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The response of Indian bloggers to the train bombing yesterday in Mumbai was truly touching. One site, Mumbai Help, offered to try to reach residents of the city on behalf of their relatives abroad, who could not get through the clogged phone system. Eventually, the site’s 30-odd contributors were able to lay the fears of dozens of people to rest. A recent report in the Times of India said that nearly 86 percent of India’s internet users regularly check blogs, creating an impressive potential for bloggers to help in times of crisis (although obviously no one hopes there will be more crises like this one).
