India Institute's mobile app "i-torney: A People's Pocket Lawyer" wins Think Tank Shark Tank

Congratulations to the winner of this year’s $25,000 Think Tank Shark Tank competition Baladevan Rangaraju of New Delhi-based India Institute for the “i-torney: a people’s pocket lawyer mobile app” project proposal.

i-torney will help India’s population understand its rights, and will serve as an easily accessible tool to support individuals if they become unduly detained. i-torney will explain various legal offenses, check the legality of an arrest, send an S.O.S. message to predetermined contacts, and create a timeline of the incident.

Baladevan Rangaraju is the Founder Director of India Institute. He is the co-author, with James Tooley and Pauline Dixon, of “The Private School Revolution in Bihar: Findings from a survey in Patna Urban”, India’s first landscape study of school market in a city. Its pioneering use of GPS technology to measure private school popularity helped change the state government’s stance in favor of unlicensed schools.

Candelaria De Elizalde of Argentina’s Libertad y Progreso was awarded a $10,000 runner-up grant for the “Already on the Road to Serfdom” video series project proposal.

The other competitors of this year’s Think Tank Shark tank included Patrick Reasonover of Taliesin Nexus (United States) for his “Erasmus Documentary Film Series” project proposal and Cristina Berechet of Civismo (Spain) for her “Sustainable Pensions for Spain” project proposal.

The Think Tank Shark Tank competition is generously sponsored by the Rising Tide Foundation. During Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner, Atlas Leadership Academy graduates pitch their most exciting and strategic new project ideas before a panel of esteemed judges for the chance to win a $25,000 prize.

Thank you to Fred Young, master of ceremonies, and this year’s panel of judges:

Terry Kibbe (Rising Tide Foundation, United States)
Don Smith (Smith Family Foundation, United States)
Luis Henrique Ball (Panama Post, United States)
Ron Manners (Mannkal Economic Education Foundation, Australia)
Nikos Monoyios (Atlas Network, United States)