“The biggest thing here is, if you call this fake, it’s just gender inequality. If the roles were reversed, what do you think would happen?” Chirayu Rana, the 35-year-old Nepali American at the center of one of Wall Street’s biggest scandals, told The Juggernaut. Rana just had a brutal few weeks. On April 27, he had filed a lawsuit anonymously, claiming a female executive at JPMorgan had sexually abused him and called him anti-Brown slurs, only for his identity to be outed. Soon after his interview with us, the world would find out that Lorna Hajdini, the accused executive, had filed a countersuit, claiming that Rana’s allegations were defamatory. On paper, Chirayu Rana seems like any other child of immigrants. He graduated from Rutgers, played soccer, and worked at prestigious firms like Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan. But his most recent claims, which JPMorgan and Hajdini have vehemently denied, upend that trajectory.  The scandal is a lurid tale that either proves a serious cover-up at one of the world’s largest banking institutions or one of the biggest fabricated accounts in Wall Street history. So: who was telling the truth? The Juggernaut spoke to Chirayu Rana himself, corporate employees, and Rana’s high school friend. We reviewed Rana’s and Hajdini’s court filings as well as leaked screenshots and emails provided to us. What we found was even stranger than fiction. Read the full story by @TulikaBose_ below 🔗 Additional reporting by @snigdhasur thejuggernaut.com/chirayu-ra…

No country might love “Waka Waka” more than Pakistan ⚽ Shakira debuted the World Cup anthem in 2010. Since then, several Pakistanis have gone viral for their renditions. There’s this one, uploaded in 2019. In 2015, there was “Pakistani Shakira.” Then, in 2023, a fruit seller changed the words to help sell mangoes. “Waka Waka” has a Guinness record for the most streamed World Cup song on Spotify, at over 1 billion streams. It has 4.5 billion views on YouTube. Via @ugach_kahitarii on X

A man older than independent India wakes up one morning and forgets that Partition ever happened. He hops into his car and orders his driver to take him to Lahore. “Lahore!” the driver says. “It’s on the other side of the border.” But there is no border, the old man remarks. After all, back when he was a student of words, poetry, and song, this was all only one land: Punjab. Modern-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh — and their man-made borders — were yet to come. This is the tender restlessness that pulsates through Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga. This restlessness is usually a mainstay in the director’s storytelling, featuring men in transit, running away from something. Aditya of Jab We Met (2007), Ved of Tamasha (2015), Harry of Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017) — all these men on the run need a woman who can stop and moor them. You can say that Imtiaz Ali has been desperately remaking the same film, hoping to one day perfect this chronicle of rescuing. In Main Vaapas Aaunga, he finally forces a man with dementia to return. This isn’t a movie about escaping; it’s a tale of confrontation. And that’s precisely why it’s urgent viewing. Read the full review by @MandaMeher at the link below 🔗 thejuggernaut.com/main-vaapa…

“Other people make more of this dynamic than it is,” said Ammara Ahmad, a Montreal-based journalist who has dated men who are five to 10 years younger than her. Recently, she told The Juggernaut, she has stopped telling younger men her age at all. “They don’t seem to be too worried about it. They never ask and I never tell them.” In the West, the older woman-younger man dynamic is packaged as something empowering, thanks to films and shows like Babygirl (2024), The Idea of You (2024), and Cougar Town (2009-15). They depict a world where older women have confidence, clarity, and autonomy; the younger man is curious, less threatened, maybe even grateful. But in South Asian culture, does the idea of a cougar fly? Shows and films, from Indian Matchmaking to Dil Chahta Hai, have revealed possibly not. Once a woman is older, even by a couple of years, she risks being moved into another category: auntie, divorcée, witch, and, dare I say, scandal. The younger man is under a spell, and the older woman is too independent. The Juggernaut spoke to those in relationships with unexpected age dynamics and experts to get to the bottom of why older women are so taboo — and why it’s time to rethink it all. Read the full story by Sadaf Ahsan (@_sadafahsan) at the link below 🔗 thejuggernaut.com/older-wome…

🥭 Nepal has just joined Japan in banning the import of Indian mangoes.  The move comes weeks after Japan banned several varieties of Indian mangoes for the first time in 20 years — Alphonso, Kesar, Langra, and Banganapalli. Japanese plant inspectors found that India’s export treatment facilities weren’t abiding by the phytosanitary standards to which India had agreed. Japan last banned Indian mangoes over fruit fly concerns, lifting the ban only in 2006, after India strengthened treatment protocols, NDTV reported. Similarly, Nepal banned Indian mangoes starting from around April, Rising Nepal reported, due to excessive amounts of pesticides and because exporters failed to follow quarantine protocols.  Nepal’s new quarantine rules stipulate that Indian mangoes must undergo hot water immersion treatment, a post-harvest process designed to kill pests such as fruit fly larvae and to prevent fungal diseases. But this adds about 40 hours of processing for a 22,000-pound shipment, making costs prohibitive, Indian exporters said.  Nepali authorities believe the new restriction against Indian mangoes will help domestic varieties of Nepali mangoes thrive. “The federal government’s decision will provide additional encouragement to local production, while citizens will have access to healthier and safer produce,” Manish Kumar Pal, a spokesperson for the agriculture ministry, told Rising Nepal.  India exported 33 million tons of mangoes in 2025, worth about $56.5 million, DGIS reported, making it the world’s largest producer. Most are consumed domestically, but mango exports command higher profits. The leading export destinations in 2025 were the U.S., U.A.E., U.K., Kuwait, and Qatar. Of exports, about 12,000 tons worth $3.6 million go to Nepal, TNIE wrote.

Nithya Raman will now face off against incumbent Karen Bass on November 3, AP reported. The 44-year-old progressive Democrat and City Council member, who has drawn comparisons to New York City’s Zohran Mamdani, entered the mayoral race hours before the deadline — after initially endorsing Bass.  Raman initially trailed Spencer Pratt, but edged out the Republican reality TV star after the addition of mail-in ballots. As of Monday, June 8, Bass led with 34.3% of the vote (around 275,992), while Raman had 28.5% (229,576), and Pratt had 25.8% (207,757). The runoff is happening because Bass, the frontrunner, failed to get a majority (or above 50%) of the vote. Pratt, 42, campaigned on a platform that called out Bass’s handling of the Palisade fires in 2025, in which he lost his home. He generated social media buzz with videos on this topic, such as one to the tune of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” He also promised to reduce homelessness and be tough on crime. Republicans, however, comprise only 15% of the Los Angeles electorate, NYT reported. Raman was born in India, graduated from Harvard College, and has a master’s in urban planning from MIT. She, like Pratt, argued that Mayor Bass could be doing more in City Hall, campaigning on repairing broken streetlights and increasing affordable housing. LA has a few crucial years ahead. Hollywood is facing headwinds, while the city is hosting World Cup matches this summer and the Olympics in 2028. General elections tend to have higher, younger turnouts, which could favor Raman, but Bass and Raman could split the Democratic vote. Bass will also be measured on her past record, while Raman will have a cleaner slate.  Bass is LA’s first Black woman mayor. If Raman wins, she’d be the first Asian, South Asian, and Indian-origin person in the role.

“No one in this world can take Allah away from me,” Zara*, an illustrator who identifies as queer and Muslim, told me recently. But some are trying to. @5Pillarsuk, a news outlet claiming to speak for U.K. Muslims, recently went viral for denouncing @ZohranKMamdani and @SadiqKhan for the unique crime of celebrating Pride while being Muslim. Then, they doubled down:

Like clockwork, every Pride Month, someone inevitably starts talking about whether Muslims can, in fact, be gay. This year, the latest round arrived courtesy of 5Pillars, a media outlet claiming to be the “voice” of Muslims in the U.K. Its handy “How To Navigate Pride Month” for “Muslims living in the West” offers choice advice: “Muslims who experience same-sex attraction…should seek spiritual support.” Then, 5Pillars set their eyes on some notable targets: London Mayor Sadiq Khan and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “The Muslim mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, celebrates queer and transgender New Yorkers,” said a miffed 5Pillars tweet. The blowback was swift. “My first consideration is the preservation of Islamic purity. If that upsets people, then so be it,” 5Pillars founder Roshan M. Salih, who is of Sri Lankan and Welsh descent, told The Juggernaut. “We don’t condemn people who have same-sex attraction. However…if they act upon that attraction, then they are sinning.” As for Zohran Mamdani? “He was tweeting in favor of LGBTQ Pride, and that is a clear contradiction in the eyes of Muslims.” But it seemed like no one was talking to the very group that the whole fiasco was about: queer Muslims. What do they have to say? The Juggernaut spoke to many in the community, including Islamic scholars, to find out. @TulikaBose_ reports: thejuggernaut.com/queer-musl…

An elevator operator attacked a surgeon with acid while she was on duty at one of Pakistan’s largest hospitals, sparking outrage. Dr. Mahnoor Nasir, a postgraduate surgical trainee at Civil Hospital Quetta, was attacked while on duty, Dawn reported. Officials said the suspect, spelled Hamayoun or Humayun Shah, was an elevator operator at the hospital.  “The accused, Hamayoun Shah…was waiting for the doctor, and when she arrived inside her room, he threw acid on her,” Imran Shoukat, deputy inspector general of police in Quetta, told Arab News. Shah then fled the scene.  Police tracked down Shah, who was trying to escape the city. Officers say they ordered him to surrender, but he opened fire and was killed in the ensuing exchange. Investigators have yet to disclose a motive. Hospital officials say Dr. Nasir suffered severe burns to her face, chest, legs, and other parts of her body. She was treated in Quetta before being airlifted to Karachi for specialized care. Doctors at Aga Khan University Hospital later said that about 13% of her body sustained burns, affecting her face, abdomen, thighs, and right hand. The backlash against the attack was swift.  Advocacy groups estimate that 150 to 200 acid attacks occur each year in Pakistan, with women making up most victims. Doctors and staff protested at government hospitals across Quetta, leaving only emergency departments operational. The Young Doctors Association blames inadequate security and administrative failures for the attack, and is demanding the health secretary step down, Dawn reported. The Pakistan Medical Council reports that, in 2023, women made up 46.9% of doctors in the country, or 127,468 doctors.  “Women are emotional?!?! Men are logical! Never saw a woman throw acid on someone’s face out of emotions,” Zoya Zaidi, a Pakistani Canadian creator, captioned a now-viral reel with over 477,000 views. CW: CCTV footage at end of carousel.

Happy birthday to Dimple Kapadia, the comeback queen 👑 At 16, she became an overnight star with Raj Kapoor’s #Bobby. Months before its release, at just 15, she married superstar Rajesh Khanna, 30 — and left acting.  About 10 years later, she had left Khanna and returned to cinema. Despite early struggles, she won a National Award for #Rudaali (1993), crediting her very first film for her success.  “That was the only film I had,” Kapadia said. “No one would’ve given me work otherwise.”

Indian immigrants might be the GOAT when it comes to founding startups worth over a billion dollars in the U.S. A June 2026 study from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) found that immigrants had founded or co-founded a whopping 59%, or 455 of the 775 privately held U.S. startups valued at $1 billion or more, called unicorns, as of April 2026 - collectively valued at over $5 trillion. About 24% of U.S. unicorns have a founder who arrived as an international student. (Notably, the report excludes public companies like Instacart or Robinhood, estimating their value to be $837 billion.) Regardless, one immigrant country of origin stood far above the rest: India. More than 100 Indian-born founders are behind 96 U.S. unicorns - far ahead of Israel (60 unicorns), the United Kingdom (47 unicorns), China (41 unicorns), and Canada (30 unicorns). And six of the 15 immigrants who founded multiple U.S. unicorns were born in India. Some of the Indian-origin founders include Rohan Sheth (Clubhouse), Manu Kumar (Carta), Arvind Jain (Rubrik, Glean), Aravind Srinivas (Perplexity), Ashutosh Garg (Bloomreach, Eightfold Al), Jyoti Bansal (AppDynamics, Harness), Mohit Aron (Nutanix, Cohesity), Sachin Nayyar (Securonix, Kratos), and Ajeet Singh (ThoughtSpot, Nutanix). The report also discussed recent restrictions on student and H-1B visas. For example, on May 27, 2025, the White House paused new student visa interviews. On September 19, 2025, it started requiring employers to pay $100,000 for new H-1B petitions involving workers outside the U.S. “The research shows the importance of immigrants in cutting-edge companies and the U.S. economy at a time when U.S. immigration policies have grown more restrictive,” the study authors wrote. “The collective value of immigrant-founded unicorn companies has risen from $168 billion to $5 trillion between 2016 and 2026.”

In Maa Behen, you can never quite predict the next sentence coming out of anyone’s mouth. For Hindi cinema, which has, in recent years, chased tired formula after formula, that’s a happy change. Then, add some magical realism, and you’ll meet widower Rekha (the impeccable Madhuri Dixit), who buries men beneath her garden of marigolds, has backwards feet, and leaves men in her cyber cafe to die. Well, at least that’s what the rumors say.  The latest kaand, or “incident,” happens when Rekha calls her two daughters, Jaya (Triptii Dimri) and Sushma (Dharna Durga), to tell them that her neighbor Guptaji (Ravi Kishan) has died in her house. But not all is as it seems. What happens when three outspoken women reckon with a society that already thinks they’re guilty, murder be damned? We spoke to director and co-writer Suresh Triveni and Madhuri Dixit to chat about their latest, “delicious” project. Read the full story by @snigdhasur, featuring interviews with Madhuri Dixit and Suresh Triveni, at the link in bio, then click this image 🔗 thejuggernaut.com/maa-behen-…