The New Nation - Internet Edition

Christmas, marking the birth of Jesus, is the greatest religious festival of the Christian Community. Like elsewhere around the world, the Christian community of Bangladesh is celebrating the event in a befitting manner today. Christianity is one of the religions that have followers all over the globe. And like other world religions, it has a great social significance and world humanitarian appeal. The themes of the day include, among others, promotion of goodwill and peace among world’s people irrespective of religious faith. Jesus Christ was born in a dark age when the human society was dominated by ignorance, superstition, greed, hatred and hypocrisy. It was a time when purity was forgotten and morality was neglected. Jesus worked out a transformation and a new turn in the lives of the people. This is how Christ brought about a dawn of a new era in human society. This great occasion calls upon the world community to get rid of all social evils. Herein lies the universal implication of the observance of the day.

The very life of Jesus Christ is itself a great source of lessons for mankind. He was neither born of a wealthy family nor in a grand palace. But birth does not determine every thing. Jesus Christ was the embodiment of simplicity, holiness and renunciation of all desires for worldly wealth and pride. With His great human and divine qualities and knowledge and wisdom he worked as a beacon to those who had lost their ways and were groping in the labyrinth of ignorance and superstitions. He salvaged them and showed them the ways to the world of enlightenment. He taught man to cultivate divine qualities in one one’s own heart. This moral and spiritual awakening of man is the real Christmas.

In a new gesture to promote inter-faith dialogue, 138 Muslim scholars have signed a Christmas message to the Christian clergy worldwide, including Pope Benedict XVI. "This is the first time a large group of Muslim scholars from across the schools greet their Christian neighbours," said Prof. Aref Ali Nayed, one of the signatories to the New Year message. In their message, the Muslim scholars wished fellow Christians a merry Christmas and thanked Christian leaders for responding positively to an earlier open letter signed by them to bridge the Muslim-Christian gap. Nayed said Muslims had always greeted Christians at Christmas throughout history. He said that media have been giving too much focus to extremist voices while disregarding the tolerant and peaceful nature of the faith. "This has resulted in a very skewed and distorted picture of Islam," he was quoted to have said. The Muslim Christmas message won plaudits from Christian leaders and theologians. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the pope's council for inter-religious dialogue, told journalists that progress was being made on dialogue between the two faiths. Let the great lessons left behind by Jesus Christ light up man’s ways ahead.

A national daily headlined in its front page on the eve of the Eid-ul-Azha that adulterated foods were once again flooding the markets. Adulterated cooking oil, vegetable oil, ghee, noodles and vermicelli extensively consumed by people either directly as food or for cooking dishes during this festival, were having a free sale in the markets. The report hinted that the reason for this was the reduction of operations of mobile courts which in the recent past had at least partly discouraged the production and sale of impure food items. The operation of the mobile courts last year indeed, were noted to have an effect on the production and catering of health hazarding foods. It was one of the few policies and actions of the immediate past elected government that had real appreciation among all classes of consumers. But the activities of the roving courts that led to such an outcome have remained largely suspended for quite some time. As a consequence, food adulteration that seemed about to be checked considerably, is noted to be on the rise again.

Doctors and others in the health sector frequently complain about the rising incidence of many diseases linked to consuming unsafe foods. The diseases are particularly harming the young and the old whose tolerance or immune systems are far weaker than adults. But the health threat for people of all ages generally is rising on this score. Therefore, the incumbent government needs to take a hard look at these issues. Full revival of the operation of the mobile courts seems urgent. Full resumption of the operation of the mobile courts can be only one part of the response. The mobile courts and their operations are not liked by the offenders. The penalties were, however, no more than small pinches on their sides that they could ignore. Giving up of their present mode of food production and settling for healthy and safe methods could mean a major reduction in their undue profits.

Thus, resumption of the drive needs to be backed by certain changes in the laws. The laws that the mobile courts applied are too weak to create any strong motivation among the adulterers to change their ways on a lasting basis. The fines are paltry amounts to them in contrast to the huge profits they make from their crimes. Only if the fines become truly heavy such as not in thousands but in millions of Taka, the burden of paying them is very likely to create the needed disincentive among them to rethink and mend their ways. Not only fines, other penalties need to be introduced. The current provisions of suffering only months in jail and that too to be avoided in lieu of paying fines, are found to be no real punishment to the offenders. If the laws are changed to provide more penalty including years of rigorous imprisonment for any sort of food adulteration activity, then they are likely to have more impacts.

Syed Ashraf Ali

Stars occupy a very important place in the history of homo sapiens. Although Whitman claims, "I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars", people in various ages have always believed in the maxim: "The stars rule men, but God rules the stars". Stars indeed have haunted the imagination of saints and seers from time immemorial. To many, stars have been symbols of high ideals and great hopes. Poets have eulogised stars in their poems, patriots have depicted stars on their flags, stars in songs have provided inspiration to the tormented souls of the lovers and the imprisoned. For thousands of years stars have also been used as religious symbols. The ancient Babylonians believed that the stars and the gods were closely related. .Ancient writings testify to the fact that the Chinese used to worship the constellations and the whole heavens. The Black-foot Indians of North America believed that every star was a human being. When a person died his spirit rose to the heavens to become a star. From the days of yore, the six-pointed star of Shield of David has been a symbol of Jewish faith. But it is the Star of Bethlehem, the symbol of the Christian religion, which has the unique distinction of attracting the attention of people both in the realm of science and in the world of religion.

The Star of Bethlehem is that unique star following the light of which three wise men found Jesus in Bethlehem on Christmas Day. The Christmas Story, as told in the Bible, describes how the wise men from the East followed a bright star to the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. A silver star in the great cathedral in the village has the simple inscription :

"Here, of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ was born". And each year, thousands of Christians make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem on Christmas Day and the Silver Star reminds them of the unique Star of Bethlehem which guided the three wise men on the first Christmas Day.

More than two thousand years have shaded themselves with the past since Jesus was born, but the Star of Bethlehem still remains a mystery not only to the devoted followers of Christianity but also to historians and astronomers in this twenty-first century. It seems that the miraculous star was not just a divine apparition. Scientists in various comers of the world have been pondering for years over all known documentation of a supposed number of recorded sightings of the period. As a result many a theory has been put forward. Some claim it to be a regular bright star, others opine in favour of an exploding. Nova-Star or a comet. There are still others who advocate in favour of a conjunction of planets.

The only place where the three wise men are mentioned in the Bible is the Apostle according to St. Matthew. It is clearly mentioned that Jesus was born at Bethlehem at the time the three wise men following a star came from the East looking for the newborn King of the Jews. The Star of Bethlehem is shown clearly in famous paintings like Phillipe Lippi's in Florence or Jerome Bosch's in the Madrid Prado. But scientists tried to find proof of the existence of the Bright Object in the sky both historically and astronomically.

One hypothesis claimed that it could be an exploding Nova-Star which normally produces unusual brilliance in the sky and overshadows even the Morning or the Evening Stars. But, argues the renowned astronomer Nigel Henbest,--everyone in the Middle East would have been astounded by such a sight. Yet, according to St. Matthew's gospel, neither King Herod nor his advisers had seen the Star. When the Magi turned up in Jerusalem demanding, 'Where is he that is born King of the Jews?', Herod. with his authority in danger of being undermined, 'enquired of them diligently what time the Star appeared."

What is more, Chinese astronomers used to record with meticulous care their own observations of the sky at the time. But they did not report any brilliant supernovae. The supernova or the exploding star hypothesis can therefore be ruled out.

Another hypothesis claims that the Star of Bethlehem could have been the famous Haley's Comet which swings close by the Sun roughly every 76 years. An unforgettable view of Haley's Comet in 1301 so inspired Giotto di Bondone, the Italian Renaissance painter, that he used it as the model for his 'Star' in a famous Nativity scene. But the records of the Chinese astronomers testify that they saw Haley's Comet in 12 BC, which was undoubtedly too early for the birth of Jesus.

But the Chinese astronomers saw another celestial visitor, which they called 'broom star' in 5 BC on the borders of the constellations Aquarius and Capriconus. Some astronomers claim that it was a nova - an explosion of a dwarf star. But Colin Humphreys, a scientist at Cambridge University, firmly believes that it was a comet. He also opines that this 'tailed wonder' was the Star of Bethlehem. The Chinese astronomical records also claimed that the 'broom star' was visible for 70 days - long enough to guide the Magi to Bethlehem. If this is true then Jesus was born in the spring of 5 BC.

Most astronomers believe that a comet does not fit the bill. The Magi were not kings, but Babylonian astrologers. They were not used to observing the sky closely and logging unexpected events such as comets. They simply calculated the position of the Sun, Moon and planets, and their relations to each other. With this knowledge they could "predict" events months or even years in advance. So, argues Henbest, the Star of Bethlehem must have been something much more arcane and subtle so that it would not be evident to those without astrological (or astronomical) knowledge.

A third hypothesis goes in favour of a rare triple conjunction of three planets. This happened when King Herod decided to massacre all children under two years of age in his attempt to kill the King of the Jews. But the British astronomer D.W. Hughes, of Sheffield University, claimed in 1976 that his research and calculations clearly showed that this coming together of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn occurred in 7 B.C. i.e. seven years before the presumed birth year of Christ. Although Michael Molnar, the famous American astronomical history has of late come up with even more spectacular astrological perspective, this claim of the triple conjunction is supported by the majority of modem astronomers.

This claim of Hughes does not, however, surprise the historians since the exact date of Jesus' birth is not known. "To track down the real Star of Bethlehem", says Henbest, "we need to know roughly the date of Jesus' birth. Jesus was not born in the Year Zero (which does not exist), or even in the Year One. According to Luke it is associated with a census which was held in 6 A.D. It is also stated that Jesus was born in Palestine during the lifetime of Herod the Great whom the Romans had appointed to rule as King of Jews. Herod died, soon after an eclipse of the Moon, defmitely in 4 B.C. and Jesus must have been born earlier than that. Vincent Taylor also admits in The Jesus Report that the date of birth of Jesus could be as early as 8 B.C; since Herod's degree, set in motion by the news of Jesus' actual or imminent birth, that all newly born infants in Bethlehem should be slaughtered, obviously must have preceded Herod's death. The historians point out that although the Christian Calendar is dated from what was supposed to have been the year of the birth of Jesus: the people who worked out the Calendar made a mistake in the date. It was in the A.D. 500s that the monk Dionysus Exiguus, who introduced the present custom of reckoning time by counting the years from the birth of Christ, miscalculated and his reckoning was four to seven years later than the actual date. The calculations of Hughes, with the suggestion that the Star of Bethlehem was a rare triple conjunction of planets, testify to the fact that Jesus indeed was born in 7 B.C. and vice- versa.

This interesting episode attracts both the astrologers and the astronomers. Jupiter, as the king of the gods, symbolizes Royalty, and in Jewish astrology Saturn, representing both Palestine and the principle of justice, protects Israel. Pisces, the zodiacal sign of the Jewish people, is also in Spring time, the birth of a new age. The Magi, looking at their astronomical charts, would have interpreted the conjunction as a sign that a Jewish Messiah would soon be born. Hence the birth of the King of Jews as recounted in St. Matthew. In this case, since the Star of Bethlehem, the rare triple conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, appeared in sky in the year 7 B.C. the world should now be passing through 2014 and not 2007 as we all inadvertently believe.

Tarequl Islam Munna

A year of rhetoric, lobbying, veto threats and negotiations ended December 18, 2007 as the House of Representatives voted 314 to 100 to pass an energy bill that President Bush is to sign. The bill will raise fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles, order a massive increase in the use of biofuels and phase out sales of the ubiquitous incandescent light bulb popularised by Thomas Edison more than a century ago.

Lawmakers said the energy bill will reduce America's heavy reliance on imported oil and take a modest step toward slowing climate change by cutting about a quarter of the greenhouse-gas emissions that most scientists say the United States must eliminate by 2030 to do its share to avert the most dire effects of global warming.

These results helps advance the U. S. commitment at the UN climate change in Bali this December to pursue quantifiable actions to reduce emissions.

We must continue changing the way America generates electric power through even greater use of cleaner coal technology, solar and wind energy, and clean, safe nuclear power. We must increase our domestic supply and of oil in a prudent and environmentally sensitive way.

The President urges Congress to pass legislation that opens access to domestic energy sources as the Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He also asks Congress to double the current capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to protect America against disruptions to our oil supply.

"It is a national security issue, it is an economic issue, it is an environmental issue, and therefore a health issue," said House Speaker Nancy Pilosi (D-Calif.). "It is an energy issue, and it is an moral issue."

White House press secretary Dana Perino gave credit to Bush, saying he "pushed Congress to pass this legislation all year." But congressional Democrats said they had withstood veto threats by the White House as well as heavy lobbying by automakers and coal companies before ultimately preserving much of what they wanted in the legislation.

The bill's centerpiece is the boost in the minimum fuel-efficiency standard for passenger vehicles, the first to be passed by Congress since 1975. It requires new auto fleets to average 35 miles a gallon by 2020, a 40 percent increase from today's 25-mile average. By 2020, the measure could reduce U.S. oil use by 1.1 million barrels a day, more than half the oil exported by Kuwait or Venezuela and equivalent of taking 28 million of today's vehicles off the road.

The bill will also have sweeping impact in areas beyond the automobile industry.

For farmers and agribusiness, it is a windfall, providing more support than perhaps even the farm bill. It doubles the use of corn-based ethanol-despite criticism that corn-based ethanol is driving up food prices, draining aquifers and exacerbating fertiliser runoff that is creating dead zones in many of the nation's rivers.

The law will also require the massive use of biofuels using other feedstocks, creating an industry from technologies still in laboratories or pilot stages whose economic viability is unproven. The law says that at least 36 billion gallons of motor fuel a year should be biofuels by 2022, most of it in "advanced biofuels," not a drop of which are commercially produced today.

Although the bill does not include any costs for the biofuels mandate, a fivefold increase over current production, it is likely that current subsidies for those fuels will be extended. If so, the mandate could cost the federal government as much as $140 billion over 15 years.

Bush and congressional supporters of the bill say the expanded use of biofuels will help cut U.S. dependence on oil imports by replacing 20 percent of the motor fuel now being used. Moreover, they argue, ethanol produces fewer greenhouse gases.

One portion of the bill sets new efficiency standards for appliances and will make the incandescent bulb-invented two centuries ago and improved and commercialised by Edison in the 1880s-virtually extinct by the middle of the next decade. The bill will phase out conventional incandescents, starting in 2012, with 100-watt bulbs, ultimately ceding the lighting market to more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

The commercial building industry could also be transformed by new incentives for energy-efficient windows, equipment and design. The federal government is supposed to make all of its buildings carbon-neutral through energy efficiency and clean energy use by 2030.

"The General Services Administration is the country's biggest landlord," said Andrew Goldberg, chief lobbyist for the American Institute of Architects. "This will help transform the marketplace for systems and equipment that make buildings more energy efficient and reduce the reliance on fossil fuel."

Not everyone was happy at the end of a year of haggling and lobbying. To secure passage for the bill, congressional leaders dropped a tax package that would have reduced breaks for the biggest oil and gas companies and extended breaks for wind and solar projects.

"We're pretty disappointed," said Rhone A. Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, which sought an extension of the investment tax credit that expires at the end of next year. "Clearly the most important provisions for us were left on the cutting-room floor." Resch said that because of long lead times for big solar projects, "we will see the U.S. market for solar start to shrink rapidly by the second quarter of next year."

But many environmental groups and lawmakers were elated. "This bill is a clean break with the failed energy policies of the past and puts us on the path toward a cleaner, greener energy future," said Carl Pope, director of the Sierra Club.

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who proposed raising fuel-efficiency standards in 2001, 2003 and 2005, said that the energy bill would help the United States escape the "vicious whirlpool of imported oil, exported dollars and military obligations all spinning out of control." He added that "with this bill . . . we are getting serious about our oil addiction."

Two years ago, a Markey amendment on fuel efficiency failed by an 87-vote margin, closer than his earlier efforts. But this year Democratic leaders made an energy bill a top priority. And Bush, in his State of the Union address, endorsed a similar boost in gasoline mileage standards and urged Americans to break their "addiction" to oil.

Soaring prices for oil and petroleum products and growing public concern about climate change also encouraged lawmakers to back higher fuel-efficiency standards. While U.S. automakers lobbied heavily for lower mileage targets, they were facing a broad coalition that included not only environmentalists but people like FedEx chief executive Fred Smith and retired general and Marine Corps commandant P.X. Kelley.

"I think between process, policy and politics it all came together and we have an energy bill no one could have envisioned six months ago," said Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency.

Cuttino said that the Pew Campaign, founded in April, would close its doors in mid-January.

(The writer Conservator, wildlife and environment, in taking positive environmental action around the world to conserve the nature and ecological balance on behalf of World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) Correspondent, Today's magazine, NC, USA)