Defeating disability with song & dance is no mean task

In 2010, when Gitanjali Sarangan was teaching at a play school in JP Nagar, four-year-old Sneha, suffering from Down Syndrome, was refused admission in mainstream schools. This prompted Gitanjali and her husband S Sarangan, an infrastructure consultant at Acce-nture, to create a learning environment for special children and adults.

Armed with an Arts-based Therapy (ABT) course certification, the couple founded the Snehadhara Foundation in 2012. The nonprofit is named after Sneha. The child, who doctors said will never be able to speak, has mastered five languages and is one of the most enthusiastic children in their group today.

"We have 35 children with disorders like cerebral palsy , autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy ," explains 38-year-old Gitanjali. "They are kept together to create a self-directed environment of companionship."

Twenty five caregivers take care of the wards who are between eight and 35 years.

While the curriculum is tailormade for every child, they conduct multisensory activities involving painting, music, dance and theatre for an experiential and engaging environment. The idea is to improve their fine-motor skills and build basic, independent functioning skills.

For instance, when children with ADHD and speech goals are in the same music session, the former are made to remember words while the latter emulate the teacher singing."The same activity lends itself differently to different children," Gitanjali said. "Instead of focussing on their limitations, we develop artistic talents in every child."

Children stay at Snehadhara between 10 am and 5 pm every day. There are weekly stay-over sessions to see how they manage daily tasks independently . There are activities for parents once in five weeks so that development goals are in harmony .

Sarangan, 46, explained how their impact and scale is not measured by numbers, but deeper influences."We never know how long a child will have to stay with us before going out into the world," he said. "So our goal is to not expand from 35 to 3,500 children. Instead, we want to set up a learning environment, document the processes and help others replicate it."

Their impART (Interventions, Methodologies and Practices using the Arts) initiative has reached 5,000 children and 200 teachers across 15 government schools and nonprofits in Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore and Gurgaon. Funds are received through like-minded professionals, parents or personal networks.

Vani Joshi said Snehadhara has made a world of difference for her six-year-old son Kabir.

"The learning is very organic.Kabir has learnt to engage in his environment, goes about daily routines independently and looks forward to going back to school. He is a much happier kid," she added.

Resource: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

New office district with over 20 million sq ft IT SEZ space coming up in Gurgaon

NEW DELHI: A brand new office district with over 20 million sq ft of IT SEZ space is in the works in Gurgaon that could extend the axis of development in the city.

Gurgaon-based builder IREO and a joint venture of Singaporean IT park specialist Ascendas and sovereign fund GIC are separately planning to build IT SEZ space in a large master planned development on Gurgaon's Golf Course Extension Road on the southern edge of the city.

At present, the largest office space conglomeration in Gurgaon is the DLF Cyber City that stands at the entrance of the city on the National Highway 8. It has about 13 million sq ft of space built by DLF over the past 15 years but is nearing saturation in terms of leasable space with under 10 per cent vacancy level, according to property advisory firm JLL.

In this new development, IREO plans to build about 12 million sq ft of IT SEZ space over 85 acres in the Golf Course Extension Road area, spending Rs 5,500-6,000 crore on it. It will start with a million sq ft development in the first phase.

Ascendas India Growth Fund, which includes Ascendas and GIC, on the other hand, will build about 8 million sq ft of IT and commercial mixed use space that will include IT SEZ, retail amenities, corporate office and some hospitality elements with a project cost of Rs 2,500-3,500 crore. This will be over 60 acres. It will start with a 1.3 million sq ft development in the first phase.

Lalit Goyal, vice chairman and managing director of IREO, a private equity fund which has invested in its own development arm, said the IT SEZ capacity in Gurgaon is almost over and there is enough demand for a large development like this.

"We are both FDI companies and we will ensure that this development can be benchmarked with any other international development of this type," said Goyal.

While each of the two will build on their own, the larger development on the two contiguous parcels of land will be according to a common infrastructure master plan that will ensure it will be a highly planned development.

Goyal said the development will have international specifications and include traffic planning, state-of-the-art infrastructure. Traffic studies for this office district have already been completed and roads and other infrastructure will be built accordingly.

Sanjeev Dasgupta, the chief executive officer of Ascendas Property Fund India said SEZ supply in Gurgaon right now is fairly tight and it doesn't look likely that there will be space available around Golf Course Road and Golf Course Extension Road. "Our belief is that this area in terms of connectivity and infrastructure will be better than the Udyog Vihar side (of Gurgaon) which is increasingly becoming congested," he said.

Ascendas, he said, has already started getting interest from tenants for this location.

What will also work for the area is the fact that the metro railway phase that is currently under construction will stop at the edge of the Golf Course Road, about a kilometre away from this new office district and it could be extended further. Goyal of IREO said Gurgaon does need another big office district. Analysts and real estate watchers agreed.

Anckur Srivasttava, chairman of GenReal Property Advisers, said this new move will change the development axis in Gurgaon over the medium term and also improve end-user attraction for housing in and around the Golf Course Extension Road and the Sohna Road area.

Resource: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

‘Ownership to tenants is the only solution’

It is important that rather than rejoicing over BJP saying that the government will not amend the Maharashtra Rent Act (1999) or the Congress claiming credit for forcing the government to backtrack, we must move towards a permanent solution before the government goes ahead with its intended agenda.

The draft Model Tenancy Act 2015, proposed by the Centre, is, in effect, a draft legislation for the states to legislate and adopt. It seeks to do away with the state Rent Act, and allow landlords to charge any rents that they like. The Maharashtra government has not rejected it. When the Congress was in power, we had rejected the amendments when the UPA government had made similar recommendations. But, the Maharashtra government has neither expressed their willingness to go with Model Tenancy Act or to reject it. Until they do, as a party, the Congress will not let this issue to die down. We will launch a massive agitation and awareness campaign which will make tenants across the state aware of this issue so that they can build pressure on their elected representatives.

My family has made several proposals to the State government over the years. If implemented with broad-based political support, we could have resolved this issue once and for all.

When Congress was in power for 15 years in Maharashtra, several officials and bureaucrats proposed such amendments to the Maharashtra Rent Act, but in every case, the State government defeated them.

We kept the debate and discussion moving towards finding a permanent resolution where both landlords and the tenants benefited, and one where there were no sudden and arbitrary hikes in rent.

However, since the BJP-led government came to power in 2014, there have been two attempts — first in May 2015 and now in January 2016 — to amend the Maharashtra Rent Act and allow a bonanza for builders and landlords, and throw commercial and residential tenants onto the streets.

The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) had assured that his government will not amend the Act. At a personal level, I accepted this. But the statements from the Housing Minister Prakash Mehta — whether he was quoted correctly or incorrectly — were quite disturbing. The government remained silent for months when several political parties, including the BJP’s coalition partner Shiv Sena, protested against such amendments. Suddenly, they make an announcement. This is highly suspect.

When you have tried to amend the Act twice, it is clear that you are testing the waters and that your intent is to please certain vested interests.

The solution, which my father (the late Murli Deora) had proposed nearly three decades ago, was to enable tenants to become owners of their premises. The formula was that if the tenant pays 100 months’ rent in advance to the landlord, he or she can become the owner. This is pending before the courts. Today, the State needs to relook at the formula, and if the rent should be 100 months or more.

Rents need to be revised, but not in an arbitrary, knee jerk manner. When tenants have been passing on rights to the properties for decades or even generations, the only long-term, permanent solution is ownership. Otherwise, it will never get resolved.

It will take a lot of deliberation and discussion, but the State government needs to involve all stakeholders and move in that direction. At present, there is a no man’s land between the landlord and the tenants. Nobody repairs a building until it becomes dilapidated and then a builder swoops in to redevelop it. This is not a solution – ownership is.

The State government must demonstrate that amending the Rent Act is not its intent. It must reject the Model Tenancy Act, and move towards ownership. The old formula (100 months rent paid in advance) may or may not work; it is for the government to devise a new formula.

Resource: http://www.thehindu.com

Should I sell my house or keep it and rent it out?

 Q We are hoping to buy a new home – we need more space as we now have a family. We currently live in a two-bedroom house in Crumlin on a very competitive tracker. I paid €€350,000 for it in 2008. I am told it will fetch about €260,000-€280,000 in the current market. I have been advised to sell with the suggestion that keeping it and renting it out will just be a lot of hassle and we will end up paying tax etc on it.

On the other hand, I have been advised to keep it and rent it out and I will make my money back. I would greatly appreciate any advice, should we sell?

A Much of this question will centre on your mortgage position, and you have not stated how much you currently owe your lender. I estimate you probably owe €275,000 on the current loan (assuming you borrowed the full purchase price in 2008). I’ve done a quick search of three-bed semis in Dublin 12 (assuming you want to stay in the same area), and these seem to be running at around €350,000 with rental values of around €1,400pm for two beds. Based on the new lending rules introduced by the Central Bank in 2015, you will need a cash deposit of 20 per cent of the new house (€70,000, plus stamp duty & legal fees).

Your total borrowings will be €555,000 (the existing loan of €275,000, plus 80 per cent of €350,000). Maximum borrowings are capped at 3.5 times the income, but exceptions apply to this rule, particularly when there is a rental property in the mix. I think you’d need a household income of around €125,000 to support this scenario.

To look at the rental side for a moment, you need to take the view that you now have a business (a residential investment property), in addition to your day job.

Rental properties do not “take care of themselves” and require active management by the landlord. Whilst tenants are responsible for day-to-day upkeep of the property, landlords remain responsible for the significant repairs and maintenance of their investment properties which typically include boiler servicing and upgrading if required, electrical and plumbing maintenance, annual checking of the property and so-on. Usually the landlord is also responsible for the replacement of appliances if problems occur.

You will also need careful tax advice. All rents received are put into the income “pot” for the purposes of calculating your tax liability, so the rental income is subject to PRSI, USC & income tax. The landlord pays the LPT charges, and the PRTB registration.

Deductions are allowed for appropriate repairs and maintenance, but not for mortgage interest. It is prudent that you provide for rental voids, when the property is being relet. You should be able to comfortably afford a number of months’ mortgage repayments whilst the property is vacant and you should have a fund available to take care of unforeseen events.

Finally, you need to look at your personal circumstances. Do you have the time to devote to a residential investment? Are you satisfied to take a long term view on the return? Are you comfortable with the risk associated with the investment?

The rental market is quite strong at present and with interest rates at such a low level, the attractiveness of keeping and renting the property is appealing. Whilst the Central Bank rules have caused certain problems in the residential property market, one positive outcome is the likelihood of less volatility in future and more sustainable increases in property prices. Coupled with consistent demand for rental properties in Dublin, “keep and rent” could well be prudent. Any investment decision requires careful consideration and obtaining proper professional advice.

I recommend you speak to a qualified financial advisor in relation to your long term financial planning, your precise borrowing capacity, and be clear as to the net return after all deductions from the rental income. Carry out a careful search of new family homes suiting your requirements, and what your borrowing capacity will allow you buy. Once you have this information I expect the answer should be considerably clearer. Edward Carey is a Chartered Residential Agency Surveyor and member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, scsi.ie

No capital loss

Q I purchased an investment property in Ireland in December 1973 for £5,500, plus expenses of £514, total outlay being £6,014. I sold the property in June 1983 for £18,000. Indexation relief was allowable over this period. When this was applied a multiple factor of 3.76 was applied to the purchase price. Including expenses, this increased the “indexed” sale price to £22,593; as a result, the sale price registered a capital loss of £4,593. (£22,593 less £18,000). My question is can I bring forward this capital loss, created after indexing of £4,593, to offset any capital gains in future years.

A Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is a tax on gains arising from the sale of capital assets. The gain to be taxed is arrived at by deducting the cost of the asset from the sales proceeds, and applying the tax rate to the taxable gain to determine the payable amount. Where an allowable CGT loss arises on the disposal of an asset, it may be set off against chargeable gains arising in the same year of assessment.

In general, an unused loss may be carried forward and set off against chargeable gains which arise in future years.

Indexation: Indexation provides relief for the effect of inflation over the period of ownership of an asset. It was introduced in 1978, and provides relief from the part of the gain attributable to inflation.

For CGT purposes an asset purchased prior to April 6th, 1974 is treated as if it was purchased on April 6th, 1974, at the market value on that date.

This provides us with the base cost of the asset for indexation purposes. The indexation rate of 3.759 was correctly applied. The use of indexation created a “notional” capital loss of £4,593/€5,832.

There is a restriction on the use of indexed losses. Indexation cannot be used to create or increase a monetary loss. A monetary gain or loss arises before any indexation is applied to the calculation. If there is a monetary loss on disposal, the loss arising cannot be increased by indexation, and the loss available for use is the actual monetary loss. Similarly, where a monetary gain occurs, a loss cannot be created through indexation. In such instances, the disposal of the asset is treated as giving rise to neither a gain nor a loss.

When you sold your property a monetary gain of £11,986/€15,219 arose. When indexation is applied, an indexed loss of £4,593/€5,832 arose. As indexation and the 1974 market value cannot be used to create a loss where there is an actual gain, both indexation and the 1974 market value should be ignored. Applying the rules set out above, there is a no gain/no loss position.

As a result, you were not required to pay CGT on the disposal of the property in 1983. However, there are no losses available for you to carry forward against future gains.

Resource: http://www.irishtimes.com

Province to Collect Foreign Buyer Data, Reluctant to Impose Any Tax

The British Columbia government today announced steps to prevent shadow flipping of houses and to collect data about foreign real estate buyers, but the NDP says the measures will do nothing to address affordability.

As of May 16, people licensed to sell real estate in B.C. will have to include two new clauses in any offer to buy property.

The first will require that the seller consent to any transfer of the purchase contract, so that it will no longer be possible for buyers to resell a property before the deal closes without the knowledge of the original seller. The other says that any profit made from transferring the contract would go to the seller.

And in June the government will begin using the property transfer tax return, required to be filed any time property changes ownership, to ask buyers where they live and where they are citizens. The government first announced in February that it would make the change to the form.

Finance Minister Michael de Jong said the government would need to collect the information for at least six months to a year before he expects to see any pattern. And even if there is a pattern, the government is reluctant to introduce a tax on foreign ownership, he said.

"It's not something I've advocated," de Jong said, stressing that B.C. has benefited by welcoming people from around the world and being open for business. "I have a bias against singling out foreign investment for a single or punitive tax."

In other jurisdictions, taxes on foreign ownership have had little effect on affordability, he said. "Vancouver is a changing market," he said. "In a market that is still very much driven by supply and demand, I don't believe the answer is to restrain demand."

BC needs 'vibrant' not 'vacant' cities: Horgan

NDP leader John Horgan welcomed the steps to stop shadow flipping, but said the government needs to address speculation where people are using B.C. real estate as a "safety deposit box" for their money.

"The action the government takes today does nothing to address the affordability crisis in the Lower Mainland," he said. "The big challenge is money coming to distort the marketplace... We need a vibrant city in Vancouver, not a vacant city, which is what we're getting."

Noting that real estate developers have donated some $5 million to the BC Liberals in the past few years, Horgan said the government has resisted doing anything that would make prices more affordable.

During the current session of the legislature, the NDP has introduced private members' bills -- none of which have gained the support of the government -- to address speculation, prevent renovictions and protect mobile home owners, all of which would make housing more affordable, he said.

Resource: http://thetyee.ca

Route 19 corridor in Marshall draws attention from developers

 One by one, vacant plots of land that dot the Route 19 corridor just over the Marshall line from Pine are giving way to residential and commercial projects.

Along the roughly 1.2-mile stretch of Route 19 between Gateway Avenue and the Interstate 79 overpass, several projects are in various stages of development, township officials said.

“Much of the prime real estate to the north in Cranberry and to the south in Pine has been developed,” said township manager Neil McFadden. “I think our section of the Route 19 corridor has taken a little longer to develop because it's a divided highway, which retail developers tend to shy away from because it essentially cuts out 50 percent of the traffic to the shops.”

The varied topography along Route 19, which includes hillsides, flat land and some low-lying areas that are prone to flooding, also has been an impediment to development, McFadden said.

But the scarcity of developable property and that section of Marshall's close proximity to I-79 and the Turnpike is erasing many concerns developers may once have had.

“Until recently, our residents have been quite content to travel north or south to shop,” he said. “But we're growing, so we're starting to attract more retail to service our population.”

Marshall's population in 2010 was about 6,900 people, according to the U.S. Census. McFadden said Marshall now has more than 7,500 residents.

Jeff Burd of Tall Timber Group, which conducts real estate market research, agrees with McFadden's assessment of why much of Route 19 in Marshall wasn't previously developed.

“Developers want land that is dead flat and easily developed,” he said. “But as time goes on and those types of properties become harder to find, they will be willing to take on whatever obstacles exist because of the payoff.”

Burd said one of the main drivers in the commercial development occurring in the Route 19 corridor in Marshall is the significant amount of homes under construction or in the planning stages.

Projects include Fairmont Square, a 96-unit townhouse project that will include 21,000 square feet of retail space. It is under construction on the northbound side of Route 19. Plans also are in the works for a 146-unit independent living/personal care facility called The Waters Senior Living, which has been approved on an adjacent property.

Other projects on tap in the Route 19 corridor include:

• A pair of three-story, 30,000-square-foot office buildings called the Pinewood Corporate Center, which received approval. Plans are in the works for a separate building that will house an Enterprise Car Rental facility.

• Marshall Crossing, a 16,000-square-foot retail center along southbound Route 19, which is near completion and beginning to lease space.

• Marshall Village, a 13,000-square-foot retail complex planned along northbound Route 19.

• Plans also are in the works for a Bentley Motors dealership to be built along southbound Route 19 adjacent to the Lexus, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover dealers.

There also are several properties, including some with homes, that are up for sale. Because the area carries a “town center” zoning designation, market forces may eventually result in those homes being converted for commercial use, McFadden said.

Plans for a 125-unit housing development along northbound Route 19 called the Park at Marshall eventually will reconnect Northgate Drive — long considered Marshall's “main street” — with Route 19.

“That is an important connection for us because we will be focusing on making improvements in that area during the next several years,” McFadden said. “I think it will be unrecognizable in five years.”

Plans call for repaving the road this year and installing sidewalks, curbs and off-street parking as part of the township's streetscape program.

Officials envision Northgate becoming a retail hub that caters to residents with specialty shops, restaurants and other businesses.

“The way we've seen it work is that as streetscape improvements are done, the value of properties increase,” said Nicole Zimsky, the township's planning director. “As property values rise, they become more desirable. I think the current property owners will eventually realize that it may be more valuable for them to sell or change the use for their property.”

As properties change hands and move to higher-value uses, there typically is a domino effect in which surrounding property owners make improvements that increase the values of their properties, Zimsky said.

While the commercial growth spurt Marshall is undergoing will be a boon to the tax base, it is unlikely to change the municipality's approach to doing business.

“When I was hired here 30 years ago, the message to me was we want controlled growth,” McFadden said. “We're glad to have development, but it's got to be done right. So we've put strong, well-written rules in place and enforce them.”

Resource: http://triblive.com/

Borough Council Delays Votes On Marijuana Penalty And Property Maintenance Code Amendments

The State College Borough Council convened for its biweekly meeting Monday night in the downtown Municipal Building, where it heard comments from students and community members alike over the course of three-and-a-half hours. Two proposed amendments — about marijuana possession and the Property Maintenance Code — took center stage during the meeting.

A proposed ordinance to make small marijuana possessions (under 30 grams of bud or eight grams of hashish) a summary offense rather than a misdemeanor was first brought to the Council by senior Luis Rolfo in March. The current model of marijuana enforcement in the State College community has serious ramifications for students, especially when it comes to tuition aid.

“If you are convicted of a drug crime, you can be disqualified from [student]loans. ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) is not a conviction,” State College Police Chief Tom King said. “After one year, if you don’t have a further crime, you can have your record expunged. [The proposed amendment] is just for the Borough. Of course, it would be treated differently if it were the Bryce Jordan Center or Beaver Stadium.”

On-campus housing located within the confines of the Borough, like South Halls, would create a sort of discrepancy for local law enforcement under the current system. “I can say that that is contrary to how law enforcement has practiced for 35 or 40 years, where Penn State Police do not routinely, or at all, enforce any Borough ordinances,” King said.

Though Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have both passed decriminalization measures, the current proposed amendment in State College does not technically fit the description of “decriminalization,” according to King. Those in possession of marijuana paraphernalia, for instance, would still be charged with a misdemeanor regardless of the amount of marijuana in their possession at the time.

State College defense Attorney Andrew Shubin was the first community member to speak favorably to lowering the penalties following King’s statement.

“From your constituents’ point of view, they’re worried about the criminal histories, they’re worried about how expensive it is to get involved with a marijuana contact, they’re worried about supervision, which can prevent them from doing what they need to do and showing up at work when they need to show up,” Shubin said. “There are license suspensions associated with a marijuana conviction, and student loans, so they’re worried about those things.”

Most other community members who voiced their opinions to the Council favored the adoption of a refined version of the ordinance. Mayor Elizabeth Goreham encouraged Borough residents to continue the conversation through the Council’s Engage forum.

The second topic of discussion was the proposed Property Maintenance Code amendments, which feature points of concern for students — namely the ban on interior furniture being used on outdoor porches and imposing a maximum occupancy for outdoor areas of fenced-in rental properties (read: potential regulation of outdoor daylongs, even those not held at fraternity houses).

UPUA President Terry Ford and UPUA Governmental Affairs Chair Shawn Bengali asked the Council to delay its vote on the amended Maintenance Code until the fall when students, who make up approximately 80 percent of the Borough, can be thoroughly informed enough to give their input in a constructive and fair manner. After hearing from quite a few more community members, and after Council yelled at the student advocates, the Council passed a motion to table the vote until late September or early October, but agreed to continue discussion on the amendment at summer meetings.

Resource: http://onwardstate.com