Learning Matters: Enhancing learning outcomes with tech tools and AI

June 27, 2023 admin FEATURED News and events Opinion 0

Learning Matters is an ed-tech organization headquartered in Bangalore. The firm was founded by Ramamoorthy G (Moorthy), Gowri Mahesh and Saraswathy Ramamoorthy. Gowri, Saras and Moorthy are from the education and technology domains in which they have worked for about 20 years each. The Founders share that they focus on one of the largest problems faced by the Indian education sector – falling quality of learning outcomes in the majority of students. “We use tech tools and AI to solve this systemic problem and to scale the solution effectively, for…

The valuation of unicorns – A Finance 101 interpretation¹

June 17, 2023September 2, 2025 admin FEATURED News and events Opinion 0

Last week a leading financial daily reported that several unicorns had suffered write downs in their valuation. You can read it here. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/blackrock-cuts-byjus-valuation-by-over-60-to-8-2-billion/articleshow/100627551.cms For those who have been observing the startup space even from the periphery, like me, this was not completely surprising. News about write downs had been trickling in for a while from 2022. What the news story did was to pull into one place the names of prominent venture capital (VC) funded companies and the extent of write downs they had suffered lately. The story suggested…

Figure 1: (left) Screen grab from Urban Clap app showing haircut prices, (centre) Sugarcane juice at Rs 20 in Bannerghatta Park, (right) Sugarcane juice at Rs 30 in Bellandur, Bengaluru Urban

IS IT TIME TO RE-VISIT INDIA’S EXCHANGE RATE POLICY? By Ram Iyer

May 17, 2023May 17, 2023 Author Bio FEATURED News and events Opinion 0

I remember visiting India in July 2014 after a five-year hiatus and paying Rs. 250 for a haircut in a Mumbai suburb. In January 2023, I visited the locality again and a haircut cost me the same Rs. 250. I am reasonably certain that the barber didn’t charge pro-rata to account for my much-receded hairline over the last decade. This observation could be termed anecdotal. The below snip shot from the app Urban Clap has haircuts prices at about Rs 250 as well. Why have haircut prices not increased in…

From Climate crisis to health- this World Health Day, there is a need to tackle this through a holistic lens

April 6, 2023September 2, 2025 Deepti Ganapathy FEATURED News and events Opinion 0

‘This year’s World Health Day will shine on nurses and midwives, the on-the-call, relentless workforce that revolutionized the healthcare industry as we know it today,’ says the World Health Organization (WHO). The International Confederation of Midwives, an association with 108 member associations in 98 countries, projects a global shortage of 900,000 midwives and those in the sector continue to face discrimination, poor working environments and unequal pay. They are left out of health leadership. “Midwives need an enabling environment. Strategic litigation for better salaries is the need of hour,” says…

STEMonsters: Making science appealing to kids

March 23, 2023September 4, 2025 admin FEATURED News and events Opinion 0

STEMonsters is a learning ecosystem for school children, aiming to build, in them, a strong foundation in STEM concepts through interdisciplinary, application-focused programs. According to the founder, Dr. Sonali Dasgupta, the programs help develop a problem-solving mindset while instilling confidence in children to explore the unknown and keeping them engaged and curious. Dr. Sonali Dasgupta adds, “We offer weekly, after-school science and technology learning programs for children (pan-Asia), in the age group of eight to 14 years, wherein they learn by experimenting and building on their own, right from their…

The roadmap to boost brand value: Copylove

March 21, 2023 admin FEATURED News and events Opinion 0

Founded in 2015, Copylove is a boutique copywriting and strategic content solutions studio that offers branding, copywriting and strategic content solutions to corporate enterprises, brands, businesses and entrepreneurs. The Founder Gunjan Pai says that they specialize in creating a wide variety of niche brand work including naming, taglines, positioning, short-form content such as social media, and long-form pieces such as whitepapers, publications, etc. She adds, “We are a lean-principled firm with a collaborative DNA. Our all-women team works remotely from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Goa. The team makes high-quality, persuasive…

Ravedesign: A Design Perspective

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 admin FEATURED Opinion 0

Ravedesign, incubated at NSRCEL, is a design consulting firm with a special focus on retail and the shopping centre industry. Says Co-founder Sangeeta Vernekar, “For retail brand store designs, we add value through creative thought processes based on thorough research on international trends, shopper behavior and operational management. In case of design of shopping centres, we have the required expertise of handling all aspects of design from master planning to architecture, interiors, signage design and placemaking, which is a unique mix of design services. We also offer fit out management…

Image Consultancy through workshops and one-on-one sessions: The White Lily Training Services

February 23, 2023September 4, 2025 admin News and events Opinion 0

The White Lily Training Services, incubated at NSRCEL, aims to help people project a powerful positive image and first impression, by conducting life skill and soft skill workshops and providing one-on-one consultations. The Founder, Meenakshi Gupta says, “The White Lily Training Services was amongst the Top 100 start-ups in the WSP 3.0. Our main objective is to transform people through impactful courses on body language, appearance management, public speaking skills, positive attitude, creating professional wardrobe, personality development, etiquette, and communication. We also provide a complete package of Image Consultancy. These…

Odisha fellows explaining sustainability values of handicrafts

Sustainable Handicrafts, Toothsome Edibles, Native-Knitted Clothing & Much More Were Showcased at ‘The MGNF Product Exhibition’ at IIMB on January 25 and 26, 2023

January 30, 2023January 30, 2023 admin FEATURED Opinion 0

Highlights: The Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship Programme by IIMB conducted an Exhibition on January 25 and 26. Products were brought by MGNF fellows from around 40 districts covering six states – Karnataka, Goa, Odisha, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Tripura. The exhibition’s objective was to espouse local artistic livelihoods and surface perceptions of urban consumers on products made by SHGs, tribal communities, and others. The Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship Programme held an exhibition showcasing sustainable handcrafts, toothsome edibles, native-knit clothing, recycled books, etc., at the IIMB Campus on January 25 and 26,…

The unfortunate case of Mrs. Kochhar – A Personal Reflection¹ The institution called independent directors needs to be reviewed. And made more accountable. I will not be surprised if far too many independent directors really do not function in an environment that does not allow them to be truly independent, writes Prof. G Sabarinathan

December 26, 2022September 4, 2025 admin FEATURED Opinion 2

Mrs Chanda Kochhar, former head of ICICI Bank and her husband were arrested on December 23, 2022. I have been tracking the development relating to Mrs. Kochhar and the “high value” loans she is alleged to have made to the Videocon group ever since the story was broken in 2018. Not so much for the enormity of the scam, if it were established to be one. Niravbhai and Mehulbhai have proven that they can do far better, more than even a certain shipyard firm. When it comes to plundering at…