News Dabba for 09 February 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 violence in Uttarakhand, Pakistan vote counting, to the US saying it will not back an unplanned Rafah offensive.

2 Dead, 250 injured in Uttarakhand violence, NDTV

NDTV reports that two people died and 250 were injured in widespread violence over the demolition of an illegal madrasa and an adjoining mosque in Uttarakhand's Haldwani on Thursday. The city has been placed under curfew, with shoot-at-sight orders issued against rioters and internet services completely shut down. The report says the confrontation reached a boiling point when a team of government officials, accompanied by policemen, attempted to raze the structures following a court order. Read the full report here.

Bharat Ratna for PV Narasimha Rao, MS Swaminathan, Charan Singh: The Hindu

The Union government on today announced former Prime Ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao and agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan will be honoured with the country’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna posthumously. The Hindu reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to make the announcement. This year, the Bharat Ratna has been announced for five people - the late socialist leader Karpoori Thakur, and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani being the other two. Read the full report here.

Reuters: With over 100 seats counted, Imran Khan's supporters lead in Pakistan

Reuters reported, as per local media reports, that upporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan had the edge on Friday in Pakistan's election results from over 100 seats. The vote counts were hit by unusual delays that the government ascribed to a suspension of mobile phone services. Geo News said independents, who mostly owe allegiance to Khan, had won 47 of 106 seats for which it had results. A total of 265 seats were contested in Thursday's election, Reuters mentioned. The Pakistan Peoples Party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto, also got 24 while former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 18. Read the full report here.

Hindustan Times on Mizoram, Assam agreeing to resolve border dispute

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma on Friday morning invited his Mizoram counterpart Lalduhoma, who is currently in Guwahati, over a meal and both leaders discussed the border issue, Hindustan Times reports. During the meeting, Lalduhoma and Sarma agreed to make collective efforts to resolve the border dispute between the two northeastern states, it said. Three Mizoram districts - Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit - share a 164.6 km long border with Assam's Cachar, Karmganj and Hailankandi districts, the report mentions. The border dispute between the two neighbouring states is a long-standing issue. Read the full report here.

US says it will not back unplanned Rafah offensive, BBC reports

The US has warned Israel that staging a military offensive into Gaza's southern city of Rafah without proper planning would be a "disaster". According to a BBC report, the White House said it would not support plans for any major operations in Rafah without due consideration for the refugees there. The comments come days after Israel's leader said the military had been told to prepare to operate in Rafah. More than half of Gaza's people now live in the city bordering Egypt, the report mentions. Read the full report here.