SC notices to govts on housing fraud
PIL Seeks Norms To Regulate ‘Dream House’ Advts, Builders Without Plots
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The supreme court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and state governments on a PIL seeking to regulate builders many of whom place big advertisements promising ‘dream houses’ even without owning land, collect large sums as deposits and then disappear with the money.
The PIL, filed by NGO ‘Sanrakshak – The Protector’, also requested the court to direct the government to put in place national guidelines for print and electronic media for checking the veracity of the ads sought to be inserted by builders. The guidelines should basically be a check-list for the media to satisfy themselves about the genuineness of the builder and the promise being made to prospective buyers about providing houses, the petitioner said.
A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P K Balasubramanyan and R V Raveendran termed the matter serious and also issued notices to builders including PSG Developers, Vian Infrastructure, Seven Heaven Developers, Lord Shiva Infra Builders, Orior Developers and Arun Dev Builders. Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate P N Mishra argued that the developers, without even owning a single plot of land, sell a dream to the people by putting large advertisements in the media promising them houses/flats with attractive facilities.
There are a large number of instances where the authorities have issued clarifications, long after the ads have appeared in the newspapers, saying that the builders either do not own land or their plans have not yet been approved.
Mishra said there have been instances where builders have run away after collecting huge premiums from people and the ‘buyers’ do not know how and from whom to recover their hard earned money.
The petitioner said a statutory body should be formed by governments to verify the antecedents of each developer or builder who wishes to advertise his projects.
Role of banking ombudsman
Disputes pending before the RBI-appointed banking ombudsman would cease once the matter is taken before any court of adjudication by either of the parties, the supreme court has held. It clarified the ombudsman’s role was that of a mere “nonadversarial adjudicator of disputes who is expected to sort out disputes between citizens and the banks”.
No court reprieve for Vikas Yadav
The apex court on Monday declined to stay the conviction of Vikas Yadav, who has been sentenced to four years imprisonment in the Jessica Lall murder case, to contest the UP assembly election. “There is no question of suspension of sentence,” a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said refusing to grant Yadav relief on the lines of Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Time of india--20 march 2007
Who makes money in real estate?
Let’s explore the fascinating question: Who does make money in real estate, and how do they do it?
The specific type of property we'll focus on in this article concerns residential real estate. It won't come as earthshaking news to you when most people say that they bought a house in order to live in it. Basically, they chose it because they liked it.
Not all of them do, however. And therein lies a key distinction. Many bought the house not because they were fond of it, but because they hoped you would be. It was purchased for resale. We'll call the first group "nesters," the second "investors."
What makes residential real estate different from, say, common stocks is this: There's no such thing as a nester in stocks. People don't buy a stock certificate for personal use. It's too small to serve as a blanket and doesn't taste very good. It's also not much fun to look at for long. That forces them to think about its resale value even before they buy it.
Some people try to apply objective criteria quite consciously, whereas others operate more intuitively. They're convinced it will appreciate in value, so they make the leap. As often as not they fall on their faces but at least they knew what they were doing -- or thought they did.
But in buying a house to live in, personal and investment aspects -- subjective and objective criteria -- are being mixed. Under the circumstances, nesters might have been expected to do less well than average. As one complained: "I think I let my heart instead of my head guide me in picking this place."
People who are buying houses they intend as their principal place of residence tend to pick properties that are distributed somewhat randomly. Price, the nature of the neighborhood, practical considerations, such as commuting distance to work and the quality of local schools, are deciding factors.
On the other hand, the pattern of purchases made by those who label themselves as deliberate investors, and who are buying the house for resale, is anything but scattered. In fact, the houses they choose tend to be clustered in zones that had been classified as "hot investment areas." These are towns and streets that have allegedly been targeted for such things as urban renewal, a new shopping center, an industrial park or are in the path of a major new highway.
A reason nesters typically reap a greater profit is the length of time they hold on to the house. The median holding period is almost six years, versus a little under three years for investors. Commission costs and taxes, even at capital gains rates, tell only part of the story of reduced profits. A far more significant factor is that investors repeatedly wound up selling too soon.
There are two conclusions to be drawn from the data. The first is that, thanks to persistently high rates of inflation, investors have looked everywhere to find something of value that will keep pace with the progressive erosion in the purchasing power of their money. The result is that the number of home buyers who now give as their number one reason for purchasing a home, "it's a good investment," has nearly tripled in the past two decades, from 26% to 76%.
The second conclusion is that personal judgment is worth more in real estate than anyone has previously imagined. Let me qualify this a bit: You can't just say, "I love the place, I'll take it." There are some hardheaded considerations and technical details that have to be carefully attended to. Yet the bottom line remains the same: If you buy a house because you like it, there will be other people who subsequently will like it too. If you buy it simply because you think it's a great investment, you'll probably be paying a premium for it.
So make all the computations you want on your calculator. But don't for a moment discount your fondness for a house when it comes to buying. It's certainly not true where stocks and bonds are concerned, but buying a house you like strictly for personal reasons increases significantly the chances that you'll do well when you eventually have to sell it
Architecture of Change: Design Adjusts
to the Age of Flux
Architecture has
always served to protect, shelter, contain and memorialize our enterprises
and lives. This type of architecture has intentionally strived for permanence.
Being able to withstand the forces of time and elements requires sturdy,
durable materials and an enduring mind set.
The Architecture of Change is a paradigm shift that embraces the transience
in today's culture and life in an age that worships change. We are the
most news-centric generation ever, ruled by flux and mobility. Process
is as important as the continually morphing goals. We are beset with styles,
trends and other forces of change. A new means to help sustain our adaptability
in the built world is rapidly emerging and can be termed The Architecture
of Change. It frees us from buildings and environments that are bland
boxes made of immutable materials and mute walls. It enables us to design
with more emotion, and deliver experiences driven by content and meaning.
Design and architecture mirror a culture's ideas, values and traditions.
Since we are now so mutable (and the prior built world has been mostly about
permanence), a new set of tools is necessary to more accurately reflect
our society.
The Architecture of Change employs refreshable information, messaging, content,
images, transparency, luminosity, activity and digital technologies as key
components in shaping and choreographing social experience. The focus is
on people-setting stages for their lives and roles using communication as
both message and medium
Will this vernacular be a
brief era, a fad? Or is it deeper? Some would say buildings are a means
to counter change, strengthen traditions and affirm existent cultural
values. Maybe, but there is a basic human need to share information, tell
stories and perpetuate myths, lessons and knowledge through our structures
and dwellings. Early evidence of this is on the caves at
Lascaux
; Egyptian tombs bear tattoos of hieroglyphics.
Ancient South American and Asian temples are covered with sculpted stories
and bas-reliefs. Cathedrals and palaces are laden with murals, mosaics,
paintings, stained glass windows, and entablatures-all imbued with messages.
The ongoing need to communicate within and on buildings seems to transcend
time, history and culture. This graphic, story-telling portion of architecture
has created much of its richness. Could graffiti be a populist reaction
to our present modernist muzzle of structures?
The need to tell stories on buildings to a media-savvy culture and the
possibilities of digitally-empowered technologies can combine to create
a place where you are more likely to be engaged by sight, touch, sound,
and thought.
Variety magazine recently lauded the architectural emergence of clear
glass and transparent buildings Celebrating activities within, removing
the barriers between inside and outside space and showcasing them with
light and information, has always been a great animator of streets and
spaces.
'If everything is energy, anything is possible.' The Architecture of Change
- using glass, light and digital media - presents a rich palette of possibility.
Mechanical, security, engineering, construction and enclosure systems
now allow building skins to be anything or seemingly nothing. Digital
systems now can take a pure glass, completely transparent curtain wall
and turn it into a full video screen with moving images in color. The
dinosaur that walks across a building facade in the film The glass
is a clear, nonwired window wall that uses new electronically charged
polymers to produce a moving image, at any size, in color.
Many other noncommercial applications can be accomplished with these same
technologies. Jenny Holzer has shown how elegant her poetry of thought
can be artistically and architecturally interpreted in space, form and
diodes. Churches, museums, governmental buildings, plazas and schools
can now advance ideas, share values and build community with this approach.
Some reasons that may be fueling this resurgence in talking buildings:
- Historical
architecture and archaeology is rife with static messaging offering
evidence of a need for human expression as part of structures
- Architecture
has always seen itself in terms of cultural reflection, ideas and authenticity
- Multimodal
information processing via computers and telecommunications is rapidly
becoming a cultural norm
- Digital
technologies in imaging, communications, projection and interactivity
now offer a multitude of architectural applications and modalities with
a wide range of costs
- Glass
and other non-barrier materials and their necessary supporting systems
are easily achievable and affordable
- There
are users, sponsors, companies and institutions that seek these channels
of communication
- The
convergence of all these technologies-the information age culture, economics,
communication, art, marketing and commerce-are setting the table
for serving up The Architecture of Change
- It
is occurring, everywhere, as we speak
In any content rich environment,
communication has to occur by referencing existing knowledge, engaging
one's audience and mutually exploring and discovering new ground.
Thriving on the progression from permanence to change from chaos to Chaos
Theory and from static to fluid is further evidence of our ability to
grow and adapt. Embracing these changes means relaxing our grip on past
comforts and proven formulas for the promise and excitement of newer evolving
challenges. Being able to harness change in built structures can have
positive impacts for users, owners, design professionals and even society.
This blur of change can serve to remind us about living in the ever present
moment, to appreciate, and to relish it. Embracing these changes with
a new Architecture of Change frees us to connect and communicate in the
realm of ideas, process, emotion and exchange. This, in a very real way,
is quite timeless.
-Sanjay Rao, Architect
__________________________________________________________________
Is in Future Won't Need Today's
Architects ?
What's next for successful
architecture, engineering, and design practices? We believe that firms
will not only be faster and smarter but also wiser and more independent.
This much is known: the best firms always move forward. Fundamentally,
that is why future clients won't need today's design firms.
We expect to see significant new processes that will break away from the
linear project management processes most firms use today. Contract documents
will be overhauled to reflect simultaneous multiphase and nonlinear productivity.
Powerful parametric technology will deploy artificial intelligence using
voice command. We expect 3-D and 4-D smart BIM. Firms will integrate virtually
in models, not vertically in service silos.
Changing demographics will alter the marketplace significantly requiring
foresight-the client's world will be changing even more radically than
in the past. Some firms will change at a speed calibrated to the client's
changes. Others will wonder where the clients have gone.
Foresight and innovation will be first on the agenda of the most successful
firms. Architects and designers will get serious about the business of
running professional practices. They will understand that design firms
are run for clients, not for firm employees. Their new agenda will create
new scientific order from complexity. Increasing complexity will create
new relevancy and new satisfying fee parameters.
Higher performance is made possible by technical and human creativity,
and both will be systematized.
The experience of well designed spaces will be credited with better
learning and increasing brain functionality. Architectural spaces will
be credited with healing and emotional rejuvenation. Architecture, engineering,
interior design, landscape architecture, and industrial design will shape
social experiences and become forces to better the human experience. Design
firms will create a blueprint for survival one project at a time.
Does this all sound a bit beyond your present and future strengths? Do
you know what's coming next? Are you the voice of opportunity in your
firm? Do you know how to break through the cynicism and worn out excuses?
Are you a well of strategic optimism? Are you designing alternatives to
the status quo?
We believe that much that will happen in the future is knowable and that
we can even plan for both pitfalls and windfalls. How likely is it that
your new vision will become a reality? Time will tell. But this much is
certain, the future won't need today's design firms. |
