‘Heartbroken’ and ‘devastated’ Google, Microsoft CEOs assure India help amidst COVID-19 crisis
Indian-American tech giant bosses, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and his Microsoft counterpart Satya Nadella have come forward and assured help to India as the second deadly wave of the COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the country.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai and his Microsoft counterpart Satya Nadella on Monday took to micro-blogging site Twitter to assure their support to India, as the country battles the second deadly wave of COVID-19. Both the Indian-American tech bosses grew up in India, Sundar in Chennai and Satya in Hyderabad.
“Devastated to see the worsening Covid crisis in India,” Sundar Pichai tweeted while adding that Google and its employees are providing Rs 135 crore in funding to the UNICEF and Give India, an Indian non-profit organisation. The donation will go towards procuring medical supplies, in supporting high-risk communities, and for grants to help spread critical information about the deadly virus.
Satya Nadella tweeted that he was “heartbroken by the current situation in India” and expressed his gratitude to the US government for extending its support to India.
Microsoft will continue to use its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts, and support the purchase of critical oxygen concentration devices, he said.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris assured India of all assistance, including urgently sending necessary medical life-saving supplies and equipment.
"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," Joe Biden tweeted.
India finds itself in the middle of what is perhaps the worst crisis post-partition. The US, the UK, France, and Germany have all offered support to India, as it struggles to contain the spread of the virus. Daily infections have crossed 3 lakh per day, with the total death toll at 1.95 lakh.
The total number of infections in the country so far stands at 1.73 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has "shaken the country".