GPlus-Jul27(5th issue)

NO 

PLEASE! 

TOBACCO 

CHRISTIANBASTI 

GOING DRY 

VOL 01 | ISSUE 05 | JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

Tobacco is 

set to be 

b a n n e d 

all across the state 

following a recent anti 

tobacco bill. How far 

reaching the effects will be, 

remains to be seen... 

PGO2 

PGO8 

INFOSYS co-founder & CII Prez 

Area running out of groundwater S Gopalakrishnan 

an EXCLUSIVE 

INTERVIEW 

`10 

24 Pages 

Anna Paquin 

life, pg 09 

GPLUS 

OPINION 

POLL 

CAtChing up, pg 24 

Console 

War pg13 

Saving 

Money 

previous poll 

result 

SHOULD SHANTIKAM 

HAZARIKA BE SACKED? 

50% YES / 50% NO 

Is AGP losing 

existence in Assam ? 

SMS GPLUS YES/NO to 56677 

BUSINESS07 CarEEr10 Bazaar15 Gtalk20 travEl21 CItypEdIa23

2 

lead story 

NO TOBACCO 

MrinMoyee Hazarika 

Prior to just getting the final 

stamp on it, the much publicised 

Assam Health (Provision 

of Advertisement, Trade, 

Storage, Distribution, Sale and Consumption 

of Zarda, Gutkha, Pan 

Masala Containing Tobacco and 

all forms of Smokeless and Chewing 

Tobacco) Bill, 2013, has drawn 

a much contentious debate from 

all the concerned quarters. The bill, 

passed in the last monsoon session 

of the state legislative assembly held 

on July 9, 2013, is now waiting for 

the final nod from the Governor of 

the state. As soon as the Governor 

signs the bill, it would become an 

act and will be implemented across 

the state. 

Contrary to the content expressed 

by some sections of the 

society, others have expressed 

their dissatisfaction over the newly 

passed bill. There is no doubt that if 

implemented or enforced properly, 

the new act will be able to reduce 

the rate of tobacco consumption, 

making the entire state a tobacco 

free zone. Nevertheless, apprehensions 

on whether it would be implemented 

with true letter and spirit 

are always there. 

Multifaceted act? 

Prior to this, in the view of public 

health, on 8 th of March this year , 

under the provisions of Food Safety 

and Standards Act, 2006, the state 

government had issued a notification 

banning manufacture, storage, 

sale, transportation, display and 

distribution of gutkha by whatever 

name and paan-masala with tobacco 

and nicotine content. The ban 

order was for a period of one year. 

HC had registered a PIL in December 

2012, based on a letter given 

by the Vice president of the Indian 

Dental Association to the Chief Justice. 

In his letter, he had prayed for 

the imposition of ban on Tobacco 

products. 

Moreover, in order to reduce 

tobacco consumption in the state, 

the government in its budget for 

2010-11, has raised VAT on tobacco 

products from 13.5 to 20%. 

On the other hand, the paanmasala 

industry was marked in the 

negative list of North East Industrial 

and Investment Promotion policy 

(NEIIPP), 2007, thereby blocking 

all types of supports and incentives, 

provided under the policy, to the 

holder of such industries. 

However, long back, under the 

provisions of NEIIPP, 1997, a couple 

of paan-masala industries were established 

in the state and prominent 

PLEASE! 

The ban will entail for 

the government a loss of 

` 20 crore 

in annual revenue. 

BANNED 

ITEMS 

* 

Tulsi, 

120, 160, 300, 

132 zarda. 

Pan masala 

Rajnigandha, 

Prag, Chutki, 

Bahar, Shikhar 

At the time of writing 

the story, some contentious 

issues had not been 

sorted out. The paan shop 

owners were confused if 

they would be able to sell 

Paan masala, which did not 

contain tobacco or nicotine. 

A case in point is Rajnigandha 

which is branded 

as ‘flavoured paan masala’ 

but which also has a label 

saying it contained ‘no tobacco, 

no nicotine.’ 

among them is the DS (Dharampal 

Satyapal) group. With attractive incentives, 

the group had established 

a paan-masala and gutkha manufacturing 

unit in Guwahati and for 

ten long years (1997-2007) it has 

been involved in active production, 

significantly aiding the flourishing 

of the business prospects of the 

group in the region. 

Although, the paan-masala industry 

was blacklisted by NEIIPP, 

2007, the manufacturing of such 

products continued and as time 

passed, some sections of the society 

directly and indirectly got involved 

with this industry. 

According to the Greater Guwahati 

Pan Shop Business Association 

(GGPSBA), more than a lakh 

people are involved in this industry 

across the state. Out of this, in Guwahati 

alone around ten thousand 

people are directly or indirectly involved 

in the business. 

The president of the association, 

Dipyan Ghosha, who strongly 

opposes the government’s move to 

the new anti-tobacco law, told GPlus, 

“The government should have 

given it some serious thought during 

the initial stages of granting of 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 3 

lead story 

1250 

Patients screened from april 2011 to March 2012 at Dr. B Borooah Cancer institute 

screened for oral cancer 

Cancer cases in 

kamrup during 

2011-12 986 

permits to establishments of gutkha 

manufacturing units. The government 

did not think of the health 

issue of the public then. But, now, 

in the name health hazard, why is 

the government trying to push our 

families to death?” 

He further stated that his association 

would not oppose any move 

which involves issues of public interest. 

“Keeping in mind that tobacco 

products essentially are immensely 

harmful for the society, we have no 

objection in supporting the government’s 

decision of banning gutkha, 

paan-masala, chewing tobacco and 

zarda. But, at the same time, we 

want a ban on all forms of smoked 

tobacco like cigarettes and alcohol 

too. Because, these products too 

are equally harmful to the health,” 

Ghoshal added. 

Reacting on the assurance given 

by the state health minister Himanta 

Biswa Sharma on banning 

smoking tobacco in the future, he 

continued, “Government has never 

been able to prevent big companies 

from producing alcoholic and other 

tobacco products. We doubt that 

this time too, it will be able to take 

some measures” 

The association staged a protest 

against the move on the 26 th of July. 

Welcome move 

Unlike the move made by the 

trader association, the cancer patients 

in B Barooah cancer institute 

(BBCI) as well as the representatives 

of the civil society have hailed 

the decision of the government to 

ban smokeless tobacco in the state. 

Twenty patients suffering from 

oesophagus, pharynx (or throat), 

larynx and gall bladder cancer, 

primarily from chewing tobacco 

products and currently undergoing 

treatment in BBCI, on Saturday, a 

day after the bill on smokeless to- 

bacco was passed, have sent a letter 

to the health minister congratulating 

the new and bold move. 

“In our hospital, every year 

around eight to nine thousand new 

patients are being admitted and out 

of that, 55-60% of the male patients 

are suffering from cancer caused by 

tobacco consumption. 25-30% o the 

female patients are suffering from 

cancer caused by tobacco,” Director, 

BBCI, A. C. Kataky told GPlus. 

Assam has the highest number 

of patients with cancer of the oesophagus, 

pharynx, larynx and gall 

bladder in the country with betel 

nut and tobacco chewing being the 

major contributors. Besides, in case 

of the incidence of cancer, Kamrup 

(M) is positioned second across the 

country. 

“The people including the 

school and college going students 

of this region consume smokeless 

tobacco more compared to the rest 

of the country. Therefore, making 

laws and banning of these products 

alone would not be helpful, if 

enforcement of such laws is not implemented 

strongly. Apart from the 

district administration, every person 

has to take responsibility and 

cooperate in successful implementation 

of the new act. There is also 

a need to undertake massive awareness 

programme on the detriment 

of tobacco consumption. Earlier, 

there was a ban imposed on smoking 

in public places but there was 

no such legislation which prohibits 

consumption of smokeless tobacco. 

Therefore, the recent initiative is 

definitely a welcome move on part 

of the government,” Kataki added. 

Members of the civil society 

have also welcome and expressed 

gratitude over the government’s 

move to bring about a new legislation 

to prevent consumption of addictive. 

“It will help the young generation 

avoid consumption of tobacco. 

902 

The key features of the Assam health bill 

Manufacturing of zarda, guthka, panmasala etc 

containing tobacco is prohibited 

advertisement of zarda, guthka, panmasala etc 

containing tobacco is prohibited 

Storage of zarda, guthka, panmasala etc containing 

tobacco is prohibited 

Trade, distribution including unloading and sale of 

zarda, guthka, panmasala etc containing tobacco is 

prohibited 

Consumption including possession of zarda, guthka, 

panmasala etc containing tobacco is prohibited 

Guilty would be punished with imprisonment for a term 

which may extend to 7 years and with fine not less than 

` 1 lakh which may extend to ` 5 lakh 

As the availability of such products 

will be less (though there are chances 

of smuggling of these products 

from the nearby states) in the market, 

they will not get access to such 

products easily. The shops situated 

nearby the schools and colleges 

have been selling these products 

openly. But, after the new act is put 

into place, the shops across the state 

would not be able to sell these products,” 

a member of the civil society 

expressed. 

Promised words 

There are numerous laws to 

protect the greater interest of the 

public across the country. But it has 

been remained a serious matter of 

concern whether these laws are being 

enforced properly. 

The new legislation on banning 

smokeless tobacco has brought a 

new ray of hope to the people of 

the state fighting against various 

diseases including cancer. However, 

concerns remain as the neighbour- 

ing states of Assam have not implemented 

such bans and there is a 

chance of pilfering in such products 

illegally into the state. The city people 

have already witnessed such incidents 

during the time of banning 

alcohol in Guwahati, a few months 

ago. People were seen queuing up 

in Khanapara area to get a bottle of 

alcohol, when liquor shops and bars 

of the city remained closed due to a 

HC directive. 

Asked about how to tackle the 

illegal smuggling of gutkha into 

the state, SSP, city, Anand Prakash 

Tiwari told GPlus, “It is definitely 

a challenge for us and we have to 

consider the geographical location 

of the city as well. There are chances 

that banned tobacco products will 

come in to the city via Khanpara 

and Jorabat. Time to time, we form 

special squads to address some issues 

and if necessary, we will form 

such squads to monitor the markets 

in and around the city. We will be 

carrying out thorough operations, 

so that the shop keepers of the city 

cannot trade in banned products.” 

Promising to enforce the new 

act with full force, the SSP also 

stated that the police administration 

would coordinate with other 

agencies, which are empowered by 

the act to get involved in the matter. 

“It would be better if we get 

additional staff. However, we have 

been developing skills and building 

capacities of the staff presently 

available with us. We have already 

got results of our efforts inside the 

city,” Tiwari stated. 

As we wait for the full implementation 

of the bill, it will be interesting 

to see the kind of repercussions 

it will bring once it comes 

into force. With the public eagerly 

behind it, the reactions of the producers 

and other related bodies 

promises to be quite strong wherein 

they might make demands for both 

cigarettes and alcohol to be banned 

too. Can the government take the 

dip in tobacco revenues in its stride 

or is this just another sleight-ofhand 

for the upcoming elections?

4 

g-view 

It is monsoon and as usual, Assam 

is flooded and Guwahati is 

waterlogged. With the rise in 

the water level of the Brahmaputra, 

it is literally ‘water, water everywhere.’ 

However, in spite of this, 

there is a scarcity of underground 

water in the city and its inhabitants 

are having a hard time coping up 

with it. 

Citizens are facing a crisis as 

the underground water level of 

Guwahati is decreasing gradually. 

The Central Ground Water Board 

(CGWB) has found out that the 

water table in many pockets of the 

city has gone down drastically over 

the last five years. 

The level has gone down mostly 

in and around the thickly populated 

Panbazar area in the heart of 

the city and the Azara area of west 

Guwahati in the last few years. 

These are the areas where there has 

been rapid growth of population 

and construction activities in the 

last 10 years. Christianbasti is another 

area which is facing serious 

water scarcity problem. In spite of 

investing a lot in installing water 

supply connections, digging wells, 

constructing boring tube wells and 

hand pumps, people in the area 

end up buying water every month. 

Christianbasti miseries 

According to Nilomoni Apartment 

president Gopal Agarwalla, 

there is an immense scarcity of 

water which has created a problem 

for the flat dwellers. He said, “For 

the past six months we have been 

buying water and are spending Rs 

1600 to acquire 12000 litres of water 

each day. Although we have a 

boring which goes down 700 feet, 

there is no water. It has become a 

pain now and we really need an 

immediate solution.” 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

CHIRSTIANBASTI 

GOING DRY AreA running out of groundwAter 

raHUL CHanDa 

WATER WATER NOT EVERYWHERE: Citizens end up buying water due to gradual decrease of groundwater level 

“We are paying rs 

18000 every month 

to the water tankers. 

Water condition 

is very poor here. 

We have an intake 

capacity of 50 

boarders but are still 

running at a loss.” 

A two-wheeler Service Centre 

manager Dhrubajyoti Das said, 

“We are facing a lot of problem. 

We are a servicing centre so you 

can imagine the amount of water 

we require everyday to service the 

bikes. In fact this is one reason why 

our clients often remain dissatisfied. 

We mainly rely on the 500 feet 

boring that we have and the water 

supply from the Assam Urban 

Water Supply and Sewerage Board. 

However, there is a limitation to 

this supply as it is measured by a 

metre and there is no provision to 

FORSAKEN WELL: A 90 ft deep well unable 

to provide water 

increase it. So, we are looking for 

an alternative and are hoping to 

install the Vehicle Wash Water Recycle 

Plan.” 

Sister’s Girls Hostel matron 

Monisha Konwar said, “We are 

paying Rs 18000 every month to 

the water tankers. Water condition 

is very poor here. We have an intake 

capacity of 50 boarders but are 

still running at a loss.” 

City bus driver and a tenant 

Shahjahan Ali expressed that they 

do not have any kind of water supply 

and so they borrow water from 

neighboring complexes. “This becomes 

painful because every day 

we have to carry water from another 

place and it is not available 

on Tuesdays and Saturdays,” he 

further added 

R. Bordoloi, a homemaker said, 

“We buy water almost three days 

a week and every time we require 

around a thousand litres. We are 

spending Rs 900 every week to 

serve our purpose as well as those 

of our tenants. It is primarily because 

of the neighbouring highrise 

apartments for whom our well 

has dried out leaving us with no 

option but to purchase water.” 

Sujata Apartment Security 

Guard S. Dutta said, “Water shortage 

is a serious problem here. We 

have around 36 apartments but 

only one boring well and that too 

of only 600 feet. Although we have 

a provision for a thousand feet, the 

pipes have not been lowered till 

that level yet. Residents here are 

storing water in their reservoirs 

since there is no option for regular 

running water.” 

This has been a deepening and 

malignant crisis for Christianbasti 

as the underground water level of 

the area has been decreasing gradually.

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 5 

g-view 

underground reality 

Certain problems have beset 

the use of groundwater around 

the world. Just as river waters have 

been over-used and polluted in 

many parts of the world, so too 

have aquifers. The difference is that 

aquifers are not readily visible. The 

other problem is that water management 

agencies, when calculating 

the sustainable yield of aquifer 

and river water, have often counted 

the same water twice, once in the 

aquifer, and once in its connected 

river. This problem has also partly 

contributed to the ongoing dearth 

of underground water. 

Since aquifers below the earth 

in Guwahati are not interlinked, 

there is scarcity of water in one 

pocket of the city while water is 

available in another pocket. 

The city residents are facing 

acute water scarcity also due to the 

unauthorized extraction of ground 

water for commercial gains in the 

city. The Guwahati Municipal Corporation 

and the Kamrup (Metro) 

district administration have 

been receiving public complaints 

against unauthorised extraction of 

ground water. Public awareness on 

water harvesting is yet to gain momentum 

in Guwahati. 

Though the state government 

has initiated water supply projects 

in Guwahati with assistance from 

the Jawaharlal Nehru National 

Urban Renewal Mission, Asian 

Development Bank and the Japan 

International Cooperation Agency 

to provide 24X7 household water 

supplies to the city residents, the 

projects are likely to start functioning 

only from the second half 

of 2015. 

ground water scenario 

of Assam 

needy law 

According to Sec 63 (VI) of the 

Assam Irrigation (AI) Act, unauthorised 

extraction of groundwater 

is an offence and attracts a levy of 

penalty. 

There are several boring service 

agencies operational in the 

state and many of them are not 

registered under the Assam Urban 

Water Supply Board. Before 

conducting any boring work for 

the extraction of groundwater, the 

concerned persons or organisations 

must take the permission of 

the Assam Urban Water Supply 

Board and the Public Health Engineering 

Department. 

However, is there any concrete 

law to control and regulate the use 

of groundwater in Guwahati? We 

talked to a few experts from the 

Central Ground Water board to 

know for the sole reason of enlightening 

ourselves and the public. 

According to the Assam Central 

Groundwater Board Regional 

Director U. Gogoi, there is no law 

to control the groundwater use. He 

expressed, “A bill has been passed 

by the state government (Assam 

groundwater control and regulation 

act, 2012) to control and regulate 

the use of groundwater in the 

state but the enactment will take 

time because of infrastructure issues. 

They have to set up departments 

and distribute responsibilities.” 

Technical expert and scientist 

of the same department, P. Kalita, 

describing the technical situation 

of groundwater in Christianbasti, 

said, “It is not true that because of 

deep boring tube wells, dug wells 

are getting dried up. There are certain 

pockets like the Circuit House 

area and the Dhigali Pukhri area 

where the fractures are connected 

Area (Sq.km) 78,438 

Physiography Brahmaputra Valley. 

The Central Assam Ranges. 

Barak Valley. 

Drainage Brahmaputra Basin with sub basin 

of Subansiri, Jia Bharali, Badeng- 

Pubnoi, Dhansiri, Manas, Champamati 

Kalang. 

Meghna Basin with sub basin of 

Barak river 

Rainfall 2262.95 mm with 144 rainy days 

Total Districts / Blocks 23 districts / 219 Blocks 

dynamic ground water resources 

Annual Replenishable Ground water Resource 27.23 BCM 

Net Annual Ground Water Availability 24.89 BCM 

Annual Ground Water Draft 5.44 BCM 

Stage of Ground Water Development 22 % 

ground water development & Management 

Over Exploited NIL 

Critical NIL 

Semi- critical NIL 

Artificial Recharge to Ground Water (AR) Feasible AR structures: 

250 Check Dams, 500 weirs, 

1000 Gabion structures, 250 

development of springs 600 RWH 

in Urban Areas 

ground water Quality problems 

Contaminants Districts affected (in part) 

Fluoride (>1.5 mg/l) Goalpara, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, 

Nagaon, 

Iron (>1.0 mg/l) Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dhubri, 

Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, 

Jorhat, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, 

Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, 

Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, 

Sibsagar, Sonitpur 

Arsenic (>0.05 mg/l ) Dhemaji 

“it is not true that because of deep boring 

tube wells, dug wells are getting dried up.” 

with the Brahmaputra and hence 

will not face water scarcity. Areas 

like Christianbasti lack aquifers, 

which store the water, therefore 

the groundwater is decreasing.” 

He further added one needs to be 

lucky to get water. 

Kalita expressed that they 

monitor the groundwater level 

all across India and if they discover 

that any area is being over 

exploited, then the industries 

have to take permission before using 

the groundwater. The entire 

Northeastern region is in the safe 

category. He agreed that the underground 

water is decreasing but 

the situation is not yet alarming. 

Kalita said, “If Assam groundwater 

control and regulation act, 2012 is 

enacted, the state government will 

have various powers to control and 

regulate the groundwater use. They 

can impose registration fees for the 

permission, can enter any premise 

and check the use, set rules for using 

the ground water and much 

more.” So, if the bill starts working, 

the use of underground water may 

be checked. 

As the population is increasing 

rapidly and areas in Guwahati 

are getting overpopulated, other 

areas may also become as forsaken 

as Christianbasti is. The concern 

however is the fact that regard- 

less of any bill or law, the human 

need will keep increasing and with 

global warming reaching its peak, 

the situation might be unprecedented. 

Should there be no open 

land through which the rainwater 

is soaked in, how would the levels 

be replenished? Should there be 

an option for houses to submit the 

water recycling plan along with 

the building plan to the administration 

before starting up making 

their dream homes? For now 

though, we need to save and recycle 

all the water that we can for 

we never know till when the ‘stocks 

last.’ 

Photos: Neha Agarwalla

6 

City 

VOX POP 

DRAIN THEORY 

ira rani das, working professional 

This place has gone to the dumps! There is so much waterlogging 

in the area that people cannot leave their houses 

for days”, said a resident of Rajgarh Byelane No. 6 which 

reels under water for days on end, lending discomfort and annoyance 

to the people. Waterlogging is common in a city like Guwahati 

where problems are rampant without a solution in sight. The 

drain that runs from Chandmari, covering areas from Commerce 

College, Rajgarh and Anil Nagar and falls into the river Bharalu 

near Bhangagarh, has been a cause of constant woe for the people 

of these areas. The drain has been the source of waterlogging and 

artificial floods for a long time now, one of the reasons being that 

it is a drain but is mostly used for garbage disposal by the people. 

The back alleys of the Rajgarh area are also in a bad state of affairs, 

what with the stench, domes of garbage, dirty water making it impossible 

to commute through these areas. 

The GMC does its regular rounds of cleaning up the garbage 

but is it enough? Is there any permanent solution at hand that 

will help everybody to a logical extent? 

The fact is that we cannot ignore the big 

part played by us, the citizens, in damaging 

our own city. We think it is all right to 

throw our garbage packets into the drains 

as they are already dirty, so the administration 

cannot be entirely blamed. We 

are playing decisive roles in the damage 

that is happening and the solution is a 

two-way process where working handin-hand 

is the only solution rather than 

getting engulfed in the blame game that 

has been going on for decades and not 

helping in any way. 

“Earlier the drain was almost 7 to 9 feet deep but now it flows at the level of our premises. The drain 

is blocked due to regular disposal of garbage, which has stalled its flow. There is always a pungent smell 

in the air making it difficult for us to breathe. The Corporation people come and remove only the garbage 

but what actually needs to be done is to excavate the extra layers of dirt that has accumulated over the 

years.” 

Kabir swargiary, paper Binder 

“The constant foul smell that emanates from the drain is intolerable. There must be regular programs 

for cleaning up the drain and it is the responsibility of the neighbourhood to keep the drain clean and not 

allow others to throw garbage here. I feel we are the worst sufferers because our house is very near to the 

drain and there is the water logging issue that bothers us every time.” 

suhasini Choudhury, student 

“There are a lot of food joints here that I used to visit but now I don’t. The reason being the strong 

foul smell that I got once, while having my food. No one else can eat here if they come across such kind 

of pungent odour.” 

dwijen Choudhury, president, ngo ‘Bibartan’ 

I have seen the drain and its adjacent areas. It is completely blocked due to excess dumping of garbage. 

I know this is creating a lot of problems for the people residing there but to come out of the pathetic 

situation, an immediate step has to be taken.” 

ranju das, housewife 

“We are really facing a lot of trouble as during the rainy season, it becomes very difficult for us to stay here. 

Even a few drops of rain causes the drain to overflow, spilling over into our premise. This is hard as it becomes 

difficult for our children to go to school. Moreover, we also worry for diseases caused by mosquitoes because such 

stagnation of water will definitely increase the mosquito population.” 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

GUWAHATI 

TERI YEHI KAHANI 

By CiTizen JoUrnaLiST BanaSHree CHoUDHary 

Guwahati is considered the gateway to the Northeast, 

a would-be metropolitan city in the map of India, 

surrounded by lush hills and the mighty Brahmaputra 

meandering its way through its heart. Also known 

for the fashion sense of its people and as an upcoming education 

hub for the Northeast, this city is growing with time 

and character. But all is not perfect, when citizens like us 

have to wade through daily problems like water logging, 

dirty streets, dangerous manholes just to name a few. 

Keeping that in context, the enormous problem of the 

littered dust bins is something that can be stated as a never-ending 

problem. In almost each lane in the city, you will 

be welcomed by stinking dust bins whose stench will easily 

beat someone’s best perfume. I live in the heart of the city 

in one of the most reputed residential areas, Uzanbazar 

and more specifically Barowari, whose entire face is changing 

day by day with huge structures emerging in place of 

the cosy Assam-type cottages that used to be there. Today 

Uzanbazar is showing great signs of infrastructure development 

along with the development of growing dust bins 

that are unattended for days and which might give a mild 

stroke to anyone crossing it. Now, having dust bins is good 

since it keeps the city clean, but the condition is somewhat 

detrimental because the thrash is not collected regularly. 

Along the entire stretch of the M.C. Road, there are 

around four dust bins approximately in similar condition. 

The rag pickers collect stuff from them and the stray dogs 

scavenge. I would like to put forward a complaint but the 

neighbours do not support me enough and even if there is 

support, there is not enough pressure on the authorities to 

take appropriate action. 

The lane where I reside has a similar waste bin, which 

has also turned into an open public toilet and it shares its 

walls with a primary school. The condition is deplorable 

since this particular bin takes in the waste of the entire 

neighbourhood and is not cleaned regularly. This has also 

resulted in the lane being blocked at times since most of it 

is covered with litter and there is no one to complain. To 

solve the problem, people of our neighbourhood wanted to 

oust it but the school did not provide any support mainly 

because the bin is situated on a Railways owned area. The 

question which arises now is, where do we commoners, file 

our plea and to whom. The complaints are always wrapped 

in files and are never acted upon. The municipal board 

does not show interest and that leaves the problem for us to 

solve. Hence, until we change the habit of throwing waste 

here and there and make it a habit to dispose the garbage 

properly, these dust bins will someday become the identity 

of this beautiful city and will change its face completely. 

On their part, the authorities should take adequate 

and permanent measures and generate 

awareness among the masses. This will hopefully 

help in curbing down the littering crisis in all the 

small lanes of Guwahati as well as the bigger roads. 

Banashree Chowdhury, Barowari 

YOu cAN bE A ciTizEN jOuRNALiST TOO. 

Just mail us your story at editor@g-plus.in

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 7 

guwahati is not getting piped gas yet! 

PIPE DREAMS 

SHaMBHaVi 

guwahati: For those who were expecting 

that their annual expenditure incurred on LPG 

will come down, will have to wait for a little longer. 

Guwahatians’ hope of getting piped gas for 

domestic consumption will not materialise 

any time soon as Oil India 

Limited (OIL) is not in a position to 

allocate gas for this project. 

People in Duliajan, Dibrugarh 

and Sibsagar in the Upper Assam 

townships already have at their disposal, 

piped gas service and that too, 

without the hassle involved with LPG supply 

and procurement. For this to be developed even further, 

OIL has to implement some significant innovations to make 

gas available for this project. 

The market survey carried out by OIL has demonstrated 

that a good number of gas consumers and OIL has shown keenness 

to build the Numaligarh- Guwahati pipeline for transporting 

CNG/PNG. Already, OIL along with Assam Gas Company 

Limited (AGCL) and the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL), 

has made the Duliajan-Numaligarh pipeline operational. 

The survey to ascertain demand for natural gas in Guwahati 

and in other towns en route has been completed and the major 

consumers can be the Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s Guwahati 

Refinery. Presently this refinery is using Naptha as feedstock 

and using gas will bring down cost substantially. The other users 

for this will be the power project and the paper mill. Sources in 

OIL said, “There is no dearth of consumers and the overall demand 

is good. We have started assessing the gas available with 

us for this project.” 

He added, “Vehicles of Guwahati city will be another major 

consumer of gas as the number of vehicles is increasing day by 

day. There is no need of acquisition of land for this project and 

there will be no displacements involved in this project.” 

A task force constituted by the Assam government has submitted 

its report on the pipeline for transporting and according 

to the preliminary estimate, it will be a 300 km long pipeline 

from Numaligarh to Guwahati and will need over Rs 300 crores 

of investment. 

This pipeline project can be considered as the first step towards 

building up of the Super Energy Highway and will lay the 

foundation for the development of new gas based industries in 

the entire Northeast India. 

OIL Chairman and Managing director, S. K Srivastava 

recently remarked that OIL does not have additional 

gas for the project. “Once there is gas available, we 

may consider the same.” 

Not only domestic households, but also motor 

vehicles, in the form of clean fuel of CNG, 

would be biggest beneficiaries of this project. 

In Tripura’s capital Agartala, vehicles are running 

on CNG and efforts are on to 

introduce gas for household use as 

well. 

Meanwhile, OIL has inked 

a memorandum of understanding 

(MOU) with IOT Infrastructure 

& Energy Services Limited 

for the development of city or 

natural gas distribution network in India and 

overseas. Indian Oil tanking Infrastructure & Energy 

Services is a joint venture between Indian Oil Corporation 

Limited (IOCL) and Oiltanking GmbH. 

An Oil spokesperson said that OIL and IOT Infrastructure 

& Energy Services Limited will jointly take up of construction 

jobs for natural gas/ crude oil/ product pipelines & associated 

pump station, within the country & overseas besides pursuing 

any other business opportunities, which are mutually beneficial 

to both the parties. 

Both the companies have decided to cooperate in sharing 

technology & knowledge, in areas of mutual interests. The 

spokesperson added the understanding is for 2 years and primarily 

for the EPC (Engineering-Procurement-Construction) 

jobs. This will free the single cylinder card holder from the worry 

of getting only 9 subsidized cylinders annually. 

IOCL’s Guwahati Refinery is planning to construct 

underwater pipeline across the Brahmaputra 

for transporting LPG to North Guwahati. The refinery 

will construct pipeline linking the refinery and 

Lokpriya Gopinath International airport in Guwahati 

for supplying aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to the 

airport as well. 

Northeast requires 24,000 metric tones (MT) of 

LPG per month while the region produces 18,000 

MT per month. The region has to import around 6 

MT of LPG to meet its demand. 

Interestingly the 2011 Census of India report on 

houses, household amenities and assets for Assam 

revealed that Assam tops among 14 states in using 

firewood for cooking. 

Around 80 percent of the households use firewood, 

crop residue, cow dung cake and coal for 

cooking, while only 19 percent of the households 

uses LPG or PNG, electricity and biogas. 

Business 

“Vehicles of 

Guwahati 

city will be 

another major 

consumer of gas 

as the number 

of vehicles is 

increasing day 

by day. There 

is no need of 

acquisition of 

land for this 

project and 

there will be no 

displacements 

involved in this 

project.” 

There are 20 lakh 

domestic LPG connections 

in assam 

around 11.37 lakh are 

single and 8.70 lakh 

are double cylinder 

connections.

8 

society 

We reached for the appointment as scheduled, but 

by the time we got an opportunity to speak to him 

he was looking a little exhausted due to numerous 

commitments that he had to entertain before ours. However, 

as we started chatting, he began to relax for we did not want 

to talk just business. 

As the President of CII, do you plan to bring about 

any instant impacts in CII as well as the Indian industry? 

It is an interesting year because many elections are coming 

up. This is an opportunity to put together an economic agenda 

for the industry, present it to the various political parties and 

hopefully, some of them will adopt it in their manifestoes. For 

example, the implementation of GST is an agenda for CII and 

we want to make sure that we get support from all the political 

parties. GST is important because it streamlines business, 

speeds up movements of goods in the country and increases 

our GDP growth by 1 to 1.5 % automatically because of the 

efficiency it brings in. 

Do you think the IT industry can bring about an 

economic change in the country? 

Yes, in multiple ways. First, this 

is a 100 billion dollar industry, which 

is approximately 6-7 % of the GDP 

and 20% of India’s exports. Secondly, 

it provides a large number of good 

quality jobs. Of course, the industry 

is going through a slowdown but in a 

good year, it employs 2 to 3 lakhs of 

new people. Thirdly, the use of IT improves 

the productivity of industry in 

general. Fourth, it creates opportunities 

for entrepreneurship and creates 

opportunities for efficient services 

for the future. Quality education, affordable 

and quality health care to 

the remotest regions can only be delivered 

through IT and so, it has an 

important role in terms of changing 

the lives of common people. 900 million 

people today have connectivity 

because of mobile phones, which is a 

significant as well as transformative. 

Any speculations if the economy 

is going to have an upturn 

in fortune in the coming 

years? 

It will probably take 2 to 3 years. But I feel we are starting 

to see improvements and it will depend on the right actions 

and steps being taken, like I had earlier mentioned the GST 

implementation. Similarly, there are quite a few stalled infrastructure 

projects. Can we restart them? India’s ranking is 132 

out of 180 countries. Can we now improve it to less than 50? 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

The concept of privacy 

will change in the 

future: S Gopalakrishnan 

The current Cii president and executive vice Chairman of infosys, s. gopalakrishnan 

recently visited the city. Although laid out with a very strict schedule and agenda, he did 

manage to find time for a quick exclusive with gplus. 

it is an interesting 

year because 

many elections are 

coming up. This 

is an opportunity 

to put together 

an economic 

agenda for the 

industry, present 

it to the various 

political parties 

and hopefully, 

some of them will 

adopt it in their 

manifestoes. 

These are specific steps we can take to see an improvement in 

business climate, investment climate and accelerate the GDP 

growth. 

How much of a role do you see the present youth of 

the nation playing? 

They are the future. India is a young country and more, 

than 50% of its population is less than the age of 25. Therefore, 

they have a very important role to play and in order to 

make sure that they are empowered to do this we need to ensure 

quality education. We also have to make sure that our 

economy continues to grow at 8 to 9 % in order to create new 

jobs. We need 10 million new jobs every year for the next 20 

to 30 years. That is a huge task, as we have to create 300 million 

new jobs during this time. Productivity will increase, so 

we will have to find new sectors for investment and creation 

of jobs. It is a big challenge but I believe together we can do it. 

Belonging to the IT industry, I am sure you are 

privy to information that common people are not. 

Do you think the Sci-Fi technologies that they 

show in movies is really possible in the future? 

Absolutely! I believe strongly 

that the change over the next 10 to 

20 years is going to be even more 

than the last two decades. In 1994, 

the browser came in and internet 

started being widely used. Simultaneously, 

mobile phones were also 

introduced although they took a 

little longer than expected. Many 

things that we see today are because 

of the combination of mobile 

and internet and if we look at the 

future, with ‘Cloud’ we are going to 

have unlimited processing and storage 

at very little cost, available to 

every single human being who has 

a phone. It will transform education 

and healthcare. Significant changes 

are going to happen over the next 20 

to 30 years as mobile technology will 

be enhanced. 

That would also mean a lot of 

power in the hands of a few... 

Well, that is the downside. Those 

companies or organisations which 

will have access to data will have tremendous 

responsibility, to use it efficiently, 

effectively and protect the data. The government will 

set policies about privacy and use and misuse of data. I clearly 

expect this to happen, government will have access all, and so, 

if something bad happens we can approach the government 

to protect us. The concept of privacy will change in the future. 

koUSHik Hazarika 

Any favourite gadgets? 

Of course, I keep playing with new mobile phones. Right 

now, I am using an older iPhone, but I have Windows and Android 

devices and tablet computers as well. 

Your latest buy? 

Well, It is a Nokia Lumia 900 and I have got a couple of 

Android tablets to play with. I also have two iPods and a Windows 

Surface Pro. 

How do you take out time from your busy schedule 

for your family? 

Actually, this year it is going to be quite difficult. I have 

a fourteen-year-old daughter studying in the ninth standard 

and spending time with her is a priority. But, she will have to 

excuse me till the next year when I will be able to spend more 

time with her. 

Your hobbies? 

Reading, playing with technology and spending time with 

my daughter. She likes to play badminton and so I try to play 

with her. 

Do you watch a lot of movies? 

Generally, I watch movies when I am travelling. I rarely 

get the opportunity to go to a movie theatre. The last movie 

that I watched in a theatre was the 3D version of ‘The Dark 

Knight Rises’. 

When you started out, did you ever think that Infosys 

would be so big? 

Not in my wildest dreams because the world was very different 

then. In 1981, the PC had just been introduced and India 

was a closed economy. Even to travel abroad, you needed 

permission from the government to take foreign exchange 

out. So, what happens is, every five years, we look at what we 

have achieved and what we could do in the next five to ten 

years. You reset your ambitions and dreams. We have been 

tremendously lucky. 

You have faced ups and downs. So, how do you 

come up from the down? 

We have faced many challenges and reached where we are 

today. In 2001, we saw a downturn and then in the year 2007, 

we saw a severe downturn. Therefore, we have faced such circumstances 

and have come out better. When Infosys started, 

Mainframe was the popular form of computer. Today, the personal 

computer is on the decline while mobile technology is 

taking over and Cloud is coming in as a new paradigm for 

computers. However, we have done well in spite of the changes 

in technology and have grown from seven people to a 1,55,000 

strong organisation. We have the confidence that we have 

done it and have the experience of last 30 years with us.

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 9 

life 

SAVING MONEY DOESN’T 

MAKE YOU A MISER! 

G PLUS FeaTUre 

In an era where unemployment seems to 

be haunting the youth of Guwahati and 

people think getting a government job is 

next to meeting God, everyone is very sceptical 

about their future. Stories emerging about 

corruption only add to people’s perception of 

government jobs and hence, most people rely 

on private jobs or self-employment. 

In this situation, it is difficult to secure 

your future without pension plans which 

only the government employees are entitled 

to. Some private companies do have pension 

schemes for their employees but most of 

them do not offer anything else then the salary. 

Even government employees are sometimes 

not happy with the pension schemes 

and rely on banks and insurance companies 

for a better future. 

A lot of us are however not too savvy in 

regards to saving for the future but the fact 

is that anyone can do it, at any point in life. 

It´s not how much you put away that matters 

but rather the act of doing it. Developing the 

habit will ensure a much secure future. 

HOW AND WHERE TO SAVE? 

Kunal Bey, a private firm employee is 

confused about how to secure his future - “I 

do not get paid well and have a family to look 

after. I don’t know how to secure my future. 

I am always scared about what will happen 

when I lose my job or retire.” 

Any responsible investor asks this question 

before putting his money into any finance 

policy. A money market savings account 

or an online savings account can help 

you earn higher yields, but they may not be 

as accommodating when you need emergency 

cash. In addition, if you run into unexpected 

expenses or a spot of trouble, you 

can extricate yourself by using the emergency 

your high-interest credit cards. Once you 

develop the habit of saving you will realise 

that it comes easier to you and can provide 

peace of mind. 

MOST cOMMON SAViNG OPTiONS 

AVAiLAbLE iN THE MARKET: 

bANK FixED DEPOSiTS (FD): 

A Fixed Deposit or an FD is a stable option. 

It gives up to 8.5% yearbook restoration 

and depends on the bank and period of 

investment. Senior citizens get unscheduled 

interest rates for Fixed Deposits. This is a 

harmless investment because it runs under 

the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India. 

STOcK MARKET: 

It is the market, which rules the country’s 

economy. It is a saving option, which 

is an alternative to getting high returns. It 

is not too easy to opt for it as a saving option 

because it also has a risk factor. Before 

investing in the stock market, knowledge 

about shares and their values is vital. The 

market finance depends on industry conditions. 

Higher venture can get you higher returns 

but choosing the company to invest on 

is a critical decision. 

MuTuAL FuNDS: 

Mutual Fund is a method by which an 

investment company builds up their money 

in a fund and invests it in different securities 

like support, bonds or exchange investments 

to get returns. It is similar to someone else 

managing your funds and investments while 

you wait for your returns. 

GOLD: 

According to city based jeweller Tika 

Thapa, investing in gold is the best form of 

savings. He said, “The value of gold keeps 

changing and looking at the past, it always 

moves upwards. Buying gold today can double 

your investment tomorrow.” 

Gold has been the perfect puppet to defeat 

inflation. People believe that it is the gold 

rush which leads to competition and then 

development of any country. 

REALESTATE: 

The practice of buying, selling or renting 

land, buildings or housing is a great form of 

investment these days. Everyone wants to 

own a plot of land or buy a house to get rid 

of monthly rent as well as a form on investment. 

People also say that investing in real 

estate is the only option, which can double 

your money within a short span of time. 

Therefore, it is a risk free option and can be 

of great help to you as well as your next generation. 

iNSuRANcE: 

The insurance sector has seen a sea 

change ever since the private companies entered 

the fray. Along with that, the FDI was 

also upped to 49% since 2012 and since 

then the sector has been booming. 

However, the topmost insurance company in 

India is still owned by the government and 

people have great faith in it. 

These are just a few of the options, but 

the primary idea is that saving money for 

one’s future does not makes you a miser but 

instead, only adds up to your assets which 

helps you live a decent life later on. People 

too appreciate your approach towards life 

and you can retire a happy, secure and stress 

free man. 

ELLA DIABLO 

I answer all your questions on 

life, love And sex 

I am 21 year old boy. I dumped my 

girlfriend recently but she refuses to 

leave me alone and keeps calling me the 

entire day. How do I get rid of her? 

- Anirudha Patowari 

My assumption is that she 

is just out of college and has 

nothing worthwhile to do other 

than bug you. So for starters, 

find her a sales job. Once she 

gets jacked, thanks to the unachievable 

targets, forget calls 

she will have no time to even 

text. Second, let the world know 

how much of a pest she is by 

posting this on her facebook 

wall. And if nothing else works 

my friend, let your current 

flame give her a nasty call. Rest 

assured, she will do the needful. 

I love a girl, but she says I’m just a 

friend. Sometimes when she is lonely she 

makes me say that I’ll be there for her. 

What does she want? 

-Smriti Bharali 

Oh my god son, where on 

Earth are you from? Don’t tell 

me you’ve not understood her 

motives yet. I suggest you watch 

the latest Dhanush starrer Bolly 

flick to get more clarity. Don’t 

be the toy that she plays with 

rather confront and ask her to 

take a stand. If she doesn’t, which 

is likely, block her from your 

contact list and start scouting 

for new options. And regarding 

the love bit, trust me, love can 

happen again and again and 

again.......phew... 

Some boys in school like me. They 

keep asking me out but I ignore them. This 

spoils my reputation. Is ignoring all this 

the only way out? 

- Arindom Medhi 

Guess, most of the guys in 

your school are suffering from 

the “grapes are sour” syndrome. 

Hence they have gone all out to 

spoil your reputation. But then 

why do you turn them down? 

Are they beneath your calling 

or simply because you are 

homosexual. Well whatever be 

the case, the only way out is some 

harmless flirting. That way you 

earn brownie points with them 

and your reputation stays intact. 

And who knows they might 

shower you with a gift or two. 

if you have any queries for ELLA DiAbLO, mail it to diablo@g-plus.in

10 

Career 

BEING A 

NEWS ANCHOR 

SWaTi PrakaSH JHa 

The sudden boom that media 

in Assam has experienced 

in the recent times 

is remarkable. With news channels 

like Newslive, Netv , DY365, 

Prag News ,News Times Assam 

and Frontier Television coming to 

the forefront,Students doing their 

Mass communication from Assam 

are having a good opportunity 

to work in visual media. Undoubtedly 

Assam has enormous 

potential news anchors, who have 

become a familiar figure to everyone 

today. Want to see yourself on 

TV sitting at a news desk? Before 

you start applying to journalism 

schools, think hard about your 

career choice. Hours can be very 

long, and you may have to work 

late nights or very early mornings. 

PREPARE YOuRSELF 

Being a TV reporter/anchor 

takes sacrifice. On the surface it 

seems like a glamorous job but 

those who have worked in the industry 

know it is just the opposite. 

There is, however, no other job like 

it in the world. If you like deadline 

pressure, doing something new every 

day and making a difference it 

may be the job for you. At the end 

of the day you will be proud of 

yourself and sometimes encourage 

young people to work together. 

It’s a good idea to start your career 

in a small market because you can 

learn all aspects of the business. 

You will likely do everything like; 

report, produce, anchor, shoot 

video, edit and maybe even run 

the teleprompter with your foot. 

Chief Managing Editor, Newslive, 

Mr.Zarir Hussein says, “There is 

a perceptible difference between a 

news anchor and a news presenter. 

As the editor of a news channel, 

I do not look at inducting news 

anchors but news presenters who 

have a very good command over 

language and the current affairs to 

handle any news matter the comes 

during the bulletin.” 

SKiLLS OR PREREquiSiTES 

Being a news anchor requires a 

number of skills, the first of which 

is a comfort in front of the camera. 

There’s an element of show business 

in the job of a news anchor 

-- not only do you need to be comfortable 

in front of the camera but 

you need to make people want to 

watch you. The latter may not be 

something you can learn but, certainly, 

gaining comfort speaking to 

the camera is a skill you can hone. 

A love for the news, an outgoing 

and convincing presentation style, 

and working in a fast-paced environment 

work as a key factor for 

your induction into a news channel. 

“There is a 

perceptible 

difference 

between a news 

anchor and a 

news presenter. 

as the editor of 

a news channel, 

i do not look at 

inducting news 

anchors but 

news presenters” cAREER OPPORTuNiTiES 

A news anchor also needs to be 

able to think on his feet. According 

Rhituparna Das Borah,News 

Anchor-producer ,DY 365, 

“Dedication,passion and having 

a strong sense of what is happening 

around you is all that is 

needed to make you a good news 

anchor.”While many anchors will 

read scripts -- off of a teleprompter 

or notes on their desk -- information 

can also be transmitted aurally. 

If news is breaking information 

may be fed to an anchor on the spur 

of the moment from a producer. 

The anchor needs to be able to listen 

to what’s happening and then 

relay the information to the audience 

in a clear and concise manner. 

According to Mr. Rajneesh Mishra, 

News Editor ,Frontier Television, 

“When one is on screen, the best 

way to keep the viewers intact is by 

delivering each story in a different 

manner so that the viewers can actually 

feel the intensity of the news 

that is being delivered.” 

NATIONAL 

NEWS 

Television news is a field where 

the supply outweighs the demand. 

Basically there are more people 

who want to be on TV than there 

are available positions. That is a 

part of the reason why pay scale in 

media is not competitive. If making 

a lot of money in your career 

is important to you don’t get into 

TV news. Educational requirements 

vary widely, but networks 

prefer to hire TV news broadcasters 

with a bachelor’s degree 

in journalism, communications, 

or broadcasting Networking and 

building relationships are important 

in any profession. Mr. Pranjal 

Phukan,Managing Editor ,Prime 

News believes, “In the modern 

world of competition, the basic 

criteria that we look for is that the 

news anchor must be a journalist 

and if not then at least he/she must 

have done internship from some 

news channel or media house. The 

role of a news anchor is very importance 

and so he/she must do 

justice to her profession.” 

WHERE TO STUDY 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

GAuHATi uNiVERSiTY 

(Department of Journalism & Mass Communication) 

Guwahati- 781014, ASSAM, INDIA 

Courses: BCJ (Post Graduate ), Ph.D. 

Contact: +91-361-2671152, 2671220, 2671152, 2671220 

NATiONAL EDucATiON FOuNDATiON 

G.S. Road, Near Bora Service, Ulubari, 

Guwahati-781007, Assam, India 

Phone : 91-0361-2523372, 2452424, 2458575, 2458576 

Fax : 91-0361-2452424 

E-Mail : director@nefcollege.org 

Website : www.nefcollege.org 

Course : BJMC 

cENTRAL iT cOLLEGE 

City: Guwahati 

State: Assam 

Dr. RP Road,Dispur 

Guwahati, Assam, India 

Phone: 0361-2235768 

ASiAN iNSTiTuTE OF MANAGEMENT & TEcHNOLOGY 

(Managed By Gyanjyoti Foundation), 

Capmpus: #12, Bhaskar Nager, 

Near Gauhai Commerce College 

(Behind Cafe Coffee Day), 

R.G. Baruah Road. Guwahati-781021, 

Assam (India)

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 11 

MrinMoyee Hazarika 

Every Indian festival is a gastronomic 

delight for the 

foodies. With loads of eatables 

waiting to seduce your taste 

buds, the delectable become more 

alluring as Eid arrives. From the 

beginning of the holy month of 

Ramadan on July 9 th , when the 

crescent moon appeared in the sky, 

almost every Muslim is preparing 

and waiting to celebrate the festival. 

After a month of rigorous fasting 

and offering Namaz, the Muslims 

around the globe celebrate Eid 

Ul-Fitr, which almost translates to 

the ‘festival of breaking the fast.’ 

During the month of Ramadan, 

people definitely expect good and 

wholesome food in Iftar. The same 

goes for the heavy breakfast before 

Fajr time (dawn), when Suhoor (a 

meal) is eaten before the sun rises. 

Foodie doodle 

Like every year, this year too, 

the city is adorned with different 

colours of sweets, fruits and sumptuous 

dishes lining the streets of 

Machkhowa and Fancy bazaar. 

Ahead of Eid, to be celebrated by 

the next month, apart from the local 

sweet vendors, an enthusiastic 

Aftab Ahmed has come to Guwahati 

from Lucknow with his Awadhi 

specials (popular name of cuisines 

from Lucknow). 

Ahmed, with his two sons and 

five other staff, has landed in Guwahati 

on the eve of Ramadan. In 

a makeshift stall in Machkhowa, 

they have been preparing and selling 

varieties of sweets and other 

dishes, especially for Iftar. The locals 

throng ‘Madina Sweet House’ 

to get the taste of biriyani, kebab, 

halwa, kheer, paratha, mawa, sohan 

papri, different types of sweets 

and other dishes right from the city 

of the Nawab. 

“For the last five years, we have 

been coming to Guwahati during 

the time of Ramadan. We will be 

staying here for a month and after 

Eid, will head back to Lucknow,” 

Aftab Ahmed, the owner of Madina 

sweet house, who hails from 

Aminabad in Lucknow, told G 

plus. 

Responding to the call of a 

friend, who is from Guwahati, 

Ahmed, who owns a sweet shop 

in Lucknow, started his venture of 

serving the locals of the city with 

the tastes of Lucknow. 

“I first came to Guwahati for 

the sake of friendship and now I 

enjoy the company of the locals 

here. They are very friendly and 

the administration is kind towards 

us. The city is clean too and I would 

love to come here again if the God 

permits and the locals want,” a 

clearly content Ahmed told. 

Sometimes, even the eight 

member staff of Madina Sweet 

House falls short in tackling the 

eid is around the corner and with it comes loads of goodies to gorge on. Machkhowa 

serves up delectable delights for the month of ramadan. 

heavy rush of the customers in the 

shop. 

“We enjoy seeing the interest 

of the people for our food. The 

demand is very high especially for 

the non-veg items. Moreover, halwa 

and paratha are also in demand 

among the food items. We feel 

bad for failing to meet the ever increasing 

demand of the food items 

which happens very often,” Imtiaz, 

one of sons of Aftab Ahmed said, 

in between handling the customers. 

Taste of 

Guwahati 

Cashing in on the festive mood, 

some of the locals too have started 

up with makeshift food stalls near 

the mosques and footpaths of Fancy 

bazaar. 

One of the owners of such stall, 

Salamuddin Hussain stated that he 

has set up his stall only for Ramadan. 

“I would be keeping my stall 

during the time of Ramadan only. 

After that I will wrap it up,” Hussain 

said. 

In his small roadside stall, 

people eagerly buy homemade 

chicken biriyani (Rs 120 per plate), 

meat sticks (Rs 10 per stick), phirni 

(Rs 30) and meat pitha (Rs 10 per 

piece). 

Another trader, Raju Barua, 

who has a stationary shop in Fancy 

bazaar, has also established a small 

venture with seviyan (vermicelli) 

near his original shop. 

“We have bought quintals of 

seviyan from Siliguri and selling it 

food 

“For the last five years, we have been 

coming to Guwahati during the time 

of ramadan. We will be staying here 

for a month and after eid, will head 

back to Lucknow” 

here during the days of Ramadan. 

Normally, we sale a kilo at a cost 

of Rs 120-130 from our transitory 

stall,” Barua told. 

Apart from the foods, another 

key item of Ramadan is fragrance 

and the gallis and footpaths of 

Fancy bazaar are filled with the 

fragrance of aator, which is used 

during various religious rites. 

A vendor in Fancy bazaar, 

who trades aator in his makeshift 

stall near the footpath, said that 

it is only during Ramadan that he 

trades in aator. 

“I have a mobile repairing shop 

in Fancy bazaar and only for Ramadan, 

I have established this aator 

stall. As soon as the Ramadan 

gets over, I will discontinue this 

business. Most of the fragrances 

are being brought from Hojai,” the 

vendor mentioned. 

A bottle of 30 ml of aator costs 

Rs 30 and an amount of Rs 130 is 

being charged for a bottle of 100 ml 

aator. 

Pick your choice 

With numerous cuisines flooding 

in both from in and outside the 

state into the city ahead of Eid-Ulfitre, 

this is your chance to get a feel 

of the festival. If you want to stick 

to the local taste, you can pick your 

favourite dish from anywhere in 

the city. But, if you really want to 

have something exotic and different 

this Eid, you should definitely 

pay a visit to Machkhowa and step 

into the Madina sweet house. 

Photos: Neha Agarwalla

12 

Classifieds 

warehouse available at Brahmaputra 

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For all your commercial/ 

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GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

ADMISSIONS 

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GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 13 

1 

1. cOMFORT 

Sony has improved its controller 

by leaps-and-bounds over 

the Dualshock 3 controller yet, 

it was only trying to catch up 

to the comfort provided by the 

Xbox one controller. 

2. POWER 

Both the consoles have 8GB of 

RAM available at your disposal 

however, the sony scores over 

the fact that it comes with 

DDR5 memory as compared to 

DDR3 on the Xbox. Probably 

providing better performance 

on future titles to be released. 

3. DESiGN 

The Sony is lighter, sleeker 

and more futuristic when 

compared to the Xbox which, 

now looks even older than the 

Xbox 360. 

2 

3 

Processor 

RAM 

Storage 

Motion gaming 

Bluetooth 

Blueray & 4k support 

Cloud Storage 

product 

HEAD 

HEAD TO 

SONY PS4 MicROSOFT xbox One 

Single-chip x86 AMD 

“Jaguar” processor, 8 cores 

The launches of Xbox One and PS4 are just a few 

months away, as both consoles are about to go 

head-to-head this year. The challenge has been laid 

down and it will be interesting to see which video game 

system will deliver the best performance over the next 

decade. 

Both systems are evenly matched in many respects 

and should be able to usher in the next generation of gaming 

that the many have promised but failed deliver. 

The Xbox One literally put the box in Xbox, with a 

large black rectangular shape that has been compared to 

an oversized 80s VCR unit. 

When Sony finally unveiled what the PS4 at E3, it reminded 

everyone in the audience of the PS2 design. The 

stand - not included - really drove that point home. 

The look of the console, the feel of the controller and 

the way the games make you feel make up the main differences 

from which consumers will decide. 

8 Core Microsoft 

custom CPU 

8 GB DDR5 8 GB DDR3 

500 GB (Removable) 

Dualshock 4 Kinect 2 

Bluetooth 2.1 N.A. 

Yes 

Yes 

500 GB (Non-removable)

14 

Motley 

Cricket is a religion in India and people 

worship it. The craze for the game has 

been since ages and will continue in 

spite of the controversies always revolving 

around it. Guwahatians are not too satisfied 

with the performance of their city players in 

the national level, but there are clubs, which 

put in extra effort to train the players to excel 

for not only the state but the country as well. 

The Guwahati Town Club always tries its best 

to groom the players professionally and this 

time they invited a cricket coach from Gujarat 

for a workshop with the players. We managed 

to engage him for a conversation during his 

visit. 

Dr. Ganesh Dutt Chugh was posted here 

in 1986 for two years and has been visiting 

the city regularly since then. He discussed 

about the importance of field maintenance 

which is lacking here. In Guwahati, only GTC 

maintains the field considerably better with 

THE ODOUR SIDEWays 

to reduce foot odour 

HEALTH TIP 

We all are familiar with smelly feet. 

People who suffer from foot odour 

may be embarrassed, self- conscious 

and concerned about it. Why do feet have a 

strong odour? 

The primary factor is sweat and the sweat 

glands can produce more than a pint of sweat. 

Sweat is only salt and water which has no smell 

of its own; the smell is actually caused by bacteria 

on our skin that eats the sweat and excretes 

waste, which gives off a strong odour. It is normal 

to have bacteria on your skin, and it does 

not ordinarily produce any noticeable smell, but 

sweat attracts bacteria and gives them a food to 

feed on. So, what you need to do is take a certain 

amount of care to make sure you can bare your 

feet to the world. 

get rid of sMellY feet 

• Try to find a shoe that breathes: you’ll reduce 

a lot of the foot odour if you wear 

shoes that breathe well. 

• Don’t wear the same shoes everyday - Give 

a pair of shoes 24 hours or more to air out 

before wearing them again. Do not wear 

the same pair every day because this worsens 

the problem. 

• Always wear socks with shoes: Socks preferably 

made of cotton or other absorbent 

materials that absorb a lot of the sweat so 

the bacteria can’t feed on it. 

• Use anti-bacterial soap: wash your feet 

once a day with strong anti-bacterial soap; 

this helps in killing the bacteria. 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

GUJ COACH ADVISES CITY CRICKETERS 

dr. ganesh dutt Chugh, 51, an employee of sports Authority of india, visited guwahati 

to inspire and share his experiences with the aspiring cricketers of guwahati town 

Club Cricket Academy. 

“There is 

no shortcut 

to any 

achievement; 

you have to 

work for hours 

and years 

together to get 

success.” 

turf wicket, mowing and watering which 

helps the cricketers practice in a better 

pitch. 

Asked about the transformation he 

has seen in Assam in the field of sports 

since 1986, Dr. Ganesh said, “The way 

the city has changed, sports has not. 

There has been increase in the number of 

participation, but infrastructure remains 

the same. The Assam Cricket Association 

at that time was dependent on Nehru 

Stadium and now too it is the same. The 

association can easily buy new fields and 

maintain it with all minimum requirements 

so that more participation comes 

in and they could be given proper training.” 

He added, “It is sad to see that very 

few cricketers are selected from Guwahati 

at the national level.” Dr. Ganesh alleged 

that players here are less interested 

to perform physical labour and are less committed 

towards the game. The administration too 

has not taken any major step to encourage the 

players to participate in the sport. Inter-school, 

inter-college tournaments are non-functional 

now. If these kinds of tournaments are organised 

on a regular basis, players get influenced and they 

continue to play for further competitions at the 

district and state level, but the scenario here is totally 

different. Another reason for this disinterest 

among the players is livelihood. The coach said 

“sports in india does not provide livelihood 

and this is the main reason for low interest in 

sports.” He informed that six students in Gujarat 

who have played in Ranji trophy are unemployed 

and searching for jobs to survive. He explained 

how he barred his son from playing cricket after 

he completed class X because sports does not ensure 

livelihood. He also defines spot fixing as a 

shortcut to earn money. 

G PLUS eXCLUSiVe 

Love for Guwahati 

Dr. Chugh loves being in Guwahati. His 

favorite food from Assam is fish fry and never 

fails to visit Kamakhya temple whenever 

he comes to the city. There are some players 

from the 1988 batch who still visit him. 

“Devajit Saikia, Sushanta Biswa Sharma, Rajendra 

Singh, Vinod Sharma, Zaheer Ahmed, 

Nishanta Bordoloi, Sandeepan Debonat and 

Deep Bora are some of them who know how 

to respect their seniors. They know the meaning 

of respect and love compared to the present 

players, who lack loyalty and respect due 

to the changing value system,” he said. “The 

value system of the present generation is degrading”. 

As a message to the youth, he said, 

“There is no shortcut to any achievement; 

you have to work for hours and years together 

to get success.” 

• Apply a foot deodourizer product 

to your feet: The problem is often 

taken care of when you purchase a 

foot deodourizer to apply regularly 

to your feet. 

• Wash your foot with salt or use a 

foot scrub. 

If your foot odour is really bad and 

these solutions do not help much, 

then you should see a doctor. There 

are a number of prescription drugs 

that can treat serious foot odour, 

some by killing bacteria and some 

by reducing foot sweat.

16 

reviews 

Bir Chilarai 

More to explore 

Cast : Anup Hazarika, Aimee Barua, Mridula Barua 

director : Samarendra Naraya Dev 

It has everything – a fine historical background, established actors, 

good music, flattering budget and an award-winning director - 

but what it missed was the very essence of presenting the grandness of 

a great hero in a glorified way. 

However, Samarendra Naraya Dev, the director of Bir Chilarai has 

made an honest attempt to capture one of the greatest warriors of the 

region, Chilarai, on reel. 

In the two hour and forty seven minute long film, Dev has well 

depicted the history of Shukladhwaj becoming Bir Chilarai, a 16th 

century warrior, who belonged to the Koch dynasty and flourished 

the Kamata kingdom under his leadership. Chilarai was the younger 

brother of Nara Narayan, the king of the Kamata kingdom. 

The director, who won the Rajat Kamal award for best regional 

language film in 1972 for Aranya, fails to successfully portray the gallantry 

and majesty of Chilarai in the war sequences. The war scenes 

look very artificial in the film and there was scope to evolve those 

scenes further. The audience was hungry for the thrill on screen but it 

failed to appease it. 

“There was a gathering of soldiers, horses and elephants in the 

film that was eye catching. The historians might like to watch the film 

but frankly speaking, the young generation would not, because some 

scenes looked monotonous. It would have been more enthralling if 

the war sequences between the rivals had been incorporated,” expressed 

Rita Mahalia after watching the film. 

Noted actor Anup Hazarika fit into the role of Chilarai well and 

actors like Aimee Barua (Chilarai’s wife Kamala Priya), Mridula Barua 

(Chilarai’s mother), Bhagawat Pritom (King Naranarayan), Bishnu 

Kharghoriya (Pandit) and others looked fairly convincing in their 

respective roles. 

The music is directed by Jyotisman Narayan Dev and he has infused 

Borgeet, Bhatiyali geet as well as Sufi song into the movie. 

Bir Chilarai, which is co-produced by the Department of Cultural 

Affairs and the director himself with a budget of Rs 1.5 crore released 

in 26 halls across the state. In Guwahati, the film will be released in 

seven halls. 

Overall, it is a watchable film with the director trying his best to 

woo the audience by describing history in an entertaining way, but it 

needed a little more exploration and evolution. 

Now Showing 

PLAYING AT 

CINEMAX 

FUN CINEMAS 

ANURADHA CINEPLEX 

APSARA CINEMA 

ISSAQ Daily at 05.00, 08.00 PM 

BIR CHILARAI Daily at 8.15 PM 

WOLVERINE Daily at 11.00 (E) AM 

& 05.30 PM (H) 

ISSAQ Daily at 1.00 PM 

WOLVERINE Daily at 

10.30 AM & 05.30 PM 

SCREEN 1 

ISSAQ Daily at 11.20 AM 

SCREEN 2 

WOLVERINE Daily at 09.05 AM 

& 08.35 PM 

Issaq 

A clichéd & chaotic love story 

Cast: Prateik, Amyra Dastur, Ravi Kishan 

director: Manish Tiwary 

Like any other cliché script, 

a girl and a boy fall hopelessly 

in love, notwithstanding the hatred 

festered by their warring 

families. They innocently hope 

their love, once discovered, will 

miraculously force their families 

to overlook their bloody past and 

hearten them to rebuild better 

relations. 

There are plots and sub-plots, 

attacks and counter-attacks, and 

numerous characters that make 

this revenge saga rather bewildering. 

The many songs and 

dances, and the unnecessary use 

of tacky computer graphics just 

add to the chaos. Issaq, which 

subtly captures the rustic twang 

of North India, does work in bits 

and parts, but not in entirety. 

What’s most unforgiving is 

his decision to mock a revolution 

unnecessarily. Although 

the scene where the rebels are 

masked in sync does evoke a few 

chuckles, it almost undermines 

their cause. That, in effect, is 

where Tiwary fumbles. He’s unable 

to flesh out his characters or 

their pursuits impressively. While 

the director might deny any Bollywood 

influences, it’s tough not 

Nasha 

no kick, only hangover 

Cast : Poonam Pandey, Shivam 

director : Amit Saxena 

Many of us in our teenage 

days used to bunk classes to 

watch some soft porn playing at 

the nearest cinemas, Nasha falls 

under the same category. Poonam 

Pandey’s fans have seen 

enough of her on the sundry social 

networking sites and there 

is nothing new that she offers 

as Nasha’s lead character. She excels 

as a seductress. 

The ‘erotic’ love story belongs 

to the film’s teeny boppers, 

especially Sahil, whose innocence, 

infatuation and vulnerability 

keeps you glued to your 

seat. Remember your days in 

school and college. Remember 

how you fell for the charms of 

your teacher. Remember how 

‘innocently’ you imagined making 

love to her. And remember 

those heartaches. That is Sahil’s 

story. It takes you back to your 

growing up days. 

Four teenage boys in their 

hostel’s swimming pool jump 

to ignore glimpses of ‘Ishaqzaade’ 

and ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ in 

his canvas. 

Although the screenplay is 

partial to the romantics, capturing 

Rahul and Bachchi in many 

glorious frames and tunes, it’s the 

wicked men (and woman) who 

emerge more substantial. Ravi 

Kishen stands out as the menacing 

Teeta Singh, whose greed for 

power finds him unabashedly 

romancing a married woman. 

Every appearance of his is faultless, 

and he clearly overshadows 

the rest of the cast. 

Following close behind is 

Prashant Narayan as the rebel 

leader, who mouths Malayalam 

and Hindi dialogues with impeccable 

ease. Despite his Malayali 

roots, he’s nicknamed ‘Madrasi’ 

as if to stress the oversight that’s 

fairly common in North India. 

There’s also Amit Sial and 

Vineet Kumar Singh, who get to 

indulge in a fair deal of menacing 

acts as the feisty Murari and 

Bihata. Rajeshwari Sachdev fills 

in as the conniving second-wife 

of a notorious leader who isn’t 

ashamed to hide her feelings for 

a man other than her husband. 

stark naked -- the right places 

are blurred out, mind you, but 

hats off to director Amit Saxena 

to show such a scene in a mainstream 

Hindi cinema without 

making you feel uncomfortable 

-- into the water as their girlfriends 

come strolling in and 

watch them in the buff. The boys 

have lost a challenge have to do 

the dare. Sahil’s girlfriend Tia 

(Sheetal Singh) is the only one 

in the entire cast that shows no 

signs of being camera-shy. 

The peppy dialogues (by 

Radhika Anand) keep you entertained 

and even provoked 

through the film. Of course, 

these dialogues are meant for 

the film’s target audience, the 

teenagers, not for grown-ups. 

The film has its share of abusive 

language but there are also mo- 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

And, when the battle intensifies, 

she sheds her seductress image 

for something more daring. At 

every turn, she shocks and surprises, 

leaving an incredible impact. 

The lovers – Prateik and 

Amyra Dastur – flaunt good 

physical attributes, but their acting 

capabilities aren’t worthy of 

much. Everything from their accent 

to their coy interactions are 

inconsistently half-baked Prateik’s 

life flashes over time, and 

we often see him run with passion, 

only this story is less about 

the athletics and more about the 

heart.Alas, the director wasn’t as 

focused. 

With Bollywood inundated 

with glorious stories of love, this 

one just doesn’t make us skip a 

heartbeat. 

ments of tenderness, love and 

heartbreak captured brilliantly. 

Another department where Nasha 

scores big time is the film’s 

music by Sangeet-Siddharth. The 

Goti number is likely to become 

a big hit with urban teenagers, as 

it perfectly captures their lingo. 

Where the film lets you down 

(and no pun intended here) big 

time is when Sahil and Anita 

(Poonam Pandey) make love to 

each other. Saxena fails miserably 

to get the right expressions 

from Nasha’s lead stars when 

they are in the throes of passion. 

It’s watchable only for people 

who like fantasising. Poonam 

Pandey has proved that she is 

not an actor and is only good at 

stripping. The young boy might 

woo the art watchers and evolve 

as an actor.

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 17 

Nargis Fakhri, 

up for an item 

number 

Nargis Fakhri who was last seen 

in the Ranbir starrer Rockstar is 

back with a bang. The actress will 

be seen shaking a leg with Shahid 

Kapoor in his upcoming movie 

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero. This 

will also be Nargis’ first ever item 

number 

Same book inspires directors 

Vishal Bhardwaj and Sanjay Leela Bhansali are 

reportedly set to direct films on two different 

female gangsters based on the same source material. 

Both of them have secured filmmaking 

rights from chapters out of S Hussain Zaidi’s 

bestseller, Mafia Queens Of Mumbai, which is 

about female gangsters. While Bhardwaj will 

soon make a film based on Zaidi’s account of 

Ashraf Khan alias Sapna, the gangster whose only 

mission in life was to eliminate her husband’s 

killer, Dawood, Bhansali will direct a film based on the life and crimes 

of female gangster Gangubai Kothewali, the dreaded female crime-lord, 

known as The Madame Of Kamathipura. 

Both films are expected to go on the floors at the same time next year. 

Voice of Silence 2 | Venue: iTa Machkhowa | Date: 26th & 27th July 

event: Soul Strings | Venue: iTa Machkhowa | Date: 21tst July 

event: LUMiniS 2013 | Venue: ozone | Date: 20th July 

A Musical Event featuring Siddharth Agrawal for the first time in Guwahati. 

Aghori Tantrik is his night-time psychedelic trance project and the 

show was a first time 

experience for many of 

the audience. 

entertainment 

Rakeysh to re-release 

his debut film Aks 

Buoyed by the success of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Rakeysh 

Omprakash Mehra now wants to resurrect his debut 

directorial affair Aks (2001). He is currently working on a 

“redux” version of the Amitabh Bachchan-Manoj Bajpayee 

starrer. 

With his latest film BMB striking the right chords 

despite being set in three different time-zones, Mehra is 

confident of the return of Aks. The director says, “Well, 

back then they said that the film was 10 years ahead. Now 

12 years have passed, so that means it’s time.” Mehra 

continues, “Many have come and told me that I should 

remake it or re-release it. Let’s see what I do with it. I am 

working on a ‘redux’ version. The first step would be to 

release a special DVD and BluRay. That’s a good way to 

ensure perpetuity for your film. Once that happens, we will 

take a call on the film’s theatrical re-run.” 

soul strings, organized by Guwahati Information 

Centre of Art of Living Foundation, was held at the ITA 

Machkowa where vikram hazra, regaled the people 

of Guwahati with his soulful music. The concert comprised 

of devotional music and Vikram along with his 

two instrumental artists prashanjeet shil on the tabla 

and percussions and soumyajyoti ghosh on the flute, 

sang for more than two hours. 

The event started at 6 p.m. with the welcoming and 

felicitation of the Chief Guest Captain Robin Bordoloi 

along with Mr. Ashutosh Agnihotri, D.C Kamrup Metro 

and Mr. Chandrajit Saikia, Chief Personal Manager NF 

Railway, Maligaon as Guest of Honour. 

NEXT 7 DAYS 

Date Venue Event 

27th July Guwahati Racquets and Billiards Club 

Silver Streak, Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok 

Ball Breaker – The Art of 

Rock CD launch 

Destination 13 featuring DJ 

Harsh Bhutani 

28th July ITA Machkhowa Miss India North East 

Terra Mayaa Art for art’s sake 

1st August Terra Mayaa Absolace live 

2nd August Club DMD 

A two day event, ‘Voice of Silence 2,’ directed 

and conceptualised by Moinul Haque, was held 

at the Rabindra Bhawan on the 26th of July. The 

show featured Haque himself and his students 

of the Mime Academy. It was organised by the 

academy in association with Cultural Affairs, 

Govt of Assam. The show dealt with some of the 

social issues which have been in the news. 

3rd August Terra Mayaa DJ Terimiko 

Into Glory Ride 2 featuring 

Absolace

18 

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Images Orange Large Dome Tote `1690 


Hidesign Olive Green Crossbody Bag `5995 

Hidesign, Dighalipukhuri 

Chain Colorful Sling Bags `975 


Images Soft Leather Sling Bags `1890 

Vinni’s, Ground Floor, Shopper’s Point 

Images Orange Fashion Handbag `1975 

Vinni’s, Ground Floor, Shopper’s Point 

Swarovski Flap-Over Bags `2500 

Exclusive Line, Fancy Bazar

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 19 

SRK’s ‘Chennai Express’ trailer 

crosses 2 million maRK 

on YouTube 

The trailer of superstar Shahrukh 

Khan starrer “Chennai 

Express” has crossed the 

2 million mark on Youtube in just 

four days after its launch. 

The action-comedy directed 

by Rohit Shetty also stars Deepika 

Padukone, who plays a South Indian 

in the film, has dubbed in the 

typical southern accent. 

In the trailer, SRK is seen taking 

fun potshots at himself and 

his previous films like the famous 

train sequence from “Dilwale Dulhania 

Le Jayenge”. 

The UTV Motion Pictures 

and Red Chillies Entertainment 

movie will release on August 8. 

Rovio Confirms Angry 

Birds Star Wars II Launch 

IN SepT 

Developer of popular Angry Birds 

games, Rovio, has launched a 

“brand new game” on 15th july. 

Rovio has also posted a teaser image 

that hints the new game will be related 

to Angry Birds Star Wars. However, it 

is believed the game could be a sequel 

to the Star Wars series. The teaser image 

shows a young Anakin Skywalker’s 

shadow with a silhouette of Darth Vader. 

Google Unveils £22 Web TV 

Streaming Dongle 

Google has introduced a new device to allow viewers 

to stream internet videos to their TV. 

Chromecast, a two-inch dongle that looks like a 

thumb drive, fits into the HDMI port on an HD television. 

It streams content over a wi-fi network to a television, 

using a computer, phone or tablet as a remote control. 

The company said its goal is to create a device with 

no setup time, no learning curve, and one that works 

with all platforms and devices. The $35 (£22) device is a 

different approach to TV than Google's previous failed 

attempt, the Nexus Q. 

Almost half of Indian 

Web users attacked by 

local malware 

According to Kaspersky Lab's 

second quarter report, Kaspersky 

Security Bulletin, for April to June 

2013, 19.9 million malware threats 

were detected on the computers of 

the Kaspersky Security Network 

(KSN) participants in India. Overall, 

35.6 percent of users were attacked 

by Web borne threats during 

this period, according to Techgig. 

com, India ranks 15th overall in 

the world when it comes to online 

dangers for internet usage. Furthermore, 

Kaspersky Lab's detected 5.39 

million malware incidents on the 

computers on the KSN in India. This 

means 49.6 per cent of users in India 

were attacked by threats during his 

period, placing India 10th worldwide 

in terms of malware incidents. 

Console 

yourself 

web watch 

SUNNY 

SIDE UP 

Sunny Leone remains the indomitable 

queen of Twitter. 

Even though she has long spells 

of silence on the social networking 

website, her fan following refuses to 

dwindle. Have a look at some of the 

latest hot photos of the sexy Indo- 

Canadian porn star. 

WITH PLAYABLE 

CHARACTERS 

AND HASBRO 

PARTNERSHIP 

Good news for gamers. The leading gaming console companies 

XBox and PS launched their latest consoles for advanced 

reservation. 

One can just log on to their respective websites and book the 

product of their choice. 

Both the companies are looking forward to deliver the 

booked consoles to their customers till this Christmas.

20 

g-talk 

POINT 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

Is AGP losing existence in Assam? 

Manoj saikia 

Publicity Secretary, AGP 

First, AGP is a regional political party with a long history, of birth through an agitation. 

Compared to the past, the party has not been able to perform well. However, this does 

not mean that the AGP would not perform well in the future. 

Being a political party, we have an ideology and an objective of our own. As we are a regional 

party, our activities and ideologies are limited solely to the state of Assam and to the 

very existence of its indigenous people. 

Today, the indigenous people belonging to various communities and tribes of the state 

are worried about their future. Based on this very root, AGP was formed and the aim and 

objective of the party is very much connected to it. 

The party is being disheartened by the election results, but the significance of regionalism 

or the AGP in the political scenario of Assam will be intact in the future too. 

It is natural for political parties to have members quitting and the new members joining 

in, counter this effect. Some of the members of our party have resigned from their posts or 

portfolios, but not from the party. 

Apart from the members of other political parties like Congress and the BJP, people belonging 

to various professions have also joined our party in the last few months. People still 

have faith in regional politics and as a regional party, the base of AGP is solely rooted in the 

state of Assam. It is true that the people might have been against us on various grounds, but 

that does not mean that people have rejected us. 

People have high expectations from us as we are a regional 

party and we can neither deny nor forget that. Nevertheless, 

things are different for a party in power. For the last ten to 

twelve years, we have not been in power which might have 

made the people lose confidence in us. They might think that 

as an opposition party, we are not being able to undertake 

proactive participation across the state and post this, in our 

executive meetings, we have taken decisions and resolutions 

on how to address these issues. 

We have decided to reorganise the party with better involvement 

of the new generation as well as different communities 

and tribes of the state. We have also taken decisions and 

prepared plans to address various issues related to the state 

of Assam. 

Even the party president is taking measures to minimise 

the gap between the party and the public and infuse a sense of 

regionalism among the youths of the state. 

Now, there is no environment of forming government, 

even in the centre, without the help of regional parties. We 

think that our current dismal situation in Assam is a temporary 

one and the people will again welcome the regional 

feelings and powers. All will depend on how much we are able 

to capitalise on this and aptly take it forward. 

“We have 

decided to 

reorganise 

the party 

with better 

involvement 

of the new 

generation 

as well as 

different 

communities 

and tribes of 

the state.” 

ranen Kumar goswami 

Senior Journalist 

COUNTERPOINT 

If we say the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) will vanish into the blue, it will be 

political astrology of the wayward kind. The latest doomsday predictions 

about the party have sprung from the thrashing it received in the recent 

Guwahati municipal polls. The city’s voting population does not properly represent 

the demographic structure of Assam. How many of its voters are from 

the tea tribes, from the Bengali Muslim community, or for that matter, from 

the tribal communities? On the other hand, issues that are relevant for the urbanites 

may not at all be relevant to the rural people. In Guwahati, the mandate 

was limited to civic issues and the municipal corporation only. All these factors 

warn us against making sweeping conclusions about the future of Assam’s political 

scenario or its parties. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) 

also drew a blank in the city polls. Should we conclude that AIDUF is fading 

out of Assam’s politics? 

But if we go beyond the narrow confines of GMC polls and look at the wider 

scenario, we can clearly sense a threat to AGP’s meaningful existence and its 

brand of regionalism. Far back in 1985 (December 16), when it rode an Assammovement-created 

wave to fight the Assembly polls, it bagged 63 seats, one 

short of absolute majority. Right then, it should have realised its limitations. 

It did not. Its support base remained within the 

“The aGP must 

widen its view 

of regionalism. 

assamese 

Hindus are just 

a part of it. if it 

wants to remain 

relevant, the 

party must 

work really 

hard among 

diverse sections 

of assam’s 

population, 

some of whom 

are ethnically 

polarised.” 

Brahmaputra Valley and mainly the Assamese 

Hindus. Even this base is fractured now. Part of it 

has gone to the Bharatiya Janata Party and part to 

the Congress. 

The AGP must widen its view of regionalism. 

Assamese Hindus are just a part of it. If it wants to 

remain relevant, the party must work really hard 

among diverse sections of Assam’s population, 

some of whom are ethnically polarised. It must 

attract the tea tribes, the Bengali Hindus, both 

Assamese and Bengali Muslims and other communities. 

And how? It must change its policies 

to accommodate their aspirations and convince 

them of its intentions to share the political cake 

with them. This means, the AGP must become an 

umbrella organisation for diverse sections of the 

State’s population. In the changed socio-political 

scenario, this will be very tough. But then, there’s 

no other way open to it for meaningful political 

survival. It’s too premature to predict its political 

death, yet safe to foresee a bed-ridden existence if 

it cannot change itself to suit the demands of new 

realities.

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 21 

travel 

Get Adventurous! 

In addition to its wildlife, SA is famous for 

its beaches and urban experiences. Childfriendly 

and one of the best choices for a 

family holiday, South Africa is a country that 

upholds family values and has all the key 

elements for a great family holiday - excellent 

weather, breathtaking scenery, budget 

accommodations and a variety of activities 

along with excellent road infrastructure for 

self-drives and wildlife. The best time to 

travel to SA is between Octobers to March. 

CAPE TOWN is a highlight of any trip 

to South Africa. The natural beauty of Cape 

Town makes it one of the most attractive cities 

in the world. Cape Town boasts beautiful 

beaches as well as the impressive Table 

Mountain right in the heart of the city. The 

restaurants are world class, and so are the 

wines. Cape Town is also one of the most 

culturally diverse cities in Africa and has 

reputation for social tolerance. 

Top attractions in cape Town include 

1. The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront for 

dining and shopping. 

2. Robben Island where Nelson Mandela 

was imprisoned for 18 years. 

3. The Townships of Cape Town offer a 

good insight into how most of the population 

of South Africa still lives. 

4. The Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens 

5. Cape Town’s beaches are abundant 

and will suit families, surfers, posers and nature 

lovers. 

6. Table Mountain offers incredible hikes 

and a cable car for those looking to relax and 

enjoy the views. 

KNYSNA is a town in the heart of South 

Africa’s beautiful Garden Route. Knysna lies 

nestled in between the Outeniqua Mountains 

and the Indian Ocean. Knysna has 

twice been voted South Africa’s favorite 

town, and with good reason; it’s a friendly 

and welcoming with lots of attractions and 

activities. There’s a large lagoon that’s perfect 

for water sports and surrounding forests that 

are great for walking. 

Top attractions in Knysna include 

1. Enjoy the Beach swimming at Bollard 

Beach towards the top end of Leisure Island. 

2. Dive the Lagoon Knysna Lagoon is 

home to the world’s only estuarine seahorse 

species. 

3. Take a Township Tour 

DURBAN Durban is situated on the 

east coast of the South Africa. The city is set 

on Natal Bay and benefits from year-round 

warm waters making it one of South Africa’s 

top vacation spots. Durban is also one of Africa’s 

busiest and most important ports. 

Highlights of Durban include 

1. The Beaches, Durban’s “Golden Mile 

is a string of beaches protected from sharks 

by nets and patrolled by life guards during 

the day. This is prime surfing territory but 

there’s room for swimmers and body-surfers 

too. 

2. The Promenade, A promenade stretches 

along the Durban waterfront and is home 

to numerous restaurants, pubs, hotels, shops 

and the world class uShaka Marine World 

aquarium. 

3. Mahatma Gandhi Museum, The ‘Gandhi 

Museum’ at Phoenix Settlement near 

Durban city in South Africa is a major tourist 

attraction. Phoenix Settlement near Durban 

is where Mahatma Gandhi lived for 21 

years in South Africa. 

OUDTSHOORN: THE GARDEN 

ROUTE The Garden Route is a marvellous 

route to walk through. One can experience 

the pleasure of seeing over 300 different 

bird species, coral reefs, dolphins, seals, and 

many other magnificent creatures. Along 

the Garden Route there are a couple of bays 

where whales come to calve from July to December. 

The best bay to go to is Plettenberg 

Bay, which is a whale hotspot. 

JOHANNESBURG is the largest city 

in South Africa, by population. Gold was initially 

discovered some 400 km to the east of 

present-day Johannesburg, in Barberton. 

Main attractions in johannesburg 

1. Gold Reef City, People can enjoy seeing 

the underground workings of a gold mine. 

Watching molten gold being poured is a delight 

in itself. The gold reef city theme park 

has more than thirty adrenaline boosting 

rides like the Giant Wheel, Anaconda etc. 

2. Sun City, is internationally renowned 

as Africa’s premier holiday resort, offering a 

myriad of different entertainment and relaxation 

opportunities as well as enough attractions 

and activities to keep everyone busy. 

Activities like golf, game-viewing and gambling 

as well as world-class hotels. Formerly 

the gambling mecca of South Africa, Suncity 

still attracts those who wish to gamble but 

also those who want to relax. 

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK Kruger 

National Park is Africa’s oldest established 

Wildlife Park (1898) and offers one 

of the best safari experiences in Africa. It 

is situated to the north of Johannesburg. It 

boasts the highest variety of wildlife in Africa 

which includes the “Big Five”, hippos, 

crocodiles, giraffe, cheetah and much more. 

Elephant, Leopard, Rhino, Lion and Buffalo. 

THE DRAKENSBERG MOUN- 

TAINS The Drakensburg Mountains stretch 

the entire length of KwaZulu-Natal’s western 

boundary, about 600 miles. One can enjoy 

hiking trails, bird watching, game viewing, 

horse trails, bushman rock art, guided tours, 

4x4 trails, quad bikes, golfing, trout fishing, 

white water rafting, rock climbing and more. 

important items to carry while travelling 

to South Africa 

Summer wear light clothes 

Rain jacket 

Sunscreen 

Good walking shoes 

Hat, Sunglasses and Beachwear 

Insect repellent 

how to reACh 

South Africa has direct connectivity from 

india (Mumbai) by South African Airlines, Kenyan 

Airlines and other Middle East Airlines.

22 

fun 

YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF TIMEPASS 

HOROSCOPE 

ARIES 

If you aren’t chock-full of gogetter 

energy during the first couple of 

days this week, you’ve got a steadiness 

that’ll serve you well. Put some thought 

and work into longer-term matters now 

— career, personal goals, an important 

relationship. Things should pick up 

starting Wednesday afternoon — expect 

a flurry of exciting communication, 

but beware of malicious gossip or overdramatization 

(on your part or others’). 

Be flirtatious instead — you’re great 

at it now! From later on Friday through 

the weekend, taking care of home stuff 

and cozy nesting is extra satisfying. 

TAURUS 

Somebody (or is it ‘somebodies’?) 

is definitely picking up on that subtle 

sexy side of you during the first couple 

of days this week. If you’re in a relationship, 

enjoy. If you’re single, explore 

those options! Then you’re liable to 

have an out-of-character urge around 

Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Before 

you give into it, figure out where 

it’s coming from. And starting later on 

Friday, you have perfect energy for 

time off — you’re social, happy, funny 

and generally great to be around. Let 

work rest, for everyone’s sake! 

GEMINI 

Deploy one of your secret weapons 

at the beginning of the week — 

you know, that skill you’ve got that no 

one knows about, that side of you that 

you rarely share or one of your miscellaneous 

but seldom-used superpowers. 

The results may be surprising — and 

immensely satisfying. Then, starting 

Wednesday afternoon and lasting 

through Friday, you’re smart and sexy 

and generally superb. Bask in the extra 

attention you’re bound to be getting! 

This weekend brings some ups and 

downs. For stability’s sake, get exercise 

and rest, eat healthfully and stay 

hydrated! 

CANCER 

Make your case and have fun 

while you’re at it as this week begins. 

Whether it’s at work or in your personal 

life, you’re so compelling now, how can 

anyone refuse? Starting Wednesday 

afternoon and lasting through most 

of Friday, there’s a ton to do — so 

much that there’s a danger of getting 

bogged down. If that happens, reach 

out: A fresh perspective on your prioritizing 

or just a little moral support helps 

a lot. And from later on Friday through 

the weekend, you’ve got an extra gift 

with romance, and extra imaginative 

powers. Quite an interesting combination! 

LEO 

Red tape or rules, conventionality 

and the status quo aren’t sitting well 

with you during the first couple of days 

this week. Go ahead, be a rebel — 

but if it’s at work, you’d better also be 

ready to deal with the consequences. 

Starting later on Wednesday, you’re 

much more of a team player, ready to 

work or play with a group and enjoy 

what’s best about everyone. Socializing 

is especially fun now — have your 

weekend early, because from later on 

Friday through Sunday, you’re likely to 

feel more like nesting or just being with 

a certain someone. 

VIRGO 

Kick your routine to the curb — 

during the first couple of days this 

week, you get a real kick out of doing 

something different, exposing yourself 

to new ideas and saying ‘see ya’ to any 

rut you’re in. (After you get caught up 

on work, that is, knowing you.) Wednesday, 

Thursday and Friday contain the 

kind of cosmic energy that could go 

either way. The key? Communication, of 

course. Be clear and be kind. Friends, 

family and community are highlighted 

this weekend. Join together — the 

more, the merrier! 

LIBRA 

Yikes! During the first couple of 

days this week, you’re liable to fly off 

the handle, act on an impulse, overindulge 

or make a sweeping declaration 

that you may or may not be feeling 

soon after. Chill out — or go ahead (at 

least you’ll make life interesting!). Then, 

starting sometime Wednesday, you’re 

feeling a little calmer and giving things 

more forethought (or maybe hindsight!). 

A certain relationship may take a turn 

for the more significant, too. When the 

weekend comes, smaller, lower-key 

plans are a better idea than building 

up big expectations. 

SCORPIO 

The stars may wreak some havoc 

in your life during the first few days this 

week. Remember, you can control your 

response (as well as your tendency to 

go to extremes!). Things may seem to 

calm down starting sometime Wednesday, 

but appearances can be deceptive. 

It behooves you to pay particularly 

close attention to things both large and 

small in your world now. If you’re looking 

for a little luck, just you wait until 

later on Friday. From now through the 

weekend, you’re likely to get what you 

want, maybe even before you know 

you want it.ts. Put in some exercise this 

weekend. 

SAGITTARIUS 

Do your best to be down-toearth 

at the beginning of this week: 

take care of responsibilities, analyze 

practicalities, administer reality checks. 

Dullsville, right? You’ll be awfully glad 

you did around Wednesday, Thursday 

and Friday, when life’s crazy-busy. The 

groundwork you lay now lets you pay 

attention to the areas and interactions 

that need it later. Then, from later on 

Friday through the weekend, you can 

engage with your world on a philosophical 

level, getting deep and exercising 

those ideals. Enjoy! 

Just for lAughs 

CAPRICORN 

Aren’t you dutiful! But life should 

also be beautiful during the first few 

days this week — the stars are sending 

a little extra oomph in the romance department 

your way, so make the most 

of it! A certain relationship or situation 

is simpler than you might think around 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. If 

you’re the one to discern the real issue 

or value, you’ll reap the rewards. And if 

there’s an issue, tackling it this weekend 

is favored. Don’t fear change — a new 

idea helps immensely. 

AQUARIUS 

As a freethinker, you love nothing 

more than to let your thoughts and 

imagination roam — and at the beginning 

of this week, a discovery awaits. 

Set time aside for brainstorming at 

work and daydreaming at home. Then, 

starting sometime Wednesday and 

lasting through most of Friday, the discovery 

you make may be in matters of 

the heart — and it may be a hot one. 

(That imagination comes in handy now, 

too!) This weekend, don’t put off until 

tomorrow what you can get out of the 

way today — then you can move on. 

PISCES 

Your dreamy, gentle side is in effect 

during the first few days this week, 

but you’re not spaced out — quite the 

opposite. You’ve got amazing insight 

working for you (especially in relationships), 

so use it! Be prepared for 

change, too, because nothing’s set in 

stone starting Wednesday afternoon, 

when weird switcheroos and general 

hubbub are the rule rather than the 

exception. Best to wait and see — but 

stop waiting around Friday evening, 

when it’s all systems go, all through the 

weekend. The action you take and the 

things you create are highly favored 

by the stars now. 

God was sitting in heaven one day when a scientist said 

to Him, “God, we don’t need you anymore. Science has finally 

figured out a way to create life out of nothing - in other words, 

we can now do what you did in the beginning.” “Oh, is that so? 

Tell Me...” replies God. “Well,” says the scientist, “we can take 

dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, 

thus creating man.” “Well, that’s very interesting...show Me.” 

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the 

soil into the shape of a man. “No, no, no...” interrupts God, 

“Get your own dirt.” 

SUDOKU 

CROSSWORD 

solutions (Last Issue)

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 23 

MEDIA HOUSES 

Citypedia 

gplus will keep on publishing such relevant and useful information in this page in the coming issues. Compiled by Rangman Das 

ENGLISH WEEKLY 

GPLuS 

34, K.C. Choudhury Road, Chatribari 


Phone No – 0361-2737737, 84860-02316 

Email – info@g-plus.in 

ASSAMESE WEEKLY 

ASOM bANi 

MRD Road, Chandmari 


Phone No-0361-2661359/60 

AGRADOOT (bi-WEEKLY) 

Agradoot Bhawan, Dispur, Guwahati – 781006 

Phone No – 0361-2260655, 2269147, 2261923 

Fax No- 0361-2260655 

Email – agra_doot@sify.com, agradoot@gmail.com 

jANAMbHuMi 

R.G. Baruah Road, Nursery Bus Stop 


Phone No – 0361-2208345, 2206492 

Fax No – 0361-2207783 

SAPTAHiK DALiT ASOM 

Ganeshguri, Guwahati – 781005 

Phone No – 0361-2269691 

SADiN 

MRD Road, Chandmari, Guwahati – 781003 

Phone No – 0361-2660420, 2664595, 2663647 

Fax No – 0361-2664634, 2663606, 2663763 

RAijOR SANGbAD (bi-WEEKLY) 

Machkhowa, Raja Building, H.B. Road, Guwahati-781009 

Phone No – 0361-2130261, 2734377 

Fax No – 0361-2734377 

Email – rsangbad@yahoo.in 

SAPTAHiK NEELAcHAL 

Adabari 

Phone No – 98591-94535 

ELECTRONIC MEDIA 

PRASAR bHARATi 

Doordarshan Kendra, Guwahati 

Phone No -0361-2206106, 2207728 , 94350-10578 

Fax No – 2202409 

Email – neddkghy@yahoo.co.in 

NORTH EAST TELEViSiON 

Rehabari, Guwahati 

Phone No-0361-2607071, 2607075 

Fax No – 0361-2519319 

Email – netvnews@gmail.com 

NEWS LiVE 

Madhab Bhawan, Christanbasti, Guwahati 

Phone No – 0361-2342861/66/65 

Fax No – 0361-2342867 

Email – info@newslivetv.com 

DY 365 

Head Office – Gorchuk, NH-37 

Phone No – 0361-2274061/62/63 

Fax No – 0361-2274073 

Email – news@dy365.in 

City Office 

Phone No – 92070-77005 

PRAG NEWS 

Ulubari, B.Baruah Road 

Guwahati 

Phone No – 0361-2465325 

Fax No – 0361-2465326 

Email – editorpragnews@gmail.com 

FRONTiER TV 

Frontier TV Building 

Maligaon, Opposite Railway High School, Gate No – 1 

Guwahati -781011, Assam 

Tel: 0361 – 2679997 

Fax: 0361 – 2676145 

website: www.frontiertvindia.com 

NEWS TiME ASSAM 

Peace Enclave, 1st Floor, Ulubari 


Phone No – 0361-6112233/6112299/6112298 

Fax No – 0361-6112244 

Email – newstimeassam@gmail.com 

PRiME NEWS 

4th Floor, Dee Tee Tower 

Down Town Hospital Complex 

G.S. Road, Dispur, Guwahati 

Phone No – 0361-6110011/6110035 

Fax No – 0361-6110027 

Email – newsdesk@primenewstv.com 

NDTV 

4th Floor, Standard Chartered Building 

Opp Rabindra Bhawan 

GNB Road, Guwahati – 781001 

94350-48666, 88268-87878 

TiMES NOW 

Mayur Garden, 4th Floor 

Opp Rajiv Bhawan, Guwahati 

Phone No – 0361-2463817 

Fax No – 0361-2466281 

cNN-ibN 

3rd Floor, Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok 

MG Road, Guwahati – 781001 

Phone No – 0361-2732498 

Fax No – 0361-2732499 

SAHARA SAMAY NEWS 

Kusum Mansion 

3rd Floor, UCO Bank Building 

Rajgarh Road, Bhangagarh, Guwahati 

Tele Fax – 0361-2450947 

PHOTO AGENCIES 

ub PHOTOS 

2nd Floor, Shiva Hotel Complex 

ASTC Byelane, G.S. Road 

Ulubari, Guwahati – 781007 

Phone No – 0361-2466780 

EASTERN PROjEcTiON 

Dhansiri Aptt 

3rd Floor, Uzan Bazar, Guwahati 

Phone No - 0361-2462345

24 

Catching up 

Headlining acts! 

To subscribe 

type GPLUS 

and send 

it to 56677 

Ana paquin 

WHO’S SHE? 

This babe is a Canadian-born New 

Zealand film, television and theatre 

actress. Paquin’s debut film was The 

Piano, for which she won the Academy 

Award for Best Supporting Actress 

in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second 

youngest winner in history. 

Woman accuses San Diego Mayor of sexual misconduct 

SO WHAT? 

She later appeared in a number 

of successful films, including 

Fly Away Home, She’s All That, 

Almost Famous and the X-Men 

franchise. Paquin is well known 

for her role as Sookie Stackhouse 

in the HBO series True 

Blood. 

NOW WHAT? 

She strips off for a very steamy 

sex scene in the latest episode 

of raunchy vampire show True 

Blood. Stunning Anna Paquin 

shows off her fantastic figure 

less than a year after giving 

birth to twins. Rob, who 

plays faerie/vampire Macklyn 

Warlow, has his hands 

bound to a gravestone by 

Sookie (Anna Paquin) after 

he warns her he might not 

be able to control the vampire 

inside him when night 

comes. But after a heart-toheart, 

Sookie decides she 

can’t resist the hunky vamp 

and lets him feed on her 

before bedding him on the 

woodland floor. 

A third woman has gone public with allegations that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner made unwanted 

sexual advances. Morgan Rose, a school psychologist, said that Filner, then a member 

of Congress, tried to kiss her during a restaurant meeting in 2009. Rose said that Filner told 

her, “’Your eyes have bewitched me” and then moved next to her in a booth and tried to kiss 

her. She said that Filner tried to kiss her four times. 

‘Obama is only good at Spear Chucking and Rock Skipping’ 

Joe Heck’s teenage son has repeatedly used racist, homophobic, and sexist slurs on twitter to 

lash out at targets ranging from President Obama to the “Mexican security monitor” in his 

school. A review of tweets by Joey Heck, 16, dating to August of last year shows numerous 

examples in which Heck used words like “faggot” and “nigga.” For instance, on Sept. 11 Heck 

tweeted “Fanny pack = fag bag,” and on August 23 he retweeted a tweet that read, “There are 

gays everywhere. Maybe that’s gods way of thinning out the population because faggots can’t 

have babies.” 

WhAT did i jusT heAr? 

digvijaya singh just called 

party Mp Meenakshi natrajan 

‘tunch maal’ 

The Congress General 

Secretary praised fellow party 

Secretary Meenakshi Natrajan at a rally in Madhya 

Pradesh by calling her ‘a 100 percent tunch maal’. 

Translated from Bhojpuri, the remark roughly 

means ’100 percent sexy woman’. 

Singh also said that he knew this because ‘main 

purana johari hoon‘ (am an experienced jeweller) 

Bo xilai 

WHO’S HE? 

He is a former Chinese politician. He came to prominence 

through his tenures as the mayor of Dalian and 

then governor of Liaoning province. 

WHAT’S SO GREAT? 

The son of Bo Yibo, one of the Eight Elders of the Communist 

Party of China, Bo Xilai is identified as one of the 

“princelings” of Chinese politics. He cultivated a casual 

and charismatic image in the media that marked 

a departure from the normally staid nature 

of Chinese politics. 

NOW WHAT? 

He was sacked in March 2012 after a 

scandal that shed a rare spotlight on 

the internal struggles for power and 

ideological. Now he is formally 

charged with bribery and 

abuse of power, paving the 

way for him to stand trial 

soon. 

Maria 

Alyokhina 

Kamur of the week 

GPLUS JUL 27 - AUG 02, 2013 

WHO’S SHE? 

Maria Vladimirovna Alyokhina, also known as “Masha”, born on 

June 6, 1988 is a Russian political activist. She is a member of 

the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot. 

WHAT’S SO GREAT? 

On August 17, 2012, she was convicted of “hooliganism motivated 

by religious hatred” for a performance in Moscow’s 

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and sentenced to two years 

imprisonment. She has been recognized as a political prisoner 

by the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. 

NOW WHAT? 

She has lost a new bid for parole from her two-year prison sentence 

in Russia. She had appealed to a regional court in Perm, 

in the Ural Mountains, after a district court denied the request. 

William and Kate name 

Britain’s new royal heir George 

Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate have chosen 

three traditional royal names by calling their new-born 

baby boy George Alexander Louis. The baby, born on 

Monday to global media frenzy and third in line to the 

British throne, will be known as His Royal Highness 

Prince George of Cambridge. All three names had been 

among the favourites listed by British bookmakers, 

and the announcement was relatively quick by royal 

standards; it took a month for the name of Prince 

Charles, the heir to the throne, to be announced, and 

a week for William, his eldest son. 

piCk Of The Week 

Raj Babbar said,”People should have full meals two times a day. How 

one can have it is a very good question that you have asked. Even today 

in Mumbai city, I can have a full meal at Rs 12. No no not bada paav. 

So much of rice, daal saambhar and with that some vegetables are also 

mixed.” He regretted saying this later! 

wAnnABe stunt BiKers, who do not understand the 

exact spirit of racing and end up either irritating the commuters 

or getting thrashed on the streets by the public. They have 

become a nuisance who do not understand the value of 

their lives and also of others. 

Printed & published by Sunit Jain on behalf of Insight Media (A division of Insight Brandcom Pvt. Ltd.) 34, KC Choudhury Road, Chatribari, Guwahati 781008, Assam. 0361 2737737. Editor – Koushik Hazarika.

GPlus-Jul27(5th issue)

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