Microsoft India plans teacher training facility in Chennai

Chairman of Microsoft India Ravi Venkatesan today met Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa to discuss plans to launch a teacher training facility in Chennai and to popularise personal computers with Tamil software.

According to a release, Venkatesan was accompanied by a four-member team which included Rohit Shipstone, national sales manager-public sector, Aruna Ramanathan, lead programme manager, education programmes, Vipin Chandran, accounts manager, public sector and Nandu Pradha, director, public sector.

Venkatesan remarked that the teacher training facility at Chennai could help teachers adopt best techniques in imparting IT knowledge and practice to students in schools.

The chief minister in response indicated that this proposal could be taken forward so that IT education is made even more popular in the state's schools.

Venkatesan brought to the notice of the chief minister, the efforts undertaken by Microsoft to bring out Tamil language software, which he believed will enable widespread use of PCs.

He has also promised the support of Microsoft for the state's e-governance project "" rural access services through the internet (RASI). The chief minister's delegation included Lakshmi Pranesh, chief secretary and N Narayanan, development commissioner and prinicipal secretary.