—Five companies with proposals for solutions for rural institutions in India will receive funding from the Rural Innovation fund constituted by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Microsoft, reports India Infoline. Selected from 700 applicants, these include the Aravind Eye Hospital from Theni Tamil Nadu (a Vision Centre for online consultation with opthamologists), ARUNTEC (online market information for villagers), Janastu, Bangalore (an open source school management software), Society for Participatory Research and Integrated Training (SPRIT), Tamil Nadu (market information and trends solution for fishing communities) and Vritti Solutions (disaster management system). However, there’s no mention of the quantum of funds that they will receive.

SEE ALSO: Rural Internet And Digital Education Initiatives Meet Little Success

—From August 15 2007, the Mission 2007 programme will “evolve” into a Grameen Gyaan Abhiyan (GGA), a national movement for knowledge empowerment of rural families. It is intended that every block will have a village resource centre with the help of ISRO, and every panchayat will have a Gyan Chaupal or village knowledge centre with the help of ministry of panchayati raj, civil society organisations, multilateral donors, the academic and private sectors and bilateral and multilateral donors. [ via ToI] I wonder how the Mission 2007 programme worked out.