Meat scandal in Kolkata hits restaurant sales after 20,000 kg carcass meat seized; inter-state racket suspected, National : Today Indya

Meat scandal in Kolkata hits restaurant sales after 20,000 kg carcass meat seized; inter-state racket suspected

National

Financialexpress

Meat scandal in Kolkata appears to have taken a major toll on the appetite of non-vegetarians for restaurant and outside food in the city of joy. And you can't blame the consumers for this sudden shift in preference.

Meat scandal in Kolkata hits restaurant sales after 20,000 kg carcass meat seized; inter-state racket suspected

The Kolkata meat scandal appears to have taken a major toll on the appetite of non-vegetarians for restaurant and outside food in the city of joy. And you can’t blame the consumers for this sudden shift in preference. According to reports, the seizure of 20,000 kg of rotten meat — suspected to be of carcasses and sourced from dumping grounds — by the state government last week from a cold-storage in Rajabazar area of the state capital is the reason behind this dip in appetite. For, reports claim that this huge chunk of seized meat was meant for supplying to restaurants, eateries and departmental stores in areas of West Bengal as well as neighbouring Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. Police officials have even claimed that meat may have been supplied to international markets such as Nepal and Bangladesh.

Arrests and subsequent revelations

So far, the state police have arrested 10 people, including a leader of a political outfit, in connection with the case. Several teams have been deployed in greater Kolkata and outside West Bengal to trace the culprits involved in the business of selling meat of dead animals. “We are conducting raids to get hold of the culprits involved in the incident. Officers all over the district have been alerted to keep a tab on those who are involved in selling meat of dead animals,” SP (Diamond Harbour) Koteshwar Rao said.

The police suspect that as many as five influential individuals acted as middlemen in the racket. “These individuals are scattered in different parts of the state including others in the neighbouring states. We are trying to establish the chain. The racket seems to be quite an organised one,” he said.

Major breakthrough

Earlier, the police said that the alleged mastermind of the racket, Sonny Malik, was held from Bihar’s Nawada district on April 25. The major breakthrough had come following the arrest of a former councillor from Kalyani. 62-year-old Manik Mukherjee had retired from the Multidisciplinary Training Centre in Gayeshpur two years ago. “Mukherjee would provide information of carcass locations to the people involved in the racket. The Multidisciplinary Training Centre, earlier known as the Carcass Recovery Training Centre, is a central institute under Khadi and Village Industry Commission (KVIC). We are verifying all angles,” said SP Rao.

Mamata Banerjee government takes cognisance

Apart from Kolkata and state police, the state enforcement branch has also started a probe into the matter simultaneously. Currently, the state consumer affairs department is preparing a detailed report on the matter. Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pandey said. “We are chalking out a detailed report on this matter. Once it is complete, we will submit it to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee”. The West Bengal government has directed all police stations in the metropolis and the districts to keep a watch on the sale of meat in their areas, officials said.

A slump in meat sales in eateries

Most of the residents of West Bengal are fond of non-veg cuisine. However, that spirit has been dampened by the development. The sale of chicken, mutton, and pork has taken a dip. According to prominent restaurant owners, the customers are preferring fish, prawn over meat, according to a Times of India report. Hotel and Restaurants’ Association of Eastern India (HRAEI) has asked eateries’ owners to only purchase meat from registered suppliers.

Article Original Source : https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/kolkata-meat-scandal-hits-resta...

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Indian Exchange Launches 23 Crypto-to-Crypto Trading Pairs with Zero Fees

National

bitcoin

Another Indian cryptocurrency exchange has launched crypto-to-crypto trading. Koinex is offering 23 crypto-to-crypto trading pairs with zero fees. Earlier this week, leading Indian exchange Zebpay also launched crypto-to-crypto trading but with only one trading pair.

Koinex’s Crypto-to-Crypto Trading

Indian exchange Koinex announced last week, “We are delighted to announce the commencement of crypto-to-crypto trading on our platform,” elaborating:

"We are going live with not just one or two crypto-crypto pairs; we are launching a total of 15 token pairs, all at the same time!…This is the largest crypto-crypto pair offering by any Indian exchange and to add to this, the trading fees will be zero."

The exchange then announced on Saturday the addition of 8 more crypto-to-crypto trading pairs, set to go live on Saturday night.

In addition, the “seller fee has been revised to 0.15% for the INR market. Buyer fee is now fixed at a flat rate of 0.15%,” Koinex detailed.

As for deposits, the exchange clarified, “INR deposits via UPI and Netbanking are now live with payment gateway 2. Deposit fee is 1.18% for UPI and 2% for Netbanking.” However, Koinex reiterated that “all other payment methods are discontinued…All INR withdrawals are temporarily halted.”

23 New Trading Pairs

Koinex currently has 19 coins listed for trading against the Indian rupee. Its 24-hour trading volume for all cryptocurrencies is approximately $5.5 million, according to Coinmarketcap.

For crypto-to-crypto trading, there are nine bitcoin trading pairs, six ether, and eight ripple –a total of 23. Bitcoin and ether trading pairs are already live and ripple pairs are set to go live on Saturday night, the exchange clarified. “For the first time in the crypto world, Koinex proudly presents XRP-based trading market with 8 XRP pairs going live tonight.”

“The tokens available in the bitcoin market will be ethereum (ETH/BTC), litecoin (LTC/BTC), TRON (TRX/BTC), ripple (XRP/BTC), omisego (OMG/BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH/BTC), EOS (EOS/BTC), nucleus vision (NCASH/BTC), and request (REQ/BTC),” Koinex wrote.

For the ether market, in addition to BTC, the exchange is offering trading pairs for BCH, TRX, XRP, OMG, EOS, and NCASH.

For the ripple market, customers can trade BTC as well as LTC, TRX, EOS, OMG, REQ, NCASH, AE (aeternity), and GNT (golem).

Bypassing RBI’s Order

One of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Zebpay, also launched crypto-to-crypto trading last week with one trading pair – ETH/BTC.

Both Zebpay and Koinex launched their crypto-to-crypto trading services after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued an order banning banks and financial institutions under its control from dealing “in virtual currencies or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling virtual currencies,” Koinex described, adding that:

"Such services include maintaining accounts, registering, trading, settling, clearing, giving loans against virtual tokens, accepting them as collateral, opening accounts of exchanges dealing with them and transfer / receipt of money in accounts relating to purchase/ sale of virtual currencies."

The exchange warned that RBI’s order could cause “a disruption in [its] banking services” which “may affect our capacity to service withdrawals and deposits seamlessly.”

The RBI has since been taken to court by Kali Digital Eco-Systems. The Delhi High Court has accepted the company’s petition and issued a notice to the central bank. Other exchange operators are also planning to challenge the regulator as a consortium.

Article Original Source : https://news.bitcoin.com/indian-exchange-launches-crypto-to-crypto-trading-...