CHENNAI : An International Conference on `Asset Management,’ organised by the Institution of Valuers (Chennai), was held in the city recently. It was inaugurated on Friday by Roshan H. Namavati, former National President, Institution of Valuers, New Delhi.
A former president of the same branch, C.H. Gopinath Rao, and Vice-chancellor of Anna University D. Viswanathan were also present at the event. At the request of members of the Institution of Valuers, he announced that the university would be introducing an elective on valuation in 2007. Over 200 delegates from across India, Singapore, Malaysia, Yemen and Sri Lanka attended the two-day event.
Mr. Rao, in his presidential address, said that real estate agents should be licensed. “With the boom in real estate, it is necessary to protect the public from fraud and stabilise the price of land by passing laws in the country both at the central and state levels.”
Prof. Viswanathan took the opportunity to talk about the lack of interest in civil engineering among students. “For one decade, we have not been able to get the top brains for Civil Engineering… This year, 60 per cent of the seats were vacant. In the next five years, if this trend continues, there won’t be any civil engineers. Institutions such as yours should do something about it,” he said.
Mr. Namavati gave participants his `panch seekh’, five tips to be followed by valuers. These include helping and guiding juniors; maintaining the dignity of the profession; giving valuation a foundation; not undercutting each other; and developing research habits.
