Monthly Archives: December 2009

Blue Moon For New Year

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NatGeo | For the first time in almost 20 years, a bright “blue moon” will grace New Year’s Eve celebrations worldwide.

If the skies are clear, revelers looking up at midnight will get an eyeful of the second full moon of the month—commonly called a blue moon. The last time a blue moon appeared on New Year’s Eve was in 1990, and it won’t happen again until 2028.

A blue moon isn’t actually blue—as commonly defined, the name reflects the relative rarity of two full moons in a month and is linked to the saying “once in a blue moon.”

With this New Year’s Eve blue moon, “there is nothing scientific about it, and it has no astronomical significance,” said Mark Hammergren, a staff astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois.

“But I believe it does give us some insight into history and makes us think of how our calendar system has derived from motions of objects in the sky.”

India To Sign CTBT in 2010 ?

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The year 2010 is a very important year for Indian nuclear society .

NPT Review Conference is Scheduled to take place from May 3-28 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The NPT is reviewed every five years by all states that are party to the Treaty. These meetings are known formally as the Review Conferences of the Parties to the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The last NPT review conference ended in failure. Many blame the failure on George W. Bush, whose perception of Iran and North Korea as threats made him reluctant to compromise.

The United States,  the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia were granted a special status by the NPT which allowed them to keep their nuclear weapons, under the condition that they begin disarmament  talks. Many countries feel the five haven’t lived up to that condition, therefore a successful START agreement before May will do a lot towards ensuring a successful conference.

The purpose of the review is to maintain and strengthen the effectiveness of the Treaty, which contains three pillars: nonproliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and disarmament.

President Obama’s groundbreaking April 2009 Prague speech and his unprecedented nuclear nonproliferation agenda have kindled an ideal political atmosphere for the Review Conference.

Concrete items for discussion are likely to include the proliferation challenges presented by Iran and North Korea, ongoing and planned nuclear reductions, NPT universalization, Additional Protocol universalization, consequences for treaty violation and withdrawal, nuclear-weapon-free zones, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) expired on December 5.  Obama and Russian President Medvedev announced in Copenhagen that they plan to have a new agreement signed in 2010.  The new agreement will call for very few reductions in nuclear weapons, but it is imperative that the treaty be completed before the May nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference.

The litmus test of US commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons’ is the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which would outlaw all testing. A Republican Senate refused to ratify the CTBT in 1999, and George W. Bush didn’t want a treaty which would prevent him from testing weapons.

The new administration under President Obama has reversed this position, and has been sounding out the Senate.

Japan Tuesday urged India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. India in its turn put the onus on the US and China to show the way by ratifying the treaty.

Now it is almost sure that US will sign CTBT and will in turn put huge pressure on India to sign the same. India will have to sign it then especially when much of its civilian nuclear deals are blocked primarily because of its staunch negative attitude to NPT and CTBT.

*eclectic source

Usman Khawaja: Rising Star of Australian Cricket

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International cricket had a bunch of new crops lately. Many of them surely going to be future stars..like the lights of  Pakistan’s Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamir,  South Africa’s Petersen, West Indies’ Bharath…. list goes on..

Usman Khawaja is the new sprouting star from downunder…

I reckon he will be next super batsmen from Australia. A stocky lefty, born in Pakistan now, citizen of Australia and plays for New South Wales. Baggy Green capped Simon Katich, Michael Clark, Phillip Hughes, and Phil Jaques are his teammates at NSW.

Usman Khawaja is currently rated very high by many cricket pundits in downunder and is often predicted as the first Muslim to play for the country. A fine left-handed batsman who was a national under-19 representative, Khawaja delivered on the rave reviews during his second season with the Blues by posting 554 runs at 42.61, including two centuries.

New South Wales were in the desperate trouble of 4 for 88 at the Gabba when Khawaja stepped in with his maiden century and he followed his 112 with 172 not out in the final game of the season.

While cricket is his love, Khawaja is also training to become a pilot.