Surge seen in demand of luxury real estate in Mumbai

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February 6, 2020

Regardless of the dwindling economy, Mumbai is currently witnessing a surge in the demand for luxury real estate while developers are preparing to cater to it.

Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, has always been the prime choice of residence with potential buyers preferring to invest in the city’s coveted neighborhood. However, despite huge unsold inventory and the overall slowdown in India’s real estate sector, property prices continue to go South.

The cost of an apartment in Mumbai rose 3.3 per cent in 2015 and 6 per cent in 2016. With the real estate regulations effectively making home ownership more expensive in the city, the stakes of buying the right home in the right neighbourhood are relatively higher now. So what should a savvy prospective buyer do?

Where there was a climb down in luxury real estate projects in the last few years, the launch of new projects and absorption in the market for Central Suburb and South Mumbai remained unaffected.Even though they represent just 3 per cent of Mumbai’s unsold inventory volume, these areas contribute a massive 29 per cent to the city’s real estate value. Moreover, with strongly growing commercial activity, the demand for luxury residential segment had started to pick up in the past and developers are preparing to cater to the demand.

Upcoming luxury real estate projects in South Mumbai do seem to promise a much-needed break from the hustle-bustle of the Mumbai city with apartments inspired by some of the best urban parks around the world bringing comfort and extravagance for buyers-suited needs.

State CM unveils new identity and logo of BMC schools

By

Hema Singh

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February 6, 2020

Schools of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the richest corporation of the state, is all set to get a new identity along with a logo. This was announced recently by Shiv Sena supremo and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray while he was launching a new logo of the municipal schools along with their original name.

Tourism and environment minister Aaditya Thackeray shared the design of the new logo and informed that it has been designed by students of the School of Design and Innovation.

Apart from the new logo, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government is also planning to begin ICSE and CBSE boards in municipal schools. Reportedly, teachers who wish to teach in the upcoming CBSE and ICSE schools under BMC schools would have to undergo a rigorous selection and training process. The BMC will shortlist teachers after they are assessed for their English language and teaching skills.

All the selected teachers would then be trained from the respective boards before they start working in these schools in the new academic year that begins in June. This would be a nice learning experience for teachers to get trained in a national curriculum without having to pay for it. Many teachers would want to become a part of the initiative, it is understood.

Uddhav Thackeray took to his Twitter handle and wrote, “India’s first municipal school which will be affiliated with ICSE board and Mumbai’s 1st municipal school affiliated with CBSE board will kick start from the academic year 2020!.”

PM inks Bodo accord; ushers in a new dawn of peace

By

Vinod Dixit

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February 6, 2020

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the historic Bodo Accord that he signed last week. The term Bodo means ‘man’. Kachari1 is a generic term for a number of groups speaking a more or less common dialect or language and claiming a common mythical ancestry.

The Bodos are found in almost all the areas of Assam in various configurations though they came from Tibet and settled in the lower parts of Bhutan, later got scattered to the different parts of North-East India diachronically.

The Prime Minister said that the accord will lead to transformative results for the Bodo people. The Government of Assam had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah to Kokrajhar town in the Bodoland Territorial area to celebrate inking of the the Bodo peace accord, a pact that Prime Minister Modi has termed as “historic.”

Bodos are represented by a variety of organisations, including the All-Bodos Students Union, the Bodo Liberation Tigers, the Bodo Security Force and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. These organisations have at times resorted to violent tactics including attacks on public buildings and railroads to attract the attention of the central government.

Both the ABSU and the Bodo Security Force (BSF) have employed violent measures to gain publicity for their cause. The pact, described as “historic” by PM Modi as it provides for setting up of a commission to reconstitute the Bodo Territorial Areas District by including new Bodo dominated villages contiguous to the existing BTAD area and excluding villages with a predominantly non-tribal population. BTAD will be rechristened as Bodo Territorial Region. Bodo language will be notified as an associate official language in Assam. The Bodos, the largest plains tribe with a Territorial Council of its own, have furiously opposed the idea proposed by the Assam Sahitya Sabha that Assamese are those who, “irrespective of community, language, religion and place of origin, accept Assamese as their mother tongue or their second or third language”.

In a tweet PM said, “Ushering in a new dawn of peace, harmony and togetherness and the accord with Bodo groups, which has been inked will lead to transformative results for the Bodo people. Bodo accord inked stands out for many reasons as it successfully brings together the leading stakeholders under one framework. Those who were previously associated with armed resistance groups will now be entering the mainstream and contributing to our nation’s progress.

The accord with Bodo groups will further protect and popularise the unique culture of the Bodo people. They will get access to a wide range of development oriented initiatives. We are committed to doing everything possible to help the Bodo people realise their aspirations”.

The accord with Bodo groups which has been inked today will lead to transformative results for the Bodo people as they will get access to a wide range of development oriented initiatives. The prime minister has rightly said that it would usher in a new dawn of peace, harmony and togetherness and that those associated with armed resistance groups would now enter the mainstream and contribute to the nation’s progress.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editor: 06 February, 2020

By

Web Team

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February 6, 2020

1Kiwi cricketers and sportsmanship

It was a pleasant and heartwarming sight to see young West indies batsman Kirk Mc Kenzie being carried off the ground by New Zealand u19 cricketers skipper Jesse Tashkoff and pacer Joseph Field when the former suffered severe cramps on the field while playing against the Kiwi team in the ongoing Under 19 World Cup cricket tournament.

New Zealand players are widely popular and noted for their sportsmanship and their behavior was witnessed by sports buffs around the world during the World Cup semi final when the Kane Williamson led side showed excellently an example of the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ in the 50-over World Cup (WC) final held in July last year. Even in the heat of the thrilling match the Kiwis never lost their cool and only displayed excellent sportsmanship worthy of emulating. The match lingers in our memory not just for its thrill and chill but for the beautiful spirit of cricket displayed especially by the New Zealand team and though unfortunately they lost the match they won the hearts of everybody. Sometime back the seniors team won the very famous ICC’s 2019 Christopher Martin-Jenkins’ Spirit of Cricket Award.
At a time when cricketers forget gentlemanliness, which is the soul of cricket and cricketers and get into all types of tiffs, conflicts, clashes and dirty ‘sledging’ at the drop of a hat the Kiwis both seniors and junior’s have proved that sportsman spirit is still alive. The youngsters’ gesture has been applauded by the cricketing fraternity including cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.

M Pradyu

2Night life will gain popularity in days to come

Any alterations takes time for people to get accustomed to the change and 24×7 shopping as well as eating may have received a mute response but would pick up in the days to come. Mumbai is an international city and people should not crib at the empty malls and hotels during midnight hours as the change is for upgrading the city the benefits of which would bore fruits in future when tourists line up our shores as people plan vacations and not just rush at any change. Empty public transport buses at odd hours doesn’t mean you withdraw the services. Mumbai is a city that never sleeps and one believe the 24×7 scheme of shopping as well as eating was a move in the right direction.

Government should offer some incentives like tax cuts as well as subsidised electricity during night hours for mall owners to popularize the scheme. Shop and hoteliers should offer free vouchers as well as special discounts during night hours to not only popularize the scheme which would than attract more customers. People at the moment must be worried about security to visit empty malls at odd hours but the scene would change in future when people adopt the change and crowd these places in the days to come.

S.N.Kabra

3Wuhan kaun hai tera?

Alarmed by the breakout of the Coronavirus, a harried passenger arrived at the Wuhan airport to board a plane back to India. A accomplice of his was also at the airport but he was going to Pakistan. Both knew each other very well.

The Indian Venkataraju by name was alone in the family. Neither did he have his parents, nor was he married. The scare of the deadly virus made Venkat to return home. His accomplice Khan knew that back home also, Venkat was a disturbed man with no friends to support him.

While they were sitting at the airport waiting for their respective plane to arrive, Khan pleaded with Venkat asking him to go with him to Pakistan and stay with him. The discussion went on for a long time when suddenly it was announced that the plane to India was now boarding.

When Venkat got up, Khan loudly pleaded, “Wuhan kaun hai tera musafir, jayega kahan.” People who were overhearing the conversation, broke art laughing.

Ashish Mitra

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

MTNL staffers opt for VRS in droves

By

Afternoon Voice

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February 6, 2020

Over 80 per cent of MTNL staffers recently opted for voluntary retirement with January 31 being their last working day.

Above 18,000 MTNL employess Delhi and Mumbai opting for VRS, it has left over 14 lakh landline phones, 10 lakh mobile users and approximately 5 lakh broadband users in Mumbai in the lurch.

Most of the people who have taken VRS are from grade C (clerical) and grade D (peons and linesmen).While people from grade A to D have opted for VRS, the maximum retirement options have come from those in grades C and D.

The city has already started experiencing the effects of the mass retirement with most of the glitches in MTNL landlines, broadband networks and mobile phones remaining unresolved for many weeks.

MTNL Mumbai has around 125 exchanges across the city , Thane. Navi Mumbai, Mira Bhayander, Panvel and Uran. Interestingly, call centres in almost all these exchanges apart from the Prabhadevi head office have been non-functional since January 31.

Said an employee on condition of anonymity “ They have asked us to be multi-taskers which in unfair especially when you have not been paid for two months. We have our home loans, children’s education and other household education which have all gone for a toss.”

The management has has not applied their mind to chalk out a plan in advance,” said Dilip Jadhav secretary, MTNL Kamgar Sangh.

The union representatives have had a series of meetings with the MTNL management where they were told that the government was keen on outsourcing the entire functioning of MTNL but neither the Ministry of Telecommuniations nor the MTNL management have invited anybody for talks.

Nirbhaya case: SC to hear Centre’s appeal tomorrow, challenging HC verdict on hanging of convicts

By

Web Team

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February 6, 2020

On Thursday the Supreme Court agreed to hear on Friday the Centre’s appeal challenging the Delhi High Court’s verdict dismissing its plea against stay on the execution of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Solicitor General K.M. Natraj, appearing for the Centre, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench comprising justices N.V. Ramana, Sanjiv Khanna and Krishna Murari.

The Centre said in its appeal, “The question is whether a convict who has exhausted all his remedies can still frustrate the mandate of law merely because the mercy petition of one of the co-convicts is pending before the President and another co-convict has not even filed the mercy petition.”

The court that jail authorities are unable to execute the convicts in the case despite the fact that their review petitions have been dismissed and curative petitions and mercy pleas of three of them rejected stated Mr. Natraj.

The government has argued in the Supreme Court that under the Delhi Prison Rules of 2018 the pendency of legal remedies or mercy petitions of other co-convicts would have no bearing on the fate of a convict whose plea for mercy has already been rejected. The 2018 Rules does not prohibit the execution of death sentence of co-convicts, one by one, on the rejection of their respective mercy petitions, the Centre argued.

Stamp Duty: Maha Govt. All Set To Revise Rates

By

Afternoon Voice

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February 5, 2020

Currently, stamp duty is charged as per market rates that can run into crores and often become the bone of contention of both the residents and developer on how to share this stamp duty. The Maharashtra government has proposed an increase in stamp duty to Rs 50 crore from the present Rs 25 crore on demerger and amalgamation of documents. The state cabinet meeting is expected to give approval to the proposal in this regard moved by the state revenue department.

The stamp duty for redevelopment of MHADA colony at Kala Chowki Abhyudhay Nagar was around Rs 50 crore and due to dispute between developer and tenants on how to share it registration of the agreement was delayed by more than a year. There are 104 MHADA colonies across the city that has around 2.25 lakh tenements. Most of them were constructed between late 1960s to 1990s and many of them need urgent redevelopment as they are mergers, amalgamations and acquisitions. Leave and licence agreements and housing loan mortgages will soon be less expensive in Maharashtra. This is because the state government has slashed the stamp duty applicable to these categories. The government has also extended the leave and licence agreement period to 33 months from the earlier 11 months. The state government, in a recent meeting, has decided to rationalise the stamp duty structure.

The government has also decided to put a cap of Rs. 25 crore on stamp duty being charged on mergers, demergers and other corporate transactions. Currently there is no ceiling on the stamp duty being charged. At present, these transactions are charged a stamp duty at seven per cent of the value of the company’s assets or 0.7 per cent of the market value of the shares whichever is higher. However, the most significant change will be in the structure of leave and licence agreements. The present system allows leave and licence agreements to be signed for only 11 months. Last year, the government made registration of all property agreements mandatory including leave and licence agreements. Leave and licence agreements will also attract a lower stamp duty. The amendment to the Maharashtra Rent Control Act says that if the earnings from the property for which a leave and licence agreement has been signed is less than Rs. 2.5 lakh per year including the deposit, it will attract a stamp duty of just Rs. 500. If net proceeds from the property are between Rs. 2.5 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh, the stamp duty will be Rs. 1,000 and for receipts exceeding over Rs. 5 lakh, the duty will be Rs. 2,000. Under the leave and licence agreement, the deposit is an amount which has to be returned after a specified period of time.

Often, huge amounts are taken as deposits. Under the current dispensation, stamp duty calculations are done according to article 36 of the Bombay Stamp Act pertaining to lease documents. In these circumstances, the authorities recover the stamp duty at the rate of 3 per cent of the income from the leave and licence transaction for properties valued at above Rs. 10,00,000 for residential premises. The stamp duty is the rate of 10 per cent for commercial premises, on the deposit as well as the lease amount. The new system is expected to bring cheer to the housing sector as the stamp duty on housing loan mortgages too has been brought down to one per cent from the current rate of two per cent. The government has also proposed a cap of Rs. 200,000 on the stamp duty. This means that irrespective of the cost of the property, the stamp duty will not exceed Rs. 200,000. The stamp duty is the second largest revenue earner for the state government with over Rs. 1,800 crore collected annually, of which Rs. 900 crore comes from Mumbai alone.

It is also a part of the revenue department’s exercise to explore options to mobilise additional revenue for the state kitty. The department has set an annual target of Rs 27,000 crore through stamp duty and registration fee for the year 2019-20. Till December, the department collected Rs 21,741.2 crore. They include revision in the stamp duty on mining lease, bringing in new rules for recovery of stamp duty on transferable development right, change in stamp duty on imported cargo delivery order at Mumbai international airport and simplification of stamp duty rate charged on bank documents.

Uniform Stamp Duty from April 1

By

Vaidehi Taman

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February 5, 2020

Via a notification, the Central Government has informed that uniform Stamp duty would begin from April 1, 2020. The government has notified uniform stamp duty rates “much lower than earlier” across states for trading in stocks, derivatives, currencies and commodities. The initiative that will soon become operational will help curb the problem of varied stamp duty collection rates. Stamp duty will be charged uniformly irrespective of the state of residence effective from April 1, 2020.

Until now, stamp duty was charged at different rates based on your resident state. We (brokerage firms) used to collect from you and pay it monthly to the respective state government. Going forward, we will collect and pay it to the exchanges that will, in turn, pass it back to the Central government. The notification also makes it easier for consolidated payments through the exchanges where the products are traded. At present, brokers have to comply with stamp duty payments under the rates levied by states.

The new rate will benefit currency traders most as it will come down from Rs 200 to just Rs 10 per Rs 1 crore of trade. According to a Corporate law site ‘Corporate Professionals’, the central government aims to bring sale or transfer of securities through electronic mode within the ambit of stamp duty and create additional revenue to the state governments and also lay at rest certain ambiguities in the law with the amendments to the Stamp Act. The single rate and Centralised system will help streamline the entire process, reduce the cost of collection and plug revenue leakage. But it will lead to increase in cost of trading in securities as transactions specifically on stock exchanges are subject to the securities transaction tax. Most states charge between Rs 200 and Rs 300 for non-delivery (intra-day) trades in the equity segment. This will now be at a uniform rate of Rs 300. For all delivery-based trades, the rate will be Rs 1,500. The new rates will be lower for active equity traders from states like Tamil Nadu and Goa and Union Territories such as J&K and Ladakh. Also, for equity investors, the new rate will be Rs 1,500 per Rs 1 crore of trades, to be paid by buyers only. Earlier both, buyers and sellers used to pay stamp duty.

Many states levied stamp duty of around Rs 250-300 on Rs 1 crore intra-day and derivative trades. This has now been fixed at Rs 300 for intra-day and Rs 200 for derivative per Rs 1 crore. On delivery based trades, the stamp duty has been fixed at Rs 1,500 per crore on the buy side. It’s now Rs 750 on each buy and sell side. The same for options trading is Rs 300 and Rs 10 for currency segment trading on every crore. Also, brokers will no longer have to worry about depositing stamp duty to states that will now be done by stock and commodity exchanges. The move was announced in the budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman this year but is being implemented only now. The government has notified uniform stamp duty rates “much lower than earlier” across states for trading in stocks, derivatives, currencies and commodities. It was to be implemented on January 9, this year but it got postponed. The notification also makes it easier for consolidated payments through the exchanges where the products are traded. At present, brokers have to comply with stamp duty payments under the rates levied by states.

New stamp duty rate-

Delivery equity trades: 0.015% or Rs 1500 per crore on buy-side
Intraday equity trades: 0.003% or Rs 300 per crore on buy-side
Futures (equity and commodity): 0.002% or Rs 200 per crore on buy-side
Options (equity and commodity): 0.003% or Rs 300 per crore on buy-side
Currency: 0.0001% or Rs 10 per crore on buy-side

The new rates are only on the buy-side and not on both buy and sell-side. So, stamp duty costs for most of you will reduce by over 50 per cent. Active traders who were residing in states which had a cap on maximum stamp duty per day per contract note will not enjoy the benefit of the cap going forward, hence will be negatively affected. There was no stamp duty earlier for offline transfer of shares using DIS (delivery instruction slip). Now these will be based on the consideration amount entered on the DIS slip at the same rates as delivery trades (0.015 per cent or Rs 1500 per crore on buy-side).

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

Speeding car hits woman in Goregaon, driver absconds

By

Hema Singh

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February 5, 2020

A woman in her 60s was hit by a speeding car at Goregaon (west) on Tuesday night. The incident took place at around 11.30 pm on Tuesday when she was crossing S V Road near Sahara Studio in Goregaon. It was then that a BMW car hit her from behind.

According to a report, the driver fled the spot after committing the crime. However, some eyewitness were quick enough to take down the registration number of the vehicle. They immediately alerted the police. The police said that the car was heading northwards when the accident took place and soon later the driver failed to control the vehicle due to its high speed.

Police said, “We have identified the driver. He will be arrested soon”. After the accident, the passerbys took the woman to a hospital, however she died before she could be admitted as she had suffered head injuries. Currently, the police are looking out for the accused. Investigations are on.

Second case of setting woman ablaze within 48 hours recorded in Maharashtra

By

Hema Singh

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February 5, 2020

Barely 48 hours after a teacher from Wardha district of Maharashtra was set ablaze by a stalker on Monday morning, a 50-year-old woman was assaulted and set on fire by a man at her home in Aurangabad on Tuesday.

According to a report, the incident took place around 11 p.m on Tuesday night when the accused who has been identified as Santosh S. Mohite barged into the victim’s home and abused and assaulted her. When the woman tried to scream for help, the accused got angry and poured kerosene which was lying in the house on her.

Police said that the accused who is a beer bar owner in Andhari village locked the door after setting the woman on fire and ran away from the crime spot. Hearing the screams of the woman and seeing the smoke emanating from her home, some neighbours rushed to the spot to douse the fire. Later, they took the woman to a hospital and alerted the police about the same. The woman who suffered 95 per cent burn, is battling for life.

Talking on the same, Babashah B. Pathan, police inspector of Aurangabad police station said, “The victim is extremely critical, but did manage to record her statement. We have arrested the accused and booked him for various offences including an attempt to murder. We are trying to ascertain the motives behind the crime and further investigations are on.”

Later the incident Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh held a high-level meeting with police officials to discuss the crime against women with the Minister of State for Home Shambhuraj Desai on Wednesday.

The incident of setting women ablaze has left the nation shocked.

So much is the rage that on Tuesday people of Wardha district staged a huge protest very next day where the woman teacher was set ablaze. Also, many people have been demanding instant capital punishment in public for the accused for getting into such heinous crimes.