Festival of firecrackers: A nightmare for birds, dogs

Agencies
October 21, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 21: Jango, a two-and-a-half-year-old golden retriever, hid beneath a bed with paws on his ears, to escape the deafening sound of crackers this Diwali night.

His owner, Punit Narula, a resident of Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi, says his immediate neighbour blows up a "huge quantity of high-decibel fireworks" every Diwali, making lives of dogs miserable.

"They (dogs) have a highly pronounced auditory sense and they pick up noise from smallest of crackers blowing up in the neighbourhood. Big ones just drive these poor animals crazy," he said.

While Jango had the comfort of the Narulas' home on the third floor of a building, the stray canines in the area were living through a nightmare as revellers blew crackers in the streets, from late evening to close to midnight.

"Jerry (a stray sheltered by the Narulas) sleeps in our compound every night. On Diwali, he had gone into a hiding. He must have tucked himself beneath a car or something or nearby Gurudwara seeking quietness," Narula said.

Tandrali Kuli of Frendicoes, an NGO which works for the welfare of dogs, says that many dogs are so "traumatised" that it "take weeks to get back to normal behaviour".

"Some dogs get so disoriented, they start running here and there. And, if owners leave the doors open, chances are that some start wandering and get lost in the noisy environment of revelry," she said.

Kuli says street dogs and birds suffer the worst.

"Many birds go blind. Thankfully, this Diwali we haven't had cases of animal cruelty so far, as sometimes people would throw crackers at street dogs resulting in them suffering burns," she said.

Kuli welcomed the Supreme Court ban on the sale of crackers and said the ruling brought a "significant change" and to some extent mitigated the suffering, the pets and strays would undergo otherwise.

"But, as a sensitive society, we should have a law that prohibits bursting of crackers," she asserted.

Frendicoes runs the main shelter in south Delhi's Jungpura area where over 200 rescued dogs are kept.

Some pet-owners spoke to news agency, said they had to keep their cats inside cupboards to muffle the loud noise of crackers.

Snehesh, a dog lover, said on Diwali he closed all the windows and stepped up the volume of TV and stereo to distract his pets -- a six-year-old Labrador and a four-year-old dog of Indian breed.

Dog lover Arti Razdan, who lives in posh Greater Kailash-I area, agreed with Kuli that the ban brought some relief to dogs and other animals, as at least the 'Chhoti Diwali' and daytime on Diwali was quieter compared to last year.

"I have three pets - a St Bernard (9), and a Labrador and a Golden Retriever, both four years old. Stepping up the volume of TV may not work sometimes. And, the poor thing still ends up feeling tormented by the noise," she said.

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News Network
April 17,2020

Kalaburagi, Apr 17: Hundreds of people participated in the Siddhalingeswara temple chariot festival in Chitapur village on Thursday, violating the lockdown orders.

"Today at 6.30 am, around 100-150 people had come near Siddalingeshwara temple for about 20 mintues and took part in chariot pulling procession," Superintendent of Police Lada Martin said.

A case has been registered against 20 people and further investigation is going to ascertain more details related to the religious gathering.
Meanwhile, a sub-inspector has been suspended.

Thirty-six cases of coronavirus were reported in Karnataka on Thursday, taking the state's tally to 315.

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News Network
March 9,2020

Kochi, Mar 9: A three-year old child has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said in Kochi on Monday.

The child and its parents who had reached the Cochin International Airport Limited at 6 AM on March 7 from Italy were subjected to thermal screening at the universal surveillance system established, officials said.

Detecting symptoms of coronavirus in the child, they were immediately referred to the isolation ward of the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital, they said. The samples of the child sent for examination at the NiV lab at Alappuzha have tested positive for Coronavirus, they said.

The samples of the parents have also been sent for lab test, the officials added.

Five fresh coronavirus cases, including three who evaded screening on return from Italy, were reported in Kerala, prompting the government on Sunday to sound a renewed alert and warn action against those hiding travel history to affected nations.

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News Network
February 2,2020

Newsroom, Feb 2: American business magnate Bill Gates has congratulated her daughter Jennifer Gates after she announced her engagement to her Muslim boyfriend Nayel Nassar.

“I am completely thrilled! Congratulations, @jenniferkgates and @nayelnassar”, commented the Microsoft boss to her daughter’s surprise Instagram story.

The proposal took place on a ski getaway. "Nayel Nassar, you are one of a kind. Absolutely swept me off my feet this past weekend, surprising me in the most meaningful location over one of our many shared passions," she wrote on Instagram. The pair does have one very significant shared passion - horses.

Nassar, 29, is a showjumper. Gates, 23, has famously grown up an equestrian, and has even competed against Steve Jobs' daughter.

In October, Nassar helped Egypt qualify for Tokyo 2020 - Egypt's first Olympic equestrian qualification in 60 years. He has been jumping since he was 10 years old and has the accolades to show for it - he has taken first place in a number of notable competitions, including the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup.

Nassar was born in Chicago to Egyptian parents and spent many of his formative years in Kuwait, where his well-to-do parents run an architecture and design firm, according to People. He is fluent in English, Arabic, and French.

He moved back to the US in 2009 and graduated from Stanford with an economics degree in 2013 - later, he supported Gates at her own Stanford graduation in 2018.

The couple received well wishes from many notable personalities on each of their Instagram posts, including comments from Bill and Melinda Gates, Georgina Bloomberg, and Eve Jobs.

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