10 things from Narendra Modi's speech at San Jose

Modi used the opportunity to not just do an impromptu strap poll on his 16-month government's performance in India but also targeted his opponents in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his two-day visit to Silicon Valley with an hour-long address at a reception in San Jose. Addressing a crowd of over 18000 people largely comprising of the Indian community and many officials from the US government, Modi played to the gallery and enthralled the audience with witty one-liners and barbs at opponents like the Gandhi family back home. 

Here are top 10 things Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his one hour long speech at San Jose

1) I am coming to California after 25 years, seeing a lot of change. The people I have met here have the dream and determination to do something, to build something.  

2) India has changed. The world is forced to change the way it looks at India… The change was brought about by fingers on keyboards, that created a new identity for India.  

3) Why can’t the country run on mobile phones? Why can’t citizen rights be available on mobile phones? I am working on JAM. J - Jandhan Bank Account. A - Aadhar Card. M- Mobile governance.

4) I am often told to do something about brain-drain. The country is rich with smart gems, with new brains coming up every day. I think ‘brain drain’ can become ‘brain gain.’ I say it is not ‘brain drain’ but ‘brain deposit.’ The brains are looking for an opportunity to do something. It is now the time for people who are living outside India, to do something for the country.  

5) Someone makes 50 crores, someone else has made 100 crores, someone’s son makes 250 crores, daughter makes 500 crores, son-in-law makes 1,000 crores, a cousin has got a contract, another cousin has got a flat. Is there any allegation against me? 

6) 65% of the Indian population is below 35. There are 800 million young people in India today. The country will have to go forward. The ‘I’ in BRICs is becoming stronger every day. 

7) The World Bank, IMF, Moodys.  and credit rating agencies have been looking at India favorably over the last several months.  

8) I keep hearing why a poor country like ours needs to think of space or invest in technology. What was the necessity of the Mars mission?… It is technology that will enable a fisherman to know via satellite when to go fishing, and which areas may have more concentration of fish.  

9) E-governance is effective governance, e-governance is easy governance and e-governance is most economic governance.  

10) There are roughly 170 departments within the government where it is using space technology. We are using biometric identification to issue a single identity, and number to everyone in the country.