Social media is reducing social barriers, says PM Modi in San Jose

The Prime Minister also said that the Indian government was planning to have WiFi at 500 railway stations and said that the government was working with Google for that. "M-Governance is the way to go in a country with one billion cell phones," Modi said.

We must promote digital literacy: PM Modi

"We are using technology to empart scale and speed to development. Information, education, skills, healthcare, financial inclusion, opportunities for women, conservation of natural resources and entirely new possibilities have emerged," said PM Narendra Modi. "But for all this, we must bridge the digital divide and promote digital literacy. We must ensure that technology is accessible and affordable." Modi also said that India already had broadband usage increase by over 60 percent last year.

"We will connect all schools and colleges with broadband. Building I-ways are as important as building highways," said Modi. The PM also said that the government will also use infomation technology to build smart cities. "We want to make our farmers less vulernable to the whims of weather," he said.

Social media reducing social barriers: PM Modi

"I see technology as a means to empower and a tool that bridges the distance between hope and opportunity. Social media is reducing social barriers," Modi said.

"Today, technology is advancing citizen empowerment. Technology is forcing governments to deal with massive amount of data and respond in not 24 hours but 24 minutes," he said. "Out of this conviction, was born the vision of Digital India. It is an enterpise to transform India in a scale that is unmatched in human history."

"We will transform governance, making it more transparent and accountable," the PM said.

My govt used technology to attack poverty: Modi

"Since my government came to power, we have attacked poverty with the power of mobile phones," said the PM. "180 million new bank accounts were opened in a few months, insurance came within the reach of the poorest," he said.

"By using space technology and internet, we have been able to identify 170 applications that will make governance better," he added.

The PM then shared his experience when he met some illiterate tribal women in Gujarat. "They were using cellphones to take photographs. They weren't educated," he said. "I asked them what they would do with these images. They said they would have the images downloaded onto a computer and have them printed out. When I heard the word 'downloaded', I was surprised," Modi said in delight.

PM talks about importance of technology

"If Facebook was a country, it would be the third most populous. The teacher has turned everyone into a reporter because of Google," said PM Modi in San Jose.

"The status that matters most is not whether you are awake or asleep, but whether you are online or offline. The most fundamental debate between our youth is a choice between Android, iOS and Windows," he said in a lighter vein as the audience applauded and laughed.

"From cleaner energy to better transport, everything is converging around what you do," the PM told the people present there.

New ideas see light of day here, says PM Modi

"Good evening, everyone," said the PM. "If there was ever a gathering under one roof that could take part in shaping the world, it is this. It's a great pleasure to be here in California. It is one of the last places to see the sunset but it is where new ideas see the light of the day," he said.

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Modi's speech at Digital India event

Good Evening, everyone! 

If there was ever a gathering under one roof that could claim to be shaping the world, it is this. And, I am not talking about those in public office, here or in India! It's a great pleasure to be here in California. It is one of the last places in the world to see the sun set. But, it is here that new ideas see the first light of the day. 

It's a great honour that you have joined us tonight. I have met many of you in Delhi and New York, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

These are the new neighbourhoods of our new world. 

If Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populous one and the most connected. 

Google today has made teachers less awe-inspiring and grandparents more idle. Twitter has turned everyone into a reporter. The traffic lights that need to work the best are on Cisco routers. 

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. 

From computing to communication, entertainment to education, from printing documents to printing products, and, now to internet of things, it's been a long journey in a short time. 

From cleaner energy to better healthcare and safer transport, everything is converging around the work you do. 

In Africa, it's helping people transfer money on phone. It has made reaching small island states no longer a journey of adventure, but a convenient click of a mouse. 

In India, a mother in a distant hill village has a better chance to save her new born infant. A child in a remote village has better access to education. 

A small farmer is more confident about his land holding and getting better market price. A fisherman on the sea has a better catch. And, a young professional in San Francisco can Skype daily to comfort her sick grandmother in India. 

An initiative by a father in Haryana for "Selfie with daughter" to draw attention to the girl child became an international movement. 

All this is because of the work you people are doing. Since my government came to office last year, we have attacked poverty by using the power of networks and mobile phones to launch a new era of empowerment and inclusion: 180 million new bank accounts in a few months; direct transfer of benefits to the poor; funds for the unbanked; insurance within the reach of the poorest; and, pension for the sunset years for all. 

By using Space technology and internet, we have been able to identify in the last few months 170 applications that will make governance better and development faster. 

When a small craftsman in a village in India brings a smile to a customer looking at his phone on a metro ride in New York; When a heart patient in a remote hospital in Kyrgyz Republic is treated by doctors sitting in Delhi, as I saw in Bishkek, we know we are creating something that has fundamentally changed our lives. 

The pace at which people are taking to digital technology defies our stereotypes of age, education, language and income. I like recounting my meeting with a group of unlettered tribal women in a remote part of Gujarat. They were present at a local milk chilling plant I was inaugurating. They were using cell phones to take photographs of the event. I asked them what they would do with the images. The answer was a surprise for me. 

They said,they would go back, have the images downloaded on to a computer and take printouts. Yes, they were familiar with the language of our digital world. 

And, farmers in Maharashtra State have created a Whatsapp group to share information on farming practices. 

Customers, more than creators, are defining the use of a product. The world may be driven by the same ancient impulses. We will continue to see human struggles and successes. We will witness human glory and tragedies. 

But, 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. 

This is what sets us apart from the century that we have just left behind. There may be still some who see the digital economy as the tool of the rich, educated and the privileged. But, ask the taxi driver or the corner vendor in India what he has gained from his cell phone, and the debate gets settled. I see technology as a means to empower and as a tool that bridges the distance between hope and opportunity. Social media is reducing social barriers. It connects people on the strength of human values, not identities. 

Today, technology is advancing citizen empowerment and democracy that once drew their strength from Constitutions. Technology is forcing governments to deal with massive volume of data and generate responses, not in 24 hours but in 24 minutes. 

When you think of the exponential speed and scale of expansion of social media or a service, you have to believe that it is equally possible to rapidly transform the lives of those who have long stood on the margins of hope. So, friends out of this conviction was born the vision of Digital India. 

It is an enterprise for India's transformation on a scale that is, perhaps, unmatched in human history. Not just to touch the lives of the weakest, farthest and the poorest citizen of India, but change the way our nation will live and work. 

For nothing else will do in a country with 800 million youth under the age of 35 years, impatient for change and eager to achieve it. 

We will transform governance, making it more transparent, accountable, accessible and participative. I spoke of E-Governance as a foundation of better governance - efficient, economical and effective. 

I now speak of M-Governance or mobile governance. That is the way to go in a country with one billion cell phones and use of smart phones growing at high double digit rates. It has the potential to make development a truly inclusive and comprehensive mass movement. It puts governance within everyone's reach. 

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. We will set up a digital locker for every citizen to store personal documents that can be shared across departments. 

We have set up Ebiz portal to make approvals for businesses and citizens easy and efficient so that they concentrate their energy on their goals, not on government processes. 

We are using technology to impart scale and speed to development. 

Information, education, skills, healthcare, livelihood, financial inclusion, small and village enterprises, opportunities for women, conservation of natural resources, distributed clean energy - entirely new possibilities have emerged to change the development model. 

But for all this, we must bridge the digital divide and promote digital literacy in the same way that we seek to ensure general literacy. 

We must ensure that technology is accessible, affordable, and adds value. 

We want our 1.25 billion citizens to be digitally connected. We already have broadband usage across India go up by 63% last year. We need to accelerate this further. 

We have launched an aggressive expansion of the National Optical Fibre Network that will take broadband to our 600,000 villages. We will connect all schools and colleges with broadband. Building I-ways are as important as highways. 

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. Teaming up with Google, we will cover 500 railway stations in a short time. 

We are also setting up Common Service Centres in villages and towns. We will also use information technology to build smart cities. 

And, we want to turn our villages into smart economic hubs and connect our farmers better to markets and makes them less vulnerable to the whims of weather. 

For me, access also means that content should be in local languages. In a country with 22 official languages, it is a formidable, but an important task. 

Affordability of products and services is critical for our success. There are many dimensions to this. We will promote manufacture of quality and affordable products in India. That is part of our vision of Make in India, Digital India and Design in India. 

As our economy and our lives get more wired, we are also giving the highest importance to data privacy and security, intellectual property rights and cyber security. 

And,I know to achieve the vision of Digital India, the government must also start thinking a bit like you. 

So, from creating infrastructure to services, from manufacture of products to human resource development, from support governments to enabling citizens and promoting digital literacy, Digital India is a vast cyber world of opportunities for you. 

The task is huge; the challenges are many. But, we also know that we will not reach new destinations without taking new roads. 

Much of India that we dream of is yet to be built. So, we have the opportunity to shape its path now. 

And, we have the talent, enterprise and skills to succeed. 

We also have the strength of the partnership between India and the United States. 

Indians and Americans have worked together to shape the knowledge economy. They have made us aware of the vast potential of technology. 

From large corporate to young professionals in this great centre of innovation, each can be part of the Digital India story. 

The sustainable development of one-sixth of humanity will be a major force of good for our world and our planet. 

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. 

We all know that the dynamic Asia Pacific Region will shape the course of this century. And, India and the United States, the world's two largest democracies, are located at the two ends of this region. 

We have the responsibility to shape a future of peace, stability and prosperity in this region. 

Our relationship is also defined by the power of youth, technology and innovation. These can ignite a partnership that will advance and sustain prosperity in our two countries. 

Even more, in this Digital Age, we can draw on the strength of our values and partnership to shape a better and more sustainable future for the world

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We know that world will not wait for India, PM Modi tells $4.5 trillion club

NEW YORK: As top American CEOs held no punches about the "obstacles" in ease of doing business in India, Prime Minister Narendra promised to fast-track the decision-making process, acknowledging that "the world is not going to wait for us". 

At a dinner hosted by Fortune magazine where 42 CEOs of manufacturing and infrastructure sectors were not "shy" in referring to a host of obstacles, he asked them to take advantage of the huge opportunities of investing in India. "Please continue to do more of what you are doing. May be slightly faster," CEOs of American companies with a collective networth of USD 4.5 trillion, told the Prime Minister. 

Fortune editor Alan Murray, who moderated the discussion, said complicated regulations, excessive permitting, confusing bureaucracy, poor infrastructure and overlapping local taxes were raised by the CEOs who urged the Prime Minister to "pick up the pace of change". They praised the Prime Minister's efforts to improve the climate for business, while highlighting the obstacles. One of them said, "It is not an easy place to do business." 

The Prime Minister acknowledged their concerns and pledged to speed up efforts to reduce the role of the government in business. "The world is not going to wait for us. I know that," Modi said, according to a newsletter issued by Murray. "The high turnout of the CEOs highlights the prime position India holds in today's global economy. With China slowing, India's 7.5 per cent growth rate makes it the fastest growing major economy in the world today and many of the CEOs cited plans to expand there," Murray added. 

External affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters after the meeting, "By and large the mood was very upbeat. There is general consensus that the Prime Minister is effecting change in India. The only thing all the CEOs said is that please make that change faster." 

The CEOs present at the meeting included Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Marillyn Hewson, Ford president and CEO Mark Fields, IBM chairman Ginni Rometty, Pepsi Co chief Indra Nooyi and Dow Chemical Chairman Andrew Liveris. During the 'Roundtable with American Inc', the Prime Minister listened to each one of the CEOs present in the room about their concerns and plans for India and how these issues can be resolved, he said. Inviting the US companies to set up manufacturing units in India, Modi told them, "Reform in governance is my No. 1 priority. We are for simplified procedures, speedy decision making, transparency and accountability." 

He also listed the sectors that have been opened up in India for investment and said that "FDI all over the world has fallen but in India it has increased by 40 per cent." "This reflects confidence in the Indian economy," Modi said while interacting with the CEOs from the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. Briefing reporters about the day-long interactions that the Prime Minister had with the corporate world, Indian Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh said there were some suggestions made about "additional steps that can be taken in terms of ease of doing business". "Those are things that the government would assess," he added.

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Arvind Kejriwal Gets into Damage Control After Bitter Infighting Among AAP Party Members

With Aam Aadmi Party mired in bitter infighting, party chief Arvind Kejriwal today attempted to reach out to the dissidents, saying Yogendra Yadav had raised important issues which needed to be sorted out.

With Aam Aadmi Party mired in bitter infighting, party chief Arvind Kejriwal today attempted to reach out to the dissidents, saying Yogendra Yadav had raised important issues which needed to be sorted out.

He also said that efforts will be made to bring back Shazia Ilmi into the party as top leaders met today to chalk out the future course of action, including preparations for the next Delhi assembly polls.

"Yog(endra) Yadav has raised some imp (sic) issues. All of us will work on it. Yog yadav is a v dear friend and a v valued colleague. Had long discussion with him...," Kejriwal tweeted.
In an another tweet, he said, "We will also try to get Shazia back."

Ilmi and Yadav, known to be a key strategist, have been sharply critical of Kejriwal after the party's debacle in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav, who quit from Political Affairs Committee, had charged the party with "falling prey to personality cult" while Ilmi had alleged that Kejriwal was surrounded by a coterie and that the party lacked internal democracy.

Kejriwal's close aide Manish Sisodia had hit back at Yadav accusing him of targeting Kejriwal and making internal matters public.

According to sources, resignations of leaders will be discussed at the AAP's National Executive Meet and they will also try to convince Ilmi to rejoin the party.

There were indications that the Political Affairs Committee might be expanded to accommodate more members.

The fledgling party had made a stunning debut in the Delhi Assembly polls in December by winning 28 out of 70 seats and even formed a government.
But Kejriwal quit as Chief Minister after 49 days on the issue of Janlokpal Bill.

The party fought the Lok Sabha elections but could not win a single seat in the capital following which Kejriwal and his close associates have come under attack.

The AAP leader has also drawn flak after failed attempt to form government again and his initial refusal to submit a bond in a defamation case filed against him by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, which led to his going to jail.

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Miss India Worldwide 2014 to be Held in Dubai

Mumbai: Miss India Worldwide 2014 is set to be hosted by Dubai. 40 contestants of Indian origin from different countries will be participating in the event.

"More than 40 contestants of Indian origin settled in various countries across the globe between the age of 17 years and 27 years, unmarried and citizens, residents, or born in the country they represent, will participate in the Miss India Worldwide pageant," said Anuj Saxena, national director, Miss India Worldwide and CEO of Maverick Productions. 

On June 7 there will be an event in Pune wherein 12 contestants from Indian Cities will Compete and the Winner among them shall participate in the final round to be held in Dubai. 

The ‘Talent Night’ is scheduled to be held on June 18 at Hyatt Regency, Crystal Ballroom in Dubai.

Miss India worldwide is a beauty pageant for Asian-Indian communities from all over the world that started in 1990. It consists of four segments - Evening Gown, Indian Dress, Talent and Question-Answer round.

Last year's winner Nehal Bhogaita, from United Kingdom shall crown the Miss India Worldwide 2014.

The Bollywood film festival and the Indian culinary week, which is to be held simultaneously shall be augmenting the attraction.
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