| | Words in the News |
INTRO | | MPs in India demanded that the United Kingdom hand over the renowned Kohinoor diamond. The Kohinoor is an Indian diamond weighing 106 carats, which has been part of the British Crown Jewels for almost 150 years. The MPs claim that the Kohinoor was taken away illegally, which is why they want it back. |
IN FULL | |  | Listen to Indian MP Kuldip Nayar |
 |  | 4th May 2000
Indian MPs demand Kohinoor's return
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NEWS 1 | | | Listen to the first extract |
| | | The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has appointed a parliamentary committee to place the looted antiques from the Empire and I thought this was the best opportunity The response is muted because it has not yet been played up in India. Once it comes before parliament, then you will see some kind of campaign will build up. |
WORDS | | looted: stolen Empire: an empire is a group of countries controlled by one country - here referring to the former British Empire
muted: not very strong to play up: to emphasize a fact or feature and try to make people think that it is more important than it really is
come before: considered or approved by a group in power - in this instance parliament
build up:get bigger - the campaign will get bigger and gain support
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| NEWS 2 | | | Listen to the second extract |
| | | There are so many things of India which are either lying in the basement of the Victoria and Albert Museum or in the India Office Library. My purpose is that those things, which are really connected with our history, should come back here or at least should be given on loan. |
| WORDS | | basement: the basement of a building is a floor built partly or wholly below ground level
Victoria and Albert Museum: the world's largest museum of decorative arts named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
at least: here used to mean the minimum which should be done in the circumstances
given on loan: lent |
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| | | Read about the background in BBC News Online |
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