Oppn against Karnataka govt's proposed ordinance on APMC
Bengaluru: Opposition parties, including the JDS on Thursday came out against the Karnataka government's proposal to amend the laws governing the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC), claiming that the move would curtail its powers and also affect the farmers' interests.
The state cabinet to meet this evening is likely to clear an ordinance, which according to government sources is aimed at bringing in reforms to facilitate market access for farmers and usher in APMC reforms.
Terming as "incorrect" the government's move to amend APMC Act through an ordinance at a time when the state was fighting COVID-19, JDS Supremo Deve Gowda in a series of tweets said the government should withdraw it as it was being done without consulting the farmer community and discussing in the assembly.
Expressing apprehension that farmers will fall prey to exploitation of capitalists and multinational companies if APMC laws were diluted, he said, there will no protection for ryots if this was done.
Gowda's son and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has warned government of agitation if it goes ahead with the ordinance.
Describing the step as 'submission' to multinational companies, he said, subjecting farmers to such a risk amounts to "breaking our own back bone."
Alleging that the state government was bringing the amendment at the behest of the Centre, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah said it was against the Constitution as agriculture was the state subject.
The move will destroy the agriculture sector, he claimed.
The state government is said to have taken the ordinance route to amend the APMC Act following the Centre's suggestion to adopt its Model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2017.
The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have already made amendments to the APMC Act.
The proposed amendment to agriculture produce marketing committee laws is aimed at removing restrictions on sale of farm produce and allowing farmers to sell their produce anywhere.
Recently, Governor Vajubai Vala had returned the ordinance citing procedural reasons, and had asked the cabinet approve it first.
The government had earlier planned to take post-facto approval from the Cabinet for the ordinance. The cabinet is also likely to approve an ordinance to amend labour laws in the state.
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Indigo cancels 67 flights from multiple airports due to bad weather, operational issues
Mumbai (PTI): Domestic carrier IndiGo on Thursday cancelled 67 flights from multiple airports due to "forecasted" bad weather and operational reasons, according to the airline's website.
Of the 67 cancelled flights, only four were for operational reasons, and the rest were due to "forecasted" bad weather at various airports, including Agartala, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Varanasi, Bengaluru, among others, as per the website.
Aviation regulator, DGCA, has announced the period between December 10 and February 10 next year as the official fog window this winter.
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As part of the DGCA fog operations (CAT-IIIB) norms, airlines have to mandatorily roster pilots who are trained to operate in low-visibility conditions, as well as deploy a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet for such operations.
Category-III is an advanced navigation system that empowers an aircraft to land under foggy conditions.
Category-III-A is a precision instrument approach and landing that enables a plane to land with a runway visual range (RVR) of 200 metres, while Category-III-B helps in landing with an RVR of under 50 metres.
IndiGo, whose operations are under DGCA monitoring after the cancellations of thousands of flights early this month, is already operating a curtailed schedule in compliance with the government's order.
Under its original winter flight schedule, the airline was permitted to operate 15,014 domestic flights per week, or about 2,144 flights per day, roughly six per cent higher than the 14,158 weekly flights it operated during the summer schedule of 2025.
However, after the massive disruptions, which saw the airline cancelling 1,600 flights on a single day on account of new rest norms for pilots, which allow more rest to the pilots, the government cut down the airline's domestic flight schedule by 10 per cent or 214 flights per day.
As a result of that, IndiGo can't operate more than 1,930 flights per day on domestic routes under its current winter schedule.
The Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline cancelled thousands of flights between December 1 and December 9 on account of a lack of proper planning, and crew shortage in implementing the new set of regulations for pilots' duty period and rest, which were put in place from November 1, thereby causing severe hardships to lakhs of air travellers.
Following this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) formed a four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier.
The panel, which has already grilled IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras as part of its probe, is expected to submit its report by this week.
Meanwhile, IndiGo, in a travel advisory on X, said, "Low visibility and fog over Bangalore has impacted flight schedule. We are keeping a close watch on the weather and doing our best where you need to be safely, smoothly".
Reacting to the advisory, an aggrieved passenger, in an X post, said, "My flight on December 20 from Bhubaneswar to Ahmedabad got delayed for more than five hours, and today my return flight from Ahmedabad to Bhubaneswar also got delayed more than three hours with the same excuse as bad weather. I am travelling with my senior citizen parents, and this delay is not acceptable. Need proper explanation, along with compensation".
