iWorld
Getty Images & Instagram launch photography grant
MUMBAI: Getty Images in collaboration with Instagram, has called for entries for a new grant to support photographers using Instagram to document stories from underrepresented communities around the world.
Instagram has introduced new opportunities for emerging voices, outside the mainstream media, to create and share projects of social importance. The Getty Images Instagram grant provides financial support and mentorship to amplify their impact.
“Photographers in all corners of the world use the Instagram platform to share unique and authentic stories that otherwise rarely come into focus. Getty Images is guided by our belief in the power of pictures to move the world and we are excited to collaborate with Instagram on this grant to support and amplify new and important voices,” said Getty Images senior director of content partnerships Elodie Mailliet Storm.
Three winners will be selected based on the existing body of work represented on their Instagram account, focusing on the quality of their imagery, their photographic skills and on the project and stories told through their photos.
“We are inspired every day by the work being shared on Instagram by both established and aspiring photographers. Photographers from every corner of the world are experimenting, stretching their creativity and offering diverse perspectives. This grant captures the global enthusiasm from photographers to continue to push their craft to new levels,” added Instagram director of community Amanda Kelso.
Applications will be accepted until 4 June, 2015. Entrants can apply online at www.gettyimages.com/grants, where they will be required to submit a biography, brief description of their approach, style, the stories they have covered and how they would benefit from the grant.
The judges are TIME director of photography Kira Pollack, World Press Photo-winning Swedish-Eritrean photographer Malin Fezehai, award-winning American photojournalist and former Miami Herald director of photography Maggie Steber, National Geographic photographer fellow David Guttenfelder and @EverydayIran founder Ramin Talaie.
The three winners will be announced in September 2015. Each will receive a grant of $10,000 and mentorship from one of Getty Images’ world-class photographers. They will also be invited to the Photoville photography festival in New York in September 2015, where Getty Images and Instagram will exhibit the grantees’ imagery.
iWorld
Jio IPO faces delay as India yet to clear listing rule changes
Proposed rule change allows mega IPOs to float just 2.5 per cent
MUMBAI: The Indian government’s delay in formalising changes to listing rules may derail the targeted timeline for the initial public offering (IPO) of Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Reliance Industries controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
According to media reports, Reliance is awaiting formal notification of regulatory amendments before appointing investment bankers and filing a draft IPO prospectus. The company is now aiming to submit the draft prospectus before April, depending on when the government issues the notification.
Jio, which owns India’s largest wireless operator, is widely seen as one of the crown jewels of Ambani’s business empire. Its listing, the first public offering of a major Reliance unit in nearly two decades, could become the country’s biggest ever IPO.
Investment bankers have proposed a valuation of as much as $170 billion for the company. Even the minimum stake sale could raise roughly $4.3 billion, potentially placing Jio among India’s most valuable listed companies.
Ambani had earlier said that Reliance was targeting a listing of Jio in the first half of 2026, a plan first outlined in 2019 with a five-year timeline. In 2020, global technology groups Meta Platforms and Alphabet invested more than $10 billion combined in the company.
The delay stems from pending regulatory changes approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in September. The amendments allow companies with a post-issue market capitalisation exceeding Rs 5 trillion (about $55 billion) to float as little as 2.5 per cent of equity in an IPO, compared with the current 5 per cent minimum.
Such changes are expected to enable mega listings, including potential offerings by Jio and the National Stock Exchange of India. However, the reforms still require formal notification from the government.
Meanwhile, the National Stock Exchange is moving ahead with plans to raise as much as $2.5 billion through its own IPO and has recently invited banks to pitch for roles in the offering.
