National News
Google Extends Rs 135 Crore Aid in India's Fight Against COVID, Microsoft's Nadella Says "Heartbroken" Offers Help
Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday, promised to help India as the country continues to see a surge in COVID cases. India has the maximum number of COVID cases globally
New Delhi: Tech giant Google has announced Rs 135 crore aid to UNICEF and non-profit organisation GiveIndia to help India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Devastated to see the worsening Covid crisis in India," Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and its subsidiary, Google tweeted. He said that the money would be used towards buying "medical supplies, organisations supporting high-risk communities, and grants to help spread critical information."
Sundar Pichai is pledging Rs 5 crore in a personal capacity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
Also, Google has increased ad grants support by expanding additional Rs 112 crore to help local authorities and non-profits for more language coverage options. Over 900 ongoing Google employees have contributed Rs 3.7 crore for organisations supporting high-risk and marginalised communities.
For the past few months, Google is adding COVID-19 features to its core products, including Search. The COVID features in the search option can be accessed in English and eight languages.
Google says it will continue to improve localisation and highlight authoritative information. Read more
Pichai's counterpart in Microsoft Satya Nadela tweeted, "I am heartbroken by the current situation in India. I'm grateful the U.S. government is mobilizing to help. Microsoft will continue to use its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts, and support the purchase of critical oxygen concentration devices."
Both Pichai and Nadela are of Indian origin and heads the world's leading tech companies.
Along with Pichai and Nadella, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris has assured India of all assistance, including urgently sending necessary medical life-saving supplies and equipment.
Biden tweeted, "Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need."
India has witnessed a new highest single-day spike in the cases of the novel coronavirus as a deadly second wave sweeps the country. India reported 3.52 lakh new cases and 2,812 COVID-induced fatalities, taking the total active caseload in the country to 28.07 lakh cases. So far, there have been 1.95 lakh COVID-induced deaths from across the nation. The fresh surge in the cases of this deadly infectious disease takes the total tally of cases to 1.73 crores. Today marks the fifth consecutive day that India reported over 3 lakh cases on a daily basis. A staggering 10 lakh cases have been reported in the last 72 hours.