Google CEO Sundar Pichai during an interactive session at IIT Kharagpur, Jan. 5. (Swapan Mahapatra/PTI)

Admitting that he used to bunk classes during his engineering days at IIT Kharagpur, a candid Google CEO Sundar Pichai talks to fellow IITians at IIT Kharagpur. Siliconeer wishes all readers a very happy new year. – @Siliconeer #Siliconeer #SiliconeerEditorial #Demonetisation #Demonetization #SundarPichai  #Google #IIT #IITKharagpur #MSDhoni #OmPuri #IEEE #IEEEComputerSociety #BHIM #NaMo #DigiDhan #DigitalIndia #DigitalPay #DigitalMoney #IndianAmerican #RoKhanna #AmiBera #KamalaHarris #RajaKrishnamoorthi #PramilaJayapal #SiliconeerEditorialJanuary2017 #India #IndianCulture #narendramodi @namo #namo

Admitting that he used to bunk classes during his engineering days at IIT Kharagpur, a candid Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed surprise to find young IITians aiming to get into IIMs even as he stressed on the importance of getting real world experience. “There is a lot of pressure to follow a set of rules throughout your career (in India). When you are in high school you think of college. I get very surprised that people get into the IITs and immediately they are thinking about IIMs and so on. It is so important to get real world experience,” Pichai said at an interactive session with IITians during his visit to the IIT Kharagpur campus, in West Bengal, Jan. 5. When asked by students, he said, “You can build for a global market from India.”

Come January 2017 and India is still struggling with hardships caused by the inefficient implementation process of demonetization of higher denomination currency, put in place since the evening of November 8, 2016. As the deadline for exchange of notes came to an end, Dec. 30, banks ended up with almost 97% of demonetized currency notes returned during the period. This translates into a neat Rs.14.97 trillion or $220 billion. If this information that finds mention in a Bloomberg report and as claimed to have “sourced from bank officials” is accurate then it puts to question the entire rigmarole that the nation has been made to go through, writes Priyanka Bhardwaj.

I follow cricket, which is not saying much in India, as everybody does. Timing an exit, as M.S. Dhoni has done, is important, writes Siddharth Srivastava.

In a bid to further push adoption of e-payments in the country, Prime Minister Modi launched an indigenous digital payments app ‘BHIM,’ Dec. 30, that will enable fast and secure cashless transactions using mobile phones in India.

A record five Indian Americans took oath as members of the U.S. Congress, Jan. 4, scripting history for the minority ethnic community that comprises just one percent of America’s population, writes Lalit K. Jha.

IEEE Computer Society has reported its predictions for the top tech trends for 2017, and looks ahead to the next five years for the important technology developments that will impact our lives by 2022, writes Dejan Milojicic.

For the first time, an Indian American woman has been elected as the new Mayor of Cupertino, globally known for being the technology capital of Silicon Valley, and Apple headquarters, writes Lalit K. Jha.

Om Puri’s sudden demise has sent shockwaves in the industry and among his fans. An actor of immense talent, Puri has left behind an impressive body of work in Indian cinema, Hollywood, European movies as well as television. We revisit some of those performances by the veteran actor, which will remain etched in the minds of cinema lovers forever.

Siliconeer wishes all readers a very happy and prosperous new year!