Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<keyword id="44604" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Nandan-Nilekani">Nandan Nilekani</keyword>, the Infosys czar and the <keyword id="155319" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Aadhar">Aadhar</keyword> creator is of the belief that India is on the cusp of an enormous financial revolution if it takes the path of being a cashless and as a result corruption-free economy. In his new book, ‘<keyword id="2536025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rebooting-India">Rebooting India</keyword>’, which he co-authored with <keyword id="217085" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Viral-Shah">Viral Shah</keyword>, they enumerate 12 big challenges for the Indian government and chart out a roadmap to achieve them, using their experience during Aadhar. 
 
In an exclusive interview, Nilekani sheds some light on our queries regarding if it's ingfact possible for India to reboot itself. 
 
Your book talks about the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit as one of the two things required to keep an organization running. From your experience in Aadhar, what tips can you give the bureaucracy to hone their entrepreneurial skills? 
 
In Rebooting India, my co-author Viral Shah and I discuss the importance of running projects as startups within government to address some of our toughest grand challenges. We also note that the government at large is designed for stability rather than for the latest innovations and fads. The trick is to combine the scale of government with the speed of startups. In our book, we use this infographic to illustrate how this can be done. We feel that our book and experiences can serve as a guide for bureaucrats wanting to hone their entrepreneurial skills. 
 
 
 
Why is our country still grappling with the mere basics despite their being talented people in the government? 
 
The challenge of our country is its vast scale and diversity. In our Introductory 
chapter, Viral and I write: 
 
“Indian society is vastly complex, made up of a million smaller Indias—rich, poor, urban, rural, multiethnic, multilingual. A truly democratic society is one in which every citizen of these million smaller Indias’ is included in the mainstream, able to benefit from government services and participate in the country’s development. We need to fix our country’s problems at great speed, at scale, with high quality, while providing solutions that are easy to access, independent of geography, and low cost. Technology, the great leveller, is our only hope of meeting these goals.” 
 
While government is staffed with able administrators, only through technology can we solve our problems at speed and scale. That is only possible by leveraging the diverse experiences and capabilities from the private sector. This would bring a missing skill in government thinking about products, operating in a competitive scenario, understanding the mind of the customer, etc. 
 
 
 
In your book, you’ve also stressed on the fact that it’s imperative that Indian banking must switch to electronic payment system while highlighting its advantages. Do you think India, as a country, where the majority of the population is in the rural areas, will be ready for this? How do we make them ready for this? 
 
Ofcourse. Today, hundreds of millions of Indians are doing 5 rupees worth of top-ups regularly to recharge their phone. Putting money in the bank account is no different! Hand over cash for deposit, and get an SMS with your current balance. India is already ready for this. That is why in our chapter on payments, we outline a vision of a million business correspondents who can provide banking service to the last mile using their smartphones and Aadhaar. This is not theoretical, but can be rolled out in a matter of months. The technology is ready and reviewed by the Reserve Bank; over 90 crore people have Aadhaar, and the banks have already integrated and tested the MicroATM systems. 
 
Technology is another aspect that you’re talking about in detail in your book- something that you believe could solve our problems at a lightning speed. However, how well do you think the government and the people are well-versed with technology to carry it forward? What happens when a new government comes in? 
 
Since government is designed for stability, a technology project once well designed is suitable for the system to keep running and maintaining it. That is where Aadhaar is. Through the use of APIs authentication, eKYC, payments, etc., innovation is now being carried out by others on top of the Aadhaar platform. This is the role of government provide public goods and let the markets compete. Once a project is successful and has achieved scale and proven its benefit, why would a new government change anything? Clearly, Aadhaar was initiated in the UPA 2 government and is being scaled countrywide in the current government. Similarly, LPG subsidy was initiated in the earlier government, but scaled up by the current government under the name of Pahal. 
 
According to you, what should be the three immediate steps of the government to try and reboot India? 
 
In our book, we outline the need for technology to fundamentally reshape thinking and business processes. Thus, e-governance or putting websites is not sufficient. Just like Uber and Ola redefined the taxi business, we need to do the same in the government. We have outlined 12 such projects, of which 2 have been completed (Aadhaar and Pahal) and the ideas can be applied to 10 more projects eKYC, payments, health, education, justice, transparent government expenditure, etc. Each of these projects can be implemented by startups within government 10 teams of 10 people from government and private sector, each led by an entrepreneurial leader, working under the prime minister. 
 
Leafing through your book, it’s impossible to not notice the infographics adorning the pages after frequent intervals, which obviously make reading the book a more enjoyable experience. Whose idea was it to come up with the illustrations? 
 
We felt that the illustrations would help make the content more accessible. The purpose we wrote this book was to put the ideas in the public domain so that they would capture the imagination of the people, and infographics such as those in the book make it easy to do. 
 
The illustrations were done by a talented artist Aparna Ranjan. Swapnika 
Ramu carried out the research and shaped the prose in the book to be a lot more readable. This really was a team effort! 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Exclusive: Nandan Nilekani says the trick for fast-paced growth in India is to combine the scale of the govt with the speed of startups

As rainfall in the first half of the key crop planting month has been 13% higher than the average, traders are now betting on lower prices of edible oils, pulses and spices, bringing good news for the common man. 
 
The surge in monsoon rain recently has triggered a sell-off and lower prices for futures contracts in NCDEX, the country's premier exchange for agricultural commodities. 
 This was not the trend earlier as in the beginning of the month, the <keyword id="6355166" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="India-Meteorological-Department">India Meteorological Department</keyword> (IMD) said rainfall in the season would be 12% below normal, worse than its April forecast of a 7% deficit. Afutures market allows a person to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price for delivery on a future date. 
 
Economic Times reported expectations of low farm output and consequent rise in inflation reflect in bullish bets in the market, while prospects of a good harvest after adequate rain lead to fall, which the market saw on Monday. Experts say prices can swing sharply in the months ahead. 
 
Also, price movements will depend on the progress of the monsoon. The wholesale price of chana for delivery on July 20 was Rs 44.88 a kg on Monday, down 8% this month. In the same period, coriander dropped 9%, Jeera 11.35%, chilli 6.9%, sugar 5.2%, mustard 4.2% and wheat 1.5%. 
 
"The markets, which earlier this month tried to form an upper band of prices (when fears of rain shortfall loomed) is now trying to create a lower band for prices," Viral Shah, senior Vice-President, Geofin Comtrade, told ET. 
 
"From pulses to oilseeds and spices to food grains, everything fell on Monday after the IMD report on monsoon. The futures market indicated that the wholesale spot price had fallen between 1.5% and 11% for all these commodities from June 1,” he added. 
 
However, the financial daily reported that experts warned of volatility in prices as stockists and traders, both in spot and futures markets, act based on the weekly reports of monsoon progress by IMD every Thursday. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

Traders ride on surge in monsoon rains, bet on lower rates of edible oils, pulses

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Milos Bicanski/Getty ImagesA pharmacist at work.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>A pharmacy startup, <a href="https://www.zipdrug.com/">ZipDrug</a>, is creating its own network of pharmacies to deliver prescription drugs to seniors in the US.</li><li>The goal is to help seniors get their medicines at a lower price, while also making it more convenient for them. </li><li>Founded in 2015, the startup works with around 200 independent pharmacies. It partners with Medicare Advantage health plans that cover a total of 200,000 members.</li><li>With big players like CVS Health already offering similar services, ZipDrug will have to break into a competitive market. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories.</a></li></ul>In 2014, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stulibby/">Stu Libby</a> wanted to do something about the long wait times at pharmacies. He thought there must be an easier way to pick up prescription drugs. At the time, Libby was an ad-tech executive who had worked with companies like DoubleClick and Google. While he enjoyed the job, he wanted to produce work that made more of a meaningful impact.He started to think about medication access and thought, if he found going to the pharmacy frustrating on a fairly infrequent basis, how was it for individuals who needed constant prescription refills for chronic illnesses? Or seniors who found the pharmacy visits physically taxing? "I wanted to address two key issues," Libby told Business Insider. "How can we improve access and cost to prescription medication?" In 2015, he founded ZipDrug, initially as a drug delivery service. The company has since evolved to focus on serving only seniors.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Photo courtesy of Stu Libby.Stu Libby, CEO of ZipDrug</div></div></div><h2>How ZipDrug works to deliver a different type of drug delivery experience </h2>ZipDrug is a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/pharmacy">pharmacy</a> startup that is creating its own network of pharmacies to ship drugs to seniors in the US. The goal is to help seniors get their medicines at a lower price, while also making it more convenient for them. The company works only with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/medicare-advantage">Medicare Advantage</a> plans, which are government funded health insurance plans for seniors. It pairs Medicare Advantage members with their own preferred pharmacy network. The health plan covers the cost, so members don't pay a fee and the pharmacies do home delivery.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-orszag-on-medicare-advantage-post-aca-2019-5">Obamacare was expected to kill off Medicare Advantage. Now, it's one of the hottest areas for venture investment.</a>ZipDrug doesn't offer same day delivery. It's delivering medicines for patients who'd otherwise need to make repeated trips to the pharmacy because they need long-term drug treatment for chronic illnesses. Since ZipDrug decided to pair only with Medicare Advantage around two years ago, Libby said the company has undergone "exponential growth." He said the company now works with health plans that cover a total of 200,000 members. Still, that's a relatively small consumer base, compared with the <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/fact-sheet/medicare-advantage/">22 million people who have Medicare Advantage</a> plans.Since the company was founded, it has raised $14.8 million. Libby said it plans to raise $5 million more this year, to support recent growth. Its last funding round brought in $10.8 million from Notation Capital, Collaborative Fund and Neu Venture Capital. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/10-pharmacy-startups-that-could-be-ma-targets-after-amazons-acquisition-of-pillpack-2018-7" data-analytics-position="14">10 pharmacy startups that could be M&amp;A targets after Amazon's acquisition of PillPack</a>The company operates in 24 states. ZipDrug is currently based in Manhattan, but plans to move to a new office in Jersey City, New Jersey by the end of the year. <h2>Working with 'the best' pharmacies to create their own preferred pharmacy network </h2>Libby said he hopes that what sets ZipDrug apart is the fact that the platform connects Medicare Advantage members with a range of pharmacies that can do a good job of ensuring that they take their medications.Any pharmacy can join ZipDrug's platform, as long as the pharmacy complies with ZipDrug's criteria, like fill rates, delivery completion and ability to move members to lower cost prescriptions. The adherence scores are taken from Medicare data and updated regularly on ZipDrug's database. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-independent-pharmacists-survive-against-amazon-cvs-2018-11">Amazon is threatening the future of independent pharmacies. Here's how they're fighting back.</a>ZipDrug uses the health plan's data to target customers who don't have the most cost-effective prescriptions and flags members who are overspending on medication. The company calls and writes to the customers, telling them to join ZipDrug's platform where the startup can connect them to ZipDrug's preferred pharmacy network.The ZipDrug pharmacy then finds cheaper options of the same drug and also informs customers of cost-saving alternative therapies. Because pharmacy performance is tracked, if pharmacies aren't performing well, ZipDrug discontinues the partnership. Right now, the company works with fewer than 200 independent pharmacies.The startup doesn't work with major chains like CVS, but Libby said he's open to the opportunity. <h2>A new way to track the performance of health plans to deliver better service </h2>After the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) created a star system to rate the different health plans on a one to five star range, five stars being the best rating. One of the areas that is rated is prescription drug coverage. Carriers receive bonus payments from the government if they have high ratings.<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/petermanoogian/">Peter Manoogian</a>, a partner at the consulting firm ZS Associates, told Business Insider that the rating system creates a greater incentive for the Medicare Advantage plans to think critically about how they deliver prescriptions to their Medicare Advantage members, making companies like ZipDrug appealing. But as Manoogian pointed out, big players like CVS already offer Medicare Advantage plans that provide services similar to ZipDrug."I wonder from a growth perspective will ZipDrug be able to break into larger plans for people, growing into a large share of Medicare Advantage plans," Manoogian said. "Can they compete with these behemoth plans?" <h2>ZipDrug's strategy to compete with the big players like CVS </h2>Libby said the goal of ZipDrug is to offer a range of options to Medicare Advantage members from different independent pharmacies."We work with health plans to optimize their existing preferred networks," Libby said. "There is a lot of opportunity for us to collaborate with any preferred pharmacy if they meet our adherence criteria." Viral Shah, ZipDrug's vice president of pharmacy services, said that because ZipDrug individually contacts Medicare Advantage members, it offers a "personal touch" and provides more treatment options for patients to opt into, making patients more engaged and informed in their drug treatment process. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">ReutersA pharmacist counts prescription drugs at the at the CentreTown Pharmacy in Ottawa</div></div></div>Shah and Libby also pointed to their digital platform which allows for quicker information processing. The platform, called Care Control, integrates pharmacies into the ZipDrug software, and allows ZipDrug to be integrated into the pharmacies' phone systems. When a patient agrees to be matched up with a pharmacy, the patient enrollment team connects the patient and the new pharmacy for the enrollment call.The transfer is live and the Care Control platform updates the member's information at the time of the call.With the online platform, the pharmacy also has access to the patient's medical history and can see what medications they are currently using, or where there are gaps in their treatment. "So far pairing up with the pharmacies has been a smooth ride because they see the value in what we're bringing them," Shah said. "The hardest part is educating the patient, but we track the progress regularly." <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health-3"></a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-meteor-shower-perseids-orionids-leonids-2018-8">A spectacular meteor shower is coming - here's what you're actually seeing</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

A startup working with 200 pharmacies is trying to break into the hyper-competitive drug delivery business and give elderly Americans cheaper medications

You Searched For "Viral Shah" and got 3 results

Exclusive: Nandan Nilekani says the trick for fast-paced growth in India is to combine the scale of the govt with the speed of startups

Poulomi Das

Traders ride on surge in monsoon rains, bet on lower rates of edible oils, pulses

BI India Bureau

A startup working with 200 pharmacies is trying to break into the hyper-competitive drug delivery business and give elderly Americans cheaper medications

Clarrie Feinstein

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides