PM Narendra Modi in US
The G4 Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forth India’s considered views on the important issue in his opening remarks wherein he underscored the need for expansion of the UNSC “within a fixed time frame”. PM Modi cited several reasons for seeking an urgent overhaul of the UN and inclusion of G-4 nations – India, Japan, Germany and Brazil – in the UNSC as permanent members with full veto powers. The reasons he cited for seeking the changes urgently are the vastly changed political, economic, demographic, social and economic realities and a complete transformation in the peace and security issues.
UN Sustainable Development Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the UN Sustainable Development Summit that India was already on the way to implementing several of the Agenda 2030 goals. Modi called for more global emphasis and co-operation in developing renewable sources of energy through innovation, finance and technology and, in an apparent reference to the developed world, called for lifestyle changes to arrest environmental degradation and move toward “sustainable consumption”.
Modi said “Eradicating poverty should be our top priority, it is our responsibility”. He projected India’s ambitious plan to produce 175 GW of electricity through renewable energy sources by 2022, the tax on coal, energy efficiency measures, improving public transportation, cleaning up cities and rivers, and the waste-to-wealth project.
PM Modi launches BHARAT Fund at ‘India-US Startup Konnect’
PM Modi visited ‘India-U.S. Startup Konnect’ exhibition which showcased success stories of Indian entrepreneurs to highlight the rapidly rising global impact of technology innovation from India. On the occasion, the Prime Minister released logo of Bharat Fund, which will provide seed funding to Indian entrepreneurs.
Modi at Facebook and Google Headquarters
Modi visited Facebook’s headquarters and answered questions from some of Facebook’s 1.5 billion users at a town hall. Speaking in Hindi, Modi answered a number of questions on Make in India, social media, women empowerment and his mother.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed his Facebook profile photo ahead of his townhall interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He posted “I changed my profile picture to support Digital India, the Indian government’s effort to connect rural communities to the internet and give people access to more services online“.
PM Narendra Modi and Mark Zuckerberg Meeting
PM Narendra Modi also changed his profile picture on the Facebook. “Thanks Mark Zuckerberg for the support. I changed my DP in support of the efforts towards a Digital India,” PM Modi wrote in a post on Facebook.
After Facebook, Modi visited Google’s headquarters where he was taken around by Sundar Pichai and shown demos of cutting-edge Google technology including Project Iris, Street View and Google Earth. The Prime Minister also attended the Code for India event at the Google office.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that under his leadership India’s efforts in becoming the hotbed of innovation has accelerated. He also said that India will play a big part in future of technology.
Important Announcements
- Google has announced plans to bring high-speed Wi-Fi to 100 of the country’s busiest stations by the end of 2016, and it hopes to eventually bring connectivity to 400 stations in total. It will be accomplished together with Indian Railways and provider RailTel.
- Intending to become a partner in the ambitious Digital India programme, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company will take low-cost broadband technology to some five lakh villages across the country.
- Microsoft will also announce the availability of its cloud services operating out of Indian data centers.
- US-based chip maker Qualcomm said it would invest up to $150 million (Rs 9.8 billion) in Indian startups via a venture fund. Qualcomm also announced that it will set up a number of ‘design houses’ for product innovation in India.
