FOSTER CITY, Calif.--March 15, 2001    iMahal (www.imahal.com), the Portal for Success and Learning, today announced a strategic partnership with Bantu, Inc., a leading provider of Web-based instant communications solutions. This partnership gives iMahal customers a portable Instant Messenger, one that can be used anywhere without the need for a large download and long setup. Through this partnership, iMahal becomes one of the first international portals to offer web-based instant messaging.

The Bantu solution provides a multi-lingual, Java-based instant messenger that allows users to communicate with other iMahal Messenger users, as well as users of Bantu, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, and MSN Messenger on Windows, Macintosh, and Unix, all through a web browser. Because it is programmed using Java, there's nothing to download or install, so iMahal customers can use it anywhere.

“Through partnerships similar to this one with Bantu, iMahal continues to make it easier for the iMahal community to reach each other and to learn from each other,” said Lokesh Datta, Chief Executive Officer, iMahal. “By combining this community service with our other offerings, such as free email, bulletin boards, and our unique career advice column, Dear Mentor:, we continue to add value to the lives of our customers. And we like that; it's what iMahal exists to do."

For more information on the iMahal Instant Messenger, visit:

http://www.imahal.com/messenger

iMahal offers: the largest, most comprehensive and proprietary education resource on the Web, providing coverage for the USA, Canada, UK, and India; a comprehensive career development resource, including the proprietary and authoritative iMahal Jobsite Ratings; and such powerful features as up-to-the-minute news in 250+ categories, free email, interviews with successful individuals around the world, advice column on education and careers, the largest proprietary Indian directory, worldwide directory, Web search, discussion forums, and so on.

iMahal complements these services of universal appeal with another powerful dimension: that of being India-centric. Specialized targeted services, such as the largest, proprietary India-centric web directory, are offered to over 1 billion Indians around the world.

Unlike other look-alike portals, iMahal has been designed from the ground up to be both beautiful and easy to use. iMahal has a rather distinguished, uncluttered look & feel - projecting an elegant blend of the East and West. Navigation around the iMahal portal is rather impressive as well. The user is almost always one click away from wherever the user wants to be.

All in all, iMahal is a unique portal: for its focus, its content, its look & feel, and its navigation.

For more information visit: www.imahal.com

About Bantu
Bantu ( from the Swahili word for "The People") is a leading provider of presence-based, platform independent, instant communications technology for enterprise application software and services providers. Bantu's flagship product, Bantu Messenger, is the first hosted instant messaging application that easily integrates into software applications and services, enhancing their competitiveness. Based on patent-pending techniques, Bantu Messenger combines simple-to-use functionality with secure, interoperable technology. It is the only thin-client messenger that is easy to implement and customize, multilingual, and firewall friendly. Bantu Messenger interoperates with other IM Networks, including MSN, Yahoo! and ICQ. Bantu, Inc., is based in Washington, D.C., and boasts an impressive customer list including Sprint, SAIC, Texas Instruments, SageMaker, Canoe.com, and Click2Asia.

For more information visit: www.bantu.com

CONTACT:
Joe Judge
650/357-0000
communications@imahal.com
http://www.imahal.com

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