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Brick-and-mortar women Ritu Singal CMD, Raglan group From being a housewife who took up the challenge of establishing a tottering business after a personal tragedy to being a successful builder, Ritu Singal’s journey has been a test of strength and fortitude. She is a known face in the tricity realty scene as her group, which is among the most professionally managed ones in the region, has developed several affordable housing projects in Zirakpur and Dera Bassi.
Treading the familiar path... differently
Advantage women homebuyers
first person
tax tips Rebate on loan for additional construction in house? How much tax rebate can I claim on sale proceeds of agricultral land? Can I sell the plot without registration deed documents?
Ground Realty
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Brick-and-mortar women
From being a housewife who took up the challenge of establishing a tottering business after a personal tragedy to being a successful builder, Ritu Singal’s journey has been a test of strength and fortitude. She is a known face in the tricity realty scene as her group, which is among the most professionally managed ones in the region, has developed several affordable housing projects in Zirakpur and Dera Bassi. Coping with challenges “Challenges are there in all professions and these go hand in hand with opportunities. My close relatives and friends discouraged me as they thought it was a tricky business and I should get out by selling everything. But I decided to continue and am happy that I could instill confidence and a sense of security in my team. Due to hardening of interest-rates, high inflationary pressures, increased construction cost, service tax on construction activities, multiple taxation system which are not known to the buyers it has become very challenging to provide affordable housing and provide total customer satisfaction.” What keeps her going “The source of my strength is my Buddhist faith and practice. In most difficult times I remind myself to Persevere, persevere and more persevere”. Woman’s touch As a woman I feel rather it was easy to change perceptions a little because of patient, genuine dialogue and approach. Being a woman I valued the emotions of our clients and gave most modern and practical houses in most affordable prices. Women have power to multitask which helped me accomplish a lot in a single day. Creating a family like environment full of mutual respect and trust inspite of total professional set up has been my biggest asset. Gender discrimination I believe gender discrimination is generally felt when one is not competent and confident in one’s profession. She started my journey by taking steps to learn about technical, financial and admin aspects of business and learnt from each and every person and situation. Is the Indian real estate scene ready for more women at the top level Yes , because women are more stable minded, patient workers, thorough and multitasking. I have a women project coordinator. The office jobs (behind the scene) which are the backbone of real estate like the architectural drawings, costing heads of the project, billing heads., quality controls in charges, purchase heads or even store heads on real estate projects can best be managed by women leaders. Women engineers will be the best managers to monitor the execution and controls as women generally are thorough with their work. A word of advice My advice to other women is to gain first-hand experience in the field whether by way of job or working on the site. It’s very important to plan in detail after studying all aspects like market, type of apartments, costing, and quality parameters for construction if one is in this field. Supervision and knowledge are most important as the precious lives of people are involved so one cannot take chances with quality of materials and construction. Ananta Singh Raghuvanshi
Coping with challenges Initially, balancing work and home may seem slightly difficult, however, with time we all become good at it. What we see as challenges is nothing but learning processes that help you grow in life. Handling a portfolio of 16 top Indian cities with varying demographics and customer preferences requires a unique approach of ‘thinking global but acting local’. This year as we focus on delivery and possession, our endeavor is to live to our customer’s expectation. What keeps her going A burning desire to excel, with hard work and integrity and enjoying every bit of the work I do. Woman’s touch Women are intuitive by nature and probably understand people, customers, brokers and colleagues better. Being able to guide my team in helping achieve organizational goals in a work environment that is friendly, democratic and energetic is what we aspire for. Providing support to team members during a personal trauma is something that we have done often. Is the Indian real estate scene ready for more women at the top-level positions? The Indian real estate sector is indeed ready for women at the top level positions now, more than ever before with more qualified professionals entering the sector now. A word of advice If you are willing to put in your 100 per cent in any field of your choice, you will embrace success sooner or later. Be willing to learn and let your efforts and integrity drive you to achieve your goals.
With a law degree from Harvard University, USA, a Fulbright Scholarship, and a gold medal from Aligarh Muslim University under her belt, Nazia Izuddin is a real estate developer in a league of her own. She had worked as a corporate lawyer and an academic for several years in New York, London and Dubai before settling in Delhi-Dehradun. With literature, poetry, arts, philosophy and law as her key interests, her entry into the world of concrete and buildings was a coincidence or destiny according to her. “I moved to Dehradun, and wanted to live in a community and in a home similar to what I had lived in, in other parts of the world. But soon I realised that developers did not care much about the detailing, aesthetics or the landscaping, or even something as basic as the flow of movement in a flat or designing a kitchen to meet basic functions and needs. In the process of buying a farm for myself, I ended up being a developer”. Coping with challenges “I was all of 25 years when I first moved to Dehradun and started a hospitality venture and entered the real estate business two years later. In a Tier 2 city such as Dehradun, people found it strange to have a boss as young as I was, and on top of that, I was a first generation woman entrepreneur. Initially, people did not take me seriously and they would look around to see whether there was a male boss in the backdrop. But eventually, they started taking me seriously and understood that I meant business. The key challenge is to keep your sails up no matter how stormy the weather. The real estate market goes through heavy speculation, rise and fall and sometimes a cash flow crisis. Elections, political situations and a fluctuating job market affect this sector heavily. The key challenge is to create a business model that is insulated from these fluctuations, and to also insulate the client against these changing market conditions.” What keeps her going “There is a large degree of appreciation I receive now for my unconventional thinking and initiatives. But there have been moments when I have wondered whether I really belonged here — in this space, in this field and particularly in this place. I am sure such moments will come again. There is a large gap in my own mindset and educational background and that of those around me, particularly developers, real estate agents, contractors, and even government officials. It is frustrating a lot of times. But I have learnt to relax and learn along the way and to not take personally. The motivations were always spiritual and personal. Everytime I felt alone and not sure where to head, and what decisions to make, I would listen to my inner voice. I had to prove to myself that my dream was worth dreaming, my ambitions were worth bearing, and the challenges were only a step towards the aspirations. I also felt that any step backwards would be a disappointment for all those who trusted me, and all those who aspired to break free from the reigns of conventional life. Winning trust Clients most often bring up the question of trust. I realised the need to build trust at a very early phase in my career and my core goal was to deliver all promises. This has resulted in bringing together a core group of people — clients, relatives, friends, colleagues and employees who have unfettering trust and who stand by as your seal of trust. I believe in this business model. Woman’s touch Care and responsibility are two values that I have been able to inculcate in my organisation through example. In our projects, aesthetics play a very important role and this is again something that I have been able to inculcate in my organisation. Gender discrimination I deal with many male clients and male employees, and most of them usually are more experienced or much older in age. Men, feel challenged when new ideas are introduced, and when they are asked to follow a new system. Their way of fighting authority is to get sarcastic or make rude and sexist remarks. The way I countered it is by making sure work is done the way I want it done, no matter how old or how experienced the other person is. One just has to stick to one’s conviction. Is the Indian real estate scene ready for more women at the top level? Yes, it is. Absolutely. I think it is time that women headed more real estate consultancies as well as infrastructure development companies. I for one, feel ready to take on a larger and a bigger role, and feel that I can do a lot more if I had the finances and the brand value of a bigger company to back me based on my grass root hands on experience. A word of advice One should have a sound and clear idea of what one is entering into. Like all businesses, nothing is always romantic and always rosy. Delivery in this field takes patience, and encounter with the judicial system, police, law, government, people and press. One does not have an option to turn back saying I only want the rewards without putting in the hardwork. Nobody will come and do this hardwork for you.
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Treading the familiar path... differently All in the family Navneet Gaur, Career path What keeps her going “Passion and drive to do my work after due diligence is what keeps me motivated. I have always believed that if you create a right product for the right market at the right price point, nothing can stop you.” Coping with challenges “Challenges for me are three pronged. One is to make a meaningful difference as a developer, then change the perception about the business of real estate and finally encourage more and more women to join real estate as a career choice.” Woman’s touch ‘Patience and thorough research is what I have brought to the table in my company. I got so much detailing for the Brys Buzz that I travelled globally to understand what makes a luxury project emerge as a ‘destination address’. I did a three-pronged research for the project-research on the product, research on the market and then research on the buyers in terms of understanding the tastes and aspirations of the recession proof buyers. In a sector where employees’ attrition rate is a huge challenge, I have made sure that we emerge as the Best Employers and succeeded to a large extent. We don’t have issues like lack of quality manpower to deal with since inculcating an encouraging work culture has been a matter of habit around me. I feel extremely proud when buyers interact with me and say that I bring to the table a kind of trust quotient that make them confident to invest in my company.” A
word of advice Women have changed the outlook of India’s corporate sector in the past 15 years and many of them are at the top today. But yes, it is a profession for hard working women only, and there is absolutely no place for those who are looking for easy job or a stop gap career move. Is the Indian real estate scene ready for more women at the top level? “First movers in any given business have been scaling up the professionals ladder fast, and real estate is no exception. I feel it is time they join real estate and trust me the first movers will be naturally at the top in the next 10-15 years. If one is a professional go-getter there is always room for them, does not necessarily one needs to come from real estate background or family businesses.” Aishwarya Bansal Career path What keeps her going My work culture and interest has encouraged me to persevere in this field. Home and shelter are the basic needs of a human being and helping people to build a dream home is a big achievement for me. Moreover, there are many discerning people looking for that “Special Home”, and I think I can provide it. Building trust “Trust deficit is there in every profession or sector, but that should not stop one from learning and providing inputs to a particular profession. There are many challenges in the real estate sector which we need to overcome and by working in tandem without prejudices and sincerely we will be able to enhance the quality and growth of the sector. I believe in walking the talk”. Woman’s touch “It is true that it is very unusual to see a woman in the real estate business and that only makes me proud about my gender. All working women have family or social pressures but one has to be able to perform multiple roles, excel at work and home, and maintain a balanced lifestyle. I believe in my ability to add value to my work and organisation and set standards for more women to join and believe in this profession. I also feel that women have more empathy and can understand the needs of a home owner. Real Estate is about meeting new people and helping them build their homes. There is a lot of room for creativity and I hope my expertise can help build an atmosphere for it. My main contribution will be to add value in terms of quality and style to our homes.” A
word of advice Real estate sector provides a great platform to women even in terms of understanding gender equality and a woman brings unique instincts and capacities to the field. Women who want to pursue real estate as a full-time profession should join an organisation which provides equal opportunities to all. To name a few, professions like architecture and interior designing are in demand. Is the Indian real estate scene ready for more women at the top level positions? Yes, real estate profession holds immense opportunities for women at all levels and it only gets better at top level positions because it gives them ample confidence to face the world in a male-dominated world. The sector is picking up and needs the power of more women to drive it. Legal eye Anjana Bali Career path Career challenges The challenges were both at personal and professional front. Imagine a situation, where an average middle class Delhite/Punjabi has to engage a lawyer and he has a choice between a small built young woman lawyer and a tough looking male lawyer, if he doesn’t know either of them. Whom would he engage? Undoubtedly, the male lawyer. So while we had to work extra hard to make a place in the professional front, the challenges in the personal front always increased. Initially, my family also had reservations about my choice of career, and it is literally impossible for a woman to succeed professionally without the support of family. While my parents were ultimately supportive of my decisions, I was fortunate enough to get the same support after my marriage. What keeps her going The desire to do good work, have some meaning in one's life and I guess my personality trait of giving one's best has kept me going and I am still going. Woman’s touch I believe my ability to take effective decisions for the organisation has certainly helped me create a niche for myself in the organisation and my professional competencies have surely added value to the organisation. I have always taken initiative in my area of work, related area of work, have contributed towards closure of tasks, better coordination amongst the various departments and facilitating business of the organization. Being a woman, I think I always add that little human/emotional touch to the tasks, and have ensured work in an honest and transparent manner. Gender discrimination Gender discrimination does exist and perhaps will always be there in a country like ours and the best way to counter it is to ignore it. Keep doing your work and if you follow your dreams, the world will surely make way for you. A word of advice My advice to women would be to take the plunge, this industry is not as bad as it seems and it also needs more women to get the humane and balanced perspective to this industry. Is the Indian real estate sector ready for women in top positions? Yes it is. I have personally had the opportunity to meet a couple (unfortunately only a couple) of women heading the entire organisation and there is no reason why they can’t be at the top level positions. If not better, they can be equally effective as men, as women can always multitask better and manage time and teams equally well, if not better.
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Advantage women homebuyers
What’s the biggest advantage of buying property in your wife’s name? Pleasing her, impressing the family, being seen as a trendsetter in a patriarchal society? Yes, there is all that, but the icing on the cake is that you might shave off 1-2 per cent of the property value. Several state governments offer women buyers a discount on stamp duty as a part of social initiative. In Delhi, for instance, a woman needs to pay a stamp duty of 4 per cent as compared to 6 per cent to be paid by men who buy a property.
This benefit of lower stamp duty can be availed of even when the property is gifted to the spouse. With more assets in their name, the economic status of women in India can improve, which in turn will make them less vulnerable to exploitation. “In many northern states, there is an imbalance in the sex ratio. This is the ratio of male to female population, with the national average being 914:1000. So this discount was started to incentivise property buying by women. If you are applying for a home loan the chances of it getting approved are higher if there is a woman co-borrower. For one, the repaying capacity of two people will be higher than that of one, which will put your lender at ease about the loan getting repaid on time. If the co-applicant is a woman and she is the first applicant, then chances of the loan getting approved are even higher. Reason: women are seen as more responsible when it comes to repaying loans. According to LIC Housing Finance, loans given to women or where a woman is the first applicant, are regular and disciplined in repayment. The housing finance company is also offering loans to women at 25 basis points lower than the normal rates, under the Bhagya Lakshmi scheme, till March 31. A home loan application is usually standard and one is required to show three years of income tax returns filed, three months of salary slip and other proof of identity and residence. If all documentation is in place, there is no reason why the bank should reject the application, right? But banks still may find ways to reject your application on the basis of what they perceive as your repayment capability or past credit history. Recently the State Bank of India cut home loan rates by up to 0.4 per cent for new borrowers, a day after RBI kept its key policy rates on hold. While women borrowers would get an additional 0.05 per cent concession on card rates. For loans of above Rs 75 lakh, the new rate would be 10.30 per cent. For women borrowers it is 10.25 per cent. Tata Capital will offer home loans at lower rates to women borrowers, on the lines of similar offerings being made by state-run institutions like SBI and
LICHF.
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first person Real estate has by and large been a male-dominated industry for many years. However, there has been a significant shift in the workforce in this field over the past few years. One is pleasantly surprised to see the ratio of women working in the Real Estate brokerage business in USA and other countries as a large number of women are a part of this segment of the real estate industry. Women have been seen as an ideal choice for a real estate consultant’s job as who knows better than a woman as to what really makes a “house into a home”; who is better than a woman to help you choose your home; and who is better than a woman to empathise with your real estate needs? It was these very thoughts and the fact that she had personally met a large number of successful women realtors overseas that made Saloni Chopra start this trend in India, too, and she did it with the world’s No. 1 real estate brokerage company RE/MAX four years ago. In an interview with The Tribune Real Estate She talks about her journey in this niche segment of the sector in India. Excerpts:
What were the challenges that you faced in the initial stages of your career and how you dealt with those? Initially, when my husband and I brought RE/MAX to India, we did face a lot of challenges in convincing our family and friends that it was the right decision, but what really helped was the milestones and recognition that we received at various credible and prestigious platforms which convinced everyone. There were several challenges mainly due to the lack of regulation in this industry and the fact that it has been basically a male-dominated one. The fact that our venture was started in the middle of recession was also a challenge. But in hindsight it became one of the best decisions that we had ever taken as we managed to sail through the tough times and make it a success. Over the years what have been your achievements and how do you assess your career at this point of time? There are many achievements, but the one closest to my heart is the training academy that we started called the RE/MAX Academy of Real Estate. It is the only one-of-its-kind real estate academy in India that offers not only national designations but also international designations ABR (Accredited Buyers Representatives, CRS (Certified Residential Specialists), CIPS (Certified International Property Specialists) and much more. Our training programmes for real estate agents are a blend of theoretical and practical training. Besides this RE/MAX is helping in building homes for the underprivileged. What is your motivation and goal? My greatest motivation is the dream to see the Indian real estate industry, which is the second largest contributor to the country’s GDP, an organised and professional industry and the Real Estate Brokerage profession as credible and attractive as other professions like medicine, engineering, IT etc. Being a woman how have you added value to your work and your organisation? Being the co-founder of RE/MAX India along with my husband, we both have had a clear cut understanding of the fact that he would handle the sales part and I would handle the development side of the business. As a woman at the helm of the development side of the business I have managed to build a strong platform for training and development platform based on the requirements of our affiliates. What should women entering this profession expect and what should they guard against? If you are looking for comfortable work hours that can help you maintain the right balance between work and home, if you are looking for a profession where you can reap benefits from your own social network then this industry is the right place. This is one industry where the potential to grow is unlimited and you can be your own boss while maintaining flexi timings, with the right attitude and zeal to succeed. What you have to keep in mind is to join a company where you can get trained on how to conduct the real estate brokerage business as well as a company which believes in practicing professionally and ethically.
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tax tips Q.I am a senior citizen and Punjab Government pensioner. I file my income tax returns regularly and paying tax as admissible. I constructed ground floor on my residential plot in Mohali from my own sources after retirement about 15 years ago, and the same is wholly occupied by my family. Now I have constructed first floor of this house partially from own sources and by taking a house building loan from Punjab National Bank Mohali branch. I will be giving first floor of this house on rent and will be having income from house property.
I understand that in a financial year there is rebate of ~1lakh under Section 80C on the principal amount and ~1.5 lakh on the interest amount under Section 24(b) on the amount of house building loan returned to the bank. Kindly clarify whether this rebate will be admissible in my case also. I am of the opinion that these rebates are admissible only for the purchase of residential plot and for new construction on it and not for addition, alteration, repair of already constructed house. Kindly clarify. —
Jagdish Singh A.You will be entitled to claim a deduction against your total income under Section 80C of the Act in respect of the repayment of the principal amount. However, said deduction would be available as and when the first floor of the house is complete and is ready for occupation. You would also be entitled to claim a deduction against income from house property in respect of the interest paid/payable on the amount borrowed for constructing the first floor of the house. The limit of ~1.5 lakh is applicable for deduction against income from house property which is self-occupied. Therefore, you would be entitled to claim the deduction of the entire amount of interest paid/payable on the amount borrowed even if it exceeds ~1.5 lakh in case the first floor of the house is let out. It may be added that you would be entitled to claim the deduction for the interest paid/payable for the construction period in five equal installments starting from the year in which the first floor of the house is completed. How much tax rebate can I claim on sale proceeds of agricultral land? Q. As I am an agriculturalist, please let me know the norms for tax payment on capital gain on the sale of agricultural land as we have sold off our ancestral agricultural land some time back. As a large part of it was touching the main road , it fetched us a handsome amount. My queries are as follows:
* If so, does the ancestral land have any rebate or relaxation in tax liability? *
How much is the tax percentage on it and how can one calculate it? * What are the terms and conditions of investing the sale proceeds to save tax, if any? *
Our land was close to the inter-state boundary. Will it have any effect on the way we should invest capital gain? *
Are all the properties i.e. plot/flat/land etc. near the municipal committee/corporation taxed under capital gain norms or the agricultural land (ancestral property) has any special relaxation norms? —
N.S. Samra A.Your queries are replied hereunder: *
Any profit arising on the sale of agricultural land is taxable in case i) the agricultural land is situated within the jurisdiction of a municipality (whether known as municipality, municipal corporation, notified area committee, town area committee, town committee or by any other name) or cantonment board having a population of more than 10,000 according to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published before the first day of the previous year. ii) the agricultural land is situated in any area within the distance, measured aerially: I. not being more than two kilometers, from the local limits of any municipality, or cantonment board referred to above and which has a population of more than 10,000 but not exceeding one lakh; or II. not being more than six kilometers, from the local limits of any municipality, or cantonment board referred to above and which has a population of more than one lakh but not exceeding 10 lakh; or III. not being more than eight kilometers, from the local limits of any municipality, or cantonment board referred to in item (above) and which has a population of more than 10 lakh. *
There is no rebate or relaxation for computing capital gain in case of ancestral agricultural land except that an assessee would be entitled to claim the benefit of cost inflation index from the date the agricultural land was originally purchased. In case it was purchased prior to April 1, 1981, fair market value as on April 1, 1981 can be adopted for applying the cost inflation index instead of the cost. *
Income tax is payable @20 per cent on capital gain arising on the sale of an agricultural land which has been held for a period of more than three years plus education cess of 3 per cent thereon. I presume that being ancestral agricultural land it must have been held for more than three years. *
Capital gain arising on the sale of a long-term capital asset (agricultural land which has been held for more than three years) can be utilised for purchasing tax-saving bonds within six months of the date of sale of the agricultural land. Such bonds can be bought for a sum of ~50 lakh in a financial year. Such bonds have a lock in period of three years and carry interest @6 per cent p.a. Another avenue available for saving tax in such a case would be to utilise the amount of net consideration received or accruing on the sale of agricultural land for purchase or construction of a residential house. The net consideration for this purpose means full value of consideration received or accruing as a result of the sale of agricultural land as reduced by the expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with such sale. The aforesaid benefit can be availed in case the residential house is purchased within one year before or two years after the date of sale of the agricultural land or a residential house is constructed within three years after the date of sale of the agricultural land. You also have an option to utilise the amount of capital gain within a period of two years after the date of sale, for purchase of any other land for being used for agricultural purposes so as to save the tax on the amount of capital gain. *
Inter-state boundary will have no relevance as to the determination of the nature of agricultural land. As explained hereinabove, the agricultural land situated within the jurisdiction of the municipality, etc; would be considered a capital asset and any profit arising on sale thereof would be taxable even if agricultural land is ancestral property. Can I sell the plot without registration deed documents? Q. I had purchased a plot from a coloniser in a PUDA approved colony in 1999. Its registration and intkaal was executed in the same year. Unfortunately, I lost the registration document. Now I have original receipts of payment made to the coloniser and photocopy of the lost registry. Jamabandi stands in my name till date. Now I want to sell the plot. My queries are:
a) Can I sell the plot without registration deed? b) If not, can I get the certified copy from the Sub-registrar? c) Should I register a police complaint? Please specify how I have to proceed now so that I may be able to sell my plot without any problem. —
Amit Kumar A.Your queries are replied hereunder: *
The buyer of the plot would like to have the original conveyance /sale deed for his record. *
You should obtain a certified copy from the Sub-registrar’s office. * A police complaint must be filed with regard to the loss of original documents and other safeguards in this regard be taken after consulting a civil lawyer.
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Shower style that rocks
Jagvir Goyal Shower cubicles are a luxury element that most home owners want to add to their homes. However, certain factors must be kept in mind while creating a shower cubicle.
Space requirement Use of walls While creating shower cubicles, two of the bathroom walls should be used as its two sides while the other two sides can be in glass. Among the glass walls, one wall contains the glass door. This wall can have the door only or a part of it can be of fixed glass in addition to the door. The shower, diverter and spout or shower panel should be provided on the bathroom wall opposite the glass door. Keep the top open The top of the shower cubicle should be kept open. The glass walls should extend up to about 2 ft below the ceiling level. Normally, no towel holder or hanger is provided in the shower cubicle and one may have to step out to the dry area after taking the shower to have the towel and dry oneself. However, mirror finish towel bars can be fixed to the glass wall of the cubicle if desired by the user. Provide a sill to the fixed glass In order to erect the glass walls, a sill should be created on the floor. The sill can be just 3 inch above the floor level. It can be made in stone or granite. The glass should be fixed over it firmly by use of glass connectors. Certain builders create a groove in the floor itself to rest the vertical glass in it. However, glass fixed over the sill is safer. Door hinge features The glass door hinges should be chosen by keeping in view the weight of the door to be supported by them. Each hinge produced by reputed companies carries a maximum weight tag. The door weight should, therefore, be worked out and hinges should be chosen accordingly. The hinges should be self-closing double-acting type that should auto close the door when left open at 30 degrees or lesser. Hinges should have undergone testing at company premises. These should also have hold-open feature. Normally, two hinges per door are sufficient. Glass door hinges One of the most important features of shower cubicles is to use a safe and sturdy door hinge system. Many instances have been noted where the glass doors of shower cubicles have come off and fallen over the shower users. The glass used in the cubicle is quite heavy. Its coming off and striking the users can cause serious injuries. The glass hinges should, therefore, be from a highly reputed manufacturer. Their installation at site should be got done from the expert fitters of the manufacturing company itself. Stylish door handles The glass door needs to be provided on the outside as well as inside with special handles available for glass doors. H handles, D handles or S handles are available in the market. The handles should be in AISI 304 or 316 grade stainless steel and chrome plated. Provision of a set of one horizontal handle and one vertical handle is prevalent these days. The handles can be in glass also. Right connectors The glass connectors used to fix the glass to the bottom sill and bathroom walls should be in brass or stainless steel and of good quality. Glass connectors suitable for glass having thickness of 6mm, 8mm, 10mm and 12 mm are available and should be chosen as per thickness of glass. These can be chrome plated or nickel bushed. Gaskets should be available with them. Top rods At the top open end of glass walls, rods with their brackets fixed to the wall are provided. On these rods, vertical glass holders are fixed to hold the other end of glass. Just one holder per rod is sufficient. However, one must check their secure grip on the glass walls. For large cubicles, more than one holder should be provided and the spacing of these vertical holders can be 3 ft. At the free ends of the rods, stylish end pieces are provided Glass quality There can’t be any compromise on the quality of glass used in a glass cubicle. Only toughened or tempered glass, structurally tested should be used for this purpose. The minimum thickness of glass should be 8 mm. Required measurements of glass panels should be taken at site before sending these to a genuine toughening unit. Single panes should be used for each wall. It should be specifically checked that glass panels cut to required size are truly in right angles. Toughened glass received back from the factory should be checked carefully against any damage. Stamp of the toughening unit on each glass panel should also be checked. Beading between wall and glass It is preferable to provide a beading between the wall and glass panels as it seals the gap and makes the shower enclosure watertight. The gap is normally filled with silicone instead of providing the beading. The silicone often cracks after 8-10 months of use and leaves the gap between the wall and glass panel. Door side edge seal The edge of the door of the shower cubicle should be provided with special seal that can be simply pushed on to the edge of the door. Similarly, free edge of glass wall against which the door closes should also be provided with such seal. This arrangement will avoid any friction or impact between two glass pieces. Toughened glass may crumble into small blunt pieces on suffering an impact. Edge seal provision, therefore, should not be ignored. It will also make the door closing soundless. Advantages Glass cubicles keep the rest of the area in bathroom dry if the door of the shower cubicle is kept closed. Also, the mirrors fixed above the washbasins don’t get fogged during winters when hot water is used for bathing. Disadvantages One major disadvantage of shower cubicles is that these need constant maintenance. The glass walls need to be cleaned of all the soap or plain water every day. Otherwise after some time these become impossible to clean as impurities in water get deposited on the glass walls. A constant watch has to be kept on the glass door hinges and connectors as the door to the shower cubicle can’t be allowed to get loose at any time.
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Ritu Singal
With 23 years of experience in the real estate sector and a host of awards in her kitty, Ananta Singh Raghuvanshi is undoubtedly among the ‘stars’ of the industry. Real estate sales and marketing was her first assignment, after topping the PG programme in Marketing Advertising & PR from YMCA, New Delhi. Ananta has been instrumental in the Sales, Marketing, Advertising, PR, Dealer Relations and new product launches of Gurgaon’s landmark residential, retail and commercial projects from 1991 to 2002. Presently she is focusing on expanding DLF’s presence PAN India through townships in the cities of Delhi, Lucknow, New Chandigarh, Panchkula, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Goa, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Indore, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Shimla and Kasauli. Her last assignment was as the Chief Executive-Retail (India) & Corporate Residential Sales, Emaar MGF Land Ltd. Emaar has established operations in 16 countries. The creators of the World's tallest building-"Burj Khalifa" and the World's Largest mall-"Dubai Mall", Emaar MGF Sales Portfolio included the Common Wealth Games Village at Delhi, Emerald Hills and Palm Square at Gurgaon, and Views at Mohali.
Nazia Izuddin
For Navneet the shift to real estate was not a change of track as she was an advertising professional who had handled a number of real estate clients and the fact that her husband Rahul Gaur had a realty company made the transition a smooth one for her. But belonging to the elite “wives club” is not what sets her apart as she has painstakingly carved a niche for herself and has been instrumental in making her group stand out in a crowd of realty companies. She has been the brain behind the launch of Brys Buzz, an ultra luxury residential apartment in Noida which is North India’s tallest tower today. “It was a courageous decision for many reasons: luxury projects were seen to be making a success in Gurgaon only and Noida was seen as a market for affordable housing only. Added to it, we launched the project when the slowdown and macro-economic indicators were not encouraging to take this kind of a risk”, she says.
As an alumni of executive course on Investment Banking & Capital Acquisitions from Harvard Business School, Boston, Aishwarya Bansal was not new to being in a male-dominated field and stepping into the shoes of a Director of M3M was a natural progression for her as it is her family’s group. “I have learnt a lot over the years, there are lots of challenges to come but my passion and experience at hand will help me tackle all the challenges and push for the growth of the sector,”she says.
Anjana Bali, a law graduate from Delhi University, has had her share of rough patches as a professional in realty companies. However, with hard work and an resilient attitude she has been able to overcome the challenges thatcame her way in the past decade. She has worked as an in -house counsel for DLF Ltd., the biggest real estate company in India and iscurrently working with Emaar MGF Land Ltd. She considers the respect and confidence that she has earned in her 10-year-long career from her clients, my colleagues and employers as her biggest achievement. “In an organisation full of male colleagues, if today, nobody is prejudiced because of my gender, it is an achievement for me. I have often been called the real ‘man’ amongst the other men in my professional and personal life. Being at the top position in a legal Department of a real estate major and still keeping my honesty, integrity and sanity intact is no mean task”. 
The stamp duty in Haryana for a men is 7 per cent whereas for women it is 5 per cent. If the property is bought jointly in name of a male and female with 50 per cent share of each, the stamp duty is calculated at 6 per cent of the property transaction value
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Does agricultural land come under the capital gain norms?
In order to have a shower cubicle in a bathroom, the size of the bathroom should be fairly large to allow free movement of the user. Minimum size of bathroom should be 6 ft x 7 ft though architects, not wanting to disappoint home owners create shower cubicles in smaller bathrooms also. Minimum size of the shower cubicle should be 3 ft X 3.5 ft. Larger cubicles make showering a pleasant experience.