At Head Held High, trainees begin with the basics -- the English alphabet.
An Internet kiosk, video-based educational services, health diagnostic kits, etc can help change the face of rural India, says Ashok Jhunjhunwala.
'We want to make sustainability affordable.' 'We tell everyone, don't just recycle, Craste it!'
Despite the inherent attractiveness of the rural market for telecom operators various challenges still mar their entry.
'Just because of my background and poor academic qualifications, most people disbelieve what I have done.'
'Just the amount of work which is there just to become more and more successful in banking. For this to happen you need to have leaders who understand technology.'
The Congress general secretary also said if the country has to progress, the "two Indias" -- one of the affluent and the other of the poor and backward -- should become one.
The passage of the women's reservation bill has ignited hope among stakeholders about attaining gender equality in India's political landscape, especially at the policy-making level, even as some raised concerns over its effectiveness given the uncertainty in the deadline for its implementation.
Debit card payments remained sluggish due to the surge in digital transactions after the pandemic, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as the most popular mode of money transfer, particularly for small value transactions, according to RBI data. In July 2020, the total debit card spends stood at Rs 2.81 trillion, as compared to Rs 3.15 trillion in July 2023, reflecting a growth of 11.96 per cent. UPI spends have seen a whopping growth of 428 per cent, zooming from Rs 2.90 trillion to Rs 15.33 trillion during the same period, the data revealed.
In the three decades since reservation of seats for women in panchayati raj institutions was introduced, the country saw women dismantling gender barriers to take the lead in the political field at the grassroots level and excel in it.
Ramji Raghavan is using this principle to help village children from government schools enjoy science and maths. Indulekha Aravind reports
India's unemployment rate surged to a one-year high of 8.3 per cent in August as employment sequentially fell by 2 million to 394.6 million, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). During July, the unemployment rate was at 6.8 per cent and the employment was 397 million, the CMIE data added. "The urban unemployment rate is usually higher at about 8 per cent than the rural unemployment rate, which is usually around 7 per cent.
ITC, Godrej Agrovet, DCM Shriram and other companies expanding in rural areas may eclipse the growth of their urban counterparts, including Reliance Fresh and the Future Group-owned Food Bazaar chain, helped by higher farm income that is spurring a boom in sales of fast moving consumer goods, consumer durables and apparel.
Sustained rural poverty can't be eradicated without capacity building.
A task force led by Nandan Nilekani on Thursday suggested that 10 lakh business correspondents be appointed to ensure that social sector schemes' benefit reach the intended beneficiaries in about six lakh villages.
Villages in Maharashtra are gearing up for e-panchayats as rural people adopt new methodologies for rural development.
Mobile banking will soon reach Indian villagers as state govts tie up with banks, telecom companies to provide this facility to them.
As the co-founder of Comat Technologies, leading provider of e-governance solutions, Sriram Raghavan initiated the concept of rural business process outsourcing units and rural business centres.
Even the most backward sections of rural societies are seeking information.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal asked private telecom operators to replicate the success story of telecom revolution -- witnessed in urban India-- in rural areas as well.
India's overall retail inflation eased to 4.41 per cent in September, helped by falling commodity prices, but rural inflation was at 5.05 per cent
The Adani group has exited the financial services business by selling its entire 90 per cent stake in Adani Capital and Adani Housing to private equity (PE) firm Bain Capital for Rs 1,440 crore. The total valuation of the Adani financial services business stands at Rs 1,600 crore. Gaurav Gupta, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Adani firms will hold the rest of the stake.
The primary investment objective of the scheme is to generate consistent long-term returns by investing predominantly in equity & equity related instruments of "companies that are focusing on Rural India".
Uddhab Bharali is a serial innovator who has designed and prototyped around 85 devices for different purposes.
Chip maker Intel on Thursday announced it is developing a 'community PC' to meet the requirements of rural and farming communities in India and expects to launch it by the year end.
'Bharat has been leading, but it cannot carry India as the bulk of the sales come from India in terms of volume and profitability.'
The 6.7% growth in Index of Consumer Sentiments in July 2022 is the highest since September 2021, explains Mahesh Vyas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide election in 2014 raised hopes he would draw a line under India's socialist past, cut welfare and reduce the government's role in business.
Not only FMCG companies but even banks, auto, telecom and retail companies are finding it difficult to keep themselves away from the lure.
Workers moving out of agriculture to the rural labour force were largely getting absorbed in construction activities
BPOs can transform the face of rural India if they can retain even a small proportion of educated youth in villages.
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
'Markets are not expensive; they are fairly priced.'
Passenger vehicle retail sales in the country rose 40 per cent in June indicating an improvement in semiconductor supplies even as demand, especially for SUVs, remained robust, auto dealer' body FADA said on Tuesday. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), passenger vehicle (PV) registrations rose to 2,60,683 units last month, as compared to 1,85,998 units in June 2021, registering an increase of 40 per cent. "The PV segment continued to see robust growth. An increase in dispatches clearly shows that semiconductor availability is now getting easier," FADA president Vinkesh Gulati said in a statement.
A researcher from Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University found that the main income of Irula tribe of southeast India comes from catching rats.
The recent improvement in consumer sentiment is almost entirely a rural India story. Much of the corporate sector reposes faith in rural India to fuel its growth, observes Mahesh Vyas.
