The sales of luxury properties worth Rs 1 crore and above have been the highest in Hyderabad during Q1 of 2022. The share of total sales for luxury residential sales was recorded at 32 percent in the quarter during Q1 2022, which was the highest growth when it came to southern cities.According to Knight Frank, Hyderabad registered a luxury property sale of 2211 units in Q1 2022. Consumers in this segment were less impacted by the pandemic and participated in strength in the purchase of properties.Incidentally, the share of total sales for luxury residential sales in Bengaluru was 20 percent, and Chennai was 17 percent. “Sales volumes have recovered dramatically from their pandemic lows, and this revival has been most apparent in housing units priced over Rs 1 crore. While the share of this ticket size in overall sales stands at 25 percent as of Q1 2022 for India, that of Hyderabad is at a much higher 32 percent during the same period,” shares Vivek Rathi, director of research at Knight Frank, India.He adds that since the share of this segment increased from 28 percent in Q1 2021 to 32 percent currently, home buyer demand is only strengthening the ticket size.

Sale of Luxury Properties Highest in Hyderabad

Dancing is a natural thing these days, and even those who are scared of dancing make up for it by going to Zumba classes. However, how does it feel to balance your torso on a single arm while your legs move in continuous circles? For David Jerome, it took one and half years of dedication and practice to get this move, known as Flare, right.Breakdance, or breaking, as it’s now referred to, is a form of dance, and those who pursue it are called breakers or B-boy or B-girl. While it originated in the ’70s, you can understand it is both a challenging and gravity-defying dance form that is surely more than just dance.In the tradition, the breakers go by different stage names, and Jerome is known as ‘B-boy Shadow.’ The word shadow comes from the lyrics of his favorite song, Beggin, by the Norwegian musical duo – Madcon.Jerome was not drawn to dance naturally. It was when he saw his sister and her crew called ‘Proximity’ practice breaking that he was drawn towards this physically demanding dance form. He says when he makes his moves, he feels like a superhero. He is now part of Proximity and is part of multiple events representing the crew.The now popular breaker learned his moves from YouTube videos and confessed that he watched them time and again an innumerable number of times way back in 2011. And to do his bit for breaking, Jerome works in a corporate company and also teaches those interested and those who have the right moves. After winning several times in the city and around the country, he says he wants to compete in more ciphers and win them.The city in total has only three breaking events – Blame it on the Boogie, Cypher Hours and Spit your Game. The 11th edition of Cypher Hours will be hosted on June 25 and June 26.

Breaking the New-age Norms

Nikhat Zareen is a world-class boxer. But way back in 2014, she went to renowned boxing coach Emani Chiranjeevi and trained hard with him for two years. Though he retired in 2006 from active coaching, Chiranjeevi’s students have done well in their jobs, and Nikhat Zareen went on to win the All India University medal in 2016.While not his students have been on the world stage, many of them have done well at the national level, and Chiranjeevi is proud that most of them landed good jobs. He also trained boxers from other states who too went to settle down in good jobs, he says with a glint of happiness.He recollects how Hyderabad had a lot of boxers during the 1980s and 1990s. While many of them settled down in railways, he rues that the popularity of the sport suddenly went down due to some reasons. After retiring from active boxing, Chiranjeevi started coaching in Chennai before moving to Hyderabad in 1984, where he joined Osmania University. He guided the team to the gold in the All India Inter-University games twice in a span of four years. “Around 18 students won medals at the All India University level. It was very satisfying,” he says with a smile.After his stint with OU till 1988, he was appointed national coach for team India. He took the boxing teams to Asian Games and SAF Games. Though he retired in 2006, he coached kids at the Nizam College and Artillery Centre, Golconda, which was very satisfying, he reminisces.Chiranjeevi shares that he is happy that he can still do what he is doing at 77 and is presently coaching Telangana Social Welfare Residential School kids at Narsingi. Though there was a break due to the pandemic, Chiranjeevi says he has identified four to five kids who he wants to train for the future. “Effort is key to success. Boxing is an art of self-defense. For any sport, physical and mental state is crucial,” he concludes.

77-Year-Boxer Who Never Tires of Coaching

One can hardly miss all the infrastructure projects that have been taken up to make the city future-ready while retaining its charm and flavor. The civic bodies have taken up various measures to ensure that a variety of issues were addressed and life became easier for citizens.To begin with, the entire labyrinth of small and narrow roads has been replaced with wider, two-lane roads in most instances. Today, the city is dotted with flyovers to handle the excess flow of traffic; there are tunnels to ensure vehicles zoom past without any hassle, and then quite a few foot over bridges or FoBs have popped up across the city.<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/nbn-engine/uploads/fa680a3a755728040c0d05961900f910bc763551.jpg" alt=""> The government and civic bodies have taken up various short, mid, and long-term projects like strategic road development plan (SRDP), link roads, and strategic Nala development program (SNDP) to cater to the immediate needs of citizens.Under SRDP, a total of 29 projects which include flyovers, underpasses, RoBs or roads over bridges, and RuB or Road under Bridge, was built in eight years. Projects worth Rs 37,000 crores were taken up, making Hyderabad the best place to live and invest.The streets, too, took a new look with aesthetic beautification; monuments and lakes have been rejuvenated and preserved. To address the issue of stormwater drains, Hyderabad got its exclusive disaster response force (DRF). The Sunkishala project, Mission Bhagiratha, has been supplying water to not just the city but the surrounding areas and interior Telangana.River Musi has been revived, and 15 bridges have come up over Musi and Esa rivers.

Hyderabad Sprucing Up to Be a City of Future

Sir Salar Jung, I might sound a little alien, but just about every Hyderabadi and anyone who has heard of Hyderabad would be aware of the Salar Jung Museum. Incidentally, Sir Salar Jung was one of the most popular prime ministers of native states and was known to be the enigmatic prime minister of Hyderabad state (1853 to 1883), who served for three long decades under three successive Nizams.He was named the greatest prime minister of any state in British India. His period came to be known as the Age of Salar Jung in the history of Hyderabad dominions. And in recognition of his services, the then government of India 1871 bestowed the title of ‘Grand Commander of the Star of India.’Salar Jung incidentally undertook a visit to England and went to Italy and France en route. Though he had a leg twist and was suggested two weeks of bed rest in Paris, he spent the time meeting a variety of people who heard about the riches of Hyderabad state and wanted to work for the Nizam, right from tailors to jewelers to hat makers and the like.Finally, on reaching England, he had the fortune to meet Queen Victoria herself and dined with her at Buckingham Palace, where only royals are invited. His time in England was totally busy, and he met the who’s who of the royal lineage and dined with most of them. Also, Oxford University conferred the DCL or Doctor of Civil Law on him.However, Salar Jung also brought about remarkable changes in Hyderabad by introducing Western etiquette, and he also took up reforms that included reorganization of the police and judicial system and construction of the first rail and Telegraph network.In 1854, he established Darul-Uloom College and Madarsa Aliya, which opened doors for modern education in India. His daughter Amat-uz-Zehra was married to Nizam Mahboob Ali, and their son was Mir Osman Ali Khan, who was the last of the Nizams.Sir Salar Jung was born on January 21, 1829, and died on February 8, 1883.

Enigma Of Three Generations of Nizam Rule

The state government, which claims to be in a dire financial situation, is now in a bid to auction plots to ease the fluidity crunch. The Centre has restrained any borrowings as the state has already exceeded its FRMB limit.The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is making all preparations for the e-auctioning of as many as 233 prime plots in Turkayamjal, Thorrur, and Bahadurpally layouts to raise Rs 500 crore.The HMDA has put up 34 new plots at Turkayamjal within ORR, 148 plots in Thorrur, and 51 plots in Bahadurpally. The notifications have already been issued by HMDA. The plots will be e-auctioned by MSTC Limited, a Government of India Enterprise. The auction at Turkayamjal will happen on June 30 in two sessions, and Thorrur layouts will be auctioned on July 1,2, and 4.The e-auction bidding starts from an upset price of Rs 40,000 per square yard with an increment bid at 500 sq yards or multiple thereof. E-bidding for Thorrur will start at Rs 20,000 per q yard, and for Bahadurpally layout, it will be Rs 25,000 per sq yard. Pre-bid meetings will be held on June 6 and 18.Both the layouts happen to be in the multi-purpose zone. A notification for over 100 plots in Thorrur layout and new and few leftover plots in Bahadurpally will be issued this week. Last March, when plots were put up for sale, HMDA made Rs 152.02 crore in Thorrur and Rs 146.55 crore in Bahadurpally.

HMDA to Auction Plots to Bail Out Cash-starved State Govt

On Wednesday, a female software engineer, Kriti Sambyal (27), committed suicide in Gachibowli.Local CI Suresh said that Kriti hailed from Jammu and Kashmir and had come to Gachibowli to work as a software engineer in Amazon company. She was staying with two roommates in Nanakramguda at Sagar Gardenia apartment.Two days ago, one of her roommates left for Delhi, while another young lady went to work on Wednesday. In the afternoon, Kriti sent a message to her friend Sachin Kumar that she was committing suicide in her room.The friend immediately rushed and saw that the door was locked from inside. He called Kriti, but she did not answer the phone. He immediately called the other roommate and got the key to the flat. After opening the door, Sachin saw that the girl was hanging from the ceiling fan.Kriti was immediately taken to a private hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The exact motive behind her suicide is still under investigation by the cops. A case has been registered by the local police station, and her family in Jammu and Kashmir was intimated about the tragic incident.

Female IT Employee Commits Suicide in Gachibowli

In a horrific incident, a 17-year-old girl who was partying with her friends at Jubilee Hills' Amnesia &amp; Insomnia Pub was molested by a group of her male friends. While partying, she left the pub at her friends' request. They made her board a Mercedes. A few of her friends got into the red Mercedes, while a few more boarded an Innova, and they followed the Mercedes.As they traveled, her friends started molesting the teenager. When she resisted, they injured her on the neck. However, the girl escaped from them and somehow reached home. The victim's father registered a complaint with the Jubilee Hills police under Sections 323 and 354 of the IPC and the POCSO Act. S Rajashekar Reddy, Inspector of Jubilee Hills, who is investigating the case, said the suspects are absconding, and a hunt is on to nab them.On Saturday evening, the minor girl, an Intermediate student, went to the pub with a group of friends. In his complaint, her father said his daughter was still in shock and unable to explain things clearly. Police are also probing how the management of the pub allowed minors to enter the pub premises.

SHOCKING! Minor Girl Molested After Pubbing

In the literal sense of the term, a lot has been happening in the city. And a lot is happening in the lyrical sense of the term too. Many independent artists are emerging on the scene from the city, and some of them have quite a following. One such music artiste is Pranati Khanna or Peekay to her fans of hip hop songs. She is now busy coming out with her new album, Sunshine on the Street.But it’s not just Hyderabad that Peekay has in the ga-ga mode. The 25-yr-old is famous all over India, and she has recently collaborated with Pink actress Andrea Tariang for her upcoming song Sunshine on the Street. However, Andrea will be shooting from her place and Peekay from here due to the pandemic. The song will be released at the end of January, and Peekay says she is rather excited as it is about the LGBTQIA community. She feels that people must understand and respect them, especially since many are coming out these days.Peekay reveals she started her music lessons when she was just four. She started playing piano at a tender age and says her parents greatly influenced her musical journey. Growing up listening to rock and pop music, she now belts out numbers in pop, pop-rock, or RnB.The Hyderabad girl also has an international collaboration on the cards and is also working on songs about slum children.

Hyderabadi Artiste With a Mission and Vision and Mission

Land is indeed the much talked about topic of conversation among the rich and well-heeled in the city. While the residential property seems robust, the commercial land deals have surprised the best in the country. In Hyderabad city, five separate deals have taken place worth Rs 715 crore, which accounted for 59 percent of total land transacted between January to date.As per Anarock’s estimate, Hetero Group acquired 600 acres of land, which happens to be worth Rs 350 crore. The development is yet unknown. Meanwhile, Microsoft has acquired 41 acres to set up their data center, and the cost of the land was worth Rs 164 crore.According to Anarock’s research, at least 28 separate land deals took place between January 2022 and to this date. Of the total transacted land, 351 acres of land was acquired in 18 deals, set aside for multiple residential complexes. Three deals for 115 acres are proposed for data centers, while two deals for over 63 acres have been set aside for logistics and warehousing. Four deals for 108 acres have been put up for mixed-use developments.A single, anonymous land deal has also happened in the country for 600 acres, though no details have come out as yet. Leading builders who acquired land include Godrej Properties, Oberoi Realty, Mahindra Lifespaces, Gaurs Group, Birla Estates, Hetero Group, Microsoft, and Mapletree Logistics, among others.In comparison to H1 2021, the number of deals doubled. While 14 deals happened in H1 2021, 28 deals happened in H1 2022.

In 5 Months, Developers Acquire 715 Acres in Hyderabad

Polish beauty queen Carolina Bilaska has won the Miss World 2021 crown. She was declared the winner by the judges at the World Beauty Contest held at the San Juan Coca Cola Music Hall in Puerto Rico. Shree Saini, an American, was the first runner-up. Olivia Yace of Côte d’Ivoire was the second runner-up.Forty girls have reached the semi-finals of the Miss World pageant. The finals were originally scheduled for December last year but were postponed due to corona. Beauty queens from 100 countries around the world tested their luck at the Miss World pageant. Meanwhile, during the finals, former Miss World Tony Yan Singh sang a song in solidarity with Ukraine.Hyderabad girl Manasa Varanasi represented India but she was not lucky. She had to confine herself to the top 13 only. The last time India won the Miss World title was in 2017. Manushi Chillar, then won Miss World. Born in Hyderabad, Manasa Varanasi shifted to Malaysia at a young age due to her father's work and was schooled at Global Indian International School and completed her grade 10 there.Later she returned to India and studied computer science at Vasavi College of Engineering Hyderabad. In 2020, she won the Femina Miss India where she represented the state of Telangana. She was also crowned Femina Miss India World 2020.