Taliban's Opium Ban: Why The West is Upset With The Decision | Vantage with Palki Sharma

now let's turn our Focus to Afghanistan where the Taliban looked like they're actually up to something good last year they banned the cultivation of poppy that's the crop used to make the drug heroin it was a major source of income for Afghan Farmers also a major source of funding for the Taliban but they banned it now the face of it the move seems like a rare positive by the Taliban but the West is not happy with it they're now raising an alarm over the shortage of the drug not making this up some in the west do not want this poppy band to continue because this could lead to problems on Western Shores an extra Port explains the Taliban are in the middle of a war not the usual kind though it's their version of a War on Drugs you see Afghanistan is the world's heroine basket for years it has produced over 80 percent of the world's heroin but last year the Taliban put a ban on poppy cultivation poppy is the crop that is eventually turned into opium and then heroin it was grown throughout Afghanistan especially in the west and southwest nowadays you see headlines about the Taliban burning down fields of the crop now you'd think this was a good thing the women hating tribal Warlords finally doing something good for a change but it seems that the West isn't too happy about this move take a look at these headlines the first article talks about how the Taliban successful opium ban is bad for Afghans and the world yes really it's by the United States Institute of Peace the organization is an independent Institute founded by the U.S Congress and it warns about the dangers of less opium in the world let's first look at some of the points raised it says that Poppy farming has helped Afghan Farmers survive the chaos the country regularly goes through that forcing them to move to other crops would bring more hardship to the small-scale farmers it would also widen existing inequalities Rich Farmers could hoard opium harvests and sell the crop at a higher rate when supplies dry up the poor farmers will be at risk they could resort to selling assets like livestock to make ends meet leading to ruin in the long run this sounds like a Humane argument it considers the plight of poor Afghan farmers but let's look at the other side almost 3.5 million Afghans are addicted to Opium in some form or the other that's about 10 percent of the population the drug is Wrecking lives more so since the Taliban took over in 2021 after all a lot of people turned to drug abuse to cope with the horror of the taliban's return so while the plight of the farmers is important opium may not be the best way to support their welfare the other arguments raised against an opium ban in the usip article and others don't really focus on Afghans they're about what will happen to the West an opium and heroin ban will reduce the supply of the drugs in Europe because most of Afghanistan's heroin makes its way to Europe via Iran turkey and then the Balkans the relative ease of heroin access actually Shields Europe from worse narcotics from synthetic opioids like fentanyl that's a drug leaving a trail of bodies in the U.S it's reportedly 50 times stronger than natural heroin Europe has managed to stay relatively fentanyl free for now the end of Afghan opium could change that bring about a worse drug crisis in Europe now you can still justify the sphere while not brave or ideal countries are of course allowed to prioritize the lives of their citizens over foreigners but the other reasons given are less about life and more about Comfort the fear of immigrants once again Europe wants to keep refugees away Afghan refugees this time the Articles against the Opium ban warn of a new Exodus from Afghanistan of farmers who lose their livelihoods coming to seek asylum in Europe and for that the solution seems to be letting them continue farming poppy it's ridiculous how can the West be so xenophobic that they would prefer more drug production in the world over accepting refugees how can they Advocate just letting Afghans make more heroin instead of making room for refugees looking for a better life the ending of Afghan opium should be celebrated any short-term difficulties the people face should be addressed through Aid for once the Taliban seem to be on the right track this should be encouraged because look at the alternative the Taliban have historically depended on heroin for funding and if they cannot feed the Afghan people if they face too much public anger they might just restart poppy cultivation then xenophobic westerners May sign relief but of Gans and the rest of the world will continue to suffer from a drug crisis we should all be worried about the worsening human rights situation in India those who are not Hindu and particularly Christians are facing in growing intolerance we as a Christian Community can respect other faiths and identities we must ask our partners to do the same and it is our duty to make sure that they stop also in Manipur the European Union is back in the news last week they were lecturing India on human rights they were debating the situation in Manipur and look what they're doing now hiring a bouncer you heard that right the European Union has hired a bouncer the kind you see at clubs or bars just one difference though this bouncer Is Not a Human Being it's an entire country this one Tunisia it's a country in Northern Africa it is jumping it's a jumping point for migrants traveling to Europe this map should help you understand if you take a boat from Tunisia to Italy it's 600 kilometers so migrants from Africa often Gather in Tunisia and from here they cross over to Italy but Europe wants to stop this migration so what are they doing on Sunday three European leaders flew down to Tunisia EU Chief Ursula Wonderland Italy's Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney and the Dutch prime minister Mark root they held talks with the Tunisian president and signed a deal now the EU is calling it a comprehensive strategic partnership but let's call it what it is a bouncer For Hire Tunisia has agreed to strengthen its borders to basically stop migrants from leaving for Europe and what do they get in return money a lot of it EU leaders have promised more than one billion dollars in Aid the specifics are not out but you get the idea of this transaction Europe pays Tunisia to keep migrants out they don't want to get their hands dirty Mighty Europe cannot round up and Deport helpless people that would be a human rights violation so instead they're Outsourcing the job they're asking Tunisia to do it on paper Brussels has referred to discharge the EU President says it's all about tackling smuggling we need to crack down on criminal networks of Smugglers and traffickers they are exploiting human Despair and we have to break their Reckless business model so we will work with Tunisia on an anti-smaggling operational partnership our Noble of Europe they're not keeping migrants out they're just concerned for their safety let's not kill ourselves here the problem is not smuggling or trafficking the problem here is race Europe had no issues welcoming refugees from Ukraine around 8 million of them are registered in the EU 8 million in just 500 Days compare this to the numbers from Africa Italy has Depot reported in fact 75 000 migrants in six months I'm not saying welcome all of them after all these are migrants these are not refugees so Europe can choose to resettle them or not I'm saying be consistent practice what you preach about human rights do not Outsource your crackdowns to other countries because that's exactly what Europe has done Tunisia may be a democracy on paper but the president has a problematic track record he is jailed critics and journalists he's increased the powers of his office and he's also reduced the parliament to a rubber stamp what has the EU said about all of this well in 2021 they had a lot to say the European Parliament accused Tunisia of cracking down on freedoms but I guess that's all in the past under this deal Tunisia will take back only their migrants meaning tunisians what about the rest people from all over Africa and even Asia gather here to migrate take a look at what Tunisia does to them in Tunisia the police arrested US beat us and took our phones and all our money they told us to go to Libya and my people kept saying that Libya is very bad but they left us without food and water they put us there and then left again he now beat us badly they're not broke this my hand all my head did not turn tear it that's what happened so that's what Tunisia does to migrants and pretty soon they will get paid for it a billion dollar check to keep migrants out of Europe the UK is doing something similar they signed a special deal with Rwanda under this deal the UK would send Asylum Seekers to Central Africa Rwanda would host them in return the British government agreed to pay the Rwandan government it was so cruel even British courts disagreed they called it unlawful now imagine if some other country had done this say in Asia or in Latin America the criticism would have been unrelenting the European Parliament would have debated it but now they're they're Asylum it's not a word of criticism against This Racist policy and that's what it is racist EU Chief Ursula vandalen called a shared Prosperity what exactly are they sharing most of Africa was colonized by Europe their plunder and persecution is partly responsible for Africa's troubles today if anything Europe should be paying reparations they should take in more people instead they've hired a bouncer next time Europe lecture someone remember this deal just point them towards Tunisia now let's talk about the Commonwealth an irrelevant Institution for the modern era it was established with a goal to unite former British colonies the British wanted a way to exert their influence on them the answer was a commonwealth but this grouping is facing serious challenges the latest one is this a sudden announcement from Australia from the Australian state of Victoria in 2026 Victoria was supposed to host the Commonwealth Games but now they've changed their mind Victoria has called off the games why because they are too costly Victoria says the projected cost of the event has tripled and they simply cannot afford it so they called it off well I've made a lot of difficult calls a lot of very difficult decisions in this job this is not one of them uh frankly six to seven billion dollars for a 12-day sporting event we are not doing that that does not represent value for money that is all cost and no benefit he makes a lot of sense let's look at the budget when Victoria started the preparation they set aside 1.8 8 this was the initial estimate 1.8 billion Victoria won the bid to host the games last year in 2022 but within a year the budget had to be revised because the cost began to mount and the final budget is projected to cross some four billion dollars which is more than twice the original estimate local officials say the event might end up costing even more their quoting figures as high as six billion dollars so Victoria had to make a choice either divert funds from government schemes to go ahead with the games or just call it off call of the entire event they chose option two they canceled the whole thing so now there is no host for the 2026 games and this has triggered a big debate Australian officials are divided I have a quote from Craig Phillips he is the chief of the Commonwealth Games in Australia this is an association they promote Commonwealth Sports in the country Philip says the claims over cost are quote unquote exaggerated in fact let me quote from what he said the Victorian government willfully ignored recommendations to move events to purpose-built stadia and Melbourne and in fact remained wedded to proceeding with expensive temporary venues in Regional Victoria so there is now an internal tussle where does this leave the organizers in a fix they don't have a venue for the 2026 games they have two options as of now find a new host or convince Victoria to change its mind they can try that by helping with the finances also other Australian states can help by sharing some responsibilities they can but they don't seem interested New South Wales has refused again due to budgetary pressures Queensland Tasmania South Australia and Western Australia have all ruled out participation only one Australian State seems interested that's birth its Lord mayor has shown interest in replacing Victoria as the host so we'll have to see how this plays out but this is an interesting shift earlier hosting these games was considered a matter of Pride it was a privilege there used to be fierce bidding to win the rights to play host but that's not the case anymore today these hosting rights are considered a liability in a lot of cases because the bill is way too high take the case of the 2026 games there was only one bid for hosting rights and that one bid came from Victorian Australia no other Commonwealth country applied in the last few years the event has struggled to maintain its relevance out of the last five editions four were held either in Australia or Britain that alone should tell you about the decline in interest our viewers in India would remember the 2010 games India was the host and there was a lot of controversy serious charges of corruption and this has been the story elsewhere too so many leaders feel it's better to stay away than play a host and get embroiled in the mess that follows and this by the way is happening with the Olympic Games too according to a study hosting the summer games the Summer Olympic Games costs well about five billion dollars and the Winter Games at least 3.1 billion dollars these estimates are from a few years ago so the cost would have only gone up and then there are the overruns going by one estimate from MIT the average Olympics goes over budget by 156 percent 156 another concern is the maintenance of the infrastructure what do you do with all these stadia and Facilities after the games in many host cities such venues neglected let me show you some pictures this is the Aquatic Stadium from the 2016 Rio Olympics it doesn't have any water now look at this a Stadium from the 2004 Athens games it is crumbling officials around the world see this leaders see it too which is why interest in such sporting events is declining to remain relevant they will have to reinvent themselves and reign in the costs our next story is about a particular kind of pain it is known to nearly every person who has ever held a job the tyranny of tedious meetings many call pointless meetings mind-numbing some say they're soul-sucking even torturous are the same old jokes are criminally repeated intense boredom reign supreme minutes are made and several hours are lost but that's not all remember the age-old maxim time is money well A study says that's true for meetings as well unnecessary meetings do not just waste time they also waste money and they cost big companies 100 million dollars every year Farms are slowly waking up to this fact the latest among them is a Canadian company an e-commerce platform called Shopify it has started putting a price tag on meetings the company uses a special calculator which is embedded in each employee's calendar app it uses an average salary of the employee's role the duration of a meeting and its attendee count then it estimates the cost of these meetings a typical half hour meeting costs anywhere between 700 and sixteen hundred dollars executive to the mix and the cost shoots above two thousand dollars can you imagine your company treating you to a 700 dinner the chances are Slim but that's how much they casually spend on a useless meeting now I'm not saying all meetings are bad sometimes they are essential important for exchanging thoughts or making plans or reviewing progress or setting agenda but more often than not meetings steer in the opposite direction they fail to achieve the goal they set out to their tiresome stretched out without reason inconsequential unproductive yes useless meetings don't just Rob companies of money they also take away your productivity and joy a study calls them one of the top five causes of inefficiency another study says that bad meetings reduce communication and collaboration people's happiness at work takes a hit but you don't need a study to know all of this useless meetings are a shared Human Experience and it seems like everyone hates them how many times have you thought to yourself that this meeting could have been an email well you're not alone and I believe the kids are calling it meeting itis it's when unnecessary meetings are held excessively and lately they become more common than ever meetings have increased in frequency over the past 50 years Executives spend about 23 hours a week in them that's up from less than 10 hours in the 1960s the pandemic only made it worse because in-person interaction was limited a Microsoft reporter agrees to this since the start of the pandemic the number of meetings increased by 153 globally companies see this for decades they've tried to make meetings relevant like in 2006 Ford motor slashed unduly long meetings in recent years other companies have tried to get more creative some have introduced a no meeting day every week Microsoft has a no meeting Friday 73 percent of their employees say it is good for them 77 say it helps them Focus canva the software company introduced a similar rule a no meeting Wednesday and experts say this helps too it improves communication engagement and satisfaction because all meetings are not problematic sometimes meetings can Elevate voices they can give someone a seat at the table it's the so-called bad meetings that cause the problem when they don't have a real purpose when they run too long or when they have too many attendees studies say workers usually don't need to be in one third of the meetings they attend so why are they there for many entire careers are made up of planning holding and attending such meetings yet no one dares to question them perhaps because it's a workplace Norm some are afraid of offending a senior some suffer from fomo that's the fear of missing out but this culture needs to shift what is the point of unnecessary meetings only to scratch some kind of managerial itch or to seek respite from Death bound loneliness maybe it's time to end this meeting Madness Financial boom or not one group always thrives Business Leaders it's a big contradiction of the corporate world job cuts for ordinary workers million dollar bonuses for CEOs and directors try making sense of that if there is a financial downturn shouldn't everyone be affected well technically yes but in practice that's not what happens and why am I talking about this today because for some bigwigs the game is up directors at Tesla have settled a lawsuit with their shareholders guess how much they're paying 735 million dollars the directors will return this money to the company 735 million dollars the question is why because they overpaid themselves from 2017 these people awarded themselves around 11 million dollars in stock options the shareholders caught on to it they filed a case saying the compensation was too high and now Tesla has settled the company won't say why but court documents say the directors are acting in good faith sure they are what 700 million dollars of a good faith Elon Musk himself is fighting a similar case he awarded himself 56 billion dollars in stock options 56 billion and that too is being challenged by shareholders but our story tonight is not just about Tesla it's about every company out there why are CEOs and directors paid these ridiculous sums of money and why in the middle of job cuts first let's look at some numbers CEOs of American companies are paid around 27 million dollars that salary plus stock awards and this is 399 times more than what average workers earn 399 399 times this Gap was not always so high in 1965 CEOs earned 20 times more in 1989 59 times so what changed after that well in the west it was a time of economic churn the 1980s governments in the U.S and the UK cracked down on labor unions they put more emphasis on the free market so naturally the Gap widened another reason was the fall of businesses owned by families or individuals in their place shareholders appeared now shareholders are more demanding they want to see instant results they want to see profits so what did board members do they agreed to pay CEOs more the Assumption was this would drive the company forward which brings us to present day high-paid CEOs are a reality of today supporters say let the market decide salaries if businesses are willing to pay millions surely they must be worth it but critics say otherwise they they claim not every CEO is an industry title some of them are piggybacking on other factors like a great Tech Team or a booming industry or maybe a tax cut either way the payment is ridiculously high and it doesn't change even during bad times let's look at some of the big companies now meta laid off 10 000 people this year plus 11 000 late last year but the same company gave six figure bonuses to senior Executives not salary bonuses Netflix laid off around four percent of their Workforce last year their CEO has a bonus worth 14 million dollars same with Google they laid off around 12 000 of their employees that's around six percent of their Workforce but guess how much CEO Sundar pichai took home 226 million dollars last year how do companies justify this contradiction the argument is the CEOs are highly skilled that the intellect is key to the company's growth but if you're firing thousands of people clearly the company is not growing yet no accountability just think back to the 2008 financial crisis American Banks were headed by The Best of the Best and what did they achieve they plunged the entire world into recession tens of thousands of people lost their jobs but again no accountability in fact they were rewarded the US government had to spend billions of dollars to bail out American Banks and guess what these Banks did with that money they paid bonuses five thousand of the top Bankers Got 5 billion in bonuses tells you where the problem is there is no scrutiny or independent oversight most CEO packages are decided by compensation committees and who is part of these groups board members and Executives from other companies it's like asking actors to rate their own movies obviously it will be five stars so what we need is more transparency more logic to these numbers I'm not saying CEOs should earn the same as other workers they do bring in valuable expertise they should be paid more than average workers but how much more is the question surely 400 times is too much now it's time for Vantage charts images that tell the story China has been hit by typhoon Thailand heavy rain created a waterfall on a busy road meanwhile wildfires are burning in parts of California and the United States we'll show you a Time Lapse video of its progression and Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh dhoni is famous for his decision-making prowess on the field but you know he's also a huge bike and car enthusiast former Indian cricketer venkatesh Prasad shared a video of dhoni's impressive automobile collection and finally we're taking you back in history on this day in 1947 the Indian independence Act was cleared by the British Monarchy this act divided the subcontinent it created two new independent nations India and Pakistan it also declared India as a sovereign and independent state we're leaving you with that thanks for watching we'll see you tomorrow foreign that's all you're not gonna do one guys I'm here any comments on this unless and until someone is mad about this you can't it's a good video all these a bike showrooms [Laughter] yeah it's fun it's fun [Music] thank you [Music] [Music]

Channel: Firstpost

Views: 791,712

Keywords: firstpost, taliban, afghanistan, opium, pakistan, hindus, pakistani hindus, hindus in pakistan, anti hindu, india, india hindus, bjp, islamabad, persecution, hindu persecution, hindus targeted, palki sharma vantage, seema haider, anti hindu hate, pakistan muslims, world news, latest news, trending news, pakistan news, pakistani serial, international news, global news, firstpost news

Id: Cm7Ix9Kmqc4

Length: 28min 32sec (1712 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 19 2023