NSC members feel 'sidelined by govt', resign on row over jobs, GDP data

The chairman and an external member of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) have resigned, expressing disappointment over the treatment being meted out by the government.

P C Mohanan, the acting chairman, and member J V Meenakshi resigned on Monday, leaving behind no external members in the Commission. Their tenure was to end in June 2020. They cited withholding of the publication of the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO’s) employment survey for 2017-18 and a lack of consultation with the Commission before releasing the backdated gross domestic product (GDP) series last year as some of the key reasons for their resignations.

https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/nsc-members-feel-sidelined-by-govt-resign-on-row-over-jobs-gdp-data-119012901079_1.html

Privacy Expert Resigns From Google Supported Smart City Project

A director of a smart city project that will use Google-supported software to monitor citizens, trash cans and traffic lights has resigned from supervisory concerns.

Ann Cavoukian resigned from Sidewalk Labs, owned by the same company as the search giant, to make a strong statement amid privacy fears for the planned community in Toronto.

https://whatsnew2day.com/privacy-expert-resigns-from-google-supported-smart-city-project/

Watch the water?

SFWMD: Brandon Tucker, Jaime Weisinger, Federico Fernandez resign as DeSantis asked

The entire South Florida Water Management District board will be newly appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis by March, after three resignations late Tuesday and Wednesday.

The resignations by Tucker, Weisinger and Fernandez came after DeSantis said Tuesday "time is going to run out" before he takes further action against them. He stopped short of saying he'll suspend them, but that would be the next step in a protracted process that ultimately requires the Florida Senate to remove them.

“If you can’t make them see the light, you’ve got to make them feel the heat," DeSantis said, adding his office could take action to remove or penalize them. "We’re happy to move into the next phase of this. I hope we don’t have to do that, but the bottom line is I have a lot of resources and things in my disposal that I can use."

DeSantis called for the entire board to resign immediately at a Jan. 10 news conference in Stuart, in large part because of two controversial votes they took Nov. 8 to:

Lease land to a subsidiary of sugar grower Florida Crystals on the site of the planned EAA reservoir, designed to curb Lake Okeechobee discharges.

Ask a federal court to end federal oversight of the district's Everglades restoration projects and its promise to clean polluted farm water draining into Everglades National Park, the result of a 1988 lawsuit.

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/politics/2019/01/30/sfwmd-federico-fernandez-resigns-after-gov-ron-desantis-request/2719433002/

The Corps' suicide rate is at a 10-year high. This is how the Marines plan to address it.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/01/30/suicide-rate-across-the-corps-is-at-a-10-year-high-this-is-how-the-marines-plan-to-address-it/