First ever National Conference of Rural BPOs

Byrraju Foundation (a philanthropic foundation founded by Satyam head B. Ramalinga Raju and his family in 2001), is organizing India’s first National Conference of Rural BPOs named ‘Jyotismay’. The conference is to be held on 16th May, 2008 in Hyderabad, and you can register to participate in the conference through this link. It is [...]

TC-I Tidbits

Your daily dose of headlines:

Technology: Trak.in reports that a DesiWiki will help Indian start ups to increase their knowledge base on the technical aspects of starting a new venture.
Education: In order to encourage students to stay in school, the government approved a merit scholarship that will award deserving students of lower income sections with Rs [...]

Vikram Akula of SKS Microfinance Touts Mobile Banking as the Future of Microfinance

In a recent interview with IndiaKnowledge@Wharton, Vikram Akula of SKS Microfinance touted mobile banking (conventionally used for “performing balance checks, account transactions, payments etc. via a mobile device such as a mobile phone” as the future of microfinance, but cited India’s regulatory environment as a significant limiting factor in expanding mobile banking networks (click here [...]

[TC-I Changemaker]: CGAP’s Gautam Ivatury on the linkage between technology and financial empowerment of the poor

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, Vinay sat down (over the phone) [...]

TED | Talks | Hector Ruiz: The power to connect the world (video)

AMD, the only real competitor to Intel’s effective monopoly on microprocessors, has established an ambitious initiative to provide internet access to 50% of the world by 2015. Here is the video of Hector Ruiz, AMD’s CEO, on the project titled 50×15.
from www.ted.com posted with vodpod

Cellphone Company + Fertilizer Company = Cool Idea

IFFCO Kisan Sanchar (IKSL) is a unique partnership between India’s largest mobile operator, Airtel and Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO). According to the brief on iGovernment:
IFFCO Kisan Sanchar (IKSL), would be focusing on communication requirement of rural India, besides providing agriculture related information to enable villagers take right farming decisionsIKSL will offer handsets, co-branded SIM [...]

TC-I Tidbits

Your daily dose of headlines:

Science & Tech: The Indian government has successfully launched 10 satellites simultaneously to significantly expand its presence in space.
Women’s Rights: PM Singh asked local officials to fight the killing of female children by parents, and also turned to the health ministry to develop a grassroots effort to combat this trend.
Education & [...]

Reliance Rural Mobile Application Contest 2007 - 08 Deadline April 30th

From now own, competitions like these will be included in a once a week post on Thursdays that compile any opportunities relevant to our readers in an easy to find post. However, given that the Reliance Rural Mobile Application Contest’s deadline will have passed before we had the opportunity to post on it, we wanted [...]

Bridging the Digital Divide: More Than Tomorrow Project

Editors Note: Guest Blogger Marshall J. Krinitz is the founder of More Than Tomorrow Project, which has successfully established two computer learning centers in the state of Himachal Pradesh. We here at TC-I were quite thrilled by their work and invited Marshall to write us a guest post.
Many developing nations are aggressively pursuing strategies [...]

Cellphones and (Rural) Development, Part Two

The agricultural sector employs 2/3 of India’s population, and contributes to 1/3 of its gross domestic product (GDP) - yet, Indian farmers in rural communities are plagued by debt, falling commodity prices, changing weather patterns, fluctuating demands in the global market, and failing crops. In regions such as Vidarbha, farmer suicides are endemic, to [...]

TC-I Tidbits

In 65 days, 70% of Gujarat’s villages will be linked with Broadband connectivity, promised Chief Minister Narendra Modi[via iGovernment]. Lets see if he comes through. He cant fool us here at TC-I, our correspondent Prerna is in Ahmedabad as we speak. Staying with promises, the Chhattisgarh government proposed to electrify 79 villages using Solar Energy [...]

ISTE Conference and Student Essay Competition on Rural Technology

From Let Me Know, here is a conference and essay competition on “Technology For Rural India: Challenges and Perspectives.” The conference will focus on the following:
In celebration of the ISTE Day 2008, the Delhi Section of the Indian Society of Technical Education (ISTE) is hosting a conference on “Technology for Rural India: Challenges and Perspectives”. [...]

Interview with India’s Rural BPO Guru

Its been almost three years since Businessworld India published a feature on Rural BPO, writing about a company called Lason. Lason had just just set up its first rural BPO unit in Kizhanur village, 50 km from Chennai. The unit was the brainchild of Pradeep Nevatia, then managing director of Lason India, a subsidiary of [...]

IBM and Rural India Make a Connection, Literally.

As a follow-up to previous posts relating to the role of mobile technology as an enabling factor in the development of rural India, IBM has recently launched a pilot project in south India that will allow rural communities to access information ranging from healthcare service providers to potential markets for finished goods through a toll-free [...]

Making the Impossible Possible: GE develops portable, affordable EKG

Brought to our attention by Technology, Health & Development Blog by Aman is a story of technological innovation at its finest. The challenge was to create an affordable, portable electorkardiogram (EKG) that helps doctors assess various heart ailments, particularly acute heart attacks and strokes. The original story can be found in Business Week. Here is [...]