Inside the brutal Afghan war zone

Seven British soldiers have been killed while fighting the Taliban in Helmand Province in the last seven days.

The latest casualty, Christopher Whiteside, was a 20-year-old trooper in the Light Dragoons.

The BBC's Ian Pannell was on patrol with Christopher's unit shortly before he died.

The family of Christopher Whiteside have agreed to allow this footage to be broadcast.

Ram Does Not Exist — O Ram, Where Art Tho?

Gandhiji uttered “Hai Ram” thrice before the three bullets pumped in by Nathuram Godse drained life out of him. The expression still adorns his samadhi at Raj Ghat. To highlight that the historical significance of the of the Ramsetu bridge is nothing but a mythical illusion, the Indian central government has told the Supreme Court that there is no proof of Lord Ram ever existing, or for that matter of all the sundry characters existing in the epic Ramayana. So has the government turned anti-Gandhi all of a sudden? If the Mahatma had the word Ram on his lips while he breathed his last breath, did he die uttering a false god?

With the nuclear deal controversy not showing signs of abating due to the churlishly intransigent Left (and the BJP) some say snap polls are imminent, and the Congress is surely preparing for that eventuality by playing the ultimate communal card. By denying one of the mightiest of Hindu gods it’s anybody’s guess whom the Congress is trying to please. Not Rawan, surely, because he becomes false too.
It’ll be stupid to believe that the center wants to demolish the Ramsetu bridge simply for economics because the scientists have said time and again that the environmental costs of the Sethusamudram project will be immeasurable, from inviting tsunamis to destroying the pre-historical coral reef. The central agenda of Congress (who is in power at the center right now) is to appease the minorities by showing that it doesn’t give two hoots to the majority’s (Hindus) sentiments. And of course there is lots of money to be made by the politicians, the builders and the contractors.
The response from the BJP and the VHP has been predictable. But sadly, this is the only kind of response that mostly works in our country these days. As we were discussing yesterday at home, in our country where more than 70% of population survives on Rs. 20 per day, who is bothered about the environment, but yes, Ram heats up the emotions. So if the bridge can be saved using the plank of religion, then be it.
What do I think about the existence of Ram? I’ll write about it in another post, in the meantime, let’s have a poll on Ram.

No record of Rama, says ASI
In the midst of a political controversy over the Sethusamudram project, the central government today told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana.In an affidavit filed before the apex court, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) rejected the claim of the existence of the Ramsetu bridge in the area where the project was under construction.The project proposes to provide a shorter sea route from Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka.Referring to Ramayana, the affidavit said there is no "historical record" to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the character, or the occurrences of the events, depicted therein.

BJP today accused the Congress-led UPA government of "blasphemy" by telling the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana."This is sheer blasphemy," BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said reacting to an affidavit filed by ASI rejecting the claim of the existence of Ramsetu or Adam's bridge in the area where the Sethusamudram project was under construction."It's an insult to Hindu faith. We also wonder why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi have been going for the Dussehra festival if their government does not believe in Lord Rama's existence," he said.BJP and other constituents of the Sangh Parivar are opposing the Sethusamudram project saying it would damage an undersea bridge believed to be built by Lord Rama."Today, the government in its affidavit says there is no evidence to prove the bridge was built by Lord Rama or that Lord Rama ever existed. This is an attack on Hindu sentiment - a ferocious one," Malhotra said.Meanwhile, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Terrorists staged protests across the country against the project.

Historic Bible pages put online

There are new opportunities for scholars, experts say

About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible have been recovered and put on the internet.

Visitors to the website www.codexsinaiticus.org can now see images of more than half the 1,600-year-old Codex Sinaiticus manuscript.

Fragments of the 4th Century document - written in Greek on parchment leaves - have been worked on by institutions in the UK, Germany, Egypt and Russia.

Experts say it is "a window into the development of early Christianity".

Preservation secrets

Dr Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library, said the wide availability of the document presented many research opportunities.

This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity Dr Scot McKendrick British Library What's missing from the Codex Sinaiticus?

"The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures," he said.

"This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation.

"The availability of the virtual manuscript for study by scholars around the world creates opportunities for collaborative research that would not have been possible just a few years ago."

The original version contained about 1,460 pages - each measuring 40cm by 35cm, he added.

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme

The British Library is marking the online launch of the manuscript with an exhibition - which includes a range of historic items and artefacts linked to the document.

For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery until it was found in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany and Britain.

It is thought to have survived because the desert air was ideal for preservation and because the monastery, on a Christian island in a Muslim sea, remained untouched, its walls unconquered.

The institutions' painstaking work can now be seen at www.codexsinaiticus.org.