GENRE: Explainers

As a first-time apartment buyer in Bengaluru, in 2016, I heard of many instances of builders/developers simply walking away without creating/forming an "Owners' Association" and handing over the apartment's assets in a systematic way for various reasons, including The lack of bandwidth with the builder to create/form an ad hoc-committee of the Owners' Association and take them through the association formation and registration The extent of deviation from "sanctioned plan" to "as constructed" exceeding 5% (allowed deviation)The builder's desire to retain control of the property and sometimes even plans to add additional built-up area. Improper calculation of undivided share (UDS)…

Acquiring private land and property for major infrastructure projects like the Bengaluru metro has always been controversial. Especially the amount and manner of compensation to those whose land/property is acquired. Various laws and court verdicts have laid down norms for such acquisition. But the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) has drafted its own rules on this issue, as it speeds up work on Phase 2, or what it calls the Blue Line, a 57-km stretch that connects Central Silk Board to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) via KR Puram. Slated to be completed in 2024, this project linking the Outer Ring…

Translated by Sandhya Raju விளிம்பு நிலை மற்றும் பொருளாதாரத்தில் பின் தங்கியுள்ள மக்கள், சிக்கலான சட்ட அமைப்பில் சிக்கிக்கொள்ளும்  நிலையை வெகுவாக வெளிக்கொணர்ந்தது ஜெய்பீம் திரைப்படம். செங்கனி என்ற கதாபாத்திரத்திற்கு ஆதரவாக சந்துரு என்ற வழக்கறிஞர் பணியாற்றினார்.    ஆனால், நிஜ வாழ்க்கையில்  இவர்களின் நிலை என்ன?   அரசு அங்கீகாரம் பெற்ற தமிழ்நாடு மாநில சட்ட சேவைகள் ஆணையம் அல்லது மாவட்ட சட்ட சேவைகள் ஆணையத்தில் உதவி பெற ஒவ்வொரு நபருக்கும் அரசியலைப்புப் படி உரிமை உள்ளது.  “இலவச சட்ட உதவி என்பது அரசு அளிக்கும் தொண்டு அல்ல. இது அனைத்து மக்களுக்கான  அடிப்படை உரிமை,” என்கிறார் சென்னை உயர்நீதி மன்றத்தின் வழக்கறிஞர் எஸ் ஜோதிலக்ஷ்மி, 2019-20 ல் இலவச சட்ட உதவி வழக்கறிஞராக இவர் நியமிக்கப்பட்டார்.  அரசு வழங்கும் சேவை குறித்து பலரருக்கு விழிப்புணர்வு இல்லை, என இந்தக் கட்டுரைக்காக நாம் சந்தித்த வழக்கறிஞர்கள் கூறினர்.  அதன் நோக்க பயனை…

A little girl came to the Thuli store looking for a bottle-green top to wear at the annual day function of her school. She found exactly what she was looking for in a matter of minutes, and free of cost. More importantly, she was able to save preowned clothing which would otherwise have found its way to a landfill. Every year, the fashion industries of the world produce 53 million tonnes of fibres, and less than 1% of it goes back to use, with more than 70% of fibres dumped in a landfill or incinerated. "Apart from filling up landfills,…

Many of us may have bought a beautiful apartment or villa by investing most of our savings or even on a mortgage/home loan. After a few months of living in your new home, you realise that there are a lot of issues. For example, you may find water oozing from the floor tiles, or your wooden flooring has been laid in an uneven manner, door frames are not finished to the level they should be, electrical fixtures are malfunctioning, and water pressure drops. All these are niggling problems that will not only take your time but also more of your…

50 km away from the Airport, and 30 km away from Bengaluru’s Central Railway Station, Sarjapura is one area that poses a daunting choice of address! Located in the south-eastern part of Bengaluru, Sarjapura Road is a long stretch that ends all the way near the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. This mighty 20 km stretch begins at St. John’s Hospital in Koramangala and ends at the actual village of Sarjapura that the road is named after. St. John's hospital in Koramangala, beginning of Sarjapura road. Pic: Vikas Gotla Sarjapura is often wrongly used to describe wards/villages that lie on Sarjapura road.…

15th August 2022 is our 75th Independence Day as well as the 25th Anniversary of BMTC. In light of this, BMTC has announced that all buses, including Vajra (AC) and Vayu Vajra (Airport Service), will be free. Recently, some of us passionate bus lovers came together as “Friends of BMTC”, with the aim to create more awareness about bus services in our city. We noticed that many in our city shy away from using the bus due to a lack of information. Many want to use the bus instead of their car, but find it difficult to figure out which…

Since the inception of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for digital payments, users no longer need to download multiple payment applications. Using one payment gateway network, money can be easily transferred to different accounts through varied gateways, keeping it smooth and hassle free. Taking this concept further, the union government recently introduced the Open Network for Digital Commerce, or ONDC, to encourage digital payments for purchase of goods and services while making the process convenient, easy and smooth for both buyers and sellers. It is argued that the ONDC will be the UPI of e-commerce and shift the paradigm of…

The Tamil Nadu government increased property tax for all local bodies in the state earlier this April. This means that the residents of Chennai's core areas would have to pay at least 50% more than what they have been paying for over two decades. The Greater Chennai Corporation has as many as 13 lakh property tax assesses with an annual demand of Rs 800 crore. The revision came into effect from April 1, 2022 with an aim to increase the civic body's revenue generation capacity, which plays a critical role in providing better services and improving infrastructure. Here is an…

The critically acclaimed movie Thappad evoked a wide range of responses to how the protagonist Amrita dealt with an instance of domestic violence, a slap by her husband in a social setting. While Amrita had the awareness to recognise the slap as domestic violence, the agency to decide for herself, financial support and a family who understood her decision, many women in Chennai, who face domestic violence, find themselves alone in this fight. The spate of crimes against women in cities like Chennai continues unabated. Now and then we read or hear of a new incident, more brazen, brutal and…