By Ashvini Ranjan I still recall the excitement it caused when IBM announced the development of the first smart phone called the Simon back in 1992. I could not believe then that one could carry a phone anywhere without wires attached to it. Though the prototype model was bulky compared to the cell phones of…
Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee and Pratham NGO
October 20, 2019Ideas worthy of a Nobel Prize This article is related to Nobel Laureate Prof. Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and his association with Pratham. Many of his research findings which won him and his associates the Nobel Prize recently are a result of his collaboration with Pratham. By Ashvini Ranjan, Managing Trustee, Pratham Mysore Abhijit Banerjee, the…
Mysuru Dasara-2019: Suggestions
September 22, 2019A service that every Mysurean should extend By Ashvini Ranjan Brace yourself, Dasara is here! Probably two million visitors will visit the city and on a conservative estimate, a lakh of motor vehicles will enter the city. It is anybody’s guess that the city will choke and the Traffic Police will be at their wits…
Annual Status Education Report-2018
January 21, 2019Children from government schools studying in Std. III, Std. V and Std. VIII can read a Std. II level text better than their counterparts in private schools. The 13th Annual Status Education Report (ASER-2018) of Karnataka State was released recently in Mysuru by Ashvini Ranjan, Managing Trustee, Pratham Mysore. Facilitated by Pratham, ASER is carried…
KASHI – The City Eternal
January 13, 2019By Ashvini Ranjan I have travelled extensively both within and outside the country, including holy places of nearly all faiths. But never was I more overwhelmed than during my visit to Kashi, also known as Benares and many other names. Not just for religious reasons alone, but by the totality of the experience. Kashi is…
Taking ownership of a movement
November 14, 2018The other side of Sir MV’s clarion call “Industrialise or Perish’ is Pratham’s call “Educate Children or Perish”. Every child. Specially in government schools When Ashvini Ranjan, Bhamy Shenoy and Anil Kothari walked into my office recently, I thought they had come to ask for donation for Pratham, the NGO dedicated to educating children in…
Uzbekistan: The great Silk Route country -2
November 12, 2018By Ashvini Ranjan [Continued from yesterday] As we departed on our tour of the city, Akbar reeled off the city’s history of how it changed hands from the Arabs to the Mongols and subsequently ruled by Timur and Shaybandis. It was colonised by Russia in 1917 and Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991. “It was Islam…
Uzbekistan: The great Silk Route country -1
November 11, 2018By Ashvini Ranjan The air hostess on the Uzbek Airways flight from Tashkent to New Delhi was kind enough to permit me to occupy an empty window seat. For her, it was a routine request from passengers. Little did she realise my burning curiosity to see the rugged landscape below of the famous Silk Road…
Role of parents, schools in educating children
August 9, 2018What NGOs can do to make this a better world By Ashvini Ranjan Not long ago, I travelled by train to Bengaluru. As it was an unplanned trip, I had to buy a ticket at the Railway counter. As I stood in line, I noticed people cutting into the line ignoring those already waiting. Protests…
House with a Red Gate
April 9, 2018By Ashvini Ranjan Why would anyone want to paint his gate red other than the Post Office? I have painted it the brightest of red colour, not out of love for the colour but out of exasperation, annoyance and anger. Let me explain. I live at Door No.31, Jayalakshmipuram 6th Main, 3rd Block. This is…
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