Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, cricketer Rahul Dravid and Infosys chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy will now be promoting the cause of HIV as a part of the 22-member India AIDS initiative board of Bill and Mellinda Gates Foundation (BGMF).Making a beginning with $100 million grant made by Microsoft chief Bill Gates last November, the Gates Foundation will soon be rolling out its first national programme for HIV prevention by the first week of August. This was stated by Ashok Alexander, the BGMF director here on Monday.‘‘Formation of the board is a first step towards rolling of the initiative,’’ he said, adding that Rajat Gupta of McKinsey and J.V.R. Prasada Rao from the health ministry will co-chair the board.Other members of the board include Azim Premji of Wipro, Vindi Banga of Hindustan Lever Ltd, K.K. Abraham of INP+, D.S. Brar of Ranbaxy, Tarun Das of CII, Professor N.K. Ganguly of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and Meenaskshi Dutta Ghosh of NACO.Helene Gayle of BGMF (Seattle), Anand Grover of Lawyers Collective, Smarjit Jana of Care, journalist Bachi Karkaria, Sudha Murthy, chairman of IOC M.S. Ramachandran, Kapil Sibal, Suniti Solomon and Kenneth Wind -Andersen of UNAIDS are also a part of the board, he added.
