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Nokia Launches Its Cheapest Phone Yet for Emerging Markets
Nokia has unveiled the 1280, a mobile phone for emerging markets that is 20 percent cheaper than its predecessor, the 1202. The unsubsidized cost of the 1280 is €20 (US$30), which makes it Nokia’s cheapest mobile phone yet, according to a Nokia blog post . But the prize squeeze won’t end there: The concept of a €5 mobile phone doesn’t seem s...
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- South Asia
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Western Union Tapping the Fortune
Money transfer company Western Union believes in tapping fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. The company is tying up with microfinance institutions (MFIs) and e-governance service providers to facilitate financial inclusion. This marks a shift in its India game plan, to offer money transfer services through MFIs besides its current portfolio of India Post network, banks, retail and finance agents. The Nasdaq-listed company has tied up with e-governance and I...
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- South Asia
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Indian Firms Shift Focus to the Poor
Indian companies, long dependent on hand-me-down technology from developed nations, are becoming cutting-edge innovators as they target one of the world’s last untapped markets: the poor. India’s many engineers, whose best-known role is to help Western companies expand or cut costs, are now turning their attention to the purchasing potential of the nation’s own 1.1-billion population. The trend that surfaced when Tata Motors’ tiny $2,200 car, the Nano, hi...
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- South Asia
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Tata Power Links with MCX to Empower Farmers
As a part of its strategy, to take the benefits of the future’s trading to farmers’ doorstep and reach out to every corner of India, The Tata Power Company Ltd, India’s largest Integrated Power Utility signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), India’s leading commodity exchange. Through this alliance, the benefit of the future price information will be spread to more than 2000 farmers across 25 villages of Maharashtra where Tata Po...
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- South Asia
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Water Purifier Players Battle for Every Drop
It’s said the next world war will be fought for water. While this frightening scenario — a global battle between nations for the precious resource — is strictly hypothetical in proportions, a skirmish over water has already erupted in India. No, not the disputed Cauvery water nor the water sharing between India and its neighbours, but between brands in the water purifier market. And it’s between market leader Eureka Forbes (EFL) and Hindustan Unilever which has been fo...
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- South Asia
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Investors Back Social Initiatives in India
Bangalore: When Pune-based sanitation services provider Saraplast Pvt. Ltd started hunting for funds late last year, it was confident of attracting investors. The company had all its documents in place, a three-year track record of profits and a business model that it thought could be scaled up. However, Saraplast was baffled when investors indicated that they did not think its business of operating portable toilets was a business at all, even in a country where 55% of the populati...
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- South Asia
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SKS at the Crossroads
By Shloka Nath On a rainy afternoon at a five-star hotel in suburban Mumbai, Vikram Akula is making a fervent pitch to a group of potential investors in the enterprise he founded, SKS Microfinance (SKS). Akula and SKS chief executive Suresh Gurumani take turns at the mike to impress on the rainmakers the advantages of investing in SKS, well on its way to becoming the world’s biggest microlender. While their purpose is the same, the two men present a study in contrast. Akula,...
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- South Asia
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IDE India Featured on PBS
NewsHour correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on how India is trying to feed its growing population while maintaining the environment. Watch the full video: ...
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- South Asia
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