Kamal Nath resigns ahead of floor test; BJP set to form govt.
- Ending 18 days of political drama, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday submitted his resignation to Governor Lalji Tandon, ahead of the Supreme Court mandated floor test.
- Mr. Nath said he would rather stick to his political values and principles of 40 years than compromise. “I will continue to stick to my values. This is my strength,” he told reporters at his official residence. “I will continue to struggle along with each member of the Congress family in people’s interest.”
- Mr. Tandon accepted the resignation and asked Mr. Nath to continue as caretaker Chief Minister, Raj Bhavan
sources said.
Finland is again world’s happiest
- Experts at the UN on Friday declared Finland to be the world’s happiest nation for the third year running.
- Luxembourg also edged into the 10th spot for the first time this year.
- Zimbabwe, South Sudan and Afghanistan classified as the world’s least happy nations.
RBI sets contingency plan in motion
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put in motion a contingency plan in the wake of the spread of COVID19 to ensure that the financial markets continue to function smoothly.
- Since information technology infrastructure forms the backbone of most businesses, and especially the financial system, RBI data centres play a crucial role.
- “All residents have been asked to be prepared for the separation, while being assured that one can leave the group in case of any family or other emergency,” said a source. This plan was implemented from Thursday to ensure continuity of critical services of the RBI.
Courts can order passport surrender in contempt cases: SC
- The Supreme Court has held that courts are empowered to order parties in a contempt case to surrender
their passport in order to ensure their presence in the proceedings. - “In order to ensure the presence of the parties in the contempt proceedings, the court is empowered to pass appropriate orders, including the surrender of passport,”.
Odisha CM urges Modi to postpone Census work
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone
house listing, National Population Register and Census related activities in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. - “The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued notifications for conduct of Census 2021 and updating of NPR throughout the country.
- Mr. Patnaik said, “Mobilisation for Census will pose a great risk for field functionaries and people as well.” A decision to postpone the Census related work should be taken immediately, he said.