Former minister and Congress leader MP Gangadharan passed away at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram Monday. He was 77.
Hailing from Ponnani, Malappuram Mr Gangadharan was the irrigation minister in the K Karunakaran-led government.
A six-time MLA, he had also acted as the Congress parliamentary party deputy leader, chairman of water authority and Kerala Tourism and Development Corporation (KTDC), Malappuram DCC president and KPCC general secretary.
In 2005 he resigned from the Congress to join DIC, the party launched by Mr K Karunakaran.  When Mr Karunakaran decided to rejoin the Congress party in …

 
 The Union of UK Malayalee Association (UKMA) is set to host its second national cultural festival at Southend-on-Sea on November 5, 2011.
The event, jointly hosted by UKMA East Anglia region and Southend Malayalee Association, would be held at Westcliff School.The organisers have made elaborate arragements to make the cultural fete a huge success.  Southend-on-Sea’s popular Indian restaurant Dosa Palace would put up its food courts at the venue.
Southend Malayalee Association president Kanesius Athippozhi, secetary Sabu Kuriakose and coordinator Pradeep Kuruvila, East Anglian regional president Kunjumon Job, UKMA national committee member …

Kerala’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister T M Jacob (61) passed away Sunday at about 5pm GMT in Kochi.  He is survived by his wife Annie Jacob, a banker, a son and a daughter.
Mr Jacob was under going treatment for pulmonary hypertension at a private hospital in Kochi. He was here in the UK for about a week last month for treatment at Cromwell Hospital in London.
He was representing the Piravom Constituency to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for Kerala Congress (J). 
An able administrator and an efficient parliamentarian, he forayed into politics during his studentt days. Mr …

The season’s first passenger liner, ‘Spirit of Adventure’, called at Vizhinjam on Friday morning. She left in the evening.
Since the port was too small to hold her, the ship anchored out at sea and off-loaded passengers on to small boats.
The medium-sized vessel had 333 passengers and a crew of 201, Vizhinjam port officials said. While not an important port of call for cruise liners, Vizhinjam remains an occasional stopover for them on their way to Colombo, Maldives or the northern ports such as Kochi. GAC Shipping India were the shipping …

The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) would set up a world class food court, professionally run by experts in the field.
The company has invited proposals from major food & beverage outlet brands. An air-conditioned area of around 510 sq. m will be provided with access to the city side.
The facility, which will cater to passengers as well as visitors, is proposed to have three main outlets providing a variety of cuisine including Indian and Chinese.
CIAL has already announced plans to construct a covered alighting area in front of its international …

Kerala  state would set up a  power plant in Orissa to meet its fast-growing  power demand. The Cabinet Tuesday approved the proposal to put up the 2000 MW thermal power plant in Orissa in collaboration with the Orissa government.
A special purpose vehicle would be formed for setting up the coal-based plant. The two States would share the power generated at the plant on an equal basis.
The Central government had allotted a block of coal field at Baitarani in Orissa for powering the plant. This was to be used before March …

 A 16-member  team from Gravesend Grammar School, Kent, UK, has arrived at Bhavan’s Varuna Vidyalaya, Thrikkakkara, Kochi as part of a cultural exchange programme. The team comprises 13 students and three teachers.
Students of the host school received the guests by giving a taste of the rich cultural heritage of the country and the state.
Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattom, Thiruvathirakkali and yoga exercises offered a rare treat to the  UK team who are staying with the students and teachers of the Bhavan’s school. The high school and higher secondary students from Kent are aged …

An Inter-state Council will be formed to coordinate the work for providing better facilities for the pilgrimage to the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple during the coming season which begins on November 17.
The decision was taken at a meeting headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy with the top officials from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry  Sunday. 
The Kerala Government will offer a maximum of five acres of land at Nilackal to other states to set up facilities for the Sabarimala pilgrims. The land will be used for constructing guest houses, …

A Christian church in Thiruvananthapuram has opened its doors to what was once labelled as ‘unchristian’ or even ‘pagan’.
Yoga, ‘pranayama’ and meditation have found their way to the Mar Thoma Church at Vazhuthacaud, where the members of its health club meet every Friday evening at the Parish hall of the church for physical exercises and meditation. 
The church authorities say the exercise would help keep away old-age illnesses like backache, breathing problems, stiffness of joints, spondylitis and so on.
The members of the club are senior citizens in the age group of …

The monograph on Sree Narayana Guru, poet, philosopher and social reformer, titled ‘Brahmarshi Sree Narayana Guru’, written by the late T Bhaskaran, will be translated to 23 regional languages by the Kendra Sahitya Akademi.
Bhaskaran was a noted Malayalam and Sanskrit scholar, writer and former director of the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library, Kerala University.
The decision was taken by the Sahitya Akademi on the basis of a matter raised by P T Thomas MP, under Rule 377, during a Lok Sabha debate.
A J Thomas, Vijayakumar Kunnissery, H Balasubramoniam and Parvathi …

Cardiac surgery is set to become cheap with the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), after three years of research, starting production of cardiac patches using de-cellularised animal tissue which is the first of its kind in the country.
The research was a joint venture of Kerala Livestock Development Board and SCTIMST, in which the former provided animal tissue sourced from a low risk herd or well-monitored herd. The success of the research helps in producing de-cellularised animal tissue such as bovine pericardium and bovine jugular vein …

Balamurali Namboodiri of Edamana Illam is the new ‘melsanthi’ (head priest) of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.
T K Eswaran Namboodiri of Attukal has been selected as the head priest of the adjoining Malikappuram Devi temple.
Both the priests would continue for one year after taking over on November 16, when the two-month long pilgrim season
of the hillshrine begins.
The priests, who will have to stay at the hillshrine for the entire year, were chosen by drawing lot from a list of
candidates shortlisted by the Travancore Deveswom Board (TDB).
The list was prepared by interviewing …

The proposed Kochi metro rail is likely to be extended up to Kakkanad by establishing an alignment towards the IT hub from Palarivattom.  
Land would be made available near the  Nehru International Stadium for the metro trains to take a turn towards Palarivattom Junction along the existing one-way road. The trains can then proceed to Kakkanad through the Palarivattom Bypass Junction.
The distance up to the Kakkanad Smart City site from Palarivattom would be over 8 km. The extension work would be carried out along with work on the proposed Aluva-Pettah …

The 109th commemoration perunnal of Parumala St Gregorios Metropolitan will be celebrated at Parumala from October 26 to November 2.
The festivall celebrations would begin with the hoisting of the flag by Geevarghese Mar Osthathios and Yuhanon Mar Chrisostimos at 2 pm on October 26.
Senior Catholicos of Malankara Orthodox Church Baselios Mar Thoma Didimos I would inaugurate the annual Parumala pilgrimage week celebrations at  3 pm.
Malankara Association secretary George Joseph  would welcome the gathering. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios would preside over the function.
Yuhanon Mar Chrisostimos,  Mathews Mar Thevodosios, Johns Abraham Konattu, Jacob …

 The two-day spiritual odyssey of Swami Udit Chaitanya in UK drew a large number of  audience at different venues.
Addressing a `satsang` at  Sree Narayana Guru Mission, the swamiji laid the emphasis on strengthening one’s mind to face the growing challenges of the changing times.” Believe in your mind and embolden it through infusing conscious energy”, he said.
Swamiji addressed events held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,4A Castletown Road and at Murguan Temple, Church Road.
Swami Chaitanya is due to address another `satsang` to be hosted by the Kent Hindu Samajam on Saturday, 22nd  October 2011 …

Kerala is set to host a Global Ayurveda Festival, a mega event to promote the Ayurveda system of medicine, in Thiruvanathapuram beginning February 9 to 14, 2012.
The event, which includes a series of seminars, exhibitions, and events showcasing the potential of Ayurveda, will be organised by the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA), with the cooperation of the Department of Ayurveda.
Apart from the Department of Ayurveda, representatives and professional bodies from Ayurveda-based industries and the Ayurveda Medicine Manufacturers’ Association are associating with the event.
Seminars involving international Ayurveda …

Kerala is likely to have its first flight direct connection to Europe. The German carrier Lufthansa has reportedly responded positively to an offer by the Cochin International Airport Limited to commence a direct service from Kochi to Frankfurt.
Last week, the airline’s Director for South Asia Axel Hilgers visited Kochi and held discussions with representatives of CIAL and other stake-holders in the state’s travel industry. The visit follows a preliminary discussion between the carrier and Airport Company held earlier. The carrier now needs to conduct an independent feasibility study and calculate …

Renowned spiritual guru Swami Udit Chaitanya will deliver  discourse in London on two days from tomorrow. On Saturday, October 15, the Swamiji would address an event to be held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (4A Castletown Road,London W14 9HE . Phone020 7381 3086)from 3pm to 4pm. Sunday, October 16, swami Chaitanyai would deliver speech from 3pm to 5pm at Sree Narayana Guru Mission (16 Barking Road,London E6 3BP). From 5:30-7pm he will address the devotees at Murguan Temple(78-90 Church Road London E12 6AF).

 Three Technopark companies, MobME Wireless, Innoz Technologies and Flytxt, have featured in the NASSCOM’s list of 50 most emerging IT companies in the country for 2011. MobME Wireless and Flytxt have been chosen in the Emerge Innovation category and Innoz Technologies in the Emerge Start-ups Category.
  NASSCOM Emerge Leaders Awards is an initiative, which has been started exclusively for the emerging start-up IT companies to showcase their unique value proposition and create a distinct niche for them.
  MobME Wireless CEO Sanjay Vijayakumar, on winning this recognition, said that it is …

The selection of the new Melsanthi of  Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple is due to be held at the temple precincts on October 18. 
The selection of the new melsanthis for Sabarimala and Malikappuram Devi temples will be held in front of the  Sopanam at 8 a.m. on October 18 after Usha pooja.
 The shortlisted melsanthi aspirants of nine each for Sabarimala and Malikappuram were selected at an interview held at the devaswom headquarters on October 3 and 4.  The final melsanthi selection, on the basis of draw of lots, would be held …