News Dabba for 21 December 2022: 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 Centre advising people to wear masks in crowded places, Taliban banning women from universities, to over 100 Rohingya stranded off India’s coast.

BBC reports Taliban ban women from universities

The Taliban have banned women from universities in Afghanistan, sparking international condemnation and despair among young people in the country, BBC reports. The higher education minister announced the regression on Tuesday, saying it would take immediate effect. The report adds that the ban further restricts women's education - girls have already been excluded from secondary schools since the Taliban returned last year. Some women staged protests in the capital Kabul on Wednesday. Read the full report here.

Centre advises people to wear masks in crowded places for Covid prevention, IE

Health officials in India on Wednesday advised citizens to take necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the virus within India. The Indian Express reported that Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya took to Twitter to share the status of the infection in countries and India’s preparedness in handling the current situation. Dr Vinod Kumar Paul, Member of Health at NITI Aayog, urged citizens to take the precautionary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Read the full report here.

Al Jazeera report on over 100 Rohingya stranded off India’s coast

At least 100 Rohingya are stranded in a boat off India’s Andaman Islands, Al Jazeera reports, addinng that as many as 16-20 may have died of thirst and hunger or have drowned. The stranded boat was approached by five Indian ships late on Tuesday as per Reuters. Priyali Sur, an activist in New Delhi who advocates for the rights of refugees, told Al Jazeera the situation on the boat is “getting worse and worse”. Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network’s Rohingya Working Group said the group had been adrift for more than two weeks. Each year, many Rohingya risk their lives boarding rickety vessels to escape violence in Myanmar and squalor in Bangladesh refugee camps. Read the full report here.

Zelensky to meet Biden, address Congress in Washington: Arab News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was making his way to Washington on Wednesday for a summit with President Joe Biden and an address to a joint session of Congress. This is his first known trip outside the country since Russia’s invasion began in February, Arab News reports. The highly sensitive trip is taking place after 10 months of a brutal war that has seen tens of thousands killed and wounded on both sides of the conflict. It also comes as US lawmakers are set to vote on a year-end spending package that includes about $45 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine. The Pentagon prepares to send Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the country to defend itself, it adds. Read the full report here.

Minister Desai says Maharashtra will have to rethink about water supply to Karnataka

The Hindu reports Maharashtra minister Shambhuraj Desai's remarks that if Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai does not stop making irresponsible statements, Maharashtra will have to rethink about water supply from its dams to the neighbouring state. This comes amid the simmering border dispute between the two states. The Maharashtra government last month appointed cabinet members Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai as nodal ministers to coordinate with the legal team regarding a court case on the state's border dispute with Karnataka. The report adds that Desai slammed Bommai over Karnataka government's stand that not an inch of land will be given to Maharashtra. Read the full report here.