Hello Readers!

Thank you for staying tuned! We’ve tweaked the bugs, moved the content and are excited to welcome you to Let Me Know’s new home at www.letmeknow.in

One year, over 400 posts and thousands of connections later, we bring you a personalized, intuitive and ever-burgeoning service, with tons of new features. So, whether it’s a writing contest you’re looking for, or a business conference, browse our categories, find your event and add it to your calendar.

What’s more? There’s nothing we enjoy better than making sure you get to that opportunity that could clinch it for you. So keep browsing and see what our periodic tweaks can bring you.

So, here’s to you, and to all our supporters. And to the fantastic team from Grayscale, BITS Pilani (Goa), who have built our new home.

The information barrier has broken. When opportunity forgets to knock, log on to Let Me Know and find it.

Team Let Me Know

425+ posts. 268,000+ hits. Thousands of comments, letters and subscribers.
The information barrier broken. And friends helped.

We are moving to a new, better website in early December. We’re pausing the blog, moving our content, tweaking bugs and very excited to welcome you to our new youth portal. Stay tuned!

Kubera-Edelweiss Social Innovation Honours

Offered By: Edelweiss and Kubera Partners

Key Dates:
Deadline for all entries: December 1, 2008

For Whom:
Applicants need to be Indian citizens or entities and The nominee should be a registered NGO in India, under the Trusts, Societies, or u/s 25 of the Companies Act.

Edelweiss is partnering Kubera Partners, for the Kubera-Edelweiss Social Innovation Honours, to felicitate outstanding innovations that positively impact the status of the girl child, through the delivery of a service in the areas of education, health and nutrition, and employability. The total prize money is USD 60,000, and the primary objective of these honours is to demonstrate the promise of a better future for the girl-child, particularly significant in a patriarchal and tradition-bound society.

Non-governmental organizations in any part of India that focus on outstanding innovations that improve the delivery of services to the girl child, in the areas of education, health and nutrition and employability are eligible to apply for these honours.

Through these honours, we are looking at bringing attention to and leveraging support for organizations engaging in innovative projects on the issue of the girl child across India and at sharing these innovative ideas within the private, public and non-profit sectors, to encourage learning and sharing of experiences.

Award Categories:
There are three award categories:

• Education
• Health
• Employability defined as an innovative and sustainable model for the future employability of the girl child

For More details:
Website: Visit here.
Rules and Regulations: Download it here.
Application Form: Download it here.

Offered by: Teach For India

Key Dates:
Two application deadlines: December 1, 2008 and February 1, 2009.

Teach For India Fellows:

The Teach For India Fellowship will probably be the most challenging experience of a Fellow’s life and likely the most transformational. As a teacher, every day will give Fellows multiple opportunities to confront and tackle challenges, motivate diverse stakeholders to work hard toward a shared vision, create and adjust plans to move further towards goals and gain the confidence they need to succeed.
Role of TFI Fellows

Every Teach For India Fellow will have two main responsibilities, through which he/she will learn leadership skills in a hands-on, results-driven environment.

Classroom Instructional Leadership
Fellows will be full-time teachers in English-medium government or low-income private schools for two consecutive academic years (June through April). Fellows are expected to lead students in their classrooms toward academic achievement that defies traditional expectations. Fellows will foster this achievement by getting to know their students in and out of the classroom; creating instructional plans to match the whole class’s and individual student’s needs; delivering instruction in an engaging manner; working with other teachers, administrators and community members to build skills and obtain resources for the classroom; and administering and analyzing assessments to ensure that students are progressing towards their academic goals.

Classroom/Community Transformation Project
In the second year of the Fellowship, in addition to teaching, Fellows will implement a project in the school and/or students’ community. The project will seek to tackle a principal challenge to students’ achievement. To carry out this project effectively, Fellows will research and plan the project; amass resources necessary to implement the project; invest students, families, teachers, administrators and/or community members to help implement the project; and troubleshoot the project in its execution phase.

How to submit an application

• TEACH FOR INDIA WILL NOT ACCEPT HARD-COPY APPLICATIONS. Please do not print and mail hard-copy applications to Teach For India.
• Online Applications: In mid-October 2008, applicants will be able to submit an application online directly on the website http://www.teachforindia.org.
• E-mail Applications: Prior to mid-October 2008, applicants can submit applications by e-mail. The Word format application is available at the bottom of this page. Please fill-in and e-mail the completed application as an attachment in Word to apply@teachforindia.org with the subject line: TFI APPLICATION_[YOUR LAST NAME_YOUR FIRST NAME]. (Example e-mail application subject line: TFI APPLICATION_SHAH_ANITA.)

Download Application form (Click here)

The application has 6 parts that all applicants are required to complete and 1 part that is optional to complete.

Required Parts

• General Applicant Information
• Academic Information
• Work Experience
• Extra-curricular and Volunteer Experience
• References
• Short Answer Questions

Optional Part

• Supplemental Information (Optional)

Do not send the CV’s, resumes, cover letters or personal statements to Teach For India.

Key Dates:
Event: August 23, 2008

Venue:
Intellecap, 3-6-307/2,
Hyderguda Main Road,
Hyderabad- 500029,
Telefax: +91-40-23222461

For Whom:
Candidates (interns, freshers and pros) who aspire to co-found/work with interesting startups, Startups, Volunteers.

Startup Lunch:
A Startup is probably the best place to be at for a fresher or for a professional who is looking for a career boost or to experience rapid growth. But the issue is that most freshers are not aware as to where to find these startups, neither are these startups able to be part of campus recruitment processes because of their small size.

As part of Proto.in and as part of interacting with startups, Startup Lunch is being organised in different cities. Startup Lunch Hyderabad is an innovative event being organised. he event provides a platform for Startups, which are opportunities, and Seekers of the opportunities to come together for a day and speed-date (pitch/interview) each others.

Registrations Are Open:
Register here for joining startup (Job Seekers)
Register here for Participating in the event

Event Homepage | Wiki

Contact Details:
Shree Ravindranath | shree@intellecap.net
Arvind K | arvindk@ordermonger.com

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Offered By: Open Mind

About Open Mind:
Open Mind is a U.S. nonprofit that originated and houses the Question Box Project. It is founded by Rose Shuman, who has spent the last decade involved in projects worldwide with a particular focus on the intersection of business and development.

About Question Box:
Question Box brings the power of the Internet to people in the developing world using voice and a mobile phone. The idea is a very simple – Question Box is a phone or intercom box people can use to call a local-language Operator. The Operator answers most any question searchable on the Internet for the caller. This idea thereby brings much of the Internet’s information resources without asking much of the user in terms of new behaviors. Open Mind has run pilots in India, and you can check out the project here.

Open Mind is on the look out for smart, flexible, enthusiastic people who can:

• Write grant and competition submissions.
• Help build and configure telephone and database backends.
• Other projects, as identified.

There is also the strong possibility of site work in the developing world for people who have project management/development/ICT experience.

For applying for the openeing or helping the project in some way please contact them here.
For more details about the project visit here.

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Offered By: Aspiring Minds (Wesbite)

Aspiring Minds, a high-technology venture founded by alumni of MIT and IIT, seeks to identify each employable fresher and match him/her to a job at-par with his/her skills. It also seeks to help each unemployable fresher to improve his/her skills to become suitable for the job market.

Aspiring Minds is proud to present the Aspiring Minds Ambassador Programme which gives students opportunities to become representatives of their respective colleges, wherein, they would be the direct link between their college students and Aspiring Minds. Any new development or news, regarding any job opportunity, new seminars, counselling sessions etc- the ambassador would be the first one to know and can spread more awareness about the same in their college and campus.

Advantages of Becoming AM College Ambassador:

• One can get first hand information, an opportunity to show leadership qualities and a definite plus on one’s resume.
• The ambassador has exclusive invitations to special seminars and dinners held by Aspiring Minds, where they would have a chance to interact with other such students and people from the industry.
• Being a college ambassador would help one to interact with different kinds of people and would hone one’s interaction skills. Answering their queries (if any) would be equivalent to a real job interview.
• Being linked with Aspiring Minds which is associated with some of the leading names in the industry, would definitely give them an edge in getting enrolled in the industry.

For Applying to thier College Ambassador Programme download the application form here and send the completed application form along with your resume at ambassadors@aspiringminds.in

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Key Dates:
Conference date: July 3, 2008

For whom:
Talented professionals with an interest in getting close to the Srijan conference speakers and/or serious pre-professionals who are looking to gain experience and build their portfolio.

Introduction:
Intellecap is a pioneer in the multiple bottom line investment industry. They facilitate investment initiatives, incubate innovative business and create knowledge focused on profitable and sustainable development.

Srijan Microfinance Business Plan Competition, organized each year, is a search for entrepreneurs that have an innovative plan to address the resource and infrastructure challenges faced by the sector. It is organised by Intellecap in partnership with Aavishkar Goodwell.

About the Opportunity:
Srijan 2008 is bringing together a remarkable collection of the leaders in microfinance and social ventures in India. Intellecap is looking for an experienced video producer to record their conference to be held on July 3rd in Mumbai and help them produce the content in web-friendly ways.

The responsibilities include:

• Skillfully record the conference on video
• Work with team to break video into relevant segments for Web Viewing
• Splicing Audio for podcast

There will be pre and post conference work and this initial engagement might lead to further paid jobs.

For more information please contact: Devin@indiadevelopmentgateway.com

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Offered by: UnLtd India (Website)

Key Dates:
For Eligible applicants:
Meeting an UnLtd India team member: By July 31, 2008
Deadline for Submitting application form: August 15, 2008
Interview: September, 2008

Eligibility criteria:
The applicant must be resident in India and be over the age of 16. The applicant must have an idea or initiative that is:
1. Beneficial for a deprived community or the public at large.
2. Entrepreneurial in nature.

For Applicants applying on behalf of a registered organisation then:
1. Applicant must be Co-founder of the organisation
2. Organisation must not be more than 4 years old as regitered entity
3. Organisation must have a current budget of less than R2. 10 Lakhs

About the programme:
UnLtd India is looking for applicants from Mumbai for a unique incubation support programme.

The programme offers a one year long package of:
1. Start up funding
2. Hands on Assistance
3. Connection to peers, ecperts and leaders

The programme aims to develope leaders and enable them to start up sustainable, high- impact initiatives

Note:
1. Applicants could be working part time on their idea/project
2. Applicants need not have registered organisations
3. Applications can apply as individuals or teams (upto three members)

If you know anyone in your network who meets the above eligibility criteria, then please send their contacts details at pooja.warier@unltdindia.org

For more on Incubation Support here
For more on Incubation Programme: Call For Applications
To read about the UnLtd Investees: Investees 2008

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Resource

In 2004, co-Founders, Tal Dehtiar and Michael Brown, believed that business can and must play an important role in alleviating poverty in developing countries; they also believed that MBAs have valuable skills which are needed by businesses and NGOs working in developing countries.

From that, MBAs Without Borders was formed as an international not-for-profit organization bringing innovative solutions to developing countries by matching experienced business volunteers with local businesses and NGOs to unleash a big secret…Business Can do Amazing Things!

MBAs Without Borders partners with international and local businesses and not-for-profits working toward the better good of developing countries and we recruit MBAs who best support such organizations. As a Project Partner, you can team up with MBAs Without Borders to bring qualified MBAs from around the world to your business or NGO.

MWB’s volunteers provide a wide range of business support. This includes, and is not limited to, providing training to management and staff in finance, accounting, strategy, marketing, human resources, business development, etc. Their MBAs can also provide support such as developing and implementing business plans to launching products and services to new markets, building sales and distribution channels within country, developing fundraising strategies and managing projects in the field.

MWB partners on projects mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America which includes locations such as: Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine and Vietnam.

MBAs Without Borders empowers entrepreneurs in Africa, Asia and Latin America by matching them with experienced MBAs and together building innovative market‐based solutions.

MWB focuses its support on small businesses and NGOs working in Agriculture, Health, Handicrafts, Micro-Finance & Environment.

For FAQ’s here
For MWB Project Centre here
For Getting involved in the Initiative here

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Offered By: ThinkChange India (WebSite)

About ThinkChange India:
ThinkChange India is the fastest growing blog focused on social entrepreneurship and social innovation in India. Within its first ten weeks, the blog achieved 16,000 page-views, and is currently averaging 400 unique hits a day. Their goal is to be the primary source of information/analysis on social innovation and social entrepreneurship in the context of India. In addition, they also hope to build an online community of passionate change-makers invested in India’s development through the vehicle of social entrepreneurship.

About the Opportunity:
They are currently looking for part-time writers for the blog. The writers will have an opportunity to cover breaking news in the field of social entrepreneurship, research and write posts for the blog, and have a say in which social entrepreneurs the blog features. Other key opportunities include:

1. Networking with and interviewing leading social entrepreneurs for the TC-I Changemakers feature of the blog. TC-I Changemakers has already featured / will feature social entrepreneurs from leading organizations like Pratham, NGOPost, Siksha.org, Pratham Books and Global Fund for Children
2. Familiarizing yourself with the latest trends in the field of social entrepreneurship
3. Developing valuable journalistic writing skills
4. Creating a name recognition for yourself in the field
5. Being a part of an innovative start-up and a fun team

Applicant Requirements:
– Passion for social change and interest in social entrepreneurship in India
– Keen interest in writing
– Previous blogging preferred but not necessary
– Be able to make a commitment towards posting at least 5-6 times a week
– Not taking life too seriously

For Applying to the post of Part-Time writer just send a resume and a small writing sample in the form of a sample blog post that would be appropriate for ThinkChange India.

For more details here

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Offered By: Atlas Service Corps, Inc.

Key Dates:
Deadline for Submission of Applications: May 18, 2008

Applicant Requirements:
1. Must have 3-8 years of experience in the Citizen sector of nis home country
2. Have a Bachelor’s degree
3. Speak, read and write English fluently. If volunteering in Colombia, you must speak, read and write Spanish fluently as well.
4. Be applying to serve in a country other than where the applicant is from.
5. Be committed to his/her country and return home after the one-year fellowship program.

Atlas Service Corps, Inc. (Atlas Corps) is an international citizen sector organization that is seeking to identify the best rising leaders in the citizen sector around the world to participate in a one-year fellowship program. Atlas Service Corps is now accepting applications for the 2008-09 fellowship program.

More on Selection Procedure:
1. Applications will be reviewed by a committee including citizen sector, government and business leaders from multiple countries. Two semi-finalists will be chosen for each fellowship position by the end of May.

2. Colombian and U.S. Host organizations will conduct phone interviews with the semi-finalists in May and early June. The Host organizations will make their final recommendations to Atlas Corps and Atlas Corps will notify the top choices by mid-June.

3. The selected overseas candidates will go to the U.S. Embassy or visit their local Colombian Consulate in their respective countries mid to late June for their J-1 / Special visa interviews. If they receive their visas, then they will become Atlas Service Corps Fellows!

The fellowship begins with an orientation and training in late August. The $500 Fellow deposit is due on the first day of Fellow orientation.

For More details On:
Fellowship Program here
Eligibility Survey here

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Ashoka is leading a profound transformation in society. In the past three decades, the global citizen sector, led by social entrepreneurs, has grown exponentially. Just as the business sector experienced a tremendous spurt in productivity over the last century, the citizen sector is experiencing a similar revolution, with the number and sophistication of citizen organizations increasing dramatically.

Youth Venture enables young people to learn early on in life that they can lead social change. Ashoka developed the concept of Youth Venture from understanding a key insight of Ashoka Fellows in the field of youth development: one of the most effective ways to improve the lives of youth is to empower them to realize their own ability to make positive social change.

Youth Venture thus inspires and invests in teams of young people to start and lead their own social ventures, and is building a powerful network of young changemakers across the world. It is currently operating in the US, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, India, South Africa, Thailand, France, Germany, and Spain.

Youth Venture seeks to create impact by transforming:
-The youth participant, through the enabling experience of starting a social venture
-The youth team, as they learn important life skills and realize that they can create change
-The community, as growing numbers of Youth Venture teams “tip” the local culture toward greater youth leadership

Society at large, by fundamentally redefining the role of young people as leaders of social change.
Youth Venture plays a critical role in actualizing Ashoka’s vision of Everyone a Changemaker. By giving young people the means to know that they have the ability to change the environment around them, Ashoka believes that youth will gain the skills and innate understanding that they can be powerful long into their adult future. Through this experience, young people will grow up practicing applied empathy, teamwork, and leadership—the underlying skills needed to make change.

Ashoka works on three levels. First, they support individual social entrepreneurs—financially and professionally—throughout their life cycle. Second, they bring communities of social entrepreneurs together to help leverage their impact, scale their ideas, and capture and disseminate their best practices. Finally, they help build the infrastructure and financial systems needed to support the growth of the citizen sector and facilitate the spread of social innovation globally.

Read about Youth Venture in India at http://yvchallenge.blogspot.com

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About:
engINdia.net is an online resource for student engineers. This site is a resource for numerous projects targetting challenges that face people in rural India.

engINdia exists to promote appropriate and sustainable engineering solutions in developing areas. The organization focuses on Pabal, Maharashtra, a rural village in India located 80 miles east of Mumbai. Pabal is home to Vigyan Ashram, an educational institution that focuses on rural technologies. The existence of Vigyan Ashram and Pabal’s proximity to Mumbai made it the perfect starting point for engINdia.

The Design Challenges posted on the site are project ideas created by the villagers of Pabal. The solution to each Challenge will alleviate a technological need in Pabal and help to increase the quality of life for the villagers.

Beginning of engINdia:
engINdia is a partnership between 6 students from the University of Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB). An expedition was conducted during the summer of 2005 to the area of Pabal, Maharastra. There, the engINdia team worked with Vigyan Ashram and the local community to gain an understanding and appreciation of the development issues faced by rural India which could be tackled through engineering.

During the expedition the team surveyed the attitudes of the local community and the rural technology available to the reigon. The team witnessed emerging, successful and unsuccessful development projects while conducting its own research.

The expedition was approved and partly funded by the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and officially recognized by Cambridge University.

Contributions of engINdia:

• a resource for students who are looking for research projects that combine engineering and sustainable international development
• a communication forum for students worldwide and a rural Indian community
• a way for students and villagers to share information and opinions about engineering and sustainable development
• a gateway for anyone to learn about the culture of rural India

Being Part of engINdia:
The following are some ways that one can help engINdia grow their international efforts:
1. work on a design challenge
2. donate your knowledge
3. Start Your Own Expedition
4. Donate your time
5. Make a monetary donation
6. Subscribe to their newsletter

Visit their Homepage for more details on Design Challenges and also plethora of resources.

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In November 2007, a pilot of Let Me Know was launched at https://letmeknow.wordpress.com.

In a short span of time, over 200 opportunities have been shared – including tech competitions, social entrepreneurship fellowships, business plan competitions, research projects, internships, conferences, scholarships and volunteer opportunities. The blog has received close to 90,000 hits and highly encouraging feedback from the youth across the world.

We now seek a talented team of web designers, with relevant past experience, to create a portal that will help Let Me Know project sustain and better serve the youth community in India and the rest of the world.

If you would like to be involved in this assignment, write to letmeknowblog@gmail.com with your resume and a note on why you would like to contribute.

Thanks!

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iVolunteer is an initiative of MITRA that is working to create a volunteering movement in India. iVolunteer sees its role as that of a catalyst, which will create happy volunteering experiences for both volunteers and non-profits and these happy experiences will help create volunteering movement in India. In order to create these happy experiences iVolunteer is working through its Volunteer Centres and Non-profit partners to a create a volunteering infrastructure that will reduce the time and cost of recruiting volunteers and there by making it easier volunteers to make a difference in their local community.

A volunteer can be anybody. There are no age limits to being a volunteer, no preferred categories, no salary specifications, no special degrees or work experience. All that is required is a dedication to the cause, sincerity about the work that one is doing and commitment to a regular and sustained effort with the organization. You could volunteer to serve in Orphanages, Old Age Homes, Help-lines, Schools, Relief Efforts, NGOs etc. The causes are endless, opportunities are endless and the need is endless.

To volunteer, all you have to do is to download an application form, fill it and email it giving an indication of your interest areas and time availability for volunteering.

At present iVolunteer is able to service your needs only if you reside in or want to volunteer in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi or Mumbai. Volunteer centers in these cities will guide you in finding just the right organization to volunteer for.

Want to volunteer? But don’t have time during 9-6am? Or have the zeal but don’t know where to start? Become an Online Volunteer, breaking the barriers of time and place!

We are seeking to build a volunteer team of graduate and undergraduate students across majors and interests. As a member of this team, you could be leading our search for opportunities under Cul-Fests, Tech-Fests, Biz, Lit, Geek, Gyaan, Volunteer or Internships.

If you would like to be part of this collaborative effort, mail us at letmeknowblog at gmail dot com.

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The mission of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) movement is to ensure that all school-aged children in the developing world are able to engage effectively with their own personal laptop, networked to the world, so that they, their families and their communities can openly learn and learn about learning.

The OLPC Association focuses on designing, manufacturing, and distributing laptops to children in lesser developed countries, initially concentrating on those governments that have made commitments for the funding and program support required to ensure that all of their children own and can effectively use a laptop.

How can one contribute to this movement?

1. Pay towards laptop for a child (Donations)

2. Customizing the materials, such as math and science projects, wiki-text books, dictionaries, geographies, histories, social studies, health and nutrition courses, for a particular region or group of children or for more general use throughout the OLPC world (Content OLPC)

3. Developing software applications, such as educational games, collaborative and archiving tools, artistic and video and graphic tools, not otherwise available on laptops for children that will enhance the general usefulness of laptops in every location (Developers Program OLPC)

4. Software and text related contributions (Getting Involved)

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Organised by: SRISTI

Key Dates:
December 25, 2007 – January 3, 2008

Join Prof. Anil Gupta (IIM Ahmedabad) in a 100 km journey for the search of knowledge, creativity and innovations at grassroots.

Shodh Yatra is an attempt on the part of SRISTI to reach out to the remotest part of the country with a firm belief that hardship and challenges of natural surroundings are the prime motivators of creativity and innovations. Shodh Yatra aims at unearthing such traditional knowledge and grassroots innovations that have not only simplified the lives of men, women and farm labourers but have also significantly contributed towards the conservation of bio-diversity. Shodh Yatra is a journey of mutual exchange and sharing of knowledge. Shodh Yatra is also a journey to spread green consciousness by involving women and children to display their ecological knowledge through various competitions.

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Students’ Club for Augmenting Innovations (SCAI) at grassroots is a body of students from India’s best management and technological institutes. National Innovation Foundation (NIF) is encouraging students to set up SCAI chapters at various schools, colleges and universities in order to provide Product Development, Business Development (setting up of ventures), Mentoring and Monitoring support to entrepreneurs/innovators/traditional knowledge holders at grassroots level in the country.

Professor Anil K. Gupta, President SRISTI and Professor Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, is the Executive Vice Chairperson of NIF.

The most significant outcome of SCAI would be that students from different Business Schools and Technical Institutes would come together for advancing the cause of grassroots innovators. This is an effort to link the informal knowledge system (grassroots genius) with formal knowledge system and thereby have a distributed knowledge system in place. Such an attempt would ensure the reach of economically poor-knowledge rich people to the masses and will also prevent the erosion of indigenous knowledge base.

This is an unprecedented event and has enormous potential to change the development paradigm. Contact scai at nifindia dot org to contribute to grassroots innovation.

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