COLU @ CONCEPTS

Image copyright WATERAID/ RONNY SEN Image caption For more than 2,000 years, the Baiga tribeswomen have been getting tattoos In India, and across the world, getting a tattoo is nowadays seen as a sign of independence and rebellion. Many young people get inked to showcase their identity, what makes them distinctive and who they are. But for me, a decision to not get a tattoo was my version of rebellion, an assertion of my hard-fought independence. It was my way of saying: "I will not toe the line." I grew up thinking of tattoos, along with nose and ear piercings, as symbols of the subjugation of women. That's because my mother has a couple of tattoos. And my grandmother had more than a couple. And they told me they had no choice in the matter. In many rural communities in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where my family comes from, it's mandatory for married women to have tattoos, locally known as Godna. "My family told me that if I didn...

Image copyright AFP Image caption A secessionist group is campaigning for independence in south-eastern Nigeria In our series of letters from African journalists, novelist and writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani writes that many of the hopes Nigerians had at independence have been dashed. Of all the stories I have heard of the day when Nigeria gained independence from Britain on 1 October 1960, the most memorable is the one told by my friend's father, Onye Kamanu, who had spent the preceding night at Tafawa Balewa Square in the then capital, Lagos. Sitting on the surrounding walls and bare ground were thousands of Nigerians, who, like him, could hardly wait to usher in the day that their country would finally be free from colonial rule. 'Joy and pride' With tears in his eyes, Mr Kamanu recalled the occasion, describing the deafening bellow of triumph that went up from the teeming crowd when the British Union Jack finally went down and the green-white-green Nigerian flag...

Image copyright CESKA TELEVIZE Image caption Now teenagers, the ten babies are being removed for a health check The tallest building in the Czech capital Prague will be without its landmark babies for the first time in sixteen years. Then ten fibreglass babies, which went some way to improve the public's perception of the Zizkov TV tower - once dubbed the second ugliest building in the world - are now well into their teens and are being removed for cleaning and structural checks,  Radio Prague reports . They were added by Czech artist David Cerny in the year 2000, and have become - until now - permanent exhibits on the 216m (708 ft) tower, once known to locals as "Jakes' Finger" after Milos Jakes, the final leader of communist Czechoslovakia. Built toward the end of the communist regime, Zizkov Tower was seen by many as an unwelcome reminder of the old government,  the Prague.tv website says . Image copyright AFP Image caption David Cerny was briefly arrested...