G Plus Vol 7 Issue 12

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

INSIDE

Volume 07 | Issue 12 Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020 Price `10 Assam athletes aiming for maximum Golds at Khelo India Youth Games 2020

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Private partner’s name likely to be added to LGBI airport

Student organisations express solidarity with JNU, protests staged across NE

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5 yrs of police commissionerate

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Tenant verification still not mandated

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t has been five years that the Guwahati police commissionerate was formed.

With the recent induction of IPS officer Munna Prasad Gupta as the commissioner of police, he is the 5th in the line of officers who were handed the city police’s top post.

Ironically and despite sharp rise in crimes within the city to the extent that ULFA operatives were living in the city as tenants and carried out a grenade attack on arterial RG Baruah Road using their rented premises as hideouts, tenant

G Plus News @guwahatiplus verification is still not a mandatory requirement in the city.

When asked if Gupta would mandate tenant verification in Guwahati, the newly appointed officer, talking to G Plus said, “We will examine the possibilities.”

Talking about other commissionerates in the country, as soon as a commissionerate was formed in many cities, the relevant police force mandated tenant verification.

Bhubaneswar police commissionerate promulgated the tenant verification mandate order under section 144 of CrPc in 2015, violation of which invited 6 months of jail and Rs 1,000 in fines for the house owners renting out houses without verifying the tenant.

Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and all the metro cities have commissionerates and tenant verification is mandatory there.

In Guwahati, house owners can apply for tenant verification, but they never receive the information of whether the tenant has been verified or not.

There are two ways

of applying for tenant verification in Guwahati. The first is by manually filling up a form and submitting it at the local police station. The second way is by applying online through the Crime & Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) portal which was launched by the Assam Police in January 2016.

During the launch it was claimed by police officials that the public could request for passport verification, tenant verification, domestic help verification/employee verification, character certificate, protest or strike request, procession request and event performance request through CCTNS. Such requests would be processed between 10 to 45 days.

A highly placed source in the CCTNS team revealed that only passport verification is now a success through CCTNS but the rest of the services are hardly used by the public. The source also revealed that even if tenant verification is applied for through CCTNS, the police never inform the status of tenant verification.

Even the police are not mandated to inform the house owners about the status of their tenant verification applications – whether online or through the manual process. The CCTNS team tried that the applicants should know about the status, but it seems that the local police stations hardly have the manpower to assign to this task.

continued on Pg 05

Unity in Diversity dominates KIYG opening ceremony G Plus News @guwahatiplus

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he third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games got off to an emotional start here on Friday evening, with lakhs of television viewers joining over 25,000 spectators at the Indira Gandhi Stadium to celebrate the spirit of One India.

Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Youth Affairs & Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju launched the Games during a spectacular opening ceremony that included a high-tech laser show and wholesome entertainment.

In a unique show of solidarity, top athletes from all the seven northeastern states joined Assam’s champion athletes in the final torch relay before star sprinter Hima Das lit the symbolic Games Flame.

Every segment was carefully planned to showcase India’s unity within its diversity.

“I welcome all athletes from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Arunachal to Gujarat. Over the next 13 days, showcase your talent to the best of your ability because the entire nation is looking forward to seeing you play and bloom,” CM Sonowal said, encouraging the future stars of India.

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Lead Story

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Assam athletes aiming for maximum Golds at Khelo India Youth Games 2020 Barasha Das @guwahatiplus

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he mega sports event of the year Khelo India Youth Games has started off with a glitzy opening ceremony.

This year the Games features 20 disciplines with two new additions namely, cycling and lawn ball.

A total of 6,456 athletes from 37 teams will compete in 451 medal events and the coveted prizes under two categories - under-17 school students and under-21 college students.

Assam, as the host state, is having one of the largest contingents with 656 members.

G Plus visited the different venues in the city where the various teams of the Assam contingent are practicing.

The teams from Assam could be seen going through rigorous practice sessions. G Plus caught up with

the athletics team at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Sarusajai.

The daily schedules of the athletes begin with a warmup session and proceeds on to practicing their respective games.

They are provided breakfast before heading back to their allotted accommodations.

Earlier, there were two practice sessions in the morning and evening but earlier this week their schedules were set as per the time tables of the actual competition.

Nipon Das, the athletic coach of Assam, said, “The practice sessions now start from 9:00 am instead of the earlier 6:00 am and continue till 7:30 pm. This is done so that the athletes can adapt to the actual competition timings and thereby perform better.”

The sports authority said that proper food and protein supplements have been provided for the athletes.

As the

A detailed chart of the Assam contingent Hima Das to run 200m, 400m in U-21 category Hima Das, also called as Dhing Express, will be participating in the 200 metres and 400 metres race in the Under -21 category.

The Assam contingent at the KIYG opening ceremony | G Plus photo

home team and given the large contingent, authorities are hopeful of better performance than the previous years. “We are hoping for gold medals in as many categories as possible,” said an official.

Govinda Kalita, the Kho Kho coach was quoted as saying, “The government of Assam has taken a very good initiative. Every athlete is very dedicated and practicing hard. The earlier camps held for the team were quite helpful. Now the Khelo India training camps are running in full steam. The coaches are also doing their best.”

Apart from the Assam contingent, the other big teams are from Haryana with 682 members, Maharashtra with 579 members and Delhi with 450 members.

Details of Assam State Team U-17

SL NO 1 2

Event Athletics Archery

3

Badminton

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Basketball Boxing Cycling Football Judo Kho Kho Gymnastics Hockey Kabaddi Lawn Ball Shooting Swimming

16

Table Tennis

17 18 19 20

Tennis Volleyball Weightlifting wrestling

Boys 12 2 Single-1, Double-2 12 9 5 18 6 12 7 18 12 0 2 9 Single-1, Double-2 3 12 10 F/S-5, G/R-4

Girls 11 2 Single-1, Double-2 12 10 4 18 7 12 Rhy-3, N-5 18 12 0 2 10 Single-1, Double-2 3 12 8 F/S -7

U-21 Boys 14 2 Single-1, Double-1 12 8 6 18 6 12 7 18 12 5 2 9 Single-1 Double-2 3 12 7 F/S-7, G/R-7

Girls 11 2 Single-1, Double-1 12 8 5 18 4 12 Rhy-3, N-5 18 12 5 2 5 Single-1, Double-2 3 12 10 F/S-7

Total 48 8 9 48 35 20 72 23 48 30 72 48 10 8 33 12 12 48 35 37

Governance

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

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Govt achieves partial fulfilment of 2019 budget promises in education sector Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

Education dept has fixed the cap of Rs 1,000 for degree students textbook scheme The process has begun, but the students are yet to receive the benefits Distribution of free uniforms for class IX & X is yet to begin List of beneficiaries under Minority Girls Scholarship Scheme sent to govt Rs 200 crores was earmarked for the scheme Value education training yet to be given to teachers Infrastructure development work taking place in phased manner

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ith the beginning of the New Year 2020, G Plus takes a look at the status of implementation of a few prominent schemes related to the education sector in Assam, which were announced by the state government during the last year’s budget.

Free textbooks for students pursuing graduation Assam finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, had announced that degree students of Arts, Science and Commerce stream will be provided with free textbooks.

“We will provide free textbooks to students up to degree level (Arts, Science and Commerce) from the present level of Class

XII,” he had said in his budget speech.

The education department has fixed the cap for degree students at Rs 1,000 for reimbursement after purchasing textbooks under the scheme.

“Students will have to first purchase the books belonging to their curriculum and would have to submit their bills to the college.

This would then be certified by the college principals after which the government would directly transfer the amount in the account of students,” Homeswar Kalita, principal of Gauhati Commerce College told G Plus.

He added that the process for implementation of the scheme has begun but the benefit transfer to the students will take some time.

On the other hand, officials in the state education department informed G Pus that currently the free distribution of uniforms is being done for students up to class VIII. However, the distribution of free uniforms for class IX and X students is yet to begin.

“The matter regarding the distribution of uniforms for class IX and X was in court but now it has been resolved. We are currently waiting for the official guidelines to begin the distribution of uniforms,” said the district elementary education officer of Kamrup (M), Bulli Gogoi Bhuyan.

Minority Girls scholarship scheme Another major scheme under the state budget was the Minority Girls Scholarship Scheme for which a budget of Rs 200 crores was earmarked. The scheme aims to strengthen education of girls belonging to the minority communities to encourage and incentivise them to continue their higher education and stay on in the formal education system.

“All school principals have prepared a list of students who are to receive the benefits under the scheme. They send the list to the inspector of schools and the district education officers who then vet the list to ensure that the aid is given to eligible students,” mentioned Bulli Gogoi Bhuyan.

She added that the district education officers have forwarded the list of beneficiaries to the state education department a few days

ago and the students are yet to receive the scholarship from the government.

As per the state government guidelines, the incentive will be provided to only unmarried girls presently pursuing studies in class 10, 11, 12 belonging to religious communities of Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Zoroastrian. Under the scheme, an annual scholarship of Rs 2,000 will be provided to class X students while Rs 4,000 will be given to students of classes XI and XII.

Value education training and infrastructural development Emphasising on for value education for students, while presenting the budget for 2019-20, finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma had said, “I announce that we will organise special courses on value education for our teachers and students.

We will start the process with the TET qualified teachers who in turn impart value based education to all the students.”

Commenting on this, the district elementary education officer said that although a few trainings have been conducted for value education for teachers by different NGOs in a few places, however, none have been conducted by the government till now.

On the other hand, the finance

the

need

File photo of CM Sarbananda Sonowal and FM Himanta Biswa Sarma before the Budget presentation in 2019

minister had set aside a sum of Rs 219 crores in 2019-10 budget to bridge the infrastructural gaps in government schools for providing basic facilities such as additional classrooms, partition walls, and provision of electricity

in classrooms.

Authorities in the education department informed that works related to infrastructural development is taking place in a phased manner in different schools.

4 In The News

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Private partner’s name likely to be added to LGBI airport

Aircraft movement (2019): 50,488 Passenger footfall (2019): 57 lakh Increase in passenger footfall: 24.7% Project cost of new terminal building: Rs 1142 crores Total capacity of new terminal: 4500 Routes under UDAN3: 32 Operational routes under UDAN 3: 7 Average passenger/day in Guwahati: 8,000

Saumya Mishra @saumyamishra03

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s Adani Enterprises Ltd had emerged as the highest bidder and won the bids for operation of six airports in India including the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport Guwahati, its name is likely to be added to that of the LGBI Airport.

However, the proposal for Guwahati airport still awaits cabinet approval. The Adani Group had won the bids for all six airports across the country which are set to be privatised by the central government under the Public-PrivatePartnership (PPP) mode.

Apart from Guwahati, the other airports to be privatised include Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram.

The union cabinet, in July 2019, had given its nod for leasing Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airport to the Adani Group.

The corporate house will carry out operations and maintenance related activities in these airports for a period of 50 years.

Senior officials at the LGBI Airport informed G Plus that post the cabinet approval, the name of Adani Group is

likely to be added to that of the iconic LGBI airport once it takes over its operations.

“The private players usually add their names to the airport’s name for their branding and promotion as airports are very prominent locations for branding,” said an official under condition of anonymity.

He also cited the examples of Delhi and Mumbai airports

where private companies’ (GMR and GVK) names have been added prominently before to the airports’ iconic names.

Further, commenting on the changes which can be expected to be seen once the Adani Group takes over LGBI Airport’s operations, authorities said that investments in the airlines sector will definitely increase in the region. They added

that there will also be some hiccups during the transition phase.

However, the airport officials also shed light on the flip side of privatisation, as ultimately the customers will have to bear the brunt of the increased costs.

“As it has been seen in the past that after the PPP comes into effect, while the operations and maintenance of the airport improves, the

cost rises too,” said a senior official adding, “Although the profits will increase for the airport authority as well, ultimately the increased cost will have to be borne by the passengers.”

In September 2019, Adani Enterprises had announced that it has incorporated a new company called Adani Guwahati International Airport Ltd which will carry out operations and maintenancerelated activities of the LGBI airport.

UDAN 3:

Only 7 seven routes out of 32 operational in NE

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he UDAN scheme has failed to take off in the northeast as merely seven out of the 32 awarded routes are currently operational under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) UDAN 3.

The regional director of airport’s northeast region (NER), Sanjeev Jindal, said that the implementation of the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme in Guwahati and the northeast has not been up to the mark.

UDAN is the centre’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme

which aims to make air travel affordable for the common people. It also emphasises on air transport infrastructure development as well as improving the connectivity to various places in the country.

However, a majority of flights under RCS UDAN 3 are not operational yet in the northeast, informed authorities.

Speaking about the reasons for poor implementation of UDAN here, Sanjeev Jindal said, “Under UDAN, a few airlines like Air Deccan and a few others which took routes here were financially not viable

themselves.”

On the other hand, established airlines like Spicejet and Indigo often discontinue their flights if they do not get satisfactory load factor, that is, the number of passengers travelling in the route, said authorities.

“When these established airlines get 70 per cent load factor on this route, and if they get around 98 per cent load factor on another route, they prefer to abandon the lesser load route since the other one is more profitable,” informed airport authorities.

Officials told G Plus that they

keep writing to different airlines urging them to ply their flights in the northeast region.

Jindal further added that RCS 4 will be allotted in February and under the scheme, a lot of emphasis has been provided on the northeast region. “We are hopeful that new connections should come in this region and airlines will come forward to take the routes,” said Jindal.

Talking about the ways in which the scheme can be revived here, the director mentioned that those who can afford should travel by air so that the airlines do not discontinue their services

due to the load factor issue.

Further, he opined that all stakeholders should work together to improve the scenario in this regard. The travel agents and tour companies should inform tourists about the available flights and encourage people to visit northeast. “They should also include places like Manipur in their tour packages. For instance, it is very important that travel agents in Bangkok should inform tourists about the flight operational from Thailand to Guwahati and encourage them to visit,” mentioned Jindal.

In The News

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

5

Guwahati Airport parking in disarray, IIT-G conducts study for improvement From Page 04

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arking for passengers has been a major cause for concern at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBI) Guwahati, informed authorities.

“Currently the parking model is such that those who have received the contract to run the parking, do not charge any fee from taxi drivers who do not get passengers. This results in the modest parking space at the airport being filled with taxis which are kept in the parking areas for the entire day,” regional executive director, Sanjeev Jindal, told G Plus.

He added that the problem got compounded after the LGBI Airport terminal was expanded which resulted in the parking space getting reduced.

Visitors often complain of mismanagement of parking at the airport. “I had recently gone to drop off my relatives at the airport but faced a tough time finding a parking place.

This wastes a lot of time when someone has a flight to catch,” said a Guwahatian.

While the expansion of

The LGBI parking lot filled with cabs with no space for private vehicle parking | File photo the terminal helped manage passengers inside the building, the parking lots and drop off bays remain over-crowded making it as much cumbersome and time consuming for the passengers to reach the terminal as for the people dropping them off to exit the airport.

The airport authorities have requested IIT-Guwahati to conduct a study to improve the parking facility at LGBI Airport.

“We want to make the parking purely for the passengers and will implement the ideas suggested by IIT-G. Currently it seems like the parking is being utilized majorly

by taxi drivers,” said Jindal.

Authorities also claimed that VIP vehicles also often block the front parking of the airport which again causes difficulties for the passengers.

Some residents also complained that the time limit and parking fee was “unfair.”

LGBI Airport sees 24.7% increase in passenger footfall

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okapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBI) Guwahati has seen an increase of 24.7 per cent in the passenger footfall for the year 2019, informed authorities.

Addressing a media gathering at the Regional Headquarter, NER at Guwahati, regional executive director Sanjeev Jindal said that in the previous year 2019, air connectivity in the region has also increased and some routes have been reactivated.

Stressing on improving connectivity in some remote locations, Jindal said that, Lengpui (Aizawl) and Dimapur (Nagaland) were his focus areas where new connectivity has been restored.

“Go Air started its daily direct connections to Aizawl from Guwahati.

Similarly,

Alliance Air (subsidiary of Air India) started its services from Guwahati to Dimapur and till Imphal. This route was started Under UDAN (UDE Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) RCS programme,” said the director.

He further added that a total of Rs 457 crores will be spent in 2020 in northeast region airports for various upgradation projects. This will mainly focus on developing airport-related infrastructure and enhancing passenger amenities.

Additionally, the work for the new terminal, which boasts of several state-of-the-art facilities, is set to be completed

by March 2021 as per officials.

The new terminal is coming up at a total project cost of Rs 1,142 crores and will have a peak hour capacity of 4,500 people.

Officials told G Plus that till

G Plus file photo of passengers boarding aircraft at LGBI Airport now 31 per cent work has been completed.

On the other hand, Guwahati airport saw an increase of 22.6 per cent rise in the aircraft movement during 2018-19 from 2017-18. While 2017-18 saw 41,172 aircraft movement from

the Guwahati airport; this rose to 50,488 flights in 2018-19.

Further, 57 lakh passengers’ movement took place from the LGBI airport in 2018-19 which was a jump from 46 lakh passengers during the previous year.

“The time limit that they have kept of five minutes for vehicle entry and exit is totally abnormal.

How is it possible for a vehicle to enter, drop the passengers and exit when there are other vehicles too in the line? Even if you drop and somehow come to the exit point, at the exit gate you have to wait because vehicles are already lined up. So by hook or crook, you have to pay the fees,” said Nayak Jyoti, a Guwahati resident.

“I faced a peculiar problem recently as I tried to exit the airport after dropping my relative off,” said Siddharth Borooah, a resident of Guwahati. “There is an exit to the city right through one of the parking bays. The signage is not clearly visible, so one might miss this exit and then would have to take the longer route that goes right around the whole parking lot taking more time. But when I tried to take the short exit, I found it totally blocked by cabs which were themselves trying to find some parking space. Eventually, my 5 minutes were up and I had to pay the steep fees for never parking at all,” he added.

Further, Pankaj Surana said that all taxis block the parking space leaving no space for private vehicles.

5 yrs of police commissionerate: Tenant verification still not mandated From Page 01 Now, Assam Police is claiming that they will visit house-to-house in Guwahati to verify tenants. Recently, a decision was taken by police during a meeting between the Assam Police and Nagrik Samities of different localities held at the District Library Auditorium. Details of the tenants will be recorded in a particular format during a survey, the police claimed. The survey will start initially from areas like Gorchuk and Hatigaon according to the police.

While the police attribute not mandating tenant verification to manpower limitations its claim of going on a door-to-door tenant survey already seems far-fetched.

The simple solution would be mandating tenant verification, and proactively starting the online process. G Plus has been harping on this issue with every newly inducted commissioner and the reply of “examining possibilities” has become a standard. Mandatory tenant verifications remains lapse in the commissionerate’s scheme of things.

6 City

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Drunk driving cases: Huge drop on New Year’s eve from last year During the drive conducted at major traffic junctions and check posts in Guwahati, 147 persons were found to be driving their vehicles under the influence of alcohol beyond the permissible limits on 31st December 2019 as compared to 413 in 2018.

Nehal Jain @NehalJain96

Spot fine cases detected on 31 December 2018 – 559

Spot fine cases detected on 31 December 2019 – 111

Fines realised on the spot – Rs 1,18,000 Non FIR cases sent to court – 524

Fines realised on the spot – Rs 1,02,000

Drunken driving cases detected – 413

Non FIR cases sent to court – 255

Driving licence seized – 255

Drunken driving cases detected – 147

Cases of non wearing helmets registered – 156

Driving licence seized – 71 Cases of non wearing helmets registered – 21

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he Guwahati Traffic Police conducted a massive drive against people driving their vehicles after consuming alcohol across the city starting from the evening of December 31, 2019 till around 6 am on January 1, 2020.

During the time that the drive was conducted, a total of 147 persons were found to be driving their vehicles in a drunken state. This was a 65% drop from December 31, 2018.

The number of drunken driving cases this New Year’s Eve as compared to the last year has seen a massive decline. In 2018, 413 people

Representative Image riding two-wheelers and fourwheelers were fined by traffic police officials for drunk driving.

The city police personnel, equipped with alcometers (breath analysers), had set up check-points at various road junctions as well as main roads in the night to keep a check on drunken driving.

It may be mentioned that if a breath analyser detects that a driver’s blood alcohol level exceeding 30 mg/100 ml, he/

she is liable to be punished.

“Owing to the stiff police action as well as the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act being put in place, there were comparatively less number of vehicles plying on city roads on 31st December night. Rashdriving bikers were also pretty much off the roads much to the relief of the commuters,” a senior police official told G Plus .

Overall, a total of 111 persons were penalised with

on-the-spot fines during the same period for various traffic violations across the city and a total fine of over Rs 1,02,000 was realised. Additionally, 255 non-FIR cases were forwarded to court for proceedings.

It may be mentioned here that on-the-spot fines worth Rs 1,18,800 were realised from 559 persons during last year’s checking on the occasion of New Year’s eve.

Additionally, 524 non-FIR cases were forwarded to court

for proceedings.

Apart from drunken driving, 21 cases of not wearing helmets were also detected. Last year, on the other hand, 156 cases of not wearing helmets were detected in the city.

Traffic police seized a total of 71 driving licenses on December 31, 2019 as compared to 255 licenses seized on December 31, 2018.

“The increase in fines after the enactment of the revised fines under Motor vehicles (Amendment) Act resulted in registering almost no major incident of road mishap in the city on the New Year’s eve night. However, there were six incidents of minor accidents that occurred at places like Bharalumukh and GS Road,” informed police sources.

Weather report for the week Guwahati

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

Sunny

23°11° C

24°11 C

24°12° C

24°12° C

24°12° C

24°13° C

SATURDAY Sunny

23°11° C

Poll

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

7

Deepika Padukone’s JNU visit not a publicity stunt:

Was Deepika Padukone’s visit to JNU a publicity stunt for her upcoming film ‘Chhapaak’?

Guwahatians support Chhapaak star Chayanika Das @guwahatiplus

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eepika Padukone, who is gearing up for the release of her upcoming film Chhapaak, recently got into a controversy.

Deepika was present in the

Netizens said that Deepika was silent during CAA and Jamia Milia Islamia protests but wants the limelight all of a sudden only because of her upcoming film.

“Even if it’s a publicity stunt, Bhakts cooked so much raita that it ultimately will benefit the film only. She went and

Deepika Padukone at JNU national capital to promote her film and also visited Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to express solidarity with the students and faculty members who were attacked by a masked mob on January 5.

After videos of the actor taking part in the protest went viral on social media, netizens got furious at the actor and called it a publicity stunt just ahead of her latest release.

In response to her presence at JNU, various right-wing groups and a few BJP leaders called for a boycott of Deepika Padukone’s new film.

G Plus conducted a poll asking netizens to cast their votes on whether they though Padukone’s JNU visit was a publicity stunt for her upcoming film or not. A total of 3,700 participants took part. Out of this, 48% said “yes” while 52% said “no, it is not a publicity stunt.”

While many users applauded the actor, others called Deepika “anti-national.” “Her ugly & double standard character came out. The person who supports anti national gang can’t be tolerated,” said Manas Nath.

stood silently and Bhakts did the rest. Remember, we love to do things which people especially say don’t do,” said Swagata Nandini Baishya, a Guwahati resident.

“Deepika was silent during Jamia Milia Protest... If she’s so concerned about students’ health, then she should have visited JMU... But only because Chapaak is about to release now, she went to JNU supporting the students just by standing there.... It clearly shows that she might not be a leftist supporter but she definitely wanted to promote her film...,” said Manzil Roy. Another got irked at the users and said, “Yeah right! So you ask the celebs to take a stand and then when they do you say it’s a publicity stunt. Wow! Decide kar lo bhai, aakhir chahiye kya!

(Decide exactly what you want them to do).”

There were others who showed their respect for the Padmavati star.

Borthakur Priyasha said, “She could have chosen an easy way to remain at Mumbai and to promote her film. Instead just two days

before the release of such an anticipated movie, she had the courage to go to JNU, show her solidarity with the students when she had so much at stake.

Deepest respect for her and extreme disrespect for an artist like Shaan who doesn’t know what CAA is and is supporting it like some s*** dumbh****.”

Votes

3.7 K

8 City

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

The essence of Bhogali or Magh Bihu Chayanika Das @guwahatiplus Bhogali Bihu or Magh Bihu is just around the corner and Assam is gearing up for the most awaited feasting time of the year.

While there are three variants of Bihus that are celebrated or observed at different times of the year, Bhogali Bihu, the festival of harvest, is celebrated in January. This agrarian festival, as the name itself suggests, is all about celebrating a bumper crop through feasting.

The eve of the festival is called Uruka. On this day, men build small cottages (Bhelaghar) with hay and prepare the Uruka feast there. The rest of the family members gather around a bonfire

to play games and dance to folk music. Next morning, they wake up and light the Meji (normally a towering structure made of inflammable hay, twigs etc) and offer prays to the God of fire.

People make several types of food items with grains, called Pithas. The different types of Pithas are Til (sesame) Pitha, Narikol (coconut) Pitha, Tekeli Pitha, Ghila Pitha, Sunga Pitha, Kholasapori Pitha, Lau (gourd) Pitha and Kolpat Pitha. Other items eaten during the festival are Sandoh Guri, Bora Saul – varieties of locally produced grains. The Laru (a round sweetmeat prepared from a variety of items like coconut, til, etc is another Bh-ogali Bihu delicacy.

Sandoh Guri is made with rice flour. It is eaten with milk or curd and is sweetened with jaggery or

sugar. Other delicacies are Maah Korai and Jolpan. Maah Korai is prepared with black sesame seeds, Bora Saul, gram or Maah, Chana fried and is flavoured with some mustard oil, ginger and salt.

Another interesting delicacy of the festival is Bora Saul or sticky rice. It is grown in Majuli - the world’s largest river island located amidst the evershifting sandbanks of the river Brahmaputra in Assam. The rice is soaked overnight in hot water and consumed the next day.

Locals prefer eating it with curd/ cream and jaggery. They also eat it with mustard oil and Aloo Pitika (mashed potato).

The rice has low content of amylose, a starch component that contributes to the hardness of food grains and is easily digestible. It does not have a distinctive flavour

Guwahati kick starts Bihu celebrations, continues CAA protests

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Guwahati based NGO, Bor Axom organised a Pitha festival in the city where fresh Pithas were being made by women of the NGO and served hot to the visitors.

The event was not just about the Pithas. Another highlight of the programme was the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) badges that every woman wore as they prepared the eatables.

Binita Dutta Chaudhary, member of Bor Axom, told G Plus, “This is our festival and we have to celebrate it but at the same time we cannot forget about CAA. We strongly oppose it since it is a threat to our language.”

“Although we are celebrating Magh Bihu and doing business, we also wanted to show our opposition to the

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A placard demonstrating protest against CAA at a stall in Guwahati | G Plus photo CAA,” said a vendor. “By placing the placards we want to keep the fight alive and

also people will remember what we went through,” he added.

so it gets dominated by other flavours which are added to the rice.

Since the rice has unique qualities, scientists at the Cuttack-based Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) has successfully grown a similar grain called Agonibora in Odisha to see if the rice can be grown outside Assam.

The festival of harvest is celebrated throughout the country. In the South, it is called Pongal while the rest of India calls it Makar Sankranti.

Down south, people worship Lord Indra. Their celebration is similar to that of Assam’s. Makar Sankranti marks the arrival of spring season in India and is celebrated in various different ways throughout the country.

Mutton price fixed for Magh Bihu in city, fish prices expected to soar

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ural Assam continues to celebrate Magh Bihu in the authentic rural style way but the cities have lately seen a lot of transition. Earlier, every household would prepare pithas on their own but now with most of the people belonging to the working class, these items are bought in Melas or stalls.

Instead of traditional folk music, people in the cities prefer loud Bollywood or Hollywood music and also add alcohol to the celebration. It is no more celebrated just within the four walls of a house.

Cultural programmes and gatherings are organised.

Food prices increase during the season. Mutton prices have gone up in Assam. The president of Greater Guwahati Qureshi Meat Association, Muslim Ali, told G Plus that they have fixed the price of mutton for Magh Bihu at Rs

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650 per kilogram.

“We have allowed the price of mutton to be fixed at Rs 650 per kilogram for the occasion of Magh Bihu. But this will only be followed for a single day on January 14,” said Ali. However, various unlicensed meat sellers in the city have increased the price by as much as Rs 100 per kilogram during the festival period.

“Charging exorbitant prices during this period is unfair to the customers and we have thus fixed the price at Rs 650 and we are also asking the other sellers to adhere to it,” added Ali. Apart from this, the prices of fish and chicken are also likely to rise for Magh Bihu.

In The News

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

9

Student organisations express solidarity with JNU, protests staged across NE Chayanika Das @guwahatiplus

NESO and AASU hoist black flags at public places AASU adviser, Samujjal Bhattacharya and GS Lurinjyoti Gogoi condemn incident, express solidarity GUTA, PGSU, ULCSU stage sit-in demonstration at GU campus On Jan 6, 200 students gathered near the Nehru Park gate to protest Protests across NEHU, IIT-G and Dibrugarh Strong allegations of ABVP staging the attack Hindu Raksha Dal claims responsibility for the attack FIR filed against JNUSU president for vandalism

T

he North East Students’ Union (NESO) and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) hoisted black flags at public places and educational institutions in the northeast on January 8 and 9 in protest against the “barbaric” attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) students and faculty.

AASU adviser, Samujjal Bhattacharya, made the announcement and said, “Such incidents will not be tolerated and are not acceptable to the student community. The culprits should be booked and security arrangements should be made for the students of the JNU.” “JNU is a prestigious institution of the country and we condemn the barbaric action on the students of the institution.

Both the Prime Minister and

Black flags at the Cotton University main gate in protest against CAA | G Plus photo the Union Home Minister have failed to tackle the situation in JNU,” he added.

Students of Cotton University stood in solidarity with JNU students on January 8. They hoisted black flags in front of their university gate to protest against the violence.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of AASU told G Plus, “Firstly we strongly condemn it. The attackers need to get punished and the university authorities need to ensure protection to students.”

On Tuesday last, the Gauhati University Teachers’ Association, Post-Graduate Students’ Union and University Law College Students’ Union, staged a three-hour sit-in demonstration at the Gauhati University (GU) campus.

On Monday last, AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi tweeted, “The students’ community of Assam stands in solidarity with @JNUSU and #JNUTA in their fight for justice. #JNUViolence #JNUattack.”

On January 6, around 200 students gathered near the Nehru Park gate at Panbazar to protest against the violence.

Research scholars and members of students’ union of the North East Hill University

(NEHU) gathered in Khyndailad, Shillong to register their protest against an “authoritarian regime out to muffle the voices of democracy.”

Students of Dibrugarh and the Indian Institute of TechnologyGuwahati also expressed solidarity with their JNU counterparts.

Several videos and messages suggest that the attack was done

by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members and such allegations are strongly making the rounds.

The Hindu Raksha Dal (HRD) claimed responsibility for the JNU attack that took place during the evening hours of January 5. In a video shared on social media, HRD leader Bhupendra Tomar alias Pinky Chaudhary, can be seen and heard saying, “JNU is a hotbed of anti-national activities and we cannot tolerate this, and anyone who tries to speak the way they do will get the exact same response from us as they did. In the future we will do this in other universities as well. We take full responsibility of the attack in JNU and would like to say that they were our workers.”

Talking about the same, exJNU student Bedanta Bikash Borah told G Plus, “You can very

easily identify the ABVP people.

We know them very well. This is not the first time that something like this has happened in JNU. Hence we can easily identify the ABVP members. They were our classmates, we know them.”

“HRD is clearly taking the responsibility to protect ABVP students,” he said. He is now afraid of the same happening in universities in Assam.

“I am afraid for all the citizens of India. Whoever is speaking up, their voices are being silenced. This is violation of the Constitution of India,” he added.

On January 5 last, around 40 students including JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh were injured by a masked mob.

Speaking to national media, Aishe had earlier said that she had told the police about unknown people gathering in the campus but there was no intervention.

Earlier, a video of Ghosh went viral on social media where she could be heard saying, “I’ve been brutally attacked by goons who were masked, I have been bleeding. I am not in a condition to talk.”

Two police cases were filed in a span of four minutes against Aishe on January 5, shortly

after she was attacked.

The first FIR (First Information Report) against Aishe and other JNU students was filed at 8.39 pm and the other at 8.43 pm on Sunday.

Both the cases were filed while the mob was present on the campus, vandalising hostels.

Aishe and 26 students have been charged of destroying the server room of the university twice – on January 1 and January 4.

They have also been charged of attacking security guards during the registration of students for the winter semester.

While protesting against hostel fee hike, JNU students had allegedly stormed into the server room to block the registration process on Sunday afternoon which further led to clashes between JNU students and the ABVP. A day after the unrest, on January 6, a senior warden of Sabarmati, R Meena, resigned from the post and wrote a letter to the Dean of Students.

“Resigning on moral grounds. It was my responsibility to provide for their safety and I failed,” the letter read.

Apart from the protests against the JNU incident, an anti-CAA protest was held in Gauhati Club Rotary on January 9 where singer Zubeen Garg and music composer Ramen Barua among others were present.

Several other artists gathered and protested by playing traditional folk instruments.

Apart from them, AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya and President Dipanka Nath also attended the protest.

Assam artists’ fraternity and Chandmari Students’ Association organised a protest on January 10 and named it “Xilpi Jur Xomodal.”

10 City

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Media workshop on weather and climate information held by RMC Barasha Das @guwahatiplus

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he Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Guwahati organised a day-long workshop on “Weather and Climate Information” for the media on the 7th January, 2020. Its purpose was to educate media personnel on the terminologies and complexities of meteorological processes, and make them familiar with the weather forecast products available and also the language used in day-to-day weather forecast bulletin.

The workshop was presided over by the Deputy Director General of Meteorology (DDGM) RMC, Sanjay O’Neill Shaw along with ex-DDGMs SN Deka and Hara Govinda Pathak. Also present were Sunit Das, Scientist-E and Atul Singh, Scientist-C. Sanjay Shaw gave a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the various services provided by RMC. An interactive session was held with media personnel on how to update and aware the masses at report time. They welcomed suggestions on the same.

At present, RMC Guwahati is responsible for providing aviation and non-aviation weather forecast for three meteorological sub-divisions of NE India (viz Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura) through its regional headquarter at Guwahati and other offices situated at different locations of the regions.

There are also three main Met Centres at Agartala, Shillong and Itanagar, and three main Aerodrome Met Offices at

Guwahati, Mohanbari and Agartala apart from Aerodrome Met Station at the smaller airports and other Met Offices.

There is a Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) in the Jorhat Agricultural University.

Upper Air and Doppler Weather Radar Networks like the PBO Network and GPS-based RSRW Networks stationed at different centres help to identify wind pressure, wind speed, temperature and humidity at different heights. There are also two Radar (DWR) Stations at Mohanbari and Agartala.

Director Shaw said that the central government has commissioned the installation of a few more radar stations in the northeast region.

The IMD provides Nowcast, i.e, weather forecast of the next few hours (from half an hour to 6 hours) to long term forecast

of more than 30 days, as well as advance information of thunderstorms and cyclones. The Guwahati regional centre also provides regular forecast for ferry routes on the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers.

At present people around the country can get updated weather reports on their recently launched website https://mausam.imd. gov.in/ or call up the national toll free no. 1800 220 161. The RMC Guwahati office also has a customized website for the region, www.imdguwahati.gov.in.

RMC claimed that given the diverse topography of the northeast region, accurate forecasting is challenging as compared to the other parts of the country. However, every effort is made to present the same and near accurate reports are being presented to the extent possible.

Atul Singh, while describing

the different weather measuring parameters said, “Forecasting the weather conditions of tropical countries like ours is difficult compared to the mid-latitude countries. Nobody can give a better forecast than IMD for India.”

A detailed description of the IMD website was also presented.

Information can be found from state to city level.

He further said that they could forecast rainfall accurately for 10 days in the short term and a long term general forecast of 60 days is also possible.

Ex-DDGM Hara Govinda Baruah, while answering to a question, said that RMC had proposed to set up Automatic Weather Station (AWS) at every 10 to 50 sq kms so that accurate data could be calculated at all places throughout the state. He further stated that the different

government organisations should contact the IMD department so that they can keep track of the weather and what measures need to be taken to prevent damages from flood and other natural disasters.

When asked about the India-Sri Lanka match that was abandoned due to rains, the ex-Director of the organisation, Har Govinda Pathak, claimed that the organisers of the various sporting events in the state should feel the need to contact the Indian Meteorological Department before finalising dates for the same. He claimed that the authorities responsible for organising the games including the upcoming Khelo India Youth Games have never contacted the department. He said, “The authorities of the events should have an idea about the presence of RMC Guwahati. They should become clients of IMD Guwahati for us to update them on the weather conditions regularly.”

It may mentioned that IMD provides regular data on the prevailing weather conditions and forecasts for the help of different sections of society, mostly the farmers, aviation and defence.

Atul Singh also said that most of the websites providing weather forecasts take their data from the IMD website. He asked people to consult the official websites directly or call the toll free number.

RMC Guwahati also provided the weather forecast for the first few days of the Khelo India Youth Games to be held from 10 to 22 January.

Sanjay Shaw, DDGM, added that although light rain is expected on the first two days of the Games, the sky would hopefully remain clear for the rest of the days.

NRL awarded for Effective Implementation of Official Language

N

RL has been awarded the Chal Vaijayanti Shield (Third Prize) for effective implementation of the Official Language Policy of Govt. of India during the year 2019. In addition, NRL Hindi Magazine ‘PRAYAS’ was also awarded the first prize amongst Hindi magazines published by TOLIC (Town Official Language Implementation Committee) PSU member organisations during the year.

The aforementioned awards were presented to the NRL team led by Sr. CGM (HR & Legal) Mr. Debashish Choudhury by Chairman TOLIC and ED, IOCL-Guwahati Refinery Mr. S. Manchanda in presence of representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India Mr Badri Yadav, Research Officer and Head of Regional Official Language Implementation Office (NER); Smt. Kamlesh Bajaj, Deputy Director (NER), Hindi Teaching

Scheme and Mr. Radheshyam Bairwa, Asst. Director (Hindi Teaching Scheme) at the 54th TOLIC meeting held in IOCL Guwahati Refinery recently.

The awards were decided by a committee of the TOLIC (PSUs) constituted for this purpose after evaluation of reports and other significant activities on official language carried out during the year as received from 45 PSUs in Guwahati.

Photo Caption: Sr. CGM (HR& Legal), NRL Debashish

Choudhury receiving the Chal Vaijayanti Shield (3rdPrize) for effective implementation of official language by NRL from Chairman TOLIC and ED, IOCL-Guwahati Refinery S. Manchanda at Guwahati recently.

News This Week

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

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

1

Nirbhaya gang rape case convicts to be hanged on Jan 22

The four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case will be hanged on January 22 at 7 AM in Tihar jail, a Delhi court said on January 7. The order was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora who issued death warrants against them. The four death row convicts in the case include Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta. Earlier on January 6, the court had reserved the order on issuing the death warrants against four death row convicts.

2

Hindu Raksha Dal takes responsibility for JNU Attack, warns other varsities

Hindu Raksha Dal has claimed responsibility for the brutal assault on teachers and students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). According to ANI, Pinky Chaudhary of Hindu Raksha Dal said, “JNU is a hotbed of anti-national activities, we can’t tolerate this.

We take full responsibility of the attack in JNU and would like to say that they were our workers.” Hindu Raksha Dal leader Bhupendra Tomar alias Pinky Chaudhary said that he and his right-wing outfit take full responsibility for the attack. “They live in our country, they eat here, get their education here and then indulge in anti-national activities. We are always ready to sacrifice our lives for the country,” he said.

3

‘We have received over 52 lakh missed calls in support of CAA’: Amit Shah

Amid the unrest over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) across the country, union home minister Amit Shah, on January 6, stated that the party received over 52 lakh missed calls in support of the Act. The BJP had earlier launched a campaign with a toll-free number that provides the facility to common people to give missed calls to register their support for the citizenship law and aimed to do away with misgivings about CAA. “52,72,000 missed calls have been received on a special number in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act from verifiable phone numbers and a total of 68 lakh calls have been received,” Shah said.

4

Iran offers $80 million bounty for Trump’s head

Iran has offered a bounty of USD 80 million on US President Donald Trump’s head during the televised funeral of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in an American drone strike on January 3. “Iran has 80 million inhabitants. Based on the Iranian population, we want to raise 80 million USD which is a reward for those who get close to the head of President Trump,” it was announced in a media report. Holding an open session of the Iranian Parliament, President Trump was called a “terrorist in a suit” after he threatened to hit 52 Iranian cultural sites if Tehran retaliates.

5

Ukrainian Airliner crashes near Tehran, all 176 passengers feared dead

A Ukrainian airliner with 176 passengers and crew on board crashed near Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport in Iran on January 8. According to the Iranian media, the Boeing 737800 jet crashed near Parand, a suburb southwest of the capital Tehran shortly after take-off. A video posted by Iran’s ISNA news agency showed a faint glow of light flickering in the dark shortly before a huge fireball was seen.

6

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Centre grants Rs 5,908.56 crores to 7 states as assistance for calamities in 2019

The BJP-led Centre, on January 6, approved the release of Rs 5,908.56 crores to seven states including Assam, Tripura and Karnataka, as assistance for the damage caused due to various calamities in 2019. The high-level committee (HLC) was chaired by union home minister Amit Shah approved additional central assistance to seven states from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) of which Rs 616.63 crores will be given to Assam, Rs 284.93 crores to Himachal Pradesh, Rs 1869.85 crores to Karnataka, Rs 1749.73 crores to Madhya Pradesh, Rs 956.93 crores to Maharashtra, Rs 63.32 crores to Tripura and Rs 367.17 crores to Uttar Pradesh for floods or landslides or cloudburst during the 2019 southwest monsoon.

7

Republic Day Parade 2020: NDRF to roll down the Rajpath for the first time

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), display its tableau portraying its benignant efforts during catastrophes, will be rolling down the Rajpath for the first time on January 26. The force raised in 2006 specializes in rescue and relief operations. This year the chief guest for Republic Day celebrations is Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. NDRF Director General (DG) SN Pradhan, said, “This year, it will be the first time that a tableau of the force will roll down the Rajpath on January 26. It will also exhibit the capacity that the force has obtained in launching an effective rescue and relief operation, be it floods, cyclone, CBRN challenge and the rescue in collapsed structures.”

8

Arvind Kejriwal tweets ‘This election will be based on work’

9

UP becomes first state to begin CAA implementation

After the announcement of assembly election dates in Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal, on January 6, indicated the direction of the assembly elections in Delhi, where his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in a fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress Party. “This election will be based on work,” the AAP leader tweeted in Hindi. Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora, said during a press conference, “The elections to the 70-member assembly in Delhi will be held on February 8 and the votes will be counted on February 11. The date has been fixed after discussing with all the concerned stakeholders. We have writing commitments from senior police officers to ensure that law and order is controlled and made conducive for the polls.”

Uttar Pradesh became the first state to take steps to begin the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). As per reports, the officials have been directed to identify Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants who have settled in the state from neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Reports stated that the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Avanish Awasthi, said that magistrates have been asked to track down migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have settled in UP for decades, without citizenship.

10

India under Modi 5th biggest geopolitical risk of 2020: Eurasia Group

According to the world’s leading political risk consultancy, Eurasia Group, India under Narendra Modi is the fifth biggest geopolitical risk of 2020. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spent much of his second term promoting controversial social policies at the expense of an economic agenda. The impacts will be felt in 2020, with intensified communal and sectarian instability, as well as foreign policy and economic setbacks,” said the report. It’s a change of position for Bremmer, who had earlier argued that “Modi is India’s best hope for economic reform” in the May 2019 edition of Time magazine, the same edition in which author Aatish Taseer had called the Prime Minister “Divider-inChief”.

12 Guest Column

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Startups 2020: Bearing the torch of Northeastern Culture C

ulture preservation and culture dissemination go hand and glove. More the promotion of the beauty, depth and richness of a place, the greater are the possibilities of its culture getting accepted, adopted and preserved far and wide.

While litterateurs, musicians, filmmakers and artists are the popular torchbearers for spreading the word, startups are the underdogs who can play a huge role here. Their affinity to a locality coupled with sharp business acumen has the potential to spread the cultural tidings across multiple landscapes.

Despite the fact that startups have been mostly associated with technological innovations particularly in the developed ecosystems like Bangalore, Mumbai and NCR, social startups are laden with scopes to make massive positive impact especially in the progress of an underdeveloped or developing landscape. Here’s presenting 5 startups from Assam to watch out for in 2020 that have picked up the baton for cultural revival, preservation and dissemination while solving some critical local problems in the process.

Brahmaputra Fables The treasure-trove of tribal handicrafts and handloom in

northeast India looks nothing less than some beautiful, mystical fables the world is yet to read. Rightly named the Brahmaputra Fables, the startup’s founder, Dhruba Jyoti Deka has vowed to espouse the multifarious artistry, handloom and handicrafts of northeast India before the world. They have digitally integrated over 3,000 weavers and artisans of northeast India and connected them to the end consumers

across the globe to not just promote the northeastern artistry globally, but also provide these local artisans the rightful dues for their unique craft. Their products range from bamboo souvenirs, utility items and utensils to handwoven apparels to pickles and other ethnic food items.

GUEST COLUMN

Aranyak Valley

Esah Tea Esah Tea is trying to organize the small tea growing segment of Assam and bring them the deserving exposure and returns for their organic Assam Tea, which the tea connoisseurs around the world swear by. The startup has been

founded by Bijit Sarma to help the small tea growers in augmenting the quality of tea produce as well as giving them marketing guidance in terms of market research, customers’ preferences, packaging and getting the right reach. The startup focuses on three varieties: handmade tea, herbal tea and flavoured tea, which are done into world-class packages. The traditional teamaking techniques help retain the famous radiant and fullbodied liquor of Assam tea. And Esah Tea’s innovative organic cotton teabags, made by the village women, help retain the quintessential garden freshness, free from harmful plastic micro-particles found in the usual teabags.

Satarupa Mishra

The author writes on startups that have the potential to make an impact towards preserving, popularizing and disseminating the rich culture and heritage of Northeast India, particularly Assam.

that most of these choicest coaching centres use English as the main medium of instruction also makes it difficult for the aspirants from the vernacular backgrounds.

Daydeep Chetia and Upal J Baruah’s Let’s Learn Together was founded with the core objective to address these critical hurdles. The startup has developed an Android app

Let’s Learn Together One can change the system by being a part of the system.

And to be a part of the system, one must clear the civil services exam. Unfortunately, the exorbitant fees charged by coaching centres make it unaffordable for hundreds of bright aspirants belonging to the not-so-affluent strata of society. Furthermore, the fact

important skill rather than as a mode of communication, Let’s Learn Together’s efforts will, hopefully, provide a muchneeded impetus to encourage the use of local language and help develop it further.

offering coaching at a minimal price for competitive exams for various government jobs in Assam. More importantly, they focus on vernacular medium of instruction to make it easier for the students from vernacular backgrounds. At an age when English is stressed upon as an

Despite being comfortably placed as the Regional Commercial Director (Asia & Middle East) in a reputed company in France, Gaurav Chakraborty, with his roots in the Barak Valley of Assam, decided to make a homecoming.

The reason was to pull up the sinking self-esteem of the people of his region through

a skill-based education model that focuses on developing the local skills and finding them a globally recognised place. He founded the Aranyak Valley in the Barak Valley in 2017 amid the lush greens and started offering skills training that are quintessentially ‘local’ in nature.

Success of this education model will lead to fresh batches of skilled localities who are better equipped with knowledge, skills and the confidence to find world-class solutions to the local problems.

Gaurav’s focal point is creating self-sustainable “Pride Habitats” in Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions of Assam that would offer classes on skilling (IT & Non-IT) and farm appreciation and drive cultural agrotourism in those regions. This will eventually inspire bright brains to focus on developing their own regions rather than draining out in search of better opportunities, distanced from their roots.

ChaloHoppo ChaloHoppo isn’t just another travel company wooing tourists to the popular

locations in northeast India.

It strives to bridge the gap between northeast India and the world by acclimatising people to the quintessential northeastern way of life and bringing them to not only appreciate its natural beauty, but its effervescent people as well. Founders, Chetan Jalan, Nishant Sinha and John Raphael have made the most of their network from their corporate jobs in Mumbai to create a pool of wanderlusts willing to get a real experience of northeast India.

Apart from arranging the regular trekking expeditions and campsites, the startup curates activities that give tourists a first-hand experience of the northeastern lifestyle. For example, they arrange football matches between tourists and the Khasi boys in Meghalaya; involve visitors in maskmaking at Majuli, pitha-baking at Balipara and hand-fishing at Ziro, thus leaving no stone unturned in giving a pleasant experience of northeast India to the travellers. But the most striking aspect of ChaloHoppo is its community involvement model that aims at giving employment to the localities and empowering them to lead the way for showcasing northeast India in its exuberant spirit to the travellers.

Through suitable handholding by mentors and

industry experts under the Assam Startup initiative, these sprightly startups are expected to make a rightful impact in instilling confidence in the youth for self-sustenance as well as give people from across the globe reasons to acknowledge the rich heritage and culture of the region and, perhaps, take a leaf or two out of it too. satarupamishra2010@gmail. com

Photo Story

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Unity in Diversity dominates KIYG

Opening Ceremony

Hima Das with the Games Torch

Assamese culture on show

A united India

Close to 6,800 athletes from 37 states/union territories will compete in Guwahati, which has been decked up like a bride, over the next fortnight hoping to grab medals, scholarships and greater glory across 20 sports disciplines.

“I want to assure Assam that the government of India will extend every support to realise its dream of becoming the sports capital of the country,” union minister Rijiju said, while lauding the state’s efforts to host the spectacular event.

The colourful opening ceremony, which saw over 400+ cast members, 400+ technical and support staff, wowed the audience with its creativity and innovativeness.

Using the mighty Brahmaputra as the backdrop, in the form of waving girls, scores of youngsters danced and blended into various contours and shapes to tell a fascinating tale. Every aspect of Assam and its most famous exports were showcased before everybody moulded into the map of the country, to once again highlight the grand idea called One India.

The opening ceremony also gave a glimpse of the 20 sporting disciplines in a unique manner, with a dancing troupe putting up an energetic performance to indicate the many battles over the next few days. The entire playing turf and the stands in the background turned into props, becoming a mesmerising collage of light and colour.

Bollywood’s popular singer and music composer Shankar Mahadevan then took the stage, entertaining the audience with a number of hits, each underscoring the importance of One India.

The National Anthem rendered by the Assam Rifles Band, the introduction of the mascots while the games’ theme song played, indeed each and everything seamlessly meshed into one powerful message: India is One.

Kirren Rijiju and CM Sarbananda Sonowal

Dancers and a magnificent show

A slice of Bihu dance

Assam personified

Shankar Mahadevan

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14 G Talk E

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G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020 T

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Celebrity intentions and confusions

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sudden warm and appreciative tweet

by Vishal Dadlani took me by surprise.

From out of the blue and without any precedents of any similar endearments, Dadlani chose to write about the Assamese society’s combative stance against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). While the tweet, in the meantime, has gone viral, it has also successfully created confusion in the minds of the Assamese intelligentsia because Dadlani preferred to equate the Assamese protests with the mainland India protests and in the process dubbed it as a fight against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) clubbing it with the CAA. Clearly, this is another case of a Bollywood celebrity wanting to make some noise over a burning political issue without being sure of the facts. The Assamese society, at large, has not expressed any disappointment with the NRC which Dadlani chose to term as “failed NRC.” At least not in the way it has expressed its angst against the CAA. A few coffee room discussions about the supposed “waste” that the NRC exercise was is in no way tantamount to a “fight” against it as Dadlani chose to put it. In the process, while he has appreciated that “Assam is leading the way” in the CAA protests, it is

very clear that he has failed to understand the difference between the sentiments of Assam as against that of mainland India.

On the other hand is the strategically timed visit of Deepika Padukone to violence-ravaged Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) that has sparked vicious trolls against the Bollywood star.

While there was no reason to believe that it was anything other than a visit to express solidarity with the JNU fraternity with Padukone stoically standing among the students not uttering a word, the timing of the visit and the gesture having no similar precedents in her life (well, she did not visit Jamia Millia University in any case), made her seem like a publicity seeker just ahead of her upcoming movie.

The vicious trolls have not made Padukone respond to them and there has been no reaction from her thereafter.

With the huge number of followers that Bollywood stars have on Twitter and Instagram, just one word from them are enough to spark confusion all over the country. These latest actions of the Dadlani and Padukone are no exceptions and we remain confused over their actual intentions.

Swapnil Bharali (Editor) @swapnilbharali

Mission “Barshapara” Dev: Hey! So did you go for the India-Sri Lanka match?

Abhi: Yeah man! Got drenched in the rain though..Sang “Vande Mataram”, shouted anti-CAA slogans, had a gala time, got stuck in traffic…

Dev: …but didn’t watch a match right?

Abhi: Yeah whatever! What did you do? Spend time inside the blanket?

Dev: Well, I just happened to read a report on G Plus about the match possibly being rained out. So like a smart chap, I sold my tickets off, and made a little profit too. There are more than enough Virat fan boys around for me to do that.

Abhi: That’s pretty lame…

Dev: But well because of the rain, I did have an interesting incident..

Abhi: What is that?

Dev: Well my clothes didn’t dry because of the rain.

Abhi: And? Dev: I used my phone’s flashlight to try and dry the clothes. It didn’t work. But I am trying to think what brilliant mind could propose this.

Abhi: Hey! If rubbing a cow and drinking its urine can be used to cure cancer, what makes this so farfetched?

Dev: To be honest, I also had another thought…

Abhi: What’s that?

Dev: What else can you expect at a stadium named “Barshapara.”

Baarish toh giregi hi…

Sidharth Bedi Varma @sid_bv

The Barsapara fiasco: Blame it on the rain?

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he T20 match between India and Sri Lanka at Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati made the glorious game of cricket turn into a grand circus and a saga of comedy. The cricket crazy fans of the region, who expected to see the Bumrahs, Kohlis and Malingas at their competitive best on what is touted as one of the best cricket stadiums in the world, were in for a “cultural” shock.

They had to be a witness to a lot of comic situations that was dished out immediately after the toss. A drizzle lasting around 30 minutes actually upset the whole

The ACA should undertake a study tour to stadiums like Mohali and learn in detail the modern techniques of pitch covering, outfield drying, treatment of moisture on the pitch etc. apple cart. It is debatable whether the covers arrived on time. But according to the onlookers, two covers – one white and the other blue - arrived on the scene. The precious 22 yards - the most valuable stretch of land that day - had to be covered in time to protect it. However, semiskilled grounds men, along with confused officials messed up big time with the placement of the covers. The rain drops percolated through the covers and left damp patches on the pitch thereby ensuring that no play would be possible and the match thereafter was abandoned. The pitch, a sacrosanct space in the context of a cricket match, was left wet and damp due to sheer negligence.

In sheer panic and due to huge gaps in communication, blankets were not put under the covers

which could have prevented the disaster.

The learned members of the ACA immediately took up face saving measures. They came up with public display of legal agreements and weird scientific theories which only went on to provide huge amusement on the social media sites.

Now coming back to the match, there were certain bizarre things happening. And electric iron and a hair dryer were being used to dry the damp patches on the pitch even as the spectators looked on with the hope of the match getting started. Virat Kohli and his boys also did their share of periodic monitoring; perhaps they were raring to go. However the match was eventually declared abandoned without a single ball being delivered.

Now, as cricket followers, we are aware that after the toss, the complete responsibility and ownership of a match and the venue are in the hands of the Match Referee and the ICC officials. However, since public accountability and aspirations of the cricket fans are linked, the BCCI or its host state association should also take the onus. The weather in Guwahati was damp and was expected to be playing a spoilsport. There was a no rocket science involved in this matter. Reasonable precaution and pro-active arrangements for covering the cricket pitch was sheer common sense. Legal jargons, bizarre explanations, weird measures or shirking of responsibilities does not suffice.

Just as torch rays of a cellphone do not heat and dry up a damp pitch, lame excuses dilute the image of sanctity of the Assam Cricket Association. The local cricket officials should have coordinated with ICC and BCCI officials more efficiently and taken the coverup steps on time. They should have taken appropriate measures to cover the pitch and the ground on time, rather than trying to cover up their silly mistakes and disowning the negligence part.

Refunding the ticket money to

rWishing a good Khelo India

O pinion Mridul Bora

the fans is not just good enough.

We wonder, what would have happened if it was a 5-day test match. Rains are known to occur several times during the course of a test match. The ACA should undertake a study tour to stadiums like Mohali and learn in detail the modern techniques of pitch covering, outfield drying, treatment of moisture on the pitch and dew on the outfield and devise scientific and efficient drainage systems.

Security arrangements and reviews, proper and hygienic catering, clean toilets for spectators, better dressing room facilities for players, commentators and journalists should be well planned out. Even contingency plans should be there for natural disasters like rains, thunderstorms, earthquakes or manmade situations like stampede. Crowd unrest should be chalked out in advance. Firefighting mechanism should be ready on the spot than rather.

We should realize that as of now, we could not handle even a light drizzle and the whole state had to hang our heads in shame for such a fiasco in front of the whole world.

The intention of this writeup is not to criticize what transpired. In fact, it would be pragmatic to take steps to prevent this kind of recurrence in the future. Otherwise, we will have no other way but to “Blame it on the Rain,” as this popular song describes (a song by Milli Vanilli).

Blame it on the rain that was falling falling/ Blame it on the stars that didn’t shine that night/ Whatever you do, don’t put the blame on you/ Blame it on the rain, yeah, yeah…

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

Letter to the Editor

Given the ill-luck that Guwahati seems to have with its cricket matches (in the past a stone thrown at the Aussie team bus and this time rain and grounds men negligence leading to the T20I being abandoned), the government’s audacious plans for the Khelo India Youth Games needs the best wishes of the entire fraternity of sports lovers. The Khelo India Games is the platform from where budding talents and sportsmen can spring up the ladder of international success. Guwahati is indeed fortunate to be hosting the Games and we hope there will come up some outstanding talents who will show great potential to compete on the international stage. It will also be worthwhile to watch our own Hima Das performing on the Guwahati tracks and running to her best potential. After all, she has never had a competitive run at the national level in Guwahati. So here’s wishing the KIYG a grand success and prayers that the weather holds through the duration of the Games.

Sidddharth Hazarika, Uzanbazar, Guwahati

In Focus

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

15

India-Sri Lanka T20 abandoned due to rain not negligence, claims ACA

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to dry out the wet patches on the pitch.

As expected, social media soon pulled out their big guns and brutally trolled match officials and grounds men for not using proper equipments to get the pitch ready.

ACA Secretary, Devajit Lon Saikia speaking to G Plus about the wet patches said, “If there was anything wrong with the pitch covers, the first spell of rain would have damaged the pitch. Yesterday (Saturday) also there was heavy rainfall till 10-11 o’clock, (but nothing happened).

These are very high quality pitch covers. We have the best of pitch covers across stadiums in Assam. There is nothing wrong with the pitch covers and I don’t know who has cooked up the story.”

Speaking on whether the IPL matches would be affected due to the abandoned match, Saikia said, “No. Not at all! At least

s the much touted “Sports Capital of the Country” was set to host the first T20I of the year 2020, the match at Guwahati’s Barsapara stadium was called off on Sunday, January 5, after a brief spell of rain. The series opener between India and Sri Lanka was scheduled to begin at 7 PM IST but was delayed due to rain after the toss.

While the first spell of rain for 40 minutes wasn’t heavy, the continuous pouring made matters for the grounds men at Barsapara Stadium difficult.

G Plus had earlier reported that with unseasonal rains predicted for Guwahati and the regions around it, the India VS Sri Lanka T20I match faced the very real possibility of being rained out.

However, as the ground staff started its repair work, the second spell of showers, which only abated at around 9:00 PM, had already affected the pitch.

Matters at the stadium looked really bad when the grounds men had to resort to hair dryers, steam irons and vacuum cleaners in their efforts

2 matches will be played in Guwahati and Rajasthan Royals have shown keen interest in the same.”

However, fans were left utterly disappointed with the rain playing spoilsport.

“We are more concerned about the crowd now. We will refund them the money within 7 (seven) days. Tickets

were sold online via BookMyShow, so we will refund the money.

We also made the announcement at the stadium. People are very happy with the Assam Cricket Association,” he further added.

Reacting to ACA’s comments, Guwahatians expressed their views on the social media channels of G Plus.

Expressing his displeasure Hiran Bijoy Chakma said, “If it is not an act of negligence then why only some part of the pitch was wet if you’ve covered it well when there’s only minimum amount of rain.

If you would’ve done your duty well there would have been still a chance to watch some overs of the game. You’ve failed to satisfy the thousands of fans in Guwahati. For God’s sake using a hair dryer, iron to dry up the pitch is such a shame.”

Sandeep Bhardwaj stated, “Cricket associations in India are run by political heavyweights and not by former cricketers.

Hope Sourav Ganguly, present BCCI President and former Indian captain will conduct a thorough investigation of this goof up.

Money given every year to ACA must be audited and why such shameful incident has occurred must be found out. Culprits must be punished for bringing the reputation of Indian Cricket to its knees.”

Sasanka Kalita, a resident who went to watch the match at the stadium stated, “I was in the stadium and it’s clear that no standard cover was there to cover the pitch. And it is clear that no training is provided to the ground staff on how to tackle rain. It’s like they removed the cover for the first time in their lifetime. Have some shame. Yearly Rs 50 crores is provided by BCCI to ACA.” Bhaskar Das said, “We have heard renowned cricketers like Harbhajan Singh, VVS Laksman, Akash Chopra stating that it is because of the negligence of ACA.”

G Plus followers react to the ACA’s claims of the T20I match being abandoned due to ‘rains’ Rizwanuz Zaman

ACA and other State Cricket Board gets Rs 50 crores every year from BCCI for maintenance and other expenses. But ACA has taken every measure to misappropriate the money in the name of fake expenses. They haven’t even bought new covers for the pitch. Thank God yesterday the rain unmasked them. Now BCCI will definitely take action against the ACA and will ask for the audit of the funds. Hair dryer? Seriously?

Pankaj Chakrabarty

It was complete negligence of stadium officials due to which the pitch got wet. Rain was for just 45 minutes. Umpires gave time till 9.30 pm and yet the stadium officials could not dry up the pitch. Pitch was not covered properly.

Lack of proper technology and facilities is the only reason. In other places play starts within half an hour from the time rain stops. Shame on ACA!

Chinmoy Sarma

Hiran Bijoy Chakma

If this is not act of negligence, why only some part of pitch was wet if it was covered well? Especially when there was only minimum amount of rain? If you’d done your duty well there was still a chance of the match happening.

You’ve failed to satisfy the thousands fans of Guwahati. For God’s sake stop using a hair dryer, iron to dry up the pitch. Such a shame!

Mridul Basumatary

We all know due to whose negligence this happened. Simple thing: the unprofessional grounds men don’t know how to remove the pitch cover.

Hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, iron to dry an international pitch? It’s an international match not a Kapil Sharma Show or any other comedy show.

The bottom line is that ACA is exposed in front of the world.

You guys are trolling Assam Cricket Association for using hair dryer, iron etc. But the fact is that Assam cricket could also use helicopter (for every ICC match there is a helicopter provided for emergency) to dry the wicket, but because of spider cam it was not possible to do so. Secondly, the plastic cover used to cover the wicket was absolutely ok.

It was the mistake of the ground staff that they didn’t use the super-sopper over the plastic cover before removing it. Because of this a few drops of water leaked on the pitch. It was a small irresponsible act of one or two workers on the ground, nothing more than that.

16 Buzz

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Urban Music Station hosts open mic in Guwahati

U

rban Music Station hosted an open mic at Urban Mantra, Zoo Road in Guwahati on January 9. The event gave a platform to various

upcoming stand-up comics, acoustic artists, poets and more.

The event featured Lush, Upam and Niharika and Mrinmoy as a part of the special acts.

IIT-G features among ‘Top 50 Young Universities in Chemistry’

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IT-Guwahati is the only IIT which was featured in the “Top 50 young universities in chemistry” in 2019, according to Nature Index, a science journal.

The Nature Index is a database of author affiliation information collated from research articles published in an independently selected group of 82 high-quality

science journals. IIT Guwahati is ranked 20th in the subject, said a statement issued by IITGuwahati on January 7.

Director, IIT Guwahati, TG Sitharam said, “I am very pleased for this recognition bestowed upon IIT-Guwahati by the prestigious Nature publication group. Research and development are integral parts of

the activities of the institute and IIT-Guwahati conducts worldclass research along with its regular academic programmes under all the departments and academic centres. We are committed to work to extend the contribution towards the development of nation and will soon grow into a Network of Excellence.”

Assam boy makes Virat Kohli’s Community outreach portrait using mobile phones medical camp held in Rani

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head of the first T20I between India and Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli received a special gift from a fan. Rahul Pareek (21), a resident of Dhubri who is currently studying in Guwahati, has created a portrait of Virat Kohli, using old and discarded mobile phones. Currently he is studying in KC Das Commerce College, Guwahati.

Pareek said he took 3 days and 3 nights to make the portrait. Virat Kohli was impressed with the portrait and even signed it after meeting him in the team hotel

U in Guwahati. Kohli gave his autograph on the portrait and wrote, “Dear Rahul, This is an outstanding creation!! Well Done. Best Wishes.”

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted the video of the interaction between Kohli and Rahul Pareek on Twitter. BCCI wrote, “Portrait of @virat.kohli using old phones. How is this for fan love!”

Pareek said in the video, “I have made this portrait

using old mobile phones and wires. It took me three days and three nights to make this portrait. Kohli Sir has given me his autograph. My heartbeat was fast when he came to meet me. I realised some months back that Kohli would be coming to Guwahati.”

It is to be mentioned that earlier Pareek had also made portraits of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Mahatma Gandhi using mother boards, wires etc. His name has also been included in the India Book of Records 2019.

nder its Civic Action Programme, the 175 BN of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organised a Community Outreach Medical Camp in Rani Development Block, Kamrup, Assam, on 7 January 2020. The free medical camp was planned and designed to focus on creating awareness in addition to diagnosis and treatment of ailments.

The medical camp benefitted a large number of people in Rani Development Block. It also saw the active participation of people in the awareness booths, especially by women.

This is the second time that CRPF has collaborated with

UNDP to organize a medical camp at Rani Development Block. A similar multi-stakeholder free medical camp was organized last year with the participation of around 1,400 people from the local communities.

Trotter

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

17

Popcorn stuck in teeth Man stuns fellow leads to deadly infection, passengers by openly urinating on airport floor open heart surgery

H

A

British man nearly lost his life after getting a piece of popcorn stuck in his teeth. Adam Martin, 41, developed a lifethreatening infection and had to undergo open heart surgery after trying to dislodge the popcorn out of his teeth using a variety of tools. The kernel got stuck in his back tooth in September last.

According to a daily, Martin had the piece of popcorn stuck in his teeth for three days.

The fire-fighter from Cornwall used a pen lid, toothpick, piece of wire and even a metal nail to try to get it out.

He damaged his gums while trying to remove the popcorn. The object that he put into his mouth, meanwhile, led to a gum infection that eventually developed into an infection of the heart called

endocarditis, which is caused by bacteria spreading through the bloodstream.

Martin began to experience night sweats, fatigue and headaches after a week. By October, when his symptoms were still not better, he went to a hospital, where doctors found his heart was damaged due to the infection. “I had a feeling there was something seriously wrong. I was sleeping an awful lot and I felt terrible,” he recalled. “I had aches and pains in my legs and

I just did not feel right at all. I was admitted to hospital the same day for tests. By this point, I was very worried.”

Fortunately, doctors were able to save Martin.

He had to undergo an operation to remove an infected blood clot from his leg and another seven-hour surgery to replace a valve in his heart. “I wasn’t far off death’s door and I am extremely lucky,” said Martin adding, “I am never eating popcorn again that’s for sure.”

(Source: ndtv)

Indiana twins born on different days in different decades

W

hen Dawn Gilliam visits the hospital NICU, she still can’t believe what she sees: two babies.

Gilliam and her partner of seven years, Jason Tello, welcomed one baby — Joslyn — at 11:37 pm on December 31, 2019. Exactly 30 minutes later, at 12:07 am on January 1, 2020, Jaxon was born. “(We’re) still kind of overwhelmed,” Tello said sitting in a waiting room at Ascension St. Vincent in Carmel, Indiana. “We’re kind of speechless still.”

Two babies, born on different days, in different years and different decades.

And it wasn’t an easy road to New Year’s Eve

for Gilliam and Tello. A high blood pressure scare had Gilliam thinking she might need to deliver as early as Thanksgiving. On New Year’s Eve, she made an unplanned trip to the hospital for lack of fetal movement.

“They were like, ‘you might have to deliver today,’ “ Gilliam remembers. Sure enough, she did — and the next day.

Joslyn and Jaxon weren’t supposed to arrive until February 19, making them

orrifying footage which is viral on social media shows the moment a man urinates in an airport waiting area in plain sight and surrounded by other passengers.

The man can be seen sitting in an airport terminal, spraying a fountain of urine onto the floor, seemingly unbothered by shocked passengers nearby. The man was wearing a gilet and what looks like a black top unzipped, with his belly and chest on display.

The video was posted on the Instagram account Passenger Shaming on January 1, captioned “P*** OFF, 2019! See you all next year!! (Yes, this is a passenger urinating in the terminal).”

To date, it has been viewed more than 229,000 times with many viewers asking why no one took action against the man. One person asked,: “Why isn’t anyone doing anything about this. Just sitting there watching??”

Another

appalled viewer wrote, “What in the world would possess anyone to behave this way?”

Others were more bemused than outraged by the foul act. Only three days into the New Year and passengers have already called out fellow travellers on a string of “disgusting” behaviours.

In another recent post, a Twitter video shames a Delta Airlines passenger who uses the in-flight touch screen with bare feet to select her onboard entertainment.

Erik Olvera tweeted: “I fly a lot and this, by far, is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen on a plane. “Bringing #antibacterialwipes.

Where’s @ NaomiCampbell when you need her in-flight wipe down advice?” The

Hospitalized Vietnamese influencer puts on makeup for boyfriend’s visit

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nearly two months early to the party. Jaxon was born breech. The siblings are still in NICU but are doing well.

The couple hasn’t thought much about the birthday celebrations to come (they’ve had enough on their minds), but Gilliam pictures future NYEs as small celebrations with family.

(Source: usatoday)

short footage shows the woman reclining in her seat and swiping through the film archives using her toes.

When another social media user queried if the woman actually had healthy arms to use, Olvera wrote that the woman’s arms were “just fine.”

He said, “She carried her expensive luggage on/off the plane. Also used them to throw back cocktails and take snacks from the galley when the FA wasn’t around.”

Twitter users agreed her behaviour was unsanitary.

Someone tweeted that her actions were not only unhygienic but disrespectful, too.

They added: “Reach up and touch the touch screen like a normal person.” Robert Caruso raised alarms over whether flight attendants would be able to confront the woman without being branded as unreasonable. He said aircraft staff could fear intervening in case they are labelled as “mean or sexist.”

(Source: mirror.co.uk)

social media influencer in Vietnam was ridiculed online for glamming herself up while she was at a hospital. Wangmei was recovering at a hospital when she decided to put on heavy makeup, reported a daily.

She reportedly put on a full face of makeup when her boyfriend said he would pay her a visit.

Wangmei expressed her excitement about the upcoming visit via a Facebook post with the caption, “My

boyfriend is coming to see me!” She uploaded images of herself wearing a respirator while fully dolled up with foundation, arched eyebrows, blusher, eye shadow, eyeliner, nail polish and jewellery.

Shortly after, her attempt to look pretty

for her boyfriend drew quite a crowd in her post’s comment section.

Some criticized her heavy makeup that they deemed more appropriate for ”clubbing” than resting on a hospital bed.

Others thought her pearl earrings were a bit much to wear for someone who was sick.

Meanwhile, many also took Wangmei’s side, noting that it was her choice if she wanted to beautify herself in front of her boyfriend.

(Source: worldofbuzz)

18 Review

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

Starring: Deepika Padukone, Vikrant Massey, Madhurjeet Sarghi, Vaibhavi Upadhyaya, Payal Nair, Vishal Dahiya, Ankit Bisht, Geeta Agarwal, Manohar Teli, Sharvari Deshpande Director: Meghna Gulzar For the physical scars, she has to go through a number of complicated surgeries.

In fact, far from the dreams she nursed of being a singer, her life is now an

Chhapaak

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eghna Gulzar’s ‘Chhapaak’ is inspired by the story of real life acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal, who has become a symbol of strength and inspiration for many women.

The film is a fictionalized account with Deepika Padukone playing the central character Malti, who is attacked in broad daylight on the streets of Delhi by a friend of the family, Bashir Khan aka Babbu and his aide.

As the narrative chooses a non-linear route, we first meet Malti when she is on a job hunt – consciously trying to move on from the emotional scars that the heinous crime has left her with.

MOBILE GAMING

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UBG Mobile has started receiving the v0.16.5 content update. The fresh update brings some notable new content, such as the arrival of Domination mode, a new map called Town, and the Season 11 Royale Pass that is called Operation Tomorrow.

In a recent press release, it has been confirmed that update 0.16.5 will begin rolling out starting January 10 without taking the servers offline. The update will require about 0.14GB on Android and 0.17GB on iOS. PUBG Mobile Season 10 is about to end in the next few days, and with it starts the next season.

Season 11 will be titled Operation Tomorrow, and is teased to bring

intersection of her work with an NGO for acid victims, her multiple surgeries and her court cases. Yet, the film steers away from melodrama or manipulation, and instead gives us a powerful protagonist whose resolve to fight is punctuated with her determined smiles, the pain in her eyes and her indomitable spirit.

As support from her family dwindles owing to her brother’s illness and father’s death, it is Malti’s lawyer Archana (Madhurjeet Sarghi), who stands by her through her arduous journey. From Malti’s PIL to ban the sale of acid to amendments in the acid violence legislation, her team of women lawyers, take on the system. Her other main support comes from Amol (Vikrant Massey), who employs her to work for his NGO. Deepika Padukone is the soul of the film, delivering a brilliant,

immersive performance. In fact, there are many scenes where her act will move you to tears – like the one where she holds up an earring to her face but realizes now she can’t put it on.

Or her piercing cry when she sees her face for the first time in a mirror after the attack. And one where she determinedly tells Amol, “Mujhe party karni hain.”

Precisely why Malti’s character is a winner because at no point does she succumb to self-pity.

And as Deepika embraces her character completely, her transformation is enhanced through effective prosthetics.

Devoid of even a hint of glamour, all we see is Malti throughout.

Both Vikrant Massey and Madhurjeet Sarghi pitch in very commendable performances.

The story sends out a strong message and is undoubtedly a brave attempt, however the edit seems choppy in places and certain parts of the narrative seem a tad stretched in the second half. The music tracks stand out – with ‘Chhapaak’ title track and ‘Nok Jhok’ (soundtrack

by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyrics by Gulzar) adding to the poignancy of the mood.

‘Chhapaak’ is not a film that lets you go easy, just as one begins to settle in to think Malti has managed to get better of her perpetrator, it jolts you with a few grim, uncomfortable reminders.

‘Chhaapak’ is a sensitive film with a delicate, yet powerful, handling of a heinous crime against women, and an important story that needs to be heard.

(Review by timesofindia)

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PUBG Mobile v0.16.5 Update: Domination Mode and New Map Tipped to Arrive some futuristic-themed content in the game. But ahead of Season 11’s start, details about the Season 11 Royale Pass rewards, skins, and other upcoming game content have already been leaked. Season 11 update of PUBG Mobile is tipped to introduce the Domination mode as well as a new map, and will also add a highly effective item in the form of riot shield among others.

The official PUBG Mobile Twitter handle has shared that Royale Pass Season 11 Operation Tomorrow starts on January 10. But so far, patch notes for the Season 11 update and server downtime information have not been officially revealed. However, the teaser posters suggest that PUBG Mobile Season 11 will add some futuristic, cyberpunk-

themed skins and similar elements. But before the Season 11 update could officially be released, details about Season 11 content and royale pass rewards have been leaked.

Tipster Mr. Ghost Gaming has leaked videos detailing the PUBG Mobile Season 11 content such as new skins for AWM and DP28 among other weapons, fresh parachute and bag skins, new emotes, and a whole lot of character skins as well. A new Roaring Tiger Motorcycle is also said to arrive in the vehicle workshop. Another item called Riot Shield that will protect

players from enemy fire is also said to debut with the PUBG Mobile Season 11 update. A new character is tipped to arrive with the new PUBG Mobile season too.

Other features include the addition of Light Snowmobile, a new vehicle exclusively in Vikendi

map, which is said to be faster and moves more efficiently than the original Snowmobile.

Notably, it is also more easily damaged. A bit of balancing has been done where the Groza’s single-shot damage has been lowered from 48 to 45 in Team Arena. There will be a variety of new changes in the Royale Pass including new multioption missions in Team Arena, Payload Mode and more to offer new rewards. With that, the lobby mission guide system will support RP missions making it easier to track mission progress as weekly missions can now be grouped together.

Feature

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

19

Uttarayan to Magh Bihu

What does the mini-India of Guwahati feast on?

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t won’t be wrong to say that India is a land of festivals. 15 days into 2020 and the first festival of the year is here.

Assam is all set to celebrate Magh or Bhogali Bihu. Bhogali is the key word here derived from the word ‘Bhog.’ Bhogali Bihu is a harvest festival celebrated in midJanuary, at the commencement of the Assamese month of ‘Magh.’

While Assam celebrates Bihu, this day is also celebrated across the country in different ways and the cultural significance of

Starting with MaghBihu, we spoke to who told us how she and her family celebrates the festival.

Speaking to G Plus Munmi Bhuyan said, “Magh Bihu is all about food and celebrations. The morning of Uruka begins with shopping for various ingredients. We purchase various types of meat which always includes fish and duck. At night we come together with our family and friends for log bhaat. During log bhaat we eat the food which is prepared throughout the day. Among

Platter of Til laru, muri laru, narikol laru, ghewar, feni pakodas the festival varies geographically as we move from one state to another.

Makara Sankranti, as it is also called in various parts of India, is dedicated to the Lord Surya (Sun) according to the Hindu calendar.

It marks the first day of the sun’s transit into Makara (Capricorn) marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days. Every state celebrates and welcomes the new season of harvest in their own indigenous manner.

Having said that, we do know that with various cultures and traditions, each festival also brings with it a huge range of mouth-watering dishes, making festivals and food synonymous.

Hence, Guwahati being a miniIndia, G Plus spoke to various Guwahatians from various communities to know what they devour on the occasion of Makar Sankranti/Bihu.

Gunjan Sharma @guwahatiplus community told G Plus that, Makar Sankranti is celebrated with utmost fervour by her community.

Speaking about the food she said, “The celebration marks the end of the harvesting season and we prepare a variety of sweetened and salted snacks. The prime

Gulgule made of jaggery and wheat flour

other dishes which are prepared along with bhaat (rice) the most loved ones are duck and fish dishes. There is a saying in Assamese which explains one’s love for duck. ‘Hahe mahe tate rohun’ means you don’t need anything else when you have the combination of duck meat, black dal and garlic.”

This is also the peak season to consume duck, she said.

Speaking about the second day she said, “Bhela ghor is lit in the morning following which we eat Jolpan. Jolpan includes chira (flattened rice), doi (curd), bora saul (sticky rice), pitha and gur (jaggery) among other dishes.”

“After this delicious breakfast, for lunch we have Maghiponta.

Maghiponta means eating the food made last night. Also meat is always tastier the next day,” she added.

Jayshree Sinha who belongs to the Bishnupriya Manipuri

ingredient of the snacks is the sticky rice; pulao, laru, pitha etc are made out of it. However, the most delicious and traditional item made is ‘Utong Chak’. It is made of sticky rice cooked in bamboo.

Speaking about food, PD Sharma who hails from Rajasthan said, “It is mandatory to consume til based sweets like til ladoo or til barfi. Apart from that we also prepare khichdi with seasonal vegetables. To mark the auspicious occasion various types of fritters/pakoras and other snacks are made. A special sweet fritter is prepared on this day called gulgula. Gulgulas are fritters made of jaggery, wheat flour and saunf (fennel seeds).”

Further she added, “We also distribute dry khichdi mix along with vegetables and sweets to people.”

PP Singh from the Punjabi

community spoke to G Plus and shared information on the food consumed by them during this festival. He said, “Sweets like til ladoo, mungfali (peanut), gachak (a sweet dish made of jaggery and peanut), til revri, phulliyaan aka popcorn is offered in the fire. Later we consume these foods and begin the celebration.

At night a special kheer is made of sugarcane juice which is consumed the next day. There is a saying in Punjabi which says porunimaghkhadi. It means

roasted halved peanuts and dry chopped coconuts. Sugar candies are made of sugar syrup which is poured in moulds of different shapes and sizes. Shapes like Tulsi, coconut are quite popular.”

Shobhan Vyas who hails from Gujarat told G Plus about the food of his community during Uttarayan, “Til ladoos and peanut laddus are widely popular among people.”

Ranjanbehn Vyas told G Plus, “We prepare a 7 grain khichda on the day of Uttarayan. This dish is

Various types of Pitha

this kheer is made in the month of Posh (Hindu month) and consumed in the month of Magh (Hindu month). Consumption of makki di roti and sarson da saag is very common in Punjabi households during this day.”

Anita Yammiyavar, a professor from Guwahati who hails from Karnataka told G Plus, “On the first day called Bhogi, we make jawar roti and being the harvest season we prepare varieties of vegetarian dishes to accompany the roti. On the second day i.e Sankranti we prepare sweet pongal, which is made with rice, moong dal, jaggery, ghee and dry fruits. Along with the sweet pongal we also prepare masala rice, papad, raita, mixed dal vada with methi or dil leaves,” she said.

Further she added, “We also distribute ellu, sugar candies, bananas, sugarcane, betel nuts and betel leaves. Ellu is a mixture of white til, jaggery, fried dal,

made of rice, jawar, bajra, chana, wheat, matar and moong. These grains are cooked along with ghee, dry fruits, with undhiyu.

Undhiyu is a Gujarati mixed vegetable dish. On the day of Vasi Uttarayan (second day) we make kheer and puri.”

Amrita Mishra who hails from Bihar said, “During Makar Sankranti for breakfast we have chirwa (flattened rice) and Dahi (curd). Along with it we also have tikwa: til laddu, churla: chirwa laddu, lai: muri laddu. Some people also make bagiya, which can be sweet or salty. Further she added, “For dinner we have khichdi which is made with seasonal vegetables and ghee.

Tomato chutney, tarwa / fried papad and brinjal / potato fritters are also prepared to go with the khichdi.”

Here’s wishing all our readers happy feasting during Magh Bihu/Makar Sankranti

20 Fun Horoscope of the week

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020 These predictions are based on the month of birth, and are about an individual’s work environment, parents and extended family.

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

11th and 14th January will be great days for you to schedule your important meetings and/or share your ideas with your seniors. On 13th January you need to be wary of dealing with the opposite gender. 16th and 17th January you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate. 15th and 17th January avoid scheduling important meetings. Other days will be good.

12th January schedule your important meetings on these dates, alternatively you could connect with your workmates or your seniors over Sunday lunch or dinner. 16th and 17th January you could have disagreements with your senior or work associate, avoid any confrontations. Don’t make any promises on 17th January. You could be emotionally betrayed by someone at work or your parents on 16th January.

Use 11th and 16th January to connect with your boss and share your ideas, for good results host your meetings on these dates. 12th January will be a slow day. 15th and 17th January avoid hosting any meetings, there will be unnecessary delays. 15th January you could feel others are ungrateful, remember it is just a feeling.

Not a great week for you. You could have issues with your seniors or your extended family on 14th and 16th January. 14th January avoid trusting anyone with your secrets, they are bound to betray you. 16th January you could have a fall out with someone at work. 15th and 17th January avoid hosting important meetings; there will be last minute changes.

11th January you could have issues with your seniors and your parents. 13th January you could be betrayed by someone in your work environment.

14th January, be careful of your words and action as you will create your own problems. Don’t over plan for 15th January; there will be last minute changes.

11th January will be great day for you to share your ideas with your seniors and build a relationship with them. On 12th January you could feel your seniors and/ or your parents are ungrateful, they don’t appreciate you. Avoid hosting any meetings especially with your seniors on 15th January, things will not go as planned.

12th and 17th January will be great days for you to share your ideas with your seniors or simply just connect with them. 13th January you could have issues with your seniors and/or parents. 16th January be careful of your words and actions, you will create your own problems.

11th January you could be betrayed by someone at work and emotionally hurt by your family.

11th January you could have issues with your seniors and your parents. 13th and 16th January will be great days for you to build a rapport with your seniors and people at work, host your important meetings 3 on these dates. 11th January avoid making any promises, you will have to live up to them.

A great week for you. 13th and 14th January you will be able to achieve a lot at work, these will be ideal days for you to share your plans and/or schedule important meetings. You could host a Bihu lunch or dinner. 12th January you could have issues with your seniors and your parents. Avoid hosting any important meetings on 15th January, there will be last minute changes.

11th and 14th January will be a great day for you to build your relationship with your seniors and people at work. Host your important meetings on this day.

13th January you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate, not a day to schedule important meetings. 15th and 17th January you will face delays and obstacles.

Watch yourself on 11th, 14th and 17th January, avoid making any promises or getting into a confrontation.

14th January you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate. Share your ideas with your seniors or generally build a relationship with people at work on 12th, 13th and 16th January, host your important meetings on these dates

You will have an amazing week ahead. 12th, 13th and 16th January are ideal days for you to mingle with your seniors and people at work and build your network. Host 4 your meetings on these dates and maybe a Sunday brunch/coffee on the 12th.

15th January you could have a disagreement with your senior or work associate.

Which young but very important branch of modern medicine is celebrated on 16th October, to commemorate something WTG Morton did on Gilbert Abott on this day in 1846?

3.

Which popular Hungarian stew of meat and vegetables flavoured with Paprika shares its name with a round of hands in Bridge involving redistribution of cards after no one has bid?

4.

Which tourist spot in Assam is also known as White Ant Hill?

5.

Who is the first Asian player to score a hat trick in football at the Olympics?

6.

Identify this Senegalese footballer playing for Liverpool who was recently crowned as the African Footballer of the Year.

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

Dilbert By Scott Adams

adjective [nak-erd]

[ sahyd-split-er ]

British Slang. exhausted; very tired something that is uproariously funny, as a joke or a situation.

Sudoku 8 7 1 5 27 5 6 8 9 4 3 9 2 8 9 5 7 7 3 1 8 6 9 8 2 5 4 1 3 3 4 2 5 7 2 2 3 5 3 3 1 5 7 4 7 5 8 4 1 6 3 8

6

Daily DailySudoku: Sudoku:Fri Sat10-Jan-2020 4-Jan-2020

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

2.

sidesplitter

very hard medium

last week solution 37 64 41 53 79 22 56 14 85 13 98 42 56 47 34 71 12 89 75 96 68 91 23 39 44 75 87 28 93 38 19 65 21 56 62 87

96 9 8 82 27 65 8 3 79 14 27 1 7 6 95 83 5 6 91 89 58 7 2 4 33

51 38 43 22

16 4 2 1 5 78 67 12 3 9 13 66 95 71 6 5 28 42 74 39 4 37 51 89

Daily DailySudoku: Sudoku:Fri Sat10-Jan-2020 4-Jan-2020

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

Mia San Mia is the most popular chant of which football club?

curio-city

1.

Word of the week Word knackered of the week

1. Bayern Munich 2. World Anaesthesia Day. Abott was anaesthetized by Morton on this day for a tooth extraction in Boston, Massachusetts 3. Goulash 4. Haflong 5. Neville de Souza of India against Australia at the Melbourne Summer Olympics Games in 1956.

6. Sadio Mane

curio-city

very hard medium

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Fiction

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

21

The Runaway Bride I Ranjan Kumar Choudhury ranjanchou@hotmail.com

Fiction We returned to the garden just as the bus with the prospective groom’s mother, aunts and uncles with their relatives were going back quite angry with the turn of events; they had refused to eat any lunch which was prepared for them and cursed Bapukon and his family.

n the close social milieu of tea garden, weddings, births and deaths are the events of collective mirth or sadness to be shared with everyone - colleagues and friends who have been working together for decades. This was more imbued amongst the staff cadre in the gardens as they spent their entire working life with one another and in many cases their children also carried on the tradition. I found this to be very true in our gardens also and the senior staff led the way in showing the collective joy of sharing happiness and the benefits in shouldering sorrow to mitigate the loss of loved ones.

This aspect of life also trickled down to the Adivasi workers and the close knit community working also inculcated a sense of loyalty to the management. The British planters knew this and they encouraged their staff cadre to spread this theory in practice so that the general discipline of the garden was well maintained.

We had a senior staff in the factory called Bapukon who had a very intelligent and beautiful daughter called Minoti studying in the nearby college at Gohpur. She was proficient in her studies and had decided that she would study and prepare for the competitive examinations to join the state government for a job. Her father also did not spare any effort or expenses as far as possible and she too made the most of her chances.

In 1975, she had been chosen to be a part of the Assam college team to participate in the All India level college debating competition in Hyderabad. Her younger brother who was in the senior class in school accompanied his sister on this trip by train to the venue upon the insistence of her father.

She did well and won a medal and returned to be felicitated by her teachers and fellow students. I remember Bapukon had treated the entire garden staff to samosas and rasogollas to celebrate this achievement and he was kind enough to also give me a plate.

However, as is the custom, some of the relations of the girl proposed that Minoti should get married after the annual college exams and then plan for her further studies. I learnt of this but as I was not asked I only suggested to Bapukon that it was always better for a girl to stand on her own two feet before getting married and that his daughter had a bright future.

About a year before this time we had appointed a new boy from the village of Gomeri as a trainee staff for the field section and through him I learnt of some verdant small forest patches on the Gomeri plateau which was excellent for the Green and Imperial pigeon shooting when the Seleng trees had fruits - in the month of December and again in February. It was also a nice place to hide and wait for

the flocks of wild geese that came in their thousands to gorge on the green pea and khesari dal fields cultivated on the sand banks of the Brahmaputra, and I had bagged quite a few by hiding in these forests and getting them on the air as they flew in to feed. It was on one such occasion that our new garden staff Domboru introduced to me his friend Jatin who was an enterprising farmer cultivating paddy and other produce using quite modern methods of farming.

He had undergone a farmer’s training course after he graduated from the Gohpur College with a simple degree and this had motivated him to get good results from his efforts. I also got to learn later that Jatin and Minoti, his junior in the same college had a close friendship. This information I just swept aside as I did not want to interfere in anyone’s love interests, but I did get along

quite well with Jatin as he was interested in hunting and helped me a lot by arranging the boats and efficient boatmen with sound knowledge of the local river and islands where ducks were coming to feed. He also taught me an old Miri custom of hunting by digging a pit and covering it with some grass and local vegetation to lie in wait early mornings to get the geese flying in overhead for fairly easy shots. This practice was good for about ten to twenty minutes, after which the birds would realise the danger and stop coming over the area.

Meanwhile, Bapukon was coming under a lot of pressure to get his daughter Minoti married to a bright young man from his native village near Nalbari but from what I was told she was absolutely against this proposal.

She even told her parents that she did not want to get married before her graduation and the APSC examinations for which she had been preparing for a long time. Unfortunately, Bapukon could not withstand the pressures of his uncles and aunts and succumbing to it, he forced his daughter to agree to the marriage.

Accordingly, the date was checked and the nuptials were arranged to be held the following year in the month of April. I met Jatin a number of times in the winter months, when he was very

morose and not his usual happy self. However I did not raise this sensitive topic at all though his friend Domboru did request me to speak to Bapukon once which I flatly refused. It was not possible for me to interfere or give any advice on such personal matters so I did not entertain him. But love has its own way for success and without anyone knowing, the trio of Jatin, Minoti and Domboru hatched a plan whereby Minoti would elope with Jatin on the very day the groom party was coming for the ring ceremony; normally ring ceremonies were not usually practised but somehow in this case Bapukon insisted as he wanted to celebrate his daughter’s marriage in a grand manner.

I remember that day quite vividly; it was towards the end of February and there was still a nip in the air and I was planning my last green pigeon shoot of the season for which I decided to drive down to Jatin’s farm. As I was packing the jeep I saw Bapukon come running to meet me looking very flustered. He caught his breath and muttered in low tones that he was finished and that everything was over.

Alarmed, I thought that some accident had occurred with the bus that was carrying the groom’s party for the ring ceremony to be solemnised later that day. But he cried out then that Minoti was absconding and had left a letter behind stating that she could not live without Jatin and had hence decided to go off with him. She begged forgiveness if possible and was terribly sorry for hurting her father and family but in the end she stated that she could no longer hide the truth of her feelings. The poor man was in tears and begged me to get her back anyhow and that he would forgive her and call off the wedding immediately. But he was steadfast that he would not sanction her marriage with Jatin. I told him that he should not condemn Jatin and punish them both and then only I told him that I knew Jatin well and he was quite a fine young enterprising man. I agreed to take Domboru and our garden head clerk with me and try to bring back the two lovers on the express condition that he would not physically abuse them and at least hear them out. My pigeon shoot was of course aborted and with the two men we went off in search of the runaway bride.

Knowing Jatin I had a hunch where to find them and instead of driving directly to Jatin’s house I went to one big forested patch where there was a small hut made by someone who wanted to do

some cultivation there. I had used that vacant cover a number of times with Jatin and my helpers to rest in the afternoon before the evening flights came in for continuing the hunt for the wild geese. On hearing the sound of the jeep Jatin came out of the hut with a number of people who were later introduced to us as his sister and cousins. Inside, Minoti was ensconced and they were deliberating their next course of action. Our appearance reassured them and Jatin also requested me for a solution and promised that he would abide by my suggestions. I had briefed our head clerk and Domboru on what to say and do when we met them and accordingly the first thing was that they would have to come to meet Bapukon and beg his forgiveness and also seek his blessings for their future. They readily agreed and thus all of us got into the jeep, i.e., Minoti and Jatin’s sister and cousins while Jatin followed us with his uncle whom he had picked up from his house.

We returned to the garden just as the bus with the prospective groom’s mother, aunts and uncles with their relatives were going back quite angry with the turn of events; they had refused to eat any lunch which was prepared for them and cursed Bapukon and his family with dire consequences from all the Gods above. Fortunately, they could not guess that we were coming back with Minoti and they did not stop to enquire and I also avoided any eye contact with the belligerent group for they were genuinely aggrieved and I was in no mood to mediate further. It was, in the end, a happy outcome for Jatin and his uncle and family members were able to persuade Bapukon of their honourable intentions; both parties finally agreed that there would be a ring ceremony for the duo soon and the actual marriage would be performed after a year and a half when Minoti would have finished her college and the state level examinations. The lunch was shared by everyone present and the staff members and my share was sent to the bungalow.

It was quite an eventful day; we got back the runaway bride and the green pigeons must have celebrated their good fortune that day as the runaway bride forced me to put off my hunt for the day. In fact, I remember that I did not hunt for these pigeons any more that year. The newly united couple must have received ample blessings from these birds as their marriage was a success and the last that I have heard was that they have two grown up children now. Minoti is working in the government social welfare office in Tezpur and Jatin has gone on to become a successful tea farmer.

22 Lifestyle

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

PREDICTIONS FROM CANINE SIGNS Hemanta Kumar Sarmah Engineer, Businessman, Advanced Pranic Healer and Su Jok Acupressure specialist.

V

aastu is basically a system of observations which deals with all kinds of subtle energies like earth energies, wind energy, light energy etc. etc. Ordinary persons cannot feel or see these energies. But some clairvoyants and practitioners of Pranic Healing are experts in scanning or feeling these energies. However, birds and animals are naturally blessed with this power for their survival.

It is very common for crows and monkeys to create a ruckus just before an earthquake.

Since early times, experts observed that dogs make certain sounds or moves before some event or impending danger. Some of them are listed here. In modern

era, we will probably term them as superstitions but it is worth a read!

When a dog goes to the highest point of the house and makes a weeping sound, it is an omen for catastrophe.

If a dog sniffs or smells the footwear of a person before a journey or going out for work, the day will be successful for the person.

When a dog barks at someone from behind, danger looms for that person. (Isn’t it obvious?)

When a dog sleeps with its body on one step of the house and the head on another step and then looks up at the lady of

house, people in the house may fall sick.

for that person in terms of success for the day.

It is considered to bring bad health to the inmates if several dogs make weeping noises at night.

When a dog stretches itself or shakes its ears near a person, then the work of that person will be unfinished for the day.

There will be danger of a theft, if the dog scratches the walls of the house.

If a dog carries a piece of cloth in its mouth, it is an indication of trouble.

If a dog carries a piece of wet meat or bone in its mouth, it is a good omen.

But if the bone happens to be dry, then it is a bad omen.

available to mankind. Each and every food and food group has its own uniqueness. Their requirements and functions also vary widely. Thus to get maximum benefit from our diet we should follow balanced diet in the following way: Firstly, all kinds of colourful vegetables and fruits like green leafy vegetables, amaranth, colocasia leaves, fenugreek leaves, broccoli, parwar, lady’s finger, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, beetroot, beans and all types of fruits like lime, orange, guava, apple, avocado, cucumber should consist most part of the diet (about 5-7 servings / day).

They provide the following benefits like: 1. They contain all kinds of vitamins like B complex vitamins

If a dog carries a chappal or shoe in its mouth, the day will be unfavourable.

Those who have problems from Mars or mangal in their natal chart are advised to feed raw meat to a red dog on a Tuesday.

When a dog jumps towards the legs of person or lingers near a person, it is good

The importance of a balanced diet A

s we all know, balance is the mantra of life.

This is applicable in case of food also. To maintain a healthy life, everyone should follow a balanced diet for lifetime.

There are numerous numbers of foods and food groups

When a dog barks facing the sun in the afternoon, there will be clashes in the family and there may be a danger of fire or theft.

When a dog eats less than its normal intake with tears coming out its eyes, it is a bad omen.

and minerals, essential for the body.

2. They contain fibres which have a high satiety value, decreasing hunger for a longer period.

3. They reduce serum cholesterol level protecting heart health.

4. They combat constipation.

5. These provide antioxidant which prevents free radical damage thus reducing ageing effect and cancer.

6. These are essential for various metabolisms in the body.

Secondly, whole grains like brown rice, brown bread, rye, millet, sorghum, whole wheat atta, breakfast cereals like dalia and legumes like lentil, masoor, chickpeas, rajma etc should be present in daily diet (about 3-4 servings /day).

These provide the following benefits: 1.

They reduce chances of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

2. They protect heart health and decrease chances of stroke.

3.

They provide essential

kidney problems.

Fourthly, all kinds of saturated fat, oil, simple sugar, honey, jaggery should be present in the diet sparingly (about 1 serving /day).

They provide the following benefits:

Sohini Chakraborty Chatterjee micronutrients like magnesium, copper, zinc etc.

4.

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy in the body.

Thirdly, all kinds of protein rich and flesh foods like meat, fish, egg, chicken, low fat milk and milk products like yogurt, lassi, curd should be present in everyday’s menu in moderate amount (about 2-3 servings daily).

These have the following functions in the body1. Protein helps in growth and development of the body.

2.

They are needed for tissue repair and maintenance.

3. They are necessary for enzymes, hormones and reproduction of the body.

4.

They are essential for body’s immunity.

It needs to be mentioned that excess intake of protein rich foods lead to obesity and

1. They provide necessary energy of the diet.

2.

Fat is essential for fat soluble vitamins, hormones and steroids.

3. Unsaturated fat is required for brain development.

But excessive consumption of fat, simple sugar leads to weight gain, cardiac problems, gout, diabetes etc. Trans fats, sugary beverages, junk food should be avoided.

Drinking of water about 2- 2.5 litres everyday maintains the activities of all the systems and provides fluidity for all the joints.

Moreover, theory about five kinds of tastes suggests that every taste has got its specific effects on certain organs which should be maintained properly, like: 1.

Sour taste serves to the liver.

2.

Bitter taste serves to the heart.

3.

Sweet taste serves to the spleen/pancreas.

4.

Pungent taste serves to lungs or large intestine.

5.

Salty taste serves to kidneys /sex organs. They also correlate to certain moods.

However, the ultimate goal is to maintain balance of the body which prevents both under nutrition and over nutrition, thus leading to a healthy life.

Entertainment

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

23

Guwahati actors

Shah Rukh Khan to set to make host 65th Filmfare Awards in Guwahati Bollywood debut

S

A

rindita Kalita and Arnav Timsina, two actors from Guwahati, are all set to make their debut in Bollywood with “Bunker” which will be directed by Jugal Raja. The story will revolve around an army soldier’s life and will focus on the lives of several army officers serving the country.

Arindita said that the character of Swara Singh, the wife of Lt Vikram Singh allowed her to experience and express a wide range of emotions. Arindita has pursued her bachelor’s degree in fashion and apparel designing from JD Institute in Delhi, and has also completed her Bachelor’s in sociology. Apart from this, she also holds experience in Bharat

Natyam dance.

On the other hand, Arnav plays the role of Sukhram in the film.

Arnav bagged the role by chance when the actor who was initially cast for the role, backed out. He has completed his BSc from LCB College, Maligaon.

Baharul Islam part of Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak

R

enowned theatre artist from Assam, Baharul Islam, is playing a cameo role in Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak. The film is based on the life of acid attack victim, Laxmi Agarwal. It stars Deepika Padukone as the acid attack survivor.

The character played

by Islam is not disclosed yet. Islam also played a crucial role in the Ajay Devgan’s Maidaan.

He is also slated to act in Kabir Khan’s 83, which is an autobiographical account of legendary cricketer Kapil Dev. It needs to be mentioned that Islam is an alumnus of the prestigious National School of Drama. He has

acted in more than 80 plays, designed and directed 30 plays for his theatre troupe “Seagull.”

hah Rukh Khan (SRK) along with Vicky Kaushal will be hosting Filmfare the 65th Awards 2020 to be held in Guwahati on February 15.

According to a report in Box Office Worldwide, SRK will be leading the show and will host it. He will be seen portraying his usual quirks and will not be alone as Vicky Kaushal will be joining him as the co-host for the event.

It is to be mentioned that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with regard to the Awards being hosted in Guwahati

was signed between the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) and The Times Group, organisers of the event on November 25, 2019 in Guwahati.

The event, worth anything between Rs 20 crores and Rs 30 crores, is likely to be held on February 15, 2020 at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Amingaon. However, there is no official confirmation on this.

Authorities from the Assam government, on August 10, said that Rs 300 crores has been sanctioned to promote the state as a global tourist destination.

G-Shock Fireball

2020 set to be held on 12 Jan

G

-Shock Fireball Guwahati 2020, the biggest rock festival in northeast India is all set to be held on January 12 at Greenwood Resort, Khanapara, Guwahati.

The event is organized as a tribute to the Kargil Hero, Vir Chakra awardee, Captain Jintu Gogoi. The event also aims to encourage youth to join the armed forces and to keep the spirit of music alive.

The rock fest will feature the American rock band As I Lay Dying.

Apart from the headlining band the other supporting bands will include Inner Sanctrum from Bengaluru, Rectified Spirit from Guwahati, Reverse Tragedy from

Aizawl and Arogya from Gangtok.

24 Catching Up

G PLUS | Jan 11 - Jan 17, 2020

PIC OF THE

WEEK

ASSAM STATE ZOO

T

he Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden has gone through major changes in the last decade. There are a lot of new services that have been introduced for visitors in order to make their experience more pleasant.

Services such as convenient transportation around the zoo premises in the form of Buggies and Cycles can be hired for a nominal fee of Rs 50.

The zoo is also equipped with Ro Water dispensers and Bio toilets which can be found located around the zoo. The entry fee has been kept at a standard rate of Rs 30 for adults and Rs 100 for foreigners.

Some enclosures have been updated and improved though sadly some animals are still living in extremely cramped conditions. There is extensive research going on for Rhino and Hargila breeding.

Even though the authorities are trying to maintain cleanliness around the premises, visitors should make an active effort not to litter and be sensitive to this aspect.

An inspection of wetness | Photo: Surajit Sharma

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

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