News Dabba for 16 July 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 Kolkata protests, Israel killing aid-seekers in Gaza, to Bombay HC dismissing plea against Prada.

SC relaxes bail conditions of Ashoka Uni prof. Madmudabad: Indian Express

The Supreme Court Wednesday said it had only restrained Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, arrested over his social media posts on Operation Sindoor, from writing on topics that were sub-judice and he is free to write or express opinions on other topics, Indian Express reports. Asking why the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the case was “misdirecting itself”, the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi directed it to conclude the investigation in four weeks. Read the full report here.

Kolkata sees massive protest over ‘harassment’ of Bengali-speaking people, Hindustan Times

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday afternoon led a protest in Kolkata against the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, Hindustan Times reports. Senior leaders of the party, including Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, also joined Mamata Banerjee as she took to the streets along with thousands of people. The report says the nearly 3-km-long route was wrapped in security, with nearly 1,500 police personnel guarding the barricaded pavements and adjacent buildings. Read the full report here.

Al Jazeera: 21 people killed at US, Israeli-backed site as starvation grips Gaza

The Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 21 people have been killed at a food distribution site of the controversial US and Israeli-backed GHF in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera reports. At least 43 Palestinians, including 21 aid seekers, have been killed across Gaza since dawn. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 15 of the aid seekers died from a stampede and suffocation due to tear gas being fired at Palestinians seeking food at a GHF food distribution hub in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the report says. Read the full report here.

Bombay High Court dismisses plea against Prada, NDTV reports

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) against Italian fashion house Prada for its alleged unauthorised use of the famous Kolhapuri chappals. NDTV reports that a bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne questioned the "locus" and statutory right of the five advocates who had filed the PIL, saying they were not the aggrieved persons or the registered proprietor or owner of the footwear. The plea had said the Kolhapuri chappal (sandals) is protected as a Geographical Indication (GI) under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act. Read the full report here.

Cuban minister resigns after saying country has no beggars, BBC reports

BBC reports that Cuban Minister for Labour Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera has been forced to resign after she made comments denying the existence of beggars on the Communist-run island. The minister had said there was no such thing as "beggars" in Cuba and people going through rubbish were, in essence, doing so out of choice to make "easy money", as she put it. Her comments, made in a parliamentary session, the report says, were widely criticised by Cubans at home and abroad, and prompted a response from the island's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel. She resigned soon after. Read the full report here.