G Plus Vol 7 Issue 44

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

INSIDE

Volume 07 | Issue 44 Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020 Price `10 Slew of announcements by HBS targeted to improve state’s education scenario

Resuming business remains a distant dream for street food vendors

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Explained

Students complain of colleges in Ghy charging high processing fee amid pandemic

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LGBI Airport privatisation

History of insurgency in Nagaland and the releasing of the confidential Naga Framework Agreement.

Airport workers stage protest over Adani Group takeover G Plus News @guwahatiplus

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‘Low key’

Independence Day Celebrations

Bring back sense of nostalgia to Guwahati

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protest demonstration on the airport premises on August 20 as the government decided to lease out the airport to the Adani Group under the public private partnership (PPP) mode for a period of fifty years.

The employees, under a joint forum of unions and associations of AAI, staged the protest shouting slogans and waving flags.

The AEU is further planning to increase the level of the protests

o sooner that the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvanathapuram airports of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) through publicprivate partnership, the employees of these airports began to get irked with the government. In Guwahati, the members of the Airport Employees’ Union (AEU) staged a demonstration against the move; the protest is expected to grow further in the coming days. The question arises whether the Centre’s move of privatising the airport would eventually have a negative or positive impact in Guwahati. Will AEU workers staging protest at Guwahati airport the airport employees be in the coming days as the central able to stop Adani Group from committee of the union in Delhi is taking over Guwahati’s Lokpriya planning a bigger protest against Gopinath Bordoloi International the move. The regional unit of the Airport (LGBI)? union in Guwahati is awaiting the Talking to G Plus, the regional decision of the central committee secretary of Airport Employees’ and accordingly the future course Union (AEU), Pabitra Das said, of action would be decided, said “Along with the issue of the the regional secretary. security of our employment we On being asked if the protest are also against the government’s will have an impact on the services decision of privatisation of the in the airport, the director of LGBI airport because of our concern airport said, “The services will for the public. The airport now not be impacted as the employees belongs to the government and were seen protesting only during has been built with public money. lunch hours.” He further added We oppose handing it over to a that the Airport Authority is private entity.” prepared to tackle any kind of Many employees of the situation and the normal services Airports Authority of India (AAI) provided by the airport will not be posted at the Lokapriya Gopinath affected.

Bordoloi International (LGBI) There is a mixed response to the Airport in Guwahati staged a

decision of privatisation as some are backing the government’s decision and some are opposing it.

But the question remains whether it will negatively impact Guwahati or positively help the city to develop.

Founder and Principal of College of Aeronautical Engineering, BS Lahkar, talking to G Plus said, “There are both positive and negative impacts if the airport is privatised as like the Delhi airport the Guwahati airport will also become world class if it is in private hands.” Talking about the probable negative impacts, Lahkar said that there will be commercialisation of every aspect in the airport and the public will have to shell out more for everything. Private entities will be looking into the profit factor mainly and so everything will be commercialised.

In privatisation of airports, the state government plays a vital role. Till now the Kolkata airport is not privatised as the West Bengal government is not backing the Centre’s move on privatisation whereas Assam government has never gone against the Centre on any issue.

Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder in 2019 to operate the Guwahati airport and accordingly, it is expected that the group will take over the airport on a PPP mode. But there are some court cases ongoing in the Gauhati High Court against the decision.

Moreover, the AEU has vowed to protest against the privatisation move. So, time will tell if the AEU can stop Adani Group from taking over the airport.

2 Lead Story

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Will ‘NAGALIM’ soon be a reality?

Explained: History of insurgency in Nagaland and the releasing of the confidential Naga Framework Agreement Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

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fter 5 years of signing the Naga Framework Agreement between the Narendra Modi government and the Isak-Muivah faction of NSCN or NSCN (IM), the latter released the contents of this confidential framework agreement on 16th August last.

While the Governor of Nagaland and the government interlocutor for the talks, RN Ravi had claimed that all important agreements on the peace deal had been settled in October last and only a few minor issues remained, the NSCN (IM) broke its deal with the Centre on keep the pact confidential.

What led to the releasing of the confidential Nagaland Framework Agreement?

RN Ravi’s role in the Nagaland peace process:

RN Ravi, the former Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA), retired as the Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in 2012.

In 2014, he was appointed as the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee for three years by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ravi is the government’s interlocutor for the ongoing talks with the Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and has signed the Naga Framework Agreement on behalf of the government of India.

In July 2019, RN Ravi was appointed as the Governor of Nagaland.

Kareng Phukan @guwahatiplus meaning of a sentence in the Framework Agreement,” stated NSCN. They have cited Ravi’s inability to recognise the existing blue, red and yellow Naga flag and a separate constitution given that Articles 370 and 35A have already been scrapped. d) NSCN (IM) and the other stakeholders have been demanding a change of the interlocutor citing “trust deficit” with RN Ravi.

A brief history of the Nagalim independence conflict: In 1881, the British administration consolidated their position over a large area of the Naga Hills and integrated the same into Assam as a separate district. However, Nagaland never willingly accepted itself as a part of Greater Assam.

The first sign of Naga resistance was seen in the formation of the ‘Naga Club’ in 1918. The demand had been for a Greater Nagaland,

Internet image showing the NSCN desired Nagalim state themselves “according to their freely expressed wishes” with the Governor of Assam taking special responsibility to ensure observance of the agreement for a period of 10 years. After the expiry of this period “the Naga Council will be asked whether they require the above agreement to be extended for a further period

the plebiscite. Pandit Nehru rejected the predominant Naga demand and kept Naga matters under the Ministry of External Affairs.

On March 22, 1952, Phizo thus formed the underground Naga Federal Government (NFG) and the Naga Federal Army (NFA).

The Indian government sought

Union. Meanwhile, in April that year, a Peace Mission was formed, comprising Jai Prakash Narain, Bimala Prasad Chaliha who was the chief minister of Assam and Rev. Michael Scott. The Mission signed an agreement with the NNC to suspend operations from September next.

It stated, “The Government

The conflict of NSCN (IM) with RN Ravi: NSCN has highlighted that RN Ravi had ‘manipulated’ the original agreement.

According to the NSCN, Ravi handed out a different copy of the agreement to the Naga civil society groups while consulting, and the seven Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs).

NSCN (IM) has accused Ravi of deleting the word ‘new’ from the agreement which they claim to be crucial for the discussions.

The removal of the word ‘new’ “virtually changed the

NSCN Chairman Isak Chishi Swu called ‘Nagalim’ covering Nagaland, its neighbouring states and even parts of Myanmar.

Reportedly the Naga Club told the Simon Commission that the Nagas should be left alone “to determine for ourselves as in ancient times.”

Naga nationalism: On June 29, 1947, Assam Governor Sir Akbar Hyderi, signed a 9-point agreement with moderates T Sakhrie and Aliba Imti. The agreement allowed the Nagas to develop

or a new agreement regarding the future of Naga people arrived at.”

This was immediately rejected

by Angami Zapu Phizo, the leader of the Naga National Council (NNC). On August 14, 1947, Nagaland was declared as an independent state by the NNC. NNC conducted a ‘referendum’ in 1951 in which reportedly, 99 percent of the Nagamese people demanded for an independent state. The NNC resolved to establish a ‘sovereign Naga state.’

The Centre refused to accept

NSCN Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah to crush them by sending in the army in Nagaland and enacting the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA) in 1958.

Nagaland - the current state and the journey towards Nagalim thereafter; The Peace Mission: The current state of Nagaland was created on 1st December, 1963 as the 16th state of the Indian

of India welcomes the steps intended to bring about peace in Nagaland and with this object in view… they will depute representatives, with whom will be associated the representatives of the Government of Nagaland, to take part in talks with leaders of the underground.”

But violence continued.

The Peace Mission was finally abandoned in 1967 because Scott openly sided with the rebels and the “government grew impatient with the mission’s

Lead Story

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

No Prime Minister managed to touch the Naga sentiment as did PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He created a ceasefire monitoring group in 2001 and was instrumental in setting the peace process rolling. of thousands of people, including civilians.

The Shillong Accord and the birth of NSCN:

In 1975, the separatist NNC gave up violence and signed the ‘Shillong Accord’ with the government of India. The agreement stated, “The representatives of the underground organisations conveyed their decision, of their own volition, to accept, without condition, the Constitution of India. It was agreed that the arms, now underground, would be brought out and deposited at appointed places. Details for giving effect to this agreement will be worked out between them and representatives of the Government, the security forces, and members of the Liaison Committee.”

However, some of the NNC leaders, including Isak Chishi Swu, Thuingaleng Muivah and SS Khaplang disapproved of this peace treaty and formed the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) as a new separatist organization in 1980.

On 30th April 1988, the NSCN split into NSCN (IM) and NSCN (K) after a violent clash. With Phizo’s death in 1991, NNC began to fade away, and the NSCN (IM) came to be seen as the main insurgent group in the region.

What has NSCN been demanding?

Over the decades, the various Naga insurgent groups continue to remain strong on their original demand – a “Greater Nagalim” comprising “all contiguous Nagainhabited areas”, along with Nagaland. This includes several districts of Assam, Arunachal and Manipur, as also a large tract of Myanmar.

While the area of the present Nagaland state is 16,527 sq km, the map carved for Greater Nagalim comprises about 1,20,000 sq km. The Nagaland Assembly has also endorsed the cause — “Integration of all Naga-inhabited contiguous areas under one administrative umbrella” over and over again, from 1964 to as recently as on 2015.

Peace talks with the government:

On 12th June 1995, PV Narasimha Rao became the first Prime Minister to meet the NSCNIM chairman Isak Chishi Swu, general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and others in Paris to propose a political dialogue to resolve the Naga crisis.

On 25th July 1997, the IsakMuivah faction of NSCN or the NSCN (IM) signed a ceasefire agreement with the government of India, which came into effect on August 1, 1997. NSCN (IM) thus joined the ‘peace talks’ with the government.

Next, Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda met the leaders in Zurich on February 3, 1997. Over 80 rounds of talks had followed since then. However, none of the Prime Ministers managed to touch the Naga sentiment as did PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He created a ceasefire monitoring group in 2001.

On 28th October, 2003, Vajpayee visited Kohima. He recognised the “unique history and the situation of the Nagas”, winning the hearts of the Nagamese people. He said, “It is true that of all the states in India, Nagaland has a unique history. We are sensitive to this historical fact... But this uniqueness has in no way diminished the spirit of patriotism among the Naga people... Naga underground organisations did not fire on the Indian Army? They showed restraint.”

Copy of the Nagaland Framework Agreement fact that law and order is a state subject.

The union government will create an autonomous district council with financial autonomy on the lines of the Bodoland Territorial Council for the four hill districts of Manipur - Senapati, Tamenglong, Chandel and Ukhrul.

Whether it will be done under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution or a state

act is yet to be discussed.

A Naga regional council will be set up, which would look after the religious, cultural, traditional and social interests of all Nagas. NSCN (IM) general secretary, T Muivah, may be made its chairman.

A separate the council negotiation.

flag for is under

A formula rehabilitation

for

the and

absorption of the 15,000-strong Naga army is under negotiation. Its soldiers will surrender their arms and may be inducted into newlyformed battalions of the Border Security Force and Rashtriya Rifles.

Whether the Nagas would be allowed to have a new nationality called “Indian Naga” in their passports is being explored.

The Modi government walks the final stretch:

After 18 years, on August 3, 2015, the Narendra Modi government signed a framework agreement with the NSCN (IM) to resolve the Naga issue under its Look East Policy.

Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of NSCNIM, signed the pact with RN Ravi, the government appointed interlocutor. The details of the agreement were kept confidential for security reasons.

In April 2017, ‘The Week’ magazine exclusively reported details of the secretive agreement.

As per this report, the framework accord mentioned the following –

Permanent resident status for the Nagas, like in Jammu & Kashmir. Only permanent residents will have the right to vote and acquire land in Naga territory.

The exploration and exploitation of oil, natural gas, coal, minerals, forest and other natural resources will be in the state’s domain.

Some subjects may shift from the concurrent list to the state list.

The union government will clarify about the deployment of its armed forces keeping in mind the

Janasanyog No. 1605/20

ineffectiveness.” The government launched a counter-insurgency operation and the resulting insurgency has, over the course of decades, resulted in the killing

3

4 In The News

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Slew of announcements by HBS targeted to improve state’s education scenario G Plus News @guwahatiplus

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tate education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is in charge of health and PWD as well, has made a number of announcements in recent press conferences that are targeted to improve the state’s education scenario. These include 25% extra seats in colleges and also a number of medical colleges to enable students to get better access to quality education.

Assam: 22,000 female students to be awarded Scooties for securing first division

22,000 female students who secured first division in higher secondary examination 2020 will be awarded with ‘scooties’ this year.

Education Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a press conference on 18th August last, informed that although the state government had decided to present all such students with electric scooters earlier and was presented in this year’s budget, the same has now been found to be unfeasible.

“Many students might not be able to charge the scooty regularly and its speed is also limited to 30 to 40 kms per hour. So we will now be providing the regular petrol scooties,” said Sarma.

However, if any female student wishes to receive an electric scooty over an automated petrol vehicle, they may do so. The government will be launching a new website - sebaonline.org whereby the students may choose to mention their choice of the variant.

However, if anybody fails to do so, she will be awarded with the automatic petrol scooty, he added.

It should be mentioned that the students will have to bear the cost of registration and will not be able to sell the vehicles for 3 years.

Over 7,000 teachers posts to be filled soon

Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a press conference on 18th August, informed that 7,440 posts will be advertised for those who have cleared Teachers’ Eligibility Test

(TET).

They will be employed within the next 3 to 4 months, informed Sarma, education minister of Assam.

On 27th August, the state government will be hosting a programme at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra to hand over the appointment letters of the Lower Primary (LP) and Middle English (ME) school teachers who have already cleared the TET exams.

“However, only 300 teachers will be invited as representatives to the program, keeping COVID-19 protocols in minds. The others can check and download their appointment letters from the website,” Sarma added.

Assam govt urges all colleges to increase UG seats by 25%

The state government has urged all colleges of the state to increase their undergraduate seats by 25 percent this year. The entire 25 percent seats will be reserved for students from Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC).

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher secondary exams conducted by CBSE could not be completed entirely. As such, the marks given by the board are just ‘projected marks’. On the other hand, AHSEC managed to complete all the examinations and their marks are ‘actual’,” stated Himanta Biswa Sarma, the health, finance and education minister of Assam.

Reportedly, the marks secured

by CBSE students are more than that scored by the ASHEC students, making it easier for the CBSE students to take admissions.

“Considering that the many students of the state council are not being able to take admission, we have asked the colleges to increase their seat capacity by 25 percent only for this year. All these seats will be reserved for state council students only,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma in a press conference on 18th August.

Teachers, official employees of educational institutes to join office on 1st Sept

All teachers and other official

File photo of Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addressing a press conference employees of educational institutions in Assam, from primary school to universities, will have to mandatorily take COVID-19 tests between 21st and 30th of August. On being found negative, they will have to join office on 1st September with their negative result report.

“I understand that many have left for home from their respective place of work during this pandemic. But they should come back and join office mandatorily on 1st September,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma on August 18.

‘Leave without pay’ will be implemented on any teacher or other official employee who fails to join duty on 1st September.

More than 300 educational institutes, 3,980 teachers to be provincialized

In a press interaction on 18th August, state education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that a total of 300 private educational institutes of Assam would be made public and a list of the schools will soon be released.

“For the first time, we will be releasing the list of schools to be provincialized. 197 high schools, 9 higher secondary schools and 149 senior secondary schools and 27 colleges have been marked for the

same,” said Sarma.

Apart from these, 3,049 teachers under secondary education and 931 teachers under higher education have also been provincialized.

The list may be checked in the following websites madhyamik.assam.gov.in and directorateofhighereducation. assam.gov.in.

The second list of provincialization will be published in the first week of November and improved salaries of all will be calculated from 1st January, 2020.

Assam to get two medical colleges every year: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Two medical colleges will be set up in Assam every year, said health, education and finance minister of the state, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Sarma was briefing the media at the Gauhati Medical College & Hospital on August 20, where he ceremonially distributed appointment letters to 201 staff nurses of the newly constructed Lakhimpur Medical College.

Constructed at a cost of Rs. 378 crores, Lakhimpur Medical College will start from November 2020.

“After Lakhimpur, Dhubri and

Nagaon Medical College will start from next year,” said Sarma.

The minister also announced that Biswanath Chariali, Goalpara, Karimganj and Charaideo will also have medical colleges soon.

Assam readies schools to re-open from Sept 1

The Assam government is getting ready to reopen educational institutions in the state from September 1 but the ultimate decision will rest on the Union Home Ministry, said Assam Education and Health Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“We have drawn up a preliminary plan for reopening schools but it is still open for further discussions with parents and other stakeholders, and will be implemented only in accordance with the directives of the union government,” Sarma said.

Schools will remain closed for students up to Class 4 till September-end, he said, adding that classes will be held in open spaces such as the playground or courtyard of the school for students of standard 5-8.

Students of standard 9 and 11 will attend classes in their classrooms for two days a week with 15 students being present at a time. Those in standard 10 and 12 will attend classes four days a week. n

Health

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

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Guwahati accounts for one-fourth of Assam’s total COVID-19 cases With over 23,000 cases of Covid-19, Kamrup (M) is the worst affected district in Assam. While the situation is grim, the state has entered the ‘Unlock’ phase with businesses and vehicles allowed to operate five days a week.

Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

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ssam and northeast’s biggest city Guwahati is in focus following a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. With a total of over 23,000 cases of coronavirus being reported in capital of Assam, Guwahati (Kamrup M) is the worst affected district by the dreaded virus. It accounts for over one-fourth of the total caseload of Assam.

The present coronavirus tally of Assam stands at 86,052, of which 22,708 are currently active. The number of persons cured and discharged stands at 63,120 while the death toll is at 221.Three persons have migrated to other states. In Kamrup (M), the coronavirus tally stands at 23,125 out of which 14,599 cases are currently active.

The above numbers are from data published by Government of Assam on their COVID-19 Dashboard website.

It should be mentioned that Guwahati registered 719 new COVID-19 positive cases on August 14 - its highest singleday spike in the number of infections so far.

Expressing concerns regarding the situation of the state capital, health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the situation as

“extremely critical” and urged residents to be very careful.

As Assam continues to register thousands of new cases every day, the Assam government has been strengthening its fight against COVID-19. An increasing number of tests are being conducted across the state while medical facilities and infrastructure are being amped up. Assam has so far conducted tests of close to 20 lakh samples, with a positivity rate of approximately 5%.

On August 12, over 1.43 lakh samples were examined for COVID-19 in a day in Assam.

“We have been continuously stepping up our #COVID testing.

I am so proud to share that in the last 24 hours, team Assam carried out 143,109 tests. This takes the total test conducted in Assam to a record high of 15,73,800,” informed state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma via social media update.

It should be mentioned that starting from August 16, Assam entered ‘Unlock 3.0’ with the government of Assam issuing fresh set of guidelines “after due consideration of the COVID situation as it prevails in the state of Assam and taking into consideration latest directives issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.”

While the weekend lockdown stays in place, curfew timings

Swab collection drive undertaken in a Guwahati locality | G Plus photo have been changed.

“Movement of individuals shall remain strictly prohibited between 9:30 PM and 5 AM with effect from August 16, 2020,” states the order by chief secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna.

Further, shops on both sides of the streets have now been allowed to open from Monday to Friday. Inter-district movement of vehicles has been allowed between Monday to Friday with

Assam State Zoo: Air Conditioners installed for animals to beat the heat

29,05,823 with 54,849 deaths.

A total of 21,58,946 COVID-19 patients have recovered from the infection, taking the recovery rate to 74.30 per cent.

Further, there have been a total of 2,26,57,915 confirmed coronavirus cases across the world according to the latest update. This includes 73,44,866 people who are being treated, 1,45,19,591 who have recovered and 7,93,458 who have died.

Hima Das in 73-member committee for implementation of new education policy in Assam

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ith the mercury level on the rise, the authorities at the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden have taken a slew of measures to enable the animals to cope with the heat and remain safe in the zoo.

The authorities at Assam State Zoo and Botanical Garden in Guwahati have installed Air Conditioners (AC) in hospitals and quarantine facilities for animals to beat the scorching summer heat. While fans have been installed outside cages, water cooling facilities have been installed in the pools for the animals. Further, elephants are

50% capacity. City buses have also been allowed to operate with 50% capacity.

However, social, cultural, political, sports, entertainment, religious functions, and gatherings continue to be prohibited.

Cinema halls, swimming pools, assembly halls, and likes also remain closed.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 tally as on August 20 stands at

taken to water bodies to provide them relief from summer heat.

“In such hot weather, keeping the animals hydrated becomes necessary. Hence, precautions have been taken. Water showers,

bamboo sheds, pools, fans inside the shelter house have been provided for the zoo animals,” Tejas Mariswamy, the zoo’s Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) informed G Plus.

rjuna Awardee Hima Das, Scientist Uddhab Bharali and General Secretary of Assam Cricket Association Devajit Lon Saikia are among 73 people who have been selected to form a committee to frame and implement an education policy for Assam in pursuance of the National Education Policy 2020.

The notification dated 12th August on constituting the High Level Policy stated, “The elements required for our state must be incorporated in a local manner and style, taking into accounts the local and global needs of the country and with a respect for its rich diversity and culture”.

As such, a 73-member High Level

Committee has been constituted to guide the state education department that comprises of educationalist, educators and experts from all other necessary departments like sports, culture etc.

6 Concern

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Resuming business remains a distant dream for street food vendors

“Street food, I believe, is the salvation of the human race.”

- Anthony Bourdain

Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

Street food stalls provide daily meals at affordable prices.

The street food hubs like Fancy Bazar, Kachari, etc and the rest are no more the same.

“Customers are refusing to eat now and have even questioned my hygiene standards,” a food vendor.

Even the die-hard food lovers choose to stick to home-cooked food for now.

Many street food vendors are rendered jobless because of the pandemic.

T

rue to the quote, Guwahati adores its street food, making the street food vendors an integral part of the city. From the ‘desi’ pani puris, bhel muri, golas to the Indianised Chinese range of chowmien, momos etc....food from the streets have never failed to appease the taste buds of Guwahatians.

And not to forget the tea stall owners, the small ‘bhaator dukan’ (small stalls selling rice, roti etc.) and biryani walas, who cater to most of the office goers and the daily workers alongside the students. They provide daily meals at affordable prices and have established themselves as a necessary organ of the busy metropolis’ everyday functioning.

However, months of lockdown have changed this scenario of Guwahati completely. The street food hubs like Fancy Bazar, Kachari, Beltola, Sixmile and the rest are no more the same. Some have started shop for the sake of livelihood, but sales aren’t the same as before.

“I have been doing business here for the last 20 years. My brother also runs a small food stall near me. We used to earn Rs. 500 to Rs. 600 profit per day.

But now it’s hardy around Rs. 100. Our part of the city (Kachari) has all the offices and the Cotton College. So business was always buzzing. This is my only source of livelihood. Never did I imagine that a day would come when things would come to this. After all my shop is in the heart of the official area,” said an upset Babul Rajbonshi, who runs a tea stall from a kiosk at Kachari, Panbazar.

When the lockdown was first announced back in March, Babul along with the other food stall owners of the area had to close down. After all there was a sudden closure of all offices and educational institutions of the area.

Now that there is gradual unlocking of the city, they have restored their business, but customers are minimal.

“Initially the government allowed only 30 percent employees to attend office. So automatically our customers reduced. Then again the college (referring to Cotton College) is closed. We used to get many student customers,” he continued.

“Now-a-days we cook food following all norms. We wear masks. But people are scared.

Many carry their own tiffin from home. So who will eat our food?

Earlier, lunch hours were the busiest. We didn’t even get time to breathe. Now we have all the time,” Babul sadly added.

The food vendors of Kachari have been serving for decades.

From local delicacies like different variants of pitha, laru to rice, roti, puri-sabji, they make it all. Even the casual passerby often hops in to catch a bite of these well known delicacies.

As for now, given the soaring summer heat, only the lemonade and the coconut vendors are somewhat thriving.

While tea and rice stalls have started functioning as office goers and workers are back to work, the others like the pani puri walas and similar other vendors are still hoping for regular customers.

G Plus asked a few Guwahatians when they last enjoyed street food.

A street vendor selling tea in a Guwahati commercial area | G Plus photo “I last had puchka probably last year,” said one.

Another mentioned, “Was hoping to relish on all these food and especially ice cream during Bihu which we friends do every year. But this year went by without any such enjoyment. My parents wouldn’t allow me to eat out even now. Tasting the street foods again is a distant dream now.”

While many street vendors have returned home to their respective villages in the past months, many are languishing in the city. With no daily income at hand, they have no means to pay their rent and for other necessities.

“I used the little savings I had in the first two months. With nothing to survive on I started working as a labourer. But unaccustomed to such work, I could not do it for long. I sell chaat at Fancy Bazar. My chaats are very famous and I have regular customers too. There were some who have been coming to eat my chaat for years. Even they fear to eat now. With the scare of this disease engrossing all, even many permanent customers are refusing to eat now and have even questioned my hygiene

standards. I am completely broke and de-motivated,” said Sitaram almost breaking down.

Naren Rajbonshi, who owns a tea stall at Kachari and is the president of Assam Tea Vendors’ Association said, “I last opened shop on 16th March. Now I am worried to reopen. Expenses of running a shop are high. I have to procure rice for the pitha, tea, sugar and also other biscuits and snacks that I sell. But the earning will be much less. No point spending the little amount I am left with.”

“Only 20 percent of the food vendors in Guwahati have reopened shop. Most are in their village doing whatever work they can find. I myself sold vegetables for a few days. But both are completely different businesses. I could not understand the calculations well and ended up with a loss.

My family suggested I should better stop that wasting my own money. So now I am practically jobless,” he added.

While the fear of the virus continues, even the die-hard food lovers choose to stick to home-cooked food for now, rendering many food vendors jobless. n

Snippets “Meghalay Kahan Hai?” Tweets Omar Abdullah, Faces Netizens’ Ire

F

ormer chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir, Omar Abdullah’s tweet “Meghalay kahan hai? #AskingForAFriend” has received major backlash on the micro blogging website.

The tweet comes on the same day that the state of Meghalaya sees a change in governance with Satya Pal Malik being appointed as the Governor of Meghalaya.

Many Twitterati have slammed Abdullah for spelling ‘Meghalaya’ as ‘Meghalay’ while others were quick to make the connection.

“Taunting Satyapal ji. Cheeky Omar Sahab,” posted Mir Aabid on Twitter.

In The News

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

7

Students complain of colleges in Ghy charging high processing fee amid pandemic G Plus Bureau @guwahatiplus

Students have alleged that many colleges of Guwahati are charging high ‘processing fees’.

Colleges are charging complete tuition fees despite not having physical classes.

Jobs of many parents have been hindered.

“We were told that if we do not pay this fee our exam forms will not be approved,” say students.

Students of second and fourth semesters may be promoted considering their internal marks.

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espite health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stating that educational institutions should not charge any unnecessary fees amid lockdown, students have alleged that many colleges of Guwahati are charging high ‘processing fees’.

Bikash Das, a student of 4th semester of Icon Commerce College informed G Plus, “We are told to pay Rs. 700 in the name of processing fee as well as centre fees, whereas, the rest of the colleges under Gauhati University have charged around Rs. 300 only. But what is more unfortunate is that the arrear students have to pay double the amount provided.”

Another student Abhinash

Baruah of the same college added, “Despite any examination being held, we have already paid Rs. 640 to Gauhati University for filling up the examination form.

Now the college authorities have burdened us with another fee which is way too high for most of the students to afford in a situation like this. We tried to contact the authorities but they did not respond to our calls and messages.”

Many other students have also put in complaints regarding the same. Most complaints have been received from the students of BMBB Commerce College, Bharalumukh.

Students have reported that the college, apart from charging complete tuition fees despite not having physical classes, is also charging other fees for exam.

“We are charged admission fee of Rs. 17,000 for third year as always, without any waiver.

We have already paid Rs. 640 in the Gauhati University portal for filling up the form for the semester examination. Now our college is also asking us to pay Rs. 500. For arrear student, they are asking Rs. 1000 for the college approval,” informed Rahul Agarwal.

“I think the college approval fee can be done away with during this pandemic situation.

We were told that if we do not pay this fee our exam forms will not be approved,” he added.

A letter signed by 38 students was sent to G Plus in this regard.

Seeking urgent help in the matter the students wrote, “In such difficult time, it’s getting tough for us to sustain our daily activities as the job of many parents have also been hindered.

In such a tough time we have got a notice from the college to submit our second, third and fifth semester fees by the end of August.”

They appealed for a fee waiver of 20 to 30 percent.

While there is no physical examination being held, exams

are being held online. Reportedly, the centre fee has been converted to a processing fee.

The Gauhati Commerce College has also charged similar rates as fee for examination. While the students of the second semester need to pay Rs. 700, Rs. 1000 has been charged from the fourth and sixth semester students. The fees for students with back paper are further exorbitant - Rs. 1200 for second semester, Rs. 1400 for fourth semester and Rs. 1500 for the sixth semester.

G Plus enquired about the issue to the concerned officials of the respective organisations.

Nilanjan Bhattacharjee, Principal of Icon Commerce College, however, clarified, “We have to collect the necessary exam processing fee. So what if there are no centres, exams are still conducted online.”

“Some students have informed about their financial conditions and asked us to reduce the fee.

For them, we have even waived off the entire fee. If others do have such issues, they must come to us directly,” he added.

When asked about reducing or completely waiving off the ‘processing fee’ like the other educational institutes, Bhattacharjee however denied implementing the same.

Debabrat Sarmah, Coordinator of BMBB Commerce College said, “We are charging Rs. 14,000 per year from the students. We have to pay the teachers and the staff their salaries. Also there is a maintenance cost that of electricity bills and others. If we do not take the fees, how will we survive?”

“Our college is a private institute and we do not receive any help from the government.

Also we have limited number of students. If we do not collect the minimal fees how will the cost be paid,” added Sarmah.

Dr. Anjali Bhuyan Deka, Coordinator of Gauhati Commerce College however said that no

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Scanned image of the protest letter by students sent to G Plus such fee has been collected of yet. She said, “We got the notice just recently from Gauhati University.

So the students must have got the list. But the fees mentioned there are not final.”

“Even then, the amount won’t be collected in totality. We have not yet received any orders to conduct exams. The University has earlier mentioned that examinations will be held for only the sixth semester. If it’s so, then there will be a 20 percent waiver of the examination as well as the centre fees for second and fourth year students. As for

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the sixth semester students, even they will get a waiver of 20 percent for the examination fees, but will have to pay the complete centre fee,” she continued.

“The University has said that apart from the sixth semester students, the students of other semesters may be promoted considering the earlier marks, that of internal tests. There is no revised notice as of now, but when we open the portal for forms the fee waiver will be added automatically. As of now no fee has been collected,” Dr. Deka added. n

8 Centre Spread

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

On August 16, Assam entered phase 3 of ‘Unlock’ in which several restrictions that had been earlier enforced were eased and citizens were seen returning to their normal lifestyles almost.

With COVID-19 guidelines in place, the Assam Government issued relaxations on inter-district movement and night curfew.

Earlier, movement of individuals was prohibited from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, but now the timing has been changed from 9:30 pm to 5:00 pm allowing more time to open businesses and for movement of people. The government has also allowed for establishments on both sides of the streets to open five days a week. City buses and other modes of public transport have

also been allowed to operate subject to maintenance of social distancing and at 50% capacity.

However, weekend lockdown prohibiting movement of individuals at all times, continues to remain in place on Saturdays and Sundays. Public gathering of all sorts also continues to be prohibited.

As Assam continues to ‘Unlock’, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise.

Though people can be seen wearing masks, the norms of social distancing seems to have gone for a total toss.

G Plus presents the situation with a few moments captured on camera.

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Centre Spread

9

Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

Independence Day celebrations on 15th August this year were a low-key affair all over the country and those in Guwahati were no different. Yet there was a sense of nostalgia to it, especially to the people of Panbazar, Uzan Bazar and the nearby areas.

After all, the historic Judges Field was buzzing with the festive feel from about a week prior to 15th August - Independence Day in Guwahati was being celebrated at this old address after a decade.

The reason? Coronavirus. While the same reason forced celebrations to be curbed, it also renewed all memories, as the Khanapara Veterinary Ground, where it’s usually been held through the last decade,

has been turned into a Covid Care Centre.

The Judges Field, the Gauhati High Court and the other government buildings in the vicinity along with the War Memorial at Dighalipukhuri, were all decked up with glittering lights for the occasion. The active police and army officials on practice and security duty energised the air further.

Despite minimal audience and modest march-past performances, the atmosphere was uplifting and hopeful amid all crises. The strict weekend lockdown was relaxed, allowing movement of people till 5 pm.

G Plus recalls the glorious day with a few moments captured on camera.

10 G Talk E

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| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020 T

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Sounding the election bugle

H

imanta Biswa Sarma’s (HBS) press conferences/ interviews make for riveting viewing, truly. When it comes to disseminating information, I am yet to come across any other minister or bureaucrat who does the job better than him. He is precise, meticulously detailed and leaves very little room for any ambiguity or confusion unlike some of his cabinet colleagues who have tended to cut a sorry figure in recent times.

Also, his presence of mind and innate sense of humour ensure a very generous dose of entertainment as well in his press interactions. You look forward to his sparkling wit that would drop the next hilarious bombshell and leave viewers in splits.

Anyway the point of this piece: two recent press interactions of his – an interview on a prominent TV channel and his latest press conference - make a few points very clear about the upcoming political scenario. Mellow and soft spoken, HBS has sublimely laid the election pitch. While decimating the opposition verbally comes naturally to him, he has a witty retort to each salvo fired at him. In the same breath, he has expressed total confidence of winning 100 seats in the 2021 assembly elections. To the lay observer,

his rhetoric has exposed the complete inadequacies of the opposition leaders; there has not been a single riposte from any of them that is worthy enough to be taken seriously. Given his clarity of thought and his complete comprehension of the politics of winning elections (the first being putting in honest hard work for the betterment of the state of Assam of which there is today no doubt), it would not be too premature to say that HBS and the BJP currently stand head and shoulders above other political parties in the runup to the 2021 assembly elections.

I am not saying this is a great thing to happen for Assam as democracy always demands and requires a strong opposition to keep things balanced and in check.

And so, to all appearances, I have serious doubts about Assam having a robust democracy sans a strong opposition after the upcoming elections. Yes, what seems a distinct possibility is another robust BJP government that is not scared to take tough decisions and make enough noises to keep Assam in the national picture as has been the case with the current dispensation.

The election bugle has just been sounded and the opposition needs to hear it soon!

The importance of being masked

F

olks, these are Unlock times, not post-Covid times! The difference is huge and we need to understand this.

It is an irony that the Unlocks are happening when the effects of the pandemic are taking a turn for the worse in Guwahati.

To say the absolute least, the daily figures of positive cases and deaths are alarming. And yet, for the sake of the economy, Unlocking is indispensable.

Without wanting to sound like an alarmist, one thing that is clearly visible among Guwahatians is the lack of tenacity when it comes to continuing with the precautions that have been repeatedly underlined by the government. Yes, we can notice the masks that are mandatorily required to be worn in public either slipping or completely disappearing from the faces of Guwahatians. And this, when the situation, more now than ever before, demands that masks be worn as a social responsibility and not as an imposition.

Not being masked and thereafter carelessly spitting, sneezing and coughing thereby displaying a totally lackadaisical attitude towards a fellow human being has become a strange activity of the people of the city. “I forgot my mask,” deserves a resounding slap rather than a round of laughter; indeed there is nothing funny about it.

It is high time that people took the situation more seriously. The government has been forced to unlock the economy for the sake of state’s economy, for citizens’ livelihoods. But the Covid is today more menacing than ever before. Showing responsibility and respect to the pandemic is what is required rather than this strange “Baad de... dekha jabo” attitude that puts every individual in close proximity at risk pushing them towards death’s door.

People, please do not let that mask slip. It is dangerous to yourself and to everyone around you. Yes folks, we need to take responsibility for our own deeds! n

Swapnil Bharali (Editor) @swapnilbharali

The three aspects to mental wellbeing

T

he pattern of life we experience in our entire lifespan is just like that of a tide. The graph of happiness or sadness often fluctuates and nothing remains constant forever. But the reality is that the dimension of positivity is often powerful, something which everyone desires to hold onto. And fortunately the impact of positive energy just eliminates away the lingering negative emotions.

The practice of gratitude helps the body to release hormones like endomorphins and dopamine.

Endomorphins are known as ‘stress releasing hormones’ and dopamine as ‘happy hormones’.

Positive emotions like happiness, excitement, and feeling of being loved etc, with time definitely become the antidote for negative vibrations like anger, anxiety, frustrations etc. That is why accepting a situation, letting the negative vibration go and then returning at the right time just like a phoenix can be the most radical approach in difficult times.

In this swift paced world, people often fail to create a balance between physical and mental health. At times, by going to gymnasiums and other fitness centers people do take care of their physical health, but may be because of lack of time, they fail to maintain their mental health.

And the conspicuous fact is that it is during situations like this pandemic, where the importance of mental health occupies a pivotal place, may be even a degree higher than the physical health.

The importance of having a good mental health is something that people understand only when they face the reality of life, composed with both positive and negative things. For a few, it might be easy to incorporate a salubrious mental health easily, whereas for others, it might take a whole lot of time. And that is the reason the education system must also give proper emphasis on the concept of introducing mental health studies right from the school level.

It is often vowed, “When one remains positive, he or she attracts more positivity, and vice versa if opposite is the case.” This statement can be understood by taking a simple example. Often when we quarrel, there is an exchange of a lot of negative emotions. And till the point we focus on exchanging negative emotions, negativity would only increase and things would eventually turn out to be more and more negative. So the point is instead of focusing on the negativity prevailing, one should first focus on incorporating the positive vibes within him and then slowly start the process of rebuilding things, eliminating the negativity, because it’s always betterto build things rather than to break it.

So the crucial thing is that in order to have a strong mental set up, it is important to be ‘positive’ rather than having a mind that is loaded with all kinds of negativity.

Further in order to inculcate positivity within oneself, an individual basically needs to practice just two simple thingsgratitude and meditation. But, it is also crucial for us to understand how gratitude and meditation can bring in immense levels of positivity in our lives If we carefully analyze, negativity more often than not is a result of the attachment associated with a particular outcome. This can be understood by taking into consideration a simple example.

For instance, if a thing is not happening for an individual at the current juncture, it’s important

rA grave injustice

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O pinion Bishaldeep Kakati

for that person to let that thing go for the time being and then focus on the right steps to get that same thing back at a later phase. Since letting that particular thing go for the current time just allows the person to breathe freely without holding any expectation of getting the same thing back at that point of time. And if a person can realize this fact and understand to value or to be thankful of the things that he or she have, then that individual would start enjoying his life without stress and anxiety, thus making his mental strength strong. In short, the practice of gratitude helps the body to release hormones like endomorphins and dopamine. Endomorphins are known as ‘stress releasing hormones’ and dopamine as ‘happy hormones’.

Furthermore in order to bring into place positivity, a person has to experience internal peace. And one of the best steps that can be taken to bring internal peace in a person’s life is the art of practicing meditation. In fact it is often said that if a person practices an activity for 21 days continuously, it becomes a habit. So, if a person practices meditation at least for 10 minutes before going to sleep at night and after waking up in the morning, then a person can eliminate all the negativities from his mind and the art of doing meditation would soon become a habit for him. Hence in one or the other way, in order to inculcate the feeling of positivity within oneself, the person should definitely practice the art of meditation.

To conclude, a person should always try to keep himself as much positive as possible, since with the positive energy one can always attract positive things towards himself.

Letter to the Editor

ith due respect, I would like to bring your attention to the discrimination done against the girls of HS batch 2017-2019. In 2017, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had launched the scheme of distribution of scooties to meritorious girls in an attempt to accelerate women empowerment and acknowledge their good results. However, the girls of HS ‘19 batch didn’t receive any such benefits in spite of great promises.

Now, it is both disheartening and disturbing to learn that without adopting any measure to fulfil the previous promises, the government has announced that 22,000 female students securing first division in the HS exam 2020 will be awarded scooties. This does absolute injustice to 2019 batch which completely deserves in this case.

Therefore, I request you to take immediate steps towards addressing this prejudice and ensure that justice prevails.

Riyashree Kaishyap, Guwahati

Op Ed

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Rise of inequality and the importance of arresting it T he existence of inequality in the society is not a present day occurrence. It has been around for long and the prolonged lockdown as well as the strict unlock protocols have drastically exposed the inequalities among the social classes.

Echoing the same, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in his address in the annual lecture for the Nelson Mandela Foundation on 18th July, 2020 via web on the

The UN, in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030, has putting the “Reducing Inequality” as one of the standalone goals among 17 SDGs. UN has cornered inequality as a serious threat to social and economic stability for a country topic “Tackling the inequality Pandemic: A New Social Contract for a New Era” has categorically mentioned that COVID-19 has uncovered multiple inequalities that lead to economic instability, corruption, financial crises, increased crime, poor physical and mental health.

He further divulged that this pandemic has given us a “generational opportunity” to create a more equal and sustainable world.

The former Portuguese Prime Minister has also highlighted a bunch of equalizers among which education and digital technology have been considered by him as most crucial catalysts to downsize the inequalities. According to him, both have the power to ensure lifelong opportunities to learn as well as provide scopes to adopt new technology and to acquire evolving skills in knowledge economy. Secondly, he stressed on the urgent need of fair taxation on income and wealth.

Lastly, he has advocated for a new generation of social protection policies with

Image shows migrant labour migration in India: A tale of inequalities | Internet photo adequate safety nets which include universal health coverage and creation of a universal basic income for one and all.

The most prominent inequality that has been escalating sharply in India is income inequality, which is considered to be root cause of all kinds of inequalities.

The uneven income distribution has been creating gaps between social classes viz upper, uppermiddle, middle, working and lower. In India, where the economy has been on the growth path since the last two decades, the income inequality is mounting immensely where the rich are getting richer at a much faster rate than the poor.

In India, the issue of unequal income distribution has been escalating over the last few decades.

As per the Human Development Report 2019, the country has been witnessing a sharp raise of inequality in terms of income, which is second highest in the world after Russia.

If we look at the inequalities that have surfaced due to the lockdown as well as for the restrictions in various activities since the last week of March, 2020, then we will able to trace the foremost inequality in terms of inaccessibility to monthly or daily income among middle, working and lower class populace. Access to money is crucial for an individual to execute their daily needs. Moreover, all day-to-day requirements of a household

solely depend on cumulative monthly income. However, the exceptional class of the society could not be able to feel the financial heat arising from the pandemic. But, people who depend on daily income and who are not having monthly savings are finding immense hardships.

At this juncture, getting a job or work is very tough as all sectors are moving through financial crisis due to slowdown in production leading to salary cut as well as in extreme cases, layoffs. Gauging the severity of the situation encountered by these people and to overcome such causes in coming days, it is of utmost urgency to bring emergency schemes to give scopes for income generation during such crisis; although the Centre has launched the Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan for migrant workers especially in six states of India namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odhisa and Madhya Pradesh, ironically other states including northeastern states have been left out.

The government must give equal importance to all the states in handholding the job loss issues to evaporate the financial hitches that have been faced by many youths. A lot more needs to be done in terms of providing work for this section of workforce that was engaged in the unorganised sectors before the lockdown.

Due to COVID-19 outbreak, students are equally suffering a lot with emerging inequalities in accessing online classes and

appearing in online examination as authorities were forced to shut down schools and educational institutions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Basically, students from rural pockets of the country and belonging to poor families are feeling the heat of digital divide compared to students hailing from urban areas.

Access to internet, smart phone, computer system and insufficient knowledge to use the digital platforms are some crucial issues being encountered by the students to cope up with the new education system.

Seeing the present COVID-19 situation across India, including Assam, we can assume that the online learning will be continued for the next few months.

In view of that, it is imperative now for every student to have access to digital learning and efforts to be made on war footing to minimize the digital divide. Otherwise many students will be deprived of online education system and if it is happens then it will be a gross violation of Right to Education (RTE) Act as right to have access to net connectivity is a vital part of RTE Act under Article 21.

However, the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 has put an effort to bridge the digital divide by introducing a new section on digital education to ensure “equitable use of technology.” But the time will say how far it will succeed to lessen the digital gap.

Moreover, it is of paramount importance to throw some light

11

Kaustuvmoni Das on inequalities that are rooted in healthcare service. As the country has been witnessing sharp spike in the positives cases of COVID-19 every day and for which, there is increasing shortage of beds in the hospitals - particularly in government hospitals - in that condition, positive patients are bound to get admitted to private hospitals. Ironically, there are many allegations that private hospitals are billing steeply to COVID-19 patients without giving proper justification.

Thus, we may consider it as a kind of health inequality that needs to be addressed at an early date to provide affordable health services to every individual by triggering reforms in both public and private health system so that a patient’s savings are not all wiped out. In addition, focus is needed for universal health insurance across all ages to downsize the inequalities in healthcare system.

It is worth mentioning here that the United Nations, in their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2030 has putting the “Reducing Inequality” as one of the stand-alone goals at number 10 among 17 SDGs. UN has cornered inequality as a serious threat to social and economic stability for a country. Keeping that in mind, they have started to address the issue through regional and international cooperation.

Gauging the inequalities that have been uncovered due to the pandemic, everybody needs to introspect upon this and start to act accordingly at their individual capacities.

Existence of inequality in the society has to be a debatable topic in public forum and needs to be discoursed frequently so that it could get exposed more and subsequently working for a concrete solution by putting some good social protection and inclusion policies along with implementing reforms on progressive taxes on income and wealth for seeding equal development among all social classes. Hence, time is certainly ripe to develop a thought process against inequality for balancing the social and economic development of the nation.

(The author is a freelance writer & a rural development professional.

The views expressed in the article are his own)

12 Lifestyle

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Pranayama to counter negative Vaastu T he solar energies from the south are called Yama Tandava or wrath of Lord Yama (death) in Vaastu. A house having a defective south is subjected to all sorts of monetary and health problems including mishaps. The south direction is also associated with the tenth house of the horoscope which is called the karmasthan or place of work.

Deficiency in south hampers work and business as well. The bio-magnetic energy or prana gets depleted by a defective south which also affects marital relationships as the karmasthan is just four places away from the seventh house of the horoscope which is the place of marriage.

The Sudarshan Kriya has been developed by the great philosopher and Yoga Shiromani, Shri Shri Ravishanker. It is a variation and combination of several Pranayamas or breathing techniques.

The pranayama is a method of acquiring prana from the atmosphere into our bodies which is responsible for all the vital functions of our body. The literal meaning of sudarshan

Snippets Assam boxer Lovlina Borgohain among 29 nominees for this year’s Arjuna Award

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ssam boxer Lovlina Borgohain was on Tuesday, August 18, named in a 29-strong list of athletes recommended for the prestigious Arjuna Award by the Sports Ministry’s selection committee.

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, Atanu Das, Deepika Thakur, Deepak Hooda, Divij Sharan, Mirabai Chanu, Sakshi Malik, and three Paralympians are also among the 29 athletes who have been recommended for the Arjuna Award so far.

Now, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju, will have a final decision on the Selection Committee’s recommendations.

Hemanta Kumar Sarmah

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

kriya is action with proper vision.

With the help of this method, every part of our body is supplied with fresh prana which activates our body cells.

We have invisible nadis or energy channels in our body namely ida or lunar, pingala or solar and sushumna or brahma (central) nadi (energy channel) through which prana is supplied.

The ida energy is soft, yin or female and mild while the pingala energy is strong and yang or male.

The ida and pingala currents flow through northeast and southwest and through the left and right nostrils respectively. Sudarshan Kriya generates pingala energy which in turn can nullify defective energy from the south and southwest. Usually, there are three stages of this pranayama with first two being preparatory named Ujjaye and Bhastrika Breathing. Though this technique is very effective, its effects are not permanent. One has to practice the kriya regularly to reap its harvest.

Caution: One must practice this Pranayama after learning under the supervision of an expert teacher.

Black Rice Salad Ingredients

Garlic crushed

Black Rice 1 and 1/2 cup cooked rice

Honey 1 and 1/2 tbsp

1 Tomato 1 Cucumber 1/2 Carrots chopped into small piece Basil leaves 6/7 2 Chilles chopped Chicken breast pieces Lemon 1 Crush chilli powder Black pepper 1 tsp Garlic paste 2 tbsp Oregano 1 tbsp

For dressing: Lime juice Apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp Cumin powder 1/2 tsp Salt to taste

Shimu Dutta

Black pepper 1/2 tsp Mustard powder 1/2 tsp

Method Soak the black rice with a pinch of salt for 5 hours.

Pressure cook the rice for two whistles.

Now the cut all the vegetables in small sizes and keep them aside.

Take two breast pieces of chicken and marinate them with lemon juice, salt, black pepper and garlic paste or powder.

Let it the chicken pieces rest for some time and later grill or fry them in a pan.

For the salad dressing mix all the ingredients

properly.

When the chicken turns cool cut it into strips.

Now take a bowl add the cooked rice, basil and other vegetables, chicken

pieces, crushed chilli powder, black pepper and salad dressing.

Mix it well and your healthy bowl of salad is ready.

Feature

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

13

The legacy of Max Burton T he river called Bormahjan that was partially a manmade channel was deepened to divert the waters of the flash floods that rolled down the valley to Halem and overtopped the national highway above that town.

Singlijan, another river flowing to that town, was dammed upstream in the year 1950 by the then Manager at Halem tea garden - one Mr. Max Burton. He had overwhelmed the Deputy Commissioner at Tezpur to get this scheme sanctioned to save his own estate from flooding. This scheme over the years failed as the river bed got higher with all the silt carried down causing the eastern side of the embankment to breach annually. The embankment of the river on the eastern side

tea manually was a perennial problem as a bridge would invariably be damaged and at least for a month we would have to manage this hardship.

The last garden, Dufflaghur, near the town of Balijan had another access through their own company garden on the other side of the river through a very small iron bridge.

I made it a point to study the Max Burton dam in details and managed to take out the old papers from the DC’s office and made photocopies of the relevant papers to try and explain the crux of the problem to the authorities concerned.

The scheme was originally under the E & D

to Singlijan channel thereby transferring the problem of flooding in our area back to Halem who had started it in the first place. Those days all was fair in tea to survive and make your production anyhow.

There was a local person called Rajkhowa whose thirty odd bighas of prime farm land had become barren who needed little encouragement to get this done and the results were great for us. We had a few easy seasons by resorting to this

been doing the last few years.

It was tricky as the person who did this work did not want his name to be made public for fear of reprisal from the authorities and I had promised not to reveal his identity. We had a common boundary and there was a small ‘jeepable’ road which we allowed them to use for any medical emergency only. The manager called me over for dinner a number of times to discuss a strategy, so I told him that I would do him a favour and get my person to help him, but he would have to pay the amount to him for his services through me only.

Soon one night when it had rained

I told Officer-incharge that the perennial Bormahjan river problem was initially caused by one Max Burton and every year the villagers suffered a lot for his action.

So they had learnt to cut this river embankment to save themselves. was built up when the channel was broadened and dug up to carry the flood waters without any scientific planning. This embankment was also too weak to withstand the water pressure during high floods and broke open to release the water and sand to destroy the standing crops and elsewhere cover the soil with sand making it unsuitable for cultivation.

The waters also invariably breached the main connecting road to the Highway and Balijan, the main district town in Arunachal. The three tea gardens that were on this road were cut off for long periods of time making it very difficult to bring in stores or make the tea despatches. When I joined up at our garden which was the first of the three affected estates on the linking road, the local villagers of the Amjarani village were the worst sufferers. They had to face the brunt of the flood waters which destroyed their crops and made their land unsuitable for cultivation for years together.

For us as well as the second garden called Bormahjan T.E. the transhipment of goods and

department, but subsequently I learned that a new entity called the Brahmaputra Board was formed and the aforesaid department was subsumed into this new board. Naturally this was a very miniscule problem for the board and they never took up any concrete measures.

What they did was to engage a contractor and with bulldozers (JCB’s were not used then) dredged out the sand and tried to strengthen the embankment for about a kilometre. This worked at best for one season only and I was quite fed up with the repeated transhipment works required every year. I realized that we could take pre-emptive action if we were to cut the embankment on the western side upstream so that the waters all flowed out back

ruse, but Max Burton’s ghost must have been very annoyed for he sent me a curse.

It was my fifth year in the garden and by then we had also made an alternative route to connect to the highway through a village road which however took an hour longer and more over the local villagers objected when the road got damaged by the heavy laden trucks. The garden in the middle was in big problem as by that time the annual flooding broke one wooden bridge which was only half repaired as timber had become scarce and the government was planning to convert all wooden bridges to cement culverts. The manager there contacted me to give him the contact to cut the embankment as we had

heavily up in the mountains Rajkhowa was commissioned for this work and he duly delivered by cutting the embankment again and allowing the waters to run down to Halem. But this resulted in a villager’s house getting badly damaged in the flash flood and in this chaos a pregnant woman had a miscarriage. The family complained to the local gaonburaah who went to the police to nab the culprits who had done this work. As there was more population on the town area of Halem being on the highway it got publicity and the police started their investigations in earnest. I was directly in the line of fire so I went to our neighbouring garden’s manager and informed him that he too would be implicated. However there was

RanjanKumar Choudhury a solution; their company had a tea garden on the south bank near Jorhat and he had to send Rajkhowa to go and work there for some time till the incident calmed down. He immediately did the arrangements and the perpetrator of the crime vanished for over six months.

The police came around talking to everyone and naturally as we were one of the major affected parties they also came to meet me. I was on quite cordial terms with the OC as we had gone wild goose hunting a few times together on the Brahmaputra so I told him that the perennial Bormahjan river problem was initially caused by one Max Burton and every year the villagers suffered a lot for his action. So they had learnt to cut this river embankment to save themselves. The OC confided that the gaonburaah had political ambitions and he wanted to use this chance to garner good will from the public and he proposed that both our gardens pay something to him and close the matter. My friend in deed, the neighbouring Manager was worried, and he took immediate steps to arrange about ten thousand rupees and settle the case. Thus the case was settled and over the years our link road was strengthened and laid with bitumen, the main bridges were all converted to RCC structure and the perennial flood problem was much reduced. Now the damages were for about a few days only as the department repaired the breaches fast and kept the road serviceable.

However I did not forget about the woman who had the miscarriage and through some contacts I ascertained secretly that she was in good health and had been able to give birth to a son after her initial mishap. I saw to it that from our garden side we could offer the husband some contracts for supply of consumable items like bamboos and firewood without him coming to know the reason of this gesture. Many years later I met my accomplice Manager in Gurgaon by chance in a shopping mall and over a cup of coffee we talked about those days and laughed a lot; I also told him how I had finally laid to rest the ghost of Max Burton.

(The author can be reached at ranjanchou@hotmail.com)

14 Guest Column

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Draft Environment Impact Assessment notification 2020: Why it matters for Assam?

E

nvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process for assessing the impact of planned activities on the environment, wildlife, biodiversity, ecology, air, water etc. The process helps in identifying and evaluating the environmental, socio-economical, or any other possible impact of a proposed project which would ultimately help in deciding the mitigation measures to be taken to reduce any hazardous impact on the environment and our wellbeing.

EIA is an important tool considering the number of developmental projects being taken up by the government which has severe adverse effects on the environment. It can also keep a check on the dynamics of a proposed project and prevent in advance any such project which can have an adverse impact on the environment and human well-being. More than 100 countries around the world have mandated the process of EIA in their legislations and many international organizations such as World Bank mandate EIA as a condition precedent for any financing to such proposed projects. The EIA further provides necessary information based on which license can be granted to the project proponent or may be revised or rejected.

The Ministry of Forest, Environment, and Climate Change (MOEFF), on 23rd March 2020, issued the Draft EIA Notification 2020 which is purported to replace the EIA Notification 2006 and had put it for public hearing. But the draft notification has posed serious questions that are yet to be answered by the government.

The key concerns of the Draft EIA notification 2020

i. Diluted the process for particular industries: The projects seeking environmental clearance have to undergo certain steps such as screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisals.

Under the 2006 notification, projects are classified as Category A, B and C. The projects under Category A undergo the process of EIA whereas the Category B projects are further classified as Category B1 and Category B2 projects based on their spatial extents of potential impacts, human health and natural and man-made resources. Only the projects under Category B2 are exempted from the clumsy process. The Draft Notification 2020 includes 43 such sectors that would be automatically exempted from the process of seeking prior environmental clearance.

Further, it classified certain projects undertaken by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) such as non-toxic secondary metallurgical process, cement plants, petroleum products, synthetic paint manufacturing, etc as Category B projects which are exempted from the process of EIA and need not submit any EIA report or any appraisals or public hearing. This is not the case in existing EIA Notification 2006. ii. Flouting the process of Public Consultation: Public Consultation is a process by which the views of the persons residing in nearby areas of the proposed project and other stakeholders who have a plausible interest are taken into account to ascertain their rights that might be associated with the proposed project. The process of public consultation ensures a fair recognition of the rights of everyone associated and makes the process of EIA more transparent and vigorous.

Now the Draft Notification revised the list of projects that do not require going through the process of public consultation before procuring prior Environmental Clearance and included many other projects in the list which are being exempted from the process. These projects are being exempted by putting them under the labelling “projects involving strategic conditions” as determined by the central government. The Draft also proposes to reduce the timeframe for conducting a public hearing to 20 days from 30 days mandated under the EIA Notification 2006.

The proposed draft under Article 14(c) states that public consultation can be held through any mode based on the nature of the project as may be recommended by the appraisal committee or the regulatory authority on case to case basis.

Further, the notification allows the project proponent to engage private consultants for preparing the EIA reports severely flouting the process of public consultation. Also, Clause 17(4) of the draft restricts the amount of information to be made public. It states that only the decision of the regulatory authority and the final recommendations of the appraisal committee are to be made public.

This has frustrated the principle of participatory governance by keeping the citizens at abeyance. iii. Granting of Post-Facto Clearance to projects: The draft notification permits the granting of de-facto approval of projects that are operational without prior Environmental Clearance.

The notification provides for a standard procedure to bring any such violation under

regulation. Under the notification, the projects which are operating without any prior Environmental Clearance will have the right to seek approval from the MoEF’s Expert Appraisal Committee as long as it is permissible by law and it follows all the environmental norms.

There has been a massive increase in cases concerning violations of EIA; the most recent may be the LG Polymer Gas Leak in Vizag which was responsible for killing 12 people involving 1000 others who are being displaced from their homes. The company was operating without obtaining a valid EC since 2017. This incident reflects that how dangerous it could be granting post-facto clearance to companies without a valid EIA being done.

The authors put forward logical reasonings as to why the proposed draft requires a revision and a fresh draft should be made on the foundation of environmental law which should not be deplorable to the environment. iv. The period extended for submission of compliance report: The EIA mandates the Project Proponent to take necessary steps to safeguard the surrounding area of the proposed project based on the issues raised through public consultation or any other assessment being done in the final EIA report. It also replaced the bi-annual compliance report under the EIA Notification 2006 to an annual affair. Further, the draft also increased the period of validity for prior Environmental Clearance in key major industries such as the period of validity in cases of mining was 30 years in 2006 Notification which now has been increased to 50 years by the Draft Notification 2020. Similarly, in projects like a river valley, irrigation and nuclear power projects have been increased to 15 years from 10 years and all other projects from 5 to 10 years.

Why rejection of EIA matters for Assam?

Assam has recently been making news for all the wrong reasons when it comes to environment.

The Baghjan fire, which still continues to burn for more than 2 months now, has taken a toll not only on the lives of people who live in the surrounding areas but also on the ecosystem. However, the policy makers have historically had little concern when it comes

to pushing forward development activities. The irony in Assam was visible from the recent public outburst to save Dihing Patkai from mining activities.

The area of Baghjan which is hemmed by its tributaries Dangori and Dibru, a part of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and the Maguri Motapung Beel, is a village in Assam’s Tinsukia District. On May 27, the oil well No. 5 of Oil India Ltd blew out and started spewing oil and gas uncontrollably shrouding homes, farms, ponds, lakes and rivers alike in a toxic condensate for nearly a full fortnight. But it met with a catastrophe on June 9 when the oil well exploded putting everything on fire that was nearby and also endangering the ecology and life around there.

This posed a serious question as to whether it was not foreseeable or preventable?

Interestingly, the oil well existed within the DibruSaikhowa National Park’s Economic Sensitive Zone, with the approval of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in 2012. The most shocking thing was that although OIL had approached NBWL ostensibly seeking permission to lay their crude oil pipeline, they had already completed most of the pipeline-laying work, leaving only a small unfinished stretch across the Dibru River and Maguribeel.

A public sector undertaking has severely flouted the country’s environmental norms.

Also, The Baghjan’s 5 Oil wells are less than a kilometre from the wetlands at the southern end of the Park, a part of the ESZ which is in contravention of the Guidelines for the Declaration of Economic Sensitive Zone and National Wildlife Action Plan. Further, the said well is situated only 900 metres from the aforementioned park and there are 25 such oil wells that are present within the vicinity of the Reserved forest of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.

The Oil India Limited (OIL) had allegedly commenced drilling projects without the approval or clearance from the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) prior to 11.05.2020 in the areas which was a huge concern for the residents and locals in Baghjan. It is evident that even after having a legal framework, the enterprise has severely flouted all the norms for the sake of their own economic interest.

It can be observed from the incidents at Baghjan how Oil India Ltd. had carried out their activities without having any prior clearance which is a mandated process under EIA Notification 2006 and has posed a great threat to the environment

Animesh Anand Bordoloi Shubham Kashyap Kalita and wildlife. Further, Diluting the EIA under the mask of economic development would give a free hand to such industrial companies to exploit the natural resources and cause harm to the environment especially in the case of Assam which pose diverse natural resources and wildlife.

Conclusion The easing of the process of EIA for industries has made the process redundant and is contrary to the role of MOEFF & CC as a primary guardian. We have already witnessed how the Environment Ministry in April 2020 had cleared major industrial projects within 10 minutes through video conferencing without doing any proper scrutiny or site inspection which can have significant environmental impacts. The granting of postfacto clearance is contrary to the environmental norms and this has been laid down in a catena of judgments by Supreme Court as well as by the National Green Tribunal.

By a judgment dated 8 January 2016, the Bench of the National Green Tribunal for the Western Zone held a circular issued by the MOEFF & CC on 14 May 2002 as contrary to law. The circular paved the way for granting post-facto environmental clearances. The NGT had issued a slew of directions including the revocation of environmental clearances and for closing down those industrial units which are operating without any valid clearance.

The proposed draft requires a revision and a fresh draft should be made on the foundation of environmental law which should not be deplorable to the environment. The amendments must uphold the key principles of environmental law such as the polluter-pays principle, the Doctrine of Non-Regression, etc. There is a dire need for the EIA process to be strengthened further to prevent any adverse effect on the environment and for that very reason, there is a serious need for a comprehensive legislation on EIA governance in the country to avoid any further man instigated disasters.

(Shubham Kashyap Kalita is a 4thyear law student at National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam. Animesh Anand Bordoloi is a registered advocate at Gauhati High Court and an LLM graduate from the National University of Singapore. The views expressed in the article are their own.)

News This Week

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

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

1

Swachh Survekshan 2020: Assam ‘Fastest Mover State’

Assam has been named the ‘Fastest Mover State’ by the Swachh Survekshan 2020, conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affair. Awarding Assam the first place in the category, Swachh Bharat Urban tweeted, “We congratulate the State of Assam for being awarded the 1st place in the “Fastest Mover State (Less Than 100 ULBs)” category. Jharkhand, Haryana and Uttarakhand have been named as the “Best Performing State” in the less than 100 ULBs category. The results were announced by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at a ceremony on 20th August. This is the fifth edition of Swachh Survekshan, introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2016.

2

27% CBSE students do not have access to smartphones, laptops: NCERT survey

Approximately 27% of the students do not have access to smartphones and laptops, as per a survey conducted by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT). The survey involving over 34,000 participants found that more than one in every three students find online classes difficult or burdensome, with most students facing problems in understanding mathematical concepts. After maths, science was the most difficult to grasp online, while around 17% of the students had difficulty in learning languages. The survey, part of Education ministry’s Student Learning Enhancement Guidelines, recommended that students not having gadgets can be paired with others in their neighbourhood.

3

Air India One to arrive in India early next week

The much anticipated Air India One is scheduled to finally arrive in India by next week. The Boeing 777-300ERs is to be used exclusively by the President, Vice-President and the Prime Minister. Special features of the aircraft include a missile defence system called the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM), Self-Protection Suites (SPS) and state-of-the-art communication system. It will be operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), although it will be received by Air India. Reportedly, the handover is complete and the call sign is likely to change from Air India One to Air Force One, just like its American counterpart. The aircraft can fly over 17 hours continuously without refuelling and has the Ashoka emblem besides Bharat and India written over it.

4

19 million salaried people lost jobs due to COVID-19 in India: CMIE reports

A total of 18.9 million (1.89 crore) salaried people have lost their jobs in India since April, a little after the Covid-19 lockdown began. In July alone, five million salaried people have been rendered jobless, according to data released by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). “It is an unhealthy recovery and the situation has worsened for salaried jobs,” the CMIE said. According to the data, salaried jobs stood at 86.3 million in 2016-17, which declined to 86.1 million in 2019-20.

The CMIE report also showed job losses in the manufacturing sector were the worst. Within manufacturing, textile was the most severely hit.

5

SC orders CBI probe into Sushant Singh Rajput death case

The Supreme Court of India, on August 19, said the CBI will investigate actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and asked the Mumbai police to hand over all evidence collected so far to the investigating agency. The court also said the FIR registered in Bihar based on the complaint filed by Sushant Singh’s father was correct and Bihar was competent to ask the CBI to investigate the case. The apex court was hearing actor Rhea Chakraborty’s petition seeking transfer of investigation in Sushant Singh Rajput death case from Patna in Bihar to Mumbai.

Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was found dead in his Mumbai apartment on June 14.

6

15

Centre orders immediate withdrawal of 10,000 CAPF troops from J&K

The Centre on August 19 ordered the “immediate” withdrawal of about 10,000 paramilitary personnel from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. An official order read that the decision was taken after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reviewed the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the union territory (UT). A total of 100 CAPF companies have been ordered to be withdrawn “immediately” and they have been asked to return to their base locations in the country. This is the biggest de-induction of these forces after additional troops were rushed to the UT after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution that gave the erstwhile state a unique status.

7

NRA to conduct Common Eligibility Test for recruitment to non-gazetted posts

Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment of all nongazetted posts in the Central Government and public sector banks by the National Recruitment Agency (NRA).

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced the same in a press conference on 19th August. “This decision will benefit job seeking youth of the country,” said Javadekar.

Candidates will have to appear in a single entrance examination for all non-gazetted posts of Group B and C. The results of CET will have a validity of three years during which candidate can apply for jobs of higher levels in different sectors depending upon his/her aptitude and preferences.

8

Rohit Sharma, 3 other athletes recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award

Team India opener Rohit Sharma is amongst the four other athletes nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2020, which is India’s most prestigious sporting honour. Other than Sharma, table tennis champion Manika Batra, Paralympic gold medalist Mariappan Thangavelu and Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat have all been advocated for the Khel Ratna Award. After MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Rohit becomes only the 4th cricketer ever to be recommended for the Khel Ratna Award. Rohit Sharma is currently the vice-captain of Team India. He is also the only batsman to score four tons in T20 cricket too.

9

IPL title sponsorship sold to Indian Fantasy Sports App at Rs 222 Cr

After the slot of the title sponsorship of Indian Premier League (IPL) was vacated as the Chinese handset maker Vivo decided to exit from it, Dream 11 has taken over the spot. Dream 11, the fantasy cricket and sports app, won the bid for title sponsorship of IPL 2020 for Rs. 222 crore. This was informed by IPL Chairperson Brijesh Patel. Earlier, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved also considered bidding for the title sponsorship of the upcoming league to be held in UAE from 19th September.

10

Kim Jong-Un orders citizens to hand over pet dogs for meat amid food shortage

If reports in the media are to be believed, North Korea is facing a food supply crisis and its controversial leader has reportedly ordered his people to hand over their pet dogs so they can be turned into meat for restaurants.

According to a report in the New Zealand Herald, the move by the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is thought to be aimed at quelling the rising discontent among the public as the economic situation in the secretive country is crumbling and food shortages have become a huge worry. Thus, Kim Jong-Un has given the order to citizens to hand over their pet dogs so they can be killed for meat. It is reported that in North Korea, it is usually the wealthy who own domesticated pets including dogs.

16 Catching Up

| Aug 22 - Aug 28, 2020

Remembering

PIC OF THE

Art of the week

WEEK

Devi Ram Das | World Photography Day

Artist: Sanjeev Handique | The New Normal

Barasha Das @Barasha_mi2

Heritage Home of Guwahati: Borooah Nilaya

G

uwahati has a rich heritage like all other old cities. Lost amongst the concrete ultramodern megastructures of today, the city still has a number of heritage structures to brag about.

One such building is the ancestral house of Robindra Nath Borooah, former editor of The Assam Tribune. Named ‘Borooah Nilaya’, it is located near Jorpukhuri, Ambari and is almost a century old. It was built by his father Jogendra Nath Borooah in 1924.

Jogendra Nath Borooah was originally from Sarupathar, Golaghat. He was the district judge in Gauhati at that time and chose to settle here.

What’s unique about this British era house is that it was the first private house of the city to have a structural frame of steel, something far ahead for its time.

The structural steel columns and beams were manufactured in England and were used to construct the roof of the ground floor, and for the platform for the first floor. In between the steel

Unlock: Back to business | Photo: Surajit Sharma

One week of Unlock 3 has made Guwahatians realize how we have not missed the traffic jams. In trying to skip traffic jams by swiftly taking shortcuts don’t be shocked when you enter the lanes of Guwahati. What one witnesses is an abnormal sight of either a pre or post corona world! People roaming on the streets casually without a ‘mask’, not-a-big-deal, evening addas with no social distancing, children playing on the streets...

PS: The COVID-19 caller tune girl says ‘The process of Unlock has started in the country.....’ but the pandemic remains.

columns were placed the bricks and then a layer of cement. The walls of the house are made of cane and mud paste. So also is the false ceiling. The top root is of tin.

The ‘porte cochere’ (covered entrance) of this beautiful building has ornamental ironwork brought in from England and Belgium.

As Guwahati had much colder winters at that time, fireplaces were built in each room on the ground floor.

As the family supported the ideologies of the Swadeshi Movement, at the back of the

house there was a ‘jotor’ (spinning wheel) to spin thread from cotton and a ‘taat saal’ (loom) to weave handloom clothes keeping up with the Assamese tradition. The Barooah family also had a ‘bhoral’ (granary) to store grains.

“Apart from their eight children, Jogendra Borooah and his wife Chandra Prova Borooah had also hosted a lot of family members who came to Guwahati for education and jobs. The couple also helped most of them settle in Guwahati,” said Jayanta Barooah, their grandson.

“Pakistan Minister Threatens India With Nuclear War, Says it Won’t Harm Muslims.” Pakistan Minister Sheikh Rashid, in an interview said, “If Pakistan gets attacked by India, there is no scope for conventional war. This will be a bloody and nuclear war.

It will be a nuclear war for sure. We have very calculated weapons which are small and perfect. Our weapons will save Muslim lives and will only target certain regions.

Pakistan’s range now even includes Assam.

Pakistan has no option in conventional war; therefore India knows if something happens, it will be the end.”

Printed & Published by Sunit Jain on behalf of Insight Brandcom Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Janambhumi Press (P) Ltd., Kalapahar, Guwahati and Published at 4A, Royale Arcade, Ulubari, Guwahati - 781007, Editor: Swapnil Bharali.

Phone: 0361 2522444, Email: info@g-plus.in, RNI No: ASSENG/2013/52641