Phones of 11 people including BJP MP stolen at Arun Jaitley’s funeral

Feb 19: Pay increases across India’s organized sector will probably grow at the slowest pace since 2009 this year, according to a survey from Aon Plc.

Companies will increase average pay by 9.1% in 2020, down from 9.3% in 2019 and 9.5% the previous year, Aon said in a report published Tuesday. The small increase reflects a deep slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy, where growing pessimism about job prospects have led many to cut down on consumption -- the main driver to growth.

India still leads the Asia-Pacific region in pay rises, but that is mainly due to higher inflation and a “war for key talent and niche skills,” Aon said.

“There is a general air of caution about the economy as we enter into 2020,” Tzeitel Fernandes, partner for rewards solutions at Aon, told reporters in New Delhi. “Low GDP projection and weak consumer sentiment are the reasons behind our lowest ever prediction.”

E-commerce companies and start-ups will probably get the biggest salary increases, projected at an above-average 10%, while financial institutions will hand out 8.5%. Unsurprisingly, the auto sector witnessed the biggest drop in growth -- down to 8.3% from 10.1% in 2018, according to Aon. The survey covered more than 1,000 companies across over 20 industries.

Raipur, Jan 9: An outbreak of bird flu has been reported from a state-run poultry farm in Chhattisgarh's Korea district, prompting the authorities to cull over 15,000 birds and step up vigil on poultry birds within 10 km radius of the affected area, officials said on Thursday.

So far, 15,426 chickens and quails have been culled and 30,000 eggs destroyed after the highly contagious H5N1 virus was detected among birds at the poultry farm and hatchery in Baikunthpur town, located around 300 km from here, they said.

There has been no case of infection in humans so far due to the outbreak of avian influenza, they said.

"After some chickens and quails were found dead on December 7 last year in the farm, their samples were collected and sent to local laboratories for testing," Dr R S Baghel, deputy director, veterinary department, Korea, told news agency.

When the disease was not properly detected, samples were further sent to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh where veterinarians suggested symptoms of chronic respiratory disease, following which their line of treatment was followed.

"Despite the treatment, the abnormal deaths of birds continued," Baghel said.

Later, the samples were sent to Bhopal-based National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases where tests were found positive for the H5N1 virus on December 23, he said.

"Immediately after getting reports of bird flu, we took permission from the Korea district administration, as per the standard procedure, and culled all 15,426 birds (chickens and quails) and destroyed 30,000 eggs in the farm and its adjoining areas," the official said.

Of the total culled birds, nearly 641 chickens were being reared by locals within one km radius of the farm. The locals were given compensation for the culling of their birds, he said.

"We have completed the culling process and sealed the farm. After sanitising the area in 10 km of its radius, we submitted a report to the state's directorate of veterinary services on Wednesday," Baghel said.

"No human has been affected due to the outbreak and the situation is under control. We are waiting for further directives from the higher authorities," he said.

The official said for the next three months, they will be conducting surveillance in 10 km radius of the affected area during which blood samples of birds will be regularly sent to Bhopal for testing.

"We will continue our observation for next three months," he added.

Meanwhile, state veterinary services director C R Prasanna said, "No human has so far been affected due to avian influenza and workers at the poultry farm at Baikunthpur have been given medicines as a precautionary measure."

Nearly 40 villages fall within the purview of 10 km radius of the affected area from where random sampling of poultry birds will be done for next three months to check whether they are infected with avian influenza, he said.

"Necessary steps are being taken to prevent bird flu from spreading to other areas," he added.

New Delhi, May 28: With 6,566 more coronavirus cases and 194 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally reached 1,58,333 on Thursday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Affairs.

The number of active coronavirus cases stands at 86,110, while 67,692 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. The death toll due to the infection has reached 4,531 in the country.

Maharashtra is the worst affected state with 56,948 cases. Tamil Nadu has recorded as many as 18,545 cases while Gujarat and Delhi have recorded 15,195 and 15,257 coronavirus cases respectively.