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.
On January 12 this year, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the three farm laws after scores of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh pitched their tents on various Delhi borders in protest against the three laws.
A nine-member committee of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the consortium of protesting farmers' bodies, will be meeting on Saturday, and it is likely to put forth four main demands. The meeting will also decide whether the SKM will go ahead with the originally announced 'March Towards Delhi' programme on November 26.
Congress legislator and Punjab unit party president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday said the minimum support price (MSP) is the bigger issue than farm laws as it is the lifeline of farmers.
Extending his greetings to the people on Prakash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev, the Chief Minister said it was really a matter of great honour to inaugurate this prestigious project which happens to coincide with Gurpurab.
Three employees of Air India, accused of having a role in the smuggling of gold, have been arrested, officials said on Friday. They have been accused of having a hand in a recent incident wherein 1.5 kg gold -- stored beneath an aircraft's seat -- was seized.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on Friday to repeal the three farm laws has brought cheers to the agitating farmers' organisations.However, Anil Ghanwat, a farm leader from Maharashtra who was one of the three members of the Supreme Court appointed committee on farm laws earlier this year, has termed the decision as "unfortunate".
