News Dabba 11 August: Five stories across the web for a balanced news diet

Anushka Vani brings you the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites. Here's a glance through some of the National and International news updates, from North Korea declaring itself Covid-19 free, Manipur staff being directed to exit anti-national groups, to Jagdeep Dhankhar taking oath as the Vice President of India.

North Korea says its Covid Outbreak is over, New York Times

New York Times report says that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un declared victory over the Covid-19 virus, despite the lack of vaccines. His sister accused South Korea of sending the virus across the border and threatened deadly retaliation. The report states that in the month of May after two years of claiming to have no covid cases North Korea reported an outbreak, after which a maximum emergency and a lockdown were imposed on all its cities and countries. Read the full report on New York Times.

The Hindu reported that Manipur Govt asked its staff to exit ‘anti-national’, ‘communal’ social media groups

The Manipur government has directed its staff to leave social media groups that are engaging in separatist concepts, The Hindu reports. This step has been taken because it said it has been noticed that many formal and informal groups on these social platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp have been engaged in anti-national talks. An official document dictates that the staff must exit all the groups which engage in anti-national and communal agendas. Read the full report on The Hindu.  

Hindustan Times cover report says that the CCPA challenges stay on service charge norms for hotels issued by Delhi HC

Hindustan Times reported that the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) challenged the Delhi High Court's decision to settle the recent guidelines issued by the government, restraining the levy of service charges on food bills by restaurants and hotels. Additionally, it also stated that the appeal moved by the CCPA is scheduled to come before the division bench which would be headed by the Chief Justice of Delhi on August 16. Read the full report on HT.

The Washington Post reported that US urges care of the Congo River basin

The United States (US) will work with local leaders in the Congo River basin to ensure that planned fossil-fuel extraction won't result in a climate catastrophe, reports the Washington Post. Environmentalists fear that the project will undermine efforts to combat global warming. The report also says that the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Kinshasa which is the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital was aimed partly at advocating the protection of a vast rainforest and a carbon-rich peatland as the country moves to auction nearly 30 oil and gas blocks. Read the full report on The Washington Post.

Jagdeep Dhankhar takes oath as the Vice President of India, NDTV reports

NDTV reported that Jagdeep Dhankhar took oath as the 14th Vice-President of India. He is a political veteran from Rajasthan who also served as Governor of Bengal. The report also mentions that in the elections on August 6, he defeated the opposition candidate Margaret Alva by getting 74.36 percent of votes, which is the highest winning margin in the last six vice presidential elections since 1997. Read the full report on NDTV.