benchmarks at look at the numbers. The smartphone delivered a smooth user experience without any lag or stutter. We could even multitask on the device without needing to close apps running in the background. Reportedly the in-display fingerprint scanner to be slower than the ultrasonic one on the Galaxy Note 10+. There is face recognition as well, which uses the selfie camera positioned in the

Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan

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Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Note series smartphones have always been prime examples of what high-end Android smartphones are capable of. At a starting price of Rs. 38,999 the Galaxy Note 10 Lite is definitely more affordable than the Galaxy Note 10. Samsung thankfully hasn't sacrificed a crisp AMOLED display in the cost-cutting exercise. You still get a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a full-HD+ (1080x2400 pixel) resolution and HDR support. However, this phone does not sport an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner like the Galaxy Note 10+, instead it has a standard CMOS fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy Note 10 Lite has thin bezels all around which helps give it a premium look.

09435025808

hole-punch to quickly scan faces and unlock the smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite Design

Cinepolis, Christian Basti

The camera module on the Galaxy Note 10 Lite is comprised of three 12-megapixel cameras. The primary one has an f/1.7 aperture as well as OIS, the wide-angle camera has an f/2.2 aperture, and the telephoto camera has an f/2.4 aperture. At the front, there's a 32-megapixel shooter with an f/2.2 aperture. There is no dual-pixel autofocus like we have seen on Samsung's flagship smartphones, and focusing is a little slower in comparison. The camera app will be familiar to Samsung users, and there are multiple shooting modes including Food, Night, Super Slow-Mo, and a Pro mode. The app also has AR Emojis which were available on last year's devices.

Verdict Unlike the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite, the Note 10 Lite sports a headphone jack and

has the S Pen Stylus which helps it stand out. The Galaxy Note 10 Lite will appeal to someone who wants the Note experience without paying full price for it. (NTDV Gadgets)

Feature

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Lachit Borphukan on the big screen

he tales of history have more or less always fascinated the bevy at large. And sometimes, the same bevy actually desires to practically visualize the happenings of history on the big screen. In fact, that is the reason even Bollywood has never taken a back step when the talk circulates about making films on historical tales. Moreover, the eagerness that people show to go to cinema halls and watch a movie on historical tales has also inspired many directors and producers to come up with one or the other movie on historical events, more often than not. In fact, the good news is that of late the intensity to produce more and more films on historical events has also considerably increased. And the matter of the fact is that if we take into consideration the earnings received by producing such films, especially those of the last 4-5 years, then we would clearly notice that almost each one has been a hit in the box office. Films like Bajirao Mastani, Padmavat, Manikarnika, Tanhaji etc have already allured the people to a great extent. So the thing that is evident from here is that if films on historical narratives are made, they not only provide information and entertainment but also enable the makers to stay in profit. However, the deliberation done above is not only to depict the impact of historical films upon the various sections of the society, but also to focus on the need of making more and more films on historical events. In fact, if we carefully scrutinize the films that have been recently

produced by Bollywood on historical tales, then we definitely have to bestow words of praise upon Bollywood, for the very reason that it has indeed been successful in showcasing some of the lost tales of many brave warriors of the country. But amidst all these, we still need to consider: whether Bollywood has forgotten or ignored a historical account that should have been already displayed on the big screen? And in order to answer this question we need to bring into the circuit of discussion, the history of Assam. The fact that is known to one and all is that whenever we confabulate about the history of Assam, a significant part of it is encompassed by the rule of the Ahoms, who ruled Assam for 600 years. And it is believed that the Ahom regime was one of the most successful administrations, not only in the history of India, but also that of the world. In fact, out of the many glorious tales of the Ahom kingdom, the tales of the then Commander-inChief of the Ahom army, Lachit Borphukon, are something that still inspire the people of Assam, especially regarding the qualities of patriotism, valour and wit that the person possessed. History has in its tales that the Mughals who once ruled almost the

Bishaldeep Kakati

The point here is not to simply elaborate the glorious tales of Lachit Borphukon, but to focus on the issue that somewhere down the line, Bollywood has missed this invigorating and inspiring tale of history, which if recreated in the form of a film, would definitely attract a lot of crowd to it.

entire India, failed to impose their hegemony upon the Ahom kingdom, especially after this person known as Lachit Borphukon came into the bigger picture. And the entire history regarding the conflict between Ahoms and Mughals is something, which if not read properly, things won’t become crystal clear. However, the point here is not to simply elaborate the glorious tales of Lachit Borphukon, but to focus on the issue that somewhere down the line, Bollywood has missed this invigorating and inspiring tale of history, which if recreated in the form of a film, would definitely attract a lot of crowd to it. The fact that is evident is that in the modern era, whenever we consider a film that is based on the tales of kings, commanders, emperors etc, then a few things should of course be present in it, in order to make it commercially viable. Things like alluring dialogues, dramatic events, historical forts or monuments having relation to the story, some narratives of courage and valour etc are actually the main ingredients that can make any film on historical events an all time hit. And now if we consider making the film on Lachit Borpukhon, it would definitely consist of each and every element that is

required in order to make the film a blockbuster, without even much of manipulation. In fact, when we turn over the pages of history, we would find that it was Lachit Borphukon who gave dialogues like, “Uncle is not more important than the country.” In another instance, when once Mughals sent a bag of mustard seeds to the Ahoms to depict the strength of their army, then Lachit in his own way gave a befitting reply, “The mustard seeds might be difficult to be counted, but when we grind the mustard seeds, it simply becomes a small quantity.” And hence these dialogues are simply enough to leave the audience in complete awe. From dialogues, if we now move to the historical forts or monuments related to the story, then the place called Sibsagar in Assam, still proudly carries in its diameter forts like Rang Ghor, Kareng Ghor, Talatal Ghor etc that still hold the memories of Lachit Borphukon or for that matter of fact the tales of the Ahom kingdom. Not to forget the fact that the river where the Battle of Saraighat was fought between Ahoms and Mughals, i.e. the Brahmaputra river still flows through the state of Assam camouflaging the narratives of bravery of Lachit Borphukon, who once even went alone to fight with the Mughals, even after suffering from high degrees of fever. So from the screenplay to the locations, the film on Lachit Borphukon would contain everything that the audience would definitely love and admire. And of course, the addition of some good music, 3D effects, graphics etc would simply take the film to another level. Furthermore, if this film is produced, it would also glorify the robust ruling of the Ahoms and also the fact that along with the Rajputs and the Marathas, the northeastern part of India too had a leader of the same quality, known as Lachit Borphukon. In fact, when many national YouTube channels and YouTubers have already discussed in length about the tales of valour of this great warrior, it is baffling to understand the real reason behind Bollywood’s ignorance to step in and produce the biographical film on Lachit Borphukon, which might turn out to be the real game changer in terms of financial gains. Therefore, in the near future if this film is produced, it would not only benefit the producer but would also be an apt tribute towards this great son of Mother India.

20 Fun Horoscope of the week

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020 These predictions are based on the month of birth, and are about an individual’s work environment, parents and extended family.

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

23rd and 28th February will be great days for you to share your ideas with your seniors, connect with them. 28th February schedule your important meetings. 22nd February you will be emotionally hurt by your colleagues or superiors. 24th February you could have a fall out with a superior or someone at work.

Lay low on 22nd February, you are bound to have disagreement with people at work or there could be changes in your work place. Avoid making any promises on 22nd February and 25th February, you will have to live up to them. 24th and 27th February will be great days for you to connect with your senior and share your ideas with him/her, host your important meetings on these dates.

The first half of your week will be slow; the second half will be great. For good results host your meetings share your ideas with your superiors, network with your business associates on 25th, 26th and 28th February. Avoid any Sunday meetings with your workmates and/or extended family, it will be a disaster.

You will have an amazing week 22nd, 23rd, 25th and 26th February will be great days for you to connect with your senior and share your ideas with him/her, you could host your important meetings on these dates. You could have issues with your seniors or your extended family on 24th February, don’t get into a confrontation. 27th February, be careful while dealing with the opposite gender.

This will be a great week for you. 23rd, 24th and 27th February will be great days for you to share your ideas with your seniors and build a relationship with them. Host your important meetings on 24th and 27th February. 25th and 28th February you could have issues at your workplace with your seniors or clients. Avoid getting into a confrontation.

This week will be great for you. 23rd, 24th and 28th February will be excellent days for you to schedule your important meetings. 23rd February you could have a small get together with your colleagues, seniors and parents. Avoid hosting any meetings especially with your seniors on 28th February. You are bound to have disagreements.

You have a great week ahead of you. 22nd, 25th and 26th February will be great days for you to share your ideas with your seniors or simply just connect with them. You could schedule your important meetings on these dates. Watch your words and actions on 27th and 28th February, you could have disagreements at work.

Not a great week for you. 26th February will be a great day for you to build a rapport with your seniors and people at work, host your important meetings on this day. 25th and 28th February avoid making any promises; you will have to live up to them. 27th 3 February you will be betrayed by someone you trusted.

You will have issues at work or with your superiors or clients on 26th February, try not to get into a confrontation. 27th February will be a great day for you to build a rapport with your seniors and people at work, host your important meetings on this day.

Watch your words and actions on 24th February; you could create your own problems. 25th February you will be emotionally hurt either by your parents or your seniors. 28th February will be a great day for you to connect with your senior and share your ideas with him/her, host your important meetings on this day.

Watch yourself on 22nd and 28th February, avoid making any promises or getting into a confrontation. You could have disagreements with your seniors or work associates; this is not a day to schedule important meetings. 24th February you will be emotionally hurt either by your parents or your seniors. 25th February will be a slow day for you.

22nd February is an ideal day for you to mingle with your seniors and people at work and build your work network. 23rd February you will be emotionally hurt by your colleagues or superiors or your extended family. Be careful 4 with your words and actions on 26th February you will create your own problems.

Identify this very much in news Manipuri pace bowler? Dr. Soubhadra Chakrabarty This quiz has been brought to you by Brain Jam, a property of Priya Communications

Dilbert By Scott Adams

I don’t care a farthing for your opinion.

Sudoku 5 4

1 5 7 76 4 1 3 6 7 79 4 6 3 2 5 8 9 24 8 6 7 3 5 79 1 9 8 2 4

7 3 76 4 68 1 5 3 5 1 72 4 1 3 3 1 5 6 91 4 6 9 4 Daily DailySudoku: Sudoku:Fri Fri21-Feb-2020 14-Feb-2020

Vertical films and videos are flourishing as new types of cameras and screens easily allow people to shoot and view non-traditional formats. What exactly is it?

something of very small value:

easy hard

last week solution 54 21 95 87 43 89 12 34 78 66 37 99 15 38 24 51 61 57 79 13 92 43 86 75 29 94 68 46 86 72 41 28 37 15 53 62

76 2 4 31 83 65 8 5 17 79 23 1 5 44 82 7 6 94 67 4 6 9 8 22

96 62 28 39

53 38 9 2 76 11 45 17 5 8 23 35 17 59 3 49 56 71 91 4 7 62 98 84

Daily DailySudoku: Sudoku:Fri Fri21-Feb-2020 14-Feb-2020

noun

curio-city

How did the Jonga jeep used by the Army get its name?

British Slang. exhausted; very tired

1. Cancer

[ fahr-thing ]

adjective [nak-erd]

2. New Zealand

Paul Robeson’s song ‘Ole Man River’ from the musical ‘Showboat’ inspired which famous Indian song?

3. O Ganga Tumi by Dr Bhupen Hazarika

4. Jonga, made in Jabalpur is an acronym for Jabalpur

Which country in 1921 was the first to allow women to vote?

farthing

ordinance and gun carriage assembly

Word of the week Word knackered of the week

5. Short films created and delivered portrait orientation

What is the greek word for ‘crab’?

(9:16) for tall-screen projection in front of an audience

6. Rex Rajkumar Singh

curio-city

easy hard

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Fiction

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

Searching for lost war time planes

had heard from some friends back in school about missing planes in the north east of India as it was only here that the World War Two theatre had witnessed battles above the Indian skies. It is in this area that the allied forces had lost over 500 planes, mostly American, between 1942 and 1945 and all these planes were missing in the dense jungles and mountains of the Himalayan foothills . So when my good hunting friend Chandreswar Rajkhowa first mentioned about people searching for such aircraft near Gohpur in 1969 it ignited a great interest in me. I had recently joined work at our family tea estate. Rajkhowa was operating timber blocks in Arunachal in a number of places stretching from Ramghat to the Banderdewa range and I often went to these sites for hunting in the winter months. It was on one such trip that he showed me some remains purported to be of a wrecked plane up in a mountain found by two local Nishi hunters. The pieces were made of aluminium and seemed very tough. It also bore some lettering and figures and looked genuine and I wanted very much to talk to the persons who had got these items down. Of course my friend was mainly interested to try and obtain sizable quantities of the parts of the plane to sell for money as there was a big demand for this metal. But I was very keen to go up and see the wreckage for myself as it would be a great adventure and after a few days I was able to meet one of the two men myself in a camp near Balijan. From what I could gather was they had seen the white object below one mountain where they were hunting and after shooting a mountain goat they had to go down to retrieve the dead animal when they found these broken parts on the ground. The main body of the plane was deep inside a ravine and they had not actually gone that far down. I thought of going with them but the man just laughed at me to my face and said that I simply would not be able to climb that far up and going down the ravine was impossible. I then asked Rajkhowa to find out if it was possible to go there on elephant back and

the local hunter said only part of the way as even elephants cannot negotiate such terrain; if possible it would take a long time but no owner would take such a risk as there was every chance that the elephant could slip and fall. But elephants are very alert and wary and would not climb or go anywhere at a risk to its body or limbs. However I got to find out that some wreckages in closer areas which were found by the local habitants were already dismantled and the parts taken and sold to the Bihari scrap dealers nearby who were mainly dealing in scrap of the tea gardens, rice and saw mills. For them it must have been a bonus with the money they made by selling this aircraft grade aluminium and that is why Rajkhowa was aggrieved that this forest produce was alluding him! He never realised that there was another way he could have benefitted if these remains could have been informed to the Government, some of the missing men from the war could have been identified and he may have got a reward. I knew one of the Bihari scrap dealers quite well and from him I did ascertain that his cousin had indeed done a big deal once by selling a large consignment of the metal to a dealer in Guwahati and that there was indeed a demand for this material. But I wanted to actually try and see a wreckage first hand and during my trips to the jungles I did meet some of the hunters who had chanced upon these sites but the locations were quite impossible to reach and one was in fact seen half sticking out of a lake. The other problem was

that the undergrowth in the forests grow so fast that what the men had seen perhaps in the winter months when the foliage dies off, becomes fully hidden in the summer. Also whenever it rains in the mountains, streams and rivulets form suddenly and make access very difficult. But I did get to see many pieces and parts of planes and the seats and some electrical/ mechanical items which I

Nearing the camp I picked up some sounds of a radio. It was past midnight and I was wondering what Suban was listening to so late. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a cricket match commentary.

happened to tell a planter friend called Larkins who was quite an interesting person. I think he was an Anglo Indian but he looked more European. He was also very interested in old items like a vintage road roller gathering dust and had once spoken to me about it. He had requested my help with the local PWD department in trying to purchase this road roller for supplying to a Canadian collector of such old equipment for a tidy price. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

think he could do the deal as he suddenly resigned from his job as a Senior Assistant Manager and migrated to Australia; the old dilapidated road roller was still lying in the PWD office in a place called Jamuguri when I had last seen it some years ago. In the meantime every winter during the 70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s I used to roam the hills and valleys with my friend Rajkhowa and our garden fitter called Baruah at times camping overnight in search of game and every time I used to ask our local guides about these elusive planes. Then once when I was staying at a sawmill deep inside the forest the manager of that mill told me about a skeleton that was also found near the site of a plane crash. It was in a place about two dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trek up the mountains and was comparatively easy to traverse and a young enthusiastic Mikir youth had gone to inspect the site with some local hunters. They were able to go up close to the broken plane which had the fuselage fairly intact and on peeping inside they saw this skeleton probably of the pilot sitting on an iron seat. The frightened men shouted in horror and most of them wanted to run away except for this youth and another hunter. These two brave men climbed inside and saw that the skeleton was intact with the teeth and skull

Ranjan Kumar Choudhury ranjanchou@hotmail.com

staring blankly; it was well preserved with the flesh all wasted and would have been quite easy to identify today with the sophisticated forensic tools that we have. They left the site as it was but the Nishi tribe to which this land belonged would have nothing to do with it and simply returned in a large group and set the whole place on fire to exorcise the evil spirits and cleanse their forest for the flora and fauna not to be affected. Later on some government officials who were alerted about this find did visit the wreckage and found the burnt metal and white charred bones of the skeleton which had got fragmented into tiny pieces. I felt sad for the pilot who must have been already burnt to death in the crash, had once again been crucified in flames. Nowadays with better communication and the use of satellites some recent discoveries have been found and identified. But from my experiences I am very sure that those mountains hold many more silent graves of the poor men who were engaged in this war and gave up their lives while doing their grim duty flying their planes and becoming lost in the clouded peaks to be covered up by the plants as a canopy from the ravages of nature. The crashed remains of the planes may also be on the other side in China as many pilots who were lost had no modern communication systems to contact their base at Missamari or in Chabua. Even now our mobiles remain out of contact when we are in the shadow of high mountains and I dread to imagine about a pilot lost on those desolate places about to face death and nowhere to land or eject to safety!

22 Lifestyle

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

The ritual of Aarti A arti is done by moving the lit oil lamps in a clockwise motion which is often accompanied by the ringing of the bell and sometimes by singing, playing of musical instruments and clapping. It is done towards the end of every ritualistic worship (pooja or bhajan) of the Lord or to welcome an honoured guest. This is one of the sixteen steps of Indian puja rituals and so it is also called shodasha upachaara. As the light is waved, mental or loud chanting of prayers is done. At the end of the Aarti, the hands are placed over the flame and then the eyes and the top of the head are gently touched with the palms. This is to light up our vision and energise the brain. After performing puja and other rituals, Aarti is done to light up the process and energise it further. The Aarti is similar to the silent open-eyed meditation on the beauty of the Lord. The singing, clapping, ringing of the bell etc. denote the joy and auspiciousness,

which accompanies the vision of the Lord. Aarti is often performed with camphor. This has a spiritual significance because when camphor is lit, it burns itself out completely without leaving

any trace of it. It represents our inherent tendencies (vaasanas). When lit by the fire of knowledge which illumines the Lord (Truth), our vaasanas thereafter burn themselves out completely, without leaving a trace of ego

which creates in us a sense of individuality that keeps us separate from the Lord. Also, while camphor burns to reveal the glory of Lord, it emits a pleasant perfume even while it sacrifices itself. In our spiritual progress, even as we serve the guru and society, we should willingly sacrifice ourselves and all we have, to spread the “perfume” of love to all. We often wait a long while to see the illumined Lord but when the Aarti is actually performed; our eyes close automatically as if to look within. This is to signify that each of us is a temple of the Lord. The sun, moon, stars, lightning and fire are the natural sources of light. The lord is the creator of all these and as we light up the Lord with the flame of the Aarti, we turn our attention to the very source of all light, which symbolizes knowledge and life. The sun is the presiding deity

Hemanta Kumar Sarmah

Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

of the intellect, the moon, that of the mind, and fire, that of speech. The Lord is the supreme consciousness that illuminates all of them. Without Him, the intellect cannot think, nor can the mind feel or the tongues speak. The Lord is beyond the mind, intellect and speech. This mantra is chanted with Aarti:Na tatra suryo bhaati na chandra taarakam/Nemaa vidyuto bhaanti kutoyamagnib/ Tameva bhaantam anubhaati sarvam/Tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhaati (He is there where the sun does not shine,/Nor the moon, stars and lightning./Then what to talk of this small flame (in my hand),/Everything (in the universe) shines only after the Lord,/And by His light alone are we all illumined.) Courtesy - Swami Chinmoyananda

Stomach problems and easy guidelines Stomach is one of the main parts of our body as well as the digestive tract, thus any problem or discomfort in stomach causes much problem in our daily lives. So here is a quick look on stomach problems, their cause and simple relieving measures. 1. Constipation Normal stool passing is lessened and painful. It is usually caused by low water intake, less fibre intake, low physical activities and due to some structural or functional problem of GI tract. Regular intake of fibre rich foods like whole wheat atta (flour), fruits and vegetables

Intake of minimum 2 litres water daily Doing some exercise to make the stool passing easier

2. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) It causes problems like stomach pain, cramping, abdominal discomfort, constipation etc. It is usually caused by faulty dietary habits like having more oily-spicy foods, less consumption of healthy foods etc. Small and frequent meal instead of large meal will help to relief symptoms

Crude fibre rich vegetable like cabbage, cauliflower, beans should be avoided

Spicy junk food, chocolate, carbonated beverages, ice cream, hard cheese all these should not be taken

Sohini Chakraborty Chatterjee

Sometimes grapefruit, peppermint tea are found beneficial

3.GERD (Gastro oesophageal refux disease) There may be excessive acidity, regurgitation, stomach discomfort, vomiting tendency. Most of the gastritis and acidity patients find their symptoms common to this ailment. Intake of tea, coffee, aerated beverages, garlic, onion, milk, citrus fruits, fatty fried food and junk food are restricted

Usually probiotics and fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, kimchi these are found to be beneficial. To meet up normal protein requirements, egg whites and lean meat like light chicken soup are suggested

Some studies showed that Apple cider vinegar, aloe vera juice, bottle gourd (lauki) juice or cucumber juice may reduce the symptoms.

4. Diarrhoea

It is usually caused by a number of reasons like bacterial or viral infections, food poisoning, allergies, excessive use of laxatives and indigestion of food. There is passing of loose watery stool frequently. Medical supervision and intake of medicine is the first and foremost thing to be done

To replace constant fluid and water loss, ORS should be taken Strained and light fruit juices, broth may be given to revive energy. Fibre rich food, fatty food, fried food, even any heavy textured hard food should be avoided for sometime.

5. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease These are the inflammation of different parts of the lining of large intestine. These may occur due to

genetics, immune response, over consumption of NSALD, fat rich diet. These cause weight loss, abdominal pain, cramping, and even other infections. Fibre rich vegetables, teacaffeine -cola, wine-beeralcohol, red meat, sulphur rich food cheese, crude fibre rich vegetables cruciferous vegetables (cabbage -cauliflower -broccoli ), dried fruit, nuts, legumes, beans etc may increase inflammation, so should be avoided

Omega 3 rich foods like salmon tuna, flaxseed, sesame seed and oil from them can relieve symptoms. Soy-based proteins and fermented pre-biotic foods like yoghurt, kefir, kimchi are usually good for these diseases Oatmeal, carrot juices are also found beneficial in some cases.

Entertainment

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

NRL felicitates Assamese film industry veterans

umaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) felicitated two prominent and veteran actors of the Assamese film industry on February 13. NRL felicitated Nipon Goswami and Vidya Rao Nair for their outstanding contribution to Assamese film industry and the society as a whole. Nipon Goswami debuted in the Assame se film industry in 1957 as a child artist in the film Piyali Phukan, directed by Phani Sarma. His first film as a lead actor was Sangram. His second film

Aamis to be screened at 18th Annual Indian Film Festival of LA Dr. Bezbaruah released in 1969 brought him recognition as a star. Vidya Rao Nair made her debut at the age of six in the film Shakuntala. She is remembered for her roles in Sendoor, Ghar Sansar, Sarathi, Rag-Birag and Man Mandir. Her film Mukuta was the first film to celebrate 100 days and Ajali Nobou was a box-office hit that ran for 25 weeks. SK Barua, MD NRL felicitated the veteran artists and handed over a cheque of Rs 1.5 lakhs as a gesture of goodwill for their immense contribution to the society through their work.

8th Oscar Film Festival 2020 to be held at Anuradha Cineplex

nuradha Cineplex is organizing their Oscar Film Festival for the 8th consecutive Year. The festival will be held from February 21 to February 27. Major

films that won at the 92nd Academy Awards, commonly referred to as Oscars, will be screened during the festival. Films like Parasite (Winner – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Foreign Language

Film, Best Original Screen Play), Joker (Winner- Best Actor, Best Music (Original Play), Judy (Winner- Best Actress) , Ford vs Ferrari (Winner- Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing) will be screened. It is to be mentioned that Parasite was the film that won the highest number of awards i.e. four; 1917 won three awards while Ford v Ferrari, Joker and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood won 2 awards each in the 92nd Academy Awards.

ssamese film Aamis will be screened at the 18th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA). The five-day festival will begin on April 1. Aamis is an Assamese thriller film written and directed by Bhaskar Hazarika. The film is a dark love story set in modern Guwahati. The

story revolves around the relationship between a married paediatrician, Nirmali and a young PhD student, Suman. The cast of Aamis includes, Arghadeep Baruah, Lima Das, Neetali Das, Manash Das and Sagar Saurav. It needs to be mentioned that Aamis was presented by prominent Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap.

Assamese actor Arghadeep Barua features in Google ad

amis’s lead actor Arghadeep Barua got featured in a video advertisement of Google. Barua was a part of Google’s discover feature advertisement

where he played the character of a guy ‘Prema’ who loves chicken. Barua has done his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya Khanapara, Guwahati and has also studied Mass Communication from Assam University. It is to be mentioned that Barua was a part of the much acclaimed Assamese thriller film Aamis which is written and directed by Bhaskar Hazarika. The film is a dark love story set in modern Guwahati. The story revolves around the relationship between a married paediatrician, Nirmali and a young PhD student, Suman. Barua played the part of Suman in the film.

24 Catching Up

| Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2020

6th edition of G Plus

PIC OF THE

WEEK

Guwahati Food Awards to be held on Feb 29 The 6th edition of Guwahati Food Awards is all set to take place on February 29 at Vivanta by Taj, Guwahati. The voting for the awards closed this year with over 1 lakh votes registered on the website and mobile app. With more than 175 nominations across 25 identified award categories, nominations were received from over 75 eateries comprising restaurants, cafes, lounge bars, bakeries and fast food eateries amongst others. Guwahati Food Awards, initiated in the year 2015, steps into its sixth edition this year. The awards have been arrived at by a multiple phase process that involves nomination filing, voting, food tasting and jury visits. The voting period continued for two weeks, while a distinguished jury visited the participants for inspection and reviews. A cumulative score has been calculated through a credible process and the awards in the respective categories shall be announced at the grand awards night which will be a gala affair. Guwahati Food Awards also organises an annual baking contest – Bake-off 2020. This is the fourth season of the “Best Home Baker of the Year.” Contestants prepare items from home and present them to the jury members on the day of the competition. The Guwahati Food Awards is an initiative of the city’s English weekly G Plus in association with Blender’s Pride Reserve Collection. The initiative is supported by Assam Tourism, Asomiya Pratidin, Pratidin Time with Hospitality Partner Vivanta Guwahati and Outdoor Partner - Outreach Advertising.

Categories for the 6th edition Best Bakery Best Café Best Club/Lounge Best Fast Food Joint (Chain) Best Fast Food Joint (Single Outlet) Best Hangout Place Best Mithai Shop Best Multi-Cuisine Restaurant Best Pub/Bar Best Restaurant For All Day Dining Best Speciality Cuisine Restaurant Best Restaurant For Assamese Cuisine

Celebrating Shiva Ratri | Photo: Surajit Sharma

Best Restaurant For European Cuisine (Continental) Best Restaurant For Fine Dining Best Restaurant For Naga Cuisine Best Restaurant For North Indian/Mughlai Cuisine Best Restaurant For Oriental Cuisine Best Restaurant For South Indian Cuisine Best Themed Restaurant Best Restaurant For Vegetarian Food Restaurant of The Year Setting Benchmark Through Innovation Most Promising New Entrant Best Cloud Kitchen Best Dessert & Ice Cream Parlour Best Instagramable Restaurant Best Food Truck Best Restaurant for Barbeque and Grill

Printed & Published by Sunit Jain on behalf of Insight Brandcom Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Janambhumi Press (P) Ltd., Kalapahar, Guwahati and Published at 4A, Royale Arcade, Ulubari, Guwahati - 781007, Editor: Swapnil Bharali. Phone: 0361 2522444, Email: info@g-plus.in, RNI No: ASSENG/2013/52641