पत्रिका की लेखनी तो सशक्त है ही, पर भाई गुलाबजी की बात ही निराली है..लद गए नारों के दिन मन को छु गया..राजनीति के रथ पर सवार इन राजनेताओं को बाकायदा मालुम हो जाना चाहिए क़ि अब जनता उनकी चिकनी-चुपड़ी बातो पे मुहर नहीं लगाने वाली बल्कि उन्हें नितीश कुमार या नरेन्द्र मोदी जैसे जुझांरु नेता चाहिए जो उनका दर्द समझे तथा जिनकी कथनी और करनी में आटे में नमक वाला फर्क मात्र हो..भाषा ,जातिवाद और युवापन का राग अपनी जगह और विकासोन्मुख राजनीति के बलबूते पर पहले राज्य फिर देश का विकास का लक्ष्य अवश्यम्भावी है..जब- जब इस तरह का जनादेश जनता सरकार बनाने हेतु प्रदत्त करेगी , वह राज्य या देश निरंतर प्रगति के पथ पर अग्रसर रहेगा तथा हिंदुस्त्तान का परचम लहराता रहेगा..जय हो ...
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सज्जन राज मेहता
सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता..बंगलोरे
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
प्रतिबंधित आतंकी संगठन नेशनल डेमोक्रेटिक फ्रोंत ऑफ़ बोडोलैंड द्वारा एक और हमले में हमारे १८ हिंदी भाषी नागरिकों की दर्दनाक हत्या ने कई सवाल खड़े कर दिए है और गृह मंत्रालय के रवैया पर एक प्रश्न चिन्ह उभर रहा है कि वे कब तक हाथ पर हाथ धरे यूँ ही तमाशबीन बनकर कभी मासूम जनता और कभी निर्दोष जवानों कि akaal म्रत्यु पर घडियाली आंसू बहाते रहेंगे..समय का तकाजा है कि सरकार जागे और नक्सलियों को नेस्तनाबूद करने हेतु सर्वस्व न्यौछावर कर दे तथा जवाबी कारवाई को अतिशीघ्र अंजाम देवें..गृह मंत्रालय का दायित्व है कि वह यह सुनिश्चित करे कि राज्य-सरकार ओर केंद्रीय सरककर के दरम्यान बेहतर तालमेल हो तथा उस के द्वारा नक्सलवाद या आतंकवाद को जड़ से समाप्त करे..इससे पहले कि जनता का विशवास सरकार खो दे,सरकार जरुरी तत्परता दिखा कर खोया हुआ विशवास प्राप्त कर सकती है ओर जनता को सुकून कि सांस पहुंचा सकती है..
इस बेरहम हत्याकांड की जितनी भर्तसना की जाए, कम है ओर दिवंगत आत्माओ को हार्दिक श्रधांजलि अर्पित करते है..निर्दोषो की हत्या कतई बर्दास्त नहीं की जा सकती है तथा जवाबी कारवाई की सख्त जरुरत है..
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सज्जन राज मेहता
अध्यक्ष..जैन युवा संगठन ,बन्गलोर
इस बेरहम हत्याकांड की जितनी भर्तसना की जाए, कम है ओर दिवंगत आत्माओ को हार्दिक श्रधांजलि अर्पित करते है..निर्दोषो की हत्या कतई बर्दास्त नहीं की जा सकती है तथा जवाबी कारवाई की सख्त जरुरत है..
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सज्जन राज मेहता
अध्यक्ष..जैन युवा संगठन ,बन्गलोर
Saturday, November 6, 2010
A FRONT PAGE STORY IN ECONOMIC TIMES ON 5.11.10
Malls thrive as old shopping haunts get lost in neglect
Customers Keep Off Areas Riddled With Traffic Blocks, Garbage & Slush
Sobia Khan BANGALORE
ON THURSDAY afternoon, shoppers had a tough time entering Chickpet market. Apart from the crowd which almost carried you along, there was slush which was almost ankle-deep in some places and uncollected garbage strewn all over the roads. Shoppers, who managed to wade through this, could walk into pocket-sized shops situated almost on the roads, haggle with the shopkeepers and strike a good bargain. Many of the favourite shopping zones like SP Road, Chickpet and Gandhi Bazaar speak of tales of filth and neglect, although they still manage to churn out business worth crores. The city, which embraced the IT revolution, has seen a shift in the shopping habits of its people. With the arrival of malls, many of the City’s populace prefer to drive down to marble-floored outlets where salesperson hover around and pamper them.
As a result, retailers like Vijay Kapadi, who run a kids garment shop in one of the lanes of Chickpet, where there is barely place for two people to walk side by side, have seen a 10-15% drop in business every year although volumes have risen. He now manages to get business worth 5-6 lakh a year and plans to set up another shop away from the bustle of Chickpet.
“I am setting up a shop in a more convenient area which has ample parking,” he says. On an average, 70 customers visit his shop, but hardly anyone buys the higher-priced apparels. “Customers hesitate to come here as there is no parking space. There is too much traffic due to which our upper class clientele has come down,” says Mr Kapadi. The only mode of access to this area is through autorickshaws and you may end up paying a much higher fare than the meter-charge. The market lanes of Chickpet, Avenue Road, and OTC Road — said to have over 25,000 shops — are not suited for those used to the comfort of their cars. Mr Kapadi, for one, commutes on a bike which he can tuck away in a narrow lane. Old shopping zones losing loyal customers
WHEN it rains, the drains here get clogged and water flows into the shops and basements,” said Lakshmi Narayan, who runs a 400 sq ft shop in Chikpet. Given these conditions, even loyal customers have stopped visiting as often as they used to.
It is a no-brainer as to why most people want to avoid this area and opt for an air-conditioned, dust-free shopping mall.
Till recently, these markets, despite being overcrowded with grossly inadequate parking space and fully encroached footpaths, continued to attract shoppers from the middle and upper strata. But this was before the mall culture came up.
With Forum Mall coming up in Bangalore in 2004, crowds started gravitating towards them. Garuda Mall and Forum have begun to draw customers from major markets within a 5-km radius, while Bangalore Central in Jayanagar and Gopalan Mall in Rajarajeshwari Nagar have already started hurting traditional markets in Basavanagudi and neighbouring places.
“Many youngsters prefer going to malls as they can shop and hang around in the same place,” said Shubhranshu Pani, MD, retail services, Jone Lang LaSalle, a real estate consultancy firm.
There are around seven new malls which are expected to come up across Bangalore, totalling 3 million sq ft, by the end of CY 2011. Currently, there are seven malls in the city, which witness a footfall of 25,000 on weekdays, while the number soars up to 50,000 during the weekend.
*****The irony of it all is that mall owners come to Chikpet to buy garments and sell the same AT a higher price. “Even though they can get the same stuff at lower prices, people prefer malls which have much better conditions,” said Sajjan Raj Mehta, member of the Association of Karnataka Trade & Industry and wholesaler of a ready-made garment shop in Chikpet******
“If there were no malls, we could have got additional revenue and sold much more,” said Anil Lal, who runs an electronic shop on SP Road, famous for electronic products. He says the number of customers visiting his shop has dropped by almost 20% on an average.
Ashwath Narayan, 49, a business man, who sells LCD and computer products on SP Road has seen a 10% drop in business. “We are selling our products at a lower price as compared to market but even then business is low,” said Mr Narayan. He now supplies mostly to wholesalers and plans to tie up with big retail outlets to supply such products in bulk as an additional source of revenue. There are shops, barely 200 sq ft, which offer handset-makers to LCD shops to computer products. There are around 800 shops in SP Road in Bangalore which mainly sell computer parts and electronic goods such as LCD and DVDs. It had attracted people from all strata of the society to buy product which are sometime as much as 50% cheaper than the market price.
However, with dedicated retail outlets for electronic goods like Croma, eZone and Reliance Digital opening across the city, this electronic goods hub has met a similar fate. This market now mainly caters to people from Hubli, Dharwad and Bellary. The young Bangalore crowd seems to have moved to retail chains that guarantee original products and provide warranty.
Venkatesh Prabhu was forced to close his audio business and has started selling DVD/VCDs and various kind of adapters. “The audio market was dying, so I decided to become a wholesaler of other products. Around 90% of my products are sold to traders who buy products in bulk,” said Mr Prabhu, who has seen business dipping by as much as 20% in the last two years.
Similarly, at the heart of another major market, Gandhi Bazaar in Basavangudi, small traders face tough competition from modern retailers. “Small shop owners are facing a big threat from large retail shops. We need to connect with customers and be polite to them. Small traders are seeing a 10% drop in sales while the bigger merchants are growing,” said Basavanagudi Merchant Forum treasurer A Sharavana.
Mr Sharavana, who worked out of a jeweller shop, says personal connect with the customers help in increasing sales. He now operates two huge jewellery shops in Gandhi Bazaar and has adapted to the new change. “I train all my employees on how to speak politely to customers whether or not they buy products. If the traders do not adopt to change, they will slowly die,” said Mr Sharavana. Most of his customers are old residents of Basavanagudi.
The Gandhi Bazaar road has turned even narrower by the fruit and vegetable hawkers who sell on the road itself. “In the last few years, we have failed to attract any new customers. Many retailers buy products from us and sell it at double price by packaging it in a flashy way,” said Nagaraj, who runs a readymade garment shop in Gandhi Bazaar.
Busy customers on SP Road. Photo by N Narasimha Murthy
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Sajjan Raj Mehta
Customers Keep Off Areas Riddled With Traffic Blocks, Garbage & Slush
Sobia Khan BANGALORE
ON THURSDAY afternoon, shoppers had a tough time entering Chickpet market. Apart from the crowd which almost carried you along, there was slush which was almost ankle-deep in some places and uncollected garbage strewn all over the roads. Shoppers, who managed to wade through this, could walk into pocket-sized shops situated almost on the roads, haggle with the shopkeepers and strike a good bargain. Many of the favourite shopping zones like SP Road, Chickpet and Gandhi Bazaar speak of tales of filth and neglect, although they still manage to churn out business worth crores. The city, which embraced the IT revolution, has seen a shift in the shopping habits of its people. With the arrival of malls, many of the City’s populace prefer to drive down to marble-floored outlets where salesperson hover around and pamper them.
As a result, retailers like Vijay Kapadi, who run a kids garment shop in one of the lanes of Chickpet, where there is barely place for two people to walk side by side, have seen a 10-15% drop in business every year although volumes have risen. He now manages to get business worth 5-6 lakh a year and plans to set up another shop away from the bustle of Chickpet.
“I am setting up a shop in a more convenient area which has ample parking,” he says. On an average, 70 customers visit his shop, but hardly anyone buys the higher-priced apparels. “Customers hesitate to come here as there is no parking space. There is too much traffic due to which our upper class clientele has come down,” says Mr Kapadi. The only mode of access to this area is through autorickshaws and you may end up paying a much higher fare than the meter-charge. The market lanes of Chickpet, Avenue Road, and OTC Road — said to have over 25,000 shops — are not suited for those used to the comfort of their cars. Mr Kapadi, for one, commutes on a bike which he can tuck away in a narrow lane. Old shopping zones losing loyal customers
WHEN it rains, the drains here get clogged and water flows into the shops and basements,” said Lakshmi Narayan, who runs a 400 sq ft shop in Chikpet. Given these conditions, even loyal customers have stopped visiting as often as they used to.
It is a no-brainer as to why most people want to avoid this area and opt for an air-conditioned, dust-free shopping mall.
Till recently, these markets, despite being overcrowded with grossly inadequate parking space and fully encroached footpaths, continued to attract shoppers from the middle and upper strata. But this was before the mall culture came up.
With Forum Mall coming up in Bangalore in 2004, crowds started gravitating towards them. Garuda Mall and Forum have begun to draw customers from major markets within a 5-km radius, while Bangalore Central in Jayanagar and Gopalan Mall in Rajarajeshwari Nagar have already started hurting traditional markets in Basavanagudi and neighbouring places.
“Many youngsters prefer going to malls as they can shop and hang around in the same place,” said Shubhranshu Pani, MD, retail services, Jone Lang LaSalle, a real estate consultancy firm.
There are around seven new malls which are expected to come up across Bangalore, totalling 3 million sq ft, by the end of CY 2011. Currently, there are seven malls in the city, which witness a footfall of 25,000 on weekdays, while the number soars up to 50,000 during the weekend.
*****The irony of it all is that mall owners come to Chikpet to buy garments and sell the same AT a higher price. “Even though they can get the same stuff at lower prices, people prefer malls which have much better conditions,” said Sajjan Raj Mehta, member of the Association of Karnataka Trade & Industry and wholesaler of a ready-made garment shop in Chikpet******
“If there were no malls, we could have got additional revenue and sold much more,” said Anil Lal, who runs an electronic shop on SP Road, famous for electronic products. He says the number of customers visiting his shop has dropped by almost 20% on an average.
Ashwath Narayan, 49, a business man, who sells LCD and computer products on SP Road has seen a 10% drop in business. “We are selling our products at a lower price as compared to market but even then business is low,” said Mr Narayan. He now supplies mostly to wholesalers and plans to tie up with big retail outlets to supply such products in bulk as an additional source of revenue. There are shops, barely 200 sq ft, which offer handset-makers to LCD shops to computer products. There are around 800 shops in SP Road in Bangalore which mainly sell computer parts and electronic goods such as LCD and DVDs. It had attracted people from all strata of the society to buy product which are sometime as much as 50% cheaper than the market price.
However, with dedicated retail outlets for electronic goods like Croma, eZone and Reliance Digital opening across the city, this electronic goods hub has met a similar fate. This market now mainly caters to people from Hubli, Dharwad and Bellary. The young Bangalore crowd seems to have moved to retail chains that guarantee original products and provide warranty.
Venkatesh Prabhu was forced to close his audio business and has started selling DVD/VCDs and various kind of adapters. “The audio market was dying, so I decided to become a wholesaler of other products. Around 90% of my products are sold to traders who buy products in bulk,” said Mr Prabhu, who has seen business dipping by as much as 20% in the last two years.
Similarly, at the heart of another major market, Gandhi Bazaar in Basavangudi, small traders face tough competition from modern retailers. “Small shop owners are facing a big threat from large retail shops. We need to connect with customers and be polite to them. Small traders are seeing a 10% drop in sales while the bigger merchants are growing,” said Basavanagudi Merchant Forum treasurer A Sharavana.
Mr Sharavana, who worked out of a jeweller shop, says personal connect with the customers help in increasing sales. He now operates two huge jewellery shops in Gandhi Bazaar and has adapted to the new change. “I train all my employees on how to speak politely to customers whether or not they buy products. If the traders do not adopt to change, they will slowly die,” said Mr Sharavana. Most of his customers are old residents of Basavanagudi.
The Gandhi Bazaar road has turned even narrower by the fruit and vegetable hawkers who sell on the road itself. “In the last few years, we have failed to attract any new customers. Many retailers buy products from us and sell it at double price by packaging it in a flashy way,” said Nagaraj, who runs a readymade garment shop in Gandhi Bazaar.
Busy customers on SP Road. Photo by N Narasimha Murthy
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Sajjan Raj Mehta
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
CORRUPTION IN THE GOVERNMENT AT PEAK
CORRUPTION IN THE GOVERNMENT AT PEAK
Extra-ordinary silence of UPA Chairman Srimati Sonia Gandhi & Hon'ble Prime Minister Sri Manmohan Singh Ji worries the nation on the involvement of their top leaders in the corruption in Common Wealth Games,Adarsh scam & various new scandals.Public is being taken as granted & their hard earned money is in the swiss accounts of political leaders. Corruption is an intractable problem. It is like diabetes, can only be controlled, but not totally eliminated. It may not be possible to root out corruption completely at all levels but it is possible to contain it within tolerable limits. Honest and dedicated persons in public life, control over electoral expenses could be the most important prescriptions to combat corruption. Corruption has a corrosive impact on our economy. It worsens our image in international market and leads to loss of overseas opportunities. Corruption is a global problem that all countries of the world have to confront, solutions, however, can only be home grown. We have tolerated corruption for so long. The time has now come to root it out from its roots.
Hope Media plays the crucial role on our behalf to nab the culprits and teach them a lesson..
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Sajjan Raj Mehta
EX PRESIDENT..KARNATAK HOSIERY & GARMENT ASSOCIATION
PRESIDENT.JAIN YUVA SANGATHAN
9845501150
Extra-ordinary silence of UPA Chairman Srimati Sonia Gandhi & Hon'ble Prime Minister Sri Manmohan Singh Ji worries the nation on the involvement of their top leaders in the corruption in Common Wealth Games,Adarsh scam & various new scandals.Public is being taken as granted & their hard earned money is in the swiss accounts of political leaders. Corruption is an intractable problem. It is like diabetes, can only be controlled, but not totally eliminated. It may not be possible to root out corruption completely at all levels but it is possible to contain it within tolerable limits. Honest and dedicated persons in public life, control over electoral expenses could be the most important prescriptions to combat corruption. Corruption has a corrosive impact on our economy. It worsens our image in international market and leads to loss of overseas opportunities. Corruption is a global problem that all countries of the world have to confront, solutions, however, can only be home grown. We have tolerated corruption for so long. The time has now come to root it out from its roots.
Hope Media plays the crucial role on our behalf to nab the culprits and teach them a lesson..
--
Sajjan Raj Mehta
EX PRESIDENT..KARNATAK HOSIERY & GARMENT ASSOCIATION
PRESIDENT.JAIN YUVA SANGATHAN
9845501150
CHIKPET; Model Market without Pollution & Congestion
CHIKPET; Model Market without Pollution & Congestion
As discussed, we would like our CHIKPET traders to pass a resolution and request BBMP & ABIDe to make CHIKPET Area - A model Shopping Zone free of congestion and pollution.
Avenue Road, BVK Iyenger Road and Cross roads joining these two roads to be made Pollution & Congestion free and pedestrian only zones with Concrete Roads (so that roads do not get damaged in rains), covered drains and high quality footpaths (like on Vittal Malaya Road).
This must be developed as a model Market Area as a pilot and to be extended to other such zones across Bangalore.
Electric/Battery operated vehicles can be organized and managed by for easy moment of pedestrians/shoppers with space for keeping their goods. It could be shuttle service moving in the streets all the time in both directions. People can Hop on & Hop Off wherever they want. More like a Golf Cart kind of Electirc/Battery Vehicles.
.
Public vehicles (cars/motorcycles) may be restricted from entering this zone between 8.00am to 9.00pm, Parking for general public can be accommodated at city market,silver jubili park road, Post office road,Palace road ,Central collage ground. This location is also well connected by mass transport - Buses going to KR Market and Majestic are at 2 ends, so more people can be encouraged to uses Buses to reach this shopping area and then use your electric vehicle to move around Chikpet.
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Sajjan Raj Mehta
As discussed, we would like our CHIKPET traders to pass a resolution and request BBMP & ABIDe to make CHIKPET Area - A model Shopping Zone free of congestion and pollution.
Avenue Road, BVK Iyenger Road and Cross roads joining these two roads to be made Pollution & Congestion free and pedestrian only zones with Concrete Roads (so that roads do not get damaged in rains), covered drains and high quality footpaths (like on Vittal Malaya Road).
This must be developed as a model Market Area as a pilot and to be extended to other such zones across Bangalore.
Electric/Battery operated vehicles can be organized and managed by for easy moment of pedestrians/shoppers with space for keeping their goods. It could be shuttle service moving in the streets all the time in both directions. People can Hop on & Hop Off wherever they want. More like a Golf Cart kind of Electirc/Battery Vehicles.
.
Public vehicles (cars/motorcycles) may be restricted from entering this zone between 8.00am to 9.00pm, Parking for general public can be accommodated at city market,silver jubili park road, Post office road,Palace road ,Central collage ground. This location is also well connected by mass transport - Buses going to KR Market and Majestic are at 2 ends, so more people can be encouraged to uses Buses to reach this shopping area and then use your electric vehicle to move around Chikpet.
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Sajjan Raj Mehta
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