New Delhi, Dec 12: Meta India on Friday announced the appointment of Aman Jain as its new Head of Public Policy.

He will take charge early next year and will report to Simon Milner, Meta’s Vice President of Policy for the Asia Pacific region.

Jain will also join the company’s India leadership team as part of his new role.

“Jain will join the company early next year and will report to Simon Milner, Vice President of Policy, Asia Pacific (APAC). In this role, Aman will also be a member of the India leadership team,” the firm said in a statement.

Aman Jain comes with more than two decades of experience in public policy and business strategy.

He has worked with major global companies such as Amazon and Google, as well as with the Indian Government and international organisations.

At Google India, he served in key leadership positions, including Country Head for Government Affairs and Public Policy.

Most recently, he was the Director of Public Policy at Amazon, where he led policy strategy across areas like marketplace operations, competition, and technology.

Welcoming Jain to the company, Simon Milner said that India remains a crucial market for Meta, especially as the country’s digital economy continues to grow in areas like artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and the creator economy.

He added that Meta aims to support the development of a more inclusive and trusted internet ecosystem in India.

“As the country’s digital economy accelerates across areas such as AI, emerging tech and the creator economy, Meta aims to help build a more inclusive, trusted, and future-ready internet ecosystem for India,” it added.

Milner said he is pleased to have Aman Jain on board and believes his deep experience in technology and public policy will strengthen Meta’s engagement with regulators and industry partners.

He also noted that Jain will play an important role in Meta’s wider APAC policy leadership team.

Mumbai: Mumbai experienced a refreshing winter nip on Friday morning as clear skies, cooler winds and mild temperatures offered residents a pleasant start to the day. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that the temperature was likely to hover between a minimum of around 15°C and a maximum of 32°C, marking one of the season’s more comfortable days. However, the seemingly picture-perfect morning masked a persistent environmental challenge: the city’s steadily deteriorating air quality.

Despite the pleasant weather, a thin layer of haze settled over Mumbai, signalling that pollution levels continue to be a concern. According to data from AQI.in, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 148 early Friday morning, categorised as ‘poor’. While this reading is slightly better than the alarming spikes seen in recent weeks, it remains harmful, especially for children, the elderly and those with respiratory issues.

Experts attribute the worsening pollution primarily to dust and particulate matter emitted by Mumbai’s massive infrastructure boom. Large-scale government projects, metro corridors, coastal road construction, bridges and extensive road widening, along with rising private construction continue to add significant pollution load into the atmosphere.

The AQI readings across different areas of the city highlighted stark contrasts. The Wadala Truck Terminal was the worst-hit, recording a staggering AQI of 305, placing it in the ‘severe’ category. Such levels pose health risks even to healthy and active individuals. Mulund West also fared poorly with an AQI of 207, in the ‘unhealthy’ bracket.

Other areas reflected similar patterns. Deonar (200) and Bhandup (187) remained in the ‘poor’ category, while Govandi and Chembur registered AQI levels of 187 and 183, respectively.

Suburban regions performed slightly better but were far from ideal. Parel–Bhoiwada and Kandivali East recorded moderate AQI levels of 73, while Jogeshwari East stood at 95. On the other hand, Charkop (107) and Malad West (117) slid into the ‘poor’ bracket.

For context, an AQI of 0–50 is considered ‘good’, 51–100 ‘moderate’, 101–150 ‘poor’, 151–200 ‘unhealthy’ and anything above 200 ‘hazardous’.

New Delhi, Dec 11: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested four members of an interstate mobile phone theft gang and recovered 40 high-end smartphones, many of which had been stolen from a December 7 concert at IGI Stadium, officials said on Thursday.

A team from the Eastern Range-I of the Crime Branch, led by Inspector Ashish Sharma and supervised by ACP Sunil Srivastav, tracked the suspects for nearly 48 hours before intercepting them near Yamuna Vihar Metro Station on December 9.

The police said the accused kept shifting locations to evade surveillance, forcing the team to maintain continuous technical tracking.

The arrested men have been identified as Salman (35), Imran (28), Shahrukh (32) and Wasim (25), all residents of Ghaziabad.

Police recovered eight Apple iPhones — including iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 series along with seven premium Samsung models such as the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Fold 6.

The remaining phones belonged to OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, Redmi, POCO and Motorola.

Several of the recovered devices have already been matched with FIRs registered at Prashant Vihar, Shahbad Dairy and IP Estate police stations.

According to officers, the gang targeted crowded public places such as concerts, metro stations, bus stops, bars, marketplaces and railway stations.

During interrogation, the alleged kingpin, Salman, confessed that they focused on events frequented by young people carrying expensive phones. Police said the group had been operating across Delhi-NCR for several months.

“The stolen phones were then swiftly shifted to Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), where the gang had established contacts in the grey market. The high-end devices were sold at throwaway prices within hours of the theft, making recovery extremely difficult,” the police said in its press note.

“Salman admitted that the gang had been actively operating in Delhi-NCR for the past several months and had committed scores of such thefts, earning them lakhs of rupees with almost no risk of getting caught until the present arrest,” it added.

Police said the four have been booked under Sections 35(1)(E) and 106 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

“This operation underscores the Delhi Police Crime Branch’s commitment to curbing organised crime and apprehending hardened criminals. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the accused’s associates and others, and to verify additional cases linked to the accused,” said DCP Vikram Singh.