I have recently published a blog in o3.indiatimes.com. The blog url is http://o3.indiatimes.com/anandsoft
After a few weeks the blog was lost. Sent an email to blog support, but received no reply after several days. Even Google indexed the blog and Google shows the cached version of the blog. I was not able to access the blog url itself. It is a bit disappointing, considering that blog service is offered by a reputed news paper in India, The Times of India. I only hope that they (the management) would improve the quality and reliability of blog service in the years to come.

BPO (Short for Business Process Outsourcing) business activity is very hectic in Bangalore city, to the extent that it often results in casualties. You can see quite a few BPO taxies ferrying shift workers from their residences to work place and back. The drivers often run very short of time, and in a hurry to reach office within stipulated time. Today, a police constable returning from work was knocked down by a BPO taxi fatally. He was travelling on a scooter, and the BPO taxi was inevitably a Toyota Qualis (known for speeding, and sharp manoeuvres). According to the news report appearing in local news papers, the driver sped away after fatally injuring the police constable.
The reasons for such accidents could be the following:
1. Heavy traffic on roads, to the extent that the roads are clogged slowing down the flow of traffic,
2. Sub-contracting of transportantion by BPO companies to minimize the total cost of operation,
3. Over crowding by BPO taxies to minimize the operational expenses, thus competing in the BPO business segment,
4. Insufficient training for BPO taxi drivers, and operators,
5. Insufficient public transportation,
6. Mushrooming of Multinationals for cheap man-power
Desirable:
1. Identification of BPO businesses, and providing separate townships for this business
2. Encouraging BPOs to have their own transportation mechanism
3. Putting in place regulations on hiring external transportation by BPO businesses

A tortoise, known by name Adwaita (meaning "the only one") has died in a Calcutta zoo. He is reported to be 255 years old, and a pet of Robert Clive, a British general who helped British to establish British rule in India during the years 1750-1770. Adwaita's shell is being sent for carbon dating to establish his age. If proven correct, it would be reportedly the world's longest lived animal on earth.

It is well known that Ayurveda is practiced in India over several centuries. However, English medicine (it is the traditional medicine in western countries) has been widely used by Indians in recent times. It reached the point that one started believing that Ayurveda and other traditional forms of Indian medicine are only occassionally used and not dependable. However, it was a kind of surprise when I came across a retired teacher aged about 75 years and still practicing (teaching children privately) and in good health that he had never taken an English medicine in his life. It was a surprise, and could n't believe! Now, it is the turn of one of my recently joined colleague (aged about 22 years) that she never took any English medicines nor her family (as far as her knowledge goes)!. It appears that even for serious illnesses there are treatments in Ayurveda. Ayurveda is followed by some people in southern parts of India including the states of Kerala, TamilNadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. One place known as Kottakkal in Kerala is widely known for Ayurveda. It is good to know that there are dependable, and sustainable forms of medicine (other than English medicine) are still existing, and followed by some people in the country as the only form of medicine.
Related links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
http://www.niam.com/
http://www.aryavaidyasala.com/

According to information available on nucleartourist.com, the fuel cost $MwHr of nuclear fuel is $5, where as that of coal is $11. However the decommissioning and waste management costs are higher for nuclear fuel, whereas there is almost no waste management costs are involved with coal. The overall costs are almost same (ref.:http://www.nucleartourist.com/basics/costs.htm) Also according to another article at http://www.uic.com.au/nip08.htm, the nuclear energy production costs are the lowest among others (including coal, oil, and gas). It is not surprising that several developed countries are ramping up their nuclear energy facilities. It is to be expected that less developed countries like India, Pakistan and other countries try to acquire nuclear power plants for meeting their current and future energy demands. Nuclear fuel, being efficient has dual usage (could be used as a weapon tipped with nuclear fuel). This alone can not be a reason to refuse a sovereign country from aquiring nuclear fuel reactors, and harnessing nuclear energy. Considering that the energy resources are limited, it is important that safe procedures are established for harnessing nuclear energy.
Related weblinks:
http://www.uranium.info/

American President Mr. George Bush recently visited India. The most significant event of the American Presidents visit was civilian nuclear co-operation agreement. According to the local news paper reports, the highlights of the agreement are:
1. India to seggregate civilian and military nuclear facilities,
2. India can continue to do reasearch in military nuclear areas,
3. Civilian nuclear facilities to come under IAEA watch,
4. USA to provide un-interruted nuclear fuel to Civilian nuclear reactors
5. India is free to import nuclear plant equipment and fuel for its civilian nuclear reactors

The agreement has drawn widespread support from leaders and news magazines, and considered as one of the most pragmatic steps taken by the west, particularly United States in recent times.

Bangalore, India: National Knowledge Commission chairperson Sam Pitroda said: "Let us be very clear that the country cannot run on outsourced jobs, we would have to look for serious alternatives. By running after outsourced jobs we are merely solving the problems of others, we should not forget that solutions to our problems would have to be provided by us only."
It is very true of any nation. He further said that India needs to generate 10 million jobs each year to build a world level work force. Outsourcing by foreign companies is just creating about 3,00,000 jobs a year, which is way less than the required job rate.
Very rightly, he recommended university level reforms to cater to raising un-employment rate. In India, university education is very limited in the sense that very few percentage of population pursues university degree.
Firther he said: "We should not forget that almost half of the country's population is going to be less than 25 years of age, and by good university education we would be preparing a knowledge base for not just our country but for the world. I can say with reasonable surety that in 10 years, India's youth would be important for the world's development".

Private participation in university, and higher education is essential. As he rightly mentioned, we can see higher participation of India's youth in the development of India, and world.