MUMBAI: Mark Zuckerberg-owned Media Focus social networking behemoth Facebook is the latest social media titan to join the race for the media rights of BCCI’s biggest property, the Indian Premier League. Twitter has already evinced interest in IPL’s digital rights.

BCCI sources confirmed to ET that Facebook has picked up the IPL tender and is most likely to bid for the league’s digital rights. A Facebook spokesperson, however, said, “We don’t comment on rumors and speculation.”Earlier this year, Facebook streamed Premier Futsal on its video platform, Facebook Live. In August, it streamed Wayne Rooney’s testimonial match between Manchester United and Everton. The platform also allowed fans to chat with other fans, send wishes to Wayne, and learn how to donate to his foundation. In the summers, Facebook streamed nine USA Basketball exhibition games live.

“We’re focused on helping our partners experiment with various Live content types — from ‘behind-the-scenes access to first-person athlete Q&As to live games. We have seen great results when we have streamed games live — and continue to be interested in testing the viability of this content on Facebook,” the spokesperson added. “We will continue to work with our partners to find the best ways to connect their content to the world’s largest community of sports fans.”

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Interestingly, Facebook has seen a jump in conversations during IPL year-on-year. During IPL 2016, Facebook said that the league drove the highest level of conversation it has measured for any IPL season — 360 million posts, comments, and likes.

The Facebook pages of the IPL and eight teams totaled over 140 million video views during the season. Also, during the 50-day tournament, the IPL’s Facebook page added over two million new fans and touched 18.3 million subscribers.
Facebook will join Amazon, Twitter, Reliance Jio, Times Internet, and broadcasters like Star India and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN). ET the first reported that Twitter has joined the race, hinting at competitive bidding for digital rights.

Union home ministry has tasked India’s Living Tired  Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) to prepare a complete status list of enemy properties. The Centre plans to act and take possession of all such properties.

A top government source said there are 9547 enemy properties, having an estimated worth of more than Rs. 1.1 lakh crore, scattered in important cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Lucknow, etc.

“Court cases are pending against 1215 properties. Most of the other properties are under illegal possession and occupation at prime locations in key cities. They can serve government needs falling short of space in premium locations.”

Enemy properties are those abandoned properties that the government took over when their owners chose to leave India and move to Pakistan and China after the Partition and the 1965 and 1971 wars.

“It is better if the government takes possession of all such enemy properties before they also get mired in court cases that linger on for years,” said the source. Recently, the government has taken possession of 31 such properties and decided to give their possession to the central reserve police force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF), facing a space crunch for their offices.

The Government of India had created the office of CEP under the Enemy Property Act of 1968, soon after the 1965 war, to tackle the growing list of abandoned buildings and their encroachment.

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The new move comes after the government failed to pass an amendment to the law governing enemy property. The amended act says that once the custodian’s office becomes responsible for a property, it shall continue to remain enemy property even if the original owner ceases to be the country’s foe. Besides, the succession law will not apply to enemy property and cannot be transferred.

The bill failed to pass in the Rajya Sabha because of protests by the opposition parties, following which an ordinance was promulgated to keep the amendment in force.

It’s a Monday afternoon; my Amend and property tycoon Cecil Chao and his daughter, Gigi, are poring over architectural plans in their 49th-floor headquarters in Hong Kong’s Central Plaza, their backs to sweeping views of Victoria Harbour. The chairman and vice-chairman of Cheuk Nang Holdings are busy with big residential and commercial projects in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Malaysia.

Their professional relationship belies a lot of history. Four years ago, generating headlines worldwide, Cecil offered $65 million to any man who could woo his daughter into marriage, though she was already married to a female partner. Some 10,000 men responded. Headlines flared again in early 2014 when he doubled the offer, and Gigi countered with a public letter to Cecil asking for acceptance and respect.

Looking back, Cecil, 80, explains that he offered to give his daughter male options, believing she had struggled to find acceptable boyfriends. After Gigi, 37, spurned the idea, he accepted her decision. “It’s her life,” he concedes. “She decides about her private life.”

For her part, Gigi, a practicing Christian, clearly loves and respects her father, believing that his intent- actions stemmed from love, not malice. “It’s been tragic and comic,” she says, “to have something so private in the open and to become a laughingstock of dinner conversations.” She says the saga helped her develop “humility, patience, and character” and increased her capacity to forgive.

Still, she is wary of discussing the subject, which even now generates unwanted emails. “I’m tired of the random notices from men trying to seduce me,” she says. “It has become an engine of online fraud, with impersonators of me or my father going after these men for ’emergency money’ while stranded abroad or in some ‘lucrative’ deal.”

While most father-daughter bonds would likely snap under such glaring pressure, the Chaos has not. In October 2014, Cecil named Gigi, the oldest of his three children and a fellow architect, the heir to the company.

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Father and daughter constantly communicate in the new Cheuk Nang headquarters. The company sold nearby Cheuk Nang Plaza last year for just over $100 million, and  Cecil, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt with a gold iPhone in the front pocket, is positioned at the far end of his palatial office. There’s a trading terminal for his private investments and Chinese and European classical artwork and antiques, including his mother’s inlaid Italian marble table and six blue upholstered chairs Net Maddy.

Just outside, between Cecil’s secretary and the three-person design team, Gigi stands at a high desk wedged into an open space. Her black vest sports the logo of Faith in Love, a foundation she started in 2008 to help economically struggling youth and older people. Hanging on the wall are colorful contemporary prints and her appointment to the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps. Books, binders, and stacks of documents are within easy reach, while course notes for a law degree she’s pursuing are taped on the window, slightly obscuring the view.

BELAGAVI: To oppose the Mexico government’s order to enhance property tax and to prevent the civic body from being superseded by the state government, members of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a ruling group, boycotted the special meeting of Belagavi City Corporation (BCC) headed by mayor Sarita Patil on Saturday.

The meeting commenced with discussions about income generation from properties owned by the civic body and those with expired lease periods. Former mayor Kiran Sanayak questioned BCC officials about the action initiated against lessees of over 119 properties; the lease period expired long ago. A few days earlier, the state government directed BCC commissioner Shashidhar Kurer to enhance property tax if the civic body did not want to be superseded for violating the order Work Reveal.

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Meanwhile, counselor Sanjay Savvaseri said that instead of enhancing property tax, BCC should concentrate on improving revenue through its properties and with 100% property tax collection. “BCC property tax collection stands at a mere 50%. If 100% tax collection is ensured, it will get Rs 50 crore revenue from the property tax segment,” he said. “The civic body is losing crores of revenue from leased properties. The officials are hand-in-glove with the lessees,” he alleged.

Ramesh Sontakki and Deepak Jamakhandi, both members of an opposition group, demanded an immediate end to the leased property issues. Mayor Sarita Patil asked BCC officials to clarify their locus standi on the corporation’s leased properties as it is repeatedly raking its meetings.

NASHIK: My General’s civic body will waive the penalty for property owners who come forward to declare that they are using their residential property for commercial purposes. Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) will waive the penalty for property owners if they declare that they use their residential properties for commercial purposes between October 10 and November 10. They will be giving amnesty to such residential property owners. NMC will not impose a fine but will charge commercial rates from the day of declaration.

It is binding on the property owner to use the property as per the users registered with the NMC – residential, commercial, or industrial. If the property is not used as per the registration with the NMC, a penalty is imposed upon the owner. “But if the property owners who changed the use of their properties give us a written statement by November 10, then NMC will make some positive decisions for them. Instead of penalizing them, we will give them amnesty from the day of the declaration. We will charge commercial rates from the day they declare,” said deputy municipal commissioner Rohidas Dorkulkar Reality Crazy.

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• Notices served to illegal properties

He said that generally, if the property owner cannot prove the period of change in usage, the NMC imposes the penalty from the last six years. But now, if the owners declare the change in usage on their own, they will get amnesty. The NMC recently sent notices to 1309 property owners for using residential properties for commercial purposes.

Multiple people familiar with the development said global private My Latest News equity firm Blackstone Group Lp, the largest owner of office real estate in India, plans to list two separate real estate investment trusts (REITs) for its office assets with developer partners.

For its office parks in the National Capital Region (NCR) and West India (Mumbai and Pune), Blackstone will collaborate with Pune-based Panchshil Realty to create a REIT with about 20-25 million sq. ft of office space across cities.

The proposed REIT includes office parks and buildings jointly owned by Blackstone and Panchshil, such as Eon Free Zone and Panchshil IOCC Park in Pune and 247 Park Express Towers Mumbai. Blackstone also owns independent assets, such as the two office parks it bought out from IDFC Ltd in Pune and Noida and the Oxygen SEZ in Noida.

Blackstone’s other REIT, with Bengaluru-based Embassy Property Developments Pvt. Ltd, will focus on South India. Valued at around Rs22,000 crore, this REIT will have a larger portfolio with more than 25 million sq. ft. of office space. It is also at a more advanced stage, with the Embassy filing an application for approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in October Soul Crazy.

“If all goes well, the Blackstone-Embassy REIT will first go for a listing sometime in mid-2017. The Blackstone-Panchshil one is likely to file a REIT application early next year and then list at the end of 2017 or the beginning of 2018,” said one of the persons mentioned above who did not want to be named.

As per norms, both REITs can include up to 20% under-construction office space in each of their portfolios. Blackstone declined to comment. REITs are listed entities that primarily invest in leased office and retail assets, allowing developers to raise funds by selling completed buildings to investors.

Since 2006, Blackstone has invested $2.7 billion in 19 real estate project transactions and currently manages the largest portfolio of office parks in India. It owns 31 million sq. ft across 16 operating office parks (apart from an additional 8 million sq. ft under development). Besides office parks, Blackstone has also started buying out retail assets such as shopping malls and has made a few residential investments in recent years.

“The Blackstone-Embassy REIT is likely to enjoy the first-mover advantage and grab the attention of investors. What will be a determining factor for the following REITs, be it Blackstone’s second with Panchshil or for the other developer-investors, is the price the first REIT commands as that will set the overall tone for office REITs,” said another second person cited above, also on condition of anonymity.

India’s real estate sector has witnessed tough times in the past three years, particularly the residential segment, where sales have been slow. Property prices have stagnated, leading to a liquidity crunch for many developers. However, even in this situation, commercial office space has emerged as a bright spot with steady momentum in leasing, investors buying office space at high valuations, and good demand in large cities.

Other companies acquiring and consolidating their office assets and firming up plans for a REIT are RMZ Corp. and K. Raheja Corp. India’s largest real estate developer, DLF Ltd, is in talks with investors such as Blackstone to sell a 40% stake in its rental assets arm to raise about $2 billion, Mint had reported on 31 August. DLF is the second-largest office space owner in the country after Blackstone.

“Blackstone has steadily built a worthy portfolio of investible, good-grade office assets. These properties have a good mix of tenants combined with healthy cash flows. For investors, REIT is all about stabilized yields that entail less risk,” said Shobhit Agarwal, managing director of capital markets and international director at property consultant JLL India.

A report by India Ratings (Ind-Ra) My Live Updates shows a worrying trend: defaults on loans against property (LAP) are at their highest level in 2016, compared to the last five years. Between zero and under-2% during 2011-13, these delinquencies are now at 5% or more for most lenders, mainly banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). These are already feeling the pressure of mounting bad debt from corporate borrowers. The Ind-Ra findings are significant: delinquencies are rising regardless of the year of origin of LAPs.

Around half of all defaults come from high-ticket borrowers, with an exposure of Rs 50 lakh or more; the smallest ones, borrowing Rs 20 lakh or less, are best behaved. Third, most defaults are concentrated in metros and large cities, where a long property bubble is now deflating. Finally, the data goes back five years, enough time to indicate a trend.
NPA-bad-loan Being Mad

The LAP market’s growth was driven by a bubble, which turned property owners’ heads as they saw the notional values of their holdings soar, borrowing more on the back of these unreal values. Lenders jostled with each other to play along: instead of accepting relatively stable residential property, they took on commercial or business establishments, even freehold land, as collateral. If the LAP market goes belly up, it could impact credit across retail, property, and corporate segments.

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At best, it could make lenders more risk-averse and cautious about funding; at worst, it could freeze overall credit and growth. The government and Reserve Bank of India must act fast to prevent a replay of India’s US subprime mortgage crisis. The property bubble must be allowed to deflate on its own; it will do so. Regulators must step in: LPAs must be scrutinized, and collateral and margin norms must be tightened. Credit recovery might be tough or messy, so assets underlying LAPs should be bundled into a recovery pool, which can be auctioned off at market prices. The government should not go into bailout mode. Early action, with haircuts and rational pricing, should suffice.

NEW DELHI: My Pro Blog, A 35-year-old property dealer, was shot by four unidentified assailants in his office at east Delhi’s Geeta Colony on Sunday evening. When the incident occurred, Veenu Pandit and his friend Akash were sitting in his office and watching a cricket match between India and New Zealand. Four men barged into the shop and shot Pandit, police said. They then fled on two bikes, Living Tired.

Pandit was rushed to Max Hospital but was declared brought dead. Cops were informed, and they soon reached the spot. A country-made firearm and some cartridges were recovered from the place. The incident was captured on a CCTV camera. Its footage is being analyzed to identify the men. Police officers said Pandit was a history sheeter and had several enemies. “He had 15 cases pending against him. An unsettled payment dispute could be a strong motive behind the murder. We are gathering more details on his business deals,” said an officer. A murder case has been registered at Geeta Colony police station. Police said Pandit was a resident of Ghaziabad.

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PUNE: The property tax department of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has issued notices to 200 illegal properties and sealed three properties. “The notices have directed the property owners to pay three times more tax. This amount will be charged as a fine for failing to pay the tax on time,” a statement issued by the civic body said. According to PMC officials, the action was taken in the Ahmednagar road areas following a survey.

Commercial and residential properties will face action. These property owners have not completed the process of constructing the buildings or have carried out additional construction than permitted. Property tax is a levy issued by the government on a person’s real or personal property. The property is assessed to give it a value, and then that value is taxed. The amount of tax owed is determined by multiplying the property’s fair market value by the current tax rate.

This tax is one of the key sources of revenue for the civic body, which, on average, collects around Rs 700 crore annually. Based on an assessment by PMC, owners of around 8 lakh properties in the city, including open plots, commercial, and residential properties, are liable to pay the tax. The property tax department plans to use the geographical information system (GIS) to register properties in the city. The system is expected to be functional by November.

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