Upgrad looking at majority stake in Udacity

Ew!

 

Properly not, but UpGrad utilizes lot of staffs in India to lower the cost of operations. So far, the ESGCI's DBA program through UpGrad is good.

 

It's Screwvala all right. He was born in Mumbai (then Bombay) and is a member of the Parsi (Parsee) religious minority, many members of which fled Iran in the late 19th century. Their religion is something like the old Zoroastrian religion of Persia. I've noted these people often have surnames related to occupations. There's a Parsi-descent actress from Canada named Nazneen Contractor. Another famous Parsi was named Tommy Engineer. The "Vala" part, I think, denotes occupation or simply "person." Lots of -wala names in India and this is the same thing. The most unusual I've ever seen was "Ice-cream-wala." The late Freddie Mercury, of the group "Queen" was from a Parsi family. His birth name was Farrokh Bulsara.

I read somewhere that the name Screwvala (part of it English) actually means someone in the screw business - making. selling etc.

More on Rohinton Soli "Ronnie" Screwvala here: https://starsunfolded.com/ronnie-screwvala/

Names are fascinating.

 

That's because their founder is Indian - and his home is there - in Maharashtra. It's not outsourcing. He's giving work to his own people.