Author: newsdesk

  • Indian politician Prajwal Revanna accused of assaulting 400 women, escapes to Germany

    Indian politician Prajwal Revanna accused of assaulting 400 women, escapes to Germany

    An Indian politician, who sexually assaulted 400 women and made videos of them, has escaped to Germany. He’s accused of exploiting and making videos of women over many years.

    Parjwal Revana is a member of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coalition party and the grandson of former Indian Prime Minister HD Devarajegowda, according to Indian media.

    According to media reports, Parjwal allegedly filmed 2,800 videos, of 400 women being raped, 2,000 USB sticks of rape videos were found in parks, buses and trains across the state of Karnataka and the rape videos were leaked by the former driver of Prajwal Revanna. These videos were used by the member of the parliament to blackmail women and gain sexual favours from them.

    While Prajwal has escaped, his father has been arrested on the charge of sexual violence against a maid. The girl who worked at Parjwal’s house complained to the police about the rape and she also accused Prajwal’s father of sexual assault.

    A former Bangalore councilor has also accused Prajwal of raping her several times.

    Indian politician and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that this is not a sex scandal but a serious case of mass rape.

    Modi has campaigned for Prajwal in the elections but in his statement has said, “It is a law and order issue. If such an incident took place in Bengal, then the Bengal government of would be responsible. If it happened in Gujarat, then the Gujarat government is responsible…if it happened in Karnataka, then the Karnataka government is responsible to take action.”

  • Contempt proceedings for culprits running smear campaign against Justice Babar Sattar

    Contempt proceedings for culprits running smear campaign against Justice Babar Sattar

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has decided to start contempt of court legal proceedings against the individuals running an online campaign against Justice Babar Sattar, The News has reported on Tuesday.

    The latest development comes after Justice Babar Sattar wrote a letter to IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq regarding the online propaganda being run against him.

    The High Court has decided to take action based on the contents of the letter and a bench is likely to be constituted today.

    A few days ago, a social media campaign against Justice Sattar claimed that he had dual citizenship which was against the law.

    However, the IHC in a press release on April 28 refuted the claims.

    The IHC, in its press release, said that Justice Sattar’s confidential information is being posted and reposted online. It further said that the judge’s wife and children’s travel documents were also uploaded online.

    Justice Sattar is one of the six IHC judges who have complained of interference in judicial affairs by the country’s spy agencies.

  • Punjab: Naanbais announce strike from tomorrow

    Punjab: Naanbais announce strike from tomorrow

    The Naanbai Association has announced a strike, starting tomorrow, across Punjab including Lahore.

    According to the Association, the district administration of Lahore is silent on their demands.

    During the strike, tandoors across the province will be closed down.

    The demand is to issue a new notification on the price of roti and naan.

    The Association has also demanded that the price of naan be kept open while wheat flour be supplied as per demand of cheaper rotis.

  • ‘7 P.M., my friends would stop talking to me’; Aina Asif’s fun quip after ‘Mayi Ri’ success

    ‘7 P.M., my friends would stop talking to me’; Aina Asif’s fun quip after ‘Mayi Ri’ success

    Actress Aina Asif revealed that success comes with its set of problems, especially. some that are unexpected.
    Opening up on the ‘The Knock Knock Show’ which is hosted by Mohib Mirza, Aina Asif spoke about the overwhelming love that she and her co-star Samar Jafri received, on their drama serial ‘Mayi Ri’.

    “After Mayi Ri, my fan base grew significantly. I had a major role and the story centered on my character and another guy, which made me stand out.’ I was overwhelmed when it happened, because I never expected to receive so much love and respect. People showered me with admiration and kindness,” she said.

    “My friends would stop talking to me at 7 p.m. because they wanted to watch my drama,” she shared with a laugh.
    ‘Mayi Ri’ released in 2023, captivated audiences with its powerful story about child marriages in society. The drama had an all-star cast, led by strong young actors Aina Asif and Samar Jafri, who stole the spotlight with their outstanding performances.

  • Karachi gangster, US spy Kamran Faridi, freed from American jail on condition of deportation

    Karachi gangster, US spy Kamran Faridi, freed from American jail on condition of deportation

    Kam­ran Faridi, a former gangster from Karachi, later serving as a high-profile agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has been released after serving nearly four years of his seven-year sentence in a Florida prison.

    Faridi was sentenced to 84 months of imprisonment on his convictions for “transmitting threats in interstate commerce, threatening to assault a federal officer, and obstruction of justice,” on December 9, 2022.

    On March 18, 2024, a New York federal judge, reduced the sentence of Kamran Faridi to 72 months.

    Faridi was recently released on some conditions which most prominently include surrendering his US citizenship and agreeing to leave the United States permanently before August.

    Faridi, now 60, grew up in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi. He was affiliated with the Peoples Students Federation (PSF), and was a close associate of PSF leader Najeeb Ahmed, who was assassinated in 1990.

    His family sent him to Sweden after he was found involved in several violent acts.

    Faridi migrated to the US in 1991, and within four years, he purchased a gas station in Atlanta, Georgia. There he met some FBI agents who were impressed with his proficiency in Urdu, Pun­jabi, Hindi, and Spanish. In 1996, they formally recruited him as a full-time informant and agent, according to Dawn.

    Faridi’s journey from a street hustler to FBI agent came to light when he played a pivotal role in the arrest of a Karachi businessman Jabir Motiwala in London in 2018. He orchestrated a plot, posed as a Russian mafia operative, to trap Motiwala in illegal activities. However, a rift developed between Faridi and his FBI handlers when he threatened to expose their manipulation of evidence against Motiwala. This led to the end of his career and he was arrested by Scotland Yard shortly afterwards.

    In a report by Geo News, Murtaza Ali Shah explains the extraordinary journey of the Pakistani-origin FBI agent, whose residence permits in UAE and Turkey, issued by FBI have been revoked and he is released only on the condition of never coming back to the US.

  • Our government will decide if we go to Pakistan for Champions Trophy: BCCI

    Our government will decide if we go to Pakistan for Champions Trophy: BCCI

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Rajeev Shukla, talking about the Indian team’s arrival in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025, has said in a statement that there is still time for the Champions Trophy and the government will decide whether to go to Pakistan or not.

    “We will do what the government tells us about the Champions Trophy and we will send the Indian team to Pakistan when the government allows it,” Shukla said.

    The International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in February next year. According to the proposed schedule, the Champions Trophy matches will be held in three venues of Pakistan, notably in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

  • ‘PTI should learn from Fazlur Rehman to get back into power’, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur

    ‘PTI should learn from Fazlur Rehman to get back into power’, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur

    Khyber Pakhtunkhua (KP) chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said on Monday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should learn from Jamiat Ullema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s experience.

    In an interview on the Geo News programme “Capital Talk”, Gandapur said: “[We] should benefit from Maulana Sahib’s experience as he knows [better] what had been happening in Pakistan.”

    The provincial chief executive urged the JUI-F chief to be clear in his statements, as he had earlier announced that the PDM ousted former Prime Minister Imran Khan. However, now he claims that former army chief, Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, is responsible for regime change, said Gandapur.

    The JUI-F chief discovered “ideological coordination” in the anti-government movement, so he openly supported the PTI and urged the PML-N-led government to respect the “constitutional rights” of the former ruling party, Geo News reported.

  • Pakistan wins gold, bronze medals in Asian Jujitsu Championship

    Pakistan wins gold, bronze medals in Asian Jujitsu Championship

    During the Asian Jujitsu Championship held in Abu Dhabi, Pakistan’s five-member team won one gold and two bronze medals.

    In the Under-18 Du Classic event, Muhammad Yusuf Ali and Umar Yasin won the Gold Medal for Pakistan by defeating Kazakhstan in the final.

    Apart from this, Isra Wasim and Kainat Arif bagged two bronze medals for Pakistan in the senior women’s category of Do Show and Do Classic respectively.

    Chairman of Pakistan Jujitsu Federation Khalil Ahmed Khan has congratulated the athletes on their success.

  • Israeli military strikes Rafah while continuing talks with mediators

    Israeli military strikes Rafah while continuing talks with mediators

    The Israeli military said that it is conducting targeted strikes against positions held by the Islamist group Hamas in the eastern part of Rafah, a southern city in Gaza.

    The operation is part of ongoing efforts to pressure Hamas into releasing Israeli hostages and achieving other strategic goals, reports Ari Rabinovitch.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his war cabinet has approved the continuation of the operation in Rafah. The aim is to increase pressure on Hamas to ensure the release of Israeli hostages while pursuing other military objectives.

    “The war cabinet unanimously decided that Israel continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to advance the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

    The statement also indicated that despite the ongoing strikes, Israel would engage with mediators in an attempt to reach an agreement with Hamas, noting that the current Hamas proposal does not meet Israel’s necessary demands.

    “In parallel, even though the Hamas proposal is far from Israel’s necessary demands, Israel will send a working delegation to the mediators in order to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel,” the statement read.

    Meanwhile, the White House announced that it is reviewing Hamas’s response to a ceasefire and hostage release deal and is urging Israel to avoid launching a large-scale offensive in Rafah.

    White House spokesperson John Kirby noted that U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu for about 30 minutes regarding the ongoing operation in Rafah and the hostage situation before Hamas’s response was received.

    Kirby described the discussion as constructive, stating, “It wasn’t a pressure call; it wasn’t about twisting his arm towards a certain set of parameters.”

    However, he also said that the United States does “not support ground operations in Rafah” unless Israel can demonstrate a clear plan to protect hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians living in the area.

    CIA Director William Burns is also in the region, discussing the Hamas response with Israeli officials.

    Kirby highlighted the urgency of the situation, stating, “We are at a critical stage right now,” and reiterated that the U.S. is urging restraint to avoid further civilian casualties.

  • Gold price surges above Rs240,000 per tola

    Gold price surges above Rs240,000 per tola

    Gold prices in Pakistan experienced a rebound on Monday, following a steady decline over the past six trading sessions.

    This resurgence came as the international gold market saw a rise in prices. In the local market, the price of gold per tola surged by Rs2,500, reaching Rs240,500.

    Similarly, the price for 10 grammes of gold rose by Rs2,143, settling at Rs206,190, according to the All Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA).

    The international gold market also recorded gains on Monday. According to APGJSA, the international gold price stood at $2,322 per ounce, with a premium of $20, after an increase of $21 during the day.

    This marked a turnaround from the downward trend that had been observed in recent days.

    In contrast, silver prices remained stable, with the rate for silver per tola steady at Rs2,620.

    Saturday saw a dip in local gold prices, with a decrease of Rs1,600 per tola.

    The recent rebound offers some relief to investors and jewellery buyers following a week-long decline, which saw gold prices drop by a total of Rs7,000 per tola over six consecutive sessions.

    It’s worth noting that just last month, gold prices in Pakistan reached a record high, with the cost per tola hitting Rs252,200.

    The recent fluctuations in gold prices underscore the volatility of the precious metals market and highlight the impact of international trends on local rates.