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Bill Gates commits $21 mn on two IT projects

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has agreed to provide an assistance of one million dollar for the Media Lab Asia project by Government of India, besides extending $20 million for an e-learning initiative called "Shiksha".

Gates made the commitments during an hour-long meeting with Communications and IT Minister Pramod Mahajan in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The $20 million that Gates committed is spread over a period of three to five years, sources said.

Mahajan had earlier explained the purpose behind the Media Lab Asia project to Gates and expressed hope that with Microsoft extending assistance to it, more international funds would find way to the socio-economic project.

Media Lab Asia is the world's largest academic research program dedicated to bringing the benefits of new technologies to everyone, with a special focus on meeting the grand challenges in learning, health, and economic development. With core participation from MIT's renowned Media Laboratory, seed funding from the Government of India, and participation of more than a dozen leading technical and business universities, Media Lab Asia will focus on technologies that respond to the needs of the millions who require them most in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Under the "Shiksha" project, the Microsoft assistance of $20 million would involve training of 80,000 teachers along with 3.5 million students over the 3-5 year period.

The project would be coordinated by the department of information technology.

Gates and Mahajan also discussed telecom growth in the country in the last two years, government's efforts in tackling the digital divide and the community information centre projects in the North East, and e-governance, sources added.

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