Rapper Naezy: People now care more for emotions than about raps on women, alcohol

Mumbai, June 22 2024-

Rapper Naezy, who first broke into mainstream rap with the song ‘Mere Gully Mein’ featuring fellow rapper Divine and is a contestant in ‘Bigg Boss OTT 3’, said that people now are more bothered about emotions and stories rather than raps about women and alcohol.

“Rap and hip-hop have maintained their authenticity because of artists like us. We have brought a dramatic change in the lyricism of Indian raps. Everything has changed. People are now more bothered about emotions and stories instead of rapping about women and alcohol,” Naezy, whose real name is Naved Shaikh, told IANS.

The 30-year-old rapper added: “I introduced hip hop to India, and I have been successful in doing that, and now everything has changed for the better, so I am happy and proud.”

Naezy, who grew up in a tenement for the impoverished working class called Ram Bachan Chawl in Mumbai, describes his journey as “very interesting.”

“I have seen an incline and I have seen a decline (I have seen ups and downs). From the bottom, I have gone up to the top. It has been an exciting journey. I love this journey, and I want to keep doing hard work to become a better artist in my life and represent India all over the world,” he said.

The rapper, whose life inspired the story of Zoya Akhtar’s 2019 film ‘Gully Boy’ starring Ranveer Singh, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Alia Bhatt, looks forward to joining Bollywood after ‘Bigg Boss OTT 3’ and doing some “historic things”.

So, what made Naezy join the controversial reality show, hosted by Anil Kapoor?

“I want to come into the limelight, I want to spread my message, and I want to conquer people’s hearts,” he said.

However, he has no strategy or game plan.

“I have not seen earlier shows. I am going in without any information about it or any game plan.” (Agency)

Jimmy Fallon treasures bracelet made for him and given as a gift by Emma Stone

Los Angeles, June 22 2024-

Talk show host Jimmy Fallon revealed that he has treasured a bracelet gifted to him by actress Emma Stone, which she made for him during the pandemic.

He flaunted the jewellery when she returned for another guest appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’, reports FemaleFirst.co.uk.

While showing the present to the audience, he pointed out how it was made with plastic letter beads, spelling out the message: “BRACELET FOR JIMMY.”

The bracelet features green heart beads as well as green, yellow, and orange circular ones, and a single blue bead.

Stone shared how she started making friendship bracelets long before her friend Taylor Swift made them trendy again with lyrics in a song on her 2022 album ‘Midnights’.

The actress added to Jimmy: “Remember Covid, where everybody got a hobby? Where it was like, ‘I’ll make sourdough.’ I was making bracelets, so, yeah, I had to send you one.”

Fallon shared that he keeps the bracelet in the same plastic bag it came in and said it had been signed and labelled by the actress. (Agency)

Racket selling ‘herbal pills’ to boost sexual health busted in Gurugram, second in 2 days

Gurugram, June 21 2024-

Gurugram Police on Friday busted a gang of cheats who duped people on the pretext of selling ‘herbal medicines’ that would ‘boost’ sexual health through a fake call centre in Udyog Vihar Phase-5 with the arrest of 14 persons, including five women.

The development came just a day after the Gurugram Police raided a fake call centre in Sector 18 and arrested 11 persons, including four women, on similar charges.

Those arrested on Friday have been identified as Abhay Shukla, Vaibhav Shukla, Ujjwal, Balram, Vikas, Wasim Akram, Priyanshu, Vishal, Rachna, Monika, Shikha, Babli, and Shashi.

The police also seized three mobile phones, 65 SIM cards, and one CPU from their possession.

According to the police, the accused used to put up ads for herbal medicines on Google. When the victims called them, they were duped on the pretext of selling medicines which the accused claimed would boost sexual health.

They also cheated people on the pretext of GST, parking and courier charges, and received the money through UPI and QR codes.

After receiving a tip-off, the police on Friday raided the illegal call centre in Udyog Vihar which was running for the past eight months and nabbed the accused tele-callers, who admitted to selling pills to enhance sexual health.

“The accused got Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 per month as salary, besides a 2 per cent commission on the duped amount,” the official said. (Agency)

FIR against two for ‘blackmailing’ JD-S MLC Suraj Revanna on sexual abuse charge

Bengaluru, June 22 2024-

The Karnataka Police have filed an FIR against two persons on charges of extortion following allegations of sexual abuse against JD-S MLC Suraj Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and younger brother of Prajwal Revanna, the prime accused in the sex video scandal.

A male JD-S activist from Arakalagudu town in Hassan district had made allegations of sexual abuse by Suraj Revanna.

Following this development, Suraj Revanna’s aide Shivakumar filed a case against the victim and his kin at the Holenarasipura police station.

Shivakumar said in the complaint that false allegations were made against Suraj Revanna to extort money.

The complaint claimed that the accused had threatened Suraj Revanna with lodging a case of sexual abuse if he failed to pay Rs 5 crore.

The police have registered a case under IPC Sections 384 (extortion) and 584 (criminal intimidation).

The complainant said that the person claiming to be the victim of sexual abuse had approached him seeking employment through Suraj Revanna. He also provided the phone number of Suraj Revanna.

The accused had gone to the farmhouse on June 16 to request a job. The complainant said that after meeting Suraj Revanna at the farmhouse, the accused made allegations of sexual abuse.

The accused threatened the complainant that since both Suraj Revanna and he failed to secure him a job, and given his ongoing difficulties, he should receive Rs 5 crore from Suraj Revanna, or he would file a sexual abuse case against him.

The complainant added that when this matter was discussed, Suraj Revanna said that when the accused met him at the farmhouse, police personnel and others were present.

Suraj Revanna refused to give money as he had done nothing wrong. The accused then demanded at least Rs 2.5 crore before making allegations. When refused, the accused maintained that he would destroy the reputation of Suraj Revanna’s family.

The victim alleged that he had met Suraj Revanna at a function he organised.

Impressed by his organisational skills, Suraj Revanna allegedly shared his mobile number and started sending endearing messages with love symbols. He was asked to meet him at his farmhouse, where he was allegedly sexually abused.

Suraj Revanna’s elder brother and former JD-S MP Prajwal Revanna has been arrested in connection with the sex video scandal. His father JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna was jailed and out on conditional bail in a kidnapping case linked to the sex video scandal.His mother Bhavani Revanna is facing an investigation in a kidnapping case and was recently granted conditional bail from the court. (Agency)

Violence breaks out in Jodhpur, 40 detained

Jaipur, June 22 2024-

Rajasthan Police have detained around 40 people in Jodhpur for allegedly pelting stones and engaging in arson during a clash, said officials on Saturday, adding that drones were keeping an eye in the affected area, which was currently calm.

The violence took place late Friday night in Jodhpur’s Sursagar area, said officials, adding that around 200 accused have been booked in the violence-related cases.

A huge police force was deployed on Saturday to avert any untoward incident in Sursagar.

The clash started on a trivial issue which later took a serious turn. Stones were pelted, and a shop and tractor were set on fire.

Senior police officer Nishant Bharadwaj said that the dispute originated two days ago over the issue of constructing shops in Idgah. A few people were against building these shops and this issue brought two communities face to face. However, the police intervened and placated the issue.

On Friday, one of the two communities started protesting when they saw a gate being constructed at the site. They wanted the construction to be stopped which was not accepted by the other community members. Soon arguments erupted which then led to a clash.

The clash continued for three hours and the police had to resort to lathicharge at 1 a.m.

Later, the police identified those engaged in the violence and detained them.

The administration deputed an ambulance, fire brigade and more police force at the location soon after. Police patrolling continued even on Saturday morning.

Jodhpur Police Commissioner Rajendra Singh said that the situation in Sursagar is now under control.

“Police teams are continuously patrolling the area. DCP Alok Srivastava and Sharad Chaudhary are keeping an eye on every situation. Police are also keeping an eye on Sursagar through drones. Police teams have been marching in different areas since night,” he said. (Agency)

Two killed in Gurugram factory fire

Gurugram, June 22 2024-

Two workers were killed and six others injured in a massive blaze that broke out in a fire safety equipment manufacturing unit in the Daultabad industrial area in Haryana’s Gurugram, officials said on Saturday.

According to the Gurugram Fire Services officials, the incident was reported at 2.24 a.m., prompting the deployment of dozens of fire tenders to the site.

The fire was brought under control by 10.00 a.m. but cooling operations were on.

Officials suspect that the fire originated from a short circuit or leakage of some gas in the building.

The fire officials said that when the call regarding the incident was received, the fire personnel rushed to the site to find the fire had engulfed the factory.

The officials said that nine people were inside the factory when the incident occurred. They were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. Among the injured, two were declared dead at the hospital, the officials said. (Agency)

38 dead, 2 missing after heavy rains in China county

Beijing, June 22 2024-

Rainfall-triggered disasters have left 38 people dead and two others missing in Pingyuan County in south China’s Guangdong province as of 3 p.m. Friday, local authorities said.

Heavy rains battered the county from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on June 16, triggering landslides, flooding and mudflows, Xinhua news agency reported.

Since entering its flood season on April 4, Pingyuan’s cumulative precipitation has reached 1,221.6 mm, almost double the normal level for the period in past years.

“This is the worst flooding the village has ever seen,” said Qiu Zhimiao, 42, from Daxin village in Pingyuan.

Preliminary statistics show that nearly 55,388 people in the county have been affected and 2,247 houses have collapsed. Direct economic losses are estimated at almost 5.85 billion yuan (about $822 million).

Rescue, disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction efforts are underway. (Agency)

Palestine welcomes Armenia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood

Ramallah, June 22 2024-

The Palestinian presidency has welcomed Armenia’s recognition of the State of Palestine, considering the decision an important step towards achieving peace and stability in the region, according to media reports.

The Palestinian presidency expressed its thanks to Armenia for the step that reflects the friendship between the two people and the two friendly countries, and Armenia’s keenness to support the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said on Friday.

The statement called on the countries of the world, especially the European countries that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine, to do so based on legitimate international resolutions, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Friday, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said in a statement that it welcomes Armenia’s decision, calling it an “additional and important” step on the path to establishing international recognition of the rights of Palestinian people.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that Armenia officially recognised the State of Palestine.

The Caucasus country also stated its support for the two-state solution, stressing it is “the only way to ensure that Palestinians and Israelis can realise their legitimate aspirations”.

Norway, Ireland, and Spain made a coordinated announcement on May 22, declaring their recognition of Palestine as a state effective as of May 28. Their decision was condemned by Israel.

So far, more than 140 countries have already recognised a Palestinian state, representing more than two-thirds of the United Nations’ membership. (Agency)

Justin Timberlake insists ‘he only had one drink’, freaked out in custody

Los Angeles, June 22 2024-

Popstar Justin Timberlake, who was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, was held overnight ahead of his arraignment and was “freaking out” in custody and “staying up all night”.

“He was freaking out and stayed up all night when he was in custody,” a source told People.com.

Timberlake: “He’s insisting he only had one drink, and it wasn’t some wild night out.”

According to his arrest report, which was obtained by the press, Timberlake told his arresting officer after being pulled over, “I had one martini, and I followed my friends home.”

On Thursday, the source told People.com that the musician would be continuing his expected tour route following his arrest.

The source said: “It’s business as usual for him. The tour is continuing as planned.”

The singer-songwriter was on a brief break from his Forget Tomorrow World Tour at the time of his arrest earlier this week, reports People.com.

He is scheduled to perform in Chicago on June 21 and 22, as well as in New York City on June 25 and 26, with the tour continuing through December.

Timberlake was charged with one count of driving while intoxicated and received two citations, one for running a stop sign and one for failure to keep in lane, after leaving the American Hotel on Tuesday morning.

The arrest report also claimed that the artist’s “eyes were bloodshot and glassy.” (Agency)

New ‘anti-paper leak’ law: Jail term, up to Rs 1 cr fine as punishments

New Delhi, June 22 2024-

Amid the controversies surrounding the NEET and UGC-NET exams, the Centre has notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, passed in February to prevent paper leaks and cheating.

The stringent law came into effect on Friday.

Under the law, any person or persons found guilty of leaking a paper or tampering with answer sheets will receive a minimum jail term of three years. This can be extended to five years with a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. All offences under the Act will be cognisable and non-bailable.

As per the new law, examination service providers who have knowledge about a possible offence but do not report it can be fined up to Rs one crore.

During the investigation, if it is established that any senior official from the service provider had allowed or was involved in committing the offence, he will face imprisonment for a minimum of three years, which can go up to 10 years, and a fine of Rs 1 crore.

If the examination authority or the service provider commits an organised crime, the jail term will be a minimum of five years and a maximum of 10, and the fine will remain Rs 1 crore.

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024 or the ‘anti-paper leak’ bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 5 and was passed a day later. The Rajya Sabha cleared the bill on February 9. President Droupadi Murmu approved the bill in the same month following which it became law. (Agency)