I recently came across RangDe.org which takes the concept of microfinance to the online world.

It serves as a bridge between ’social investors’ and people who need small amounts of money to improve their business and financial position. For your investment, you stand to earn 3.5% per annum. Of course, this is not guaranteed since the money is being lent to low income households and the probability of default could be high. Having said that, it is interesting to see from their statistics that 100% of the loans have been paid back so far.

You can go through the list of borrowers, with a brief on why they need that extra money and you can then decide to invest accordingly. If you don’t have the time to select a borrower, you can also do something known as “Smart Invest” where RangDe picks borrowers on their behalf.

To cover their costs, RangDe charges an interest rate of 8.5% pa to the borrowers and retains 5% of that, handing over the remaining 3.5% to you, the investor.

It is an interesting service, and it will be all the more interesting to see how they fare in the coming years. Visit Rangde.org and see if you would like to be a part of their social investment spectrum.

This article originally appeared here.

Up until very recently, it was believed that Ultra Violet (UV) rays from the sun can inhibit, or even prevent, formation and continuance of life. However, a team of Indian Scientists, led by the eminent Jayant Narlikar, has discovered 3 new types of bacteria which are UV resistant. What is even more fascinating is that this experiment has shown that life exists even 40 km above Earth’s surface!

K. Raghu carries an article in The Mint and mentions that the experiment involved sending a balloon in to the stratosphere of our planet. He goes on to write:

The balloon sent up to the stratosphere was the second effort by India after a maiden venture in 2001. It contained probes that collected air samples at different heights ranging from 20km to 41km above the earth’s surface.

This is a great breakthrough for Indian science, specifically so since it could alter the way we have been defining life and its necessary environments.
Read the complete article at The Mint by clicking here.
Image courtesy: The Mint

Along with six other Gujarati housewives,she had gathered on March 15 1959 for rolling “papads” on the terrace of an old building in a South Mumbai suburb in order to supplement their meagre family income. Yesterday, Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, the sole survivor of the founding group of ‘seven sisters’, celebrated 50 years of Lijjat along with 45,000 other women who form part of this women-only co-operative.

Started with a loan of Rs. 80 from a social worker and entrepreneur, Chaganlal Karamsi Parekh, the business grew quickly as word spread about the taste and quality of the papads (or “poppadoms” as they are known in other parts of the world). Zubair Ahmed tells the tale of the humble beginning in this BBC article:

Mrs Popat says: “We were semi-literate which restricted our chances to get jobs. But we realised our papad-making expertise could be used to earn small amounts of money to help our husbands reduce their financial responsibility.”

Lijjat is now a co-operative with a turnover of nearly $100m and a sustainable business model that provides opportunity for employment and financial independence to thousands of illiterate but skilled women who live in abject poverty. These women get a sense of empowerment by being able to earn a living, and can their children to school or improve their living conditions. This, according to Mr. Ahmed is the biggest reason behind Lijjat’s success.

Most of the 45,000-strong female workforce live in slums or one-room hutments, with communal bathrooms and toilets.

They are still part of what is known as the working class. But working for Lijjat Papads gives them financial security.

Read more about Lijjat and the women behind its success here.

Photo courtesy: BBC News

We are happy to introduce the first guest writer of The Better India: Elisabeth H. Kolstad.
Elisabeth is a Norwegian-based freelance writer and photographer. She has an MA in Transnational Communications and the Global Media from Goldsmiths College, University of London, and a BA from Melbourne, Australia. Her varied work experience is reflected in her writings, but most of all she’s interested in human beings and their motivations. In today’s article, she writes about her trip to India last year, the notions that she had before the trip and her feelings post this trip.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Elisabeth to The Better India:

A Trip to India

by

Elisabeth H. Kolstad

I had the pleasure of visiting India last year. Less than two years previously I nodded when my friend said India was one of the countries that weren’t on her travel list. She was referring to all the negative stories her co-workers had told her about the food and stomach flu. I was thinking about the crowds. For a Norwegian who has been blessed with too much space, a crowd doesn’t take much.

It all changed when a friend invited me to an Indian wedding. Suddenly the negativity transformed into excitement. I started preparing by reading books about India. I got annoyed with the negativity, and with Lonely Planet for scaring me unnecessarily, and was determined that India would be a fabulous experience.

Already a devotee of Indian food, I did not anticipate how much I would miss my pasta and bread, but the Fab India’s café in Mumbai, the Hilton in Agra and an Italian restaurant in Jaipur kept me and my friends going. I should add that I discovered and took a liking to Indian sweets, dosa and other dishes I had never tried before. Some dishes were just as delightful as others were too spicy.

I tried to sum up my experience to my friends, and I found it difficult because there were so many impressions and experiences in such a short amount of time, but I loved the experience. I loved the colourful clothing, the sounds, the variety of vehicles, all the animals, the historical buildings, the food, the music, the culture and most of all I was totally amazed by the hospitality and the people. They simply made our stay.

In fact, I liked it so much, that I’m determined to return to see friends and explore other parts of India. I discovered to my great surprise that I didn’t mind the crowds, the stress that is so noticeable in London or Europe simply wasn’t there, and I found it refreshing. The most refreshing experience was that once I thought I had figured out how something worked, I was proved wrong. Expect the unexpected whilst in India, became a joke among my friends. It was a true gift to our logical minds and a blessing for our creativity, as it would be to most Europeans.

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Click here to see some wonderful photos taken by Elisabeth during this trip to India.

Painted Elephant image courtesy: Elisabeth.