PG 06 PG 21

VOLUME 03 | ISSUE 06NOV 14 - NOV 20 , 2015PRICE 1̀0

PG05

WARD WATCH

PG15

PG09

PG11

CHACHAL

Page 24New ChiC oN the bloCkPujashreeGET RID OF THOSE

PESKY PIMPLES AND ACNE

AXIS Bank ATM in Ulubari looted

City witnesses its first ever ‘Ward Talks’

Even without rainfall, the area remains submerged in water

Ramen Deka,National Secretary, BJP

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

As the Fancy Bazar fire devoured numerous shops, residences and warehouses, it has posed serious concerns regarding the safety and security in this densely populated commercial hub.

PG 02

Fancy Bazar inferno raises

many questions

CITY GETS NEW AUTO SERVICE THAT PROMISES REASONABLE FARES

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 20152

Lead Story

RAHUL CHANDA

The business hub of not only Guwahati but the entire northeast, Fancy Bazar wit-

nessed the worst Diwali ever as a devastating fire destroyed prop-erty worth more than Rs. 100 crores scorching major wholesale markets like the New Market to ashes. The in-cident came as a shock to the people of Guwahati and the administration had to soon order an enquiry to find out the exact cause of the fire. With the fire started the blame games with some blaming the fire department, some the administration and some the people of the area. But who is exactly to be blamed and what are the questions of concern which the ravaging incident has raised? G Plus looks into the incident in depth and analyses the fire-safety scenario of the locality.

The incidentAccording to Raj Kumar De-

wan, whose uncle, Balekram Dewan owned the shop Annapurna Tea in New Market (which is now burnt down), on 11th November night at around 8.45 pm a cotton shop in New Market had caught a small fire and very soon the fire started spread-ing across the market. The fire and emergency services department was contacted and the fire tenders rushed to the spot, but within a span of five minutes, the small fire turned into a blazing inferno spreading towards Shiw Market and towards M/S Rad-ha Krishna Dindayal (a store) which had a residence and also a chemical shop. In New Market itself there were many shops and adjacent to that there

Fancy Bazar inferno raises many questions

New Market burnt to ashes again after 17 years; the kachha non-RCC part takes the brunt

were 2-storied Assam type buildings where there were godowns and shops on the ground floor and residences on the upper floor. Dewan said sud-denly thereafter there were sounds of some huge blasts that sounded like LPG cylinders bursting. According to him around 22-23 cylinders burst in the generated heat which made the fire uncontrollable. The fire fighters were spraying water from SRCB Road initially, but the as the fire started spreading, the fire fighters got atop Shopper’s Point, Hotel Kuber Interna-tional and New Market from SS Road and started spraying water. The infer-no raged so hard that the fire fighters, with the help of local people, worked the whole night of 11th November to douse it. It was only in the morning that the fire came under a bit of con-trol but as there were wholesale shops

of cloths, blankets and many other products as also many godowns, the fire kept simmering in many cor-ners. The entire Fancy Bazar was full of smoke and the administration was busy controlling the public who thronged the area to watch the blaze. Till the morning of 13th November, the fire fighters were busy in dousing the fire. At one end of the New Mar-ket (which was an Assam type build-ing), some shops adjacent to Radha Bazar, and godowns on the top floor of Shiw Market, M/S Radha Krishna Dindaya, RK Hotel, utensils godowns and around six residential houses of Radha Krishna Sarawgi, cartoon and the plastic factory office of Shiv Chandra Rai Saraogi were completely gutted and brought down to ashes. According to administration officials approximately 73 shops, 5 residences

Fire breaks out at around 8.45 pm on 11th November

Fire department claims this is the first time fire trucks reached the spot within one and a half minute of receiving information

local people blame fire department for not having modern technologies

Fire department says that Fancy bazar is not planned and thus took time to douse the fire

Around 73 shops, 6 residences and many godowns were gutted

Property worth more than `100 crore ravaged

only 20% shop owners had insurance

Shop owners fear they might not get the shop back if the land owner decides to construct something else

CM and other politicians throng Fancy bazar, Gogoi assures all help

Administration orders inquiry to find out the cause of the fire within 15 days

G Plus does a survey and finds 91% shops in Fancy bazar do not have fire extinguisher

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 3

Lead Story

Shoppers’ Point building

Shiw Market

Keshav Katra

This entire area was burnt to ashes on 26th January, 1968, when the establishment was a kaccha structure. After the incident the market was constructed into a multistoried RCC building

This entire area was still a kaccha structure and was scorched to ashes in the latest inferno.

Individual shops

Radha Bazar

Individual shops

New Market New Market

SRCB Road

MG Road

Hem Baruah Road

SS RoadFancy Bazar inferno raises many questions

and some godowns were completely devastated by the fire.

Cause of the fire

The exact cause of the fire is yet unknown but there are many as-sumptions. Guwahati Police Com-missioner, Mukesh Agarwal, said, “It is too early to ascertain the cause of the fire. Some say it was sparked by Diwali fire crackers.” Kamrup (Met-ro) DC, M. Angamuthu entrusted Additional DC Dipak Choudhury to find out how the fire broke out and if there were any lapses. ADC Rajib Prakash Baruah said, “The DC has ordered an inquiry headed by Addi-tional DC, Dipak Choudhury, who will be assisted by the Circle Officer Lakhinath Saharia and Choudhury will have to submit the inquiry report within fifteen days.” Raj Kumar De-wan, a local businessman said the fire broke out at the cotton shop number 30 (named Radheshyam Rameshku-mar) of New Market because of sparks from Diwali crackers. Another local businessman, Rohit Kanti said, “Ad-jacent to the Radheshyam Ramesh-kumar there was another cotton shop, Gauri Shankar Bajaj, and the fire broke out at that shop first due to a short circuit.” Similarly, many peo-ple offered many assumptions but the fact is that there were no fire safety measures in place anywhere in the market. On 13th November, G Plus visited around 100 shops in the Fan-cy Bazar area and found only nine shops having fire extinguishers. An unbelievable 91 shops did not have any fire extinguisher! It is appall-ing that when an incident happens the people do not hesitate to blame the administration and departments like fire and emergency services. Yet, the mandatory precautions are never taken. The Fancy Bazar fire too raises many questions. Some of the names of shops which were completely gutted in the fire are M/S Balekram Dewan and Annapurna Tea, India Store, Murlidhar Khemka, Amit Textile, Vijay Textile, Maliram Gaurishankar, Moolchand Sarougi, Assam Cloth House, Babloo Cloth House, GL Sharma, Hariram Durga Dutt, Maan Mal Rajkumar, Kamrup Textile, Govardhan Das Ramjivan, Prakash Cloth Store, Murli Dhar Shankar Lal, Suresh Fancy Store, Shankar Lal Om Prakash, Puro-shotam Das Garodiya, Arun Cloth Store, AK Textile, Roshan Ali, Vimal Textile, Rajesh Textile, Hariram Dur-ga Dutt, Radhesyam Ramesh Kumar, RK Hotel, Radha Krishna Dindayal, godowns of Shyam Metal, Narayan Metal, Shree Lakshmi Metal and Gauri Shankar Bajaj.

The blame game

Ashok Kumar Jain, owner of Ba-bloo Cloth Store, said that fire trucks who rushed to the spot were mostly empty and just one hydraulic plat-form lift which was used to douse the fire had to wait for 10–15 minutes as it could not work without water. The water used to finish up even as the

connection to the platform was being made and which essentially took 10 minutes. Jain said, “We asked the fire department to directly con-nect a pipe from Brahma-putra River. That way the fire could have been doused faster and more easily but the department did not lis-ten and was bent on refill-ing their trucks by sending the same one after the other to their stations.” A fire de-partment official countering the above claim told G Plus, “Fancy Bazar is a very un-planned area and also very congested. The fire fight-ers worked day and night to douse the fire. 100 fire fighters were deployed and around 33 fire trucks were continuously on service.” The official further said that the fire had breached areas which were difficult for the fire fighters to reach because of unplanned construction of the buildings. Yet the fire fighters sprayed water from all around by climbing on top of the Shoppers Point, Radha Bazar, Shiw Market etc. In the process they had to break the locks of many shops and godowns and in Shiw Market they had to make a four metre hole on the roof by drilling to create an access to spray water.

Many politicians and VIPs also visited the spot on 12th and 13th November and another blame game which happened was when the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi visited the spot on Thursday. Apparently the fire tenders stopped working for a few minutes and people alleged that the fire tenders did so because they wanted the CM to do a com-fortable recce of the area. Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakravorty said that it happens only in Assam and the fire department should concentrate on their work instead of the chief minister. Fire and emergency ser-vices ADGP, Dr. A.P. Rout said that if the fire tenders work more when the CM is visiting it makes a better impression and so, it is not true that there is any protocol that the fire fighters have to stop working when the CM visits any such spot. Dr Rout said. “This is the first incident were our fire tenders reached with-in one and a half minutes of the get-ting the information and the team worked round the clock to control the fire.” So, there were many such blame games played during the in-cident but the irony is that the New Market was burnt once in 1968 also. A city based journalist who lives in Keshav Katra adjacent to New Market (RCC Building), said that on 26th January, 1968, the market was burnt during a riot and the part which was burnt then, was re-constructed into a RCC building, whereas the part which was not re-constructed and was left as an As-sam type building. This part bore the brunt of the inferno this Diwali.

“Only 20% shops were insured”

Manoj Kumar Singh, a local busi-nessman of Fancy Bazar, who was at the spot helping the victims since Wednesday night said that he knew almost all the traders who lost their shops and according to him, prop-erty worth more than Rs. 100 crores were gutted in the inferno. Manoj then explained that it is not possible for everyone to get their shops and houses insured as in one year, to in-sure a property of Rs. 10 lakhs, the premium comes to approximately Rs. 10,000. So, there were many shops

which had meagre earnings and even some big businessmen do not renew the insurance every year because it requires a huge amount of money. According to Manoj only 20% of the gutted establishments had had some sort of insurance.

The family of Radha Krishna Sarougi had five houses and some godowns of utensils which were all burnt to ashes pushing the entire family to the streets because except for the clothes that they were wear-ing they were left with nothing else. A weeping Pradeep Sarougi, son of Radha Krishna Sarougi said, “Our entire family is destroyed. We were five families living together and we have nothing left in this world now.” Similarly, many other families suf-

fered huge losses in the incident. Shiv Chandra Rai Saraugi had

rented an office in the Sagar Mal Ram Kumar building and all his important documents and assets were gutted in the incident. He said, “I am not sure if my owner will return the shop af-ter reconstruction as after the recon-struction, the owners of the buildings here will get better offers from many other places.” Similarly, many other victims have united and asked the ad-ministration to ensure that they get the possession of their shops back af-ter the building is reconstructed. But, if the owner decides to make a hous-ing complex now instead of a market what will these sufferers do, and will the government help them?

A graphic representation of the affected area. Diagram not to scale

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 20154

In The News

Pursuant to reports by conscious citizens of the city, the District Administration and Food &

Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Kamrup (M), has initiated a series of inspections on Fair Price Shops in the city. The recent past has witnessed the seizure of 10.5 quintals of rice along with books of account from the pos-session of one Bipin Hazarika, F. P. Shop dealer, Pandu Railway Bazar. It appeared that the Fair Price goods dealer could not produce distribution list of 460 liters of oil, 5.4 quintals of flour and 5.9 quintals of rice that was allocated to him. It was also found that the owner has not been properly run-ning the shop which was found in a dilapidated condition. The shop also lacked several other basic utilities such as weighing machine, display board,

etc. which led to the suspension of Hazarika’s retail license. Another in-spection drive was carried out by the Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department in Fatashil Am-bari which led to similar revelations.

J. Islam, Deputy Director, Food & Civil Supplies said, “Such inspections are a continuous process and are car-ried out at regular intervals to keep an eye on any kind of wrong doings by the Fair Price traders. Such checks are initiated following complaints re-ceived by the department from any individual like the ones carried out in Pandu and Fatashil. Apart from com-plaints, inspections are carried out every month by the area inspectors who have targets set for them. Since there is no particular phone number to register complains against any such

wrong doings the Deputy Commis-sioner, Kamrup(M) has been urged to arrange a toll free number. However, for the time being one may directly call to my number or to the office of the Deputy Commissioner and imme-diate action will be taken against such complaints,” Islam added.

The drive also focuses to bring an end to the wrong sale of allotted products to non-card holders. Mean-while, there is another category of Fair Price shops known as Amar Dukan that trade in open market commodity and at the same time are also holders of the Fair Price Shop license. Such shops deal in other grocery items. The rice provided by Food Corporation of India (FCI) cannot be sold in the open market since the card holders have to be provided with the allotted goods.

KALyAN Deb

Food & Civil Supplies Department

tightens grip on fair price shops

Following complaints by citizens

kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

Digitalization of the process of keeping account of goods being allotted to rightful card holder to be initiated soon

Pursuant to reports by conscious citizens District Administration and Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, kamrup (M) has initiated a series of inspections on Fair Price Shops in the city

in Pandu one FPS was found lacking in basic utilities such as weighing machine, display board, etc. which has led to suspension of the owners’ retail license

Similar inspection drive was carried out in Fatashil Ambari leading to similar revelations.

there are 566 FPSs in the city and a total of 245 Fair Price Agents.

Such checks are initiated following complaints received by the department from any individual. Apart from complaints, inspections are carried out every month by the area inspectors

to register complaints against any such wrong-doings DC kamrup (M) has been urged to arrange a toll free number

there are several card holders who do not claim their share of goods which raises the chances of wrong-doings by the FPS traders.

Soon a software will be launched which will hold the information of each card holder

Moreover, the rice provided in FPS (Fair Price Shop) here is brought from Punjab and is not available in other shops. However, there are several card holders who do not claim their share of goods which raises the chances of wrong-doings by the FPS traders. Thus, a mass appeal will be forwarded by the food and civil supplies depart-ment addressing those who do not claim their share of goods from the Fair Price Shop to withdraw their al-location of the particular good so that the same can be provided to an area where it is more necessary.

There are a total of 566 Fair Price Shops in the city which are divided ac-cording to the different wards and a total of 245 Fair Price Agents. Mean-while, the entire process of documen-tation is on the verge of being digi-

talized shortly. While in Phase-I the paper works will be documented in computers and which is nearing com-pletion, the next phase will provide computers to each fair priced shop.

“Soon a software will be launched which will hold the information of each card holder and will have to receive confirmation from the card holder on receipt of allotted goods through one’s thumb print. If no con-firmation is received the shop owner will receive a lesser quantity of that particular commodity in the next con-signment. This will change the entire picture of wrong-doings by Fair Price Shop owners and help the department to keep account of goods being dis-tributed to the rightful card holder,” the deputy director informed.

An Austrian couple, who was on a road trip to As-sam in their caravan, was

beleaguered by a few addicted youths in Jorhat a few weeks back. Then, another city youth ‘f lashed’ before a US woman at Beltola area here. To check on such incidents, the Guwahati city police com-missionerate has opened toll free

helpline for tourists openedphone numbers to help the foreign visitors travelling in the state for various reasons. “Besides 100, two other toll free phone numbers - 0361-2464557 and 0361-2730989 are now operational for the service of foreign tourists mainly. If some tourists face any difficulties while travelling in the city, he or she can dial these numbers for help. A

team of cops will be at their im-mediate disposal,” the order cited. The initiative was taken as the city and the state are witnessing huge foreign tourist footfall over the past few years. Latest official statements said that the number of tourists from abroad to the state has gone up from 16,400 in 2011 to 23,572 in 2014-15 (till January

this year). The records said that at least 17,542 foreign tourists vis-ited the state in 2012 and 17,638 in 2013. The city police issuing a number of safety tips for tourists, suggested: “Leave valuables such as jewelry and passports secured in your hotel’s safe deposit box. Never carry large sums of cash. Never open the door to unsolicited

room service or maintenance peo-ple. If you schedule a meeting with a potential client, research the company and the individual with whom you are meeting. Meet in a public place such as a restaurant.” The city police urged the foreign tourists to prefer travelling in pre-paid taxis as they are officially ap-proved.

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 5

Crime

AXIS Bank ATM in Ulubari looted

Conference held highlighting witch hunting issues

Noticeable rise in such cases all over the state since the heist on the brinks Arya cash delivery van about a month back

over Rs. 5 lakhs stolen

AtM was looted at 2 am in the morning

Police suspects insider involvement

the DC released a statement about three months back that all AtMs in the city without a security guard should be shut by 10 pm

In the early hours of 13th Novem-ber, 2015 (at approximately 2 am in the morning), an Axis Bank ATM

situated on Sarania Road, under the Ulubari flyover was looted. An FIR has been lodged at the Paltanbazar Police Station. However, no solid leads as to who the culprits are have been found. “We don’t know the ex-act time when the incident happened. However, after talking to neighbors we can conclude that it must have happened sometime between 2 to 3 in the morning. The security guard was not present, and the miscreants were crafty enough to pull it off. They first downed the shutter of the ATM and bolted it from inside so that no sound would go out,” stated Ramesh Saikia, a police officer. The Deputy Commis-sioner, M. Angamuthu, had released a statement about three months back

number of 4 ATM vault makers in the whole of NE - Diebold, Wink, NCR and Lipi. This particular vault was NCR’s property. The police officials are currently trailing this to see if they can find possible leads. Suspi-cions are that the culprits might be involved with one of the vault mak-ers who knew the exact workings of the machine. “Such information can only be with someone who actually knows a lot of technical aspects of these machines. One has to have a lot of knowledge, otherwise the way this has been done seems really impossi-ble for a common thief,” said the po-lice official. A closer inspection of the machine revealed that all the drawers of the vault were cleaned out and the culprits left no traces behind.

that all ATMs in the city without a security guard should be shut by 10 pm. However, most ATMs in the city are left open without any supervision at night. The heist was very cleverly planned. Once inside, the thieves were careful to first smash the CCTV camera. They then disconnected the hard disk that was attached to it and took it away. According to bank offi-cials, an amount of Rs. 5, 54,000 has been emptied from the ATM vault.

Inside the ATM, the miscreants cleverly planted a few stones and bricks to throw the cops off the track. “There is no way that this ATM ma-chine was broken clean by these fee-ble stones. This has been wiped clean by using some sophisticated tool, like a sleek digging tool or something similar,” claimed Saikia of Paltan-bazar Police Station. The police au-

thorities suspect that this is the work of someone who is quite knowledge-able about the workings of the vault machine.

During the investigation, the po-

lice authorities were trying to fit in the pieces and they were gathering all the required information from the Axis Bank authorities. According to the bank authorities, there are a total

biPAsA sAiKiA KAsHyAP

bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

biPAsA sAiKiA KAsHyAP

On 11th November at Guwahati’s Cot-ton College Birobala Rabha, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee (2005) took the

podium to highlight the issue of witch hunting and everything else that surrounds it. The day-long conference highlighted many instances in Assam alone where women were subjected to various forms of torture, both physical and societal on the claims of being witches. The day long talk was an initiative of the Anthro-pology department and it actually brought out the depth of the issue. More than 768 women were murdered for “being a witch” since 2008. In Assam, since 2013 about 132 people, mostly women, were dubbed witches and killed (Na-tional Crime Records Bureau statistics). Last year, at least 10 people were killed in about 30 cases of the same in the state. The conference released gruesome video clips of women who were butchered and left dead for ‘practicing

witchcraft.’ “I have seen lives and families ruined in the name of witch hunting. Not only the woman who is targeted as the witch, but her entire family has to suffer,” Birobala Raha, while narrating her life-long crusade against witch-hunting, lamented. “Why I choose to bring this issue amongst you all is because this city is the hub of all the aca-demia in Assam, and I want the educated youth of this city to stand up against that class of women who are being targeted and subjected to various atrocities simply based on the stigma of being a witch.

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 20156

City gets new auto service that promises

reasonable fares

while the conflict of implementing fare meters in auto rickshaws remains unresolved, a Chandigarh based company makes its way to

the city to provide auto service at reasonable rates

Jugnoo, a Chandigarh-based auto service company was launched in Guwahati on 1st october

Amidst the conflict of implementing fare meters in regular autos, Jugnoo provides service as per fare meter

the auto association opines that since the company will be approaching existing autos, it will not achieve the desired results

the long-standing bid since 2011 to increase the meter rate up to Rs. 50 and Rs. 25 as additional remains uncertain

there is only one meter repairing center which is active against nine that are shown on paper

A large number of people in the city commute via autos. Like all major cities, auto rickshaws

are the lifeline of the capital’s trans-portation system and the auto drivers know it too well. For long years now they have taken advantage of their “happy” situation. Surely those who have commuted via autos have been through two things - impolite behav-ior of the auto drivers and their sky-touching fares.

While the hassle for auto fare between auto drivers of the city and the people continues to remain unresolved, Chandigarh-based Company, Jugnoo, has launched their auto service in Guwahati. After successful operations in several major cities such as Chandigarh, Jaipur, Delhi, Amritsar, Indore and Mumbai and offering the largest auto rickshaw hailing app in the country, the auto-rickshaw service made its way into the city on 1st October this year. However, in a city where the fate of auto-rickshaws plying according to fare meters remains uncertain, the Chandigarh-based company has a barrier to overcome in order to flourish.

Modus operandi

Jugnoo’s emphasis is on providing transportation at reasonable rates. Rather than deploying additional

auto-rickshaws the company hires existing auto drivers and provides them with customers who opt for a ride through the application. The company also provides the option of carrying on with their private fares like the general auto-rickshaws. An auto-rickshaw driver, after providing legal documents such as driving license, registration certificate, vehicle insurance, fitness certificate and meter verification, can enroll himself in the company following which the driver will be provided with a smart phone that will have the Jugnoo application which will also display the fare meters and GPS. As a promotional activity and to popularize their service, the company is providing additional amounts to the auto-rickshaw drivers apart from the basic fare. Currently the company has managed to enroll 11 auto-rickshaws under the brand and is looking forward to making greater inroads in the market as it gradually grows. However, the challenges have

already started to pose themselves as display of the Jugnoo brand-logo or poster on the autos has started to cause a touch of indigestion for the auto-rickshaw association. As stated by officials of Jugnoo, members of the association had torn up such displays on the auto-rickshaws plying in the city streets.

the Association’s perspective

The association noted that they have not met any representative of the Chandigarh-based company. However it opined that since the company will be approaching the existing autos, the service will not receive the desired support from the auto-rickshaw drivers. “If the auto-rickshaws ply according to the company’s fare rate out of which they have to pay a certain percentage as commission to the company, in such a situation it would rather be favourable to operate as per

the fare revised by the government,” said Pabitra Kumar Baishya, Secretary, West Guwahati Auto Rickshaw Association. “Moreover, covering the growing cost of one’s livelihood is the basic agenda of the auto association,” the secretary added.

the Agenda

The fixing of fare charge as per fare meter has been a long-standing issue and despite several measures taken by the transport department, the issue remains unresolved. According to representatives of the Auto Rickshaw Owners’ Association, the fare, as per meter, has not been increased to an acceptable extent through which an auto-rickshaw driver can earn a comfortable livelihood. “In 2011, the state government issued a notice without consulting the association and increased the meter rate to Rs. 20 and the additional fare to Rs. 12 per kilometer. Prior to that, the rate was last increased in 2002. In 2013, the additional fare was increased to Rs. 15 and the government had asked us to keep operating for three months after which the fare would be again increased. However till date, there has been no addition to the fare and all the plans were only confined to the papers,” Baishya said. “But then, a meeting was held in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner, Transport

Commissioner and members of the association during which a standing committee was formed. Meanwhile we also presented a bid to increase the meter rate up to Rs. 50 and Rs. 25 as additional rate which was our long-standing demand from 2011,” the secretary mentioned.

The auto association informed that as per government records there are nine meter repairing centers in the city. But only one of these nine is active. There are over 10,000 auto-rickshaws plying in the city and this single meter repairing center takes advantage of the situation by charging undesirably high price for materials. It is alleged that this situation has come to pass due to the apathetic attitude of the government towards the auto drivers. While the hassle of enforcing fare meters on the auto-rickshaws remains uncertain, the introduction of Jugnoo which provides auto service at such reasonable rates could well be a stinging reply to the arrogant auto-rickshaw drivers. However, the fate of the Chandigarh-based company in such an aggravated situation remains to be seen since it will also require awareness among those auto drivers who are dedicated towards their work and who do not while away their time in the stands after striking that “one big fare which is enough for the day”.

Rate as per fare meter provided by Jugnoo

Basic Fare Additional charge

Charge for time consumed

(Day) Rs. 20 Rs. 5 per km Re. 1 per minute

(Night Charge) Rs. 30 Rs. 7.50 per km Rs. 1.50 per minute

kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

KALyAN Deb

City

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 7

kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

Leo Expo has become a shopping extravaganza for the citizens

the expo has made a significance contribution in bringing international traders and products to the Guwahati shoppers’ doorstep.

Actor Dinesh Das and Journalist Pradip baruah conferred the Artist and Journalist award respectively

there are participants from thailand, bangladesh, bhutan, egypt, Sri lanka

the btC has also displayed their indigenous handloom and handicraft products

The on-going 15th Leo Expo at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre has been organized with an ob-

jective to meet the shopping demands of the people as it is the only exhibi-tion which has an exhaustive variety of products under one roof.

Speaking to G Plus, Mridul Dutta of the organising committee said, “The people who visit the Expo are the real buyers. The Expo presents all the products which are useful in day-to-day life like home appliances, food and clothes all under one roof and it is not only a business that Leo Advertising is doing but in the process is providing a platform where people can have a different shopping experience from the daily markets.”

Dutta said that during Diwali the leading MNCs also offer special

discounts specifically for the visitors to the Expo due to which people can buy such products at very low price. “This year around 400 participants participated in the Expo and the participants are from across the country as well as from Thailand, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan. Products from Pakistan have also been displayed. We also hold the Expo in other parts of the region as well as in other parts of the country. The next exhibitions will be held at Silchar, Jorhat and Shillong and we will also look forward to going outside so that we can meet the expectations of the people living outside the state,” said Dutta.

Talking about the venue of the Expo, Dutta said that it is not a big issue whether the Expo is held at

Maniram Dewan Trade Centre or at Judges’ Field (as used to be held a few years earlier). “We have got as good a response at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre as we used to get at Judges’ Field or at Chandmari. At Judges’ Field most visitors came to the Expo just to enjoy the environment or for an outing but here the visitors come to actually purchase. So the response is more or less the same,” said Dutta.

The Expo is different from other trade fairs as they maintain discipline, hygiene even various products from different parts of the world are displayed. “This year we have created a replica of the Taj Mahal as an attraction for visitors. We also hold different competitions and events which are well accepted by the public. We also felicitate artists

and journalists to encourage them,” informed Dutta.

This year actor Dinesh Das and journalist and editor of Prantik, Pradip Baruah were conferred with the Leo Expo Artist Honour and Leo Expo Journalism Award respectively. The awards consisted of a cash component of Rs. 1 lakh each, a citation, a memento and a cheleng chador. Meanwhile, a cash award of Rs. 50,000 has been given to Minu Bania, widow of eminent actor Late Indra Bania, as recognition to the actor’s immense contributions to the cultural world of Assam.

The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) also has an important role as they showcase and sell their unique handloom and handicraft products. “We have the concept that if the

participants from outside the country can come and join the Expo then why can’t we go and hold the Expo outside the state and country as well so that it becomes easier for our people to reach the market that comes from outside under one roof,” Dutta said.

One of the participants from Kolkata, Apu Das said, “I have been coming to the Leo Expo since five years and we get good response from the people but this year the sale is down compared to the other years. We also participate in other trade fairs but the Leo Expo is much better as it is very professionally organized.” Another participant who has come from Mumbai and has set up a stall of sandals said that this year the responses of the visitors are less. “Although we have got less response from the visitors but we like the management of the organisers. But we get better response in Kerala than in Guwahati,” said Babu. A participant from Thailand, Trinaya, said that the Leo Expo is very professional and that they also go to other cities as well as they get good response from the visitors.

One of the visitors Rina Das said, “We like the expo as it has all the necessary items here under one roof. We also get an opportunity to buy products which comes from different parts of the country. As most of the people cannot go outside it is very helpful for them to get the products here in the Expo.”

KALyAN Deb

City

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 20158

Concern

Swachh BharatIs it cleaning our pockets too?

The Central government’s re-cent decision to impose the Swachh Cess in continua-

tion of its Swachh Bharat Mission will impact the entire country. The Centre is going to impose a tax of 0.5% on all taxable services. The hike is going to be included in the service tax. This means that the price of eating in restaurants, going to a movie theatre, air travel, etc. is going to be 50 paisa more for every 100 rupees of expenditure. The BJP government’s approach is that the public “needs to be involved” to keep the country clean.

the Abhiyan that became a mission

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is not just a piece of advertisement politely asking you to keep your surroundings clean. The initiative is slowly and silently progressing towards becoming a sort of an in-stitution in our country. It is one of the few things that gained promi-nence with Modi’s government. All of a sudden from May last year the country was all about Swachh Bharat this and Swachh Bharat that. Fantastic initiative, no arguments here! The campaign subtly be-gan to be called the Swatch Bharat Mission. Today, funds are being released to keep our cities, towns and villages clean. The Mission had been allocated a whopping Rs. 3,625 crores after the budget was announced for this year. The ques-tion is, wasn’t that enough? Service taxes were hiked from 12% to 14% this year. This hike of 2% is certain-ly not negligible keeping in mind that it is the same tax-base that is being taxed. The Swachh cess is ex-pected to yield the government an

concept of Transfer Stations for col-lection of garbage from the neigh-borhoods of some major roads in Guwahati. This absence is the main cause of the drains and major water bodies being used to dump garbage in Guwahati. The statement also mentions that there is a serious lack of manpower to manage the gar-bage problem in the city. In such a scenario, we have a scene where our own government is deducting taxes from us twice for the same thing.

The Swachh Bharat cess will be effective from 15th November, 2015. Any services not specially ex-cluded from this levy will be taxed. The finance ministry in a statement that was released mentioned that a tax of fifty paisa will be charged on every one hundred rupees worth of

this system has been initiated and implemented successfully. Now, the whole of Zoo Road is entirely bin-free. However, we need to incorpo-rate this in other localities and that should happen soon.” Making Zoo Road bin-less is quite subjective for the area being a focal point of the city, has always received and en-joyed the attention of the authori-ties. However, what about localities like Manipuri Basti or the inte-rior paths of Ramakrishna Mission road? These are examples of the kind of places where it is impossible for people to even pass through be-cause of the garbage-loaded streets. Don’t these streets need dustbins?

In a previous statement re-leased by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation there is apparently no

Swachh bharat cess to be imposed from 15th November, 2015

Going for movies, eating out will cost more

levy of 0.5% imposed over and above service taxes

Guwahati soon to be a bin-less city

additional Rs. 400 crores (approx) during the remainder of the current fiscal year.

the Guwahati angle

The Commissioner of Guwahati Municipal Corporation, Narayan Konwar, is however happy. “We are taking this positively. This can be a very beneficial revenue genera-tion scheme. For the Swachh Bharat Mission, only 20% of the funds are given by the Central government, and the rest is given by the State Governments. This will be a big help for us.”

As per a survey by the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, the aver-age waste generation is 2.66 kg per day per household. This adds up to 490.64 tons of waste generated by the total number of households in the city (Guwahati city has 1,84,454 household: source GMC). Given its population however, Guwahati does not have the adequate number of dustbins. According to the GMC there are only 324 dustbins in the secondary collection points of the city. And that’s just one part of the data. According to an observation made by the three-member Inde-pendent Public Committee con-stituted by the State Government, the estimate of even 400 dustbins in the secondary collection points of Guwahati falls short of the ad-equate. This was till the year 2013. With the formation of a new center however, a new concept called “the bin-less city” is being imposed. “We are trying to turn Guwahati into a bin-less city,” Konwar said while speaking to G Plus. “We are now imposing a system where there is door to door collection of garbage. Zoo Road is one such place where

biPAsA sAiKiA KAsHyAP

bipasa.saikia@g-plus.in

taxable services. Adding further to that, the ministry also said that for a country with more than 120 crore people this is a small and fair price to pay for the sake of cleanliness. However, the issue is also that our country of 120 crore people is also a country where more than half the population is living on a minimum wage, and most beyond it. Is this a fair imposition on the people? I think not. Pertinent to Guwahati, I raised a couple of questions to the GMC Commissioner:

Q: What is the Assam government’s earning from the new cess and what will be Guwahati’s share?

Narayan Konwar: The central government is going to collect the taxes annually. We do not have the break-up of it yet. Since the cess is being levied from the 15th of this month, we are unaware of our share yet.

Q: How much does the Assam Government spend each year for keeping Guwahati clean?

NK: Each year we have a dif-ferent plan and a different perspec-tive while approaching the issue of cleanliness. Hence, each year the total amount set aside for this mat-ter is different.

I thought the replies were as fuzzy. The one thing that is certain is that in the name of cleanliness, life is going to be costlier almost in every aspect – be it making a phone call or getting a haircut!

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 9

In The News

Towards providing a platform for the citizens of Guwahati to express their problems and

a medium to connect them with the administration, Guwahati’s premier English weekly, G Plus, has been featuring a column called “Ward Watch” since its inception. To fur-ther supplement the main purpose of the column – which is to initiate some tangible improvements in the city starting with the micro-level of the ward - the media house had been mulling with a concept whereby the people of a particular ward and the representatives of the Ward Unnayan Samitee could be brought together onto a common platform along with the authorities from various gov-ernment departments like GMC, GMDA, Police, etc. for interaction and exchange of ideas. G Plus thus floated the concept of “Ward Talks” and its first edition was implemented on 8th November, Sunday at Shrad-dhanjali Kanan, Zoo Road.

Ward Talks started with Ward No. 20 which includes Nabin Nagar, Anil Nagar, Jonali, Sundarpur, Kaly-anpur and parts of Hengrabari area among several others. On the panel of the event were Abir Patra, Mayor, Daya Ram Rajbongshi, Additional Commissioner, GMC, Chitta Ranjan Dutta, Assistant Engineer, Division 3, GMC, Anima Deka, Councillor - Ward No. 20, B.K. Goswami, OC, Geetanagar Police Station and Dwip

Baruah, social activist and resident. The event was moderated by Swapnil Bharali, Executive Editor, G Plus.

Concentrating on local issues, Councilor Anima Deka briefed the gathering about the problems faced by the people in her ward and said that besides Anil Nagar and Nabin Nagar there are several areas in the ward that suffer from problems such as water logging, poor road condi-tion, lack of street lights, etc. Ward Talks also witnessed the enthusiastic participation of the public and dis-cussed ways to permanently solve the issues of flood, streetlights, poor road conditions and crime among sev-eral others. Naba Kumar Goswami, a resident of Lakhmi Nagar area raised the topic of floods in the Manik Na-gar and Lakhmi Nagar areas where the water remains logged for over 24 hours.

Addressing the impressive gath-ering, Daya Ram Rajbongshi said that GMC has lately been involved in a se-ries of meetings and discussions on issues faced by the people of the city and have initiated measures to solve the problems. “The problem of water logging has somewhat been resolved in comparison to the past years. This year the flood was cleared within four hours. However, the logged water of a particular ward has to be diverted through another ward since the drains are interconnected that leads to a waterbed. Meanwhile we are also

City witnesses its first ever ‘Ward Talks’

G Plus plays its hand in an initiative to bring people and the administration onto a common platform of interaction and exchange

working on a permanent solution to completely eradicate the problem,” said the additional commissioner.

Mentioning about a permanent solution to water logging Dwip Ba-ruah said, “The prime cause that cre-ates flood is the water that runs down from the hills during rains. Another reason is the water that comes down from Meghalaya and to address the problem the water has to be diverted towards Kilhaku Beel via Six mile and Kulsi River rather than Dee-por Beel. If the water bodies are dug deeper in order to amplify the con-tent capacities it will help in reduc-ing the problem of flood. Meanwhile,

the initiative has to be taken up from this winter itself in order to prevent another flood situation in the com-ing monsoon.” Baruah also urged the GMC to establish a nodal department to address the problems.

The additional commissioner also enlightened the gathering about the process of online tax payment through the GMC website (www.gm-cportal.in). In case of any complaints people can call on the toll free num-ber (that is expected to be released soon) and assured that such com-plaints will be addressed within 48 hours. He also urged the public that in case of any problems the people

should also come up with ideas and solutions rather than lambasting the departments. Such solutions will help solve the problems better.

The problem of parking in Zoo Road has also been a concern for the people and the discussion veered to-wards it. Due to the massive traffic the situation gets chaotic and a few miscreants take advantage of the same to steal two-wheelers. The peo-ple suggested parking spaces in the Zoo premises, AIDC compound and Doordarshan compound for two-wheelers and cars after 5 pm and also hoped for a designated GMDA park-ing zone in the area.

G PLUs NeWs

L-R: Dwip Baruah (Social activist), Abir Patra (Mayor), Dayaram Rajbongshi (Addl Commissioner GMC), Chittaranjan Dutta (Asst Eng Div 3) and Anima Deka (Councillor Ward 20) with moderator Swapnil Bharali

Basanta Kr Goswami, OC Gitanagar Police Station, addressing the public A citizen speaking about problems in his area. The gathered crowd participated actively

Naba Sharma, member of the Sanatan Dharma Sabha raising questions to the panellists

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201510

Bazaar

Fixed price, no bargaining please!

bhutanese woollen garment stalls set up in Paltan bazaar. the products are brought from Nepal and the shopkeepers are basically tibetans who reside in Nepal.

With the onset of winter, the “Bhutia” market is all set to sell their wool-

len garments at Paltan Bazaar. Every year they come in the winter for three to four months to conduct business. The sellers are mostly from Tibet. With the region being in tur-moil, these people scattered and having no place to live, they have to roam about in different places to earn their livelihood. “After Ti-bet was divided it became difficult for us to stay there. We neither can stay permanently in India nor in Nepal. Therefore, we have to roam around for business. We come here to Guwahati for three-four months in the winter and go back to Ne-pal to do cultivation for the rest of

the months,” said Asha, one of the shopkeepers in Paltan Bazaar, while speaking to G Plus.

Asha said that during the winter season it is too cold in Nepal and farming is not possible. As a result they come to Guwahati for business as it is their second source of livelihood. “We come here by the end of October, continue the business till December-January and then go back to Nepal. We do not have any other business and therefore, the only option for us is to come here,” said Asha.

She said that she has been coming to Guwahati since three-four years and unlike the other years, this year the business has not been so good. “The citizens of

shawls, woollen caps, jackets, woollen kurtas for girls etc. The products have been brought from the Nepal wholesale market and also from Lucknow, Ludhiana etc.,” said Munmee.

The vendors of the market are basically from Nepal and visit the city in the month of October with a large variety of winter wear for children, ladies and men. “It is the people of the city who named the place the Bhutia market. It is probably due to our facial features, which are very much similar to the Bhutanese people as we are neighbours,” said Pasang Lama who has a stall in the so-called Bhutia market and has been visiting the city since 2008.

the bhutia market is set up in the Paltan bazaar area with the onset of winter

Selling of woollen garments is the only business that they have

the shopkeepers are tibetans from Nepal although they are thought of as bhutanese

india’s top Gastroenterology team spreads awareness on the day-to-day management of liver and digestive diseases

Gi and liver diseases are pervading the everyday lives of people becoming a fast rising epidemic in india

Guwahati take our concept of fixed price wrongly. If we do not adhere to the fixed price concept we will incur losses. The prices of our products are reasonable but people still want to bargain. We come all the way from Nepal and we have so many expenses from food to lodging. If we incur losses the whole purpose of our life is defeated. Therefore, we have decided in a meeting to keep the price fixed so that we can earn a minimum profit out of it,” Asha said.

She also informed that she has done a survey in the city markets and come to know that a comparable product which they sell at 500 rupees costs more in the other markets. “The items that we sell here at Rs. 1000-

1500 costs Rs. 3000-4000 in Nepal but people don’t understand this and keep on bargaining. It’s very difficult to make the local people understand about the differences but the other people who come from outside know the difference and they do not object to the price,” said Asha. She further informed that last year they brought products of worth Rs. 5 lakhs and made a profit of around Rs. 3 lakhs.

Another shopkeeper, Munmee, said that as it is not so cold in Guwahati now-a-days the business is not so good and with there being many markets in the city people have a wide choice. “This year the sale is not good till date and we hope that it will pick up by the year end. We have varieties of sweaters,

Fortis Escorts Liver and Digestive Diseases Institute team holds CME in Guwahati to spread awareness on management of GI and liver diseases

The team of Gastroenterologists from Fortis Escorts Liver & Diges-tive Diseases Institute led by Dr.

Ajay Kumar, Chief & Executive Director and Dr. Vivek Vij, Director Liver Trans-plant and GI Surgery visited Guwahati to hold a CME in Hotel Landmark on various liver and digestive diseases and to share their experiences with medical community. They were accompanied by their team members Dr. Vikram Bhatia, and Dr. Manav Wadhawan. This ini-tiative was organized by Department of Gastroenterology, GMCH in association with North East Digestive & Liver Foun-dation.

Speaking on The Challenges in Acute Pancreatitis, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Chief & Executive Director, Fortis Escorts Liver & Digestive Diseases

started the state of art, integrated Liver transplant program at Fortis Escorts Hospital, situated at Okhla in New Delhi. He said, “When patients become symptomatic from chronic liver disease with the development of jaundice, ascites, encephalopathy, muscle wasting, gastrointestinal bleeding or coagulopathy, they need to be referred to a liver transplant center regardless of their age or etiology of liver disease. Most patients with symptomatic liver disease will not live three years, and half of those with severe symptoms will not live six months without a liver transplant.” Now liver transplant has been standardized in India with good outcomes comparable to the west.

The doctors leading the Fortis Escorts Liver & Digestive Diseases Institute (FELDI) offer a complete range of comprehensive diagnostic and pathological tests backed by cutting-edge state-of-the-art technology and innovations to enable speedy and accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Institute said, “Pancreas is an important organ responsible for food digestion and insulin production to regulate blood sugar levels. Its inflammation due to any cause can be severe and life threatening to some patients. Management of this requires proper understanding of

metabolic changes, good critical care management supported by advanced endoscopy, interventional radiology and surgical support.”

Dr. Vivek Vij, pioneering liver transplant surgeon credited with more than 2500 liver transplants has

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 11

Ward Watch

kalyan.deb@g-plus.in

A residential and developing locality adjacent to the VIP Road and in close proximity

to the up-market Down Town Hospi-tal/Pantaloon area, Chachal is essen-tially an environmentally calm and peaceful residential neighborhood. The area also has several streets inter-connecting each other with Chachal which were recently constructed af-ter some humungous efforts and ap-peals by the locals. Most residents of the area of Chachal would certainly not complain about the locality lack-ing the essence of the city but parts of the area present an unhealthy picture which alters one’s opinion of it.

issues faced by the people

A part of the Chachal Tiniali that leads towards Dwaraka Nagar in Down Town area via Uddayan Path can still be seen submerged under wa-ter. Despite scanty or zero rainfall in the recent times, the part of the road is flooded and has been in the same condition for almost a year now. As stated by the locals the water logging is caused due to faulty construction of drainage system and lack of pas-sage for the water discharged from the residences in the area. Munindra Pathak, a resident of the area, said that the problem has been existing since last monsoon and is gradually getting worse as more vehicles ply though the submerged road. “The problem started due to the faulty con-struction of the drainage system of Chachal main road as the drain water

passage was raised to a higher level than the Chachal-Downtown Road. One can see that the drainage of the main road is much higher than this particular road which keeps the water from passing through. Meanwhile, a few residents of Uddayan Path in Dwaraka Nagar area has blocked the drainage system which again keeps the discharged water from passing through and thus the water overflows and remains logged on the road,” Pathak said.

“Since during monsoons the drainage water causes flood in Ud-dayan Path, the issue was taken up by some of the residents of the area. Following the unresolved situation, representatives of GMC had visited the area and tried to clear the drain in Uddayan Path but the residents did not allow them to do so. The blocked water has caused the bitumen and other topping material to peel off the road and has caused a large pot hole which makes it difficult for vehicles to pass through,” Pathak asserted in-forming that most two-wheelers pre-ferred to use the footpath constructed over the drainage system to ride over.

other issues

Prasanna Mahanta, president, Chachal Unnayan Samiti conformed to Pathak’s assertion and mentioned that the faulty construction of the drainage system of Chachal main road is the prime cause for the artifi-cial flood rather than the blockage of drain by residents of Uddayan path. “According to me the drainage was

Even without rainfall, the area remains

submerged in water

ConCentrated area ChaChaL

Ward number 31

Sub-diviSion 31(a)

CounCillor SWaPaN DaS

Phone number 98640 67152

area Sabha member amINur rehmaN

Phone number 94351 16294

ProblemS roaD STILL SuBmerGeD uNDer WaTer, DrINkING WaTer SCarCITy

wrongly constructed as rather than capacitating the drain which connects to the VIP Road only the boundary was raised and that keeps the water from passing through,” Mahanta opined. Mahanta also informed that though the main road is well con-structed, there are twelve by-lanes including Chandan Nagar which con-nects the area to VIP Road and several other connecting lanes that have been ignored by the authorities. “Although, we have not approached the council-lor as yet we have written several ap-plications to the GMC directly,” Ma-hanta added.

Drinking water

Along with several other areas of the city of Guwahati, Chachal also

WARD NO

31

suffers from acute scarcity of drinking water. “Most of the residences are de-pendent on boring for their drinking water as domestic water supply is not available in the area as yet. Earlier, 100 to 150 meters of boring was sufficient for a residence to meet their require-ment of drinking water but now the boring level has to be approximately 500 meters. It is also due to the increase of construction of apartments in and around the area that has caused the problem”, said Mitra Dev Mahanta, a local resident and advisor of Chachal Unnayan Samiti. He also informed that the installation of pipelines of the GMDA/JICA water supply project has been concluded in the recent past and urges the authorities to implement the project as early as possible as that will help resolve several issues.

KALyAN Deb

Councillor Says

Talking to G Plus, Councillor Swapan Das has informed that he is aware of the hazardous sit-uation of the area and has also visited the location. “The problem has been compounded since Durga Puja and the residences of the area are bearing the brunt. The part of the area is located at a lower level and the natural discharge route is via Dwaraka Na-gar. However, the issues is further vexed because some of the locals of the area have blocked the drain to keep their own area from being affected by f lood,” Das said.

He informed G Plus that the problem is be-ing addressed and a per-manent solution will be worked out. He will also visit the area soon. He also said that since it does not rain in winter he will urge the residents of Ud-dayan Path to unblock the drainage system just as a temporary solution to the problem.

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201512

Politicking

RAHUL CHANDA

After Bihar debacle, will Assam ‘tolerate’

BJP in 2016?

State bJP president likely to be replaced, induction of Congress MlAs irks many bJP party workers

bJP loses bihar; party says caste politics is the reason there but Assam is different

Veteran party leaders like l.k. Advani and others criticise Modi and Shah for defeat

After bihar debacle, Assam Congress says there should be maha understanding between all secular forces

bJP to prepare new game plan for Assam elections

bJP president Siddhartha bhattacharya likely to be replaced; rift in party over who should be the new president

Some workers irked over induction of Congress MlAs

After Himanta Biswa Sarma joined BJP, and with his grand rally from the airport

to the BJP state headquarters, politi-cians started shifting parties in As-sam and all the action took place in Guwahati. But the Bihar election re-sults have given a stunning shock to the entire BJP membership and there is a huge turmoil within the party. The higher leadership of the saffron party led by BJP veteran L. K. Advani has criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his man-friday Amit Shah, saying that the party did not learn any lesson from the Delhi debacle. Whatever be the chaos and the bickering now, all eyes are on the Assam-2016 polls and accord-ing to sources in the BJP, the high command at Delhi is contemplating a new strategy to combat Tarun Go-goi and his band here who gleefully lauded the Bihar election results. But will BJP be able to win the Assam elections and was the Bihar elections a wakeup call for the saffron party to rethink about winning votes on sole-ly Modi’s high-intensity speeches, rhetoric and melodrama?

bihar election’s effect on Assam

As soon as the Bihar election results were out on 8th November, Tarun Gogoi, talking to the media, said that there should be an under-standing between all secular forces in Assam. Gogoi also said that he did not mean there should be any

himself. People’s perspective is that Himanta left the Congress Party with precisely the chief ministerial post in mind. He might claim that he left Congress because of ideology is-sues, but as a politician he will always have a dream to become the chief minister. Himanta is also known as a “manage master.” So just before the polls, if he strikes a deal ensuring a BJP victory on the condition that he should be made the chief minister, then Sonawal will be not too happy.

L.K. Advani and three other vet-eran BJP leaders issued a scathing statement demanding a thorough review of the defeat in Bihar assem-bly elections and insisted that strict accountability be ensured. Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi or party chief Amit Shah, the statement criticised their leadership in strong words. In response, the BJP issued a statement saying that it was the elders who had set the precedent of ‘collective responsibility’. Induct-ing Himanta in Assam was Amit Shah’s decision done on the persua-sion of Siddhartha Bhattacharya. If the BJP loses the Assam polls, the onus will be totally on these two gen-tlemen. Moreover, policies like meat ban, etc. in some states has brought forth a rethinking within some sec-tions of the people who feel that the country is “intolerable” now. Eve-rything put together, the public of Assam is definitely wondering if it should at all tolerate the BJP in 2016!

lent in that state and one of every four MLAs is a Yadav. But accord-ing to Nath, Bihar was the same state during the last Lok Sabha elections. “Then how did BJP manage to win so many seats from that state?” A good question.

Rift in bJP

According to highly placed sources in the BJP, the debacle apart, the saffron party is now formulat-ing a new master plan for the state. Firstly, the leadership of the party in the state is likely to witness a change. The source said that BJP will have a new president in place. The current president, Siddhartha Bhattacha-rya talking to G Plus said, “In BJP every leader has a tenure of three years. I was acting president in 2012 when Sarbananda Sonowal went for polls and after his victory I was an-nounced as the president of the state.

I have already completed my three-year tenure but I am still continuing. When the leaders decide to appoint a new president I will follow their decision and do whatever work is assigned to me.” He further said he has no idea about who would be the new state BJP president, but accord-ing to the source in BJP some people want Sarbananda Sonowal as the new president while some want Bh-attacharya to continue. Some even want Mangaldai MP Romen Deka to lead the state who however, is not interested in state politics (see “In Conversation” in this issue). Rajen Gohain is another popular figure among BJP workers.

The source said that a rift oc-curred in the state BJP after the in-duction of Himanta Biswa Sarma and more recently, after the nine Himanta-loyalist Congress MLAs joined BJP, the rift turned into a fis-sure. Many BJP workers are unhappy with the induction of the Congress MLAs as BJP already had their men working for a long time in the con-stituencies from where these MLAs hope to contest. But after these MLAs joined BJP, the BJP workers who were expecting tickets are in a dilemma. Even Himanta’s constitu-ency had Pradyut Bora contesting from BJP the last time and Bora quit the party smelling Himanta’s induc-tion. Also, after Himanta’s induction the chief ministerial candidature is an issue which is a matter of concern as there are three candidates - Sar-bananda, Siddhartha and Himanta

kind of alliance and asserted that the Congress will fight the elections alone but said that an ‘understand-ing’ among all ‘secular’ parties is required at this stage. Gogoi was happy about BJP’s defeat in Bihar and claimed that Congress will again form the government in Assam. Sim-ilarly, the local electronic media was replete with debates on why BJP lost in Bihar and many in the print media carried articles analysing the reasons of BJP’s defeat.

A local resident of Jyotikuchi and BJP supporter, Kedar Nath said, “BJP should stop making poli-cies like meat ban and their leaders should stop making sexist comments which will make people take them as a communal party. Modi will be blamed for everything whereas he is actually doing good work for the country.” Nath further said that BJP leaders are now saying that they lost Bihar because of the casteism preva-

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 13

Special

The Joy of LightsAs always Guwahati was all lit up as the city celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights. G Plus moved around the city trying to capture some of the best moments. Photos by Adib Zamali

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201514

art

Adorable endeavourDibyeNDU GosWAmi

Art for art’s sake – the meaning of this oft-used phrase was aptly realised in letter & spir-

it in the just concluded programme titled ‘Varna – 50 days Dip in Arts” at Rabindra Bhawan campus, Guwa-hati. The crew behind the project was an artiste couple Prabin Kumar Nath and Aditi Chakravorty who were supported by Monica Devi. All three have carved a niche for them-selves in the field of visual arts. The comprehensive multidisciplinary 50-day event was unique by itself in the sense that the organisers did not take any financial or sponsorship support from outside but have done every-thing completely by themselves. Said Prabin Nath, “We neither had any committee or team of workers nor did we approach anybody for any kind of support. The Directorate of Cultural Affairs had only provided us the space for erecting the pavilion to carry out our work.”

The event kicked off on August 24th without any elaborate ceremo-nial launch (as is normal in such oc-casions) and ran without break till 12th October with a variety of pro-grammes that included as many as eight solo exhibitions (at State Art Gallery), public talks on films and dramatics, workshops on poetry rec-itation, creative writing, performing arts, film shows etc. Graced by emi-nent personalities of diverse fields like Benu Mishra, Kirti Kamal Bhuy-an, Pulak Gogoi, HareKrishna Deka to name a few, the entire exercise was an umbrella incorporating the visual arts, i.e., paintings by experts (that included Noni Borpuzari, Saleha Ahmed, Niva Debi besides Aditi & Prabin themselves) and even by in-ternational artists (from California, Myanmar, Korea, Nepal and Bangla-desh) as also performing arts of clas-sical and creative dance, music (both vocal & instrumental), mime, mono acting, literary discussions for stu-dents, workshops on sculpture mak-ing, etc. Aditi said, “Our outward grandeur of the event might not have been eye-catching but many experi-

mental and good concepts have been conceived here which will definitely prove wonders in the days to come.”

Amongst all the notable pro-grammes, the workshops on sculp-ture making from scrap metal con-ducted by experts including DIET (District Institute of Education & Training), puppet making, graph-ics design, an experimental dance drama on women empowerment and workshop on photography are worth mentioning here.

The unique performances of ob-ject theatre by Antara Choudhuri, recitation by Moloya Goswami, vio-lin recital by students of IIT Guwa-hati, and sarod recital by Tarun Ka-lita on the last days prior to the final curtain call on the 12th October mesmerised the audience present. On the last day an audio music com-pact disc titled Tarpan with songs of Lakshminath Bezbaroa and Bhupen Hazarika by singer Arundhuti Das Barua was released in front of an im-pressive gathering.

Weather report for the weekSAT

14 NovemberSUN

15 NovemberMON

16 NovemberTUE

17 NovemberWED

18 NovemberTHU

19 NovemberFRI

20 November

Partly cloudy. Mostly sunny. Morning clouds. Decreasing cloudiness. Partly cloudy. More sun than clouds. More sun than clouds.

16 / 27 °C 16 / 28 °C 17 / 28 °C 13 / 27 °C 13 / 30 °C 13 / 27 °C 15 / 27 °C

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 15

In Conversation

Somebody coming and joining BJP doesn’t make him a leader

One of the founder members of the national BJP, Romen Deka is not all that interested in state

politics as much as he wants to be an important cog in the party’s national wheel. Member of Parliament from Mangaldai constituency, Deka is cur-rently BJP national secretary and talks exclusively with G Plus about his inter-est to remain a national-level politician.

Can you tell us how you entered politics and the major profiles you have had till date?

I acquired my education at Gauhati University and then I joined ABVP. In 1972, I looked after its activities in the entire northeast. I became member of court in Gauhati University as a student representative. Just before emergency I joined Jan Sangh and during the emer-gency I went underground as I worked against the restriction of democracy. Af-ter the emergency Jan Sangh joined with Janata Party and so I also joined Janata Party and I became the general secretary of the Party. In 1980 I joined BJP along with a few others. I, along with Kabindra Purkayastha and another person from Silchar went to Delhi - Ferozshah Kotla to be precise - on 6th April, when BJP was formed. So, I am one of the founder members of BJP not only in Assam but in the Indian context as well. I was there with the party as a spokesperson, as gen-eral secretary, as vice president, and in 2006, I became the BJP state president. I travelled across the state and inspired many people to join BJP. In 1985, I con-tested the elections for the first time. At that time everything was politically stocked against us. L.K. Advani came

here and urged some people to fight the elections and to fly the BJP flag. A few of us - around 25-30 - fought the elec-tions spending our own money without getting any co-operation from friends or relatives. Only our immediate family members supported us. For the last two terms though I have remained an MP from Mangaldai.

Coming to the hot topic of the day, can you tell why bJP lost in bihar?

My senior leaders like Arun Jaitley have already aired their views. So I don’t want to comment anything on this issue.

Do you support the induction of Congress MlAs like himanta biswa Sarma and others in bJP?

Well, they have enrolled in the par-ty. Now they are our party workers and I won’t speak anything on this subject.

how is your relation with himanta? Do you take him as a leader given his aura in the state scenario?

The relationship is fine. In our party everybody must work and leadership comes naturally. Somebody just com-ing and joining does not make him a leader automatically. If he has to be a leader of the party then he has to work for the party. Leadership comes when one works properly. He must earn the respect of our workers. One cannot just saunter in and say that he is a leader. When a man joins the party he joins as

Ramen Deka, National Secretary, BJP

of intolerance against the government. what do you want to say about it?

It is some of the pseudo-intellectual people’s views which are being high-lighted excessively. People nowadays do not say anything about the Sikh holo-caust or the Godhra train holocaust. Even in Assam, Hindu people were murdered, killed in minority dominat-ed areas which was never highlighted. Only a few cases where they think it is anti-Modi government, they highlight. These types of issues will come down as people are realising the facts now.

talking about Assam, why don’t you contest from Guwahati instead of Mangaldoi as you are born and brought up here?

I contested but narrowly lost in 2006. Then they asked me to contest from Mangaldai. I contested and I won. I am from Sualkuchi and the connection with the grass root people is there.

As you live in Chatribari, people have a lot of expectations from you and there are many problems in the area. what were your initiatives to improve the area?

The Sarusola Beel was cleared but regarding traffic the authorities are not doing anything. Traffic is a major prob-lem and I had raised the issue with the DGP and the SP also, but they are not doing anything. As there is a hospital here and also Nichols’ School, it is very difficult for the patients and students to come here. Administration and police must understand that there is a hospi-tal. The road should be made one-way actually. The parking in the narrow road makes it congested. As you pointed out I will again meet the authorities and try to solve the issue. I have talked many times, I will talk again.

tell us about your hobbies and your family?

I love to read and earlier I used to play chess but it’s not possible now as my partners who played with me since childhood are no more in this world. I enjoy cinema these days, and every day I watch a movie. Regarding family, my wife is working with SBI, and my son and daughter are studying.

Congress and AIUDF but at this mo-ment we are confident that we will be able to form the government.

Are you contesting for MlA?

No, I am not interested in state poli-tics. I am very happy as a Member of Parliament.

So what is your political ambition and where do you want to see yourself?

I am an MP and I want to see my-self continuing in national politics. I am Prabhari of Arunachal Pradesh. So I am working hard and I am working well in Parliament also.

but in Northeast none of the states are being ruled by bJP. So when do you plan to form your government in the north-eastern states?

We ruled as a coalition partner long back in Meghalaya. We are gradually growing and now we are 11 in numbers. In Meghalaya we will be a coalition part-ner. In Assam we will definitely form the government. There are still four months, so, at present it is difficult to say about the permutations and combinations.

Some policies of the Centre are being criticised and some sections have also come up with the stance

kariakarta or a worker. After that his el-evation will come according to his per-formance.

bihar elections is indicative that the Modi wave is somewhat dying down. what do you think about Assam? Can bJP win here?

In Bihar elections, for every four MLAs, one is a Yadav. Unlike Bihar, the caste factor is not there in Assam. Here the main parties are the BJP and the Congress. AIUDF will get the minority votes. There might be an alliance of the

RAHUL CHANDA

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201516

Life

It was a nice sultry Sunday, with a fairly strong wind play-ing with the sand, making the

Brahmaputra look eerily exotic as I tried hard to squint and get a clear-er picture of the distant hillocks and trees, which almost looked like a half-done painting. My Luit refuses to age, meandering on an endless journey, making me sigh ever so often at its grandeur. Some-times, I feel I should accompany it through its voyage to where it loses itself, losing myself in the process!

It was a while before I came to my senses and heard my brother’s booming voice just below the ter-race where I was standing, almost shrill as he was probably calling me for the umpteenth time by then. I ran. Lunch was ready and many from the family were already serving themselves. I love the fam-ily get together. Reminds me of Idd in Shillong when we would have three huge tables set together, topped with all kinds of food from edge to edge and more than twenty of us, old, young, middle-aged, toddlers, sitting together and eat-ing like we hadn’t seen anything called ‘food’ in light years!

My sister-in-law is almost al-ways elaborate about her cooking. She’s passionate about it. I couldn’t for the life of me wonder how she manages to whip up ten to twelve different mouth-watering dishes. I would have taken a week to plan, leave alone cook a lunch of that enormity!

I praised her to no end be-tween mouthfuls of veggies tossed in olive oil and sipping from a bowl of hot yellow dal. Everything was over-the-top tasty! And then, one of my cousins quipped, “We are lucky to have these exquisite meals, thanks to Bou.” And Bou in her candid manner, retorted, “Oh, yes, enjoy yourself till the time I get old and frail and fall ill,” to which I said, “Come on, Bou, you can get ill only when you allow yourself to be so.” “What do you mean?” she asked, confusion writ large on her face.

Mother is the first connection for you to this manifest world. You came into this

world through mother, and of course because of your father too. There is motherhood in each and every one of us.  Motherhood is wanting the best for others and not expecting any-thing in return. Every mother wants the best for their kids. Sometimes kids don’t recognize it.

There is a verse in Sanskrit written by Adi Shankara in which he said, “Bad sons are born, but a bad mother has never been born”. So there is a certain sweetness with mother, and whatever she says, we take it.

My mother was a perfection-ist. Whatever I would do, she would say, “You did not do it prop-erly. You could have done it better”. She never said sorry to anybody in her whole life. Can you imagine this? She was very thorough and alert in anything she did. She had no regrets and she did not do anything that she would have regrets about. At the same time she was also very sharp. So there is one lady who always said that I could have been better. She thought I didn’t know how to run an ashram.

Usually, in my talks, I say drop all your problems here at the Ashram. Once in our ashram in Bangalore, a devotee asked, “My biggest problem is my mother-in-law. Can I leave her here and go?” I said, “Let me ask your mother-in-law first, what is her biggest problem.” Then I asked her, “Has there been many times when you been in conflict with your own mother?” She said, “Yes. All the time

she finds fault with me”. Mothers find faults in their daugh-ters and they fight a lot, but that doesn’t get into the heart. If a mother scolds you, it doesn’t really get into your heart. But when the mother-in-law says just 10% of what your mother said, it touches you so deep in your heart. Is it not the case? After hearing this she said, “Oh yes, I never thought of it like that before.” I said, “See, they are of the same gen-eration. If the mother-in-law finds some fault in you, then why do you react differently towards her than you do with your own mother?”

You know, this one thing has saved many families.  Just making a shift in awareness has made a huge difference. Seeing the patterns in mothers and mothers-in-law and seeing that they are the same makes the daughter-in-law take things in a much lighter manner. They feel much better in dealing with their in laws. So it should not be just mother’s day. It should be mother-in-law’s day too.

In 2011, I saw that there is a world toilet day. At that if you re-member, I had tweeted, “There is a world toilet day but there is no world yoga day. It should happen”. Of course now they have declared 21st June as World Yoga Day. The purpose is just to create a little aware-ness about this. I am happy that final-ly after a long time, yoga has found a place and 177 countries from around the world have endorsed the World Yoga Day.

SPiritual valueS ofMOTHERHOOD

tiNAt AtiFA mAsooDHis HoLiNess

sRi sRi RAvi sHANKAR Ji

LIGHT THROUGH YONDER!

I told her, I might sound clichéd but yes, the Universe hears every-thing that you say. The minute you say you have grown too old, too sick, too fat, too blind, too dumb and so on and so forth, there is that unknown entity which manifests what you say into reality. I have been through all this myself, I told Bou. Initially, I thought things were happening ‘cause they were destined to. Then, I started noticing that I was the one who was creating my life; every bit of it. I was surprised, though mystified would be the correct word.

Once, on a morning several years back, I remember telling my col-leagues from an office I used to work in that I wouldn’t be able to meet them ‘cause I was down with a tor-menting headache and a fever. And lo and behold, by the afternoon, I was actually in bed, groaning in a soar-ing temperature and an unbearable headache.

I never realised the power of the subconscious mind back then. How-ever, now that I have learnt the power, I have decided to put it to good use.

Ma and Deuta’s favourite topic; sickness! No amount of coaxing and cajoling or taking them for a holiday, meeting friends helped in the process of taking their minds away from this excruciating subject. I was perplexed and wondered if I was not giving them enough time. The first thing Ma would do when we talk on the phone would be to narrate about the terrible backache she woke up to, her knee pain and so on. Deuta complained less but he too had his problems.

The two strong persons from whom I draw constant inspiration for my life sounded battered. I couldn’t take it lying down. So, one fine day, I decided to take action. I sat with them over a hot cup of tea and I coun-selled them to think differently about themselves.

Can they start thinking of revers-ing the process of aging, I asked Ma and Deuta. They had the strangest look on their faces! Reverse the pro-cess? I hope you’re not trying to tell us to be young again? I was ecstatic! That’s right, Ma and Deuta. I want you

to think that you’re back to feel-ing young again; when you were in your teens or maybe in your early twenties, when you hadn’t a single worry in your mind? Ma was quick to respond. Yes! I can do it! Deuta nodded in slow-motion, not too sure of such ‘quack’ treat-ments and especially not from his daughter! No! She’s not a doctor! How can she even have solutions for my old age? However, I started my work. I sat with both of them and requested, “Can we not dis-cuss about any kinds of sickness, disease or inability from now on? Can we start on an absolute mirac-ulous journey where we will talk only about being healthy, happy and at peace? Can we from now on keep saying to ourselves that we are capable of doing anything? Can we say that we are powerful in every possible way and that the Universe has gifted us with powers and will continue to do so, cease-lessly and tirelessly? Can we say that whatever we seek, we get? Can we say that we can create anything in our minds and bring it forth to reality?”

Ma and Deuta listened in si-lence. Then both of them smiled. “Yes, we can and we will try from now on!” I was overjoyed. The rest as they say is history.

However, after lunch at my brother’s place, while we were relaxing in the living room, I couldn’t help beaming from ear to ear; he was staring for a min-ute too long at Ma and Deuta and said, “I must compliment both of you. You’re both glowing! What is the secret?” Ma smiled back at me with that mixed look of pride and happiness on her face.

“By the way, how is your knee pain now, Mahi,” he asked, to which Ma strongly replied, “Come on, let’s not talk about sickness and pain. Let’s enjoy the tea your wife has made. It’s really nice!” And then there were peals of happy laughter!

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 17

In Focus

Is the Fancy Bazaar fire an eye opener for safer Diwali celebrations in the future?

the fire that broke out in Fancy bazaar on 11th November was one of the most devastating accidents that Guwahati has witnessed. the fire was caused by bursting firecrackers during Diwali. Now the question that arises: is Diwali a festival of lights or a festival of destructive pollution created by firecrackers and due to which such a massive tragedy occurred?

The shining lights in the city that we deco-rated witnessed a gruesome ending with the power of fire towering over everything

else in the heart of the city. SRCB Road in Fancy Bazar was struck by fire and many people lost their shops and with it, saw their dreams burn to ashes. Like every year, Friends Club organised the crackers and laser show but as soon as we got the news of the fire we cancelled the event for the safety of people and tried to vacate the area as early as possible by making an announcement. No matter what people say, the fire department, NDRF, SDRF, GMC, Police, CRPF, Traffic Police and others fought the fire nonstop that night leaving aside their own celebrations. Whatever happened cannot be undone but we hope people who lost their livelihood may get the opportuni-ties to start afresh.

A major fire broke out at Guwahati’s pre-mier commercial area because of use of firecrackers. And what happened there-

after will again go unnoticed by millions. But here is my attempt at making a difference. While many burst crackers, thousands lost their liveli-hoods. While many lit their sky-shots, hundreds saw their dreams dying. While many looked up at the sky in glee some saw their hopes crum-bling down. Diwali, they said, bought prosperity, wealth and luck. Where prayers and holy chants of Laxmi and Ganesha echoed, only screams dominated moments later. While many had a fantastic Diwali, there were some who cried and will continue to do so for days. Both were sparks but while one lit the sky, the other dimmed lives. I don’t know how successful will government be in the years to come to ban something that really deserves to get banned but a societal ban on crackers is what we can seek.

Because of the foolishness of some people many innocents have suffered. The so-called literates who spend lakhs of

rupees in firing crackers should think about the harm they are doing to others. In spite of all the restrictions they found their way to burn crack-ers and caused a massive destruction of human property. It is high time to act and to understand that Diwali is not meant to waste millions of rupees by burning crackers but it is a festival of joy and happiness. Spread happiness and get love. Lastly, I am feeling sorry for the ones who suffered and wish they will come out of the situ-ation stronger. I also hope for the government will act soon and positively.

It is really a million dollar question but the truth is very different. This is not the first eye-opener. God has given us many indica-

tions but we just fail to see them. I request all of you to please understand the dangerous game we are playing with ourselves. Look at the families which are so badly affected by the devastating incident. Many are on the streets now but was it their fault? Diwali is the festival for victory of good over evil, light over dark, but look at what we are doing! We are just making the dark or evil stronger and inviting the same to win. For the first time in my life this Diwali, my family spent nothing on crackers but that doesn’t mean we have not enjoyed. Just give it a serious thought guys.

The other side of the story: Due to the negligence of the GMDA or whatever else may be the case, these buildings have no

gaps between the adjoining structures creat-ing unbelievable congestion. This made it more difficult for the fire-fighters to douse the all-consuming flames. Moreover if the fire tenders could have operated from three sides at least the damage could been controlled to a much larger extent. And to add to this were the gas cylinders bursting which made the inferno even more devastating.

bHARAt PoDDAR

AsHisH GoeL

DeePJyoti Roy

mRiNALiNi siNGHA

NimesH HARLALKA

bHAbeN sARmA

I just don’t understand how crackers could be related to the return of Lord Rama from his banishment. According to Chinese mytholo-

gy, firecrackers are or were used for driving away the evil powers. So, the catch is that firecrackers are not appropriate to celebrate such a big occa-sion as the return of Lord Rama. And practically speaking, it causes noise pollution and air pollu-tion. If someone can spend so much money for the crackers which will ultimately have no more use than adding to the pollution why don’t they forego their gas subsidies? Trust me God will be happier and prouder.

MeetMeetMeetMeet

Sattriya Dancer and Researcher, Visiting Artist in Residence, IIT, Guwahati

Anwesa MahantaMeet

Anwesa Mahanta is related to the Saudkuchi Sattra. Her cultur-ally inclined parents, their social

exchanges and interactions with their cultural fraternity gave Anwesa the basic platform to explore her cultural lean-ings. Her mother, Minati Choudhury (who works in Doordarshan Kendra, Guwahati) hails from a celebrated fam-ily of art patrons in Mangaldai and her kith and kin are all related to the field of promotion of Assamese arts - be it mu-sic, theatre, literature or other fine arts. A constant support from all these people has helped Anwesa in pursuing her cul-tural journey. She also had the opportu-nity to be a participant in various ritual performances in the sacred precincts of Namghars. Being related to this institu-tion, her entire family has been inter-ested and associated with art traditions of Sattriya.

Anwesa did her schooling from An-kur Seminary, Dispur, followed by five years in Cotton College pursuing her higher secondary education and a bach-elor’s degree in English Literature. She then went ahead with her master’s pro-gramme at the Department of English, Gauhati University, and completed her Ph.D. from Delhi University under the guidance of Prof. P.C. Pattanaik.

She has also participated in various interactive sessions that her parents, Prof. Pradip Jyoti Mahanta (currently head of the Department of Cultural Studies, Tezpur University) and Mi-nati Choudhury had with different art-ists, scholars, and art connoisseurs of the country. “My first meeting with my Adhyapak, Bayanacharya Ghana Kanta Bora, Padmashree, happened during such an interface between him and my father. During school vacations, I re-member hanging around with my moth-er who would be on tour to document the various aspects of art heritage of Assam. Also I remember being with my father while he was engaged in his research and field works related to the diverse cultural heritage of the various regions of As-sam,” Anwesa said.

Belonging to a Sattra, Anwesa was groomed in a philosophical environment by her parents and grandparents who perceived the world and its surrounding accordingly. Bhakti is one of the main aspects of this entire tradition, which in-spires her at every point of her life. “Each movement and gesture of this dance style is a celebration of the energy flow-ing from the Bhakti philosophy,” An-wesa mentioned adding, “I am blessed to have Bayanacharya Ghana Kanta Bora as my Adhypak who has helped me in every step to explore and understand the nu-ances of the tradition in a different light. Also, my Ph.D. research under Prof. P.C Pattanaik has been an eye opener to so many different areas of thoughts inter-related to the understanding of Sattriya.”

Anwesa has received Grade-A rec-ognition from Prasar Bharti Doordar-shan followed by empanelment in Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Junior Research Fellowship from UGC for the

Ph.D. Programme, Kalajeeva Puraskar, Sankardeva Yuva Samman, research grant to work on Intangible Cultural Heritage of Assam and collaborative ventures with noted dancers and re-nowned institutions of India and abroad.

“As a dancer, to explore the huge corpus of Vaishnava literature and work on new numbers always remains a de-manding task. Recently, I summed up a collaborative venture with University of Otago, New Zealand and worked in the project “Sannidhi - A Confluence” which included an ethnographic study of the movement practices of Assam,” Anwesa said. “At present, I am also working on a research project “Unmasking the Masks” which takes up an analysis of the mask performances. My engagement with In-dian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, to teach Sattriya Dance Aesthetics and to coordinate the performing arts course has also given me a different space to work in the area of Arts and Aesthetics, Performance and Heritage studies with the students of IITG,” Anwesa added.

“I have been receiving a very warm response from the youth. With SPIC-MACAY, IRCEN, KALPA and IITG, I have been working with the students and have tried to discuss and share thoughts about the heritage of Indian dance and its relevance in the present period. While my aim has been to share the dynamics of performance aesthetics, I have also tried simultaneously to bring in research interest amongst the students. It’s over-whelming to see the enthusiasm of the gen-next and their novel perspectives about the art form. I am very hopeful that the lamp of the tradition will be carried forward with the scholarships, technical expertise and hard work of the youth,” the artist concluded.

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201518

Letter to the EditorThe article published about media honcho Manoranjana Sinh in the October 10th issue of G Plus

brought to light the kind of corruption that the so-called “biggies” of our city are involved in. Our democ-racy is at stake, and free speech is curbed. If such kind of people controls the media, the only space where we can express our opinions and fight for a cause, what else is left as recourse to the common people? Press or the media is the only platform where we can be critical issues of the society can be discussed, debated and condemned. But when the media is owned by the greedy and corrupt, it is rather unfortunate. I re-member Manoranjana Sinh from an earlier time and just one interaction with her was enough for me to judge her moral and professional character. I want to commend your journalist for an excellent investiga-tive piece. Our judiciary is a pillar of our democracy and I hope it does its bit to put the likes of Sinh in their proper place. Thanks for raising a voice!

sWAPNiL bHARALiExEcutivE Editor

siDHARtH beDi vARmA

CHANDANA HAtibARUAHGuwahati

Are Smartphones actually bridging the divide or broadening the ‘disconnect’?

There is no second opinion that smartphones symbolize the technical up-gradation of our society. But while it helps to stay connected to our near and dear ones in a virtual manner, it is also shrouding our social existence. Those born during the 70s and 80s can surely figure out the vast difference. A childhood of sporting activi-

ties and playing different games with friends in the neighbourhood after school hours has been replaced by playing Candy Crush on their “own” smart phone. Evening walks with a companion has been replaced by video chats and there is no second opinion to that either.

We see people going gaga over smartphones and the latest brand or model launched every other day but people also tend to forget it wasn’t too long ago that smart phones were introduced and society thereafter has undergone a significant change for the worse. Truly gone are the days when the evening adda was something to relish, something to look forward to. The worst thing is that children these days are so adept at handling their smartphones but are so inept at handling a face-to-face conversation.

Those who possess a smart phone can be seen incessantly complaining how smart phones are ruining their life with innumerable messages and mail notifications popping out on the screen leaving them with no option but to re-ply each message. While we obsessing over the constant disruption, we are also terror-stricken of what our life would be without a smartphone. In short, we are facing a total disconnect with the actual joys that life offers.

The debate on the pros and cons of a smartphone can indeed be long drawn where it seems that the necessity for a smartphone has trumped its demerits, if any. A smartphone is a personal companion that now literally comes with voice assistants among other advantages like booking movie tickets, ordering food, looking for a

place to live, navigating and keeping up with what’s trending. A smartphone keeps you connected to the internet and gives access to a resource pool which will not dry up anytime soon. When you have everything in the palm of your hand - your music, people, entertainment, camera, GPS what exactly is there to complain about?

Any disconnect among the people cannot be blamed on Smartphones. There is so much in the world to discuss and people are open to talking about topics ranging from politics to music to people and fashion. The practical ap-plication of a smartphone must not be confused with social media penetration. Smartphones have given us ‘ease of access’ and therefore people crib about its cons. Take it away and we’ll see who needs whom. The issues that are delib-erated across generations are the main reason for causing the apparent disconnect. No teenager will want to discuss a hundred year old tradition that his neighbour’s daughter-in-law does not follow with his grandparents. He’d rather take some photos, upload it on Instagram and have his fifteen minutes of fame. The point is, the people in the age group of 13 to 60 in Guwahati are constantly exercising their thumbs to keep up with the changing times and this is promoting some healthy competition. The pursuit of knowledge never hurt anybody.

interactive

We are a young lot at G plus. Yes, me too! And we are understandably conceited

enough to hold our respective opin-ions against anything that stands up for a debate. Yes, there are debates ga-lore, albeit impromptu, unrehearsed ones and no one is a “Speaker Sir”, moderator or a judge. Things fall just short of a fisticuff and we go back to our respective desks with our narcis-sistic opinions shoved up our a****! No winners, no losers! One such “de-bate” initiated by me fell flat on its face though recently. A debate which I had hoped would discharge an enthusias-tic verbal cross-fire turned out to be a damp squib: Should noisy Diwali crackers be banned? The chorus was “YES!”

The stream of updates on Face-book requesting, appealing, demand-ing a noiseless Diwali had actually influenced me. These were the con-scious lot and just to help their cause, I pressed the “like” button feverishly on all of them, scrolling down fast. And then one update caught my eye: Gang-tok city administration enforces ban on noisy crackers. The update carried photographs of police personnel with loud speakers announcing the diktat and backing it up with the threat of stringent punishment for noncompli-ance. Now this was a stance, I felt and here was an administration that was using its powers proactively. I scrolled

The Sound of Noise

up to see how many such appeals were from Guwahati. Almost all of them! It was understandable. The festival of lights, over the years, had undergone a strange metamorpho-sis whereby an occasion of joy had become a cause of irritation - nui-sance rather as bombs went off on streets just as you plied through.

Where is the fun in the noise actually? Holding a cracker’s fuse to a flame, tossing it away and then waiting for the “Bam” is fun? Re-peating the process ten times is ten times the fun? How? The lights are understandable; they glow and are beautiful. But the sound? Isn’t the sound nothing but pure noise? Con-sidering the Facebook update of the Gangtok administration, I won-dered what our own administration thought of the noise. At the drop of a religious hat, it chooses to clamp down on Guwahati’s share of fun by announcing dry days. And Guwaha-ti obeys. What stops it from taking a leaf out of the Gangtok administra-tion? Wouldn’t Guwahati obey? Of course, it would because Guwaha-tians know that the sounds of Diwali are nothing but unwarranted noise. Guwahatians just need to be moni-tored into behaving themselves. I hope and pray the Fancy Bazar in-ferno is not repeated next year!

KALyAN Deb

E D I T O R I A L

siDHARtH beDi vARmA

Hello sir, This is a serious issue which I would like to share. Being a female I find it comfortable to travel

in the A.C. buses provided by ASTC. As I commute daily in buses I was in for a surprise when the particular ASTC Govt. bus I was travelling in charged me way too much than the actual fare. I have been travelling since the day the A.C. bus services started. What’s funnier is when I showed them the fare list which I had downloaded from Internet, the conductor countered me by saying the list is not applicable to the A.C. buses. GOSH!!! Are we so naive? I would like to know how to lodge a complaint against him as he also misbehaved with other passengers in this same context. The registration number of the bus was AS 20 2015. I am sharing my ticket number too if it could be of any help.

We seriously need to take action or else it’s won’t be long before they also start behaving like the goons in the private buses. zUbee Azmi

G Talk

When we see the red light f lash-ing behind us, we

just slow down and make way for the VIP who is behind us. With his PSOs and escort vehicles wav-ing their hands and blow-ing whistles at other cars, Guwahati throws up a revolting example of the VIP culture that is ram-pant in the Indian soci-ety. What is even more despicable is that people have had this ‘respect-ful’ culture ingrained in them. People just simply allow the fellow with the escort vehicles overtake them. No! The only vehicle you ‘need’ to allow to go ahead of you is an ambu-lance. There is no justifi-cation for this inanity that the government officials think they are entitled to indulge in. The chaos of their horns and sirens need to be condemned by the public. The bureau-crats and the politicians

abuse the power that has been vested in them by the people and the state and this not acceptable any more. This high-handed arrogance of the people in power is what makes them so hated, so despised. It is surprising that they do not realize this. While there is absolute loathing for the VIP culture, there also ex-ists a strange sycophancy for the same. There is a sense of reverence for the flashing red light that stems from intimidation and it has become so ac-ceptable that people have stopped raising concerns about this practice.

The ordinary public bears the brunt of VIP rac-ism with their long convoy of escorts and the only way you can fight it is by rais-ing your voice against it. Or maybe, next time, just don’t let them pass, that should teach them a les-son!

VIP RACISM

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 19

events

DEUKAfestival of creativity

City based Ngo Celebrates GREEN DIWALI

literaum 2015

Youth for Humanity, a Guwahati based youth organisation, organized a campaign to push for green Diwali celebrations, with no crackers and appealed to others to celebrate with lights and not with noise. They organised a number of programs this week keeping in mind the pollution and garbage that is the outcome of Diwali celebrations in the city. A special program was held on No-vember 8th at Kalyan Bhawan, Ganeshguri where the members pledged to cel-ebrate Diwali without crackers. The NGO also gave away certificates to students who celebrated Diwali without the use of crackers and contributed to the health of the individuals and the environment.

Deuka, a non – governmental organization led by youths of different colleges and universities of Guwahati organ-ized “Deuka Srijan Festival of Creativity” at Boripara

playground premises, Maligaon on Sunday, 8th November 2015. It was an initiative by the members of Deuka to pro-

mote creativity especially among the new generation and to encourage and establish creative use of waste materi-

als. The Srijan festival by Deuka had various events on creativity, art and culture like art competition

for nursery to post graduate students, street play competition on witch hunting, mobile pho-

tography and digital photography competition where more than 500 people participated. Several dignitaries attended the festival as guests and also judged various events. Some of them were renowned artists Panna Burman, NSDian Jyoti Narayan Nath, actor Rajeev Kro, film director Jonmoni Khaond, etc. Artist Panna Burman portrayed two people from audience within an hour which mesmerized the whole audience. Team Deuka also built a 15 feet Minion from waste materi-als, which is the India’s largest made minion from waste materials and which became a center of attraction for all. The public, especially the locals, responded overwhelmingly to the occasion and the total turn-out exceed 3000.

Royal Group of Institu-tions’ annual literary fest ‘Literarum 2015’

celebrated is third edition 5th, 6th & 7th November. The fest is conducted eve-ry year in two categories namely Literarum Junior and Literarum Senior open-ing avenues for the literary lovers of a wider age group of students from Class VII to Post Graduation.

The event was cer-emonially inaugurated on 5th November. Prof. (Dr.) Kamalesh Choudhury, renowned academician, graced the inauguration cer-emony as the Chief Guest. Teen prodigy Kabyanil Ta-lukdar, world record holder, was the guest of honour. The fest ended with the prize distribution ceremony on 7th November. Mr. Pawan Girdharilal Agrawal, CEO, Mumbai Dabbawala As-sociation, handed over the prizes to the winners.

November 14th toNovember 20th

7DaysEvents

NEXT

NOV 14

TERRA MAYAA AT 07:00 PM

B.R.E.E.D

CAFE HENDRIX,AT 12:30 PM

ECLIPSE - CLANDESTINE RESURRECTION

NOV 15CHANDUBI LAKE,AT 07:00 AM

HVK - GUWAHATI / NORTHEAST MEET & DRIVE

DECATHLON AZARA, GUWAHATI AT 08:00 PM

FLX CRICKET CUP

DESHBHAKTA TARUN RAM PHOOKAN INDOOR STADIUM, BHUBNESWAR BARUA ROAD, ULUBARI , GUWAHATIAT 04:00 PM

NATIONAL RANKING TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS-2015 (EAST ZONE)

ASSOCIATION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, IIT GUWAHATIAT 05:00 PM

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH VISIT BY IITG STUDENTS: WHAT, WHY AND HOW?

NOV 16

DISTRICT LIRABRARY, GUWAHATIAT 05:30 PM

CHIMERA 2015

NOV 17

NEDFI HOUSE, DISPURAT 11:30 AM

LAUNCH OF PROJECT SWAYAM, A SUPPORT CELL FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201520

reviews

Book: Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientologyauthor: Leah Remini

Darksiders II represents the latest offering from developer Vigil Games,

a direct follow-up to the 2010 original. Much like its prede-cessor, Darksiders II provides some solid action, albeit nes-tled amid a somewhat flawed experience. It’s also possibly the most derivative game ever made - borrowing adventure and puzzle elements from The Legend of Zelda, action from God of War, platforming from Prince of Persia, and tone from some hellfire version of Lord of the Rings. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - an amalgamation of such incredible franchises could have resulted in the game to end all games. The thing is,

if you’re going to so blatantly derive material from such well-known properties, you better nail it. While Darksiders II pro-vides a lengthy and entertain-ing experience for action ad-venture fans to sink their teeth into, in the end it never comes close to reaching the heights of the various franchises it so freely borrows from.

Darksiders II further fleshes out the story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse introduced in the first title - this time with War’s brother, Death, at the helm. Death believes that War has been wrongfully con-victed of destroying mankind, and seeks to restore humanity to clear his brother’s name. The

narrative is pretty entertaining, if not severely overdramatic. Though it should please anyone solely in the market for ‘epic,’ it lacks any trace of subtlety and often comes off as sophomoric. Given that the end result of any plot advancement is in-evitably that Death needs to gather three of something and thrash some skeletons, hearing the characters go on about the old ways and soul judgement just feels a bit silly. However, if a healthy dose of ridiculous doesn’t faze you, the contrived reasons for Death’s various es-capades through heaven, hell and everywhere in between do provide an amusing backdrop for his quest.

Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind,

stand her ground, and rattle the oc-casional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost.

That was never more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that expe-

rience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices.

Indoctrinated into the church as a child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini eventu-ally moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an actress and advancing Scientology’s causes grew increasingly intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she’d worked so hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of celebrity Sci-entologists alongside people such as

Tom Cruise, Scientology’s most high-profile adherent. Remini spent time directly with Cruise and was included among the guests at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.

But when she began to raise ques-tions about some of the church’s ac-tions, she found herself a target. In the end, she was declared by the church to be a threat to their organization and therefore a “Suppressive Person,” and as a result, all of her fellow parishion-ers—including members of her own family—were told to disconnect from her. Forever.

Game

reVIeW

you

ShouLD

reaD

There are two ways to look at an eponymous album by a band well

into its fourth decade of ex-istence: it’s either a rebirth or a summation. In the case of Def Leppard’s 2015 al-bum -- their eleventh stu-dio set, arriving a full seven years after Songs from the Sparkle Lounge -- the re-cord is most certainly the latter, a nifty encapsulation of the group’s range, obses-sions, and ambitions. At 55 minutes, Def Leppard feels nearly as sprawling as the hour-plus Hysteria -- one of the first albums to ever feel

specifically designed to fill out the confines of a CD -- but where that 1987 classic pulsates with the arrogance of a band hungering to con-quer the world, this 2015 set is distinguished by the casual authority of a band who remain a band solely for the love of it. Unlike many groups with decades of expe-rience under their belts, Def Leppard aren’t particularly concerned with maturity, at least not in the conventional sense where they turn in fuzz guitars and heavy-booted stomps for sepia-toned re-flections.

album: def leppard

artist:def leppard

you

ShouLD

LISTeN

Cast: Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin MukeshDirector: Sooraj Barjatya

Anuradha CineplexNoonmati

03612656968, 9954544738Prem rAtAN DhAN PAyo10.00 AM, 1.30, 5.00 & 8.30 PM

PVr CinemasDona Planet. GS road

08800900009hotel trANSylVANiA 210.30 AM, 3.30 & 8.00 PMGooSeBumPS1.00 PMmAiN Aur ChArleS5.45 PM

Fun CinemashuB, GS road

9864800100, 9864800200Prem rAtAN DhAN PAyo10.30 AM, 1.45, 5.00 & 8.45 PM

Apsara Cinemaulubari

0361 2541335Prem rAtAN DhAN PAyo10.00 AM, 1.30, 5.00 & 8.30 PM

GolD CinemaAStC Complex, Paltan Bazar

9854066166Prem rAtAN DhAN PAyo10.45, 11.00 AM, 2.00, 2.15, 5.15, 5.30, 8.30 & 8.45 PM

GolD CinemaSalasar Building, lakhtokia

9854066166Prem rAtAN DhAN PAyo10.45, 11.00 AM, 2.00, 2.15, 5.15, 5.30, 8.30 & 8.45 PM

GolD CinemalG towers, Narangi

8811001898Prem rAtAN DhAN PAyo11.00 AM, 2.15, 5.30 & 8.45 PM

NOWSHOWING

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo takes off from the holy city

of Ayodhya with the pious background song of ‘Payoji Maine Ram Ratan Dhan Payo’ which is something we associ-ated with quite early on ever since the title of the film was declared. Soon, we meet Prem Dilwala (Salman Khan), a happy-go-lucky ‘Ram Bhakta’ who performs for the Ram Leela shows in quite a contemporary fashion. He is smitten by Princess Maithili (Sonam Kapoor) whom he first meets at a flood relief camp and ever since makes sure to send donations to her NGO, Uphaar trust.

Prem’s partner and friend is Kanhaiyya (Deepak Dobriyal) who knows about Prem’s craze for Maithili and doesn’t approve of it much.

Prem learns that Princess Maithili will be travelling to a close by town, Pritampura for her fiance’s ‘Tilak’ ceremony and decides to travel all the way to meet her. On the other side, we learn about Yuvraaj Vijay Singh (Sal-man Khan) who is the prince, Maithilli is get-ting married to. The Yu-vraaj a short tempered and a man of less words. His family is going through a strenous time as his younger brother

Aajay Singh (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and his sisters Chandrika (Swara Bhaskar) and Radhika are having property fights with him.

Soon, Ajay Singh plans to get his brother out of his way and plans his accident. Vijay Singh gets severely injured and is kept in a secret facility by Diwan Saab (Anupam Kher) who is a loyal worker of the King. To save Vijay, Diwan plans to present Prem in disguise as the would-be-King.

Will Prem solve all problems for Vijay and bring his family together and will Maithili fall for Prem or Vijay is what entails ahead.

moVIe

reVIeW

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 21

Lifestyle

• Cardiovascular health- mmA training involves a lot of continuous movement for a person and involves punching and kicking, run-ning and jumping. these moves when strung togeth-er are great for a person’s cardiovascular health.

• Fat/Weight loss- mmA training helps a person cut away extra pounds. it is a great workout module for people who are looking to shape and sculpt their body.

• improves reflexes- mar-tial arts training programs are designed to challenge a

Monitoring heart rates while working out has its own advantages. Workouts can

usually be classified into optimum, under training and over training and a heart rate monitor is a reliable way of telling what our workout is doing to our body.

With this in mind, Fitbit, the US based fitness giant recently forayed into the Indian markets. The Fitbit Surge is a fitness monitor that comes

MMAinVaDes gUwaHati

written by samar sarkar

MMA or Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport. Popu-larly referred to as cage fighting or ultimate fighting, it is a combi-nation of striking and grappling techniques. A total of thirty four

forms of martial arts are included in MMA. Fighting styles like Muaythai, Kickboxing, Brazillian ju-jitsu, Judo, Boxing are considered vital for MMA and are also termed as “BASIC ARTS”.

Guwahati and the new trend of learning mma

MMA is unquestionably the fastest growing sport in the world. It has brought about a revolution in the fitness industry. Organizations like UFC, SFL, One Fighting Championship and Glory among others have played a big role in promoting this art amongst all age groups. A recent survey showed that 48% of the Indian population who practice MMA were from Northeast. Guwahati is slowly becoming a hub of MMA with a number of clubs and institutes success-fully providing MMA training. Many students from these clubs have competed in national and international events.

The success of MMA is solely because of its genuine advantages and the changes it reflects in an individual’s personality. MMA is not about ‘who can hit the hardest’; rather it is about ‘who can inculcate its discipline for a better lifestyle.’

person’s mind and body co-ordination and thus forces the person to react and move immediately.

• Self -Defense – the best part of training in mmA is that you learn to protect yourself. you learn to de-fend yourself against at-tackers. With the unsafe lo-cality around us, there are a lot of benefits of learning self defense.

• leaving aside mmA’s innu-merable health benefits, it is a great way of disciplin-ing our routine, improving focus and strength.

Egg white is the easy and affordable way to help reduce acne and scars. Loaded with proteins and vitamins, it helps rebuild skin cells. It’s a simple equation: egg whites soak up excess oil, which means less food for bacteria to feed on.

tip: Get some washcloth and keep it on for 20 minutes.

get RiD oF tHosePeSkY PiMPleS anD acne

Apple cider Vinegar

It kills off the bacteria which could be the source of infection. Apple Cider vinegar is great for the skin as it balances the pH of the skin. The bacteria, in turn, find it hard to survive and to take a glory lap. It is an astringent like lemon juice and it dries up excess oil. Just be sure to not overuse.

tip: Make sure you moisturize afterwards if your face feels dry and itchy.

Cinnamon and honey Mask

Sticky plus Spicy makes a killer combo to treat acne and pimples. As an anti bacterial, Cinnamon has medicinal prop-erties and honey? Well, it’s just great for the skin.

tip: Don’t forget some extra paper towels

Milk or Yogurt and honey

Milk is great for soothing the redness and itchiness. You could also use yogurt. Both will re-duce the acidity of the affected spot. The acids in it are antibacterial and the fat is great for mois-turizing the skin.

tip: Cotton pads and yogurt at room temperature and voila!

egg whites

FITBIT SURGe

with a heart rate monitor, pedometer, calorie counter, GPS and the ability to sync with your smartphone and con-trol its music and other third-party apps. Apart from these, the Fitbit Surge is also an activity tracker, has a sleep detector and lets you control text and call notifications.

The Fitbit Surge is compatible with Smartphones on Android, iOS and Windows. This monitor helps you log food intake, analyse trends, set

GPS tracking

siDHARtH beDi vARmA (sidharth.bedivarma@g-plus.in)

Select Stores:Croma, Reliance Digital, Helios

workout routines and share your data with family and friends.

Fitbit Surge supports multi-sport monitoring including running, cross training and cardio. This added with GPS tracking helps you monitor dis-tance, pace and elevation gained. If you need to make some lifestyle changes and get into shape, this is a recommended buy.

rs.15,990/-Available online at Amazon

Wrist band heart rate

Activity tracking

Auto sleep + silent alarm

Exercise tracking

Caller ID

OLED Display

Music control and notifications

MMA training and health benefits

Martial arts’ training is a mixture of cardio training and strength train-ing. Training MMA has a lot of health benefits.

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201522

entertainment

KALyAN KUmAR KALitA

AnubhutiA New Music Album

Haandukto hit screens soon

‘LOKABANDHOO’to be screened at Kolkata Film Festival

The Assamese movie industry has been a platform for new talent and brilliant ideas. Fol-

lowing the trend, a new full length Assamese feature film titled ‘Haan-duk – The Hidden Corner’ has suc-cessfully completed its shooting, ed-iting and is now ready for the censor board. The film has been directed and produced by Jaicheng Jai Dohu-tia under the banner of Mayamara Production. ‘Haanduk’ is a Moran word for an unused place or the dark

corner of a house.Heramoni, the mother of an un-

traced extremist performed the last rites of her son Mukti and receives intimation that the outfit cannot confirm his death. Along with this, Biplob, a surrendered rebel from the outfit is unable to mingle with the other surrendered rebels. He strug-gles to find his place in the society and has his own problems of exist-ence. These two issues make up the main theme of ‘Haanduk’.

‘Perception’adjudged the best at Saraighat Film Festival

The key roles in the film have been essayed by Bandoi Chetia, Bishal Anuraag, Nivedita Baruah, Jitu Moran, Durlabha Moran, Rat-neswar Moran among others. The film has been shot around Ton-gana Maag Gaon, Tinsukia, Dig-boi, Margherita and Ledo by Chida Bora with a Cannon EOS 5D Mark-III. The film has been edited by Jaicheng Jai Dohutia and Diganta Bora. The sound has been designed by Debajit Gayan and the film’s executive producers are Srikumar Dohutia and Irawoti Dohutia. The

art director for the movie is Punya-jit Moran and make-up is by Paran Sarmah.

The film ‘Haanduk’ has been officially selected for Film Bazaar along with nineteen other movies in different languages. The Film Bazaar is organized annually along with the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at the Goa Marriott Resort. The event provides scope for the delegates to buy, sell, exhibit and pitch their content and this 9th edition of Film Bazaar will be held from November 20-24, 2015.

The second Saraighat Film Festival organized by North East Youth Foun-

dation (NEYF) and supported by North East Dialogue Forum (NEDF), recently concluded in Guwahati. Organized at Bosco Out Reach, Ulubari, a total of ten films were screened, out of which nine were in the fray. Judged by eminent film and television per-sonality, Tinat Atifa Masood and filmmaker Vijay Naidu, the short film titled ‘Perception’ was ad-judged the ‘Best Film’. The film has been produced by Niyor Pro-ductions and directed by Sibasish

Sandilya. The script and concept has been given by Rakesh Chang-mai and Sibasish Sandilya.

The film ‘Perception’ shows the irony that exists in our soci-ety and that sometimes the so-ciety as a whole should be ques-tioned whether ‘gender equality is only meant for the books?’ The key roles in the film have been essayed by Rajesh Haque, Gya-nashree Bora, Bishakha Chetia, Rimpi Borgohain, Neha Baruah, Jinku Baishya, Ibney Alam Bora and Manas Pratim Medhi. The movie has been edited by Rakesh Changmai.

Anubhuti, a new music al-bum with ten roman-tic songs was recently

launched at Guwahati Press Club by noted singers and composers J.P. Das, Tarali Sarma and Prof. Krishna Goswami. Six of the songs have been rendered by singer-lyr-icist Surajit Mahanta, who hails from Dergaon. The highlight of the album is a duet by Surajit Mahanta with Tarali Sarma. Upcoming sing-er Jyoti Barua also lent his voice to a number. All the songs have been penned by Surajit Mahanta and the album has been produced under the banner of SM Creations.

‘LOKABANDHOO- Friend of the people’ is a feature film based on the real life story of Dr. Bhu-baneshwar Barooah who became a living legend in Assam by virtue of his untiring service and unf linch-ing devotion to the people. Dr. Bhubaneshwar Barooah has risen to be a man of mythical proportions by virtue of being a humanitarian physician, freedom-fighter, a Gan-dhian, a true patriot and a Congress man.

The cast of the movie includes Pranjal Saikia, Suren Borah, Ni-shita Goswami, Vaishalee Saikia, Pallabi Phukan, Juli Ekta, Chabin Rajkhowa among others. Child art-ists Khyati Xubax, Dhritiman, Deep and Ananya are also a part of the film. The movie has been directed by Dhiraj Kashyap and ‘Lokaban-doo’ is the director’s third feature film. The film has been produced by Dr. Dilip Ghoshal who is a re-nowned Homeopathic doctor in As-sam and West Bengal.

The screenplay and the dia-logues have been written by Jayanta Madhab Bora and Dhiraj Kashyap. Cinematography has been handled by Naba Kumar Dutta. The music has been composed by Arup Dutta and the songs have been sung by Bidyasagar. The movie has been ed-ited by Sanjib Talukdar. The movie will be screened at the Kolkata Film Festival later this month.

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 2015 23

Citypedia

24-HOUR PHARMACIESArya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665)D Modern Medicos, Maligaon (9864366763)Candid 24x7, Panbazar (2604422)

DEAD BODY CARRYING VANGLP Social Circle 2737373, 9435047046Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251GGUMTA 98640-16740

RADIO TAXI SERVICESPrime Cabs

0361- 2222233Green Cabs

0361-7151515My Taxi

0361-2228888Cherry Cabs8876222288

OTHERSFire Emergency 101State Zoo 2201363

GMC Carcass Pickup 9435190720, 9864047222

LPG Emergency/Leakage 2385209, 2541118,

LPG Booking (ivr System) 7670024365Child line Guwahati 1098

GMC helpline number for

garbage collection8811007000

Vigilance and anti corruption toll free

number1800-345-3767

SP, Kamrup District: Ph- 2540278DGP Control Room: Ph- 2540242SB Control Room: Ph-2261511Police Control Room: Ph-2540138, 2540113Azara PS: Ph2840287Basista PS: Ph-2302158Bharalumukh PS: Ph- 2540137, 2731199Borjhar PS: Ph-2840351Chandmari PS: Ph- 2660204Chandrapur PS: Ph-2788237, 2785237Dispur PS: Ph-2261510Fancybazar PS: Ph- 2540285

Fatasil Ambari PS: Ph-2471412Geetanagar PS: Ph-2417323Hatigaon: Ph-2562383Jalukbari PS: Ph-2570587Jalukbari Out Post: Ph-2570522Jorabat: Ph-2896853Khanapara: Ph- 2281501Khetri PS: Ph-2787699, 2787220Latasil PS: Ph-2540136Noonmati PS: Ph- 2550281North Guwahati PS: Ph-2690255Paltanbazar PS: Ph-2540126Panbazar PS: Ph-2540106Pragjyotishpur Ps: Ph-2785237Women PS Panbazar: Ph-2524627

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

Call Centre – 9678005171

Arya Hospital, Ulubari(2606888, 2606665)B Baruah Cancer Institute(2472364/66)Brahmaputra Hospital Ltd(2451634/678)Chatribari Christian Hospital0361-2600051, 92070-44374Downtown Hospital2331003, 9864079366, 9435012669Guwahati Medical College(2529457, 2529561)Guwahati Medical Collegeemergency (2263444)International Hospital0361-7135005

Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital(2541477, 2543998)Marwari Hospital & Research Centre0361-2602738/39Marwari Maternity Hospital 0361-2541202/01Nemcare Hospital0361-2528587, 2455906, 2457344Pratiksha Hospital0361-2337260, 2337183/84Basistha Military Hospital (2304617/0351)

HOSPITALS Railway Central HospitalCasuality (2671025)Redcross Hospital(2665114)Sri Sankardeva Netralaya0361-2233444, 2228879, 2228921TB Hospital(2540193)Wintrobe Hospital0361-2519860,98647-77986IHR-Institute of Human Reproduction0361-2482619,098641-03333

POLICE STATION

GNRC Hospital 1800-345-0022 (toll Free)GNRC Ambulance 1800-345-0011 (toll Free)

emerGeNCy NumBerSAMBULANCE Ambulance 102Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665Downtown Hospital 9864101111, 9435012669GLP Social Circle 2737373GGUMTA (Mirza) 03623-227109Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251Free Ambulance to GNRC Hospitalstoll Free: 1800-345-0011 BLOOD BANK

Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665Ganga Blood Bank 2454742, 2455029

Lion’s Club of Ghy Central 2546611Marwari Yuva Manch 2546470, 2547251

Saharia’s Path Lab (24 hours) 2458594

Aquarius

Aries

Libra

Gemini

Sagittarius

Leo

Taurus

Scorpio

Cancer

Capricorn

Virgo

Pisces

The dynamic responsible for all the hard work you’ve done lately is still very much in focus. There’s a chance a golden opportunity that’s too good to miss could come your way to add to your workload. However, while you’re quite a canny operator and not easily fooled, from midweek be sure that everything’s in order by checking details and the fine print.

The week ahead could make a few demands on you even though you’re already eager to make progress. At home, thoughts of the approaching holiday season could coincide with a decision to clear out clutter and get everything shipshape. At work, the current situ-ation might need revamping, especially if old methods or routines don’t cut the mustard. A few changes might transform things for the better.

One particular desire could be so strong that it overtakes your mind and senses, particularly early in the week when you might wonder what hit you. Perhaps you should follow it through. You might get more than you bargained for. The focus on your home zone could make you wonder about the motives of certain family members.

The continued lively focus on your spiritual sector suggests that if you’re tired and wired you should cut back on activities so you can relax and recharge. In this instance, you might find paying attention to your creative muse both nurturing and healing. If you feel like learning a new craft or musical instrument, this is the time to start. It could become your go-to way to unwind in the future.

You’re in a phase when you’d benefit from unwinding and recharg-ing your batteries. After eleven months of activity, the twelfth - this one - should be dedicated to meditating on your progress and goals for the coming twelve months. It’s also a chance to let go of feelings and situations that drain your energy. If you do this now, you’ll make the best possible use of your recuperation period.

There’s a lot going on in one of the more mysterious areas of your chart, where the current lineup could enhance your intimate life and perhaps encourage you to look into unusual and exciting ways to please your sweetheart. In this instance, being open and vulnerable can be very good for you. It’s also an opportunity to let go of buried resentment and experience feelings of lightness and peace.

The focus is very much geared toward productivity and hard work, the difference being that you seem passionate about your involve-ment and eager to get results. Even so, an unexpected romance could spring up with someone who shares your enjoyment of a certain subject or craft. About midweek you might need to make a radical decision that could bring a positive change in your life.

Everyday admin, writing, teaching, and daily interactions could snowball, giving you lots more to do. You might get even more done if you can form a strategy to help you through this period. The chance of a lucrative deal around Monday might be too good to miss. Despite all the hard work, don’t neglect the chance to enjoy yourself. Indeed, make it a priority and you’ll feel rejuvenated and more upbeat.

It may seem like you could miss out on a golden opportunity if you don’t hurry. But if, as the current alignment suggests, you’re ex-cited about the many possibilities open to you, perhaps you should consider cutting out projects or activities that no longer hold much appeal. Doing so means you’ll be able to make the most of any new options that come your way.

Mercury’s presence in Scorpio encourages you to look more deeply into the situations and circumstances around you. Indeed, over the week ahead you may be puzzled (or is that confused?) by a relationship that both fascinates and slightly frightens you. Come midweek a powerful blend of energies involving Pluto, your ruler, could see you taking charge of the situation once and for all.

With Saturn now in your spiritual sector, this is a chance to clear out any accumulated baggage from recent years. We’re talking about a deep clean rather than a superficial dust and vacuum. Although you’re likely be at this on and off over the next few years, there’s no time like the present to start. It’s the perfect opportunity to make amends, clear away emotional clutter, and enhance vitality.

It may come as no surprise that one association is red hot right now, particularly early in the week when a Venus/Mars link hints at flames between the sheets. You’ll also learn a lot from others, espe-cially when it comes to monitoring your reactions to key situations. The people around you can currently teach you much about what’s important to you and where you might need an attitude change.

SUDokU

lASt

we

ek

So

lUti

oN

A Sudoku puzzle consists of 81 cells which are di-vided into nine columns, rows and regions. The task is now to place the numbers from 1 to 9 into the empty cells in such a way that in every row, column and 3×3 region each number appears only once.

HOROSCOPE

G PLUS NOV 14 - NOV 20, 201524

Catching up

Kamur of the week

Most shared story of the week

facebook.com/guwahatiplus

twitter.com/guwahatiplus

Printed & Published by Sunit Jain on behalf of Insight Brandcom Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Arkashish Publications (P) Ltd., Katahbari, Garchuk, Guwahati and Published at H/No. 34, K. C. Choudhury Road, Chatribari, Guwahati - 781008, Editor: Koushik Hazarika. Phone: 0361 2737737, Email: info@g-plus.in, RNI No: ASSENG/2013/52641

GYAN Did you know?

the Guwahati PlanetariumGuwahati

The Guwahati Planetarium, lo-cated on MG Road, is one of the major attractions of Guwahati.

A project of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Gov-ernment of Assam, the Planetarium is dedicated to the cause of Science by for-mer Chief Minister, Hiteshwar Saikia. The planetarium was inaugurated on August 17, 1994. The aim of this plane-tarium is to spread awareness about as-tronomy and also provide information about the universe along with several unsolved mysteries and queries.

Sky watching sessions and special

programs are the major attractions of this planetarium. These are projected on a dome-shaped screen in a hall. At an interval of every two hours, these programs are conducted in different languages like English, Assamese and Hindi.

The opto-mechanical instrumen-tal system which was acquired through international bidding process was also the state-of-the-art system of that time. Guwahati planetarium was upgraded to Hybrid digital type (first in India and second in Asia) with an amount of Rupees Six crores.

About me Hi, I am Pujashree. I am from

Chhaygaon, and now I live in Guwahati. I am a model by profession and I see myself as a part of the fashion and glamour industry in the future. I started modelling almost two years back and my first show was at the North East Diva 2013-14. I’ve also been a part of events like Mega Miss Northeast, Cinebarta Cover Girl Hunt, Palaash Miss India etc. I was crowned the winner at Cinebarta Cover Girl Hunt.

mojoMy will power drives me to do good

things in my life. I want to be a role model for others. My family’s support and guidance has been of utmost importance in my professional career.

route in the WoodsI see myself as a part of this industry in

the future and I would like to increase the scope for modelling in the entire region for the upcoming talent.

PuJaShree

NewChic

on theblock

As Guwahati was rejoicing and celebrating the festivities of Diwali, apathy and agony struck the city as one of its oldest markets turned to ashes within hours. The 20 hour inferno will serve as a tragic reminder of how we need to be careful at every step of the way. Showing solidarity to the victims of the tragedy, photographs from the disaster were widely shared on social media and comments poured in, sympathizing with the victims. Shared over 250 times, the Fancy Bazaar fire tragedy will be remembered for years to come.

whAt DiD i JUSt heAR?

PiCoF theweek

‘Long leg’ of the law. Photo: Adib Zamali

Bursting of crackers might be a gesture to celebrate Diwali but doing the same becomes annoying for the pedestrians and those driving vehicles.

Those bursting crackers sure do have a good time but the ones who are taking the road have to be cau-tious before taking a step as you never know when a cracker might explode at your feet.

After a 35-year-old woman was allegedly raped by two security guards at the famous Cubbon Park in Bengaluru on Thursday, Karnataka Home Minister

G Parameshwara has stirred up a controversy by reportedly asking why was the victim playing tennis at 9.30 pm.

The woman hailing from Tumkuru had come to Ben-galuru to take membership in a tennis club functioning at the sprawling Cubbon Park when the incident occurred, the police said. Both the security guards were arrested on Thurs-day by Bengaluru police.