iWorld
Amazon Prime to show Asahi’s anime content
MUMBAI – November 24, 2016 – Amazon today announced its alliance with Japan-based TV Asahi Corporation which will make Amazon Prime Video India the exclusive subscription streaming home for some of TV Asahi’s all-time favorite kids toons – Doraemon, Shin chan, and Ninja Hattori. Available together in the territory for the first time ever on a video streaming platform, Doraemon, Shin Chan, and Ninja Hattori will be exclusive to Amazon Prime members in India with new episodes refreshed regularly.
“Amazon Prime Video in India aims to be home to a diverse mix of beloved kids’ content and be the preferred entertainment choice for kids in India.” said Nitesh Kripalani, Director and Country Head, Amazon Prime Video India. “The popularity of Japanese anime has grown immensely and TV Asahi Corporation is one of Japan’s leading private broadcasters who we already have a content licensing agreement with in Japan. We are thrilled to extend this relationship to India as well to bring this fantastic content to our kids.”
“We are excited about some of our best contents are going to be available on Amazon Prime Video. We hope the digital experience would take our contents to the next level of the popularity in India” said Takahiro Kishimoto, Head of Animation at International Business Department, TV Asahi Corporation.
Doraemon is a popular Japanese manga series, created by Fujiko F. Fujio. The series has also been adapted into a successful anime series and media franchise. The story revolves around a robotic time-traveling cat named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a pre-teen boy named Nobita Nobi.
Shin chan, is a Japanese manga series created by Yoshito Usui. It follows the adventures of the five-year-old Shinnosuke “Shin” Nohara and his parents, baby sister, dog, neighbours, and friends and is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture. An anime adaptation of the series began airing on TV Asahi in 1992 and remains on air till this day.
Ninja Hattori is a manga series created by Fujiko Fujio A, later adapted into a television drama, an anime series, a video game and a live-action movie. The comedy actions animated series was aired on TV Asahi in the 80’s and all new episodes of the series has been produced since 2012 and is currently on air in several Asian countries.
Chimpui is a Japanese television series created by Fujiko F. Fujio in 1985. It tells the story of a young girl named Eri and two cute aliens that come to Earth to find her to be the most precious girl to marry with their beloved prince of the planet Mal.
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.
