Why bribes usually don't buy votes for politicians

Summary: What prompts a voter in India to cast her ballot in favour of a candidate? Typically, her choice would be influenced by the candidate's identity, ideology, caste, performance or ethnicity.

Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent Cash bribes to voters are also widely thought to influence the voting choices of the poorest and most vulnerable voters. Days before the recent polls in the southern state of Karnataka, authorities uncovered cash and "other inducements" worth more than $20m (£14.85m) in what was described as a "record-breaking" haul. One report claimed that workers had been transferring money to bank accounts of voters who had promised to vote for their candidate, and even pledged to pay more later if their candidate won. Trying to buy votes with cash and other gifts in the run up to elections is rampant in India. One main reason is that politics has become fiercely competitive. There were 464 parties in the fray in 2014, up from 55 in the first election in 1952. The average margin of victory was 9.7% in 2009, the thinnest since the first election. At 15%, the average margin of victory was fatter in the landslide 2014 polls, but even this was vastly lower than, say, the average margin of victory in the 2012 US Congressional elections (32%) and the 2010 general election in Britain (18%). Elections have also become volatile. Parties do not control voters as well as they once might have done. Parties and candidates are more uncertain about results than ever before, and try to buy votes by splurging cash on voters. New research by Simon Chauchard, assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, US, argues that bribing voters may not necessarily fetch votes. Competitive elections prompt candidates to distribute handouts - primarily cash and gifts in kind, like liquor - for strategic reasons. While knowing that handouts are largely inefficient, argues Dr Chauchard, candidates end up facing a "prisoner's dilemma", when each prisoner's fate relies on the other's actions. "Fearing that their opponents will distribute handouts, they distribute them themselves to counter, or neutralise, their opponents' strategies," he says. It looks like a zero-sum game. Dr Chauchard and a team of researchers gathered information and data during two elections - one for the legislative assembly in 2014, and the other for a municipal seat in 2017 - in Mumbai talking to political workers of the major parties. They found candidates funnelling cash and other gifts like liquor through influential local citizens - housing society presidents, religious and union leaders - in the weeks leading up to the elections. Some of them could be spending up to 1,000 rupees or $15 on every voter in their community. Party workers told the researchers that handouts made at best a small difference. Many payments never reached the voters as local influencers pocketed the cash themselves. One candidate who was the biggest spender actually finished fourth. Some 80 workers from all parties told researchers that cash handouts and other gifts influenced a miniscule number of voters. Party workers partly blamed the voters for this state of affairs. The voters, they bemoaned, had become astute, having realised that it was near-impossible for candidates to "monitor" their voting behaviour. So they pocketed the cash and betrayed even the most generous candidate. There was no evidence to suggest that candidates were channelling funds towards either core or swing voters. "Paying voters is not entirely useless or inefficient though," Dr Chauchard told me. "You could lose votes if you didn't. It helps you to level the playing field. You may lose more if you didn't give a gift. Only in very tight elections, could it tilt the balance." Sanjay Kumar, a leading Delhi-based political scientist, says there is a overwhelming belief among parties that they can buy votes of poor people. "That's why most parties bribe voters. All parties continue to spend on voters in the hope that the undecided voter or the fringe voter will keel over. But there is no evidence that this happens or helps at all." Bribing voters could have a cultural explanation. Social scientists say that poor voters in South Asia appreciate wealthy or generous candidates. In a highly unequal society, cash bribes and gifts create a sense of reciprocity. India has a long history of patronage politics. Anastasia Piliavsky, a social anthropologist at University of Cambridge, studied voters in rural Rajasthan and found they expect feasts or handouts from candidates. In rural India, she argues, electoral politics is often articulated in the traditional idiom of patronage. The "donor-servant relation was the basic formula through which people exchanged things, exercised power and related socially". So, far away from the prying eyes of election authorities, candidates throw 'fake' wedding and birthday parties where unknown guests - or eligible voters - turn up for food and other "return gifts" like cash. In the end, according to anthropologist Mukulika Banerjee of London School of Economics, vulnerable voters take "money from all the parties who offered it and after doing so cast their vote not to the highest bidder but by taking into consideration what they enigmatically term "other considerations". "Sadly this is just the way it is now in politics," a BJP leader told Dr Chauchard. "You have to spend. There is no other way around this, at least right now. Another politician had a more droll understanding of the compulsions. "Cash in elections is like pumping gas in a motorbike," he said. "If you don't put gas in the bike, you never get to your destination. But you do not get there faster if you put (in) more gas." You can follow @SoutikBBC on Twitter

भारत में एक मतदाता को उम्मीदवार के पक्ष में मतदान करने के लिए क्या प्रेरित करता है? आमतौर पर, उसकी पसंद उम्मीदवार की पहचान, विचारधारा, जाति, प्रदर्शन या जातीयता से प्रभावित होगी।


Ethical hacking: The challenges facing India

Summary: A bug discovered in a government health portal last year left data of nearly two million Indian patients unguarded. The recovery has highlighted the need to encourage ethical hacking in a country which is digitising its infrastructure rapidly, writes Nilesh Christopher.

One year ago, India's state-run health portal - which allows users to book online appointments at government hospitals - left exposed a part of its website. This meant that the personal details and health information of nearly two million users could have leaked. Security researcher Avinash Jain discovered the vulnerability in the Online Registration System (ORS) in August 2018. He was able to access details such as the patient's full name, address, age, mobile number, history of appointments made via the portal, patient ID, partial Aadhaar number (a unique biometric identification number) and details of diseases ailing an individual. "The bug would have allowed any attacker to access details of patients who had booked an appointment in any of the 237 registered [government] hospitals," said Mr Jain. At the time, he reported the vulnerability to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and the flaw in the government portal was patched in October last year. CERT-In is an office within the ministry of electronics and information technology which deals with cyber security threats. This correspondent has seen the email correspondence between the researcher and CERT-In from last year. According to Mr Jain, the incident highlighted the need to encourage ethical hacking in India. In 2015, the country launched the ORS health portal as an easy way for users to book online appointments and skip long queues at government hospitals. Any Indian user could book an appointment on the portal by using their biometric identification number. It was a simple vulnerability where by tampering with the patient ID linked to a specific user on the portal, Mr Jain was able to gain access to medical and personal data of several others registered on ORS. "The bug allowed attackers to not only access a patient's appointment details, but also cancel appointments set up at specific hospitals," Mr Jain said. To check the severity of the bug, he picked India's largest government hospital - the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi - to see if he could fish out details of patients. He found more than 18,000 patient details belonging to the premier hospital and "was able to access the details of appointments made at any given date and time since the service was launched". This correspondent could not independently verify if the bug was exploited and if any data was stolen in the three years between 2015 and 2018, when the vulnerability was finally fixed. "Stolen medical patient records are sold at 10 times the value of credit card information on the dark web," said Rajesh Maurya, a cyber security analyst. "This stolen patient information is usually sold by individuals to those who use it to submit false insurance claims, prescribe restricted drugs, get their hands on someone else's prescription or to sell as a patient profile on the dark web to get medical services," Mr Maurya added. The global healthcare industry, which manages critical patient data, has often been a prime target for cybercriminals. Last year, the Singapore government was subject to a high-profile breach that ended up exposing health information of 1.5 million people. The UK's public healthcare provider the National Health Service (NHS) had a data breach last year that affected more than 150,000 patients. While there are hackers who exploit bugs and gain illegal access to data, Mr Jain says ethical hackers like him who responsibly disclose critical bugs are not always appreciated. "The Indian government doesn't appreciate skilled bug hunters - despite the fact that we help to make data more secure," he added. A common feature at hacker conferences in India is the discussion of the legal risks of disclosing vulnerabilities - especially when the bug is related to government agencies. "Leaks of vulnerabilities have prompted government agencies to issue notices and in some case, even register complaints against researchers. The risk of legal repercussions always exists," Apar Gupta of Internet Freedom Foundation, a non-profit watchdog, said. As India seeks to digitise a large part of its infrastructure and make government services available online for several of its e-governance initiatives, the risk of cyber-attacks on portals which host sensitive user information increases. Read more about technology in India: As per information reported to and tracked by CERT-In, more than 300,000 cyber-security incidents were reported in 2019 - a steep increase from a 50,362 incidents in 2016. This is where security researchers or ethical hackers become increasingly important because they can help protect against possible attacks and access flaws in the digital infrastructure. Srinivas Kodali, a security researcher who has exposed flaws in the Unique Identification Authority of India, says the relationship between the Indian government and researchers "is complicated". "They [government] always fix the issue if it is a critical bug. But they may or may not let you know about it. Sometimes they are thankful and sometimes they complain about your meddling in their affairs," he said. What many researchers, including Mr Jain, want is for their efforts to be acknowledged and possibly have a "hall of fame" list online of all the researchers who have responsibly disclosed flaws in the digital assets of the government. India ranks as the top hacker location globally, where Indian 'white hat hackers' or bug bounty hunters made $2.3m (£1.7m) discovering bugs in 2019. Companies pay 'white hat hackers' to hack their websites to find weaknesses in their security systems. Bounty hunters earn rewards for reporting vulnerabilities in international software companies where the culture of responsible bug disclosure is encouraged. But India currently does not have any law that protects security researchers who responsibly disclose bugs. The Indian Information Technology Act clearly states that any individual who gains unauthorised access to a computer resource is guilty or liable. Since the crime is defined in the context of unauthorised access, many researchers fear retribution from authorities, which prevents them from reporting flaws. With no well-established protocol at the federal or state level to deal with vulnerability reporting, it often carries an element of risk. "This can be addressed by making legal amendments to the law. Further, operating practices and policy framework can also be developed to close such vulnerabilities by a progressive bug bounty programme," Mr Gupta said. Nilesh Christopher is a Bangalore-based technology writer

नीलेश क्रिस्टोफर लिखते हैं कि पिछले साल एक सरकारी स्वास्थ्य पोर्टल में पाए गए एक बग ने लगभग 20 लाख भारतीय रोगियों के डेटा को असुरक्षित छोड़ दिया। इस सुधार ने एक ऐसे देश में नैतिक हैकिंग को प्रोत्साहित करने की आवश्यकता को उजागर किया है जो अपने बुनियादी ढांचे का तेजी से डिजिटलीकरण कर रहा है।


Bristol harbourside apartment block plan is rejected

Summary: A block of 177 new apartments planned for Bristol's harbourside has been rejected by the city council.

The Bristol Civic Society had objected to the block which would have been built on Millennium Promenade. John Frenkle, from the society, said the building was too big and would be too overpowering. The council's development control committee, which met on Wednesday, rejected the scheme saying it did not fit in with the location.

ब्रिस्टल के बंदरगाह के लिए नियोजित 177 नए अपार्टमेंटों के एक ब्लॉक को नगर परिषद द्वारा खारिज कर दिया गया है।


Resurfacing closes Isle of Man road for three weeks

Summary: A main road in the south of the Isle of Man is closed for three weeks during office hours for resurfacing and drainage works.

The scheme takes place on the Ballabeg to Colby road until 5 September. The route closes between Cronk y Thatcher to Ronague Road, Ballabeg, from 09:15 BST to 17:00 BST each day. The government's infrastructure minister Phil Gawne said the work will address the "poor condition" of the road and pavements.

आइल ऑफ मैन के दक्षिण में एक मुख्य सड़क को पुनर्विकास और जल निकासी कार्यों के लिए कार्यालय के घंटों के दौरान तीन सप्ताह के लिए बंद कर दिया जाता है।


Wrexham murder inquiry as man found dead at home

Summary: A murder investigation has been started after a 60-year-old man was found dead at his home in Wrexham.

Terence Edwards was found dead at home in Pont Wen, Wrexham, at about 19:00 BST on 1 June, North Wales Police said. Post-mortem tests found Mr Edwards died of a head injury, the force said. The police force urged anyone who went to Mr Edwards's home between 21:00 on 29 May and 1 June to come forward. Mr Edwards's family has been informed.

रेक्सम में एक 60 वर्षीय व्यक्ति के अपने घर पर मृत पाए जाने के बाद हत्या की जांच शुरू की गई है।


Nottingham man charged with attempted murder over collision

Summary: A man has appeared before magistrates charged with attempted murder over a collision and subsequent assault in Nottingham.

Zahier Bashir, 41, of Nottingham, was arrested after two women were injured in Sherwood on Sunday. He was also charged with grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, possession of an offensive weapon and breaching a restraining order. Mr Bashir, of Valley Road, will appear at Nottingham Crown Court on 30 April.

नॉटिंघम में टक्कर और उसके बाद हुए हमले को लेकर हत्या के प्रयास के आरोप में एक व्यक्ति मजिस्ट्रेट के सामने पेश हुआ है।


Huge cocaine haul seized on Air France plane in Paris

Summary: Police at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport have seized 1.3 tonnes of pure cocaine on board an Air France flight from Venezuela, French officials say.

The drugs were found packed inside 30 suitcases on 11 September, but the operation was revealed on Saturday. France's Interior minister, Manuel Valls, said it was the biggest drug haul ever made in the Paris area. Six people were arrested, accused of being members of an international drug smuggling ring, Mr Valls said. Officials say they believe the drugs were meant for sale in France and had a street value of 200m euros (£169m; $270m). The Air France flight came from Caracas. The suitcases with the cocaine reportedly were not registered to any of the passengers.

फ्रांसीसी अधिकारियों का कहना है कि पेरिस चार्ल्स डी गॉल हवाई अड्डे पर पुलिस ने वेनेजुएला से एयर फ्रांस की उड़ान में एक टन शुद्ध कोकीन जब्त की है।


Retaining some cool and cachet after selling up

Summary: Does selling up mean selling out? Trendy independent firms can face a customer backlash when their founders sell to a big corporation. But many of these brands keep their cool and cachet - although it requires careful management.

By Daniel ThomasBusiness reporter When the Camden Town Brewery was bought in 2015 by Ab InBev, the world's biggest beer firm, rival craft brewery BrewDog published a lengthy blog attacking the move. It accused Camden and other small brewers of selling out to "mega corporations, the ones who destroyed... and commoditised beer". It also said it would stop selling Camden beer at its BrewDog pubs, because it didn't want to put money in Ab InBev's pockets. But in April this year BrewDog raised a few eyebrows when it sold a minority stake to US private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners for £213m. Does this mean BrewDog itself sold out? "First of all, no-one has taken over BrewDog, we're still majority-owned by myself and Martin Dickie," co-founder James Watt tells the BBC. Consumer backlash As part of the deal, TSG agreed "100%" to protect the firm's independence and the way the beer is made, he says. "This deal gives us the firepower to compete globally with the mega beer corporations and their faux 'craft' beers, whilst remaining fiercely independent." From craft beer firms to organic food businesses, ethical fashion labels to beauty brands, many small firms have sold up to bigger ones only to be accused of selling out. But is such criticism fair, and why do small businesses sell up in the first place? Mark Ritson, a professor of marketing at Melbourne Business School, says most consumers are "completely ignorant" about who owns their favourite brands. But in a small percentage of cases it can create bad publicity because the firms involved are "so contradictory". This happened when retailer Walmart acquired the trendy US online fashion firm ModCloth in March. ModCloth, which sells vintage-style clothes for women, had built a loyal following of socially liberal customers who identified with its brand values. But many of them thought Walmart was an unsuitable new owner, questioning its business practices with regards to workers' rights. Walmart tells the BBC it has invested billions of dollars in training and higher wages for its workers. And at the time of the deal, it stressed that ModCloth would continue to operate as a standalone business after the deal and get help to grow. However, that didn't stop customers complaining on a blog on the ModCloth website. Comments such as "congratulations, you have lost my business forever" and "today marks the death of ModCloth" sum up the reaction. Not so Innocent? According to Prof Ritson, the negative response to such deals is often more about perception than reality. He gives the example of Coca Cola, which in 2010 took a controlling stake in Innocent, the British smoothie-maker famed for its natural ingredients and quirky branding. Like ModCloth, Innocent's founders stressed the firm would retain its values, in this case a commitment to natural, healthy food. But the deal had its critics. "You had the contradiction of this mass, American, sugary brand with the British, healthy brand, and it did diminish the firm in the eyes of many of its loyal followers," Mr Ritson says. But seven years on, Innocent claims its values have "absolutely not" changed. Innocent says it has increased sales across Europe by harnessing Coca Cola's expertise and resources. Turnover rose from £114m in 2009, when the US giant first took a minority stake, to £247m in 2015, Innocent's most recent audited accounts. "Coca Cola has remained hands-off and let us get on with running, growing and developing Innocent in an Innocent way," says a spokesperson. Phil Howard, an associate professor at the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, says it is understandable that small firms should want to be bought up "as the system favours bigger firms". Investors in small firms often want an early pay-back, while the costs of expanding a business can be heavy. However, he says that while founders will see sales growth and "get a pay-off", most are "deluded" if they think their values will be protected. "If you talk to founders three or so years after the acquisition - you find most are disillusioned," he says. Buyer's remorse William Kendal, one a group of investors who took over Green & Blacks in 1999 - and was also its chief executive - says he now regrets selling the ethical chocolate brand to Cadbury in 2005. The entrepreneur tells the BBC the deal was driven by a desire to harness Cadbury's reach - particularly in the US - but that the brand did not take off in America as planned. He says the firm had regularly spoken out about political issues - such as whether the UK should adopt the euro and the limitations of the Fairtrade system - but Cadbury put a stop to that. "We were a campaigning brand, and occasionally we put people's noses out of joint, but that was part of the marketing. "But Cadbury were nervous about that and it watered down the personality of the brand." Mondelez, which now owns Green & Black's, says it is committed to the brand's founding philosophy of delivering "great tasting, ethically-sourced chocolate" and has invested significantly in its growth. Natalie Berg, an analyst at Planet Retail, says takeovers of craft brands can work, as long as the acquiring firm takes a hands-off approach. She cites Ben and Jerry's, the US ice cream firm bought by Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever for $200m in 2000. More stories from the BBC's Business Brain series looking at quirky business topics from around the world: 'I turned my dad's erotic novel into a hit podcast' Would you carry something abroad for a stranger? Nine-month stretch: The rise of prenatal exercise classes Can't find the right handbag? Just design it yourself Why you need to question your hippo boss From its founding in 1978, the firm prided itself on its environmentalism, ethical ingredients and outspoken social advocacy - and since Unilever took over little has changed, say experts. This is partly because from the outset, Unilever agreed to establish an "external board" charged with overseeing Ben & Jerry's culture and social mission. "Some big firms have core competence for buying and maintaining small brands, and some don't," says Prof Ritson. Nonetheless, Mr Kendall's advice to small brands that are growing fast, but feeling the urge to sell, is to hold on. "Cadbury didn't do a bad job with Green & Black's, but in hindsight we could have done a great deal more with it," he says. "It's a British disease - we validate success by the exit rather than achievement of the business." Follow Business Brain series editor Will Smale on Twitter @WillSmale1

क्या बेचना का मतलब बिकना है? ट्रेंडी स्वतंत्र फर्मों को ग्राहकों की प्रतिक्रिया का सामना करना पड़ सकता है जब उनके संस्थापक एक बड़े निगम को बेचते हैं। लेकिन इनमें से कई ब्रांड अपने आप को शांत और शांत रखते हैं-हालांकि इसके लिए सावधानीपूर्वक प्रबंधन की आवश्यकता होती है।


Chernobyl: 30 years in the exclusion zone

Summary: On 26 April 1986, a catastrophic nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukraine. An explosion and subsequent fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. Almost 30 years on, Eòrpa reporter Anne Lundon travelled there to find out about the continued impact the disaster has on the country.

By Anne LundonBBC Scotland There is still no official account of how many died and suffered as a result of the meltdown, and the health implications of the disaster have long been debated. Now, the cost of dealing with problems in neighbouring countries also means that victims of the disaster have been impacted by funding cuts. Upon entering the exclusion zone, there's miles of wilderness. It looks empty, lifeless. But now and again, in amongst the trees, you spot some houses - a sight of the life that once was - now overrun with nature. Today, 140 people live in the exclusion zone - most of whom returned in the first couple of years after the accident. Among them is 81-year-old Ivan, who lives with his wife, Maria. He said: "We came back - it was easy to come back. The authorities let us and so that's what we did. "Our life here? I came back and went to work at Chernobyl. Life has changed. Many things have changed. "There used to be people and then suddenly they were gone. There was life, movement and everyone had something to do. And now what do you do?" One of the most prolific areas associated with Chernobyl is the town of Pripyat. It was built two miles from the power plant to house workers and their families. There were almost 50,000 residents in the town at the time of the accident. Today, everything has been left as it once was - with nature taking over. But this wilderness is once again attracting visitors. Levels of radiation in some parts are almost at a normal level, meaning it is safe for people to visit for short periods of time. After the accident at reactor four, the three remaining reactor units - which were vital to Ukraine's electricity needs - continued to operate for some years. The last of those units closed in the year 2000. The decommission of units 1-3 is being carried out separately from that of the destroyed unit 4, which is expected to take many years longer to complete. As the work at the reactor continues, plans are in motion to try to change public perception of the exclusion zone. They want to declassify part of the zone, and develop it. At the National Academy of Medical Sciences, Prof Konstantin Loganovsky has been researching the effects of radiation on long-term health. He said: "In recent years it has been proved that nervous cells divide, so they are very vulnerable to radiation, especially in hippocampus and front brain cortex. "This leads to many disorders like cognitive disorders, behaviour disorders, thinking disorders and emotional disorders ranging from depression to suicide. "Of course, liquidators, evacuees and children received the highest levels of radiation. What happens is that parents share this stress with their children. They even transfer it through generations. This is an amazing situation. "In Japan after Fukishima everyone got over this, they believed everything will be fine and everyone is healthy. It's the opposite here. Everyone is sick, every single person is sick." There have been funding and benefit cuts affecting many regions within Ukraine, meaning that victims of the disaster will not receive the support and help they once did. They will lose support towards medical bills, university grants and free transport. At one time, it was the state that helped with this funding - now it is up to local authorities. And budgets very often do not match the needs of the regions. Viktor Ivankevych, Deputy Minister of Social Policy in Ukraine, said, "Ukraine is spending a lot of money in the east of the country to provide for its defence. This money could have been used to upgrade the level of pension support for these categories of people. "As of today there are about two million people who have either suffered from Chernobyl or were clean-up workers at the ChNPP in Ukraine." Another town inside the exclusion zone which has been abandoned is Zalissya - where there are many empty homes and collective farming. Most of those who left Zalissya were rehomed an hour and a half south of Chernobyl - in the Borodyanka region. Oleksander Leonenko was evacuated from his home when he was 22 years old. "We had a certain level of trust in what we were told. We believed we were going away for three days. We took only food. Everything else we left at home. "To tell the truth, we did not suspect we were leaving forever. The only thought we had was about coming back; maybe in three days or maybe in a week. But we would come back for sure. "Only when we heard about new houses being built for us we understood this was for the rest of our lives. "I made my first steps there, went to school there, left for the army and came back. It's been 30 years and it feels like yesterday. This part of my life went by very fast. "I feel like I've come back home when I return to Zalissya. I come once a year. The moment I put my foot on my father's house doorstep I have a feeling like I've come back home after a couple of years of being away on business. Still, subconsciously we know we will never go back." You can watch the full report from Chernobyl on BBC ALBA's Eòrpa on 30 March at 20:30.

26 अप्रैल 1986 को, उत्तरी यूक्रेन में चेरनोबिल परमाणु ऊर्जा संयंत्र में एक विनाशकारी परमाणु दुर्घटना हुई। एक विस्फोट और उसके बाद आग ने वायुमंडल में बड़ी मात्रा में रेडियोधर्मी कणों को छोड़ दिया, जो पश्चिमी यूएसएसआर और यूरोप के अधिकांश हिस्सों में फैल गए। लगभग 30 साल बाद, एर्पा रिपोर्टर ऐनी लुंडन ने देश पर आपदा के निरंतर प्रभाव के बारे में पता लगाने के लिए वहां की यात्रा की।


BBC Breakfast's Bill Turnbull on early starts and tricky guests

Summary: Bill Turnbull has spent the past 15 years as one of the faces of BBC Breakfast - but is now leaving the famous red sofa. To mark his last day, he has been talking about early mornings, meeting his idols and dealing with difficult interviewees.

Turnbull worked as a foreign news correspondent before joining Breakfast in 2001. He became one of the main weekday hosts in 2008 and moved with the programme from London to Salford in 2012. Why are you leaving Breakfast? I have been presenting the programme for 15 years, and I think getting up at 3:30 does take its toll after a while. And I want to seek fresh fields while I still can. The programme's in really good shape so I don't feel any guilt about leaving it behind because it's in very good hands. Have you been in a different time zone to the rest of us for the last 15 years? The week is split into two halves. You start on Sunday and think about the next day's show, get up early for it, do the programme, go home, have a nap, get up, do one or two other things and then start thinking about the next day's programme. That goes on until Wednesday. When we did four days a week in London I used to feel permanently jetlagged because you never really got back to normal. Since we came up here, it's been easier because there's one less day to get tired and one more day to recover. What time do you go to bed? The days I'm working, I go to bed at 9:30 - or try to. And then the alarm goes at 3:30. I get up, get ready, do 10 minutes of yoga just to keep everything moving. Then I leave home at 4:20, get in at 5:00. Then we're on air at 6:00. And then when I've finished the programme I go home and have a nap for an hour and a half. A lot of the job is about sleep management - making sure you get enough and you can function. Who were your favourite guests? The ones I remember are the ones who were personal favourites before the interviews. So I remember meeting Eric Burdon, who was an idol of mine when I was younger, and David Byrne, who'd been in Talking Heads. I got to hold Jimi Hendrix's guitar once on air, which was a great thrill. There was Will Smith, who I'd met a couple of times before and then he came in live and we gave him a 15-minute slot, which we'd never done before. There have been so many famous faces on the sofa - I sometimes get confused as to who I've met and who I haven't. What about the worst interviews? The bad ones I tend to wipe from my mind. There have been one or two. Funnily enough if I think a guest is going to be difficult they often turn out to be quite rewarding, and it's the interviews sometimes that you think are going to be a dream that turn out to be a bit difficult. There was one instance where we had a singer, and 20 seconds before we went on air I was barking at his manager to get out of the studio because he was standing literally behind the sofa remonstrating with us about a question we wanted to ask. Which we then did go on to ask. That was one of the most difficult moments we've had because then it made for a rather fraught atmosphere. He apologised profusely afterwards. Naming no names. Tom Odell. Have you had a favourite co-presenter? I've worked with 14 or 15 different people on the sofa and got on pretty well with all of them. Sian [Williams] was my longest-running partner and we worked together very well. I used to love working with Mishal Husain because she'd bring me chocolate biscuits every Friday. And working with Susanna [Reid] was also very important because we were together when we moved up here. She worked so hard to make it work in the sense that she was still down in London with her kids and would go down by train every day and come back up. Her dedication was phenomenal. And working with Louise [Minchin] over the last couple of years has been terrific as well. She and I have a special bond because we went around the world in 80 days. We'll always have Ulan Bator. Has the programme changed since you started? Yes, enormously. When I first joined, it was rather staid and to be honest a little bit dull. Part of the success of the programme was it learned to relax, not just in terms of the presentation but also in terms of the content. That plus the advent of the sofa as a brand. In the old days, we'd be behind a desk for two hours, then only do the last half hour from a sofa. Then we went through various different versions of it - we had a period when we shifted between desk and sofa every half hour, which was exhausting and confusing for everybody. Once we decided we were going to be on the sofa for the entire programme then everything really settled down and the sofa is the star of the show. How has the programme changed after moving to Salford? I think it's given us a wider view of Britain. There was a danger that when we were in London we were a bit hamstrung by seeing the rest of Britain as being more distant and "out there". Now we are "out there" and it's much easier for us to see and appreciate what's happening in different parts of Britain. We don't just have a north-west view - we have a greater overall view of what's going on and I think it's been very healthy. And we've kept the momentum. I think we've got a new energy from moving up here. What next for you? I'm presenting a quiz show called Think Tank, which is going out on BBC One in the Spring. I'll also be trying to do a bit of writing and one or two other projects are kicking around - some in radio, some in TV, so I intend to keep myself pretty busy. You also do online commentary for Wycombe Wanderers. Were you tempted to move to 5 live and take up football commentary? I was - I'm just waiting for the phone to ring! To be honest my commentary skills are not necessarily worthy of 5 live. I'd describe myself less as a commentator and more as a fan with a microphone. I've learned just to say that there's been a goal scored without trying to identify the scorer immediately because I'm usually wrong. What advice would you give your successor? Try to enjoy it, because if you can enjoy presenting the programme it means you're relaxed and the audience will relax with you. If there's a good atmosphere in the studio that makes people feel good about watching. They can detect tension, particularly between presenters, at a thousand paces, and viewers don't like it. Bill Turnbull was speaking to entertainment reporter Ian Youngs.

बिल टर्नबुल ने पिछले 15 साल बीबीसी ब्रेकफास्ट के चेहरों में से एक के रूप में बिताए हैं-लेकिन अब प्रसिद्ध लाल सोफे को छोड़ रहे हैं। अपने अंतिम दिन को चिह्नित करने के लिए, वह सुबह जल्दी होने, अपने आदर्शों से मिलने और कठिन साक्षात्कारकर्ताओं से निपटने के बारे में बात कर रहे हैं।


Covid in Scotland: Prosecutors probe seven care home deaths

Summary: Prosecutors are investigating the deaths of seven residents at a care home in Aberdeen.

The deaths at Tor Na Dee Care Home are being examined by the Crown Office's Covid-19 Deaths Investigation Team. Last week BBC Scotland revealed that the unit is investigating almost 500 cases at care homes in Scotland. A Crown Office spokeswoman said: "The families will be kept updated in relation to any significant developments." The home, in Milltimber, is operated by Care UK, which has been asked for comment.

अभियोजक एबरडीन में एक देखभाल गृह में सात निवासियों की मौत की जांच कर रहे हैं।


Exhibition paints Rembrandt as 'modern' artist

Summary: An exhibition of the late works of Rembrandt opens at London's National Gallery this week, on the first step in a journey that will take many of the works back to Amsterdam, the city where they were created in the 17th Century.

By Tim MastersArts and entertainment correspondent, BBC News The story goes that upon viewing Rembrandt's Jewish Bride for the first time in 1885, Vincent Van Gogh said: "I should be happy to give 10 years of my life if I could go on sitting here in front of this picture for a fortnight, with only a crust of dry bread for food." In a letter to his brother Theo, he wrote: "What an intimate, what an infinitely sympathetic painting." The Jewish Bride, officially known as Portrait of a Couple as Isaac and Rebecca, dates from about 1665 and is one of the key paintings on show as part of Rembrandt: The Late Works at the National Gallery. Organised in collaboration with Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the exhibition is the first to explore Rembrandt's final years from about 1652 to his death in 1669. It will then move to the Rijksmuseum's newly opened Philips exhibition wing in February 2015. "Every work in the exhibition - including many works rarely seen in public - is by the artist himself, to allow the most accurate understanding of his style and technique," says Betsy Wieseman, the show's curator at the National Gallery (NG). The NG and the Rijksmuseum have been in talks about the exhibition for some 10 years. "I think that it is safe to say that the more important the artist, the longer it takes to put together an exhibition about them," says Ms Wieseman. The exhibition features some 40 paintings, 20 drawings and 30 prints that are on loan from around the world. "The biggest challenge has been to convince public institutions and private collectors to lend their paintings for this exhibition, but we have been very fortunate and are indeed very grateful for their help in gathering this extraordinary selection of Rembrandt's late works," says Ms Wieseman. What do these later works tell us about the artist? "Visitors will be able to appreciate Rembrandt as a very 'modern' artist - he eliminated unnecessary details, he explored bold, almost abstract techniques, and he was obsessed with finding ways to intensify the viewer's experience of his works," says Ms Wieseman. There is as much excitement in Amsterdam as there is in London about the exhibition. "Everyone knows Rembrandt is the master of light," says Gregor Webern, head of fine arts at the Rijksmuseum. "He starts with light but he continues with light at the end of his career." Among the themes of this period are self-portraiture - "he again and again paints himself," says Mr Webern - experimentation and the observation of everyday life. "He does not paint Venus falling down from heaven, he is looking to the models of the neighbourhood, " Mr Webern says. There will be some differences between the two exhibitions. The Rijksmuseum will have three paintings from German collections that aren't travelling to London, including the Self-Portrait as Zeuxis Laughing (from Cologne), painted six years before Rembrandt's death. Mr Webern puts this down to the fragility of the works, while Ms Wieseman mentions the NG's smaller exhibition space. The National Gallery announced only last week it had secured the loan of The Conspiracy of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis' (about 1661-2). It is the first time the painting has ever been to the UK. Ms Wieseman says: "The raw savagery of the figures and the clandestine nature of their meeting are brilliantly expressed by means of Rembrandt's broad brushwork, and the odd and dazzling effects of the light cast by the lamp hidden by the figure in the immediate foreground." The Conspiracy painting will hang alongside other key works such as: Ms Wieseman says working on the exhibition has given her a much better understanding of how Rembrandt blurred the boundaries between drawing, painting and printmaking. "I think it will be particularly fascinating to see the paintings, drawings and prints displayed together. I don't think Rembrandt saw them as three completely separate disciplines. Some of what he tried to achieve in printmaking must have been influenced by what he was able to do in painting: how could he achieve the same effects with an etching needle, monochrome paper and ink." She hopes that people will come away with a better understanding of what Rembrandt was hoping to achieve in the final years of his career. "You do have a sense of an artist who was very directed: whether consciously or unconsciously, he identified certain artistic or iconographic 'problems' that he wanted or needed to solve," she says. "For example, rather than simply painting a picture of Bathsheba, Rembrandt wanted to understand and represent the emotions that she was feeling as she read the letter from her king, forcing her into committing adultery. "And in looking at a painting or a print or a drawing, I would like visitors to think a little more deeply about how the image is created, and why Rembrandt made the artistic choices he did. I think if visitors can empathise with the emotional content of his works, and appreciate his incredible technique, Rembrandt would be very pleased. "I think the emotional dimension of his work and his extraordinary technique and passion for his art is what still continues to touch people and astonish audiences." Rembrandt: The Late Works is at the National Gallery 15 Oct 2014 - 18 Jan 2015 (admission charge). After London, the exhibition will travel to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (12 February - 17 May 2015).

रेम्ब्रांट के दिवंगत कार्यों की एक प्रदर्शनी इस सप्ताह लंदन की नेशनल गैलरी में खुलती है, एक यात्रा के पहले कदम पर जो कई कार्यों को एम्स्टर्डम, उस शहर में वापस ले जाएगी जहां उन्हें 17वीं शताब्दी में बनाया गया था।


Syria conflict: Key documents

Summary: Last September, the US and France weighed up options for a military strike against Syria in the wake of an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Damascus government on 21 August. The two countries, as well as the UK, produced the following intelligence assessments to help decision-makers.

United States "The United States Government assesses with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013." Sources: Evidence is based on "human, signals, and geospatial intelligence as well as a significant body of open source reporting" as well as "additional intelligence that remains classified because of sources". Deaths: 1,429 people, including at least 426 children Key extracts: "Multiple streams of intelligence indicate that the regime executed a rocket and artillery attack against the Damascus suburbs in the early hours of August 21." "Three hospitals in the Damascus area received approximately 3,600 patients displaying symptoms consistent with nerve agent exposure in less than three hours." United Kingdom The Joint Intelligence Committee said "it is highly likely that the regime was responsible for the CW attacks on 21 August. The JIC had high confidence in all of its assessments except in relation to the regime's precise motivation for carrying out an attack of this scale at this time". Sources: As well as "widespread open source reports of chemical weapons", the JIC report said there was "a limited but growing body of intelligence which supports the judgement that the regime was responsible for the attacks... Some of this intelligence is highly sensitive." "We have also worked in concert with the US intelligence community and agree with the conclusions they have reached." Deaths: At least 350 fatalities Key extracts: "We have assessed previously that the Syrian regime used lethal CW (chemical weapons) on 14 occasions from 2012. This judgement was made with the highest possible level of certainty following an exhaustive review by the Joint Intelligence Organisation of intelligence reports plus diplomatic and open sources." Below are the documents published by the UK government on 29 August, in support of its position, although it has since ruled out military action, after a defeat in Parliament on the issue. France "The analysis of information we have now gathered leads us to consider that, on August 21, 2013, the Syrian regime has launched an attack on some suburbs of Damascus that were being held by the opposition forces, using together conventional means and a large amount of chemical agents." Sources: "Declassified intelligence mostly drawn from French-only sources" as well as "methodical technical analysis of 47 original video tapes of the August 21 events". Deaths: No fewer than 281 but could be up to 1,500 deaths according to different sources. The report says "work carried out by our specialists, by extrapolating an impact model of a chemical attack on the population of the mentioned sites, is consistent with these figures". Key extracts: "Our intelligence confirms that the regime feared a wider attack from the opposition on Damascus at that moment." "...it is clear, by examining the targets of the attack, that only the regime itself could have targeted positions that were so strategic for the opposition. Finally, we consider that the Syrian opposition does not have the capacity to lead an operation of that size with chemical agents." The French government published a nine-page summary of its intelligence, on 2 September:

पिछले सितंबर में, अमेरिका और फ्रांस ने 21 अगस्त को दमिश्क सरकार द्वारा कथित रासायनिक हथियारों के हमले के मद्देनजर सीरिया के खिलाफ सैन्य हमले के विकल्पों पर विचार किया। दोनों देशों के साथ-साथ ब्रिटेन ने निर्णय लेने वालों की मदद के लिए निम्नलिखित खुफिया आकलन प्रस्तुत किए।


In pictures: 'The golden age of hip hop'

Summary: London photographers Janette Beckman and David Corio first came across hip hop in 1982, whilst on assignment in New York for music publications including the NME, Melody Maker and The Face.

By Kev GeogheganMusic News LIVE reporter It gained them both access to a genre of music and cultural phenomenon, still in its infancy, which would go on to shape and dominate global music charts just a few decades later. Their portraits of the fledgling artists who would become considered the Godfathers (and mothers) of rap music - Run DMC, Slick Rick, Salt-N-Pepa, Whodini, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J and Queen Latifah - are being shown at a new exhibition in London. Janette and David selected six of their favourite images and talked us through the stories behind them. Run-DMC and posse, hanging out in Hollis, Queens, 1984 I shot this for The Face. They gave me a phone number and it was Jam Master Jay's mum's house. I called up and they had no idea what The Face was. He said, "OK, meet me at the Hollis subway station", so I got on the train with my Hasselblad camera, no assistants. I got off the train and Jay met me and we walked down the street and there were these guys just standing there. This must have been the third or fourth shot I took. They were like 'What do you want us to do?' I said, 'Just stand there'. They looked so amazing, it was shocking to me because I had been used to going to shoot bands in the Bronx, which was pretty burnt down, or Harlem, and this was a really nice, leafy street in a middle class neighbourhood. One of their mums was a teacher. They changed everything. The clothes they're wearing, they weren't dressed up in leather fringe outfits - the Adidas and Kangols, this is pretty much hip hop fashion at the peak of change. They do look serious. I can't remember them giggling but they were serious about what they were doing. If you listen to lyrics to songs like It's Like That, they were political in a different way. In hip hop you have to have an attitude and they had it. Janette Beckman Biz Markie, London, 1988 You really can't go wrong with Biz Markie. They were on the Cold Chillin' tour [when this was taken]. There was him, MC Shan, Marley Marl and Big Daddy Kane. The record company was just off that lane in Kensington and they said I had 20-30 minutes to photograph all of them - and they wanted all of them individually. I yanked out Biz first of all and he immediately started hamming it up. He climbed on top of a parked BMW and was bouncing on the bonnet. We didn't know whose car it was. I thought, "We're gonna get arrested here". But right away, he was sticking his tongue out, his face right in the camera, really mugging. He had those rope chains on that he was sort of strangling himself with. They looked really bulky and I said, "Can I feel, one of those?" He took the big one off, handed it to me and it was as light as a feather. It was hollow. It was sort of stage jewellery. Not solid gold, by any means. He was just one of those people: You didn't have to say much. Every time you took a picture, he was doing something different. he was a clown but knew what he was doing. he was easy to get on with. There's an innocence to it and that's probably due to the fact that in the late 1980s, there was less control by record companies and management. It was just me and him. There was no stylist or hair and make-up and I never worked with an assistant, so it was easier. A lot of people, when you photograph them, you can feel their concentration levels waning after a few minutes, so its good to shoot quickly and get something. I mainly shot in black and white and I regretted not having shot in more in colour but it goes with the grittiness of that type of music. There is a timeless quality to it. David Corio Salt-N-Pepa, Manhattan, 1986 I got commissioned by a teen magazine to shoot this unknown band and I was living on Avenue B on 8th Street so I said [to the band], "Just come around and ring my bell and we'll take some pictures on the street". It was a hot summer day in New York, so we just went and walked around Alphabet City, which was a little run down and it was great. The girls seemed really like best friends, very giggly and having fun. I said: "Do you want to stop at the deli and get something to drink?" They were laughing and having a good time and this little neighbourhood girl walked by. It was before social media, so people weren't used to posing. There was no such thing as a selfie. Fortunately, they were very natural. They would start dancing when a car passed by that was playing music and I'd take a picture. I love this picture because it's got this feeling of New York back in the day. They've got their gold ropes and the Salt-N-Pepa earrings. After the shoot, they said, "We have a record coming out, would you like to shoot the cover?" So I ended up doing that one and their second and the famous picture with their eight-ball jackets (below). It's amazing because they're still doing really well. These girls changed the game because, before them, it was pretty much all guys rapping and they were the first girls to talk about boys, in that song Let's Talk About Sex, and that became really important. Janette Beckman Breakdancer from the Rock Steady Crew, The Venue, London, 1982 This was in Victoria, just opposite the railway station. It was an old theatre. I went to loads of shows here and everyone performed at their best. This was like the second hip hop show in the UK - Grandmaster Flash had played here a few months before and this was a whole revue with breakdancers and Double Dutch skippers. Afrika Bambaataa, and Fab Five Freddy did this graffiti piece as the show went on. You were immersed in hip hop culture in one fell swoop and also Janette was there (bottom right, to left of standing dancer's knee) which I only realised recently. It was the first time people in England had witnessed breakdancing and some of them were spinning on their backs and heads and, if I remember, this guy spun on his head and almost levitated and was just hanging there. I love the expression on all the people, like no-one has ever seen anything like this. It was a real revelation. When Bambaataa came on stage, there were no musicians, there's a guy with a couple of record decks. It was so different to what people had experienced. Look at what people are wearing: It was very non-hip hop, woolly jumpers. But that changed pretty quick. It was an awakening for people, me included, that it was about more than guys in leather outfits, rapping away on a mic. There was more to it. EPMD, Babylon, Long Island, 1988 I was working for a small label called Sleeping Bag. I used to do a lot of covers for them and this was the third EPMD one I'd done. They told me to meet the guys in Long Island somewhere and it turned out to be on the east side, right near the water. We were supposed to meet at noon and we arrived at 11.30. We wanted to use the Dead End sign with the water behind. It was in the fall [autumn] and there was less light. We were waiting for them and waiting for them and they didn't turn up. It was before cell phones and pagers and we were getting really worried. I drove with my assistant to find a phone box and called their manager and he said, "Oh yeah, I think they're getting the rims on their cars polished up in the Bronx". That was like a two-hour drive in traffic. Just about half an hour before the sun set, we hear the roar of these motors. They got out of the car and sat on the hoods and I said, "What are they wearing?" because I'd never seen this fashion and, in a way, it sort of looked like ladies' pyjamas. I was like, "Wow, this is cool but different". This became an iconic cover in culture, especially due to those gold rims - they're very special, apparently, for car people. I maybe shot five rolls of film - it was the days before digital - and the sun went down. We got the shot, and they said thanks and left, and that was it. Janette Beckman Roxanne Shante, London, 1989 I arranged to meet her in the hotel she was staying in, in central London. She was really cool and professional and stylish but when I met her, she was sat down and she wanted to do the pictures there. I hadn't seen her hair from behind, she seemed really young, I think she was about 18 or 19 but she was really street smart. She had this big badge on her jacket of a little boy and I said something like, "Oh that's sweet," and she said, "That's my son". She'd had a kid when she was 15. We finished the shoot and she got up to go and turned about and I was like, "Wow, I didn't see your hair slide," and the earrings were double on each ear, like two huge bits of bling, and just seeing it summed her up as much as doing one of her face, so that was the final frame. Quite often taking pictures, it will be the first one you take or that last one that will be the money shot, I don't know why but that was definitely one of those. Sometimes it's just luck. It's great seeing all of the pictures hanging with other people's because this era between '82 and '93 was this golden age, in that there was an innocence and, as the decade moved on, it became more business-oriented in a way. It sums up a very important time in music and in style and fashion. Punk had finished and there was a lot of indie pop, but not everyone wanted to listen to jangly guitars and depressed guys in raincoats and this was so fresh. David Corio Beat Positive is open at the Getty Images Gallery until 4 August. All images courtesy of the photographers and Getty Images. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

लंदन के फोटोग्राफर जेनेट बेकमैन और डेविड कोरियो पहली बार 1982 में हिप हॉप से मिले, जब वे न्यूयॉर्क में एन. एम. ई., मेलोडी मेकर और द फेस सहित संगीत प्रकाशनों के लिए असाइनमेंट पर थे।


Man and company charged over farm wall collapse deaths

Summary: A company and a 60-year-old man have been charged in connection with the death of two men who were working at a site near Falkirk.

Peter Walker, 53, from Blackburn, West Lothian, and Paul Henderson, 48, from Grangemouth, died when a wall at Myrehead Farm in Whitecross collapsed. The charges follow a joint investigation by Police Scotland and the Health and Safety Executive. Two other men were seriously injured in the incident in May 2019.

फाल्किर्क के पास एक स्थल पर काम कर रहे दो लोगों की मौत के मामले में एक कंपनी और एक 60 वर्षीय व्यक्ति पर आरोप लगाया गया है।


GP practices 'need obesity specialists'

Summary: Britons are increasingly affected by obesity-related problems, yet GPs and their colleagues in primary care struggle to offer effective solutions, says obesity expert Professor Tony Leeds. In this week's Scrubbing Up, he calls for an army of "obesity GPs, nurses and dietitians" - a team in every surgery - whose job it would be to tackle the epidemic.

By Professor Tony Leeds,Obesity specialist, Central Middlesex Hospital The impact of Britain's obesity epidemic continues to increase, and so does the cost, both human and financial. Obesity now costs the NHS around £4.2bn annually, and the wider economy a frightening £16bn. Britain must face the facts - while prevention is vital, we don't have the luxury of anticipating some future dilemma. It is here, and now; the immediate challenge is to help those whose health is already directly threatened. 'It's not their fault' I see the full spectrum of this tragedy in my work in obesity clinics in the Central Middlesex and Whittington hospitals. I have patients who are several stones overweight and blighted by diabetes, and those who are up to 60 stone (381kg), awaiting surgery. Yet if real help was more available in primary care, fewer would reach me and my colleagues in specialist hospital centres in the first place. Britain's front-line obesity management could be done in primary care if adequate resources were provided, yet with a few exceptions health care professionals recognise they are not skilled in managing obesity. It's not their fault - most practice nurses and GPs have simply never been equipped with the specialist skills and knowledge for today's needs. A recent report from the Royal College of Physicians spelled out the skills and knowledge needed by health care professionals for obesity management, and we must now convert theory into practice. This training about obesity management is largely missing from most GP training schemes. In short, GPs are well equipped to treat the consequences of obesity with drugs but not the core problem - the weight gain itself. Where is the will? So if a patient asks for help with their weight problem, most GPs have little to offer beyond conventional diet for the person who needs to shed 10-15lbs (4.5-6.8kg), or referral for surgery if there is a need to shed, say, more than five stone (31kg). For the 13m Britons in the middle - who need to lose between 15lbs and five stones - most GPs are hard pressed to help them. I would like to see all doctors, nurses and pharmacists trained in obesity management as part of their basic education. We also need each general practice to have a fully funded "obesity team" where a designated GP becomes the "lead" in day-to-day weight management. There should also be a fully integrated national scheme providing surgery for those who need it - but adequate support for those who are not eligible. And patients should be pointed towards appropriate diet plans, even if they're from the commercial sector. The will from the professions is there. Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners has said GPs would welcome a structured approach to this huge burden, but it would have to be adequately funded and resourced. And the Royal College of Nursing is willing to develop and implement training programmes. What we need is the political will, starting with a full health economics analysis of the costs and benefits of effective weight management in diabetes and other conditions where obesity is a significant factor. I believe this alone would produce conclusive - and possibly breathtaking - results. We must also have clinical trials to produce a range of evidence-based primary care solutions which are proven to be cost-effective. Obesity is a global problem and few countries have found really effective solutions. Who, now, will take the lead on this for Britain?

मोटापा विशेषज्ञ प्रोफेसर टोनी लीड्स कहते हैं कि ब्रिटेन के लोग मोटापे से संबंधित समस्याओं से तेजी से प्रभावित हो रहे हैं, फिर भी जी. पी. और प्राथमिक देखभाल में उनके सहयोगी प्रभावी समाधान देने के लिए संघर्ष करते हैं। इस सप्ताह के स्क्रबिंग अप में, उन्होंने "मोटापे के जी. पी., नर्सों और आहार विशेषज्ञों" की एक सेना का आह्वान किया है-हर सर्जरी में एक टीम-जिसका काम महामारी से निपटना होगा।


NHS Covid-19 app: Why are some teachers being told not to use it?

Summary: Two weeks in, the NHS Covid-19 app for England and Wales seems to have got off to a good start, with more than 16 million downloads so far - but a range of employers are actively discouraging their staff from using it.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter Earlier this week, both the pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline and a Hull-based fuel supplier told staff the app should be switched off at work - both said it was unnecessary in their "Covid-secure" workplaces. And now, there are numerous reports teachers are being told they should not use the app in school. I have received a message from a teacher in north-west England who wants to remain anonymous. Triggered alerts This person downloaded the app on the day it was released and then, last Monday, tested positive for coronavirus. As the test had been booked through the app, it then triggered alerts telling three colleagues at the school to go into isolation. But then, according to the teacher, the secondary school's business manager told the three people involved to ignore the messages and delete the app if they felt they had not been within 2m (6ft) for at least 15 minutes. One of the teachers ignored that advice, went into isolation and had a test. But when that proved negative, they returned to work - which is contrary to the government advice to complete your period of isolation even if you have a negative test. My anonymous contact told me: "Too many schools want to keep staff in, even if it means breaking the law. "I am in a school with about 75-80% black African heritage intake, so our demographic is at very high risk." 'Ignore messages' We have also heard of a school in Eastbourne, in Sussex, telling teachers not to use the app "in school time". One head teacher told his colleagues there was a danger a staff member could receive an alert relating to their external activities, which would then trigger more alerts affecting the school. East Sussex County Council said it had not issued any guidance on the matter, but suggested the school might have based its policy on an interpretation of a national guidance document. And more cases keep coming in. A teacher in the Midlands messaged me to say it had been suggested he and his colleagues "delete the app and ignore messages so [as] not to interfere [or] risk A-level resits". One teacher, however, had a different story. "Our headmaster has advised staff and pupils over 16 to use the app," he said. "This is what persuaded me to use it. "Our head has been amazing. "I feel looked after, like he cares about the staff as well as the kids." A Department of Health official said: "We want as many people to download and use the app as possible. "It is important to use the NHS Covid-19 app at all times unless in specific scenarios which are set out in our guidance." That guidance says contact tracing should be turned off at work when: But while some teachers may be locking their phones away some of the time, these exemptions do not appear to justify a blanket ban on using the app in schools – or indeed at GlaxoSmithKline's labs and factories. Part of the issue seems to be a lack of understanding of how the app works. It is only if a member of staff tests positive and the app determines they have had close contact with another app user for a significant period that alerts will be sent telling those people to isolate. So employers need to ask themselves if a member of staff tests positive, why would you not want colleagues at risk of spreading the infection alerted as swiftly as possible?

दो सप्ताह बाद, इंग्लैंड और वेल्स के लिए एन. एच. एस. कोविड-19 ऐप ने एक अच्छी शुरुआत की है, अब तक 16 मिलियन से अधिक डाउनलोड के साथ-लेकिन नियोक्ताओं की एक श्रृंखला सक्रिय रूप से अपने कर्मचारियों को इसका उपयोग करने से हतोत्साहित कर रही है।


Lorry driver in fatal A9 crash named as William Cormack

Summary: The driver of an HGV that crashed on the A9 near the Berriedale Braes in Caithness late last Thursday night has been named by police.

William Cormack, who was also known as Bruce, was 41 and from Durran near Thurso. The crash happened at about 23:18 and closed the road for several hours. The accident delayed the delivery of Scottish independence referendum vote ballot boxes from the far north to a count in Dingwall. Some ballot boxes from polling places in the far north were taken to Dingwall by a long diversion via Melvich. Related Internet Links Police Scotland

गुरुवार देर रात कैथनेस में बेरीडेल ब्रेज़ के पास ए9 पर दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हुए एचजीवी के चालक का नाम पुलिस ने लिया है।


Neutrino 'flavour' flip confirmed

Summary: An important new discovery has been made in Japan about neutrinos.

By Jonathan AmosScience correspondent, BBC News These are the ghostly particles that flood the cosmos but which are extremely hard to detect and study. Experiments have now established that one particular type, known as the muon "flavour", can flip to the electron type during flight. The observation is noteworthy because it allows for the possibility that neutrinos and their anti-particle versions might behave differently. If that is the case, it could be an explanation for why there is so much more matter than antimatter in the Universe. Theorists say the counterparts would have been created in equal amounts at the Big Bang, and should have annihilated each other unless there was some significant element of asymmetry in play. "The fact that we have matter in the Universe means there have to be laws of physics that aren't in our Standard Model, and neutrinos are one place they might be," Prof Dave Wark, of the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and Oxford University, told BBC News. The confirmation that muon flavour neutrinos can flip, or oscillate, to the electron variety comes from T2K, an international collaboration involving some 500 scientists. The team works on a huge experimental set-up that is split across two sites separated by almost 300km. At one end is the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Centre (J-Parc) located on the country's east coast. It generates a beam of muon neutrinos that it fires under the ground towards the Super-Kamiokande facility on the west coast. The Super-K, as it is sometimes called, is a tank of 50,000 tonnes of ultra-pure water surrounded by sensitive optical detectors. These photomultiplier tubes pick up the very rare, very faint flashes of light emitted when passing neutrinos interact with the water. In experiments in early 2011, the team saw an excess of electron neutrinos turning up at Super-K, suggesting the muon types had indeed changed flavour en route. But just as the collaboration was about to verify its findings, the Great Tohoku Earthquake damaged key pieces of equipment and took T2K offline. Months of repairs followed before the project was able then to gather more statistics and show the muon-electron oscillation to be a formal discovery. Details are being reported on Friday at the European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics in Stockholm, Sweden. "Up until now the oscillations have always been measured by watching the types disappear and then deducing that they had turned into another type. But in this instance, we observe muon neutrinos disappearing and we observe electron neutrinos arriving - and that's a first," said Prof Alfons Weber, another British collaborator on T2K from the STFC and Oxford. Neutrino oscillations are governed by a matrix of three angles that can be thought of as the three axes of rotation in an aeroplane - roll, pitch and yaw. Other research has already shown two of the matrix angles to have non-zero values. T2K's work confirms that the third angle - referred to as theta-one-three - also has to have a non-zero value. This is critical because it allows for the oscillations of normal neutrinos and their anti-particles, anti-neutrinos, to be different - that they can have enough degrees of freedom to display an asymmetrical behaviour called charge parity (CP) violation. CP-violation has already been observed in quarks, the elementary building blocks of the protons and neutrons that make up atoms, but it is a very small effect - too small to have driven the preference for matter over anti-matter after the Big Bang. However, if neutrinos can also display the asymmetry - and especially if it was evident in the very massive neutrinos thought to have existed in the early Universe - this might help explain the matter-antimatter conundrum. The scientists must now go and look for it. It is likely, though, that much more powerful neutrino laboratories than even T2K will be needed to investigate the issue. "We have the idea for a Hyper-Kamiokande which will require an upgrade of the accelerator complex," Prof Weber told BBC News. "And in America there's something called the LBNE, which again would have bigger detectors, more sensitive detectors and more intense beams, as well as a longer baseline to allow the neutrinos to travel further." Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

जापान में न्यूट्रिनो के बारे में एक महत्वपूर्ण नई खोज की गई है।


Boy, 17, charged over Jamie Brown Halifax stab death

Summary: A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a teenager was stabbed to death in Halifax.

Jamie Brown, also 17, died after he was attacked on East Park Road, in the Ovenden area of the town, on 27 October. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is due before Bradford magistrates on Monday. Five other people who were arrested in connection with the incident remained on bail, West Yorkshire Police said.

हैलिफ़ैक्स में एक किशोर की चाकू मारकर हत्या करने के बाद एक 17 वर्षीय लड़के पर हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया है।


DUP councillor facing sexual assault charge

Summary: A DUP councillor has been suspended "pending the outcome of a court case," the party has confirmed.

It is understood that Ian Stevenson, from Ballymoney in County Antrim is facing a charge of sexual assault. A DUP Spokesman said "Cllr Stevenson's membership has been suspended pending the outcome of a court case".

पार्टी ने पुष्टि की है कि एक डीयूपी पार्षद को "अदालती मामले का परिणाम आने तक" निलंबित कर दिया गया है।


HMP Hewell prisoner 'freed by mistake'

Summary: A prisoner was freed in error because he had the same surname as a convict due for release, it has emerged.

Anthony Douglas was released from HMP Hewell, near Redditch, on Wednesday instead of another offender who had completed his sentence. Douglas, in his 20s and originally from Burton upon Trent, was arrested on Thursday after police were notified of the mistake. He is now back in jail. The Prison Service said it had started an investigation. "We take public protection extremely seriously and this type of incident is a very rare but regrettable occurrence," a spokesperson said. The Ministry of Justice refused to confirm how long Douglas had left to serve on his sentence, or the details of his conviction.

यह सामने आया है कि एक कैदी को गलती से रिहा कर दिया गया था क्योंकि उसका उपनाम एक दोषी के समान था जिसे रिहा किया जाना था।


Play stations: Railway stops worth lingering at

Summary: The golden age of rail travel appears to be well and truly over, and stations lack the glamour formerly associated with letting the train take the strain. Often unmanned and usually unloved, they are places to hurry through.

By Bethan BellBBC News Commuters on the daily grind tend to be grimly determined when leaving a train. Heads down, elbows out, it's a fight to get to the exit. The only reason to pause is to grab a cardboard cup of something caffeinated before stalking out into the ice-spiked drizzle of a dark winter's morning. But what if your station wasn't full of faceless coffee chains and people pushing? What if there was a station garden filled with fragrant shrubs, or an art gallery, or a top-notch local restaurant? Here are some everyday railway stations with added extras you may wish to linger at - or even arrive early for. Leaves on the line Todmorden railway station in West Yorkshire is a great place for the culinary commuter. The westbound platform is lined with herb planters from which travellers are urged to help themselves, while raised beds in the car park provide leafy greens - all free of charge. The Prince of Wales is a fan - he described the town's "incredible edible" project as "inspiring". There is also a gallery in the former parcels office, which can be hired by anyone wishing to display artwork. Off the beaten track Prince Charles, clearly a fan of railway stations, also rocked up at Kemble in Gloucestershire in 2013 to open a garden accessible from the platform. The once-derelict area has a sundial, is planted with attractive and fragrant shrubs, and seats are available for people wanting a peaceful hiatus between catching trains. The prince admired a dry stone wall and accepted congratulations on recently becoming a grandfather, as well as cards and gifts for the newly-born Prince George. The end of the loin Melton, on the line between Ipswich and Lowestoft, is one of the few railway stations with a butcher on site. The station itself opened in 1859, was closed in 1955, and reopened in 1984 following a local campaign. Although there is a rail service, the station is unmanned - so there was a nice butcher-shaped space available for the purveyors of pork. During the winter the Five Winds Farm shop specialises in local game, and the team have been national finalists in the awards known as "the Oscars of bacon". Whistle-stop cafe As well as being an attractive station, complete with hanging baskets overflowing with flowers, Wymondham in Norfolk offers travellers the chance to step back in time and dine in the 19th Century building that houses the station bistro. No curling sandwiches here - the restored cafe, furnished with seats taken from first-class railway carriages of yesteryear, provides homemade meals and snacks and even a three-course Christmas menu.. Pronounced Windum, the station is on the main Norwich to Cambridge line. Art a-track Artwork has been installed on the previously-bare walls of Walkden railway station, located on the Manchester to Southport line. Ten laser-cut steel panels line the stairs to the platform, celebrating the history of the station as well as representing aspirations for the future. Designed by artist Mark Mennell and students from Salford City College, the circular works are based around the theme of travel. Letting off steam Frimley railway station in Surrey is the location of of Little Street play centre, a series of themed rooms and props for children to let their imaginations run wild. Ride-on vehicles include a police car and fire engine, and there's a pretend air ambulance helicopter where children can pretend to be a pilot or a medic. Big kids might enjoy the nearby miniature steam railway.

रेल यात्रा का स्वर्ण युग अच्छी तरह से और सही मायने में समाप्त होता दिख रहा है, और स्टेशनों में उस ग्लैमर की कमी है जो पहले ट्रेन को तनाव लेने से जुड़ा था। अक्सर मानव रहित और आमतौर पर पसंद नहीं किए जाने वाले, वे जल्दबाजी करने की जगहें हैं।


Can we be persuaded to pay for online news?

Summary: Got any idea of how to make money from news in the online era? Well prepare for the media giants to beat a path to your door, as they struggle with plunging print advertising revenues and an audience that seems to think news should be free.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter No wonder then that a young former technology journalist Alexander Kloepping is attracting attention - and investment - from the likes of the New York Times and the Axel Springer group. His idea is called Blendle, and in his native Holland it has brought hope of better times for newspapers, in much the same way as Spotify has shaken up the music industry. Blendle allows the Dutch papers - which have all signed up to the service - to charge small payments for individual articles. Blendle subscribers are presented with a series of cards on their home screen, showing the first paragraphs of articles which may interest them. If they click to read on they are charged somewhere between 20 cents (14p) and 90 cents (63p), although if they get to the end and decide they are unsatisfied they can get a refund. Of half a million people who signed up to Blendle, about 100,000 have actually opted to pay for articles. Kloepping says that is a good start and compares it to the 20% of Spotify users who pay rather than opt to listen to adverts. On this week's Tech Tent he explains that readers are generally choosing to pay for opinion and background pieces rather than hard news. I was surprised that they would pay as much as 90 cents. "It's not about the price," he says. "It's about the ease of use. When you know it's one click away and you can get your money back, then users are really comfortable spending small amounts on articles that are really relevant to them." He is now hoping to bring the Blendle recipe to other countries, notably the United States. But he could find readers far more reluctant to spend money on articles than Dutch customers have been. Newspapers in the Netherlands had been very conservative in putting much of their longform journalism online, which in retrospect seems to have been a wise strategy. Readers have not had access to that content without buying a paper, so paying to get it online is not such a hard choice. But in other countries, newspaper groups rushed to put everything online for free, before staging a partial retreat and in some cases erecting paywalls. While specialist titles like the Financial Times have made them work, others have found that their readers are reluctant to pay. In the UK the Sun newspaper has just abandoned a two-year experiment with a paywall. Alexander Kloepping admits that getting cash out of readers is hard, but says media groups have not given up on the idea: "All over the world, publishers are shifting to models on the web where they expect users to pay, but they see it's not working for them." His solution is a model which does not tie readers into a subscription to one newspaper but offers them a menu from which they can snack at will. The other route, which sees online journalism supported by advertising, is certainly looking ever less attractive. This week the most successful exponent of the art of pulling in huge online crowds and serving them adverts, the Daily Mail group, unveiled its latest figures. They showed an impressive 24% rise in online audience to 208 million, and an 18% rise in online ad revenues. But that was not enough to offset plunging print revenues, and with advertisers paying less for every click, the old saw that analogue dollars are being replaced by digital cents looks truer than ever. But there is one other route to online profits which more and more news sites are now heading down. It is called branded content and is what we used to call advertorial. It involves creating readable and watchable material for corporate customers which does not look like traditional advertising - and it has proved very lucrative for the likes of Buzzfeed. All sorts of media companies are now trying this out, from the New York Times to the podcast maker Gimlet Media. But it brings with it all sorts of ethical dilemmas. A recent edition of Gimlet's Startup podcast - which documents its own journey as a new tech business - featured agonised discussions about branded content. During an episode called "Words about Words from Our Sponsors" Gimlet staff try to work out how far they should go in allowing their brand as a journalistic product to be associated with the companies for which they make branded podcasts. Such debates are going on in all news organisations right now. Turning good journalism into a profitable business has never been easy, but in the digital era it is proving to be more complicated than ever. Rory Cellan-Jones presentsTech Tent on BBC World Service at 15:06 GMT on Friday 27 November - listen afterwards on BBC iPlayer Radio

ऑनलाइन युग में समाचारों से पैसा कमाने के बारे में कोई विचार मिला? मीडिया दिग्गजों के लिए तैयार रहें कि वे आपके दरवाजे तक पहुंचने के लिए एक रास्ता तय करें, क्योंकि वे प्रिंट विज्ञापन राजस्व में गिरावट और एक ऐसे दर्शक के साथ संघर्ष करते हैं जो सोचते हैं कि समाचार स्वतंत्र होने चाहिए।


Five critical steps involved in putting a lander on a comet

Summary: How do you land on a comet? This isn't some fantasy from science fiction but the reality facing the people running Esa's Rosetta mission after the successful rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

David ShukmanScience editor Tuesday 11 November has already been pencilled in as the day that the Philae lander will touch down on the mysterious icy body. If it slips too far beyond that, the comet's orbit will take it closer to the Sun, which means the surface will heat up and maybe become too active for the fragile craft. So the pressure is now on to come up with a plan. On Wednesday, the head of landing site selection, Stephan Ulamec, gave a briefing on his latest thinking and I also discussed the challenges with Esa science adviser Mark McCaughrean. Here are their five key steps to the safest possible touchdown: First: Pick the easiest possible target The Rosetta mission was meant to target a relatively small and smooth comet known as 46P/Wirtanen. But a delay in the launch because of problems with the Ariane 5 rocket forced it to be reassigned to the comet it is alongside now, 67P, which is a very different and far more challenging beast. So, all the calculations for landing need to be adjusted for the comet's greater size, mass and gravitational pull. And the object's newly discovered shape, with strange bumps and twists, cliffs and ridges, makes those calculations even harder. Second: Hunt for the least risky landing site, if you can find one The Philae lander will need an area that receives just the right amount of sunlight. Its solar panels will require sunshine to recharge the batteries but if it lands in an area with constant daylight, the little spacecraft will simply overheat. The most jagged terrain will have to be avoided, obviously. And the first close-up shots that reached us yesterday do show some smoother zones. But they also reveal a worryingly large number of boulders the size of houses. And while the smoother zones may at first sight seem more appealing, they could also be softer, possibly with a thick layer of dust, so the lander might sink. The choice of landing site is slated to come as early as mid September - to give the flight management team time to plan the manoeuvres and to upload the commands. Third: Plan the release of the lander from Rosetta so that it's not too fast and not too slow When the moment comes, a system of screws will push Philae away from the mother ship and send it drifting down to the surface. If the screws fail, a spring mechanism will fling the lander away. Speed is everything. The wrong velocity could send the little craft flying off into deep space or plunging too rapidly to the surface. This will not be a powered descent with rockets, or even a steered one. Philae is far too distant for any kind of joystick control from back on Earth. So the plan is to aim for an area, give it a push and hope for the best. The descent itself will take between 8-12 hours. And in the space of 12 hours, comet 67P will do a complete rotation. So the landing zone may well be on the far side of the comet when the release happens. And every second of the descent requires power - with batteries that will have only 72 hours of charge. So a 12-hour descent will use up energy that could otherwise be used for science after touchdown, while a shorter descent that would use less power may lead to a landing that is too hurried and therefore too bumpy. Fourth: Choose an area the mission scientists can agree on Some researchers will want to land near one of the jets of gas and dust that blast out of the comet's surface. That material is fresh from the interior and utterly pure, so in scientific terms it would provide a fascinating insight into the chemistry inside the comet. However, those jets are likely to be fast and, although not very dense, no one knows how hazardous they may be. It is hard to imagine Philae coping with a jet right underneath it. Other scientists will prefer an area known to have more complex molecules, where amino acids may be found. Fifth: Run as many simulations as possible The German space agency has rehearsed different conditions for the lander ranging from concrete to sand. It has also used a system that mimics minimal gravity. Every eventuality is being planned for. But… What if the surface is the consistency of freshly fallen snow or even cigarette ash, as Stephan Ulamec put it on Wednesday? The landing system was designed for the hard surface of the smaller comet originally planned as the destination. By contrast, 67P may be covered in more treacherous material - a kind of cosmic quicksand. Ice screws on each of the lander's three feet, plus two harpoons, ought to provide some means of securing the craft to a surface with very little gravity - but not if that surface is too fluffy. It may well be that no amount of orbital scanning can precisely identify the surface. In other words, the only moment we'll know if it is safe to land is when the lander actually touches down and survives. Or dies. Does Wednesday's success in starting to orbit the comet make a landing more or less likely? Opinions are divided. On the one hand, Rosetta is now on track to be able to launch Philae. On the other, those close-up pictures show a destination that could not be more hostile. The moment of truth will come in November.

आप एक धूमकेतु पर कैसे उतरते हैं? यह विज्ञान कथा से कुछ कल्पना नहीं है, बल्कि धूमकेतु 67पी/चुर्युमोव-गेरासिमेंको के साथ सफल मुलाकात के बाद ईसा के रोसेटा मिशन को चलाने वाले लोगों के सामने वास्तविकता है।


India activist arrests: Is this a political witch hunt?

Summary: Born in Massachusetts, Sudha Bharadwaj gave up her American passport after her parents returned to India. She would eventually become a committed activist and trade unionist steadfastly fighting for the rights of the dispossessed in the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh, where some of India's poorest and most exploited live.

Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent As a professor of law at a leading university, the 56-year-old taught about tribal and land rights and endeared herself to students. But it was her three-decade-long work among the poor in Chhattisgarh that made her a shining beacon of hope for many in the fight for justice. "It's ok that I will make some enemies in the process," she told a journalist in 2015. "But the struggle will go on." One of the enemies she appears to have made is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On Tuesday, she and four other activists and lawyers were arrested from different cities for what the police say is their role in an incident of caste-based violence and their alleged links with Maoists, who, according to a former prime minister, pose India's "greatest internal security challenge". Tuesday's raids saw a group of activists and intellectuals arrested. Seventy-eight-year-old Varavara Rao is a highly regarded writer, communist and a sympathiser of India's Maoists, who say they are fighting for communist rule and greater rights for tribal people and the rural poor. Gautam Navlakha is a civil liberties activist who was a member of the editorial board of a renowned academic journal. Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves are Mumbai-based activists. In March, they jointly wrote an article for news website, The Wire, denouncing a controversial Indian law which, they said, "introduces a vague definition of terrorism to encompass a wide range of non-violent political activity, including political protest". Police say the activists incited Dalits (formerly untouchables) at a large public rally in Maharashtra last December, leading to violent clashes that left one person dead. "You know Maoist activities…the intellectual push that translates into violence," senior police official Shivaji Bodakhe, told my colleague Vineet Khare. There has been nationwide outrage against the arrests. This is absolutely chilling," tweeted historian Ramachandra Guha. "The Supreme Court must intervene to stop this persecution and harassment of independent voices". The arrests were "McCarthyism taken to another level," tweeted Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Print, referring to Senator Joseph McCarthy's reign of terror in the United States in which he exploited the public's fear of Communism . "You can't call people you disagree with terrorists and lock them up." Others said the crackdown was reminiscent of the Emergency in 1975, when then prime minister Indira Gandhi suspended civil liberties, threw opposition leaders and journalists in prison and gagged the media. Although many of its ancient texts encourage inquiry, doubt and challenge, India has a chequered history of dissent. Successive governments have often easily caved in to demands from fringe groups: India was the first to ban Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, which many Muslims regard as blasphemous. International publishers have been forced to recall and destroy books written by scholars following pressure from little-known right-wing Hindu groups. One of the country's best-known artists, MF Husain, was hounded out of the country after he was accused of obscenity by hard-line Hindu groups. Antiquated colonial laws remain on the books and continue to undermine free speech. For decades, governments have used a colonial-era sedition law against students, journalists, intellectuals, social activists, and those critical of the government. The Indian state, which often appears to be feeble or unwilling to impose the rule of law, can be selectively harsh on dissenters. What is different this time, many say, is a concerted campaign by the government to target dissenters. Mr Modi himself and his party have been accused of using dog-whistle politics - coded, divisive messages - to whip up religious tension and stoke sectarian politics. In a culture of what many believe is a growing politics of hate, "whataboutery" and finger pointing, people critical of Mr Modi's government and party have often been branded as "urban Maoists", or anti-national, much like US President Donald Trump continues to label reporters "enemies of the people". The upshot is a rising lynch-mob mentality that has begun to pervade many aspects of life. On bloodthirsty prime time shows on government-friendly news channels, all propriety and decorum is thrown to the winds as selected guests are targeted and shouted down by anchors and guests who support them. Since Mr Modi stormed to power in 2014, vigilante cow protection groups have lynched more than 20 people, the majority of them Muslims, for transporting beef. In homes and streets, people speak of what many say is an imagined threat to the future of Hinduism - it's a strangely majoritarian nationalism based on past glory and present victimhood. Large parts of the mainstream media, heavily dependant on government advertising in a sluggish economy, prefer to remain silent. All this has corroded Indian democracy. Many believe the quiescence of the middle class, the silence of the media, the failure of the political parties to support dissent and now a growing muscular nationalism is to to blame for the state of affairs. "The silencing of dissent, and the generating of fear in the minds of people violate the demands of personal liberty, but it also make it very much harder to have a dialogue-based society," Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, remarked at a lecture last year. Indians have not turned intolerant, he said. In fact, "we have been too tolerant even of intolerance". India, clearly, needs more dissent, not less.

मैसाचुसेट्स में जन्मी सुधा भारद्वाज ने अपने माता-पिता के भारत लौटने के बाद अपना अमेरिकी पासपोर्ट छोड़ दिया। वह अंततः एक प्रतिबद्ध कार्यकर्ता और ट्रेड यूनियनवादी बन गईं जो खनिज समृद्ध राज्य छत्तीसगढ़ में बेदखल लोगों के अधिकारों के लिए दृढ़ता से लड़ रही थीं, जहां भारत के कुछ सबसे गरीब और सबसे अधिक शोषित लोग रहते हैं।


Police probe Tata Steel 'critical' injury incident

Summary: A joint police and health and safety investigation is continuing into an incident at the Tata Steelworks in Port Talbot where a man was badly injured.

The man, who is believed to have become trapped, was airlifted to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where his condition remains critical. Tata said steel production was continuing but "everyone in the works is thinking about their colleague". A spokesman said: "We are working with the Health and Safety Executive." No more details of the incident have been given but South Wales Police describe it as "serious". The ambulance service said it was called to the plant at 16:50 BST. The Tata spokesman added: "I can confirm there was an incident which affected one individual. He was airlifted to hospital to receive treatment. "An investigation is taking place. The incident happened on the Port Talbot steelworks site."

पोर्ट टैलबोट में टाटा स्टीलवर्क्स में हुई एक घटना में एक संयुक्त पुलिस और स्वास्थ्य और सुरक्षा जांच जारी है, जिसमें एक व्यक्ति बुरी तरह से घायल हो गया था।