Under the auspices of its ”e-gram” initiative, which intends to connect all villages through broadband, the Gujarat government has launched an e-medicine scheme for rural areas.  The objective of the scheme is to “offer online and telemedicine facilities to villagers,” specifically through the installation of web cameras and other infrastructure.  Said Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas: We [...]

Top posts from the past week: Prerna talked about the flourishing gay-lesbian scene in Bangalore She also touched on a new venture using rice husks for renewable energy Shital highlighted a few activities in India around World Environment Day Reaching into the archives: Vinay’s op-ed on microfinance and the “missing middle” provides a critical look [...]

What happens when a law is passed in a vacuum?  The answer: it doesn’t get implemented. What happens when the government throws rules and regulations at people, without giving them the tools to apply them, or without developing enforcement mechanisms to measure adherence?  The answer: nobody complies, and nobody cares. This is exactly what is [...]

Your daily dose of headlines: Agriculture: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in conjunction with academic institutions will begin providing district-specific agro-weather advisories to assist farmers in better managing their crops. Basic Rights: Amnesty International has called the administration of the death penalty in India as being caprcious and arbitrary. The report claims that no real [...]

June 5 marks World Environment Day, and India is also celebrating in innovative ways. Here are several stories of how people and organizations are marking this day: NDTV launched the first phase of its environmentally themed reality show, India’s Environmentalist: The show will present the journey of short listed candidates who will perform various time [...]

Here is a recap of the major investment activity in India’s social venture space and also traditional investment that will directly affect the poor: Social Chennai based Equitas will secure $12.5 million in funding from two private equity firms over the next few months. The organization intends to use the money to expand its branch [...]

Your daily dose of headlines: Energy: Four ultra mega (super duper?) power projects have been greenlit by the Indian government across the country. Education: Microsoft is investing $20 million in education initiatives in India over the next five years. Along with their current programs which focus on resources and training, the company will partner with [...]

Editor’s Note: Guest Blogger Jordan Bower is an intern at Indicorps, where he is promoting growth of Ultimate Frisbee in Ahmedabad as a means of inspiring leadership and community integration among local youth. The defining struggle with climate change is that we can’t have our cake and eat it too. The economic development boom currently [...]

In the latest edition of Pragati, the Indian National Interest Review, Ankit Rawal proposes a new approach to the public distribution of food and the use of microfinance institutions. Since the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India has its share of flaws and is not always able to meet the needs of the poorer families, [...]

India has been found to be particularly fertile ground for experimentation with renewable energy initiatives. The latest version of Ernst & Young’s “Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index” reaffirms this fact, ranking India as the third most attractive market for renewable energy investment: India’s rise to third overall … has been precipitated by excellent national and [...]