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How Telecoms And The Indian Government Stop Net Neutrality in Its Tracks
Hidden under the guise of enabling the Indian population with faster and more reliable services, the major players in telecoms, such as Airtel and Reliance, have adopted new policies that could undermine the basic building blocks of Internet access in India.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: Contributory Social Security Schemes Launched Last Week in India Could Be Game Changers
The prime minister launched three welfare-enhancing pension and insurance schemes on May 9. In a country where less than 10 per cent of the population has insurance cover and almost nobody in the unorganised sector has a pension plan, these three schemes are expected to play a significant role in providing social security for the poor.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Uber Begins Testing Cash Payments in India
Uber today announced that it will begin testing a cash payments system in Hyderabad, India, marking a global first for the credit card-based mobile app. In a blog postpublished today, the company described the initiative as an "experiment" in a part of the world where many consumers prefer to pay for services in cash.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- transportation
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Monsoons Near, Nepal Focuses on Sanitation to Stem Illness After Quake
After years of intense effort, officials here in rural Sindhupalchok district had persuaded almost all of the nearly 61,000 households to each build a toilet. Then the earthquake struck, destroying most houses — and the very toilets that could have helped stave off the diseases that can run rampant after natural disasters.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Alibaba’s B2B Plan Could Change the World of Cross-Border Commerce
Alibaba is a huge fan of the B2B business model. The eCommerce conglomerate, which has overhauled China’s B2C online shopping industry, has launched several initiatives within the B2B market, including partnerships in other Asian economies to launch wholesale eCommerce services in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The company has also fostered B2B eCommerce startups through its competitionrecently held in Hong Kong to promote innovation and progress in the industry.
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- regulations
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Xiaomi’s Money Market Fund Rolls Out of Beta, to Take on Alibaba and Tencent
Like Baidu and Alibaba, Xiaomi is eyeing China’s finance industry and seeing dollar signs. Today the company is officially launching a money-market fund called Huoqibao inside a new standalone app called “Xiaomi Finance.”
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: India’s Financial Inclusion Schemes Are Fine, but Why Is the Government Not Addressing Banks’ Quality, Cost Concerns?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team at the NDA government deserve their due share of credit for initiating efforts to bring a large segment of India’s population to insurance, pension cover at cheaper cost, even as the Congress is crying foul of repacking old UPA ideas.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: India’s Chilling Crackdown on Charitable Organizations “Smacks of Political Payback”
The Ford Foundation is among the world’s best-known charitable organizations, dispensing billions of dollars globally for projects aimed at reducing poverty, fighting injustice, improving education and advancing democracy.
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- governance, philanthropy
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