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Only 48% of Indian Adults Have Access to Bank Accounts
Only 48 per cent of Indian adults have bank accounts and nearly half of them lie dormant, says a report. According to a nation-wide survey on financial behaviour, India has the highest account dormancy rate even more than countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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India’s Orissa Halts ‘Bicycle Pump Sterilisation Surgery’
An Indian state has halted mass sterilisations at health camps after a doctor was found using a bicycle pump to inflate women's abdomens.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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OPINION: Modi’s Financial Inclusion Scheme Is Not As Inclusive As You Might Have Thought
The government’s ambitious financial inclusion programme is about to get bigger. Last week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the target for new bank accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana had been revised from 7.5 crore to 10 crore by January 26, 2015.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Banks in India Charging 22% to 26% on Microloans to Poor Borrowers
When it comes to lending to the poor, it is not just the micro finance institutions that charge high interest rates, but even bulgebracket banks such as Axis Bank to YES Bank charge as much as 22% to 26% a year.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- microfinance
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MNCs Deprive India Of Vital Drugs Despite Getting Monopoly Rights
Some multinational companies (MNCs) have been delaying the launch of life-saving drugs in India years after getting monopoly rights, while cheaper generic versions of exorbitantly-priced medicines are going off the shelves under the product patenting law.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Reserve Bank of India Prohibits Airtel, Vodafone & Idea From Using Existing Channels for Payments Banks Business
The Reserve Bank of India's final rules on payments banks prohibit telecom operators from leveraging their nationwide retailer networks and channels if they enter the new business, but analysts say this is a good opportunity for mobile phone companies to add another revenue stream given their existing consumer connect.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Global Health Looks To BRAC and Gates Foundation for Mobile Money
Bangladesh is going digital. Not in smart watches, sensor-based clothing or electronic health records, but in money. Mobile money. Money, that according to BRAC and the Gates Foundation could improve the economic and health outcomes of the country, especially of women and children. With a healthy appreciation of the complexities in scaling digitally, faith in innovation at the grassroots level and years of planning, these organizations just might make mobile money the future of finance.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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India’s New “Payment Banks” Expected to Spur Innovation
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday released the final guidelines for licensing of payments and small banks. These banks are intended to cover the unbanked and underbanked areas and increase banking penetration in the country, stated the circular. Let’s take a look at the changes that these banks are likely to bring in financial services.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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