Indian media: Ex-minister's 'bizarre' suggestion to stop cheating

Indian websites are abuzz with former federal minister Laloo Prasad Yadav's "bizarre" suggestion to stop cheating in school exams.

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested over the past few days in the eastern state of Bihar after reports emerged of blatant cheating in schools.

Parents and friends of students were photographed climbing school walls to pass on answers.

But the former chief minister of Bihar says students should be allowed to take books in examination halls.

"Had it been my government we would have given books to examinees to write... only those who have read could write answers from books and for those who have not, [the] exam duration of three hours would end and they would still be searching for answers," a report in the Deccan Chronicle quotes Yadav as saying.

The report adds that former state minister Sushil Kumar Modi has supported Yadav's idea.

"Open book system in examination is prevalent in prominent universities in America and elsewhere in the world. It has the logic that only student who has read the book could trace the answer," Modi said.

Alcohol protest

Elsewhere, a man reportedly threw a packet full of alcohol in the state assembly of Gujarat as a mark of protest against the availability of liquor.

Babu Shankar Patel, 70, was present in the spectators' gallery of the house when he threw the packet.

The Hindu reports that Patel was unhappy with the government's inability to enforce prohibition in the state.

Sale of alcohol has been banned in Gujarat ever since the state was created in 1960.