Culling of ducks begins at Sukhna

Chandigarh : Taking no risk, teams of 30 members including the experts, have stated culling of all the ducks at the Sukhna Lake soon after the bird flu was confirmed in one of the 30 domesticated ducks. The culling of the ducks started in the evening after getting the nod from the Government of the India. The birds are being culled and buried as per the action plan and bio-security measure set up by WHO under supervision of experts from RDDL, Jalandhar. Commissioner of Municipal Corporation Vivek Pratap Singh, who is also holding the charge of Deputy Commissioner, said that the no culling of the migratory birds would be done. The decision to cull the ducks was taken after the high level meeting held during the day. Director Animal Husbandry-cum-SDM Prince Dhawan was appointed the nodal officer to get the operation done along with the team of experts from RDDL Jalandhar. The operation started at 4 pm with the help of all the concerned departments, primarily Animal Husbandry, Wildlife and Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh and Director Health Services and Engineering Department. The operation was still under process at the filing of the story The areas of the Lake have been cordoned off by Police officials and officials from the Forest Department. The medical examination of the 30-member team was done at the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16. The Administration has also alerted the Deputy Commissioners of Panchkula and Mohali on this issue. Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh clarified that presently there was no alert like situation but they would monitor all the birds in the surrounding areas in the times to come. As per the standard protocol issued by the World Health Organisation to contain avian flu, the birds in the affected areas will be burned and buried on an island at the centre of Sukhna Lake. The culling becomes necessary to contain the avian flu, which can spread between birds and onto humans as it is contagious and packs high mortality, Nearly two lakh birds were culled in Kerala due to the outbreak of the avian influenza, H5N1 in 2004. Over 30 ducks at the lake had died under mysterious circumstances in recent days. The Sukhna lake has nearly 250 ducks and geese which are a star attraction for visitors. The presence of the H5N1 virus was confirmed in a sample from one dead duck by the Bhopal-based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) Wednesday. Ducks have been dying for the past 10 days and officials initially thought the deaths could be due to food poisoning or over-feeding. “At present, there is no assessment regarding any outbreak of bird flu in Chandigarh. The situation is, however, being very closely monitored,” a spokesman of the Chandigarh Administration said. No need to panic An officer said that people were advised not to panic but cooperate with the Administration. The UT Administration has taken all possible steps to ensure the containment of virus and will continue to monitor the situation closely. The lake and its vicinity shall remain out of bounds for general public till further orders.

Malaysia Airlines flight shot down by missile in Ukraine, all 295 on board feared dead

Chandigarh: Months after the major MH370 tragedy, another Malaysia passenger airliner MH17 has crashed in Eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The Ukrainian military has also confirmed the crash, meanwhile, the Malaysia Airlines on its official Twitter handle wrote that the that the contact with the airlines was lost and that the plane's last known position was over the Ukrainian airspace. Reportedly, there were 295 people, including 15 crew members, on board the Boeing 777-200 aircraft which was flying from Amsterdan to Kuala Lumpur. All on board the plane feared to be dead in the crash. The plane which flew from the Amsterdam airport at 12:10 pm local time was suppose to land at Kuala Lumpur airport at 6:00 AM local time. Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak said that he's shocked with the reports of the plane crash, adding that an immediate investigation into the crash has been launched. It is also being speculated that the airliner has been shot down by the separatists. However, there is no official confirmation of the reports saying that the plane was fired at. Ukraine pro-Russia rebels said that they didn't shoot down airliner, and blamed the Ukrainian armed forces. Only a highly sophisticated weapon system can shoot down a plane flying at an altitude which the flight MH17 was flying at. The Boeing passenger liner came down close to town of Shaktarsk region of Donetsk, where the Pro-Russians rebels are fighting with the Ukrainian security forces, after it disappeared from the radar. This is the second major tragedy with which the Malaysia Airlines have been struck in a matter of few months. Flight number MH370 with around 250 people on board mysteriously disappeared in March this year. The search for that plane is still going on near the Indian Ocean.

Captain being led to sacrificial altar by Bajwa, says Sukhbir UPA is a burden, threat to country: Modi

Chandigarh : BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday charged the Congress-led UPA Central government with becoming a burden and threat to the country. Addressing a ‘Bharat Vijay’ rally in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, actress Kirron Kher here, Modi said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was unable to provide security to the country and had failed on all fronts. “This government has become a burden on the country. This government has become a threat for the country. The country is not secure with such a government which cannot protect its soldiers who are being beheaded (by Pakistan). Can the country be secure with such a government?” he said. Taking a dig at Congress, Modi said, “Mahatma Gandhi wanted to disband Congress after independence. But the Congress leaders did not listen to him also. Mahatma Gandhi’s dream will be fulfilled in this election.” Tearing into Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s remark on the BJP’s ‘India Shining’ balloon bursting in previous elections, he contended that the Congress had tried its best to burst the Gujarat development balloon but the people had rejected its move. Slamming Congress for not addressing the real issues of development and corruption, Modi said, “If this country has to progress, we will have to give good governance. Bad governance is like diabetes. It can finish everything.” “Congress does not want to resolve the issue of corruption. They have admitted that corruption cannot be tackled,” he added. He said that the time has come for the people to change Congress rule which has become the synonymous for the corruption. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, party president Sanjay Tandon, former Member of Parliament Satya Pal Jain and former Union Minster Harmohan Dhawan among those who were present on the occasion. Modi said said that winds of the change had already started and it would turn into tsunami after the elections. He said that the rising inflation and the corruption was the result of bad governance the nation was witnessing during the UPA rule. Attacking the government on its foreign policy, Modi said that the red carpet welcome was given by the Central government to the leaders of Pakistan when our jawans’ blood was boiling over the heinous act of cutting a head of solider. He asked why the government took the issue of the one rank, one pension at the time of the election while it has been lingering on for long. He said that had the NDA government won the election in 2004, the issue would have been solved. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the people of the country were discarding Congress all over India. The party has only involved in the corruption and scams during its long rule of 60 years . Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has said that Punjab Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh was being led to the sacrificial altar by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa, who had conspired to get him and other senior leaders fielded from the state, after Bajwa was forced to contest from Gurdaspur. “Mark my words. Partap Bajwa is the PPCC president and he would never digest Amarinder emerging victorious from Amritsar. Amarinder’s campaign is destined to be sabotaged from within by Bajwa, which will ensure his rout,” Sukhbir asserted in a statement released here, on Saturday. Explaining his views, he said, “Bajwa became jittery after being forced to fight from Gurdaspur and mooted the idea of fielding all the supposed heavyweights of the party. The purpose was to guard his flanks as he knows he will lose the election. He did not want to lose his PPCC presidentship and that is why he conspired to make all the senior leaders fight the elections.” SAD president said it is not only Bajwa, who wanted to ensure Amarinder’s defeat. “Even the Congress rank and file want to teach him a lesson for leading Punjab Congress to two successive Assembly defeats. The Congress worker can never forget the arrogance displayed by Amarinder during the run-up to the last Assembly elections and is waiting to teach him a lesson for remaining inaccessible to the ordinary worker and relying on a coterie, which included people who shared the same royal lifestyle and had nothing to do with the people or politics,” he recalled. Sukhbir further said that last but not the least, even people who had gathered at Amritsar on Friday to welcome Amarinder would not be seen again. “More than 80 per cent of the crowd had been hired on daily wages and consisted of outsiders and people who did not even have their vote in Amritsar,” he claimed. SAD chief also said that Amarinder was in the habit of conducting such fake shows. “He did it earlier when he was re-nominated as PPCC president in the run-up to the last Assembly elections. Like this time, then also he had hired a crowd to show the high command that the people of the state were with him. Even this time, he has done the same to prove his popularity before the party high command. ‘The Congress leadership may be fooled by such tactics but Amarinder has been thoroughly exposed before the people of Punjab and they will teach him an appropriate lesson in the forthcoming parliamentary elections,” he asserted.