Ansif Ashraf
{{Short description|Indian businessman (1983–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ansif Ashraf
| image = Ansif Ashraf KSBEA Event.JPG
| caption = Ansif Ashraf talking at Kerala State Business Excellence Awards 2016
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1983|11|15}}
| birth_place = Thane, Maharashtra, India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2021|1|27|1983|11|15}}
| nationality = Indian
| occupation = Chief Editor of Cochin Herald
| alma_mater = Mahatma Gandhi University
Cochin College
| spouse = Ramzeen Ansif
| children =
| website =
}}
Ansif Ashraf (15 November 1983 – 27 January 2021){{cite news |title=Tributes pour in for young Indian media entrepreneur who died in Sharjah |url=https://gulfnews.com/uae/tributes-pour-in-for-young-indian-media-entrepreneur-who-died-in-sharjah-1.76796115 |access-date=28 January 2021 |work=gulfnews.com |language=en}} 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.{{cite news |last=Leen |first=Renjith |title=Ansif Ashraf – The Herald Man |url=https://www.cochinherald.com/cover-story/ansif-ashraf-the-herald-man/ |date=12 February 2021 |access-date=2 December 2022 |work=The Cochin Herald}}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-info-tech/Kochi-SME-among-Top-10-e-biz-champions/article20138234.ece|title=Kochi SME among Top-10 e-biz champions|date=3 August 2008 }} In 2008 he founded AGI Holdings Limited which was engaged in selling Centrifuge Separators.{{cite news | url=https://www.rubberasia.com/2017/05/29/making-mark-separators-centrifuges-market/ | title=Making a Mark in Separators & Centrifuges Market | work=Rubber Asia | access-date=5 March 2018 | archive-date=5 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305202725/https://www.rubberasia.com/2017/05/29/making-mark-separators-centrifuges-market/ | url-status=dead }}
In 2011, Ansif Ashraf gained control of the Cochin Herald, turning it into a business magazine.
Ansif was one of the founders of Young Chamber of Commerce, an organisation for connecting young entrepreneurs and established companies in Kochi, in 2014.{{cite news | url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/YCC-Launched/2014/11/19/article2530630.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224050731/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/YCC-Launched/2014/11/19/article2530630.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=24 December 2014 | title=YCC Launched | work= Indian Express | date=19 November 2014}} He started the opportunity exchange platform with Young Chamber of Commerce.{{cite news | url=http://archives.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/3544264/2015-04-22/business | title=ഓപ്പര്ച്യൂണിറ്റി എക്സ്ചേഞ്ച് പ്രോഗ്രാം 25ന് | work=Mathrubhumi News | access-date=5 March 2018 | archive-date=6 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306022816/http://archives.mathrubhumi.com/online/malayalam/news/story/3544264/2015-04-22/business | url-status=dead }}{{cite news | url=http://www.deepika.com/News_Cat2_sub.aspx?catcode=cat5&newscode=357213 | title= യംഗ് ചേംബര് ഓഫ് കൊമേഴ്സിന്റെ ഓപ്പര്ച്യൂണിറ്റി എക്സ്ചേഞ്ച് 25ന് | work= Business Deepika News}} 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.{{cite news | url=https://epaper.newindianexpress.com/1558230/The-New-Indian-Express-Kochi/26022018#page/17/2 | title=Ansif Ashraf appointed APJ Abdul Kalam Foundation's Kerala co-ordinator | work= Indian Express | date=26 February 2018}} and later that year, he became the Secretary General of the Kerala chapter of the foundation.{{cite news | url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2018/jul/01/a-p-j-abdul-kalam-international-foundation-kerala-chapter-in-kochi-1836293.html | title=A P J Abdul Kalam International Foundation Kerala chapter in Kochi | work= Indian Express | date=30 June 2018}}{{cite news | url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/ernakulam/news/kochi-1.2931353 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701083619/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/ernakulam/news/kochi-1.2931353 | url-status=dead | archive-date=1 July 2018 | title=എ.പി.ജെ. അബ്ദുൾകലാം ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ ഫൗണ്ടേഷൻ കേരളത്തിലേക്ക് | work=Mathrubhumi | date=30 June 2018 }}
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.{{cite web |title=Media celebrates PM Modi winning 'British Herald' readers' poll, but what is 'British Herald'? |url=https://www.altnews.in/media-celebrates-pm-modi-winning-british-herald-readers-poll-but-what-is-british-herald/ |publisher=Alt News |access-date=2 December 2022 |date=11 February 2021 |orig-date=22 June 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Chowdhury |first1=Archis |title=British Herald, Who? How Indian Media Fell For An Unknown Website's Poll Praising PM Modi |url=https://www.boomlive.in/british-herald-who-how-indian-media-fell-for-an-unknown-websites-poll-praising-pm-modi/ |access-date=2 December 2022 |work=BOOM Live |date=25 June 2019 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=DD News tweets dubious recognition by obscure website to PM Modi, trolled |url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/doordarshan-news-tweets-dubious-recognition-by-obscure-website-to-pm-modi |access-date=2 December 2022 |work=National Herald |date=24 June 2019 |language=en}} Ashraf stated to BOOM Live that British Herald had not in fact claimed to be a "leading British magazine".
Death
Ansif Ashraf died from COVID-19 on Wednesday, 27 January 2021, in Sharjah, UAE. He was 37.{{cite news |title=അന്സിഫ് അഷ്റഫ് ഷാര്ജയില് അന്തരിച്ചു |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/gulf/uae/british-herald-owner-ansif-ashraf-passed-away-1.5390001 |access-date=28 January 2021 |work=Mathrubhumi |language=en |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128060001/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/gulf/uae/british-herald-owner-ansif-ashraf-passed-away-1.5390001 |url-status=dead }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Ansif Ashraf}}
- {{official|http://www.ansif.com}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashraf, Ansif}}
Category:Businesspeople from Maharashtra
Category:Indian magazine editors
Category:Businesspeople from Kochi
Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates