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Times Network hosts Digital India Summit and Awards 4.0
MUMBAI: Times Network, a part of The Times Group, launched the fourth edition of its ‘Times Network Digital India Summit and Awards 4.0. Attended by some of the most valued dignitaries in India, the summit aimed at deliberating on key challenges and laid out key imperatives and framework for turning the vision of ‘Digital India’ into a reality, through a series of panel discussions and deliberations.
The summit kicked off with the keynote address by the Chief Guest, Honorable Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad. The participants at the first session of the panel discussion themed “Digital India- Where Do Things Stand? A Real Time Assessment” were DoT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan; Nasscom President Designate Debjani Ghosh; Union Bank of India MD & CEO Rajkiran Rai; Bain & Co India Chairman Sri Rajan and IBM India MD Karan Bajwa.
Talking extensively about the growth, opportunities and possibilities of the digital connectivity in India, Honorable Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad stated, “Digital India which is a flagship initiative the government is designed to empower and to help the poor and the underprivileged. We are focusing on providing the affordable and inclusive digital media to the masses. Today we have well over 1 billion mobile phones in the country with 350 million being smartphones which defines the digital identity of the nation. Low cost technology for inclusive growth is crucial.”The Honorable Minister also touched upon the benefits of digital India in the wake of enrolling Aadhaar. He added “With enrollment of 1.18 billion Aadhaar cards, we were able to save 49,000 crore of the exchequer which was previously looted by the middlemen in the public distribution system.” Further talking about the inclusion of the digital resources, he highlighted that India has digital aspiration, appetite and customer. We are heading towards a revolution of digital media in this country.”
“Technology is an enabler in bringing women to work and this will add 60 per cent to GDP by 2025,” says
NASSCOM President Designate Debjani Ghosh.
Commenting on Times Network Digital India Summit 4.0, Times Network MD & CEO MK Anand said, “Over the last 3 years, Digital India Summit & Awards, has enjoyed tremendous response from both delegates and particpants alike. With unwavering focus on building a digitally empowered India, the 4th edition of Digital India Summit is another step towards bridging the ‘digital divide’ and finding solutions and opportunities to create a robust security architecture.”
Union Bank of India MD and CEO Rajkiran Rai said, “Digital India is one of the biggest government programs in the world to bring about sustainable and inclusive societal transformation using digital technologies. The process of making India into a trillion-dollar digital economy has begun and Digital India is making this dream a reality. We at Union Bank are committed to help India achieve its digital vision. We are proud to partner Times Network for the last 3 years in this impact initiative.”
In the intriguing session on ‘Digital India- Where Do Things Stand? A Real Time Assessment’, DoT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan, said, “Digital India is an aspiration. We are focused to enable digital opportunities to reach to the masses and leverage them”. She additionally highlighted the issue of data protection in the discussion as she stated, “We are planning a robust data protection framework to empower the digital mandate. Data protection is beyond Aadhaar; issue of privacy is a global threat.”
Stating the issue of data protection in the digital domain, Nasscom President Designate Debjani Ghosh said, “Critical end to end data policy is a must. The emerging technology needs solid building blocks of data privacy which will enhance the dependency on the digital media. Digital solutions can enhance the employment in the rural areas if we cater it to the most underprivileged parts of India.”
COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews speaking on the vision of 5G in India emphasized on the periphery of competitive landscape of the telecom industry. He said, “We need to position ourselves in the telecom industry with the spectrum auctions pricing methodology. We need more spectrum in the upcoming time to leverage the last customer of a telecom company.”
Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Secretary TP Krishnan addressed a panel discussion on the theme of ‘Developing A Digital Workforce- The Ground Realities’. He said “Skills acquisition needs to be more aspirational. Our jobs are not aspirational. Soft skill developments programs including life skills and ITI which are the game changers under the Skill India campaign of the government can play pivotal role in shaping the skill development sector in this country.”
The summit had discussions on the relevance of 5G in India, how Fintech has helped in the growth of Digital India and discussed the importance of data security in India.
The ‘Digital India’ Awardees are:
The session extensively talked about the opportunities and challenges in the digital world when the country is looking for economic independence.
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.
