The simplest refrigerator — please come to India

Using some of the more basic principles of physics, a grassroots inventor in Nigeria named Mohammed Bah Abba developed a way to refrigerate items simply by using two different sized clay pots. Malapati Sekhar on the Rural Development of India blog explains how this invention, called the Zeer, works:
The pot-in-pot consists of two earthenware pots [...]

Digital Green: ICT and a Participatory Framework

SciDev.Net brings attention to Digital Green, a project that uses digital video to disseminate information to small and marginal farmers in India. Recently, Digital Green won the culture category in the Stockholm Challenge Awards. According to its website, the project originated from Microsoft’s research team in India. Working with GREEN Foundation, the project is explained [...]

Thumbs up, thumbs down

A thoroughly inspiring story reminding us that the most important examples of innovation occur where we least expect them to.
Farmers who visit Amai Mahalinga Naik’s two-acre plot on the hilltop near Adyanadka in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka return spellbound. Irrigated farming at this height is very surprising. This 58-year-old illiterate farm labourer has developed [...]

Pragati April 2008: Give them their freedom

In March we wrote on this magazine’s March issue on the Gujurati Model. Well, the April version of Pragati has been released with a focus on farmers in India. Click on the image below to download the issue in .pdf format.

[Source: Atanu Dey]

Late Night Edition

Headlines:

Mumbai’s Quantum Equity Advisors Launch $500 Million Infrastructure Fund

Mumbai based investment firm Quantum Equity Advisors has launched a $500 million private equity fund focused on infrastructure in India. The fund christened - Q India Fund - will focus on investments in infrastructure projects and companies in India. The country needs about $500 billion up to [...]

Midday Newsfeed: Government focus

Here are some stories on government efforts to help stimulate positive change:

Dialysis centres to tackle shortage

The health ministry is planning to open standalone dialysis centres across the country, much like pathological labs, where patients can undergo the life-saving procedure at a minimal rate.

In the land of Blyth Tragopan

Khonoma, a Naga village and a site for [...]

Infosys to help farmers with supply chain management

 From Watblog.com

The solution, basically a supply chain management system (SCM), streamlines the supply of primarily fruits and vegetables from the farmers to the retailers, known in India as Mandis. The application takes care of a lot of aspects ranging from profiling of farmer clusters, scheduling, tracking, and traceability.