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‘50% gemstones lost to outdated mining’ | The Express Tribune
ISLAMABAD:
A meeting of the Prime Minister’s Committee on Gemstone Policy on Friday flagged major structural gaps in Pakistan’s gemstone sector, including massive losses during extraction, undocumented trade, and negligible value addition.
During the briefing, chaired by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Haroon Akhtar Khan, officials revealed that Pakistan’s actual gemstone exports remain largely undocumented but are set to be formally registered. The Committee noted that nearly half of the country’s gemstone output is wasted due to outdated mining practices and obsolete technology.
It further observed that 30-40% of precious stones are lost because of non-scientific blasting and drilling methods. Members also raised concerns that most gemstones are exported in raw form, without any value addition, significantly limiting the country’s export earnings.
The Committee highlighted the sector’s continued stagnation due to minimal international cooperation and investment. The SAPM said modern mining technologies could sharply improve both production and export volumes. He added that comprehensive value addition could multiply export figures, noting that Pakistan holds an undocumented gemstone export potential of $2 billion.
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US court orders Byju Raveendran to repay USD 1 billion to BYJU’s Alpha and GLAS Trust Company LLC. Raveendran plans to appeal.
Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran has challenged a recent default judgment by a US bankruptcy court that holds him liable for repaying over USD 1 billion.
In a major setback, the US Delaware court has ordered Byju Raveendran, the founder of ed-tech, to repay USD 1 billion to BYJU’s Alpha and US-based GLAS Trust Company LLC, according to a report of PTI. The court has held Raveendran personally liable for the damage upon the petition filed by the lender.
The court also found that Raveendran lapsed to comply with the discovery order and continued to be evasive on several occasions. “The court will enter default judgment against Defendant Raveendran…in the amount of USD 533,000,000, and on Counts II, V and VI in the amount of USD 540,647,109.29,” the judgement said, as reported by PTI.
Byju Raveendran is going to contest the US court judgement.
In a press statement, Raveendran’s lawyers said they will “promptly appeal” the ruling, arguing that the court issued the judgment on an expedited timeline that “precluded” him from presenting his side. Raveendran has denied all allegations made in the case.
The legal team also accused GLAS Trust of misleading the Delaware Courts and the public, claiming the judgment should not have been issued at all. According to them, the court granted monetary relief even though GLAS had withdrawn its damages claim in September 2025.
“This judgment stems from an accelerated procedure triggered by serious misrepresentations made by GLAS,” the release stated. The team added that Raveendran will soon submit evidence of this alleged misconduct as part of a separate claim worth at least USD 2.5 billion, which he plans to file before the US courts.
The statement further said the latest Delaware Court ruling was a direct result of GLAS “securing judicial relief by misleading the courts,” with the aim of harming Raveendran personally and indirectly affecting other suspended directors of Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd.
Raveendran’s team also highlighted that he was given insufficient time to hire legal counsel and respond to the accelerated court actions.
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst… Read More
November 22, 2025, 18:19 IST
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Getty ImagesThe publisher of the Daily Mail has agreed to buy the Daily and Sunday Telegraph for £500m.
The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said it had entered a period of discussion with RedBird IMI, which is a joint venture between the United Arab Emirates and the US private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners.
RedBird Capital’s own bid for control of the Telegraph collapsed last week.
The deal needs to be signed off by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. A spokesperson said Nandy would “review any new buyer acquiring the Telegraph in line with the public interest and foreign state influence media mergers regimes”.
DMGT and RedBird IMI have said they expect the deal to be finalised “quickly”.
DMGT chairman Lord Rothermere said he had “long admired the Daily Telegraph” and the deal would give “much-needed certainty and confidence” to its employees.
He said: “The Daily Telegraph is Britain’s largest and best quality broadsheet newspaper and I have grown up respecting it. It has a remarkable history and has played a vital role in shaping Britain’s national debate over many decades.”
He added: “Chris Evans is an excellent editor and we intend to give him the resources to invest in the newsroom. Under our ownership, the Daily Telegraph will become a global brand, just as the Daily Mail has.”
The purchase would see the Telegraph become part of DMGT’s portfolio of media organisations, which includes the i Paper, Metro and New Scientist, along with the Daily and Sunday Mail papers.
The group said the Telegraph would remain editorially independent from DMGT’s other titles.
It also said its case for having the deal approved was “compelling” and would comply with UK regulations, as there would be no foreign state investment or capital in the funding structure.
A spokesman for RedBird IMI said: “DMGT and RedBird IMI have worked swiftly to reach the agreement announced today, which will shortly be submitted to the secretary of state.”
RedBird Capital pulled out of a deal to buy the Telegraph last week.
It had a previous attempt to buy the group rebuffed by politicians as it was majority-funded by Abu Dhabi’s IMI group – which is owned in turn by the Abu Dhabi royal family.
A law change meant that foreign sovereign wealth funds could take a maximum stake of 15% in newspapers or periodicals.
Its more recent bid complied with that rule, but it was understood that the government intended to submit the deal to regulatory review.
Sources close to RedBird insisted that they were confident that the bid would have passed a government review process, but cited negative articles toward the bid from the current Telegraph newsroom as a factor in shelving their interest.
RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale had planned to expand the Telegraph’s reach and subscriber base in the US, believing there to be a gap in the market.
Among other investments, RedBird owns the Italian football team AC Milan.
The Telegraph has been in limbo for over two years, when the RedBird IMI consortium paid off the debts of the Telegraph’s previous owners, the Barclay family, hoping to take eventual ownership of the newspapers.
The federal government has lifted the ban on the import and export of gold, officials confirmed on Saturday. The Ministry of Commerce issued the order following approval from the federal cabinet.
In addition, the government has introduced some amendments related to the trade of precious metals and jewellery, while maintaining the existing framework for their import and export.
The ban on gold trade was initially imposed on May 6, 2025, after complaints of smuggling surfaced.
The ministry had suspended the SRO regulating gold trade for 60 days. However, no new cases of smuggling have been reported in recent months.
Gold continues to serve as a traditional store of value and remains an important part of Pakistan’s cultural, financial, and manufacturing sectors.
Pakistan predominantly imports gold from the UAE, Switzerland, and other major gold-trading hubs.
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