G Plus Vol 7 Issue 28

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

INSIDE

Volume 07 | Issue 28 May 02 - May 08, 2020 Price `10 Milanpur Masjid sealing: Inept handling of the situation by dist admin comes to light

Kaziranga tour operators rendered jobless as tourism closes due to pandemic

PG 02

PG 04

City continues to have one containment zone

Centre gives Guwahati GREEN ZONE STATUS

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n a letter from the Union Home Ministry to the Chief Secretary of Assam redesignating zones to all the districts as per the COVID-19 parameters, the state has been declared completely free of red zones.

Of the 33 districts in Assam, 3 are Orange Zones and the rest 30 have been declared as Green Zones.

Amongst the Green districts is Kamrup (M), despite the fact that Guwahati still has an active containment zone.

As the coronavirus pandemic hit the state at the beginning of April, two well-known places of Guwahati had to be declared as containment zones – one, the Spanish Garden on 4th April, and second, the Athgoan Kabarsthan Masjid on 10th April.

Although the containment status has been lifted from the former on 30th April, the Athgoan Masjid continues to be so.

As per reports, nine people have been kept quarantined within the mosque’s premises and authorities are providing for their necessities.

It has to be mentioned that the

Masjid had to be quarantined after it was found that a COVID-19 positive patient had spent a night there after returning from Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi.

Two more persons who had tested positive had attended a gathering along with the former on March 12. As such the masjid continues to be isolated even though no one quarantined inside have been found to be infected till date.

Biswajit Pegu, DC Kamrup (M), talking to G Plus said that, “As per ICMR guidelines a containment zone is to remain so for 28 days.

Although the district has been shifted to green zone from its earlier orange status, the masjid premises continues to be under containment as a preventive measure. We have to follow the guidelines.”

However what deserves mention here is that as on 1st of May, the state government’s marking of zones contradicts the central ministry’s list.

While the union ministry marks Assam free of red zones, health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has declared Bongaigoan district as a Red zone on 30th April after five positive cases were detected there. n

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With HYGIENE the operative word

Can GMC make Guwahati sparkle?

G Plus News @guwahatiplus

T Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

Guwahati cinema hall owners chalk plans to counter massive lockdown losses

he Guwahati Development Department (GDD) minister, Siddhartha Bhattacharya, was seen sanitising the streets of Guwahati a couple of times and the chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, was also seen helping the GDD minister on at least one occasion during the lockdown.

Both Sonowal and Bhattacharya though could have been more modest about their good intentions, but politicians and their publicity stunts are not hidden agenda anymore. With the city having been locked down for close to one and a half months, has the GDD minister with the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) under his office, made any plans about how to keep the city sparkling post the lockdown?

The GMC Commissioner, Devajyoti Hazarika, claimed that the corporation is working to combat the dreaded Covid-19 and the sanitising exercises are a continuous process. On being asked what the budget of the sanitising process is or how much has been spent so far, the IAS officer said that as of now there is no budget and they cannot reveal how much has been spent as the work has been undertaken due to the national emergency.

On being asked if any new initiatives are being taken up, the officer said that they are working according to the instructions of the health department. No doubt the health department has all the expertise to guide other government departments to work efficiently the other departments also need to take into consideration the post lockdown scenario. So, can the

GDD with GMC keep Guwahati sparkling post the lockdown?

Senior journalist and activist, Manjit Mahanta, talking to G Plus said, “I don’t think the GDD is working efficiently.”

He expressed that the GMC could have done a lot of things during the lockdown but that is not happening. He also added that the GMC might say that now because of lockdown they don’t have enough labourers, but garbage collection was never regular even in the prelockdown days. Talking about the performance of Siddhartha Bhattacharya as GDD minister, Mahanta said, “His performance is not good. He is a 10% minister.”

A BJP executive member talking to G Plus under condition of anonymity said that the chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, recently visited the Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner’s office and on the same day, the minister was also expected to visit Fancy Bazar. Due to the storm that day the chief minister cancelled the plan. The member said, “From 10 to 12 in the morning the entire GMC workforce was in Fancy Bazar cleaning the area because the chief minister was expected to visit.” He said that the day GMC starts cleaning the roads with the same enthusiasm sans the news of any VIP visit, the city will improve. He said the GMC could have done many things by now. There are many places in the city which still have huge amounts of garbage dumped.

It could have been removed during the lockdown which is not happening, according to the member. One such example the member cited is a plot of land at East India Gali, Sati Jaimati Road at Aathgaon. Then he pointed out the public toilet opposite Sarma Sweets Point in Fancy Bazar which has a drainage problem

and is always dirty. That could have been cleaned. As the rainy season has almost started, the member said that all the drains of the city should have been cleaned which is not happening.

Therefore, the member said that the GMC is not at all prepared for the future.

Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is another department which is under GDD and is expected to develop Guwahati but the department has earned a fair bit of notoriety for delays in completing its projects. The GDD minister was seen giving a trial run on the ropeway connecting Guwahati to North Guwahati but the ropeway is again a project which has been delayed since ages for various reasons.

It is finally complete. But what about the other projects? The water supply project remains a dream. Many parking lots are yet to be completed. The smart city projects which are again under GDD are lagging behind compared to other cities. Only installing some water ATMs and bio toilets do not make a city smart.

After the induction of two new ministers into the Assam state cabinet on 25th January last, some ministerial portfolios were reshuffled and the education department was again back with Himanta Biswa Sarma. The education ministry was hitherto looked after by Siddhartha Bhattacharyya ever since he was inducted into the ministry. Though Bhattacharya still enjoys being the Guwahati Development Department (GDD) minister, with the assembly elections due in 2021, the GDD minister needs to prove to the people of Guwahati that he is capable of bringing that much required sparkle and change Guwahati for the better. n

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In The News

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

Milanpur Masjid sealing: Inept handling of the situation by dist admin comes to light In Guwahati, a second masjid was sealed on 26th April last due to the novel coronavirus scare: the Milanpur Masjid No. 2 at Chandmari. However, as per reports the masjid was reopened the very next day after it was sanitized by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC).

Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

So what exactly happened?

As reported by residents of the area, the mowajjin of the mosque (the Imam’s helper), one Saifuddin Rahman, aged around 27, had returned to the mosque after a week’s stay at his village in Nalbari district that had been declared a red zone by the union health ministry and continues to remain so.

How did Rahman get out of a red zone district without being caught? Why was no known case registered against a person who was found moving out of a major red zone of the state?

Wasn’t he supposed to have remained quarantined?

Rahman was already an asthma patient and was living in a damp quarter within the masjid’s premises along with his wife and kid. Around two weeks ago, he underwent a health check-up as his condition deteriorated having being under lockdown in the damp residence. After this, he moved back to his native village in Nalbari district along with his family, given that the mosque was closed due to the lockdown and also because he had limited resources on which to survive. Rahman also used to run a small shop near the masjid.

Now, with the Ramadan month having commenced, he was allegedly asked by someone from the masjid

committee to come back and help the imam. Further, he himself mentioned that the masjid was providing with good food and as well as the necessities during this period. As such, he returned to Guwahati with his wife and kid.

How did he return?

Rahman returned from his village in Nalbari district on 26th April in an ambulance that was reportedly driven by his brother-in-law. When the residents of Milanpur found out about his return they informed the authorities about the same.

As per the government’s order, people in the red zones are not allowed to move out of the zone to any other place. Then how did Rahman get out of a red zone district without being caught?

Questions are now being raised on the adequacy of monitoring done by the district authorities as well as the government in these highly vulnerable zones.

To continue with Rahman’s story, after he was reported to the authorities, he was taken to Gauhati Medical College & Hospital where he was tested for COVID-19 with a rapid testing kit. Meanwhile, the masjid was being sealed on the request of the residents who feared that it might turn into a hotspot.

However, Rahman tested negative and on that very day was asked to leave. Since he had no means to return to his village and the masjid was already sealed, he apparently went to Chandmari police station and reported himself.

Now, the second question that arises is: Was the report from the rapid testing kit sufficient to consider a person safe from corona, that too someone hailing from a red zone? Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been repeatedly saying that

The Milanpur Masjid No 2 as seen during the lockdown | G Plus photo the rapid testing kits are just a form of assurance, but for suspected cases, proper fullscale testing of COVID-19 is to be done.

So how was Saifuddin Rahman’s health report considered final by the concerned officials?

Residents of Milanpur alleged that the police later provided Rahman with a written permission to return home along with his family.

They travelled back to Nalbari on Rahman’s two-wheeler that was already kept at his Milanpur masjid residence.

However, when G Plus tried to take details of the incident, the Chandmari PS officer-incharge, Biswajit Deka, denied having any knowledge of the incident and said that the whole situation was handled by the health officials.

Further, officials of National Health Mission as also Ganesh

Saikia, Joint Director of Health Services, refused to give any details of the whole incident.

Saikia just mentioned that the mowajjin was sent back to his village.

This raises a lot of concern about the role of authorities.

Was any case filed against Saifuddin Rahman?

The state government had been repeatedly pointing out that strict action will be taken against all violators for the smallest violation. There are provisions of cases to be registered as per the Disaster Management Act. Further, violators are also to be booked under Sections 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code as assured by the DGP, Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta in a press conference. Even Guwahati Municipal Corporation has issued an order to fine Rs. 1000 for people spitting and

urinating in public.

With such strict rules having already been laid out for the smallest of violations, why was no known case registered against a person who was found moving out of a major red zone of the state? Wasn’t he supposed to have remained quarantined? Or was Rahman prescribed home quarantine?

While many questions remain unanswered on the way the Milanpur Masjid incident was handled, this one incident has also brought to light the many loopholes in the working of the administration, mainly of Nalbari and the Kamrup districts, in tackling this pandemic.

It is worth mentioning once again that the Milanpur Masjid No. 2 was sealed on the request of the local residents of the area and was reopened on the evening of 27th April after being sanitized by GMC. However, the mosque will remain closed for public as per coronavirus protocol.

Politicking

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

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BPF loses control over BTC after 17 long years, Governor’s rule imposed Rangman Das @guwahatiplus

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9 April, Guwahati: The Hagrama Mohilary led Boroland People’s Front lost its control over the Bodoland Territorial Council after 17 long years. The party had been in power in BTC since the council was established in February 2003.

On 27th April, the BPF’s tenure as the ruling party came to an end. However, as elections could not be held as per schedule due to the lockdown enforced just ahead of the elections scheduled on 4th April to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor’s rule was imposed on Bodoland.

As such, the administration of the territory lies in the hands of Governor of Assam, Jagdish Mukhi for the next six months.

The general elections were scheduled to be held on 4th April for the four districts under the Bodoland Territorial Region, namely, Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Chirang and Baksa, spread over 40 constituencies.

However, the elections had to be cancelled indefinitely due to the nationwide lockdown.

The Governor of Assam has started exercising his power with effect from 27th April over Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) as conferred by subparagraph (2) of paragraph 16 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India.

In a notification published by the Dr M Angamuthu, Commissioner & Secretary of Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Department, it was stated that Rajesh Prasad, Commissioner & Secretary of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department has been appointed as the administrator to the BTC to superintend and direct the entire administration.

As such, all functions and powers vested in or exercisable

by the Council, the Executive Committee, Chief Executive Member, Deputy Chief Executive Member, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Executive Members of the Council under the Sixth Schedule or any law in force in the said districts shall be vested with the newly appointed administrator, Rajesh Prasad. It has to be mentioned that Rajesh Prasad is also the Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam.

In the above mentioned notice issued by Dr Angamathu, it has also been mentioned that Prasad will be performing his duties “under the superintendence, direction and control of the Hon’ble Governor of Assam” as per the government notification no. TAD/BTC/250/2020/30, dated 27-04-2020.

Meanwhile, Siddharth Singh, IAS, has been appointed as the Principal Secretary to BTC as per notification no.

TAD/ BTC/218/2017/98, dated 27th April. Siddharth Singh was earlier appointed as the Commissioner & Secretary, PHE Deptt and MD, Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).

The notification was issued by the Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Department.

What does Hagrama Mohilary have to say in this regard?

“I am still the Chief of BTC, even if it’s not officially. Since there is no other way out, we will be filing a PIL in the court.

We will take this to court and BPF will again be ruling BTC,” said Mohilary.

He had also urged every BPF member to raise the party’s flag in front of their respective residences. He mentioned that peace must continue to reign in BTC. He further added, “We had requested our ally party (the BJP) as well as the Governor to extend our party’s rule by six

months, but nobody listened.”

RS member Biswajit Daimary says…

Rajya Sabha member from BPF, Biswajit Daimary, calling the Governor’s rule unconstitutional said, “The Hon’ble Governor did not establish the Bodoland Territorial council. It was done by the BPF party.

The Governor just signed his consent.

We established BTC such that we could formulate laws in the region.

The Governor cannot exercise special power in the region.”

“According to the Constitution the Governor can exercise special power only in North Cachar hill district and in Karbi Anglong.

If the governor believes that special power over the Bodoland is not mentioned in the Constitution, then he might take action after consulting the cabinet. As per sub clause 2, provision 6(A) of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, if for any emergency or unknown circumstances, the elections could not be conducted, then the office of the ruling party may be extended for another one year,” he added.

He further added that if the governor continues to impose decisions illegally and

Lockdown Extended by two weeks

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he nationwide lockdown owing to coronavirus outbreak has been extended for a further duration of two weeks with effect from May 4, 2020.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order under the Disaster Management Act on May 1 to announce the extension of lockdown period.

The lockdown will now be in place till May 17.

The decision has been taken “after a comprehensive review and

in view of lockdown measures having led to significant gain in the Covid-19 situation in the country”, stated the ministry in a press release.

MHA has also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities during the period of extended lockdown.

unconstitutionally then the same might be applied not just on BTC but over Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao tomorrow.

Now, the governor is going to rule over a council that had been established after a lengthy struggle by Hagrama Mohilary .

Meanwhile, Pramod Boro,

President of United People’s Liberal Party (UPPL) and Dipen Boro, President of All Bodo Students’ Union along with Naba Sarania, Congress and other parties have welcomed the Governor’s rule in Bodoland Territorial Council and thanked the Assam government for this move. n

File photo of Hungrama Mohiliary

4 Concern

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

Kaziranga tour operators rendered jobless as tourism closes due to pandemic Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

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have been giving elephant safaris for the last 18 years.

But I have never seen losses like this earlier. It’s like this season never happened,” said Munna Sharma who runs elephant safaris in Kaziranga National Park.

Sharma, along with three of his other friends has been running the business with 13 elephants that they rent from different places of Assam like Guwahati, Bongaigoan, Mangaldoi, Tezpur and others.

“First the protest over CAA spoiled the peak season; that is around the New Year. We don’t usually get many safaris in February as board exams are conducted and domestic tourists are less. Some trips were made at the beginning of March, but then again the lockdown was announced,” added Sharma.

Reportedly, there are around 32 elephants in Kaziranga working with private businesses apart from the ones owned by the park authorities. The pachyderms are usually leased or rented from across the state during the tourist season for around 6 months.

Munna continued, “One elephant is rented for Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per month. Each elephant comes with a ‘mahout’ and a ‘dhasi’ (helper). We also have to provide their salaries, stay and food for the months they are with us. Around Kaziranga elephant food is not free. We pay from Rs 80 to Rs 100 for one banana tree. Around Rs 15,000 is spent for one elephant’s feed per month. In total, there is an overall costing of Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 per elephant in one month.”

The expenses of maintaining an elephant is quite high compared to the profits earned. Due to the lockdown these elephants were sent back to their owners. So safari operators like Sharma are hoping that the rents are waived for this season.

“We had to spend lakhs from our own savings for maintaining the elephants as long they were with us. We were already undergoing losses and don’t know how to pay the rents and our loans,” Munna added.

Kaziranga National Park is open from October to April every year for tourists and in

the recent years have seen high surge in international as well as domestic tourists.

Reportedly, around 95 percent of the people living around the park are dependent on tourism as their main means of livelihood. Of these hardly 20 percent have agricultural land. The rest are solely dependent on profits earned during the tourist season.

Apart from elephant safaris, the park also provides jeep safaris. There are around 500 jeeps in Kaziranga alone and might add up to 900 if the jeeps of the all the ranges, i.e., Central, Eastern and Western ranges and the Bura Pahar areas are included.

“We don’t have any other industry in Kaziranga region.

Thousands of households are earning from tourism, directly or indirectly. People are engaged in safaris, hotels, supply to hotels and restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. But this year there was practically no business. The year started with complete closure. A few tourists visited in February and March but then the lockdown was clamped. Right now people of the entire region can be said to be unemployed. A few might take to farming but I am not sure what will happen of the others,” laments Rehan Ali, an Executive Member of the Jeep Safari Association.

Bhuban Gogoi, who owns a jeep says, “Last year I earned around Rs 3 lakhs from the whole season. I earned this money from the one jeep that I have. I used to get around five large groups in a month apart from the regulars.

They go for bird watching, travel and wildlife photography and others. And it pays well. Everyone earns a minimum of Rs 2 lakhs.

But this year the earnings hardly reached around Rs 50,000. I have been doing this for the last 15 years. And we have to spend the year with this money.”

“Some have taken up farming.

But then again we are in the high flood zone. The monsoons are coming and the problems we faced last year, I don’t think agriculture will be fruitful,” the virtually devastated Gogoi added.

Tulshi Bordoloi, President of Jeep Safari Association of Kaziranga lamented, “I cannot even start thinking how we are

File photo of elephant safari in Kazirange during a normal tourist season going to survive. Clearly we are staring at two to three years of losses. In the last few years we have seen lots of foreign tourists.

But given the situation worldwide, will anybody from anywhere be willing to travel abroad? Even within India, we got most tourists from Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and the southern states. Now all these states are highly infected.

Who will care about vacations and travel anymore?”

Rehan Ali, who is also the President of the Tourist Guide Association in Kaziranga said, “We have 25 guides registered with us.

They charge anywhere from Rs 500 to Rs 2500 per day, depending on their expertise. Our guides are all wildlife experts. Usually the foreign tourists hire the services of these wildlife guides.

Our clients are mostly from UK, France, Germany, US and other countries. These countries are so severely affected. I think we have to wait for years before we see foreigners in Kaziranga again.

They used to pay well. So, all our hopes of early revival are gone.”

There are many families in and around the national park zone providing home stays and camps, apart from the star hotels and resorts. Although the big

hotels have not yet made any lay-offs, these smaller business owners have asked most of their employees to leave.

Pankaj Gogoi, Secretary of Hotel Association of Kaziranga says, “The losses cannot be calculated as of now, but it will be in crores.

Hundreds of hotels and home stays are registered with us. Of these many just have two to three rooms. These are completely shut down and some did not get business the entire season. So you can imagine the situation here.”

“I have a lodge with fourteen rooms. I have five employees. I will be paying their full salaries for the month of April. After that I have decided to keep two to three of them at fifty percent of their salary and have to ask the others to leave. I myself have no earnings to survive on. How can I afford their’s without any business? But I will still try to retain my permanent employees till as long as I can,” said a lodge owner.

There are many home stays and lodges with contractual employees. These part timers are left without job and any means of earning for the entire year.

Lastly, there are the many souvenir shop owners around

the length and breadth of the Kaziranga National Park. They earn their living by making and selling local products like Assamese ‘paat and muga silk’ products, be it mekhela chador, gamocha, etc. Others also produce artefacts like wooden rhinos, other wildlife statues, bell metal goods, cane and bamboo products and even traditional jewelleries.

As an entire season goes for a toss and there is no hope of any tourist visiting in the near future given the world crisis due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, how will these people survive until the next tourist season, if ever there is one towards the end of 2020? Not to forget the coming monsoon floods that devastates the humans as well as the wild animals of the vast region alike, rendering all homeless and without food.

This is just the story of a few people who survive around one tourist zone of Assam. There are many others areas like Kaziranga which are dependent mostly on tourism, like the people around Manas National Park, Sualkuchi weavers’ villages, Barpeta bellmetal industry and the other wildlife sanctuaries across the state. n

Education

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

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Classes with social distancing need to be devised, feel university students

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am missing on my practical classes. But as a medical student I am not sure if it will be safe for us to attend classes anytime soon,” says Swastika Goswami.

As a third year student of Gauhati Medical College she is filled with pride when she talks about her chosen line of work and more so of her college that is the epicentre of all the health services that are being provided to the Covid-19 patients in the city.

“Our teachers are conducting online classes, but to be very honest these are not quite helpful as ours is a practical based course.

We have to go from ward to ward in the hospital and check on the patients physically. All these are not possible sitting at home,” she added.

So when does she want college to reopen?

“The most valid answer would probably be when the coronavirus threat has been completely eradicated at least from the state. But I believe, as medical students, we hold more responsibility towards society than any other profession in these times.”

Swastika proudly talks about the frontline work the health workers are doing and wants to be like them one day. This motivates her to join classes anytime soon.

But ‘social-distancing’ would be difficult to maintain in her college.

“The GMCH is always crowded.

We also have a lot of students in every class. I don’t think it will be possible to maintain socialdistancing. Even if the students are segregated into groups, what about the public? And we need to see and touch the patients to learn. We just can’t watch them from afar and learn anything in the process,” she said.

Although her dilemma is justified, the medical colleges would perhaps need to open

sometime soon if the academic year is to be saved.

Compared to Swastika, the issues of other university goers may seem marginal, but it cannot be denied that every course holds equal value.

Even for Chiranjeev Sharma, an engineering student, online classes is not holding much value.

“The college is trying its best but there are many technical points that need better conceptual understanding which is difficult over videos and calls,” he said.

“I don’t think it would be a major loss if we have to miss one academic year. Compared to that losing one’s life is more terrifying. We can have alternate day classes with smaller groups of students but I am not sure if that will be helpful in completing such a vast syllabus,” he added.

There are also the outstation students who stay in hostels. One of them, Rahul Bordoloi of Cotton University said, “Our University was closed for two days. So most of the boarding students like me went home but didn’t take

our books and laptops. But then the lockdown was announced.

The university is giving online classes, but we, or at least I do not have a proper device to connect.

Also the network problem is another issue. I guess it’s the same for all students outside Guwahati.”

As a masters’ degree student, he wants regular classes to be conducted soon. And as the general secretary of the students’ association, he assures that the associations and the students will come together to take every possible measure for social-distancing should classes start.

“The students can be divided into groups and we can definitely have classes till late evening.

Students happily stay back late when there are cultural activities or other functions. So I presume everyone will willingly take up long hours of studies for their own benefit,” he added.

Rahul is also of the opinion that the regular schedule of the professors allowed them long

hours of breaks in between classes. Standing up to the demands of the occasion, the professors can give lessons in these hours and maintain socialdistancing alongside.

The university goers are all matured students that understand the grave situation the world is in. It won’t be a major issue if classes are to reopen for them. Even then the university managements and the government need to discuss with them the new rules and measures to be taken up.

Finally, talking to various students from different disciplines of study it was found that the medical students have the biggest dilemma. The medical colleges need to make up a better plan for classes, mostly the practical sessions, to continue as it cannot be denied that the pandemic is also a good opportunity to make these upcoming doctors realise the important responsibilities that they are to shoulder and also the importance of selfless service.

Janasanyog No. 360/20

Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

6 In The News

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

Kota buses flagged off with 222 Rajasthani persons stranded in Assam Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

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ith the nationwide lockdown coming into effect from March 24, lakhs of people were left stranded in other parts of the country and abroad, away from their families.

One such person, Mahesh Sharma (name changed), had been stranded in Guwahati while his family was back in Bikaner, Rajasthan. However, as faith had it, he was destined to reunite with his loved ones sooner than others. He was among the 222 persons who were able to board the buses that were flagged off from Guwahati to Rajasthan.

“I am a Pandit by profession and have been working in Guwahati since the last 15 years. Due to the lockdown, all community gatherings have been prohibited and I have been stuck in Guwahati away from home. Looking at the situation, it is highly unlikely that my work would resume anytime soon. I am very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to go back to my family in Rajasthan,” he said.

Due to the initiative of

Purvottar Pradeshiya Marwari Sammellan (Northeast Marwari Federation), stranded persons like Mahesh Sharma were sent back home on April 29.

In a first, multiple buses have been flagged off from Assam to carry people hailing originally from Rajasthan back to their home state amidst the lockdown.

The 18 buses which were used to bring back the 391 Assamese students from Kota are now taking back 222 people from Rajasthan to their home state.

Elaborating on the initiative, Madhu Sudan Sikaria, President of the Northeast Marwari Federation said, “Firstly we would like to thank the Assam government for its initiative of bringing back students from Kota. When we found that the buses were returning to Rajasthan without passengers we chalked out a plan to help people from Rajasthan. We are very grateful to both Assam government and Rajasthan government for helping us with the initiative.”

The Northeast Marwari Federation has shown true meaning of “Atithi Devo Bhavah” by arranging for people of Rajasthan stranded in Assam to go back to their hometowns.

The buses from Kota parked in Guwahati after the arrival of the students | G Plus photo “There were many people from Rajasthan stranded in Assam those who work here, those that had come for medical reasons, tourists and many others. Seeing that the buses were going back empty, we took the initiative to facilitate the movement of such people to their homes,” informed Vivek Sanganeria, Public Relation Officer of the Federation, speaking to G Plus.

He added that the federation

received over 2,000 calls from people who wished to board the buses to Rajasthan. Several enquiries were sent to the government for approval. The government, out of almost 500 applicants, approved 350 people to travel back home. Of the approved persons, 222 have embarked on the 2,000 kilometre bus journey on April 29.

The people on board the special buses hail from different

parts of Rajasthan including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Bikaner.

However, the buses have only two destinations - Jaipur and Bikaner.

It should be mentioned that the buses have sleeper beds and washrooms in them. Further, all meals for the passengers have been sponsored and taken care of by the Northeast Marwari Federation.

Centre allows inter-state movement of stranded persons

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he Ministry of Home Affairs has issued guidelines allowing inter-state movement of stranded students, migrant workers, tourists, pilgrims and others.

In a fresh set of guidelines, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that anyone willing to be transported back home will have to be medically screened at source as well as destination and will be kept in a home or institutional quarantine on arrival, as per the home ministry guidelines.

“All states to designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons.

Stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students will be allowed to move with conditions during the lockdown,” the MHA order said.

The order further added that transportation of such individuals will be done via buses, as train or flight services are currently unavailable for passengers. The buses shall be sanitized and the authorities will follow protocols of social distancing while seating passengers in the vehicle.

State governments, who have kept a strict vigil at borders, allowing movement of only essential services, will now coordinate with each other to ensure safe passage to the hundreds of thousands stranded across the country.

The sending and receiving states must agree to movement by road only after the people are screened and found to be asymptomatic, the Centre said.

It should be mentioned that the order comes a day after the Centre was asked to respond to the issue by the Supreme

Court, which was hearing a set of petitions asking that migrant laborers who do not have COVID-19 be allowed to go home.

Earlier, in a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers, the issue of stranded migrant labourers and students was discussed.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, states where large numbers of migrants come from, had requested that they be allowed to return home.

Stranded people awaiting their passes at DC Office in Guwahati | G Plus photo

Education

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

7

Colleges to reopen in August, says UGC Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

T

he University Grants Commission (UGC) said recently that the new academic session may commence from August 1 for current students and from September 1 for fresh students.

The UGC issued a circular and took several steps with a view to maintain the academic calendar and to mitigate loss for students due to the situation arising out of COVID-19. It is to be mentioned that the educational institutions across the country have remained shut down since the last month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The commission stated that a COVID-19 cell will be constituted in every university which will be empowered to solve the students’ issues related to academic calendar and examinations.

Further, as per the UGC guidelines, the intermediate

semester students will be graded based on internal examinations of present and previous semesters, and in states where situation has normalised, the exams will be held in the month of July.

“Universities may follow a six-day week pattern and devise proforma to record travel or stay history of staff and students for the lockdown period. Extension of six months will be granted to MPhil, PhD students and vivavoice be conducted through video conference,” the UGC said.

However, the commission stated that the guidelines issued are advisory in nature and the universities may chalk out their own plans depending on the issues pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Universities may adopt efficient and innovative modes of examinations by reducing the time from 3 to 2 hours.

The exams may be conducted in offline or online mode, as per their ordinances or rules and regulations, scheme of

Representative Image of a college campus under normal circumstances examinations, observing the guidelines of social distancing

GU issues notification of course completion and new admissions On the other hand, Gauhati University (GU) too had earlier this week issued a notification undertaking measures to maintain the academic programme for students.

As per the notification, for the UG courses, the university will complete admission to Degree Courses by 15th July, 2020 subject to declaration of class XII results on time.

Further, the 2nd, 4th and 6th semester UG examinations will be held simultaneously in July, as it is linked with new admission at higher level.

Additionally, all remaining internal examinations for UG courses are to be assignmentbased/home assignment based.

The notification also states that those UG students for whom physical-based, lab-based and field work-based activities are hampered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, such students may submit library/e-library based project work for the ongoing semester only.

The university also mentioned that all BEd Examinations will commence from the last week of July 2020, whereas

the LLB examinations will commence as per the schedule of UG examinations. Further, the MEd examinations will take place as per the schedule of PG examinations.

AHSEC begins online classes

The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) began online classes for HS second year students from April 24 amidst the ongoing lockdown.

Currently, online classes for Business Studies, Accountancy and Economics have been started and the videos of online classes would be uploaded through https://YouTube.com/c/EduAid India.

Further, the classes for Business Studies will be held from Monday to Saturday, Accountancy on Monday and Thursday, whereas classes for Economics will be held on Tuesday and Friday at 7 pm.

AHSEC officials informed G Plus that they will keep adding more subjects for online classes and will inform the schedule for the same from time to time.

For more information on online classes, students can type ‘AHSEC’ and send it to 9477194771 via WhatsApp. It is to be mentioned that the AHSEC had earlier decided to promote the students of the Higher Secondary First Year Class of the academic session 2019-20 due to the ongoing pandemic.

In a notification, Controller of Examinations, Pankaj Borthakur stated, “Assam Higher Secondary Education Council has decided to promote the students of the Higher Secondary First Year Class of the academic session 2019-2020 (who had filled up online forms) to the Higher Secondary Second Year Class of the academic session 20202021 as a very special case for this year. The Higher Secondary First Year Examination-2020 to be held on and from the 25th of March, 2020 to the 10th of April, 2020 could not be held due to outbreak of Covid-19 all over the world.”

Earlier, the cancellation of the examination was announced by the Chairman of AHSEC, Dr Dayananda Borgohain due to the ongoing pandemic.

and keeping in view the support system available with them and

ensuring fair opportunity to all students,” it added.

Snippets Old Saraighat Bridge in Guwahati to be closed for maintenance

T

he Saraighat Bridge will remain closed due to maintenance work from May 1.

The traffic will be diverted to the new Saraighat bridge from 12:00 hrs of 01.05.2020 to 6:00 hrs of 04.05.2020.

According to reliable sources in Northeast Frontier Railway, it’s for repair of a small patch, but will take a long time as the concrete has to set in.

It is to be mentioned that the

road deck portion of the bridge has undergone repair work in the past for which the bridge was closed for 90 days starting from March 15, 2019.

Saraighat rail-cum-road bridge, which was commissioned in 1963, handles a huge volume of road and rail traffic every day.

The bridge was built by the Northeast Frontier Railway, under the direction of chief engineer Bankim Chandra Ganguli.

Assam Govt appoints nodal officers for inter-state movement of stranded persons

G

yanendra Pratap Singh, ADGP (Law and Order) has been appointed the nodal officer to deal with the movement of stranded persons for Assam and other parts of the country.

Further, Harmeet Singh, ADGP (Security and Administration) has been designated as the alternative nodal officer for the same.

On April 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued guidelines allowing inter-state movement of stranded students, migrant

workers, tourists, pilgrims and others.

As such it had asked all states to designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons.

All stranded persons in other parts of the country and wish to travel back to their hometownAssam, may contact GP Singh (ADGP) at 8527612266 or can email at: assamtransportrelief@gmail. com while Harmeet Singh (ADGP) can be contacted at 9622989797.

8 City

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

Guwahati cinema hall owners chalk plans to counter massive lockdown losses Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

W

hile India went on a nationwide lockdown starting from March 24, cinema halls across the country have been closed since March 15, leading to huge amounts of losses for the entertainment industry, especially cinema hall owners.

“Running a cinema hall involves a huge amount of fixed costs which include electricity bills, rent, staff salary, etc. Due to the lockdown, we are incurring losses worth approximately Rs 25,000-Rs 30000 per day,” expressed Chinmoy Sharma, the owner of Anuradha Cinema Hall in Guwahati.

Anuradha Cinema Hall in Guwahati is one of the oldest cinema halls in the city, started in the year 1971. In spite of competitions from newer halls and multiplexes, it has been standing tall for the past 49 years.

However, due to the outbreak of coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown, Anuradha, like other cinema halls, has been facing a tough time. To add to the woes, there’s very high competition from over the top (OTT) media platforms like Netflix, Hotstar,

Amazon Prime Video, Voot, Sony Liv, Jio TV etc.

Yet, some of the cinema halls in Guwahati already have postpandemic plans in place.

Speaking to G Plus about the plans of Anuradha to restart business once the lockdown is over, Chinmoy Sharma said, “People have become very conscious about hygiene and a fear currently prevails about visiting crowded places such as cinema halls. To deal with the fear psychology, we are planning to do away with 2530% of the occupancy to ensure a minimum distance among guests.

Maximum sterilization will be done and focus will be given on online purchase of tickets.”

Further, cinema halls are looking at possible renovation and upgradation to withstand the enormous amount of competition from OTTs. From upgrading to the latest Atmos technology which creates powerful, lifelike sound that flows all around you to installing special screens for better 3D experience, cinema halls are leaving no stones unturned to give its audience a better experience.

“Instead of shying away from our competition, we are finding ways to evolve and stand up to it,” a cinema hall owner exclaimed.

Rajib Bora, owner of Gold

Cinemas and general secretary of All Assam Cinema Hall Owners’ Association told G Plus that the entertainment industry of Assam was facing a tough time since the beginning of the anti-CAA protests in December and just when the industry started to pick up pace and revive, the lockdown was imposed and it completely collapsed.

“The cinema industry is already in a very alarming situation. If the current situation continues to prevail, the industry will be nowhere,” he stated.

Sources have informed G Plus that due to the current situation, layoffs and non-payment of salary is also taking place in many cinema halls.

Cinema hall owners seek government aid

Movie theatre owners across country are facing huge losses due to temporary shutdown of cinema halls in the wake of coronavirus lockdown. A shutdown of this sort has been unprecedented.

To discuss measures to survive the alarming situation, a meeting was held among the cinema hall owners of Assam.

Speaking to G Plus about the measures, general secretary of All Assam Cinema Hall Owners’ Association, Rajib Bora said, “We

File photo of cinema lovers queueing up to enter a city movie hall have urged the government to waive off or give reduction in fixed charges of electricity since we are not using any electricity at the moment.”

He added that the association had urged projector companies UFO and CUBE to waive rental charges for the projector. The companies have agreed to not charge rent from any theatre in Assam until they start functioning again.

It should be mentioned that the Assam Government had

announced for grants amounting to Rs 50 lakhs each to be given to certain cinema halls of the state. While the amount had been sanctioned, the cinema hall owners have not received a single penny.

“If the government releases the grants we were promised, it would help us survive this lockdown and the enormous competition that we have been getting from online streaming platforms,” a cinema hall owner told G Plus.

Lockdown Impact: Uncertainty looms over release of films Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

F

or Shahnaab Alam, an independent film producer from Assam based in Mumbai, the pandemic came as a big blow to the release of his latest film “Bhoga Khirikee.”

The movie has been directed

by Jahnu Barua and produced

by Shahnaab Alam along with Priyanka Chopra and Madhu Chopra. While Bhoga Khirikee has been screened at various film festivals and received acclaim, its release dates have always been jinxed.

“Initially scheduled to be released in October 2018, Bhoga Khirikee is yet to hit the big screen. When we finally decided a date for the release of the film in 2019, it got stalled because of protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Now, it’s again the same due to the coronavirus outbreak,” expressed Alam,

speaking to G Plus.

While the coronavirus outbreak and consequent nationwide lockdown has led to major losses for various industries, the entertainment industry seems to be worst hit. This comes especially at a time when Assamese cinema had seemed to find its footing among theatre audiences with a few films of recent vintage doing rather well at the box-office.

Many films had their releases postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it does not look like we will be seeing them in theatres anytime soon.

However, with the faith of cinema halls post lockdown being uncertain, there are talks of the film releasing on a streaming platform some time soon.

It should be mentioned that the Indian film industry is one of the largest in the world in terms of the number of films released.

It produces approximately 2,000 films every year across a range

of languages and, according to the most recent statistics, employs over 2,48,000 people.

Hence, those hit by the current crisis not only include actors, directors and producers but also the assistant directors, artists, designers, location assistants, script supervisors, camera assistants and lighting and motion-control technicians among a host of others.

Many big films had their releases postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak and it does not look like we will be seeing them in theatres anytime soon. Some of the films that are being kept on hold and are postponed indefinitely due to the lockdown include Akshay Kumar’s “Sooryavanshi” and Ranveer Singh’s “83.”

While there are movies like Salman Khan’s “Radhe” which are scheduled to release after May 3, it is difficult to tell whether the big offerings will see a strong footfall – is at all the movie halls are allowed to

open that is.

Similar is the case with an upcoming Assamese film “Local Utpaat,” a 90 minute comedy film by ace actor-director Kenny Basumatary which is scheduled for release on September 4, 2020.

“I was fortunate to have completed shooting for the film ahead of lockdown. So if lockdown gets over by June, we will be able to release the film as scheduled. However, the future of cinema halls is uncertain as of now. Even if cinema halls are allowed to screen movies anytime soon, we are not sure about the footfall which will directly affect the business and outcome of the film,” Kenny Basumatary told G Plus.

While many filmmakers are releasing their productions online, Basumatary believes that “the joy of watching movie in a hall with your friends and family members cannot be experienced at home.”

A couple more projects were in the pipeline for Kenny

Basumatary. However, owing to the lockdown, he hasn’t been able to start working on them.

It should be mentioned that ahead of the lockdown, Basumatary had launched a crowd-funding campaign to meet the post production expenses and release of Local Utpaat and had successfully raised Rs 10 lakhs.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak and the rise of streaming platforms as the new normal, the future of the Assamese entertainment industry, much like the mainstream Hindi entertainment industry or Bollywood, remains uncertain.

Only time will tell what will happen to these pending projects. n

In The News

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

9

Assam: Total COVID-19 cases rise to 42, active cases at 9 Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

A

ssam saw a rise in coronavirus cases during the past week and the total COVID-19 toll in the state has reached 42. However, many coronavirus patients have been cured too. Out of 42, active hospital cases currently stand at 9 while 32 people have been cured and discharged from various hospitals in the state.

Three patients were discharged on May 1, out of which two patients from Morigaon were discharged from Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) while one patient from Golaghat civil hospital was also discharged on Friday.

Further, one person from Karimganj district, who was the secondary contact of a Nizamuddin Markaz attendee, had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 30.

Earlier on April 30, four patients were detected in Bongaigaon district, wherein the patients had no contact history.

State health and family welfare minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, speaking to media, said that all the four newly detected COVID-19 patients from Bongaigaon district are without any contact history.

Further, the new patients are identified as Anupam Thakuriya of Chaparakata, Dipak Mallik of Abhayapuri, Babita Basfor of Swahid Bedi and Mina Biswakarma of Railway Colony.

The patients will be treated at Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) in Guwahati, he mentioned.

Post the detection of the new COVID-19 patients, the government of Assam has decided to declare the district as ‘Red Zone’ as all the patients have been found positive without any contact history for the first time in Assam.

“We have decided to declare Bongaigaon district as Red Zone as the total number of positive cases in the district reached 5,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma.

It is to be mentioned that earlier on April 29, a 16-year girl from Bongaigaon district tested positive for COVID-19.

The state health minister on April 29 informed that the 16-year-old girl from Bongaigaon who tested COVID-19 positive on April 28, was under home quarantine. This is the first case of coronavirus in Assam which has come to light where the patient has tested positive while being under home quarantine.

He added that the patient Afiya Tabassum lived with five other family members, who are all being checked now.

Swab being collected from a person undergoing a Covid-19 test at GMCH | G Plus photo The minister mentioned that this case could be the first community transmission in Assam. “She tested positive 36 days after met Jamalludin Hazi, who is her grandfather, and had been tested positive. We presume that she might have meet someone else after that,” said Sarma.

He added that special emphasis will be given to this case and DC

Bongaigaon has been asked to monitor the situation minutely.

On the other hand, with no positive case of coronavirus being detected since declaration of Spanish Garden Apartment and its periphery as containment zone, the government has lifted containment restrictions from the Apartment.

“As per guidelines received from the Indian Council of

Medical Research (ICMR), the containment zone is no longer effective and the restrictions that were so imposed have been withdrawn w.e.f April 30,” stated the order issued by Kamrup Metro District Administration.

However, the restrictions imposed in connection with lockdown will remain in force till further notification of Government of India is issued.

Committee formed to discuss spending of Arogya Nidhi funds Assam government has formed a committee to deliberate on spending of the funds collected in Arogya Nidhi by the state government, informed state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on April 29.

He added that over Rs 106 crores have been donated to Assam

Arogya Nidhi relief fund which was set up to fight COVID-19 in the state, in which more 48,600 people have donated generously.

A committee has been formed to discuss the use of this amount.

It includes Dr Tapan Saikia, Dr Nomal Bora, Dr Umesh Sharma, Dr Illias Ali, Dr Subhash Khanna

Sorbhog SBI sealed as COVID-19 patient travels to withdraw money, 6 persons quarantined

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60-year-old woman who had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 30 along with 3 others in Bongaigaon district had a travel history to Sorbhog branch of State Bank of India (SBI).

According to reports, Mina Biswakarma had visited the bank on April 27 last to withdraw her husband’s pension at the SBI Sorbhog branch in Barpeta.

Subsequently, besides the employees, a family member of Biswakarma and three others, who she me t during he r visit to Sorbhog, have also been quarantined at Barpeta Medical College & Hospital.

Meanwhile, contact tracing of other people the woman could have me t during the course of her journey to Sorbhog is underway.

among others.

It was earlier decided by the government to spend the money in improving the existing health infrastructure of the state.

Sarma further added that under Assam Cares initiative, Rs 25,000 has been provided to 850 people who were undergoing

treatment outside of Assam and got stranded.

Further, Rs 2000 has been given to 2,15,000 people stranded outside Assam and 52 people stranded abroad have also received relief. A total of 1,35,000 forms are under verification by the DCs.

Cops arrested with gold biscuits in Guwahati

I

n an operation launched by Fatasil Ambari Police, two police personnel have been arrested on April 29 on charges of illegally transporting a huge amount of gold and cash.

According to reports, the two police officers have been identified as Shravan Kumar Jha, SupInspector of Guwahati Railway Police, and his brother Sanjay Jha, Constable of Pan Bazar police station.

They were arrested in the Lal

Ganesh area of Guwahati while a routine checkwas being conducted on the road. They were supposedly carrying the cash and biscuits from the house of one Upendra Yadav at Gobindo Nagar.

Two incidents have also come to light of fraud in the name of state government where fraudsters are sending link to beneficiaries and asking for details.

“Don’t share your password under any circumstance even if asked by officials,” reiterated Sarma.

Snippets

10 Guest Column/Poll

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

A racist pandemic L et us stop pretending that all is well with our nation; especially at this hour of need, it is an absolute necessity to stand united and fight this unprecedented adversary with all our collective might. This was the crux of the speech made by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24th April 2020 calling for a nationwide lockdown.

Call it by any name, a plague or God’s wrath on mankind, the Covid-19 disease has managed to petrify the best of humanity. This pandemic has not only changed the normalcy of our everyday lives but has also unmasked the frailties of the human civilization. From exposing the severe inadequacies in the healthcare and social welfare systems, it has also revealed a very ugly side of our society - the worst among them is the latent racism present in the minds of the Indian population.

“COVID-19: Ten from Northeast evicted from homes” and “Verbally abused, spat at, harassed: Northeastern citizens come under attack amid coronavirus panic”such news headlines should have sent a shiver down the whole country. Yet that was not the case.

Name-calling such as “Chinki”, “Corona” has increased ever since the breakout of the pandemic. It is even more tragic when we hear similar incidents occurring in New Delhi, the capital of the country.

The physical and emotional assault aimed at the people of northeast India due to their distinctive

physical features, has been everpresent in the Indian society.

The reality of racism that the northeastern people face every day in their lives is often met with a sense of denial. A public condemnation can be seen when some of the incidents do manage to get some media acknowledgement. The lack of education is often used as the go-to excuse to warrant such behaviour of racism. However, the recent cases proved that the perpetrators were well-educated, and it is their deep-rooted prejudices that came to the fore.

According to a report by Rights and Risk Analysis Group (RRAG), it has been confirmed that the people of northeast have been attacked and discriminated against in other parts of the country ever since the breakout of the pandemic. Such unfortunate occurrences have taken place across many states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, to name a few. A time when China is battling a global racism campaign against them since the disease was reported, the northeastern population of India has been fighting their own battles of racism against the rest of the country for years now.

The racial discrimination faced by the people of the seven sister states must be acknowledged as more of a cultural issue rather than as a one-off incident. Penal laws tend to criminalize the issue, instead of addressing the heart of

Gaurav Prakash Pathak

the problem, which is the lack of understanding of the existence of diverse cultures in India. The derogatory exoticism of the region and its people along with the damage done by the historical neglect and marginalisation needs to be undone or reversed. It is therefore highly important to sensitize the people of the country about its northeastern region and its culture. It is ironical to see that Indians abroad complain of racism because of their skin colour and their features. Yet such racism is replicated by fellow Indians towards the northeastern people.

With the growing intolerance towards differences in our country, we need to rebuild India as an ‘accommodating and accepting nation’ rather than a ‘tolerant’ one. Rights activists have urged the state governments to protect these communities from acts of racism amid this pandemic.

It is obvious the authorities would be occupied with the fight against coronavirus, but in my opinion, it is equally of utmost importance to address this virus of racism plaguing the minds of the Indian population. Soon, a vaccine would be available for the coronavirus; if only we could say the same for the contagion, i.e., racism.

(The author is pursuing his Master of Law from Queen Mary University of London. The views expressed are his own.)

Life after Covid-19

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few months back when it was peace out there around the world (not actually but a simple generalization), everything was normal, people were out in the streets, the malls and multiplexes weren’t empty, educational institutions and work sectors were filled with their respective staff and visitors. And suddenly a pandemic hit the happy world like dark clouds covering the sun. A situation that we can only overcome and not avoid, who knew that in an era of superpower with flying cars and nuclear energy, the entire world would kneel down in front of someone’s food habit?

Oil is no more liquid gold and people are getting paid to buy it instead.

But on the brighter side, the grandparents and elderly member of families have gained their importance once again; all of a sudden the countries are focusing on their

own development and building strategies to tackle this global crisis instead of pulling down the other nations. The pollution level is less, the birds and animals which were on verge of extinction are visible again and the crowd on the streets are replaced by animals now. All of a sudden the world seems to have real peace, no bombings and no killings, the communal differences are lowered and united by humanism instead.

The health workers, cleaners and cops are being respected more than the political leaders.

People are helping each other to overcome the economic crisis and beat their hunger.

Suddenly the rich and the poor are unequal by just age-group and not their social status.

Who knew that in the era of nukes and artificial intelligence the World War III would be Mankind versus Nature and not between some nations?

Now let’s look towards the positive things here.

Niladri Chakraborty After overcoming this pandemic, the kids would love going to schools instead of complaining, people would love their jobs and work places, one would value his/her family and relationships over capital and assets, couples would be seen hanging out together in public places.

Maybe it’s just a matter of perception to see it as a global emergency or a reboot of Earth.

And the irony is that being the most intelligent and supreme creature of the nature we all failed in front of a bat.

And lastly the moral of story goes like: “The world is a circus, we’re the performers, the almighty is ringmaster and the flora-fauna are actual audience without popcorn in their hands.”

(The views expressed in the article are the writer’s own)

Majority of the Guwahatians prefer an extended lockdown Yes: 64% No: 36% Total votes: 6.3K

P

eople of Assam had just about breathed a sigh of relief with no new cases of coronavirus being found over the last ten days when again 6 people tested positive.

The 40-day extended lockdown is about to end on 3rd May and people are hoping for some relaxation if not complete lifting of the lockdown.

G Plus conducted a poll on its social media channels and asked Guwahatians if Assam should consider relaxing the lockdown after 3rd May. More 6,300 people participated in the poll. While 2,200 people replied in the affirmative, 64 percent voted against the lifting of lockdown.

Ritik Jain wrote, “Lockdown needs to be backed by proper economic plans. Simply asking people to stay at home will kill traders, entrepreneurs and their staffs.”

“Nobody will mind to stay at home if they know the government will take care of their losses and businesses,” he added.

Sanjay Varshney opined, “Relaxation in green and orange zones are essential as of now with proper restrictions and guidelines, the middle class will be in biggest trouble if the lockdown is not relaxed.”

It has to be mentioned that in new demarcations issued by the union ministry, 30 districts of Assam are marked as Green Zones and 3 as Orange Zones.

Further, there are no Red Zones in the state as per the list. However, Bongaigaon is being considered as a Red Zone by the state government after 5 new cases were found in the district.

“I think the lockdown is affecting all the industries. No doubt health is more important, but if people do not die from coronavirus, they will die due to the economic crisis,” wrote one follower.

Another mentioned that

Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

lockdown should definitely be extended as some of the infected people are asymptomatic and they might infect people unknowingly.

“Life is precious,” she wrote.

“Given the fact that there is going to be mass movement of migrant workers/people coming in from red zones, specific care should be taken while relaxing lockdown norms in green zones.

With new people coming in, asymptomatic cases are. Going to be the real challenge,” said Rituraj Brahma.

He continued, “It shouldn’t be a free for all in the so called green zones. Increased surveillance, community involvement, testing and isolation should be the norm. Efforts should also be made at a local level to mitigate the sufferings of the lower income groups who have been particularly left helpless due to loss of wages. This is a different world from the one we woke up to this January, we are all in this together.”

Albina Phonglo wrote on Instagram, “This decision is to be taken by keeping in mind all the grounds. For the pandemic, logically it should be extended as we are still having positive cases in the States and it will be more manageable for the states to tackle the situation. On the other hand our economy is not going to survive if the lockdown continues. Even though health is more important, but without the economy and without livelihood lockdown is only making it worse. People who work on daily wages and the maid and similar workers are already facing lot of problems… It is a conflicting choice and whoever takes the decision needs to consider and see from all perspective.

In the latest development in this regard, the Ministry of Home Affairs has extended the lockdown by a further two weeks till 17th May. But considerable relaxations have been provided for the orange and green zones.

Guest Column

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

11

In defense of the Arnab Goswami brand of journalism D r. Navanil Barua recently penned an article for Guwahati Plus in which he had a great deal to say about Arnab Goswami as a fellow Assamese. The good thing about the article is that it did not claim objectivity at the outset, and neither did it claim credibility, it was an opinion by a citizen of the state and was portrayed as such. Hence, it was perfectly justified. Moreover, the strongest case which can be made in favour for propagating Navanil Barua’s opinion lies in the fact that we live in a free country which provides all opinions with the right to be expressed, because if tomorrow a day was to arise in this freedom loving country wherein authorities would be able to decide the content of an individual’s speech and curb their liberty to express themselves, then that would truly be a huge blot on our constitutional fabric.

Now, to begin with, Dr Navanil Barua made a couple of salient points in his piece at the outset, claiming that Arnab Goswami is the most recognizable Assamese face the world over, and that Arnab fulfills every possible criterion which should be required for his fellow statesmen to be proud of him. Now, keep in mind that these are Dr. Navanil Barua’s words, not mine.

The article then however, proceeds to delve into the object of attention’s modus operandi with a more subjective touch, which again, is completely justified because it is an opinion piece at the end of the day.

Popular Assamese singer Papon’s infamous case of the past was invoked in order to ascribe malicious intent to Arnab Goswami, which according to the author, was used as fuel for tarnishing the reputation of a fellow statesman by Arnab.

That allegation, according to me however, is completely baseless and fails to hold any water in the least bit, because if I was to recall Arnab’s coverage of Papon’s incident correctly, then the narrative and tone which was set by Arnab in questioning the whole saga of events was to ensure that a good precedent is set for the future.

So, let us take it for a fact that Papon did not have any ulterior motives when he kissed a little girl on the mouth during an in-house Holi celebration during the filming of a musical show. However, to condone that activity and let it pass without any critical examination would be to set a precedent for the

Gaurav Agarwal

future which would allow an individual to do the exact same thing which Papon did, but with ulterior motives, which now however, falls beyond the bounds of our assessment solely due to the establishment of a certain precedent. So, in my mind, all Arnab did was his duty as a vigilant journalist.

Then the article talked about how Arnab Goswami revolutionised the face of television journalism with his peculiar approach to anchoring.

I am one hundread percent in conformity with the author on this, because this statement also implicitly carries with it the fact that all of the mainstream television journalists in India today subscribe to that same brand of aggressive journalism which people like to exclusively vilify Arnab for. Because be it anyone today, be it Barkha Dutt or Rajdeep Sardesai or Ravish Kumar or Shekhar Gupta or Arnab Goswami himself, nobody can claim objectivity, and neither can the supporters of any of the aforementioned claim that their heroes represent a classically ethical brand of journalism. So, to single Arnab out and expose him to the ire of our subjective brunt is a matter of shameful injustice in itself.

The article then claimed that Arnab openly supports one narrative. Well, any individual who does not follow Arnab’s show firsthand and relies on the opinion of other detractors to calibrate his character is bound to think so. Because the last I checked, Arnab Goswami relentlessly grilled Sudhanshu Trivedi and various other representatives of the BJP on his show during debates about the Yes Bank scandal and the

Be it Barkha Dutt or Rajdeep Sardesai or Ravish Kumar or Shekhar Gupta or Arnab Goswami himself, nobody can claim objectivity, and neither can the supporters of any of the aforementioned claim that their heroes represent a classically ethical brand of journalism.

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Moreover, it was nobody except for Arnab Goswami who showed vigour and gusto in verbally guillotining Jayant Sinha, son of former BJP union minister Yashwant Sinha, who had shamelessly garlanded the convicts of the lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh. So, the argument that Arnab Goswami is nothing but a BJP spokesperson is a sham to even begin with.

Now, let’s get into the case at hand which makes the topic of Arnab Goswami relevant today.

Simply put, a primetime news anchor (Arnab Goswami) had questioned the president (Sonia Gandhi) of a political party (Indian National Congress) as to why she had remained silent on the brutal lynching (Palghar Lynching) of three men, two of whom were Sadhus, which occurred in a state (Maharashtra)

wherein her party was in power?

Moreover, how could she have kept silent when video graphic evidence of the whole shebang puts the law and order officials present at the scene of crime under the shadowy doubt of complicity?

It is of crucial importance here to understand the context to this, because we cannot forget that the individual whom these questions were posed to had previously renamed ‘Hindustan’ as ‘Lynchistan,’ simply due to an increase in the number of lynchings observed in the country. Furthermore, it was none other than Sonia Gandhi herself, who had said that ‘Silence is Complicity.’ She even marched to the Rashtrapati Bhawan to prove the same. So, all Arnab Goswami visibly did was apply Sonia Gandhi’s yardstick to Sonia Gandhi. It is unfathomably astonishing as to how some people find that controversial.

Now, we should also hold close that a section of the population is bent on giving an easy pass to the attackers of Arnab Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, and his wife, Samyabrata Ray Choudhury, even though it has been clearly established that the attack was borne out of a premeditated conspiracy.

Furthermore, the social media handles of the two assailants, Prateek Mishra and Arun Borade, caught on camera attacking the Republic TV editors themselves state that the individuals are members of the Youth Congress from Sion-Koliwada. Therefore, it is surprising that people are busy debating on whether the assailants were amateurish in their attack on Arnab and his wife or not. That should be something which we leave for the police to

decide. The public however, shall remain unified in decrying the factum of attempted assaultdue to political motivations.

Moreover, the filing of around 200 FIR’s, all in Congress ruled states by Congress functionaries just before the onslaught took place also helps buttress the claim that the higher ups from the Congress party themselves wanted to teach Arnab Goswami a lesson this time.

Now, it would be hara-kiri for me as a trainee journalist to conclude before stressing on the importance of protecting the sanctity and the integrity of Article 19 (A) (1) from the Constitution of India in relation to this case, which calls for the unequivocal protection of the right to Freedom of Speech and Expression, an article without which the autonomy and the liberty of the press to do its work, to be the 4th pillar of our democracy, would fall flat on its face.

Furthermore, it would be a crime to end without highlighting the fact that if a certain section of this country is comfortable with invoking the principle of Article 19 (A) (1) to protect the rights of those who called for the succession of the state inside of the JNU campus, then that very same section should also be comfortable in invoking those same principles to protect the rights of a media personnel doing his job, irrespective of whether it starts to become a problem for one individual or not. A quote by Benjamin Franklin, the founding father of America, also encapsulates this particular philosophy beautifully: “If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.”

(The author is a student of journalism and mass comm at the Royal Global University, Guwahati.

The views expressed in the article are his own. G Plus may or may not subscribe to the same)

12 G Talk E

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| May 02 - May 08, 2020 T

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Guwahati’s mental well-being

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couple of days ago, I came across of survey report by TRA Research – a white paper basically of the mental well-being of urban Indians across India and I was pleasantly surprised that Guwahati topped the list with its mental well-being index reported at 84%. This is of course in regard to the mental state of the urban folks during the current prolonged lockdown. Now the nitty-gritty of the survey parameters escape me but what I learnt was that the index was worked out taking the ‘coping index’ as the numerator and the ‘worry index’ as the denominator and then measured as a percentage.

The coping index was measured on four parameters and the worry index on six. Whatever the calculation formula is, the conclusions coming from TRA research by itself makes it a believable story and Guwahati has done well herein.

At the other spectrum was Mumbai with its index as low as 28% clearly indicating that stress levels in the nation’s commercial capital were running high through the lockdown. The accompanying chart showed that the smaller cities like Pune, Jaipur and Indore among others along with Guwahati were doing much better than the metros although New Delhi figured next after Guwahati on the list with an index of 78%.

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Metros like Kolkata, Chennai, Bangaluru and Hyderabad fared rather poorly.

The good position of Guwahati, unlike the metros, may be attributed to a variety of reasons – the main among them being the basic attitude of Guwahatians to put the family well-being ahead of stressful pursuits like career enhancement or stretching one’s earning capacity; these are typical of a city like Mumbai where stability of work or career is of primary importance and takes precedence over everything else. The impact is huge when one’s identity is determined by career or earning capacities.

Fortunately it seems that is hardly the case with Guwahati.

Die-hard entrepreneurs here have clearly taken the lockdown and its consequences in their stride and a certain spiritual inclination seems to have set in which makes them believe that taking undue stress over something that one can’t control is basically a pointless pursuit. As Dr Jalpa Butta, Consultant Psychiatrist put it, “It is important for all of us to find peace within ourselves, develop a more spiritual and accepting attitude, learn to deal with change and embrace the higher power during difficult times.”

Yes, Guwahati has certainly shown the way.

Swapnil Bharali (Editor) @swapnilbharali

The Facebook–Jio merger

n India, Jio has more than 370 million subscribers, WhatsApp has 400 million active users and Facebook has around 350 million users. This partnership showcases one of the strongest ‘user capital’ acquisitions in the telecom and technology industry over the world.

With a lot of questions around Facebook’s and Reliance Jio’s data breach and privacy concerns, it is natural to be skeptical about this merger. However, this opens up a bridge of avenues for the Indian market and in times of such crisis, an optimistic perspective wouldn’t hurt.

E-commerce with JioMart, online payments and the Digital-India mission, online gaming, video on demand, VR and AR experiences are all fields that will get a massive push in the coming months. WhatsApp, of course being a country staple, is likely to make large software solutions redundant and business further personalized.

And this means three cheers for Mukesh Ambani! The Jio group will continue to have market dominance in the months to come.

Citizens adapting to an ever changing would be the key. People surviving on rental income might have to look at alternative solutions.

Large corporates would perhaps look at ‘breaking market rates’ by not accepting skyrocketing real estate prices, but hit reset and start from the bottom.

Real Estate would move from a physical space to online, and the players with most user capital would have a headstart in this race. And so, Jio’s continued dominance.

But with the lockdown now extended by another 2 weeks, there is an important takeaway. Grocery store workers/kirane ki dukaan, drivers/ deliverymen, fast food workers, sanitation workers have proven to be invaluable assets and with partnerships between giants such as Facebook and Reliance, these assets will become indispensable.

Imagine if these industries would have lapsed. The coming months would only sustain hard and honest working people, and India should learn to stop judging people based on designations and earnings. Every contribution matters.

Sidharth Bedi Varma @sid_bv

A historic write-off and Assam’s O pinion indignation Swapnil Bharali

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or the Vijay Mallyas, Nirav Modis and Mehul Choksis, life is kind of different – unbelievably comfortable materialistically.

Look at the latest shocker. As per a Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Amidst the lockdown when Assam’s finances are dwindling ushering a cloud of uncertainty for the future, the RBI advising banks to write off “unrecoverable” loans to the country’s top 50 defaulters brings with it a sense of despise and indignation whereby a proper explanation is most warranted. diktat, various Indian banks have been made to technically write off (till September 30, 2019) a combined bad loan worth Rs 68,607 crores that they had extended to the top 50 defaulters (wilful if I may add the word) in the country ostensibly under the excuse of not being recoverable.

The information was not provided suo moto by the RBI but as a reply to an RTI query.

“The information on top 50 wilful defaulters and their sum of funded amount outstanding and amount technically/ prudentially written off as on September 30, 2019 reported in CRILC by banks, is provided,” the RBI said in its written response dated April 24. “Data is as reported by banks and RBI will not be held responsibly or accountable for any misreporting and/or incorrect reporting by the reporting entities,” the RBI further added.

The names on the list and the corresponding figures of wilful default are unflattering to say the least. Mehul Choksi and

his Gitanjali Gems had a debt burden of Rs. 5,492 crores and he tops the list. The 50 others include Jatin Mehta of Winsome Diamonds (Rs. 4,076 crores), Vikram Kothari of Rotomac Global (Rs. 2,850 crores).

While a few others might not ring a bell of familiarity with the general masses of Assam, we do recognize Ruchi Soya Industries Limited, now owned

by Baba Ramdev founded Patanjali and acquired as late as in 2019, with a debt burden Rs 2,212 crores.

And of course, flamboyant Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines is listed at No 9, with an outstanding figure of Rs 1,943 crores.

Interestingly, Choksi’s other firms Gili India and Nakshatra Brands also have loans of Rs 1,447 crores and Rs 1109 crores respectively written off.

“Data is as reported by banks and RBI will not be held responsibly or accountable for any misreporting and/ or incorrect reporting by the reporting entities,” the RBI said in the written reply to the RTI query.

As each day passes under the strain of the lockdown for the common masses with a fair part of the media wondering about Assam’s dwindling finances, the shocker over the big 50 thieves of the country getting away with a combined amount of Rs 68,607 crores is difficult to accept.

Just consider the “petty” figures we are familiar and grappling with under the circumstances of the day.

As per a G Plus report dated April 29, 2020, Assam saw a drop in its Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collection by 80% this year.

A total of Rs 932.36 crores GST was collected in April 2019 while

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only Rs 193 crores was collected as GST in April 2020 in Assam.

This was stated by the finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Sarma had further added that that foreign liquor tax as

collected in Assam in March 2020 stood at Rs 65 crores, while this fell down to Rs 6.33 crores in April.

Besides this sordid story of Assam’s financial situation, many states of the country have resorted to even as much as 50% deduction of their employees’ salaries.

Given this pitiable situation of the state facing financial doldrums, the timing of the RBI reply on the top 50 wilful defaulters and their loans being written off because they cannot possibly be recovered, is surely a case of inviting super indignation.

It is understandable that while the country is in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic with the central government is busy devising ways and means to combat the same and the finance ministry is leaving no stone unturned at mitigating the financial difficulties of the poorest of Indians, an explanation of this historic write-off is definitely warranted especially as the current dispensation is perceived to be a bit too corporate-friendly with a whole lot of indulgence in crony capitalism.

Letter to the Editor

he universities all across India and Assam are providing online classes and for that they are using some applications like Google Classroom for sharing assignments and study materials and some universities use Zoom Cloud app for video conferencing.

But many students including me are facing the problem of the zoom app not being working properly. The Zoom app first of all gives problem while signing in. Then it automatically leaves the meeting in between and due to which many important information and notes given by the teachers are left out. Also I have read through various sources that the Zoom app steals the personal data which is dangerous for all. So through the columns of your esteemed weekly I would like to ask the respected universities to please quit using this app and find some better and secured alternative apps available on Play Store. The internet, after all, needs to be safe for everyone.

Neha Singh, Tezpur

In Focus

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

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No shops to open in Guwahati, Govt to review on May 3 T he Assam government, on April 27 last, decided to allow opening of standalone shops in rural areas in non-red zones of the state from April 28.

Effectively and importantly, Guwahati was to maintain status quo and no fresh shops were allowed to reopen till the entire period of lockdown 2.0 till May 3.

A cabinet meeting, chaired

by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, decided to permit standalone shops in green and orange zones (except in containment areas) to open from April 28.

However, no shops within 5 km radius of the borders of red zones were allowed to open, senior Cabinet minister Chandra Mohan Patowary had said, briefing reporters on the cabinet decisions.

He added that the lockdown will be in strict implementation in red zones, and for urban areas, a decision will be taken after May 3.

Five districts of the state

– Dhubri, Goalpara, Nalbari, Morigaon and Golaghat continue to be red zones.

Further, the Cabinet decided to allow conditional interdistrict movement of people till May 2, Patowary added.

Guwahatians took to the social media handles of G Plus and expressed their views on the decision taken.

Rahul Jain said, “This is a very difficult for us as well as the government to take a perfect decision on the extension of lockdown as everything.”

Riyaan Giri said, “I think the state government should give permission to open shops in orange zone areas and time should be between 9 am to 5 pm.”

Prithwish Debnath said, “Let’s first cure the disease; it’s a golden chance for India because all Japanese and some American companies are shifting their manufacturing hubs from China. They won’t go to Europe because of lack of land and labour and there is 80% chance of them coming

to India only if we completely eradicate this virus. India has land and skilled labour but there is a need to remove all the

taxes for doing business and I hope the current government will do this as soon as possible.

So let’s stay in our home and be

safe and welcome the foreign investments in our country and wish for the best but also prepared for the worst.”

Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to landlords and private hostel owners/ paying guests to adopt a humanitarian approach towards their tenants and boarders and provide them relief such as concession of rent during COVID-19 lockdown period.

Comments on the same…

Bhanupriya Sarmah

Bhanupriya Sarmah I want to ask, what about the students who haven’t stayed in the hostels since March 21 because the hostels had been closed from the mentioned date and all the students had shifted to their respective homes? And now, on 27th April the PG owner asks us to pay the fees for the month of April with only a small amount of concession. It is not possible to pay a sum of 1000 rupees for some of the students because many students belong to backward families. And as all the students are staying in their homes, for what reason should we pay? All the rooms are empty, with lights and fans off and also the food has been saved. Only the hostel rooms have luggage because people are bound to stay in their homes, they cannot go and bring back the luggage. So, I request the government to give strict orders and not just appeals to the hostel owners.

Arnab Deb

I request the government to not just appeal but to make it mandatory.

Majority of the people belong to the middle class category and it’s just not possible for us to pay rent and everything. I understand the problem of the landlords but there will be some solution and definitely an appeal to citizens is not the solution. So many people are losing their jobs and some are having pay cuts by 50%. So, in this situation some hard decisions need to be made.

Avijit Das

He is appealing only for the last one month. Still, school fees are not waived, EMIs are deducted regularly. The government is increasing fuel charges as per their wish stating a lot of reasons. What will happen to middle class people who are born to pay only EMIs and taxes? Benefits that are being passed are only for those people who are defaulters on loans and who never think of family planning. A minister just can’t keep requesting things on humanitarian grounds every time. Strict orders should be passed for at least next 2 months.

No income is generated so payment is just not possible.

Shaan Hussain Deka

Only to students and labourers only, those who are getting salary will have to pay rent, those who are running shops will have to pay rent as well as electricity bill too, and it’s a request not a rule. Landlords will take rent; they too have their families to feed, and it’s up to the landlords whether they will agree or not because it’s just a request not an order. 99% landlords will not agree in reality.

Pranjal Saikia

Nice initiative! Govt also should adopt a humanitarian approach to not take their electricity bill, water bill, maintenance, tax, and other miscellaneous expenses as one cannot clap with just one hand. I hope these things are also taken into consideration.

14 News This Week

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

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

1

National Digital Library of India gives open access to all

In order to help the students as well as the public to utilize the lockdown period in various literary and academic activities, the Union Ministry of Human Resources has given free access to the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) for all. As such over 3,82,00,000 books and periodicals available with the library can now be accessed by the general public.

The digital version of the books and magazines can be read using any digital device including smartphones, computers, or tablets. Interested people can log on to the digital library website of the ministry at https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/.

2

Bollywood actor par excellence Irrfan Khan passes away at 53

Actor Irrfan Khan has died at the age of 53, after being admitted to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on April 29. Earlier in 2018 the actor had announced that he had been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour.

It is to be mentioned that the actor had lost his mother, Saeeda Begum, just couple of days ago and he was reported to have attended her funeral via video call. Acclaimed for his roles in Indian cinema, the actor was also involved in several international blockbusters such as Slumdog Millionaire, Jurassic World, The Amazing Spider-Man and Life of Pi.

3

Centre allows inter-state movement of stranded persons

In a fresh set of guidelines, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that anyone willing to be transported back home will have to be medically screened at source as well as destination and will be kept in a home or institutional quarantine on arrival, the home ministry guidelines. “All states to designate nodal authorities and develop standard protocols for receiving and sending such stranded persons. Stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students will be allowed to move with conditions during the lockdown,” the MHA order said. The order further added that transportation of such individuals will be done via buses, as train or flight services are currently unavailable for passengers.

4

Veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor passes away

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor passed away at the age of 67 on April 30. His family released a statement to confirm the news. “Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8.45 am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukemia. The doctors and medical staff said he kept them entertained to the last, the statement read. Rishi was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and he returned to India from New York in September last year, after his cancer treatment. He was taken to the HN Reliance hospital on April 29, his brother Randhir Kapoor said.

5

States urge centre to arrange special trains for movement of migrant workers

With the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) deciding to allow the inter-state movement of migrant workers by road, several states have raised concern and have urged the Centre to arrange special trains as ‘buses may not be feasible’. Earlier, the MHA in its new guidelines on April 29 said that the people can only be transferred by road on buses. The MHA also said that the states will have to make arrangements for their transportation. Meanwhile, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, in a letter to PM Modi, said that the movement of thousands of people over such long distances in buses is not practical at all.

6

Half of the world’s global workforce could lose livelihoods: ILO

The International Labour Organization (ILO) warned on April 29 stated that nearly half of the entire global workforce is in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The UN agency said the risk fell on those workers in the informal economy, and three-quarters of them, some 1.6 billion people were at risk in the second quarter of 2020.

The ILO said further sharp decline in working hours, due to the Covid-19 crisis, meant that these workers were in ‘immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed’.

7

Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin tests positive for coronavirus

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has tested positive for coronavirus. His positive test came on the same day that Russia recorded a record 7,099 cases, taking the total number of infections above 100,000. “I have just learned that the test on the coronavirus I took was positive,” the prime minister informed in a video call. Mishustin suggested that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov should take his place and President Vladimir Putin agreed. Mishustin was named prime minister in January. During the call, Putin voiced hope that Mishustin would continue taking part in drafting policies to shore up the Russian economy, which has been hurt by the virus pandemic.

8

Lockdown: Railways allows special train for stranded migrants from Telangana to Jharkhand

Indian railways on May 1 ran its first special train to ferry 1,200 stranded migrants from Lingampally in Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand since its services were suspended due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Thousands of migrants were stranded in places across the country since the lockdown was enforced on March 25, many even attempting to walk home.

“Today (Friday) morning a one-off special train was run from Lingampalli to Hatia on request of the state government of Telangana and as per the directions of ministry of railways. All necessary precautions such as prior screening of passengers, maintaining social distancing at station and in the train were followed,” railways said in a statement.

9

India’s mortality rate for COVID-19 patients stands at 3%: Health Minister

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on April 9 said that of the total active COVID-19 cases in the country, only 0.33 percent patients are on ventilators, 1.5 percent are on oxygen support and 2.34 percent are in ICU. In case of any further eventuality, the country is well equipped with isolation beds, ventilators, personal protection equipment and masks among others, he added. Vardhan also informed that 288 government laboratories are working along with 97 private laboratory chains with around 16,000 sample collection centres and testing around 60,000 tests per day.

10

‘Ramayan’ becomes most-watched show worldwide with 7.7 Cr viewers

Popular mythological series, ‘Ramayan’, which got rebroadcasted on Doordarshan during the nationwide lockdown, has smashed viewership records worldwide.

In a tweet Doordarshan National wrote, “WORLD RECORD!!Rebroadcast of #Ramayana on #Doordarshan smashes viewership records worldwide, the show becomes most watched entertainment show in the world with 7.7 crore viewers on 16th of April.” The popular series of 78 episodes is based on the ancient Hindu epic “Ramayana” and the series follows the biography of Lord Rama. It is to be mentioned that the serial is being re-telecast since March 28 on public demand as a source of entertainment during the COVID-19 lockdown days.

Feature

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

When DKB’s quizzing style made both the impression and the difference W

hy in Assam opium is called “Kani”?

Who was the captain of Mohan Bagan in 1946?

Rhino is the symbol of Assam; but what is Rhino logy? These are a few of the questions that enthralled the quizzing scene

The author, a quiz champion of his time and a lifelong aficionado, reminiscences the days when Late Prof Dilip Kumar Baruah, ruled the quiz scenario of the state and was eventually regarded as the father of modern quizzing in the state of Assam. The article has been written as a homage to the Prof Baruah on his 3rd death anniversary which fell on April 27 last. of 1980s. “Kani” came from the word “phata kani” meaning a small piece of cloth used to make a pouch (tupula) by tying opium seeds. Over a period of time the “phata kani tupula” came to be just called kani only. Thus opium and kani became synonymous in Assam.

The second question though apparently poses as a drab one has an interesting answer – Sarat Das- who hailed from Assam led the Mohan Bagan team in 1946.

And the third one prompted many to give

the wrong answer as Rhino logy is the study of rhinos in Assam. Actually Rhino logy is the study of nasal disorder.

An avid quizzer can easily see that each of the above three questions or its answer is linked to Assam.

Indeed such thrilling questions cannot be framed by anyone else other than Professor Dilip Kumar Barua – the father of quizzing in Assam.

We all endearingly called him DKB. He belonged to an era when Bill Gates did not launch any version of the Windows. He did not have the luxury of a laptop to project his questions with the gimmicks of power point presentation. Yet we came down all the way from AEC to participate or simply watch DKB Sir conduct an exciting quiz in Cotton College Union Hall. Those were also the times when the dividing line between a General Knowledge (GK) test and a quiz contest was hazy. Credit indeed goes to DKB Sir for making this gray line prominent in defining the distinction of a quiz from a GK test in Assam. Many felt that quiz was a test of information base in ones grey cells. A motley few acknowledged it as an entertaining way of knowing the unknown. DKB Sir was the pioneer to change the general perception and successfully ingrain in us the word infotainment which so aptly describes a quiz contest.

His well researched questions sans Google and Wikipedia were awe inspiring.

His meticulous conduct of the quiz is an emulating feat for the young generation quizmasters of today. Many of the modern quizzes tend to have more of entertainment and less of information so much so that the infotainment show becomes a circus.

Indeed striking a balance of information and entertainment

was an art perfected by DKB Sir in his famous quizzes.

Going back to when I first encountered DKB Sir as a quiz Master, I recall in 1981 we won the second prize in the college week of Cotton College.

Thereafter innumerable quizzes all over Assam-AEC, Gauhati University (Youth festival), GMC, JEC, The Sentinel News Quiz, Door Darshan and many more quizzes were graced by him.

In those days it was difficult to imagine a quizzing arena without DKB Sir as the quiz master. I fondly remember the day when Jayanta Barua and I as a team was selected in the written prelims to represent Assam in Siddarth Basu’s Quiztime, we both met him to seek his blessings and tips for the big event that was telecast nationally in 1988. We realized how much we were indebted to him for this success. It was immaterial whether you got a prize or not in a DKB’s quiz but it was an enriching experience in just participating. You always returned knowing something new form this great quiz master.

I will wind up by relating a small anecdote which is perhaps worth sharing. It was sometime in 1986-87, I was returning home for weekend from my hostel in AEC. DKB Sir met me on the road near Dighalipukhuri and informed that Doordarshan will be telecasting an Assamese Quiz and I should participate along with 7 others making 2 teams of 4 members each. I agreed and turned up on the day of the recording in the studio which was then a small Assam Type

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building adjacent to present MMC hospital in Panbazar.

Most of the participants were known quizzers and all of us developed cold feet as Sir informed that questions would be on Assamese culture / literature which apparently weren’t a strong area for all of us.

Soon the recording started and the questions were tackled pretty well by all the participants till the literature round on Assamese started.

Questions started passing from one group to the other with no answers coming forth from either group. Sir almost gave up and perhaps he was thinking of a retake with simpler questions which could be answered by any of the group members. Towards the end of this literature round, DKB asked to complete an Assamese phrase which read: “Gor gaon, Gar gaon, Gorgoian mitiror bhaw, mukhe bule thak thak pise ……………………………………”. The

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15

Tridib Borah

saying sounded familiar to me as I heard my grandmother often uttering these words during my childhood.

I recollected the remaining words and blurted out “bhorire hesuke nao”. It surprised all.

DKB Sir was thrilled and to the relief of all he ordered no retakes for this round. The recording in those days took almost 7 hours and all were drained of energy to go for retakes. That was perhaps the first quiz in Assamese to be telecast over Doordarshan Guwahati and so a large number of Guwahatians thronged the TV screens to witness the programme when it went on air. Many of our family friends and relatives phoned my father to congratulate me and gave credit to the legacy of Assamese literature in our family. I wished my grandmother was alive then to thank her for saving the day for us.

16 Trotter

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

Man kills father, chops off private parts while mouthing film dialogues

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25-year-old man, in a fit of rage, killed his father by biting deep in the neck and then chopping off his private parts, police in Maharashtra’s Nagpur said.

The incident happened in the city’s Hudkeshwar area and the man, identified as Vikrant Pillewar, was behaving so violently that it took a lot of effort on the part of the police to pin him down, said an official.

“According to the family, Vikrant went into a violent rage without any provocation, and bit his father, Vijay, so hard on the neck that blood started oozing out. He then dragged the 55-year-old to the verandah and chopped off his private parts, killing him on the spot,” said the official.

“Vikrant, a gym trainer, was reciting

Chinese man’s lungs filled up with worms after eating raw snake n exotic food lover from China who once devoured a snake gallbladder has found his lungs infested with worms. Doctors said that the infection could be caused by eating raw food or drinking unclean water. Shocking footage shows a medic pointing out the serious, lineshaped infections in the man’s lungs on CT scans. The Chinese resident, known by his surname Wang, recently went to a hospital in Suqian, Jiangsu province of eastern China after suffering difficulty in breathing for several months. When the

doctors asked about his dietary habits, Wang said that he enjoyed having seafood, such as crayfish and river snails.

The food lover also confessed that he even gobbled down a raw snake gallbladder once before. The patient was later diagnosed with paragonimiasis, a food-borne parasitic infection caused by lung fluke. This type of disease is mainly caused by eating raw seafood that contains tapeworm eggs or drinking unclean water, Dr Zhao Haiyan, a respiratory doctor from the hospital told the press.

(Source: dailymail.co.uk)

Hindi film dialogues and exhibiting inexplicable behaviour during the incident, the family said. He also threatened his mother and sister when they tried to intervene. It took five policemen to pin him down and tie him up,” said Inspector Rajkamal Waghmare of Hudkeshwar police station. He has been charged with murder, the official added.

(Source: news18)

Man breaks wife’s spine after she consecutively defeats him in online Ludo UP man goes to buy groceries amid lockdown, returns with his bride

A

woman in Vadodara, Gujarat, was severely injured when her husband thrashed her and injured her spinal cord after he lost to her in an online ludo game.

According to a report in a national daily, the woman wanted her husband to stay indoors instead of venturing outside where he would hang out with others despite the lockdown.

The woman convinced him to play ludo on the mobile phone. But when she defeated him consecutively, the man was aghast and he thrashed her so badly that she was hospitalised with an injured spinal cord.

The report quoted 181 Abhayam Helpline counsellors as saying: “A sore loser, he started arguing with his wife and the verbal duel turned ugly. He started beating her with

such ferocity that the woman developed a gap between two of her vertebrae.”

The 181 Abhayam is a 24x7 helpline that supports women in distress and in threatening situations like domestic violence.

The counsellors of 181 Abhayam Helpline said that the husband’s ego was hurt when his wife outsmarted him in the game and also the fact that she contributed to the family income.

After treatment, the woman decided to stay with her parents. The 181 Abhayam Helpline counselled the couple and warned that physical torture is a crime and he could be arrested if his wife lodged a complaint.

The wife, however, did not file a complaint and the husband apologised.

(Source: outlookindia)

A

mid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, Ghaziabad’s Sahibabad district police were surprised by a mother’s woes on Wednesday after she complained that she had sent her son to buy groceries but he instead returned with his bride.

“I had sent my son to do the grocery shopping today, but when he returned, he came back with his wife. I am not ready to accept this marriage,” the mother was quoted as saying by ANI. When the police asked Guddu, the 26-year-old groom about the incident, he said that he married his wife, Savita two months ago at an Arya Samaj temple in Haridwar. However, he was unable to avail the marriage certificate due to lack of witnesses.

Later, when he decided to revisit the Uttarakhand town for the document, the lockdown

restrictions had already been imposed. He told officials that his wife had been staying at a rented accommodation in Delhi since then. He decided to take her to his home on Wednesday after the homeowner asked her to vacate the flat due to the lockdown.

The police department suggested the couple solve the family feud and asked the flat owner to let Guddu and Savita stay in the rented accommodation during the lockdown period.

(Source: news18)

Fiction

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

17

The Tea Garden Banker O ne of the most eyeopening experiences for me when I joined tea was to visit our garden banker’s shop at Halem which was about six kilometres away from our garden on the national highway. This was my first visit since I had taken charge of the property and my elder brother had briefed me to meet Madan Lal Kabra personally once, as he was the person running the shop and business there. It had been a month of my tenure and I had taken our garden head clerk along with the banking register to tally the accounts.

The system was that we remitted our monthly requirement of

The tombstone with his date of birth and death engraved neatly on the cold grey stone, in slanted position against the bedroom wall, gave it a peculiar sight. funds from our head office at Guwahati to his account directly at Tezpur. I would issue him our requirement of money every week or more often if necessary, and he would bring the funds directly to our garden office.

That he would be charging us a commission for this physical transport of money to the garden office, I had not anticipated. I took it for granted that just as in a bank one got interest; we would also get some interest from them.

When I questioned Madanbabu about it he was surprised and took time to explain the actual position. Even then, not being convinced, I took up the matter with my brothers as we did send our money to him at a time and he could just as well use the extra funds for lending out or in his own business. But when I did get to know Madanbabu well I was very impressed with their family history and how they had set up their thriving shop and tea garden banking services.

The shop building itself was built quite strongly with bricks and cement with a high boundary wall all around the compound. The firm also had a few trucks for their various business ventures and he also used to rent out the vehicles to the gardens and to the general public at times. They maintained a very good relationship with the local administration, police, the railway stationmaster, the tea garden managers and their head clerks, local politicians and important persons in the area. Madanbabu and his family members used to stay on the

first floor of the building which had only one access through a staircase hidden from sight. It led up to their living quarters and had a very strongly built trap door which was locked from the inside. They had to take all precautions to defend themselves and they kept the cash money in the safe at all times for their banking business.

They had to maintain ready cash of at least five lakhs as they were the bankers for six gardens in the area including our tea garden. On paydays and before the annual Bonus the figure would rise to be a huge fortune and dacoits did attempt raids on their shop many times. Madanbabu had been in the business there for about twenty five years before I had come and within two years of my joining his younger brother called Chiranjilal Kabra was inducted to take over this business from the elder brother. While Madanbabu did not have too much of a formal education, Chiranjibabu had studied in St. Xavier’s, Jaipur and was more into sports and socially active. In fact he played basketball and volleyball and had set up two courts in a vacant piece of land nearby to train and play these two games with local people. Madanbabu left for their family home in a place called Churu in Rajasthan and I was sorry to see him leave. It was like a semi retirement for him as he had been at Halem since he was a young man to help his father who had started this firm. His father was one of those pioneer Marwari traders who came to Assam in the 1930’s to set up shops or “Gola” as they were called and was instrumental in the growth of the tea industry in the remote areas all over the state.

There was a vacuum for these shops as banks were set up only in the major towns and the British planters had to have reliable persons for their money transactions as the gardens grew in size. These intrepid traders with an uncanny wisdom for making money with immense risk appetite and hard work and contributed a lot; in fact their worth in the development of the plantations to grow into a behemoth agro based thriving business in these remote areas has not been properly documented or acknowledged.

These men had come from faraway places in Rajasthan to make their fortunes and today in fact they have themselves gone on to own many tea gardens with great success. They had an advantage of a big family and extended village members network of shops all over India to sell teas and had a ready market. But they earned all this by sheer dint of their courage and determination. In the beginning one could imagine that they also

exploited the poor workers and village people by giving them loans by keeping their brass and metal utensils which invariably had to be adjusted against their dues. I do remember seeing big bags and boxes of these items sent back to the markets of North India by train but it was only a trickle with what was sent by Chiranjibabu’s father in the early days. But in the time I was there they had gone on to many other enterprises like supplies of all building materials like cement, bricks, sand and chips to the gardens and public and even taking up contracts for construction works in the gardens. In short they had thrown a wide net in all the spheres of business associated with the gardens. Lastly they also supplied contract pluckers in the main season times to many gardens from distant places.

Then one year there was a spate of thefts and dacoities starting from the North Lakhimpur areas to Gohpur when Chiranjibabu requested me to meet him urgently in his shop. I had no idea about the reason as our accounts were quite in order and all the overdrafts we had taken were honoured timely. When I met him he quickly took me aside and confided that they had a shotgun upstairs which was a requisite for their insurance and the munib (trusted principal clerk) knew how to use it. But due to the gun not being fired for ages he asked me to check the weapon and take a trial. I was in my element and checked the double barrelled shotgun made and sold by a Kolkata firm called “Manton & Sons.” In fact I had to oil and clean the gun which had picked up some rust but it was otherwise working fine which I checked out by firing four rounds in the air behind his house. But his ammunition of No. 2 shots was very old so I also sent him a new box of shots from my stock to him. This timely servicing of the weapon came to good use as after a few weeks he did have a visit from a gang of dacoits.

They tried to break open his shop doors but the munib opened fire outside through a small aperture in the wall which alerted his men who were sleeping in their quarters near the garage area. In the hue and cry the dacoits left and a police picket was placed in the shop premises for a few days.

The shops itself were well stocked with all the regular grocery items like rice, wheat flour, oils, soaps, biscuits, batteries, ropes, buckets and many other items used in the homes. Lanterns, tools and equipments, clothes, toiletries and slippers and canvass shoes were all available. It also stocked some other items for the tea garden managers like Polson butter, high range biscuits,

soaps, jam and various pickle bottles, pens and ink, toilet paper as well as some sauces, vinegar and tinned fruits and baked beans. However there were no non vegetarian items which were only available in a small shop In Biswanath Charali or in Tezpur.

Over the years this firm had a special relationship with our garden and family as we had been working together for over sixty years and they had witnessed our crop with the bought leaf unit that we built new come up to a sizable quantity. The Nellie incident when the entire North Bank tea gardens were cut off from the rest of Assam for over a month due to burning down of some wooden bridges was a time when Chiranjibabu showed exemplary foresight. Seeing the danger, he himself came over to Guwahati to collect the funds to manage not only our garden but also three big company owned gardens by arranging some hundi payments from various big traders in the district to tide over this period. He had to cross the river at Tezpur by ferry and return to North Lakimpur by air with the money from Guwahati.

The period of militancy made it very difficult for the bankers to manage the funds for the garden though by that time banks had been opened in Gohpur, Halem and Biswanath Charali. These branches ran only skeleton operations and rural agricultural operations, while the main cash had still to be collected from the Tezpur

Ranjan Kumar Choudhury ranjanchou@hotmail.com

banks. We also maintained accounts in all these towns and issued cheques to the banker as necessary. All their other businesses were also becoming more and more difficult to continue as a lot of demands came to them for money from the mushrooming militant groups and they became a prime target.

So around 2001 our garden banker sold off their old firm to a new local party and Chiranjibabu went back to their ancestral home in Churu, Rajasthan. Later we kept in touch for some time when he had set up some other business with his sons in Surat in wholesale of clothes and a coaching centre.

Slowly all over Assam the importance of these Marwari “Golas” decreased with some even beginning to manage tea estates themselves and the concept of outsourcing banking services in tea stopped entirely.

A very few may have remained in some very lonely and remote areas but not in the scale that I had experienced, when the local bankers were indeed men for all seasons.

18 Fun Horoscope of the week

| May 02 - May 08, 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

Growth wise it’s an extremely slow week for you. 4th May you will be emotionally hurt by your colleagues or superiors. 3 rd May you could have a fall out with a superior or client or extended family. 5th May will be an ideal day to host our online meetings or share your ideas with your seniors. Other days will be average.

It will be a great week for you. 2nd, 6th and 8th May will be great days for you to build a rapport with your seniors and people at work, host your important meetings. 3 rd May avoid any online meetings or calls with your extended family. Lay low on 4th May, you are bound to have disagreement with people at work or there could be changes in your workplace.

It will be a good week for you. Avoid scheduling a Skype call/Google hangouts call on Sunday; things will not go according to plan. Use May 7th and 8th May to host your online meetings, share your ideas with your superiors, network with your business associates. Avoid hosting any meetings on 5th May; you are bound to have disagreements.

On 2nd May you will feel others are ungrateful.

It will be an amazing week for you. May 4th, 7th and 8th will be great days for you to connect with your senior and share your ideas with him/her; you could host your important online meetings on these dates.

Avoid hosting any important meetings on 6th May; you are bound to have disagreements. You will have a fall out with your extended family or your workmates on 3rd May.

This will be an average week for you. 5th and 6th May will be great days for you to share your ideas with your seniors and build a relationship with them. Host your important online meetings on these dates. 7th May be careful of your words and actions, you could have issues at your work place with your seniors or clients. 3rd and 5th try to go with the flow, don’t over plan. Other days will be average.

This week will be good for you. 4th and 6th May will be excellent days for you to schedule your important meetings. Your seniors will be receptive to your ideas; you could promote yourself on social media, reach out to others and grow your network. 2nd May try to keep a low profile, it will be a slow day. Avoid hosting any meetings on 8th May; you are bound to have disagreements.

You have a good week ahead of you. 4th, 7th and 8th May will be great days for you to share your ideas with your seniors or simply connect with them. You could schedule your important online meetings on these dates. Be careful of your words and actions on 3 rd May, you could create your own problems; it will also be a slow day. Other days will be average

8th May will be a great day for you to build a rapport with your seniors and people at work. Host your important meetings on 8th May. 3 rd May will be a slow day for you. Avoid promising anything on 7th May, you will have problems.

If you have wanted to take a short break from work then this is the perfect week to do so. It will be an uneventful week and things will just not move the way you want. 2nd May will be a great day for you to build a rapport with your seniors and people at work.

5th May will be a slow day for you. 8th May you will have issues with people at work.

7th May be careful while dealing with your parents and/or your superiors, they might hurt you emotionally. 6th May watch your words and actions as you could create problems for yourself. 6th May will be a slow day for you. 2nd May will be a great day for you to share your ideas with your seniors and build a relationship with them.

Perfect time for a break and catch up on your personal chores. Be careful of what you promise on 4th May, you will have to uphold it. 6th May you could be emotionally hurt by someone at work or your extended family, avoid trusting others with your secrets. 7th May will be a slow day for you.

You will have a below average week. 4th May is an ideal day for you to mingle with your seniors and people at work and build your work network. Avoid hosting any meetings on 2nd May, things will not go according to plan. 5th May you could feel hurt by words and actions of someone at work and/or your extended family. On 8th May, be careful of your words and actions you could create problems for yourself.

5.

This river originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach and Breg and then flows southeast passing through four capital cities (Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade) before emptying into the Black Sea. Which river is this which also is the second longest in Europe?

6.

Identify this sweet made by Hindustan Sweets, whose nomenclature is a tribute to the current situation of the world.

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

Dilbert By Scott Adams

Sudoku 4 9 3 7 49 15 6 58 4 15 9 8 2 93 86 2 7 45 9 6 21 1 3 7 48 39 7 4 9 3 58 1 47 98 3 3 2 3 5 1 7 6

87

Daily DailySudoku: Sudoku:Fri Sat24-Apr-2020 18-Apr-2020

(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2020. All rights reserved. (c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2020. All rights reserved.

Mantra 3.1.6. of Mundaka Upanishad starts with which two famous words?

noun a flowering or blossoming.

veryhard hard very

last week solution 36 92 21 87 15 87 73 29 69 58 44 15 93 34 67 78 81 45 56 94 28 79 12 41 52 21 39 66 47 66 98 53 74 13 85 32

54 8 4 91 37 62 6 3 49 84 91 3 7 28 73 86 2 1 52 15 29 7 6 87 21

56 15 62 94

33 3 5 76 69 48 7 4 9 34 58 81 15 9 8 13 42 27 48 1 2 65 96 79

Daily DailySudoku: Sudoku:Fri Sat24-Apr-2020 18-Apr-2020

(c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2020. All rights reserved. (c) Daily Sudoku Ltd 2020. All rights reserved.

4.

British Slang. exhausted; very tired

curio-city

Created by Vince Mcmahon, which very popular professional wrestling tournament is held annually between mid-March and mid-April in North America with the tagline “The Showcase of the Immortals?

1. Akhuni or Axone

3.

[ in-flaw-res-uhns, -floh-, -fluh- ]

adjective [nak-erd]

2. Dhondo Keshav Karve

While Sachin Tendulkar is the youngest to receive the Bharat Ratna, who is the oldest recipient?

inflorescence

3. Wrestlemania

2.

Word of the week Word knackered of the week

4. Satyameva Jayate

Perhaps the most popular of all fermented condiments of northeast, it is a fermented paste of soybeans. Which popular ingredient of Naga Cuisine is this?

5. Danube

1.

6. Corona Mishti or Corona sweet.

curio-city

veryhard hard very

http://www.dailysudoku.com/ http://www.dailysudoku.com/

Lifestyle

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

19

How Vaastu can be damaged by bad habits?

W

e have developed lots of bad habits which affect relationships.

Both modern Vaastu and Feng Shui experts strongly advise to give up these habits so that there is a harmonious relationship among family members.

The foremost of all is the watching of television! The TV has become an inseparable accessory in our lives but most of us are overusing this appliance. It has become a habit for most of us to switch on the TV after coming home from work/school. Kids are made to eat watching the TV. I have seen several kids who won’t eat a grain of rice unless their favourite cartoon or advertisement jingle is not put on.

Lot of love life between husband and wife is spoiled by watching movies or soap operas on TV on prime time. Despite having several family members, it is seen that all

of them are glued to the idiot box than discussing more mundane family matters. The TV is a serious threat to relations when placed in the bedroom. So make it a point to switch off the TV on three or

four evenings of a week.

Workaholics have serious problems in family life. So stop staying late at work. Not only do you have no time left for yourself, but you’re also tired and cranky

which frankly your partner could do without. Try cutting your working week to 35/40 hours. Try to get home early enough to have a bit of time before dinner. And most of all, forget about work from time to time to give your partner more attention. When both husband and wife are working, they have a tendency to come home and discuss their day in office.

This spoils the evening more often than not.

One of the great enemies of a relationship is lack of attention. And here it’s not a

Hemanta Kumar Sarmah

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

case of giving flowers or small gifts, but simply looking at your partner or commenting when he or she has been to the beauty parlour or bought a new dress.

In-laws are part and parcel of married life. Many couples co-exist very peacefully with their in-laws. But realising your partner’s getting fed up with them is important. So skip Sunday morning golf or tennis once in a while to have more time with your partner.

Silence can kill relationships.

It does heal tensions when there is an altercation or argument but prolonged lack of communication between partners can damage the situation further. So just to keep it going, one should ask questions like, “How is your mother?” or “Did the maid come today or not?”

Simple things to follow during this pandemic The coronavirus pandemic has taken everybody by alarm. As we all know that nowadays our primary need is to protect ourselves from the viral attack, we may follow a few simple steps to maintain our safety.

Dos:

Do wash your hands thoroughly with soap or sanitizers for at least 20 seconds especially before and after eating, cooking and using toilet.

Do disinfect all the things that comes in contact with outsiders or comes from outside like milk packets, bags, door knobs, handles etc.

Have warm water with lemon juice or warm ginger concoction or warm milk with honey or warm ginger tea etc which gives warmth to our body environment and hopefully keeps us safe from the virus.

Sohini Chakraborty Chatterjee

Exercise regularly to improve bodily defence so that we remain in shape and our body can fight against any kind of infection.

got very strong gripping in its structure, thus any contamination from food preparation, packaging or carrying can be harmful.

Sleep for 7-8 hours as sleep induces cytokines that reduces inflammation.

Don’t eat sugar loaded or oily processed foods too much as it may increase weight and even hamper immunity.

Meditate and keep calm which is very much essential under this situation.

Don’ts:

Don’t touch your mouth, nose or eyes too often so as to remain protected from the virus. It is declared by WHO that it can reduce chances of infection to large extent.

Increase intake of vitamin C or zinc rich citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables to enhance immunity so that our body can fight against invading microorganisms.

Don’t use your face mask for long hours at a stretch; throw it after 2-3 uses in a covered bean so as to protect our environment from further spreading of this disease.

Drink minimum 2-3 litres of water to remain hydrated to keep all our cells active and even functioning properly.

Don’t eat any kind of meat without proper boiling.

Grilling or roasting should be avoided for the time

food borne illness.

being. Because heat is supposed to destroy most kind of microorganisms including those causing

Don’t order food from outside as there is frequent news of the delivery persons being affected.

This is really necessary to follow because researches have shown that coronavirus has

Don’t go outside if it is not necessary. Avoid going outside frequently. We all should strictly follow this, because by this time it is known to everyone that this virus can be spread thorough respiratory and nasal droplets, thus social distancing is necessary.

Don’t panic. Even don’t spread or believe rumours.

We need to stay strong and altogether.

Don’t hide distinctive symptoms, if any. Go for proper testing and treatment.

Therefore, it is high time for all of us to follow all necessary steps and fight against all the negativity.

20 Catching Up

| May 02 - May 08, 2020

PIC OF THE

Most shared story of the week

WEEK

#VIDEO | We’ll just leave this here! A well deserved Assam Police appreciation post! #CoronaWarriors

2.5 K

1,115

@guwahatiplus @guwahatiplus

A message loud and clear | Photo: Surajit Sharma

Guwahati’s first Cinema Hall: Kamrup Cinema Company Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

G

uwahati had its first cinema hall even before audio was introduced in feature films. The first cinema hall of the city was only for silent movies.

It was named the ‘Kamrup Cinema Company’ and was established at Pan Bazar near Nagkota Pukhuri. The exact location could be marked as the land near Hotel Prag Continental that earlier housed the Syndicate Bank Pan Bazar Branch (now shifted to Lakhtokia).

The cinema hall was owned by a resident of Lakhtokia, Rafiqul Rasool Sahab, a cousin of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the fifth President of India.

The building was a large sized house, having mud flooring, and the walls were made of Ravenna grass or elephant grass (ikora) covered with mud. The hall used a 16 mm projector and a 16 ft x 10 ft screen.

While the movie-goers with first class tickets got chairs to sit on, the rest had benches and bamboo platforms as sitting arrangements. The prices of the first class tickets were 12 annas, while the second and third class were rated at two and one anna respectively.

Reportedly, Raju, the manager of the cinema hall, used to collect the ticket money and handle all operations.

Before the commencement of a show, a musical band (band-party) used to play. And after a long whistle, the movie would start.

However, after audible movies were made, this first cinema hall of Guwahati changed hands and was renamed Sati Talkies.

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