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Road to Prosperity
THERE is a streak of good news from the recession-hit Punjab real estate sector. Even as the global meltdown continues, prices are stable in a stretch of land on two sides of the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road. Better still, the area along eastern and western sides of the road, leading to the National Capital through Haryana, has witnessed the launch of several projects promising a further hike in prices. Rapid four-laning of a 40-km stretch of the Ludhiana-Malerkotla-Sangrur road and approval of master plan for the industrial mega city are being seen as major factors behind the unexpected stability and hike in prices of immovable property in this Malwa region. There are also reports of prospective buyers approaching property dealers for buying large chunks of land, fast becoming unavailable along the road upto Kup Da Tota. Even frustrated colonisers have reported conversion of pending inquiries into deals. Manav Karir of Sanjivani Constructions attributes the turnaround to four-laning of the road and laying of foundation stone of Malerkotla-Sangrur rung recently by the chief minister. “Prices of land along the highway have almost doubled. Even lands a little distance from the road to the east and west have appreciated substantially,” he says. Adds contractor Avtar Singh Walia. “As work on four-laning will be complete by October 2010, owners of certain industrial houses have started searching for land for opening public schools and colleges,” he says, adding that more entrepreneurs were coming forward to establish new units in the area. Proximity to a wide road and the industrial hub of Ludhiana are being considered as main factors for the premium price of prime lands. Approval of the master city plan for Ludhiana seems to have brought a boom for land owners of Dehlon, Sayan and surrounding villages, as the proposed ring road will pass through this area. Owners of land situated on both sides of LM Road will also harness extra income, as this is only area where rates increased almost equally in all directions. According to recent transactions, an acre can be had for Rs 3 to 3.5 crore. It was available for Rs 1.5 crore last year. The rates have almost doubled to touch an all-time high of Rs 2 crore an acre near Dehlon. Near Kup Kalan village -- where the government has announced a Rs 10-crore memorial in the memory of 35,000 Bada Ghallughara Sikh martyrs -- land owners are demanding Rs 1.25 crore for an acre. For obvious reasons, prices are lower away from the road. One acre can be bought for Rs 1 crore near Jarkhar village, Rs 60-70 lakh near Jandali Kalan, Chhanna and Momnabad and Rs 40-50 lakh around villages of Nathumajra, Sohian, Kup Khurad and Jogimajra. Large-scale acquisition of land for road-widening, followed by purchases made by industrial houses, colonisers and other entrepreneurs have resulted in a situation where farmers are finding it difficult to hire land for agriculture. Rent -- known as ‘chakota’ in the local dialect -- has increased up to 40 per cent in some villages. For farmers like Raghbir Singh of Umarpura village, who still live off agriculture, the hike is too much to digest. “We used to get an acre for seasonal use for Rs 25,000 one year back. Now, land-owners are asking for Rs 35,000 per year,” he says.
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Cold Comfort THE days are cool, the nights chilly. No wonder, you try shutting the cold out by keeping the doors and windows closed, tightly. But still there's this sneaking draft. It's blowing away the warmth you generate sitting in family gatherings. This niggling current of cool air is finding its way through the holes and crevices in the old windows and creaky doors. You know it. But, there's hardly anything you have so far done about it. Cold current through my windows RUBBING your hands vigorously, you realise the house is just not cold proof. As you end up tasting draught, instead of the piping hot sweet corn soup that's turned cold and stale; you wish grandpa had taken some tips from experts while translating his dreamhouse into ground reality. Well guys, it's there and the heat you spawn cursing the architect won't keep you warm. And don't you think of pulling down the structure for complete brick-by-brick renovation just because the cold puff of air is leaving you fretting and fuming. Instead, just go that extra mile for winterising your home. Now don't let the wind of confusion blow you off your feet. It's easy, really. "To begin with, identity the trouble areas. If you feel cold air coming in around the windows, it only means the warm air is escaping from there. But before you embark on the process of cold proofing the house, remember in a typical house 20 per cent of all heat loss is through ventilation and draughts. If you think it is more, give the windows a round of removable calk on the inside seams," says Chandigarh-based interior decorator Mehek Dutta. "This is not all. Also, reapply the exterior calking on all windows and doors". If you are wondering where you can get the stuff from, don't scratch your head with perplexed fingers. "All you have to do is to simply drive to the arcade and buy the stuff from any paint shop. It's available in hardware stores, too, and is not very expensive. Anywhere between 50 and 100 bucks will do the job for you, comfortably."
My house has doors open to cold OKAY, you have screened the cold out by plugging in the gaps and holes. Now remember to check the bottom and the inside of doors. "They too can be a source of draft in your house," insists Ludhiana-based inside-outside authority Kamani Behl. "You can effortlessly solve the problem by getting new sweeps. Again, your friendly neighbourhood hardware store will offer you the easy-on-the-pocket solution across the counter."
I want a new-look solution ANOTHER low-tech and comparatively inexpensive solution is the purchase of thick, heavy, curtains. You can open them up in the morning to let the light and heat in, and close them at night to prevent heat loss. Right folks, you give your living room a new look, and save on the inside warmth, too, without really burning a hole in your pocket by going in for other solutions. If you happen to live where the jutting out peaks challenge the authority of the deep blue skies in the hills, there are cold comfort solutions for you too. Read on:
My windows need cleaning EVEN in plains, cities like Amritsar often register sub-zero temperatures. And, in the hills, the problem is almost perpetual during winter. Want to clean the windows when it is freezing outside? Just pick up an automobile windshield washing fluid. Add a capful to half a bucket of water, slip on rubber gloves and wash the windows with a sponge or rag. The no-freeze solution can also be put to use for cleaning outdoor metal, plastic, and other surfaces in cold weather.
Snow on my shovel ALRIGHT, you have enjoyed the first snow of the season at your vacation house in the higher reaches of Himalayas and now are finding it hard to remove the snow from the shovel while cleaning the driveway as it sticks. Don't despair -- you can prevent wet snow from gumming itself to a shovel. Spray the shovel with a household lubricant. Just in case leaky roof is a problem and the rain or trickling ice water is ruining your interiors, apply white cement on the cracks in the cemented surface. There are special waterproofing solutions available in the market also, but for some you may need to call in the experts. That's it folks, turn the heat on winters and enjoy the weather!
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GREEN HOUSE Step One of controlling insects is all about identifying them & understanding their behaviour. SATISH NARULA offers some help
YOU can’t imagine how much a plant goes through for your needs and aesthetics. They survive assaults by insects and disease, besides moody weather. To help plants tide over the crisis on at least one front – insects -- let us understand some common enemies. When we think about our existence, we feel proud we came to this planet about a million years ago. But ‘they’ were there, 300 to 400 million years ago – insects. Even today, they reign over the animal kingdom, which includes you and me. One of the main reasons for their sustained survival is absence of competition between their different stages of development. The food habit and habitat of a larva is different from its adult, preventing food confrontation and competitive foraging. In certain cases, even their seasons of existence differ. Do not be surprised if I say that another good reason of their success is their excellent cooperation, communication ability, brotherhood, complementary social co-existence and, above all, the capability of some of the species to have their own dairy and agriculture. You may have seen some ant species carrying uniformly cut leaf segments to their abode to develop a particular edible fungus in an episode on Discovery Channel. You will find examples of organised dairying in ants, aphids and mealy bugs, which also reveals their great sense of cooperation and co-existence. You may at times wonder why buds fail to bloom. Close scrutiny will reveal the answer (see accompanying picture) -- the unopened bud is shriveled by the attack of aphids (yellow-brown mass) and mealy bugs (white bugs near the base) that suck the sap and devitalise it, causing premature shedding. But what is the ant doing here? Does it also damage buds? Not directly. It helps protect the aphids and bugs, its ‘dairy cattle’. Aphids drink sap from plant tissues by inserting their mouth and the siphoning effect is tremendous — so much that they have to ooze out the excess in the form of ‘honey dew’, picked up by ants. Ants also enhance the process by rubbing their antennae on the back of the aphids and bugs forcing them to secret juice. They help transport aphids. However, by removing the sweet ‘honey dew’, they in a way help, too, as the sap invites black mould that covers leaves impairing the vital process of photosynthesis. Next time you see ants — small or big — going up and down plants, be alarmed, check for bugs or aphids. Interestingly, aphids attack most plant species -- you will find them on wheat, citrus, pulses, potato, oil seeds, roses and nowadays on blooming chrysanthemums. Closely inspect the bloom and you will invariably find black tiny insects all over. Different insect species have different colours ranging from lemon, yellow, green, brown or black. Their attack is mostly confined to winter. At times, they defy the very life history of an insect, which in most groups consists of egg, larva, pupa and adult stage. In desperation or for a quick increase in its population, they may skip the stage of eggs to deliver young ones straightaway! These tiny devils not only devitalise the plant, but also are also responsible for spreading some deadly plant virus diseases. The saving grace, however, is another insect — the ladybird beetle —that devours the devils. (This column appears fortnightly)
The writer is a senior horticulturist and can be contacted at
satishnarula@yahoo.co.in
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Tax tips
Cost of asset
— Amar Gupta A.
In the following cases cost to the previous owner is deemed to be the cost of acquisition to the
assessee:
n
acquisition of property on any distribution of assets on the total or partial partition of a Hindu undivided family; — succession, inheritance or devolution, or — on any distribution of assets on the dissolution of a firm, body of individuals or other association of person (where such dissolution had taken place at any time before April 1987), or — on any distribution of assets on the liquidation of a company — under a transfer to a revocable or an irrevocable trust, or — on any transfer, by a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary company from its holding company, or — on any transfer, by an Indian holding company from its wholly-owned subsidiary company, or on any transfer, in a scheme of amalgamation, by the amalgamated company from the amalgamating company satisfying conditions of section 47(vi)/(via)/(viaa); or n
acquisition of property, by a Hindu undivided family where one of its members has converted his self-acquired property into joint family property after December 31, 1969.
It’s a long-term gain
Q. I sold a residential house and capital gain arising thereon was deposited under capital gains scheme account with the State Bank of India with the intention of purchasing a new residential house within the specified period. However, the same could not be purchased. What would be the position of the amount deposited under capital gains scheme account? — Nikhil Verma A.
If the amount deposited under capital gains scheme is not utilised fully for purchase or construction of new residential property within the stipulated period, then the amount not so utilised shall be treated as long-term capital gain of the previous year in which the period of three years from the date of transfer of original asset expires. The said amount would be taxable in the previous year in which the period of three years expires. In such a case, the assessee can withdraw the unutilised amount at any time after the expiry of three years from the date of the transfer of the original asset in accordance with the Capital Gains Accounts Scheme 1988.
Time frame crucial
Q. I refer to your advice in The Tribune dated November 15 regarding acquiring more than one house out of the proceeds of one residential house. I would seek certain clarifications in this regard: Could more than one also mean three or four? Does it apply to utilisation of proceeds of a residential plot also? Can someone utilise the proceeds of a residential plot on the acquisition of residential plot also or it has to on a residential house only? — Hardeep Kumar A.
The answer to your queries is as under: n
Exemption from leviability of income-tax on capital gains is not available under section 54F of the Income-tax Act 1961 (the Act) in case the assessee owns more than one residential house other than the newly acquired one on the date of the transfer of the original asset. n
Exemption from taxability of capital gains is not available in case the amount realised on transfer of a plot of land is utilized for the acquisition of another residential plot. The exemption is available only if net consideration realised on transfer of plot is utilised for acquisition or construction of residential house within specified period.
Installments don’t count
Q. I have bought a plot from Taneja Develop-ers & Enter-prises on installments. I have paid 30 per cent of plot cost. For the remaining amount, I intend to take loan from a bank. Kindly advise whether I am entitled to income tax rebate on the interest and the installment paid tow-ards the cost. If so, for how much amount? — Dr Devender Singh A.
The interest paid on loan obtained for making payment towards the cost of plot is not deductible from total income under any provisions of the Act. The amount of interest so paid can, however, be considered as part of the cost of the plot of land.
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Q. Is there any provision in the Income Tax Act whereby cost of the asset is to be taken as the cost to the previous owner where the capital asset is acquired by inheritance or any other mode of acquisition? If so, please let me know what are the situations in which cost to the previous owner would be taken into account for the purposes of computing the capital gains.