An Indian subsidiary of the global computer software giant, Microsoft Corporation, has launched a new language package using the Punjabi script.

A spokesman for the company, Microsoft India, said the software package was expected to play a key role in making information technology available to prospective users in rural Punjab where English is not widely spoken.

The users would be able to browse applications like web-page designing, data-basing, accounting, word-processing, as well as navigate internet and e-mail.

The state chief minister, Prakash Singh Badal, said the programme would soon be extended to every government-run school in Punjab.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service