PM of "Morning Must Read," Bloomberg's Vonnie Quinn recaps the
op-ed pieces and analyst notes providing insight behind today's
headlines, including comments from India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bloomberg
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg were given a warm reception. The friendly crowd of about 1,000, many of them Indian immigrants and Silicon Valley workers support Modi's "Digital India" initiatives which call for more high-speed Internet access and tech jobs to raise the standard of living in a country where so many still live in poverty.
"We are an $8 billion economy today. My dream is to become a $20 trillion dollar economy," Modi said during his 50-minute appearance at Facebook alongside Zuckerberg.
Modi and Zuckerberg had a one-on-one meeting before the event, yet more evidence of the deepening ties between India and Silicon Valley and of their increasingly entwined fortunes.
Facebook is wooing Modi as it looks to expand in the potentially lucrative Indian market. Facebook has launched an effort to connect Indians to the Internet through Internet.org, but that has met with resistance from some in India who say the project unfairly favors the giant social network and other services.
Modi's two-day swing through Silicon Valley — the first time an Indian head of state has been in California in 33 years — has commanded the attention of top tech CEOs. Modi met with Google's Sundar Pichai and Apple's Tim Cook, among others, to seek stronger ties and investment in India.
Silicon Valley has been only too happy to host Modi. India is the world's fastest-growing major economy, representing a potentially lucrative opportunity for U.S. companies as smartphone and Internet access begins to spread.
The visit has also brought out Modi's critics, some of whom protested outside Facebook's headquarters. Critics say Modi's digital push could impinge on the privacy and the rights of Indians, others allege his government suppresses dissent and religious freedom.
The Facebook event was carefully scripted and the audience handpicked. The PA system played Bollywood songs and the crowd of Facebook employees and invited guests chanted "Modi! Modi!" Modi addressed the audience in Hindi. The town hall-style event was aired live on Indian television.
Zuckerberg opened the town hall recalling how he visited India, especially a temple there, on the advice of one of his mentors, the late Steve Jobs who had sought inspiration in the country. "This was early in our history," Zuckerberg recalled. Facebook had hit a rough patch and Zuckerberg was fielding offers to sell the company.
In India, Zuckerberg says he witnessed the power of millions connecting online. Modi was visibly delighted that India played a role in the early history of Facebook, saying the "daily bonding" with the Indian people on social media has helped bridge the gap between the government and its citizens, swaying policy and diplomacy and keeping officials on their toes.
Social media allows people to constantly vote, Modi told the crowd. "We used to have elections every five years. Now we have them every five minutes," he said.
Modi is the world's second most popular elected leader on social media after President Obama with more than 15 million Twitter followers and more than 30 million Facebook likes.
"It's fitting," Zuckerberg said, that the leader of the world's largest democracy is setting the example of how governments should connect with their citizens.
Modi touched on several topics, pitching his "Digital India" agenda and vowing to improve education for girls and open up more opportunities for women.
"If we want to achieve our economic goals, then we cannot do that if we imprison 50% of our population inside our homes," he said.
At Zuckerberg's prompting, Modi who grew up poor recounted in an emotional, halting voice the sacrifices his mother, now in her nineties, made to raise her children. He also recalled selling tea in railway stations to help his family make ends meet.
"It's hard to imagine that a tea seller has become the leader of the world's largest democracy," Modi said.
In honor of Modi's visit, Zuckerberg changed his profile image to "Support Digital India."
After Facebook, Modi paid a visit to Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters where Pichai showed him demos of Google technology such as Street View and Google Earth. Modi also secured a pledge from Google to provide Wi-Fi in hundreds of Indian railway stations.
Other tech companies answered Modi's call for investment in India. Modi dined on Saturday night with a who's who of tech CEOs including Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Uber's Travis Kalanick and Cisco's John Chambers. Nadella pledged Microsoft would help India bring wireless Internet to hundreds of thousands of villages. Chip maker Qualcomm promised $150 million to fund Indian start-ups.
Also on Saturday Modi visited with Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and rode around the Fremont, Calif., facility in a battery-powered cart and he met with Apple's Cook.
In
an emotionally charged town hall event at the Facebook headquarters in
Menlo Park, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was convinced that
cities of the future would be settled around optical fibre networks, and
not rivers or highways.
He also said that governments now have the opportunity to correct themselves “every five minutes” thanks to social media and not every five years like before.
Modi, however, struggled to control his emotions after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked him about this mother. “My mother is not educated but keeps in touch with world events through news on TV,” he said, before pausing to wipe tears while speaking of her washing utensils at other homes years ago to provide for the family.
Watch Video: PM Modi Gets Emotional At Facebook Townhall
“There are thousands of mothers throughout India who made great sacrifices for children, family. I thank them all,” he said.
The event also saw Zuckerberg’s parents make a rare public appearance, and Modi sought them out in the audience before congratulating them for giving the world “such a wonderful son”.
The Prime Minister took five other questions from a pre-selected list, including Vir Kashyap, one of the founders of Bangalore-based Babajobs.
Modi told Kashyap that he was happy people like him had come back to India from Silicon Valley and hoped other young Indians would follow suit. “My effort is to connect all 600,000 villages with optical fiber networks in the next five years,” he said.
Replying to a question from Facebook employee T S Khurana on the ease of doing business in India, Modi said: “It is easy to turn a scooter, but not a train with 40 bogeys. This is such a big country, changes are constant and widespread. You will see the cumulative effect.”
There were occasional chants of “Modi, Modi” and shouts of “Vande Mataram” among the 800-strong crowd which braved the nippy California morning for a couple of hours before Modi arrived at the open-air stage.
Among the audience was Sudeep Padiyar, employed with a tech firm in Santa Clara, who said he was impressed by Modi’s speech but was expecting more questions. Padiyar, whose wife works in Facebook, said the fact that so many people turned up for a private event shows how popular Modi is and how much hope there is among Indians.
However, Padiyar added that “people in Silicon Valley are used to things happening quickly” and that he would love to see “more things happening on the ground” in India.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/at-facebook-qa-of-pm-modi-salute-all-mothers/#sthash.AL30ThJS.dpuf
He also said that governments now have the opportunity to correct themselves “every five minutes” thanks to social media and not every five years like before.
Modi, however, struggled to control his emotions after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked him about this mother. “My mother is not educated but keeps in touch with world events through news on TV,” he said, before pausing to wipe tears while speaking of her washing utensils at other homes years ago to provide for the family.
Watch Video: PM Modi Gets Emotional At Facebook Townhall
“There are thousands of mothers throughout India who made great sacrifices for children, family. I thank them all,” he said.
The event also saw Zuckerberg’s parents make a rare public appearance, and Modi sought them out in the audience before congratulating them for giving the world “such a wonderful son”.
The Prime Minister took five other questions from a pre-selected list, including Vir Kashyap, one of the founders of Bangalore-based Babajobs.
Modi told Kashyap that he was happy people like him had come back to India from Silicon Valley and hoped other young Indians would follow suit. “My effort is to connect all 600,000 villages with optical fiber networks in the next five years,” he said.
Replying to a question from Facebook employee T S Khurana on the ease of doing business in India, Modi said: “It is easy to turn a scooter, but not a train with 40 bogeys. This is such a big country, changes are constant and widespread. You will see the cumulative effect.”
There were occasional chants of “Modi, Modi” and shouts of “Vande Mataram” among the 800-strong crowd which braved the nippy California morning for a couple of hours before Modi arrived at the open-air stage.
Among the audience was Sudeep Padiyar, employed with a tech firm in Santa Clara, who said he was impressed by Modi’s speech but was expecting more questions. Padiyar, whose wife works in Facebook, said the fact that so many people turned up for a private event shows how popular Modi is and how much hope there is among Indians.
However, Padiyar added that “people in Silicon Valley are used to things happening quickly” and that he would love to see “more things happening on the ground” in India.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/at-facebook-qa-of-pm-modi-salute-all-mothers/#sthash.AL30ThJS.dpuf
In
an emotionally charged town hall event at the Facebook headquarters in
Menlo Park, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was convinced that
cities of the future would be settled around optical fibre networks, and
not rivers or highways.
He also said that governments now have the opportunity to correct themselves “every five minutes” thanks to social media and not every five years like before.
Modi, however, struggled to control his emotions after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked him about this mother. “My mother is not educated but keeps in touch with world events through news on TV,” he said, before pausing to wipe tears while speaking of her washing utensils at other homes years ago to provide for the family.
Watch Video: PM Modi Gets Emotional At Facebook Townhall
“There are thousands of mothers throughout India who made great sacrifices for children, family. I thank them all,” he said.
The event also saw Zuckerberg’s parents make a rare public appearance, and Modi sought them out in the audience before congratulating them for giving the world “such a wonderful son”.
The Prime Minister took five other questions from a pre-selected list, including Vir Kashyap, one of the founders of Bangalore-based Babajobs.
Modi told Kashyap that he was happy people like him had come back to India from Silicon Valley and hoped other young Indians would follow suit. “My effort is to connect all 600,000 villages with optical fiber networks in the next five years,” he said.
Replying to a question from Facebook employee T S Khurana on the ease of doing business in India, Modi said: “It is easy to turn a scooter, but not a train with 40 bogeys. This is such a big country, changes are constant and widespread. You will see the cumulative effect.”
There were occasional chants of “Modi, Modi” and shouts of “Vande Mataram” among the 800-strong crowd which braved the nippy California morning for a couple of hours before Modi arrived at the open-air stage.
Among the audience was Sudeep Padiyar, employed with a tech firm in Santa Clara, who said he was impressed by Modi’s speech but was expecting more questions. Padiyar, whose wife works in Facebook, said the fact that so many people turned up for a private event shows how popular Modi is and how much hope there is among Indians.
However, Padiyar added that “people in Silicon Valley are used to things happening quickly” and that he would love to see “more things happening on the ground” in India.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/at-facebook-qa-of-pm-modi-salute-all-mothers/#sthash.AL30ThJS.dpuf
He also said that governments now have the opportunity to correct themselves “every five minutes” thanks to social media and not every five years like before.
Modi, however, struggled to control his emotions after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked him about this mother. “My mother is not educated but keeps in touch with world events through news on TV,” he said, before pausing to wipe tears while speaking of her washing utensils at other homes years ago to provide for the family.
Watch Video: PM Modi Gets Emotional At Facebook Townhall
“There are thousands of mothers throughout India who made great sacrifices for children, family. I thank them all,” he said.
The event also saw Zuckerberg’s parents make a rare public appearance, and Modi sought them out in the audience before congratulating them for giving the world “such a wonderful son”.
The Prime Minister took five other questions from a pre-selected list, including Vir Kashyap, one of the founders of Bangalore-based Babajobs.
Modi told Kashyap that he was happy people like him had come back to India from Silicon Valley and hoped other young Indians would follow suit. “My effort is to connect all 600,000 villages with optical fiber networks in the next five years,” he said.
Replying to a question from Facebook employee T S Khurana on the ease of doing business in India, Modi said: “It is easy to turn a scooter, but not a train with 40 bogeys. This is such a big country, changes are constant and widespread. You will see the cumulative effect.”
There were occasional chants of “Modi, Modi” and shouts of “Vande Mataram” among the 800-strong crowd which braved the nippy California morning for a couple of hours before Modi arrived at the open-air stage.
Among the audience was Sudeep Padiyar, employed with a tech firm in Santa Clara, who said he was impressed by Modi’s speech but was expecting more questions. Padiyar, whose wife works in Facebook, said the fact that so many people turned up for a private event shows how popular Modi is and how much hope there is among Indians.
However, Padiyar added that “people in Silicon Valley are used to things happening quickly” and that he would love to see “more things happening on the ground” in India.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/at-facebook-qa-of-pm-modi-salute-all-mothers/#sthash.AL30ThJS.dpuf
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