1) Lesson plan for education overhaul
It was 2010. Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah had been back in India for about three years, from Singapore. Curiosity took Deorah on a visit one day to the home of her domestic help, and she saw first-hand the lack of access to good schools and teachers for lower-income families, and how their children struggled with even the basics. Mother of two thought if her kids could do well with learning, so could others—with the right kind of intervention. Leadership in Education and Development, or LEAD, became that intervention. Read more
Â
2) Will RBI bite the CBDC bullet?
The rapid acceptance of electronic money kept in bank accounts, mobile banking applications, and credit cards is changing the way people think about money, compared to traditional forms such as currency notes or coins. And it is quite likely that in 2023—if future pilots carried out by the Reserve Bank of India run without glitches and the bank decides on the final design—that central bank digital currency (CBDC) could become an additional way in which we make monetary transactions. Sounds too good to be true? RBI's intent towards digital currencies is clear, but it still has one massive and one not-so-massive challenge to overcome. Read more
3) Art of meaningful investing
If you ask Asish Mohapatra, cofounder of b2b commerce and fintech startup OfBusiness, about his three attempts to get Niren Shah, MD and head of Norwest India, to fund his venture, you will hear a story of three attempts, three constant questions, and one final answer. According to Mohapatra, Shah looks for stability, profitability and sound management. This approach sounds like gospel in the aftermath of funding winter and startup meltdown. This picky and contrarian strategy has led to a lean and mean portfolio for the American VC firm in India. Will it continue? Read more
Â