News Archive - Page 356 of 366

Recent Developments, <br /> Key Innovations, and <br /> Insightful Reports

Recent Developments,
Key Innovations, and
Insightful Reports

Your One Stop Platform for Regular Sector Updates

Sector news

India: Mobile banking transactions rise five-fold

According to the Central Bank of India, the RBI, banking through mobiles increased five-fold to ` 11.406 billion between January and May compared with the same period a year ago. Read more here.

July 24, 2012

Uganda: 43 per cent of people use mobile money transfers

According to a research by the US-based research group Gallup Inc., called “Payments and Money Transfer Behavior of Sub-Saharan Africans”, Uganda is second to Kenya in the number of people that use mobile money transactions compared to other money transfer modes in sub-Saharan Africa. Read more here.

July 24, 2012

Kenya: ICT Board loans Sh27 million for Pasha Centres

The Kenya ICT Board has loaned out Sh27.95 million to 26 entrepreneurs from different constituencies in Kenya in an effort to roll out electronic facilities named Pasha Centres which are hubs that provide a host of services to the public via internet-connected computers or other ICT-enabled applications at the grassroots […]

July 24, 2012

Mobile phones to improve rural Africa water supply

To fix the disrupted water supply scenario in rural Africa, a scientific team from University of Oxford in the UK will now be replacing traditional water pumps with handpumps that feature mobile phones – everytime the pump suffers mechanical failure, water engineers will be automatically notified. Read more here.

July 24, 2012

India: Governments step up to make houses for the poor

The Uttar Pradesh state government has will be targeting to build around 125,000 houses through various development authorities and private builders over the next one year. Read more here. Another housing scheme seems to be on the cards in Jaipur, Rajasthan, where 12000 houses will be built. This scheme will […]

July 24, 2012

Vietnam: Housing aid for 2 million poor

The Vietnamese Prime Minister at a recent event called on ministries and relevant agencies to speed up the progress of a national programme that aims to help poor households access stable housing. Read more here.

July 24, 2012

US$5 billion subsidy for Chinese rural households

To enable villagers renovate their dilapidated houses in rural areas, the Chinese government has decided to support four million poor households this year through subsidies to the tune of US$ 5 billion or 31.87 billion yuan, this year. Read more here.

July 24, 2012

Asian housing crisis: slum conditions cannot be tackled by building

This Guardian post draws attention away from the way the world is attempting to tackle poverty and homelessness, especially in Asia, to what the correct approach should really be. In Asia, there are 500 million people who live in slums, and the number is only increasing. The right way to […]

July 24, 2012

Rwanda: Habitat policies still need fine-tuning

Special UN rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik on adequate housing in Rwanda has found in her preliminary studies that implementation of policies still face challenges. The 9 days spent on field by her were divided between assessing land reform policy, urban strategies and planning and housing in Kigali. Read more here.