Quick Reads
News Dabba for 24 April 2024: Five stories for a balanced news diet
Here are the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites.
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 SC reserving verdict on VVPAT, Kotak Mahindra Bank being asked to stop issuing fresh credit cards, to Columbia pro-Palestine protesters facing deadline to clear out.
Indian Express: RBI asks Kotak Mahindra Bank to stop onboarding new customers via online channels
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed Kotak Mahindra Bank from issuing fresh credit cards and onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels. Indian Express reports as per an official statement, RBI said the private lender has been significantly non-compliant with corrective action issued by the central bank for 2022 and 2023. It, however, stated that the bank will continue to provide services to its existing customers, including its credit card customers. Read the full report here.
SC reserves judgment after getting EC clarification on machines, The Hindu
The Hindu reports that the Election Commission of India has informed the Supreme Court that all three units of the EVMs — the Ballot Unit, Control Unit and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail — have their own microcontrollers. The Commission also noted that they are one-time programmable. An officer of the ECI also informed a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta that the EVMs and the VVPATs are stored for a statutory period of 45 days after polling, the report adds. The official also informerd the court that the flash memory of the ballot in the EVM can upload upto 1,024 symbols. Read the full report here.
Columbia pro-Palestine protesters face deadline to clear out
Columbia University has told students protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza to clear their campus encampments by 8am local time on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reports, with no agreement reached between the Ivy League institution and the organisers. Columbia students marked the seventh day of their Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Tuesday despite a wave of arrests and suspensions of protesters. They initially faced a deadline from university President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik until midnight to reach negotiations to dismantle the encampments. Shafik made clear that if the discussions were unsuccessful then “we will have to consider alternative options for clearing” the area, the report added. Pro-Palestine protests have roiled university campuses in the United States from coast to coast. Read the full report here.
IMD issues red alert over severe heatwave: Hindustan Times
A prolonged spell of scorching heat is expected to maintain its grip over East and South Peninsular India for the next five days, Hindustan Times reports according to meteorological authorities. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said severe heatwave conditions to persist over coastal Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, and isolated pockets of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, as well as interior Karnataka for the next five days. Isolated pockets of Bihar, Jharkhand, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema, and coastal Karnataka are also expected to experience heatwave conditions during this period, the report says. The weather forecasting agency has issued a red alert for Gangetic West Bengal, indicating a very high likelihood of heat illnesses and heat stroke across all age groups. Read the full report here.
TikTok faces US ban as bill set to be signed by Biden, BBC reports
The US Senate has approved a bill that could see TikTok banned in America over national security fears, BBC reports. It gives TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell its stake or the app will be blocked in the United States. The bill will now be handed over to US President Joe Biden, the report adds, who has said he will sign it into law as soon as it reaches his desk. TikTok has told the BBC that it did not have an immediate response to the move. Previously, Bytedance said it would oppose any attempt to force it to sell TikTok. Read the full report here.
