News Dabba for 26 January 2026: 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 Udhayanidhi Stalin's big charge, seizure of 10,000 kg ammonium nitrate, to Republican senators calling for Minneapolis killing investigation.

Udhayanidhi Stalin's big charge ahead of polls, NDTV reports

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday launched a sharp attack on what he termed "Hindi imposition," NDTV reports, warning that the language has "devoured" several regional mother tongues across India. Speaking at the Language Martyrs Day commemoration, he paid tribute to those who lost their lives during the anti-Hindi agitation of the 1960s and reiterated the DMK government's firm opposition to the three-language policy. Udhayanidhi argued that the introduction of Hindi in several northern states has led to the gradual disappearance of native languages such as Haryanvi, Bhojpuri, Bihari and Chhattisgarhi as mother tongues, the report adds. Read the full report here.

10,000 kg ammonium nitrate seized ahead of Republic Day, Indian Express

Indian Express reports that the Nagaur police in Rajasthan has said that it has arrested one person and seized about 10,000 kilograms of ammonium nitrate from a farmhouse from a quiet area in the district. Nagaur SP Mridul Kachawa termed it “perhaps the biggest such seizure of its kind in Rajasthan”. He said that after collecting “technical and human intelligence” the police took action on January 24 and arrested Sulaiman Khan with about 10,000 kg of ammonium nitrate, as well as detonators, detonating wires and other materials “which are normally used in mining related blasting” with the material being stored at his farmhouse. Read the full report here.

Al Jazeera live: Palestinians sceptical over Israel reopening Gaza’s Rafah crossing

Hamas’s military wing has given “all the details” to truce mediators on the possible location of the last captive’s body to be returned to Israel under the US-brokered ceasefire. Al Jazeera reports that Israeli forces have ordered Palestinians to evacuate a number of buildings, including schools and kindergartens, in the town of Kafr Aqab in the occupied West Bank amid a major military raid. The Israeli military said it launched a “targeted operation” in northern Gaza “to exhaust all of the intelligence” and retrieve the remains of police officer Ran Gvili. The report says that when the mission is complete, “Israel will open the ‌Rafah Crossing“, the Prime Minister’s Office says, but on a “limited basis for the passage of people only”. Read the full report here.

SC orders higher compensation for manual scavenging deaths if not paid before 2023

States and Union territories will be liable to pay a higher Rs 30 lakh compensation for deaths due to manual scavenging if no ex gratia was paid before the Supreme Court’s October 2023 judgment on such cases, the court has said. Hindustan Times reports that on January 20, the court said that cases in which Rs 10 lakh compensation was paid before the 2023 judgment will not be reopened. The clarification came as high courts had begun to apply the 2023 order differently, with no uniform standards to deal with claims for higher compensation for deaths where compensation was paid, and cases settled. Read the full report here.

Republican senators join calls for fuller investigation into Minneapolis killing, BBC reports

Many Republican lawmakers are joining calls to pressure the Trump administration into a full investigation on the second Minneapolis killing by federal agents in two weeks, BBC reports. The US president said that his administration is "reviewing everything" and also indicated he could eventually withdraw agents from the city, but he's given no time frame. Protests have continued in Minneapolis and other parts of the US, the report adds, as Minnesota's governor warned that America is at an "inflection point". Read the full report here.