I think Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft) was the first software techie business guy to make a huge fortune. That he and his wife, Melinda Gates, have used a significant part of that fortune for social work benefiting the poor of India and other countries, has been very heartening for a software techie like me who saw the rise & rise of Microsoft in the late 80s and 90s. I am very happy to see that India has honoured this, perhaps first software-fortune-philanthropist, and his wife, with the Padma Bhushan, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padma_Bhushan, for the social work they have done in India, http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-india-honours-bill-gates-with-civilian-award-2055859.
From http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Policy/Regional-Offices/Our-Work-in-India (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website):
"We began our work in India a decade ago with an initiative to curtail the spread of HIV. Since then, the scope of our work in India has expanded tremendously to include maternal and child health, health and nutrition services, vaccines and routine immunization, family planning, agricultural development, sanitation, and the control of infectious diseases."
From http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Policy/Regional-Offices/Our-Work-in-India (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website):
"We began our work in India a decade ago with an initiative to curtail the spread of HIV. Since then, the scope of our work in India has expanded tremendously to include maternal and child health, health and nutrition services, vaccines and routine immunization, family planning, agricultural development, sanitation, and the control of infectious diseases."
Really commendable! It is great to know that Govt is taking note of and recognizing some of the good social works done, regardless of who does it - Indian nationals or foreigners.
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