MICROSOFT FOUNDER, WILLIAM GATES, THE world’s richest man, and the U.S. Ambassador in New Delhi, Robert Blackwill, were accused by Indian health minister Shatrughan Sinha of “spreading panic” among the general public by talking about dramatic increases in HIV/AIDS cases. Officially, New Delhi insists only 4 million people have the virus, but other estimates claim India already has 5-8 million cases. No sooner did Gates arrive in New Delhi on November 11, on an official visit representing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, that he announced an initial $100 million commitment to support an initiative to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS in India, clearly showing that he came with a different mission.

However, his announcement has been overshadowed by a row caused by a U.S. report, which estimates that the number of people in India with HIV will multiply more than five times in the next decade. The very next day, Gates went on to announce a $400 million investment in India over three years, while presenting his vision for the coming decade which he dubbed as the “digital decade” and the most exciting of the times.

“The next decade will be a very exciting one,” Gates said, standing next to the Tablet PC—an advanced wireless computing device mixing the functionality of a laptop and personal digital assistant that will be launched in India next month in collaboration with local partners. The third day, he agreed to provide the assistance of $1 million for the Media Lab Asia project by the Government of India, besides extending $20 million for an e-learning initiative called “Shiksha.” The $20 million that Gates committed is spread over a period of three to five years, sources said.

“Coming to India is valuable to me for both business and personal reasons ... it's a place where I believe we can make substantive efforts to eradicate diseases and help develop the healthcare infrastructure in a way that benefits millions of people,” Gates said in an earlier interview with the Business Line newspaper.