Cowboys and Indians

Killing cows is illegal in most of India, but rustlers still round up cattle for slaughter.

Crime is a problem in any big country - but in predominantly Hindu India, an underground mafia has embarked on lucrative raids running counter to sacred beliefs: cow rustling.

Despite being a blessed creature in India, cattle theft has grown rampant throughout the country, authorities say. Cows are illegally sold to factories to be processed into leather and, surprisingly, more and more often for beef on the dinner plate.

With tens of thousands of cattle left to roam freely on city streets and in the countryside, rustlers generally pack pick-up trucks with 10 cows or more, with each animal fetching between $35-$90 in the illegal trade.

In a country where about 29.8 percent of the 1.2 billion populace earn only 40 cents a day, a single night's cow catch of $900 makes it a highly lucrative enterprise.

India's cowboys often scout for stray animals during the day and seize them at night. Gangs of rustlers come well prepared and in some instances heavily armed, with some not hesitating to open fire at police vehicles when chased after "lifting" cows, police say.

"They even threw the cattle from their vehicle in front of the chasing police vehicles, thereby forcing the chasing vehicles to stop," said an extensive police report discussing how officers caught a notorious rustler.

Read more here... 

Cowboys and Indians

Killing cows is illegal in most of India, but rustlers still round up cattle for slaughter.

Crime is a problem in any big country - but in predominantly Hindu India, an underground mafia has embarked on lucrative raids running counter to sacred beliefs: cow rustling.

Despite being a blessed creature in India, cattle theft has grown rampant throughout the country, authorities say. Cows are illegally sold to factories to be processed into leather and, surprisingly, more and more often for beef on the dinner plate.

With tens of thousands of cattle left to roam freely on city streets and in the countryside, rustlers generally pack pick-up trucks with 10 cows or more, with each animal fetching between $35-$90 in the illegal trade.

Unfortunately the issue is mired in vote bank politics... Owing to communal and sectarian interests, the Indian political establishment is turning a blind eye to this gross violation of constitution, as well as the sentiments of scores of Indians.

Ram Madhav , Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

In a country where about 29.8 percent of the 1.2 billion populace earn only 40 cents a day, a single night's cow catch of $900 makes it a highly lucrative enterprise.

India's cowboys often scout for stray animals during the day and seize them at night. Gangs of rustlers come well prepared and in some instances heavily armed, with some not hesitating to open fire at police vehicles when chased after "lifting" cows, police say.

Read more here.

Mumbai proposes mannequin ban to 'save women'

Civic body mulls banning display of half-clad mannequins in lingerie shops in an attempt to cut sexual assaults.

One woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Anti-rape protests swept the country in recent months, calling for strict and immediate action from the authorities after a 23-year-old medical student was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in the capital December 2012.

As of March 2013, 24,000 cases of sexual violence were pending before state high courts and the Supreme Court of India.

In a move designed to prevent the growing number of sex offences in Mumbai, the city that records the second highest number of rapes in the country, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has supported a proposal to ban the display of bikini-clad mannequins in front of shops. The proposal still is not law and is currently waiting on approval from the head of the civic body. 

The country's richest civic body, which boasts 227 councillors from across political parties, has unanimously supported the plan put forth by a BJP councillor to ban mannequins with "indecent display" in public areas.

If approved, the proposal developed by councillor Ritu Tawade will legally empower civic officials to force shopkeepers to remove mannequins that are "underdressed". 

"Lingerie mannequins promote rapes. Skimpily clad mannequins can pollute young minds," Tawade told the NDTV news channel. "After the Delhi rape case, I felt something had to be done." 

She strongly feels that mannequins, especially those wearing "the two-piece clothes (bikinis)", impact the incidences of crimes against women in the state. 

Read more here...

Mumbai proposes mannequin ban to 'save women'

Civic body mulls banning display of half-clad mannequins in lingerie shops in an attempt to cut sexual assaults.

One woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Anti-rape protests swept the country in recent months, calling for strict and immediate action from the authorities after a 23-year-old medical student was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in the capital December 2012.

As of March 2013, 24,000 cases of sexual violence were pending before state high courts and the Supreme Court of India.

In a move designed to prevent the growing number of sex offences in Mumbai, the city that records the second highest number of rapes in the country, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has supported a proposal to ban the display of bikini-clad mannequins in front of shops. The proposal still is not law and is currently waiting on approval from the head of the civic body.

The country's richest civic body, which boasts 227 councillors from across political parties, has unanimously supported the plan put forth by a BJP councillor to ban mannequins with "indecent display" in public areas.

If approved, the proposal developed by councillor Ritu Tawade will legally empower civic officials to force shopkeepers to remove mannequins that are "underdressed".

"Lingerie mannequins promote rapes. Skimpily clad mannequins can pollute young minds," Tawade told the NDTV news channel. "After the Delhi rape case, I felt something had to be done."

She strongly feels that mannequins, especially those wearing "the two-piece clothes (bikinis)", impact the incidences of crimes against women in the state.

Read more here.

Qatar’s roads saw more cars, more accidents and more bad driving in 2012

Qatar residents continued to drive badly in 2012, with the number of accidents resulting in injury jumping nearly 12 percent, according to new figures released by the Traffic Department today.

Nearly 1.2 million traffic violations were issued last year, a 39 percent jump from the previous year, the Ministry of Interior said on Twitter. 

But the surge in punishments don’t appear to have deterred raging roadsters, as Qatar saw some 4,218 accidents resulting in injuries last year, compared to 3,780 in 2011. The number of severe injuries increased some 3.2 percent, while the number of people killed fell half a percent.

Also on the rise: the number of vehicles on Qatar’s congested roads. Some 61,666 more vehicles were added to the streets last year, an increase of 7.6 percent from 2011. That brings the total number of vehicles up to 879,039 - more than 200,000 more cars than in 2010.

Population swells

Meanwhile, new Qatar Statistics Authority figures show that Qatar’s population, now past 1.9 million people, is continuing to grow at a much faster rate than originally estimated - last year increasing 7 percent instead of the 2 percent forecasted by the National Development Strategy.

The ensuing increase in vehicles on Qatar’s roads, in addition to road closures due to construction and poor urban planning, are the key reasons behind traffic jams here, some 4,300 residents said in a recent MOI survey.

The best way to tackle those problems is to increase police presence and enforcement on the roads and teach people the basics of traffic awareness and driving culture, residents added.

(Source: Doha News)