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The Technology to Unlock the Future of Villages
In 20 years of working as a physician in Karnataka’s Hassan district, Kumaraswamy N E often found himself irked by the blurred readings on the electrocardiography (ECG) machine. Often enough, it just broke down, which meant that the high cost of measuring heart activity had to be passed on to the patient...
- Region
- South Asia
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A Silver Lining in Pakistan’s Floods
With the devastating floods that began in July, Mother Nature has left an indelible imprint on Pakistan-its geography, its people, its national psyche. But it has also created an opportunity to change the destiny of millions of flood victims who traumatically lost their loved ones, homes, and livelihoods in mere days. This natural disaster may have given the country an opportunity to tackle a recurring point of contention in Pakistan-feudalism. Academics, journalists, and analysts have ...
- Region
- South Asia
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Sudan’s First SMS-Powered Voting Monitor Tracks Violence
While Sudanese vote about the fate of South Sudan’s independence, one Sudan-born Texan supports the voting process from afar with a historic mobile-powered monitoring tool. Fareed Zein came to the United States from Sudan in 1981 to pursue a college education in computer science. One of the lucky ones, his family could afford his departure and his education, and he left before civil war rattled his homeland. Zein now spends his time--outside of his day job in oil and gas in Ho...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tata?s Nano, the Car That Few Want to Buy
Though car sales have shot up across India, because of an economy that is growing at nearly 9 percent annually, sales of the Nano have been falling for the last four months. Its maker, Tata Motors , sold only 509 Nanos to its dealers in...
- Region
- South Asia
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16 Tycoons Agree to Give Away Fortunes
The billionaire founder of social network Facebook Inc. has agreed to give the majority of his wealth to charity, part of a broader group of rich entrepreneurs committing to philanthropy earlier in their lives. Mark Zuckerberg has signed onto the "Giving Pledge," which asks its signatories to commit publicly to give away the majority of their wealth. The 26-year-old is one of 16 billionaires new to the p...
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Rural Areas Face Challenges to Eradicate Extreme Poverty
Some 350 million people living in rural areas being lifted out of extreme poverty in the past decade, according to The Rural Poverty Report , published by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a United Nations (UN) agency. However, in spite of this, more than a billion people around the world still continue to suffer. The UN describes extreme poverty as living on less than $1.25 (80p) a...
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Thailand Post Wins Green Light to Lend
The cabinet yesterday approved a plan by Thailand Post to set up a subsidiary to provide microfinance services to low-income earners, using its nationwide post offices as a channel. Information and Communications Technology Minister Juti Krairiksh said that the subsidiary would have initial registered capital of 50 million baht and would extend loans as small as 10,000 baht each. He said that there are about 18 million low-income earners in the country who still have no access to ...
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- manufacturing
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Malaysian Minister Pledges Help for Ethnic Indians
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will initiate a slew of measures, including access to micro-credit facilities and skills training, to improve the economic condition of its 2.1 million ethnic Indians, a senior minister said Wednesday. Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam said the citizenship and welfare issues of the Indian community would be resolved by the end of next year. He said the cabinet committee’s special task force has identified 20 areas in the country with a high c...
- Region
- South Asia
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