VOL 01 | ISSUE 15 | JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014
GETS UNDERWAY IN THE CITY
ROAD SAFETY WEEK
New GMC projects have already been sanctioned and the new year seems to have started on a good note for the corporation.
GMC CLAIMS FOR
REAL OR JUST PIPE DREAMS?
PG02
PG 03
PG 11BHOGALI BIHU SPELLS BOOM FOR BUSINESS
`1024 Pages
Luisa ZissmanCatching Up, Pg 24
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 20142
New GMC projects have already been sanctioned and the new year seems to have started on a good note for the corporation.
Lead Story
The Assam government had sanctioned Rs 63 Cr to the Guwahati Municipal Corpo-
ration (GMC) for the year 2013-14. The city development body takes care of all the general public day-to-day development process, and every New Year, it comes up with various projects to make Guwahati a better place to live in. This year
too, the body has said that it has taken up various projects for the betterment of the society and has also prepared a road map to use the money sanctioned by the gov-ernment to further bring people’s livelihood to another level of pro-gress. GPlus exclusively researches various projects taken up by the department to use the money.
GMC CLAIMS FOR
REAL OR JUST PIPE DREAMS?RAHUL CHANDA
Projects taken up by GMC during 2012-13 and 2013-14
Construction of G+4 Beltola Market cum Commercial Complex. The foundation stone of the complex was laid by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on 03/04/2013.Estimated Budget – Rs 6.38 crores
Construction of Lakhtokia office cum commercial complex at Lakhtokia, including the preparation of Bid Documents etcEstimated Budget – 1 crore
Construction of Bhootnath Zonal officeEstimated Budget – 58 lakh
Construction of 124 roads (Total length = 36.012 km) under the award of 4th Assam Finance Commission and13th Finance CommissionEstimated amount used in 13th FC (including 11-12 and 12-13) 2011 -12, 1st instalments – 268.15 lakhs2011-12, 2nd instalment – 440.13 lakhs2012-13, 1st instalment – 392.29 lakhs4th Assam Finance Commission(2011-12) 1st instalment – 1105 lakhs2012-13, 1st instalment – 500 lakhsTotal amount used to construct the roads till date – 13705.57 lakhs
Construction of basic infrastructure of Adabari Bus Stand (Phase I) under Annual Plan (Construc-tion of 355 m of carriageway with road side RCC drain and pedestrian path).Estimated Budget – 99. 98 lakhs
Construction of basic infrastructure of Adabari Bus Stand (Phase II) under the award of 4th As-sam Finance Commission for 2011-12 (Construction of 198.00 m of carriageway with roadside drain and pedestrian path).Estimated Budget – 60 lakhs
High mast lighting systems and street lights:-(i) Installation of 10+2 numbers of High Mast Lighting System at various locations under GMC
Trade and Development FundEstimated budget – 111.77 lakhs(ii) Street lighting system in following roads of Guwahati under the award of 4th Assam Finance
CommissionNepali Mandir to SerapbhatiFatasil Bridge to Ambari Tiniali Police pointEstimated Budget –68.83 lakhs
Hengrabari road from Ganeshguri point to Express HighwayHatigaon Chariali to NH-37Estimated Budget –126.65 lakhs(iii) Renovation of existing street lights on 176 roads having 2493 numbers of 40 watts tube
lights and 438 numbers of sodium vapour lampEstimated Budget –39.61 lakhs(iv) New street lights on new octagonal poles on seven roadsEstimated Budget –115.76 lakhs(v) Installation of 1260 numbers lamps on existing ASEB polesEstimated Budget –123.78 lakhs
Some projects in the pipeline which will be launched in the near future according to GMC
(i) Multi storied markets with adequate parking facilities at Ulubari, Ganeshguri, Rupnagar and Fatasil. Tendering process has already started. Allotments likely to be finalised by end of January 2014.
(ii) Garage cum workshop at Basistha. GMC claims that surveying and planning process has already started.
(iii) Convention centre at Kharguli. Surveying and planning process has already started.(iv) Dispur and LakhraZonal offices. Surveying and planning process started.(v) Recource centre at Lamb road.(vi) Beautification and protection of river Bharalu (Estimated amount = Rs 15 crores) from GS
Road point to ASEB complex at Ulubari. Tendering process already started. Allotment likely to be finalised by January 2014.
There might be many promises made by the government and the bodies at-tached to it to develop the state and the city every year. There are Assembly ses-sions, season after season passing vari-ous bills and allotting crores of rupees for many projects in the state. But, how many projects get completed in a way that it is a win-win situation for every-one? In spite of crores of rupees getting pumped in by city development bodies like Guwahati Municipal Corporation, for a planned and beautiful Guwahati, why is the city still under various ter-rors like monsoon, poor roads and cha-otic traffic?
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 3
In The News
The ignorance of the drivers as well the pedestrians coupled with a few inefficient officials
has been a great matter of concern for the road users over the years. In order to spread awareness among the masses on how to use the roads safely, the district administration, Kamrup (M) along with district transport of-fice has organised a weeklong pro-gramme from January 11 to 17, 2014.
As a part of the celebrations, an art competition for the schoolchil-dren of the city was organised on Jan-uary 8th at the Shardhanjali Kanan with the help of Artist’s Guild.
Among the activities to be car-ried out during the ‘25th Road Safety Week’, a walkathon, a rally by the victims of the road mishaps, a vintage car rally and a bike rally are some of the important ones.
“Juli Baruah, who lost both her hands in a bus accident, has been in-vited to take part in the ‘walkathon’, to be held on January 12. Besides, Assam’s first Arjuna awardee Bho-geswar Barua, Guinness world record holder Abhijit Baruah and former five-time national discus champion Tayabun Nisha will also take part in the walkathon,” district transport officer (registration and licensing), Gautam Das said. The walkathon will start from the Nehru Stadium to the Rudra Singha Sports Complex at Dispur.
The road safety week, the theme of which is ‘When on the road, Al-waya say pehle aap (you first)’, will also witness a vintage car rally with the help of the vintage car owners of the city.
Rupom Chetia Bora, a media personality as well as a budding so-cial entrepreneur of the state, under whose initiative, the vintage car rally will be organised, said, “Owning a vintage car is a matter of pride for the Assamese people. It also represents the age-old rich history and heritage of Assam. Therefore, in order to in-
culcate this idea of preserving our own heritage among the youths, we have decided to organise the vintage car rally in Guwahati as a part of the celebrations of the road safety week.”
Bora, who also runs a non-gov-ernment organisation, Project Paat-kai, further added, “The road safety is related to the youths, because, they are the ones who have tendencies to drive carelessly. To spread the mes-sage of the road safety week and to
MRiNMoyee HAzARikA
GETS UNDERWAY IN THE CITY
ROAD SAFETY WEEK
Increased awareness, developing traffic sense and renewed guidelines are the objectives of the City Traffic Police
Date Time Events venue
11th January 10 am onwards Street corner meeting Adabari bus stand
Health camp
12 am onwards Training of drivers (hazardous goods vehicles) T.O.P Betkuchi
Enforcement checking up drive
12th January 8 am onwards Walkathon From Nehru stadium to Rudra Singha sports complex
Car rally
Vintage car rally
11 am onwards Public meeting/ street play At different locations
13th January 10 am to 12 am Car rally DTO office
10 am to 1 pm Training of bus drivers and health check up ISBT, Betkuchi
11 am onwards Street play At different locations
2 pm to 4 pm Bike rally DTO office
15th January 9 am onwards Joint checking
16th January 10am to 1 pm Eye camp ISBT, Betkuchi
17th January 9 am to 12 noon Demonstration by 102 GMC hospital GMCH
10 am onwards School education on road safety
develop a civic attitude while driving on the road, among the youths, the vintage car rally is being organised.”
Other important aspects of the road safety week are the training of drivers (hazardous goods vehicles), street plays, public meetings, health check-ups for drivers and car rallies at different parts of the city.
Emphasising on the significance
of road safety week, the city traf-fic SP Bibekananda Das mentioned that many lives are lost every year because of the lack of awareness on road safety.
According to the data available with the Guwahati city police, a total number of 880 cases of road accidents have been reported in the city in 2013 (upto September). Altogether 208
persons were killed and 823 persons were injured in road mishaps during the same period.
The previous year (2012) has re-ported a total number of 1078 cases of road accidents in the city. Besides, 246 persons were killed and 1062 per-sons were injured in 2012.
“Owning a vintage car is a matter of pride for the Assamese people. It also represents the age-old rich history and heritage of Assam. Therefore, in order to inculcate this idea of preserving our own heritage among the youths, we have decided to organise the vintage car rally in Guwahati as a part of the celebrations of the road safety week.”
Rupom Chetia BoraMedia personality
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 20144
Being the capital of Assam, Dis-pur is known as the political hub of the state and with VIPs
zooming in towards the secretariat and state assembly, the place becomes an important location for the state. All the MLAs also stay at Dispur as the MLA hostel is situated here. Adjacent to the secretariat is the police station which is always busy with security concerns of the area. Interestingly, in the last year, Dispur police station registered 2757 cases.
Case descriptionThe number of heinous crimes
like murder, rape, kidnapping and so on might have decreased, but crimes like theft and burglary ruled the crime chart in 2013. There were 7 murders registered, 77 kidnappings, 1 dacoity, 17 rapes and 6 arsons. There were also cases of land grabbing and arms act. According to our sources in the police, mostly all the major cases are solved and charge sheeted, but still, there are 1695 cases, which are being further investigated in the area. Whatever is the scenario, it is seen that crimes like theft and burglary has tremendously increased in the area. But what exactly is the reason that such crimes are on a speedy rise?
DISPUR PS REGISTERS 2757 CASES IN 2013 RAHUL CHANDA
Murder 7Arson 6
Kidnapping (girls & women) 77Dacoity 1
Robbery 56Chain snatching 24
Extortion 26Burglary 262
Theft 427
AUTO ThEFTTwo wheelers 156
Four wheelers (LMV) 51Four wheelers (hMV) 3
Rape 17Dowry 110
Dowry death 1Rioting 14
CBT / White collar crime – 43+4 = 47Cheating 271
Counterfeiting 9
OThER IPC/ ACCIDEnT – 860+195 = 1055
Total IPC 2620Arms Act 3
ES Act 1nDPS Act 1
Immoral Trafficking Act 2IT Act 25
Molestation/ Crime against women – 48+13=61
Protection of children from sexual offence Act 6
Land Grabbing Act 16Other Act/ JJ Act – 16+4 = 20
Total local and special law/WLP Act 3
Total Cognisable cases 2757
Out of 2757 casesCases disposed – 521
People arrested – 653 personFinal Report submitted – 331Cases charge sheeted – 190
Cases further inquired – 1695
Reasons for theft and burglary
Guwahati is witnessing a major change in its look, work culture and various other aspects of development. Being the capital of Assam and the gateway to the northeast, it has become the business hub of this region. People from all over the region visit Guwahati for various purposes and job opportu-nities.
According to police, rising popu-lation may be a reason behind such increased rate of theft and burglary in Dispur. Cheap labours from different places come and easily get recruited in different sectors like construction firms and so on. Sometimes, these la-bourers commit a crime and then flee from this place. They sometimes do it within two three days of their stay in the area, so, people do not even recog-nise them well, which adds to the has-sles of investigation process, the source added.
It might be true that there is al-ways an issue of floating population because of immigration, both legal and illegal, but there must be a way to bar the criminals from committing such crimes.
ProstitutionAs there were also cases of im-
moral trafficking registered at the PS, G Plus also enquired the Dispur police about the scenario of prostitution in the Dispur area. The sources in police informed that it is not that Dispur does not witnesses such cases, but mostly it happens as a part of adultery, where
the police cannot even register a case. There are many bars and clubs in and around Dispur, where certain immoral activities happen, but it is difficult for the cops to prove the activity as most of the times, it is out of consensual agree-ment. If the cops do pick up some peo-ple and take them to the court, it is still difficult for them to prove immoral activity as there is hardly any evidence. Sometimes, the police are inhibited as the people arrested can even blame the police of being involved with them.
Juvenile justice actThere were also cases under the
protection of children from sexual of-fence act and juvenile justice act, which were registered at the Dispur police station. According to highly placed sources in Child Welfare Committee, in 2013, a notice was also issued to a well known politician of the state for using a child as a labour for house-hold work. A minor was gang-raped by minors, which was a big shame to not only the city, but the entire state. So, Dispur saw various cases of crime against children in the last year.
White collar crimeDispur being the place full of
VIPs, it is full of white-collar people who make decisions for the entire state. It is not that Assam has a great history of bureaucrats getting involved in corruption. Dispur in the last year did register a few cases of white-collar crimes. But as the outcry for Jan Lok-pal Bill is catching momentum, will it
be possible for an important place like Dispur, to be away from such kind of cases.
All said and done, the police is not always to be blamed for any crime tak-ing place in the city as the number of cases registered in city police stations is far more than what departments like CBI register. But, how to make the po-lice efficient enough so that no matter what the number of cases may be, it should get disposed soon, and at the end of the year, there is always an equal tally between the number of cases reg-istered and disposed?
The Police Station in the state’s capital has a
myriad number of cases registered
in its logs, with several still
pending closure.
City
Cases registered in 2013
2757Cases disposed in 2013
2132
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 5
“At a time when the numbers
of road mishaps are witness-ing an increase in the city, the
number of registration of new cars seems to be coming down.
In the fiscal year of 2011-12, alto-gether 62,000 cars (both commercial and private) were registered at the dis-trict transport office, Kamrup (DTO). The next fiscal (2012-13) saw the regis-tration of a total number of 58,638 cars in Guwahati. So far, the current fiscal (till the month of December, 2013) has seen the registration of 46,934 cars in the city.
“The records have shown that the registration of new cars is falling in the city, which means that the buying ca-pacity of the people has fallen down. The loss incurred in the coal-mining sector has made a significant contribu-tion to it because a huge number of ve-hicles are being used to transport coals and the current turbulence going on in the sector has resulted in the lesser number of registration of transporta-tion vehicles,” district transport officer (registration and licensing), Gautam Das said.
He has also attributed some other factors for the decreasing trend of registration of new cars in the city. Among them, the reducing trend of the peoples’ buying capacity because of the price hike, increased interest rates of bank loans etc are the reasons responsible for lesser number of regis-tration of new vehicles.
The data available with the of-fice of the district transport officer (registration and licensing), Kamrup shows that out of the 58,638 vehicles registered in the fiscal year of 2012-13, there are 22270 motor cycles, which is the highest of all other vehicles regis-tered during the period. The registra-tion of cars comes second in the po-sition with a total number of 18,905
cars being registered at the DTO office during the same period.
Moreover, out of the 46,934 num-bers of vehicles (both transport and non-transport vehicles) registered at DT office, Kamrup, during the period of April to December, 2013, the mo-tor cycle segment has once again come at the top in terms of registration of vehicles in the city. A total number of 17,051 motor cycles were registered during that time.
On the other hand, the enforce-ment branch of the district transport office has realised a lesser amount of fines including taxes in the fiscal year of 2012-13 compared to its previous year. More than Rs 2 Cr of fine includ-ing taxes had been realised in 2011-12 and more than half a Cr of money had been collected by the district transport officer (enforcement) in 2012-13.
In the current fiscal, till the month of December, a total amount of Rs 1,37,37,192 had been collected as fine by the enforcement department of dis-trict transport office.
Initiatives to be taken up–
1) A single window counter for senior citizens inside the office of the DTO,
Kamrup2) Introduction of Tata nano cars as
taxi service3) Putting up of traffic signage on the
roads of the city 4) More branches of high security
registration plate (HSRP) fitment centres
The status of the fitment of high security registration plate (HSRP) –
So far, a total number of 68,712 vehicles have been fitted with HSRP in Guwahati since the project was in-troduced in the month of September, 2012. The project was introduced on a pilot basis in July, 2012 in 20 districts of Assam and since then, altogether 2,18,000 number of vehicles have been fitted with HSRP across the state.
“At present, it has been made mandatory for the owners of both the two and four wheelers (private) to install HSRP in their vehicles. But, installation of HSRP in all other old and new two and four wheelers will be made mandatory soon by the DTO,” Hrishiraj Bhagawati, senior project manager of Agros Impex (I) private limited which is working with the of-fice of the DTO for installing HSRP told G Plus.
VEHICLE REGISTRATION GOES DOWN IN THE CITY
Although there have been various new vehicle launches, the city has seen
a drop in the number of vehicles registered, hence signifying a drop in vehicle sales.
MRiNMoyee HAzARikA
He has also stated that the people are not eager to replace their old num-ber plates in place of the new HSRP. “Though, some people who own four wheelers do come to our office to re-place their number plates, most of the people do not wish to come and do the needful. But, once it is made mandato-
Registration of vehicles at DTO, Kamrup
Fine realised including taxes
22270 motor cycles, 8894 scooters, 18905 cars registered during FY 2012-13 in Guwahati17051 motor cycles, 9392 scooters, 13700 cars registered from April, 13 to December, 13
Cases registered and disposed under violation of Motor vehicle act
Year
Year
Year
April,12- March,13 7068 51570
April, 11- March, 12 1,33,16,025 22,00,028 48,73,750 2,03,89,803
April, 12- March, 13 1,04,02,720 28,68,980 49,11,548 1,81,83,248
April, 13- November, 13 17,85,170 1,06,392 2,80,110 21,71,672
April,13 – December,13 5216 41718
April,12- March,13 5257 4694
April,11- March,12 8173 6855
April,13- October,13 2369 3049
Non-transport vehicles
Disposal of cases (in nos)
MV tax(in Rs)
Assam passenger& goods tax (in Rs) Total (in Rs)
Transport vehicles(Trucks, LCV goods,
buses & taxis)
Registration of cases (in nos)
Composite fine(in Rs)
At present, it has been made mandatory for the owners of
both the two and four wheelers
(private) to install HSRP in their vehicles.
ry, then they will have to install HSRP. The commercial vehicles will have to install HSRP in the coming years. Since we are running short of office space, it is not possible for us to do the replacements in one day. But as a whole, the process is moving towards a positive direction,” he also told.
City
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 20146
Politicking
As the process of organising Narendra Modi’s visit to As-sam in February picks up, hec-
tic confabulations have started in the Party regarding who should be given the ticket for the prestigious Guwahati Lok Sabha seat. On one hand there is the sitting MP and BJP Vice President Bijoya Chakraborty while on the other hand is the challenger and BJP Nation-al Executive Member Prodyut Bora.
Highly placed sources confirmed that Prodyut Bora has already started his groundwork in the constituency with hurricane tours to the remote areas of the Assembly segments; and holding meetings with ground-level workers. Certain publications have al-ready reported that Bora has formally applied for the party ticket. Just a week
after returning from the United States, Bora’s activities have already created ripples in the inner circle of the state BJP.
This has given the sitting MP Bi-joya Chakraborty some concern to think about. Chakraborty is believed to have taken this challenge seriously and has increased the speed and fre-quency of her public appearances.
Though BJP has not yet decided on the issue of party tickets for any constituency - and it has been a normal practice to give tickets to sitting MPs - but considering the fast emergence of Aam Aadmi Party nationwide, all major parties will certainly have to do a lot of rethink on the selection of candidates. Just the other day, V Bal-akrishnan, one of the directors of In-
fosys, India’s most respected software company, joined AAP. Similarly Meera Sanyal, former CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has joined AAP and is all poised to fight the Lok Sabha from Mumbai South. The emergence of the professional class on the political scene is making all parties, particularly the Congress and the BJP, reconsider their strategies and choices of potential can-didates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Informed sources tell us that there is an ‘open mind’ within the BJP on retaining existing MPs. In the recently concluded Vidhan Sabha election in the four major north Indian states, BJP replaced a large number of sit-ting MLAs: nine in Chattisgarh, six in Rajasthan, and fourteen in Madhya
GUWAHATI SEAT TO GO UNDER HAMMER BEFORE
LS POLLS
Pradesh. BJP’s internal survey shows that there is a huge anti-incumbency against Bijoya Chakraborty amongst party workers and the public. Al-though BJP has a reservation policy for women - and Bijoya Chakroborti - is hoping to reap that benefit, the party is scared of losing the Guwahati Lok Sabha seat by re-nominating her.
On the other hand, in a space of just four years, Prodyut Bora has emerged as a bright young face of As-sam BJP, and enjoys great popularity amongst the educated youth and the intellectual class. While Prodyut Bora’s age, academic background and clean image will certainly provide him am-ple advantage, his personal rapport with top-level Party leaders is expected to swing things in his favour.
gpLUs feATURe
BJP’s internal survey shows that there is a huge anti-incum-
bency against Bijoya Chakraborty amongst party workers and the public. Although BJP
has a reservation policy for women - and Bijoya Chakroborti - is hoping to reap that benefit, the
party is scared of los-ing the Guwahati Lok
Sabha seat by re-nomi-nating her.
A tug of war is set to unfold in the BJP for the Guwahati seat before the LS polls with a new challenger emerging from the folds.
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 7
In The News
Nano taxi to roll out on city roadsAs the Greater Guwahati Auto Drivers Union has refused to ply on meter and
fare chart fixed by the GMC, now they may have to witness tough days shortly. An Official Source said the Regional Transport Authority approved a proposal to introduce 50 Tata Nanos as radio taxis in the city, during a board meeting held recently. To teach a lesson to the city auto drivers who charge according to their whims and to stop the non-registered autos, RTA has decided to roll out Tata Nano on the city roads very soon. At present the city has radio taxi service- My Taxi and Prime Cab which uses cars such as Indigo CS, Toyota, Etios, Ford Figo, Indigo and others, and charges around Rs. 18 per km. The base fare for autos fixed by the Transport Department is Rs. 30 for the first 2 km and Rs, 15 for every subsequent kilometre. But with a base fare of Rs. 15 only for the first 1 km, Nanos are likely to give competition to auto rickshaws. Although the fares are almost same, Nanos are more comfortable and will easily be the first choice of commut-ers. Because they can book it over phone, the GPS monitoring device fitted with it gives one more reason.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
3rd Servo car rally by FICCIThe Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) ladies’ organised a car rally in Guwahati on
5th January 2014. An innovative concept total of 27 cars from different car manufacturing companies took part in the 3rd Servo Red River Car Rally. The rally kick started at 8am from Guwahati Tea Auction Center till Thakurkuchi and Panikheti near Chandrapur area via Beltola road and ended up in GTAC again. The rally was covered within 85 km distance. The Servo car rally was flagged off by Pradyut Bordoloi, Minister of Industries, Commerce and Power said, “Such kind of in-novative concepts will not only inspire the city people but also eradicate the negative thoughts other states have about As-sam”. Unlike other rallies it saw participation of experts from Kolkata, Nagaland and various families and youths of the city.
Guwahati set to witness 74th annual session of IRC
With an aim to develop the integrated road network and to connect the missing links the Public Works Department of Assam invited the Indian Road Congress (IRC) to organise its 74th annual session in Guwahati from 18 January to 22 January 2014. The five day-long meet will take place at Sarusajai Sports Sta-dium. The meet will witness a huge participation from civil infrastructure pro-fessionals, members of IRC, renowned highway and bridge engineering experts from state and central government, public and private organisations across India and abroad. IRC was set up by Government of India on the recommendation of the Indian Road Development Committee in December 1934. It’s a premier technical body of highway engineers in India.
Final electoral rolls of Kamrup (M) publishedThe final electoral roll for special summary revision of electoral rolls of the Jalukbari, Dispur, Gauhati East and Gauhati
West Legislative Assembly Constituencies, have been published on 6th January. “As per instruction of the Chief electoral officer, Assam, the final electoral rolls for special summary revision of electoral rolls with effect from January 1, 2014,as the qualifying date for 51 Jalukbari, 52 Dispur, 53 Gauhati East and 54 Gauhati West LACs falling under Kamrup Metropolitan election district have been published,” said an official while adding, “the copies of the same have been kept for inspection for general public at the office of the concerned EROs and in the office of the district Election Officer, Kamrup Metro. The same also will be available for inspection in the DEO’s website – kamrupmetro.nic.in.”
APCB to develop water testing quality
The Assam Pollution control board planned to im-prove the water quality testing parameter of pond and water bodies across the state. The Board is also planning to introduce more than five ambient air quality testing stations in all districts of the state near all the ponds and water bodies. Currently, there are 22 ambient air quality testing stations in different parts of the state, out of which six stations are located in Guwahati. Gokul Bhuyan, Sen-ior Environmental Engineer, Assam Pollution Control Board said “Every month the department collects a total number of 101 water sample from Brahmaputra River and its tributaries to taste water quality.” Now more than 20 stations will be introduced to collect more samples. There are many families earning by fishing and every year many fishes die due to contaminated water. So, keeping this in mind the board decided to improve the testing quality. He also said that they already had the planning but due to fi-nancial constraints they are not able to monitor. This time a strong financial budget will be helpful to implement this plans and projects.
American wrestlers to woo Guwahatians at 21st International Trade Fare Stage is set for the biggest celebration that the city of Guwahati has ever seen. For the first time in the history of Indian wrestling, four very
prominent pro-wrestlers associated with TNA and WWF will demonstrate their unbelievable fighting skills at the forthcoming 21st International Guwahati Trade Fair 2014 (IGTF) which will be held from January 31 to February 16 at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Guwahati. The team of four wrestlers from USA will be led by Sonjay Dutt who is best known for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling. Industries and Trade Fair Association of Assam (ITFAA) who is the organiser of 21st IGTF has taken the initiative to give India the flavour of the sport. ITFAA Vice-President Rajesh Das said, “I am very positive about events and we are the pioneer in Assam on organising such activities. This time the city was looking very beautiful during Christmas and New Years with many activities across the city. I just want to say that the rules and regulations should not be biased and everyone should have a win-win situation.”
City boxer becomes first Indian to play for American team
Guwahati boy Shiva Thapa becomes the first Indian boxer to play for an American team Los Angeles Knockouts of world serious box-ing. He has been granted a ten year visa and will play his first against Ukraine on 17th January. He is living for USA on 12th January. Accord-ing to his family sources, if he gets gold in the tournament, Thapa will be directly qualifying for Olympics.
With an aim to enhance the col-lection performance and timely collec-tion of property tax, GMC launched a facility for online payment of property tax. This is also very convenient for the tax payer of the city. The new facility was launched on 6th Jan 2014 by S. Vishwanathan, GMC Commissioner in the presence of the civic body and the RBI. To make the online payment
of tax, Guwahatians can log on to www.gmcportal.in, they can also view their bill on the site. As per it citizens will have different options for making online payment using three modes-credit card, debit card and net bank-ing. Initially the transaction charges for using the online payment facility by the citizens will be borne by the GMC. This online payment facility
will be free of cost for the citizens. Any issue regarding the use of this facility can be mailed to [email protected] and the website also con-tains the terms and conditions policy. At present the demand of property tax collection is of around Rs. 25 crore out of 176099 holdings within the corpo-ration boundary.
Online amenity to city tax payers
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 20148
g pLUs NeTwoRk
Bhogali or Magh Bihu is one of the festivals during which the city of Guwahati is left desert-
ed. But unlike other festivals such as Durga Puja, people prefer to celebrate bihu amongst the family members in the rural atmosphere in their an-cestral homes. Take the instance of Chida Bora, a cinematographer based in Guwahati, who will be at home at Golaghat with his parents after a long time to celebrate Bhogali Bihu.
“Bhogali Bihu always has an es-pecial place in our hearts. The atmo-sphere of my home during the bihu cannot be compared with anything. The fresh smell of pithas and rice is really fascinating. It would be great to enjoy the feast with my friends and family members at my home,” said Bora who never misses the opportu-nity to celebrate Bhogali Bihu at his home with parents and friends.
“Last year too, I managed to reach home during bihu even though I was in Mumbai for work,” he said but was quick to add that he prefers to be in the city during Durga Puja. “Durga Puja is another festival in which we
get an opportunity to celebrate with friends and it’s more fun to be in the city during the Puja days,” Bora told G Plus.
Meanwhile, Rakesh Nath, a state government employee, has applied for leave to spend more days with his family. “As Bhogali bihu is celebrated in a glorious way across the state, I wanted to make it more especial and so I have applied for two extra days of
Guwahati looks deserted during Bhogali bihuAs the city eagerly waits, the festival manages to
reignite all the traditional values in the citizens.
leave,” said Nath.“I’ll be visiting my in-laws house
in Tezpur during the bihu with my wife and kids. Bihu, be it Rongali or Bhogali, is always more graceful in rural areas. The food or the atmo-sphere is simply more appealing to me than here in Guwahati,” he fur-ther said.
But for Ankur, a student of B Borooah College, it’s the feast on
the Uruka night which is the main at-traction for him when he us at home amongst his friends and family.
“The feast is always lovely. To sing, dance and steal things from the neighbours during the night is really fun and then on the next day to burn the meji, a monument made of dry straw, adds an especial colour to the celebration,” said the boy who has booked ticket to go home to Na-
harkatia in Dibrugarh district.Guwahati might be an upcoming
city and the people might be slow-ing moving towards a more cosmo-politan lifestyle, but at the same time, Bihu always manages to bring out the traditional roots in all of them. It is good to see that in spite of every-thing, Assamese people still regard Bihu as a special festival, which takes them back to their roots.
As the festivity of feasts is around the corner, people from different castes and
communities from across Assam have been doing their best to prepare food items. In this regard, Guwahati has always been different for various reasons. Keeping the tradition alive, the people of the city also try their best to make Bhogali Bihu memo-rable.
Thanks to the number of Bihu Fairs – Bhogali Mela – at different parts of the city with different variety of foodstuff, they cater to the needs of the people of the city. It also helps the laborious people to earn a few extra bucks besides providing a feel of in-digenous and traditional food items during the time of bihu.
“We have to remain busy most of the time of the year. We hardly get time to prepare our tradition food items. I feel great that these are still available. Thanks to the Bhogali Mela for providing people like me the taste of pitha, laro and others during the time of Bihu,” said Raktim Barua who is involved corporate sector.
Somebody like Raktim does not mind paying a bit extra if they get quality food items like this. “The or-ganiSers and the participants in such fairs should be more professional so that the traditional food items can even be promoted outside the state,”
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he added.The Bhogali fairs are being held at
the Lakhiram Bora Xetra near Digh-alipukhuri, at Zoo Road Tiniali and even the Institute of Hotel Manage-ment, Guwahati is organising a food festival titled ‘Mukali Akhol 2014’ at the institute’s campus at Henger-abari, VIP Road. It displays around 75 exotic Indian and International food preparations prepared by the students and faculty of the institute.
For the small time entrepre-neurs it is a good platform to do their business during the time of Bihu with their products. For some-
BHOGALI BIHU AND THE MELAS
one like Manoj Deka, it is one of the best things he has done in the recent past. “It feels good to indulge in your hobby and earn a few bucks. I have always liked cooking and prepar-ing different recipes especially from our region,” said Deka who runs a stall at the Bhogali mela near Digh-alipukhuri.
Deka is professionally a photog-rapher but is enjoying his role as a chef during the Bihu season. From various types of pork to fish items, he has arranged a variety of local dishes for the visitors from a range between Rs 120 to Rs 80 per plate.
Special
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The Khanapara Veterinary Col-lege playground has become a hub for the farmers and ag-
riculture experts of the state and 15 countries from across the globe. It opened up new doors of opportuni-ties for Assam farmers at the first ever international agri-horticultural exhi-bition, which started from Wednes-day last week.
The show, which is being organ-ised by the Directorate of Horticul-ture and Food Processing, Assam, the Department of Agriculture, As-sam and the Assam Agricultural University, with support from the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Assam Horticultural Society will also focus on facilitating the local farmers and promote their products.
The four day programme which was inaugurated by Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi in the pres-ence of several union ministers and ministers from Myanmar and Laos and was attended by an estimated five thousand farmers from the state and nearby areas to exchange their ideas with farmers and experts from 15 different countries from across the globe.
“It was a learning experience for all the people involved with the agri-cultural sector including the farmers. Because this is for the first time that such a huge gathering of experts and international farmers are assembling here. Besides, we also discussed on the business aspects with the dele-gates from the foreign countries,” As-sam agriculture minister Nilamani Sen Deka said.
There were altogether 426 stalls to display and sell agricultural prod-ucts in the expo. Out of these, 20 stalls were by the foreign participants and 102 by the Indian farmers while the rest were by the farmers from As-sam.
On Thursday, on the second day of the expo, during Myanmar Con-clave, various issues regarding co-op-
eration in agriculture, horticulture, and food sector between Myanmar and Assam was discussed.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Go-goi appreciated the performance and activities of agriculture department for its efforts in developing the sec-tor grossly in the recent years after formally inaugurating the first ever international agri-horticultural exhi-
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Opportunities for Assam farmersFirst international Agri-Horti show kicks off in the city.
bition. He also hoped that this event will help in promoting the state prod-ucts at the global level.
“The future of the sector lies with proper implementation of the ‘Look East Policy’. The State Government is also looking for employment of sus-tainable development in the sector. In this regard, the role of Department of Agriculture and Horticulture is
praiseworthy,” Gogoi said in the presence of union minister of state for Agriculture and FP Industries Charan Das Mahant and ministers from Myanmar and Laos.
Union minister of state for Ag-riculture and Food Processing In-dustries Charan Das Mahant said that Assam has performed extremely well in the recent past and the per-
formance has been better than many other states of the country.
“Owing to some of the favourable weather conditions, availability of rich resources and irrigation facility, the sector has developed significant-ly. With proper implementation of central and state policies, the sector will grow in multitude of dimensions in future,” Mahant said.
Special
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201410
Space
PHOTO: northeastnews.inBuilding Design and RCC Structures
Structural design is the methodi-cal investigation of the strength, solidity and rigidity of structures.
The primary purpose of a structure is to relay or support loads. If the struc-ture is not accurately fabricated, or if the actual applied loads exceed the design plan or specifications, the de-vice will probably fail to perform its intended function.
The built environment relies upon structures, from high-rise buildings and bridges, to the streets and com-munities where we live and work. En-gineers analyse and design, looking at aspects including strength and dura-bility, to ensure they are safe and able to withstand pressures such as earth-quakes, severe weather, blasts, and fire.
The Process – sTrucTural Design
A structural design goes through three processes and it involves all planning, design and construction.
Planning: This phase takes into account the numerous needs, re-quirements and factors that affect the general layout and dimensions of the structure and results in the choice of perhaps many alternative types of structure, which offer the best general solution. The primary consideration is the function of the structure. Second-ary considerations like the aesthetics, sociology, law, economics and the en-vironment may also be considered.
Design: The design phase involves a detailed consideration of the alterna-tive solutions described in the plan-ning or the first stage and results in deriving of the most suitable propor-tions, dimensions and details of the structural elements and links for con-structing each alternative structural arrangement being considered.
Construction: This phase in-volves mobilization of human re-source, procurement of materials and equipments, including transportation to the site, and actual on-site construc-tion. During this phase, some redesign may be required if unwanted or una-voidable difficulties occur.
sTrucTural Design anD rcc consTrucTion
Today most of the high rise build-ings use RCC techniques that we see everywhere now-a-days. Though As-sam Type Houses or sheeted rooftop houses are economical then RCC in terms of construction but slowly they too are loosing ground in this fast de-veloping city of northeast. People have started opting for RCC houses over the years as they are better lasting.
rcc consTrucTion – The MeThoD
Unlike a wall or load bearing con-struction in which all load of roof and structure is carried by walls down to its foundation, in a RCC framed struc-ture, the load is transferred from a slab to the beams then to the columns and further to lower columns and finally to
the foundation which again transfers it to the soil. The walls in such struc-tures are constructed after the frame is ready. Cement concrete is strong in compressive strength but weak in tensile strength. So, as to increase the tensile strength, steel bars are used in cement concrete. These bars provide good strength to the structure. Usually steel bars are corrugated to further im-prove the bond between the concrete and steel.
coMMon rcc TerMinology
Slab - The flat ceiling of a story.
Beam - The peripheral horizontal members supporting the slab.
Plinth Beams - The beams at ground level or plinth level.
Column - The vertical members supporting the beams.
Foundation - The structure below ground transferring the entire load
of the structure to the soil.
Cantilever - A slab or a beam supported only on one side and
projecting horizontally on the other side.
rcc sPecificaTions
Shuttering shall be done using seasoned wooden boards of thickness not less than 30mm.Surface contact with concrete shall be free from adhering grout, nails, splits and other defects.All the joints are perfectly closed and lined up.The shuttering and framing is sufficiently braced.Nowadays timber shuttering is replaced by steel plates.All the props of approved sizes are supported on double wedges and when taken out, these wedges are eased and not knocked out.The entire framework is removed after 3 weeks of curing without any shocks or vibrations.The reinforcement bars are free from rust, grease oil etc.The steel grills are perfectly as per detailed specifications.The covers to concrete are perfectly main-tained.Bars of diameter beyond 25mm diameter are bent when red hot.The materials proportion should be as per the specifications of the concrete.
causes of The collaPse The recent trend of building
failures and even collapses has led experts to reconsider the issue while finding out what could be the pos-sible reasons for such catastrophe. The natural calamities have been re-garded as some of the reasons with seasonal cycles of summer, monsoon and winter constantly harming the Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) structures.
Seasonal cycles cause rusting of steel, which leads to cracks and ul-timately weakening of the structure. Short sightedness of people on the load-bearing capacities of the build-ings has been one of the main reasons for decreasing the life of the struc-tures. With every passing year the load-bearing capacity of the RCC of buildings deteriorates by a small per-centage.
In older buildings, deterioration is at a faster rate of one per cent every year. If this deterioration is attended to on a timely basis the rate of dete-rioration can be reduced effectively increasing its life span by many years.
During the monsoon, the rain-water penetrates into the walls and ceilings of such neglected structures, increasing their weight by several
thousand kilograms. This additional weight is distributed unevenly on the RCC frame, making it vulnerable to sudden structural collapse. In such a case these buildings cannot be oc-cupied.
Mechanical failureCracking of the concrete section
is almost impossible to prevent but the size and location of cracks can be limited and contained by rightful reinforcement, control joints, cur-ing methodology and concrete mix. Cracking allows moisture to pen-etrate and corrode the reinforcement. This is a service ability failure in limit state design. Cracking is normally a result of an inadequate quantity of re-bar, or rebar spaced at too great gap or distance. The concrete then cracks either under excess loading or due to internal effects such as early thermal shrinkage when it cures.
Failure leading to collapse can be caused by crushing of the concrete, when compressive stresses exceed its strength by yielding or failure of the rebar and when bending or shear stresses exceed the strength of the reinforcement or by joint failure be-tween the concrete and the rebar.
pRATik DHAR
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 11
Business
For the lakhs of work force engaged in weaving, han-dloom, delicacy making
and the music industry of As-sam, the season of Bhogali Bihu is boom time.
Traditional delicacy makers eye the season to boost up their sales. They are doing well in the city areas and there is grow-ing acceptance of the packaged delicacies in the urban pockets.
Delicacy makers make, pitha, laru and other delicacies. Director of Bhogali Food Prod-ucts Pvt LTD, Ajit Sarma said, “Bihu seasons sees our sales moving northward. Our annual turnover is around 1.5 Crore, Bihu season accounts for over 20 percent of the sales. People are increasingly taking to pack-aged food which was not en-couraged at one point of time.”
He added, “The growing acceptance of local delicacies in packaged and ready to eat for-mat is basically due to fact that Guwahatian are facing paucity of time and the process is time consuming. The industry is growing.”
Besides there are several other companies operating in this segment in different areas of the state and the Bihu season forms an important part of the sales.
Several tourists visit the state to witness the celebration. Allied business like greeting cards and calendars too get a boost during this time.
The market sees liquidity during this time of the year. The big feast of pre- Bihu festival sees fish worth Rs 5 Crore sold in Guwahati. Pre-Bihu feasting popularly known as “Uruka” is celebrated a day ahead of the annual agrarian festival of the “Magh Bihu”.
On the Uruka day, house-holds in the state prepare non -vegetarian dishes for dinner and fish is a favourite delicacy
of that feasting. Over 3000 quintals of fish are outsourced from outside the Northeast to fulfil the demand. The local va-riety will be around 1000 quin-tals.
To add to this quantity, there is also community fish-ing in the several ponds and beels in and around Guwahati on the pre-Bihu feast. So high is the demand for fish on this day that Assam imports fish from Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu to meet is requirement.
Co-operative societies like FISHFED opens up mobile fish counter at several places of the city. There are also floating fish sellers who move around the lanes and by-lanes of the city making home delivery of fish.
To add to the non-vegetar-ian connoisseur, mutton and chicken worth Rs 2 Crore is also sold on the Bihu eve. Fish variety like “Rohu” and “Katla” come from outside the state. Local varieties like Bhokua, Bo-rali and Sital add to the taste of the season.
BHOGALI BIHU SPELLS BOOM FOR BUSINESS
The Bhogali Bihu season means more
revenue for many indigenous industries.
Bihu seasons sees our sales moving northward. Our annual turnover
is around 1.5 Crore, Bihu season accounts for over 20 percent of the sales. People are
increasingly taking to packaged food
which was not encouraged at one
point of time.”
“
gpLUs NeTwoRk
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201412
Photos: UB Photos Photos: northeastnews.in
DY 365Calendar Girl 2014Metropolis Asia’14
Date: 10th to 12th JanuaryVenue: Shraddhanjali Kanan & State Zoo
Date: 10th January
Events
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 13
Photos: Saranga Borah
NExT7DAYS
WanT yOuR EvEnT TO BE fEaTuRED On THis PaGE?Just mail us at [email protected]
DaTE vEnuE EvEnT
10th – 12th Jan Shraddhanjali Kanan & State Zoo Metropolis
11th Jan Sarusajai Stadium Ground Sonu Nigam Live in Concert
11th Jan Terra Mayaa Beat 2 with DJ Manu
12th Jan 8th Floor, Shoppers Point Knock Knock 2014 – DJ Trishul
18th Jan Regal Club, Royal Regency, Bamu-nimaidan
SATURDAY LIVE GREETINGS 2014
18th Jan Terra Mayaa Alchemy – DJ Mekkanikka
18th Jan New Brindaban Garden Bring it on 2014
Agri Horti Show2014
Chandubi Festival
Date: 8th to 11th JanuaryVenue: Veterinary field
Date: 3rd to 5th JanuaryVenue: Chandubi lake, Mirza Dakhin Kamrup
Events
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201414
Crush, infatuation and then love, is what people believe is the chronology of feel-ings towards the opposite sex that attracts
them. With the complexities of life ruling eve-ryone’s day-to-day events, relationships are also getting complicated each passing day. The youths in Guwahati too, are having a tough time main-taining their relationships and it’s not simply be-cause they are too busy with life, but it’s because in many cases, people tend to hurt themselves in a relationship which is one-sided. GPlus explores the situation and the challenges faced in one-sid-ed love affair.
The stupidityA 26-year-old advertising professional, who
is in a relationship, feels that a single-sided affair results in wasting one’s resources. He said, “In a one-sided relationship, where people know that the opposite person who they are in love with, will never come to their life, but still to try and woo the opposite sex, they end up wasting their energy and resources on their so called love. It is basically stupid to fall for someone knowing that person is not concerned about your feelings and is engaged with other things in life or may be in a different relationship.”
“The inability of the unrequited lover to ex-press and fulfil emotional needs may lead to feel-ings such as depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and rapid mood swings between depression and
euphoria,” said a city based psychiatrist. He ex-plained that the one who is in love in the most of the cases suffers a lot. The agony of the situation is such that the lover is not able to express his or her feelings openly and has to suffer alone because if he/she shares the feelings with well-wishers, the family and friends, they would obviously advice to forget the entire person. So, it is a tough situa-tion to be in and one ends up getting hurt.
The situationA 26-year-old woman feels it is nothing bad
or stupid to be in one-sided love. She expressed, “It’s just a situation which people get into un-knowingly but there should be a limit to it. For example, if the lover is pursuing someone who is already in a relationship, then he/she should not interfere in the person’s relationship.”
On enquiring if she was ever in such kind of relationship, she replied, “One guy was after me knowing that I have a boyfriend and we were se-rious in the relationship. I respected his feelings and explained to him clearly. I also introduced him to my boyfriend. The guy was mature enough to understand the situation and now he is a very good friend of mine. But it would have been tough or may have different if he would have tried something physical with me. So, there should al-ways be a limit and people should understand the complexities of such relationships.”
The attentionEverbody in this world loves attention and
whenever you feel that someone is attracted to-wards you, the person somehow becomes spe-cial, in spite of the fact that you are committed to someone else or not. Soma Saniyal, a 30-year-old working lady feels that if the person who is at-tracted to you is a good hearted human being, it doesn’t matter how they looks, you tend to have a soft corner for that person in your heart. She expressed, “I have been in a serious relationship for the last five years, but there is a guy in my of-fice who is attracted towards me and makes me feel very special. Sometimes I feel bad that we will never be able to end up together in our lives and while at other times I feel that no one knows what the future holds. I have informed my boyfriend about this office guy, but not everything. It’s a kind of an unofficial affair which I have with this guy but it’s different and special. I get hurt when I don’t get his attention in the office or when he ignores me. Meanwhile, I have noticed that even the guy gets hurt when I behave a bit rude with him. I can-not exactly explain what kind of relationship we share, but it’s different and special. It’s complicated too. But, I believe it’s the situation and have left everything to take their own course.
No matter how much people blame the situa-tion for such kind of a relationship, it is somewhat irrational to know that people tend to get into such complexities of life knowing that they will be hurt.
LOVE HURTSRAHUL CHANDA
Unrequited love can be traumatic, but still there is no stopping!
ELLADIABL
I answer all your questions on LIfE, LovE AND SEx
If you have any queries for ELLA DIABLO, mail it to [email protected]
My daughter is in love with a guy I do not approve of. She is only 16 and is in love with someone 20 year elder to her. The guy seems inappropriate for her in more ways than one. I do not want to impose my will on my daughter either for the fear of losing her. What must I do?
-Name withheld
Dude you can’t do much bout it at the moment. She has just entered her teen hood, and with al l the hormonal imbalances, maybe dating these two in one varieties (father l ike f igure cum lover) is comforting and cool. Let her grow older and in most l ikelihood this relationship should f izzle out. You leave her alone, be calm and carr y on...
I have been in love with a man for four years now and a few weeks ago I came to know that he has been married all this while. I love him a lot and feel devastated. his wife has been calling me every night, abusing me on the phone. I don’t know what to say. She doesn’t believe that I didn’t know that the man I loved was also her husband. I am going crazy. What do I do?
-Name withheld
Well what you should be doing now is to take a K Y M resolution (ie. Know your Man) before fal l ing in love in your future endeavors. And in this case, just ignore the women. But i f you real ly want to have some fun tel l her the fol lowing: a) her husband has told you that he was a v irgin “t i l l he met you” b) her husband has told you that he did not know a women could get so wet and wild in bed “ti l l he met you”. Rest assured this would be your f inal conversation with her!
Life
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 15
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201416
Reviews
anuRaDHaCinEPlEx
aPsaRa CinEma
funCinEmas
yaariyan Daily at 11AM, 5 PM Daily at 2 PM, 8.00 PM Daily at
2.50 PM
Dedh ishqiya 8 PM 11 AM, 5 PM 9 AM, 5.30 PM
Dhoom 3 11:15 AM, 8.30 PM
ajeyo 8 Pm
NOW SHOWING
Cast - HimanshKohli, Serah Singh, Dev Sharma, RakulPreet Singh and Nicole FariaDirector -DivyaKhosla Kumar
Cast – Madhuri Dixit, HumaKureshi, Naseeruddin Shah and ArshadWarsiDirector – AbhishekChaubey
Release Date: January 15. 2014
Yaariyan may be targeted at a young audience but every single teenager who choos-
es to watch it will be insulting his/her own intelligence. Debutante director DivyaKhosla Kumar crafts a completely new recipe for a disaster you didn’t see coming. Yaariyan is a work of art. It will be taught in film schools, year af-ter year, when they’re conducting their how to make a really good bad film lecture.
Yaariyan, it was claimed, is a college romance. But if you look closely, you will find that it is not one but several college romances put together such as Jo JeetaWa-hiSikandar, Main Hoon Na and IshqVishk. DivyaKhosla Kumar casts fresh faces on a budget of Rs 11 crore, swings the camera from
Sikkim to Australia and plays in to every stereotype about teens under the sun and I still cannot figure out what the film was about to begin with.
HimanshKohli stars as Lak-shya -- the name of the protago-nist as well as that of the film from which several elements of Yaariyan were borrowed -- is a permanently horny and aimless youth, who is also the most popu-lar boy in college. Somehow the above qualities and his tendency to scream at his widowed mother when not given enough money, make him irresistible to the ladies.Yaariyan might do well with its catchy tunes but it is unbearable to have to watch 2,653 unneeded song sequences in an already un-bearable film.
The same pair of dirty rotten scoundrels wearing big hearts on their sleeves, khalujaan Iftekhar (Naseer-uddin Shah) and nephew Babban (ArshadWarsi)
are once again embroiled in difficult love affairs and fam-ily intrigue; only here the credo of powerful womanhood is complemented by a friendship and camaraderie that is indeed remotely reminiscent of Thelma and Louise (Rid-ley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, 1991). There are no ingenu-ous twists and the end is unnecessarily elongated with a pell-mell combat partly set to the notes of a ghazal. In our films, long and bloated climaxes are a chronic affliction, you can’t escape them. But a little disbelief seems a small price to pay for being allowed to remain in such entertain-ing company.
The two women are the film’s emotional and narrative axis. As one would hope, Dixit has an ornamental pres-ence; she almost appears fetishized as a diva or a myth. While the story requires the actor in her, it is finally not the point of the character. Qureshi has exuberant ease and believability as the plotter, doer and heartbreaker. It is in-teresting to see Raaz in a meaty role again, and he deliev-ers with the foolproof tropes of a Hindi film villain.
The pastiche that encompasses all the lunacy and dec-adence in DedhIshqiya is complemented by its splendidly evocative music by Vishal Bhardwaj. There are no big sur-prises or transformative moments in it, but the various flavours in the masala get cooked just right.
The year is 1765. While the seeds of the American Revolution are being sewn in Boston and New York, Spanish forces in the South plot to seize
control of Louisiana for the Templars, threatening to forever shift the balance of power in the New World. As Templars secretly take hold of the slave trade in New Or-leans, Aveline de Grandpré, an assassin of mixed French and African heritage, stands ready to defend her people. She soon finds herself on an unforgettable journey that will take her from the crowded streets of New Orleans
to voodoo-haunted swamps and ancient Mayan ruins. Whether eliminating her enemies with new assassina-tion skills or luring them into cunning traps, Aveline strikes mortal fear into the hearts of those who would stand against freedom.
Taking full advantage of its new hardware, Libera-tion HD introduces a complete graphical overhaul, re-mastered music and sound effects, a revamped gameplay experience, and new missions that dive deeper into Ave-line’s story.
UPCOMING
Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 17
Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
Travel
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201418
Web Watch
SKORE, Indian condom brand launches Android app, offers location based services.
Skore, the Indian condom manufacturer has decided to tap into the most popular medium to spread the word about its product.
In a rather risqué move, SKORE, a company that manufactures condoms, has released their app
onto Google’s PlayStore. The app is designed to help people locate medi-cal stores where they can purchase the contraceptive. Yup, that’s right, we now have an app for finding con-doms.
The app, along with providing the exact locations of where you can purchase the latex contraption, also offers a few extras. The app contains a database of all the varieties of con-
doms they offer, along with a detailed explanation of how they could be helpful in the user’s particular situ-ation. Another section of the app contains interesting tips and factoids about the sexual domain, something that most people could find interest-ing. Lastly, the app also contains a collection of various positions, for the adventurous kind.
While the app is essentially a store locator combined with a sex-tips app, it is interesting to see an Indian company take a charge to
tap into the most popular medium as a way of spreading healthy sexual practices. In a country that is plagues by over-population, and knowledge of contraceptive is almost next to negligible, it is refreshing to see a company push that sort of informa-tion through apps, given that a large user base in India is using a smart-phone.
The store locator feature of the app currently works only in Mumbai, but the company is planning on ex-panding its reach to other cities soon.
Subway Surfers now comes to MumbaiSubway surfers comes to Mum-
bai after adding cities like Lon-don, Sydney, New York and
Rome. The endless runner game has been on a world tour for a while, and the new update brings it to its 12th world tour shop to Mumbai. The ver-sion 1.17.0 for Android shows users running around colourful streets of Mumbai.
The new update shows tracks lined with fruit stalls and has a lot more earthy colors. The train also
has brown and cream colors simi-lar to the ones found in Mumbai. The game has added a new collect-ible character called Jay which looks suspiciously like Milkha Singh as portrayed by Farhan Akhtar in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. It has the same number tag attached on the back of his shirt. Even the inspector in the game that chases the characters is now dressed up in khaki colours to go with the uniform worn by police officers in Mumbai city.
Even with 49Mbps, India to remain way behind in internet race
India is eagerly awaiting the launch of Reliance Jio’s 4G connection, which promises
to offer average internet speed of 49Mbps on the go. This is over 12 times faster than the current av-erage of 4Mbps on the country’s 3G networks. In theory, Reliance Jio’s 4G network will offer maxi-mum speed of 112Mbps.
Download speed of 49Mbps may seem astounding for those in India, but the country will still lag far behind the leaders in the global internet race.
South Korea, widely ac-knowledged as the most ‘con-nected’ nation in the world, al-ready has the highest broadband internet speed of 53.3Mbps and average speed of 13.3Mbps, ac-cording to Akamai.
On mobile networks, South Korea’s telecom operator SK Tel-ecom claimed in November that it has achieved maximum internet download speed of 225Mbps on its LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. LTE-A is a new technology that allows 50% faster data download over mobile networks.
The speed of up to 225Mbps has been achieved for a demo, though the actual download speed of the network has not yet been announced. The commercial roll-out of its service will happen in the second half of 2014, around the same time when Reliance rolls out its 4G network. Even if 225Mbps is taken as the promised maximum speed and not actual speed, it will be twice as fast as Reliance’s peak of 112Mbps.
Flipkart launches own fashion brand
Microsoft Word gets Assamese clone ‘Jahnabi’
Flipkart has launched its own fashion brand and could also acquire another online appar-
el company as it seeks to increase sales of high-margin products on its portal.
Among the companies most likely to be under consideration are two fashion portals, Zovi and
YepMe that sell exclusively on the web. “They have reached a scale that will interest Flipkart,” said a person with direct knowledge. If successful, this acquisition will be the second in two years for In-dia’s largest online retailer which bought electronics portal Letsbuy in 2012.
A group of volunteers have built Assamese word processor called ‘Jahnabi’. The proces-
sor looks similar to Microsoft Word and comes with a spell checker and word suggestions.
The processor is made to help those who have a rudimentary knowledge of the Assamese language. The Unicode compliant software has a size of 7 mega bytes and has nearly 2.5 lakh Assamese words and 108 readymade Assamese phrases in its dictionary. The processor is based on
the Microsoft dotnet platform.“The programming of the pro-
cessor is based on dotnet platform and C# language containing around 15,000 lines of code,” Utpal Phukon, the only programmer in the Jahnabi team, said.
According to Mridul Kumar
Sharmah, one of the members of the team who built the system states, “The website www.jahnabi.org has received more than 60,000 hits and the free-of-cost software downloaded by more than 1,000 people since it was launched online on November 25 last.”
21
Classi� eds
For bookings, contact +91 84860 02303,+91 84860 02304,+91361 2737737or email us at :
JOBSPosition open for Digital Marketing Executive. Must have understanding of Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation and other web applications. Quali� cation no bar. Experience must. Contact 8486002315 immediately.
Brand Servicing Executives for a leading Advertising Agency based out of Guwahati. Candidates having experience in advertising, media, mass communication with great communication skills may apply. Contact 8486002313 or send your CV to [email protected]
Vacancy for a Female Assistant at a showroom in Six Mile. Applicants need to have computer knowledge and prior experience at a show-room dealing in ladies garments/ items. CONTACT: 099540 11444
Vacancy for an Accountant in a commercial house. Applicants need to have computer knowledge along with experience in ST/ IT returns � ling. CONTACT: 098640 71704
Brand new 3BHK � at at Subham Heights, Kahilipara Road, near Ganeshguri available for immediate rent. Contact 9435115098
Tata DI 207. Running Condition. Make 1999 model for immediate sale. Contact: 98641 06687
OTHERS
FOR SALE
VECHICLES
Industrial Shed on Rent at Sonapur. For details Contact: 9706089000
Booking open for comfortable n luxury � at at last gate, beltola. For Details Contact - 84862 79695, 9435044575
Nokia E5 (2 year old) for 5000/-. Excellent quality. 2GB Memory card included. Contact immediately @ 9085308941.
Videocon 32inch LCD T.V 6 month old in good condition. Contact immediately @ 8486002316.
Hero Maestro 2012 model in good condition is for sale. Contact immediately @ 8486002305.
Used Dell Venue Pro Windows phone for sale. Upgraded to Windows 7.8, 8 GB internal storage. Contact Immediately @ 8486002307
Commercial Space available on rent at G.S.Road near Down Town Hospital. For detailsContact - 9864015168
O� ce space available on rent at Six Mile(G.S Road). Contact - 9706042727,9864094414
O� ce space available on rentat Six Mile(G.S Road). Contact - 9706042727, 9864094414
Lease/Rent for factory/ godown, 40,000 sq.� . and 50,000 sq.� . in same premises at Industrial Area. Contact : 9706093377
1.5 Katha Miadipatta land at Lokhra Hillside with boundary walls(3 sides) Contact Vijay Bagri 98641-59713
Duplex Penthouse measuring 2500sq.� . on G.S Road in a new construction residential apartment for saleContact - 97060 00999
For all your commercial/ Residential/ Warehousing/ Industrial Real Estate requirements in North East India,Contact Aspire Realtors,+918720909000
New Building - G.S. Enclave (Chatribari)Ground Floor - 200, 400 & 1500 sq.� . for Rent and 500 sq.� . for Sale. Handover time 6 months.
G.S. Towers (A.T. Road)1st Floor - 360 sq.� . for Sale, 300 sq.� . for Rent4th Floor - 1160 sq.� . for Sale, 950 sq.� . for Rent (Furnished)5th Floor - 400 sq.� . for Rent (Furnished)CONTACT - 8011055100
� eme studio brings wide range of baby birth announcement trays & boxes, wedding trays, envelopes & theme party decor. For details CONTACT – 9864050056, 9706089039
An established business organisation is looking for a furnished o� ce space on GS Road on long term lease. Minimum 2000 sq� . Maximum 3500 sq.� . Contact immediately on 9706089034.
Available for rent approx. 800 sq. � .Godown space in Chattribari, partly tinshed with good height. Contact: 98641 59713
Available for rent approx. 800 sq. � . Godown space in Chattribari, partly tinshed with good height. Contact: 98641 59713
BOOK YOURCLASSIFIEDS
ADVERTISMENT
TO LET
OFFICE SPACE REQUIRED
Warehouse availableat Brahmaputra Industrial Park (Amingaon) Guwahati 30000 sq � with guard room and quarter.Contact- 9707026095.
PROPERTY
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 19
Classifieds
21
Classi� eds
For bookings, contact +91 84860 02303,+91 84860 02304,+91361 2737737or email us at :
JOBSPosition open for Digital Marketing Executive. Must have understanding of Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation and other web applications. Quali� cation no bar. Experience must. Contact 8486002315 immediately.
Brand Servicing Executives for a leading Advertising Agency based out of Guwahati. Candidates having experience in advertising, media, mass communication with great communication skills may apply. Contact 8486002313 or send your CV to [email protected]
Vacancy for a Female Assistant at a showroom in Six Mile. Applicants need to have computer knowledge and prior experience at a show-room dealing in ladies garments/ items. CONTACT: 099540 11444
Vacancy for an Accountant in a commercial house. Applicants need to have computer knowledge along with experience in ST/ IT returns � ling. CONTACT: 098640 71704
Brand new 3BHK � at at Subham Heights, Kahilipara Road, near Ganeshguri available for immediate rent. Contact 9435115098
Tata DI 207. Running Condition. Make 1999 model for immediate sale. Contact: 98641 06687
OTHERS
FOR SALE
VECHICLES
Industrial Shed on Rent at Sonapur. For details Contact: 9706089000
Booking open for comfortable n luxury � at at last gate, beltola. For Details Contact - 84862 79695, 9435044575
Nokia E5 (2 year old) for 5000/-. Excellent quality. 2GB Memory card included. Contact immediately @ 9085308941.
Videocon 32inch LCD T.V 6 month old in good condition. Contact immediately @ 8486002316.
Hero Maestro 2012 model in good condition is for sale. Contact immediately @ 8486002305.
Used Dell Venue Pro Windows phone for sale. Upgraded to Windows 7.8, 8 GB internal storage. Contact Immediately @ 8486002307
Commercial Space available on rent at G.S.Road near Down Town Hospital. For detailsContact - 9864015168
O� ce space available on rent at Six Mile(G.S Road). Contact - 9706042727,9864094414
O� ce space available on rentat Six Mile(G.S Road). Contact - 9706042727, 9864094414
Lease/Rent for factory/ godown, 40,000 sq.� . and 50,000 sq.� . in same premises at Industrial Area. Contact : 9706093377
1.5 Katha Miadipatta land at Lokhra Hillside with boundary walls(3 sides) Contact Vijay Bagri 98641-59713
Duplex Penthouse measuring 2500sq.� . on G.S Road in a new construction residential apartment for saleContact - 97060 00999
For all your commercial/ Residential/ Warehousing/ Industrial Real Estate requirements in North East India,Contact Aspire Realtors,+918720909000
New Building - G.S. Enclave (Chatribari)Ground Floor - 200, 400 & 1500 sq.� . for Rent and 500 sq.� . for Sale. Handover time 6 months.
G.S. Towers (A.T. Road)1st Floor - 360 sq.� . for Sale, 300 sq.� . for Rent4th Floor - 1160 sq.� . for Sale, 950 sq.� . for Rent (Furnished)5th Floor - 400 sq.� . for Rent (Furnished)CONTACT - 8011055100
� eme studio brings wide range of baby birth announcement trays & boxes, wedding trays, envelopes & theme party decor. For details CONTACT – 9864050056, 9706089039
An established business organisation is looking for a furnished o� ce space on GS Road on long term lease. Minimum 2000 sq� . Maximum 3500 sq.� . Contact immediately on 9706089034.
Available for rent approx. 800 sq. � .Godown space in Chattribari, partly tinshed with good height. Contact: 98641 59713
Available for rent approx. 800 sq. � . Godown space in Chattribari, partly tinshed with good height. Contact: 98641 59713
BOOK YOURCLASSIFIEDS
ADVERTISMENT
TO LET
OFFICE SPACE REQUIRED
Warehouse availableat Brahmaputra Industrial Park (Amingaon) Guwahati 30000 sq � with guard room and quarter.Contact- 9707026095.
PROPERTY
G PLUS NOV 16 - NOV 22, 2013 21
Classi� eds
For bookings, contact +91 84860 02303,+91 84860 02304,+91361 2737737or email us at :
JOBSPosition open for Digital Marketing Executive. Must have understanding of Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation and other web applications. Quali� cation no bar. Experience must. Contact 8486002315 immediately.
Brand Servicing Executives for a leading Advertising Agency based out of Guwahati. Candidates having experience in advertising, media, mass communication with great communication skills may apply. Contact 8486002313 or send your CV to [email protected]
Vacancy for a Female Assistant at a showroom in Six Mile. Applicants need to have computer knowledge and prior experience at a show-room dealing in ladies garments/ items. CONTACT: 099540 11444
Vacancy for an Accountant in a commercial house. Applicants need to have computer knowledge along with experience in ST/ IT returns � ling. CONTACT: 098640 71704
Brand new 3BHK � at at Subham Heights, Kahilipara Road, near Ganeshguri available for immediate rent. Contact 9435115098
Female working professional look-ing for 1 BHK, preferably � at, but part house will also do depending upon the condition of the house. Preferable location GS Road or nearby area. Previously worked at Delhi. Contact 9706089032
OTHERS
FOR SALE
Industrial Shed on Rent at Sonapur. For details Contact: 9706089000
Booking open for comfortable n luxury � at at last gate, beltola. For Details Contact - 84862 79695, 9435044575
Nokia E5 (2 year old) for 5000/-. Excellent quality. 2GB Memory card included. Contact immediately @ 9085308941.
Videocon 32inch LCD T.V 6 month old in good condition. Contact immediately @ 8486002316.
Hero Maestro 2012 model in good condition is for sale. Contact immediately @ 8486002305.
Used Dell Venue Pro Windows phone for sale. Upgraded to Windows 7.8, 8 GB internal storage. Contact Immediately @ 8486002307
Commercial Space available on rent at G.S.Road near Down Town Hospital. For detailsContact - 9864015168
O� ce space available on rent at Six Mile(G.S Road). Contact - 9706042727,9864094414
O� ce space available on rentat Six Mile(G.S Road). Contact - 9706042727, 9864094414
Lease/Rent for factory/ godown, 40,000 sq.� . and 50,000 sq.� . in same premises at Industrial Area. Contact : 9706093377
1.5 Katha Miadipatta land at Lokhra Hillside with boundary walls(3 sides) Contact Vijay Bagri 98641-59713
Duplex Penthouse measuring 2500sq.� . on G.S Road in a new construction residential apartment for saleContact - 97060 00999
For all your commercial/ Residential/ Warehousing/ Industrial Real Estate requirements in North East India,Contact Aspire Realtors,+918720909000
G.S. Enclave, Chatribari
Ground Floor - 500 sq.� . for Sale2nd Floor - 1500 sq.� . for Sale2nd Floor - 3000 sq.� . for SaleHandover time 1 year
G.S. Towers, A.T. Road
4th Floor - 1160 sq.� . Furnished O� ce for Sale4th Floor - 1500 sq.� . for Sale
Contact - 8011055100
� eme studio brings wide range of baby birth announcement trays & boxes, wedding trays, envelopes & theme party decor. For details CONTACT – 9864050056, 9706089039
An established business organisation is looking for a furnished o� ce space on GS Road on long term lease. Minimum 2000 sq� . Maximum 3500 sq.� . Contact immediately on 9706089034.
Available for rent approx. 800 sq. � .Godown space in Chattribari, partly tinshed with good height. Contact: 98641 59713
Available for rent approx. 800 sq. � . Godown space in Chattribari, partly tinshed with good height. Contact: 98641 59713
BOOK YOURCLASSIFIEDS
ADVERTISMENT
TO LET
OFFICE SPACE REQUIRED
Warehouse availableat Brahmaputra Industrial Park (Amingaon) Guwahati 30000 sq � with guard room and quarter.Contact- 9707026095.
PROPERTY
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G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201420
SUDOKU
fun
Solu
tions
(Last
Issu
e)
aRiEs Your social skills are smooth as
silk early this week, leading to a pile of little victories. But as midweek ap-proaches, your best bet is to slow down and be as clear as possible with friends and family. Thursday and Friday are perfect for getting things done around the house — you may decide to initiate a repair or clean-up project that’s been simmering for months. The weekend is lots of fun for you and your people, as long as you’re all willing to follow your impulses and see what happens next!
TauRus The week starts with a bang
— you may find yourself laughing all day long on Monday thanks to a com-bination of wacky antics and your own good energy. Midweek brings a gold-en opportunity to talk about your feel-ings with someone close — or someone you want to bring closer. Open up and don’t hold back on anything. Thursday and Friday are great for taking care of home business, whether it’s cleaning the tub or playing with the kids. Get ready for a big brouhaha over the weekend; the social energy practically guaran-tees some power struggles.
GEmini Listen carefully to what your
friends are trying to tell you this week. Someone who’s remarkably stable will advise you to try something slightly risky — and they’ll be dead right. Tuesday and Wednesday are filled with exciting energy, and you could find yourself moving from party to party, or friend to friend, in a chain of good times. Later in the week, you’ll need to hunker down and try to just go with the flow in spite of the fact that you may find it more difficult than usual to adapt to changing circumstances. The weekend is much sweeter, and you should have a long talk with someone like-minded.
CanCER Your contributions at work or at
home on Monday reflect your unique nature, and should surprise more than a few people — in a good way, of course! The middle of the week could be a bit more troubling, though, as every project seems to splinter into a million different to-do list items, each of which requires a different approach. Delegation is the key! Thursday and Friday bring a welcome respite from that madness, and you may find it considerably easier to work on more meaningful projects and plans. The weekend is great for planning ahead.
lEOMonday could find you
trapped in the system, whether it’s at work, school or in a bureau-cratic briar patch. Be wary and step lightly! Spend extra time with friends midweek — their energy should give you just what you need to recover from your temporary slowdown. On Thursday and Friday, it’s vital to keep your cool, even while family members or coworkers are blowing up over nothing. Your calm can set a positive example and should get you ready for the weekend, when an influx of great energy is set to push you towards a victory of some kind!
viRGO Start the week with at least
a little deep thought — your intellec-tual energy is powerful, and it’d be a shame to let it go to waste! Your mental state starts to speed up on Tuesday, and you ought to be able to think on your feet amidst even the craziest cir-cumstances at work or with friends. Later in the week, you’ll want to use your legendary organizational skills to bring your people together in some new way. A party or outing would be perfect. Your altruistic side is brought out in a big way this weekend, so get out there and volunteer or just help out around the house.
liBRa Things aren’t quite as they seem
on Monday, so take a second — and a third — look before making up your mind about what to do next. Your good energy midweek drives you to try new things: Maybe a restaurant, maybe a new kind of music or just about any-thing else, as long as it can be shared. Try to slow down on Thursday and Fri-day and appreciate the small details of your life. Things could get frenetic, but you’ve got a good home base. Your friends are especially important this weekend, so check in with each one.
sCORPiO The first half of the week re-
quires greater care than usual — you may need to let go of some people or notions that are holding you back. As long as you think it all through, you should find it pretty easy to get along on your own, and may be surprised by who decides to stick around. Thursday and Friday bring a surge of powerful emotional energy that should put you at peace with your choices, and you may decide to move on even further. Watch out for new challenges this weekend — though you’re always up for a test of your abilities, you may need to draw on new resources.
saGiTTaRius While you may think of your-
self as a big-picture person, Monday brings details that simply cannot be ig-nored. Force yourself to deal with them quickly so you can get on with the rest of the week — you’ll need to spend some time pondering the big issues in a few days. Watch out for dates or other one-on-one interactions on Thurs-day or Friday, as you may be a bit grumpy and less able to present your good side. Forewarned is forearmed! The travel bug should bite you hard this weekend, and it’s a good time to make plans to get out of town.
CaPRiCORnMonday is strangely good for shop-
ping — you might score an unexpected deal just by browsing or window shop-ping. Make sure you can afford it, even with the discount! The middle part of the week brings people out in a way that makes communication much simpler and more straightforward — just the way you like it. Things may start to get weird on Thursday, though, and you should try to thicken your skin in preparation for the odd comments that are sure to come your way. Expect quite a few requests for time, energy and money this weekend!
aQuaRius If you don’t hear from your fam-
ily on Monday, you may want to check in with them yourself. It’s nothing urgent, but the timing is right. If you’re looking for love, or wondering if your current relationship is right for you, expect things to sizzle in a big way midweek. You may need a few days to recover, but big business comes your way on Thursday or Friday and you’ll need serious focus to deal with it properly. Take a deep breath and get on with it! Over the weekend, show that you’re independent from someone who’s been getting cocky.
PisCEs Monday brings a flurry of emails,
IMs, phone calls and other communica-tions your way, though you shouldn’t have to deal with all of them right away. This could make for a busy week as you play catch-up, but for the most part you’re hap-py to be so engaged with people. Thurs-day and Friday bring a strong current of romance into your life, either through someone new or a reinvigoration of old feelings. Enjoy the buzz! The weekend brings a few too many dramas courtesy of friends and family — try to let them resolve on their own.
JUST foR LAUGHS
YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF TIMEPASSHOROSCOPE
Married 25 years, I took a look at my wife one day and said, “Honey, 25 years ago, we had a cheap apartment, a cheap car, slept on a sofa bed and watched a 10 inch black and white Tv, but I got to sleep every night with a hot 25 year old blond. Now, we have a nice house, nice car, big bed and plasma screen Tv, but I’m sleeping with a 50 year old
woman. It seems to me that you are not holding up your side of things.”My wife is a very reasonable woman. She told me to go out and find a hot 25 year old blond, and she would make sure that I would once again be living in a cheap apartment, driving a cheap car, sleeping on a sofa bed.”
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 21
Travel
Located on the western coast of India, until recent years, Gujarat hardly featured on the tourist map.
A very successful series of ad campaigns featuring Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has changed that though. There are actually some fabulous tourist places in Gujarat, with diverse attrac-tions such as handicrafts, architecture, temples, and wildlife. January is a nice time to visit Gujarat for Guwahatians and GPlus talks about some must visit places in the state this week.
BHUJIf you love Indian handicrafts,
don’t miss spending some time in and around Bhuj, the capital of the Kutch region. It offers an eclectic combination of bazaars and historic buildings with atmospheric architecture dating back to the 17th century. Highlights include old royal palaces in the Darbargadh walled complex, and the Italianate style Sharadbagh Palace (its dining room has been turned into a museum). Sadly,
an earthquake caused widespread de-struction in Bhuj in 2001 though. You’ll find textile dealers lining Shroff Bazaar, just east of the Darbargadh. Also take side trips to Bhujodi (a village of weav-ers, seven kilometers from Bhuj) and Ajrakhpur (a village of block print-ers, 15 kilometers from Bhuj) to meet artisans, see demonstrations, and buy handicrafts.
GREAT RANN of KUTCH
The remarkable Great Rann of Kutch is the world’s largest salt desert, measuring over 16,000 square kilome-ters. What makes it even more amazing is that it’s underwater during the main monsoon season in India. For the re-maining eight months of the year, it’s an enormous stretch of packed white salt. Full moon nights are the best time to see it, and cultural programs are usually held at Dhordo then. Moonlight Rann camel safari is magical. The tourist sea-son runs until March.
GIR NATIoNAL PARKGir National Park, one of the Top
5 Parks to See Wildlife in India, is the only place in the world where the Asi-atic lion can now be found. Thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers have been increasing. Gir is considered to be the largest dry deciduous for-est in western India. There’s plenty of other wildlife there, including around 300 types of birds. You’ll have the best chance of spotting a lion if you go dur-ing March until May, although to most comfortable time to visit the park is from December until March. Safaris run daily.
WILD ASS SANCTUARy
The Wild Ass Sanctuary, home to the last of the Indian wild ass, is the largest wildlife sanctuary in India. It’s spread over almost 5,000 square kilo-meters. One of the best times to visit is just after the monsoon, in October to November, when the grasslands are
tender for grazing and foals can often be seen out playing. It’s possible to go on organized jeep and minibus safaris, and you can also camp out at the Little Rann of Kutch.
SoMNATHAn important pilgrimage des-
tination, Somnath is one of the 12 jyotirlinga(shrines of Lord Shiva, where he’s worshiped as a linga of light) in India. Its seaside location is power-ful, the intricate carvings on its sand-stone architecture are superb, and its history is fascinating. The temple was ransacked by Islamic invaders and re-built numerous times, with the final reconstruction taking place after India achieved Independence.Mahashivratri is celebrated in a big way there. A col-ourful religious fair is also held every year on KartikPurnima (full moon night, usually in November), complete with small children dressed up as Lord Shiva and plenty of bhaang.
These are some places which can
be visited this month, and they are mostly a must visit places during this time of the year. There are also some other beautiful places in the state, but for the time being, enjoy your trip to the above mentioned places.
GujratChronicles
1.) Pack suitable clothes ? depending upon the weather in Gujarat at the time of your trip. 2. Make sure all your flight/train tickets and hotel bookings are in order. 3. Make sure all your travel arrangements to and fro from the
airport/railway station are confirmed. 4. While exploring Gujarat, beware of pickpockets.
5. Do not venture out late in the night unaccompanied. 6. Take proper care of your
valuables (like jewelries, mobiles, laptops etc). If you are provided with a safety deposit box at the hotel, use it to store your valuables. 7. If you are travelling with children, make sure you accompany them on all their activities. 8. Do not carry too much cash in your pockets or bags. You can always withdraw more money
from the ATMs, if needed.
TRAVEL TIPS FOR GUJRAT
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201422
COUNTERPOINTPOINT
SHOULD MANDATORY TRANSFERS OF GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS BE STOPPED?
I do not agree with the policy of the gov-ernment of transferring officials from one place to another every now and then.
Sometimes, it might benefit the government, but most of the time it affects the employees.
An employee needs some time to settle down in one place or office. If he or she gets transferred after just one or two years of post-ing, he or she does not even find time to un-derstand her responsibilities. If the employees do not know how to do their jobs, then how will it be possible for them to do it properly?
Sometimes, the seniors or the head of an office transfer their juniors just to fulfil their personal grudges on them (juniors). In such matters, the official guidelines for transfer are not being followed and the transferred em-ployees have to face unnecessary harassments from their seniors. The administrative action
must be reasonable, fair and transparent. Frequent transfers also affect the overall
performance of an employee. If an employee has to live under the fear of being transferred all the time, he/she would not be able to con-centrate on his/her work. Eventually, the work will not be productive and hamper the growth of the entire department.
Moreover, repeated transfers have badly affected the personal lives of the employees. It is not possible for the married employees to take their families along with them all the time if they are being transferred frequently. It is not possible for them to leave their fami-lies or dependents alone at some place and do their jobs at some other place because families or the dependents are the responsibilities of the jobholders. Transferable jobs affect the studies of theirs kids. It also creates financial troubles for the employees. He has to spend from his own pocket whenever he has to move from one place to another.
Beside this, the employees have to suffer from other problems like societal aloofness. They are deprived of a proper social life, be-cause, they do not get enough time to familia-rise themselves with their society. By the time they get to know their neighbours, they have to move from that place as soon as their trans-fer order gets passed. That’s why I strongly oppose frequent transfer of the employees. According to me, this is not at all acceptable.
MAnORAnJAn MAJUMDERCorporate professional
Recently Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal defended the transfer of 798 Delhi Jal Board officials saying tanker
drivers of the Board had in the past, colluded with the private water tanker mafia.
“Money was being charged for water which was supposed to be provided free of cost. We found that drivers of these trucks had not been transferred for the past 10 years, which helped them build a nexus with tanker mafia. Hence, we transferred 798 Delhi Jal Board officials, most of them drivers,” Kejri-wal said.
I might also be sounding over ambitious like Mr Kejriwal, but the fact is that if trans-ferring officials and bureaucrats can improve the governance and bar people from giving and taking bribes, then it is certainly impor-tant for the administration to experiment by transferring the officials and bureaucrats. I feel if the officials are new in a place and the responsibilities assigned to them are for a group of people who he/she is new to, then the responsibilities will be taken care of effi-ciently. The formation of any nexus also takes quiet a long time, so if the officials do not sit on a chair for a long time, it will not be easy for them to get involved in any kind of nexus.
If we speak about Guwahati, depart-ments like Guwahati Municipal Corpora-tion and Public Works Department have a long history of graft and people always com-plain about various functions of the depart-
ments. It takes ages to even get a permission to construct a house in our own plot of land if we approach the department ourselves. If we do it through an agent, than its not only easier but its also faster. The only pain is to shed out some extra bucks from your pocket, which is not possible for everyone. The agents obviously are known to the officials and have a nexus with them.
Similarly there are various other depart-ments in Assam, and in every department people have some work or the other always. So, imagine that if all the officials in all the departments are old, then obviously they will be known to many, and it will give birth to various nexuses.
I am not saying that all officials are cor-rupt, but I just feel that if you are new, you are fresh, and if you are fresh, you work ef-ficiently.
NIRmALYA GhOSeSocial Worker
G-Talk
The formation of any nexus takes quiet a long time, so if the officials do not sit on a chair for a long time, it will not be easy for them to get involved in any kind of nexus.
An employee needs some time to settle down
in one place or office. If he or she gets trans-ferred after just one or
two years of posting, he or she does not even find
time to understand her responsibilities.
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 2014 23
G Plus will keep on publishing such relevant and useful information in this page in the coming issues.
Compiled by Rangman Das
11-AIrmEn SELEctIOn cEntrEBorjhar, Guwahati – 781015
Phone No – 0361-2842720/23, 2840976
A tO Z PrOfESSIOnAL trAInIng InStItutE
Zoo Road TinialiGuwahati – 781021
Phone No – 0361-2411353, 92070-46945
ABhInAv SOLutIOnSOpp. International Hospital
Guwahati – 781005Phone – 0361-94355-48445
ABhIruchI InStItutE Of PhySIcAL EDucAtIOn
SarusajaiGuwahati – 781029
Phone No – 94351-00098, 98643-20100
AcADEmy Of BrOADcAStIng mEDIA SchOOL
GNB Road, Chandmari ColonyGuwahati – 781003
Phone No – 92074-10105
AcADEmy Of fOOD crAft, KItchEn & rEStAurAnt mAnAgEmEnt
Ananda Nagar, ABCGuwahati – 781005
Phone No – 97061-31365, 99544-28246
AcADEmy Of muSIc & mASS cOm-munIcAtIOn
Pub Sarania RoadGuwahati – 781003
Phone No – 97072-52177, 92070-42892
AccEL crAftRajgarh Bihutoli
Guwahati – 781007Phone No – 95083-70614
AchAryA InStItutESMandovi Apptt. Ambari
Guwahati – 781001Phone No – 0361-2730733/34
AIASKanchan PathBora Service
Guwahati – 781007Phone No – 98641-10636
AIAS cOLLEgENear Adabari MasjidGuwahati – 781014
Phone No – 0361-2675271
PRofESSIoNAl INSTITUTES
Citypedia
AIhmBagharbori Road, Panjabari
Guwahati – 781037Phone No – 0361-2332266, 94010-
33000
AKAShG S Road, Ulubari
Guwahati – 781007Phone No – 0361-2463882, 2464974
ALLIAncE AcADEmy Of BrOADcASt-Ing
Divine Plaza, DispurGuwahati – 781006
Phone No – 97060-53892
ALPhIA InStItutE Of BuSInESS mAnAgEmEnt
Shima Plaza, UlubariGuwahati – 781007
Phone No – 0361-2734290, 2733641
AmIyA BhArALI SchOOL Of nurSIng
Khetri, KamrupAssam
Phone No – 99547-07442
AnchIt EDucAtIOnB K Kakoti Road
UlubariGuwahati – 781007
Phone No – 0361-2465579
AnnA tEchnOLOgIcAL unIvErSItyBora MarketRGB Road
Guwahati – 781024Phone No – 0361-2592344, 2593852
AnuvA AcADEmySeuji Ali, RGB RoadGuwahati – 781003
Phone No – 98640-59185, 98540-15857
APExRupali Path, Jonali
Guwahati – 781024Phone No – 0361-2465225,
94351-01370
ArhAn grOuP Of InStItutIOnSA T Road, Bharalumukh
Guwahati – 781009Phone No – 88765-99641, 88765-
99642
Army InStItutE Of nurSIngBasistha, Guwahati – 781029Phone No – 0361-2307101,
99575-08197
ArrPSJayanagar, KhanaparaGuwahati – 781022
Phone No – 98640-53858
ASIAn InStItutE Of mAnAgEmEnt & tEchnOLOgy
Bhaskar Nagar, RGB RoadGuwahati – 781021
Phone No – 94351-01413, 98645-01020
ASIAn InStItutE Of nurSIng EDucAtIOn
RGB Road, GaneshguriGuwahati – 781005
Phone No – 0361-2203405/06
ASSAm AcADEmy Of cuLturAL rELAtIOnS
Chandmari, Guwahati – 781003Phone No – 0361-2544128
ASSAm cOLLEgE Og EngInEErIng & mEDIcAL ScIEncESB. Baruah Road, Ulubari
Guwahati – 781007Phone No – 0361-2461373, 2452945
ASSAm InDuStrIAL trAInIng cEntrE
BamunimaidamGuwahati – 781021
Phone No – 99548-11837, 98540-28268
ASSAm InfOtEch & mAnAgEmEnt InStItutE
Rodali Path, RGB RoadGuwahati – 781024
Phone No – 94350-47073
ASSAm InStItutE Of ADvAncED StuDIES
Kanchan PathUlubari
Guwahati – 781007Phone No – 0361-2463959,
98641-10636
ASSAm InStItutE Of chArtErED EngInEErS
Byelane 3, Rajgarh RoadGuwahati – 781003
Phone No – 0361-2511156
ASSAm InStItutE Of ELEctrOnIc JOurnALISm
RGB Road, JonaliGuwahati – 781024
Phone No – 0361-2200759
ASSAm InStItutE Of mAnAgEmEntEast Point TowerBamunimaidam
Guwahati – 781021Phone No – 0361-2654813/15
ASSAm InStItutE Of mASS cOmm & mEDIA rESEArch
Nowjan Road, Uzan BazarGuwahati – 781001
Phone No – 0361-2737196, 98640-37486
ASSAm InStItutE Of tEchnOLOgyHatigaon Road, DispurGuwahati – 781006
Phone No – 0361-2230394, 2231850
G PLUS JAN 11 - JAN 17, 201424
WhO’S ShE?This lady was President and Chief Execu-
tive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Chair of the White House
Council of Economic Advisers under Presi-dent Bill Clinton, and Professor Emerita at
theUniversity of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
SO WhAt?Yellen was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New
York, the daughter of Anna and Julius Yellen, a physician. She graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in the Bay Ridge section of
Brooklyn.
nOW WhAt?The U.S. Senate confirmed Janet Yellen, a professor emerita at UC Berkeley’s
Haas School of Business, as the first female head of the Federal Reserve. Yellen, current vice chair of the Fed’s Board of Governors, will replace Ben Bernanke
when she takes office on February 1.
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: [email protected], Rni no: assEnG/2013/52641
Kamur of the weekWhat did i just hear?pick of the Week
Headlining acts!Catching Up
WhO’S ShE?This babe is a retail entrepreneur. She was the runner-up on the ninth series of The Apprentice and has participated in Ce-lebrity Big Brother 13. She is estranged from husband Oliver Zissman by whom she has a daughter, Dixie.
SO WhAt?Zissman appeared on the ninth series of The Apprentice, where she claimed to have a “brain like Einstein”, yet got a C, D, and E at AS level. Zissman broke down after think-ing she bungled a pitch in the final, and was then fired by Lord Sugar. Zissman said that during the process she had “learnt to keep her mouth shut”.
nOW WhAt?Luisa Zissman was diagnosed as a sex addict and needed months of therapy to cure her wild urges, it emerged recently. The Apprentice runners-up — who once joined in a 30-strong orgy — told housemates she had found it im-possible to satisfy her X-rated desires.
Luisa ZissmanJanet yellen
Contestants in the wacky contest stand on stage in front of a live audience and act out a full sexual experience, right down to the hand movements and facial expressions. With no partner to actually do anything with, imagination and enthusiasm is key to impress-ing, while a soundtrack of their choosing can help them get in the mood. The contest involves more than just making a few gyrating movements - participants have to meet their ‘partner’, before seduc-ing them and taking part in foreplay and, finally, full intercourse. Chris Trew, founder of the Air Sex World Championship, said: “Imagine something we think about every day - sex - turned into a sport where the goal is to make people laugh. The official Air Sex World Championship had its debut in 2009 and five competitions later, over a third of competitors are women, with contests held in 30
American cities before an overall champion is crowned.
World AIR SEx competition hits Britain
India is gearing up to launch Chandrayaan-II by 2016-17, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan said recently. The ISRO chief said that Chandrayaan–II was supposed to be an Indo-Russia joint mission, but after a failed mission in 2011, Russia decided to review it. “The review would have put our mission on hold till 2017, so we decided to go ahead on our own and build our own lander and rover. We have done a feasibility study and would be
able to develop a lander and rover in 2-3 years”, he added.
Heavy motor vehicles. People can understand that heavy vehicles cannot commute during the day because of traffic chaos, but, at night Guwahati roads becomes very risky because of the heavy vehicles which move at breakneck speeds. It’s always a risky proposal trying to overtake these unpredictable monsters!
Sonia Gandhi is the new Telangana Talli. A former Telangana minister and Congress MLA P Shankar Rao, has laid foundation for Sonia Gandhi’s temple in his agriculture field in Mahaboobnagar district. A bronze statue of the Congress president will be installed in the site, as a token of gratitude for ‘mak-
ing Telangana statehood a reality’.
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