The Tamil Nadu government has issued a high alert following reports of widespread crow deaths, raising concerns about a potential avian influenza outbreak. Authorities have implemented stringent precautionary measures and urged the public to report any unusual bird deaths.
Tamil Nadu's Jallikattu season draws to a close but not before acts of daredevilry by humans and animals.
The apex court has also issued notice to Centre, Tamil Nadu and other states where 'Jallikattu' is played.
He also proposed various measures, including land tax waiver for farmers, to mitigate their suffering.
Making the announcement, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan tweeted: 'The Union government has made arrangements to allow Jallikattu in TN.'
The Madurai bench of the Madras high court has directed the secretary, environment and forest department, to ensure that there are no more acquisitions of elephants by private individuals or religious institutions in Tamil Nadu.
The Centre's notification lifting ban on bull taming sport Jallikattu during the festival of Pongal in Tamil Nadu was on Monday challenged in the Supreme Court.
Four persons have been arrested and action taken against seven policemen.
Culling of chickens and ducks began on Tuesday in parts of Kerala to contain the H5N8 strain of bird flu, while Jammu and Kashmir sounded an alert and started collecting samples from migratory species after Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh reported cases of the avian influenza.
The popular bull- taming competition held on Pongal day in Madurai district left about 59 people, including tamers, bull owners and spectators injured.
The Centre on Wednesday deployed multi-disciplinary teams in bird flu-affected areas of Kerala and Haryana, while Madhya Pradesh, where crows have died due to the influenza, banned the entry of chicken consignments from southern states for 10 days as a precautionary measure.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar defended the Centre's move to allow controversial bull taming sport Jallikattu despite opposition from animal rights bodies.
Personnel from multiple government departments, including revenue, police, fisheries, animal husbandry and other state agencies from Ariyalur, Perambalur, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Salem and Thanjavur districts were being deployed to handle the situation in the cyclone-hit regions
His career as a bureaucrat has been somewhat colourless, which suggests his current elevation is simply a matter of being at the right place at the right time.
To snatch a state government out of Congress hands is therefore a high-stakes game with national political implications, for it denies the party the essential fuel to run effective election campaigns, notes T N Ninan.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com spends a day at the Manapaddu beach in Tuticorin where nearly 100 whales were mysteriously beached and many died despite the best efforts of the fishermen and authorities.
AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam is said to be upset at his son Raveendranath Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP, being denied a ministerial chance for a second time in a row, beginning with the formation of Modi 2.0 in 2019, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Following are the names of some high-profile people who have been put behind the bars
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