Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
International

Excited about Modi's Digital India plan: Facebook chief

Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Oct, 2014 06:36 AM
    Social networking site Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg Thursday said he is excited about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India programme and will discuss with him ways to connect the country's masses with the digital world.
     
    "I am meeting with Prime Minister Modi tomorrow (Friday). I am really excited about his Digital India campaign. We will be trying to work together for spreading the internet to the one billion Indians who are out of reach of the Internet," Zuckerberg told reporters on the sidelines of the Facebook summit organised here.
     
    "Facebook on its own cannot spread Internet accessibility. We require to work together with everyone, including the government and telecom operators to do so," he added.
     
    Zuckerberg, who is on his first visit to India, said he looks forward to Facebook helping the government in the Digital India programme.
     
    "I know that Prime Minister Modi is also committed to spreading the Internet. He is committed to connecting villages online and we are excited to see how Facebook can help," he said.
     
    India has about 243 million Internet users and 100 million plus Facebook users, he added.
     
    Zuckerberg said that he will be informing Modi about the Facebook initiative - 'internet.org' - which aims to make Internet access affordable for people across the globe.
     
    Focused on enabling access to the next five billion people still without Internet, the founding members of the project include Facebook, Ericsson, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung. The partners are collaborating on developing lower cost, higher quality smartphones and enlarging Internet access in poorly served communities.
     
    The initiative has succeeded in connecting 3 million people to the Internet.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Indian-American Billionaire Vinod Khosla Loses Battle To Keep Beach Private

    Indian-American Billionaire Vinod Khosla Loses Battle To Keep Beach Private
    San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach ruled Wednesday that Khosla, a billionaire venture capitalist, who was sued last year by the Surfrider Foundation, illegally blocked access to Martin's beach and must open it to the public.

    Indian-American Billionaire Vinod Khosla Loses Battle To Keep Beach Private

    Amidst crises galore, Modi, Obama to focus on defence, security

    Amidst crises galore, Modi, Obama to focus on defence, security
    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s summit meeting with President Barack Obama will have a strong focus on defence and security issues taking place as it does in the midst of a number of international crises, US officials say.

    Amidst crises galore, Modi, Obama to focus on defence, security

    Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif rakes up Kashmir issue at UN

    Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif rakes up Kashmir issue at UN
    Pakistan expectedly raked up the Kashmir issue Friday in the UN General Assembly, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying the "core issue" of Jammu and Kashmir has to be resolved and pushed for a plebiscite in the state. 

    Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif rakes up Kashmir issue at UN

    New Mexico dinosaur species has relatives in Canada

    New Mexico dinosaur species has relatives in Canada
    Ziapelta sanjuanensis, a newly discovered armoured dinosaur from New Mexico in the US has close ties to the dinosaurs of Alberta in Canada....

    New Mexico dinosaur species has relatives in Canada

    Modi-Obama summit can take ties to next level: US experts

    Modi-Obama summit can take ties to next level: US experts
    Several US policy experts, including a former key Clinton administration official, see the upcoming US visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an opportunity to...

    Modi-Obama summit can take ties to next level: US experts

    Arabic Twitterati cast US as an enemy: Study

    Arabic Twitterati cast US as an enemy: Study
    Researchers used Twitter as an instrument to measure public sentiment, in ways an opinion poll cannot, and revealed that millions of Arabic language tweets...

    Arabic Twitterati cast US as an enemy: Study