iWorld
ZEE5 brings together rahul vaidya, beatraw and d-cypher for a beatbox rendition of ganesh aarti
MUMBAI: ZEE5 gives a new avatar to Ganesh aarti ‘Shendur Lal Chadhayo’ along withRahul Vaidya and two extremely skilled beat boxers – BeatRAW and D-Cypher for Ganesh Chaturthi. The song has been put together without the use of any instruments.
Sounds of instruments like dhol, conch (Shank), manjira have all been created by mouth alone. The track also has an intriguing video which showcases how all the sounds were created. The video end with a key message – ‘Your voice is important. Raise it for the right reasons.’
Talking about his experience Rahul Vaidya said, “ I recently released my new single ‘Jayaz’ with ZEE5 during which they shared the idea of #raiseyourvoice. I was immediately on board and we put together this aarti in our endeavour to spread the message. I had a great time creating this trackwith BeatRAW and D-Cypher. They are extremely talented and I am truly happy to collaborate with them.”
D-Cypher shares, “Music is my life and it always excites me to meet like-minded musicians like Rahul and D-Cypher to create new sound tracks. We did this for a meaningful initiative and I hope viewers love listening to it on ZEE5.”
GaneshAartiXBeatboxingis exclusively available on ZEE5.
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.
