Dame Carol Ann Duffy's local bookstore crusade

Summary: The number of independent bookstores in the UK is in decline and often those that prosper have worked to build a community based on reading groups and author visits. Britain's poet laureate Dame Carol Ann Duffy has set off on a reading tour of 15 venues to support those shops, but she and her travelling band of bards are deliberately avoiding big cities in favour of Britain's towns and villages.

By Vincent DowdArts reporter, BBC News It's not often the Princess Pavilion in Falmouth is graced by a gaggle of poets. The posters outside are mainly for one-off concerts by tribute acts, ranging from David Bowie to Patsy Cline. But, to the obvious delight of a capacity crowd, Dame Carol Ann, and fellow poets Jackie Kay, Imtiaz Dharker and Gillian Clarke are the real thing. On a rainy afternoon in Cornwall, the Shore to Shore poetry tour is creating electricity. Dame Carol Ann has been poet laureate since 2009. "Whenever I do a reading, the local independent bookstore will almost always be there afterwards, selling poetry," she says. "It's an act of love on their part and for years I've thought they should get something in return." Venues for readings to come include the likes of Bridgnorth, Caernarfon, St Andrews and Carlisle Cathedral. The poets (plus musician John Sampson) are criss-crossing Britain in a people-carrier driven by the publicity team. If the concept of a bardmobile isn't ambitious enough, in each location they will be joined by a fifth, local poet (who in Falmouth was Penelope Shuttle). Each event lasts a couple of hours and ends with a book signing - the tour coincides with Independent Bookshop Week. Fans can pick up individual works but there's also a new anthology called Off the Shelf - A Celebration of Bookshops in Verse. As you might expect, it's a love letter to the idea of buying your book surrounded by bricks and mortar rather than online. A number of the poems recall the influence of bookshops, mainly now closed, on young lives. Ron Johns has owned Falmouth Bookseller for a quarter of a century. "When I first came I was sure I'd chosen the wrong location. But later, as some other independents started to struggle, I realised one of the things that can save you is being in a destination town," he says, "Falmouth is a lively working place anyway and it has university students too. But also it gets tourists in summer which is useful if you're selling books. "Often we'll carry a book which a big chain might not bother with. And we're very strong on books with a local Cornish connection. Poldark's been a big seller for us so we're looking forward to the new series starting. We know our regulars well and they trust us to recommend books. "There's nothing wrong with the WH Smiths and Waterstones of this world - they're good at what they do. But diversity matters and everyone in bookselling knows it's under pressure." The latest survey shows there are slightly under 900 independent bookstores in the UK but only 12 years ago, the figure would have been nearer 1,500. Independent bookshops sell only around 10% of books bought in the UK. By comparison, Amazon have around 25% of the market - a figure matched by WH Smith. Waterstones sell around 20% while the final 20% is made up of sales in supermarkets and elsewhere. Lisa Campbell writes about the trade for The Bookseller. She says retailers who have survived the downturn are often those who have embraced what she calls "retail theatre". "It would be very hard to get rich selling poetry. But there are some new entrants into the field who realise that going into a bookshop can be an event in itself. "Buying from Amazon or any online retailer is a pretty sterile experience - though their breadth of stock and the ability to discount will always give them advantages. "But if you can actively enjoy going into a bookshop - if the design and the customer service make it a rewarding experience - then those shops will do well. "However, the number of independent shops is still shrinking. Last year there were 46 closures in the UK to set against 23 openings. "One thing that's happening is that people who perhaps set up shop 30 years ago - when maybe things were a bit easier with rents - are deciding to close. They just can't keep up with the rapid and relentless pace of change and they decide it would be nice to retire. "There are new owners coming into the business too, but they need energy and realism. Online sellers discount ruthlessly so bookshops can rarely compete on price alone. So it's brilliant to see Carol Ann Duffy using her popularity as a poet to make something like Shore to Shore happen." The current poet laureate has struck a chord with the public - including those who rarely take an interest in contemporary poetry. But in Falmouth it's obvious the audience is enjoying watching everyone on stage. All talk in their introductions about what they see as a particularly dark period in public life. They're referring both to the killing of Jo Cox MP and to the shootings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Gillian Clarke, who has just ended an unprecedented eight years as the National Poet of Wales, read out her poem Daughter which originally she wrote about the death of the young Welsh girl April Jones. "Clearly the poem is not about Jo but it is about a beautiful and loved person who has been taken from us. I think if someone publicly talks about an event like this, others will think that's how they feel but perhaps they've had no opportunity to express the thought. Poetry is part of our common language." Jackie Kay this year became the Scots Makar - in effect the Scottish poet laureate. She agrees the tour has come at a pertinent time. "Poetry has always had a voice at difficult times, like those we're in. It's not that any of us is likely to run off and immediately write a poem about Jo Cox or about what happened in Orlando. Those events just floored everybody but a poem takes time to cook. "But poetry can offer an alternative to the hate you find in too much public life at the moment." Imtiaz Dharker is the only one of the quartet who hasn't yet been awarded a laureateship, although Dame Carol Ann says she's already "poet laureate to the world". She thinks there's been a general coarsening of language in a lot of political debate, in Britain and elsewhere. "In fact you could say there's been a coarsening of thought. There has been a terrible lack of nuance in debate. "Poetry uses language more thoughtfully and without the shrillness you can get in politics and public life. Poets can bring us back to thinking about ideas. Carol Ann's idea of going on tour like this was always a great one. It turns out to be a great idea at exactly the right time." The Shore to Shore tour runs until 2 July.

ब्रिटेन में स्वतंत्र किताबों की दुकानों की संख्या में गिरावट आ रही है और अक्सर जो समृद्ध होते हैं, उन्होंने पढ़ने वाले समूहों और लेखकों की यात्राओं के आधार पर एक समुदाय बनाने के लिए काम किया है। ब्रिटेन की कवि पुरस्कार विजेता डेम कैरोल एन डफी ने उन दुकानों का समर्थन करने के लिए 15 स्थानों के एक पठन दौरे पर प्रस्थान किया है, लेकिन वह और उनके यात्रा करने वाले पक्षी जानबूझकर ब्रिटेन के कस्बों और गांवों के पक्ष में बड़े शहरों से बच रहे हैं।


Clacton by-election: GP shortage causing concern

Summary: Voters go to the polls on 9 October in the Essex by-election prompted by Douglas Carswell's defection from the Conservative Party to the UK Independence Party. So what issues are likely to be on the minds of voters?

The Tendring district of Essex has the highest proportion of pensioners in the East of England, with one in three people aged 65 or over. The area, which includes the towns of Clacton and Frinton and has a population of 67,000, also has higher rates of heart disease, cancer, hypothyroidism and obesity than the national average. So, it follows health is likely to be a major election issue, especially because of the difficulty in attracting GPs to the area. Some surgeries in the constituency have a reputation for long waiting lists and rely on the use of locums, rather than permanent GPs. Locums usually work in place of a regular doctor when he or she is absent, or when the practice is short staffed. So what do the candidates have to say about it? Mr Carswell described the topic of health as "the single biggest issue" he is focussing on. "I've pushed local NHS bosses to adopt a scheme where new doctors get a bonus if they come and work in the area and stay for more than two years," he said. "I've taken the initiative, but have had no support or help from Whitehall officials who are complacent and don't recognise it as a problem." A few facts about Essex's 'Sunshine Coast': Other residents have complained about not being able to book appointments, or queuing around the block to get to see a doctor. "It is a really tricky problem," said the Green by-election candidate, Chris Southall. "We have to try to make the facilities here more attractive to doctors. "UKIP is opposed to immigration, but a lot of GPs weren't born in England. It's an illustration of how dependent we are on people from other countries." Independent candidate Charlotte Rose said: "Waiting times for appointments need to be appointed on a priority basis. "I feel that the free NHS helpline should be utilised for this to determine the urgency of the patient rather than having a telephone receptionist." Another independent candidate, Dr Bruce Sizer, said he decided to run in the by-election because of the importance of health issues. "It's a very real problem. I'm a cancer consultant at Colchester Hospital, and I know there's concern about the number of locum doctors used in GPs' surgeries around the Clacton area," he said. "We need good primary healthcare services to support people." Labour candidate Tim Young described healthcare provision as "one of the most important issues for people on the doorstep, in particular the lack of GPs and the fact that many GP lists are closed". "Only Labour has the answers to these problems," he said, referring to the party's pledge everyone will have the right to see a GP within 48 hours, and there will be 8,000 new GPs to fulfil that pledge. Andy Graham, the Liberal Democrat candidate, agreed there were not enough GPs. "This is a situation which has built up over many years and needs addressing now," he said. He was concerned about how the existing surgeries would cope if new housing were to be built. Howling Laud Hope, the Monster Raving Loony Party's candidate, said he thought "a better standard of living" would be reached if more GPs came to the area. "The standard of healthcare would be much better than it is now," he said. The Conservative candidate, Giles Watling said he is focussing his attentions on the issue. "Attracting more doctors to the area is a key plank of my 7 point plan for Clacton, Frinton and Walton," he said. "We are seeing some progress under this Government with 5,000 GPs being trained across the country. "I will continue to lobby the part of the NHS that deals with this - NHS England - to make sure Essex is a county that GPs come to settle in."

डगलस कार्सवेल के कंजर्वेटिव पार्टी से यूके इंडिपेंडेंस पार्टी में दलबदल के कारण 9 अक्टूबर को एसेक्स उपचुनाव में मतदाता मतदान करने जाते हैं। तो मतदाताओं के दिमाग में कौन से मुद्दे होने की संभावना है?


Meet Jonathan, St Helena's 182-year-old giant tortoise

Summary: Our world is full of weird and wonderful creatures, many of which amaze scientists and non-scientists, alike. But is it true that a living tortoise could have started its life in the first half of the 19th Century?

By Sally KettleSt Helena Plantation House in St Helena sits proud amid gumwood trees alive with chirps and whistles. It is the official residence of Mark Capes, Governor of the British Overseas Territories in the South Atlantic. I have not come to see the governor, nor the large brown hillocks which dot the pristine lawns. It's only when my guide Joe Hollis, the sole vet on the island, bangs on a large metal bowl, that all becomes clear. The hillocks rise and trot surprisingly swiftly towards us. Meet Jonathan, Myrtle and Fredrika, three of five giant tortoises who live on St Helena. Their shy friends David and Emma are hiding in the rough. "He is virtually blind from cataracts, has no sense of smell - but his hearing is good," Joe tells me. At 182, Jonathan may be the oldest living land creature. Jonathan is a rare Seychelles Giant. His lawn-fellows hail from the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean. Aldabra Giants number about 100,000, but only one small breeding population of Seychelles tortoises exists. St Helena was born as a violent volcano, and along with Ascension and Tristan du Cunha in the South Atlantic, is famed for its isolation and close-knit society. Jamestown, its capital, became a centre of commerce for the East India Company in the 17th Century. Many victims of the slave trade - sick and dying - would spend their final hours on the shores of St Helena. And then there was Napoleon, in exile. Its inhabitants, known as Saints, share this complex past, and ethnic traits of Africans, Americans, Europeans and Chinese. Nobody knows why Jonathan ended up in St Helena. During the 17th Century ships could contain hundreds of easily-stacked tortoises, like a fast-food takeaway. In the Galapagos islands alone around 200,000 tortoises are thought to have been killed and eaten at this time. How did Jonathan avoid this fate? Maybe he became a curio for Hudson Janisch, governor in the 1880s. Thirty-three governors have come and gone since then, and nobody wants Jonathan to die on their watch. Mr Capes is certainly keen "that he should be treated with the respect, attention and care he surely deserves". A photograph taken in 1882 shows Jonathan at his full size, and it can take 50 years to reach that physical maturity. The years since haven't always been kind. Tourists would often do whatever it took to get "that" photo. Now, a viewing corridor runs along the bottom of the lawn to keep overzealous sightseers at bay. It was a huge privilege for me to get so up close and personal. Jonathan loves having his neck stroked. His head extends out from his shell to a surprising length. He snaps for his food - bananas, cabbage and carrots - with some ferocity. Joe almost lost the end of his thumb and has resorted to wearing thick gloves. "He doesn't mean to nip me," he says, "he just finds it difficult to locate his food." Tortoises scrape at the grass with their horny beaks, made from keratin, like nails. Blindness made it hard for Jonathan to find the right vegetation, and due to malnutrition Jonathan's beak became blunt and soft, adding to his problems finding food. Now there's a new feeding regime, in place where Joe delivers a bucket of fresh fruit and vegetables every Sunday morning. With this extra nutritional boost Jonathan's skin now looks plump and feels supple. His beak has become a deadly weapon for anyone attempting to shove a carrot anywhere near his mouth. And he can belch. Tortoises may be slow but they are noisy, especially when they mate: "A noise like a loud harsh escape of steam from a giant battered old kettle, often rounded off with a deep oboe-like grunt." Joe reassures me it's another indicator of good health. Unfortunately, Jonathan's trysts have not produced young - thus far. Though giant tortoises like Jonathan can live up to 250 years, the community has already drafted a detailed plan for when he finally pops his shell - dubbed "Operation Go Slow". It will ensure all runs smoothly when the inevitable happens, in fact his obituary has already been written. It has also been decided that stuffing Jonathan would be a rather morbid and outdated thing to do. Instead his shell will be preserved and will go on display in St Helena. The Saints would like to raise funds for a life-size bronze statue of him. When he goes, Jonathan will be mourned by friends and admirers on St Helena and around the world. But to me, he is also a symbol of a remote society, soldiering on in genuine isolation. How to listen to From Our Own Correspondent: How to listen to From Our Own Correspondent: BBC Radio 4: Saturdays at 11:30 and some Thursdays at 11:00 Listen online or download the podcast. BBC World Service: Short editions Monday-Friday - see World Service programme schedule. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

हमारी दुनिया अजीब और अद्भुत जीवों से भरी हुई है, जिनमें से कई वैज्ञानिकों और गैर-वैज्ञानिकों को समान रूप से आश्चर्यचकित करते हैं। लेकिन क्या यह सच है कि एक जीवित कछुए ने 19वीं शताब्दी के पूर्वार्द्ध में अपना जीवन शुरू किया होगा?


Cost preventing Guernsey reciprocal health agreement

Summary: Guernsey's health department said it would lose a significant proportion of its income if a new reciprocal health agreement was put in place.

The previous deal under which people from the Crown Dependencies could receive free health care in the UK and vice versa ended in April 2009. A bid for funding the £500,000-a-year scheme was rejected by Guernsey's States a couple of years ago. It is yet to make it back on the political agenda. Richard Evans, director of corporate services at the health department, said that with increased pressure on public spending other more pressing needs may have to take priority. He said: "What we need to do is make sure is the services we provide give good value for money and that they are generally needed for the island." Jersey signed a new agreement in April 2011 and the Isle of Man in September 2010.

ग्वेर्नसे के स्वास्थ्य विभाग ने कहा कि अगर एक नया पारस्परिक स्वास्थ्य समझौता किया जाता है तो यह अपनी आय का एक महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा खो देगा।


Week ahead in Parliament

Summary: Judging by the agenda for Westminster, next week will be the calm between the storms - a kind of phoney war interlude before the debate due on 29 January, when MPs debate future Brexit strategy, and almost anything could happen.

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent Theresa May is due to make another Brexit statement on Monday - but as I write there seems little indication that anything will change in her approach, so it's expected to be another Groundhog Day Brexit statement, with the same questions receiving the same answers. Otherwise it looks like a week of more humdrum legislating, with any further dramas likely to come from (as yet) un-timetabled events like ministerial statements. It is also possible that rebellion could spill onto the floor of the Commons if there was any hint of a move to keep Britain in a customs union indefinitely or to postpone Britain's departure date, by seeking an extension to the Article 50 period. An important Brexit sub-plot is the sudden rash of presentation bills - Nick Boles's proposal to rule out a no-deal exit has been overtaken by a refined version of his proposal from Yvette Cooper; Dominic Grieve has two bills down to bring in a further referendum, and it may not be long before the Brexiteer camp gets in on the act with some proposals of their own. In normal times, presentation bills are little more than parliamentary performance art - a way of making a point - but there is a thought out there that MPs could move to suspend the rules which allow the government to control what they debate, and give some of these measures the debating time necessary to pass them. Big constitutional change is often driven by political crisis and if this actually happened, it could change the course of Brexit and reboot the relationship between the government and Parliament. Here's my rundown of the week ahead: Monday 21 January MPs warm up (2.30pm) with an hour of Home Office questions, and then the prime minister is expected to deliver an update on talks to find a Brexit deal capable of being passed by the Commons. Any further ministerial statement or urgent question would have to be pretty pressing, because these Brexit exchanges typically take two or three hours, for all that they seldom yield much that is new. Next, MPs will deal with the report and third reading stages of the Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill, a Brexit bill which establishes the legal framework for reciprocal healthcare schemes and data sharing after the UK leaves the EU. In Westminster Hall (4.30pm) there's a Petitions Committee debate on e-petition 229744 calling on the government "increase college funding to sustainable levels, including immediate parity with recently announced increases to schools funding. This will give all students a fair chance, give college staff fair pay and provide the high-quality skills the country needs." On the committee corridor, the Public Accounts Committee has an apparently unpromising-looking session (4pm) on the Bank of England's central services - but there may be some fun to be had with the Bank's 700 job titles and high personnel costs. The committee may also have some fun with the Bank's money-printing operation....are they spending too much money on making money? In the Lords (2.30pm) questions to ministers include one on government discussions with the BBC about ending free television licences for those over 75. Then, peers move on to the long awaited committee stage consideration of the Trade Bill - where the Labour Leader, Baroness Smith of Basildon, plans an interesting manoeuvre. She will attempt propose an amendment to the usual motion to go into committee on the bill, adding a requirement that the committee's report be not received until the government has presented to both Houses proposals for a process for making international trade agreements, once the United Kingdom is in a position to do so independently of the European Union. Trade treaties could have huge implications and she will be calling for a stronger role for Parliament and the devolved legislatures and administrations in drawing up negotiating mandates and vetting a final agreement. And if her amendment is agreed, the Trade Bill will go into limbo, after committee consideration, until such a report appears. On the bill itself, the key issues for discussion on day 1 include general procurement agreements and existing standards and rights. And proceedings may be interrupted to allow a minister to repeat the PM's Commons statement. The dinner-break mini-debate is on metrics to measure UK poverty, led by the Conservative Baroness Stroud. MPs open (11.30am) with an hour of Foreign Office questions. The day's Ten Minute Rule Bill, from the SNP's Alan Brown, is the Green Deal (Conduct of Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd) Bill; there have been a series of Commons debates on the way this company has operated the government's scheme to provide energy improvements. Then MPs turn to Lords amendments to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill. Among other things peers voted through changes to the rules banning British citizens from entering "designated areas", like terrorist training camps or areas under the control of organisations like IS. Exceptions have been added for people providing humanitarian aid, working for the United Nations or working as a journalist. In Westminster Hall (9.30am) Labour and Co-op party MP Gareth Thomas leads a debate on the future of the water industry - he wants to see "a meaningful change in ownership" by mutualising the industry, which he believes will put consumers and employees in the driving seat and make the water industry fit for the environmental, investment and financial challenges it faces. The Conservative Matt Warman leads a debate on cashless transactions (11am) - he will argue that the move away from physical cash to digital payments provides huge opportunities for increased security and decreased tax evasion but also poses challenges, particularly for some vulnerable groups. The SNP's Angela Crawley has a debate on mental health and the benefits assessment process (2.30pm ). She says the process for making a benefits claim on grounds of mental ill health, and the appeals process can be gruelling and appears to use a tick-box exercise based on an outdated model of mental illness rather than following the recommendations of mental health organisations. At 4.30pm, the Labour MP Helen Goodman has a debate on freehold estate fees - she had a ten minute rule bill to cap the fees, last year, and is returning to the issue of new housing where owners find the fees demanded by the freeholder of the property ratchet inexorably upwards. She will be calling for the government to act to control the problem. My committee picks are the Science and Technology Committee on Japanese Knotweed in the built environment (9.45am) and the Home Affairs hearing on English Channel migrant crossings (10.30am). In the Lords from 2.30pm, questions to ministers include former education secretary Lord Blunkett asking about funding for children with special education needs - and Lib Dem Baroness Randerson on new regulations on the use of drones - she asked an urgent question about the drone disruption at Gatwick Airport. The rest of the day is devoted to considering a series of Brexit-related Statutory Instruments, including four on nuclear and three Defra SIs - regulations on Invasive Non-native Species, Conservation of Habitats and Species, and Floods and Water. MPs begin with Wales questions (11.30am) followed at noon by Prime Minister's Questions. The Conservative, Michael Fabricant, has a Ten Minute Rule Bill to ensure there are regular updates to the Ancient Woodland Inventory using new technology to include woodlands under five acres (two hectares) which are mostly not registered at present. The number of all threatened ancient woodlands is now at 811 according to the Woodland Trust. He warns that HS2 is going to destroy at least 56 hectares of ancient woodlands including some around his Lichfield constituency. Then the House moves on to consideration of Lords amendments of the Tenants Fees Bill, which aims to make renting fairer and more affordable for tenants by reducing the costs at the outset of a tenancy. Three hours have been set aside, including time to allow the Lords to respond should the Commons reject their amendments, but even so, this is suspiciously light business, so it may be that some additional item is added to the Commons agenda - perhaps the announcement of the long-awaited Domestic Violence Bill. In Westminster Hall, debates include Labour's Siobhain McDonagh on FTSE 100 company pay ratios (9.30am); Plaid Cymru's Westminster Leader Liz Saville Roberts on the widowed parent's allowance (11am) and the Conservative Lee Rowley on a balanced budget rule (2.30pm) - he wants to highlight that the UK national debt continues to rise, albeit much slower than a few years ago, and he wants to talk about ways to stop borrowing money that future generations will have to pay back. My committee pick is the Public Accounts session with Amanda Spielman, HM Chief Inspector of Schools, looking at Ofsted's inspection operation (2.30pm). The PAC has previously criticised single-day inspections as ineffective, and urged that schools rated as "outstanding" should face more regular inspections - rather than be assumed to be excellent on the basis of what may be an out of date appraisal by inspectors some years before. In the Lords (3pm) questions to ministers include Baroness Anelay on the risks from Chinese ownership of technologies and platforms critical to UK domestic infrastructure. Then peers are expected to resume their committee stage consideration of the Trade Bill - where the key issues include devolution and customs union. The Commons day opens (9.30am) with Exiting the European Union questions, followed by Business questions to the Leader of the House of Commons - will the open hostilities between the Leader, Andrea Leadsom, and the Speaker continue? The rest of the day is devoted to debates selected by the Backbench Business Committee - starting with a general debate on Holocaust Memorial Day 2019. The theme of this year's memorial day is "torn from home", which will give MPs a chance to discuss the impacts and effects of persecution, the loss of family or place of safety, and the challenges that survivors had in rebuilding their lives afterwards. That is followed by a debate on a motion on appropriate ME treatment. In Westminster Hall (1.30pm), Labour MP John Cryer leads a debate on tackling knife crime. In the Lords (11am), question time includes former UKIP leader Lord Pearson of Rannoch asking about the Brexit negotiations - and the rest of the day is devoted to debates on subjects chosen by Lib Dem peers - first, on the delivery of essential services; and the second on the threats to climate change. The lunch-time mini-debate is on social and human rights issues in the Philippines. Neither House is sitting, but, unusually, there is a select committee hearing: the Women and Equalities Committee is holding an evidence session (2pm) on abortion law in Northern Ireland, at Queen's University Belfast. They will hear from the Northern Ireland Department of Justice and Department of Health, Marie Stopes Belfast, the Northern Ireland, Royal College of Midwives and the Christian Medical Fellowship.

वेस्टमिंस्टर के लिए एजेंडे को देखते हुए, अगले सप्ताह तूफानों के बीच शांति होगी-29 जनवरी को होने वाली बहस से पहले एक तरह का नकली युद्ध, जब सांसद भविष्य की ब्रेक्सिट रणनीति पर बहस करते हैं, और लगभग कुछ भी हो सकता है।


Swaton A52 car crash leaves two dead

Summary: Two people thought to be in their 70s have died in a crash on a Lincolnshire road.

The crash happened on Sunday afternoon on the A52 near the village of Swaton, and involved a Nissan Note and Ford Ranger. A man and woman travelling in the Nissan died at the scene. Lincolnshire Police urged anyone with information about the crash, which happened at about 15:30 BST, to get in touch. More from Lincolnshire

लिंकनशायर सड़क पर एक दुर्घटना में 70 के दशक में माने जाने वाले दो लोगों की मौत हो गई है।


Jedburgh schools campus secures planning approval

Summary: Planning approval has been given for proposals to merge two primaries and a secondary on a single campus in the Scottish Borders.

The full council had already given its support to the project in Jedburgh. The local authority's planning committee has now accepted a recommendation to give it the go ahead. It will see Parkside Primary knocked down and merged with Howdenburn Primary and Jedburgh Grammar on a campus for children aged two to 18. The new school at Hartrigge Park could be open by 2020.

स्कॉटिश सीमाओं में एक ही परिसर में दो प्राथमिक और एक माध्यमिक के विलय के प्रस्तावों के लिए योजना की मंजूरी दी गई है।


CEO Secrets: 'My billion pound company has no HR department'

Summary: Greg Jackson is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, a UK start-up valued at more than £1.4bn ($2bn), selling green energy. Despite now having more than 1,200 employees, he says he has no interest in traditional things like human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) departments.

By Dougal ShawBusiness reporter, BBC News There is a tendency for large companies to "infantilise" their employees and "drown creative people in process and bureaucracy", says Jackson. HR and IT departments don't make employees happier or more productive in his experience, he says. So he doesn't have them. Octopus Energy was set up in 2015, specialising in renewable energy for households. It has enjoyed huge growth, taking on the "big six" traditional energy firms, and now supplies more than 1.9 million homes in the UK and is expanding into other countries with its proprietary, energy-managing software. It is now valued at more than £1.4bn ($2bn) by private investors, with permanent staff owning 5% of its shares. Jackson is a serial entrepreneur who has previously run a mirror-manufacturing company, an online property management agency and a coffee shop. His distaste for "command and control", top-down management structures is born of experience, he says. Running smaller companies of around five people he would learn to cover HR and IT issues himself. But what if there is a case of bullying to be resolved, or a contract dispute that requires specialist knowledge? Jackson says he expects his managers to take personal responsibility for these things (with appropriate training) rather than "shelving responsibility to a third party" - just as he used to do when managing his teams. He thinks this approach allows companies to scale faster, as well as making employees more self-reliant. But it is a single, personal incident, which haunts him to this day, that really underpins his management philosophy. "When I was 27, I was managing a manufacturing business in north London and there was a woman who ran the reception and also did customer service, who was in her 40s," he remembers. "One day I heard her speaking to a customer on the phone and I thought I could help, so I leaned in and gave her some wise words. "She finished the call, like a consummate professional, and she turned to me and said: 'Greg, I bring up two boys and a husband on the poxy wage this company pays. If I can do that, you can be pretty sure I can do anything this company wants from me. And by the way Greg, I was here before you were here and I'll be here after you have gone. I love the company more than you do, so you never need to tell me what to do.'" Jackson was stunned into silence because she had just given him - her boss - an incredible dressing down. "I realised she was right, and I remember I gave her a hug. It was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life and it forms the basis of my management theory today." The episode taught him to favour a hands-off approach that lets individuals and teams sort their own affairs as much as possible without interference from above. You can follow CEO Secrets series producer Dougal on Twitter: @dougalshawbbc

ग्रेग जैक्सन ऑक्टोपस एनर्जी के संस्थापक और सीईओ हैं, एक यूके स्टार्ट-अप जिसका मूल्य £ 1.4bn ($2bn) से अधिक है, जो हरित ऊर्जा बेचता है। अब 1,200 से अधिक कर्मचारी होने के बावजूद, उनका कहना है कि उन्हें मानव संसाधन (HR) और सूचना प्रौद्योगिकी (IT) विभागों जैसी पारंपरिक चीजों में कोई दिलचस्पी नहीं है।


Prescription drug made my son a zombie

Summary: Alan McLaughlin was 26 when he took his own life.

By Kelly BonnerBBC Newsline He had battled an addiction to Lyrica for 5 years. At 21 he was prescribed the drug after breaking his jaw. When the doctor stopped prescribing it, he bought it illegally. "He was able to hide it from me," his mother Lisa said. "The doctors stopped prescribing it without realising the withdrawal he'd go through and then he just started buying it - it never seemed to be enough. "You can get it anywhere," she added. Pregabalin - also known by the brand name Lyrica, or the street name bud - is an anti-epileptic drug also used to relieve chronic pain. It is linked to 33 deaths in 2017 in Northern Ireland and has re-classified as a class C drug. It is illegal to have class C drugs without a prescription and illegal to supply or sell them to others. "It got to a stage where Alan wouldn't buy food. He bought Lyrica before he bought food. That was so bad. "When he didn't have Lyrica he would crawl the walls. He couldn't sleep, the stomach pains were immense." 'Broke my marriage' Lisa said the drug began to take over Alan's life. "He was like a zombie," she said. "If he took enough to be normal he was fine - you wouldn't even know he was on it. "You just wouldn't have known he was in withdrawal, but if he took more than that he was just awful - his eyes were rolling, not wanting to do anything, tired, no energy." But the drugs didn't just have an impact on Alan. They also had a huge impact on his family. "It broke my marriage," explained Lisa. "I would want to do one thing and my husband the other, you know, give him some tough love. 'Lyrica is very cruel' Lisa says it was extremely difficult to watch the destructive impact the drugs had on her son. "The day he died he asked me to put electric in his metre and I just got really fed up with running two homes on my wages and I said, 'I've no money son'. And that was the last time I spoke to him. "He suffered a lot. Lyrica is very cruel. It just changed him and nobody wanted to be around him when he was doing it - but everyone wanted to be around him when he was Alan. She added: "He didn't understand how much he was loved." If you've been affected by addiction, help and support is available at BBC Action Line. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can call Lifeline, a 24 hour helpline on 0808 808 8000.

एलन मैकलॉघलिन 26 वर्ष के थे जब उन्होंने अपनी जान ले ली।


When is an NDA not an NDA?

Summary: The House of Commons authorities' response to our latest reporting on bullying and harassment in the Palace of Westminster is rather confusing. In short, they have decided to create new definitions of words - specifically, the term "non-disclosure agreement" - and then accuse us of using the phrase incorrectly.

Chris CookPolicy editor, Newsnight@xtophercookon Twitter The issue is this: we have reported that Angus Sinclair, a former private secretary to the Speaker of the House of Commons, was paid £86,250 as part of a deal that involved signing a non-disclosure agreement. He had worked from 2005 to 2009 for Michael Martin, and from 2009 to 2010 for John Bercow. He was bound to "refrain from instituting any complaint against the Employer" and "to make no public statement or comment relating to the Employee's service with the House of Commons". David Natzler, clerk of the House, summarised the note publicly yesterday as stating that "both sides agree to make no public statement or comment relating to the employee's service or his departure from such service, except in the terms of a statement agreed by both parties". Mr Sinclair's view - and that of other people involved in the negotiation - was that this was intended to keep Mr Bercow's behaviour towards him a secret. Mr Sinclair says he was bullied, and Mr Bercow absolutely denies it. Pay-offs and secrets Is it an NDA? Well, "non-disclosure agreement" is a woolly term. It does not have a precise legal form. But according to the House of Commons's own select committee on equalities, a non-disclosure agreement is defined very simply: "Non-disclosure agreement' is increasingly used as a catch-all term for agreements that include confidentiality clauses - sometimes referred to as gagging clause... They are also commonly used in agreements that are reached between employers and employees when employment is terminated (known as settlement agreements)." That is the normal definition of "NDA". And it is one that clearly fits the House's arrangement with Mr Sinclair. But, yesterday, Mr Natzler denied that it is a non-disclosure agreement. An NDA, he says, must seek "to prevent disclosure of facts on public interest grounds - whistle-blowing". This is, to be clear, not the normal definition of an NDA. It is not the definition being deployed by MPs looking into NDAs. Just consider what "whistle-blowing" actually is. It is a protected legal activity: the law is supposed to shield you - even if you break an NDA - when you reveal something where openness is in the public interest. No NDA can bind you to hide that a manager is a criminal, a company is committing fraud or that a factory is leaking noxious chemicals into a river. There are NDAs that seek to intimidate people from exercising those rights. But most do not. Indeed, most NDAs are designed to prevent people from revealing duller things: trade secrets, working methods, bad-mouthing their former employers or embarrassing facts about their managers. But they are still NDAs. Whatever the House says, the agreement signed by Mr Sinclair is a non-disclosure agreement. That is the term we will continue to use. They can call it what they like, but here is the core of the matter: they agreed a settlement with a former employee who was paid £86,250 of public money, in return for which he was required not to raise any complaints and not to speak out.

पैलेस ऑफ वेस्टमिंस्टर में बदमाशी और उत्पीड़न पर हमारी नवीनतम रिपोर्टिंग पर हाउस ऑफ कॉमन्स के अधिकारियों की प्रतिक्रिया काफी भ्रमित करने वाली है। संक्षेप में, उन्होंने शब्दों की नई परिभाषा बनाने का फैसला किया है-विशेष रूप से, "गैर-प्रकटीकरण समझौता" शब्द-और फिर हम पर वाक्यांश का गलत तरीके से उपयोग करने का आरोप लगाया है।


Carlisle van crash: Man killed and woman seriously injured

Summary: A man has been killed and a woman seriously injured in a crash involving a van in Carlisle.

The man and woman were walking in West Tower Street in the town centre just before 13:00 GMT when the crash happened. Cumbria Police said the woman had been flown to Preston Hospital with serious injuries and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. The road is closed while investigations continue. Related Internet Links Cumbria Police

कार्लिस्ले में एक वैन की दुर्घटना में एक पुरुष की मौत हो गई और एक महिला गंभीर रूप से घायल हो गई।


Man charged with murder of Linah Keza in knife attack

Summary: A man has been charged with the murder of a woman who died in a stabbing in east London.

Linah Keza, 29, was injured in the attack at her home in Leyton at about 04:30 BST on Wednesday and was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination, held at Walthamstow Mortuary, found Ms Keza died from stab wounds to the chest. David Gikawa, 38, of King Edward Road, Leyton, is expected to appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on Saturday.

पूर्वी लंदन में छुरा घोंपने से मारे गए एक महिला की हत्या का आरोप एक व्यक्ति पर लगाया गया है।


'LED street lights are disturbing my sleep'

Summary: In towns and cities across the world, the colour of night is changing. Traditional yellow sodium street lights are steadily being replaced by white LED lamps. The new lights use less energy, dramatically cutting carbon emissions and saving money. But not everybody is happy.

By Brian WheelerBBC News, Washington DC "When the leaves left the trees and I tried to sleep, I turned to one side and the light's shining right in my eyes." Like most of us, Karen Snyder had never really paid much attention to street lights. But that all changed last year when the city council began installing LED lights outside her home in a quiet corner of Washington DC. In addition to the light shining into her bedroom, the 63-year-old teacher's guest room, where she watches TV, is now bathed in something akin to strong moonlight. "It's like there's a ray coming in. Like a blue ray. Right directly on to the couch. If you are sitting down, the moon would be above the house and you'd get the beautiful feel of the moon. This is shining right in your eyes so it's pretty different than a moon. Moons don't go this low into the windows." Her friend, Delores Bushong, says her sleep has also been disturbed by the LED street lights outside her home, and is now one of the main opponents of the new lighting in the city. She fears they will ruin the atmosphere on her back porch, where she likes to relax after dark in a hammock in the sweltering summer months. "In some kinds of torture they put a light on someone's face all the time," she says. "Am I going to be subjected to a kind of torture forever? It doesn't make sense to me. Just because we have a new technology and you can save money." Bushong has become well-versed in the jargon of colour temperature (measured in degrees Kelvin) and light intensity (measured in Lumens), as she battles to get the city to take her concerns seriously. At the very least, she wants the 4,000-Kelvin bulbs in her neighbourhood, which she compares to the harsh lighting in a prison yard, to be replaced by bulbs with lower Kelvin ratings, closer in look and feel to the old high-pressure sodium bulbs. The city insists it is listening to her campaign group's concerns but there is no turning back the march of the LEDs. "There are many reasons why cities are switching to LED lights," says Seth Miller Gabriel, the director of Washington DC's Office of Public Private Partnerships. "One, not be looked over, is cost - 50% or more over the life cycle of this new light. The lights last a lot longer. So we save electricity, by at least 50%, we save on the maintenance costs and we get a better lighting solution." Then there are the environmental benefits: "We estimate that in the District of Columbia by switching our 71,000 street lights over to LEDs we can save upwards of 30 million pounds (13,600 tonnes) of coal a year, in electricity we won't be using for the lights," he says. Miller Gabriel argues that many city-dwellers are blundering around in neighbourhoods that have never been properly lit, allowing crime to fester in the shadows. He dreams of a world where every street light is an LED. He may live long enough to see that happen. About 10% of America's street lights have so far been converted, but the Department of Energy has estimated that if the whole country switched to LEDs over the next two decades it would save $120bn over that 20-year period. Cities across Europe and the Asia Pacific region are going down the LED route and, in China, the central planning agency is in the middle of a conversion programme it expects will cut annual carbon emissions by 48 million tonnes. Against these sort of statistics, those campaigning against LEDs can sound like Luddites, railing against scientific progress, but they insist they have a strong case. They point to a recent report by the American Medical Association (AMA), which warns that the blue light emitted by first generation high-intensity LEDs, used in many cities around the world including New York, can adversely affect circadian sleep rhythms, leading to reduced duration and quality of sleep, "impaired daytime functioning" and obesity. The AMA report calls on cities to use the lowest-intensity LEDs possible and shade them better to reduce glare, which it warns can also harm wildlife. The rise of LED lights Seth Miller Gabriel says the report does not contain original research and is "more of a literature review of what's been published elsewhere". "We would really like to see more concrete evidence of what's going on with these lights," he says. "If it's really a problem, based on a particular intensity of lights, we want to know that. That AMA report really didn't give us the kind of hard data we would need [on which] to base a large scale procurement." He is overseeing the tendering process for the next phase of Washington's LED conversion which he promises will be done in a more sensitive way, with lower Kelvin ratings, better shading and remote controls, so that lights can be dimmed or increased in intensity at different times to suit the needs of particular neighbourhoods. But he adds: "Let's be honest, humans are not engineered for change. So when we come home and see a different light. Even if it's a much better light, there's going to be a reaction - 'Oh my goodness, it's a different light, what happened?'" It is true that many of the same arguments being made against LED lights were heard in the early 1970s, when cities were converting to the yellow sodium lights we are so familiar with today. High-pressure sodium bulbs used less energy than the mercury vapour bulbs they replaced. But some campaigners, most notably a Vancouver-based artist called Ralf Kelman, argued at the time that their "antiseptic orange" glow was too bright and would damage growth in young trees, as well as blocking out the stars in the night sky. The light pollution argument has also been used against LEDs, although some researchers say that properly directed, they could dramatically improve the visibility of stars. But, for some people, the debate goes beyond dry arguments about Kelvin ratings, light pollution and carbon emissions and touches on questions about the quality of life city-dwellers should expect. "When the lighting is right you have a sense of peace and contemplation, of aesthetic joy in the world," says novelist Lionel Shriver, who is campaigning against LEDs in the South Brooklyn neighbourhood where she spends part of the year. "I am not someone who believes she can stand in the way of the march of the LEDs. The savings in energy are too great. The savings in money are too great. And if we just say 'but it's not pretty' that's not going to stop these things. "The truth is that the technology of LEDs has advanced fantastically so that it is no longer necessary to make a stark choice between economy and the environment and aesthetics. You can have both. "What is going on in some cities, in New York especially, that is what I am most familiar with, amounts to a kind of widespread civic vandalism." Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

दुनिया भर के कस्बों और शहरों में, रात का रंग बदल रहा है। पारंपरिक पीले सोडियम स्ट्रीट लाइटों को लगातार सफेद एलईडी लैंप से बदल दिया जा रहा है। नई रोशनी कम ऊर्जा का उपयोग करती है, नाटकीय रूप से कार्बन उत्सर्जन में कटौती करती है और पैसे बचाती है। लेकिन हर कोई खुश नहीं है।


In quotes: Scottish budget reaction

Summary: Scotland's Finance Secretary John Swinney has announced the SNP government's budget plans. He is planning to reduce public sector costs in the year ahead, through a pay freeze and an end to big bonuses. Here, figures from across Scotland give their reaction to the proposals.

Andy Kerr, Scottish Labour finance spokesman This government has failed. It has put party before nation, self-interest before public interest and the finance secretary's own job before those of the people he is supposed to serve. He is not running a country - he is running an election campaign. It is outrageous that our local authorities, health service, our universities, further education colleges, police and fire services are being denied the ability to plan effectively. They are all demanding clarity so that they too can set budgets, deliver services and reassure staff, but they cannot because of the SNP. Tavish Scott, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Today's budget is aimed at political gain, not at the long-term interests of the Scottish people. So while some steps are right, much of the real action that needs to be taken to fund services is deferred. The Scottish government were given monies for four years. Yet today schools, hospitals and care homes didn't get the certainty of four-year figures. That's unfair on so many hard-working public servants that deserved certainty today. Conservative transport spokesman, Jackson Carlaw It is entirely fair that the roads budget should shoulder its share of savings, not least because of the costs involved in the new Forth crossing. It would, however, be regrettable if the reduction in the budget for the maintenance and improvement of our motorways and trunk roads led to greater long term costs as a result of the roads infrastructure being allowed to deteriorate below an acceptable standard. It is therefore vital that remaining investment be firmly focused on the trunk routes in the most urgent need, and those which are of the greatest strategic importance to the Scottish economy. Pat Watters, Cosla president Given the government's priorities on health this is the best deal we could negotiate for Scottish local government. Nobody is saying it is brilliant, the money coming to Scotland is down but there is a significant level of "protection" for local government compared to other parts of the public sector. Make no mistake this budget represents a cut and we are sharing the pain of a cuts agenda in the public sector - really tough decisions lie ahead and today's announcement is only the beginning. Andy Willox, the Federation of Small Businesses On the day that the number of Scots unemployed increases once again, our collective priority needs to be job creation and sustainability. Small businesses have a track record of creating jobs. We need more emphasis and support placed on these businesses - no matter their sector or location. Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation Today's announcement represents a 2.6% cut in police budgets for 2011/12. Even discounting the effects of inflation, this will create real challenges for the police service in Scotland. However, given the current economic climate and the serious issues faced by the Scottish government, the Scottish Police Federation is pleased the government has committed to maintaining the 1,000 extra police officers currently in place, which will help ensure the continued safety of the public across the country. Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce On the positive side is the government's continued commitment to essential infrastructure projects such as the new Forth Road Bridge, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, A96 improvements and M8 upgrade. Transport projects in particular will deliver long term economic benefits to Scotland and the Scottish government's continued commitment to this investment, against a background of declining capital budgets, is very welcome indeed. Less welcome is the news that large retailers are to face further pain through further increases in business rates. As if the abolition of transitional relief this year was not enough, this is a hammer blow to a sector that has been creating jobs in Scotland throughout the recession. Michael Levack, Scottish Building Federation chief executive Heading into today's announcement, the settlement from last month's UK spending review suggested that the capital heading of the Scottish budget would have to bear the entire burden of a £900m cut in public spending next year. In this context, John Swinney's announcement that £100m will be transferred to the capital heading of the budget is clearly very welcome news for the construction industry. But the burden of these cuts on capital spending is still a heavy one. I listened with particular interest to Mr Swinney's proposal to establish a new £2.5bn programme of revenue-financed investment for construction projects. We now need to see the detail of how this programme will be implemented on the ground. Lucy McTernan, CEO of Citizens Advice Scotland With personal debt at an all time high and living costs still rising in Scotland, the announcement of the budget cuts, such as, the public sector workers pay freeze will mean that hard working families and individuals are hit the hardest. These are people who live in every community in Scotland who have mortgages and consumer debt, but will now have less income in their pockets to service these debts. Judith Robertson, head of Oxfam Scotland On the day when Oxfam has had to double its cholera response in Haiti, we warmly welcome the Scottish government's decision to maintain its international development fund. Although modest in sum, this fund has had life-saving and life-changing impact in Haiti, where it is paying for water and sanitation engineers, and in other countries across the world. Scottish Funding Council Following today's draft budget announcement, the Scottish Funding Council will do all it can to provide the sectors with stability and certainty over the allocation of funding to colleges and universities for the academic year beginning in August 2011. Linda McTavish, convenor of Scotland's Colleges' Principals' Convention Scotland's Colleges acknowledge the challenges the Scottish government is facing. It welcomes the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue about how budget reductions are to be managed in the interests of students and the economy. Colleges understand that these are tough times for the country. Although it will often be difficult, they are prepared to accept a share of reductions in public spending. Chas Booth, Association for the Conservation of Energy We welcome many of the energy saving policies and proposals set out in the RPP, including the commitment to stronger energy standards for new buildings in 2013, continued insulation schemes and a more ambitious standard for existing social rented homes. However, the level of ambition still falls well short of the contribution housing can and should make to the 42% target by 2020.

स्कॉटलैंड के वित्त सचिव जॉन स्विनी ने एसएनपी सरकार की बजट योजनाओं की घोषणा की है। वह आने वाले वर्ष में सार्वजनिक क्षेत्र की लागतों को कम करने की योजना बना रहे हैं, वेतन फ्रीज और बड़े बोनस को समाप्त करने के माध्यम से। यहाँ, स्कॉटलैंड के आंकड़े प्रस्तावों पर अपनी प्रतिक्रिया देते हैं।


Inflatable pineapple triggers Port Talbot lifeboat launch

Summary: A lifeboat crew responded to a report of a capsized kayak only to discover it was a large inflatable pineapple.

Port Talbot RNLI was called to check out the sighting at the mouth of the town's harbour on Wednesday. After the incident the crew took to Twitter to appeal for inflatables to be disposed of properly and not left on the beach. They added people should not swim after inflatables if they blow away but call 999 and report it to the coastguard.

एक लाइफबोट चालक दल ने एक डूबे हुए कयाक की रिपोर्ट का जवाब देने के लिए केवल यह पता लगाया कि यह एक बड़ा हवा वाला अनानास था।


What do those on Anglo-Scottish border think of drink-drive change?

Summary: Scotland's new drink-drive limit has come into effect. The new limit of 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood will be lower than in the rest of the UK. What do people on the Anglo-Scottish border think of the new law?

By Graham FraserBBC Scotland If you go to the Gretna Chase Hotel this weekend and drink a pint before getting behind the wheel, you may want to be careful when leaving the car park. By turning left, you will continue your journey into England and, after a solitary beer, you will probably still be under the legal drink-drive limit. But if you turn right and drive for 20 yards over the Sark Bridge, you will have entered Scotland - and you may have just broken the law. Earlier this week, I travelled between Scotland and England to discover what people thought about the new drink-drive limit north of the border. There was widespread support for the new limit in Scotland but one point was raised time and time again - why isn't the new drink-drive limit being introduced in England as well? Drink-driving laws - the differences Why not impose an outright ban on drink-driving? The simple answer is the Scottish government, with its devolved powers, can change the law on its own and do not need to wait for Westminster politicians to agree. In October, the then Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said the Scottish government did seek a joint approach with Westminster but the UK government decided to retain the current limit. UK Road Safety Minister Robert Goodwill also confirmed there were no plans to alter the drink-drive limit in England. For those on the border, the difference in policy between Holyrood and Westminster has raised a few concerns. "The legislation is fine when you are in the centre of Scotland," says James Monaghan, the licensee of the Gretna Chase Hotel, who would like the lower limit in England as well. "When you are on the border here, it is a bit confusing for people. I think it is something that the two governments should have got together and kept both limits the same. "I think it is not right, that you can have more drink on one side of the border and less on the other side." The Gretna Chase Hotel is on the English side of the River Sark, the natural border between the two countries. Signs welcoming drivers to both Scotland and England are a stone's throw from the hotel gate. Mr Monaghan says he is used to differences in Scots and English law affecting his business. The ban on smoking in public places came into effect in Scotland a year before England, resulting in drivers from places such as Galashiels and Stranraer travelling to the hotel to enjoy a cigarette. Why not impose an outright ban on drink-driving? Road safety campaign group Brake have said that 20mg is as close to an absolute ban as you can get without accidentally penalising those with trace element of alcohol in their bloodstream. Michelle Evans, 27, and 30-year-old Cassie Stewart are in the Gretna Chase enjoying lunch in the hotel, having stopped off on a drive from Glasgow to County Durham. Both women welcomed the new lower limit and wanted it introduced in England too, where the current limit is 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. Cassie adds: "The new law shouldn't make any difference. I think you should already be sensible enough not to drink and drive, or not to drive the day after. Alcohol affects people in different ways." A few miles down the road from the hotel is Longtown, a small English community dominated by a nearby Ministry of Defence base. In this sleepy part of Cumbria, people seem to be well aware of the changes in Scotland. One of the biggest pubs in the village is the Graham Arms. One of its owners, Paul Brown, believes TV adverts from the Scottish government have helped to make the drink-drive limit the talk of his bar. Like his fellow publican in Gretna, Paul wants the law to be the same on either side of the border. "Things shouldn't be different because you cross the river," he says. "I totally respect the fact that Holyrood make their own decisions for the Scottish people. "It is joined up thinking - if one country is going to do it, everybody should do it, including Wales and Northern Ireland." Next door to the Graham Arms is the Lunch Box shop. Inside, Yvonne Moore stopped serving for a few minutes to ponder the change. With a background in the ambulance service, she likes the legislation. "England will probably follow eventually," she reflects. "It is a shame that you can't go out and have the one glass of wine, but not everyone has the one glass of wine." Back in Scotland, the people of Dumfries also consider the new limit. Enjoying a walk in the town - which is about 23 miles from England - are Raymond and Eleanor Ingram, a husband and wife in their 70s. Both are delighted with the new law, as Eleanor's life has been affected by the implications of drink-driving. Almost 40 years ago, she was the passenger on the back of a motorbike in South Lanarkshire. A car driven by a drunken man pulled out on to the road in front of the bike. As a result of the collision, she suffered a number of broken bones in her legs, her arms and her shoulders. She required 12 months of hospital treatment and her ex-husband, who was driving the bike, was also seriously injured. While he eventually recovered from his injuries physically, the mental scars left their toll. The driver of the car, who was unhurt, was fined £35 and banned from driving for 18 months. "It totally shattered my life," says Eleanor. "It took about a year out of my life that I will never forget, or forgive. I have no sympathy for any drink-drivers. I am lucky to be here today." A few streets away Maureen McKerrow, the former president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association and licensee of the The Globe Inn in Dumfries, and Jacqueline Dickson - the licensee of Slipstream and president of the South West Scotland Licensed Trade Association - enjoy a coffee in Jacqueline's pub. Both women welcome the law change but are frustrated at the lack of information given to the public so far. Maureen adds: "The only information that might be presented locally is a big sign on the motorway coming into Scotland. "I think it is very sad that all of our politicians couldn't have got their heads together and made one law for all - and not just Scotland." Jacqueline says: "I think the government has forgotten, rushing through this new law, about the education of our young people about our new drink-driving limit. "In my view there will be motorists who face conviction through ignorance rather than intention." The women call on supermarkets to do more to highlight the law change and suggest the police could offer breath tests on the street to show drinkers their alcohol limits. The Scottish government's campaign on the new limit includes adverts, social media, events at supermarkets and working with petrol stations around the border. Director of Road Safety Scotland Michael McDonald, along with the group Scotland's Campaign Against Irresponsible Drivers, welcomes the new limit. Mr McDonald says: "The drink-drive limit at its current level is costing us the lives of an average of 20 people a year in Scotland, and therefore we need to do something about it. "We are doing a bit of work in and around the border to make sure people who come across know things are different. "We know that this move has very many supporters south of the border as well. People who live in the borders are often very conscious of the differences." The new drink-drive limit in Scotland will be the latest of those differences. For those on either side of the border, there is support for the legislation - but frustration of a different limit in England for the foreseeable future.

स्कॉटलैंड की नई शराब पीकर गाड़ी चलाने की सीमा लागू हो गई है। 100 मिली रक्त में 50 मिलीग्राम शराब की नई सीमा ब्रिटेन के बाकी हिस्सों की तुलना में कम होगी। एंग्लो-स्कॉटिश सीमा पर लोग नए कानून के बारे में क्या सोचते हैं?


Dorset day care service to save £600,000

Summary: People in Dorset are being asked for their views on how to make £600,000 worth of savings to the county council's day care services.

Day centre managers are being asked to cut costs or generate income in order to make the savings by 2014. Ideas to generate cash include hiring out rooms and running recreational classes in council-owned facilities. The public consultation runs until 31 July, and the results will be brought to the council's cabinet in November.

डोरसेट में लोगों से उनके विचार पूछे जा रहे हैं कि काउंटी परिषद की डे केयर सेवाओं के लिए 600,000 पाउंड की बचत कैसे की जाए।


Balochistan: The untold story of Pakistan's other war

Summary: Pakistan's on-off dialogue with the Taliban has been commanding headlines and the attention of politicians and diplomats. But there has been little interest in a dialogue that could end the longest civil war in Pakistan's history, says guest columnist Ahmed Rashid.

On 17 January, 13 bodies were discovered from a mass grave in the village of Tutak near Khuzdar in Balochistan province. Only two of the mutilated, decomposed bodies have been identified so far - both were men who had disappeared four months earlier. A heartbreaking account of the mass grave by Saher Baloch, a journalist for Dawn newspaper, ends with the ominous prediction by an official that there are more bodies waiting to be found. The Frontier Corps, the anti-Shia group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and other groups are all enmeshed in a decade-long campaign of "pick up and dump" in which Baloch nationalists, militants or even innocent bystanders are picked up, disappeared, tortured, mutilated and then killed. The army, paramilitaries and the government have consistently denied being responsible for violence in Balochistan, pointing instead to the myriad of armed groups operating in the region. But even though the Supreme Court has taken up some of the cases of the disappeared, the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has failed to engage with the issue. Untold story Nobody even knows how many people have have disappeared - the figures are between hundreds and several thousand. Now the families of those disappeared are on a long march through the winter months from Karachi to Islamabad to register their loss and grievances with the government. Wizened old men and women wrapped in chadors have been dragging children along and braving the cold and the rain. They entered Lahore earlier this month and have already been on the road for nearly four months. They said they do not even have a dead body to bury and want to know where the men of their families are. But the government has ignored them - it is almost as if they did not exist. So many journalists have been killed in Balochistan that there are few honest reports from the province in the national print or electronic media because journalists are too scared. The story of this bloody civil war is going untold. The chief minister of Balochistan Abdul Malik Baloch, who heads the weak provincial government in Quetta, has demanded a dialogue with the nationalist leaders. He is powerless unless the federal government and the army agree to rein in the violence many believe they are responsible for - something they utterly deny - and the militants agree to a ceasefire. The fifth Baloch insurgency against the Pakistan state began in 2003, with small guerrilla attacks by autonomy-seeking Baloch groups who over the years have became increasingly militant and separatist in ideology. Their leaders who are mostly in exile abroad now demand independence from Pakistan. Cycle of violence Unlike in past Baloch insurgencies when militants only targeted the army, this time the militants have targeted non-Baloch civilians living in Balochistan in an attempt to drive out other nationalities. Every disappeared Baloch leads to many more youngsters taking up arms. Every attack on the security forces leads to more disappeared. It is an endless cycle of violence that has gone on for 11 years. The tragedy is that although there is intense division in the country over talking to the Taliban - strong pro- and anti-lobbies hammer it out daily - there is no such dispute about talking to the Baloch nationalists. All the political parties seem to be in agreement about the need for a dialogue, but it is the army that has to agree to one. "After the opening of negotiations with the Taliban, it is even more absurd to be not offering an opening to talk to the Baloch nationalists," said IA Rehman, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "The lack of response is causing incalculable harm to Pakistan," he added. The Taliban have killed thousands of people in the past five years compared to the Balochistan insurgency where casualties have been far lower. But without a major initiative from the federal government to bring together the army, parliament, the political parties and other stakeholders in the establishment, it is unlikely there will be any move for opening talks with the Baloch militants. Pakistan remains fragile, with all the violence that the state faces from the Taliban and mayhem in Karachi. Meanwhile the economy only gets worse. As long as the government stays silent on Balochistan, the longest civil war in Pakistan's history will only create more casualties and break more records for longevity and heartbreak.

अतिथि स्तंभकार अहमद राशिद का कहना है कि तालिबान के साथ पाकिस्तान की बातचीत सुर्खियों में रही है और राजनेताओं और राजनयिकों का ध्यान आकर्षित किया है। लेकिन पाकिस्तान के इतिहास में सबसे लंबे गृह युद्ध को समाप्त करने वाली बातचीत में बहुत कम रुचि रही है।


Why are India's housewives killing themselves?

Summary: More than 20,000 housewives took their lives in India in 2014.

Soutik BiswasDelhi correspondent This was the year when 5,650 farmers killed themselves in the country. So the number of suicides by housewives was about four times those by farmers. They also comprised 47% of the total female victims. Yet the high number of homemakers killing themselves doesn't make front page news in the way farmer suicides do, year after year. In fact, more than 20,000 housewives have been killing themselves in India every year since 1997, the earliest year for which we have information compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau based on occupation of the victim. In 2009, the grim statistic peaked at 25,092 deaths. Forget raw numbers. The rate of housewives taking their lives - more than 11 per 100,000 people - has been consistently higher than India's overall suicide rate since 1997. It dropped to 9.3 in 2014, yet suicide rate for housewives was more than twice those for farmers that year. Little attention Suicide rates of housewives vary from state to state. In 2011, for example, their rates - more than 20 per 100,000 people - were higher in states like Maharashtra, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, West Bengal and Gujarat. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar showed lower suicide rates. Peter Mayer, who teaches politics at the University of Adelaide and has spent much time studying the sociology of suicide in India, wonders why suicide rates of housewives in India is so high, and why it gets so little attention in the media. After all, as Mr Mayer says, research in western societies suggests that "marriage confers protection from suicide to married women". Therefore, married people are less likely to kill themselves - studies have found suicide rates for married people in the US and Australia, for example, are lower than others in the same age group. India, clearly, is an outlier. Nearly 70% of people who took their lives in 2001, for example, were married - 70.6% of the men and 67% of the women. A study published in the medical journal The Lancet in 2012 found that the suicide rate in Indian women aged 15 years or older is more than two and a half times greater than it is in women of the same age in high-income countries, and nearly as high as in China. Married women are part of the cohort. Mr Mayer, author of Suicide and Society in India, and co-researcher Della Steen, found that the "risk of suicide is, on the whole, highest in what are probably the first or second decades of marriage, that is, for those aged between 30 and 45". "We found that female literacy, the level of exposure to the media and smaller family size, all perhaps indicators of female empowerment, were correlated with higher suicide rates for women in these age groups." Also, the researchers say that suicide rates among housewives are lowest in the most "traditional" states, where family sizes are big and extended families are common. Rates are higher in states where households are closer to nuclear families - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. (Dowry-related deaths are treated as murders.) 'Changing expectations' Mr Mayer told me that he believed the high rate of housewife suicides was linked to the "nature of the social transformation in the nature of the family, which is occurring in India". "I suggest that a central explanatory factor is the importance of changing expectations concerning social roles, especially in marriage," he says. There are conflicts with spouses and parents, and "relations between poorly educated mothers-in-law and better-educated, insubordinate daughters-in-law" are a source of tension. An educated daughter-in-law was more likely to "forge a strong alliance with her husband and persuade him to break off from his parents and set up a nuclear family on their own", according to one study by Joanne Moller. Dr Vikram Patel, a leading Goa-based psychiatrist and professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who co-authored the Lancet study, tells me that the high rate of housewife suicides in India can be attributed to a double whammy of "gender and discrimination". "Many women face arranged marriages by force. They have dreams and aspirations, but they often do not get supportive spouses. Sometimes their parents don't support them either. They are trapped in a difficult system and social milieu," he says. "The resulting lack of romantic, trusting and affectionate relationship with your spouse can lead to such tragedies." Making things worse is the lack of counsellors and medical facilities for patients of depression. Then there's the social stigma associated with "mental illness". Next big question: why does the media ignore the rising rate of suicides among married women, when, say, farmer suicides, rightly, gets a lot of attention? 'Harassment for dowry' Mr Mayer says on the "relatively rare occasion when the Indian media do cover the suicides of married women it is almost always framed in terms of mistreatment by in-laws and harassment for dowry". That is clearly only a part of the story. Kalpana Sharma, a researcher and journalist, says the lack of coverage has to largely do with the "invisibility of gender" in the Indian media. "This, in some ways, is worse than misogyny. There is a lack of engagement with issues relating to women, and the media is not even aware of the problem," she says. The story of India's "desperate housewives", as Mr Mayer describes them, needs to be urgently researched and told.

2014 में भारत में 20,000 से अधिक गृहिणियों ने अपनी जान ले ली।


How to perfect your Brexit chat this Christmas

Summary: "What do you make of this Brexit business, then?"

By Tom MoseleyPolitical reporter With the prospect of family Christmas get-togethers looming, this might be a question to dread. First up, it's still an issue on which Britons tend to be divided - and one that can provoke strong feelings, particularly after a sherry or two. Second, you might not have been paying attention since last year's referendum (Leave won). So how to perfect your Brexit chat and navigate this political hot potato over Christmas? Avert a row It's Christmas dinner, and a relative is letting rip on Brexit. You don't agree and you're starting to get riled. How can you avoid another family row? You could try a Brexity joke, asking the host if sufficient progress has been made on the starter to move on to the next phase of the meal. Or perhaps throw everyone by wondering aloud whether the turkey will be washed in chlorine in years to come. If this bombs (it probably will, let's face it), remind them of the Archbishop of Canterbury's call for a Christmas "ceasefire" from insults about Brexit. In that spirit, try one of the ready-made peace offerings in this article when the BBC asked Remain and Leave campaigners to suggest something positive about the other side. Select one as appropriate and watch everyone around the table relax. Hopefully. Sound scarily informed Your father-in-law at Christmas lunch - or the boss at your office party - starts asking you about the negotiations. You want to sound at least a little bit informed. Here are a few tips from BBC Brussels correspondent Adam Fleming to stop them in their tracks. Kill it The post-dinner Brexit conversation has been dragging on for hours, and you're desperate to get to the pub. How to box it off without putting anyone's nose out of joint? Declare that "Brexit means Brexit". Theresa May's slogan is hard to argue with, and will leave everyone scratching their heads as you head out of the door. Say "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" with a knowing wink. It's become the negotiations' catchphrase, used by both sides to keep everything on the table. Ministers sometimes use it to fend off tricky questions. Deploy it here and keep everyone happy as you make your excuses. Avoid Brexit altogether Perhaps the safest option - just don't go there. It's an approach suggested by The Spectator's Lara Prendergast, who has bemoaned people's insistence on debating Brexit at social events. "My approach is to avoid telling people how I voted in the referendum," she says. "I have taken to saying 'would you mind if we talked about something else?' There's no topic more divisive and more boring. "People used to say you don't talk about sex, politics or religion - I think maybe Brexit should be the fourth one on that list."

"तो फिर आप इस ब्रेक्सिट व्यवसाय के बारे में क्या सोचते हैं?"


Will Australia's 'miracle economy' keep on winning?

Summary: It was the year Australia went to war in the Gulf, when Monica Seles and Boris Becker won tennis grand slams in Melbourne, and The Simpsons was first shown on Aussie television, while a swooning Bryan Adams was a hit with love-struck teenagers ("Look into your heart, baby").

By Phil MercerBBC News, Sydney It was 1991, and the last time Australia tasted the bitter economic taste of recession, defined in these parts, at least, as two or more back-to-back quarters of negative growth in real gross domestic product, or the value of all services and goods. Since then, Australia has sidestepped the worst effects of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and its more destructive big brother that hammered global markets a decade or so later. Australia's economy - the "wonder down under" - has somehow dodged the unstoppable forces that sent other wealthy countries tumbling into reverse. For this, a nation of 24 million people must thank not only sound judgement by those in charge but also good fortune, according to Shane Oliver, chief economist at financial services company AMP in Sydney. "I certainly don't see Australia as being a miracle," he says. "It has had a bit of good luck and good management, but it would be dangerous to assume that it is never going to have a recession again." The economy is growing by about 1.9% per year, according to the Reserve Bank. In 2012, that figure was 3.7%. Weaker growth means that pay packets are shrinking for many workers when adjusted for the rising cost of living, and near-record levels of underemployment are stifling wage increases. In August, retail sales posted their biggest retreat in about four-and-a-half years, falling by 0.6%, with cafes and restaurants reporting declining turnovers. Period of transition? Rocks, coal and demand from China insulated this country from the global financial meltdown in 2008, as a red-hot mining industry delivered unprecedented wealth. Surging commodity prices fuelled the bonanza in Western Australia and Queensland, which propped up under-performing states in the south-east, where most Australians live. Shane Oliver says the situation has now "been turned on its head" and Australia is once again in transition. The mining boom has faded, but areas that once struggled have bounced back in part because of record low interest rates that have unleashed a frenzy into the housing market. Meanwhile, eye-watering wads of public money have poured into infrastructure projects, which are redefining parts of New South Wales, the most populous state. There was another critical factor that helped Australia to largely avoid the ravages of the global financial crisis - unprecedented spending by the Labor government that boosted public expenditure by a whopping 13% in an attempt to stimulate growth. It was a classic Keynesian economic manoeuvre to use billions of dollars to sustain household spending, demand and employment. Australia loves to win. Here international cricket matches are akin to "wars" and Olympic gold medals - or a lack thereof - are greeted with congratulatory back-slapping - or hand-wringing. If there was a podium for economic success, this is a country that would be bending forward to accept the award. More than 25 years of uninterrupted growth is a remarkable achievement, although there is debate about the competition. Some commentators believe the recent economic prosperity enjoyed by the Netherlands lasted for (only) 22 years, putting it firmly into silver medal position behind the Aussies. Right place, right time Tim Harcourt, an economics fellow at the University of New South Wales, believes Australia deserves the plaudits. "This time the 'lucky country' made its own luck. "The Hawke-Keating [government] reforms of the 1980s and 1990s - the currency float, tariff changes, and embrace of Asia - set up us up for a quarter of a century of growth. "Australia found itself in the right place at the right time and embraced the Asia century," he argues. But as the economy has soared, some Australians have been left behind. At almost 13%, youth unemployment is more than twice the national average. Labouring work had left 21-year-old Mohammad Al-Khafaji, the son of an Iranian refugee, with endless back pain and homelessness soon followed. "I was just trying to apply for jobs online, and then people were just putting me down saying 'you are never going to get that job', so I just stopped trying," he says. 'Muddling along' Mohammad is now employed by a hire car company in Sydney, and has ambitions to one day be the boss. He works with Shiv Dhingra, an Indian migrant from Punjab. They are proof that much of Australia's economic might is down to immigration. "I am the only one working in my family," Shiv explained. "I am the main financial support they have. I am working seven days a week for the last year. I've got plans for my own business." Both young men were helped by Charity Bounce, a Sydney-based non-profit organisation that uses basketball to reach out to the disadvantaged and long-term unemployed, who, according to chief executive, Ian Heininger, also deserve a slice of Australia's prosperity. "We find a lot of the young people are desperate to find work," he says, "desperate to find an opportunity that is going to get them into a place where they are contributing back to the world." But will they be part of an ever-expanding economy? Mr Oliver thinks Australia's luck will eventually run out, but not for a while. "The Aussie economy is probably going to continue muddling along, not fantastically strong as housing slows and consumer spending remains a bit weak," he predicts. "We are probably going to go for at least another few years before we have that recession some people say is inevitable."

यह वह वर्ष था जब ऑस्ट्रेलिया खाड़ी में युद्ध में गया था, जब मोनिका सेलेस और बोरिस बेकर ने मेलबर्न में टेनिस ग्रैंड स्लैम जीते थे, और द सिम्पसंस को पहली बार ऑस्ट्रेलियाई टेलीविजन पर दिखाया गया था, जबकि एक मूर्छित ब्रायन एडम्स प्रेम-ग्रस्त किशोरों के साथ हिट था ("अपने दिल में देखो, बेबी")।


Gibraltar: The thorn in British-Spanish relations

Summary: Spain and Britain are still talking tough on the issue of Gibraltar as the dispute over Spanish checks at the border continues. The BBC's Tom Burridge talks to people on the Spanish side and looks at the arguments dividing the two countries.

Basic realpolitik tells you that the dispute over the British territory of Gibraltar should cool down at some point soon. Britain and Spain are NATO and EU allies. Hundreds of thousands of Brits live in Spain and many more spend their sun-baked holidays here. Despite the awkward timing of a long-planned deployment of a fleet of British warships and other vessels, it is striking that their first port of call, before Gibraltar, will be mainland Spain. But over the past two weeks, private phone calls followed by public statements on all sides that Britain and Spain are ready to negotiate have only ended in more threats, tougher language and continued long queues for people of all nationalities at the border. Now both Britain and Spain seem resigned to the idea that the European Commission could be the way to reach some form of consensus. 'Hell would freeze' In the wake of a legal threat by Britain over what London deems to be excessive border controls, Spain has denied the checks are a product of the dispute. But the queues only grew, sometimes surpassing five or even six hours, after Gibraltarian authorities put a concrete reef into disputed waters. The Gibraltarian government said the reef was designed to regenerate marine life. Spain said it was a unilateral act designed to stop Spanish boats fishing there. For the dispute to be resolved, Spain's director of foreign policy Ignacio Ibañez told us the reef would have to be removed. Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo told us "hell will freeze over before the government of Gibraltar moves any of those blocks". Spain and Gibraltar's uncompromising red lines over 70 blocks of concrete are part of the dispute, but it has escalated into something bigger. Not a day goes by without the Spanish government talking publicly about the issue of tobacco smuggling across the border. Now the Spanish interior minister has claimed Gibraltar "imported 140 million packets of cigarettes" last year. Jorge Fernandez Díaz said it was "obvious that they were not all smoked by the residents of the British colony, nor its visitors or tourists". He said 725,000 packets were seized by Spanish police at the border last year, 80% of which were hidden under "double-floors" in vehicles. 'Manufactured in Madrid' But Mr Picardo said authorities in the British territory arrested nearly 300 people last year for possessing more than the legal limit of 100 packets of cigarettes - a crackdown he said was not matched on the Spanish side. He said the Spanish government was simply using the issue of smuggling to engineer a dispute which did not exist just a few weeks ago. "This has nothing to do with tobacco smuggling," Mr Picardo said. "This dispute was manufactured in Madrid." Gibraltar believes Spain's right-wing Popular Party government wants to widen the row to distract attention from its domestic problems and focus on the issue of the sovereignty of the British territory. But what do Spaniards think? A 40-minute drive up the coast from the Gibraltar-Spain border is the Andalusian town of Tarifa, which lies just outside the Campo area. "I don't have anything against the people of Gibraltar, but I do have a problem with their government," says fishmonger Salvador Blanco. "We have sympathy with the fishermen as our livelihood depends on them," he adds. But on the issue of Gibraltar's sovereignty, he says he does not care. "We have the territories of Ceuta and Melilla (Spanish enclaves in northern Africa)," he says. "It doesn't make any difference to me that Gibraltar is British." Then we meet 33-year-old Jose María Rico from Madrid, who, like many others at this time of year is on holiday in Tarifa. 'What the heck?' "We always say that Gibraltar is Spanish," he says. "It's like someone telling you that part of your body belongs to someone else." Then, on Tarifa's long and windy beach, from which you can almost touch Africa, we bump into Luis Fernandez, who is spending his holiday with friends from England. "I love the English, but what the heck are they doing here (Gibraltar)?" he asks. But, he believes the Spanish government is using the dispute as a "smokescreen" to divert attention from a damaging corruption scandal. "Rather than this [scandal], we have Gibraltar top of the news," he says. Ironically most of the people we have met in long queues at the border are Spanish. Between 6,000 and 7,000 people live in the part of Spain known as the "Campo de Gibraltar" just over the border but work in the British territory. So sovereignty aside, Spaniards, Britons and Gibraltarians who need to cross the border all want the dispute to end.

स्पेन और ब्रिटेन अभी भी जिब्राल्टर के मुद्दे पर कड़ी बात कर रहे हैं क्योंकि सीमा पर स्पेनिश जांच पर विवाद जारी है। बीबीसी के टॉम बुरिज स्पेन की ओर से लोगों से बात करते हैं और दोनों देशों को विभाजित करने वाले तर्कों को देखते हैं।


Ukraine takes aim against 'gay propaganda'

Summary: The Ukrainian parliament could give final approval next week to a bill that aims to outlaw "pro-homosexual propaganda" - any "positive depiction" of gay people, gay pride marches, or even the screening of a film like Brokeback Mountain.

By David SternBBC News, Kiev Critics have described the legislation, which imposes indeterminate fines and up to five years in prison for repeat offenders, as a throwback to the Middle Ages, although it is only a couple of decades since homosexuality was a criminal offence here and in the rest of the USSR. In some ways, Ukraine is an open and tolerant society. It was the first former Soviet republic to decriminalise homosexuality, in 1991. It has sprouted its own gay rights movement, and gay night clubs operate freely in central Kiev. But despite this, the bill - which sailed through its first reading last week - enjoys wide backing. All major political parties are united in support, and polls indicate that many Ukrainians support some restrictions on the rights of sexual minorities. One of the legislation's incubators is the Christian Hope evangelical church in Kiev. Located in a nondescript five-story structure outside the city centre, Christian Hope provides a wide array of educational and charity services, and has established a network of some 150 churches throughout Ukraine. It has also helped collect thousands of signatures in support of three anti-gay bills put forward in parliament this year. After a rousing service in the church's warehouse-like auditorium focusing on the agonies of sin and bliss of salvation, I meet the chief pastor, Valery Reshetinsky. For him, the fight against homosexuality is a matter of "national security" upon which the survival of the nation depends. "Here's the issue," says Pastor Reshetinsky, a large-boned man with a slight moustache, tells me. "In a real democracy, my freedom and rights are limited by the freedom of someone else." In his opinion, freedom of speech for sexual minorities is a violation of what he considers his inalienable right not to have to hear something he finds offensive. "You can't do everything that you want to do, because there are people who have the exact same rights as you do," he insists. The pastor goes on to accuse a worldwide conspiracy of Masons, New-Agers, postmodernists and financiers of various nationalities, of imposing ideas that are not "characteristic for Ukraine" on the nation's children. The first reading of the bill last week unleashed a deluge of condemnation from human rights organisations, both inside and outside Ukraine, who have christened it a "gay gag law". The ban would be a gross violation of European and international conventions, they say, leading to further marginalisation of Ukraine's LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. It could also damage efforts to stem Ukraine's already stratospheric HIV rate, if, for example, some anti-Aids information were to be prohibited. It may be no coincidence that a number of gay activists have been attacked in recent months. The first ever Gay Pride march planned in Kiev was called off at the last minute in May after threats of violence from far-right groups. Immediately after a news conference announcing the decision, masked assailants kicked and jumped on Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of Gay Forum of Ukraine. A month later, unknown muggers shouting "Faggot!" assaulted another of the parade organisers, Taras Karasiychuk, on the street as he was coming home at night. International luminaries have weighed in. At a recent concert to mark the end of the Euro 2012 football championship - co-hosted by Ukraine - Elton John used his stage to denounce the attacks and the pending legislation. "I plead with you: Stop the violence against gay people," Sir Elton told a cheering crowd of some 100,000 on Kiev's central square. Supporters of the bill, like Ruslan Kukharchuk, a founder of the local group Love Against Homosexuality, deny the accusation of intolerance. They say they too condemn the violence against homosexuals. What is more, they add, gays are free to do whatever they want "in the privacy of their room". Kukharchuk, however, has also written about what he calls the "homo-dictatorship" which he claims dominates Western society and persecutes religious, anti-gay proponents like himself. He strives to counter "aggressive" gay propaganda, he says - in other words, public discourse that implies that homosexuality "is normal, is good, is part of democracy". If passed, the bill would prevent anyone sending out a message that there is nothing wrong with being gay - whether in a newspaper editorial, a public speech or parade. This bill's authors have cited films like Brokeback Mountain as an example. Another film, Bruno, featuring Sacha Baron Cohen in the role of a gay Austrian fashion designer, was censored in Ukraine anyway. And a few weeks ago, the National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality said it would examine complaints from a Christian group about SpongeBob SquarePants and some Disney films. The new bill could even be so interpreted as to outlaw any public display of single-sex affection, such as kissing and hand-holding, Kukharchuk says. "But it would be up to a court of law to decide if this was propaganda or not." Despite the formidable pushback - and the threat of physical assault - LGBT activists are undaunted. Karasiychuk, who suffered a broken jaw and concussion in his attack, says gay people cannot retreat into the woodwork. "We need to be more visible in everyday life. We have to provoke this conversation. Everyone has to ask themselves, why they don't like gays."

यूक्रेनी संसद अगले सप्ताह एक विधेयक को अंतिम मंजूरी दे सकती है जिसका उद्देश्य "समलैंगिक समर्थक प्रचार" को गैरकानूनी घोषित करना है-समलैंगिक लोगों का कोई भी "सकारात्मक चित्रण", समलैंगिक गौरव मार्च, या यहां तक कि ब्रोकबैक माउंटेन जैसी फिल्म की स्क्रीनिंग।