Young and Restless India » Economic Growth

Grass Root Innovation

Raj — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:27:07 +0000

India’s databank of grass roots inventors is swelling as the nation officially marks the 2010s as a decade of innovation according to CNN article titled “India’s inventors seek markets in innovation decade“.

The country’s National Innovation Foundation (NIF) has 140,000 entries compared with 10,000 when it was set up by the federal government in 2000. But 10 years later, India acknowledges that bringing its innumerable small-scale experiments to the masses remains a challenge in an economy that is attracting businesses worldwide partly because of high-tech capabilities and a growing middle class.

According to the NIF, most geniuses on its roster are school or college dropouts with little means and access to markets. India needs to promote research and development efforts for its poor and for its massive informal economy in order to put their existing know-how to mass use. But experts regret that most Indian innovations have not hit domestic markets, let alone international.

Rural BPO

Raj — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:41:47 +0000

India’s BPO industry is already worth $12bn but rural BPOs are part of a fresh push by Indian entrepreneurs to keep the industry competitive according to BBC article titled “Business ventures thrive in rural India “.

Rural BPOs are aimed at providing cost-effective solutions to foreign companies that want to outsource their work. Where Indian and foreign companies might have looked to other countries for competitive deals, rural BPOs ensure business stays in India according to the article. In 2008 Murali Vullaganti founded RuralShores with business partners including Chennai-based entrepreneur R Sujhata, who was the architect of the rural BPO model in Puttaparthi in Tamil Nadu state. It got a shot in the arm after one of India’s leading banks, HDFC, bought a substantial stake in the company. Mr Vullaganti says his company could offer savings of up to one-third on city BPO centres.

The success of the rual BPO model is attracting city BPO workers with roots in villages. But with all its cost effectiveness and cutting edge advantage, rural BPO centres do not offer voice services. They focus on processing the documents of insurance companies and banks and handle the email queries generated on these companies’ websites. Nevertheless, the rural BPO is an ambitious project. Mr Vullaganti said his company planned to set up 500 centres all over the country in the next five to six years.

What Google’s Orkut tells about Gen-YRI

Raj — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:43:10 +0000

“Orkut is the number one web property in India with over 17 million active users that comprise 48 per cent of India’s online population. Therefore it is no surprise when everyone refers to Orkut to comprehend the dominant trends in the Indian way of life,” says Rahul Kulkarni, product manager, Google India in the article titled “Young India says stylish ‘Jai Ho’: Orkut Zeitgeist”. “While different people find different things to do on the web, the list of the top Orkut communities (based on popularity) is the best representation of the unique ways in which Indian users are mining the Internet and social networks,” he concludes.

Google did the survey that looks at how people are using Orkut communities to forge bonds, to express themselves, to come together around causes and topics that excite them or simply to share their creative pursuits with a wider audience.

What did Google find about Gen-YRI? According to Google, young India remains patriotic; being ’stylish’ is a growing priority too! It also said the stock market is growing in appeal for the young traders while football catches up with cricket. And, interestingly, Bollywood seems to be losing to Tollywood. Another aspect is the gender discrimination is weakening as both men and women actively engage in discussions. Everyone loves to ‘chat’ but ‘photo’ sharing and comments are the new fad.

The top advertisers on the website include FMCG, education, telecom and banking and financial services companies, whose target audience is the young population in the country according to Economic Times article reporting on the same survey titled “Fashion Patriotism and Chocolate high on Orkut India“.

Mass English Education in India

Raj — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:12:39 +0000

English is the lingua-franca for globalization. If India has to clock 9% annual growth in its GDP, English needs to be central in education of Gen YRI. There will be an increasing demand for multi-lingual speakers by corporate India according to Times of India article “English for Progress”. Therefore the articles notes that instead of focussing on English-medium schools, the emphasis should be on the quality of English teaching in vernacular-medium schools.

The British Council has launched ‘Project English’ in India and the goal is to have every teacher and learner of English in the world will have access to English skill by 2010. British Council has been working with the state governments to design and run large scale teacher training and curriculum development projects that are helping to improve English language teaching in state schools. They have also been working with large corporate sector employers to improve language assessment and training systems.

In the past only a certain segment had a strong command over English in India, but initiatives such as Project English would help to widen that segment. This would give Young India a global edge.

India 14th largest Advt. market

Raj — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:45:56 +0000

According to Hindu Business Line article titled “Ad spends to grow at 7.7%; India 14th largest ad market, says ZenithOptimedia ” Indian advertising spends are to grow at 7.7 per cent in a year. India now overtakes Norway, Mexico and the Netherlands to become the 14th largest advertising market, according to ZenithOptimedia.

The agency has downgraded its global ad growth forecast for 2009 to -8.5 per cent, from -6.9 per cent in April after the first quarter figures this year came in below forecasts. Not every market is in decline this year, though.

China is predicted to grow 5.4 per cent this year overtaking the UK to become the world’s fourth largest ad market.
The agency claims the global downturn in advertising is approaching its lowest point. While North America is expected to suffer a third year of decline into 2010 and Western Europe stagnates, the rest of the world should return to growth in 2010.