How Parsis shaped India's taste for soft drinks

Summary: A bottle of Pallonji's raspberry soda comes with this helpful disclaimer: "Contains no fruit." Electric red in colour, and syrupy sweet to the taste, the raspberry soda is a beloved cultural icon of India's fast-disappearing Parsi community - as well as the endangered Irani cafes in the western city of Mumbai.

By Dinyar PatelHistorian It is pure, fizzy nostalgia. But peer more closely into one of Pallonji's ancient glass bottles and you can discern a story of much greater significance: how Parsis helped shape India's taste for soft drinks. Over the past two centuries, Parsis were instrumental in popularising and producing carbonated beverages in India, laying the foundations for what is today a $8bn (£6.9bn) industry. Soda had become a popular beverage in London by the early 1800s. Companies such as Schweppes sold plain carbonated water, advertising it as a health elixir. Other firms experimented with flavoured variants such as lemon, orange, and raspberry. Inevitably, soda found its way from the heart of the empire to India, where it was a luxury item for Britons in the subcontinent. In 1837, Henry Rogers, a chemist in Mumbai, set up what was likely western India's first "aerated water" factory. Rogers' product was not simply a refreshing pick-me-up. Before Mumbai completed its modern waterworks in the late 19th Century, it relied on well water, which was filthy and potentially deadly. In the best of times, residents complained of drinking muddy liquid that was "very foul both to sight and smell, of a yellowish brown colour". In the worst of times, hundreds died from cholera outbreaks. Drinking carbonated water could be a life-saving habit. After all, carbonic acid in soda killed bacteria and viruses. This was even more the case after the invention of carbonated tonic water in 1858, which contained quinine to ward off malaria. Parsis sensed a commercial opportunity in the new fizzy drinks consumed by their colonial masters. Many were already involved in businesses that catered to Britons, as commissaries to the army or owners of hotels and "Europe shops" in cities. They added soda to their inventories. According to community lore, the first Parsi to settle in Ahmednagar - a dusty army outpost in the Deccan - arrived in town with a soda-making apparatus strapped to a mule, with which he slaked the thirst of British soldiers. By the mid-1800s, Parsis began imbibing the strange drink themselves. Here, they served as trendsetters for other Indians, who had looked at soda with suspicion. In 1866, the Gujarati social reformer Karsondas Mulji complained that an orthodox Hindu considered himself to be "sacrificing his religion" if he quaffed a Rogers lemonade. Yet, just a few decades later, Indians of all castes and creeds in Mumbai were patronising soda-water shops, many run by Iranis (recent Zoroastrian migrants from Iran). By 1913, the city boasted more than 150 licensed soda factories. Parsis played a commanding role in this trade, as is evidenced by the surnames they adopted: Sodawaterwala, Sodawaterbottlewala, and even Sodawaterbottleopenerwala. Soda became particularly enmeshed in the cultural fabric of Bombay - and even in its political fabric. In 1908, SM Edwardes, later a city police commissioner, observed that one Irani stall saw roaring trade in raspberry soda during mass protests against the nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak's conviction for sedition. Glass soda bottles were also a weapon of choice in riots and demonstrations. Homai Vyarawalla, the country's first professional female photographer, recalled that the marble stoppers in soda bottles were used as deadly projectiles during anti-Parsi riots in 1921. As carbonated beverages grew more popular, Parsi soda empires flourished. Many even pre-dated western firms like Coca Cola (incorporated in 1892) and Pepsi (1902): Pallonji's, for example, was established in 1865. Two decades later, Dinshawji Pandole founded Duke's, which he named after the brand of cricket ball he used while touring England with a Parsi cricket team. Duke's raspberry soda became particularly famous, selling for a princely 12 annas per dozen bottles in 1907 (about $0.01 today). Even Rogers, the most established western Indian brand, was bought out by Parsi investors around 1915. But Parsi soda enterprises were not just limited to Mumbai. Community members manufactured aerated water across India, from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) to Calicut. Some even set up shop well beyond the subcontinent. From the 1920s onward, Singapore had two competing brands of Parsi soda - Framroz and Phoenix - which jostled for market dominance through advertisements in Chinese and Malay. Most of these companies were small-scale. Business margins were thin, and tastes and brand loyalty were hyper-localised. P Dhunjibhoy and Sons of Ahmedabad distributed its flavoured drinks by bullock carts through the early 1970s. In Nizamabad, near the southern city of Hyderabad, the Marolia family employed bicycles for distribution. Rohinton Marolia, who worked in the family firm during school holidays in the 1960s, recalled how employees would gingerly stack four crates of bottles on a single bicycle before setting off for morning distribution runs. A major limitation was bottle supply, since glass bottles cost far more than the carbonated contents poured inside. So the Marolia family used special round-bottom bottles which were difficult to set down on flat surfaces. These encouraged customers to drink sodas in one gulp and quickly return the bottles for reuse. Fierce competition pushed many Parsi soda companies out of business from the 1950s, although Duke's and Rogers remained major players in the Indian market. Noshir Langrana, a former general manager at Rogers, recalled that the company introduced new flavours to cater to evolving Indian tastes, such as "Kick Apoo" - which translates from Gujarati to "give a kick" - a pineapple blend. Duke's successfully marketed Mangola, which employed the divine pulp of Alphonso mangoes. These helped stave off domestic rivals through the 1980s. But then multinationals completely changed the game. After the Indian market liberalisation in 1992, Coca Cola and Pepsi began taking over from homegrown drinks. Pepsi swallowed up Duke's in 1994 - and lost no sleep in axing its beloved raspberry soda. More than 25 years after he helped sell Duke's to Pepsi, Naval Pandole is still visibly torn up about that. "There was more than just a commercial interest in the matter," he says. "There was a sentimental attachment to the company." So, is this the end of the line for raspberry soda? PV Solanki, the current owner of Pallonji's, is not so pessimistic. While the traditional Parsi customer base is diminishing, he has seen a surge of interest from outside of the community. "A lot of newcomers consider this a retro drink," he claims, citing orders from a proliferation of Irani café-themed restaurants in India. The demand for raspberry soda has, in fact, come full circle from its colonial roots: Pallonji's is now sold in London, where it has been introduced into trendy restaurants like Dishoom. "I make no sales calls, but customers keep on calling," Mr Solanki says. Pallonji's raspberry - the drink that proudly advertises its lack of any fruit whatsoever - still seems to have enough vim left in its ancient glass bottle.

पालोनजी के रास्पबेरी सोडा की एक बोतल इस उपयोगी अस्वीकरण के साथ आती हैः "इसमें कोई फल नहीं होता है।" बिजली का लाल रंग, और स्वाद के लिए रसदार मीठा, रास्पबेरी सोडा भारत के तेजी से गायब हो रहे पारसी समुदाय के साथ-साथ पश्चिमी शहर मुंबई में लुप्तप्राय ईरानी कैफे का एक प्रिय सांस्कृतिक प्रतीक है।


North Yorkshire Police seek Irish family of man who died in England

Summary: North Yorkshire Police officers are searching for the family of a man believed to be from Ireland.

Simon Curtis Smith died at his home address in Scarborough, England, aged 70. The cause of his death is not being treated as suspicious but police have been unable to locate a next of kin for Mr Smith. They believe he may have relatives in Ireland, north or south of the border, but are not sure where. Police have urged anyone with information to contact the North Yorkshire Coroner's Office on 01609 643 168.

उत्तरी यॉर्कशायर पुलिस अधिकारी आयरलैंड के एक व्यक्ति के परिवार की तलाश कर रहे हैं।


Tanzania's invisible web revolution

Summary: East African governments are in the grip of internet fever. They have built thousands of miles of fibre-optic cable and intend to connect even the most remote villages to super-fast broadband. So is the web really transforming their lives?

By Joe BoyleBBC News, Dar es Salaam Ninety minutes drive north of Tanzania's main city, Dar es Salaam, on rough roads through shanty towns and dusty villages, is the town of Bagamoyo. It is a bustling chaotic place packed with low-rise shops and houses, most with corrugated metal roofs. The town has an arts institute, attracts a trickle of tourists, and there are internet cafes on most streets. It is an ideal place to assess the early signs for the government's ambition to bring super-fast broadband to the masses. Tanzanian borrowed $170m (£105m) from the Chinese government and raised a further $80m to build a vast fibre-optic cable network, stretching 7,500km (4,600 miles) in a ring around the country. It hopes to transform Tanzania into a tech powerhouse to rival its neighbour Kenya, which built a smaller network more quickly and is already regarded as the regional hub for technology. But there are already worrying signs for the government. The people of Bagamoyo are concerned that the government is doing too little to promote its vision. Rehema Nzige, who teaches Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at Bagamoyo's Institute of Arts and Culture, says she has heard little about the new broadband network. "Our curriculum is focused on the use of basic computer applications, like Microsoft Office," she says. "The students don't really know about the new infrastructure. I can't say we're really encouraging them to experiment with apps or programming because we don't know much about it either. "Maybe they'll change the curriculum but that could take a long time." The lack of engagement is partly because the internet is intangible, and the work to build the new infrastructure has largely involved burying cables in remote areas away from the cities. It is a quiet, invisible revolution, but its effects are definitely beginning to be felt in Bagamoyo, where trade in cheap Chinese smart phones is booming, and internet cafes are starting to struggle. "People used to come to check their mail, Facebook and the like," says Mahbub Nurdin Faqi, who runs the Sunrise web cafe. "But now everything is on the phones. People only really come to our cafe to print out an attachment or to send a document." Many of these developments were happening anyway, and it is likely that mobile phone companies would have built their own infrastructure to cater for their growing market. It may be too early to expect the government's plans to have really taken hold. The first undersea cable arrived only in 2009, so it is an impressive feat of engineering - carried out by Chinese firm Huawei - to have laid so much cable. Villages and phone apps But the government insists that positive effects are already being felt, and that rural communities are benefiting. "Communication is everywhere in Tanzania," says Science Minister Makame Mbarawa. "All mobile phones around here have the internet. "Villagers are using the internet and their phones to find out the price of things at the market before they even set out. "Farmers are using the internet to plan better for what weather is coming." Phone apps have been developed to help farmers, but it is hard to judge how successful they will be. Mr Mbarawa raises an important point about the internet in Tanzania: It is almost exclusively mobile; fixed lines connected to homes hardly exist. So while mobile phone companies have been happy to link up to the new fibre-optic cable to boost their data coverage, they tap into only a fraction of the cable's potential. What the government really wants is to connect all schools, colleges and universities, and create scientific research centres and modern public libraries. It wants hospitals and health centres linked up, and wants to bring cheap, quick internet connections to everyone in Tanzania. To do this will take time. The cable-building project is still not finished. The first two phases are complete, connecting the biggest cities and most of the regions. The next two phases, building data centres and linking up remote villages, are in progress. Some 2,500km more cable still needs to be laid. 'Web poster-boy' If the government wants to remain true to its word, it will have to continue to invest heavily. A tall order for a country that still ranks among the world's poorest. It has set up a $30m fund to ensure hard-to-reach communities do not miss out, and mobile phone companies have to give up a small percentage of their profit as part of the deal to get access to the cable. But so far the real revolution is largely limited to the cities. Dar es Salaam residents certainly talk in glowing terms of the improvements in web access since 2009. "I used to be pretty happy three or four years ago when I got 2MB on my laptop, and I had to wait for a night for a single American TV show to download," says Aashiq Shariff, the CEO of Raha, an internet service provider. "Now my laptop has a 60MB connection, so I can download an entire series in five minutes. And I love it." Mr Shariff is a poster-boy for the new dynamic Tanzania. Barely into his thirties, he sports tattoos and wears ripped jeans to the office. Raha is fashioning itself very much in the mould of a Silicon Valley start-up. The government will be hoping there are plenty more where Raha came from. Especially if it is to fulfil its other key ambition, to make Tanzania an international player in providing internet services. Science Minister Mr Mbarawa paints a relentlessly positive picture. He says there are 18 companies already signed up to use Tanzania's cable, 12 of which come from neighbouring countries including Rwanda and Uganda. He says this type of commercial deal will raise enough cash to repay the Chinese and connect all Tanzanians, regardless of their means. But Mr Mbarawa will need to shout louder because the internet is invisible and cannot achieve anything without the engagement of the people.

पूर्वी अफ्रीकी सरकारें इंटरनेट बुखार की चपेट में हैं। उन्होंने हजारों मील की फाइबर-ऑप्टिक केबल का निर्माण किया है और सबसे दूरदराज के गांवों को भी सुपर-फास्ट ब्रॉडबैंड से जोड़ने का इरादा रखते हैं। तो क्या वेब वास्तव में उनके जीवन को बदल रहा है?


UUP failed 'to give leadership'

Summary: He was an Ulster Unionist minister at Stormont in the early 1970s and deputy leader when the Belfast Agreement was signed, but Lord Kilclooney - John Taylor - delivers a devastating verdict on the party of today.

By Gareth GordonBBC NI political correspondent "I think in recent years the Ulster Unionist Party has failed to show what it stands for," says the former MP who left the UUP on becoming a Cross-bench peer. "First of all, I can't think of any policies it really has promoted strongly in the last five years or so; secondly it has failed to show a clear distinction from other parties and thirdly (it has failed) to stop rowing within themselves." The decline has been rapid. As recently as the general election of 1997 the party won 10 of the 18 seats available. Today it has none. So why has it happened? Many would point to the divisions which opened up after the party under David Trimble signed the Belfast Agreement in 1998. But Lord Kilclooney says that is too simplistic. 'Significantly failed' "Lack of policies is not related to the Good Friday Agreement. After all, the Good Friday Agreement was a very strong policy by the Ulster Unionist Party and the people supported it in a referendum," he says. "It's since then that the Ulster Unionist Party has significantly failed to give leadership to the population. The population don't know what the Ulster Unionist Party stands for." Nevertheless, splits - whatever the reason - have been a significant factor in the decline of a party which ruled Northern Ireland single-handedly for 50 years and remained its biggest party until 2003. Perhaps its modern leaders forgot the maxim predecessors like Sir James Craig and Lord Brookeborough held dear - united we stand, divided we fall. "It was the dominant party simply because the leadership was determined that under no circumstances would that party be allowed to be divided," says Brian Walker, Professor of Irish Studies in Queens University's School of Politics. "Unity was a key priority of the Unionist Party pre-1970." It was under the leadership of Terence O'Neill that the splits began. His liberal agenda was disliked by many in the party and the Troubles would see unionism splinter further. 'Stayed too long' It is often said David Trimble put country before party. He signed the Belfast Agreement but left a significant section of his party behind him. Bill White, a former Ulster Unionist constituency chairman, who is no longer a party member, believes Mr Trimble stayed too long but says his successors did little to arrest the slide. Mr White said: "I think when Reg (Empey) then took over and Tom (Elliott), I think the party in all that period of time wasn't really concentrating or looking at the party itself and how it performs in elections and planning for future elections thoroughly enough. "I was involved in seven election campaigns in my time. They certainly have an image of unprofessionalism, lack of organisation and doing everything at the last minute. "I always had this feeling that if there was an election in May, the Ulster Unionist Party would start preparing for it in mid-March." Bill White says there may not be many more chances left. "The party's really now in the last chance saloon," he says. "It really needs to get this right and start putting in significantly improved performances in the forthcoming elections coming up in 2014 and 2015 or else, yes, they could disappear from the political landscape."

वह 1970 के दशक की शुरुआत में स्टॉर्मोंट में एक अल्स्टर संघवादी मंत्री थे और जब बेलफास्ट समझौते पर हस्ताक्षर किए गए थे तो उप नेता थे, लेकिन लॉर्ड किल्क्लूनी-जॉन टेलर-आज की पार्टी पर एक विनाशकारी निर्णय देते हैं।


How super? What cyclists make of superhighways

Summary: Cycle lanes have become a familiar feature of city streets in the UK but from Monday, London is raising its game - opening bright blue "superhighways" for those putting toe to pedal. But is this a shade of things to come, or just a route to nowhere?

By Claire HealdBBC News Colliers Wood, on the jam-packed A24 and near a huge supermarket saver-centre, seems an improbable place to start a revolution. But just across from the Tube entrance, on the opposite side of the road, a 1.5m-wide painted blue lane has appeared. It is labelled "CS7" in white paint and stretches for 8.5 miles along a busy commuter route from this south London suburb into the city centre. It's one of two new superhighways to open this summer. The other goes between Barking, east London, and Tower Gateway, which is near Tower Bridge. Twelve such routes are planned in all, with details and maps available on the Transport for London website. Along with a forthcoming city-wide bike hire scheme, a new cycling police unit, 66,000 extra bike parking spaces before 2012 and better strategic planning, the hope of Mayor Boris Johnson is that they will spark what he calls a "cycling revolution". His transport adviser Kulveer Ranger says: "People think 'cycling revolution' and think of the hire scheme, superhighways... but it's a lot more than that. "Boris wants to see the culture around cycling evolving - we have to look at the infrastructure, securing bikes, cyclists' safety and embed cycling in transport policy." Schemes like the London cycling network - a range of routes across the city - were good, he says, but they didn't look strategically at where people needed to go. The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) estimates there are 550,000 cycle journeys in London daily. Transport for London (TfL) says that is an increase from around 250,000 in 2000 and it wants to increase it further, to help reduce pollution and relieve over-crowding on public transport and road congestion. The city's transport body wants to make the roads safer - there were 13 cyclist fatalities in 2009 in the capital. Its aim is to attract those put off by accident statistics and direct them towards continuous, well-marked and maintained, straight-forward commuting routes. Swarm of traffic So what are the new lanes like to cycle and can they fulfil their aims? An inauspicious start at 8am on a rush-hour morning signals a "no". Before you can answer the question: "Can you cycle easily along the superhighway?" you need to negotiate another: "Can you even pull out into it?" With congestion at its height, there are lorries, buses, cars, vans and motorbikes everywhere, across both lanes of this main road, blocking the flash new textured surface on the left hand side. The traffic swarms under the leaden skies of an ugly summer's day. It's raining persistently and the wind gusts. Average British cycling conditions perhaps, but not the best for tempting would-be converts to the cause. But once the traffic blockade is negotiated, and the road begins to widen out a mile further north, it's actually quite a fast route, if you wriggle round the manhole covers. Often cyclists seek out quieter back roads for their journey, avoiding the heavy traffic and its dangers but adding "long-cuts". This, however feels like a direct A to B. With the adrenaline pumping and that ET cycle-sequence feeling of bikers all around, it's easy to get carried away with enthusiasm. But, hold the handlebars, isn't this just a glorified cycle lane? Perhaps, but it is a precious thing in the UK's towns and cities - a glorified cycle lane of considerable length, in a purposeful direction, stripped of street furniture and not finishing abruptly without explanation. Dream or disaster? At the frequent stops for traffic lights, what do the cyclists think of it? Liza Houghton is a bold woman - cycling her one-year-old son in a child seat to his childminder via quieter roads before commuting to work on the superhighway. "They're absolutely brilliant, anything that helps cyclists and makes it safer has to be a good thing," she says. "Cars are being forced to become more aware of cyclists. It's not that safe, you have to be really careful - the close shaves I've had have been with people on their mobile phones." She draws comparisons with London's European capital cousins. The UK still compares negatively with the cycling "dream" of Berlin or Amsterdam, but is better than "disastrous" Paris. Others carry their cyclists' insouciance well. Many of those gathered in the bike box at junctions - that space marked with a bike symbol that cars and vans creep into - say they notice little difference and question the benefits. Tony Dann, a former cycle courier with 14 years' experience riding in London, "can't really see the point". "They're on the main roads, the traffic's exactly the same as it always has been, there's nothing to stop cars from going in the lanes. I think it gives inexperienced cyclists a false sense of security." The £23m spent to research the scheme and set up the first of the 12 lanes is "a waste of money" he believes. But, he admits, he has no better plan. Bigger beasts To the right, some taxi drivers say they find the extra road markings confusing, especially when they fall in a bus lane - how much room should they give? There is no verdict from the van drivers whose windows are wound up against the pelting rain. The blurb from TfL about the lanes makes much of the fact they continue through junctions - but that does nothing to stop some trucks and vans repeatedly turning left and cutting across the cyclists. It's here that the LCC would like to see more investment, they want the city's massive one way junctions returned to two-way traffic and speed limits reduced. "We're disappointed it's not doing more, but investment has to continue," says spokesman Tom Bogdanowicz. At Southwark Bridge, after 45 minutes of cycling, some success lies in crossing the River Thames into the City still in one piece. Not without becoming lost, however - at one of London's most intimidating junctions, Elephant and Castle, the route takes a swing through the back roads but this cyclist missed the cues. Could these routes encourage beginners? Perhaps. The lanes look wide, but they are advisory, not enforced, and shared with the lorries, buses, more experienced cyclists - many can be unforgiving of mistakes. What cyclists hope they may provide is a highlighted and publicised route where they can come together in a critical mass - that could one day grant them equal reckoning with the bigger beasts of the road.

साइकिल लेन ब्रिटेन में शहर की सड़कों की एक परिचित विशेषता बन गई है, लेकिन सोमवार से, लंदन अपने खेल को बढ़ा रहा है-पैडल पर पैर रखने वालों के लिए चमकीले नीले "सुपरहाइवे" खोल रहा है। लेकिन क्या यह आने वाली चीजों की छाया है, या सिर्फ कहीं नहीं जाने का मार्ग है?


Creating animal food from a greenhouse gas

Summary: "I've tasted it, and it's great. If I had to put a flavour on it, I'd say it's slightly umami," says Peter Rowe, chief executive of biotech firm Deep Branch.

By Emma WoollacottTechnology of Business reporter Mr Rowe clearly takes his work seriously, as he is not talking about food for humans. Instead, he has sampled an artificial protein that has been created to feed to animals. Mr Rowe and his partners are trying to reduce the carbon footprint of animal feed which is often shipped around the world. "If you take soy production, which is the primary protein source for feeding things like chickens, or if you take fishmeal production, which is the primary protein source for salmon, both of these tend to be done in South America," says Mr Rowe. In the case of fishmeal, anchovies are caught off the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile, processed and shipped around the world. Similarly, soy plantations in Brazil or Argentina may involve clearing forest and require large quantities of fertiliser, heavy usage of agricultural machinery and, again, long-distance shipping. "So a lot of the carbon intensity comes from the processes themselves, and a big part is the carbon intensity of shipping it over," says Mr Rowe. One answer is to base animal feeds on single-cell proteins (SCPs), produced through a fermentation process involving yeast, bacteria or algae. Plants can be located anywhere that there's an available feedstock for the micro-organisms: methane, ethanol, sugar, biogas or even wood. Through a project called React-First, which has received £3m in funding from Innovate UK, scientists are working to reduce the carbon footprint of animal feeds. Along with Deep Branch, the project involves academics and companies including Drax, the UK's largest renewable energy producer, and supermarket Sainsbury's. It's now producing a high-protein feed called Proton - more or less from thin air. The process is based on a proprietary gas fermentation process, by which microbes are fed carbon dioxide, along with hydrogen - produced using an electrolyser - and water. They then produce the Proton protein as waste material. The biggest challenge for any SCP manufacturer is achieving commercial scale, says Laura Krishfield, a research associate at analyst firm Lux Research. "Single-cell proteins come with a huge investment cost," she says. "We've seen claims that commercial facilities are going to cost over the $100m (£72m) mark, so these facilities are not going to be cheap. And many of these facilities also come with other key challenges, such as access to the gas feedstock." In the case of Deep Branch, industrial emissions provide the CO2 feedstock, both for the UK pilot and for a "scale-up centre" at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in the Netherlands that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 EIC Accelerator programme. "We see great value in partnering with people like Drax, and the reason for this is that they are working towards having a process whereby all the CO2 they create is stored and captured underneath the North Sea," says Mr Rowe. More Technology of Business "They're going to a lot of effort to put in the infrastructure, so essentially we have access to our CO2 in the same way as on a residential basis you have access to natural gas and electricity: it becomes a utility for us basically. And the same is true for hydrogen, which is the other main input we require." By producing the feed close to where it's needed and using waste products as the fermentation feedstock, the carbon footprint of the protein is cut by 90%, compared with traditional feeds. And that, says Mr Rowe, cuts the carbon footprint of the salmon itself - including transport and packaging - by a quarter. "So you can make a really big sustainability difference by simply swapping out one ingredient in the feed," he says. Rory Conn, sales and commercial manager for Scottish Sea Farms in Stirling, says that in recent years there has been a move towards more plant-based salmon feeds. "But I think in general we've reached the point where we've gone as far as we can," he says. "SCPs are interesting, and I think we see that as the future direction of travel - further enhancing the sustainability of salmon feeds." Also boosting interest in SCPs is the question of national food security, says Joshua Haslun, a senior analyst with Lux Research. "It's countries like Singapore where they're talking about vertical farming and aquaculture, and how you can begin to lower your risk around food security." Right now, SCP production of all kinds is comparatively small scale, with Lux Research predicting that it will only become cost-effective at volumes of around 10,000 tonnes per year. "This isn't a silver bullet for all the world's protein requirements, far from it," says Deep Branch's Peter Rowe. "But it is a very nice way to support additional protein sources that are out there." So could SCPs become a source of protein for humans? "The developers of single-cell proteins are seeing that as a long-term strategy for now. I do think there's going to be regulatory hurdles to jump through," says Lux Research's Laura Krishfield. "And then you have to think about the formulation and is it going to taste good. There's also the whole issue of acceptance." Mr Rowe, though, is more optimistic. "It's relatively neutral in terms of flavour and colour, which means it'll be very versatile for use in a whole range of different products."

बायोटेक फर्म डीप ब्रांच के मुख्य कार्यकारी पीटर रोव कहते हैं, "मैंने इसका स्वाद चखा है, और यह बहुत अच्छा है। अगर मुझे इसका स्वाद लेना पड़े, तो मैं कहूंगा कि यह थोड़ा उमामी है।"


EU referendum: Will anyone read £9m government leaflet?

Summary: Haven't they heard of the internet?

By Brian WheelerPolitical reporter One of the most shocking aspects of the government's decision to spend £9m on a campaign to promote Britain's EU membership - judging by social media reaction - is that it is based around leafleting. Leaflets seem like a staggeringly inefficient and low rent way of getting a message out in today's networked world. Even a 16-page glossy brochure, of the kind produced by the government, has a very "old school" feel about it. Most of them will probably go straight in the bin, along with take-away flyers and credit card offers, say critics. 'Money well spent' But David Cameron must feel that enough people will take a look at what the government has got to say to make it worth their while. He has insisted the £9m campaign is "money well spent" - a little premature perhaps, given that we don't know the outcome of the referendum yet. In fact, both sides in the debate will be entitled to a free mailshot once the official campaign period gets under way. What is causing so much controversy is that the government would not have been allowed to spend £9m on leaflets during the campaign, due to spending rules. So why is everyone so desperate to pepper the country with unread pamphlets? About a third of the £9m will be spent on an online and social media campaign - but printed material is still where it is at, says Philip Cowley, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. "Political parties would not spend millions of pounds each election putting this stuff out if it didn't work. "It's still the main mechanism by which voters hear from political organisations. It dwarfs every other form of contact." 'Poor third' A face-to-face chat on the doorstep was still the most effective method of converting voters to your cause, he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One, but that was time-consuming, so mailing out leaflets was a "cheap" and "relatively easy" alternative. Social media, he added, came a "poor third" as a tool of persuasion. Leaflets reach the silent majority of people who are not glued to their smart phones day and night, particularly older people who tend to vote in large numbers and could swing the referendum in a close contest. Another major advantage of mailshots over social media is that your claims are not immediately shot down and ridiculed by your opponents. The government's EU brochure leaflet is available online, where the world can pick it apart. But when you retrieve it from your doorstep, and take a glance at its contents on the short journey to the kitchen bin, your letterbox will not start spewing out spoof versions of it and angry rebuttals. Many of which will be more interesting than the original and a lot funnier. Unlike on social media. Few facts The government has attempted to justify its campaign by saying people are hungry for facts about the EU referendum. We know from our own inbox at the BBC how true this is. The problem is that there are very few facts. Just about everything in the EU referendum debate is contestable, as soon as one side produces a "fact", the other side challenges it with a contradictory "fact". That is because much of it is based on hypothetical scenarios. What would happen if the UK left the EU, what would happen if it remained? No wonder people say they are confused. The leaflet is a way for the government to cut through that. Leave campaigners are also sending out leaflets setting out the "facts" about Britain and the EU, although theirs will not be funded by the taxpayer. The other justification ministers have used for their campaign is that there is a precedent for it. Harold Wilson's Labour government also sent out a leaflet to every household setting out the case for staying in the "common market", as the EU was then known. The arguments made in Wilson's document, ahead of the 1975 EU referendum, have a very familiar ring to them. But one crucial difference is that Mr Wilson himself is right there in the leaflet, making his personal recommendation to the country. David Cameron is more than happy to do that when he is facing an audience at a Q&A session. But his face is nowhere to be seen in the government brochure.

क्या उन्होंने इंटरनेट के बारे में नहीं सुना है?


US-Mexico border: The gruesome attack that shocked a village

Summary: When the burnt bodies of 19 people were found in two vehicles close to the Mexican border with the US last weekend, one village in Guatemala was particularly badly hit. Residents there are still trying to understand why some of them were killed in such a brutal way.

By Will GrantBBC Central America correspondent At the trials for his local football team a few years ago, Marvin Tomás impressed the team coach so much that he signed him up on the spot. A wiry, athletic winger with a vicious left foot, he fit exactly what the Guatemalan third division side, Juventud Comiteca, was looking for. "He was left-footed, could attack, score goals - he was a very complete player," remembers the club's vice-president, William Matias. In fact, Marvin was so strong on the left flank he earned the nickname "Lefty" and was given the number 16 shirt. Now though, the club have retired the jersey in his honour. Marvin was one of 19 Guatemalan immigrants who were killed in a brutal, gruesome attack in the state of Tamaulipas in northern Mexico last weekend. He was 22. They were shot and then set alight, most likely by a drug cartel that controls the migrant smuggling routes across the US-Mexican border. Their charred remains are unrecognisable and William Matias says the sheer cruelty of the attack has shocked people in their rural corner of Guatemala. "Their only crime was to flee hunger and poverty," says William. "To murder people who were just en route to trying to find a better life - perhaps that's what hurts most." San Marcos is one of the poorest parts of Central America. Recent census data show the poverty rate in the department was some 15 percentage points above Guatemala's national average. But William's description reveals the grinding reality of his former player's life in a way that mere statistics cannot. "Many families in San Marcos eat one meal a day - simple corn tamales or boiled potatoes. In Marvin's case, he was the only breadwinner after his father died from alcohol abuse," he explained. "He would come to football training early, then work all day and study at the university at weekends. In an eight-hour day, he'd earn about six dollars. With that he had to support his mother and two young sisters, plus help out an older sister - a single mother on her own." It is hardly surprising he decided to try his luck on the treacherous journey north. William believes the human-smuggler, or "coyote", charged the migrants as much as $12,000 (£8,800) for the trip. People often sell or mortgage everything they can to pay such a sum. Tragically, Marvin was not the only migrant William knew who was murdered. His wife's uncle, Edgar López y López, was also on the fateful trip. "Edgar was really like my own uncle too, I've known him for so many years. It was his 50th birthday on the day he was killed," William says. His voice falters on the telephone as he struggles to speak through the grief. Edgar was not motivated to travel by economic necessity. Rather, he was trying to get home. He had lived in the US for 26 years and had a wife and two children in Jackson, Mississippi. Two years ago Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided the chicken factory where he worked as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants. It would be the last time Edgar saw his family. He spent a year in a detention centre before being deported back to Guatemala. He undertook the risky journey north to get back to his children. It cost him his life in an area of scrubland in the violent border region between the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. In the wake of the attack, the United Nations Human Rights Office has drawn attention to two very similar massacres over the past decade to underscore the impunity with which they are still carried out: 72 migrants were murdered in San Fernando in Tamaulipas in 2010, and in Cadereyta in Nuevo Leon in 2012, 49 dismembered bodies were dumped on a highway. The man believed to be behind these vile episodes was Miguel Angel Treviño, or Z-40, the jailed leader of the Zetas cartel. His nephew, Juan Gerardo Treviño Chávez known as "El Huevo", who heads a splinter group, is wanted in connection with this latest attack. Drug war analysts believe the motivation for such brutality against unarmed and impoverished immigrants is primarily to sow fear. The message is simple: if any immigrant intends to travel to the US through areas controlled by these gangs, they must go through them - and pay the corresponding extortion - or risk a similar fate. William says that prospect will put some of his players off the idea of following in Marvin's footsteps, at least for a time. "In six months or so, the young people will forget and will try again," he says. The Guatemalan authorities have started to take DNA samples from the victims' family members to send to Mexico for analysis in an effort to identify the bodies. When Marvin's remains make it back to San Marcos, his teammates hope to drape his number 16 jersey over his coffin and bury him with the dignity that "Lefty" deserved.

जब पिछले सप्ताहांत में अमेरिका के साथ मैक्सिकन सीमा के पास दो वाहनों में 19 लोगों के जले हुए शव पाए गए, तो ग्वाटेमाला का एक गाँव विशेष रूप से बुरी तरह प्रभावित हुआ। वहाँ के निवासी अभी भी यह समझने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं कि उनमें से कुछ को इतने क्रूर तरीके से क्यों मारा गया।


Four in hospital after Ladywood tower block fire

Summary: Four people have been taken to hospital after a fire on the fourth floor of a Birmingham tower block.

Up to 15 adults and 12 children were evacuated from Wells Tower in Ladywood after the blaze broke out in a flat at about 11:40 BST, fire crews said. The four were were treated for the effects of breathing in smoke. It is believed the fire was started by smoking materials, like a discarded cigarette, a spokesperson for the West Midlands fire service added. Crews from five fire engines were sent to the scene to put out the blaze which was contained in the one flat.

बर्मिंघम टावर ब्लॉक की चौथी मंजिल पर आग लगने के बाद चार लोगों को अस्पताल ले जाया गया है।


Aberdeen City Council 'teacher incentive payments' plan approved

Summary: An Aberdeen City Council plan to offer extra "incentive" payments for teachers to tackle staffing levels has been approved.

The urgent business committee heard that more than 50 primary and secondary posts were unfilled. The plan is to offer successful candidates, who are new to Aberdeen, an additional payment on taking up a post. There would be a further payment at the end of an agreed period of service. It is estimated this could cost about £260,000. The plan was approved by eight votes to five.

एबरडीन सिटी काउंसिल ने कर्मचारियों के स्तर से निपटने के लिए शिक्षकों को अतिरिक्त "प्रोत्साहन" भुगतान की पेशकश करने की योजना को मंजूरी दे दी है।


Vintage D-Day military vehicles depart for France

Summary: More than a hundred vintage military vehicles have embarked for D-Day anniversary events in France.

Motorbikes, jeeps, and lorries owned by members of the Military Vehicle Trust left from Portsmouth's ferry port. They are due to spend 10 days in Normandy where events are planned to mark 70 years since the start of the Allied liberation of Europe. Preston Isaac of the trust said it was important to "commemorate what went on".

फ्रांस में डी-डे वर्षगांठ कार्यक्रमों के लिए सौ से अधिक पुराने सैन्य वाहन रवाना हुए हैं।


Woman, 73, dies after being hit by van near Tipton

Summary: A woman has died after being hit by a van.

The 73-year-old was struck on Birmingham New Road, between Tipton and Dudley, just before 14:00 GMT on Friday. She died in hospital on Saturday. A second woman, in her 60s, was also seriously injured and is stable in hospital, West Midlands Police said. The driver of the van stopped at the scene and is assisting officers with their inquiries. Sgt Dean Caswell, from the force, is appealing to anyone who saw what happened, or may have dashcam footage, to come forward. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

वैन की चपेट में आने से एक महिला की मौत हो गई है।


A diplomatic whirl to avoid war in the Gulf

Summary: The annual rush of diplomatic speed dating at the UN General Assembly ended this week without commitments or conclusions from leaders anxious to avoid another Middle East war, as tensions simmer in the strategic waterways of the Gulf.

Lyse DoucetChief international correspondent@bbclysedouceton Twitter But this year's stage was packed with matchmakers and mediators - allies eager to ease animosities among enemies. And they seem to have broken a bit of the ice. "Maximum diplomacy," is how a senior UK diplomat described this year's flurry of efforts to build confidence, and even move closer - but still not close enough - for a historic meeting between the US and Iranian presidents. "We need to find a way through the US's maximum pressure' and Iran's 'maximum resistance'," the diplomat explained, while adding there had to be "robust responses to Iranian misbehaviour". The procession of would-be peacemakers sweeping in and out of hotel suites in New York included leaders of France, Germany, Japan, Britain, Pakistan, Iraq, Oman and more. Some audacious efforts were revealed in whispered accounts which didn't stay secret for long, and some startling encounters captured by smartphones in the crowds. 'Maximum diplomacy' It was French President Emmanuel Macron's mega-mediation, months in the making, which seems to have yielded the greatest dividend. Once he returned to Tehran this week, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani praised France's efforts and described a four-point plan for the start of Iranian-American talks as "acceptable". Faint praise from one side - but the clearest signal yet that a process was inching forward, however slowly, after many months of a diplomatic deadlock. It's a process so sensitive, with so many competing interests and hardliners on so many sides, that it could also so easily collapse. The Iranian leader blamed President Trump for the failure of the French plan. But the Iranians also pulled back from the brink. "They offered to the Americans an exchange of papers which would set out their guarantees but the Americans refused to do this," explained a diplomatic source. France's plan is said to include Iran's commitment to never seek nuclear weapons, to comply with obligations in a long-term framework for its nuclear ambitions, and to pursue regional peace, including in Yemen, through negotiations. The US would commit to ending sanctions and allow Iran to resume its exports, including its vital oil supplies. "The French pushed as hard as possible but they weren't able to solve the sequencing of who takes the first step," says Ellie Geranmayeh, deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa programme for the European Council on Foreign Relations. "The Iranians wanted an announcement first from President Trump on sanctions and he wasn't willing to give that." Diplomacy Trump-style is an upending of traditional diplomacy by starting with the high-stakes summit, the cameras-clicking-photo-op worthy of a cascade of tweets. Sources say he's tried for years, through various intermediaries, to meet President Rouhani despite his repeated denunciations of Iran's "menacing behaviour" and successive waves of crippling sanctions in a campaign called "maximum pressure". "Memento photos are the final stage of negotiations, not the first one," President Rouhani pointed out in his speech to the UN General Assembly. Iran's approach - rooted in distrust of President Trump's promises and a longstanding wariness of Western policy - is also clear. It first wants an end to sanctions or, at the very least, a significant easing of restrictions slapped on Iran ever since President Trump pulled out of the landmark nuclear deal last year. More on this topic: "President Trump prefers this high level pageantry which is difficult for Iran's political system to handle because of the enormous pressure he's put them under," explains Geranmayeh. "They would definitely prefer a multilateral meeting." President Macron had cornered the Iranian leader in a crowded corridor in an effort to break this logjam. He was caught on camera beseeching him to "meet now". "If he leaves this country without meeting President Trump, honestly, this is a lost opportunity," he lamented. To the apparent amusement of Iran's delegation, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson then urged the Iranian President to "be on the same side of the swimming pool - and jump at the same time". In another manoeuvre, President Macron arrived at the Iranian president's hotel suite hoping to arrange a three-way telephone call with President Trump based on the four-point plan. "Forty-five minutes!," an Iranian source exclaimed. That's how long President Macron is said to have stayed to try to persuade the Iranians. Several sources recounted how President Rouhani was said to be sleeping in his room and would not be woken up to what could have been, from an Iranian perspective, a nightmare scenario of a phone call without convincing pledges and preparation. 'Positive noises' This wasn't the only Middle-East axis commanding attention in New York. There were signs too of small, but significant, shifts on another hostile front - the long-entrenched rivalries between regional heavy weights Iran and Saudi Arabia along with its closest ally the United Arab Emirates. "More leaders are now on the side of peace, not war," Oman's soft-spoken Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf bin Alawi told me when we met outside the guarded front gates of the UN headquarters. Oman, lauded for its quiet statecraft, is known as a go-to conveyor of key messages. Iranian officials say they've heard positive noises, through many intermediaries, from Saudi Arabia. And an Arab foreign minister told me they've received messages, also through a third party, that Iran was now willing to discuss regional issues with rivals who accuse it of malign behaviour in their neighbourhood. President Rouhani used this world stage to flag up boldly an initiative certain to irritate Iran's critics - a new security arrangement called a Coalition of Hope. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a small group of journalists it was "a serious proposal" which could also include permanent members of the UN Security Council. It was quickly dismissed by some Gulf neighbours but sources say discussions are discreetly taking shape on issues such as energy and maritime security. You may also be interested in: Yemen could also be a testing ground. Saudi and Iranian leaders now insist, in public and private, they want to end a destructive proxy war which has brought an impoverished nation to the brink of collapse. US and UN sources speak of the Saudis being "very helpful" now. Peace is exceedingly difficult to achieve on Yemen's chaotic battleground. But Saudi Arabia, blamed by the UN for most of the civilian casualties, has quietly approved a partial ceasefire while the Houthis, who are aligned to Iran, announced they would unilaterally stop attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Other proposals are also said to be on the table. But mutual distrust runs very deep. The kingdom and its allies still back the US policy of maximum pressure. "There is much more room and time for diplomacy and discussion but we cannot reward Iran by incentivising its hostile behaviour," insisted a senior official in the Gulf. "Sanctions relief can only be the outcome, not a pre-condition to, a political process." 'We have to be prepared for everything' This shift towards a greater openness to some kind of dialogue emerges from growing Saudi disappointment with their ally in the White House when it comes to what they see as a clear pattern of Iranian aggression. "The Americans didn't respond to the shooting down of the US drone, the attacks on tankers in the Gulf or, so far, to the Aramco attacks, and so the Saudis are really scared the Americans won't protect them," says Joost Hiltermann, Programme Director of the Middle East and North Africa for the International Crisis Group. "We have to be prepared for everything," underlined an Arab foreign minister. "The US view on the region is shifting and it's not just Trump. They don't want a military escalation." Saudi Arabia still has to publish what it says will be a "very thorough, very thoughtful" investigation into the spectacular attack on its oil facilities last month which temporarily halved the crude output of the world's biggest oil producer. Riyadh, like Washington, believes this was Iran's doing - despite Tehran's vehement denials. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir emphasised in an interview that "everybody's trying to avoid war… we will make a decision at the right time." But he made it clear that all options were on the table, including military ones. "Some in the Kingdom believe a proportionate military strike would send the strongest signal to Tehran," a Western diplomat told me, in a view echoed by other sources. But the kingdom doesn't want to be the one to do it. Fears of Iranian attacks Another potential flashpoint looms in the first week of November. Iran is making it clear that it will take another step, its fourth such move, away from its compliance with the nuclear deal unless the US moves to ease sanctions. "We are warning Iran of consequences," a senior British diplomat confirmed. In other words, Europe could join the US in imposing a raft of sanctions under the terms of the deal. Iran knows the risks in losing European allies who've been trying, with limited success, to save the nuclear deal from complete collapse. Tehran was taken aback when Germany, UK and France, known as the E-3, joined the US in holding Iran responsible for the attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities. "Iran's moves will likely be very careful and calculated not to cross European red lines in a way that collapses the deal," says the ECFR's Geranmayeh about an agreement often described by its acronym JCPOA. "It wants to keep a kind of JCPOA-lite so everyone can come back to it when the Iranians and Americans are able to negotiate the contours of a bigger deal." There are also warnings of more Iranian attacks in the region - though Iran denies it has targeted any international shipping - to keep making its point that it if continues to suffer under sanctions, and can't sell its oil, others will suffer too. But the diplomatic dance will also continue. New ideas are said to be under consideration in Paris and Tehran, and other capitals too. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said he remains "hopeful there will be an opportunity to discuss with the Iranians the path forward". "The more channels the better, because it's a very, very dangerous situation," says Joost Hiltermann of the ICG. "We have to be very clear about what is possible, and use any opportunity that emerges."

संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासभा में राजनयिक गति डेटिंग की वार्षिक भीड़ इस सप्ताह एक और मध्य पूर्व युद्ध से बचने के लिए उत्सुक नेताओं की प्रतिबद्धताओं या निष्कर्षों के बिना समाप्त हो गई, क्योंकि खाड़ी के रणनीतिक जलमार्गों में तनाव बढ़ गया है।


Why is India drilling deep into an earthquake hotspot?

Summary: In the windswept skein of mountains in India's Western Ghats, geologists are drilling some of Asia's deepest boreholes in an audacious attempt to unlock the mysteries of earthquakes.

By Soutik BiswasBBC News, Karad The site is Gothane, a table-top 3,051ft (930m)-high mountain in the western state of Maharashtra, lashed by squally winds and ringed by looming wind farms and damp green forests populated by Asian antelopes, wild boars and deer. More significantly, the place is barely 10km (6.2 miles) from Koyna, the site of a devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake in 1967, five years after a big, hydropower dam was built in the region. The December quake killed 177 people, injured more than 2,000 others and caused widespread damage and destruction. Mountains are ideal places to set up water reservoirs for generating electricity, but water pressure can build up in the pores of the Earth and stress the crust to danger levels. Quakes can also be triggered by mining, fracking (hydraulic fracturing to recover gas and oil from shale rock) or extracting water from under the ground. Geologists believe there are more than 100 sites around the world where quakes have been triggered by filling of water reservoirs. At Koyna, geologists say, earthquake activity began after the reservoir was filled with more than a trillion litres of water in 1962. Seismologist Harsh K Gupta says the Koyna region "is the best site anywhere in the world where an earthquake can be observed". No wonder then that Koyna is one of the world's most persistent earthquake "hotspots". Between 1967 and 2017, the region has seen 22 quakes with magnitudes ranging from 5 to 5.9, and some 400 quakes greater than magnitude 4. There have also been several thousand recorded smaller quakes. The depth at the epicentres have ranged from 2km to 10km. (The last recorded quake was of 3.8 magnitude on 3 June). These quakes have caused no recorded loss of life or property in the past decades. That's not all. In 1987, another reservoir was built on the Warna river, some 20km from Koyna. Six years later, there was a 5 magnitude quake near the reservoir. Most seismic instruments to measure quakes sit on the Earth's surface or in shallow boreholes. Scientists believe that by drilling deep into the Earth and placing instruments in the heart of a fault zone, they can monitor quake activity at very close quarters. Indian geologists were clearly inspired by an ambitious experiment by US scientists to drill directly into the San Andreas quake zone for a unique view of how earthquakes work. The crack in the Earth's surface, which runs through California, is one of the most studied faults on the planet. So between 2012 and 2014, geologists drilled up to depths of 1.5km at nine places in the Koyna region to gather information on its geology. Last December, they began drilling the pilot borehole. This posed different challenges. Braving inclement weather, scientists trekked up 4km (2.4 miles) from the nearest muddy, red earth road to the top of the barren, wind-whipped mountain. Trucks trundled up through the blinding mist carrying an imposing 90-tonne, 86ft-high drilling rig, steel drilling pipes, mud and cement tanks and other vital equipment. Tankers carried water every day for the 80-odd scientists and technicians who worked and stayed at the site because, ironically, there was little groundwater in the mountain. Working 24/7 for six months on end, the drill dug deep into the Earth. When they finished in June, the rig had blasted its way through the hard rock and reached depths of 3km or nearly 10,000ft where temperatures hover around 80C (176F). After the monsoon rains end, the geologists plan to lower custom-made sensors - thermometers, seismometers and stress meters - down the borehole. "Then we will have an observatory of depth to measure the changes in the physical, mechanical and chemical properties of rocks before, during, and after an earthquake. It is all very exciting," says geophysicist Dr Sukanta Roy, who is leading the project. That's not the end. If all goes well, next year geologists will drill deeper, reaching 5km or more than 15,000ft, in what will be India's deepest dig in hard rock. "That will be," says Dr Roy, "our main deep borehole observatory." Drilling deep boreholes for scientific research is not uncommon. In Iceland, geologists have drilled into the heart of a volcano. Scientists have also embarked on a controversial initiative to drill into a supervolcano beneath the Gulf of Naples. In 1961, American scientists attempted to drill into the mantle, which makes up the bulk of the planet's volume and mass. The deepest scientists have managed to penetrate is 12km at the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia - a paltry 0.2% of the way to the centre of the Earth. Critics of the Koyna project like Shyam Rai, a professor of earth sciences, wonder whether the deep borehole is worth its $73m (£56m) price tag. "The maximum intensity of quakes in Koyna is between 6 and 6.5 magnitude. It repeats itself once in several hundred years. The Himalayan region is prone to bigger quakes. Have we chosen the right place to drill?" Back at his laboratory in Karad, a sleepy, little town ringed by mountains and sugarcane farms, some 70km from the drill site, Dr Roy proudly shows me some rock samples that the dig has thrown up. Scientists from around the world have shown interest in the rocks: some want to look for rare bacteria; others want to examine whether they offer clues about an asteroid strike which wiped out dinosaurs. There are chunks of milky white and salmon pink and dark green granite which date back to 2,500 million years. Some of the rocks are topped by dark basalt from the lava that spewed out of a volcano in the region much later. "That was only 65 million years ago," says Dr Roy. "When our instruments go down the hole they will be observing what these rocks are up to." Major Indian earthquakes Photographs by Rakesh R Rao and Anushree Fadnavis

भारत के पश्चिमी घाट में हवाओं से लबालब पहाड़ों में, भूवैज्ञानिक भूकंप के रहस्यों को उजागर करने के एक दुस्साहसी प्रयास में एशिया के कुछ सबसे गहरे बोरहोल खोद रहे हैं।


How 'Scandi crime' made a killing

Summary: The critical cliche is that in crime fiction much of the heat in recent years has been from the cold north. Nordic Noir has influenced British crime-writing, on television and bookshelves. So what lessons have British writers learned from their northern neighbours? And has the phase passed?

By Vincent DowdArts reporter, BBC News Yrsa Sigurdardottir has a job in civil engineering in Reykjavik. Her appropriately Icelandic specialism is geothermal and hydroelectric technology. But in her spare time she's also one of the country's most successful exponents of Nordic Noir. Her novels about lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir are bestsellers and many of Sigurdardottir's books have now been translated into English. Like many Scandinavian crime writers, she sees a long and complex relationship between what's now branded Nordic Noir and the English-language tradition of crime-writing. "It's only been in the last 20 years that crime fiction has been seen as a respectable thing to write in Iceland. People always objected that we had a low crime rate so setting big crime stories here would not be credible. "It's true Iceland doesn't have big gangs or violent crime syndicates. "Crime fans used to read mainly American novels or they'd read well-known British writers like Ruth Rendell. "Then the world discovered Scandi or Nordic Noir and suddenly readers got a taste for trouble in Reykjavik or Stockholm. Mainly it was expressed in psychological terms." The critic Barry Forshaw published a book about Nordic Noir in 2013 and has now followed up with a guide to the UK equivalent. "The links between the two traditions are quite involved," he says. "These days you need to consider TV as much as the written page." Forshaw says early Scandinavian crime writers were not much read elsewhere. "There was Maria Lang who you might call the Swedish Agatha Christie. But the progenitors of modern Scandinavian crime-writing were really Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. "They created the dyspeptic Scandinavian copper Martin Beck, who has been much imitated. Then came Henning Mankell, who gained a big audience around the world. "I think one of the most important influences on Scandinavian crime-writers was Conan Doyle. There's an element of Sherlock Holmes in so many of their creations. It shows how far back these links go. "But what makes their writing more Scandinavian is the element of social commentary. It's one of the things which has influenced Brit Noir. "Many of the great pioneers of Nordic Noir were of the 1960s generation, who were keen to point out the iniquities of society - Sjowall and Wahloo thought Sweden was simply corrupt. "At the time, we in Britain thought Scandinavians were all tall and beautiful and existed in some sort of social paradise. The crime fiction came as a shock." By coincidence, Derbyshire-based novelist Sarah Ward has just been in Iceland finishing the third of a planned quartet of crime novels which started with the hit In Bitter Chill. Her books' chosen locale is a carefully described Peak District. Iceland's attraction is the peace and quiet but she acknowledges that many British crime writers keep an eye on what is emerging from Scandinavia. "When you read Nordic crime fiction the setting is far more than an adjunct to the plot: it becomes almost an antagonist. In Iceland, I find you're always aware of the beauty of the landscape and any writer would want to exploit that potential. "It's had an influence on me and on other authors too: they've taught us to create tension from landscape in a way we just weren't doing. "When people talk about Scandi-crime fiction they're often thinking of TV series such as The Bridge and The Killing where physical surroundings are attractive. So in the last decade in the UK, there's been a real explosion of crime novelists adopting parts of the country to write about. "But no one can own a locality. I run crime-writing workshops with local authors, all of whom find the Peak District a massive inspiration. So maybe one day, we'll have a whole school of Derbyshire Noir." Barry Forshaw agrees Nordic Noir on TV has encouraged a new interest in British regional identity and landscape. "It's probably less true of Scandinavia's novels where actually the setting can be surprisingly urban and fairly anonymous. "But the beauty of the rural landscape entrances people in Britain sitting on the sofa watching TV on a Sunday night. It's fed into what some people are writing." Forshaw thinks the success of a series like The Killing means British writers and TV producers have become more willing to take time with storytelling and even risk being thought gloomy. "The Scandinavians did a lot to kill off the Sweeney tradition of car chases and fist fights every 10 minutes in case the audience gets bored. They reminded us to relish the steady unfolding of plot. "So if you take the BBC series Shetland, viewers quickly picked up the echoes of Nordic Noir. And it's interesting that ITV have now imported Hans Rosenfeldt, who was behind The Bridge, to write the Anna Friel drama Marcella." Having written his new book about Brit Noir, Forshaw says it's impossible to unpick exactly who influenced whom. "Take Scotland's Val McDermid, who with both PD James and Ruth Rendell gone, is often now called the new queen of crime. "Her concerns are very much those of the Nordic writers but it's not a matter of imitation: there's cross-fertilisation. "In Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the central character is actually reading a Val McDermid book. It was just a tiny reference to how integrated all of this is.' Yet there's one aspect of the relationship between Brit and Nordic Noir which Forshaw says has not had enough attention. "When we read, say, a Jo Nesbo we're actually reading a translation into English. And the standards of translation are now very high indeed: the authors know who the best translators are and they'll wait a year until they're available. The best Nordic Noir in English is often praised for its use of language. It's pushed up the standard of crime writing overall." Barry Forshaw says more than pacing or the focus on landscape, the lasting effect of Britain's love affair with Nordic Noir may lie simply in the quality of what we get to read. Brit Noir by Barry Forshaw is published by Pocket Essentials

महत्वपूर्ण क्लिच यह है कि अपराध कथा साहित्य में हाल के वर्षों में अधिकांश गर्मी ठंडे उत्तर से रही है। नॉर्डिक नोयर ने ब्रिटिश अपराध-लेखन, टेलीविजन और किताबों की अलमारी को प्रभावित किया है। तो ब्रिटिश लेखकों ने अपने उत्तरी पड़ोसियों से क्या सबक सीखा है? और क्या यह दौर बीत गया है?


Paradise lost: World's most beautiful places under threat of tourism

Summary: It is the double-edged sword of tourism: On the one hand it brings the awareness of beautiful places and and economic development for the local population. On the other, this exposure can lead to uncontrolled numbers of tourists, damaging the beauty they came to see.

As the authorities in Thailand close the island of Koh Tachai because of the toll of heavy tourism, we take a look at some other popular destinations that are at risk of losing their best asset. Phi Phi Islands, Thailand Since becoming the backdrop for the Hollywood film The Beach, this tropical paradise has come under increasing pressure as the result of a largely uncontrolled tourism boom. Koh Phi Phi and nearby islands welcome more than 1.4 million tourists a year, according to the Tourism Council of Thailand. Coral reefs have been destroyed by boat anchors and scuba divers, and the marine environment has been damaged by pollution from motorboats and the dumping of untreated waste into the sea. Cozumel Island, Mexico Known for its beautiful beaches and tropical reefs, Cozumel island, off the coast of Mexico, was once a peaceful place until docks were built for cruise ships. Today, it is the second most popular cruise ship destination in the world. The fragile reefs are threatened by pollution and development, and the ships are causing the waters to get warmer and damage the coral. Caribbean cruises Source: Our Planet, UNEP magazine, 1999 Bali, Indonesia The Indonesian island of Bali is under threat of increased deforestation, as the area makes way for the tourism industry and Indonesia's growing population. Tourism is growing at an exponential rate, but the infrastructure is not, resulting in mountains of waste that have nowhere to go. Non-native animals and plants also threaten the island. Galapagos islands, Ecuador Although it is not quite mass tourism, thousands of tourists flock to the Galapagos Archipelago every year to experience the unique biodiversity and its pristine environment. But this island habitat is extremely sensitive to outside pressure, not only from too many tourists and the resulting development, but from the invasive species they are bringing with them. As a consequence, the Galapagos Islands has been put on Unesco's World Heritage list. Mount Everest Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest in 1953, tens of thousands of hikers have trekked to base camp and almost 7,000 climbers have made it to the summit. There was a two-year gap in the stream of climbers after a deadly avalanche in 2014 and another a year later caused by the Nepal earthquake, but this spring the expeditions have started up again. First climbers to reach summit in two years China shames tourists leaving graffiti on Everest Avalanche fears over unauthorised Everest helicopter flights The sheer number of people visiting has had a huge impact on this fragile environment. Climbers take with them things including climbing equipment, food, plastics, tins, aluminium cans, glass, clothes, papers and tents. Some of this is left behind. But sanitation is the biggest problem - about 11,000 kilo of human excrement is removed every year, which leaves you to imagine how much is left on the mountain.

यह पर्यटन की दोधारी तलवार हैः एक ओर यह सुंदर स्थानों के बारे में जागरूकता और स्थानीय आबादी के लिए आर्थिक विकास लाती है। दूसरी ओर, इस संपर्क से पर्यटकों की अनियंत्रित संख्या हो सकती है, जिससे वे जिस सुंदरता को देखने आते हैं, उसे नुकसान हो सकता है।


Edinburgh man who murdered neighbour dies in prison

Summary: A man has died in a Scottish prison where he was serving a life sentence for the murder of his neighbour.

Rene Howieson, 39, stabbed Colin Skilbeck in his Edinburgh flat before pouring boiling water and sugar over him. At the High Court in Glasgow Howieson was ordered to spend at least 14 years in jail. He died at Shotts Prison in North Lanarkshire. It is understood that his death is not related to coronavirus. Howieson's wife, Kathleen Downey, was also jailed after admitting culpable homicide. Mr Skilbeck, 41, suffered nine knife wounds in the attack in March 2017, with one penetrating his heart.

स्कॉटिश जेल में एक व्यक्ति की मृत्यु हो गई है जहाँ वह अपने पड़ोसी की हत्या के लिए आजीवन कारावास की सजा काट रहा था।


Somerset local authority merger approved by council

Summary: Taunton Deane councillors have voted to merge with neighbouring West Somerset Council.

The plan was approved after a five-hour debate about the issue at a council meeting last night. The idea had divided opinion, with some seeing it as a threat to the council's powers, while others said it would save money which could be spent on services. West Somerset councillors are due to vote on the proposals in September.

टौंटन डीन पार्षदों ने पड़ोसी वेस्ट समरसेट परिषद के साथ विलय के लिए मतदान किया है।


Behind the scenes with the Strictly 'family'

Summary: There are three weeks to go until the Strictly Come Dancing final. At the BBC's Elstree film studios, runners with earpieces are chasing around frantically, herding the contestants between rehearsals, interviews and fittings.

By Lauren TurnerEntertainment reporter Christmas trees and presents are being unloaded from a van for the show's festive special and sparkly costumes hang on racks lining the corridors of the set. There is a buzz about the place - something of that elusive Strictly magic that has made the show such a success - and even the marquee used for guests is adorned with chandeliers. Just what is it that makes the Strictly experience so special, with the stars likening it to being a family? 'Extraordinary experience' Robert Rinder - known to many as Judge Rinder, from his ITV show resolving disputes in a "courtroom" - keeps apologising for gushing about his Strictly experience. But he can't help it. "One of the nicest things about this experience is learning about dance," he says, explaining his most recent routine with partner Oksana Platero was about his "dare I say it, 'journey' on Strictly". "When you watch other people going through the experience, you think they're being disingenuous," he tells the BBC. "I heard all these stories but thought - 'oh please, it's a dancing competition, come on'. But it's been everything people said it would be. "All these ingredients go towards creating this extraordinary experience I have no words for. "And you form these genuine friendships, for example the one I have with Greg [Rutherford, the Olympic long jumper]." Rinder may be battling a cold, with vitamins tucked into his pockets, but insists he is not battling any of his Strictly co-stars. "I've heard in other years it has felt like a competition but it's not been, not for a second," he explains. "We've formed this rather strange community of friends, from all different backgrounds and ages. The alchemy has just worked. "I cant imagine anyone winning, including Ed [Balls, the former shadow chancellor], that there wasn't genuine affection for and authentic upset when they leave." Asked if his close friend Benedict Cumberbatch would consider taking to the Strictly dance floor in the future, Rinder says no, before adding: "Who knows? You could get a year where you have Cumberbatch, [George] Clooney and [Brad] Pitt. I can see it now." 'Proud as punch' "You'll do a great job, you always do," Kevin Clifton tells his partner Louise Redknapp between mouthfuls of dry cereal he is munching from a packet. They may make it look effortless, but as former Eternal singer Redknapp admits, "you can never realise the hours you have to put in to make it work". Despite all that individual hard work, no one is out for themselves on the show, she says. "We've been so lucky - everyone has been great. People read it may think, 'oh, I'm not buying that', but it's true." Referring to the psychological thriller set in the ballet world, she says: "There have been no Black Swan moments, with someone trying to destroy somebody - not yet anyway!" Redknapp says she especially enjoyed being able to bring her two sons to the show. "The youngest one has never seen me do anything other than being his mum. He was as proud as punch after." Strictly will leave 'huge hole' BBC presenter Ore Oduba has been known for getting emotional during the show - and cannot stop praising his dance partner Joanne Clifton for the work she has done. There is genuine closeness between the pair, as they giggle together on a sofa when Clifton shows him a clip of her being accidentally knocked down and falling over during a competition. "With three weeks to go of the whole show, you really appreciate every minute, every hour of the day," he says. "Whether it's being with Jo, the opportunity to learn the dance, being here at Elstree and the production coming together... You have to take every single second in. "Anything that you love is going to be stripped away from you, shortly. This week it dawned on me it's going to be over soon. It's going to leave a huge hole when it ends." He says he has been trying to keep his emotions in check, but it is clear to see what the show means to him. Oduba says of the moment he was partnered with Clifton: "I was being given a lifelong friend and I didn't even know it. it's a chapter of your life you will always remember. So you can't not become emotional about it." Dancing is 'an honour' Former Hollyoaks actor Danny Mac, who has wowed the judges and achieved a top score of 40 for two consecutive weeks, says: "The positivity throughout the entire experience for me - and I think everyone on the show - has been just unbelievable. "Everyone watches wanting to be entertained, wanting people to do well. It's not about, 'oh, who's going to mess up this week'. No one is even watching Ed for that, they want to be entertained. They don't want to see him making a fool of himself. "To be part of it is an honour, it really is." Mac adds of the show: "Kids, grandparents, aunties, mums and dads - everyone can enjoy it together. "It's so nice to walk down the street and have a whole family acknowledge the show." His dance partner Oti Mabuse agrees, adding: "The whole production has created such a lovely family feeling - people can see it through the TV. Everybody at home wants to be a part of that family." 'Keep dancing!' Olympian Claudia Fragapane, the youngest contestant in the series, says: "The whole experience has been amazing. "I really, really love it - it's a different feeling to being a gymnast. I wanted to come away as a really good dancer and put all that experience into my floor routine." Fragapane says it will be a shock whoever the bottom two are from now on - but that even those who have already left the show still take part in their Whatsapp group. "On a Saturday morning, we get messages saying, 'good luck dancers, and non-dancers - keep dancing!'. It's just so nice all the messages we've been getting." With that, she and partner AJ Pritchard are whisked off for spray tans and to continue their preparations. Fragapane says she hopes to compete in the 2020 Olympics and would then consider a return to dance - but for now, for her and her remaining Strictly stars, all they can think about is staying in that Strictly family for one more week. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

स्ट्रिक्टली कम डांसिंग फाइनल तक जाने के लिए तीन सप्ताह बाकी हैं। बी. बी. सी. के एल्स्ट्री फिल्म स्टूडियो में, ईयरपीस के साथ धावक रिहर्सल, साक्षात्कार और फिटिंग के बीच प्रतियोगियों का पीछा कर रहे हैं।


Credit unions offer alternative to payday lenders

Summary: The government wants to double the membership of credit unions to challenge the growth of the payday lending sector.

By Kevin PeacheyPersonal finance reporter, BBC News Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said the Church could do more to help non-profit lenders to compete with payday firms. The Most Rev Justin Welby wants to see skills of members of the congregation, as well as Church premises, used to assist the advance of credit unions. So how do these institutions work, and how can people borrow from them?

सरकार वेतन ऋण क्षेत्र के विकास को चुनौती देने के लिए ऋण संघों की सदस्यता को दोगुना करना चाहती है।


Life after Guantanamo prison

Summary: Some 220 Afghans have been held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making them the largest single group of the nearly 50 nationalities involved. The vast majority have returned home, where their stories of imprisonment, and sometimes abuse at American hands, have made a big impact.

By Dawood AzamiBBC World Service I stopped strangers on the street in Kabul and other provinces of Afghanistan to ask if they had heard of Manhattan or the World Trade Centre. Few of them had. But all of them knew about Guantanamo. "In the history of mankind, there have been only two such cruel prisons. One was Hitler's and the other one is this American prison," says Haji Ghalib, a former district police officer from eastern Afghanistan, who was arrested in his office in February 2003. That sums up the reputation Guantanamo has in Afghanistan. Three Afghans died in detention. Of the rest, all but 19 have been freed without charge, and have usually returned home to a hero's welcome. "Thousands of people from my villages and the surrounding area had gathered to welcome me. I shook hands with more than 2,000 of them," says Haji Shahzada Khan, a village elder from Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. It was much the same for Izatullah Nasratyar, a former Mujahideen fighter who helped push Soviet troops out of Afghanistan, with American help, in his youth. "People gave me a very warm welcome. They brought me cattle and other things they could afford," he says. But how much the ex-detainees are prepared to say about their experiences varies. Some have written books that have become bestsellers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Others are more guarded. "They did things to us that is against humanity, against human rights and against Islam. I cannot even talk about that and I will not talk about it," says Haji Nasrat Khan, Izatullah's elderly father. He was already in his late 70s and in poor health when he was seized in 2003 by the US forces in a raid at his house in a village a few kilometres outside the Afghan capital, Kabul. "I told them find me a single bit of evidence. If you don't have the evidence, then why have you arrested me and kept me here? It was not only me, there were a lot of innocent people they detained." Haji Shahzada also prefers to remain silent. "I usually say to people that Guantanamo is like the mother-in-laws' home. That it's a nice place," he says. "If we tell the truth about conditions there, then it will increase the worry and the suffering of the relatives of remaining detainees. I cannot disclose the realities of life in Guantanamo." The experience of Guantanamo is different for different prisoners. So-called "compliant" detainees - those who follow the rules - live together in a communal way, can meet other inmates from their own block and are able to learn as well as read. "People there don't waste their time. The only good memory I have from Guantanamo is that I learnt the Koran and writing and also got a different experience," says Haji Ghalib. "I memorised the Koran there and learnt many new prayers that now I recite regularly," says Izatullah Nasratyar. Both men spent four and a half years at the detention facility. But Haji Ruhullah, a tribal elder from eastern Afghanistan, paints a harsher picture. "Guantanamo not only took the freedom of movement, it also took all the other rights. Even talking was not allowed," he says. "We were not even allowed to move our lips while reading a book or reciting the Koran. The guards would punish us because they thought we were talking to other prisoners." Nearly all the former inmates I spoke to said they did not expect to return back alive. Many compared the experience of Guantanamo with death - and their release to being reborn. "When we were transferred [to Afghanistan] from Guantanamo, it was like rising from the dead," says former Taliban government Minister of Commerce, Mawlawi Abdul Razaq, who spent five years in detention after his arrest in April 2002, four of them in Guantanamo. "While in Guantanamo, we didn't have any knowledge of the outside world. The letters we were exchanging with our families were mostly censored and blacked out by the Americans. We were worried about our families… The difference was like coming out of the grave." Izatullah says the experience of Guantanamo changed his outlook on life. "This prison has given me a lot of good things," he says, surprisingly. "I was never thankful enough for the bounties Allah has bestowed upon us. I had not thanked God for the freedom to be in the sun or the shade at your own free will or to go to the toilet whenever you want to. "But when we were in the hands of other men we realised that God has bestowed a lot of bounties upon us. It was only then we realised what a privilege freedom is." After the joy of homecoming, though, the experience of picking up after four or five lost years has often been bitter. "I went to see my vineyards after my release and found out that up to 5,000 of the vine trees had dried up. That is the memory that haunts me the most," says Shahzada Khan. "My small children couldn't look after them in my absence. That was the day when I realised that I had really been imprisoned." Some of the former detainees lost their livelihoods and jobs. "Neither the government nor anyone else will employ us - I've been without a job since I came home. Even after we were proven innocent, why won't they help us?" says Haji Ghalib, the former district police officer. Although released without charge, many of them say they are still harassed by the US and Afghan security forces, who suspect some of them of possible links with the insurgents. A few former detainees have been killed in raids, mostly by US forces. Some have been re-arrested and imprisoned in Afghanistan, accused of being "involved in subversive activities". In fear of such a fate, about 90 of them came together in 2012 to form "The Association of Former Guantanamo Detainees from Afghanistan". "We came together in this body to support each other and protect our rights," says Haji Ruhullah Wakil, the head of the association. "We have met President Karzai, Nato commanders and the US officials in Kabul to discuss our problems and assure them that we pose no threat." The mere existence of Guantanamo, however, does continue to pose a threat - as the Taliban is able to exploit the fact in verse designed to recruit and motivate fighters. One such chant describes a young Taliban detainee writing a letter to his mother. "I am a prisoner in Cuba's jail // Neither at night, nor at day, I can't sleep, oh mother," it goes. The singer describes the hardship of life at Guantanamo and tells his mother there is no hope of seeing him alive. The Americans have to weigh this danger against the risk of releasing potentially dangerous men. The detention facility still holds 155 detainees - down from a peak of nearly 800. "The detainees that were brought here were picked up on the battlefield. We kept them here to keep them off the battlefield," says Admiral Richard Butler, commander of the Joint Task Force, that runs the Guantanamo military prison. "Once the chain of command decides they're no longer needed to be kept here for that reason, then we'll transfer 'em. But until then I make no judgement on the guilt or innocence of the detainees." Haji Ghalib did return to Afghanistan, and was reunited with his family. But without a job, living in a cold damp apartment in Kabul, his life has undergone a radical turn for the worse. "Two Americans told me that our American government apologises from you because you spent five years here but you were proven innocent," he says. "I told them, 'I cannot forgive you from my heart.'" Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

लगभग 220 अफगानों को क्यूबा के ग्वांतानामो बे में अमेरिकी सैन्य जेल में रखा गया है, जिससे वे शामिल लगभग 50 राष्ट्रीयताओं में से सबसे बड़ा एकल समूह बन गए हैं। विशाल बहुमत घर लौट आया है, जहां उनकी कैद की कहानियों और कभी-कभी अमेरिकी हाथों दुर्व्यवहार ने एक बड़ा प्रभाव डाला है।


Driver clocked at 143mph on A9 near Inverness

Summary: A 23-year-old man has been charged after being clocked driving at 143mph on the A9 trunk road in the Highlands.

The incident happened at Arpafeelie, near Tore, on Friday at about 22:30. Police have appealed for anyone who may have dashcam footage of the black VW Golf in the area at the time to contact them. Sgt Davie Miller of Highlands and Islands Division Division warned that driving at "inappropriate" speeds could have "catastrophic consequences."

एक 23 वर्षीय व्यक्ति पर हाइलैंड्स में ए9 ट्रंक रोड पर 143 मील प्रति घंटे की रफ्तार से गाड़ी चलाने का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Somerset adult social care budget cut by £500,000

Summary: Somerset County Council has cut about £500,000 from its adult social care budget for 2011-12.

Councillors agreed with proposals to take away support for people classed as having low or moderate care needs. This decision will affect about 500 people across the county. The authority said everyone who receives care would be reassessed by social workers over the next year and anyone who no longer qualified would be told of other ways to receive help.

समरसेट काउंटी काउंसिल ने 2011-12 के लिए अपने वयस्क सामाजिक देखभाल बजट से लगभग £500,000 की कटौती की है।


Shark liver oil: When Scots hunted big sharks

Summary: A project tagging basking sharks that gather in Scottish waters is to be extended. But in the past the sharks were not sought out by scientists but by hunters eager to harvest their prized livers.

By Steven McKenzieBBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter Basking sharks are true monsters of the deep. They are the world's second biggest fish - the whale shark is the largest - and can grow to 11m (36ft) and weigh up to seven tonnes. Basking sharks have no teeth and feed on microscopic plankton by opening wide their huge mouths. Every summer the sharks gather in large numbers around small islands off Scotland's west coast where they are sought out by scientists and wildlife watchers. But until 1994 they were hunted with harpoons for the oil in their livers. According to a 1917 volume of The Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, a basking shark liver is "very heavy, often weighing as much as one tonne" and yields a "pale yellow to orange yellow" oil. A single liver can provide 200 to 400 gallons of this liquid, according to the Canadian Shark Research Laboratory. In the 18th and 19th centuries the oil was used to fuel lamps before it was replaced by petroleum. Other uses, however, were found for the shark liver oil. The oil contains squalene, a property that helped in the manufacture of industrial lubricants and, at the other end of the scale, cosmetics, perfume and artificial silk. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said as well as the liver oil, the sharks were caught for their skin for leather and for making fishmeal to feed to livestock. Most of the oil landed in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s was exported to Norway, according the Marine Conservation Society. However, the rise of synthetic materials in the 20th Century made UK fisheries less profitable. The value of the livers fell from £550 per tonne in the 1970s to about £250 by the early 1990s. 'Shark invasion' Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), which is involved in the tagging project, said hunting reached a peak in 1947 when 250 sharks were landed. More than 100 were landed in the 1980s. Across the whole of the North East Atlantic, there was a record 4,500 basking sharks caught in 1960. Among the shark fishermen pushing the hunting to those peaks was Peterhead-born Joseph "Tex" Geddes. The former soldier began hunting for basking sharks after the end of World War II. Geddes and a fellow fishermen hunted in the Minch in a boat smaller than some of the sharks they harpooned. For a time he worked with Gavin Maxwell, who became famous for his conservation work and books about otters. However, Maxwell's attempt to run a shark fishing station as business venture on Soay, an island off Skye, failed. Geddes, who died in 1998, wrote about his shark fishing adventures in his 1960 book, Hebridean Sharker. It has since been republished. In the book, he told of harpooning large sharks and then being towed by the startled fish at speeds greater than his boat could achieve under its own power. His vessel was badly damaged in one encounter with another big shark as it thrashed around after being harpooned. Geddes also recalled how a Norwegian crew, drawn to Scottish waters by a newspaper report of a "shark invasion", praised his method for harvesting livers. The fisherman wrote: "That season for greater speed we had hitherto made it a practice, when in deep water, to cut the liver clear of the shark first, when it would float astern of the boat, and get rid of the shark at once before circling round and brailing the liver aboard." Geddes said the Norwegians' method involved a fiddly task of fishing out the liver using a net and poles. SNH is cautious about whether declining numbers of the animals have increased since the end of shark hunting off Scotland. Last summer, shoals of 73 fish were counted off Coll and a shoal of 50 was recorded around Hyskeir, a group of rocky islets near Canna. An SNH spokeswoman said of possible signs of recovery: "It's very difficult to gauge as there's not enough information to undertake population estimates. "However, one of the reasons shark hunting decreased was due to difficulty in finding shoals of sharks, plus other sources of oil became available. "Recent surface sightings of larger sharks and smaller juvenile sharks is promising, as are the recent large numbers of surface sightings around Tiree."

स्कॉटिश जल में इकट्ठा होने वाली बास्किंग शार्क को टैग करने की एक परियोजना का विस्तार किया जाना है। लेकिन अतीत में शार्क की तलाश वैज्ञानिकों द्वारा नहीं की जाती थी, बल्कि शिकारियों द्वारा उनके बेशकीमती यकृत की कटाई के लिए उत्सुक थे।


Gateshead £30m cuts package 'will hit everyone'

Summary: The leader of Gateshead Council has warned that £30m worth of cuts over the next two years will impact on "everyone somewhere" within the borough.

Councillor Mick Henry said the authority had faced "difficult choices" after his cabinet approved the plans. Libraries could close, charges for services will increase and funding will be reduced for venues including The Sage and the Baltic. Mr Henry said the spending reductions would have a "real noticeable impact". "It's not possible to reduce the budget by such a large amount without it impacting on everyone somewhere," he said. The council hopes charities, volunteers and community groups may step in to run some services. Bill Quay Community Farm will close unless a new partner comes forward, while charges for pest control, allotments and some waste collection services will go up. Council tax for 2013-14 will be frozen if the budget is approved on Thursday.

गेट्सहेड काउंसिल के नेता ने चेतावनी दी है कि अगले दो वर्षों में 30 मिलियन पाउंड की कटौती से नगर के भीतर "हर किसी पर कहीं न कहीं" प्रभाव पड़ेगा।


Connex bus staff going on strike in Jersey

Summary: Staff from a bus company in Jersey are to go on strike from Thursday night for 25 hours.

Connex Transport Jersey said myBus and myExplorer services would be disrupted from about 23:00 BST and that no services would operate on Friday. The action is being carried out by members of the Unite union over pay. Connex said that all services would return to normal on Saturday. About 12,000 people use bus services every day, transport officials said.

जर्सी में एक बस कंपनी के कर्मचारी गुरुवार रात से 25 घंटे के लिए हड़ताल पर जाने वाले हैं।