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Made money in the boom market? Symbolism Behind The PG 17 Form Of Shiva PG 16 Robyn Lawley Designers Are Scared of Curvy Models Page 23 VOLUME 02 | ISSUE 19 FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 PRICE `10 2,355 accounts opened in all-women bank AUTHORITIES fail to mandate PG 09 WARD WATCH HIGH security NUMBER plates RAJGARH LINK ROAD Even after High Security Registration Plates were made compulsory for all vehicles by the Centre across the country, it has been noticed that only a few vehicles in Guwahati are following the rule and the authorities have failed to mandate it across all and sundry. PG 02 Creating havoc in the city PG 14 DBTL confuses LPG PG consumers 07 2 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Lead Story Transport dept fails to mandate security plates in all vehicles RAHUL CHANDA T he Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India amended Rule 50 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 to standardise the pattern of displaying registration mark throughout India. The state governments and union territories were asked to take necessary action to ensure the implementation of Rule 50 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989, on or before 31st October 2006 for the newly registered vehicles and within a period of two years, thereafter for already registered vehicles. High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) was expected to be installed in all vehicles within a period of two years from the starting of the scheme in any state. In Assam, HSRP installation started in the month of June 2012, so, initially the new vehicles and within June 2014 all the previously registered vehicles were expected to be installed with the security plates. However, the ground reality is far from ideal. Do people understand the importance of such number plates? Are the vehicles without HSRP checked? Who is responsible to make it a mandate in the state? Did the government generate any revenue fining the vehicles without security plates? Present scenario According to highly placed sources in the transport department, 4.75 lakh vehicles in entire Assam have been fitted with HSRP since June 2012, whereas the approximate vehicle population of the state is around 30 lakhs. In Guwahati, 1.44 lakh vehicles are fitted with HSRP, whereas the vehicle population of the city is somewhere around 5 lakhs. So, it’s been more than two years that the scheme started in the state, but all vehicles still have not been installed with HSRP. Since, the start of the implementation, the source said that only newly bought vehicles usually were brought to the District Transport Office to install the security plates, but owners of older vehicles are seen least interested in installing such plates. The source also said that even among the newly bought vehicles, not all owners follow the security norms and owners of expensive vehicles can be observed installing fashionable number plates breaking all the norms of Central Motor Vehicle Rules. The source further added that it is actually because the government did not mandate the HSRP for all vehicles and if it is checked, most of the commercial vehicles are not installed with security plates. With fancy plates installed on vehicles, it proves a formidable task for the police to track vehicles if it has committed any crime because of which most hit and run cases remains unsolved. Interestingly, it is noticed that some of the tourist taxis plying to Shillong (both old and new once) rushed to the DTO to install HSRP, because the Meghalaya government has mandated the installation of security plates, and if any vehicle plying in Meghalaya roads are caught without HSRP, the vehicles are fined Rs 500, so, the taxi drivers make sure that HSRP is installed on their vehicles. When questioned, the DTO enforcement team usually come up with excuses that they do not have enough man power and till date no special drives have been taken by them to penalise vehicles without HSRP. HSRP is planned in such a manner that it helps in maintaining the security of a particular vehicle and also helps in barring various vehicle related crimes. Population of vehicles with HSRP Assam 30 lakhs 4.75 lakhs Guwahati 5 lakhs 1.44 lakhs The importance HSRP introduces standard formats with bold, clear and conspicuous lettering in standard letter fonts in one language only. Standard of sizes and also the fitment details on each vehicle lead to better and higher visibility of HSRP. It is supplied by authorised vendor only on the specific authority of DTO and affixed in the premises of DTO. As similar plates are not available elsewhere, so the plates cannot be forged. HSRP has special retro reflective sheet of high reflectivity which can be seen clearly even from a distance of 20 metres, which can help recognising the number details easily, and because of such technology, law enforcing authorities can detect vehicles involved in any crime and thus nab the perpetrators. HSRP has many more importance and some special features as well. The expanse of installing such plates is also moderate . Some government vehicles not installed security number plates HSRP RATES Two wheelers Three wheelers Four wheelers Heavy vehicles Tractors `120 `154 `336 `336 `120 HSRP features Hot stamped chromium based hologram Prevents counterfeiting Ingressed IND Inscripted for national identity and standardisation Laser etched 9 digit code Sequential identification of individual license plates across the country. It acts as a watermark and cannot be erased Superior grade reflective sheeting (White for non-commercial and yellow for commercial vehicles) Visible from a minimum of 200 mtrs. The enhanced visibility prevents accidents during night/low visibility Security inscript On the alpha numerals and border, prevents painting/ screen printing and protects against counterfeiting Class consciousness A police patroling vehicle plying without HSRP When questioned, the DTO enforcement team usually come up with excuses that they do not have enough man power and till date no special drives have been taken by them to penalise vehicles without HSRP Snap lock Fitted on the rear licence plate of vehicles. Selfdestructive in nature thereby tamper-proof. Provides immediate and distinguishable identification According to norms, only an officer of the rank of inspector of police can fine vehicles breaking norms, but there are very few inspector ranked personnel in Guwahati traffic police, so, the constables or home guards deployed at the check points cannot do much, and, if someone tries to fine a vehicle installed with fancy number plates, vehicle owner often pulls a string and gets away with impunity. There are also police personnel who are not knowledgeable about the HSRP mandate, and if mandated Embossed alphanumeralS and border For enhanced readability thereby easy identification the authorities have not yet informed the general public about the consequences of not installing the security plates. The transport department have also failed to mandate such plates in all vehicles even after two years of the start of the scheme. Except My Taxi, all other commercial taxi services in the city are not HSRP installed. But the moot question remains, who will take the responsibility of ensuring security if such a simple scheme cannot be implemented fully even after two years. [email protected] G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 3 In The News GMC’s initiative on to evoke street lights fails residents Aditya Gogoi T he Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) initiative to light up the streets with Project Jyoti has received mixed reactions from city residents. The residents said there is no point of paying extra money in having lights installed in their respective areas when they are already paying taxes. According to the initiative, the GMC has decided to install 10,000 street lights across the city to the individuals and development committees on application. The applicants have to pay a sum of Rs 300 as fee per application. Besides, they will also have to bear around Rs 30 per month for the light. Many in the city felt that there is no logic in charging extra money for the lights. “There should be more lights on the streets of the city to get rid of many crimi- nal activities. We welcome the move of installing new lights but charging money is uncalled for. There should not be any additional fee as the residents have been paying the GMC taxes,” said Ajay Hazarika of Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum. As the lack of street lights has encouraged criminals to carry out their acts of crime, the residents said that this will deprive the poor from safety and security. “This is not logical at all. As lack of street lights also increases incidents of crime, the poor people will be deprived of their basic rights. The residents who are economically sound might give the fee and get the lights installed but we have also need to think about the poor,” said Samar Bezbaruah of secretary of Society for SocioEconomic-Development in the Region (SSEDR), an NGO. These lights will be pro- vided as ‘first come first served’ method to the applicants. The GMC said that the street lights will be low energy consuming 16 watt LEDs and will be around 15 feet high to be installed within the applicant’s premises. The minimum distance between such street lights will be 25 metres. The applications can be downloaded from the GMC website. A senior GMC official said that due to lack of publicity, the response is not up to the mark so far. He said that it’s an opportunity for the people of the city to install lights in their campuses and neighbourhoods at a cheaper price. “The people who have realized about the facility of the offer given by the district administration have grabbed the opportunity. I think more people should come forward to take this facility,” he said. Ajay Hazarika | (Consumers’ Legal Protection Forum) Many in the city felt that there is no logic in charging extra money for the lights. “There should be more lights in the streets of the city to get rid of many activities of crime. We welcome the move of installing new lights but charging money is uncalled for. There should not be any additional fee as the residents have been paying the GMC tax. Dayaram Rajbongshi | (GMC official) A few section of the residents have reacted very well. But may be due to lack of publicity, the people have not responded well as we had anticipated. We have discussed with the NGOs and others to let the residents know about the project in detail. Samar Bezbaruah | (Society for Socio-Economic-Development in the Region) This is not logical at all. As lack of street lights also increases crime, the poor people will be deprived of their basic rights. The residents who are economically sound might give the feeand get the lights installed but we have also need to think about the poor. 4 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 In The News District authority stands strict on implementing rte Mrinmoyee Hazarika Innovation Festival starts on 14 Feb in City T he Regional Science Centre, Guwahati, in cooperation with the National Innovation Foundation is going to organize a two-day Innovation festival on 14th and 15th February at its campus. The two day festival is being organized with the aim to give the participants a platform to share and exchange their creations and ideas. The organisers said, “Students, resource persons and innovators from across the state are invited to the fest to showcase their creativity”. The fest will have several sections for the participants such as make and remake, creativity from scrap, innovators, challenge-yourself booth and hands-on-opportunity spaces. The fest will also have lectures for the participants from prominent people and workshops will also be held at the fest where the participants would get a chance to showcase their creativity. AIMT to organize ‘SANSKRITI 2015’ K eeping in view the poor pace of implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act in the schools of the city, the district administration of Kamrup (M) is going to constitute a committee to conduct inspections in schools. The committee will be selected after detailed discussions with the schools located within the purview of Kamrup (M). “After constituting the committee, five teams will be formed. The teams will visit all the schools including government, private, provincialised and higher secondary schools and check the status of implementation of various provisions of RTE by different schools authorities in their schools,” Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kamrup (M), M Angamuthu said in a meeting organised to discuss educational atmosphere and implementation of RTE in schools. Sending a strict message to headmasters, headmistresses and principals of the schools present on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner urged them to implement various provisions of RTE in their respective schools. “Strict disciplinary actions will be taken against schools who do not implement RTE and the headmasters, headmistresses or the principals of those concerned schools will be held personally responsible. FIRs will be lodged against them,” said Angamuthu. He also urged all the schools, right from the kindergarten level to higher secondary schools, to submit their fee structure and the rationality of such structures. Mentioning the pathetic condition of some of the government schools of the city, Angamuthu said, “After visiting various schools, I have seen that most of the schools have not been able to maintain their infrastructure. There is no provision of drinking water and they lack ba- “Strict disciplinary actions will be taken against schools who do not implement RTE and the headmasters, headmistresses or the principals of those concerned schools will be held personally responsible. FIRs will be lodged against them,” M Angamuthu Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kamrup (M) sic health and hygiene facilities. The teachers have very poor attendance record. Therefore, we are planning to give a comprehensive format to all the schools and they have to give their feedback in it and submit it to us within 15 days from the date of issue of the format.” He also stated that the authority would carry out regular and random inspections in schools and if any schools are found not implementing RTE or violating other relevant norms, salaries of employees of such schools would be stopped. “No school can deprive a student from getting admission in schools even if he or she is not capable of paying the fee. No schools can conduct admission test in time of admission or else fine will be imposed on defaulters,” said Angamuthu. He also added, “We also need to know the disaster management provisions of the schools, which include fitness condition of the school buses. The school authorities must follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court in case of safety of students in school buses. We have set a deadline for 31st March this year for the schools to fulfil the SC guidelines and if any untoward incidents happen, then the concerned schools authorities will be held personally responsible.” Urging the teachers to change their mentality towards teaching students, R C Jain, Secretary, Education (secondary) department said in the meeting, “The condition of government schools in Kamrup (M) district is very pathetic. In order to improve the present scenario, we have issued two circulars. One is related to the provision of drinking water and toilet facilities and if any school is found guilty of not maintaining these facilitites properly, then the current school management committee has to be dissolved. The second circular mentions that if the headmaster/headmistress or the principal is not able to keep the toilets of their schools clean, then their salaries would be stopped.” At present, there are more than 130 government schools in Kamrup (M). He also talked about the poor condition of school buses which has been the cause of concern both for the students and the traffic police. “The traffic police have been catching school buses which make illegal movements. But, the parking of school buses by the road has made it a lot more difficult for us to handle the traffic congestion on busy roads. We request the school authorities to arrange parking lots for both their school buses and private vehicles,” DCP, Traffic, Kamrup (M) said. The DTO (registration and licensing) of Kamrup (M), Gautam Das, who was also present on the occasion, stated that the transport officials have suspended fitness certificates of 397 school buses during its visit of 83 schools of the city. During the same visit, the district transport department has inspected 551 numbers of buses. [email protected] Asian Institute of Management and Technology, Guwahati, is going to organize its annual inter-college extravaganza Sanskriti 2015 on February 14th and 15th respectively. This year the venue of the event will be Shilpagram, Guwahati. The event will start off by lighting of the lamp by Prof. Dr Niren Deka, Principal of Asian Institutions followed by a chorus by the students of the institution. This year, Sanskriti 2015 will be witnessed by a large number of students from different colleges and other educational institutions of various nook and corner of the state for competition in Quiz, Debate, Dance, Rock show, Fashion show, Paintings and Sketch as well as Mr. Sanskriti and Miss Sanskriti of the year. The main attraction of the event will be the performance of VH1 Supersonic featuring DJ Gurbax and India’s death metal band ‘Demonic Resurrection’. Aids distributed to the needy A voluntary charitable organization from Guwahati, SBI Ladies Club, NE Circle on Wednesday donated ten ceiling fans and ten water purifiers to Gauhati Blind School at Basistha. President, SBI Ladies Club, NE Circle, Nivedita Magoo said, “We have been rendering help to the people and today we have donated the ceiling fans and water purifiers for the benefit of the blind and poor students stud- ying in this school”. Whereas on Thursday, the Union Minister to Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and Minister to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment distributed aids and appliances to the disabled persons at the Composite Regional Centre, GMCH and also visited the centre. Documentary on horse racing of Jorhat screened A documentary on the old horse racing tradition of Jorhat Riders of the Mist was screened at the Assam State Museum auditorium on Wednesday morning. The documentary is made by Roopa Barua under the banner of Kahini Media. The one hour five minute film showed the century old tradition of horse racing of Jorhat. The Jorhat Race is 135-year- old and a landmark event in Assam’s rich tea heritage in Jorhat district. A graduate in economics from Boston University, Director Roopa Barua also studied film production at the New York Film Academy and film criticism at the University of California, Berkley. Falkland Road a short film made by her was also shown at the Afghan Human Rights Festival 2012. G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 5 In The News City cops to Vice Chancellor hand over ERDF invoke NSA Excellence on repeated Award-2014 offenders to eminent personalities T aking stringent action against repeated offenders, the city police commissionerate has decided to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) against habitual criminals who often commit serious crimes while out on bail. The first one to be slapped with the stringent law was Chandan Kalita, a surrendered Ulfa militant who has been arrested by the Assam police for at least seven times before the latest one in city. On Monday he was arrested by city police from Gorchuk area with a small arm. Police suspected that he was on his way to kidnap a city based doctor. “We have seen criminals obtaining bail and carrying out serious offences while on trials. To stop this, we will now arrest them under the NSA that allows detention of a criminal for a longer period,” deputy commissioner of police (central zone) Amitava Sinha said. Police have detained Chandan for three months under the NSA. “Every time Chandan was out on bail, he committed murders, dacoities and extorted money from people. We can now detain him for three months under the NSA,” Sinha said. Chandan was a member of Ulfa’s 109 battalion. Prior to this, Chandan was caught for the murder of a trader in 2011. While he was out on bail, he allegedly killed another businessman in Nalbari. P rofessor Sudhir Kumar Sopory, Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, recently handed over the “ERDF Excellence Award – 2014” in a function held at the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya. This year, ERDF Excellence Award was conferred to D. N. Bezboruah, noted journalist and former Editor of the Sentinel, Ashok Kumar Goswami, language expert and retired professor of Sanskrit, GU, Lakshahira Das, renowned singer, lyricist and writer, M. H. Hazarika, former Head of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Assam Agriculture University, Anil Kumar Goswami, former Principal Cotton College, Dr. Nirupama Mahanta, social worker, G L Agarwalla, chairman and MD, G L Publications, Tayabun Nisha, renowned sportsperson, Er. Isfaqur Rahman Borborah, social worker, Gandhian and former engineer of OIL, Dr. U. K. Sharma, former Director, NERIST. Radhika Mohan Bhagawati, eminent journalist and editor of Dainik Asom, Col Monoranjan Goswami, columnist; Dr DN Buragohain, Founder Director of IIT, Guwahati and Chancellor of Nagaland University; Dr. Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia, Chairperson, Assam Human Rights Commission were also in the list of awardees but could not attend the function due to ill health and preoccupations. The awards were conferred for their distinguished services to the community and also to wish them good health and long life so that they can continue their service to the society. Earlier, welcoming the dignitaries and guests to the function, Mahbubul Hoque, Chairman ERDF and Chancellor USTM said, “The tendency in our society is that senior citizens who toiled all their life to make life better for others are often forgotten after the prime of their life. To reverse this trend, we have started giving the Excellence Awards to outstanding senior citizens of Assam for nearly a decade now. Very soon we are going to extend this programme in Meghalaya also.” Over 100 free deliveries at Satribari Christian Hospital S atribari Christian hospital, known for its mother and child care facilities has successfully conducted over 100 free deliveries in the year 2013-14 under the government’s National Health Mission. It is amongst the only two private hospitals in Kamrup accredited by NRHM to offer cashless delivery service to poor pregnant women. The service under this scheme is offered to pregnant women belonging to BPL families, who meet the criteria set as per guidelines and provides for free institutional deliveries, be it normal birth or caesarean operation. Benefits under this scheme include free drugs, free diagnostic tests such as blood test, urine test, ultra sonography etc. as prescribed by the medical officer. The scheme falls under Janani Suraksha Yojana, a safe motherhood intervention programme under NRHM, for promoting in- stitutional delivery among the poor pregnant women. Commenting on the infrastructural facilities available at Satribari to run the programme, Manesh Mathew, CEO, Satribari Christian Hospital said “At Satribari, we have a team of highly trained gynaecologists, obstetricians and dedicated nursing staff that can provide firstrate obstetrics care to expecting mothers, in a caring atmosphere. This has increased the choice available to expectant BPL mothers who can now look beyond government hospitals to handle their delivery.” Instituted in 1926, Satribari Christian hospital is known primarily for mother and child care and basic specialties like general surgery and general medicine. The charitable mission hospital has recently added key specialties like Neonatal Care, Intensive Medicine, Orthopaedics, Urology and Geriatric Care. Assam boy languishing in Bangladesh WWII commemoration jail for eight in city on Feb 19 years T T o mark the worldwide commemoration of the 70th anniversary of World War II, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegates will visit the Gauhati War Cemetery located at Nabagraha Hills, Silpukhuri on February 19. The British Deputy High Commissioner (Kolkata), Scott Furssedonn-Wood here informed that the Gauhati War Cemetery needs to be popularized among tourists and visitors. “It is a special site because the memory of the Hindu, Muslim and Christian soldiers, who fell during the Great War, remains here. There is a need to create awareness about the site so that the memories of the fallen soldiers live forever,” Wood viewed. On Wednesday last, Wood visited the cemetery and spoke to Salew Pfotte, regional manager (North East India) of the Commonwealth Graves Commission ahead the programme. On Monday in a solemn programme, Commonwealth delegates will pay their respects to the fallen sol- diers. Pfotte added, “The event will help create awareness about Gauhati War Cemetery. I hope it will be an opportunity for the people to revisit the history.” Altogether there are 523 graves at the cemetery. In 2012, the mortal remains of 11 Japanese soldiers were exhumed and taken back to Japan. The cemetery has graves of soldiers from India, China and Europe. It needs mention here that incidents of theft of iron plaques from the cemetery was reported earlier. he Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) division bench, Guwahati, recently took a suo motto cognizance of a college student from Golaghat district reportedly confined in a Bangladesh jail. The right body, consisting of its chairperson Justice Aftab H Saikia and member Tarun Phookan sought the status report and asked Assam government to furnish a detailed report within a month. “One Sambhu Mushahary, a BA third year student in Golaghat district, went missing in February of 2007. After being reported missing for eight years in December last year, Sambhu sent a letter to his family through the Red Cross Society in which he informed that he was being confined in room No. 21 of Kashim- pur Jail-2 located at Gazipur in Bangladesh. In his letter, Shanbhu asked his parents to bring him back through the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh,” an AHRC official statement said. Sambhu hails from the fringe area of Golaghat district’s Burhi Makha village in Telishal area of sector D. In 2007 he asked for a motorbike from his parents for his transportation to college. However, his father Anil Mushahary, a peasant, failed to fulfil his demand. “After having an argument with his parents, Shambhu left home. He went missing thereafter,” said police sources in Golaghat. Already the poor family has contacted the Golaghat district administration and prayed for repatriating him. 6 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 City Bangladesh Bringing Liberation Guwahati Alive documentary I screened in city Bangladeshi film maker Prokash Roy (2nd from L)being felicitated at Guwahati D haka born French filmmaker Prokash Roy has blamed the lack of political will for deterioration of relations between Indian and Bangladesh. Roy, who is in the city for an Indian premier of his documentary film ‘Bangladesh: Birth of a Flag’, on the Bangladesh Liberation war, also said only more cultural exchange can better the relation between the two neighbouring countries. The film narrates the tale of Bangladesh Liberation War with old video footages collected from French journalist Philippe Alfonsi. “I wanted to project the happenings of the Liberation War and other important incidents which took place during that period in front of the present generation of Bangladesh, India and others. This is very much important for the present generation to know about their past,” Roy told G-Plus. He also expressed concern that due to lack of political will, the person to person relation has deteriorated to some extent. “As a filmmaker or an actor, I feel that more exchanges of cultural activities between the two countries will help in developing person to person relation. I’m also hopeful that my documentary will also help in this regard,” Roy added. The 70-minute documentary which is in French with English subtitles was screened for the first time in India in the city on February 8 in association with Byatikram Masdo and Gauhati Cine Club. The documentary was first screened in Dhaka on February 23 in 2014 while the global premiere was in Paris on June 1 in 2014. Roy collected the old videos and images from National Archive of France. “I’m lucky enough to meet Philippe Alfonsi who also covered the major incident in 1971. The video and images used in the film were taken by him and a few others,” said Roy. Gauhati Cine Club secretary Madhurima Barua said that this documentary will provide answers to many questions of the viewers. aap to contest in Assam assembly elections B ouyed by the landslide victory in Delhi elections, the Assam unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is now gearing up to contest in the upcoming 2016 state assembly elections. Addressing a press conference in the city on Wednesday, state AAP leaders said that they would follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in Delhi to fight with ‘honesty’ to deal with the real issues of the state. “We will emerge as a ‘strong, honest and alternative’ force in Assam to defeat both the Congress and the BJP in 2016 state assembly election. We hope, in due course of time, we will be able to gather that kind of support base,” said state AAP spokesperson Manoram Gogoi in Guwahati. He said that there are many is- n an endeavour to showcase arts, music, culture, heritage, diversity and to celebrate the essence of Assam, Guwahati Alive has set the stage to bring the citizens of the city together. The carnival that kicked off on February 13, a day prior to Valentine’s Day, focuses on bringing a full rounded “Perfect Extended Weekend” spanning till Sunday, February 15. To be held at Sonaram H.S Field and the Bharalumukh River Bed the carnival will showcase heritage and history of northeast. Alongside the featuring of short films, several entertaining acts such as BBoying, BMX stunts, Sand art, live art illustrations, photography workshop will take place during the carnival whereas, the headlining act is that of Raghu Dixit which will feature on February 13. The carnival will also feature activities for children such as paintball and several entertainment activities. The endeavour to merge entertainment, art and music, Guwahati Alive is an initiative mentored and supported by the Assam Tourism and is a part of their Annual Festival Calendar. The carnival exhibits a wide array of delicacies with all the leading food and beverage stalwarts of the city to give the visitors a culinary delight and adventure sports activities to ensure thrill and entertainment. The carnival will also feature local music talents Work in Progress, Colossal Corp., Spreading Roots and Vodoo Child. The carnival will also feature visual artists Sayantan Mitra, Flora and Samira from Brazil and Ivan from Spain. Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival to kick off on April 24 T he film festival dedicated to the film fraternity of the northeast region, Brahmaputra Valley Film Festival 2015 has been scheduled to kick off on April 24 at Pragjyoti ITA, Machkhowa, informed in a press release. The three-day festival includes screening of some of the best movies, documentaries and short-films of the region as well as of the nation along with workshops by renowned and acclaimed directors. The festi- val aims to build a platform for the new as well as professional filmmakers to come together and rediscover different aspects of movie making. This year the festival will be organised along with the Brahmaputra Valley Short Film contest where some of the best directors from the Indian film fraternity will be invited to be part of the initiative. The festival will also screen some of the finest movies from the northeast as well as the rest of India. Annual General Meeting of PRSI held in city P ublic Relations Society of India (PRSI), Guwahati Chapter’s annual general meeting was held in city on Monday. Several members of leading PR and corporate communication officials, professionals and students attended the programme. Madhuchanda A Choudhry (NRL), Hamad Berlashker (Tan- gent PR) and Jumita Saikia Phukan (NEDFi) were selected as the chairperson, vice chair person and secretary respectively for the term 20152016 at the meeting. Member of the chapter, Juhi P Pathak was also felicitated at the meeting for her book Media Law and Ethics meant for the mass communication and journalism students of the region. 2015 Amulya Kakati Memorial award presented sues left unaddressed by the other parties, which will be discussed with the people. “We have to admit that at present our party is not that strong but we will build the base of the party in coming months to deal with the real issues of the state. For that Arvind Kejriwal and other central leaders will visit the state,” Gogoi said. He also mentioned issues like f lood havoc, illegal immigration and unemployment as major problems of the state besides the need of scientific and practical solutions to the problems. Gogoi further said that all honest people who wants to bring a change in the present political and social system are welcome to the party. T he Amulya Kalita Memorial Award 2015 was presented to Sachchinanda Bora on Monday at the Vivekananda Kendra auditorium. The Students Artists Writers Welfare Trust of All Guwahati Students Union presents this award annually to bring those individuals who are working and dedicating for promotion of the culture of the State to limelight. Sachchidananda Bora received the award from music composer Ramen Baruah that carries a memento and a cash of Rs 25000. Bora has been dedicatedly working for the promotion of Jyoti Sangeet, Rabha Sangeet, Bongeet etc amongst the young generation of the state in the original form. A documentary showcasing the life and contribution of Amulya Kakati was also screened on the occasion. G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 7 DBTL enrolment confuses City LPG consumers RAHUL CHANDA I had linked my bank account with the LPG connection by submitting my bank details at the LPG agency in the month of December. I was told that as soon as the bank account is linked, Rs 568 will be automatically transferred to my bank account before I refill the cylinder, but it did not happen. Now I have to refill cylinder in non-subsidised rate from the agency and the subsidy provided by the government, which is supposed to get credited in my account do not get credited”, said an LPG consumer from the Dhupolia area. He further added that he had complaint to the agency many a times, and they told him to fill up a complaint form and assured him that money will soon be transferred to his account. He is upset with such chaos and does not know the scheme will be a success or not. Similarly, there are many consumers facing a problem getting the subsidies in their bank accounts. The chaos Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme, which has made people throng the LPG distributors to make sure they get their subsidies have started in Guwahati. The consumers were informed to submit their bank details before 31 December 2014. But, there is a three month grace period and now, the last date to submit the details is 31 March 2015. Consumers have to just provide bank account information (bank account holder name /account number /IFSC code) to the LPG distributor for entering the details in LPG database. The consumers can also provide the LPG consumer information (17 digit LPG consumer ID) to his/her bank which can link the process. But, when the consumers go to the banks to update their LPG information, the bank officials ask them to visit the LPG distributors. So, the consumers have to go to the agencies. The people working in the agencies are often not that techno savvy, they somehow enter the bank details into the system and then the information gets transferred to the banks and the oil companies. The agency people have no idea about why the money is not transferred, what they can double check is if the bank details are entered correctly or not. And interestingly some consumers did get the advance Rs 568 as soon as they enrolled in the scheme, and also the subsidy after refilling the cylinder. So, the agency people approach the company head office, for example the IOCL distributers contact the city IOCL head office at Lachit Nagar. The is Rs 668.50, and the DBTL enrolled consumers will get a subsidy refund of Rs 240.56 in their bank accounts.” The official further added that if any enrolled customer is not getting his subsidy credited in the account or did not even get the advance Rs 568, can lodge a complaint by filling form 6 available with the distributors and submitting it. The problem will be identified and solved. Most of the time there is the problem from the bank’s side also, so, before lodging the complaint, the consumers should check with the banks. Till the enrolment process is on, the agencies are jam packed and the agency officials need to handle the consumers with patience. Customers’ confusion The consumers were informed to submit their bank details before 31 December 2014. But, there is a three month grace period and now, the last date to submit the details is 31 March 2015. company then double checks their system if the complainants account is linked with the bank, once they see that the LPG account is linked with bank, they ask the consumer to contact the bank and assure that the money will soon be transferred. So, it is a serious chaos for many consumers. The explanations According to an IOCL official, DBTL is one of the largest schemes in the world and there are 10 crore consumers across India who are already enrolled in the scheme amongst 16 crore existing LPG consumers. The official said that there is the consumer’s bank, the oil company and the agency working together and there can be a technical error from any part, and so, some chaos at the initial stage is expected. It’s just that the consumers have to have a bit of patience. Once the entire process is over then there won’t be any problem. The process will end on 31st March 2015, as the grace period will end and after that whoever is not enrolled in the scheme will not be able to get subsidised cylinders. Enquiring that there are some confusions regarding the rates, the official said, “The cylinder rate varies from month to month depending on the market petrol rate. For the month of February, the non-subsidised rate of a cylinder Customers are unaware who is responsible for the chaos and keep blaming the LPG agencies, but, at times it is the bank’s fault too. Recently there was an incident of a consumer manhandling a labourer from the agency who came to deliver cylinders, because the labourer did not know why the consumer didn’t get his advance subsidy money credited in his account. Many similar incidents are occurring and it can only be entirely resolved once the entire enrolment process is over. The scheme is subjected to benefit the consumers in the long run and reduce the black marketing of cylinders. According to IOCL data, 66 per cent consumers are enrolled in the scheme out of 3,67,781 city LPG consumers. One percent consumers opted out of the scheme saying they do not require government subsidy, and according to agencies 155 consumers are no more getting cylinders because they had multiple accounts. So, the scheme is somehow serving the purpose but the authorities need to take care of the chaos which is creating some confusion among the consumers. [email protected] 8 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 City CM advocates more investments in agriculture MRINMOYEE HAZARIKA A ppealing to the Centre to create a more farmer-friendly environment in the country, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has endorsed more investments in the field of agriculture in addition to the industrial sector. Speaking at the inauguration of the second edition of Assam International Agri-Horicultural Show 2015, Tarun Gogoi said, “If we focus on the industry sector, then only the industrialists will be benefitted. No one will come here to invest money in the agricultural sector. I am opposing the Centre’s new plan to give more focus on market economy.” Expressing his clear dissatisfaction over the Centre’s new sets of policies on economy, Gogoi said, “From the new policy of market economy, states like Gujarat or Maharashtra may be benefitted. But, there is a need to chalk out a middle path. Agricultural sector has not been given attention in a deserving way. We will start a package for the sector in the name of Momai Tamuli Borbarua, the first farmer of Assam. We will not follow the diktat of Centre.” “There is a need to use new technologies for the states in the country to enhance performance in the field of organic farming in the country. We need ‘smart agriculture’ which is the mixture of soil management, seed management, ground water management and technology management and the only way towards development. Besides, we have to solve issues like middlemen, marketing etc.” The five day show was inaugurated last Tuesday (February 10) and would come to an end on Saturday (February 14). Participants from various states and countries including US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, Nepal, South Korea, Australia, Thailand and others have participated in the event held at Assam State Veterinary College Field, Khanapara. Stressing on Centre-State cooperation for the promotion of agriculture and its production, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who was also present on the occasion said, “There are lots of research going on in the laboratories on high quality seeds, quality of soil etc. But, the benefits of those researches have not reached the land. Therefore, the chain of lab-to-land has to be not Just in industries made an efficient one.” He also replicated Centre’s commitment for welfare of the farmers and informed that the Centre would provide health cards to all the landholding farmers within three years of time. “The marketing of agricultural products is a subject of the states. The state of Karnataka has started e-commerce platform for such marketing purposes. There should be a common e-marketing platform for the farmers of the country,” Radha Mohan Singh stated. Singh also mentioned that an amount of Rs 500 crore had been earmarked for the purpose of controlling food price. There is a need to use new technologies for the states in the country to enhance performance in the field of organic farming in the country. We need ‘smart agriculture’ which is the mixture of soil management, seed management, ground water management and technology management and the only way towards development. Besides, we have to solve issues like middlemen, marketing etc.” Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam “We have requested the government of Assam to provide land for setting up a Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) here in Assam. The Centre is also going to start district irrigation plants in every district which will be looked after by state level selection committees,” Singh added. State Agriculture, Horticulture and Food Processing Minister Rakibul Hussain while addressing the gathering said that the Agri-Horticultural show would lead to innovation and exchange of ideas among the participating countries which will lead to tapping the potential of agricultural sector in the state. “Agriculture information centres would be set up in all the Block Development Offices in 219 blocks of Assam for the benefit of the farmers. The event will facilitate business to business, business to farmers and business to Government activities for the promotion of agriculture in the state,” Hussain said. In the show, organised by the state agriculture department in association with Indian Chambers of Commerce and Assam Agriculture University, altogether 12 countries, 25 multinational companies and 425 stalls have taken part. [email protected] 9 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 City MRINMOYEE HAZARIKA W ith more than two thousand bank accounts in its carter, the diligent women employees of the SBI all-women branch has been sailing the ship forward. And, it has all become possible with the relentless effort of six dedicated women staff of SBI, who has been serving its customers excellently since the inception of the branch. The all-women branch of SBI, the first of its kind in the state was opened in Rajgarh road, Guwahati in the year 2013, after then Finance Minister, P Chidambaram made a proposal to set up bank branches as a public sector bank, exclusively served by women in his Budget speech. An amount of Rs 1,000 crore had been earmarked as an initial capital for the purpose. So far, a total number of 2,355 bank accounts including savings and fixed deposits have been opened at the branch. “Till now, we are getting very good response from the public. At present, there are 2,355 numbers of bank accounts in our branch, which is good news for a new branch (PBB, Lachit nagar) like us. In its initial stage, the branch was opened with 15 accounts being transferred from other branches,” Manager, Bank Operations, Tista Barua told G Plus. She also informed that currently an amount of Rs 25 crore has been deposited at the branch and it has been able to make a profit of more than 2,355 accounts opened in all-women bank “All the employees working here are like my family. When I first heard that a bank branch, served exclusively by women would open at Guwahati, I thought of transferring my account there. The location of the branch is near to my home and less crowded.” Rs 25 lakh from mutual funds. An amount of Rs 17 crore advances (in form of loan etc) has been granted by SBI all-women bank. “Though the branch is being run by women employees, anyone can visit here for opening a bank account or any other bank related transactions. There is still a misconception that only women customers can open accounts in our branch. But, now, the massage is spreading among the public that anyone can open an account here. About 40 per cent of our customers are female,” Tista Barua told. Sharing the business prospective of the branch, she also mentioned, “We are in profit now. At present, we have locker facility for 165 slots and all of them are booked. We are going to get second locker requisition in the month of April this year.” Geetamanju Baruah, First customer After the branch started operating in the month of June 2013, Branch Manager, SBI, PBB, Lachit Nagar branch or all-women branch, Purnima Hazarika told before G Plus, “From the day one, we have been receiving good responses from the people of the city. On an average, we have been handling 15 to 20 custom- ers in a day, which is not bad for a new branch. The minimum amount needed for opening an account in this branch is Rs 5000.” The customers visiting all-women branch too expressed satisfaction with the kind of service rendered by the small group of women employees. “All the employees working here are like my family. When I first heard that a bank branch, served exclusively by women would open at Guwahati, I thought of transferring my account there. The location of the branch is near to my home and less crowded. Besides, I was not satisfied with the response I used to get from my earlier branch. Now, I am totally happy and satisfied with the response I am getting from the employees here,” Geetamanju Baruah, the first customer of SBI all-women bank branch, who currently does all her banking transactions through the branch told G Plus. [email protected] 10 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Special KALYAN DEB I n our country most marriages are governed by the specific personal laws governing each religion. In extra ordinary circumstances when two people of different castes decide to tie the knot, the society grapples in the shackles of the caste system. Grave discrimination are made on grounds of caste and there have been extremely stringent rules enforcing the same. Although we have come a long way in developing liberal perceptions, modern day society still has orthodox views and opinions inculcated within. In today’s society, intermingling between people of different castes is happening at different forums, be it for education or profession. Today’s Celebrating Love youth are quite receptive to the idea of inter-caste/ inter-religion marriage. The real impediment is in altering the mindset of the family elders. India has progressed significantly in terms of inter-caste marriages being on the rise. However, this is still not embraced very well by people at large and we have a long way to go to rid our society of all prejudiced and pre-conceived notions, to widen our outlook. Gplus bring you two such stories from around the city that have set successful examples of inter-caste marriage. Reema and Rajkumar Chetry The story of Reema and Raj goes way back to their school days in the year 1997 when they met each other for the first time in 6th garde. Though they shared the same classroom in the same school, back then to each other they were nothing more than random faces in the class. It was only after both were promoted to 8th standard when Rajkumar got attracted to Reema Mishra and confessed his feelings to a common friend and classmate Neetu. The same went on for two years and finally just before their HSLC examination, Raj spoke his heart out through a three paged letter. On receiving the letter from Raj, Reema, who belonged to a very strict and orthodox Bihari family and was completely unaware of such things, was really scared. Although she felt the same way for Raj, it took three days for Reema to reciprocate Raj’s feeling, which happened through exchange of a letter where Reema barely wrote five to six lines. Tragedy struck when both were separated after their HSLC examination and went to different colleges. For months, the couple barely got to see each other and the only way of communication was through public telephones and the dates were long walks the couple used to take when Reema had to return home from her tuition classes. “We used to schedule our timings to call each other. Neither of us had mobile phones and we used to go to PCOs to talk to each other. Raj even took a job in a PCO just to call me up and back then since we were given minimum pocket money, we had to save money to be able to afford the call bills”, Reema added. The same went on till 2003, until Raj introduced Reema to his family members, though she had no clue that Raj had already told his family about their relationship. Though the couple did go out few times during that time but both were accompanied by their gang of friends and both used to barely talk to each other and the only conversation the couple had was saying ‘goodbye’ before going their own ways. A significant moment in their relationship came in the month of April when Raj’s family asked to Reema to join them to take a tour of the city since the festival of Bihu was in the air. Reema had to lie about a sleepover at a friend’s place who Reema’s parents knew well and trusted. The couple had a fun evening and it was the evening when the couple hugged each other for the first time. “Although it was a mere coincidence but as soon as we hugged, it started raining. That moment made the bond even stronger”, said Rajkumar Chetry. The story took a dramatic turn when the anti non-Assamese riots hit the state and at the same time Reema’s family found out about her relationship with Rajkumar. In the same month Reema’s family was scheduled to depart for Bihar. Meanwhile, the family was also looking for a groom to marry off Reema. With no other option left, the couple decided to elope on the very day when Reema along with her family had to depart, knowing that her family would never accept their relationship. Raj, along with his friends was waiting for the train to arrive at Rangia station and in the meantime Reema was in a dilemma since she was not ready to ditch her parents. “But as soon as the train started moving, I could feel the adrenaline since I knew that I had to make a choice. The train was gaining speed and for me the moment was, either now or never. I was literally shaking but I jumped from the running train. I fractured my right wrist during the process after hitting the compartment door”, asserted Reema. Raj took Reema to his family where they got married in a simple ceremony conducted within the resident premises itself few days later. But tough times for the couple did not end there. Reema’s parents arrived in Guwahati two days after she eloped and filed a report against Rajkumar on charges of kidnapping their daughter. The very night police went knocking at Raj’s residence and took both of them to Dispur police station. “On the way one of the lady officers told me ‘don’t turn your back on him or his life will be ruined’. I confessed to the officer in charge and told them that I am an adult and it is only with my will that I accompanied this person. Even if I was feeling guilty for embarrassing my parents, I had to stand up for what I believed in and the police let us go. We did a registered marriage two days later on December 5, 2003,” Reema added. The couple have been through thick and thin but dealt with the problems together. Reema and are Rajkumar are blessed with two children Ronit Chetry and Rashi Chetry who are now 8 and 2 years old respectively and after more than 11 years of marriage the happily married couple stands as a symbol of love and celebrates the same. Imny and Raju Chanda Raju Chanda, the CMD of Kailrock Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. belongs to a typical Bengali family whereas Imny was from the Chang clan of Nagaland and belonged to a Christian family. Both met when Raju, for business purpose had to visit Nagaland where he met Imny, who was the cousin of one of the business partners. Imny Chang was a government employee who was working at the Nagaland secretariat. Since Raju had to visit Nagaland frequently for business purposes, both came close to each other. It was in the year 2006 when Imny visited Shillong and since Raju was born and brought up in Shillong, he helped her visit places in the city and the two fell for each other. Since the couple belonged to very different religious and cultural background the same stood as a major hurdle in way of the couple’s future together and created a lot of problems among the families of both Raju and Imny. But the two decided not to elope and try to convince their parents to allow them to get married. Following their collective decision of convincing their parents, Raju went to Tuensang, Nagaland, Imny’s native place to convince her father of their relationship and asked for Imny’s hand in the pres- ence of relatives and promised her father that he would keep her happy all her life. Reciprocating Raju’s proposal, Imny’s father asked to meet his parents. Since, Raju’s parents were also not in favour of the marriage, he took one of his uncles to see Imny’s parent and somehow managed to convince her father and went on to persuade his parents. Although, he managed to convince his parents to accede to the marriage but was denied of their presence during their marriage ceremony. The couple got married on February 7, 2007 in the Kamakhya temple in the presence of other relatives but their parents and after 8 years of marriage Imny has learned all the Bengali customs and has managed to convince Raju’s parents as well and is the most loved and respected member of the family. Imny and Raju are also blessed with two children Akansha and Agasthya. With the changing social scenario, a change in the mindset of the people can be seen, but people are still critical towards interreligious marriage, though people in cities have learned the nuances of caste system and the positives of inter-caste and inter religious marriages. [email protected] G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 11 12 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Society Cricket W DATE MATCH IST VENUE DATE MATCH Feb 14 New Zealand v Sri Lanka 3.30AM Christchurch Mar 01 England vs Sri Lanka Feb 14 Australia v England 9.00AM Melbourne Mar 01 Pakistan vs Zimbabwe Feb 15 South Africa v Zimbabwe 6.30AM Hamilton Mar 03 Ireland vs South Africa Feb 15 India vs Pakistan 9.00AM Adelaide Mar 04 Pakistan vs United Arab Emirate Feb 16 Ireland vs West Indies 3.30AM Nelson Mar 04 Australia vs Afghanistan Feb 17 New Zealand vs Scotland 3.30AM Dunedin Mar 05 Bangladesh vs Scotland Feb 18 Bangladesh vs Afghanistan 9.00AM Canberra Mar 06 India vs West Indies Feb 19 United Arab Emirates vs Zimbabwe 3.30AM Nelson Mar 07 Pakistan vs South Africa Feb 20 New Zealand vs England 6.30AM Wellington Mar 07 Ireland vs Zimbabwe Feb 21 Pakistan vs West Indies 3.30AM Christchurch Mar 08 New Zealand vs Afghanistan Feb 21 Australia vs Bangladesh 9.00AM Brisbane Mar 08 Australia vs Sri Lanka Feb 22 Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka 3.30AM Dunedin Mar 09 England vs Bangladesh Feb 22 India vs South Africa 9.00AM Melbourne Mar 10 India vs Ireland Feb 23 England vs Scotland 3.30AM Christchurch Mar 11 Sri Lanka vs Scotland Feb 24 West Indies vs Zimbabwe 9.00AM Canberra Mar 12 South Africa vs United Arab Em Feb 25 Ireland vs United Arab Emirates 9.00AM Brisbane Mar 13 New Zealand vs Bangladesh Feb 26 Afghanistan vs Scotland 3.30AM Dunedin Mar 13 Afghanistan vs England Feb 26 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 9.00AM Melbourne Mar 14 India vs Zimbabwe Feb 27 South Africa vs West Indies 9.00AM Sydney Mar 14 Australia vs Scotland Feb 28 New Zealand vs Australia 6.30AM Auckland Mar 15 West Indies vs United Arab Emi Feb 28 India vs United Arab Emirates 12.00PM Perth Mar 15 Ireland vs Pakistan POOL A POOL B Schedule based on Indian Cri For more d www.icc-cr G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Money World Cup Schedule 2015 es mirates irates 13 IST VENUE 3.30AM Wellington 9.00AM Brisbane 9.00AM Canberra 6.30AM DATE MATCH IST VENUE Mar 18 First Quarter-Final 9.00AM Sydney Mar 19 Second Quarter-Final 9.00AM Melbourne Napier Mar 20 Third Quarter-Final 9.00AM Adelaide 12.00PM Perth Mar 21 Fourth Quarter-Final 6.30AM Wellington 3.30AM Nelson 12.00PM Perth 6.30AM Auckland DATE MATCH IST VENUE 9.00AM Hobart Mar 24 First Semi-Final 6.30AM Auckland 3.30AM Napier Mar 26 Second Semi-Final 9.00AM Sydney 9.00AM Sydney 9.00AM Adelaide 6.30AM Hamilton DATE MATCH IST VENUE 9.00AM Hobart 6.30AM Wellington Mar 29 9.00AM Melbourne 6.30AM Hamilton 9.00AM Sydney 6.30AM Auckland 9.00AM Hobart 3.30AM Napier 9.00AM Adelaide icket Council official website. details visit ricket.com Final POOL A POOL B POOL A POOL B 14 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Ward Watch RAJGARH LINK ROAD CREATING HAVOC IN THE CITY KALYAN DEB R ains wrecks havoc on the streets of Guwahati every year and Rajgarh Road, despite being one of the major routes of transportation in the city, a lot still remains to be done to address the root cause of water logging. A connecting route between the G.S. Road and the R.G. Baruah Road, Rajgarh remains busy with all kinds of vehicles passing through for a major part of the day, even as it continues to struggle with excessive dust during the winter and knee-deep water during monsoon. The condition has even worsened since the implementation of GMDA/ JICA water supply project in the area for which though the road was dug up for lying of pipes, it has not been restored. Since the water supply project is still in progress in most part of the area even after months, it has become a reason for concern among the residents and commuters of the area as monsoon gets closer. Problems “The problem of water logging has come up only from the past four to five years and since then, it has been a matter of concern for the residents. The water logging problem continues to worsen in the city despite measures taken and funds spent in the name of this problem. This only underlines the fact that authorities are still beating around the bush without addressing the root cause which is cleaning the water reservoirs,” said Mahesh Deka, a resident of Rajgarh Road. Anil Nagar and Nabin Nagar in the area have always been among the worst hit flash floods areas of the city where several residents have expressed their immense anger on the futile exercise of clearing the drains and launching eviction drives that has so far failed to minimise the woes of the people. “Last year, four bye-lanes of Rajgarh faced water logging for the entire day and the condition was only relieved after the water was pumped out from Rajgarh and was released onto the adjacent Pub Sarania Road. Also last year’s rainfall damaged several vehicles and kept the commuters stranded on roads for several hours”, Deka added. Also a subsisting bottle neck in the Rajgarh Road is among the major problems faced by the people of the area. The bottle neck was created due to faulty construction of residences adjacent to the road. Allegedly, both sides of the road belonged to the government at one point of time but at present, only one side remain as government land. Although proposals of broadening the road has been forwarded, several residents still object to the move. “If the road is widened, it will only help the people and several people are in favour of the proposal. Being a link road between the G.S.Road and R.G.Baruah Road, the road remains busy for most part of the day and the bottle neck is one of the crucial reasons of traffic congestion”, said Deepak Tiwari, who owns a shop at Rajgarh link road. “Khanindra Ranjan Barman, Secretary, Anil Nagar Development Committee asserted, “The bottleneck can only be resolved with the consensus of the residents. While many are in favour, at the same time, several are opposed to the proposal, regardless of the fact that such measure will only be for the welfare of the people of the area. The only notable step that should be taken by the authorities is the implementation of eviction drive on the payment of a concession to those residents who have wrongly constructed their buildings over the road.” Anil Nagar and Nabin Nagar in the area have always been among the worst hit flash floods areas of the city where several residents have expressed their immense anger on the futile exercise of clearing the drains and launching eviction drives that has so far failed to minimise the woes of the people. The width of the road that was earlier issued to be upto 120ft but was later reduced to 80ft keeping in consideration the convenience of the residents. Councilor’s Say The Rajgarh Road being divided into two different wards, the development of the link road rests on the shoulders of PWD. Since the GMDA project is already in progress in the area, no other project can be carried out or can be sanctioned overlapping the on going project. “Since the road is the responsibility of the Public Works Department, the councilor has no say over the developmental activities to be carried in the particular area. The GMDA/JICA water supply project is underway and expected to be concluded within a short period of time. Regarding the eviction drive, it can be only carried out af- ter permission is issued by the DC and with the confidence of majority of residents. Also, the residents will be paid a concession for their property according to government norms”, said Abir Patra, councilor ward number 18. Meanwhile, in regard to the problems faced by the people of the area, a public meeting was organised at the Sanatan Dharma Sabha on Sunday, February 8. The meeting, which was organised by Nabin Nagar Welfare Society, was held to carry out discussions over the development and measures required to be taken to prevent water logging problems in the Rajgarh area where members of the Anil Nagar and Nabin Nagar Development Committee also took part. [email protected] G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 15 16 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Life Symbolism Behind The Form Of Shiva Significance of Crescent Moon on Lord Shiva’s Head Shiva Tattva is where there is no mind and the moon signifies the mind. When there is no mind then how can this ‘no mindedness’ be expressed and how can anybody understand it? You need a little bit of the mind to understand, experience and to express. The no-mind, infinite consciousness requires that little bit of mind to express itself in the manifest world. So, to express that inexpressible, that little mind (crescent moon) is on the head. Wisdom is beyond the mind, but it needs to be expressed with a tinge of mind and this is symbolized by the crescent moon. Significance of Lord Shiva’s Damru Damru symbolizes the Universe which is always expanding and collapsing. From an expansion it collapses and then it re-expands, this is the process of creation. If you see your heartbeat, it is not just one straight line but it is a rhythm that goes up and down. The whole world is nothing but rhythms; energy rising and collapsing to rise again. So the damru signifies that. Look at the shape of the damru, from expansion it collapses and again expands. The darmru is also a symbol of sound. Sound is rhythm and sound is energy. The whole universe is nothing but a wave function, it is nothing but rhythms. What does quantum physics say? It says the same thing – the whole universe is nothing but rhythms. It is just one wave (Adviata). So the damru signifies the non-dual nature of the universe. Significance of Serpent around Lord Shiva’s Neck A state of samadhi where there is nothing, just the inner sky of consciousness, is Shiva; where there is alertness and no action. To describe this alertness they put a snake around Shiva’s neck. So the serpent is a symbol of alertness. In the state of meditation when the eyes are closed, it gives the impression that the person is sleeping, but he is not asleep, he is alert. To express this state of consciousness, a snake is shown around Lord Shiva’s neck. Significance of Lord Shiva’s Trishul (Trident) Trishul represents the three aspects of consciousness – waking, dreaming and sleeping, and it represents the three gunas – satva, rajas and tamas. Holding a trishul (Trident) signifies that Shiva (the divinity) is above all the three states – waking, dreaming and sleeping, yet is the upholder of these three states. The divinity is beyond the three gunas, but it holds the three gunas together. Shul means problems or suffering. Trishul means that which destroys all kind of suffering. Three types of pain that arise in life 1. Aadibhautik (physical) 2. Aadhyaatmik (spiritual) and 3. Aadidaivik (ethereal) What relieves you from all the problems and suffering is the trishul. And it is in the hand of Shiva. Significance of River Ganga flowing from Lord Shiva’s Head Ganga means knowledge; knowledge that purifies your soul. Head is always the symbol of knowledge. Heart is the symbol of love. If Ganga were to be love, it should have come out of the heart of Lord Shiva. It is coming out of the head, because it simply means knowledge. Knowledge is liberating, knowledge brings freedom, knowledge is purifying. All these are the characteristics of knowledge. Knowledge is also movement; motion. So Ganga (knowledge) has to come out of Lord Shiva’s (the divinity’s) head. Significance of Lord Shiva’s Third Eye The third eye is associated with alertness and awareness. Significance of Shiva’s Blue Body Blue means like the Sky. Blue signifies all pervading, infinity which has no limits. It has no shape. Shiva does not have a body. Shiva was never a person at all. To symbolize the unfathomable, the infinite Divinity and to make that Divinity comprehensible to people, the ancient Rishis made a form. Knowledge has no shape but it infiltrates each and every particle of the universe. The whole world is filled with Shiva – whose body is in the whole universe. Significance of Shiva Linga Lingam means identification, a symbol through which you can identify what the truth is, what the reality is. What is not visible but yet can be identified by one thing, that is lingam. When a baby is born, how do you know whether the baby is a male or female? Only through one part of the body can you identify whether this baby is a boy or a girl. That is the reason the genital is also called lingam. Yasya nishvasitam Vedah yo vedebhyo akhilam jagat Nirmame tam aham vande vidyaatirtha Maheshvaram Shivatvam Gurutvamcha-Shakti tvameva tvameivasi Mata Pita-cha tvameva Tvaimevasi bandhur tvaimevasi vidya gatirmeya matirdevi sarvam tvamaiva Hymn from the Rig Veda. Similarly, how do you identify the Lord of this Creation? He has no form! So then they said that there should be a sign to identify Him. So the sign, by which you identify both the male and female forms, combining them both to form one single symbol to identify the Lord who has no form or identity; who is all pervading in this entire Brahmanda (Creation), is Shiva Lingam. Shiva Linga is very ancient, in fact most ancient. From the form, you go to the formless, through the Shiva Linga. It is a symbol that is the representation of the cosmos and the creator of the cosmos, as one. It is the Shiva and the Shakti, the two principles in the creation. The silent un-manifest and the dynamic manifestation together are represented as Shiva Linga. Shiva Linga is not just Shiva, but the completion of the total Supreme Consciousness. Significance of Nandi (Bull) – Vehicle of Lord Shiva Bull has been used as a symbol of dharma (righteousness) from a long time, throughout the world. Lord Shiva riding on the bull simply means that when you are righteous and truthful, the infinite consciousness, the innocent consciousness is with you. Significance of Shiva Tandav The whole creation is the dance of one consciousness (Shiva). The one consciousness danced and man- ifested into a million species in the world. So this infinite creation is the dance of Lord Shiva or Shiva Tandav. The whole world is a place of Shiva. Significance of Kailasa The Abode of Shiva The abode of Shiva is in Mount Kailasa, and the smashana (the cremation ground). Kailasa means ‘where there is only celebration’, and smashana is where there is only void. The Divinity dwells in the void as well as in celebration. And in you there is void, in you there is celebration. Significance of Chanting ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ Om Namah Shivaya is one of the very powerful mantras. It builds the energy in your system and clears the environment. Mantras are those energizing sounds which help to uplift the consciousness. Om Namah Shivaya, these words are very important because ‘Na’, ‘Ma’, ‘Shi’, ‘Va’, ‘Ya’, these five letters indicate the five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. Om is the sound of the universe. Om means peace and love. So when there is peace, love and harmony in all the five elements then there is bliss and there is joy! Mantras are greater than the power of the horoscope. Whatever be the effects of the planets, you can remove them by chanting Om Namah Shivaya. Yasya nishvasitam Vedah yo vedebhyo akhilam jagat Nirmame tam aham vande vidyaatirtha Maheshvaram Shivatvam Gurutvamcha-Shakti tvameva tvameivasi Mata Pita-cha tvameva Tvaimevasi bandhur tvaimevasi vidya gatirmeya matirdevi sarvam tvamaiva - Hymn from the Rig Veda. (Translated thus: To Him I bow down, whose very exhalation of breath are the Vedas, the One who creates the universe from it, remaining uninvolved, un-manifest, and who is the most sacred and cherished shrine of pilgrimage for all the streams of knowledge. You are Shiva, You are the Guru also and the Divine Energy manifest in Creation. You are Mother, Father and the best companion also, and You are the Knowledge of all that is. Bless me so that my intellect be devoted and directed unto You, and that it may dwell in it forever.) An Invitation: The Guwahati chapter of The Art Of Living will celebrate Mahasivratri on 17th Feb,15 and will perform Rudrabhishek at Pandu Ashram from 6 p.m. we request participation of every citizen of Guwahati and experience Meditational sojourn. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji 17 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Made money Money It’s time to review your Portfolio in the boom market? ROHIT SARAWGI Independent Financial Advisor I nvestment experts are asking individual investors to use the booming stock market to get rid of dud stocks and mutual fund schemes in their portfolio. They are also advising investors to rebalance their portfolio to conform to their asset allocation plan, as the share of equity assets in portfolios would have swelled due to the rally in equities. It is also a perfect occasion to book profits. The S&P BSE Sensex touched all-time high of 29681.77 in January 2015. This is a good time to review the portfolio and get rid of Stocks / Funds that have yielded poor returns vis-avis their peer group stocks / funds. One should consider booking profits and exiting from equity investments to adhere to the original asset allocation plan. Retail investors tend to hold onto bad investments due to the fear of booking a loss, which prevents them from undertaking the task of portfolio review regularly. Those who have failed to review the portfolio should make the most of the current market surge to eliminate dud stocks and mu- tual funds. If a stock or mutual fund scheme is not doing well, one should get rid of them after a review, instead of waiting for good times to come. For instance, if one disposes a bad stock and replace it with a performing stock, the latter would yield even better returns during this market rally. Similarly, if one feel that the fund manager has been underperforming for a long time, one should sell off the units, irrespective of market conditions. Investors should evaluate returns from mutual fund schemes over the past track record before taking a final decision. Comparing fund’s returns with its peers’ over the period will be an indicator of its utility value to the portfolio. One need to exercise caution while making such comparisons, particularly in case of mutual funds. Avoid apples to oranges comparison. For instance, in the recent times, midcap funds have performed excellently, while largecap funds have done reasonably well. Retail investors who own one largecap and one midcap fund tend to make the mistake of comparing the two and switching out among each other. Instead, one should look at the right indices for benchmarking. In this case, midcap should be benchmarked against Midcap index and largecap against Sensex or Nifty. Similarly, a comparison between funds in the portfolio bought over different time periods, too, will not be an accurate indicator. Rather than comparing funds within the portfolio, assess their performance with respect to the category average, benchmark indices and time periods. In addition, find out whether the fund is adhering to its stated objective. One can scan the various reports and figure out whether the stocks in the portfolio match the objective. For instance, if an infrastructure fund is investing in banking stocks and the intention was to invest in capital goods companies, one may need to reevaluate the decision to stick to the fund. A soaring market is also a great opportunity to book profits. However, experts caution against booking profits for its sake. Profit-booking will only help a person who has a short term view and needs the money after a certain period. If one has made a mistake by directing funds required for the short-term goal into equities, he can use this rally to sell them off. If long-term wealth creation is the objective, profit-booking is not a great idea. If the fund is invested with a near-term requirement of money in the next three-six months, one should book a certain amount of profit and make a provision for the expenses. One should have a belief that the current rally might not last for long. However, the profit-booking should be done to achieve a specific goal. It could be to fund a vacation next year, direct the money to safer avenues like debt funds, hybrid or liquid funds, or simply to re-enter the equity market later at a more favourable time with an increased exposure in defensive stocks. 18 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Reviews u D YoOULen SHList e m ase a G le re Saints Row Gat Out Of Hell e vi ew Moevi r Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Arjun Rampal, Anupam Kher Director: Vikramjit Singh R oy is a film about a flirtatious filmmaker Kabir (Arjun Rampal) whose life runs parallel with one of his characters Roy (Ranbir Kapoor) that causes enough turmoil in his love life. Finally, both the director’s as well as character’s lives merge and bring love back into the filmmaker’s life. It’s an interesting novel idea; alas, the debutant director Vikramjit Singh is unable to translate his own story on celluloid. Jaqueline-Sallu-bhai-ki-dayabani-rahe-Fernandez plays a double role, Ayesha and Tia, a filmmaker and an actor respectively. She has played both the roles so differently, for instance, the colour of her lipstick and her hair changes. If Ayesha is pink-lipped, Tia is red-lipped. If Ayesha has long tresses, Tia’s hair is shoulder length. Such distinct traits lend such depth to both the characters. The brilliant idea of fiction meeting reality is sadly lost in bizarre situations, random dialogues and clueless characters. There is an ageing, ailing father who hits on his nurses, loves cigars and gives Ted talks to an audience that consists ONLY his son. There is a detective who wears trench coats, smokes like a chimney, bears a pocket watch and does everything to look the palest version of Byomkesh Holmes!! The dialogues don’t help either. Picture thisThe Flirty Filmmaker: One who has guns is always in control. The Pink-Lipped Lass: No, the one who has a heart, is. Pause. The Pink-Lipped Lass: You know I always wanted to be a ballet dancer. And all this while I am thinking this will eventually make sense and will lead to something meaningful. It does. A ballet performance by the Pink-Lipped at the beach. I am sure there is some deep-rooted philosophy between guns, heart and ballet that my stupid silly mind can’t comprehend. Arjun-Milind-Soman-bodydouble- Rampal is extremely earnest in portraying the maverick filmmaker and his idiosyncrasies but earnestness doesn’t always translate into a pathbreaking performance. He tries his best to show the characters’ insecurities and vulnerabilities. Alas, I could feel none. Ranbir-I-am-yet-not-engagedto-Katrina-Kapoor plays a thief who has no history, no layers and no dimensions. He has a deadpan expression all through, while stealing, romancing, smoking or punching the baddies to pulp. We don’t blame him. It’s a badly written character. Besides, one gets exhausted dealing with eggzzaatic accents on a daily basis. Ghar mein Katrina, sets par Jacqueline and between the two of them we have covered the entire Rapidex English Speaking Course. The film is shot beautifully. The screenplay is clever too. A story that keeps shifting between time and space from real life to reel and vice versa, life can be puzzling but the smart screenplay avoids any such confusion. I just wish they hadn’t packed too much randomness in the name of art and intensity. There is an instance when Ayesha comments on bad films, ‘’One should end the film if headed in the wrong direction.’’ If only the director practiced what he preached! Watch it for the debutant director’s attempt at telling a different story with gorgeous actors that make enough eye candies! V olition took the fourth installment of the Saints Row series in a delightfully bizarre direction in August 2013, and now they’ve brought all the mayhem to next-gen consoles, including a brand-new standalone expansion. In “Re-Elected,” you play as the Boss, and after saving Washington, D.C., in spectacular fashion by disarming a nuke in midair, America loves you so much you are elected as president of the United States. After making the tough choice between curing cancer or eliminating world hunger, aliens invade the world and capture the Boss and his crew, trapping them inside a simulation. There’s no mission structure to get to the final showdown with Satan — just fill up his wrath meter by causing chaos and mayhem. In other words, raise hell. The quickest way to do this is to complete loyalty missions involving historical figures William Shakesphere, Blackbeard and Vlad the Impaler, as well as twins Kiki and Viola DeWynter. The problem is these missions all play out the same: survive a wave of enemies, complete a flying obstacle course, defeat a big, evil demon, and so forth. They’re fun the first couple times, but outstay their welcome. Enemy variety is thin, too, and while there are wacky weapons based on the Seven Deadly Sins that are a treat to own, you’ll finish the several hour campaign well before unlocking their true potential. Album name: ‘Heavy Love’ Artist: Duke Garwood H eavy Love is Duke Garwood’s fifth full-length solo album. It is a natural follow-up to Black Pudding, the collaborative album he cut with Mark Lanegan in 2012. Recorded in London and Los Angeles,Garwood self-produced the set and enlisted Lanegan and Alain Johannes from Queens of the Stone Age to mix it. Garwood plays many of the instruments himself, but gets selective assistance from friends along the way, including Johannes on various keys, backing vocalists Jehnny Beth and Johnny Hostile of Savages, and longtime friend, collaborator, and drummer Paul May. Garwood’s guitar is the album’s most recognizable feature, but his singing voice is its most natural companion. In sum, Heavy Love is all of a piece: slow, slippery, jungly. It is easily the most confident, fully realized album in his catalog to date, and his most poetic to boot. One Part Woman Artist: Perumal Murugan D u D YoOUL ad SH Re istance allows us to be dismissive of the lives of other people, to filter their narratives down to a few essential keynotes and tragedies. In One Part Woman, translated into English three years after its Tamil original garnered widespread acclaim, Perumal Murugan turns an intimate, crystalline gaze on a married couple in interior Tamil Nadu. It is a gaze that lays bare the intricacies of their story, culminating in a heart-wrenching denouement that allows no room for apathy. Kali and Ponna s efforts to conceive a child have been in vain. Hounded by the taunts and insinuations of others, all their hopes come to converge on the chariot festival in the temple of Ardhanareeswara, the half-female god. Everything hinges on the one night when rules are relaxed and consensual union between any man and woman is sanctioned. This night could end the couple s suffering and humiliation. But it will also put their marriage to the ultimate test. NOW SHOWING Roy MSG The Messenger Apsara Cinema Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.00, 5.00& 8.00 PM Anuradha Cineplex Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.00, 5.00& 8.00 PM Fun Cinemas Daily at 9.15 AM, 3.15, 6.00 & 8.45 PM Daily at 12.00 PM Gold Cinema (Fancy Bazar) Daily at 11.00, 11.30 AM, 2.30, 5.00, 8.00 & 8.30 PM Daily at 2.00 PM Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar) Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.30, 5.00, 5.30, 8.00, 8.30 PM Daily at 11.30 AM Gold Cinema (Narengi) Daily at 11.00 AM, 2.00, 5.00& 8.00 PM Telebooking numbers: Anuradha Cineplex; 03612656968, 9954544738, Fun Cinemas: 9864800100, 9864800200, Gold Cinema (Fancy Bazaar): 03612735367, 9854077177, Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar): 9854066166, Gold Cinema (Narengi): 8811001898 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 19 Tech Watch MTS India launches ‘Homespot’ Instant Wi-Fi Solution New vulnerability reveals WhatsApp privacy is ‘broken’ A nother major vulnerability in popular messaging application WhatsApp has been revealed. The latest vulnerability has been disclosed by Maikel Zweerink, who previously developed a web tool called Whatsspy that can track move of any WhatsApp user. In a detailed blog titled WhatsApp privacy is broken, Maikel Zweerink reveals WhatsSpy Public a web-oriented application that can track every move of whoever you like to follow. He claims the app is setup as a “Proof of Concept that Whatsapp is broken” in terms of privacy. According to Maikel Zweerink, the app can track online and offline status of a user even though privacy options are set to nobody, as well as profile pictures, privacy settings and status messages. The tool features a simple GUI to view a timeline of user and can campare it with other tracked user. “The privacy options in Whatsapp act like they give you full control over your status in Whatsapp meanwhile they only affect a very limited scope. Sure, the lastseen, profile picture and status options do work, but probably not as the user intented it to. The ability for an complete stranger to follow your in-app status is pretty creepy and might be abused already. This is not an “hack” or “exploit” but it’s broken by design,” adds Maikel Zweerink. Windows 10 runs ‘very smooth’ on Lumia 635 M icrosoft is planning to bring its latest Windows 10 to some of its low-end Lumia smartphones. According to reports, Windows 10 preview for phones will be launched soon, and some handsets with 512 MB of RAM will get it as well. Microsoft’s Garbiel Aul, who’s leading the Windows 10 Insider program, stated that he’s currently testing Windows 10 a Nokia Lumia 635, and the OS is “very smooth on it overall.” Microsoft’s Lumia 635 is a budget smartphone which runs on Windows Phone 8 and comes with a Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with 512 MB of RAM. If Windows 10 runs smoothly on the Lumia 635, it will most probably run well on other budget Lumia devices like the Lumia 530, Lumia 525 and even the Lumia 520. S istema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) that provides telecom services under the brand MTS announced its entry into home WiFi segment with the launch of Homespot Instant WiFi solution. The Homespot Instant WiFi solution comes with an MBlaze Ultra dongle which works with a simple plug and play mechanism and can provide broadband access to five users simultaneously including smartphone users. The data plans for Homespot Instant Wi-Fi solution start at Rs. 248/- for 1GB of prepaid data with free WhatsApp and Viber. Customers can choose from a range of other unlimited prepaid and postpaid plans depending on their usage. MTS says its new solution marks a strategic shift in focus from being primarily a dongle driven data company to a WiFi solutions provider. According to Leonid Musatov, Chief Marketing & Brand Officer – MTS India, “MTS is traditionally known as a data dongle provider in the Indian market. The plan is to now shift focus and be recognised as a world-class Wi-Fi solutions provider. With the Homespot Instant Wi-Fi solution, we have a fantastic product to address the internet needs of multiple users including Smartphone customers at home with a single, easy to use device”. Leonid further added, “The launch of Homespot Instant WiFi solution is being supported by integrated communication campaign featuring a TVC that will see the return of MTS Internet Baby in an all new avatar. The launch of this campaign will coincide with the upcoming cricket world cup” How to Send Scheduled Birthday Wishes to your Facebook Friends? W hat’s the date today? OMG! I missed her birthday yesterday is what you scream after realizing that you’ve forgotten your friend’s birthday yesterday! I know how that feels. But, you can’t remember every important day in your life. So, stop blaming yourself and read on. Even though Facebook notifies you about your friends birthdays on the right sidebar, you may ignore it sometimes for some reason unintentionally. Wishes at zero hours brings so much happiness than been wished at other times. We may not be awake till 12 every time or we may be out of reach of Facebook at those times. So how it would be if we can schedule birthday greetings at to be delivered right times? Awesome right? let’s see how! Samsung Galaxy J1 available in India S amsung’s latest Galaxy J1 smartphone is now available in India via Amazon.in for Rs. 7,190. The Galaxy J1 is the new Samsung mobile line up that is aimed at the budget segment. The Samsung Galaxy J1 features a 4.3-inch WVGA display. It sports 5 MP rear camera with LED flash and a 2 MP front snapper. It comes with a Palm Selfie feature, which allows you to click selfies with a simple hand gesture. The Galaxy J1 comes with 4GB of internal storage, supports expandable storage up to 128GB via microSD. For connectivity, the smartphone supports dual-SIM, Wi-Fi b/g/n with Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS. It is powered by an 1850 mAh battery. Google Search to include fact-checked medical information G oogle has announced that its search engine will now display medical data regarding common health conditions. The internet giants Knowledge Graph will present relevant information about symptoms, treatments, and “details on how common the condition is — whether it’s critical, if it’s contagious, what ages it affects, and more.” Google will be rolling out the feature in US in the next few days. Users will now be able to search for symptoms or health conditions within Google, rather than going on external websites. Google’s Knowledge Graph will show how common conditions are, and whether they’re contagious or critical, as well as other information. Some of the cards will even show illustrations. However the company warns that the results shouldn’t be seen as medical advice, and users should always consult a health professionals if they 1. Go to http://www.birthdayfb. com and connect your Facebook account. 2. You will be shown the list of upcoming and on date birthdays under Not scheduled yet. 3. Choose the contacts you donít miss birthdays of and those you wanted to send the scheduled birthday wishes. 4. Choose Write message from the drop down options, create your own message under --Canned Messages-- and click Save. 5. You can also choose the already available message bodies instead of your own canned message. 6. When done! your scheduled greetings will be shown under Upcoming Birthdays. 7. are worried. Prem Ramaswami, a Google product manager, announced the new feature in a blog post: “Once you get this basic info from Google, you should find it easier to do more research on other sites around the web, or know what questions to ask your doctor.” He adds, “We worked with a team of medical doctors (led by our own Dr. Kapil Parakh, M.D., MPH, Ph.D.) to carefully compile, curate, and review this information. All of the gathered facts represent real-life clinical knowledge from these doctors and high-quality medical sources across the web, and the information has been checked by medical doctors at Google and the Mayo Clinic for accuracy.” Now go to Preferences and choose your time zone and time to send the wishes. Click Save. And its done. Indrajeet Bhuyan is a 16 year old tech blogger and security researcher. He is passionate about computers and believes in sharing knowledge and information . He uses his spare time helping people and companies secure themselves. fb.me/ indrajeet.bhuyan 20 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Entertainment Bollywood welcomes its ‘new villain’ Gauahar Karan Johar gets ‘selective’ M odel-actress Gauahar Khan, who hogged limelight with her dance performance in the song “Jhalla walla” from “Ishaqzaade”, now wants to do selective work. Besides, she is open to doing more dance numbers. “Right now I am doing selective work. I don’t want to do just a song. People love me for my dance and I hope that something great comes up,” Gauahar said at an event. “If I get a really interesting dance number, I will definitely want to do it,” added the successful model, who had first showcased her dancing prowess in reality show “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa”. F ilmmaker Karan Johar, known for his glamorous movies, sharp oneliners and sense of humour, is seen in a new avatar in a poster of his acting project “Bombay Velvet”. His villainous look with a shrewd smile and a moustache has got a thumbs up from his friends and colleagues from tinsel town. In the Anurag Kashyap directorial, Karan plays Kaizad Khambatta, an arch rival of street fighter Johnny Balraj, played by Ranbir Kapoor. “Bombay Velvet” is jointly produced by Phantom Films and Fox Star India, and is set for release on May 15. The film is set in the 1960s and is a large screen adaptation of Gyan Prakash’s “Mumbai Fables”. Dhoni biopic launch cancelled due to India’s poor form B uzz has it that the makers of ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ were planning to launch the biopic on the Indian cricket captain in Australia this Sunday. They felt it couldn’t be more opportune as India begin their World Cup campaign there against arch rivals Pakistan on that day. However, they have apparently reconsidered their decision to go Down Under for the launch. Says a source, “India’s poor form has been a cause of concern with several experts and ex-cricketers doubtful about the team’s chances of victory in its opening match. So, the makers of the Dhoni biopic were sceptical of flying down to Australia and making the announcement there.” ‘It’s not me’ Radhika Apte on her nude pics N ude photographs of Radhika Apte have gone viral on the internet. The actress is shocked that someone is misusing her name. Says Radhika, “Anyone with a sane mind will know that it’s not me. Those are not my photographs. There is nothing more that I have to say.” Ranbir doesn’t shy away from risks “ Roy” needed a “character” and not a “lead actor”, says its director Vikramjit Singh, who feels that Ranbir Kapoor fit the bill for it due to his risk-taking ability. Singh said, “When you write a film, you have a wish list of actors ready. The role in ‘Roy’ is not a typical lead role. It’s a character. I have seen Ranbir’s work. He doesn’t shy away from taking risks. “We have seen him doing a film like ‘Barfi!’ in which he didn’t have any dialogue. Also, his vision is different. He had faith in the film, and so he said yes to ‘Roy’.” “Roy” also features Arjun Rampal and Jacqueline Fernandez. And while the duo has been promoting the film widely ahead of its release on Feb 13, Ranbir has been missing from the scene so far. Singh says it was a strategy. The director also clarified that “Roy” is not a fullfledged Ranbir Kapoor movie. Diamond necklace stolen from Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor’s home A ctress Sonam Kapoor registered a complaint with the Juhu police on February 5 after she found a diamond necklace missing from her bungalow. The Juhu police have registered a theft case against unknown persons and have begun investigations. According to Juhu police officials, Sonam and her mother Sunita approached them on February 5 to lodge a complaint of theft under Section 380 of the Indian Penal Code. In her complaint, Sonam has said that on February 4 she had attended a party in Bandra when she was wearing the necklace and other jewellery, and returned late in the night. She then kept the necklace in a drawer in her room at 2 am, but later the same day she found it missing. According to the actress, she had been given six boxes of jewellery from a renowned jeweller for an endorsement and she wore this jewellery costing crores overall to the party. The next day when the jeweller’s representative came to collect it, she found the diamond necklace missing. Police said that the necklace was approximately worth Rs 5 lakh. The Juhu police have begun the investigations by questioning the domestic help at the actress’ house located on the 7th road of Vile Parle Scheme at Juhu. 21 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Your weekly dose of Aries TIMEPASS Taurus In a fairly laid-back week, the pace quickens as Mercury turns direct, which might ease a misunderstanding with a friend. Later, however, Saturn’s presence could encourage you to hold back even if the influence of a friend or partner tempts you to throw caution to the wind. The ability to read between the lines can be helpful if someone’s behavior becomes a bit of a mystery. Whatever you do, try not to take anything at face value in the days ahead. Leo Sagittarius Frustrations could arise if you feel that others aren’t receptive to your views. This week try not to take criticism personally. See what you can learn from the comments and use them as incentive to improve. Meanwhile, romance, creative expression, or other interests may leave much to be desired, and it could be due to financial restrictions. Persistence in resolving such problems will bring rewards. Later, be sure to recharge your batteries by opting for a little fun. SUDOKU HOROSCOPE Gemini Your natural charm encourages others to involve you in their plans, and in the case of a love interest, to seek to make you happy as well. This is certainly a great time for an active social life, whether you’re eager to expand your network of friends or encourage business acquaintances. Career plans take a step ahead as Mercury pushes forward from midweek. It’s now time to sign contracts, commit to projects, and go ahead with ideas that have been in development. Virgo Today’s focus on your social life could stir up lively involvement with new or old acquaintances. Though indications are good for relationships overall, try not to overextend yourself, especially if you’ve been burning the candle at both ends. A focus on shared resources encourages care when applying for credit or loans. Be sure to read the fine print before you sign. You’ll also have a chance to deepen emotional bonds and experience greater intimacy with someone you care about. Fun A sense of responsibility can keep you busy with plans and new ideas, but there’s benefit to be gained from a willingness to be of service. News received from friend could put you in a good mood, especially if it concerns a project you’re working on together. Finally, if you feel an urge to study, don’t put it off. By taking a course or class or getting a qualification, you could be doing yourself a big favor further down the line. Cancer The current Pisces focus encourages you to reach for a higher goal, as by doing so the cosmos may grant your wish. You might be motivated to explore workshops or retreats that put you back in touch with your innate spirituality. If it’s silence you seek, a short break at a sanctuary or other peaceful resort can help you feel like yourself again. When you emerge you’ll be fresh, energized, and ready for the next challenge. Meanwhile, determine to stay in control regarding finances. Libra There’s plenty of inspiration out there if you seek creative expression. The Pisces focus can be excellent for attending cultural events such as concerts, art exhibitions, or anything else that takes your fancy. If this motivates you to have a go yourself, then so much the better! Meanwhile, new people will be coming into your life who can brighten your outlook and open the door to fresh possibilities. Perhaps it’s time to profit from an exchange of ideas! Capricorn Scorpio Don’t beat around the bush where health matters are concerned, particularly if you’re baffled by your symptoms. Rather than worry yourself unnecessarily, take practical action by going to see a professional. On another note, it’s possible you’re thinking of changing jobs yet are uncertain of where to apply. Saturn’s presence in Sagittarius encourages you to research your options and think outside the box. Something may turn up that you haven’t considered that suits you to a T. If you can’t decide what to do next, this might be a signal that you need to retreat from the bustle of daily life and give yourself time to think. The current focus may see you heading off into nature to calm your mind and connect with your deeper feelings. Go easy this week, as rushing won’t accomplish anything and might even make matters worse. Consider a relationship problem as a chance to clear away unrealistic expectations and get grounded. Aquarius You’ll be relieved to know that Mercury pushes ahead in your personal financial sector, hopefully bringing an end to any delays or misunderstandings you’ve experienced recently. Although it may not be plain sailing straight out of the gate, you’ll soon find things begin to bob along nicely. Continue to keep receipts, however. Your imaginative mindset can be helpful for coming up with creative ideas with a touch of magic about them. Don’t ignore those flights of fancy - they could turn to gold. You know who your friends are, as they’ve likely proved their loyalty time and time again, but what about a new acquaintance? You may have reservations based on gossip you’ve heard, but it’s likely they’re unfounded. If you give this person a chance, he or she could become a very supportive friend in the future. As Mercury pushes ahead from midweek, it’s time to get started on plans that have been on the back burner. Later, a romantic tryst could have the sizzle factor. Pisces Although you’re in the driver’s seat, you could have difficulty steering activities in the direction you should go. This can be due to a spiritual focus whereby happenings occur out of the blue, disrupting your bestlaid plans. For now you might have to go with the flow and see where it takes you. Don’t let this keep you from planning ahead. It’s great to do so long as you remain flexible. Meanwhile, feelings for a special someone may ratchet up this week. Useful Life Hacks Use coins to open stubborn packaging If you don’t have a sharp object nearby, the coins in your pocket should suffice. As redditor Xasf explains, “Place two coins on the opposite sides of the bag (close together) and squeeze the bag with your thumbs. Then when you try to rip open the bag, the coins will work as makeshift scissors and neatly cut it open.” JUST FOR LAUGHs A boy with a monkey on his shoulder was walking down the road when he passed a policeman who said, “Now, now young lad, I think you had better take that monkey the zoo.” The next day, the boy was walking down the road with the monkey on his shoulder again, when he passed the same policeman. The policeman said, “Hey there, I thought I told you to take that money to the zoo!” The boy answered, “I did! Today I’m taking him to the cinema.” At the doctor’s office, Tom was getting a check up. “I have good news and bad news,” says the doctor. “The good news is you have 24 hours left to live.” Tom replies, “That’s the good news?!” Then the doctor says, “The bad news is I should have told you that yesterday.” Solution (Last Issue) 22 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 Citypedia classifieds VACANCY Urgently Required 20 Nos.For Govt. Project, Data Entry Operator, Salary: On contractual asis. No fees needed. Call: 98640 56427 88768 04812 Hair Styler required in an Unisex salon For details contact 97076 35294 Peon Required Qly-H.S.L.C. 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Road Rent-12,000 Ph No.-98644-31944 3 BHK 2nd Floor Flat At Ghy Club, Rent18,000 Call-76630-59321 3 BHK Newly Constructed Flat At Jayanagar, Rent14,000 Call-83999-65686 3BHK Independent House At Jonali, 2Bathroom , Parking, & Kitchen, Rent10,000 Contact-76630-59321 3BHK 3Rd Floor Flat With Bathroom , Parking, Balcony And Lift Rent-12,000 Contact-83999-65686 3 BHK At Ganeshguri Rent-15,000 Call-7663059321 Any type of Rented House Available At Zoo Road, Chandmari Contect-98647-39316 2 BHK Flat With 2Bathroom, Parking & Balcony With Lift At Chandmari Rent-10,000 Ph No.- 83999-65686 Any type of Flat Available At Zoo Road, Chandmari Contect-98647-39316 Any type of Office Available At Zoo Road, Chandmari Contect-98647-39316 Independent House Available At Zoo Road, Chandmari. Contect-98647-39316 2BHK RCC Home Available AtChandmari Rent-10,000/Ph-98647-39316 2 / 4 WHEELER Discover 2014 Model For Sale, Colour : Black And Red Ph.- 98599-10119 Alto LXI 2011 Model Colour: Maroon Contact-88110-91965 Yamaha FZ – S Year of Manufacturing04/20111, Colour B. Green Contact-95778-21645 3BHK Furnished Flat Available At Chandmari. Rent-15,000/Ph-98640-52064. 3BHK Flat At Second Floor With 2 Bathroom , Balcony , Parking With 3 Wardrobe And Lift. Rent- 15,000 Ph No.98644-31944 3BHK Flat With 2 Bathroom, 3rd Floor , Parking, Balcony & Lift in Beltola Rent- 14,000 Pn No.-76630-59321 720sqft showroom with toilet in athgaon suitable for boutique/ computer classes etc. Contact- 98641-59713 5 Room Flat In Maskhowa For Rent. Contact-98641-59713 3BHK New Flat With 2 Bathroom , Parking , Balcony , Lift At Dispur, 2nd , 3rd , 4th Floor, Rent16,000 Call-9864431944 400 sqft Rcc godown available At opp.Nichols school, Chatribari. With Shutter and road facing facility. Ph.No.- 9864159713. 200 sqft Rcc shop inside market. Available and nearby godown. Suitable for any type of CNF work. Ph.No. - 9864159713. 3 room residential flat on third floor 1300 sqft in Krisna Nagar, Chatribari. Ph.Nos. - 9864159713. FOR SALE 2 WHEELER / 4 WHEELER Vento (D) Top Model 2011 Colour: White Ph-88110-91965 EMERGENCY NUMBERS AMBULANCE Ambulance 102 Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665 Downtown Hospital 9864101111, 9435012669 GLP Social Circle 2737373 GGUMTA (Mirza) 03623-227109 Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251 BLOOD BANK Splendor 2013 Model Colour Black Call- 98641-06333 Honda Activa 2004 Model Colour : Black Call- 88110-91965 Swift VSI 2012 Model Colour: Silver 4.50 Lacs Fixed Call:88221-41557 Bajaj Pulsar 135 2010 Model Colour – M.BLK M. 98540-91738 Scorpio For Sale 2010 SLX Colour – Silver Ph.- 98599-10119 Pulsar 150 2009 Model, Colour: Black Contact- 88110-91965 Scorpio 2010 LX Colour: Black (D) Contact-98641-06333 Honda Dio 2013 Model, 2013 Model Colour: P.T. Yellow Contact-98640-21414 TVS Apache RTR 08 / 2011 Model Colour : Red 98544-01660 Scorpio Model: SLX 2004, Colour: Silver Contact- 88110-91965 Honda Activa 2012 Model, Colour- Blue Call-95773-69908 Wagon R For Sale 2009 Model Colour : Maroon Contact-98599-10119 Hundai i20 Sportz ABS CRBI Price – 5.20 Lacs Colour – Grey 88221-41557 Swift Dzire: 2010 Model, Colour: White (D), Ph- 98599-91965 3 bigha land in Thakurbari Road , Rangapara with clearcut title & sale deed. Contact- Gopal Das Phone No088768-59216 Activa, Colour: Black 2012 Model Contact: 98641-06333 3 Bighas fully 6 ft higher boundary wall land in Bhojkhowa , Tezpur interested in condition or direct sale. Contact-Vijay Kr. Bagri Contact No.98641-59713 Mahindra Duro 2013 Model Colour: White Contact-98599-10119 Mahindra Duro 2011 Model Colour : Maroon Contact: 88110-91965 Pulsar 150 2012 Model, Colour Black Contact-98641-06333 Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665 Ganga Blood Bank 2454742, 2455029 Lion’s Club of Ghy Central 2546611 Marwari Yuva Manch 2546470, 2547251 Saharia’s Path Lab (24 hours) 2458594 HOSPITALS Arya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665) B Baruah Cancer Institute (2472364/66) Brahmaputra Hospital Ltd (2451634/678) Chatribari Christian Hospital 0361-2600051, 9207044374 Downtown Hospital 2331003, 9864079366, 9435012669 Guwahati Medical College (2529457, 2529561) Guwahati Medical College Emergency (2263444) International Hospital 0361-7135005 Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (2541477, 2543998) Marwari Hospital & Research Centre 0361-2602738/39 Marwari Maternity Hospital 0361-2541202/01 Nemcare Hospital 0361-2528587, 2455906, 2457344 Pratiksha Hospital 0361-2337260, 2337183/84 Basistha Military Hospital (2304617/0351) Railway Central Hospital Casuality (2671025) Redcross Hospital (2665114) Sri Sankardeva Netralaya 0361-2233444, 2228879, 2228921 TB Hospital (2540193) Wintrobe Hospital 0361-2519860, 98647-77986 GNRC Hospital 0361 2227702 GNRC Life First Ambulance 9401194011 24-HOUR PHARMACIES Arya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665) DEAD BODY CARRYING VAN GLP Social Circle 2737373, 9435047046 Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251 GGUMTA 98640-16740 ELECTRICITY SUPPLY Call Centre – 9678005171 OTHERS Fire Emergency 101 State Zoo 2201363 GMC Carcass Pickup 9435190720, 9864047222 LPG Emergency/Leakage 2385209, 2541118 RADIO TAXI SERVICES Prime Cabs 0361- 2222233 Green Cabs 0361-7151515 My Taxi 0361-2228888 Cherry Cabs 8876222288 Cinema Hall Anuradha Cineplex – 0361-2656968, 99545-44738 Fun Cinema (HUB)- 98648-00100, 98648-00200 Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar) – 98540-66166 Gold Cinema (Salasar) – 0361-2735367, 98540-77177 Gold Cinema (Narengi) – 88110-01898 police station SP, Kamrup District: Ph- 2540278 DGP Control Room: Ph- 2540242 SB Control Room: Ph-2261511 Police Control Room: Ph-2540138, 2540113 Azara PS: Ph2840287 Basista PS: Ph-2302158 Bharalumukh PS: Ph- 2540137, 2731199 Borjhar PS: Ph-2840351 Chandmari PS: Ph- 2660204 Chandrapur PS: Ph-2788237, 2785237 Dispur PS: Ph-2261510 Fancybazar PS: Ph- 2540285 Fatasil Ambari PS: Ph-2471412 Geetanagar PS: Ph-2417323 Hatigaon: Ph-2562383 Jalukbari PS: Ph-2570587 Jalukbari Out Post: Ph-2570522 Jorabat: Ph-2896853 Khanapara: Ph- 2281501 Khetri PS: Ph-2787699, 2787220 Latasil PS: Ph-2540136 Noonmati PS: Ph- 2550281 North Guwahati PS: Ph-2690255 Paltanbazar PS: Ph-2540126 Panbazar PS: Ph-2540106 Pragjyotishpur Ps: Ph-2785237 Women PS Panbazar: Ph-2524627 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 23 Catching Up Facebook rolls out feature for users when they die acebook has added a new set- F ting that gives users the option of having their account permanently deleted when they die. Or, if they wish, they can choose to appoint a friend or family member to take control of some aspects of the account after their death. These features were among the most requested by users who gave feedback on its memorial page policies. Facebook’s legacy contact feature will initially only be available in the US. Announcing the new feature, Facebook said: “When a person passes away, their account can become a memorial of their life, friendships and experience.” T Designers Are Scared of Curvy Models R Social robot to give the elderly company he elderly could soon have a non-human companion to beat loneliness and isolation as researchers have developed prototype of a social robot with emotion and the ability to remember and recall. Working in partnership with their relatives or carers, the robot supports independent living for the elderly, the researchers noted. The results demonstrated that a Robyn Lawley social robot can potentially help to prevent isolation and loneliness, offering stimulating activities whilst respecting autonomy and independence, the researchers from University of Hertfordshire in Britain added. Senior lecturer Farshid Amirabdollahian led a team of nine partner institutions from across five European countries as part of a project called ACCOMPANY (Acceptable Robotics Companions for Ageing Years). obyn Lawley has urged designers not to be “fearful” of using curvier models. The brunette beauty - who starred in the pages of the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue - believes sizeist attitudes in the fashion industry could be changed if designers created larger sample sizes and included bigger girls on the catwalk. Robyn, who also has her own swimwear line, said: “Designers need to not be so fearful of using a few models that are a different size on the catwalk. They expect you just to fit into these sample sizes. They say, ‘Yeah, you don’t look like a size 12.’ I’ve got a 42inch hip, my friend, this is not going to fit.” “I can’t get clothes for events. I’m very excluded from a lot of that, and it sucks. If designers had more sample sizes, they would make the magazines shoot size 8 on a size 8... I don’t really understand why. I used to think sample sizes were made into a 0. But as a designer myself, I make the sample sizes whatever I want. Why are we so focused on having the girl fit the clothes rather than the clothes fit the girls?” ‘Breastaurants’ A food research firm has revealed that ‘ Breastaurants’ seems to be the new trend in restaurants as the concept successfully allures customers in large numbers. The research conducted by Technomic observed that restaurants like Tilted Kilt, Twin Peaks and Brick House have grown with a very fast pace over the last year as they have featured some racy clad waitresses. Twin Peaks, upgraded their menu featuring sophisticated twists on classic bar food like venison chili, blackened fish are the new crowd-pullers Stephen HawkinGs warns calling aliens may lead to catastrophe on Earth S tacos and wings with an optional topping of green chili parmesan sauce, and ofcourse the waitresses who wear miniscule shorts and tiny plaid shirts that tie just below the chest, exposing their cleavage. Kristen Colby, director of marketing at Twin Peaks said that men are simple creatures and an ice cold beer, sports on TV and beautiful girls are enough to drive them crazy. Corrigendum tephen Hawkings has warned the scientists against the idea of calling the aliens and letting them know that we were here. Scientists have been exploring ways of beaming messages from Earth to aliens in the hope of the ultimate callback are even considering Wikipedia to help them understand human life, but the renowned physicist has disapproved the move, saying that it could lead to catastrophe. Hawkings said that “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Co- lumbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” The idea, which is the brainchild of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in California, involves powerful radio telescopes which will send the data to nearby stars and planets. Seth Shostak of Seti, who was also the science advisor on the film ‘Battleship’ said that they were planning to pick star systems within 20 light years, of which there were several hundred, so they were near enough to answer in a reasonable time. In the interview of Supriya Khound and Lain Heringman, published in Vol 2, issue 18, dated 7th February 2015, Supriya was misquoted as mentioning that she had taken help from NEC and DoNER ministry. She had only scrutinised their grants and loans but did not avail them . The inadvertent error is regretted. 24 G PLUS FEB 14 - FEB 20, 2015 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