News Dabba for 22 February 2024: 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 CBI raids on Satapal Malik's premises, Centre’s censorship orders to X, to updates on farmers' protests.

Satya Pal Malik’s premises raided by CBI, The Hindu reports

The CBI on Thursday searched the premises of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and 29 other locations in connection with alleged corruption in the Kiru Hydro Power (HEP) project, The Hindu reported. The agency started its operation in the morning with around 100 officers mobilised to swoop down at 30 locations in multiple cities. The report mentions that the case relates to alleged corruption in awarding civil works of the Kiru HEP project worth ₹2,200 crore. Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019 had claimed he was offered a ₹300-crore bribe for clearing two files, including the one pertaining to the project. Read the full report here.

X ‘disagrees’ with Centre’s censorship orders: Indian Express

Indian Express reports that social media company X (formerly Twitter) has said that it has received orders from the Indian government to block certain accounts and links, failing which the platform and its employees could face potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment. This marks a new flashpoint in the escalating tensions between the social media platform and the Indian government, with the former having sued the Centre over content-blocking orders in 2022. The ruling last year, however, went against the company.  X’s government affairs handle said that while it was complying with New Delhi’s blocking orders, it “disagrees” with its actions, the report says. The report also adds that that a majority of these accounts were tweeting in support of the ongoing farmers’ protests. Read the full report here.

The Straits Times: 2 die, 3 missing after ship hits Lixinsha Bridge near China’s Guangzhou

At least two people were killed after a barge collided with a bridge over a waterway in China’s Pearl River Delta near Guangzhou city. This caused part of the bridge to break off, plunging vehicles into the water, The Straits Times reported as per the Chinese State media. The Guangzhou Maritime Safety Administration said in a statement on WeChat the barge was travelling from Foshan city to a southern district of Guangzhou, when it crashed into the bridge at 530am in the Hongqili Waterway. Two people died from the incident, one crew member was injured and two others were rescued, state media said. The report adds that three more are still missing. Read the full report here.

Hindustan Times on farmers' protest: Farm leaders call for ‘black flag display’

Following the clash at Shambhu and Khanouri resulting in the death of a 21-year-old, farmer leaders have called upon fellow citizens to display black flags atop their residences, shops, and offices, Hindustan Times reports.  While addressing the media at Government Rajindra Hospital, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, farm leader, announced plans to burn effigies of the central and Haryana governments nationwide in response to the police actions. The leaders are holding the Punjab government accountable for allowing Haryana Police to enter Punjab territory and causing the aforementioned fatality, the report adds. The ‘Delhi Chalo’ march was halted by farmer leaders on Wednesday afternoon after a protestor died of a head injury at the Haryana border. Read the full report here.

BBC on Alabama hospital's pause on IVF after court ruling

A ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are considered children, and that a person could be held liable for accidentally destroying them, has opened up a new front in the US battle over reproductive medicine. BBC reports that the southern US state's largest hospital has paused its in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) services in the wake of the decision, over fears it could expose them to criminal prosecution. The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system said it would continue retrieving eggs from women's ovaries. But it said it would halt the next step in the IVF process, in which the eggs are fertilised with sperm before being implanted into the uterus, the report adds. Read the full report here.