Oman lifts ban on eggs from India

[email protected] (The Hindu)
September 22, 2012

hen-eggs-250x250Namakkal, September 22: Oman has lifted the ban on import of eggs from India, an association of poultry and livestock farmers here said on Friday.

The first consignment of eggs from India to Oman would be despatched on Monday.

The ban was imposed in the last week of March following reports of bird flu in the northern States, Secretary of the Livestock and Agri Farmers Trade Association (LIFT), P.V. Senthil, who is also a poultry farmer and exporter, told The Hindu.

Poultry industry sources said that Namakkal accounted for nearly 95 per cent of the egg export from India, as eggs produced in this region had a competitive edge over the produce in other zones. The eggs had dark yellow yolk, delivery time was less due to easy accessibility to ports and the price was competitive.

This industry in the second largest egg production centre in India suffered a setback when there was a bird flu outbreak in north India earlier this year.

Oman banned the import of eggs from India on March 27 based on the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) norms following bird flu outbreak in Orissa.

Oman accounts for 33 per cent of the total egg export from India. Egg exports, which stood at 557.34 lakh eggs in March, dropped to 415.64 lakh in April, a month after the ban was imposed by Oman. It dropped to 240.88 lakh eggs in May and touched a 10-year-low monthly export of 89.74 lakh eggs in June.

The ban is lifted only three months after the OIE declares a country free from bird flu.

Dr. Senthil said that the first order came from traders in Oman on Thursday after the OIE declared India as a country that was free from bird flu on Saturday (September 15).

On an average, one container with 4.72 lakh eggs would be exported every day from Monday, taking the monthly average to 141.6 more eggs (about 30 containers in a month). This would benefit many poultry farmers of this region. Export to Oman was expected to go past 210 lakh eggs a month during the Christmas season.

Poultry farmers and exporters thanked the Animal Husbandry Department and the Commerce Ministry for taking efforts to lift the ban.

LIFT urged the Centre to initiate steps for resuming exports to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar. These countries were importing eggs from India five years ago.

Statistics from the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC), Namakkal zone, reveal that overall exports have been increasing over the last two months. From just 89.74 lakh eggs exported in June, it increased to 136.97 lakh eggs in July and 212.54 lakh eggs in August.

Chairman of the NECC Namakkal zone P. Selvaraj said that the demand for egg had increased in Afghanistan – a top destination for India – after the summer came to an end in that country a few weeks ago. “More countries are evincing interest in importing eggs from India and we expect exports to increase steadily”, he added.


Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 20,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 20:  Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the government would revoke the order, which allowed the opening of barbershops and restaurants in the State.

The development comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) objected to the move.
When asked about the letter issued by the MHA terming certain decisions as to the dilution of guidelines, Chief Minister Vijayan said: "There is no confrontation between the State government and the Centre."

"Kerala is following all directions issued by the Centre. Barbershops will not be opened and restaurants will only provide online delivery," he told the reporters, adding that public transport would not be allowed.

"There was a decision to open barbershops but many experts have pointed out against the decision. So the Kerala government is withdrawing the decision," he said.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Tom Jose said that if needed, then the State government will make necessary modifications to the lockdown guidelines in the wake of a communication received from the Central government.

The MHA had objected to the decision of Kerala government to allow services like barbershops, local workshops, restaurants, etc., and had urged the State government to revise its lockdown guidelines.

The Government of India had said that violation to lockdown measures reported posed a serious health hazard to the public and risk the spread of COVID-19.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to all Chief Secretaries and a separate letter had been sent to the Kerala Chief Secretary asking them not to dilute lockdown guidelines in any manner.

In his letter to the Kerala Chief Secretary, Bhalla had stated that the consolidated revised guidelines on the measures to be taken by the Ministries/Departments of the Government of India has been circulated on April 15 for containment of COVID-19.

Kerala Minister Kadakampally Surendran had said that relaxations have been given abiding by the direction issued by the Central government. He had added that the Centre may have asked for an explanation due to some misunderstanding.

India is under a nation-wide lockdown that came into force on March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed 559 lives in the country. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of lockdown till May 3.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 24,2020

Lucknow, May 24: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has banned Corona patients from keeping mobile phones inside isolation wards of COVID-19 hospitals in the state.

Patients admitted in dedicated L-2 and L-3 COVID hospitals will no longer will allowed to take mobile phones along with them in the isolation wards in order to check the spread of the infection.

According to an order issued by the state government late on Saturday night, two mobile phones will now be available with the ward in-charge of the COVID care centres so that patients and talk to their family members and administration if required.

Further, the orders specify that the mobile numbers should be communicated to the family members of the patients also.

Director General Medical Education, K.K. Gupta, who issued the order, has informed all concerned officials and directors of dedicated COVID hospitals.

"To facilitate the communication between COVID-19 patients admitted in clinics, with their family members, or anyone else, ensure that two dedicated mobile phones while adhering to infection prevention norms, are kept with ward in-charge of COVID care centre," the order said.

According to the latest data available on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh now has 5,735 cases of Corona positive patients and the numbers have been growing steadily since the past ten days.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 23,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 23: Amid opposition charges, the Kerala government on Tuesday constituted a two-member committee to examine whether the privacy of personal and sensitive data of COVID-19 patients has been protected under the agreement entered by it with US-based IT firm Sprinklr.

The committee, headed by former Special IT Sscretary M Madhavan Nambiar and former health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan, will also ascertain whether adequate procedures were followed while finalising the arrangements with the private company.

The Opposition Congress has been levelling charges that the collection of data by the US firm violated the fundamental rights of the patients.

In its order, state government said it had initiated steps to set up a Data Analytics platform to integrate data from various sources available in the government to meet the "exigency of a massive and unprecedented surge of epidemic".

The committee will also examine whether deviations, if any, are fair, justified and reasonable considering the extraordinary and critical situation faced by the state, it said.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the state government to file its reply by April 24 on a plea seeking to quash its contract with the US-based firm.

Expressing concern over the confidentiality of the citizen's data processed by a third party, the court sought to know why the sanction of the law department was not taken before finalising the agreement.

The court hailed the state government's fight against COVID-19, but said it is concerned about data confidentiality.

The government informed the court that the agreement with Sprinklr has safeguards for data protection "as per standard practices of software as a service model."

The ward-level committees, set up by the government for the anti-coronavirus fight, collect information of those under home isolation, the elderly and those at the risk of the disease, using a questionnaire and later uploads it on the server of the private agency.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.