Mumbai plans prestige maglev train to combat overcrowding

India's financial capital, Mumbai, is considering a £3.75bn futuristic magnetic levitation high-speed train network as a part of a radical overhaul of the infrastructure of the city whose transport system is bursting at the seams.

The Maharashtra state government wants up to six maglev routes, of between 16 to 30 miles, linking the port city to the suburbs. The role model appears to be Shanghai's maglev train, which links the Chinese city's underground with the international airport and runs at up to 268mph.

Mumbai's railways were boycotted only last week by thousands of commuters because of the "deadly" overcrowding. Passenger groups say that on average every square metre of railway carriage accommodates 17 people on each trip.

The situation is likely to worsen as Mumbai's population doubles in 10 years or so to 30 million people. Experts say the city will have to spread beyond its island.

"I think the money is not an issue, neither is the technology. The problem here is whether Mumbai is ready for the kind of expansion envisaged. Maglev is a good start but we need more innovative thinking," said Hafeez Contractor, an architect who advised the government.

Maglev trains, which are lifted by magnetism to leave a small gap between them and the elevated track, have a spotty record. In Japan the expected exorbitant costs meant plans to build a maglev line between Tokyo and Osaka hit the buffers. And critics of Shanghai's maglev train say it haemorrhages money and the high speeds cannot be justified over short distances.

In India many say the prestige project would divert precious resources. "Half of Mumbai lives in slums with no sewers," said Sheila Patel, of Sparc, a group which works with the city's poor. "The city has begun to suffer power shortages for the first time in living memory. These are base infrastructure problems that we have to deal with. I cannot see how spending money on high-speed trains is a good idea in the circumstances."

How to become a color consultant

Whether you know it or not colours have the power to impact your mood, motivation and productivity. From fashion to interior design, many of the colours you see all around you were decided with the help of a colour consultant. A colour consultant is an expert on colours and the effects they have on mood, productivity and ambiance. If you’d like to take your natural artistic talent to the business world, then this is the consultancy field for you.

Before The Start-Up – Let’s Not Get Ahead Of Ourselves

With an art background you should be able to become a colour consultant without any additional training. If however you don’t hold an art degree you can quickly become qualified by taking a short course in colour consultancy. These courses can run anywhere from one to sixteen weeks depending on the intensity and range of topics.

The Start-Up

You’re going to be mobile during most of your work day so a mobile office is essential. For greatest productivity you’ll need a car, cell phone, laptop and all the sample boards and swatches necessary to demonstrate colour possibilities.

Until you find your niche its best to target your services at both corporate and residential customers. Corporate customers will use your services to design work spaces while residential customers will use your services to design living spaces. Once you’ve had the opportunity to work in both kinds of environments it’s a good idea to choose an area of focus.

Making It Work

Business and residential clients alike will rely on you to make the right choices and suggestions for their environment. Ascertaining exactly what someone wants to get out a space will ultimately decide whether you get it right or wrong. Don’t rush the initial interview and always make sure you and your client are on the same page.

Marketing

Combine a mix of offline and online marketing efforts to sell your consultancy. Develop a business website with a list of the services you offer along with your rates. Also include client testimonials and a small amount of free advice and tips. If you want to create a strong online presence consider starting a blog, your latest job and recent colour trends should make for interesting reading.

Use newspaper classifieds, business magazines, the yellow pages and direct mailers to local firms to market your services offline.

Don’t Forget

Balancing what you know to be the right choice and your client’s preferences can be tricky. Use a well written contract for every job, it’s important that you’re not liable should your client be unhappy with the choices you’ve made.

Snowcem Paints announces winners of the Snowcem Faculty Awards 2007

Snowcem Paints along with Sir JJ College of Architecture announced the winners of Snowcem Faculty Awards 2007, at the Auditorium, Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai. The topic for this year’s competition was ‘Night Shelters for Street children’. The college received an overwhelming response of more than 200 entries this year from its students. The Jury members for the Snowcem Faculty Medal 2007 were Arch. Neera Adarkar, Author and Urban Researcher, Arch. Percy Kutar and Vinay Somani, Trustee Karmayog who had a tough time to judge the entries.

The main objective behind this topic is to get street children off the streets at a time when they are at their most vulnerable. The children shall be there of their own accord, enroll themselves, manage themselves under guidance and can leave whenever they want. The atmosphere of the center is home-like at all times. The Night Shelter is intended to provide security and a Home to street children, with facilities for cleanliness, literacy, medical aid, in an environment of love and affection. Designs of excellence of such shelters could become working models contributing significantly toward a "safe and just" metropolis. Students were required to find a site in the city where street children normally congregate and design what suited the best shelter for them.

This is the second year that Snowcem is getting associated with the college for this competition, to help in initiating and probing the future architects to design for socio-economic class, thus creating Mumbai, a better place to live. Speaking on the occasion Ms. Vibha Khandelwal, “We are happy to be associated with such competitions, wherein we help the future architects to think about the less deserving people”.

Also present on the occasion Mr. Rajan Lakule, Principal Sir JJ College or Architecture, “This year we are very happy to see a high level of excitement in students, and hope to organize more such competitions. Corporates like Snowcem have always been associated with us for such events.”

Also present at the award ceremony were Mr S. S Shinde, Jt Commissioner Education .

The winners of Snowcem Faculty Award 2007 are as follows:

1. The 1^st prize - Pooja Ugrani (Snowcem Faculty Medal for the year 2007)
2. The 2^nd prize jointly - Kajal Dhamane and Pooja Shah.
3. Commendation certificate to Nikhil Borkar.
4. Best Design Award from the First Year Anuja Karve.
5. Commendation for First year was given to Esha Tipnis and Chaitanya Chavan.

Colors and the zodiac

The signs of the Zodiac have the most widespread characteristics of astrological notions, and that is why for their description the whole gammas of colors occur. Below for a more concrete depiction of signs, the combinations of colors are given below. They can characterize decanates of the sign but also relate to the sign as a whole. We can determine the color combination of the decanate through its psychological particularity. At first the short characteristic of the decade is given, then the colorpsychological meaning of the corresponding combination.

ARIES

1 DECANATE. The first impulse of the new, weak but bold, breaks the fetters of the past, overcoming the obstacles.

Deep red and white - the birth of impulse, awakening of energy, revival, passion and purity.

2 DECANATE. The impulse grows and affirms its will.

Red and light yellow - energy and warmth, positiveness, light and joy.

3 DECANATE. The impulse deepens into matter, meets resistance and the intercourse begins.

Scarlet and turquoise - emotional excitement, amorousness, and inspiration of life.

TAURUS

1 DECANATE. The call of the spring nature stimulates the revelation of the sensual world.

Yellow-green with the deep blue - emotional sensitivity, changeability of feelings, impressions and desires.

2 DECANATE. The stream of emotions is calmed down by nature's comforting presence.

Salad-green with beige-pink - soft excitement, natural comfort and calm possession.

3 DECANATE. Peaceful wisdom of material experience imparts understanding, desires and points a way to realizations.

Light green with brown - reminds of the natural combination of verdures and the soil, making impression of inner peace, persistence and security, construction in the natural rhythm.

GEMINI

1 DECANATE. Mental imagination observes different possibilities.

Lemon-yellow with grey-lilac - intellectual inspiration, duality, unstable connection, changeability of thought.

2 DECANATE. Comparison and controversy establishes the logical connection.

Light-orange and grey-blue - rational polarization, ties and their logical reflection.

3 DECANATE. Information derived from the whole creates a harmonic interaction of the parts.

Yellow and grey - tunes on curiosity, contact and gives the sense of participation and flexibility through the practical application of ideas.

CANCER

1 DECANATE. Intimacy turns to the inner source of senses.

Turquoise-green with lilac-pink - unstable feelings, inner vibration, sentimentality, need to connect with the external support.

2 DECANATE. The aim toward manifestation makes a stable mechanism of switching from the inner reception to the outer.

Light-emerald with deep-blue - flexibility, slender perceptivity, moderation, fantasy, but also dismissal and hidden dissatisfaction.

3 DECANATE. Genuine imagination flows into the spontaneous reality.

Green and white - purity and freshness of emotions, contemplation and eternal hope.

LEO

1 DECANATE. The personal will operates energy, presenting proud consciousness of the individual ego.

Orange with brown - heat, energy and mass, steady rush, pressure of will.

2 DECANATE. Plenty of being leads to material and spiritual abundance.

Dark-yellow with purple - creates the impression of solemnity, abundance and dignity, nobility and triumph, spiritualization of matter.

3 DECANATE. The energy of personal will is realized in the power and self-devotion of the leader.

Beige with dark-red - the strain between material comfort and the force of passion, struggle and joining with multitudinal, tangible, notable power.

VIRGO

1 DECANATE. Constant work conserves energy in a dynamic balance.

Khaki with light brown - keeps the feeling of heat passing away, dryness, security and comfort, natural pragmatism and order.

2 DECANATE. The structural organization of the whole controls natural processes.

Lilac-grey with dark green - analysis and connection, economy of energy, passivity, restriction and hidden pretence.

3 DECANATE. Neutralization of the personal in favour of perfect service.

Light-grey with dark blue - accuracy and precision, mentality, neutrality, industry, impersonality and emotional indifference.

LIBRA

1 DECANATE. Sympathy for the partner helps the mutual understanding.

Light lemon with pink - causes sympathy, delight, affection and charm, amiability, but little indecisiveness.

2 DECANATE. Definition of measure leads to the establishment of harmony and balance.

Beige with sapphire-blue - balance of the distant and the near, the spiritual and the material, perceptiveness of thought and comfort of the body, toleration.

3 DECANATE. Delicate understanding of the relationship as the analogue of higher spiritual laws.

Lemon-yellow with turquoise-green - makes the impression of politeness, attentiveness, quiet optimism, humor and vivid changes.

SCORPIO

1 DECANATE. Exactingness toward oneself and the world in the pursuit of truth.

Red with dark grey - suppresses feelings and creates the impression of a hidden force, concealed threat and danger, rigid analysis and vindictiveness.

2 DECANATE. Deep consciousness of hidden processes gives power over them.

Dark red with pale green - creates feeling of mysterious twinkle, extraction, concealed passion, the integration of inner life-asserting forces with surface inertia.

3 DECANATE. Intense sensitivity penetrates mysteries of life and death.

Deep pink with dark emerald - reflects refined sensitivity and hidden strain, emotional demand and insight, temptation.

SAGITTARIUS

1 DECANATE. Activity of the mind recognizes dynamic forces ruling the world.

Blue with dark scarlet - dynamic connection of controversies, comparison and sharp manifestation of different forces, unity of power and sublimity.

2 DECANATE. Succession of traditions manifests the spiritual richness of the world.

Violet with turquoise-blue - makes the impression of the cosmic light radiating from the depth, the connection between the secret and the manifest, represents idealistic romantics.

3 DECANATE. Ideology and ritual consolidate the objectivity of recognized truths.

Ultramarine with purple - symbolizes firm authority, substantial and sublime, pretence and dogmatism, magic ritual, spiritual dedication.

CAPRICORN

1 DECANATE. Basing on a solid foundation helps to consolidate the personal understanding of predestination.

Black with grey-blue - the combination focuses on restriction and responsibility, discipline and regimentation, limiting the perspective.

2 DECANATE. Persistence directed toward an aim overcomes obstacles.

Dark-brown with white- expresses powerful and obstinate pressure, slow and definite advance, demands and heaviness.

3 DECANATE. The goal achieved is transformed into material results.

Black with beige - gives the sense of reality, substantiality of matter, firmness, definiteness.

AQUARIUS

1 DECANATE. The freedom of creativity broadens the horizons of the world.

Radiant blue with light-yellow - makes sense of openness, light, spontaneous perception and creativity, clarity of mind, liberation from everyday problems.

2 DECANATE. The beam of intuition reaching everywhere explores the unknown.

Deep-blue with white - opens the perspective, reflects distance and coldness, light and purity, dream and renewal.

3 DECANATE. Removal the illusion of an ideal separates from reality.

Blue with light-lilac - expresses illusions and doubt regarding manifest reality, melancholy, sexlessness, utopian states.

PISCES

1 DECANATE. Acceptance of the will of fate gives birth to mystical inspiration.

Violet with white - gives the impression of sinking into the depth, humility, repentance and purification, absolutism and fatalism, symbolizes the eternity.

2 DECANATE. Cosmic vibrations penetrate the living tissues of the word.

Dark green with light lilac - evokes the feeling of hesitation, deep influences, inertness, swings from unity to distraction.

3 DECANATE. Inner resonance of the soul with the Universe promotes its selfmanifestation.

Violet-blue with red-lilac - has hypnotic suggestion, intoxicates, inspires, causes emotional excitement, reflects transformation through and inner to outer transformation and back again.

Man's eye distinguishes over 700 nuances of color. Certainly not all the combinations were included in the characteristic of the decanates. Only pairs of color describing the signs as a whole were elected. Theoretically, we could assign to the different pieces of the Zodiac all the Plenty of color tinges. But our eyes detach not all the tinge as equivalent - as we use not all the sound in the speech: any language has a definite set on vowels and consonants. So in the system the accent is made to the most independent tinges of color and their meanings in the combination, permitting to define the distance needed to distinguish between the colors correlated closely.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from all of us at Snowcem Paints.

Banks line up schemes to lure NRIs into real estate

The booming real estate market in the country has prompted industry players to introduce a slew of innovative products to people willing to pay. From real estate developers to real estate fund managers, from banks to housing finance companies, it’s a party time for all. But behind those euphoric times, some banks, with operations in India and outside, are offering innovative products to non-resident Indians (NRIs), which could turn tricky in case Indian real estate market falls into a trough, sources said.

It involves the foreign and Indian operations of the same bank, the NRI and his friends, relatives and associates based in India. To start with, NRI, with the help of his friends and others, establishes an Indian company that could do business in the real estate sector. Now the bank in India gives some loan to the company to buy land in India.

On the other hand, the NRI keeps a fixed deposit with the wealth management division or private banking arm of the same bank’s overseas operation. Unofficially, the foreign branch of the bank, with FD in its books, stands guarantee to the loan given by the bank’s Indian operation to the company set up by the associates of the NRI. But the same is not officially shown as a guarantee in the books of the two branches involved.

As per current FDI rules in real estate, any residential project in which foreign money in invested, should be on a land measuring 25 acres or more. For commercial properties, the minimum stipulated area should be 50,000 square metres.

However, market players said with the realty boom, NRIs find it tough to get land at market rate. Whenever the seller gets to know foreign money is involved, they demand prices higher than the market rates. The rates go up further when sellers get to know that the buyer wants adjoining plots which should aggregate at least 25 acres.

In such a situation, the company established by the associates of NRI buys smaller plots of adjoining land without raising the rates much or even raising suspicion of the sellers that an aggregation is on play or even foreign money is involved. Once enough number of plots are bought, those are aggregated (to at least 25 acres) and the company then transfers the same to the NRI to comply with FDI rule. While the NRI pays back the bank in India, his FD kept in the bank.

Reasons to invest in Mumbai property

To own a beautiful house in first-rate area of any city is everyone’s dream in India today. But not every dream comes true. And this dream becomes all the more difficult to come true if you would like to own a house in big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bangalore. In big cities and above all in Mumbai, it takes a gigantic task to come across to an appropriate house within your means. But this tricky task can be made trouble-free if you can engage the services of a competent property consultant who knows each and every thing about Mumbai Real Estate market.

Mumbai property market is the largest real estate market in India. With a population of around 19 millions people, Mumbai and its suburbs encompass one of the biggest urban agglomerations in the world that is only second to Tokyo. The population of Mumbai is increasing at a massive rate. Unfortunately, the rate of developing new residential and commercial property in Mumbai has always been lower than the rate increase in population. As a result, you come across families in Mumbai who are forced to live in small rooms. According to the national census of India of 2001, every other person in Mumbai is living in slum. All these facts point to the amount of intricacy you can face while locating a suitable property in Mumbai either to buy or rent-in.

To stay away from this difficulty, my advice for you would be to take into service a competent real estate consultant in Mumbai. There are many fine real estate agencies in Mumbai like Better Homes India who can do that for you at less commission. These agencies have years of practical experience of working in Mumbai real estate market to come good for you. They can help you under different circumstances. They can buy a commercial or residential property in Mumbai for you as well as they can be a great helping hand if you want to sell property in Mumbai. They can even help you in case you are looking for long or short term rental in Mumbai.

Since population graph of Mumbai shows an upward trend, it means that property prices in Mumbai would be higher when compared to any other Indian city. Lack of space for new property development from Juhu Beach to South Mumbai, has made the property prices in this area to shoot skywards. Of-late there has been a new craze of redevelopment of property in posh Mumbai areas like Bandra. But the property prices in areas like, Juhu, Bandra are to some extent unaffordable to middle class. With the intention to win this segment of the society, the market of real estate in Mumbai is developing various projects in the suburbs of the city. Navi, a suburb of Mumbai, is their main target in order to provide affordable commercial and residential property in Mumbai. Navi is known as twin city of Mumbai with a population of 0.75 million. The future of real estate in Navi Mumbai is very bright and property prices here are already started to move upward quickly. And to me it is the best moment in time to buy property in Navi Mumbai.

As a Mumbai real estate consultant my advice to you would be to buy property in Mumbai suburbs in place of main old Mumbai. These suburbs like Navi Mumbai are being developed to sound and modern plan and have every facility of life. The property prices here are another plus to go with these areas. The choice is yours but there is one thing certain. The property value in Mumbai is going to increase with course of time and an astute investment in Mumbai real estate market can earn you massive profit in future.

About The Author:
Daniel Marshell is senior real estate consultant associated with http://www.bhomes.com/india/ Better Homes India, a leading real estate firm in Mumbai, India. He has more than 25 years of first hand experience of working in Mumbai Real Estate Market. His firm Better Homes India also offers online real estate services in Mumbai. For more information please visit www.bhomes.com/india

Plant paints

Paint can be created many different ways. Here Danny Seo introduces you to environmentally, ecologically sound non-toxic paints derived from plants.

Mumbai's crowded cityscape may have to wait for respite

Real estate prices in Mumbai are unlikely to come down soon in spite of additional building rights being released by the city’s special planning authority, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). Transfer of development rights, or TDR, is a certificate from the city administration that the owner of a property gets for developing public utilities such as parks, schools and hospitals.

Under the TDR policy, builders are compensated in kind if they surrender some of their land to the government for purposes such as widening a road, creating a park or slum rehabilitation. These rights can be sold to other builders or can be used for development by the builder himself in the suburbs in lieu of the plot that he has surrendered. TDRs cannot be exercised within Mumbai city limits.

For instance, if a property has been designated as a park in the city’s master plan, and the owner of that property develops the park and hands it over to the city administration, the administration will issue a TDR certificate that allows the owner to build on an equivalent area in one of the suburbs.

Most TDRs in the past few years have been generated from the redevelopment of slums, initiated by both the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and MMRDA.

Since MMRDA itself has constructed and relocated some of the slums, it holds a significant amount of TDRs, estimated at around 3 million sq. ft. An MMRDA spokesperson confirmed the figure and said the agency will continue to release parts of it periodically.

The authority has invited tenders for TDRs for around 250,000 sq. ft from two of its slum redevelopment projects, the Nesco plot on the Western Express Highway and the Nirlon plot, both in the city’s suburb of Goregaon East.

The agency has set a base price of Rs2,500 per sq. ft. “But we are not ruling out bids in the region of Rs4,000 per sq. ft,” said an MMRDA official.

Current average TDR prices are in the region of Rs2,900 per sq. ft, up from Rs2,400 per sq. ft last year. In the Bandra-Khar Road-Santa Cruz areas, TDR rates are about Rs3,000 per sq. ft, while in the more distant western suburbs between Jogeshwari and Borivali, the rates are at Rs2,700 per sq. ft.

The short supply of land in the city has kept real estate prices high. Rentals have risen 55% in the last one year and are now higher than in cities such as London, New York and Tokyo, said a recent survey by real estate consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis India. On the residential front alone, Mumbai has an unmet demand of 12 million housing units.

“The demand for land in the city is so much that any amount of TDR or land that comes into the city will be consumed easily. Unless a significant amount of land or TDR comes into the market at a go, there will be no impact on real estate prices,” said Aditya Sejpal, partner at VD Sejpal and Co., a real estate development company that also deals in TDR certificates.

Anshuman Magazine, chief executive officer, CB Richard Ellis India, agreed. “Just the fact that MMRDA is releasing additional TDR will not affect prices of residential flats or commercial premises in Mumbai, given that the demand is so high. Only when the lands released by the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (Ulca) come into the market in a year’s time will there be a real drop in prices,” he said.

Ulca was repealed in November by the Maharashtra state assembly. According to Pranay Vakil, chairman of real estate consultants Knight Frank India, over the next three to five years, between 15,000 acres and 17,000 acres (about 6,000-6,900ha) will be freed and come into the market across the state following the repeal of the Act.

(via Livemint)

The sheep that paints

The first sign that sheep have innate artistic capability was witnessed by well-known artist Ann Gadd in a work she has entitled 'The Artist in Ewe' on behalf of the artist, Ewereka. Ewereka has already painted more than 1000 paintings. "

The work is rumanantistic, yet shows a subtle movement away from Dadaism to Baabaaism," comments Gadd. Her husband, Anthony constructed a special brush which allowed Ewereka to paint

Ansal Housing sets up shop in New York

Empowered by India's surging real estate market – and its own swelling profit margins – Ansal Housing & Construction Ltd., one of the subcontinent’s largest property developers, has opened a new branch sales office in New York City. The office, which Ansal Housing established through its U.S. partner, Goodwill Capital Inc., targets expat Indians who are interested in investing in Ansal's commercial and residential projects in India.

Officials from both companies attended the opening of the new office at a press conference in New York on Oct. 12. New Delhi-based Ansal Housing touts the location as a means to connect brokers and agents in the United States that it has approved, and as a tool to market its services to nonresident Indians living in areas of North America with predominantly South Asian populations.

Property prices in India are rising fast, and not just in the biggest cities,” Ansal Housing vice president Karun Ansal said at the event. "As the tech boom spreads across the country, as more Indians buy homes, and as the economy grows at faster than 8 percent a year, real estate is attracting more investors – many of them from abroad."

Indeed, domestic and foreign demand for property in India has surged in concert with the country's rapid economic growth. Following a decade of stagnating property prices, the Indian real estate sector has experienced an unprecedented boom since 2004, with prices rising by over 50 percent annually in some cities. Price appreciation has occurred across the board, in major cities such as Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, and smaller cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, which have established themselves as alternative outsourcing centers and business locations; and satellite cities and towns that have experienced price appreciation as economic activities have diversified and infrastructure has improved.

"The real estate sector in India is attracting huge investments," Ansal said. "Private equity players are considering big investments, banks are giving loans to builders and financial institutions are floating real estate funds."

The Indian government encourages nonresident Indians and foreigners alike to invest directly in the country’s real estate market, yet it wasn’t always this way. For years, only nonresident Indians and persons of Indian origin were permitted to invest in the country’s housing and the real estate sectors. Federal law limited foreigners to investing in integrated townships and settlements either through a wholly owned subsidiary or through a joint-venture company with an Indian partner.

But in early 2005, Indian lawmakers amended existing policies to allow 100 percent foreign-direct investment in townships, housing, established infrastructure and various other types of construction projects, including hotels, resorts, hospitals, educational institutions and commercial developments. The government also reduced the minimum amount of land required for foreign-direct investment from 100 acres to 25 acres.

This cleared the path for foreign investment to meet the demand into development of the commercial and residential real estate sectors. It has also encouraged several large financial firms and private equity funds to launch exclusive funds targeting the Indian real estate sector

“The NRIs can invest in both residential, as well as commercial properties in India. There is no restriction on the maximum number of properties that can be bought,” Ansal said. “NRIs also get full support for the finance required for the purchase of the properties.”

India’s real estate sector has grown substantially in recent years as foreign investors have sunken huge sums of cash into the market. Merrill Lynch forecasts that it will grow from $12 billion in 2005 to $90 billion by 2015. The run-up in prices has attracted heavyweight financial firms like Morgan Stanley, which invested $68 million in Mantri Developers, a midsized construction firm in Bangalore, and Merrill Lynch, which invested $50 million in Panchsheel Developers, a regional builder. Foreign companies have also poured money into funds that invest in Indian developers. GE Commercial Finance Real Estate, for example, has invested $63 million in an $800 million fund that is building IT parks, and the California Public Employees Retirement Fund and the Oregon Public Retirement Fund have invested $100 million each in the IL&FS India Realty fund.

Real estate funds set up to invest only in India have already raised more than $2.7 billion. And new funds worth as much as $4 billion are being planned by J.P. Morgan, Britain's Knight Frank, and other foreign investors. Warburg Pincus, the largest private-equity investor in India, says it is spending nearly a third of its time studying opportunities in this area. And Deutsche Asset Management recently hired someone to head its real estate activities in India.

“Real estate in India is attracting NRI investors not necessarily for speculative purposes, but to acquire strong assets that will give good returns,” Manmeet Sikka, Goodwill Capital president, said, adding that nonresident Indians should stick to investing in a variety of infrastructure projects like roads and bridges in urban areas, construction of residential and commercial projects, development of townships at the city and regional level, and other participatory ventures.

(via Indus Business Journal)

India's greenest airport

The Airports Authority of India has chosen plans by a team of architects including Frederic Schwartz Architects, Hargreaves Associates, Gensler, and New Delhi-based Creative Group to expand the Chennai International Airport's domestic and international terminals. When completed in 2010, the $300 million project will transform Chennai, located in the city formerly known as Madras, into India's greenest airport.

The Kamraj Domestic Terminal, in particular, will showcase sustainable technologies. The 23-year-old building currently measures 139,931 square feet and handles 4.74 million passengers a year. Its revamped design will allow it to accommodate twice as many passengers in a three-story structure 984 feet long, encompassing some 781,460 square feet.

The organization of security and circulation forms the basis of the plan, which centers around two lush, ecologically sustainable gardens measuring nearly an acre apiece. "These gardens are visible throughout the terminal creating a unique dialogue between interior and exterior spaces," says Frederic Schwartz, who together with Creative Group was also recently awarded the commission to design a new terminal at India's Raipur airport, in the country's central region.

A parking garage with a green roof will create what the designers describe as a "green gate" to the terminal. "The folding geometry of the green roof captures and directs rain water during the rain season to the elliptical openings in the roof, creating shimmering ‘rain curtains' as the water falls through the garage to cisterns below. This stored water is later used during the dry season to irrigate the green roof and maximize the site's sustainable resources."

Gurpreet Shah, a Creative Group principal, notes that rain harvesting is mandated by Indian law. But Chennai's decision to go green was largely a voluntary one. Although the country is working to adopt the LEED rating system, the program will not cover airports. "We are conscious about it and will try to incorporate as much [sustainable technology] as we can," Shah says.

Are our buildings shaped by sacred numbers?

Architecture begins with geometry. Since earliest times, architects have relied on mathematical principles. The ancient Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius believed that builders should always use precise ratios when constructing temples. “For without symmetry and proportion no temple can have a regular plan,” Vitruvius wrote in his famous treatise De Architectura .

The proportion Vitruvius recommended was modeled after the human body. He observed that all human beings are shaped according to a ratio that is astonishingly precise and uniform. For example, Vitruvius found that the human face equals one tenth of the total body height. The foot equals one sixth of the total body height. And so on.

Scientists and philosophers later discovered that the same ratio Vitruvius saw in the human body – 1 to PHI (1.618) – exists in every part of nature, from swimming fish to swirling planets.

This divine ratio, or divine proportion, has been called the building block of all life.

Sacred geometry, or spiritual geometry, is the belief that numbers and patterns such as the divine ratio have sacred significance. Many mystical and spiritual practices, including astrology, numerology, tarot, and feng shui, begin with a fundamental belief in sacred geometry. Architects and designers may draw upon concepts of sacred geometry when they choose particular geometric forms to create pleasing, soul-satisfying spaces.

Absurd? Before you dismiss sacred geometry, take a few moments to reflect on the ways some numbers and patterns appear again and again in every part of your life.

Sacred Geometry In Your Body
When studied under the microscope, living cells reveal a highly ordered system of shapes and patterns. From the shape of your DNA to the cornea of your eye, every part of your body follows the same predictable patterns.

Sacred Geometry In Your Garden
The jigsaw puzzle of life is made up of recurring shapes and numbers. Leaves, flowers, seeds, and other living things share the same spiral shapes. Honeybees and other insects live structured lives that mimic these patterns. When we create a floral arrangement or walk through a labyrinth, we celebrate nature’s innate forms.

Sacred Geometry In Stones
Nature’s archetypes are reflected in the crystalline forms of gems and stones. Amazingly, the patterns found in your diamond engagement ring may resemble the formation of snowflakes and the shape of your own cells.

Sacred Geometry In the Sea
Similar shapes and numbers are found beneath the sea, from the swirl of a nautilus shell to the movement of the tides.

Sacred Geometry In the Heavens
Nature’s patterns are echoed in the movement of planets and stars and the cycles of the moon. Perhaps this is why astrology lies at the heart of so many spiritual beliefs.

Sacred Geometry In Music
The vibrations we call sound follow sacred, archetypal patterns. For this reason, you may find that certain sound sequences can stimulate the intellect, inspire creativity, and evoke a deep sense of joy.

Sacred Geometry And The Cosmic Grid
Stonehenge, metalithic tombs, and other ancient sites stretch across the globe along underground electromagnetic tracks, or ley lines. The energy grid formed by these lines suggest sacred shapes and ratios.

Sacred Geometry And Theology
In his best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown used concepts of sacred geometry to weave a spell-binding tale about conspiracy and early Christianity. Regardless of your faith, you are likely to find that sacred numbers and symbols play an important role. Concepts of sacred geometry are expressed in the beliefs of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, and other formal religions.

Sacred Geometry In Your Home
From the pyramids in Egypt to the new World Trade Center tower in New York, great architecture uses the same essential building blocks as your body and all living things. Moreover, the principles of sacred geometry are not confined to great temples and monuments. Sacred geometry shapes all buildings, no matter how humble. Believers say that when we recognize these principles and build upon them, we create dwellings that comfort and inspire.

(via About.com)

Wax bleed

WAX BLEED:

Stains that come from waxy substance in the reconstituted wood products such as chipboard or MDF. When the substrate is painted, these staining substances bleed through the paint; they can even bleed through some ordinary primers, possibly causing dirt pickup, fungal/algal contamination and/or poor paint adhesion (see Dirt Pickup and Fungal/Algal Contamination.

POSSIBLE CAUSES:
• Failure to apply a proper primer to hardboard before applying the top coat.

SOLUTION:
• We recommend a quality water-based acrylic primer followed by two coats of quality acrylic paint.

Color warm ups

Colors in the red, orange and yellow families are referred to as "warm" colors since they evoke images associated with heat, like fire or sunshine. As a result they make us feel warm in a psychological sense

Red
This powerful color increases blood pressure and heart rate. It often produces feelings of intimacy, energy, passion and sexuality. It also stimulates the appetite and is often used in restaurants and is an excellent choice for dining rooms in the home.

Orange
Like red, orange warms a room but in a less dramatic and passionate way. The mood and attitude of orange is more friendly than fiery; more welcoming than seductive. Orange works well in living rooms and family rooms and is also a good choice for children's bedrooms.

Yellow
Yellow grabs attention and catches the eye like no other color, hence the use of yellow highlighters in offices. In poorly lit foyers and hallways, yellow shows the way. In their bedrooms, elderly people report that yellow lifts their mood. But bright yellow can be too strong and may actually cause anxiety in infants, young children and the elderly.

Poll

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Small towns lap up home loans

Forget the metros, it is the smaller cities in India that are really witnessing a housing boom. Sample this: every fourth household in sleepy Gangtok took a housing loan from a scheduled commercial bank in 2005-06, over one-fifth of all homes in Bhubaneshwar did the same that year.

At an average of barely Rs 3.4 lakh per housing loan, the residents of the Sikkimese capital may not be able to match the residents of the metros when it comes to the size of the loan, but in terms of the sheer proportion of families that are borrowing to have a nest they can call their own, small-town India is on the march.

However, in terms of the value of housing loans, Mumbai tops the list with a little under Rs 24,000 crore in 2005-06, the latest year for which detailed data is available. Delhi was next with over Rs 16,000 crore, followed by Bangalore with over Rs 14,000 crore, Chennai (a little more than Rs 10,000 crore) and Hyderabad (over Rs 7,000 crore). The metros dominate this list, even without including suburban districts like Thane and Thiruvallur.

How you rank the cities in terms of their propensity for housing loans depends on which parameter you choose — the volume of loans, the value of each loan, the proportion of households that borrowed or the average borrowing per household.

Look at the average value of each loan account opened in 2005-06 and the list changes. Noida now tops the list with Rs 10.5 lakh followed by Gurgaon with Rs 10.2 lakh and Delhi with Rs 9.8 lakh. Mumbai, with an average housing loan of Rs 7 lakh, is now in eighth place. It is a list that has the big metros and their immediate neighbours crowding the top of the chart.

Look at it in terms of the average housing loan per household and the list changes. Noida and Gurgaon remain on top with Rs 1.49 lakh and Rs 1.29 lakh respectively, but Chandigarh and Chennai, with an average of just over Rs 1 lakh, are now joint third while Delhi slips to No 17 with Rs 0.49 lakh.

(via Times of India.)

Bangalore attractive for real estate

Bangalore continues to be an attractive market for real estate, with growth rates being maintained at 20 per cent, according to Balkrishna Hegde, President Karnataka Ownership Apartments Association.

"The real estate market in India and especially Bangalore is on a high. The market has seen some stabilisation in the past seven to eight months," he said while announcing the city Realty Expo 2007, to be held in the city on December 8-9.

"Today the market has matured, with compositions being skewed towards actual users, rather than investors in the earlier years. This, along with interest shown by NRIs and reduction in loan rates, is showing a positive movement in the market during the last few months," he said.

Karnataka's growth in software exports and the creation of jobs is leading to increase in demand for housing and this increase is poised to fuel the growth in real estate market in future, said Hegde.

The cosmopolitan outlook of the city, coupled with weather advantage and huge talent pool, is what is holding it in good state, he added.

On the potential growth in budget/mid-segment and high end luxury segments, he said there is huge potential yet to be tapped. As far as mid Rs 35-50 lakh segment is concerned there should be more than 50,000 units in the next one year.

The high-end bracket in India is the fastest growing segment as compared to anywhere in the world and therefore the demand for this segment will be on the rise in the coming days, he said.

(via Economic Times.)

Are poor relations between architects and developers the cause of bad design?

Yes, both sides should value each other more, says Cabe chief executive Richard Simmons, while Simon Hudspith of Panter Hudspith Architects believes the real problem is value and the profit imperative

'Yes'

There clearly is a lack of trust between developers and designers. Two thirds of planning applications for housing do not involve an architect.

Many housebuilders say that using an architect takes longer and costs more. Yet Wimpey’s Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners’ scheme at Oxley Woods in Milton Keynes is faster to market and sells off plan, thanks to its radical architecture.

We don’t see much of this kind of market leadership in suburbia. Interestingly, when a volume housebuilder recently advertised an attractive package for an urban designer, it elicited no responses. Did this silence arise from architectural snobbery about suburbia? Or is it a fear that housebuilders can’t understand that today’s customers aspire to more than a bastardised, miniaturised replica of 1930s’ Tudorbethan?

Both sides need to value each other more. Faced with a tighter planning system and the zero-carbon challenge, housebuilders are beginning to appreciate what design can bring.

The failure of design that results from the absence of an architect is most visible in the suburbs — where most of the 3 million new homes planned by 2020 will be built. It is here that the eye of the designer is needed most badly and, for architects, this could represent a major business opportunity, one of immense social worth.

Accordia, Oxley Woods and Abode are suburban schemes that prove great housing need not be confined to city centres. But at present, such collaborations remain the exception, not the rule.

'No'

This is a simplified polarisation of architects and housebuilders, who are only part of the complex equation of providing homes. The real protagonist is value — or what as a society we choose to value — and how this is expressed in the commissioning, designing, building and selling of our homes.

If the budget is right, relations between architects and house- builders are not an issue. We have done several design-and-build contracts where the right amount of money was assigned to the relevant subcontracting packages. This gives us and the contractor the confidence to do a good job — then relations are just fine.

Society has low expectations when it comes to housing. It is much more discerning about mobile phone technology than about the standards of its homes. If we stopped buying sub-standard housing, housebuilders would be forced to reconsider their values.

We must also stop using houses as quick ways to realise profit — resulting in so-called buy-to-leave apartments — despite the ever-increasing demands on housing.

This spiral of profitability is debilitating to quality. The higher the achievable profit, the more is paid for the site, and the higher the site cost, the less there is to spend on construction. Then the builder must spend the minimum in search of maximum profit because the purchase profit of the next site has become even higher.

This puts impossible financial constraints on both architect and builder, who inevitably pull in opposite directions.

What do you think?

Kitchen remodeling ideas

Tim Carter, of askthebuilder.com, shows off his old kitchen, the demolition of the old kitchen, his newly remodeled kitchen, and all the great new amenities.

Make your own furniture out of cardboard

icola Enrico Stäubli is a self-described "architect, designer and bike messenger" based in Switzerland who believes that modern design should be affordable for everyone. So Stäubli started www.foldschool.com, a Web site providing free patterns and instructions for making your own foldable cardboard furniture for children.

All you need to make Stäubli's origami-like creations is some corrugated cardboard, adhesive, a ruler and cutting tools. The patterns can be downloaded from his Web site and printed out on your home printer. (Make sure your paper tray is loaded: the chair pattern alone fills 54 sheets.) Once the pages are printed, you join them together with tape to form one large pattern, and use spray glue to adhere the pattern to the cardboard.

(You can buy sheets of cardboard or just use old boxes.) Then you cut along the lines, fold, assemble and glue.

The Web site includes plans for a stool, rocker and chair. The pieces are really attractive, and can be customized by your child using crayons or paint. (Just don't decorate the seat or back if you want to keep clothes clean.) Construction time takes an estimated 3½ to 5½ hours, depending on the complexity of the piece, making this a good project for a rainy day (or week).

This is also environmentally friendly furniture, since the pieces can be recycled when your child outgrows them. And if you like the way your furniture came out, you can send a photo to Stäubli--he posts pictures of readers' chairs on the Web site.

(About.com)

Snowcem Paints introduces SnowDecor

Snowcem Paint,s leading suppliers of exterior finishes, have now added a new products to the exterior range. SnowDecor is their new offering in texture finishes. The product is a tough, decorative, ready-to-use textured wall finish. It is specially manufactured to impart toughness, durability, binding and longer life to external and internal surfaces. SnowDecor is available in a range of textures, which are not only aesthetic but also highly durable, maintenance-free and adaptable to diverse climate and surface conditions.

Aesthetic and Durable Features

1. Imparts toughness to surface
2. It is highly durable and maintenance-free
3. Twin benefits of protection and aesthetics
4. Eco-friendly conforms to VOC norms
5. Contains anti-bacterial and anti-fungal additives
6. Fills hairline cracks and pinholes
7. Is waterproof and washable
8. Is non-toxic and non-flammable
9. Highly resistant to alkalies surface

SnowDecor adheres perfectly to different external and internal surfaces, plaster masonry brickwork, concrete, gypsum and asbestos. It is also recommended for revising old surfaces.

Colour: Base colour

Packing: SnowDecor is available in 30 kg. Bags.

Mixing Ratio: Ready to use, if required add 5% by volume.

Thinner/Cleaner: Water

Recommended System: Apply a coat of SPECIAL CW PREMIER and then apply two coat of acrylic top coat of required shade.

Finishes

SCRATCH FINISH

Contains Acrylic copolymers and high quality siliceous aggregates of varying size, formulated to withstand humidity, rain and hot climate. It contains anti-bacterial and anti-fungal additives.

ONXY – 2.0 mm scratch finish

CRYSTAL – 1.0 mm scratch finish

QUARTZ – 0.5 mm scratch finish

Colour: Base colour

Finish: Textured scratch finish

BUBBLE FINISH

Contains Acrylic copolymers reinforced with marble powder, formulated to withstand humidity, rain and hot climate. It contains anti-bacterial and anti-fungal additives.

SPARKLE BUBBLE: Bubble finish. Pressed Bubble finish and Multi coloured Bubble finish.

Colour: Base colour. Can be coated with any shade.

Finish Texture (Bubble Pressed Bubble and Multi coloured) finish.

SUPER TEXTURE FINISH

Contains Acrylic copolymers reinforced with marble powder, formulated to give different roller patterns. It contains anti-bacterial and additives.

DIAMOND – Superfine CORAL – Superfine Spray finish

Colour: Self-colour and can be coated with any shade

Finish: Texture Roller finish

DHOLPUR STONE FINISH

Synthetic stone like finish. Pure Acrylic emulsion reinforced with marble powder and silica sand, formulated to give different roller patterns. It contains anti-bacterial and anti-fungal additives.

AMBER Dholpur Stone Finish: Texture finish

Colour Natural Stone

TEXTURED ROLLER FINISH

Combination of high quality pigments, tough naturals mineral and special acrylic binder. It contains anti-bacterial and anti-fungal additives.

PEARL: Textured Roller finish.

Housing loan tips for NRIs

Housing loans are offered to NRIs by leading financial institutions and commercial banks in India like Citibank, ABN AMRO, and SBI, to name just a few.

As an NRI you can opt for the government supported ‘Griha Shobha’ scheme as well. Remember that an NRI can avail of a loan of up to Rs.1 crore or an amount of up to 85% of the cost of the property. The rate of interest varies from 11.25% to 14.25% per annum (rates subject to change). Almost all banks and financial institutions charge a processing fee, which is payable once and will amount to approximately 1% to 2% of the loan amount applied for.

The eligibility of the amount of loan disbursed will depend upon the individual’s repayment capacity. The calculation of repayment capacity is made based on factors such as monthly and annual income, source of income, savings and credit history, work experience, age, qualifications, number of dependants, other sources of income including spouse’s income, and assets and liabilities. Further, the probability of the individual continuing in the same occupation or his /her interest in alternate employment prospects when he/she comes back to India is assessed.

The typical duration for repayment of the loan is three to ten years. The repayments are usually made in Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs), which are a combination of the principal and interest amounts. EMIs get deducted from the month following the month in which the loan gets disbursed and can be made through post-dated checks from the NRE/NRNR account held by the NRI in India. The list of documents needed to process this application is a long one.

Property and related documents:

• All receipts for payments made by individual towards purchasing the house
• Copies of approved drawings of the property, including extensions
• Copies of Agreement for Sale and sale deed
• Document containing detailed cost estimates from the architect/engineer for the house
• Allotment letter issued by the association of apartment owners

Employment and related documents:

• Copy of the work permit
• Copies of the Visa stamped on the passport
• Copy of the existing/current employment contract
• Latest wage slip/ salary certificate or statement
• Copy of the Identity card issued by current employers
• Overseas bank account statement (four months)
• Copy of the Continuous Discharge Certificate (if applicable)

(via Window2India.com)

4 steps to a long-lasting paint job

Looking for picture perfect results from your exterior paint job? Experts say it’s not as complicated as you might think. In fact, they say that you can achieve a great looking paint job by following four simple steps.

#1: Prepare the Surface Properly. Before you begin painting, make sure the surface is clean and sound. Even the best quality paints will fail if they are applied to a poorly prepared surface. First, remove any mildew with a solution of one part bleach to three parts water. Apply to the surface and let it sit for 20 minutes, applying more as it dries. Then rinse with clean water. Wear eye and skin protection, and protect nearby plantings.

Next, make sure the surface is free of any loose, flaking or peeling paint. This may require scraping and sanding. Also, sand any glossy areas to dull them. Scrub with a detergent and water solution to remove any dirt and chalk, rinsing with clean water afterward; or power wash carefully with plain water. Use eye protection, and wear work gloves.

Finally, prime any bare areas with a top quality exterior primer. Consider priming the entire area for best adhesion and appearance of the topcoat.


#2: Use the Right Tools and Brushes. Good quality rollers and brushes last longer and help a job move along more quickly. They also apply the paint more heavily and smoothly, which helps with long- term durability. Choose brushes that are well balanced, and have tightly packed bristles that are tapered up to the center of the brush.

If you are working with latex paints, make sure the brushes and rollers you use are made with synthetic materials (nylon or polyester). Natural bristles will absorb water from the paint and swell, resulting in uneven application. Dampen bristles prior to painting for best application. If you’re using oil-based paint, either natural or synthetic bristles can be used.

#3: Paint in the Right Weather Conditions. Ideally, you should paint when the temperature is between 60° and 85° F, and when there is little or no wind. Avoid painting in direct sunshine, as this can cause the paint to dry too fast and even to blister. Also, it’s a good idea to listen to the weather forecast. If the temperature is predicted to drop below the paint manufacturer’s recommendation for minimum application temperature in the next day or two, consider postponing your project.

#4: Use the Right Paint for the Job. Choose a paint that is designed for the job you’re doing. In most cases, a 100% acrylic latex paint will be the best choice. These paints adhere better, are more flexible, and last longer than ordinary paints. Using a lower quality paint just to save a few dollars will end up costing you more in the long run, as you will have to repaint much sooner than if you used a top quality product.

One very important thing to remember is never to use an interior paint for an exterior job. Manufacturers formulate paints for use as specifically stated on the label.

So, when tackling your next exterior home painting project, follow these steps and you’ll achieve a long-lasting, attractive paint job.