Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday announced a proposal for introduction of broadband connectivity, through Wi-Fi hotspots, at 100 railway stations. He said it will be expanded to 400 next year.
The search engine giant also announced the the rollout of ten-language vernacular typing for Android users.
Prior to the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a tour of the Google headquarters with CEO Pichai.
As it happened (in IST):
1:13 am: Later in the day, the Indian community in California will > welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a grand reception at the SAP Center. An indoor arena in the heart of Silicon Valley, the SAP Centre has a seating capacity of 18,000, which the organisers said would be full to its capacity, given the enthusiasm among the Indian diaspora. The event is scheduled to begin at 5:30 am IST.
1:10 am: Mr. Modi > will attend the India-US StartUp Konnect programme shortly. IT industry body Nasscom, TiE Silicon Valley, and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE India will host the first India-US Startup Konnect.
12:55 am: Mr. Modi finishes his address, audience roar 'Bharatmata ki Jai'.
12:47 am: Many thanks to all of you working for India's poor and her development. We want to bring your ideas to India: Modi
12:46 am: But over time tech is going to make a qualitative change in our lives, I am sure of this: Modi
12:45 am: " I thought technology helps us save time, but in fact it is the opposite: people are spending maximum time using technology. A mom who has to give her child milk also says, "Wait, I have to send a WhatsApp message"".
12:42 am: I want to encourage hack-a-thons in Indian cities too: Modi
12:41 am: Mr. Modi speaks in Hindi at Google, not English as he did yesterday at Digital India dinner.
12: 39 am: Mr. Pichai announces Wi-Fi hotspots for 100 railway stations; it will be expanded to 400 next year. Also, the rollout of ten-language vernacular typing for users.
The map shows the first 100 stations that will have high-speed Wi-Fi by the end of 2016. Photo: Google Asia-Pacific Blog 12:37 am: Few years ago when we wanted to find out which country would adopt Chrome browser fastest we thought it would be India. We were right, says CEO Sundar Pichai.
12:35 am: Prime Minister Modi and CEO Pichai arrive to a thunderous welcome.
12:20 am: Mr. Modi and CEO Pichai expected soon at the all-night hack-a-thon.
12:07 am: As Mr. Modi and CEO Pichai discuss Digital India, many Indian youth seen participating in the all-night hack-a-thon at Googleplex.
12:02 am: Mr. Modi gets a view of Project Iris — a smart lens system that measure glucose levels.
11:57 pm:
>#India & >@Google in a firm handshake >#ModiInUSA>@sundarpichai>@the_hindu>https://t.co/wpBDBkusC5
— Narayan Lakshman (@narlak) >September 27, 2015
11:52 pm: CEO Pichai explains navigational, safety and other uses of Street View and Google Earth.
11:47 pm: PM asked that Khagaul be pinpointed on Google Earth. Khagaul near Patna is where the great ancient astronomer Aryabhatta had an observatory: PMO
11:45 pm : Mr. Modi takes a tour of Google HQ with CEO Sundar Pichai in Mountain View, California.
11:20 pm: Mr. Modi >answered questions from the audience at a Townhall at the Facebook headquarters at Menlo Park, California. Welcoming the Prime Minister to the Facebook campus, CEO Mark Zuckerberg appreciated 'Digital India' and talked about the need for connectivity.
Mountain view aboard media bus to Googleplex in Mountain View, heading to >#ModiInUSA meet w >@sundarpichai>@the_hindu>pic.twitter.com/QznMRQ06EW
— Narayan Lakshman (@narlak) >September 27, 2015 No one's taking security lightly for >#ModiInUSA meet w >@sundarpichai>@the_hindu>pic.twitter.com/t3yLZnZ1V7
— Narayan Lakshman (@narlak) >September 27, 2015Here are the highlights of his visit so far:
Modi at 'Digital India'- top quotes
- » Google today has made teachers less awe-inspiring and grandparents more idle. Twitter has turned everyone into a reporter.
- » The status that now matters is not whether you are awake or asleep, but whether you are online or offline.
- » The most fundamental debate for our youth is the choice between Android, iOS or Windows.
- » These are the new neighborhoods of our new world. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populous one and the most connected.
- » We want our 1.25 billion citizens to be digitally connected.
- » 2003: We are expanding our public Wi-Fi hotspots. For example, we want to ensure that free Wi Fi is not only there in airport lounges, but also on our railway platforms.
- » Today, we speak of India-U.S. partnership as a defining partnership of this century. It hinges on two major reasons. Both converge here in California.
- » In this digital age, we have an opportunity to transform lives of people in ways that was hard to imagine just a couple of decades ago.
- » Technology is forcing governments to deal with massive volume of data and generate responses, not in 24 hours but in 24 minutes.
- » After MyGov.in, I have just launched the Narendra Modi Mobile App. They are helping me stay in close touch with people. I learn a great deal from their suggestions and complaints.
- » We want to free our citizens from the burden of excessive paper documents in every office. We want paperless transactions.
- » People today live in places where infrastructure is present unlike the past when water was the reason. Soon we might live in places where there is good digital infrastructure..
- » My mother is illiterate. My father is no more. My mom understands things through media. My mother took lot of pains to help me grow.
>Digital India dinner yields tech policy wins for Team Modi
Top CEOs of American companies, which have played a key role in IT revolution the world is experiencing now, endorse ambitious ‘Digital India’ programme, describing it as a vision that would bring India technologically at par with the rest of the world.
>Our march in step with U.N. vision: Modi
Prime Minister Modi outlined the various development targets that his government has set, and how special measures were being taken to ensure that they were environmentally sustainable.
