The tech giant also sponsored over 100,000 Google Career Certificate sponsorships in collaboration with the Nasscom Foundation and Tata Strive…reports Asian Lite News
India taking over the G20 Presidency will be an amazing opportunity to build consensus on strengthening the global economy by advancing an internet that is open, connected, secure and works for everyone, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said.
Pichai, who received the Padma Bhushan, India’s highest civilian honour, from India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, in San Francisco, said that it is incredibly meaningful to be honoured in this way “by the country that shaped me”.
“India is a part of me. I carry it with me wherever I go. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure I had opportunities to explore my interests,” Pichai said in a blog post.
He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ vision has certainly been an accelerator, “and I’m proud that Google continues to invest in India, partnering with governments, businesses and communities over two transformative decades”.
Google recently announced to invest $10 billion in India’s digital future, working to enable more affordable internet access, building products for India’s unique needs, helping businesses of all sizes in their digital transformation, and using AI to tackle big societal challenges.
“We’re also investing deeply in digital skilling and have trained over 1 million women through our WomenWill Entrepreneurship Program and over 55,000 teachers in partnership with the government and local organisations,” said Pichai.
The tech giant also sponsored over 100,000 Google Career Certificate sponsorships in collaboration with the Nasscom Foundation and Tata Strive.
“Earlier this year, we added 24 new languages to Google Translate using a new advancement in machine learning. Eight of them are languages native to India,” said Pichai.
‘I carry India wherever I go’
Pichai has once again reiterated that India is an integral part of him and he was fortunate to grow up in a family in the country that cherished learning and knowledge.
“India is a part of me. I carry it with me wherever I go. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure I had opportunities to explore my interests,” Pichai said.
He expressed his thoughts after receiving the Padma Bhushan, India’s highest civilian honour, from India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, in San Francisco.
Pichai, who was born in Madurai and grew up in Chennai, in 2021 also said that India is deeply rooted in him and a big part of who he is.
In an earlier interview with the BBC, he said that “I’m an American citizen but India is deeply within me. So it’s a big part of who I am”.
During his earlier visit to India, he had admitted he used to bunk classes during his engineering days at IIT Kharagpur. Pichai completed B.Tech in metallurgical engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1993.
Pichai’s mother, Lakshmi, was a stenographer and his father, Regunatha Pichai, was an electrical engineer at GEC, the British conglomerate.
His father also had a manufacturing plant that produced electrical components.
Pichai completed schooling in Jawahar Vidyalaya Senior Secondary School in Ashok Nagar, Chennai and completed the Class 12 from Vana Vani school at IIT Madras.
Moving to the US, he attained an MS from Stanford University in materials science and engineering and further attained an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Pichai was selected to become the next CEO of Google on August 10, 2015. He was appointed to the Alphabet Board of Directors in 2017.
In December 2019, Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped down and Pichai also took over as parent company Alphabet’s CEO.