So I'm very grateful to everyone, to Anurag Ashish for media, to the jury, for Mr. Jav Rajan for giving this award for me. And of course, my team said a lot of nice things, properly, some to, some not. But what's more important for me, and this is why I got this worthy gentleman of stage, Mr. Balsara, V.K. and Vikram here, I'm very proud to be part of the industry. For me, more than my company, IPG Media Brands, the industry matters more.  And I think if the industry grows, we grow along with that. So for me, the pride is these gentlemen here, they make what we are. And I'm happy to be part of this, you know. My role model, Mr. Balsara, I said in the afternoon, I said again, he's, you know, he's driven us. He's actually, because of this industry, we started with him. So the fact with, you know, and there's a lot of stuff which V.K. would not want to talk about. Vikram would not want to talk about what we are doing for the betterment of this industry. So thanks to everyone. I'm happy that I'm representing them. Thank you very much. Thanks everyone.


Hello, you're watching The Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you some of the top stories from around the world. Let's take a look at today's headlines. 2021 sees record levels of food insecurity, over 100,000 displaced in Darfur massacres, Mexico seeks lithium alliance in Latin America, and more bodies found after shipwreck of Tunisia. In our first story, almost 193 people across 53 countries suffered from Acquired Food Insecurity in 2021. The number of people without enough food to eat on a daily basis grew by 40 million. These figures are part of the Global Report on Food Crisis published by the United Nations FAO, the World Food Program and the European Union. It states that the crisis was caused by a quote-unquote toxic triple combination of conflict, weather extremes, and the economic impact of the pandemic. Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are among the worst hit. In 2021, conflict and insecurity was the main cause of acute hunger in 24 countries, affecting 139 million people. The UN has warned that the scale of devastation in terms of hunger and livelihood losses will be appalling if urgent action is not taken. Several countries who faced major food crisis last year imported almost all their wheat from Ukraine and Russia. The war has already had a severe impact on food and oil prices globally. An additional 47 million people are projected to be food insecure in 2022. Somalia is said to face one of the world's worst food crisis in 2022, affecting 6 million people. Over 15 million people are facing hunger amid a severe drought in the Horn of Africa. Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia are seeing the driest seasons in 40 years. In 2021, 23.5 million people in eight African countries experience acute food insecurity due to climate-related causes. Between 85,000 to 115,000 people have been displaced after massacres in Sudan's Darfur region last week. The United Nations Ocha has stated that at least 200 people have been killed and over 130 have been wounded. Most of the victims were internally displaced people who had lost their homes in the civil war. Survivors are facing a severe shortage of food, clean water, and medicines. Violence began in the town of Kerenik before spreading to the capital of Elginina, affecting several villages along the way. Eight group MSF reported that shooting had also taken place in health facilities killing four workers. Witnesses, civil society groups, and resistance committees have held paramilitary rapid support forces responsible. It is led by the Junta's deputy leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The Al-Shati Resistance Committee told People's Dispatch that the Junta was using all its might to assist the RSF in Darfur. The violence is part of an alleged depopulation campaign in the mineral-rich region. Janjavid militias, which were then formally organized into the RSF, are also involved in the attacks. These militias had seized control over a majority of Darfur's gold mines by the end of the civil war turned 2000s. Deputy leader Dagalo subsequently brought all the gold mines under his control by 2017. The coordination between RSF and militias is also evidenced by the nature of the violence. According to pro-democracy group TAM, attackers were wearing RSF uniforms and used military-grade weapons and vehicles. There are also allegations of the involvement of the Sudanese armed forces. Mexico has expressed its intention to form an association with Argentina, Bolivia and Chile for collaboration on lithium. President Lopez Obrador stated this week that the countries had been communicating to help each other mutually. Amlos stated that while the mineral was nationalized in Bolivia and Mexico, private companies had control in Argentina and Chile. He added that the countries were already working together on development, exploration, processing, and new technologies. According to the US Geological Survey, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina sit on top of what is called the lithium triangle. The region holds 56% of world's deposits of the mineral. Chile has the world's third largest reserves and is the second biggest producer. Bolivia reportedly has larger lithium resources than any other country. In a landmark step in April, Mexico's Congress passed a bill to nationalize the metal. There is currently one lithium mine in Mexico which is operated by the Chinese firm Ganfeng. It is slated to produce 35,000 tons of the metal per year starting in 2023. However, President Amlos has stated that he will review all lithium contracts in Mexico. Under the new law, the state will hold the exclusive right to explore, exploit, and use the metal. Lithium has been categorized as a strategic mineral and a heritage of the country. The executive or the president have 90 days to create a decentralized state company for lithium. And for our final story, the Tunisian coast guard has recovered the bodies of 24 more migrants after the shipwrecks in April. Last month, four both sank off the coast near the city of Saffax. Officials stated that 120 African migrants and refugees had been on board trying to reach Italy. As of May 4th, the confirmed death toll stood at 67. More than 50 people are still missing. The shipwrecks were the latest in a series of tragedies in the Mediterranean as desperate migrants and refugees tried to flee to Europe. The coastline of Saffax in Tunisia has served as a major point of departure. The Tunisian Interior Ministry stated that it has arrested over 20,000 people off its coast in 2021. The UN refugee agency has reported an alarming rise in the deaths of migrants and refugees. More than 3,000 people died or went missing while trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean and Atlantic sea routes in 2021. As European countries tightened their borders, the toll last year was nearly double that in 2020. Almost 2,000 dead or missing reports came from the central and western Mediterranean routes. 1,153 came from the northwest African maritime route to the Canary Islands. The victims came from the countries including Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Syria and Afghanistan. These figures do not include those who died along land routes, nor those who were lost in detention centers. And that's all for today's episode. For more such stories, visit our website at www.peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for watching.