South Asia.

Share a story idea here (link opens in a new window)
  • SKS Microfinance Should Present Themselves as a Business, Not as Do-gooders: Vinod Khosla

    In one of the toughest environments to raise money, Vinod Khosla recently closed a $1.05-billion fund and promised to use most of this cash to back startups that he believes will change the way the world consumes energy. Since 2004, when he started Khosla Ventures, the Sun Microsystems co-founder has displayed almost messianic zeal in his quest to find alternative energy companies that can disp...

    Source
    The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
  • A Spring of Hope

    India has over six million blind people and over 50 million malnourished children. It also has one of the highest rates of maternal deaths at childbirth in the world. Just some statistics that highlight the shortcomings of the healthcare sector in the world’s second most populous nation. But there is hope in the form of some private ventures that are addressing these problems and are establishing global standards for cost, quality and delivery. In the first of our three-part series on sus...

    Source
    Business Standard (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
  • India?s Innovation Stimulus

    By Thomas Friedman THE world hit seven billion people last week, and I think I met half of them on the road from New Delhi to Agra here in India. They were on foot, on bicycle, on motor scooters. They were in pickups, dented cars and crammed into motorized rickshaws. They were dodging monkeys and camels and cows. Somehow, though, without benefit of police or stoplights, this flow of humanity that is modern India impossibly went about its business. But just when your mind tells you that ...

    Source
    The New York Times (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
  • Indian Companies’ Embrace of Shared Value Project Will Boost Inclusivity

    India is a country of stark contrasts. In recent decades, the sub-continent has experienced a rapid rate of economic growth, and has risen to become a key player in the G20. However, this stands in stark contrast to the fact that India still ranks 119 out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index. Widespread poverty, ill health and malnutrition are but a few of the critical issues that still plague hundreds of millions of India’s citizens. Inclusive growth, ie ensuring that In...

    Source
    Guardian.co.uk (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
  • Mobiles Can Save India?s Poor Women

    India ranks 122 out of 138 nations in the United Nations Development Programme’s gender equality index-and for good reason. Only 65% of Indian women are literate, compared with nearly 83% men. A third of the married Indian women are underweight. Maternal mortality rate is high (450 per 100,000 live births) in part due to inadequate antenatal care coverage. Women now account for 39% of HIV infections, and awareness of prevention and treatment still lags. Can any technological or comm...

    Source
    livemint.com (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
  • PepsiCo Gves $8M to Support Access to Clean Water in India

    PepsiCo Foundation is donating $8 million to support access to clean water in India, the food and beverage company announced Thursday. Water is a critical environmental and social issue as billions of people worldwide currently lack access to safe water for drinking and sanitation needs. A growing population, cli...

    Source
    The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
  • Research by JNU Shows Inequality Has Increased in Both Rural & Urban Areas

    NEW DELHI: Poverty in India has fallen at twice the rate since 2004-05 as compared with the previous decade, says a study by two professors of Delhi’s Jawarharlal Nehru University . The average annual decline in poverty rose to 4.3% in the six years from 2004-05, as against 2.1% between 1993-94 and 2003-04, ...

    Source
    The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
  • 60,000 of India?s Rural Women Entrepreneurs Get a Boost

    A partnership between International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Utkarsh Microfinance, a start-up based in Uttar Pradesh, India has helped 60, 000 women in rural parts of northern India have access to finance and increased credit. IFC’s $550 000 investment has helped Utkarsh expand access to financial services for women entrepreneurs in rural parts of India. With IFC’s help, Utkarsh is instituting practices that avoid over-indebtedness, encour...

    Source
    Microfinance Focus (link opens in a new window)
    Region
    South Asia
The Best of NextBillion in Your Inbox Each Week!
Subscribe to NB Notes for news, jobs & on-the-ground insights from the world of emerging markets business.
No Thanks
Thank you for signing up to receive the NextBillion Notes newsletter.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.
×
×