Bigg Boss 19: Full List Of Confirmed Contestants In The Upcoming Season

Bigg Boss Season 19 is all set to premiere on August 24, 2025. The new season is expected to deliver a wild ride filled with drama, fun and non-stop entertainment. 

The intriguing twist this year is the "Gharwalon ki Sarkaar" theme, which indicates a seismic shift in power from outside to inside the house. While 15 celebrities are participating in the show this season, here are the names of the confirmed contestants, as reported by India Today.

Known for his acting stint in the popular television show Anupamaa, Gaurav Khanna is confirmed to be a part of Bigg Boss 19. The actor recently participated in the reality cooking show, Celebrity MasterChef India, and won. He is reportedly the highest-paid celebrity on Bigg Boss this season. 

Child artist turned television actress Ashnoor Kaur is also set to be a part of the reality show. She is known for her roles in Patiala Babes and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai.

Content creators Awez Darbar and Nagma Mirajkar have also been signed for the season. The real-life couple reportedly parted ways earlier this year. TV actors Baseer Ali, Abhishek Bajaj, Hunar Hale and Shafaq Naaz are also joining the show, along with Siwet Tomar and Khank Waghnani. 

Baseer has previously appeared on reality series like Roadies, Splitsvilla and Ace of Space. Siwet was also part of Roadies and Splitsvilla. The new season of Bigg Boss promises drama and surprises with its diverse cast.

Other confirmed contestants include gaming creator Payal Dhare and writer-actor Zeeshan Quadri. Fans will get to vote between YouTuber Mridul Tiwari and Shehnaaz Gill's brother, Shehbaz Badesha, to decide who will join the show. 

Other potential contestants that could be part of Bigg Boss 19 are singer Sreerama Chandra, Bigg Boss Marathi's Arbaaz Patel, Anupamaa actress Nidhi Shah, content creator Kirak Khala (Priya Reddy), rapper duo Seedhe Maut, social activist Atul Kishan, and advocate Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh. 

Hosted by Salman Khan, Bigg Boss 19 will stream on JioHotstar at 9 pm and air on Colors TV at 10.30 pm. 

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Akram Under Fire, Cyber Crime Complaint Filed Against Pakistan Great: Report

A complaint has been filed against former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram for allegedly endorsing and associating with an online "gambling and betting" platform related to sports, an official said on Tuesday. A complainant, Muhammad Fiaz, has filed an application with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in Lahore, seeking legal action against Akram for allegedly promoting a gambling and betting app. He said the former fast bowler was linked with a foreign betting app — Baji — as its brand ambassador.

"A poster circulating on social media and a video clip show Wasim Akram endorsing the online platform, which has sparked interest among general users in the app," the complainant said.

He requested the NCCIA to take strict legal action against Akram under the Electronic Crimes Act of 2016.

An NCCIA official told PTI on Tuesday that it had received a complaint against Akram for being a brand ambassador of a foreign betting app and said, "We will take action against him if the allegations are found to be true."

Akram has not yet issued any statement regarding the matter. In connection with the promotion of the same online app, famous TikToker and YouTuber Saad-ur-Rehman, popularly known as Ducky Bhai, was arrested on Saturday.

Recently, Wasim Akram, Pakistan great and one of the most lethal pacers in the history of the game, was impressed by Mohammed Siraj and termed his performance against England as “the best" he has seen in the recent past.

"I rarely watch cricket when I'm not working, but I was glued to the last day. Siraj was full of hunger and passion – it was an incredible effort. To bowl nearly 186 overs across five Tests and still be that fiery on the final day shows remarkable stamina and mental strength. He's not just a support bowler anymore. He's leading the attack and doing it with heart. Even when a catch went down– that of Brook – he didn't lose focus. That's the mark of a fighter. Test cricket is alive and kicking," Akram said in an interview to Telecom Asia Sport.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Is This A Joke": 3,000 Bighas Of Land For Cement Firm Outrages High Court

A video of a court proceeding of Gauhati High Court that was live streamed, has gone viral on social media where the court is heard raising concern over the allotment of nearly 3,000 bighas of land in Assam's Dima Hasao district to a cement company for mining of limestone.

In the video, Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi expressed astonishment at the scale of the land grant.

"3,000 bighas! The entire district? What is going on? 3,000 bighas allotted to a private company? We know how barren the land is... 3,000 bighas? What kind of decision is this? Is this some kind of joke or what? Your need is not the issue, public interest is the issue," he is heard saying.

The court's observations came in response to submissions regarding the company's operations in the hill district. 

Counsel representing the cement firm argued that the land allotted was barren and required for the functioning of the plant.

A Congress delegation, led by Assam Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bhupen Kumar Borah and Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia, meanwhile met the Governor to express the grievances of local communities from Borolokhindong, Tharvelangso, and surrounding villages regarding the proposed mining project.

According to their memorandum, the state government's decision to allocate land in Dima Hasao for mining is being done to favour a corporate entity allegedly linked to the ruling BJP, without considering the welfare and sentiments of the indigenous people.

"The Chief Minister of Assam is making moves to allocate approximately 9,000 bighas of land in the Dima Hasao district to benefit a corporate group with close ties to the BJP. The state government is disregarding the concerns and sentiments of the indigenous communities in Dima Hasao. This issue is a matter of survival and safeguarding the land and rights of the district's local people," the memorandum read.

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Ukraine Ghost Sniper Shoots 2 Russian Troops In World's Longest Ever Kill

Ukraine's "Pryvyd" (Ghost) sniper unit has claimed to have set the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill, shooting down two Russian soldiers from a distance of around 4 kilometres. The shot, fired from a Ukrainian-made 14.5mm "Alligator" rifle, was guided to its target with the help of artificial intelligence and drones, according to a report by Defense Express.

A video of the military action is being widely circulated on social media, showing the moment a Ukrainian soldier fired the "historic" shot near the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine during fighting on August 14.

Ukraine's former deputy minister at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko, shared the video on X and wrote, "A Ukrainian sniper from the Pryvyd (Ghost) group made the first successful shot in the history of wars using artificial intelligence, eliminating two Russian occupiers in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad direction."

A historic sniper shot at a record distance of 4,000 meters!

A Ukrainian sniper from the Pryvyd (Ghost) group made the first successful shot in the history of wars using artificial intelligence, eliminating two Russian occupiers in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad direction.

The unique… https://t.co/102ULlYDuA pic.twitter.com/Afh8jRto7V

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 15, 2025

"The unique shot, made without line of sight, was guided by a UAV system and fired from a 14.5 mm Aligator rifle equipped with a Ukrainian-made thermal imaging sight," he added.

The previous world record for a confirmed sniper kill from the largest distance was also held by a Ukrainian soldier, Viacheslav Kovalskyi. The 58-year-old veteran sniper from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reportedly killed a Russian troop from a distance of 3.8 kilometres in November 2023, using a UK-made Horizon's Lord sniper rifle. Last week's shot reportedly beat the previous world record. 

According to Ukrainian military expert Yuri Butusov, the bullet went through the window behind which the Russian soldiers were standing.

About The "Alligator" Rifle

The "Alligator" rifle is a 14.5mm calibre sniper rifle with a muzzle velocity of between 3,215 and 3,281 feet per second, according to Defense Express report. 

It is manufactured by Kharkiv-based arms company XADO-Holding and has an effective range of 1.2 miles. The rifle weighs 25 kilograms, and was reportedly designed to disable equipment rather than kill targets.
 

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