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Say Goodbye to Kerosene Lamps, Here’s Kiran!
Their mission is to bring light to millions of households that do not have access to electricity. Betting big on solar lighting products, Sam Goldman and his team have embarked on an enduring journey to remove darkness from the remotest corners of the world. Sam was moved by an unfortunate incident, while working as a US Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Benin between 2001 and 2005, which led him to focus on this segment. "My neighbour’s son ...
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- South Asia
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As Microfinance Grows in India, So Do Its Rivals
By Ketaki Gokhale Mahabubnagar, India The practice of making tiny loans to poor people, or microfinance, was supposed to help drive traditional village moneylenders from rural India. Instead, traditional moneylenders, who typically charge high interest rates, are thriving, even in areas most heavily targeted by microfi...
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- South Asia
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India Food Prices Climb 19.95%, the Most in 11 Years
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- India’s wholesale food prices rose at the fastest pace in eleven years, making it more likely that the central bank will raise borrowing costs to curb inflation. An index of food articles compiled by the commerce ministry increased 19.95 percent in the week ended Dec. 5 from a year earlier, following a 19.05 per...
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- South Asia
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Manipal BOP Centre Receives Rs 60 Lakh for Research
The Manipal - Philips BoP (Base of Pyramid) Centre has been granted access to a fund of 90,000 Euros, thanks to the European Union sponsored Manipal Centre for European Studies that was launched a few days ago at Manipal University. BOP deals with designing technology that can help people who live at the base of the pyramid -- a strata that indicates their poverty-ridden lives.Some of the projects that have been developed under ...
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- South Asia
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State Bank of Pakistan: Microfinance Role Vital to Alleviate Poverty
KARACHI - Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Salim Raza on Saturday said that microfinance banks/institutions have a key role to play in creating economic opportunities for the poorest sections of the society by broadening their outreach. Delivering a keynote address on “ Economic Empowerment for the Base of the Pyramid “ at the Acumen Community Gathering here, Mr. Raza said that the regulatory role develops infrastructure of service delivery, cross fertilizes from resea...
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Microfinance: Treading a Fine Line Between Financial and Social Objectives
According to the 2009 Microfinance India State of the Sector (MISS) Report, the microfinance industry’s client outreach has grown by 30% over the last year to 76.6 million and the total outstanding loan portfolio has grown by a staggering 56% to INR 359 Billion over the same period. The growing integration of the sector with the capital markets has led to an influx of funds from various channels and has accelerated the transition of the Indian Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) into mainstr...
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- South Asia
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Mudra Institute to Sow Power in Gujarat Farmers
Taking up an initiative to widen the scope of effective communication to the bottom of the pyramid of the Indian economy, the Mudra Institute of Communication Ahmedabad (MICA) has started conducting a research. The research called ’National Agricultural Innovation Project’ (NAIP) is funded by the World Bank. Professor Arbind Sinha and co-principal investigator ...
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- South Asia
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Tatas Add More Punch to Mass Push
“I am excited about Tata Swach because in my native village every house needs a water purifier as the water is contaminated,” says Dharmendra Jha, working in Patna. Jha’s aspiration is tied to the fortunes of the salt-to-software Tata Group, whose Tata Chemicals has priced at a market-beating Rs.749 the purifier that could make a dramatic difference in interior Bihar. “It is going to be a runaway success in rural Bihar as it won’t be consuming electri...
- Region
- South Asia
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