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| Sunday,
November 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Rent Act amendment to boost real estate Chandigarh, November 9 The experts in the real estate market claim that during the past few years Chandigarh has emerged as a major trading centre, only second to Delhi in North India. However, due to limited space for expansion and age-old Rent Act, neither genuine buyers were able to find commercial properties in the ‘right’ location, nor land lords were able to gain from the economic boom. Even the Municipal Corporation was losing heavily in house tax and stamp duty due to lower rent of the properties. Mr Amarjit Sethi, general secretary, Chandigarh Nagrik Sabha and a leading real estate agent, who was leading a movement to get the Act amended for the past over one decade, said,‘‘ A section of traders has been exploiting the landlords through obsolete Act. They are still paying rent as low as Rs 400 to Rs 500 per month, for showrooms in major commercial sectors, including Sector 17, 19, 21, 22, 27, 28, 35 and others, where the actual rents are in the range of Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 per month. Interestingly, these tenants used to demand ‘pagri’ of up to Rs 1 crore, if the land lord wanted to sell property to other buyer.’’ Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, president and Mr Tej Bans Johar, vice-president of the Nagrik Sabha, respectively claim that the Administration has taken a right decision by amending the Act. Hailing the decision, they claim that the move will free thousands of properties in these sectors. Mr Sethi says the income of MC from house tax, stamp duty, usage charge will increase by crores of rupees annually due to this single step. Political parties and traders associations, instead of opposing the move, should view it in a broader perspective. The property dealers admit that major IT and other consumer durable companies have opened up their regional head quarters in the city and they are looking for suitable properties for their showrooms, and rented accommodation for their staff. However, they are unable to find properties in suitable areas due to non-availability. Among others, Phillips,
Whirlpool, Samsung, HFCL and Max India, AirTel, BSNL and various other companies are said to be paying much higher rent as compared to those traders, who are still occupying properties
without doing any work at all. They say that the move may attract IT and other companies to invest in the city, who have so far opened their offices in SAS Nagar and Panchkula. Mr H.S. Awasthi, a leading advocate in rental cases, admits that courts would no more be able to delay the vacancy of property. The rents would be governed by the Contract Rent Deed between the landlord and tenant as practiced in all developed countries. He says that genuine tenants will be able to find suitable residential and commercial properties at market rates. The experts say that it will also enable NRIs, old couples and others to offer their houses on rent that are lying vacant for the past many years. |
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Special revision of electoral rolls begins
Chandigarh, November 9 All facilities for inclusion of names and making other corrections, modifications, including change of address, will be available at the office of the Electoral Registration Officer from November 7 to 30. Help can also be availed of from the office of the Election Department at phone number 704917. Eligible voters whose names have not been included in the electoral rolls can file their claims with the office of the Election Department on all working days between November 7 and 30. Documents relating to proof of age and proof of residence will have to be submitted along with the application. Prescribed forms are available free of cost at the Election Department and the polling stations. Eligible voters can also file claims regarding corrections in the electoral rolls or photo identity cards.  |
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Evening OPD deadline: decision on Monday Chandigarh, November 9 During his last visit to the city, Mr Sinha had taken the PGI authorities by surprise by announcing December 1 to be the date when the evening OPD would be introduced in the PGI. Even still, senior officials of the PGI are clueless about the development. The PGI authorities, when contacted, said the Staff Council would meet on Monday to discuss the issue. No detail was given on whether the PGI would be able to meet the deadline or not. The given dates for the introduction of the evening OPDs in Safdarjung Hospital and the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences of New Delhi are December 1 and 7, respectively. The PGI Director, Dr S.K. Sharma, had, earlier, said he would meet the minister to discuss the issue, as a number of problems needed to be sorted out before the PGI could introduce the evening OPD. A lot of infrastructure and additional medical staff and equipment were needed before this could happen, said senior doctors of the PGI. The doctors said the evening OPD would reduce the burden on the PGI Emergency, but the existing staff could not take up the additional responsibility. Sources said additional staff, X-ray machines, ultrasound machines and the other equipment were needed for the new facility. In New Delhi, doctors were being hired on contract to treat visitors to the evening OPDs. The PGI authorities were reluctant to introduce the facility, as, being a referral hospital, the institute was receiving patients from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttaranchal and parts of Rajasthan. There were fears that the research work in the PGI would suffer after the introduction of this facility. |
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Catch the buzz on FM radio from today Chandigarh, November 9 “There is a large untapped potential for radio in this region and our mission is to popularise this hitherto neglected media for a new brand experience both for the listeners as well as the advertisers’’, says Charanjit Singh, director of Musitainment Network. Musitainment is at the moment focusing on high quality radio productions, voice-overs for corporate multimedia presentations. The technical operations are spearheaded by the US-trained professional broadcaster, Hardeep S.
Chandpuri, who has returned from Canada especially for this venture. ‘‘The entire production is digital to deliver high quality audio to the listeners and the genre of programmes that we have conceived for the advertisers are completely customised to suit their target audience and fell the impact of radio advertising’’, he says. Starting from Sunday, two half-an-hour programmes musical programmes shall be aired on the All India Radio 103.1 FM from 10.05 a.m. One of the programmes has been sponsored by Worldwide Immigration Consultancy Services which shall feature dedication and requests from the Indians who have immigrated to other countries. Radio, as a medium, has had a low advertising spend accounting for just 2 per cent of the total of Rs 9,000 crore of advertising spent last
year. Charanjit and Hardeep, both alumni of Panjab University’s Department of Mass Communications, have been into radio production for the past several years, and have set up a completely digital studio, named
RadioBuzz, to handle their productions. Listeners can log on to www.myradiobuzz.com to send requests. |
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Trains
suspended Chandigarh, November 9 Sources in the Railways claim that the trains have been suspended
for transporting the troops stationed at the border areas back to
their original location. Officially, the authorities give a
different reason. According to Additional Divisional Railways
Manager (Ambala division) B.K. Sonawane, the trains had been
suspended because of fog in the Lucknow-Muradabad sector. |
Man bears brunt of failed transplant Chandigarh, November 9 His wife, Neeru, says their happiness after the transplant at PGI on September 9 proved to be shortlived as complications started developing, forcing the doctors to remove the kidney. “You tell me, sitting here far away from our native village Sonitpur in Tezpur district, should I take care of my ailing husband or arrange the huge amount required not just for the transplant but also for buying a kidney from a donor,” she says wiping the blood oozing from her husband’s wound from the operation. Ever since their arrival here, they have taken up accommodation in Sector 15. “With my husband’s wound simply not healing up, our relatives back home in Assam are looking for a donor with O negative blood group, even though the money for it has to be arranged,” says Neeru. Back home, 50-year-old Kartik has a grocery shop, which has been lying closed since he fell ill. With help not coming in from any quarter, the Assamese couple wrote to the Union Health Minister and the UT Administrator for help. In response to their intervention, the PGI assured that free medicines and subsidised charges would be made, but refused to get his dialysis done on the pretext that he was no longer admitted to the hospital. “Even though I do not know what went wrong with my transplant, since then I have got done 22 dialysis from a private place,” says Kartik. The PGI authorities, when asked about the details of Kartik’s case and how frequently the transplant failed, said the query did not merit an answer. It was on June 1 this year that the couple landed in the city after they had heard that treatment at the PGI was good and comparatively cheaper. “Our misfortune doesn’t seem to be leaving us as on way to Chandigarh, we lost all medical reports and case history, as a result of which we had to spend a huge amount for getting it done all over again,” says Kartik. It was on September 9 that the transplant was done after Kartik’s younger brother, Karan, donated a kidney to save his life. It was with great difficulty that they managed to arrange Rs 2.50 lakh for the transplant by selling off their plot and pooling in their entire savings. After Kartik’s condition deteriorated, the doctor removed the kidney on October 4. “It is only if somebody comes forward to donate a kidney that my dream of taking my husband hale and hearty back to Assam can be fulfilled as apart from him I have no one else in this world,” she says, still not losing hope. |
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Martyrdom day of Capt Kaushal on November 11 Panchkula, November 9 The 27- year- old officer from 12 Rashtriya Rifles had attained martyrdom on November 11, while fighting Afghan militants in Gandoh area of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir. The Government of India honoured him posthumously with gallantry award, Sena Medal, in recognition of his gallant action in making this supreme sacrifice. Rohit had an intense desire to serve his motherland and left a course in engineering to join the Army, says his father, Mr. S.S. Kaushal. After Rohit was commissioned on June 9, 1990, he opted for the infantry as he felt he could serve the motherland better here. Capt. Rohit was to get married on November 27, 1995, and was expected to proceed on leave from November 15. But fate had other plans in store for him. On the fateful night of November 10 and 11, he raided the hide-outs of militants along with his contingent. During the encounter, he laid down his life fighting courageously . In order to commemorate his martyrdom, his parents have constituted Shaheed Capt. Rohit Charitable Trust, which extends financial assistance to poor and deserving students by way of stipends and scholarships. A memorial has also been raised in his memory at Jalauli village, which has now been handed over to district administration. The state government has also named the Government High School, Jalauli, after the name of the martyr and the school has been rechristened Shaheed Rohit Kaushal Government High School, Jalauli. A road in Sector 12 here has also been named after him. |
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With soft drink, get impurities free Chandigarh, November 9 Kawardeep Singh, a class X student of St. Annes Convent School, Sector 32, said the can was a part of a Divali gift. When I started pouring the cold drink in a glass, the black substance also came along,” claimed Kawardeep. Harman Jivtesh of Vivek High School, Sector 38, and Chiranjiv Singh of St. Johns, Sector 26, said they poured the cold drink back in the can and packed the black substance in a small polythene bag. According to them, the can was purchased from a city market by a relative, who later gifted it to Kanwardeep. |
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Children’s Day to go commercial Chandigarh, November 9 But who will be giving gifts to the little ones? St Valentines’ Day one can understand. Lovers exchange gifts for exhibiting their affection for each other. Isn’t it improbable that children will present gifts to one another? “Yes, children do get pocket money, no doubt about it,” says schoolteacher Radhika Bhasin, “but chances are very less that they will spend precious money for buying gifts. Such generosity cannot be expected from children. It is the parents who would be buying gifts for their little ones”. Parents? Why would they buy presents for their children? Don’t they do enough for their sons and daughters otherwise also, like sending them to school, buying uniforms for them and other stuff they demand? “In today’s world of materialism, gestures are not enough,” Ms Bhasin adds. “Something concrete, like gifts, are required. Little wonder, the elders have to express their feelings through gifts”. This is not all. Competition among children also makes it necessary for the parents to buy something or the other for their children. “If your child comes and says that the boy next door has been gifted a cycle by his father on the occasion of Children’s Day, you too are forced to buy something or the other for your child, that’s the way it is”, says the Principal of DAV School, Sector 15, Mr Rakesh Sachdeva. “Sometimes, it becomes a prestige issue. A status symbol too”, he adds. There is another reason behind the phenomenon. “A large number of families in the city are nuclear, with both parents working,” Mr Sachdeva adds. “As a result, interaction between parents and children is almost negligible. Whatever little free time they get from their busy schedule goes into pampering the children. In such cases, saying no becomes nearly impossible as the parents look for opportunities of exhibiting their love”, he says. Whatever the reason, the gift shops are full of cute and cuddly teddy bears, besides adorable dolls. “You can also purchase nice little boxes of chocolates and toffees wrapped in bright
cellophane papers tied with cheerful ribbons,” says Tribhuvan, working with a Sector 35 card and gift shop. “Toys, including guns and remote-controlled cars, are also being purchased. Some of the shops are also offering cards for the occasion”, he says. |
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READERS WRITE THE
uncontrolled flow of migrant labour to Chandigarh is a drag on the civic amenities, medical and educational facilities of this wonderful city. Politicians are encouraging this to increase their vote banks and bureaucrats get a pat on their back for floating so many schemes for the uplift of the poor. In addition to funds from the Centre and the state, foreign aid is doled out by different funding agencies for poverty alleviation. Chandigarhians are fed up with continued increase in property tax, water cess, power tariff and other local taxes. Most of the streetlights do not function here. The day is not far when Chandigarh will have frequent power cuts and water scarcity. All the government hospitals are chocked with patients coming from far-flung areas of other states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. They are attracted by good medical facilities available in our city which their own state governments are unable to provide. The tuberculosis centre in Sector 22 Polytechnic is filled up with patients from outside Chandigarh. Chandigarh has seen a resurgence of long forgotten diseases like plague, leprosy, cholera etc. in recent times. There should be a registration system of local residents at an annual fee with government hospitals. Only registered local people should be allowed to avail themselves of these facilities. Others should be made to pay the market price for treatment and other facilities. The state government concerned should only take care of those residing in its territorial limits. The same is the case with educational facilities. Earlier, migrants to Chandigarh used to come without families in search of employment. But now they have started bringing in their families as it has become easier for them to get a place to live in the slums around the city; the government also encouraged them by giving them shops (in rehri markets) at concessional rates. There is no limit as to how many cycle rickshaws Chandigarh roads can take. The rickshaw-pullers do not follow traffic rules. As there are no separate lanes for slow traffic (wherever there are, cyclists do not use them) which Ms Kiran Bedi had planned for the city and educated the local population, driving on Chandigarh roads has become very difficult these days. It is time the government took some prompt measures to restore the beauty of Chandigarh. It must reduce the number of cycle rickshaws, start permit system for labourers coming to Chandigarh, make contractors, shopkeepers employing them responsible for housing them. It should ban roadside businesses set up by barbers, tea vendors, vegetable and fruit sellers. We do not need their services as Chandigarh is (or was) a planned city with market place for almost all sectors. Stop constructing pucca booths for rehriwallahs at concessional rates. Somebody has to put a stop now. Chandigarh can’t be stretched beyond its limits. Chandigarhians do miss officers like Ms Kiran Bedi who could put some order in this city which is no more beautiful. MRS
P. SINGH, Norah Richards Apropos of the report (Chandigarh Tribune, Oct 29) about the festival of Andretta (HP), Sukant Deepak has described Norah Richards to be a Norwegian. Norah was an Irish living in Lahore where her husband Prof Phillips Earnest Richard was a teacher in Dyal Singh College. She took keen interest in extra-curricular activities of students of her husband and taught them the art of dramatic art. As far back as 1913-14, Norah persuaded young men like Ishwar Chander Nanda to write and enact plays in their mother tongue. She happened to be the great grandmother of Punjabi drama, and will be remembered as such so long as Punjabi theatre lives. Norah bequeathed a major part of her estate named Woodlands Retreat in Andretta (and not Andretta as spelled by the correspondent) to Punjabi University, Patiala. This established her relation with the Theatre Department of Punjabi University which organises a festival every year on October 29 which is her birthday. DR
(MRS) KAMLESH UPPAL Corrupt to the core I do not belong to any political party or group. I am sorry to write that most of our present-day politicians are corrupt to the core. They are lacking in moral values and integrity. They seem to be much more interested to read their names and see their photos in the print and electronic media. If India is to emerge as a clean and corruption-free country, we need to have a strong military rule at least for some time. What we have today are only men of straw, but not like the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He died at a time when his services were most needed. Good governance is the need of the hour. And good governance means taking care of people’s problems and not to make them uncomfortable. Dr U. S.BANSAL |
Woman commits suicide Chandigarh, November 9 Yesterday evening, she hanged herself with a saree from the ceiling. The room was found locked from inside and a glass windowpane was broken to enter the room. VCD STOLEN: A video compact disk player has been stolen from a mini bus, which was parked at Punjab Vidhan Sabha parking lot. The police has registered a case on a complaint of Mr Bikram Singh, Under Secretary for Secretary Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Civil Secretariat (WWO Branch). MAID ACCUSED: Ms Devinder Kaur, a resident of Sector 9, has accused her maid servant Nasib Kaur, of stealing a gold and diamond jewellery. The maid is a native of Naya Kila village, Faridkot district, Punjab. CARS STOLEN: An unknown persons has stolen a Maruti car (CH01C 0659) of Mr Madan Lal Gupta, a resident of Sector 23. The theft took place on Friday. Maruti car (CH03C 2906) of Mr Om Prakash Gupta, a resident of Sector 46, was stolen from his residence on the night of November 7 and 8. Mr B.K Gupta, a resident of Sector 61 reported with the police that a man-hole cover has been stolen from his residence. Four cases of theft have been registered. BEATEN UP: Mr Lakhbir Singh, a resident of Sector 30, was injured and admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, after allegedly being beaten by Chottu and others. A case has been registered under Sections 147, 149 and 323 of the IPC. CASES REGISTERED: During the past 24 hours, at least two cases under Section 3 of the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act of West Bengal 1976 has been registered against two persons for pasting posters on public property. The cases have been registered against Arun Kumar of Sarswati district, UP and Narinder Sikri of Sector 22, Chandigarh. AMBALA CHAIN SNATCHED: Two scooter-borne youths robbed ‘mangalsutra’ of a woman in Ambala Cantt on Friday. According to information, Ms Neeta Khera, president of the women cell of the state BJP, was on her way to a function when the youths snatched her ‘mangalsutra’, costing around Rs 15,000. A case has been registered by the police. However, this is not the first incident of chain-snatching in the area. About six such incidents have been reported during the past three months. DEAD: A resident of Khanpur village, who had sustained serious injuries in a road accident, died in the PGI on Friday. According to a police report, Raj Kumar was injured when an unknown vehicle hit him a few days back. The police has registered a case. PANCHKULA SNATCHED: Unknown miscreants allegedly snatched a gold chain from Ms Jyoti Sona in Sector 8 on Friday. The accused fled the spot after snatching the chain. The police has registered a case under Section 356 of
IPC. |
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Friend by accident, rapist by intent SAS Nagar, November 9 The accused, Raman Sidhu, had reportedly coaxed his ‘friend’, a resident of Phase II, into meeting him on his factory premises in Industrial Area here where she was allegedly raped by him. According to sources, the victim decided to keep quite about the whole thing till her friend was also involved into an affair by the accused. The accused reportedly coaxed the second girl into posing nude for photographs. Later, she told about it to her parents who lodged a complaint with the police. The police has registered a case, but the accused is absconding. According to sources, the girls had met the accused some months ago when he helped them in an accident situation. Later, he became friendly with one of the girls while he established sisterly relations with the other girl. The girl whom he called his friend stated that the accused forced her into having a physical relationship with him. Sources also inform that the accused was accompanied by his helper who drove the accused from Kharar to SAS Nagar. The police is also looking for the helper. |
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Two held on theft charge Chandigarh, November 9 According to the police, in September, Suresh Kumar and Tej Bahadur, both residents of Colony No.5 borrowed motor cycle from one of their friends. They returned the vehicle (CH03-1036) without registration certificate. They reportedly told the vehicle owner that the RC had been lost. Later, they borrowed a Bajaj Caliber motor cycle (CH03E 2176) from their another friend, Mr Ajay Pal Singh, and got a duplicate key of the vehicle made. They returned the vehicle to the owner. On October 10, they stole the motor cycle of Mr Pal from a Sector 22 market. They took the motor cycle to Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh for selling it off. They found a customer but the customer, got suspicious and he reported about it to the UT IGP through a fax message. The police investigated the matter and the duo was arrested. |
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Jilted, girl ends life Panchkula, November 9 According to information, the girl was reportedly having an affair with Gulzar who belonged to a village dera. This dera is reportedly situated near the jhuggis where the girl was staying. The duo began an affair a couple of months back and reportedly grew close to each other. The police said after the girl got pregnant, their affair became public. A panchayat was called to discuss the issue. Village elders decided that the duo should get married. The incident took place in July when the girl was five months pregnant. The boy, however, said he was not in a condition to marry because of financial constraints and bought time with the village elders. Gulzar was asked to fomalise the marriage after the baby was born. The victim gave birth to a daughter earlier this week. However, instead of honouring the promise, Gulzar refused to marry her and as pressure mounted, he fled away. The victim, who was unable to bear with this betrayal, reportedly ended her life on November 7. The father of the victim, Musa Khan, then approached the police and a case under Section 356 of the IPC has been registered against Gulzar at the Pinjore police station. |
MARKET PULSE Chandigarh, November 9 PVC-U SWR pipes and fittings are uniquely designed products which are manufactured conforming to IS:13592. The products are available in three sizes: 75mm, 110mm & 160mm diameter for the construction industry and offer a choice of solvent cement or rubber ring jointing. Finolex SWR systems are UV stabilised, rodent repellent and chemically inert to all acids and alkalies. Says Mr Vivek Khandekar, president, Finolex Industries Ltd “We have always focused our efforts to provide customer and application oriented products to ensure trouble free performances. PVC-U SWR sanitation systems’ uniqueness lies in its design, which offers dual jointing technique, viz. rubber ring jointing and solvent cement jointing. This option enables the customer to use the more economical and time tested method of solvent cement jointing, with an option of using Ringfit jointing only where required specifically. We hope to capture a large portion of PVC pipes market in North India with this launch.” Simply RedPaint the town red with “Simply Red”, a scintillating collection by Pepe Jeans, London, that is raging this season. Red is the hot colour of this season. It excites and evokes passion and Pepe Jeans conjurers have stirred the spirit of red that has caught on like a rage in Europe and is all set to sweep the Indians off their feet. The colour rouge, trips the Pepe Jeans autumn/winter palette with impressive interplay of latest global designs, comfort and quality for individualist youth who know what they want and know how to wear it. Casual yet trendy cuts in broken twill and dirty denim lycra fabrics are the styles to flaunt this season. Neat classic cuts and evergreen sporty college casual styles for that perfect fit and the cutest look add a fashion flourish. The “Simply Red” collection is available at all leading outlets in Chandigarh. |
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Industries body issues show-cause notices SAS Nagar, November 9 In a press conference organised by the association’s office-bearers, the president, Mr B.S. Baidwan, had stated that they would be expelled from the membership of the association in case they were not able to provide a satisfactory answer within 10 days of the receipt the notice. These members are: Mr Tarsem Bansal, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, Mr R.P. Singh, Mr R.K. Goel, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, Mr Yogesh Sagar and Mr Gurkirpal Singh. They had been creating ‘‘unnecessary troubles for the association even since the present office-bearers took over, but as long it was within the framework of a battle of words and letters, it was acceptable but since now they have stooped to activities like trying to capture the office premises etc, strict action like expulsion is being considered’’, said Mr Baidwan. In less than a fortnight back, Mr Bansal along with his supporters had tried to take over the working of the association by gaining control over the office premises. Mr Bansal and his group have been alleging that Mr Baidwan and other office-bearers of the association have taken office without the process of elections and were thus not acceptable to be the leaders of the association. The present office-bearers however, state that the process by which they were given extension had earlier been laid down by the constitution of the association. They also explained that the annual general body meeting, which the other group considers invalid, was in fact held following the rules laid down for holding such meetings. |
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All about microwave cooking Chandigarh, November 9 However, equipped with a post graduate in hotel management in catering and Nutrition her horizon is much broader. She is also running her own institute in New Delhi where she trains young boys and girls in managing a home. “Initially when I opened Googly’s, in 1997, my students were young girls, about to get married and wanting to learn about home management. Now we get enough young executives, ready to learn Indian cooking before going abroad.” “Earlier, the importance of home management and cooking was undermined as it was considered a boring and lowly job, meant for suppressed ladies. Now, with women working at par with men, this neglected part of life needs to be more organised to make life stress-free for both men and women,” said Mr Monga, her chartered accountant husband. |
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