Shattering stars

In this week's edition of Open House, I share my thoughts on zoning. To read the full editions in your inbox every Wednesday, subscribe for free?on my website (https://ashwinderrsingh.com/).

As cricket fever grips the country with the hugely successful women's IPL and the upcoming men's tournament, these were the stories in my digest that I thought you should not have skipped past:

• IIM-A(gent): IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA) is now offering new elective courses in real estate, addressing a rising demand for qualified professionals in the sector. These courses, supported by the Alpha Sigma Gamma (ASG) chapter and taught by Professors Prashant and Abhiman Dass aim to produce well-rounded real estate specialists through MBA programs. Read more
• Hyderabad’s demand hurricane: Hyderabad's residential real estate market saw a massive surge in demand with a 98% jump in Q4 2023, leading to a 49% annual growth. New housing supply also increased in the city by 9% YoY with a focus on premium segments (> ?1 crore). Capital values also climbed 10% YoY, solidifying Hyderabad's appeal to investors and homebuyers. Read more
• Grand(e) fraud: Hui Ka Yan, founder of China's Evergrande Group, has become the centre of a massive financial fraud scandal. Chinese authorities accuse Evergrande of inflating revenue by $78 billion over two years. This follows Evergrande's debt default and liquidation which earlier marked a major blow to the company and China's real estate sector. Read more
• Deeply committed: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, announced that the government is finalising a dedicated policy to support deep-tech startups in India. This policy aims to encourage R&D and intellectual property creation for successful commercialisation. Following the policy release, a dedicated fund-of-funds is planned to provide financial backing to deep-tech ventures. Read more
• Star-shattering: Harvard University’s documentary "Shattering Stars" released its latest episode exploring the Indian physicist S Chandrasekhar's groundbreaking theory. When Chandrashekar was studying at Cambridge in the 1930s, he proposed that massive stars could collapse into objects denser than anything known. This concept, now recognised as black holes, was met with skepticism and even ridicule from prominent astronomers of the time like Arthur Eddington. However, Chandrashekar was ultimately vindicated and he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. Read more