News Dabba for 01 August 2024: Five stories for a balanced news diet

Indie Journal 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 Supreme Court's decision on abortion, landslides in Uttarakhand, to China's hottest month ever.

Indian Express: Supreme Court says SCs can be sub-classified for reservation

The Supreme Court in a 6:7 majority ruling on Thursday held that Scheduled Castes (SCs) can be sub-classified for the purpose of reservation, The Indian Express reports. The court said this must be on identifiable and demonstrable data. “While the state may embark on an exercise of sub-classification, it must do so on the basis of quantifiable and demonstrable data bearing on the levels of backwardness and representation in the services of the state. It cannot, in other words, merely act on its whims or as a matter of political expediency," Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said, as per the report. Read the full report here.

Heavy overnight rain in Uttarakhand triggers landslides, waterlogging, NDTV

Heavy overnight rain in Uttarakhand has triggered many incidents of house collapse, flooding of areas and rise in water levels in several rivers of the state, NDTV reports. At least 10 people died in Kedarnath and four went missing in rain-related incidents in Dehradun, Haldwani and Chamoli. The report adds that water entered into many homes in Dehradun besides leaving the roads heavily waterlogged at various places in the city. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the SDRF and the administration have been deployed in affected areas of the state, the officials said. Read the full report here.

Three men accused of plotting 9/11 reach plea deal, BBC reports

BBC reports that three of the men accused of plotting the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US have entered into a pre-trial agreement, the Department of Defense says. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi have been held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for years without going to trial. Details of the deal have not been announced, the report adds, but US news outlets say the men will plead guilty in exchange for the prosecution agreeing not to seek the death penalty. Nearly 3,000 people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania were killed in the attacks, which sparked the "War on Terror" and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Read the full report here.

India protests death of fisherman whose boat collided with Lankan navy ship

India on Thursday lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka over a collision between a Lankan naval vessel and an Indian fishing boat that killed a fisherman and left another missing. Hindustan Times reports that the external affairs ministry called in Sri Lanka’s acting high commissioner, Priyanga Wickremesinghe, on Thursday morning to register a protest over the incident. Tensions between the two sides over fishing have grown since a Sri Lankan Navy personnel was killed during an operation to seize an Indian fishing boat in July. Read the full report here.

China records hottest month in recent history, The Straits Times

China had its hottest month in observed modern history in July, The Straits Times reports, mirroring record hot weather seen around the world last month. Temperatures averaged 23.21 degree Celsius in July, eclipsing the 23.17 degree Celsius in July 2017, China's national television broadcaster reported on August 1. The report says this is the highest monthly average since the country began compiling comprehensive data in 1961. The world registered its hottest day on record on July 22, with the global average surface air temperature reaching 17.15 degree Celsius. Read the full report here.