All accused in temple firework disaster that claimed 110 lives get bail

Kozhikode, Jun 9: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena T is all set to marry DYFI National President and CPM state committee member PA Muhammad Riyas on June 15. Interestingly, it's the second marriage for both. 

Veena, the elder daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan and Kamala Vijayan, is an IT entrepreneur based in Bengaluru.

According to sources, the marriage will be a simple function in Thiruvananthapuram where only close relatives will participate. The marriage registration has already been done. 

"It's only a private affair of two individuals," Riyas told media persons, reluctant to divulge more details. 

The 44-year-old Muhammad Riyas started his political career with the Students Federation of India (SFI) and climbed up the rungs through DYFI. He had unsuccessfully contested against UDF's M K Raghavan from Kozhikode parliament constituency in 2009. 

The son of retired IPS officer P M Abdul Khadar, Riyas is the familiar face of the left in primetime TV discussions, strongly articulating the CPM stance. 

A law graduate, he had begun at the grassroots level and gradually worked his way up the ladder. 

His marriage to Dr Sameeha Saithalavi, a former syndicate member of Calicut University, happened in 2002. The couple separated in 2015 and they have two sons aged 10 and 13. 

The 40-plus Veena is MD of the IT firm Exalogic Solutions since 2014. 

Prior to that, she was the CEO of RT Technosoft, a Thiruvananthapuram-based company owned by NRI industrialist Ravi Pillai. Before that, she had a six-year stint with Oracle. She has a son from her first marriage. 

"They both were divorced for more than five years. They knew each other and the marriage decision was taken by them only. It's completely a private affair," said a DYFI leader.

Mangaluru, Feb 27: An utterly unprofessional thief, who fell asleep after breaking into a house, was caught by the house owner and handed over to the police in the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada.

The hilarious incident took place on Wednesday in the one-storey, tiled-roof house owned by Sudarshan at Ullas Junction under the limits of Uppinangady police station.

The thief, who gained entry into the house by removing the roof-tiles, has been identified as Anil Sahani, a native of Bihar’s Majipur district. He was snoring on the sofa with a set of keys clutched in his hand when the house owner woke up in the morning.

The house owner, who was sure that the thief was drunk, woke him up by hitting him with a stick and then handed him over to the police.

According to police, the thief was tired after removing the tiles on Tuesday night and hence he decided to take a nap soon after entering the house.

He grabbed a bunch of keys kept near the TV stand and then lied down on the sofa. He woke up only when the house owner hit him with a stick the next morning.

Mangaluru, Feb 23: Karnataka Minister for Fisheries and Religious Endowment Kota Shrinivas Poojari on Sunday said that there will be no shortage of water during the summer season in Dakshina Kannada district as per a review done by the district administration and the Panchayati Raj Department.

He said that periodic review will be conducted and based on that appropriate decisions will be taken.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, February 23, Poojari said that the main source of water for Mangaluru, the Thumbe vented dam, has a steady inflow of water.