Two Indian-origin businessmen makes it to Fortune's '40 Under 40' list
New York: Two Indian-origin persons have been named by American magazine Fortune in its annual list of 40 most influential and inspiring young people in business under the age of 40.
Intel's Vice President of artificial intelligence software and the AI lab Arjun Bansal and fashion platform Zilingo CEO and co-founder Ankiti Bose make it to Fortune's 2019 '40 Under 40' list, the annual selection of the most influential young people in business.
Bansal, 35, as vice president of artificial intelligence software and research at semiconductor giant Intel, has a lot on his plate, the magazine said.
Bansal's team of nearly 100 workers, scattered throughout the US, Israel and Poland work on AI technologies like reinforcement learning and natural-language processing, all intended to help keep Intel's silicon chips working swimmingly with the latest AI software, it said.
One of Intel's key AI projects involves specialised computer chips developed by Nervana, the startup co-founded by Bansal and acquired by the chip giant in 2016 in a deal reportedly worth over USD 350 million, the report said.
Bose, 27, launched the four-year-old Singapore-based startup after visiting Bangkok's Chatuchak market and realising its merchants had no easy way to sell their goods online, Fortune said.
"What started as an aggregator of small fashion retailers has since expanded into business-to-business offerings, such as supply-chain tools, and has tapped into Southeast Asia's booming Internet connectivity and smartphone adoption," it said.
The company's latest round of funding in February led by Sequoia Capital and Temasek Holdings and raising USD 226 million valued the firm with 600 employees across eight countries at USD 970 million, putting it within a rounding error of unicornship.
"Just 10 per cent of the world's venture capital backed startups worth USD 1 billion had a female founder as of last year. Bose is set to join that too-exclusive club," the publication said.
Also on the list is Voice user interface designer at Amazon Alison Atwell, 31, who is in charge of "training" Alexa, Amazon's cloud-based voice service, and teaching her new skills, and 37-year old US Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.
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Prime organiser of Messi event in Kolkata arrested over ‘mismanagement’ after stadium chaos
Kolkata (PTI): The police on Saturday arrested Satadru Datta, the prime organiser of the Lionel Messi football event at Salt Lake Stadium here, following widespread chaos at the venue, which prompted the Argentine World Cup-winning captain to leave the field early.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the stadium unrest, Datta was held by the Bidhannagar Police for “mismanagement” of the event from the Kolkata airport, where he had gone to see off Messi and his entourage on their way to Hyderabad.
"We are looking into whether there was any mismanagement from the organiser's side, which led to the chaos at the stadium. He has been detained, and the police have now brought the situation under control," West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar said at a press conference.
A senior police officer later confirmed that Dutta has been arrested. Till reports last received, the police were interrogating him and his manager inside one of the departure lounges of the airport.
The organiser has given in writing that he will refund the prices of tickets he sold to the disappointed spectators, Kumar said.
What was supposed to be a marquee football spectacle turned into widespread violence and disorder at the stadium after Messi’s brief and tightly ring-fenced appearance, his first at the venue since 2011, left large sections of the crowd frustrated, as they failed to catch a glimpse of their superstar despite having travelled from far and wide, paying hefty sums for tickets.
Police said they were also investigating how organisers allowed sale of bottled waters and beverages inside the stadium premises, which are banned items during such events.
Thousands of water bottles were used as missiles and lobbed inside the pitch by angry spectators, who also uprooted bucket seats from the gallery and used them as ammunition inside the field against the defending police and security personnel.
Spectators alleged that water bottles were being sold at a massive premium inside the stadium despite police disallowing such items from outside at the entry gates.
Police agreed there was an underlying tension in the galleries on account of Messi not showing his footballing skills on the field, which only got aggravated after a bunch of VIPs, including State Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and unidentified people, blocked the football icon’s view during the limited time he spent on the ground.
“We are on the job, and will ensure that whoever is responsible for what happened today at Salt Lake Stadium will be punished, and action will be taken against the authorities concerned,” said Jawed Shamim, ADG, Law and Order.
