[Story source: Business Standard]

Recently, Business Standard carried three articles under the Smart Cards byline. The articles – “Smart choice, sloppy plan“, “Andhra villagers now have pension on their fingertips“, “From Dhenakal to Bellary” – track the introduction of smart cards…

• Education’s Woes and Pros: A new study conducted by UNESCO reveals that less than 30% of schools have access to electricity and only half of them have toilets for girls. In order to address such woeful capacity, the Rajasthan’s state…

Two stories display how there are possibilities for creativity in supplementing Indian education and providing more options for students. OneWorld South Asia reports on FM stations in Bihar that will set up shop in high schools:

The channels would host phone-in programmes…

Some table topics as you start preparing for dinner:

• Humanitarian awards:  The Grameen Foundation reports today that Mohammad Yunus will be awarded the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award.  The award will be bestowed upon Yunus at the Tech Museum of Innovation…

Some headlines before you head off to lunch:

• Technology/Connectivity:  
  • Mobile connectivity will be in the hands of millions of new subscribers thanks to BSNL’s $100 million contract to Nortel for supporting GSM network expansion in the southern part of India.  The…

• Oneworld South Asia highlights that India’s strategy to combat Multi Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB) might be failing to stop the spread of the disease. There are 2.2 million new cases of TB every year.
• The CGAP Microfinance Technology Blog picked up a story…

Headlines from around the town:

• Include women in governance agenda: Women’s Charter Against Poverty

To mark the International Women’s Day, Indian anti-poverty network Wada Na Todo Abhiyan has released a report highlighting the recommendations of the Women’s Tribunal Against Poverty held in…