Bill Gates Suggests U.S. Politicians Learn from Indian Leaders

"I wish the political leaders in the U.S. learn from the Indian political leaders," said a much-impressed Bill Gates on seeing ten Chief Ministers attending the Nassco-hosted summit on e-governance. The Chief Ministers from ten states: Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Utter Pradesh, Punjab, Madhaya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka were there to attend the summit and to invite Bill Gates to invest in their states. Mr. Gates assured assistance in the field of software applications focused on education, irrigation, agriculture and e-governance.

The world's richest man said he has never seen a country with so many IT savvy political leaders. He said U.S. political leaders are very slow to embrace technology and he is not too happy with them. It is the corporate sector in the U.S. that has been more responsive. Bill Gates praised India's software talent, educational system, government initiative and political leaders for their interest in information technology.

Microsoft announced worldwide strategic alliance with Indian company Infosys Technologies. The companies would jointly develop e-business solutions for the global market. Using .NET enterprise server platform from Microsoft, the joint venture will develop, promote and deliver a comprehensive portfolio of business solutions and enterprise solutions. Areas of focus will be customer relationship management, e-commerce, financial services, insurance and retail.

Bill Gates announced a $50 million investment over the next three years in Microsoft India Development Center based in Hyderabad. Microsoft is handing out more important projects to the Hyderabad center and is planning to triple the size. The center, situated in the Hi-Tech City, is working on a strategic technology area of the .NET platform and building a key product that will provide functional frameworks for the .NET platform.

Gates praised India's software talent, educational system, government initiative and political leaders for their interest in information technology. He expressed willingness to provide a $5 million grant to the Ministry of Information Technology for its rural education through an information technology initiative. Microsoft may also participate in the Media Lab-India to be set up by the Massachussets Institute of Technology and the Ministry of Information Technology.

Other initiative announcements are the setting up of a dedicated lab for its recently announced .NET strategy in Bangalore, launch of its India-specific portal www.msn.co.in and further strengthening of its ongoing relationship with partner Winpro.

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