'A surprise and a risk': Reaction to Booker Prize upheaval

Summary: An excellent idea, or a betrayal of British authors?

The decision to allow writers from around the world to compete for the Man Booker Prize has split the literary establishment. Some have welcomed the expansion of the field. Others say American novelists will come to dominate the prize, previously awarded to English-language authors from the Commonwealth, including the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. Many more have noted that the newly established Folio Prize was about to announce its first shortlist, using a similar international criteria. Authors, judges and experts told the BBC which side of the fence they fell on. AS Byatt, former Booker judge and winner Once described as the "patron saint of bookworms", AS Byatt won the Booker in 1990 for Possession: A Romance, a story about two academics who use their skills in textual analysis to uncover the story of a clandestine love affair between two Victorian poets. She also served as a judge in 1974 - and that is the basis of her objection to the new rules. "I am very strongly against this change," she told the BBC, "because it will make judging impossible. "I remember judging a short-story prize where the organisers were so overwhelmed with the number of entries, they employed sifters to reduce the number to an amount they thought the judges could read. "In that instance, the winner was not someone picked by the sifters. "I had to go back and ask for his entry because I knew of his work. "So my worry is that good work may not be picked out." Byatt thinks the number of entries from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth will have to be restricted to avoid overwhelming the judges, and is against the practice of publishing a longlist "because it depresses sales and spirits for any author" not featured. Most of all, she fears that, by tinkering with the entry criteria, the Booker has diluted its identity. "It won't have the thoroughness that the Booker has had - it was very intelligently planned." "It is a little bit weird that Britain hasn't had an international prize," says AL Kennedy. "Ireland does. America has some. It's always seemed a little bit churlish to not reward people for wanting to be published by a British publisher and write in English." The writer, whose 2007 novel Day won the Costa Prize, was also a judge for the 1996 Booker, when Graham Swift's Last Orders took the title. She says the literary award has had a "bumpy ride" over the past decade, and has undoubtedly felt the International Impac Dublin Literary Award and the Folio Prize nipping at its heels. But she welcomes the decision to broaden its horizons. "The wonderful thing about writing is that I can sit and I can read a Russian [novel] and be taken there. Or I can read about an old bloke or a dead fish - it doesn't matter. It's a field within which everything is possible. "It's deeply international, deeply humane. It has no borders. "It's lovely that the Booker is reaching out." There could be an advantage for future nominees, too. "I imagine they would get more prize money, potentially, if it was a very large international prize." "It's a risk," says Prof Mullan, a literary critic who has judged the Best of the Booker in 2008 and the main prize in 2009. "Although it appears to let in lots more good fiction, it risks diluting the identity of the prize, which has a strangely generous range and yet a curious kind of coherence." The 45-year rule that the prize should go to a writer in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth "means that you get books, as in this year's shortlist, from all over the world that are bound together by common identity", he adds. "Bringing in American books might well risk diluting that." "It's going to make it more and more likely that the competition is seen as a series of face-offs - a Ryder Cup of literature. "It's going to be Toni Morrison versus Hilary Mantel, or Jonathan Franzen against Ian McEwan, and I think that's really unfortunate. "The great thing about the prize is that there's always room in it for surprises. "We shouldn't forget that, in 1981, when Salman Rushdie won with Midnight's Children, no-one had ever heard of him." "Good novels will be overlooked," says Anne Meadows, assistant editor at Granta - who has concerns about the newly imposed restrictions on submitting entries to the Booker Prize. Previously, any publisher could submit two novels for consideration. Under the new system, it will be one - unless they have had a book shortlisted in the previous five years. "It means the prize will be dominated by big publishing houses who maybe aren't taking as many risks," says Ms Meadows. "It could make it incredibly elitist." Editors at Granta had a hard task whittling down their catalogue to two books this year. Having to select just one, she says, would be a disservice to their writers. "Publishers do not always bet on the correct horse," she argues. "It would be impossible for anyone to say, 'This is the best novel that we have'. Or at least it should be. "If you're publishing brilliant writers, you're usually publishing a few of them." On a positive note, Ms Meadows doesn't think Booker judges will be blinded by the leading lights of US literature. "The Booker is very unpredictable and that is one of its great strengths," she says. "It quite often eschews big names." Dr Brauner welcomes the new rules, but describes them as "a commercial decision", designed to foil the Folio. He says he would be "amazed" if US authors don't come to dominate the prize, "unless the panel are less than objective". "I'm not impartial myself, I'm an American-ist, but it's been my view for many years... that there's really no comparison. "Just on the microcosmic level of sentence-by-sentence the most exciting prose is being written by American writers. "Even some of our most famous British writers would be the first to say that - people like Ian McEwan and Martin Amis and Julian Barnes. "The people they are inspired by, by and large, are Americans." Dr Brauner has drawn up a speculative list of the US novels that might have won the Booker in the 21st Century, had they been eligible. It sees prominent authors such as Cormac McCarthy (The Road), Tony Morrison (A Mercy) and David Foster Wallace (The Pale King) named as potential winners. Almost every time, says Dr Brauner, the US contenders outshine the actual winners. "I believe the only Booker winner who might have triumphed even in the face of the American competition would have been Hilary Mantel with Wolf Hall in 2009. "The fact that she was chosen again last year for her sequel to that novel, however, exposes the relative weakness of British fiction." "I think there was some pressure on them from the Man Group, who sponsor the prize," says Andrew Holgate of the Sunday Times. The story of the relaxed entry criteria "will be picked up in America", where it is guaranteed to "cause lots of argument", he says. "That will be perfect for the Man Group. There's no such thing as bad publicity." He concedes there will be "anxiety" about the influx of US authors, but states "British and Commonwealth authors can hold their own". "There is an element of cultural cringe among British authors but if you look at it slightly more in-depth, Philip Roth has just retired and some of the other really big heavy hitters like Updike [and] Mailer have died. In any case, he argues: "When they come over here, the American authors, they're not treated with as much respect." The Folio was announced in 2011, somewhat controversially, as a counterpoint to the Booker, which had declared an intention to focus on "readability". It was, until today, the only major literary prize open to writers from all over the world. Founder Andrew Kidd admits he was "a little surprised" by the Booker committee's move, "because when we created the Folio Prize, it was because we perceived a gap". "Whether or not this is directly a response to us, I'm sure it's something they have been thinking of on-and-off over the years," he told the BBC. "We'll just have to wait and see whether it's the right decision." Mr Kidd said the Booker's "impressive" profile in the US might suffer if it lost its intrinsic "Britishness" and became harder to distinguish from the Pulitzer Prize. But he was philosophical about the competition between the Booker and the Folio, which hands out its first award in January 2014. "There's room for both of us," he said, stressing that the Folio "is the only prize where writers are solely judged by their peers" in the writing world.

एक उत्कृष्ट विचार, या ब्रिटिश लेखकों के साथ विश्वासघात?


EastEnders star Preeya Kalidas unveils debut single

Summary: Preeya Kalidas, who up until recently played the part of Amira Shah in BBC soap EastEnders, is launching a new career in pop music.

The actress-turned-singer signed a deal with Mercury in 2009 and releases debut single Shimmy on 26 July. Speaking about the track Kalidas said: "When we were in the studio and we started laying it down, building it, it just became so sassy. "It's total escapism, a real brew of sexiness and ethnicity." The track is a collaboration with East London based MC Mumzy Stranger. Before securing a part in the soap in April 2009 Kalidas appeared in films including East Is East and Bend It Like Beckham. She also played the part of Sofia in Chris Morris' recently released movie Four Lions.

प्रीया कालिदास, जिन्होंने हाल तक बीबीसी धारावाहिक ईस्टएंडर्स में अमीरा शाह की भूमिका निभाई थी, पॉप संगीत में एक नया करियर शुरू कर रही हैं।


Does JNU campus attack mean India is failing its young?

Summary: Its list of alumni includes a Nobel-Prize winning economist, former prime ministers of Libya and Nepal, and many leading politicians, diplomats, artists and academics. It is also an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research, and is among one of India's top ranked universities.

Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent Yet the storied reputation of Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) didn't deter a mob of masked men armed with sticks, stones and iron rods running berserk on its sprawling campus on Sunday evening. They attacked students and teachers and destroyed property even as the police refused to intervene for more than an hour. Outside the campus gates, another mob shouted nationalist slogans and targeted journalists and ambulances. Nearly 40 people were hurt in the violence. Left and right-wing students groups have blamed each other for the violence. Most eyewitnesses told reporters that the mob was mainly made up of men belonging to the ABVP - the right-wing students group linked to India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - and a clutch of outsiders. Ostensibly, Sunday's violence appears to have been stoked by a dispute over a hostel fee hike, which has roiled the campus for the last few months. University authorities have blamed the attack on a "group of students" who were opposing an ongoing admission process to register new students - it is widely believed that the statement referred to leftist students who have been protesting against the fee hike. But there are deepening fears that the BJP wants to muzzle dissent on the campus, which has traditionally been a hotbed of left-wing politics. Ever since Mr Modi's party stormed to power riding a crest of Hindu nationalism, JNU has been a constant target. Students have been charged with sedition for making speeches, and the university has been vilified by the party and partisan news networks as "anti-national". Its students have been called "urban" Maoists. Sunday's campus attack tells you a few things about India. For one, it points to a breakdown of law and order in the capital, the responsibility of which lies with India's powerful interior minister Amit Shah. If mobs can enter one of India's best universities and the police fails to protect students and teachers, then who exactly is safe, many are asking. Also, critics say BJP's brand of politics is leading to expected - and disturbing - consequences. Since he has been in office, Mr Modi and Mr Shah have relentlessly belittled and demonised political opponents and critics, calling them anti-national and and urban Maoists. "By calling all protests as anti-national, an atmosphere of legtimisation of lawless violence has been developed," says political scientist Suhas Palshikar. There's been, he adds, a "systematic manufacturing of atmosphere of suspicion and hatred". The result is that there is dwindling tolerance for dissenting views. The incident, according to Roshan Kishore, a senior journalist and JNU alumnus himself, proves that "we are living in an age where ideological differences in places of learning will be crushed by brute force, and the state at best will remain a bystander". The attack on JNU is tragic in more ways than one. The university has an amazing diversity of students, cutting across class, caste, gender and religion. The campus is a "revolution of sorts" where the rich and poor, the influential and the obscure, the city-bred and students from villages meet, study and live, says Rakesh Batabyal, author of JNU: The Making Of A University. "What happened on Sunday night is something the campus has never seen," adds Atul Sood, a faculty member. However, JNU is no stranger to violent conflict. In the 1980s teachers and students clashed over plans to change the admission policy. Newspaper headlines spoke about the "anarchy" on the campus. Students attacked homes of teachers. Police, according to many accounts, thrashed students. A number of students were arrested and nearly 40 of them expelled from the campus. Force, writes Mr Batabyal, became a "new signifier for politics in the campus". Things are different this time. The government's response to the violence has been frosty: it has refused to engage with protesting students. The JNU incident is the third time since December that protesting students have been targeted in campuses - students of two leading universities in Delhi and the northern city of Aligarh have recently borne the brunt of police brutality. "The constant demonisation of students by the government continues to increase their vulnerability to such attacks and awards impunity to the attackers. It is imperative that the government listens to its citizens," says Avinash Kumar of Amnesty International India. What is more worrying, is that India's opposition has failed to pick up the cudgels on behalf of the students. "A society which condones violence against its universities is only condoning the destruction of its future," says Mr Kishore. India is clearly failing its young. Read more from Soutik Biswas Follow Soutik on Twitter at @soutikBBC

इसके पूर्व छात्रों की सूची में नोबेल पुरस्कार विजेता अर्थशास्त्री, लीबिया और नेपाल के पूर्व प्रधान मंत्री और कई प्रमुख राजनेता, राजनयिक, कलाकार और शिक्षाविद शामिल हैं। यह शिक्षण और अनुसंधान के लिए एक अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्तर पर प्रसिद्ध केंद्र भी है, और भारत के शीर्ष विश्वविद्यालयों में से एक है।


Cycle speedway: The 'skid kids' who raced bicycles on WW2 bomb sites

Summary: In the post-war UK, groups of teenagers found a use for the crumbling bomb sites that scarred their cities - they raced bicycles on them. How did this hazardous and haphazard pastime become a hugely popular sport?

By Emma AilesBBC News "The back wheels skid wildly, the cinders fly, and another rider makes a four-point landing on crash helmet, hands and knee…" This was the scene painted by The News Chronicle and Sunday Illustrated. The year was 1950, and hundreds of people had turned out to line a dusty bomb site in south London to watch the hottest new sport around - cycle speedway. Born in the aftermath of World War Two, cycle speedway grew from humble beginnings. Groups of teenage lads with little to do took rickety old bicycles, not otherwise roadworthy, and began racing them on makeshift tracks in the rubble of the UK's war-ravaged cities. They were imitating motorcycle speedway - which rose to huge popularity between the wars, with tracks all over the UK that drew large crowds. The bicycle-riding "skid kids", as they were affectionately known, wore battered old crash helmets, leather jerkins and bibs proudly marked with their team's emblem. Their kit was homemade, their bikes had no gears or brakes, but many of the boys soon became master mechanics and riders. By 1949, the Daily Graphic estimated "the number of teenage enthusiasts of this post-war craze was anything between 30,000 and 100,000". Races were televised by the BBC, and national newspapers including the Daily Mail, the News of the World and The Star followed the results. There were more than 200 clubs in east London alone, and even the Duke of Edinburgh was said to be a fan. The phenomenon spread across the country. Portsmouth, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Cardiff and many other British cities each had numerous teams. Wherever the bombs rained down, speedway tracks rose from the ashes. One of the original skid kids was Len Finch. He grew up in wartime Walthamstow, north-east London, and started cycle speedway racing at the age of 16 in 1946. "Where we lived in the East End there were lots of bomb sites. They were a draw for kids - they were untamed land," he says. "My bike was an old frame my dad bought for five shillings, and some old wheels put on. No brakes or anything. And the handlebars were bent up high like bull horns - people used to make them out of gas piping. "After the war it was just a matter of make do and mend. It was a Cinderella sport." Finch remembers joining together with other kids from the area to clear rubble off a bomb site behind St James Street station in Walthamstow. They formed their own club called the Walthamstow Wolves, complete with branded bibs, team manager and mascot. Soon they were racing teams across London, including the Warwick Lions in Hackney, the Tottenham Kangaroos, the Beckton Aces and the Portway Penguins. One of the best were the Stratford Hammers, who were based on a large bomb site at West Ham. "You'd go round and round with your leg out left, racing against each other," Finch recalls. "We all wanted to be motor speedway riders when we grew up, so I suppose we were aping them." In a time of post-war austerity and rationing, the bombsites offered a "paradise" of freedom for urban teens, says sports historian Simon Inglis. "It was the birth of youth culture that hadn't existed before, which enabled kids to have a completely separate identity to their parents for the first time - cycle speedway was something that no adult did." World War Two The timeline of history's most savage and devastating war By the early 1950s, the skid kids began to gain official recognition. The National Amateur Cycle Speedway Association was set up to oversee the sport. A few local authorities found the money to build proper tracks. There were inter-city - and even international - races. Ten thousand people are said to have watched the first international between England and the Netherlands at the Empress Hall in Earls Court, London, in 1950. The riders might only have been aged 16 and 17, but many became minor celebrities in their local area. Former Bermondsey Greyhounds and Lynton Lynx rider Joe Foster, now 79, remembers the thrill of competing in front of such crowds. "It was exciting - it would be absolutely chock-a-block, quite an atmosphere with people cheering you. I'd say there were more than 3,000 people sometimes," he says. "You had to be outstanding to get on the team. Certain riders were heroes... and you certainly got recognised by young females. "Of course, there were loads of crashes. You had to be keen, shall we say." The News of the World's "Speedway Correspondent" Dudley Smith wrote in 1951: "Today if you go to the more devastated areas of London or any of the other big towns on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, you are quite likely to see a youth complete with crash helmet, coloured jersey and specially adapted bike, making his way to a bombed-site track just around the corner. "With him, probably, will be his young girl friend, one of the many fans who hang over the rails and cheer on the juvenile heroes of the backyard arenas." But not everyone was so enamoured by the new craze. Police warned riders about using their machines on the roads and churches objected on the basis that it enticed boys away from Sunday School. Councils widely opposed the use of bomb sites for sport, claiming it was "noisy, undignified and unnecessary". Paddington Borough Council reportedly even burned down a bomb site track because of complaints about "obscene language and hooliganism". In a letter to the Daily Mirror in 1949, the Taddyforde Cyclists from Exeter complained that "cycle racing will be damaged if the public thinks of it in terms of youth pedalling at a speed of which the slowest novice would be ashamed". But others defended the sport. With a sentiment that perhaps rings surprisingly modern, a Mrs Jean Shilllibeer, secretary of the Clapham Panthers, wrote in reply: "It keeps them out of gangs and develops in them a team spirit. "The boys work hard in maintaining their tracks and each boy seems to find a flair for something - one finds himself good at repairing bikes, another for organisation, another for painting signs and so on." This heyday of cycle speedway was short-lived. By the late 1950s, bomb sites were steadily being cleared away, potential riders were being drafted into the armed forces for National Service, and most clubs gradually petered out. What remains of this era is photographs, newspaper cuttings and memories of days spent skidding through the dust. But the sport still exists. There are still thriving clubs and a national league. And for Finch, cycling has remained a passion. He still competes in veteran road races despite being 84 years old. And he shows no sign of slowing up - even after more than 70 years in the saddle. "Everybody says isn't it time you packed up? I always say to the people older than me, 'Time you packed up and gave us youngsters a chance'," he says. "Why do I keep doing it? It's something that gets in your blood, that's all I can say." Images courtesy of Len Finch, Joe Foster and Southwark Local History Library. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

युद्ध के बाद यू. के. में, किशोरों के समूहों को ध्वस्त बम स्थलों के लिए एक उपयोग मिला, जिन्होंने उनके शहरों को क्षत-विक्षत कर दिया-वे उन पर साइकिल चलाते थे। यह खतरनाक और बेतरतीब मनोरंजन कैसे एक बेहद लोकप्रिय खेल बन गया?


Skomer and Marloes Sands on Lonely Planet holiday list

Summary: Two Pembrokeshire beauty spots have been named among the 10 best places to go in Europe for a family holiday.

Skomer Island and Marloes Sands are included in travel guide Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2015 list. Kent was ranked top, followed by County Kerry in Ireland, with destinations in Germany and Hungary also making the top five. The guide said Skomer's marine nature reserve and 500,000-strong bird population were among its draws. It also recommended visiting Marloes Sands - "a mile-long sweep of beach that does a vanishing act at high tide". Europe's 10 Best Places for Family Holidays, by Lonely Planet

दो पेम्ब्रोकेशायर सौंदर्य स्थलों को पारिवारिक अवकाश के लिए यूरोप में जाने के लिए 10 सर्वश्रेष्ठ स्थानों में नामित किया गया है।


Is Islamic State shaping Boko Haram media?

Summary: Following the launch of an official Twitter feed for the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram in January, there have been multiple signs that the group's media operation has been influenced by the expansionist Islamic State (IS, formerly Isis or Isil).

AnalysisBy BBC Monitoring The group, which refers to itself as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, had not previously maintained an established online channel for its propaganda or any official social media presence in any language. But on 18 January, an Arabic-language Twitter account purporting to be the official outlet for a new Boko Haram media group called Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa was launched and immediately promoted by key pro-IS media operatives. Since then, the group has used the feed to publish a stream of propaganda, including several new videos, although there has been some disruption to its media activities following the suspension of the original account by Twitter. Signs of Islamic State influence The increased sophistication and organisation of the propaganda that followed the launch of the Twitter account bore signs of the influence of IS, which has honed its social media exploitation over the past year. This appeared to indicate that the group may have been assisted by IS media operatives, or influenced by IS in an indirect way. Boko Haram has followed the example of IS by publishing branded photographs of its militants and the areas under its control to illustrate its successes on the ground. The Twitter feed has also been posting a stream of short statements about the group's activities, claiming operations in a timely manner, in the mould of Islamic State's one-line tweeted claims. The videos released so far via the new Boko Haram Twitter account have been more slickly crafted than the group's standard grainy offerings, with professionally designed graphics and high-quality opening sequences. This improvement and the use of multiple languages and well-presented subtitles - using English, Arabic, French and Hausa - suggested the group may have had outside help from IS media operatives. Arabic-language jihadist anthems have also been used, one of which has been routinely used in IS propaganda. The latest video, showing the beheading of two Nigerian "spies", bore remarkable similarities to IS beheading videos. The staging, slow motion techniques and sound effects made the film look more like an IS production than a traditional Boko Haram video. Another of the films was billed as the first in a series entitled Message from a Mujahid, which featured a militant from the group defending the group's ideology, tactics and plans. IS itself has a series of videos with the same title featuring its militants speaking to camera. Not as sophisticated as IS But despite the marked improvements in quality, Boko Haram's overall media package remains some way off the sophistication of IS' output. Boko Haram has also been referring to itself repeatedly as an Islamic State or "Islamic State in West Africa". However, this did not suggest that Boko Haram was necessarily positioning itself as part of the wider IS caliphate. The group is still using its traditional Arabic name to promote its material and its branding remains distinct from that of IS. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared an "Islamic State" in northern Nigeria in August last year and praised IS for its military advances the previous month. But he has never spoken clearly about any ties between the two groups. One of the strongest signs of Islamic State influence lies in the concerted efforts to promote the new Twitter feed by a senior pro-IS media operative, known on Twitter as Abu-Malik Shaybah al-Hamad, who claimed to have been in contact with the Boko Haram general command. His apparent lines of communication with the Boko Haram leadership could point to a media cooperation link between IS and the Nigerian group, although Al-Hamad insisted that he had heard from the group's leaders that it had "not yet" pledged allegiance to IS. Inconsistencies and disruption Since the launch of the Boko Haram Twitter account, there have been inconsistencies in the group's media operation, suggesting that a lack of professionalism may persist among those responsible for publishing the group's propaganda. For example, a new video featuring Shekau giving a speech in Arabic appeared online on 9 February but was not distributed via the new Twitter feed. The video's Arabic-language credits contained a number of serious spelling mistakes, including the name of the group itself and its new media group Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa, and the overall quality was far lower than the videos released via the Twitter account. Boko Haram's new Twitter feed has also suffered disruption. The account has been suspended a number of times, reappearing swiftly but without the original tweets. Despite general improvements in the timeliness of its output, there have been delays in publishing some videos. The latest beheading video came out five days after being trailed, while an earlier film entitled Ubat al-Daym (Refusers of Injustice) was officially released with a delay of two weeks. Since the original Twitter account was suspended, the feed has been less prolific. Links between Boko Haram and Islamic State The exact nature of any connection between Boko Haram and Islamic State remains unclear. In a recent edition of its English-language magazine Dabiq, IS acknowledged having received pledges of allegiance from jihadists in Nigeria. But it made no mention of Boko Haram or any other group and indicated that further conditions needed to be met before IS would consider announcing an official branch in the country. For its part, Boko Haram has included excerpts from IS leadership messages in its own propaganda videos. But there has been no evidence of any formal ties between the two groups, and while the signs of media cooperation have been compelling, they remain inconclusive. BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

जनवरी में नाइजीरियाई जिहादी समूह बोको हराम के लिए एक आधिकारिक ट्विटर फ़ीड के लॉन्च के बाद, ऐसे कई संकेत मिले हैं कि समूह का मीडिया ऑपरेशन विस्तारवादी इस्लामिक स्टेट (आईएस, पूर्व में आईएसआईएस या आईएसआईएल) से प्रभावित रहा है।


Captain Sir Tom Moore: 'National inspiration' dies with Covid-19

Summary: Captain Sir Tom Moore has died with coronavirus.

The 100-year-old, who raised almost £33m for NHS charities by walking laps of his garden, was admitted to Bedford Hospital on Sunday. The Queen led tributes to Capt Sir Tom, "recognising the inspiration he provided for the whole nation and others across the world". His daughters said they "shared laughter and tears" with their father in their final few hours together. Announcing his death, Hannah Ingram-Moore and Lucy Teixeira said the last year of their father's life had been "nothing short of remarkable". He tested positive for Covid-19 last week. His family said due to other medication he was receiving for pneumonia, he was unable to be vaccinated. The Army veteran won the nation's hearts by walking 100 laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire last year during the first lockdown, raising money for NHS Charities Together. He was credited with lifting the nation's spirits and his saying "Tomorrow will be a good day" trended on social media. He was knighted by the Queen in July in a special ceremony at Windsor Castle. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "Her Majesty very much enjoyed meeting Capt Sir Tom and his family at Windsor last year. Her thoughts, and those of the royal family, are with them, recognising the inspiration he provided for the whole nation and others across the world." In a statement, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Captain Sir Tom Moore was a hero in the truest sense of the word. In the dark days of the Second World War he fought for freedom and in the face of this country's deepest post-war crisis he united us all, he cheered us all up, and he embodied the triumph of the human spirit. "He became not just a national inspiration but a beacon of hope for the world. Our thoughts are with his daughter Hannah and all his family." The flag above 10 Downing Street has been flying at half-mast in tribute and Mr Johnson has spoken to Mrs Ingram-Moore to offer his condolences. A tweet from the White House said: "We join the United Kingdom and the world in [honouring] the memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore, who inspired millions through his life and his actions." Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: "This is incredibly sad news. Captain Tom Moore put others first at a time of national crisis and was a beacon of hope for millions. Britain has lost a hero." The daughters' statement said: "It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear father. "We are so grateful that we were with him during the last hours of his life; Hannah, Benjie and Georgia by his bedside and Lucy on FaceTime. "We spent hours chatting to him, reminiscing about our childhood and our wonderful mother. We shared laughter and tears together. "The last year of our father's life was nothing short of remarkable. He was rejuvenated and experienced things he'd only ever dreamed of. "Whilst he'd been in so many hearts for just a short time, he was an incredible father and grandfather, and he will stay alive in our hearts forever." Capt Sir Tom's daughters said the care he received from the NHS was "extraordinary". They said staff had been "unfalteringly professional, kind and compassionate and have given us many more years with him than we ever would have imagined". Capt Sir Tom joined the Army at the beginning of World War Two, serving in India and Myanmar, then known as Burma. He was originally from Keighley in West Yorkshire and among the local tributes being paid was Robbie Moore MP who said the town had "lost one of its finest today". He was made an honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College in Harrogate on his 100th birthday. In December, he went on a family holiday to Barbados after British Airways paid for his flight. 'Boost' Capt Sir Tom had initially set out to raise £1,000 for NHS charities by walking 82ft (25m)-loops of his garden. But he eventually raised £32,794,701 from more than 1.5 million supporters. NHS Charities Together said that would rise to £39m when Gift Aid was taken into account. Ellie Orton, chief executive, said the funds raised by Capt Sir Tom had "reached the length and breadth of the UK through every one of our 241 member charities". She said he was "a one-off and he leaves the world a better place". Ruth May, chief nursing officer for NHS England, said Capt Sir Tom Moore "has been the model of all that has been good about our country's response to Covid-19". She said in a statement "for me his biggest achievement and most important contribution to helping my fellow nurses, doctors and all those in the NHS responding to coronavirus, has been how he brought the country together and gave us all a boost when we most needed it". Fellow charity fundraiser Dabirul Choudhury, who was 100 years old when he raised more than £150,000 for coronavirus relief by walking while fasting for Ramadan, paid tribute to Capt Sir Tom. "If you want to help mankind you should keep yourself very fit, fit, fit," he said. Mr Choudrey's son Atique said Capt Sir Tom had "left a massive legacy that will follow on through for generations", adding "even now, my father hasn't actually eaten since he's heard about the news [of Capt Sir Tom's death]". Capt Sir Tom became the oldest person to have a UK number one single when he recorded You'll Never Walk Alone with Michael Ball last year. The singer said on Twitter: "A wonderful life so well lived and a hero and fighter to the very end. So very sad". Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk

कैप्टन सर टॉम मूर का कोरोना वायरस से निधन हो गया है।


Tigers thank TN political parties

Summary: Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have expressed their gratitude to various political parties in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu which have staged number of demonstrations against the Sri Lankan government’s ongoing military offensive.

In a statement issued via e-mail, the head of LTTE's political wing B Nadesan says: “War efforts of Sinhalese government to annihilate the Ealam Tamils have been scaled up to the unprecedented level. At this point various protest meeting held by the Tamil Nadu political leaders for the support of our people has given encouragement to our people". In the past few weeks various political parties in Tamil Nadu including the ruling DMK which is a critical ally to the central government have held number of protest meetings against Sri Lankan government action in the Wanni region. Accusing Sri Lanka authorities of killing large number of innocent civilians in the military action, the parties had demanded Indian intervention to stop the war in Sri Lanka. Rajiv Gandhi assassination People in the southern Indian state and the Sri Lankan Tamils speak the same language and in eighties there was even a wide spread sympathy for the struggle of Sri Lankan Tamils. But the support had eroded considerably after the ill fated Indian military intervention and the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by Tamil Tigers that led to the banning of the LTTE in India. Ever since, most Indian political parties refrained from openly supporting the LTTE. Its leader Pirabhakaran and intelligence wing chief Pottu Amman are the most wanted fugitives by the Indian government. Recently the spate of killing of Indian fishermen by the alleged firing by the Sri Lankan Navy resulted in a number of anti-Sri Lankan demonstrations. The main opposition party of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, which has maintained an anti-LTTE stand for a long time has softened its stand regarding the Sri lankan tamil issue. ‘Election propaganda’ Tamil parties are taking up Sri Lankan issue to win votes in the up coming parliamentary election due to be help next year, according to some analysts. But for the LTTE these protests have come at a time when it is struggling to hold on to the territories which it controls. This unexpected support makes it happy. "Sinhalese government was under the impression that we will never get any help from Tamil Nadu. At this time Tamil Nadu leaders and people have expressed their anger against the Sri Lankan government,” says B Nadesan. “The moral support by the Tamil Nadu leaders should translate into political action is the desire of the Ealam Tamils," B Nadesan urged. But he has not elaborated on this "political action". The statement added: "Countries hostile to India are among the countries which provides support to the Sri Lankan government in its war efforts." Although India's central government has avoided getting directly involved in the Sri Lankan affairs it has given arms and training to the Sri Lankan government forces. During the LTTE's attack on the Vavuniya military base two Indian technicians were injured. India's National Security Adviser M K Narayanan had stated India will provide only "defensive weapon systems to Lanka". India’s ‘grave concern’ Tamil Nadu political parties however would like to see a complete end to all kind of military support to Sri Lankan government. How far these protests will influence India's Sri Lankan policy is an open question. But on Monday, when the state's ruling party DMK held a massive meeting against the war in Sri Lanka, India summoned the Sri Lankan deputy High commissioner in Delhi and expressed its "grave concern and unhappiness at the growing casualties of unarmed Tamil civilians as a result of military action". The Sri Lankan foreign secretary Pallitha Kohona, rejected accusations by the Tamil Nadu political parties. Dr. Kohona told BBC Tamil service that the Sri Lankan government is not conducting a war against Tamils but against a terrorist organisation holding territory illegally in the country's north. He also accused the Tigers of using civilians as human shield.

श्रीलंका में तमिल टाइगर विद्रोहियों ने दक्षिणी भारतीय राज्य तमिलनाडु में विभिन्न राजनीतिक दलों के प्रति आभार व्यक्त किया है जिन्होंने श्रीलंका सरकार के चल रहे सैन्य हमले के खिलाफ कई प्रदर्शन किए हैं।


Tank at 100: Baptism of fire, fear and blood

Summary: The tank, which would go on to dominate 20th Century warfare, first stormed on to the shattered battlefields of the Somme 100 years ago. Rushed into battle by desperate generals with barely any testing, its debut was a messy experiment with questionable results. A select group of young men were the first to feel its terrible influence and have their lives changed by it.

By Greig WatsonBBC News William Dawson came from Boston in Lincolnshire and was the eldest of four children. His father had drowned at sea in 1898 when he was 10 years old and as soon as he left school, Dawson went to work to support the family. He found employment with a shipping company but had an interest in engines. In early 1916 he answered an advert in Motor Cycle magazine, in which the Motor Machine Gun Service (MMGS) asked for mechanically-minded recruits for intriguingly vague Army service. By May he found himself transferred to the "Heavy Section" of the MMGS. A few days later Dawson was locked into a training ground in Suffolk being given "a very serious talk explaining that the new project was so very very secret that he could give no details but that it was most important". "The secret camp was very large, roughly circular and some three or four miles across. The perimeter was guarded day and night by 500 or more reservists fully armed with rifles and ammunition," he wrote years later. "Early one morning just after daylight we were awakened by a rumbling and rattling with sounds of motor engines. "In great excitement everybody rushed out of tents, just as they had slept, and there they were, the first of the tanks, passing our tents to the practice driving ground which we had prepared." Describing the appearance as "extraordinary", he added: "We immediately started to learn its mechanism and engine and commenced driving it round the course of three to four feet high obstructions." The idea of armoured fighting vehicles had been around since Leonardo da Vinci but at the outbreak of World War One, practical battlefield machines were for most soldiers scarcely more than science fiction. But as the fighting in France and Belgium bogged down into trench warfare, the concept gained supporters. Having seen conditions on the Western Front as an official Army correspondent, Col Ernest Swinton was in a position to push for bulletproof tractors to crush wire and cross trenches. He managed to attract support from Winston Churchill. then First Lord of the Admiralty. A "Landships" committee was formed in early 1915. A machinery company in Lincoln was commissioned to build prototypes, with much of the design work done in a local hotel room. Tanks went from science fiction to steel fact in the space of six months. In late 1915 an 8m (26ft) long, 28-ton machine crossed a dummy trench system at Hatfield in Hertfordshire. Lord Kitchener, the Minister of War, felt it was "a toy" and "without serious military value" but a representative of Commander in Chief Douglas Haig simply said: "How soon can we have them?" By then planning for the Somme offensive was under way. Despite high hopes, the terrible losses of the first day and continued bloody fighting meant the need for a new weapon was greater than ever. As with the machines themselves, an entirely new part of the Army, for an entirely new type of war, was thrown together in a matter of months. Formed in March 1916 the Heavy Section Machine Gun Corps was commanded by Col Swinton. Suffolk's Elveden Camp hosted more than 500 men to crew about 50 tanks. Rushed into service, men and machines were far from battle ready. Dawson said: "Our commander, Second Lieutenant Macpherson, was a fine and likeable young fellow but he like us had never been in an actual battlefield or in action before. "The briefing and instructions regarding objectives were quite inadequate." Basil Henriques was from another part of the social scale. Educated at Harrow and Oxford, he was appointed a lieutenant in April 1916, aged 25, and made a tank commander. But the same lack of training dogged him. He said: "We had no training with the infantry, even at home, and the infantry with whom we had to fight had never heard of us until they actually saw us in battle." By the time he arrived in France he had only worked with his crew once and had not used the guns on their machine. One thing was clear to everyone: tanks were hellish to use. The crew of eight was in a single compartment dominated by a huge engine. Tanks had no suspension and limited views outside. Every journey was deafeningly noisy, fume-filled and batteringly rough. They were at the limits of technology. Engines were unreliable, armour was thin, tactics were guesswork. Communication was mostly by hand signal and pigeon. And that was before anyone started shooting. On 15 September 1916, the shooting would start. Almost every one of the 50 or so available tanks would be used to try to capture the village of Courcelette. Early indications were not good. Thanks to breakdowns, only 31 machines reached the start line. The reaction of the German defenders to tanks varied. One trench garrison simply fled. Prisoners interviewed afterwards gave the impression that "German soldiers regarded them with some sort of superstitious terror.... till daylight disclosed their true nature." Mostly the tanks were attacked with anything and everything. Machine guns, pistols, grenades and artillery. Dawson recalled his machine blundered about the battlefield before meeting another of the new British tanks. "Both it and ourselves came up against machine gun fire with armour-piercing bullets and while we had quite a few holes I counted upwards of 40 in the other tank." The commander, Macpherson, left the tank to report to his superiors and was killed. Henriques in tank C22 had also moved into the fight: "Squashing dead Germans as we went. We could not steer properly and kept losing the (guide) tape." Guns blazed at the tank and he had to peer through a narrow glass slit in an attempt to see the enemy. He said: "A smash against my flap in front caused splinters to come in and the blood to pour down my face. Then our prism glass broke to pieces, then another smash, I think it must have been a bomb right in my face." With a tank full of injured men, Henriques withdrew. Not everyone was so lucky. Cyril Coles, who was born in Canford, Dorset in 1893, enlisted in the Army in February 1916 and was a tank gunner in France by August. Coles was in tank D15. Supposed to be one of three armoured vehicles, the others became stuck in shell holes before crossing the start line. D15 had reached the first German trench when it was hit be artillery fire. The official history of the battle states: "The commander and his crew abandoned the burning tank but two of the men were then shot and killed and the others wounded." Coles was one of the dead. Both men were buried beside the wrecked machine. Staff at the Tank Museum researching the details of Coles' life believe he was one of the very first tank men to be killed in action. The badly cratered ground, combined with the enemy onslaught, devastated the tanks. About 12 machines had punched deep into the enemy defences but most of these were damaged. Only a few were still operational the next day. Henriques had to have glass splinters removed from his face by medics. One piece was large enough to be mounted as a "stone" in a gold ring, which he gave to his wife as a memento of his brush with mortal danger. The first fight of the tanks would be named the battle of Flers-Courcelette and, by the standards of the Somme campaign, it was a success. The new machines, though badly flawed, had shown potential. William Dawson and Basil Henriques survived the battle and the war. They saw the tank develop into an ever more effective part of the Army, playing an important role in bringing victory in November 1918. David Willey, curator at the Tank Museum, said: "The tanks had limited success on that first day in military terms, however their success in terms of psychology shouldn't be underestimated. "The German troops were terrified of these machines and for the British, the tanks were a huge morale boost. "This was a British invention, designed to save soldiers' lives, and it gave people hope, both on the front line and back at home."

टैंक, जो 20 वीं शताब्दी के युद्ध पर हावी होने वाला था, पहली बार 100 साल पहले सोम्मे के टूटे हुए युद्ध के मैदानों में घुस गया था। हताश जनरलों द्वारा मुश्किल से किसी भी परीक्षण के साथ युद्ध में भाग लिया गया, इसकी शुरुआत संदिग्ध परिणामों के साथ एक गड़बड़ प्रयोग थी। युवाओं के एक चुनिंदा समूह ने सबसे पहले इसके भयानक प्रभाव को महसूस किया और इससे उनका जीवन बदल गया।


Africa development: Young 'Einsteins' make their pitch

Summary: Senegal hosted a landmark global science forum this week, the first of its kind in Africa, bringing together more than 700 leading scientists, mathematicians, entrepreneurs and other key figures from the world of politics and civil society.

The Next Einstein Forum wants to turn Africa into a global hub for science and technology by bringing the continent's top brains together with investors and policymakers. As part of their quest to ensure the next Einstein comes from the continent, young African scientists were asked to come up with innovations that could "solve a big problem for humanity". No pressure, then. Here is a summary of the top three ideas, as chosen by the NEF's panel of expert judges. Winner: Moses Bangura, Engineer, Sierra Leone Innovation: Medical drone network Mr Bangura wants to use a fleet of electrically powered drones, which could be used to deliver treatment to patients in hard-to-reach areas. The unmanned aerial vehicles could serve a double purpose, both delivering essentials like medicine or emergency fluids, and also taking away blood or other samples for testing. The drones would be able to bypass traffic congestion, a major problem in many African cities, as well as reach rural areas with poor road networks. They would be able to fly with an 8kg (17lb) payload for 40 minutes, covering a radius of 40km (25 miles). "We believe that the geographical location of someone cannot determine whether they receive an available life-saving drug," Mr Bangura says. Runners-Up: Moussa Thiam, Mali Innovation: Transforming rubbish into building materials Mr Thiam's plan is take plastic waste, the build-up of which is a massive problem for so many cities across the continent, and turn it into something that can be used for the public good, such as building roads or pavements. Many of the plastics that end up in African landfills or clog up urban drainage systems take more than 100 years to biodegrade naturally. The project would build on existing research showing that plastic waste can be used to create materials that act as a substitute or part-substitute for cement, when combined with sand and gravel. "[The innovation would lead to] a healthier environment, with a reduction in both pollution and the cost of building materials," Mr Thiam says. Sylvia Mukasa, Kenya Innovation: Mobile health information service for mothers Ms Mukasa's idea, named Afya Mama, is to use mobile phones to provide women with better information about health issues surrounding pregnancy, immunisation, family planning and HIV/Aids. Pregnant women, healthcare workers and others would get health advice by SMS, or by making a phone call and selecting pre-recorded audio content. The messages could be pre-recorded in any language and selected using Interactive Voice Response technology, meaning the service could cover the more than 40 ethnic dialects in Kenya. "Our objective is to consistently sensitise mothers with information on healthcare and best practices, linking them up with an expert in the case of emergency," Ms Mukasa says.

सेनेगल ने इस सप्ताह एक ऐतिहासिक वैश्विक विज्ञान मंच की मेजबानी की, जो अफ्रीका में अपनी तरह का पहला था, जिसमें 700 से अधिक प्रमुख वैज्ञानिकों, गणितविदों, उद्यमियों और राजनीति और नागरिक समाज की दुनिया की अन्य प्रमुख हस्तियों को एक साथ लाया गया।


Paul Biya: Cameroon's 'absentee president'

Summary: Cameroon's President Paul Biya has been in power for 35 years but is seeking another seven-year term. His longevity in office is a talking point at home, while the amount of time he spends out of the country has stirred international comment - as Paul Melly, an associate fellow of Chatham House, explains.

Criticised by some for a supposedly "hands-off" style of rule, Cameroon's President Paul Biya in March held a cabinet meeting for the first time in more than two years. Mr Biya has been in power since 1982, making him one of Africa's longest serving leaders. Under his rule, Cameroon has survived an economic crisis and moved from being a one-party state to multi-party politics. But it has also been marked by endemic corruption and reversal of democratic gains, leading to the abolition of term limits in 2008, which allowed the octogenarian to run for re-election in 2011. Today's Africa is changing. The era of decades-old presidencies is slipping away. Satellite TV and the internet tell a growing urban audience about democratic changes of power in other sub-Saharan countries. Some 60% of Cameroonians are under 25 and so were not even born when President Biya first came to power. There is massive demand for jobs and viable livelihoods. The opposition Social Democratic Front has now recognised these generational realities. Earlier this year, the party's leader, John Fru Ndi, 76, stepped aside to make way for a new presidential candidate, 49-year-old businessman and former pilot Joshua Osih. Swiss hotel Mr Biya evidently thinks he still has something to give to Cameroon, even though his repeated absences from the country have riled critics. His foreign travels have been the subject of an online spat between the state-owned Cameroon Tribune newspaper and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which calculated the amount of time the president spent abroad using reports from the daily newspaper. The OCCRP estimates that the president spent nearly 60 days out of the country last year on private visits. It also alleges that he spent a third of the year abroad in 2006 and 2009. The Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva is said to be his favourite destination. The state-owned Cameroon Tribune called their investigation "a clear electoral propaganda". Back home, President Biya adopts a low-key style, staying out of the limelight and sometimes retreating to his home village. He entrusts the day-to-day running of the government to the Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, who holds monthly gatherings of a "cabinet council". The prime minister is accorded wide latitude to manage the work of his ministerial team, while the head of state meets senior figures in private at the presidential palace in the capital, Yaoundé. Read more about Cameroon: President Biya's hands-off approach has led critics to talk of an "absent president". However, this relationship at least partly reflects Cameroon's unusual dual heritage of both British and French colonial rule. President Biya, like his predecessor Ahmadou Ahidjo, is from the Francophone regions, while the premier is always an Anglophone. The president has to be seen to leave the head of government to get on with the job, says one non-partisan Cameroonian analyst. So when President Biya does summon ministers to a rare formal cabinet gathering, it is usually for a special reason. The most recent one was the official first meeting of a new ministerial team after a reshuffle earlier in the month. It is similar to the last cabinet meeting, in 2015, which had come soon after the previous government revamp. Language matters For more than a year, Cameroon's Anglophone regions in the North-West and South-West have been mired in crisis. This started as a protest by lawyers and teachers demanding better provision for the use of English. But tensions rose, leading to confrontation between the security forces, a 93-day blackout of internet services across Anglophone Cameroon, and separatist militants fighting for an independent "Ambazonia", with a rising death toll on both sides. The government took steps to address the language issues, but the situation still looks dangerous. Both the UK and France have discreetly pressed for dialogue. President Biya responded with a cabinet reshuffle on 2 March, signalling a carrot and stick approach: firmness on security and law and order was balanced with the creation of a ministry for decentralisation, holding out the promise of greater local control over development and public services. He used this rare cabinet meeting to show his full backing for his ministers as they pursue this twin-track strategy - a firm stance on security in the troubled Anglophone region, but, at the same time, decentralisation, to give local people more control over their own affairs. So, the so-called absent president had to show a firm hand while also preparing to loosen his grip.

कैमरून के राष्ट्रपति पॉल बिया 35 वर्षों से सत्ता में हैं, लेकिन एक और सात साल के कार्यकाल की मांग कर रहे हैं। कार्यालय में उनकी लंबी आयु घर पर एक चर्चा का विषय है, जबकि वे देश से बाहर जितना समय बिताते हैं, उसने अंतर्राष्ट्रीय टिप्पणी को हिलाकर रख दिया है-जैसा कि चैथम हाउस के एक सहयोगी साथी पॉल मेल्ली बताते हैं।


The community of 2,000 people with 151 cases of sex crime

Summary: Norwegian police have documented 151 cases of sexual abuse, including child rape, in one small community of 2,000 people, north of the Arctic circle. The offences occurred over decades - between the 1950s and 2017 - but were only recently uncovered. How could such serious sex crimes go unchecked for so long?

By Linda PresslyBBC World Service, Tysfjord Nina Iversen says she has always been someone who talks - and has often talked about what happened to her when she was growing up in Tysfjord. "I always spoke about it. From when I was 14 years old, I thought: 'I'll write a book about this abuse - I'm going to stop it.' But of course, I wasn't able to." When she was a teenager, young people confided in each other about the sexual abuse they had experienced, but adults would not listen. "We were called whores and liars. There were many of us who were treated like that. And we were spat on if we tried to talk about it," she remembers. Iversen's abusers were her relatives, so as a child she lived family life in a perpetual state of terror. Now 49, she no longer lives in Tysfjord, but says she still doesn't feel safe. A remote community dominated by a 900m-deep fjord, Tysfjord is split in two - one part, Drag, lies on the western shore, and the other, Kjopsvik, on the eastern. A car ferry ploughs its way back and forth between the two. About half of those living here are from the indigenous Sami community - some of Scandinavia's earliest inhabitants, who live in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. But Sami people accounted for about two-thirds of the 83 victims and 92 perpetrators identified in the police report on sexual abuse, and discrimination and racism had an impact on how the story played out. By 2005, Nina Iversen was a mother. Worried about her children, and the threat to them of sexual abuse, she was in touch with child welfare services. Again she spoke about her own experiences. She told her doctor. "I told everyone," she says. "But to be listened to, you had to have the right background. Someone like me, who comes from a poor family, just got ignored." Iversen was not the only one trying to get the authorities' attention. In 2007, desperate Sami parents of a child who had been sexually abused wrote a letter to the prime minister asking for help. The letter gained traction in the media - people expected action. At that time, Anna Kuoljok, a deacon in the Norwegian Church, and her husband Ingar, a lawyer - both of them Sami - were in touch with 20 families whose children had been sexually exploited. The couple spoke up at public meetings attended by local politicians, health workers, the police and other authorities. "They thought it couldn't be true there were so many cases - that's what they said to us," remembers Anna. "They thought we were lying." "They were just not comfortable with these kinds of stories," says Ingar. "They didn't know how to handle it." The Mayor of Tysfjord, Tor Asgeir Johansen, remembers those meetings too but has a different explanation for what went wrong. "They didn't get a grip on things because people wouldn't tell," he says, referring to the victims of sexual abuse. "The community isn't the police - we can't go around looking in people's homes. People must come and ask for help." Reporting sexual abuse is difficult for many victims, regardless of their cultural heritage. But in Tysfjord there was a further reluctance to speak out - in many cases the Sami people did not trust the police or authorities. At the same time, Nina Iversen - and she was not alone - was trying to tell her story, but was not listened to. Ethnic divisions were compounded by geography and politics - the more Sami-identifying village of Drag in the west, separated from the more Norwegian village of Kjopsvik in the east, where most authorities were based. Nearly another decade would pass before the abuse story broke in the press. Those years were difficult and lonely for Nina Iversen. She was depressed, and posted a poem about sexual abuse on Facebook, writing 'TYSFJORD' in angry block capitals. Another local woman with experiences similar to Iversen's saw it and got in touch. She said she was already talking to two freelance journalists. And then the ball started rolling. Nina contacted other victims she knew, including women in her extended family. On 11 June 2016 a national newspaper, Verdens Gang, published the story of sexual abuse in Tysfjord based on the testimony of 11 survivors - women and men. Find out more Listen to A Community in Recovery on Assignment, on the BBC World Service Click here for transmission times, or to catch up online The reaction was immediate. Tone Vangen, Nordland Police District's chief, was relaxing at home that Saturday. She abandoned her weekend from the moment she read the press report. "This was really serious. We had to put it at the top of our priority list - the main aim was to prevent further cases of sexual abuse in Tysfjord. The following Monday we started to build the organisation that could start the investigation." Vangen asked everyone who had experienced sexual abuse, however long ago, to come forward. "We said - even if the Statute of Limitations on offences means we can't take the case to court, we want to take you seriously and we want to understand this problem. But we just didn't realise how big it was." Police officer Aslak Finvik was tasked with making contact with Sami people and creating trust so they would talk. "It was complicated," he says. "There were many things the police didn't know about before - family ties, religion. And in Sami culture there are elements from pre-Christian times. People believe in healing, and that a shaman can get power over someone by reading their pain. They felt ashamed to talk about it because from a Norwegian point of view, we can't understand it. But it was very important for Sami people that we did." That understanding would result in the first prosecution in the Tysfjord case - a man who gained access to women by claiming the power to heal and to drive away evil spirits, who sexually assaulted his victims during "treatment" sessions. He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. The Sami in Norway By 2016, Nina Iversen's abusers were dead, so she would never see justice done in court. But she was very happy to collaborate with the police. Meanwhile, in the weeks after VG published its story, about 40 victims sought help from the local doctor, Fred Andersen. The youngest was 10, the oldest 80. "We had to give them huge medical and psychiatric support," he says. "It's been a very heavy burden. The young people will survive and come out of this with new strengths and self-respect. But the elderly, and those of 50 or 60 who are unemployed with psychiatric problems, they suffer." Inevitably, questions have been asked about why it is Sami people who feature so largely in this story of abuse. But Lars Magne Andreassen, director of Arran - the Sami community centre in Drag - resists a cultural explanation. "We have to be self-critical, of course we do. But that doesn't mean that we as a people are to blame. We can compare what happened here in Tysfjord to the #MeToo movement. Why did the most powerful women in the world shut up? Should we blame them? Of course not. There were good reasons for not speaking out - they feared something," he says. "It's exactly the same thing going on here. When people experienced that they were listened to, they started talking, and then six decades of stories came out at one time." More than 1,000 people - victims, witnesses and perpetrators - were interviewed by the police in the course of their investigation. But of the 151 documented cases in Tysfjord, only a handful will go to court because in most cases the time-limit for prosecution has elapsed. This means many alleged sex abusers still live in this small, close-knit community. Not long ago, Nina Iversen was thinking about moving back to Tysfjord. One afternoon she went and had a look around Kjopsvik. But while she was there she saw three people who had been accused of abuse close to the primary school gates. "There were children walking home from school while these people were roaming around. It was just awful," she says. It is police officer Aslak Finvik's job to monitor these men - and a few women. "Every one of them we have talked to - Sami and Norwegian - and told them what we know about them. We've told them not to make contact with the victims. If they do, we may prosecute them," he says. In Tysfjord, it seems everyone knows someone affected by this story - a survivor, a perpetrator. Sometimes perpetrators are themselves survivors. In her role as deacon in the Norwegian Church, Anna Kuoljok organises meetings in a small church built in the style of a traditional Sami hut in Drag. "We talk about feelings and how to handle them. There is so much grief and anger," she says. But rejecting the perpetrators is not an option. Sami culture is inclusive, and belief based on a circle of life that embraces God, people, animals and nature. "So we must find a way to live together, because everybody is in this circle of life," she says. When the police report was published in November 2017, police chief Tone Vangen apologised to the people of Tysfjord. "The job the police did until June 2016 was not good enough," she says. "This crime affected a lot of people for a long time." Slowly, trust is being nurtured in Tysfjord. Child protection training is in place, and Norway's national government is funding projects to promote cohesion and build resilience. Community events are better attended now by both Sami people and Norwegians - a concert celebrating Sami music and culture was attended by 700 people earlier this month. The mayor detects another change too. "Generally, people are much nicer to each other - they take care of each other more than before," he says. The revelations have taken a huge toll on a vulnerable community. They have left in their wake fractured families, broken lives and at least two suicides. Nina Iversen's experience has been entangled with that bleak history for decades, but as one of the first 11 survivors who told their story, she feels as though life is finally moving in the right direction. "Today I can say I'm proud of what we did. Now they're listening. We're getting somewhere - people believe us." You may also be interested in: Rather than being offered protection, teenagers groomed and coerced into having sex faced criminal charges of prostitution. A major factor was the public - and professional - perception of the abused girls, who were often dismissed as troublemakers. Read: Child sexual exploitation in England - how the system failed Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter

नॉर्वे की पुलिस ने आर्कटिक सर्कल के उत्तर में 2,000 लोगों के एक छोटे से समुदाय में बाल बलात्कार सहित यौन शोषण के 151 मामलों का दस्तावेजीकरण किया है। अपराध दशकों में हुए-1950 और 2017 के बीच-लेकिन हाल ही में उजागर हुए। ऐसे गंभीर यौन अपराध इतने लंबे समय तक कैसे अनियंत्रित रह सकते हैं?


Five Hidden Gems: Will Gompertz reviews culture online ★★★★★

Summary: Given the circumstances we find ourselves in I am going to take a slightly different approach to the review this week. As opposed to selecting a single subject to critique, I thought it would be more helpful to pick out five 5-star (IMO) hidden gems freely accessible online, which can be enjoyed at home.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter I've tried to mix it up a bit, taking in a classic kids TV series, an amazing speech, a great documentary, magnificent opera, and tip top pod. First up, Hector's House: A children's TV series that ran on the BBC from 1968 to 1975. It's low tech (hand puppets), low concept (a male dog and female cat share a house next door to a frog) and utterly brilliant. It doesn't matter what age you are, Hector's House is a guaranteed five-minute hit of faultless, charming entertainment. Hector is a doe-eyed, floppy-eared hound prone to pomposity and delusion who lives with Zsazsa, a clever cat who gently teases him with willing help from their friend next door, Kiki the frog. The show was imported from France (where it was called La Maison de Toutou) and owes plenty to the classic slapstick comedies of Jacques Tati, a genius of post-war French cinema who captured better than most, that off-kilter feeling of being at odds with the modern world. You can find much of his work online, including the fabulous 1958 film, Mon Oncle (featuring stunning architecture). While Hector was in his house, the straight-talking Australian art critic Robert Hughes was on the road in New York filing a report on contemporary art in a documentary called Pop Goes to the Hayward (1969), which is available on the BBC iPlayer. It's a compelling watch, not least for Hughes himself, who gives a masterclass in the art of documentary-making: interviewing with polite scepticism, while delivering his superbly written script with spiky belligerence. He keeps out of shot unless absolutely necessary (such as being cast for a sculpture by one-time chicken farmer, George Segal), and lets the artists do the talking (Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg), which is what you want because they were depicting a new way of living that would become our way of life. Like Hector's House, these American artists owed a huge amount to a French genius, in their case the pioneer of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp, who you can watch here in conversation with Dame Joan Bakewell in 1968. On the shelf to my left are three non-fiction books that I constantly refer to for inspiration, only to put them down again in desperation, realising that I can never come close to the essential talent of the authors. They are, in chronological order: The White Album by Joan Didion: a collection of her journalistic essays from the 1960s and 70s. The Age of Movies by Pauline Kael: a collection of her film criticism for the New Yorker and others. And, The Most of Nora Ephron: a collection of all her work from early journalism to mid-career movie scripts (inc. When Harry Met Sally). All three writers are American and share a strong cultural connection, not least the influence of the so-called New Journalism of the 60s - a literary form of reporting pioneered by the likes of Didion, Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese, who wrote perhaps the most famous article in the genre for Esquire magazine called, Frank Sinatra has a Cold (1965), which is very good. Few have been able to match them, but some do so occasionally. The British writers Olivia Laing and Zadie Smith are excellent non-fiction essayists, as was the late David Foster Wallace, an American writer and academic whose work reads like an ingenious form of stand-up comedy. You can read most of it online. I'd recommend the essay Federer as Religious Experience. He was also a compelling - albeit nervous - public speaker, who delivered a memorable speech to Kenyon College's 2005 graduating class. It is called This is Water and should be compulsory listening/reading (the text is also online) for anyone with an ounce of curiosity. There will be a lot of new content coming on stream in the coming weeks, including contributions from many of the venues that are currently closed but keen to continue to serve their audiences. The BBC announced earlier this week that it would be working with museums, galleries, arts centres, comedians, poets and a whole host of talented folk to help bring their work to the public through TV, online, radio and podcast. The Met in New York has responded very quickly and impressively. It is uploading an opera a night, filmed to a very high standard and performed by the best singers in the world. The shows are from the Met's back catalogue, for which you would normally have pay but can now see for free. I have just watched La Traviata and was blown away by the production values and all-round quality of the presentation. If you're not sure about opera, I think the Met might convert you. Lastly, a podcast pick. There are so many, but for this moment in time, I'm going with the award-winning Have You Heard George's Podcast by the London-born performer and writer George Mpanga who goes by the stage name George the Poet. Admittedly, it is not exactly a hidden gem, but it is a rare jewel. Each episode is presented in his informal, gentle style that lyrically coaxes you into his vividly observed vision of our world. I like what he sees and what he says and hopefully you will too. That's my five 5-star nuggets of free content gold but what about yours? Tweet your suggestions to me @WillGompertzBBC or email me entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk, and maybe that could make the basis of next week's review. Recent reviews by Will Gompertz

जिस परिस्थिति में हम खुद को पाते हैं, उसे देखते हुए मैं इस सप्ताह समीक्षा के लिए थोड़ा अलग दृष्टिकोण अपनाने जा रहा हूं। आलोचना के लिए एक ही विषय का चयन करने के विपरीत, मैंने सोचा कि पाँच 5-सितारा (आई. एम. ओ.) छिपे हुए रत्नों को चुनना अधिक सहायक होगा जो ऑनलाइन स्वतंत्र रूप से उपलब्ध हैं, जिनका आनंद घर पर लिया जा सकता है।


Infrastructure: never mind the politicians

Summary: The Infrastructure Commission for Scotland (ICS) wants to shift the focus on to cutting emissions and helping the economy become more inclusive. Its latest report says to achieve this an independent, specialist body should be created by the Scottish government to draw up a 30-year infrastructure plan. But the ICS has recommended against setting up a Scottish National Infrastructure Company, an idea with political support.

Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland Thinking about what Scotland will look like in 30 years time is a tough gig and one, it seems, that should not be entirely trusted to politicians. The Infrastructure Commission for Scotland (ICS) was created to reach beyond the five-year plans of election cycles, to see what will be required over several decades if the country is to hit its net zero carbon emissions. This means thinking about energy efficient buildings as well as more and smarter public transport for example. Instead of using infrastructure to boost growth, its remit was to shift the focus on to cutting emissions and helping the economy become more inclusive of groups that tend to get left behind or not recruited for jobs. The ICS has issued its final report, saying that the idea of a Scottish National Construction Company would not meet any of its objectives. That was an idea gained some political traction because the public sector relies so heavily on private companies to build infrastructure. It does so through competitive bidding and for profit, and that makes for a relationship that does not always work out well. Building work done at minimum cost and maximum margin is not seen as being likely to result in energy-efficient buildings with long lifespans. But the commission has come up with recommendations that could help tackle that. It wants construction companies and both central and local government to agree - in a 'construction accord' - to work together over time, without price being the main consideration in commissioning work. That feeds into a recommendation that the 'place principle' should apply - that is, contracts are not only to construct a building, but to be part of the wider context of creating spaces and complexes of buildings where communities can thrive. A lot of planning, particularly around town centres, is currently to boost the role of place and community, and not just get the right buildings put up. Independent advice needed That would also require branches of government to work better together. The example of Scottish Water is given, in co-ordinating investment projects over several years. To tie this together, the commission is calling for a specialist body that sets the course for 30 years of infrastructure building. Crucially, "the independent long-term advice organisation will need to sit outside the political decision making system," the report says. The new body would update the plan periodically and issue annual reports on how well government is sticking to the plan. Being independent of government, and in place from early next year, the plan is for it to be free to criticise as, for instance, the Committee on Climate Change can check the performance of UK and Scottish governments against their targets. 'Covid-19 has amplified the need for urgent action' The final report follows on findings that were published in January, that set out the scale and types of infrastructure that will be required over three decades of investment. Under the commission chairman, Ian Russell, work and consultation by the committee has continued through the Covid-19 lockdown. That stoppage for the construction industry, and close involvement with government support, is being seen as an opportunity to re-set their relationship and get off to a fresh start. A longer-term approach could help the industry invest in equipment and skills, improving productivity and its capacity. Digital technology is also seen as one aspect of the industry that could be enhanced through the partnership. Mr Russell comments on the report: "Infrastructure has a vital role to play in the delivery of an inclusive, net zero carbon economy and Covid-19 has amplified the need for urgent action and change for economic, social and natural infrastructure."

स्कॉटलैंड के लिए अवसंरचना आयोग (आई. सी. एस.) उत्सर्जन में कटौती करने और अर्थव्यवस्था को अधिक समावेशी बनाने में मदद करने पर ध्यान केंद्रित करना चाहता है। इसकी नवीनतम रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि इसे प्राप्त करने के लिए स्कॉटिश सरकार द्वारा 30 साल की अवसंरचना योजना तैयार करने के लिए एक स्वतंत्र, विशेषज्ञ निकाय बनाया जाना चाहिए। लेकिन आई. सी. एस. ने राजनीतिक समर्थन के साथ एक स्कॉटिश राष्ट्रीय अवसंरचना कंपनी की स्थापना के खिलाफ सिफारिश की है।


Wigs and parting gifts for O'Reilly, and Islamabad airport scuffle

Summary: Some social media users react to Bill O'Reilly's firing with joy while others come to his defence and Pakistanis comment on videos showing a fight between a female constable and two passengers at Islamabad airport.

By Lamia EstatieBBC News Bill O'Reilly's parting gifts Some Twitter users are celebrating online following Fox News' decision to drop presenter Bill O'Reilly over sexual harassment claims. However, many have also criticised the "targeting" of the host as a "typical spineless liberal move". O'Reilly, 67, said the claims were "completely unfounded" although more than 50 sponsors have withdrawn ads from his show. Members of the African-American community on Twitter, including author and film maker Tariq Nasheed hit out at the host: "On behalf of the black community, I present Bill with a James Brown wig as a parting gift." In March, O'Reilly made fun of a black congresswoman's hair saying he was too distracted by her "James Brown wig", for which he later apologised. Previously, O'Reilly convinced Pepsi to drop hip hop artist and actor Ludacris from one of their ads, accusing him of "degrading women". And one Twitter user contrasted this to present day, with Ludacris starring in the "#1 movie in America" the day O'Reilly was fired. "Bill O'Reilly got fired! Serena Williams is pregnant! Beyonce will deliver Red and Yellow soon! Tomi Lahren is out of a job! GOD IS GOOD," another added. "Bill O'Reilly is gone and Alex Jones has gone silent. Things are looking up, folks," one continued. But some had a more measured response: "Sad part is, Bill O'Reilly isn't being fired because he harassed women, it's because we weren't supposed to find out about it." And political commentator Dave Rubin tweeted: "I don't know what Bill O'Reilly did or didn't do, but the rejoicing of the destruction of public people is becoming increasingly dangerous." Others lashed out at liberals for focusing on Bill O'Reilly instead of former US president Bill Clinton who was accused by three women of sexual assault in 2016. "It's not considered rape if you're a democrat...Liberals hate Bill O'Reilly but love Bill Clinton #LiberalLogic," another tweeted. Islamabad airport scuffle watched by thousands A video showing a scuffle between two female passengers and a female constable at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad has been watched thousands of times over on Pakistani social media. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) suspended the female constable over the incident which allegedly broke out over "missing toilet paper". The footage was initially aired by journalist Shakeel Qarar on privately-owned Pakistani Dawn News TV on 15 April and posted on its YouTube page. However, several videos of the incident have since appeared online. Some showed a security official hitting and dragging the women while in others, the Norwegian passengers arguing with airport officials. Politician Imran Khan labelled the altercation as "shocking and condemnable brutality" by the FIA. One Twitter user added: "Another disgusting act by [the] heaven of terrorists...Land of zero tolerance, inhuman behaviour." "Officials and others at Islamabad Airport watching this so inhumanly should be punished," news anchor Nadeem Malik continued. But some said the passengers had "misbehaved" and instigated the argument. "Too many Pakistanis from the West think they can get away with abusing officials when they travel back to Pakistan," one tweeted. Another said that the women were "responsible for the chaos" because tissue in toilets are not part of the FIA's "jurisdiction". According to local reports, one of the passengers asked an FIA official at the airport for toilet paper which angered the official. And one Twitter user shared a different account of the incident: "It looks the Norwegian ladies were fighting with every other person at #Islamabad airport. Though I don't support beating them, but [the] law [comes] first." Additional reporting by Wais Bashir Also by the UGC and Social News team: 'Rogue' Radioshack Facebook page lashes out at customers General election 2017: No! 'Larry the cat is not dead' Trump Jr's "very fake news" T-shirt

कुछ सोशल मीडिया उपयोगकर्ता बिल ओ 'रेली की गोलीबारी पर खुशी के साथ प्रतिक्रिया देते हैं, जबकि अन्य उनके बचाव में आते हैं और पाकिस्तानी इस्लामाबाद हवाई अड्डे पर एक महिला कांस्टेबल और दो यात्रियों के बीच लड़ाई दिखाने वाले वीडियो पर टिप्पणी करते हैं।


Nirbhaya Fund: Where did millions set aside after Delhi gang rape go?

Summary: In 2013 - the year after the Delhi gang rape - India launched the ambitious $113m Nirbhaya Fund, vowing to reduce violence against women. Hundreds of millions of dollars followed since but a major new report by the charity Oxfam India finds that the fund has not done its job. The BBC's Aparna Alluri and Shadab Nazmi report.

In 2017, Kavita (whose name and those of other survivors in this article have been changed) turned up at a police station in rural Orissa state to allege her father-in-law had raped her. But the police, she says, summoned her in-laws, lectured them and sent her home to her parents. No case was registered. The police said it was a "family affair". Pinky, 42, arrived late one night at a police station in Uttar Pradesh state in 2019. She says she was visibly injured after a "bad beating" by her husband. Even so, police took hours to register her complaint. When she then fled to her home city of Lucknow, fearing for her life, she went to the police there too. But she says the officer "looked her up and down" and told her she was at fault before eventually registering her complaint. Late last year, Priya, 18, went to a police station in Orissa, alleging that the man she had eloped with had raped her and then disappeared. She says the officer told her: "You didn't ask us before falling in love with him and now you have come to us for help." She claims she was then forced to change her complaint to say she was married to him and he had abandoned her - a different crime with a shorter prison term. Anyone who works with survivors of domestic or sexual violence - from social workers to lawyers to policy wonks - will tell you these examples are depressingly common in India. And that the hundreds of millions of dollars in government money that were supposed to make them less so haven't achieved their aim. The Nirbhaya Fund is so named because of how the media referred to the young woman murdered in the 2012 Delhi gang rape. Indian law prohibits the identification of rape victims, so the media called her "nirbhaya", or fearless. Her case, which sparked massive protests and headlines around the world, is seen as a watershed moment that led to new anti-rape laws and stricter guidelines for the medical examination and counselling of survivors of sexual violence in India. The fund was meant to kickstart changes that are long overdue. But a new report by Oxfam India has found that red tape, underspend, obscure allocations and a lack of political will have undermined the Nirbhaya Fund, which was already up against a stubborn foe: patriarchy. Here's why that has happened. Women - and services - take second place Most of the Nirbhaya Fund has gone to India's home ministry, which oversees police. But Amita Pitre of Oxfam India says the money has largely paid for programmes - improving emergency response services, upgrading forensic labs or expanding units fighting cyber crimes - that don't exclusively benefit women. From railways to roads, money has been directed towards better lighting, more CCTV cameras, safer public transport and even a research grant to test panic buttons in vehicles. "People want technology-based answers - but that won't help in 80% of cases where the accused are people known to women," Ms Pitre says. These programmes are also heavily focused on physical resources, something that Nirbhaya's mother, Asha Devi, has criticised. "The Nirbhaya Fund should have been used for women's security and empowerment but it is being used for works like road construction," she said in 2017. Training officers in trauma-informed policing and investigation would be of more benefit to women like Kavita or Pinky, campaigners say. Pinky, for instance, says she waited in the Lucknow police station for an hour-and-half while the inspector played badminton. When he finally agreed to talk to her, he told her: "This is between you and your husband. We only get involved if it's a stranger." It took Kavita more than three years to finally register a case against her father-in-law. The inspector who discouraged her from filing rape charges told her caseworker that since the accused was the father-in-law, it qualified as a domestic violence charge, not rape. "I was so shocked I asked him how he had become an inspector without knowing the law," the caseworker recalls. But changing attitudes is costlier and harder than buying CCTV cameras - and that partly explains why so much of the money has not even been used. Underspend is a major problem While the home ministry has spent most of the money given to it from the fund, other government departments and most state governments have largely sat on the cash. The federal women and child development ministry, for instance, used only 20% of the money it had received up to 2019, accounting for about a quarter of the total Nirbhaya Fund spending since 2013. Its money went to set up crisis centres for rape or domestic violence survivors, shelters for women, female police volunteers and a women's helpline. "It is not enough to launch a scheme," Ms Pitre says. "It is important to remove bottlenecks to expenditures and effective implementation." This is where the fund has faltered most, campaigners say. While it's easy to set up centres and teams, sustaining them is much harder. Crisis centres exist in many places and do valuable work, but they often lack staff and money to pay for things from salaries to transport to unexpected charges - such as when a woman turns up in the middle of the night and might need a change of clothes if hers are torn or bloodied. In Uttar Pradesh, public hospitals don't have enough rape kits or swabs or zip lock bags to collect and transport evidence, says Shubhangi Singh, a lawyer who counsels rape and domestic violence survivors. By Oxfam's calculations, the Nirbhaya Fund is underfunded - it needs $1.3bn to allow even 60% of women dealing with any form of violence to be able to access services. So why isn't the money being used up? "One reason is that they create hurdles, through say, daunting paperwork," says Reetika Kehra, an economist. "And there is no guarantee that even if the money is left over, it will roll over to the next year." This uncertainty is also what could be stopping so many states from applying for or using the funds. They may be reluctant to commit to programmes whose future is uncertain, especially since the money is coming from the federal budget. It's hard to say if the fund has been growing It was endowed in 2013 with $113m (£82m) but has had something of a rollercoaster ride in the years since. The money is split across schemes and categories whose names change each year so the easiest way to track the fund is to trace the amount that was actually released, and not what was allocated. "Constantly rejigging these classifications is one way of projecting an increase. It becomes harder to compare like with like," Ms Khera says. The Nirbhaya Fund is part of what the government calls a "gender budget" - money disbursed to programmes that benefit women. And the gender budget has been shrinking. The gender budget follows the same pattern More than a third of this year's $21.3bn gender budget went to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship rural housing scheme - it helps the poor build homes, but a woman must be listed as owner or co-owner. The scheme has been a major beneficiary in the last two budgets as well. While gender rights activists welcome the initiative, they are not so sure it's the best way to spend money from an already underfunded part of the pie. "Most economics is a political calculation. In some states women vote more than men," says economist Vivek Kaul. Also among the list of beneficiaries is a scheme to help rural women buy cooking gas (hence, the petroleum ministry received money from the Nirbhaya Fund) and a host of agriculture measures. What about rights? Since the fatal Delhi gang rape there has been no sign of crimes against women and girls abating in India, and justice remains out of reach for most. A series of rape cases since 2012 have made global headlines for botched investigations, which in turn stymie prosecutions. And if the woman is poor - or from a tribe or at the bottom of India's unforgiving caste hierarchy - the odds against her are stacked even higher. "If there is something worse than corruption, it is callousness," says Vikram Singh, a former director general of police in Uttar Pradesh. "We have not been able to recruit women prosecutors, police officers, judges and get our fast track courts in place. It's tardy utilisation of the Nirbhaya Fund." He says there is a "cult of masculinity" that goes all the way down to police constables and cannot be dismantled without serious reforms and accountability - such as an independent authority to investigate complaints against police officers. The apathy and casual misogyny extends beyond the police to doctors and even judges. There has, however, been no money set aside to train doctors, although doctors play a key role in rape investigations and it's easier for women suffering domestic abuse to reach out to a doctor than a police officer. Education also appears low on the list of priorities but campaigners say it's crucial to change the way young boys think before they become men. But gender rights advocates say funding is only one part of the challenge. The other is the continued emphasis on protecting women's honour rather than empowering them to exercise their rights. They point to a growing body of research that shows certainty of conviction rather than severity of punishment is the biggest deterrence against crime. And that will only happen if a woman can walk into a police station and register a complaint. "You need someone to drive that process," Ms Khera says. "There are ways to kill a programme while appearing to put all your weight behind it."

2013 में-दिल्ली सामूहिक बलात्कार के एक साल बाद-भारत ने महिलाओं के खिलाफ हिंसा को कम करने का संकल्प लेते हुए 113 मिलियन डॉलर का महत्वाकांक्षी निर्भया कोष शुरू किया। तब से सैकड़ों मिलियन डॉलर का अनुसरण किया गया लेकिन चैरिटी ऑक्सफैम इंडिया की एक प्रमुख नई रिपोर्ट में पाया गया कि कोष ने अपना काम नहीं किया है। बीबीसी की अपर्णा अल्लूरी और शादाब नाज़मी की रिपोर्ट।