South City mall in Kolkata to close for four months for renovation

South City mall in Kolkata will be closed for four months to undertake major renovation work involving addition of another floor and shifting the food court. It has been there for nine years and, additional retail space of 75,000 sqft-80,000 sqft is planned to be added during renovation.
The closure will be from February 1 and will affect shoppers in south Kolkata. It will also leave several thousand children, teens, youths and couples distraught at the temporary loss of a favorite hangout zone.
The mall attracts 70,000-80,000 people on weekdays and 1.7 lakh-2 lakh people on weekends.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 14 January 2017.

The authorities will spend Rs 50 crore on the upgrade and, the loss in turnover from the closure is expected to be around Rs 350 crore in sales and another Rs 100 crore in store interiors that will have to be scrapped and be remade. Of course, before the closure there will be a stock clearance sale with discounts of up to 70% - it is expected that such an attraction would appeal to shoppers from not only Kolkata but also from neighboring states and even Bangladesh.
One section of the mall will continue to function - it will offer regulars a limited mix of retail and entertainment options. But the atrium and food court - the mall's hot spots — will be cordoned off. Out of the 138 stores and restaurants, only the anchor stores and two restaurants will remain open.
It may be recalled that there was a short-circuit fire in December and it led to damage to the major cable and pipelines that run across the roof of vanilla stores. These are concealed by false ceiling.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

30th International kite festival in Gujarat, Telangana, Delhi and Karnataka

McDonald's enters The Vatican with an outlet near St. Peter's Square

Steel mugs in lavatories of trains stolen in spite of being chained to the walls


Lord Shiva laments over full Moon and a burnt roti (satire)

Didi’s Rose garden withers in the valley (satire)

Moody in the world of pickpockets and beggars (satire)


Juhi Chawla creates awareness about ill effects of plastic pollution

Nawazuddin Siddiqui on his film 'Haraamkhor' that premiered in the 15th annual New York Indian Film Festival

9th edition of Jaipur International Film Festival will screen 134 films


Car bomb kills at least 43 in the town of Azaz in Syria - most of the dead are civilians

US army veteran shoots dead five persons in Fort Lauderdale airport, Florida

Prison riots in Brazil leave at least 60 dead - some were beheaded

Annual Dasara exhibition at Doddakere Maidan extended till January 8

The annual Dasara exhibition at Doddakere Maidan that had been inaugurated on October 1 and was to conclude on December 25 (Sunday) will now be on till January 8 because the Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) has decided to extend it by another two weeks after exhibitors complained of losses owing to demonetisation.
Bengaluru-based Fun World and Resorts had bagged this year’s contract for 137 stalls, the entertainment zone and the food court for ₹4.11 crore but, demonetization of high value notes turned out to be bad for business.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 25 December 2016.

The contractor brought the matter of losses to the notice of the authorities and, the KEA decided to extend the exhibition by two more weeks. KEA will collect maintenance expenses from the contractor for the extension period and the extension will also bring in additional revenue to KEA from the gate collection and parking fees.
The exhibitors had complained that they had suffered losses of up to 30 per cent this year.
The KEA had anticipated 12.5 to 13 lakh visitors this year and expected to earn more than ₹2.5 crore from gate collection and parking fee, but it could get no more than ₹2.2 crore. Incidentally, the exhibition had a fairly good start but, the exhibitors began to feel the pinch after the Centre withdrew the ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes early in November.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Squirrels of Seattle, Boston and Toronto are stealing Christmas light bulbs

Petrol tanker crashes into other vehicles in Kenya - leaves at least 30 dead

Qantas to fly non-stop from Perth to London in 17 and a half hours


Moody and the half pant brigade (satire)

Lord Shiva cracks jokes and Durga fries samosas (satire)

Didi sharpens her weapons to conquer the Hindi belt (satire)


AR Rahman contender for Oscar nomination for Pele: Birth of a Legend

Julia Roberts of 'Pretty Woman' fame to star in her first TV series

Meryl Streep creates history with her 30th Golden Globes nomination


Suicide bomber kills at least 49 people in a military camp in Aden

US estimates that active ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria have dropped considerably

Syrian forces shoot dead 82 Aleppo civilians in their homes