| Issue 23 Vol I, September 15, 2006 | Archive |
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Real Estate REAL Estate is still booming in and around Chandigarh. In fact, many surrounding areas of Chandigarh falling in Punjab and Haryana that include Mohali, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Kharar, are emerging as major hub for the property developers and buyers of houses; bungalows and flats. Beside this the Real Estate business is also providing plenty of job opportunities both for those with technical and non-technical skills. It has also inspired the banks and financial institutions to launch new loaning schemes for the prospective buyers and property developers. Everyone except the real needy persons are making big money. Many property dealers and construction companies are moving towards these areas to launch their mega projects. As the Punjab Government has allowed mega projects to come up in the cities, many investors have turned their eyes towards these towns. They have a great opportunity to invest at this time as the various mega projects are at final stages of approvals and are likely to kick start work very soon. According to the statement of a property dealer that after an unprecedented boom over the last two years, prices in the region have been stagnant since February this year. Many projects are at this time are going on at slow speed. The projects, which are coming up in Mohali, can boast of luxury living, but on the other hand the projects which came up in Zirakpur are not so up- market. But for a few projects, most in Zirakpur lack quality construction says one of the real estate consultants. The rates of these flats and malls have increased almost double ranging from Rs.1600 per sq.ft to Rs. 2200 per sq.ft depends on the facilities provided. Among other projects that would be coming up in Dera Bassi would be Parsavnath one a 50 acre prime plot. The project would be launched some time next month. There is also a sudden increase in the SEZ’s (Special Economic Zones), which is due to the reason that As the Govt. of India has cleared the SEZ status for the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park. These SEZ’s have given a boom to the property investment. But there is now a growing feeling among various segments of business and industry that so many SEZs might not see the light of the day and most of these projects will end up being mere “real estate deals” for realtors or big industrial houses, promoting them. This thing will affect the ongoing developments in the region. With various options now available on home loans, more and more people are purchasing property at a very young age. Days are gone when one would have to work hard all his life, and only at the end of his career was able to purchase a house. As both the spouses are working members, earning reasonably good money, they do not hesitate from taking loans, thinking that one salary can be used for loan repayment and while the other can be used for household expenses. The manager of a financial corporation says that with disposable incomes and easy and variety of loan options available, more and more youth are now availing these loans. Banks, too, prefer extending loans to young professionals as compared to elders as these are long-term loans. The persons availing the loans preferred to take it on a floating rate of interest. The advantage is that the variable rate of interest (between 9 per cent and 10 per cent) is still lower than the fixed rate of interest (11 per cent). The 12 mega projects proposed that have been cleared by District Town Planner; Punjab has raised the job opportunities in the region. Along with this there are numerous commercial and residential projects coming up in the whole region. With over 6000 acres of proposed development, a total of around 20, 000 to 30, 000 jobs are expected to be created in this region alone. Each mega project would have a direct and indirect employment of around 2000 people. The rates in the region at this time are stable and the number of investors at this time is declining. There was a news item published in the leading newspaper of the region that some film personalities are going to invest in the property in the Zirakpur area. This may be to lure the investors by the property dealers. Beside all this the Real Estate has provided various options for investors, financers and job seekers, as there is lot of opportunities available in this area. As we see the market scenario at this time the prices are getting down to some extent. The situation at this time is to just wait and watch for the right opportunity. | |
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History
writing and cultural fascism Historians and writers came in for lot bashing in Indian parliament. In Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session some allegedly objectionable material in National Council of Education Research [NCERT] Hindi and History books meant for school students, some MP’s cutting across party lines wanted harsh punishment for the scholars responsible for recommending this writing material. It is very remarkable that BJP, which had been after the head of Left wing historians for more than a quarter of a century was wittingly or unwittingly, supported by the Left itself. Is there any logic behind the den raised by former minister and BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was supported by MP’s from Congress, SP, CPM and RSP? What are the facts of the case? There are multiple issues involved in this debate, if conducted seriously. First of all, the competence question. Who can offer more sound and solid opinion on issues relating to education and pedagogy? Can we not leave writing of history to scholars? Should parliament be debating creative writing and censoring words and meanings? Is there any scope for dissidence in the cultural sub text? My humble question here is just this—even if one has certain rights granted under constitution, are these rights to be exercised in an enlightened and knowledgeable manner or just as per one’s political agenda and convenience? Are our MP’s knowledgeable about each and everything in India, about which they speak in Parliament? Facts do not support either of the contention. If cooked up knowledge is dangerous, ‘half-baked’ information is equally disastrous. Unfortunately, the whole controversy about NCERT books, not only this time, from the very beginning, is due to lack of information, often quoted out of context, resulting in social tensions. This is particularly true of history books, authored by Bipan Chandra and Satish Chandra. The comments about Guru Gobind Singh, Guru Teg Bahadur or Jats etc. or calling Tilak, Pal or Aurbindo as terrorists, which are always ascribed to the authors of these books, are never their comments. Bipan Chandra and Satish Chandra like other eminent historians do not distort history. They have discussed the comments made either by colonial historians or communal historians and contradicted these unfounded comments about our great national heroes with facts and reason. It has again been repeated in Rajya Sabha that Tilak, Aurbindo, Bipan Chander Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai like nationalist figures have been characterized as terrorists in NCERT history book written by Bipan Chandra. This is factually wrong. In text book ‘Modern India’ for class xii, edition 1994, in a chapter Nationalist Movement (1905-18), Bipan Chandra has written-“The most outstanding leaders of militant nationalism Lokmanya Tilak were Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurbindo Ghosh, and Lala Lajpat Rai. The distinctive political aspects of the programme of the militant nationalist were as follows. They believed that Indians themselves must work out their own salvation and make the effort to rise from their degraded position. They declared that great sacrifices and sufferings were needed for this task. Their speeches, writings and political work were full of boldness and self-confidence and they considered no personal sacrifice too great for the good of their country. They had deep faith in the strength of the masses and they planned to achieve Swaraj through mass action. They, therefore, pressed for political work among masses and for direct political action by the masses.”(Pages 192-3) Nowhere Bipan Chandra used the word terrorist for these nationalist figures, which has been ascribed to him, whether intentionally or due to lack of correct information. Since in BJP has no place, so the distortions are raked up to whip up communal passions. Does BJP know that first lesson in nationalism to Indians was taught by Karl Marx himself, while writing about 1857, as war of independence, full fifty years before Veer Savarkar wrote it as first war of Independence and has BJP, an iota of respect for Karl Marx for this historical interpretation of 1857, which is called Ghadar by British colonial historians? So much for the history books, let us now turn Hindi books for facts. Four or five objections have been raised about Hindi books by NCERT, prescribed for class XI. One is about the use of unconstitutional words in the stories or poems of prescribed writers. One such word is ‘Bhangi’ used by Prem Chand in his story’ Doodh ka Daam’ Another such example is quoted from an eminent Dalit writer Om Prakash Valmiki’s story. Another objection is that why M.F. Hussain’s biographical chapter has been included in the book. Not that something is objectionable in the chapter, but the very name of M.F. Hussain is like a red rag to the bull for many BJP leaders, though he might be an artist of international fame. Foreign Universities, colleges or schools might discuss his works; we will not allow his name to be known to our students. One more objection is to the use of certain words in the Sahitya Akademi award winner poet Dhumil’s poem ‘Mochi Ram’ .Yet another objection is to the introduction of Paash, an eminent Punjabi poet, because he is a “Naxalite. ’Even the writer respected by Mahatma Gandhi, Pandey Bechan Sharma Ugar is not spared from this virulent and totally irrational attack. Earlier also a novel Rangbhoomi by Prem Chand was burnt by Bhartiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi and forced to be withdrawn from course of NCERT, because it has word ‘Chamar’ in the text. One wonders sometimes about the laws made by our law-makers. The spirit behind ban on such word is that in social interaction sometimes, lower classes are subjected to insults and humiliating behavior by upper and powerful classes by using these WO, in this context a ban on use of such words is justified. But in census, in collecting social data, in sociological studies, in creative literature, how can the use of these words be subjected to a blanket ban ?In legal terms also, in matters of reservations, how the castes would not be counted, written and put on record for granting the benefits of reservation or in such contexts. These words would be found in the works of Tagore, Prem Chand or other great writers. Would these writers be subjected to scrutiny, in other words censorship, to remove these words from their texts? What are important are the context and opinion and not just one word here and there to describe a caste. Our law makers should ponder over these larger issues. Paash is a major Punjabi poet, whose works are part of syllabuses of some universities and colleges to teach Punjabi literature, it is part of UPSC syllabus as well. Paash’s works have been translated into major Indian languages Bengali, Gujrati, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. UGC, in its model course designed during NDA rule has recommended teaching Paash as one major Indian poet. His poetry has been compared to poetry of poets like Pablo Neruda. And Paash was murdered at the hands of Khalistani terrorists for confronting them directly through his poetry. A library, in the memory of slain policemen of Haryana, at the hands of Khalistani, has been named as Paash library, established by Police. itself. Yet our BJP MP can see only a ‘Naxalite’ in him! Paash in one of his poems have referred to’ the critics with red turbans’, had he listened to the interpretation of his poetry in Rajya Sabha, what term he would have coined for such literary critics. Perhaps poets alive will surely find a suitable term for such critics, provided they are not too scared to be jailed for contempt of Parliament! Sahitya Akademi award winner Hindi poet Dhumil has a word coined for such critics, in one of his other poems, which I myself am too scared to quote here. The issues in the field of education should be subjected to enlightened debates, based on facts and texts discussed in their proper context. Any out of context quotation from the text books and a narrow and sectarian approach, will harm our younger generations only, which needs to be given most liberal and advanced education. In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, our youth need scientific temper. True, perhaps our Parliamentarians need it even more! [Professor at the Centre of Indian Languages, J.N.U., New Delhi-110067] | |
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New Air
India book gives room to conspiracy theories
Margin of Terror, a book authored by Salim Jiwa and Donald J Hauka reveals some startling facts about the proximity of the Indian agents with the potential suspects involved in the bombing. The Sikh fundamentalists have throughout claimed that the bombing was the handiwork of the Indian intelligence agency RAW to discredit the separatist movement in Canada. Much earlier, another controversial book, Soft Target had blatantly blamed the RAW for the Air India bombing to discredit the Khalistan movement. The new book has further fuelled such speculations. Margin of Terror claims that the potential suspects in the bombing were rubbing shoulders with the Indian officials posted in Vancouver. They included Gurinder Singh, the then Indian vice consul in Vancouver. Salim Jiwa, who is a senior reporter with the daily Province, writes that when he was reporting about the arrest of one of the potential suspects, Hardial Singh Johal in connection with the Air India investigation, Gurinder Singh had phoned him to tell that he was not involved in the bombing. Salim quotes Gurinder Singh as saying, "Why Johal? He is not involved in this. Rule him out, yaar (friend)’’. Johal was never charged, though he was detained in connection with the bombing. He was seen at the Vancouver Airport, the day bomb laden suitcases were checked in two different flights. One bomb had claimed two lives at the Narita Airport in Japan while the second one claimed 329 lives in the mid air blast.
Several calls were also made from Johal’s home to the Duncan home of Inderjit Singh Reyat, the bomb maker, who is the only convict in the Air India case. Johal had died before the Air India trial ended with the acquittal of two suspects, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri. Johal had also traveled to India a number of times despite the fact that he had some role in the bombing. Salim Jiwa writes that Malik also had business ties in India and he had once attended a dinner that was arranged to honour Jawahar Lal, the new consul general of India by the Overseas’ Congress Party affiliated to the India’s ruling Congress party. However, Salim Jiwa does not buy the conspiracy theories of the Sikh fundamentalists. He believes that the bombing was not the handiwork of RAW and had maintained this position even in his previous book about the Air India episode. He suggests that the public inquiry of the Air India episode should look into this possibility to settle down this controversy once and for all. His book follows Loss of Faith, another Air India book authored by Kim Bolan. Kim is also a journalist like Salim. She has been covering the Air India case for the Vancouver Sun. While Salim’s book squarely blames the police and the Canadian intelligence for a failed investigation of the Air India bombing, Kim criticizes the Judiciary for overlooking certain facts that led to the acquittal of the two suspects. Kim Bolan believes some of the witnesses, whom the court had described as unreliable.
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A
new book about the Air India bombing gives room to the conspiracy theories
revolving around the worst incident in the history of aviation terrorism
before 9/11. The Air India bombing that was believed to be engineered by
some Sikh separatists had left 329 passengers dead in 1985.
Johal
had persuaded one of his friends who had died in the bombing to buy
insurance before leaving for India. He had admitted that he was listening to
the BBC at the middle of the night when the Air India Kanishka jet perished.
His telephone number was also used to book the tickets for the two flights.
The police surveillance had revealed that he had a coded conversation over
the phone with Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind behind the bombings.
Parmar has died in a police encounter in India.