News Dabba for 24 April 2025: 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 Udhampur encounter, DR Congo-M23 rebels ceasefire, to BJP workers assaulting journalist who questioned Centre’s security lapse in Pahalgam.

Jawan killed in Udhampur encounter 2 days after Pahalgam attack: Indian express

A jawan was killed in an encounter between security forces and a group of militants near Basantgarh in J&K’s Udhampur district on Thursday morning, Indian Express reports,two days after a militant attack on tourists in south Kashmir’s Pahalgam. The Udhampur encounter began after security forces established contact with militants during a search operation that has been underway for a few days. The jawan was identified as Havildar Jhantu Ali Shaikh of 6 PARA SF, the report adds. Read the full report here.

BJP workers assault journalist who questioned Centre’s security lapse in Pahalgam: The Wire

A senior journalist had to be hospitalised after he was allegedly assaulted while covering a Bharatiya Janata Party protest against the Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, The Wire reports. Dainik Jagran reporter Rakesh Sharma allegedly invited the ire of BJP protesters, including party MLAs, when he and other journalists asked them about security lapses which could have led to the attack, The Wire reports. Security in Jammu and Kashmir is in the control of the BJP-led Union government. The report says a BJP member identified as Himanshu Sharma accused the journalists of speaking a “separatist language” for raising these questions. Also present were BJP legislators Devinder Manyal, Rajiv Jasrotia and Bharat Bhushan. Read the full report here.

DR Congo, M23 rebels announce ceasefire after peace talks in Qatar: Al Jazeera

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have agreed to pause fighting as they work towards a broader peace deal, Al Jazeera reports, according to their joint statement. The truce, declared late on Wednesday after a round of negotiations in Qatar’s capital Doha, has raised hopes that the latest wave of violence, spurred by M23’s bloody January assault and capture of the DRC’s two largest cities, may begin to subside. Al Jazeera’s Alain Uaykani, reporting from the eastern DRC city of Goma, said the two sides’ mutual agreement to pursue peace, after numerous failed negotiation attempts, was an encouraging shift. Read the full report here.

Zelensky cuts short South Africa visit after Russian attack on Kyiv, BBC reports

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has cancelled part of his first visit to South Africa after an overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's capital Kyiv, BBC reports. At least nine people were killed and more than 80 injured, including children, in the attack, local officials said. Zelensky said in a post on X that he would return to Ukraine "immediately" after meeting his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa as part of his trip to ramp up diplomatic efforts. The report says that he added that rescue operations were ongoing following the overnight attack and there was "significant destruction". Read the full report here.

Evidence of 3,000-year-old civilisation found in Maharashtra, claim researchers, Hindustan Times

Hindustan Times reports that researchers from the Nagpur University claimed to have found remains of a nearly 3,000-year-old civilisation along with its houses in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district which they believe date back to the Iron Age. A team from the Nagpur University's Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology conducted excavations at Pachkhed village in Babulgaon taluka here in 2023-24, Head of the Department Dr Prabash Sahu said, as per the report. There is a mound outside the Pachkhed village which is an archaeological site, wherein they found around 8.73 metres of cultural deposits during the excavation last year, he said. Read the full report here.