G Plus Vol 1 Isuue 37

VOL 01 | ISSUE 37 | JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

`10 

24 Pages 

KAMAKHYA 

DEBUTTER BOARD 

PG 17 

TOP 5 

World Cup 

WAGS 

SNUBS SC ORDER 

PG 04 

The Kamakhya Debutter Board situation is sub judice, 

but each side has a different story to tell about the feud 

regarding the management of the holy temple.

2 

Lead Story 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

WILL CCTNS WORK IN ASSAM? 

The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) has been set up, but will it 

work towards an efficient law and order system, which will help in delivering swift justice? 

rahul chanda 

The city of Guwahati and entire 

Assam might witness a landmark 

change in the working 

process of the police if the Crime 

and Criminal Tracking Network 

and Systems (CCTNS) start working 

efficiently as planned by Assam 

Police. CCTNS evolved as a Mission 

Mode Project (MMP) under the National 

e-Governance Programme 

(NeGP) which was approved by the 

Planning Commission at an outlay 

of `2000 Crores being sanctioned for 

the scheme in the 11th Five-year plan. 

But when will people benefit from the 

scheme? How will it help the general 

public? Who will gain the most and 

will it really work in Assam? 

The scheme 

The CCTNS scheme is expected 

to cover all 35 states and union territories. 

Within the states, more than 

14000 police stations and more than 

6000 higher offices (including district 

head quarters, range offices, commissionerates 

and state head quarters) 

will be covered. The best part is that 

all the 20,000 plus locations will be 

interconnected, which means a person 

based in a police station in Goa 

can access the status of a case filed in 

the Chandmari police station in Guwahati. 

Additional DGP (MPC) AK Jha 

said, “CCTNS will provide enhanced 

tools for investigation, crime prevention, 

law and order maintenance and 

other functions like traffic management, 

emergency response etc. The 

scheme will utilise IT for efficiency 

and effectiveness of core policing 

operations, provide information for 

easier and faster analysis, make the 

police functioning citizen friendly 

and transparent.” Jha further added 

that the scheme will increase efficiency 

and effectiveness of police force 

in tracking crime and criminals by 

providing investigating officers with 

tools, technology and information to 

facilitate investigation of crime and 

detection of criminals. 

Assam and Guwahati 

According to AK Jha, who is the 

nodal officer for CCTNS in the state, 

the scheme will start working in the 

state very soon. The Assam Police is 

testing the scheme at present and even 

the general public can visit the website 

online but cannot file complaints now 

as it is not open for the public to start 

using the scheme. CCTNS will cover 

all the police stations in the state and 

also the higher offices. All these locations 

will be networked by providing 

appropriate high-speed connectivity 

for data transfer and sharing of 

information amongst various police 

offices. Across Assam there are 466 

planned locations to be covered under 

the scheme. 

ASSAM 

Total planned sites– 466 

Total planned police stations – 312 

Total planned higher offices – 154 

Till date total operational 

police stations – 175 

Total operational higher offices – 114 

Sites requiring VSAT connectivity – 54 

Sites not easily feasible – 36 

Kamrup (Rural and Metro) 

Total planned sites – 48 

Total planned police stations – 36 

Total planned higher offices – 12 

Total operational police stations – 35 

Total operational higher offices – 12 

A police station at Khetri is not 

yet operational as it falls under the 

sites, which require VSAT connectivity. 

The sites are not easily feasible because 

there are certain police stations 

which do not have proper buildings 

and connectivity to these sites will 

take time as firstly the infrastructure 

of the sites has to be improvised on. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) 

has entrusted the connectivity part 

to the BSNL, and according to the 

police, the speed of connectivity provided 

by BSNL is a concern as they are 

working very slowly. The VSAT connectivity 

is yet to be started and therefore 

there is a delay in the process of 

making all the sites operational. 

The CCTNS software provided 

by WIPRO (Software Development 

Agency) is not final. It can be used for 

testing the scheme but cannot be used 

permanently, so, the Assam Police is 

awaiting the final copy of the software 

which will allow them to open 

the service to the general public. But 

according to the present status, Kamrup 

looks pretty comfortable with the 

operational status and can start working 

as soon they get the final software. 

How exactly will be the general public 

gaining by the scheme? 

Public gain 

If the CCTNS scheme is implemented 

efficiently, the general public 

will not have to visit the police station 

for everything. The citizens will 

enjoy some services, can get some 

information and can check some status 

online. The services which will be 

helpful to the citizens are:- 

CITIZEN SERVICES 

Complaint register 

Tenant/PG verification request 

Character certificate request 

Event/Performance request 

Protest/Strike request 

Procession request 

Employee verification 

Domestic help verification 

C – Form (Foreigner registration) 

STATUS SEARCH 

Search of any service can be searched 

through unique ID 

Feedback submission and query for status 

update 

CITIZEN INFORMATION 

(VIEWING REPORTS) 

Missing person 

Proclaimed offender 

Stolen vehicle 

Recovered vehicle 

Unidentified dead body 

Abandoned/Unclaimed/Recovered 

property 

Safety tips (senior citizen, women, antitheft, 

children etc.) 

Wanted criminals 

Lost/recovered property 

Unidentified/found person 

The citizens will be able to enjoy 

various services without going to the 

police stations but there is one problem 

in the filing of complaints part. 

After the filing of a complaint or FIR, 

the applicant has to visit the police 

station to sign, as unless and until 

people start using digital signatures, 

the only authentic verification proof 

is the physical signature, which has to 

be on hard paper. For the time being 

it has been decided by the police that 

after lodging a complaint, the complainant 

has to go to the police station 

to sign using the ‘unique id’ provided 

while filing the complaint online. 

Will the scheme 

work in Assam 

It is to be noted that once the 

scheme starts, the police stations have 

to be busy solving the cases and replying 

to the queries in a speedy manner, 

as anyone across the country can view 

the status of any case. Now, the maximum 

police personnel in the state are 

in their 40s and are not adequately 

computer-literate, which will make 

them delay the process. The younger 

lot are pretty comfortable with the 

computer, but they will take time to 

reach a point where they can take decisions. 

It is also a fact that if people 

stop going to the police stations, the 

corruption will also come down. 

According to highly placed sources 

in the police departments, many 

police personnel in the state want the 

scheme to fail. It is only possible for 

the system to be successful if all the 

SP level officers of all the districts 

make sure that the police stations efficiently 

work on the scheme and help it 

become a game changer for the police. 

There will not only be less bribery, but 

the crime rate will come down as well. 

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 3 

In The News 

2.40 QUINTALS OF TOBACCO 

SEIZED BY AUTHORITIES 

Mrinmoyee Hazarika 

The Food Safety and Standard of Kamrup Metro have recently carried out raids in 

various parts of the city to flush out the illegal traders and sellers who have been 

selling the banned tobacco products. 

In special drives carried out by the 

department of Food Safety and 

Standard, Kamrup Metropolitan 

district, so far, the officials have 

seized 2.40 quintals of tobacco leaves 

(dhopaat) under the Assam Health 

Act, 2013 from different retail outlets 

located at different localities of the 

city. During the drive, the officials 

managed to seize Tulsi, a product, 

which contains zarda, worth `10,000. 

Drive ongoing 

After the introduction of the Assam 

Health Act of 2013, which prohibits 

manufacturing, advertisement, 

trade, storage, distribution, sale and 

consumption of Zarda, Guthka, Panmasala 

etc, containing tobacco and/ 

or nicotine, the state government has 

taken initiatives to implement the 

same across the state. 

The district administration of 

Kamrup (M) too has started a special 

drive at the local outlets of the 

city and recovered huge amounts of 

smokeless tobacco products under 

the Assam Health Act of 2013 which 

came into force from February 20, 

2014 across the state. 

“We have started a special drive 

at the retail outlets of the city from 

this month onwards and taken action 

against those who have been violating 

the norms. So far, we have seized 

2.40 quintals of tobacco leaves and 

Tulsi worth `10,000 and we are still 

continuing with the drive in the city,” 

Samiran Baruah, Food Safety Officer 

cum Nodal Officer, Tobacco Control 

Cell, Kamrup (Metro) told G Plus. 

The enforcement team, which 

includes food safety officials and police 

personnel have been conducting 

raids at different shops located at Ganeshguri, 

Fancy bazaar, Noonmati, 

Narengi, Birubari and Kalapahar. 

“The shop owners, at whose shops 

we have found smokeless tobacco 

stated that they are getting access to 

the banned tobacco products from 

the neighbouring states including 

West Bengal, Kochbehar, Meghalaya 

and Siliguri. Since the implementation 

of the Assam Health Act in the 

state, the production of smokeless tobacco 

in the state has been stopped, 

but in the absence of such acts in the 

neighbouring states, these products 

are still flowing into Assam,” Baruah 

said. 

Baruah also mentioned that a total 

number of three cases have been 

registered in Guwahati under the 

Assam Health Act and one case has 

been registered in Jorhat and Nalbari 

each. 

“One of the practical problems, 

which has been faced by the enforcement 

officials while implementing 

the Assam Health Act is that the act 

is active only in Assam, but not in 

the other neighbouring states of Assam. 

The entire North eastern region 

has the highest number of people in 

terms of consuming tobacco across 

the country and Mizoram is the 

highest tobacco consuming state. We 

cannot ask the neighbouring states to 

implement the Assam Health Act, but 

there is a national act called COTPA 

(Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products 

Act) already put in place across 

the country,” State Nodal Officer of 

the National Tobacco Control Programme, 

Arundhati Deka told G 

Plus. 

Implementing COTPA 

The authority has already been 

taking initiatives implementing 

COTPA and booking people collecting 

fines under the act. 

“The COTPA is already in place 

and during the last fiscal (2013-14) 

we collected a fine of `42,000 in the 

Kamrup (M) alone for the offence of 

smoking in public places which falls 

under section 4 of COTPA. We have 

also issued legal notices to those who 

have violated the norms of COTPA,” 

Samiran Baruah, Food Safety Officer 

cum Nodal Officer, Tobacco Control 

Cell, Kamrup (Metro) told G Plus. 

He further mentioned that the 

district administration has selected 

11 schools within the city under the 

school health programme, which will 

be declared as tobacco free zones. 

“In 2009, we had started the project 

of making a few educational institutes 

tobacco free and have managed 

to declare 90 educational institutes in 

Jorhat as tobacco free. Now, we have 

taken up 11 schools in Guwahati, 

which will be soon declared as tobacco 

free zones,” Baruah said. 

So far, 

we have 

seized 2.40 

quintals 

of tobacco 

leaves and 

Tulsi worth 

`10,000 and 

we are still 

continuing 

with the 

drive in the 

city 

“We had a meeting with the 

state health minister in the month 

of May this year and he had strictly 

instructed us to implement Assam 

Health Act in the state along with 

COTPA. We have also talked to the 

police department and asked them 

to realise fines from anyone violating 

the norms of the Assam health act,” 

Arundhati Deka mentioned. 

She further stated that so far, 

since the latter half of the year 2012, 

an amount of `1 lakh 18 thousand in 

fines had been collected across the 

state under COTPA. 

Both Baruah and Deka also mentioned 

about the near perfect success 

of eliminating the hoardings, signage 

and other forms of advertisements in 

the city under sections 5 of COTPA. 

The Other side 

Although the authority’s drive 

to make the state tobacco free, it has 

proved to be a hard blow to the poorer 

sections of the people. 

Any violation of the provisions 

of the Assam Health Act would lead 

to punishment with imprisonment 

up to seven years and fine between 

`1 to `5 lakh. A considerable size of 

small sellers in the city have been 

selling the banned tobacco products 

illegally. They have been selling the 

products secretly in the hope of earning 

more money from their small 

scale businesses, since the act cannot 

catch up to the big companies which 

produce tobacco products situated 

outside the state. 

“We know the consequences if we 

get caught selling smokeless tobacco 

products. But, what can we do? Because, 

these were the products, which 

people buy in our shops and in return 

we get a good amount of money. 

Therefore, now, we do not sale it to 

the unknown people for the fear of 

getting caught by the authorities,” a 

local trader told G Plus, on the condition 

of anonymity.

4 

City 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

Special 

The Kamakhya 

Debutter Board 

situation is sub 

judice, but each side 

has a different story 

to tell about the 

feud regarding the 

management of the 

holy temple. 

KAMAKHYA DEBUTTER 

BOARD SNUBS SC ORDER 

RAHUL CHANDA 

Guwahatians glow with pride 

about the fact that the city 

houses one of the famous 

Shakti Peeths located in the region 

- a holy place for people across the 

world. But all is not well within the 

walls of the temple. 

The Ambubachi festival sees 

lakhs of people every year thronging 

the Kamakhya Temple from 

across the globe but the long-standing 

tussle between the Kamakhya 

Debutter Board and the Kamakhya 

Bordeuri Samaj for management of 

the Kamakhya Temple has been long 

pending, ever since the case went to 

the Supreme Court in 2011. At present, 

the board members claim to run 

the temple quite efficiently, but who 

exactly should be taking care of the 

temple, which is not an individual 

property? 

The history 

At present, there are two parts 

of the Kamakhya Temple management 

process – the religious and the 

administrative. Previously, there was 

no division between the administrative 

and religious managements of 

the temple, but after the formation of 

the Debutter Board, the administration 

part at present is taken care by 

the board members, whereas the religious 

parts including the puja and 

other rituals are taken care by the 

Dolois, who belong to the Bordeuri 

Samaj. Prior to 1998, when the Debutter 

Board was formed, since ages, 

the Kamakhya Temple was taken 

care of by the Doloi elected every five 

years by the voters from the Bordeuri 

Samaj (a cluster of families, which 

had run the temple for over a hundred 

years). 

Comprising of the Buras, the 

Dekas, the Hotas and the Bidhipathaks, 

the Bordeuri Samaj had been 

the traditional caretakers of the 

temple till the Kamakhya Debutter 

Board came into power in 1998. This 

is when the controversy about running 

the temple started. To know the 

controversy better, G Plus discussed 

the matter with the board members, 

the present Doloi and the district administration. 

The court’s 

ruling was also 

that the powers 

of running the 

temple both 

religiously and 

administratively 

should remain 

with the Doloi as 

it used to be there 

in the past. 

The Bordeuris 

According to the Bordeuris, 

some sevaites (those involved with 

seva) formed a committee (Debutter 

Board) in 1998 illegally and forcefully 

took over the powers of running 

the temple and the age-old tradition 

of electing the Doloi was stopped after 

1992. After the formation of the 

Debutter Board, the Bordeuris approached 

the local courts and both 

the District Court and the Gauhati 

High Court, after hearing the petition, 

gave the order in favour of the 

Bordeuris, and in 2011, after the High 

Court’s verdict, the temple witnessed 

the election of the dolois after around 

19 years. 

Kabindra Prasad Sarma emerged 

as the winner overtaking his closest 

contestant, Jadunath Sarma, by 

five votes. Kabindra Prasad became 

the Bordoloi (head priest) and Jadunath 

Sarma became the Xorudoloi 

(assistant priest). Both of them are 

still running the office but are only 

taking care of the religious parts of 

the temple management. The head 

priest Kabindra Prasad Sarma said, 

“The Gauhati High Court’s ruling 

was in our favour and the elections 

for electing the Doloi took place on 

November 16 th 2011. The court’s ruling 

was also that the powers of running 

the temple both religiously and 

administratively should remain with 

the Doloi as it used to be there in the 

past. But, soon after the elections, the 

Debutter Board members moved to 

the Supreme Court against the High 

Court’s ruling. The Supreme Court 

then for the time being, till the case is 

not over allowed the Debutter Board 

to run the administration part of the 

temple, and we are expected to take 

care of the religious part till the case 

is not over.” 

He further explained that the 

Doloi had always been taking care 

of the temple entirely in the past but 

after the formation of the Debutter 

Board, the administration part, including 

the finance is being looked 

after by the board. It is not that the 

Bordeuris are not competent enough 

to run the temple efficiently and the 

running of the temple by the Dolois 

has been a customary tradition of the 

temple. 

Kabindra Prasad lamented, “Being 

the head priest of the temple, I 

don’t even have my own room inside 

the temple and have rented a room 

outside the temple premises where I, 

along with some other priests, relax 

for a while when required.” He further 

assured that he is fully confident 

that the Supreme Court’s verdict will 

be in the favour of the Bordeuris and 

there is no court, which will give the 

judgement in their favour, declaring 

the existence of the Debutter Board

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 5 

City 

as illegal. 

The board, according to the 

Bordeuris, was forcefully formed by 

some sevaites and took over the powers 

of the Dolois. 

The Debutter Board 

The Debutter Board secretary 

Naba Kanta Sarma initially did not 

want to say anything regarding the 

controversy as the case is still sub 

judice in the Supreme Court. On 

further persuasion, Sarma opened 

up and said that, “There is no case regarding 

the formation of the Debutter 

Board or the election of the Doloi 

and whoever has told you regarding 

the case should also tell you what the 

case is all about. Before the formation 

of the Debutter Board, there was 

Land Acquisition Act in 1951, based 

on which, we are seeking for the land 

demarcation of the temple. On 30 th 

October of 2011, the Gauhati High 

Court kept aside the main case and 

ruled that since the Doloi election 

had not happened in the temple, the 

Doloi election should take place.” 

Sarma also alleged that The 

Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup 

Metro overpowered the HC ruling 

and organised the Doloi elections 

among around 500 voters with the 

help of 400 policemen. He said that, 

“The Gauhati High Court had only 

ordered to organise the election, but 

the Bordeuris, with the help of the 

district administration captured the 

office of the Debutter Board within 

a night and organised the election. 

This shows that there is a bonding 

between the District Administration 

and the people who wanted the election 

to happen.” 

The secretary further added that 

according to the court’s order, if the 

peaceful environment of the temple 

is disrupted, the DC should look into 

the matter, but the DC remained silent. 

Sarma added that after the High 

Court’s ruling, the board appealed to 

the Supreme Court and on 11 th November 

2011, the Supreme Court said 

that since the election had happened, 

the Doloi would take care of the religious 

parts and the Debutter Board 

would look after the administrative 

management of the temple. 

Sarma then accused the district 

administration of not getting the 

facts straight and so, are still after 

them. On 9 th February 2012, the District 

Administration handed over the 

administration charge to the Debutter 

Board. 

“Why did it happen?” questions 

Sarma. “They took charge with the 

help of the policemen. Why did they 

have to relinquish the office to us?” 

He said, “For around two to three 

months they ruled the office of the 

Debutter Board. Before the Board 

came into existence, there used to be 

the Kamakhya Temple Trust Board, 

which was managed by the Dolois. 

There were two Dolois - Late Ganada 

Prasad Sarma and Late Paran Chandra 

Sarma who had organised a meeting 

and formed the Debutter Board. 

We wanted the elections to happen 

but the opposition moved court and 

the election process was barred because 

of the case. We even prepared 

the voters list, but the chaos happened 

in 2011. Now it’s been around 

four years and even the Supreme 

Court has not been able to come to a 

conclusion.” 

Sarma further added that the 

board just wants to take care of the 

administration part and as the election 

of the Dolois take place only 

within a particular Samaj, they want 

it to happen in a more democratic 

manner and all the sevaites of the 

temple should be involved in the voting 

process. It is to be noted that since 

the ancient days, the election of the 

Dolois happens only among the male 

members of the Bordeuri Samaj. 

The administration 

The Deputy Commissioner Kamrup 

(M) Ashutosh Agnihotri said, 

“The last elections to elect the Doloi 

which happened in the year 2011 as 

per the court’s directives and was accordingly 

organised.” He said that 

the Gauhati High Court’s ruling 

was that a new committee should be 

formed under the chairmanship of 

the deputy commissioner but later 

the Debutter Board appealed to the 

Supreme Court against the ruling. 

The Supreme Court then ruled that 

the board should take care of the administration 

management part, but 

should submit the details of monthly 

earnings to the deputy commissioner. 

Agnihotri said, “The Debbuter 

Board shows a monthly earning of 

`72 to `82 lakhs to us and we are 

maintaining a record. But the SC also 

ruled that the board, before making 

any expenditure above the amount 

of `50000, should take my permission. 

But till now, the board has 

never taken any permission from me. 

They show the expenses, splitting the 

amounts below `50000, and even if 

the expenditure is more than `50000, 

they do not bother to take my permission. 

I have already issued 10 to 

12 notices to the board members and 

I am simultaneously informing the 

court about this. The Debutter Board 

is not following the Supreme Court’s 

orders.” 

On being asked about his personal 

view on who should get the 

charge of managing the temple, he 

said, “The government should. All 

the major temples in the country like 

the Tirupati and Vaishnodevi are run 

by trusts and boards formed by the 

government.” He further added that 

the expenses of the temple should at 

least be made available to the public if 

not the government by the board and 

transparency should be maintained 

in the matter of finance by the Debutter 

Board. 

There are different versions and it 

cannot be ascertained yet as to who is 

right. But according to the Bordeuris, 

the Supreme Court trial is being delayed 

by the board members. The next 

hearing is expected to happen in the 

month of June according to sources, 

but whatever the date may be, the 

verdict should come out at the earliest 

for the better functioning of the 

temple. 

The finance factor looks fishy 

since the DC receives a report of 

`82 lakhs per month but according 

to temple sources, there is an approximate 

earning of `1 crore every 

month. The truth is a mystery, 

which can only be solved by transparency, 

but the fact remains that 

money brings politics even into devotion. 

The existence of the board also 

should be justified by the court as it is 

confusing that how can a committee 

get the major powers without the will 

of the temple priests. 

rahul.chanda@g-plus.in 

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6 

City 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

THE PANDU PORT 

Tucked away in a corner of the city, the quaint little port has still not realized its potential due 

to the lack of industrialisation in the state. 

The stretch of 891 kilometres 

between the Bangladesh border 

to Sadiya in Assam over 

the mighty Brahmaputra is known as 

the National Waterway No. 2 (NW-2). 

The Central Inland Water Transport 

Corporation (CIWTC), in the year 

2000 handed over the major terminal 

location of NW-2 at Pandu to the 

Inland Waterways Authority of India 

(IWAI). G Plus tried to find out the inside 

story on how the river networking 

system works and what was the reason 

for which the Pandu Port was inactive 

prior to arrival of IWAI. 

Shubhojit Roy 

The route 

The river route from Silghat in 

Tezpur to Pandu port to Kolkata 

through Bangladesh and Silghat to 

Pandu to Karimganj through Bangladesh, 

has been declared as the Indo- 

Bangladesh Protocol Route. The trade 

agreement between the two countries 

was initiated in the year 2009 where a 

ratio of 50:50 of cargo sharing by Indian 

and Bangladeshi vessels is permitted 

both for transit and inter-country 

trade. For inter-country trade, four 

ports of call have been designated in 

each country namely: Haldia, Kolkata, 

Pandu and Karimganj in India and 

Narayanganj, Khulna, Mongla and 

Sirajganj in Bangladesh. 

Port Status 

The Pandu port has seen some 

phenomenal development in the recent 

years with most part of the port 

being developed now and the port at 

present has security personnel round 

the clock. Speaking of inclusions, 

the port is equipped with solar street 

lights and the construction of a broad 

gauge railway line from the Kamakhya 

station to the Pandu Port has already 

been completed. As the Director at 

IWAI office, Arun Roy says “It is very 

important to have railway connectivity 

in the port as India has a very big 

railway networking system and also 

cargo transportation becomes easier.” 

Assam has 

very poor 

industrialisation. 

Less industries 

result in less 

products and 

poor flow of 

inward and 

outward cargo 

transportation” 

Roy further states that there are two 

fixed jetties available at the port at 

present. “The low level jetty is for the 

dry season whereas the high level jetty 

is for during the flood season,” explains 

Arun Roy. The port also houses 

a huge warehouse for stocking of containers 

from the inland vessels besides 

a customs office for inspection of the 

cargos. However, there is no slipway 

available in the port at present but 

very next to the port; a slipway construction 

was undertaken by the State 

government which was never completed. 

So, the state government has 

handed over the land to IWAI on lease 

for developing the slipway through 

joint operation between IWAI and the 

Government of Assam. “Some more 

infrastructural development will take 

place in the future but that will depend 

on need basis,” concludes Mr. Roy. 

Prior to IWAI 

A Few years back, the Pandu port 

was open for public and anybody 

could have entered the port and enjoyed 

an evening stroll. However, the 

gates are closed at all times now with 

no outsiders allowed and the director 

is very strict about it. He says, 

“For many years, this port under the 

CIWTC was defunct and it was in an 

abandoned state. This allowed the outsiders 

to come and go, but a port, be it 

an airport, sea port or a river port, you 

cannot just simply enter. This port was 

built for a specific purpose and is now 

the property of IWAI, and so the outsiders 

are not allowed inside without 

proper permission.” 

Business is poor! 

Even though the Pandu port has 

been developed a lot , the port still suffers 

from idleness and lack of activity. 

The Director’s reply to the situation 

sheds light on the industrialisation 

in the state. “Assam has very poor industrialisation. 

Less industries result 

in less products and poor flow of inward 

and outward cargo transportation,” 

says Arun Roy. He further states, 

“Though many new industries are 

coming up, so we can hope that this 

port may turn into a busy one in the 

future. Moreover, we are expecting 

transportation of coal and food grains 

in the near future. We are trying to initiate 

discussions with the Food Corporation 

of India (FCI) and hopefully 

will be having business pretty soon.” 

On being asked about the cruise 

service on national waterways and 

the status of the MV Mahabahu, Mr. 

Roy replied, “The MV Mahabahu is 

a private property partially owned 

by the Tourism department, Government 

of Assam and a gentleman 

from New Delhi. The cruiser is in an 

inactive state at present because the 

season is over.” Interestingly, MV Mahabahu 

is the biggest river cruise ship 

in the country with its sail route along 

Brahmaputra river being from Guwahati 

to Nimati Ghaat in Jorhat district. 

However, MV Mahabahu hasn’t sailed 

much on NW-2. 

Funding 

The Pandu port or IWAI for that 

matter is funded entirely by the government 

and it is the government 

that is solely responsible for any infrastructural 

development of the port. 

However, shipping is done by the 

private limited companies. Arun Roy 

explains, “We are like the NHAI. The 

NHAI provides fund for developing 

the roads but the operation is carried 

out by the private parties. We will 

never go into operation and we will 

only provide the transport route to the 

people of India.” 

The Government has realised the 

potential of Costal & Inland Water 

transportation as a catalyst in the development 

of the nation and has taken 

several steps to promote the same 

but the modal share of inland waterways 

cargo transportation system still 

stands at 1% with roads and railways 

generating 54% and 34% share respectively 

out of the total. The pipeline 

holds 4% of the modal share whereas 

coastal shipping holds 7%. With three 

national waterways already in place 

covering 2716 kms and three more national 

waterways been proposed that 

shall cover 1858 kms more, the scope 

for inland transportation is vast. 

shubhojit.roy@g-plus.in

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 7 

RAHUL CHANDA 

THE LONE WOLF 

State Drugs Controller 

In The News 

There are approximately 20000 

medicinal drug dealers across 

the state and the dealers have 

to renew their licenses after every five 

years. Along with that, all chemist 

shops and dealers also have pharmacists 

who have licenses and even 

those licences get renewed after a period 

of time set by the drug controller. 

But these dealers across Assam 

are facing some problems at present 

that has been plaguing them for some 

time now. G Plus tries to check out 

the scenario. 

The problem 

There are four main zones across 

Assam where all the major drug 

business dealing happens with the 

government. These are Dibrugarh, 

Silchar, BTAD and Guwahati. In all 

the four zones there exists a post of 

a Deputy Drug Controller created by 

the Assam government to take care 

of the drug dealers’ requirements and 

any other dealings involving drugs. 

According to records, the Dibrugarh 

post of the Deputy Drug Ccontroller 

has been lying vacant since August 

2012 and the Silchar post has been 

vacant since February 2013. Along 

with that, the BTAD post was created 

in 2011 but till date, no one has 

been appointed and the same post in 

Guwahati was converted to the Joint 

Drug Controller in January 2012. 

Munin Chandra Deka was the 

Deputy Drug Controller before, but 

when the post was converted, he became 

the Joint Drug Controller in 

2012. At present Deka is the Drug 

Controller of Assam and the post of 

Joint Drug Controller in Guwahati is 

lying vacant. Similarly, all other posts 

of Deputy Drug Controller across Assam 

are also lying vacant. Hence, any 

drug dealer or pharmacist across the 

state, has to come to Guwahati to get 

any kind of work done. Recently, the 

Southern Assam Drug Dealers Association 

had written to the government 

that the last Deputy Drugs Controller 

working at Silchar was Late 

CN Bhattaacharjee who retired from 

his services on 31st December 2012 

and since then the post has been lying 

vacant. The association informed 

the government about the communication 

problems and obstacles which 

the drug dealers are facing in that 

zone and requested the government 

to fill the post as soon as possible so 

that people do not have to travel to 

Guwahati for any small work. 

Assam Drug Dealers Association 

General Secretary Bikram Choudhury 

said, “Our members are facing a 

lot of problem dealing with the drugs 

controller office as there is only one 

Drug Controller based in Guwahati 

and people from across the state have 

to visit the city for any small issue.” 

The twist 

According to highly placed sources 

in the health department, there are 

some other people who are senior to 

Munin Chandra Deka and working 

as Senior Drug inspectors (AK Nath, 

Deba Das, Gajanand Talukdar and 

Harish Deori). However, a Drug In- 

spector cannot be promoted to the 

post of Drug Controller unless he/she 

becomes Deputy Drugs Controller. 

The present Drug Controller 

Munin Chandra Deka’s retirement 

date is 31st October 2014, and according 

to a few opinions, he is attempting 

to extend the tenure. If until his 

retirement, there is no Deputy Drugs 

Controller in the state, no one becomes 

eligible for the post of Drugs 

Controller, then Deka will easily get 

an extension to his service. 

When Deka was asked by G Plus 

about the scenario, he said, “I am 

surely retiring on 31st October 2014. 

We have also started the process of 

hiring the Deputy Drugs Controller 

in all the zones.” 

We will have to wait until the 

month of October to find out if Deka 

is serious about retiring on the date 

fixed for retirement or if he gets an 

extension. But if we have to believe 

Deka, the concern remains that all the 

zones in the state are facing problems 

which should be solved soon, and the 

question that arises is how the state 

Drugs Controller is handling everything 

single-handedly?

8 

The Week That Was 

City News 

Signature campaign to oust 

illegal Bangladeshis 

Driving school 

only for women 

With the increasing 

number of cars in 

the city, the number 

of women drivers is also 

increasing. Acknowledging the 

trend, city entrepreneurs have 

come up with driving schools 

exclusively for women. Driving 

is no longer restricted to the upper 

classes. The team at Meghna 

driving school aims to train 

women from the lower strata of 

society so that they can become 

professional cab drivers if they 

want to. The district transport 

office has seen a rise in driving 

license applications from 

women. “Recently, we have seen 

a rise in the number of women, 

both young and elderly, applying 

for driving licenses. Women 

are more disciplined in their 

work, including driving,” said 

Gautam Das, District Transport 

Officer (registration and 

licensing). “It is essential that 

women know driving. Whether 

you are a housewife, a single 

mother or a working woman, 

being able to drive safely and 

efficiently can save time,” said 

Swapnali Patgiri of ‘Swapnali 

School of Driving’. Patgiri is 

the first woman in Guwahati to 

ride a Royal Enfield and also the 

first to start a driving institute 

exclusively for women. Providing 

stiff competition is ‘Meghna 

Driving Training Institute’, another 

driving school in the city 

dedicated to women. 

In a bid to resolve the national 

problem of illegal immigrants 

from the state, the Asom Jatiyabadi 

Yuva Chhatra Parishad 

(AJYCP) began a signature campaign 

all over the state from June 

9th. The body wants to submit a 

memorandum to the Prime Minister 

and also wants it to be included 

in his 100 days programme. The 

AJYCP targets to collect about 10 

lakh signatures of people from different 

walks of life. The signatures 

would be part of a memorandum 

that would be sent to Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi with the demand 

of taking strong steps for 

ousting the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants 

in the state. Modi, who 

had been quite vocal about ousting 

the illegal Bangladeshis from 

Indian soil during his election 

campaigns, ignited a new fervor 

among various groups who have 

been voicing their stand over this 

issue. The AJYCP has for long been 

demanding for updating the NRC 

and the sealing of the Indo–Bangla 

border along Assam’s side while 

taking steps to remove illegal Bangladeshis 

from the state. The outfit 

has often strongly noted that there 

is no formal agreement on deportation 

of identified Bangladeshis 

back to their original country between 

India and Bangladesh. 

Royal Global 

School’s abducted 

student released 

A 

class 9th student of Royal 

Global School who was abducted 

from Borbari on 1st 

June was released by the abductors on 

11th June. According to the victim’s 

parents a ransom had to be paid to 

the abductors before the release. Police 

however commented that since 

they were not aware of the complete 

situation as they were kept in dark 

from the victim’s family side. Also, 

according to the police, NDFB could 

be responsible behind the abduction 

of the child. 

ISBT witnesses brutal 

attacks on drivers 

All Manipuri Night Super Bus 

Drivers Welfare Association 

alleges that five of its drivers 

and a handyman were brutally attacked 

on 7th June around 8pm by the 

locals of Datchuchi, Assam inside the 

Guwahati Inter State Bus Terminus. 

According to the Secretary L Irabot, 

the drivers were getting ready to have 

their meal inside the ISBT campus 

when all the commotion started. 

Three locals allegedly urinated a few 

feet away from them, on asking them 

to move a little farther away as the 

drivers were having their meal, the 

argument broke out. After a gap of 

20 minutes the three locals returned 

with ten others holding iron rods and 

violently attacked the drivers and the 

handyman. Surprisingly, the ISBT 

security personnel remained there as 

silent viewers. The assault ceased after 

a time period of 30 minutes after 

the intervention of personnel from 

nearby police outpost. Later the injured 

drivers and handyman were admitted 

to the nearby primary health 

centre. The drivers are identified as 

Chingtham Biren, 50, Leichangbam 

Balbir, 42, Ningombam Ratan, 25, 

Thokchom Inao, 42 and handymen 

Md Yaima, 32. As of now a complaint 

has been lodged with the concerned 

police station to prevent any further 

such incidents with Manipuri drivers 

in future in the ISBT area. 

City police nabs 

10 dacoits 

A 

gang of dacoits were caught 

up while trying to break into 

the house of one Pranab Sarma 

in the Ganakpara area at 2am on 

June 6th. Police arrested 10 members 

of the gang from the city outskirt 

which falls under Azara police station. 

Five of them were in camouflage 

and three dacoits managed to flee. 

According to police, a mason contractor, 

Samejuddin, was behind the 

dacoity. He is absconding. “Samejuddin 

helped Sarma build the house and 

he knew his way around the building. 

The burglars work under him as masons 

and construction labourers. The 

plan to rob Sarma was made five days 

ago,” said a police official at Azara 

police station. Police have already 

detained Samejuddin’s wife for questioning. 

“She knew about the plan 

and was a part of the crime,” police 

added. The arrested burglars hail 

from the Mankachar area in Dhubri 

district and all of them have criminal 

records. 

Gauhati University 

receives global award 

Gauhati University has 

been awarded the European 

Awards for Best 

Practices 2014 by the European 

Society for Quality Research 

(ESQR) on June 1, 2014 in a gala 

event at hotel Le Plaza in Brussels, 

Belgium. It is one of the oldest 

higher educational institutions 

in the north eastern region 

and it is notable that Gauhati 

University is the only university 

from India to get this honour. 

GU Vice Chancellor Dr Mridul 

Hazarika was present at the convention 

and award giving ceremony 

along with 73 participants 

of 59 countries. He also delivered 

a speech about the activities 

and new initiatives taken by the 

university both in administration 

and academic in the award 

ceremony. The European Society 

for Quality Research (ESQR) is 

an organization, with head office 

at Lausanne in Switzerland, dedicated 

to quality improvement 

techniques recognition and research. 

The European Award 

for Best Practices recognizes 

the outstanding commitment, 

support and results in quality 

management strategies both in 

large companies, organizations, 

public administrations, medium 

and small sized enterprises and 

organizations. 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

DTO carries out raid against 

motorists 

A 

raid was conducted in the 

city by the team of enforcement 

officers from the District 

Transport Office (DTO) on June 

10. The raid was headed by District 

Transport Officer (Enforcement) 

Munin Das along with the help of 

the city police. It was targeted against 

motorists as part of a drive against 

people who violate the Motor Vehicles 

(MV) Act. 11 mini city buses and 

one motorcycle were seized by the 

authorities during the operation carried 

out in the city’s GS Road. A total 

of 80 cases were registered against 

the offenders and a total amount of 

`43,600 fine were collected. The Kamrup 

Metro DTO Enforcement department 

has been carrying drives 

occasionally in the city against people 

who break the rules under the MV 

Act. People are often found driving 

without proper licenses or unregistered 

vehicles. Many people also do 

not adhere to the rules of wearing a 

helmet while riding a two wheeler 

while raising the risks of deadly accidents 

in the city. Many of the city 

buses are running in the city which 

are rather old and are also in a rather 

bad condition. The bus drivers also 

often don’t possess licenses and indulge 

in rash driving which endanger 

the lives of people on the road. 

Less UG seats in city colleges 

In an independent survey carried 

out by the Students’ Federation 

of India (SFI), has claimed that 

there are not enough undergraduate 

seats in Guwahati. According to the 

survey, 23,084 students have passed 

the class 12 state board examination 

in the city; number of undergraduate 

seats in colleges are 22,713. The 

group seeks government to take the 

necessary steps to meet the serious 

problem. In a press conference held 

on June 10th, Ritu Ranjan Das, secretary 

of SFI’s Assam unit said that 

nearly 400 students will not get a 

chance in colleges. Moreover, students 

from other parts of the state 

are also seeking admission in city 

colleges. The government has to take 

immediate steps to increase the number 

of undergraduate seats. The survey 

conducted by the students’ body 

revealed that, while 15,677 students 

have passed class 12 state board examination 

in the arts stream, there 

are only 14,737 undergraduate seats 

for them. Though the number of 

undergraduate seats in science and 

commerce are more than the number 

of students who have passed, SFI said 

the demand for seats will be more as 

CBSE students and those from other 

states are also seeking admission in 

city colleges. While 4,024 students 

passed the class 12 exam in science, 

the number of seats available is 4,156. 

In commerce, the number of students 

who passed class 12 this year and 

number of seats available are 3,383 

and 3,820, respectively.

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 9 

Demand of free bus service to GU 

An introduction of free bus services 

was demanded by the 

Satra Mukti Sangram for the 

students and staff of the Gauhati University. 

The outfit President Bhasco 

De Saikia noted that an institution 

like Gauhati University is plagued 

by several problems which are having 

direct effects on its students. It 

noted that most private buses do not 

ply in the area after dark and this 

causes great inconvenience to the 

students and staff who have to go to 

their homes after completing their 

day’s chores. It was pointed out that 

it is mostly unsafe for the women to 

be walking home in the dark given 

the dismal law and order situation in 

the state. It was stated that the state 

government and the authorities are 

FIR lodged 

against SSB 

jawans 

An FIR was filed by 

the local residents of 

the Sonapur’s Jalukbari 

Village against the SSB 

jawans, residing in the SSB 

Transit Camp. According to 

the locals, the jawans were 

involved in obscene activities 

with the local women. There 

has been an outrage among 

the locals against the SSB 

jawans for quite a long time, 

they mentioned that the 

jawans were seen many time 

eve teasing the local women 

and peeping at them by riverside 

while taking bath. 

The Gaonburah, Biren Doloi 

has signed the FIR in the 

Sonapur Police Station but 

surprisingly the case was not 

registered. The locals have 

become more aggravated by 

this attitude of the police. As 

of now, the people have not 

given any intimation if they 

would approach anybody 

else in authority regarding 

the matter. 

in complete oblivion to the risks that 

women are facing daily due to this. 

On June 9, SMSS leaders Debabrat 

Saikia and Subrat Talukdar submitted 

a memorandum to the University’s 

Vice Chancellor putting forth 

their demands. They are as follows 

– there should be a free bus services 

within the university premises to cater 

to the needs of the students and 

staff, all the various departments of 

the university should be brought under 

an economic upliftment policy 

under a five year plan, the names 

selected for the new session of post 

graduate courses should be released, 

the hostels of the university should be 

provided with libraries, internet and 

the other facilities should be standardized 

as per world class needs. 

Youth attempt 

suicide to 

protest 

against govt 

A 

contractual 

multi-purpose 

worker associated with the 

state health department tried 

to commit suicide in front of the directorate 

of health service on June 

12th. He and several other workers 

were protesting against the government’s 

recent order of discontinuing 

their services across the state. Ashraful 

Alam (38) drank a bottle of chemical. 

He was then taken to Gauhati 

Medical College Hospital. His condition 

is stated to be stable now. He was 

working in Goalpara district. “More 

than 380 people were recruited as 

multi-purpose workers on a contractual 

basis in Assam under the 

National Vector-Borne Disease Control 

Programme in 2008. But our services 

were suddenly discontinued in 

March. Though Health Minister Himanta 

Biswa Sarma initially promised 

to look into the matter, nothing 

happened. If the government doesn’t 

do anything within this month, all of 

us will have to end our lives,” said an 

agitator. 

Three allegedly drunken junior 

doctors from the GMC Hospital 

went berserk on June 9 

at the city’ Zoo Road Tiniali locality 

after they were denied food at a 

restaurant, as the shop had closed 

down. Junior doctors Jagadish 

Singh, Bijoy Kirikar and Aniruddha 

Duhan were allegedly drunk and 

arrived at the Jui Hotel at Zoo Road 

Tiniali at about 11:30 pm on Monday 

night asking for food, which was 

denied to them as the restaurant had 

closed down. The three men started 

abusing the staff and began to vandalize 

the place in response and the 

workers had no other option but to 

call in the owner Siddhartha Kalita 

to calm them down. When Kalita 

tried to subdue them, the three men 

beat him badly and tried to escape 

the spot. The local people however 

apprehended them and handed 

them over to the police. Later in the 

night, the three men were brought to 

the Mohendra Mohan Choudhury 

The Week That Was 

City News 

Suspension order against GMCH junior drunk doctors 

Actor John Abraham, co-owner 

of Guwahati franchise for 

the upcoming Indian Super 

League (ISL), announced the name of 

his team as North East United FC. On 

player selection, Abraham said North 

East United Football Club will have 

four foreign players from another coowners 

club, Shillong Lajong FC, while 

the rest will be Indian footballers. The 

team will feature 8 North-East players 

of the Indian U-19 team including 

Assam’s Alan Deuri. Co-owner Larsing 

Ming said that he is quite satisfied 

with the infrastructure at the Sarujasai 

stadium. The actor said ISL has laid 

down guidelines prohibiting anyone 

unrelated to the event coming closer to 

the teams during their practice sessions 

as well as to dressing rooms. Talking 

about the FIFA World Cup, Abraham 

said his favourite team is Brazil, which 

plays the game in “motion” and termed 

it as “poetry as motion”. 

Hospital for medical tests, where 

they again got violent and assaulted 

two photojournalists when they 

tried to take their photos. They also 

threw around some bottles of medicines 

in a state of frenzy before they 

could be subdued. After that, the 

police formally arrested them and 

lodged cases against them. State 

Health Minister Himanta Biswa 

Sharma has directed the GMC Hospital’s 

Superintendent to suspend 

the three junior doctors. 

John names Ghy team North East United FC 

E-book authored by Lt. Ruleswar Das launched 

Road rally against child labour 

In order to create mass awareness 

against child labour, a 

road rally was organised by 

the Office of the Assistant Labour 

Commissioner Guwahati on June 

12th. The rally was held to mark 

World Child Labour Day and it 

was flagged off by Ashutosh Agnihotri, 

Deputy Commissioner, 

Kamrup (M) from the Nehru Stadium, 

who called upon the gathering 

to work towards bringing all 

children below the age of 14 years 

to the educational mainstream. He 

also stressed the need for public 

support towards education in a 

concerted manner to get rid of the 

menace of child labour from Guwahati 

city within 2016. Nibedita 

Hazarika, secretary of the Indian 

Council for Child Welfare, Assam, 

also spoke on the occasion and 

emphasised the need for coordinated 

efforts from all stakeholders 

and citizens to fight against child 

exploitation. A pledge against engagement 

of child labour was administered 

to all the participants 

by Dhiren Goswami, Deputy Labour 

Commissioner, Assam. The 

rally was a joint venture along 

Child Line Guwahati, World Vision 

India and National Child Labour 

Project Society Kamrup (M). 

(L-R) Dr.Rita Choudhury, Chandana Goswami and ADGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, at the launch of The King of Jungle 

The long awaited e-book entitled 

‘The King of Jungle’, authored 

by Late Ruleswar Das, 

was launched on 10th June 2014, in 

a ceremony at Hotel Landmark. The 

event was marked by the presence of 

personalities like ADGP (Administration), 

Assam Police, Bhaskar Jyoti 

Mahanta, noted writer, poet, novelist 

and Sahitya Akademi recipient 

Dr. Rita Choudhury, writer and the 

recipient of 2012 Sahitya Akademi 

Award Chandana Goswami and 

Assamese film actor Zerifa Wahid 

among others. The entire responsibility 

and commitment for the release 

of the e-book was shouldered by 

Mr. Biraj Das, who is the son of Late. 

Ruleswar Das. The book is a rendered 

version of the original Assamese 

The book cover 

printed novel Bon 

Roja written by author 

Late Ruleswar 

Das and first published 

on 17th 

October 1999 by 

Golaghat District 

Late Ruleswar Das Sahitya Sabha. The 

original Assamese book is rendered 

by Plabon Bijoy Bora and the copyright 

is owned by Assamkart.com. 

The e-book is available for sale on 

the website www.assamkart.com at 

the cost of ₹50 and in $5. Biraj Das, 

who is an Additional Superintendent 

of Police, announced that the entire 

revenue generated from the sale of 

the e-book would be equally donated 

to two of the NGO, People’s Friend 

Foundation and Parash.

10 

In The News 

Food trade licensing & registration 

process to go online soon 


G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

Obtaining a food trade license 

before opening up a restaurant 

or any other eating 

joints\ will now be much easier for 

the people who are pondering about 

starting a new venture on their own. 

The decision by the office of the 

commissioner of food safety branch, 

which falls under the department of 

health and family welfare, to launch 

a website dedicated to the applicants 

who want to initiate their own refectory 

start-up will be a big help for 

them. 

“We are going to launch a website 

through which people can apply for 

the food trade license and registration 

online. Currently, the website 

is under construction and within a 

timeframe of ten to fifteen days, it 

will become operational,” Samiran 

Baruah, Food Safety Officer, Kamrup 

(Metro) told G Plus. 

At the initial stage, seven districts 

– Kamrup (M), Jorhat, Tinsukia, 

Sonitpur, Nagaon, Silchar and 

Barpeta have been included in the 

online food licensing and registration 

process. Later on, other districts 

will be included under the online 

food trade licensing and registration 

process. 

“The website has been constructed 

with the help of National 

Institute of Smart Governance, Hyderabad 

along with the Food Safety 

and Standards Authority of India. 

Though, the website will include seven 

districts of the state initially, the 

registration and licensing authority 

has been declared in all the twenty 

seven districts,” Baruah told. 

Till the 21st of May this year, the 

food safety department branch had 

issued 1100 food trade licenses altogether 

to the food business operators 

of the city. A revenue of `51,17,000 

has been collected by the department 

during the same period and another 

amount of `16 lakhs will be collected 

from 388 number of pending licenses 

which will be issued to the operators 

soon. 

On the other hand, the food safety 

department had registered a total 

number of 187 food business opera- 

“We are going 

to launch 

a website 

through which 

people can 

apply for the 

food trade 

license and 

registration 

online” 

tors till May 21, 2014. An amount of 

`41,000 has been collected from the 

registration of food business operators. 

Altogether 200 such new applications 

have been registered and an 

amount of more than 1 lakh would be 

added to the state exchequer for the 

same. The department has received 

an amount of `3 lakh from the renewal 

of 53 licenses. 

The department provides food 

trade licenses to the food business 

operators who have an annual turnover 

of up to `12 lakhs and the operators 

who have an annual turnover of 

above `12 lakhs are entitled to get 

their business registered. 

Mentioning about the categories 

of the quality of food as inspected 

by the food safety brnach, Baruah 

stated, “We divide the quality of the 

food under the categories of safe and 

unsafe food. Safe foods are those, 

which are consumable for the human 

body but the quality is standard and 

the unsafe foods are those which are 

consumable for the human body, but 

harmful to them. So far, more than 

35 complaints have been registered 

in the Kamrup (M) district under 

the Food Safety and Standards Act, 

2006,” Baruah added. 

Lamenting the current workforce 

at the office of the food safety 

branch, he also stated that though 

there are reasonable numbers of filed 

staff, there is a lack in terms of infrastructure 

and supporting staff like 

clerks, which is very important for 

the smooth functioning of an office. 

Government homeopathy 

colleges yet to start PG courses 


At a time when the interest of 

the people are gradually shifting 

to alternative sources of 

medicine from the allopathic route 

of treating diseases, scarcity of teaching 

staff in the age old ayurvedic and 

homeopathy colleges of the state has 

been stalling the process of starting 

the post graduate (PG) courses in 

those institutions. 

Currently, the state has one ayurvedic 

college in Guwahati and three 

homeopathy colleges in Nagaon, 

Jorhat and Guwahati. Apart from the 

state’s lone government Ayurvedic 

College located in Guwahati, established 

in the year 1948, which offers 

PG courses in three departments, 

other homeopathy colleges of the 

state have not started any PG courses 

yet. 

“There are various criteria required 

to start PG courses in the 

ayurvedic and homeopathy colleges 

of the state. One of the major reasons 

for not being able to start these 

in the government run ayurvedic 

and homeopathy colleges is shortage 

of manpower. Frequently changing 

guidelines of the Central Council of 

Indian Medicine has made it more 

difficult to find suitable applicants for 

the appointment of teachers even at 

the entry level,” highly placed official 

sources at the directorate of AYUSH 

(ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, 

unani, siddha and homoeopathy) 

which looks after the ayurvedic and 

homeopathy colleges of the state, told 

G Plus. 

The source also mentioned that 

the vacancies that arose out of the retirement 

of the officials had not been 

filled up, which made it difficult for 

the smooth functioning of the colleges 

that fall under the directorate of 

AYUSH. 

The directorate, which came into 

existence in the month of June, 2012 

has proposed the government of India 

through NRHM under the school 

health programme, to sanction 290 

new posts. 

“We have submitted a proposal to 

sanction 20 posts of lecturers along 

with the proposal of NRHM under 

the school health programme to the 

Government of India. If those posts 

are sanctioned, then we will be able to 

start PG courses in the ayurvedic and 

homeopathy colleges of the state,” the 

source at directorate of AYUSH said. 

Currently, there are 36 number of 

faculties for teaching in the government 

ayurvedic college which has a 

seat capacity of 60 degree and 12 PG 

students. Other three homeopathy 

colleges of the state has seat capacities 

of 25 seats each, whereas, 23 faculties 

are there in the Swahid Jadav Nath 

Government Homeopathic Medical 

College, Guwahati, 14 faculties in 

Assam Government Homeopathic 

Medical College and Hospital and 22 

faculties are working in Dr. J K Saikia 

Government Homoeopathic Medical 

College. 

“At present, there are separate 

units of AYUSH in all the government 

medical college and hospitals of 

the state and all are functioning well. 

Besides, the NRHM, under a central 

government sponsored scheme has 

taken up the job of constructing 24 

AYUSH wings in the 24 civil hospitals 

of the state and the construction 

of 18 such wings has been completed. 

Also, 125 number of OPD clinics of 

AYUSH will be set up in the primary 

health centres and other such centres 

of the state under the same scheme,” 

the source at directorate of AYUSH 

said. 

The source also mentioned that 

all the AYUSH medicines have been 

provided to the patients free of cost 

at all the AYUSH units situated along 

with the government medical colleges 

and hospitals and health centres. 

The directorate has received a 

budgetary provision of approximately 

`1 Crore 30 lac during the last fiscal 

of 2013-14. 

“Though, the directorate is understaffed, 

there are altogether 433 

regular posts being sanctioned for 

AYUSH doctors in different government 

medical colleges and hospitals. 

Out of those posts, 358 posts are for 

ayurvedic and 75 are for homeopathy 

doctors,” the source said. 

Expressing about the benefit of 

the alternate medicine and treatment 

for treating diseases, the source further 

added, “The number of students 

seeking admission in the ayurvedic 

and homeopathy colleges of the state 

is experiencing an ever increasing 

trend. Similarly, the modern day 

people are showing interest towards 

the alternate source of medicine and 

treatment and here is where the importance 

of AYUSH comes in. Because, 

the chances of reaction that 

can be caused by the alternate medicine 

are much less than the allopathic 

medicines.”

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 11 

With the mega 

festival just around 

the corner, the 

authorities need to 

be on their toes to 

make sure that the 

mega event goes on 

well without any 

hitches. 

Society 

AMBUBACHI 

Special 

PREPARATIONS 

shubhojit roy 

Every year during the month of 

June, hundreds of Sadhus from 

all over the country arrive in 

Guwahati to celebrate the three-day 

annual festival of Ambubachi atop 

the Nilachal Hills. The Ambubachi 

Mela over time has become a phenomenal 

festival in this part of the 

country. The pilgrimage count is seeing 

an increasing trend every year. 

But with more and more pilgrims 

flocking in, the authorities concerned 

with the smooth running of the festival 

seem to have an uphill task. G 

Plus finds out the aspects and prospects 

of Ambubachi preparations. 

Helping hands 

Like every year in the past, many 

governmental and non-government 

organisations are taking part in the 

commencement of the festival. The 

Gauhati Municipal Corporation 

(GMC) along with the PWD (Public 

Works Department), Assam Tourism 

Department, Gauhati Medical 

College Hospital unit, Public Health 

Department, Assam Police Department, 

District Transport Office is 

involved in the Ambubachi Mela. Besides 

these, many NGO’s will also be 

participating in the religious festival. 

The fund 

According to Naba Kanta Sarma, 

Secretary at the Kamakhya Debutter 

Board, it was found out that in 

the year 2013, a scheme of religious 

fund was initiated by CM Tarun- 

Gogoi for Ambubachi Mela, but the 

amount was not known by the Debutter 

board. “However, we have kept 

track of the fund this year and are 

aware that an amount of `2.40 Crore 

has been released by the government. 

The fund has been sanctioned 

by the tourism department and has 

been divided to various departments 

under the district administration,” 

stated Sarma. He further added, 

“We have also made it aware that 

the government department which 

will be involved in the festival will 

not be provided the food facilities 

as the government has already taken 

care of the expenses of its officials.” 

Sarma also lambasted the authorities 

stating that a high percentage of the 

fund is being laundered in the name 

of some unnecessary works. “As per 

my knowledge, the Kamakhya motor 

road was given a sum of `10 lakh in 

the name of repairing and tenting, 

but we have no idea where exactly the 

money was utilised?” says Sarma. 

Meanwhile, the sources at the 

Assam Tourism Development Corporation 

(ATDC) have confirmed the 

release of the funds to be used for the 

mela. 

Facilities 

The tourism department has assured 

of providing more tent facilities 

at Maligaon, Kamakhya Railway station 

and the Old Pandu station. “We 

are making sure of providing proper 

water supply, both general and drinking 

water, sanitation and health care 

facilities. A cleanliness drive that has 

been initiated by GMC will make sure 

of the hygiene aspect,” said the source 

at ATDC. On asking about the lack of 

sanitation facilities and not enough 

lavatories that was seen last year, the 

source added, “We had provided 180 

latrines last year, but if the devotees 

don’t use them, then we can’t help it. 

Our objective is to provide a comfortable 

stay for the devotees during the 

festival.” 

On the other hand, the food will 

be served from Nahorbari near Tirnath 

temple which has a capacity of 

more than 15000 people. However, 

there was a water shortage for the festival 

in 2013. “Only 40% of water was 

supplied last year and there was 60% 

shortage. We have been promised 

that the water shortage won’t happen 

this year. Also we have directed the 

ASEB to supply unlimited access to 

electricity during this religious festival,” 

said Nava Kanta Sarma, Secre- 

tary, Kamakhya Debutter Board. Sarma 

also said that `96 lakh has been 

spent by the authorities for putting 

up tents in Old Pandu and Kamakhya 

railway station and in Sonaram field. 

Security 

Not less than 100 police personnel, 

battalion unit staff, NCC cadets 

and home guards will be available at 

Kamakhya during Ambubachi. Naba 

Kanta Sarma stated that the present 

security guards that are available at 

Kamakhya are not really security 

guards, “But they are more like assistants 

for the devotees. However, we 

have a very advanced CCTV surveillance 

with control room at an undisclosed 

location. We have surveillance 

cameras from the bottom of the Nilachal 

hill gate at Kamakhya bus stop 

to the temple premise,” stated Naba 

Kanta Sarma. 

With approximately 4 lakh devotees 

visiting the Kamakhya in the 

year 2013, the head count may go up 

to 5 lakh this year as told by the Secretary 

of Debutter Board. There is no 

doubt that the festival which is going 

to commence from 22nd of June is 

going to be absolutely phenomenal. 

However, the authorities will have to 

be very active and productive with 

such a mammoth task up ahead. 

Though the fire trucks were used 

for two days in the Kamakhya top to 

flush out the garbage in the area last 

year during Ambubachi, it resulted in 

garbage and mud piles at the bottom 

of Nilachal hills and nearby areas. So 

how productive are the authorities 

going to be in clearing out the garbage 

from one area and not dumping 

it in another? 


12 

Business 

CM MEETS WARD COUNCILLORS 

SHAMBHAVI 

With Congress facing rout in 

Guwahati Lok Sabha seat 

in the recent Lok Sabha 

polls, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi 

has now asked the ward councillors 

of Guwahati Municipal Corporation 

(GMC) to submit ward-specific development 

projects and look at self 

generating revenue sources. 

At a meeting with the Mayor, 

GMC, Abir Patra and the ward councillors, 

Gogoi asked the councillors to 

draw up result-oriented action plans 

based on the specific problems of 

their respective wards and to submit 

the plans to him for necessary steps. 

“Make a thorough survey of your 

wards and submit proposals outlining 

the steps required for tackling the 

problems.” 

The Chief Minister emphasised 

on the need for the corporation to 

mobilise revenue from its own resources 

to carry out developmental 

works. “Do not bank heavily on the 

Government for funds. The civic 

body has to generate revenue through 

various ways to fill up its coffers to 

undertake developmental activities,” 

he added. 

Gogoi asked the ward councillors 

to make a study of the different 

schemes of Government of India 

where funds could be availed for 

the development of the city’s civic 

infrastructure. “Our Government 

will provide matching share to the 

“Our Government 

will provide 

matching share 

to the centrally 

sponsored 

schemes for the 

city’s overall 

development.” 

centrally sponsored schemes for the 

city’s overall development.” 

The Chief Minister said that the 

staffing pattern as proposed by the 

GMC was under active consideration 

of the Government. Gogoi said that 

he would look into the demand of 

providing special funds to the ward 

councillors. The meeting also discussed 

at length a gamut of issues 

such as water logging, street lighting, 

solid waste management, drinking 

water and garbage disposal. 

To combat communication 

bottleneck, the Department 

of Telecommunication 

(DoT) Government of India will 

install close to 7000 mobile towers. 

The Union minister of state in the 

ministry of Home Affairs, Kiren 

Rijiju reviewed the law and order 

situation in Assam in the wake of 

gruesome killing of Superintendent 

of police and another police man in 

Karbi Anglong district of central 

Assam by militants. 

The Assam Chief secretary 

Jitesh Khosla requested the MHA 

to take up the matter with the DoT 

for strengthening of the mobile network 

service in the State, particularly 

in hill district of Karbi Anglong, 

in the backdrop of the recent 

incident. “Mobile network is very 

weak in areas like Karbi Anglong.” 

Khosla explained that this 

hampers operations against extremists 

in inaccessible and difficult 

terrains. “Our humble request 

to the MHA is that it should pursue 

the matter with the DoT so that 

mobile towers are installed soon in 

places like Karbi Anglong. It will be 

of great help to us”. 

The Joint Secretary, MHA (in 

charge of North East), Shambhu 

Singh assured that MHA would 

take up the matter with DoT for 

early installation of mobile towers 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

DoT TO STRENGTHEN 

NETWORK IN HILL AREAS 

in far flung places like Karbi Anglong. 

“DoT is planning to install 

7,000 mobile towers in the North 

East region alone, mostly along the 

borders. We will soon take up the 

matter with DoT to strengthen the 

mobile network services in Karbi 

Anglong as well as the Dima Hasao 

districts.” Singh added. 

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DoNER and NEC 

under scanner 

The FICCI has sought performance 

audit of the 

Ministry of Development 

of North Eastern Region or DO- 

NER and North Eastern council 

(NEC). DoNER, which was 

formed in 2004 by the BJP government 

to accelerate economic 

development in the eight states 

of Northeast India has been 

criticised by many for being just 

a fund disbursal ministry. 

The FICCI’s North East 

Advisory Council (NEAC) 

Chairman Ranjit Barthakur 

said, “DONER’s mandate is to 

turbo-charge Northeast India 

and integrate the region with the 

mainstream India in terms of 

development. Now the time has 

come to assess whether DONER 

and NEC have done enough for 

the growth of the region and take 

forward the Look East Policy”.

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 13 

Ward Watch 

NARENGI TINALI DOWN IN DUMPS 

Shubhojit Roy 

Ward No 24 

Sub Division 24A/ 24B/ 24C/ 24D 

Concentrated Region Narangi, Chandrapur Road 

Major Issue Roads 

The Narangi Point, one of the 

busiest locations in the city 

and transit point for commuters 

from Chandrapur and beyond 

has been in an extremely deplorable 

state for quite some time now. The 

road has been creating problems 

for the vehicles, commuters and 

the businessmen in the area. It was 

found out that a hole on the road 

near the Maria’s Public School had 

become a major obstruction for the 

vehicles to move, which was temporarily 

fixed only recently after quite a 

number of vehicles got stuck. G Plus 

finds out the issues that is bothering 

the area and has been neglected. 

Road Obstruction 

“From the last couple of years, 

this road has been suffering. However, 

the vehicles never faced much 

difficulty except on a few occasions. 

But recently, the condition of the 

road near the Maria’s school has only 

worsened. Many vehicles used to get 

stuck in the area previously as well 

but the occurrences have increased,” 

stated Manoranjan Deka who has 

been living in the area for the past 

10 to 12 years. Deka also mentioned 

that the road has no drainage system 

at all, “and as a result of this, the road 

suffers from water logging. 

Street Light 

Nandesh Rohang, a young businessman 

in the locality spoke about 

the problems of streetlights. He says, 

“I have heard that the street lights 

are to be installed soon, but till now 

no work has been initiated yet.” Rohang 

further stated that the Narangi 

to Chandrapur road was supposed to 

be extended some years back, “But 

you know, too many things were 

supposed to have happened and too 

many promises have been made. I 

am hoping that the new government 

in the Centre can bring about some 

changes,” added Nandesh. 

The man hole 

A major excavation project was 

going on at the Narengi Tinali when 

G Plus reached the spot. The water 

pipeline that supplies water to the 

Army camp at Narengi is being fixed 

as it has developed some leakages. 

However, the work which started 

before election is supposed to be finished 

by the end of this week. Dilip 

Chakraborty, a local businessman in 

the area stated that the work has created 

lot of problems for the businessman 

and the vehicles. 

He states, “The business is down, 

but forget that part. We have been 

helping the pedestrians who fall 

and hurt themselves on the slippery 

roads. The frequent rains worsen the 

condition. If you come in the evening, 

you will see how difficult it is to 

even cross the road.” Chakraborty 

added, “They had started the work 

before elections, but were not consistent 

throughout. The work was on 

halt for many days during the elections.” 

He also mentioned the state of 

the drains which stays blocked most 

of the year. 

Worker’s testimony 

In order to find out the actual report 

on the work going on at Narengi 

Tinali, we talked to a worker present 

We have 

been helping 

the pedestrians 

who fall and 

hurt themselves 

on the slippery 

roads. The 

frequent rains 

worsen the 

condition. If 

you come in the 

evening, you will 

see how difficult 

it is to even cross 

the road” 

there. It was confirmed that the pipeline 

was connected to the army camp 

but it was not being supervised by any 

contractor or head in-charge. “The 

contractor does not have any work 

here, so he is not available,” said Bishu 

Barman. He assured that the work will 

be done by the evening of that very 

day, i.e. Tuesday. 

Another project was also going on 

in the same locality which was undertaken 

by the GMC. The workers were 

busy in connecting the flood light pole 

which was to be installed in the area 

on Tuesday itself. 

It is strange that most of the problems 

of the city are not fixed at one go. 

New schemes are being implemented, 

but the schemes that exist are either 

not properly utilised or are not improvised. 

The complications of the city 

have been endured by the people long 

enough. How long will the people do 

that! 


14 

Eulogy 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

KING OF FOLK 

Chandan Sarmah 

Khagen Mahanta (1942-2014) 

Hailing from a very humble 

background and having 

spent his childhood and 

prime youth in a suburban backdrop 

of Assam during the late 50s, the 

young man opted to choose singing 

as his profession. Unlike a few of his 

senior and superior compatriots, he 

was neither a lyricist and nor did he 

possess any high academic credentials. 

The only asset was his immaculate 

voice complemented by an ardent 

zeal for music, sensitivity and utmost 

concern for socio-economic causes. It 

was in 1960 that the young singer began 

his sojourn into music and soon, 

he gained statewide popularity with 

his immense skill and exceptional approach 

to music. Besides his increasing 

popularity as a stage performer, 

he was selected to represent India in 

a cultural exchange programme in 

Nepal in 1965. And thus, the people 

of Assam became familiar with his 

name: Khagan Mahanta. 

From a very early stage of his 

career as a singer, Khagen Mahanta 

earned a distinctive stature among 

the other singers of modern Assamese 

music for his enviable command 

over folk music in general and 

Bihu in particular. His overall approach 

to the various genres of folk 

music was altogether different. His 

prime concern was to spot the roots 

of the folk music and then to spread 

it among the masses in his own style 

and elegance. Moreover, his voice 

used to carry a new and quite unfamiliar 

fragrance: a resonance of the 

essence of native rusticity in a rare 

melodious form. 

There is no denying the fact that 

Khagen Mahanta had mastered the 

art of rendition of Bihu and other 

folk songs. But at the same time, he 

was unquestionably a frontliner in 

popularising many immortal numbers 

penned by Sangeetacharyya 

Lakshmiram Barua, Bishnu Rabha, 

Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbarua, 

Rudra Barua and, of course, Keshav 

Mahanta. Khagen Mahanta’s voice 

was observed to be so suitable for the 

lyrics of these songs that such numbers 

became musically enriched by 

his immaculate rendition. 

The name of eminent lyricist 

Keshav Mahanta unfurls another 

dimension of the genius in Khagen 

Mahanta. This combination has created 

a rich granary of modern Assamese 

numbers comprising of songs of 

class struggle and the elegy of the oppressed 

class of the society. Moreover, 

this combination has also presented 

to the music world of Assam, many 

evergreen romantic numbers. 

A self-trained singer with a superior 

command over melody, rhythm 

(he himself was a talented khol player 

and had won first prize in a national 

competition way back in 1959) and 

orchestration, Khagen Mahanta has 

rendered his voice in more than 20 

Assamese feature films. He has also 

His last public appearance: Khagen Mahanta 

inaugurating the musical soiree 

MOR EKETI SURAT BAANHITI BONDHAA’ — 

a musical tribute to Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbarua 

— organised by Asam Sahitya Sabha in association 

with ‘ASOM KALATIRTHA’ at Rabindra Bhavan on May 

26, 2014. The programme was a part of year-long 

celebration of 150 years of birth anniversary of 

Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbarua. 

Khagen Mahanta 

had earned an ‘A’ 

Grade distinction 

as a singer of All 

India Radio in 

1972 and soon he 

joined Guwahati 

station as music 

director. Finally, 

he retired in 

2001 as the 

DDG, N-E of All 

India Radio. The 

Government of 

India honoured 

him with the 

Sangeet Natak 

Akademi Award 

in 1992. 

Born - August 17, 1942 

Father- Harendranath Mahanta 

Mother- Lakshmipriya Devi 

Place- Nagaon 

Passed HSLC from Nagaon in 1957 

Joined in AIR, Guwahati in 1976 

Served in Guwahati AIR station and 

retired as Assistant Director in 2001. 

Mahanta married Archana Das, noted 

folk singer and also an actress, in 

1973. 

Conferred with prestigious Sangeet 

natak academy in 1992 

Died on 12th June, 2014 in his own 

residence at Nigazipam, Guwahati 

photo: Chandan Sarmah 

directed music for a number of Assamese 

films, television serials, teleplays 

and stage plays. 

Khagen Mahanta had earned 

an ‘A’ Grade distinction as a singer 

of All India Radio in 1972 and soon 

he joined Guwahati station as music 

director. Finally, he retired in 2001 as 

the DDG, N-E of All India Radio. The 

Government of India honoured him 

with the Sangeet Natak Akademi 

Award in 1992. 

Such a long and illustrious career, 

spread over five decades, in the 

world of music ended last Thursday, 

on June 12th Thursday. Death is an 

eternal truth. Yet another eternal 

truth is that with Khagen Mahanta’s 

death, a deep void has been created. 

After Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Khagen 

Mahanta’s death too has orphaned 

the music world of Assam.

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 15 

Health 

Neuro-Psychology 

in Epilepsy 

Ms Lovely Choudhury 

Neuro-Psychologist, GNRC Hospitals Ltd 

Neuropsychological evaluation 

is an essential part of the 

comprehensive investigation 

of patients who are candidates for 

medical and surgical treatment of epilepsy. 

The contribution of neuropsychology 

is unique in providing data 

about function through evaluation of 

a patient’s strengths and weaknesses 

on cognitive tests. 

Like many other investigations 

at the neurologists disposal, neuropsychological 

test results rarely stand 

alone but are interpreted in relation 

to both the clinical question being 

asked, ( be it a diagnostic issue, the 

lateralization or localization of dysfunction 

or the planning of an intervention) 

and the results from other 

investigations. 

In patients with epilepsy, neuropsychological 

assessments are most 

frequently used to aid diagnosis, 

evaluate the cognitive side effects of 

antiepileptic medications and monitor 

the cognitive decline associated 

with some epileptic disorders. In 

conjunction with MRI and other presurgical 

investigations, neuropsychological 

scores are also used to assess 

the suitability of patients for epilepsy 

and can be used to predict postoperative 

outcome both in terms of cognitive 

change and seizure control. 

In an ideal world, all newly diagnosed 

patients with epilepsy would 

undergo a brief neuropsychological 

screen including a detailed IQ assessment 

of the patient prior to the onset 

Neuropsychological 

tests traditionally 

assess function 

in the cognitive 

domains of 

Intelligence, 

Memory: Verbal 

and Non-Verbal/ 

Visual, Language, 

Attention, 

Executive function 

and Visuospatial 

abilities. A large 

number of skills 

comprise each 

domain. 

of treatment. Whilst this may not 

provide significant additional diagnostic 

information at the time, it creates 

a valuable baseline against which 

future assessments can be measured. 

Neuropsychological tests traditionally 

assess function in the cognitive 

domains of Intelligence, Memory: 

Verbal and Non-Verbal/ Visual, 

Language, Attention, Executive function 

and Visuospatial abilities. A 

large number of skills comprise each 

domain. 

A thorough evaluation of memory 

is particularly important in the 

assessment of epileptic patients because 

the majority of surgical candidates 

have a temporal lobe focus, 

and memory is the most salient of 

temporal lobe functions. Memory 

tests are most frequently divided 

into three groups: verbal, visual and 

behavioral memory tasks. As with 

other neuropsychological tests, we 

expect memory test results to provide 

two kinds of information, one about 

the site of dysfunction – in this case 

deficient performance would suggest 

that one or both temporal lobes are 

not functioning adequately – and the 

other about the aspects of memory 

that are affected. It is well known 

that bilateral lesions in the medial 

temporal lobe can result in severe 

global memory deficits. Therefore, a 

thorough memory assessment should 

address each hemisphere with tasks 

appropriate to its specialization. The 

fundamental difference between the 

two temporal lobes is well known. 

The left (dominant) temporal lobe 

mediates memory for verbal material, 

such as names, word lists, stories 

or number sequences, and the right 

temporal lobe mediates memory for 

material that cannot be verbalized 

readily, such as faces, places, music 

or abstract’ designs. The traditional 

memory tests include the Wechsler 

Memory Scale. The verbal learning 

subtests are the logical prose and verbal 

paired associates, the verbal fluency 

tests and also the Rey auditory 

verbal learning tests (RAVLT). The 

visual reproduction subtests are the 

Rey-Osterrieth complex figure, Facial 

emotion recognition tests and also 

the RMT-Shortened Version (Faces). 

Behavioral memory tests are generally 

thought to be more ecologically 

valid in that they test ‘everyday memory’ 

skills such as putting a name to a 

face and remembering appointments 

or to post a letter. Tests are also available 

to examine retrieval from long 

term memory store including autobiographical 

recall and memory for 

public events. 

Most neuropsychological assessments 

will include a basic screen of 

expressive and receptive language 

skills, perceptual abilities and will 

include some tests designed to be 

sensitive to frontal lobe disturbance. 

There are also other tests to assess 

the language, attention, executive 

function and visuospatial abilities 

of the epileptic patients. 

The majority of the tests used in 

the standard neuropsychological assessment 

remain pencil and paper 

test battery (all cognitive domains), 

blocks and assembling of objects, 

geometric designs to be copied on 

white sheet of paper and also quality 

of life, personality and psychosocial 

issue related questionnaires, scales 

and semi-structured interviews. 

Because neuropsychological results 

show the functional effect of a 

lesion or of abnormally discharging 

tissue, they allow evaluation of the 

impact of an individual’s epilepsy 

on his/her life and provide a basis 

for offering guidance. Preoperative 

neuropsychological measurements 

also form a solid basis for evaluating 

the outcome of surgery with respect 

to cognitive function by comparing 

pre-to-postoperative performance on 

the neuropsychological tests. 

Neuropsychological evaluation 

contributes to the identification of 

a seizure focus by assessing cognitive 

function. It often provides the 

first evidence of dysfunction in cases 

where a structural lesion cannot be 

demonstrated. Neuropsychology is 

an essential part of the pre-and-post 

operative evaluation in epilepsy surgery. 

The comprehensive assessment 

provides data for lateralization and 

localization and data for predicting 

cognitive and psychosocial outcomes. 

The counseling and rehabilitation 

modules also help to improve 

the overall satisfaction of the patient. 

Health Tip 

Lower the quantity of salt consumed. High consumption of salt can lead to health risk including 

high blood pressure .It is recommended not to intake not more than 5-6 gms of salt every day.

16 

Food 

SANJUKTA DUTTA | FOOD ENTHUSIAST 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

CHICKEN RUN 

ZERO OIL GRILLED CHICKEN 

Among different varieties of 

meat, the all-weather and 

all-occasion chicken has 

always been a favourite. There is 

hardly anyone who can resist a well 

done tandoori leg, a deep fried wing, 

a baked breast or a roasted whole 

chicken and the mere mention of 

chicken settles the mind unless of 

course, you are a vegetarian. There 

are all kinds of chicken recipes, but 

here I have listed two of my favourite 

ones. Try them out and let me know 

how you like them. 

You will require: 

1. Chicken (cut from joints)- 500 gms 

2. Curd- 1/2 cup, well beaten 

3. Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Red Chilly Powder- 1 teaspoon 

each 

4. Food Colour ( red-orange)- a few drops 

5. Salt and Pepper- For seasoning. 

6. garlic paste- 1 teaspoon. 

How to do it?? Very Simple! 

1) Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients mentioned above. 

With a fork, prick the chicken flesh so that the masalas blend well and 

deep into the meat. Rest it for about 3 hours before it goes to the grill. 

2) Prepare the grill rack and pre-heat the oven for about 4 minutes. 

3) Now, carefully place the chicken pieces (make sure that each piece 

is placed in the grill rack and not one over the another) and Grill it for 

12 minutes. 

4) Now, carefully with the help of a tong, turn the chicken pieces 

upside down and again grill for another 12 minutes or till done. 

5) Plate it, garnish it with onion rings, chillies and serve it with lemon 

wedges and any sauce/dip of your choice. A brilliant idea for starters in 

any party or gathering. 

BUTTER CHICKEN 

You will require: 

1) 250gms Chicken (preferably the broiler) 

2) half cup curd 

3) 1 tsp each of coriander,cumin and chilly 

powder 

4) Paste of one large size onion. 

5) 2 tsp of Ginger-Garlic paste. 

6) Food colour - a few drops 

7) Butter- 3 tbsp 

8) Salt to taste 

9) 3 tomatoes 

10) 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup 

11) 2 tbsp Kasoori methi 

12) 3 tbsp Cream 

How to go about it? 

1) Marinate chicken pieces with little salt, 

coriander, cumin, chilly powder, curd and 

food colour. Rest it for 2-3 hours at a room 

temperature. 

2) Boil the Tomatoes.. Peel the skin and 

make a paste using a blender. 

3) Roast the marinated chicken pieces in 

your gas stove using a little oil or you can 

just grill it in your microwave over. 

For the gravy: 

Heat Butter, Add Onion paste , fry till slight 

pink, add Ginger-Garlic paste. stir.. Add 

tomato paste and cook . Add salt and half 

a tsp of Degi Mirch to taste. Add chicken 

pieces, stir. Add Tomato Puree and cook till 

done. Add Kasoori Methi (crushed between 

your palms). Add cream and stir it nicely. 

Cover it with a lid and let the gravy thicken 

further. Now, you can transfer it into a serving 

bowl. Garnish it with some more cream. 

Your Butter Chicken is ready and you can 

relish it with naan, paranthas, rotis etc

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 17 

Special 

TOP 5 

World Cup 

WAGS 

SHAKIRA 

Pop star and renowned 

she-wolf Shakira has been 

strutting her stuff on the 

international Englishlanguage 

stage since 2001. 

The Colombian songstress 

whose Latin hips allegedly 

don’t lie, ensnared the 

affections of Spanish 

defender Gerrard Pique 

during the 2010 World Cup 

in South Africa. 

With the 2014 World Cup imminent and international squads 

touching down in Brazil daily for the competition, we 

take a look as the some of the football stars’ wives 

and girlfriends (WAGS) who may prove to 

be a welcome distraction from the 

on-field action. 

Irina Shayk 

Russian model and regular 

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 

Issue bikini babe Irena 

Shayk has been making 

waves and breaking hearts 

since her career took flight 

in 2007. She’s been dating 

the much-admired Cristiano 

Ronaldo since 2010. 

Pilar Rubio Fernandez 

Foxy Pilar Rubio is a Spanish TV 

reporter and presenter and mother of 

one with her partner Sergio Ramos. 

Her looks earned her the sexiest 

woman honour for FHM magazine in 

2008 and 2009, while her talents 

earned her the best television reporter 

award with Premio Joven in 2007. 

Ludivine Sagna 

Model and all-round beauty 

Ludivine Sagna is the wife 

of French right-back Bacary, 

with whom she has two 

children. She is considered 

to be one of Arsenal’s most 

famous WAGs, mainly 

because of her looks alone, 

and is not shy about posing 

in little more than just a 

Gunners shirt. 

Melissa Satta 

Italian-American television 

presenter and personality 

Melissa Satta is the 

girlfriend of Kevin-Prince 

Boateng. She is also 

regarded as something of 

a communications expert 

in addition to her sizzling 

good-looks.

18 

Reviews 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 

Director: Dean DeBlois 

Cast: Jay Baruchel, Cate 

Blanchett, Gerard Butler 

PART 2 

Director: Kabir Sadanand 

Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Mohit Marwah, 

Kiara Advani, Vijendra Singh 

Introducing new comers Mohit 

Marwah (Anil Kapoor’s 

nephew), Olympic medalist 

Vijender Singh, Kiara Advani 

(Sayed Jaffrey’s grand niece) and 

Slumdog Millionaire actor Arfi 

Lamba, ‘Fugly’ has been garnering 

a lot of eyeballs from the 

audiences ever since its trailer 

released. 

Jimmy Shergill comes into 

the picture. Little do they know 

what’s in store for them. Their 

moral values are at test, and their 

friendship at stake. Whether they 

manage to rise above all the chaos 

or give up forms the rest of the 

plot. We wouldn’t want to reveal 

much, for you have to watch it to 

understand it! 

‘Fugly’ is some of those rare 

surprises that look like just another 

run-of-the-mill story about 

friends but delivers much more! 

It may look like another ‘Fukrey’ 

from the looks of the trailer, but 

believe us, ‘Fugly’ has a much 

more meaningful and meaty edge 

to it. It wouldn’t be wrong to call 

it a stupendous effort towards social 

stirring. Amidst all the fun, 

is another layer of thought-provoking 

substance that strikes real 

hard. Kudos to KAbir Sadanand 

to have delivered such a surprisingly 

good film. It may not be the 

best film on youth-awakening, 

but it’s definitely one of the better 

ones. The depiction of Delhi 

and Gurgaon is spot on! The film 

is fast paced, just like a thriller 

should be and the cinematography 

compliments it superbly well. 

Some dialogues are really impactful 

and thanks to the script 

writer, a lot of moments stay 

with you even after you exit the 

theatre. We can go on about the 

numerous social issues Sadanand 

tackles in just 2 hours, but we’d 

better leave the best part for you 

to watch for yourself! 

Talking of performances, it’s 

great to see four fresh faces on 

screen. They’re all diverse personalities 

and yet so much in sync 

with each other. Mohit Marwah 

delivers a top-notch performance 

and Kiara Advani is a revelation. 

Dear Bollywood, watch out 

for these two stars! Arfi Lamba 

lives up to the expectations and 

Vijender Singh is appropriately 

cast as a Haryanvi. He provides 

the much needed comic relief in 

the film, though there is still a lot 

of scope for improvement in him. 

Jimmy Shergill will leave you 

clutching on to the edge of your 

seat with his villainous streak. 

This man only gets better with 

each film. He deserves an award 

for this performance, most definitely. 

Having said all that, it isn’t 

fair to overlook the flaws. Sana 

Saeed’s item number looks completely 

out of place and so do a 

few scenes in the film. Not that 

we’re complaining, especially 

when there are so many things 

going for this movie! 

‘Fugly’ is terrific despite all 

the flaws. Don’t go by the trailers, 

there’s a lot more to the film than 

you can imagine! It has its heart 

at the right place. The Indian 

youth just cannot afford to miss 

this one. 

Let us laud and lament the once 

mighty dragon, the king of the 

sky, and a worthy foe of men. 

His coat was tougher than steel, his 

wings wider than hills, and his eyes 

brighter than all the stars. To slay 

him was a lifelong laurel, but to be 

slayed by him was no disgrace. 

In “How to Train Your Dragon 

2,” these fire-breathing majesties 

devolve into flying puppies. Sure, 

they’re still covered in bumps and 

scales, but they’re always ready with 

a wet tongue and a throaty growl of 

approval. Like dogs, they’re friendly 

and, okay, potentially deadly, but 

most pertinently, they’re profoundly 

stupid. In the same way a Pomeranian 

bears the mildest resemblance 

to a grey wolf, the now-domesticated 

dragons in this sequel are so far removed 

from their counterparts in the 

crowd-pleasing first installment that 

writer-director Dean DeBlois might 

as well have made a flying “Lassie” 

movie. 

“How to Find Your Dragon 2” 

frequently finds Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) 

flying beside his pet dragon 

Toothless. The nerdy, peg-legged 

tinkerer, now a few years older, has 

made himself a winged suit, as well as 

sundry other thingamajigs hanging 

off his person. He’s the Tony Stark of 

the pre-medieval era, complete with a 

blond sidekick who’s too good for her 

gig, in this case the hyper-competent 

Astrid (America Ferrera). 

Hiccup’s inventions are interesting, 

but he remains flighty and slightly 

dull. His father Stoick’s (Gerard 

Butler) demands that Hiccup prepare 

for chiefdom give him a reason to 

flee his village and attempt to negotiate 

peace with dragon-hunter Drago 

(Djimon Hounsou), a mysterious 

warlord who threatens invasion with 

his army of flying reptiles. 

Hiccup and Valka’s early moments 

comprise the most emotionally 

rich scenes in the film; even a surprisingly 

heavy event later on doesn’t 

touch as deeply as the bond between 

mother and son. Disappointingly, 

then, the trudge toward the inevitable 

showdown between Hiccup 

and Drago, as well as the confrontation 

itself, feel merely customary, 

their only distinction a silly plotline 

about brainwashing dragons. Since 

the sequel shears the wildness off its 

fire-breathers, it needed to make up 

for that missing life force with a captivating 

villain, but Drago is, as Stoick 

says, just another “man who kills 

without reason.” 

Somewhat refreshingly, Hiccup 

doesn’t just learn the same lesson 

about being himself that he did in 

the first film. Rather, the sequel asks 

him to evolve into a better self, but 

that message is messily told and ultimately 

given the short shrift. 

The true delight is in the details: 

the sinewy texture of the leather, the 

worn metal on the armor, the innocent 

fuzz and slight, shiny scars 

on battle-tested arms. Since a third 

chapter is already scheduled for summer 

2016, let’s hope DeBlois, who’ll 

direct once again, shows as much 

talent with the wide brush as he does 

with his small one. 

MACHLI JAL KI RANI HAI 

Director: Debaloy Dey 

Cast: Bhanu Uday, Swara Bhaskar, Murli Sharma, Reema Debnath 

NOW SHOWING 

Holiday 

Fugly 

Apsara Cinema Daily at 2,5 & 8 PM Daily at 11 AM 

Anuradha Cineplex 

Fun Cinemas 

Gold Cinema 

(Fancy Bazar) 

Gold Cinema 

(Paltan Bazar) 

Gold Cinema 

(Narengi) 

Daily at 11.15 AM 

& 5 PM 

Daily at 9.15 AM, 

2.45, & 8.30 PM 

Daily at 2, 5 & 8 PM 

Daily at 2, 5 & 8 PM 

Daily at 11 AM, 5 

& 8 PM 

Ayesha and Uday Saxena after 

getting married settle down 

in Bombay. Uday a mechanical 

engineer by profession takes up a 

job in a private company with both of 

them, living a picture perfect life with 

their four year old son sunny. One day, 

while coming back from a party Ayesha 

rash drives and both of them end up in 

a major road accident in which another 

lady who was driving the other car dies, 

breathing her last breath on Ayeshas’ 

car’s windsheld.. Uday escapes with 

minor injury but Ayesha meets with a 

hair line fracture of her skull. She gets 

treated for her head injury and slowly 

recovers, but she is shocked and traumatized 

thinking that she has killed an 

innocent person. 

Daily at 2.15 PM 

Daily at 12.10 & 

8.30 PM 

Daily at 11.30 AM, 

5.30 & 8.30 PM 

Daily at 11.30 AM 

& 5.30 PM 

Daily at 2 PM 

Machli Jal Ki 

Rani Hai 

Daily at 8.30 

PM 

Daily at 8.30 

PM 

When Uday’s boss offers him the 

job of managing a Jabalpur factory, he 

accepts the opportunity to give Ayesha 

a change of atmosphere. 

On reaching they meet Rajaram 

their local caretaker cum driver who 

takes them to the company guest house. 

Initially ayesha gets busy rearranging 

their life. One afternoon she feels the 

presence of someone, even while she is 

the only person in the house but cannot 

see it & gradually she hears strange 

noises in the house. 

Uday becomes busy with his job 

and rearranging their life. Ayesha starts 

to feel the presence of someone in the 

house that no one else can. Her fears 

grow and she starts behaving in a bizarre 

manner. 

Jilmil Jonak 

(Assamese) 

Daily at 

2.30 PM 

18.11 A Code of 

secrecy 

Daily at 9 AM & 

8.15 PM 

Daily at 11 AM 

Daily at 11 AM

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 19 

SwiftKey, Android’s best-selling 

keyboard app goes free 

SwiftKey Keyboard has been 

the most popular keyboard 

app on Android since its 

launch. Now, in a strange, SwiftKey 

has dropped the price of its app 

from $3.99 all the way to free. The 

company says that it will continue 

making money by selling dozens of 

premium keyboard themes. Some 

of these themes will be free as well. 

Users who have already paid 

for the app in the past will be offered a special offer of downloading a 

$4.99 “Premier Pack” of 10 themes for free. SwiftKey Keyboard in an intelligent 

app that replaces the stock keyboard on your Android device with 

an intuitive keyboard that learns user’s personal writing style which improves 

typing. The app also offers innovative typing style like the SwiftKey 

Flow which lets you type faster by sliding a finger across the keyboard. 

The app offers contextual predictions and autocorrection in 66 languages, 

including English, Hindi and Hinglish. Most of the latest themes 

have been created by Scott Weiss, who has already worked on Symbian, 

Microsoft and Apple softwares. 

Weiss’s group has created more than 50 themes. SwiftKey is a Londonbased 

start-up whose mobile keyboard system has been used in Samsung 

and Blackberry handsets. The app has been installed on over 200 million 

devices globally. 

SwiftKey’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Joe Braidwood attributes the 

price drop as an effort to get into developing markets. He says that the 

people in such countries are less willing to spend money on an app whose 

simpler version is already built-in into their phones. Speaking to Fast 

Company, he goes an extra mile and compares buying an app to buying 

food. He says, “In the States, someone would say, ‘Do I buy this app or a 

coffee?’ In India, it’s ‘Do I buy this app or food for a couple days?’” 

While people who have hard time buying food do not care whether 

SwiftKey Keyboard is free or not, the app being offered for free is definitely 

a good news for those who own an Android smartphone whether 

in India or in the U.S. 

Web Watch 

Flipkart First offers free next day delivery, priority 

customer care 

Flipkart has launched a new 

subscription service for users. 

Called the Flipkart First, customers 

pay up a subscription fee of 

`500 per year to get free standard 

delivery, free in a day delivery, same 

day delivery at discounted price and 

priority customer service. 

Flipkart First’s services are 

available only on purchases from 

seller WS Retail, as of now. “Certain 

Flipkart First benefits such as free 

In-a-Day Guarantee Delivery and 

discounted Same Day Guarantee Delivery 

are only available in select pincodes 

across India. We suggest you 

check with your location’s pincode at 

www.flipkart.com/faster-delivery. 

Also, these benefits along with 

Free Standard Delivery is applicable 

A 370-Inch TV Costs $1.6 Million, 

and Someone Actually Bought It 

Panasonic has lost its crown 

as the biggest with its 152- 

inch 4K television set. 

The throne now belongs to UK 

company Titan Screen which has 

manufactured a, wait for it, 370- 

inch television set, known as Titan 

Zeus, Engadget website reported. 

You could put 16 king single 

sized beds on the Titan Zeus 

screen and still have a little space 

to swing your legs or, as the FIFA 

Google partners with Twitter to provide public 

disaster alerts 

Google has announced that 

from now its Public Alerts 

service will incorporate tweets 

from disaster-struck locations. If a 

public disaster alert from sources like 

the National Weather Service is issued, 

it will include relevant tweets in 

Google Now, Search and Maps, as well 

as on its Public Alerts website. 

Google says that the aim behind 

this is to have the public’s tweets help 

answer questions in emergency situations. 

The feature is currently being 

rolled out in English-speaking regions. 

The internet giant says that it 

is also working towards adding “new 

kinds of social content to other products 

and geographies in the future.” 

The announcement came via a 

Google+ post from the Google Crisis 

Response team. Google says in the 

blog post: Starting today [June 3], you 

can find relevant data from Twitter on 

a subset of Google Public Alerts. We 

launched Public Alerts to provide updates 

from official sources, such as the 

National Weather Service, via Google 

Now, Search, and Google Maps. Now, 

some of the more extreme Public 

Alerts will include Tweets to help answer 

important questions: are schools 

closing? Are neighbors evacuating? 

What are people seeing on the front 

lines of a storm?” 

World Cup has started in Brazil on 

Friday, the actual size of a football 

goal. 

So far the UK-based Titan 

Screens has sold only one of these 

kaiju TVs to a buyer who wants to 

remain anonymous, according to 

Engadget. Little wonder: The behemoth 

costs about $1.6 million, and 

that doesn’t include the arena-size 

living room for which you’d need 

to house the 26 x 16-foot panel. 

on Flipkart First eligible products 

only, which are products by seller 

WS RetaIl as of now,” explains Flipkart 

on its website. 

Indrajeet Bhuyan is a 16 year old tech 

blogger and security researcher. He is 

passionate about computers and believes 

in sharing knowledge and information . 

He uses his spare time helping people and 

companies secure themselves. fb.me/indrajeet.bhuyan 

Google search results now tell you when a 

webpage is not optimised for mobile 

Google has rolled out a fix for 

faulty redirects on its mobile 

search. The internet giant will 

now warn users when a website displayed 

in the search results isn’t properly 

set up to handle requests from 

smartphones. The search engine will 

lead you to the mobile site homepage 

instead of the web page. Users can 

still click ‘Try anyway’ if you want to 

reach the homepage. 

Google says in a blog post that 

its wants to “spare users the frustration 

of landing on irrelevant pages 

and help webmasters fix the faulty 

redirects.” Google has also provided 

some tips to help site owners direct 

audience to the pages they want. The 

Faces.im Brings 

Facebook Chat Heads 

Notifications to Chrome 

Facebook messenger for smartphone 

has a cool chat heads notification system. It 

puts friends’ heads in bubble over any app 

when you receive a new Facebook message. 

And you can start conversation just by tapping 

on the chat head. This feature is available 

for Android and iOS both. But you can 

also get this feature on Google Chrome for 

Desktop with Faces.im, a Google Chrome 

extension. Faces.im brings the Chat Heads 

UI to desktop and allows you to keep track 

of all Facebook messages while working on 

other web pages. 

Faces.im is available in Chrome Web 

Store. After installation, it adds a blue icon 

in OMNI bar. When you receive a new 

Facebook message, you will see cool chat 

heads at the right side of your screen. You 

can drag chat heads to other places but it 

will automatically go to right side of the 

browser. When you take mouse over the 

chat heads, you will also see a small red x 

icon to close the chat head. Hovering the 

chat heads also lets you read the message. 

This extension also works with group chats. 

You will see multiple chat heads of people 

participating the chat. 

Download it from here : http://tinyurl. 

com/qdmnpar 

internet giant says that owners need 

to check their site from their own 

phone and see if their site behaves. 

Google is also sending site owners a 

message on Webmaster Tools in the 

‘Smartphone Crawl Errors’ section, if 

their web site’s pages are redirecting 

smartphone users to the homepage.

20 

Life 

Change your attitude and gain some altitude... 

ritu gupta 

gritu21@yahoo.com 

People treat you the way you secretly 

ask to be treated. Change 

your thoughts and you change 

your destiny. Your unspoken feelings 

determine how others behave towards 

you. It is extended to and received by 

everyone you meet. In other words, 

your invisible life is your real inner 

condition. Anyone you feel the need to 

control so that he or she will treat you 

as you think you should be treated will 

always be in control of you and treat 

you accordingly because anyone from 

whom you want something, psychologically 

speaking is always in secret 

command of you. Whenever we feel 

negative about a person it’s obvious 

that deep within, the effects would be 

negative and that’s how we attract it 

and the result is that we are treated in 

the same manner. When we feel good 

about somebody, then we attract positivity 

and that’s how we are also treated. 

Everything that happens has a reason. 

Meeting people, falling in a tough 

situation, bereavement, failures - all 

are a part of our learning process. It is 

only our approach to how we handle it, 

that keeps us going. As put beautifully,” 

When the going gets tough, the tough 

starts going.” Similarly, our approach 

As we talked across a few air kilometres 

away, he sounded distressed but not defeated, 

or so I thought. As he narrated and 

I listened in rapt attention about his fight with 

life, there was not a grain of doubt that here 

was a man who has painstakingly gathered bits 

and pieces of his life together in the hope that 

it will regain its past normalcy and glory. But 

he seemed lost and confused. “But trust me. I 

had been caught in the cross-fire. I was just not 

aware of the shortcomings of trusting people.” 

And thus he went on to tell me in details of what 

had happened when he first started his career 

as a young ambitious engineer. And I listened 

without a word of interruption. “You know, I feel 

everyone is moving away from me. They don’t 

love me anymore. I am lost without their faith in 

me.” I didn’t interrupt. 

After a point of time, when my friend across 

the distance thought he had said enough and 

wanted me to speak, I took a pause. I picked up 

the one word from his monologue; faith. 

Faith, I told him, is the biggest asset anyone 

can possess. Faith in the omnipotent and 

faith in yourself is what can change the entire 

dimension of your life. It can give a 3600 twist to 

your life and in the process create magic. 

A couple of years back, I had randomly 

picked up ‘The Secret’ from a book-shop at the 

airport and read it slowly till I was satiated by its 

contents. I hope to read it again sometime. But 

the biggest mantra that I learnt after reading the 

book was to keep the faith. Faith in oneself. Faith 

that everything will be according to the thoughts 

and plans. Faith that I will be the happiest person 

by my deeds and actions. 

The mind is the most powerful system in the 

towards people is all our feeling from 

within. Everything is in our mind. It’s 

the mind, which is ruling our body so, 

if at all we want to see any changes then 

that should come from our mind. We 

can control our thoughts by meditation, 

yoga, deep breathing and exercises. 

Moreover, a positive approach 

towards life works as a life saving medicine 

for the mind. If you think you are 

happy, your body works happily, but if 

you feel your world is doomed, then 

that is how your body will treat you. 

Everything is in the mind and so, we 

need alterations there for the body to 

stay happy. 

Staying happy is an art which we 

all can master. Knowing the tricks and 

working on it will help improve our 

life. Accepting the fact that we are surrounded 

by the foes of life and then 

working on it with positivity will help 

My name is Faith 

whole human body and it can create wonders. 

It can think and make things happen. I read 

about this person in The Secret who met with 

the most horrendous mid-air accident as he was 

flying in his air-plane. He was paralysed from 

neck down and done up all in plasters. The only 

thing he could move were his eye-balls while he 

was bound to survive on a life-support system, 

which the doctors thought was definitely not going 

to help in ever getting him on his feet again. 

Of course, the other thing in his whole body he 

could exercise was his brain. And he put it to 

an enormously good use. He just thought. He 

thought of only the things that he would do after 

he got back on his feet. His brain sent powerful 

signals to the rest of the body to improve and 

recover. When he was able to communicate to 

a certain extent, the doctor came to understand 

that the man has this great desire to walk out 

of the recuperating centre come Christmas, which 

was exactly in another six months time. The doctor 

only shook his head. However, as Christmas 

approached, the man was only too excited as it 

was time for him to go home. And that is exactly 

what he did! Even though he limped out of the 

facility, the doctor and nurses were exuberant 

and amused to see a strong-willed man walk out 

into the sunshine with all the faith in his heart on 

Christmas Day! 

Faith, belief in oneself and positive thinking 

can make a man go places that he had only 

hoped for and dreamt about. So, for example, if 

you wish to see yourself in a famous and powerful 

position, just think and make it happen. Ofcourse, 

you also have to plan towards this goal. 

If you just day-dream and don’t take actions 

on your plans, then your dream will remain as 

us sail across all obstacles. Each time 

you feel the pressure to give yourself 

away, silently but solidly refuse to release 

this pressure. Standing strong 

like a strong pillar is the key to move 

against all barriers. Life is a beautiful 

journey. To enjoy the bliss we even 

have to accept the many unwanted 

black clouds. 

We are often led to act against ourselves 

by an undetected weakness that 

goes before us. 

It sinks us in our personal relationships. 

Fear has no voice until it 

tricks you into giving it one. Stay silent. 

Always remember that in life, you are 

in command of yourself. 

“You are essentially who you create 

yourself to be and all that occurs in 

your life is the result of your own making.” 

- Stephen Richards. 

it is; on a vision board inside your head. Work 

towards them. And to keep in mind that the biggest 

asset that you have, which you can use as 

and when you wish to is faith. Faith in yourself! 

“So, is it possible to just think and make 

things happen? Will my family love and trust me 

again?” he asked me, maybe slightly composed 

and calm after telling me his story and hearing 

what I had to say about the belief and faith in 

oneself. But he was also expecting me to give the 

answers, which I really didn’t have. 

The answers are always within oneself. 

However, I signed off with a smile by saying, 

“Yes, it is possible. And your family is going to 

love you back sooner than you think. The only 

thing you got to do is keep believing in yourself 

that everything’s going to be fine.And you better 

think good positive thoughts. If perchance the 

Universe hears you wanting something nasty 

and negative, be it for yourself or for others, it 

will actually give it you. So, just be careful what 

you think.” And don’t forget to listen to the song 

by Michael Jackson, “Keep the Faith.” 

.....So Keep The Faith 

Don’t Let Nobody Turn You ‘Round 

You Gotta Know When It’s Good To Go 

To Get Your Dreams 

Up Off The Ground Keep The Faith, Baby, Yea 

Because It’s Just A Matter Of Time 

Before Your Confidence Will Win Out 

Believe In Yourself 

No Matter What It’s Gon’ Take 

You Can Be A Winner 

But You Got To Keep The Faith..... 

tinat ATIFA MASOOD 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

People And Their Opinions 

Questions & Answers 

Question: What to choose between these two things: life in this beautiful 

world with a Guru like you, or liberation and ultimate union with the Divine? 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

You can have both; this does not have to be a choice. You can have lead 

a happy life in this beautiful world, and you can get liberation also. 

Main thing is, don’t be a football of other people’s opinions. 

Many times, you do things because others want you to do it. No need! 

Be strong in yourself and see life from a bigger perspective. 

You don’t know who your real friend is; this is the difficulty. 

In the world, what has happened, you think someone is your friend and 

you show off to them, ‘Oh, I got this, and I got that’, and they are jealous. 

They are not happy about it. 

If you show that you are good, then they are not happy, and if you show 

you are not good, then also they don’t care for you. 

It’s sort of a dilemma that most people face. If you show you are really 

good in something, they are not happy, they are jealous. And if you don’t 

prove yourself, they don’t think you are up to the mark, and so they don’t 

look up to you. 

So in any situation, it is not worth wasting your time on what those 

people are thinking about you. Do you get it? Let them think what they 

want. If they think you are an angel, fine. If they think you are a devil, fine. 

If they think you are dumb, foolish, or whatever; you should feel, ‘Okay, go 

ahead and think what you want, I don’t care!’ 

If you go with this feeling, you will carry some weight. 

If others think you are a failure, okay, let them think. What big success 

have they got? People who are successful, look at them, they are not happy 

at all. They are so miserable. See, not everybody is successful in every field. 

Some are successful in some aspects. So, never mind, success or failure. You 

be centered, and be happy. 

Each one of you should remain as a center of happiness. You should 

be radiating happiness, and when anyone comes to you, give them love, 

compassion, and happiness. Then we can bring a big change in the world. 

I always say, you kids who always doing competitions, sometimes you 

win and sometimes you lose. But if you have done art of living, you don’t 

lose at all. 

You know why? It is because either you win, or you make others win. 

When your dad or mom play games with you, what do they do? They 

could win all the time, but do they win all the time? No, they enjoy making 

you win, isn’t it? 

So in the same way, either you win or you make others win. If you are 

more mature, you make others win also. 

A Higher State Of Happiness 

Question: In the Bhagavad Gita, it is written that rajoguni people pursue 

happiness by means of hard work, but the real happiness lies in meditation. 

Does this mean that I should stop studying, and meditate all the time? 

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: 

No, this is some misinterpretation. Which translation did you read? 

Not at all. It is not like that. 

Rajoguni happiness is that which suddenly goes high and suddenly 

comes down. When someone gets a prize, they jump to the ceiling, and 

then just fall flat. 

Satoguni happiness is that of equanimity. If you win, you don’t lose 

your head and if you lose, you don’t lose your heart. You keep your heart 

in the right place, your mind in the right place and still be happy. 

This may be little difficult in the beginning. It is like when you are asked 

to do some yoga, pranayama and meditation, you think it is so boring. Your 

mind says, ‘Better go for a party outside somewhere’. 

So in the beginning it may seem not so good, but once you start doing, 

your experience changes. It gives you such a high. 

How many of you have this experience? (Many in the audience raise 

their hands) Once you do it, you realize, ‘It is so good. I want to do it again 

and again. It is better than going for a party’. Isn’t it? 

That happiness which in the beginning appears to be difficult but in the 

end gives you lot of happiness, is satvik happiness. 

Rajasik happiness, is one which brings you a lot of joy in the beginning, 

but later on it brings you disaster. In the beginning it gives you a little high, 

but later on destroys your body, mind and spirit. 

Tamasik happiness is one which only promises happiness, but neither 

in the beginning nor in the end gives any happiness. You 

are just caught up. Just like smoking. Smoking does not 

make you blissful, but people who are addicted to it, 

can’t leave it. And when they leave it, it gives them pain, 

even though doing it doesn’t give them any great pleasure. 

This is a habit 

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 21 

G-Talk 

Are the authorities lagging behind 

in tackling child labour? 

NIJARA RAJBONGSHI 

Research Scholar 

Nirmalya ghosh 

Program Assistant, NIPCCD 

POINT 

COUNTERPOINT 

Going by the number of children 

that are seen distributing 

tea and the biscuits at the 

hotels or yelling at people from the 

running buses, it is for sure that whatever 

measures are being taken by the 

government to prevent the problem 

of child labour, it has still persisted in 

the society. 

It is also true that without the 

help of the people living in the society, 

the government alone cannot 

solve any problems. However, being a 

law enforcement agency, the government 

should and must take up a proactive 

role while implementing a law, 

especially when the issue is related to 

the child and the welfare of children, 

because, they are the future of the 

country and vulnerable to any kind 

of crime. 

Every year, the world celebrates 

a day against child labour. In Assam 

too, the government celebrates the 

day. Nevertheless, in reality, we have 

been encountering child labours every 

now and then, be it on the streets, 

at the households, commercial establishments 

or public places. 

But, contrary to the government 

official’s defiance against the presence 

of child labours in the society 

or in the city, I have seen in news 

articles and media reports published 

that Guwahati has the highest number 

of child labours. The report was 

published by a NGO called Centre for 

Development Initiatives. 

A few days back, I heard a top official 

in the child welfare department 

that they have not seen any child labours 

on the streets of the city. However, 

at the same time, the official 

requested the people to inform Childline, 

a NGO working for the protection 

of the child rights whenever they 

come across any child labours in the 

city. 

Now, the point is that if there is 

no child labour in the city or society 

according to the government, then 

how can the public help the government 

rescue a child from becoming 

the victim of child labour. 

Besides, most of the elite households 

of the city employ children for 

their household works, which goes 

unnoticed by the authority. Even if 

they come to know about such incidents, 

most of the time, they just turn 

their eyes away. 

Seeing the records of the government, 

I have a feeling that the nongovernment 

organisations and other 

civil society organisations are trying 

to bring down the problem of child 

labour in the city more than the government 

agencies. 

It is also true 

that without 

the help of the 

people living 

in the society, 

the government 

alone cannot 

solve any 

problems. 

However, being a 

law enforcement 

agency, the 

government 

should and 

must take up 

a proactive 

role while 

implementing a 

law, especially 

when the issue 

is related to 

the child and 

the welfare of 

children 

The Child Labour (Prohibition 

and Regulation) Act, 1986 

prohibits the employment of 

children below the age of 14 years 

in 16 occupations and 65 processes 

that are hazardous to the children’s 

lives and health. These occupations 

and processes are listed in the Schedule 

to the Act. In October 2006, the 

Government included children work- 

If we keep 

counting, there are 

enormous numbers 

of initiatives taken 

by the government 

to stop or may 

be even lower 

down the cases 

of child labour in 

the country, but 

criticising the 

government for not 

doing anything is 

an age old ritual 

followed by the 

general public. 

Instead of blaming 

or accusing the 

authorities, if 

the people unite 

and combat 

against child 

labour together, 

the government 

initiatives may be 

successful 

ing in the domestic sector as well as 

roadside eateries and motels under 

the prohibited list of hazardous occupations. 

The Right of Children to Free 

and Compulsory Education Act, 

2009, provides for free and compulsory 

education to all children aged 

from 6to 14 years. This legislation 

also envisages that 25 per cent of the 

seats in every private school should 

be allocated for children from disadvantaged 

groups including differently 

abled children. 

If we keep counting, there are 

enormous numbers of initiatives taken 

by the government to stop or may 

be even lower down the cases of child 

labour in the country, but criticising 

the government for not doing anything 

is an age old ritual followed by 

the general public. Instead of blaming 

or accusing the authorities, if 

the people unite and combat against 

child labour together, the government 

initiatives may be successful. 

There are child labours working 

in shops, houses, factories and many 

other places till date inspite of the 

fact that it is totally illegal. There are 

examples of many educated families 

exploiting children by making them 

work in their homes. Last year, there 

was a case of a politician exploiting a 

child as a helper in his house in Guwahati. 

Similarly, everybody visits 

shops, hotels, dhabas etc. where children 

are made to work, but hardly 

anyone raises his/her voice against 

child labour. I as a social worker 

sometimes keep asking kids that I 

meet in various places I visit about 

their studies. Most of them are working 

to survive. Once I also asked a 

Dhaba owner about making a child 

working in his Dhaba to which he replied 

that the parents of the child are 

very poor and the kid earns for food. 

He said, “If he won’t work here, he 

will work somewhere else and sometimes 

even sleep hungry. If the parents 

are not responsible, no one can 

help them. I want him to study and 

even tell him to do so but the parents 

do not want that.” So, it’s not only 

government who is lagging behind, 

it’s the entire society which is not being 

able to eradicate the problem.

22 

Fun 

Your weekly dose of TIMEPASS 

HOROSCOPE 

ARIES 

The clean slate is refreshing, 

isn’t it? On Monday and Tuesday, the 

future is indeed bright. You are walking 

proof that hard work, with or without 

luck, is the key to success. The hard 

work that must be done on Wednesday 

and Thursday is of the ‘getting 

through frustrating times with a smile on 

your face’ variety, but you are a pro at 

this. What’s frustrating may simply be 

that so much is up in the air; focus instead 

on relieving someone else’s frustrations 

and yours will vanish. Friday 

and Saturday find you in great spirits 

— and, possibly, hiking boots — and 

Sunday is relaxing. 

TAURUS 

It’s not like you’ve been rubbing 

your socks against the carpet, but 

there’s a lot of static electricity in the air 

on Monday and Tuesday. Expect your 

interactions with others to be charged 

(so, therefore, if someone ends up barking 

at you, or you at them, chalk it up 

to the stars). Wednesday and Thursday 

are best spent arm-in-arm with someone 

who understands you intuitively, 

the way a fish understands water; but 

Friday and Saturday are destined to be 

fraught with dilemmas no matter what 

you do, dilemmas of the small but vexing 

variety. Take all the time you need. 

Sunday comes as a relief. 

GEMINI 

A caterpillar, given the right resources 

and a certain amount of time, 

becomes something unrecognizable. 

On Monday and Tuesday you’re going 

to learn a few more things about transformations. 

The radical change you 

experience will almost surely be intellectual 

and/or political, but it will alter 

everything. Wednesday and Thursday, 

the change is affecting you in funny, 

unpredictable ways; but good friends 

and old standbys dominate Friday and 

Saturday. Nice that, while some things 

change, others stay the same. Sunday 

overwhelms you with new information. 

CANCER 

Money matters are muddled at 

the week’s start — it’s hard to figure 

out how much you have, and it’s hard 

to figure out what you want to spend 

it on. If you’ve had your heart set on 

something that you might not be able 

to afford after all, then it’s time to teach 

your heart some flexibility. Wednesday 

and Thursday, money is not much 

of an issue because it doesn’t cost anything 

to daydream (which is what you 

do just about all day long for two days 

straight). On Friday and Saturday the 

most pressing challenge involves an authority 

figure, but Sunday is social and, 

food-wise, extremely filling. 

LEO 

You have enough self-respect 

to stand up for yourself in a social 

situation, and even though some may 

interpret this as arrogance, the wisest 

among your friends know better. That 

said, you’re always better off getting 

other people to talk rather than 

listening to your own voice. Patience 

is a beautiful quality. Wednesday 

and Thursday, decision-making is not 

a snap, and decision-making around 

money is a bad idea period. Your 

frame of mind is more suited to creative 

endeavors. Friday through Sunday, 

be spongelike, ready to receive ideas 

from everywhere, including from people 

who rarely speak up. 

VIRGO 

Rubber was invented utterly by 

accident. Let that be a lesson to you 

on Monday and Tuesday, when the 

impulse toward experimentation strikes 

you. Likewise, on Wednesday and 

Thursday, you should consider all that 

you stand to learn from your friends 

rather than, say, all that you could be 

teaching them. What do you know 

for sure? In terms of practical steps toward 

a goal, not a lot gets done this 

week until Friday, which is a whirlwind 

of activity and progress. Saturday is 

propelled by a sense of purpose in the 

world, and a philosophical conversation 

on Sunday is emboldening. 

LIBRA 

Monday and Tuesday are utopian. 

Your world is full of people with 

whom you feel a deep, startling connection. 

Plus, everything is insanely 

funny. Some of your friends should 

be considered national treasures. 

Wednesday and Thursday, helping 

other people cope with their stress is a 

deft way of handling your own. Friday 

and Saturday are relatively stress free, 

although they are intense — a one-onone 

relationship (either business or romantic) 

dominates. Matters that seem 

outside of your hands are, in fact, very 

much in your hands. So no excuses! Sunday 

is beautiful. 

SCORPIO 

Your domestic life is something 

of a volcano on Monday and Tuesday, 

and an eruption seems imminent. But, 

as you are in no mood to be scalded 

by projectile lava, you’re willing to negotiate; 

compromise suddenly seems 

like a good option. Wednesday and 

Thursday, if the problem persists, apply 

your imagination toward solving it. A 

solution you haven’t thought of, but that 

would make everyone happy, might be 

at hand. Friday and Saturday, drop 

everything to help someone else. If you 

find yourself lugging a television out of 

a moving truck, consider it exercise. Sunday 

is galvanizing. 

SAGITTARIUS 

You receive new ideas on Monday 

and Tuesday the way the Earth receives 

light from the sun — fully, warmly, 

gratefully. New trees of thought are 

taking root in your brain. No wonder 

your hair looks funny! Seriously, kick 

vanity to the curb this week and focus 

on things that actually matter. Wednesday 

and Thursday, the second you’ve 

found your keys you’ve lost your cell 

phone; your mind is simply elsewhere. 

Friday and Saturday, games, productivity 

and men figure strongly. The 

beach may or may not figure in, depending 

on your proximity to it. Some 

details need your attention on Sunday. 

CAPRICORN 

You are aiming for the right goals, 

but your strategy for accomplishing them 

needs some work. Think about making 

a change on Monday and Tuesday — 

but only a small change. The big picture 

is right on. Wednesday and Thursday, 

putting your thoughts in writing not only 

makes them clear to everyone else; it also 

makes them clearer to yourself. Friday 

and Saturday, your family is tugging on 

your sleeves for attention. To give them 

the time they deserve, you might have to 

postpone something else. On Sunday, get 

away to the woods, the beach, a romantic 

restaurant — something like that. 

AQUARIUS 

The start of the week is inspiring 

— as inspiring as the cathedrals were to 

Monet, or the sunflowers to Van Gogh, 

or the pigeons in the grass to Gertrude 

Stein. Everything you see seems to fit 

your mood, as if the world is a projection 

of your inner beauty. Others find you attractive 

and exciting, and may tell you so. 

Lost in all this on Wednesday and Thursday, 

you are hardly thinking about, say, 

money, which might pose a problem. If it 

does, you still won’t be thinking about it. 

Friday and Saturday find you in one of 

your wide-eyed philosophical moods. 

Sunday is utterly fascinating. 

PISCES 

You have a hard time focusing 

on Monday and Tuesday, what with all 

your plans for saving the world on your 

mind. Why people don’t think harder and 

better about the things that matter baffles 

you. On the other hand, you’re easily distracted 

yourself. Finding a balance is a 

struggle that won’t go away. Wednesday 

and Thursday, you’re blessed with more 

energy than you know what to do with — 

and lots of time. Self-transformation might 

ensue. On Friday and Saturday, you believe 

you’re onto something. But are you, 

really? Is it just a ruse? Pursue this. Sunday 

is low-key. 

SUDOKU 

Solutions (Last Issue) 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

A girl was driving when she saw the flash of a traffic camera. She 

figured that her picture had been taken for exceeding the limit even 

though she knew that she was not speeding. 

Just to be sure, she went around the block and passed the same spot, 

driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed. 

Now she began to think that this was quite funny, so she drove even 

JUST FOR LAUGHs 

slower as she passed the area once more, but the traffic camera again 

flashed. She tried a fourth and fifth time with the same results and was 

now laughing as the camera flashed while she rolled past at a snail’s 

pace. 

Two weeks later, she got five challans for driving without a seat belt...!!! 

O Womaniya... Aa ha Womaniya!!!

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 23 

AYURVEDA CLINIC 

G Plus will keep on publishing such relevant and useful 

information in this page in the coming issues. 

Assam Ayurvedic Bhandar Guwahati 

A T Road, Nr Vishwaratna Hotel 

Guwahati -781001 

Phone No -0361-2545075 

Divya YOG Mandir Trust 

M S Road, Fancy Bazar, Guwahati -781001 

Phone No 03612731462 

D S Research Centre 

1 A, Amrit Enclave, 

MRD Enclave, Bamunimaidan, 

Guwahati - 781021 

Phone No – 0361-2654144, 2654140 

Herbs 

A T Road, Maligaon Chariali, 

Guwahati GPO, Guwahati – 781001 

Phone No – 0361-2679013 

H N G Clinic 

Opp Sohum Emporia & Nessa Petrol Pump, 

Banghagarh, Guwahati - 781005 

Phone No -0361-2466699, 99547-47272 

Jeevan Health Clinic 

S S Road, Lakhtokia, Guwahati – 781001 

Phone No – 0361-2630502 

Kerala Ayurveda Clinic 

Near High Court, East Dighalphukuri, Latashi, 


Phone No -9954886906 

Compiled by Mautapa Dhar 

Patanjali Chikitsalaya 

Ayush Bhandar, Near Gate No 1, 

Nag Colony Kamrup Metro, 

Maligaon, Guwahati - 781011 

Phone No – 99575-14769, 0361-2675745 

Patanjali Arogya Kendras 

1st Floor, Sri Ganesh Market, 

Near Uco Bank, V I P Road, Narangi, 

Guwahati – 781026 

Phone No – 98640-72606, 97074-74932 


Nirog Centre, R G Baruah Road 5th By Lane, 

R G Baruah Road, Guwahati – 781003 

Phone No – 94350-45510 


F A Road, Kumarpara, Guwahati – 781008 

Phone No – 94350-11021, 94353-45632 


Near Refinery Gate, Noonmati, Guwahati - 

781020, Phone No – 98643-26551 


Near Refinery Gate, Noonmati, Guwahati - 

781020, Phone No – 98643-26551 


House No 27, Near Ashomi Path, 

Mathura Nagar, Dispur, Guwahati – 781006 

Phone No – 98640-63886 

EMERGENCY NUMBERS 

AMBULANCE 

Ambulance 102 

Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665 

Downtown Hospital 9864101111, 9435012669 

GLP Social Circle 2737373 

GGUMTA (Mirza) 03623-227109 

Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251 

HOSPITALS 

Arya Hospital, Ulubari 

(2606888, 2606665) 

B Baruah Cancer Institute 

(2472364/66) 

Brahmaputra Hospital Ltd 

(2451634/678) 

Chatribari Christian 

Hospital 

0361-2600051, 92070- 

44374 

Downtown Hospital 

2331003, 9864079366, 

9435012669 

Guwahati Medical College 

(2529457, 2529561) 

Guwahati Medical College 

Emergency (2263444) 

BLOOD BANK 

Arya Hospital, Ulubari 2606888, 2606665 

Ganga Blood Bank 2454742, 2455029 

Lion’s Club of Ghy Central 2546611 

Marwari Yuva Manch 2546470, 2547251 

Saharia’s Path Lab (24 hours) 2458594 

International Hospital 

0361-7135005 

Mahendra Mohan Choudhury 

Hospital 

(2541477, 2543998) 

Marwari Hospital & Research 

Centre 

0361-2602738/39 

Marwari Maternity Hospital 

0361-2541202/01 

Nemcare Hospital 

0361-2528587, 2455906, 

2457344 

24-HOUR PHARMACIES 

Arya Hospital, Ulubari (2606888, 2606665) 

Citypedia 

Pratiksha Hospital 

0361-2337260, 

2337183/84 

Basistha Military Hospital 

(2304617/0351) 

Railway Central Hospital 

Casuality (2671025) 

Redcross Hospital 

(2665114) 

Sri Sankardeva Netralaya 

0361-2233444, 2228879, 

2228921 

TB Hospital 

(2540193) 

Wintrobe Hospital 

0361-2519860, 

98647-77986 

GNRC Hospital 0361 

2227702 

GNRC Life First Ambulance 

9401194011 

Kerala Ayurveda 

33 Dighalipukhuri East, Bamunimaidan, 


Phone No - 9954886986 

Nabwab Clinic 

Nr Meghdoot Cinema, Paltanbazar, 

Guwahati – 781008, Phone No -0361-2606865 

Nabab Ayurvedic Clinic 

Beltola Road, Guwahati -781028 

Phone No -986469335 

Nawab Ayurvedic Clinic 

Adabari, Guwahati, A. T. Road, 

Guwahati University H O, Ghy-781014 

Phone No - 9859931193 

Nizami & Sons 

Lakhtokia, Lakhtokia, Guwahati -781001 

Phone No - 03612516279 


House No 2, Bokul Path, Bhagadutta Pur, 

Beltola, Guwahati – 781028 

Phone No – 99575-69061 


1st Floor Shiva Complex, 

Basisth Chariali, Nutan Bazaar, Basistha, 

Guwahati - 781029, 

Phone No – 94351-26900 


House No 192 1st Floor, Cycle Factory 

Tinali Kalapahar, Gopinathnagar, 

Guwahati - 781016, 

Phone No – 94350-12539 


Bharti Stores, Bamunimaidan, 


Phone No - +919435549961 

DEAD BODY CARRYING VAN 

GLP Social Circle 2737373, 9435047046 

Marowari Yuva Manch 2542074, 2547251 

GGUMTA 98640-16740 

ELECTRICITY 

SUPPLY 

Call Centre – 

9678005171 

OTHERS 

Fire Emergency 101 

State Zoo 2201363 

GMC Carcass Pickup 9435190720, 

9864047222 

LPG Emergency/Leakage 2385209, 

2541118 

Cinema Hall 

Anuradha Cineplex – 0361-2656968, 99545-44738 

Fun Cinema (HUB)- 98648-00100, 98648-00200 

Gold Cinema (Paltan Bazaar) – 98540-66166 

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

Gold Cinema (Narengi) – 88110-01898 

RADIO TAXI SERVICES 

Prime Cabs 

0361- 2222233 

Green Cabs 

0361-7151515 

My Taxi 

0361-2228888 

Cherry Cabs 

8876222288 

Other Herbal Associates 

D D Shopping Centre, Manipuri Basti, 

Bharalupar, Guwahati – 781007 

Phone No - (0361 ) 2637654 

Pareek Ayurvedic Bhawan 

Bara Bazar Market, Pandu Road, Maligaon, 


Phone No – 0361-2574433 

Patanjali Chikitsalaya- 

191, 1st Floor, Behind MLA Hostel, Hatigaon 

Road, Ganeshguri, Guwahati – 781006 

Phone No - +919864082225 


2nd Floor G M Tower, M S Rd, Fancy Bazar, 

Guwahati - 781001 

Phone No – 99547-10807, 0361-2731462 

Sashikanta 

Bezbarua MEM Ayurvedic Inst 

Mother Teresa Road, Bamunimaidan, 

Guwahati – 781021, Phone No – 98640-63275 

Shri Bajrang Ayurvedic 

Bhawan Guwahati 

M S Rd,Fancybazar, Guwahati GPO, 


Phone No - 0361-2547789 

Shri Bajarang Ayurved Bhawan 

M S Road, Fancybazar, Guwahati GPO, 


Phone No – 0361-2608479 

Suklas Vesaj Suraksha 

A K Azad Road, Rehabari, Guwahati - 781008 

Phone No - 0361-2229159, 9957821497 

SP, Kamrup District: Ph- 2540278 

DGP Control Room: Ph- 2540242 

SB Control Room: Ph-2261511 

Police Control Room: Ph-2540138, 

2540113 

Azara PS: Ph2840287 

Basista PS: Ph-2302158 

Bharalumukh PS: Ph- 2540137, 

2731199 

Borjhar PS: Ph-2840351 

Chandmari PS: Ph- 2660204 

Chandrapur PS: Ph-2788237, 

2785237 

Dispur PS: Ph-2261510 

Fancybazar PS: Ph- 2540285 

police station 

Fatasil Ambari PS: Ph-2471412 

Geetanagar PS: Ph-2417323 

Hatigaon: Ph-2562383 

Jalukbari PS: Ph-2570587 

Jalukbari Out Post: Ph-2570522 

Jorabat: Ph-2896853 

Khanapara: Ph- 2281501 

Khetri PS: Ph-2787699, 2787220 

Latasil PS: Ph-2540136 

Noonmati PS: Ph- 2550281 

North Guwahati PS: Ph-2690255 

Paltanbazar PS: Ph-2540126 

Panbazar PS: Ph-2540106 

Pragjyotishpur Ps: Ph-2785237 

Women PS Panbazar: Ph-2524627

24 

Catching Up 

McKayla Maroney 

WHO’S SHE 

McKayla Rose Maroney is an American 

artistic gymnast. She is a vaulting and 

floor exercise specialist. At the 2011 World 

Championships, she won gold medals in the 

team and vault competitions. 

SO WHAT 

She was a member of the gold medalwinning 

U.S. women’s gymnastics team 

at the 2012 Summer Olympics and was 

the 2012 Olympic vault silver medalist. 

She defended her World title and won the 

gold medal on vault at the 2013 World 

Championships, becoming the first 

US female gymnast to defend a World 

Championships vault title. 

Now what 

In March, Maroney underwent surgery 

on her knee. Maroney was featured on 

the cover of the April issue of Inside 

Gymnastics. She has expressed her 

interest to upgrade both of her vaults 

in the coming year in International 

Gymnast magazine. 

G PLUS JUN 14 - JUN 20, 2014 

Headlining acts! 

Indiana doctor allegedly traded drugs for sex 

The extinct influenza virus that caused the worst flu pandemic in history has been recreated 

from fragments of avian flu found in wild ducks in a controversial experiment to 

show how easy it would be for the deadly flu strain to reemerge today. Scientists said the 

study involved infecting laboratory ferrets with close copies of the 1918 virus – which 

was responsible for the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people 

– to see how easy it can be transmitted in the best animal model of the human disease. 

Sepp Blatter 

WHO’S HE 

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter is a Swiss football 

administrator who serves as the eighth 

and current President of FIFA (Fédération 

Internationale de Football Association). 

He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding 

João Havelange. He was re-elected as 

President in 2002, 2007 and 2011. 

American scientists controversially 

recreate deadly Spanish Flu virus 

The extinct influenza virus that 

caused the worst flu pandemic in 

history has been recreated from 

fragments of avian flu found in wild 

ducks in a controversial experiment 

to show how easy it would be for the 

deadly flu strain to reemerge today. 

Scientists said the study involved infecting 

laboratory ferrets with close 

copies of the 1918 virus – which 

was responsible for the Spanish Flu 

pandemic that killed an estimated 50 

million people – to see how easy it 

can be transmitted in the best animal 

model of the human disease. 

SO WHAT 

Since 1975, Blatter has been working 

at FIFA, first as Technical Director 

(1975–1981), then General Secretary 

(1981–1998), before his election as FIFA 

President in 1998. He was re-elected as 

head of FIFA in 2002, and was re-elected 

unopposed for another four years on 31 

May 2007, even though only 66 of 207 

FIFA members nominated him. 

Now what 

Sepp Blatter was given an extraordinary 

mandate to carry on as FIFA president 

for as long as he wants as he declared he 

is ready to stand for a fifth term next year. 

This followed FIFA Congress delegates 

voting overwhelmingly against age and 

term limits for existing officials, paving the 

way for 78-year-old Blatter to lead world 

football’s ruling body as an octogenarian 

and beyond. 

pick of the week 

India became a permanent member of the Washington Accord, 

which would enable global recognition of Indian degrees 

and increase the mobility of engineers to the USA and 

other countries for jobs. The accord requires that member 

nations set up suitable accreditation standards which would 

ensure a minimum quality of attainment for their engineering 

graduates. India, which has been a provisional member 

of Washington Accord since 2007, was working for several 

years to become a permanent member. 

What did I just hear? 

In Indonesia, a woman gave birth to a live gecko. 

The authorities in Indonesia are actually taking 

this rather seriously even going as far as launching 

an official investigation into the incident. 

After some probing, it was suggested that the 

woman, already a mother of two human children, 

was suffering from pseudocyesis, or phantom 

pregnancy, with an empty womb. 

Kamur of the week 

Fake football fans: With the start of the World Cup, the 

number of fans of the beautiful game has also suddenly increased 

manifolds. Don’t bother if you suddenly hear your 

IPL crazy cousin talking about Neymar’s dribble, Suarez’s 

bite or Pirlo’s midfield mastery. Just ignore and let the wannabes 

enjoy their moment in the Sun.. 

Printed & Published by Sunit Jain on behalf of Insight Brandcom Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Arkashish Publications (P) Ltd., Katahbari, Garchuk, Guwahati and Published at H/No. 34, K. C. Choudhury Road, Chatribari, Guwahati - 781008, Editor: Koushik Hazarika. 

Phone: 0361 2737737, Email: info@g-plus.in, RNI No: ASSENG/2013/52641

G Plus Vol 1 Isuue 37

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