Death by data
The death of the tribal girl Santoshi Kumari, 11, in Jharkhand was caused not due to lack of availability of food, but due to the lack of access to available food
India’s not-yet digital postmen
While all of the post offices in India are supposed to have internet (and be digitized by the end of the year), internet connectivity is non-functional at several units
हमारी संस्कृति का निजता से नाता
यह लेख पहले हिंदुस्तान अखबार में छपा था| निजता कोई गोपनीयता बरतने का तरीका नहीं है। इसके उलट इसे ‘अकेले रहने और दूसरे लोगों द्वारा ताड़ने या परेशान न किए जाने की अवस्था’ के रूप में परिभाषित किया गया है या फिर इसे ‘आम लोगों की निगाहों से दूर रहने की अवस्था’ माना गया है।…
Let’s make rural India smart, one app at a time
With the government gung-ho about a Digital India and Smart India, here are a few apps that it can develop to bring in accountability, transparency, efficiency
Multiplying choices for farmers
Mandi Trades is a multi-lingual mobile application and Web portal aggregator, targeting farmers and bulk buyers — such as retailers, traders, exporters, hotels and caterers directly — through a business-to-business model. On the portal, farmers can list agricultural commodities and post details of the crop by using a smartphone. The auto geo-tagging feature helps connect…
In the right direction
Smita Aggarwal Director – Investments Omidyar Network There is no question that the advent of mobile phones has been a game changer for financial service providers around the world. Through the delivery of innovative formal financial services such as mobile money, remittances apps, and others to low income populations worldwide, we have made great progress…
Exchanging ideas for sustainable community networks
No one can escape from the absolute need of technology in our daily life today. With the development of low-cost hardware for wireless networking-based on IEEE 802.11b, wireless networks are an emerging technology. This technology opens the possibility of building a network without having the problems associated with, and the cost of putting some sort…
Citizens can now call to register grievances in Uttarakhand
Last month, Soochna Seva inaugurated the ‘Nagrik Samwad & Sahayata Kendra’ (NSSK) in Tehri Gharwal, Uttarakhand, in collaboration with the district administration. The Chief Development Officer (CDO), Ashish Bhatgain, was very keen to have a system where grievance from ground can be heard by the concerned department and be redressed in minimum time. The main idea…
Rural youth is transforming their communities with information
Mehatab and Sanaulla are two SoochnaPreneurs (information-serving entrepreneurs) of Bero block in Ranchi district, Jharkhand. The two have been working tireless and passionately to transform the communities they are serving by enabling access to government schemes and entitlements. The duo has been promoting social schemes in the areas they are serving through regular Yojna Camps.…
More weavers join the digital bandwagon in Barabanki
Baank-e-Loom, an initiative of DEF and Ericsson, has opened another weavers’ digital resource centre in Badagaon, Barabanki district, besides its primary centre in Saidanpur village to reach out to even more weaver households with digital tools, technology and interventions. Meanwhile, efforts are underway in Barabanki district to connect 40 public institutions such as schools, colleges,…