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
July 6,2020

Mandya, Jul 6: Mandya Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha Ambarish tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, July 6. Confirming the same, she tweeted, “It (test result) is positive with very mild symptoms and I have been advised home treatment,” she confirmed.

“I had developed mild symptoms of headache and throat irritation on Saturday, July 4. I decided to get myself tested as I might have been exposed to COVID-19 during the course of my constituency duties and tours. The results arrived today. It is positive with very mild symptoms and I have been advised home treatment,” she said in a tweet.

The MP sad she was going through the prescribed treatment as per her doctor’s instructions. “By God’s grace, my immunity level is strong and I am confident that I will soon get through this situation with your support,” she said, adding that she had already given the authorities the details of the persons who she might have come in contact with.

“But I would still urge those who have come in contact with me, if you have any symptoms, to get tested immediately. Let’s win the war against COVID-19,” she further said. Sumalatha had been involved in COVID-19 activities in her constituency which has recently seen a spike in the number of cases.

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News Network
February 16,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 16: Radhakrishnan V Nair embarked on a journey of exploring complex subjects and opening up the cocoon of existence that puts people in a zone of comfort. One sole mission of the book is to encourage the readers to break out of that comfort zone.

The architect by profession has a novel to his credit, 'The Cave of Freedom' that had earned him critical acclaim from Jnanpith Awardee UR Ananthamurthy. On February 13, a discussion and the reading of his book had the audience riveted to their seats.

The launch of the book on February 13 at Bangalore International Centre was presided over by Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, along with Vasudev Murthy, Technology Management Consultant, leadership trainer and author and Ramessh RK, an industrial designer and choir singer who read out passages from the book.

'Radhakrishnan is trying to inspire you to discover the pleasure of breaking the glass barrier along with the protagonist Dr Prateek. The story 'burst out'", said Radhakrishnan when it could not be contained any longer.

The glass ceiling saw a lot of interest from the audience present. The book includes Dr Prateek who is obsessed with saving lives in the Emergency Room (ER) as the world slept. Then on an eerie rainy night, he is kidnapped.

He struggles to come to terms with the improbability of waking up somewhere in Europe and making his serendipitous escape and being back at work the next morning - all physically impossible from the point of view of time and locality.

The glass ceiling challenges you to see tragedies and their impact on a person's mental well-being from a different perspective.

Radhakrishnan V Nair is an architect by profession and runs his Bengaluru-based firm - Archaid, the tagline of which is 'Architecture in Collaboration with Nature'.

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Media Release
April 7,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 7:  In the wake of COVID-19 lockdown in the country, a delegation from Highland Islamic Forum, Mangalore headed by Rizwan Pandeshwar, HIF Ration Kit Co-coordinator met Mangalore South Constituency MLA Mr. Vedavysa Kamath, Mayor Mr. Diwakar and MCC  Opposition Leader Mr. Abdul Ravoof on 6th April with an aim to join their hands with our local authorities in a bid to serve the daily wage earning families in and around Mangalore, during this emergency period. HIF delegation included Secretary Ausaf Hussain, Executive members Nazim SS, Adel Parvez, Nabeel Kudroli and Saleem Makkah.

HIF delegates handed over 300 COVID-19 Emergency relief ration kits to these local authorities, of which 100 each will be distributed to the poor in their respective areas among all faiths irrespective of caste or religion. The ration kits included grocery items and other essential commodities.

HIF Delegation said that Highland Islamic Forum is a prestigious charitable organization in Mangalore operating in the undevided D.K. District since last 8 years offering their hands to the poor and needy families of all faiths like food for the orphans, blood to the patients, water during the crisis time, relief supplies during floods, medicine to the patients, ration kits and homes to the homeless.

During the drinking water crisis in 2016, HIF supplied water facilities to more than 1000 families in Mangalore.  Two years back during the flood, HIF provided necessary commodities to the flood victims in Dakshina Kannada District. During the shortage of blood in Mangalore hospitals, HIF arranges blood donors camps and provide the blood to the patients.  HIF spends one day with orphans every month. HIF charitable activities have been well recognized by the kind hearted people in Dakshina Kannada District.

MLA Vedavysa Kamath, Mayor Diwakar and Mangalore City Corporation opposition leader Abdul Ravoof lauded the selfless efforts of HIF team in serving the poor and needy families in the society.

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