News Dabba for 3 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 Finland’s right-wing National Coalition Party victorious in elections, 3,641 new daily COVID-19 cases in India, to Malaysia scrapping mandatory death penalty.

Finland’s right-wing National Coalition Party wins election, Al Jazeera

Finland’s main conservative party has claimed victory in a tightly-fought parliamentary election. Al Jazeera reported that the centre-right National Coalition Party (NCP) came out on top at 20.8 percent, with all votes counted. They were followed by the right-wing populist party, The Finns, with 20.1 percent, while Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats garnered 19.9 percent. However, the report says that with the top three parties each getting around 20 percent of the vote, no party is in a position to form a government alone. Read the full report here.

NDTV: India records 3,641 new daily COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths in 24 hours

NDTV reports that India recorded a single-day jump of 3,641 fresh COVID-19 cases as the active caseload rose to 20,219, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The death count has risen to 5,30,892 with 11 deaths recorded in a 24-hour span. The reports say three of those deaths are from Maharashtra and one each in Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan. The total tally of Covid cases was at 4.47 crore. Read the full report here.

Chennai Police arrest Kalakshetra professor facing sexual harassment charges

The Chennai police has arrested Hari Padman, an assistant professor of Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts operating under the Kalakshetra Foundation. The Hindu reported the police saying that a criminal case was booked against him on a sexual harassment complaint from a former woman student of the institution. The report also says that he was absconding before he was arrested. Last week, the students of the Kalakshetra Foundation carried out protests demanding the dismissal of four staff members, who have been accused of inappropriate behaviour and sexual abuse. Read the full report here.

Malaysia scraps mandatory death penalty, The Gazette reports

The Gazette reports that Malaysia's parliament on Monday passed sweeping legal reforms to remove the mandatory death penalty. The reforms also include trimming the number of offences punishable by death and abolishing natural-life prison sentences. Malaysia has had a moratorium on executions since 2018, when it first promised to abolish capital punishment entirely. Under the amendments passed on Monday, alternatives to the death penalty include whipping and imprisonment of between 30 to 40 years, the report says. Read the full report here. 

BBC reports Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

Parisians have voted to ban rental electric scooters in their city, dealing a blow to scooter operators and a triumph for road safety campaigners. BBC reports that almost 90 percent of votes cast on Sunday favoured a ban on battery-powered devices, official results showed. But under 8 percent of those eligible turned out to vote. The referendum was called in response to a rising number of people being injured and killed on e-scooters in the French capital, the report adds. Read the full report here.