Quick Reads
News Dabba for 20 March 2025: Five stories for a balanced news diet
Here are the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites.
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 Telangana betting apps case, Badar Khan Suri's detention, to Trump on Ukraine's power plants.
Case against 25 celebrities for endorsing betting apps in Telangana, NDTV
Renowned actors Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda and Manchu Lakshmi are among 25 celebrities who face a police case in Telangana for allegedly promoting illegal betting apps, NDTV reports. The FIR has been filed after a businessman, Phanindra Sarma, filed a complaint. The celebrities and influencers named in the FIR also include Praneetha, Nidhi Agarwal, Ananya Nagalla, Siri Hanumanthu, Sreemukhi, Varshini Sounderajan, Vasanthi Krishnan, Shoba Shetty, Amrutha Chowdary, Nayani Pavani, Neha Pathan, Pandu, Padhmavathi, Imran Khan, Vishnu Priya, Harsha Sai, Sunny Yadav, Shyamala, Tasty Teja, and Bandaru Sheshayani Supritha. The FIR says these platforms promote their apps and websites through social media advertisements with the help of celebrities and influencers. Read the full report here.
Indian Express on Badar Khan Suri, Indian scholar in US detained over ‘Hamas ties’
Indian Express reports on Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University’s prestigious Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, who has devoted his academic career to navigating complex fault lines of modern geopolitics. Suri has been a scholar whose work has often taken him into the heart of conflict zones. But now, the report says, this expert on conflict resolution finds himself embroiled in a row that may end in deportation as the US government accuses him of ties to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Read the full report here.
Trump suggests US could run Ukraine's power plants, BBC reports
BBC reports that US President Donald Trump has held what he described as a "very good" hour-long phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after speaking to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky said afterwards that he believed that "lasting peace can be achieved this year" under Trump's leadership. Possible US ownership of Ukraine's nuclear power plants was also discussed, the White House said, as per the report, although Zelensky later stated this was only about the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia facility. Read the full report here.
Disha Salian's father wants probe against Aaditya Thackeray, India Today
Five years after the death of Disha Salian, India Today reports that the former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, her father approached the Bombay High Court seeking registration of an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and others. The petition was submitted before the court by Satish Salian's lawyer, who said the process of filing would be completed by Thursday. Disha died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 14th floor of a high-rise in suburban Malad, the report says. Read the full report here.
Indonesia passes controversial law expanding military’s role in governance: The Straits Times
Indonesia has passed a controversial law expanding the military’s role in governance. The Straits Times reports this as a move critics warn threatens democracy and raises the spectre of authoritarian rule under former President Suharto. The revised Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) law of 2004 allows active military officers to take up key civilian positions without first retiring or resigning from service. Previously, the report says, they could only serve in 10 government institutions, mainly those related to security and defence, including the State Intelligence Agency, the National Search and Rescue Agency, and the National Narcotics Agency. Read the full report here.
