Latest news with #US-returned
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Time of India
Private employee duped of Rs 1.3 crore by cyber cons
Hyderabad: A 38-year-old US-returned private worker from Tellapur was duped of 1.3 crore by cyber criminals posing as e-commerce portal traffic promoters offering part-time work on Telegram. The victim was first approached through Telegram on June 30 by a user calling herself Avni Pandit. Claiming her company paid freelancers for adding items to shopping carts of an e-commerce portal, the fraudster lured the private employee into completing three small, paid trial tasks. Then, a second handler, Sakshi, made him join a group on a fraudulent cryptocurrency site, ' and began assigning prepaid investment tasks. On June 30, the fraudsters returned 32,900 to the victim after a few initial payments from his side, boosting his confidence. Subsequently, on their instructions, the victim transferred amounts ranging between 1,000 and 30 lakh per task. They charged additional money citing corrections, data repair fee, tax clearances, and VIP channel activations. The victim transferred a little over 1.3 crore to various bank accounts between June 30 and July 4. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search Ads Get Info Undo You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad As they kept asking for additional amount for processing fee to let him withdraw, the victim realised the platform was fraudulent and approached police on July 19. On his complaint, a case was registered by the Cyberabad Cyber Crime police under Sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery for purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), and 340(2) (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act against the fake website, Telegram handles, the fraudsters operating them, and the bank account holders. Police were analysing the money transaction details to identify the accused.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal steps in as human customer support executive after viral post slams its automated system
In a digital world where artificial intelligence is fast replacing human touch, an unexpected tweet brought back a moment of raw, real connection — and surprisingly, from the top floor of a corporate tower. It began as a typical frustration shared on social media, but what followed was anything but ordinary. Ravi Sutanjani, a seasoned professional from the Indian startup ecosystem and a former Zomato associate, took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his disappointment with the food delivery giant's customer service. 'Zomato's customer service has gone significantly down in the last 2–3 years,' he wrote, adding that it had become nearly impossible to connect with a human agent. His post, a plea for real human interaction in a system increasingly run by bots, resonated with thousands — but it struck a chord at the very top. When the CEO Became the Customer Support Agent What no one expected was that Deepinder Goyal himself, Zomato's founder and CEO, would personally respond. 'Hi Ravi, can we connect on this? This is not by design, and I would love to get to the bottom of this. I would really appreciate your help,' he replied publicly. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Secure Your Child's Future with Strong English Fluency Planet Spark Learn More Undo In an era when corporate heads are often cloaked in layers of bureaucracy and PR, Goyal's gesture stood out — humble, direct, and deeply human. It was a CEO stepping off the podium and back into the trenches to listen to a former colleague and concerned customer. Ravi acknowledged the outreach, replying: 'Appreciate the acknowledgment, Sir. I had a very detailed discussion with someone senior from the escalation desk this morning. Just dropped you an e-mail. Happy to connect and share my PoV. Thank you.' You Might Also Like: US-returned entrepreneur becomes Zomato delivery agent for a day, receives a harsh and humbling reality check on Indian streets — deepigoyal (@deepigoyal) When Automation Becomes Alienation This incident reopened the debate on the efficacy of AI-led customer service in India. Sutanjani's original concern wasn't about a single bad experience; it was about a broader trend — the dilution of personal support and the frustrating wait of 72 hours for email responses to serious issues. With rapid scale-ups, many tech-based companies are turning to AI chatbots to handle the load. But users, especially in India, still crave the assurance of a human voice — someone who listens, understands nuance, and doesn't offer template replies. Internet Weighs In The response from the online community was swift and telling. 'Simple thing — in India, to make AI support a success, I believe it still has time. We need human intervention,' one user wrote. Another questioned Goyal's claim that this wasn't by design: 'If this is not by design, then how is every user asked to mail after all scripted answers are over?' While many praised Goyal's direct intervention, others pointed to the systemic issue. One comment summed it up: 'Good to see the response comes straight from the CEO, but in most cases, customer service is taken care of by AI chatbots nowadays.' You Might Also Like: Bengaluru techie-turned-YouTuber offers top salary for his chief of staff job while taking a dig at Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal The story of Goyal stepping in isn't just about Zomato's customer care hiccup — it's about leadership in the digital age. This one tweet didn't just resolve a complaint — it reopened a conversation that tech companies often try to automate away: What's the cost of losing the human voice? For Zomato, the answer came not from a chatbot, but from its very founder.
Hindustan Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
‘I wasn't deported': US-returned techie now sells rajma chawal in Mohali. Watch
After spending three years in the United States, working in the IT space, Maninder Singh has returned to the motherland. Instead of an office job, however, Singh has chosen a more offbeat career path - the US-returned techie is now selling street food in Mohali. A video featuring Singh and his food stall was shared on the popular Instagram channel 'Foodler'. Omar, the content creator behind the channel, told that Singh returned to India in January and now runs a food stall in Mohali, Punjab. In the video, Singh whipped out his driving license from New York as proof that he once lived in the Big Apple. He explained that he has 12 years of total work experience in tech, retail, call centres and IT. It was a tech job that took Singh to his United States. He was in the country for three years. After the death of his father, however, Singh moved back to India. 'No, I wasn't deported,' he clarified in the video. Singh and his wife now run a food stall in the popular 3B2 market of Mohali. She does all the cooking, while he sets up the stall and sells the food. On the day the video was filmed, Singh was selling rajma, chawal, kadhi pakoda, rotis, soya chaap and mango lassi. A post shared by Foodler (@realfoodler) 'I was in the United States for three years. My wife has 20 years of experience in cooking, so we thought of starting a food business. I help her, but she is the one who cooks,' Singh told Omar in the video. 'He started this food joint just 2-3 months back. Right now the income is not fixed as the business is new,' Omar told 'His wife prepares everything in the morning and he starts his work at 1 pm. Around 3 pm, his wife joins him as well.' For many people across the world, settling down in the US is a lifelong dream. In fact, so deeply entrenched is the attraction that many resort to illegal 'Dunki' routes or cross borders illegally to reach the US. Maninder Singh, however, has no wish to return to the US. 'He told me that it might look interesting for people to visit or stay in the US, but he loves his home and would not want to go back to the US again even if he gets another chance,' Omar told Instead, the small business owner wants to expand his menu and add new dishes, eventually hoping to turn a profit.
Time of India
03-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Farm to plate summer camp bridges gap in agri education for students
Mandya: Many children today lack opportunities to learn where their food comes from or understand the basics of farming, nutrition, and mindful eating. To bridge this gap, Polygnan, a non-profit founded by US-returned NRIs and ex-tech professionals Chandana Shivanand and Prajwal Rajendra Prasad, organised the Farm to Plate summer camp in Mandya from May 26 to June 1. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The free week-long camp brought together students from classes 7–10 from various backgrounds to explore the full journey of food—from farm to plate. The camp began with fireless cooking to create a warm, collaborative environment. They took a deep dive into agriculture at the Mandya-based VC Farm, which is attached to the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. Here, students engaged with professors and field experts, learning about various crops, agricultural implements, soil testing, composting, biofertilisers, irrigation methods, and rare fruits and vegetables, the organisers said. Children also sowed maize seeds and helped prepare the land, experiencing the rhythm and labour of farming first hand. Students explored mushroom cultivation, recognising its nutritional and entrepreneurial potential. At a traditional 'ale mane', students witnessed the labour-intensive process of boiling sugarcane juice to prepare jaggery. Milk was explored from start to finish. Children visited a cattle rearing farm near Arkere and visited the Mandya Milk Union plant at Gejjalgere, which processes over 13 lakh litres of milk every day.
India.com
27-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
US Techie Struggles To Work With Indian Colleagues, Points To Key Cultural Gap
New Delhi: Everyone's had that one colleague who just gets under their skin. Maybe they overstep boundaries or say something that rubs you the wrong way. These things happen. But when cultural differences come into play, the tension can get even more intense. What could have been a small issue can quickly grow into something much bigger. An American tech worker has sparked discussion on Reddit after posting, 'help with understanding Indian colleagues.' In his viral post, he shared that he works in tech in the US, and two years ago, his company of 600 employees acquired an Indian firm with 400 staff. Since then, he's been confused about why his Indian colleagues even those in higher positions are only handling operational, task-based work, despite their roles calling for more. How Did Social Media React? The Reddit post sparked a flurry of responses from users sharing their own experiences. One user wrote, 'I can only offer my personal experience working with teammates in India. Team effort is much more common than individualism. Every simple discussion always seems to involve 6 to 12 teammates joining in and listening in the background and if you're lucky the most senior individual will give you a tad bit of feedback. Job hopping seems very common so individuals don't necessarily get very secure and forthcoming with their opinions. I find it a lot more effective just to share tasks (not too long term) and skills/tools and periodically check up. I find the skill level is pretty good in India, just not the entrepreneurship or initiative.' Another user shared a structured approach that worked well for them, 'From working with teams from India whether outsourced or internal within an international firm, this is what I can say. My team devised a way of splitting the work: my team did the heavy lifting in ideating, researching, testing, creating and building for the US, while our Indian team adapted the work for other countries, kept systems running, addressed issues when they arose, refreshed models, that sort of thing. For us the data was business data with business meaning; for them the data was systems data with little meaning as they were not close to the business stakeholders. This worked well, keeping both ends busy. Perhaps if you can define your individual lanes more precisely, then you and your Indian colleagues can better understand one another. Good luck to you.' A third user pointed out workplace culture as a key factor, 'People who say anything remotely negative against company, product or managers in India get fired. It happened to me, I worked in US for many years and returned to India. I am direct, but it has hurt my career badly. You have to bring this up to leadership in India and demand change. Hire US-returned leaders in India and you will be better off.'
