World

Will COVID-19 Force Us to Learn to Work Remotely?

Published

5 years ago

March 23, 2020

“One good thing that might come out of all of this – it might force us, finally, to all learn how to work together remotely.”

That’s Ben Lee speaking, and he’s a man who knows what it means to do remote work. Lee is a serial entrepreneur and the CRO and cofounder of Rootstrap, a digital development agency that’s based in both Los Angeles and Montevideo, Uruguay. Rootstrap has been a distributed operation for years, with employees working closely together even across separate continents. Accordingly, Lee and his agency have had to become masters of remote work.

Now, in the midst of what could turn into the world’s worst pandemic since the Spanish Flu, people across virtually all sectors of the economy are getting a crash course in remote work. Many companies are adopting work-from-home policies as a method of social distancing to help flatten the curve of the COVID-19 virus. And while the crisis is serious, Lee also sees this as something of an opportunity.

“Distributed work can have a lot of advantages, well beyond the immediate crisis we’re experiencing,” he says. “But you have to know how to do it well to reap those rewards.”

In response to this new reality, Lee finds himself returning to an earlier portion of his career – only this time, he’s bringing with him all the lessons he learned in tech.

From Events to Technology

Lee may have made his name in technology, but that’s not where he got his start. He started in hospitality and events, building a company by throwing parties in high school and working his way up to managing nightclubs with revenues totaling $20 million by the time he was 18. By his early twenties, he was a bona fide investor and project leader in the LA hospitality space.

But he knew it couldn’t last.

“I’ll always have a soft spot for the hospitality industry, but man, there’s a lot of bull****,” says Lee. “And when the financial crisis hit, I knew I had to get out.”

Seeking new opportunities, he found demand in the tech space and the emerging field of app development. He started an agency with little more than two engineers and a few laptops, but within a few years, his company was working with clients like Snoop Dogg and Spotify. Eventually, that agency became Rootstrap, a company that now has nearly 100 employees with dual headquarters in LA and Montevideo.

What set Rootstrap apart from the competition was its unique approach to development. Instead of simply charging a fee for their billable hours, Rootstrap has been about outcome-driven development from the beginning. As Lee explains, they structure their development process to begin with a dedicated, standalone product ideation workshop, which helps both the client and the agency understand if there’s enough of a possible ROI to justify the cost of development.

“That’s been our biggest value proposition historically, whether we’re doing it with a startup or a Fortune 100,” says Lee.

But now, Lee is finding new opportunities based not on the work they do, but the way they do it. Because Rootstrap has been distributed across continents from the beginning, working remotely has always been a core feature of their process and culture. They’ve learned what works and what doesn’t when it comes to remote work – and now, other companies want to learn the same thing.

“Recently corporations have been hiring us to teach them how to work in distributed teams,” Lee explains. “It’s a pretty major knowledge gap in a lot of organizations, and now with COVID, I think a lot of companies are waking up to that fact.”

This knowledge deficit, combined with a pandemic that’s forcing more people than ever to work remotely, is prompting Lee to partially return to his hospitality roots. But this time, he’s working to facilitate remote events instead of physical ones.

The Future of Work

“Remote work was always going to be the future, Coronavirus is just throwing that future at us faster than we’d anticipated,” says Lee. “So I think the questions we have to answer are, how do we learn how to live, work, and learn with each other in a virtual space?”

He has a few answers to that question.

For one, Lee has been turning to TikTok as a novel way to spread basic knowledge of economics and entrepreneurship to younger generations. His @yobenlee account has grown to 24,000 followers in only a few months, with one of his recent videos on how banks use money going viral to the tune of 4.5 million views.

“For me, TikTok is kind of like a riddle I’m trying to crack,” he explains. “So many kids are on TikTok – so how can I use it to spread knowledge that they need, but may not get from school?”

He’s also doubling down on e-learning. Lee has launched a number of ecourses in the past, with subjects ranging from how to build a business to a roadmapping course made in partnership with freelancing guru Brennan Dunn. Now, both he and his company are placing a stronger focus on elearning.

“We’ve done a lot of work with MasterClass recently, and I think their model is the future,” he says. “I see college degrees getting less and less important, whereas online learning formats like that of MasterClass or Udemy will be respected and maybe even mandatory.”

But his biggest contributions in the e-learning space may be yet to come.

“What I think is necessary now is an e-course that teaches teams how to work remotely,” Lee explains. “The whole economy needs to figure out how to work efficiently in a distributed team, and that’s only going to get more important in the future, Coronavirus or no. I think that’s my next project.”

For Lee, this isn’t just a question of our response to the pandemic. It’s about a shift in the fundamental fabric of how we work together and how we navigate that shift as a society. Remote work can be either a blessing or a curse: done well, it can cause efficiency to skyrocket, but it can just as easily lead to fractured, disparate, and dysfunctional teams. Right now, Lee sees an opportunity to shift our course towards the former rather than the latter.

He has a point. While the future is deeply uncertain, we can be sure that the world will not look the same after Coronavirus. The choices we make now will have long-lasting impacts on what that post-COVID future looks like – and if we can navigate the transition to remote work effectively, that means a brighter future for all of us.

World

Criminal probe focussed on Mehtas shipping business

Published

1 month ago

August 6, 2025

Jonathan Grilli

From Monitoring Desk

DUBAI: An Asian family linked with the shipping business is facing criminal investigation in several jurisdictions including in Dubai and Far East where the family’s companies are under active investigation now, according to the authorities in three countries.

Sanjay and Gaurav Mehta, through their companies Best Oasis Ltd in Dubai and Priya Blue Industries in Gujarat, are facing investigations over money-laundering suspicions and suspected links to the Russian oil sector, sanctioned by the western countries, sources shared.

Sanjay and Gaurav Mehta, through their companies Best Oasis Ltd in Dubai and Priya Blue Industries in Gujarat have projected an image of environmental responsibility in ship recycling. They have tout certifications, attend global summits, and positioned themselves as ESG-compliant but their business practices have come under intense probe now. Their operations reportedly involve dismantling high-risk ships, using cash transactions, and leveraging political connections to avoid accountability, a source shared looking into the companies’ affairs. The investigation is being conducted in Dubai and the Far East.

The investigators are looking at the Mehtas operations dating back to 2006 when they came to attention of the law enforcement for the first time. Priya Blue dismantled the “Blue Lady” in 2006, a vessel containing over 1,200 tons of asbestos and radioactive waste, despite protests and objections from Greenpeace. Later, the “Exxon Valdez,” notorious for a major oil spill, was renamed “Oriental Nicety” and dismantled by the Mehtas in Gujarat, drawing international attention. In recent years, their transactions have become less conspicuous but reportedly more hazardous.

In 2025, Best Oasis allegedly acquired and dismantled at least four vessels linked to sanctioned entities, including Iranian and Houthi-controlled networks. These weren’t obscure ships; they were designated under U.S. terrorism sanctions for their involvement in oil smuggling and arms transport. According to investigators, here are the details of the sanctioned ships dismantled by Best Oasis in 2025: IMO: 9155808, Name: NOLAN (SOLAN), Sanction: SDN (SDGT), Beaching: 31 Jan 2025, Plot 16; IMO: 9221657, Name: BLUEFINS, Sanction: SDN (SDGT); Beaching: 26 Feb 2025, Plot 16; IMO: 9105085, Name: CONTRACT II, Sanction: SDN risk, Beaching: Arrived mid-2025, Plot 27; IMO: 9209300, Name: GAMA II, Sanction: SDN (SDGT); and Beaching: Pending/Planned, Plot 34

All four vessels were reportedly dismantled in Alang on plots leased by proxy firms connected to the Mehtas. These short-term leases, approved on a ship-by-ship basis by the Gujarat Maritime Board, reportedly make regulatory oversight nearly impossible. Once dismantling is complete, plot registrations often lapse, leaving no long-term record, according to documents shared by the investigators in Dubai.

Rahul Mistry, a shipping compliance researcher, noted this as a growing pattern: “This is a pattern we’ve seen more frequently in the last two years sanctioned hulls arriving under the radar, processed fast, with no digital trace.”

Payments for these vessels reportedly bypassed normal financial channels. According to sources familiar with the deals, transactions were settled in cash, either on-site or through offshore handlers. One source described entire ship values being paid in foreign currency bundles, avoiding Indian and Dubai banking disclosures, said one of the investigators familiar with the matter.

A retired port official Mr. Akin Yadav, familiar with Alang and Gujarat Maritime Board approvals stated that short-term leases are routinely used to avoid scrutiny, adding, “It was never meant to be a permanent workaround. But it’s become one.”

Political connections also reportedly play a role. Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Gujarat State Minister Jitu Vaghani have been linked to approvals granted for Best Oasis and its proxies. While there’s no direct evidence of personal gain, sources allege that both men used their influence to expedite approvals, slow down inquiries, and shield the companies from enforcement.

Despite these activities in India, Best Oasis is expanding under new branding. A recent joint venture in Japan with Hiroshi Abe is being marketed as a clean, regionally responsible recycling partner for Japanese shipowners.

Mariko Fujita, a Tokyo-based maritime consultant, observed, “They’re presenting themselves as a new entity with no reference to past controversies. But none of the underlying ownership or structure has changed.”

In Alang, the situation reportedly remains much the same. Plot numbers are reassigned, cash continues to circulate and the same network of breakers and handlers is reportedly involved. Individuals like Jayant Vanani (also known as Budhabhai Patel) and Ramesh Mendapara are frequently named in connection with specific beachings, including “Contract II” and “GAMA II.” Both have been previously linked to other shadow transactions involving distressed or sanctioned tonnage.

Several yards allegedly connected to Best Oasis, including Shantamani Ship Breakers and Sai Baba Ship Breakers, reportedly operate with minimal inspection, despite numerous reports of irregularities in worker safety, hazardous waste disposal, and compliance with Indian scrapping codes.

This system, according to multiple sources, appears to be intentionally designed to operate in plain sight with just enough paperwork to pass basic scrutiny but not enough to trigger meaningful enforcement. There is no indication that regulatory bodies including customs, port health officers, or environmental oversight panels have conducted full inspections of any of the sanctioned vessels listed. Most were reportedly cleared and dismantled within days of arrival.

Rahul Mistry said: “This isn’t merely a loophole; it’s reportedly a business model. Best Oasis and Priya Blue are allegedly running a high-volume, low-visibility operation that filters sanctioned, end-of-life ships through legal instruments to appear legitimate on paper. This reportedly involves routing untaxed funds and shielded actors through a well-connected political and industrial network. As global scrutiny of ESG practices intensifies, many of these activities are allegedly being whitewashed through new partnerships and branding, but the underlying mechanisms reportedly remain unchanged.”