Oman's new sultan faces mammoth challenges

Summary: The announcement of the death of Oman's Sultan Qaboos earlier this month was followed by a chorus of praise for the achievements of the "father of the nation" - often tainted with a disturbingly Orientalist flavour - that overlooked the fact his grace period had long since come to an end.

By Marc ValeriUniversity of Exeter Many Omanis consider that the late sultan, who had been increasingly isolated and reclusive and who had refused to lay the foundations for governance of a post-Qaboos Oman by appointing a prime minister or by nurturing a successor, had become more of a problem than a solution. Like his counterparts in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), he had made clear after the "Omani Spring" in 2011 - when thousands of people took to the streets to demand more jobs, better wages and an end to corruption - that the centre of political power, combining both executive and legislative powers, should remain his personal prerogative, closed off from any debate. The regime perpetuated what a United Nations special rapporteur called in 2014 a "pervasive culture of silence and fear affecting anyone who wants to speak and work for reforms in Oman". Investments in the security sector were a priority, consolidating Oman's top position in the world for defence and security spending as a proportion of its gross domestic product (GDP). Thus, tremendous challenges await the new sultan, Haitham bin Tariq, as a result of the stasis that characterised the last two decades of Qaboos' rule. Born in 1955, the son of Qaboos' paternal uncle, Haitham served as undersecretary, then secretary-general, in the ministry of foreign affairs, before becoming minister of national heritage and culture in 2002. Haitham, whose oldest son Dhi Yazin is second secretary at the Omani embassy in London, was the UK and Abu Dhabi's preferred choice as sultan. He enjoys support among Oman's intelligence services and the most influential governmental body, the Palace Office. He also benefits from proximity with local merchant elite, through personal and business connections he has established with a number of them. Haitham was among the first Omani royals to set himself as a businessman. In the 1990s, he became shareholder of Sun Farms agricultural company, a major land owner and top vegetables producer in Oman. He has substantially increased his involvement in business ventures since then, through a holding company (NTC) he holds and chairs. In particular, the group partly controls Oman's largest power company, SMN Power, a joint-venture with Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala, which is chaired by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and French energy company Engie's UAE-based affiliate. Haitham also shared stakes in the Blue City project, a mega tourism-devoted new city south of Suhar. However, mismanagement and legal battles between the owners resulted in Oman's most resounding bankruptcy ever and the intervention of the state's sovereign wealth fund in 2011-12 to buy Blue City bonds. A few hours after the announcement of the old sultan's passing came the heavily choreographed ceremony of the opening of the sealed letter, in which Qaboos is supposed to have named Haitham as his successor. This was critical to ensure that the new leader, who enjoys limited legitimacy among the broader population, benefited from the authority bestowed upon him by Qaboos. This staged investiture, followed by pledges of allegiance by other political elites, does not say anything, though, about potential dissension within the royal family and external interference in the succession choice. Only history will reveal, but the composition of Haitham's first cabinet will give indications about his strategy of family control and, more generally, of elite management. Haitham's other main challenge is to oversee Oman's transition from over-reliance on oil revenues to a diversified economy. The Omani population is one of the youngest in the world: 46% of its citizens are under 19. Policies favouring Omanis in employment for the last 20 years have had limited results, as illustrated by dramatic social inequalities, endemic unemployment, and poverty. The World Bank estimates unemployment among 15-24 year olds is 49%. Real GDP growth turned negative (-0.9%) in 2017 and remained low in 2019 (0.3%). Since 2015, Oman has run high budget deficits and in 2018 rating agencies Fitch and Standard & Poor's downgraded Oman's credit rating to "junk". The International Monetary Fund expects Oman's debt to reach 61% of GDP by 2020, compared to 17% in 2015. This is likely to have a direct impact on the new sultan's regional policy. While Oman will not lose its title of the UK's oldest friend in Arabia in the near future, given its exorbitant political and military dependence on the UK and the US, Haitham may find difficult to deflect the UAE's increasing infringement on Oman's sovereignty. The UAE is Oman's primary economic partner and trade between them is only likely to grow further in the years to come. Many citizens from northern Omani regions also work in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which has prompted concern in Muscat about the allegiance of the regions in the long term. Moreover, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Riyadh have been competing for influence in eastern Yemen, which borders Oman, by supporting different local actors. Oman's decision in 2018 to prohibit GCC nationals from owning property in governorates bordering Saudi Arabia and the UAE reflects Muscat's worry towards its neighbours. There are fears, though, that the new sultan might prefer to turn an unfortunate blind eye to the UAE's imperial ambitions, in the name of Muscat's need for Abu Dhabi's money. In 2013, Haitham became chair of the committee responsible for developing a new long-term national strategy, Oman Vision 2040. Inspired by the same international consultancy companies that have force-fed plans across the Middle East, including in Saudi Arabia, the preliminary document issued in January 2019 advocated for the privatisation of public infrastructure, education and health services, the reduction of subsidies and the introduction of regressive taxes disproportionately impacting the poor - all measures which have resulted elsewhere in increased inequalities and popular unrest. Given this track record and Haitham's personal history in business, there are reasons to take a circumspect approach towards the Vision 2040 plans, especially since a further structural issue lies in the number of political decision makers holding business interests. As everywhere in the world, the government's attempt to justify large-scale austerity measures for the sake of sustainable development, while merchant and royal elites preserve their own economic privileges and a secured flow of rents, has become unacceptable for young Omanis, who are not willing to grant Haitham the same degree of authoritarian paternalism that their parents gave Qaboos. Indeed, if Haitham does pursue the top-down, neo-liberal reforms that have been announced, pointing towards a deepening concentration of wealth and power instead of promoting a new social contract that would offer a more equitable distribution of wealth from natural resources and a more participatory decision-making process, these are likely to provoke renewed popular frustrations and herald considerable turmoil.

इस महीने की शुरुआत में ओमान के सुल्तान काबूस की मृत्यु की घोषणा के बाद "राष्ट्र के पिता" की उपलब्धियों के लिए प्रशंसा का एक कोरस था-जो अक्सर एक परेशान करने वाले ओरिएंटलवादी स्वाद से दूषित था-जिसने इस तथ्य को नजरअंदाज कर दिया कि उनकी अनुग्रह अवधि लंबे समय से समाप्त हो गई थी।


SLFP (Mahajana Wing)

Summary: Former foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera and former minister Sripathi Sooriyarachcho who sat with the opposition in Parliament on Tuesday said they are forming a new political party.

Crossing over to opposition ranks they said in a statement that the launching of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Mahajana Wing) will be on Friday the 22nd June 2007 by paying floral tribute at the Bandaranaike Samadiya at Horogolla. In a letter addressed to the speaker of parliament they said: "The main coalition partner of the United Peoples' Freedom Alliance UPFA) Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), has seen its principles and political philosophy betrayed by the present Government. They have rejected the party's centrist policies and aretaking our country in an extreme direction" They said that they are totally opposed to this path of extremism and in order to protect the principles of the SLFP,they have decided to sit in the Opposition benches of Parliament as MPs of the UPFA. We shall represent the Mahajana Wing of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the MPs said.

पूर्व विदेश मंत्री मंगला समरवीरा और पूर्व मंत्री श्रीपति सूरियारच्चो, जो मंगलवार को संसद में विपक्ष के साथ बैठे थे, ने कहा कि वे एक नई राजनीतिक पार्टी बना रहे हैं।


Heathrow expansion: How the cost of delays stacks up

Summary: The decision to build a third runway at Heathrow is just the latest chapter in a saga which has gone on for almost 50 years, ever since Harold Wilson's Labour government appointed the Roskill Commission to look at a third airport for London.

By Tim BowlerBusiness reporter, BBC News Cublington, Maplin Sands and "Boris Island" have all been considered and turned down, and instead the existing airports at Gatwick, Stansted, Luton - and Heathrow itself - have all been expanded. However, the UK has built no new runways in the south-east of England since Gatwick's concrete runway was built in the late 1950s (though London City did open, albeit with a much shorter runway, in 1987). Of course, even after today, things will not be finalised. Following the government's announcement of its preferred option there will be a public consultation process, before a final decision is made and put to MPs for a vote next year. With Heathrow currently operating at 98% capacity - a much higher level than many of its rivals - many argue that this is affecting the UK's economy. So what are the costs of this much-delayed decision, and how does the UK compare with other countries when it comes to airports? What's the delay costing the UK? Nobody knows exactly how much the years of delay may have cost the UK economy. Business groups like the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the British Chambers of Commerce and others - as well as the TUC - have all called for a third Heathrow runway to keep the UK competitive. The CBI warned that repeated delays could cost the UK more than £30bn by 2030 - with the country losing out on trade to Germany and France. This summer, a cross-party group of MPs, the British Infrastructure Group (BIG), said the delay in building a new runway at Heathrow was costing the British economy up to £6m a day in lost value. They argued that following the UK's vote to leave the EU, the need for a new runway was even more pressing. "Everyone acknowledges we need more airport capacity but indecision is costing the economy dear," said Grant Shapps, who chairs the group. The MPs based their costings on figures from the government-appointed Davies Commission, which recommended building a new runway at Heathrow after nearly three years of deliberations. The Davies Commission said this could provide a boost of up to £147bn to the UK economy over the next 60 years - the equivalent of about £6m a day. However, this £6m-a-day figure is not so much a "cost" as an estimate of the opportunities the UK could lose out on if it doesn't have a runway - and a prediction of what these might be worth. In its examination of the figures, the independent fact-checking charity, Full Fact, says it is "better to treat the estimates as judgements... with a reasonable degree of uncertainty, rather than facts". The Davies Commission itself says it is difficult to predict the impact of a new runway on the UK economy and has cautioned against attaching significant weight to the actual numbers. Indeed the DfT has just said that a new runway at Heathrow will bring economic benefits to passengers and the wider economy worth up to £61bn over 60 years - which is less than half the Commission's figure. But just looking at the net economic benefits won't tell you who wins and who loses - you also need to look at the social costs. Passengers might enjoy cheaper travel and a better service, firms might be able to move goods and people in and out of the UK more easily - but those living close to Heathrow will face environmental costs and noise pollution, as well as public health concerns. International expansion Everywhere you look, it seems, somebody somewhere is building or extending an airport. While the UK has been in a holding pattern over a third runway at Heathrow, others have pushed ahead. France has built Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport complete with four runways, Madrid and Frankfurt also have four runways apiece while the Netherlands has effortlessly added runways to Amsterdam Schiphol - it now has six. The biggest expansion is being driven by the economic development of Africa and Asia - particularly China - and the accompanying growth in world passenger traffic. This has outperformed the growth in global GDP (except for a period between 2008-09) and is currently growing at 6.2%, says the European aerospace giant Airbus. It reckons that between 2016 and 2035 global air traffic will grow at an average of 4.5% a year, with demand from countries like China outpacing growth in western Europe and North America. The speed with which these projects have been conceived and implemented is breath-taking. For instance, Turkey's government only announced a third airport for Istanbul in 2013, but it is already about 30% built and is scheduled to open in 2018. When all construction phases are finished in 2030 it will be one of the world's biggest airports, with six 3,750m runways and handling up to 200 million passengers a year. By comparison, London's five airports currently handle 150 million passengers a year in total. China: Major airport programme Last year, consultants KPMG said that the world's major cities would build 50 new runways by 2036 - a third of them in China alone. "The emerging markets matter because within about a decade over half the growth in the world will come from these economies," says KPMG's James Stamp. Yet China's own aviation authority has even more ambitious plans. The aim is to build 66 new airports in the next five years, taking the number of the country's airports to 272 from 206, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said earlier this year. Air travellers in China took four billion domestic trips and over 100 million international trips last year, says the CAAC, which is also planning to increase the number of domestic and international routes. The country is spending almost $12bn (£9.8bn) on civil aviation infrastructure this year, and is stepping up construction of important new airports, including those in Beijing, Chengdu, Qingdao, Xiamen and Dalian. Work on Beijing's second international airport, at Daxing, the largest construction project in Chinese civil aviation history is well under way. Construction began at the end of 2014 and is due to be finished by 2019. It will have seven runways and be capable of taking 75 million passengers by 2025. Meanwhile, a new runway is also being built at Beijing's existing airport that should help accommodate an additional eight million passengers a year - the airport handled almost 90 million passengers last year. And yet, sometimes there is such a thing as having too many airports - even in China. A lot of smaller airports are not doing well in attracting travellers - the most obvious example being Libo airport in south-west China, which was built at a cost of $57m but handled only 151 passengers in all of 2009. Spain: 'Ghost airports' In Spain in the boom years, many cities decided that what they needed was an airport, adopting the mantra of "build it and they will come". Sadly it hasn't worked. As the country's economy slowed, many of its regional airports closed. Out of Spain's 46 publicly run airports, only a handful are now making money - and almost half are "ghost airports" with barely any passengers and empty terminals. Ciudad Real airport, 235km (146 miles) south of Madrid, was meant to be an alternative to the capital's Barajas airport. It cost €1.1bn ($1.19bn; £979m) to build, has one of the longest runways in Europe (4,100m) and could handle 10 million passengers a year. But instead it lies deserted. The last scheduled flight was in 2011 and it closed in 2012 after just three years of operation. It was finally sold at auction this year for €56m, a fraction of what it cost to build. Germany: Berlin debacle And then there is Germany, a country often epitomised as the acme of trouble-free planning and efficiency. That's very definitely not the case with the capital's new airport. Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt International Airport was designed to replace two existing airports. In 2004 it was optimistically estimated that it would cost €1.7bn and open in 2012; it is now years overdue and billions over budget. The scandal-plagued project has seen changing designs, failures with its fire-control system, as well as high-profile resignations and sackings. Fast-forward to 2016 and the total cost is now €5.4bn - and that could well rise to more than €7bn, some say. The opening date has now been pushed back to 2017 - and it could be delayed yet further. "There is still a chance for us to open in the second half [of 2017]," Karsten Muehlenfeld, who was appointed the airport's boss in 2015, told the German newspaper Handelsblatt recently. "But... there are a lot of risks still in the building," he added. "We have a lot engineers who are working on that, but that doesn't mean you find a solution." Dubai: World's busiest Heathrow's most important rival comes not in Europe but in the Middle East, where Dubai has taken advantage of its location to become a major hub airport - overtaking Heathrow as the world's busiest international airport, and could soon become the busiest airport overall. In addition to its existing airport - Dubai International - the emirate is also developing a purpose-built airport city 23 miles outside Dubai. Al Maktoum International Airport will ultimately be able to handle 200 million passengers a year. So far it has mainly been used for freight. The $30bn project is expected to be completed within six years, and is designed to handle up to 100 Airbus double-decker A380s simultaneously. "Dubai is perfectly placed, being at the crossroads between east and west to take advantage of that growth [in air travel in Asia]," says Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths. "There's a lot of airports in the world that won't be able to grow at the rates that they will need to grow to take advantage of that." Perhaps the real challenge to Heathrow - and the UK, if you accept the importance of air travel to the economy - comes not from other airports but geography and changing patterns of global air travel. Follow Tim Bowler on Twitter@timbowlerbbc

हीथ्रो में तीसरा रनवे बनाने का निर्णय लगभग 50 वर्षों से चली आ रही एक गाथा का नवीनतम अध्याय है, जब से हैरोल्ड विल्सन की श्रम सरकार ने लंदन के लिए तीसरे हवाई अड्डे को देखने के लिए रोसकिल आयोग को नियुक्त किया है।


British Airways: Can strike-hit airline rebuild its reputation?

Summary: It's not been a great centenary celebration for British Airways. The operator officially reached the 100-year landmark on 25 August, just as the prospect of this week's two-day pilots' strike was starting to panic tens of thousands of customers.

By Russell HottenBusiness reporter, BBC News To rub salt into the wounds, a report by reputation management company Alva placed BA 55th out of 65 airlines. Stranded passengers, IT failures, and lost data from a hack attack were among reasons cited for the airline's low ranking. Over several years BA's profile has been defined by mishaps and operational issues, said Alastair Pickering, chief strategy officer at Alva. "What initially may have seemed like bad luck or bad planning, can quickly morph into a narrative of underinvestment; the company putting shareholder interests above those of passengers and employees," he said. The BA name has too many negative connotations. The days when the airline promoted itself as The World's Favourite Airline have long gone, and Brian Strutton, general secretary of the pilots' union Balpa, has a couple of reasons why: cost cutting and a dumbing down of the brand. As he told the BBC: "Management want to squeeze every last penny out of customers and staff." This week's strike is about pay, but Mr Strutton says there is a wider context - a lack of trust and confidence in management. Pilots, and other crew, have long complained about an erosion of benefits, such as poorer accommodation on long-haul stopovers. In the lean years when BA was recovering from the global financial downturn, staff say they gave up pay rises. The airline's generous pension scheme has been closed, saving hundreds of millions of pounds. BA, however, contend that the company has been recycling profits into new investment in the airline. The company says it is spending £6.5bn on new aircraft, new cabins and WiFi on planes. 'Fight for survival' While a captain's pay starts at about £78,000, according to Balpa, changes to the earnings structure mean it would now take much longer for a cadet to reach that level. There was an expectation that once the airline recovered financially, staff would benefit. But Mr Strutton says it hasn't happened, which is why people whom he accepts are well paid are taking part in BA's biggest industrial action to date. BA is part of International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company for carriers that include Aer Lingus, Iberia, Level and Vuelling. But BA is the biggest and most profitable part of the group. Last year, BA's operating profits rose 11.6% to £1.95bn. Profits were also up in the first six months of this year. In February, IAG raised its shareholder dividend and also declared a special payout. In 2009, BA's then chief executive Willie Walsh (who now runs IAG) said the airline was in a "fight for survival". Intense competition on transatlantic routes and the popularity of budget carriers on European routes meant radical action was needed. The recovery cost almost 4,000 redundancies and everyone took a pay cut. 'Deplorable' But now that those dark days are over, pilots want to share in the success of BA's turnaround, Mr Strutton says. "British Airways needs to wake up and realise its pilots are determined to be heard. They've previously taken big pay cuts to help the company through hard times. Now BA is making billions of pounds of profit, its pilots have made a fair, reasonable and affordable claim for pay and benefits." BA insists that offering a share in the turnaround is exactly what it is doing. Alex Cruz, BA's chief executive, told the BBC that everyone at the airline, not just pilots, made sacrifices. "The company recognises that. This is why this 11.5% deal, way above inflation... is a very, very generous deal." The impact on staff is only half the story, of course. Analysts say the reputational damage could be huge. Some 200,000 customers have been affected by the strikes, and with further action planned there will inevitably be lost bookings as travellers go elsewhere. Mr Cruz accepted that the strike would "punish customers" but also "punish our brand". Duncan Lyon, whose flight was cancelled and who is now trying to get a refund of £400, echoed the feelings of many customers who have complained of having to make numerous telephone calls to BA and feel there has been a lack of communication. His message to British Airways? "You are a disgrace and your customer service is deplorable." But, though serious, this strike is not the first time BA has weathered a customer storm. In addition to previous industrial action, the gradual dismantling of some of BA's premium services has been a running sore for many long-time customers. Be it the removal of free meals on short-haul flights, introduction of checked baggage charges, or the ending of complimentary newspapers, BA's loyal base has found many things to mourn about the airline. Yet, passenger growth has continued year-on-year, and the airline and its subsidiaries carried about 45 million people in 2018. That may have a lot to do with BA's dominance of Heathrow Airport and a feeling among some travellers that they lack convenient alternatives. But BA says it underlines the expansion of its route network and investment in services. Indeed, the airline has a £6.5bn spending programme underway - a four-year investment on 73 new aircraft, training and services. The investment is, Mr Cruz told the BBC, the biggest in BA's history. For Alva's Mr Pickering, the investment could be key to "revamping the passenger experience" and addressing the "growing customer cynicism", adding: "The situation is by no means terminal."

यह ब्रिटिश एयरवेज के लिए एक महान शताब्दी समारोह नहीं रहा है। ऑपरेटर आधिकारिक तौर पर 25 अगस्त को 100 साल के मील के पत्थर पर पहुंच गया, जैसे ही इस सप्ताह की दो दिवसीय पायलटों की हड़ताल की संभावना ने हजारों ग्राहकों को आतंकित करना शुरू कर दिया था।


Beatles, Rolling Stones and more album covers as pottery

Summary: An amateur sculptor who makes 3D pottery versions of classic album covers by The Beatles, Rolling Stones and more, is hoping to stage a public exhibition of his works after a private viewing proved successful.

By Andrew WoodgerBBC News Online Simon Buckmaster started evening classes in ceramics seven years ago and his love of music inspired him to create his takes on his favourite LP art. "I'd always been interested in album covers and thought they would lend themselves to the ceramic form," he said. "I pick them based on something that could look good in three dimensions - cars, an animal, buildings." His first effort, currently dismantled and in storage, was Pink Floyd's Animals (featuring a pig flying over Battersea Power Station) and he then moved on to the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed - starting with the cake section, which on the original album was baked by Delia Smith. "I was only going to do the cake bit and then a friend joked about whether I could finish the whole thing in time for the album's 50th anniversary in 2019," said Mr Buckmaster. The 63-year-old former farmer, whose studio is at his house in Felsham in Suffolk, chose his favourite 12 pieces and mounted a private view at the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts in nearby Stowmarket, where he volunteers. "I had no expectations beyond it being a hobby, but it seems album covers are of more widespread interest among friends and beyond," he said. "It seems to put a smile on people's faces." Mr Buckmaster was saddened by the rise of the smaller scale cassette and CD, along with downloading and streaming which has meant no packaging is required at all. "Because the square canvas had gone it felt like it wasn't worth the artistic input anymore," he said. "But with the renaissance of vinyl we are seeing the return of album art, notably a recent release involving Sir Peter Blake [The Who's last LP]." The sculptor said that although he would like to exhibit his work further, he did not plan to sell any of his pieces. .

एक शौकिया मूर्तिकार जो द बीटल्स, रोलिंग स्टोन्स और अन्य द्वारा क्लासिक एल्बम कवर के 3डी पॉटरी संस्करण बनाता है, एक निजी दृश्य सफल साबित होने के बाद अपने कार्यों की एक सार्वजनिक प्रदर्शनी का मंचन करने की उम्मीद कर रहा है।


Slough stabbing: Victim named as Mohammed Aman Ashraq

Summary: Police have named 18-year-old Mohammed Aman Ashraq as the man killed in a stabbing in Slough.

Mr Ashraq, from the town, was found stabbed in Benjamin Lane on Saturday shortly before 20:00 GMT. He was taken to hospital where he later died. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a stab wound to the chest/abdomen. Three 18-year-old men, also from Slough, arrested on suspicion of murder are in police custody. Anyone with information, dash-cam footage or CCTV footage is urged to come forward.

पुलिस ने 18 वर्षीय मोहम्मद अमन अशराक को स्लॉ में चाकू मारकर हत्या करने वाले व्यक्ति के रूप में नामित किया है।


Facebook adviser criticises 'lax' child checks

Summary: One of Facebook's independent child safety advisers has criticised the firm over a scheme that gave it access to teenagers' highly personal information, without taking more effort to verify their parents had given permission.

By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor Facebook said participating teens had provided signed parental consent forms. But tests by the BBC and others suggested youngsters could easily sign up without getting permission. Stephen Balkam said Facebook's "rather lax approach" was very worrying. Facebook is still carrying out the "market research" on Android devices. But it ended the effort on iPhones because it broke Apple's rules. "Facebook Atlas is a questionable programme on a number of fronts," said Mr Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute and a member of Facebook's Safety Advisory Board. "Most concerning is the rather lax approach to getting verifiable parental consent for the teens who participated. "Given the tech backlash in general and the intense focus on Facebook's privacy policies, this is most unfortunate." The BBC's North America technology reporter Dave Lee had been able to sign up to the app by registering himself as a 14-year-old boy and was never asked for proof of parental consent. Facebook has blamed this on a third-party company it had employed to add volunteers. "We reached out to the vendor in this instance, who explained that based on their initial investigation, an error was made in late 2018 that allowed participants under 18, who they normally would have blocked, to participate in the study," a spokeswoman told the BBC. "This error has been corrected." Extensive access The existence of the scheme was revealed on Wednesday after an investigation by the TechCrunch news site. It said the app involved had the potential to provide Facebook with "nearly limitless access" to a user's device, including: Participants were told to keep the existence of the scheme and their involvement in it "confidential", and in return would earn $20 (£15.30) of gift tokens a month. In an interview with Bloomberg, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said there was "nothing secret about it", despite the fact it caught many company-watchers by surprise. Mr Balkam said that Facebook had never consulted its Safety Advisory Board about the matter. Friends' data Only volunteers based in the US and India were targeted. But the EU's leading data protection watchdog has shown an interest. "The Irish Data Protection Commission became aware of this story through yesterday's media reporting," said a statement for the regulator. "Before we can make any assessment as to whether or not there are any data protection concerns, we will need to understand better to what extent, how and on what basis the personal data in question is being processed and used. "We have asked Facebook to provide us with this information." Part of the issue is that the social network may have copied messages and images sent to the volunteers from their friends, who would not have known of the scheme's existence. However, Facebook has indicated that this was not the case. "The app was designed to collect data that helps us understand how people use apps, not the content of the messages they send or receive," a spokeswoman told the BBC. Google app It has also emerged that Google ran a similar data collection scheme involving an iOS app called Screenwise Meter. Like Facebook, it circumvented Apple's rules by offering the app to consumers via "enterprise certificates", which are supposed to be reserved for providing software to staff or other limited instances. Google's programme had been in existence since 2012 but has now been pulled. "The Screenwise Meter iOS app should not have operated under Apple's developer enterprise program - this was a mistake, and we apologise," it said in a statement to TechCrunch. "We've been upfront with users about the way we use their data in this app, we have no access to encrypted data in apps and on devices, and users can opt out of the programme at any time." Unlike Facebook's scheme, Google only signed up under-18s if they were part of a family group involving adults from the same household. However, TechCrunch said it was once open to users as young as 13 without this caveat. It is not known whether Apple plans to take any retaliatory action against the search firm. However, the iPhone-maker did revoke Facebook's enterprise certificates on Wednesday. That caused the social network's iOS test apps to stop working as well as other iPhone software it offered exclusively to staff, including a workplace chat app and an app to summon transport. "Our internal apps are no longer operable and we are working with Apple to resolve this issue," the spokeswoman for Facebook said.

फेसबुक के स्वतंत्र बाल सुरक्षा सलाहकारों में से एक ने एक योजना पर फर्म की आलोचना की है जिसने इसे किशोरों की अत्यधिक व्यक्तिगत जानकारी तक पहुंच प्रदान की है, यह सत्यापित करने के लिए अधिक प्रयास किए बिना कि उनके माता-पिता ने अनुमति दी थी।


West Coast Main Line row: Should railways be renationalised?

Summary: The collapse of the West Coast Main Line bidding process, after the government found significant flaws, has once again sparked calls in some quarters to renationalise Britain's railways - 17 years after they were privatised.

FirstGroup had been due to take over the running of the line from current operator Virgin Trains in December, but now the competition will have to be re-run after the government scrapped its decision on the franchise. Here two transport experts argue the case for and against. AGAINST: Dr Richard Wellings, head of transport, Institute of Economic Affairs In many ways the railways have been successful over the last 15 years, with significant growth in passenger numbers and freight. Several routes have been upgraded, ageing trains have been replaced and safety has continued to improve. Taxpayer subsidies have, however, reached unacceptable levels, at around £5bn a year. And costs are much higher than on comparable networks abroad. In reality, the railways were not privatised properly. Politicians and officials retained tight control. As the current West Coast debacle shows, the government decides who runs the trains. It also decides levels of service, controls prices and determines the priorities for investment. This is not genuine privatisation. Rail firms are essentially subcontractors for the state. And the high costs of the railways flow directly from these high levels of government involvement. In particular, the government has imposed a complex artificial structure on the industry. The railways are suffocated by unnecessary bureaucracy. Highly paid lawyers, accountants, consultants and civil servants have benefited at the expense of taxpayers and passengers. A further shift toward nationalisation would only make this worse. Nationalised industries are hugely inefficient and quickly become a drain on the economy, as we know from bitter experience in the 1960s and 1970s. Politicians would exert even more control over the railways, squandering money to buy off special interests and wasting yet more billions on uneconomic vanity projects. In the 19th Century private firms built and operated a vast network without massive handouts from taxpayers. A similarly innovative and entrepreneurial private rail industry is the best way to improve outcomes and reduce costs. In particular, the same firms should be free to own the tracks and run the trains, as happened in the past. This is the best way of removing the political interference that is holding the industry back. FOR: Bob Crow, general secretary, RMT The sheer scale of the chaos over the botched award of the West Coast Main Line franchise played out in the media must have shocked even those who thought that the insanity of rail privatisation could not plumb any further depths. Some 3,200 workers on the [West Coast] line, and hundreds more on associated fleet and service contracts, have been left hanging by a thread. Many of them live and work in areas with a rich and proud tradition as a cornerstone of the British railway industry. The reputation of Britain as the nation that gave the railways to the world has been dragged through the mud by this unmitigated and costly shambles. Leave aside for a moment the corporate Punch and Judy show between First Group and Virgin and the Whitehall farce that even a scriptwriter on Yes Minister would have ditched as too ridiculous. This fiasco shines the spotlight on the greed and self-serving that has robbed billions in profits and dividends from our railways since privatisation two decades ago. Now, at last, the vast majority of people are waking up to that cold, hard fact. Recent polls show 70% now support the RMT call for full renationalisation. Online polls show that figure at closer to 90%. The entire political class, including the Labour Party, need to be dragged out of their stupor on this central issue. With fares set to rise by up to 11% in January to boost private profits, thousands of jobs at risk from the McNulty rail review cuts and ticket offices and stations being smashed up by the politicians and their business allies, the time for renationalisation is here right now. With the East Coast run efficiently and safely in public hands, and contributing hundreds of millions back to the Treasury and investing in services rather than private profits, the West Coast should be next with the rest to follow under one, single, publicly owned and integrated umbrella. Bring back British Rail? As an alternative to the greed and chaos on our railways laid bare over the past week? You bet.

सरकार द्वारा महत्वपूर्ण खामियां पाए जाने के बाद वेस्ट कोस्ट मेन लाइन बोली प्रक्रिया के पतन ने एक बार फिर ब्रिटेन के रेलवे को फिर से राष्ट्रीयकृत करने के लिए कुछ तिमाहियों में कॉल को जन्म दिया है-उनके निजीकरण के 17 साल बाद।


Olympian Jamie Baulch's search for birth mother

Summary: Olympic silver medallist Jamie Baulch, who was adopted, had never thought about searching for his birth mother. He was adopted by a couple from Risca, near Newport in 1973 and was happy with his "marvellous" parents. But a chance conversation with singer and now television producer Connie Fisher last Christmas left him wanting to say thank you to the woman who chose to go through with the pregnancy and gave birth to him. After going through the adoption services, Baulch was overjoyed to find Teresa, who gave him up for adoption when she was a teenager. Their first meeting three weeks ago was tinged with sadness because Teresa has terminal cancer. But Baulch is overjoyed at being able to thank her for giving him his life. Here's his story.

"I've never been interested in finding out who my mother was, although I always knew I was adopted. My parents Alan and Marilyn have been marvellous, and my two sisters and brother too. I've had the best possible life with them and they've done everything to support me in my athletics. We're all really close, we'll all be spending Christmas together with our families at my parents home near Risca. "But I'm 41 now and have two kids of my own - Jay who's 19 and Morgan, 11. When you get older you suddenly realise how important life is, how precious it is, and I wanted to find out about where I came from to be able to leave that legacy for them. So I decided it was time to find my birth mother and just thank her for keeping me and not having an abortion when she found out she was pregnant. "You know back in the 1970s, having a mixed race kid like I was was a big 'no, no'. Not that I ever experienced any problems growing up where I did in south Wales. I've never had anything like racial tensions - maybe because I'm so happy-go-lucky. What you see is what you get. "My mum Teresa was a white 19-year-old and my Dad who was Jamaican and in the Army, serving in Germany. Her parents disowned her, she'd been a relationship for two years but my Dad left her. "I really, really wanted to say thank you to Teresa for what she'd done, for being so strong, for deciding to have me and then to give me up for adoption. "I'm a patron of Adopt Wales, and I just know that these things can go wrong if you don't follow the proper channels so I'm really pleased that I've done it this way and the people who've helped have been amazing. "The whole process has been really smooth and I've learnt a lot and I've got a file of information this thick now about both my birth parents. But when the social worker told me that they'd found Teresa and she had got cancer, terminal cancer, I was shattered. You see it on the film, I just couldn't say anything, I just cry and have to walk away. "We met three weeks ago in Devon, where Teresa, her husband Des - they've been together for years and years - and their daughter Jaya, who's my half-sister, live. Isn't that funny, she's called Jaya and I have a son called Jay. "We met only three weeks ago. Teresa and I just hugged and hugged and then she just said my name 'Jamie'. You wait 41 years to hear your mum say your name, it's pretty special. She didn't know (before we met) that I was an athlete and everything. I was able to show her my Olympic silver medal, hang it round her neck. That was special. "We talked and talked, we had so much to catch up on, and it's amazing, we've got the same eyes. And another strange thing, apparently Jaya and I met about 14 years ago when I went to her school promoting athletics. There's a photo of us together somewhere - I'd love to see it. "Teresa told me she was adamant that she had made the right decision all those years ago - to have me and to give me up. She said that she couldn't have given me all that Marilyn and Alan have, and I wouldn't have had all the success I did. What a strong woman, what a beautiful woman. "Since that meeting Teresa and I have spoken a lot and there's been some good news about the cancer. But I'm a realist and want to make the most of what time we have. "It's horrible that she's so ill, but it is what it is. It's brilliant we've met. And the timing of this with us meeting now when she's ill is so strange, it might have been two years later and, who knows, we may never have met. "I don't know what the future will hold. I'm taking my boys to meet Teresa, Des and Jaya in a couple of weeks time. "Making the whole programme has not been easy. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. "But what I would say is if you're thinking of adopting, do it because you can find it just leads to beautiful things. And there are 300 kids in Wales waiting to be adopted right now and you could change their lives forever." Jamie Baulch: Looking For My Birth Mum, 9 October, BBC One Wales, 20:00 BST.

ओलंपिक रजत पदक विजेता जेमी बाउल्श, जिन्हें गोद लिया गया था, ने कभी भी अपनी जन्मदात्री माँ को खोजने के बारे में नहीं सोचा था। उन्हें 1973 में न्यूपोर्ट के पास रिस्का के एक जोड़े ने गोद लिया था और वे अपने "अद्भुत" माता-पिता से खुश थे। लेकिन पिछले क्रिसमस पर गायक और अब टेलीविजन निर्माता कोनी फिशर के साथ एक आकस्मिक बातचीत ने उन्हें उस महिला को धन्यवाद कहना चाहा जिसने गर्भावस्था से गुजरने का फैसला किया और उसे जन्म दिया। गोद लेने की सेवाओं से गुजरने के बाद, बाउल्श टेरेसा को पाकर बहुत खुश थे, जिन्होंने उन्हें किशोरावस्था में गोद लेने के लिए छोड़ दिया था। तीन सप्ताह पहले उनकी पहली मुलाकात उदासी से भरी थी क्योंकि टेरेसा को घातक कैंसर है। लेकिन बाउल्श उसे अपना जीवन देने के लिए धन्यवाद देने में सक्षम होने पर बहुत खुश है। यहाँ उसकी कहानी है।


Why Utah now has first 'free-range' parenting law

Summary: On Tuesday, Utah will become the first state in the US to have a "free-range" parenting law. Victoria Oldridge takes a look at how the law came to be and the debate over what's an appropriate amount of freedom for children.

When Alexander Meitiv dropped his two children - 10 and six - off at a local park near their Maryland home to play for the afternoon in late 2014, he was not expecting the firestorm that would follow. A bystander called 911 after noticing the children walking home by themselves. Police stopped them and brought them back to the Meitivs' home. Shortly after, the family was visited by Child Protective Services (CPS). Danielle Meitiv says they were threatened with arrest and removal of their children. Months later, the Meitivs allowed their children to play at another park they'd been to "dozens of times" - but didn't come home by their curfew. It was only after the family called emergency services that they learned their children had been taken by police to CPS. "They have the power to snatch our children from under our noses," Danielle Meitiv says. "That's when I decided to take the story public." Both charges against the Meitivs were eventually dropped and policy changes were made in their local county, but the experience galvanised Danielle to run for local office. In her campaign material she describes herself as a "free-range mom". But "there's no such thing as 'free range' parenting," she says. "This is normal parenting." Cases like the Meitivs - and the debate they spurred about safety and independence for children - have led to the first "free-range" parenting law in the US. On Tuesday, the Utah law will come into effect. It changes the state's definition of neglect to allow children of "sufficient age and maturity" to engage in independent activities like walking to and from school. The bill's sponsor, State Senator Lincoln Fillmore, says the measure was inspired in part by a hope his own children "grow up learning how to be responsible for themselves". Filmore confesses he doesn't yet know if he's a "free range" parent (his children are all under four years old), but that's not the point. "My law is not an attempt to say that this method of parenting is better than another method; we're not making that judgement in law," he says. "We're simply saying that for parents who do choose to give their kids some independence, there's protection in the law for you doing so." While Filmore wasn't aware of any similar incidents in Utah, he says he wanted to be proactive about preventing parents from facing punishment for allowing their kids to do "all the things I did when I was a kid". "Even though Utah's law was basically the same as the rest of the other states in that we say that neglect is illegal, we don't give guidance about what neglect really is." Filmore says. "We leave it to government agencies to interpret what neglect is." One of the first mums to advocate "Free Range" parenting, Lenore Skenazy, believes allowing children to be unsupervised at times will help them become more effective adults. She said she first realised there was a disconnect between what parents want and what they actually do when she was brought on a popular US morning programme to discuss a viral blog post about allowing her nine-year-old son ride the subway alone. The staff of the programme all remembered having similar freedoms as children, but confessed they wouldn't allow their own children to do the same. "We're being hypocrites because we're coming to the erroneous conclusion that any time a child is unsupervised they're automatically in danger and it's not true," she says. So what's changed? "Parents' perception of how dangerous the world is has changed over the years," says Dr Gail Saltz, a professor of psychology at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Parental anxiety, Saltz says, is inflamed by a global, always-on news cycle, as well as increased connectivity on social media platforms, which recycles "over and over again" kidnappings, rape and other threatening incidents. While violent crime has dropped sharply in the US in the past 25 years, Americans generally perceive crime rates are continuing to climb, according to a recent survey by Pew Research Center. Saltz also says present-day parenting is less communal than it used to be and has turned into a "competitive sport" for many. This results in parents' tendency to "helicopter" their children more often, Saltz says, to appear as though they're "winning" against their peers. Researcher David Finkelhor, who heads up the Crimes Against Children Research Center, cautions lawmakers against jumping on the "Free Range" bandwagon, urging them to assess the broader picture before passing widespread legislation based on a few known cases. "A key presumption of the Utah law is that police and CPS are investigating and charging parents for allowing their kids to navigate public spaces on their own," he says. "We have over 1,000 neglect fatalities every year from kids left unsupervised around drugs, loaded guns and parked cars and in many cases neighbours or bystanders were concerned but failed to act." Finkelhor believes the focus should be on better training for child protective services. "The important thing is that when the police or CPS come to check-up, that they are able to distinguish, quickly, the worrisome situations from the false alarms. "This is a problem better handled by training than legislation." Whether other states will follow Utah's "free range" parenting precedent remains to be seen, however. Arkansas has already rejected a similar measure.

मंगलवार को यूटा "फ्री-रेंज" पेरेंटिंग कानून रखने वाला अमेरिका का पहला राज्य बन जाएगा। विक्टोरिया ओल्ड्रिज इस बात पर एक नज़र डालती है कि कानून कैसे बना और बच्चों के लिए उचित मात्रा में स्वतंत्रता क्या है, इस पर बहस होती है।


Azerbaijan Armenia: Karabakh's smouldering conflict

Summary: Antiga Gahramanova has been waiting two decades for a resolution to the war which forced her from her home - but fears are growing that the so-called frozen conflict of Nagorno Karabakh could spring back to life, more ferociously than ever.

By Damien McGuinness BBC News, Azerbaijan A faded portrait hangs on the wall of the tiny room belonging to Mrs Gahramanova, who is now 80. It shows a beautiful young couple with dark mournful eyes: Mrs Gahramanova's daughter and son-in-law. Tears roll down her lined cheeks when she explains what happened to them during the war with Armenia two decades ago: "Armenian soldiers tied my son-in-law to a tree. "And they burnt him alive, screaming. Then they fired a bullet into the side of my daughter's head." Mrs Gahramanova and her daughter's four young children were forced to watch. "Then they shot my six-year-old granddaughter dead," she said, wiping the tears away with her patterned headscarf. "And they shot another granddaughter in the heel. They said it was to teach us a lesson." She herself managed to escape. She hid under bushes for four days with the remaining three grandchildren before making her way through the snow, dragging the children with her. For 20 years now Mrs Gahramanova has been living in a small room in a crumbling Soviet-era sanatorium. It is here that she has brought up her three orphaned grandchildren. "The only thing that I want is to go back to my homeland, to die in the place where I was born. I just want to be able to go home," she says. An estimated 600,000 Azerbaijanis, or 7% of the country's population, live similar existences in Soviet-era schools, hospitals or university buildings - families of five, six or seven people sharing one tiny room. Often there is no bathroom - just a couple of foul squat toilets to be shared between hundreds of people. In Armenia, meanwhile, around 10% of the population are refugees who fled from Azerbaijan, according to the Armenian political analyst, Alexander Iskandaryan. Horrific atrocities were allegedly committed by both sides. In the late 1980s and early 1990s hundreds of Armenians were killed in a series of brutal pogroms in Azeri towns. Armenians have accused Azeris of gang rapes, horrific violence, and attempted ethnic cleansing. Strangers Today attitudes are becoming more entrenched: a whole generation has grown up being fed a one-sided, and sometimes even false, interpretation of history, without ever meeting people from the other side of the border. "For my students, Azerbaijanis are like something from the moon," says Mr Iskandaryan. "They know more about Britain than about Azerbaijan. And the same goes for young people in Azerbaijan." It was a brutal war over disputed territory, which broke out in 1991 amid the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The region of Nagorno Karabakh was in Azerbaijan but it was populated predominantly by Armenians. Up to 30,000 people were killed and a million forced to flee their homes before a tenuous ceasefire was agreed in 1994. Most of those who were displaced during the war have never been allowed back. Their homeland is now a war zone. The disputed region is controlled by Armenia but Azerbaijan wants it back. Hundreds of kilometres of deep trenches zigzag along the front line in western Azerbaijan. It all looks like something out of World War I. At regular intervals there are raised parapets, protected by sandbags, with gaps to shoot through. On the other side, just a few hundred metres away across no-mans-land and the battered remains of a vineyard, you can see a raised bank of earth, where Armenian snipers are stationed - presumably looking right back at us. Both countries have signed a ceasefire but an official peace agreement has never been agreed. Peace talks meanwhile have stalled. Soldiers say that shooting breaks out here on a daily basis, telling us that there was an exchange of fire at this position just a quarter of an hour before we arrived. Both sides blame the other, and say they only shoot in response. Conscripts What is clear is that over the past two years at least 60 people have been killed along the front line. Mostly soldiers, who on the Azeri side are often baby-faced conscripts in their teens or early twenties. "I'm very proud to serve my homeland," says Elham Mammadov, a 19-year-old Azeri conscript, who has been stationed here at the front for eight months. "And every day, every hour, I want the war to start, so that we can liberate our homeland from the Armenian aggressor." He may sound like he is ready for a fight but he looks nervous. Azeri villagers are also regularly fired on by snipers. They tend cattle and plough fields amid the remains of bombed-out villages within metres of the front. There are fears the situation could again spiral out of control and, with more sophisticated weaponry available to both sides, analysts say a return to war could have even worse consequences. "There are now offensive missile systems capable of hitting Baku and Yerevan, the capitals of Azerbaijan and Armenia," says Lawrence Sheets from the International Crisis Group. "This is a conflict which has the danger of pulling in major regional powers." That would mean Nato-member Turkey on one side and Russia on the other. And with Iran next door, and the region a crucial source of oil and gas for Europe, all-out fighting would have serious implications.

एंटिगा गहरामानोवा युद्ध के समाधान के लिए दो दशकों से प्रतीक्षा कर रही है, जिसने उसे अपने घर से मजबूर कर दिया-लेकिन डर बढ़ रहा है कि नागोर्नो काराबाख का तथाकथित जमे हुए संघर्ष पहले से कहीं अधिक क्रूरता से जीवन में वापस आ सकता है।


Campbell Corrigan replaces Stephen House at Strathclyde Police

Summary: Campbell Corrigan has been named acting Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police following Stephen House's appointment to head Scotland's new single force.

The former Deputy Chief Constable was confirmed in the top job at a meeting of Strathclyde Police Authority in Glasgow on Monday. The post vacated by Mr Corrigan will now be filled by former Assistant Chief Constable Rhuaraidh Nicolson. In turn, his position will be filled by Chief Superintendent Russell Dunn. Mr House was appointed last week to head up Scotland's new single police force, which comes into being in April next year. He has already said that as many as 3,000 support staff could be lost as he seeks to merge eight forces into one.

स्कॉटलैंड के नए एकल बल का नेतृत्व करने के लिए स्टीफन हाउस की नियुक्ति के बाद कैंपबेल कोरिगन को स्ट्रैथक्लाइड पुलिस का कार्यवाहक मुख्य कांस्टेबल नामित किया गया है।


Alzheimer's: How much should you reveal?

Summary: The husband of the actress Barbara Windsor revealed on Thursday that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014. He told The Sun newspaper that it had become more difficult to hide her condition so he now wanted people to know.

Deciding how to respond to an Alzheimer's diagnosis can be difficult for families and those suffering from it. Who do you tell and how much? Three people who have been in that position shared their stories with us: 'My mum tried to hide it from everyone' Dee lives in Bedford. Her 85-year-old mother was diagnosed six years ago and did not tell anyone except Dee and her brother. Only recently have more people found out, but for years she hid her diagnosis. "She just stopped going out, she used to go to the bingo three or four times a week and now never goes. She started to talk a lot less as well. It's a shame it's such an isolating illness. They lose their confidence and they won't get anywhere without someone they are confident with. "She believed that people would think she was 'doolally' so tried to hide it from everyone. Sadly she was right to an extent, some people have reacted badly to hearing she has dementia, they physically withdraw from her and don't talk to her. "I think this is because they are afraid and it brings it home to them that, as they get older, they might suffer from it themselves. When people react like this it is extremely hurtful to my mother, she is still the same person, she just has a terrible memory and let's be honest don't we all, as we grow older, have problems remembering things? "I wish she had been more open about it. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's an illness. If I mention it she says she doesn't want to talk about it. It is very hard for her to accept" Five ways to spot if someone has Alzheimer’s How diet 'helps with my Alzheimer's disease' - BBC News 'Keep your sense of humour' Brian Forward lives in Wandsworth with his partner Margaret Rickwood who has Alzheimer's. "Six months prior to diagnosis, Margaret started to become confused and her personality became off-kilter. Up to then, she had always been a very bright and bubbly person. We'd been together for 36 years and Margaret had done a variety of jobs including working as waitress at Lords Cricket Ground. "I felt that something wasn't right, but put it down to medication that she was taking for a heart condition. When she was finally diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I wasn't totally surprised. "We decided not to keep Margaret's diagnosis secret. I'm lucky that with the help we receive from her GPs and social services, we are coping to a degree. The most important thing is to keep your sense of humour. "The GP has prescribed medication which has controlled the worst symptoms of the condition. Margaret is also able to go to a day centre four days a week which gives me some time for myself. Hobbies such as photography help me to relax as does meditation. "Imagine shaking a tall shelf of books. The books at the top will fall off and the ones at the bottom will stay. That's how Alzheimer's works, the newest memories will go and the older ones will stay." 'Reactions have been varied' Trevor Clapp lives in Slough. He and his sister look after their father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years ago "My sister and I are dealing with my father's dementia following the sudden death of our mother who cared for him. What is apparent now is that she helped him, probably so much, that the disease was somewhat covered up. He now lives in a local home and we have been very open about telling people and sharing his experience. "Reactions to my father have been varied but it is very clear that there is no public understanding of the disease. He got into an innocent argument at the local shop where he's been going for years. Rather than considering that a man of 85 might be suffering in some way, the owners leapt to the conclusion he was being wilfully problematic and promptly banned him from the shop." By Bernadette McCague, BBC UGC & Social News

अभिनेत्री बारबरा विंडसर के पति ने गुरुवार को खुलासा किया कि उन्हें 2014 में अल्जाइमर का पता चला था। उन्होंने द सन अखबार को बताया कि उनकी स्थिति को छिपाना अधिक कठिन हो गया था इसलिए अब वह चाहते हैं कि लोग उन्हें जानें।


At-a-glance: Scottish government's post-Brexit plan

Summary: Foreword - By Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

The Scottish government has published what it would like to see happen after Brexit. Here is a summary of the 49-page long "Scotland's Place in Europe" paper. Chapter One - Introduction Chapter Two - What is the European Single Market and why does it matter? Chapter Three - Protecting Scotland's Interests The Norway Model Questions and answers Chapter Four - Further devolution and consequences of Brexit

प्रस्तावना-स्कॉटलैंड की प्रथम मंत्री निकोला स्टर्जन द्वारा


Sunderland council proposes third council tax freeze

Summary: Sunderland City Council has proposed a council tax freeze for a third time.

The measure, part of the council's 2013/2014 budget, was unveiled at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. If approved, it will be the third year running that council tax has been frozen in the city. A final decision will be made 6 March. Sunderland City Council leader Paul Watson, said the proposal recognised the "challenges" facing all residents of the city.

सुंदरलैंड सिटी काउंसिल ने तीसरी बार काउंसिल टैक्स फ्रीज का प्रस्ताव रखा है।


X Factor judging row: Who are the main players?

Summary: The new judging line-up for the UK version of X Factor has been unveiled and Cheryl Cole is absent from the list, despite speculation she would return after her swift and controversial departure from the US show. So who are the key players in the unfolding X Factor drama?

Simon Cowell Simon Cowell announced he was quitting his role as judge on the UK show to concentrate on the launch of the series Stateside but took a long time to unveil the much-debated US line-up. Cole was announced as a US judge on 5 May but three weeks later, and after filming had begun, reports leaked that she had been dropped over concerns about her accent. The US judging panel consists of Cowell, his former American Idol co-star Paula Abdul, Antonio LA Reid and Cole's replacement Nicole Scherzinger. Cowell has always been supportive of Cole and was widely seen as a driving force in her move to the US, recently saying of the singer: "You meet someone special a few times in your life and this girl is special." He hasn't commented on Cole's departure from the US show. Will.i.am Black Eyed Peas singer Will.i.am, also known as William Adams, took over Cole's management a month ago, after she parted with her long-time manager Hilary Shaw. Newspaper reports have speculated that the pair ignored calls from TV bosses about her return to the UK show. Will.i.am appeared on X Factor last year to help Cole with contestants during the 'judge's houses' stage of the competition. Cole supported the Black Eyed Peas during their UK tour last year. She also featured on Will.i.am's single Heartbreaker, while he returned the favour on her second single, 3 Words. He hasn't commented on Cole's departure from the US show. The UK judges After much speculation about who would replace Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue as judges on the UK show, the four-person line-up was finally announced on 30 May. Original judge Louis Walsh will be joined by Take That's Gary Barlow, former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland and N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos in the upcoming series. Cowell said of his new team: "These four are totally up for it, each of them bring a different attitude." The first auditions will take place in Birmingham on 1 June. Dannii Minogue revealed that she would be stepping down on 14 May because of clashes with her judging commitments on Australia's Got Talent. Web of PR people Trying to find out who's pulling the strings when it comes to X Factor is a complicated affair. The show is produced by Talkback Thames, who first developed the show with ITV and Cowell back in 2004. When the UK judging line-up was announced quotes were released from ITV's Director of Television Peter Fincham, Cowell (who owns production company Syco) and Director of Entertainment from Talkback Thames Richard Holloway. During every X Factor series all the judges have their own PR agents. Publicist Max Clifford represents Simon Cowell and recently revealed that Cowell wanted Dannii Minogue to stay on as an X Factor judge despite reports to the contrary. No one has officially commented on Cheryl's position on X Factor. Media stunt? Since Cole's very public departure from the US show, some have speculated that the whole scenario is a PR stunt, designed to increase interest in the show. The announcement about Cole's exit was leaked the same day as rival Simon Fuller's show, American Idol, revealed its winner. In a similar turn of events Louis Walsh was briefly replaced back in 2007 by choreographer Brian Friedman but after a media furore he returned to the panel.

एक्स फैक्टर के यूके संस्करण के लिए नए निर्णायक दल का अनावरण किया गया है और चेरिल कोल सूची से अनुपस्थित हैं, इस अटकलों के बावजूद कि वह अमेरिकी शो से अपने तेज और विवादास्पद प्रस्थान के बाद वापस आएंगी। तो सामने आने वाले एक्स फैक्टर नाटक में प्रमुख खिलाड़ी कौन हैं?


Transgender teens: Born in the wrong body

Summary: Transgender issues are in the spotlight now more than ever before.

Figures in the world of entertainment and sport, like American television personality, Caitlyn Jenner and boxing promoter Kellie Maloney have come out as transgender in a very public way. But what about children and teenagers in Northern Ireland facing the same journey? A new BBC Radio Ulster documentary explores why some young people believe they were born in the wrong body and the impact it can have on their families. 'Difficult journey' Andrew is 13 and just like any other teenager, except for one thing - he was born a girl. At the family home just outside Newry, Andrew told the BBC that he realised that he was a boy at about the age of 11. "I went through a bit of a hard time, my parents went into my school to tell my teachers, so everyone knew," he said. ""I cried because I had to wear a school skirt. I thought it was girly - it just wasn't me." Andrew has not had any surgery to change his body. Like all adolescents in the UK, he can not do that until he turns 18. 'Emotional turmoil' But Andrew looks like - and lives as - a boy. His Mum and Dad - Fiona and Ian - say they have known since he was young. "He never had to make a choice or a decision about this, it just was," they said. "It is a difficult journey because he is a teenager, but there was no real emotional turmoil for Andrew." Stephen McPherson's son, Conor, is further along his transgender journey than Andrew. Conor was born female but realised as a teenager that he identified as being male. Now a young adult, his parents have fully supported his decision to transition, but Stephen said it has been tough at times. 'Put on a face' "I personally don't feel I have lost anything because Conor is still here, but my wife was grieving for a daughter that was slowly disappearing," he said. "You are grieving for someone who is going to come home that day for their dinner, who is going to sit and chat with you - but you can't visibly grieve, you have to put on a face so your son knows that you are supporting him." Until 2014 there was no dedicated NHS service in Nothern Ireland for adolescents struggling with or questioning their gender identity. That changed when 'Knowing Our Identity' (KOI) was set up at Forster Green Hospital in south Belfast. Since then, 134 young people from across Northern Ireland have sought help from KOI - that's at least one person every week. Hormone blockers KOI manager Billie Hughes said the assessment process was long, detailed and about getting the individual "on the right path". Drugs known as hormone blockers, which delay puberty, can also be given to young people if they want it. "They do what they say," said Billie Hughes. "If it is girls, they block the oestrogen and if it is a male they block the testosterone. It stops things like body hair, breast development and periods." Billie Hughes added: "This kind of intervention can lead to more successful surgery and physical transition down the line." School One of the fears some parents have is how their transgender child will cope at school. How will teachers and students respond? Stormont's Department for Education published guidance in 2015. It is suggested that pupils be taught about gender identity issues in a "sensitive and non-confrontational way". However it is up to individual schools to decide if they want to raise the subject in classrooms. Ellen Murray from Genderjam NI, a group that supports young transgender people, said more needed to be done. 'Angry parents' "Schools could do with more guidance and statutory help from the Department for Education," she said. "Many of them are afraid that if they accommodate a young transgender person, then they will get angry parents on the phone." But not everyone agrees. Peter Lynas from the Evangelical Alliance says trangender people should be treated with compassion but he warns against telling schools and students what they should think. "We do need to talk about language (around transgender issues) but schools are in a very difficult position because they are being asked to affirm or deny somebody's identity," he said. "They are not really equipped to do that but nonetheless they are forced into it. I think that is problematic." The Future Whatever the moral, medical or educational debates around being transgender, for young people here who have transitioned it is about living a happy and authentic life. Stephen McPherson says his son Conor is where he is meant to be. An outgoing young man, with a fiancee, friends and family who support him. As for Andrew, he says he is happy and that life is much easier for him as a boy. Dad Ian has some concerns about his son's future but remains optimistic. "Our worry as parents is the world that Andrew will grow up in. Hopefully it will be more tolerant and knowledgeable about trans issues." Transgender Teens: Born in the wrong body airs on BBC Radio Ulster at 12:30 BST on Sunday

ट्रांसजेंडर मुद्दे अब पहले से कहीं अधिक सुर्खियों में हैं।


Business start-ups: where one door closes...

Summary: She smiles as she clutches the sustainable packaging of her ethically-sourced dog snacks. Chris, from East Kilbride, put her redundancy money, with some grant funding, into a new firm, Pawsitively Natural.

Douglas FraserBusiness and economy editor, Scotland She started by baking biscuits for one of her own dogs which has a sensitive stomach. She uses ingredients of a quality that humans could eat. Back by input from university nutritionists (one of three university collaborations), a key ingredient is seaweed sourced from the Isle of Lewis. This is hardly the highest-tech of products. The next Google it ain't. But it's not short of ambition. Chris reels off figures for the size of the dog snack market in Britain, and then starts talking billions of dollars in the US. That's where she wants to take the business. Such ambition is expected, if not required, among the 35 temporary residents now at the Entrpreneurial Spark, a 'hatchery' for business 'chicklets' in Glasgow, which is partnered with similar units in Ayrshire and Edinburgh, each mentored by one of Scotland's more successful entrepreneurs; Sir Willie Haughey, Sir Tom Hunter and Ann Gloag. They are conditioned into reeling off metrics for their markets. 'Go Do', goes the mantra. "Get comfortable with being uncomfortable." Although participants were given up to a year of free accommodation and the opportunity to network and learn from each other, as well as mentoring support, the pace of start-ups is being accelerated. From August, each successful applicant will have only five months, before being pushed out the nest. Spring in the step This story has become better known due to The Entrepreneurs, two TV documentaries recently broadcast on BBC Scotland, following several people taking part in the E-Spark process. The publicity has brought in a lot of applications for the next intake. And the mindset is becoming more familiar to more Scots, if the latest findings from Strathclyde Business School are any guide. Professor Jonathan Levie and his research team have been feeding Scottish data into a giant programme of measuring early-stage entrepreneurial activity across 27 countries. And until recently, it's been a fairly dismal experience. Two years ago, he was talking about 'a lost generation' through the low and declining level of business start-ups in Scotland. Scotland seemed stuck for keeps in the bottom quartile. This week, however, he's got a spring in his step. The story from Scotland is showing signs of turning round. It's into the second quartile, while some of its 'Arc of Prosperity' northern European role models have fallen behind. This is not sufficiently established to be a clear trend, but there have been a couple of years of heading in the right direction. And the 2012 figures look like an acceleration of that. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-22787173 Near necessities There is no definite explanation, but there are some pointers. Graduates are a significant part of the growth. And as the proportion of graduates in the population is itself rising, following university expansion over the past 25 years, there may be built-in growth to come. That's partly because university courses are encouraged to stimulate students to think in terms of striking out and setting up on their own. It is also an unfortunate truth that the graduate jobs market has been grim for years, and looks set to stay that way. Setting up in business is not only possible, but a near necessity for many. It's also being forced on many people who are being pushed out of salaried jobs, often with a reasonably generous pay-off, which - like Chris Louttit - they plough into the Next Thing. Don't assume they're all living their dreams. The anecdotal evidence is of many mid-career people struggling to make a go of the self-employed or freelance life, perhaps doing what they had already been doing. Companies can use them as and when they wish, as a means to flex their workforce. But that means it's a job without the security of regular employment. Productivity is poor. This is not an easy time to be carving a market niche. And it's striking how much the improvement in Scotland's approach to entrepreneurial activity is among those with little aspiration to grow firms and expand employment. Amid all this good news on business formation, the number of people wanting to grow firms and employ more people hasn't shifted much at all. Homecoming And then there are the migrants. These interest me, just as they are a focus of Professor Levie's work. He's a migrant into Glasgow himself, coming from Ireland. It's no surprise that migrants have more entrepreneurial nous than the stay-at-homes. They've got the get-up-and-got for them to have got up and gone. Making a new start is what they're all about, so a new start in business is natural territory. And there's not so much of a link between degree level education. In Scotland, you can easily see that Asian-Scots are no strangers to business formation. But it's clear from this research that incomers from within the UK are also much more likely to be setting up in business, or at least to be actively planning to do so. That's particularly true of those over 50. The reverse effect - of Scots with innovation and success in their sights, heading south of the Border - is also evident. And there's nothing new about that. But Professor Levie highlights his concern that those aged between 30 to 50 are particularly likely to have left, and he asks us to consider the question of what could be done to keep the 40,000 exiled Scots he reckons could be contributing to the Scottish economy. That's out of 733,000 people born in Scotland most recently counted living elsewhere in the UK. Contrasting his observation of Scotland with his experience of back home in Ireland, he says emigration is a trauma there. He talks of Irish mothers seeing it as their role to post details of local jobs to get their offspring back to the Emerald Isle. He says that virtually every village will have a Welcome Home Week, with events to entice the wandering Irish back home. Scotland's emphasis is on more on building a network of those with an affinity and a desire to be involved from a distance. The Homecoming in Scotland, in its second incarnation next year, seems aimed more at tourism spend by the settled diaspora of Scots, with dollars to burn rather than an itch to get back to put down roots in the old turf. Giant magnet But what if it were different? What about attracting back those 40,000 exiles? What would that take? In practical terms, the team at Strathclyde's Hunter School of Entrepreneurship suggest a better focus on growing firms, both in getting the right skills in place and the right finance. That means better exit routes for angel investors, to allow venture capital to step in and move the firm to the next level, while the angel investor returns to help with entry at the ground floor. They also talk about better connections, and mentoring by role models, all of which seems to me to be rather abundant - if you're not too backward about coming forward. And then there's that familiar London effect. Not only is it a giant magnet for people with ideas, skills and energy. But it also spins out business activities as they expand, as well as people looking for quality of life. Chris Louttit couldn't be happier, she says. After more than 20 years in an administrative role in the Crown Office, she took redundancy, and now she's living the dream.

वह मुस्कुराती है जब वह अपने नैतिक रूप से स्रोत कुत्ते के नाश्ते की स्थायी पैकेजिंग को पकड़ती है। ईस्ट किलब्राइड के क्रिस, कुछ अनुदान धन के साथ, अपने अनावश्यक धन को एक नई फर्म, पॉज़िटिवली नैचुरल में डाल देते हैं।


Scotland's 'lost' military names

Summary: There has been speculation military cuts could see the famous names of Scottish battalions - such as the Black Watch - dropped. Here the BBC website looks at some of Scotland's "lost" martial titles of the past.

Scots soldiers played a prominent role in the British Army during the American War of Independence. In his book, Patriot Battles, historian Michael Stephenson said: "They were to become perhaps the finest infantry in the war against America." He said the 71st Foot (Fraser's Highlanders) saw more action than any other British regiment, fighting skirmishes and in major battles. Its soldiers fought at the battles of New York 1776, Brandywine 1777 and in 1779 at Stony Point, Briar Creek and Savannah. Also, at Camden 1780 and Cowpens, Guildford Courthouse and Yorktown in 1781. The Lovat Scouts (Sharpshooters) were formed by Highland laird Lord Lovat in 1916 as an element of his Lovat Scouts, which were first raised for service in the Second Boer War. The sharpshooters were organised into nine observer groups, each made up of an officer and 20 men. Sent to France, they operated close to enemy positions and gathered intelligence on their strength and movements. Angus Fairrie, in his book Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons): An Illustrated History, said the sharpshooters were highly valued for their skills in reconnaissance. The historian said that after the end of World War I it was suggested an observer group should be attached to every British division. In World War II, the Lovat Scouts were posted to defend the Faroe Islands in 1940. While garrisoned on the north Atlantic islands, Uist-born scout Angus MacPhee took ill. Mr MacPhee was first sent home to the Western Isles, but his family later sought medical help and he was eventually admitted as a psychiatric patient at Craig Dunain hospital in Inverness. The former soldier, who died in 1997, said barely a word for 50 years and wove clothing and rope from grass and leaves. Each autumn Mr MacPhee would watch as his intricate and carefully put together items were swept up in the hospital's grounds and burned along with fallen leaves. Some of his work, including a pair of boots and a jacket, survived and he is celebrated in a mural on Crown Road in Inverness. The rest of Lovat Scouts returned to Scotland in 1942 to guard the Royal Family during stays at Balmoral. However, the scouts were eventually granted their wish to see action on the front line when they were sent to Italy in 1944. In 1945, they posted to Austria to hunt fleeing Nazi and SS soldiers. The scouts were disbanded in 1946. The Liverpool Scottish was raised to fight in the Second Boer War in 1900 and, at first, mainly recruited Scots living in the English city. In 1937, it became a territorial battalion of the Cameron Highlanders, based in Inverness. Its soldiers wore the Forbes tartan and saw action during World War I. The regiment later became part of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. Items connected to the Liverpool Scottish will be displayed at a revamped museum at historic Fort George, near Inverness. Actor Hugh Grant launched the public appeal to help raise funds for the museum renovation project in November 2010. His grandfather Col James Murray Grant, from Inverness, received the Distinguished Service Order for bravery during World War II. The Seaforth Highlander was depot commander at Fort George after the war. Grant's father Capt James Murray Grant also served with a Highlands regiment.

ऐसी अटकलें लगाई जा रही हैं कि सैन्य कटौती में स्कॉटिश बटालियनों के प्रसिद्ध नाम-जैसे ब्लैक वॉच-हटाए जा सकते हैं। यहाँ बीबीसी वेबसाइट स्कॉटलैंड के अतीत के कुछ "खोए हुए" युद्ध खिताबों को देखती है।


Profile: John Nettles

Summary: John Nettles, who has been appointed an OBE for services to drama, will always be associated with the character of Detective Sgt Jim Bergerac, an officer based on Jersey, whose family always seemed to have some sort of link to the crime he was investigating.

Born in 1943, he was adopted as baby and brought up in St Austell, Cornwall. His thirst for acting began while he was a history and philosophy student at Southampton University. He has had two stints at the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in productions of The Winter's Tale and Anthony and Cleopatra. But he will be forever associated with Bergerac and Midsomer Murders, series where crime seems to gravitate towards him. Bergerac was set in Jersey, and although the island provided an idyllic setting for the BBC drama, as Bergerac drove around its lush landscapes in a 1947 Triumph Roadster, it often dealt with darker issues, including the lead character's alcoholism. Reluctant heartthrob Bergerac was a boon to tourism on the Channel Islands, and Nettles even wrote books on the region, including Bergerac's Jersey and John Nettles' Jersey. At the peak of the show's popularity, its star became a reluctant heartthrob - with the News Of The World running the headline "All The Girls Want To Grasp Nettles". His female fans send letters that can be "eye-watering in their detail," he told the Daily Mail earlier this year. "I have one particularly excitable correspondent, in Norway, whose letters have become fruitier as the years have gone by," he noted. Bergerac ran from 1981 to 1991, after which Nettles rejoined the Royal Shakespeare Company, and took one-off roles in series including Boon and Heartbeat. He also published the semi-autobiographical book, Nudity In A Public Place, which talked with dry wit about his status as a "mini-celebrity". In the 1990s he was approached about appearing in another detective series, this time based on the Inspector Barnaby novels by Caroline Graham. It was set in and around the fictional county of Midsomer (Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire provided the real-life locations) which on the outside gave the appearance of being a quintessentially English region, but harboured a seemingly endless string of gruesome killings. Midsomer Murders, which began in 1997, has been a huge hit for ITV, and has sold around the world. Nettles recently announced he was quitting as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby at the end of 2010. However, the series will continue without him. Neil Dudgeon will step into the lead role as Tom Barnaby's cousin, DCI John Barnaby. When he finishes the Midsomer tenure, Nettles will have chalked up 75 episodes. "I never thought when we were filming the pilot, The Killings at Badger's Drift, in 1996 that I would go on to film so many episodes," he said. "I looked at David Jason when he said he was quitting A Touch Of Frost and I realised that with him giving up the mantle, I would be the oldest detective in the business. My final episode will be the 82nd. That's enough for anyone. "It has been a joy to be involved in such a long-running series, with so many good actors and great storylines." Nettles now lives in Evesham, Worcestershire, with his second wife, Cathryn Sealey. He has a daughter, Emma, from his first marriage.

जॉन नेटल्स, जिन्हें नाटक की सेवाओं के लिए ओ. बी. ई. नियुक्त किया गया है, हमेशा जासूस सार्जेंट जिम बर्गेरैक के चरित्र से जुड़े रहेंगे, जो जर्सी पर आधारित एक अधिकारी हैं, जिनके परिवार का हमेशा उस अपराध से किसी न किसी तरह का संबंध प्रतीत होता है जिसकी वे जांच कर रहे थे।


Glastonbury 2017: Great clean-up under way

Summary: Hours after the last chord sounded at Glastonbury the great clean-up has begun.

The festival was brought to a close by Ed Sheeran on the Pyramid Stage, just six years after his debut at one of the festival's smallest venues. He attracted a much younger audience than Friday and Saturday's headliners, Radiohead and Foo Fighters. There is no Glastonbury in 2018, meaning there are 731 days until Worthy Farm opens its gates again. Pictures from agencies

ग्लास्टनबरी में अंतिम राग बजने के कुछ घंटों बाद बड़ी सफाई शुरू हो गई है।


Body found during search for Stefan Sutherland

Summary: A body has been found during a search for a missing 25-year-old Caithness man Stefan Sutherland.

Police said the discovery was made by a member of the public on the shoreline near Occumster at about 12:17. A police spokesman said the body has not been indentified. Mr Sutherland's family has been informed. Mr Sutherland was reported missing from Lybster on 6 September. Police, search dogs and a mountain rescue team have been involved in searches for him.

लापता 25 वर्षीय कैथनेस मैन स्टीफन सदरलैंड की तलाश के दौरान एक शव मिला है।


Mechanical fault postpones Guernsey carton recycling

Summary: Islanders have been asked not to recycle cartons in Guernsey until next week.

Public Services said a mechanical fault had meant the carton banks around the island could not be emptied. The department said it was doing all it could to ensure the full recycling facility was back up and running as soon as possible. People have been asked to store their cartons until normal service has been resumed.

द्वीपवासियों को अगले सप्ताह तक ग्वेर्नसे में डिब्बों का पुनर्चक्रण नहीं करने के लिए कहा गया है।


Punished by axe: Bonded labour in India's brick kilns

Summary: India's economy is the 10th largest in the world, but millions of the country's workers are thought to be held in conditions little better than slavery. One man's story - which some may find disturbing - illustrates the extreme violence that some labourers are subjected to.

By Humphrey HawksleyBBC News Dialu Nial's life changed forever when he was held down by his neck in a forest and one of his kidnappers raised an axe to strike. He was asked if he wanted to lose his life, a leg or a hand. Six days earlier, Nial had been among 12 young men being taken against their will to make bricks on the outskirts of one of India's biggest cities, Hyderabad. During the journey, they got a chance to escape and ran for it - but Nial and a friend were caught and this was their punishment. Both chose to lose their right hands. Nial had to watch while the other man's hand was cut first. "They put his arm on a rock. One held his neck and two held his arm. Another brought down the axe and severed his hand just like a chicken's head. Then they cut mine. "The pain was terrible. I thought I was going to die," says Nial. Now free, and his injury healing, he is back home deep in the countryside of Orissa. There is no electricity or sanitation. Many of the villagers are illiterate. "I didn't go to school. When I was a child I tended cattle and harvested rice," Nial says, sitting on the earth outside the cluster of huts which are his family's home. It is from communities like this that people are liable to be drawn into a system known as bonded labour. Typically a broker finds someone a job and charges a fee that they will repay by working - but their wages are so low that it takes years, or even a whole lifetime. Meanwhile, violence keeps them in line. Activists and academics estimate that some 10 million bonded labourers are working in India's key industries, indirectly contributing to the profits of global Indian brands and multinationals that operate in the country and have helped to transform India into an economic powerhouse. Laid out beside Nial are a number of old plastic sacks. His family ekes out a living by unravelling them and turning the individual threads into binding cord. Awkwardly, Nial wedges a wooden spool of thread between his toes, and holds another in his remaining hand. His brother, Rahaso, sits next to him doing the same. Nial struggles to wind the cord, his brow creasing. His brother works quickly, outpacing him. Then the spool flips out of Nial's hand. Rahaso gives it back him. Disappointment and anger flood through Nial's face. It was in early December that Nilamber, a friend from a nearby village told Nial about a job in brick kiln for which he would supposedly get 10,000 rupees ($165; £98) up front. It was all being organised by one of Nilamber's neighbours, Bimal, who was trying out working as a broker. Nial, Nilamber, Bimal, and 10 others travelled by bus to meet the main contractor. "I knew he was a rich man. He had a motorcycle and wore a tie," says Nial. The contractor showed them the money, but took it straight back. They would not in fact get it up front, he said, but some time later. Nial nonetheless believed he would still be paid and agreed to work - although illegal, it meant he had technically taken the bond. The men were taken the next day to the railway station at Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgargh state. Then, instead of being sent on a short journey to a brick kiln as they had been promised, they discovered the train was heading 500 miles (800km) south to Hyderabad, a thriving city and a pillar of India's economic success. But some in the group had already heard stories about forced labour there, and got ready to rebel. When the train stopped at a station, all except Nial and Nilamber escaped. Instead of continuing to Hyderabad the contractor took them back to Raipur, spending some of the journey on his mobile phone, arranging their reception. "His henchmen were waiting for us," recalls Nial. "They held us and put their hands over our mouths to stop us shouting." At this point, Bimal slipped away. Nial and Nilamber were taken back to the contractor's house and held hostage. "They called our families telling them to pay money for our release," says Nial. "They beat us hard so my brother could hear me crying in pain down the phone." The contractor demanded that Nial pay him 20,000 rupees (US$330; £196) for his release but his family was unable to raise the money. He and Nilamber were held for five days. During the day they were made to work on the contractor's farm. In the evenings they were beaten. On the sixth day, his kidnappers were drinking heavily. The contractor and five of his men drove them to remote woodland. First they were held down and beaten. Then, they were made to kneel - and mutilated. "They threw my hand into the woods," he says. "I wrapped my left hand around my wound and held it tight. I squeezed it to stop the bleeding until the pain became too much and I released it. Then I had to grip it again." A basic survival instinct took over. They followed a stream to a village, where they were able to bind their wounds and cover them with a plastic bag. Then they took a bus to a nearby town to seek hospital treatment. Nial stiffens as he tells the story. Often he stops to gather his thoughts. He has now begun a two-year programme run by a charity, the International Justice Mission (IJM), to help him recover from his ordeal. As part of his rehabilitation, he joins a group of more than 150 people at a counselling session in Orissa - all of whom have been freed from bonded labour in the past few months, mostly in brick kilns. Among them are dozens of children. Most of the men have been badly beaten. There are women who have been raped, and two who were kicked in the stomach while pregnant - the husband of one was thrown to his death from a train. In a scene reminiscent of the era of slavery in the US, they sing about their troubles: "We will overcome our pain. We will be free," goes the chorus. For everyone, the first year of the programme is about re-learning how to express the most basic of human emotions. "They have been bought and traded as property and that is how they see themselves," explains Roseann Rajan, a counsellor with IJM. "They don't know how to show emotions. They can't smile or frown or express grief." Activists argue that the Indian government's failure to protect people from forced labour, kidnapping, and other crimes amounts to a serious abuse of citizens' rights. "There are deep-rooted problems of business-related human rights abuse in India," says Peter Frankental, Economic Relations Programme Director of Amnesty International UK. "Much of that involves the way business is conducted, an unwillingness to enforce laws against companies, and fabricated charges and false imprisonment against activists who try to bring these issues to light." The Confederation of Indian Industries instructs companies to follow Indian law, which has banned bonded labour since 1976. But the IJM says the courts do little to punish those who break the law, as it takes about five years to bring a case to court and even then a broker or brick kiln owner often gets away with a $30 (£18) fine. Under UN guidelines introduced in 2011, multinationals operating in India also bear responsibility for any abuse of workers all the way down their supply chains. Most say they are fully committed to upholding human rights and the UN guidelines. But campaigners say they know of no big company operating in India that guarantees its buildings are constructed from legally-made bricks. Because each brick kiln moulds a unique logo on to its bricks, it would be possible to trace them back to their origins. Slavery in the supply chain Britain's biggest trade union, Unite, describes the use of bonded labour in India as a scandal - and says it will start monitoring companies that might be using slavery in their supply chains. "It's been going on for too long and must stop now," says general secretary Len McCluskey. Britain encourages companies to invest in India - it has launched a record £1bn ($1.7bn) credit line for those involved in Indian infrastructure contracts - but advises them to incorporate human rights protection into their operations. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) last month introduced a tough, legally-binding protocol against forced labour, saying it was an "an abomination which still afflicts our world of work". Its 185 member states will incorporate the protocol into their national laws. Many in government, meanwhile, deny that bonded labour exists. The Labour Commissioner for Andra Pradesh - the state of which Hyderabad is the capital - told me in December he could give me a 100% guarantee that there was no bonded labour on his territory. "There's no such thing," said Dr A Ashok. He cited the brick kilns in Ranga Reddy just outside Hyderabad as a model for the industry. But many of those on Nial's rehabilitation programme have just come from there. Each has a government-stamped certificate stating they have been freed from bonded labour. Unusually, arrests have been made in connection with Nial's kidnapping and the suspects are in custody. Bimal, the villager who first recruited them, was arrested and has been released on bail. We find him walking through flat scrubland, peppered with trees, past broken fences and wooden huts. Married with two children, and six years older than Nial, he carries himself with far more confidence. It's true he recruited Nial, he says, but he denies any involvement in kidnappings and beatings. "It wasn't only my mistake - we all made the decision to go. I want to apologise and meet Dialu [Nial] again so we can live together as neighbours," says Bimal. Nial, though, rejects any idea of reconciliation. "Jail isn't good enough for them. They should be hanged," he says. His hopes for the future? "I really want to get married and have a family of my own." But with that, his face darkens again. He glances down and covers his stump with his shirt sleeve. In his culture, with his severed hand, finding a wife and starting a family will be very difficult indeed. He shakes his head sadly. "Of course, I can never forgive them." Photographs by Dominic Hurst Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

भारत की अर्थव्यवस्था दुनिया में 10वीं सबसे बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्था है, लेकिन माना जाता है कि देश के लाखों श्रमिकों को गुलामी से कुछ बेहतर परिस्थितियों में रखा गया है। एक व्यक्ति की कहानी-जो कुछ लोगों को परेशान कर सकती है-कुछ मजदूरों द्वारा की जाने वाली चरम हिंसा को दर्शाती है।