LIVE: US Forms "The Squad" to Counter Chinese Threat in the Indo-Pacific | Vantage with Palki Sharma

[Music] hello namaskar this is first post and you're watching vantage with me py sh [Music] [Music] [Music] China has a new adversary it's called the squad a group of countries led by the US to counter China but you already have the quad and the orus for that so is this just another addition to the alphabet soup of alliances how will the squad deter China and how is Beijing responding we'll tell you all about it meanwhile Apple was has been bit by Falling sales in Revenue they blame legal issues and Huawei for it but could it also be the lack of Innovation we'll discuss that in West Asia a new Clash turkey is snaps trade ties with Israel Israel calls erdogan a dictator in Russia Putin is celebrating reverse migration hundreds of thousands of people who' fled the war have returned home and it's helping their economy in Pakistan the government plans to block your phone SIM card if you don't pay taxes not making this up in the US over 2,000 people arrested and in campus protest apparently most of them are not students in South Korea companies will be punished for shrinkflation meaning meaning selling smaller size of a product for the same price in India decoding Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from R bareli in Japan a bizarre food Trend armpit rice that's rice balls made with human sweat from the armpits no words and how to make anger work for you try it over the weekend let us know if it helps the headlines first Russian soldiers deployed to an air base in ner that also houses American troops at comes after ner hun decided to expel the American forces Washington pulling out of ner is a big Regional gain for Moscow which has rammed up its focus on Africa trouble mounts for UK's prime minister Rishi sunak his conservative party suffers a major setback in the local elections the opposition labor party wins seats it hasn't held for decades the results are being seen as a test of public opinion before the general election later this year Nepal faces widespread Internet outages affecting millions of people the disruptions are due to payments not made to Indian companies Broadband providers owe more than $20 million to venders in India Nepal has over 10 million subscribers to private internet companies Germany and Czech Republic accus Russia of multiple cyber attacks European Union com condemns it warning of a response Moscow denies the allegations recently EU countries like Poland Lithuania Slovakia and Sweden have all been victims of cyber attacks and Italy bans puppy yoga classes claims it is too stressful for the animals the Italian Health Ministry says only adult dog should be used in animal assisted [Music] therapy let me ask you a question where would the next big threat to the world to to World Peace come from will the war in Ukraine spread to Europe will West Asia flare up again or will it be Africa what about the indopacific where tensions are already high earlier this week there was a significant [Music] [Laughter] escalation we told you about this on the show China and the Philippines clashed again in the South China Sea or the East Philippine Sea the Chinese Coast Guard targeted vessels from Manila they fired water cannons and damaged a Philippine ship this is becoming a recurring practice do you know how many times China has done this this year how many times they've targeted Philippine ships in the last 4 months at least 20 times and it's unlikely to stop so what is the solution how should one push back against Chinese aggression the US thinks it has the answer a new Regional Alliance they already have the quad and the orcus but now they've put together a new group with a brand new name it's called the squad and no we're not talking about a Hollywood film this involves actual countries it's an informal nickname given by Pentagon insiders four countries are members of the squad Australia Japan the Philippines and the us and what is the purpose of this Alliance to protect the Indo Pacific how would they do that it's a bit like how a neighborhood watch works in your apartment complex or your community you hire a team of security Personnel who keep a check on the neighborhood and conduct patrols to keep the residents safe the squad is expected to do the same the quad has these three Members Plus India the squad has the Philippines in India's place and they're going to maintain freedom of navigation to keep All Ships and boats safe that is the their purpose the squad carried out their first military drills last month it was a joint Maritime Patrol and now they're looking to ramp up these drills defense Chiefs of the squad met in Hawaii this week just last year in Singapore the defense ministers from Australia Japan the Philippines and the United States met together for the first time today's meeting the second of its kind built on that momentum and it helped Advance a vision that our four democracies share for a free and open Indo Pacific he talked about a meeting in Singapore last year that was the first meeting of the alliance and now within a year the squad has reconvened to devise the plan to counter China there are two elements to their plan the first is the military drills they will increase the frequency of such exercises to enhance interoperability or these are working together the second part is strengthening manila's defenses the Philippines wants to modernize its armed for forces it wants to invest $35 billion on defense upgrades over the next decade where will the money go into buying more ships aircraft and Radars and members of the squad want last month Beijing complained about the joint military drills too attempts to bring in external forces to safeguard its so-called Security will only lead to Greater insecurity for itself potentially turning itself into Pawns in others schemes expect Beijing to keep pushing back the fact is China is the aggressor in the South China Sea it has a massive military presence there Manila has counted more than 50 Chinese ships and vessels in the west Philippine Sea alone Taiwan 2o is on the edge it says China has turned three islands into military bases The subbi Reef the fiery cross reef and the Mischief Reef they're all close to Taiwan and taipe says Chinese bases there are quote unquote in enormous now look at these pictures they were released by Japan in March what do they show the spratly Islands part of the contested South China Sea Tokyo says China has taken over seven facilities there they're deploying vast military assets and building more bases China is believed to have 20 outposts in the parisel islands too this is near Vietnam another party to the South China Sea dispute so basically the pla has surrounded all the Regional players and now it is enforcing its claims by deploying its military so a response had to come conflicts are the reality of our world so is power asymmetry which is why alliances become critical in maintaining the balance of power but the question is how many alliances do you really need orcus and the quad were supposed to keep China in check so far they've not really delivered will the squad succeed where the others haven't guess we'll have to wait and see it's hard to become number one but you know what's tougher staying at number one just ask Apple they dominated the tech industry for more than a decade phones tablets laptops you name it Apple set the standard but now the company is struggling look at their latest revenue report from January to March Apple made $9.8 billion that's Revenue not profits 90.8 billion it was 4% down compared to last year most of their products are not selling iPhone sales are down by 10% iPad sales have fallen by 177% and variable sales are down by 10% so only two bright spots remain that services like Apple TV and apple music and their computer Mac everything else is stalling do you know what's worse the global market is not that bad glob smartphone shipments are up by 10% but iPhone sales are down 10% so clearly it's not an industry problem it's an apple problem but why is it happening a couple of reasons the first is the slowdown in China iPhone sales dropped around 8% in China mostly because of competition Huawei is eating into Apple's market Huawei profits surged 560 in the same period 560 another reason is legal troubles apple is facing antitrust lawsuits in two key markets that is Europe and the US the European Union finded Apple around $2 billion the US is accusing them of monopolizing the market and both cases have dented Apple's books the company says they will turn things around they have a special event slated for next week a new iPad is going to be launched plus the new iPhone will come out later this year rumor is it will have a lot of AI magic if that's the case maybe Apple can make a comeback but their struggles do raise some important questions like what does it take to lead an industry how have other leaders FedEd and what role do personalities play let's look at examples from the past the phone market looked very different in the 1990s and 2000s Nokia was the industry leader their Peak was around 2008 they made up almost 39% of all mobile phone sales Samsung was at second place now cut to 202 well Samsung overtook Nokia they had 22% of the market Nokia had around 19% so a new industry leader emerged again cut to 2023 this time Apple overtook Samsung they had around 20% of the smartphone market Samsung had 19% so let's recap this race from 1998 to 2012 Nokia led the market from 2012 to 2023 Samsung LED the market and then Apple took over Nokia's rain lasted around 14 years Samsung's lasted around 11 let's look at another industry photography for many decades photography meant one company Kodak in 1976 they made up 90% of the US market 90 it was virtually a monopoly but gradually competitors emerged like Fujifilm Nikon and Canon by 1999 kodak's market share was 27% by 2005 it was 25% still Kodak was a market leader that would only change in 2010 when Canon overtook them today Canon makes up almost 50% of the digital camera market and Kodak they file for bankruptcy in 2012 so kodak's Reign lasted for more than two decades but it was not a thriving grain it was a slow death another example is Blockbuster a movie rental chain in the US their first Shop opened in 1985 and in 20 years they had 9,000 locations Blockbuster dominated the US entertainment industry but in 2010 they went bust they were swarmed by the Ott wave the likes of Netflix and Amazon swept them aside so Blockbuster rain for around two decades do you know what's common about all these three examples Innovation or the lack of it Nokia could not innovate not like Samsung and Apple did these companies brought touchscreens and high quality cameras so Nokia lost its Crown Kodak also could not innovate While others moved to digital cameras Kodak was still stuck with films by the time they transitioned it was too late same with Blockbuster they did not ride the digital wave in the year 2000 in fact Netflix asked Blockbuster to buy them out and that too for just $50 million but Blockbuster denied today Netflix is worth $240 billion it tells a story doesn't it to lead an indust indry you need to stay ahead of the curve you need to keep evolving experts say technology doubles every 2 years for example cameras become twice as good in 2 years processors become twice as good in two years so do touch screens and batteries if you don't keep up you will be outdated in 10 years time you will be a generation behind the rest which also brings us to leadership do personalities play a role here yes they do being a manager is one thing being a Visionary is another just look at Steve Jobs he wanted to disrupt the mobile phone industry he made technology looked like magic which is why Apple moved up the ladder but today that magic is missing Tim Cook took over as Apple CEO in 2011 listened to an interview he gave around that time and I'm going to quote we argue and debate like crazy about what we are going to do because we know that we can only do a few things great that means not doing a bunch of things that would be really good and really fun there are two ways of looking at it first Tim Cook is a steady hand he has looked after the bottom line he's expanded to New Markets he's also kept shareholders happy which is all true now let's come back to the the topic of conflicts the one in West Asia is reshaping Regional and Global equations countries are snapping ties with Israel the latest to join this list is turkey it has suspended trade ties citing the quote unquote tragedy in Gaza anara says it will resume trade only when Israel allows free flow of Aid into Gaza all of the West is working for Israel starting with America they are all working for Israel all these means are being mobilized to unfortunately condemn the waves and Strays poor and have not people of Palestine to death in the face of Israel's bombs we could not have remained patient in the face of these so we took our steps there was a trade volume of $9.5 billion between us we closed this door pretending this trade volume does not exist may it go well from now on Israel was quick to fire back leading the charge was their foreign minister who compared erdoan to a dictator it sounds like a dramatic escalation but they would be used to it by now because turkey and Israel have a complicated relationship they blow hot and cold in 2010 turkey broke diplomatic ties with Israel in 2016 relations improved but but it did not last in 2018 they expelled each other's diplomats over the killing of Palestinians in 2022 things looked up again when the Turkish economy was struggling Eran needed a boost so he hosted Israel's president also Israel's then prime minister yay laid so the two countries were warming up to each other as a result trade improved between 2018 and 2022 turkey ish exports to Israel doubled in 2023 bilateral trade was worth $7 billion turkey was Israel's 13th biggest export Market Israel was ankara's fifth biggest source of imports so things were going well then came October 7th Hamas attacked Israel West Asia plunged into war in the early days erdoan was more measured he urged restraint he offered to mediate turkey had ties with Hamas they also had relationship with Israel so erdoan thought he was the best suited to play Peacemaker he pushed for a political solution to the crisis but then his Stone changed he branded Israel as a terrorist State he hit out at Israeli Prime Minister nanahu and compared him to Hitler he also called Netanyahu The Butcher of Gaza erdogan was mostly playing to the galleries his political base at home is islamist it is pro Palestinian so when the death to in Gaza Rose he had to speak out but most of it was rhetoric it did not really lead to any change on the ground diplomatic relations remained intact and trade continued between the two countries then came the local elections in March in Turkey eran's AKP party suffered its worst defeat in two decades why because they lost out on religious voters the traditional voter base of erdogan's party had shifted they voted for the for the islamist new welfare party a party that has called for Harsh measures against Israel of course this defeat was a setback for erdogan he was trying to balance diplomatic domestic politics rather with international relations the outcome was far from ideal so he's changed T now and made a complete U-turn last month erdogan imposed trade restrictions on Israel export of 54 products was restricted and this month turkey has joined South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the icj the international court of justice in accordance with the political decision taken I would like to announce here for the first time that we as turkey have decided to formally intervene in the legal case filed by South Africa against Israel at the international court of justice and now a complete breakdown of trade ties it tells you about erdogan's strategy when the war broke out he eyed a bigger role in Asia the role of a peacemaker and a regional leader it did not work out for him he fell off that diplomatic tightrope so now he is opting for the other Road and he's not the only one doing this more and more countries are cutting ties with Israel for different reasons Colombia did it today it ended all diplomatic relations with Israel Bolivia has done the same other countries have not gone as far as severing ties but they've withdrawn diplomats like South Africa Bahrain Chile Honduras and Jordan when Hamas attacked Israel the world was on their side they condemned the attack and pledged solidarity with Israel but over 200 days later the sentiment has clearly shifted and Israel finds itself more and more isolated in the world now let's look at Russia things have been chaotic in the country for a while it has been at War for over 2 years against its neighbor Ukraine Ukraine is backed by almost every Western Country the West keeps imposing sanctions on Russia and anyone working with Russia what has been the result despite the unprecedented challenges we faced over the past few years positive Trends are strengthening in the domestic economy as you know Russia's GDP increased by 3.6% last year and the statistics for the first months of this year show that it continues to show good rates that was Russian President Vladimir Putin he was speaking at a business Forum a few days ago he expects decent economic growth this year as well following the 3.6% growth seen in 2023 and this isn't Putin throwing some unverified numbers around Western institutions have given similar reports 3.6% growth in 2023 that's for Russia 3.6% despite an ongoing war and it's about to get better for Russia this year they're expected to grow faster than all advanced economies even the US what is fueling this rapid growth the war economy a military-industrial complex working on overdrive but another factor is also playing aart the return of Russian Nationals people who fled the country are making their way back home back in 2022 when the Ukraine War Began thousands of people fled Russia some took the first flights out of Moscow St Petersburg others left by road crossing into neighboring countries like Georgia or kazakistan the people fleeing were often military AED men men who were afraid of getting conscripted but there were others too people who disagreed with the war who ideologically opposed Putin they thought they would flee rather than live under him any longer and at that time Putin had described them and I'm quoting he called them scum and traitors more than a million people left Russia in 2022 first in February when the war was announced and then in September when Putin mobilized 300,000 reservists most of the people who left were relatively young of fighting age but this also means that they were also working age so a chunk of Russia's Workforce fled the nation in 2022 they could have contributed to the economy had they stayed their absence slowed Russia's growth down but now things have changed these Russians are going back home there are a number of reasons for that some could not make a living abroad they tried to start a fresh it did not work out so they went back others are being forced to go back their resident permits have been expiring and countries are wary about reviewing them even places that initially welcomed Russians like turkey at present there are about 60,000 Russians in Turkey in 2022 the number was as high as 32,000 1 lakh 32,000 Russians less than half the Russians who went to Turkey have remained after 2 years and this is the case in a lot of countries even friendly ones like Armenia or kazakistan kazakistan had 146,000 Russians in 2022 by the end of last year about 880,000 remained that number would have gone down further in the last four months so it seems that some host countries have been pressuring Russians to go back home that's the second reason why they're heading home there's also a third reason discrimination think about the war in Ukraine think about how it has been portrayed Putin versus the West Russia against the Free World dictatorship versus democracy that has been the narrative in large parts of the world and this shapes perceptions even about ordinary Russian people people who have nothing to do with the war who actually ran away from it about 25 % of these Russians say they face discrimination from the people of the country they fled to or from governments or other institutions this russophobia has jaded some of the people who left so they have made their way back home and caused Russia's reverse migration which is helping the country the returning Russians are contributing to the economy again at a higher rate than those who stayed behind so their return is a boon for Putin and it marks another failure of the West's policy towards Russia now let's look at Pakistan India's Noisy Neighbor is making headlines again it's about a financial matter not not a usual loan or default news this time it's actually something unique Pakistan has issued an ultimatum to about half a million tax defaulters in the country they have been told to pay up or their Mobile SIM cards will be deactivate ated now this is a new strategy clear your dues or lose calling privileges considering how essential phones have become the tactic may actually work but is it really the way to go about tax collection our next report has the details Islamabad has come up with an Innovative solution to address its financial problems much like a broke mobster who can't afford bullets Pakistan is coming up with cre creative ways to shake down the public it's using a new weapon against tax defaulters the threat of disconnection if the people of Pakistan don't pay their taxes their SIM cards will get blocked it's taxes for Tik Tok income tax for Instagram Pakistan's new tax collection Drive puts connectivity on the line here's how it works Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue has identified about 2.4 million tax defaulters the tax Authority shortlisted about half a million of them people who didn't pay taxes last year but had paid at least once in the past 3 years these half a million flaky taxpayers were chosen for the new punishment their names were sent to Pakistan's Telecom Authority and to the four Telecom providers in the country the Telecom providers have been handed instructions they are to disconnect SIM cards that belong to the defaulters they need to do this by the 15th of May now this isn't permanent if the defaulters pay their taxes their Sims will start working again it may take a few days but every week the Telecom operators will receive a list of the people who have cleared their dues and The Operators can restore their connections that is how the new collection Drive will work if it gets off the ground the telecom companies aren't happy with the plan they don't want to lose their customers even temporarily so the new plan could be challenged in court but if it gets gets the legal nod the tactic could change the face of Pakistan's Revenue collections because threats like this work in the country Pakistani SIM cards were at risk in 2021 as well during the covid-19 pandemic Pakistan is notoriously antivaccine even when it comes to basic vaccines like the one for polio many in Pakistan refused to take the co jab when it came out so States like Punjab and Sy threatened antivaxers with disconnection the plan worked Pakistan's vaccine rate got a shot in the arm people didn't care about covid but they didn't want to lose their calling services so the Sim Severance scheme has worked in the past but this isn't always the case at least in other countries Nigeria tried something similar a few months ago people were told to link their SIM cards to their national identity numbers they were also threatened with disconnection but in Nigeria it seems that threat didn't really work work people allowed their Sims to get blocked especially if they were secondary Sims who's to say that won't happen in Pakistan after all a new sim May cost less than clearing all the taxes but even if it works even if it is a successful scheme should this be allowed what happens if the government gets it wrong if they target the wrong person a mobile phone connection is crucial in this day and age it could cost someone their daily bread and butter maybe more blocking a SIM card is a drastic step so should governments be allowed to weaponize it interfering or resisting arrest be res [Music] [Music] that was the University of California police entered the campus on Thursday they cleared out most of the protesters we showed you the pictures yesterday a lot of flashbangs tear gas and battens so now the focus is on the police action was it excessive and did it lead to any injuries we're hearing conflicting reports the protesters say they were beaten up by the cops but the police say it was a minor push back I was on the front lines I was you know cops hit me with their batons and they you know they grabbed me I did not resist arrest but they grabbed me and I said okay at this point like the bets are off like the school rather physically intimidate their students eventually hurt their students rather than even consider divestment we can considered a successful um you know uh incident uh we didn't see no injuries on both ends our officers were able to uh remove the agitators we're still working on a few uh agitators are still on campus however we are uh making uh progress the Crackdown isn't over though some protesters remain on the UCLA grounds they're facing off with the police so another Showdown could be looming plus there are operations elsewhere like at Portland University protesting students had occupied a library there so the cops charged into the campus take a [Music] [Applause] look resisting arrest result charges sh many colleges have done the same they've asked local police to clear the protesters around 2,200 arrests have been made so far 2,200 arrests but are all of them students according to to the police no they say 29% of those arrested at Colombia were not from that college at the City College of New York it was 60% 60 so where did these people come from the police haven't said yet neither has the mayor of New York he said this week that outside actors were involved but he won't say who those actors are are they students from other colle Coles are they political groups or is there something bigger at play there is simply no Clarity but you won't see such scenes in the Arab world there are dozens of colleges in countries like Lebanon Saudi Arabia the UA and Egypt why are students not protesting there out of fear their regimes are pro Palestine but they frown upon protests most Gulf States have Bann public demonstrations you need the regime's permission to protest plus being arrested in Saudi Arabia is not like being arrested Ed in New York the consequences are very different so you'll see a lot of anger on Arab social media but very few College protests elsewhere that's not the case though look at the scenes in Australia students at the University of Sydney are protesting they too have set up tents same scenes in Mexico Pro Palestine students have set up tents in the capital they're showing solidarity with their American peers and in France things got physical students atosis po occupied the college building so Riot cops were called in take a [Music] look much smaller protest in the US also less violence so I guess there is a different way to protest speaking of which a new protest symbol is spreading in the US you may expect something sophisticated but it's not it's a water jug and the origin story is quite interesting last month police entered a college in California they tried to clear out the protesting students but some of them pushed back how using an empty water jug [Applause] since Senate has gone viral students are carrying out empty water jugs to protest they're making songs and memes about it I know it all sounds very funny but the situation is still tense hundreds of protesters remain in colleges around the US will all of them be dragged away is there no better solution well there could be a few colleges have resolved the protest peacefully how by striking a deal with students four colleges have done this so far Rutgers University in New Jersey University of Minnesota Northwestern University in Illinois and Brown University in Rhode Island each of these deals are different let's look at the the latest one in Rutgers students had a total of 10 demands like divesting from Israel and cutting ties with the Tel Aviv University also accepting displ students from Gaza and displaying flags of Palestine on campus the college has agreed to eight out of 10 demands the two important ones were not accepted divesting from Israel and cutting ties with Tel Aviv University yet the students disbanded at the University of Minnesota it took even less the college President agreed to meet the students so the protest was called off at Northwestern the college promised a few concessions like a community house for West Asian students and funding for pal in students so clearly there is a better way but we need both sides to climb down students must ask for things that are deliverable and of course follow the law you can't just hold the entire College hostage same for the administrators they must try to reach out to the students offer them some sort of concessions if not this could drag on for a long time there are protest encampments at 80 American colleges imagine a police operation in all of them 80 Coles it would be traumatic and unnecessary so let's hope that Common Sense prevails on both sides our next story is about your shopping bag more specifically your groceries and household items have you ever felt that your favorite products are shrinking in size does that bag of chips appear smaller than before does the detergent pack feel less heavy the packaging looks the same the price is the same but you're getting less for it if you've noticed or felt this you're not alone companies across the world are doing it reducing the size of the product while selling it at the same price they call it shrink flation and as consumers we have no choice but to accept it unless you're in South Korea because here a Crackdown is underway soul is going after the manufacturers who are shrinking their products without informing their consumers here's a report a visit to the Supermarket can be a confusing experience there is more of everything look on any shelf and you'll be spoiled for Choice there is an explosion of Brands across product categories if you fancy an ice cream just going through the Section can feel like navigating your way through a maze there's a vast selection of Brands offering dozens of flavors and they come in different versions too like sugar-free options and even vegan ice creams having options is a good thing but as you ponder over the endless choices your wallet may be quietly taking a hit companies around the world have a sneaky way to make you pay more for Less product this tactic is called shrink flation some of the world's most famous brands have resorted to it like lisine in the UK lisine reduced the size of its mouthwash bottle earlier it was sold in a 600 mL bottle but now by buyers will get just 500 mL in the US a variant of Oreo cookies was downsized by over 50 g and Huggies reduced the number of its diapers by 12 they weren't the only ones from coffee brands to household cleaning supplies and snacks all have reduced the sizes of their products without lowering the price even Joe Biden can't ignore it anymore sports drinks bottles are smaller a bag of chips is fewer chips but they're still charging it just as much I've had enough of what they call shrinkflation the American president wants companies to stop shrinking products meanwhile South Korea is taking more decisive action Soul has made some new rules they want companies to tell Shoppers if they reduce the size of their products if they don't comply they'll be forced to pay a fine how much is the penalty 10 million1 or around $7,300 these orders have been issued by the Fair Trade Commission this is South Korea's antitrust regulator they say shrink flation is unfair to Consumers their instructions to manufacturers are specific and strict if they reduce the size of a product they'll have to put a label on it for at least 3 months the label should clearly mention the changes in size or weight France is adopting similar rules as well last month the French finance ministry issued guidelines if a seller cuts the size of a product without reducing the price they'll have to declare it again retailers have been asked to stick a label on the product for 2 months the new rules will kick in from July shrinkflation is frustrating for consumers especially now when inflation continues to erode savings across many parts of the world the last thing anyone needs is to feel cheated at the grocery [Music] restore all the speculation is over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will fight from a second seat but it's not a mate Rahul Gandhi has gone with Ry barel now both these seats are symbolic they're located in the state of utar Pradesh and they have long-standing ties to the Gandhi family so the Assumption was that both siblings would fight Priyanka Gandhi from Ry barel Rahul Gandhi from ATI but the Congress had other plans Priyanka is not being fielded at all and Rahul Gandhi has ditched aate for R barel he filed his nomination earlier today he was accompanied by the party president and his family but why is this significant because of the messaging Rahul Gandhi made his electoral debut in 2004 and he did so from amiti he won the same seat in 2009 in 2014 but in the last election he lost that seat back then Rahul Gandhi had promised to win back a to return 5 years later instead he had shifted to another seat so the BJP is having a field day Prime Minister Modi accused Rahul Gandhi of running from a fight or couple of questions here first why Ry belli instead of aate and second why contest at all Rahul Gandhi is already fighting from another seat in Kerala it's a long-standing congress stronghold so Victory is pretty much assured why then did he pick a second seat let's look at both these questions ryber has long been dominated by the Gandhi family in 1952 It Was Won by fero Gandhi that's rahul's grandfather indraa Gandhi won the seat in 1967 1971 and 1980 then in 2004 Sonia Gandhi won the seat she was re-elected in 2009 2014 and 2019 that last victory was very important because the congress party managed only one seat in uttar Pradesh and that one seat was R barel so long story short it's a safe bet the congress party has won by more than they won by more than 160,000 votes in 2019 so Rahul Gandhi had a good chance certainly better than aate he lost that seat he lost aate by more than 55,000 votes last time so clearly he wasn't confident about it which brings us to the second question why contest at all because of the symbolism uttar Pradesh has around 80 seats in the loksabha that's almost 15% of the total politically it's a very important state probably the most important one so contesting from there is a political statement sort of like leading from the front or fighting where the action is thick but will it actually work there are four factors to note here first it's still a risky move I know we said rber is a safe seat but elections are tricky Affairs the Congress has has already been routed from the Hindi Heartland so loss in rber is not impossible if that happens it would be a double whammy Rahul could become the the leader who lost both his family bastians first amti then rber and there is an element of risk there secondly what sort of message does it send we know that Rahul Gandhi has Prime ministerial Ambitions yet he can't fight for his old seat the Congress has nurtured rahul's image as a fighter but this move suggests the very opposite that he's not ready for a tough fight and chances are that will hurt the morale of his party workers thirdly what about prianka Gandhi in the last few years she has led the campaign in Ry barel Sonia Gandhi's Health did not allow her to campaign so the Congress deployed her daughter we keep hearing about her looming electoral debut well this was the perfect chance but the party decided otherwise and finally the fourth Factor what about his seat in vard assuming that he wins both Rahul is expected to drop vard the people there may not like that they voted him to the loksabha when amiti did not and how does he repay them by picking another seat so there's a lot of factors at play here but we'll have to wait and see how things play out Ry berele will be voting in the fifth phase of the elections that's on the 20th of May and when the results come in we'll see if this move worked or not have you heard of onigiri it's a Japanese snack almost a 100 years old but the country is giving it a new twist it's adding a secret ingredient human sweat you heard that right young women are shaping onigiri balls under their armpits these sell for 10 times the price of normal onigiri and it's not even the worst bizarre delicacy there are far worse ones I know it is dinner time for many of our viewers so maybe put down that plate for this next story and trust me you'll thank us later onary it's a Japanese staple you take some sort of meat and vegetables shape rice around it and then that's wrapped in seaweed all of this is done by hand the dish is portable easy to eat and the Japanese love it but the Beloved Japanese dish is getting a new twist a secret sauce if you could say so human sweat you heard that right maybe Japan decided the dish needed some amami so they're utilizing the natural Umami essence of sweat glands the dish is being prepared by young women they use their armpits to roll the balls first they are completely disinfected then these women exercise this is to produce the sweat the master ingredient and finally they get down to Rolling the balls they use their armpits instead of their palms the finished product is apparently a delicacy it sells for ridiculous prices almost 10 times that of a normal anir of course the reactions have been quite mixed one Diner said it tasted no different but others have some questions why it was Meed in the first place plus what about hygiene what if the person making it was sick will you follow after eating it then but sweat isn't even remotely the worst thing in food there have been far worse take tongil for example it's a Korean rice wine but here's the catch apparently it uses the feces of a human child to ferment the wine if you are already grossed it trust me there's more in China they have something called virgin voy eggs it's a traditional dish of dongyong how's it made to make this dish you need eggs and urine yes urine the eggs are boiled in the urine of young boys preferably under the age of 10 thus the name vir boy eggs and it's not all just Savory treats there are some sweet ones too like this bizarre flavor of ice cream in London it was all the rage and even sold out in days but it wasn't your original ice cream it was breast milk ice cream 15 women produced milk to make the first batch the store founder said if it's good enough for our kids it's good enough to become ice cream clearly these dishes are not for the faint-hearted it's one to search for flavor in your food but it's another if that flavor comes from the human body whether you're a staunch traditionalist or an adventurous epicurian one thing's for sure you'll never look at Food the same way again take a moment our last story tonight is about an emotion it occurs like a spark in your brain almost like a flash of fire and causes your blood to boil but it manifests in different ways from a brooding face to a river of tears to a scowl scream or punch you guessed it I'm talking about anger scientists believe Evolution gave us anger it has been hard wide into our brains over millions of years now the frequency and intensity differ for instance people can feel angry anywhere between once a day to a few times a week 21% of workers according to a study regularly feel angry at work the remaining 79% not so much meanwhile some countries are angrier than others the reasons vary as well from conflict to political or economic stress but everyone experiences anger similarly every time you feel Short change the brain sounds an alarm and your body thanks thinks rather that it is under threat this triggers the body's fight or flight response it floods you with stress hormones increases the heart rate increases breathing and the body prepares for physical AGG aggression so if you want to fight someone when you're angry it's because your body is urging you to do so but there's a downside here in most cases this is not good for your health according to a new study anger can adversely affect the health of blood vessels it can chronically impair them and this is not the first study of its kind anger is known to increase the risk of heart attack stroke hypertension high blood pressure poor metabolism and respiratory problems it can fuel chronic stress or trauma and interfere with work and relationships no wonder anger gets a bad rep but here's the catch it doesn't have to be this way anger is vastly misunderstood scientists say that anger is not a completely negative emotion you have to learn how to harness it if you don't shut down your anger but Channel it it can actually help you according to research anger can be a great motivation more effective in motivating people than a neutral emotional state anger can help you overcome obstacles and meet your goals if you don't repress it it can actually help physical and emotional help that's what experts are saying now so how can you make your anger work for you for starters accept it anger is one of the most primitive emotions meaning feeling angry is as human as it gets so accept and then unpack your anger experts say burying anger can lead to Despair and resentment so process it which brings us to the third step which is problem solving anger may seem blinding but it can also provide Clarity it can make you aware of why you feel angry and what you can do about it so you can come up with a solution maybe have a personal have your personal concerns to address or maybe a bone to pick with someone and that doesn't have to be all bad studies say expressing anger and having a confrontational discussion can sometimes improve relationships but while you process anger be careful about how you blow off steam research proves that venting does not help neither does smashing things it causes your anger to escalate rather than diminish instead science urges you to try activities that calm you down like taking a deep breath or listing down angry thoughts then shredding the paper I know it all sounds bizarre after all when you want to throw a plate at someone the last thing you would do is look for pen and paper but there must be Middle Ground so figure out what works for you we'll give it a shot too let's share notes later and now it's time for Vantage shot's images that tell the story in Vietnam millions of fish die as Heatwave continues to roast the country in Russia the Army parades military hardware in Central Moscow ahead of a nighttime rehearsal and Australia has launched a new rocket fuel by candle wax finally we're taking you back in history on this day in 1979 Margaret tatcher was elected as a prime minister of the UK she was the country's first female prime minister the first woman to lead a major Western power and also the longest serving British prime minister in 150 years we're leaving you on that note thanks for watching have a great weekend spe [Music] [Music] [Music] first post puts the spotlight on Africa we report from across the continent rewriting The Narrative stories of Hope and progress amid coup conflicts and climate crisis the challenges are many but so are the opportunities trying to do what benefits the majority of citizens the nigeran delation the first to arrive tracking the world second largest continent launching soon first post Africa

Channel: Firstpost

Views: 338,163

Keywords: firstpost, vantage, palki sharma, vantage palki sharma, first post, firstpost palki sharma, us china relations, us china south china sea, south china sea, us the squad, the squad grouping, china threat to us, china indo pacific strategy, china threat taiwan, aukus india, south china sea dispute, chinese vessel water cannon, china philippines conflict, us indo pacific strategy, us china rivalry in indo pacific, the squad usa, china us tension, china us taiwan war, china news

Id: sVE00TjLztw

Length: 55min 7sec (3307 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2024