Magazine

When US-backed Syrian fighters took full control of the city of Raqqa, it ended three years of rule there by so-called Islamic State.

But now the BBC has uncovered details of a secret deal that let several hundred IS fighters escape. IS made Raqqa in northern Syria its headquarters in early 2014.

Last month Raqqa fell, but this programme has learnt that in exchange for a deal to save lives and bring peace to the city, a convoy carrying several hundred IS fighters, their families and weapons and ammunition were able to leave the city freely. The question now is, where are they now? BBC Middle East Correspondent, Quentin Sommerville, has this exclusive report.

Lebanon has long been known for being the sex tourism capital of the Middle East. For years people from around the region have flocked to its 'super night clubs' in the hope of meeting and sleeping with women.

But the influx of Syrian refugees has pushed more people into the sex industry, with many Syrians turning to prostitution to survive.

Benjamin Zand from BBC Pop Up meets Syrian refugees who say they had no other choice but to become prostitutes, and finds out how European women in 'super night clubs' are being locked up, by law, everyday.

In India, a Standing Committee of Parliament asked Indian Railways why luxury trains are being run with only 30% passengers. The parliamentary standing committee on Indian Railways presented its report on tourism promotion and pilgrimage circuit in Parliament on Thursday.

This report says that the Ministry should take measures to improve the situation. According to the committee, the number of vacant seats in Maharaja Express, Golden Chariot, Royal Rajasthan On Wheels, Deccan Odyssey and Palace On Wheels trains between 2012 and 2017 has been 62.7 percent, 57.76 percent, 45.46 percent and 45.81 percent respectively.

The committee led by Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said that the most shocking case is of Maharaja Express. This train is fully run by Indian Railways. In 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, the average number of passengers in this train was 29.86 percent, 32.33 percent, 41.8 percent, 41.58 percent and 36.03 percent respectively.

This report has come at a time when Ashwini Lohani, chairman of Railway Board, has organized the first debate session with shareholders on business and travel. The purpose of this initiative of Indian Railways is to promote tourism through railways.

It has been said in the report that the committee has criticized the Ministry of Railways for not taking seriously the issue of lack of passengers in luxury trains. The committee has said that after reviewing the ministry in a proper manner, it should be told why such trains are being run with only 30 percent passengers. On the other hand, Shatabdi trains are being rejuvenated under the Dream Project 'Golden Project' of Indian Railways. There is a lot of work being done to provide the best facilities to travelers traveling in these trains. On Saturday, 25 newly renovated and fully equipped coaches have been launched for the Shatabdi train that runs between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The texture of all these coaches is very special, it has given considerable attention to cleanliness and beauty.

In India, the Modi government of the Center has acknowledged that farmers are unable to find the minimum support price for their crop. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said in an oral reply to a question related to support price during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, "It is true that farmers are not getting the minimum support price for their crops, though farmers will be get fair prices of crops, measures are being taken at the country level.''

Congress member Vipalav Thakur asked that despite the increase in the minimum support price of the crops, the farmers are unable to get the price of crops. Radha Mohan Singh said on this question that according to the recommendations of the Agriculture Cost and Value Commission, the paddy, jowar, bajra Including 22 crops for the year 2017-18, the minimum support price was kept at 50 percent cost advantage.

He said, "In spite of this, my experience says that farmers of paddy cultivation within a radius of 100 km across Delhi from Kolkata are not getting the minimum support price." Radha Mohan Singh said that the government keeping a close watch on procurement of crops in the states, so that farmers can get fixed price of yield. Radha Mohan Singh said that the government is deliberating with the NITI Commission and the States in the direction of a permanent solution to this problem, which would lead to better arrangements.

As a solution to this problem, Radha Mohan Singh described the price support scheme as a better option for the farmers producing wheat and other crops of paddy. Under this, if the cost of yield is below the minimum support price, the state government should procure the crop. Whenever the proposals come from the state governments about this, the Central Government issues additional funds under this scheme. In this scheme, the Central Government has procured 8 lakh metric tonnes of pulses and cotton etc. from the states.

In India, the central government released the first estimate of GDP for the fiscal year 2017-18 on Friday. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in this financial year, in the growth rate will be see deficiency. The growth rate will be around 6.5 percent. However, last year it was 7.1 percent. At the same time, the growth rate in 2015-16 was close to eight percent. It was 7.5 percent in 2014-15.

Explain that the second estimate of GDP with three quarter data will be released on February 28. The whole year's figures will be released in 2018. Due to poor performance of agriculture and manufacturing sector, the growth rate of GDP will be at the lower level of 6.5% in the current year of 2017-18. This will be the lowest growth rate during the tenure of the Narendra Modi government. The Narendra Modi government took charge in May 2014. experts are looking at it as a shock to India on the economic front.

"The growth rate of GDP in the current financial year is estimated to be 6.5 percent, which was 7.1 percent in the previous financial year," the CSO said on the GDP. On the basis of real gross value addition (GVA), growth in 2017-18 is estimated to be 6.1 percent, that was 6.6 percent in the previous year.

Economic activity is declining in the current financial year, due to the notes ban and after that implementation of goods and services tax (GST). According to the CSO data, the growth rate of agriculture, forest and fisheries sector is expected to come down to 2.1 percent in the current financial year, from 4.9 percent in the previous financial year. Apart from this, the growth rate of manufacturing is also expected to come down to 4.6 per cent, which was 7.9 per cent in 2016-17.

The results of Gujarat elections have come. BJP is now looking for the new Chief Minister, but the BJP, which is going to form the sixth time government in the state, has given a tough fight by the Congress in these elections. In the initial phase of election campaign, the Congress had drawn a long line from the BJP, but till the last round, the BJP again made a decisive lead on the Congress.

While Rahul Gandhi had maintained a front of the Congress, on behalf of BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was camping continuously in his home state. Both parties started preparing almost simultaneously in Gujarat. Congress had come to Gujarat with a good strategy compared to the last few assembly elections. So, he had challenged BJP for 22 years in power, but in the last phase, BJP succeeded in winning the game.

If you look at the data of CSDS, the Congress, which has been consistently sticking to the BJP in Gujarat politics, was left behind to win the confidence of the people in the last minute. In this survey of CSDS, it can be seen clearly that in the last two weeks of campaigning, BJP has taken a tremendous success in making an edge over the Congress.

According to the survey, before the start of the campaign in the Gujarat assembly elections, 48 percent of the people were standing with the Congress, while 46 percent of the public's confidence was on the BJP. That is, the Congress was benefitting 10 percent, while the ruling BJP lost eight percent. According to the survey, 6 percent of the people appeared standing with others.

According to the survey, in the initial round of election campaign, 42 out of 100 people had made the Congress and 47 people had the intention to vote in favor of BJP. In the initial round of election campaign, Congress was benefitting 7 percent, while BJP lost 4 percent. But in the last two weeks, the Congress suffered a setback and the voters quietly shifted to BJP.

It is believed that the "lowly" statement of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on PM Modi was benefited to the BJP. In an emotionally speaking manner, Prime Minister Modi himself described as the son of Gujarat and added it to Gujarati asmita. This is the reason that in the last two weeks BJP has been successful in building an edge over the Congress. Finally, with the increase of 7 percent in the last round, 53 out of 100 people had decided to vote in favor of the BJP. The Congress suffered huge losses during this time and it was possible to support only 38 percent of the people.

70 per cent of India's healthcare infrastructure is limited to the top 20 cities. Apart from this, 30 per cent of Indians go to poverty line because of spending on health care every year.

According to a Knowledge Letter, "How MHealth Can Make a Revolution in the Indian Health Care Industry" jointly released by PWC and CII, 30 per cent of the people in India are deprived of primary healthcare facilities. It states that India alone is facing a 21 percent burden of global disease.

PWC's 14th India Health Summit was said in the Knowledge Letter said that access to basic health care is a challenge because the basic infrastructure and resources are inadequate. In the Knowledge Letter, the gloomy picture of health services inside India showed that 70 per cent of India's healthcare infrastructure is limited to the top 20 cities and 30 per cent Indians have not access to primary health care facilities.

The letter states, "There are only 0.7 doctors, 1.3 nurse and 1.1 hospital beds per 1000 population in India. This requires a type of MHealth (Mobile Health) channel. In addition, in fact, some data in the Indian Health Service Ecosystem are worrying, in which a large part of the population is still deprived of primary treatment. It is important to take advantage of new methods to make quality healthcare affordable and affordable healthcare accessible to everyone."

India has considerable potential to take advantage of MHealth (Mobile Health) as an alternative health care delivery channel and this facility can revolutionize the Indian healthcare industry. Dr Rana Mehta of PWC India Healthcare said, "If MHealth is fully adopted in India, then it can play an important role in improving the healthcare of the country."

They said, "India's population is about 1.3 billion and if we take a conservative estimate of 6-8 percent, then we can expect additional 7.9 to 10.5 crore people to access health care."

Dr. Naresh Trehan, President of CII Healthcare Council, said, "India needs new and innovative methods to provide care and compensation for the health care workers and the lack of infrastructure."

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday that at least 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were killed in the month before the military action against the rebels in Myanmar's Rohingya State. This action started in late August.

The figures of MSF are the most anticipated dead numbers. Violence in the Rohingya State began on August 25 and it created a major refugee crisis when more than 620,000 Rohingyas migrated from Myanmar to Bangladesh in the three months.

The United Nations and the United States had described the military action as an ethnic cleansing of Muslim minorities, but the estimated number of people killed in violence did not continue.

MSF told on Thursday that at least even estimated, 6,700 Rohingyas were killed in violence. These include 730 children under five years of age. This investigation of the group has emerged from six surveys conducted in more than 2,434 houses in Rohingya refugee camps. These surveys were done in a month.

Medical director of the group Sydney Wong said that we met and talked to the victims of the violence in Myanmar. They are living in the capacity-filled and dirty refugee camps in Bangladesh. According to the survey, in 69% of cases, death occurred due to bullet injuries, while 9% of deaths were caused by burning alive in homes. Five percent of people were beaten to death.

About 60% of children below the age of five have died due to bullet injuries.

The army of Myanmar denied refuting any kind of abuse, saying that 376 Rohingya terrorists including only 400 people died in the first few weeks of the commencement of the action.

National President of Swaraj India Party Yogendra Yadav has expressed his opinion about the Gujarat assembly elections. By tweeting with the official account, Yogendra Yadav told through a few figures that how many percent of votes and seats could be cast to the party.

In the tweets, they have also given three scenarios. With this he has posted a picture of the figures. It has also been written down that all data has been estimated by Yogendra Yadav and it does not represent any exit poll.

Apart from this, the seats which have been estimated are based on CSDS poll and are different from ABP estimates.

According to this estimate, in Gujarat this time Congress can win and BJP will have to sit in the opposition now.

Yogendra Yadav is an election analyst and has been giving his opinion on the election results even before.

According to Yogendra Yadav, in the first 'possible' scenario, BJP will get 86 seats (43 percent votes) and Congress will get 92 seats (43 percent).

In the second 'Likely' scenario, Yogendra Yadav has given BJP 65 (41 percent votes) and Congress 113 seats (45 percent).

In the third and final scenario, Yogendra Yadav has written 'can't be ruled out. After this he wrote that even bigger defeat for the BJP.

Yogendra Yadav projections for Gujarat

Scenario1: Possible
BJP 43% votes, 86 seats
INC 43% votes, 92 seats

Scenario 2: Likely
BJP 41% votes, 65 seats
INC 45% votes, 113 seats

Scenario 3: Can't be ruled out
Even bigger defeat for the BJP

If the matter was made by Yogendra Yadav, then according to the figures, BJP had won 44 out of 98 seats in the rural areas in 2012, the Congress had won 49 seats. In 45 semi-urban areas, BJP won 36 seats and Congress 8 seats. In the 39 constituencies of urban areas, BJP won 35 seats and Congress got only 4 seats. If you add it, then BJP has 115 seats and Congress got 61 seats. In Gujarat, elections are held in 182 assembly seats.

According to Yogendra's first scenario (ABP-CSDS vote share BJP and Congress of 43%), this time out of 98 rural seats BJP will get 28 seats and Congress 66 seats. In the semi-urban areas 45 seats, Yogendra Yadav has given BJP 26 seats and Congress 19 seats. Of the 39 seats in urban areas, BJP has been projected to get 29 seats and Congress 10 seats. That is, this time the BJP will get 83 seats and Congress 95 seats.

According to another scenario, (if 2% swings against BJP) in rural areas, BJP will get 20 seats and Congress 74 seats. BJP in semi-urban areas 18 seats and Congress 27 seats, BJP in 27 and Congress 12 in urban areas seats are estimated to be win. Add it to BJP will get 65 seats and Congress will get 113 seats.

Significantly, for the second phase of Gujarat assembly elections, it will be voted on Thursday 14th December. Voting will last from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This phase will be voted on 93 seats.

All preparations have been completed for the second phase by the Election Commission. 25,558 polling booths have been set up for voting. In this phase, there are 851 candidates in the fray, including 782 male and 69 female candidates.

According to the Election Commission, in the second phase, there are 2 crore 22 lakh 96,867 voters. The number of male voters is 1 crore 15 lakh 47,435 and the number of female voters is 1 crore seven lakh 48,977.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's website www.narendramodi.in had a story headline on December 12: PM Modi, who travels from Seaplane, is India's first passenger.

Prior to the second phase of polling on Tuesday, PM Modi traveled from Seaplane to the Dhoroi dam of Mehsana in Sabarmati river of Ahmedabad.

However, later this headline was changed.

The first seaplane tour in India was also claimed on the official Twitter handle of BJP. This is tweeted by other BJP leaders also on their own account. Various TV channels also included the same thing in their headings.

It was said that the seaplane journey will change the look of traffic in India.

But was this really the first seaplane service?

The answer is no.

According to ALT News, the first commercial seaplane service in India was started in 2010. In December of that year, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration and public sector helicopter company Pawan Hans jointly launched a service called Jal Hans.

India's then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has confirmed this by tweeting recently. The Jal Hans service has now been closed.

In Kerala, the Government of Kerala launched an initiative to launch the seaplane service in June 2013. But protesting by the local fish community failed this project. About that time, Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy, did the tweet.

The government has not only initiated the process of bringing the seaplane service to India. Many private companies have announced to launch it in 2011-12. Seabird Seaplane Pvt Ltd was included in 2011. The company had announced to provide service to Kerala and Lakshadweep.

It was also revealed that many safety standards were not taken care of during the trip from Seaplane. You would be surprised to know that this aircraft was a single engine plane, it is clear that if the engine accidentally failed, then it could have been a big mistake.

Sources say that the issue of security standards was raised in front of PM Modi, but they ignored him and traveled by risking his life.