Being Indian: The Truth about Why the 21st Century Will Be India's
By Pavan K Varma

From PenguinBooksIndia.com:

This book is a new and dramatically different inquiry into what India and being Indian mean in the new millennium. Such an inquiry is especially relevant today when the world's largest democracy is also a nuclear power, a potentially major economic power poised to emerge as the second largest consumer market in the world, and a growing force in information technology. Misconceptions about India and Indians abound, fed by the stereotypes created by foreigners, and the myths about themselves projected by Indians. In Being Indian, Pavan K.Varma demolishes these myths and generalizations as he turns his sharply observant gaze on his fellow countrymen to examine what really makes Indians tick and what they have to offer the world in the 21st century.



Varma's insightful analysis of the Indian personality and the culture that has created it reaches startling new conclusions on the paradoxes and contradictions that characterize Indian attitudes towards issues such as power, wealth and spirituality. How, for example, does the appalling indifference of most Indians to the suffering of the poor and the inequities of the caste system square with their enthusiastic championing of parliamentary democracy? And why do Indians have a reputation for being spiritual and `other-worldly' when their philosophy and tradition exalt the pursuit of material well-being —artha—as a principal goal of life? The book also examines India's future prospects as an economic, military and technological power, providing valuable pointers to the likely destiny of a nation of one billion people.



Drawing on sources as diverse as ancient Sanskrit treatises and Bollywood lyrics, and illuminating his examples with a wealth of telling anecdotes, Pavan Varma creates a vivid and compelling portrait of Indians as he argues that they will survive and flourish in the new millennium precisely because of what they are, warts and all, and not because of what they think they are or would like to be. This book, which will stimulate reflection, discussion and controversy, is a must read for both foreigners who wish to understand Indians and Indians who wish to understand themselves.

( About the Auhtor :Pavan K. Varma graduated with honours in history from St Stephens College, Delhi, and took a degree in law from Delhi University. A member of the Indian Foreign Service, he is at present Director of the Nehru Centre in London. He is the author of Ghalib: The Man, The Times; Krishna: The Playful Divine, The Great Indian Middle Class; The Book of Krishna; and Maximize Your Life (with Renuka Khandekar), all published by Penguin. More on PavankVarma.com... )


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* View / Post Your Review

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More Books From Pavan K. Varma :

* The Great Indian Middle Class

Plaxo 2.0

MarketWire Reports :

Plaxo, Inc. creator of the fastest growing contact management software and network, today announced the availability of Plaxo 2.0™, a new version of the company's popular contact management software. For the first time ever, Plaxo 2.0 enables users to access Yahoo! Search directly from their Outlook and Outlook Express programs by embedding the Yahoo! Search window in the Plaxo™ toolbar. Plaxo will generate revenue on searches performed.



Other featured enhancements of Plaxo 2.0 include the ability to synchronize a user's calendar, contacts, tasks and notes on a Plaxo Web page for anywhere, anytime access. Plaxo 2.0 also includes a major redesign of the user interface and a new "microblog" feature.



"Plaxo 2.0 with Yahoo! Search functionality brings search and email -- the two most popular online activities -- together in a single platform," said Todd Masonis, co-founder and vice president of products, Plaxo. "We believe the new features will be instrumental in the continued rapid growth of the Plaxo Network™. Since launching in May 2003, we've registered more than two million users and are growing at a rate of 10,000-12,000 new members daily. The Plaxo Network is fast becoming an important new layer of the Internet, like email, instant messaging and Web browsing."



Plaxo 2.0 seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and PDA devices via the Outlook platform. Plaxo 2.0 works by enabling users to choose contacts in their address book from whom they want to receive updated information. Users then send Plaxo Update Requests to the selected contacts, allowing the contact to reply either by email or via a secure Website. Plaxo processes the replies and integrates updated information into the user's address book.

From Plaxo.com:


* Save time by keeping your address book up-to-date automatically

Had enough of returned holiday cards? Tired of typing in new contact information? Plaxo takes the hassle out of updating your address book.


* Synchronize your home and work computers

Keep your information synchronized between your home and work computers. You'll never have to worry about keeping multiple address books or calendars up-to-date.


* Access your information anywhere using Plaxo Online

Need a phone number or appointment information, but can't get to your computer? Sign in to Plaxo Online and access it instantly, from anywhere.


* Back up and recover your vital information

Never lose your data again! Plaxo 2.0 creates an online backup of your information. Download and recover your information securely to another computer with just a click of a button.


* Plugs seamlessly in to Outlook or Outlook Express

Synchronize your existing contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes in Outlook or Outlook Express. Not an Outlook or Outlook Express user? You can quickly import your data into Plaxo Online from many personal data managers.

Its A Small Planet

Via Geekzone : SmallPlanet.com has launched social networking site on Mobile Phones (GPRS & Bluetooth):

SmallPlanet's CrowdSurfer technology was tested on the UCLA campus. Limited to Nokia 6600 and 6230 phones only (which reduces the level of social networking by limiting options, in my opinion), the application uses Bluetooth to find other users up to 100 feet away, and relationship information is made available via GPRS connections to the SmallPlanet.net Web site. "This is true location-based, mobile social networking," says SmallPlanet's Ken Torimaru, who led the development of CrowdSurfer. "We are giving users the option to know when friends are nearby and to meet new people with whom they share some common, previously invisible connection, and we're doing it in the real world; in real time, in real place."

Related Links :

* Leader: Social networking - comical, phishy or next big thing? | Silicon.com

* No Business in Social Networking | Eweek.com

Rajesh Jain : The Daily Blogger

Rajesh Jain writes, how he is able to keep up with his blog Emergic.org.

When I started, I was clear about one thing: that the blog would be updated daily. And except for two weekend days just after I started, that has been the case. It is a lesson I learnt from the IndiaWorld days: you have to become a daily part of the life of your readers. This is also what I tell every person who I recommend blogging to – have something new everyday. It is not difficult; it just requires a discipline and determination. It daily blogging is a commitment we make, our readers will reciprocate by making a daily visit. Given that there is so much happening everyday and our minds are constantly active and thinking, it is not a very difficult thing to do. Near-ubiquitous connectivity, even when one is travelling, makes posting a trivial exercise.



What has spurred the writing revolution for me is the ease of the blogging tool. Using MovableType is very easy. I am not dependent on any other person for posting to the blog. Once the blog has been set up, no technical expertise is needed. This simplicity of the blogging tools has laid the foundation for the two-way web that we are seeing emerge around us.

Also read his views on Andra Pradesh Election Verdit 2004.

Back to the question. What went wrong for Naidu, and before him Digvijay Singh? In two words, rising expectations. While there is an anti-incumbency element (people's desire for a change), there's much more to it. People want a lot more and a lot faster. They want a basic quality of life that most of the Indian governments have still not been able to deliver. Development for the most part has been uneven. In a democracy, there is "one person, one vote." And sometimes, we living in the cities forget that there is another India that has barely changed. [Read my "Rajasthan Ruminations" written after a visit earlier in the year.] Education, Electricity, Water, Opportunities - we are still not able to provide these to the majority of Indians. And the elections are the only time they can have their say.

American Jobs : A Movie On Outsourcing

Santa Monica-based television software producer Greg Spotts is working on his directorial debut, "American Jobs", that takes an "empathetic look" at the costs of outsourcing. made with a budget of $40,000, the film will be released first on DVD on US Labour Day, Sep 6, followed by a traditional theatrical release



David Beckman produces the detailed picture of Greg Spots venture in Techcsunite.org's artcile : Filmmaker Documents Effects of American Job Losses



While googling for Greg Spotts , I spotted the Poetry on outsourcing in ROBERT TRIGAUX's, (Times Business Columnist) column Short-term reality clashes with long-term economic theory on sptimes.com

: The Outsourcing Poetry :


Take this job and outsource it.

I ain't working here no more.

Yanked my job right from under me

And put it in Bangalore. . . .

Craig Silverstein's : The Man of Google

Via Slashdot :
Craig Silverstein is the employee No. 1 & the technology director of world No.1 Search Engine & the only company which is giving Microsoft a tough time. Silverstein, 31, left his doctoral studies at Stanford University in 1998, joining school chums Sergey Brin and Larry Page in a nearby garage to build "the Google". Google is poised to raise US$2.7 billion in one of the hottest tech initial public offerings since 2000. Imminent wealth aside, Silverstein has long been a champion of working hard and whistling while you do it. As Google's director of technology, he balances pie-in-the-sky visions for search -- in other words, artificially intelligent search pets -- and churning out products that improve people's access to information. Just a sampling includes new technology to personalise the company's Web site; comparative shopping prices on wireless devices; and the ability to send, store and manage up to 1 gigabyte of free e-mail, otherwise known as Gmail.



In an interview before Google's IPO filing [ZDnet], Silverstein discussed the backlash against Gmail among privacy advocates, the company's cultural changes and its shifting reliance on PageRank, the mathematical algorithm that has helped Google shine. The company recently renewed an exclusive PageRank licence from Stanford that's valid through 2011.

The All New Blogger.com

After the Google's takeover of Blogger, for the first time Blogger has made a major revamp. Now blogger.com offers much awaited feature 'comments' , accompanying it , is a wonderful feature 'profiles' which also offers a basic social networking tool. For example if I mention 'mumbai' as my location, I can find other bloggers from mumbai ; similarly I can find people with similar interest and likings. Using Mail-to-blogger you can now send the post via email. You can check the all new blogger at http://www.blogger.com

Social Networking : Hype or Business

David Coursey writes on the week, why he consider all this social networking as some hype & no business :

These are meant to be membership services that link people with like interests, which is what Yahoo Groups do quite nicely for free.



These things are really nothing new. Since the beginning of the Internet boom people have talked about making money by creating communities. Some have done it, but lots more have failed. For every AOL there are six to ten TalkCity's.



I don't believe people will pay lots of money for contacts. But, I can see a demand for the services to split their revenue with the people who actually own the contacts. For example, want an introduction to Rob Enderle? He's a friend and if I asked him to meet with you, I bet he would. So don't pay LinkedIn, pay me. After all, LinkedIn is just a service, the contact is mine. But how legit is a paid introduction, do you really want your friends selling you to the highest bidder?


On the other hand, if people can find a use for these networks, they'd probably pay a $10 monthly fee to belong. But not more, unless these are high-value (i.e. sexual or whatever) relationships we're creating.



This is another get-rich-quick-scheme that will disappear within a year or so. Someone will make a little money here, but…



I just don't see a very interesting business opportunity here. At least not for "legit" services. However, some vendors are like conferencing that support a better business model than paid introductions.

On the other hand a survey has found out that One In Five 'Net Users Have Visited A Social Networking Site:

survey of more than 9,200 Internet users' Web habits finds that one in five has visited a social networking site, according to a survey by BURST! Media, an Internet ad services company.



The survey found that 19.2 percent of respondents say they have visited a social networking Web site such as Friendster or Tribe.net. Of those respondents, half (50.5 percent) actually registered and joined these sites. Men were slightly more likely than women to say they have visited a social networking Web site (21.7 percent versus 16.7 percent). However, women are more likely to register and join (53.3 percent versus 47.9 percent).

Related Links:
Social Networking Services Meta List

The Technology : Use & Applications

Technology evangelist Sam Pitroda tells in an interview:

* Technology in India is urbane, elitist, exotic, intimidating and sexy


* What is needed is that it should reach the rural masses


* There are two reasons we need telecommunications and IT. They not only can only help Indians create wealth, they can also create wealth of their own. Unless we have both, we have no future as a nation


* High technology can put unequal human beings on an equal footing. But this whole information revolution has not been clearly understood by people in India. They think they are somehow not going to be affected by it.

On the other hand, Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist employed by Intel Research, has visited 100 households in 19 cities in seven countries overr the two years, in Asia and the Pacific to study how people use technology

Some of what she learned in the field will be folded into Intel's design process, passed on to industrial designers and engineers and perhaps eventually embodied in a device. But many of Bell's findings also raise deep questions about the meaning of technology in an interconnected world.



Her fieldwork project began four years ago with the insight that Intel might have a misconception about the potential users of its products elsewhere in the world.



"We thought, there's a group of people just like us all over the world who will buy the technology and have it fill the same values in their lives," Bell said. "I was fairly certain that wasn't going to be the case. I'm an anthropologist. Culture matters."



Bell, 37, who received her doctorate in anthropology from Stanford University with a dissertation on American Indian boarding schools, joined Intel in 1998. She is working on a book for MIT Press about her Asian research.



Bell's project sent her to seven countries: India, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Australia. She found that in some places, "It's harder for some forms of technology to get over the threshold of the home" -- not simply for economic reasons but for religious ones as well. For example, she said, values of humility and simplicity may make technology less welcome in some Hindu homes in India or some Muslim homes in Malaysia and Indonesia.
* More on Taipeitimes.com...

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Inshoring, Nearshoring, Rightshoring & Microsourcing

Warren Vieth reports about Inshoring, Nearshoring, Rightshoring & Microsourcing :

The business of finding low-cost substitutes for American workers is getting more complex -- and so is the terminology. They don't just call it "offshoring" anymore.



At a recent conference, the people who help U.S. companies shift white-collar work overseas offered potential clients a buffet of outsourcing options: "nearshoring," for those willing to stray no farther than Canada or Mexico; "inshoring," for those who prefer to bring foreign workers to America; and "rightshoring," for those desiring a custom package of in-house and off-site, foreign and domestic.



For the faint of heart, there's "microsourcing." Don't fire your entire computer department, advised David Elmo, president of Ohio-based Corbus Corp. Instead, farm out chronic backlogs and special projects to programmers in India.



"Getting rid of everyone puts you at a strategic disadvantage," said Elmo, whose company will help supply the foreign talent. "You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

Indian Broadband Race

The broadband race in India is picking up. Anand Parthasarathy in The Hindu Reports about the broadband happening in India and also informs about the types of broadband and its features. The report covers the broadband initiative of the players like ...

* BSNL's Direct Internet Access Service (DIAS)

* Dishnet's DSL

* ZeeNext's Ethernet

* Sify Infoway 's WiFi

* Reliance Telecom's WiMax



Another Story from Business World India (TRAI's broadband recommendations : Shake-up signals)

UNBUNDLE, compete, achieve. That, in short, is the message of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) final recommendations on broadband in India. The 113-page paper defines broadband as an always-on data connection with a minimum capacity of 256 kbps. But the meat really is in its 12-odd recommendations, some of which are bound to cause mayhem.

If adopted together, they could take India to 20 million broadband subscribers by 2010 reckons Trai chairman Pradip Baijal. He reckons the recommendations will help "slaughter the prices of broadband". Kunal Bajaj, the consultant for Trai who worked on the report, reckons that two recommendations are key for that - reducing the cost of equipment and unbundling. Read more on Business World

Broadband India:Recommendations on Accelerating Growth of Internet and Broadband Penetration [PDF]

Executive Summary of Recommendations



In April 2002, India was adding 0.28 million new mobile phone connections per month. Tariffs were high and fixed by the regulator, with only a couple of operators in each circle. Today, operators are adding almost 2 million new mobile subscribers per month, almost 8 times that of April 2002. Many regulatory steps were taken to arrive at today's scenario
by allowing enhanced competition and reduced costs to benefit consumers. While not all steps were accepted instantly by operators or the public, today consumers and the overall market are in a much better situation. Internet and broadband roll-out has the ability to have even farther reaching effects than the reforms in telephony did. Not only will broadband enable people to communicate with each other, but also to do business more efficiently over longer distances, be better
educated, have access to better health services, benefit from better governance, and have enhanced entertainment services. Availability of broadband services at affordable pricelevels will have significant impact on gross domestic product (GDP) and attract new investment, create jobs and a larger more qualified labor pool, and increase productivity through infrastructure creation and access to new and improved services. While internet growth rates in India have been flat, and at times declining over the past three years, other countries like Korea, China and Malaysia have been doubling and tripling the size of their internet and broadband subscriber base. India currently has 0.4 internet connections and 0.02 broadband connections per 100 persons, while Korea has 25 and China has 1.4 broadband connections per 100 persons, with its current level 50% higher than what it was just six months ago. Korea has achieved its success story in a span of less than five years, going from less than 1 broadband subscriber per 100 persons in 1999 to the levels it has reached today. By 2002, nearly 30% of their GDP was
transacted on broadband. The lessons that India learns from these examples can be applied to our current situation to realize the same explosive success. In this document, the Authority has identified eleven major hurdles preventing growth of
internet and broadband services. These hurdles include:



* Price

1. Subscription prices of broadband services in India are 60 times higher than those in Korea, which translates to 1,200 times higher when considering purchasing power (Paragraph 1.8)



* Access to the customer in the last mile


2. Lack of access to copper in the local loop and the high costs of duplicating this existing infrastructure (Section 3.4)


3. Low quality of cable TV infrastructure and the lack of organization in that industry which makes upgrade difficult (Section 3.5)


4. High costs of using DTH and VSAT technologies, and restrictions preventing them from being used for delivering broadband internet services (Section 3.6)


5. Policies preventing terrestrial wireless solutions from being effective alternatives to bridging the last mile to customers (Section 3.7)


6. Barriers in obtaining right of way clearances that are stalling network installation efforts (Section 3.9)



* Costs of backhaul networks


7. High prices in domestic leased circuits, even though there are multiple competing players (Section 4.1.5)


8. High costs of international leased circuits and problem with access to landing stations (Section 4.1.6)


9. Ineffectiveness of NIXI thus far to be able to deliver on its objectives (Section 4.2)



* Fiscal policies


10. Policies which prevent availability of low cost access devices, do not create incentives for further investment, and add direct cost to providing and purchasing broadband services (Chapter 5)



* Creation of content and applications


11. The lack of locally relevant content and applications, especially for broadband, which is caused primarily by a lack of users and the absence of a "changeengine" to drive the growth (Chapter 6)



We have addressed these hurdles with twelve sets of recommendations for creating an environment that is more conducive to attracting investors, entrepreneurs and consumers to contribute to the spread of these services. These recommendations include:



* Definition and goals


1. Broadband is an "An always-on data connection that is able to support various interactive services, and has the capability of a minimum download speed of 256 Kbps." This will be revised upwards in the future (Section 2.1)


2. India can achieve 20 million broadband and 40 million internet subscribers by 2010, which translate to penetration levels of 1.7% and 3.4%, respectively. This is a bare minimum target and will need to be upgraded as progress is made (Section 2.2)



* Access to the customer in the last mile


3. Enabling the use of the existing infrastructure on the incumbents' copper to reach customers via DSL (Section 3.4.2)


4. Decreasing artificial costs in the operation of DTH and VSAT platforms, while allowing broadband services to be offered via these technologies (Section 3.6)


5. Allowing terrestrial wireless solutions to spread more effectively as a means to reach customers with today's technologies, as well as those in the near future (Section 3.7)

6. Enabling right of way clearance systems to be further streamlined for both current and future build-out efforts (Section 3.9)



* Costs of backhaul networks


7. Allowing customers to realize the benefits of competition in domestic leased lines while compensating for the current lack of such competition in "within city" links (Section 4.1.5)


8. Identifying the steps that need to be taken to make NIXI effective and attractive for ISP's of all sizes to willingly partic ipate (Section 4.2)



* Fiscal policies


9. Encouraging the availability of low cost access devices through depreciation, donation and recycling of used PC's (Section 5.3)


10. Decreasing to the level of duties on mobile phones the current overall levels of duties for imported items used in broadband networks, and equalizing duties Growth of Internet and Broadband on inputs and domestically manufactured goods with those that are imported (Section 5.4)


11. Providing the appropriate tax structure to enable faster growth, without the Government having to forego significant revenue (Section 5.5)



* Creation of content and applications


12. Outlining how the Government should proceed in being more aggressive in its efforts to create content and applications available online for interacting with citizens, and thereby serve as a leading example (Chapter 6) Once these recommendations are implemented, India can reach broadband penetration levels that are 50 times where we are today within a couple of years. The growth that has been witnessed in a few years in India in the telephony space and in Korea in broadband, can be replicated and surpassed.

**** Download the Full Report in *PDF* (Righ Click on the link and Choose 'Save Target As')****

Related Links :
* Consumer Broadband Report for 2004 [PDF] prepared by Nagendra Technology Consulting

* Reliance kickstarts broadband operations with TV channels

* Birds-Eye.Net India Broadband Operator Directory

* CIOL : News : India poised for the broadband leap

Weakness in Indian Intellectual Property (IP) Laws

Even after the improvements in the IPR laws, protection of IP in some areas remains weak due to inadequate laws and ineffective enforcement, says a Special 302 Report released by United States Trade Representative (USTR) B Zoellick. Some of the problems areas in IP Laws are in Software IP Laws, WIPO Internet treaties implementation, Trademarks & Copyright infringements. USTR has kept India on Priority Watch LIst and this is what the report stays about India :

While India has improved its IPR regime, protection of intellectual property in some areas remains weak due to inadequate laws and ineffective enforcement. India's 2002 patent law amendments (which became effective in May 2003) exempt subject matter such as biotechnological inventions, methods for agriculture and horticulture, processes for the treatment of humans, animals, or plants, and substances prepared by chemical processes from patent protection. Under the TRIPS Agreement, India has until January 1, 2005 to provide product patent protection, including for pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals. While the United States is encouraged by the Indian Government's recent statements concerning implementation of data exclusivity regulations, India has yet to implement the TRIPS obligation to protect confidential test data submitted by innovative pharmaceutical companies for market approval. India's Copyright Act has three overly broad exceptions, which together weaken protection of software. India is also in the process of revising its copyright law to implement the WIPO Internet treaties; we expect India to fully implement its obligations in this regard. Protection of foreign trademarks remains difficult due to procedural barriers and delays. Trademark owners must prove they have used their mark to avoid a counterclaim for registration cancellation due to non-use. Such proof can be difficult, given India's policy of discouraging foreign trademark use. Companies denied the right to import and sell products in India often are unable to demonstrate use of registered trademarks through local sale.



Piracy of copyrighted materials (particularly software, films, popular fiction and certain textbooks) remains a problem for U.S. and Indian rightholders. India has not adopted an optical disc law to deal with optical media piracy. Cable television piracy continues to be a significant problem, with estimates of tens of thousands of illegal systems in operation. The United States also has serious concerns about high levels of counterfeiting, particularly for medicines and auto parts. India's criminal IPR enforcement regime remains weak, and India needs sustained, centralized, coordinated enforcement of intellectual property rights, especially trademarks and copyrights. Its court system is extremely slow, and there are only a few reported convictions for copyright infringements resulting from raids. Industry reports significant weaknesses in India's border protection against counterfeit and pirated goods. India also needs to address the high volume of exports of domestically produced counterfeit goods.

Related Links :

* List of Indian Laws & Law resources | Findlaw
* Ministry of Law & Justice Government of India

Sasser Worm

This worm infects computers by exploiting a flaw in Microsoft's Windows operating system. Once inside, the worm scans the internet for others to attack, causing some computers to continually crash and reboot. It has severly hit asian region - Taiwan, Hongkong and India.

Sasser Worm - Info :

First Detected on Friday 4/29, 2004 with Worm with Variants – Sasser.A/B/C/D . It exploits law in Windows Local Security Authority Service Server (LSASS) and is spreading worldwide


Effects of Sasser

* Crashes infected devices

* Causes systems to reboot continuously

* Can scan for 1,024 separate IP addresses simultaneously

* Taiwanese Post Office, Sydney Australia Train System and several Scandinavian Banks reported infections – among other organizations


How Sasser Works :

* Exploits vulnerability in Windows Local Security Authority Service Server (LSASS)

* Vulnerability allows remote attacker to execute arbitrary code with System privileges

* Affected systems include: Microsoft Windows XP and Windows 2000

* Patch is available from Microsoft

* Worm executes code and installs a copy of itself into the infected computer’s memory – which infects other hosts.


Related Links :

* What You Should Know About the Sasser Worm and It Variants | Microsoft

* On the Worm Watch: Sasser

* Sasser Worm Analysis - LURHQ

* Sasser : Virus Profile

* How to Rid Your PC of 'Sasser' Infection

* Symantec Security Response - W32.Sasser Removal Tool

* Microsoft's Recommendations for the Sasser Worm and Its Variants

Nasscom's Emphasis

Jerry Rao speaks out his agenda for the year as the newly appointed Chairman of Nasscom on CIOL.com

From quitting a high profile corporate job to start-up a software services and consultancy company, Mphasis, in the US and build it to one of India’s top 10 software services exporter, Jerry Rao has indeed come a long way. He was conferred the Ernst and Young `Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award in 2001 and has recently donned the role as the chairman of Nasscom. In an exclusive interview with Rahul Gupta of CyberMedia News, Rao shares his plans to establish India as a high quality, secure, reliable software powerhouse and center of best practices in the BPO. Published are some of the excerpts of the meeting

He answers about :

* Priorities and focus areas as the chairman of the Nasscom

* Underplaying the backlash as America's internal issue

* Nasscom’s contribution in building `India Inc’ brand & ability to sell it

* Nasscom’s role as a thought leader

* Nasscoms role for Indian hardware sector

* Risks in IT Contracts