Funny but sad

From Asian Age

Intersting...

Nuclear deal: the untold story from The Hindu

This means that the just passed nuclear agreement will reflect the interests of the U.S. energy industry, of the nuclear industry in particular. The details of the proposed deal, when reduced to basics, seem to bear this out. While the agreement is complex, one feature stands out: it calls on India to stop its thorium based research and development in exchange for uranium based technology and fuel (uranium) to be supplied by the United States. There is a great deal of verbiage about inspection and proliferation, but these are not central to the deal. It is best to focus on the central theme, which is `yes' to uranium and `no' to thorium.
It is this exchange that has the Indian scientific community up in arms against the deal. They fully realise that by agreeing to this deal India will be sacrificing its unique capability while relying on American businesses to supply its future non-fossil energy needs. India has substantial thorium reserves but little uranium. India also has outstanding technical capability in building reactors based on the thorium cycle, as good as any in the world. But the Indian political-bureaucratic establishment does not trust its own scientific talent. Western lobbyists, in the U.S. in particular, seem to have played on this Indian weakness to press a deal that is disadvantageous to India's long-term energy interests.

Please tell me there is a better reason for not being worried abt the N-Treaty...

Manmohan: I have Bush's assurance from The Hindu

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that United States President George W. Bush had assured him that he did not intend shifting the goalposts of the July 2005 civilian nuclear agreement. However, if extraneous elements, not envisaged in the agreement, found their way into it, we would draw "appropriate conclusions," Dr. Singh said.

The U.S. Congressional process was not yet over and he could not predict what would emerge. "If it goes in a direction that hurts us, we will draw appropriate conclusions and will do nothing that will compromise the scope of our strategic programme, which will be determined by the people, the Government and Parliament," he said in a 40-minute reply to a discussion on the agreement.

Quotes

Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate.
-- Barnett R. Brickner

What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.
-- George Levinger

I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
-- Rita Rudner

Quote

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.
-- Charlie Brown

We lose a Gem

Ustad Bismillah Khan passes away from The Hindu

Varanasi, Aug. 21 (PTI): Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, one of India's most celebrated classical musicians, passed away in the wee hours today.

The 91-year-old Bharat Ratna awardee, who had been ailing for quite some time, died of cardiac arrest at the Heritage hospital here.

Khan had been admitted to the hospital on Thursday with age-related health problems and weakness brought on by his refusal to eat solid food.

Thought

Sometimes when you think life cannot get worse than this it just does.
And sometimes when you think that there is no end to this darkness...
just then it bring out the silver lining.

Don't question my coffee ...

Coffee Might Trigger First Heart Attack in Some from msn.com

This latest finding will most likely keep the coffee debate percolating among health experts. Previous research has suggested that coffee does not raise heart risks, and might even protect against high blood pressure and diabetes. As a matter of fact, only decaffeinated coffee has been shown to possibly boost the chances of cardiovascular trouble.

Filhaal

Ae zindagi yeh lamha jee lene de
Oh, pehle se likha kuch bhi nahin
Roz naya kuch likhti hai tu
Jo bhi likha hai, dil se jiya hai
Yeh lamha filhaal jee lene de - 2
Maasoom si hasi, bevaja hi kabhi
Honton pe khil jaati hai
Anjaan si khushi baheti hui kabhi
Saahil pe mil jaati hai
Yeh anjaana sa darr ajnabi hai magar
Khoobsurat hai jee lene de
Yeh lamha filhaal jee lene de - 2
Dil hi mein rehta hai, aankhon mein baheta hai
Kaccha sa ek khwaab hai
Lagta sawaal hai, shaayad jawaab hai
Dil phir bhi betaab hai
Yeh sukun hai to hai, yeh junoon hai to hai
Khoobsurat hai jee lene de
Yeh lamha filhaal jee lene de ...
Oh, pehle se likha kuch bhi nahin
Roz naya kuch, oh likhti hai tu
Jo bhi likha hai, dil se jiya hai
Yeh lamha filhaal jee lene de ...

A moral question

Blood on the tracks via ALDaily

MORAL PHILOSOPHERS and academics interested in studying how humans choose between right and wrong often use thought experiments to tease out the principles that inform our decisions. One particular hypothetical scenario has become quite the rage in some top psychological journals. It involves a runaway trolley, five helpless people on the track, and a large-framed man looking on from a footbridge. He may or may not be about to tumble to his bloody demise: You get to make the call.

That's because in this scenario, you are standing on the footbridge, too. You know that if you push the large man off the bridge onto the tracks, his body will stop the trolley before it kills the five people on the tracks. Of course, he will die in the process. So the question is: Is it morally permissible to kill the man in order to save five others?

In surveys, most people (around 85 percent) say they would not push the man to his death.

Often, this scenario is paired with a similar one: Again, there are five helpless people on the track. But this time, you can pull a switch that will send the runaway trolley onto a side track, where only one person is standing. So again, you can reduce the number of deaths from five to one-but in this case most people say, yes, they would go ahead and pull the lever. Why do we react so differently to the two scenarios?

Happy Independence Day!!!

"Hope is like the bird that feels the light
and sings when the dawn is still dark."
-Tagore

Bombay as is...

A Paean To The City Of My Life from Intentblog writen by Rahul Bose

Excellent write up on bombay/mumbai.

The title says it all

Apple takes shots at Vista from CNET

photo slide show.

Home grown terroist in INDIA??!!???

India Fears Terrorism May Attract Its Muslims from NYTimes

It is an intresting... NO it is a serious matter. It will be so much more difficult to fight these terror attacks if the "terroist" we were killing or being killed by were our fellow countrymen/women. This probelm if not dealt soon will result in many more blasts like the once in the recent past. Wonder what can be done... politician will do nothing other than make it a vote bank issue.

Who needs it !!! :)

Arriving soon, an "anti-stupidity" pill from sify.com