URBAN VAASTU - Building modern India Magazine - December 2014

In this issue

WHILE India is undergoing rapid urbanisation, with millions of people migrating to cities from rural areas, there is a corresponding increase in crimes that occur in our cities.
Our cover story in this issue – Smart City, Smart Crime, Smart Policing, – takes an in-depth look at this growing problem. Kidnapping, crimes against women, terrorist attacks, extremist violence and land grabbing are some of the major crimes that confront some parts of urban India today. Many of the police forces in our cities are getting modernised, with the state governments spending billions of rupees in upgrading their weapons,
communication systems, transport and other infrastructure.
The central government is also coordinating the efforts and beefing up the
security forces to ensure that citizens are protected from a variety of crimes. We speak to several experts to find out solutions to this problem.
In our Heritage & Culture sections, we have two interesting articles. One
looks at the mystery of the visit of Jesus Christ to India and his travels across the sub-continent. The other elaborates on the importance of the
Bhagvad Gita on the occasion of Shukla Ekadashi, which marks the
birth of the Gita.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the capital markets
regulator, has cleared the way for property-backed investment vehicles. We analyse the impact of the entry of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), both on the real estate sector and the capital markets. We also feature an interview with Mr Kirti Shah, Partner, M&A Tax and Regulatory Services at Desai Hari Bhakti, on the investment potential and possible returns from REITs.