Good Sports: DONATING BILLIONS TO EDUCATION
It may be India’s biggest single donation ever. Azim Premji, chairman of tech company Wipro and India’s second-richest man, is giving $7.5 billion to his philanthropic foundation. The donation brings his total contributions to the Azim Premji Foundation to $21 billion over several years.
Premji, 73, has a net worth of more than $18 billion and was the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, a campaign to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
In his 2013 letter to the Giving Pledge, Premji emphasized his foundation’s goal to improve public school education in India. “I strongly believe that education is perhaps the most important social institution to empower individuals and shape a better society,” he wrote.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? Please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]
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