Obesity or Smoking, which is costing the world more?

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The worldwide cost of obesity is about the same as smoking or armed conflict and greater than both alcoholism and climate change, research has suggested.

The McKinsey Global Institute said it cost £1.3tn, or 2.8% of annual economic activity - it cost the UK £47bn.
Some 2.1bn people - about 30% of the world's population - were overweight or obese, the researchers added.
They said measures that relied less on individual responsibility should be used to tackle the problem.
Lost output
The report said there was a "steep economic toll", and the proportion could rise to almost half of the world's population by 2030.
The financial costs of obesity are growing - for health care and more widely in the economy. By causing illness, obesity results in working days and output lost.
The researchers argued that a range of ambitious policies needed to be considered and a systemic rather than piecemeal response was essential.

What is obesity?

The report said the right measures could save the UK's NHS £760m a year

A person is considered obese if they are very overweight with a high degree of body fat.
The most common way to assess if a person is obese is to check their body mass index (BMI), which divides your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared.
If your BMI is above 25 you are overweight. A BMI of 30-40 is considered obese, while above 40 is very obese. A BMI of less than 18.5 is underweight.
Where are you on the global BMI scale?

"These initiatives would need to draw on interventions that rely less on individual responsibility and more on changes to the environment," the report said.
If the right measures were taken there could be long-term savings of £760m a year for the UK's National Health Service, it added.
The initiatives assessed in the report include portion control for some packaged food and the reformulation of fast and processed food.
'Crisis proportions'
It said these were more effective than taxes on high-fat and high-sugar products or public health campaigns. Weight management programmes and workplace fitness schemes were also considered.
The report concluded that "a strategy of sufficient scale is needed as obesity is now reaching crisis proportions".
The rising prevalence of obesity was driving the increase in heart and lung disease, diabetes and lifestyle-related cancers, it said.

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England (PHE), said: "The report is a useful contribution to the obesity debate. PHE has consistently said that simple education messages alone are not enough to tackle obesity."
Dr Tedstone said obesity required action across national and local government, industry and society as a whole, and there was "no single silver bullet solution".

The report was produced by McKinsey Global Institute, the business and economics research arm of consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.

Rape of a three-year old.

Listless and silent, three-year-old Neelofar lies in the arms of her grandmother in the back of a taxi speeding towards the Afghan capital Kabul.

A plastic tube protrudes from her body.
One hand is wrapped in a bandage where an intravenous drip had been inserted at her local hospital in the north.
Neelofar is in a critical condition after being raped and urgently needs specialist medical treatment which she can only get in the capital.
The car descends the winding, mountainous road from the Salang tunnel onto the Shomali plain on the last leg of the gruelling eight-hour drive to Kabul.
A few days earlier she had been playing with her friends outside her home when a man picked her up and carried her to a nearby garden.
According to her family and medical staff, he gagged, raped and then it seems, tried to murder her.

Badly injured in the attack, the young girl is being treated in hospital.

"He was suffocating her, trying to take her life away because he was afraid," said Monija, a doctor who treated her in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
"There are several marks on her neck."

Father's journey

Neelofar's father and mother were both away at the time.
By chance, the family says, another man happened to walk past the garden and heard noises.
He found Neelofar bleeding and took her to the village mosque.
The police have arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with the case.
He is allegedly a neighbour and known to the family.
At the time, Neelofar's father, Abdul, was on the eighth day of a marathon journey to the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas where he had hoped to find work.

The girl's father fears the authorities will not ensure the man responsible is prosecuted.

A large section of the journey had been on foot.
Afghan colleagues told him they had heard rumours of an incident in his village and when he called home, his worst fears were confirmed.
He turned round and began the long journey to Kabul.
Exhausted, hungry and thirsty - he had not eaten for days - he told me his daughter's life was now over.
In this male-dominated and segregated society, rape victims are viewed as outcasts, even as prostitutes.
Marriage is almost impossible and a sense of shame hangs over the entire family.
But Abdul also fears that because they are poor, the authorities will not take the case seriously and ensure the man responsible is prosecuted.
"The president is not listening to people who are poor and don't have money," he said.
"If the government does not give me my rights based on Sharia and Afghan law, I will bring my other six children and kill them in front of the presidential palace and I will leave Afghanistan. My wife and mother also say they will kill themselves."

The case has shocked even women's rights campaigners, such as Najia Nassim.

"Are the children of poor people like dogs, so nobody cares about them?" he added.
The local police insist they will bring the case to court as quickly as possible and are calling for the person found guilty of the rape to face the death penalty.

Widespread problem

The rape of three-year-old Neelofar is just one of several attacks on young Afghan children which have come to light so far this month.
But Neelofar's case has been particularly shocking.
"I have never heard of a three-year-old being raped by a man before," says Najia Nassim, country director of the NGO Women For Afghan Women.
"I cannot express how upset I was when I looked at the pictures. She is such a little girl.
"You cannot call the man [who did this] a human being."
Child rape is a widespread problem in Afghanistan.

Lawyer Benafsha Efaf says it is better the case is heard in Kabul so the man is properly punished.

But women's rights campaigners are encouraged by the fact that more cases are now coming to light instead of being hidden away because of the perceived shame it brings on the victim and family.
In what is being seen as another important development, a Muslim cleric or Mullah was given a 20-year prison sentence and a fine of $26,000 last month for raping a young girl in northern Afghanistan.
He was convicted by a court in Kabul even though the attack had taken place in Kunduz province.
The girl - as has now happened with Neelofar - had been brought to a hospital in the capital, which also ensured the trial was held in the city.
Human rights' lawyers feared the cleric might get off lightly in his home province.
"If the case had been heard in Kunduz, he might have been sentenced to 80 lashes and then freed," says Benafsha Efaf, a lawyer with the NGO Women for Afghan Women, which was involved in bringing the case to court.
"But 80 lashes for what he had done would have been nothing, it would not have been justice, nowhere near so.
"That is why we wanted the trial in Kabul."

Victims of rape face being shunned by their communities.

After the long, gruelling journey from her home to the capital, Neelofar is now being treated at a well-equipped children's hospital where she has already had an operation.
Doctors are hopeful she will survive her injuries.
But it is not clear if she will ever be able to return to her village because of the stigma of being raped.
When she recovers, she could stay at one of several children's shelters around the country where some rape victims are being looked after and given an education.
A girl at a shelter in Kabul is now doing so well in class that she is planning to become a doctor.

She is the only girl from her village who has learned to read and write.

A policeman's head per day

Pakistan's police are on the front line battling the Taliban. Not just in the remote north of the country, near the border with Afghanistan, but in Karachi, the country's economic and cultural heart.

Five months ago the Taliban staged an audacious attack. Ten heavily armed men dressed as security guards stormed the cargo terminal of Pakistan's busiest airport, in Karachi, aiming to hijack aircraft. In a prolonged overnight battle most of the militants were shot and the rest blew themselves up. Altogether, at least 28 people died.
Karachi Police are fighting back against the Taliban by trying to root out militants hiding in the city suburbs, but it's dangerous work. Out of 15,000 police officers in the city, on average one dies every day.
"They are not pious. They are common criminals," says Ijaz, a senior officer in Karachi Police Criminal Investigation Department.
"They generate money from drug sales, extortion and kidnap to fund their war. Any crime you can think of the Taliban is involved in. You will find them in gambling dens, with liquor bottles and they often use the services of prostitutes."
Ijaz is in his early 30s but he has the look of much older man. When I walk into his office, he's enveloped in a cloud of thick smoke. He always seems to have a phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
"It's easy to fight them in the north of Pakistan because there is a clear target," he says. "But in a city like Karachi it's very difficult because there are more than 70 splinter groups… and you don't know who your enemy is. We are in a real war."

There were reports of at least two huge blasts during Jinnah International Airport attack in June

Fire fighters at the smouldering cold-storage facility after the attack on the airport

For more than a decade Pakistan's economic capital has been plagued by politically motivated targeted killings but now all the parties have a common enemy in the Taliban, who turn its ethnic diversity to their advantage.
"They hide in the slums where no one raises an eyebrow if you are Pathan or Punjabi or from the tribal areas," Ijaz says. "You can come from any part of Asia and no one will look at you twice. You can go completely undetected."

Ijaz and his team of 25 heavily armed officers carry out regular night raids in some of these hiding places, which have fast become no-go areas for other police units, especially after sunset.

I ask if I can accompany them and I'm told to be patient. Then suddenly one night after dinner my phone beeps. The message reads: "Raid tonight - I'll pick you up at 23:45. I have bullet proofs for you."
When we set off Ijaz explains that we're on our way to the house of a suspected handler of suicide bombers. Police believe he is responsible for taking them to the places where they blow themselves up.
Soon the bright lights of central Karachi are far behind us. We drive past buildings which look like empty shells and I can see swirls of dust in our headlights. Ijaz tells me his force often carries out multiple raids between 1am and 4am in crowded, run-down neighbourhoods. In some, locals have to pay protection money to the Taliban and outsiders can't move around freely.
"There are hideouts, there are sympathisers and there might be weapons so we need to be careful," says Ijaz.

The wreckage after a car bomb attack targeting a senior police officer in Karachi in September

But as our cavalcade of five vehicles bumps off the main road and drives noisily down a dirt track I can't help thinking that our approach is anything but discreet.
Ijaz explains that when we arrive, some officers will use ladders to go up the walls of the two-storey house, while others search the premises. "In the meantime our drivers will be turning around our vehicles so we don't have to wait for even a few seconds. When we arrest someone we get out of the area as fast as possible."
Eventually the car screeches to a halt and Ijaz puts on a mask. Police are routinely targeted by Taliban-affiliated groups.
A couple of officers shine torch lights into the courtyard to see if there's anyone awake. A policeman with a gun is climbing over the fence while another hammers on the door.
Moments later a sleepy looking man in a vest is brought out of the house. Police ask him his father's name then bundle him into the car and drive back to the station.

Policing Karachi

• The police in Karachi are stretched, with 15,000 active officers in a city of more than 20 million people
• On average, one police officer a day is killed on duty
• The judicial process is very slow - in the 12 months since September 2013, police in Karachi have filed 322 terrorism cases and 115 cases of kidnap for ransom but none of these have come to trial yet

In Ijaz's heavily armed compound, there are always suspected Taliban members being held for questioning. He is open about the use of what he calls "arm twisting". He admits waterboarding is sometimes used, and I spot a taser gun in his hand although I do not witness him using it.
"You can't present a suspect with a bouquet and ask him to tell the truth," he argues. "You can't say, 'I'll give you a Snickers bar if you tell me the truth,' because they are not kids, they are hardened criminals and they need to be treated like this."
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, however, takes a different view. It has accused the Karachi police of torturing people in custody and even carrying out extrajudicial executions.
I am not permitted to speak to the man police have just picked up but Ijaz does later allow me to speak to another Taliban suspect.

The man brought in has sweat dripping down his neck, but he's not nervous - in fact he tells me he wants to talk. He's wearing handcuffs, and a blindfold designed to keep me and the police safe from reprisals.
It's impossible to know how honestly he will answer my questions, especially as Ijaz is standing over him in the windowless interrogation room wielding a cane.
But he seems eager to tell me what he's done.
"I prepare boys for suicide missions. We get teenagers, 13 or 17 years old. We give them passion for violent jihad and tell them they should sacrifice themselves for their religion," he says.
"I've planted bombs in this city. I can put a bomb in a car, a rickshaw or a cement block. I've killed 20 or maybe 25 people in these attacks. When I see the news about people dying, it makes me happy because these people are hypocrites. I can use guns too. I've killed four or five policemen too. I use a 9mm pistol."

Police officers in Karachi attending the funeral of one of their colleagues

The prisoner is chillingly clear when it comes to his motivation for carrying out such attacks. "These people are partners of America. They are all hypocrites. The police, the army, they are all partners of America."
When I point out that murder, extortion and selling drugs are all explicitly un-Islamic, he retorts: "We have to pay for guns and bullets. Do you think these things are free? Our leader has said these things are OK because we are at war. We are fighting a holy war."
It's impossible to know whether he is speaking honestly or if he sees our conversation as an opportunity for Taliban propaganda.
Later, I hear that he has been charged with murder and conspiring against the state. When his case will come to court is hard to predict, but it's unlikely to be soon as Pakistan's judicial system is notoriously slow.
In the 12 months from the start of September 2013 to the end of August this year not a single terrorism case resulted in a conviction.
Ijaz says this has a demoralising effect on his colleagues.
"Witnesses are fearful for their lives. Testifying in court against the Taliban is a risk that many people are just not willing to take," he says. "We also have a real lack of resources in terms of phone-tapping and forensic evidence. It can often take 10 years or more for a case to go through the courts. Justice delayed can often be justice denied."
But Ijaz himself remains motivated.

"We will not be bullied by these terrorists," he says. "That is the moral victory. We will gain physical victory one day, inshallah."

Source :BBC

Murderer getting married in the prison

Manson's death sentence for the 1969 murders was later commuted after California banned the death penalty

American mass murderer Charles Manson, 80, has reportedly been granted a licence to marry a 26-year-old woman who has been visiting him in prison.

The marriage licence was issued 10 days ago for Manson and Afton Elaine Burton, the Associated Press reports.
Ms Burton moved to Corcoran, California, nine years ago in order to be nearer Manson's prison, it adds.
Manson is serving a life sentence for the murders of seven people and one unborn child in Los Angeles in 1969.
Their victims included pregnant actress Sharon Tate, wife of film director Roman Polanski.
Ms Burton, who calls herself Star, told AP that she and Manson would marry next month. The licence is reportedly valid for 90 days.
"Y'all can know that it's true... It's going to happen," she told the agency.
"I love him," she added.
The cult leader and his followers, known as the Manson Family, stabbed and shot seven people in Los Angeles over two nights in August 1969 in an attempt to start a race war.
Manson and three women accomplices were sentenced to death for the killings, but that was commuted in 1972 when California temporarily outlawed the death penalty.
In 2012, Manson was refused parole by a Californian prison panel - it was the 12th time he had made a bid for freedom.

He is not eligible to apply for parole again until 2027.

Source:BBC

Over 6,000 illegal borders used in arms smuggling –DG, NATFORCE

Director General of the National Taskforce on Illegal Importation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NATFORCE ), Mr. Osita Okereke has revealed that more than 6,000 illegal borders are currently being used to smuggle dangerous weapons into the country.

Mr. Osita while speaking with Sunday Sun, equally hinted that the task force was willing to partner with security operatives in providing adequate security across various borders in the country.
The former presidential candidate on the platform of African Liberation Party (ALP), while commenting on the current security challenges, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to check the allegiance of his security chiefs and advisers in the wake of attacks in the North-east.
He alleged that security chiefs and those advising President Jonathan on security matters might have been sabotaging him.
“It is an atrocity for security agents to sabotage the efforts of the President. We have the capacity to solve 60 per cent of the security problems in Nigeria. We are one of the agencies that can sanitize the system.
“Elections are approaching and we will be available to ensure we conduct free and fair elections. We will monitor elections and ensure that peace reigns. As for us, we will adopt President Jonathan,” he said.
While assuring that members of Importers Association of Nigeria where he serves as its president would support President Jonathan for his re-election, the president of the association said that the President deserves a second term to consolidate on the good work he is doing.

Santa beard breaks health and safety rules

 Bah humbug council bans taxi driver's Santa beard because it breaks health and safety rules

Dave Leonard wanted to dress up as Father Christmas to raise money for the hospice where his mum ded

• 

Bah humbug: Taxi driver David Leonard of Barnsley who has hit out after being told he can't wear his Santa beard

A taxi driver has been banned by his council from dressing as Santa to raise money for charity because a false white beard would break health and safety rules.
Kind Dave Leonard, 43, was stunned when the council said no to his scheme to make cash for the hospice where his mum died.
Although lights, baubles and his Santa suit were allowed, his council in Barnsley, South Yorks, drew the line at the beard as he wouldn’t match his ID card.
Council bosses explained it would stop people being able to identify the dad-of-three and wouldn’t match his ID card.
The dad-of-three, of Hoyland, South Yorks, said: “There are strict rules and I understand they have to be.

Getty

Real thing: Father Christmas

“But the one thing I thought they would allow was Santa’s beard. I have had to grow my own, which isn’t as good. Mine is dark.”
Councillor Roy Miller said: “Barnsley Council fully supports Mr Leonard in his fundraising efforts, and congratulates him on the amount of money he has raised previously for good causes.
"Safety of the public is our paramount concern.”
Last year married Dave, a cabbie for the last 20 years, raised £765 with just a bucket collection and was this Christmas aiming to top the £2,500 mark.
The festive fundraiser can be seen driving around in his eight-seated bus decked out with Christmas lights, garlands of flowers, snowmen and reindeer.

Source:Mirror

Woman slices penis with knife

 Mum who sliced teenager's penis with knife after accusing him of molesting her toddler son, is spared jail

Bonita Vela reportedly told him that he would "have to choose his life or his penis" during the attack

• 

Vela held the man with two men in a mo

A mum who sliced her daughter's teenage boyfriend's penis with a knife after accusing him of molesting her toddler son, has been spared jail.
Bonita Vela attacked the 18 year-old with a box cutter while she and two men held him for three hours in a mobile home on December 28, 2013.
She wrongly alleged he had attacked her two year old child and reportedly told him that he would "have to choose his life or his penis."
She told him if he didn't have anything to hide "then he should let her cut him and that regardless of what happened he was to leave and never come back," the police report said.

Google Street View

Attack: The teenager was held by Vela and three men in a mobile home in Franklin, Indiana

The 36 year-old pleaded guilty to confinement and battery at court.
She was sentenced to 10 months home detention with an ankle bracelet, and six months probation and anger management counselling, the Daily Journal reports.
She claimed she had only wanted to frighten the teenager during the attack, in Franklin, Indiana, and that he was cut as he attempted to knock the knife out of her hand.
Vela admitted her "suspicions developed after she had been smoking marijuana," the Indianapolis Star reports.
The teenager told police he did not touch the child. He did not seek a prison sentence for Vela so long as she acknowledged her crime.

Man pierced through in the head by a wooden steak

 WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Kamil Podwinski amazed nurses by walking into the A&E ward without moaning but with a 15-inch spear sticking all the way through his head

Splitting headache: The unlcuky man told nurses he slipped while doing renovations and landed face first on a wooden 'spear'

A man was just inches from death after he fell and speared his face on a wooden steak.
Hospital staff at a Polish A&E ward were stunned when Kamil Podwinski WALKED into the medical centre asking for help with the 15-inch piece of wood stuck right through his head.
The 40-year-old man told nurses he was working on his house in Konin when he slipped and fell face first onto a sharp piece of wood.
According to the New York Post, the wooden steak entered Mr Podwinski’s face just below his eye socket and came out through the back of his neck.
Fire crews had to be called out for backup when baffled hospital staff feared they would not be able to get the piece of wood out of the man without causing further injury.
Fire service spokesman Sebastian Andrzejewski said: “We got a call asking us to help remove a piece of wood from a man’s face.
“When we arrived, it was sticking out at quite an angle and took quite a bit of effort to shorten it without causing further damage.
“It wasn’t a case of just snapping off the end. It was tricky, but we managed it and he didn’t complain or seem worried at all.”
The wooden spear was so large that nurses were unable to x-ray Mr Podwinksi as he could not fit in the machine properly, so he was transferred to a different hospital in Poznan.
Remarkably, Mr Podwinski was reported to have stayed calm throughout the entire ordeal and the spike was removed without any trouble.
A hospital spokesman said: “We were able to remove it and the man is now recovering. It’s a miracle it didn’t take the eye out or cause serious damage.”

Source:Mirror

Man eating tigers

Five hundred Bengal tigers live in the largest mangrove forest on earth, situated on the border of India and Bangladesh. But so do more than a million humans. Every year the tigers attack up to 60 people, and only half survive to tell the tale.

Nothing strikes more fear into the hearts and minds of the people of the Sundarbans - the vast river delta on the northern shore of the Bay of Bengal - than the word "tiger". Even the mention of this word can send villagers into a blind panic.
Eager to catch a glimpse of a tiger, I asked a passing fisherman if he had seen one on his travels that morning. Up to that point he had been happy to pass time with me - but immediately he packed up his crabs and left without a word.
"If you talk about the tiger, it will come," said my boatman. "That is why."
There is hardly a person here whose life hasn't been touched by a tiger in some way.

Some areas are more prone to attacks than others. Between 2006 and 2008 several people were killed in Joymoni, a small village on the banks of the Pashur river, bordering the forest. In one of the attacks, a tiger burst through the bamboo walls of a hut in the middle of the night, and snatched an 83-year-old woman. Her son, Krisnopodo Mondol, who was in his late 60s at the time, heard her screams.

A hungry-looking tiger cub crosses into the mangroves in the Sundarbans in August 2014

"I opened the door and ran to my mother's bed. But my mother was not there," he says. "All I saw was the empty bed. I couldn't find her anywhere. I opened the door to the veranda and in the moonlight I saw my mother. She was badly injured lying on the ground, her clothes strewn around her."
Tears stream down Krisnopodo's face. At one point he is so overcome with grief, he can't talk. He fetches a picture of his mother from the wall and looks at it with disbelief. Then he continues.
"The tiger attacked my mother in the left side of her head. Her skull was broken. She was still breathing but senseless." Before long, she died.
"On my deathbed, I'll still remember my mother that night," Krisnopodo says. "When I recall that accident, I cannot hold back my tears. I can still hear that sad scream."

Huts in the area are made with mud, leaves and bamboo

Shortly after the attack, Krisnopodo and his wife moved to a concrete house a short distance away from Joymoni, where he now makes a living by drying coconut in his garden, fenced off from the world.
Most people in the Sundarbans rely on the forest and the river for food and earn money by collecting wild honey and fishing. Although it's illegal, many go into protected areas - the Sundarbans is a Unesco World Heritage site - to cut firewood and poach animals, and it's this that brings them into direct conflict with the tiger. This summer two people were killed in separate incidents while fishing for crabs.
In 1997, Jamal Mohumad went into the forest to hunt and fish for food - and found himself in competition with a bigger and more ferocious hunter.

"The tiger lunged at me with its paws. It dug its claws into my legs and dragged me under the water. I struggled under the water and dived down about 10 feet under the water. The tiger let go of me. I swam deep under water as fast as I could. After a while, when I reached the surface of the water, I couldn't see the tiger. I swam down the river for a bit and saw a boat and cried out for help."

Jamal is a local legend in the Sundarbans. He's the only person anyone knows who's survived three separate tiger attacks.
In the most recent, in 2007, he'd gone to the forest looking for firewood, when, in the tall grass by the side of the river, he spotted a tiger lying in sun.
"The tiger was on the north side of the river and I was on the south side. I couldn't run. I knew if the tiger saw me he would attack so I said a prayer."
The tiger stalked Jamal. Frozen, Jamal stood his ground. He knew that if he turned to run he would be done for.
"Because I had been attacked twice before I was more conscious about what to do. So I stood in front of the tiger and made mad faces at it and lots of noise.
"The tiger also fears humans, you know. Both can attack each other and it is dangerous for both parties."
The tiger came to within a metre of where Jamal was standing and let out a huge roar. Jamal roared back.

Jamal Mohumad has survived three separate tiger attacks

"I roared and roared at the tiger and made the scariest faces I could. It went on for about half an hour until my throat was bleeding."
Jamal's wife heard the noise and fetched a crowd from the village.
"They made so much noise, they scared the tiger off. When I saw my friends from the village, I collapsed."
Unlike many villagers who've been attacked, Jamal still goes to the forest - but he is more cautious now.
"I always see the tiger in my dreams and when I go into the forest there is a deep fear within me that the tiger is watching me and might attack me again. But I have to go the forest to ensure foods for my children. It's only for them that I have to face the tiger again and again."

A tiger cub print in the mud

The tigers in the Sundarbans appear to be more aggressive than those in other parts of the world. It is not fully understood why this should be - some suggest it might be the high salinity of the water.
But the most likely cause is depletion of their natural habitat and a shortage of prey. With a million people living on the fringes of the mangrove forest, food scarcity is a problem for humans and tigers alike, with each poaching the other's prey.
In one village studied by conservationists, tigers were found to kill about 80 domestic animals a year - dogs, goats, buffalo and cows. As a result, villagers carried out several attacks on tigers in retribution. To stop this, in 2008 local conservation groups rolled out 49 Tiger Village response teams.
Each team of volunteers is responsible for dealing with tigers that stray into villages. Rather than kill the animal, villagers scare it back into the forest by brandishing flaming torches and setting off firecrackers. If this fails they have a number to call to get a swat team on the ground with a tranquilliser to sedate the tiger so that it can be taken back to the forest.

Indian forest workers release a rescued tiger into the river in the Sundarbans forest in 2008

Nonetheless, retaliatory attacks still happen. In December 2013 a group of villagers living near Ghagra Mari forest station tracked down a tiger and killed it after it had attacked and killed a human.
The idea that tigers might one day become extinct is hard for local people to grasp. A fisherman, Deban Mandal, looks at me suspiciously when I put this to him. "How could such a fierce animal possibly be at risk of dying out?" he asks.
Have I not heard the beating heart of a tiger? I confess I have not. He throws back his head and laughs. "I have heard a tiger's heart, and it's stronger than mine."
Deban was on his way to the Kultoli Khal area of the Sundarbans to fish. The fishermen pulled their boat to the shore shortly before dawn.

Fishermen often have to get into the water - and tigers are strong swimmers

The tide was low and they made their way into one of the many muddy rivulets that lead into the forest. Everything was completely silent. Just the sound of their footsteps among the mangrove roots.

I have heard a tiger's heart, and it's stronger than mine”

 Deban Mondol Tiger attack survivor

Deban went down to the edge of the rivulet and said a prayer. It was just after sunrise and the mist was rising off the still water. Stepping forward into the silky mud he laid down his net. At that moment, from out of nowhere, a tiger flew at him.

"Its roar was so loud it was like a thunder to me," he says, imitating the sound of the animal.
"I was completely helpless. With the weight of the tiger, I thought I would fall, so I grabbed hold of his torso and laid my head against his chest. I could hear the tiger's heart thumping so fast. I just clung on with my ear to its chest. I could feel its breath on my head, as it tried to attack me."

Deban Mandal recounts the attack, which happened when he was out fishing

He looks at me, his eyes wide as he recounts the event.
"I thought if I could keep holding on, it would not be able to bite me. But it thrashed from side to side and eventually I toppled over and it bit me here on my neck. I was sure I would not live any more."
One of the fishermen climbed up a tree, but another came to Deban's rescue.
"One of the guys came up with an axe or something long, maybe a piece of wood, and hit its head. When it was hit, the tiger released me and ran away."

The tiger is ferocious - he eats people for his lunch”

Sukumar Mondol Tiger attack survivor

He shows me the scars on his neck - I can see clear puncture marks.

"When I see a tiger now, I'm filled with fear. When our boss asks us to visit the other side of the river, I tell him if the tiger sees me, it will certainly catch me. He tells me: 'Why would it catch you?' I tell him it secretly watches me from the jungle, I know if I go, it will find me."
Another villager, Sukumar Mondol, suffered far more serious physical injuries. His face is lopsided, he can no longer see or hear clearly and speaks with a lisp.
"I was sitting down on the bank of the river when I heard the tiger roar." he says. "Within a minute, it was on me. He attacked me over and over with his paws. My hand was completely dislocated." He shows me his hand, which has long white lines, where the scarred skin dimples his palm.
"The tiger was biting my head. I felt I was dying. I thought there was no way I could survive the attack. Nobody could save me." The tiger was nine feet long not counting the tail, he says.
"Then a woman came to rescue me and saved my life. She hit the tiger with a stick once with her full strength," he says. They covered Sukumar's wounds with a towel and took him by boat to Chalna, 10km (six miles) away, from where he travelled another 50km (31 miles) to hospital in Khulna.

Sukumar Mondol shows how the tiger took his head in its mouth

Sukumar is lucky to be alive. He spent several weeks in hospital and can no longer work.
"From 27 July, 2011, I have not been back to the forest. The tiger is ferocious. He eats people for his lunch. We live in his territory. It is his area. By the help of God I survived the attack. By his blessing I am alive."

Thought control machine

Swiss scientists believe experiment, where volunteers were wired up to a machine that read their brainwaves, could lead to mind-operated implants for treating disease

Luke Skywalker strikes a protective pose behind Princess Leia in the 1977 series opener Star Wars 

Luke Skywalker mastering the mysterious "Force" in Star Wars has come a step closer to reality after an experiment where thought control was successfully used to switch on a gene and generate protein in an electronic chip.

Scientists believe the bizarre experiment, in which volunteers were wired up to a machine that read their brainwaves, could lead to mind-operated implants for treating disease.

The Swiss researchers compared the study to Luke Skywalker's power. They were inspired by the game Mindflex, in which players wearing headsets use their brainwaves to "thought control" a small ball through an obstacle course by operating a fan.

In the experiment, volunteers wore brainwave-recording headsets linked to an electrical current generator.

By thinking in a certain way, they were able wirelessly to turn on the gene chip, causing it to emit near infra-red LED light.

This activated light-sensitive cells in the chip, triggering a cascade of signals and switching on the gene for a marker protein called SEAP (secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase).

Implanted into mice, the chip released the protein into the animals' bloodstreams.
Lead scientist Professor Martin Fussenegger, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, said: "For the first time, we have been able to tap into human brainwaves, transfer them wirelessly to a gene network and regulate the expression of a gene depending on the type of thought. Being able to control gene expression via the power of thought is a dream that we've been chasing for over a decade."
To regulate the amount of released protein, participants were asked to adopt three different states of mind - bio-feedback, meditation and concentration.
Those who were concentrating on playing a computer game produced average levels of SEAP in the mice. But when completely relaxed, in the meditation state, they generated very high amounts of the protein.
For the bio-feedback test, volunteers watched the chip's LED light up in the body of a mouse and were consciously able to switch it on or off with their thoughts. This was reflected by varying amounts of SEAP in the animal.
The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
Thought-controlled implants may one day be used to combat neurological diseases such as chronic headache, back pain and epilepsy, said Prof Fussenegger.
The implants would work by detecting specific brainwaves at an early stage and triggering the production therapeutic agents at just the right time.

Source:Telegraph 

How does it feel to be 'eaten alive' by anaconda?

A WILDLIFE filmmaker who claims he will be EATEN ALIVE by an anaconda has been blasted for fears the stunt will kill the animal.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL

Paul Rosolie will star in a show called Eaten Alive

Paul Rosolie, 30, will enter the belly of a gigantic snake in order to test out a custom-made "snake-proof suit" for a controversial new TV stunt, according to a promotional page for the programme.
However, while exact details surrounding the daring stunt are yet to be revealed, the show has already been slammed by furious animal rights organisation PETA.
A spokesman said: "Not only does this publicity stunt sound far-fetched, it would also be lethal for the snake.
"Shame on this pseudo "wildlife expert" for tormenting and likely killing an animal for a thrill, and shame on the Discovery Channel for giving him the incentive to do it!
"Whatever the filmmaker has planned, the snake will likely pay the ultimate price, as animals usually do when they're used for entertainment."
The upcoming programme, due to air on December 7, has also received mixed responses on Twitter from inquisitive users.

If u know me - I would never hurt a living thing

Paul Rosolie

In reply to a post from Rosolie advertising the upcoming programme, one Twitter user under the handle @ChrisLikesDinos said that "being eaten by a snake may be one of the craziest things ever. But also fairly cool. I'm gonna watch".
While others were not so enthused by the idea, with @nicko_316 branding it "totally unnecessary" and @VeganSithLord calling it a "disgusting display of animal cruelty".
But Rosolie has already snapped back at any criticisms, and posted a reassuring message on Twitter.
He said: "If u know me - I would never hurt a living thing. But you'll have to watch #EatenAlive to find out how it goes down!"
He has also since posted a message on his official website, in a bid to try and calm down the brewing concerns that have boiled over.
"In the days leading up to Eaten Alive on Discovery Channel, I understand that many people have questions," he said.
"All I can tell you now is that all my work is based around the fact that wildlife and ecosystems today, across the globe, are at a critical moment.
"No group of animals so much so as apex predators.
"For those worried about animal cruelty, I invite you to research my work — read my book."
Discovery has since announced that the show has already been filmed and that the snake did in fact survive the stunt, according to several media outlets.

Rosolie, from New York City, US, describes himself as a naturalist, author, filmmaker and an explorer.
He has worked across conservation projects in tropical ecosystems around the world - covering locations such as India, Indonesia, Brazil and Peru.
But the majority of his work has seen him specialising in covering wildlife and the environment of the Amazon.
His first book about life in the deepest depths of the Amazon, titled 'Mother of God', received praise from environmental agencies and was described as "gripping" by famous adventurer Bear Grylls.
His film 'An Unseen World' also won an award at the International Forests Short Film Festival for its portrayal of the biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest.
If his latest project with the Discovery Channel is to be believed, then Rosolie could soon be getting up close and personal with one of the world's longest snakes.
The name anaconda applies to a group of snakes, the most common being the green anaconda which can grow up to an average length of 20ft, or even a top measurement of 29ft.
But there is also a giant anaconda which can reach shocking lengths of 167ft.
A representative from Discovery Channel, who will air the stunt on a show called Eaten Alive, was contacted for comment 

A farmer's creativity

Floss the four-wheel sheep dog needs a home

DAVID MCHUGH

Sussex farmer Dave Isaac with his sheep dog car Floss who needs a new home

Farmer Dave Isaac, 46, converted the car at a cost of £2,000 after his favourite dog died.
Sheep on his ancient farm, near Battle, East Sussex, proved happy to be rounded up by a much larger animal with headlamps for eyes.
But alas Dave has had trouble getting Floss along the narrow farm tracks and through the gates to his fields and the car is taking up too much space in his barn.

She drives well, is obedient and nice and docile

Dave Isaac

The farmer said: “They were things we didn’t really consider when we built her so with a heavy heart she is going on eBay.
“She drives well, is obedient and nice and docile.
"But it’s back to the tried and tested traditional sheep dog again.”
He added: “As long as she goes to a good home I’ll be happy.” 

Wicked Patrick Sawyer

Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American who brought Ebola into the country, was a bio-terrorist, bent on a mission to deliberately infect as many Nigerians as possible with the deadly virus, the Chief Medical Director of First Consultant Hospital, Benjamin Ohiaeri, has said.

In a detailed interview with ThisDay newspaper, Mr. Ohiaeri spoke of how Mr. Sawyer lied to his hospital that he had no contact with any Ebola case and how he plotted to be allowed to storm the streets of Nigeria to spread the virus.
He also revealed shocking details of how Mr Sawyer deliberately and systematically infected hospital personnel with the virus.
He said the Liberian- American was not interested in receiving treatment or discussing the option available to him. Rather he demonstrated a deliberate intent to be discharged from the hospital into the public where he would have posed dire public health risk.
According to Mr Ohiaeri, he even deceptively infected a doctor who had gone to appeal to him to be calm following his violent protest to be let out of the hospital to attend a seminal in Calabar.
Mr Ohiaeri said the coldblooded manner Mr Sawyer purportedly went about infecting medical personnel at the hospital even after he was told he might be infected with the highly contagious virus suggested he was on a bio-terrorism mission to Nigeria.
On July 20, 2014, after he became ill on a flight from Monrovia to Lagos, Mr Sawyer was taken to the First Consultant Hospital in Lagos which originally treated him for malaria. But as his health worsened and began to manifest symptoms of Ebola, including diarrhea and vomiting, he was prevented from leaving the hospital.
According to multiple accounts of what happened in the days after he was taken to First Consultant Hospital, Mr. Sawyer went into a fit of rage, yanking off his intravenous line and spilling blood all over the hospital ward after he was told he would not be allowed out of the hospital as he had requested.
Eighteen Nigerians, mostly medical officials of the hospital, were infected with the virus, with seven deaths. All of the infections were traced to Mr Sawyer.
In the ThisDay interview, Mr Ohiaeri said Mr. Sawyer was not “upset” or “surprised” after he was told that he was being investigated for possible Ebola infection suggesting that he already knew that he was a carrier of the disease.
“A reasonable man would flinch when he is informed that he is going to be tested for Ebola. A reasonable man would want to know why the suspicion and what his chances of survival are and how he is going to be treated.”
“A reasonable man would not say “I must leave the hospital now!” This was very strange to us because being an articulate forty-year diplomat we expected some measure of intelligent conversation on this dreaded disease. So, we could not understand why he was so desperate and determined to leave the Hospital when we were clearly trying to investigate his situation and find the way to treat his condition.”
A review of CCTV footage from the James Spriggs Payne’s Airport, Monrovia, by Liberian newspaper, The New Dawn, suggested that Mr Sawyer was already terribly ill when he left Liberia and deliberately avoided contact with people at the airport, which suggested that he might have known he was infected with Ebola.
Though Mr Sawyer told doctors at the First Consultant that he did not have contact with any Ebola case in the weeks before he travelled to Lagos, it has now been revealed that he cared for and attended the funeral of his sister who was killed by the virus in Liberia.
In fact he was asked to stay away from work after he told his employers, ArcelorMittal, an iron mining company, of having minimal contact with his deceased sister.
Mr Ohiaeri also told ThisDay that Mr. Sawyer also deceptively infected one of the doctors who had gone to calm him after he went into a violent rage.
“Dr. Abaniwo, of his own volition, went to try to convince Mr. Sawyer to calm down and give the hospital the chance to make him better. Dr. Abaniwo is a deeply religious man who would have felt convicted to speak to Mr Sawyer – to ensure that he was alright. Sawyer seemed to calm down a little, but he then did something terrible, which caused Dr. Abaniwo to contract Ebola. He asked Dr. Abaniwo to check his eyes because his eyes had been previously injected. It is through this singular act of kindness that Dr. Abaniwo contracted the disease. Sadly, it took the confirmation of Dr. Abaniwo as Ebola carrier for the fullness of his encounter with Mr. Sawyer to be told.”
Mr Abaniwo was one of the seven people who were killed by the virus.
“What was unique about Mr. Sawyer’s condition was that Mr. Sawyer did not want to be treated and he wanted to be a terrorist and go out of his way to infect other people. Ordinary patients don’t do that. It’s bad enough taking care of Ebola and trying to bring in other people to assist. Ebola victims all over the world are begging ‘please come and help me’. But Mr. Sawyer didn’t want to be helped,” Mr Ohiaeri said.
Mr Ohiaeri also disclosed how his hospital came under intense pressure, included the threat of legal action and diplomatic row from the Liberian ambassador, Al Hassan Koike, for Mr. Sawyer to be released to attend the seminar in Calabar.
He said his threats were rebuffed by the strong resolve of Ameyo Adadevoh, the Chief Physician of the hospital, who became infected by Mr. Sawyer and later died of the disease.
“As if Sawyer’s behaviour were not bad enough, we soon began to receive irate calls from the Liberian Ambassador, Al Hassan Koike, who had apparently been contacted by Sawyer. The Ambassador repeatedly badgered Dr Adadevoh, ordering that Sawyer be permitted to leave the hospital and telling her that we had no authority or right to keep him. All of Dr. Adadevoh’s attempts to explain the situation, and my subsequent attempts to intervene, were shrugged off. The only thing the ambassador wanted was for Sawyer to be released, otherwise we would face charges of ‘kidnapping’. The threats were ratcheted up to the extent that he accused us of threatening an international diplomatic row, the consequences of which, he insisted, we would sorely regret,” he said.
“I took the phone from Dr. Adadevoh and tried to advise Ambassador Al Hassan Koike about our position, to assure him about our regard for the fundamental rights of Mr. Sawyer, and to advise him of the risks to Sawyer and the general public of failure to properly manage a potential Ebola situation. The ambassador was having none of it.
“Well there have been many thoughts that have crossed my mind as to the role of the Liberian ambassador in trying to secure Sawyer’s release. There is no doubt in my mind that he was a reckless person because a diplomatic mission is supposed to have rules and there is only so much that they can interfere with. Did we tell him it was Ebola? Yes we did and what was his response to that? He asked us “how are you sure”. He accused us of just trying to disparage his country and embarrass Liberia. Even when the results were out and it was confirmed positive by W.H.O lab officials, he said he wanted to see the report. Of course by that time I didn’t have time for him anymore and I just disregarded his requests because I realised that this is someone that is unreasonable. He of course became a non-issue when President Goodluck Jonathan instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to come and talk to me when he heard about it. Once I relayed the full facts to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he immediately fired up a letter of protest to the Liberian government that led to the recalling of the ambassador. It was clear that he had contravened diplomatic protocol and that he had acted in bad faith.”
Mrs. Adadevoh has been posthumously praised for her good judgement in keeping Mr. Sawyer quarantined even before test result confirmed he was a carrier of Ebola at the expense of her wellbeing and for resolutely resisting pressure to discharge him from the hospital with its possible public health risk.
Mr Ohiaeri paid glowing tribute to Mrs. Adadevoh describing her as a “thoroughbred professional” and one of the most brilliant doctors the country has ever had.
He praised her for her resolve not to succumb to the pressure from Mr. Sawyer and the Liberian Ambassador and putting her life in line for the safety of the populace.
“We all knew Dr. Adadevoh. She is thorough, incisive, competent and compassionate. After 21 years of working with a person, you know them. We trusted her – We trusted her judgement. Here was one situation where the risks to us of getting it wrong was disproportionately insignificant to the risks to Nigerians if we unleashed an Ebola patient on an unsuspecting public. No one would be able to curtail the fallout.”
“Dr. Adadevoh, was one of the most brilliant physicians this country has ever produced. She always asked for the latest infrastructure and was always research oriented. Any medical course anywhere she will come and say “Oga there is something happening in South Africa and I want to go and do this course” and off she went. She attended various medical courses all over the world.
“As professionals, we always equip ourselves with new research orientations and best practices. Of course medical conferences help to build up knowledge, professional relationships and contacts – all of which proved invaluable when this Ebola crisis hit our hospital. We depended a lot and benefitted from our international relationships.”

Source:THISDAY

Even the godly and mighty shall fall.RIP

Prominent Evangelical Pastor, Wife Among 9 Dead in Bahamas Jet Crash

A private Lear jet with nine passengers on board crashed on approach near Grand Bahama International Airport, killing everyone on the plane, including a prominent evangelical pastor and his wife.
“The Department of Civil Aviation has been advised unofficially that the aircraft was destroyed and that there were no survivors,” the Ministry of Transport and Aviation said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The Lear 36 Executive Jet had taken off from the Bahamian capital of Nassau and crashed about 5 p.m. local time today, as it was coming in for a landing at Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport.
Dr. Myles Munroe and his wife Ruth were killed in the crash, Kelley Jackson, a spokeswoman from the Andrew J. Young Foundation told ABC News.
“Ambassador Young expresses his deep sadness over the tragic death of his friends Dr. Myles and Mrs. Ruth Munroe,” the organization posted on its Facebook page tonight. “He offers condolences to the Munroe family and the families of the other souls who lost their lives as a result of this shocking plane crash.”
Munroe and his wife were on the way to the Global Leadership Forum, which was organized by Munroe and was scheduled for this week in Freeport.
A posting on Munroe’s Facebook page said the event would go on for two and a half days.
“This is what Dr. Munroe would have wanted. Please keep his family and the ministry in prayers,” the post said.
Dr. William M. Wilson, president of Oral Roberts University where Munroe was a student, expressed his sadness at the loss of an “outstanding ORUalumni and friend.”
A spokesperson at the Bahamas Air accident investigation and prevention unit told ABC they understand that it may be the plane of a prominent minister in the Bahamas, but officials have declined to identify the victims.
Based upon the flight plan information that was registered at the point of the departure, officials are of the opinion that the plane was the only aircraft in the area at the time, so they are going on the assumption that it was a prominent minister on the aircraft, the spokesperson said.
It was not yet known what caused the crash, and police and rescue teams were on the scene, but a full investigation would only begin at daylight, officials said.
“The Department of Civil Aviation has been advised that there were some fatalities and we are awaiting confirmation from the Royal Bahamas Police Force as to whether there were any survivors,” The Department of Civil Aviation said in a statement. “The Grand Bahama Airport Company Crash Fire Rescue Department responded to the incident, and the Police and Bahamas Air Sea Rescue (BASRA) are presently on the scene.”

Students massacre in Potiskum

 

It is not clear who carried out Monday's attack, but many suspect Boko Haram militants

At least 47 students have been killed by a suicide bomber at a school assembly in the north-east Nigerian town of Potiskum, police have said.

The explosion happened at a boys' science and technical school in the town.
Militant group Boko Haram is believed to have caused the blast, police said.
It has often targeted schools during its five-year campaign to establish an Islamic state, which has left thousands dead.
A suicide bomber disguised in a school uniform caused the explosion, survivors are quoted by Associated Press news agency as saying.
Police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu told the BBC Hausa service the bombing had left 47 people dead and another 79 wounded.

Analysis: Will Ross, BBC Nigeria Correspondent:
By setting off the bomb during the morning assembly, the aim was clearly to kill as many students as possible.
Few of the attacks here are ever claimed by any group but Boko Haram will once again be suspected. The jihadists have carried out particularly brutal attacks on schools before.
The word "Chibok" is now known in many parts of the world because of April's mass abduction of girls from that remote village. But there have been many other horrific attacks on schools which have received less attention - including last February's raid on Buni Yadi, in Yobe State.
Dozens of boys were burnt to death, shot or killed with knives in the dormitory. Female students were spared but told to never attend school again, go off and get married. Boko Haram wants the education of boys to be limited to strict Koranic studies only.
The insecurity in the north-east is so rampant, with entire towns and villages now in the jihadists hands, it will be extremely hard for other bombings to be prevented.

The school was a mass of abandoned footwear and blood, resident Adamu Alkassim told AFP news agency.
"The students had gathered for the morning assembly when something exploded in their midst with a thunderous sound at exactly 7:50 am [06:50 GMT]," a sobbing teacher is quoted by AFP as saying.
Victims were being rushed to a nearby hospital, said the teacher, who asked not to be identified.
One student told the BBC he saw mutilated bodies of fellow students at the scene. A resident reported seeing parents wailing at the sight of their children's bodies at the hospital.
Emergency operations are still ongoing at the school.

The blast underlines the lack of security in north-eastern Nigeria, says BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross.
Boko Haram, whose names means Western education is forbidden, is waging a sustained campaign to prevent children from going to school.
It believes girls should not attend school and boys should only receive an Islamic education.

Who are Boko Haram?

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is the most wanted man in Nigeria

• Founded in 2002
• Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state
• Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
• Some three million people affected
• Declared terrorist group by US in 2013

In April, the group sparked global outrage by abducting more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok town in Borno state.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has dismissed government claims to have agreed a ceasefire, under which the girls would be released.
He says the children have converted to Islam, are learning to memorise the Koran and have been married off.
Schools in Yobe state have been frequently attacked by Boko Haram militants.
The state is one of three in Nigeria that have been placed under a state of emergency as a result of the group's activities.
The town of Potiskum has also been targeted before by Boko Haram.
Last week, a suicide bombing killed 15 people in the town.

The bomber joined a religious procession of the rival Shia Muslim sect, before blowing himself up.

Can it be legal for students to cheat?

Students are often keen to exercise their rights but recently there has been an interesting twist - some in India are talking about their right to cheat in university exams.

"It is our democratic right!" a thin, addled-looking man named Pratap Singh once said to me as he stood, chai in hand, outside his university in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. "Cheating is our birthright."
Corruption in the university exam system is common in this part of India. The rich can bribe their way to examination success. There's even a whole subset of the youth population who are brokers between desperate students and avaricious administrators.
Then there's another class of student altogether, who are so well known locally - so renowned for their political links - invigilators dare not touch them. I've heard that these local thugs sometimes leave daggers on their desk in the exam hall. It's a sign to invigilators: "Leave me alone... or else."
So if those with money or political influence can cheat, poorer students ask, why shouldn't they?

They make other arguments too. When I was working in western Uttar Pradesh, Singh ushered me into the bowels of a smoky canteen in the middle of his campus. Kicking a stray dog off a chair, he took out a packet of cigarettes.

"India's university system is in crisis," he began, lighting up and blowing the smoke towards the ceiling. "Cheating happens at every level. Students bribe to get admission and good results. Research students get professors to write their dissertations. And the professors cheat too, publishing articles in bogus journals."
I sympathised with Singh. On one occasion, the registrar at a college in Uttar Pradesh sent masters students' dissertations to be graded by students at another college. This type of thing is common, but in this case, school pupils ended up marking masters-level work.
"I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry," he said, hunched over the Formica table in the canteen and shooing away the flies. "The equipment in our science labs should be ripped out and thrown down a well," he added. "It is like universities were in the 1950s in Britain."

Refusing to cheat, many students work into the night to pass university entrance exams

I tried to study properly, but my seniors just told me: 'Buy the cheat books'”

A while back, I brought up the topic with Pinki Singh, in the female hostel of a prominent college in Uttar Pradesh. We were sitting in a space that was half study area and half courtyard for urban livestock.

"I will tell you about education," she said. "The curriculum is poor, and when lecturers won't teach properly, you have to get private tutorials or just memorise from textbooks."
"If you really want to know the truth," she added, "there's no point in studying properly. You just need to buy one of the cheat books sold in the bazaar and learn the answers."
"In my first year doing history I tried to study properly, but my seniors just told me: 'Buy the cheat books.'"
Some of the new private universities are no better. She told me about one that was established recently, calling itself Zap University.
Students paid large sums of money to enrol online, but then the university just disappeared from the internet. It had no physical location and no trace could be found on the web. Pinki Singh told me: "It just went 'zap'".
As I think back to these conversations, I conjure up in my mind an image of the universities I've seen in Uttar Pradesh. Etched in my memory are mouldering books, leaky hostels and bare lawns.
And then I remember the signs of opulence that surround some of this decay. The expensive SUVs and three-storey houses of the principals, the fancy shopping malls and the few universities in the region that are genuinely offering world class education - their flashy signboards and glass fronts mocking the ordinary colleges.

The question is, what's the solution? When pro-cheating rallies were held in Uttar Pradesh in the early 1990s, the state's chief minister gave in to demands and repealed an anti-copying act - he actually allowed students to cheat.
Prime Minister Modi's approach is different. He's trying to change things. There is a new regulation system for higher education. Funding for universities increased by about a fifth in the most recent Five Year Plan from central government.
But such reforms are like a cumin seed in a camel's mouth. And anyway, delivering education is the job of Indian states rather than central government, and states like Uttar Pradesh are not investing properly in provincial universities.

This leaves many students marooned by modernity, clinging to the sinking ship of an outdated university education. The right to cheat agitation is no oddity - it is an ironic comment on India today.