Are the women who participate in Self Help Groups (SHGs) more socially, politically, and economically empowered than their counterparts?  How is “empowerment” defined or measured?  Can “empowerment” be attributed strictly to the savings and credit aspect of microfinance, or do more holistic, awareness-based initiatives (ie through SHGs) have a significant role to play as well?  [...]

Rural Supply Chain MokshaYug Access Gets $2 Million Funding from Unitus A rural supply chain firm MokshaYug Access (MYA) has received funding of Rs 8.35 crore ($2 million) from Unitus Equity Fund L P (UEF), an Unitus supported organisation to fund microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Asia and Latin America. The amount will go towards building [...]

In a report entitled, “India’s Malnourished Children: A Call for Reform and Action,” the World Bank warned that malnutrition is a problem with “dire consequences for morbidity, mortality, productivity and economic growth.”  According to a recent Reuters article, this is especially true in India, where millions of babies are born “underweight and then underfed during the [...]

From ProPoor.org: Operationalising Public Private Partnerships for Disaster Management Towards Resilient and Sustainability Goals 16 – 17 April 2008, Pragati Maidan New Delhi, India We are pleased to invite you to attend the Conference on Operationalising Public Private Partnerships for Disaster Management being held under the Auspices of National Disaster Management Authority of India (NDMA), [...]

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 [...]

In the words of Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator, activist, philosopher, and author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Self deprecation is … characteristic of the oppressed, which derives from their internalization of the opinion the oppressors hold of them.  So often do they hear that they are good for nothing, know nothing and are incapable of [...]

There is no doubt that the issues of migration and urbanization within India are wrought with controversy.  In the case of rural-urban migration, which is overwhelmingly the case, the impact on the social, economic, and psychological structure of villages and cities, both on a macro and micro level, is significant.  In my experience within the Adivasi, [...]

Headlines: Export Development Canada Invests $50 million in IDFC Infra Fund Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s export credit agency, is investing $50 million in an IDFC fund, which would be its single largest equity investment till date. EDC is investing in the proposed $1 billion infrastructure fund, which will provide Canadian companies to invest in [...]

In a largely critical piece on India’s development titled On the Road to Disaster in India in the World Politics Review, Parag Khanna paints a picture which questions the country’s rising status. Moreover, Khanna charges the government with a lack of planning that is leading to haphazard development. To get straight to the punchline: For [...]

A new study conducted by the Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto found that India is poised to lose around 10 lakh people in the next two years because of smoking in India alone. Several major policy implications may be in order, including a ban of smoking in public places, an [...]