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Viewpoint: Don’t write off India’s payments banks
The withdrawal of three licencees should not be read as a doomsday omen for the idea and underlying rationale. It is too early to write off a well-intentioned idea that puts change and innovation before incumbency. Rather, these withdrawals should be seen as signaling the need for introspection and course-correction to adapt to the fast-changing, competitive landscape of India’s banking and payments sector.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Time for India to be innovator nation in bio-pharmaceuticals: Expert
India has a "strong potential" to become a hub for biopharmaceutical innovation and the time has come for it to emerge as an innovator nation in this sector, a top industry leader has said. Observing India's potential, Michael Rosenblatt, executive vice president of Merck & Co, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, said yesterday that India can play a "leading role" in collaborative research in biopharmaceutics.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- innovation
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U.S. Tech Giants Flock to Africa to Compete for Digital’s “Final Frontier”
Not so long ago, Big Business saw Africa as a charity case. Much of the investment by multinational corporations across the continent was geared more toward burnishing corporate sustainability programs—building schools, planting trees, offering occasional internships—than gearing up for future growth.
Today the picture has changed radically. In the past few years, U.S. technology companies have begun to invest heavily in Africa.- Categories
- Investing, Technology
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Cashless in India: 50 days’ journey of a fintech professional
Are you sure you want to do this? Richa, my wife asked as I shared my idea to undertake an experiment in which I will stop using cash and instead use only digital forms of payment. Colleagues said going cashless in India is difficult and that I wouldn’t be able to manage more than a week. All this and the fundamental question “As a believer in digitization of cash, am I just propagating the theory or do I really understand the consumer side of story?” With this started the quest to understand “Cashlessness” first hand.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Hepatitis C drugs remain unaffordable in many countries, says WHO study
In the latest effort to quantify the burden of expensive medicines, a new study found that the cost of two widely used hepatitis C treatments remains out of reach for people in many poor countries and poses a “financial and ethical dilemma” for payers and doctors. The study found that if a patient paid for treatment out of pocket, the cost of a full course of Sovaldi alone would equal one year or more of average earnings for people in 12 countries.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- public health
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Entrepreneur building up Cambodia with ‘Lego-like’ bricks
A Cambodian social entrepreneur has won plaudits for his "My Dream Home" project, which aims to provide affordable and environmentally-friendly housing solutions to the country's poor.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: Socially Responsible Investing Is Getting Less Attention Than It Deserves
Over half of consumers believe it’s important to take SRI and impact investing convictions into account when investing. Yet only 24 percent of c-suite executives who attended the most recent Tiburon CEO Summit personally make SRI investments.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- impact investing
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Savings & Loans firms battle identity crisis in Ghana
Savings and loans companies in the country have appealed to the Bank of Ghana to consider creating a new identity for the industry, as the image of their business has been severely battered as a consequence of the troubles in the microfinance sector.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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