The Hindu (Thiruvananthapuram)
No classes during daytime hours when heat peaks: Minister
The government decision to avoid classes during daytime hours when heat peaks is applicable to unaided schools, tutorials and tuition centres too, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said.
At a press conference here on Tuesday, the Minister said classes could be held from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. or in the evening when the temperatures were not high.
The Minister said a number of complaints were being received about classes being held as usual in unaided schools.
However, holding classes in the middle of the day would invite action.
The government decision was not applicable to government and aided schools alone, the Minister said.
The no-objection certicate to unaided schools was given by the government, he pointed out.
Rapid response teams (RRT) of the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) culled 17,980 birds, including 16,875 ducks, within one-km radius of bird u hotspots in Alappuzha on Tuesday.
O¥cials of the AHD said that 8,275 birds, including 8,025 ducks, had been culled in and around ward 10 (Koyilmuck South) in Edathua grama panchayat. Another 9,165 birds, including 8,833 ducks, were culled within the one-km radius of ward 4 (Thennady) in Thakazhi panchayat. RRTs culled 540 birds, mostly chickens, in and around ward 7 (Neerkunnam East) in Ambalappuzha North panchayat.
“The culling operations have been completed at two avian u hotspots in Thakazhi and Ambalappuzha North panchayats. However, the process in Edathua was aected by rain. The rest of the birds there will be culled in the coming days,” said an AHD o¥cial.
The AHD had identied 33,974 birds, mostly ducks, within the one-km radius of ward 10 in Edathua for culling.
Bird u (H5N1) has so far been reported at ve places in the district. After avian u was detected in the ducks of three farmers — one in Edathua (ward 1) and two in Cheruthana (ward 3), RRTs culled 17,480 birds, mostly ducks, within one-km radius of the hotspots on April 19.