Thiruvananthapuram: Thirty per cent of the government staff in Kerala are shirkers! The revelation came from none other than Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.

To consolidate its presence in the domestic tourism circuit and to attract tourists to the State in a big way, Kerala Tourism has planned to start tourist information and marketing offices in four major cities(Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore) of the country.

The Kerala government will institute an award in the name of veteran architect and pioneer of low-cost housing technology, Mr Laurie Baker, who passed away on Sunday, housing Minister Binoy Vishwom said.

Satellite technology supplied by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will soon come in aid of nearly 600,000 fishermen in Kerala for identifying shoals of fish in nine fishing districts.