Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Popular Malayalam filmmaker Vinu, who helmed a handful of hit movies in collaboration with director Suresh, died in a hospital in Coimbatore following a brief illness, industry sources said on Wednesday.

The 73-year-old filmmaker was admitted to the hospital recently for some abdomen-related ailments, the sources said.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

The Suresh-Vinu pair gave several successful Malayalam movies including "Mangalam Veettil Manaseshwari Gupta", "Kusruthi Kattu" and "Ayushman Bhava" among others.

Their last collaborative effort was the 2008 movie "Kanichukulangarayil CBI".

FEFKA Directors' Union, an organisation of Malayalam filmmakers, condoled his demise.

Vinu was working on a new psychological thriller film, it said in a Facebook post.

Vinu would be cremated in Coimbatore on Thursday, it added.

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New Delhi, Nov 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday launched the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini brand milk products in the Delhi-NCR market, pricing them marginally lower than competitors to gain a foothold in the region.

The cooperative will retail four cow milk variants, curd, and buttermilk from Friday, with competitive pricing that undercuts established players like Mother Dairy and Amul.

Cow milk will be sold at Rs 56 per litre, full Cream Milk at Rs 67 per litre, Standardised Milk at Rs 61 per litre, Toned Milk at Rs 55 per litre, and curd at Rs 74 per kg.

"We have surplus milk in the state. KMF along with Mandya Milk Union will market surplus milk of 3-4 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR," Siddaramaiah told reporters after launching the products.

The federation currently collects 100 lakh litres of milk daily, with local consumption at 60 lakh litres, leaving a surplus of 40 lakh litres for expansion into new markets.

However, the Chief Minister acknowledged the challenges of transporting milk over 2,500 km, which takes 50-54 hours.

There is a need to find new markets for surplus milk and gradually the KMF should be able to sell 5-6 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR, he added.

KMF Chairman LBP Bheemanaik assured that milk quality would be maintained during transit.

The federation has already partnered with 40 dealers in the Delhi-NCR region to facilitate sales, he added.

With a robust infrastructure of 26.76 lakh milk producers, 15,737 dairy cooperative societies, and 15 district milk unions, KMF has a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and exports dairy products to over 25 countries.

State Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy were present at the product launch.