News Dabba for 13 February 2023: 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 Hindenburg spotlights an offshore Adani-related entity, Thousands left without power as Cyclone Gabrielle lashes New Zealand, to why Nagaland has never elected a woman MLA.

Hindenburg spotlights an offshore Adani-related entity that ED had linked to AgustaWestland Scam: The Wire

A Singapore-based company named in the Hindenburg Research report as being an Adani group “related party” figured in the first chargesheet and second supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam. The Wire reportes that its name was subsequently dropped in the third supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED in 2018, after authorities in Singapore replied to the Letter Rogatory (LR) sent to them by the ED. Gudami International Pte, a Singapore-based company, was declared a related party by Adani Exports (later renamed Adani Enterprises) in a filing with the BSE in 2002. As per the Hindenburg Research report, this was because it shared a director and key common shareholder with Adani Global. The Wire says it has also been misspelt as Gudani in the chargesheets. Read the full report here.

BBC says thousands left without power as Cyclone Gabrielle lashes New Zealand

Some 46,000 homes have lost power as Cyclone Gabrielle lashes the north of New Zealand. BBC reports that authorities have issued warnings of heavy rain and winds and hundreds of flights have been cancelled. Some areas have declared a state of emergency, as Gabrielle nears the North Island, the report adds. This comes weeks after Auckland and surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that sparked floods and killed four people. Read the full report here.

Indian Express: SC dismisses plea challenging delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir

The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a plea challenging the delimitation of constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Express reports. A bench of Justices SK Kaul and AS Oka, however, made it clear that it had not ruled on the validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act, 2019, which is pending before the Supreme Court in connection with petitions against the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution. Petitioners Srinagar residents Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Mohammad Ayub Mattoo had argued that under the Act, it is only the Election Commission of India (ECI) that has been empowered to conduct the delimitation exercise. Read the full report here.

50 arrested over killing of blasphemy suspect in Pakistan, The Hindu reports

Pakistan's police arrested at least 50 suspects in the kidnapping and lynching of a man already detained on charges of blasphemy, officials said, as per a report by The Hindu. A mob of hundreds of enraged Muslims descended on the police station in the Nankana district of eastern Punjab province on Saturday. Members of the mob had been alerted that a man identified only as Waris desecrated a copy of Koran. The report adds that according to the district police chief, Babar Sarfraz Alpa, the mob had accused Waris of pasting images of himself, his wife and a knife on pages of the book, displaying and throwing them in the streets. Charges of blasphemy carry the death penalty under Pakistani law. Read the full report here.

Why has Nagaland never elected a woman MLA? India Today explores

No woman has ever been elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly in the 13 elections since 1963, when Nagaland got full statehood. A report by India Today explores why this happened despite the state showing good social parameters. In fact, in 2022, S Phangnon Konyak (Rajya Sabha member) made history when she became the first woman Member of Parliament (MP) from this northeastern state in more than four decades. The report says The state’s female literacy rate of 76.11 percent is much better than the national average of 64.6 percent. However, the report says that there has been opposition in Nagaland to women in electoral politics. So far, only one woman has been elected as a village council chairperson. Read the full report here.