Wonder Grass Bamboo House

Census (2001) reports that there are around 11.4 million houses are non-serviceable kutcha/temporary houses needing replacement, and an absolute shortage of 3.2 million houses in rural India. This amounts to a total housing shortage of 14.6 million dwelling houses in rural India. According the ASSOCHAM report the rural housing shortage is going to hit 47.43 million by year 2012. The main reasons for this shortage is lack of affordable housing technologies, low access to financial supports and to some extent failure of Govt. schemes.

Wonder Grass Initiative Pvt. Ltd. founded by Vaibhav Kaley offers a innovative solution for providing affordable houses for rural dwellers. Their core operation involves processing-packing-transporting and installation of modular houses with bamboo being the main construction material. The production node manufactures different housing components such as Column, Beam, Truss, Purlin and other accessories such as different joineries systems etc. These components can then be then sent to any desired location where they are erected on a standard foundation as per the design instruction. Since most of the prefabrication work is done in the village it reduces migration.

Green Building Congress, 9-12th Sep, 2009, Hyderabad

The objectives of Green Building Congress are to:

Showcase green building products / technologies / services
Exposure to latest trends and technologies on green buildings
Facilitate Market Transformation
Facilitate networking and promotion of business opportunities
Involve all stakeholders in the green building movement

The theme for the current edition of Green Building Congress is ‘Affordable Green Buildings’.

The conference will be addressed by leading experts on green buildings drawn from India and abroad. More than 750 delegates are expected to attend this conference.

The conference will be an excellent opportunity for architects, green products and equipment manufacturers, building consultants, contractors, corporate project managers (involved in building) to update themselves on the latest trends in green building practices across the globe.

Conference on Growing Business Oppertunity in Rural Markets

To unlock the full potential of rural market and the Indian agriculture, the focus must be on improving productivity of the entire value chain and not just the production aspects. Potential interventions include land reforms, promotion of private participation, investments in research, irrigation techniques, availability of power to rural areas (incl. use of alternate energy sources), crop & soil management, introduction of high yielding crop varieties and tax breaks for food processing, among others. An improving policy environment, improving rural infrastructure and higher public and private investment could all help drive a turnaround in rural India.

The proposed Conference will attempt to address the above challenges and chalk out a roadmap by deliberating with the diverse stakeholders including the farming community, corporate sector, entrepreneurs, governments, institutions, researchers, consultants and academicians.

4th Asia Pacific Conference on Business Incubation, Coimbatore, 6-8th Aug, 09

The forum, which is being held in conjunction with the 14th AABI General Assembly, will bring together leaders of the incubation industry in Asia and the Pacific with a program specifically for incubation managers and their stakeholders and with special sessions for policy makers and promoters of business incubation in the region.

With global down turn, incubation and the entrepreneurs it helps face relatively new challenges and opportunities. The program for the forum addresses the topic directly, as well as focusing on some of the key issues facing business incubation managers and policy makers. Combining globally recognized and inspirational speakers, with a workshop style for most sessions, along with plenty of time for networking, the forum is designed to inspire, transfer knowledge and to encourage participants to learn from each other and to share successful tools, tips and strategies.

The Forum is organized by the Asia Pacific Incubation Network (APIN), supported by infoDev, the Department of Science and Technology in India and its growing number of members. APIN’s Steering Committee has an ambitious program of activities to share and will use the opportunity to better understand what help incubators need in the region, so that this can translate into future activities to benefit members.

Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, Nov 19-29, 09; Kolkata & Hyderabad

Highlights

• A visit to the India headquarters of Acumen Fund, one of the world's leading social venture funds (http://www.acumenfund.org/) and one of the social enterprises they have invested in, Life Spring Hospitals (http://www.lifespringhospitals.com/)
• A visit to SKS Microfinance, founded by Vikram Akula. Vikram is recognised by Time Magazine as one of today's 100 most influential people. (http://www.sksindia.com/)
  Time with a number of leading Ashoka fellows in India as well as a number of other grassroots social entrepreneurs and innovators
• An experience of two diverse cities and states in India - Kolkata in West Bengal and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh
• Participation in the fourth annual International Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, which will be held at the Indian School of Business, one of world's top business schools (http://www.isb.edu/)
  Participants
  We will be selecting approximately 15 leaders to take part in the experience. Previous participants have included senior leaders in the private, public and civil society sectors, social entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, policy makers, philanthropists and academics.

Venue: 19-22 nd Nov- Kolkata

22-29 th Nov- Hyderabad

Deadline for Appl.: 19.08.09

Organizer: UnLtd India

TED India, Nov 4-7, 09, Mysore

TED, the definitive conference on Technology, Entertainment and Design will be held in India for the first time, at the Infosys Campus at Mysore, from November 4th to 7th 2009. The conference brings together innovative thinkers from all walks of life, with speakers including economists, designers, entrepreneurs, technologists, TV producers, journalists, politicians, musicians, scientists — an eclectic group of people brought together to discuss and create “ideas worth spreading”.

TED is an expensive affair, and while the US event costs $6000 to attend, entry to the Indian event will be priced at $2400. At the same time, 100 fellows will be allowed to participate for free. The TED India fellowship applications will open on April 20th. 80 of the 100 fellows will be Indian. There’s also a non-profit/NGO rate of $1400, and some sponsor fees. The talks are curated, and there’s no marketing or pitching; this is a conference about ideas worth spreading, and speakers are given 18 minutes.

10 Great Ideas to change the World in 50 years

In this event IIT Bombay invites you to submit your ideas that you believe will change the world in next 50 years. The winner will get prize worth Rs. 50 lakhs sponsored by Godrej.

Last date of Idea submission: 31. 5.09

Grand final: August 1st week

Organiser: IIT Bombay & Godrej

Global Easy Water Products Pvt. Ltd.

Global Easy Water Products Pvt. Ltd. (GEWP) established in 2004 is a for profit company registered under Indian Companies Act 1956. GEWP is an authorised seller and distributor of the KB(Krishak Bandhu) brand of micro irrigation products developed by IDEI, Delhi. GEWP sources micro irrigation equipments from local manufactures, and sells the same using network of supply chain which includes dealers/distributors and retailers. GEWP’s strategy is to leverage rural market forces. The company sources from local manufacturers, uses a network of independent retail dealers, and builds expertise in local technicians to ensure the final product reaches the smallholder farmer.
KB brand drip irrigation laterals are useful for the crops like-vegetables, cotton, sugarcane and horticulture. KB micro sprinklers are suitable for close spacing crops like onion, ginger, garlic and fodder. These systems are very easy to install and maintenance also is very easy. Thousands of farmers are using KB drip & sprinklers in various crops across India & abroad

YouthActionNet® Global Fellowship Program 09

A program of the International Youth Foundation, YouthActionNet® seeks to develop a new generation of socially conscious global citizens who create positive change in their communities, their countries, and the world. Each year, 20 exceptional young social entrepreneurs are selected as YouthActionNet® Global Fellows following a competitive application process.

Indicorps Fellowship

The Indicorps fellowship is a profound personal experience and an opportunity to understand participatory development through intense voluntary service. The structured program encourages participants to leave their comfort zones, place others' interests before their own, test their own potential to affect change, explore their relationship with India, and understand what it means to lead by committing themselves to innovative grassroots projects. Indicorps believes that giving one's time and energy, without any attachment to the outcome, regardless of the circumstances, is an unparalleled personal experience in service. At the same time, the fellowship is a chance for fellows to address their own identity, recognize their personal boundaries, and understand how to produce change in their environment(s). The fellowship is deeply rewarding, a transformational and challenging personal journey, and part of Indicorps’ collective experiment for change.

The 5th Young Indians National Summit 09, 14-15 Feb, Hyderabad

It is the young now who have the most vital role in paradigm shifting, be it micro finance, pre-primary and primary education, health care, sustainable agriculture, and self-governance. A vocal and participative young India can help to build a vibrant economy, strong government, and common cultural identity. The choices need to be made today for India to "March Forward" to the goal post of India @ 75 and beyond and this Summit is a wake up call for all of us who desire for a better India of tomorrow.

Make your choice NOW!

CEO Forum 09, 4th Feb, Delhi

It is the most popular feature of DSDS. The CEO Forum will focus on the theme ‘Climate Change: perspective from the change makers in business’. It will review issues and address the challenges businesses are likely to face due to climate change. Focus will be on ‘how’ and ‘why’ green is good. Business opportunities in the emerging scenario will be examined. Action on energy efficiency, introduction of clean technologies, finance, insurance, changes in business lifestyles, and host of other unexplored areas will be discussed in this forum.

Dalai Lama speech on Peace

His Holiness the Dalai Lama will visit the Madras University on 21 January from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The University is expected to officially invite 15 members to represent each college in the city. The Tibetan Students who are studying in different colleges in and around Chennai are also expected to turn out.

E4SI Fellowship 09

'Engineers for Social Impact' is a unique fellowship program that connects top engineering talent to credible social enterprises driving market-based solutions to development in India. It serves a dual need: matching talented students with worthy social enterprises and increasing awareness of for-profit approaches to development.

Conference on Providing access for Sustainable Development

The conference aims to explore the broad areas where social entrepreneurs could make a difference, by creating effective mechanism to make the resources accessible to those in need. The Conference will aim to provide a platform to leading NGOs to put forth their point of view and network, liaison & collaborate and promote social entrepreneurship among students and the community.

Organizers: XLRI Jamshedpur

Date: 31st Jan to 1st Feb 09