NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

’Financial Inclusion a Must for Poverty Alleviation’

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India has said concerns on the front of income distribution and poverty alleviation cannot be met without full-scale expansion of banking and other financial services. RBI deputy governor KC Chakrabarty said while the Indian growth story was impressive, there were concerns on issues like income distribution and poverty alleviation , where lot remained to be done. Mr Chakrabarty pointed out that India ranks 119th among 169 countries on the 2010 Human D...

Source

The Economic Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Serving the Bottom of the Pyramid

Business is brisk for Dheeraj Singh, a small kirana shop owner in Delhi’s Govindpuri area. He stocks a host of brands offered by the Indian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in categories such as hair oil, shampoo, biscuit, fairness cream and tea, among many others. But he offers most of these products in their smallest pack sizes costing between Rs1 and Rs10. This just works fine for Savitri, a regular customer at the store employed as domestic staff in a flat nearby. She...

Source

livemint.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Tags

poverty alleviation

USAID to Invest $30m in Nepal

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday (March 29) launched its Nepal Economic, Agriculture and Trade (NEAT) project for improving business competitiveness, food security and microfinance to foster economic growth of the country. The two-and-a-half-year project will help the private sector in improving the country’s foundations for rapid, sustained and inclusive private sector-led economic growth, the USAID said organising an interaction here. NEAT ...

Source

Asia News Network (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Poor Still Benefit When Microcredit Reaps Megaprofits

IS it right to profit from the poor? This question has sparked a civil war in the business of microcredit - making small loans to the poor in developing countries - and badly tarnished the image of what had been seen as a rare success story in the fight against global poverty. Who wins this battle about how best to deliver aid could determine whether hundreds of millions of people get the chance to escape abject poverty. The controversy began last year when reports emerged that farmers ...

Source

The Australian (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Nobel Laureate Loses Last Legal Battle to Save Job at Bank

NEW DELHI - Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate and microfinance pioneer who popularized the notion of giving tiny loans to the poor, lost his legal battle on Tuesday to hold on to his job as managing director of the bank he created more than 30 years ago. ...

Source

The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

The Ross School and the Confederation of Indian Industry Sign a Memorandum in Honor of CK Prahalad

Delhi, India - The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ross School of Business signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Delhi April 1 confirming their intent to collaborate as strategic partners. The MOU will bring together two very unique efforts. It will support CII’s India@75 initiative and the Ross School’s C.K. Prahalad Initiative. The MOU was signed by Robert J. Dolan, dean of the Ross School, and Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of CII. The two organi...

Source

Ross School of Business News and Media (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

IFC To Invest $30M In Dunar Foods

International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to invest $30 million through a mix of equity and debt in Karnal-headquartered Dunar Foods that is in the business of procurement, processing and supply of basmati rice. It will co-invest with another undisclosed private equity fund that is expected to bring in a separate $10 million for the Haryana-based, privately held rice company. Dunar Foods owns two production facilities - one in Karnal (Haryana) and the other in Amritsar, Punjab (comm...

Source

VCCircle (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

English in Action: Mobile Learning in Bangladesh

In her role as the Content Producer for the SOCAP conference series, Amy Benziger has the opportunity to interview innovators from around the world on how they are changing the landscape of social enterprise. For this installment of Mobile Message, she interviews Sara Chamberlain, project director for BBC Janala , an initiative based in Bangladesh that incorporates on-screen English tutoring through a ...

Source

National Geographic (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia