Silicon Valley to give India's Modi 'rock star' treatment
A rare visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this weekend has captivated his extensive fan club in the area and commanded the attention of major U.S. technology companies eager to extend their reach into a promising overseas market.
Modi's government has raised privacy fears with a proposal that would have required Internet users to save unencrypted copies of their texts and posts on social networks, an idea that Wadhwa describes as a blunder conceived by lower-level bureaucrats in India.
Another group called "Sikhs For Justice" is offering $10,000 to anyone who confronts Modi with two questions about perceived threats to religious freedom in India during a "town hall" meeting scheduled Sunday morning at Facebook's Menlo Park, California, headquarters.
Event organizers now believe Modi might have been able to fill the nearly 70,000 seats at Levi's Stadium, which last month hosted sold-out concerts by pop singer Taylor Swift — one of only a few dozen people in the world who has amassed a bigger audience on Twitter and Facebook than Modi.
Facebook has already launched an effort to connect with lower-income Indians through Zuckerberg's Internet.org project, but that has met resistance from Indian groups who say the project favors the company's social network and other products over homegrown web services.
"Poverty is a massive problem in India and technology-based entrepreneurship can be an antidote," said Silicon Valley venture capitalist Venktesh Shukla, who also will be meeting with Modi on behalf of The Indus Entrepreneurs, a group that helps Indians form and launch startups.