Administration should ensure we are not harassed : Meat sellers

Gurugram :
More than 20 Hindu outfits under the aegis of the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti have approached the district administration, demanding closure of meat shops in the city during nine-day Navratras.

The samiti submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh. It said in view of the upcoming Navratras, the sentiments of Hindus should be respected.

The samiti also demanded a permanent closure of meat shops operating within a km of Sheetla Mata temple.

Last month, the Municipal Corporation had sealed a mosque in Sheetla Colony here as part of its sealing drive against illegal structures within a 300-metre radius of the Air Force ammunition depot.

Mahaveer Bhardwaj, the convener of the samiti, said: “Over the years, several illegal meat shops have come up around Sheetla Mata temple. Carcasses are put up outside the shops, hurting sentiments of lakhs of devotees visiting the temple. These shops should be shut down.”

He further said meat shops should be closed during Navratras. “We want the administration to get this done or we will have to take things in our hands,” he added.

Last year too, the city had witnessed a similar situation. The district unit of the Shiv Sena had forced 500 meat shops to be shut during the Navratras.

In March 2017, the Shiv Sena had targeted meat shops and several outlets selling non-vegetarian food, while the administration and police kept silent.

Vikram Singh of the Bharat Bachao Sangathan said, “There is permission for only 298 meat shops, but Gurugram has more than 2,000 illegal outlets.”

Meanwhile, meat sellers and restaurant owners refused to give in. They sought protection from the police and administration.

“We have licences and have been operating for the past 40 years. They issued a diktat, asking people not to rent us (Muslims) homes and shops. And now, they want to snatch our livelihood. The administration should ensure we are not harassed like last year,” said Hanif Ahmed, a meat seller in Sheetla Colony.

Rohtak :

Resident doctors and house surgeons serving at the PGIMS here went on an indefinite strike over pay anomalies.

PGIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) president Dr Jangveer Grewal and vice president Dr Gaurav Nandal said the resident doctors had been denied the benefit of the Seventh Pay Commission for the past two years.

“When our salaries were finally fixed in accordance with the Seventh Pay Commission, we started getting salaries lesser than what we used to get under the Sixth Pay Commission. We took the matter to the authorities, but to no avail. Hence, we have been forced to go on strike,” they maintained.

Health care services at OPDs, indoor wards, operation theatres, labour rooms, ICUs, casualty wing, ICUs and Trauma Centre will be affected.

Terming the strike as “illegal, planned and motivated”, University of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Prof OP Kalra has advised the doctors to join duty, failing which strict disciplinary action would be initiated against them.

“We had heard the grievances of the resident doctors and promptly conveyed their concerns to the state authorities. Still, they went on a strike, and that, too, without any prior intimation. This will be taken seriously,” he said, adding that patient care would not be allowed to suffer.

Chandigarh :

The police have booked 18 persons, including seven cops, in connection with the alleged rape of a minor in Kaithal’s Kalayat block.

The victim, in her police complaint, alleged a police official raped her and her mother at their house in Kaithal’s Haripur village, while others, including a sarpanch and a former sarpanch of Haripur village, stood guard outside.

A case was registered under Sections 120 B, 323, 342, 376-D, 384 and 506 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act on Tuesday night.

Of the seven accused police officers, one is a woman ASI posted in a women’s police station. The rest are from a single police station.

Kaithal Superintendent of Police Aastha Modi said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by a DSP-rank officer had been constituted.

Sources said the victim, in her complaint, also alleged she was forced by the accused to record a statement against her father in a molestation case.

A couple of months ago, the girl had filed a case of molestation against her father and recorded a statement under Section 164 of the CrPC. Subsequently, the father was arrested. On the second hearing of the case, the girl retracted from her statement, following which the father was granted bail.

The girl alleged she was raped during the investigation of the molestation case and forced to give a complaint against her father.

SIT formed 

A Special Investigation Team led by a DSP-rank officer constituted 
Of the seven accused police officers, one is a woman ASI
The victim, in her complaint, alleged she was forced by the accused to record a statement against her father in a molestation case

A couple of months ago, the girl had filed a case of molestation against her father. Subsequently, the father was arrested.  

On the second hearing of the case, the girl retracted from her statement, following which the father was granted bail.

Crime against women on rise in Panipat 

• Crime against women has been on the rise in the district, so suggest the figures available with the Panipat police
• In nine months this year (till September 20), 103 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while only 84 cases were registered under the Act last year.
• On an average, 2.5 cases of crime against woman were registered every day in the past nine months.
• The number of domestic violence cases is also on the rise in the district. In 2017, 13 dowry deaths were reported, while eight deaths have been reported up to September. 
   

Karnal :
With seven new confirmed cases of dengue, the Health Department has stated that the number of cases in the district has risen to 52. If sources in private hospitals are to be believed, the number could be higher as several patients are getting treatment there.

As many as 52 cases have been found to be positive, while the number was 234 last year, said Dr Saroj, Deputy Civil Surgeon (Malaria).

She said the authorities had cancelled leaves of all employees and conducted special anti-larvae campaigns in the district. As many as 23,877 households and 6,114 coolers were checked, out of which 498 households and 161 coolers were found to be carrying larvae. After this campaign, they have served notices to 195 households and made 2,030 slides, Dr Saroj stated.

Private hospitals have been warned not to confirm dengue till its confirmation through Elisa test, conducted by the state laboratory of the Health Department, she added.

Chandigarh :
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to consider reducing customs duty on mutilated rags, used as ‘industrial raw material’, in the interest of spinning manufacturers of the state.

Khattar, in a written communication to the Finance Minister, said the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customss had increased the customs duty on Textile Chapter 63.10 from 5 per cent to 20 per cent, which had adversely affected the shoddy spinning manufacturers. He said the consequent steep rise in the production cost had seriously threatened their economic viability.

The Chief Minister said there were more than 200 units of shoddy spinning and end spinning in Panipat, which consume mutilated rags as an ‘industrial raw material’. They manufacture home furnishing products not only for exports but also for cheap quality blankets, durries, shawls, lohies etc used mainly by the poor of our nation, Khattar wrote in his letter.