On California coast, atheists nudge out Nativity scenes..

 Every Christmas for the past 60 years, Nativity scenes have dominated two blocks of a park on bluffs overlooking the ocean in Santa Monica, California.
The 14 scenes depicting Jesus Christ's birth have long been a popular attraction among area residents and tourists to the southern California city.
This year, however, atheists have taken over most of the two-block stretch, nearly shutting out and angering a group of churches who contend the atheists have organized against the Christians and gamed a city lottery process allocating the holiday exhibit space.
In response, a leader of the atheist group says he's just looking for evenhanded treatment to present his beliefs in a public space -- and goes so far as to say that the city shouldn't even be allowing any religious or even atheist expression in the park.
That's why he and his group have put nothing on half of the park exhibit spaces that they've secured from the city this year.
The atheists are declaring the politically left-leaning seaside town of Santa Monica as their latest battleground in a national movement to assert their rights.
"I'm part of a growing movement in America of atheists standing up for their rights. It's a very exciting time for us that we're having more of an impact in our society," said Damon Vix, the organizer of the atheist group.
"I'm a civil rights activist, and atheists have been discriminated against for as long as I've been an atheist -- since high school," added Vix, 43, a freelance prop maker who lives in Burbank, California.
But Hunter Jameson, the Nativity scene committee chairman representing 14 Santa Monica groups that are mostly churches, said the church members are now planning to petition the city in 2012 to change the process so that creches would be better represented on the park bluffs adjacent to downtown Santa Monica.
"There's a very militant atheist movement that's trying to drive out vestiges of the truth. They're trying to deny the truth that this nation is founded on Christian principles," Jameson said.
"These people, atheists, a number of them, like Mr. Vix, are bound and determined to drive away from any public place any manifestation that Americans are God-loving people," Jameson added. "This is not fair, this is not just."
The atheists group won from the city 18 of the 21 exhibit spaces -- leaving only two plots to the Christian churches and one to a rabbi erecting a Menorah scene. The venue is Palisades Park, with vistas of the Santa Monica Pier and, in the distance, the coastal mountains of Malibu.
"We don't object to them being there. We just object to them manipulating the rules, to try to deprive us of our freedom of speech," Jameson said. "You add everything together, there would be enough room in the two blocks to take care of all the displays. It's a matter of portioning the space fairly, and we are undertaking a petition drive."
Caught in the middle of the dispute are city officials, who say the lottery process is governed under federal law, and there's nothing they can do about this year's results.

More than 1,000 missing in Philippines after storm...

 More than 1,000 people are missing in the aftermath of a tropical storm that wreaked havoc across the southern Philippines last weekend, the country's government said Friday, as it grappled with the mounting humanitarian crisis in the region.
A total of 1,079 people remain unaccounted for, the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a statement. Earlier in the week, the disaster council said it had lost count of the number of missing as it tried to assess the scale of the destruction.
The death toll from Tropical Storm Washi, which set off landslides and flash floods that swept away whole villages, has risen to 1,080, according to the council.
The United Nations said Wednesday that the storm has created "huge" humanitarian needs on the island of Mindanao, the scene of the worst devastation. It has made an appeal to raise $28 million to deal with the immediate problems in the area, with hundreds of thousands of people displaced in and around the port cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
"I was shocked by scale of destruction I saw," David Carden, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Philippines told CNN on Thursday after visiting the region. He said it looked as if an "inland tsunami had struck the area."
Around 675,000 people have been affected by the storm, the disaster council said Friday, with more than 300,000 of them being taken care of at evacuation centers at the moment.
President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines has declared a state of national calamity following the storm.
The disaster council said it estimated the cost of the damage caused by the storm at more than one billion Philippines pesos ($23 million).

Nasa space telescope finds 'twin' of Earth orbiting a distant Sun-like star

• 'This find will be remembered in 100 years time' - scientists
• First time a planet of this size has been detected
• Two planets, one earth-sized, one just smaller
• 'Important milestone' for Nasa's world-seeking Kepler telescope

A rocky planet the same size as the Earth has been discovered orbiting a star like our sun.
It is the first time a planet of this size has been detected in another solar system. Scientists have hailed the technical achievement of detecting Earth sized ‘exoplanets’ - the technical term for planets outside the solar system - as it increases the chances of finding life-bearing worlds.
Although the planet, Kepler-20f could have a thick water-vapour atmosphere, its surface is believed to be too hot for life.

Kepler 20f has been hailed as a major discovery - it's the first earth-sized planet found orbiting a star like our own Sun

‘This could be an important milestone. I think 10 years or maybe even 100 years from now people will look back and ask when the first Earth-sized planet was found. It is very exciting,' says Dr Fessin

A second planet in the same system, Kepler-20e, is only slightly smaller than Earth and even hotter.
Both worlds circle their parent star closely with 'years' that last just nine and sixteen days respectively.
Dr Francois Fressin, one of the astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US, said: ‘It is the first time humanity has been able to discover an object similar to the Earth around a star, so maybe we will be able to find others.
‘This could be an important milestone. I think 10 years or maybe even 100 years from now people will look back and ask when was the first Earth-sized planet found. It is very exciting.’

Nasa's Kepler space telescope is built specifically to look for worlds outside our solar system. It scans distant stars for 'distortions' that indicate a planet has passed in front of it, using an array of digital camera sensors

The parent star, Kepler-20, is not exactly a close neighbour, being 945 light years away.
Neither lie within the ‘habitable zone’ where temperatures are just warm enough to allow liquid surface water, increasing the prospects for life.

A number of extrasolar planets have already been identified with radiuses of 1.5 to twice that of the Earth.
But Dr Fressin pointed out that even these have far more volume than the Earth and it would be wrong to consider them truly ‘Earth-like’.

Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f compared with Venus and the Earth. Scientists have found the two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star, an encouraging sign for prospects of finding life elsewhere

Nasa's Kepler telescope has found 28 confirmed extrasolar planets so far - but thousands of likely 'candidate' planets. The discovery of a planet so close to our earth in size is highly significant, says Nasa

Earlier this month the telescope discovered Kepler-22b, a planet 2.4 times the size of the Earth situated in the middle of its habitable zone. But scientists say that Kepler 22-b may not be suitable for life.
‘You could fit 13 Earths inside Kepler-22b,’ said Dr Fressin. ‘The most likely thing is that it's simply a mini-Neptune, not suitable for life. Just because a planet lies within the habitable zone that doesn't mean it is habitable.’
Like Kepler-22b, the two new planets were found by the American space agency Nasa's Kepler space telescope - which scans distant stars for the signs of 'transits', planets passing in front of them.
The findings are reported today in an early online edition of the journal Nature.
Both planets are part of a solar system family already known to contain three larger worlds.
Kepler-20f has a radius just 1.03 times larger than Earth's, while Kepler-20e is 0.87 the size of the Earth.

Discovery: An artist's impression of the planet Kepler-22b, the earlier 'find' by the Kepler telescope

The astronomers spent years making sure the signals they detected really were from planets.
‘We simulated all possible alternative configurations and tried to quantify the probability that a false signal could occur,’ said Dr Fressin. ‘We confirmed that the signals were coming from an Earth-size planet. It couldn't be due to anything else.’
Both planets are believed to be rocky, with a composition of iron and silicate, and very hot.
Kepler-20f is a baking 426C and Kepler-20e a scorching 726c.
The solar system is not hugely like our own, though. In our solar system small, rocky worlds orbit close to the Sun and large, gas giant worlds orbit farther out. In contrast, the planets of Kepler-20 are organized in alternating size: big, little, big, little, big.

'We were surprised to find this system of flip-flopping planets,' said co-author David Charbonneau of the CfA.

The planets of Kepler-20 could not have formed in their current locations. Instead, they must have formed farther from their star and then migrated inward, probably through interactions with the disk of material from which all the planets orbiting the star formed from.

Kepler identifies 'objects of interest' by looking for stars that dim slightly, which can occur when a planet crosses the star's face.
To confirm a transiting planet, astronomers look for the star to wobble as it is gravitationally tugged by its orbiting companion.
Kepler has found 28 confirmed planets so far.

Now THAT'S a game of crazy golf! Rory McIlroy ends 2011 on a high with breathtaking bunker shot from Dubai... but where on Earth did it land?

Rory McIlroy proved he is still at the top of his game - with a series of breathtaking bunker shots from the top of Dubai's Burj Al Arab hotel.
The 22-year-old U.S. Open champion, who has scaled to the summit of the golfing world in the past 12 months, took to the seven-star venue's helipad to show off his skills.
The world No.3, who is dating Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, kept his cool as he blasted the ball from 700ft above Dubai's Jumeirah beach.

Head for heights: Rory McIlroy blasted a series of bunker shots from the Burj Al Arab hotel's helipad in Dubai

Club with a view: Rory McIlroy was watched by his caddie JP Fitzgerald during the promotional event

Resembling from a distance the tiny figures on a Subbeteo table football pitch, the Northern Irishman was watched by caddie JP Fitzgerald.
And the global brand ambassador for Jumeirahís will be hoping to still have his head in the clouds at tomorrow night's BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011 Award.

He is shortlisted for the top prize alongside Darren Clarke, who he pipped to win the U.S. Open and who is ranked one place above him in the world rankings.
Cyclist Mark Cavendish, cricketers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, golfer Luke Donald, athletes Mo Farah and Dai Greene, boxer Amir Khan and tennis star Andy Murray.

Spectacular: The world number 3, who is romantically teeing off with Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, kept his cool as he blasted the ball from 700ft above Dubai's Jumeirah beach

Don't look down! Rory McIlroy appeared as small as a Subbuteo player from these pictures taken from above the Burj Al Arab hotel

Driving into the distance: Rory McIlroy blasted the golf balls into the Dubai coastline during the event

McIlroy, who scooped the Northern Irish Personality Award earlier this week, followed in the footsteps of golfer Tiger Woods as he watched his step in the heavens of Dubai.
And in 2007, tennis stars Andre Agassi and Roger Federer played on an artificial court overlooking the bay.

Top of the world: McIlroy, who scooped the Northern Irish Personality Award earlier this week, followed in the footsteps of golfer Tiger Woods as he watched his step in the heavens of Dubai

Dizzy new heights: Tennis stars Andre Agassi and Roger Federer have previously played on an artificial court overlooking the bay on the helipad

Apple buys hardware firm Anobit for $500 mn

Jerusalem: Apple has bought Israel’s Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for up to $500 million, the Calcalist financial daily reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper said Anobit’s management was in the process of gathering its staff to formally announce the acquisition by Apple.
Last week Calcalist had reported that Apple was in advanced talks to buy Anobit for $400-$500 million.
In addition to the acquisition, Apple will also open a research and development centre in Israel, its first outside the United States, Calcalist said.

Apple logo. Reuters

Anobit and Apple were not available for comment.
Anobit has developed a chip that enhances flash drive performance through signal processing. The chip is already incorporated in Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and the MacBook Air.
Last week, Calcalist said Apple was interested in Anobit’s technology to increase and enhance the memory volume and performance of its devices. The chip may as much as double the memory volume in the new iPads and MacBooks.

Food security: Sonia’s NAC should learn from Modi’s Gujarat

If food security is as much about stoking an agricultural revolution as about redistributing available food to the poor, Gujarat is the place to seek answers from.
Gujarat is the one state in India that has consistently outperformed the rest of India in terms of agricultural production – and a large portion of this credit goes to Narendra Modi’s long-term vision.
Unlike industry – where Gujarat has always had an edge – agriculture is a freshly-minted success story.
This is not the view of Modi’s acolytes or of BJP partisans, but the Planning Commission, which is run by the PM’s pal Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
According to a report in Business Standard, a Planning Commission working group set up to suggest booster shots for agriculture during the 12^th plan – which starts next April – said that Gujarat and Chhattisgarh were the states to emulate.

If food security is as much about stoking an agricultural revolution as about redistributing available food to the poor, Gujarat is the place to seek answers from. Adnan Abidi/Reuters

In the period from 1999-00 to 2008-09, Gujarat reported a huge 11.5 percent annual average growth in agriculture (at 1999-00 prices). This dwarfs the national average of 3.5 percent during the five-year period 2007-12 and just 2.2 percent in 2002-07.
Should one credit Modi for this miracle? Apparently, so. For, the real change happened after 2002 – the year after Modi took over. Says the Planning Commission working group: “A closer examination of the data in respect of Gujarat shows that the state made remarkable increase in raising agriculture production after 2002-03.”
The Planning Commission isn’t the only one impressed with agriculture’s progress in Gujarat. Another fan of Modi’s achievements is Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the government of India and honorary professor at Icrier in Delhi.
In an article titled Agriculture: be like Gujarat, Acharya gives six reasons why the state cracked the agricultural jinx.
Remember, Gujarat is not a state blessed with lots of irrigated land. Most of its land is semi-arid, and getting any crop out of it is a big effort.
So what did Modi do right? Six things, principally.
First, he focused on sustained water conservation and management programmes. Gujarat is one of the biggest users of drip irrigation in India today, and built many check dams, small ponds and minor irrigation sources. In 2008, Gujarat had 113,738 check dams and 240,199 little ponds dotting the state.
Second, the state launched a massive and well-coordinated extension effort – telling farmers what to grow, when to grow, how to grow and how to maximise output.
Third, Modi completely overhauled rural power supply. Even though supplies are subsidised, farmers get assured power. This contrasts with other states that offer free power, but irregularly and unpredictably.
Four, says Shankar Acharya, agriculture’s allied sectors – like livestock development – were given a boost. This ensured steady and sustainable growth in rural incomes – a prerequisite for comprehensive food security.
Five, Modi also promoted non-food crops and horticulture, Bt cotton, castor, and isabgol. Contrast this with the endless debates we now have about the dangers – or otherwise — GM seeds.
Six, Gujarat made huge investments in infrastructure – especially rural roads, electricity and ports.
A report by IIM professors Ravindra Dholakia and Samar Datta says it all in one paragraph.

“The phenomenon of high agricultural growth in Gujarat is not confined only to Bt cotton but is widely experienced in several sub-sectors, including animal husbandry, milk and egg production, fruit and vegetable production, and high value commercial crops…All this in the last decade or so has been achieved through massive effort on rain water harvesting through check dams, farm ponds, recharging of wells, etc; providing stable electricity for agriculture on a regular basis to all villages; market-oriented reforms; opening of agricultural exports; provision of supportive infrastructure like ports, linking roads, storage, internet and telecom facilities at village level; and, significant effort on agricultural extension by covering a large number of farmers with soil health cards, advice on nutrients, pesticides, crop selection, etc.”

The big question: is the Gujarat model replicable? Dholakia and Datta answer with an emphatic yes.
Clearly, there is no short-cut to food security. We do not know whether Gujarat has been as successful in making food available to it poor as it has been in raising rural incomes and agriculture. But it has got at least one part of the food security equation right.
Maybe the National Advisory Council of Sonia Gandhi would be better off taking a train to Gujarat to find out how key elements of food security – an agricultural revolution, among them – can be put in place.

Why Shunglu panel’s proposals won’t cut power sector’s massive losses

The  much-awaited Shunglu panel’s recommendations are likely to disappoint the markets and the power sector.
While the panel, which had earlier pegged the losses for power distribution companies (discoms) at a whopping Rs 1,79,000 crore for the period between 2006 and 2010, noted that these companies need radical action urgently and suggested a slew of measures — including regular rate reviews, management rejigs and a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to absorb the losses of discoms — its proposals  are unlikely to offer any real benefits.
For one thing, most of the proposed measures in the report on the Financial Position of Distribution Utilities are long-term and will take at least a few years to be implemented. Until then, the losses of distribution companies seem set to continue.

The panel said the net loss of discoms for FY 2009-2010 after subsidies stood at Rs 27,000 crore. Reuters

It is also likely that with impending elections in several states and the General Assembly election in 2014, politicians will be extremely averse to attempting tariff hikes.
Even the panel report acknowledged that much of the political inaction over raising tariff hikes was driven by the desire to appease their vote banks.
“One primary reason for the distribution utilities not submitting their tariff proposals in time or in acceptable form is the state government’s political sensitivity to any proposed increase in tariffs,” the report said.
After an analysis of discoms in 15 states that account for 91 per cent of total power consumption in the country, the panel said the net loss for the financial year ending March 31, 2010, after subsidies stood at Rs 27,000 crore.
The losses for the period 2006-10, was even more staggering, with distribution companies incurring a gargantuan loss of Rs 1,79,000 crore before subsidies and Rs 82,000 crore after.
VK Shunglu, chairman of the panel and former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, cited an immediate need to revive the fortunes of discoms and blamed the inadequacies and distortions in tariffs on the “actions and inactions” of regulators, utilities and state governments.
“During the five years (from 2006 to 2010), losses were Rs 1,79,000 crore before subsidy and Rs 82,000 crore after subsidy. These losses were primarily because of the gap of about 0.60/kwh between average cost and average revenue,” the panel said in its report.
The recommendations of the panel, which was set up by the Planning Commission in July last year, against the backdrop of huge financial losses incurred by most power distribution companies, a scenario which has also raised strong concerns about loan defaults.
Other recommendations of the panel included:
• More autonomy to state electricity boards (SEBs). While they were unbundled and divided into generation, transmission and distribution based on their functions, SEBs have not attained autonomy in the real sense.
• The implementation of an Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program (APDRP) to enable SEBs to raise tariffs regularly and according to market requirements.
• Regular and timely reviews and determination of retail rates for proper revenue realisation.
• Distribution losses should be minimised if not completely eliminated.
• Distribution of the financial information about discoms should be improved and made public to present a true and fair picture of their state.
• The state government, being the owner of distribution companies,  should take the responsibility of providing further funds to meet the losses made by discoms as well as to repay bank loans.
• Chief executives of  power utilities should be appointed through an all-India selection process.

Here come the swingers: The ideological fallacy of “open” relationships

“I would love to have an open marriage,” sighs a 40-something friend over her fourth glass of wine, “I love my husband, but I know his every touch, move. Whatever you do, it becomes boring.” She goes on to expound at drunken length on societal double-standards, her need for “sensual experiences,” and fabulous gay couples who have it all. “They’re both at the same party and making out with different people. And they totally love each other. That’s amazing, isn’t it?”
The 32-year old sitting next to me concurs with due gusto. It’s not just gay folks — she knows at least two married couples with equally “beautiful” relationships. The world is changing, and she with it. She’s already made up her mind. Marriage is fine, but monogamy is totally out. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like having sex with just one person all my life,” she declares, wrinkling her pretty nose in horror.
I’m thinking: how did this happen? I moved from San Francisco to Bangalore, and I’m still the stodgiest person in the room! Married 15 years and not one affair to show for it. And this despite having no overarching moral objection to infidelity, as such. Many of my dearest friends in the United States have led – and in some cases, still lead — the most colourful lives. And more power to them.
Yet there is something about our new-found obsession with infidelity that makes me uneasy.

Image by NeoGabox from Flickr under CC.

Everywhere I turn these days, there’s someone touting the virtues of sexual variety. “Extra-marital affairs are oh so common,” declares my sunday newspaper:

Says socialite Sonu Wassan, “To bring back the spark in the marriage, an affair can act as a catalyst.” Adds Arjun Sawhney, who runs a PR firm, “Humans are not monogamous, so if you feel it’s fine and your partner is okay with it, go for it. Variety is the spice of life.”

The message is no different in an Outlook magazine article that celebrates “a subculture.. which is dancing an unconventional dance to the conventional song of marriage.” Here are middle-class housewives in open marriages, swinger parties with “grope walls” and its organiser who celebrates a new kind of upward mobility:

The internet has broken barriers. Earlier, swinging, like other non-conformist sexual activities, was confined to the rich and fashionable circles. The internet has brought this opportunity to the urban middle class. My parties mostly include married, middle-aged, committed couples who are looking for ways to make their marriage more interesting.

Also clear is the author’s view that these unconventional “pioneers” are to be celebrated. There’s no mention of monogamy of the happy kind. The contrast is instead offered by the “large number of low-conflict, melancholic marriages” of people ranging from their late 30s to the early 50s.” These are the losers who “either felt more comfortable existing within the rules of melancholy marriages/relationships or with breaking them completely through affairs and divorce, than by revising their mindset towards relationships.”
The tone slips from describing – without judgement – alternative sexual lifestyles to prescribing them as a healthy alternative to either monogamy or divorce (or infidelity that leads to divorce). In the guise of sexual liberation, we’re back to judging people’s choices. According to this new ideological polarity, you are either a bed-hopping hero “on the frontlines” or a scared little mouse hiding behind convention.
The argument is also oddly familiar. It reminds me of a conversation about a fellow classmate’s divorce: he fell in love, left spouse, and then remarried.
“What’s wrong with him, yaar? I also have my fun, and that’s okay. He’s a man. But I take care of responsibilities. I’d never do that to my kids,” pronounced my old and very Punjabi male friend, with self-righteous disapproval.
In many ways, the fuss over open relationships is just old wine in a more progressive bottle. Or as another friend wryly put it, “It’s still about finding a way to have your cake and eat it too.” Except this time around, the women get to play as well.
Every fantasy of the “open” relationship assumes — like my school friend — we can bind desire with rules, parameters, and boundaries till it becomes safe. The aim is still to save that all-important marriage from the perils of sexual desire. If we can’t erase the damn thing, let’s just domesticate it instead.
Its advocates offer only the most comforting examples, as in author Holly Hill who blithely declares, “If [my husband] went to the pub, spotted a girl and wanted to go back to hers for a quickie, I’d be like, ‘Go for it, darling!’”
Her logic is alluring: “Because when you have occasional lovers outside of your relationship, you don’t take your partner for granted. In fact, it often helps reinforce why you love your partner in the first place.”
Except what if it doesn’t? What if that roll in the hay leads to infatuation, even love? Soon enough, you’re having dutiful sex with the spouse (surely extra reassurance is required when you’re bonking girls in pubs) – while fantasising you’re with someone else. Hmm, why does that sound familiar?
I’ve heard it over again, from cheating middle-aged husbands, nubile college girls, bored housewives, thirty-something San Francisco hipsters. Monogamy is unnatural, unsustainable, unworkable etc. But so are open relationships in the long run. Sooner or later, one person will get jealous, fall in love, or change his/her mind. That’s life. The minute you institute an open-door policy in your marital bed, everything is up for grabs. The risks are different but no less grave than old-fashioned monogamy.
I’m all for sexual diversity and tolerance. Let a million sexual lifestyles bloom. But whether you choose to swing, cheat or stay faithful, there are no win-win solutions for the travails of modern love. Monogamy may soon be just one choice on the matrimonial menu. But you still have to choose.

Bollywood pays tribute to Dev Anand

It was at Mehboob Studios where legendary actor Dev Anand spent most of his professional life. So, it was indeed fitting that a memorial service for the actor be held there. On Friday evening at Stage 3 of the studio, a large portrait of the actor stood tall. His family members, son Suneil Anand and nephew Shekhar Kapur, continuously stood at the gate greeting guests who had come to pay their last respects. Besides the film fraternity, the laymen too gathered in large numbers.


Anand passed away on December 3 in London after he suffered a cardiac arrest. With the cremation happening there, the Bollywood fraternity couldn’t quite make it. But they made up for it by attending the memorial service at Mehboob Studios. First to arrive were three of his protegees — Tina Ambani, Tabu and Jackie Shroff. Tina, who was launched by Anand in Des Pardes broke down as she walked out after attending the memorial service. Anand’s favourite and most successful protege Zeenat Aman too came in. She too was misty-eyed as she walked out.