Twitter India head quits, Balaji Krish new interim chief
New Delhi, Sep 5: Taranjeet Singh, who was elevated as Twitter's Country Director for India in May 2017, has decided to move on.
In a series of tweets late on Tuesday, Singh announced his resignation, saying that Balaji Krish, Twitter's Global Head of Revenue Strategy and Operations, will become the interim country head.
"Hello everyone, after four amazing years, I have decided to move on from @TwitterIndia -- from being one of the first @Twitter employees in #India, to building up the sales team from the ground up, to leading our expansion and investments as the India Country Director," Singh said.
He was earlier leading the charge for sales and marketing support for Twitter's advertisers in India.
"India is one of our largest and fastest growing markets worldwide today. We have hired many Tweeps at @TwitterIndia, diversified our client base across the country and continue to be the pulse of Indian society," Singh said.
Before joining Twitter, Singh was sales director, South Asia for BBC Advertising. Prior to the BBC, he held various positions at Outlook Publishing.
"I'll spend the next month transitioning my country duties to colleague and friend @BalajiKrish, our global head of revenue strategy and operations.
"He's coming from the US to be interim country lead until my replacement is hired," Singh informed.
During his career, he saw the launch of "Twitter Lite", a more accessible, faster and affordable way to get real-time information.
When it comes to Twitter's alignment with the government, the micro-blogging platform is working with the government on real-time citizen engagement through "Twitter Seva".
"As an India-first innovation, 'Twitter Seva' is currently being used by the Ministry of Commerce (@DIPPGOI), the Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) and the Department of Telecommunications (@Dot_India) under the Ministry of Communication," Singh had said in an IANS interview.
Twitter also explored new revenue streams and ways of innovation in India during Singh's career.
"The launch of Twitter Data' services in APAC with Discovery Networks Asia Pacific as the first client in the region is one such step and India is one of the focus markets for this," Singh said.
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Prez nod for FIR against AAP's Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain in Rs 2,000-cr classroom 'scam'
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said.
In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.
The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD).
The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties".
Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals.
The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement.
The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said.
In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam.
According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government.
The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.
The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet.
The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said.
The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said.
Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said.
The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said.
