People often attempt a range of silly antics, in an effort to break a record or perform a stunt. For some getting into the Guinness Book of World Records is the icing on the cake. Sometimes tragically record-breaking attempts and stunts go wrong, as in the case of Sailendra Nath Roy who has performed many wacky stunts involving his hair, or rather his ponytail.

Sailendra Nath Roy, 48, died during a Guinness Book of World Records attempt. He was trying to cross a river suspended from a zip wire attached to his ponytail, reports the BBC. No, neither his hair nor the wire gave way during the stunt, Sailendra died of a heart attack.

Mr Roy, a police driver, was no stranger to record-breaking. His final, fatal, stunt was performed over the Teesta river in West Bengal state. Previous record-breaking attempts had also involved his ponytail. In March 2011, "Mr Roy was named a Guinness World Record holder for traveling the farthest distance on a zip wire using hair". What would make you think of undertaking such a stunt in the first place? Perhaps that is true and the nature of all stunts though; the more unusual the better.

Sadly his last stunt was watched by many people who unexpectedly observed his death. Sailendra was attempting to cross the Coronation Bridge over the Teesta river near Siliguri town when tragedy struck. He was suspended from a zip wire 600ft (180m) long at a height of 70ft (20m) when, after covering about 300ft (90m), he got into difficulties. The spectators watched as he began to struggle. Onlookers said he seemed unable to move forward and was screaming out but no-one could hear what he was saying.

Horrifyingly his struggling continued for 30 minutes until presumably he died. He was left dangling in total for around 45 minutes The stunt had not been approved which meant that there were no medics or emergency services at the site. His wife reportedly had tried in vain to stop her husband's stunts and record breaking attempts.

Balai Sutradhar, a photographer, who was covering the stunt, told the Independent: "He was desperately trying to move forward. He was trying to scream out some instruction. But no one could follow what he was saying. After struggling for 30 minutes he became still."

According to doctors the cause of Saliendra's death was a massive heart attack.

Comment:

What a truly harrowing experience for Saliendra and the spectators who could do nothing to help him. Surely a cautionary tale to would be record-breakers?

RIP

Sources:
BBC
Independent

In the West there are many reasons why a hysterectomy is performed on a woman. This 'major' surgery is not usually a first course of action if a patient is experiencing gynaecological problems. The patient's general health and age will be taken into consideration. A range of diagnostics will be used to determine what is the root cause of the health problem. The patient will discuss their treatment plan with a medical professional and be consulted every step along the way. A partial hysterectomy could be deemed the right treatment.

There may be times when western health services do not meet expectations but it is hard to imagine that a young woman would undergo a hysterectomy following a basic ultra sound test.

Sadly this is what is happening in parts of India.

A BBC investigation has revealed that thousands of hysterectomies performed on Indian women, are unnecessary, motivated by the greed of unscrupulous private doctors.

The BBC investigation included an interview with a young woman called Sunita. Aged around 25, she was unsure of her exact age, her hysterectomy was performed following a medical consultation regarding heavy menstruation.

In the West of course such radical treatment would only be a last ditch effort. Other means, such as non-surgical intervention, diagnostics and perhaps minor surgery, would be used as treatment. More importanly the cause of the heavy bleeding would be found.

In the case of Sunita an ultrasound test was all that preceded her operation.

She told the BBC reporter "I went to the clinic because I had heavy bleeding during menstruation. The doctor did an ultrasound and said I might develop cancer. He rushed me into having a hysterectomy that same day."

Such an important decision would not normally be rushed unless there was hard evidence of an immediate threat to life. Instead alternative treatments would be discussed with all the possible scenarios explained.

No such care for some women in India.

Sunita lives in a small village in Rajasthan, north-west India. The BBC investigator discovered that around 90% of all women in the village had also undergone a hysterectomy. Many of the women were young, aged in their 20s and 30s. Far too young normally to be offered a hysterectomy.

In the case of Sunita, unless her ultra sound test showed firm evidence of an aggressive, untreatable cancer, more investigations would be undertaken.

Menorrhagia, heavy menstrual bleeding, is one of the most common types of abnormal bleeding from the uterus. It can be hormonal, as in the case of a patient with thyroid problems. There are many possible causes and most are treatable, without major surgery.

When questioned the doctor who performed the hysterectomy on Sunita denied wrong doing. He admitted that he often did no other tests than an ultrasound before performing the operation. He claimed that he took biopsies from the uterus once it had been removed from the patient. As the investigator points out, that is too late. It also means that finding any evidence as to whether or not the surgery was necessary may prove impossible.

Campaigners, including the charity Oxfam, are now pushing for change. Sadly statistics from Indian states such as Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, show that the problem is not isolated. Many women aged under 40 in these regions have also undergone a hysterectomy.

The accusation is that the surgery is unnecessary and solely performed to make money.

Sources

BBC

About.com

Since the brutal gang rape of a medical student, in the heart of Delhi, there have been, a series of protests and world-wide condemnation. Following the story we soon realised that rape was not rare in India. In fact it was running rampant. Why is not really clear. Maybe it always was. The trouble was that once we looked a little online, we saw all too many sad cases of rape in India.

Today SkyNews carries one of the latest reports of this dreadful crime, one which it appears Indian authorities had hoped to bury.

This attack and murder took place in the Noida, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The victim was 22-years-old. Her semi-naked body was found at the side of a road early Saturday morning, reports SkyNews. This young woman was called Sanyogita.

For Sanyogita there has been no fuss, no noise, no protests, no nothing. It is as if she never was, and her rape and murder did not happen. But for her family, who have been in contact with the media, we would be non the wiser.

In India the caste system is still alive and well. It segregates Indian society. The victim of the gang rape in December was a middle class girl. An educated girl from a middle class family. Sanyogita was not.

That does not make her death any less painful, pointless nor criminal.

According to the family, police have tried to cover up this crime. The reason? The family believe it was because one of the alleged rapists and murderers, was from a wealthy family.

Five police officers, from the Dalits caste, have been suspended from their jobs.Sanyogita's family claim that they will not face justice as this 'caste is untouchable'

Reports claim that police took the body of Sanygoita and wanted to cremate it before the family had arrived. The family are poor and of a low caste. Sanygoita lived and died in a small village. One with little contact with the outside world. It is estimated that the majority of rapes happen in rural area, and are largely unreported or, if they are, soon are buried.

In India women are lower than men. In the caste system poor is lower than wealthy. What chance then if you are a poor woman from a low caste family? None as far as justice goes it would seem
RIP Sanygoita.

Read more at SkyNews here

Five men accused of the gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student in India, on December 16, have been in court today. The men attacked the young woman and her friend after they mistakenly boarded a private bus. She was terribly beaten and raped for a sustained period of time before both were thrown from the moving bus. He was also beaten in the attack. The woman has subsequently died and the case has resulted in widespread protests. The world has learned that rape in India is a common and often ignored occurence.

Six men stand accused of the attack, but one a minor, will be dealt with in a different court. If it is proven that he is aged under 17 he will be tried in a youth court. A bone marrow test was to be undertaken to definitely ascertain his age. The accused have in recent days struggled to find legal representation and they continue to widely condemned in India.

If justice is to be served, in what most of us accept is the right and proper way, the trial must go ahead.

Today's court appearance was a preliminary hearing held behind closed doors. Plans for an open court were hastily changed as chaos ensued. Strength of feeling is running high and no chances are being taken. The men appeared at a court in the region of Saket, in Delhi. They heard the charges against them which include abduction, rape and murder. If convicted of murder they could face the death penalty. Protesters, who have been on the streets of Delhi, on and off since the attack, want the death penalty to be given to convicted rapists.

The men will appear in court next on January 10 and the trial, which will follow, is expected to be referred to a new fast-track court.

Protests have continued to be heated and turn violent. Protests in the Delhi suburb of Noida, where the woman was employed in a factory, have resulted in arrests. According to the BBC Two men have been arrested and a third suspect is reported to have fled.

India has been left reeling, following the gang rape and subsequent death of a young female medical student. The tragedy brought media focus on India and crimes against women. With Delhi becoming known as  "rape city" protesters took to the streets in an attempt to bring about change. The protests turned increasingly violent but more widespread. Reports of other rapes proved equally shocking, some involving young girls.

When the woman was gang raped on a bus by allegedly six men she was beaten to the extreme. There has been little mention of the man, initially reported as her boyfriend, and how he is coping. Having been beaten also in the terrible attack he has now taken the brave step of being interviewed by the media.

The man's identity has been protected. He is a 28-year-old software firm employee. He has told how the couple boarded a private bus, as finding a rickshaw to take them home, was proving difficult. Understandably he now says that was the biggest mistake of his life.

SkyNews has reported that the couple endured a two and a half hour ordeal before being thrown naked from the bus. He has spoken of his feelings about the "hospital treatment his 23-year-old friend received, the police and at passers-by for failing to help".

The man suffered a broken leg and other injuries in the attack. What the pair experienced was savagery. He recalls, "What can I say? The cruelty I saw should not be seen ever. I tried to fight against the men but later I begged them again and again to leave her."

In an interview in ZeeNew he said,

After the beaten couple were thrown from the moving bus The man screamed for help but no-one offered assistance. He claims that the traffic continued on its merry way and, although some pedestrians stopped and looked, no offer of help came before the police arrived. Even after the police arrived it was an hour and half before the couple were taken to the hospital.

India is now looking at what it can do to prevent rape being such a frequent crime and there are calls for convicted rapists to face the death penalty. The men involved in the gang rape, if convicted, will undoubtedly be given the death penalty as the victim has died.
RIP

The ongoing sexual attacks against women in India appear to be continuing. The latest news is that a 17-year-old Indian girl has killed herself following a gang rape. It has been reported that she killed herself by swallowing poison and we can only hope that she was not murdered. Her suicide is tragic but if others had played a part in her death it would not be the first such instance. Having suffered the horror of a rape many young Indian women are deemed worthless. This young woman was found dead on December 26, 2012. Her attack took place in November and one police official has been sacked, plus another suspended over their handling of her case.

The case that first brought rape in India to the forefront of World news though happened on December 16. The young woman who was gang raped and severely beaten is still fighting for her life. She has been transferred to a hospital in Singapore in order to receive the best treatment available. In a statement it was said that she may need an organ transplant and her injuries remain life threatening.

Protesters have taken to the streets in recent days as the situation has escalated. The statistics show that rape in India is all too frequent and a slur on the country. Men have joined the many protesters but of course all too many men in India must think that women's right do not matter.

The latest police tactic to fight the rapists is to publicly name and shame them online. Convicted rapists will have their names, addresses and photographs shown online. In the West this may seem a backward thinking step but at least it is some form of action. The important thing of course will be getting the rapists convicted in the first place.

It is understood that in the case of the teenager who committed suicide her pleas for justice went unanswered. One police officer tried to get her to withdraw her statement. No arrests were made but of course once she had killed herself some arrests have taken place.

Protesters are calling for the death penalty for convicted rapists rather than the life sentences promised. The government has said that it will make changes which have included "police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains."

The government has also created committees which will look at addressing the failings of police forces and decide the best way to go forward.

Update
Sadly late Friday December 28, GMT, it was announced that the 23-year-old gang rape victim had died in hospital in Singapore.

The funeral of Royal hoax call nurse, Jacintha Saldhana, will take place today in her home village of Shirva, India. Her heartbroken husband and children will lay Jacintha to rest in her home country. This weekend there was a special church service for Jacintha and listening to her husband speak briefly about his wife it was easy to see that the man was truly heartbroken. Death is hard for a loved one, but worse still when it is due to an act of violence or suicide. Even though Jacintha left three "suicide" notes the full reasons behind her suicide may never be known.

There has been much speculation about the cause of her death and the blame has been laid at many doors. Today an article in the Huffington Post has claimed that one of the suicide notes blamed other staff at the hospital who had been critical. Last week it was widely reported that one of the notes involved the staff but details were not revealed.

The Huff Post cites the source of their report as the Guardian, a British publication. Acoording to the report one note left details of her funeral plans, one referred to the hoax call and the final one criticised the hospital staff.

Opinion
Speculation is not really productive. Having worked in a hospital for quite a few years I know the "caring" profession of nurses is not always that. Management teams can be brutal and in the case of a Royal patient's security being breeched who can tell what the official response of the hospital would have been.

Of course criticising individuals and the way they reacted is not propductive either. If we continue to do so there could be more people stressed and pushed to their mental limit.

The Hospital were quick to send forth a spokesperson after Jacintha's suicide who was adamant that she had faced no threat of a disciplinary action and was being supported. That may or may not be the case. Sometimes it is a co worker who will humiliate a colleague by continually attacking them. We shall probably never know.

We have to accept that Jacintha's cultural differences to some of her colleagues and her own state of mind may have meant that she acted irrationally. If she had any mental health issues the incident may have pushed her over the edge.

The lesson needs to be learned. Poking fun at a person and playing pranks is not always funny. Not when you are the butt of the joke and you do not know the people. They have no idea what your tipping point is and what is going on in your life. You could have been recently bereaved, just back at wotk on a phased return following a period of depression or any number of problems could be affecting you. Making the phone call in the middle of the night would have meant that the nursing staff were vulnerable, that is common sense.

Rest in pace Jacintha, thoughts with the family

Related reading
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/14/hospital-defends-treatment-jacintha-saldanha
http://www.tekjournalismuk.com/1/post/2012/12/jacintha-royal-nurse-latest.html

The UK government's Tory International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, has announced that financial aid to India is to be axed. Between now and 2015 financial aid to India will be phased out. It will save the UK approximately £200m which is $319m.

She stated that the decision would be popular with traditional Tory voters. However the move is likely to be popular with voters from many political persuasions. In the past financial aid was vital to India but times change and that country is now capable of being independent. Aid charities have spoken out though to remind the government that there are still too many people living in poverty in India. These charities on the whole belive that cutting aid to Inida in 2015will be a premature move.

The aid though may never reach its intended source. India has become a visible world power but little has changed for some of its citizens. As times get tough around the world though plenty of people in the UK will be happy to learn that this aid is going to end in 2015.

They should however take a step back. The money is committed to aid via a Millennium project. This means that it may no longer go to India but it will go to a similar country.

The UN set targets for foreign aid in a Millennium project have been kept by the UK. Not all countries have respected the targets. Back in March 2012 a group of senior Ministers in the UK made a case for foreign aid committments to be cut. Instead the UK government attempted to make our committment a legal obligation.

Whilst we all may applaud such strength of feeling right now it is a slap in the face for British citizens. At home Brits are being told that more austerity is on the way and times will get tougher. When such an economic downturn grips people will be outraged that money is being spent in foreign aid. There may be good justifiable reasons to do so but it will be hard to convince voters.

The UK target for aid was created 40 years ago. Times have chaged greatly for countries such as India and the UK in that period of time. In March 2012, the UN praised Britain for ring-fencing  its overseas aid budget, saying: "Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, despite this very difficult economic crisis, has boldly proved that it is possible to meet global commitments and domestic fiscal needs at the same time. I applaud the leadership of Prime Minister David"

OPINION: Yes foreign aid is worthy but it must take account of a wide range of circumstances. India in many ways feels insulted at what is a "hand out" from its old ruler Great Britain. The UK needs to get its own affairs in order and its priorities right. India no longer needs the same level of aid it once did.

As India's foreign minster said, commenting on Greening's announcement, "Aid is the past and trade is the future"

Today July 31, 2012 there have been several power outages across the continent of India. These have not been merely a brief loss of power but rather have caused chaos and threatened many lives.

The blackouts follow a day of similar problems yesterday. Today however it has been reported that at least 200 miners are trapped underground. Without power the miners will remain effectively trapped underground. The lack of power means that their incarceration will be hot and dark.

Around India at least 600 million people are now without power. The result has hit transport, hospitals and just about all sections of communities. It is high Summer in India and as air conditioning systems fail people are left sweltering uncomfortably.

Services such as airports and hospitals will have some emergency power to rely on. However back up generators can only offer some respite and not fill the gap in power.

National Power Grids across India this week have collapsed, been propped up, crashed, revived and crashed again. There are reports that a rescue attempt will be made to free the trapped miners. For now they are being supplied with food and water where possible.

Today's power may take 12 hours to be restored. This has resulted in white collar workers being sent home. Without any power though what awaits them at home could be worse than work.

The current power black-outs in India are said to be the worst for a decade. They show that the infrastructure of power in India sorely needs attention. India's Power Minister has in part blamed States that take more than their fair share of power from National sources. He has suggested that there should be some form of punishment for those that are greedy such as disconnection from the service. 

We think that India's National Power Grid needs more than that though. It needs a thorough overhaul and no doubt investment.