News Dabba for 27 January 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 Rajya Sabha elections, RJD chief Lalu Prasad's ED questioaning, to Japan's Moon lander Slim resuming operation.

Hindustan Times on Rajya Sabha elections: 56 seats to go to polls

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced that 56 seats of Rajya Sabha from 15 states will go to polls on February 27. Hindustan Times reports that the term of office for 50 Rajya Sabha members from 13 states is set to conclude on April 2, while the remaining six members from two states are due to retire on April 3. As per the report, the states where the Rajya Sabha polls are slated to take place include Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Read the full report here.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad appears before ED for questioning, The Hindu 

The Hindu reports that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is questioning Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad in the land-for-job scam case on Monday. He reached the ED office earlier in the morning, as hundreds of RJD workers along with a few leaders had assembled at the location in support of Prasad. The ED case is based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 18, 2022, against Prasad and others in the same matter, the report mentions. In July last year, the CBI filed a second chargesheet against the former Railway Minister, his wife Ms. Rabri Devi, their son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and 14 others. Read the full report here.

Reuters report: Three US troops killed in Jordan drone strike linked to Iran

Reuters reported that tThree US service members were killed and at least 34 wounded in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants on US troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border. It is the first deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October The report says it marks a major escalation in tensions that have engulfed the Middle East. "Have no doubt - we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing," US President Joe Biden said in a statement. Iran's mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday that Tehran was not involved in the attack. Read the full report here.

Union Minister says Citizenship Law to be implemented in a week: NDTV

Union Minister Shantanu Thakur on Monday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be implemented in the country within a week. NDTV reported that during an interview with a news channel, Thakur, a BJP MP from Bongaon, an area with the majority of people belonging to the Matua community in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, said that swift implementation of the contentious legislation would be made within seven days. The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014. Read the full report here.

Japan's Moon lander Slim comes back to life, BBC reports

Japan's Moon lander has resumed operations after being shut for a week due to a power supply issue, BBC reports. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said, as per the report, it re-established contact with the lander Sunday night, indicating that the glitch had been fixed. Its solar cells are working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight, the agency said. It could not generate power when it landed on January 20 as the solar cells pointed away from the Sun. With the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) spacecraft, Japan became only the fifth country to achieve a soft touchdown on the Moon after the US, the former Soviet Union, China and India. Read the full report here.