News Dabba for 31 August 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 a special Parliament session announced in September, the Centre's readiness for elections in J&K, to the Johannesburg fire.

Centre says ready for elections in J&K any time now, Indian Express

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it is “ready for elections” in Jammu and Kashmir “any time now”. Indian Express said it added that the call will be taken by the Union Territory and Central election commissions. The government was replying to the apex court’s query on when can the elections be held in the valley. On Day 12 of hearing of the Article 370 in the Supreme Court, the central government reiterated that the UT status is temporary. However the report says it refrained from specifying a time frame for granting back its statehood. Read the full report here.

Government calls Parliament "special session": NDTV report

The government has called for a "special session of Parliament" to be held from September 18 to 22, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi posted on X (formerly Twitter). NDTV reports he added that there will be five sittings. "Amid Amrit Kaal, looking forward to having a fruitful discussion and debate in Parliament," he said. Government sources have, so far, been tight-lipped on possible agendas, as per the report. There is speculation the special session is being called to begin the process of shifting from the old to the new Parliament building. Also, it may not be a joint session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the report adds. Read the full report here.

Philippines rejects new Chinese map: The Straits Times

The Philippines on Thursday joined Malaysia and Indonesia in disputing a new Chinese map claiming the waters off the Southeast Asian nations’ coasts, as well as part of the north-east of India, The Hindu reports. The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is rejecting the map issued on August 28 by Beijing’s Ministry of Natural Resources. The new map features a 10-dash line that includes the eastern parts of the disputed South China Sea that falls within Manila’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the report says. A 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling has already rejected Beijing’s sweeping claim over most of the South China Sea. Read the full report here.

Another instrument onboard Pragyan confirms presence of sulphur, The Hindu

The ISRO on Thursday said that another instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-3 rover Pragyan has confirmed the presence of Sulphur (S) in the south polar region. The Hindu reports that on August 28, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard Pragyan confirmed the presence of sulphur in the region unambiguously. Now the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) instrument has also confirmed the presence of sulphur. ISRO said that the APXS instrument is best suited for in-situ analysis of the elemental composition of soil and rocks on the surface of planetary bodies having little atmosphere. Read the full report here.

More than 70 dead in South Africa blaze: Al Jazeera live updates

At least 70 people have been killed in a fire at a five-storey building in Johannesburg’s central business district, Al Jazeera reports. As per the live report, firefighters evacuated several people from the building and the injured were treated on the scene or transported to hospitals. The cause of the fire remains unknown and the death toll is expected to rise, according to authorities. Locals say the building was highly populated. Read the full report here.