Bill, Melinda Gates to review AIDS initiative in India

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Bill, Melinda Gates to review AIDS initiative in India

Indo-Asian News Service: New Delhi, December 5, 2005

Microsoft chief Bill Gates and his wife Melinda will land in New

Delhi on Tuesday for a four-day India visit that will also take him

to Bangalore and Chennai as he reviews the progress of his $200

million HIV/AIDS initiative in the country.

Besides reinforcing that India figures high on Microsoft's priority

list, Gates' fourth visit in two years will see him sharing his IT

vision as he interacts with key government officials in addition to

business leaders, academicians, industry associations and policy

makers.

" Gates' visit will focus further on realising India's IT potential, "

said Ravi Venkatesan, chairperson of Microsoft India.

The visit will coincide with a two-day meeting of Microsoft

Government Leaders Forum.

The summit, Leading in a Connected World, will bring together

government leaders from across the Asian region to discuss and

exchange experiences related to economic development, governance and

education.

It would examine the role IT and communication plays in achieving

success in these areas.

" India is very high on Microsoft's priorities. Equally important to

us is our effort towards enabling India's growth as an economic

superpower. We have made tremendous efforts in the past few years

towards this, " Venkatesan said.

Gates will deliver the closing address at the summit, according to

Microsoft India. He is also scheduled to visit Bangalore and Chennai

to meet some top Microsoft clients.

The scheduled Chennai visit, if it doesn't get cancelled because of

floods, will also see him interact with government and NGOs to

review the progress on efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.

" Microsoft India is not just the fastest growing subsidiary for

Microsoft but is one of the few subsidiaries where it has an end to

end presence of its entire business portfolio, " said Venkatesan.

The public engagements include a Confederation of Indian Industry

(CII) hosted CEO Forum here Wednesday and a Developers Forum in

Bangalore on Friday.

Away from the public glare, Gates will be spending time reviewing

the progress of Avahan (Call to action)- the $200 million grant

making initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that

supports programmes working to prevent the spread of HIV in India.

Most of the funding process has already been completed, a

spokesperson for the foundation said.

" There is likely to be some announcement about the progress on the

AIDS vaccine initiative also, " the spokesperson said.

Microsoft is supporting a range of programmes - Project Shiksha,

Project Bhasha, Project Jyoti and the unique customised solutions

for the Indian market - all geared towards creating a digitally

inclusive society

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