News Dabba for 17 September 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 pohole protest in Maharashtra's Nashik, Bombay HC adjourning hearing on appeal against acquittal, to Sri Lanka resuming key highway project with Chinese investment.

2 Maharashtra teens die in accident, protesters garland potholes in Nashik, NDTV reports

Hemant Patil, a resident of Palghar and Mahendra Fating from Nagpur died in road accidents after their vehicles skidded. Cause: pothole-ridden roads in Maharashtra, NDTV reports. Hemant was driving on the Wada-Bhiwandi Highway in Palghar when his scooter collided with a trailer and skidded. Hemant died on the spot. Mahendra Fating died after falling into a water-logged pothole along with his motorcycle in Nagpur. Locals allege that despite claims of ongoing development work in the city, the condition of the roads remains extremely poor, and blame the administration's negligence for frequent accidents, the report adds. Read the full report here.

The Hindu: Bombay HC adjourns hearing on appeal against acquittal over incomplete details

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on an appeal against the acquittal of seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case over incomplete details submitted about the appellant family members of victims, The Hindu reports. The seven accused acquitted in the case included former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit. Earlier, the HC on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) said it was "not an open gate for everyone" to file an appeal against acquittal in the blast case, and sought details if the victims' family members were examined as witnesses in the trial. Read the full report here.

Sri Lanka resumes key highway project with $500 million new Chinese funding: The Straits Times

Sri Lanka resumed construction of a stalled highway project with a new $500 million Chinese loan on Wednesday, the first funding from its largest bilateral creditor since the island nation defaulted on its foreign debt three years ago. The Straits Times reports that the construction of the 38-km (24-mile) highway stretch of the Central Expressway that links the hub of Colombo with Kandy city in the central highlands was launched in 2016 but suspended in 2023 when the project ran out of funds and building materials in the aftermath of the country's worst financial crisis. The highway aims to provide faster connectivity between two major cities in the South Asian nation. Read the full report here.

Supreme Court questions farmers’ blanket immunity in stubble burning, Hindustan Times

The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the “absolute immunity” granted to farmers in Delhi’s neighbouring states for stubble burning, Hindustan Times reports, urging the Centre to consider penal provisions under the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) law to hold violators accountable. It also underlined the need for long-term strategies to curb pollution that leads to the toxic haze that grips the capital and its adjoining regions every winter, rather than focussing only on the “five-yearly exercise”. Read the full report here.

Israel kills dozens of Palestinians as Gaza City invasion intensifies, Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reports that dozens of Palestinians have been killed throughout the Gaza Strip since dawn as Israel continued its full-fledged ground invasion of its biggest city despite growing international condemnation. The dead include a child and his mother killed in an air attack on a residential apartment in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. Residents say bombardment of Gaza City has ramped up dramatically with incessant explosions destroying dozens of homes, and naval boats joining tanks and jets in the major assault, the report adds. Read the full report here.