iWorld
discovery+ announces season 2 of Love Kills – ‘Shabnam aur Saleem Amroha Hatyakand’
Mumbai: Celebrated for its pioneering content in the true crime genre, discovery+, in collaboration with Times Chronicle, the content studio from Times Network that produces originals, real and gripping stories has announced ‘Love Kills: Shabnam aur Saleem Amroha Hatyakand,’ a continuation of the riveting Love Kills saga. Releasing on 6 April 2023, this gruesome story will leave you on the edge of your seat.
On a quiet summer night in 2008, the village of Bawankheri in the Amroha district woke up to the deafening screams of a young girl crying for help. Her entire family was dead. People who rushed to Shabnam’s aid were left aghast to witness the gory image. The nine-acre house, once booming with the chitter-chatter of eight individuals, seven of them had been mercilessly hacked to death. Fresh blood splattered across the walls, rooms left desolate and seven corpses lying where the genteel Ali family were meant to rest in a peaceful slumber.
The ghastly death of a modest, suburban Indian family left Amroha and the entire nation petrified. As media attention and investigative officers began to pour in, a startling truth was unravelled. The young girl crying for help had committed familicide by getting them axed in conspiracy with her lover. Shabnam Ali and Saleem were star-crossed lovers. Shabnam held a double MA in English and Geography and taught at a primary school, while Saleem was a class six dropout working at a wood sawing unit struggling to make ends meet. Shabnam was from a highly regarded Saifi Muslim family, while Saleem was a Pathan. The story took a dire turn when the duo murdered Shabnam’s entire family – including her 11-month-old nephew – in cold blood, so they could be together without objection. Today, they stand on the death row for the crime. When Shabnam is executed, she will be the first woman in independent India to be hanged for a crime.
discovery+, the definitive non-fiction, real-life streaming platform, is looked upon by audiences for its stellar slate of unconventional docuseries spanning across genres. From showcasing detailed investigations to exposing undiscovered facts, the shows on the platform acquaint viewers with surrounding incidents of true crime.
“After an exceptional response from our audience to the first season, we are back to enthral true crime fanatics with season two of Love kills. Inspired by the fandom, discovery+ pushes the envelope within the space and brings to light India’s most riveting cases. ‘Shabnam aur Saleem Amroha Hatyakand’ is another crime story that shook the entire nation to its core. discovery+ is championing content that expands its true crime portfolio and brings the genre to the forefront,” said Warner Bros. Discovery head of factual and lifestyle cluster- South Asia Sai Abishek.
Love Kills: Shabnam aur Saleem Amroha Hatyakand from Times Chronicle will premiere on discovery+ India on 6th April 2023 and is available to stream in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, English, Bengali, Kannada, and Malayalam.
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.
