Russia Strikes Kyiv on the Eve of the NATO Summit | Russia Ukraine War | Vantage With Palki Sharma

Russia Strikes Kyiv on the Eve of the NATO Summit | Russia Ukraine War | Vantage With Palki Sharma

hello namaskar this is first post and you’re watching vantage with me py [Music] Sharma prime minister Modi has wrapped up his visit to Russia he told Wladimir Putin to stop the war he got Russia’s highest civilian honor told off the West about its lectures on Russian oil and asked Moscow to speed up defense deliveries all this in barely 24 hours plus a dinner meeting with President Putin at his estate we’ll bring you a low down meanwhile in Washington the NATO Summit begins and Russia’s attack on a Ukrainian hospital is the key Focus will it backfire by rallying more support for Kiev we’ll discuss that back in Europe what are Chinese troops doing in Belarus why is Beijing flexing its military muscle on a NATO border Bangladesh Prime Minister shik K is visiting Beijing we’ll discuss the agenda and whether India should be concerned Aviation giant boing agrees to a guilty plea for the plane crashes that killed more than 300 people is it too little too late there’s a debate on the job situation in India what does the data say a report on terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir is La the latest country caught in China’s dead trap app why Singapore has put insects on the menu and what is digital hold holding are you a holder we’ll talk about this and more the headlines first the Pakistani government authorizes its spy agency the isi to trace and intercept calls and messages saying that the move is in the interest of National Security this decision by the Shabah Sharif government will tighten the news on the opposition as well as social media platform s in Pakistan modi’s downgrades Kenya’s debt rating into junk territory the credit ratings agency cites kena’s inability to reduce its debt for the downgrade the William Ruto government had proposed tax hikes but had to abandon it after widespread protest Kenya is one of the largest economies in East Africa relief for Japanese prime minister fumio kishida prosecutors dropped charges against him in the political fund Scandal over lack of evidence several members from kishida ruling party have been raided questions and arrested in this case kisha’s public approval rating has also slumped to a record low Slovakia’s prime minister returns to work after almost two months in the month of May a gunman shot the Prime Minister four times the 59y old leader had to undergo two lendy surgeries the shooter is currently in custody awaiting trial Greece records its hottest June in more than six decades the Mediterranean nation has been battling Heat waves and wildfires scientists say climate change is making these weather events longer lasting and more intense and it’s official Lan Cricket Board names Gotham gambhir as the head coach of the men’s team the former opener takes over from Rahul draid gambhir was part of the Indian team which won the World Cup in 2011 [Music] [Music] from [Music] [Applause] the last 24 hours have been quite eventful Prime Minister Modi and President Putin have met twice first for dinner on Monday and then today for the annual India Russia Summit they reviewed the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship from the war in Ukraine to defense trade and energy all of it was discussed they resolved some pressing issues and the visit ended on a high for the Indian Prime Minister he was honored with Russia’s highest civilian award the order of St Andrew the apostle he was awarded for his contributions to the India Russia [Music] [Applause] relationship in fact the award was announced in 2019 but the ceremony could not happen then because Prime Minister Modi had to postpone his visit so he was formally given the honor today Russia has conferred the same award and Xi Jinping as well the Chinese president received it in 2017 2 years later Moscow honored Prime Minister Modi and by doing this Putin is sending an important message that his relationship with India is as important as his ties with China and the West has been watching these developments closely not without sharp reactions tonight we’ll tell you all about it the day began with formal engagements the India Russia delegation level Talks co-chaired by Prime Minister Modi and president Putin the tone for today’s Summit was set last evening when Putin hosted Modi for dinner this was an informal meeting the dinner meeting at the Russian president estate outside Moscow and the chemistry between the two leaders was evident President Putin welcomed Prime Minister Modi with a hug there were several such moments the Russian president took the indan Prime Minister on a tour of his daa or estate and they were seen riding a golf cart together Putin even introduced Modi to his pet horses social media was full of memes comparing this reception to the longtable treatment that Western leaders get in Moscow off late evidently the Russian leader attaches great significance to his relationship with India and this was a abundantly clear when both leaders sat down for [Music] discussions for [Music] after this exchange Modi and Putin were left alone with their translators for a freewheeling chat they discussed important issues like the war in Ukraine Prime Minister Modi told President Putin a solution will not be found on the battlefield and this is a very significant statement it is a direct appeal from India to end the war in Ukraine it is also in line with what Modi told Putin back in 2022 when they’ met in usbekistan on the sidelines of the SEO the shangai cooperation organization Summit that’s when Modi told Putin and I’m quoting this is not the era of war and yesterday he urged the Russian leader to explore diplomatic options the same message was reiterated during the formal Summit today as well sh so India is pushing for peace and talks India is also clear that these talks must include Russia which explains why New Delhi did not endorse the Swiss declaration last month I’m referring to the Ukraine peace Summit Switzerland had hosted it in June more than 90 countries participated in the summit India to Center representative but Russia was not invited to this Summit in Switzerland so India refused to Jo to sign the joint communi it said that there can be no meaningful and sustainable resolution without moscow’s presence this was India’s message to the West at the same time it is asking Russia to abide by the United Nations Charter to respect Ukraine’s sovereignity and territorial Integrity Prime Minister Modi addressed this with President Putin and that’s the biggest highlight of this visit he also raised the issue of the repatriation of Indian citizens those serving in Russian forces Reports say there are at least 40 such Indians stuck in Russia they were tricked by agents into joining the Russian forces and India has been trying to secure their release yesterday there was a breakthrough President Putin agreed to discharge all Indian citizens there were agreements on some other key issues as well like on trade where both countries have set an ambitious Target bilateral trade currently stands at $65 billion they want to raise it all the way up to100 Billion by 2030 and this trade relationship is heavily skewed in Russia’s favor mainly due to India’s oil purchases we buy a lot of oil from Russia to fix this imbalance India has sought greater Market access from Russia on the defense front India had a specific concern we talked about this yesterday the delay in deliveries many of Russian many Russian supplies are running late they’re yet to deliver two S400 missile defense systems Prime Minister Modi is believed to have raised this asking for Speedy deliveries India is also investing more in its partnership with Russia today the Prime Minister made an announcement that India will open two more consulates in Russia in Kazan and your catherineberg so overall it was a productive visit for Prime Minister Modi India managed to secure its strategic interests with a vital partner India also asserted its strategic autonomy and asked for an end to the war but not everyone is thrilled about this visit like the United States which is reacting on expected lines yesterday it said that it was concerned about prime minister modi’s engagements with Russia there’s another visitor in Moscow today uh Prime Minister Modi of India uh you know obviously India has a long-standing relationship with Russia what do you think of the timing of this right before the NATO Summit and in light of what’s going on we would urge India as we do any country when it engage engages with Russia India is a strategic partner with whom we engage in a full and Frank dialogue and that includes uh on our concerns about their relationship with Russia Ukraine’s president zilinski added to this he called Putin a quote unquote criminal he said prime minister modi’s engagements undermine the peace efforts for Ukraine in his statement zalinsky referred to yesterday’s air strikes on Kia where a children’s hospital was hit but both the US and Ukraine spoke too soon they should have waited for the Indian Prime Minister to speak because he too raised yesterday’s air strikes with Putin [Music] or now that’s a strong message clearly India is advocating for the protection of civilians in Ukraine especially the children Prime Minister Modi is probably the first world leader to take up yesterday’s attack directly with the Russian president he also tackled another tricky issue India’s oil purchases from Russia Prime Minister Modi countered the Western criticism of these purchases [Music] in diplomacy the choice of words is everything prime minister modi’s statements demonstrate how skillfully India balances its ties between Russia and the West it’s a tough balance to maintain but India must do it to protect its National interest and so far New Delhi has done it well [Music] so prime minister Narendra Modi made an appeal to Vladimir Putin he asked Putin to choose diplomacy and dialogue he said there was no solution on the battlefield either Putin disagrees or Moscow had already set a plan in motion because yesterday Russia launched an attack on Ukraine one of the largest attacks in months dozens of missiles including Hypersonic ones were launched at Ukraine multiple cities were targeted including Ukraine’s Capital Kiev Russia says it was going for military facilities in response to an earlier Ukrainian attack it was supposed to be a show of force and here’s why I say this the attack took place yesterday a day before a summit was supposed to begin in Washington DC and NATO Summit celebrating 75 years of the alliance all 32 NATO members are sending their representatives and they had planned to send a message of support for Ukraine now Ukraine won’t become a NATO member not yet anyway but the group was expected to talk about the way forward for K it was also going to pledge more Aid worth about $43 billion this will be a commitment for 2025 $43 billion NATO is also expected to take a more Hands-On approach in Ukraine by directly providing weapons and training currently this is organized by individual NATO member states but now NATO the group itself will arrange weapons and they will organize training programs and this brings NATO a step closer to direct confrontation with Russia Moscow knows this listen to the Kremlin spokesperson Russia will follow the NATO Summit with maximum attention you know that the North Atlantic Alliance is the alliance which considers the Russian Federation its enemy and adversary this is the alliance which repeatedly and openly declared its aim to strategically defeat Russia on the battlefield this is the alliance which is directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the Ukraine side therefore we will be following very closely the rhetoric which is about to take place the negotiations and decisions that will be adopted and put on paper Moscow is keeping an eye on NATO so the timing of the latest attack was no coincidence it was supposed to send a message however things may not have gone according to plan because Russia fired dozens of missiles at Ukraine across multiple cities and in Kev a missile fell on a children’s hospital leading to chaos and a frantic rescue operation Russia says this was not its handywork it says that a Ukrainian air defense Missile hit the hospital a western nayam missile Kev denies this of course it says this is the missile that hit the hospital a Russian KH 101 rocket Kia has released these photos to incriminate Russia yesterday Ukrainian president volodimir zilinski was in Poland signing a new defense pack that’s when he got news of the Russian attack and he was quick to [Applause] react as of now we know of 27 people killed in this strike I would like to ask for and I thank for this opportunity I would like to ask everyone present to pay tribute with a minute of Silence zilinsky called for a moment of silence and then he loudly blamed Russia for the hospital attack his Western allies believe him the global con condemnation has been Swift the United Nations Secretary General said the strike was quote unquote particularly shocking the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss the attack meanwhile US President Joe Biden also condemned Russia he said the attack was a quote unquote horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality Russia wanted to send a message to the the west but it’s unlikely that it wanted to Galvanize them so the hospital strike seems to have been a mistake one that the West will no doubt use to Rally support for Ukraine Russia sure Force seems to have backfired and we’ll have to wait and see how NATO capitalizes on this for our next story let’s look at Russia’s neighbor Belarus it is playing host to Chinese troops why why because of a joint military drill it is code named Eagle assault the drill began on Monday it will continue for 11 days now this is a joint drill it includes tactical operations like night Landings overcoming water barriers and urban combat training troops from both countries China and Belarus will work as one unit but what are these sudden drills about why with China is the timing suspicious and is it a sign of something bigger let’s look at all these questions one by one last August the Chinese defense minister was in Minsk the capital of Belarus he met President Alexander lucashenko the two countries agreed to conduct more drills and looks like they followed up their last join drills were in 2018 in Eastern China but this is the first time that Beijing has sent troops to Belarus China of course is playing it down saying that this is part of an annual plan they call it anti terrorist training but is it really the answer lies in the location let me pull up a map for you the drills are happening here in the city of briest it’s obviously in Belarus but look closely at the location briest lies just 5 km away from Poland and not just that it’s located barely 50 km from Ukraine and what’s common between these two Nations one is a member of the NATO Poland the other wants to join Jo it Ukraine the other point to note is the timing of the drills they began on the eve of the NATO 75th Anniversary NATO leaders are meeting in Washington to discuss the future of the alliance and Beijing chose this very moment to flex its muscle at a NATO border it also coincides with an important visit yesterday Ukrainian president volodimir zilinsky arrived in Poland we just told you about this he met with the Polish prime minister he also signed a security agreement so the timing is not mere coincidence it’s about sending a message to the West now China and Belarus have long been cordial but in the last few years they’ve deepened ties Beijing describes it and listen to this this is how Beijing describes the relationship an all weather comprehensive strategic partnership it’s a mouthful it’s also a rare term in fact China uses this description for only one other nation and that is Pakistan so Belarus is quite important to China and vice versa in 2023 president Alexander lukashenko visited China not once but twice and this year Belarus joined the SEO the Shanghai cooperation organization it’s the 10th member of this group so it looks like China and bellarus do have an unbreakable friendship that’s what Shi Jinping likes to call it an unbreakable friendship but let’s also give credit where it’s due there’s one country that links both minks and Beijing and that’s Russia Belarus is a critical Ally of Moscow it has backed the Ukraine Invasion meanwhile China and Russia have what they call a No Limits partnership they’re like comrades in arms recently Putin won his fifth term as president and guess which was the first country that he visited China so Moscow is like the glue in this friendship does that make these drills a power play a message to the West it appears so the making of the China Russia Belarus Alliance a new axis against the West Belarus has long been a key Ally in Russia’s War it allowed Moscow to use its border as a Launchpad Russian nukes are deployed in Belarus so it’s an active participant the war but China has long avoided this it has refused to condemn Russia but it has also tried to appear neutral it has avoided stunt support for one side while secretly also helping Russia Beijing has even called for peace but with these drills the mask is slipping China is finally giving up its gar of neutrality and clearly picking sides we’ve just seen what Chinese troops are up to now let’s look at their leader he’s hosting an important guest this week the prime minister of Bangladesh shik Casina she arrived in Beijing yesterday and she will be leaving tomorrow night it was originally supposed to be a 4-day trip but it seems to have been cut short not because of any issues though it just looks like shik Hina has been quick to wrap up business she’s no stranger to Beijing it’s her fifth trip to China she last visited in 2019 so she knows the ropes and she knows how to get the job done today she took part in a trade Summit dubbed the rise of the Bengal tiger prime minister shik Casina attended this event and walked away with 16 deals 16 M memorandums of understanding just four of these are worth about half a billion dollars they cover a number of sectors fintech electric vehicles solar energy textiles Chinese firms are investing in all these industries in Bangladesh and shik Hina will be thrilled after all this was why she went to Beijing to secure Chinese investments in fact China has been investing in Bangladesh for years but the coroporation rammed up in 2016 after Xi Jinping visited Daka Soo Bangladesh ties were upgraded that year to a strategic cooperation partnership and China has been pouring money into Bangladesh ever since today’s trade Summit was an extension of this policy and we’ll see more of the same tomorrow shik Hina will be meeting shiin ping tomorrow afternoon and she will have a bilateral with China’s Premier Lee Chiang it will be a delegation level bilateral Bangladesh is expected to walk away with even more M more deals and possibly another upgrade in its relationship with China the ties might reach the next level to become a comprehensive strategic Cooperative partnership it’s basically symbolic it’s a symbol of growing ties even if it doesn’t change much on the ground these are the expected results of shik hina’s visit to Beijing but the trip itself raises some questions like why is Bangladesh cozying up to China what is China’s angle here what do they stand to gain and how should India view this flourishing relationship we’ll start with Bangladesh the country was once known for its poverty but over the years it has been developing and developing fast it is now neck and neck with India in terms of GDP per capita between 2018 and 2023 Bangladesh was actually ahead of India but their growth has now slowed down a bit which is why Dhaka is looking for more Investments it wants to add more fuel to its growth story and that is why is turning to Beijing and its Deep Pockets the next question was about China what’s in it for them well China is always looking to invest and then exploit it is known as debt trap diplomacy a term that is synonymous with China these days Bangladesh is another potential Mark another country to flee but that’s not all Bangladesh is located in South Asia with access to the Bay of Bengal it is a strategic location for both trade and Military purposes and China has been ramping up both sets of ties with Bangladesh trade and Military Beijing seeks to expand its influence across the world and Bangladesh may eventually serve as a gateway to the Bay of Bengal it seems like China is playing the long game here Bing its time waiting to take advantage that is the Chinese angle the third question was about India how should India see the China Bangladesh ties well New Delhi should obvious vious ly be wary India doesn’t want to wake up one day with Chinese military bases in the Bay of Bengal but that’s not the immediate problem for now Bangladesh shows no signs of forsaking its friendship with India shik Hina is an astute politician she came to India twice last month once for prime minister Narendra Modi swearing in ceremony and then for a bilateral during her second trip India and Bangladesh signed 10 pacts not a bad Hall shik Casina seems to be balancing ties with both India and China Bangladesh is walking away with the best deals from both sides now let’s talk about boing it is one of the biggest Aviation companies in the world but in the last few years it’s become a dreaded name in aviation two crashes multiple investigations and no accountability later boing has now agreed to a guilty plea it charges the company with criminal conspiracy what’s it about the probe was linked to the 2737 Max crashes the crashes that killed 346 people boing will now have to pay a fine of $243 million but by doing this it can avoid the spectacle of a criminal trial which raises a question is this fair is this enough or is Boeing too big to be held accountable our next report tells you it was a normal day for United flight 10001 it was set to take off from Los Angeles it was heading to Denver but disaster struck just moments after takeoff the landing gear wheel fell off no one was injured the plane went on to land safely it’s not the first time this has happened in March a similar incident happened to another United Airlines jet it took off from San Francisco but midair the plane lost a tire it landed on a car window thankfully no one was hurt the plane landed safely at Los Angeles both these planes were Boeing aircraft the latest incident comes at a time when Boeing has agreed to plead guilty in a probe into two fatal 737 crashes responsible for those the first was in 2018 it involved Lion Air Flight 610 189 people lost their lives the second was just 5 months later Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 it crashed right after takeoff killing 157 people both the planes were Boeing 737 Maxes soon a probe began into the two crashes investigators found two main things first boing cut Corners in designing the plane and second the company deceived Regulators Boeing was accused of risking the lives of passengers so in 2021 the company agreed to a settlement it was worth $2.5 billion but the company avoided criminal prosecution boing promised to do better but a re Spate of incidents don’t indicate that on the 5th of January this year a Boeing 7379 made an emergency landing why because the door plug blew out there was a gaping hole in the plane in the middle of the air it was in May the US Department of Justice started probing Boeing it found that the company broke the terms of the 2021 settlement but but Boeing seems to have found a way out it has applied for a guilty plea Boeing has agreed to pay a $243 million penalty it’s agreed to Independent monitoring the board of directors will also meet the families of the victims they will invest $455 million in safety I would like to speak directly to those who lost loved ones on Lion Air Flight 610 in the Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 I would like to apologize on behalf of all of our Boeing Associates spread throughout the world past and present for your losses their gut rship and I apologize for the grief that we have caused and I want you to know we are totally committed in their memory the work and focus on safety for as long as long as we’re employed by both so again I’m sorry but is that enough the world has two main aircraft manufacturers one is Airbus the other is Boeing the company is also among the top five us defense contractors it employs 170,000 people so Boeing is one of America’s biggest companies right now the company has orders for over 6,000 jets that means it’ll be in production for years the business is not shutting down anytime soon also in 2022 boing got over $44 billion worth of us defense contracts basically it is too big to fail so is a penalty of $243 million sufficient in the last two decades all Boeing has done is Chase profit overlooking safety which has led to the death of 346 people boing has promised to do better but that cannot be the end of accountability for the aviation giant meanwhile a dispute is brewing in India it is about jobs specifically about the jobs data a tug of war has begun between the Indian government and a private bank it started last week when economists at City Bank made some big claims about India’s job market they released a report with three key highlights number one India is not creating enough jobs according to City Bank India needs to create 12 million jobs every year and it needs to keep doing this over the next decade 12 million every year this is to absorb the new entrance in the job market a lot of young people are entering the market they need jobs so India must create 12 million vacancies annually that’s apparently not happening even though India is growing at around 7% every year City Bank says this rate of growth is not enough because at the current rate India will be able to create only 8 to 9 million jobs per year so they say the country is falling short by at least 3 million that’s the first claim in this report the second one is about the quality of jobs City Bank says India needs to create better quality jobs where workers contribute more to the country’s economic growth it points to sectors like agriculture 46% of India’s Workforce is engaged in agriculture 46% but the sector contributes less than 20% to India’s GDP what about manufacturing less than 12% of India’s Workforce is employed in this sector so there is scope for improvement here in manufacturing the third claim is about the pandemic and its impact on jobs there are fewer workers in the formal sector in India now than there were before the pandemic the share has fallen from 24% to 21% meaning just 21% of India’s work force has a job that pays a steady salary or wages that is the diagnosis of City Bank it says India needs more jobs and better quality jobs it also needs more workers employed in the formal sector and what is India’s response the government has rejected this report this week New Delhi issued a rebuttal it says City Bank did not take into account count all the official data released by the government the statement says and I quote the ministry of labor and employment cautions against the selective use of private data sources that can lead to misleading conclusions about India’s employment scenario today India’s Reserve Bank The Reserve Bank of India published its own jobs data this is India’s Central Bank and this data challenges claims made by City Bank the Indian Central Bank says 46 million Indians joined the workforce last year and this is the highest increase since the early 1980s plus compared to the previous year job growth has jumped by almost 6% so according to the RBI The Reserve Bank of India the pace of job creation remains robust basically this has become a war of data sets New Delhi is countering the City Bank Report with its own data and numbers now data is a powerful tool to make an argument and we have no way to independently verify either either set but here’s another indicator and that is the lived experience which shapes the public sentiment and perception take the United States for instance last year their employment unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% in the US 3.4% it was the lowest in 54 years a record low in fact Americans should have been happy about this but they were not multiple surveys showed this that a majority of Americans felt that their economy was in recession and that America’s economic situation was worsening so while the data shows one picture it may not have meaningfully impacted people to feel optimistic and this perception matters too when fresh graduates struggle to get placed when existing workers struggle to find jobs when companies fold up and people are laid off they tend to question growth numbers and India has one of the youngest workforces in the world so while official figures say that there has been job growth clear L more needs to be done it is important for policy makers to have an ear to the ground and listen to people more carefully our next story is from Jammu and Kashmir which is witnessing a rise in Terrorist activities today an encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Dota this is after an attack on the Army yesterday on Monday five soldiers were killed after terrorists threw grenades and open fire at an army truck and these were not the the only incidents six terrorists and two soldiers were killed in two separate Encounters in the valley so who’s behind these attacks the Army points at an old culprit our next report tells you how crossb terrorism is threatening Kashmir again it was 3:30 p.m. on Monday the Indian army was patrolling a Road near bota Village it’s located about 150 km from katua that’s when they were ambushed by terrorists they hurled a grenade and opened fire on Army vehicles five soldiers were killed six others were injured injured they are shifted to uh M hospital panot and uh one dead body is the Army retaliated Security Forces returned fire but the terrorists managed to flee by hiding in the nearby Forest Army officials say three terrorists were involved in the attack search operations are underway but it is not the only incident in the region in the last 48 hours on Sunday an army camp in rori was attacked one soldier was injured this happened in the jamu region in kashmir’s kulgam District Six terrorists and two soldiers were killed in two separate encounters over the weekend the first incident was in modaram village where a search operation turned into a gun battle the second one was in frel the firefighting there led to the death of a soldier another one was injured these attacks indicate a spike in Terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir last month there were three Terror attacks in three days one attack targeted a Bus full of pilgrims it happened in the riasi district nine people were killed in the incident just 2 Days Later two armed terrorists entered a village and opened fire killing a crpf Personnel so which terror group is responsible for these attacks reports suggest it is the resistance front it’s a unit of the band lashkar Toba It is believed to be behind the growing Terror activities in the union territory last month Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the fight against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is in its last stage according to home Ministry data eight civilians have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the first 5 months of 2024 so while the deaths may have come down the latest trend is worrying and despite overtures of Peace offerings Pakistan continues to bleed Kashmir through its support to these Terror groups our next story is about Laos it’s a country in Southeast Asia the only landlocked country in the region and home to less than 8 million people La is currently in trouble because of debt and you know what that means China has ens snared another Nation with its dead tra diplomacy let’s take a closer look at La it is located in the heart of southeast Asia Mainland it borders all the countries there Vietnam Cambodia Thailand and Myanmar and to the north of Laos is China its closest Ally and its biggest problem China has lent a lot of money to Laos about 10 and a half billion doar that’s about 75% of the country’s total public debt which stands at $1 13.8 billion the debt total debt now the numbers may not sound like a lot but remember this is a small nation this debt amounts to 108% of their GDP and that is unsustainable it has resulted in a financial crisis last year their external debt payments reached almost a billion dollars up from about half a billion in 2022 and this is after La deferred some of its Dey payments it has been deferring payments since 2020 since the Wuhan virus pandemic but despite this its debt keeps growing unchecked so how did it come to this well there are a number of reasons but there is one major one La is a participant in China’s belt and Road initiative the global highway to bankruptcy La agreed to build a high-speed Railway as part of the brri at a cost of6 billion and China funded a part of this but Laos was forced to take a loan for its share B projects have saddled a number of nations with unsustainable debt and this is the latest example another country country in China’s debt trap it joins the club made up of Nations like Pakistan Mongolia Kenya Zambia and of course Sri Lanka Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt in 2022 you may remember the images the visuals long lines for fuel a lack of essential Goods no money for imports and a government in turmoil things are settling down in Sri Lanka now but it is still trying to restructure its debt just last week it struck a deal with private creditors they agreed to take a 28% haircut Sri Lanka was lucky here that the creditors agreed to take a loss but this was not the case with its biggest bilateral creditor which happens to be China China too has worked out to deal with Sri Lanka but it refused to take a haircut it has eased the terms of repayment but Columbo will have to pay every penny back over time so it will take Sri Lanka years to free itself of Chinese debt China Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender but Beijing accounts for a bit under 45% of Columbo’s total debt that’s not the case with LA remember 75% of LA’s debt is owed to China and Beijing does not take haircuts so la is staring at Decades of paying China back or find an alternative like selling off critical assets to China Sri Lanka too had to do this with its China built hum to Port Port that was leased to China for 99 years with the option to extend that lease to 198 years basically until long after every Sri Lankan currently alive is gone La may have to go down the same route Reports say that it is already underway China Now controls some of LA’s electricity infrastructure in exchange for debt relief eventually more laian assets may be up for sale perhaps even the debt inducing Railway line which would be both ironic and the perfect example of China’s debt trap diplomacy you may need some time to pardon the pun warm up to a next story if you are in Singapore get ready for silk War sat in restaurants or Cricket custard on Supermarket shelves because the island nation has approved insect food bugs can now be imported and sold for consumption for both humans and animals 16 species of insects have the approval including grasshoppers moths crickets and silk worms and there is a strict regulatory FR framework in place but why does Singapore want bugs on the menu are other nations part of this creepy crawly Club here’s a report we hope you’re not having dinner right right now but if you are would you like some bugs with that the options are endless how about silkor s maybe chili lime Cricket tacos or grasshopper ganache cake for dessert sounds bizarre soon these dishes could be on the menu in Singapore the island nation has given creepy crawlies the green light in Singapore insects have been approved as food for consumption by both humans and animals so don’t be shocked if you see mouthwatering meal worms on Supermarket shelves or white grubs as well grub in restaurants but can people eat whatever crawls under their beds not so much Singapore has issued a strict regulatory framework 16 types of insects have been approved for consumption including certain types of grasshoppers moths crickets silk worms grubs and bees these insects cannot be harvested from the wild they have to be imported for consumption then treated to kill any pathogens but why do the insects need to be imported and why does Singapore need insects in the first place the answer lies in Singapore’s agricultural landscape by virtue of its small size Singapore does not have much of an agriculture sector it Imports 90% of its food and that’s a lot of Reliance on other nations so Singapore wants to change this it wants to be more self-reliant this is the City State’s 30×30 goal it wants to have 30% of the nutritional needs met locally by 2030 but the pickup will take a while in the meantime Singapore has an alternate strategy it wants to diversify hence the insects their import will reduce the burden on the Singaporean food industry this may be a challenge as well after all eating insects is a novelty in Singapore but the government hopes the nutritional value of bugs will have some of peel many insects especially crickets Grasshoppers and mealworms are rich in protein they contain plenty of antioxidants and minerals and Singapore is not alone in saying this the United Nations is appealing to the public to accept bugs as food because they come with two benefits first they are packed with nutrients secondly they are a sustainable source of food insect raring emits fewer greenhouse gases so bugs can help us in the battle against climate change a lot of benefits here which is why some nations are warming up to the idea including the European Union Australia New Zealand South Korea and Thailand they have all allowed the consumption of insects and different nations have their own favorites in Japan there’s a tradition of eating grasshoppers grasshopper tacos are a delicacy in Mexico ants crickets and tarantulas are commonly eaten in Thailand and Cambodia so if you can get past the initial creepy Vibes of the creepy crawlies it may serve you well to warm up to the idea of insects as food clutter never had a good rep in the past few years it has gotten much worse so much so that hoarding now qualifies as a mental disorder Netflix preaches about tidying up and gurus want us to toss out what doesn’t spark Joy well we have followed this advice we have pged and prodded our closets we have purged our homes of unwanted possessions but what about the things that we do not see what about the digital junk that we hold let me ask you this if you don’t change anything at this very moment how many unread emails are there in your inbox you won’t be surprised if you say hundreds or even thousands by 2025 376 billion emails will be sent and received every day 376 billion every day in general 35% of emails are left unread that’s a lot of digital letters sitting around in our inboxes but emails aren’t the only ones taking up space thousands of apps blow our phones on average we have 40 apps installed on our phones 4 Z that’s the average but we use less than 50% of them then there are all kinds of files that clutter our devices there are old pictures work presentations meme restaurant receipts we haven’t opened these in years but we stop pile and then we rationalize what if we need some of these in the future that day rarely comes but we accumulate the digital clutter forever and this is a sign of our times now we have a name for it digital holding it is exactly like holding physical objects except digital files are accumulated in this case now this is not the same as everyday Digital Collection digital holding has three key features collecting constantly finding it difficult to discard and struggling to organize to put it simply do people scream when they look at your desktop for the first time if they do then this is something that you need to think about because digital holding much like any other form of holding has downsides both professionally and personally and research proves this digital holding affects productivity and fuels stress plus it increases security risks and this is the tricky thing about digital clutter often it builds up without us realizing that it’s happening and we go about our lives leaving a trail of data behind at best this is a waste at worst this can be dangerous a hot bed for fraud and data theft think about it every year more than a billion people use the Google photos app this is a digital cloud storage where billions of pictures and videos are uploaded and stored automatically now this technology is helpful no doubt about that but that’s also a lot of data up in the air and speaking of clouds here’s the next downside the bigger picture we’re talking about the environmental concerns at this point clouds that hold our data seem like near Limitless balls of air but this digital realm is also material it is powered by data centers which have a growing carbon footprint to put it in perspective a single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes one data center according to research 60% of us never delete our pictures even if some of these are duplicates we keep them and the cost of these duplicate pictures in some countries 355,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year but this information is not new so why do we hold we hold because we can it’s economics 101 holding has become cheap it doesn’t cost us every time we hit a camera shutter it doesn’t take a physical space to keep files and folders so we keep things stored forever but the downsides outweigh the benefits it is time to make spring cleaning cool again only this time let it be a digital addition to to they say a disordered desk is evidence of a disordered brain how about we apply the same logic to our devices tell us what you think and now it’s time for Vantage shots images that tell the story Kim Jong-un marks his grandfather North Korean founder Kim ung’s death anniversary with a concert in Spain two people were left injured on the third day of pamplona’s annual Bull Run and Sicily’s only natural lake is disappearing as the island grapples with drought finally we’re taking you back in history on this day in 1877 the first Wimbledon Championship was held the first edition only had a men’s singles tournament in 1884 a Women’s Championship was introduced The Wimbledon is part of the four annual Grand Slam Tennis events it’s the only one still played on natural grass we’re leaving you on that note thanks for watching we will see you tomorrow e e [Music] across continents one powerful news [Music] source bringing you diverse perspectives on the issues that matter we go beyond the boundaries to give you that little extra about every sporting moment so thank you for making first post 5 million strong we’re counting on your support and you can trust us to bring you the news unfiltered and unvarnished [Music] climate change is on our doorstep it’s time for a revolution to take Route and it starts with 1.4 billion Indians it starts with one tree one tree for Humanity one tree for Mother Earth one tree for a future project one tree a news8 network [Music] initiative onday the T20 World Cup bang move across to the West and East can you respect hello I’m Al GRE coming to you from D South Africa today we have a speci we start with an report on India’s shifting nuclear for the first time since hello and welcome to First P America I’m Eric ham coming to you live from the nation’s capital of Washington DC

Russia Strikes Kyiv on the Eve of the NATO Summit | Russia Ukraine War | Vantage With Palki Sharma

Russia launched an attack on Ukraine on Monday. Russian missiles hit multiple cities across Ukraine. A children’s hospital in Kyiv was hit by a missile. The Russian attack came just a day before NATO began celebrating 75 years of the alliance. Was the attack on Ukraine a message to NATO from Moscow?

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NATO | Summit | USA | Washington | Russia Ukraine War | Ukraine Aid | Vladimir Putin | Kyiv | Children’s Hospital | Missile Attack | Firstpost | World News | News Live | Vantage | Palki Sharma | News

#nato #summit #usa #russiaukrainwar #ukraineaid #kyiv #hospital #missilestrikes #firstpost #vantageonfirstpost #palkisharma #worldnews

Vantage is a ground-breaking news, opinions, and current affairs show from Firstpost. Catering to a global audience, Vantage covers the biggest news stories from a 360-degree perspective, giving viewers a chance to assess the impact of world events through a uniquely Indian lens.

The show is anchored by Palki Sharma, Managing Editor, Firstpost.

By breaking stereotypes, Vantage aims to challenge conventional wisdom and present an alternative view on global affairs, defying the norm and opening the door to new perspectives. The show goes beyond the headlines to uncover the hidden stories – making Vantage a destination for thought-provoking ideas.

Vantage airs Monday to Friday at 9 PM IST on Firstpost across all leading platforms.
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