The Hindu Business Line : Ticket to the big market

Agro behemoth Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) helped fund the participation of more than 100 craftspersons from various states in the Mahalaxmi Saras Utsav held on the Bandra Reclamation Grounds. A national mela for cottage industries, this is one of Nabard's many endeavours to develop rural markets and help rural artisans gain access to the urban marketplace.

The Mumbai fair — organised by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Maharashtra, and its counterpart at the Centre — showcased beautiful fabrics (embroidered items from Kashmir, saris from Karnataka and Maharashtra, shawls from Assam, Varanasi and Chhattisgarh); handicrafts (like rice husk and coconut shell products from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal); food (Maharashtrian and coastal delicacies) served piping hot; music and folk dance performances which made the fair a hugely enjoyable experience. Stall holders included NGOs and beneficiaries of the Swarojgar CreditCard Scheme such as Tamil Nadu's Narikuravars who travel to Goa, Mathura, Varanasi, Delhi, Sabarimala and other places to participate in exhibitions and melas after borrowing funds from moneylenders.

Nabard's support of the rural non-farm sector has led to the establishment of 27 lakh production units and 90 lakh employment opportunities since it was set up in 1981. It began supervising rural credit growth in 2004, when the credit growth was 32 per cent and has disbursed Rs 25,384 crore to states out of Rs 42,949 crore sanctioned in the Budget for building rural infrastructure. The share of the private sector in capital formation in the farm sector has improved from 69 per cent to 74 per cent. Interestingly, the prices were supposed to be fixed but everyone was haggling and in the end, so did this writer!

Mobile Monday

Mobile Monday is a forum to network, promote the local mobile industry, foster cooperation among mobile users, share knowledge and discuss developments in the mobile world. Founded in Helsinki in 2000, it has 25-odd chapters worldwide. Meetings are held on the first Monday every month and Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi are part of the fast-growing list of Mobile Monday locations. Angel investor Rajesh Jain launched the Mumbai chapter on July 4 last year at his Netcore Solutions premises with a presentation on the Mobile Internet. The August Mobile Monday, hosted by Mouthshut.com, was renamed Monsoon Monday as a mark of respect to the rain gods.

In September the forum was hosted by Saleem Mobhani, Vice-President, Hungama. Presentations on Mobile Music were made by Mobhani and Pradeep Anand, Managing Director, Innovative Interactive Infotainment. October's topic was Mobile Radio (host: Geodesic), TCS sponsored the November event and Rajiv Hiranandani, Country Head, Mobile2win, hosted the December event. The keynote address on "The Mobile Music Market in India - Untapped Revenue Streams" was followed by a panel discussion led by Mandar Thakur, General Manager, Soundbuzz; Rajjat Kakkar, Managing Director, Universal Music; Saurav Sen, Head - Internet and Telecom, ABP; and Shailesh Varudkar, AVP - VAS, Hutch. If you'd like to host a meet, e-mail Veer Chand Bothra (veer@mobilepundit.com).

On capital punishment

Bhavan's College professor Anthony Kunnath and Saumya Uma, a lawyer attached to the Women's Research and Action Group (WRAG) and Coordinator for International Criminal Court (ICC) - India, spoke eloquently on the death penalty at the WRAG premises on January 4. This was followed by a discussion on the execution of Saddam Hussein, ramifications of the same and future strategies.

The meeting was organised by the Mumbai Initiative for Human Rights Education (MIHRE), which is affiliated to the International Human Rights Education Consortium (IHREC). The IHREC is organising three-day workshops in Mumbai and Kerala later this month and early February.

Resource persons include Ravi Nair, Executive Director, South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre, and Theodore S. Orlin, Professor of Human Rights at Utica College, Syracuse University, and a founder member of IHREC.

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