Good morning, in a bid to push back against digital splintering and censorship of the Internet practised in Russia, China and other semi-authoritarian regimes, 56 nations have huddled together to give us a "Declaration for the Future of the Internet."
Why: Meddling with the internet has serious consequences on the human psyche, it seems. For instance, Moscow has been able to limit alternate opinions about the war in Ukraine to the Russian population back home.
While the world largely sees the event as an act of aggression by Russia, many Russian citizens see it as a fight for the liberation of Ukraine.
🤷♂️ Reminds us of a closer to home nation that's been doing this even before the first modem was manufactured. But, keeping the internet unregulated?
We are all for it.
🏃♀️🥝🍎
Interesting Q1, 22 Housing Market Trends
Square Yards' recent report - India Residential Overview: Jan-Mar 2022 throws up some interesting findings and we summarise them for you here:
👩💻 42% homebuyers searched online for 2 BHKs (3% more than Q4 2021).
🎉 81,000 housing units were launched (43% more than Q4 2021).
🌆 35% and 25% of launches were in MMR and Pune. The highest-searched cities were Mumbai (26%) and Hyderabad (22%).
📌 2 BHKs comprised 40% of the Bangalore and Gurgaon markets.
↔ Mid-range units (INR 30-100 lakh) were the most-searched.
📎 Independent units comprised 27% of searches. Southern cities had 42% of independent home demand.
⛳ Luxury units had the most takers in Bangalore and Gurgaon.
Noida & Gurgaon Trends
Noida had 2,100+ new launches though lower by 14% this quarter. Noida Expressway had lesser new launches. Noida Central had 44%, followed by Noida Extension.
Q1, 2022 saw 3,800 new launches in Gurgaon and the Dwarka Expressway region claimed 85% of them.
Why Are Homes So Expensive In Canada?
In the wee hours of the morning today, we were staring at 2 big questions;
1️⃣ What do our better halves truly want?
2️⃣ Why are Canadian homes unaffordable?
Naturally, we are choosing to answer the second one. You see, Canada’s first-time home buyers are sweating it out. And why not?
Home prices have soared to unimaginable levels, while inflation is already biting into the purchase pie.
Trends worth noting
📈 Interest rates are already on their way up (fire-fighting by the Bank of Canada).
📈 Prices are still to cool down with severe supply shortages.
📈 Too many people are ironically bidding for a lesser number of units (that’s how demand is still present).
📈 The affluent are gaining with bigger deposits.
Is a buyer’s market in the offing?
Sellers may ultimately have to list at reasonable rates to keep getting interest.
Fewer people with deeper pockets may enable a buyer’s market in future.
Tuesday Treat (Or Trick?)
This artwork, christened "Moulin de Mer" by Erik Johansson is completely, fundamentally flawed.
Do you see why? Hit reply and tell us what you think.
💡 Hint: No, it's not the issue with the clothesline being too close to the sea mist and spray.
Hyderabad Realty Rejoices GO111 Revocation
The Telangana Government has junked a GO-111 order that existed for 26 years and as if out of the woodwork, 1.32 lakh acres of land have been unlocked for realty development, spanning 84 villages near Hyderabad.
What the law said
No industries and construction within a stretch of 10 kilometres from the Himayat and Osman Sagar reservoirs and catchment zones, on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
What it's revocation means
Developers now have access to an additional 538 sq. km. of prime land for development in Greater Hyderabad. The Go-111 revocation will boost not just high-rises but also villas and G+5 structures.
🔮 While land rates are approximately around INR 2-10 crore per acre currently, it may increase by 10-15 times per industry players. There could also be a brand new eco-friendly city coming up in this zone if the grapevine was to be referred to.
The Government’s take
While the Government is expectedly being slammed by environmental activities, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has already poured out his clarification.
According to him, the city is no longer dependent for water supply upon these two reservoirs, limiting the need to go ahead with prevailing restrictions. Hyderabad now consumes over 600 million gallons of water each day and the two reservoirs combined contribute just 1% of this figure.
The Government has also promised to maintain the reservoirs' water quality and ecosystem.
♒ Multiple sewerage treatment plants will come up
♒ Treated water will be diverted away from the lakes via canals or pipelines, and
🍀 Green zones (development-free) will also be set up by the Government throughout the entire zone.
Oh boy, do we hear sparkling water fizzing in the meantime?
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Sample this:
“Later this year, we’ll release a higher-end headset, code named Project Cambria, which will be more focused on work use cases, eventually replacing your laptop or work setup.”—Mark Zuckerberg, in a post-earnings Facebook post.
Dear Cambria developers, can you please tell us how we are supposed to write a newsletter if our laptops are taken away? Seriously! 😅
See you tomorrow morning. 💚
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai