Bill Gates offers $700,000 for flood victims in Kashmir

American business tycoon and philanthropist Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Friday announced an emergency relief fund of $700,000 for the flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir.

The help came in response to a request from Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir.

The announcement was made by Gates when he called on Singh to discuss mutually shared areas of interest.

Singh and Gates talked about shared areas of focus, including the existing Memorandum of Understanding between the Foundation and the Department of Biotechnology/Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) for their Grand Challenges initiative.

The Foundation fosters scientific and technological innovation to solve key health problems in the developing world.

This initiative promotes Indian innovations in the areas such as sanitation and malnutrition, to help all children survive, thrive and reach their full potential, an official release said.

"I share the minister's belief in the power of technology to change the world and I applaud his commitment on harnessing the power of Indian innovation to save lives, through initiatives such as Reinvent The Toilet Challenge: India," Gates said.