A look at the headlines today:
1. PM Modi to participate in birth centenary celebrations of Mujibur Rahman via video link
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the birth centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Bangladesh via video link. The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka today and was expected to be attended by several foreign dignitaries, including Modi. But it will be without any public gatherings due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The prime minister's office said on Monday that Modi would participate in the "birth centenary celebrations of 'Jatir Pita' Bangabandhu, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, tomorrow via video conferencing". Modi's visit to Bangladesh was coming at a crucial time and he was expected to assuage concerns there over India's new citizenship law and the NRC. But it was put off after the commemorative programmes were deferred due to detection of coronavirus cases in the neighbouring country, which rose to five. Bangladesh on Monday closed all education institutions till March-end and imposed a ban on the entry of Europeans and travellers from several countries, including India, as part of measures to combat the deadly COVID-19.
2. Supreme Court to hear petition for Madhya Pradesh trust vote in state Assembly
The Supreme Court will today hear a petition filed by former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP MLAs, seeking a trust vote in the state Assembly against the Kamal Nath government. The Congress-led government was pushed to the brink following the resignation of 22 MLAs, who are believed to be loyalists of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who defected to the BJP. The opposition BJP, claiming that the Congress-led government had lost majority, had pushed for immediate floor test. A delegation of the party met the governor on Saturday to make a demand in this regard. The BJP leaders said that a government in minority does not have the constitutional right to convene a budget session or get the governor's address delivered.
3. Will a floor test happen in Madhya Pradesh today?
In further escalation of the confrontation between Governor Lalji Tandon and the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, the former has sent a fresh letter to the chief minister urging him to undertake a floor test in the Assembly on March 17 to prove majority. The new development comes even as the BJP has approached the Supreme Court over the decision of the government not to conduct the floor test and the speaker adjourning the house. The hearing in this matter is scheduled for Tuesday. In a strongly-worded letter on Monday afternoon, the governor has said that if the chief minister fails to get the floor test conducted and prove government's majority on Tuesday, it would be deemed that the government does not enjoy majority in the house in reality.
4. Global coronavirus death toll tops 7,000: AFP
The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus has topped 7,000, after Italy announced a new surge in fatalities, according to an AFP tally at 1700 GMT on Monday. A total of 7,007 people have died, with a 175,536 infections recorded globally. China has the highest number of fatalities at 3,213, followed by Italy with 2,158 deaths and almost 28,000 cases.
5. Make or break day for Bernie Sanders in US presidential polls
Four more US states will vote in Democratic Primaries, and Bernie Sanders is hoping his support with Hispanic voters can lift him in Arizona. Sanders may struggle in two of the most important ones, Illinois and Florida, where some voters could be alienated by his recent comments defending Fidel Castro's communist government in Cuba. Trump must be defeated, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens, Sanders said. On Sunday night, in the first one-on-one debate of this campaign, the American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned to accomplish that. Sanders' mathematical path to winning enough delegates for the nomination is rapidly disappearing. Sanders now needs 57 per cent of the delegates not won so far to get to 1991, the magic number to win the nomination. Both delegate allocation math and voting history show how unlikely it is for Sanders to hit that goal and overtake Biden.
6. Fate of Euro 2020 to be determined as UEFA set for crisis meeting
A decision over whether to postpone football's Euro 2020 by up to a year, with all the sporting and financial consequences that would entail, is set to be made when UEFA holds a crisis meeting on Tuesday as Europe battles the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. European football's governing body will hold a videoconference with representatives from all 55 member associations as well as from clubs and players bodies. UEFA will then hold an executive committee meeting at 1400 (1300 GMT) at their Swiss headquarters. The future of the European Championship, due to take place for the first time in 12 different cities spread across the continent from June 12 to July 12, is up in the air along with those of the Champions League and Europa League. The "dark scenarios" that UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin warned against envisaging when he spoke at the organisation's congress in Amsterdam just two weeks ago now have to be considered.
-Inputs from PTI
