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Ujjivan Financial Services Clinches Single Largest Funding Deal in India’s Microfinance Sector
UK's Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), private equity investors CX Partners, Newquest and a unit of Bajaj Group are leading a Rs 600-crore investment in Ujjivan Financial Services, clinching the single largest funding deal in India's microfinance sector, sources directly familiar with the matter said.
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- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Postal Bank Wins Government Backing in India
The government is looking to take the legislative route by next month to finalise the setting up of the Postal Bank of India and will soon approach the RBI to consider the postal department's application for a banking licence.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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E-Wallets catching on in India
In a rush to board a train in time, Shivani Bhargava, a 19-year-old Delhi University student from Mumbai, ends up in a tight spot after she forgets her wallet at home. After getting down at the station in Delhi, she has to book a cab and reach her hostel at the earliest, but doesn’t have the cash or cards to do so. Enter Meru Cabs’ ‘cab wallet’. All she does is tap her mobile app and, voila, the payment is made. “Not only did I reach my hostel safely, but I also got a 30% discount,” says Bhargava.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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What Alibaba Is Getting With Its $575 Million Investment In Paytm
Alibaba Group and its financial-services affiliate Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group’s planned $575 million investment in the online-payment and marketplace businesses of India’s One97 Communications called Paytm will be the Chinese company’s first major investment in India’s fast-growing e-commerce industry. A deal between the two companies will open the floodgates for large amount of cross-border trade between India and China. Here’s what you need to know about Paytm.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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The Real Magic of Carpets: Transforming 28,000 Lives With $200
One man’s idea to double salaries and let artisans work from home has created a positive ripple effect across five states in India.
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- Impact Assessment
- Region
- South Asia
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Capitalism Begins at Home
Joseph Schumpeter argued that the miracle of capitalism lies in democratising wealth. Elizabeth I owned silk stockings, he observed, but the “capitalist achievement” does not lie in “providing more silk stockings for queens but in bringing them within reach of factory girls.” In most areas of life this miracle has been working magnificently: in America the number of hours of work that it takes to buy a car, or a wardrobe full of clothes, has halved in the past generation. But in three big areas it has singularly failed to operate: health care, education and housing.
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- Education
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Weavers Turn Silk Into Diabetes Test Strips
It's a new way to do silk screening, that's for sure. Bangalore-based Achira Labs has figured out a way to hand weave diabetes test strips from silk. That sounds pretty luxurious compared to the standard materials of plastic or paper. But silk turns out to have several advantages in a country like India, where weavers who can work a handloom are abundant and the material is readily available and inexpensive.
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- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Tailor-Made Vaccine Set to Banish Africa’s Meningitis Epidemics
The website of a global partnership formed to wipe out deadly meningitis epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa is closing down with a simple message: "Thank you and goodbye!".
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa