Imphal, April 17: At least 17 persons including women were injured in a police action on Monday night while taking part in a protest demanding the construction of a hospital at Khundrakpam in Imphal East district of Manipur, police said on Tuesday.
According to reports, the protesters were demanding the construction of the hospital in Sagolmang area, while the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government is believed to be giving final touches to a plan to construct the same in Keirao constituency of the state.
The police resorted to a cane-charge and used tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, which left 17 persons injured.
Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said: "The government had planned some years ago to construct the hospital at Sagolmang. However, since a land dispute arose there, it was decided that the proposed hospital would be shifted to the Keirao constituency."
T. Lokeswor, a Congress MLA and a former speaker said: "If there is a land dispute obstructing the construction of the hospital, the government should put out documents in the public domain."
Some activists felt that the people of the constituency and the neighbouring areas should not be punished in this manner simply because the elected representative belongs to the opposition Congress.
Monday's torchlight procession of thousands of people, who walked over 15 km, is the second such protest in the recent past.
S. Yaiskul, Convener of the Joint Action Committee opposing the plan to shift the hospital, said: "Majority of the people in the Khundrakpam constituency are below the poverty line. They can't afford the medical bills for quality treatment in Manipur or other states. We shall not rest till the government reverts its decision."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rupee falls 5 paise to 90.23 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 5 paise to 90.23 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, driven by rising crude oil prices and an unabated outflow of foreign funds.
According to forex traders, a volatile geopolitical situation and concerns over further US tariffs on Indian exports fueled the selling of Indian stocks by foreign institutional investors, even as traders awaited cues from macroeconomic data to be released this week.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.23 and stayed weaker by 5 paise from its previous closing level.
On Friday, the rupee fell 28 paise to close at 90.18 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.14 per cent lower at 98.75.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.13 per cent higher at USD 63.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex declined 356.49 points or 0.43 per cent to 83,219.75, while the Nifty dipped 94.90 points or 0.37 per cent to 25,588.40.
Analysts said several factors like the development related to Venezuela, Iran and US President Donald Trump's possible move towards Greenland are influencing the sentiment worldwide.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,769.31 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
The latest weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday showed India's forex reserves dropped by USD 9.809 billion to USD 686.801 billion in the week to January 2. In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves had jumped by USD 3.293 billion to USD 696.61 billion.
