Gates Plans Second Coming

There is no reason to lose heart for those who may not get to meet or see Bill Gates on his maiden visit to the country in the first week of March as he has promised to return again this year - and this time for a longer period.

For Bill Gates, with a personal worth of more than $20 billion, the Indian visit will be more than a business trip. Apparently his wife holds more than a cursory interest in the country.

The man with the Midas business touch also excels in public relations.

Gates had prime minister H D Deve Gowda totally charmed at Davos recently where he was effusive in his praise for the talent emerging from India s Silicon valley at Bangalore, which also happens to be the native town of the prime minister.

During his visit in March, Gates will be addressing a number of meetings in New Delhi and Mumbai where he will be sharing his vision on education and the countrys software industry.

Gates has also expressed a desire to visit Bangalore to find out how the city could produce the best software personnel.

Microsoft is looking for a joint venture partner in the country and will also set up software training centres. The exact dates of his visit is a classified information for security reasons, of course - but that has not stopped the Indian information companies from going into a tizzy. Most attempting to find out some association with Microsoft in events designed on the occasion.