(IANS) Sounding a fresh bird flu alert, the Tripura government has imposed a ban on import of poultry birds, ducks and other poultry products from West Bengal and Assam, an official said Saturday.
"The ban on import of poultry and bird flu alert was sounded earlier this week following the outbreak of the avian influenza in neighbouring Assam and West Bengal," the animal resource development department official told reporters.
"Bird flu was officially detected and confirmed recently in certain parts of Nadia district in West Bengal and Dhubri district in western Assam," he added.
The official said said the Tripura government has set up check gates at the border and entry points in the state's northern part adjoining Assam, and asked security forces to maintain a strict vigil along the India-Bangladesh borders to prevent the import of poultry and poultry products.
However, the state would allow import of poultry products and birds from Andhra Pradesh (from where the maximum amount of poultry birds and poultry products were being supplied to northeastern states) and other states excluding Assam and West Bengal.
Meanwhile, the Tripura government has urged the central government to bear the entire cost of compensation to the northeastern states.
"As India's northeastern states bordering Bangladesh have become vulnerable to bird flu with the contiguous disease outbreak intermittently across the border and as well as the smuggling of poultry products into India, the centre should bear the full costs of compensation," Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Minister Aghore Debbarma said.
"With the sporadic outbreak of bird flu, thousands of poor poultry cultivators have been affected in Tripura and other northeastern states.
The contiguous disease has also been affecting the fragile economy of the northeastern region," the minister said here at a meeting.
Four states - Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam, which shares 1,880-km border with Bangladesh - were occasionally affected by avian influenza forcing the authorities to cull lakhs of poultry birds and ducks besides destroying huge quantities of poultry products.
The department official said that as regards of compensation for loss of poultry on account of culling and destruction of birds, the rate of compensation - 50:50 between central government and state government - has been indicated to the state governments by the central government.
2011/11/6 8:22:05 (IANS) The Gauhati High Court has asked the central government to pay Rs.10 lakh compensation to a minor girl whose school principal raped her in 1998 in Tripura. The girl, then a class 8 student, delivered a baby in hostel the next year, an official said Sunday.
"The high court in a judgment Friday asked the human resource development ministry to pay a compensation of Rs.10 lakh to the sufferer," an official of the Tripura women's commission told reporters here.
Convict Harishankar Tiwary, former principal of central government-run Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Kakraban in southern Tripura, is now serving life term in a Tripura jail.
The victim was the classmate of the convict's daughter, the official said.
"The family of the victim and the Tripura women's commission had filed a joint writ petition before the high court seeking compensation of Rs.50 lakh for the girl," said the official.
The high court in June 2005 upheld the life sentence awarded to Tiwary by the district and sessions court of South Tripura.
"The court has also asked the human resource development ministry to constitute an expert committee to supervise the functioning of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country," the official added.
2011/9/20 11:56:18 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday expressed concern over avian inluenza in West Bengal and directed authorities to prevent it from spreading, sources said.
The directive came after India Tuesday confirmed that poultry samples from Nadia district of West Bengal tested positive for bird flu.
The prime minister directed the animal husbandry department to closely monitor the situation to prevent any outbreak even though the incidence is restricted to a few villages, the sources said.
The government also ordered culling operations in the affected area, said a statement issued by the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries under the ministry of agriculture.
"Bird flu has been confirmed in poultry samples collected from two villages of Tehatta I block in Nadia," the statement said.
The samples forwarded to the Eastern Region Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ERDDL) in Kolkata and High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal tested positive for H5 strain of avian influenza, it said.
"It has been decided to immediately commence the culling of birds and destruction of eggs and feed material to control further spread of the disease. The virus has been contained in the affected area," it added.
Culling has been announced within a radius of three km of the infected area.
In addition, surveillance has been ordered in surrounding areas up to 10 km.
Surveillance has also been intensified throughout the state to monitor further spread of infection.
The central government has advised the state to ban movement of poultry and poultry products in the infected area and to close poultry and egg markets and shops within a radius of 10 km from the infected site.
They have suggested a ban on the movement of farm personnel, restricting access to wild and stray birds, and stopping access to infected premises.
Regarding compensation for loss of poultry on account of culling, the central government will share costs on a 50:50 basis with the state, the statement said.
The last outbreak took place during February-March in Tripura. The country was declared free from the disease July 4. (IANS)
Benazir Bhutto assasinated-high alert in Hyderabad
2007/12/27 11:57:19 The Pakistan People’s Party Leader and former prime minister of Pakistan Ms. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at an election rally in Rawalpindi this evening. About 30 people were also killed in the suicide bomb attack. Bhutto died due to bullet shot wounds in her chest and shoulders.
Following the news of Bhutto’s assassination, the government of India ahs issued a high alert across the country. The police in Hyderabad have also been put on high alert. Many people in Hyderabad received the news of the assassination with great shock and grief. Benazir Bhutto is very popular in India and is seen as a friend of India.
2011/11/15 13:15:50 Agartala, Nov 15 (IANS) Stricken with severe fiscal crisis, the Left Front government in Tripura has sought a Rs.14,600 crore ($2.8 billion) financial package from the central government to tide over the crisis, an official said here Tuesday.
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar accompanied by state Finance Minister Badal Choudhury met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Monday and submitted the demand.
"The central government recently decided to provide huge financial support to the West Bengal, Assam and Mizoram governments, but it is yet to even react to the Tripura government's demand for an additional financial package," the official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
"Sarkar had written a letter to the prime minister and also union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for fiscal aid to overcome the unprecedented financial crisis facing the state in view of the erroneous recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission (TFC)," the official added.
According to the official, in view of the serious economic crisis, developmental works, new recruitments in government departments and outstanding payments to 212,500 government employees and pension holders are likely to be affected.
Tripura sought around Rs.27,000 crore but the TFC had recommended the sanctioning of about Rs.16,350 crore in 2009. Its report was accepted by the centre last year.
Choudhury, also a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) central committee, had asked: "If the central government considers support and grants financial assistance on political outlook, how would the federal structure of India's governance be strengthened?"
Referring to the central government's decision to give financial packages to the Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal and Congress-ruled Assam and Mizoram governments, the state finance minister had said: "The centre should also respond to our demand positively."
The opposition Congress in the state blames the financial crisis in Tripura on the "financial mismanagement of the Left Front government".
Congress with an eye to the state assembly elections in early 2013 has demanded an emergency audit of the Tripura government's accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Opposition leader Ratan Lal Nath said the Left Front government had been undemocratically challenging parliament and a constitutional body like the finance commission.
"Like in West Bengal, the Left Front government in Tripura before the assembly polls in 2013 has been trying to exhaust the state's financial exchequer," the Congress leader alleged.
The Tripura government will felicitate octogenarian Meera Deb Burman, widow of legendary musician Sachin Deb Burman on September 15.
Meera is now leading a secluded life at an old age home in Mumbai.
Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs, Anil Sarkar, will visit her at the old-age home and hand over a cheque for Rs 1 lakh and some mementoes, director of information and cultural affairs, Subhas Das said.
The government, which faced criticism from many quarters over the delay in honouring her and ignoring her during the birth centenary celebrations of S D Burman last year, has also decided to celebrate the 101st birth anniversary of the music maestro in the state.
2010/12/21 9:47:05 Intelligence department alerts Mumbai and Ahmadabad cities of possible terrorist attacks during the coming festive session. Therefore, high alert was declared in the both cities and additional forces were deployed in some ear marked places to meet any untoward incidents. Union Home Minister asks the states to be cautious until further intimation.
Over a lakh fill jails in Tripura seeking minimum wages
2011/11/8 8:01:17 (IANS) Over 1.22 lakh working people were arrested in Left-ruled Tripura Tuesday in a 'jail bharo' (fill the jail) agitation by 11 trade unions in support of six-point demands, including fixation of minimum wage at Rs.10,000 per month.
"The agitation was massive and spontaneous. Over 1.22 lakh working people, including women, cutting across party lines have been arrested from 21 places across Tripura," Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader Sankar Datta told reporters.
Besides Datta, also a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator, senior Left leaders who were arrested in the stir include Gautam Das, CITU state general secretary Pijush Nag, Biswanath Saha, Krishna Rakshit and Bijoy Roy.
"Over 13,000 trade union activists were arrested in Agartala while protesting in front of the central government offices and railway stations," Datta said.
Eleven central trade unions, backed by the Left parties, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the country-wide 'jail bharo' agitation in support of six points demands.
The demands include rollback of petro product price hikes and check prices of essentials, halt disinvestment in central and state undertakings, linkage of employment protection with the concessions or incentives offered to entrepreneurs, universal social security cover for the unorganised sector, new pension policy cancel and pension scheme for all works and compulsory registration of trade unions within 45 days.
2011/3/20 0:59:02 According to Central intelligence reports, 17 Pakistani terrorists have purchased the world cup final tickets in an attempt to massacre the cricket lovers and the players. Ever since, the world cup has commenced, US has been alerting India over a possible attack by Taliban’s and some other terrorist gangs, especially during the final match to be held at Vankade stadium in Mumbai on 2nd of April. Now, with the latest alert by Central Intelligence sleuths, Mahrashtra home department pressed the panic button and put all its forces on high alert. If, it fails to pick out the 17 terrorists out of thousands of people who are going to barge the stadium, undoubtedly it would lead another ‘jallianwala bagh.’ Hope, our sleuths will be able to nab the 17 member team who also wants play their game in the finals.
Tight security deployed across the city to mark 'Bonalu' fest: A K Khan
2011/7/17 6:01:38 With the city on high alert, following the recent bomb blasts in Mumbai, security arrangements for the Bonalu festival have been beefed up.
According to Hyderabad City Police Commissioner A.K.Khan, 2,200 police personnel have been deployed in massive scale across the city to prevent any untoward incidents.
He said that 26 CCTVs and 200 women cops posted at important points.
A. K. Khan said that tight security has been deployed in the surroundings of Ujjaini Mahankali temple in Secunderabad.
The bomb disposal team along with dog squad has been put on alert in the wake of recent serial blasts in Mumbai. The bomb disposal squad and the dog squad are also conducting frequent checks in and around the venue, he stated.
He further stated, special paramilitary forces are being stationed in and around the venue for the festival, in addition to women police personnel.
He appealed to public to remain alert and report any suspicious items or activity that they come across, when the festivities are on.
The parking of vehicle has been restricted near temple premises to prevent congestion of traffic.
Earlier, Director General of Police Mr Dinesh Reddy has also visited for darshan of Goddess Mahankali and performed special poojas along with family members.(INN)
2011/9/7 7:00:48 Red alert has been sounded in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad following a ghastly bomb blast which shook the national capital near Delhi High Court claiming 12 lives and injuring about 70 people on Wednesday.
The Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy held a meeting with the senior officials to review the security situation in the State, particularly in Hyderabad. He directed the District Superintendents of Police to be vigilant and asked them to depute more security at important places to prevent untoward incidents.
Police has intensified the patrolling and police pickets have been posted at all sensitive and semi-sensitive areas. Bomb disposal squad have been kept on alert and security has been enhanced at all public places like cinema halls, bus and railway stations. A bomb disposal squad and three platoons of security forces have been deployed at the AP High Court building.
Stating that tight vigil is being maintained in the city, Hyderabad Police Commissioner A K Khan appealed to people to inform police about any suspected object or people. Besides the City Police personnel, nearly 25,000 security personnel have been deployed across the city, especially in view of the on-going Ganesh festival and to ensure the peaceful conduct of Ganesh immersion procession on Sept 11. (INN)
How did Amitabh Bachchan spend his Ganesh Chaturthi holiday Thursday? The 68-year-old enjoyed a rare day off by watching the classic "The Godfather" series. He says the film still looks "fresh" and "attractive".
"On a rare off day today (Thursday), I remained that lazy unperturbed bird, curled up on a couch and back to back watched the Godfather Series - perhaps a version which was the directors cut and so a longer version and having scenes that were not seen before," Big B posted on his blog Bigb.bigadda.com.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the first instalment of the underworld saga came in 1972 with power-packed performances by Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Parts two and three were released in 1974 and 1977, respectively.
?There is something so mesmerizing about 'Godfather' that even after so many years of its making and release, it still remains fresh and attractive every time you see it,? wrote Big B.
?The selection of the players in each part of 'Godfather', the locations and the performances are simply flawless. And even today, decades later, there is still so much to learn from them. One imagines that with the passage of time, craft and technique would age and become stale or irrelevant. But no, not a single frame or performance or moment in the film seems like it can be replaced with anything better. No never. And that really is the truth about classics.
?And the funny part is that after viewing an impressionable film or series, you begin to get so involved in them that you actually start behaving attitudinally like the characters in the film,? he added.
Big B also recollected how he watched the movie for the first time in London during the shooting of ?Sholay?.
?I remember the first time I saw the film. It was in England long after its release. Those days the film releases from US did not arrive in India for months. Salim (Khan) Sahab and Javed (Akhtar) Sahab were with me in London for a short break during the shooting of `Sholay? and we were desperate to see the film at the first opportunity,? he posted.
?Some time had elapsed since its release and it was not running in any theater in the city. We discovered that a nearby town was screening the film in a small unknown theater and we caught a train to get to the venue to catch the film. It was spellbinding." (IANS)
2007/10/29 13:16:36 Trust TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao to come up with one issue or the other at regular intervals. And it is about his bete noir Chandra Babu Naidu, then it is of that much more important. KCR has now taken a leaf out of Behenji Mayavati, chief minister of UP. The BSP party workers have attacked the mega retail outlets like Reliance and forced their closure. And KCR has turned his attention to the mega retail stores being set up in the state. KCR has taken objection to outlets like Reliance Fresh, Spencer’s, Foodworld and of course Fresh@, a division of Heritage Food owned by Chandra Babu Naidu and his wife Bhuvaneshwari.
It is now the turn of the TRS to attack malls and hypermarkets. The BSP workers in UP had attacked big malls like Reliance Fresh, Spencer’s and Food worlds.
The managements of these outlets closed down their operations temporarily. The TR too wants to do the same in Hyderabad. The party says that these malls are hurting the small farmers and so they should be shut down.
The party warned that they would launch an agitation if the government id not ask them to shut down.The TDP on the other hand defended the malls. Not surprising as the party chief TDP owns both Heritage and their group venture Fresh@.
It is official that Vijay is the hero of Udayanidhi Stalin’s debut film as producer. The shoot of the film with a catchy title Kuruvi is likely to start sometime in September middle as soon as Vijay completes his Azhagiya Tamizh Mahan.
Dharani will be directing this action adventure mass movie. Vijay plays Kuruvi, not the chirpy bird, but a bird of a different type. The one line story, etched from sources- Vijay is a nice guy who lives in Burma Bazar, North Madras area of Chennai and makes a living as a ‘kuruvi’, a chap who goes to Singapore or Malaysia as a courier and comes back with contraband items. One day he is set up by the baddies, and how he uses his brains and brawns to prove his innocence forms the rest of the story.
The industry rumour is that it is Ghilli-2, as it has same star cast and music director. When contacted director Dharani refused to say anything about the film, but later said: “ It is not Ghilli-2, actually Kuruvi is something totally different, and features artists like Vijay, Trisha, Prakash Raj and has music by Vidyasagar.”
DGP briefs CM on security position in city: Mumbai blasts
2011/7/14 6:38:55 Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy on Thursday met Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy at his Chambers in the Secretariat to brief him over the security arrangements being made in the city following the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai on Wednesday evening.
The DGP is understood to have given a brief to the Chief Minister over the security cover to the sensitive areas in the city.
Later, while on the way to his car from the Chief Minister’s office, Mr Dinesh Reddy told the waiting media persons that instructions have already been issued for a ‘High Alert’ to the authorities concerned.
He also said that the top officers including the Commissioner of Police will discuss the issue at a meeting being convened by him later in the day.
The ‘High Alert’ has been declared in the state following the serial explosions that rocked the Mumbai city yesterday in the evening between 6 30 pm and 7 05 pm which claimed many lives.
The event produced a flutter in the Nation’s capital as also in Hyderabad.
Even as the news spread across the Nation over the alleged terrorists’ attack in the Mumbai city, Hyderabad, which was also said to have been on the hit list of the terrorists, the top brass sounded an alert and took precautions to meet any eventuality.
Police activity in the city has been intensified with the personnel stopping the vehicles and conducting searches in case of suspicion. Even otherwise the routine security rounds being made by the cops in the suburbs as of now.
The security at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has been stepped up. Anybody found under suspicious circumstances would be rounded up as per the latest orders. The police were also directed to clear any article or left out vehicle on the roadside near the airport.(INN)
2011/10/26 6:37:49 An under-trial prisoner who managed to escape from the police custody after being admitted in a hospital was arrested at his home in less than four hours.
According to police, the under-trial in a murder case - Afsar Khan was shifted from Chanchalguda Jail to the Osmania General Hospital at about 10.50 pm on Tuesday night. He reportedly consumed some unknown pills in the prison and had to be shifted to the OGH. He was admitted in the MM-2 of the OGH. However, on Wednesday morning at about 10 am, he gave a slip to police constables Srinivas and Muralidhar and escaped from the hospital on the pretext of going to toilet.
Since Afsar Khan was an under-trial, he was not in prison uniform and was not even handcuffed. He comfortably walked out of the hospital without being noticed. However, the constables sounded alert after realising his escape and immediately informed the Afzalgunj police station about it.
However, the police did not have to struggle hard to trace him. After escaping from the hospital Afsar Khan directly went to his home at Falaknuma and was caught again at about 1 pm. He was brought to the Afzalgunj police station and now faces a fresh case of escaping from the police custody. (INN)
2007/8/16 13:00:12 The state government is in a renaming spree. Many projects and schemes are being either named after Rajiv Gandhi or existing schemes are being renamed after Rajiv Gandhi. The latest is the renaming of the Kukatpally Housing Board. Governor Rameshwar Thakur attended the state unveiling ceremony of the late Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi at the Malaysian township. The Kukatpally Housing Board colony has been renamed as Rajiv Housing Board colony. The TDP, BJP and the TRS have taken strong objection to this and have threatened to go launch an agitation. The state government has also proposed to rename the fresh retail shops as Rajiv fresh shops. The CM, not surprisingly, has strongly defended his decision to name every other scheme after Rajiv Gandhi.
The first looks of Navaratna sales promoter-Jr.NTR
2011/1/29 3:43:59 Want to have some fresh looks on your face? Did you have head ache? Then, just consult Jr.NTR, because nowadays he is promoting Navaratna Talcum Powder and Zandu Balm. He can tell you how to look fresh and get rid of your head aches. Recently, director SS Rajamouli has shot a commercial Ad film on Jr.NTR carrying Navaratna Talcum powder in his hand. Have the first look of your sales promoter Jr.NTR
2011/9/6 0:26:40 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday left for Bangladesh on a two-day visit. India and Bangladesh are expected to settle boundary disputes, improve trade ties, discuss transit and finalise a river water agreement over the next two days.
The chief ministers of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram too have been invited to visit Bangladesh on the Sep 6-7 trip, a rare move that emphasises the importance of the visit for both countries. (IANS)
2011/10/17 3:14:35 Defence Minister A.K. Antony Saturday termed the foiled terror plot to bomb Delhi during Diwali, unearthed with the seizure of five kg explosives in Ambala two days ago, as the "tip of the iceberg" and called for vigil due to the prevailing "sensitive and delicate" security situation.
"Ambala incident is a tip of iceberg. The present situation is very sensitive and delicate, and we have to be alert 24/7 along both the land border and coastline," Antony told reporters after inaugurating the sixth job fair for retired Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel here.
He was responding to queries if the armed forces were on an alert following the unearthing of the explosives in a car at the Ambala Cantonment railway station parking lot, which is close to an important army and air force base, ahead of Diwali festival.
To another question, Antony said the incident is "very serious" and that a probe was going on into it.
"Very soon, the reports will come and then we will take action," he said.
Following the explosives seizure, a nation wide security alert has been sounded, particularly in metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and major cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad.
On the alleged scam in the defence ministry's Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR), Antony said action would be initiated soon after reports of the investigation into the allegations by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) are received.
The defence ministry had last month handed over the probe into the allegations of a scam involving security agencies run by ex-servicemen, under a DGR scheme for retired personnel. to the SFIO under the corporate affairs ministry.
"As soon as we get the reports, we will take action. We will not spare anybody," he said.
Earlier, at the job fair, Antony urged the armed forces to maintain strong vigil along the borders, as the country was in a "sensitive and dangerous" neighbourhood.
He also released a pension handbook for retired men and women. (IANS)
(IANS) Sounding a fresh bird flu alert, the Tripura government has imposed a ban on import of poultry birds, ducks and other poultry products from West Bengal and Assam, an official said Saturday.
(IANS) Over 1.22 lakh working people were arrested in Left-ruled Tripura Tuesday in a 'jail bharo' (fill the jail) agitation by 11 trade unions in support of six-point demands, including fixation of minimum wage at Rs.10,000 per month.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday left for Bangladesh on a two-day visit. India and Bangladesh are expected to settle boundary disputes, improve trade ties, discuss transit and finalise a river water agreement over the next two days.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony Saturday termed the foiled terror plot to bomb Delhi during Diwali, unearthed with the seizure of five kg explosives in Ambala two days ago, as the "tip of the iceberg" and called for vigil due to the prevailing "sensitive and delicate" security situation.
