Karnataka cabinet decides to re-promulgate three controversial ordinances
Bengaluru: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to re-promulgate three controversial ordinances after the bills introduced to replace them could not get passed in the state legislative council during the recently concluded session of the Legislature, official sources said.
While the Industrial Disputes and Certain Other Laws (Karnataka Amendment) Bill 2020, that tweaks labour laws, was passed in the legislative assembly, it got defeated in the council by the united opposition of Congress and JD(S), as they enjoy majority there.
The Karnataka Land Reforms (Second) Amendment Bill, 2020 and the Karnataka Agriculture Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Bill, 2020, also passed by the assembly, were not adopted by the upper House as it was adjourned sine die on the intervening night of September 26 and 27.
Official sources said as the ordinance promulgated earlier will lapse in six weeks after the legislative session, if a replacement bill to it is not passed by both the Houses, it has now been decided to re-promulgate the ordinances.
While the amendments to the land reform act liberalize farmland ownership, the APMC amendment bill curtails the powers of local Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMC) and allows private individuals to start agricultural trading, if they hold a permanent account number (PAN).
The bill that tweaks labor laws is aimed at making only those establishments that employ 300 or more people will have to seek the government's permission for closure, retrenchment, or layoff.
It also proposed to increase the overtime work of employees in any quarter from 75 to 125 hours.
Farmer and labor organizations, also opposition parties, especially the Congress, had vehemently opposed the three bills calling them "anti-people" and had even called for a statewide bandh on September 28 opposing it.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
