China’s space moms score over single women.0

China believes that married women and mothers make better astronauts than single women.

Beijing has announced the selection of its first women astronauts for training to participate in the docking of its future space laboratory. Both women are aero-transport pilots of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and made it out of 15 women candidates tested since last year. Five men also made it.

“We had almost the same requirements for women as for men, the only difference was they must be married. We believe married women would be more physically and psychologically mature,” Zhang Jianqi, former deputy commander of China’s manned space programme, told Xinhua on Wednesday. Zhang reportedly said that women in space enjoy the advantage of ‘endurance and circumspection’ over men.

Last year, Chinese officials had said the astronauts must be ‘perfect humans’ — ruling out scars, bad breath and dental cavities.

This week, Xu Xianrong, doctor at the General Hospital of the PLA Air Force, was quoted as telling state media the mother’s-only criteria was “out of consideration of being responsible for lady pilots”. He may have meant it in the context of China’s one-child policy and concerns of potential infertility after space flight. “Though there is little evidence on how space experience will affect the female constitution, we have to be extra cautious,” he said.

Xu also said women astronauts have “more careful thoughts than males”.

Next year, China plans to launch Tiangong-1, an unmanned space module as a step toward the space lab.

Victory for women, defeat of decency

The passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha was full of unbelievable ‘this-can’t-be-happening’ moments. Chairman Hamid Ansari sat bravely amidst a hail of confetti, except that it wasn’t confetti at all. Some members of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had torn copies of the Bill and were throwing the shreds at Ansari — all the while shouting and screaming as if they’d taken leave of their senses (which of course they had). If they hadn’t been restrained by the marshals, who knows what might have happened? Maybe they would have torn out all the mikes, broken all the furniture, attacked a few MPs, summoned their criminal pals from UP and Bihar — the possibilities are endless (and quite real).

When it was decided that Parliament proceedings would be telecast live on TV, there was this fond hope that MPs would behave better — because if they didn’t, their bad behaviour would be out there for the whole nation to see. But it doesn’t seem to have worked. These SP and RJD MPs (and others like them) appear incapable of feeling mundane emotions such as shame and embarrassment (I suppose it's a bit like expecting Mayawati to be soft-spoken and humble).

Rahul Dulhania Le Jayega (Imagine) ended with an episode that went on forever (final episodes of most reality shows, it seems, have to be close to at least four hours long, otherwise they don’t qualify as final episodes. Think about it: how can we have a sense of closure unless and until we are completely exhausted just watching television?)

In the most bizarre wedding ever, host Ram Kapoor called all the three finalists (each one dressed as a traditional bride) up on stage. Dimpy Ganguly from Kolkata, Nikunj from Faridabad and Harpreet from Delhi stood obediently in a row as Rahul moved forward with a garland in his hands. And the instant he put the garland around Dimpy — pouf! the other two girls just vanished into thin air. Only the puff of smoke was missing. We never saw them again — though their mothers appeared fleetingly at the end (“Anyway, Nikunj never wanted to marry him” / “Anyway Harpreet was too good for him!”) We did, however, see the two also-rans on news channels over the next couple of days, when they (the news channels) ‘covered’ Rahul and Dimpy’s wedding in great detail. The two girls looked none the worse for wear, no doubt more than satisfied with their more-than-15-minutes of fame. Now I’m bracing myself for the full coverage of Rahul and Dimpy’s honeymoon (I just hope we'll be spared some details). But Imagine has created ‘history’ (never mind what kind of 'history’, I mean, it’s not the Battle of Plassey) by hosting the first-ever televised wedding in India.

At the moment, however, I’m bracing myself for the IPL onslaught (this column is being filed before the opening ceremony and match). There’s already so much hype, I shudder to think what things will be like once the tournament is on in full swing. IPL matches, IPL music shows, IPL fashion shows, IPL parties, IPL news, IPL ads — maybe it should just be renamed Indian Pakao League.

And finally. Anandi has died in Balika Vadhu (Colors). The child wife saved her child husband by shielding him from a bullet, but in the process, got hit herself. She dies in a hospital, so it’s not going to be easy for the scriptwriters to resurrect her (that’s much easier if the character concerned has had a mysterious death in an accident). But for all those traumatized viewers who are weeping copiously and dying for Anandi to return — don’t lose heart. There’s always the possibility of a twin sister.

INDIA CURRENT EVENTS!

alking about mortgage loans

1st Mortgages and 2nd Mortgages

When we are talking about mortgage loans, there are two different types, they are a 1^st mortgage loan and there is a 2^nd mortgage loan, which is referred to as a home equity loan. It is impossible for someone to take out a home equity loan if they do not own – or – are in the process of paying off their home.

The first mortgage is the initial loan that you took out to purchase your home. If you have no money – or lack thereof and want to get a house, there are ways that you can get approved for a 1^st time mortgage. Don’t worry, there are people out there that want to help you get a home, that way you are happy, and the lender is happy. You will be required in most cases to make a down payment though, maybe in the 10% and up area, the more you put down the lower your interest rate will be. A good company to go through for first time buyers would be Fannie Mae, they are there to help you, especially with the homes that are not extremely expensive.

If someone is wanting to get another loan for something, well, then they have the collateral of their home that they are able to put up. Basically, 2^ndmortgage, or home equity loan is just that, you are using your house as the loan, and if you cannot pay the loan back, you lose your house. Sounds scary don’t it? It doesn’t have to be if you take the necessary precautions and you go through every single scenario, such as if you lose your job or get sick – are you still going to be able to make those payments on time?

There are many factors that will consider how much you will be able to take out of the loan, like how much you currently owe on the house – and how much equity you have in your home, meaning the value of your home. So if your home is worth say 65,000 dollars, some lenders might lend you around 50,000, and there are some cases where lenders will give you the full 100%.

So those are the two types of house mortgages, but there is more, one other one that is great if you can apply for it – the home equity plus refinance.This is where you take the rest of the money that you owe on the 1^stmortgage and combine it with the home equity loan, and you are left with making only one payment. This can be very beneficial for interest rates, just think of it as getting a brand new fresh cut loan, and you have a lot of money to play around with too.

Govt bows, to consult all parties on women's bill!!!

New Delhi: The government on Thursday tried to seek consensus over the women’s reservation bill, saying it would consult all parties on the legislation and find a solution to the suspension of seven Rajya Sabha MPs

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was ready to consult all parties for a consensus on the women's reservation bill before it is tabled in the Lok Sabha, said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

"There is no harm in calling an all party meeting. The prime minister has pointed out that we can consult all parties (to arrive at a consensus) and for exploring ideas and possibilities to narrow down the differences," said Mukherjee, who is Leader of the Lok Sabha.

He was replying to a short discussion in the Lok Sabha over the government's flagship bill that seeks to reserve a third of all legislative seats in India for women.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal said he expects a “resolution” on the suspension of MPs in a few hours. The seven MPs are scheduled to meet Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari this evening.

• BJP split over women's bill, Advani to meet MPs

• Lalu to Speaker: Listen to us and we'll behave

The bill, which is vociferously opposed by the parties with mass base mainly in the Hindi heartland of north India, was cleared by the Rajya Sabha Tuesday. It is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha in coming days.

The legislation has led to frequent disruptions of the two houses of parliament. On Thursday as well, both houses were adjourned amid uproar over the bill.

Progress over the bill appeared in sight afterSamajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav, who are opposed to the bill, met Mukherjee.

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and DMK leader T R Baalu also attended the meeting.

"The government has assured us that all sections of the House will be consulted before bringing the bill in Lok Sabha," said Sharad Yadav after the meeting.

PM meets Yadav trio over women's quota!!!

Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday met the Yadav trio - RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad yadav of JD-U - and tried to convince them to support the the women's reservation bill .

The bill was torn to shreds and its pieces thrown at Rajya Sabha chairperson Hamid Ansari's face by their supporters on Monday.

In fact right from 1996, when the bill was introduced, the troika has opposed it tooth and nail.

The UPA government would not like to commit any mistake for if it pushes the bill on Tuesday, it stands to lose crucial allies and jeopardise the passage of the national budget immediately afterwards.