Rediff.com has story on a major terrorist attack in the Hindu holy city, Varanasi. There were atleast 2 seperate bombs that exploded.

At least 20 persons were killed and over 50 injured when two blasts rocked Varanasi on Tuesday evening.


According to the police, two blasts occurred almost simultaneously at about 6.30 pm. The first blast took place at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple that was crowded on Tuesday, believed to be a special day for Lord Hanuman.

Here is the link to the article: 2 blasts rock Varanasi; 20 dead

India and the US have finally negotiated a nuclear pact that allows India access to Western civilian nuclear technolgy, while putting some of Indian reactors under international observation. However, the US Congress and the Nuclear Suppilers Group (NSG) still have to agree to the pact. MercuryNews has a piece on how the nuclear pact between U.S., India draws fire

A landmark nuclear pact reached Thursday by President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faced tough scrutiny by Congress and international regulators amid concerns that it would allow India to expand its nuclear arsenal by hundreds of weapons.

While welcoming the accord, several senior Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said they would give it a rigorous review.

The accord also will have to pass muster with the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group. It was formed to regulate civilian nuclear trade after India detonated a device in 1974 using plutonium obtained from a Canadian-made civilian reactor that was supplied with heavy water by the United States.

India is seeing boom years. With the market better than ever, and increasing technology penetration, we are on a roll. This is marked with increased technology penetration in India, including computers and e-mail (something that a lot of us take for granted). CNet News.com has an article on how India is top target for spam.

"India's rapid adoption of new technology has left its PC users struggling to cope with high levels of spam, according to a report released Wednesday.

Ninety-one percent of e-mail traffic sent to Indian PC users is spam, according to e-mail security company MessageLabs, which warned that the rate of technological advancement has outstripped growth in security awareness."

Wired has a piece on how the poor in India are used in medical trials. The article also points out some of the advantages we get when we take part in these drug trials. The article is titled A Nation of Guinea Pigs. What do other /Indians feel about this?

Microsoft has understood the potential of the Indian market and its need for solutions custom built for India like localization of languages. Techtree has an article on Microsoft launching a Windows XP Starter Edition for India. Quote:

"Microsoft has launched "Windows XP Starter Edition for India," the latest version of its local language operating system which was introduced last year.

Microsoft says the new version has been released in response to extensive feedback from first-time users, and promises to offer multi-language support allowing them to seamlessly switch between English, Hindi and Tamil as computing interfaces.

The latest version introduces beginners to computing by providing a simple operating system for entry-level PCs. It incorporates features specifically designed for beginners such as customized support in local languages, bi-lingual user interface, pre-configured PC settings, etc. "

It has also introduced Works 8 - a productivity application suite.

The Telegraph reports US welcoming India from the cold!. The article states:

"America is preparing formally to recognise India as a fully-fledged nuclear power this week as the world's most powerful and the world's most populous democracies hail a new era of joint co-operation."

The article talks about US giving India a special status and access to nuclear technology denied to other countries that have not signed the NPT.

The concept of a 'global village' has raised eyebrows since its popularisation in the 90's.

Many describe globalisation as the shift of companies in America to countries with cheaper workforce, the best example being India.

However, economists beleive that it has a wider implication. It could be described as 'a division of economic prowess towards the east'.

John Gray, Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, says that "like any other large historical change rooted in technological development , globalisation will have both good and bad aspects".

BBC further discusses the impact of globalisation.

Many economists, prior to the 'Bush visit', have opined that India is now verge of becoming a Super-Power. The Delhi-Washington alliance only adds strength to their calculations. Here's the speculation:

"The world - and particularly the United States - is courting India as it never has before. Fascinated by the new growth story, perhaps wary of Asia's Chinese superpower, searching to hedge some bets, the world has woken up to India's potential," Zakaria in the latest issue of Newsweek (March 6).

Read more about India, as the potential super-power in Asia and what makes it better than China.

Desicritics is running an interesting post by Morquendi who spent a few days in Kashmir and has a few interesting tidbits to share about the conduct of the India Army.

He cites two instances which makes him to conclude that the Indian Army is an invading army rather than an enforcer of peace:

• Manhandling of a STD booth owner by some army jawans.
• Soldiers doing their thing on the rice fields.

Read the entire post here, and most importantly tell SlashIndia what you think about it.

NowPos (short for Now Possible), a tech startup based in hyderabad has unveiled vMail , which according to the company is a "web-based e-mail service that brings in a new paradigm in e-mailing - of using voice - recorded, encrypted, delivered and retrieved in a unique way, making the 'sound files' on NowPos the smallest in size in the Internet space"

vMail, if it is really as good, steps into the rarefied field of technology innovation from India.

Read more at Business Standard and VC Circle.