The Makings of the “Indian Dream”

The Business Standard features an intriguing anecdotal story about salt pan workers in Gujarat who now run their own company within the industry. Twenty-seven salt pan workers joined hands and efforts to form their own private company, called Sabras.
These workers hold 65 per cent stake in equity and are planning to raise it to 74 [...]

Vote in the Global Water Challenge

The Global Water Challenge, a competition put on by Ashoka Changemakers, is taking votes right now on their selected finalists. Titled “Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis,” voting for the projects is open until Sunday, May 11.
Ashoka’s Changemakers and Global Water Challenge have partnered to open a worldwide search for ideas and [...]

TC-I Tidbits

Your daily dose of headlines:

Health: India continues to have the world’s highest number of polio cases this year, with the disease having crippled more children till April than it did during the same period in 2007. [Source: Times of India]
Children: In a unique lobbying effort, more than 100 ex-child laborers knocked on the doors of [...]

TC-I Tidbits

Here is the daily dose of headlines:

Water supply: In Chennai, city officials have made it mandatory that buildings connected to the main water supply install meters to measure consumption.
Government transparency: The Central Information Commission (CIC) will now require political parties to make their income tax returns available to the public. Sending the exact opposite message, [...]

Eco-Wise: Braving New Frontiers in Waste Management

Waste management is a significant challenge for India, specifically in urban areas, where the accumulation of trash leads to the prevalence of preventable diseases in poor, underprivileged populations. In order to address this issue, change is required on both a systemic and individual level, as the cause of the problem is rooted not only in [...]

Studying the Right to Information

Google.org is supporting a study focused on the Right to Information Act as part of their Inform and Empower Initiative. From their blog:
To help us better understand how to make the Right to Information (RTI) more effective in India, we are delighted that Shekhar Singh who is an active member of the people’s movement for [...]

[TC-I Changemakers] A book for every child — the mission for Pratham Books

The ThinkChange India staff is committed to providing our readers with interviews with people we believe are at the brink of something special but have for the most part been overlooked by the mainstream media. Readers will be able to see other conversations under our TC-I Changemakers tab.
This week we had the opportunity to [...]

TC-I Tidbits

Today’s news seemed light, but here are some highlighted stories:

Government: The Centre is contemplating the implementation of real-time population data recording starting in 2011 in lieu of the decennial census. They are also considering the passage of a bill that would forbid sexual harassment of women in the workplace. In Delhi, calls for public transportation [...]

Op-Ed: Should SKS Microfinance go Public?

A recent article on www.sramanamitra.com postulates that SKS Microfinance, which offers “several microfinance options to the poor in India for a variety of businesses from agriculture and livestock purchase to basket weaving and photography,” and has to date “provided over $550 million in microcredit,” will most likely follow Compartamos’ model and go public. According [...]

Jagriti Yatra

The online registration for Jagriti Yatra, an annual train journey to awaken the entrpreneurial spirt of youth ages 18-25, is now available. The program takes about 400 selected Indian youth around the country on a sixteen day trip to introduce them to entrepreneurs and ideas. The program will take place from December 24, 2008 to [...]

TC-I Tidbits

Here is your daily dose of headlines about innovative or anti-innovative ideas from around the country:

Microfinance

ACCESS Development Services and Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development will work to build cooperation between Europe and India to assist 20 MFIs in the country.
SKS Microfinance and Bajaj Allianz will form a partnership to provide clients with insurance [...]

Headlines Digest

Food Shortage Crisis: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said that the country has sufficient food to feed the people and that prices should reflect that soon. Sending conflicting signals, PM Singh may call a meeting with Chief Ministers on controlling prices. Shockingly, another article highlighted the extremely high amount of crops wasted annually — RS [...]

NGO helps HIV positive women reintegrate into the workforce

One of the most effective ways in ensuring that individuals maintain a decent standard of life is to provide them with the necessary tools to establish independence and self-sufficiency in their lives. Sanmitra aims to do just that by helping women that are HIV positive reenter the mainstream workforce. The NGO also targets sex workers [...]

Job Opening: Community Resource Consultant, ACS

The American Cancer Society is looking for a US student to act as a Consultant and spend 10 weeks in Ahmedabad, India conducting an assessment of resources available to assist cancer patients with varied needs during their cancer journey, map available resource against the cancer patient needs and highlight gaps. The job is paid and [...]

Midday Newsfeed

Technology: Although it is a hub for information technology, India is only #50 on the world’s most networked economies list, partly due to its poor ICT infrastructure.
Health: According to a survey, in the next decade, one in 20 female deaths in India between the ages 30 to 69 will be caused by smoking. (Source: India [...]