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No Distance Left to Run: India Post Shutters the Traditional Money Order Service
As Bob Dylan would croak, “oh the times they are-a changing”. India Post is quietly retiring its traditional money order service which facilitated pan-India door-delivery of funds to a payee from over 155,000 post offices, reports IANS. Shikha Mathur Kumar, the deputy director general for finance confirmed to the publication and added that India Post will be pushing the electronic money orders (eMO) and instant money orders (iMO).
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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How to Stop Worrying and Love the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
China launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in October of 2014 and has met with nothing but opposition from the United States. Officially, the objection cited by the United States is a lack of clarity about AIIB’s governance, as well as concerns about whether the AIIB will adhere to strict environmental and labor standards in its operations. It is clear, however, that U.S. opposition also derives from fears that the AIIB — spearheaded by China and part of China’s “New Silk Road” strategy — will diminish U.S. leadership in the region.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Reserve Bank of India to Hike Limits for Priority Sector Lending, Allow Inter-Bank Bond Investments
Indian banking regulator has proposed to hike the eligibility criteria to classify a loan as priority sector lending (PSL) which is expected to particularly boost microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the country.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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Here Are Nine Ways to Deal With Delhi’s Air Pollution—But You May Not Be Able to Afford Any of Them
Delhi’s air pollution hit new highs last winter, giving the city, at least briefly, the worst air quality readings of any place on earth.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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10 Impact Investors in India That You Should Know
Out of the total 1.3 billion population in India, around 80 per cent are living in poverty. There are some companies in India — both in the tech and no-tech segments — helping this large segment to address various problems related to irrigation, lending, travel, education, etc., by providing cost-effective solutions. These impact ventures are getting financial assistance in the form of grants or funds from various investment firms, called Impact investors.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: Over 700 Million in Asia Already Bank Digitally
According to a new report from McKinsey & Company, smartphones and high speed Internet access are transforming banking habits in Asia where over 700 million people already regularly conduct transactions online.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Chinese Pharma: A Global Health Game Changer?
The twenty-first century shift in geoeconomic power toward Asia has also spurred a rebalancing in global pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) investment toward emerging economies. China is currently the world’s second-highest investor in R&D and is poised to overtake the United States in R&D spending by 2023. Determined to become a world leader in the pharmaceutical sector, China spent $1.17 billion on promoting life and medical sciences in 2012—nearly ten times its 2004 level of investment. With U.S. funding for medical research on the decline, the surge in Chinese funding has prompted many policymakers to ask if the country's pharmaceutical industry could be the next game changer for global public health and access to medicine (ATM).
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- research
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Indian Prime Minister Modi Asks Reserve Bank to Prepare 20-Year Financial Inclusion Roadmap
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a 20-year roadmap for deepening financial inclusion in the country.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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