Tag: case

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Delta 24/7 cooling centres to come in case of heat dome

Delta 24/7 cooling centres to come in case of heat dome

The costs to provide 24/7 cooling facilities and transportation have yet to be determined

The City of Delta will have a plan in place to help the vulnerable should another heat dome hit the region this summer.

Council on Monday approved a staff recommendation to have designated municipal facilities in North Delta, Tsawwassen and Ladner identified as 24/7 cooling centres during Level 2 BC Heat Alert Response events.

A plan will include using Delta’s seniors’ buses to transport people to and from cooling centres and having a 24-hour information phone line about centre locations, transportation options and resources for dealing with the heat.

The city will also look at options to accommodate pets during extreme heat events as well as assess the feasibility of installing temporary misting stations or portable water stations at key locations throughout Delta.

The cooling centres will be in addition to municipal facilities that are equipped with air conditioning that will be available for people seeking respite from the heat, but those facilities will just be open during normal operating hours.

The city will also work with community partners serving vulnerable seniors and the homeless in Delta to develop a plan to support and check in with those groups during extreme heat events.

Staff will also develop a communications plan to promote Delta’s Beat the Heat strategy.

Also to make funding applications for mapping, assessment and planning, the city will submit a resolution to the Union of BC Municipalities asking the provincial government to recognize extreme heat events as public health emergencies.

A report to council notes the BC Coroners Service attributes 526 deaths in the province to the heat dome event last summer. Most of the deaths were elderly people living alone at home.

Delta Fire and Emergency Services reported 15 incidents of likely heat-related medical symptoms between June 26 and July 3, 2021, with 17 confirmed incidents of heat-related effects and seven deaths, although those deaths were not verified to be a result of the heat.

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Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: A timeline of events

Rajiv Gandhi Assasination case

The Supreme Court Wednesday ordered the release of A G Perarivalan, one of the life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Perarivalan alias Arivu was 19-years-old when he was arrested on June 11, 1991. He was accused of having bought two 9-volt ‘Golden Power’ battery cells for Sivarasan, the LTTE man who masterminded the conspiracy. The batteries were used in the bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi on May 21 that year.

Here is a timeline of the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case

10.20pm, May 21, 1991: Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at Sriperumbudur. The female assassin who triggered the belt bomb, Dhanu, and 16 others killed.

22 May, 1991 : A CB-CID team was constituted to investigate the case.

24 May 1991 : On request of the state government, then under the Presidential rule, handed over the investigation to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of CBI.

June 11, 1991 – CBI arrests 19 year old A G Perarivalan. He was booked under the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) like others accused in the case.

20 May, 1992 : SIT chargesheeted 41 accused including 12 dead, three absconding, before a special TADA trial court in Chennai.

January 28, 1998 : After prolonged trial, TADA court sentenced 26 accused to death including Nalini and Perarivalan.

11 May 1999: The Supreme Court upholds the death sentence of four including Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan and Nalini, three others to life sentences and freed 19 other death convicts. The TADA provisions were also struck down from the case.

April 2000: Nalini’s death penalty was commuted to life by Tamil Nadu governor on the basis of a recommendation of the state cabinet, and a public appeal made by Sonia Gandhi.

2001: Three death convicts including Santhan, Murugan and perarivalan submitted their mercy pleas to the President of India.

2006: Perarivalan’s autobiography – ‘An Appeal from the Death Row’ – claimed on how he was implicated in the conspiracy by taking a confession under duress that he bought a battery to make the bomb.

August 11, 2011: The then President Pratibha Patil, after 11 years, rejected these petitions.

August, 2011: As three death convicts were to be hanged on September 9, 2011, Madras HC stayed the execution orders. A resolution was also passed by the then Chief Minister, late J Jayalalithaa, seeking commutation of the death sentence.

February 24, 2013: Raising the issue of ‘double jeopardy,’ Justice K T Thomas, who headed the SC bench in 1999, said hanging them after 23 years would be unconstitutional. “This appears to be a third type of sentence, something which is unheard and constitutionally incorrect. If they are hanged today or tomorrow, they will be subjected to two penalties for one offense,” he said.

November 2013: Former CBI SP V Thiagarajan, who had taken the confession of Perarivalan in TADA custody, reveals that he altered it to qualify as a confession statement; he said Perarivalan never said he knew the battery he bought would be used to make the bomb.

January 21, 2014: SC commuted the death penalty of three Rajiv case convicts, along with 12 others including aides of forest brigand Veerappan, into imprisonment for life.

2015: Perarivalan submits a mercy petition to the Tamil Nadu Governor seeking release under Article 161 of the Constitution. Later, he moved SC for having no reply from the Governor.

August, 2017: Tamil Nadu government grants parole to Perarivalan, the first parole after his arrest in 1991.

September 6, 2018: On Tamil Nadu governor’s inordinate delay, SC asserts that the Governor has the right to decide on the remission petition filed by Perarivalan.

September 9, 2018: Tamil Nadu Cabinet headed by the then CM Edappadi K Palaniswami recommends the release of all seven convicts.

January, 2021: As the Governor continues to sit on the cabinet recommendation, SC orders to take a decision, warns that the court will be forced to release them citing the inordinate delay. The Governor sends the files to the President despite it being a state cabinet recommendation.

May, 2021: Perarivalan comes out on parole. The new DMK government kept extending the parole.

March 09, 2022: Supreme court grants bail to Perarivalan

May 11, 2022: Supreme Court concludes hearing in the case.

May 18 – Final Order

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State cancels poultry events in response to fourth bird flu case

State cancels poultry events in response to fourth bird flu case

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture announced Saturday that all poultry events will be canceled statewide because of the bird flu.

The order, which comes after a fourth farm was reported infected with the virus, states that birds of any type are not permitted at events such as fairs, expositions and live bird auctions until at least May 1, when the order will be reevaluated. 

Bird flu had previously been found in several wild geese and a mixed backyard flock in Merrick County, but its discovery in commercial poultry operations has upped the stakes in Nebraska.

In the last week, the state Agriculture Department quarantined a farm in Butler County and all 570,000 birds were humanely destroyed. The disease was later found to have infected a flock of 400,000 broiler chickens within the quarantine area.

In the latest case reported, a small flock of mixed chickens and waterfowl was infected in Holt County.

The ag department encourages bird owners to prevent contact between their birds and wildlife and to report any signs of bird flu in their flocks. Symptoms include a decrease in water consumption, soft-shelled eggs, nasal discharge, and lack of energy and appetite. 

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Chicks, ducklings and goslings can still be sold at farm stores.


570,000 broiler chickens to be destroyed as bird flu hits Nebraska poultry farm