TechSangam

Bill and Melinda Gates debunk three myths

Vishy KurugantiJanuary 24, 20144 mins

The 2014 Gates Annual Letter is out. You should read the entire letter. But since my exhortation may not be sufficient, I’ll present a few teasers from the three myths. Myth #1: Poor countries are…

Paul Polak, SunPower and good news for poor farmers

Vishy KurugantiMay 24, 20133 mins

Pic courtesy unreasonableinstitute.org Paul Polak is an accomplished man and a very busy man. After spending a few decades researching and trying out various innovations to lift poor farmers out of…

In praise of slums. Or why millions of Indians choose to live in urban squalor

Vishy KurugantiAugust 23, 20122 mins

Took me longer to pick a ‘suitable’ slum picture than to write the post. (Pic: courtesy inhabitat.com) If you saw a provocative title like this on Twitter, you would click on it, right? I’m glad I did…

Hunger Alleviation Lessons from Belo Horizonte

Vishy KurugantiApril 12, 20123 mins

[Editor’s Note: (Sep 12, 2012): According to this Newslaundry editorial, Samar Halamkar (on whose column I based this post) might have indulged in plagiarism. Until I figure out what action I need to…

RSBY: a government initiative that (Gasp!) seems to work

Vishy KurugantiFebruary 22, 20124 mins

[Editor’s Note: RSBY expands to Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (Hindi for “National Health Insurance Policy”). The brainchild of IAS officer and Director General of Ministry of Labour and Employment…

Psychology of Savings – How the Poor Save to Buy Fertilizer

Vishy KurugantiOctober 21, 20114 mins

In chapter 8 (Saving Brick by Brick) of Poor Economics, Banerjee and Duflo delve into the subject of savings – the psychology behind why a majority of the poor find it incredibly hard to save and how…

For the poor, what could possibly be more important than food?

Vishy KurugantiJuly 14, 20112 mins

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo’s book Poor Economics continues to live up to its promise. If you’ve missed it, here’s the teaser excerpts I captured last week. I’ve been tweeting insights from the…

Teaser on Banerjee-Duflo's Poor Economics

Vishy KurugantiJuly 07, 20113 mins

I cannot recall the last time I looked forward so much to reading a book on economics. But after reading the reviews of Poor Economics (by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo) and hearing from friends…

Escaping Poverty and Becoming Poor: Who Gains, Who Loses, and Why?

Vishy KurugantiMarch 19, 20115 mins

As I researched the back story on Babajob, I learned that the main inspiration for Sean Blagsvedt (Babajob CEO) was a Duke University research study. The study [Escaping Poverty and Becoming Poor: Who…

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