iWorld
TribeVibe hosts Penn Masala for a six-city ‘Homecoming Tour’ in India.
Mumbai: This summer, India gears up to experience the ultimate fusion of Western pop and Desi melodies as Penn Masala, the world’s first South Asian Acapella group, announces its much-awaited homecoming tour!
Produced by TribeVibe, a BookMyShow enterprise, the tour will travel to six cities in India including Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Goa from 19 to 29 May, 2023.
Tickets for the coveted tour start at Rs. 499 and will go live exclusively on 7 April on BookMyShow, India’s leading entertainment destination and official ticketing partner for the tour.
Speaking about performing in India, the band collectively said, “We’re so thrilled to be coming back to India this summer for our Homecoming Tour! You don’t want to miss our fusion of the best Desi and Western hit songs. As a Desi singing group that’s based in the U.S., we are so excited to come back to India, where our group’s music and heritage has its roots. We hope to see you all soon in a city near you!”
Commenting on the coveted group returning to the homeland, TribeVibe founder and CEO Shoven Shah said, “One of the most iconic internet sensations is returning to India after more than 5 years since their last visit to the country. Penn Masala’s Homecoming Tour is bound to bring together a mixed bag of audiences, like their musical significance – a blend of beautiful beats with melodious vocals. We are thrilled to embark on this journey with BookMyShow and bring to life some of the truly enthralling music experiences by Penn Masala across major cities in India this summer. It’s an exciting prospect for us to host such exemplary musical talents and add a feather to our growing portfolio of IPs and events in the country!”
Penn Masala, the South Asian acapella group of the University of Pennsylvania, has been an internet sensation for their spectacular music produced by a college boyband. An amalgamation of western and desi music, Penn Masala is bringing the best of both worlds to India, this May.
The Acapella band has been at the forefront of blending two distinct musical cultures for over 25 years. Right from former US President Obama’s Diwali celebration to the International Indian Film Academy Awards, Penn Masala has performed at some of the most notable events around the globe. The group has released 12 full-length studio albums and amassed over 60 million music streams from fans globally.
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.
