Bill Gates is expected to fund many projects in Karnataka
while his Windows goes the Kannada way.
Karnataka's
IT savvy Chief minister S M Krishna's long handshake
with Bill Gates on September 14, 2000 in New Delhi may
be an indication of the state's future alliance with Microsoft
Corporation.
S M Krishna, in his meeting with the richest man on earth, which
lasted for half-an-hour, gave Bill Gates a preview of Karnataka's
mega projects involving mega investments. Lead by the Chief
Minister, the state delegation comprised the State Planning
Board Deputy Chariman Jairam Ramesh, IT Secretary Vivek
Kulkarni, among others.
The Chief Software Architect of MS was impressed with the state
government's initiatives on IT education and e-governance which
has been cited on its policy paper 'Maahiti'.
Kannada software development initiated
Gates showed keen interest in developing software in
Kannada
language, which is one of the state's projects. He also
assured the Chief Minister that his company would collaborate
with the government in promoting software in Kannada. The letter
codes of the computer script of Kannada language are specific
to the software developer and with so many such developers,
Kannada documents are having compatibility problems. When this
abnormality was explained to Gates along with the steps taken
by the government to combat the same, he was convinced about
the need for incorporating Kannada in Windows (Gates
recalled his company's efforts in helping the Chinese government
develop software in Mandarin, which is one of the toughest languages).
IT Secretary Vivek Kulkarni, who would be deputed for
Kannada software development, is expected to visit the US-based
MS office in this regard.
Mega buck to flow into India
Bill Gates'
visit would bring fifty million USD (Rs 225 crore) investment
into India in the coming three years.
Ten million USD (Rs 45 crore) would go towards philanthrophy.
State hopes for strategic alliance with MS, requests funding
of following projects.
Computer education for five thousand schools in
state.
Setting up of 15-kilometre Biotech corridor off Bellary
Road and an Institute of Biotechnology. The institute
is expected to have centres for agricultural biotechnology,
human genetics and bio-informatics.
Setting up a centre in e-governance that would
enable IT to serve in the public domain.
To establish learning centres in engineering colleges.
(The first and the last two projects are expected to be
funded under 250 million USD and 15 million USD of Gates'
Foundation respectively.)
Gates-Wipro alliance
Impressed with Wipro's unique positioning as the
top most systems integrator, Bill Gates discussed Wipro's
partnership with his futuristic technology .NET.
Their partnership would develop .NET strategies for platforms,
products and related services. Gates spelled out these initiatives
in his meeting with Wipro's Chariman Azim Premji and
Vivek Paul, Vice Chairman of the company. Wipro uses
both Microsoft's and its own tools for serving various clientele.
The Chief Minister, S M Krishna, extended an invitation
to Gates to visit Karnataka when he comes to India next
time. Gates is expecting Karnataka to set up anti-piracy
law. In this regard, the Chief Minister and Infosys' Chariman
Narayana Murthy assured him of a strict law against
piracy and police action. They also guaranteed that Karnataka
would emerge as the first piracy-free state in India.
Karnataka is setting up a committee under the presidentship
of the state home minister to formulate anti-piracy laws.
Karnataka's
IT savvy Chief minister S M Krishna's long handshake
with Bill Gates on September 14, 2000 in New Delhi may
be an indication of the state's future alliance with Microsoft
Corporation.
ada
language, which is one of the state's projects. He also
assured the Chief Minister that his company would collaborate
with the government in promoting software in Kannada. The letter
codes of the computer script of Kannada language are specific
to the software developer and with so many such developers,
Kannada documents are having compatibility problems. When this
abnormality was explained to Gates along with the steps taken
by the government to combat the same, he was convinced about
the need for incorporating Kannada in Windows (Gates
recalled his company's efforts in helping the Chinese government
develop software in Mandarin, which is one of the toughest languages).
IT Secretary Vivek Kulkarni, who would be deputed for
Kannada software development, is expected to visit the US-based
MS office in this regard.
