Salt harvesting: Turning sea water into 'white gold' in a Fife village

Summary: Salt harvesting is being revived in a Fife coastal village - 200 years after the industry ended in the area. The East Neuk Salt Company plans to produce two tonnes of artisan sea salt every month from February in St Monans.

By Angie BrownBBC Scotland News In the 1790s, salt was Scotland's third-largest export after wool and fish. It was so valuable that it was referred to as "white gold", with companies willing to burn eight tonnes of coal to make every tonne of salt. The remnants of nine salt pan houses and a windmill can still be seen at St Monans. The village has had salt pans since the 17th Century, although those remains date back to the 18th-Century, when they were built by the Newark Coal and Salt Company. The windmill is the last one remaining one in Fife, and has since been renovated as a tourist attraction. In the industry's heyday it would pump the sea water into the salt pans, which were then heated by coal. The water was boiled until it evaporated and left salt. However, the industry eventually ground to a halt due to competition from sun-evaporated salt from Spain. Now Darren Peattie is reviving the salt-making tradition in the East Neuk of Fife. The 36-year-old said he had been forced to leave St Monans when he was 17 in search of work. He said: "My passion is to bring industry back to this area. "I left 19 years ago for a corporate finance job in London because there were no jobs here, but I've come back now to fulfil my dream." Mr Peattie will collect 2,500 litres (2.5 tonnes) of water a day from the Firth of Forth at Elie, using a hose to suck it up into a bowser tank. He will then drive it back to base in St Monans, three miles away. "St Andrews University has tested the water and it's come back as Grade A, so the mineral content is perfect and the pollution is non-existent," said Mr Peattie. "I can see why it was called white gold in the past. It's absolutely incredible." The water is put through a filter which is finer than a human hair to get rid of any microplastics, then goes into a vacuum evaporator. A sleeve, heated by gas, brings the water to 45C. It takes a few hours to turn the water into brine, which is then poured into crystalliser beds. Mr Peattie said the process was like filling a bath with sea water and then heating it from below. "Crystals and salt flakes start forming on the top of the bath water. When salt forms it gets heavier than water, so you get beautiful crystals and pyramid flakes sinking to the bottom. "When you have a volume of salt at the bottom you get a stainless steel spade with holes in it. "The brine drops off when you lift the spade and you are left with these beautiful salt flakes." These flakes are then put through the drying process, where they are spread out on hundreds of trays and put into a special oven for 40 minutes. Mr Peattie has spent almost £160,000 on the equipment to produce the salt, and says some Michelin star restaurateurs have already expressed an interest in buying the product. He hopes that his workforce will eventually grow to 20 people. There are two other salt production companies in Scotland: Blackthorn Salt in Ayr and Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company. Mr Peattie also plans to reconstruct one of the nine old salt pan houses in the area to turn it into a visitor centre. The old salt pans were excavated in 1985, but there is little left of the buildings that used to cover them. The windmill was restored and reroofed, with new sails attached in the 1990s as it was turned into a visitor attraction. Mr Peattie said: "I want people to come into the village, see the old heritage site, develop an understanding of how the salt industry once worked, then move up to our new premises and learn how salt has moved on." And he added: "The ultimate aim is to link the past to the present and celebrate St Monans as the true home of salt."

फिफे तटीय गाँव में उद्योग समाप्त होने के 200 साल बाद नमक की कटाई को पुनर्जीवित किया जा रहा है। ईस्ट न्यूक सॉल्ट कंपनी ने सेंट मोनान्स में फरवरी से हर महीने दो टन कारीगर समुद्री नमक का उत्पादन करने की योजना बनाई है।


Q&A: Anti-social behaviour powers

Summary: The coalition is reforming anti-social behaviour orders - how do the new powers compare to the old?

Dominic CascianiHome affairs correspondent@BBCDomCon Twitter The key changes explained: Existing powers on the left, proposed powers on the right: Key: CRASBO=Criminal Anti-Social Behaviour Order; DBO=Drink Banning Order; CR DBO=Drink Banning Order on Conviction; ASBI=Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction; ISO=Individual Support Order; IO=Intervention Order.

गठबंधन असामाजिक व्यवहार आदेशों में सुधार कर रहा है-नई शक्तियां पुरानी शक्तियों की तुलना कैसे करती हैं?


Man in court over £100,000 cocaine haul in Aberdeen

Summary: A man has appeared in court after cocaine with an estimated street value of £100,000 was seized in Aberdeen.

Grampian Police said the drugs were recovered following a search of a man at Aberdeen Railway Station on Thursday. George Caulfield, 31, from Chesterfield, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court charged with a drugs offence. He made no plea or declaration and was bailed.

एबरडीन में 100,000 पाउंड के अनुमानित सड़क मूल्य के साथ कोकीन जब्त किए जाने के बाद एक व्यक्ति अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


Brora harbour death fisherman named as William Sutherland

Summary: Police have said a man who died after a boat capsized in Brora harbour was William Sutherland. He was 51 and from the local area.

Mr Sutherland is thought to have been working on the 6m (20ft) lobster boat at the time of the incident, shortly before 16:10 on Monday. He was airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness but died later. Another man who had been on the boat managed to swim to shore and was treated for minor injuries. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has started an investigation into the incident.

पुलिस ने कहा है कि ब्रोरा बंदरगाह में नाव पलटने से मरने वाला व्यक्ति विलियम सदरलैंड था। वह 51 वर्ष का था और स्थानीय क्षेत्र का रहने वाला था।


Scottish government: No extra cash for budget deals

Summary: The draft Scottish budget has begun its passage through Holyrood, on a tight timetable, and with opposition MSPs putting council spending at the top of their list of concerns. That requires a budget deal across party lines. Talks are now under way, but acting Treasury Secretary Kate Forbest insists there is no extra money available. There's growing risk in the budget, as powers are devolved. Scotland's tax watchdog is suggesting ministers should take care not to over-commit any extra funding while they run the risk of unexpected costs.

Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland The sofa of Scottish government budgeting has been thoroughly rifled. All possible hiding places for stashes of cash, for use in a potential budget deal with opposition MSPs, have been cleaned out. There's nothing stuffed down the back, insists stand-in finance secretary Kate Forbes. "Every available penny is on the face of the budget." No, this is not like previous years, she tells a sceptical Tory, Murdo Fraser. So if opposition parties have more for councils at the top of their list of demands, the stand-in finance secretary says they're going to have to say where it comes from. This was the public message to Holyrood's finance and constitution committee, ahead of private meetings with representatives of Conservatives, Greens, Liberal Democrats and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Labour's team is scheduled to meet her next week. Ms Forbes needs at least one of these parties to support the budget, or to abstain. Otherwise, there are several big problems come April and the start of the financial year. Uncertainty Wednesday was the day when Kate Forbes' draft budget began its rapid journey through the legislative machine. This is a recess week, but MSPs and the minister turned up to move things along. They get to the first big vote in the final week of this month, and the stage three clincher is on March 5. The law has to be signed off before councils can set their budgets and council tax levels. That final vote, as you'll probably recall, is six days before Sajid Javid stands up at the Commons despatch box, with a budget which will tell the Scottish Parliament how big its block grant will be. Ahead of then, there's more uncertainty than usual about the numbers. If there is more money from the Chancellor, then it can't be added to the Scottish budget bill. It may have to be added mid-year. "Obscene" It was with local authorities that MSPs began their scrutiny of the budget. More than half a billion pounds of extra funding is being handed to councils, but it's all earmarked; for Scottish government childcare policy, for the national deal on teachers' pay, and for pensions. For everything else, there's less money available. Murdo Fraser pointed to more than 3% extra funding for day-to-day spending on public services, but a real terms cut for councils, asking: is that fair? Labour's Neil Bibby said the council allocation is "obscene". The Greens' Patrick Harvie had the direst of warnings: "I'm sure I'm not the only person around this table who has been told by local government colleagues that the kind of choices they and their colleagues are going to be faced with in the coming weeks will result in substantial reductions in core services - teacher numbers, additional support for learning, social care. "They have serious concerns that councils will be in breach of their legal duties as a result of choices that they will be forced to make." The minister responded that councils, unlike others dependent on Holyrood funding, have the flexibility to raise funds from council tax, up to 3% in real terms. She pointed to other sources of funding that help councils do what they do; city deals, for instance, and housing funds. Under sustained questions, the minister turned to a familiar narrative. She is "still dealing with a decade of austerity". It's not over - not, at least, if so much of the uplift in budget is committed to health and social care. Concessions Climate change spending is going up, conceded Patrick Harvie, but that's after two years of going down. And could the minister point to spending choices that reduced the carbon footprint, rather than pouring concrete and asphalt into making life easier for motorists? The cars on those improved roads should be increasingly electric by the end of this decade, responded Ms Forbes. Is there anything to lower the cost of bus travel, asked Mr Harvie? Had the minister, for instance, considered making bus fares free for people aged under 25? One could see the direction of low-carbon travel to this line of questioning. Greens and Labour are arguing for that policy, and may wish to get political concessions, as well as the ticketed variety, as the price of a budget deal. With the kitty empty, there's nothing like enough money or time to implement it in 2020-21, but with a pledge to look into it, that could be a handy giveaway a year from now, ahead of the May 2021 Holyrood election. Maxed out Before Kate Forbes made her appearance, the Scottish Fiscal Commission was taking MSPs' questions. The official adviser on the assumptions ministers make on tax, it published its report last Thursday alongside the budget. That made clear that there's growing risk in the Scottish budget, as it takes on a bigger range of devolved powers. The risk of under-shooting the forecast revenue for income tax is one such risk. Having done so in 2017-18, the first year with the new income tax powers, revenue came in £204m short. That is withheld from the Treasury block grant for 2020-21, and Kate Forbes plans to borrow that amount to plug the gap. But next year, the shortfall on forecast income tax revenue comes in at £555m. Borrowing to plug that gap is maxing out Holyrood's credit limit. As the Fiscal Commissioners pointed out, this has effectively been a loan from three years ago. So, they asked, is it really wise to finance the loan when it falls due by taking out another loan? Splurging The new risk this year is that the social security benefits may add up faster than forecast. In addition to around £300m of welfare budget in the year now ending, £3bn of spending through the Department of Work and Pensions is also being devolved. A small portion of it will go into a new benefit, for children in low income families. But most of it is to fund disability living and attendance allowances. Government has to pay that money out if people meet the criteria for receiving it. That number can change, and from April onwards, Holyrood takes on the risk that it goes over budget. Until now, Westminster has met such unexpectedly high welfare bills with its flexibility in borrowing. But Holyrood has more constrained borrowing powers. So before he quit in disgrace, former finance secretary Derek Mackay wrote to the Treasury in London, asking for additional borrowing powers to smooth this volatility. The Treasury answer, Kate Forbes told MSPs: let us know when it becomes a problem. And remember: eventually, we could see an overshoot of forecasts for income tax revenue or benefits, leaving more money for distribution elsewhere. Meantime, the Scottish Fiscal Commission says the Scottish government should not simply rely on borrowing to bail it out of trouble. As Holyrood faces more financial risk, Ms Forbes is being warned not to rush into splurging every penny of extra cash that comes from Mr Javid. Even if it's a year out from an election, caution is advised.

स्कॉटिश बजट का मसौदा होलीरूड के माध्यम से एक तंग समय सारिणी पर पारित होना शुरू हो गया है, और विपक्षी एम. एस. पी. ने परिषद के खर्च को अपनी चिंताओं की सूची में सबसे ऊपर रखा है। इसके लिए पार्टी लाइनों से परे एक बजट सौदे की आवश्यकता है। अब बातचीत चल रही है, लेकिन कार्यवाहक ट्रेजरी सचिव केट फॉरबेस्ट जोर देकर कहते हैं कि कोई अतिरिक्त धन उपलब्ध नहीं है। बजट में जोखिम बढ़ रहा है, क्योंकि शक्तियां हस्तांतरित की गई हैं। स्कॉटलैंड के कर प्रहरी सुझाव दे रहे हैं कि मंत्रियों को इस बात का ध्यान रखना चाहिए कि वे अप्रत्याशित लागतों के जोखिम को चलाते हुए किसी भी अतिरिक्त धन की अधिकता न करें।


Six reasons why so many buildings collapse

Summary: After a building collapsed in the Nigerian city of Lagos, killing at least 20 people, including several schoolchildren attending a school on the building's top floor, we look at some reasons why such tragedies seem to occur so often in some African countries.

While investigations are still underway into the cause of this collapse, engineers have told us some common problems. 1. The foundations are too weak Adequate foundations can be costly. They can cost up to half the price of a building, professor of civil engineering Anthony Ede at Covenant University in Ota, Nigeria said in 2016. He said two things should be considered when building the foundations - the solidity of the soil and the heaviness of the building and its contents. In Lagos, the swampy ground requires strong foundations. Far stronger than solid ground. But he said developers save money that should be spent on foundations when building on the city's swampy ground and many buildings had collapsed in the city as a result. Even on solid ground, foundations need to be strong enough for the load. Inadequate foundations for a four-storey building was one of three reasons given by investigators for a building collapsing in northern Rwanda in 2013, killing six people. 2. The building materials aren't strong enough Materials that just aren't strong enough to withhold the load are sometimes used, Hermogene Nsengimana from the African Organization for Standardisation said in 2016, as its organisation met in Nairobi to discuss why so many African buildings collapse. He suggested there was a market for counterfeit materials - going as far as to say that sometimes scrap metal is used instead of steel. When a six-storey building in Uganda's capital Kampala collapsed in April 2016, the director of the city authority suggested it had been constructed with counterfeit materials, reported Ugo news site. Mr Nsengimana said there were even cases of counterfeiters faking authentification certificates. But he suggested contractors also knowingly use the incorrect materials to cut costs. So they may use concrete intended to bear the load of a one-storey building in a four-storey building. Mr Ede added that this was something regulators were not policing. 3. Workers make mistakes Even when workers are given the right materials to make the concrete, they might mix them incorrectly, said Mr Ede. This results in concrete which is not of the sufficient strength to hold the load. He accused developers of cutting costs by employing unskilled workers who are cheaper than trained builders. This was one of the reasons put forward by civil engineers Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe and Stephen Ekolu to explain why a building in Uganda collapsed in 2004. Their research showed that the workers misunderstood the mixing ratios of the concrete. It suggested that people used wheelbarrows instead of measuring gauges to measure cement. The five-storey BBJ new hotel collapsed in construction and 11 people died. "You find bricklayers and even technicians calling themselves engineers," cautioned the president of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers Oreoluwa Fadayomi in Nigeria's The Punch news site. To those who want to save money on professionals, he advised: "One should not be penny wise and pound foolish". Nigerian building collapses 4. The load is heavier than expected Mr Ede said a building collapses when the load is beyond the strength of the building. He gave the example of asking a baby to carry a heavy box: "The baby will not be able to withhold the strain." Even if the foundations and the materials are strong enough for what they were originally built for, that purpose may change. So, Mr Ede said, if a building was designed to be a home and is then turned into a library where boxes and boxes of books are piled up, the building may strain under the weight. He said another reason why the load was often heavier than the original design was because extra storeys are added. In March 2016, an upmarket apartment block which had more storeys than planned collapsed in Lagos, killing 34 people the Guardian reported. This came two years after a church accommodation for the famous preacher TB Joshua collapsed, also, authorities said, because it had more floors than it could hold. In that case more than 100 people lost their lives. 5. The strength isn't tested At all points of construction the strength of the building should be tested, said Mr Ede. "You have to be strict," he said, about policing building. "The law says you must test. It's the enforcement of the law which is the problem," he said. That's a big problem, he said, when at every stage of construction there is someone with a strong motivation to save money or take money. There are many physical reasons a building can collapse but only one driving motivation for that to happen, said Mr Ede. That's money. And for him this is the real reason buildings collapse - corruption. The story doesn't end there. Just because unsafe buildings are constructed, it doesn't mean anyone has to die - the buildings can be knocked down. And that is what does happen next. But things go wrong in those situations too, leading to the loss of life. 6. People stay in condemned buildings In the case of the building that collapsed on Wednesday, the building had been condemned as unsafe in 2017 and marked for demolition. Given this, a key question being asked about the tragedy is: Why was there a school in the building? The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LSBCA) said in a statement that it was marked as distressed in 2017, and had remained empty but then "the recalcitrant owner renovated the building with gravel as granite without carrying out a thorough engineering appraisal and integrity test on the structure and let it out for use". It was a four-storey, multi-purpose building with a primary school on the top floor. One reason why residents didn't listen to the Lagos State government order was given by engineer Felicia Nnenna Agubata. She told the BBC's Newsday programme that building inspectors were not backed up by security officers who can enforce evacuations. So they can ask nicely, but those requests are often ignored. Two days after the school collapse, the LSBCA has started the process of demolishing about 100 buildings that have failed structural integrity tests. This is an updated version of an article from 2016 looking at why buildings collapse.

नाइजीरियाई शहर लागोस में एक इमारत के ढहने के बाद, कम से कम 20 लोगों की मौत हो गई, जिसमें इमारत की ऊपरी मंजिल पर एक स्कूल में पढ़ने वाले कई स्कूली बच्चे भी शामिल थे, हम कुछ कारणों पर गौर करते हैं कि कुछ अफ्रीकी देशों में इस तरह की त्रासदियाँ इतनी बार क्यों होती हैं।


Yemen crisis: Is al-Qaeda gaining ground?

Summary: Al-Qaeda in Yemen is on the move.

By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent In the last few days, militants linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have stormed a town less than 100 miles (160km) south of the capital, Sanaa. They kidnapped soldiers, looted weapons, bust open the prison and reportedly raised the black flag of their movement over the citadel in Radaa, in the province of al-Baida. It comes on the back of apparent gains in territory made in the last year by AQAP in the southern province of Abyan where parts of the provincial capital, Zinjibar, have been flattened in fighting between Islamist militants and government troops. Should the world be worried? After all, Yemen already has so many problems that appear to dwarf this latest development. Multiple crises There is a paralysis of power at the top with the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh still negotiating the terms of his departure, his supporters demanding his immunity from prosecution, and his opponents demanding that he and his relatives relinquish power and face trial. Oil and water reserves are dwindling, there is a simmering Shia rebellion in the north, a separatist movement in the south and a power struggle as rival groups jockey for control in a Yemen without the strongman ruler it has known for 33 years. "There are so many problems," says Walid al-Rawshan from Yemen's embassy in London. "Al-Qaeda is only one of them". But counter-terrorism analysts are deeply worried about AQAP's opportunistic success in taking advantage of the ongoing chaos and confusion in Yemen to take ground, seize weapons and win recruits. Its master bombmaker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, is still at large. One of several Saudi militants to sneak across the border, Asiri is believed to have designed sophisticated bombs concealed in the wearer's underpants, such as the one carried by the Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a flight bound for Detroit in 2009, and devices disguised in printer ink toner cartridges placed on cargo flights bound for the US. Still resilient AQAP is not thought to have more than a few hundred militants in its ranks, of whom only a hardcore fraction are capable of planning and conducting international operations. It has come under pressure from both Yemeni offensives on the ground and CIA aerial drone strikes, one of which last year controversially killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a media-savvy jihadist who encouraged others to carry out attacks in the West. And yet it remains resilient. "AQAP is quickly emerging as the largest franchise in the Al-Qaeda chain," says Sajjan Gohel from the Asia Pacific Foundation. "It's gaining infrastructure and resources to spread out beyond Yemen. They have been strengthening their hand because of a lack of governance in Yemen. They are a group on the move."

यमन में अल-कायदा आगे बढ़ रहा है।


Would you ask your colleagues what they earn?

Summary: "Can you tell me how much you earn?"

By Lucy HookerBusiness reporter, BBC News It's not a question many of us would be happy asking a colleague, around the boardroom table or in the queue for the work canteen. It's not a question many of us would be happy answering either, according to campaigners for women's rights. But it's time for us all to be much more transparent about our salaries, in order to end a "culture of pay secrecy", the Fawcett Society says, if we want to address pay inequality. A survey on behalf of the Fawcett Society found 61% of us are "uncomfortable" at the idea of asking others about their pay. Moreover, half of us wouldn't be happy to reveal our salary details either. But sharing more information about what we earn may be the best way to ensure that women are in a position to argue for fairer treatment over pay, say campaigners. They point to the example of Kay Collins, a chef, who discovered that a male chef in her kitchen was being paid more than her. She says the initial conversation wasn't awkward at all: "We were working together. It was a quiet day. My colleague Chris was leafing through a college prospectus and said, there's an article here about motor mechanics earning £25,000 a year. That's £4,000 more than I'm earning." It turned out while Chris had only been working there a year, he was on a salary of £22,000, while Kay earned just £16,000, although she had 15 years more experience. "There wasn't any problem for us discussing it," she says. "He was as shocked as I was." As a result of that conversation, Kay, now 58, took her employer, Compass Group to court and won. She has since lost her job and is still out of work. But she says she would definitely choose to be open about pay in future if she got another job. Sam Smethers, Fawcett Society chief executive, says not discussing pay with colleagues lets employers off the hook. "In workplaces all over the country, pay discrimination is able to thrive and is more common than people realise because of a culture of pay secrecy which persists." Don't ask, don't tell? A lot of people are reluctant to ask for colleagues' salary details and even more reluctant to share their own. "I'd probably say, mind-your-own-business, because it's not a question I would ask," says Tony Clapson who works as a junior manager for a High Street retail chain. In retail he says most people are just on the minimum wage and the pay bands for management are fairly clear. But he still wouldn't ask, or tell, colleagues about salary details: "It's like asking someone's age, isn't it?" "It's a question which is hard to ask and hard to be asked," says Anne, 30, who works in sales for a technology company in London. She says in her native France no-one would ever ask colleagues about their pay. "I'm quite happy with it remaining a private matter." "It's nobody's business," says Danielle Khan. "If you want to fight with your boss about what you get paid, fight with your boss, not with your colleagues." She is semi-retired, but when she ran a software company she had a policy that people shouldn't ask each other about pay, and says the result was to keep a lid on office politics. Henry, 43, a commercial lawyer based in Singapore, says he wouldn't tell colleagues what he earns: "I sympathise over the gender equality pay gap, but I don't think that's the right way of tackling it." He thinks it's the company's responsibility to ensure there aren't discrepancies in pay. "If you want to tackle the problem, tackle it at source." The other way the Fawcett Society aims to raise awareness of pay discrimination is by identifying a day each year as Equal Pay Day "the day in the year when women effectively start to work for free". They suggest there is currently a 13.7% gap between what women are paid and what men are paid. Their premise is that if men and women were rewarded equally, women's pay would all have been handed out by this point in the year. But their calculations have been questioned by the free market think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs. The IEA says the Fawcett Society is inflating the pay gap by using the mean average to calculate their figure (taking a sum of hourly pay across the working population and dividing by the number of individuals). The Office for National Statistics (ONS) calculates the pay gap using median earnings (comparing the rate paid to men and women who are in the middle of the pay spectrum). The ONS calculated pay gap is 8.6%. IEA's associate director Kate Andrews said the gender pay gap as calculated by the ONS has got smaller and it was time Equal Pay Day was moved to a later date: "It was the 10th November last year, and is the 10th November this year, because it is calculated in a way that skews and inflates the data." The IEA says using the mean average means the pay gap is distorted by the outlier salaries of a small number of high earners and doesn't reflect the experience of typical workers. The Fawcett Society says that is the reason it uses the mean average - to reflect "that more men than women are earning higher wages at the top, and that more women earn the least". "Each method sheds a different light on gender wage inequality," the organisation said.

"क्या आप बता सकते हैं कि आप कितना कमाते हैं?"


What else does Google's Alphabet do?

Summary: When the word Google entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006 it was widely seen as proof that the chirpy US tech firm, with its primary-coloured logo and "do no evil" mantra, had officially captured the zeitgeist of the internet age.

By Zoe KleinmanTechnology reporter, BBC News The word alphabet - well that's been around a little longer. As have Google's ambitions for growth - Wikipedia lists 182 acquisitions alone, in addition to the company's core business. Alphabet Inc - Google's new parent company - will make the tech giant's activities "cleaner and more accountable", said its chief executive (and one of Google's original founders) Larry Page in a blog post announcing the news. Mr Page admitted that from the outset, some of Google's interests "might seem very speculative or even strange" for the firm. "We are still trying to do things other people think are crazy but we are super-excited about," he said. More detail of the surprise restructure is expected in the coming weeks, but here's a brief guide to Alphabet's core areas of activity so far - though not in alphabetical order, just to keep you on your toes. Google Google itself will continue to exist as a subsidiary of Alphabet under the leadership of a new CEO, but long-term Google exec, Sundar Pichai. It will include Google's most obvious - and profitable - internet outlets such as search, Maps, YouTube, Chrome and the Android mobile phone platform. Google X This is Google's research and development lab, where projects like the driverless car, drone delivery service Project Wing and Project Loon, an ambitious idea to connect rural communities to the net via a global network of high-altitude balloons, are born and nurtured. Last year pharmaceutical giant Novartis agreed a deal to work with Google X on a smart contact lens for people with diabetes, designed to measure the level of glucose in the wearer's tears and communicate the information to a mobile phone or computer. The division is is notoriously tight-lipped about much of its work but its web page lists 20 different research areas including artificial intelligence, data mining, software engineering and cryptography. It refers to some of its more outlandish projects as "moonshots" - a Google X code word for big-thinking propositions. Calico Google launched a separate health-focused research and development company in 2013, with Larry Page announcing in a blog post that its work would be based around the research areas of "health and well-being, in particular the challenge of ageing and associated diseases". "We are scientists from the fields of medicine, drug development, molecular biology, and genetics," says the firm on its website. "Through our research we're aiming to devise interventions that slow ageing and counteract age‑related diseases." Nest Google bought thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2bn (£2bn) in early 2014. Nest's first major product, the thermostat, was able to learn about users' behaviour and decipher whether a building was occupied, but it has since branched out into other areas of smart homeware. This has included, most recently, a camera that senses movement in a user's home and alerts them via a smartphone app. Fiber Google Fiber is a superfast broadband and TV-on-demand service, promising speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second. It's currently only available in certain parts of the US, including Atlanta, Nashville and Salt Lake City. Google Robotics It is unclear whether Google's robotics work will also become a more separate entity under Alphabet Inc. Google snapped up six robotics companies in 2013 - including military robot-maker Boston Dynamics which developed Cheetah, the world's fastest running robot. However the tech giant has been clear that none of its robots will be used for military means. "With fears mounting about Google's wealth, power and knowledge of every aspect of our lives, you can understand why it wanted to give that assurance," said BBC Tech Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones. Investment In addition to its acquisitions, Google has two investment arms - Google Ventures and Google Capital. Google Ventures claims to have made more than 300 investments alone, with recipients including Uber, Periscope, and Fitstar (which has since been bought by fitness tracker form FitBit).

जब गूगल शब्द ने 2006 में ऑक्सफोर्ड अंग्रेजी शब्दकोश में प्रवेश किया तो इसे व्यापक रूप से इस बात के प्रमाण के रूप में देखा गया कि अपने प्राथमिक रंग के लोगो और "कोई बुराई न करें" मंत्र के साथ अमेरिकी तकनीकी फर्म ने आधिकारिक तौर पर इंटरनेट युग के युग पर कब्जा कर लिया था।


Balloon goes up for geo-engineering - but that's the easy part...

Summary: I'm not too keen on raising the same kind of point in successive articles, but the news that UK scientists are to trial an innovative piece of geo-engineering kit within a couple of months begs some of the same questions that came up in Monday's piece on carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Richard BlackFormer environment correspondent The most basic one is simple - money. One end of the hose will be attached to a balloon floating a kilometre up in the air. The other will be tethered to the ground, with a pump pushing water up the pipe so it will spray out at the top. This and other investigations that the UK team is performing will cost in the region of £1.6m ($2.5m). And much larger sums will become necessary if and when bigger experiments are needed - because the eventual aim of this would be to get into the stratosphere, tens of kilometres above our heads. And what comes out would probably not be water but tiny particles of sulphate dust, mimicking the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions. For sure, technical research is needed to explore the potential of different forms of geo-engineering - as it is with CCS. But the technology is, for both geo-engineering and CCS, probably the easiest piece of the puzzle. As I discussed on Monday (and thanks as always for your comments on it), the big issue with CCS is that it costs more to generate electricity - and as things stand now, why would anyone bother? (The kicker is that the CO2 can be used to bring up more oil from wells that are approaching the end of their conventional commercial life, which does pay for the carbon capture but will in the end lead to more CO2 entering the atmosphere - but that's another story.) We're also in a grey area regarding regulation. Under whose water If you're an island nation and you want to store carbon dioxide in the rocks under your feet, in all probability that's going to be OK. But what about if the storage sites lie in geological formations that extend under a neighbouring state, as could well be the case in much of Europe, for example? And putting it under the seabed has already raised questions under the London convention on dumping at sea. These obstacles are even clearer with geo-engineering. How would schemes like this be funded in practice? Who would regulate them? What would be the mechanism that arbitrates between conflicting interests when something goes wrong - if injecting particles into the stratosphere over Russia, for example, were to neuter the South Asian monsoon? Given that some large-scale experiments could bring adverse impacts, how are they to be overseen - even if it's agreed that they should happen? There have been a couple of international agreements (at the UN biodiversity convention last year, for example, when governments agreed there should be no geo-engineering schemes that damage nature). But the big questions remain unanswered - even, largely, un-discussed. Go back to the 1960s, and the biggest threat in the minds of many governments was nuclear war. For sure, technologies were developed to fight it and to survive it. But in parallel, governments and societies asked and answered some of the social questions. The answers may not have been convincing and may not have been pretty, because nuclear war is possibly the ugliest prospect that has ever confronted humankind. But at least discussions were had - and some of them, between governments in private, eventually led to disarmament. Now, there are voices, some of them at the top of politics, who will tell you that climate change is the biggest threat facing the human race. If it is, the social and political discussions that need to happen and reach conclusions around the topic of geo-engineering ought to be happening now - in parallel with the technical research, if not ahead of it. Critical Path Analysis tells you that you should begin the longest part of a composite task first, in order to reach the conclusion as soon as possible. The hurdles that CCS and especially geo-engineering present, along with the finance question, are almost certainly more challenging than the technical ones presented by carrying one end of a hosepipe up on a balloon and spraying some water out. Follow Richard on Twitter

मैं लगातार लेखों में एक ही तरह का मुद्दा उठाने के लिए बहुत उत्सुक नहीं हूं, लेकिन यह खबर कि ब्रिटेन के वैज्ञानिक कुछ महीनों के भीतर भू-इंजीनियरिंग किट के एक अभिनव टुकड़े का परीक्षण करने वाले हैं, कुछ ऐसे ही सवाल पूछते हैं जो सोमवार के कार्बन कैप्चर और भंडारण (सी. सी. एस.) पर लेख में सामने आए थे।


Australian pet python has BBQ tongs surgically removed

Summary: A pet python in the Australian city of Adelaide has had surgery to remove a pair of BBQ tongs it accidentally ate, according to local media.

Owner Aaron Rouse was feeding a dead rat to his snake, named Winston, when the reptile swallowed the tongs. Mr Rouse enlisted the help of a veterinarian at Adelaide University to perform the operation to extract them. "We were able to remove them quite easily once we got the big end out," Dr Oliver Funnell told ABC news. Snakes have the ability regurgitate food if they have a change of heart, but Dr Funnell says he was not confident Winston would be able to regurgitate the tongs "even if he tried".

स्थानीय मीडिया के अनुसार, ऑस्ट्रेलियाई शहर एडिलेड में एक पालतू अजगर ने गलती से खाए गए बीबीक्यू टोंग की एक जोड़ी को हटाने के लिए सर्जरी कराई है।


Record visitors for Manchester's Christmas Markets

Summary: Manchester's annual Christmas Markets have had a record-breaking number of visitors for the opening weekend, the council has said.

More than 67,500 people visited Albert Square on Saturday - the busiest day of trade ever seen on the square. This year the markets are spread over eight locations across the city centre, including a new site in King Street. Councillor Pat Karney said he was "bowled over" by the number of visitors. He said: "We have the largest Christmas markets in the country and they transform our city centre into a Christmas wonderland." The first German Christmas Market was held in St Ann's Square in 1999 before being extended to other city centre locations. The markets are open across the city until 21 December.

परिषद ने कहा है कि मैनचेस्टर के वार्षिक क्रिसमस बाजारों में शुरुआती सप्ताहांत के लिए आगंतुकों की रिकॉर्ड तोड़ संख्या रही है।


Theresa May announces new environment bill

Summary: A bill to protect the environment has been announced by the prime minister.

By Roger HarrabinBBC environment analyst It will set out a legal framework for the government’s promise to leave the environment in a better state over the next 25 years. It has been greeted enthusiastically by green groups who feared that the government’s promises on environmental protection had no legal backing. Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the bill would "help to ensure Britain can be cleaner and greener". WWF’s Tony Juniper said the announcement was “great news". He tweeted Mrs May to say: “We look forward to working with you on making this a world-leading step, one that our children and grandchildren will thank us for, and be proud of. Let the work begin.” Amy Mount from Green Alliance described the bill as a “quite significant step forward". She told the BBC: "The bill will need to put new duties on the secretary of state to deliver on environmental objectives like clean air, recycling and species loss”. 'Very naive' However, others were unimpressed. Tom Burke from the think-tank e3g said anyone who trusted the government's proposals "must be very naive". He added: "This government is the one that made 21 arbitrary changes to attack and undermine renewable energy." Craig Bennett from Friends of the Earth was also cautious. “This could be an Act that really moves forward protection of nature," he said. “But we don’t know what the bill will include, what will be its foundations and when it will be delivered. “The whole thing could be thrown into disarray if we get a no-deal Brexit, which will leave us out of the EU without having had the time to get new laws in place to replace EU laws. “We simply won’t have the time to replace all EU legislation on vital issues like product standards (which impose energy-saving and pollution-saving targets) and chemicals legislation.” The announcement comes as a House of Lords sub-committee has warned that the government has no plan for laws on the chemicals industry if the UK leaves the EU without a new deal. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the government is set to launch a consultation on a proposal for a controversial relaxation of laws on fracking. Follow Roger on Twitter @rharrabin

प्रधानमंत्री ने पर्यावरण की रक्षा के लिए एक विधेयक की घोषणा की है।


Viewpoint: Changing the world is more important than changing nappies

Summary: French author Corinne Maier has two children but cannot wait for the second to become independent. She argues that adults are so obsessed with children - and so exhausted by the effort of looking after them - that they have no energy left for anything else.

It's frightful, how many of us there are! Planet Earth has a human population of 7.5 billion. In the year 2100, there will be 11 billion of us. How will the planet be able to feed all of these people? Facing this human wave, the media is for the first time showing a hint of worry - even in France, a champion of pro-birth policies, where the media are most definitely pro-baby. We live in an child-obsessed society. The child is considered a guarantee of happiness, of personal development, and even of social status. Those who are child-free (there's no equivalent term in French) are described as selfish and suspected of being bad citizens. Many of them feel pressure to justify themselves: "I can't have any, but I love children." To which I hasten to reply, just to spice up the conversation: "I have some, but have reasons to hate children." Not that I'm in a position to argue for a declining birth rate. Having two children, I cannot tell others: "Don't do as I did." Yet I also find it hypocritical to hide behind the smokescreen of idealism ("There's nothing more beautiful than a child's smile") to justify my questionable life choices. I am a fierce opponent of brainwashing and of pathos. It's time to stop marketing the babies-spell-happiness idea. Enough of this big "baby-illusion"! These days, it's impossible to express one's experience of motherhood other than to say: "I am a blissful mother (or father), my children are my joy." Taking pleasure in parenthood is compulsory. In my experience, the reality is very different: raising a child is 1% happiness and 99% worry. Being a parent has become a very time-consuming job. Many parents become overly involved in the education of their children, and turn into hyper-parents present on every front - ensuring a balanced breakfast, extracurricular activities, help with homework... I myself am perfectly aware of how involved I was - much too involved, in fact - and how I became, like it or not, a stereotypical Jewish mother. That produces children who are hyper-controlled and hyper-watched. I wonder how they'll manage one day to become adults. What is 100 women? BBC 100 Women names 100 influential and inspirational women around the world every year. We create documentaries, features and interviews about their lives, giving more space for stories that put women at the centre. We want YOU to get involved with your comments, views and ideas. You can find us on: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and YouTube. Spread the word by sharing your favourite posts and your own stories using #100women Why all the child-bearing pressure? The answer, of course, is to provide an ever greater number of little consumers who will never tire of a capitalism that needs to sell an ever greater number of products. It's in the name of children that parents buy cars, washing machines, homes and gadgets. Children cost a fortune. On this particular point, strangely, there is little data available in France, though there is certainly no shortage of statisticians. The Spaniards, who are more pragmatic, believe that from birth to adulthood, children cost a family between 98,000 and 300,000 euros each (between £84,000 and £255,000) - that at least is the figure from one leading consumer organisation. Raising children not only left me exhausted but it left me bankrupt as well. Soon, my daughter will have finished her studies. I will have a big party that day. Finally, I won't have to support her: what a relief! And what a saving! Why are we constantly told that "children are our future"? It's precisely because we're not sure of actually having a future. Our passion for children is linked to our increasing concern for the future of humanity. Exhausted assets, increasingly polluted natural resources... in what devastated, ravaged world will we live tomorrow? And to think that we've given up trying to change it! Children, welcome and good luck to you as you make your way in this rotten world that your parents, who love you very very much, have left you. They spent so much time looking after you that they didn't have time to transform it. They gave up, quit, hung up their hats. "The child is what's most important..." You'll forgive us, won't you? Translation by nayerietc.com

फ्रांसीसी लेखिका कोरिन मेयर के दो बच्चे हैं लेकिन दूसरे के स्वतंत्र होने का इंतजार नहीं कर सकती। उनका तर्क है कि वयस्क बच्चों के प्रति इतने जुनूनी हैं-और उनकी देखभाल करने के प्रयास से इतने थक गए हैं-कि उनके पास किसी और चीज के लिए कोई ऊर्जा नहीं बची है।


Budget analysis: The bus shelter Budget

Summary: This is a carefully crafted Budget, raising billions. It partially protects poor households from the impact of the tax changes, but they will still feel the cold winds of VAT increases and changes to benefits.

VIEWPOINT by Anne RedstonProfessor of Law, King's College London Personal allowances The increase in personal tax allowances by £1,000 this year, with the hope of further rises to come, is very welcome. It is clearly madness to take the wages of the low paid with one hand, pass them through a complex bureaucracy, and return them as benefits with the other. Higher rate taxpayers will not gain from this allowance, however, as the threshold at which 40% tax becomes payable will be reduced to compensate for the higher personal allowance. People close to the 40% borderline may be shocked to discover that they have become higher rate taxpayers, with the higher tax offsetting the benefit of the increased allowance. As time goes on, more and more people will be sucked into the top tax rate. National insurance The last government announced a 1% increase in employee and employer contributions. The new chancellor has moderated the impact on employers, recognising that employer national insurance contributions is a tax on jobs, deterring businesses from taking on employees. The employee rise remains in place: there is as yet no news on whether there will be any shelter for the low paid from this 1% increase. Capital gains The new capital gains tax (CGT) rate is 28%: good news for those worried about a bigger hike. Wisely, the tax free limit has been held at £10,100. Reducing the limit, as some advocated, would have required many thousands of people to enter the complex world of CGT calculations. Smaller gains thus continue to escape tax altogether. The lower tax rate compensates, in a crude way, for inflationary gains. The chancellor rightly ruled out a more sophisticated linking to the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation, on the grounds of complexity. However, this does mean that short-term gains will benefit more than long-term gains. One of the reasons for the increased rate was to reduce tax avoidance, as higher rate taxpayers seek to rebadge their income as gains. The difference between the 50% top rate of income tax and the new CGT rate is 22%. Still very attractive, it will barely dent the appetite for tax avoidance. Corporation tax It is no surprise that big companies are to pay less tax: this was widely trailed. More surprising was the reduction in the rate for small companies to 20%, the same as the basic rate of tax: this is a pleasant surprise in a revenue-raising Budget. Small businesses, too, will largely be unaffected by the reductions in capital allowances, as their total expenditure on assets is likely to be less than the annual ceiling of £25,000 a year. They will thus continue to get 100% relief for these costs in the year of purchase. Pensions and pensioners The commitment to increase pensions by the higher of the earnings, inflation or 2.5% provides some limited protection for pensioners, who will suffer from the increase in VAT. At the other end of the income scale, the chancellor promised to look again at the fiendishly complicated restriction of higher rate pensions tax relief. This needs urgent attention, as many businesses are already spending a small fortune on professional advice as they seek to calculate their employees' tax liabilities. MPs expenses Among the Budget paperwork is a document reminding us that MPs receive their home-to-work travel tax free, unlike the rest of the population. If a business pays for an employee's travel to the office, this reimbursement is taxable. Salt is rubbed in the electorate's already raw wounds by the statement that the government will "continue to reimburse some spouse travel" - also on a tax-free basis. This Budget would have been a good time to demonstrate that we are all in this together, and put our representatives in the same tax position as everyone else. MP's expenses are, of course, a detail, perhaps even a distraction from the shocking reality of our accumulated national debt. This Budget was a realistic attempt to deal with a massive problem. It will be painful, but does provide some limited protection from the tax changes for pensioners and the poor.

यह एक सावधानीपूर्वक तैयार किया गया बजट है, जिसमें अरबों की राशि जुटाई गई है। यह आंशिक रूप से गरीब परिवारों को कर परिवर्तनों के प्रभाव से बचाता है, लेकिन वे अभी भी वैट वृद्धि और लाभों में परिवर्तन की ठंडी हवाओं को महसूस करेंगे।


Why I spend my weekends ringing birds

Summary: There is nothing quite like holding wild birds. Their beauty, colours and behaviour never fail to astonish: The blue tit, so common in the UK, turns out to be the most aggressive, pecky little bird imaginable; the goldcrest - the weight of a 20p coin (or a nickel for transatlantic readers) - so tiny; the sparrowhawk, quite a rarity to trap, with its murderous look and talons.

By Jim ToddBBC News The chance of getting this close to wildlife was one of the factors that attracted me to the surprising and challenging world of bird ringing. Long before dawn this winter morning, small groups of people all around Britain will wake up to spend several hours in the cold, in marshes, on beaches and sea cliffs. Their goal? To trap birds of as many species as possible in high nets, to measure them, age them, place a lightweight ring with a unique serial number on their right leg and release them, as part of a huge citizen science project which has lasted more than a century now. Joining this project as a trainee, which I did a little more than a year ago, was a startling and rather humbling experience. It remains so. I've been a birder (not a twitcher, please) for many years, and thought I knew a fair bit about birds, at least in the British context. I could identify many dozens of different species by sight and by their song, even if there are always plenty of people in the bird hides who know more than me. Actually I knew very little. The migration of birds to and from northern Europe from Africa, yes. The details of that migration, when, how they prepare for these extraordinary journeys, their numbers, how high they fly, no. What was also a surprise to me was that hundreds of thousands of birds actually migrate to Britain in the winter - not just the geese that descend on Norfolk and other wetlands in such large numbers from even colder places such as Scandinavia, Iceland and Russia, but more everyday birds like robins and blackbirds. We regard them as British birds, but actually their numbers swell considerably in the winter as their continental cousins come in from elsewhere in northern Europe. The reason why robins sing so much in the winter is because they're defending their territory from "outsiders". The ringing scheme is intended to establish how these and other migration patterns are working, which birds are on the decline and on the rise. Retrapped birds provide important clues to the health of bird populations. The serial number on their rings is matched to the last time the bird was caught, yielding information about how their weight, wing size, fat and muscle depth has changed. More than a million birds caught every year The age and sex of the bird in many cases can be gauged by their plumage (debates on tell-tale but minute graduations in colour take up a fair part of our mornings). So the data gathered by 3,000 volunteer ringers, from more than a million birds trapped in the UK and Ireland every year, plays a key role in conservation efforts. For example, as a result of research done using ringing data, agri-environmental schemes were developed to provide winter seed for farmland birds, which are believed to have contributed to the partial population recovery of reed buntings, a bird that we often trap at our site in Surrey. Another recent study at Grafham Water north-east of London gave valuable information about nightingales' movements which helped plan management of the habitat at that Site of Special Scientific Interest. When I say it's an early start, I don't exaggerate. In winter our ringing group arrives at the bird reserve two hours before sunrise, to put up the 10ft (3m) high mist nets. Some reserves have fixed nets that can be unfurled very easily. Ours are erected afresh each time (head torches indispensable here) because we move them depending on the season - no point putting a lot of nets up in the reed beds when the reed warblers are away until late April in sub-Saharan Africa. Outside the breeding season we play sound recordings of the birds that we're particularly keen to trap - if there's a sighting of bramblings, then that goes on the player. And it makes a difference. The numbers of redwings we trapped went up considerably when we started playing a tape made in Latvia, one of the countries they migrate from during the winter. It would be wrong, however, to explain the motivation of bird ringing as purely a dispassionate collection of data. As my trainer David Ross explains, it's also a matter of curiosity. He says one of the main motivations is watching the migration unfold, from his vantage point at the bird reserve, 25 miles south-west of London. "Migration fascinates me, especially during the summer when we're ringing reed warblers from Africa. They come back and get caught in almost exactly the same spot they've been trapped in previous years, which is about half the size of a tennis court. I find it incredible they can go to tropical Africa in winter, and find their way back here in the springtime." Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981, it is illegal to capture a wild bird, to use a net to do so, or to disturb a bird on its nest. But for conservation purposes, certain agencies are allowed to issue permits to do so, and it is under the British Trust for Ornithology's scheme that I am granted a trainee licence and can do so. The training is rigorous, under the close supervision of an experienced ringer, and lasts around two years. Mistakes are easy to make - how many birds have I released too early through not holding them firmly enough; or mis-identified, or got their age and sex wrong, or cack-handedly put the ring on wrong. Bird extraction from the mist nets is a skill I have found very hard to learn. The group that I train with varies in size week by week, from three up to as many as seven. My fellow trainees are mostly ecologists or already have a professional link with conservation. We operate under the gimlet eye of trainer David Ross, a former London cab driver with an almost preternatural ability to see how a badly tangled bird can be extracted from the net. Personal and professional motivation My fellow trainees' enthusiasm and knowledge of the countryside is inspiring. Paul Perrins, who works as an ecologist with a development company, has a dual motive for the early mornings. A ringing licence will be a boost for his professional skillset, like his qualification in the trapping and handling of dormice for wildlife surveys. But it's also about conservation: "While work does offer it to an extent, it's more indirect. But to be able to come out here and know that I'm contributing to a long-term, growing dataset is very rewarding." Kathryn Dunnett, who works in conservation, agrees that a ringing licence will be helpful in her career, but says there's a more personal reason, the "excitement and thrill when you go to the nets and see what we might have trapped". But she admits to some reservations: "Is it for me or for the birds? When you catch 100 blue tits, I ask myself, do we really need this data - what are we really learning?" The answer to that, according to the BTO, is that the vast data sets collected on common birds such as the blue tit can be used to understand what's happening to scarcer species. The youngest of the trainees is Alex Bayley, who hopes to have a career in wildlife and conservation. "There is a great privilege in being able to view at such close range and hold wild birds," says the 17-year-old. "Also, at times like these when global warming and human interference on the natural world is so great, ringing provides data and evidence to support conservation initiatives that have the potential to hugely benefit birds under threat." Photographs: Emma Lynch/BBC

जंगली पक्षियों को पकड़ने जैसा कुछ भी नहीं है। उनकी सुंदरता, रंग और व्यवहार कभी भी आश्चर्यचकित करने में विफल नहीं होते हैंः नीला टाइट, जो यूके में इतना आम है, सबसे आक्रामक, कल्पना करने योग्य छोटा पक्षी बन जाता है; गोल्डक्रेस्ट-20 पी सिक्के का वजन (या अटलांटिक पार पाठकों के लिए एक निकल)-इतना छोटा; गौरैया, अपने जानलेवा रूप और टैलन के साथ फंसाने के लिए काफी दुर्लभ है।


Civil service voluntary redundancy: Theresa Villiers says government will fund scheme

Summary: Funding to allow the civil service voluntary exit scheme to go ahead has been announced by the Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.

The £700m scheme, which was agreed as part of the Stormont House Agreement, has faced uncertainty because of the continuing impasse over welfare reform. Its aim is to help Stormont balance its budget by shedding the equivalent of 2,400 full-time civil service posts. The first 864 civil servants are due to leave on 30 September. Ms Villiers made the announcement at the British Irish conference in Cambridge on Saturday. It is believed the scheme could save about £90m from the civil service's annual pay bill. More than 7,000 civil servants expressed interest in the scheme and 1,200 offers were made, but only 864 staff took them up.

राज्य सचिव थेरेसा विलियर्स द्वारा सिविल सेवा स्वैच्छिक निकास योजना को आगे बढ़ाने की अनुमति देने के लिए धन की घोषणा की गई है।


'Coup' drama plunges Ecuador into uncertainty

Summary: As dramatic scenes of Ecuador's President Rafael Correa being tear-gassed by his own police force made headlines all over the world, parallels were immediately drawn with last year's upheaval in Honduras, where the military ousted then-President Manuel Zelaya.

By Irene CaselliEcuador reporter This was supported by Mr Correa's own declarations, after he was rescued from a police hospital where he was trapped for 12 hours. "This was an attempted coup, an attempt to destabilise the government, which failed thanks to the Ecuadorean people," he said from his presidential palace, in front of a jubilant crowd. It is true that Latin America's new left-wing wave has attracted many foes - in 2002 there was a coup attempt against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an ally of Mr Correa. But talking about a traditional coup in Ecuador, or even a coup at all, might be going too far. The protests started on Thursday morning, as police and soldiers staged a mutiny against some aspects of a new civil service law. The lower ranks of both institutions rebelled, while the high commands came out to support the government - indicating there was no mastermind, but rather a spontaneous popular uprising. According to the protesters, the new law reduces benefits by increasing the amount of time necessary for a promotion, and eliminating the monetary compensation that comes with those promotions. On Wednesday night, Mr Correa used a veto to change the law, which had been approved a couple of weeks earlier by Ecuador's legislature, the national assembly. Government ministers argue that the new policy will not harm officers' benefit packages, and that during Mr Correa's term salaries for policemen have increased notably, from $700 (£440) a month to $1,200 - more than twice the average wage. But the strike went on regardless and the country quickly descended into chaos. Constitutional changes Mr Correa was first elected in 2006 with a large popular mandate and a left-wing agenda, and set up a constituent assembly. The new constitution, approved in a referendum in 2008, gave the assembly a few months to draft a new legal framework for the country. The initial deadline for some of the most crucial and controversial laws was mid-October 2009. This deadline was repeatedly pushed back because of protests and the lack of a clear majority within the assembly - even members of Mr Correa's Alianza Pais are often not aligned with the president on some crucial votes. Moreover, the government has a budget deficit of at least $4bn (£2.5bn) this year, and it also lacks a choice of lenders it can secure loans from. After defaulting on $3.2bn in global bonds last year, Ecuador cut itself off from capital markets and multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Earlier this week Mr Correa was, according to the local press, considering the possibility of dissolving the assembly and ruling by decree until new elections because of the deadlock. This move would have to be approved by the Constitutional Court first, and this seems more likely after Thursday's events. Over the past year, environmentalists, students, teachers, journalists and miners have protested against Mr Correa's policies. Even indigenous people, which make up a quarter of Ecuador's population and were initially in favour of Mr Correa, went to the streets against new laws regulating mining and water management. On Thursday, Lourdes Tiban, an opposition politician with the Pachakutik indigenous party, condemned the police violence, but said Mr Correa was responsible for it. "This is the result of months of protests all of the social sectors that have been trampled on by the government," Ms Tiban told BBC News. "Correa can't act as a victim right now and say there's been a coup attempt. There's been no coup attempt whatsoever. What's happening now is his responsibility, he's calling for a confrontation." Leadership style Mr Correa's style is often described as confrontational. On Thursday, after police occupied their barracks nationwide, leaving the country in chaos, Mr Correa personally visited Quito's main barracks. He tore at his shirt while he said: "If you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill him, if you want to. Kill him if you are brave enough." Soon afterwards, he was forced to flee wearing a gas mask, and then was taken to hospital. He then said he would not negotiate and there would be "no pardon or forgiveness" for those involved in the rebellion. He also said the police were manipulated by members of the opposition who were trying to stage a coup. Mr Correa pointed the finger at former President Lucio Gutierrez, who is supported in the assembly by the Patriotic Society Party (PSP). Mr Gutierrez, who denied the accusation, was prominent in an uprising in 2000 that deposed then-President Jamil Mahuad, and was himself toppled by massive protests in 2005. Ecuador has a history of popular uprisings, and has had eight presidents since 1996. Mr Correa's government has been the most stable one in a decade - so far. But given his unwillingness to negotiate and growing social tensions within the country, a new period of instability seems to lie ahead.

जैसे ही इक्वाडोर के राष्ट्रपति राफेल कोरिया के अपने ही पुलिस बल द्वारा आँसू गैस छोड़ने के नाटकीय दृश्यों ने दुनिया भर में सुर्खियां बटोरीं, होंडुरास में पिछले साल की उथल-पुथल के साथ तुरंत समानताएं खींची गईं, जहां सेना ने तत्कालीन राष्ट्रपति मैनुअल ज़ेलाया को अपदस्थ कर दिया था।


Watch industry's times are changing

Summary: One of the luxury goods sector's showpiece events returns this week with its mix of innovation, art and wealth - topped off with a sprinkle of celebrity stardust from "brand ambassadors" from Hollywood or sport.

By Russell HottenBusiness reporter, BBC News It's Geneva's annual watch fair, Switzerland's global promotion of an industry that is still the country's third biggest exporter, after chemicals and machinery. The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) is where manufacturers (the event is dominated by Richemont and its many brands) and small artisan workshops display their latest products to dealers, collectors and the general public. You won't find much on show at the four-day event that's available in your local department store. But you will find watches of astonishing complexity costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. The "Made in Switzerland" label is still regarded as the hallmark of quality in mechanical watchmaking. It's where analogue still rules in an increasingly digital age. The industry gathers this week after generally healthy sales in 2018, although clouds hang over the sector. Worries about global trade, the rise of the smartwatch, and an industry-wide restructuring continue to put a brake on growth and investment. Even watch shows themselves are changing. SIHH and archrival Baselworld have agreed to synchronise future dates in a bid to ease their competition for the eyes of the world. The industry needed to change after a particularly dismal 2016 and 2017 caused by a downturn in key markets, oversupply of watches, a crackdown on "gifting" (bribery) in China, and subdued tourism in some European cities due to terrorism. Fabienne Lupo, chairwoman and managing director of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (which organises SIHH), says the industry went through "a crisis period". But after a painful restructuring and job losses, she says the "trends are looking quite good". Latest data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) shows that in the 11 months to the end of November the value of exports was up 7.1% on the previous period at 19.54bn Swiss francs (£15.5bn; $19.9bn). The biggest market, Hong Kong, was up 21% and the next two largest, the US and mainland China, rose 8% and 14% respectively. The increase in exports to the US comes after three years of consecutive declines. What's more, global shipments in the key luxury watch market - considered to be anything with a factory gate price above 3,000 Swiss francs (CHF) - are up 11%, while those in the sub-500 francs bracket are down about 15%. On Friday, Cartier-owner Richemont, the world's second largest luxury goods group, posted a 5% rise in quarterly sales, bolstered by double-digit growth in China. But, according to analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley, such positive headline numbers belie major challenges for big players like Swatch Group (which doesn't participate in SIHH) and Richemont. In a report last month, Morgan Stanley warned of a "disruptive and game-changing" few years as more retail sales move online. The analysts estimate that there is about €16bn (£14.5bn) worth of stock with third-party retailers worldwide. Wholesalers have been aghast at the amount of discounting online, which not only hurts profitability but also brand value. Companies can buy back the inventory, but it is expensive. In 2017 Richemont bought back €200m of unsold watches - and destroyed them so they would not be sold at knockdown prices. Richemont, which also owns the Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre watch brands, described its buyback strategy as an "exceptional measure" for "exceptional times". That radical move, along with management changes, investment in online, and a repositioning of brands, is at least making Richemont's watch division fit for the future, analysts say. "The industry has been through a long period of consolidation," says Ariel Adams, founder of the influential website ablogtowatch.com. "Companies have purchased brands as investments. But a lot of brands have not been allowed to develop." Some brands have lost their way, he says, partly because of frequent management changes and partly because they need investment. He believes some brands won't be around in a couple of years, such is the crowded marketplace. The watches being produced today are a lot less exciting than 10 years ago, he says. "Consumer demand is good. The problem lies with the people who sell watches." Morgan Stanley says smartwatches will continue to take market share from mechanical and quartz products as Apple, Samsung, Fossil and others develop their technology. That's unlikely to hurt Swatch Group's many high-end brands such as Longines, Breguet, Blancpain or Jaquet Droz. But, with the Apple Watch priced at about 450 Swiss francs, it's a threat to low-end products. "From a structural standpoint, we have become incrementally more bearish throughout the year on the impact smartwatches will have on the Swiss watch industry," Morgan Stanley says. Ms Lupo says the threat from the smartwatch revolution is overplayed. "Smartwatches are complementary to mechanical watches," she argues. "In our city you see people with one each of their wrists." It's difficult to envisage many millennials going to those lengths. But Ariel Adams says smartwatches are playing an important role in getting young people "to think and wear watches". Two decades ago, wearing a watch was going out of fashion. He sees smartwatches as "a gateway to luxury watches". "Young people are paying attention to watches, and that gives the industry a potential new generation of consumers," he says. What's more, manufacturers are dabbling with incorporating smart tech in watches that have the outward appearance of being all-mechanical. Some have experimented with screens on watch straps. This year's SIHH has a display area called The Lab to showcase watch technology and the use of robotics, 3D printers and artificial intelligence. Although the Swiss watch industry trades off heritage and tradition, Ms Lupo insists: "We are a very modern technological industry, despite being a very haute [fine watchmaking] industry." And if you want examples: Vacheron Constantin created a watch with 2,826 parts, while Patek Philippe has one with 1,728 parts. And these must rank as technological achievements in any age.

लग्जरी सामान क्षेत्र के शोपीस कार्यक्रमों में से एक इस सप्ताह अपने नवाचार, कला और धन के मिश्रण के साथ लौटता है-हॉलीवुड या खेल के "ब्रांड एंबेसडर" से सेलिब्रिटी स्टारडस्ट के छिड़काव के साथ शीर्ष पर है।


Armagh: Three escape injury as petrol bomb thrown into home

Summary: Three people have escaped injury after a petrol bomb was thrown into a house in Armagh.

The bomb was thrown through the living-room window of the house in Callan Bridge Park at about 04:50 BST on Saturday. A woman and two men were in the house at the time. Police are treating the "reckless attack" as arson with intent to endanger life and said it "could have had serious consequences". They have appealed for anyone with information to contact them.

अरमाघ में एक घर में पेट्रोल बम फेंके जाने के बाद तीन लोग घायल होने से बच गए हैं।


Dog map: Find the top pooch in your postcode

Summary: The British have a reputation for being a nation of dog lovers. But what is the British Isles' favourite pooch? And does your postcode play a role in which puppy you pick? The BBC analysed 10 years of microchipping data to find out.

By Beth Rose & Andy DangerfieldBBC News The UK's favourite dog is the Labrador retriever, BBC analysis of microchipping data has revealed. More than 509,000 Labradors were tagged in the past decade by pet registration companies Petlog and Animalcare, making it the country's most popular breed. In second place came the Jack Russell terrier with more than 376,000 animals tagged. The Staffordshire bull terrier was third, with 356,000. The data, which included five million dogs but excluded the numerous permutations of crossbreeds, also revealed that Liverpool was the most popular postcode for shih tzus, while greyhounds are the dog of choice in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Quiz: Test your doggie knowledge According to the Pet Food Manufacturer's Association, which carries out an annual pet population survey, about 25% of all households own a dog - this equates to more than 8.5 million across the British Isles. So which factors might dictate the puppy a potential owner picks? Does the size of your home play a role when considering which dog to get? Or is it local breeders who create the supply and demand, shaping the popularity of certain breeds? Hover over the map (on desktop and tablet only) and you can see, perhaps as expected, that in central London - where space is at a premium - there is a higher proportion of smaller dogs like dachshunds. On the Scottish borders and in Cornwall, where there is more space, border collies and Labradors prove more popular. How was the dog map produced? Find out why the government wants to microchip all dogs So why are Labrador retrievers, Jack Russell terriers, and Staffordshire bull terriers the leading breeds? The popularity of these dogs is down to the fact they are "wonderfully loyal, easily-trained breeds, suitable for single owners, couples or families", said Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko. But the dog map shows while Labradors are more popular in rural areas, it is Staffies that are favoured in big cities. "Labradors are very popular working dogs and are equally as happy spending a day out in the field or in the woods as they are curled up on the sofa with their family," said Ms Kisko. Staffordshire bull terriers "are happy living in smaller homes, so are ideal for those in towns or cities," she added. As for the glut of greyhounds in Halifax, Debra Rothery at Tia Greyhound & Lurcher Rescue, eight miles (12.8km) west of the town, has one explanation. "It's no surprise at all," she said. "Halifax has the biggest rescue centre in the north of England for lost greyhounds." So why are smaller dogs favoured in cities? Shih tzu breeder Anna Rogers, from north London, said the breed is popular in the capital because they "are compatible with people's day to day living" and because of their size. But Prof Lance Workman, of the University of South Wales, who has researched the psychology of dog ownership trends, said "sometimes the heart rules over the head". Referring to the recent London trend for dachshunds, he said: "They are certainly livelier than they look and can be a bit boisterous and aggressive, so they may not be the best dogs for small flats. "People need to not only look at the size of the dog but the breeds and their temperaments." But how are the more unlikely trends explained? For example, why does the Jack Russell appear to be man's best friend in places like Cornwall and south Wales? "I think there are more working dogs down here because they're practical," said vet Sarah Caldwell, who works at Calwelton Vets, in Callington, Cornwall. "Jack Russells are popular for ferreting," she added. "We have fewer what I'd call 'fancy dogs' down here which may be down to the availability. "If you're in the city areas you'll see more fashionable dogs." Perhaps this could explain the popularity of shih tzus in Liverpool. "Shih tzus are quite fashionable," said Ingrid Hawk, a groomer at Liverpool's The Posh Pooch. "We get quite a lot of them coming through the doors - they mainly get their full hair cut and a bath and their nails done." Glynis Stewart, owner of Trendy Pooches Dog Grooming Salon and Spa in Wirral, agreed. "I think it's a bit of a fashion thing, we sell the coats and jumpers and the bling collars... you've really got to play the game," she said. Portable Jack Russells JT Thomas, who takes his Jack Russell, Charlie, for a stroll in Regent's Park, London, said he chose a smaller dog because "he's portable". "Charlie comes in to the office, we go out for walks and he comes to the pub and sits under the table," he said. Staffies 'aren't chav dogs' Audrey Summerfield, who lives in Wolverhampton and owns three generations of Staffies, said: "They're very compact compared with Labradors." But some Staffie owners feel their pet pooches are sometimes misrepresented. Gill Burdis said someone described her Staffie, Stella, as a "baby-eating chav dog" when in fact she was a quiet family dog. 'Gentle' Labradors "Labradors are very gentle and loyal," said Sarah Buckingham, from Aldwick near Bognor Regis. "He's got lots of space and he's lucky where he lives because he goes on the beach every day." 'Dapper' dachshunds Dachshunds are popular with "trendy" owners in the capital. Lisa Ronchetti who runs the Dachshunds in London club and owns a dog called Milo said it was an "aloof" breed and a "very adaptable city dog" making it popular with city slickers. "They're small, they don't need miles of walking and they're quite good for small flats," she said. "They're not ideal family dogs because they like one owner and they can be very aloof, they're not as playful as something like a labradoodle." Dog graphics produced by Ed Lowther, Ransome Mpini, Nzar Tofiq and John Walton. Artwork by Mark Bryson.

अंग्रेज़ों की कुत्ते प्रेमियों का देश होने की प्रतिष्ठा है। लेकिन ब्रिटिश द्वीपों का पसंदीदा कुत्ता कौन सा है? और क्या आपका पोस्टकोड एक भूमिका निभाता है कि आप किस कुत्ते को चुनते हैं? बीबीसी ने यह पता लगाने के लिए 10 साल के माइक्रोचिपिंग डेटा का विश्लेषण किया।


Virgin's Hyperloop: Future or fantasy?

Summary: So, here's the plan - we're going to load you into a pod, and then shoot you at 700 mph (1,123 km/h) through a vacuum, taking you to your destination in minutes rather than hours.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter That is the rather unlikely pitch of Hyperloop One. But the remarkable thing that struck me on a recent trip to the project's test site in Nevada was that nobody thought it was, well, remarkable. The Hyperloop idea, first floated by Tesla's Elon Musk, has sparked a number of projects keen to demonstrate that putting a maglev train in a vacuum tube can deliver the revolutionary transport system of the future. Maglev - or magnetic levitation - trains, which use magnets to lift a train above rails, reducing friction and increasing possible speeds, are already in operation. One takes passengers from Shanghai to its airport at 270 mph (430 km/h). But of the plans to make a maglev even faster by putting it in a vacuum tube, Hyperloop One - or as we must now call it following Sir Richard Branson's investment, Virgin Hyperloop One - is the most advanced. Arriving on the site in the desert 40 miles north of Las Vegas, you can immediately see this is a costly operation to run. A 500m (1,640ft) test track, or Devloop, has been constructed and a workforce of 300, including 200 high-calibre engineers, has been assembled. They have run a number of tests, propelling a pod through the tube at speeds of up 387km/h (240mph). So far, however, they have not put people on board. Leading the engineering team is a fast-talking space scientist Anita Sengupta, recruited from Nasa where she helped develop the Mars Curiosity rover. Having worked on what she describes as the "challenging engineering problem" of landing vehicles on other planets, she brushes aside my doubts about whether this earthbound project is realistic. She gestures towards the white pipe snaking across the desert: "It's a realistic project because you can look around and see our development test tube." She says the technology has already been proven and dismisses my suggestion that people might be cautious about climbing aboard. "The Hyperloop is a maglev train in a vacuum tube," she explains. "You can also think of it as an aircraft flying at 200,000ft [38 miles]," she added referring to the equivalent air pressure level. "People don't have any issue flying in aircraft and people don't have any issue travelling in maglev trains. This just combines the two." She predicts that the project will have passed through safety certification and be ready to launch a commercial operation by 2021, which seems insanely optimistic. It is the job of the chief executive Rob Lloyd to sell the Hyperloop to the commercial and government partners who will make it a reality. But when we met him at the giant CES tech show in Las Vegas, he appeared to think that the viability of the technology was a given, wanting to talk instead about an app that would connect future Hyperloop passengers with other modes of transport on arrival. I tried to bring him back to earth by explaining how long it took to build infrastructure projects like Britain's HS2 high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham. He came straight back with an idea he said could mean that the third runway at Heathrow - another project that has been many years in the works - would no longer be needed. "You could build a Hyperloop between Gatwick and Heathrow and move between those two airports as if they were terminals in four minutes," he explained. "That's probably less time than it takes to move between Terminal 5 and Terminal 2 today at Heathrow." More from CES 2018: Creating one giant seven-terminal airport without the huge cost and controversy of building a new runway might seem attractive. Sir Richard Branson, who now chairs the project, told us "a fast link between Heathrow and Gatwick would make a lot of sense". But it also sounds fanciful. The cost of tunnelling from Heathrow to Gatwick or the planning nightmare of running several tubes across the Sussex and Surrey countryside would surely make building a third runway seem like a piece of cake. Meanwhile Elon Musk is pursuing his own Hyperloop projects, tunnelling under Los Angeles and claiming last summer that he had "verbal approval" from the US government to build a link that would take passengers between New York and Washington DC in under half an hour. This also sounds a deeply unlikely mission, and one suspects that the investors who have poured so much money into Musk's Tesla would be reluctant to open their pockets again. But Rob Lloyd at the Virgin Hyperloop remains confident that at least a few governments will have the vision to take forward what he calls the first new mode of transport since the aircraft. After years when technology innovation seems to have been all about social media - 140 characters instead of jetpacks as investor Peter Thiel puts it - such an ambitious vision is refreshing. Even if one suspects that Hyperloop routes linking major cities are unlikely to make it off the drawing board, the project is doing a great job of making us think about a greener transport system.

तो, यहाँ योजना है-हम आपको एक पॉड में लोड करने जा रहे हैं, और फिर आपको वैक्यूम के माध्यम से 700 मील प्रति घंटे (1,123 किमी/घंटा) की गति से शूट करते हैं, जो आपको घंटों के बजाय मिनटों में अपने गंतव्य तक ले जाता है।


Hollie Kerrell: Husband denies killing mother of three

Summary: A man has denied killing his wife, whose body was found four days after she went missing.

Christopher Kerrell, 35, of Knighton, Powys, pleaded not guilty to the murder or manslaughter of 28-year-old Hollie Kerrell on 22 April. The body of Ms Kerrell, also of Knighton, was found four days later. Mr Kerrell was remanded in custody at Cardiff Crown Court. He will next appear in August, with a trial listed for October.

एक आदमी ने अपनी पत्नी की हत्या से इनकार किया है, जिसका शव लापता होने के चार दिन बाद मिला था।


Covid vaccine: Period changes could be a short-term side effect

Summary: At a Covid vaccine appointment, you will probably be warned of possible side effects - fever, headache, a sore arm for a day or two afterwards. Changes to the menstrual cycle will not appear on the list.

By Olga Robinson & Rachel SchraerBBC Reality Check But women online around the world have started asking if early, heavy or painful periods might be an unlisted reaction to the jab. Dr Kate Clancy, a medical anthropologist, shared on Twitter her experience of an unusually heavy period following the Moderna vaccine, and received dozens of similar accounts in response. With former colleague Dr Katharine Lee, she launched a survey documenting people's experiences. We don't yet know whether the vaccine is causing these changes - it hasn't been studied. It's possible women post-vaccination were more likely to notice or attribute changes, particularly after hearing about others' experiences. But Dr Victoria Male, a reproductive immunologist at Imperial College London, said some post-menopausal women, and people taking hormones which stop their periods, have reported bleeding. So she's inclined to suspect there may be a physical reaction occurring. A number of trans men and post-menopausal women who don't normally have periods got in touch with Drs Clancy and Lee saying they had experienced bleeding after the jab. And, though the link is unproven, there are logical reasons the vaccine could be causing changes to periods - but these changes are not anything to worry about, reproductive specialists say. While painful or unexpected periods can be distressing, they're not a sign of any long-term harm. Plausible link The womb lining is part of the immune system - in fact there are immune cells in almost every part of the body. Immune cells play a role in building up, maintaining and breaking down the lining of the uterus - which thickens to prepare for a pregnancy, and then sheds in the form of a period if the egg is not fertilised. After vaccination, lots of chemical signals which have the potential to affect immune cells are circulating round the body. This could cause the womb lining to shed, and lead to spotting or earlier periods, Dr Male explained. No link to miscarriage This doesn't mean there is any link to miscarriages though - during pregnancy different processes maintain the womb lining, including the presence of the placenta - the organ linking the fetus to its mother's blood supply. Dr Male said there is now extensive evidence from women who have had the jab which suggests they are at no higher risk of pregnancy loss. What we do know, though is that infections including Covid are linked to miscarriage and pre-term delivery, according to Dr Alexandra Alvergne at the University of Oxford. She said there was a plausible link between the vaccine and menstrual changes, as the timing of ovulation (when an egg is released) can be affected by inflammation. This can be the case when people are sick and have a fever, but vaccines also cause an inflammatory response in the body - it's all part of your immune system firing up and starting to produce the antibodies and other cells that fight disease. There is also some evidence from a previous study that people with signs of inflammation from infection had more painful periods. The effects are all temporary There is evidence from both the flu and HPV vaccines that they can affect the menstrual cycle temporarily - but there are no long-term side effects. And there's "masses of evidence" they don't affect fertility, Dr Male said. While these changes shouldn't be of concern, Dr Male and others spoken to for this article emphasise the need for studies into the effect of the vaccine on periods, so that people know what to expect. "There's an issue here about how often women's health is ignored," she said. "Imagine if you didn't know that fever could be a vaccine side effect?" gynaecologist Dr Jen Gunter wrote on her site The Vajenda. "You might be concerned that something untoward was happening to your body, when all you were experiencing was a typical post-vaccine fever. That is exactly the same with menstrual irregularities." Equally, for trans men and post-menopausal women, bleeding can be a sign of cancer, so it's important for people to know whether it is also a harmless vaccine side effect, Dr Lee explained. Dr Sue Ward, vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said anyone who notices bleeding that is unusual for them should consider contacting their doctor. And she encouraged people to think about reporting any concerns or possible side effects to the Yellow Card scheme to help track them. Vaccine misinformation Meanwhile, the notion of vaccines affecting periods has been picked up by people spreading misinformation on social media. Anti-vaccine and conspiracy theory groups have presented genuine accounts of people's personal experiences - like Dr Clancy's thread - as evidence of vaccines causing damage, or being part of a sterilisation plot by global elites. False claims that women's cycles or even pregnancies could be affected just by being near vaccinated people have gained significant traction on social media in recent weeks. One such video, viewed well over 300,000 times since mid-April, shows a "holistic reproductive practitioner" warning users that "women's periods and their menstrual cycles are being significantly affected, even if they haven't received it [the vaccine] themselves". Other anti-vaccine advocates and holistic health practitioners, in posts gaining hundreds of thousands of views across platforms, claimed vaccinated people can "shed" the virus's spike protein to others. This is physically impossible. Most Covid-19 vaccines work by giving the body instructions to make a tiny fragment of the virus's distinctive spike so it can learn how to fight it off. The spike protein, which cannot reproduce, then disintegrates or is destroyed. The mRNA - the instruction to make the spike protein - is also extremely fragile. That's why those vaccines are so hard to store and transport, because the genetic information falls apart and becomes useless very easily. None of the vaccines allow any part of the virus to replicate, let alone shed - the only thing replicating are your immune cells which produce antibodies to fight off viruses.

कोविड वैक्सीन की नियुक्ति के समय, आपको संभवतः संभावित दुष्प्रभावों के बारे में चेतावनी दी जाएगी-बुखार, सिरदर्द, एक या दो दिन के लिए हाथ में दर्द। मासिक धर्म चक्र में परिवर्तन सूची में दिखाई नहीं देगा।


Tunni Rai: A life without identity

Summary: Tunni Rai was born in 1947, the year India got its independence. He has spent most of his life without an official identity. As India carries out the world's biggest biometric identity creation scheme, Tunni Rai describes how he has struggled without official proof of existence.

I was born in my family hut in a village in Bihar state. My father never got a birth certificate for me. He would tell me that I was born the year India was freed, so that is how I know I was born in 1947. It has been difficult for me to get an identity because I did not have any proof of my existence and almost all my life I have spent without an official identity. After a BBC team came to talk to me earlier this month, I came to know that a voter's identity card had been sent to my village. A few months ago, some photographers came to our village, took our pictures and scribbled down some details for this card. But even this is full of errors: my name is written as Tunni Singh, my birth date is given as 1950, and my picture looks like somebody else's. Life has been very difficult without an identity, it has dragged on with many cruel twists and turns. 'Worthless existence' I hail from Bhikhua village in Patna district. I have three sons and two daughters. I have never gone to school and I am unlettered. My father Ishri Rai was a marginal farmer and had five sons. I was the eldest one. Like my father, I started farming in my childhood. I have faced many difficulties because of a lack of proof of my identity. I remember one incident which jolted me, leading me to realise that I led a worthless existence. Many years ago, one of my grandsons was bitten by a stray dog in my village. The villagers told me to take the child to a government hospital for an anti-rabies injection. I took him to Patna Medical College and Hospital, which is just 30km (18 miles) from my village. But when I reached the hospital, the doctors asked me for proof of my identity. When I said I had no proof, they refused to administer the injection to my grandchild. I returned, cursing my fate. Thank God, my grandson did not get rabies and survived without taking the injection. I was dragging on with life tilling a small plot of land in my village when tragedy struck my family. Again, I faced the biggest difficulty of my life for want of any documents, card or identity proof. One night in October 2009, some thieves went up to the electricity pole passing through my farm to steal the wires. One of them was electrocuted and dropped dead on my farm. The next day, the police came to the village and without sending the body for a post-mortem examination accused me murder. Despite my best efforts and running from pillar to post, I could not prove my innocence as everywhere I was asked for any sort of pehchan patra (identity proof) in order to get help. Lawyers asked me for identity, officials told me they could not believe me because they weren't sure of my identity. Eventually I and my family surrendered to the court and were sent to jail. I could not mount a defence because lawyers asked me for my identity and residence proof to prepare the legal papers. I had none. So I could not be represented. I spent six months in prison before I got bail. But I couldn't muster the courage to go back to my village. I lost everything. I borrowed money by mortgaging my farm to support my family. I came to Patna and started working as a security guard. Fortunately, one of my relatives was working in the same security service so they did not ask me for any proof of identity. Fate has been cruel. Once I was a farmer, now I work as a lowly security guard. One of my sons, Sunil Kumar, is a daily wage labourer in Patna and earns 200 rupees ($3.71) a day, but not regularly. My younger son Binod Kumar is a contracted police driver and earns the same. My elder son, Anil Kumar, stays with me. Life has been cruel to him, too, as he lost his mental balance when he was abducted for a forced marriage some 11 years ago. Challenge I earn 5,000 rupees ($92) a month for my 16-hour job guarding an apartment complex. Most of my earnings go towards medical treatment for my elder son and fighting the murder case, which is still ongoing. My case has been bundled with that of my family, who are my co-accused. As some of them have identity papers, I am able to fight the charges with them. I have never voted because until now I didn't have a voter's card. I have not been able to open a bank account or get connected to the electric grid in my village, as both require identification papers. I do not have a mobile phone as that requires proper papers, too. Furthermore, I could not benefit from any of the government's welfare schemes because I have no identity. I have not been able to transfer my ancestral land into my name. I face this challenge of being an identity-less person daily in some way or other but now I'm used to it. Yes, I wished that I could have opened a bank account in my name. But, I think, the time for all such things has passed. My only identity is my honesty. But does honesty pay these days? Does it help one opening a bank account or getting a doctor give your grandson an anti-rabies injection? I don't have much faith in the voter's identity card - at this stage in life how does it matter? How will it help me? What difference will it make if I vote for somebody using this card? Tunni Rai spoke to Amarnath Tewary in Patna, Bihar

तुन्नी राय का जन्म 1947 में हुआ था, जिस वर्ष भारत को स्वतंत्रता मिली थी। उन्होंने अपना अधिकांश जीवन बिना किसी आधिकारिक पहचान के बिताया है। जब भारत दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी बायोमेट्रिक पहचान निर्माण योजना चला रहा है, तो तुन्नी राय बताते हैं कि उन्होंने अस्तित्व के आधिकारिक प्रमाण के बिना कैसे संघर्ष किया है।