VOL 01 | ISSUE 34 | MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014

`1024 Pages

BucketheadCatching Up, Pg 24

Ward Watch@

Ward No 07PGNo09

LoVE YoUr FISHES

PGNo20

GHY SEES rISE IN FIrE INCIdENTS

PG02

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With Guwahati witnessing a rise in the number of fire incidents, the re-quirement for fire hydrants across the city has become a vital necessity.

CITY ForESTS GETTING ENCroaCHEd,

SMUGGLEd

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 20142

Lead Story

GhY SEES rISE IN FIrE INcIdENtSWith Guwahati witnessing a rise in the number of fire incidents, the requirement for

fire hydrants across the city has become a vital necessity.rahul chanda

Recently, the fire department faced a lot of flak when the city’s heritage building, which was

once the residence of former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed went down in a heap of ashes. The property owners claimed that the fire fighting vehicles that came in were empty and also reached the spot late. But according to the fire department, the Director him-self was present at the spot while the fire fighters were trying to dodge the fire. The fire fighting vehicles do have a limited capacity and the water or the foam does get over at times. G Plus re-views the working scenario of the city fire and emergency services depart-ment.

CITY FIrE INCIdENTSIt is concerning that there has been

a rise in the number of fire incidents in the city in comparison to the past. In the year 2012, the fire department re-ceived 575 fire incident calls, whereas in 2013, the department received 722 calls. In the year 2014, until April itself, the department received 409 calls and if the figures are anything to go by, then it is a worrying trend.

FIrE CaLLS rECEIVEd IN 2012Month Fire calls Special calls Total calls

January 30 2 32

February 44 4 48

March 119 5 124

April 52 5 57

May 37 0 37

June 30 6 36

July 34 6 40

August 31 8 39

September 28 3 31

October 31 4 35

November 52 3 55

December 38 3 41

Total 526 49 575

FIrE CaLLS rECEIVEd IN THE YEar 2013Month Fire calls Special calls Total calls

January 60 2 62

February 79 4 83

March 130 4 133

April 57 6 53

May 45 8 53

June 46 6 52

July 25 4 29

August 43 7 50

September 38 5 43

October 39 7 46

November 58 3 61

December 44 3 47

Total 664 58 722

FIrE CaLLS rECEIVEd IN 2014 TILL aPrILMonth Fire calls Special calls Total calls

January 34 3 40

February 58 1 59

March 121 4 125

April 182 3 185

Total 395 11 409

THE VEHICLESThere are seven fire stations across the city at Dispur,

Chandmari, Pan Bazaar, Pandu, North Guwahati, Lokhra and Sonapur. The most important facility required in any fire sta-tion is a water tank. If the station is established near a water source, then filling up the water vehicles is not a problem but the one at Sonapur does not have a water tanker. The Dis-pur, Chandmari and Pan Bazaar stations have water tankers, whereas the stations at Pandu, North Guwahati and Lokhra are near to water sources. The strength of the stations also de-pend on the kind of technology and fire fighting vehicles they have. These include water tender pump (WTP), foam tender pump (FTP), mini water tender pump (MWTP), hydraulic platform (HP), rescue tender (RT), water mist technology fire tender (WMTFT), hazmat van and fire fighting motor cycle (FFMC).

Guwahati fire station (Pan Bazaar)WTP – 2, capacity – 4500 litresFTP – 2, capacity – 4500 litresMWTP – 2, capacity – 3000 litresHP – 1 (it carries equipments like turn table ladder which is used to reach high raised buildings) RT – 1 (it has all type of equipments to rescue the victims during any emergency)WMTFT – 1, capacity – 300 litres (small vehicle to reach any spot with-out much of chaos)Hazmat Van – 1 (it carries the most modern technology to reach very high raised buildings and other important equipments)FFMC – 2 (the motorcycle can easily reach any spot without much chaos and the person sitting behind will carry a cylinder which can be used to dodge the fire at the initial stage.)

Dispur fire station WTP – 2, capacity – 4500 litresFTP – 1, capacity – 4500 litresMWTP – 1, capacity – 3000 litresHP – 1 (it carries equipments like turn table ladder which is used to reach high raised buildings) RT – 1 (it has all type of equipments to res-cue the victims during any emergency)WMTFT – 1, capacity – 300 litres (small vehi-cle to reach any spot without much of chaos)FFMC – 1

Pandu fire stationWTP – 2, capacity – 4500 litresMWTP – 1, capacity – 3000 litresWMTFT – 1, capacity – 300 litres (small vehi-cle to reach any spot without much of chaos)FFMC – 1

Chandmari fire stationWTP – 1, capacity – 4500 litresMWTP – 3, capacity – 3000 litresWMTFT – 1, capacity – 300 litres (small vehi-cle to reach any spot without much of chaos)FFMC – 1

Lokhra fire stationWTP – 2, capacity – 4500 litresMWTP – 1, capacity – 3000 litresWMTFT – 1, capacity – 300 litres (small vehi-cle to reach any spot without much of chaos)

North Guwahati fire stationWTP – 1MWTP - 1

As per the above data, the Guwa-hati fire station looks like the most well equipped one. The fire fighting motor cycles have not yet started functioning as it is a new induction and will start soon. These have been introduced to increase mobility as well as accessibil-ity.

THE CHaoTIC CITYTalking to G Plus, Deputy Direc-

tor of the Fire Department H Bhat-tacharyya informed that there are places in the city, which are in a very high-risk zone. He said that there are some places in Fancy Bazaar where the width of by-lane is just 4 to 5 feet, and it would be almost impossible for the heavy fire fighting vehicles to ac-cess if there is any incident. He further informed that the entire stretch of the AT Road is very risky as the roads are very narrow.

The fire fighting motor cycles and the water mist are the compat-ible vehicles but again the capacity of the water or the foam is what matters when there is a huge blaze. The deputy director also mentioned that in cities like Mumbai there are water hydrants constructed across the city and there are points made from where water can be easily filled into the fire fighting ve-hicles.

In Guwahati, till date there are no water hydrants, but the fire depart-ment has submitted the requirement proposal to the concerned authorities, and it is expected that the new water

project undertaken by GMDA (fund-ed by JICA) has a plan for construct-ing water hydrants across the city which will help the fire fighting vehi-cles to refill water whenever required. At present, when the fire fighting vehi-cles needs to refill the tanks, they have to rush to their station or the nearest water source, which can be a few kilo-metres off from the incident site.

rEaSoNSAs fire incidents are increasing in

the city, the Deputy Director described that many buildings are getting older each passing day and some hazardous modern equipments like the LPG cyl-inder and Air Conditioners are a seri-ous threat. Negligence is also a major factor as people take a lot of risk - ma-jority of the households have in stock, three to four cylinders, which is a risk. Moreover, using electricity more than the load capacity of the connection is another reason.

The fire department is not an executive authority and is just a sug-gestive and informative authority that keeps informing the public about the risk. The department also issues no objection certificates (NOC) to newly built households before getting the occupancy certificate from the urban bodies. The norms are very strict now and all newly built households have to take care of the safety measures. The State Bank of India, Dispur branch has an individual fire fighting team and it can itself fight any incident if occurs. So, similarly all new buildings should follow the safety norms.

oTHEr TaSkS People might think that the fire

department is only responsible to fight fire, but there are other emergencies too, which the department takes care of - be it in the search for missing peo-ple during the BTAD violence or try-ing to save the small kid at Hatigaon. Be it floods, earthquakes or any other disaster, the department has a special disaster response force, which has spe-cially skilled personnel to combat any kind of disaster round the clock.

The fire and emergency depart-ment takes care of almost all the di-sasters taking place in the state. The Director, Umesh Kumar is confident of developing the department further. He described that there are 22 more fire stations getting constructed across the state. The department is also gear-ing up to develop the department with all modern technologies and can meet any kind of challenge. It already has almost all the modern technologies, which other cities have.

The department is trying to do its best but the requirement of water hydrants across the city is of utmost importance and will be another step towards ensuring better fire fighting capabilities.

“In Fancy Bazaar where the width of by-lane is just 4 to 5 feet, and it would be

almost impossible for the heavy fire fighting vehicles to access if there is any incident”

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 3

G-View

Before leaving his house to agi-tate in front of the Assam Sec-retariat in Dispur, a 45-year-

old small-time carpenter Pranab Boro had told his wife that he would return with rights of the land where he had been living for years.

Many such families reside in and around Guwahati city without any legal land pattas or documents. But how do they settle down or start living in lands which are not theirs? When you talk about forests, people think of trees, wild life and a place far away from human habitat. Guwahati too has forests in and around the city, fulfilling many day-to-day require-ments. It is also a home to many il-legal activities. G Plus gets inside the present city forest scene.

arEaInside Guwahati city

Gotanagar reserve forest 171 hectare

Fatasil reserve forest 670.44 hectare

Hengrabari reserve forest 498 hectare

Jalukbari reserve forest 97.07 hectare

Sarania hill reserve forest 8 hectare

Around Guwahati city

Gorbanga reserve forest7393 hectare

Amchang wild life sanctuary78.64 sq km

Dipor Bil wild life sanctuary 4.1 sq km

The reserve forests mentioned are under the jurisdiction of the Kamrup East Divisional Forest Office and the wild life sanctuaries are taken care of by the Guwahati Wild Life Conserva-tion Department. From tree felling to encroachment and timbre smug-gling, all illegal activities take place in the forest area.

The forests serve as a habitat to millions of flora and fauna. Think of the different types of reptiles, wild animals, insects and birds as well as all those that live in the forest streams and rivers. Forests and bio-diversity is key to all life forms. The richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discov-eries, economic development and adaptive responses to such new chal-lenges as climate change. But, people hardly understand the importance and encroachment of forest lands is an old issue in the city.

EncroachmentThe forest department with all

its hardships, is trying its best to safeguard the forest land, but the encroachment ratio in the reserved

lands is increasing gradually. The exact encroachment area informa-tion is not available at present be-cause there is a case going on in the Gauhati High Court relating to some encroached areas like Kamakhya Gaon, Durga Sarobar, Gotanagar, Fatasil and Maligaon. But according to whatever data is available with the government, there is a record of for-est land and areas encroached under the Guwahati Revenue circle exclud-ing the areas which are being tried in the Gauhati High Court.

Total area of wetland1447.63 acre

Total area of encroached wetland138.86 acre

Total patta land on the wet land 4.01 acre

Total area of forest land76282.55 acre

Total area of encroached forest land 21959.06 acre

Total area of patta land in the forest land Nil

Total area of hilly land 50,958.05 acre

Total area of encroached hilly land 49013.82 acre

Total area of patta land in the hilly landNil

reasons of encroachment

According to the Kamrup East DFO N Anand, there are various rea-sons for people encroaching forest land, and why is it difficult to evict the illegal settlers. He said, “Illegal encroachers are backed by some or-ganisations like KMSS who, for their own personal profit or interests, back the encroachers to settle down on for-est lands.” He further said that people without any environmental sensitiv-ity about what the forest is offering to the city, are settling down on the forest lands. The forest department is facing a great challenge evicting the illegal settlers as they are backed by organisations claiming to be activ-ists.

SmugglingBecause of reasons like lack of

alternate livelihood options, near-ness to the city and the Meghalaya border, people indulge in a lot of tim-ber smuggling in the forest. Because the forest department keeps patrol-ling the forest area, the only wooden bridge at the Garbhanga reserve for-est was recently burnt down by mis-creants disturbing communication to areas like Umthana, Jalukpahang, Naharpang and Matang. The forest department though, efficiently recon-structed the wooden bridge within three days. The incident happened re-

cently. Similarly there are many cases of timber smuggling that have been registered in the last two years. Number of timber smuggling cases

Registered in 2012-13

Number of timber smuggling

Cases registered in2013-14

The deforestation mainly hap-pened in the year 1996, the year in which the Supreme Court banned tree felling. People destroyed many trees in the forest before the order was issued. The major deforestation drive happened in the city that year.

Wild life species smugglingThere is no incident of animal

smuggling recorded in the city forests according to the forest department. Except Tiger, almost all species can be found but no smuggling cases have been recorded yet. But highly placed sources in the forest department in-formed that animals do get smuggled once in a while.

Animal smuggling takes place only for one reason and that is supersti-tion. The source added that whenever a smuggled Gecko gets caught, we usu-ally read headlines that a Gecko worth

Due to widespread encroachment and pseudo activism, the city is slowly losing its green cover and soon, the forest might be teeming with only people.

CITY ForESTS GETTING ENCroaCHEd, SMUGGLEd

People arrested

20Smuggling cases

Vehicles seized 9 9

People arrested

18Smuggling cases

Vehicles seized 16 4 Health-Corner

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a few lakhs or crores was seized. But then, who decides the rate or the cost of the Gecko? Where is the market? Simi-larly, when rhino horns are smuggled, who decides the market price? If the media stops deciding the price of wild animals, it will not be a valued product and people will stop poaching or smug-gling them. In any case the uses of the organs are superstitious and there is no scientific use of any wild life species.

Forest department woes

The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) narrated that there are many challenges the forest department is facing. A very meagre amount of bud-get is allotted to it and the vehicles and arms used are outdated and are

in deplorable condition. The poachers use modern vehicles with high tech arms but the department has to com-bat with obsolete technology. There is also lack of recruitment as the general average age of employees working in the department is 45. The department also has to deal with many court cases, which again needs finance and so bud-get reallocation is required.

The forest department seems to be working full time to safeguard the natural resources, but the encroachers and smugglers have to be dealt with more efficiency and better strategy, which needs more funds and devel-opment programmes. The authorities need to brainstorm and come up with solutions.

rahul chanda

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 20144

In The News

Even after spending crores of money to tame and manage the river Bharalu in order to

manage the flash floods in the city, the problem has still persistently re-mained the same, causing great in-convenience to the city dwellers dur-ing the rainy season.

Ahead of the monsoons, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s recent visit to the flood-prone areas of the city has once again brought to fore the grav-ity of the problem of urban floods. He seemed keen to solve the problem of flash floods in Guwahati and directed the concerned departments includ-ing the GMC and the GMDA to ad-dress the issue appropriately with im-mediate effect.

In the meantime, the water re-source department (both east and west division) has earmarked an amount of `58.48 lakh to clean up the river Bharalu and `1.3985 crore for the river Bahini. Last year, an amount of `1.4184 crore was spent for the cleaning up of Bahini and around `71 lakhs to clean up the river Bhara-lu by the water resources department. So far, none of the concerned depart-ments have taken up the project of dredging the river beds of the major rivers of the city.

HINdraNCE

One of the major reasons of water logging occurring in the city is the il-legal construction and encroachment on the banks of the water bodies of the city. The Chief Minister, after inspecting the flood prone areas of the city had called for expeditious steps to clear the Deepor Beel from encroachment to ensure unhindered flow of water from the city to the wet-land, following which the district ad-ministration, Kamrup (M) last week, issued a notice imposing ban on con-struction works in and around the Deepor beel.

“Encroachment on the river banks has been causing a great deal of damage to the citizens as well as the water bodies of the city. Lack of sincerity on part of the government has worsened the problem of urban floods in the city. Why have they remained silent on evicting illegal constructions in and around the wa-ter bodies of the city? They should evict those constructions without the slightest hesitation,” Dhiren Barua, President, Save Guwahati Build Gu-wahati (SGBG), a city based volun-tary organisation, told G Plus.

Barua further said, “Bharalu alone cannot carry the rainwater of the city, that is why the Mora Bhara-lu river has to be dug up along with other natural drains of the city. The authorities should start digging up of all the three rivers – Bharalu, Mora Bharalu and Bahini flowing through the city, immediately.”

The organisation flayed the ad-ministration for not completing the process of cleaning up the rivers. Since most of the drainage channels

are connected with these rivers, these had to be cleaned before the onset of monsoon or before the month of April.

During his visit in the city, Go-goi also asked the officials to take immediate steps for dredging of the beds of the Bharalu and the Bondajan for smooth discharge of water dur-ing the monsoons but, so far, no such schemes have been taken up by the concerned authority.

Although, the citizens, who are also responsible for littering the drains and rivers, which have ob-structed the free flow of water flow-ing through, the role of the authority, while performing their duty has also been slammed by the conscious citi-zens of the city.

“Apart from the illegal construc-tion and encroachment on the river banks, the drainage system of the city has been facing another serious problem, which is littering. Most of the residents have the habit of throw-ing the wastes away directly into the drains, which has clogged the natural flow of water,” a government official said.

PoLLUTIoN aNd SoLUTIoN

Many a time, it has been said that the river Bharalu is the most polluted river in the state but, the saddest part is that the National River Conservative

Directorate (NRDC) has already in-cluded the Bharalu as a polluted river in the country.

“The state pollution control board, with the help of various tests has estab-lished Bharalu as a polluted river and the water is not suitable for human usage. The water becomes even more hazardous to the health during the winter. But, some pathogenic bacteria are found to be very high during the monsoon as well,” Gokul Bhuyan, Se-nior Environment Engineer, Pollution Control Board, Assam told G Plus.

Bhuyan further mentioned that the NRDC had asked the state govern-ment to prepare a DPR (detailed proj-ect report) for conservation of Bharalu and following which, the state govern-ment had asked the PCBA to prepare the same.

“A draft DPR was being prepared

Year after year, the citizens have been hearing about the cleaning up of the Bharalu river but nothing much has happened as the city keeps get-ting inundated each time there is a heavy and prolonged shower.

MrinMoyee hazarika

by December 2013 and a stakeholder meeting was called upon in the month of February this year. Taking up the public views and opinions, the prepa-ration of the final DPR of the same with necessary modifications is going on and it is expected to be completed by the month of August,” Bhuyan said.

The DPR includes – complete modification of the complete chan-nel, decentralised discharge of all the drains connected to Bharalu after treatment, walkway provision in both sides of the river etc. The estimated budget for the entire project is `300 Crore.

“In the first phase, no eviction on the river bank will be done and once the river comes alive, then the matter of eviction of the illegal construction will be taken care of. Though, the im-plantation and other relevant works of

Bod52 mg/l

do3 mg/l

FECaL CoLIForM

25000 mpn / 100 ml

the project do not fall under the pur-view of PCB, since we act as a moni-toring agency only,” Gokul Bhuyan added.

On the other hand, the officials of water resource department has stated that the de-siltation work of both the Bahini and Bharalu river is going on in various places of the city.

“The de-siltation work of Bharalu is being done in a three phase man-ner and the first phase of the same was started from end of February. It is an ongoing process - whenever rain comes down and silt gets deposited at the riverbed, we do the job of de-silt-ation accordingly. The second phase will be started from June and end by October. Similarly, the de-siltation of Bahini river is going on,” an official source at water resource department told.

WHErEaSPErMISSIBLE LIMIT oF

ParaMETEr aS PEr

NrdC GUIdELINES

pH6.50 – 8.5

Bod3 mg/l or LESS

do5 mg/l or MorE

FECaL CoLIForM500 mpn/100 ml

GuwahaTi: Flood hazard

Fhz_VErYhiGh

Fhz_hiGh

Fhz_ModEraTE

Fhz_low

riVErS_ChaNNElS

GuwahaTi wardS

Very high Flood hazard zonesward Nos: 20A,21C,13C,18B,18C,22Alocalities: Anil Nagar, Tarun Nagar, Rajgarh, Nabin Nagar, Pub Bhaskar Nagar, Pub Sarania, Ulubari, Kachari Basti, Lachit Nagar, Ganesh Nagar, Luit Nagar, Gopal Nagar, Chunchali

high Flood hazard zones ward Nos: 1C,5A,8A,8B,8C,9B,9C,14A,14B,18A,18B,18C,13A,13B,13C,19C,20A,20B,21B,28A,26B, 22Alocalities: Paschim Jalukbari, Bharalumukh, Kumarpara, Athgaon, Tokobari, Chatribari, Manipuri Basti, Rehabari, Ulubari, Rupnagar, Srimantapur,Pub Sarania, Gandhi Basti, Zoo Tiniali, Sixmile

To CLEaN UP CITY rIVErSoVEr `1.98 Cr EarMarkEd

BHaraLU

(Biological Oxygen Demand)

(Dilute Oxygen)

*Zones as verified by ASDMA

The Bharalu river at Bharalumukh

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 5

City

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As the elections are over now and the new government in the Centre is in place,

all the pending works are expected to be completed as the authorities had the model code of conduct in place. At Borjhar, all eyes are on the privatisation of the Guwahati LGBI Airport. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has been entrusted with the responsibility of managing international and domestic airports, including civil enclaves within the country, as per AAI Act, 1994 which came into force on 1st April 1995.

According to Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, the response by private companies to the privatisation has not been very encouraging, especially for Lucknow and Guwahati, but still the bidding process will be in place soon. There is also an outcry from the Airport Authority Employee’s Union (AAEU) to stop the privatisation of the airport. Along with AAEU, now the local residents of Borjhar too have geared up to combat the LGBI privatisation process.

The demandsAs the AAEU has been opposing

the bid for privatisation of the airport since a long time, the localites living near the airport have also joined them to stop the privatisation. The local residents have formed a committee DKJSS (Dakshin Kamrup Janaswartha Suraksha Samity) to combat against the privatisation of the airport and as the elections are over, the residents along with the AAEU regional members have vowed

to intensify their stir.Surajit Deka, a local resident feels

that if the airport gets privatised they will lose their business as big players will be given the opportunity to do business near the airport and people will stop coming to his shop. He also informed that many employees staying near the airport will be transferred to other cities who have been his customers since a long time.

President of AAEU, SK Roy said, “There is a scope to cancel the bid of privatisation if they don’t find any private party which can be awarded the bid. There is still a long process for the project to kick-start. But as the elections are over, the bidding process will start again without any tripartite talk which was promised to us by the Prime Minister.” According to the president, there is already a case going on in the Chennai High Court, and if required they will soon move to the local court too. As there are approximately 300 employees working at the LGBI airport, Roy further added that if in any case the project starts, their main interest area will be job security.

Citing the example of Hyderabad and Delhi airport privatisation, the AAEU members said that many employees are still there without knowing whether their jobs would be secured or not. Similarly, the LGBI airport employees are worried about their jobs. So, the AAEU have joined hands with the DKJSS who have already sent a memorandum to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.The demands of the memorandum are:

1. Stop privatisation in view of the collective interest of the nation.

2. Immediate return of all lands as acquired time to time from the poor cultivators if the so called deliberated steps are not going to

PoST PoLLS, BorjHar rESIdENTS GEar UP To CoMBaT aIrPorT PrIVaTISaTIoN

stop.3. Privatisation will not be accepted

as it will affect the ancillary/small scale business in the surrounding area.

4. Instead of privatisation, give employment scope to the local people in the airport business.

5. Give job opportunities to villagers, specially to affected in the phase of land acquisition by the AAI which stands for handing over to private parties.

6. Stop further land acquisition as the villagers surrounded by the airport are at stake of their livelihood due to curtail of their agriculture and residential area.

Now that the local residents are backing the AAEU members in the stir against privatisation, will it be a successful move. The PPP model is looked at as a successful business technique and also a quality service provider. The government employees are anyways looked at as people who do not want to work much, so what exactly will be the government’s decision. For now, it is a wait and watch event as the central government is fresh and new. But the tripartite talks is a must and the assurance to the employees about their security is also an unobjectionable concept.

“There is a scope to cancel the bid

of privatisation if they don’t find

any private party which can be

awarded the bid”

rahul chanda

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 20146

City

Anyone passing by the road near the Guwahati Club in the evening can smell the

thick air filled with the tempting aroma of smoked chicken, barbecued meat, spicy chaat and fresh juice. If you wonder from where the alluring smell comes from, you will have to move to the newly constructed link road, which goes straight from the Guwahati Club circle to Uzan Bazar.

You will come across a cluster of small vendors lining up at the foot-path on the left side of the road where an odd number of twenty-five shops have been selling fast food, different types of chicken, fish, mock tails and juice for quite a few weeks now. The citizens on their part have been rush-ing to this newly found hang out joint which somewhat gives you the feel of a micro-chowpatty.

The concept In what could be a better business

option for the educated unemployed youth, this street of Guwahati has managed to provide a wonderful al-ternative to the city dwellers.

Unlike other street vendors, Himu Das, a degree holder in hotel management had conceived the con-cept of a mobile food cart for the first time in his own locality, Guwahati Club. The business, which was started almost a year back in the vicinity of the Guwahati Club area has now been able to take its place in the hearts of the street food lovers of the city.

“I started the business at this place all alone, around a year back. After completing my hotel manage-ment degree in Pune in the year 2009, I got engaged in a job in Goa. When I came back to Guwahati, I had no job and could not find any good op-portunities for myself. Therefore, with no other option left, I started the street business on my own,” Himu Das, who owns a mobile food van at the ‘Guwahati club food street’ told G Plus.

Das, who made an investment of `3.50 lac in the food van, which in-cludes a full kitchen set-up, started selling roughly forty varieties of Dosa and other fast food at reasonable prices. The start up, named ‘Himu’s food van’ now employs six people to cater to the demands of the custom-ers with delicious vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisines.

“In the beginning, I had cooked only vegetarian food, because of the fear of attracting drunkards and creating a scene on the road. At that time, there were no streetlights on this road and I feared that people might take advantage of the place, having liquor with the food from my stall on the road itself. But, as other people joined and the business grew, I have started preparing non-vegetar-ian food and been getting good re-sponse from the people,” Himu said.

Moreover, he proudly mentioned that various renowned figures in-cluding singer Lou Majaw has been his customer on many occasions.

The involved onesThe ‘Guwahati club food street’

has other business opportunists like Rajib Ahmed, Dikom Das, Jaspreet Buzarbaruah and other like-minded people living in the nearby areas of Guwahati Club.

“It has been three months since I started a juice corner and an eatery at this place. Right now, the profit is not much, but the business is grow-ing steadily and the crowd gets big-ger on Saturdays and Sundays,” Rajib Ahmed from Hedaytpur told G Plus. He also stated that he made an invest-ment of `50,000 for his shop and em-ployed four staff at his outlet.

Another young enthusiast, Dikom Das, who has a joint, which offers a variety of chicken, pork and fish items, started his business a few months back.

Das, a commerce graduate from Bangalore City college, told G Plus, “I started the concept of selling smoked and barbecued chicken, pork and fish in this place and people who come down here praise my food a lot,” he said beaming.

The street has offered an oppor-tunity for the educated women of the city as well. The place has as many as four women ‘entrepreneurs’ who have been passionately involved in their business.

“For the last seven months, I have been doing business at this place. I invested only `25000 in my shop which sells different types of mock-tails, juices and chicken items, the kind of items which a normal street shop does not offer,” Jaspreet Buzar-baruah, a hotel management gradu-ate, who did her course from Chennai

and a resident of Ambari, told G Plus.Jaspreet, who is a mother of two

further added that she worked with the Oberoi group at Delhi and when she came back to Guwahati she could not find a better opportunity for her-self and like Himu Das, chose the street to make her life better.

The small eateries dotting the pavements by the side of the Guwahati Club Circle is creating a buzz, both among the citizens who visit the place as well the ones operating the stalls. But how long are they going to be there?

MrinMoyee hazarika

CITY ‘CHoWPaTTY’ CrEaTES ENTrEPENEUrS

appealAll the people involved with

the Guwahati club food street’ has expressed their gratitude to the ad-ministration for providing a space for their livelihood.

“We are grateful that the admin-istration has allowed us to do busi-ness from 4.30 to 10 pm. We have applied for trade licenses, but since we are doing business on street the GMC is not providing us any license. Nevertheless, we have applied for the license given by the health inspec-

tor. Even now, we are paying a clean-ing tax of `20 everyday to the GMC. We are optimistic that the recently passed Street Vendor’s Act will help us in continuing our business in fu-ture,” the shop owners told.

“All we hope for a better future for ourselves and we do not want to create any trouble to the normal traf-fic flow. We have been taking care of the aspect that no unlawful activities happen in the place. It will help us a lot if we get a place to do a business of our own,” Dikom Das said.

Himu Das was the first one to set up a stall

Rajib AhmedOwner of a stall

Dikom Dasinitiated the concept

of smoked food items at the joint

Lou Majaw at the joint

Crowd at Guwahati club food street

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 7

Politicking

The marketing ap-proach to ‘Modi-fying’ India finally heralded

a new dawn in the Indian po-litical arena of the country, which the so-called politi-cal Pundits, quack-quacking electronic media journal-ists and majority of political players did not understand even an iota of! But one must understand that marketing is not selling and marketing is also not shopping. Marketing is all about identifying and meeting human and social needs.

Modi could identify the needs and aspirations of the people of the country that they want a leader with strong character, commit-ment and capability to rescue the country from the ram-shackle. Modi knew that the people of India are frustrated and disgusted with the po-litical scenario of the country and the dwindling economy. People in general have also come to believe that politics is not a game of honest people.

How was it possible only for Modi to understand the inner calls of 1.27 billion people of this country? Well, unlike most other politicians of the country, Modi acquired an exclu-sive team of think tanks and strate-gists who worked for him day-in and day-out. It was Modi’s 3Cs (Charac-ter, commitment and capability) that attracted a team of 200 young Indian talents from diverse backgrounds from across the globe to form a team of strategists.

Prashant Kishor, a-36-year old former UN health specialist was one of Modi’s most trusted strategists. Around 200 young Indian profes-sionals from top schools and com-panies have worked under Prashant Kishor and effectively carried out exhaustive research for Modi and as well as implemented Modi’s market-ing activities with zero defect that helped create an iconic super brand called Narendra Modi. These mem-bers of team Modi are mostly alum-nus of foreign universities or the IITs and IIMs with vast experience of working for companies like JPMor-gan,  Deutsche Bank, McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group.

Whatever economic strides or scientific advancement we make or may have made, yet we cannot put down our old values that were in-culcated in us by our parents and teachers. But unfortunately our old values – character, commitment and capability almost died down inside us with everyday encounter with de-generation, rampant corruption and

social divides. India got emotionally disintegrated due to prolonged exis-tence of caste, creed and religious po-larisation as well as money, muscle, mafia, blanket, mosquito net driven elections. India could only occasion-ally get emotionally integrated dur-ing India-Pak cricket matches.

Team Modi first tried to under-stand the psyche of the people of this country and their aspirations about what kind of leadership they want this country to be led by. Perhaps, they clearly found out that the people of this country were desperate to get a leader with strong character, indomi-table commitment and unparallel ca-pability to rescue the country’s econ-omy from the ramshackle. Naredra befittingly fits in to this inspirational leadership attributes!

Narendra Modi took Sanyash at the age of 17 and started his spiritual journey; he retained the values that were inculcated by his parents. He believes in giving rather than taking, which is why he has not indulged in looting the exchequer and amassing wealth like the politicians we nor-mally come across. His mother lives in a simple 8 ft X 8ft room and trav-elled by autorickshaw to cast her vote in the recent election.

Ever since he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he devoted all his time to bring about phenomenal growth to the economy of Gujarat from day one, which earned Gujarat a front runner status. Vibrant Gujarat Summits besides brining huge invest-ments to the state enhanced brand eq-

uity for Narendra Modi globally, the corporate investors became his good will ambassadors. Subsequently, the Gujarat tourism brand communica-tion campaign featuring Amitabh Bacchan brought in unprecedented growth to the tourism sector in the state. At the same time, the tourists visiting Gujarat became the publicity multipliers for the good work done by Modi in Gujarat.

Despite scathing attacks from various political groups, parties and activists, Modi never looked back or indulged in mudslinging and went on with the mission while his back office team kept themselves glued to computers and journals delving deep into Indian politics, economy, lead-ership, election management, com-munication management. Successful business models of every sector of the economies around the world kept supporting Modi with invaluable strategic inputs for development of the country.

Subsequently, Modi himself started attending outreach pro-grammes across the country deliv-ering lectures and interacting with cross sections of people at various events organised by student bodies, industry bodies, media organisations and various associations. Such inter-actions besides helping Modi getting first hand inputs from people also helped further enhance his brand eq-uity nationally.

Modi put the right people at the right place to connect with the vot-ers right up to the booth level. He se-

lected locations for his meetings very strategically so that each meeting sent ripples to at least 2/3 assembly segments.

He adopted disruptive innova-tions in all his activities. His com-munication strategy was three di-mensional – penetrate beyond the left brain and right brain to touch the heart of the people. The left-brain is our logical and rational sides; the right brain deals with our emotions and creativity. Only the communi-cation that goes beyond left and the right brains, touches our heart. Modi clearly understood the pangs of the people of this country. His heart touching lectures in each and every meeting, stands testimony to this fact.

All great brands in world have been developed on this theory. His speech for each venue was prepared well in advance with in-depth re-search to ensure that he touches the burning issues of each location.

John Quincy Adams rightly said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader”. Modi during all his pre-elections meetings inspired the people of this country to see new dreams, hope more and become more! The newly instilled hope and exuberance of the people helped Modi disrupt or smash all existing games the politicians played earlier. Caste, creed, religion, mosquito net, liquor, mafia, muscle and money driven politics came to an end in 2014 general elections.

The sweeping success of Naren-dra Modi, the BJP and the NDA in the recent general elections will un-doubtedly become a case study for Management Institutes across the globe, erudite politicians and politi-cal pundits. However, going by the post-poll analysis aired by Indian News Channels and printed by In-dian newspapers, I do not think they have really understood that it was a pure marketing strategy, which can never fail when implemented seam-lessly in any situation, be it market-ing a product, service, idea, concept or a personality brand.

However, people who are not familiar with the Modi’s style of operation will remain skeptical for some time. But they must know that Modi has generated enough heat in the political corridors and in the bu-reaucratic circles much before he as-sumed office as the PM. Many central government departments and organ-isations have already started getting out of their slumber and get into action so far as completion of pend-ing projects are concerned. We can hope to see the Bogibeel Bridge and the National Highway works getting completed soon.

Modi operates like a corporate CEO and believes in daily progress of works and tasks. He will not tolerate nonsense from anybody, be it a min-ister or a bureaucrat. Those who can-not live up to his expectation will just have to get out or get completely side-lined. He will definitely ask his party MPs to spend time in their constitu-encies and only during parliament sessions they will be allowed to stay in Delhi. He will not think twice to put his own party man behind bars if they are found to be involved in corruption or any crime. He will be equally tough on the bureaucrats as well; they will be asked to submit weekly progress report on the activi-ties of their respective departments, which has already been initiated.

Going by the strategic road map of Modi it is obvious that for another 15/20 years surpassing Modi on his character, commitment and capabil-ity would remain a dream for other political parties and leaders. Modi has also sent a strong message to the world leaders that from now on India marches on a new journey. Take In-dia seriously.

The most worthwhile point in concluding this article is that Modi’s run up to the PM chair has motivated millions of young minds in the coun-try to believe that character, commit-ment and capability matter the most and many of them at the age of 18 to 20 have already considered the op-tion of joining politics eventually to make this country great, greater and greatest in the years to come.

THE MakING oF SUPEr BraNd ModI

CHaraCTEr, CoMMITMENT CaPaBILITY aNd CoMMUNICaTIoN

By SMS Bordoloi

Narendra Modi took

Sanyash at the age of 17

and started his spiritual journey; he

retained the values that were

inculcated by his parents

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 20148

Politicking

The rapidly changing political scenario of the state in the last few days has developed anoth-

er twist after the rejection of Tarun Gogoi’s resignation from the post of Chief Minister owning moral re-sponsibility for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls by the Congress high command on last Thursday.

In one of the rare political dra-mas that was going on for the entire day since Gogoi’s resignation had been turned down by the party chief, various new and interesting facts have come to light. The most impor-tant among them was the open dis-sent of the rebel MLAs against Tarun Gogoi.

As soon as the news of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s decision to turn down the Chief Minister’s offer to step down came out, the dissident group headed by Himanta Biswa Sharma, which has been rumbling in the state Congress for the last two years, swung into action immedi-ately.

Most importantly, Himanta Biswa Sharma himself was seen at-tacking and making strong remarks against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. The entire day passed with a strong exchange of vocabularies and com-ments between the Himanta camp and the Chief Minister’s camp.

After having a meeting with the rebel MLAs, Himanta who was the protagonist of Friday’s drama, chal-lenged Tarun Gogoi before the media. “If he wants to solve the crisis which has risen in the State Congress, he will have to discuss the matter with the senior leaders of the state Con-gress before 5 pm today. If he does not do so, then I will have to think that he wants to destroy the party in Assam and the Chief Minister will have to face the consequences,” Sharma said on Friday noon, attacking chief min-ister Tarun Gogoi.

Besides the Chief Minister, Hi-manta also attacked his fellow col-league Rockybul Hussain who is a close aide of Tarun Gogoi saying, “Rockybul should ask Tarun Gogoi, who is also the home minister, about booking a person under the TADA act. I am not a home minister. Is he (Tarun Gogoi) a useless person? More than 5000 cases have been registered in BTAD. But, no actions have been seen to be taken to solve those cases. Gogoi should publish white paper on the issue of rhino poaching in the state.”

Furthermore, the dissidents have also exercised a range of tactics to pressurise the party high command as well as Tarun Gogoi. “Do not think that we are weak enough to go the

Himanta Biswa Sarma’s outburst in front of media on Friday has put a new twist to the Congress’ sorry state in Assam

MrinMoyee hazarika

governor. If ‘my MLAs’ do not get a response from Tarun Gogoi by 5 pm, they will be going to the governor to withdraw support from the govern-ment and I will have to be with them. Instead of staging a drama, the chief minister should call upon a cabinet meeting. Nobody can decide wheth-er I will be a minister or not. Anyway, I will not be a minister under Tarun Gogoi,” Himanta attacked tarun Go-goi.

At the same time, Himanta and his camp have expressed the view that majority of the MLAs have lost faith in Tarun Gogoi. “But, we have faith in high command, not in Tarun Go-

goi. We will accept any other leader selected by the party high command Sonia Gandhi,” Himanta retorted be-fore the newsmen.

The whole drama seemed to have come to a halt, when senior Congress leader Sarat Borkotoky stated that he had received a call from Tarun Ggoi who is still in Delhi. In a press con-ference Borkotoky, accompanied by Himanta Bhiswa Sarma and Gautam Roy informed the media, “In the next four to five days, Motilal Vora, an ob-server will be visiting the state to take stock of the situation going on in the party.”

Following the new develop-

dISSIdENT draMaarE THE rEBELS GETTING dESPEraTE?

ment, the health minister of the state has lowered down his tone and blamed the media, specially the electronic media for telecasting in-correct information.

“I knew that the party high command has kept the decision of chief minister’s resignation pend-ing. But, some media telecasted it erroneously on Thursday which lead to today’s events. I was in-formed unofficially about the ob-server’s visit to Assam. We will talk to him and place our demands before him. There are some other outstanding demands and we will discuss about it with the observer too. We are ready to face any defeat if necessary, because at this time, the party’s interest is most impor-tant for us,” Himatna said at a press conference.

He also shunned the idea of the dissident’s decision to meet the gov-ernor. But, whatever is the conse-quence for Tarun Gogoi, one thing is clear from the Friday’s events that Himanta Biswa Sarma will have to wait for some more time if he har-bours the ambition of becoming the Chief Minister. His arrogant at-titude needs to be moulded, which will be an automatic transition with the age, so that he gets more accep-tance among the people of the state.

There are some other outstanding demands and we

will discuss about it with the observer. We are ready to face

any defeat if necessary, because at this time, the party’s interest is

most important for us

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 9

Ward Watch

ShuBhojit roy

From the banks of mighty Brah-maputra, on the sidelines of river Bharalu, lies Shantipur.

The Nizaramukh path area is mostly stretched over the hills of Shantipur. While taking a walk up and down the hill, G Plus found out that the area suffers from a major drinking water problem and also suffers from active theft and robbery. The locals in the area have condemned the negligence of the authorities towards the area. Moreover, there is a large area of hu-man settlements on the hill side that falls off the ward limit of the city.

drINkING WaTEr ProBLEM

Most of the residents in Nizaramukh Path of the West Shan-tipur area have complained about the drinking water problem in the locality for which the locals have been suffering for over decades. The tank from which the supply water is provided has all sorts of vegetation growing around it.

Nishanta Chowdhury, a student of the Pandu College and resident of West Shantipur told G Plus that they have to buy 750 litres of water every day for `200 “as the supplied water is very unhygienic and irregular.” Nishanta also told us that they have been living in the locality for past 20 odd years and the tank has not been cleaned even once in two de-cades. He further complained about the garbage disposal problem and stated, “All the locals in the area dis-pose their household garbage in one dumping site nearby as we have no waste bins in the locality.”

daYLIGHT BUrGLarY INCIdENT

Khargeshwar Deka, a resi-dent living in the locality for past 15 years is one such resident who has faced daylight robbery in the area. Deka, who supplies drinking water in the city through his two drinking water carriage vans nar-rated his story to G Plus. “It was six months back, I was out work-ing and my wife went out to pick up our daughter from school. The robbery happened within a span of two hours and some cash and jewellery that we had kept for our daughter was stolen,” Deka said in grief. Khargeshwar also said that the police and media came “but I never got back what I lost.”

Load SHEddING aNd oTHErS

Enquiring about the area, G Plus reached the house of Kumud Das, a retired teacher from the Arya Vidyapeeth College who was relax-ing in his front lawn of the house. Kumud Das told us that he has been living in the area for past 30 years and he has seen lots of prob-lems in the area. “One of the major problems we have been suffering is of load shedding. In the summers, regular load shedding make it very difficult for us,” said Kumud. Ask-ing about other problems that are existent in the area, Kumud Das told us about the bad, narrow and steep roads and stressed on the wa-ter supply problem.

CoUNCILor’S rEPorT

While being questioned on the matters of Nizaramukh Path, the councilor of Ward No- 7, Bhupen Thakuria, who is also the Chairman of PWD told G Plus that the prob-lem of drinking water in the area is being dealt with very systematically at present. “We have formed a com-mittee of Mayor-in-council which will tackle with the cases of water supply, garbage, PWD, finance and appeal department. For the sup-ply of drinking water in Santipur and nearby localities, boring pumps are being installed near Tarun Ram Phukan Park. Moreover, an amount of `54 Crores which was sanctioned previously by the government will be utilised now as per the DPR (Detailed Project Report). There are five phases in my area which is still under com-plete darkness. Street lights will be provided soon,” informed Thakuria.

On asking about the regular theft reports in the area, Bhupen-Thakuria expressed his awareness about the incidents and said that the police was directed for regular patrolling, “But due to lack of staff, the police outpost has voiced diffi-culty in patrolling up the hill while covering other areas as well. How-ever, we are expecting some relief after the installation of street lights in every area and also by spreading some general awareness among the locals,” assured Thakuria. He also wanted to appeal to the residents of Ward No. 7 through G Plus and stated, “The people have selected me as their councilor and I want them to know that I am going to serve them

with all my interest and dedication as long as I am in position to do so. The arrival of a new government in the centre does not mean that my work here is done,” expressed Thakuria.

The drinking water problem is a

major issue not only in West Shanti-pur but in many localities all across the city. The councilor’s assurance to the people is one thing and the peo-ple’s problem on the ground level is another. How soon are the problems going to be solved?

daYLIGHT roBBErIES HUrT NIZaraMUkH

Sub division 7a/ 7B/ 7CNo. of Voters 30,682 (approx.)

Concentrated region Nizaramukh Path, West ShantipurMajor Issues drinking Water, robbery

WardNo

7

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201410

The Week That Was

A couple committed suicide after they jumped into the Brahmaputra river from the

Umananda river island on May 18. The couple, Pankaj Thakuria and Kabita, had gone to the Umananda Island in the second half of the day and jumped into the river together at around 5:00 pm. The incident created a sensation around the area and all the visitors were quickly evacuated from the island by the river police. A team of the National Disaster Response

Force (NDRF) was last reported to be carrying out a search operation for the missing couple. However no sign of the bodies have been found yet. As per the girl’s distraught family, her step came as a surprise to them as they stat-ed that she was having an affair with a doctor. Her action of committing suicide with Pankaj Thakuria came as a shock to them as they had no knowl-edge of her having a relationship with him. A team of the Pan Bazaar police station have detained who was report-

edly an eyewitness to the incident and questioned him over the matter. It is not yet clear as to what came out of the interrogation or as to what step would the police be taking next.

CITY NEWSCouple commits suicide at Umananda A major fire broke out at

MN Fast Food, a shop in the city’s Ulubari lo-

cality on May 18 at around 8:30 am in the morning, creating panic among the local people. All efforts were made to re-strain the fire but the attempt failed. By the time the fire bri-

gade arrived on the spot, the shop had been completely gut-ted. As per the workers in the shop, an electrical short circuit had resulted in the fire that led to the gutting down of the shop. No loss of life or any sort of injury was reported from the incident. 

Shop gutted in Ulubari

The Assam chapter of the National Liver Foundation was launched in the city

on May 19. Since Hepatitis B and C are highly infectious, it can be prevented only through the proper awareness about the disease. Doc-tors said during the event that while Hepatitis B can be prevented through vaccination, there are no vaccines for Hepatitis C. Through the Assam chapter, patients with B and C strains of Hepatitis can collaborate with medical special-ists, policy makers and the public to disseminate more information about the diseases and the treat-ment available for them. According to data provided by the Union min-

istry of health and family welfare, the state has registered 419 cases of viral Hepatitis in 2013, which is the highest among the north-eastern states. “Hepatitis B and C spread through transmission of blood, semen or body fluid infected with the virus into the body of a person. The virus may also spread through sharing of needles or syringes, physical relation with an infected person, consuming food pre-chewed by an infected person or direct exposure to blood and open sores of an infected person. Hepa-titis B and C are a hundred times more contagious than HIV,” said B.D. Goswami, head of the depart-ment of gastroenterology, GMCH.

NLF launches its new chapter in assam

The Gauhati High Court has asked the director of state fo-rensic laboratory to furnish a

detailed report, citing its current sta-tus and the facilities available within 15 days. The HC directive came af-ter the court found that the forensic laboratory has failed to file its report in a narcotic case even after a year of its registration. In the case, police had seized at least 24,500 bottles of a cough syrup from a godown in the Gorchuk area in April last year. Police then arrested Mahesh Kalita who had rented the godown. “In the last few months, the forensic labo-ratory report was not placed in the

court either for narcotic drugs or for handwriting experts in other cases too. In some cases, post mortem re-ports were not furnished, too, by the forensic department,” the court said. Similarly, the HC, while responding to a separate case earlier, had asked the state health department to reply as to what amount of fund it needs immediately to update the cur-rent condition of district morgues across the state and to start refresher courses in forensic department to train doctors in performing accu-rate autopsy tests. The HC gave three weeks time to the health department to respond.

Gauhati HC seeks report on forensic laboratory facilities

After a long gap of 14 years, an elected body of the Pioneer Cooperative

Market Ltd, Athgaon, was able to take over charge of the city’s Athgaon market from the district administration. It needs mention here that the Cooperative Society is one of the oldest cooperative bodies of the State with about 50 years of existence. The Athgaon market is also over 50 years old. It is operating from its present location in front of the Marwari Maternity Hospital, for the past 50 years or so. Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Agnihotri formally handed over charge to the elected directors of the Cooperative Society on April 12 last. Following this, the directors of the Society elected Dr Kalindra Nath Chakravorty as Chairman, Ramijul Haque Ahmed as Vice-Chairman, Mu-ralidhar Choudhury as General Secretary, Prabal Patowary and Tajmul Haque as Joint Secretar-ies and Iqbal Hussain as Trea-surer of the Society. The Society has thanked the State’s Coopera-tive Department and the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Met-ro) for their support in settling the issue of running the Ath-gaon market through an elected body, said by Dr Kalindra Nath Chakravorty.

Cooperative body takes charge of athgaon market An immediate request to

shift the enquiry counter at the Guwahati Railway Sta-

tion back to its old location has come from the Assam Rail Pas-sengers  Association  (ARPA) to the Northeast  Frontier Railway (NFR) authorities. Dipankar Sarma, gen-eral secretary of ARPA, said that for long the counter was located near the exit point on platform one, and that spot was very convenient. However, the shifting of the enquiry counter on platform number one to its current location near the booking  counter has caused inconveniences to passen-gers. Sarma added, “Especially those passengers who are from outside the State and those who are transit pas-sengers and have to change trains

in Guwahati, are  facing problems as they now have to come out of the platform area.” He said the ARPA had over the months approached the NFR  authorities  3-4 times with the plea but no action has been taken in this regard. Although, a senior NFR official said, “There is no reason for the ARPA to complain. It was diffi-cult to manage the operation of the enquiry counter at the old location. The entry and exit corridors should be always clear and facilitate smooth traffic of commuters and other peo-ple,” said the official. He also added that recently the NFR authorities had installed an electronic display board at the main entrance to the station outside platform number one.

arPa pushes for the shift of enquiry counter

The Gauhati High Court, af-ter hearing a writ petition on May 20, filed by Pallorbund

Tea Limited, set aside the notifica-tion dated August 12, 2008 issued by the Government of Assam, whereby the rate of land revenue for tea lands in Barak Valley was enhanced to `16 from `9 per bigha and for the tea estates in Assam valley the land rev-enue was increased from `12 to `22 per bigha. The writ petition was filed challenging the aforesaid notifica-tion, inter alia, on the ground that the imposition of higher rate of land revenue u/s 11 A of the Assam Land Revenue Re-assessment Act, 1936 is unjustified since the condition prec-edents for enhancing the rate of rev-enue is not satisfied by the authority.

The further contention of the peti-tioner was that categorisation of the TE factory at industrial site u/s 11 A of the said Act is contrary to the law. In the judgment, Justice Hrishikesh Roy elaborately discussed the vari-ous provisions of the Act as well as various pronouncements of the Apex court and the Gauhati High Court, and accordingly held that the notification whereby the land reve-nue of the tea estates of entire Assam was enhanced, was invalid and fur-ther directed that if any enhanced land revenue/fine is already realised from the tea companies under this notification, the same should either be refunded or be adjusted with fu-ture revenue dues.

Gauhati HC affirms tea land revenue hike invalid

A skirmish between bus drivers and police took place on May 18 when police person-nel had stopped a bus coming from Nagaon

and demanded illegal tax money for letting them park there. When the driver of the bus refused to comply, the police personnel allegedly beat him up black and blue resulting in the man being grievous-ly injured. The incident sparked an outrage from the other drivers of buses and traveller cabs gathered there and soon a skirmish followed between them and the police authorities. At about 11 am, a group of about 100 drivers blocked the main road and pro-tested against the attack on the lone driver while demanding action against the guilty police person-nel. The blockade continued for about an hour and later the police authorities however managed to

bring the situation under control after promising the agitating drivers swift action in the case against the offending police personnel. Reports of illegal tax for parking charged by police personnel on bus and traveller cabs had come in several times from Khanapara. There had also been such incidents earlier where drivers had protested against the ex-cesses meted out to them by police personnel over the issue. However nothing has been done by the authorities in this regard so far. The fresh incident again raises the question as to what step would the authorities do to contain the atrocities of corrupt police personnel on bus drivers. In protest against the incident, the bus drivers union has decided to halt all bus and traveller cab services between Gu-wahati and Nagaon for the next day.

drivers protest against police atrocities at khanapara

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 11

The Week That Was

A bust of eminent jour-nalist and human rights activist Late Parag Ku-

mar Das was unveiled on May 16 morning at 9 am at the Parag Das Samadhi Kshetra of Rajgarh, Guwahati where the legend took his last breath. Late Parag Ku-mar Das was murdered in broad daylight at the same spot on May 17, 1996. Eminent litterateur and former president of the Axom

Xahitya Sabha Dr. Lakshminan-dan Bora, along with the mother of late Parag Das, unveiled the statue. The initiative to rebuild the statue of the martyr was un-dertaken by a group of Assamese people on Facebook called ‘Ax-omiyat Kotha Botora’ in asso-ciation with its sister organiza-tion ‘Bhaxa Xahityo Xonmiloni, Axom’. The proposal to rebuild the statue was first posted on

Facebook last year by photo-journalist Vikramjit Kakati af-ter which members of the group unanimously collected the funds to build the statue. There are a total of 15,999 Assamese in this group. Both ‘Axomiyat Kotha Botora’ and ‘Bhaxa Xa-hitya Xonmiloni, Axom’ have launched a movement to spread the use of Assamese Unicode in the world wide web.

CITY NEWS

The latest proposed move by the State Housing Board to evict 952 families liv-

ing in the city’s Kharguli hills have raised concerns among the residents there as this seems quite opposed to what the government had promised these people years ago. As per sources, 251 bighas and 14 lechas of land are owned by the Housing Board on Khar-guli hill. About 528 families have been living for over 20 years in the flats that are owned by the Hous-ing Board in their colony there. About 424 families have been liv-ing on the vacant plots on the land owned by the Board. The monthly rent for the flats in the colony is about `60. A meeting had been held at the CM’s office in April 22, 1995, and it was decided that the rental housing system would be scrapped and the houses would be allotted to the residents at a certain amount of money. In this regard, the housing Board Com-mission also sent a letter on May 25, 1995, to the Kamrup district’s DC for ascertaining the valuation of the land plot. On August 13, 1996, the Housing Board Com-mission sent a letter to the Under Secretary of the Town and Coun-try Planning Department where it was stated that the rates for each flat had been fixed at `5500. However, the process never took off because the DC did not start the valuation process for the land plot. The residents have expressed shock and anger at the decision of the housing Board as it is a com-plete betrayal to their trust by the state government after all these years of waiting. It is worth pon-dering as to how did the govern-ment’s stand change on the issue after all these years when a proper scheme had been announced for the people years ago.

kharguli hill residents raise concern over eviction As a result of a meeting held

with the Students Federa-tion of India (SFI) that was

held May 20, the Vice Chancellor of the Gauhati University, Mridul Hazarika, announced that the re-sults for the sixth semester would be out by July 15.  Hazarika also stated that special arrangements would be held to conduct speedy exams for the students who re-ceive a back in any subject in the results. Hazarika also added that the process to bring changes into

the grading system of the univer-sity curriculum has already been started and that marks scored by the students would be highlighted in their mark sheets along with their grades. He also stated that the university will take care to ensure that there are no clashes with the admission procedures or dates with those of other universi-ties. Hazarika further said that the exams for the sixth semester of the university would start from June 3 onwards.

GU VC assures change of grade system

The Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS) condoled the death of a band of musicians

in a road accident that occurred ear-ly in the morning of May 21 at Dhup-dhara in Goalpara district.  SMSS’s Joint Secretary Rakesh Chakraborty said that the group which was re-turning to Guwahati after conduct-ing a musical show at Matiya con-sisted of popular singers like Suman

Mahanta along with other musi-cians Rajib Kalita, Deepak Rabha, Debabrat Das, Jogdish Boro, Nipen Sarma, Raju Bora, Bijoy Rai, Mukul and Ramesh Rai. Chakroborty con-doled the untimely death of all the musicians in the accident. He also expressed condolences to the family of Pranjal Haloi, a youth from Mati-ya, who was travelling along with the group to Guwahati.

SMSS condoles musicians death

The authorities of the Shrishti Nagar Township, which is built on a 750 bigha land plot in the

Sunsali locality, have built a boundary wall over a road in the nearby local-ity which leads to Chapaidang village in the nearby Kharguli area, which has become a problem for the proper commutation. The road is arterial to the local people to travel to various places and now they can’t even get to their farm fields on the other side

of the road as the wall has become a major obstacle. The villagers are also facing problems in reaching to a lo-cal crematorium which again falls on the other side of the road. The local people expressed their resentment over the matter as to under what con-dition did the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) al-lowed the builders to build the wall on the road. The aggrieved villager also pointed out the road is not a random

structure built by the local people and it is present on the road map of the revenue department. The villag-ers further pointed out that prior to the construction of the township, the land plot used to hold a tea garden plot. They pointed out that since the plot is not commercial in nature, it is highly unconvincing as to how the revenue department gave permission for the construction of a township on that large plot of land.

Shrishti Nagar Township trouble commutersThe Anti–Terrorism Day was

observed on May 21 in the of-fice and premises of the Ka-

mrup Metro Deputy Commissioner. The officers and staff of the office were administered the oath to main peace and tranquility by the district’s Dep-uty Commissioner Dr J Balaji. Along with the rest of the country, Assam Government too observed Anti– Ter-rorism day at the Assam Secretariat Complex. On the occasion, a pledge taking ceremony against violence and terrorism was administered by Jitesh Khosla, Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam which was attended by officers and staff of the Secretariat.

anti–Terrorism day observed

rTI activist questions 14 MVIs

appointment

In a press meet called in the city on May 20, RTI activist Dulal Bora pointed out the

illegal appointment of 14 Mo-tor Vehicle Inspectors (MVIs) in the transport department which is a sign of rampant cor-ruption in the department. As per the RTI activist, the ap-pointments have been made on the basis of huge bribes and no criteria were followed in this regard as well. Bora also released the names of the 14 MVIs in the meet. The RTI activist further stated that as per the rules, it is necessary that the candidates for the post should be atleast an HS exam pass out and should be having a diploma in automobile and mechanical engineering from a government institute. But he pointed out that no such crite-ria were followed and none of the appointed MVIs have any diploma to their credit. Bora stated that these kindsof ap-pointments have increased the risk of accidents in the city as they are not only issuing driver’s license, but also giving away certificates for the fitness of a vehicle. He also added that the selection test for the MVIs is under the authority of the APSC.

With the aim of spreading awareness on biodiver-sity and the importance

of preserving it, Aaranyak, a society for biodiversity conservation in NE India, celebrated the International Biodiversity Day on May 22 in a unique way with 75 school kids. The celebration was made by organising an art competition themed on the threatened species of north east at Krishnakanta Handique LP School, Dakshin Rukmini Gaon, Beltola in Guwahati. Addressing the event, Partha Sarathi Mahanta, SP, Kam-rup, Security said, “We need to raise good stewards of the environment to care for issues like resource deple-

tion, environmental pollution, land degradation, species extinctions and large scale deforestation.”  All the students took oath on wildlife conservation which was guided by him. Later, Udayan Borthakur, Pro-gramme Head of Wildlife Genetics Programme, Aaranyak, distributed the prizes among students who won the Art Competition and interacted with school children on various is-sues of Biodiversity. Meanwhile, the Head mistress Nirupama Devi also appealed the students for plantation. Notably, Aaranyak has been working for the last 24 years on various envi-ronmental issues with diverse impact on our society.

aaranyak celebrates International

Biodiversity day

In a recent order stated by the Court of Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate (I), Kamrup (Guwa-

hati), has directed charge-sheeted Assam Cricket Association secre-tary Bikash Baruah to appear in person on May 30. Baruah has been charge-sheeted by the Assam Police in connection with a case relating to publication of a morphed photo-graph that showed Kolkata Knight Riders’ owner Shahrukh Khan shar-ing the dais with him and popular

actress Deepika Padukone. The ACA secretary has been booked under Section 420/419 of the Indian Pe-nal Code read with Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act. Although the photograph got pub-lished in a number of leading news-papers, later it was discovered that the photograph was a morphed one. The photograph was allegedly dis-tributed by Baruah himself during an informal interaction with a select group of sports journalists in a city

hotel here. Even the Forensic Science Laboratory, Guwahati, in its report, stated that the photographs was doc-tored. An FIR (case number 98/2014) was lodged by Prabhat Chandra Sar-ma, member, Freelance Journalists’ Association Assam with Latasil po-lice station on April 29, 2013. Dur-ing the course of the investigation, 14 witnesses were examined and the charge sheet bearing number 44 was filed against Baruah on November 30, 2013.

Court summons Bikash Baruah

Bust unveiled in memory of Parag das

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201412

Society

ShuBhojit roy

Located atop the South Sarania hills, the Gandhi Mandap boasts of a view of the beautiful Guwa-

hati city with dotted city lights that looks like a thousand stars shining together closely during the evening. Gandhi Mandap was established in the year 1972 and was inaugurated by the former PM of India, Late Indira Gandhi. In its visit to Gandhi Mandap, G Plus found out the place to be in a sorry state with restoration work go-ing on. It was also discovered that the place still has not been utilised to its full potential.

The SignificanceThe Gandhi Mandap was estab-

lished keeping in mind that it will work as a research centre for histori-ans, academicians and students who would impart Gandhian philosophy to the people living in Kamrup. The place is also a treasure house to many useful and significant books on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gan-dhi, his work and his philosophies towards humanity and the nation. When Gandhiji arrived in Kamrup in the year 1946, he stayed in the Sa-rania hills for three days among the poor people of the region. The Gandhi Ghar where Gandhiji lived for three days still exists in the Kasturba Ash-ram, which is now used for imparting training to young girls and women on the ways of life.

The Busy DaysBesides the couple of days which

is feted in a grand way during Gandhi-ji’s birth and death anniversaries on 2nd October and 30th January respec-tively, the other days of the year pass in isolation, except for a few couples who visit the place in search of some serenity, escaping the city life.

GUWaHaTI FaILS GaNdHIThe Gandhi Mandap was developed with an aim to impart Gandhian philosopihes but is now in a sad state. However, with some new plans in place, the city landmark will aim to regain its lost significance

The Darker AspectWhile speaking to the ‘Subeidaar’

and the care taker at Gandhi Man-dap, who refused to divulgel his name even after numerous requests, G Plus sensed some kind of negativity in the air. The ‘Subeidaar’ informed that the restoration work had started a month back but he was not aware of who was in charge. On being asked about why the doors of Gandhi Mandap were not open for the public, he replied while hurriedly opening the doors for this correspondent, “The restoration work is going on and so I have kept it closed for the convenience of the workers. But on other days, you will find the doors open for the public.” In order to cross-check the Subeidaar’s statement, G Plus went ahead to a young group who were present at the premise. “We

come here almost every day to hang out with friends, but I haven’t ever seen the door open,” said Shashanka Haloi, a student from the group.

In order to get a more in-depth re-port, G Plus reached Kasturba Ashram at Kasturba Nagar to meet Damayanti Devi, who is the present working Sec-retary of Kasturaba Ashram and who also happens to be the member of the Mahatma Gandhi and Martyrs Me-morial Trust. Damayanti told us that new plan of action is in place but she hasn’t herself seen any significant de-velopment yet. She further added that there was a caretaker previously who used to go by the surname Sharma “and during his tenure, the Mandap doors were open for public.

Unconfirmed reports state that he had to leave his job as he did not re-ceive salary on time. Now the Mandap doors are closed as there is no skilled caretaker to look after the valuables inside and understand its impor-tance,” said Damayanti.

Renuka Devi Borkotoky, who has been associated with Gandhi Mandap since 20 years or so as a trustee mem-ber told G Plus that she had almost lost hope in the governmental authori-ties. “I had seen many dreams for the place, it is an excellent view point for the city, and so much could have been possible here. We have been pressuris-ing the authorities for over 10 years to change the statue of Gandhiji, but our pleas have been ignored. The office of Deputy Commissioner have also failed us in the past. However, a new committee has been formed for the Gandhi Mandap where the govern-ment bodies like the Ministry of Cul-

tural Affairs and the Tourism depart-ment has merged with the trust body. We are considering the CM of the State to be the President of the Gandhi Mandap along with other permanent departmental committee members as special invitees. I can only hope that things might finally change for Gan-dhi Mandap,” expressed Renuka Devi.

Future Plan of ActionAccording to unconfirmed re-

ports, the registration of the Gandhi Mandap is questionable. Rumors say that the idea to construct the Gandhi Mandap was forwarded to Former CM Mahendra Mohan Choudhury only to save the South Sarania hills from land encroachment. However, a

new registration proposal under the name of Mahatma Gandhi and Mar-tyrs Memorial Trust is in place and new developments are being focused upon.

It has been decided that a master plan for Gandhi Mandap will be pre-pared by PWD where Chief Engineer, PWD (Building) will take necessary steps to initiate the master plan, in consultation with trust members. A grant-in-aid of `2 Crore is expected to be released to the PWD Minister soon for the welfare of the Gandhi Mandap. The grant-in-aid will be utilised for construction of proper roads to Gan-dhi Mandap and also to prevent soil erosion.

The project development of the Gandhi Mandap has a tourist interest potential and an estimated amount of `2.25 Crore has already been sanc-tioned by the government to the tour-ism department which will be utilised for different works in consultation with the trust members. Dr Bhumidar Barman, Advisor to CM has also sug-gested the building of a GMDA park-ing space in a recent meeting with the trust members.

With a new plan of action and inclusion of government authorities forming a new committee along with trust members, will the Gandhi Man-dap finally find a pride of place? Right now, we can only wait and watchas the professionals have taken up the task in their hands and the re-construction, re-innovation and restoration of Gan-dhi Mandap and South Sarania hills have only just started.

The restoration

work is going on and so I

have kept it closed for the convenience

of the workers. But on other

days, you will find the doors

open for the public”

“

shubhojit.roy@g-plus.in

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 13

Business

State-owned Syndicate Bank will open 10 to 12 more branches in Northeast India in this fiscal

year. The bank will invest close to `100 Crore to make its Information technology platform more robust and give it mint fresh look.

Sudhir Kumar Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of bank who was in Guwahati recently said that the bank is in the process of appoint-ing an HR consultant, which will de-vise the best practices for the bank.

He added, “We will spend close to `100 Crore in the next two to three years time to make the IT platform more robust. The new IT platform will have more channels to cater to growing business needs of custom-ers.”

Syndicate Bank plans to recruit 5200 new staff in 2014 -15 which will include 2500 in clerical grade, 700 specialised officers and over 2000 officers. In the last fiscal, the bank recruited 2500 numbers of staff of which 1300 were officers and 1200 were clerks. Presently the bank has an employee strength of 27,700.

Jain said, “The new recruit-ment will take care of retirements and manpower requirement for the expansion of the bank operations. We are planning to add another 350 new branches across the country in this fiscal year, out of which 10 to 12

branches will be in Northeast India. Around 30 branches will be mid cor-porate branches catering to the re-quirement of different business.”

Syndicate bank has a network of 38 branches in Northeast India. Last year the bank opened 317 branches pan India. The network strength of the bank stood at 3260. Jain said the bank is keen to start banking opera-tions in Dubai, Hong Kong, China and South Africa. “We are surveying these places. It depends upon the RBI whether we will be given permission in these places for representative of-fice or branch. However in China it

Erstwhile Prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh sanctioned 28 flood management schemes

for Assam at an estimated cost of `583 crore. Assam submitted 32 me-dium and major flood management schemes last year, out of which 30 projects have been approved under the Flood Management Programme.

In reply to a letter written by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Dr Singh who is the Rajya Sabha MP from Assam has informed that 30 projects costing `10 crore and above were eligible for funding under the Flood Management Programme dur-ing the XII Plan.

The ex-Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister that the remain-ing two schemes would be consid-ered for approval once the Ministry of Water Resources receives requisite documents from the State Govern-ment and asked the latter to expedite the same.

Dr Singh hoped that the invest-ment on these projects would help in mitigating flood damages and ensur-ing safety of people in flood prone areas. Assam faces recurring flood problems every year.

Syndicate bank to open more branches in NE

Toyota launches new Etios Cross in Guwahati

Dr MANMOHAN’S PartING GIFt

is likely to be a representative office while in Dubai it will be a branch.”

The Syndicate bank has a branch in London. Jain said, “In this fiscal we are targeting 30 percent growth on overall business.”

Jain added that during 2013-14, the global business of the bank increased 16 per cent year-on-year to `3,34,779 Crore from `3,88,584 Crore in FY13. Deposits grew 15 per cent to ̀ 2,12,343 crore, while advanc-es increased 16 per cent to `1,43,735 crore. In Northeast India the bank has grown by 48 percent in overall business in last fiscal.

In A brief ceremony held recently, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. (TKM) launched the new Etios Cross in Guwahati. The new vehicle was first unveiled, in February, at the 12th Auto Expo, in Greater Noida. The

New Etios Cross will further expand the Etios family along with its existing models - Etios & Liva.

The New Etios Cross was first launched in Brazil and is extremely popu-lar in Brazil. The new Etios Cross will also be exported from India.

Mr. N Raja, Director and Senior Vice – President, Sales and Marketing said, “The Etios Cross received very good response after we unveiled it at the Auto Expo in Feb. The number of booking orders received have been encouraging and more than what we expected. The highest demand is for the Top VD grade. The cross over segment is growing and we look forward to increasing the number of Toyota happy customers, across the country. Etios Cross marks our entry into yet another category in the diverse and fast growing B car segment. The Etios brand now offers a sedan, a hatch, and the newly launched cross over - Etios Cross.”

The New Etios Cross which is competitively priced between 6̀03,644/- and `769,926/- (ex showroom Guwahati) will be available in Toyota show-rooms across Assam. The Company has a dealer network of five show-rooms across the state to take care of growing customers in this segment. Toyota Kirloskar is currently present in Guwahati, Nagaon, Barpeta, Dibrugarh,Silchar in Assam.

Present at the occasion was Mr. Maharaj Mukherjee, DGM, Toyota Kir-loskar Motor along with Mr.Rahul Dev Sharma , Dealer Principal, Gargya Toyota amidst other distinguished guests.

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G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201414

Vox Pop

Rajashree Baruah(B.Tech Student)

I am very much happy and satis-fied with the poll results and am ex-pecting all round development in the fields of transportation, economic sustainability and proper revenue generation by creating zero toler-ance against corruption. The problem here is that we import less and ex-port more whereas India is one such country which is abundantly rich in its resources. Ten years down the line, I don’t see India as a developed country, that would be too far to see, but I would like the country to have an inclination with infrastructural development, more metro cities and more developed rural areas. Also, I wish that this government starts with eligibility criteria for the politicians so that only the most highly qualified leads the country upfront.

Narendra Damodardas Modi has finally made it to the PM’s office after a massive campaign circling majorly around developmental politics, failures of the UPA and bit parts of dynastic

politics. But now that he is there, the expectations are very high.

Akashitora(Actress)

I am very positive about the new-ly formed government. I am positive about Modi not only because of the Modi wave but he has proved himself to be an able leader. His Gujarat suc-cess speak volumes and I am expect-ing economic development nation-ally from this government. Modi has also shown his dedication towards India through his physical gesture and speeches and he gives you that sort of vibe. His journey from RSS to BJP to Gujarat to PM has really been worth noting, and so I am absolutely positive it.

NoW THaT IT’S doNE…

B.S. Lahkar(Chief Trustee, College of

Aeronautical Engineering)

I have three reasons to be as-sured that Modi will really change this country. His honesty, sincer-ity and his patriotism; if Modi can sustain his philosophy and deter-mination, the country will defi-nitely flourish under his leadership. There will come a day when people of USA will stand in queue to apply for Indian visa if Modi sticks to his vision. I am not expecting anything good, but this time I am expecting the best. The country now awaits for Modi’s next step with full attention and concentration.

Shantikam Hazarika(Former SEBA Chairman)

There is going to be some definite changes and development with this new government in place. However, only time will act as the decisive factor. Speaking of our previous government, I can say that any government can do better than that. In Assam, if the BJP government comes to power in the future, I do not see any changes in the state’s point of view unless there is a direct central intervention, which will definitely put some impact.

Ajiz-ul Haque(Pastor)

There is lot of expectation from Modi, after winning with such a high margin of votes. As a member of the minority, my highest expectation is that I want the BJP, under the lead-ership of Modi, to prove that they are not communal and it is only a political propaganda that has been sustained by the opposition for many years. I want Modi to prove to the mi-norities that he is secular and is for the nation. Besides this, I am definite about Modi’s assurance on industri-alisation and other matters.

PrasenjitGoswami

(Media Personnel)I really believe that the Modi gov-

ernment can change the entire struc-ture of the country for good. I believe that Modi will stick to transparent governance which will definitely help the general public to establish a stronger bonding with the govern-ment. However, in Assam, I am not sure what to expect right now, but I would say that we need a leader like Narendra Modi in Assam as well as and in every other state of India for rapid development.

Sanjay Bhushan Paul

(FCI Gen. Assistant)

Yes, Narendra Modi can definite-ly modify India by good governance. I am expecting betterment of people at root level, in addition to cheaper essential commodities, proper drink-ing water, more jobs, good pay, pub-lic hygiene and more security. I am also hopeful that he might be able to change some of the international laws and become one of the five superpow-ers of the world and thus booming the economy sky high.

Gaurav Mama Saikia(Musician)

I am really in favour of Modi and I think that he can bring change now. There is no doubt that he is a very powerful leader and this time, people have really voted for a change. Con-gress has been ruling for a long time and there were many aspects where Congress failed like the price infla-tion and others. With Modi’s leader-ship, I am expecting that crime will be reduced, corruption will go down, and women will be empowered. Also, I am hoping that this government might help in giving proper platform to us musicians. Modi is definitely a good change.

Chandan Sharma(Film Critic)

Narendra Modi is a very capable person, there is no doubt in that but expectations are too high. As for me, I wish for a better and modified law, pending cases resolved, modi-fied medical treatment, modified education and above all, complete accountability of all government em-ployees. When people say that Modi will change the country, how exactly is Modi going to do that unless the people are participatory towards a better country? The people of India need to work better under the leader-ship of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and only then can we modify this country for good.

Soumya Mazumder

(IT Engineer)

I am expecting vast Industrial and economic growth nationally. I am hoping that under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the north-east India can finally be a terror free land and the tourism industry can boom extensively. A lot is expected from this government and the numbers are countless; equality amongst people, uniformity, technological advancement, the list goes on and on. The aspirations are too high this time for the people of India.

Bidisha Singha(Sub-Editor, Assam Tribune)

I am no soothsayer to predict what Modi will do or won’t. But there is definitely hope that he will bring about changes in many as-pects of governance. After a long time, we have a PM, who it seems, will not be cowed down or bullied by internal or external factors. And we need such a strong presence at the helm. Let us hope that Narendra Modi delivers.

ShuBhojit roy

shubhojit.roy@g-plus.in

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 15

Career

Till recent past, Bangalore used to be the favourite destination for students from

the North East. When they wanted to pursue their professional and engineering courses, they used to rush to Bangalore for admissions. The private sector in south visualised the opportunities in education sector specially in technical education decades back and invested heavily in creating Engineering Colleges which were fed mostly by students from North East. The scope of pursuing Engineering courses in the North East was limited, and few Government Engineering Colleges invited students with limited seats. In this backdrop there was need for intervention by private sector to create quality engineering and professional colleges in the region and to arrest the exodus of students to the south. One such college of repute is the Regional Institute of Science and Technology promoted by ERD Foundation, the fastest growing educational network of North East.

RIST, the leading engineering college of North East in private sector is situated in Techno City, Baridua, Ri-Bhoi District of Meghalaya, in the outskirts of Guwahati. Established in 2009, RIST is set in the sprawling 400 acre campus surrounded

by mountains and green valley providing an ideal environment for academic pursuit in the ambient of nature and eco friendly environment, Free from the din and bustle of city life, though in the vicinity of Guwahati city.

The RIST can genuinely be proud of the advantage of its location. It is well connected with rest of India by rail, road and air. It is just six km from Dispur, capital of Assam in GS Road, ten km from Guwahati Railway station and forty km from LGBI Airport. Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya is just eighty five km east of RIST. To cap it all RIST has its own helipad in the campus.

RIST is affiliated to North Eastern Hill University, the prestigious and the oldest central university of North East and offers B. Tech courses in Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical & Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. All these courses are approved by All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi.

RIST believes that for producing better engineers, students should be given more exposure to practical learning. To achieve this objective state of the art laboratories have been

created with best of the equipments. The four computer labs of RIST is equipped with state of the art hardware and latest software and 400 work stations backed up with academic alliance from Microsoft, Oracle etc .The technical labs are equipped with best equipments and students are guided by able and experienced faculties. In these laboratories students gain hands on experience of what they are taught in class rooms.

RIST has recognized the importance of a modern Engineering workshop and set up a workshop with built in area of 8000 sq ft equipped with all machines. The spacious

computerized RIST library is stocked with more than 50000 books, journals and periodicals on all branches of engineering, basic sciences and humanities. RIST has one of the best conference halls in North East. The state of the art conference hall with 250 sitting capacity is equipped with all the electronic equipments and conference aids. National and international level conferences and seminars have been held in the conference which Governors, Chief Ministers and High Commissioners, Vice Chancellors and other academic luminaries.

RIST has three hostel blocks for boys in the campus with capacity

rIST vows to develop engineering sector

to accommodate 1000 boys. The hostel rooms are modern, spacious, well furnished and clean giving an environment of home away from home. There are also three separate hostels for girls with capacity of 800 students. The meals served in the hostels are hygienic, clean and nutritious and students enjoy their meals in the well furnished modern dining halls.

Apart from teaching course content emphasis is given to train the students for development of their soft skill and personality so that they may be prepared to face the job interview successfully and do well in the work place.

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201416

Life

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji

Are You Happy?Every living creature wants to be happy. Whether it is

money, power or sex, you seek it for the sake of happiness. Some people even seem to enjoy misery because it gives them happiness!

To be happy, you seek something. But despite getting it, you are not happy. A schoolboy thinks that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and, there-fore, happy. When you ask a college student whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy. Talk to somebody who is settled in his job or business, and you may find that he is waiting to get a perfect soul mate to be happy. Then what? When he gets a soul mate, he now wants a child, to be happy. Ask those who have children, if they are happy. They respond that how can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are successfully settled on their own? Ask those who are retired if they are happy? They long for the days when they were younger.

All of one’s life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It’s like making your bed all night, but having no time to sleep in it. How many minutes, hours and days of your life have you spent being happy from within? Those are the only moments you have re-ally lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few mo-ments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.

There are two ways of looking at life. One is think-ing: “I’ll be happy after achieving a certain objective.” The second is saying: “I am happy come what may!” Which one do you want to live by? Life is 80% joy and 20% mis-ery. But you hold on to the 20% and make it 200%! It is not a conscious act, it just happens. Living in the moment with joy, alertness, awareness and compassion is enlight-enment. Being like a child is enlightenment. It is being free from within, feeling at home with everybody, with-out barriers.

Don’t judge and don’t worry about what others think of you. Whatever they think, it is not permanent. Your own opinion about things and people keeps changing all the time. So why worry about what others think about you? Worrying takes a toll on the body, mind, intellect and alertness. It is like an obstruction that takes you far away from yourself. It brings fear, and fear is nothing but the lack of love. It is an intense sense of isolation.

Relaxing through meditation and breathing exercises can handle this. When one is relaxed, one realizes that they are loved, and connected to everybody, and are a part of the whole universe. This will liberate you and the mind will completely shift. You will then find so much harmony around.

To find harmony, it is not as if you have to physically seek it by sitting somewhere for years. Whenever you are in love, your mind is in the present, you feel joyous. At some level, to some degree, everybody is meditating with-out being aware of it. There are moments when your body, mind and breath are all in harmony. That’s when you achieve yoga. The Art of Living lies in the present moment.

Are You Happy?WHY IS CHILDHOOD SO IMPORTANT?

ritu guptagritu21@yahoo.com

As spoken by many, childhood is the most important phase of a man. The first five years of one’s life

builds the foundation of life. Our brain is growing at this age and we are learning to adapt to the different environments. We are learning to adjust with a lot of outside world. It has been seen that experiences in early childhood shape the way our brain grows, works and communicates. The more stimulating and loving experiences a child is provided with, the more influence these experiences will have on the child’s brain development. It is very important for us to provide a happy childhood to our children.

Did you know that a baby can’t be ‘spoilt’. Babies, with caregivers that

respond to them when they cry, will cry much less and feel more secure than babies who are left to cry. This develops a secure attachment that gives children the comfort of knowing that their needs will be meet. Reading a book to your child each day gives him listening and talking skills, imagination, memory and feelings of security. It can start prenatally! That when your family follows a routine of regular bedtimes, mealtimes, daily rituals your child learns what to expect and feels safe and secure. Setting boundaries and reinforcing them in a calm, kind and respectful way assures children that you care.

A child brought up in a healthy environment is more confident, outgoing and full of life than the child who has been brought up in a disturbed environment. Usually when as grown-ups we go to a professional to seek help for psychological issues they always ask us about our childhood. Early stress can affect brain function, learning and memory adversely and permanently. By providing a good

childhood, we are preparing our children for a better tomorrow.

As parents, it’s very important for us to give our children the best childhood –• Sharing with, caring for and loving

them• Communicating with them,

understanding them and making them feel important

• Making them feel sheltered andsecured

• Spending quality time with themand helping them learn the social behaviourMany a times they throw a lot of

tantrums and it becomes very difficult for a parent to understand as to why is he/ she behaving in such a way. At this point, we should not lose our patience but try to find out why is he behaving in such a way.

As very beautifully written that “If we are able to carry our childhood beautifully then we will never become old.” Lastly, if a child cannot learn the way we teach, we must teach in a way a child can learn.

And just when you were thinking that the icons juniors will idolise because of what they have done so far, there they go and do a deed that stops us in our tracks

and ask that question, “So are icons we idolise fallible after all?” Well, they are and they will vouch for it while staring you in the eyes and making you uncomfortable.

Talking of which, one evening I was behind the wheels in my car following a newly launched car in town through a very busy road in Guwahati. I wasn’t following but had to as it was taking its own sweet time to move. I mean how could people think we have all the time in the world, while they do ‘Sunday Driving?’ If they really want to go slow, then they should either let others cross them or they should drive at a time when there is hardly any traffic around or take an alternate road.

Anyway, as I was bound to travel at a speed of slow motion, my anger mounted to a raging inferno. But I was past road rage, remember, I told myself. I took a deep breath and let it out. I calmed myself and kept say-ing, “It’s ok. The man in the XUV might be anything from being a learner, hesitant about the traffic, carrying someone who was pregnant, talking, looking out of his window for a parking; anything.” I consoled myself, trying my skills and attention to singing instead. But the man by now was getting highly irritating. Everyone had to reach some place. There were other cars honking behind me. Suddenly, with-out any warning the car sped a short distance and swerved dangerously to the left. And all this, without an indicator! It’s a brand new car, mind you with all the frills attached. I stopped with a screech of brakes and mumbled some exple-tives under my breath.

But inquisitive as I am, I always want to see the face of a person driving without a care for the rest of the world. So I turned to the right and slowly pulled up near the car which was by the time parked near the footpath to catch a glimpse of the person in the driving seat. And guess who I see? Someone who I have loved and regaled over years as an icon par excellence; an actor from our Assamese film in-dustry. I was numbed and in despair, my only gesture was to wave at him and smile ‘cause with some other person, I would have probably requested him to use his indicator for

our convenience.Indicators are an important part of traffic. The hun-

dreds of cars veining through the city have had to face disaster once too often because of the insensitive attitude of some people driving through the city. Like they would suddenly stop in their tracks while they are driving through the city, least understanding that they may have put others who are driving behind them in distress. In places elsewhere in India and across the world, it is extremely important that drivers indicate where they will be going lest they disturb the traffic flow and also the other drivers. It is the responsi-bility of every person driving on the streets that they should behave and act responsibly.

But sadly, I have noticed that despite having that car, which is the cynosure of all eyes we behave in a despicable manner on the streets. Why is it that people take others for granted?

I have noticed innumerable times while driving that people indicate that they will be either going left or right at a time when I am thinking they will go straight, which is, at the last moment. They could have well used their indicators in advance to direct the car behind it to be prepared to go whichever way it wants to. But no! The person at the wheels of the car will flash the indicator only at a time when he/she wishes to go right or left, very conveniently disregarding the chaos that might have been created in the process. And NO, these people are not the uneducated, illiterate type of people. They are doctors, advocates, police-men, teachers and more. So, what are we expecting the young people to learn from their elders? Nothing! I can almost hear those reprimanding statements for young people, “Why do these children drive so rashly on the roads? See, they don’t use an indicator too. What is this? Haven’t they taken some lessons on driving? Why are these people given expensive cars and bikes?” Hmm. Aren’t these the same questions to be used for you too? And then we blame the young people? How can we, when we don’t behave in a rational and re-sponsible manner on the streets. Who will show them the way if we make mistakes ourselves and that without a care in the world?

Teaching a child to be a good and responsible human

being, who will contribute to the development of the Nation in the future requires a lot of hard work. It’s not just the pride of admitting the child into a ‘good’ school that matters and think that that is the end of our responsibility. No! We cannot be so complacent!

The pride of parents should be that every moment they are sculpting a mind for the future. What the child will learn is from the parent! Every moment the child is copying the parents; how they behave at home and in public, how and what they speak at home and with others outside the home. What he observes at home is what he will practice with his peer group and others. As parents, we have to be extremely careful not to make careless mistakes. The exam of our life is to give to the world a child who will give us full marks for a job well done.

So, coming back to the topic in hand, as seniors, we have to show how we behave on the streets. If a car has been built with the proper gadgets, why not put them to proper use. I have noticed that the use of the indicator re-mains idle most of the time. People are casual about swerv-ing to the left and the right without any warning, much to the horror of the person/s driving behind him. Some do but at the last moment.

Driving a car is a huge responsibility as many lives are at stake. So, it would be wise if people start sitting up in their seats and kept their attention on what’s happening around them rather than having an absolutely nonchalant, give-a-damn-type-attitude! The whole idea of driving on the road is to be in harmony with other drivers and not get a sadistic pleasure in putting them in trouble.

It may hardly matter to you how you behave on the streets with your car but the day is not far when a young boy or girl will walk upto you and say, “Sir/Madam, you want us to be responsible? We will be! We promise you! But can you list some of the things for which you have been responsible while you were driving your car or bike in the city? Before you point your finger at us, just look at your hand and see that there are three fingers pointing back at you!”

responsibly responsible

tinat atiFa MaSood

date: 1st June Time: 10:30 to 12:30 Speakers:Dr. Dipesh Bhagabati (Consultant Psychiatrist) Ritu Gupta (Psychological Counsellor)

“Managing stress is all about taking charge of your thoughts, emotions schedule and the way you deal with problems.....”

A two hours workshop on “STRESS MANAGEMENT “ to be held at the Institute of Human Reproduction conference hall.

For registration and details contact

09854089279

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 17

dr. ankur hazarika

Health

Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an in-creased risk of fracture. In

osteoporosis, the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced, bone micro archi-tecture deteriorates, and the amount and variety of bone proteins get altered.

So it is a disease in which the bone becomes fragile and they can be frac-tured easily with minor trivial injury.

Osteoporosis can be primary or secondary. Primary osteoporosis can be either Post menopausal or Senile while secondary osteoporosis is due to some disease or due to some medica-tions.

Each year, there are an estimated 500,000 spinal fractures, 300,000 hip fractures, 200,000 broken wrists, and 300,000 fractures of other bones. About 80% of these fractures occur from rela-tively minor falls or accidents.• 25% to 60% women, over 60 years

of age develop spinal compression fractures.

• A woman’s risk of developing an osteoporosis-related hip fracture is equal to her combined risk of de-veloping breast uterine and ovarian cancer.

• By age of 90, one third of all women and 17% of men sustain a hip frac-ture

Osteoporosis itself has no symp-toms; its main consequence is the in-creased risk of bone fractures. Osteo-porotic fractures occur in situations where healthy people would not nor-mally break a bone; they are therefore regarded as fragility fractures. Typical fragility fractures occur in the vertebral column, rib, hip and wrist.

Fractures are the most dangerous aspect of osteoporosis. Debilitating acute and chronic pain in the elderly is often attributed to fractures from os-teoporosis and can lead to further dis-ability and early mortality. Fractures of the long bones acutely impair mobility and may require surgery.

Hip fracture, in particular, usu-ally requires prompt surgery, as serious risks are associated with it, such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and increased mortality.

Hip fractures This was a problem which had a

very poor outcome a couple of decades back as we used to hear from our par-ents and grand- parents that if someone broke a hip the patient is bed ridden for life, but that scenario has completely changed due to advancement in Or-thopaedic surgery. Now these geriatric fractures which are mainly due to os-teoporosis can be handled by Ortho-paedic Surgeons in good healthcare institutions with very good results.

About 90% of hip fractures needs surgery and with advancement in sur-gical techniques, metallic implants and advancement in safe anesthetic tech-niques these surgeries have become routine procedures in advanced cen-ters.

As these fractures occur in elderly and very elderly age group they have special problems. These patients suf-fer from most of the diseases of the old age like diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac ailments, neurological disor-der, and general ill health due to age. So these people need special attention and care before, during and after the surgery.

One question commonly asked by the attendants is that can a patient of 90 or 100 years should or could undergo the surgery. This is a very common doubt the patient’s well wishers have and to this we always answer that the risk of not doing anything to a frac-tured bedridden patient severely out-weighs the risk of surgery.

Patients of over 100 years are being operated successfully and a new lease of life is being given to these groups of patients and that has been possible due

to advancements in medical science. These facilities are now made available to all and that too at a very affordable cost.

When you have a 102 year old pa-tient who has fractured his or her hip and feels that his remaining days would have to be spent in bed in misery, help-less and dependent on others-that is the worst feeling one can have.

From what little we have observed, these people on the wiser side of the ageing process hate one thing: and that is to be dependent on others as they are proud people and to tell you frankly they are entitled to their pride and self esteem at this age group. It is a sight beholding when you make them sit up, stand and walk after their surgery. The smile on their lips and the blessings in their eyes to everyone responsible in making him or her stand again and take a step tells it all.

Osteoporosis and fractures

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so it is important to incorporate a healthy menu to your breakfast every day. It should contain the most nutrients as well as high energy levels in the food. After this, your lunch and your dinner can be lighter, as you will not need as many nutrients to process.

Health Tip

About 90% of hip fractures needs surgery and with

advancement in surgical techniques, metallic

implants and advancement in safe anesthetic techniques these surgeries have become

routine procedures in advanced centers.

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201418

Web Watch

Narendra Modi becomes the second most-popular leader on FacebookNarendra Modi’s popularity

on social media continues to grow. According to

reports, Modi’s official Facebook page has the second highest fan following for politicians after US President Barack Obama. Moreover, Modi’s page is the fastest growing for any politician or elected official worldwide.

“Modi continues to have the fastest growing page (for the last day, week and month) of any politician or elected official worldwide,” Andy Stone from Facebook policy communications is quoted as saying.

Modi kicked off the first phase of the general elections with 12.46 million fans on the Facebook. Soon after he was ppointed by President Pranab Mukherjee as the next Prime Minister of the country, figures grew to 15.245 million fans. According

to Andy Stone, Modi’s page surpassed Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate during the elections phase.

As the time of writing this article, Obama has 40,713,046 likes, while Modi has 15,482,350 likes on Facebook. Modi, however, has greater growth rate on Facebook (1.171 per cent) as compared to Mr Obama’s 0.305 per cent. On 16th May, the day of counting, mentions of Modi grew by seven times on the social network.

“Since elections were called on March 5th, Facebook users in India have been engaging with their friends, the candidates and political parties to discuss the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” Stone said.

The new feat comes shortly after Narendra Modi’s victory tweet broke the record of most retweeted

tweet ever from India. Soon after the poll results suggested at a landslide victory for his party, Modi posted on Twitter - “India has won! acche din

aane wale hai” - the tweet saw over 70,000 likes.

Narendra Modi has been very active on the social networking

websites, which certainly helped him connect more with youth and build his pro-youth image in the elections.

In past few months, hackers compromised many popular websites and leaked information

such as email address and password. Yahoo, LinkedIn and Twitter are the most popular websites compromised in past few months.

After security breach, company notifies all affected people via email and ask to change the password. There may be a possibility that you have never received email but your account was compromised. If you are worried, you can double check via a new web application Have I been Pwned.

www.haveibeenpwned.com is a free online tool that lets you check whether your email address was compromised in recent data breach or not. If your account information was compromised, it also displays the name of that data breach. It checks your email against various publicly available email dumps leaked in hacks. At the moment, it has the email database leaked in 22 data breaches including Adobe, snapchat, Stratfor, Gawker, Pixel Federation, Yahoo, Sony and Vodafone. It has 162,080,019 email addresses data base.

Just visit the website and enter your email address. If your email was compromised in any of those data breaches, it will notify you.

Check if your Email account was compromised in

recent data breaches

Indrajeet Bhuyan is a 16 year old tech blog-ger and security re-searcher. He is passion-ate about computers and believes in sharing knowledge and information . He uses his spare time helping people and companies secure themselves. fb.me/indrajeet.bhuyan

Hitachi unveils robot with a sense of humour

Japanese scientists unveiled a ro-bot with a sense of humour, and claimed it was capable of know-

ing when its jokes had fallen flat.The pint-sized roller-skating

EMIEW2 - pronounced like the flightless bird - is able to have a short conversation with a human being, without being given a script.

The red and white robot picks key words from a sentence - for ex-ample, “how many” - to try to work out what question it is being asked, then confirms the inquiry before fir-ing back an answer.

Engineers at Hitachi have pro-grammed the android to understand a range of human responses, includ-ing non-verbal signals like nods. It uses this comprehension to deter-mine if its interlocutor has got the “joke” it has just told, said scientists.

At a demonstration in Tokyo on Tuesday, the 80 centimetre- (32 inch-) tall device answered a question on

the number of people working at the Hitachi facility with the somewhat surreal: “We have two swans.”

When its interlocutor appeared puzzled, the robot let on that it had been joshing. “You got it? I’m kid-ding. We have about 800 people working here,” it drolly revealed.

Hitachi’s Hisashi Ikeda said while the robot’s sense of humour may not be very refined at present, the ability to comprehend reactions was an important step forward. “The new technology makes it possible for a robot to understand what a human means, even if they only gesture,” he said.

EMIEW2 - its name is a rather strained acronym for “excellent mo-bility and interactive existence as workmate” - is intended ultimately to provide company in some form, perhaps as a kind of house pet, or even as a receptionist, the company said.

Twitter launches ‘mute’ button for android, ioS and web

Twitter has rolled out a new ‘mute’

button, which lets us-ers turn off the posts/updates of certain us-ers without unfollow-ing them. The feature has been introduced for Android, iOS and web users.

The ‘Mute’ button will stop un-wanted posts from showing up on your timeline, including native re-tweets and their own posts, so us-ers will not get push notifications or SMS alerts from them. The button is reversible and no one will know if you activate the feature. Users can access the ‘Mute’ feature from the gear icon of the twitter profile page or from the ‘more’ link on any indi-

vidual tweet. The fea-ture has started rolling out and will be avail-able to users across the globe over the next few weeks. To learn more about the new feature, check out Twitter’s help center page.

Earlier this week, Twitter had introduced a new feature that lets you re-set user passwords with a text message. The new feature was launched in an effort to make the so-cial networking site more secure for users. The system will also analyze the users account history, location, device, etc to identify suspicious ac-tivity. The new password reset pro-cess has been launched for Android and iOS clients.

@PMoIndia will not lose all followers

A day after the spat between the BJP and former Prime in-ister Manmohan Singh’s me-

dia adviser Pankaj Pachauri over the latter’s move to archive @PMOIndia Twitter handle, the new ruling party said it will get the problem “fixed”.

“They have not followed the best practice. They have gone ahead with the unethical practice of renaming the account, which has now gone dead and lost its followers,” said Arvind Gupta, convener of BJP’s information technology cell. He said they would now have to start from scratch once Narendra Modi takes over. “But we are not going to do that. We will get it fixed,” he said, without elaborating how they planned to take over control.

After @PMOIndia was renamed as @PMOIndiaArchive, the origi-nal handle became a dead page and

lost its verified status as well as half a million odd followers. However, the @PMO handle can get the fol-lowers back if the archive handle is renamed as @PMOIndia. Inciden-tally, the dead @PMOIndia account already has over 1,50,000 followers.

While there is no doubt that the entire handover could have been handled better, we can also attribute the confusion to the fact that this is the first time such a handover is tak-ing place.

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 19

Reviews

When utilized as a movie plot device, time travel has the ability to do a

great many things. It can refresh an ailing franchise, introduce new characters, and even establish an alternate timeline that introduces the possibilities of new scenarios without adversely affecting the previously established mythology. As J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek showed, all of this can also be accom-plished without a movie feeling like a massive, unnecessarily com-plicated game of connect-the-dots.

Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past is a time-travel tale that serves as both sequel and mash-up, combining the casts from the original X-Men tril-ogy with the youngsters from the swinging, 1960s-set X-Men: First Class. The result, sadly, is less than the sum of its parts. Instead of a thrilling new adventure, it plays like a hugely expensive remake of It’s a Wonderful Life, with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine acting as an adamantium-clawed guardian an-gel forced to show the bickering mutants how bad the world will be if they don’t just get along.

The movie opens in a post-apocalyptic future, where moun-tainous robots, dubbed Sentinels, are programmed with a single purpose: track down and extermi-nate a new crop of super-powered mutants (among them, Omar Sy’s Bishop and Fan Bingbing’s Blink, who has the memorable power of creating shimmery portals). Mag-neto (Ian McKellen) and Profes-sor X (Patrick Stewart) are there, too, even though at least one of them died in the third X-Men (no matter). They are slower and look tired, and not just because they’re trapped in an unnecessary sequel. As this movie begins, they are los-ing the war, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

X-Men: First Class, which this film is ostensibly a sequel to, had a singularly zippy energy; it was

sexy, funny, and sleek. That was thanks largely to director Mat-thew Vaughn — who offered his own skewed take on the universe — and the new cast, which had swagger for days (Michael Fass-bender as young, Nazi-hunting Magneto in particular). Singer has never been the stylist Vaughn is, but he did bring a level of social consciousness to the first two X-Men movies, using fear of mutants as an effective metaphor for mi-nority discrimination in our own world. There’s been excitement around Singer’s return as a result, because even if the movie looked lousy (unfortunately it does), there was the expectation that it would at least be about something bigger and more complex than mutants firing laser beams at each other.

The problem is that these moments don’t add up to much because the movie has very lit-tle in the way of actual stakes or tension. It’s a problem with most prequels and it’s compounded by the fact that Days of Future Past is a time-travel tale: if Wolverine succeeds in his mission, then not only will the horribly monochro-matic future of murderous robots be undone, but the events depicted in several of the other movies in the series will also cease to exist. Instead of some clever framing device, the time-travel angle in-stead reveals itself to be a cynical mechanism meant to simultane-ously reboot the original thread of X-movies while also allowing the First Class generation to continue, for as long as the actors’ ironclad contracts allow (work has already begun on a sequel, ominously dubbed X-Men: Apocalypse). It’s undoubtedly one of the reasons the actors, even sparkplugs like Jackman and Fassbender, seem so uninterested and unengaged: they also realize that nothing re-ally matters here. It’s the end of the world as they know it, and they feel fine.

Director: Bryan SingerCast: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence

Director: Soundarya R. Ashwin

Cast: Rajnikanth, Deepika Padukone

Director: Sabbir KhanCast: Tiger Shroff, Kriti

Sanon, Prakash Raj

X-MEN: daYS oF FUTUrE PaST

CoLdPLaYGhost Stories

If you could see it, then you’d un-derstand.” That glistening anti-koan punctuates the chorus of

Coldplay’s skyscraping 2005 single “Speed of Sound”, and the lyric’s pro-found meaninglessness has doubled as a mission statement for the mega-

band’s career thus far. They’ve estab-lished a reputation as mainstream rock’s koi pond architects, designing music that’s deceptively shallow but, if caught at the right moment, shim-meringly beautiful, to the point that you could focus on it for hours.

YoUSHoULd

LISTEN

X-MEN: days of Future Past

KochadaiyaanThe legend heropanthi Momtaaj

(Assamese) Godzilla (3D-E)

apsara Cinema

Daily at 11AM, 2, 5, 8PM

Daily at 2.45 PM

anuradha Cineplex

Daily at 9 AM, 2.45PM (3D-H) & 8.15 PM (3D-E)

Daily at 11.45 AM & 5.15PM

Fun Cinemas Daily at 12.15 & 5.40 PM (3D-E)

Daily at 9.30 Am & 8.30 PM

Gold Cinema (Fancy Bazar)

Daily at 11.30 AM, 5.30 & 8.30 PM

Daily at 11AM, 2, 2.30, 5, 8PM

Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazar)

Daily at 11.30 AM, 5.30 & 8.30 PM

Daily at 11AM, 2, 5, 8PM Daily at 2.30 PM

Gold Cinema (Narengi) Daily at 2 PM Daily at 11AM, 5,

8PM

NoW SHoWING

Kochadaiyaan, a 3D com-puter animated period film directed by Soundarya R.

Ashwin and written by K. S. Ra-vikumar, due to the revolutionary use of technology in the movie production is one of the most awaited movies. And, presence of superstar Rajnikanth who has a god like presence in the south-ern box offices only amplifies the hype.

Along with Rajnikanth who will be seen in triple role, the movie also features R. Sarathku-mar, Aadhi, Deepika Padukone, Shobana, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Jackie Shroff, and Nassar enact-ing and voice supporting impor-tant animated characters in the movie. The music of the movie is composed by Oscar winner and accomplished music director A.R. Rahman. Now, let’s analyse the impact of technology, in our Kochadaiyaan movie review.

Kochadaiyaan is a period movie partly inspired from the life of pandiyan king Kochadaiiyaan Ranadhiran (710-735 A.D). The movie revolves around the bat-tle of Good versus evil and shows one man’s courage to stand for the injustice. The movie shows Kocha-daiiyaan Ranadhiran’s brilliance in battle and his benevolence in ruling his subjects. It documents his vicious struggle against those

who plan to usurp his crown.On numerous occasions di-

rector Soundarya has claimed that Kochadaiiyaan has been made using latest animation and 3D technologies. And, when you compare it with other movies that have been produced on the Indian shores, the claim indeed prove to be right. But in comparison with Hollywood movies, Kochadaii-yaan is lacking in ‘wow’ factor special effects.

Rajnikanth is the star of the movie and his performance once against defies his age. His stunts, characteristic dialogue delivery style and stylish acting, carries the movie forward with impecca-ble grace. The plot of the movie is well developed and the characters are well rounded and dynamic.

In the nutshell, though Kocha-daiiyaan isn’t the best animated special effects movie around the block, but it still has enough ele-ments to entertain and woo the audience, and the best part is an-other brilliant performance from the living legend.

‘Heropanti’ is the story of two conflicting protagonists Dimpy (Kriti Sanon) and Bablu (Tiger Shroff). Tiger Shroff roars and flexes his muscles in ‘Heropanti’. He’s ear-nest in his debut and his lady love in the movie Kriti Sanon is surprising-ly quite a show stealer in a film that is below mediocre.

The movie is a take off on ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ and ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge’. Sabbir’s narrative is lin-ear, and painfully predictable.Tiger is earnest in his debut, he’s an odd mix of Bollywood stars Salman and Hrithik Roshan. His on-screen part-ner Kriti Sanon bears an uncanny resemblance to Alia Bhatt.

The script is quite flimsy ,with some of the musical scores that are foot tapping. The debutants have done their best but still something is missing.

Final Heropanti Review: Watch the movie for Tiger Shroff’s stunts and Kriti Sanon’s looks.

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201420

Bazaar

Not many people are aware that keeping fish as pets is the 2nd largest hobby in

the world with 1st being gardening. Aquariums are attractive inclusions in the drawing room of almost eve-ry urban household nowadays. But while buying a fish or setting up an aquarium, many people ignore the do’s and don’ts of the health and maintenance of the aquatic creatures. G Plus gives you lowdown on them and the Guwahati market as a whole.

TypesAquarium fishes are classified

into three categories namely - marine fish, fresh water fish and brackish-water fish. • MarineFishAquariums:Fishonly

tank, FOWLR (Fish only with live rock) tank and Reef aquarium.

A reef aquarium prominently dis-plays live corals as well as fish that play a role in maintaining the trop-ical coral reef environment. A reef aquarium requires appropriately intense lighting, turbulent water movement, and more stable water chemistry than fish-only marine aquaria, and careful consideration is given to which reef animals are appropriate and compatible with each other.

• Freshwater Fish Aquarium: Fishonly tank with artificial decora-tions, biotope setup which repli-cates the natural environment of the fish species and natural plant-ed setup.

• Brackish-water Aquarium: Fishonly tank and brackish-water bio-tope setup

A brackish-water aquarium is an aquarium where the water is brackish (semi-salty). The range of “saltiness” varies greatly, from near freshwater to near marine and is often referred to as salinity.

The price range of the fish varies depending on the quality of strain, imported strains are costlier than the non-imported ones and it also var-ies based on the transportation and maintenance (stocking and feeding) charge.

Fish FoodThere are various fish food brands

available in the market like Tetrabits, Hikari, Ocean Nutrion, NLS (New Life Spectrum) and many others. The price range of fish food can vary from `10 to `1000. Simanta Kakati of Aqua Aesthetics at Rajgarh who in order to

LoVE YoUr FISHESAn aquarium can be one of the best hobbies ever but you need to get yourself ready for it.

sustain his hobby turned to become a businessman told G Plus that the food price varies based on the ingre-dients present, which determines the health, immunity and color promi-nence of the fish.

aquarium Water“For fresh water aquarium, it is

always advisable to use clean water. By clean water, I mean water which has not been treated by medicine.

Water from boring pumps is also all right but they dirt the tank due to presence of iron. Moreover, too much of iron or chlorine also effects the health of the fish,” Simanta Kakati told G Plus. While asking about ma-rine water and brackish-water aquar-ium, Kakati suggested only using RO (Reverse osmosis) water which can be easily available from any water puri-fier like the Aquaguard.

The do’s and don’ts*Do not change the tank water entirely as it hampers the environment of the fish very frequently and makes it difficult for the fish to adjust in new water environment everytime.*Have a proper water change regime and change the water from 30% to 70% only.*Change 20% to 30% of water every 7-10 days for planted aquarium.*Always spend two minutes of your time while feeding the fish.*Keep the filter clean.*Proper lighting is important for the planted aquarium.*Fish bowl concept is not advisable as it minimizes the area of habitat and the fish can’t grow fully.

GoldFIsH Price `30 to `1,800 per pairLife span 5 to 25 years

FREsHWATER sHARKsPrice `30 to `500 per pairLife span upto 25 years

GouRAMIPrice `20 to `400 per pairLife span upto 4 to 8 years

GuPPIEsPrice `20 to `3,000 per pairLife span upto 2 to 4 years

ANGElsPrice `30 to `500 per pair

Life span 6 to 18 years

CICHlIdsPrice `20 to `10,000 per pair

Life span 5 to 30 years

MollIEsPrice `20 to `300 per pair

Life span 3 to 4 years

shubhojit.roy@g-plus.in

ShuBhojit roy

*Price variation depends on the quality of strain

PART 1

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 21

G-Talk

PoINT CoUNTErPoINT

The BJP’s spectacular perfor-mance in the recently con-cluded Lok Sabha elections

have managed to propel the party into a household name in the state where it was struggling to maintain its existence barely a couple of years ago (during state assembly elections). While many, including members of the ruling Congress party in the state will be quick to wax eloquent about BJP’s rise as the cumulative effect of ‘Modi Magic’ sweeping the nation at present, even a casual observer of daily political events in the state will be qualified to discredit this notion to a large extent.

Whether Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi resigns or the dissident Con-gress members float a new party, the damage has been already done. Thanks to the minute scrutiny of the 24/7 Assamese news channels and the media in general, the people of the state have been able to keep a close eye on all the happenings of the Congress government. Be it the dis-sident murmurings of its members, the towering ambitions of several senior members to hold the coveted CM post and the utter failure of the present leadership to tighten its reins on the dissenting members. That it

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) might have proved their mettle by gaining absolute majority to

form the government in the Centre, but the scenario in Assam is very different. The ongoing bickerings in the state Con-gress due to dissidence may be a grand opportunity for the BJP to make their space in the state too, but certain factors may not allow the saffron party to fulfil their dreams. The Lok Sabha elections 2014 were entirely swept by the BJP, but it was somewhat a one-man show, which helped the party to regain its power in the Centre. The entire country voted for that one man. Now, at the state level, it depends on who the people look up to as a leader who will run the state. It also depends on the party which is mostly looked up to.

In the history of not only Assam but the entire northeast, the BJP has not been able to make a significant mark and rule any state. Assam is a politically diverse state with people having varied political views and hence, influencing the voters is not a piece of cake. The BJP might have won seven seats in the state during the Lok Sabha polls, but the vot-ers did not vote for the local BJP lead-ers. It was Narendra Modi who wooed the voters.

The BJP has a dearth of good lead-ers in the state, whereas Congress has an army of influential members to rule and are already in the state for a long time now. The dissidence might be an issue, but the factor will soon die down with time. The BJP might try their best to take advantage of this Congress cri-sis, but they will never be able to gain ground and make a strong impact.

With a not so secular ideology, BJP will have a tough time convincing the voters as Assam has a lot of minority and tribal voters who do not back the BJP. To get an idea about this, we can check the present Assembly numbers, which shows that AIUDF, being a very new political party has 18 seats. BJP was

With Congress reeling from dissidence, can the BJP make inroads

into the State Assembly?

NilaKShi BordoloiJournalist

Shazad laSKarBanker

should happen at a time when the party should have been working to consolidate its hold over the voters ahead of the gen-eral elections gave other parties in the state the much needed breathing space to plan their strategies well in advance and work accordingly.

The BJP gained the most from the con-fusion in the Congress camp because they, under the able leadership of state party president and newly elected MP from Di-brugarh, Sarbananda Sonowal, have been able to put up a united front, earning brownie points, which translated to votes during the elections.

When we talk about the BJP mak-ing inroads in the state, we can see that the party has already managed to make its presence felt in several new areas once considered to be Congress bastions. People of any state want peace and development from their elected representatives. Look-ing at their performance of the last 10 years, the people of Assam voted for devel-opment when they brought back the Con-gress with such overwhelming majority in the last assembly elections. But instead of working for the people, Congress minis-ters and MLAs let their personal squabbles out in the open, an opportunity, no doubt exploited by other political parties, includ-ing the BJP to make inroads in the state.

Apart from party loyalty, people seek peace and stability from their government, something which the Congress failed mis-erably to show ahead of the elections. With their promise of development for all and good days ahead, it was, therefore, rela-tively easy for the saffron party to endear themselves to the voters ahead of the elec-tions.

However, it remains to be seen if it can continue to capitalise on the great divide in the Assam Congress in the days to come. So far, the BJP has managed to offer itself as a viable alternative to Congress in na-tional politics. With 2016 fast approaching, the party has all but to pull up its socks if it desires to make a lasting influence in peoples’ minds.

always a minority party in the state and the Narendra Modi factor will not be able to work here significantly be-cause all said and done, all the saffron party leaders in the state, who did have a chance have already been selected as MPs in the Lok Sabha. For local politics BJP, do not have good a strong foundation of members and workers.

Whether it is Tarun Gogoi or Hi-manata Biswa Sarma, both of them are influential and senior leaders, and whoever carries on as the future Chief Minister will be able to retain the good work done during their tenure which will work as an example for the voters to choose their leaders. BJP is looked upon as a communal party nationally and the voters in Assam will always prefer a secular party. In recent times, the BJP might have tried to portray themselves as a secular party, but until Modi fully proves his secular ideolo-gies, the 2016 assembly elections will already be over.

With a not so secular ideology, BJP

will have a tough time convincing

the voters as Assam has a lot of minority and

tribal voters who do not back

the BJP”

“Whether Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi resigns or the dissident Congress members float a new party, the damage has been already done

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201422

SUDOKU

Fun

Solu

tions

(Last

Issu

e)

ariES You won’t win any races at the

beginning of the week; going slow will be your MO. It’s good to exercise pa-tience, and there’s a kind of quiet force that comes along with not rushing any-one. That said, by Wednesday, you’ll be rushing all around. People who send you long, gushing emails will get a one-sentence response. Friends or cowork-ers who want an in-depth discussion of the details on Thursday will have to wait for a better day. Friday finds you flirting with you-know-who, but noth-ing heavy. Parents and relatives are a prominent part of your weekend — or they’re on your mind.

TauruS Energy levels are high on Mon-

day, and you and your friends are tight-er than ever. You’ve been longing for romance lately, and on Tuesday you’re going to be treated to some. Deca-dence, affection and sex appeal all fig-ure strongly. Check you out! The second half of the week finds you distracted (it’s pretty obvious why) and feeling out of character. Someone’s on you to sign a legal document on Thursday. Don’t. An impulse buy at a department store tempts you. Resist. Friday is a good day to communicate with someone on an emotional level, and some great food is in your future this weekend.

GEMiNi The obstacle that plops down in

your path on Monday may shake you up a bit, but stay the course. Focus. You knew there would be obstacles, but they’re just part of the fun. Tuesday sur-rounds you with talkative people, but all you feel like doing is standing back and listening. By Wednesday, though, you’re ready to join in on the conver-sations. Thursday and Friday find you feeling better and more ready for the future than you’ve been in a while. (Also, someone’s clearly head over heels for you, which is fun and flatter-ing.) This weekend, be thrifty.

CaNCEr A big lunch on Monday fills your

belly and puts a huge smile on your face. You are deliriously happy around other people these days — even fam-ily members — especially when food is involved. A social dinner on Tuesday is not a bad idea. Wednesday and Thursday, you have your sights set on wilder, more ambitious ways of spend-ing your time. You are in the mood for adventure; you are in the mood to buck authority. Don’t resist this positive im-pulse — it’s about time you came out of your shell! This weekend is about new beginnings. Express yourself. Insist that the spotlight stay on you.

lEo As much as you’d like to be

spending the day in the park, Monday is all about work: your career, your standing — stuff like that. Your repu-tation is on the up-and-up, in fact, and on Tuesday you feel like something of a celebrity. The circle of people around you is constantly lavishing you with praise, so put that circle of people to good use. Creative brainstorming fig-ures into your day on Wednesday, and there’s plenty of time for socializing on Thursday and Friday. This weekend has you feeling sensitive and being particu-larly honest. A bubble bath on Sunday would end the week beautifully.

VirGo Your head opens up on Mon-

day, and you have visions of far-off lands. And you start thinking improb-ably about philosophy. And you try to devise new excuses to express yourself to people. On Tuesday, these impulses graduate into outright soul-searching. Research and analysis suddenly seem fun to you on Wednesday, and a logic puzzle captures your imagination. Thursday and Friday have the poten-tial to be either stellar or stifling, de-pending on how you play your hand. (Go for stellar. It’s an attitudinal thing.) This weekend, you’re energized by be-ing around other people.

liBra Beauty hits you over the head on

Monday — it’s everywhere. If you are in the middle of a romantic courtship, this is going to be a meaningful week. If you’re not in the middle of a romantic courtship … well, wait a few days. Who knows? Tuesday is like a duet between you and you-know-who, and Wednes-day is suited for deep communication. Try to go out and experience what the world has to offer you and your spe-cial someone on Thursday and Friday. Newness is good. Harmony is in the air. This weekend, take long walks through local parks. Look at the plants. Look at the sky.

SCORPIO Ah, the old give-and-take. An

opponent may be a stronger force than you on Monday, but this is not an arm-wrestling competition. Ceding a minor victory at this point may be the key to getting what you want at a later date. Boldness and bravery are key on Tuesday as well. But in all your valiance, don’t ignore the fine print this week, on Wednesday and Thursday especially. Be careful in any matters relating to money or business; taking a risk on Friday won’t pay off. Being yourself this weekend will pay off though — in ways you’d never imagined.

SaGiTTariuS

You and your best friend are attached to each other — at least by phone — at the start of the week. Com-munication is key. How else are you go-ing to get everything done? You see the value in having a trusted pal, and so does your trusted pal. By Wednesday, though, you start wondering if less talk and more action is in order. (It is in or-der. You’re right.) Thursday is not a bor-ing day, and neither is Friday. In fact, what with everything going on, there’s a chance you’ll lose sight of the bigger picture. And what is the bigger picture? Where are you headed? That’s a ques-tion for the weekend.

CAPRICORN On Monday, you’re dreaming of

the woods: camping, trees, a crackling fire. You may not be able to dart off into a forest any time soon, but do your best to spend some time in an environment that in some way relaxes you. By Wednesday, you will likely feel the opposite of relaxed as flighty people zip all around you. Anyone who makes you nervous doesn’t deserve a lot of attention, so be short and sweet on Thursday. Cut to the chase on Fri-day as well. This weekend, you’ll be able to dote on one special person, and noth-ing makes you happier on Sunday than giving someone else a back rub.

aQuariuS

You are not one to spend a lot of time looking back, but at the start of the week your head is in the history books. Or it’s in some of your old journals. Or you’re asking an old relative a lot of pry-ing questions. Something tells you there are relevant lessons for you somewhere in the past — and you’re right. Someone who shares your interest in history might turn into a romantic interest overnight (on Wednesday or Thursday), and Friday will be romantic as well. Small projects around the house will occupy your weekend.

PISCES Love and beauty abound at the beginning of the week: romantic notes, poetry, artwork, delicious dinners — you get the picture. If you’re single, this energy may manifest itself in a few days of in-credible creativity. Creativity will carry you through the week, actually, although Wednesday and Thursday are days of business and mutability. The moment you finish building a house of cards, someone breezes into the room and it topples. Alas … life. Don’t be too specific in your hopes for Friday, and you won’t be dis-appointed by what comes your way. This weekend will be barrels of fun.

JUST FOR LAUGHS

YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF TIMEPASSHOROSCOPE

A local FM Radio was running a contest, and I phoned up.The RJ said, “Congratulations on being our first caller, all you have to do is answer the following question correctly, to win our grand prize.”“That’s fantastic!” I shouted in delight.“Feel confident?” she asked. “It’s a maths question.”

“Well, I’ve got a Masters in maths and have been teaching for 35+ years,” I proudly replied.“Ok then, to win our grand prize of 2 front row seats to a Himesh Reshamiyas new movie and to meet him back stage:What is 2+2?”I replied, “7!!!”

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2014 23

Citypedia

G Plus will keep on publishing such relevant and useful information in this page in the coming issues.

Compiled by Mautapa Dhar

EMERGENCY NUMBERSAMBULANCE

Ambulance 102Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665

Downtown Hospital 9864101111, 9435012669GLP Social Circle 2737373

GGUMTA (Mirza) 03623-227109Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251

BLOOD BANKArya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665

Ganga Blood Bank 2454742, 2455029Lion’s Club of Ghy Central 2546611

Marwari Yuva Manch 2546470, 2547251Saharia’s Path Lab (24 hours) 2458594

24-HOUR PHARMACIESArya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665)

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

RADIO TAXI SERVICESPrime Cabs

0361- 2222233Green Cabs

0361-7151515My Taxi

0361-2228888Cherry Cabs8876222288

OTHERSFire Emergency 101State Zoo 2201363

GMC Carcass Pickup 9435190720, 9864047222

LPG Emergency/Leakage 2385209, 2541118

CINEMA HALLAnuradha Cineplex – 0361-2656968, 99545-44738

Fun Cinema (HUB)- 98648-00100, 98648-00200 Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar) – 98540-66166

Gold Cinema (Salasar) – 0361-2735367, 98540-77177Gold Cinema (Narengi) – 88110-01898

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

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

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

Call Centre – 9678005171

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

RESTAURANTS

Gams Delicacy Restaurent Sree Krishna Mrkt 1rst floor, below fly over, Ganeshguri, Ghy-6, Ph- 8253988865,

Oregano RestaurantsSohum Residency, 1st Floor, R.G Baruah Road, Near Nrl

Petrol Pump, Zoo Road, Ghy- 5 Ph- 9854050050

Subway Restaurants F Fort Building, Ground Floor, Basti Road, G S Road, Ghy -7

Ph- 0361-6014747,

The Yellow ChilliBhangagarh, G S Road, Ghy- 7

Ph-9706075261

Moti Mahal Delux Tandoori Restaurant, 6/11, Anil Plaza, G S Road, Banghagarh, Ghy-5

Ph- 9957270504,

Machaan Restaurant Dona Planet 4th Floor, Behind Rajiv Bhavan, G S Road, Ghy- 5

Ph- 0361-2466158

Makhan Bhog Hotels Pvt LtdRoyal Center, Opp S B Devrah

College, Ulubari, G S Road, Ghy – 5, Ph- 9854081406,

PizzeriaGodrej Building, Ground Floor,

Nr Ulubari Fly Over, Ghy -7Ph- 986429111

Machan Veg RestaurantsGreenwood Resort Pvt Ltd, Madhab Nagar, G S Road, Ghy- 5, Ph- 9207042326,

White Pepper Fun Dining Res-taurant, Itag Plaza, 1st Floor, Nr Rajiv Bhawan, ABC Area, Ghy -5, Ph- 9207079265,

MaihangShanti House, G S Road, Ghy– 7 Ph- 9854373978

MPS Natures CuisineMps Food Hub, Fortune Tower, 2nd Floor, Bhangagarh, Ghy-5

Ph- 8486001106

Grill RepublicaOpp IDBI Bank, G S Road, Ghy-5, Ph- 9954658571

City DhabaLachit Nagar, G S Road, Ghy-7

Ph-0361-2453173

J J Bar & RestaurantNr Post Office Bus Stand,

Christian Basti, Ghy -5Ph-0361-2343137

Hollong RestaurantG S Road, Banghagarh, Ghy- 5

Ph- 9706010234

Florentine RestaurantsHotel Gateway Grandeur, G S

Road, Ghy -5 Ph- 9678041005,

Mexitthachi RestaurantsNandan Hotel, G S Road,

Paltan Bazar, Ghy -5Ph- 0361-2540855,

O GuwahatiBliss Enclave, Opp M/S Shah Eastern Traders Petrol Pump,

Ganeshguri, Ghy -5Ph- 9864050626

Akash Ganga RestaurantNear Shiv Mandir, Ulubari, Ghy -7, Ph- 9864095813

Seventh Heaven RestaurantSeven Heaven Complex,

Ulubari, Ghy -7Ph- 9864025307

Suravi RestaurantsAmbarish Hotel, G S Road, Ghy -5, Ph- 9706099649

Hotel CrownOpp Big Bazar, Banghagarh,

Ghy -5, Ph- 9864051324

The Taste Of IndiaGaneshguri, G S Road, Ghy -5

Ph- 9859606995

Sunview International Restaurants, Sunview Inter-national Hotel, Opp Mizoram

House, Ghy- 5Ph- 9401039507,

South Coast Christian Basti, G S Road, Ghy

-5, Ph- 0361-2340429,

Mid Town Bar RetsaurantNear Usha World, Christian

Basti, Ghy- 5Ph- 0361-2348866

New City Dhaba Opp Big Bazar, Banghagarh,

Ghy -5, Ph- 9401045779

Cherry Wood CuisineNr Usha World, Christian Basti,

Ghy-5, Ph- 9707642542

Bibhawari RestaurantG S Road A B C, Banghagarh,

Ghy- 5, Ph- 9864913382

MeemsG S Road, Banghagarh, Ghy- 5

Ph- 9954748535,

Arunabh RestaurantGaneshguri, G S Road, Ghy-5

Ph- 9957504371

SAI RestaurantR G Baruah Road Ganeshguri

Chariali, Ghy-5Ph- 9954345932

Kiran VarietyChristian Basti, G S Road, Ghy -5 , Ph- 9854392129

Atrium Restaurants

Grand Starline Hotel, Christian Basti, Ghy -5,

Ph- 9864339055

Moksha BarPragati Manor Hotel, G S

Road, Dispur, Ghy-5 Ph- 9954011800

Bhagaban Hotel & Res-taurant Ulubari, Bhagaban Bharali Complex, Opp Bora Service, Bharalupar, Ghy-7

Ph- 0361- 2463638

Ram BhojnalayaRadha Plaza, G S Road,

Ulubari, Ghy-7 Ph- 9435118945

International Hospital0361-7135005Mahendra Mohan Choud-hury Hospital(2541477, 2543998)Marwari Hospital & Re-search Centre0361-2602738/39Marwari Maternity Hospi-tal 0361-2541202/01Nemcare Hospital0361-2528587, 2455906, 2457344

HOSPITALS Pratiksha Hospital0361-2337260, 2337183/84Basistha Military Hospital (2304617/0351)Railway Central HospitalCasuality (2671025)Redcross Hospital(2665114)Sri Sankardeva Netralaya0361-2233444, 2228879, 2228921TB Hospital(2540193)Wintrobe Hospital0361-2519860,98647-77986

POLICE STATION

GNRC Hospital 0361 2227702GNRC Life First Ambulance 9401194011

G PLUS MAY 24 - MAY 30, 201424

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

Kamur of the weekWhat did i just hear?

Catching Up

Headlining acts!

pick of the Week

Some people like coke with their slice. A father and son face drug charges after police said they sold powder cocaine from their Moline, Illinois pizzeria. Police searched Adriana’s Pizzeria and two residences, and ar-rested 44-year-old David A. Curtner Sr. and his son, 22-year-old David A. Curtner Jr. The men face charges of possession with intent to deliver cocaine. Investigators said they kept an eye on the shop because a lot of people visiting the business walked away without pizza.

Matinee idol Shah Rukh Khan has emerged as the second richest actor in both Hollywood and Bollywood combined list. Wealth-X’s Hollywood and Bollywood Rich List released recently, puts come-dian Jerry Seinfeld right on top of the rich list. With an estimated net worth of $820 million, the 60-year-old comedian emerged as the wealthiest actor. Wealth X said “Khan is estimated to be worth $600 million”. Tom Cruise is the third richest actor worth $480 million fol-

lowed by Johny Depp and Tyler Perry both tied at $ 450 million.

Ignoring her age, parents of an 11-month-old girl, sent her on a solo parasailing trip to a height of about 40 feet as the toddler was seen crying by onlookers at Muzhipillangadi beach in Kannur. The child, Niya Nizam, had undergone a month’s training, a relative of the toddler told the media. Kannur Superintendent of Police P N Unniraja said that he had asked the organ-isers and parents not to put the child to such a trauma.

Post poll relaxation: During the Lok Sabha elections, the authorities cited the excuse of being busy with the polls, but even after it is all over, the general public is facing a tough time getting their work done in the government offices, as many bureaucrats and officials are on leave or vacation!

It’s a story no one could predict: A man claiming to be a palm reader is behind bars after allegedly getting handsy with two women in a Walmart parking lot. Zulfikar Jaffer, 52, was arrested and charged with two counts of battery after two women told police in Sanford, Florida, that he touched them inappropriately. One of the victims told police that Jaffer approached her in the Walmart parking lot after she had loaded her child into the car. Jaffer reportedly said he wanted to read the woman’s palm. Then he told he could tell she was pregnant and asked to feel the baby’s heartbeat. When the woman declined, he allegedly touched her breast. Then he walked away, but only after telling the victim she was going to have a boy. The second victim said Jaffer approached her in an Aldi located near the Walmart and asked to read her palm. Jaffer allegedly fol-lowed the woman into the parking lot and convinced her to sit in his car and let him read her palm again.

Manchester United have appointed Louis van Gaal as their new manager following the sacking of Da-vid Moyes last month - immediately endearing himself to the club’s support by vowing to ‘make

history’. The Dutchman has signed a three-year deal at Old Trafford and, significantly, will be assisted by Ryan Giggs - who announced his decision to retire on Monday

afternoon. Frans Hoek and Marcel Bout join the club as other assistant coaches, while Van Gaal - currently the manager of Holland and who becomes the club’s first foreign boss - will begin his new role after this summer’s World

Cup in Brazil. Twelve months to the day since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Van Gaal began a new era in bullish fashion. ‘It was always a wish for me

to work in the Premier League. To work as a manager for Manchester United, the biggest club in the world, makes me very proud,’ he said. ‘I

have managed in games at Old Trafford before and know what an incred-ible arena Old Trafford is and how passionate and knowledgeable the

fans are. This club has big ambitions; I too have big ambitions. Together I’m sure we will make history.’ Giggs’ future had looked uncertain for some time, but the decision to keep him on in a senior capacity has delighted the

40-year-old. ‘I am thrilled to have the chance to serve as assistant manager,’ he said. ‘Louis van Gaal is a world-class coach and I know I will learn a lot about

coaching from being able to observe and contribute at such close quarters.

Father and son sold cocaine out of pizza parlor: Police

Palm reader allegedly gropes women in walmart parking lot: Police

WHo’S HEBrian Patrick Carroll, better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist who has worked within many genres of music. He has released 91 studio albums, four special releases and one EP. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists.

So WHaTBuckethead is famous for wearing a KFC bucket on his head, emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker reading FUNER-AL in capital black block letters, and an expressionless plain white mask which, according to Buckethead, was inspired by his seeing Halloween 4.

NoW WHaTDuring 2014 Buckethead con-tinued releasing albums at the same pace as 2013. He started by announcing the following two installments Backwards Chimney and Pike 43 on December 2013 but were not released until January 2014. Then the following installment called You Can’t Triple Stamp a Double Stamp was released on Janu-ary 9 and The Coats of Claude on January 17.

Buckethead

Sonali RautWHo’S SHE

Sonali Raut is an Indian actress and model and has appeared in

kingfisher calender 2010. She has also done a photo shoot for

Maxim with Ranveer Singh. She was a part of commercial of idea ungli cricket with Ab-

hishekBachhan.

So WHaTSonali Raut is best known as the face of cosmetics giant, MAC in

India. She came into limelight after her shoot with kingfisher

calender collection in 2010. Sonali has also starred in big

campaigns for Wipro, Shikakai, Damas and Pantaloon.

NoW WHaTAccording to the media reports,

a cat fight between Zoya Afroz and Sonali Raut took place, Zoya Afroz slapped Sonali

when both of came together to promote their film The Xposé

on Comedy Nights With Kapil. However, Zoya Afroz clarified and said Sonali and I had cat-fight but only in the film. This

controversy got highlighted because both Zoya and Sonali did not come together for the

promotion since that incident.

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Louis van Gaal appointed Manchester United manager