Mahajan meets Bill Gates

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Information Technology and Parliamentary

Affairs, Pramod Mahajan met Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates yesterday

and discussed wide-ranging issues.

At the outset, Mahajan appraised Gates of the IT initiatives taken by the

government in showcasing India to the world as an "IT investment

destination." Both Mahajan and Gates agreed that there was a convergence of

intent between the Ministry of Information Technology and Microsoft Corp for

taking "IT to the masses." Mahajan appraised the Microsoft chairman of

the steps being taken up by the government to promote IT among the masses and IT

education for the people in India. The basic thrust of the government, Mahajan

said, was to take IT to the rural areas and hence empower people. A key input

necessary for achieving this objective was to streamline and support IT in

educational institutions in rural areas.

The Minister, during the course of the discussions, also highlighted his

ministry's initiatives for the North-Eastern region in Information Technology.

The Microsoft chairman showed keen interest in this initiative and said

collaboration was possible between the Ministry of IT and his Corporation in the

above issue. Both Mahajan and Gates also discussed the possibility of

cooperation in the proposed Media Lab India Project. Gates agreed to cooperate

with technical inputs in the Media Lab India Project. Media Lab India is the

proposed joint venture between Ministry of Information Technology, the

Government of India and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, for

developing software. The proposed joint venture was discussed with MIT when

Mahajan visited the University early June.

During the meeting, the Minister also highlighted the salient features of the

IT Act which now provided the ideal platform for recognizing commerce over the

Net. Reference was also made to the recently enacted Semiconductor and

Integrated Circuit Layout Design Bill, 1999, which protected the Intellectual

Property Rights of the designees of semiconductor circuits.

The Microsoft chairman was also briefed on the telecom initiatives undertaken

by the government in recent months, especially the opening up of submarine

cables for international gateways by Internet Service Providers and the

privatization of national long distance service and the ISP segment. Mahajan

also focused on the following financial initiatives of the government to promote

the IT sector: Foreign investment of up to 100 per cent in all areas of IT;

foreign investment of up to 100 per cent in e-commerce; Employee Stock Option

Scheme for Indian software companies linked with ADR/GDR offerings and tax

holiday for STPI units for 10 years.