In yet another landmark achievement, India’s nomination of the Jaipur City, Rajasthan got inscribed today on the World Heritage List of UNESCO during the 43rd Session of the World Heritage Committee held at Baku, Azerbaijan.  

The nomination of Jaipur City has successfully been done by complying with the various UNESCO guidelines of 2017. With Successful inscription of Jaipur City,  India has 38 world heritage sites, that include 30 Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties, and 1 mixed site.

India’s nomination was initially recommended by the ICOMOS (advisory body of World Heritage (WH) Centre for cultural sites) as Deferral, but the 21 nation World Heritage  Committee debated it and after discussion decided to inscribe it on the World Heritage list.

Union Minister for Culture (IC) Prahlad Singh Patel expressed his happiness for the inclusion of Pink City Jaipur in world heritage list and congratulated people of Jaipur for this prestigious tag. The Minister thanked to global community for recognizing the historic and cultural importance of Jaipur.

The excerpts of the proposed statement of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) before the World Heritage Committee was presented by India as follows:

The City of Jaipur is an exceptional urban example in indigenous city planning and construction in South Asia. Unlike other medieval cities of the region, Jaipur was deliberately planned as a new city on the plains open for trade as opposed to hilly terrain and military cities of past, though it’s planning still ensured a response to the surrounding hilltops in all directions. The site selected within the valley that lay to the south of Amber hills was comparatively flat and unmarred by any previous construction.  Besides exemplary planning, its iconic monuments such as the Govind Dev temple, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, and Hawa Mahal excel in artistic and architectural craftsmanship of the period. Jaipur is an expression of the astronomical skills, living traditions, unique urban form and exemplary foresighted city planning of an 18th-century city from India. Jaipur is an exemplary development in town planning and architecture that demonstrates amalgamation and important interchange of several ideas over the late medieval period.

The countries that supported India’s nomination are as follows:

Brazil, Bahrain, Cuba, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Kyrghystan, Zimbabwe, China, Guatemala, Uganda, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Bosnia and Hezegovina, Angola, St. Kitts and Nevis. Australia and Norway initially proposed referral but after the debate, they agreed for Inscription of Jaipur city.

With this, India now has 38 World Heritage Sites, that include 30 Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties, and 1 mixed site.

The Budget for each year is essentially a statement of income and expenditure of the Government. However, with the expansion of the Indian economy, it has acquired the role of a policy document. The Budget presented by the Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman,  is a policy document for the medium term. It is a budget of a continuing government, which has to accelerate the direction of the past.  It expands the roadmap on which the Prime Minister has built up India’s growth story from 2014-19. The striking part of this period was that for a five year average, India grew by 7.3%, it’s revenues grew exponentially and it brought macro stability back with both the Current Account Deficit and the Fiscal Deficit being on the glide path downwards. The present Budget maintains that path based on the premise that economies which are fiscally prudent, eventually get rewarded as against those who indulge in fiscal adventurism.

A fundamental question has always been asked as to what would one choose between good economics and clever politics. The choice is unfair because any Government needs both in order to survive and perform. The Prime Minister’s first tenure witnessed this blending of good economics and good politics. The change, which was facilitated by the Jan Dhan Accounts and the AADHAAR, laid the foundation for Direct Benefit Transfer to those who needed State support. Subsidies were no longer an unknown amount of money being distributed to an unidentifiable class of people. Subsidies in the form of transfer of facilities to the poor is an example of the blending of good economics and good politics. The villages get roads, the poor get houses, and every household got a toilet, a gas connection and an electricity connection. Fifty crore people got hospital treatment upto Rs.5 lakh per year. Their lives became liveable with at least these basics. To carry this path forward, completion of the rural housing being constructed and delivered to the poor, and the conclusion of the remaining part of the gas connection programme, the Budget takes upon itself the task of concentrating, in the next five years, on a ‘tap for every home’. For this, it is necessary to clean up our rivers and have an adequate water management.

The last five years had seen a lot of emphasis on infrastructure. The Finance Minister has rightly given top priority to infrastructure. This priority is self-evident in the fact that the rural roads programme connecting every village with a motorable road is nearing completion. The National Highways are moving at a pace faster than ever before. Adequate amount of allocations have been made in the Budget for this. The railways is one of the top priorities of the Government. Besides faster trains, modernised coaches, additional railway safety measures, very soon India will witness the modernisation of its railway stations similar to what today has happened to the airports. Increase in port capacity, further development of inland water transportation and expanding the aviation sector to the remotest corner of the country is the roadmap which the Finance Minister has presented. This will be the India of 2024.

Modernisation of our cities with all-weatherroads, an effective metro system, better urban roads are being given an impetus. The Government is committed to providing housing to the weaker sections in both rural and urban areas. A major tax incentive has been given to those who borrow to buy affordable houses. This move will not merely help the system to utilise the unsold stock of affordable houses but will also be instrumental in injecting liquidity into the real estate market.

The direction of reforms in the banking and financial sector has been maintained. Consolidation of public sector banks is being undertaken so as to have fewer but mega and financially strong banks. A sizeable allocation has been made for recapitalisation of banks so that their capacity to lend for growth improves. The Budget contains concrete proposals about support to the NBFCs whose liquidity, for the last several months, was under strain and had reduced the purchasing power of consumer. The sectors most affected by this were real estate, automobiles and the MSMEs.

While the GST reforms are being carried out by the GST Council, a lot of simplification for direct tax assesses has been proposed. Besides affordable housing, electric vehicles and start-ups are the sectors on which the Budget places an adequate emphasis. In the last two years, when the global crude oil prices had hardened, duties had been cut by the Central Government on at least two occasions in a major way. It is the softening of the crude oil prices which has persuaded the Government to raise the excise duty on petrol and diesel marginally so that this money could be transferred to a special fund meant for infrastructure creation, particularly for the National Highways and the rural roads programme.

The Budget creates a political direction for an aspirational India. The economically weaker sections get the basic amenities of life.  Besides the income-tax exemption limit having been increased to rupees five lakhs in the interim Budget a few months ago, several sectors of interest to the middle class and the neo-middle class have been incentivized. These, in particular, include affordable housing and electric vehicles. Massive infrastructure creation also has the ability to generate employment and attract investment.  So does a boost to the construction and real estate sector. India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy in the world. In the last two to three-quarters growth has seen a moderation. Unquestionably, the Budget as a policy document lays down the roadmap for India to get back on track.

(The article has been taken from Arun Jaitley’s Facebook Post.)

On July 2, the Maharashtra government decided to close private and public schools in Mumbai based on IMD’s rainfall forecast which predicted: “intermittent rain in city and suburbs, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places for the next 24 hours.” The 24-hour period from 8:30 am of July 1 to July 2 had seen a total of 375 mm of rain and it was obviously ominous to expect that more heavy rain events would follow. 

The 24-hour periods during July 2-3 and July 3-4 received only 34 mm and 4 mm of rain, respectively. IMD was late by a day in calling for an extreme event. Are IMD forecasts of extreme rains later or earlier than actual events on some occasions?  This may be the case as indicated by a 2017 study led by a graduate student at IIT-Bombay, Hiteshri Shastri, who has since completed her Ph.D. The team has developed a method for statistical processing of extreme event forecasts to reduce this shift in time.

Greater precision in forecast of extreme events is critical. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was caught off guard in the deluge of 2005 despite an IMD forecast of heavy rains several days ahead. A post-mortem of that event led to much-improved response in 2017 and rapid draining of flooded areas in 2019 is also commendable. While BMC is learning to respond appropriately to forecasts but forecasts themselves need further improvements.

The Numerical Weather Prediction model (NWP), a computer model that solves complicated equations which determine the evolution of weather for several days is used for forecasting. The IMD employs a numerical model called the Global Ensemble Forecasting System (GEFS) and it has resulted in remarkable improvement in predictions. The prediction of extreme rainfall events, however, remains challenging as by their very nature such events are rare. Work in this area is important, given that India is already experiencing increased heavy and very heavy rainfall events as well a threefold increase in extreme rainfall events.

GEFS does global forecasts at 70 Km resolution – meaning the earth is divided into cubes of 70 Km in the horizontal with 70 layers in the vertical going from the surface to the stratosphere. The capacity of the global version of GEFS for predicting extreme events in India is rather meagre. IMD has, therefore, developed a regional version of the GEFS covering South Asia at a resolution 12 Km to downscale global forecasts and is further downscaling on a short period of a day or two to a few hours at 4 Km and 1.5 Km. 

While the skill of rainfall forecasts at short range (day 1 to 3) and medium range (day 3 to 10) have shown some improvements, the probability of detecting extreme events – say rainfall in the 99^th or 95^th percentile of the expected rain at a given location for a given day – is still very poor. The ‘false alarm ratio’ – predicting extreme events when none occur – is also high. What the IITB study discovered is that the model tends to produce extreme rains 1 to 2 day before or 1-2 days after the event occurs in reality. The July 3 warning following the July 2 heavy rains is a clear example of such shifts in time between forecasts and actual events in the current forecast system.

The IITB study exploits the relation between large-scale circulation features associated with such heavy rain events to statistically process GEFS forecasts to increase the ‘probability of detection’ and reduce the ‘false alarm ratio’. Large-scale features are easier to forecast than local heavy rain events which can be caused by depressions originating in the Arabian Sea or the Bay of Bengal, or with local heating of land, or by westerly disturbances in some parts of the country like the northwest. 

Increasing model resolution may offer further improvements but running such high resolution models is nearly impossible for rapid forecasting of local heavy rain events. Using empirical relations between large-scale features and extreme rain events, statistical forecasts of which quantile the rainfall event may fall into can be performed quickly for up to day 5. 

Combining model forecasts of large-scale features with known past values of temperature, humidity and winds at different pressure levels from the surface to the upper atmosphere, the statistical model can add demonstrable skill to predictions of heavy rain events. These methods are popularly known as ‘quantitative precipitation forecasting’ or QPF and they are computationally very economical compared to running very high-resolution models for particular regions or cities.

Statistical QPF models are trained and validated for a past period based on past forecasts and observations, and then applied to actual forecasting in real time. Forecast experiments by the IITB team for 2006 and 2007 showed that their QPF increased the ‘probability of detection’ using GEFS from 20% to 90% and when a 5-day period was considered, it reduced the ‘false alarm ratio’ by 90%. While GEFS detected only 6 of 29 events during this period, the QPF could identify 17 of 29 events. 

Empirical relations between large-scale circulation and local heavy rains can change because of global warming or other factors such as land use. But QPF could still be very valuable for a country like India which needs to use all the tools available. Besides, the changing relations can be dealt with by training and validating the QPF model each year prior to the monsoon season and keeping it at the current state of statistical relations between the large-scale patterns and extreme events. By adding QPF to IMD forecasts, there can be more reliable extreme event forecasts which can help agencies like BMC making life-saving decisions. (India Science Wire)

[The writer is a professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and Earth System Science at the University of Maryland. He is currently a visiting professor at IIT Bombay.]    

Adnan Safee and Sadia Adnan, Founders of Nine Angle Foundation, have found their calling and are fulfilling it under the name ‘Nine Angle Foundation’. The foundation works towards helping and feeding with the limited funds they have. Nine Angle Foundation fulfils its responsibility at the same by eradicating social plight present in the form of poverty, which snatches away the basic right to satiate hunger by having a meal.

Talking about the noble cause, Adnan said, “We work socially at a very subtle level. From the funds and our limited resources which we manage to arrange, we distribute food boxes which have a ration for the month to the poor and the needy. Because we are working on a micro level with insufficient funds, we are unable to do a lot for the community. We are planning big as we wish to expand. We are approaching organizations and people who can help us with some funds so that we are accessible to more needy people. We tweeted Ameera Altaweel, Raina Al Abdullah, Obama Foundation, Anand Mahindra and others to support our cause “no one sleeps hungry”. Naved Khan (RJ Naved, Radio Mirchi), has shown his interest and will support our cause no one sleeps hungry by one lac rupees.”

Adnan Safee is also Executive Producer at Nine Angle Productions, a prolific producer of TV commercials, radio spots, jingles and short films, incepted the market in 2011. Based in Mumbai and Delhi, it has been adding colossal value to the Indian as well as overseas motion picture industry ever since. 

Interestingly, the Lok Sabha Elections Campaign 2019 was successfully executed by Adnan Safee. He has also worked with reputed names like the Government of Rajasthan, MHRD, Indian IT Ministry, ?Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Ciaz, Hyundai, Hero, Honda, ICICI and Samsung to name a few. Presently, the media house is working out its strategies for Everwey.

The media house has created some critically acclaimed marvels such as the short film ‘Breaking The Seal‘. The team is presently working on two feature films, titled ‘Cawnpore‘ and ‘Hold My Hand‘.

Nine Angle Productions is all set to create a series of short films that will illuminate the glorious history, heritage and life of the royal families of India. The series will unfold with the heritage of the 16th scion of the Royalty of Alsisar, Kunwar Abhimanyu Singh Alsisar. In addition to this, the series will showcase the glory of six other Royal Families Of India.

On being asked by Team Digpu, Adnan Safee said, “In the pursuit of support for Nine Angle Foundation and our cause ‘No One Sleeps Hungry’, we were connecting to Ameera Al-Taweel a Saudi Arabian princess and philanthropist and Rania Al Abdullah, Queen Consort of Jordan. So, we were inspired to know about and showcase the royalties of India. Based on our research, we found that there are seven Royal Families that are still living the royal life in modern India. Thereafter, we decided to illuminate the world about these families with the help of short films. To begin with, we chose the Royalty of Alsisar, Kunwar Abhimanyu Singh Alsisar.“

“There are two main reasons behind this endeavour of ours. Firstly, we want to bring out the splendour and heritage of the royal families of India in the brightest colours for everyone to know. Also, we know this will attract tourism and artists towards India. Soon, we are going to approach the Indian Ministry of Tourism in this regard. We are also open to collaborating with people who can be the part of this journey and make this vision of ours come true”, Adnan added.

On asking about the success of Nine Angle Productions, Adnan said, “We are a well-knit unit of team members expert in their respective forte. Diversification and systematic allocation of work allow our team members to focus well. We take on every project together after discussing and working out the visions of the whole team. Each one of our creations is the result of a consistent effort. We want to be remembered for our unique projects and their realisation on screen.”

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News Source: Digpu 

As Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister presents the budget on July 5, 2019, founders of the startup world have a huge expectation from Modi 2.0 government. They expect the government to make India a preferred hub especially for startups as the government promised to establish around 50,000 new startups by 2024. Not only this, entrepreneurs want government to bring better policies them to strengthen their business. So as the budget is out, a sigh of relief has been seen on the faces of entrepreneurs. This is what the Minister highlighted during the budget proposal: 

An exclusive television programme for and by startups

The Minister  proposed to start a television programme within the DD bouquet of channels exclusively for startups, discussing issues affecting their growth, matchmaking with venture capitalists and for funding and tax planning. This channel will be designed and executed by startups themselves. 

Solving ‘Angel Tax’

The startups and their investors who file requisite declarations and provide information in their returns will not be subjected to any kind of scrutiny in respect of valuations of share premiums. This has been proposed in the Union Budget 2019-20 presented by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament with a view to resolve the so-called ‘Angel Tax’ issue. 

Mechanism of e-verification

In her budget speech, the Finance Minister further highlighted that the issue of establishing identity of the investor and source of his funds will be resolved by putting in place a mechanism of e-verification. With this, funds raised by star-ups will not require any kind of scrutiny from the Income Tax Department. 

In addition, Special Administrative arrangements shall be made by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for pending assessments of startups and redressal of their grievances. 

“It will be ensured that no inquiry or verification in such cases can be carried out by the Assessing Officer without obtaining approval of his supervisory officer”, she added. 

Extension of benefit

At present, startups are not required to justify fair market value of their shares issued to certain investors including Category-I Alternative Investment Funds (AIF). The Finance Minister proposed to extend this benefit to Category-II Alternative Investment Funds also. By doing this, valuation of shares issued to these funds will be beyond the scope of income tax scrutiny. 

The Finance Minister further proposed to relax some of the conditions for carry forward and set off of losses in the case of startups. She also proposed to extend the period of exemption of capital gains arising from sale of residential house for investment in startups up to March 2021 and relax certain conditions of this exemption. 

Boost economic growth and Make in India

Mega Investment in Sunrise and Advanced Technology Areas in order to boost economic growth and Make in India. The Government will launch a scheme to invite global companies through a transparent competitive bidding to set up mega-manufacturing plants in sunrise and advanced technology areas such as Semi-conductor Fabrication (FAB), Solar PhotoVoltaic cells, Lithium storage batteries, Solar electric charging infrastructure, Computer Servers, Laptops, etc. and provide them investment linked income tax exemptions under section 35 AD of the Income Tax Act, and other indirect tax benefits.

Stand-Up India Scheme to be continued for the period of 2020-25. 

The vision for the next decade laid down in the Budget document focuses upon building physical and social infrastructure; Make in India with particular emphasis on MSMEs, Startups, defence manufacturing, automobiles, electronics, fabs and batteries, and medical devices, among others, emphasize on employment generation and growth. 

The startup ecosystem wanted government to provide simpler regulations surrounding the tax charges (corporate taxes, and stable economic policies) and I guess this budget justified it. 

Going green is the new revolution we all want but some initiators are required to take the preventive measures towards environment protection. The lowering level of our society and increasing demands of the populace is burgeoning and spoiling the surroundings. Navrattan Group of companies is indulged in construction practices by using the material that is eco-friendly and will have zero harm for the society. The product is Â“Navrattan Green Crete” which is a new product.

Himansh Verma, Founder, and Chairman of the group say, “The product is very strong and has multiple times the compressive and rigidity of Portland concrete and requires fundamentally less vitality to deliver, in this manner leaving a considerably littler carbon footprint. High execution green structures worked with green materials like Navrattan Crete utilize less, squander less and produce less greenhouse gas emanations than customary structures. The Navrattan Crete is condition well disposed, supportable, solid, sturdy and reasonable.

He further lamented, “Our Technology is licensed utilizing a Proprietary Binder inferred through differing kinds of protectant and alternative marine life, and a monitored extraction process, which eventually changes Associate in Nursing Enzyme of the Algae into an exceedingly focused Elastic Polymeric Powder.” We utilize the name “Elastopolymer” in light of the fact that it best depicts an Elastic Polymeric Cement that has Flexibility and Memory. 

We are a focused group who always work for better sustainability and green growth. Sustainability is installed at the core of our business, from our vision to our qualities and technique. It directs our activities and the manner in which we work. Manageability matters since it is vital to our group long haul future. Not only for the monetary achievement of Navrattan Green Cement Industries Private Limited, yet in addition for the networks in which we work and nature whereupon we as a whole depend. It impacts how we work at each degree of our business.

For manufacturing of green cement and Crete, we opt for the natural formula as environment safety is our priority. Moving ahead towards the quality of construction products, we never keep it as a secondary thing. Rather we put our all in efforts to provide the best results to our clients. In order to have the best quality, all our constructions ask for low maintenance, cost-effective, good sustainability, the government approved as compared to other construction companies dealing in the same sector.

This new age bond is such built up that it needs no huge kilns and immense set-ups or any utilization of non-renewable energy sources. The procedure depends on a totally extraordinary innovation. Dissimilar to the assembling of Portland cement, there will be no clinker utilized in the assembling of our Green Cement; consequently the mechanical waste will be utilized to deliver helpful items. The Navrattan Green Crete is a powerful option to OPC as it is water-safe, corrosive retardant does not move heat great, additionally, it has an almost zero coefficient of extension, which makes this item incredible to be utilized in underneath frosty temperatures just as in tropical areas.

This Crete is becoming famous among the builders and designers for flooring and paving. Its adaptable and versatile characteristics make concrete easily flexible for improvement. The developing pattern of utilizing beautifying solid opens the entryway to a variety of building plans and structures.

The complete process of binding and extracting is carried carefully by our Research and Development experts in the laboratory. Once all is checked the final product is taken forward to bring it in use. Nothing can be compromised at any cost for quick results. Here results are achieved when our clients get a hundred percent satisfaction. The government is continuously looking for measures to lower the pollution content and adhere to the rules and regulations. Navrattan Group is continuously looking ahead for better development, keeping in mind the policies for mitigating the pollution content. The construction industry is in close contact with novel technologies in order to have cleaner, safer and greener environment conditions to live. Our life span is ascribed to our ceaseless pledge to phenomenal workmanship and extraordinary client administration. This eco-friendly product will take up to one step ahead towards development in a green way.

Overall, Union Budget 2019-20 is a balanced one with more of a long-term vision as a follow-on of the Interim Budget. It has obviously been formulated to restore confidence in the India growth story as a whole, and more importantly within India Inc.

As far as real estate is concerned, the budget had a few hits and several misses. Infrastructure stayed at the top of the government’s agenda. This is of course significant, since infra development is one of the main propellers for economic growth and real estate benefits both directly and indirectly.

The new FM had an uphill task of balancing priorities in Modi 2.0’s maiden budget. Most sectors – including real estate – stridently sought concessions to kick-start stagnant consumption and investments. Steering the country out of the stranglehold of economic slowdown and creating employment were also high on the priorities list.

The Union Budget was on track in terms of encouraging savings and investments and empowering rural India. Its thrust towards the digital economy and start-up evolution will have indirect benefits in the long run.

As expected, affordable housing under the PMAY scheme (also a critical employment generator) got a boost.

Positives for Real Estate:

• Affordable housing gets a shot in the arm:

The government announced major tax benefits that will help stimulate demand for affordable housing. Interest deduction up to Rs 3.5 lakh for affordable housing (priced <INR 45 lakh) as against Rs 2 lakh earlier will now be available until March 31, 2020. This can help attract first-time homebuyers. Further, nearly 1.95 crore houses are proposed to be provided to eligible beneficiaries under PMAY-Grameen between FY20 to FY22. 

The FM underscored that the completion of houses that previously required 314 days/house in 2015-16 has come down to 114 days since 2017. If so, the target of Housing for All certainly looks a bit more achievable. The government has set for itself a gruelling target under the Housing for All initiative.

• Infrastructure development push:

As expected, a major boost has been given to infrastructure development via all forms of physical connectivity including industrial corridors, dedicated freight corridors, railways and airways. The government plans to invest over INR 100 lakh crore in the sector over the next five years. This will significantly benefit real estate and particularly increase demand for logistics and warehousing. However, actual benefit will depend on its on-ground implementation.

Another positive within the sector includes the development of nearly 30,000 km roads using green technology by recycling plastic. This can bring down the cost of road deployment and increase the sustainability quotient of a process which otherwise has serious environmental implications.

• Rental housing may soon shed its ‘poor cousin’ status:

The FM called out the old rental laws archaic and stated that the government will soon formalize a modern tenancy policy and share it with all states. Clear-cut incentives to boost rental housing via a sound policy will positively help the government to further strengthen its Housing for All initiative. We await further announcements on this critical policy intervention.

• Retail sector benefits:

Easing the registration process for small retailers and further simplifying the local sourcing norms for single-brand retail will benefit the retail sector in the times to come, and help the unorganized retail sector become more competitive.

• Boost to Student Housing:

The government’s plan to launch a ‘Study in India’ programme to attract foreign students in higher education – for which it allocated INR 400 crore in FY20 – will inevitably create more demand for student housing. This is one of the best alternative asset class within the residential sector.

• The government’s plan to develop 17 iconic tourism sites as world-class tourist centres will help boost the flow of domestic and foreign tourists to these destinations. It is a major positive for the hospitality sector.

• The regulation authority of housing finance companies has now been moved from NHB to RBI. This will help create more transparency, eliminate anomalies and improve overall regulation.

On the Flipside

From the real estate perspective, the budget did not meet many expectations as it failed to address the sector’s most pressing concerns. We may not see consumers and investors return to the market in sufficient numbers – barring in affordable housing. The all-important Â‘industry status’ remained elusive, taxes were not sufficiently moderated and land reforms were not mentioned at all.

• Tax benefits to homebuyers and investors: The deduction limits on principal and interest repayments under Section 80C and 24(b) respectively were last increased in 2014 after a hiatus of a decade. It was widely anticipated that the FM will try and revive consumer sentiments by increasing these tax exemption limits. The fact that these remained untouched is a definite sentiment dampener for many including real estate.

• Investor sentiment will remain subdued: To revive the ailing real estate sector and ease the liquidity crisis, the government has to revive investor sentiment. However, Budget 2019-20 failed to announce sufficient key initiatives and measures to bring investors back to the real estate market and thereby help pump some badly-needed liquidity into the system.

• Pre-budget, there were strong indications that the Centre would create a stress-asset fund to get work started on the stuck projects and provide relief to cash-starved developers as well as aggrieved homebuyers. The fact that it did not materialize is a major disappointment

• Increase in customs duty on various raw materials such as PVC, vinyl floor etc. may put additional pressure on the pricing of residential real estate.

• ITC benefit in GST left out: Without ITC benefits, builders suffer a major cut in their profit margins. Not only are the consequent losses offset by higher prices to buyers, they also result in a curtailed supply pipeline which does not bode well for amenable pricing going forward.

(Views expressed are personal.)

Indian SME sector is one of our biggest providers of jobs, from workers to middle management levels. The larger companies have funding to install machinery and automation, which the small scale cannot.    

The small scale businesses are a mostly one-man show with the entrepreneur running his or her company with some assistants and workers. He has a vision which he follows mostly one product outfit, even the marketing is done by him. The owner runs a low-cost operation, as profits derived from the low cost of operations. There is no respite for him/her, working long hours and 24/7. It is only when he is ill does he get time off.  Often the spouse handles all other personal matters.  And many places the spouse joins hands to run the show. 

Not only this, procurement functions are handled by him. Those who understand the dynamics can run a successful enterprise, even grow it. Some move up the value chain from a few employees to several hundred, moving from small scale to medium.

Government’s role

The government plays a major role in this sector. Not just by the right policies to help, but also on a day to day basis.  A lot of government services and approvals are needed, for which the SME entrepreneur has to run around.  Tax men, factory inspectors, govt clearances needed, etc are part of the daily life. In reality, these are hindrances and not to help .  Despite 7% growth, employment is going down .  A task force must be set up by govt to analyse what is causing this drop. This task force must consist of govt, economists and also the business people who face the issues . Many policies remain only on  paper, which need to be implemented in spirit and practice . The budget will provide a great opportunity to the govt to help this sector. Last year the focus was on the farm sector.  Lets hope this year its on employment, particularly the small sector. The GST tool must also be used to reduce the multitude of taxes and procedures which hamper the smooth working of Small businesses. 

Despite a lot of infra work done in the governments first term , including electric power available across the country , coal mines in full working, digitisation of the payments system  (direct benefits), road building doubled in last 5 years, employment remains dismal. We need the govt to infuse large funds into the hands of the common man to facilitate consumer spending.

What hold’s back SME? 

One major  issue holding back SME growth is taxes. We are an overtaxed country with taxes whichever we turn . It’s not just the plethora of taxes. These need specialised inputs from consultants and CAs all of whom charge the earth,  And the time consumed of the businessman. Any small mistakes invite huge penalties . The small business man cannot afford all this in terms of cost and time .

Banks and Financial Institutions

SME funding from banks has greatly stalled , decision making managers are now afraid of things going wrong . They get seriously penalised to the extent of losing their jobs or even going to jail, so they follow the best course.  Don’t take decisions or sanction loans. At this stage of stalling economy, the govt should consider treating small scale on par with farm loans , with a one time waiver of SME loans and advances , including capital costs of machinery and plant . This will put working capital back in hands of the entrepreneur. Do we want to wait for the businessmen to start commit suicides like the poor farmers before acting? Waiver can be up to a certain category/level to be decided by an action group.

Internationally, there are financing options like Factoring and Bill Discounting. These are being done to an extent in India but the complications are too many for smooth systematic working. This would make the funds flow easier.

The delay in payment by large companies virtually kill the MSME, and must not be permitted under any circumstances. It should be criminal to delay beyond a point

Special Incentives

SME sector must be supported for a few years by special incentives. The government must give a 10% incentive as reimbursement on annual turnover to improve its profitability. 

R&D

The industry must be given a grant for R&D to power its quality and develop new products. It gives an edge over others, helps cut costs of production and another unique positioning

All in all, MSME needs to be supported to create employment, which is the need of the hour.  

(The Author of the article is Chairman & Managing Director, Nazara Technologies Ltd. & Founder & President, India Business Group Chamber of Commerce.)

Motherhood Hospitals and Spherule Foundation (an NGO that works on various development and educational program for women-empowerment and health) bags Guinness World Record Certificate for conducting a largest session on menstrual hygiene.  The event took place last year on April 24, 2019 at Kendriya Vidyalaya School where 300 students (both adolescent girls and boys) were present. 

The record in which the Motherhood Hospital and Spherule Foundation participated is one of the 40,000 world records that are held on the Guinness World Records database.

Menstruation is one of the vital processes of a woman’s body which deserves utmost caution and self-care. Ensuring proper hygiene during menses is essential during those difficult days of the month. Lack of appropriate awareness on essential facts on menstrual hygiene could lead to itching, burning, vaginal and urinary tract infections, infertility and other reproductive health complications. With an objective to help young girls achieve a healthy vaginal health, Motherhood Hospitals and Spherule Foundation with this initiative and conducted largest adolescent health awareness lesson and bagged Guinness World Record Certificate.  

Dr Krishna Mehta, Facility Director, Motherhood Hospital Kharadi, said, “- As the Facility Director of Motherhood Hospital in Pune and a woman both, it was an overwhelming experience to participate in such an awareness campaign on menstrual hygiene and get global recognition by way of receiving the Guinness Book of World Record Certificate. It is a matter of pride and honour to know that Motherhood Hospital, as a Corporate Group of hospitals, is taking such initiatives for the betterment of society at large, especially women & children.”

Dr Rajeshwari Pawar, Consultant, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Motherhood Kharadi, highlighted, “Growing up, as a kid, there were very few shows that would air on tv, of which the Guinness Book of World Records was one of the few prestigious ones. When I was asked to be a speaker for an attempt at the Guinness Book of World Records, I was thrilled. In addition, to be educating young girls about lessons that we may have never received, was the icing on the cake. I would like to thank my institute, Motherhood Group of Hospitals for this once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of the GBWR.”

“Even though we are conducting menstrual health & hygiene sessions in schools across India throughout the year, this session was unique because we were attempting a Guinness World Record. It had to be perfect and as per Guinness guidelines, we had to strictly abide by WHO guidelines too. It was a wonderful experience. All doctors who were witnessing this event, students who participated and we as an NGO, were not only excited but also had the feeling of pride that with this record, we are trying to break the taboo & secrecy behind this subject,” concluded Dr Geeta Bora, Founder, Spherule Foundation.  

Mudit Malhotra is a Delhi-born, Mumbai-based actor and Fashion model, also an inspiration to many. He has completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Master’s Degree in Public Relations and Marketing. 

He started his career with winning the Title of Mr. DELHI TIMES and Ramp Shows for top Indian designer stop notch fashion designers such as Rohit Bal, Tarun tahiliani, Shantanu & Nikhil, Pawan Sachdeva amongst others. Later on, he won the national pageant titles of Rubaru Mr. INDIA 2016 and represented India at one of the most prestigious international pageant- MISTER INTERNATIONAL 2016 in Bangkok. 

He has been into print advertising and campaigns for many Indian and International corporations such as Dixy Scott Inner Wear, Red Chief shoes, Tinder, Royal Enfield, Tata Cliq, and Flipkart to name a few. Mudit is known for his impeccable styling sense in the Fashion Industry, apart from establishing himself as a Fashion & Lifestyle Blogger. He has worked with a lot of fashion editorials and has made it to the covers of magazines such as Woman’s Era, Maxim, Elite and Men’s Health. 

His passion for modeling has taken him all over the world, from France to Italy to the US and he loves getting acquainted with new cultures and mingling with people from different walks of life. 

He is also an Internationally certified fitness trainer and is equally passionate about cooking himself a hearty yet healthy meal. 

Mudit is also a social activist and has been associated with the Rubaru Group for a while now, doing his bit for the society.