I have not watched a lot of TV in recent years and even if I watch TV, I normally find myself watching Discovery, National Geographic, History Channel or some Travel channel. Similarly, I have significantly reduced the amount of movies I watch in recent years especially Bollywood/Indian movies. It is mainly due to the fact TV and films in India have become too commercialized to concentrate on real topics that are important for the nation and humanity as a whole. And Indian news channels have become a prime example of the same. And that is not just limited to India but I have noticed this trend around the world. News and all sorts of communication was meant to depict and enrich human knowledge but instead news channels have been “creating news” many a times “out of thin air” for the sake of TRP or commercial success. I am somewhat business-minded and definitely think about commercial success but it must not be at the cost of disseminating the correct news and information. Similarly, I have some serious problems with the way education and medicine in India is moving for the sake of profit. I do not have any problems with commercialization of entertainment though if they also come with some message, I appreciate it even more. But education, medicine and news were three mediums which were created for the overall benefit of humanity. But all of them have become over-commercialized and have become profit making mediums at the cost of humans. However, one good thing has been that a totally unconventional medium such as the internet has become a lot better and genuine in the actual spread of knowledge, news and information where you can analyze and apply your logic after checking different sources (including non-mainstream ones).

But most people who know me also know that I admire and support selective organizations, persons etc. whom I strongly believe in. Nobody is perfect and I expect no one including me to be perfect. Though all of us would like to live in an euphoria but there would always be flaws even if minimal in each and everything. One such Bollywood actor whom I admire and respect is Aamir Khan. It might be due to the fact that he somewhat thinks about the nation and humanity as I do. Or maybe it is due to the fact that he can touch my thoughts and emotions both as an Indian as well as a human being through his movies. I have watched the promo of his upcoming TV show “Satyamev Jayate” only a few days ago and as always, I like the simplicity of the promos yet the message it tries to convey. I have great expectations from the show and hope that it changes and corrects the way in which Indian Television is moving. Business should always be there but it should also touch lives and help humanity if possible. Hopefully this show will be trendsetter and others would also start making creative and fruitful shows instead of the mad rush for TRPs. It would also be broadcast simultaneously in several Indian languages as well as English to reach a wider audience. Here are some of the promos and interviews and they look interesting for sure. The show seems to be one which I would probably enjoy and perhaps would make me return to watching TV after a long time.

UPDATE: The show would be telecast on Star Plus from May 6, 2012 at 11 A.M. every Sunday. It would also be the first TV show to be telecast in several Indian languages as well as on Star Plus and DD1.

Theme song

Promos for the show and other related videos

Here is the link to the official website of the show:

http://www.satyamevjayate.in

Three years ago, we as a nation had faced a gruesome inhuman barbaric attack from terrorists who had tried to disturb the peace, progress and unity of the nation by attacking on our financial capital Mumbai. But we as a nation have never bowed down and the malicious intentions of the obnoxious terrorists never got materialized. We have grown as a nation in the last three years and continue to do so irrespective of all problems. The place where those animals (sorry but I refuse to refer to those barbaric terrorists as humans) attacked first and caused the most casualties was Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or CST. CST is a railway station established in 1887 and is one of the historic and iconic hubs of Mumbai. It is also an alter ego of Mumbai in a sense and reflects the never dying spirit and daily life of the city. Within days of the gruesome attack it bounced back and came to life. And exactly 3 years and one day later on November 27, 2011, a group of 200 ordinary Mumbaikars (aged 4-60) came together to show Mumbai’s and India’s indomitable spirit. In a flash mob act, they danced to “Rang De Basanti” and the local crowd also joined them. Hats off to them and a middle finger to all those who think they can ever disturb the equilibrium of the nation. I really loved this act when I just saw on youtube and hence, thought of sharing. Jai Hind.

Almost a year has passed since I last updated this blog. Life has been quite busy throughout and so, I could not devote time to this blog. There has been a lot of changes for our great nation in the last one year including both positive as well as negative changes. One such change which has the potential to shape our great nation in the right path is the acceptance of the Jan Lokpal Bill by the Parliament today. Anna Hazare has been a torchbearer as well as a ray of hope for the anti-corruption movement. Almost every Indian including me has supported him and more importantly his noble cause either actively or passively. I hardly have time to even watch TV nowadays but I frequently check out news websites to know the latest about how well the movement has progressed. It is great to see that the support of a billion Indians has finally helped the cause to be accepted by the parliament and hopefully will be drafted very soon.

But the big question is – Will Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement end all the problems and get rid of the all the malaise in our country? To be frank, the answer is a big NO.

Anna’s win today is a start for sure but a lot of things needs to be rectified to eradicate corruption as well as other problems in our society and nation. Anna’s movement is only half the work done and the following four things need to be rectified to end corruption as well as to make our nation “the ideal nation” which you, me and every other Indian has dreamt of:

1. Population Explosion: You might think that how is population explosion related to anti-corruption movement but if you think deeply then it is one of the main reasons why corruption starts at the first place. The root cause of all problems in India is the population explosion which has been taking place from time immemorial and the govt. has never taken proper steps to take care of it. At the current rate of increase in population, we are sure to become the world’s most populous country in the next few decades. We might also reach 2 billion population in the next century. Though this might not sound much worrying at first but in layman’s language, we have multiple times the population density of any other country with land area or population size comparable to us. The result of this ongoing and perennial population explosion is that there will always be more “demand” than “supply”. This includes demand of goods, land, property and amenities (including things which are our rights as citizens). This massive gap between “demand” and “supply” has always existed and has been widening rapidly in recent decades. To get the “supply” or in other words to get the work done faster people start to pay extra money which starts the process of corruption. Economic development has been happening quite rapidly in recent times and that also means that a lot of people do not have the time or patience to wait for years to get their work done. They also have extra money and this starts the corruption process as they are ready to pay extra to get their work done faster.

To remove this problem there are two solutions that needs to be worked on. First one is a short term solution and only related to corruption in govt. services and second one is a long term solution.

a) Tatkal: Have you ever traveled by Indian trains in the last decade? If you would have done so then you would perhaps know about Tatkal services where people can get train reservations within a lot shorter duration of time by paying premium rates. Though there have been allegations of corruption etc. there too but the Tatkal service has been by and large a massive success for Indian railways as well as for passengers who need urgent services. Such a system needs to be implemented in every government agency so that people who have urgency can get their work done quicker by paying premium rates. Both the normal as well as tatkal services should be present in every government agency. The extra revenue earned through the Tatkal service can be used to improve the normal services too so that it can be at par with tatkal in the future. The citizen’s charter in the Jan Lokpal Bill mentions the time frame and penalties levied to govt. agencies for not doing work in the required time frame. But in reality, the ongoing population explosion would never allow “demand” to meet “supply” within adequate time frame. This would result in people with “urgent needs” trying to get it done through “contacts” or by “paying bribe”. Tatkal services will keep this evil at bay and make the whole system more refined and professionally executed.

b) The long term solution is obviously to control the population explosion. If the population keeps on increasing at this rate then the problems would only keep on increasing. Corruption would increase due to the gap between “demand” and “supply” which takes place with increase of population. But another major problem i.e. inflation would also keep on increasing with the increase of population. When there is a lot more demand than supply then it automatically increases the price of each and everything in a free market. So, it needs to be sorted out in the long run for our nation to become effective. I would not say that we need some draconian steps like “one child policy” but we surely need a well planned approach to tackle the menace of population explosion. A solution for doing so in a democratic way would be to make a system where “couples with more than children” will always be given lower priority in government agencies and services compared to those with “one or two children”. Similarly, a person with a single wife would need to be given more priority in government services and agencies than one with multiple wives. And it should be bereft of religion, caste or creed and a common law for all. If needed the income tax slabs for a couple “with more than two children” or a person with “more than one wife” should be made higher than others who are not contributing to the “population explosion menace”. The couples with a single child can also be given special reservation or benefits in government functionaries like it happens in case of caste etc. based reservations right now. It might be a bit harsh and might not be fully effective but it would surely help in controlling the population explosion to a large extent. And unless population explosion is sorted out rest of the things would never be sorted out easily.

2. Reservation: One of the biggest problems behind the corruption and dividing the nation is caste, creed, region or religion based reservations. So, it needs to be removed ASAP. Reservation based on caste, creed, region or religion creates an unwanted divide in the society especially amongst young Indians trying to get admission to a govt. college or while applying at a govt. job. India has changed a lot in the past 64 years and such types of reservations are being turned into political and social weapons. The premise of the reservations during independence was that under-privileged Indians should have some extra edge to rise to the level of other Indians. But in recent decades the people who get benefit through the reserved quotas are mostly from well-off families whereas the “economically backward people” who need to apply through general quota end up in not being able to get any benefit. So, this system must be abolished and replaced with a system of reservation based on “economic background of the person” as that is what reservation was originally meant for during independence. Some would argue that it might be difficult to detect if people fake their economic background but then even in the present system, corruption is rampant and people make false quota certificates too. So, it will at least be a lot better and effective than the present one. If the Aadhaar or the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) program is effectively rolled out then it might work out wonders in identifying the economic background of any portion. A great tech genius such as Nandan Nilekani is heading the UIDAI program and so, hopefully it will be effective to a great deal. UIDAI combined with economic condition based reservations could lay the foundation for the most authentic reservation system for the first time in the history of the nation.

3. Division: The third malaise that needs to be treated is the man-made divisions of the country including religions, castes, regions, languages etc. Religion card has always been played by political parties, “so called” religious leaders and various other “opportunists” filling up the nation. “Caste” card is played everywhere from politics to reservations. And regionalism and Linguistic divides were always there and it is becoming even more evident with time. These internal divides have resulted in a lot of the problems inflicting the nation. Every Indian needs to change himself or herself for these divides to be removed and the nation to become an “ideal nation”. In the last few years the visible divide amongst the “educated Indians” and “internet warriors” has been quite worrying as they seemed to be giving preference to religion, caste, region, language etc. more than the nation. If you visit any news website then the hatred and division in the comments section of nearly every topic related to religion, caste, region or language are shocking as well as worrying. And it is also worrying that many educated people are nowadays being blinded by the divisions and have forgot that they are “Indians” and “world citizens” above everything else. I am a techie and most techies around the world including me follow modern science and technology a lot more than the “man-made divisions” and consider the world to be our domain. This universal brotherhood has resulted in all tech minded persons being united in one way or the other even though everybody is from different countries, regions, religions etc. We think of ourselves as a part of the “global tech community” which has resulted in our success and unity. Such an attitude should also be adopted by all Indians where they think as “Indians” and “world citizens” first in order to bring positive changes to the nations and make this great nation an “ideal” one.

4. Hypocrisy: The fourth problem is the hypocrisy amongst Indians. Most Indians are becoming hypocrites and there is a massive divide between the “forward-thinking younger modern generation” and the “older conservative generation”. The problem is that people are taking extreme sides now. Some are trying to change everything completely and rapidly whereas some are completely resistant to change. Some are taking the pretext of culture, religion and region for defending their extreme actions while some are taking the pretext of democracy and freedom for their own extreme actions. But the way forward is a middle path where changes can take place without harming the society. Actions such as taking harmful drugs, rape, eve-teasing, drunken driving, physical harm or any kind of actions that harms the society or people as a whole should not be allowed. But at the same time culture is a transient thing and with time it will also change and this also has also to be kept in mind. Things should go in such a way they are not extreme and does not harm society or people as a whole.

To eradicate all the above problems and to make our nation “ideal” every Indian must also change and work for mutual good of everyone. We need to be a “disciplined democracy” rather than a “brittle democracy” for all problems to be resolved. I hope that we will see “India of our dreams” one day. Jai Hind.

I had posted the Commonwealth Games theme song a few weeks ago when it was first launched. There was some criticism and so the theme song was tweaked and made more peppier. The video was launched recently and the whole song is looking and sounding awesome. I would request all my countrymen to support the games at least till it ends and make it a huge success. We can discuss about the corruption and mismanagement later on. But let us all Indians unite together and make every possible effort in making it the best Commonwealth Games in history. Jai Hind.

Do you have a gallery created with gallery2 script which you have not checked for a long time. Just check that out as there might be hundreds and thousands of spam comments there. I checked out one of my gallery2 websites and found several hundred spam comments which would have taken a long time to delete manually. So, I used a MySQL command and it worked fine for me and helped me in mass deleting all the spam comments.

Here is the MySQL code I used:

CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE tmptable
SELECT g_id
FROM `g2_Comment` gc
WHERE
g_subject like ‘%url%’ or
g_subject like ‘%http%’ or
g_subject like ‘%personals%’ or
g_subject like ‘%poker%’ or
g_subject like ‘%blackjack%’ or
g_subject like ‘%gambling%’ or
g_subject like ‘%viagra%’ or
g_subject like ‘%phentermine%’ or
g_subject like ‘%casino%’ or
g_subject like ‘100%’ or
g_subject like ‘%slots%’ or
g_subject like ‘%Cialis%’ or
g_subject like ‘%url%’ or
g_comment like ‘%http%’ or
g_comment like ‘%personals%’ or
g_comment like ‘%poker%’ or
g_comment like ‘%blackjack%’ or
g_comment like ‘%gambling%’ or
g_comment like ‘%viagra%’ or
g_comment like ‘%phentermine%’ or
g_comment like ‘%casino%’ or
g_comment like ‘100%’ or
g_comment like ‘%slots%’ or
g_comment like ‘%Cialis%’;

DELETE g2_Entity
FROM g2_Entity
INNER JOIN tmptable ON g2_Entity.g_id = tmptable.g_id;

DELETE g2_ChildEntity
FROM g2_ChildEntity
INNER JOIN tmptable ON g2_ChildEntity.g_id = tmptable.g_id;

DELETE g2_Comment
FROM g2_Comment
INNER JOIN tmptable ON g2_Comment.g_id = tmptable.g_id;

DROP TEMPORARY TABLE tmptable;

It worked fine for me and please feel free to use it through PhpMyAdmin. But please make a backup of your database in case there is any problem as you can use it at your own risk and I don’t guarantee anything. 😛

Hope it helps.

NOTE: The above is for gallery2 only. If you are using Coppermine gallery instead then use the following code while running the query in PhpMyAdmin (replace cpg with the table prefix if you used anything else as prefix while setting up coppermine.):

DELETE FROM cpg_comments WHERE msg_body LIKE ‘%http%’

The above will remove all comments with links to other sites from your coppermine gallery.

As India has been recording rapid economic growth year after year, there seems to be a growing number of skeptics both India as well as abroad who question whether this economic growth is actually happening. Most Indian skeptics I see at first question the authenticity of this growth and then unilaterally arrive on the conclusion that this growth is only happening for the rich and not the middle class or poor. Though I agree that growth is not uniform in India and a lot needs to be done but this growth is not limited only to the Uber-rich only but also extended to the middle class (of which I am also a part). I will give a small example to prove my point.

Let us take the example of India’s automobile industry. I am quite sure a poor person who finds it difficult to afford three meals a day cannot afford an automobile for sure. So, the automobile industry only makes sense to the rich and the middle class as these are the only people in India who can afford it. Now, let us check the trend of sales in the automobile industry. In July, the Indian automobile industry posted its best ever monthly sales of 12,37,461 units beating the previous high achieved in March 2010 with 12,26,944 units. Automobile sales grew by 31.50 per cent to 12,37,461 units in July compared to 9,41,070 units in the same month last year. Passenger car sales in July were also the best ever attained in a month at 1,58,764 units, beating the previous high of 1,55,600 units in March. The sales jumped by 37.95 per cent over 1,15,084 units in July 2009.

But the records did not last long as the next month itself the records were again broken. In the last month i.e. August 2010, total sales of vehicles across categories registered a growth of 25.24 per cent to 12,63,293 units in August as against 10,08,712 units in the same month last year, it added. It broke the previous record of 12,37,461 units sold in July. Passenger car sales jumped by 33.24 per cent to 1,60,794 units in August compared to 1,20,681 units in the same month last year and breaking the July 2010 record of 1,58,764 units. It is not that the sales of cheaper cars and bikes only increased too. Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz India today its highest-ever monthly sales of 573 units in August, an over two-fold jump compared to the year-ago period. So, this economic growth seems to have touched both the rich as well as the middle class and I don’t buy the questions by the skeptics. If India’s economic growth was fake or if it did not effect the middle class then this kind of enormous growth in India’s automobile industry would never have been possible. Economic growth has also effected India’s middle class and especially India’s youth for sure and modern educated Indian youth is more ready to spend the extra money resulting in more sales and growth in most industries. The above figures itself prove this fact.

The only class which has been deprived of economic growth to a large extent is India’s poor. I would say the rich and middle class are becoming richer and the poor in India are becoming poorer. On a second thought, it would be unfair to say poor are becoming poorer because in reality, the cost of commodities and inflation has increased significantly in recent years and so the poor are finding it hard to afford it. To be frank, I feel the Indian Govt. has been taking the right steps and right policies to increase the economic condition of all sections of society. The steps taken for the development in education, development of rural areas and roads and infrastructure are very noble steps. All progressive steps taken by central govt. as well as all state govt. to enhance India’s economic growth are very noble ideas indeed. But the biggest problem is that none of the policies are implemented properly due to the rampant corruption in Indian society especially in the govt. sectors. The day all the progressive policies are implemented properly and corruption ends in India we will see a much more equitable growth which will also effect the poor of the country in a big way. Though it seems tough especially to remove corruption from India but hope that day would come very soon.

It is now official that India would make its Grand Prix debut from 2011. This was made clear after the governing body of Formula One confirmed it on Wednesday as they announced the F1 calender for 2011. Indian GP will become the 20th GP and the 2011 F1 season will be the longest ever with 20 races. 2011 season will start in Bahrain on March 13 and end in Brazil on November 27 with Abu Dhabi becoming the penultimate race on November 13. India will host the Grand Prix on October 30, 2011 and it will be held at a 5.14-km track, located on the outskirts of Greater Noida (35km from Delhi). The track is being built by Noida-based Jaypee Sports International (JPSI) and is designed by German racetrack designer Hermann Tilke, who has designed F1 circuits in Malaysia, Bahrain, China, Turkey, UAE and South Korea. According to Mark Hughes, vice-president (operations) of JPSI, the track will be among the top five in the world as far as average speed is concerned. The average time per lap is expected to be around 1 minute 24 seconds. The track will have straights, quick corners and elevation changes. Hughes assured that the track would be ready by May 31. The final inspection will be done by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) after it is completed before the race actually takes place in October. Meanwhile, Singapore GP has already welcomed Indian GP’s entry into the Formula One circuit. ingapore GP’s deputy chairman Colin Syn told TOI during a recent interaction. “We expect it to be a great event and I have heard that the track is going to be an excellent one.” With a Formula One race coming to India, Syn pointed out that the focus in the sport is gradually shifting to Asia. “We have F1 races in Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. With India joining the circuit, Asia will become a big player next year.” Singapore’s most popular race driver Yaey Tan too expects a great event. “India is an ideal place to have a Formula One race,” he said. “It’s a surprise you guys don’t have a race yet. I am sure sponsorships would not be a problem in India, unlike in Singapore.” English commentator Steve Slater, known as the Voice of Formula One, told TOI that there is a great expectation from the Indian GP. “Everyone on the circuit expects it to be grand event.” Slater has kept himself updated on the developments regarding the Indian GP. “There is definitely going to be a lot of excitement before the race. It would also be good for India. I am sure the Indian GP would give a boost to the sport and you would have more Narain Karthikeyans and Karun Chandhoks.” Indian F1 driver Karun Chandhok said the announcement will provide a major boost to Indian motorsports. “With the Indian GP, more people in India will have access to not only F1 but motorsports in general. For me personally, it will be thrilling to be on the grid and hear the Indian national anthem before the start of the Grand Prix.” Former F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan said that the track at Noida will prove to be a catalyst to Indian motorsports, similar to what Sepang was to Malaysia. “I am very happy and excited by the announcement. To have an Indian team on an Indian circuit will be a treat for home fans. This will also ensure participation of the automotive sector in motorsports,” Karthikeyan said.

The track, which is being built at a cost of $350 million, will have a spectator capacity of 1-1.2 lakh and won’t be restricted to Formula 1 races. It’s being built to accommodate MotoGP and Superbike races as well. According to Hughes, ticket prices will be affordable and have different grades. Tickets will go on sale from January next year. Among the various features of the track is the main grandstand that can seat 30,000 people. “It’s a monumental task, and work is under way at a staggering pace. Hold on to your holiday programmes for next year, for Greater Noida might just be the place to visit in October for an adrenaline-induced weekend,” said Hughes. After the Commonwealth Games this year, it seems that the sporting world’s focus will be on Indian GP next year. The rack and other preparations are done by a private company and hence, we can expect it to be a lot more disciplined than CWG. From the preparations it looks like we are going to enter the world Formula One scene with a bang. It would be a great thrust for motorsports in India and hopefully it will develop at a rapid pace.

I also know that there are skeptics who would say why do we need to spend thousands of crores again for a relatively new sport instead of developing our basic infrastructure and facilities in other sports. I would also agree on it but I would at first like to know that who is organizing it. If it is sponsored by Jaypee or Kingfisher or any other private companies I would be extremely happy. But if thousands of crores of Indian taxpayer’s money is being used in this project then it would surely be a concern. I am not sure about it as of now and hence, wont comment. But hopefully it will be a great start for Indian motorsports and we can become one of the big contenders in the world F1 and motorsport scene.

The Parliament as well the central cabinet passed the Nalanda University Bill 2010 enabling the government to set up a central university in Nalanda which was the site of the world famous ancient University of Nalanda. With the support of 16 countries in East Asia, India aims to resurrect the ancient seat of Buddhist learning at its original site in Rajgir to attract students and faculty from across South and South-East Asia. The Bihar government, on its part, has already acquired 446 acres of land for the new Nalanda University. The proposed university will come up at a cost of Rs 1,005 crore and would be a center of learning not only for India but for the whole of Asia like it used to be in the ancient ages. The revival of the university is also regarded a brainchild of former Indian president and one of the greatest scientists in India’s history A P J Abdul Kalam. Nalanda University could be a showpiece of regional diplomatic engagement: a declaration in support of it was signed at a 2009 summit in Thailand by 16 countries, of which Japan and Singapore have shown most interest. The Nalanda Mentor Group, led by Amartya Sen, an economist and Nobel laureate, has overseen the project since it was first proposed in 2006. Buddhist organizations in Singapore have already committed to give almost $4 million to rebuild the famous library in Nalanda University.The University aims to contribute to the promotion of regional peace and vision by bringing together the future leaders of East Asia who by relating to their past could enhance their understanding of each other’s perspectives and share that understanding globally.The bill said that the university would also seek to understand Buddha’s teachings in the contemporary context and enhance research for greater interaction between Asian countries. In the beginning, the university would have six schools for different studies, but the Board of governors had envisaged opening another school for information technology. The university will collaborate with other old universities, including the Al-Azhar University of Egypt, Oxford and Cambridge Universities in Britain and Harvard University in the US.

For those who do not know much about the glorious past of our great nation India, I will give a brief history of Nalanda University. Nalanda University is widely regarded as “one of the first great universities in recorded history” of the world and it attracted students from the whole of Asia and as far as Japan, Indonesia, Greece and Persia. The ancient Buddhist center of higher learning was located in present day Bihar just 55 miles south east of Patna. The Nalanda university flourished between 427 to 1197 CE (i.e. 427 to 1197 AD) and it was the largest residential centre of learning that the world had ever known. Nalanda was a education center even during the time of Gautam Buddha and Buddha is mentioned as having several times stayed at Nalanda. Even Asoka The Great (250 BC) is said to have built a stupa in Nalanda. Historical studies indicate that the University of Nalanda was properly established during the reign of the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta. It flourished mainly during the Gupta era and Pala era and then gradually declined and finally ended when a fanatic Turkic invader Bakhtiyar Khilji attacked and destroyed it in 1193.

Nalanda was such a large university that even though it was a residual university yet it accommodated 10,000 students and 2000 teachers during its prime. The university was considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Greece, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. Since the time of Buddha, the bhikkus were always encouraged to study the various arts and sciences. Learning was greatly encouraged as served dual proposes: knowledge and practice.The library of Nalanda, known as Dharma Gunj (Mountain of Truth) or Dharmagañja (Treasury of Truth), was the most renowned repository of Buddhist knowledge in the world at the time. Its collection was said to comprise hundreds of thousands of volumes, so extensive that it burned for months when set aflame by Turkic invaders.The library had three main buildings as high as nine stories tall, Ratnasagara (Sea of Jewels), Ratnodadhi (Ocean of Jewels), and Ratnarañjaka (Delighter of Jewels). The curriculum taught at Nalanda University was virtually the entire range of world knowledge then available. Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native. Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise. The level of education was so high that even during that age the scholars at Nalanda are said to have stated that the earth revolves around the sun and human body is made up of nucleus more than a millennium before they were stated by modern scientists. It was one of the greatest gifts India has given to the world and it flourished more than half a millennium before the founding of Oxford University. It was sad that such a great center of learning died down and we all hope that it revives again to its past glory. Hopefully it will bring the whole of Asia and world especially East and South East Asia very close once again in a great regional achievement.

WordPress is the most popular blog tool and publishing platform for sure. There are millions of blogs using the Worpdress blogging platform including this blog. If you are a webmaster, then it is nearly sure that you must have used wordpress for some of your websites. In wordpress, there are almost all features that a CMS or a blog platform can have. But one feature which is quite important for most webmasters is to remote upload an image as it takes less time compared to downloading an image and then uploading it.

The only visible option to remote upload is the “Upload from URL” but to be frank it is not remote uploading as the image does not transfer to your hosting but it is merely hotlinking from the remote site. But there is a small trick to remote upload which many of you might not even know. The trick is that when you click on the image upload button and select files, then instead of browsing from your computer just paste the image url in the File Name box and clcik on OK. It would take a few seconds and then the image would be uploaded as if you have uploaded from your computer.

If you are an active webmaster for sometime you would know about paid forum software like Vbulletin and IPB and also about free ones like Simple Machines and Phpbb. However, there is one more free forum software which is less noticed but has nearly as many features if not more than the popular forum scripts. Yes, I am referring to the Mybb forum software which has got a lot of features which are even comparable to most paid forum scripts. And unlike phpbb and smf, installing mods and themes in mybb or maintaining it is quite easy.

If you are a MyBB forum owner and see this error:

MyBB has experienced an internal SQL error and cannot continue

then it might be due to a MySQL error. So, just go to PhpMyAdmin in your web hosting panel and then check all the MyBB tables and click on repair. It should fix the problem if it ever occurs. Just thought of sharing this small tip for MyBB forum owners.