It facilitates the convergence of suppliers and buyers within a design-oriented ambiance, offering a significant avenue for conducting business. The Exhibition took place at the Jio Convention Centre, BKC, Mumbai from 31^st May to 2^nd June 2024.

Canadian Woods’ stall at the recently concluded fair spanned an impressive stall space, showcasing a setup of a luxury home interior room. The Canadian Wood booth featured a diverse range of timber applications, displaying the versatility and sustainability of responsibly sourced wood in various settings.

It presented a meticulously designed model of a high-end luxury home interior room with an outdoor balcony. The layout was crafted in collaboration with renowned local wood manufacturers from in and around Maharashtra region, such as Ebote Timber Home from Pune, Briton Furniture from Ahmedabad, The Pierro from Ahmedabad, Swaraj Enterprises from Baramati, Naman Instore from Mumbai, Wiseart Design Studio from Mumbai, Advent International from Mumbai and few products of FJEG boards was made by Colonial Lumbers, Kannur to demonstrate the quality and craftsmanship of their furniture achievable with Canadian Wood species.

The high-end luxury home interior room model showcased the seamless integration of Canadian timber in various applications, including bedroom and living room furniture, doors and doorframes, windows, paneling, timber screens, sliding windows, bar units, Wooden Swing (Jhula) and outdoor garden furniture.

Mr. Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director of Canadian Wood, said, “As we participate in Index Plus 2024, Canadian Wood reaffirms its commitment to sustainability and innovation in the wood and furniture industry. Our presence at this prestigious exhibition underscores our dedication to promoting responsibly sourced wood and showcasing the limitless design possibilities of our premium wood species. We believe in driving positive change and setting new standards for environmental responsibility, and we are proud to contribute to the future of sustainable practices.”

Canadian Wood also participated in a conference as a panelist, a parallel event at the three-day trade fair, which included a panel discussion on the topic of ‘EcoCraft: Creating Sustainable Furniture’.  One of the panel speakers at the discussion also featured Dr Jimmy Thomas, Assistant Director, Technical Services of Canadian Wood.

He contributed valuable insights and perspectives, emphasizing Canadian Woods’ commitment to sustainable practices in the timber industry. He highlighted that for the past 40 years, Canada has been recognized as a leading source country for implementing top sustainability practices.

In Canada, policies are not only well-implemented but also ensure that all resources are certified and adhere to sustainability practices from start to finish. The materials are sourced responsibly, with 55% of the wood used in the country being softwood, known for its sustainability and the emphasis is placed on promoting Canadian wood and the overarching concept of sustainability.

The focus is on value and the promotion of overall sustainability, utilizing wood from natural forests. This wood is highly matured, with a minimum age of 120 years, ensuring its stability. Additionally, a variety of wood species are available, suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications. He concluded the panel mentioning that this approach underscores Canada’s commitment to responsible resource management and environmental stewardship.

Canadian Wood was at the centre of all activities at the exhibition, which allowed them to engage with industry professionals, showcase their innovative timber solutions, and contribute to the discourse on sustainable timber construction at INDEXPLUs 2024.

FII largely promotes five wood species in India that are sourced from the sustainably managed forests of B.C., Canada. These five species, namely Douglas, Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, Yellow Cedar, and Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF), are recommended for different applications. They are available in 23 cities across India through a strong network of 40+ stockists.

About Forestry Innovation Consulting India Pvt Ltd (Canadian Wood)

FII India is a crown corporation of the government of British Columbia (B.C.), the western most province of Canada. Its mandate is to promote wood products from B.C. Canada in the offshore markets and to position it as a global supplier of quality, environmentally responsible wood products from sustainably managed forests by creating awareness, spreading education through information and technical support on the wide variety of timber products available from B.C. Canada. Its brand/logo Canadian Wood was established in 2013 to reach out to the ease of understanding of its activities by its target audience globally.

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By – Mr Gaurav Mavi,
Co-founder,
BOP Group

A trend that is gaining popularity in the evolving real estate market is Smart Homes. As a real estate consultant with years of experience, I have seen that there is a rise of homes with modern technology that suits our daily life. Lighting of the house activated by voice and security systems which are automated are examples of resources that are now becoming necessities for nowadays home owners, rather than wishful futuristic technologies. Let us see why smart homes are more than just a fancy quirk and how they will change how we live in the future.

Benefits of a smart home:

Control at your command: Smart homes give the ultimate convenience of controlling household appliances, and even electrical systems from your smartphone or tablet, wherever you are. This can eliminate the fear of forgetting to turn something off and saving a tonne of time.

Energy Efficiency on Autopilot: Smart homes can help you become more environmentally conscious and potentially lower your electricity bills, making it cost-efficient in nature.

Enhanced Security and Peace of Mind: Security is a major advantage of smart homes. Smart features like remote monitoring which allow you to view live camera feeds of your home from anywhere and automated alerts which can notify you of unusual activity. Smart locks can be controlled remotely, so you can let someone in even if you’re not home.

Smart Homes in India: Boon or Buzzword?

India’s real estate sphere is experiencing a surge of demand of smart homes and the numbers are expected to increase by the year 2025. A reflection of this rising wave speaks volume on two fronts — affordability and accessibility. Security is an essential factor in driving the demand for smart homes, with the features of remote monitoring and automated alerts fuelling the curiosity in security conscious societies.

However, some practical considerations exist. The setup of a smart home system demands investment in compatible devices plus new systems — an initial expensive outlay. Moreover, smart homes have an insatiable appetite for consistent internet supply since functionality can be easily hampered by irregular speeds or outages; not forgetting that smart device operation can be curtailed by frequent power cuts (a stark reality in some parts of India). In short: Demand grows as cost blooms amidst these technological vulnerabilities imposed by geographic contexts.

Smart homes in India are now becoming more practical. However, affordability, internet reliability, and user-friendliness are still aspects that need improvement for widespread adoption. As technology matures and the market expands, smart homes are likely to become a more practical option for many Indian households.

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The new age home buyers are tech-savvy, appreciate fine living, and are high-income individuals who prefer a luxurious blend of extravagant house designs with modern amenities. To cater to their altering requirements aligned with the latest home interior trends, modern home buyers always look out for homes, designed with thoughtful and practical features, providing them with all the facilities they need. Considering the customer’s evolving preferences in making homes more personalized, real estate developers constantly endeavor to include unique features to fulfill customers’ needs, wherein the Modular Kitchen feature is gaining utmost popularity.

The real estate industry has made modular kitchens a standard inclusion due to the growing popularity of these types of kitchens among today’s younger generation. Today, a housing property is designed with pre-installed modular kitchens, high-tech amenities, and contemporary interior design. Let’s take a closer look at some of the factors responsible for the growing demand for modular kitchens in the real estate sector. 

Ideal for all properties:

Modular kitchens are suitable for all kinds of properties, no matter the size of the apartments, whether they are small and compact apartments or luxurious duplex apartments. They are designed and installed according to the size and shape of the property and customers’ needs. Hence, they are ideal for all types of properties.

Hassle-Free Cooking Experience:

One of the most hectic tasks involving household chores includes meal planning, preparation, and storage. Kitchen work can become extremely overwhelming with a lack of planning and organization. The customized approach involved in setting up a modular kitchen helps provide a hassle-free cooking experience as the kitchens are designed keeping in mind the frequency of kitchen use, food cooking preferences, and family size. 

High Durability:

Modular kitchens are manufactured using high-quality materials including waterproof and boiling waterproof features that essentially contribute to enhancing their durability. These kitchens are also prepared to withstand the regular wear and tear of kitchen tasks, hence, this can be considered a great investment in the property.

Built-in appliances provide a stylish touch:

Modular kitchens provide an option to arrange a dedicated and customized space to install built-in equipment which also enhances the overall aesthetic of the kitchen. Today, a kitchen design trend of providing hidden cabinets is catching up wherein bulky structures can have their dedicated hidden space in the kitchen such as water purifiers, microwaves, food processors,s, etc. Such trends not only boost creativity and innovation in the kitchen space but also significantly contributes to enhancing kitchen appearance.

Space Organization:

Modular kitchens are specifically designed to provide better and more efficient storage. These kitchens provide a variety of design ideas to organize the kitchen space and provide sufficient space to arrange the necessities without making the room seem crowded. Today, kitchen corner space utilization designs are becoming popular amongst customers as they help make optimum utilization of the kitchen area. 

Smart storage concepts, personalized space design, and space management ideas are some of the key highlights of a modern modular kitchen, due to which there is a growing demand for modular kitchen concepts amongst customers.  Also, the growing number of partnerships between real estate developers and modular kitchen manufacturers is one factor that is expected to push the demand for modular kitchens in the coming years.

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To maintain our mental state, it is very important to maintain peace or to keep ourselves busy in some work, so that our attention is kept and our thinking is also positive. For this, we should first try to distance ourselves from any kind of negative thinking. We should also make our home environment so that our thinking is positive and we get positive energy.

Holy Basil
By planting a basil plant at home, happiness and peace are maintained. Also, this plant is also a source of positive energy.

Oregano
Nowadays, oregano is used in most of the fastfoods eaten. Not only for food, people also use it to bring positive energy in their home. You can also give it to someone as a gift.

Jasmine
People like its fragrance very much. In many countries of the world, the plant of Jasmine is considered very sacred and revered. Jasmine flowers are believed to increase self-confidence, increase love and friendship among themselves, and strengthen relationships.

Rosemary
Planting a rosemary plant at home makes one feel pure. Apart from this, you will reduce anger, depression will not come in you nor will you feel lonely. Rosemary plant creates peace in your inner being.

Lily
Lilies are also considered sacred. This flower is considered a symbol of happiness. It brings happiness in the home and removes all negative things from the house.

Aloevera
Aloevera is a plant that is used in medicines and beauty products. This plant does not require much care. Also, this plant also removes the negative energy of your house.

Money Plant
This plant produces positive energy in the house

Rose
The rose flower is a symbol of peace, love and positive atmosphere. This holy flower removes negative energy from your surroundings.

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A journey from an Entrepreneur to an Artrepreneur !! Entrepreneurship is a marathon and when one starts thinking entrepreneurial, the marathon gets even better. From professionals to Entrepreneurs and now Artpreneurs, here is an inspiring story of a few young minds from Mumbai, India.

Background

‘ASA’ is an established Architecture and Interior Design Studio formed by Principal Architects’, Rajnikant, Parag, Rachana and Ankit Savla. We develop creative and innovative design solutions by understanding people and their lifestyle. It helps us develop empathy with the target user and has evolved as a base for our Design Thinking process. This Design Thinking process helps us systematically extract and apply human-centric techniques to solve problems in a creative and innovative way – in our designs, in our business and in our lives. We innovate and explore new building technologies and have constantly focused on delivering the projects par excellence. We have designed and executed Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Healthcare projects locally as well as globally. You can further browse our website www.asastudio.in

Design Thinking Expanded

Design Thinking provides a solution-based approach to solving problems by challenging assumptions and creating ideas for innovative solutions. The process involves five stages of Empathise, Define (the problem), Ideate, Prototype and Test. It is a way of thinking and working as well as a collection of hands-on methods. Design Thinking helps us in tackling problems that are unknown by creating many ideas through brainstorming sessions.

The Pandemic has challenged and changed the way we carry out our lives with work, with home and most importantly with work from home defining the New Normal. One of the immediate challenges was with our existing projects that had to be redesigned based on the New Normal. Exploring design solutions to solve problems in creative and innovative ways for office considering social distancing as well as for residential spaces considering work from home was the approach for redesigning. Even when the solutions provided may seem or sound simple, the implementation called for a number of iterative processes of thinking and designing. The idea of space got redefined and was now more sensitive to human ideology. Prior to the pandemic, spaces were designed considering social bonding, but suddenly the new approach for designing was to consider social distancing for the betterment of the community. We were in the midst of a chaos and were trying to ease the way out. This furthermore evolved a deep interest in developing an understanding of the people for whom we are providing our services. It sparked an idea to develop and launch a product that can be useful to the society.

The sparks fired up the ignition and a series of brain storming sessions were followed by adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing the product. This innovative process of evolution of an idea which would lead to the demand in the new emerging market and create a sustainable community has made us launch our new venture ‘Peek-a-boo Art Store’, by Parag and Rachana Savla.

‘Stay Safe’ within as well as protect the ‘Mother Earth’ were our initial thoughts that led us to explore this idea of ‘Reusable’ Designer Masks. Wearing a mask had to create a sensorial value of positivity and happiness. As wearing a mask is a new normal in these times of a Pandemic, we thought of giving a unique touch to it. The person’s identity somehow gets lost in the crowd, where all are wearing similar masks. The thought of adding some fun element and an artistic touch to this ordinary thing made us create, unique graphical designs as well added some taglines to make a statement.

Further exploring designs for the masks, led us to incorporate multiple colours, art, cultures and creative tags which keeps the spirit up and creates a sense of happiness in our daily lives. In addition to this, we also opened up an opportunity for people to customize their own masks, with respect to names, logos for corporate clients and their own artwork as well. Eventually there was a good response and demand for our designer masks. Especially Kids, they are so excited to wear a mask with their name on it. Taking our ideas further, we collaborated with few Artist. Look forward to some more innovative product introductions through the collaborations.

Besides the creative and designer approach, we used our Design Thinking process to provide for a functionally reusable and comfortable mask as well. As wearing a mask all day can bring strain to the ears, we launched our new product range of Headband with a button. For all the frontline workers, Health care community and all those who have to wear a mask all day can now do so by hooking in to the head band.

Road Ahead

In this process of constantly exploring new ideas and innovating creative design solutions, the team is looking forward to launch new home decor and daily use range of designer products, by positively strengthening collaborations with Artists and promote Art Work and Handcrafted products.

Do try their exclusive range of designer masks and keep looking for the upcoming products. You can find them on Instagram as @peekaboo_artstore and the Facebook handle @Peekaboo Art Store.

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With developers leaving projects unfinished and a lot of people not getting the possession of their house on time, Indians nowadays have been highly careful when it comes to buying a home. Because of Amrapali and other cases in the past, people have lost confidence in developers and are reluctant to bring their money into under-construction ventures as they are afraid of not having their house on time.

Housing is a basic necessity, but, when planning on investing in real estate, citizens are still unsure whether to purchase a ready-to-move-in house or buy a property under construction.

Let us look into the advantages and disadvantages of buying a ready-to-move-house in 2020.

Advantages:

If you are an NRI investor looking to purchase a home to receive rental income, purchasing a finished house lets you quickly start renting the property and receive returns without delay. Another advantage of a ready-to-move-in house is that homeowners do not pay GST.

Note that 5% GST applies to under-construction properties for new developments begun after April 1, 2019, charged over and above the valuation of the property. This means you’ll have to pay Rs 3 lakh as GST if you’re purchasing an under-construction property priced to claim Rs 60 lakh. This GST will not apply to a ready-to-move house, reducing the total cost.

Disadvantages:

If you invest in a ready-to-move property, the end customers barely have any scope for modification. The investor is pressured for options because inside the house there are very little chances of modifying something. It may include living spaces, appliances, or some other configurations inside the house.

It’s no mystery that ready-to-move houses or those near to completion are more costly relative to under-construction projects. A ready-to-move-in house may sometimes cost up to Rs 5 to Rs 7 lakh more.

Conclusion:

Although the expense of a ready-to-move house is certainly higher, it is really easy to cover the gap. Most developers still today give discounts on a ready-to-move property such as waiving stamp duty and registration and freebies such as modular kitchens, basic fittings and allocated parking space etc. Apart from this, if you wisely pick a well-connected spot, you can anticipate a decent rental income that will justify the extra money you’re paying for a ready-to-move house. 

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today introduced a new discretionary personal income tax regime and unveiled a multibillion-dollar farm, infra and healthcare package to boost the country’s economy. Emphasizing capacity building and empowering oppressed sections of the society while preserving the creators of wealth, Sitharaman said this budget would improve people’s income and purchasing power. Finance minister also increased insurance coverage from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for bank depositors. 

Here are the significant points from Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget Speech:

Updated Tax Slabs:

1) New optional tax slabs: New income tax slabs will be available for those who forgo exemptions.

2) To simplify the tax system and lower tax rates, around 70 of more than 100 income tax deductions and exemptions have been removed.

3) Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) abolished: Companies will not be required to pay DDT; dividend to be taxed only at the hands of recipients, at applicable rates.

4) Cash reward system envisaged incentivising customers to seek invoice.

5) 15% concessional tax rate for new power generation companies.

6) Tax on cooperative societies reduced to 22% without exemptions.

7)100% tax concession to sovereign wealth funds on investment in infrastructure projects.

8) Tax on Cooperative societies to be reduced to 22 per cent plus surcharge and cess, as against 30 per cent at present.

9)To end tax harassment, new taxpayer charter to be instituted. Tax harassment will not be tolerated, says FM.

10) Proposes to amend the Companies Act to bring criminal liability in certain areas.

11) To amend I-T Act to allow faceless appeals.

12) To launch new direct tax dispute settlement scheme — Vivaad se Vishwaas scheme.

13) Interest and penalty will be waived for those who wish to pay the disputed amount till March 31.

14) Government to look at ensuring that contracts are honoured.

15) Proposes new National Policy on Official Statistics to improve data collection and dissemination with the help of technology.

Rules of origin requirements in Customs Act to be reviewed, to ensure FTAs are aligned with the conscious direction of our policy: FM

16) Aadhaar-based verification of taxpayers is being introduced to weed out dummy or non-existent units; instant online allotment of PAN on the basis of Aadhaar.

17) Registration of charity institutions to be made completely electronic, donations made to be pre-filled in IT return form to claim exemptions for donations easily.

Affordable Housing:

Tax holiday for affordable housing extended by 1 year. Additional deduction up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs for interest paid on loans taken for an affordable house extended till 31st March, 2021.

Investment:

1) Govt plans to sell part of its holding in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) by way of Initial Public Offering.

2) Certain specified categories of government securities will be open fully for NRIs, apart from being open to domestic investors.

3) FPI limit in corporate bonds raised to 15% from 9%.

4) Government doubles divestment target for the next fiscal at Rs 2.1 lakh crore.

5) Expand Exchange Traded Fund by floating a Debt ETF, consisting primarily of govt. securities.

Indirect Tax:

1) Customs duty raised on footwear to 35% from 25% and on furniture goods to 25% from 20%.

2) Excise duty proposed to be raised on Cigarettes and other tobacco products, no change made in the duty rates of bidis.

3) Basic customs duty on imports of news print and light-weight coated paper reduced from 10% to 5%.

4) Customs duty rates revised on electric vehiclesand parts of mobiles.

5) 5% health cess to be imposed on the imports of medical devices, except those exempt from BCD.

6) Lower customs duty on certain inputs and raw materials like fuse, chemicals, and plastics.

7) Higher customs duty on certain goods like auto-parts, chemicals, etc. which are also being made domestically.

Startups & MSME:

1) Tax burden on employees due to tax on ESOPs to be deferred by five years or till they leave the company or when they sell, whichever is earliest.

2) New Simplified return for GST from April 2020

3) Start-ups with turnover up to Rs. 100 crore to enjoy 100% deduction for 3 consecutive assessment years out of 10 years.

4) Turnover threshold for audit of MSMEs to be increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, to those businesses which carry out less than 5% of their business in cash.

5) App-based invoice financing loans product to be launched, to obviate problem of delayed payments and cash flow mismatches for MSMEs.

6) Amendments to be made to enable NBFCs to extend invoice financing to MSMEs.

Fiscal numbers & allocations:

1) FY20 fiscal deficit revised to 3.8% from 3.3% in the current fiscal. For FY21, fiscal target seen at 3.5%.

2) Deviation of 0.5%, consistent with Section 4(3) of FRBM Act.

3) Net market borrowing for FY20 at Rs 4.99 lakh crore; For FY21 it’s pegged at Rs 5.36 lakh crore.

4) Nominal GDP growth for 2020-21 estimated at 10%.

5) Receipts for 2020-21 estimated at Rs 22.46 lakh crore. Expenditure at Rs 30.42 lakh crore.

6) Defence gets Rs 3.37 lakh crore as the defence budget

7) Rs 2.83 lakh crore to be allocated for the 16 Action Points; Rs 1.6 lakh crore allocated to agriculture and irrigation; Rs 1.23 lakh crore for Rural development and Panchayti Raj.

8) Rs 4,400 crore for clean air; Rs 53,700 crore for ST schemes; Rs 85,000 crore for SC, OBCs schemes; Rs 28,600 for women specific schemes; Rs 9,500 crore for senior citizen schemes.

9) Rs 30,757 crore rupees for Union Territory of J&K; Rs 5,958 crore rupees for Union Territory of Ladakh.

Banking:

1) To help bank depositors, government increases depositor insurance to Rs 5 lakh from current Rs 1 lakh.

2) Encourage PSBs to approach capital markets for fund raising.

3) Banking Regulation Act to be amended to strengthen Cooperative banks.

Jobs:

1) National recruitment agency: New common entrance test for non-gazetted government jobs and public sector banks.

2) Special bridge courses to be designed by the Ministries of Health, and Skill Development: To fulfill the demand for teachers, nurses, para-medical staff and care-givers abroad.

3) Urban local bodies to provide internships for young engineers for a period of up to one year.

Infrastructure:

1) 5 new Smart cities to be set up via PPP model.

2) Rs 1.7 lakh crore allocated to transportation.

3) 100 more airports to be set up by 2024 to support UDAN scheme.

4) Accelerated development of highways will be undertaken; Delhi-Mumbai expressway and two other projects to be completed by 2023. Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway to be started.

5) NHAI to monetize 12 lots of highway bundles of over 6,000 km before 2024.

6) Young engineers and management graduates will be roped in for infrastructure projects under Project Preparation Facility.

7) About Rs 22,000 crore already provided for supporting National Infrastructure Pipeline.

8) Investment Clearance Cell to set up through a portal, will provide end-to-end facilitation, support and information on land banks

9) National Logistics Policy will soon be released, creating single window e-logistics market.

Telecom:

1) Rs 6,000 crore for BharatNet programme; Fibre to Home connections under BharatNet will be provided to 1 lakh gram panchayats this year itself

2) New policy for private sector to build Data Centre Parks.

Tourism:

* 5 archaeology sites to be developed for world-class museums

1. Rakhigarhi (Haryana)

2. Hastinapur (Uttar Pradesh)

3. Shivsagar (Assam)

4. Dholavira (Gujarat)

5. Adichanallur (Tamil Nadu)

* Rs 2,500 crore for tourism promotion.

*An Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation under Ministry of Culture proposed; with the status of a deemed University.

* 4 more museums from across the country to be taken up for renovation and re-curation.

*Rs.3150 crore proposed for Ministry of Culture for 2020-21.

* Maritime museum to be set up at Lothal- the Harrapan age maritime site near Ahmedabad, by Ministry of Shipping.

Energy:

* Expansion of National Gas Grid from 16,200 km to 27,000 km along with reforms to deepen gas markets, enable ease of transactions and transparent price discovery

* Rs 22,000 crore allocated to to power and renewable energy.

* FM urges all states and UTs to replace conventional energy meters by pre-paid smart meters in 3 years, this will give consumers the freedom to choose supplier and rate as per their requirements.

* Advise to shut thermal plants if they don’t meet emission norms.

5 measures for Railways:

*Large solar power capacity to be set up alongside rail tracks, on land owned by Railways

* More Tejas-like trains for tourists.

* 150 new train to be introduced on PPP basis; Four stations will be also be redevelopment with the help of PPP.

* Rs 18,600 crore worth Bengaluru suburban transport project launched; 20% equity will be provided be the Centre.

Education:

* Rs 99,300 crore allocated for education sector, Rs 3,000 crore rupees for skill development

* External commercial borrowings and FDI to be leveraged to improve the education system.

* A medical college to be attached to a district hospital in PPP mode, viability gap funding to be set up for setting up such medical colleges.

* US-like SAT exam to be held in African and Asian countries for benchmarking foreign candidates who wish to Study In India

* Degree-level full-fledged online education programme to be offered by institutes in top 100 in National Institutional Ranking Framework

* New Education Policy to be announced soon.

* To bring in equivalence in the skill sets of the workforce and employers’ standards.

* 150 higher educational institutions to start apprenticeship embedded degree/diploma courses by March 2021.

* To launch 2 new National science scheme

* National Police University and National Forensic Science University proposed for policing science, forensic science, and cyber-forensics.

Agriculture:

Agriculture market needs to be liberalised; govt proposes to handhold farmers, says FM

Comprehensive measures for 100 water-stressed districts being proposed

* PM KUSUM scheme will be expanded to 20 lakh farmers.

Government will help 20 lakh farmers for setting up solar pumps; Farm market will to be liberalized.

Another 15 lakh farmers to be helped to solarise their grid-connected pump sets.

Scheme to enable farmers to set up solar power generation capacity on their fallow/barren lands and to sell it to the grid.

* Supporting states to focus on one product for one district so as to make way for Horticulture to gain momentum.

* Change in incentive scheme for chemical fertilisers. We will encourage balanced use of all fertilizers, a necessary step to change the incentive regime which encourages excessive use of chemical fertilizer

 * Krishi UDAN scheme for agricultural exports on international and national routes. This will also improve value realization in North East and tribal districts.

* Railways will set up Kisan Rail through PPP arrangement, for transportation of perishable goods.

* For better marketing and export, supporting states will focus on one product for one district, so that high focus is given at district level for horticulture to gain momentum

* Zero Budget farming focus of the government.

* MGNREGS to be used to develop fodder farm.

* Jaivik Kheti Portal – online national organic products market to be strengthened.

Livestock:

Milk processing capacity to be doubled to 108 tonne from 53 tonne by 2025.

Artificial insemination to be increased to 70% from the present 30%.

MNREGS to be dovetailed to develop fodder farms.

Foot and Mouth Disease, Brucellosis in cattle and Peste Des Petits ruminants (PPR) in sheep and goat to be eliminated by 2025.

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – 0.5 crore households mobilized with 58 lakh SHGs for poverty alleviation.

Village Storage Scheme:

* Will further expand on SHGs for alleviation of poverty.

* To be run by the SHGs to provide farmers a good holding capacity and reduce their logistics cost.

* Women, SHGs to regain their position as Dhaanya Lakshmi.

* NABARD to map and geo-tag agri-warehouses, cold storages, reefer van facilities, etc.

* Warehousing in line with Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) norms:

* Viability Gap Funding for setting up such efficient warehouses at the block/taluk level.

*Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) to undertake such warehouse building.

* Financing on Negotiable Warehousing Receipts (e-NWR) to be integrated with e-NAM.

*State governments who undertake implementation of model laws (issued by the Central government) to be encouraged.

Fisheries:

* Framework for development, management and conservation of marine fishery resources to be put in place.

* Fish production to be raised to 200 lakh tonnes by 2022-23

*Youth and fishery extension work to be enabled by rural youth as Sagar Mitras, forming 500 fish farmer producing organizations.

Sanitation:

* Rs 3.6 lakh crore allocated to water sanitation and pipeline project; Rs 12,300 crore for Swachh Bharat.

* Our government is committed to Open Defecation Free country, in order to sustain ODF behaviour and to ensure no one is left behind.

Healthcare:

* Rs 69,000 crore allocated to healthcare sector.

* Rs. 6400 crore (out of Rs. 69,000 crore) for PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY):

* Indradhanush immunization plan expanded to cover 12 new diseases.

* Viability gap funding window to be set up to cover hospitals, with priority given to aspirational districts that don’t have hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat.

* Propose Rs 35,600 crore nutrition- ..

* Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme to offer 2000 medicines and 300 surgicals in all districts by 2024.

* Over 6 lakh anganwadi workers have been equipped with smartphones to upload the nutrition status of 10 crore households.

* Nominal health cess on import of medical equipment to be introduced to encourage domestic industry and generate resources for health services.

* A new scheme to provide higher insurance cover, reduced premium for small exporters and simplified procedure for claims

Targeting diseases with an appropriately designed preventive regime using Machine Learning and AI.

Other announcements:

Three prominent themes of the Budget:

Aspirational India: Better standards of living with access to health, education and better jobs for all sections of the society. Three components of Aspirational India

a) Agriculture, Irrigation, and Rural Development

b)Wellness, Water, and Sanitation

c) Education and Skills

Economic Development for all: “Sabka Saath , Sabka Vikas , Sabka Vishwas”.

Caring Society: 

* Both humane and compassionate; Antyodaya as an article of faith.

* Provision of Rs 8,000 crore over five years for Quantum Technologies and it’s applications.

* GIFT City to have an International Bullion Exchange, enabling better price discovery of gold

* India will host G20 Presidency in 2022, Rs 100 crore to be allocated for making preparations for this historic occasion, where India will drive global economic agenda

* This is the Budget to boost income and purchasing power of Indians, says Sitharaman.

* This Budget is woven around three prominent themes: Aspirational India; Economic Development for All; A Caring Society

* Proliferation of technologies such as analytics, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, bioinformatics and number of people in productive age group at its highest, point out two cross-cutting developments.

* Sitharaman cites a poem — Pyara Watan.

* Budget aims to meet hopes and aspirations of all the sections of the society.

* Govt has taken several steps to formalisation of economy.

* Govt wants to improve the life of the people through Rs 100 lakh crore infrastructure pipeline projects.

*FM terms GST as historic structural reform; says it integrated country economically

* GST has resulted in efficiency gains in transport and logistics sector, inspector raj has vanished, it has benefitted MSME Consumers who have got a annual benefit of Rs 1 lakh crore by GST.

* 6 million new taxpayers have been added.

* Average household now saves nearly 4% more on the monthly basis after implementation of GST.

* Govt says aim is to achieve seamless delivery of services through digital governance.

* GST resulted in Rs 1 lakh crore gains to consumers, removed inspector raj and helped transport sector.

* India uplifted 271 million people out of poverty.

* India is now 5th largest economy in world.Central Govt debt reduced to 48.7% of GDP from 52.2 per cent in March 2014

* We shall strive to bring ease of living for every citizen.

* 7.4% growth surpassed in 2014-19 with average inflation of 4.5%.

* Centre’s debt down from 52.2% in 2014 to 48.7% in 2019

*During 2014-19, govt brought paradigm shift in governance.

* Fundamentals of the economy strong, inflation well contained, banks cleaned up accumulated loans.

*Finance Minister lists out welfare schemes like affordable housing scheme, DBT and Ayushman Bharat

Source: Economic Times

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A common dilemma for prospective tenants when searching for a home on rent is to determine what amenities are necessary and based on that what rental amount of the house should be. “The facilities close to one’s home in metropolitan cities could be costly and only accessible through annual membership. Most people, therefore, prefer basic projects that include fitness centres, children’s playground, intercom, security, etc. People used to prefer stand-alone projects with only basic facilities in non-metro cities to ensure they did not incur high monthly maintenance costs. This trend is now changing, as people in a number of tier 2 towns are also asking for basic facilities for the project,” says Unishire’s, executive director, Vinay K Mehta.

Most common amenities found in a rented house:

1) Safety and security such as intercom, key area control by CCTV, parking lot access with boom barriers, 24×7 security guards, LPG gas detectors, smoke detectors, etc.

2) Lifestyle-based facilities such as clubhouse, gymnasium, play area for kids, indoor sports such as table tennis, squash court, badminton court, etc.

3) Green features such as rainwater harvesting, sewage treatment plant, common area solar power, waste segregation and composting, etc.

Important amenities that a tenant should check before renting a house:

Sushil Raheja, CEO of Raheja Homes, Builders & Developers, suggests that the best choice for residents would be the semi-furnished apartment, with basic amenities, which will ensure comfortable living at affordable prices.

“The attached wardrobes, air-conditioners and kitchen shelves are the basic amenities required by the residents.” There are several online sites that help you find rental flats according to your requirements. In addition, tenants can buy their own furniture or even rent it at the prices of a wardrobe beginning at Rs 500 per month.

Experts emphasize that it makes sense for you to opt for a house in a project with amenities such as a children’s playing area, a party hall, a clubhouse and a simple fitness facility if you have a family that has children and parents included. Moreover, a gym with a lot of electronic equipment may also incur higher maintenance costs for regular service or the repair of equipment.

“It would be nice to have a walking track for families with senior citizens. Such features are helpful and maintenance-efficient as well. Families with children might enjoy having a pool, but maintenance costs are higher as daily cleaning and regular water treatments are required,” added Mehta.

While tenants can compromise some amenities, others such as security, high-rise elevators and power backup, etc., are necessary. Tenants that have their own furniture should check before moving to a new apartment whether the new house can comfortably accommodate their goods.

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Let us see some of the benefits of hiring an interior designer –

• Saves Money: hiring an interior designer increase the value of the home and later on can be potential buyers but also increase the capital of the house. In addition it does not allow the owner to make costly mistakes.
• Professional assessments- any professional in any field has an extra pair of eyes to observe and the same goes to interior designers. They easily find the problems and established an action plan and inform the owner about the measures taken. They will have a positive impact on the budget as they always try to use the resource carefully and effectively.
• Proper budgeting and planning- an interior designer knows how to handle the cost according to the client’s budget. They know all the resource to look for to make your home more attractive and beautiful to a strict budget. Also the customer does not need to look for brands and prices, spend time on research.
• Collaboration- a good designer will help you create a good relationship between the home owners and architect or contractor and can help in dealing with large flaws. They tend to see detailed which normally get overlook. Also we cannot forget the most important factors i.e. lightning & furniture.
• Wide availability and insight into resources- they have an extensive network in the same field who can be useful in designing your home. This is good advantage as the customer can see variety of examples. Using the ideas and opinions of the clients along with the resource raised the designers make the house unique, focused, and exquisite luxury.
• Reliable network – as mentioned above these interior designers have lot of reliable network with list of effective worker such as plumbers, electricians, contractors making easier work.
• The surprise element- most interior designers tend to be very creative and this result in addition results in surprise factor.
• Third party decision maker- they collect all the observation combine them together to create product that will appeal to all the people living in the house.
• Incorporating different styles- taking all the elements and incorporating them in unique style is the art of interior designers.
• Extra Help- they can be help in repairing your home and where there is need to replace accessories.
• They are more knowledgeable – Interior designers have all the necessary knowledge to deal with all the effective repairs. As a thorough professional they are interested in work and enjoy most of it.
• Energy efficient home- most interior designers are aware and follow different trends that occur in the architect industry. One of the latest is energy efficiency. To make design more convenient many designers adhere to save the concept of environment. An interior designer is very well apt for to use the products which harms the environment less.

A homeowner gets lot of benefits if it gets a right kind of interior designers. They have an artistic vision which helps in fulfilling your dream as home. It is always reasonable to hire interior designers.

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