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Posts tagged india
VC = Venture, Vapor, Vulture & Vampire Capital
Nov 1st
‘VC’ business in India celebrates 10 years in 2010 and I am inspired to write this column as tribute to the best form of Capital ever invented; to dive deep into the skin of this monster and present my mini learnings in this space.
Read on after the break.
It’s a “Hole in the Wall” experiment
Sep 9th
Just put a computer in urban slum and see what happens. That’s exactly what education researcher Sugata Mitra did. A computer, with internet access and a touch pad, was installed in a hole in the wall in a slum in New Delhi. It was about three feet above the ground, and a video camera was placed so Mitra and the other researchers could watch what the children would do. The result is nothing short of phenomenal: Even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. This was further demonstrated when Mitra had 10-12 year old students non-English speakers find answers to questions on Google and learn biotechnology, in English. Just goes to show that we don’t give children the credit they are due. Video after the break.
Human Feces + Design = Prosperity
Sep 5th
This is one of those ideas that we wonder why it was not thought of before. A simple concept that can change the face of life as we know in developing nations like India and Bangladesh is what we want to write about today. The problem we are trying to solve is a difficult one – toilets. A country where more than 50% of the population does not have access to a sanitary system makes life a little odd to imagine. As the designer of the concept make shift toilet describes it – human dignity is what powers as humans. Lack of a sanitary system means lack of human dignity. Progress in such a situation is very difficult ordeal.
The concept places a portable toilet system at home which has a removable waste tank. Basically, you crap into the tank, take it to the nearest bio digesting facility and get a clean tank to take back home. The feces then powers a bio gas generator that extracts methane gas out of it and converts the slurry into usable fertilizers. This simple concept breaks away any need for water lines or a sanitary system to keep the place free from filth. We hope this works well! Images of the concept and videos after the break.
Communities: India Using GPS Technology And Smart Cards To Battle Corruption
Aug 12th
In a country where 70% of the population depends on agriculture it is difficult to keep the entire population busy. India’s seasons force farmers go without work for almost half the year. Agriculture is heavily dependent on the monsoons and they last for 3-4 months a year at most. To combat this problem the government of India
OLPC Wants To Collaborate With India On The $35 Tablet
Aug 4th
Well well, One Laptop Per Child Corp does not look at India’s $35 tablet as a competitor. Rather, OLPC wants to collaborate with India on the project. OLPC chief Nicholas Negroponte invited officials from the Indian Ministry Or Human Resource Development to visit MIT and see how the OLPC project has come along. The move seems to be a diplomatic one since the Indian tablet does not use Intel’s processors or chip set. Intel is one of the main sponsors and suppliers for the OLPC project. On a global scale that means a huge loss for Intel if the $35 tablet becomes successful.
Since there has been debate on India’s capability to deliver the product as promised, the OLPC invitation must provide the Indian project some amount of credibility. Looking at India’s track record of siding with the US in terms of technology (remember the $10 laptop drama where India ended up buying 250,000 pieces of OLPC laptops?) the $35 price tag might wither away to something on the lines of the how much an OLPC laptop costs.
Negroponte went on to advice the Indian government to use the $35 tablet to uplift primary school students rather than restricting the device to university students. He said
1. Focus on children 6 to 12 years old. They are your nation’s most precious natural resource. For primary school children, the tablet is not about computing or school, it is about hope. It makes passion the primary tool for learning.
2. Your tablet should be the death of rote learning, not the tool of it. A creative society is built not on memorizing facts, but by learning learning itself. Drill and practice is a mechanism of the industrial age, when repetition and uniformity were systemic. The digital age is one of personalization, collaboration and appropriation. OLPC’s approach to learning is called constructionism. We hope you adopt it too.
We too hope that this works out without sacrificing the Indian version of the device.
What Entrepreneurs Must Learn From Fashion Models
Aug 3rd
I have always admired fashion shows and their glamorous models. Not so much for their skinny and anorexic looks but for their amazing ability to change their clothes, make-up and persona within minutes and then walk the ramp with such élan and confidence.
What these models teach me is how to manage change without hesitation.
Some fashion tips that I have learnt!
Only ‘Made in India’
Aug 2nd
I happened to catch the recent edition of GQ Magazine, the India edition which ran a feature on ‘World’s most influential Indians’. About 10 minutes into the feature article, I noticed one thing – while Indians have made waves in almost every field right from comedy, to electronics, to telecommunications to economics and the works.
Ideabing Daily Roundup: $35 Tablet PC Edition
Jul 22nd
Infographic: How Often Does Google Remove Information? New: India Releases A $35 Tablet PC. Details Vague. Seatback Google Maps On Virgin America Flights
New: India Releases A $35 Tablet PC. Details Vague. Update: Added Video!
Jul 22nd
The last time round this piece of news was in the air there was a lot of speculation about India’s capability to produce high tech hardware at such a low cost. But now India has finally released the $35 (Rs.1500) tablet specifically aimed at students. Now we do not know what the capabilities of this
