Latest news with #Pragya
News18
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Sexy! Pragya Jaiswal Slays Monsoon Style In Backless Dress
Last Updated: Pragya Jaiswal stuns in a backless tropical dress, gaining 14K likes on Instagram. Her post, captioned "That one hour when Baarish stops," features Sahiba by Aditya Rikhari. Pragya Jaiswal just turned up the monsoon heat and how! In a fresh set of photos that's taking social media by storm, the actress, who was last seen in Daaku Maharaj, flaunts a stunning, sexy backless dress with tropical leaf prints — and it's nothing short of sensational. The look is breezy, bold and oozes effortless charm — perfect for that one magical hour when the rain pauses and everything feels like a movie scene. Her post, captioned 'That one hour when Baarish stops 🌿💚", is set to the soothing strains of Sahiba by Aditya Rikhari, perfectly matching the vibe. Fans are loving the no-filter freshness. Many took to the comments section and dropped fire emojis and called her beautiful. With over 14K likes and counting, the internet has crowned this look as one of her hottest yet. Not long back, Pragya spent some dreamy days in Bali, Indonesia, and her vacation looked nothing short of magical. From beachy mornings to fun evenings, she seemed to be soaking in every bit of the island's vibe. Her post on Instagram showed just how exciting and beautiful her trip turned out to be. On the work front, Pragya was last seen in the action drama Daaku Maharaj, directed by Bobby Kolli. She appeared in the film alongside Nandamuri Balakrishna, Bobby Deol, Shraddha Srinath, Sachin Khedekar, Makarand Deshpande, Urvashi Rautela, Aadukalam Naren, Nithin Mehta, Ravi Kishan, VTV Ganesh, Rishi and Chandini Chowdary. Before Daaku Maharaj, Pragya made her Bollywood debut with Khel Khel Mein, directed by Mudassar Aziz. The film featured an ensemble including Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Aditya Seal, Ammy Virk and Taapsee Pannu. First Published: July 23, 2025, 19:58 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Gauahar Khan calls out paparazzi's inappropriate behaviour towards Pragya Jaiswal, questions eve-teasing culture
Gauahar Khan condemned paparazzi for their inappropriate behaviour towards Pragya Jaiswal at Zayed Khan's birthday party. Pragya appeared uncomfortable as some paps made lewd comments. Gauahar called out this eve-teasing culture on Instagram. Pragya hasn't responded yet. Gauahar's recent work includes the show 'Lovely Lolla'. Gauahar Khan, known for her fearless expression of opinions, recently condemned the paparazzi for their disrespectful conduct towards actress Pragya Jaiswal . The incident, caught on camera during Zayed Khan 's birthday celebration in Mumbai, sparked widespread attention and prompted Gauahar to strongly criticize their behavior. Incident Unfolds at Zayed Khan's Birthday Bash The situation started as Pragya, clad in a black bodycon dress, posed for the photographers. Once she stopped and started to leave, some paparazzi began calling out to her inappropriately and making unsettling sounds, leaving her visibly uncomfortable. Gauahar Voices Frustration on Instagram On Monday, Gauahar expressed her frustration on Instagram, highlighting how some paparazzi contribute to normalizing eve-teasing. She acknowledged that although many photographers behave respectfully, a significant number cross the line with inappropriate remarks. Gauahar called for accountability, insisting that such disrespectful behavior must be addressed and stopped. Pragya Yet to Respond as Backlash Grows Pragya has not yet commented on the situation, but the video capturing the incident has led to widespread backlash against the paparazzi's inappropriate behavior. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like AI is helping small businesses increase productivity. Insider Learn More Undo Gauahar's Recent Work: Lovely Lolla On the work front, Gauahar Khan's most recent project was the show 'Lovely Lolla', where she starred alongside Isha Malviya and Nikhil Khurana. The series was created by producers Sargun Mehta and Ravi Dubey for their entertainment platform, Dreamiyata Dramaa.
Scroll.in
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
Valley of Words Book Awards announces its 2025 longlists across eight categories
Valley of Words Book Awards has announced its 2025 longlists in eight categories: English Fiction, English Nonfiction, English Translation, Hindi Fiction, Hindi Nonfiction, Hindi Translation, Young Adult Literature, and Children's Literature. The shortlist will be announced by July 30, and the shortlisted authors and translators will be invited to the 2025 Valley of Words International Literature and Arts Festival in Dehradun. The winners will be announced at an event during the festival. Here are the longlisted books in each category: English fiction View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest) English nonfiction View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest) English translation View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest) Hindi fiction Atarh Duniya Mein Kya Hasil, Pratyaksha Kandho Par Ghar, Pragya (लोकभारती द्वारा प्रकाशित) Kissagram, Prabhat Ranjan Chot, Chandan Pandey Jungli Phoolon Si Ladki, Anulata Raj Nair Zoya Desai Cottage, Pankaj Subir Vanya, Manisha Kulshrestha Vang Chi, Manish Vaidya Sama-Chakva, Gitashree Suno Kabir, Soni Pandey View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest) Hindi translation Aaptkal Aakhyan, Gyan Prakash, translated by Mihir Pandya Aarohi, Mukul Kumar In Love With Death, Satish Modi, translated by Parija Khaulta Punjab, Baldev Singh Dhaliwal, translated by Tarsem Uttar Bharat Mein Chamar Aur Dalit Andolan Ka Itihas, Ramnarayan S Rawat, translated by Kanwal Bharti Balidan: Bharat Mein Special Forces Ke Mahan Yodhyao Ki Kahaniyan, Swapnil Pandey, translated by Ketan Mishra Bahattar Meel, Ashok Vatkar, translated by Sulabh Kore Rashtra Aur Naitikata, Rajeev Bhargava, translated by Abhishek Srivastava Shiuli Ki Gandh Aur Anya Kahaniya, Taslima Nasrin, translated by Utpal Banerjee Himalaya Ek Khoj: Lama, Sant, aur Nastik, Namita Gokhale, translated by Prabhat Ranjan View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest) Hindi nonfiction Khaki Mein Sthitpragya, Anil Raturi Garhwal Aur Pratham Vishwayuddh, Devesh Joshi Garhwali Bhasha Aur Sahitya, Srijana Rana Pathik Mein Aravali Ka, Bhanwar Meghwanshi Bidaay De Maa!, Sudhir Vidyarthi Mahaviri Devi: 1857 Ki Kranti Ki Mahaan Virangana, Praveen Kumar Manse Ki Jaat, Sujata Paramita Hampi: Utkarsh Se Apkarsh Tak, Tapas Chakravarti Hum Aur Humara Nyaytantra, Yaksh Himalaya Ka Itihas, Madan Chandra Bhatt View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest) Young adult literature View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest) Children's literature A Roof for Norbu, Sujatha Padmanabhan and Labonie Roy A Tree in My Stomach, Nandita Rao and Charbak Dipta Cactus Wants a Hug, Neil Flory and Simon Yeo Ganesh Pyne's Twilight Dreams, Vaishali Shroff and Priya Kuriyan Lal Pari aur Chota Pankh: Red Fairy and the Tiny Wing, Deepak Heera Rangnath and Priyankar Gupta Master of the 7 Swars, Pratyush Gupta Saurmandal ki Sair Champu's Trip to Outerspace, Alankrita Amaya and Devika Oza Shhhhhssss Listen! Even Sarees Speak!, Devyani Mungali What Am I Good At?, Rahul Pradhan and Sunaina Coelho Will Goondi Come Home?, Adithi Rao and Fida Hamid View this post on Instagram A post shared by Valley of Words (@vowlitfest)
The Wire
01-07-2025
- Health
- The Wire
COVID-19 Is Five Years Old. But for ‘Long Haulers', the Problems Are as Fresh as Ever.
Patients suffering from Long Covid spoke to The Wire about being dismissed by medical professionals, facing financial instability and being unable to work, and having their lives turn upside down – all while living through acute pain and fatigue. This is the first article in a two-part series on Long Covid. New Delhi: Pragya, in her late 20s, has shaved her head. Not because she wanted to, nor because she has the kind of chronic illness one would usually associate with baldness. Her fatigue was the cause – combing her hair every day took so much out of her that she didn't feel like she could do it any longer. Pragya's fatigue is not because of an illness with specific symptoms we recognise; it is caused by what has been called 'Long Covid'. While the world marks five years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus comes back into the news now and then for the sudden spike in number of people testing positive, Long Covid patients, or long haulers as they are known, are still failing to get the attention and care they deserve. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 'Post COVID-19 condition occurs in individuals with a history of probable or confirmed SARSCoV-2 infection, usually 3 months from the onset of COVID-19 with symptoms that last for at least 2 months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.' Pragya says she is mostly confined to bed because her fatigue is just so persistent. 'I can't walk long distances and I can't climb stairs. Many activities [normal for] young people in their 30s are out of the question – for example any sort of exercise,' she says. Pragya has had COVID-19 twice, in 2021 and 2023. Meenakshi, a Delhi-based activist and also a long hauler, says it is not like any other fatigue that one may experience. 'It's a life-stopping kind of an exhaustion where you cannot even talk. One may get tired even talking on the phone, like I am doing right now,' she told The Wire. It took her two days to even confirm whether she'd be able to speak to this reporter, she said, because of how tired she feels. While studies have shown that these symptoms are very much real and plaguing those affected, there's no clear answer in sight. Meenakshi is exasperated, because the fatigue people like her are facing doesn't fit a structured definition. 'Our results show that the overall prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome as a long COVID symptom is 45.2%. Chronic fatigue after infection with COVID-19 can negatively affect personal and social lives,' says this research paper. The Wire wrote to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on March 24, asking if a study had been conducted to understand the current prevalence of Long Covid in India. Despite repeated reminders, no response has been received. Seema, an Agra-based counsellor, was a hiker and yoga enthusiast before COVID-19's long-term effects changed her life dramatically. To imagine that yoga is almost off-limits is not difficult. But even showering is an uphill task for her due to her chronic fatigue. 'Everything would hurt so much that even I have to do the simple act of showering using a stool chair,' she said. Skipping a shower on some days would only be her option. And she says this is not uncommon among the Long Covid patients she knows. Also read: Pressing the 'Pause' Button More Than 'Play': Living With Long Covid Her life has changed in countless ways. Even her choice of clothes is restricted; tight clothes now hurt her. Seema's fatigue, like that of many others, is coupled with an irregular heart beat, also known as arrhythmia. "My heart rate goes very, very high and my blood pressure falls the minute I get up and start moving.' Climbing stairs or walking some distance is now a major task. Pragya feels extremely let down while travelling, especially when she has to use a wheelchair at the airport, despite 'just being in her late 20s'. If she avoids doing so, shortness of breath leaves her feeling suffocated. There is no unanimity among scientists as to what might be responsible for such disabilities, but there is generally a consensus about their prevalence. As an article in the Journal of Medical Internet Research put it, 'The fact that some patients may experience debilitating chronic fatigue is worrisome and could have a major long-term impact upon these individuals as well as on the health care system and society as a whole. Indeed, fatigue is strongly related to health-related QoL [Quality of Life] and aspects of day-to-day life, and it often involves sick leave, increased health care consumption, and more hidden costs, such as informal care by friends or family members." This was recognised as early as in 2021. But how do these people work on a day-to-day basis? 'It's a combination of being very consistent with medication and being very militant about the concept of pacing,' Seema says. She "carefully' negotiates every hour of the day for her daily activities and also includes some time for rest at frequent intervals. Four out of the five Long Covid patients The Wire spoke to had similar stories of tiredness and arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). New diseases Several long haulers complain of developing new diseases – ones they never had in the past and do not have any genetic connections to. One of the criteria for an illness to be considered on the Long Covid spectrum is that it cannot be explained by an alternate diagnosis. The WHO also says that post-Covid complications may include a new onset of diseases following initial recovery from an acute COVID-19 episode. In some cases, symptoms persist from the initial illness. It explains that the symptoms may also fluctuate or relapse over time. Meenakshi says she is aware that people have developed diabetes, Alzheimer's and cancer post Covid. But for Meenakshi, the bigger problem lies somewhere else. "For these diseases you have experts, at least…but for a large number of people who are developing new symptoms, neither is there recognition nor any experts to even look into their issues.' One of the most common problems that people surviving Covid have developed are related to the heart. Pragya said she has been told by some of her doctors about the reactivation of some older viruses in the body, which otherwise were not causing any harm. This reactivation in turn leads to issues related to the heart, including blood clotting. Her apprehensions have also been corroborated by certain studies. 'We understand from research at the Brigham that this damage isn't the result of the coronavirus directly infecting the heart,' says a study carried out by Brigham and Women's Hospital clinicians. 'Rather, the heart damage is caused by the inflammation the virus triggers. This can then cause long-term heart problems, such as abnormal heart rhythms or heart attacks,' it says. Meenakshi has been on blood thinners since her recovery, for more than two years now, so that clots in her heart can be prevented. Seema, on the other hand, now has allergies against 'almost 70% percent of food groups', primarily against gluten. Antihistamines are a part of her daily routine now. A study published in Nature included multinational databases in South Korea, Japan and the UK consisting of over 22 million participants to study allergic reactions and Long Covid, and found food allergy association with novel coronavirus (Sars-Cov-2) infection. However, one of the biggest 'new' problems that Seema faces is the near collapse of her liver. Her problems were 'rejected' by the doctors she was seeing. Her brother, who is a practising physician in England, diagnosed her with liver problems due to which this vital organ has stopped detoxification. A World Journal of Gastroenterology assessment also acknowledges various reasons for liver dysfunction post Sars-Cov-2(novel coronavirus) infection. Her complaints of hormonal fluctuation, which are exacerbated due to her being in the perimenopausal phase, and insulin resistance are well documented in some of the scientific publications which implicate abnormal T cell (part of immune system) activities and reduced cortisol levels. Cognitive disabilities Subalaxmi is a forest ecologist and climate change modeller in New Mexico. Or she was – before she got bouts of Covid infection. Her cognition-related problems forced her to see a neuropsychologist at the University of New Mexico. The doctors, she said, diagnosed her with damage to the prefrontal cortex of the brain and a cognitive decline which was 'unexpected of a person who has been a scientist". Due to these and several other complications, she was forced to move back to Bangalore. Now she can't think of going back to the US due to her "disabilities'. Madhur, a young IT engineer based in Hyderabad, got COVID-19 in 2022 and 2024. Till date, he can't seem to remember where the electric switches in his room – where he has been living for several years – are. He has given up on his hobby of reading books because once he puts it down, he forgets the plot and has to start all over again if he decides to follow-up. "Therefore I shifted my hobby to making new apps, even if they are not of much use,' he said. "This job doesn't test my cognitive abilities, as such,' he added. After completing any household chore or any of his office-related tasks, he writes them down, because he otherwise would forget that he had already done them, and sets out to do them again. He clarified that was also diagnosed with Vitamin B-12 deficiency, which can also cause these problems. But he adds he was on a long course of supplements and now his blood work does not show any deficiency. No doctor has been able to help him finally zero in on the cause – or the solution. Also read: Are You Sure It's Not Anxiety?': How Gaslighting Doctors Make it Harder For Women With Long COVID Ziyad Al-Aly is a US-based physician-scientist who has done seminal work on Long Covid and has produced many studies related to various aspects of it. In this editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, Al-Aly says though the exact pathway leading to what is known as 'brain fog' is not understood, the problem is real. Studies involving humans have shown prolonged neuroinflammatory responses (inflammation of the nervous system), structural abnormalities and accelerated aging in the brains of persons with mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection. Virus was present in brain-tissue samples obtained during the autopsies of persons those had had severe COVID-19 infections. Work life, social life and finances These chronic illnesses have thrown people's work life out of gear. At least two of the five long haulers The Wire spoke to said that their employers were not able to understand their condition – and did not seem particularly bothered to do so. 'A lot of us all had to quit working as there's been no support from even places where you have worked for many years,' says Meenakshi. On the other hand, Subhalaxmi could apply for disability insurance in the US with the help of her doctors, who did all the necessary paperwork. Her neuropsychiatrist put work restrictions on her, saying that she shouldn't be asked to work for more than 15 hours a week by her employer – reducing the regular work week by more than half. But in India, Subalaxmi realised it was next to impossible to get any such concessions. 'In India, disability is documented if one cannot do anything – you cannot even walk or [perform] basic functions,' she said. "But in the US not being able to work for a high-functioning person like me and getting the right diagnosis helped me get disability services." Seema, who is a counsellor, is self-employed. She used to do four or five sessions a day. Now, on good days, she can do one. The number drops to nil when the days are not so good. The fatigue limits her ability to speak – thus affecting her job. Meenakshi and Seema are able to survive because their families are supporting them. But for a young woman like Pragya, life has become really difficult. She was living in Delhi before her Long Covid complications began. 'It became impossible for me to deal with my disabilities on my own.' So she moved to her hometown, Jaipur. Her father passed away due to Covid in 2021. Her mother is perennially ill and mostly confined to bed due to neurological problems following Covid. She has an elder sister who is now in the full time role of caretaker for her and their mother – and so can't work. The only earning member in the family, therefore, is Pragya herself. She is working remotely for an educational institution located in Mumbai. ' My heart rate is usually very high. I have been feeling worse and my productivity has also gone down several notches,' she says. She wanted to pursue a PhD course in anthropology in the US – a dream that has been cut short, at least for the time being. The household budget is also impacted. Seema says she spends about Rs 50,000-60,000 per month on medicines and diagnostics. In fact, most long haulers can't afford this cost. But she also feels guilty. 'I can't work anymore the way I used to – it's also becoming that one person's suffering makes the whole family suffer,' she says. With so many debilitating issues, having a social life is almost an impossibility now. For somebody like her, going to concerts and restaurants used to be common. "Now I have to factor in every ounce of energy that I spend on these activities, and therefore have to limit them,' she said. One of the patients said she is a "completely different person now', given how much her life – and her mental health – have changed. Doctors: reluctant healers? All the Long Covid patients The Wire spoke to had one common thing to say – the near complete rejection of their problems by doctors. Four of them were prescribed antidepressants, saying their problems existed only in their heads. Meenakshi says she faced 'horrendous' side effects, which some people may feel while taking such medication, and chose to discontinue them. She went to a neurologist to get relief for the pain. She was then referred to an orthopaedic. 'The latter would not speak with the former…the orthopaedic told me if I had recurring pain, it was a sign of me being alive,' Meenakshi says. What explains this behaviour from doctors? Most biomarkers (revealed in blood tests) and other investigative reports showed nothing wrong with these patients. 'Doctors treat patients and not reports' is an old cliché in medicine – but these patients and many like them seem to have been short changed by doctors throwing this tenet out the window. Pragya came to Delhi from Jaipur to meet a pulmonologist at a posh hospital to discuss her breathing issues. She was asked if she had been hospitalised during her infection period, to which replied in the negative. This led her doctor to believe that Pragya was imaging the illness. The doctor told her he would like to refer this case to a psychiatrist. In Jaipur, she found a doctor whom she described as sympathetic to treat her breathing problems. But this doctor couldn't treat all her problems – she was referred to someone else to see her eyes, for instance. The next doctor allegedly had this to say to her: ' Apna prescription toh dikhana. Main apne students ko yeh prescription dikhaunga aur kahunga aise aise jokers aate hain mere paas treatment ke liye. (Show me your prescription. I will show my students what kind of fools come to me for treatment).' She also suffers from sharp eye pain as apparently the virus affected her eye muscles, but says she has given up on doctors now – no matter how seriously ill she gets. Seema went for a regular MRI scan to get her heart problems diagnosed. The report showed nothing abnormal and the doctor again concluded that all was well, but her problems continued to persist. On the advice of her brother-physcian, she got a specific Cardiac MRI done. The report combined with symptoms confirmed her problem. Long Covid patients have endless experiences with doctors to share. Much of this can be characterised as the regular 'doctor-patient' asymmetry that exists in routine medicine practice, outside the ambit of Long Covid too. But what one fails to understand is that even if the doctors were hesitant to link their problems with Long Covid, their conditions themselves warranted treatment and which seems to have been denied. While in India patients continue to suffer, a study led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Yale School of Medicine had this to say: 'This means that physicians must listen to their patients and perform a wide variety of physiological and lab tests, while adopting a highly personalized approach to the medical management of long COVID. There is no 'silver bullet' for treating long COVID, because it is an illness that infiltrates complex systems such as the immune system and hormonal regulation. Complex illnesses require complex treatment solutions and we need more rapid research to better understand long COVID and discover new and promising therapies.' Subhalaxmi, who had got her Long Covid partly treated at New Mexico, found a huge gap between the approach of doctors in the US and in India. "In India, doctors consider themselves as God. In the US, at least, I found doctors being collaborators who adopted a rights-based approach,' she said. All long haulers who spoke to The Wire were very well versed and speaking in medical terminology – something not usually found. Some of them went to doctors after having read scientific publications online. But almost all doctors rejected their knowledge as 'Googled', thus refusing to engage with them. "Doctors are busy with practice. We are desperate and therefore we have all the time to read,' said one of them. Subhalaxmi said discussing a paper with a doctor in the US was not taken as an offence, but in India she was shocked when she found the contrary stance of physicians. The Wire asked the ICMR about whether there are guidelines for treating Long Covid patients in India, but no response has been received. Luckily, not all physicians treated Long Covid patients with disdain and dismissed them. Subhalaxmi says she was extremely grateful to Dr Geeta Desai at NIMHANS (Bangalore), who was very supportive. Desai, according to Subhalaxmi, was 'protective of her even if biomarkers did not reveal anything' about her neurological problems, and even connected her to an expert in the US who can deal with her problems. The Wire also spoke to a few doctors who have treated Long Covid patients, and they were flabbergasted when the reporter shared some of the patient's experiences with their colleagues. Read about them in the second part of this series. Note: Names of all the patients have been changed to protect their identities. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
India.com
28-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Meet Isha Ambani's lesser-known sister-in-law who is entrepreneur, her name is..., her husband is...
Billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani's daughter, Isha Ambani, is married to Anand Piramal, a member of the prominent Piramal family. Isha Ambani married Anand Piramal in 2018. Anand serves as the Executive Director at the Piramal Group, where he leads the company's financial services and real estate divisions. While Isha is part of the executive leadership teams as a Member of the Board at Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Jio Financial Services Limited and Reliance Foundation (RF), Reliance Foundation Institution of Education and Research, and Dhirubhai Ambani International School. Speaking of Anand Piramal's family, Anand's cousin, Aditya Shah, is also a successful businessman. He is married to Pragya Saboo, who is a talented fashion designer and entrepreneur. Aditya is the son of Nirav and Devina Shah, and his uncle is Ajay Piramal, the chairman of the Piramal Group. In 2o2o, Aditya got married to Pragya; their pre-wedding functions included a New York-themed party hosted by Isha and Anand at their Mumbai mansion. Pragya was spotted wearing a custom-made Anamika Khanna lehenga at her wedding. Pragya, who hails from Kolkata, started her academic journey at NIFT Delhi, where she pursued her passion for fashion. Later, she moved to the U.S. and earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2017. During her time there, Pragya wasn't just focused on studies—she also took on leadership roles and launched several student-led initiatives. One of her proudest efforts was founding PROJECT XXI, a non-profit dedicated to helping students grow beyond academics and focus on their overall development.
