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New Act, economic boom led to high Chandigarh, December 12 Prices touched a new high this week when a
three-bay (561 square yards) showroom in Sector 34 was sold for Rs
6.90 crore. On the residential front, a 500 square yard plot was sold
for a whopping Rs 1.02 crore and a five-marla (125 sq yards) plot was
sold for an unprecedented Rs 37 lakh. Last year, plots of same sizes
were costing 35 per cent less. In total, the Administration netted Rs
101 crore in three days by auctioning commercial and residential
property. At the auction many looked in awe as the man who bid for
the SCO at a whopping Rs 6.90 crore raised his hand. A year ago, a
similar sized showroom had been sold for Rs 3.34 crore. So why this
baffling jump to double the prices? Experts in the field give
several reasons. Feel good factor of the economy, easy availability of
loans, changing profile of the city as an investment destination,
freehold property, the virtual abolition of the Rent Control Act and
the Apartment Act. In the past five years there has been a virtual
turnaround in the property prices. Mr Amarjit Singh Sethi, a real
estate adviser, says one big factor is the Apartment Act. Builders are
buying properties and making apartments for sale to earn a profit by
selling the property on a floor-wise basis. Besides this, says Mr
Sethi, the NRIs, who were not investing earlier, are now coming as the
return is very high. At present, NRI deposits do not give the returns
which were possible five years ago. The Finance Secretary of
Chandigarh, Mr Karan Avatar Singh, says he is happy with the
collections. Mr Manjit Singh Khokkhar, who has come to settle down
here, says the city is emerging as the new hub of information
technology and holds promise as an investment destination. Besides
this, the city has the highest per capita annual income of
approximately Rs 48,000 and is one of the planned cities of the
country offering a quality life and ambience unrivalled by any other
city. Chandigarh had seen a steady rise in property prices but the
virtual abolition of the Rent Act has done the trick, says Khokkhar.
For instance, in 1998 or '99 a one-kanal house in northern sectors
was being sold between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 70 lakh. About three years
ago, the prices a of one-kanal plot in the southern sectors was
between Rs 55 lakh and Rs 60 lakh. Similarly, in 1998 and 1999 a
five-marla house was now available between Rs 18 lakh and Rs 20 lakh
and now only the plot is being sold for Rs 37 lakh. The president of
the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, Mr Jagdish Arora, says the prices are
rising due to easy availability of bank loans and the returns over
investment in property. The property being freehold instead of
leasehold has also helped. However, he feels, the rents will not rise
sharply. Giving an example, Mr Sethi says a man who purchased a site
in Sector 34 for Rs 6.90 crore can easily convert the upper three
storeys into a restaurant-cum-lodging by paying the Rs 600 per square
feet conversion charge. This will work out to be much cheaper than had
he bid for hotel site at the same spot.
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K.L. Arora’s son, grandson remanded Sector-level panchayats
The police today launched a scheme for having sector level panchayats. A meeting of representatives of various resident welfare and senior citizen associations and police officers was called by the Superintendent of Police, Mr Mohammad Akil, in the evening in this regard. The police suggested that a body of residents be nominated in each sector, to act as an interface between the residents and the police. It was decided that each association should set up a committee comprising four to eight members, who would be called special security officers. Mr Akil said these officers would be issued identity cards and they would interact with the police on behalf of the residents. Other than this, the committee will also help the police in carrying out verification drives in their localities. Panchkula, December 12 Earlier, the CJM ordered that the duo be sent in police custody till December 17, while accepting the arguments of the state counsel that the triple murder was done with property as the motive. The prosecution, while requesting for seven days police remand, pleaded that the police had to recover certain documents related to the property of K.L. Arora, and his fixed deposits, which had been kept in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, to establish the
above said. The defence counsel, while arguing their case, had said the police had no conclusive proof that they were involved in the gruesome murders. He said it was Amit Arora who out of sheer concern for his grandfather and aunt had gone to their Sector 4 house to check on them on Monday night, as no one was answering the telephone. They had informed the police and had been cooperating with it. The defence counsel further said Dr Vinod and Amit were being framed by the police. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police, Mr Mohammad Akil, today held meetings with the police team investigating the case. He said the brothers of Parveen, Mr Chander Sharma and Mr Maninder Sharma, had been asked to give affidavits to the police. When asked about the progress of police investigation, Mr Akil said the police had not yet found conclusive proof to nail them but prima facie they appear to be the suspects.
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Pharma giants in drug control net Panchkula, December 12 A survey conducted by Mr Dhawan revealed that companies like Ranbaxy, Lupin, Wockhardt, Nicholas, Biological E. Limited, Micro Labs, Sidmark Laboratories Limited and Sanat Products Limited were marketing and selling costly products containing several vitamins, minerals, amino-acids, metals, herbs, etc., under the label of “dietary supplements”, “nutritional supplements”, “medicinal foods”, etc. The companies doing this are incorporating sub-therapeutic doses (lower than the medicinal dose) of vitamins, amino acids, minerals etc., just to evade the regulatory laws under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. An official press note said all such costly non-medicinal products were available at chemist shops and companies have been utilising the services of medical practitioners to promote these products by way of medical prescriptions. The personnel appointed by these companies mislead the medical practitioners and present only the useful features of such products in post-operative convalescence, pregnancy and post-illness conditions. For the sake of evading the drug laws these companies normally obtain permission from the respective food controlling authorities of the government. Ironically, except for a handful, most of the ingredients used in such dietary supplements do not fall under the scope of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of India. The Drugs Inspector stated that public awareness was desirable against the use of such products, which, if consumed by a healthy person, may act as a placebo or may cause other side effects. |
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CBI to seek HC permission
in judges’ case Chandigarh, December 12 The information regarding important documents was passed to the court by CBI officials in the case involving the suspended Jalandhar’s Sessions Judge, Mr R.M Gupta, and the UT Judicial Magistrate, Mr S.S Bhardwaj. The two important documents for which the CBI would seek the permission, includes letters submitted by the CBI before the Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court, for seeking the written authorisation to lay the trap and also
the authorisation papers given by the Chief Justice to the CBI for the same purpose. While submitting reply before the UT CBI Special Judge, Mr R.S Baswana, acting on the application moved by Bhardwaj’s counsel for the supply of these documents, the CBI counsel said that the agency would seek necessary instructions from the High Court with regard to the fact whether these documents are to be relied upon by the prosecution as part of the report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code or not. Meanwhile, the court has accepted Bhardwaj’s plea, to supply the copy of the micro-cassettes containing his conversation with the complainant, Mr G.S. Samra, in the case. The court has asked the CBI to supply the search memo and seizure memo of the house of the accused at Sunam, in Sangrur district to the Bhardwaj’s counsel. The court has also told the CBI to inform the Bank that Bhardwaj and his family members have been allowed to use his account. Earlier, the DSP (CBI), Mr S.S. Sandhu, had filed a reply in the court stating that the CBI had no objection in supplying the micro cassettes regarding alleged conversation between the accused and the complainant to the accused’s counsel. Also the CBI has no objection in allowing the suspended judicial magistrate, S.S Bhardwaj, or his family members to operate the bank account at the ICICI bank. Mr Gupta has already been released on bail, while Mr Bhardwaj is presently lodged in Model Jail, Burail. |
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Case against ex-judge
cancelled Chandigarh, December 12 Giving clean chit to Mr Agnihotri and two others, the CBI had stated in its report submitted to the court that the investigation did not substantiate the allegation that K.C Garg had paid Rs 30 lakh to Justice M.R Agnihotri for securing allotment of the retail outlets at Doraha in Ludhiana. |
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ST officer lays claim to DSP’s post Chandigarh, December 12 Mr Negi, an ST officer from Himachal Pradesh, has approached the Central Administrative Tribunal for his promotion as a DSP under the reserved category for STs. The petition before the CAT was filed on Monday and the CAT has not yet issued any notice to the government in this regard. A copy of the petition, however, has been received by the police. The petition of Mr Negi have come in the wake of a recent Supreme Court judgement allowing reservation to SCs, STs and Other Backward Castes (OBCs) candidates from other states in Chandigarh, opening up opportunities for STs who have a negligible presence in the city. Mr Negi is believed to have stated he had not been considered in the pre-qualification list for the DSPs despite his being an ST candidate. The petition comes ahead of the Chandigarh Police making a detailed study as to how the decision of the court would affect the recruitment done in 1997 and 2002. During the survey, the police officials have found that at least two Scheduled Caste persons from 1997 batch and 13 from the 2002 batch might be affected when the Supreme Court judgement is implemented. Sources said during these recruitment drives candidates from other states had to make way for the local Scheduled Caste candidates despite having scored higher in the merit list. Now the status of those rejected would be restored and in such a case local candidates may have to face competition from candidates outside Chandigarh. However, experts say it would be difficult for the police to chuck out those who have already joined the force. The advertisement placed for selection in two cases would also become a bone of contention between those who were rejected and those selected in these recruitment drives. Sources in the police said if these persons were to be adjusted against 200 existing vacancies those who are still higher in the merit list would also have to be adjusted to honour natural justice. A view that the police will be able to absorb the “shock” from the judgement as it had 200 vacant posts also seems misconceived as the number of these posts would come down as backlog for the reserved categories would be filled due to availability of candidates from outside the state and the enlargement of the selection pool. The backlog in reserved categories existed because there were not enough eligible candidates. |
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No to probe into hotel site allotment Chandigarh, December 12 The Finance and Contract Committee of the corporation, at its meeting on October 18, had recommended a probe by the Vigilance Department. The recommendation was vetted by the General House at its meeting last month. Sources in the corporation said the Secretary, Local Self Government, in a communication to the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, had stated that there was no need to get the probe done as the Supreme Court had already decided on the matter. Regarding the action against the officer(s), the corporation had been asked to act on its own. The corporation had observed that laxity on the part of officials and elected representatives had resulted in the loss of over Rs 16 crore. The hotel site was auctioned by the then BJP-ruled corporation, led by Ms Kamla Sharma. The role of a former Additional Commissioner, Secretary and Chief Accounts Officer has come under the scanner in this regard. During the last General House meeting, the leader of the opposition, Mrs Kamla Sharma, had said it was wrong to blame the BJP for the loss. She said in 1997 there was pressure from the ruling group to generate funds to pay salaries to employees of the then newly constituted corporation. The hotel site was auctioned before its physical possession was handed over to the corporation by the Estate Office. |
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Online IT refunds hit block Chandigarh, December 12 In a number of cases, the refund advice of taxpayers sent by the Income Tax Department to banks was not being cleared as the encoding on the refund orders was not in accordance with the Magnetic Ink Code Recorder (MICR) facility being adopted by financial institutions. The MICR facility enables computerised clearance of cheques. To clear the confusion, refund order books of the Income Tax Department had to be changed in accordance with the system. A senior officer of the IT Department said members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had been apprised of the problem and steps were being taken. It is learnt that IT officers had been told that the new system would be applicable from next year. “With this in mind we have sent the refund advice to the respective banks of the tax payers without the specified coding. A professional handling the MICR system said banks could place the refund advice in an encoded envelope with the requisite information printed on it so that it could be cleared. Mr Lal Bhadhur Gupta, president of the Income Tax Bar Association, said steps should be taken to avoid in convenience to taxpayers. Sources said members of the CBDT had taken up the issue with the Finance Ministry. After the completion of the computerisation process, the IT Department would be in a position to receive information on IT deposits made by taxpayers at any of the 10,500 branches of banks in the country. The banks are to be connected with the National Computer Terminal, a central server of the department, which would further be linked to various offices of the department. |
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City Beautiful now also ‘Peace City’ Chandigarh, December 12 On the occasion, an impressive peace monument, erected at the Sukhna Lake, was unveiled by the Rotary International President, Mr Jonathan Majiyagbe. White pigeons were also released. Even as some architects and residents expressed concern over the construction of a monument at the lake on the ground that it was against the basic concept of Chandigarh, the Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator, Justice O.P. Verma, said there was nothing wrong with it as it was not a statue. The monument was designed by architect couple-cum-Rotarians Sandeep and Suchita Luthra. The two supervised its construction, besides fabrication of different elements, personally. The ceremony started around 11.20 am with the arrival of Mr Majiyagbe, followed by Justice Verma. |
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Get voter card made any day Chandigarh, December 12 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar, today said the work of preparation and issue of photo identity cards was going on to provide cards free of cost. For this purpose a permanent centre had been set up on the ground floor of the Election Department situated in the Additional Town Hall Building, near Estate Office, Sector 17. All those voters who had not obtained their cards could now have themselves photographed on any day, including Sunday. The cards would be given on the spot.
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Lieut-Col
K.D. Singh dead He was part of the UN contingent in Vietnam from 1960 to 62. He had settled down in Chandigarh after retirement. He is survived by his wife, Ms Mohanbir Kaur, son Ravi Inder Singh and daughters Indu Arvinder Singh and Soni Jasmeet Singh. A large number of retired Army officers, former judges and prominent lawyers of the city attended the cremation. The bhog will he held on Monday at house No.1002, Sector 27-B, at 11 am. |
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Security drill before Shekhawat’s visit Chandigarh, December 12 Mr Shekhawat will arrive in the city around 9.35 a.m. and he would be given a guard of honour by a contingent led by DSP S.S. Randhawa. The security arrangements have been made according to the Blue Book prescribing the security of the VIPs. The Vice-President is scheduled to visit Punjab University, Raj Bhavan, DAV College, Sector 10, and Rajasthan Bhavan in Sector 33.
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Captain’s family feels hurt Chandigarh, December 12 Mrs Sudesh Sharma, mother of the slain Captain, said today that it was painful to read in the newspapers that the college had missed out on the name of her son in the list of gallant soldiers who were alumni of the college. Captain Sharma had passed out from DAV college in 1989. He was the only son of his parents and the laying down of his life for the country was a big sacrifice, said Mrs Sharma. His father, Mr B.K. Sharma, died in 1991. The family lives in Sector 32. Captain Sharma had his schooling in St Anne’s School Sector 32. |
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READERS WRITE
I read Himmat Singh Gill's review of Harish Dhillon's ‘‘The Legend of Banda Bahadur’’ in The Tribune (dated December 7, 2003) with some degree of amusement. Dhillon has made it clear in his introduction that what he has written is a novel and not a book of history. Yet Gill objects to the book on the grounds that historians and those who like their historical accounts to be factual and bone dry may find it difficult to digest. In his final word on the book Gill writes ‘‘had Dhillon not combined history and his own hypotheses he would have had a pretty thought provoking book to his credit.’’ For one, as Dhillon says, the hypotheses are not his own. They belong to Ms Harbans Kaur Sagoo and Dr Hari Ram Gupta, some of the foremost scholars on Banda Bahadur. For another, Dhillon was not seeking to write a thought- provoking book but merely a novel that ‘‘seeks to bring Banda Bahadur alive,’’ a task he fulfills admirably. Come on Mr Gill, next time you set out to write about a pineapple put your preference for a banana aside — don't blame a novel for not being a history text book. Daljit Singh Dhadhwal,
II Apropos Himmat Singh Gill's review of Harish Dhillon's "The Legend of Banda Bahadur." Gill asks the SGPC to take up major work on Sikh history, folklore and religion in English and is dismissive of Dhillon's efforts in this area. It would perhaps interest the reviewer to know that Dhillon's book ‘‘Lives and Teaching of the Sikh Gurus’’ is now into its sixth edition while his ‘‘Love Stories from Punjab’’ is in its third edition and in both these successful books Dhillon has employed the technique that he has employed in ‘‘The Legend of Banda Bahadur’’ — a judicious mix of fact and fiction. A novel is a very different genre from a history book and the writer of a historical or biographical novel is permitted the licence of creating scenes and dialogues where he feels they are necessary as long as he does not violate the spirit and essence of his subject’s life. I personally saw no such violation in the scenes that Gill regards as controversial. I am not much of a reader but when I read a book I read for enjoyment and I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘‘The Legend of Banda Bahadur.’’ When I put the book down after that last dramatic epilogue I did so with elation, a strong sense of pride in being a Sikh. What more can a book on Banda Bahadur do?. Robin Nakai Chandigarh
Solutions for stray-cattle blues This refers to a story dated December 7, ‘‘Solution eludes stray cattle problem’’. There are solutions to this problem, as there are for every other problem, provided there is a will to implement them. A few steps suggested are as follows. 1.Establish appropriate number of cattle pounds and launch a concerted drive to impound stray cattle. 2. The department concerned should be clearly earmarked and adequate manpower and other resources made available. 3. NGOs for cow protection should volunteer to run cattle pounds 4. The impounded cattle should be sterilised 5. The impounded cattle can be transported to places where they will not be a menace. This will also save them from the misery of starvation and disease. Lieut-Col Bhagwant Singh,
Traffic jams at Phatak No.22 The Phatak No. 22 has been a part of the folklore in Patiala. But in the past few years, the Railway crossing, an inspiration of many Punjabi songs, has become a nuisance. Traffic jams and long queues have become a rule of the day. The fly-over, envisaged over the crossing many years back, is hanging fire because of the dilly-dallying attitude of politicians. I request the authorities to rise above petty political compulsions and start the work on the fly-over to case the traffic chaos. Dr Sachin Kaushal,
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Thief re-arrested Chandigarh, December 12 DSP (Central) S. C. Sagar had formed a special team of personnel from the Sector 11 police station. Assistant Sub-Inspector Sem Singh of the police station (Central), investigating the escape, was accompanying the team when it arrested the thief facing trial in petty theft cases.
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Chandigarh, December 12