India calls (private) emergency

When it comes to efficiency, look to the private sector. For a living proof see the Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI) a nonprofit, private company with a mission to provide India's first ever unified number(call 108) to dial in a case of an emergency. With astonishing results, so far they have covered 25 million people in the state of Andhara Pradesh, Newsweek reports:

Since it launched in August 2005, EMRI has answered 95 percent of its calls in two rings and has taken 14 minutes on average to reach each patient—a good performance given the current state of near-permanent gridlock in many of India’s towns and cities.

Nice work. For more praise read the Economist.