News Dabba for 28 March 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 Myanmar earthquake, rise on Union govt employees' dearness allowance, to pro-monarchy agitations in Nepal.

Kunal Kamra moves Madras HC seeking transit anticipatory bail: Indian Express

Comedian Kunal Kamra, who has found himself at the centre of a controversy over his comments on Shiv Sena supremo and Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, approached the Madras High Court Friday seeking a transit anticipatory bail in the matter, Indian Express reports. An FIR was lodged against Kunal Kamra in Mumbai over his remarks on Shinde in his YouTube comedy special ‘Naya Bharat’, where he referred to the Shiv Sena chief as ‘gaddar’ (traitor). The video sparked a massive outrage, and Mumbai Police issued two summonses to Kamra, urging him to appear for questioning before March 31, the report says. Read the full report here.

NDTV on Centre raising dearness allowance for Union Government employees by 2 pc

In a salary increase for central government employees ahead of the 8th Pay Commission, NDTV reports that the Union cabinet approved a 2 per cent increase in dearness allowance. After this revision, the dearness allowance (DA) will rise from 53 percent to 55 percent. DA is provided to government employees to compensate them against price rise because of inflation. Following a 3 percent hike in October last year, the report says that the DA increased to 53 per cent of basic pay in the last update. Read the full report here.

Arctic sea ice shrinks to record winter low as Earth heats up, The Straits Times

The Straits Times reports that the Arctic Ocean likely had the smallest winter ice cover in 47 years of satellite records this season, with just 14.32 million sq km of sea ice covering the region at its peak on March 22. That is 1.32 sq km less than the median coverage at other March peaks between 1981 and 2010, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Centre at the University of Colorado at Boulder –a reduction equivalent to an area larger than Peru. Arctic winter ice typically reaches its broadest expanse in March, after which, the report says, it begins a slow melt over the spring and summer months, shrinking to its smallest area, or minimum extent, in September. Read the full report here.

India Today: Vehicles torched as pro-monarchists clash with cops in Nepal

Clashes broke out in Kathmandu on Friday between Nepalese security forces and pro-monarchy activists demanding the restoration of the monarchy and the Hindu Kingdom status, India Today reports. Several police personnel were injured in the violence, which left the city on edge. Several houses, other buildings and vehicles were set on fire as police fired multiple rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets to control the situation. A curfew has been imposed in Tinkune, Sinamangal and Koteshwor areas. The report says that during the clash, protesters set fire to a business complex, a shopping mall, a political party headquarters, and a media house building, leaving over a dozen police officials injured. Read the full report here.

Massive Myanmar earthquake causes widespread destruction, BBC reports

A strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake has hit central Myanmar, the United States Geological Survey says. BBC reports that the epicentre was located 16km (10 miles) north-west of the city of Sagaing at a depth of 10km. Forty-three construction workers are missing after an unfinished high-rise building collapses hundreds of miles away in Bangkok. There are reports of roads buckling in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw, with strong tremors felt elsewhere in Thailand and in south-west China. Read the full report here.