200 students ill following flu outbreak at Australian school
Sydney, Aug 3: Some 200 students fell ill following a flu outbreak at a school in Australia.
A team of specialist cleaning staff were sent to the Middle Park School in Queensland state on Friday to sanitise classrooms, reports Xinhua news agency.
Although the school has remained open despite losing one third of their students, principal Anne Kitchin urged parents to keep their children at home until the "extraordinary outbreak" is over.
Believed to influenza A and B, the Queensland education department said in a statement that the school is doing all they can to combat the outbreak and "will conduct additional hygienic cleaning of school premises over the coming days".
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New Delhi: Opposition MPs have urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to extend the tenure of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. They argued that a mere three-month period to finalise the report is insufficient given the legislation's broad implications.
The MPs highlighted that the bill proposes extensive changes to existing laws, impacting a significant portion of the population. “Rushing the report could lead to improper recommendations,” the opposition members stated in their letter to the Speaker.
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee noted after a meeting with Birla that the Speaker had assured them of an extension to allow more stakeholders to present their views.
The letter also criticised the inclusion of “irrelevant organisations and individuals” in the JPC’s discussions and pointed out that several state governments, including Bihar, New Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh, have yet to appear before the committee.
The Winter Session of Parliament, which begins today, includes the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, among the bills set for consideration. The bill aims to digitise records, introduce stricter audits, enhance transparency, and reclaim illegally occupied properties.
The JPC has conducted 25 sittings so far, engaging with government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members, and community representatives across states and Union Territories. However, opposition MPs stressed that hastily finalising the report could undermine the legislative process and diminish Parliament’s credibility.
