Category: Uncategorized
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NATIONAL RECORD: KARNATAKA: INFRASTRUCTURE: Bengaluru’s MG Road Ranks First in Top 30 High street Locations in India
Bengaluru’s MG Road has been ranked first in the list of top 30 high streets in India, followed by Somajiguda in Hyderabad and Linking Road in Mumbai.
Bengaluru’s MG Road has been ranked first in the list of top 30 high streets in India, followed by Somajiguda in Hyderabad and Linking Road in Mumbai, according to Knight Frank.
South Extension (Part 1 and Part 2) in Delhi is at fourth position.
The ranking is based on parameters that determine the quality of experience high streets provide to customers.
“Bengaluru has the best of high streets that provide a significantly better shopping experience with 4 of its markets making it to the top 10 list,” real estate consultant Knight Frank India said.
The consultant has conducted a primary survey of 30 high street locations in eight major markets of India and released a report ‘Think India Think Retail 2023 – High Street Real Estate Outlook’.
The ranking is based on five parameters — parking, public transport, store visibility, spending quotient and average trading density.
Kolkata’s Park Street and Camac Street are at the fifth position, followed by Chennai’s Anna Nagar, Bengaluru’s Commercial Street, Noida’s Sector 18 Market, Bengaluru’s Brigade Road and Bengaluru’s Church Street.
The top ten high streets are those that are convenient in terms of access, parking facilities and with a varied assortment of retailers.
The layout and master planning of the high street define the visibility.
Inward looking markets like Khan Market (Delhi) and DLF Galleria (Gurugram) scored very low, whereas markets aligned along the access road like MG Road (Bengaluru), Somajiguda (Hyderabad), Linking Road (Mumbai), Anna Nagar, Park Street and Camac Street (Kolkata) scored high on the list, the consultant said.
Total high street retail stock is 13.2 million square feet spread across 4,875 retail stores in the top eight markets.
Out of this, 5.7 million square feet is modern retail and 7.5 million square feet is non-modern retail.
After careful assessment of the average trading densities in top 10 retailer categories across 30 high streets, Knight Frank said the potential consumption in the high streets is derived at nearly USD 2 billion for FY 2023-24.
This represents 19 per cent of the potential consumption of USD 11 billion projected for operational shopping mall stock in FY 2023-24.
Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director at Knight Frank India said, “Retail is a highly competitive business and, more recently with the advent of malls, is also closely related to the overall customer experience.”
Globally, he said cities are identified by their high streets, often one of the main attractions of the city, and the brands on these streets – a barometer of the city’s worth on a global platform.
“But as we evolve, customer experience is the key and due to their traditional nature, high streets often fail to provide amenities like those of shopping centres.
“However, as cities in India are modernising, we see many high streets in the country reviving as facilities like access, parking, store visibility etc. have improved.”
He estimated that the average per square meter revenues of high streets will be significantly higher than those of malls in FY 2023–24.
“Going forward, we expect that high streets provide a good retailing experience to customers to see a revival even as other formats of retail continue to thrive,” Baijal said.
source/contents: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)
WORLD RECORD: TRANSPORT / RAILWAYS: Hubballi Railway Station in Karnataka enters Guinness records for World’s Longest Railway Platform
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the longest railway platform in the world at Hubballi railway station in Karnataka.
The Hubballi railway station in Karnataka has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest railway platform in the world. The 1,507 metre long platform was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
Built at a cost of about Rs 20 crore, the platform is part of the remodelling of the Hubballi yard and aimed at addressing the growing need of more trains in the future in the Hubballi-Dharwad region of Karnataka.
The Hubballi railway station is officially called Shree Siddharoodha Swamiji Station.
The platform enables dispatch or reception of two trains from two directions at the same time, Southern Railways said.
The Guinness World Records said it verified the length of the platform on January 12.
PM Modi on Sunday also launched the electrification of Hosapete-Hubballi-Tinaighat section and the upgradation of Hosapete station, for boosting connectivity in the region.
Developed at a cost of over Rs 530 crore, the electrification project establishes seamless train operation on electric traction. The redeveloped Hosapete station will provide convenient and modern facilities to travellers. It has been designed to resemble the Hampi monuments, officials said.
source/content: moneycontrol.com (headline edited)
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REGIONAL: BUSINESS & ECONOMY / ARCHITECTURE: Mangaluru couple Oscar, Ponni M Concessao named Architects to Design Telangana secretariat
Oscar and Ponni M Concessao of Mangaluru have been appointed as the architects to design the new secretariat complex that will come up at Hyderabad in Telangana state.
Chennai-based husband and wife team Oscar and Ponni M Concessao are reputed architects whose careers have spanned decades of work devoted to engineering and architecture and won more than 164 international, national and state awards. Their contributions include creating award winning designs,
authoring publishing technical papers on architecture, urban design, architectural education, conservation, and women’s’ rights.
Oscar G Concessao, was born in the coastal town of Mangaluru, did his schooling from the famous St. Aloysius Institutions, Mangaluru. Born in Valencia, Mangaluru, son of Late Richard Concessao and Celine Concessao, now retired School teacher from St Aloysius School, Mangaluru.
After finishing his pre-university degree from St. Aloysius College he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture at the prestigious National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, University of Madras, in June 1986. and graduated in Master’s in Architecture, Urban Design, magna cum laude, in 1987 from the University of Oklahoma, USA.
While at the University he won the William Van Allen International Design Competition to design a University in Africa, a first for an Indian at a young age of 23. He worked with architectural firms Emery Roth & Sons in New York and Silver & Ziskind, New York, USA on large-scale projects such as high-rise buildings, hospitals, institutional projects and campuses.
Born into a family of professionals, Architect Ponni M Concessao graduated from the illustrious Church Park Convent, Chennai. A pioneer in women’s technical education, Ponni Concessao was the first women undergraduate student of the prestigious National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, University of Madras, graduating in June 1987.
Architect Ponni Concessao completed her post-graduate studies in
Cornell University USA in 1989 with the JND Tata Endowment Scholarship and Scholarship from Cornell University. She also won the College of Human Ecology Grant for Thesis Research in Cornell on her pioneering work on conservation.
Architect Ponni Concessao worked with Edward Larabbee Barnes
Architect, New York City, USA, and with the National Trust of Historic Preservation, Washington D C, USA.
Both Oscar and Ponni did their advanced professional studies at Harvard University, USA, and have been conferred with Honorary Doctorates from the University of Malaysia and University of Milano for Modern Architecture and Architectural Science. They returned to India and settled in Chennai, and
started their architectural practice on 1996, designing versatile projects such as universities, engineering and medical colleges, stadiums at Doha, Qatar, Malaysia several Information technology Parks, bio-tech parks, nano technology parks, townships, hospitals, apartments, hotels, resorts, malls, corporate offices, luxury bungalows, factories, SEZ, several Government and State buildings with completed projects footprints in over 100 locations all over India and Malaysia.
Oscar & Ponni Architects have won more than 164 International, National and State Awards for architecture & interiors. To highlight a few, in 2004, Oscar & Ponni Architects won an award for ‘Excellence in Built Environment, awarded by the His Excellency, the former president of India Dr A P
J Abdul Kalam for the Satyam Technology Information Technology Park at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
In 2005, they won the ‘Architect of the year Award’, 2004, Indian Institute of Architects Tamil Nadu Chapter from then Shri. Rangasamy Chief Minister of Puducherry. In the year 2008 they had won the prestigious Indian Institute of Architects, IIA National Award 2008 for the Sastra Biotech Park for Sastra University at Tanjore. Oscar & Ponni Architects have won the Indian Buildings Congress Award 20 times for their information technology parks, campuses and townships which are unprecedented in India.
In 2014, Oscar & Ponni Concessao, both won the Distinguished Alumni Award for the golden jubilee celebrations of the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli from the former president of India Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
Architect Ponni M Concessao won the Indian Buildings Congress Satya Goel Memorial National Award for the “Eminent Women Building Professional from India”, 2014 and won the Icon of Asia Women Awards at Singapore amongst 11 Asian Nations.
In 2020 Oscar & Ponni won 4 National Awards from the Indian Buildings Congress for Architecture and built environment, and architect Ponni won 8 International and National Women’s achiever awards for Architecture.
In July 2020, chief minister of Telangana K C Rao awarded the Telangana State New Secretariat Building project through a National Design Competition.
Architect Ponni has recently completed the Dr Karunanidhi Museum & Convention centre at Tiruvarur near Thanjavur and is also completing the design of the Gaganyaan Space Centre facility at Sriharikota for ISRO.
Oscar & Ponni architects have recently won four Estrade awards in Singapore in January 2021 for their architecture & interiors projects in Malaysia and Havelock Islands.
To Architect Ponni Concessao and Oscar Concessao, an architect’s role is nation building and one must have a strong sense of contributing to society to all levels especially the poor. Their work includes the school for children of leprosy victims in Tamil Nadu for the Rising Star Outreach, an NGO.
Both the architects Ponni and Oscar are involved in Social Service projects for past 30 years in National and International organisation in the field of women’s empowerment, leprosy eradication, built noon meal centers and toilets for under privileged girl students, tsunami housing, and raised funds by organising her paintings exhibitions at ART Houz Chennai, and raised funds for Rotary, Round Table and Ladies circle India and Rising star outreach of India by conducting Ponni’s Painting exhibitions and the proceeds for these causes, specially leprosy eradication.
She has been a keynote speaker for the past 30 years in international and national conferences and been on Governing Councils in universities, academic advisor and involved in architectural education in India. Both architects Ponni and Oscar are involved in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana project and also built noon meal centers, tsunami Housing, toilets for
underprivileged girl students as well as schools for leprosy afflicted patients children.
One must be an educational engine to all who seek their services, as architects are agents of change and be a mirror of social conscience.
source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)