iWorld
ZEE5 Global named ‘Digital Content and Streaming Service of the Year’ at the 2020 Telecoms World Middle East Awards for 2nd consecutive year
ZEE5 Global, the largest and most comprehensive digital entertainment platform for Indian content, has won the ‘Digital Content and Streaming Service of the Year’ award for 2020 at the Telecoms World Middle East Awards for the second consecutive year.
The virtual awards ceremony, held on 13th October 2020, was part of a Telecoms World Middle East event in Dubai. The winners were chosen by a panel of expert judges brought together by Terrapinn, the organisers of the annual Telecoms World Middle East Conference and Awards. The awards recognize outstanding performance in key telecom-related areas across the region and recognize those players that make this one of the most dynamic sectors globally.
“We’re thrilled to be named the Digital Content and Streaming Service of the Year, that too for the second consecutive year. This award is a recognition of the tremendous love for our content across markets, the partnerships we have forged in the shortest span of time and our continuous initiatives to bring the best of Indian and South Asian content to our audiences worldwide. The Middle East is an especially important market for us, and we are very glad that our efforts and ambitions are being recognised here with this highly coveted award.” said Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global
Catering to not only South Asians but also mainstream audiences across countries, ZEE5 is today, with over 125,000 hours of on demand content and 60+ live TV channels, the largest single point destination for Indian content globally. From expanding its global reach through strategic partnerships across key global markets, to establishing itself as a premium advertising destination, the platform has achieved massive success at rapid speed during the past year. It has also been recently featured as one of the top 10 streaming apps downloaded globally and the sixth most downloaded Android app, by Sensor Tower.
The brand has also grown from offering 12 content languages at launch to now offering content across 18 languages, including Arabic, filling a growing demand among audiences for language content. Fast moving into its next phase of growth, it will soon launch multiple localized content and other initiatives in priority markets like Bangladesh and Middle East.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
