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ASSENG/2015/64205

PAGE 11

Vol. 1

Issue 343

Dibrugarh, Sunday, May 22, 2016

Price -

5.00

Pages- 12

PAGE 12

Arunachal CM warns forces which Border with Bangladesh will be trying to create rift with Assam sealed in 2 year’s time: Sonowal PTI Itanagar, May 21

Perturbed over reports that some organizations are trying to create division among the people living along the interstate border with Assam, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul today said his government would take strong action against such divisive forces and appealed to the people to

CM Kalikho Pul

maintain peace.

"It is unfortunate to see

some organizations with vested interest are trying to disrupt the age old relationship of the people of both the states by misguiding the general people and trying to create unwanted situation along the inter-state border," Pul said in a statement here.

The government would come down heavily on such divisive forces acting through social and regional media, he said.

The government was

conducting an inquiry into the matter and those found responsible would be punished under law, he added.

Stating that the people of Assam and Arunachal have a strong bond of human relationship and cultural affinity nourished for centuries, he appealed to the people of the two states not to allow the bond to be shaken by divisive forces and maintain peace and harmony.

BUDDHA JAYANTI RALLY IN DIYUN

Sealing of the borders with Bangladesh will be completed in two year’s time to put an end to infiltration, Assam’s Chief Minister-to-be Sarbananda Sonowal said on Saturday infiltration trend will stop automatically. Plus we will create awareness among the people to prevent infiltration”, he had said.

PTI Guwahati, May 21

Sealing of the borders with Bangladesh will be completed in two year’s time to put an end to infiltration, Assam’s Chief Minister-to-be Sarbananda Sonowal said on Saturday.

Asked what method or law he intended to apply to stop infiltration from Bangladesh as he was against the now repealed IMDT Act, Mr. Sonowal said, “When the final draft of the (ongoing) updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam is published, it will be clear who are the citizens and infiltrators will get identified.

A product of the student movement of the 80s during the anti-foreigners agitation, Mr. Sonowal, who steered the BJP to victory in the elections, has put the issue of infiltration and attempts to check them as his government’s priority.

The BJP had made infiltration one of the major issues in the poll campaign.

“Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had given a twoyear time frame for permanent sealing of the border. We will work towards finishing within that time frame the border sealing work, including the riverine border,” he said in an interview.

Sarbananda Sonowal He was asked how he intended to seal the IndoBangladesh border, an issue he spoke about soon after his party romped home in the election on Thursday.

Indo-Bangla border in Karimganj district of southern Assam in January this year had said construction of the barbed wire fence along the Assam stretch would be completed by the end of this year.

Rajnath Singh had during his on-the-spot visit to the

“As soon as the border is sealed permanently, the

“The problem will get solved and action will then be taken against infiltrators as per existing law.

“Like the Wagah border in Punjab with Pakistan, we will also have a similar ceremony in Assam along the IndoBangladesh border. We will make it into a tourist spot where people can come and watch the ceremony. This will also stop infiltration”, he added.

Split in Assam’s Muslim votes may have favoured the BJP BJP plans to have Sonowal’s

The Chakma community in Diyun celebrated the Buddha Purnima at Bana Vihar, Jyostnapur. More than 10 thousands Chakmas prayed for world peace. The celebration and prayer started with a beautiful religious procession.

Student of Golaghat shines in CBSE’s 12th result of all streams Golaghat, May 21: "The students of the school have done splendid result in all the streams", said the Principal Anurekha Borkakoti after declaration of Class 12 CBSE results in the district Delhi Public School of Numaligarh.

Mrs Borkakoti told that Sanjukta Mandal secured 97% in Humanities, Chahbaz Aman with 96.8% and Bidisha Jain with 96% have outshine with superb performances. The entire DPS Numaligarh family is happy as schools pass percentage is 100%.

On the other hand Jawahar Navoday Vidyalaya situated in Cinatoli have also done well with 94% as pass percentage in Science and Commerce. The Principal Manmohan Chowdhary said Vikash Shah has secured 93.8% in Commerce and Gautam Rajguru has secured 92.4 % in Science. Mr Chowdhary said he is happy with the result as students of Navoday Vidyalaya basically belong to interior regions.

From Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya, Golaghat, Sriparna Saha of Science stream secured 92.2%.

The pass percentage was 66.67%. (Correspondent)

Blast at professor house

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Kokrajhar, May 21: A crude bomb was exploded inside a house of Prof. Abdul Kalek Fakir late last night at Rupsigaon under Tulsibil police outpost in Kokrajhar district.

According to Fakir, a professor by his profession at Jomduar College in Gossaigaon that a huge sound was arisen inside house complex following explosion late last night which took place around 11.40 pm, but no one was injured. Fakir lodged an FIR with police in this regard.

Police rushed the spot and collected samples from the spot, which was suspected of crude bomb that was planted by unidentified miscreants.

‘Investigation is on into incident’, said a senior police officer. (Correspondent)

swearing ceremony in big way to showcase its achievement A Staff Reporter Guwahati, May 21:

ministers, and all the chief ministers of the North Eastern states.

The BJP led NDA government is planning to have the swearing ceremony of the Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his cabinet in a big way to be able to showcase its achievement and then expand its territory into other North eastern states as well.

“The Assam BJP is also planning to invite the ambassadors of the neighbouring countries—Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar to the event,” said a BJP spokesperson. The grand ceremony will be held at the Khanapara field at Guwahati.

Apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah, the Assam BJP is planning to invite the chief ministers of all the NDA ruled states in the country, all the central

The first meeting of the BJP Legislature Party in Assam will be held on May 22 to elect the party’s chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal as its leader. The newly-elected

BJP members of the Assam Assembly today informally met under the leadership of Sonowal at the party headquarters in Guwahati, party spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarma said. BJP’s alliance partners, AGP and BPF, will meet the next day to elect Sonowal as the leader of the alliance, he said. Meanwhile, Sonowal is camping at New Delhi and have already had a round of meeting with Shah and several senior leaders of the party, and the list of ministers is likely to be finalized soon. Out of the total ministerial strength of 19, the AGP is likely to be given 3, and the BPF 2 cabinet berths.

Agencies Guwahati, May 21

did they reject the AIUDF’s appeal but they voted en masse for the Congress in many seats.

The high tally of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in the assembly elections in Assam resulted from the interplay of many factors, including a split among the Muslim votes in the state.

A fraction among them, also appear to have voted in favour of the BJP, which was primarily due to the influence of local issues and candidates.

An analysis of the voting pattern of the Muslims in Assam reveals a confusing picture – while the majority among them decided to remain loyal to the Congress, a significant percentage from the traditional bastions of the old party have shifted to the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) led by perfume baron Maulana Badruddin Ajmal and the BJP-Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) alliance.

Contrary to the expectation of most poll observers, the AIUDF has not performed as poorly as it was predicted. It

won 13 seats and 13% of the popular vote – and managed to swing a large number of Muslim votes away from the Congress in several constituencies in the Bengalidominated Barak Valley. This was primarily due to the antiCongress wave in Hailakandi and south Karimganj, where the party’s candidates were facing allegations of corruption.

But a different scenario emerged in western and central Assam, which has many seats

dominated by Bengali Muslims and immigrants. The bulk of the votes there got transferred to the Congress, including in South Salmara from where Ajmal lost.

In the western and central regions, the Bengali Muslims have always despised being clubbed with immigrants from Bangladesh. They were alarmed when Ajmal gave a call for all Muslims to unite ahead of the polls against what he felt was polarisation of the Hindus by the BJP. Not only

For instance, BJP candidate Ashok Singhi’s win from the Muslim-dominated East Bilasipara is attributed to his network among the Muslims which came about from the wholesale business he had established decades ago and a split of the votes between the Congress and AIUDF. Division of votes between the two parties also helped Aminul Haque Laskar, the lone Muslim MLA from the BJP, win from Sonai in the Barak Valley. A fraction of Bengali Muslims also voted for the BJP in Barkhetri, Sipajhar and Sarbhog to defeat the Congress Contd. on Page 3

Theravada Buddhist Society celebrates 2560th Buddha Jayanti with enthusiasm A Staff Reporter Itanagar, May 21

The 2560th Buddha Jayanti was jointly celebrated today by the Theravada Buddhist Society (TBS) and the Itanagar Buddhist Cultural Society (IBCS) at Theravada Buddhist Vihara, Itanagar.

The auspicious day, also known as Buddha Purnima, marks Gautam Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and Parinibbana (death). Devout Buddhists and followers alike assembled in the Theravada Buddhist Vihara and the Thuptem Ga-Tseling monastery early morning to hoist the international Buddhist flag and sang hymns in praise of the holy triple gem –the Buddha, the Dhamma (his

teachings) and the Sangha (his disciples).

Soon, a mass procession began from the Thuptem GaTseling monastery and culminated at Theravada Buddhist Vihara, where guests and dignitaries arrived to partake in the celebrations.

Legislative Assembly Speaker Wangki Lowang, who was the chief guest on the occasion, urged upon the entire Buddhist community of the state to promote and spread the teachings of Lord Buddha on a global level.

Handing over a token of love to upgrade the existing monastery, he hoped that the celebration committee would hold next year’s celebration in a larger arena to accommodate

Girls performing Devotional dance during 2560th Buddha Jayanti at Theravada Buddhist Vihara

more people so that the Buddha’s teachings could spread out far and wide.

Lowang also launched the TBS official website www.tbsitanagar.org.

Pleased to have learnt much from the talk of Venerable A Pannasara, who dwelt on the relevance of the Buddha’s teaching in the changing world, Capital Complex Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar Singh hoped that he could participate in more such celebrations of the Buddhist community to gain more information and knowledge on Lord Buddha.

Highlighting that the last two months have witnessed many unfortunate incidents from various corners of the state,

Deputy Commissioner Singh hoped that the Buddhist community follows the principles and teachings of Lord Buddha and paves way for peace, love and kindness towards others.

Later, the DC released the book ‘Buddha Vandana’.

Delegates from the Royal Thai Embassy also participated in the programme and presented the esthetically pleasing ‘Serang Ponglang’ dance.

The delegation headed by Minister Counsellor (Commercial Affairs) of the Royal Thai Embassy, Contd. on Page 3

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ET CAPSULES

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

PAGE 2 ASTRO FOR YOU Aries You are to look before you leap. One hasty decision may undo a lot of hard work accomplished over a long period of time. After a tense morning, you may simply want an evening with kids, helping them grow the Dahlias.

Taurus You are likely to get extra passionate and fervent today. If your logic prevails over your heart, things will probably change for better during the course of the day. It is high time that you set into motion the poignant side of your character.

Gemini You will be filled with concern and sensitivity towards others, and will bestow your blessings upon many. However, being too emotional is not advisable. Your emotions could get in the way of your progress at the work-front. You need to listen to your head over your heart when it comes to professional matters.

Cancer You may be in one of your more frivolous moods today. Gossip, fun, laughter and some harmless flirting shall make your day interesting, yet these are not the pastimes you usually enjoy. Hence, as the day rolls on, you shall find yourself to your reserved, reticent self concentrating hard on getting the work done to make way for the early evening gym/ driving class. Good going, after all finding balance is just the right thing to do.

Leo You will give importance to your work and your style of functioning to get a promotion in the office. You will also increase the amount of work you put in. While the fruits of your labour may not be immediately available to you, in a very short time you can expect to make more gains than you expected to. Nothing worthy of note is likely to occur in your personal relationships today.

Virgo You are renowned for your leadership qualities and today they will be much appreciated for the way you manage your team. You will get a long-due promotion, and will come in for some extra cash. You received all this by wisely balancing work and home, so be careful not to slip up on this front.

Libra You never let a favour go unacknowledged or let ridicule pass by unanswered. So, it's time to settle those old accounts that are so important to you.. This will increase chances of interesting developments that will continue to surprise you throughout the day.

Scorpio Socially, you enjoy being in limelight as all the eyes are focused on you. However, beware of evil eyes that may not have good intentions towards you. You are a good soul and never hurt anyone. But, at times, it's important to know your foe's weakness to be on the safer side.

Sagittarius Brace yourselves; the day has a lot of uncertainties today. You may have to shell out money for unexpected expenses. But, this may also teach you to be economically independent.

Always look at the brighter side.

Capricorn The day calls for making amends and undoing the damage done to relationships, so you will most likely focus on improving rapport with relatives and peers. But despite your affable approach, family feud may occur. Keeping obnoxious neighbors at bay will save you some trouble.

Aquarius You are an excellent team player and your performance reaches a new high when you are a part of a group. Be an active member of your group, express your opinions, share your knowledge and see how your team becomes the winning team. Wind up your day by hanging out with friends and family.

Pisces You will be treading new ground at work. Exciting as that sounds, it merely means you will have to do a lot of travelling today. You will also find yourself swamped with drafting new business proposals, holding meetings, or otherwise networking over the phone. On the brighter side, your travels are unlikely to involve the cramps of flying economy class.

Eight Nalbarian legislators in 14th Assam Assembly ET Correspondent Nalbari, May 21: The people of Nalbari district feel very proud as 14th Assam Assembly is being adorned by the eight legislators who originally hails from Nalbari district. Of the eight newly elected legislators seven won from the BJP which is going to form the ministry in Dispur while the lone candidate from the outgoing INC. All the three constituencies of the district are being captured by the BJP candidates. They are Ashok Sarma from Nalbari LAC, Chandra Mohan Patowary from Dharmapur LAC and Narayan Deka from Barkshetri LAC.

While former AGP minister Chandra Mohan Patowary won to the Assam Assembly for the fifth term, Ashok Sarma and Narayan Deka are new comers to the Assembly. Besides them the legislator Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma who won from the Jalukbari LAC belongs to the Nalbari district. His father Kailash Sarma who worked in the Industries department was a resident of Latima village in Nalbari district. Former minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has a cordial relation with his native village of Latima and feels proud as a Nalbarian.

Former state BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharya

People of Sivasagar wants Tapan Gogoi in Sarbananda's Cabinet ET Correspondent Sivasagar, May 21: Former Student leader AASU general secretary Tapan kumar Gogoi ,who has contested in the last assembly election as a BJP candidate from Sonari constituency and won by a huge margin of over 24000 Nos votes . Tapan Gogoi has

defeated his nearest rival and heavy weight Congress candidate Sarat Borkotoky.

As an energetic youth leader of the state peoples , particularly the youth community of the Sivasagar district wants that Tapan Gogoi should be induct as a cabinet minister in the new BJP government .

Celebrated 2560th birth year of Lord Buddha at Margherita

PRASAR BHARATI (India's Public Service Broadcaster) ALL INDIA RADIO : DIBRUGARH (M.W.529.1m/KHz567 F.M. 101.30 MHz)

His father Gauri Shankar Bhattacharya of of Chatama Village under Barbhag revenue circle in Nalbari district was a dedicated politician of the state politics.

Bhattacharya learnt about the value based politics from his father. In Patacharkuchi LAC of Barpeta district a dedicated politician Prabindra Deka won the seat for third time to the 14th Assam Assembly. Deka who is also a Nalbarian legislator born at Kaurehagi village near Tihu

in Nalbari district. In 1985 poll Deka won the seat with highest margin of votes among the 126 legislators.

In Batadraba LAC of Nagaon a young girl Angurlata Deka elected on BJP ticket. A daughter in law of Nagaon Angurlata also hails from a remote village of Nalbari district. She was born at Katpuha village of the district and was a popular actress.

She married to Akashdwip, a film actor. In against of those BJP legislators who belong to the district a woman elected to the 14th Assam Assembly on the Congress ticket. She is Nandita Das, a daughter in

22-5-16 (SUNDAY)

A speeding motorcyclist without helmet hits pedestrian Spl Correspondent Tinsukia, May 21: Two persons including a pedestrian were injured in a road accident on NH37 near Makum oil field under Makum police station in Tinsukia district on Saturday morning.

The pedestrian, 64 - year old Md. Babu Ali has been referred to Assam medical college and hospital with serious injuries while the motorcyclist, 26 - year old Md. Mazirul Islam has been admitted at civil hospital in Tinsukia.

According to sources, the youth was going towards Makum direction on a splendor motorcycle (bearing registration number AS 23K 7107) when in an at-

tempt to overtake he hit attempt pedestrian. The accident was so severe that the motorcycle fell on the other side of the road while the

ET Correspondent Margherita, May 21: Lord Buddha 2560th birth year was today celebrated at Margherita Buddha Vihara.

The Programme began with the hoisting of Buddhist flag

by Gyanowada Mahathera head of Margherita Buddha Vihara. After that Buddha Puja was held where more than 200 Buddhist followers of Margherita region were present. At evening candles were lighted by the present people. After holy discourse of Lord Buddha were delivered by

Gyanowada Mahathera to the present people.

Gyanowada Mahathera of Margherita Buddha Vihara said that today is a sacred day for Buddhist religion followers all over the world as today is the Day where Lord Buddha was born, got enlightenment and got mahaparinirvan. Buddhist religion is a symbol of love, peace, brotherhood, humanity and non violence that is why the whole world love and honour the Buddhist religion said Gyanowada Mahathera.

ET Correspondent Sivasagar, May 21: Excise department of Sivasagar sub-division and Sadar police of Sivasagar, jointly speeded up its operations against illegal liqueur in various parts of Sivasagar town and its adjacent areas.

Ten people including two women were arrested by this joint operation team from various parts of Sivasagar town and adjacent areas, in last three days in connection with gambling and selling illegal liqueur and seized 1230 liter foreign wine as well as 28500 liters of local wine. Later a complaint was filed against them under Assam excise act.

On the other hand, on 13th may, the joint operation team during an operation in Amguri, were able to seized 40 case of Arunachali wine, 10100 litter of hooch (Sulai), 40 case Arunachali wine, 41 cases of foreign wine, 16 hooch keeping drums and other hooch making utensils, when it was trying to smuggle at Nagaland.

A senior excise official said that, the joint operation team managed to seize a huge number of illegally stoked local and foreign win from various Dhaba's, which are situated at the both sides of National Highway 37.

Fewer women candidates make it to Assam Assembly this time PTI Guwahati, May 21: Eight women candidates have been elected to the new Assam legislative Assembly, which is six less than the figure of 14 in the last House.

Women representatives will thus comprise only 6.35% of the 126-member house, lower than the 11.1% in the last Assembly.

A higher turnout of

law of Nalbari district who won the Boko seat. A daughter in law of Galdighala village near Adabari in Nalbari district Nandita worked in Nalbari district for a long time. She was a strong ticket aspirant of AGP from Barkshetri constituency in 2011 poll.

As she was deprived of Nandita joined the Congress and worked in the constituency. A Mahila Congress leader Nandita was given ticket at Boko seat from where she elected to the Assembly for the first time. Now the people are waiting to see the role to be played by eight Nalbarian legislators in the Assembly.

youth on one side. The youth was without helmet due to which he received head injuries as well, according to sources.

Police seizes huge numbers One run by of illegal liqueur during over truck major raid at Sivasagar

Phone No.-03732325456 E-mail -dibrugarh@air.org.in Facebook Page-All India Radio Dibrugarh Programme Highlights

5-35 A.M-Bhaktigeeti (Devotional Songs) 6-10 A.M-Swasthya Charcha (Health Programme) 6-30 A.M-Bidyarthir Anusthan 7-15 A.M-Aajir Dinto (Morning Information Service) 7-30 A.M-Geetanjali (Assamese Modern Songs) 8-35 A.M-Surar Panchoi (Composite Programme of Assamese Film Songs) 9-05 A.M- Antara (Composite Programme of Hindi Film Songs) 12-30 P.M-Hindi Film Songs 1-50 P.M-Adhunik Geet 2-30 P.M-Western Music 3-45 P.M-Programme in Miju Mishmi 4-05 P.M-Programme in Khamti 4-25 P.M-Programme in Wancho 4-45 P.M-News for Arunachal Pradesh 5-00 P.M-Programme in Idu 5-20 P.M-Programme in Tangsa 5-40 P.M-Programme in Nocte 6-15 P.M-Ganya Raijor Anusthan (Rural Programme) 7-15 P.M-Yuvavani (Youth Programme) 7-45 P.M-Daakpakhili 8-00 P.M-Ekalabya (Sponsored Programme of K.K Handique State Open University) 10-00P.M-Classical Music Sd-/H.O.P

who won from the Pub Guwahati LAC more than 95,000 votes originally belongs to Nalbari district.

women was, however, witnessed with 84.81% of the total 92,09,928 female voters exercising their franchise in the just concluded polls.

The Congress, which gave tickets to 16 members, has the highest number of three representatives which include PWD Minister and sitting Golaghat MLA Ajanta Neog and two new faces — Roselina Tirkey from Sarupathar and Nandita

Das from Boko who made it to the new assembly.

All the sitting women Congress MLAs, including two outgoing ministers — Bismita Gogoi and Sumitra Patir, who were given tickets lost the polls.

The newly elected BJP government gave tickets to six female candidates with only two — Angoorlata Deka from Batadrava and Suman Haripriya from Hajo

making it to the state assembly.

The BPF gave tickets solely to its sitting women candidates — Pramila Rani Brahma from Kokrajhar (East) and Kamali Basumatari from Panery and they retained both the seats.

The AGP, which had no women representative in the last Assembly, had given tickets to only two women with former Deputy Speaker

Renupama Rajkhowa winning the Teok seat.

The AIUDF had one representative in the last Assembly but not a single woman candidate managed to win a seat though it had put up five candidates.

Most of the major parties gave fewer tickets to women in this election with Congress giving tickets to 16 candidates as against 19 in 2011.

ET Correspondent Mangaldai, May 21: One Sahadat Ali (50), a resident of Dalgaon succumbed to his injuries in Mangaldai Civil Hospital here after being hit from behind by a speedy truck on the NH 15 near his residence in the morning today.

The truck driver who fled the spot along with his vehicle bearing registration no AS 14 C 5521 was later nabbed by police from near Burhigaon area under Dhula PS of the district.

Golaghat observes antiterrorism day ET Correspondent Golaghat, May 21: Like the other parts of the country, anti-terrorism day was also observed at Golaghat today. A programme was held today in this occasion at the DC office in Golaghat where all the officials took oath to fight against terrorism. In the programme, Additional Deputy Commissioners, Sonaram Khanikar, Noor Hussain, SDO Merapani Orpa Baglary along with other officials of Golaghat district administration were present.

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

PAGE 3 CBSE class 12 result 2016: Girl tops from Tinsukia ET Correspondent Tinsukia, May 21: With the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) results for class XII board examinations announced on Saturday, this year too girls outperformed boys here in Tinsukia securing the top position from the district. Tinsukia girl Anisha Isharwalia, who aspires to be a scholar in Actuarial Science and study at Delhi University, has topped the CBSE Class XII board examination in Tinsukia with 97 per cent. Anisha, a student of Budding Buds Senior Secondary School, scored 485 marks out of 500.

Speaking to this correspondent, Anisha said, hard work is key to success and this is the message she wants to give to her juniors. She has given credit to her parents and teachers for her success.

Anisha is daughter of Sanjay Isharwalia and Babita Isharwalia of Tinsukia.

Pariyati Sasana Buddhist Vihara of Namsai Buddha Poornima celebrated as ‘Intercelebrates third blessing day of Buddha Purnima national Buddha Poornima Diwas 2016 of World Buddhist flag and procession with images of Lord Buddha in the entire Namsai township. Devotees dressed in their best traditional attire throng in huge number to participate in the procession carried out for world peace and tranquility of the region.

Monk ordination ceremony taking out a Peace Possession during 2560 AD Buddha Jayanti calibration at Namsai Pariyatti Sasana Buddha Vihara of Arunachal Pradesh.

Pic - UB Photos

ET Correspondent Namsai, May 21: Upasampada (higher ordination) of two novice mark the thrice blessed day of Buddha Purnima commemorating the birth, en-

Massive preparations underway ahead of Sonowal's oath ceremony in Assam ANI Guwahati, May 21: Hectic political activity is underway in Assam as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sarbananda Sonowal's oath taking day as Chief Minister draws near.

Sonowal along with his party colleague Himanta Biswa Sharma held a meeting with alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad's President Atul Bora and working president Keshav Mahanta last night.

On the other hand, Bodoland People's Front leaders Hagrama Mahilary and Biswajit Daimary also met them in Guwahati and held talks on government formation.

Meanwhile, Pramila Rani Brahma has been elected leader

of BPF legislature party.

Robiram Narzary was elected as her deputy and Chandan Brahma as the Chief Whip.

The swearing in ceremony of the new BJP led government will take place on 24th of May at Khanapara in Guwahati.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP Party President Amit Shah and Chief Ministers of NDA ruled states are expected to attend the ceremony.

Sonowal is likely to resign from his post as Union Minister today.

The new assembly consists of members from all walks of life, including lawyers, doctors, student leaders, actors, producers and former Indian Information Service officers.

Theravada Buddhist Society celebrates 2560th Buddha Jayanti with enthusiasm Contd. from Page 1 Tharadol Thongruang spoke of the similarities in culture and hoped that the ties between the two countries could further be strengthened.

Considering that the celebration of Buddha Jayanti also means making special efforts to bring happiness and to assist the less privileged, the TBS and IBCS also donated towards the treatment of 10month old Baby Peter, who is suffering from bone marrow complications.

Simultaneously, the TBS, IBCS and Arunachal Vivekananda Yuva Shakti

(AVYS), in collaboration with State Blood Transfusion Council and Ramakrishna Mission Hospital organized a blood donation camp at Theravada Buddhist temple campus, where 13 units of blood were donated.

AVYS chairman Ramesh Jeke said that “blood donation camps have always been an essential way of helping people and the auspicious day of Buddha Jayanti serves as a wonderful occasion to organize this camp and turn the teachings of the Buddha to serve others into a reality.”

He also appealed to everyone to come up to support the cause and donate blood.

lightenment and parinibbana (death) of Lord Buddha here in Pariyati Sasana Buddhist Vihara Namsai today. The blessed day was celebrated with religious traditional gaiety

where people from all walks of life participated enthusiastically.

The day begun with Sangalong (dressing) of novice followed by hoisting

The Abbot of Pariyati Sasana Buddhist Vihara Namsai Venerable Aggadhamma Mahathero informed that Abhidhamma Pathana Chanting by eight monks is also carried out since May 18 and will last upto May 22 as this is very important aspect of Buddhism and Abhidhamma is considered to be the ultimate Buddha’s teaching.

Later tomorrow, Pabajja Samanera-Khamsang which is a Buddhist ritual to ordain novices will be organize where a total of twenty one novices are to be ordained.

The Buddha Jayanti was also celebrated in all Buddhist inhabited districts with great joy and fervor.

BJP of Arunachal unit expresses deep condolence over Kabak Yabi’s death A Staff Reporter Itanagar, May 21: The Bharatiya Janata Party of Arunachal Pradesh expresses deep condolence on the demise of Kabak Yabi, a veteran BJP senior leader of Arunachal Pradesh. She is popularly known as the ‘BJP Ma’ in Arunachal Pradesh and has extended her lifetime service to the party. She breathed her last at 4.25 PM at a private Hema Hospital, Itanagar on 21th May. She was the wife of late Kabak Mem of Yorkum village of Kamporijo circle, PORaga under Lower Subansiri District, informed in a press release issued by General Secretary of BJP State unit.

She was born on 5th March, 1964 and was a social activist and had been involved in many social organizations and also was the first State President of BJP Mahila Morcha and served for two tenures. Earlier, she was General Secretary of State BJMM. She was also the State Coordinator of BJP Morchas and cells.

She also served as treasurer

commodated in a camp located in the proposed site.

He enquired about the strength and difficulties faced by them. He interacted with the shopkeepers and vendors and suggested for convening of a meeting with the representatives of the market and trades. He emphasized to accord priority to cleanliness and suggested that incineration is the best way of waste dis-

Union Home Rajnath Singh was the chief guest at a function attended by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture & Tourism, Mr Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs and Mr Upendra Kushwaha, Minister of State for Human Resources Development.

Lama Lobzang, Secretary General International Buddhist Confederation, Mr N.K. Sinha, Secretary, Culture were among the dignitaries present at the event.

“Vesak Samman Prashasti Patra-2016” awards were presented to Mr Ramesh Chandra Tiwari, Professor Geshe Ngawang Samten, Dharmachari Lokamitra and Bhadanta Galgedar Prajnanada Mahasthavir in recognition of outstanding contribution to the preservation, development and promotion of Indian arts and culture, and promotion and dissemination of Buddhist studies.

To mark this occasion, various Buddhist bodies and organizations of India have come together under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture in collabo-

.

“Muslims have voted in different ways during this election in Assam,” said former vice president of AIUDF Hafiz Rashid Choudhury. “They felt betrayed by Ajmal and they voted for Congress but the party failed to get the huge chunk of Muslim votes. In Barak Valley, there was a wave against the Congress and which helped the AIUDF’s win. In addition, it must be noted that development issues were paramount in many constituencies and there was hardly any communal angle”, he added.

of State BJP unit, State Secretary and Vice-President of the State unit.

The State President Tapir Gao said that her death has created a big vacuum not only in the party but the

state as a whole.

He said that the party stands firmly with the bereaved family at this hour of grief and prayed to almighty God to bestow peace and happiness in her heavenly abode.

Choudhury’s views also explain why the BJP-AGPBPF alliance came to be viewed as a viable alternative by a large section of Assamese Muslims or gorias, whose votes have traditionally swung between the Congress and the AGP and have always kept themselves at a safe distance from AIUDF. Professor Monirul Hussain

posal. On the same faithful night, fire has engulfed several houses in ALC Line of Seppa. He instructed the administrative officers and police personnel to do the needful and swift action.

On second day, after taking stock of the fire accident site he went to Govt. Model College, Wessang. There he enquired about the actual and immediate need of the

college. He inspected the library and suggested for book donation system for the library so that more books could be collected by spending less. He visited the Diary Farm of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department at Wessang. Attaching top priority on road communication, he went to the base camp of Sushee Infra Pvt. Ltd at Sede, which is executing the TAH work

in the district. He interacted with the representatives of Sushee and tried understanding the project and any issue associated with it. He acknowledged that road communication is prime factor for other developmental activities to take off.

On the way, he interacted with the GBs and enquired about the yallung rate and way & terms of imposition of penalty. He urged them to support in the any endeavour to achieve development, be it a construction of road or settlement of yallung.

He informed that no. of yallung is inversely proportional to degree of peace and tranquility. He was accompanied by Shri K. Nyodu, PD (DRDA), L. Thungon, EAC (Hq), K. Rangmo, DDSE, N. Yangfo, EE (PWD), M. Modi, DVO, D. K. Thungon, CDPO, R. Hissang, College Principal, T. Sonam, DTO (Tourism), N. Doka, ADI, Shri Jomoh, SRA and other host of officials and staffs. (DIPRO)

Chakmas representing Chakma Buddhist Society present the opening song at the International Buddha Purnima Diwas

ration the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) to commemorate and celebrate the day in a grand manner.

It was announced last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief guest at the Buddha Poornima celebrations that the day will be commemorated and celebrated as an Annual event by the Nation.

This event was marked by a song by Chakma Buddhist society; screening of a film on Buddha; Dharma talk and meditation; Mangalacharanchanting of Sutras in Pali and Sanskrit traditions; and song

by Ladakhi children’s choir from Mahabodhi school, Chandigarh.

Mr Rajnath Singh, in his address, said Vaisakhi Poornima is described as Buddha Poornima because Bhagwan Buddha’s birth, attainment of Sambodhiprapti and Mahaparinirvana all fell on this day. Solutions to all problems of mankind are contained in his teachings. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar adopted Buddism as he was greatly influenced by the teachings of Buddha.

Dr Mahesh Sharma said out of eight sacred places of Buddhism, seven are in India. Ministry of Tourism has launched a programme, namely “Swadesh Darshan” which has a special component of “Buddhist Circuit” which connects all religious places. (Agencies)

Split in Assam’s Muslim votes may have favoured the BJP Contd. from Page 1

Rajeev Takuk joint as new DC of East Kameng District Seppa, May 21: As a sign of sheer dynamism, Rajeev Takuk after joining as new DC of East Kameng District yesterday made a two days whirlwind tour of Seppa Township and its peripheral areas. On first day, he interacted with the administrative officers and HODs, and inspected the DC office complex and its biometric attendance system. He exhorted the officers to work towards the betterment of the society. He asked his staffs to maintain cleanliness, proper storing and record of official items. He inspected the proposed site of mini secretariat at Seppa.

He enquired about the total area and current status of the project. He suggested the EE, PWD Seppa Division to adjust a fund for erection of post or fencing for demarcation beside protection of land from illegal encroachment. He interacted with the IRBn personnel who are temporarily ac-

ET Bureau New Delhi, May 21: ‘International Buddha Poornima Diwas 2016’ was celebrated here today to commemorate the thrice blessed day of Buddha’s Birth, Sambodhiprapti and Mahaparinirvana falling on the auspicious full moon day of the month of Vaishakh.

of Guwahati University was of the view that the alliance between the BJP and the AGP might have convinced a small percentage among the Assamese Muslims to vote for the BJP. “Muslims in Assam hail from different communities and backgrounds. Muslims of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in lower and central Assam are always in fear of being deported to Bangladesh, which is not the case with Assamese Muslims. On the other hand, there was a Congress government that was absolutely inefficient and corrupt and there was a search for an alternative,” he explained.

A total of six Muslim candidates were nominated by the BJP in the elections, all of whom were Bengali Muslims. But at least 11 constituencies can be identified in the Brahmaputra Valley where the BJP secured votes from the Assamese Muslims. In Guwahati East, BJP candidate and former state President Siddhartha Bhattacharya won by a huge margin of 96,637 votes and which could not have happened without Muslim

support. The other seats were mostly either contiguous to or located near Guwahati but there have also been instances in Barpeta, Morigaon and Nagaon where the saffron party had an appeal among the indigenous minority voters.

The end result was a split in the Muslim votes resulting in the reduction of seats for the Congress and AIUDF. The voting percentage had always been high among Bengali Muslims and immigrants since the ballot is supposed to put the seal of citizenship on the voter.

Some poll observers claim that the turnout of nonMuslim voters was even higher during the election which was never witnessed before.

Therefore, the landslide victory of the BJP and its allies can also be attributed to the consolidation of the non-Muslim votes in their favour while the Muslim votes split among various parties. The Congress’s decades-old strategy of winning elections in Assam on the “ali-kuli” (Muslimstea tribes) factor has received a severe jolt.

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

PAGE 4

Industry body hails BJP victory in hopes of new dispensation and industry-friendly government PTI Guwahati, May 21: Industry associations CII and FINER on Friday hailed the victory of the BJP-led alliance in Assam and hoped the new dispensation would address key issues pertaining to sustainable development of the state and act as a stronger, futuristic and industry-friendly government.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) would work closely with the new government and become an active partner in its new

DPS Digboi shines in AISSCE2016 outcome ET Correspondent Digboi, May 21: Delhi Public school Digboi has once again proved its academic metal in the AISSCE 2016 final results declared this morning with cent percent candidates passing the hurdles notably with outstanding performance under CBSE Board.

According to school sources, out of 78 students appeared in science stream, 77 stood 1st division and 1 second division with Kamal Pandy(96%), Ashapriya Borah (95.4%) and Tanay Agarwal (95%) were among the toppers in the streams. Similarly out of 39 candidates in Commerce, 36 secured 1stDivision while 3 stood 2ndivision with Sudipa Kaur (96.4%), Rousid Sobhasourya (95.2%) and Harshid Agarwal (94.8%) were among the toppers of the streams in the school. Meanwhile, 35 out 38 students in Arts stood 1st Division while 3 secured 2nd division with Dipendra Chetry(96.6%), Namrata sarmah (95.8%) and Nayna Deka (94.4) were among the 1st three toppers in the school.

It needs mentioning here that the jubilant academic outcome of the school here in DPS in the historic Oil city of Digboi has simply made the parents and well wishers wonder with the students and parents appreciating the efforts and dedication of the teachers and faculty members of the school and its over administration.

journey, said CII NE Council chairman Sandipan Chakravortty in a press release here.

CII NE Council Co-Chairman Abhijit Barooah said the CII looked forward to faster reforms, ease of doing business, industrial development policies, infrastructure creation and hoped key sectors of the economy would strongly developed.

Agri and food-processing, power, environmental sustainability, connectivity,

In another release, the Federation of Industry and Commerce in North East Region (FINER) Chairman R S Joshi expected the new government would implement their Vision Document 2016-2025 in letter and spirit, and put the economy on the fast-track by meeting the aspirations of all sections of society.

Stating FINER plan to submit an Economic Agenda to the new government based on ground realities of the state and region, Joshi as-

sured the new government of not only suggesting new policy initiatives, but also extending full cooperation for implementation of their policies.

FINER looked forward to the formation of a Chief Minister's High Powered Economic Advisory Council consisting of people of high caliber on the lines of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council to timely address the key economic issues pertaining to the state, he said.

Assam victory allows BJP to move forward with reforms New Delhi, May 21: Assam has given Narendra Modi a breather. It is now up to him to make full use of the time he has got to recover from last year's drubbings in Delhi and Bihar, and brace for the battles in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Goa next year.

Assam was a low-hanging fruit for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by an octogenarian who couldn't keep his house in order as the politically damaging departure of an able lieutenant, Himanta Biswa Sarma, from the Congress showed.

Uttar Pradesh will be different as the BJP will come up against the feisty Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who expects to cash in on the anti-incumbency sentiments against the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

In Punjab and possibly in Goa, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) will make its debut outside of Delhi with its usual hyperbole.

Again, the task will not be easy for the BJP, which tends to be thrown off balance by Arvind Kejriwal's rhetoric skirting the thin line between insult -- the prime minister is a psychopath, he once said -- and defamation.

Only in Gujarat can the BJP expect to hold its own because, for one, its opponent

will be a Congress licking its wounds from a series of defeats.

For another, Modi's home state can be expected to stand by him even if his successor as chief minister, Anandiben Patel, hasn't been a roaring success.

What the battles against the BSP, SP and AAP underline is the Congress's absence as the BJP's main adversary.

It is not a Congress-mukt Bharat yet, as the BJP's provocative slogan about ridding India of the Congress proclaims.

But the political scene appears to be evolving in that direction as the mother-andson duo of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi appears clueless about ways to revive the party.

But there's many a slip between the cup and the lip.

The BJP will need at least the victories in Gujarat and Goa to justify its slogan since UP and Punjab are tough nuts to crack, the latter being hobbled by the misrule of the father-andson combine of Prakash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal.

To advance towards the objective of decimating the Congress, therefore, the BJP has to be far more politically savvy than it has been till now.

Since Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that

Buddha jayanti celebrated in Charaideo ET Correspondent, Sonari, 21 July : Along with rest of the nation Buddha Jayanti, birthday of Gautam Buddha the founder of Buddhism, was celebrated in various places of Upper Assams Charaideo district. In this connection a daylong programme was held in Digholi Shyam gaon Buddha bihar. The programme got of to a start with chanting by the monks.

Thereafter the World Buddha Flag was hoested by Bimalanda Vhikhu, head monk of Digholi Shyamgaon Buddha Bihar which was followed by planting of sapling and other religious events. At 1 pm foundation stone of a new Buddha Bihar was laid by Bimalanda Vhikhu. The Bihar will be built at a cost of Rs 25 lakhs. This was followed by an open session which was attended by Gauribhadra Singnan, vice-president of Singfow Development Council ( SDC), Rudra Singnan, member SDC and Bongshidhar Shyam, vatern socio- activist.

On the other hand Buddha Jayanti was also celebrated in Sonari, Napuk, Suffry, Solapothar and Disangpani Buddha Bihar with various programmes.

Buddha Jayanti celebrated at Sivasagar ET Correspondent Sivasagar, 21 May: Buddha Jayanti was celebrated here in Sivasagar today. On the occasion of Buddha jayanti, a daylong celebration programme was arranged by 'All Assam Buddha Mahasabha' with the help of Sivasagar Buddha Bihar Samittee in the Buddha Bihar of Sivasagar town. The problem was started with hosting of the Buddhist flag and Pravati vandana. After that a colourful cultural rally was

education and skill development are some of the sectors CII has targeted in Assam, he said.

The new government must encourage large-scale investments from private sector in the entire agriculture value chain through promotion of balanced and integrated use of fertilizer, farm mechanization, better input management and post-harvest technology, said CII Assam State Council Vice Chairperson Jahnabi Phukan.

held where many Buddhist people from Sivasagar and other districts were represented.

It is to be mentioned that today Sivasagar Buddh Bihar has completed its sixty years. On this particular day on 1956, Sivasagar Buddha Bihar was established by then MLA late Thanuram Gogoi, who was also president of Assam Buddha Mahasabha along with some notable Buddhist people.

ACKS celebrates 59th Biennial Meet at Golaghat ET Correspondent Golaghat, May 21: The only registered and recognized organization of tea garden employees of Tea Estates in Brahmaputra Valley region, the Assam Chah Karmachari Sangha (ACKS), celebrated its ACKS's 59th Biennial Meet from 21th May in Golaghat.

The three day long programme started at the District Library premises in Golaghat. In this Biennial meet of ACKS more than five hundred representatives from twenty branches of the organization will take part and a new committee for the next two years will be formed at the end.

the BJP's victory in Assam underlines a popular rejection of the politics of obstructionism practised by the Congress, Modi will have to reach out to possible allies in order to push through the partially stalled economic reforms.

The two victorious ladies will have to be on the top of the BJP's list in this regard.

Modi is fortunate that both Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalithaa are expected to be more confident at the beginning of their second terms and are unlikely to hesitate in the matter of striking deals with the centre.

Of the two, Mamata

Banerjee's extraordinary success can enable her to enlist the support of the BJP MLAs in West Bengal as she helps Modi to implement reforms.

The death blows she has inflicted on the Congress and the Left are expected to neutralise their carping exercise in nay-saying on the pro-market initiatives.

Jayalalithaa, too, will be an able ally since she has no ideological hang-ups about a neo-liberal economy.

It is possible that the reverses suffered by the Congress from the time of its defeats in four assembly elections in 2013 followed by the general election

drubbing in 2014 and the latest losses in Assam, Kerala and West Bengal will take the wind out of the sails of the "socialists" in the party led by Sonia Gandhi.

However, it is not only the Congress which advocates this outdated thesis but also parties like the Janata Dal (United), the SP and others in the so-called Janata parivar.

Modi has to take the present opportunity, therefore, to push ahead energetically with reforms in parliament and outside so that the roadblocks on the path of economic growth are quickly removed as well as discredited.

At the same time, a palpable sign of employment-generating development will silence the "socialists" and weaken them in electoral terms since the modern generation looks for jobs and not dead dogmas.

Apart from the focus on the economy, the prime minister will have to cut the loudmouths in the saffron brotherhood to size lest their comments on the removal of the Reserve Bank governor and the building of the Ram temple are interpreted as those of Modi.

He will also have to pay greater heed to the views of industrialist Adi Godrej about the baneful effects of measures like the beef ban and prohibition on the economy.

The almost constant round of elections has its value in telling the politicians what needs to be done to keep the system on the move.

For instance, the results show, as in West Bengal, that opportunistic alliances like the one between the Left and the Congress have no future.

And, Jayalalithaa's success has shown that in choosing between two sets of tainted parties, the voter rejects the one led by a nonagenarian.

In traditionally Left-leaning Kerala, the comrades will feel that it is not the end of the road for them as their critics believe. (IANS)

Anti-Terrorism Day was observed at the Assam secretariat complex A Staff Reporter Guwahati, May 21: Anti-Terrorism Day was observed at the Assam secretariat complex here today in the presence of Chief Secretary V K Pipersenia, senior officials and employees. On the occasion the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary T Y Das along with other senior officials and employees of the secretariat paid floral tribute to the portrait of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

They also took a pledge administered by the chief secretary against terrorism as well as to uphold and promote peace and social harmony.

May 21 is observed across the country as Anti-Terrorism Day in the memory of Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated by terrorists on this day in 1991.

Bengali organization formed ET Correspondent Diphu May 20: Through a press communiqué Shohodev Das, founder president and Mrinal Kar, vice president of All Assam Bengali Youth Students Federation has informed that the Karbi Anglong district committee of the organization with its headquarter at Diphu has been formed yesterday. Ankit Paul and Vivek Chanda have been elected as president and general secretary of the organization. The committee has 26 office bearers, 12 executive members and 18 advisers; prominent journalist Sushanta Roy will head the committee as chief adviser along with Bishnu Bhattacharjee well known citizen of Dimapur, Nagaland.

Configuration of AABYSF in Karbi Anglong after stunning poll performance of BJP in the autonomous hill district of Assam is a well thoughtout strategic, move of the Bengali community in this part of Assam, considers conscious citizens of this district.

“Our aim is to work for the social, economic and cultural development of our society in harmony with all other ethnic community residing here, we believe that if all other community grows we will also develop” said Ankit Paul over phone.

Hungry tide engulf school in Dhemaji district ET Correspondent Dhemaji, May 21: Birbal Chapori L P school, on second largest river Island Kabo Chapori, under Jonai sub division of Dhemaji District, situated nearly 15 km away from sub divisional headquarter Jonai towards Pova reserve is on the verge of extinction due to erosion caused by, Siang river one of the major branch of Brahmaputra. The erosion caused by Brahmaputra River engulfed Sengajan L P School last year in Jonai sub division, and this year future of 200 students of the area is in dark due to erosion of river. Pradip Handique head master of the school, who visit hardly twice or thrice in a year to school, have handed over the school in the hand of a youth, whom he pay Rs 3000 per month source added.

Erosion caused by river is so

massive that nearly 100 of dwelling houses are also engulfed; people have shifted to distant place Lanka. Known to be second largest River Island after Majuli, was once famous for agriculture, vegetables and milk with its products in undivided Lakhimpur District is breathing its last breath due to apathy of Government. River Siang enters in Assam from

Arunachal Pradesh to change into Brahmaputra have not only engulfed thousands bighas of cultivatable land of the area but also threatening Pova rain forest a major forest reserve within the district, massive erosion by Siang and Brahmaputra up to Sengajan village nearly fifty kilometres distance have compelled the villagers to chose alternate place from the bank of river.

Work of cemented procupine to divert the river course is done every year by department, said Kanak Baruah a villager to the Eastern Today but all are in vein, speaking on the school he said future of our children are in dark and those having capacity are moving away to town but what we poor can do. Before election the Island is filled up by leaders and workers with

great speech for protection but now not even administration is visiting to see the problem we face.

Further it is to be noted that the rapid erosion towards Jonai Township in Pova reserve is threat even to the town which is now at distance of six kilometers which was nearly twenty kilometers 20 years back said a resident of Jonai.

Amtron computer sealed, Ashok Stambha anomalies ET Correspondent Kokrajhar, May 21: Kokrajhar district administration sealed the Amtron computer centre run under BCF College in the heart of Kokrajhar town for allegedly use of Ashok Stambha symbol as well government of Assam logo at a private institution.

A private institution named Bright Carrier Foundation (BCF) College, owned by Abdul Khaleque Ahmed hailed from Bilasipara of Dhubri district, situated at Brahma Complex along the RNB Road in Kokrajhar town has been us-

ing the Ashok Stambha symbol and Govt. of Assam logo since a long time to attract students and common publics to gain his commercial purposes. The college having a franchise under AMTRON to giving short and long term computer courses to the students in the area.

A section of conscious citizen and students file complaint to Deputy Commissioner and police about the illegally indulging of Ashok Stambha symbol’s at a private institution, which is totally anti-procedure for the country. It is al-

leged that the owner the institution has been used the Ashok Stambha only to attract student and common publics to earning money through focusing governmental symbol, stated a complaint letter submitted to DC on Saturday. But interestingly, the private institute owner erased some section of Ashok Stambha used with institute’s nomenclature just after hearing of complain book in the institute complex.

Neejam Hussain, complainer said that the BCF College, a private which is owned Abdul Khaleque Ahmed has been us-

ing Ashok Stambha symbol and Govt. of Assam logo in his institution illegally since long time. He alleged that the college used the government symbol only to attract student and masses to serve his profession purposes. ‘A private college or institution could not be used government symbol, it is totally violation of governmental status’, Hussain said. He has demanded district administration and government should take stern action against him.

AK Brahma, a conscious citizen said that the BCF College

is a fake college, owned by Ahmed, and has been running the private to cheating the common public. He also demanded an inquiry should be carried against the owner of the institution. Madhav Prasad Sarma, Deputy Commissioner, Kokrajhar said that the institution has been sealed this evening which has illegally indulged government symbol, besides investigation is on into complaint. ‘District administration initiated strong step against him because no any private institute can use Ashok Stambha’, said Sarma.

REGION

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

HP: 13 killed in road mishap in Kinnaur

13 killed in road mishap in Kinnaur Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), May 21: At least 13 people were killed and one other injured when a jeep fell into a fell from a cliff near Bada Kamba on Chaura-Kamba link road Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur District last night. Twelve people died on the spot and another person died on his way to the hospital. The

lone survivor of the accident jumped out of the vehicle.

The injured has been admitted to local government hospital at Bhavanagar. It is reported that the 14 occupants of the vehicle were returning late last night after leaving a newly wedded woman at her inlaws' place when the tragedy struck.(ANI)

Suspected militants ambush BSF convoy Imphal, May 21: A Border Security Force (BSF) convoy on foot patrol was ambushed by militants armed with rocket launchers and sophisticated automatic weapons on Thursday in Thoubal district but there was no casualty, a police officer said. The ambush took place at Heirok Melei Lampak Chinglon in Thoubal district on Thursday afternoon, 38 km from state capital Imphal.

Superintendent of Police, Thoubal, Radhasyhyam, said the BSF personnel belonging to 54 Battalion, D Company, also retaliated and the gun battle went on for at least half an hour. No casualty occurred on the side of Border Security Forces personnel, the Superinten-

dent of Police said.

Later, additional Manipur police commandos were rushed to the ambush site but the suspected militants had already fled the area, the officer said.

Security forces, including the Commanding Officer of the battalion, rushed to the ambush site to conduct further combing operations, the Superintendent of Police said. Three weeks ago, suspected armed cadres of NSCN (IM) had assaulted eleven labourers at the ambush site.

Meanwhile, Additional Superintendent of Police Modhunimay said further search operations are being carried out at the ambush site with the assistance of 2nd Assam Rifles and Thoubal Police Commando. (PTI)

Bandh affects life in Manipur

Lapang to meet Sonia on Monday Shillong, May 21: Following the debacle of the party in the by-poll to Tura Lok Sabha seat, the MPCC president DD Lapang will meet the AICC chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is already camping in Delhi, but he is yet to meet any Congress leaders. The party sources said that Lapang is also expected to present his report to the High Command citing the reasons which led to the humiliating defeat of the party candidate.

Meanwhile sources said that a section of Con-

gress legislators have written to Lapang to call a CLP meeting to discuss their grievances following the setback of the party in the Tura by-poll.

Sources added that with Assam going the BJP way coupled with Congress losing the prestigious Tura seat, the disgruntled legislators are bound to rake up the once buried change of leadership issue in the CLP. Dikkanchi enlightened While the Chief Minister blamed tampering of EVMs for the ) defeat of the Congress in Tura, Sangma's wife and the

Sonia Gandhi party candidate Dikkanchi Shira, how-

Imphal, May 21: Normal life was on Friday affected in Manipur on the first day of the 38-hour bandh to press for passing of three bills in Assembly relating to introduction of Inner Line Permit in the state.

Vehicular movements, business establishments, educational institutions were closed. Attendance in government offices re-

mained almost nil, an official said.

The bandh, which started at 4 AM, was peaceful barring an incident of bursting of tear gas shells to disperse a mob in the state capital, a police official said, adding that nobody was injured. The bandh was called by the Joint Council of the Inner Line Permit System ( JCILPS).(Agencies)

New Tripura High Court chief justice appointed Agartala, May 21: The president has appointed Justice Tinlianthang Vaipheias the new chief justice of the Tripura High Court, officials said on Saturday. A senior judicial official of Tripura High Court said that union law and justice ministry in a notification on Friday said the president had appointed Justice Vaiphei, senior-most judge of the Tripura High Court.

The official said that Justice Vaiphei, 60, who was ad-

ministered oath of office by the Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy on May 16, replaced Deepak Kumar Gupta, who was transferred as the chief justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court. Separate high courts were set up in 2013 in Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya which were earlier under the jurisdiction of the Gauhati High Court which was common for all the seven northeastern states, except Sikkim.

(Agencies)

ever accepted the defeat positively stating that it

enlightened her. "Thank you, my beloved Garo Hills .Election is one of such moments in life that challenges and leaves you enlightened at the end of it", Dikkanchi said in a statement on Monday.

She also said that with utmost humility she accepted the people's verdict and promised to remain loyal to her commitments to continue to serve the people of Garo Hills. According to Dikkanchi, she went through a tough challenge and the people's verdict left her without an option to serve all of

Stir set to intensity , free passage for AIEEUG candidates urged Imphal, May 20: JCILPS Women Wing as well as Students Wing have condemned the way police allegedly resorted to brute force and inflicted injuries upon five persons who were taking part in a protest rally along Tiddim Road at Keishampat junction on Friday. Speaking to media persons at the JCILPS office of Sega Road, Konjeng Hazari Leikai this evening, Women Wing convener Thongam (O) Apabi said that police not only fired tear gas shells but also

physically assaulted many of the protesters thereby inflicting injuries to five persons including three women.

Asking police personnel to refrain from such violent actions, Apabi conveyed gratitude to all the people who have been supporting the popular demand. Apart from staging sit-in-protest on different roads thereby blocking one side of these roads, protest rallies would also be taken out on different routes tomorrow. At the same time the students wing

has appealed to all the people supporting the agitation to relax tomorrow's agitation for students and parents who are going for the AIEEE-UG 2016 exam.

At the end of these protest demonstrations, people will shout in unison different slogans such as "Enforce ILPS in Manipur", "Translate all points agreed between JCILPS and the Government into action", "No ILP Act, no political party", "No ILP Act, no Government", "No ILP Act, no admin-

istration", "No ILP Act, no Central Government office", "Outsiders cannot contest elections nor cast votes in Manipur", Apabi elaborated. Students Wing convenor Nandababu Oinam too condemned the alleged brute force unleashed by police upon protesters who were taking out a rally starting from Kwakeithel and Sangaiprou on Friday.

JCILPS is now convinced that the Government who fails to listen to the public demand and grievances should

be taught a lesson and the Students Wing is all prepared to take the agitation to a higher intensity. He further appealed to all the protesters to exempt media and essential services from all kinds of agitation. On the other hand, bandh supporters forced security forces as well as officers travelling with security escorts to alight from their vehicles and walk for a short distance at Hodam Leirak along Tiddim Road.

(Agencies)

Indefinite U-Kroad bandh continues Imphal, May 21: Uripok locals continued to block UripokKangchup road demanding action against the police personnel who thrashed Tourangbam (O) Tarini today as well.

They also took out a rally passing through the residence of Uripok AC MLA Laishram Nandakumar in the afternoon. Since morning, locals and JAC members blocked UripokKangchup road demanding action against the

guilty police personnel and supporting the proILPS stir spearheaded

by JCILPS. The bandh supporters mostly womenfolk prevented movement of vehicles at different localities the whole day.

Usual scenes of burning tyres and placing bamboos and boulders on the road were seen and the road wore a deserted look throughout the day.

As in the past two days, essential services staff and persons going for re-

ligious activities were exempted from the purview of the bandh.

Large number of people who came out from different localities of Uripok took out a rally towards Khwairamband bazar in the afternoon.

The rallyists took a uturn below BT Flyover near Uripok Cheirap Court complex and returned towards Sorbol Thingel. However, some irate youth who took part in the rally pelted stones at the police per-

Khasi tribal food wows UN gathering in New York Normal life was on Friday affected in Manipur on the first day of the 38-hour bandh.

PAGE 5

Shillong, May 21: Delicacies prepared by Khasi tribesmen in Meghalaya had the taste buds of an international gathering tickling at the ongoing 15th UN Permanent Forum in New York.

Officials said on Friday that North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) had presented a number of dishes of Meghalaya's Khasi tribes like ja stem (yellow rice), pork cooked with pumpkin, radish and sesame salads.

The presentation by board member Anita Roy was made at an event organised by Rome-based Indigenous Partnership for Agrobioiversity and Food Sovereignty in collaboration with Center for Indigenous Cultures of Peru, Kenya-based Porini Welfare Association, Phillipines-based Tebtebba Association and the US-based The Sioux Chef.

Khasi tribal food wows UN gathering in New York Roy also demonstrated at the event the use of turmeric, pepper, ginger and garlic not only for taste enhancements but for health purposes by the indigenous people of Meghalaya hills, the officials said.

UN Special Rapporteur Vicky Corpuz Tauli

praising the event called it "unique".

"Our identity is linked to our traditional food system which must be nurtured to maintain our knowledge system.

It will defend our territories and culture.

Seeds are the symbols of our sovereignty," he said.(Agencies)

"Delicacies prepared by Khasi tribesmen in Meghalaya had the taste buds of an international gathering tickling at the ongoing 15th UN Permanent Forum in New York"

sonnel present there.

Police managed to push back the youth up to Uripok Sorbon Thingel and asked the leaders of JAC and womenfolk to prevent them from resorting to pelting stones.

After the JAC members controlled the angry youth using loud speakers, police, JAC leaders and womenfolk discussed the matter for around one hour at Uripok Gopalji Leirak. Imphal West DC also came to the

area to take stock of the situation.

Later, after taking permission from the police and the Duty Magistrate present at the spot, womenfolk took out a rally from Sorbol Thingel. The rally passed through MLA L Nandakumar's Nagamapal residence.

A l a rg e n u m b e r o f Imphal west district police personnel escorted the rallyists to thwart untoward incidents. (Agencies)

EC silent on CM's EVM tampering charge Shillong, May 21: The Election Commission of India is yet to react to Chief Minister Mukul Sangma's allegation that tampering of EVMs has led to the defeat of his wife Dikkanchi Shira in Tura by-poll, the result of which was declared on Thursday. National People's Party (NPP) candidate Conrad Sangma won the by-election defeating Congress' Dikkanchi with a huge margin of 1.92 lakh votes.

Conrad, youngest son of the former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma secured 3,29,497 votes while Dikkanchi polled 1,37,285 votes.

Soon after the declaration of the result, the Chief Minister said, "There is an impression and doubts coming from our voters about manipulation of EVMs, and hence I am asking our legal team to examine the matter to take up future course of action." How-

ever, sources from the State Election department has downplayed the allegations.

An official source said that it is only after several rounds of checking by independent agencies that the EVMs are commissioned for the election.

The source also added only three EVMs mal functioned, one in West Garo Hills and two in North Garo Hills. "However, there is direction from Election Commission that whenever there is big margin, the votes polled in mal-functioned EVMs will not make any impact and hence it is not normally counted though the data is retrievable", the source added. The source also added that the commissioning of EVMs is carried out in the presence of election observers and representatives of political parties contesting the polls.(Agencies)

you as a member of parliament, "but I have only emerged more- stronger both as a person and as a public representative who would now continue to serve the people of Mahendraganj and Garo Hills with even greater passion and self belief".

She said that every loss is a lesson to learn and this loss has enlightened her tremendously. "In times to come I will try and attend to each of your apprehensions that could have possibly come in your way to decide against my candidature during this election", she added. (Agencies)

CBSTDC ready for May 22 meet Imphal, May 21: The Coordinating Body Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee (CBSTDC), Manipur has said that it will conduct the people's convention on ST demand at Iboyaima Shumang Leela Shanglen on May 22 as announced earlier.

In a statement, the committee said that they earlier planned to stage a mass rally on the same issue on May 22.

However, they postponed the rally indefinitely in view of the present condition due to the people's agitation on ILPS demand.

It is unfortunate that an organisation has decided to impose a bandh on May 22 although CBSTDC had already announced that a public convention would be held on the day, the statement said.

The public convention would be held as announced earlier, the committee said and urged the public, local club and organisation members and meira paibees to attend the convention without any fear.

The committee also urged all the organisations not to clamp any bandh or general strike on the day. It further said that the bandh supporters must be held responsible for any eventuality if any untoward incident happens due to any bandh or general strike on the day.(Agencies)

After winning Assam, BJP eyes Imphal civic body Imphal, May 21: After convincingly riding to power in the Assam assembly elections, the BJP is hoping for a reprise in the June 2 polls to this Manipur capital's civic body, fielding 26 candidates for the 27 seats at stake. The Congress is the only other party to have fielded a like number of candidates and this will be its first big test after being routed Assam, which it had continuously ruled for 15 years.

"We will win an absolute majority. People in the region have realised the attention being given by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and others to this region", an upbeat state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Khetrimayum Bhabananda told reporters. State Congress president T.N. Haokip disagreed. "There will be no impact of the election results of a particular state. People have seen the developmental works done by the Congress in the last 15 years," Haokip maintained. Though the Modi wave was said to have made a landfall in the northeastern region in the 2014 general elections, winning seven of Assam's 14 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress pulled one back by winning the Hiyanglam assembly byelections in Manipur last November.

A burning issue in the Imphal civic polls is the growing demand to disenfranchise nonlocals and to delete their names from the voters' lists.

Anti-migrant activists contend that there are more outsiders than indigenous voters in three wards. While it is too late to delete the names, it remains to be seen whether these individuals abstain from voting.(Agencies)

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

PAGE 6

Apple would like to tap skilled Indian youth: Tim Cook to PM Modi New Delhi, May 21: Congratulating the Prime Minister on the recent election results, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Saturday shared Apple Inc.'s future plans for India and appreciated the breadth of young talent in India, and said the youth have significant skills which Apple would like to tap the youth which have significant skills.

Conveying to the Prime Minister about the warmth he was received with during his trip, Cook spoke about his visit to different parts of the country, and his meetings with people including youth, business leaders, and film actors. In particular, he mentioned his visit to the Siddhivinayak Temple in

Mumbai, and watching a cricket match.

The Prime Minister, appreciating Cook, said that in India, 'seeing is believing' and added that these experiences would definitely steer the CEO's business decisions. Cook shared Apple Inc.'s future plans for India and spoke of the possibilities of manufacturing and retailing in India.

Appreciating the breadth of young talent in India, Cook said the youth have significant skills which Apple would like to tap and mentioned the immense potential for 'appdevelopment' that exists in the country. He also elaborated on the Map Development Centre that Apple Inc. is setting up in Hyderabad, while appreciating the Prime

Congratulating the Prime Minister on the recent election results, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Saturday Minister's initiatives in chain to renewable en'ease of doing business.' ergy. Delegation memCook also appreciated bers accompanying Cook the Prime Minister's ini- also spoke of their expetiatives for renewable riences in rural energy and said that Rajasthan, where several Apple runs on 93 per cent villages have recently renewable energy, and been electrified, and spoke of plans to move women are being skilled Apple's entire supply to assemble and operate

solar energy equipment.

Both Cook and the Prime Minister shared some unique stories of entrepreneurship that they had come across in app-development and renewable energy. The Prime Minister explained his Digital India initiative, and identified three key objectives of Digital India as e-education, health and increasing farmers' incomes, while seeking support from Apple in furthering these objectives.

Issues regarding cybersecurity and data encryption also came up for discussion as Prime Minister Modi encouraged Cook to help the global community to cope with the challenges of cyber-crime.

Cook also launched an updated version of the

'Narendra Modi Mobile App.' "I am delighted to share that Mr. Tim Cook launched an updated version of the 'Narendra modi mobile app'. Thank you Mr. Cook. This updated version contains a new volunteering network on the App," the Prime Minister tweeted.

Calling on the citizens to take at look at the new features called 'my network' in the app, he said that it empowers people to contribute on 'lively and enriching forums' where they can share their ideas and deliberate with others. Tim Cook, who landed in India this week, said the company would establish a Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, the home of India's startup scene.

(ANI)

UP farmer's bank account seized for Delhi Govt. to 'compensate' people being Vijay Mallya's 'guarantor' for power cuts Pilibhit, May 21 : In a ing of MSP because paybizarre incident, a nation- ment for that is directly

Delhi Govt. to 'compensate' people for power cuts New Delhi, May 21: With Delhiites in agony as power cuts are on the rise with the soaring mercury, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday assured his government was personally attending to every complaint they received, adding that a policy will also be enforced where compensation will be provided to people suffering from power cuts for more than two hours.

"In Delhi, there have been many power cuts lately and for the past two days I have been observing the situation. In the BSES areas the power cuts are more than usual and in TATA area, there are few power cuts in comparison. Yesterday, the power ministers took cognizance of the matter and we are personally observing all the com-

plaints that are coming through," Kejriwal told the media here.

Stating that he has called a meeting regarding the matter on Monday, he added that he has given policy direction to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), that when there is an 'unscheduled' power cut, then it has to be fixed within two hours and if it is not done so, then the people in that area will be compensated.

"We had a meeting with the DRC and this policy will be applied soon.15 years ago we brought privatisation in Delhi so that the electricity conditions in the state improve and not so that the power rates increase. Under our government this is the first time that we have not let the rates rise," Kejriwal said. (ANI)

My father taught me values are worth fighting for, no matter the struggle: Rahul Gandhi New Delhi, May 21 : Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday remembered his father Rajiv Gandhi on his 25th death anniversary and said that the former prime minister had taught him to fight for values that are dear to him, no matter the hardships ahead. "Remembering Rajivji ton Saturday, he touched the lives of so many as a leader, as a friend & above all as a good human being. As a father he taught me that no matter how full of struggle & hardships the path ahead. The values that we hold dear- the values of truth, freedom, equality & justice, are worth fighting for," Rahul said in a series of

tweets.

Earlier today, Congress president Sonia Gandhi accompanied by Rahul, daughter Priyanka Gandhi and son-in-law Robert Vadra paid homage to Rajiv Gandhi at the at Veer Bhumi memorial here.

President Pranab Mukherjee, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and a number of Congress party leaders also paid tributes to the former youngest prime minister of India. Rajiv, who was the sixth and youngest prime minister of India, was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign. (ANI)

alized bank has frozen the account of Manmohan Singh, a farmer, for being a 'guarantor' to liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is embroiled in charges of money laundering.

Singh, a farmer in Khajuria Naviram village under Bilsanda block of Pilibhit when went to the bank to deposit money was informed about the same.

"I went to deposit four lakh to the bank but they refused to accept the money. The bank manager said I have taken a guarantee for Kingfisher Company. I don't know anything about this company," Singh said. He also said that the action by the bank has deprived him of availing basic facilities including receiv-

made to the bank account, which is frozen.

The branch manager of Bank of Baroda's Naand branch, Mange Ram, told they have got a mail from the Mumbai regional office in this regard. "We got a mail from our Nariman Point branch that the name of Manmohan Singh has appeared in the list of borrower guarantor's list and as per instruction, we froze his account. They sent us the name and account number," Mange Ram said. "We have written to the branch for further action and have sent them the documents," he added.

When asked about the credits Singh has taken from the bank, Ram said the former has taken a loan of Rs. 5 lakh. "Singh

UP farmer's bank account seized for being Vijay Mallya's 'guarantor' came here to deposit money and I told him that he can deposit money but can't withdraw it," he added. The bank, however, has not clarified to him how his name came up in connection with Mallya in the first place.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to conduct a forensic audit of Mallya's related compa-

nies' accounts, to collect money trail details in connection with the Rs 6,963 crore borrowed by him and his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The ED is formally probing Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines under antimoney laundering laws in connection with Rs 950 crore loan default to IDBI bank. (ANI)

Congress needs more introspection than surgery, says Naidu

Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu New Delhi, May 21 : Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the Congress Party needs more ofintrospection, than any kind of surgery, to halt its nosediving electoral count in the nation.

"The Congress needs to introspect instead of going under any kind of surgery. The Congress which was once ruling across the nation has now been confined to only 44 MPs. So, it needs to review itself," Naidu told ETV News head Jagdeesh Chandra in an exclusive interview here.

Alleging that the Congress did rampant corruption ranging from land to sky and even in space, Naidu said his party is focused at its ambition of Congress

rule free nation. "We want Congress rule free nation, not a Congress free nation. We don't have any problem with Congress sitting in Opposition. The Nation wants to get rid of Congress's corrupt model of governance," he added.

The Union Minister further noted that the BJP is spreading and on the other hand the Congress has been confined to rule at mere six percent of the total population.

"The Congress is losing its powers in every place because of its wrong policies. Now, Congress is confined to mere six percent populations and on the other hand the BJP is spreading from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Our vote percentage in Bengal has increased. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu the presence of the BJPhas also got increased," he added. (ANI)

Digvijay defends Gandhis, says Congress 'only thread' that can bind India

Youth Congress chief wants party to 'repent' over poll loss New Delhi, May.21 : Criticising Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for his remarks on the Congress party's dismal performance in the recent assembly polls, Youth Congress chief Amrinder Raja Brar on Saturday said the grand old party should be repentant and allow the next generation of leaders to bring about the needed change. Brar said Jaitley had no business commenting on the Congress poll debacle as he had himself lost the election.

"Neither surgery is needed nor a postmortem? There is a need to repent and work hard.

Jaitley ji has himself lost elections, how can he say anything to us? For the first time, a person who has lost elections is the Finance Minister. Let them leave Congress on

its own," he told. "We were in Assam for 15 years, we have emerged as a second party in West Bengal. What about Tamil Nadu. The 2019 elections and polls in Uttar Pradesh will tell you where you are standing?," he added.

Jaitley earlier took a swipe at the statement made by senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for insisting that the party needed 'political surgery' post the loss. Jaitley had asked if the Congress would evolve into a structured party with a galaxy of leaders or would it remain a 'dynastic party'.

Brar called for a change and suggested that youth be given more responsibility in the party by citing an example of a youngsters being given responsibility in a family setup.

"There are lot of new

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh

Youth Congress chief Amrinder Raja Brar people in the party who are capable. They should be given responsibility.

Responsibility and accountability should be fixed and those not performing should be sent home," he added. When asked about the extent to which Rahul Gandhi was responsible for the debacle, he said the Con-

gress vice-president never interferes in regional matters, adding that all decisions regarding candidates is taken at PCC level and local leadership. The Congress lost power in Assam and Kerala and its alliance with DMK in Tamil Nadu didn't work in its favour. (ANI)

New Delhi, May.21 : With questions being raised on the Congress party's leadership post assembly polls debacle, senior leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh on Saturday came out in defence of the 'Gandhi family' and said the grand old party is the 'only thread' that can bind the nation.

Singh also hinted that the criticism of the Gandhi family was coming from the Sangh and followers of its ideology, who have historically hated the family. "Do you expect them to praise the Gandhi family? The Gandhi family has lost two of its prime ministers in their fight against terrorism.

They are inherently opposed, the sangh element hates Nehru-Gandhi family, not from today. Can't you see the kind of filthy rubbish they write about

Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

This is their character and culture," he said.

"The fact remains that it is only the Congress party which keeps the country together. It is the only thread by which the country can be bound, cutting across cast communities and religion," he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier took a swipe at the statement made by Digvijaya Singh for insisting that the party needed 'political surgery' post the loss. Jaitley had asked if the Congress would evolve into a structured party with a galaxy of leaders or would it remain a 'dynastic party'.

Digvijay's suggestion came on a day Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the party would introspect over the causes of the debacle in the assembly elections and work with "greater vigour" for the service of the people.

(ANI)

We pose greatest sense of resilience to bounce back: Congress Chennai, May 21 : With few voices inside the Congress pitching for a major change in the party in the wake of the disappointing results in the Assembly polls in four states, senior leader Veerappa Moily on Saturday said that the grand old party has the greatest sense of resilience to bounce back.

"In politics, success and defeat is always in cycle.

Even in the worst of crisis, we came out of the crisis immediately and we succeeded in elections. This is the history of the Congress. We have greatest sense of resilience, we can always come back," Moily told .

"We won Pondicherry and overall, we have won

double the seats than that of the BJP," he added.

Moily also said, the Congress winning back to back for three terms in Assam was a success.

"We have lost Assam, which we run for almost 15 years, that means it was a success. After those three terms people wanted a change. we ad-

mit our failure there, but we will bounce back after some time," he added.

When asked on a possibility of entry of Priyanka Gandhi into politics, Moily said that it was for the leadership to take a call. "That is for the leadership to decide who should come back.

But the Congress has a very strong leadership in

the form of Rahul Gandhi and also Sonia ji, and we are in a position to come back," he added.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh pitched for a 'major surgery' in the party after its dismal performance in the Assembly polls in four states. Tharoor, an MP from Kerala, echoed Singh's comments saying

the party as a whole has to move beyond this cliched business of introspection into some serious action. He added that young leaders need to find more space in the party. The Congress lost power in Assam and Kerala and the alliance with DMK didn't work in its favour in Tamil Nadu.

(ANI)

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

PAGE 7

NEIGHBOURS

Lankan Army ends search for landslide victims, focused on relocation and relief Colombo (Sri Lanka), May 21 : The Sri Lanka Army on Saturday called of search operations in landslide hit areas of the country, and said that it was now focused on relocation of survivors and providing relief to those affected by the natural calamity. Massive landslides struck the Aranayake and Bulathkohupitya areas in Sri Lanka's Central Province.

Army spokesman Brigadier Jayanath Jayaweerav confirmed that the army will now focus more on relief and relocating op-

IS claims responsibility for Bangladesh doctor Sanaur Rahman's killing: SITE Dhaka, May 21: The US-based SITE Intelligence Group in its report said that the Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the killing of a homeopath doctor in Bangladesh's Kushtia district. "Amaq News Agency of the Islamic State (IS) reported that IS fighters in Bangladesh killed a doctor who "called to Christianity" in the western district of Kushtia," the Daily Star quoted SITE Intel Group's tweet as saying.

Sanaur Rahman, 60, a homeopath doctor in Kushtia, was hacked to death yesterday. A teacher of Islamic University was injured in an attack. The attackers rode a motorcycle, which they used to block the motorcycle ridden by the victims in western district of Kushtia, 245 km from Dhaka. Rahman was killed on the spot and his companion identified as Saifuzzaman, 45, suffered serious wounds. The deceased along with Saifuzzaman was going to his native village at Shishirmath to give free treatment to locals.(ANI)

At least 11 killed, 19 injured in bus-truck collision in Jhang Jhang, May 21: At least 11 people have been killed and 19 people were injured during in a collision between a passenger bus and a truck. The accident took place when a speeding bus collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction on Khushab Road near Nasirabad, Jhang, reports. The bus was travelling from Karachi to Khushab. The dead and injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.

Five of the injured were said to be in a critical condition. Poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving are cited as common reasons behind accidents in Pakistan. More than 4,600 people were killed in road traffic accidents in 2013, which is the last year the government released official data on the matter.(ANI)

erations. The Colombo Page web site quoted him, as saying that 141 persons have been declared as missing in the Aranayake region so far. A final figure would be announced later in the day, he added.

Meanwhile, Army troops engaged in relief operations in Colombo suburbs have managed to rescue, evacuate and relocate an estimated total of 46,210 affected people, using about 56 boats of the Army and civilians till Saturday morning.

Cooked meals to people displaced by the floods in Colombo suburbs have

Lankan Army ends search for landslide victims, focused on relocation and relief also distributed by the troops.

Army Commander Lieutenant General Chrishanthe de Silva, in-

quiring into the needs of the Senior Officers who are engaged in emergency operations, stressed the need for them to be vigi-

lant to any possible outbreaks of diseases in the aftermath of the floods.

He also urged his officers to to be in constant touch with medical authorities as well.

Meanwhile, assistance from other countries continue to pour in. The United States Government has offered a threeyear program to provide safe-drinking water to the people to flooding and droughts, apart from providing assistance to meet the urgent needs of victims of the ongoing landslides and flooding in various parts of Sri

Lanka. The United States Government has provided Rs. 7.2 million (US$ 50,000) for immediate disaster assistance for non-food items such as blankets, mattresses, clothing and hygiene kits. The Nepal government in a statement expressed its deep sorrow on the loss of human lives and property in Sri Lanka, report Colombo page. As a token of its solidarity, Nepal extended an assistance of US dollars 100,000 for the relief operations in the disasters-hit zones.

(ANI)

Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia was secretly in touch with Israel Dhaka, May 21 : Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, it seems, has been secretly in touch with Israel through her son Tarique Rahman and some of his key acolytes such as party Joint Secretary General Aslam Choudhary.

Choudhary's recent meeting with Mendi N Safadi, a leader of Israel's major center-right Likud Party, has generated consider-

owes his political relevance and importance only to the former's patronage.

Choudhary, a Chittagongbased businessman who heads Bangladesh's Rising Group, which has interests in ship-breaking, real estate, transport and gas-filling stations, entered politics in 1991 by joining a platform called the 'Zia Parishad', which is one of the off-shoots of the opposition BNP. He has always had a close

Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia was secretly in touch with Israel able controversy in Bangladesh.

Aslam Choudhary is said to be very close to BNP senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman, and it is widely believed and recognized, that the former would not have met Safadi without Rahman's green signal. At the time of his arrest on May 15, Choudhary was candid in admitting that he did meet Safadi on the sidelines of a 'Indo-lsrael Relations' seminar held in Agra in India, but said that it took place in his personal capacity in March 2016.

He told his interrogators that the seminar was organized by DelAviv, an Indo-lsrael relationship platform. Police in Bangladesh, however, charged him with conspiring with the intelligence agency of a foreign country to overthrow the present Awami League government, which is led

by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed. A known acolyte of Tarique Rahman, Choudhary

association with the BNP, and especially with its Chittagong North District branch.

Rahman has often showered kudos on this trusted lieutenant for his various anti-Awami League activities, Choudhary is personally charged in 17 cases of arson and violence. It is these anti-government activities that have landed him the coveted position of the BNP's Joint SecretaryGeneralship. Choudhary and another acolyte Ruhul Kabir Rizvi have been given key party positions at the specific instance of Tarique Rahman, who has always championed and promoted an extremist and violent brand of politics, and opposed to progressive and democratic leanings.

Experts and old BNP hands are of the view that the present leadership of the party is adopting Machiavellian and devious tactics to ensure the longevity of the contributions of former martial admin-

istrator Zia-ur-Rahman, his wife and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and their son Tarique Rahman. These old BNP hands, experts, analysts and observers have warned that these political gambits being perpetrated in the name of the so-called "First Family" of the BNP have the potential to backfire on them sooner than later.

A case in point is Tarique Rahman's recent statement, where he declared his father to be the first president of Bangladesh.

This has been rubbished

by Major General (retired) K. M. Shafiullah, a sector commander during the Liberation War of 1971, who confirmed that Zia-ur-Rahman had claimed himself to be the president of Bangladesh while reading out the declaration of independence on March 27, 1971, but corrected it afterwards.

Shafiullah said that Ziau-r Rahman made the declaration at the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra at Chittagong's Kalurghat a day after Awami League leader Abdul Hannan read it thrice on March 26, 1971.

"We and Awami League leaders present there protested that right away. He (Zia) reread (the declaration) again on March 28 and that day he said 'I on behalf of Bangabandhu...'," said Maj. Gen. Shafiullah, who is a former Awami League MP. According to the bdnews24.com web site, at another event, the elder son of Zia and BNP chief Khaleda Zia claimed that the nation's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the first "illegal prime minister."

The BNP senior vicechairman has in the past made a series of remarks, castigating Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and members of his family.

He has called them "more than a family of killers.

they are a curse on Bangladesh." Using the UK as his base since 2008, Tarique's selfstyled narrative of historic events between Mujib's assassination in 1975 and the time when his father, Zia-ur Rahman, assumed state power is being described by different quarters as a deliberate distortion of history.

Knowing the functioning style of the BNP, where the writ of the mother-son duo runs unchallenged and unquestioned, it is unlikely that Aslam Choudhary would have attended a public meeting in India and hob-nobbed with a senior Israeli politician without clearance or instructions from Tarique Rahman.

Choudhary's claiming of his Agra visit being undertaken in a personal capacity, and not being aware of Safadi's identity as being a former Advisor to Israeli Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara, seems far-fetched and difficult to believe for the simple reason that he has been a politician and a senior opposition leader with over two and a half decades. Other acolytes of Rahman have described Choudhary as foolish to deflect the blame away from Rahman, who fancies himself as a deft practitioner of Machiavellian politics.

It is being felt in certain circles that his (Rahman's) gambit of using Israel as a prop "is a reflection of his devious and unscrupulous political thinking." It is also a well known fact that Tarique Rahman and his group have been carrying out intensive lobbying with various international entities in the hope to seek a way for the BNP to return to power, and in this lobbying endeavour, have spent huge resources, especially targeting the West. What is politically alarming is that his "desperate" coziness with Is-

rael is being seen as having crossed the "Rubicon" in Muslimdominant Bangladesh which has always steadfastly supported the Palestinian cause and been opposed Israel.

There is a feeling in the public domain and a cross-section of politicians that Tarique Rahman and his cronies have displayed an utter disregard for the standing and credibility of the country and its principles, while doggedly pursuing their own selfish agenda of returning to power by hook or crook.

There is a view that this son of Zia-ur-Rahman and Khaleda Zia stands accused of betraying the Muslim Ummah, the state religion of Islam and showing scant disregard for any ideological commitment in his blind pursuit of power.

Has Rahman realised that his efforts at international lobbying are not bearing the desired results? Many who think so; believe that this could be the reason for him to go in for what they term a "dubious Israeli connection." Living the life of an exile in the UK for last eight years, he appears to have lost touch with the ground realities of Bangladesh and shown little inclination to return to the country of his birth and plunge into its political grind.

Rather, he has displayed a marked preference for indulging in conspiracies and machinations to corner his political opponents both within the party and outside. Given the developments mentioned above, there is no doubt that he definitely instructed Aslam Choudhary to open a line of communication with the Israelis, and he seems to have abandoned his mother Khaleda Zia's more cautious and careful approach to politics. (ANI)

Lanka donates a replica of Avukana Buddha to Telangana

Lanka donates a replica of Avukana Buddha to Telangana Colombo, May 21: Sri Lanka has donated a replica of the Avukana Buddha statue to India's Telangana state. It will be installed in a Buddhist themed park. The Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) which has grand plans of developing and reconstructing Buddhist sites and monasteries in the state has received the 27-feet replica of the standing Buddha statue from the government of Sri Lanka.

The Sriparvatarama heritage theme park being developed at Nagarjunasagar is slotted to be the first Buddhist theme park in the country. The statue has been

donated under the IndoSri Lankan cultural exchange program and has been installed at the meditation area, Dhyanavanam, of the park. The government of Sri Lanka also donated Dhamma Bell and has shown interest in building their Sinhala-Vihara complex on the premises of Sriparvatarama.

The TSTDC expects more Buddhist organizations to commence their activities shortly according to the chairman of TSTDC P Ramulu. The authorities are expecting a good response from Southeast Asian countries too in the near future.(ANI)

Pak. opposition agrees to include MQM in parliament inquiry committee

Pak. opposition agrees to include MQM in parliament inquiry committee Islamabad, May 21: Opposition parties in Pakistan have decided to give representation to the Muttahida Qami Movement (MQM) in the joint parliamentary committee set up to formulate terms of reference (ToR) for the proposed Panama Commission. The MQM wasn't earlier given the representation in the twelve-member committee-comprising six members each from the opposition and treasury benches following differences with the opposition parties.

The differences were based on a misunderstanding, the leaders said and were later, resolved in a meeting held in the chamber of Leader of the Opposition, PPP's Syed Khursheed Shah. Shah after the meeting said that the MQM was very much part of the opposition benches in both houses of Parliament.

"Therefore, we have decided to take the party on board on the issue of Panama leaks," the Dawn quoted him as saying. He added that MQM's Senator Mohammad Ali Khan Saif will now sit on the

committee in place of Aftab Sherpao, who has voluntarily left the committee. The Pakistan Tehreek-Insaaf (PTI) party had until Thursday opposed the inclusion of the MQM. PTI's parliamentary leader, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said, "From day one, MQM was part of the opposition when we first proposed our set of ToR for the investigation into Panama leaks." Later, he said that the MQM due to some misunderstanding had distanced itself from the combined opposition.

Talking about the misunderstanding, Qureshi said the MQM had argued that the opposition parties were only targeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in the background of Panama Papers.

Meanwhile, Dr. Farooq Sattar, who was also present during the meeting, said the Panama Papers had given a bad name to politics and demanded long-term measures to be taken to root out corruption from the country and create a permanent institution for accountably.(ANI)

Lankan landslide death toll rises to 64, 131 missing Colombo, May 21: Floods and landslides caused by torrential rains with gale force winds in Sri Lanka have left 64 people dead, 131 missing and over 319,000 displaced from homes while over a 4,27,000 people are

affected by the adverse weather, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said today.

through District Secretariats and District Disaster Management Coordinating Units, reports Lanka Page.

The DMC said it is coordinating response activities and rescue operations with the triforces and police

About 440 houses are reported to be fully damaged and 3,463 houses partially dam-

Floods and landslides caused by torrential rains with gale force winds in Sri Lanka have left 64 people dead

age by floods and landslides. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army said its Rescue & Relief Operations are in full swing under the Army Commander's close supervision. Responding to the requests for assistance, the Army

has supplied cooked meal packets to the people affected by the flooding of Kelani River in addition to its rescue and recovery operations in landslide areas and evacuations of elderly people.(ANI)

PAGE 8

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

Profile of a Tea Woman Part I Bio-Terrorism Patience is the key to success There are enough and more reports both nationally and internationally to show that India faces the risk of bio-terrorism. A recent document by Wikileaks had also suggested that India faces a potential risk of bio-terrorPhoto: nationalsecurity ism. The kind of agents that can pose a major security risk in bio-terrorism are anthrax, small pox, Viral Hemorrhagic fever, Rabbit fever or Bubonic plague. The use of Hantavirus, SARS, H1N1, HIV/AIDS and also Nipah Virus can be produced easily and could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Terrorist groups have been careful while using bio-terrorism on India. Every major group including the Lashkar-e-Tayiba are capable of unleashing a bio-terror attack on India. However they consider it to be their trump card and hence would wait for an opportune time to use it. It has been stated clearly in Intelligence Bureau reports that the threat of bio-terror is real and not academic. Intelligence reports also state that terror groups could unleash bioterror in a big way in the years to come and are fully equipped for the same. Nuclear terrorism can be considered to be fiction, but that is not the case of bioterrorism, the IB report further states.

In the year 1996 there was a major outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever in India. After several hiccups at first, the situation was brought under control. However till date the investigations have not found how this virus broke into India. The issue was discussed for some time and then forgotten. Successive governments have promised action, but is yet to come up with a disease surveillance network. There have been several proposals that have been made to set up this network which would help track easily the entry of virus into India. However till date no concrete measures have been taken. Moreover there is also an urgent need to train hospital staff across the country to react in the case of such a break out.

According to a report on Bio Weapons in India prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority there are 400 trained personnel to handle bio-terrorism in India. During investigations it was found that Anthrax was a serious threat and India is considered an endemic region for animal anthrax. In the year 2012 there were 6 reported deaths due to anthrax.

The fight against bio-terror is an ongoing process and steps will have to be taken from time to time, the IB says. The IB would provide the intercepts and each case of a virus scare must be treated with utmost seriousness. Moreover in the case of a virus outbreak while the first priority would be to control the problem it is equally important to investigate the source.

Media at stake Is justice blind India was among the three most dangerous countries for journalists in 2015, with nine reporters losing their lives during the year, according to the annual report of Reporters Without Borders. The media watchdog said these deaths confirmed "India's position as Asia's deadliest country for media personnel, ahead of both Pakistan and Afghanistan". Besides India, the eight other countries where the most journalists were killed are Iraq (11), Syria (10), France (eight), Yemen (eight), Mexico (eight), South Sudan (seven), the Philippines (seven) and Honduras (seven). A total of 110 journalists were killed in connection with their work or for unclear reasons in 2015, and at least 67 were killed while reporting or because of their work. These 67 deaths bring to 787 the total number of journalists killed in connection with their work since 2005. After the murder of Sandeep Kothari (the eighth journalist to be killed for work-related reasons in two years), RSF urged the government to establish a national plan for protecting journalists.

While 67 journalists were targeted worldwide because of their work or killed while reporting, RSF said it had not been possible to clearly establish the circumstances or motives of 43 other deaths. Twenty-seven citizenjournalists and seven media workers were also killed in 2015.

Recently, two more journalists, Rajdeo Ranjan and Akhilesh Pratap, were shot dead in Bihar and Jharkhand.

They are not the first and certainly will not be the last of India's murdered journalists. A system that's damaged at the core cannot be mended by auxiliaries no matter how hard journalists work, no matter how honest the police is and no matter how much we as individuals try to change matters. As long as the government continues to be corrupt there is nothing anyone can do. It's so easy to squash out 'unwanted' people talking about things that make powerful people 'uncomfortable'. For all we know, the government might as well ban serious journalism tomorrow and replace it with 'entertainment' and 'sansani' (not that they are too far away from doing that).

The media has the power of free speech but it seems they are controlled by powerful people (especially those with political connections). A journalist by his hard work tries to throw light on what's going wrong in our society. They work really hard to collect evidence by talking to people, by chasing sources and then bringing their story (truth) to the public. Some are not even paid that well for what they do. And what do they get in return?

Death, some condolence, and if they are lucky a couple of news stories causing a little bit of stir for a couple of days. The journalists who died trying to reveal the truth to the public lived middle-class lives. They have no one to look after them. No godfather.

Media has always been the voice of the common man of India. But controlling such an organisation and by creating such paralysing circumstances for those who belong to this organisation, the government is trying its best to suppress our voice. It's no longer about Rajdeo or Akhilesh or any one individual. This is our collective death. This is what affects all of us. If we don't speak together then who will hear and who will heed?

Behind the Cup that Cheers Happiness is characteris- ning of a war. On the other tic of a good life, that is, a hand unhappiness and suflife in which a person ful- fering which could be refils his mundane desire duced by human endeavpassing through a course our is blissfully ignored of success and occasional and left its bridle in the failure. People develop a hands of fate,thus suffers set of purposes,that be- the subjugated lives of felong to everybody's na- male Tea Workers. ture. In an intellectual per- Working class woman esspective pecially a happy Kanakeswar Sensua in Tea person plantais virtuous, meaning, they tion suffer terribly and have outstanding abilities some of their conditions and fine emotional dispo- are so pathetic that we besition which allow him or ing the part of this sociher to fulfill the common ety feel extremely frushuman aspirations . For trated being unable to Aristotle, happiness is "the ameliorate the suffering virtuous activity of the .Our feelings get further soul in accordance with bruised when we find that reason": Happiness also such sufferings could be appears to be a relative mitigated not by dolling perception. It derives out money but by correctfrom unconsciously refer- ing the socio cultural ring ones' standpoint to practices. However the other. concerning persons have However the perception of never perceived the sad happiness of a Tea Garden reality and intend to push manual worker remains forward their issues relathidden in his inebriated ing to wage increase, bocondition and in lording nus increase etc. High over his wife. This is evi- wages if not backed up by dently cannot be called moral and ethical considrelative because he in his eration brings chaos to the inebriated condition and is social order. Easy working not capable of compari- condition with disproporson. tionately high earning A king's happiness is mea- bring moral and cultural sured by the yard stick of degradation .It also rehis might and opulence of duces motivation and other kings of his region. make people less producA rag picker's momentary tive which ultimately push happiness may be caused down the society to a furby his sudden finding of ther measurable condition. some valuable item in the But more money without garbage which could be corresponding knowledge equivalent to a kings win- to gainful use ,makes the

people non-creative, dull and un-satisfied. In such a society rich exploits the poor, strong exploits the weak, males exploits the females. In absence of education and ideal community leadership persons with dubious character exploit the gullible.

The Europeans while discovering the Tea plants as far back as in 1826 also selected the best working tribes from different parts of India to work forts propagation. The Tea garden workers whose ancestors migrated to Assam more than a century ago to work in tea industry came either at their own volition or under some inducement have came off their rudimentary form of living and adopted the life style of the host state and got mingled with the mainstream of the adoptive society.

The British Corporate Houses through their interest in Assam plantation industries, strived to provide ideal condition for the migrated workers for living and working. It is another issue that the agents and the middlemen take undue advantage of the system. The Plantation management trained the novices to plant tea and nurture them as well as prune and pluck at the right time. They also imparted much needed training and skill to run a tea factory. The uneducated

Tea garden labourer at work (Photo: upload.wikimedia) tribes of the Chotanagpur, Telengana , Birbhum and such other places who at that time lived aboriginal life style were brought to Assam. It was beyond imagination of those leaders of the companies that a day would come when these people living in a hard hitting condition would wield tremendous power after a century and became a deciding factor for bringing political parties of their choice to power. In their ancestral places even now their counterparts are living in sub human condition.

However such an observation sounds disparaging for some, yet the fact remains the same that the

tea workers have come a long way to have fair educational facility, disciplined working condition, well protected job which will run even to cover the forthcoming generations.

When viewed the living condition of the tea workers during present days , on the backdrop of the facilities being provided by the Tea managements ,it cannot be assumed that they are poor under the definition of poverty coined by the Indian parliamentarians. In fact if one takes a close look ,it could be found that their earning is at least five fold more than the peasant families of the neighbouring villages who cannot afford to pay the chil-

dren fee or cannot give them two square meals. But the garden workers adherence to various rituals in the name of religion together with superstition and alcohol drain away their earning and jeopardize their health condition.

Lack of discipline and proper economic management is ruining the families and pushing them to untold miseries. For this reason alone they have not been able to march forward barring from a few families. They being unable to identify the root cause of their cultural poverty ,blame the wrong people and in order to give vent to their desperation becomes belligerent and unruly. contd

After Poor State Election Results, Decline Continues for Indian Congress Party The party's political relevance continues to shrink across India.

India's grand old party, the Indian National Congress, is in serious trouble. This isn't a particularly new observation-indeed, the party has been in decline since its walloping Ankit in the 2014 Lok Sabha electionsbut this week's state election results hit home the party's striking decline all over India.

In the states of Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, the Congress saw poor results. Indeed, only the tiny Indian Union Territory of Puducherry turned out positively for the INC (that too, as a result of its alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

[DMK]).

The Congress' slow disappearance from power across India is perhaps best seen on a map. For instance, since 2012, the party has consistently declined in Panda h o l d i n g state legislations across the country.

Karnataka now remains the sole state under Congress control that's an economic heavyweight on the Indian political map.

The 2014 Lok Sabha result, which saw the Congress' seats in the lower house of India's bicameral parliament shrink to the size of an average charter bus, marked an important turning point.

The party was out of power on the national stage after 10 years of

rule as the leader of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Its time in power was marked by a range of corruption scandals and, while economic growth continued, its pace slowed in the UPA

government's final years.

While assessments of India's nationally dominant Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government remain mixed, among supporters and critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi alike, it's

India's nationally dominant Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government (Photo: mages.indianexpress)

clear that the Congress has been unable to pull itself out of a slow drift into political irrelevance.

With the exception of Karnataka and a few other states, the Congress-led UPA coalition does hold a majority in the upper house of India's parliament, the Rajya Sabha. While this has granted the party some veto power over the BJP government's reform agenda, it's far from the kind of bulwark that'll allow a nationwide resurgence.

The core of the party's problem remains its inability to cast off its identity as a dynastic enterprise, lead by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, the party's vice president

Negative Neighbour

Maleeha Lodhi (Photo: pakobserver)

Sir, We note with concern that it has become a routine exercise for one of our neighbouring nations to poke its nose in the internal affairs of India. A sovereign country never wants that its boundary should be distorted by any other country. A report published in the news papers suggests that Pakistan's permanent representative at the U.N. Maleeha Lodhi took serious exception to a proposed law

by India providing for punishing individuals or organizations that show India's map differently from India's original boundary. In fact, she is raising the issue before the U.N. by writing to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary general and General Assembly President Morgens Lykketoft.

This is purely India's internal matter and Pakistan's interference is totally uncalled for. Perhaps emboldened by the backing of China, Pakistan tries to prod India.

China also shows Aksai Chin, a part of

Jammu and Kashmir occupied by it showing in its map as an integral part.

China puts a step further, when it claims Tawang and Arunachal Pradesh which China calls South Tibet. China is disturbing India from time to time claiming the said territories as its part, in the same way, Pakistan constantly tries not only to provoke India but also it remains that country's constant obsession to destabilize India on this pretext or that. India always makes futile attempt to normalize its relation with Pakistan by holding peace talks. It seems, Pakistan cannot understand the language of peace. Further, it pains us to note that relation with Nepal, too, got strained vis-Ă -vis Madhesi's agitation.

and the supposed inheritor, is seen as lacking in charisma and political acumen. (For more on the dynastic decline of the Congress, see my contribution to The Diplomat magazine's December 2015 issue on Asian political dynasties.)

If the 2014 Lok Sabha result wasn't enough of a wake-up call, this week's state election results should be. If the Congress is to offer an alternative center-left vision for India, compatible with the secularist instincts of many of the party's forebears, including Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, it may have to cast off its reputation as a family enterprise. The Diplomat

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JOBS & career

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 21

Page 9

Career as a local tourist guide in Majuli Exactly… Majuli Tourism " Good sense of is definitely yes. It is need- leadership less to explain that what is * Good in Majuli and why the health Majuli is a selective desti- " Good communination for various tourists cation skill from different parts of the * Puncworld. Because the 'sus- tual tainable properties' for " Responsible, SenTourism are available in sible and Dedicated Majuli. Basic factors for a * Confisuccessful tourist destina- dent tion like - Attractions which " Good sense of can be site itself or an humour event, Amenities or facili* Analytical mindties like accommodation, set. food, local, transportation, (Above normal perception) communication and enter- These above qualities are tainment at the admirable for site, Accessi- Jahnu Boruah an effective bility, Peace tourists guide. and Order etc. are in Majuli. As we all well familiar that But we have to promote the tourism industry is our Majuli as the most re- composite of industries markable and attractive and entities both public and tourist hot spot of the private. This industry inworld. For this promotion volved in the planning, dethe word 'co-operate' is velopment, marketing, most important. Before sales and promotion, evaluthat, it is important to know ation of destinations, prodthat what a tourist is. ucts and services. Again, Tourist means: tourism industry caters to a) People who leave the needs of travellers both their home to temporarily foreign and domestic. visit a place.

Generally, we have seen b) They should be there are four kinds of tourspending and not earning ist guide in the tourism inmoney from the place they dustry such as visit.

1. Local Tourist Guide (a c) Reasons can be person competent enough pleasure, meetings or semi- to guide in a certain localnars etc. ity or area), d) With the intention 2. Escort (person who acof learning something companies a group of tourabout the place like its his- ist from the point of origitory, people culture etc. nal destination, and back So, to represent Majuli be- to the origin. Usually fore the tourists, tourist handles group's checked in guides are important. Gen- and check out.), erally tourist guide is a per- 3. Specialist (person who son who guides visitors in specializes in a certain field the language of their choice such as botany, architecand inter acts the cultural ture, etc.), 4. Linguist (perand natural heritage of an son who speaks fluently area which person nor- two or more foreign lanmally possesses an area- guage). specific qualification usu- Among these four kinds, ally issued and recognised Local Tourist Guides has by the appropriate author- to play a different profesity. Another definition of a sional role though which tourist guide is 'An indi- the business can be providual, who, either as an mote without losing the employee on affiliate of heritage of a particular loduly licensed Travel and cality/are from where the Tour Agency. Guide tour- local tourist guide belongs ist, both foreign and do- to. At present our Majuli is mestic, for a fee, commis- suffering in the problem of sion or any lawful form of local tourist guide. Because remuneration.' Now, the in our Majuli, there are a local guide (a person com- minimum number of petent enough to guide in trained local tourist guide certain locality or area) has which are not enough to to play a major role to pro- promote Majuli Tourism. mote Majuli Tourism with- Following are some major out breaking the heritage, problem before the develidentity and popularity of opment of Majuli Tourism Majuli. He must have some due to the lake of Local special qualities as follows: Tourist Guide (Well trained): " Love for the a.

Tourists are miscountry guided by some irrespon* Pleas- sible narrow minded ing Personality people when they enter " Must have genu- into Majuli though the ine interest in people Ferry Ghats. * Re- b.

Tourists have to sourcefulness pay over money in a day " Trustworthy or a period of time due to the negative instructions * Tact- and demands. fulness c.

Especially, some

TATA SUMU Drivers always collects a huge amount from the tourists which are not acceptable legally. d.

Wrong information regarding the tourists sites of Majuli. e.

Financial Loss of the local artist/worker because they have got fail to earn money legally from the tourist and explore our cultural programmes. Because they are not indicated before the tourists. f.

Lots of college youths are wasting time when they have the opportunity to earn a minimum amount during the Tourist session and established themselves in Majuli. g.

Publicity of wrong information on Majuli, tourists have got mix and manipulated concept on this island. h.

Loss of the real cultural-image of Majuli. i.

Guides from the out site of Majuli gets the financial benefits of the local people of Majuli. j.

Some selective people now on the way to control the whole marketing profits from the Majuli Tourism Market. Because, now Majuli is itself a brand of the Tourism Sector which naturally provides a platform to the youths of Majuli to stand them in today's global competitive business era. Unfortunately, due to the lake of information and awareness Majulian are losing their valuable time and Entrepreneurs from out site gets the chance to take the profit of Majuli Tourism.

There are also lots of problems which are immediately understandable for any educated being or an uneducated too. If we, the youth power of Majuli wants to solve this problem we must be able to get success. Through the help of internet and self-flexibility a smart student make himself as a local Tourist Guide. The Directorate of Tourism (Both the Central and State Govt.) regularly provides short time trainings for the youths which are related with Tourism. After completing a proper Tourist guide training under the govt. or particular institution it is very easy to acquire a licence of Local Tourist Guide from the Govt. For example, a youth namely Mr. J. N. Sarma who has started his journey as a Local Tourist Guide from Majuli has received last 2014's State Tourism Promotion Award from the Govt. of Assam because of his self-sacrificial service in the field of Majuli Tourism since 2009 to till now. Simultaneously he has achieved an international

status though the Majuli Tourism. Really, he is inspiration for the youths, especially for the youths of Majuli. Again, along with J. N. Sarma there are minimum 100 Nos of local family of local Majulian are being profited because as a present Tourist Agency Operator he knows how to involve the local people in this tourism sector.

To become a local tourist guide of Majuli… minimum informative knowledge on Majuli is most important. It is needless to remind the role Satras have been playing in curving the identity of Assamese culture and society. Satra is the institution which used to motivate the minds of the people through religious performances to realise the existence of supreme power. Majuli is the nerve centre of Neo-Vaishnavite religion, art and culture.

The father of Assamese Culture and religion, Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva, and his chief disciple Madhabdeva laid the foundation of Satra culture in Majuli during the 16th century, which ushered an era of distinctive religious and cultural heritage. Though there were 65 satras in Majuli, the majority of them were compelled to leave the island because of flood and erosion. At present, there are only thirty six (36) satras in Majuli.

Majuli falls under the tropical climate zone. However, the numerous wetlands, streams etc. endow Majuli with a sub-tropical climate.

The island is a hot-spot of rare aquatic and nonaquatic flora and boasts of an abundance of medical plants and creepers, some of which are yet be explored. Indeed, millions of migratory and indigenous birds heaven over Majuli's sky.

The history of Majuli is interesting too. According to Zugini Tuntra, a Khetriya named Dharampal came from the west and founded a kingdom with its capital as Guwahati. He was succeeded by Padma Narayan, Chandra Narayan and then

by Ram Chandra, whose capital was situated at Ratanpur, Majuli. In the Deepikachand it is mentioned that Ratanpur was perhaps washed away owing to changes in the course of the Brahmaputra.

In about 1189 A.D. Gouri Narayan of the Bodo tribe of Sino-Tibetan origin founded the dynasty with the capital at Ratanpur and assumed the name of Ratnadhajpal. Ratanpur was situated near the Kherkatiya Suti on the south bank of the Lohit. As the two channels were flowing on either sides of

Ratanpur, it was also known as Majali or Majuli.

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON MAJULI : a.

Majuli was declared as a civil sub-division under Jorhat district on January 26, 1979. b.

Majuli sub-division consists of 20 GaonPanchayat, three Mouzas and 207 cathedral villages. c.

Its literacy rate is 79% (According to 2011 census). d.

There are 36 Sattras in Majuli.(From the list of Asom Sattra Mahasabha). e.

Garamur is the Sadar place of Majuli.

(Sub-divisional headquarter). f.

The maximum summer temperature is 350 - 360 C. g.

The minimum winter temperature is 200 C. h.

The relative humidity is 80%. i.

The average annual rainfall is 200-250 cm. j.

Majuli is also included among the top hundred tourism spots of India in the Indian map. k.

November to June is the best time to visit Majuli.

Unfortunately, still this island is not developed as far as the tourism is concerned. Due to the lack of Local entrepreneurial ideas, proper projection and highlighting of the amenities for visiting and enjoying this area/island is not developed as the other tourist sites of the world. But this river island has lots of potential features to emerge as a benchmark for the tourism industry.

Naturally Majuli Tourism covers: (Note: Majuli is not decorated according to the above diagram as a tourist site, yet. This diagram is created based on the present position of Majuli and its sustainability.)

Now, the tourist guides has to highlight the origin view of Majuli. For this a guide must be sensible to his/her duties and responsibilities which are to provide tourists information and explanations about the place honestly without prejudice, Ensure a factual presentation, make sure to distinguish the truth stories, legends, traditions; Act fairly and reasonably in all dealings with colleagues and co-workers; Always act with tact and diplomacy in dealing with the guests; Always report for duty healthy and positive, Needless to take advantage of the ignorance of the tourists and to allow himself/ herself to be used by unscrupulous organizations

Jahnu Boruah with a group of tourists.

who want to take advantage of the tourists; Have to use common sense and be honest by saying " I don't know,…I will check,.." etc. As a guide, must have to ensure guest's safety, warn them on: Plants that might cause some allergies, Food and drinks that might not suit their digestive system, Elevation for those with vertigo and fear of height, Dogs that might bite, Presence of pickpockets in crowded areas, Protect the reputation of tourism by making every assignment a treat, with respect to the environment, wildlife, sights & monuments, local customs & traditions; Act responsibly as representative of the country and the people.

Communication skill of a guide must be flaunt which includes Language proficiency, avoiding of using highfalutin words, use simple, easy to understand words, Trying to get rid of regional accent, Using synonyms to explain, to describe something, Using of non-verbal communication in a difficult thing or situation, speaking audibly, not too soft and not too loud; Conducting his/her commentary in a relaxed, entertaining manner (remembering that they came here to enjoy).

Following are some guiding technique: Pre - tour: a. Study about tour assignment b. Be aware of the composition of the group c. Review itinerary d. Be reminded of cash advances, vouchers needed e. Know which vehicle to be used, plate number and name of driver or coordinator.

On- Tour: a. Be punctual b. Make sure about complete name of guests, cash advances and tour vouchers c. Check the transport amenities d. Meet and greet the group e. Discuss itinerary and

Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat UPSC Indian Forest Service Examination Last Date: 31/05/2016.

Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat is going to fill up the following posts under respective projects/schemes of AICRP presently functioning in different stations including Jorhat campus of Assam Agricultural University.

1. Junior Administrative Assistant Pay: Rs 5200-Rs 20200, GP= Rs 3300 Educational Qualification: Graduate in Arts/Science/Commerce 2. Junior Laboratory Assistant Pay: Rs 5200-Rs 20200, GP= Rs 3300 Educational Qualification: Graduate in Science/ Home Science 3. Computer Programmer Pay: Rs 8000- Rs 35000, GP= Rs 4900 Educational Qualification: Master Degree in Computer Application 4. Typist Pay: Rs 5200 - Rs 20200, GP = Rs 2500 Educational Qualification: Passed HSSLC Examination 5. Sr. Mechanic Pay: Rs 8000- Rs 35000, GP= Rs 4300 Educational Qualification: Passed HSLC Examination+ ITI Trade certificate in Motor Mechanic 6. Driver Pay: Rs 5200-Rs 20200, GP= Rs 2500 Educational Qualification: HSLC Passed + Valid Driving License for Heavy & Light vehicles.

7. Technician Pay: Rs 5200 - Rs 20200, GP = Rs 2500 Educational Qualification: Passed HSLC Examination+ ITI Trade certificate in Tractor Mechanic 8. Tractor Operator cum Mechanic Pay: Rs 5200 - Rs 20200, GP = Rs 2500 Educational Qualification: HSLC Examination passed+ certificate in Tractor Mechanic+ valid tractor driving license Application Fee: Application fee is Rs 300/ for general candidates and Rs 150/ for SC/ST Candidates.

How to apply: Application form can be downloaded from university website. Application along with fees should be sent Director of Research [Agri], Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat within 31.05.2016.

Last Date: 27/05/2016.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will hold preliminary screening test for the Indian Forest Service (IFS) Examination 2016 for recruitment to the Indian Forest Service Officers commencing from 07/08/2016.

The pattern of the Indian Forest Service Examination 2015 has been changed and candidates for IFS Examination 2016 needs to appear in the Indian Civil Service Examination (Preliminary) 2016 for the same. Therefore candidates needs to apply for Indian Civil Service Examination 2016 to appear in Indian Forest Service Examination 2016.

Name of Examination: Indian Forest Service Examination 2016 No of Posts : 110 approx.

Age : Not less than 21 years and not more than 32 years as on 1st August 2016.

The upper age is relaxable for SC/ST/OBC and certain other categories of candidates to the extent specified in the Notice.

Educational Qualification: Bachelor's degree of any recognized university with at least one of the subjects namely Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, Statistics and Zoology or a Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Forestry or in Engineering or an equivalent qualification.

Physical Standards: Candidates must be physically fit according to the Regulations given in notice.

Number of attempts: The maximum number of attempts permissible to different categories of aspirants, who are otherwise eligible, will be as (i) General Category - 6 attempts, (ii) OBC - 9 attempts (iii) SC/ST - No limit Application Fee: Candidates applying (excepting Female/SC/ST/PH candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination are required to pay a fee of Rs.100/- either by depositing the money in any Branch of SBI by cash, or by using net banking facility of SBI, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur/ State Bank of Hyderabad/State Bank of Mysore/State Bank of Patiala/ State Bank of Travancore or by using Visa/ Master Credit/ Debit card.

How To Apply: All applications must apply Online from 28/04/2015 to 27/05/ 2016 only upto 11.59 PM. at http://upsconline.nic.in/mainmenu2.php. Details of the examination and instructions are available at UPSC Online website.

check other concerns f. Deliver commentaries g. Announce inclusions of the tour and what to expect h. End working day/tour by thanking the guests i. Announce the next day's itinerary/program and give instructions Post- Tour: a .

Gather all collected vouchers b. Prepare tour guide's report c. Submit tour report too immediately after the tour d. Accomplish financial report with receipts, vouchers and other assignments Liquidate (if necessary) Presently, one of the most notable equipment is delivering commentaries. Following are some tips for an effective commentary: a.

Start with a greeting or introduction b.

Information should be delivered in a manner that would interest the guests c.

Sense of humor should be part of the delivery of information d.

Remember, commentaries help people understand and appreciate what they actually see e.

Face the group, not a few f.

Speak slowly and clearly g.

Voice should be audible h.

Practice eye contact i.

Self-Preparation for questions to be asked j.

Take control of your breathing and emphasize important words k.

Use synonyms, example in explaining something l.

When mentioning a name, repeat it or spell it m.

Maintain silence, if the need arises n.

Listen carefully to questions and other concerns o.

Never argue with the guests and End the tour always by thanking the guests Lots of tourist usually

visited Majuli directly or through tour Agencies.

But from the practical field it is confirmed that they were not satisfied on their Majuli Tour. Because they have got fail to visit main hot spots of Majuli due to the minimum number of Welltrained Local Tourist Guide. A Local Tourist Guide may design local inter tourist circle of Majuli for the time management and the satisfaction of the tourists. For example, Dakshinpat Salmora Pottery Culture - New Chamaguri Rawanapar Pond Bhogpur - Bengenati Sattra - Tribal Villege Garamur - Auniati Sattra- Chakulee beelKamalabari Sattra etc.(as per the interest of the tourists or the tourist agency) This kind of internal circle definitely satisfy the tourists.

Finally a tour-guide expected to be Ambassador, Front liner in the tourism industry, Watchdog of the tour operator, Go-between or link between various suppliers and the tour operator/ guest, Lecturer of the clients/guests/tourists, Timekeeper, Shepherd looks after the well-being of the flock, makes sure that the flock moves in unison from one place to another without losing a single sheep. It is therefore One of the most attractive jobs in the travel industry, Requires a lot of values and ethics, Represents the country and the people, Good paying job, Flexible time - but no time limit, Service - oriented, Physically demanding, Gives a better understanding of the different cultures, Helps develop a well-rounded personality, Not an 8-5 job. If the Youth Power of Majuli involves themselves in this platform they must be able to get success which a green signal for whole Majuli.

(It's a compiled work)

Engineer & Officer Jobs in Power Grid Corporation of India, May 2016 [45 posts] Last Date: 31/05/2016.

Power Grid Corporation of India is looking for Bright, Committed and Energetic candidates in the area of Telecom, Finance & Accounts and Company Secretary (CS) as per details given below : 1. Engineer / E2A No of posts: 12 posts (UR6, OBC3, SC2, ST1) Pay: Rs. 20600 - 46500 Age : 33 years 2. Assistant Officer (Accounts) / E1 No of posts: 31 posts (UR16, OBC8, SC5, ST2) (PwD1) Pay: Rs. 16400 - 40500 Age: 30 years 3. Assistant Officer Trainee (Company Secretary) / E1 Trainee No of posts: 02 posts (UR1, OBC1) Pay: Rs. 16400 - 40500 Age: 28 years Application Fee : Rs. 400/ in the form of A/c Payee Demand Draft in favour of "Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd." Payable at New Delhi (Preferably drawn on State Bank of India). SC/ ST/ PwD / ExSM candidates are exempted from the above mentioned application fee.

Apply Online: Apply Online from 03/05/2016 to 31/ 05/2016 at Power Grid Website only. Please visit http://www.powergridindia.com/_layouts/ PowerGrid/User/Content Page.aspx?

PId=166&LangID=English for more information and online application.

BUSINESS

DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

PAGE 10

India to witness growth at 7.5% in 2016, 2017: Moody's Q4 net profit of SpiceJet New Delhi, May 21: Forecasting Indian economy to grow 7.5 percent in the current and next year, Moody's Investors Service said the expansion is primarily driven by rising consumption and sustained improvement in private investment was needed to maintain the momentum. The Indian economy had grown by 7.3 percent in 2015-16, Moody's said adding private investment remains weak. "India, as a net importer of commodities, has benefited from falling prices and growth will be driven by rising consumption. However, a sustained improvement in domestic private investment would

Reebok opens latest 'Fit Hub' concept store in Ludhiana ANI New Delhi, May 21: Strengthening its focus towards becoming the most desirable premium fitness brand in the country, Reebok India launched their latest Fit Hub concept store at Silver Arc Mall, Ferozpur Road, Ludhiana. Commenting on the launch, Dave Thomas, Managing Director, Reebok and Adidas India said, "It gives us immense pleasure to launch our latest Reebok Fit Hub store in Ludhiana and we are thrilled to strengthen our presence as the go-to fitness brand in the city. By providing consumers with an avenue to shop for all their fitness needs, we aim to empower them to embark on their fitness journey and adopt the 'Fit for Life' attitude and mindset. We are confident that we will receive a great response from the fitness enthusiasts of Ludhiana, and that we will motivate more residents of the city to join the fitness movement.

This is just the beginning as we plan to further strengthen our foothold in Punjab market and make significant inroads.

We will soon launch new stores in Bhatinda, Patiala, Jalandhar and Chandigarh and spread the Reebok fitness revolution across Punjab."

The new Reebok Fit Hub store will serve and support the local fitness community of Ludhiana, offering a new range of Reebok footwear, clothing and accessories for various fitness activities.

Designed to help people change the way they perceive fitness, new 'Fit Hub' store is a retail concept that guides shoppers on a fitness journey from getting started, to finding the right fitness gear to suit their training needs and fitness goals. Each store is designed to give a look and feel of a gym with fixtures that replicate gym equipment such as pull up grids, genuine gym flooring and jump boxes as seating, providing customers a one-of-a-kind retail fitness experience.

The stores also have clearly demarcated merchandise sections for different fitness activities such as training, running, and aerobics, dance and yoga, which create an easy shopping experience. Initiated in 2013 in India, Reebok's innovative 'Fit Hub' stores have become popular amongst the consumer and have seen tremendous success across important markets, reaching a landmark of over 145 stores.

WITNESSING GROWTH Forecasting Indian economy to grow 7.5 percent in the current and next year, Moody's Investors Service said the expansion is primarily driven by rising consumption and sustained improvement in private investment was needed to maintain the momentum.

The Indian economy had grown by 7.3 percent in 2015-16, Moody's said adding private investment remains weak.

India's growth will pick up slightly, climbing to 7.5 percent in 2016 and 2017, from 7.3 percent in 2015.

Modest exposure to trade in goods and a net-commodity importing status has to some extent shielded the Indian economy from external headwinds.

be required for the growth momentum to be sustained," Moody's said in its Global Macro Outlook 2016-17. It said growth

will pick up slightly, climbing to 7.5 percent in 2016 and 2017, from 7.3 percent in 2015. Modest exposure to trade in goods

and a net-commodity importing status has to some extent shielded the Indian economy from external headwinds. "Weak global growth has meant a 9 percent year-over-year decline in total exports in real terms in 2015Q4, after declining by an average annual rate of 5.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2015," it said. Also, investment spending fell in the last quarter of 2015, as did industrial production, and capital utilisation rates remain low. Overall economic growth is supported by robust consumer spending, which makes up 55 percent of aggregate demand in the economy.

"The prevailing low headline inflation is expected to remain so, given the current forecast of a good monsoon season, and should allow the Reserve Bank of India to sustain its current accommodative stance," Moody's said. It expected the Indian economy to continue to grow close to an annual rate of 7.5 percent in real terms in 2016 and 2017, largely driven by private consumption growth.

"Private spending will be supported by the implementation of the public sector salary increases, mandated by the 7th Pay Commission, and a rise in rural incomes, provided

the forecast of a good monsoon is realised," said. Looking forward the impact of weaker commodity prices is likely to fade over time with the stabilization of commodity prices. "Combined with the fact that external demand is likely to remain lackluster, a sustained improvement in domestic private investment would be required for the growth momentum to be sustained," it said.

Moody's said weak growth in emerging markets, driven by low commodity prices and waning export demand, will continue to act as a drag on the global economy this year. (Agencies)

Adda52 Millions gets bigger with Rs 15 lakhs in guaranteed prize pool ANI Kolkata (West Bengal), May 21: Adda52.com, India's largest poker site has made exciting changes in its most premium tournament offering - 'Adda52 Millions' in the month of May 2016. Indian poker players will get a steep jump in their Return on Investment (ROI) from this tournament with all changes combined. With an increase in prize pool May onwards, Adda52 Millions continues to be the biggest online poker tournament in India. The deep structure combined with new entry options will enrich the tournament playing experience in the Final

event on 29th May 2016.

Adda52.com has made an increment of 50% in the prize pool of Adda52 Millions eyeing the increasing popularity of the tournament since its launch in October 2015. The new prize pool of Rs 15,00,000 using the same buy-in of Rs 10,000 reinforces the intent of offering maximum guarantees at minimum possible buy-ins. To the delight of online MTT players in India, Adda52.com has reduced the rake in Adda52 Millions to zero. Hence, the entire prize pool generated by the buy-in amount of every player will be rewarded back in prize amounts to

the winning players. This makes Adda52 Millions the most profitable tournament for Indian players with maximum Return on Investment (ROI).

Adda52 has also introduced an option to re-enter in the tournament, thus making it more exciting and favorable for the players. Adda52 Millions on 29th May will have one reentry option till 90 minutes. Players can now take a second chance at winning from the huge prize money at appropriate levels of gameplay. Adda52 Millions in an effort to provide the best gaming experience retained its deep structure which has been

extremely popular in its previous editions. The tournament has the best blind structure starting at 50/100 with 30,000 in starting stack, and with every level of 15 minutes plus 300BB to start with, players will have ample opportunity to vary their gameplay and maximize their benefits.

Adda52.com is a gaming portal owned by Gaussian Networks Pvt Ltd. Gaussian Networks believes in the highest values of business conduct.

Adda52 has been certified from iTech labs for fair play and random number generator (RNG). The company has also tied up

with multiple banks and payments gateways to process payments of customers. The company also facilitates its users to reach out for any query on e m a i l (info@adda52.com) or call (1800-3000-0611, 11AM to 11PM, MonSun). All the card games offered at Adda52.com are completely secure and legal to play in India and run 24x7 in Ring, Tournament, Sprint and Sit n Go formats. The site currently offers 4 poker variants - No Limit Texas Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo and Crazy Pineapple at various stakes.

rises to Rs.73 crore

Image for representational purpose. (Photo: telecoms) Mumbai, May 21: SpiceJet posted a quarterly profit of Rs.73.2 crore in the fourth quarter of 201516 on higher operational income. The airline's profits for the quarter, for the fifth consecutive period, were significantly higher than the Rs.22.5 crore reported in the same quarter for 2014-15, despite a one-time expense of Rs.173 crore toward stabilising and improving the reliability of its fleet.

In the December quarter of 2015-16, the airline had posted profit of Rs.238.39 crore. During the March

quarter of 2015-16, the airline's operational income rose to Rs.1,474 crore from Rs.790 crore in the same period previous year. "The results were on expected lines.

The significant provisioning in the fourth quarter was also not a surprise as well. It was overall a remarkable year for SpiceJet," said Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer, South Asia at consultancy firm CAPA, "The turnaround is visible but more needs to be done."

(Agencies)

Rs.49 crore salary to be drawn in FY16 by Infosys CEO

Shopmatic announces partnership with Aramex ANI Mumbai, May 21: Shopmatic, a homegrown e-commerce SaaS (Software as a Service) company announced a strategic partnership with Aramex, a leading global provider of comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions. The partnership will allow online merchants to deliver their products efficiently and securely, thereby improving the entire e-commerce experience for business owners. Business owners continuously innovate to introduce new business models and technologydriven approaches-convenient payment options, speedy deliveries and easy-return policies drive customers to online platforms. Logistics is, therefore, a key enabler for the growth of the e-commerce sector and is emerging as a differentiator in terms of customer service excellence. To build-up their

CEO and Co-Founder of Shopmatic Group, Anurag Avula. (Photo: digitalcreed) scale while sustaining business margins, e-commerce companies and logistics providers need to work in collaboration to promote the industry.

Since its inception in December 2014, Shopmatic has offered a revolution-

ary, all-in-one e-commerce solution that enables business owners to build and manage their businesses online, commission-free. This collaboration between Shopmatic and Aramex serves to boost

Shopmatic's capabilities as a reliable and comprehensive e-commerce solution provider for anyone who wishes to sell online.

"There is enormous potential for online shopping spending in Singapore, which is projected to grow from USD 4.8 billion in 2015 to USD 6.9 billion by 2018. Shopmatic wants to enable its users to take advantage of this growth by simplifying the online selling experience. We recognize that managing the last-mile delivery is one of the biggest challenges for Homepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and we want to help them solve this problem," said CEO and Co-Founder of Shopmatic Group, Anurag Avula. "We feel that the partnership with Aramex is a natural fit because both companies share many of the same values, including a shared passion for excellence and a customer-centric mindset.

We are confident that our collaboration will enhance our one-stop-shop value proposition, managing the entire ecosystem, enabling anyone to sell online," added Anurag. "We are excited to partner with Shopmatic to enable local entrepreneurs, particularly SMEs and Homepreneurs, to sell their products internationally. Aramex offers a wide range of customized e-commerce solutions. We are committed to expanding our e-commerce offerings and geographical footprint to meet the increasing demand for global online shopping delivery solutions and to support etailers to grow their business," said CEO Aramex in Asia, Othman Aljeda. Aramex e-commerce solutions will come as part of all custom-built Shopmatic platforms, which is now available in India, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Coverfox.com launches first of its kind doorstep claims service ANI New Delhi, May 21: Coverfox.com, the fastest growing online insurance portal in India has launched a revolutionary doorstep claims assistance program in Mumbai that will ensure timely and professional claims support but, with the help of third party auto service providers, also promises to return your car in three days.

Though 70 to 80 percent of claims are processed under the cashless arr a n g e m e n t , Coverfox.com observed general customer dissatisfaction with regards to the claims experience.

On delving deeper, they realized that since most customers are claiming for the first time, there is a general lack of

awareness of the claims process as well as how claims are calculated.

Coverfox, hence built Express Claims Services to provide doorstep claims assistance through a team of claims specialists and engaging auto-service providers.

This team provides 100 percent unbiased handholding till the car is repaired and returned to the customer. Being an independent entity representing the customer, it ensures a fair settlement. Coverfox.com has defined tight processes and timelines with each party in the claims journey, from auto-service providers to licensed surveyors and insurance companies, to ensure faster and smoother claims settlement. The

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka. (Photo:infosys) Bengaluru, May 21: Infosys paid Vishal Sikka, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), $7.45 million (Rs.48.73 crore) as his salary for the financial year 201516. The remuneration of the former SAP executive includes basic salary of $906,923, $6.48 million in bonus and incentives and $51,198 in amount

accrued for long-term benefits, according to the company's annual report. Mr.Sikka, who took over as the first nonfounder CEO in August 2014, got a salary package of Rs.4.56 crore for the fiscal 2015. The board also revised Mr.Sikka's annual pay structure to about $11 million. (Agencies)

Faulty brake part in 20,427 units of S-Cross soon to be replaced by Maruti New Delhi, May 21: In the latest, Maruti has announced a free service campaign to replace the faulty brake part in its units of S-Cross. About 20,427 units of S-Cross which were manufactured between April 20, 2015 and February 12 2016 will be be serviced. According to reports, the recall will affect both the variants of S-cross (DDiS 200 and DDiS 320). Maruti Suzuki India said as many as 20,427 units of its premium crossover model SCross need possible replacement of a faulty brake part and announced a 'free service campaign' to rectify the problem.

"The service campaign applies to both the S-

Cross variants (DDiS200 and DDIs320). The inspection and replacement will be done free of cost," it said. Owners of the impacted vehicles will be contacted by dealers. Last year in March, the company had announced a recall of 33,098 units of its small car models Alto 800 and Alto K10 manufactured between December 8, 2014 and February 18, 2015 to rectify defective latches on right side doors. Ever since the auto industry body SIAM started voluntary vehicle recalls for safety related issues in India in July 2012, nearly 18 lakh vehicles have been recalled by various manufacturers in India. (Agencies)

REPAIRING FAULTS CEO and Co-Founder Coverfox.com, Varun Dua. (Photo: pehlakadam) service is currently available to New India, Oriental Insurance, Bharti AXA and L and T car insurance customers in Mumbai for select brands of cars (Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Tata). "Coverfox was founded with the aim of removing the

stigma associated with insurance. The Express Claims Service is another step towards that goal. We are an independent entity representing the customer and hence we are best placed to serve our customers in a neutral manner. With Express Claims Service

we are looking at providing a seamless insurance claims experience for our customers," said CEO and Co-Founder Coverfox.com, Varun Dua. The Coverfox Express Claims Service is now available in Mumbai with plans to spread soon to other cities.

In the latest, Maruti has announced a free service campaign to replace the faulty brake part in its units of S-Cross. About 20,427 units of S-Cross which were manufactured between April 20, 2015 and February 12 2016 will be be serviced.

According to reports, the recall will affect both the variants of S-cross (DDiS 200 and DDiS 320).

Maruti Suzuki India said as many as 20,427 units of its premium crossover model S-Cross need possible replacement of a faulty brake part and announced a 'free service campaign' to rectify the problem.

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ANI Melbourne, May.21 : West Indies swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle has set the stage for another controversy after making tasteless remarks to a female reporter during a recent interview, which touched upon subjects like sex, women and equality.

According to an article published by the Londonbased journalist, the 36year-old, who calls himself the 'Universe Boss', asked her whether she had

adding, 'You think you could lift it? You'd need two hands.'

The big-hitting southpaw also said that women enjoyed 'more than equality' but added, 'women should please their man. When he comes home, food is on the table. Serious. You ask your husband what he likes and then you make it.'

Gayle observed that Jamaicans were 'more relaxed about sex' and deRCB Chris Gayle scribed himself as 'damn ever had a threesome and very big bat, the biggest good-looking' while addclaimed to have "a very, in the wooooorld" before ing that women threw

themselves at him in thousands, news.com.au reported.

Earlier this year, the maverick batsman had stirred a controversy following his infamous 'Don't blush baby' boundary-line interview with a female television reporter while playing in the Big Bash League. He was later fined USD 10,000 for his inappropriate comments.

Gayle is currently playing for Royal Bangalore Challengers in the Indian Premier League.

De Gea ready to fight for FA Cup title till the end ANI Johannesburg, May 21 : Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea believes that the FA Cup victory could cap off their roller-coaster season on an emphatic note and insisted that they are ready to fight till the end to achieve the prestigious silverware.

United have not added any trophy in their shelf since former manager Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.

United have had an topsy-turvy season,

Rashid Latif urges Arthur to tone down comments on Pakistan cricket

Karachi, May.21 (ANI): Former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif has advised newly-appointed head coach Mickey Arthur to slow down the spate of statements regarding issues related to the team and instead urged him to focus on the job.

Pakistan have slipped to ninth in the latest one-day international rankings, while they are reeling at seventh in the Twenty20 rankings.

Latif observed that Arthur must not raise the expectations of the fans and should first focus on observing the challenges he faces with the Pakistan team, the Express Tribune reported.

The 47-year-old admitted that Arthur was an experienced player, but added that the Pakistan management and fans could be very unforgiving if he failed to turn things around for them.

Echoing similar views, Latif's former team-mate Rameez Raja said that Arthur would face an entirely different culture in Pakistan and, therefore, asked him to be innovative and firm while picking the players.

He further suggested him to get rid of the selfish players in the team and encourage courageous and talented players in contrast.

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After weeks of rumbling, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had appointed former South African cricketer Arthur as the successor of Waqar Younis, who stepped down from the position following a disastrous World Twenty20 campaign in India.

with the Old Trafford club making an early exit from the Champions League and finished the Premier League at a disappointing fifth.

Louis van Gaal's side, however, stormed into the FA Cup finals after hammering Everton 2-1 in their semi-final clash at the Wembley Stadium last month.

Commenting on their crucial clash, De Gea admitted that his side had a disappointing season, but insisted that they are determined to win the FA Cup this

David de Gea year.

The goalkeeper, who

was named the club's Player of the Year for

the third consecutive time, insisted that ending the season with a title would boost their confidence and motivate them to achieve great things in future, Sport24 reported.

However, De Gea believes it was personally his best season so far, pointing out that he has been in great shape both mentally and physically throughout the season.

United will aim to end their long title drought when they take on Crystal Palace on summit showdown at Wembley stadium on Saturday.

Serena targets Steffi's Grand Slam record at French Open ANI Johannesburg, May 21 : World number one Serena Williams will have a third go to equal Steffi Graf's record of 22 when she will head into the second major of the season, the French Open, starting from Sunday.

The American has bagged only three of her 21 Grand Slam titles in France, first in 2002 before claiming it again in 2013 and 2015.

Williams, who recently ended her nine-month title drought at the Rome Masters, ruled out feeling any kind of pressure heading into Roland Garros, Sport24 reported.

She said that her mindset has completely changed now, adding that she doesn't have to prove any-

Serena Williams thing to anyone and is just required to defend her title.

Last week, Williams overcame fellow countrywomen Madison Keys 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the summit showdown in Italy

Memphis Depay axed from Man U's FA Cup final squad City before that, the Guardian reported.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who scored 22 goals for PSV in 2014-2015, has not scored for United since late February against Midtjylland and his most recent goal in a domestic match came in November against Watford.

Mary Kom's Rio hopes handed crushing blow Astana, May.21 (ANI): Indian star pugilist Mary Kom's hopes of securing qualification for the forthcoming Rio Olympics were shattered after she crashed out of the second round of the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships here in Kazakhstan on Saturday.

The 33-year-old, who won the bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics, was required to reach the semi-final stages to be assured of a ticket to Rio. However, the five-time world champion failed to break the defensive tactics of Azize Nimani and went

Herath impressed by Yasir Shah's bowling prowess Karachi, May 21 (ANI): Sri Lankan veteran spinner Rangana Herath has lavished praise on Yasir Shah, insisting that his Pakistani counterpart is a complete package as a bowler.

Admitting that Yasir is a great find for Pakistan, the 38-year-old Sri Lankan said that the former has got a lot of variation and doesn't have the tendency to bowl too many loose balls, the Express Tribune reported.

Herath pointed out that Yasir's tally of wickets speaks a lot about his bowling skills. The Pakistani legspinner has claimed a stag-

gering 76 wickets in just 12 Tests he played.

The Sri Lankan also suggested that Yasir needs to bowl patiently against the Alastair Cook-led side and expressed hope that the promising Pakistani would

deliver in their upcoming tour of England, which begins in July.

Sri Lanka are currently touring England for a threematch Test series, fivematch ODI series and oneoff T20 match.

on to lose 0-2 to the German opponent despite producing an aggressive performance in the 51kg category.

Following the elimination of Mary, hopes are now pinned on former Asian gold-medallist Sarita Devi in the 60kg category to keep the Indian flag flying.

to clinch her 70th career title and first clay-court title since 2002.

The top-ranked will play against Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in the opening round of the French Open.

London, May 21 (ANI): Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has dropped winger Memphis Depay from the squad for the FA Cup final clash against Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium today.

Depay, who joined United from PSV Eindhoven last

May, has had a disappointing year and his omission from FA Cup final squad brought his debut season to premature end.

Depay, however, was brought as a late substitute in the side's recent win over Bournemouth and also played against Norwich

Shocking! Kyrgios declares he'll retire before 30 Melbourne, May.21 (ANI): Australian controversial tennis star Nick Kyrgios has made a shocking revelation that he will walk away from the sport well before he turns 30.

In an interview to a Londonbased newspaper, the 21year-old maverick said there was 'absolutely no chance' of him playing tennis at the age of 30 and observed that 'there are so many more things to this world than tennis for me', news.com.au reported.

shots has a detrimental impact on his performance, the Wimbledon and Australian Open quarter-finalist, however, said that he doesn't have the patience to work on it.

Recently, Kyrgios came under severe criticism from Australian Olympic Committee boss Kitty Chiller, with the latter even threatening to snub Kyrgios if he doesn't improve his oncourt behaviour.

Kyrgios will kickstart his French Open campaign against Italy's world No. 124 Marco Cecchinato.

Despite admitting that his tendency to go for creative

`Sprint King` Bolt wins Olympic warm-up race in Ostrava Johannesburg, May 21 (ANI): Jamaican sprinter usain Bolt ramped up his preparation for this year's Rio Olympics by winning the 100 meters race at the Czech Golden Spike meet in Ostrava last evening.

19.19, finished his second race of the season in 9.98 seconds, Sport24 reported.

when he claimed victory in both 100 meters and 200 meters races.

Bolt had earlier finished his first race of the season at the Cayman Invitational Meet in a modest 10.05 seconds.

Despite enduring an injury-disrupted season last year, Bolt had claimed all three sprint titles at the World Athletics Championships.

The six-time Olympic gold medallist, who owns the 100m world record at 9.58 and the world 200m record of

Bolt had taken a long break before Cayman meet, having not featured in any race since the Beijing World Championships last August

He will now aim to defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles from 2008 and 2012 in Rio Games, starting from August 5.

Meanwhile, defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, who played for full 90 minutes against Bournemouth, has also been omitted for the clash against Crystal Palace.

United will head into the FA Cup final with an aim to clinch their first silverware since 2012-13, when former manager Sir Alex ferguson clinched Premier League title in his last season in charge.

Mercedes' dominance part of F1, says FIA chief Johannesburg, May 21 (ANI):International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Jean Todt has downplayed the need to stop Mercedes' dominance in Formula One, saying that domination has always been a part of the sport.

Todt's comments came after F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone demanded for change in F1 by expressing his desire to stop Mercedes domination, Sport24 reported.

Ecclestone remained adamant to stop one and a half year of German marque's run of almost constant winning.

Pointing out that dominance has always been a part of motor sport, Todt indirectly asked Ecclestone to stop talking about team's domination and start encouraging other teams to catch up with them.

Mercedes have been dominating this season as well, with Nico Rosberg winning four out of first five races of this season so far.

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Gayle courts fresh controversy with sexist remarks

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DIBRUGARH, SUNDAY, MAY 22

PAGE 12

First Assamese film of supermodel Dipandita Sharma to be released soon Dipandita Sharma, the supermodel turned actress is all set for her first Assamese film Xhoixobote Dhemalite (Rainbow fields). The actress who recently won the Global Icon Award at Prag Cine Awards 2016 recently finished her shoot for this Assamese film. Dipandita came into spotlight, after creating it to the ultimate five of the Miss India 1998 contest. In the same contest, she was also won 'Miss Photogenic'.

She made her grand bollywood entry with the film "16 December" in 2002. She has also appeared on small screen show "Life Nahi Hai Laddoo". Born in Duliajan, Dipandita was last seen in Take it easy(2015) and Pizza (2014). She has done 10 bollywood films and

Dipandita Sharma, the supermodel turned actress is all set for her first Assamese film Xhoixobote Dhemalite (Rainbow fields). (Photo: indianaddivas.files.wordpress)

various television shows like MTV making the cut, Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi, Piya Kay Ghar Jana Hai etc.

Xhoixobote Dhemalite (Rainbow Fields) is the

Esha Gupta not playing negative role in' Commando 2' Esha Gupta has confirmed that she is a part of the upcoming film 'Commando 2' and she seems exc i t e d about the high-octane action. Esha took to Twitter to confirm that in the film, she will star opposite actor Vidyut Jammwal, who was also a part of the first film which released in 2013. She tweeted: "Yes I'm doing 'Commando 2', Yes I am opposite Vidyut. No, not

Esha Gupta, one of the most popular Bollywood actress of today. (Photo: apnatimepass)

second feature film of Assamese filmmaker Bidyut Kotoky. Last year this film was selected for the second season of the prestigious Clinik Kathmandu.

Clinik Ingredients " 250g cashew nuts " 100ml vegetable oil " 2 onions, chopped, plus 2 onions, finely sliced " 12 garlic cloves " 2.5cm piece of root ginger, chopped " 2 tbsp coriander seeds " 1 tsp cumin seeds " 4 dried red chillies " 6 cloves " 8cm cinnamon stick " 100g freshly grated coconut " Salt " 2 green chillies, finely chopped " 1kg boneless chicken thighs and legs, cut into 5cm pieces " 3 tbsp yogurt

Kathmandu (CLINIK) is a script and project development program that bridges visual storytellers from nine countries in the PAN South Asian region. Bidyut Kotoky made his feature film debut as writer-director with the bi-lingual film 'Ekhon Nedekha Nadir Xipare' (As the River Flows) (AssameseHindi), produced by NFDC. The film has won various awards, including Best Script and Best Actor awards in the 2013 Washington DC SouthAsian Film Festival and the Audience Choice Award in 2014 North Carolina South-Asian film festival. The film Xhoixobote Dhemalite will be a bi-lingual film.

The title of English version will be Rainbow fields.

Method " Before you start, put 100g of the cashew nuts into a bowl and add just enough warm water to soak them. Leave for two hours.

Drain and place them in a blender or food processor, adding a little warm water.

Blitz to a thick, smooth paste.

Set aside. " Place 25g more of the cashew nuts in a small frying pan and stir over a medium heat until toasted. Set aside. " Heat a small amount of the oil in the same pan and cook the sliced onion until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside. " In a large frying pan, dry-roast the garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, dried chillies, cloves

Sonu Nigam performs on a busy Mumbai street Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam pulled off a performance on a busy Mumbai street recently for hours, and, surprisingly, went completely unnoticed. He sat under a tree in Mumbai's Juhu area with his harmonium and started singing his popular song Kal Ho Naa Ho. Though a small crowd gathered around him, and many even complimented him for his voice, no one recognised him. "I went without any expectations, totally bereft of any awkwardness for the way I was looking and what I was about to subject myself to. For the first time, I was not me. The make-up was so good and authentic, that even people standing close to me, couldn't recognise me," he said in a statement. "I was carrying the harmonium that my parents bought when I was

Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam climbed the steps of success from an unfamiliar zone. (Photo: static.dnaindia) born. It was all so humbling.

And from such an unfamiliar zone, I managed to procure something. Gratitude,

Grace and appreciation for what we have," the statement read further. Released on Culture Machine's digi-

tal channel Being Indian the video is an experiment to help Mumbaikers notice an old man singing on the bylanes of the city. "The whole idea behind this experiment was to inspire people to take a moment out of their busy lives and appreciate the beauty of music. To appreciate the many tiny miracles we pass every day and ignore, while we stare at our phones or lost in thought. Who could have been better than Sonu Nigam to do that? He is one of the most sought after singers in the country, and the most recognizable voice. What was interesting to see at the time was, he created the same magic singing, just disguised as an old man, and people could not recognise him at all," said Karl Katgara, Creative Director at Culture Machine.

TICKLE YOUR TASTE BUDS Chicken in a Cashew Nut Sauce and cinnamon over a low heat for five minutes, stirring.

Add the coconut, 75g more of the cashew nuts and the chopped onions and roast for 10 minutes more, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Grind the mixture either in a blender or food processor, adding 150-250ml water, to a very smooth consistency. " Heat the remaining oil in a wide cooking pot, add the blended spice mixture and fry for 10 minutes over a low heat. Add the ground cashew paste with some salt

and fry for two minutes, adding the green chillies. " Increase the heat to medium-high, and add the chicken pieces. Fry for five minutes, then add the remaining un-toasted cashews. Stir-fry for a minute or so, then add 600ml of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1015 minutes, until the chicken is tender and cooked through. " Serve with a dollop of yogurt, the reserved toasted cashew nuts and the crispy fried onions.

A dish that soothes your taste buds. (Photo: elephantatta)

playing negative.. Fighting??? Hell yes, why not?" Esha tweeted. The actress has earlier featured in movies like 'Jannat 2', 'Raaz 3D' and 'Humshakals'.

Musical evening of 'Sarbjit' skipped by Aish Aishwarya R a i Bachchan, who returned from Cannes morning decided to skip the musical evening of her film Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who was 'Sarbjit'. Rerecently in the media for her portedly, the awkward look in the Cannes actress has a Festival 2016 is now all set for her sore throat befilm 'Sarbjit'. (Photo:redfuel) cause of which she decided to skip the event. Apart, from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the entire cast of the film and Sarbjit's family attented the event. Randeep Hooda plays Sarabjit Singh in this film, Sarbjit. The film is a biopic on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan and was sentenced to death. He was attacked by inmates at a prison in Lahore in April 2013 and died a few days later.

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