Maharaja Harendra Kishore Kendriya Zila Pustakalay which was established more than hundred years ago has been functioning as a district public library for twenty five years now. Until 2013, the library was not fully functional. Then came the Global Libraries (GL) pilot project in the library campus of Bettiah District Public Library, a project of…
Last month, a team from DEF visited Attabira and Barpali in Bargarh district, and Nuapatna in Cuttack district of Odisha to access the socio-economic condition of weavers. And we were particularly impressed by the weavers of Nuapatna.about 70 kilometres away from the state Capital of Bhubaneswar, actually experiment with patterns, and are more meticulous and traditional in their process of extracting thread, spinning yarn ….
A team from DEF was in Odisha last month to assess the situation of weavers in the villages of Attabira, Barapali and Nuapatna. It is sad to know that despite the government’s cluster development programme, the wages of weavers have only marginally increased since 2005. Adding to the woes of weavers is the role of…
India is now the fourth largest start-up hub in the world, with a wide range of project in mobile media, Internet of Things(IOT), analytics, edtech, food-tech and more. Social entrepreneurs and NGOs are also active on the mobile front, backed by a range of venture capitalists, government grants and impact investors. “India is fast becoming…
The first regional launch of the .NGO Domain was held on 7 July 2015 at the Galaxy Hotel, Gorakhpur. Digital Empowerment Foundation in partnership with Yuva Vikas Samiti and Hindustan Chaturdik Vikas Samiti organised the event. The Chief Guest of the event was Mr. Vibhuti Kushvasha, MNERGA Lokpal accompanied with Shashi Bhushan, Director – Pani…
On July 23, 2015, New Delhi-based non-profit Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) announced 24 winners out of 320 nominations from eight South Asian countries at their 6th mBillionth Award 2015 Gala. The award salutes mobile-based innovations for development.The winners were selected by a Grand Jury after two days of deliberations in June…
July 23, 2015, marked a leap for grassroots and digital community in the country when the .NGO domain was launched nation wide at Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi, by Osama Manzar, Founder & Director of Digital Empowerment Foundation, in the presence of an esteemed panel that included CEO HelpAge India Mathew Cherian, Director General of…
This article was first published in the Mint newspaper on August 9, 2015. More than four years ago, I met Rakesh Kumar from Muzaffarpur. He was at a workshop for about 50 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that we had organized in that city in Bihar. An unassuming person, he approached me with much humility and asked…
I always used to quote in my public discussions that India has more than 3.3 million non-governmental organisations (NGOs), a figure I got from somewhere and stuck with me. I also, on my own, without any substantial support, mentioned that not more than 10% of these NGOs would be working with sincerity and dedication. My…
The 6th edition of the mBillionth Awards marked an important day for both the grassroots NGOs and the digital community.At a time when there is growing distrust of NGOs across the country, the need for a validated and verified identity has become all the more pertinent for non-profits.July 23, 2015, marked an exciting time in the history …