According to a presentation by Cornell University Economics Professor Ravi Kanbur, India is only a few years away from becoming ineligible to receive funds from the World Bank’s International Development Association– the bank’s fund for the poorest countries. In essence, India’s per capita income has risen above the maximum threshold to receive money from the [...]

When I heard that Gautam Ivatury of CGAP would be at NYU’s “From Innovation to Impact” Conference, I thought it would be a great time to follow up with my previous interview with him.  While he did not have time to talk today, we are going to schedule a follow up soon.  Nevertheless, I was [...]

Last month, we posted about the expansion of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to all districts in India starting on April 1. Even though the government chose to expand this program, the scheme has its share of pros and cons. A recent article in The Economist highlights the strengths of NREGA as its [...]

The Economist is accepting nominations for their 2008 Innovation Awards. Nominations are welcome until April 7, 2008 in seven different categories, including “Social and economic innovation.” More details, including the criteria for selection, can be found here.

Over the past three years, the Indian economy has surged at an average rate of 9% per year, thereby bolstering India’s image as a formidable economic force on the global stage.  However, in order to sustain both economic growth and human development, the Economist, in its latest issue entitled, “What’s Holding India Back?”, contends that India [...]

Looks like mobile banking has hit the critical mass where bureaucrats feel the need to regulate it: RBI Executive Director R B Barman said this week that a central bank committee is examining the regulatory challenges raised by mobile banking. The committee is expected to report recommendations next month, leading next to RBI drafting the [...]

The Economist had an article today on the challenges that emerging economies face with making initial adoptions of new technologies widespread. While it is easy to overly simplify the phenomenon that is technology transfer to the developing world by glossing over mobile phone stats or internet users, the harsh reality is that much of these [...]