An article about " Overloaded Lifts Not Safe Enough "

Overloaded Lifts Not Safe Enough

Twelve software Professionals suffered serious injuries when the cable of the lift at the SJR iPark, in Whitefield, snapped on the seventh floor, plunging the cabin right down to the basement of the seven-storey building. The accident occurred in the Warp Tower of the campus, which houses around 10 tech companies.

There were 16 Occupants, employed at Fidelity Information Services Global and Unisys was returning after lunch in the seventh floor canteen shared by the two companies. Twelve Employees, including four of his colleagues, were injured. They were trapped in the lower basement, the injured people were crying for help, some have injured their spine, and others have sustained major fractures.

While the police claimed that the lift was overloaded, employee accounts reveal that the lift had routine maintenance issues. Often it would be out of order and closed for maintenance. It was not overloaded. The lift collapsed as soon as the doors closed on the seventh floor. Kone Elevators Private Limited has the Agreement for maintenance of lift for three years. But there was no proper maintenance. They should check the service once in a month. The Mahadevapura police have registered the case and further investigations are going on.

The use of elevators and lifts has gone up considerably with the rapid increase in number of high-rise buildings in the City. According to an estimate, there are at least 25,000 lifts and elevators in the City. The Builders have to obtain licence from the Karnataka State Electrical Inspectorate (KSEI) to install and operate lifts.

Earlier, over 2,000 lifts in the city were not licenced and on an average, two or three people were killed in lift accidents every year. During an inspection by an Electrical Inspector it was found that many lifts in the city do not comply with Karnataka Lifts and Escalators Act standards. Recognising the need for updating the safety measures and rules for lifts and elevators, the State Government has mooted amendments to the Karnataka Lift Act, 1974. The State Cabinet approved several of these amendments in May 2012. The Cabinet also decided to enact a new legislation-- Karnataka Lift, Escalator and Passenger Conveyors Act-to replace the Karnataka Lift Act, 1974.

A quality lapse in the Governor would lead to a cable lapse which caused most of the lift accidents. Response of the people involved in accidents and the reaction of the lift operators also are important. Many of the educated people too fail to understand the way to handle an elevator. In most cases, people overload thelift, causing accidents. They need to be educated even on emergency responsealso.

An article about " Optimum use by dividing larger rooms "

Optimum use by dividing larger rooms

An unwieldly large, living space could be aesthetically, innovatively and unobtrusively partitioned for varied uses that individual rooms could have offered. At times, people are perplexed over what to do with the large room in their house. The spacious facility there should be utilized to a varied and maximum usage. A spontaneous idea emerging out is to put up a temporary partition in the middle, so as to split the room into two. This simple solution with numerous artistic variations and creative diversities, but all with the common accomplishment of putting up a partition will lend the most elegant and contemporary touch to the entire milieu.

An easy way to demarcate spaces in a large room would be to simply make use of the available furniture itself. If a living-cum-dining room is already in existence, the living room furniture could be used to define the living room space–The sofa set could just be placed in such a manner that its back faces the dining room. A storage unit is a very popular method of dividing a large space. A unit that has open spaces and which can be used from both sides will be very ideal. To uplift and enhance lights could be added. Storage units are a very clear way of demarcating space and since they come in different dimensions and one can buy one that is most ideal and suited for the available space.

Since historical times, screens have been used to create private spaces and now-a-days enormous variety of screens are available in stores and suiting every level of budget. Some of the attractive and beautiful options can be selected from hand painted screens made of canvas fabric, silk and jute. These varieties come with added beauty of getting aborned with sequins and embroidery. Another method of creating the notion of partition is by suspending items from the ceiling. Odd items like bells, beads, metal strips and shells could be suspended in a string, which will form an aesthetic curtain.

Some create a division in larger rooms by using or placing unusual objects. A couple were using a four-foot canoe in their living room. This serves two purposes. The curiosity it arouses becomes the interesting topic of conversation with those who converge there and simultaneously it is, effective in its function too. For persons who like plants, placing them inside can create a pleasant, refreshing and bringing-in-nature ambience. Adding a stray collection of pebbles, proper lighting and setting of candles, will certainly transform the somber ambience into a small oasis of greenery quite in the middle of the living room.

Use of glass for forming partition is a modern option. Pebbled partition could be tried where pebbles are placed between two sheets of glass. Even going in for a low wall or ledge and growing plants over that would be an alluring alternative. Glasses could also be used in the form of blocks and stain glass is also good for this purpose. The additional advantage in using glass is that is gives an illusion of space.

If the interior already possesses and reflects ethnic décor then clay blocks or red bricks can be artistically used for separating the room for varied uses. But whatever the method one chooses to create a temporary partition, it should be ensured that one is able to see bits of the other room, rather than blocking it from view completely. This sort of partitions reflecting both transparency and translucency, creates a feeling of space and allows the commingling of different elements of nature into one organic blend.

An article bout " Vaastushastra-Avoid Demolition for Vaastu Corrections "

Vaastushastra-Avoid Demolition for Vaastu Corrections

Following the principles of Vaastu shastra for selecting the site is necessary. Once the site is selected it is necessary to determine the directions of the Land/Site in a systematic way, since the construction of the building is decided on the basis of the direction. The directions are to be decided and properly marked by using the compass. A compass may be placed in the centre of the land/site. A straight line is drawn from the magnetic north,indicated by the needle of the compass, to the south dividing the land into two parts. From the centre of the plot, lines towards east and west are drawn at 22.50 angle. After these four directions viz North-South, East-West are known, four more subsidiary directions or corners viz North-West, North- East, South-West, South-East are marked by drawing lines at 450 

If the land is rectangular or any other shape the same procedure has to be followed for determining the directions.

Normally in the cities the dwellings are built on smaller sizes like 20’× 15’, 25’×30’, and 30’×40’ and so on where generally the smaller sites are between 300 sqft and 1000 or 1200 sqft.

Naturally such houses will have no open spaces on all the four sides. Some houses do not have any open space but have common walls on two or three sides. This is not desirable according to Vastushastra. However hardly anything can be done in such cases particularly in the. Cities and towns, but only remedial measures like placing idols of family gods, performing poojas etc. Can be adopted Where construction on such small sites are proposed to be taken it would be desirable to follow the principles of Vaastushastra i.e. open spaces, whatever possible or wherever possible, open spaces should be left in East and North sides in particular.

It is true that it is sometimes not possible to follow the Vaastu principles while putting up the buildings for various reasons. This situation particularly prevails in the existing buildings. The awareness about Vaastushastra came only in the early 90s, and much discussions take place about following the Vaastu principles. It is difficult to set right things by adopting extreme measures like demolition or alterations involving heavy expenditure. Vaastushastra not only provides the guiding principles for building for living purposes as well as commercial purposes, but also for healthy and peaceful living. However Vasthushastra does not approve demolishing of building for rectification of the defects (with reference to vasthu specifications or guidelines). Such defects can be rectified by small and simple corrections. Some of the corrections could be made by planting of certain types of trees or changing of colours, simple repairs to doors, windows by placing some religious idols in particular places, etc. Various corrections are suggested in Feng Shui Chinese Vaastu and the same could be adopted. It is desirable to avoid demolition and go in for simplerectification.                        

An article about " Redemption and fore-Closure "

Redemption and fore-Closure

What is right of redemption?

This is a very important right of the mortgagor, which the law protects. Generally law stands in favour of the weaker party and mortgagor being debtor; law safe guards his right. Section 60 of Transfer of Property act deals with Right of Redemption which is a right available to mortgagor to get back the (redeem) the property mortgaged that is after any time, the principal amount has become due, on payment of all the dues. The mortgager may demand from the mortgagee, the mortgage deed, all the documents, and if the property had been delivered, to deliver the possession of the property. The entire cost of this process to be borne by the mortgagor. He may also direct the mortgagee to deliver the deed; documents, possession of the property so any third person. If the mortgage has been effected by registered document, the redemption or re-conveyance deed also need to be registered.

This right of redemption is available before the mortgagee files a suit for enforcement of mortgage.

Whether partial redemption is allowed?

The mortgage is indivisible Section 60 of the Transfer of property act does not allow partial redemption, one of  the mortgagors cannot redeem part of the mortgaged property by paying the proportionate amount. If redeemed, the entire property has to redeemed. The only exception is that if the mortgagee is a creditor himself and is responsible for breaking the integrity of the mortgage by allowing the co-mortgagor to redeem partially or when he acquires the interest of one of the co-mortgagors.

What is clog on redemption?

Clog means obstruction. A mortgagor has the right to enjoy hold of the property as he was entitled before the mortgage. If that right is prevented/restricted, such conditions are called clogs. A term/condition in a mortgage transaction is treated as clog, if it is unreasonable.

What is Foreclosure?

This is a right available to the mortgagee. The relevant section is 67 of Transfer of property act. This right can be exercised if there are no contrary conditions in the mortgage deed and after the mortgaged money has become due and before the mortgagor gets decree of redemption, or mortgaged money has been paid,deposited. In simple terms the right can be enforced on failure of the mortgagor to repay the money borrowed on due date. The mortgagee may obtain a decree from the court, that the mortgagor is prohibited from right to redeem the property or property be sold. This is suit for foreclosure. However the remedy depends upon the nature of the mortgage.

In the simple mortgage the foreclosure is not available. Remedy is either proceed against the mortgagor personally or per sale of the property mortgaged, so also in care of Usufructuary mortgage, where the mortgagee is in possession of the property and continues to be so until the debris repaid on full.  In case of conditional sale, the mortgagee matures into sale on the failure of the payment of the debt, so the mortgage may foreclosure depriving the right of redemption. In English mortgage they may bring a suit for sale of the property. In case of mortgage by deposit of titles deeds. The remedy is sue for personal decrees or for sale of the property.

In anomalous mortgage, the remedy depends upon the terms of mortgage.

An article about " Bangalore real estate on the way to recovery "

Bangalore real estate on the way to recovery

The demand for one bedroom, kitchen (BHK) has been on increase; the developers over the past few months have launched or are launching several residential projects in the south and north Bangalore Industrial areas. With the proper and reasonable pricing to the properties with 1BHK flats, the situation in the real estate market is likely to improve in the coming months.

In view of the high costs of projects, the affordability to buy 2 or 3 BHK flats in such projects has gone down to some extent. This might have caused large number of already developed flats in the past few years, lying vacant for a considerably long time. During recession period, real estate market was badly affected and as such there was a down trend in the sale of apartments. Added to this situation of 'No mood to buy', inadequate infrastructure and poor connectivity also affected the real estate market of Bangalore.

However, the situation seems to have changed now in view of many infrastructure projects taken up by the various local authorities of Bangalore.

Bangalore is changing fast. Projects for widening of roads all around the metro, strengthening of city transport by adding large number of buses, construction of under/over bridges, construction of sub-ways are all in progress. The most eagerly awaited ambitious project 'Metro Rail' is scheduled to commence its runs by 2011. The metro rail project will certainly improve the connectivity. Better connectivity will also help the real estate market to improve. The much improved connectivity and good infrastructure will be a boon to the real estate market.

With the reduction of the size of flats to one BHK, the prices of flats have come down. There seems to be healthy improvement in the number of buyers of the reduced sizes of flats. The demand for such single BHK flats being high, the developers may even think of letting out the unsold flats on rental basis in case sufficient buyers are not found. This will not only help the people desirous of occupying flats on rental basis but also developers for getting some returns on unoccupied flats. The demand for residential accommodation will, to some extent, be met.

The demand being more for smaller units with one BHK, what will happen to the already developed properties with more than 2 BHK flats? The developers are offering various incentives for their properties and expect that they will be able to dispose of a good number of such flats in the coming months.

However in the absence of data about the vacant units of the developed properties, it may be difficult to know about the actual number of unsold units.

All efforts will have to be made by the developers to persuade the prospective buyers, for disposing of their developed flats, instead of keeping them vacant by offering all possible and practical concessions like deferred payments, affordable EMIs etc. in prices instead of offering various luxurious benefits.

With the availability of comparatively easy funds by way of loans at lower rates of interest, lowering the sizes of apartments from 2 BHK 3 BHK to 1 BHK, lowering the property rates by correcting the price structure, improvements in the job market, it looks like the real estate market may show some improvement in the coming months. However one will have to wait and see what will happen in the coming months. We may have to look for some concessions forthcoming for the badly hit economy ofthe real estate industry in the ensuing State/Central budget.

An article about " RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS IN PROPERTY DEALINGS "

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS IN PROPERTY DEALINGS

The Transfer of Property Act 1882 deals with various kinds of transfer of immovable property, which interalia  includes sale, mortgage, lease, exchange. In sale of an immovable property there are generally two parties to the transaction i.e. the Seller/Vendor and the Buyer/Purchaser. Section 55 of the Act refers to the rights and obligations of the seller and purchaser of an immovable property.

The obligations of the seller are

1.       To disclose all material defects in the property and the title to the buyer.

2.       To produce the documents of title for the verifications of the buyer on his request.

3.       To answer all relevant questions of the buyer.

4.       To execute proper conveyance deed on full payment of consideration.

5.       To take care of the property and the documents during the period between the agreement to sell and handing over possession of the property after execution and registration of Deed of Sale.

6.       To give possession of the property.

7.     To pay all taxes, charges, rents upto date and discharge any encumbrance on property prior to the conveyance of the property.

Rights of the seller

1.       To receive rents and profits of the property till its ownership absolutely passes on to the purchaser.

2.    Where the ownership has passed on to the purchaser before payment of full sale consideration, the seller will have a charge on the property for the amount of purchase money and interest on such amounts.

The obligations of the buyer are:

1.       To inform the seller any fact which may increase the value.

2.       To pay consideration amount to the seller as agreed to.

3.    Where the ownership is passed on to the purchaser, to bear the loss on account of destruction, or decrease in the value of the property not caused by the seller.

4.      To pay all taxes, charges, rents etc. where the ownership is passed on to him.

5.      The purchaser may retain the amount of any un-cleared encumbrance, out of consideration amount payable.

The purchaser is entitled to the following rights:

1.     Where the ownership is passed on to the purchaser the benefit of any improvement, increase in the value of the property, rents, profits.

2.       A charge on the property as against seller and all other persons claiming under him for the amounts paid by the purchaser along with interest.

The above referred rights and obligations of both the seller and purchaser are binding on both. But, section 55 of Transfer of Property Act provides an exception. If the parties to the deal have any contract contrary to the rights and obligations as envisaged in the Act, the contracted obligations and rights prevail to that extent.

The obligations and rights have relevance only where there is a valid binding contract of sale between the parties. In case the purchaser of property declines to accept possession of the property, he has charge on the property with regard to earnest money paid and any costs awarded to him in a suit.

The rights of the purchaser are subject to certain limitations. These rights are applicable as long as the matter is in the stage of agreement and when the deal is finalized, conveyance deed is executed; the deal will come to an end.

But the case is different where the conveyance is brought on account of fraud practiced by the vendor.It is also necessary that the purchaser shall avail himself of knowledge or means of knowledge open to him or his agents to verify the credentials of the vendor, his interest, title to the property. He has to exercise due care and diligence by exercising reasonable care and then only the purchaser can claim the protection of law for any mischief played on him.

An article about " Use Of New Technologies In Modern Buildings "

Use Of New Technologies In Modern Buildings

The Indian economy is on the upward path and construction is one of the sectors where the brisk activity was going on just before the economic recession. Besides public infrastructure there is plenty of action on the way where new residential, commercial, industrial and institutional building complexes are under construction.

Traditionally builders have had to deal with many vendors and agencies for the coordination of different facets and technologies and the buildings and infrastructure then may have played just a peripheral part but it  is no longer so. The traditional areas of focus have been material, quality, aesthetics, ergonomics and so on. The property developers are now vital to productivity, performance and efficiency of any organization. 

It is  not  surprising that today buildings are not looked at as brick and mortar edifices but as vital feature in improving the organizational productivity and to improve parameters such as comfort, efficiency, productivity etc. The improvement of these factors through various innovations will continuously lead to trends in the sector with corporate sector doing its best to boost competitiveness, productivity and sustainable functioning. The recent legislation for FDI in the construction sector will improve standards of construction  to a greater extent.

Today  majority of the office buildings are patterned to make a good work environment through good atmosphere, facilities for recreation such as gyms, sports etc.  Nothing is too much for companies to do for maximizing the output from people, their human resources. Apart from giving comfortable and conducive surroundings, buildings are being made according to ‘resource efficiency’ for main parameters such as power and water consumption not only from a commercial point of view but also from the point of view of conserving the resources and the environment.  Half of the energy used in a building is dedicated to create artificial indoor climate for  cooling, ventilation and lighting.  There is a  continual focus  on making ‘per person consumption of power’ as little as possible through technology and best practices. The focus is on choice of equipment, like chillers, motors, drives etc, using atmospheric conditions wherever possible, engaging energy and space efficient products, putting in sensor base ‘light’ management, engaging sophisticated Building Management Systems (BMS)  to supervise key parameters like temperature and light. It needs a reliable power supply, proper lighting, comfort cooling, dust free area and security which will contribute towards making a conductive environment for work.

Things like ambience, comfort and experience are utilized to draw clients by using air conditioning, lighting, music, design and layout and some high-tech features. There is an integration of security, safety and fire protection to give detailed and incorporated building management systems.

Another sector in which the part played by building systems is always growing is leisure, recreation and entertainment. Shops have evolved into malls, multiplexes have sprung up from theatres and sports complexes and fitness centres are springing up in metros all over the land.

In many cases the changing part played by buildings can be seen. For example, in IT and Biotech Parks, R&D centres, call centres, etc these developments  have come up very fast.  Such service driven businesses in which the productivity of the organization is closely connected with the productivity of the people and their habitation are coming up. 

The life span of a building begins from the stage of design, goes on to construction, operation, upkeep, renovation and in the end either leads to reuse or pulling down. People rarely realize that ‘initial building costs’ only make up around two per cent of the full life cycle expense of a property. The operations and maintenance make up another six per cent of the cost of a building’s life cycle and the remaining 92 per cent is attributable to costs associated with people.

There are greater demands in housing and residential complexes in design, aesthetic, comfort, lighting, energy efficiency and security. Inventive engineering and design, more efficient products, added solutions for electrics, heat and light, communications, etc for increasingly advanced management and control systems for buildings are required. The architecture also counts for the performance and efficiency such as heat load reduction, glazing, and space saving design and natural ventilation and lighting.

An integrated approach to provide a ‘single window’ offering platform for adoption and maintenance of electrical installations, fire protection,building automation and operation, maintenance and asset management serviceswould be of great help to consumers.