Hyderabad, April 2 -- The Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) has directed all hotels and restaurants in the Arunachal Pradesh capital to remove references to specific animal meats, including pork, beef, chicken and mutton, from their trade licences and signboards, warning of legal action if they fail to comply within 10 days.

In an order issued on Tuesday, March 31, the IMC said several establishments had been obtaining trade licences with names explicitly referring to particular animal meats, a practice it said was "inappropriate and inconsistent with prevailing norms and sensitivities concerning animal welfare and public decency."

Invoking powers under the Arunachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 2019, the civic body directed th...