> > Vijay Times, Bangalore,13th Dec05 > Bowing before strategic charities! > By Tarun Vijay > > MONEY matters but money is not life, neither does it bring culture. But Bill > Gates' India visit last week has made an impact that simply says money makes > everyone bow. > He met the Prime Minister, but the media chose to publish Manmohan Singh's > photos with his wife. He made a profitable investment but the leaders said he > has helped India and the charities. He had himself photographed with his wife, > chatting with "commercial sex workers" and with street children posing for > commercial photographers with tricolour in their hands, inaugurated a portal > on Hardwar, met certain chief ministers and gave interviews to certain leftist > journos obliging them for a lifetime. > It was as if a viceroy has visited the natives. > When an India is emerging out of its shell, her sons and daughters are making > big news all over because of their own capabilities, Bill Gates emerged. > We were overwhelmed with our own Narayana Murthys and Azim Premjis and Sania > and Irfan Pathan. Bill's billions tried to puncture that. Just because of the > moolah he promised? > Just think of the days when gora traders were here trying to promote their > tea. It was free and as a "courtesy". Every nook and corner had these tea > wallahs offering tea as a new drink, gratis. > Replace tea with Microsoft and you may understand that the billion-dollar > grant for health and all other purposes means. It's market hunting and > creation of new avenues for business, dear Indians. > Every penny that Bill Gates announces to spend for the hungry Indians is an > insult and an embarrassment for a citizen who has any sense of history and > future. > He sells his software and the packages that would help promote his business. > And for that, image counts. It's an image that tells he is seriously > interested to help India, to see that the downtrodden and the disadvantaged > are made upwardly mobile because of his dollars. > That's really demeaning for any citizen who thinks like a proud Indian. > I remember when Gates visited India during Vajpayee's regime, the Communists > had raised a big hue and cry saying he is coming under a CIA agenda that has > over-inflated AIDS cases in India and America wants India to be laboratory of > its AIDS vaccines. > When the same Gates visits us during a regime supported by the leftists there > is no article in the Peoples' Democracy doubting his intentions. Maybe that's > to be expected because of the duplicity of the Communists. > But it's disgusting to see the mainstream Indian media succumbing to the lure > of the dollar and publish full-length interviews with the Gateses and finding > it fit to frontpage Melinda's photos with our PM. > I wish there was one journalist with a spine to say, "Thank you Gates, we have > enough people and resources to combat health-related and other challenges on > our own. So sell your software somewhere else. > In fact Gates is a merciless trader. He wants to promote his software in the > face of a challenge, which is getting serious, because of his proven tactics. > That's the challenge from the Linux system. It says that all the software > should be free and the user should be allowed to change and modify it. The > expectation is that the user will return the changes to users as a repayment > of debt. Microsoft has been convicted by the US courts for monopolising and is > condemned all over for promoting business interests beyond the moral line. > Microsoft is a business while India needs free software. As they say free > software is a matter of liberty not price. > The Free Software Foundation (FSF), established in 1985, is dedicated to > promoting computer users' rights to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute > computer programmes. Microsoft is so fiercely opposed to it. > When Bill Gates visited Australia, people opposed his motives. Australian > Democrats IT spokesperson Brian Greig lashed out at Bill Gates over local > charity contributions which he announced as part of his visit to Australia. > According to Greig, the software tycoon's global philanthropy exercises carry > a hidden agenda to persuade beneficiary governments to reverse policies > promoting the use of open source software. > According to reports at the time, in addition to assistance from Gates' highly > publicised global vaccination programmes, Gates committed $100 million to help > combat AIDS in India. The remaining $400 million went into to expanding the > company's activities and 'improving computer literacy' in the country. > It's interesting to note that during the Microsoft chief's last visit, the > CPM's mouthpiece Peoples' Democracy had published an article under the > headline, "The Real American Interests In AIDS Scare" which asked: > "Are the CIA, some NGOs in India, and various US Foundations working in tandem > with some key officials in the Union Health Ministry to bring profits to MNC > pharmaceutical companies under the garb of an AIDS package to India and an > AIDS vaccine? Have AIDS figures in circulation been cooked up to cater to the > AIDS industry? And who cooked these figures? Is Bill Gates visit to India > designed to ward off stiff competition to Microsoft and to also sell his AIDS > package?" > Hence what Gates spends and promises in a country like India, we must take > with caution and try to retain our pride, if we have any. > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ------- > > Gates' visit was tactical > Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates' four-day visit was to ensure that > Microsoft remains in the race when all IT majors are scanning the Indian > market. The outcome was the announcement of Microsoft to invest $1.7 billion > in India. > The focus of Gates on "realising India's potential" sounds very tactical. > Indeed it is quite evident from the amount of charity work that Gates is doing > in India. > If the sole motive of Bill Gates' charity was to fight AIDS then why not > Africa which has some of the poorest countries of the world and where the > impact of the virus has been most severe? > It is India not Africa which has a vast pool of skilled and talented labour. > Apart from that, Indian government is encouraging Linux, an open source > operating system, which is one of the major threats to Microsoft Windows. > This is apparent as the government last year dropped a requirement that > companies doing business with it use Windows and has gone so far as to set up > an open source software development centre in Chennai. > Maharashtra runs some of its operations on servers using Linux, as does Andhra > Pradesh. In November, Canara Bank chose Linux to automate 1,000 branches > involving 11,000 computers. > A good businessman never underestimates his rival. Timely action was the need > of the hour and as a good businessman, Mr. Gates knows his needs. > His business motives aside, it would only be fair to agree that the employment > generated by Microsoft is a win-win situation for India and Microsoft. > And if the money allotted by Gates is used for the intended noble causes like > fighting AIDS without ending up in our politicians' pockets then half the > battle is won. > Manpreet Kaur, Bangalore >
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