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Gates, Buffet in India for philanthropic efforts

2011-03-24 16:10

NEW DELHI - Two of the world's richest men, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and legendary investor Warren Buffett, arrived in the Indian capital Thursday on a packed schedule focusing on their philanthropic efforts, reported the Indo-Asian News Service.

While Gates and his wife Melinda arrived here from Bihar in eastern India, where they reviewed the progress of their non- profit foundation's health initiatives, their mentor Buffett, on his maiden visit to India, landed from Bangalore after a series of meetings.

Their visits have one common thread: Getting India's rich to pledge a decent portion of their wealth toward philanthropy on the lines of what they have themselves done.

"We are not here to pressure anybody. Everybody has his or her own understanding of philanthropy," Buffett said in Bangalore Wednesday. "We will be talking to Indian billionaires about our philanthropic activities and find out what they are doing."

The two billionaires also have coined a phrase for this initiative -- Giving Pledge -- and hope to get a keen ear from not just the 50 Indians figuring in the latest world's rich list of Forbes magazine but other wealthy people as well.

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