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.
Nearly four lakh chickens have died in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and vicinity over the past 45 days, prompting the Animal Husbandry Department to send samples for testing to ascertain the cause. Avian influenza is suspected, but the cause is yet to be confirmed.
Tamil Nadu's Jallikattu season draws to a close but not before acts of daredevilry by humans and animals.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel allocated portfolios following a major cabinet reshuffle, with Harsh Sanghavi becoming Deputy CM and receiving Home and Industries. New ministers, including Rivaba Jadeja, were also assigned responsibilities.
At present, the situation in Kerala is being monitored before any action can be taken, they said.
No fresh deaths have been recorded in Turakapalem village in Andhra Pradesh since September 2, but the cause of the 'mysterious' deaths reported since April remains unknown. The district administration is providing food and water to the villagers while investigations continue.
The well has not caught fire yet, and no one is injured in the incident, he said.
The Centre, for the first time, has initiated a draft proposal for setting up an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-like institute of national importance for animal health, education and research in Delhi to be called the All India Institute of Veterinary Sciences (AIIVS).
The decision, which comes ahead of the state assembly elections, underscores the cow's spiritual, scientific, and historical significance in Indian society, an official said. It highlights the integral role that cows have played in India's cultural landscape for centuries, he added.
'It will be an explosion of zoonotic diseases from these places.' 'People will not be able to live or work for kilometres around these places where thousands of street dogs are kept.'
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi dimissed the plea challenging the decision of the Lakshadweep administration and said courts cannot intervene in administrative decisions.
A first information report has been lodged in connection with the theft of about 500 files of Bihar's animal husbandry directorate which are supposedly related to the multi-crore fodder scam.
The notice further said hugging cows will bring "emotional richness" and increase "individual and collective happiness".
The presence of the virus is confirmed in the dead birds in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala while Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, too, have a strong suspicion of avian influenza in dead birds.
The government aims to better its last year's Guinness World Record by lighting 25 lakh diyas on the banks of Saryu river.
Around 2 lakh ducks will be killed in the Kuttanad area.
The 'Maharashtra Gau Seva Aayog' (Maharashtra Commission for Cow Service) will supervise the rearing of livestock and assess which of them are unproductive and rendered unfit for milking, breeding, and carrying agricultural works etc, said the animal husbandry department official.
"This viral disease is transmitted from one animal to another by a specific type of tick...the disease is transmitted to humans through contact with the blood of infected animals and by eating the meat of infected animals," the circular said.
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.
The Centre said bird flu has been confirmed so far in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat, and asked these six states to contain the disease as per the action plan.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has retained key portfolios of finance, industries and energy, while K J George would be the new home minister.
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.
Two former legislators -- R K Rana and Dhruv Bhagat -- were sentenced to five years imprisonment Monday in a fodder scam case by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ranchi.
The Animal Husbandry Department has set up a state-level control room and sent its teams to the districts for effective monitoring, they said.
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.
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.
Over 2.6 lakh fowls have been culled in Assam so far where flu bird has reached an alarming proportion affecting nine districts till date. The state veterinary and animal husbandry department have engaged over 400 rapid response teams in the on-going culling operation.
The wildlife department has issued a bird flu alert in Kerala, a major consumer of poultry products from other states, in the wake of spread of the disease in West Bengal.
The health department said two of the persons on the contact list are from Palakkad, while four are from Thiruvananthapuram.
Nirmalendu's brother Bimalendu Diwakar said the boy was under sedation and very weak.
Assam has instructed its bordering districts to keep a tight vigil and not to allow poultry products from the neighbouring West Bengal, where an outbreak of avian influenza has been reported.
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.
A special CBI court awarded prison terms to 11 convicts in the fodder scam case
It's not clear how a party with a majority will do any better when our ability to tackle the roads, ports, power projects and airports problem has not shown marked improvement in the last five years.
Hundreds of chickens have died in Hingna village, 10 km away from Patur tehsil town in Akola district in Maharashtra since Friday, official sources said adding, the deaths were not caused due to bird flu.
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.
Shiv Sena's Dadaji Bhuse is the new school education minister while Uday Samant continues to be the industries minister.
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