Bengaluru: In a bid to ramp up the fun factor, Wonderla Holidays Limited, India’s No#1 Amusement Operator, today announced a comprehensive repositioning strategy with a new brand identity. After a successful run as the country’s premier “thrill -station” over a decade, the company is ready to expand its footprint nationally as a complete entertainment and hospitality brand. In keeping with the ambitious plans, the company initiated a complete refresh of its identity with a promise of being a “fun & energizing place where people get closer.” The new strategy will include a new logo, new sonic identity and a new mass media campaign.

Speaking at the unveiling of the Brand Refresh, Mr. Arun K Chittilappilly, Managing Director, Wonderla Holidays Limited said, “Over the last decade, Wonderla has gone from strength to strength. Our existing properties in Kochi & Bangalore including our newly opened park in Hyderabad are immensely popular with a very strong customer equity. We are one of the best performing companies in our segment not only in India but also globally. We are very proud of what we have achieved so far. But, we have bigger ambitions – to make Wonderla a national hospitality and entertainment brand to reckon with. The idea behind the change is therefore set the Wonderla brand up for these bigger ambitions.”

The new Wonderla Logo is a more modern, dynamic take on its existing Logo and represents the full potential of Wonderla as a destination for all ages.

Mr Saswata Das, Partner & Executive Director, WOW Design, the agency responsible for developing the new logo explained, “We had to rev-up the Identity of an extremely successful brand with a very well recognised logo to increase its relevance in current times. The primary challenge was to resonate with an audience of age bracket as diverse as 5 to 45 years. What we did was to crack an overarching theme for the Brand which laid the foundations of the Design Strategy. Then we recreated the logo for Wonderla to generate an engaging experience. I am sure the new brand positioning and refreshed look is going to create a lot of pull for the Brand in future.”

In keeping with the new positioning, Wonderla will also be rolling out a new brand campaign and a theme song that will be going on air from 6th April. Happy mcgarrybowen, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has developed this new campaign.

Speaking about the new campaign; Mr. Kartik Iyer, CEO, Happy mcgarrybowen said, “Wonderla is an iconic name for anyone who has lived in South India. The theme park has been a favoured destination in Kochi and Bengaluru for families and tourists alike. With the opening of a new park in Hyderabad, this was the perfect opportunity for a Brand refresh. Out with a spanking new identity and keeping Wonderla’s aspirations of becoming a national brand name, the teams worked together to come up with a positioning and brand idea that delivers on a simple insight that people get closer when they have fun together. A lot of effort has gone into capturing the essence of the Wonderla experience. The new campaign is only a first step to all the exciting things planned for the brand.”​

Bengaluru: Asia Jewels Fair ’17, one of South India’s most Glamourous Jewellery Exhibition is hosting its 11th edition in Bengaluru city from 12th to 14th April. The Grand jewellery fair will take place at the Ritz-Carlton situated at 99, Residency Road in Bengaluru from 10.30 a.m to 8 p.m. This show is a very exclusive one as for the first time the expo will showcase never seen before best jewellery designs from top handpicked jewelers from across India..all under one roof.

His Highness Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the 27th and present titular Maharaja of Mysore and head of the former ruling Wadiyar dynasty & His wife Ms Trishika Kumari will grace the occasion of Inaugurating “Asia Jewels Fair 2017”

Asia Jewels Fair ‘17 is a niche event exhibiting exclusive and high-end branded gold and diamond Jewellery among others. The event showcased some of the latest collection from, Fine gold Jewellery, Diamond Jewellery, Platinum Jewellery, Traditional Jewellery, Wedding Jewellery, Precious stone Jewellery, Kundan Jewellery to name a few.

“Asia Jewels Fair is one of the finest jewellery exhibitions in the city. Pre book your jewellery for the upcoming Akshay Tritya festival & for all the prospective grooms and brides, a fair like this is a one stop-shop that brings some of the best jewellery, design and precious stones under one roof. It is the perfect destination to buy exquisite and world class jewellery in South India.”

On display were luxury jewellery designs from top leading brands of Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Surat, Kokata , Hyderabad creating the most glamorous & spectacular platform for all branded jewellery. Adding to the exquisite display was a dazzling array of International jewellery designs, from top most brands all over India like:

· Creations Jewellery
· AVR Swarna Mahal Jewelry
· Sri Ganesh Diamonds & Jewellery
· Nikhaar Jewels
· Yoube Jewellery (Mumbai)
· Davanam Jewellers
· Diamond Mantra
· Orra Fine Jewellery
· Ananya Jewels
· Entice Bengaluru
· Design Source By Archana Aggarwal ( Delhi)
· Sehgal Jewellers Delhi
· Shrians Jewels (Delhi)
· YS18 (Jaipur )
· Enshine ( Surat )
· Bond Forever (Kolkata)
· Manepally Jewellers (Secunderabad)
· Vummdi Bangaru Kannan & Sons (Chennai)
· Sanghvi Dhanrupji Devaji & Co (Mumbai)
· K Jewels & More (Delhi)

Bengaluru: Various Kannada organisations have called for a state-wide bandh on May 6 demanding that the state government implement permanent irrigation projects in the state to solve existing water crisis amid prevailing drought conditions.

The organisations have stressed that irrigation projects be implemented in Kolar, Chikkaballapur and other areas of Karnataka as several regions have been witnessing severe water scarcity.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: A 20-year-old student from Bengaluru committed suicide by jumping from the 19th floor of a top hotel here after posting a video on social networking sites describing the step he was taking to end his life, police said on Monday.

The victim, who succumbed to the fall instantly, has been identified as Arjun Bhardwaj, who was studying in a prominent Mumbai college.

Initial investigations reveal that he hails from Bengaluru and is son of a businessman.

“We have recovered a suicide note which indicates that he was disturbed. We are investigating further,” Joint Police Commissioner Deven Bharti told IANS.

The social media profile of the youth is being checked by police to asertain the motives behind the drastic measure while his family has been informed of the tragedy.

(PTI)

Mumbai: Rakhi Sawant, the controversial TV and Bollywood actor, was today arrested for allegedly hurting Valmiki community sentiments.

Sawant had reportedly made some objectionable remark against Valmiki, the mythological sage who wrote Ramayana.

Rakhi Sawant was arrested following a warrant which was issued by a Ludhiana court on March 9 on the basis of a complaint filed against her for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Valmiki community with her comments on a programme on a private television channel last year.

Rakhi Sawant had failed to appear before the court during the last hearing held on March 9 despite the court issuing her repeated summons.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for April 10.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has cleared senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar, radical Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and two others of all charges in the 2007 Ajmer dargah terror attack case in which three persons were killed. The NIA said no evidence was found against them.

In its supplementary closure report filed in the NIA Special Court here on Monday, the agency said it did not find any role of Mr. Kumar, Sadhvi Pragya, Ramesh Venkatrao and Samandar alias Rajendra Chaudhary in carrying out the blast at the 13th century shrine of Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

Special judge Dinesh Gupta fixed April 17 for deciding whether the court would accept or reject the closure report.

NIA’s failure

The court also expressed displeasure over the NIA’s inability to arrest three absconding accused, who figure in the agency’s list of most-wanted people with cash rewards against them.

The suspects on the run are Sandeep Dange, Suresh Nair and Ram Chandra Kalsangra. The court asked the NIA Director-General to file a progress report on the efforts to arrest the three fugitives.

The NIA Special Court had on March 22 sentenced RSS activists Bhavesh Patel and Devendra Gupta to life imprisonment after convicting them of carrying out the explosion inside the dargah during the month of Ramadan on October 11, 2007. Seven accused, including former RSS activist Aseemanand, were acquitted in the case.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Former spokesperson of Samajwadi Party (SP) Gaurav Bhatia, who had quit the party five days before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, formally joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday.

Once a prominent party face on the television batting for his erstwhile SP, Bhatia joined the saffron party in the presence of BJP national secretary Bhupendra Yadav and national general secretary Arun Singh at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Bhatia also met BJP president Amit Shah later during the day.

The BJP, however, remained mum on the role of Bhatia in the party.

On Sunday, Bhatia said, “The SP was moving away from the ideals of Ram Manohar Lohia. There is no value of loyalty and sincerity and it has been surrendered to dynastic politics.”

A Supreme Court lawyer, Bhatia, who was appointed as additional advocate general of the UP government led by then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for inspiring him to join the party.

He was also the national president of the legal cell of the SP.

BJP swept the UP assembly elections and returned to power after 14 years by winning 312 seats while the SP-Congress alliance got 54 seats.

Bhatia, however, refrained from launching any personal attack on former UP chief minister or his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Bhatia resigned from all posts of the SP on February 5 in the run up to the elections saying that it was becoming difficult for him to continue serving the party.

He then accused the SP of compromising the very principles of democracy, secularism and socialism that he had had strong belief in.

At the time of his resignation, Bhatia refused to disclose the reason why he was leaving the party.

(Agencies)