Jesus Christ was world’s first tweeter, says Vatican
Washington: Jesus Christ was the world”s first tweeter, Vatican has said. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said that Christ used tweets before everyone else, because his pronouncements were brief and full of meaning. He said that Christ used elementary phrases made up of fewer than 45 characters like ”Love one another”. Ravasi, who is the Vatican”s equivalent of a culture minister, said that Christ delivered a message through a story or a symbol, Fox News reports. At a conference with Italy”s leading newspaper editors, he said emphasized the importance of clergy making full use of modern-day computer technology. (ANI)
Beijing faces rapid ageing population, 400 turn 60 every day
Beijing: China, the world’s most populous nation, is facing a demographic crisis, with nearly 400 people reaching the age of 60 every day in its capital Beijing.
The capital will see an estimated increase of one lakh senior citizens every year until 2020, which highlights the huge challenge in caring for the elderly, Li Hongbing, deputy director of the municipal civil affairs bureau, told media here on Thursday. The city is faced with rapid growth in its elderly population, with 400 more people reaching the age of 60 every day, according to a report released by the city government. Released by the municipal committee on ageing, the report said nearly 2.63 million registered Beijing residents were 60 years old or above in 2012, while the total number of inhabitants stood at 12.98 million. Every 100 residents aged 15 to 59 had the burden of looking after 29.4 elderly people in 2012, but the figure was 24.3 in 2008, state-run Xinhua reported, citing figures. Compared to statistics in 2006, the registered population aged 60 or above has increased by 605,000, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the total increase in the number of registered residents. In 2010, nearly 178 million people in China were 60 years of age or older, accounting for 13.26 per cent of the total population.
The number will double by 2030 mostly attributed to the demographic crisis. An official report in 2010 said China will overtake Japan to become the world’s most ageing society by 2030. (PTI)
Dubai in World Heritage Site race
Dubai: Dubai Municipality is making its final preparations before the visit of experts from Unesco who will assess the eligibility of Dubai Creek to be named a World Heritage Site.
“We submitted the proposal last January, which has already been reviewed by officials from Unesco and another expert will be visiting the creek in October,” Rashad Bukhash, director of the architectural heritage department of the Dubai Municipality, was quoted Wednesday as saying. “To fulfil the requirements of a World Heritage Site, we will set up a tourist office that will provide tourists and residents with everything they need to know about the creek’s importance in Dubai,” he added. He also described how Dubai Creek has played an important and vital role in making Dubai what it is now. Located in the heart of Dubai, the creek is a natural seawater inlet of the Arabian Gulf, 14 km long and between 100-500 metres wide. The creek divides the city into two parts and has played a major role in the economic development of the region throughout history.According to media reports here, the final announcement about the creek’s eligibility to enter the prestigious list is expected to come in June 2014.
Before that, lighting, signage, landscaping, waste collection and toilet facilities will be upgraded. (IANS)
Only mail sent from moon goes on display
Washington: The first and only envelope to get postmarked on the moon’s surface has now gone on display as part of the world’s largest postage stamp gallery.
The Smithsonian opened its new William H. Gross Stamp Gallery at the National Postal Museum on Sunday.
The ‘Moon Mail’ dates back to Aug. 2, 1971 and is from the fourth mission that landed men on the moon.
Apollo 15 commander David Scott had been driving around the moon’s Hadley Rille on his third and last outing when he pulled out a pouch from under his seat. And from inside the bag he took out an envelope that had been affixed with the die proofs for two new space-themed postage stamps, Fox News reported.
Using a rubber stamp, he postmarked the stamp, which depicted two astronauts on a lunar rover – similar to him and his Apollo 15 crewmate Jim Irwin – and commemorated the “US in Space … A Decade of Achievement.”
Scott postmarked the envelope two times, as on his first attempt the mark was faint. Other smudges on the envelope are made my moon dust, which was left by Scott’s gloved hand.
The Postal service had originally intended for astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to postmark the stamps as a part of the first moon landing, but they forgot about the envelope until they were already on their way back to Earth. (ANI)