Crowd-puller Modi at it again, Nobel laureate Michael Levitt to attend PM's Silicon Valley event

Washington: Nobel laureate Michael Levitt has said that he will attend the Silicon Valley community reception for Prime Minster Narendra Modi during his upcoming visit to the US next week.

"I am so excited about this event. As a fan of so many aspects of Indian life and culture, it will be a distinct pleasure to hear Prime Minister Modi's address," Levitt said on Wednesday.

Levitt won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for "the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems".

"Extending my own experiences in discovering something significant through research, I would say that problem solving starts with inquisitive mind, selection of problem, intuition, and hard work. I am sure Modi is up to this challenge," Levitt said.

68-year-old Levitt, professor of structural biology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, will be one of the distinguished guests attending the SAP center event, said Khanderao Kand, convener of the Indo-American Community of West Coast, the organiser of the mega event.

He is one of the first to apply computers to biology, resulting in a research that led to delineating the precise molecular structures of biological molecules for which he won the prize.

Modi will be on a visit to Ireland and the US from September 23 to 29 during which he will address the UN General Assembly and also visit Google headquarters in the Silicon Valley. He will address a community reception by Indian-Americans in Silicon Valley on September 27.

Meanwhile, a group of Indian American entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley welcomed the scheduled visit of Modi and supported his ambitious Digital India program.

"It is exciting to see Prime Minister Modi driving initiatives like Digital India or Make in India. Making technology accessible is the first step to empower and engage users ultimately transforming the way business will be done in India. Prime Minister Modi's vision presents us with a great opportunity," said Vineet Jain, CEO and Co-founder at Egnyte.

"Modi's vision for a Digital India has the power to empower every Indian in a way that integrates their unique perspectives into a whole while setting each Indian free to pursue their destiny and untethering the power of a billion people," said Manish Chandra founder and CEO of Poshmark.

"I am very excited by Modi's leadership of India, both in focusing on systematic changes in India and in building brand India across the globe," said Anita Manwani, VP Global Sourcing at Agilent Technology.

Modi is a person who "really is self-less" and believes in the wellbeing on the common man, said prominent Indian American businesswoman Vinita Gupta.

There is an "excitement" in the Silicon Valley on his visit and his vision for India, she said in a video posted on the website of Indo American community of West Coast.