The Commerce Ministry's project to export roughly one lakh goats and sheep from Nagpur to Sharjah, UAE, has come to a halt before it could even leave the barn. The export was supposed to beef up income for farmers in the Vidarbha region, which is infamous for a high rate of farmer suicides. But just a day before the first batch of livestock was to fly out from Nagpur airport on June 30, the plan was dropped after a delegation of Jains and Hindus protested against it.

'Ban all animal exports'
On June 29, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) and non-profit organisations, Save Speechless and Vegan India Movement, held protests in Nagpur. Post their victory, FIAPO's Varda Mehrotra said that they were "relieved", but "stopping it one time does not help in the whole scheme of things. We want a complete ban on the export of animals."