Agricuture Minister Sharad Pawar blamed certain sections of the media for blowing a localised event out of proportion.
The convicted have been given sentences between one and five years.
Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi confirmed on Tuesday that government has put a blanket ban on the import of chicken and eggs from the neighbouring states.
The Kerala high court on Tuesday stayed the operation of two recent orders of the Lakshadweep administration--to close down dairy farms and remove meat products, including chicken from the menu of midday meals for school children.
The Patna District Magistrate had been directed to get these quarters vacated immediately and also realise fines from its occupants at market rate.
There is no case of bird flu in the country but government has decided to stockpile ten lakh doses of the drug, Tamiflu, which helps in treating the infection.
According to the government, the additional chief secretary of the state housing department is designated to sign an agreement with the Union government for the land lease transfer.
There are about 85 million milch cows -- those that produce milk -- in the country.
High drama was witnessed during the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet meeting on Saturday with ministers Jagat Negi and Rohit Thakur leaving midway following a 'heated debate' over policy decisions, sources said.
"Lalu Prasad has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment while a penalty of Rs 60 lakh has also been imposed on him. Apart from Prasad, five years imprisonment each was announced by the Court for five convicts, four years each for 32 convicts and three years each for three convicts," CBI counsel B M P Singh told PTI.
Himachal Pradesh on Monday became the fourth state to report cases of bird flu after Rajasthan, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, with officials confirming that migratory birds found dead at Pong Dam Lake in Kangra district have tested positive for the dreaded avian influenza.
The UID number should have age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body, colour, horn type, tail switch and special marks details of the animal, the Centre said.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has distributed portfolios among the new ministers, keeping key departments such as Home, Personnel, and several others to himself. The Congress' Radhakrishna Kishore was given Finance, Commercial Tax, Planning and Development Department, and Parliamentary Affairs departments. JMM's Deepak Biruwa was allotted the departments of Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms (non-registration), and Transport. Chamra Linda, another JMM leader, was allotted the departments of Schedule Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes (except Minority Welfare). RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav was given the departments of Industries, and Labour, Planning, Training and Skill Development. The Congress' Irfan Ansari got Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, besides Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, and Disaster Management departments. The chief minister also kept to himself the departments of Cabinet Secretariat, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Official Language, Road Construction, Building Construction, and those departments yet to be distributed to anyone. Among the other ministers, JMM's Ramdas Soren was given the School Education and Literacy, and Registration departments. Party colleague Hafizul Hasan was allotted the departments of Water Resources, and Minority Welfare Department. Panchayati Raj, Rural Works, and Rural Development departments were given to Congress MLA Deepika Pandey Singh. The CM gave Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Excise and Prohibition departments to JMM's Yogendra Prasad. JMM legislator Sudhivya Kumar became the minister for Urban Development and Housing, Higher and Technical Education, and Tourism, Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs departments. Shilpi Neha Tirkey of the Congress was allotted Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department. A total of 11 MLAs took oath as ministers in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand on Thursday.
The infection has spread rapidly as the deaths have been reported from nine districts in Assam.
The Centre said bird flu has been confirmed only in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh so far, but all states should be prepared for any eventuality. States have been told to ensure sufficient stock of PPE kits and accessories required for culling operations.
The health department said two of the persons on the contact list are from Palakkad, while four are from Thiruvananthapuram.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea seeking directions to the Centre and states to take steps to ensure indigenous cows are artificially inseminated only with the semen of "pure indigenous" bulls and not those of "exotic foreign" breeds.
Despite a go-ahead from the Centre, the state government will not resort to culling of the pigs immediately and will adopt an alternate mechanism to prevent the spread of the highly contagious disease, Assam Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora said at a press conference.
The Centre on Wednesday said Avian Influenza, or the bird flu outbreak, has been reported at 12 epicentres in four states -- Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh -- and advisories have been issued to contain further spread of the infection in poultry ducks, crows and migratory birds.
The apex court asked the counsel for the Centre to specify the status of rules which were to be formulated in pursuance of its direction to protect cattle smuggling to Nepal and posted the matter for further hearing after summer vacation from May 10 till July 2.
Delhi, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra on Monday confirmed bird flu cases, adding to the list of seven states -- Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh -- which had already reported avian deaths due to the disease.
No fresh Nipah positive cases were reported in the state since September 16 with 218 samples of persons who were in the high-risk contact list turning up negative for the virus till date, the Kerala government said on Monday.
Fresh bird deaths were reported on Tuesday, including over 900 from Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, amid cases of avian influenza in 10 states and union territories, with the Centre saying it has issued advisories on testing and maintaining sufficient stock of PPE kits for culling operations.
Shiv Sena's Dadaji Bhuse is the new school education minister while Uday Samant continues to be the industries minister.
The court had on March 19 held the 69-year-old Rashtriya Janata Dal chief guilty along with 18 others in connection with the case - RC 38 A/96.
District nagistrate Ashish Chauhan said the curfew in the 25 villages will be in force from 7 pm to 6 am.
After the outbreak of Nipah at a hamlet in Perambra last week, 16 people have tested positive, of whom 13 have died so far.
He had already been granted bail in the Chaibasa Treasury Scam case in October 2020, and in the Deoghar Treasury Scam case in February 2020.
A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi said it is not issuing notice but tagging the matter with the pending similar appeal also filed by the CBI.
Separatist-turned politician Sajjad Lone dismissed reports that he was miffed over being given a low-key portfolio in the PDP-BJP govt.
After repeated gaffe by Rahul Gandhi on no dedicated ministry to deal with the issues of fishermen, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Congress leader was on vacation when the National Democratic Alliance formed the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in 2019.
Kerala health minister said of the 251 contacts, 54 are high risk contacts out of which 30 are healthcare workers.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
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.
The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to set up a 'gau cabinet' for the protection and promotion of cows in the state, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday.
The death of a 11-year-old boy due to 'bird-flu', even before the devastating effects of the second Covid wave have waned, has alarmed the medical fraternity though they assert that human-to-human transmission of H5N1 virus is extremely rare. The event has also put the Rs 90,000 crore domestic poultry industry which was seeing some uptick in demand after months of low sales last year into a spot of bother, as any curb on sale or production of eggs or chicken could have a devastating impact on its revenues. It is estimated that around 60 million people are directly impacted by the poultry sector in India. H5N1 virus, also commonly known as bird flu, is known to spread from chickens but other birds such as ducks and crow are also carriers of the virus.
The high court said the objections filed in response to the government's advertisement/ notice published on its website and newspaper shall be considered before finalising the notification.
George said the boy from Pandikkad suffered a massive cardiac arrest at 10.50 am on Sunday and efforts to revive him failed.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, in jail following his conviction in the fodder scam, moved the Jharkhand high court on Thursday against the Central Bureau of Investigation court's judgement which found him guilty.
Monday's verdict in the fodder scam, sending former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to jail, for which he could be disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha - which could jeopardize the UPA government's already wafer-thin majority, is all over the news but how much do you know about it? Check out our primer.
