ಪ್ರೆಸ್ಟೀಜ್ ಫೋರಮ್ ಮಾಲ್ ಒಂದು ಪಕ್ಷಿ ನೋಟ Prestige Forum Mall in Kanakapura Road

The much-awaited Prestige Forum mall has finally been inaugurated on Dec 1st, 2022 & unveiled to the public.




Pic: https://www.constructionweekonline.in/

Watch the vlog for a walkthrough of the mall

                                   

Prestige Group has recently inaugurated its new development Forum mall at Prestige Falcon City Kanakapura Road in South Bengaluru. Forum mall is strategically located in the heart of South Bengaluru at the intersection of Kanakapura Road, Banashankari and JP Nagar.

Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director, Prestige Group, said, “In the coming years, Forum is going to pave the way for endless possibilities when it comes to shopping, entertainment and food and beverages (F&B). Our vision is to strengthen its foothold through thoughtful expansion plans. With our upcoming projects, we are working towards delivering up to seven million sq. ft of space across cities which will help build resonance with our modern-day consumers. The brand has revolutionized the concept of retail in the country, and we will continue to serve our patrons with quintessential, unique spaces that render the prestige feeling.”

Muhammad Ali, CEO–retail, Prestige Group, said, “In 2004 when we created Forum as a project, it was the realisation of a dream. Today, we are reimagining the dream, to develop a new generation of malls that are designed to cater to the future customer.”

The retail project has been designed by architect, Benoy from Singapore The interior design adheres to the overall theme, which unites modernism with natural earthy elements into one feature.


Forum mall is a bespoke shopping destination housing international brands such as Zara and H&M, among others. A few other popular brands available there include Shoppers’ Stop, Lifestyle, Home Stop and Home Centre, among others. Sprawled over 70,000 sq. ft of space, it also includes the newest format of hypermarkets from Dubai’s leading group, Lulu,

The mall houses the largest family entertainment centre Tridom from the Landmark Group, Dubai. Tridom, which is sprawled over an area of 50,000 sq. ft, offers next-gen arcade games and rides.

The mall also features one of the largest megaplexes from the house of PVR, with 12 screens, featuring Gold class, PXL and 4DX theatres. It also has over 45 food and dining options, a microbrewery, alfresco dining, and a large food court with 1,200-plus seating.

It also offers a plethora of brands in fashion, lifestyle, jewellery, health and beauty, home solutions, and a host of other categories, as well as services like top-notch salons, spas, and wellness centres.


The property features a fully-integrated convention centre with state-of-the-art amenities and a design by one of the best architecture companies in the country. Divided into three segments, this convention centre houses a 1,300-seater broadway theatre, a 500-capacity banquet hall and a 500-seater open-air amphitheatre.

Since 2004, Forum is a part of Prestige Group. In addition to Forum at Prestige Falcon City, Forum Rex Walk is also ensuring to upgrade its offerings by launching the first Director’s Cut in Bengaluru. The new Director’s Cut marks the inauguration of the finest luxury cinema in Bengaluru and the third of its kind in India.

The amazing terminal 2 at the Bengaluru International Airport

 

Terminal 2 Bengaluru Kempegowda Airport: Built at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore, Terminal 2 at Bengaluru Airport will be able to handle around 5-6 crore passengers from the current capacity of 2.5 crore annually.

Photographs of Terminal 2 of Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport were shared with the media today ahead of the grand inauguration scheduled this Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new terminal building at Bengaluru Airport.

With the inauguration of the Terminal 2 or T2, passenger handling capacity as well as counters for check-in and immigration will double, helping the flyers immensely.

My new house warming ceremony

After many months of house hunt for my new 2nd home & many months of interior works, I finally had my new house warming ceremony on Feb 20th-21st 2022. I will share the journey of my house hunt, interior designs & property investments in my future videos. Stay tuned for that & enjoy this small glimpse from my house warming ceremony!

The exciting future of Namma metro

 The future of Namma nimmellara metro looks very exciting. Especially the Jayadeva station corridor looks out of this world !!

What is the new RBI mandate for auto debit transactions in India

 With the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) extended deadline coming to an end, there will be no automatic recurring payment for various services including recharge and utility bill as the additional factor of authentication (AFA) will become mandatory from Friday.

On December 4, RBI had directed all banks including RRBs, NBFCs, and payment gateways that the processing of recurring transactions (domestic or cross-border) using cards or Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) or Unified Payments Interface (UPI) under arrangements/practices not compliant with AFA would not be continued beyond March 31, 2021.

As part of risk mitigation measures, RBI announced this step to bolster safety and security of card transactions.

However, non-readiness of some of the players forced the RBI to extend the deadline on recurring payment such as utility bills, recharge of phone, DTH and OTT, among others, till September 30.

Under the new norms, banks will be required to inform customers in advance about recurring payment due and transaction would be carried following nod from the customer. So the transaction would not be automatic but would be done after authentication from the customer.

For recurring payments above Rs 5,000, banks are required to send a one-time password to customers as per the new guidelines.

Most of the banks including State Bank of India (SBI) have informed their customers about the new rules.

HDFC Bank in a bulk message to customers said as per RBI guidelines on e-Mandate on cards, the bank will decline non-compliant recurring transaction at merchant web or app on your Credit/Debit Card from October 1, 2021.

"Alternate Solution - Retry regular payment on Merchant Web/App authenticated via OTP or Pay via AutoPay in BillPay on our NetBanking for your Electricity /Water/Gas/ Landline/Postpaid mobile/Broadband/Insurance billers," it said.

In August 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued a framework for processing of e-mandates on recurring online transactions.

Initially applicable to cards and wallets, the framework was extended in January 2020 to cover Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions as well.

RBI had said the requirement of AFA has made digital payments in India safe and secure and the primary objective of the framework was to protect customers from fraudulent transactions and enhance customer convenience.

In the interest of customer convenience and safety in use of recurring online payments, the framework mandated use of AFA during registration and first transaction (with relaxation for subsequent transactions up to a limit of Rs 2,000, since enhanced to Rs 5,000), as well as pre-transaction notification, facility to withdraw the mandate, etc.

Courtesy: Business Standard website

Tricks to find slots for taking COVID vaccine

 For India: 

Just sharing few places you can set up notifications for when vaccines will be available in your area. Please do register first at Cowin.gov.in and then try out the below options.

These apps work with COWIN and keep you updated either through telegram or Paytm app notifications so that you can book as soon as they are available:

1. https://getjab.in

2. https://www.vaccinateme.in/covid/ (HealthifyMe)

3. https://under45.in

4. https://t.co/WvJa7CRxxO?amp=1​ (Paytm)

5. Register here https://vasavi-vaccination.in/ which is an initiative by Tejasvi Surya to help south Bangaloreans to get vaccinated at Vasavi hospital.

6. Some Twitter handles to follow and turn on notifications 

https://twitter.com/blrvaccinewatch?s=21

https://twitter.com/blorevaccine?s=11

7. Try contacting Fortis hospital to organise a vaccination drive at your apartment premises. 

Good luck with finding your slots for the vaccine. Stay home and stay safe 

Madhukar KR

Some verified Covid related web resources for the needy

NOTE: The information provided in this post is applicable only for India only.

1. Sprinklr - medicines oxygen beds availability dashboard collated from various social media websites.

2. Covid Relief GlideApps - Collated information from various other trusted sites and tools for plasma requests food vacant beds medicines help

3. For registering to get vaccinated in India - visit cowin.gov.in

4. For Getting RT-PCR test results for the tests conducted by Karnataka - https://www.covidwar.karnataka.gov.in/service1

5. MyGov Indian government website - view the covid related dashboard for country level data and statistics.

6. ICMR Indian council for medical Research official website - Several links to other covid related resources and guidelines and best practices related to covid available here.

7. PlasmaFinder - You can either donate or request for Plasma through this website.

8. CovidHelplineBangalore - Run by a group of volunteers offering information on covid related help for Bangalore such as beds oxygen medicines plasma 

9. Press/Media - Useful list of phone numbers from thenewsminute.com for Bangalore for ambulance beds and labs.

10. Free medical consultation from US by Indian doctors

 - US Indian-American Physicians community have unanimously joined hands to provide COVID-19 consultations *FREE OF CHARGE* for India. 

To schedule your appointment visit www.mdtok.com/org/covid19

For free booking, use *voucher code – mdtok2021*

American physician of Indian origin has set up telemedicine consults with all kinds of specialists to help with Covid patients in India. You can forward this message to anyone in need.

Http:/Www.Eglobaldoctors.com

It’s mostly to treat patients at home to decrease stress at the hospitals and answers patients phones as Indian doctors are overwhelmed.

11. MyGov WhatsApp Helpdesk - Add this mobile number 90131 51515 to your saved contacts to get the Helpdesk support from MyGov on WhatsApp

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/ d/1kXyK6D0QphEe4QXtj3lsyjYJu_k3jIxM1xP9_ QVuudI/edit?usp=sharing

ಕೇವಿಡ್–19 ಸೊಂಪನ್ಮೂಲಗಳು

https://www.covid19india.org/resources

ಕೇವಿಡ್ಫೈ–ಭಾರತದಾದ್ಯೊಂತ

https://life.coronasafe.network/

ಫ್್ಯಕ್ಟುಚಕ್ – ಭಾರತದಾದ್ಯೊಂತ

https://www.factchecker.in/fact-check/factchecker- -verified-covid-19-helplines-remdesivir-hospital-beds- oxygen-743175

ಸ್ವತೊಂತ್ರ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಕ್ರೇಢಿೇಕರಣ– ಭಾರತದಾದ್ಯೊಂತ

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16WeMKah 7RXoB1gnqa9YXVTuWM4TR6hY9Qys48Pf8mCc/ edit?usp=drivesdk

https://www.covidfacts.in/

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J2kO bssgqNH0cpIZcjkdc8szhlz9pJazTMFyQ-fDo_A/ edit#gid=1745413321

https://linktr.ee/Okayival

https://external.sprinklr.com/insights/explorer/dashb oard/601b9e214c7a6b689d76f493/tab/4?id=DASH BOARD_601b9e214c7a6b689d76f493&home=1

https://covid19.nalsar.ac.in/crowdsourced-data/

  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OL7go19rRpSdxemQX- HM0cTBds2hjspj7_U7Ag7NdOCQ/htmlview

https://www.theuncutteam.com/covidresources

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-HDRXAnMGkFIr8H- QB_fUaZiL70c-rSuShYYfO2U6754/edit#gid=1554547770

https://indiacovidresources.in/

https://covidfood.retool.com/embedded/public/57eb2d29-47b4- 4322-aadf-83cf368d2990/

http://friends2support.org/inner/news/searchresult.aspx

https://covidfightclub.org/

ಸೊಂಪೂಣ್ಕ ಮಾಹಿತಿ– ಬೊಂಗಳೂರು

https://oxygenblr.in/

https://covidhelplinebangalore.com/

ಸಕಾ್ಕರದ ಸೊಂಪನ್ಮೂಲಗಳು– ಕನ್ಕಟಕ

https://covid19.karnataka.gov.in/page/Helpline/en

Do refer to the official websites for trustworthy information and please do not trust information provided in unverified WhatsApp university forwards.

Stay safe and let’s fight covid to get life back to normalcy in India. Jaihind !!!

- Madhukar KR

Watching TENET movie during COVID in PVR IMAX Bangalore !! 😳

Curious to know my experience of watching a movie in a cinema hall/theatre during COVID?? 

Watch my video !! The intention of making this video is to show you how it feels to be visiting a theatre during the COVID era and the level of sanitisation and precautions exercised by a theatre like PVR so that you can make up your mind if you want to visit the theatre or not!

Though the theatres opened up in india in October, for most of them this will be their first visit since the start of this pandemic as this is the first significant new Hollywood film release in India.

There was no physical contact involved at the box office as booking was already done using the BookMyShow app. I just used the wallet app from my Apple Watch to scan the QR code to gain entry into the theatre. No physical contact for frisking the patrons. Only temperature check was done at the entrance.

The temperature maintained in the theatre was around 26 degrees I believe and I had to remove my jacket post interval. 

The theatres are operating at 50% capacity as directors by the Govt of India. There are yellow strips marked for every alternative seats ensuring sufficient social distance.

No problems with ordering food as I used a QR code to go through their menu and made the payment through the PVR app. I had to quickly run and pick the order as the helpers delivering food orders into the cinema hall has been stopped.

The film is all about saving the world, the favourite theme for most blockbuster Hollywood films. Tenet from Christopher Nolan has his typical experimental narrative playing around with the concept of time, a new concept called inverse entropy and the riveting climax involving the ‘Algorithm’.

I guess this is the most spoiler free version of explaining the overall concept of Tenet 😊.

The action sequences are chilling and I was mighty surprised to learn that most of the scenes were shot in real with least amount of CG or green screens.

Watch the exclusive making of the film here for more information 

A curious case of Forgery - Dont let this happen to you !!

This is one of the unfortunate incidents that I heard this year which has happened to my neighbour.

Its a case of cheating, forgery & a well known bank not being able to detect this forgery.

My neighbour is one of the newly arrived from Maharashtra & comes around as a friendly, good natured person. He newly joined a company here in Bangalore & got his salary account opened from a "well known bank".

After a few months, he decided to visit his hometown, It was after coming back that he was surprised that his salary account showed a decline of Rs. 20,000/- mysteriously !!!

He rushed to his bank to find out how this has happened. He was told that a person named ""so & so" whom he has never heard of, in his whole life had taken away hard cash of Rs. 20,000/- using a bearer cheque which was duly signed by his signature !!!

My neighbour was petrified to look at the signature as it was an exact match of his own signature. The only difference being that it was glaring to one's eyes that the signature was not a confidently signed one as the curves in the signature seem to have been slowly penned.

My neighbour questioned the bank about this signature saying that it does not match his signature as his signature contains confident curve strokes on the cheque.

Also the handwriting on the cheque was also questionable which had closely matched with my neighbour's handwriting.

Ny neighbour explained the bank that he had never issued any cheque to this "so & so" person whom he had never known in his whole lifetime !!!

He asked the bank if they asked him to produce any photo identity proof before honouring the bearer cheque. The bank did ask for a photo id proof & he had produced his Driving License !!!

Now all my neighbour has is a xerox copy of the alleged cheat's DL. My neighbour has lost hopes of getting back his money as he has lost trust in either the bank or even the police. On the contrary he is scared that the police might trap him into unnecessary issues for which he does not have time to spend on......

All I can say is that please be careful about your cheque books & dont let it get into the hands of unknown persons. Be very careful when you are handing over cheques to other parties or banks or for any kind of bill payments.

Chalta Hai Attitude Nahin Chalega...

An eye-opener article

http://www.lead.timesofindia.com/Ujjwal_Banerjee.asp?pid=28

Does Sanjay Dutt really deserve sympathy?

It was 31st July 2007, the D-Day for Sanjay Dutt which would decide his fate for the next few years... I too waited to know the outcome of the court's verdict.

Out came the verdict... Sanjay dutt was sentenced for 6 years of rigorous imprisonment. My first reaction to it was that I felt sorry for the 48 year old man. I had always loved the on screen image of sanjay Dutt.
It felt like our dear munna bhai is paying the penalty for being a celebrity.

But as I slowly started looking back at his past acts in real life through several articles on the net, the real picture started to emerge out.
Closely observe his early life, & set aside the munna bhai from the real life Sanjay Dutt.

In his teenage, Sanju got into drug addiction & was later rehabilitated. He cames across as a spoilt brat & it looks like he was not brought up with care by his parents, him being a star pair's son.
And then we have reports that the star had links with the underworld goons & that he was seen attending the lavish parties thrown by them. There could be an other angle to it too... that may be he was forced to attend such parties as we all know that the Underworld is known to put pressure on Bollywood for their own gains.

It turns out to be the two faces of the same coin.
The first side of the coin:
Sanjay obtained an AK 56 rifle & a 0.9 MM pistol from the underworld goons & claims that he procured them for his family's safety. But then, why did he have to get it from the guys who were involved in the 1993 bomb blasts?
His answer seems to be that he never knew what these guys were up to...!!!

All in all, we know that the minimum punishment under the Arms Act is 5 years. And Sanju has got 6 years.. May be a year more... since as per the judge, he not only committed the crime but he also got two others into it by asking them to destroy it without the knowledge of the police.

But if you look at the other side of the coin, the old man has already spent 16 months in jail when he was under-trial & the sword of rigorous jail term always was hanging above his neck since 14 years...
As we term it.. Justice delayed is justice denied...

The question is why did it take 14 long years to convict him & come to a decision? The basic problem lies in this fact. As we know, law is same for all & Sanju had to serve his punishment, but may be his term of sentence could have been reduced keeping all these factors in mind.

So.. in conclusion.. The sympathy which Sanjay Dutt is getting that he should be let off completely is understandably due to his munna bhai image & his soft spoken behavior in the society.

Sanjay Dutt definitely needs to pay for his criminal acts but looking at his past 14 years where he was always under the dark shadow of being accused as a criminal, & his good conduct in the society, his term can be definitely reduced.

Support Sanju by signing this online petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/SupSanju/petition.html

Latest update on Sanju's bail: He gets an interim bail on Aug 20th 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUSDEB00045920070820