News Dabba for 19 April 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 the suspension of UP policemen in Atiq Ahmed killing case, cholera deaths in Nigeria, to UN report on India's population growth.

5 UP policemen suspended in relation to Gangster Atiq Ahmed's killing: NDTV

NDTV reports that five police officers have been suspended over the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on April 15. Among those suspended are senior Shahganj police officer Ashwani Kumar Singh, two inspectors and two constables. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murders questioned the cops yesterday, the report adds. The five officers were posted at the Shahganj police station. Earlier today, the killers were sent to four-day police custody by a Prayagraj court. Read the full report here.

MEA in touch with Quartet countries to ensure safety of Indians

The Hindu reported as per its sources that the External Affairs Ministry and the Embassy were “continuously monitoring” the developments in the crisis-torn African country. The source added that the authorities were in touch with the “The Quartet” countries – US, UK, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - to ensure the safety of Indian nationals in Sudan.  This followed the exchange of words on social media between External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah regarding the situation in Sudan. The report says latest information from Khartoum has revealed that more than 100 casualties were reported in a day after a ceasefire failed within hours. Read the full report here.

The Straits Times: 12 people detained over Beijing hospital fire

The Straits Times reports that 12 people have been detained in connection to a fire that killed 29 at a Beijing hospital, including the facility’s director. Sun Haitao from Beijing’s public security bureau told a press conference that representatives from a company renovating the hospital had also been detained. As per the report, emergency response teams first received word just before 1pm on Tuesday that a fire had broken out at the Beijing Changfeng Hospital in the capital city’s Fengtai District, Beijing Daily said. No further details were available on the number of people who suffered injuries due to the fire, or the condition of the victims. Read the full report here.

TeleSUR: Nigeria records 79 Cholera deaths in 2023

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) reported on Tuesday that 79 people have died from cholera disease in the country so far this year. TeleSUR reports that the agency reported a total of 1 336 suspected cases of cholera, which has spread across 43 regions in 12 Niger states since the beginning of the year. The report adds people have been asked to consume safe drinking water and maintain proper hygiene measures to prevent acute diarrheal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Nigeria experiences outbreaks of this endemic disease every year, mainly during the rainy season. Read the full report here.

UN report shows India’s population up 1.56 pc in a year, Indian Express

India’s population has grown by 1.56 percent in the past year and is estimated to be 142.86 crore, The Hindu reported according to the latest edition of the UNFPA’s State of World Population (SOWP) report. The report says that more than two-thirds of its population or 68 percent comprises people between the ages of 15 and 64, considered the working population of a country. The report shows that China is just behind India with a population of 142.57 crore. The latest report also shows that India’s total fertility rate (births per woman in the reproductive age) is estimated at 2.0. Read the full report here.