Ansif Ashraf

Ansif Ashraf
Ansif Ashraf talking at Kerala State Business Excellence Awards 2016
Born(1983-11-15)15 November 1983
Thane, Maharashtra, India
Died27 January 2021(2021-01-27) (aged 37)
NationalityIndian
Alma materMahatma Gandhi University
Cochin College
OccupationChief Editor of Cochin Herald
SpouseRamzeen Ansif

Ansif Ashraf (15 November 1983 – 27 January 2021)[1] was an Indian businessman who was the editor-in-chief of the Cochin Herald.

Early life

Ansif Ashraf was born in Thane, Maharashtra, and moved to Kochi in Kerala with his family in the early 1990s. His father was one of the founders of the Cochin Herald newspaper.[2]

Career

He started his career as a graphic designer from home in 2000. In 2001 he started a studio for photography and designing. In 2006 he founded Paradise Group, which was a trading company engaged in business of Rubber and Carbon Black.[3] In 2008 he founded AGI Holdings Limited which was engaged in selling Centrifuge Separators.[4]

In 2011, Ansif Ashraf gained control of the Cochin Herald, turning it into a business magazine.[2]

Ansif was one of the founders of Young Chamber of Commerce, an organisation for connecting young entrepreneurs and established companies in Kochi, in 2014.[5] He started the opportunity exchange platform with Young Chamber of Commerce.[6][7] In 2017 the name of the chamber was changed from Young Chamber of Commerce to Crescent Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In 2017, Ansif Ashraf founded Fly With Me Mobile App LLP, a company where he was the CEO.

On 21 February 2018, the family of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, appointed Ansif Ashraf as Kerala State Co-ordinator for the A. P. J. Abdul Kalam International Foundation.[8] and later that year, he became the Secretary General of the Kerala chapter of the foundation.[9][10]

In 2018, he bought Herald Media Network Limited, which owns the brand name British Herald, and founded a magazine by the same name. In 2019, a number of news outlets in India re-published the results of a survey first published by British Herald, which claimed that Narendra Modi was considered to be "the world's most powerful leader". Major publishers such as Zee News and News 18 referred to British Herald as "a leading British magazine". However, investigations by the fact-checking websites Alt News and BOOM Live showed that it was a relatively obscure website and that there was no information about the survey, which led to criticism of the way several large media houses had re-posted the news without checking its origin.[11][12][13] Ashraf stated to BOOM Live that British Herald had not in fact claimed to be a "leading British magazine".[12]

Death

Ansif Ashraf died from COVID-19 on Wednesday, 27 January 2021, in Sharjah, UAE. He was 37.[1][14]

References

  1. ^ a b "Tributes pour in for young Indian media entrepreneur who died in Sharjah". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b Leen, Renjith (12 February 2021). "Ansif Ashraf – The Herald Man". The Cochin Herald. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Kochi SME among Top-10 e-biz champions". 3 August 2008.
  4. ^ "Making a Mark in Separators & Centrifuges Market". Rubber Asia. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  5. ^ "YCC Launched". Indian Express. 19 November 2014. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014.
  6. ^ "ഓപ്പര്‍ച്യൂണിറ്റി എക്‌സ്‌ചേഞ്ച് പ്രോഗ്രാം 25ന്‌". Mathrubhumi News. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  7. ^ "യംഗ് ചേംബര്‍ ഓഫ് കൊമേഴ്സിന്റെ ഓപ്പര്‍ച്യൂണിറ്റി എക്സ്ചേഞ്ച് 25ന്". Business Deepika News.
  8. ^ "Ansif Ashraf appointed APJ Abdul Kalam Foundation's Kerala co-ordinator". Indian Express. 26 February 2018.
  9. ^ "A P J Abdul Kalam International Foundation Kerala chapter in Kochi". Indian Express. 30 June 2018.
  10. ^ "എ.പി.ജെ. അബ്ദുൾകലാം ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ ഫൗണ്ടേഷൻ കേരളത്തിലേക്ക്‌". Mathrubhumi. 30 June 2018.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ "Media celebrates PM Modi winning 'British Herald' readers' poll, but what is 'British Herald'?". Alt News. 11 February 2021 [22 June 2019]. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  12. ^ a b Chowdhury, Archis (25 June 2019). "British Herald, Who? How Indian Media Fell For An Unknown Website's Poll Praising PM Modi". BOOM Live. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  13. ^ "DD News tweets dubious recognition by obscure website to PM Modi, trolled". National Herald. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  14. ^ "അന്‍സിഫ് അഷ്റഫ് ഷാര്‍ജയില്‍ അന്തരിച്ചു". Mathrubhumi. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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