Assorted

Vilnius, Apr 3: A Lithuanian man flying to Italy got a pleasant surprise when he boarded the plane: he was the only passenger on the Boeing 737-800. Skirmantas Strimaitis, who was flying from capital Vilnius to the northern Italian city of Bergamo for a skiing holiday March 16, had the whole plane — which can usually sit up to 188 people — to himself. The only others onboard were two pilots and...

Washington, Apr 2: The head of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today branded India's destruction of one of its satellites a "terrible thing" that had created 400 pieces of orbital debris and led to new dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Jim Bridenstine was addressing employees of NASA after India shot down a low-orbiting satellite in a missile...

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 31: Two people died of sun stroke and another 44 suffered sun burns in Kerala as mercury continues to rise above normal. Sources said the two people, a farmer, Unnikrishnan from Muriathottam near Parasala on the city suburbs and a woman labourer, Chinnammalu of Nallur in Palakkad, died of sun stroke on Saturday. Maximum Temperature is very likely to be above normal by 2 to...

New Delhi, Mar 27: TV viewers may be able to switch their DTH or cable service providers without changing the set top box (STB) by the end of this year, according to regulator Trai's Chairman R S Sharma. "Since last two years we have been trying to make STBs interoperable. Large part of problem has been resolved. There are some business challenges (which) remain... We are looking at this to happen...

Mysuru, Mar 24: In an unique attempt to enhance the polling percentage the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) have decided to print the date of Polling on its milk packets to be supplied to the consumers when Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency goes to polls on April 18. According to Suma, Deputy Director, KMF, Bengaluru, this initiative has been taken to increase the voting percentage. About 34 lakh...

Bengaluru, Mar 23: The transport department of Karnataka government has suspended the licence of Ola Cabs (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) for six months with effect from last night, alleging that the ride-hailing company had been running two- wheeler taxis in violation of the law. This means the Bengaluru-based aggregator will not be able to operate any of its services — cars, autos and bikes — across...

Kochi, Mar 21: Twenty-six renowned travel bloggers from 21 countries across the globe Thursday set off on a fortnight's trip to Kerala by bus to visit places of tourist interest and cultural value and post their experiences real-time. The sixth edition of the 'Kerala Blog Express' (KBE) had its first halt at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, where the writers took a round of countrys biggest...

Mandya,Mar 18: Thousands of devotees witnessed the Vairamudi festival at the temple town Melkote, about 50 km from here, amid chanting of Vedic hymns, lord Cheluvanarayanaswamy, decked with the Vairamudi (price less diamond crown), was taken in a procession at the auspicious hour around the temple town. Fondly called Chellapillai (beloved son), lord Cheluvanarayanaswamy, the presiding deity of...

Kannur, Mar 17: Two persons were killed while five others sustained injuries when two cars in which they were travelling collided at Mundayad near Varam, here on Sunday morning. Police said the deceased were identified as Libesh (25) of Machery and Shibin (24) of Edayanoor. Libesh died on the spot and Shibin succumbed to his injuries at Pariyaram Medical College Hospital (PMCH).

Shivamogga, Mar 17: At least five thatched huts were gutted in a fire late Saturday evening at Mattodi village in Karnataka's Shivamogga. Soon after receiving the report of the incident, police and fire tenders rushed to the spot to douse the blaze. The locals were also present at the site of the incident. So far no injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained...