Smart malls in Ahmedabad cash in on 3 Idiots, Xmas

3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor, has not only given audiences the chance to see good cinema, it has boosted sales at the city's multiplexes and malls. In fact, business was well above expectation in the four-day period ending on Sunday. With Christmas vacations on, in addition to holidays in some corporates and all government offices, the malls and multiplexes were overflowing with potential customers from all walks of life.

According to industry sources, most of the retailers had footfalls numbering in lakhs and the conversion rate was close to 50%. Compared to last year and the same time, the malls had a growth of about 19%. Christmas apparently blew away the recession blues from the Ahmedabad market.

GM of Himalaya Mall, Anshu Mathur told DNA: "We had 80,000 footfalls from Thursday till Sunday. As per my observation, there was conversation of about 50 per cent into sales."

The major buying was in children's goods, apparels and food. One of the major crowd-pullers was the popular movie 3 Idiots. The crowds that didn't get tickets for the movie, chose to shop instead", added Mathur. Along with the Bollywood factor the malls witnessed many NRI customers who usually visit India this season.

Iscon Mall manager Akashdeep Singh told DNA: "We had maximum sales in kidswear. In this season we get many NRG and NRI customers and they were there again." Singh said that they noted footfalls of around 1.75 lakh in the four days of which 40 per cent were converted into sales.

10 Acres Mall in Raipur area did good business, because of the Kankaria Carnival. The mall's GM Indranil Banerji said: "We benefited as some of the Carnival crowd stepped into our mall and many of them bought goods. As '3- Idiots' is running in the complex, the filmy factor played its role. "We got close to 18 per cent more business than last year," a shop source said. Malls have stepped up promotional offers to keep the party spirit high. Niral Shah of Dev Dev Arc Mall said: "We have been organising entertainment activities to attract crowds. We have also proposed a DJ party on December 31."

Source: DnaIndia

Tension, traffic jam after clashes in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Five police personnel including assistant commissioner of police (ACP) NN Gohil and a few others were injured in a stone pelting incident in the Rethiawadi area of Shahpur during the Tazia procession.

According to sources, the stone throwing started after an altercation between crowds of two communities which led to chaos in the area. Police officials said that some miscreants from Rethiawadi area started pelting stones at a Tazia procession. The group which was taking out the procession retaliated and a fight erupted. Police who were present at the spot immediately intervened and a few of them got injured in the incident.

Sources said that the police lobbed 10 tear gas shells and fired five rounds to control the mob. Apart from additional police force, SRP companies and home guards were also deployed during the Tazia procession.

Sources said the injured were taken for treatment in 108 emergency vehicles. Satish Sharma, joint commissioner of police (JCP) sector-1, told DNA that the cause of the incident would be investigated. He added: "The incident happened after a few miscreants started throwing stones at the procession. However, police immediately reached the spot and brought the situation under control."

Source: DnaIndia

Ahmedabad BRTS nominated for int'l award

AHMEDABAD: The BRTS of Ahmedabad has been nominated for the 2010 Sustainable Transport Award to be conferred on January 12 in Washington DC.

Ahmedabad will compete with BRTS systems in Cali city of Columbia, Curitiba city of Brazil, Guadalajara city in Mexico and Johannesburg in South Africa.

The BRTS systems were chosen by a select group of independent institutions like ITDP, EMBARQ, gtz, ICLEI, UITP and UNDP.

"This is a proud moment for the city as Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL) had not applied for the award. Key independent institutions who were part of the award committee were in the city to study our BRTS earlier in the year and made their observations and judged us on certain scientific parameters," said municipal commissioner IP Gautam.

Source: TimesofIndia

Ahmedabad remembers Imam Hussain's sacrifice

Ahmedabad: It was a colourful start to the day's events with multi-coloured tazias coming on to the streets with cheerful kids and enthusiastic adults. The streets were lined with colourful tazias made of paper and bamboo replica of the tomb of Hazrat Imam on Monday as Muslim men, women and kids in the city took out a procession on Muhharam. On this day Muslims are expected to tread the path of Imam Hussain who laid down his lives to advocate truth, justice, and the ideals of Islam.

Thousands of Muslims took out large processions to mark the occasion reciting verses like "Ya Hussian". "Hazrat Imam Hussain made a sacrifice for a great purpose. His death is a day of immense mourning for all Muslims across the globe" says Majid Shaikh, local resident of Shahalam. Both men and women absorbed in the sorrow beat their chests heavily as tears rolled down their cheeks in remembrance of the tragedy at Karbala where the Imam and his family members were killed.

"These huge tazias are made of paper and bamboo sticks. Preparation for these taziayasbegin a month prior to the day. They have a lot of delicate and intricate engravings. done in them which requires special skills" says Ashraf Qureshi, local resident of Khanpur.

Source: DnaIndia