Global IndianstoryChandrayaan-3 perfects Moon landing: How ISRO is making space technology accessible to the world

Chandrayaan-3 perfects Moon landing: How ISRO is making space technology accessible to the world

Written by: Namrata Srivastava

(August 23, 2023) That, their journey began in the backyard of a church in a small village of Kerala, is hardly a story that needs retelling. Journeying far from its humble origins, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) trajectory of accomplishments has been nothing short of awe-inspiring. Over the last many years, through their brilliance and toil, ISRO’s scientists have been able to transition from their modest beginnings to becoming a global player in space exploration – successfully ferrying foreign satellites and orchestrating the launch of lunar and Martian orbiters. And now, these geniuses have yet again scripted history by becoming the first ever to land a spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole, in just $75 million – about ten times less than NASA’s Artemis moon programme.

APPLE satellite being transported via bullock cart in 1981

However, beyond all the attention given to their many successful missions, there’s one more achievement of ISRO that often goes unnoticed – their contribution to making space technology cheaper for many countries that can’t launch their own satellites. Over the last decade, India has gracefully launched an impressive constellation of 431 satellites, extending its help to 36 countries across the globe, including South Korea, Argentina, Germany, Indonesia, Turkey, Italy, and Finland.

ISRO | Global Indian

And that’s not all. Within the tapestry of the global space industry, ISRO emerges as a pivotal thread, weaving a contribution of almost $7 billion, and boasting a partnership with more than 40 Indian startups, each sculpting their launch vehicles, crafting satellites, and delving into other related endeavours.

Space for all

While organisations like NASA and ESA have always had financial backing from their respective authorities, ISRO lacked funding for a long time. This forced the scientists at ISRO to come up with some really innovative and pocket-friendly ways to operate and launch successful missions.

Interestingly, ISRO launched the Mangalyaan in 2013 with a budget of ₹4.5 billion, equivalent to $74 million, a figure that, when viewed through Western lenses, stands as astonishingly economical. In a striking parallel, during that very same year, the American Maven orbiter’s journey to the Red Planet incurred expenses nearly 10 times more in comparison. In fact, ISRO sent orbiters to both Moon and Mars at a cost eclipsed by Warner Bros. Pictures’ expenditure in producing the 2013 cinematic marvel, Gravity.

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 explored the south pole of the Moon

ISRO’s ability to achieve extraordinary feats while maintaining a prudent approach to financial allocation has attracted several nations to partner with India in order to send their satellites and orbiters into space. In the year 2017, ISRO created history by successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission, overtaking the previous record of 37 satellites launched by Russia in 2014. Of the 104 small satellites, 96 belong to the United States while Israel, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and the Netherlands are the other foreign clients.

High on quality; low on cost

While ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has a rather small capacity in terms of volume (about 4000 kgs as cargo), in comparison to NASA’s Space Launch System (approximately 70,000 kgs), several nations have time and again preferred to partner with India over the USA. The PSLV rocket makes a launch happen at around $25 million, and sending each kilogram of cargo into space costs about $6600. On the other hand, NASA’s SLS requires a massive $2 billion for just one launch, which makes the cost of carrying one kilogram of cargo an astonishing $29,000 – four times more than ISRO.

ISRO’s Mangalyaan

And of course, it goes without saying that ISRO’s PSLV is one of the most reliable launch platforms in the world. With over 50 successful launches, PSLV boasts the achievement of launching the highest number of satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit in a single launch – thus making it the most sought-after platform for various developing countries across the globe to support their space endeavours.

Empowering the next generation

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the successful launch of Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan changed the game not just for ISRO, but for those thousands of youngsters who wished to take the Indian flag to space one day. In recent years, India has witnessed the emergence of numerous space technology startups. However, the year 2022 stood out as a significant milestone, marked by the remarkable launch activities of several private players deploying their satellites. According to the latest Economic Survey, India has now become the nurturing ground for a collective of 104 space startups and 368 space technology companies.

ISRO | Global Indian

Over the years, several key players have emerged in the space tech ecosystem of India, and are being actively supported by ISRO. Many companies – such as AgniKul Cosmos, Skyroot Aerospace, Dhruva Space, Pixxel, and Bellatrix Aerospace – have been able to not only manufacture their own satellites but have also launched them successfully using ISRO’s infrastructure – making the technology accessible for many other private players in other countries.

“There’s no future of space without private sector participation,” Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, said earlier this year, during the inauguration of the Space System Design Lab at the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre. “The space sector economy, which is today at about $447 billion, is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion. About 50 percent of that would be just 1.8 percent of India’s projected GDP in 2047, and private space industry in the country will be heavy contributors to this,” he added.

While India’s private space domain might have taken flight five decades after the historic moon landing, industry insiders believe that the country’s private enterprises have more than victory on their minds.

Watch Chandrayaan 3 Vikram landing LIVE
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Published on 23, Aug 2023

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How Parul Sharma became one of Sweden’s top human rights lawyers

(March 30, 2023) Parul Sharma is a familiar face in Sweden, where she is one of the country’s most influential lawyers and featured often in the media. A human rights lawyer with a focus on sustainability, Parul is the CEO at The Academy for Human Rights in Business and Chair, Amnesty International Sweden. Over the years, she has gained a reputation as one of Sweden’s most influential sustainability experts. Be it law or human rights, Parul has always had a human-centric approach – she studied law from Stockholm University and did her Master’s in London. In 2017, she was ranked the second most influential sustainability leader in Sweden, right after the Minister of Financial Markets and Consumer Affairs. Over the years, Parul has written extensively on the topics of CSR and human rights. In 2020-2022, she was ranked and awarded most influential in Sweden within areas of social change, development, and human rights. In 2022, she won the “MySpeaker of the Year” prize in the category of sustainability in Sweden. “Over the years I have been awarded with human rights awards such as the Solidarity Award granted by the Afrika groups (Afrikagrupperna) and the Tilka Manjhi Human Rights Award granted

Rights Award granted by the Ang Madad Foundation India in 2021,” Parul tells Global Indian.

Parul loves to create hope, she says it’s her aim to create hope for it can indeed be a trigger to action and reaction for development, and hope is extremely important to uphold human rights and democracy. “Each person is a powerhouse and can start a movement, small or big, for change and sustainable development. Hope can indeed illuminate these powerhouses.”

[caption id="attachment_36718" align="aligncenter" width="636"] Parul Sharma[/caption]

Entrepreneur, author and human rights defender

After gaining expertise and many years of experience working in sustainability, human rights and anti-corruption in high-risk markets, Parul floated her own Academy, ‘The Academy for Human Rights in Business’ for Human Rights, in Business in 2013. So far it has provided training and legal advice on sustainable development related issues to more than 550 companies – mainly multinational corporations around the world.

Parul also got a chance to chair the Swedish governmental Agenda 2030 Delegation between 2016 and January 2018 and also since 2020, has served as the Chair of Amnesty International Sweden. Apart from being a rights activist, she is also an established author; so far she has published seven. “My three most recent publications are on Agenda 2030," Parul says. "They are handbooks, aimed at making people act both as corporate representatives, citizens, parents, teachers, and consumers. I have all together published seven books on human rights and/or sustainable development,” Parul explains. The first four books are on the Right to Life and the rights of women and children.

Preserving culture

Parul was born to Indian parents in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother, Anita Sharma and her father, Shashikant Sharma, moved from Jallandhar to the Swedish capital as a newly married couple in the 1970s. “Our languages are Punjabi and Hindi, and our culture has always been central to our upbringing. For that, I’m thankful to my mother.”

The early exposure to Indian culture and languages led to an interest in human rights and sustainable development issues in her ancestral homeland. She began to expand her focus to India and gradually, to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, building up to outreach on a global scale during her 27-year career. These days, Parul works in seven African and four Latin-American countries.

Creating socially-sound businesses

According to Parul, her work schedule is very hectic, with a lot of legal advisory and training towards the corporate world in the EU through her firm The Academy for Human Rights in Business. “I advise corporations on how to conduct socially and environmentally sound business in already weak and complex markets from a sustainable development point of view.”

In the last 20 years, she has been regularly conducting social audits on European supply chains in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Never forgetting the roots

Parul is a regular visitor to India and has worked almost everywhere in the country, she says. “On the sidelines, I am active in a number of pro bono engagements with NGOs working to combat Tobacco, sex-trade and human trafficking, refugee rights and support to refugees in Sweden, and many child rights related matters.”

For many years now, she spends at least one month as a humanitarian volunteer. “My last three volunteer programmes have been attached to a clinic connected to one of Europe’s largest refugee camps in Greece on the Ireland of Lesbos.”

Branching out

A few years ago, Parul began to feel that her legal profession is not enough to support and help in the humanitarian and refugee crisis. She chose an unconventional path at this point. Wanting to feel more involved in helping refugees rise above the trauma they carried, she took courses in massage therapy and breathing techniques. It allowed her provide a sort of instant relief, which she says has also benefitted her immensely. “I feel the difference instantly, I can see, feel and hear how massage is helping my fellow human beings who have struggled to move away from war zones, natural disasters, and other oppressive scenes.” Often, she says, people break down and cry on the massage table as they feel the release of tension. “The feeling of being safe and relaxed is uncommon for them,” she says.

Right now, she is working with the Swedish initiative ‘Stand with Syria’ to support the Turkish and Syrian hunger crisis due to the massive earthquake hitting these countries very recently.

An unflinching journey

“Child rights have always been the main energy in my work, and 25 years ago, together with an Indian NGO, PVCHR Asia, I started a scholarship programme for girls in Uttar Pradesh and it has been ongoing since.” Investing in education for the girl child has proven to be the single most impacting practice for social and environmental development, she says.

While calling this as the most powerful key to societal balance and change, till date several hundreds, at least 650 girls have benefitted from this programme.

“This programme is probably what I am most proud of, of all the work and effort I have put into rights based work. I visit PVCHR once a year and meet with the girls. Health camps and other awareness activities for women are conducted as well.”

Staunch supporter of human and worker rights

Today world’s supply chains are being severely affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic and fast moving markets. “Moreover, the threat to public health, the economic and social disruption threatens the long-term livelihoods of millions of workers. Mostly vulnerable to the worst impacts are the millions of workers lower down the supply chain, often women and the primary caregivers in their families and already marginalized communities.”

Calling workers as integral to the global economy, Parul believes a large part of the hidden workforce of global production already face poverty wages, dangerous and unsafe working conditions, and without social protections, mostly.

“Migrant workers in supply chains also face unique risks, as a result of inadequate and crowded living conditions, harsh containment measures, and discrimination. This includes workers in supply chains across sectors but has clearly been identified within electronics and IT. Such risks and impacts have been documented in the mining sector in Latin America as well as in electronics manufacturing in China (including the alert on the forced labor of the Uyghurs), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Czech Republic, Italy, Brazil, and Mexico), according to and by numerous human rights watchdogs.”

In capacity of playing an advisory role, she prepares companies and governmental agencies, who procure products from high-risk markets, to build even stricter auditing models during and post-covid, especially within the following areas: compensation, collective bargaining agreements, and cancellations during the pandemic, for instance, cancellations of wage increase and severance payments, health and safety measures with a focus on lack of protective equipment, lack of social distancing measures.

Parul is a staunch supporter of spiritualism, she believes one needs calm, prayer, meditation and spiritualism every day.

Follow Parul Sharma on LinkedIn

From a medical rep to CEO, the meteoric rise of Ani Prajith who made East Africa his home

(May 25, 2022) Life for a medical representative is full of challenges, especially when it comes to sales, which is the most difficult part in the pharma industry. It often ends up with the medical representatives getting entangled, keeping them busy at the same level for years. But Ani Prajith is an exception. Scripting a success story like no other, this happy-go-lucky medical representative relentlessly worked his way up into becoming the CEO of a pharma giant, a rare occurrence in the pharmaceutical line. While most people prefer the USA, UK, Australia or Gulf when it comes to jobs, Prajith had no second thoughts when he picked up the offer of moving to Tanzania and then to Uganda, which eventually led to his meteoric rise. "Like India, people in Africa are warm and welcoming. Wrapping this up with the rich cultural history and heritage of more than 50 tribes, both Niotic and Bantu, who warmly welcome visitors, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Uganda has been my home for the last nine years," smiles Ani Prajith, the CEO of Phillips Pharmaceuticals, in an exclusive chat with Global Indian. Prior to Uganda, he spent four years in Tanzania and Kenya. [caption id="attachment_24858"

Indian. Prior to Uganda, he spent four years in Tanzania and Kenya.

[caption id="attachment_24858" align="aligncenter" width="776"] CEO | Ani Prajith Ani Prajith, the CEO of Phillips Pharmaceuticals[/caption]

A great start, courtesy interest in medicine

Born in Kerala, Prajith is the son of Ramachandran Pillai, a veteran in Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, who served the country as a pilot instructor. Owing to his father's transfer, Prajith spent a major part of his childhood in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The family returned down south after Ramachandran Pillai was once again transferred to the Airforce flying school, located in Tambaram on the suburbs of Chennai, where Prajith received most of his education.

"Healthcare and medicine was a field which often interested me and therefore I chose to get into the pharma field instead of doing MBBS," informs Prajith, who did his schooling at St Joseph's Senior Secondary School and later went to Madras Christian College.

As a young pass out from college in 1997, Prajith's first job was at Tata Donley Yellow Pages as a sales executive. But being a science graduate, his passion led him to join Smithkline Beecham (now GlaxoSmithkline) as a medical representative. "I worked in different capacities and developed a learning curve to become one of the youngest business managers in GSK," informs a beaming Prajith, who worked for almost four between 2003 and 2006. His brother Sunil Prajith is in the Indian Airforce.

His work took him across the length and breadth of India. He worked in Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and north east India. "I love travelling and meeting new people. Adapting to different cultures and value systems comes naturally to me," informs the CEO.

[caption id="attachment_24860" align="aligncenter" width="639"] CEO | Ani Prajith Ani Prajith with his parents[/caption]

With a vast domestic experience of almost 12 years in various therapeutic segments, from critical care and anti-infective, respiratory to derma and nutraceuticals -- Prajith was one of the most sought after professionals in the pharma line. "I was always a team player. Communication skills enabled me to develop strong bonds with the clients," says Prajith, whose risk-taking abilities, analytical skills and never-let-go attitude paved the way for his success.

He believes it is never late for learning and acquiring knowledge. Alongside work, he completed his MBA in marketing from National Institute of Management, Mumbai and also received a Doctorate in management studies.

Africa calling

Come 2009, Prajith was offered the job of country manager for Wockhardt Limited in Tanzania, the East African country known for its vast wilderness areas. "I had no reservations about working in Africa. But it wasn’t easy to make the switch, and especially with family," says Prajith, who had joined Wockhardt Nutrition in India in 2007.

Upon his arrival, language was his first barrier. The Keralite wasted no time and quickly picked up the basic Swahili vocabulary, which made his life much easier on the foreign soil. A few experiences with the local cabbies in his initial days taught him that Swahili time is expressed very differently from the standard time in other parts of the world (instead of midnight and noon, Swahili time is based on sunset and sunrise). "I adjusted accordingly," informs the CEO.

[caption id="attachment_24861" align="aligncenter" width="667"] CEO | Ani Prajith Ani Prajith with his family in Uganda[/caption]

In no time, he brought a major turnaround in the organisation's performance and was promoted to the ranks of regional head for East Africa, covering Tanzania, Nairobi and Uganda. "Daily challenges came with new learnings, be it managing the regulatory changes, which is the backbone of international trade or ensuring a seamless supply chain, warehousing and most importantly, adapting and identifying local needs," explains Prajith, whose ambition and drive, sales ability, scientific grasp and organisation skills was taken note of by other pharma companies.

The big shift

In 2013, he got a call from Phillips Pharmaceuticals, the pharma giant in East, Central and West Africa. He made a big shift in his career by joining the company as its general manager in Uganda. "The journey was intense but I never lost the will," smiles Prajith who went on to become director - sales and marketing.

In 2021, the pharma industry was taken by storm when Phillips Pharmaceuticals announced Prajith as its CEO and head of sales and marketing. "A lot happened in my career in the last nine years as I climbed the ladder of success. My journey from a medical rep to the CEO of one of the top pharmaceutical companies was fulfilling and extraordinary," he says. Phillips Pharma, he says, is a company which is highly skilled in marketing management and sales operations.

He feels that the pharmaceutical business in African countries is different from matured and large markets like India, China and other western countries. "As a CEO, the multifunctional and diverse role in a foreign land is an everyday challenge. To understand the myriad forces at play, set a broad vision and take the final call on most difficult decisions is never easy," says the CEO who leads a team of 160 people.

[caption id="attachment_24859" align="aligncenter" width="419"] CEO | Ani Prajith Ani Prajith with Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health Minister of Uganda at the launch of launch of a new regional blood bank.[/caption]

So how did the CEO deal with the Covid outbreak? "We recognised our limitations, strengths and relooked at our partnerships and collaborations. Identifying and resolving the supply chain was the next task. We did not take much time in ensuring new products reached people real quick by fostering stronger manufacturing alliances," explains Prajith, who believes in embracing innovations in information-sharing to improve supply chain alignment.

He informs that the company has invested in a larger network of partners. "Long-term contingency plans and strategic coordination is needed to maximise the resilience of manufacturing networks. Companies must have a broad community of partners to rely on," says the CEO, who is leading his team to plan for the unexpected scenarios like the pandemic.

Breathtaking Uganda

Prajith is in awe of Uganda. "Despite the small size of the country, the diversity of landscape, topography and wildlife is mind boggling. All our clients are pleasantly surprised when they visit Uganda. They say they never knew it was so beautiful," smiles Prajith, whose wife Leena Ani, is a qualified postgraduate teacher. The couple has two children.

When the CEO is not working, he likes to indulge in a game of badminton and some soothing music. "Work related travel takes a lot of my time," informs Prajith, who visits India twice a year.

Follow Ani Prajith on Twitter and Linkedin

Reading Time: 6 min

Rahul Jain: India-born entrepreneur changing digital payment scene in South Africa

(October 14, 2022) If Mastercard’s New Payment Index 2022 is to be believed, 95 percent of consumers in South Africa used at least one emerging digital payment method in the last year and 67 percent of consumers have purchased from an online marketplace. The purpose with which India-born Rahul Jain set up Peach Payments in South Africa in 2013 has now come to fruition, as a decade later, he is happy to be making digital payments easier in the country. "With Peach, we believe that we are building a potential 100-year business. Digital commerce is the future and we’re building the infrastructure on which this future is being built. As opportunities are seized by entrepreneurs across Africa to build digital businesses, we want to be the preferred payment platform to enable their success," Rahul tells Global Indian. [caption id="attachment_30585" align="aligncenter" width="806"] Rahul Jain is the founder of Peach Payments in South Africa.[/caption] When Rahul moved to Cape Town from Boston, his focus was South Africa, but Peach Payments has now expanded to Kenya and Mauritius, as "digital commerce has helped democratise many industries." For someone who is a regular at Youth Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, Africa FinTech Festival, ECOM Africa, and

ahul Jain is the founder of Peach Payments in South Africa.[/caption]

When Rahul moved to Cape Town from Boston, his focus was South Africa, but Peach Payments has now expanded to Kenya and Mauritius, as "digital commerce has helped democratise many industries." For someone who is a regular at Youth Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, Africa FinTech Festival, ECOM Africa, and Seamless Africa, Rahul has enabled many businesses to scale, "often from a rough idea into incredible success stories." Peach Payments was just an idea in 2011 which took a few years to translate into reality. However, it is currently thriving, and how! "We’ve seen apps being built to make it easier for people to buy insurance. New ways of providing credit such as Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) have helped democratise access to credit. Most of these new insurtechs and BNPL players have used Peach to build their businesses. We see our role as enablers and catalysts in helping people solve problems," adds the entrepreneur.

An internship that changed it all

Born and raised in a business family in Delhi, entrepreneurship runs in his blood. While his paternal family loved carving out watches in India under the Jayco brand, his maternal grandfather pioneered ceramics in India. As a kid, he heard the dinner table conversations and somehow it kind of got "ingrained" in him at a young age. "I always knew I wanted to do something of my own," he says. This passion led him to pursue an MBA degree from IESE Business School in Barcelona, after completing his degree in engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University. But little did he know that a summer internship at a boutique venture capital fund in Pretoria, South Africa would introduce him to his German friend, Andreas Demleitner, with whom he would someday launch his own startup.

[caption id="attachment_30586" align="aligncenter" width="711"] Entrepreneur | Rahul Jain | Global Indian Andreas Demleitner and Rahul Jain are the co-founders of Peach Payments[/caption]

The two stayed in touch, but life had other plans at that time. Always the first to grab an opportunity, Jain moved to Boston as part of an exchange program at Sloan School of Management at MIT and stayed at the state capital for two years where he worked with a strategy consulting job advising large retailers and airlines about e-commerce and marketing. It was in November 2011 that Rahul got a call from Andreas asking him to join hands in "starting a digital payments business in Africa."

Taking the risk

It was the perfect chance to dip his toes in entrepreneurship, and that's when he decided to move to South Africa to start Peach Payments. "We were also accepted into a startup incubator called Umbono that Google was running in Cape Town. We were one of the nine startups in that program. It was a great opportunity and one that was hard to pass up," explains the entrepreneur. They joined forces with the ambitious goal of revolutionising the online payment space in South Africa. For someone who had lived in Barcelona and Boston, Jain was willing to take the challenge of moving to Cape Town.

Though he feels that he is on the other end of the world and "a trip to India takes 16-17 hours at a minimum," he is sailing through. "All my family and friends are in India. My wife is from Nepal and her family is also based in the subcontinent. So for us, the distance is something we feel all the time," reveals the entrepreneur. Moving to a new city and starting a new life with new friends was formidable on a personal front.

Even professionally, it was a challenging task. While Jain's dream of becoming an entrepreneur was translating into a reality, raising money was an initial hurdle. After one of the seed-funding rounds collapsed at the last moment, they had their backs against the wall. So much so that Jain and his business partner were paying salaries through their savings. "We have faced several challenges. Some of them relate to being a foreigner in a new country and trying to start a new business. I had no networks here and no one knew us," reveals Jain. However, the entrepreneur remained focused on growing sales and revenues, and it was the small victories that led them to solve the cash crunch.

[caption id="attachment_30588" align="aligncenter" width="540"] Entrepreneur | Rahul Jain | Global Indian Rahul Jain moved to South Africa to start Peach Payments[/caption]

The ’gamechanging’ pandemic

In the last decade, Peach Payments has rapidly expanded its suite of tools to help online businesses scale. The risk of moving continents for the startup paid off as it provides online payment solutions to any enterprise selling a product through websites, apps, email, and SMS. Currently active in South Africa, Kenya, and Mauritius, Peach Payments "will be expanding to two more countries by the end of the year." The pandemic led to a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour towards digital commerce, which Jain calls a "gamechanger". People were suddenly forced to buy online during the lockdown, and it inspired them to see the benefits of digital commerce and the convenience it brought with itself.

"The business mindset also changed at an incredible pace. Businesses that previously were only considering e-commerce are suddenly going online in a matter of days. At Peach Payments, we saw record numbers of new accounts in 2020. Across market segments – from retail, digital learning, fitness, and even traditional financial services – we’ve onboarded new clients in almost every vertical in the past two years," explains Rahul, who reveals that the transaction volumes grew 4.5 times since the start of the pandemic.

When Jain started Peach Payments, it took him a year to convince the first bank in South Africa to work with them. But the funding landscape is changing now. "It was incredibly hard to raise any venture capital during the first few years. Africa was not where venture capitalists were investing. This has only really changed in the past two years now. Today, you are seeing unicorns emerge in Africa and startups regularly raising funding rounds of more than $100 million. Back in 2014-15, it was incredibly hard to raise even $100k in funding. So, we were forced to bootstrap the business to a large extent."

Indian diaspora’s help

It was the Indian diaspora largely that helped him travel and integrate with ease across various countries in Africa. He says that Indians are well-respected across the subcontinent, and the diaspora in Kenya especially plays a major role in the local economy and welfare. Jain, who sees a big opportunity in Indian companies, is of the firm belief that such startups should look to expand in Africa. And he has a plan too. "One of my goals is to make it easier for Indian companies to sell in Africa. At Peach, we can process and collect payments for them and repatriate their funds to India making it much easier for them to grow in Africa. I genuinely believe in this and trying to play a role in helping build on this from a digital commerce perspective. I have also recently helped kick off the JITO initiative in South Africa," adds the entrepreneur.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaoCX8LS_Qc[/embed]

Rahul, who enjoys the outdoors in Cape Town, spends time in the Winelands, hikes, and plays a sport. "Besides spending time with my 5-year-old daughter, I am passionate about padel, an up-and-coming racquet sport that originated in Mexico and is very popular in Spain and now starting to grow in South Africa as well," he adds.

Peach Payments has changed the way digital payments are seen in Africa, and it has brought its share of learnings. "Starting and growing Peach Payments has taught me that nothing comes easily. Being a successful start-up is all about grinding away at big obstacles and acknowledging that progress takes time," the entrepreneur signs off.

Follow Rahul Jain on Linkedin

Reading Time: 7 min

How Ruchit Garg quit his top-tier job at Microsoft to build an ‘Amazon’ for small holder farmers

(October 19, 2024) What inspired Ruchit Garg to quit his job at the Redmond Headquarters and return to India to set up a social enterprise for small holder farmers? Especially when Garg, who grew up struggling financially, actually made it to the Holy Grail of tech jobs. It was the desire to make a change at the bottom of the pyramid that took the young boy who would sneak into his local library in India to read the Harvard Business Review, to actually being featured in it himself. In March 2023, the Global Indian, who is the founder and CEO of Harvesting Farmer Network, was invited discuss financial inclusion for smallholder farmers at Harvard University. Humble beginnings Ruchit Garg lost his father when he was young, and the family had only his mother's meagre earnings on which to survive. He was born in Lucknow, where his mother worked as a clerk for the Indian Railways Library. Since the family couldn't really afford books, the young boy would sneak into the library to read. The library was well stocked, however, and he read a wide range of books and magazines, including the Harvard Business Review, which he loved. [caption id="attachment_50197" align="aligncenter"

of books and magazines, including the Harvard Business Review, which he loved.

[caption id="attachment_50197" align="aligncenter" width="382"] Ruchit Garg, Founder and CFO, Harvesting Farmer Network[/caption]

"I grew up in Lucknow, then West Bengal and back to UP where I did a master's in Meerut," Garg said. He loved coding and computers and went on to create India's first commercial text-to-speech system in Hindi, back in 2001, when he was part of a young company. From there, in 2005, he went to Microsoft R&D in Hyderabad and later moved to Redmond, Washington where he helped build XBOX, the Microsoft OS and the Windows Phone.

There was only one problem. "I got bored," Garg confessed in an interview. "I felt like a misfit there. I always wanted to start a business." At the time, he was also seeing the startup economy boom in the US, and he decided it was now or never. He founded 9Slides, a multi-media traning platform which allowed business to create, publish and measure their training content on any device. The company was eventually acquired by Limeade, where he worked in product development for two years.

A change of heart

"I saw some recognition and everything that comes with selling a company," Garg said. "But I realised it's also not worth it to me, to build something with a solely monetary focus. Obviously, you want to build a hugely successful company, but which can also help people at the bottom of the pyramid," he says. He recalled his grandfather, who was a farmer in India and the hardships that small hold farms continue to face.

It's not worth it to me to build something with a solely monetary focus. Obviously, you want to build a hugely successful company, but which can also help people at the bottom of the pyramid.

When he began in 2016, there were 480 million small holder farmers in the world. In 2024, there are roughly 500 million, and they continue to make up a large portion of the world's poor, who live on less than $2 per day. In contrast, the food agriculture industry is worth trillions of dollars, and small holder farms produce about 80 percent of the food consumed in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This was one part of the picture that gave him pause. The other was the number of people who go to bed hungry every night - according to the WFP, the number is around 783 million people, that's roughly 1 in 10 of the world's population. "Unless we fix the problem, it's going to be bad for the human race as a whole," Garg remarked.

Smallholder farmers are central to his solution. Apart from producing the majority of food consumed in large parts of the world, they also reduce dependency on imports and help stabilize local food prices. Many smallholder farms sell their produce at local markets, creating a supply chain that benefits local vendors, transporters, and other small businesses. By purchasing seeds, fertilizers, and farming tools locally, they also help sustain agricultural input markets. They might be small, but they play a crucial role in providing food security for their communities by ensuring a consistent, localized food supply, which is particularly vital in rural areas where larger commercial farms might not operate.

Bridging the gap with tech

Despite these contributions, smallholders face challenges such as limited access to finance, quality inputs, and market connections, which makes it difficult for them to scale operations or achieve consistent productivity. So, Ruchit Garg began studying these issues and found there were fundamentally three problems. "Access to market, access to inputs like seeds and fertilizers and access to financial instruments like insurance and so on," Garg explained. "From my perspective as a data tech guy, this can all be seen as information asymmetry; there is a gap between small holder farmers and everyone else in the value chains." There were lots of companies to give loans to farmers, but it was hard to figure out where the farmer is exactly, what his networth might be or how much crop he produces. "If we could match, make it easier, affordable and timely and available to stakeholders, we could solve a lot of problems."

Could cutting-edge tech be integrated into the age old practices of smallholder farms? Digital tools are transforming smallholder farming by connecting farmers directly to buyers, reducing their dependence on middlemen. Precision agriculture, including IoT sensors and mobile apps, helps farmers manage irrigation, monitor soil conditions, and predict weather patterns, which boosts yields and cuts costs. India’s investment in agri-tech reached $1.7 billion between 2014 and 2019, showing the sector’s growth potential. However, issues like poor connectivity and digital literacy still limit broader adoption, something Garg’s Harvesting Farmer Network is actively addressing

Moving back to India

Shortly before the pandemic hit, Ruchit Garg decided to move his family back home. He was travelling a lot for work, doing around one international trip every month from California to Nigeria, Kenya and to Europe. Being in India made sense and he would have access to the huge number of small holder farmers in Asia. "Also, my kids were growing up and hadn't really seen India, I thought it would be a good time for them to move back and also be near their grandparents," he said.

As soon as the move happened, though, the pandemic struck and the world went into lockdown. Garg was also reading news about farmers throwing away produce and feeding it to cattle because they couldn't transport it to markets and to buyers. Again, the problem seemed to be an information gap. Garg got on Twitter and began linking farmers with buyers, and immediately, calls started pouring in. There were cases when farmers had huge orders for thousands of kilos which they could not transport because of pandemic restrictions. "I would call the local bureaucrat and arrange for the person to be given a pass. I also worked with the Indian Railways. They were also very cooperative, they even offered to arrange a special train for me. It was a community effort and I found myself at the centre of it," Garg recalls.

How it works

Simply put, Harvesting Farmer Network describes itself as a "mobile marketplace," which collaborates with offline centres to help farmers at every step of the growing process, from seed to market. Driven by data, intelligence and technology, HFN establishes digital and physical connections with farmers, providing them with access to inputs (seeds, fertilisers, equipment etc), finances and to buyers, as well as with expert advisory and better pricing. HFN reportedly has 3.7 lakh farmers in its network and covers 948,043 acres of land.

Farmers can also get help on call, and HFN has linked up a network of agronomists and advisors to give them scientific and reliable advices. What's more, this advice is available in local languages. It also helps to sidestep the middlemen and connect farmers directly with buyers, helping generate better value and revenue for farm produce, using a tech-driven, integrated supply chain.

Follow Ruchit Garg on LinkedIn.

An altruistic ‘liver’y: Dr Tom Cherian enhances liver care across India

(February 17, 2022) He is known for performing the first 10 liver transplants in Andhra Pradesh. This dedicated doctor is also a charitable powerhouse. Giving liver care state-of-the-art facilities across India is an aspiration he is slowly achieving. The enterprising Dr Tom Cherian, with a 30-year career, has 20 exhaustive years as a liver transplantation specialist. With many firsts to his credit, the doctor was also behind the first successful split liver transplant in AP too. Called a “Legend in Surgery” by a national newspaper, Dr Cherian has so far published 84 papers, done 100 international presentations, and has many awards and grants to his name. [caption id="attachment_20045" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Dr Cherian has performed 675 liver transplants in India and the UK.[/caption] He continued his parent’s legacy Founder, MD, South Asian Liver Institute, Hyderabad, the Hippocrates oath is at the heart of his long and brilliant career. The doctor, who was in the UK for 17 years, decided to come back (2014), and serve the country. A decision that was tough to make. UK saw him at the crux of cutting-edge medical advances. Twelve years on basic and specialist surgical work with the all-important liver transplantation specialty at Queen Elizabeth

was tough to make. UK saw him at the crux of cutting-edge medical advances. Twelve years on basic and specialist surgical work with the all-important liver transplantation specialty at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s College Hospital came next, Europe’s best liver transplant centre.

The happily married surgeon with a stellar career was happy to see his children study in the best London schools. He himself studied at Baldwin Boy’s High School, then Christ College (in Bengaluru).

The boy, who studied at King's College London later, has always wanted to emulate his father. That responsibility to take forward his cardiac surgeon Padma Bhushan awardee father’s legacy and his pediatrician mother was very important. His parents, who passed away, still guide him on his altruistic initiatives. August shoes to fill, Dr Cherian’s father, Dr Jacob Cherian won the Padma Bhushan for charitable work in Tamil Nadu. “After him, I am the president of the charitable missionary society that serves without making a penny. There are good people who take care of day-to-day functioning of all - an engineering college, a polytechnic, two nursing colleges, an arts college, and two schools, catering to over 6,000 students. There is also a 275-bed hospital,” he informs in an interview with Global Indian.

Leading by example

The magnanimous personality of his father finds life in the doctor’s philosophy. Dr Cherian now nurtures the dream of ushering in the most advanced and cheaper liver care facilities across India. “It is ridiculous that out of 29 states, only seven states can boast of liver transplantation facilities. India has rudimentary liver care systems. In cardiology, we are one of the best but in liver care, we are worst. There is a great need for good quality liver care services. I am hoping to achieve this through the South Asian Liver Institute. If you can have an airport everywhere why not liver transplantation services?” he questions.

“Ever since childhood, I wanted to be a surgeon,” smiles the good doctor, who has performed 675 liver transplants, 400 in the UK and 275 in India. To his credit are also over 250 complex liver cancer resections. His first stint in India was as head of liver transplantation and liver surgeries at Global Hospital, Hyderabad. Two years on, he became national director of liver surgery and transplantation, Care Group.

[caption id="attachment_20046" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Dr Tom Cherian | liver transplant | state of the art healthcare Highly acclaimed for his work, Dr Cherian was named the 'Legend in Liver Transplant Surgery'[/caption]

Liver care for charity

Charitable initiatives are ingrained in him, and this led him to do his first liver transplants at Hyderabad’s prestigious government hospitals - Osmania Medical College, Nizam’s Institute of Medical Science, and GB Pant Hospital for free; serving the lowest strata for five years at a stretch. “At Nizam’s, I slowly trained people, and am now a professor there,” he mentions.

Playing a pivotal role in making liver surgery available to the common man across India, 13 liver clinics were started as specialist liver transplantation facilities were non-existent – at Siliguri, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, etc. “Eastern India has very poor liver care facilities,” he observes. Creating a network for appropriate medical guidance, and cost-effective treatment has been his sole objective.

“What worries me is that even when I am using the latest techniques used in hospitals like Kings College London, hundreds and thousands of people are dying as they are unaware of the distinct options of care available,” he explains. Cost-effectiveness is also a huge challenge, something he tackled on a war footing. “I brought down liver transplantation costs from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 21 lakh at the Care Group. At South Asian Liver Institute, we have designed treatment in such a manner that room costs are saved. We do as few hospital admissions as possible, and let patients go back after surgery,” says Dr Cherian.

The institute has been in partnerships with the Wockhardt Group and Manipal Group, who have in turn outsourced liver care services for entire Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, respectively. Apart from these, there are associations with other medical chains to help penetrate markets in northern Karnataka and Telangana now.

[caption id="attachment_20044" align="alignnone" width="3744"] Dr Tom Cherian | liver transplant | state of the art healthcare Dr Cherian with his family[/caption]

Having a doctor as his wife ensures medical talk is dinner table conversation at the Cherian home. He met his wife, Dr Lekha Cherian, a gastroenterologist in London. The couple has two boys, Ryan and Aiden. The older one is studying biomedical engineering at Oxford.

Away from his surgical scrubs, he has a creative gene too. He loves strumming the guitar. “I enjoy jam sessions with my boys who are good at the piano. I am a semi-professional photographer, and have sold photographs to some UK magazines too,” he concludes.

Follow Dr Tom Cherian on LinkedIn

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