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The Hindu : Can you think of a residential township in Bangalore where 1,500 sites sit pretty amidst some gargantuan remakes of Gulliver, the Denmark Mermaid, Alien Park, Aladdin and his magic lamp, Pied Piper of Hamelin…all these nestled amidst musical fountains and thematic parks, swimming pools, temples, rail tracks with running trains, and a unique space created with the Masai tribe of South Africa?Sounds unbelievable? Consider this: The 100+acre N.S. Info City township — the brain-child of K.V. Narayan of K.V. Narayan Group of Companies, Bangalore — boasts of having all these amenities amidst the cool swaying of around 5,000 trees. If the water bodies, lawn and skating arena speak of the upper crust glamour, the worshipping areas and the Bheema and Bakasura Betta have legendary tales woven around them.N.S. Info City, located on the Dodballapur-Bangalore International Airport Road,opens from four large gates on different sides and the main arch at the entrance is designed on the lines of Arc de Triomphe in Paris.Five-acre parkThe five-acre park is designed to resemble portions of the Vatican Palace and the backdrop provides a stage for cultural and social activities with a water body that lends sophistication. Even the seating arrangements that crop up now and again in the 100 acres aren’t just the staid seats of any normal park. Some are in the form of folded palm, some shaped as water melons andsome more amidst swans that interlock dreamy romantics.Why such opulence, lavishness and design duplicates? Says the effervescent Narayan, “I used to love fairy tales and children’s books from a very young age. But that didn’t stop as a kid. My craze to associate myself with the characters became a burning passion. Since I am a builder by profession, my frequent travels abroad took me to such destinations where I resolved to bring in all creations to India for people to enjoy seeing the world right here at…More

The Hindu : Painting a home is the toughest job, you must agree. It’s not an easy task selecting the right colour, shade, mix and the right kind of personnel to execute the job. You like some colour combination, your spouse likes another and your children something else.More than that, we miss the vital issue – what colour actually looks and suits better on your walls. You will only realise whether your choice, or a cocktail of all choices of your family members, suited your home when it is through. But, by then, you would have spent thousands of rupees. You can’t go for another round of colouring at least for five more years. Yet another difficult task is zeroing on the right contractor for doing the job. Some inflate the paint requirements, delay the job, while others make a mess.Style zonesRealising this problem, Kansai Nerolac Paints, a leading paints manufacturer, has come out with a unique concept called ‘Impression Style Zones’. At these zones, well-trained Nerolac-certified associates would take the consumers on a walk through of the world of colours, patterns and designs.“You can actually see how a particular colour will look like on your walls,” C. Venugopal, General Manager (Marketing), says. “The associates will tell the consumers how different colour combinations look on the walls. They will, in fact, put the colours in perspective, keeping in mind the size of the room and likely furniture that would sport the rooms.” Mr. Venugopal was in Hyderabad in connection with the launch of the pilot for the ‘Nerolac Impression Style Zone’ at Krishnanagar. The paints manufacturer is planning to set up at least 15 such outlets, covering the whole of the twin cities. “We are going to complete this process in the next six months. While some of them are company owned, others will be franchisees,” he informs.Special softwareThe most attractive part is the specially designed software called…More

The Hindu : This isa requiem for the Arkavathi and most of our peninsular rivers. The Arkavathi is a tributary of the Cauvery. Rising in the Nandi Hills to the north of Bangalore it passes through most of Bangalore Rural district and joins the Cauvery at Sangama in Kanakapura district. It flows for 190 kilometres and in hydrological parlance is called a second order stream, meaning it is a tributary of the Cauvery which joins the sea. The Cauvery is a first order stream flowing intothe sea, its major tributaries are second order streams and the Vrishbhavathi which joins the Arkavathi is a third order stream. The catchment area from where the water collects in the river is more than 4000 square kilometres. Yet the Arkavathi is dead and barely flows during heavy rains. Why is that so? This is a sorry tale of the death of a river.When Bangalore first ran out of water from within its boundaries in 1894 it was decided that a reservoir at Arkavathi would need to be built to ensure that enough water was available to the city. The Hessarghatta reservoir, about 24 km from the city, was built on the Arkavathi and continued to supply water till about 1934 when the second reservoir on the Arkavathi called the Thippagondanahalli or the Chamaraja Sagara Reservoir was constructed to bring in more water for the increasing thirst of Bangalore.Both reservoirs were built on the Arkavathi for The Gazetteer of Bangalore Rural says the Arkavathi “is not exactly a seasonal stream, in the summer months it presents the usual aspect of a sandy bed with a small current of water flowing at one side.” In short it was a perennial river. Large tanks such as the Madhure and the Dodballapur ere also constructed on the river and would usually fill up. The town of Dodballapur depended on the Arkavathi for its drinking water requirement…More

The Hindu : Continuing the discussion on property transactions under FEMA, the nature and scope of “capital account and current account transactions” and investments in immovable property in and outside the country by persons resident in India or outside and persons of Indian origin are highlighted here.“Capital account transaction” means a transaction which alters the assets and liabilities (including contingent liabilities) outside India by a person resident in India.It also means a transaction which alters the assets and liabilities (including contingent liabilities) in India of persons resident outside India.“Current account transaction” is defined as a transaction other than a capital account transaction.Certain specific transactions are indicated in section 2(j) of FEMA as current account transactions: payments due in connection with foreign trade, other current business, services and short-term banking and credit facilities in the ordinary course of business; payments due as interest on loans and as net income from investments; remittances for living expenses of parents, spouse and children residing abroad; and expenses in connection with foreign travel, education and medical care of parents, spouse and children.FEMA provides that the Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the Central Government, may specify any class or classes of capital account transactions which are permissible and may stipulate certain conditions and restrictions regarding the same.The capital account transactions in relation to immovable property are discussed below.RegulationsSection (3)(h)&(i) of FEMA provides powers and authority to the RBI through regulations framed for this purpose toprohibit, restrict, or regulate the transfer of immovable property situated out ofIndia (other than the lease for a period not exceeding fiveyears) by a person resident in India.Similarly RBI has powers and authority to prohibit, restrictor regulate the acquisition of immovable property in Indiaby a person resident outside India.It is to be noted that there is no prohibition or restriction in the above cases for acquiring or transferring leases of immovable property for a period not exceeding five…More

The Hindu : It is budget time again. The Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has presented his seventh Central budget — fourth in a row under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government — in Parliament. All the States will also be presenting their budget in the next few weeks, except Karnataka, where it will be introduced by the Finance Minister himself as the State is under President’s Rule. As we all know, budgets dictate the growth graph of the country’s economy, as expenditure and revenue are determined by the proposals contained in the budgets. In recent times, budgets have been guided by the policies and programmes of the party/parties in power. In the present case, the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the policy plank of the FM’s budget. The UPA has many flagship programmes through which ‘Bharat Nirman” has been aimed at.The present budget has been acclaimed as a ‘middle class budget’ and stated to be benign to the ‘aam admi.’ This being the case, it goes without saying that the most important subject of infrastructure, particularly housing, should have received more than ordinary attention. No road blocks have been created in this area but there are only a few proposals of interest.InfrastructureBuilding up of infrastructure is an ongoing programme. The Government is to provide Rs. 16,436 crore as equity support and Rs. 3,003 crore as loans to Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) during the year 2008-09. 44 CPSEs are listed already and more are expected to be listed in order to unlock their true value and improve corporate governance. The accent in the budget is more on rural areas. Urban infrastructure development is mainly through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM). The Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) is the main instrument for channelising bank funds for financing rural infrastructure. The FM has proposed to raise the corpus of RIDF…More

The Hindu : Real estate brokers can go globalBangalore was recently host to the first Transnational Referral Certification in India enabling local Indian realtors to transact globally, says RANJANI GOVINDRecognition: Gail Lyons, Regional Coordinator for Asia-Pacific, NAR-India, conducting the Transnational Referral Certification (TRC) programme in Bangalore.Thousands of realty associations with lakhs of brokers, innumerable real estate transactions that spin crores of business deals from India and across the world. So what does the country lack in real estate commerce? A certification and a boost to stamp your efforts as genuine, is perhaps what the trade is deficient in. Now there seems to be a breather, to a large extent. Bangalore was recently host to the first Transnational Referral Certification in India, enabling localrealtors to transact globally with an international certification.This was made possible by the National Association of Realtors- India (NAR-India) and Bangalore Realtors Association-India (BRA-India) who facilitated the Transnational Referral Certification (TRC) programme in association with NAR-U.S. The TRC course is designed by the International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA) and only the members of the ICREA member associations such as NAR-India can obtain the certificate.So, it basically sets off with becoming a member of NAR-India. The whole affair enables a referral between brokers/associations in different countries. For example, a broker in India who has a client being transferred to the U.S., may refer that client to a U.S. broker. Or, a U.S. broker who has an Indian client wanting to purchase a second home in India may refer the client to a broker in India.While one may think these dealings are already going on, it should be remembered that ‘certified’ transactions are what one is looking at, under the umbrella of a legitimate and authentic stamp. This is where the TRC comes in to make a bold beginning.The backgroundNorman D. Flynn, Senior Consultant, ICREA, Farook Mahmood, Founder President, NAR-India, and Pat V. Combs, President, National…More

The Hindu : The new season of the critically-acclaimed and award winning series, “Grey’s Anatomy” premieres on March 9, 9 p.m. on Star World. The series moves into high gear when it returns for a third season this time. It’s the drama andintensity of “medical training mixed with the funny, sexy, painful lives of interns who are about to discover that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white,” explain the makers.In the latest season, Meredith continues to struggle with her feelings with Derek. Grieving over the death of her fiancé Denny, Izzie decides to quit the internship programme at Seattle Grace Hospital. George finally gets over Meredith and begins a new relationship with Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez).And while Burke tries to deal with the career-ending tremor in his hand, Christina reluctantly becomes a source of support to her boyfriend. The drama bagged a slew of Emmy nominations last year, including outstanding drama and outstanding supporting actress nods for Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl and Chandra Wilson….More