Monday, August 13, 2012

A new chapter in moral science

With most illegal activities occurring in the dark of the night, researchers have now illuminated the effect of light on our morals

Author Anton Chekhov’s story ‘The Robbers’ brings to mind images of stealthy, sly and lustful robbers’ lamp-lit den where the on-set of night didn’t signal terminating all activities, but rather incited setting spirits to satiate their beastly cravings. Characterising the darkness of the night in myriad metaphorical ways, Chekhov kept the reader’s pulse racing till the end. If merely repetitive mention of darkness can set a person’s heart racing, could the cloak of darkness embolden some to commit crimes too?

A recent study by psychologists Chen-Bo Zhong and Vanessa Bohns of the University of Toronto and Francesca Gino of the University of North Carolina suggests that it isn’t only the fear of exposure that leads to increased incidents of misconduct in darkness. Rather, it is darkness that triggers some of the destructive emotions that may lead one to misbehave! It was the unanimity of the results of the experiments conducted that led to publishing the research in the journal Psychological Science. Participants in dimly-lit surroundings were seen to cheat more than those in the brightly-lit set-up. While in another set of participants, who were only made to wear sunglasses and asked to divide $6 amongst each other in any way they wished, it was noted that ‘darkness increased their self-interested behaviour’!

Dr. Sanjay Chugh agrees and adds to the theory here, “I would agree with this. No one likes to be caught when doing something wrong. So, people try to hide or do it on the sly. Darkness provides the best cover. 


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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Tale of a tri-city

Chandigarh is fast moving beyond the shadow of its legacy of being a sleepy town to a hot hub of realty opportunities, says nirupama dutt

No longer can Chandigarh be dismissed as a sleepy little town on the Shivalik foothills, which was described by a cynical writer as the abode of green bushes and white beards. Up North, it is the fastest growing city and as predictions go it is going to be India’s richest city in three decades; with Delhi following close on its heels. This is a great change for a city that showed very slow growth in the first fifty years of existence. Even the tiniest piece of land of around 125 square meters is over a couple of crores. Yet it has takers aplenty; including landlords, industrialists, NRIs, doctors, lawyers and bureaucrats.

Its great location in the Shivalik foothills, proximity to Delhi and its growth as an IT city; all work to Chandigarh’s advantage. The Chandigarh Technology Park has attracted many multi-nationals like Infosys, Wipro & Convergys. Quark is also planning to establishing a ‘Quark city’ in Mohali. Earlier, many professionals had to shift to other places in search of high employment. Due to advancements in IT sector, the city has become a virtual magnet for professionals. It has also helped improve the economy and quality of life in the city. Now the city has its share of malls and multiplexes with builders moving in to make the most of the changing mood.

Chandigarh has limited land; so adjoining areas like Mohali, Panchkula, Zirakpur and Kharar are developing very fast. Ritu Singal, MD, Raglan Infrastructure Limited, says: Chandigarh’s periphery is the area of the future as property has now gone out of the reach of common man. So over the next few years, Derabassi, Kharar and Zirakpur would be to Chandigarh what Gurgaon is to Delhi now.”

Besides the big fish, a large number of local builders have made their fortunes in real estate. The builders are now selling the concept of luxurious apartments and penthouses. The rates of property in these areas adjoining Chandigarh are still affordable and thus property developers are making a beeline to make investments there. They are expected to make huge returns on these investments in the near future with the considerable increase in commercial and infrastructure development activities taking place. In main city, owners are converting their spaces into one, two and three bedroom apartments and giving them out on lease or rent. Also, floors are being refurbished into small shops and retail outlets to meet the demand for commercial property. Shravan Gupta, Executive VC and MD, Emaar MGF, says: “Punjab is a progressive state and offers endless opportunities of development aligning with our vision of ‘Creating a new India’.”

Ludhiana is another classic case of the big boom in property and Ashok Malhotra CMD AMGECO (Ashok Malhotra Group of Companies) says: “The boom was due for a long time. In winters, the hosiery market had done great business and the profits were high.” AMGECO has come up with the first IT Park in Ludhiana and is moving onto group housing colonies on the highway.


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