1 UK Banks slash mortgage rates (The Guardian) The battle to tempt mortgage
customers with attractive deals is heating up again as major lenders put more
rate cuts into action. Barclays is preparing to offer what it said are some of
its lowest ever rates, including a three-year fixed rate at 2.29%, a five-year
fix at 2.85% and a 10-year fix at 3.49%. All of these deals are aimed at people
with 40% deposits and come with a £999 fee.
Barclays is also cutting the rate on its innovative
family springboard mortgage, which helps people with only a 5% deposit get on
the property ladder by allowing their parents to put some money into a savings
account which is then linked to the mortgage. The savings money is later
released back to their parents with interest, provided that the mortgage
payments are kept up to date.
Meanwhile, a new 0.99% deal from HSBC will be
launched on Monday. HSBC has said the product, which is available for borrowers
with a 40% deposit, has the lowest rate it has ever offered. The 0.99% deal is
in effect a 2.95% discount off HSBC’s 3.94% standard variable rate (SVR), which
lasts for two years.
Experts have put the new battle for mortgage holders’
business down to lenders looking to meet end-of-year targets as well as trying
to play catch up after the introduction of stricter mortgage lending rules
earlier this year, which caused some disruption to the market.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/oct/19/mortgage-battle-hots-up-as-banks-prepare-to-slash-rates
2 Bishops scrap gay-friendly move (San Francisco
Chronicle) Catholic bishops have scrapped their landmark welcome to gays,
showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis
to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.
The bishops approved a final report covering a host
of issues related to Catholic family life, acknowledging there were
"positive elements" in civil heterosexual unions outside the church
and even in cases when men and women were living together outside marriage.
But the bishops failed to reach consensus on a
watered-down section on ministering to homosexuals. The new section had
stripped away the welcoming tone of acceptance contained in a draft document
earlier. Rather than considering gays as individuals who had gifts to offer the
church, the revised paragraph referred to homosexuality as one of the problems
Catholic families face. It said "people with homosexual tendencies must be
welcomed with respect and sensitivity," but repeated church teaching that
marriage is only between a man and a woman.
The revised paragraph failed to reach the two-thirds
majority needed to pass. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi,
said the failure of the paragraphs to pass meant that they have to be discussed
further to arrive at a consensus at a meeting of bishops next October.
A coalition of small pro-life groups, Voice of the
Family, said the outcome of the meeting had only contributed to "deepening
the confusion that has already damaged families since the sexual revolution of
the 1960s." The gay section of the draft report had been written by a
Francis appointee, Monsignor Bruno Forte, a theologian known for pushing the
pastoral envelope on ministering to people in "irregular" unions.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Bishops-revise-document-on-gays-expect-approval-5831435.php
3 Mars for the masses (Allan Jacob in Khaleej Times)
Space technology is coming home to earth as mortals like us reach for the stars
and settle for the planets. Nasa recently announced 1.2 million names were
submitted on their website, while others signed their names on pages which were
scanned and made into microscopic scale. These were then etched on two chips
the size of a coin to be shipped to Mars aboard the Curiosity Rover spacecraft.
The agency said people from 246 countries participated in this mass digital
movement to the Red Planet.
Some weeks ago, India’s tight-fisted $74 million
state-funded package for an epic journey to the mysterious planet earned
plaudits. It was a cheap leap for spatial technology and its applications here
on earth.The Mars Orbiter Mission was a budgeted blockbuster for it tempered
expenses without lowering expectations, while its benefits for humanity must be
measured once the applause has died down.
It was at once inexpensive, inhouse, innovative and
got the fundamentals of exploration and human enquiry right — to probe (not
conquer) a distant planet for the benefit of all people. Take the case of an
auto-rickshaw (Indian commercial three-wheeler city commute vehicle) driver in
the Indian city of Bengaluru who declined the fare offered by a scientist who
hired him for a ride to the space organisation’s headquarters.
He gushed at how they managed to restart the
spacecraft’s engine after 10 months for the final fling into the Martian orbit.
The driver asked the scientist, who had by now acquired rockstar status, if he
could improve the electronics of the humble rickshaw and help it survive
potholes without him having to incur additional expenses on maintenance during
the monsoons.
Nasa’s space shuttle missions cost $450 million per
trip — and there have been 130 of them. Compare this to MOM which does not go
over the head. That, however, will be of little interest to the auto-rickshaw
driver who wants a less bumpier ride on the road, or the farmer who tills the
field. Modern odysseys for them are about social upliftment through the wonders
of technology from above. MOM’s the word for a universal space mascot. Who said
Mars isn’t for the masses?
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