<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> has been in a standoff in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> over censoring accounts amid huge anti-government protests.</li><li><keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>'s Government has backed <keyword id="3518161" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="koo">Koo</keyword>, an app so similar to Twitter it even has a bird logo.</li><li>The "free expression" app, which has been accused of hosting hate speech, doesn't moderate content.</li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-government-attack-us-celebrities-backing-farmer-protests-burn-effigies-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India's farmers' protests</a> put Twitter in a censorship standoff with the Indian Government, which reacted by backing "Koo", the app mimics tweets and says it has no plans to moderate its content.Koo is just 10 months old. But <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-twitters-india-standoff-dragged-in-journalists-and-activists-2021-2">Twitter's refusal to block accounts supporting the protests outside Delhi </a>- where tens of thousands farmers have come to global attention in their bitter, at times violent, demonstrations against new agriculture laws - has been its making.Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministers were among those encouraging people in the world's second-fastest growing internet economy to switch to Koo. It crossed more than 4.1 million downloads in two weeks in February and has secured $4.1 million in funding.Celebrities, politicians, and right-wing publications are now "Kooing". Even the yellow bird logo and the name - Koo is a bird's sound in Hindi - emphasize its desire to challenge Twitter. Some even cheekily used Tweets to announce their new Koo profiles."I am now on Koo," says <a href="https://twitter.com/PiyushGoyal/status/1359058583934013442">the pinned tweet</a> of Piyush Goyal, India's minister of railways, commerce, and industry who has more than 9.5 million followers on Twitter. "Connect with me on this Indian micro-blogging platform for real-time, exciting, and exclusive updates."According to mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower, Koo's downloads soared by 159.9% on February 9, the day Goyal endorsed it.This was on top of a 186.8% jump in downloads the previous day, triggered when Twitter published <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/tweet-withheld-by-country">a defiant response</a> to the government.<div type="image" title="Koo account" height="1200" width="1696" msid="81278576" hostid="261"></div>"We strongly believe that the open and free exchange of information has a positive global impact," Twitter wrote, "and that the Tweets must continue to flow." The surge put Koo at the top of the app charts. Koo was founded in the southern city of Bangalore by Aprameya Radhakrishna, who sold his cab-hailing startup for $200 million to Uber's biggest rival in India, and Mayank Bidawatka, a serial entrepreneur.At first glance, the similarities with Twitter are remarkable. Koo lets you follow people, read updates in a reverse-chronological feed, add and track hashtags, post a "Koo" in up to 350 characters, attach media, and respond to and like other people's Koos.But Koo has features, unavailable on Twitter, that are tailored to the Indian market. it is compatible with a handful of Indian languages and lets people filter out content by their chosen language, which helps in a country where only 10% of the population speaks English.<div type="image" title="Koo as it appears in the Google Play Store" height="1120" width="1434" msid="81278578" hostid="261"></div>It also has a dedicated button for forwarding "Koos" to WhatsApp, India's most popular messaging app.But arguably what truly sets this social network apart is its lack of content moderation. Its homepage invites people to "join India's best minds that speak their mind".Its founders say they won't govern their network the way the likes of Twitter and Facebook currently struggle to do. Instead, when Koo discovers any post that can be deemed unlawful, it will hand it over to the government for action."We don't govern. Why should we govern? It's a free-expression platform," <a href="https://restofworld.org/2021/how-koo-became-a-right-wing-darling-in-india/">Radhakrishna recently said</a>, "We're not the ones to take action. There's an elected government. Irrespective of who runs the government in the future ... If it's going to lead to violence, we'll cooperate with the government."The Indian government meanwhile has pulled out all the stops to make Twitter fall in line, with Koo effectively becoming a weapon in the fight. Twitter has since agreed to comply partially with India's banning order, suspending more than 500 accounts. Challenging Twitter is no easy feat - it has 340 million users worldwide. In late November, another Twitter-esque app called Tooter got a lot of attention. Its brash "About" page likened Twitter's dominance in India to the British Empire in the days before independence. But the absence of diverse voices meant its early adopters soon left.<div type="image" title="Koo homepage" height="1124" width="1800" msid="81278580" hostid="261"></div>Modi's government's endorsement of Koo has made it particularly inviting to India's right-wing and supporters of the governing party.Nikhil Pahwa, a digital rights activist and founder of tech policy publication MediaNama, posted on Koo about the internet shutdowns authorities imposed to disrupt the protests and was soon flooded with "hateful comments and responses," he told Insider. Pahwa said he found Koo's approach to moderating "extremely problematic." "To allow any platform that just gives a wholesale licence to the government to censor our speech is not a platform worth being on," he said. This has led many to draw parallels between Koo and <keyword id="9465142" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="parler">Parler</keyword>, a US-based "free-speech social network" that grew after Twitter began censoring and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-twitter-ban-wont-be-lifted-if-runs-president-again-2021-2">eventually banned former President Donald Trump</a>.Radhakrishna has dismissed the comparison, telling tech blog Rest Of World that Parler was a "pro-Trump thing", adding, "We are existing today irrespective of whether Twitter gets into trouble or not, irrespective of one ideology being there or not. We exist because we want to give a voice to every Indian."But while <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parler-website-is-back-online-2021-1">Parler has struggled</a>, Koo might thrive under India's current administration. Modi has made the "Make in India" campaign his party's centerpiece and has rolled out policies that promote domestic manufacturing and Indian startups.The government is reportedly developing a range of homegrown apps aimed at eventually replacing Western services like WhatsApp, Zoom, and of course, Twitter.China has already gone down this road with apps such as TikTok and WeChat. Will India follow? "I know that the Indian government has China envy," Pahwa said. "They want to exercise the kind of control that the Chinese government does over speech and over technology in its country. "But I sure hope India doesn't become like that."Koo did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Koo, the 'free expression' social media app, is the Indian government's latest weapon in its standoff with Twitter

<ul class="summary-list"><li>India's parliament passed a new amendment to its citizenship law earlier this month, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities while singling out its minority Muslim population. </li><li>The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> and has sparked deadly protests around the country.</li><li>The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>A controversial amendment to a law was recently passed in India, sparking deadly protests around the country and leading some to question the country's democratic values.On December 11, India's parliament passed an amendment to its Citizenship Act of 1955, which sets out guidelines for becoming a citizen in the country. The 2019 revision added a religious element to the bill, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities who fled neighboring Muslim-majority countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> as anti-Islam, and they say it further marginalizes India's sizeable Muslim minority. Violent protests have erupted across the country in response, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-burning-protests-new-citizenship-act-2019-12">resulting in the deaths of six people</a>. Dozens more have been arrested or injured in clashes with police.The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.The bill has also handed more power to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government in crafting a country which affords more rights to its Hindu majority and leaves room for further discrimination in the areas of governance and public space. <h2>What exactly does the bill say?</h2>India's Citizenship Act was first established in 1955 and created comprehensive guidelines related to citizenship in the country.It has been amended several times, including at 2003 amendment that authorized the government to keep a national register of all of its citizens (referred to as the NRC). Today, the register has not yet been implemented except in the northeastern state of Assam, which is home to a Muslim-majority population. The most recent changes to the Citizenship Act (often referred to locally as CAB or CAA) were passed by India's lower house of parliament - the Lok Sabha - on December 10, before being cleared by the upper house of parliament - the Rajya Sabha - a day later. The bill was signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind.The bill was introduced by Indian home affairs minister Amit Shah, a leading member of ‎Modi's right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and it promised to provide refuge for persecuted religious minorities from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries who entered India before 2015.Notably, the act excludes Muslim migrants "as they do not face religious persecution in these Islamic countries," India's parliament <a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=195783">said in a statement</a> after the bill's passage. The bill also leaves out two neighboring Buddhist countries, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, which have experienced major refugee crises in recent years. There are about 59,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees residing in over 100 camps in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, according to <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30328790.ece">Indian magazine Frontline</a>, and about 30,000 that live outside these camps.The bill also ignores what the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22491&amp;LangID=E">UN has deemed the world's most persecuted minority</a>, the Rohingya Muslims, who suffered ethnic and religious cleansing at the hands of the Burmese military in Myanmar. Authorities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-india-idUSKCN1AU0UC">have reportedly pledged</a> to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees currently residing in India, despite facing danger in their home state. "The only religion that the Modi government follows is the Constitution of India," the statement added.In the statement, Shah "reiterated that the Bill is not against any Minority in India and the rights of each Indian Citizen will be equally protected."The bill does not apply to Assam and other indigenous areas.A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25425&amp;LangID=E">called</a> the act "discriminatory in nature" and said it undermines India's democratic framework:"The law isn't truly about protecting the region's religious minorities," <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/17/india-citizenship-law-protests-narendra-modi-amit-shah-founding-fathers/">wrote Ravi Agrawal and Kathryn Salam of Foreign Policy</a>. "Instead, it challenges India's secularism by making religion part of the basis for citizenship."The Citizenship Act has spurred thousands of people from human rights groups, universities and religious groups to come out in protest this month. On December 15, clashes between police and students escalated on two Muslim university campuses - Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi - resulting in police <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/17/india-protests-students-condemn-barbaric-police">using batons and tear gas on students</a>.The unrest has even led authorities to deploy army personnel and <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/curfew-relaxed-few-hours-guwahati-assam-boils-caa-1628386-2019-12-15">impose a curfew in Assam</a>, as protests boil over. <h2>This is not the first time the government has targeted its Muslim population</h2>India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has taken steps to further marginalize the country's Muslim population since coming into power in 2014.The NRC's exclusive use in Assam has been derided by critics as a way to of stoking religious tensions. According to a <a href="http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW18C-01%20MDDS.XLS">2011 census</a>, Muslims makeup nearly 35% of Assam's population, and are a majority in eight of the state's districts. <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-final-nrc-list-out-over-19-lakh-people-excluded-1593769-2019-08-31">In August</a>, 1.9 million people from the region were excluded from the register, effectively stripping them of citizenship. <a href="https://amnesty.org.in/news-update/uncertain-destiny-for-millions-in-assam-post-nrc/">Amnesty International</a> has criticized the NRC and says it leaves the futures of millions of people in the region uncertain.In September, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-building-mass-detention-center-illegal-immigrants-assam-citizenship-2019-9/commerce-on-business-insider">India began construction</a> on a large-scale detention center in the Goalpara district of Assam meant to hold at least 3,000 detainees, according to Reuters. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kashmir-india-revoke-article-370-quasi-independence-internet-tourists-2019-8">And in August</a>, India also revoked part of its constitution which gave the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir a special status and quasi-independence. Over the past four months, Kashmir, which is home to a significant Muslim population, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/kashmiri-artists-resisting-india-months-long-lockdown-191207062705088.html">has been off from communication, held on lockdown</a>, and is now directly under the control of India's federal government in New Delhi. As part of shutting down communication, residents in Kashmir have lost access to phone lines and the internet. According to advocacy groups, the internet shutdown in the region is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-internet-shutdown-in-kashmir-is-now-the-longest-ever-in-a-democracy/2019/12/15/bb0693ea-1dfc-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html">longest-ever crackdown imposed on a democracy</a>. Only authoritarian countries, like China and Myanmar, have experienced longer internet shutdowns.The four-month internet blackout has been so severe that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-kashmir-accounts-removed-internet-blackout-2019-12">WhatsApp is deleting the accounts</a> of residents in the region because they've been inactive for so long. <h2>State-sanctioned discrimination against Muslims has had dire consequences</h2>The Modi government's attitudes and policies towards minority groups has sparked racially motivated clashes, and observers say that the ruling Hindu party has fostered a culture of impunity through its inaction in addressing violence.Shah, who crafted the citizenship bill, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/india-election-speech/amit-shah-vows-to-throw-illegal-immigrants-into-bay-of-bengal-idUSKCN1RO1YD">vowed in April</a> to throw illegal Muslim immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh into the Bay of Bengal. He has also <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/bjp-amit-shah-hindu-refugees-mamata-bannerjee-1499691-2019-04-11">previously referred</a> to illegal immigrants as "termites." India has also seen an increase in attacks against its Muslim minority in recent months. A February 2019 report from <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/02/18/violent-cow-protection-india/vigilante-groups-attack-minorities">Human Rights Watch</a> found that between May 2015 and December 2018, at least 36 Muslims were killed across 12 Indian states. Roughly 280 people were injured across 20 states during the same period, the rights group added.In a particularly gruesome case last year, an eight-year-old Muslim girl was kidnapped, raped, and killed in Jammu and Kashmir by a group of Hindu men with the intention of committing the crime <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/six-men-convicted-in-rape-of-8-year-old-girl-that-shocked-india/2019/06/10/cde7b17c-8b5f-11e9-b162-8f6f41ec3c04_story.html">in order to drive away Muslim nomads in the area</a>. The country has also seen a <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/asia/in-southern-kashmir-there-s-little-enthusiasm-for-india-s-elections-26253">crackdown on protests</a>, attacks on the <a href="https://thewire.in/politics/narendra-modi-amit-shah-bjp-india-media">free press</a>, and history books <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/india-modi-culture/">have been rewritten</a> in favor of Hindu achievements.<h2>India is inching towards fascism</h2>Experts have noted that India is straying away from its democratic values under the Bharatiya Janata Party. "There is absolute political consensus within the Bharatiya Janata Party that India is culturally a Hindu country," Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-17/citizenship-law-moves-india-closer-to-being-hindu-country">Los Angeles Times</a>. Harish Pullanoor, an editor at Quartz India, <a href="https://qz.com/india/844672/along-with-narendra-modis-rise-india-has-displayed-classic-signs-that-foreshadow-fascism/">wrote</a> in 2016 that India was "displaying classic signs that foreshadow fascism," including the disenfranchisement of religious minorities. "The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders," wrote Umberto Eco, an Italian philosopher, who wrote of a <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/">list of features</a> that define a fascist state.In April, several Muslim merchants in Old Delhi described fears of religiously-motivated violence against them. "I could be lynched right now and nobody would do anything about it," Abdul Adnan, a Muslim businessman, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/asia/modi-india-elections.html">The New York Times</a>. "My government doesn't even consider me Indian. How can that be when my ancestors have lived here hundreds of years?"According to The Times, the consensus among Indian activists and liberal political analysts is that the country, under Modi, has become "more toxically divided between Hindus and Muslims.""In plain language, they are what we now call communal fascists," Aditya Mukherjee, a retired historian told The Times. Historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an op-ed in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/">The Washington Post</a> in August that it was time to downgrade India's status as a world-class democracy. "Given the lack of any sort of credible opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the atmosphere of fear among religious minorities and the attacks on a free press, we are now a 40-60 democracy," he wrote of India.

The world's largest democracy is heading toward modern-day fascism

Mumbai, Mar 6 () Even as the RBI and the government are assuring the public of their money being safe in Yes Bank, depositors continue to queue up outside branches of the troubled private lender.Several customers are now contemplating opening up new accounts in other banks.There were cases of heated exchange between bank staff and customers, who failed to withdraw money.On Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the board of Yes Bank and imposed a 30-day moratorium after the Rana Kapoor-promoted bank failed to raise capital to address potential loan losses.The bank's depositors are allowed to withdraw cash up to Rs 50,000 from their accounts during the 30-day moratorium period, according to a government gazette.The withdrawal limit, however, can be relaxed up to Rs 5 lakh in case of medical emergencies, higher education and for expenses related to marriages, it said.The rush to withdraw money from the bank continued despite Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian and Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das trying to allay the fear among the depositors."Our salary gets credited on 21st of every month. I am a little worried about my upcoming salary as I have a salary account with Yes Bank. I am going to provide details of my other bank account to HR today so that my money doesn't get blocked," said an MNC employee who was standing in a queue at one of the branches in suburban Mulund.Pradeep Kumar, an engineer by profession, working with a large real estate developer, said, "I have some money right now but I have come to withdraw more since it is the beginning of the month and there are some payments lined up."Kumar had tried to withdraw money yesterday night but ATM went dry before his turn came. Yes Bank has 1,000 branches across the country.To streamline the withdrawal process, some of the branches are giving limited tokens to the customers."The branch manager has refused to give me a token since I reached late. They are giving tokens to up to 130 people," said a customer who was seen fighting with the manager of the branch in suburban Mumbai.Security was also tightened at the bank's headquarters, its branches and ATMs across the city. It's not just salaried customers, but entrepreneurs and small businessmen are also affected."We are a start-up having a current account with the bank. We recently raised money from investors which is lying in the account but we are unable to use it," said a customer who came to a branch in Powai to withdraw cash. He said the company gave salaries to employees two days back but there are payments to be made to vendors."Our clients make payments to us which get deposited into our current account with the bank. We are now sending out communications to our clients not to make payments to our present account," said a visibly disturbed customer who has an IT hardware business.Amidst all of this, she is also trying to get her current account open with other bank so that her clients can transfer the money.One customer at the Kharghar branch said he hopes the country's largest lender State Bank of India will not allow the bank to fail. On Thursday, the SBI board gave its "in-principle" approval to exploring investment opportunities in Yes Bank.The customers said even the mobile and internet banking are shutdown.There was a posse of security men outside the RBI headquarters at Mint Road, which has experienced protests by depositors during the PMC Bank crisis in the recent past.Diagonally opposite, at a Yes Bank branch, a huge stream of depositors could be seen queued up to withdraw their money.At a bank's branch in Colaba, there were similar scenes with a longish queue of depositors.Yes Bank's share tanked 56 per cent to end at Rs 16.20 apiece on the BSE on Friday.While talking to reporters in New Delhi, the Finance Minister said she was in continuous interaction with the RBI who are fully seized of the matter and has assured for a quick resolution."I want to assure every depositor that their money shall be safe. Their monies are safe," she said.The RBI Governor said the resolution of the bank will be done very swiftly."Thirty days which we have given is the outer limit. You will see a very swift action from RBI to put in place a scheme to revive Yes Bank," Das told reporters here.Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian also said all options are under consideration for restructuring Yes Bank and assured that depositors' money is safe.This situation reminds one of the plights of depositors of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank six months ago.The customers of Mumbai-based urban cooperative bank also went through a similar hardships after the RBI, in September 2019, had superseded the board and the management of the bank.The central bank had put a six-month regulatory restriction on the cooperative bank after it found out certain financial irregularities, hiding and mis-reporting of loans given to real estate developer HDIL.The restriction included barring PMC Bank from lending and accepting fresh deposits. HV BEN AA DC MKJ

Assurances aside, Yes Bank customers queue up outside branches

<ul><li>The spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs had a sharp critcism for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's comments on Kashmir inside Pakistan's Parliament.</li><li>Erdogan said he would return Pakistan's favour of helping Turkey during its fight for independence that he likened to the situation in Kashmir.</li><li>There is a lot at stake in terms of trade for India. Turkey is one of the few countries to which India exports more than it imports.</li></ul>Indian government may insist all is well in Kashmir but at the same time, the issue is turning out a diplomatic headache for the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's comments inside Pakistan's Parliament has led to a sharp rebuke from India's Ministry of External Affairs saying Erdogan has shown he neither understands history nor the conduct of diplomacy. Aside from diplomatic ties between the two countries, what is also at stake in the standoff is exports worth over $4 billion a year. The war of words may threaten trade ties between the two countries that got a big boost after Erdogan's visit in May 2017. Indian exports turkey have risen from a little over $650 million in 2015 to over $4.3 billion in the first nine months of 2019, <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-commercial-and-economic-relations-with-india.en.mfa" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">according to official data</a> from Istanbul. Some of the key stakeholders who will be hurt by the freezing of trade or investment, if at all, include oil products exporter Reliance Industries, owned Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, the Tata Group, and the Mahindra Group to name a few. 
 
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 Erdogan had earlier criticised India at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2019. Turkey was one of the four countries taking Indian on, Pakistan, China, and Malaysia were the other three. Right after that speech, <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/unga-fallout-turkish-company-could-be-out-of-the-fss-project-for-indian-navy/1724697/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">a $2.3 billion ship building contract</a> from the Indian Navy to a Turkish company, Anadolu Shipyard, was put on hold without any explanation. Turkish investments in India and vice versa Currently, contractors from Turkey have projects worth $430 million underway in India. These include "the Lucknow subway construction, the Mumbai subway construction, a railway tunnel construction in Jammu Kashmir and various housing projects.," the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. For instance, Gulermak, one of Turkey's leading engineering and construction services company, has the contract for metro rail projects in Lucknow and Pune. The Pune contract has been given by a <a href="https://press.siemens.com/in/en/pressrelease/tata-siemens-consortium-wins-bid-pune-metro-project" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Tata Group company, TRIL Urban Transport and Siemens</a>. There are 150 Indian companies employing 5,000 people in Turkey. About 40 of these companies are active in production, services and agriculture, according to data from the Embassy of India in Ankara, a September 2019 report said. Mahindra &amp; Mahindra acquired a Turkish tractor maker Erkunt Traktor Sanayii for an <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mm-to-acquire-turkish-tractor-foundry-firms-for-rs-735-crore/articleshow/60763889.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">enterprise value of $117 million (₹735 crore) in 2017</a>. Other Indian companies that have a thriving business in Turkey include Polyplex, GMR Infrastructure, TATA Motors, Reliance Industries, Jain Irrigation, Wipro and Dabur, <a href="https://www.eximbankindia.in/Assets/Dynamic/PDF/Publication-Resources/ResearchPapers/32file.pdf" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">according to a 2015 EXIM Bank report</a>. <table style="width: 155pt;"> </colgroup> <tbody><tr> <td class="xl63" style="height:15.0pt;width:107pt">Stock</td> <td class="xl64" style="border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none; width: 48pt;">17-Feb</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Reliance Industries</td> <td class="xl66" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">-0.61%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Tata Motors</td> <td class="xl66" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">0.53%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</td> <td class="xl66" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">0.29%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Polyplex</td> <td class="xl66" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">2.66%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">GMR Infra</td> <td class="xl66" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">-1.95%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Wipro</td> <td class="xl66" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">0.39%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl67" style="height: 15.75pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Dabur</td> <td class="xl68" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">0.87%</td> </tr></tbody></table> Turkish consumer appliances maker Arcelik has a manufacturing plant in Sanand, Gujarat, with Tata Group-owned air-conditioning giant Voltas. The two companies together have invested about₹700 crore so far and intend to triple it in the days to come, <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/voltas-beko-pumps-rs-1284-cr-into-white-goods-factory-eyes-top-slot-by-2025/1853166/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">according to a report earlier this month</a>. Indian packaging material maker Polyplex has a <a href="https://www.polyplex.com/about-us/global-presence/polyplex-turkey" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">manufacturing plant in Corlu</a>, from where it supplies to markets in Europe. Other Turkish companies that have presence in India include Limak Construction, Fernas, Sarar, Soktas, Izopoli-Kingspan, and Hidromas. This is nowhere close to an exhaustive list. The standoff has been escalating since September Turkey was the first to rake up a issue that India hates discussing outside its borders. On Friday (February 14), President Erdogan said the suffering of the Kashmiri people had worsened in recent years due to the taking of "unilateral steps" inside the Pakistan Parliament. 
 
 <div type="image" title="Recep Tayyip Erdogan" msid="74174002" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Turkey&amp;#39;s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the members of his ruling party at the parliament, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Erdogan threatened to use force against Syrian government forces if they don&amp;#39;t pull back to an earlier cease-fire line in northern Syria by the end of the month. Erdogan&amp;#39;s remarks followed rare direct clashes Monday between Turkish and Syrian troops inside Syria, which killed several Turkish and Syrian personnel.Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 He was referring to the suspension of the Indian state's 'special status' and the infamous lockdown and internet shutdown that followed to keep things under control in the Kashmir valley. The response from India was equally sharp. "India has made a strong demarche with Turkish Govt on remarks made by President Erdogan on Indian Union Territory of Jammu&amp;Kashmir during his recent visit to Islamabad," Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, said on February 17. 
	
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 India has always maintained that the strife in Kashmir is a matter between the government and its people and not a 'bilateral' border dispute with Kashmir. However, India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the last seven decades over the Kashmir issue. These comments will also set the context for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/india/news/donald-trump-and-mike-pompeo-get-message-from-us-senators-for-narendra-modi/articleshow/74120952.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Donald Trump's visit to India</a>. The US President has repeatedly offered to mediate between India and Pakistan but India has resisted it. While it is not clear whether India's diplomacy will be offensive or defensive, business owners like the Tatas and Mahindras will remain anxious. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/9-mind-blowing-facts-that-show-just-how-wealthy-mukesh-ambani-the-richest-person-in-asia-really-is/articleshow/73671508.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">9 mind-blowing facts that show just how wealthy Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in Asia, really is</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/tata-sons-chairman-n-chandrasekarans-vision-a-smart-economy-in-2030-does-not-have-white-shiny-robots-taking-away-jobs/articleshow/74100179.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran's vision of a smart economy in 2030 does not have white, shiny robots taking away jobs</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-and-suv-launches-from-mahindra-in-india/articleshow/74170520.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Upcoming cars and SUV launches from the Mahindra Group in India</a>

From Mukesh Ambani to Tatas to Mahindra⁠— all those who must fear the escalating standoff between India and Turkey

Richard Drew/APRitesh Agarwal is the founder and CEO of Oyo.<ul class="summary-list"><li>SoftBank-backed Oyo fired 110 employees in the US citing their performance on April 1, Business Insider has confirmed. The company also put <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">thousands more employees</a> on paid leave to cut costs this week.</li><li>Some of those fired employees said they never had conversations about their performance with a manager before their sudden termination, leading them to question the reason.</li><li>Employees who currently or used to work at Oyo said sales had essentially become impossible amid the coronavirus and after negative articles damaged the company's reputation with hotels.</li><li>Oyo said the firings were based on performance in the first 90 days of their employment, and were unrelated to the recent furloughs.</li><li>People who were fired are being asked to sign separation agreements that will pay them severance if they agree not sue the company in a class-action lawsuit or speak publicly about their employment.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The former "<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-10/softbank-backed-oyo-is-firing-thousands-across-china-and-india?sref=BWbpWjRm">jewel</a>" of SoftBank's startup portfolio has had another shakeup.One week before its reported furloughs, Oyo quietly fired 110 employees in the US, saying they were being terminated based on performance, Business Insider has confirmed. Employees said those people affected were not on performance improvement plans before their firing, which made them question the reason for their sudden removal."They were saying, 'This is not a layoff. You are being terminated for performance,'" said an employee who was fired over the phone on April 1.Oyo confirmed the firings in an email, saying that the reductions were based on employees' ability to close a sale in their first 90 days of employment, and were not related to the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">recent furloughs</a>.Still, people who currently or used to work at Oyo are arguing that the firings were part of a cost-cutting strategy as the startups rides out the coronavirus pandemic. The company's salesforce has struggled to make deals since before the outbreak because of its reputation in the hotel industry, multiple sources said. Some employees who were fired said they should have been laid off instead."Your sources seem unreliable as the details are incorrect," an Oyo spokesperson said in an email on Friday. "Specific to this instance, these terminations were performance-based, where sales team members, who generally had not made a single sale since December 9th of last year at least, including some who had not made a sale for more than 180 days, were impacted."Eight employees spoke to Business Insider on condition of anonymity because some signed nondisclosure agreements, and others were not authorized to speak publicly on Oyo.They said that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-oyo-layoffs-us-offices-2020-1">last round of layoffs</a> in the US, which Business Insider first reported in January, created a firestorm for Oyo. The startup sells to mostly independent motels and puts up money to redecorate and make sure the internet works, for a percentage on every reservation.The layoffs added to growing signs of trouble at Oyo, shaking its credibility with hotel owners and making it harder to close deals, according to some employees who were spared in January."It was a huge PR nightmare. They lost credibility with the owners," said one former employee. She said that any more news stories about "Oyo not being able to make it in America" would put the company out of business."They can't survive having another media story," said another source.OyoOyo gives independent hotel owners money for property improvements in exchange for a cut on every reservation made on Oyo's app.The Economic Times, a daily newspaper in India, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/oyo-gives-pink-slips-to-us-staff/articleshow/75038719.cms">first reported the firings</a> at Oyo on Thursday.<h2>Oyo is slashing costs</h2>The big <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/softbank-backed-oyo-is-furloughing-thousands-of-employees">news out of Oyo</a> this week was that the budget hotel chain was placing thousands of employees on paid leave for at least two months. The goal, said Oyo's founder and chief executive Ritesh Agarwal in a video message, is to cut costs now so it can put people back to work after the travel industry recovers from the economic shutdown.Those employees on furlough will earn 15% of their salary before taxes and deductions, and receive health benefits, according to a document sent to current employees on Thursday, which was seen by Business Insider.In the video message, which has since been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1V3HE_2XOk&amp;feature=youtu.be">posted on YouTube</a>, Agarwal said the company would avoid layoffs."This situation of COVID-19 comes at a very unique time for Oyo. This is right after we had a sizable restructuring of our company in January of this year," Agarwal said. "Due to that, I want to clarify for all of you that we intend to do no or negligible layoffs as a part of cost restructuring across the world."Oyo's chief executive will also <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ritesh-agarwal-founder--group-ceo-oyo-to-forego-100-of-his-annual-salary-and-the-executive-leadership-team-to-take-voluntary-salary-cuts-301034128.html">not take a salary</a> for the rest of the year. Other executives are following suit, Oyo said.<h2>The coronavirus pandemic has made closing sales a struggle, some former employees said</h2>Based in India, Oyo has raised $3.1 billion in equity from SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, and Lightspeed Ventures on the promise of rapid growth. After taking over <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-19/hotel-unicorn-oyo-plots-300-million-push-into-the-u-s-market">more than 23,000 properties</a> around the world, the company opened its first office in Texas in early 2019 with the goal of duplicating its success in the US. Oyo hired a salesforce of hundreds to bring US motels onto its platform."The rough idea was, if we signed 'X' amount of hotels with 150 sales people, let's quadruple the number of sales people and we'll quadruple the number of hotels, which was a spectacular failure," said a former employee who left the company earlier this year."I think they way over-committed to what they were capable of," he said.Some of the employees who were fired on April 1 were told that they had not made a sale in their first 60 days of employment, which was grounds for termination. Those workers did not contest what their supervisors said.The task was near-impossible, they said.Employees said that the startup had difficulty signing on hotels <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/oyo-layoffs-have-hotel-partners-worried/articleshow/73348921.cms?from=mdr">because of its reputation</a>. A business development manager would walk onto a property and ask to speak to an owner, who had one of two reactions, they said. "One was, 'Yeah, I know who Oyo is. Not interested. Get out.' Response two was, 'Who's Oyo?'" a current employee said.A hotel owner who searched Oyo on the internet would find "nothing but negative articles," including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/technology/oyo-softbank-india.html">a report in The New York Times detailing its questionable business practices</a>, said the employee, who is being furloughed.In India, some hotel owners said that after they spent money to renovate their rooms to match Oyo's branding, they never received reimbursements they had been promised, the Times reported.Adnan Abidi/ReutersA sign making disparaging remarks about Oyo is placed outside a hotel in New Delhi, India.The startup also changed the terms it could offer hotel owners because of the coronavirus pandemic's effect on its business, according to current and former employees. They said Oyo used to give $1,500 per room on average for improvements, and has since lowered its capital expenditure to $300 a room. Revenue has dropped 50% to 60% since the outbreak, according to the startup.In recent months, the company <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/oyo-suspends-payments-to-hotels-partners-say-clause-not-in-contract/74958727">also suspended payouts to hotels</a> if they do not reach a certain number of bookings, known as a minimum guarantee payment. Still, Oyo increased its percentage cut on room reservations by several points, employees said."Nothing as far as the value of what we were offering increased," said a former employee who was fired last week.In a written statement, Oyo said that the salespeople who were fired had not made a sale in their first 90 days of employment, not 60 days. Most of those individuals started around the winter holidays, before the first cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Wuhan, China. The virus wasn't <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-declares-coronavirus-pandemic-covid19-2020-3">declared a pandemic</a> until early March.Some people had not made a sale in six months, an Oyo spokesperson said. The decision to fire people was based on their performance even before the outbreak worsened, according to Oyo."Performance management actions are periodic actions," they said. "There is clear communication to the sales team about the expectation to sign their first deal within 60 days, and disciplinary actions, including termination, after 90 days."<h2>'The document they sent me was hush money,' an employee said</h2>Oyo fired mostly business development managers across 32 states and Washington, DC, according to a separation and release agreement that was obtained by Business Insider.Now, those employees are being asked to sign separation agreements that will pay them one to two weeks salary if they agree not sue the company in a class-action lawsuit or speak out against Oyo, according to multiple sources and a copy of one of the agreements viewed by Business Insider."The document they sent me was hush money," said one former Oyo employee, who said he was fired for not closing a sale in his first 60 days of employment.Oyo is not required to pay severance to employees who are fired for cause."The company, however, went out of its way to provide a modest severance package," an Oyo spokesperson said."Also, recognizing the difficult timing of this action, Oyo has ensured that employees who rely on its benefits plans will continue to have coverage in both April and May."The company said it will cover 100% of the insurance premiums in May.Do you work at Oyo and want to share your story? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (603) 913-3085 using a nonwork phone, email at mrussell@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @meliarobin.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email <a href="mailto:covidtips@businessinsider.com">covidtips@businessinsider.com</a> and tell us your story.Get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-business-impact">coronavirus business &amp; economic impact analysis</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-could-be-fastest-way-end-coronavirus-crisis-2020-4">What could be the fastest way to end the coronavirus crisis?</a></h3>

Oyo, the former 'jewel' in SoftBank's startup portfolio, quietly fired 110 people based on their performance. Some fired workers say it was basically impossible to close sales, and the company is only offering severance if they agree to not speak out.

<ul><li>Edtech platform <keyword id="6559242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="great-learning">Great Learning</keyword> has been in existence since 2013 and it launched its first high decibel campaign featuring <keyword id="6354486" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword> during this year's Indian Premier League.</li><li>Till now, most of its growth has been organic but now, with the launch of its campaign, the platform wants to build awareness and take its offering to more and more people across the country.</li><li>We talk to the platform's newly appointed Chief Marketing Officer, <keyword id="4858670" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="aparna-mahesh">Aparna Mahesh</keyword> who talks to us about the brand's journey so far and what role marketing and advertising will play in growing the platform further.</li></ul>The last few years has brought about a boom in India’s Edtech sector. While the sector had been witnessing growth even before the Covid-19 lockdown hit us, those few months when the country was under a complete shutdown turned out to be a game-changer for the sector. With schools and colleges being closed for months, and people being stuck at home, not only did the K-12 segment see a massive jump, the higher education and lifelong learning segment witnessed a massive spike too. According to a recent report by Redseer titled Edtech in India, the Post-K12 EdTech industry is divided into 4 segments: higher education, technical skilling, test preparation for government jobs and test preparation for other jobs. This industry is expected to grow threefold by 2022, swelling to $1.7 billion in sales. The report states that a lot of this growth will come from EdTech offerings focusing on higher education, as it does today. One platform that has been in existence for the past 7 years and has found a loyal user base, primarily through word-of-mouth is Great Learning. The platform also came up with its first high-decibel campaign recently, during <keyword id="6354312" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword>. It made people take notice when it roped in Virat Kohli as the face of its first campaign. The brand also recently announced the appointment of Aparna Mahesh as its Chief Marketing Officer. We thought this would be a good time to catch up with her and ask her about the plans she has for the brand, from a marketing perspective. Excerpt: Q) Great Learning has been around since 2013 but it's only now that you have started to advertise, at least on traditional mediums. Why did you think this was a good time to start your advertising journey? Since our inception, we have catered to over 500,000 professionals and students across 140 countries. While we’ve been witnessing significant growth over the last few years, 2020 seems to be the inflection point where we are witnessing a major shift towards digitisation leading to massive uptick in demand for programs in areas like AI, Management, Digital Marketing, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing and Analytics. As the frontrunners in the space, we believe this is the right time for us to communicate and consolidate our leadership position through impactful brand communication. Q) Till now, did you get most of your users through word-of-mouth? Most of our growth over the last few years has been organic as we built a solid reputation for the quality of our programs and the successful career transitions of our learners. Majority of our learners have witnessed their friends and colleagues undergo a transformation achieve success in their respective fields, which in turn made them try our programs. We have also been using social media and digital marketing campaigns considering most of our audience is internet savvy. Our digital brand communications have always focused on authentically engaging with the audience and adding a human element to draw their attention. For instance, a few months back, amidst the lockdown, we launched the #AgainstAllOdds campaign that narrated the exceptional career journeys of learners who have defied all odds to upskill and achieve a successful career transition. It resonated with thousands of learners and created a measurable impact for the brand. Q) Edtech is a buzzing segment right now. Especially during this year's IPL, we have seen so many platforms go all out with their communications. How do you hope to differentiate yourself in the clutter? While a host of ed-tech players are advertising, the target audience for everyone is not the same. Our audience is working professionals and college students and our brand message is ‘Jo seekhta hai wohi aage badhta hai.’ These are powerful words, especially when delivered by our brand ambassador Virat Kohli – who represents the aspirations of young India and has a deep connect with the youth. If we look at his career trajectory, he has constantly worked on his craft and improved tremendously to always stay at the top of his game. We believe he will encourage millions of learners to chase career excellence with the same passion and tenacity that he brings to the game and inspire them to achieve their goals through high-quality education provided by us. Q) Why did you choose IPL to launch your advertising campaigns? What kind of returns are you looking for from this investment? IPL is the biggest sporting event of the year and by associating with Disney+ Hotstar as sponsors, our goal is to build awareness for Great Learning amongst our core target audience – who are digital-first in their behaviour. The pandemic has fuelled the digital and TV viewership and IPL is the first live cricketing event after a very long time. The viewership rates on TV or Hotstar in the early days of the tournament have indeed been very high and we believe that riding this wave will elevate the Great Learning brand to a higher level in terms of awareness as well as a preference when people think of high-quality professional education. Post IPL, we will continue engaging with our audience through social and digital marketing. Apart from this, you will continue to see us on television in months to come. Q) Again, owing to the fact that there are so many players in the segment now, how is your offering different from the other players? We deeply believe in imparting quality education and look to make an impactful contribution to our learners' careers. We believe everyone deserves more than one chance and no one’s career should be determined on the basis of a 3-hour entrance examination. Over the past 7 years, we’ve pioneered a model of assisted learning that enables us to deliver learning outcomes that are as robust as classroom learning. Using technology, we are also able to offer highly personalized learning to our learners, anticipate in advance the areas which they find challenging, and work with them closely to help them improve. Because of this, our program completion rate stands upwards of 91%, among the best in the world, along with exceptional learner satisfaction scores. 2 out of every 3 learners are seeing a career transition within 6 months of program completion with salary hikes as high as 100%. Q) Can you give me a sense of your user demographics? Have you seen any interesting trends in terms of geographies, gender or age? We have been attracting a wide spectrum of learners. We have seen massive interest from college students and fresh graduates who are preparing for their placements. At the same time, many early and mid-level professionals between 0-5 years of experience from sectors like IT/ITeS, BFSI, consulting and automobile have been using Great Learning Academy and <keyword id="9420215" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="great-learning-corporate-academy">Great Learning Corporate Academy</keyword> to upskill themselves. Our programs in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, <keyword id="6361948" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="cybersecurity">Cybersecurity</keyword>, and Cloud Computing are most sought after on the platform. On an average, learners are spending approx 2 hrs/day learning these skills on the platform. With the launch of Great Learning Academy, we’ve seen a major surge from metro cities with Bangalore being the leading city followed by Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi. We are also seeing increased inquiries from cities such as Noida, Kolkata and Pune. Q) The pandemic and lockdown saw people left with more time. Did you see a surge in people coming onto your platform? What kind of growth have you witnessed since you started in 2013 and where have you reached now? The outbreak of COVID-19 has been a watershed moment for the Edtech sector. We concluded the financial year FY20 with a booked revenue of Rs 325 crore, 150% over FY19. Over the last six months, we have seen 5x growth in the learner base on our platform with the launch of the Great Learning Academy and Great Learning Corporate Academy. This growth has been achieved on the back of increasing demand for programs in digital competencies like Data Science, Analytics, AI, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity and Digital Business. Over 5 lakh learners have been benefited through our programs including employees from 700 leading global MNCs and PSUs as well as students from over 1,000 universities and colleges including IITs, IIMs, and NITs. We expect the surge to be even bigger over the next few years. Q) As a marketer, what will your key focus areas be at Great Learning, and going ahead, what will be your broad marketing strategy? Our broad focus is to continue to drive home the broader brand message of ‘Jo Seekhta Hai Woh Aage Badta Hai’. We will be working towards exploring different story angles, associations with different mediums, highlighting our success stories and breaking down the message for different audiences to make it relatable to each individual.

Over the last 6 months, we’ve seen 5X growth in the learner base on our platform: Aparna Mahesh, CMO, Great Learning

Toons tell the top stories of 2019 ⁠— with a dash of sarcasm

Two years ago, Misbah Ashraf faced the worst predicament that any entrepreneur would want to face. With a heavy heart, he shut down his Cibola, a payment venture he founded after dropping out of college from IIT Delhi. But, that setback didn't cause a dent in his entrepreneurial spirit. 
 
He wasn't one to give up. 
 What Misbah instead decided to do was help <keyword id="138263" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword>s and small funds learn from his experience of failing at an early stage startup. He interacted and worked with <keyword id="53533" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="entrepreneurs">entrepreneurs</keyword> in the Bay Area and Singapore and it was during those conversations that a realisation dawned on him. 
 
He began processing the fact that the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/the-4-startups-that-are-likely-to-fail-in-2017-according-to-quora-users/articleshow/56500508.cms">Indian startup</a> ecosystem was missing something crucial. Afterall, why else would young entrepreneurs come to him with problems such as finding the correct target audience for their product or product position when they had the guidance of <keyword id="6359051" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="investors">investors</keyword> working with them? 
 
Soon after, he had the answer to his question. Most often than not, Indian investors limit their guidance to just writing a cheque, instead of being fully involved with the startup and guiding them through every obstacle. 
 A little more digging confirmed his views. "I found out that most of the time <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> get investors just for the sake of few thousand dollars, and there is no other tangible value," he states. 
 From his own experience, he knew that <keyword id="4120102" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="early-stage-startups">early stage startups</keyword> have two fundamental requirements that can make a world of difference for them- early money and the right set of mentors. 
 But, as he soon found out, early stage <keyword id="982553" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-startups">Indian startups</keyword> prioritised <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> way more than the importance of value creation. Most were following the 'how things have always been done' mentality instead of carving their own path. 
 
This is where Ahmed thought he could help. After meeting over 200 investors and entrepreneurs, Ahmed has come to a conclusion- it is imperative that the Indian ecosystem sees a transformation in the way early stage funds have been functioning till now. Shifting to a value creation perspective is the need of the hour, he believed. 
 
According to him, most of the early stage startups have the common problem of not being able to figure out product positioning, the right product and how to monetize their traffic. And, these issues have invariably become the reason of failures and shutdowns. 
 
He suggests two major changes for early stage funds taht will help startups. Here's what they are: 
 
 1. Community Building: If you are an early stage fund, why don’t you build a community of founders in the house where everybody can help each other with their expertise and network rather than fighting with each other? Early stage startups can’t survive by just competing with each other; rather they have to help each other to grow. 
 
2. In-House Talent Team: Experience and attitude towards learning always beat everything. Why don’t we put together some smart people in the house who are struggling to find their next series of their life? While they are fighting to find the next magical wave, they could add incredible value to your portfolio companies with their skill set. Since they are about to start the journey of starting up, they would do it passionately for learning and impact also. Design and growth are two skill sets which are hard to find, and it shouldn’t necessarily to any early stage team 24*7. So, an early stage fund could put together the talent pool of these skill sets in the house. 
 
 Having figured out the solutions, Ahmed didn't just want to be a passive participant. He went a step ahead. Last year. along with <keyword id="192589" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amit-Agrawal">Amit Agrawal</keyword>, the former head of <keyword id="1017834" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Youtube-India">Youtube India</keyword>, he launched <a href="http://www.indiagoesglobal.com/">'India Goes Global'</a>, an initiative that lends strategic advice to Indian internet startups to maximize their potential in a hyper-connected world. It helps driven entrepreneur teams with working products to scale up by leveraging global business trends. 
 
From bootstrapped companies to start-ups, it distils rich global experience to help new ventures move forward in a shifting business landscape. It stretches their boundaries to build agile business strategies through working lean principles. By staying approachable and friendly while mostly working pro-bono, it encourages them to take the leap and play big. 
 
From help on scaling up, speed monitoring to startup roundtables and acting as a bouncing board for startups, the duo aims to contribute to this startup ecosystem and help India create multiple profitable businesses through their initiative. 
 
It's time to show the real potential of Indian startups.

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