Centre to withdraw ban on sale of cattle for slaughter

News Network

December 1, 2017

New Delhi, Dec 1: The Centre has initiated moves to withdraw its controversial May 23 notification banning sale of cattle for slaughter in livestock markets and will bring an amended version specifying dos and don'ts intended to prevent cruelty to animals and address safety and hygiene issues.

The environment ministry has written to the law ministry seeking its view on withdrawal of the notification so it can bring an amended version in what sources described as a preliminary move. The notification has been stayed by the SC and the official amendment could take a few weeks.

"Final decision on the amended version is awaited as consultations are still going on. The government had made it clear long ago that it would revisit the May notification and bring clarity to the entire issue," an official said. Sources in the environment ministry said talks were held on a suggestion to remove buffaloes from the definition of cattle.

But such a differentiation may not be easy and the discussions only point to the sensitivities of the wider saffron parivar over cow protection. Animals which come under the purview of the notification are cows, bulls, bullocks, buffaloes, steers, heifers, calves and camels.

The inclusion of buffaloes was strongly protested by meat exporters and even state governments like Kerala and West Bengal. The matter reached various hight courts despite repeated clarifications that the notification had nothing to do with a ban on slaughter as animals could still be procured for this purpose directly from farms.

The Madurai bench of Madras HC had stayed the notification within a few days. The SC later stayed the controversial rules issued to ban sale of cattle for slaughter at livestock markets. N GJayasimha, managing director of Humane Society International, India, said, "The government cannot do it arbitrarily. It will have to bring simultaneous amendment (revised notification). Otherwise, we will challenge the move of arbitrary withdrawal of notification in court."

Jayasimha, who was part of the drafting committee of the Regulation of Livestock Market rules, told TOI on Thursday that the ministry would have to bring the draft amendment for stakeholders' comments before notifying it.

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DK in-charge minister presents CM’s MSP plea to Prime Minister in Mangaluru

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November 28,2025

Mangaluru, Nov 28: Karnataka Health Minister and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday handed over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the severe distress faced by farmers due to crashing crop prices.

PM Modi arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport en route to Udupi, where Gundu Rao welcomed him and submitted the letter. The chief minister’s message stressed that farmers are suffering heavy losses because maize and green gram are being bought far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The state urged the Centre to immediately begin procurement at MSP.

According to the letter, Karnataka has a bumper harvest this year—over 54.74 lakh metric tons of maize and 1.98 lakh metric tons of green gram—yet farmers are unable to secure fair prices. Against the MSP of ₹2,400/MT for maize and ₹8,768/MT for green gram, market rates have plunged to ₹1,600–₹1,800 and ₹5,400 respectively.

The chief minister has requested the Centre to:

• Direct NAFED, FCI and NCCF to start MSP procurement immediately.
• Ensure ethanol units purchase maize directly from farmers or FPOs.
• Increase Karnataka’s ethanol allocation, citing high production capacity.
• Stop maize imports, which have depressed domestic prices.
• Relax quality norms for green gram, allowing up to 10% discoloration due to rains.

The letter stresses that MSP is crucial for farmer dignity and income stability and calls for swift central intervention to prevent a deepening crisis.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

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November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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