Microfinance Monitor NEWS WITH GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

The press conference at Cupertino-based Apple’s headquarters on Wednesday morning turned out to be the most disappointing event for iPhone 5 lovers as Apple could only launch its updated iPhone 4S with voice navigation feature that it calls “Siri”. As the shortest invite said, “Let’s talk iPhone,” the outcome was not entire unexpected. What is Siri? Siri, Apple’s latest voice ...

India’s Human Resources minister Kapil Sibal will unveil the country’s $35 tablet computer meant for students, officially on Wednesday. The tablet was developed as part of the National Mission on Education as a low cost alternative to high-end tablets which were available at $200. Even the latest tablet made by an Indian company called Pepper was priced $99. “The tablet ...

Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess win the Nobel prize in physics, the Nobel prize panel announced on Tuesday for their 1998 discovery of supernova in space galaxies. 104 Nobel Prizes in Physics have been awarded since 1901. It was not awarded on six occasions: in 1916, 1931, 1934, 1940, 1941, and 1942. Why were the Nobel Prizes not ...

The Nobel Prize Foundation has decided to go ahead with the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine to the late Ralph Steinman, though he died three days before the announcement was made. From 1974, the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation stipulate that a Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless death has occurred after the announcement of the Nobel Prize. Before ...

The sensational murder trial of British university exchange student Meredith Kerchner by her roommates Amanda Knox, Rudy Guede and Raffaele Sollecito in November 2007 took a twist on Monday with the jury acquitting Amanda and her friend. Kercher was a Leeds University student from Coulsdon in Surrey in 2007 when she was killed in Perugia. Her roommates and Rudy were ...

Canadian-born Ralph Steinman, 68, who has been named winner of the 2011 Nobel prize for medicine on Monday had, in fact, died three days before and the foundation which cannot award posthumous is in quandary over the news that reached them bit late. Ironically, Steinman was being treated based on his own research into the body’s immune system before he ...

The 2011 Nobel Prize for Medicine has gone to three researchers for their work on the immune system. One-half of the prize money will go jointly to Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity” and the other half to Ralph M. Steinman “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its ...

Days after introducing premium Google Analytics which will offer in-depth analytics at $150,000 for major online businesses and website owners to implement market strategy, search engine giant Google has come out with another offer, this time with the launch of a marketing campaign in New York to promote the use of enhanced search ads. Nick Fox, Vice President of Product ...

Shah Rukh Khan is not letting any stone unturned when it comes to his latest film “Ra-One”. Apart from a heavy media blitz, internet advertisements and print media, he is also roping in many stalwarts of the film industry to make sure the film has a pan-India appeal. His request to Tamil actor Rajinikanth to do a cameo was met ...

For the first time in rural India, a long-held promise of providing mobile payment cards has come been fulfilled with the introduction of Kisan Cards in in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu. Now the farmers of the village can pay for their purchases of inputs through the card . The card was introduced by local Pallavan Grama bank. While ...