Full Moon Tonight: Facts About 2012's Last Lunar Show;

venuszone.....

Digsby IM, Email, and Social Networks in one easy to use application!

SPACE.com reader Sergio Estupiñán Vesga sent in this photo of the full moon taken in Washington, DC, on Nov. 28, 2012 CREDIT: Sergio Estupiñán Vesga View full size image

The final full moon of the year rises tonight to cap a year of amazing lunar sky shows. While the bright moon will easily outshine other celestial objects, there is more than meets the eye to Earth's nearest neighbor.
The December full moon is also called the "long-night's moon" since it is the closest full moon to the northern winter solstice (when the nights are longest). And indeed tonight's full moon will be visible for the longest amount of time.
From New York for instance, moonrise on Thursday (Dec. 27) occurred at 4:17 p.m. EST and the moon sets at 7:12 a.m. this morning. So the full moon will indeed be in the sky for a long time: 14 hours and 55 minutes.

Moon-watching myth
Contrary to popular belief, the full moon not the best time to observe the moon with binoculars or a telescope.
Normally, even with just small optical power we can see a wealth of detail on its surface. But during the full moon phase, the moon appears flat and one-dimensional, as well as dazzlingly bright to the eye.
It is only later in the weekend and into next week that the moon's best features will stand out. As the moon wanes to its gibbous phase, and then to last quarter, those lunar features close to the terminator —the variable line between the sunlit and darkened portions of the moon — will appear to stand out in sharp, clear relief. [Amazing Moon Photos of 2012]
The moon will arrive at last quarter phase on Friday, Jan. 4 at 11:58 p.m. EST, when its disk will be exactly 50 percent illuminated.
How bright, the full moon?
How does the moon's brightness compare at that moment with when it's full? Most people may believe the moon is half as bright, but in reality astronomers say that the last quarter moon is only 1/11th as bright as full. This is because the moon is not a smooth sphere, but has a myriad of craters, mountains and valleys which cast long, distinct shadows across the lunar landscape.
Interestingly, a first quarter moon is actually slightly brighter than a last quarter moon, because at first quarter the illuminated half of the moon displays less of the dark surface features known as the "maria" (pronounced măr-rēa) popularly referred to as lunar "seas."
And believe or not, it isn’t until just 2.4 days before or after full that the moon actually becomes half as bright as full!

Here are some interesting lunar calendar facts that the famed Belgian astronomical calculator Jean Meeus has compiled concerning the phases of the moon:

All are cyclical, the most noteworthy being the so-called Metonic Cycle that was independently discovered by the Greek astronomer Meton (born about 460 B.C.). This is a 19-year cycle, after which time the phases of the moon are repeated on the same days of the year, or approximately so.
Take, for instance, Friday’s full moon. Nineteen years from now, in 2031, there’ll be another full moon on Dec.28.
Another moon cycle fact: After 2 years, the preceding lunar phase occurs on or very nearly the same calendar date. So in 2014, it will be the first quarter moon that occurs on Dec. 28.
After 8 years, the same lunar phases repeat, but occurring one or two days later in the year. Ancient Greek astronomers called this 8-year cycle the "octaeteris." Indeed, in 2020, a full moon occurs on Dec. 29.
Finally, in our Gregorian Calendar, 372 years provides an excellent long period cycle for the recurrence of a particular phase on a given date. Therefore, we know with absolute certainty that the same full moon that shines down on us on Dec. 28 of 2012 will also be shining on Dec. 28 in the year 2384

The vision statement that India, BCCI and Dhoni need:

venuszone.....
The plan that Dhoni and India need for the 2015 World Cup isn’t so much a plan as it is a mission; a mission to keep India interested in cricket.
Last night, reports surfaced saying that the BCCI has asked MS Dhoni to draw up a blueprint to win the 2015 World Cup. Now, Sunil Gavaskar, on NDTV, said that it was perhaps a sign that the BCCI wanted Dhoni to lead the Indian team in the 2015 World Cup. But honestly, it seems more like a mid-term appraisal and Dhoni has been asked to fill out his KRA forms.
It is odd, however, that Dhoni is being asked to provide a plan when he should be in charge of execution. Planning should be best left to the coach and the BCCI… it’s various committees included and it needs to be more detailed then a simple, ‘We want to become world champions or world no 1.’

Will anyone listen to Dhoni? Reuters

But anyway, since it has fallen to Dhoni, we’ll do out best to give him a helping hand by listing out things that we feel that Indian cricket needs to improve in the short term to get results in the long term.
Too many teams in Ranji trophy: At the moment, India has 27 teams playing in the Ranji Trophy. That is just too many – it dilutes the level of the tournament and BCCI had to address that issue. Maybe they can think about combining some teams or states but as things stand, it just isn’t working.
Something like this may work instead:
Team 1 (Vidarbha, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Goa); Team 2 (Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand); Team 3 (Baroda, Gujarat, Saurashtra); Team 4 (Bengal, Odisha, Hyderabad); Team 5 (Railways, Services); Team 6 (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh); Team 7 (Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir); Team 8 (Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana);
Team 9 (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala)
It looks odd at first take but imagine the strength of each of those teams. There will be no easy matches and that’s what Ranji Trophy should be all about. The players who emerge from this competition will be battle-hardened veterans in their own right.
Get the MRF Pace academy involved again: For some strange reason, the BCCI has just cut off the MRF Pace academy. But Dhoni should insist on getting it up and running again. The BCCI has it’s own pace academy but it hasn’t produced any bowlers. Dennis Lillee surely knew more about pace bowling than many of the Indian bowlers and the current head coach Glenn McGrath can gives India’s young stars more than just a few pointers. It would be a waste not to use the expertise of McGrath when it is being handed to us on a platter. To win Tests, ODIs or T20s – you need fast bowlers and right now, India has none; none worth mentioning anyway.
Focus on fitness: There needs to be a minimum acceptable fitness mark. If you are not up to it, you don’t get into the team. Period. And it needs to be enforced without exception. The grounds in Australia are big – you don’t want teams converting twos into threes and threes into fours. You also don’t want to your main players breaking down all the time. Being fit isn’t just about strength; it is also about preventing injuries. And India can surely use its best players these days. Dhoni’s fitness, despite the heavy workload, is world class. Why can’t he get the others to do the same?
Send players abroad to play County and Shield cricket: Till the recent series against England, we would have vouched for the Indian players’ ability in home conditions. But the same cannot be said for the way they play in England or Australia or South Africa. So why do we not have more players playing county or shield cricket? The BCCI talks about the odd India ‘A’ tour as if it is the Holy Grail but playing in alien conditions for a month isn’t going to help you master them. For that, we need to pick young players and send them out to play in those conditions. So pick talented Ranji players and send them to England, Australia and South Africa – let them play for clubs there. And if they do well – picking teams for tours abroad won’t be such a mystery.
The thing is, in the past, this is what Indian cricket did – Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Zaheer Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Farokh Engineer have all done it. So why does the BCCI insist on closeting itself in?
Make Indian cricket more transparent: The best way to pick a good team is to pick a team for the right reasons and those reasons cannot be related to zonal selections. And the way to do it is to make the selectors reveal why they preferred one player over the other. You won’t have a scene where the chief selector (read Krish Srikkanth) picks his son (read Aniruddha) for the Emerging India team and gets away with it. You also won’t have a scene where Mohinder Amarnath comes out and says that BCCI president N Srinivasan interfered with the selection process. You won’t have accusations – stating that he picked players he ‘likes’ — against the Indian skipper either. Srinivasan may tell you that the BCCI is not an opaque body, but we all know it isn’t. Over the last year, Indian cricket has been rocked by allegations of conflicts of interest – from the administrators, to former players to the current lot. It all needs to go away… quickly.
A spin coach, please: We’ve heard fleeting rumours about the BCCI thinking of hiring a spin coach. It’s time to turn them into reality. The debate on whether the IPL affects the manner in which spinners bowl continues to rage but India needs to do something to ensure that its spinners don’t forget how to bowl in Test cricket. This can mean two things: Identify spinners for the longer format and keep them away from ODIs and T20s (SA have done this to a certain extent for Dale Steyn) and hiring good coaches to teach the young spinners. The subtle mystique of flight, variation of pace, thinking a batsman out are all weapons that spinners acquire with experience. But if India want to survive in the Test match arena then all the young, talented spinners need to be fast-tracked.

Audi to hike prices from Jan 2013:

venuszone.....

Audi says rising input costs costs and depreciating rupee are main reasons for the increase.

Audi India has announced the details of increase in prices of its model range available in India. The price increase would range between Rs. 59,000 to Rs. 3,69,000 (ex-showroom Delhi) across the range starting from January 1, 2013. “The rise in input cost, depreciating rupee as well as continuous increase in fuel prices have made us re-evaluate our pricing strategy in India and increase the prices of our entire model range. However, we are offering our customers customized and innovative finance options from Audi Finance which will make their purchase more attractive.” said Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India.

Audi has already exceeded its 2012 sales target of 8,000 units and hopes to touch the revised target of 8600 units for calendar. Its country-wide dealer network now stands at 24 with the most recent one being Audi Ahmedabad.
Audi India’s November sales of 805 were a strong growth of 89 percent over the same period last year (November 2011: 425 units). For January-November, Audi India recorded a 58 percent growth rate YTD with 8,072 units sold as against 5117 units in the year-earlier period.

Kerala edges out Taj Mahal on Google search trends:

venuszone.....
  
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has edged out Taj Mahal to become the number one travel destination in Google's search trends for India this year. Munnar is also on the list of top 10 Indian destinations on Google's Zeitgeist site showing search trends from around the world. The other top destinations in India include Wagah Border, Vaishno Devi and Amarnath.

Kashmir had come sixth on the list of top ten travel destinations under the 2012 Google search trends. Munnar came ninth, followed by the Gateway of India, in the search trends in the travel category released by Google for this year.

Tourism minister A P Anil Kumar termed the two listings for Kerala, including the number one spot, as a great encouragement for the state. "We are one of the first government establishments to make use of the internet to reach out to the world," he said.

Google's Zietgeist, which covers all search categories, answers the question of what the world searched for in a particular year. The trending for the year means search queries with the highest amount of traffic over a sustained period compared to the previous year.

Tourism secretary Suman Billa said Kerala Tourism has also engaged social media networks for promoting destinations in the state.The website of Kerala Tourism (www.keralatourism.org) is one of the most popular tourism destination websites in India, with over 250,000 unique visitors every month.

Former S.African president Mandela 'much better' - Zuma

venuszone.....

(Reuters) - Former South African president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela is looking much better after more than two weeks in hospital, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
Zuma, who visited Mandela on Christmas Day, said in a statement that doctors were happy with the progress the elder statesman was making.
"We found him in good spirits. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making," said Zuma.
The 94-year-old Nobel Peace laureate has been in hospital in Pretoria for more than two weeks after being admitted for routine tests. He then underwent surgery to remove gallstones.
Mandela, who came to power in historic elections in 1994 after decades struggling against apartheid, remains a symbol of resistance to racism and injustice at home and around the world.
He has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis while in jail as a political prisoner. But this is his longest stay in hospital since he was released from prison in 1990.
He spent time in a Johannesburg hospital in 2011 with a respiratory condition, and again in February this year because of abdominal pains though he was released the following day after a keyhole examination showed there was nothing serious.
Zuma, who has just been re-elected as president of the ruling African National Congress party, last week described Mandela's condition as serious.
"The Mandela family truly appreciates all the support they are receiving from the public. That is what keeps them going at this difficult time," said Zuma.
Periodic statements from the presidency continue to stress that the veteran politician is responding to treatment. No date has been given for his release from hospital.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town.
After his release, he used his popularity to push for reconciliation between whites and blacks. This reconciliation is the bedrock of the post-apartheid "Rainbow Nation".
Sworn in as South Africa's first black president in 1994, Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term in office and has largely been absent from public life for the last decade.
His fragile health has prevented him from making any public appearances in South Africa, though he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton in July.

N Korea is nuclear test-ready: US think-tank

venuszone.....
North Korea has repaired extensive rain damage at its nuclear test facility and could conduct a detonation on two weeks notice, a US think-tank said on Friday, citing satellite imagery analysis.

With the UN Security Council debating possible sanctions against the North following the launch earlier this month of a long-range rocket, there has been widespread speculation that Pyongyang may carry out its third nuclear test.

Satellite photos as recent as December 13 show that Pyongyang is determined to maintain a state of readiness at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said.
Following heavy flooding earlier in the year that destroyed key infrastructure elements, the North has moved quickly to restore its ability to operate the complex, it said on its closely followed website 38 North.
"They continue to maintain the test site at a state of readiness that could allow them to conduct a detonation as soon as two weeks after such a decision is made," the institute reported.
However, it noted a possible "wildcard" in the form of a stream of water that appears to be coming from the entrance of the south tunnel at the test facility.
The flow indicates a possible problem with seepage that could adversely affect a nuclear device and sensors intended to gather data and monitor the test.
"Whether this problem is under control or has been solved remains unclear," it said.
The US and its allies have called for tough sanctions against Pyongyang for the rocket launch which they saw as a disguised ballistic missile test that violated UN sanctions imposed after the North's previous nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Both of those tests were conducted in the wake of long-range missile launches.
The North's only major ally and main economic supporter, China, is resisting any significant tightening of sanctions already in place.
However, analysts say another nuclear test would severely test Beijing's patience with its unpredictable neighbour.

Gangrape victim has 'significant brain injury', struggling for life: hospital

venuszone.....
The 23-year-old who was brutally gangraped on a bus in New Delhi was "fighting for her life" after suffering a significant brain injury, the Singapore hospital treating her said on Friday.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital where she was airlifted to from India, said in a statement.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury."
When the unnamed victim was admitted to the hospital on Thursday, Loh said she had already undergone three abdominal surgeries and experienced a cardiac arrest in India prior to her flight.
She "continues to remain in an extremely critical condition" as of 0300 GMT on Friday and was "still receiving treatment at the hospital's intensive care unit," Loh added.
"A multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilise her condition over the next few days."
The security was tightened at the hospital, favoured by well-heeled patients, with each visitor screened before being allowed into the ICU.
Meanwhile, The Straits Times on Friday reported that the family of the girl, who is battling for life after being gang-raped in a moving bus in New Delhi 12 days ago, is shell-shocked, but thankful.
"The father said he is reassured that the best is being done for his daughter, and the rest lies in the hands of God," it said citing a source who had met the girl's father and her two brothers.
The father, who is in the late 40s, repeatedly expressed his gratitude to the Indian government and Singapore for facilitating the travel and treatment.
"Aside from the trauma of the rape, they [the family] have to get used to the idea that they are now in a foreign land," the daily quoted the source as saying.
"These are simple, rustic people who have never dreamt of boarding an aircraft, much less travel to a foreign country in an air ambulance," the source was quoted as saying.
The family members do not speak English and rely on interpreters to communicate with hospital staff.
The high commission of India has assigned a liaison officer with the family on 24 hour basis.
Should the woman die, it could trigger fresh outrage over the case, which caught Prime Minister Manmohan Singh s government off-guard and triggered a blame game between politicians and the police.
"We share the anguish and anger with the country over this heinous crime," Singh told reporters on Friday.
"Our prayers are with the brave young girl and best possible medical care is being provided to her."
New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures.
Government data show the number or reported rape cases in the country rose by nearly 17% between 2007 and 2011.