JD-S, Congress decide to set up panel for CMP
Bengaluru, June 14: The first meeting of the coordination committee of JD-S-Congress on Thursday decided to constitute a five-member committee for drafting a Common Minimum Programme while continuing the popular schemes of the previous Congress government in Karnataka.
The coordination committee also decided on appointments of a few corporation chairmen within a week.
"We have decided to constitute a five-member drafting committee for the Common Minimum Programme.
"The committee will submit the draft report to the coordination committee in 10 days and then it (coordination committee) will look into it and finalise the CMP," said Janata Dal-Secular National Secretary Kunwar Danish Ali, who is a member of the coordination committee.
He also said names of the members of the five-member committee will be announced on Friday.
Ali said the committee has also decided to continue most of the popular programmes of the previous government, which include Indira Canteen, Anna Bhagya and other pro-people programmes.
The five-member coordination committee comprises Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Ali (JD-S) and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal (all Congress).
The JD-S-Congress coalition government in Karnataka was expanded on June 6, with the induction of 25 legislators as cabinet ministers including 23 from the alliance partners and one BSP MLA and an Independent.
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SC directs President's secretary to place before her Beant assassination convict's mercy plea
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday directed President Droupadi Murmu's secretary to place before her the mercy petition of death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, for consideration.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan requested the President to consider the plea within two weeks.
"Inspite of the matter being specifically kept today none appeared for Union of India. The bench assembled only for this case," the bench said.
"On the last date the matter was adjourned to enable the Union to take instructions from the office of the President as to by when will mercy plea be decided. Taking into consideration that the petitioner is on a death row, we direct the secretary to the President of India to place the matter before the President with a request to consider the same within two weeks from today," the bench said.
The matter will now be heard on December 5.
On September 25, the top court had sought responses from the Centre, the Punjab government and the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh on Rajoana's plea.
The then Punjab chief minister and 16 others were killed in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.
A special court sentenced Rajoana to death in July 2007.
Rajoana has said that a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution was moved by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on his behalf in March 2012.
On May 3 last year, the apex court had refused to commute his death sentence and said the competent authority could deal with his mercy plea.
