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Howdy Modi Summit in Houston leads to Spike in Number of Online Searches reveals SEMrush study
MUMBAI: After winning the last election in the biggest landslide in Indian electoral history, PM Narendra Modi’s popularity hasn’t yet peaked globally shows a recent SEMrush study. Though everyone in India knows PM Modi, his popularity globally is still on the ascent. The Indian PM was welcomed at the Howdy Modi summit in Houston organized by his fans in the Indian American community. The Howdy Modi summit was held on September 22nd, 2019 and that date, online searches for “Narendra Modi” and “PM Modi” spiked 346% and 725% respectively.
No doubt many in America took to Google to learn more about Narendra Modi, the SEMrush study captured this well. Of course, Indians searched for him as well. The sentiment expressed on Twitter was overwhelmingly positive. From September 15th-25th the SEMrush study showed that 66.37% of the sentiment expressed online about PM Narendra Modi had positive connotations and 18.42% of sentiment had neutral connotations. Only 15.22% of online sentiment about PM Modi during the same period had negative connotations.
Emojis shared in tweets that had the words PM Modi and Narendra Modi during the mentioned period radiated positive sentiments. In tweets that used the words PM Modi and Narendra Modi, the most common emoji was a birthday cake; it was used a total of 4,865 times. The second most common emoji was one every Indian recognises, the folded “Namaste”; it was used a total of 4,858 times. The third most common emoji was a human face bursting with laughter with tears of joy falling from each closed-eye. The fourth most common emoji was a bouquet of flowers.
Hashtags such as #howdymodi, #happybdaypmmodi, #watch, #happybirthdaynaredramod, #modi, #modiinhouston, #modiinusa were used a total of 12824, 3736, 2474, 2391, 1933, 1824, and 1750 times respectively. As PM Modi’s birthday is on 17th September, it’s understandable why #happybdaymodi and emojis with birthday cakes were used, Indian Americans wanted to wish the Indian PM a belated happy birthday. Twitter handles where PM Modi was mentioned most included that of American president Donald Trump who, calling the Indian PM a friend let him know he would be with him during the Howdy Modi summit in Houston. Engagement on the American Presidents tweet to PM Modi stood at 134982. Tweets by Indian politicians and Bollywood stars congratulating PM Modi during the Howdy Modi summit enjoyed considerable engagement as well.
Speaking about the rising global popularity of PM Narendra Modi Mr. Fernando Angulo, Head of Communications, SEMrush, said "No Indian PM ever has enjoyed the huge popularity in India and overseas that Narendra Modi does today. While Narendra Modi’s popularity in India is understandable his popularity in the US and other foreign countries is unprecedented for an Indian politician. His popularity in the land of the free and close friendship with Donald Trump is all the more remarkable considering that just over a decade ago he was denied a US visa. Today he’s welcomed in America as a great friend and global leader, that’s statesmanship.
He further added, I believe that our study captures the evolving global political landscape in which the popularity of national leaders isn’t confined to their own countries; rather great leaders today win admirers among the masses even in countries whose interests they aren’t elected to represent”.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
