Bird flu outbreak reported in village in Kerala
Alappuzha, Dec 9: An outbreak of bird flu has been reported from Thakazhy Panchayat in Kerala's Alappuzha district prompting authorities to order culling of ducks, hens and other domestic birds within one km radius of the affected areas.
District Collector A Alexander, chaired an urgent meeting of senior officials of the district including those from departments of Animal Husbandry, Health and police on Thursday to take stock of the situation in the wake of the outbreak of the flu.
Official sources said the administration has ordered culling all chickens, ducks and other domestic birds in and around one kilometre radius of the ward No 10 of Thakazhy Grama Panchayat to prevent spread of the virus to nearby areas.
The affected area has been declared as a Containment Zone while the movement of vehicle and people in the area is prohibited, officials said.
Besides, the District Collector has also banned the use and sale of eggs, meat and manure of ducks, chickens, quails and domestic birds in the affected areas. This restriction will be applicable in Champakulam, Nedumudi, Muttar, Viyapuram, Karuvatta, Thrikkunnapuzha, Thakazhy, Purakkad, Ambalapuzha South, Ambalapuzha North, Edathva panchayats and Harippad municipal area, they said.
Rapid response teams have been constituted by the Animal Husbandry Department to cull and destroy the birds in Thakazhy.
The meeting authorised the Assistant Forest Conservator to monitor and inspect whether the migratory birds have been infected with the disease or not.
According to officials, directions were given to the Animal Husbandry Department to submit daily report on bird flu prevention activities in the district.
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Speaker rules out discussion on Guv''s conduct amid K''taka Assembly standoff
Bengaluru (PTI): In an effort to end the logjam over the Governor's address that has stalled proceedings for the past week, Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday ruled that legislators should not discuss Thaawarchand Gehlot or his conduct in the house, saying such debates send the wrong message to the public.
The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the session began on January 22 over the issue of the governor's conduct.
During his address to the joint sitting of the Karnataka legislature on January 22, Gehlot read out only three sentences from the 122-paragraph speech prepared by the state government.
The speech included criticism of the Centre for replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), portions of which the governor declined to read.
Concluding his address in about two minutes, the governor left the house, triggering a commotion as Congress legislators attempted to gherao him and raised slogans.
While the opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress and its ministers of "insulting" the governor and demanded action, the treasury benches countered by claiming the governor had "insulted the National Anthem by leaving before it was played."
The house again witnessed heated arguments on the issue earlier in the day, leading to adjournment.
During the interruption, Khader held a meeting with ministers and opposition members to resolve the impasse.
When proceedings resumed, the speaker delivered his ruling.
Referring to the events of January 22 and the subsequent debate, Khader said the conduct and discussions had conveyed the wrong message to the public.
"Our conduct as members of this House and the opinions expressed must be in good taste and in accordance with constitutional provisions. They must uphold the dignity of the House and its members. We must introspect in this direction," he said.
He stressed the need for caution to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
"Let us end this matter here, continue the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor, and refrain from discussing the governor or his conduct in this house," the speaker said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the house should express regret over what he termed an "insult" to the governor.
Responding, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the situation would not have arisen had the governor read out the entire address.
"Asking the house to express regret is not appropriate. Why did the governor leave even before the National Anthem was played," Siddaramaiah asked.
BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar reminded Siddaramaiah that as Leader of the Opposition in 2011, he had asked then Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj to curtail his address.
Bhardwaj had subsequently placed the address on the table of the house, requesting members to treat it as read.
Siddaramaiah said the situation in January 2011 was different from the present one.
The debate grew intense, leading to another adjournment of the house.
