Google to build more products in India for the world: Sundar Pichai
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Feb, 2022 02:53 PM
New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) Reiterating his vision to help India join the digital bandwagon, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said the ongoing investments are a reflection of the company's confidence in the future of the country and its digital economy.
The company, which announced a $10 billion Google for India Digitisation Fund last year, has already invested $4.5 billion for a 7.73 per cent stake in the top telecom network Reliance Jio Platforms, along with recently investing up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel.
"It is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India, its digital economy, our desire to build products there, which we think will help us globally," Pichai said during the company's earnings call late on Tuesday.
On the company's payment strategy, Pichai said it is thinking deeper about emerging markets like India as it "lines up with our mission of building a more equitable Internet for everyone".
Pichai is also bullish on YouTube's future in the country.
"When I look at YouTube in India, some of the commerce ideas we talked about earlier, you may see as the first stride in India first because we can get quicker feedback, a very dynamic, youthful population," he noted.
"So we'll do it there (in India) and then roll it out globally. We are constantly looking for opportunities like that," Pichai added.
YouTube Shorts continues to drive significant engagement for the company globally including in India.
"We just hit 5 trillion all-time views and have over 15 billion views each day globally. This is helping our creator community reach newer and bigger audiences," Pichai added.
"In 2022, we'll stay focused on evolving our knowledge and information products, including Search, Maps and YouTube, to be even more helpful," he added.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure and preserve all records in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab, and also asked the state and Central committees to refrain from conducting inquiries till Monday, when it will take up the matter again.
India on Friday revised the existing guidelines for all international arrivals in India in view of the rising Covid cases and the Omicron threat, to make seven days home quarantine mandatory. The new guidelines will be effective from January 11 till further notice.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister's rally in Ferozepur had to be cancelled due to a security lapse after some protesters blocked a route and forced his convoy to spend about 20 minutes on a flyover. The Prime Minister was enroute the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala when the incident happened.
On Thursday, senior BJP leaders including chief ministers of the party ruled states offered prayers at temples across the country for the well-being and long life of Prime Minister Modi after his security was breached in Punjab on January 5.
Most of these farmers had earlier stated that they were present at the spot but were not involved in the attack. They were, at that time, charged under bailable sections such as 'rioting' and 'voluntarily causing hurt' and were let off by the SIT officials under Section 41 of the CrPC.
The Congress is witnessing internal bickering on the issue of security breach of the Prime Minister and Congress MP from Punjab Manish Tewari has termed the incidence as most unfortunate and said the matter should be probed by a sitting High Court Judge.
