New York (PTI): Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-origin technology executive, is helping out Twitter's new owner Elon Musk as he revamps the social media giant following its acquisition by the billionaire entrepreneur.

Krishnan is a general partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Now that the word is out: I'm helping out @elonmusk with Twitter temporarily with some other great people. I (and a16z) believe this is a hugely important company and can have a great impact on the world and Elon is the person to make it happen, Krishnan tweeted.

Krishnan added that he is still very much in my day job at @a16zcrypto. If you're a crypto founder, you know how to find me!

According to his profile on Andreessen Horowitz's website, Krishnan invests in early-stage consumer startups and serves on the boards of companies Bitski, Hopin, and Polywork.

Prior to joining a16z, Krishnan held numerous senior product roles and most recently, he led core consumer teams at Twitter where he was responsible for products including the home timeline, new user experience, search, discovery, and audience growth , his profile said.

Previously, he created and oversaw various mobile ad products for Snap and Facebook, including Snap's Direct Response ads business and the Facebook Audience Network, one of the largest networks in display advertising, his profile said. Krishnan started his career at Microsoft where he touched numerous projects related to Windows Azure.

Author of "Programming Windows Azure" published by O'Reilly, he also co-hosts with his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy The Good Time Show' on Clubhouse, a nightly show through which they interview innovators around tech and culture.

He is an alumnus of SRM Engineering College, Anna University where he did his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Information Technology, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Last week, Musk completed the USD 44 billion acquisition of Twitter and ousted chief executive Parag Agrawal, legal executive Vijaya Gadde, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett.

The New York Times reported that Musk planned to begin laying off workers at Twitter. Citing people with knowledge of the situation, the report said that some managers were being asked to "draw up lists of employees to cut.

There are also media reports that Twitter might soon begin charging about 20 dollars for verification - the blue check mark next to the user's name that authenticates accounts. Musk tweeted that the whole verification process is being revamped right now.

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Mangaluru: The Ullal police have arrested the accused who allegedly blackmailed and threatened the revenue officer and staff of Someshwara Municipality by calling them on the phone under the guise of Lokayukta.

The accused, identified as Dhananjaya Reddy Tota (31) from Nallagutlapalli village in Andhra Pradesh, allegedly contacted the Someshwara Municipality Revenue Officer, Purushottam, via a WhatsApp call in April 2024. Posing as a Lokayukta official, he claimed there was an allegation against Purushottam and demanded money to "resolve" the issue. He threatened to cause trouble if the money was not paid.

When Purushottam verified the caller’s identity through Truecaller, the name "D. Prabhakara, Lokayukta PI" appeared. However, upon contacting Karnataka Lokayukta officials in Mangaluru, he discovered that no such officer existed.

In a similar incident, senior health inspector Alli Nair Krishna also received threatening calls from the accused, demanding money.

Investigations revealed that Dhananjaya Reddy Tota had a history of committing similar crimes in 2019, with cases registered against him at Gauribidanur Police Station in Chikkaballapur district and Shabad Police Station in Hyderabad.

A complaint was lodged, and the Ullal police, led by PSI Santosh Kumar and supported by Crime Investigation Department personnel Ranjit Kumar, Anand Badgi, and Manjunath, successfully tracked and arrested the accused.

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