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The Citi Foundation Helps India Prepare to Be World’s Youngest Population By 2020
Last year, Prime Minister Modi of India launched an ambitious project that aims to train over 400 million young people in different skills by 2022. The initiative is called ‘Skill India’, with the tagline - 'Kaushal Bharat, Kushal Bharat', which means ‘Skilled India, Successful India.’ Today, every third person in an Indian city is a youth. In about four years, the average-aged person will be 29 years old and very likely a city-dweller, making India the youngest country in the world by then. India is set to experience a dynamic transformation as the population burden of the past turns into a demographic dividend, but the benefits will be tempered with social and regional inequalities.
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Over 70% of Accounts Opened Under India’s Jan Dhan Financial Inclusion Drive Are Now Active
More than seven out of every 10 bank accounts opened for the unbanked, mainly for direct transfer of benefits, are seeing transactions, data showed.
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NexThought Monday – What Stands Between Women and Full Financial Inclusion?
Opening a bank account – as more than 200 million people have done since India's financial inclusion push – is an important first step toward empowerment. But simply having an account is not enough; many women in India own bank accounts but lack full freedom to use them.
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Is more funding the answer to Pakistan’s struggling microfinance sector?
Microfinance is a booming industry in neighbouring India and Bangladesh, but has had a slower rise in Pakistan.
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Weekly Roundup: Ending India’s Economic Caste Calcification and Gates Superpowers
The cultural, religious, racial and political implications of India’s complex caste system continue to roil many parts of the country. This week saw protests in Haryana State that killed 19 people people and crippled parts of New Delhi’s water supply. But many voices called for a new economic future, we echo them in the weekly roundup. Plus, why the Gateses took off their capes and encouraged #SuperPowerForGood in their annual letter.
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The ‘Bank Of Bill Gates’ Enters a New Era
Bill Gates doesn’t like to dither. Just seven years after his philanthropic Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation cofounded an organization committed to the financial inclusion of the world’s 2.5 billion unbanked people, it now stands on its own, independent of any government and self-reliant for core funding.
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The Hard Facts on ‘Soft Data’: Determining risk for loan applicants without credit scores is more than a numbers game
Research has shown that judging creditworthiness based on a single number can shortchange lenders as well as borrowers, and that a more comprehensive picture based on “soft information” as well as numbers can serve as a firmer basis for judging risk of default. This is good news for small borrowers – and it represents a promising new direction for those seeking to lend to them.
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Microfinance Clients Make Their Voices Heard: New research reveals their thoughts on how they’re treated by providers
The Smart Campaign has released the results from its Client Voices project, a four-country research investigation that directly asked clients about their experiences with financial providers and their thoughts on what constitutes good and bad treatment. The project features research from Georgia, Peru, Benin and Pakistan, based on face-to-face conversations with thousands of lower-income microfinance clients.
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