iWorld
Twitter hosts ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival’s first-ever digital panel
MUMBAI: As the literary world prepares for ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2019, the largest convention of writers, thinkers and cultural icons in India, Twitter today announced that it will co-host the Festival’s first-ever digital panel, #PowerOf18, which can be attended exclusively on Twitter.
The panel, named after Twitter India’s recently launched social initiative #PowerOf18 to encourage young Indians to take part in the public conversation, will take place at 5.30pm on 25th January, on National Voters Day. It will bring together young, dynamic Indians who’ve both, chronicled and shaped the zeitgeist, to discuss the transformative power of civic action and the importance of making your voice heard on Twitter, and beyond.
The panel will feature:
● Ravinder Singh (@_RavinderSingh_) – One of India’s best-loved romance authors, Singh has sold over 3 million copies of his novels and runs Black Ink, a publishing platform for debut authors
● Zuni Chopra (@zuni_chopra ) – At 17, Chopra is a prolific writer, having already published two poetry books, a novel and a collection of short stories
● Snigdha Poonam (@snigdhapoonam ) – The award-winning journalist covers national affairs with a focus on young India. Her first book Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World and Yours won the Crossword Book Award in 2018
● Nishtha Satyam (@SatyamNishtha) – Satyam is the youngest Deputy Country Representative for UN Women across 193 countries, and a staunch advocate of mainstreaming women in the marketplace, workplace and community
● Reshma Qureshi (@reshmaqureshi_b)- Qureshi, who survived an acid attack at 17, is an activist, model and vlogger. She is the face of NGO Make Love Not Scars, has walked at New York Fashion Week and co-authored a book about her incredible journey
The discussion will be moderated by Amrita Tripathi (@amritat), author and Head – News Partnerships, Twitter India.
In addition to the #PowerOf18 panel, ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival will also live-stream a selection of sessions featuring some of the world’s best and brightest thought leaders, on Twitter. Audiences can tune into these and the #PowerOf18 panel via @ZEEJLF. (See Appendix for the full list of panels that will be broadcast live on Twitter via @ZEEJLF.)
Simultaneously, Twitter is collaborating with Penguin India (@PenguinIndia) and HarperCollins India (@HarperCollinsIN) to bring authors closer to their fans. These include creative challenges and author-driven Q&As, allowing to capture live content from the authors. Often found at major award shows and talk show green rooms, the Twitter Challenger allows and encourages celebrities to take engage with fans. The photo or video is then sent out through ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival’s Twitter feed, driving conversations amongst fans and followers.
Commenting on the initiatives, Keya Madhvani Singh (@keyamadhvani), Head. Entertainment Partnerships, Twitter India said: “Twitter is a frontier of creative experimentation, showcasing what’s happening in India and around the world. Our partnership with the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival has enabled us to serve cultural and literary affectionados with real time updates on their favorite panels over the years. As we move closer to the upcoming election in India, we are thrilled to take this association a step further and reach out to more young people in India, with an objective to encouraging and empowering them to make their voice heard and realizing their #PowerOf18.”
Sanjoy K. Roy, MD of Teamwork Arts, Producers of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said: “Twitter has always been an important part of our social media mix for the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, connecting us to various stakeholders and audiences who love literature. This year we are taking our partnership to the next level. We are happy to announce the first ever digital-only session in the history of the 'biggest literary Festival on Earth.”
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.
