Hello and welcome again to another live discussion of the M25, a radical political movement for Europe. We're back after the summer break with another season of live discussions with our coordinating team featuring ideas you won't hear anywhere else. This has been an eventful summer with some significant shifts in international order. Tonight we talk about them and ask ourselves what's your place in all of this. Now these events are global in nature, but a few important recent developments have taken place in Africa, a continent more colonized and exploited by European powers than any other. Just weeks ago, coup d'etat in Niger and Gabon removed historical European allies from office. Other countries in West Africa, like Burkina Faso, have also seen coups take place in recent years with the new military governments after enduring significant popular support. And some of these leaders are claiming they want to reassess their deep new colonial ties with Europe, particularly France, while Paris and its remaining West African allies reject the authority of these governments and even threaten war. And in August in Johannesburg in the south of the continent, leaders from the BRICS, the most powerful emerging economies in the world, made key announcements. A major expansion of the block with six new countries scattered to join next year. A commitment to reduce the dependency of the US dollar and a promise to promote green growth. Now are the BRICS nations offering a blueprint for a more just world? Could the wave of upheavals in Africa lead to an end to European exploitation? And what role, if any, should progressives in Europe want for our countries in these unfolding stories? That's what we discussed tonight with Janis Varoufakis and our panel of activists, thinkers and doers. And you, of course, if you have any thoughts or questions for us, please throw the matters in the chats and we'll get to them as best as we can. Now, I like to kick things off by introducing a new face here to our coordinating collective, Noma Zulutata, originally from Zimbabwe based in Bremen or this in Germany for many decades now. Noma, welcome. And I like to ask you to ask you to kick things off for us. You wrote an article recently for a website on the coup in Niger. That's very comprehensively made the argument that you see this not as a coup, but as a realignment. Can you explain why you believe that? Believe you are muted. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to speak to you regarding the situation in Africa. Yeah, I said in my article that this article, this coup, is not a coup. These coups, they're not coups as such, but they are realigning. What I mean by that is that voters are shifting their allegiance from the government to the military. Now, there are many coups in West Africa. I think they're about 110 since the beginning of the independence time in the 1960s. It started with Ghana and then there was Togo. It was coups and counterpunters. But now let me just narrow down to these coups that had Bremen circle. You know, there was a coup in Poukina Faso. We didn't hear France talking too much. And then there was a coup again in charge in Mali. And then when there was a coup in Niger, then everything changed. France was on out to go to Mali and reinstate the democratically elected president. Now, my question is, why not other countries? Why Mali? Now, the situation in West Africa is that EQUAS is an organization that is supposed to be economic. Now it has turned into a military entity that is supposed to march in and reinstate an elected government. Now, was that government elected or was there a coup? Not in the military sense, but in the sense that it is elections in Africa. They are always manipulated by the colonizers most of the time, not all the time. We see ourselves in a situation whereby in Niger any time it will be invaded. Not by France, but by African countries. This is a dimension that has always been that African presidents have always acted in favor of the colonizers. Most of the time. It is inconceivable that countries in West Africa would produce an army that is financed by France to invade another African country. Just inconceivable. Even in Nigeria itself, because Nigeria plays a big part in West Africa. There's got a population of 150. Other countries have got very small populations, even their armies are very small. It simply means that it's Nigeria going to Niger to overthrow the military government that has taken power. The thing is this. Niger is supported by the population on the ground. So what ground does France and the equals, part of the equals, have to go and reinstate a president who has been rejected by the people on the ground? I think this is the bone of contention that we still need to look into, seriously. So these are young people that took over the government. The question is, are these young people saying we have been disappointed by our elders, our forefathers? By the way, in which they ruled these countries, not in the interest of the population, but in the interest of the colonizers all the time. I remember when South Africa put independent. It was not anywhere different from how these countries were different. South Africa, yes, it got its independence politically, but economically. South Africa remained in fact a country all the time. Yes, countries north of South Africa, they looked to South Africa as a sub-machine. That was in 1994 when Manuela came out of prison. So they were wholly disappointed when South Africa did not get that independence in one bit. All eyes were on South Africa and ANC disappointed Africa. And I think there was a moment where Africa resigned completely. They were disappointed in the way Manuela hanged the processes leading to independence in South Africa. So now here comes a young text, you know, military boys that are just simply saying we have had enough. We are taking over the governments and then we see how we can liberate ourselves, especially from France. So I think in a nutshell, this is what my article was talking about. Thank you very much, Noma. Janis, what's your view on this? You're awesome, you did. Okay, let me begin by welcoming in public Noma to our team, to the coordinating collective of DM25. Thank you for your article. Thank you for your introduction. Is it wonderful to have an African voice being represented here, as opposed to us, you know, white Europeans, again, pontificating on matters beyond our borders south of the Mediterranean on matters that pertain to Africa. A number of comments. The first one is, history is repeating itself. What is happening now in the sub-Saharan African continent in Niger, and in other, and so on with various military coups, changes of government. They are not all the same cases. Each one of them has its own particularities. Let's not bundle them together, right? But the general feel of these regime changes. I'm not saying anything different to what Noma is saying, but I'm just going to add a slightly different angle from which to look at things. Well, it resembles what happened in northern Africa in the 1950s and 60s in the Arab part of Africa. You will recall that Egypt, for instance, Iraq are two examples that were essentially and a lot of a large part of Arabia, were under the thumb of the British Empire, of the British, who unlike the French in Algeria in Morocco. They were not running these countries as if they were part and parcel of the metropolis. France was pretending that Algeria was part of France, right? France had friendship, citizenship. The English were different. They never officially took over Egypt, for instance. They had a government, a king, in Farouk, in Egypt. There was a government, Egyptian government, supposedly was an independent state, but it was completely run and taken over by the British. And the British were using Africa, northern Africa, and the Middle East more generally, places like Iraq, in order to gain geostrategic advantages versus other superpowers of the time, raw materials, trade, and markets as well. And they had this twin policy of security and development, they called it. So essentially, I mean it was insecurity and underdevelopment, but the official version was that they had the army there, the British army, to keep the peace and prevent the locals from killing each other. That was the official ideology of the British Empire. And at the same time they claimed that they introduced railways, they introduced operas, they introduced schools, and they think they introduced quite a bit of that in the same way they had done in India. But it was colonialism, okay? It was colonialism. And at some point, army officers like Nasser, like Saddam Hussein, for that matter, like Adafi in Libya, they took up arms and they staged a coup that had many of the features of what's happening in Israel today. Because France, under Macron, is using the British strategy in the Sahara, in the sub-Saharan. So what were they doing in Mali? What were they doing in Niger? Security and development. French army to keep the peace and supposedly development. It's exactly the same playbook. Macron copied, you know, played a British game in sub-Saharan Africa. The result is the same. A coup d'etat, which is supported by the people in exactly the same way that Saddam Hussein, the Ba'ath party, was supported in Iraq, in Syria, and of course under Nasser, massive support that Nasser received in North Africa, in Egypt, Gaddafi in Libya. Progressives in Europe as well as progressive Africans, North Africans and Arabs, looked at those resurrections or those coups d'etats as a positive thing, because they did throw off the yoke of the European colonials, colonial power. But we know how it ended. We know that simply putting your trust in military men who take over and even if they do the right thing of getting rid of the colonial armies, whether they were the British then or the French today is not a good idea. My great fear is that we are now having a repetition of what happened in Egypt, in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, in the Sahel, with new players. Russia, through Wagner in particular, and China, who are far more benign because they never send troops, they send money, which is always preferable to sending troops. But nevertheless, it's another way of treating Africans as objects, not as subjects, continuing colonialism by other means. So, until and unless a democratic African movement springs up in those countries, saying thank you to the military officers that got rid of the French troops, but no thank you, you're not going to be running our lives. They will probably be a repetition of the tragedy of Egypt and of Libya and of Syria and of Iraq. One last point, Noma. I was a member of the ANC back in the late 70s, early 80s in Britain. We were all rooting for Nelson Mandela to come out of prison. At a time when Margaret Thatcher was clearly labeling him a terrorist and calling for his continued imprisonment. Let us not forget all that, right? Because now Nelson Mandela has been defied, sanctified in the Western liberal press. Back then, the very same people who are now sanctifying Nelson Mandela were treating him like a terrorist, right? Anyway, he was a great man, there is no doubt about that. But like Noma, I also decry and lament the way in which the ANC, in government, essentially accepted economic apartheid. So, formal freedom, formal equality, that was important. We should not belittle how important that was. We should not belittle the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process. That was an important process. A lot of restitution took place through the Truth and Reconciliation process. The Constitution of South Africa is a brilliant text. We should all be proud of the Constitution of South Africa. But under the shadow of these formal rights and beautiful texts and the change of guard in government, apartheid is stronger than ever. Not legally. I mean, I'm pleased that you have the formal right as a black person to move around in South Africa without being harassed by the police. But given the maintenance of property rights over land and mines, land and mines, that's the main source of strength and power in South Africa. The fact that these property rights remain within the white community and remain within the multinational companies that still own the mines, diamond mines, gold mines and particular coal mines, apartheid will continue. So, national liberation is a struggle that needs to be supported. But we must be very mindful that a dictatorship, a black dictatorship can rise up that may be worse than the white one in the sense that at least when you have a white face in the face of, you know, in South Africa or at Horrible Man in Rhodesia, what was his name? At least you can see the enemy. You say, all right, these are the white oppressors who get rid of them will be fine. But when you have black faces representing very fierce capitalist dictatorships run by white companies, then that's for me, I don't know whether I have the right to say that, but I will say it, it's darker and grimmer. Thank you. Thank you, Yanis. A couple of questions from the chat. Salman asks, is there a good coup and a bad coup considering what's happening in Africa? And another question, will Briggs use blockchain technologies to wean off the US dollar and its hegemony, which is something that I'm sure we'll get to later in this discussion. I'd like to bring in our other voice from Africa here now. I'm from South Africa, raised in South Africa, forget where you're even born, I'm here, you're such a true internationalist, but based in the Netherlands now. I'm sure you have your opinions on what's currently speaking about, but I also wanted to ask you about the Briggs Summit, which took place in South Africa. And how do you see the developments that took place there specifically, the important announcement that the block is going to expand, finally, which I know that in Brazil, for example, where I'm from, was viewed with a certain level of skepticism, I think in the Western media in general, as an attempt by China to sort of dilute the powers inside of the block and make it more dominant. How do you see all that? Well, this is definitely a development of where we are now internationally, of course, you know, and the realignment in global politics and global this order if I can use that word, in that sense, because we've seen the major shift that happened, for example, in the Middle East, when Saudi Arabia and Iran started reconciling. That was a huge shift and that was a moving away of Saudi Arabia, a little bit away from the United States and sort of these shifts as the global landscape is changing. We start seeing this new coalescing of states, not necessarily the global public body, but states around, you know, these kind of loose alliances. And these are loose in the sense that you see, for example, BRICS countries that are also part of G20 and so on. So it's never exactly clear, ideologically, where this new development will take those countries, if you will, from that point of view, in that sense. And when it comes to, and also one of the questions that we have as well on the, for the discussion tonight is around, can the emboldened BRICS really lead the world into a fair, lead the world into a fairer international order. At the moment, the answer is more on the no than the yes. The recent, for example, the recent communique, the Johannesburg communique. I'm just going to quote a little bit here because it's very indicative of where they're going, talks of centering the International Monetary Fund, using the governance framework that's coming out of the G20 and maintaining the capital adequacy frameworks and so on and so on and so on. If you, if you didn't say BRICS on top, you wouldn't think that it's a BRICS declarations, you know, in that sense. And, you know, we know that one of the, you know, biggest strangle hopes for any development, fair development is debt. 24 African countries, for example, spend more on interest payments than health care and so on. And, you know, we've seen it, we've seen how in the West, we are happy to bail out the banks, cancel debt, the German debts, the Second World War debt was cut by half, for example, in the 50s, etc. So debt forgiveness is the tool that we in Europe will use for our own benefits. But we are really rarely reaching that option when it comes to dealing with quote unquote the global south. And here also on this issue, the BRICS declaration is quite telling because they do note the high levels of debt issue. However, the solution is and I'm reading quoting here addressing debt vulnerabilities, according to the G20 common framework for debt treatment. We're not seeing, again, so, you know, we might see geopolitical rhetoric, that is maybe anti-western imperialist, etc. But when it comes to actual action, it's still, you know, maintaining the international order, it's not really looking to change it. It might reform it slightly towards its own benefit, but we're not seeing any major moves to, you know, begin a new or radically depart from what we have right now. So that is, that is a problem. And also what should Europe's place be? And I think that's also an important question to really get into it. And I'm hinting a bit, of course, at the debt issue as a very easy low hanging fruit, given that there's enough accounts of how much wealth has been taken from former colonies and current colonies. As well as also interestingly how Haiti had to repay France back for its revolution, right? It had to pay back over a 150 year period or so. Voss sums of money because during independent slave owners lost business. Yeah, so this issue of reparations and issue of debt relief is something that Europe can easily, and I'm saying easily, do the more difficult options, the other options are more difficult partially because of our lack of independence of Europe in making bigger decisions for itself. Thank you, Amir. Let me bring Norma back in with a quick question and then we'll move on with some new speakers. Norma, please. Yeah, Amir was in South Africa recently. And my question is, how does South Africa fit in into the bricks? What has the South African government to offer in terms of trade? Because that economy is not their economy, just like what Yannis said, that economy belongs to globalists, to apartheid populists. So what are they offering bricks? I'm sorry to say this is someone who comes from Africa, but somehow I feel the globalist, the apartheid economy would like to be part of that bricks. Are they not going to sabotage because bricks means leaving the dollar, age and money, you know, setting up their own structures. So don't you see the danger there? Yeah, that's my question. Amir, quick answer before we go. Yeah, sure, of course. I don't necessarily see the danger because I also don't see necessarily the bricks set up wanting to create a completely different infrastructure away from the current trade international trade system. It looks like the WTO, the World Trade Organization system is still undercuts, China is very much in favour of that and so on. So, you know, there could be some, in terms of planning and creating an alternative structure, sure, what they're talking about potentially a common currency. There was a actually 100 whatever the nomination bill I know gifted, for example, then I saw it's going around in Twitter with the different countries logo and so on. But it's unnecessarily sabotage because there's no intention to radically transform anything in that sense. So, if that helps you. Thank you, Amir. A question from the chat from Imogen. How do we convince current leaders in Europe to cancel that though? It's a very good question and I hope someone else can share the thoughts on this as well, but just to mention quickly. If you're not familiar with it, this is a great campaign that DM25 is actually a part of called that for climate that tries to do exactly that, using the climate as a motivator to build a popular movement that will reach this eventual final goal of cancelling the debts in developing nations to help them fund their degree transitions. So we'll leave a link to that in the chat in case you want to read more about it. But again, just another one more food for thought for a panel here. Let's go to Johannes now based in Germany. Go ahead, Johannes. Thank you, Lukas. Hello from Berlin. I wanted to pick up something that was said in the chat, which was what's a good coup and what's a bad coup. And I think, of course, there's not only two categories where we can clearly categorize, you know, overthrow of government in all kinds of different nations around the world. But I think it's very important to look at what was there before, and how do you categorize that and what's coming after. And in, in, you know, case of Niger, I think, you know, it's yet to say what comes after I think the government there, the new military government has said that they want to do a transition and three years to do election or something like that but that's of course remain to be seen what's actually coming. I think if we look at these. Yeah, these things then of course we need to see if, you know, a good coup is of course the revolution supported by the people. And I think if we also look at the European history, for example, Portugal where, you know, the dictatorship was overthrown by lower ranks of the military in support by the people. And where replaced was replaced with a democracy I think this is what you can call maybe a good coup of course we call it a revolution rightfully so. And I think, yeah, of course, from as afar it's very difficult to yet determine what we're looking at in those countries in the zone in Africa. Another question is for us in Europe and other parts of the world of course what to do in these circumstances where there is uncertainty. We don't know if, you know, who's acting in good or bad faith and in which interest. And I think for that reason it is very important for us to do one thing which is try to establish direct links to people in the country and not necessarily, you know, government officials or something like that but organizations where we know people from organizations where we know that they have similar values than us, and, you know, gather information this way, and try also to maybe implement through dialogue, different organizations in the country that we in the future can work with of course always, you know, not as colonizes and the colonized and as, you know, Europeans telling someone what they should do, but as you know, on high level discussions about the future. For example, of Europe and Africa together run run by the people. And I think this kind of practice solidarity is the way to go and of course also, if now in Niger, I think, you know, people are starting to call for, you know, war and invasion. And it's very important for us to stand against that because I think this would be a catastrophe war is, you know, never a good thing. The opposite of development of country. And, yeah, I think that should be what what we are doing if we're not on the ground in country. Thank you. I'm honest. And I think you touch upon an important point there this discussion that might seem semantic semantic but it's not really about what's the cool and what's a was a revolution right I think that's a harder issue. You did, you did smile from from Germany, so far away from Germany at the moment. Yeah, right now in America which makes this doubly interesting from Germany in America talking about Africa. And of course, I don't claim to know all that much about the African continent, certainly not more than normal here. But one thing that I would like to add to the, to the thought process is a long more long term question, more long term consideration which for me is nevertheless has a certain urgency. And the issue is language, because right now, most of Africa runs on colonizer languages. And that gives a huge advantage to the white minorities in Africa, as well as to people with good connections to France to Britain and so on. And it also holds back the education of people raised in traditional African languages, because it is so much harder for someone who's native language is, let's say a banter language to learn French or English, then to learn another banter language. So, I believe that if Africa wants to really emancipate itself it has to consider the question of language and consider for example, whether universities in Nigeria might offer programs in Hausa, which students from Niger, Niger might also attend in Hausa, in order to have a new kind of education, similarly to convert primary schools to African languages in order to make it easier for African students to to complete primary and also secondary school. And maybe make this the language of government that would require companies, the corporations that currently have so much influence over these countries to employ people who speak, let's say, Hausa or Swahili or whatever the language you choose for for your country. Obviously it's not my choices has to be the choice of the people over there but I believe that switching to African languages would automatically require some kind of reorganization of the economy, because the elites who speak French are not the elites that speak Hausa. They would have to employ a lot more African people and less people who come straight from France and just tell everyone local what to do. If you make it a requirement for the managers of the company to speak to the government in Hausa, you're not going to have Europeans in that position, simple as that. And this is also a question that relates to our second topic, the bricks. I would highly encourage the bricks to find a language that is not English. In order to reduce the influence of propaganda from the United States, which is mainly in English, people acquire all this propaganda in unconsciously just by watching Netflix just by reading English literature. And whatever books come out, if there was another language that the bricks could use to encourage also people to study in each other's countries, let's say someone from Brazil going to Russia to study or vice versa. Right now, the only way they could do that would be by learning English and going to whatever English language programs are offered at those universities. Now imagine there is a cooperation where some universities offer Brazilian universities offer programs in Russian or Russian universities offer programs in Portuguese, or even better. Both of these universities offer programs in Esperanto and then people from Egypt and from other countries could also attend it without spending years of their life, learning the language of a country that has no business in this relationship between two countries that want to become more independent. Thank you, Yudith. Let's go now to Daphne, Daphne Dalkada, based in France originally from Turkey. I think, yeah. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, I just wanted to swaying away from quite a bit from what you did said, but nevertheless still within the theme. I mean, it's very hard not to be like when Yanis was saying like the history is repeated itself maybe not repeating exactly but you know history doesn't repeat itself at Rhymes. It's very, I was briefly reminded of an old interview I'd watched on some major American network. Maybe MSNBC something like this, and it was the was an interview with the president of, I mean the president of South Africa during apartheid the clerk. And he was mentioning, which something that disturbed me a lot but he was mentioning it in a way that was quite almost triumphalist and he was underlining how he was able to, I mean they were able to end apartheid. Because there was no longer the threat of communism, because they didn't think that, like, it was the end of it was the beginning of the end of history so there was no competing alternative or no competing poll if you like. And then they felt safe enough to change the system then when there was no alternative in play. And I think I always come back to this in these talks but I mean it really comes back to me for me to the multi polarity. I think at the end of end of history now, like the end of multi polarity and here we are discussing the coups in Africa, and we are discussing the new bricks. So, I just can't help but remark and remember this really strange interview that was like maybe 10 years ago or like that I listened to but it really like stuck with me that he didn't even feel bad saying this was something that he was proud to say. So, it might maybe feel off topic but I don't know it felt really relevant to me so I just want to add that. Thank you definitely. And that question that chat came in about the possible use of blockchain technology by the bricks to counter the dollar Germany. I could see already itching to get back in the discussion so I like to bring you back in. We have some other questions in the in our internal chat here as well on this topic. But before, just to take a quick step back and you know you were in in Cuba earlier this year you gave a speech there. And I linked about this and many other very important geopolitical topics, but just take a step back because I feel if you're not educated in economics it can sometimes be difficult to understand what is it that we're even talking about what is it about the US dollar. That's so magical.  What is it that makes a dollar such a powerful weapon for the US in brief. The huge trade deficit of the United States. What really makes the dollar powerful is that the United States is in the red. It keeps buying stuff from China from Europe from Africa from Asia, a lot more stuff than what it sells. That sounds very weird. Because for an African country for Greece, for, you know, normal countries, when you have a big trade deficit, then you're in trouble. Then your currency depreciates.  How is it that the United States have managed to turn a trade deficit into the greatest instrument of colonial power in the history of humanity. Because that's what it is. Because if you think about, yeah, we talk about the bricks, right, a cautionary note to begin with. Atlanticists, NATO propaganda lists, the EU cadres, they underestimate the bricks. We progressives overestimate the bricks. Let's not make either mistake. The bricks is not going to be at least not in the next 10, 20 years. An alternative to the G7 to Western capitalism. It is not going to be the new Soviet Union, the new, you know, source of internationalism and socialism. And at the same time, it is not insignificant. But let's, okay, that's closing the bracket. Let's go back to the American trade deficit.  And you have a factory producing aluminum. And where do you sell this to the United States? That's whom you send it to whom you send your aluminum to. Why can the United States purchaser buyer buy it from you, because the American has dollars. And uses dollars to buy your aluminum. Now, this is the trade deficit. The fact that they can keep buying stuff without selling by printing dollars, which says then the Chinese capitalist. What does the Chinese capitalist do with the dollars that he gets from selling aluminum? He takes it to Wall Street. And there he buys American debt. Therefore he finances the American government and he buys real estate. He buys, you know, properties in Miami, in California, in Chicago, New York. And therefore you've got this recycling scheme. The greatest threat. There isn't why the bricks are not going to be a significant threat to the dollar. It's because Russian capitalists, Chinese capitalists, Indian capitalists, Indonesian capitalists, United Arab Emirates capitalists, they do not want to see the dollar being displaced by any currency, digital, crypto or normal. They want the dollar to remain completely and utterly dominant because their loot, their wealth is in dollars and it lives in the United States financial system. That is the issue. Now, why are we... By the way, take the bricks, right? Take the acronym BRICS. You're talking about language. All right, let's talk about language. Who came up with the acronym BRICS? A guy called O'Neill, Jim O'Neill. What was Jim O'Neill? The chief economist of Goldman Sachs. He came up with the idea of the BRICS. He was making the point that if you are investing money, you forget about the West. You should invest it in countries like Brazil, in Russia, in China. And in order to make it snazzy to give it a marketing edge to his article, he called... I asked him, why did you put South Africa in the S of BRICS once I met Jim O'Neill? Do you know what he said to me? He said, because one brick didn't sound good and I wanted an S. So he added South Africa in there. So this is the degree of Anglo-European American dominance that now all the developing world is looking at the BRICS as their saviour and the BRICS is an acronym concocted by the chief economist of Goldman Sachs. Now it's not insignificant. It's not insignificant because an increasing amount of international trade is not going to be in dollars. And I think the most interesting event of the last weeks is when we heard that Argentina repaid a few billion dollars that it owed to the international monetary fund using Chinese one. If you couple that with the news that the new development bank, which is the BRICS bank, where Dilma is the president, the former Brazilian president, is going to be lending in local currencies. And also there's another outfit of the BRICS, a separate outfit that is going to try to replace the IMF. So when one country, which is associated with the BRICS, let's say South Africa, or any other country that joins the BRICS in some associative form, when they have a problem with the balance of payments, when the country pays their bankers in Germany, their bankers in England, their bankers in France, in America, then this BRICS IMF version of the IMF will come in and lend them in local currencies. Now what does this mean? What does it mean to be lent in local currency? Well, when Argentina repaid its IMF installment with some like four or five billion dollars using one, what that means is this, the Chinese repaid it using their own dollar stock. If this new development bank and the Dilma lends to Argentina or South Africa or to Zambia, if they lend money in local currency, in South Africa around to the South African government, what does that mean? The BRICS bank does not have around to give. What it has is dollars. Okay? All one. It can give them one or give them dollars. Now for that loan to South Africa to be useful to South Africa, the South African government that takes on this loan must be able to buy stuff from America, from Europe, from India. They will have to pay dollars. So essentially they get dollars from the BRICS bank, but they have to repay in the future with interest the dollars that it costs initially to give the round. What does this mean? It means that if the round devalues 50% in the next 10 years when the loan has to be repaid. This is a good thing for South Africa because South Africa will have inflation. The same quantity of round in 10 years time will be worth half as much. So they effectively will have to pay to the BRICS bank half the money. So it's negative interest rates for the BRICS bank. Who is going to suffer for this? The Chinese because they are the only ones amongst the BRICS that have a big wad of dollars. So essentially the BRICS bank means that the Chinese are using their stock of dollars in order to lend the countries that take loans from the BRICS bank and take on itself Beijing will take on its shoulders the devaluation risk, which now when an African country borrows the devaluation risk is its own. It will have to pay for it. Now, why would the Chinese do that? Well, one reason is because they have too many dollars. In the sense that, you know, because they have a very large current account surplus, they keep with a lump of aluminum or car or whatever it is that they all close that they sell to the Americans or to the Europeans, they get dollars back, right? What do they do with these dollars? They have to take them to Wall Street. Now they've seen what happened after the Ukraine war that the central bank of the United States, the Fed confiscated 350 billion Russian dollars. So they think they may do this to us. We might as well use our dollars through the BRICS network to gain more influence over South Africa, over Saudi Arabia, right?  They are dollar holdings. So the BRICS is China. Let's not beat about the bush here. The BRICS is China with India trying to find a kind of middle road with the United Arab Emirates playing the West against the BRICS in order to gain advantages like Saudi Arabia wants to negotiate deals. They don't want to get out of the dollar zone, but they want to enhance the relationship with China, with the BRICS in order to leverage their own bargaining with the United States. This is all very interesting, but leftists, I'm really appalled. Leftists have a tendency to look at the BRICS and say, we are orphans. We in the left since 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, we've been orphaned. We've been looking at a large power internationally that will look after us, that we will be able to dream that they are our people, that they will defeat the capitalist mammoth, right? Don't make this mistake. That's not what the BRICS is. It's significant. I explain why it is significant, but it is not the new communist international, the new socialist national, the new humanist international. That's not what it is. One last point, if I may, or a couple of points. You did, you made a very good pitch for Esperanto. Everything you said was a pitch for Esperanto. It was not a pitch for local languages. It is crazy for the Africans to use one local language and universalize it. It will not happen. It should not happen. It's a good pitch for Esperanto that we should all start from zero with a common language that is easy to learn. It's never going to work. I wish it did. Then I would learn Esperanto as well, but it will never work because what happens is some language takes the upper hand for historic reasons. And don't forget English is not American. It is English. England is becoming increasingly irrelevant. So it doesn't matter. It's a bit like Greece. Ancient Greece died and then Greek remained the lingua franca of the world, even when Greece was no longer in existence. So England is on the verge of not being in existence. I think English is a pretty good common language because the way it works is maximing the mathematical principle of maximing. That is, we maximize the use of the language that we all have a minimum grasp of. And that is English today. Once upon a time it might have been Spanish or French or Latin. Today it is English. And finally, in response to the question in the chat, are there good coups and bad coups? Well, if you have a military fascist dictatorship and some military officer overthrows the bastards, that is a good coup. And let me give you an example. 1975, Portugal, Otelo de Carvalho, the colonel of the fascist army then.  That was a good coup. But it's a good coup only if overturns fascism. If it overturns a democratically elected regime like in Pinochet, by the way, yesterday we had 50 years from that despicable event, the valende, exposed. Then, of course, it's a bad thing. Enough said, thank you. Thank you, Janis. Speaking of us leftists, I want to invite Noma back in to take us home and talking about specifically if you could, Noma, because you touch upon this in your article as well. What's our role in all this? Not only as leftists, but leftists in our particular time and place, right? In the place by a large here where we're located in these former colonial powers. What is it that you think we should do in order to support this movement building towards democracy, towards development, towards independence in Africa? That's a very good question. There is a lot that we can do. For instance, we are looking at Gabon. Gabon there was a coup there. And we think that this coup was organized by France. And we also think that France is going to preempt those in its colonies that haven't changed their genes yet. We are speaking of a Cameroon. We are speaking of other countries that are in danger of getting coups. Nigeria is another place where a coup can happen anytime because the people on that region are not happy about what Eko was going to do here to replace old president. So what we can do here is to really shout. Can you imagine a prime minister like Miloni? She's a hero in Africa, in West Africa. Unbelievable. A few days ago I saw a diplomat giving his credentials to a president in Pokina Faso. When I saw that I said my country could do better in drumming up writing articles, really condemning France about their moves to want to invade Niger. That we can do here in a free Europe. We can write many articles in many media houses, especially in France and let them know that there are people here who are here in Europe who are against a military action in Niger. That is what I can think of now. Really turning up. Thank you very much for your invitation. Thank you, Noma. Won't be the last to be with us throughout now. Thank you so much to the rest of our panel for joining us. And thank you for watching and sending us your comments and questions. We're resuming this regular live streams now, so we'll see you again.


You know who Nora Jones is, right? No. Oh, well. You need to hide the dead bodies better, because they're constantly falling. Well, I try. Josh!  I'm Nora Jones. You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter for more juice content. The expatient falls to the ground. It's got to, like, button. You know why I mentioned Nora Jones? I learned something about Nora Jones, thanks to my wife who's with us today, driving over here. What? You know who her dad is? Mr. Jones. Wait, what? Yeah. Ravi Shankar is her dad. Yeah, that's exactly what I did in the car. I thought to myself, wait, what? Nora Jones' dad is her dad. Nora Jones' father is Ravi Shankar. Why don't you guys have the same last names as each other? I think she took her mom's name. Yeah, she took Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones, you know that song? Shankar's a way better last name than Jones.  I don't care about keeping up with the Joneses to be honest. Nice. Ah, today we have a game. What?  Yeah, I'm game for some game. I've gotten so many games lately. He just keeps sending it to us. That's great. So people are enjoying it, so that's good. This is actually the same person that's made the Bollywood ones from the Frames. Got it. He said this is the hardest one. That's what he says. You know what's the hardest one? What? My dick! Okay. That's a little vulgar for this channel, right? We're a family establishment. Not anymore! But yeah, so it's basically one frame, and you have to get the name, and it's Bollywood, so. All right, so one frame, it is quote unquote Bollywood, and you got to get it from the one frame, and you have to get the title. My wife should do this too. You can. Yeah, you're a friend, yeah, we're fine. Yeah, we're good. All right.  Ready? So basically the frame comes up, you have to name the film. Okay? Got it. Make sure you're in frame. There you go. Was I not before? Yeah, just now as you was explaining that to her, you were out of frame. You can come over this way, sweetie. All right, ready? Yep. Three, two, one. Okay. Guess the move. Now I know the rules. Oh, that's the ghost one. Yeah, where she's a boot. No, yeah, it's not boot. It's boot, scary, Radhika boot. Phobia, that's right. Phobia, that's correct. Phobia, is that a you or should I want? No, it's a good movie. I'm going to lose. Well, well, Rick always loses, so it's okay. I would have won if I knew the word, because I got it before he did, but, which is weird, because it's Radhika, you should have known it before. I knew it. Nah. Oh, I don't remember. This is Vishal's son's film. It's the word for dog. Oh, is it really? That's what that is? Pet. Oh, well, you get it. If that's right, you get it. The word for dog in Hindi. Kutti, Kutti, Kutti. Yeah. Kutti. Nice. Yeah, that was that one. Nice. That was a good movie. I enjoyed it. That was a good movie. Oh. Oh, that's the meme Anushka. Yeah. Is it Perry? Dang. No, no, no, no, no, it's not Pari. Pari? It's Pari. Ah, Pari. It's not Pari? It's Pari. Pari. This is not Pari. What is it? Who is that? That's Anushka Sharma. That's Anushka Sharma, yeah. I can't place it based on that frame at all. It would either be the buddy, or whatever you call it, or the. Is that the scary one she was in? NH10. What's the scary one she made when we saw her in? Oh, Betty. I'm voting for that. I think it's that scary one. It's not? No. No. Don't question me. Here we go, to whatever you are. Darlings. No, it's the, I don't actually remember the title. It's the one that came out last year with Vidya and Shifali. Shifali Shah. Amazon. Shifali Shah, and who? Vidya. And Vidya Balan on Amazon? Yeah, we saw it last year, we enjoyed it. Came out towards when Tar came out, T-H-A-R. You said Tar, of course I went to Blanchette. I don't recall. Yeah, I don't remember the title, but that's the film it is. Yeah. Jalsa. Yes. Yeah, that's the, I didn't get that one, but. Hey, so what are the films we've seen J.D. Ben? It's been a while since we've seen J.D. Ben. No, no, no, no. It's not Commando, right? No. It wouldn't be Commando. Was Commando the one we just, what we saw in theaters and he's the bad guy, because that's the one I think it is? You're thinking of. The one with the action one with amusement. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. That's the one I think it is. That's the one you think it's on? Yeah. I'm going to go with Commando, even though it's not Commando. Action hero, yeah. That's the one, you can get that point. Awesome. But these are all more recent, so that's you. Yeah. Oh, not Barry. No, but action hero was the last year. Adam Lee said it wasn't. Here we go. Look at his ears. Hers ears actually like that, or is that like? I don't know. Was he a boxer? He looks a wrestler more likely. Or was that just from the film? I don't remember. Good question. That's a Nushka, right? No. No? Is that Love Hostel? And it's not a main person. No. What is that from? Is it the, no, it's not the Sushant with Manoj one. Starts with an S. I don't think so. OK. It could, I mean, I don't think so. Or the bandits in the desert. Right, yeah, I know which one you're talking about for sure. Any guess? I'm guessing Love Hostel, even though I'm not confident at all. Oh, OK. Yeah, that makes sense. These are all a lot. That was a great, great frame. These are all. That was really good. These are all a lot. Yeah, these are all recent ones that my wife hasn't seen. Oh, sir. 100%. On Netflix. Yeah, it's sir. Sir, I think. Yes, Telotama, sir. That's where we first introduced the Telotama, correct? Really? In a lead. In a lead? OK. We had seen her in supporting. I don't think we'd seen her in anything where she's the lead. I love Telotama. Is she a Bordeaux or a Dost? Telotama show. I don't know. I don't know. OK. Why do I know that? It's Humaku Rishi. That's that person? Yes. I don't know. They're all dressed in like. Uh-huh. A dance. Yeah. I have no idea. Any guesses? I feel like I know it. Well, we've probably seen it. I would hope. Dang it. No, I'm drawing a mic. Oh, Monica. Oh, my darling. Good frame. That was a stumper. That was a stumper. My darling. These are tough, man. This is the Priyanka one, the white. White tiger? Yeah. You think that's white tiger? The white tiger. OK. That's the white tiger. You? No clue. OK. Damn. Well, he gave it away. We haven't seen a ton with him. That's true. And so that's really what it was. Ah. That is, you're going to have to help me with the name. Do you know what it is? Oh, you're thinking of it. I'll let you think of it. That's not the pizza one. No. That face. You all saw it. So much. He's not the lead in this film. This is hard. It's Ali. It's Gungubai. It's some, some, some. Is it Gungubai? Is that the, how you pronounce it? Gungubai? Yeah. It's Gungubai. How? He has a photographic memory. He has a photographic memory. Oh, that's the one with Greedy and Mimi. Yeah. You're welcome. I knew it. You were just talking over me. You weren't saying anything. Yeah, because I didn't even know the title. How can I talk over someone who's saying nothing? Well, I was trying to think of the title. You were talking over me.  Well, I wish your mouth was closed. That was a great move. Did you watch that one? Yeah, it's very good. You'd like that. It's very good. That's a great movie. You would like that a lot. Feel good movie. Oh, that's Sardar Udon. You're probably right. You are correct. That was fast. That was. Hey, it's Kajal. What do you think, babe? OK, so it's Kajal. Musical number. It doesn't look like any of the, like, No, it's not. K3G, DDLJ. It's more recent. And what have we seen Kajal in that is? That's not recent. I think it's more early 2000s. Well, yeah, it's more recent compared to DDLJ days. I think it's early 2000s. I do not know. I cannot tell from that frame. Neither can I. Any guesses? Fauna. Yeah. I was actually, you know what I was going to say? I was going to say. I don't even remember that number. I was going to say, Kajal, I'm not picking it up. Was that the one with Amir Khan that I tried to forget for the rest of my life? Yes, that's why I don't remember the frame. Well, you would have gotten the point then, Rick. But unfortunately, you didn't. Well, that's OK. I don't want to even get the point on that film because I dislike that film. That is early 2000s, though, right? Ten-five-ish, right? I don't. Probably around there. I mind stumped. No freaking clue. These are much more difficult. Yeah. These are really tough ones. Any guess? No fathomable idea. Kajal, OK. Should be the kite flying thing. You knew. You should have said it. That's a great movie. I love that movie. That's a good one. Farhan Akhtar. Yep. OK. Oh, is this too fun? Ew. I'm going to vote yes. We're going to go it's too fun. Or it could be luck by chance. I'm going to go actually luck by chance. I'm going too fun just because that was another movie I didn't like.  I should have just stuck with my gut. Should have just stuck with my gut. I was like, if they're going hard, they're going to go with one that we just did not like at all. Oh, that is. Um. Ranbir, the legend of Rocket Singh. Is it is that the whole title? I don't know. The title is Rocket Singh. OK, I think it there you go. And you should just enjoy Rocket Singh. There you go. Rocket Singh salesman of the year. That's why I remember those mutton jobs because those are hideous. I can't remember the mutton jobs, but I could never place that with the film that we saw as long ago as we did. Well, I mean, you I enjoyed that one more than you did as well. Exactly. When it's especially when it's one's. Oh, that is. Don't go on. No. I'm going to let you have a chance here because I know. No, no. I'm here. Oh, yeah, I remember the film. I just remember what it's called. I absolutely remember the film. I don't remember. He's actually just supporting. Yeah. He has a funny role in it. Yeah, it is a very, very funny role. She's going to she's going to be a big music sensation. Secret superstar. Yeah, that's it. Secret superstar. That's a good one, too. I enjoyed that one. Yeah, that was a fun movie. Yeah. All right. Yeah, that was that was difficult. And it's hard to compete with a photographic memory. It really is. Well, you know, what are you going to do? Lose. And that's what you're going to do. I actually don't know if I have a photographic. You do. You do. Well, how do you how do you know that you have one? Because I think like there's no test you can take. That's like, I have a photographic memory. No, no, there's not a test for it. It's just evidenced by things that happen where you bring stuff that you can recollect. And so you definitely have your capacity to recall things that you've seen is. I wish I had it. That's what the definition of photographic memory is. I have a selective photographic memory. There are some things. So does my dad. My dad can remember specific things from 1975 as can I. But it's not there all the time. And it's very random. Whereas yours is pretty much all the time.  I wish I had it in school. Yeah. I think it's what you're interested in. I think it is connected to your ADHD. You have a photographic memory as well with certain things. In school, if somebody's just doing a lecture, I probably won't remember a lot, especially if it's very uninteresting. If I was able to. You're not in the frame. Well, you're partially in the frame. I hope I was in frame most of the time. Who knows? If I was able to do it, if the teacher was able to come over and this is how you do it, I wouldn't ever forget it. That happens to me too. But if it's like a lecture, I'm like, I'm so interested. It would not surprise me if there's a link to photographic memory and ADHD. Probably. It would not surprise me at all. Yeah. My parents always said, you're really good at stuff that you're interested in. Right. Exactly. If I'm not interested in it, I will. That was a great question I saw recently. Somebody was talking. It's an old interview with Daniel Day-Lewis. And the interviewer asked him, said, so is it safe to say that you're really passionate about the things that you work on? And he stopped for a second. He said, I think it's because I'm selfish. I don't invest myself in things I don't want to do. Yeah. That makes sense. I guess you could call that passion, but it's only for those things that I have interest in. Well, I'm glad you joined. And Johnny did a great job. Great job, babe. Well done. Claps for him, Johnny. You should have joined the other ones. There were a lot more that you knew. They went with more recent, tougher ones. Yeah, ones that she hasn't seen in recent years. Anyways, if you'd like to send us a game, once again, I can't make these games, you can send it to the email and description of every single video from any language, Hindi or Bengali or Marathi or... Do the Bengali one for the Bengali girl. What? You'll win? You'll win Bengali? I know. Because I might have a Bengali game. No, I don't. Well, it would if you do... I might have a Bengali game. Just do a pure Saatjit Rai. Oh, I haven't watched all of the... Yeah, but you'd get the names correct. That's true. And I wouldn't. You'd help us not pronounce it panther-panchally. So it's not Perry? It's Buddy? Buddy. Buddy, but not Perry? Have you seen that new Indian film, Perry? Is that like the Tyler Perry spin-off of for India? And the tab back-chan.


So, I mean, for you, what was this weight like?   Like, you know, we're going to go tomorrow early tomorrow too. So, you know, we get to the second round and we're sitting there waiting and we're waiting and we're waiting and we don't get anything. You know, I'll finally text Malik. I'm like, I'll text Malik Willis. I'm like, man, what's going on? Like, they don't like us or what?  God's going to do his thing. But, you know, it was just a lot. But, you know, I'm blessed to be a Falcon and I'm excited to get down there and work. So, what was your reactions like with Arthur Smith with Terry Fauno during this process? Yeah, so obviously, you know, I think they were down there at the senior role but then they came up for pro day, had a meeting, basically brought the whole staff with them and had a good about an hour and a half, two hour meeting where some of it was broken up into film and others was broken up into conversations. And, you know, I think the interactions between the both of us and coach Regone and Mr. Terry, you know, they all went really well. But, you know, I think we really hit it off there at Cincinnati at pro day. And, you know, they said that they didn't even need me down for a 30 visit that they had all they need. And, you know, I'll put my best foot forward and that's what they're gonna get from here on out. Well, congratulations. Thank you, Arthur. Thank you. All right, up next we'll go to Cincinnati grad, dear Orlando Ledbetter. UC law class of 90. Desmond, could you discuss your early recruitment by coach Zach Taylor and how, you know, that led you're going to Cincinnati coming out of Louisville St. Xavier there? Yes, so I think it was early on after my junior season I started to throw and work out for coaches and coach Rollins was the wider Severs coach at the time.  And then about three hours after that work out on that Friday afternoon and early May, you know, coach Summerville and coach Taylor extended the offer out to me. But, you know, my relationship that I grew with coach Taylor was really good within those six months that he recruited me. So, you know, I'm just blessed to know him and blessed to be connected with him. Yeah, and what did you learn over the last couple of years, you know, watching Joe, we was hurt most of the first year, but then watching them lead them to the Super Bowl and other programs are tight and, you know, they even come up to campus to practice. Yeah, just patience and stick together. You know, that was a team where, you know, there were a lot of questions on both sides of the ball and, you know, if Joe's gonna get it done or if he's gonna have enough time to get it out. But, you know, at the end of the day, they just stuck together. They have patience, you know, they waited on their time and it took advantage of every opportunity they got. And so, you know, I think they did a really good job with that, obviously they're led by Joe, who's a great quarterback and a great leader. And then obviously, as we just said, coach Zach Taylor, you know, he's done a great job of leading that team, obviously now it's a Super Bowl.  All right, we'll go to Josh Kendall with the athletic. Congratulations. Thank you so much. I'm interested in the short version of what the process is like when you sit down with Arthur Smith and start talking about his offense and how he explains it to you and asks you to explain it back to him. Yeah, so basically how that goes is, like I said, during that hour, two hour meeting that we had right there at pro day, it's going over an install. And, you know, it's just like their base, we'll say OTA one install. So maybe it's a couple protections, a couple plays, a couple run plays, couple pass plays and a couple formations. And so, you know, I would go through that for about 30 minutes and then you might throw on some of my film from Cincinnati and have myself talk through that, my reads, my protection changes, my adjustments. And then we'll come back to that and they'll kind of quiz me on it. You know, like I said, during that meeting, I felt like I did really well. I put my best foot forward. But, you know, that was something for me as far as that side of the game, the mental side of the game that I'm not gonna say comes easy, but it's something that I'll love to do. It's something that I'll love to study. And so it makes it easy for me. What do you think in those initial impressions of these offense? Yeah, I thought it was something that, you know, I fit really well into. And then obviously at that time, I think they had just picked up Marcus Mariota, who, you know, as a lot of people know, I can pair myself too. And a lot of people can pair myself too. So I'm really excited to be there and get there with him. Obviously a great quarterback at the college level and then obviously successful quarterback at the NFL level. So I'm just excited to get down there and work and better the team in any way possible. We've got Charles Odom with the Associated Press. And I'll follow up with what you said about Marcus. Tell me what you see in Marcus that you see in your own game. Yeah, just as far as our athletic abilities, our leadership, our ability to extend plays, and then be smart with the ball once we do extend plays. I think that's something we do really well, being able to use our legs to get outside the pocket, making a efficient throw, not doing anything done with the ball and being able to protect yourself for, you know, as this game is, it's for longevity. So I think, you know, the both of us do a really good job of that. And so like I said, I'm excited to get down there to learn from someone who's been in the game for a long time, who's won a lot of games at the highest level, or, you know, I'm excited. You said your contact with the Falcons there on the pro day came about the same time that Falcons signed Marriota. Did that only make you more encouraged about the prospects of Atlanta being your landing spot? No, 100%.  And that's, you know, obviously myself. And so when they picked him up, that got me really excited for Atlanta. And then, like I said, I think that was right before we were known that we were meeting with them for pro day. Then we met with them for pro day and, you know, like the offense, like the staff, the GM and everyone. And so, you know, I just thought it was a perfect fit. We'll go to Cody Chaffins with Fox Five. Desmond, obviously you've played in Mercedes-Benz before. Tell me about that trip to Atlanta and what you remember about that? Yeah, so I mean, obviously that trip to Atlanta obviously could have ended a lot better, but no, being down in their city is a wonderful city.  And just seeing those lights, just being in that stadium, it was just surreal.  We made it to that New Year's Six, but what I remember from that is just a great city, a great atmosphere, great arena and a place where I know that fans are gonna go crazy. Yeah. You did lose in that game, but you didn't lose a lot at Cincinnati. What about that attitude? Will you bring to the Falcons that you just kind of expect to win? Yeah, everything about that. That's just who I am as a person. So I feel like guys are gonna see that right off the bat from rookie mini campaign and onto, you know, the end of my career is that I'm gonna do whatever it takes to win. So whatever that may be, however many hours it is, whatever I have to sacrifice, guys are gonna see that and guys are gonna feel that. And, you know, my job is to bring other people along with me to make everyone else great. And so that's what I'm gonna do. I wanna be that leader, be able to go down there to step in and play whatever role I need to to be dealt to go down there and make sure that everyone knows, you know, what the goal is at the end of the day and that's to win every single game, whether that's about one point, whether that's about 40 points. Let's go out there and win. Kelsey Mistrangelo, WSB. Hey Desmond, welcome to Atlanta. I was curious, you know, you're talking about Marcus Marriota, you know, in the Falcon signing him, but what was kind of the message to you with Arthur Smith? Are you coming in to compete with Marcus Marriota, learn behind him? And kind of what's the goal for you? Yeah. I'm gonna go in there and do whatever it takes to, you know, whatever they need me to do. You know, I'm a team player at the end of the day. I'm not an individual person. I'm a person who puts the team first so whether that's me going down there at the start, me going down there to sit behind Marcus to learn or whether we go down there and we split reps, whatever it may be. Like I said at the beginning of this interview, I'm excited to get down there and to be a sponge to learn so much new football, like so many new concepts. I'm just a student of the game and I'm excited to be in Atlanta. I can't express that enough. And I know you've got a lot of football to play, but what do you just hope to accomplish in your rookie season with the Atlanta Falcons?  Obviously I just became a pro from, you know, the draft standpoint, but as far as on the field, you know, take care of your body and everything that goes into being a pro, that's just, you know, what I wanna do and have others see that as well, that obviously I'm trying to be the best version of myself I can be.


Hello, a very good evening to all of our friends and welcome to The Hindu News Analysis of Shankar IAS Academy for the date 3rd March 2021. The list of the relevant news articles taken up for today's discussion from 5 different editions of The Hindu Newspaper along with their page numbers are given here for your reference. Also, the handwritten notes in the PDF format and timestampings for all the news articles taken up for today's discussion is given in the description box and also in the comment section for the best interest of the viewers. Let us now start with our first news article. See, as we know, India through its Atmanidh Bhar Bharat program aims to achieve self-reliance. Now, being self-reliant doesn't mean that India shall economically insulate ourselves from the world. Instead, India shall become self-reliant by strengthening the domestic manufacturing and also by bolstering the supply chains through investments, etc. So, in this context, let us discuss this opiate article which discusses about the importance of European Union for India. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. See, the India-European Union bilateral relations date back to early 1960s. India was amongst the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community in 1962. A cooperation agreement signed in 1994 took the bilateral relationship beyond trade and economic cooperation. Later in 2004, the relationship was upgraded to a strategic partnership. Now, coming to trade, the European Union is India's largest regional trading partner while India was the ninth largest trading partner of European Union in 2017. India's bilateral trade both in goods and services with the European Union was US$132.44 billion in 2017. The European Union continued to be one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment for India with inflows valued at US$5.71 billion in 2017. So, with this information, let us discuss this article. See, the authors say that India has an untapped export potential of US$39.9 billion in the European Union and Western Europe. The top products with export potential are apparel or clothes, gems and jewelry, chemicals, machinery, automobile, pharmaceuticals and plastic. Many products from India benefits from tariff preferences under the EU's generalized system of preferences or GSP. See, it should be noted that the EU's GSP removes the import duties from the products which are coming into the European market from vulnerable developing countries. So, the authors say that India's exports under the GSP valued at nearly US$19.4 billion in 2019. And this accounted for nearly 37% of India's merchandise exports to the European Union. But many products where India has export potential in EU have graduated or are at a brink of graduation under the EU's GSP. See, product graduation applies when the average imports of a product to the EU from a country exceeds 17.5% of total EU GSP imports of the same product from all beneficiary countries over 3 years. And due to graduation, the experts from India such as textiles, inorganic and organic chemicals, gems and jewelry, iron, steel, etc. are out of the ambit of the EU GSP benefits. So, the authors are skeptical that India might lose the GSP benefits in other categories such as apparel, rubber, electronic items, etc. due to this graduation. And this will have a huge impact on India's export to EU. For example, India's apparel exports to EU were valued at US$7 billion in 2019. And in this, 94% was under the EU GSP. So, this indicates the impact that the graduation may have on apparel exports. And at the same time, India's competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam would continue to benefit from or receive tariff benefits in the EU. So, this clearly indicates the need for India to deepen trade and investment ties with EU. See, in order to diversify and boost our bilateral trade, India and EU started negotiating a bilateral broad-based trade and investment agreement, or BTIA, since 2007. But it is yet to materialize due to lack of concurrence in areas like automotive and dairy and marine products. So, India shall assess the benefits and also the impacts of FTA and concluded the earliest. Apart from this, India and EU shall focus on areas such as investment and non-tariff measures, etc. India shall focus more on fostering stronger value chains, especially in technology-intensive sectors, in which the EU has a comparative advantage. Now, coming to non-tariff measures, the authors say that India faces more than 400 NTMs in the EU. So, while negotiating FTA, these issues shall be incorporated. As we know, there are issues going on in the European Union as well. And this includes Brexit, then rising Euroscepticism in other EU countries, etc. So, EU also has a growing need for recalibrating its ties with its partner countries such as India. So, this is all about this opiate article. Now, with this information, let us move on to the next news article. And now, see this article from the editorial page, which is with reference to the recent Economic Survey. We had an elaborate discussion covering the most important article from the Economic Survey on 30th January. Please watch that video to get a brief on Economic Survey. The link is in the description box. So, first, see this article from 30th January, which is titled Focus on Growth Than on Elevating Inequality. According to the Economic Survey, India must keep its focus on economic growth rather than trying to alleviate or mitigate inequality. See, this is because in India's current stage of development, redistribution of wealth is not feasible without growing the overall pie. So, first, the overall wealth of the country should be increased so that it can be redistributed later. See, the Economic Survey also notes the Chinese experience to suggest that in countries with high growth rates and high levels of absolute poverty, there is no trade-off between growth and inequality. Basically, the new Economic Survey is trying to say that at the moment, more focus should be on improving the growth and not on alleviating or mitigating inequalities. So, this became quite controversial as this concept latently supports the interests of capitalists and elite sections of the society. And an Oxfam report had showed that the Indian billionaires increased their wealth by 35% during the lockdown. And this was at a time when 25% of the country was earning less than 3000 rupees per month. So, if we see the Economic Survey, it asks if inequality and growth conflict or converge in the Indian context. So, by examining the correlation of inequality and the per capita income with the socio-economic indicators like health, education, life expectancy, infant mortality, etc. The survey highlights that both economic growth and inequality have similar relationships with socio-economic indicators. So, unlike in advanced economies, in India, the economic growth and inequality converge in terms of their effects on socio-economic indicators. Further, the Economic Survey says that the economic growth has a far greater impact on poverty elevation than inequality. So, we can say that high growth helps in elevating poverty levels by trickling down the benefits than increasing the inequalities. Therefore, given India's stage of development, India must continue to focus on economic growth to lift the poor out of poverty. And this should be done by expanding the overall pie. See, this does not imply that the redistributive objectives are unimportant, but the redistribution is only feasible in a developing economy if the size of the economic pie grows. So, this is what the Economic Survey says. So, in this context, the author of this editorial terms the survey as a document based on strong ideological overtones. Here, the author says that estimates on increase in the extreme poverty under the pandemic in India have ranged from 400 million to 620 million. Here, Oxfam's report shows that while it took 9 months for the top 1000 billionaires to return to pre-COVID-19 times, it will take over a decade for the poorest class of the society to return to normalcy. So, here the author criticizes that anyone familiar with the literature on economic growth and inequality will find the claims of the Economic Survey that unlike in advanced countries, in India, economic growth and inequality converge in terms of their effects on the socio-economic outcomes as simply outrageous and shocking. Here, the Economic Survey uses many numbers and statistical methods and form the scientific base to substantiate the arguments. The author criticizes the move, misuse of statistical tools is a dangerous game in a democracy. Then, the author talks about social justice, which means everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. As said before, the Economic Survey takes the example of China to support the inegalitarian policy options. Briefly, it says that the economic growth which China experienced in the recent decades has trickled down to the poorest sections and so the poverty levels in China decreased. But the economic experts tell us that inequality increased much more sharply after the 1980s in India than in China. And the author says that this fact was conveniently avoided in the Economic Survey. As the Economic Survey says, in India rather than poverty elevation through growth must be central to economic strategy rather than inequality because in India economic growth and inequality converge in terms of their effects on socio-economic indicators. Simply put, we should not be worried about the increasing inequalities in the society rather we should focus only on poverty elevation through economic growth. So this looks more of a capitalistic justification. The author says that this theory is not correct. Just improving the basic indicators of the society and not worrying about the inequalities is not a good sign for any society. Though the Economic Survey talks about the Wilkinson and Pickett, it fails to support their argument. Based on 50 years of research, Wilkinson and Pickett explained why equality is better for everyone. The answer is inequality breeds mistrust, mental illness and many such outcomes which needs to be reduced for overall human well-being. The author opinions that the ideological overtones which the Economic Survey tries to put are untenable for Indian democracy. He concludes by saying that the Economic Survey has all the right to suggest what it considers relevant. But democracy demands informed debate especially when it comes to economic inequality which has been growing exponentially in India. So legitimizing the inequality by policy think tanks is quite questionable and a worrying sign for people of India. So this is what the author has said in this editorial and with this information let us move into the next news. Now have a look at this question. It is based on this news article which talks about a Himalayan Serro which was spotted in Assam. Recently if you remember the colourful Mandarin duck was spotted in the Moguri Matapang wetland in Assam after 118 years. So in this context let us have a brief discussion about the Himalayan Serro. See Himalayan Serro locally called Thar belongs to the family Bovide and sub-family Caprine.   And both sexes are similar in appearance and are of about equal size. Have a look at this image for better understanding. And know that Himalayan Serros are herbivores. Serro prefers damp and thickly-wooded gorges and are typically found at altitudes between 2000 meters and 4000 meters. Know that there are several species of Serros and all of them are found in Asia. The Himalayan Serro is restricted to the Himalayan region and they are known to be found in eastern, central and western Himalayas. Now according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources that is IUCN, the Himalayan Serros have experienced significant declines in population size, range size and also habitat in the last decade. And this is expected to continue due to intensive human impact. According to some sources, it was previously assessed as near-threatened, but now the Himalayan Serro is categorized as vulnerable under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. And know that it is listed under the Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. So with this information, have a look at this question. Locally called Thar, this herbivore belongs to the family Bovide. They prefer damp and thickly-wooded gorges and are typically found at altitudes between 2000 meters and 4000 meters. It is listed under the Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Here the correct answer is option D, Himalayan Serro. So with this information, let us move on to the next news. Now see this editorial which throws light on the ceasefire agreements between India and Pakistan. It is written in the wake of the recent ceasefire agreements of India and Pakistan in February 2021. So in this regard, let us see about these ceasefire agreements and their comparison. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. First what is a ceasefire agreement? See it is an agreement which is usually between two armies and it is in order to stop fighting and allow discussions about peace. So in our context, recently the Indian military and Pakistan military has agreed to hold a ceasefire along the line of control or LOC. Now let us know such previous ceasefire agreements between India and Pakistan. First comes the Karachi Agreement of 1949. It was an agreement between the military representatives of India and Pakistan regarding the establishment of ceasefire line in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. So this agreement was agreed under the auspices of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan. It was aimed at establishing a mutually agreed ceasefire line or CFL in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. See the ceasefire line was about 830 kilometers in length with proper geographic demarcations. A rough depiction of the ceasefire line is given here for your reference. And the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan was mandated to monitor this ceasefire along the ceasefire line. The next is the Tarshkan Declaration of 1966. This was a result of the 1965 India-Pakistan war. And in this, the two sides agreed to settle their differences through peaceful means and to discourage hostile propaganda, then to repatriate the prisoners of war and also to restore the normal diplomatic relations. Most importantly, the status quo antebellum was restored. That is, the situation that existed before the war was restored by withdrawing the armed forces to the original positions that was held before the fight broke out. And the ceasefire line remained unaltered. And the next is the important Shimla Agreement of 1972. See, this agreement was signed in the wake of the 1971 India-Pakistan war. And this agreement was much more than a peace treaty seeking to reverse the consequences of the 1971 war, that is to bring about the withdrawal of troops and the exchange of the prisoners of war like the previous agreement. Rather, this agreement was a comprehensive blueprint of good neighborly relations between India and Pakistan. So, under the Shimla Agreement, both the countries agreed for a set of guiding principles such as respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, then non-interference in each other's internal affairs, then respect for each other's unity, political independence, sovereign equality, etc. Importantly, note that the ceasefire agreement sought to curb or restrict the international involvement such as the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan in Kashmir. So, it put the future discussion on dispute between India and Pakistan on a strictly bilateral footing. Also, by the time the war ended, both sides' militaries had made advances across the CFL in Kashmir. So, under this ceasefire agreement only, it was agreed to establish the Line of Control, which was to be based on the positions held by the armed forces of India and Pakistan at the time the fighting ended, that is, at the ceasefire in December 1971. Note that the Line of Control became the official nomenclature of Kashmir dispute by replacing the ceasefire line. So, there was no ceasefire line after 1972. Now, next comes what the author calls as the Suchitgarh Agreement of 1972. See, it refers to the series of meetings which were held in Suchitgarh and Wagah after the Shimla Agreement in order to delineate the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The next is the 2003 Agreement, and it was agreed between the Director-General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan. And interestingly, it was communicated through a telephone call, and it reiterated the December 1971 ceasefire. So, these were some of the important past ceasefire agreements. And now comes the recent February ceasefire agreement. See, this agreement has been agreed after more than 5,000 ceasefire violations, which happened in last year along the Line of Control. And it is to be noted that the number of ceasefire violations in the last year was the highest in the past 19 years. So finally, a surprise joint statement has been issued by both the sides after discussions between the Director-General of Military Operations. And they agreed to address the core issues and concerns which have the propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence. So, for achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, this ceasefire agreement was agreed upon. And under this agreement, both the sides agreed to a strict observance of all the previous agreements. And they also agreed upon understandings and ceasefiring along the Line of Control and all other sectors. And as per the CFA, this is effective from the midnight of February 24th, 25th, 2021. So, what could be understood from this February ceasefire agreement? First is that this agreement shows the realisation by both the sides that they cannot afford to let violence spiral out of control as it could easily escalate into serious conflicts and even war. Secondly, according to the author, this also indicates a possible increase in friendliness in the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. This particularly could be seen in many recent happenings such as the Army Chiefs of both countries talked about achieving peace in February 2021. Additionally, before the ceasefire agreement, India even allowed Pakistan to use the Indian airspace for Pakistan Prime Minister's travel to Sri Lanka. And Pakistan PM also insisted on resolving the Kashmir issue through dialogue. And finally, as a result of all these happenings came the ceasefire agreement announcement. First, the author compares the February ceasefire agreement with the other agreements and notes that this agreement is more significant, mainly because the February ceasefire agreement is different from the routine ceasefire assurances which were made by both the sides before January 2021. Now, how it is different? First, because this ceasefire agreement was a joint statement which was not the case of other ceasefire agreements. Second, because there is a mention of a specific date to begin the ceasefire which could not be found in other ceasefire agreements. Next, the February ceasefire agreement paves way to reduce or alleviate the two-friend situation that India was facing. See, if you remember throughout the last year till recently India faced threats along its western and also eastern borders. So this is the two-friend threat or situation from Pakistan and China. On one side, Pakistan was becoming a threat along the western border of India and on the other side, China was becoming a threat along the northern and eastern frontiers of India. Additionally, it also included the threat of China colluding or conspiring with Pakistan. So India was kind of stuck between Pakistan and China as dealing with the situation was neither easy nor practical. But now since India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire agreement India has dealt with one-front of this two-front situation. So these points make the February ceasefire agreement more significant. Secondly, the author compares the recent agreement with the 2003 ceasefire agreement. See, both are similar in fact that they were announced after a high level of violence including the ceasefire violations along the border. Thirdly, the author compares them along the mutually agreed set of rules and norms. See, these rules and norms are important for the effective observance of ceasefire under the ceasefire agreements like the one in the Karachi Agreement. But the recent February 2021 agreement, then the Shimla Agreement or Suchitgar Agreement do not have these rules. So that is why most often the deployed armed forces resort to the rules under the Karachi Agreement to observe the ceasefire. So as a conclusion, the author suggests that the two directive generals of military operations should arrive at a set of rules to govern the ceasefire which is agreed by the February ceasefire agreement and also to continue the ceasefire with parallel bilateral talks. So this is all about this editorial article. With this information, let us move on to the next news. And now have a look at this second question. It is based on this news article which says that Jihadists have attacked a UN base and overrun a humanitarian hub in Nigeria. So in this context, let us have a brief discussion of Nigeria, its geography, etc. See, Nigeria is a country in the African continent. The west part of the African continent. And if you see the world map, you could see that the country is not so far from the equator and also not so far from the prime meridian. But note that both the equator and the prime meridian do not pass through Nigeria. See here, the prime meridian is the zero degree longitude and equator is the zero degree latitude. And know that the national capital is Abuja while Lagos, the former capital is the country's leading commercial and industrial city. And know that Nigeria is bordered to the north by Niger, to the east by Chad and Cameroon, to the south by the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west by Benin. Know that Nigeria is not only large in area, but also Africa's most populous country. Recently, Nigeria talked South Africa to become the largest economy of Africa. So with this information, have a look at this map based question. Which of the following West African countries share the border with Atlantic Ocean? We have five countries given here. See in this, we should know that Nigeria is a landlocked country and it does not share border with Atlantic Ocean. So the correct answer for this question is option B, 1, 2, 4 and 5 only. That is Nigeria, Guinea, Ghana and Benin. Now with this information, let us move on to the next news. And now see this third question. It is based on this news article which mentions that in the gross tax revenue of the center, the share of CIS and surcharge has almost doubled. Here the share is 19.9% in 2020-21 compared to 10.4% in 2011-12. So what is CIS? See, CIS is a form of tax or fee that is charged or levied over and above the base tax liability of a taxpayer. It can be levied on both indirect and direct taxes. A CIS is usually imposed additionally when the state or the central government looks to raise funds for specific purposes. So CIS is imposed for a specific purpose as identified in the legislation under which it is being charged. For example, the government levies an education CIS to generate additional revenue for funding primary, secondary and higher education. It is usually imposed as a percentage of the taxpayer's basic tax liability and also remember that article 270 of the Indian Constitution mentions about CIS. Next note that CIS is not a permanent source of revenue for the government. Since it is discontinued when the purpose for which it is levied is fulfilled. And it is different from taxes in the context that all the taxes go to the Consolidated Fund of India, that is CFI. But on the other hand, CIS may initially go to the Consolidated Fund of India but later it has to be used for the purpose for which it was collected. Further in a particular year, if the CIS collected remains unspent, it cannot be allocated for other purposes. Rather, the amount gets carried over to the next year and can only be used for the cause for which it was meant for. Also, the central government does not need to share the CIS with the state government either partially or in full. Now next is surcharge. See, surcharge is a tax on tax which is imposed for the purposes of the union. And know that surcharge is dealt with under article 270 and 271 of the Indian Constitution. And know that the proceeds collected from a surcharge levied by the union forms a part of the Consolidated Fund of India. Further importantly, know that these proceeds can be spent for any purpose like the normal tax. So it is the discretion of the union to utilize the proceeds of the surcharge for whichever purpose it deems fit. For example, the finance act 2018 introduced a social welfare surcharge over and above the customs duties on certain goods for the purposes of providing and also financing, education, health and social security. So this is in brief about CIS and surcharge. Now with this information, have a look at this question. Consider the following statements. CIS is imposed for a specific purpose and a surcharge is a tax on tax imposed for the purposes of the union. Yes, this statement is correct. Now the second statement reads, surcharge is mentioned in the Constitution of India while CIS is not. See, this statement is incorrect. Both are mentioned in the Constitution. CIS is under article 270 and surcharge is under article 270 and 271. So in this question, we have to identify the incorrect statement or statements. We know that statement one is correct and statement two is incorrect. So the correct answer for this question is option B2 only. So with this, we have analyzed almost all the relevant news articles taken up for today's discussion. Now let us move on to the practice questions discussion section based on today's news analysis. See, in this section, we have three main questions. Please write your answers and post it in the comment section. Now we have come to the end of analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the discussion of practice questions. If you like this video, please press the like button. Comment, share and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for more videos and updates related to civil service preparation. Thank you.


Welcome, myself, Mr. Giridhar Jain, Assistant Professor in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Department, Walchin Institute of Technology, Singapore. Now today, I am going to explain Printed Circuit Boards' fabrication process, means how to build a Printed Circuit Board. Learning outcomes of this session are, at the end of this session, students will be able to explain PCB fabrication steps. So first, for starting the PCB fabrication, the first requirement is PCB artwork, positive or negative film depending on whether screen printing or photo printing technology is being used. Second step, cut the copper clad to the PCB size by shearing machine or a hacksaw. Copper clad is selected of either paper phenolic or glass epoxy depending on the application. So this table shows the comparison between the paper phenolic and glass epoxy. So here, three properties are compared, so mechanical strength. Mechanical strength of glass epoxy is higher than the paper phenolic, cost. Cost is higher glass epoxy than the paper phenolic and applications. So paper phenolic is used for consumer electronics applications and the glass epoxy is used for industrial applications. Now next step, after the PCB is copper clad is cut to the size of PCB by using hacksaw or a shearing machine. Then next step is clean the copper clad by the scrubber or by using the lime and salt to clean the PCB. For industrial applications, the 5% hydrochloride acid HCl is used for cleaning the copper clad. Now second step is printing of the artwork on the copper clad. Next is itching and cleaning of the PCB and next drilling. Now this figure shows a positive film of the artwork. Positive film means here whatever you see that is a black, black color that copper remains on the PCB and other copper is removed in the itching process. So it is a original size image of the PCB artwork from solder side. Now this figure shows the negative film of the solder side artwork. In a negative film what is done the image of earlier image that is this image is inverted in color. So here whatever is the white. So that portion the copper remains and the for black portion the copper is removed. Now this positive film and negative film they are used depending on the technologies used for manufacturing of the PCB. Now when screen printing is used, this positive film is used and when photo printing is used this negative film is used for preparing the PCB. Now next is printing of the artwork on the copper clad. So printing of the artwork on copper clad involve the printing of the acid resistant image of the artwork on the PCB that is copper clad. Means whatever image is printed on a copper clad that image is resistant to the itching chemicals. Now pause this video and think on following question. How to print acid resistant image on the copper clad? So for printing acid resistant image on a copper clad there are basically two techniques. First is screen printing and second is photo printing. Now in first technique screen printing. Now screen printing is a technique which is same which is used for printing the visiting cards, invitation cards same technique is used. So instead of that paper cards they are printed on a copper clad and for printing a positive film is used, positive film of the artwork and the material used that is ink used for printing the PCB is a PCB ink which is specially designed for screen printing of the PCBs. Now second method is a photo printing. So in case of photo printing the material used is a photoregist. Now this photoregist is a material when it is exposed to the ultraviolet rays its properties are changed and the unexposed portion there is no reaction means when light falls on the photoregist that part gets affected there is a chemical reaction, photochemical reaction. Means photoregist material with a UV exposing machine is used in photo printing and as far as film is concerned a negative film of artwork is used for preparing PCB by using this photo printing techniques. Now this technique is suitable for the printing with high accuracy and it is costly as compared to the screen printing. Now next step in the PCB fabrication is etching means once the acid resistant image is printed on a copper clad either by using screen printing or a photo printing next is etching. Etching process involves removing of the unwanted copper from copper clad by using etching chemicals. Now etching chemicals generally used here is ferric chloride acid used ferric chloride acid for etching of the printed circuit boards means PCB to be etched are immersed in a fucl 3 solution. The etching time depends on the concentration of this fucl 3 acid and the temperature of acid for etching for less number of PCBs a plastic tray is being used and for large number of PCBs the etching machine is used in the industry in which the spray of etchant is sprayed on to PCB and the PCBs are moving over a conveyor belt. Now next step in the PCB fabrication is cleaning means once the PCBs are etched means unwanted copper is removed the etched PCBs are cleaned by flushing water over it. Now next allow PCBs to dry for some time after PCBs are dried then remove acid resistant layer of the printed image from PCB by using thinner and then allow the PCBs to dry. In this way the PCBs are etched and they are printed on the copper clad. Now next is inspection inspect the PCBs for any errors that is open circuit of the copper conducting tracks means some of the tracks may be open circuit during the etching or some of the adjacent tracks there will be the short circuit. So if there are such kind of open circuit and short circuit errors correct these errors if any. Now for correcting the errors next is drilling. Now PCBs are drilled by using a drill machine with a spindle speed of 20000 rpm. So this is a minimum speed required for drilling of the PCBs. Now PCBs can be drilled by such drill machines by visual inspection. Now while drilling the diameter of holes drill on the PCB is not uniform for all the holes but it depends on the component means while drilling the printed circuit boards the holes are holes are drilled by referring the component layout the drill bits which are used for drilling the printed circuit boards are different for paper phenolic and glass epoxy for paper phenolic HSS which stands for high speed steel drill bits are used and for the glass epoxy tungsten carbide drill bits are used. Now this figure shows a component layout. Now while drilling the PCB if we look at the component layout you can see this is 40 pin IC so all holes of these are all holes of the pins of this IC are drilled with 0.7 mm drill bit this is a connector this is connector. So for these connectors drill the hole with a diameter of 1 mm for regulator IC 1 mm for the preset 1.2 mm these are the switches 1.4 mm means in this way depending on the component the hole size are different and by referring by looking at the component layout the drills holes are drilled as per the requirement of the hole size from the component layout. These are references printed circuit board design and technology by Bouchard Tata Migrail publisher and circuit maker PCB design software. Thank you for watching this video.