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The Hindu : Drivers at your apartment blockD. MURALIApartments have so many people getting in and out of every block that even guards seem to be losing control of who is authorised and who isn’tDrivers are among the most mobile employees, both literally and figuratively. Thus, when a friend tells me about his neighbour who has changed the eighth driver in the last six months, I asked him if the car was so troublesome. “It’s a mystery,” he says. “We see a new chap driving the cars and after a few days a newer face takes over.” I ask him, “That’s not your problem, is it?” He shakes his head to say that I could be wrong. How?“Because we’re having too many people getting in and out of our apartment block that we seem to be losing control of who is authorised and who isn’t,” he says. “Also, most of the time, we see the driver sitting in the car and watching other residents’ movements. When drivers change too frequently, do you think we can hold anybody responsible?” I don’t find it easy to answer his question.Common afflictionIf you come to think of it, a common affliction that affects drivers employed by most residents is underemployment. The sitewww.investorwords.com defines the word as “a situation in which a worker is employed, but not in the desired capacity, whether in terms of compensation, hours, or level of skill and experience”. While not technically unemployed, the underemployed are often competing for available jobs, it adds.So, it is not unusual for the driver to be viewed as Man Friday to help in anything ranging from fetching vegetables to watering the plants. No job is mean; but when skills mismatch, we’re only asking for trouble.A few years back a crime that shook Mumbai-ites was a murder in a Borivili apartment complex. A 45-year-old housewife, Sandra Clinton Franklin, was stabbed to death by a…More

The Hindu : NAC course oncurtains, cabinetsThe National Academy of Construction is offering free training for the unemployed in curtain making and cabinet making. The three-month curtain making course is open for women of 18 years and above.Age barAccording to a statement issued here, the cabinet making is offered for those in the age group of 18to 35 years and who had stopped studies between 7th class and SSC.The training is offered in centres at Madhapur and Malkajgiri.Contact detailsFurther details can be had from the NAC centres. Ph: 23111916/23111917 ext.239 or 218, the press release said….More

The Hindu : Walking on wood can be quiet an experience. It could be the knocking sound of a cowboy walking in his boots from a western classic or that of a ballet dancer gracefully moving on the wooden floor. Whether you want the interiors to look trendy or give it an antique touch, the market is stocked with different kind of wood for every kind of look.Laminates or laminate flooring is a regular choice with those who want to experiment with wood flooring. Being the cheapest of the lot, laminates consist of a High Density Particle Fibre (HDF) and come in four categories — AC3, AC4, AC5 and AC5++ — a grading on par with European standards.Manufactured woodEngineered wood, as the name suggests, is manufactured wood. Real wood is pasted on to a High Density plywood board to give it an authentic look and is one of the toughest flooring options that one can opt for.A bit on the higher side, engineered wood is priced at Rs.700 per sq.ft. and comes in colours such as Jatoba Geneva, Oak Montana, Cherry Geneva, Ash London, Linnea Oak and Linnea walnut. The thickness of engineered wood is generally 7mm. Life of the engineered wood varies from 50 to 60 years.If you are looking for that Chinese touch to your flooring, then bamboo would be a good option to consider.Preventing moistureMaintaining wood is quiet a task and one should note that water should be wiped off immediately from the surface.The common practice is to lay a 30 micron polythene paper before laying the floor so that the moisture doesn’t reach the laminate, thus adding a few more years to the life of the flooring. Fixing charges of the laminate is Rs.12 per sq.ft.Unlike other flooring options, wooden flooring is the only one where the flooring can be dismantled and fixed again.It uses a ‘tongue-and-groove’ or ‘click-and-join’ method where two planks of…More

The Hindu : ForumSouth-west entranceQuestion: I have a house built on a 40 x 50 site in Hegde Nagar. My gate and entrance face the south-west, which people say is very bad. My backyard door faces the north. We have more open space near the gate than in the north-east. Can I do some corrections with feng shui to ward off total negativity? I have been having problems of several kinds, both health and financial. My kitchen is in the north-east. I have an entrance foyer too facing the south-west.Nivedita Bhat, Hegde NagarOur panellist, Dr. Niranjan Babu, Vaasthu expert, answers:Placing basil and other herbal plants near the rooms which people with ill health use can considerably contribute to better health. As a general vaasthu rule clean up the north-east of the site, the house and the respective rooms. The planetary lord Jupiter of this area, who is a significator of wealth, can perhaps stabilise your finances.Main pointsQuestion: Can you tell me about 10 points that make vaasthu a science for a house that has to be followed? It is not the question of non-belief, but a raring to know whatever goes into a science that says so much about directions. My house on the north side is south to my immediate neighbour, just a few feet away. How do we corroborate all this?Shanthi Swaroop, IndiranagarDr. Niranjan Babu answers:Over the last decade, we have been seeing the rising importance of vaasthu not only in India but also all over the world. People have begun to experience the beneficial results of properly applied principles of the science. At the same time people have begun to ask about the scientific basis of vaasthu. It is based on the energies emanating from various cosmic bodies all over the universe. These energies could be physical energies like gravitational, solar, magnetic, thermal, electrical, mechanical and many metaphysical energies that are still unknown (to modern…More

The Hindu : Service tax is a form of indirect tax imposed on what are called ‘taxable services’. The levy was introduced in 1994. Initially services of telephones, non-life insurance and stock brokers were brought under the service tax net.The revenue collected through service tax increased from Rs. 407 crore in 1994-95 to Rs. 23,000 crore in 2005-06. The net has been widened further over the years, and more and more services were gradually added. As on date, about 104 services attract this tax.In 2006-07, service tax was increased from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. The effective rate as of now is 12.3 per cent of the income. Of this, two per cent is towards education cess and one per cent, secondary and higher education cess.How to calculateFor the purpose of levying service tax, the value of any taxable service should be the gross amount charged by the service provider for the service rendered.From June 1, 2007, renting of immovable property is considered as service and has been included in the tax list. Taxable service means any service provided or to be provided to any person by any other person in relation to renting of immovable property for use in the course or furtherance of business or commerce.For the purpose of taxable service, immovable property includes (i) building or part of a building and the land appurtenant thereto; (ii) land incidental to the use of such building or part of a building; (iii) the common or shared areas and facilities relating thereto; and (iv) in case of building located in a complex or an industrial estate all common areas and facilities relating thereto, within such complex or estate.ExemptionsHowever this does not include(a) vacant land solely used for agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, animal husbandry, mining purposes,(b) vacant land whether or not having facilities clearly incidental to the use of such vacant land.(c) land used for educational, sports, entertainment…More

The Hindu : Settlement deedmade simpleImagine a senior citizen who owns a house, acquired out of his earnings. If he wants to give his house to his younger son over the elder one, he has the option of executing a Will or make a settlement retaining life interest.The execution of Will has its own hassles in identifying a reliable person to be the executor and involves expense. The Will is to be probated for which court fee is to be paid (The probate of Will is mandatory for the properties situated at Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata.)Better optionThe better option in this case would be to execute a settlement deed in favour of the younger son.The senior citizen can retain the life interest of residing and letting out the same for rent and enjoying the rental benefits and other profits accruing there during his lifetime along with his wife.In the event of his wife surviving after his lifetime, the said property will devolve on her and she will be at liberty to retain her life interest of residing and enjoying the said property during her lifetime by letting it out for rent and receiving the rental and other benefits without having any right to alienate, encumber, and mortgage.ExpensesEarlier the expenses for effecting a settlement deed among the family members was four per cent of the guideline value towards the stamp duty and one per cent towards the registration charges.The charges have been reduced with effect from December 16, 2004.The charges are as follows:i) In favour of family members:Stamp duty of one per cent on the market value of the property but not exceeding Rs.10000.Registration charges of one per cent on the market value of the property subject to a maximum of Rs.2000.The family member includes father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter and grandchild.Stamp duty of eight per cent on the market value of the property or GL value whichever…More

The Hindu : Market Scan‘City of Silk’ on the riseOil-rich Kuwait plans to build a major new city inspired by the Silk Road that it hopes will become a global trade and tourist attraction. The $ 77 billion “City of Silk” aims to revive the ancient trade route by becoming a major free trade zone linking central Asia with Europe.“It is the largest single real estate development in West Asia,” Eric Kuhne, managing director of Eric R. Kuhne and Associates, which provided designs for the seaside city, told a conference organised by MEED magazine.The city, located in Subbiya on the northernmost tip of Kuwait Bay by the Iraqi border, will be home to 750,000 people when completed in 2030. It will be linked to the capital, Kuwait City, by a 26-km causeway, greatly reducing the current road distance of some 120 km. Two artificial islands will be built alongside the causeway.Built on an area of 200 square kilometres, the city will consist of four major zones: a city of commerce; a city of leisure and recreation; a city of ecology; and a city of diplomacy and education, Kuhne said. The commerce city will sit in the middle of a canal system and aims to boost Kuwait’s efforts to become a regional trade and financial centre.At the centre of the commerce city, a 1,00-metre tower will be built. Its height is a reference to the classic work of Arabic literature, “The One Thousand and One Nights.” - AFPCredit crunchThe difference between a correction and a major slump in London’s City office market could turn on a few key tenants such as Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, Knight Frank LLP has said. But record rents were likely to hold up in London’s West End district, the haunt of hedge funds, media companies and tourists, where very low vacancy rates will continue falling, the property services firm said.Leasing activity across London…More