Latest news with #Thukral
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Fake AI-generated video triggers political row in Rudrapur
Rudrapur: Former BJP MLA Rajkumar Thukral on Sunday reported an AI-generated video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was widely circulated in US Nagar's Rudrapur ahead of the panchayat elections on July 24. The doctored clip shows Modi endorsing Amita Biswas, a district panchayat candidate. Thukral filed a complaint with SSP Manikant Mishra, alleging that "Amita's husband, Jagdish Biswas, created and shared the video to sway voters and gain an unfair advantage." Calling it a criminal offense and a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, Thukral said, "This is a deliberate attempt to malign the image of the PM and mislead the public. Such actions must not go unpunished." He also reported the incident to the PMO for investigation and urged police to file an FIR and take strict action.
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Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
PhonePe ropes in Meta's Shivnath Thukral as V-P for public policy
Digital payments company PhonePe has appointed Shivnath Thukral, former public policy head at Meta India, as its new vice-president for public policy and government affairs. Thukral's seven-year tenure at Meta came to an end in June. "Shivnath will be responsible for leading PhonePe's external engagement and discussions with policymakers and regulators," the company said in a statement, adding that he would work closely with the company's founders, Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari. Nigam said that they were delighted to have Shivnath join the PhonePe team, adding that he came with rich experience and a deep understanding of public policy, regulatory frameworks, and strategic advocacy. Appointment ahead of IPO plans Thukral's appointment comes at a time when the Walmart-owned fintech prepares to launch its initial public offering (IPO), which is expected to value the company at around $15 billion. PhonePe is aiming to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP)—a preliminary document required by Indian regulators—by early August. However, the timeline may still change, as discussions are ongoing and the plan remains flexible. To handle the IPO process, PhonePe has brought in major investment banks including Kotak Mahindra Capital, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. PhonePe's market leadership in UPI PhonePe holds the top position in India's digital payments space, with nearly 48 per cent market share in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the real-time mobile payment system operated by the National Payments Corporation of India. PhonePe was initially registered in Singapore but moved its legal base to India in 2022. This shift is widely seen as a step taken in preparation for its planned public listing in the country. In June, the company appointed Zarin Daruwala to its board. Daruwala, who served as CEO of Standard Chartered Bank India, had previously held key leadership positions at ICICI Bank, where she led the wholesale banking business. Thukral's appointment comes at a significant moment, as the debate around the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) has reignited. The Payments Council of India (PCI) recently wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the introduction of MDR on both Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions and Rupay debit cards.
Mint
15-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
PhonePe names ex-Meta India public policy chief Shivnath Thukral as VP for public policy, govt affairs
Reuters Updated 15 Jul 2025, 11:10 AM IST Indian digital payments firm PhonePe on Tuesday named former Meta India public policy head Shivnath Thukral as its as vice president for public policy and government affairs. The Walmart-owned payments platform is preparing to go public. Thukral's seven-year stint at Meta ended in June. "Shivnath will be responsible for leading PhonePe's external engagement and discussions with policy makers and regulators," the company said in a statement, adding that he would work closely with founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
PhonePe appoints Shivnath Thukral as vice president of public policy
Walmart-owned PhonePe has appointed Shivnath Thukral as the vice president for public policy and government affairs, according to a company statement on this role, Thukral will engage policymakers and regulators on policy decisions affecting the financial services industry. He will be part of the leadership team at PhonePe and work closely with founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari Thukral has worked with Meta as its vice president of public policy, where he looked after regulatory issues related to technology and financial appointment comes as the digital payments platform prepares for a $1.5 billion public market debut. The company may file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for the initial public offering (IPO) by is eyeing a valuation of $15 billion with the public listing, significantly higher than its last private valuation of $12 billion in 2022, it redomiciled to India from Singapore to ensure required compliances ahead of listing. It has also moved the ownership of its recently acquired IndusOS Appstore (OSLabs Pte Ltd) from Singapore to is the market leader in Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India. In June, the platform handled 8.55 billion transactions and a total value of Rs 11.99 lakh crore, which is 46.5% of the total volume and 50% of the value. In comparison, the entire UPI network logged 18.4 billion transactions worth Rs 24.04 lakh crore during the UPI operators have been demanding a merchant discount rate on transactions through the payments ecosystem to help monetise it. The finance ministry has, however, turned down any such demands. PhonePe gets 95% of its revenue from digital payments and UPI payments is a core aspect of that business.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After Google, Meta loses public policy head in India
Meta's head of public policy in India, Shivnath Thukral, is leaving the social networking company, nearly three and a half years after joining, and just months after his counterpart at Google stepped down. Thukral spent over seven and a half years at Meta and took over as public policy lead for the South Asian market — the company's largest user base — in November 2022, after his predecessor Rajiv Aggarwal left. 'Having helped build some of the systems and processes, I do feel it is a good time to let the engine and the team work on their own. As my next journey begins, I want to recognize the work of my team, which is the best in business and one of the reasons why this is such a difficult decision for me,' Thukral said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. Thukral's exit comes just months after Meta won relief in India over WhatsApp's 2021 data-sharing policy, which had earlier resulted in a five-year ban by the country's antitrust regulator. The company had warned that the antitrust ruling could force the rollback of its features. Nonetheless, Meta, which has the biggest user base for Facebook and WhatsApp, and the largest market for its Meta AI usage in India, still faces regulatory challenges as the country moves toward enacting its anticipated data privacy rules that may require parental consent to serve children. Meta also faces criticism from Indian telcos, as WhatsApp has over 500 million users in the country, and a large segment of them uses the instant messaging service instead of traditional telecom services for communicating over text, voice, and video calls. Similarly, WhatsApp is often criticized for not restricting spam on its platform in India, although the app did bring changes that were touted to restrict unsolicited business communication. 'It is not an easy decision to make, but I feel very confident that our policy engagement with stakeholders is at a credible and constructive juncture, and we can only build further on that. There is always more to do, and I know the team is well equipped to navigate the waters well,' Thukral wrote. Meta confirmed to TechCrunch that the company has not appointed Thukral's replacement. In February, Google's policy head, Sreenivasa Reddy, quit. Reddy had replaced former Indian antitrust official Archana Gulati, who resigned in 2022 just five months after joining. Google has not yet appointed a replacement for Reddy, and his exit occurred amid the search giant's antitrust cases in the country, some of which are yet to be settled. 'Shivnath Thukral is leaving Meta to pursue new opportunities,' said Kevin Martin, Meta VP and head of global policy, in a prepared statement. 'As a member of the India leadership team, he played a key role in navigating and shaping policy and regulatory conversations and engagements that were critical for the industry and Meta in India over the last 7.5 years. We thank him for his leadership and contributions, and wish him well in his future endeavors,' he added.
