News Dabba for 12 April 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 PM's promise of Jammu and Kashmir statehood, new arrests in Rameshwaram cafe blast, to Colombia drought.

PM says Jammu and Kashmir will get statehood, time not far for assembly elections, India Today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be reinstated soon, India Today reports, adding that Assembly elections will be held after the statehood reinstatement. Addressing a public rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur in support of BJP candidates, the PM said, "... The time is not far when Assembly Elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir will get the status of statehood. You will be able to share your dreams with your MLA and your ministers..." He further added that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will take place in Jammu and Kashmir without the fear of terrorism, strikes, stone-pelting and cross-border firing. Udhampur will to polls on April 19. Read the full report here.

Indian Express on Rameshwaram Cafe Blast: NIA arrests 2 prime suspects

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested two absconding accused in The Rameshwaram Cafe blast case from near Kolkata, Indian Express reports. The blast at the Bengaluru cafe on March 1 had left nine people injured. “The absconders in Rameswaram Cafe blast case: Adbul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib were traced out to their hideout near Kolkata and were apprehended by NIA team," NIA said. Last month, the NIA released the photographs and details of Taha, 30, and Shazib and also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for each of them, the report said. The NIA said it coordinated with central intelligence agencies and state police agencies of West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. Read the full report here.

Exodus to Thailand continues after fall of key Myanmar border town, Reuters reports

A stream of people, some fearing air strikes, queued at a border crossing to flee Myanmar early on Friday, Reuters reports, a day after the strategically vital town of Myawaddy near Thailand fell to anti-junta resistance that is gaining strength. The loss of the town robs the junta, already grappling with an economy in free fall, of vital earnings from border trade while strengthening rebel groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) that led the assault on Myawaddy, analysts say. Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara is set to visit Mae Sot, just across the Moei River from Myawaddy, on Friday to assess matters after Myanmar's embattled junta lost yet more territory in the latest round of fighting. Read the full report here.

Hindustan Times: IIT-Guwahati student found dead in hostel, family alleges ragging

A first-year student of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Guwahati was found dead in his hostel room inside the institute’s campus on Wednesday night, police said on Thursday. Hindustan Times reports that while police suspect it to be a case of suicide, the 20-year-old deceased’s family alleged he was ragged and murdered and demanded a high-level probe into the matter. The student was from Bihar’s Samastipur area and pursuing B-Tech at the institute. Read the full report here.

Parched Bogota rations water: BBC report on Colombia drought

BBC reports that about 10 million residents of the Colombian capital Bogota are being forced to ration water amid crippling shortages due to a severe drought. It comes as the El Niño climate phenomenon pushes reservoir levels to their lowest point in decades. Officials have split the region around the capital into nine zones, the report says, each zone taking turns to switch off water services for 24 hours. Hospitals and schools are exempt. The city's mayor called the situation dire. Restrictions announced earlier in the week came into force on Thursday. Read the full report here.