1. APMC Bill tabled in Legislative Assembly
The Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was tabled in the Legislative Assembly for scrapping the amendments introduced by the previous BJP government.
The Bill said that the trading of commodities by farmers outside the APMC yards would be prone to exploitation by the traders since there was no regulatory mechanism for controlling the exploitation. It was noticed that the farmers’ produce price and income had not increased by allowing them to trade their produce outside APMC yards. Moreover, the APMCs income has come down sharply in view of the trade taking place outside the market yards, the Bill said.
2. No proposal to repeal anti-cow slaughter Act, says Karnataka Minister
In a written reply to BJP MLC Ravikumar, Animal Husbandry Minister K. Venkatesh said that there is no proposal to repeal The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, since the pros and cons of such an action are under discussion.
Despite this, the Opposition BJP stalled the legislative Council proceedings on July 5, accusing the government of allowing illegal cow slaughter in Karnataka. BJP members took exception to the Minister’s earlier statement where he had asked what was wrong in cow slaughter when buffaloes were being slaughtered.
3. BJP accuses Congress government of cheating people of Karnataka
The Opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress of cheating the people of Karnataka by imposing various conditions for availing benefits under five guarantees, and delaying their implementation.
Addressing the Karnataka Assembly on July 5, former minister R. Ashok pointed out that the poll manifesto of the Congress did not mention any conditions for availing benefits, but when it came to executing schemes, the government had imposed too many restrictions.
4. Tomato prices breach ₹150 mark in Bengaluru
The prices of tomato, which has been spiralling up, has now breached the ₹150 per kg mark in retail shops in Bengaluru. Production was anyway expected to be lower as some farmers had opted out of cultivating tomatoes citing poor earnings. Adding to that, about 50% of production in Karnataka has gone down the drain due to leaf curl viral disease.
Experts expect the prices to come down only after two months when the fresh harvest hits the market. Officials from the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission said lack of adequate attention towards price fluctuation is a key reason for the sudden rise in the prices of the commodity.
5. ISRO moon mission: Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft integrated with launch vehicle
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is planning to launch the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission in July, has integrated the spacecraft with the launch vehicle — Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3).
ISRO has, so far, not announced the date of the launch. However, the launch window for the Chandrayaan-3 is between July 12 and July 19. ISRO chairman S. Somanath has said that the space agency would pick the earliest possible date to launch the mission.
