Tour operators and hoteliers are peeved with an advertisement issued by the ministry of civil aviation, which doesn't indicate the presence of Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode airports on the aviation map. The ad, the ministry's share of the pre-election PR drive of the UPA government, mentions only the Cochin International Airport.

The ad, which depicts the five-year growth of the sunrise sector through a comparison chart of major international air routes, claims that even the "smallest cities are connected to the world". Srinagar, Amritsar, Lucknow, Gaya, Guwahati, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur, Goa, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Bengaluru and Trichy join the original connectivity points of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi on the map.

To attract more Indians, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is all set to roll out a diesel variant of its premium compact car, the i-20, by the end of the existing year (2009).

The second largest car maker, which has already launched i-20 diesel variant in the European market, is now looking at launching the car in the Indian market.

Kottayam (Kerala), Feb 17: Eleven Sabarimala pilgrims were killed and 40 others injured when a bus fell into a gorge near Erumeli town in Kerala's Kottayam District in the wee hours on Tuesday.

The victims were on their way to the Sabarimala hill shrine when the bus carrying 60 pilgrims slipped into a 50-foot gorge while it was passing the narrow Pampa Valley road.

All victims are hailing from Andhra Pradesh''s West Godavari District.

Kottayam (Kerala), Feb 17: Eleven Sabarimala pilgrims were killed and 40 others injured when a bus fell into a gorge near Erumeli town in Kerala's Kottayam District in the wee hours on Tuesday.

The victims were on their way to the Sabarimala hill shrine when the bus carrying 60 pilgrims slipped into a 50-foot gorge while it was passing the narrow Pampa Valley road.

All victims are hailing from Andhra Pradesh''s West Godavari District.

Yes, you heard it right!

State-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corp (KSIDC) is ready to set up a Life Science Park with high-tech facilities near Thiruvananthapuram.

According to KSIDC release, the project would come up under public-private partnership model.

The Rs 3 billion (Rs 300 crore) park will be spread over 260 acres at Thonnakkal, which is about 25 km from Thiruvananthapuram district.

The release said, “It will be a geographic cluster of industries in the field of biotechnology or nanotechnology, research institutions and sci-tech academia.”

Trivandrum (Kerala), Feb 10 : Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday said the country is on its way to becoming self-reliant in the defence sector.

Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of the BrahMos Integration Complex here, Antony said work to make more missiles and warships is in progress.

"BrahMos (missile) is a symbol of co-operation between India and Russia. We need to make more missiles, war ships, planes and tanks. Work on our own Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is progressing. We should soon be self-reliant in this field," said Antony.