So Dr. Roller, welcome to the show. Oh, thank you very much. It's a great pleasure to be here. Cleopatra is one of these very complex, self-mythologizing figures. Not only do we mythologize her in terms of how we see her, she was somebody very self-conscious about this. She was highly aware of her legacies as a polymaic and solukid descendant. She was polylingual and she was very much in tune to the culture traditions of her kingdom and also a brilliant naval commander. So give us a little bit of background into the colonistic world that Cleopatra is born into. Well, by the time of Cleopatra, which is the middle of the first century BC, the Romans had spread really throughout the Mediterranean. And this is something that could not have been predicted a couple of hundred years previously. The Romans were nothing. And suddenly they were the most powerful culture and state in the world. And of all the various kingdoms that had been left behind after Alexander the Great died 300 years previously, the only one of significance that was left was the Ptolemaic one, which controlled Egypt and much of surrounding areas. And so Ptolemy, the original Ptolemy was one of the companions of Alexander. He set himself up in Egypt after the death of Alexander. And now 300 years later, his direct descendant, Cleopatra VII, has come to rule the Ptolemy kingdom. It's very interesting you were saying Rome was pretty much a non-factor for a lot of this period of time. They came into dominance almost by accident through the wars with Paris and the wars with Carthage. The earliest mention we have of Roman Greek sources is about the time of Alexander the Great. It's by Aristotle. All during the Greek classical period, nobody knew anything about Rome. It was just a minor Italian city-state. And then poof, suddenly it rules the world. So Cleopatra, she's not only a Ptolemy, she's also descended from the Seleucid Empire. She's very aware of the traditions of her ancestry. So could you give us a little bit of family background? The name Cleopatra is actually Seleucid. The first Cleopatra was a Seleucid princess who married one of the Ptolemies several hundred years before Cleopatra. And so Cleopatra was very much aware of the fact that she was descended from two companions of Alexander the Great. The Seleucids were also intermingled with the Persian aristocracy. So she had that background, the famous Persian Empire of Darius and Xerxes and people like that. She had a pretty distinguished background, about as distinguished as one could hope for. Certainly much more than the upstart Romans. And this very much cultivated her personality. She was royal in every sense of the word. What we don't know is details of her education, which must have been immense. We have a couple of names of people who might have been her teachers. But as again, with people in antiquity generally and worse with women, we don't know very much about their childhood and their adolescence. It's very important to understand when we get towards Cleopatra eventually becoming sole ruler of Egypt, there was a kind of Roman foreign policy at this period of time. And I feel it's important to maybe touch upon that a bit. It was what was called the vassal king or friendly king. The technical term is the allied and friendly king. It shows up in modern parlance as client king, which we're trying to get rid of because that doesn't mean much today. But the allied and friendly king, the Romans realized as they expanded, they were moving into areas which were not ethnically Roman. And so they developed a policy about as early as the second century BC of cultivating local rulers. And the trade-off was really a very simple one. The local ruler would be allowed to retain his or her kingdom. And we're talking about Asia Minor, the Levant, North Africa, a little bit in the West, but mostly in the East. So the local ruler could retain the kingdom, but they would support Roman policy. And in return for this, they would get Roman military and perhaps financial support when necessary. And it usually worked relatively well. It allowed places on the fringe of Roman territory to become Romanized and maybe in theory eventually become part of the Roman Republic itself. And it allowed these kingdoms to continue with their own traditions, but knowing they could turn to the Romans when necessary. And Cleopatra, I think she becomes probably the most important of these friendly kings. Ptolemies, of course, had a long tradition of independence, and they weren't a minor principality. We have some minor principalities, Asia Minor that we know very little about. But the Ptolemies had a long tradition. They were fond of pointing out they'd been important long before anybody heard of Rome. It was kind of a difficult situation with the Ptolemies because they didn't fit the traditional mold of the Allied King because they weren't really dependent on Rome. But at the same time as Roman power became greater and greater, some kind of relationship was necessary to ensure their own survival. Sometimes these younger royalty figures inherit the sins of the fathers, so to speak. And this is no different with Cleopatra in terms of the tributes. They inherited having to pay it. Her father was in a real mess. He was heavily in... And he'd spent a lot of time in Rome trying to straighten this out and letting the kingdom languish. And so when he died, it was kind of up to Cleopatra to clean this all up, if the Ptolemies were to survive. And then the long run, it didn't work because the Romans took over Egypt within a few years. But that was the idea at least. What are some of the circumstances that led to Cleopatra being sole ruler? She starts as co-ruler with her brother slash husband. There was a certain kind of way that they did things. Her brother-sister marriage certainly produced offspring, but at the same time was a formula. And the brother that she married was 11 years old. So we see it more as a kind of ritual formula of keeping the relationships and the family. She had two brothers and two sisters. One sister had been eliminated before she came to the throne. And there's always the problem here of giving less respect to a potential woman ruler than a male ruler. But by the time her father died, obviously she was the strongest personality. Her younger sister, Arsenae, was not in Egypt. Her two brothers, Ptolemy 13 and 14, were essentially children. So Cleopatra is left. But the formula there is to connect her with a male ruler. So it's a joint rule between Cleopatra and the first of her brothers, Ptolemy 13. And then there's also Ptolemy 14. And they conveniently disappear rather quickly. And so out of the five children of her father, one is already dead. The two brothers disappear quickly. And the other one is outside of Egypt. So who's left? Cleopatra. And she obviously had a hand in manipulating a lot of this. And so did the Romans. It was perfectly obvious that she was the strong one. Cleopatra obviously did this through a huge foresight taking into account that she needed to forge relationships with powerful Roman figures, the most famous of which is, of course, Julius Caesar. Such has been made, of course, in the Western tradition of these relationships. And we have to remember that, especially as a woman, she was very vulnerable in terms of producing offspring. And she wanted her offspring to have someone thought to be a proper father. So when Julius Caesar came to Egypt in 48 BC, for reasons really unconnected with Cleopatra, she obviously realized that the liaison with him was to her advantage. She was the most powerful Roman of the time. Obviously, some kind of agreement with the Romans had to be worked out. And even though it's seen in modern popular literature and so on, like Shaw's, Caesar and Cleopatra, as basically a romantic issue, it's a very practical one. She needs an heir. She has no heir. It's far more difficult for a woman to produce an heir than a man. But here's the most powerful Roman on her doorstep. And he is the one that makes it certain she can keep the throne. So why not have a relationship with him?  After Cleopatra's brothers are gone, she starts using that iconography with Caesarean, herself as Isis and Caesarean as Horus, right? There's a relief in Egypt that shows her as Isis and Caesarean as a grown young man, but he was four, five or six years old at the time. So obviously he's being planted for the future. And we always have to remember that we know how this is all going to play out, but they didn't. So she was perfectly committed to continuing her kingdom, putting Caesarean on the throne after she is gone, and assuming the Romans who have come from nowhere are not a serious issue. What I found interesting about this relationship with Caesar is that very early on, she's causing a lot of problems in Rome proper, like when she actually comes to Rome and visits. Well, the Romans had kind of this love-hate relationship with the Eastern kingdoms. And they very much remembered as part of their received wisdom how in probably about 500 BC, they had eliminated their kings and established this new form of government called the Republic. And here they, now at the time of Cleopatra, they were having to connect with these Eastern monarchs. And so when Cleopatra comes to Rome, there are several issues here. One is that Caesar is married to a very distinguished Roman woman. And so that didn't play over well, whatever Caesar and Cleopatra were doing. And secondly, bringing a foreign monarch, a foreign queen, setting her up in an estate in Rome didn't play well with these republican sentiments. And probably all of it was one, not the primary factor that Caesar was assassinated not much later. He obviously was tilting too much toward the concept of Eastern monarchy. And all kinds of rumors began to flow. They was going to marry Cleopatra. She was going to be queen of Rome. And he was going to be king of Rome. And it's hard for us today to realize how totally anathema this was to the Roman population. They don't have kings. So it was a real difficulty. And she seemingly was in Rome when Caesar was assassinated and stayed for a while. The picture in the Elizabeth Taylor movie of her quickly leaving town is just wrong. She stayed for a while because she wanted to get herself accepted and get Caesarean accepted by the new regime. But things went in strange directions and that never happened. And she goes back to Rome after a few a short time after the assassination of Caesar. You're right. Modern eyes tend to see their relationship as kind of like a bristling romance that transcends the ages. But really, for Cleopatra, it was almost just like foreign policy in a way. So Caesar was assassinated, then we have a second triumvirate. Enter Octavian, enter Marcantini. And this is perhaps the more important relationship that Cleopatra has. And it almost happens by axonic. While he's on campaign in the East, they seem to cross paths again. Well, after Caesar was assassinated, this triumvirate was formed straighten out things. And Octavian took control of the West. Antony took control of the East, the third member Lepidus, we don't have to think about. Antony set himself up at Tarsus, northeast corner of the Mediterranean, and he summoned all the Eastern royalty to come visit him. And this was basically to say, who side are you on? Among those, of course, was Cleopatra. And Cleopatra, knowing that her very survival depended on cultivating a relationship with Antony, did it in as elaborate a way as possible. And we have the very elaborate description in Plutarch, which was picked up by Shakespeare, of her coming up the Kidness River with dancing girls and musicians and so forth and so on, and seducing Antony in both a political and personal sense. Obviously, it's a relationship that went from political to personal very quickly. They clicked in a personal way. But again, we must never lose sight of the fact that Cleopatra needed Roman support at this time. And Antony was the most powerful person in Rome, just as Caesar had been a few years later. But the fact that it has this strange personal twist to it means, again, things go in a strange direction. And again, modern views of it emphasize the personal, sometimes forgetting the actual political underpinning of it all. You mentioned something earlier that I wanted to touch upon. That is Rome's kind of love, hate relationship with the East. They're looking at this vast wealth. Just think of like Cleopatra's ships, the ships that she's sailing on, just for a leisure. These things have opulence and somebody like Cicero would probably say decadence. But it's also something that Romans envy. How did Octavian weaponize this in his propaganda war with Mark Antony? Well, the Romans, of course, had this self-image of themselves being hardy agriculturalists, hardy farmers in Italy and living a life of genteel poverty, basically. And then they come into contact with this incredible wealth of the East. Probably about 200 B.C. is really when it starts to click. And they just see wealth like they've never seen before, and they're both horrified and seduced by it. And we have contemporary accounts of the phrase that's used as Luxoria Peregrina, foreign or alien luxury that comes into Rome and transforms Rome. And they're all kinds of things. People start wearing elaborate clothing. They make elaborate architectural innovations. It completely changes Rome. But at the same time, there's a whole group in Rome that says, this is not what we want. This is not where we want to be. And that gets back to the idea of having a king of Rome and the suspicions of Caesar. But of course, in the long run, the luxury of the East went out because the Roman Empire from Augustus on is basically the kind of Hellenistic monarchy that they abhorred. But the disparity in wealth at the beginning is far beyond what we can imagine. The Romans had never seen such wealth as the Eastern monarchs had. I want to touch upon a relationship that's very interesting, the Herodian dynasty and their relationship to Cleopatra. Well, Herod the Great is another one of these figures whose popular image has kind of overridden his actuality. He's known to most people for the massacre of the innocence in the Bible. And whether or not this happened and what it really means and so on isn't really relevant. Herod, when he came to the throne in 40 BC, was really the only rival to Cleopatra as an Eastern monarch. The Romans controlled essentially all of Asia Minor except for some tiny little principalities. They controlled everything west of Egypt, what's now modern Libya and onto the West. But Herod, whose kingdom was essentially a good chunk of Syria and what's Israel and Jordan today right to the Egyptian frontier, was a very crafty and inventive monarch. He didn't have the finesse that somebody like Cleopatra had. But Cleopatra realized that Herod could be useful to her. At one point she offered him command of her army which he was smart enough to turn down and their stories about the two seducing each other, which I think is popular fiction. But Herod, of course, was in a position to some extent call the shots because he was a buffer between the Romans and Cleopatra. The Romans were in what's now Syria. Cleopatra is in Egypt and Herod sits in between. So cultivation of Herod became very important and the Romans realized this too, especially as Cleopatra's situation deteriorated. Herod, who had been a supporter of Antony and Cleopatra, goes over to the Roman side and that's one of the nails in the coffin for Cleopatra. There was one thing that is a theme that kind of runs throughout your biography of Cleopatra and that is her approach to ritual and cults, especially in the Ptolemy Egyptian sense. As a polylingual person, she was the only Ptolemy who actually knew the Egyptian language. You also mentioned that there might be some connections to Cleopatra's actual maternity because Cleopatra's maternity is kind of hazy. Well, one problem is that we don't know who Cleopatra's mother was and the conventional wisdom, the best wisdom is that she may have been an Egyptian aristocrat because we know that the Ptolemy's did connect with the Egyptians and her mother may have been the one who imbued her with the sensitivity for the Egyptian world that her ancestors never had. As you said, learning Egyptian, adopting the persona of Isis, she always appeared at diplomatic functions dressed as Isis and treading this very difficult path between the indigenous Egyptian world, which is far older than any other civilization, and her own Ptolemaic heritage, which is Macedonian and Greek and brings in Greek cult and so forth. She's dealing with the world of Herod, so there's a Jewish component. We have an inscription which says that she donated money to rebuild a Jewish temple in one town, so she's very astutely playing all the different things together, but the thing that's really unusual about her is that she didn't spend her time stuck in the palace in Alexandria. She really went out and connected with the people. Her trip up the Nile with Caesar, which again has become in popular imagination, just a fun trip for two lovers, is a way of looking at her kingdom and seeking out her kingdom, knowing Egyptian she could connect with people. That's one of the things that makes her unique. She is totally different from all of her Ptolemaic ancestors that way, and we kind of think without proof that her unknown mother may have played a role in this. The trips on the Nile with Caesar, Cleopatra seemed to be the type of person who used everything almost like a performance to reinforce and legitimate her claims to the past and her present as the monarch. She obviously was a person who had a very great presence. She probably was not terribly beautiful. People have misinterpreted this to say she wasn't good looking, but the point is that her presence was what moved her along. She probably was short and she probably did not have this kind of femme fatale look that popular imagination has, but as Blutarch says, when she entered the room, everybody stopped talking and she immediately took command of the situation. So she had an incredible presence. She could talk to foreigners in their own language. We have allegedly 12 languages that she could have spoken. We have to speculate about some of them. Clearly, she was a person who could take command of any situation she was in. Yeah, not like a Hedy Lamar or an Elizabeth Taylor, but somebody who could get the job done in terms of that charisma. Her approach to religion and cult is even taken up by Antony, right? They present themselves as Dionysus. They present their children as the sun and the moon. Just one of the things that got Antony into big trouble, of course, because he's a person in the service of the Roman government. He has left Roman territory to be with Cleopatra for whatever reason, and that is not part of his legal mandate. He has adopted these attitudes of Eastern cult, something again the Romans were very suspicious of, the Isis and Osiris thing, having the children as the sun and the moon, but he's trying to play it both ways. Alexander the sun, Cleopatra the moon. He's trying in a way, again, ahead of his time, blending Eastern cults with Roman cults, but it's the wrong time. And Octavian, of course, is the one who really goes to town using this against Antony, saying, in effect, he's not being a decent Roman here. He's being too friendly with a foreign queen. He's acting like a foreign ruler. And Octavian plays that perfectly back at Rome. We're kind of in these final years where there's really that huge power play leading up to the Battle of Axiom, which just kind of tells about these final years for Antony and Cleopatra. I should say that Antony is a very difficult person to understand. Why he ended up in the mess he ended up in is hard to believe. He probably had problems with depression and alcoholism, and this caused him essentially to throw away a brilliant career. Remember, Caesar had chosen him essentially to be a second in command and end up in this very strange situation. Living in Egypt, after his majesty runs out in 32, he has no legal position in Rome anymore. He's living in Egypt. There's all this talk about taking over Rome, turning in into a monarchy. He goes on this great expedition with the Parthians, which is a total disaster, losing thousands of men, getting lost in the high altitude snows and not carrying it well at all. And so his personality really deteriorates, but it's very hard to understand how one person can make so many bad decisions. In an attempt to patch things up, Octavian had Antony marry his sister, Octavia. And of course that didn't work out very well, but it turns the dispute between Antony and Octavian into a family dispute. Octavian can go in front of people in Rome and say, look what this guy's doing to my sister. We need to make him pay for this. So it's a real tangle of things, but at the same time it reflects this kind of contradiction between Rome's attempt to become more like an eastern monarchy and Cleopatra in total futility fighting against the inevitable takeover of Rome. That's one thing that jumps out about Antony, especially in Plutarch's bi-way of Antony. He really seems to be, when he doesn't get his way, a retiring figure. He seems to be an impulsive person at times. Plutarch really emphasizes that after his defeats, he really would just like hang out by himself most of the time. Cleopatra is really the one who seems to be keeping him existing many times. At the very end, Cleopatra is ready to dump Antony. And again, this doesn't quite fit with the great romance theory of their lives that she realizes, especially after Actium, that he's a liability. And again, the depiction of Actium in Shakespeare and so on is that she was a coward and she ran. And that's not the case at all. She realized Egypt was open to the Romans and she had to get back there. But that has been turned against her. And we have to deal with the usual problems of male-dominated historiography here, prejudices against women and so forth, but to pull out the real personality of Cleopatra and to realize that she, for the last couple of years at least, was really the person in control as Antony's personality for whatever reason deteriorated. And as I said, there's evidence of alcoholism and depression, which led him to make really bad decisions. Up until the time of the death of Caesar, or maybe the beginnings of the triumvirate, he was a great military hero and had been very much involved in the Roman activities of those period. But after he gets involved with Cleopatra, he goes steadily downhill. He's really in out of his depth. An Octavian, who's just a kid during most of this, is again very much the dominant personality. He shows up in Rome when he's 17, 18 years old and manages to take control of the situation. And he's dismissed by the people in power. Cicero says we'll just play along with him and then get rid of him. And Cicero was the one who was gotten rid of. So a misjudgment of Octavians extraordinary abilities and Antony's personal deterioration are certainly major factors in this whole situation. You mentioned Actium. And that reminded me there's a lot of naval battles happening during these wars between Octavian and Mark Antony. What we tend to overlook in the mythology of Cleopatra is that in her actual life, she commanded these vast numbers of naval ships and she herself was a naval commander. Well, that's a very interesting point. Earlier on in 42 at the time of the final confrontation between the murderers of Caesar, Brutus and Cassius, and Octavian and Antony, she had been asked to send a fleet to help. But she didn't. And whether she realized this was not a smart thing to do, we don't know. But the point is that if she was not known as a naval commander, nobody would have asked her to help. And then of course, at Actium 12 years later, she is commanding her own forces, her own fleet, which tends to get lost as we see it a confrontation between Antony and Octavian. And actually Antony was on land during a significant part of the battle. So it was Cleopatra's fleet, but then she realizes the battle is going the wrong way. And if the Roman fleet, remember Actium's on the west coast of Greece, so if the Roman fleet gets around her, it's open all the way to Egypt and it's all over. So she turns and takes her fleet back to Egypt. And that unfortunately has been reported as cowardice on her part, but it was a very sound strategic move. Well, let's get to the end, so to speak. What were the circumstances that led to Cleopatra's suicide and why so many conflicting reports of her death? We have to remember to begin with that suicide was an honorable way to end it all, especially in a pre-Christian world.  And Cleopatra in the one actual quotation we have from her says, I will not appear in a triumph. And so when Actium turned in the Romans favor, we have to remember that things kind of stagnated for nearly a year. Again, you get the impression it's Actium one day and the death of Cleopatra a few weeks later. It's really over a year later as Octavian makes this triumphal journey around the Eastern Mediterranean lining up allies including Herod now and then parks outside of Alexandria and kind of nobody knows what to do at this point. Cleopatra of course wants to save her kingdom at all costs. Octavian probably has no real desire to take over Egypt, but at the same time there's the question of Antony who's become a liability to the Roman state, who is technically his divorced brother-in-law, so there's a family underpinning do-it-all. And so things just stagnate for about a year and various proposals are made. The kingdom will become Roman, she can keep the kingdom, Caesarean can get the kingdom, but the sticking point really is what to do about Antony. And this is the time where Cleopatra realizes that dumping Antony is in her best interest, but obviously these negotiations go nowhere. And Cleopatra remember has four children that she wants to secure their future, one of whom Caesarean hopes will rule Egypt. And there are all kinds of proposals that she go to India, that she go into honorable exile. It's a long Roman tradition you give a defeated foe of villa in Italy somewhere and hopefully don't cause any more trouble. But eventually realizing that Antony is the problem, Cleopatra tricks Antony into suicide. And then 10 days later she commits suicide herself. She sends a note to Octavian and of all the things we've lost from antiquity, we'd love to know what she wrote in her suicide note. And Octavian realizes what has happened and rushes and finds Cleopatra dead and her two mates dying. And the last words of one of the mates is she was the greatest king that Egypt ever had, giving Cleopatra the gender oriented honor of saying she's as good as a man basically, which was really quite a thing. Again going back to Elizabeth Taylor, the final scene in the movie is just perfect. It's exactly as we have it. But there's the question of how did she kill herself? And this ASP story comes out very early. It's reported by Strabo who's a contemporary. The ASP appeared in her triumph but by the time of her triumph we've got two ASPs, not one. And it's hard to say. Herpetologists who've looked into this have said it doesn't make any sense. Hiding an ASP and using it and pointing out the ASP disappeared entirely. And even with Strabo and other contemporary sources they're very confused about it. It said that puncture marks were found on her arm. Is that an ASP bite? Is that some kind of thing of scraping her skin with a poison? Poison makes much more sense. It's the way you go in this kind of environment. But somehow the ASP story was generated very early, probably by people who were on the spot, Octavian and his entourage, and became a very dramatic way because again there's this love-hate relationship. Cleopatra was the defeated enemy, but as Horace pointed out and is owed on Cleopatra, she was a magnificent woman. And she really did wonderful things and her final statement, as Horace says, was she would not be humiliated and be carried in a triumph. I think everybody in the mainstream, how maybe less interesting it is, rejects the ASP story and says poison is the way to go. Cleopatra is not going to deal with a poison method that isn't going to work. And the ASP business is too problematic. I would tend to agree. It makes more sense that like pharmacists, the poisons would be probably a more discreet and more sensical way to go. Cleopatra was well aware of the works of Mithridates the Great, who was a generation previously who was an expert on pharmacology. And she probably had his books on pharmacology and poisons. She's not going to do something crazy like an ASP. She's going to get the best poison and she has to kill off her two maids too. So the three of them have to have a way that works. It just doesn't make any sense to sneak an ASP and a basket with figs in it and everything. Why are we making such a big deal about triumph? Why does Cleopatra not want to be in a triumph? Well, if you look at the introduction to my show, you'll see something from what are called these triumphal arches that the Roman emperors would show themselves as conquering defeated nations in the semblance of prone female barbarians. And Cleopatra, as a Ptolemy, as a Seleucid, as somebody very much into her royal heritage is not going to go out that way. She knows what that entails. They parade these people out there as a person who's very self-mythologized. And you know what Octavian is trying to say there, putting you out on that stage? Very conscious of her status. She was Isis. The goddess is not going to be led in front of these upstart Romans who are nobodies. The honorable way to go to avoid the triumph, even though many other people did, but she had a very strong sense of status. Yeah, you're not going to find Cleopatra on the Sevastaean. Octavian, as you pointed out earlier, he has a strategy in East post-Achtium. And Cleopatra, the seventh, really lays the blueprint. Despite the fact that he's like putting her down in his propaganda, he's really using the tools that she kind of laid the groundwork for, and ultimately what became the Roman imperial cult. One of the ironies is, of course, that Rome turned into essentially a Hellenistic monarchy. And we see this very quickly. We see, for example, prominent women coming out, Livia, Augustus's wife, Antonia, the daughter of Mark Antony and the mother of the Emperor Claudius. It becomes a monarchy in the sense that we eliminate the more Republican forms of elected magistrates every year. They're still elected, but their powers diminished. We have a hereditary monarchy. We have a sense of luxury that we didn't have previously. So the great irony of it all is by defeating Cleopatra, Octavian becoming Augustus was very much absorbed by her and her ways of thinking. And of course, not only that, but the whole history of Hellenistic monarchy going back to Alexander the Great. For those who would think that Cleopatra's story ends with her death, it really doesn't. And you've actually written a couple of books on Juba II and Cleopatra Selene, who is Cleopatra's daughter. So tell us about Cleopatra's descendants, Mark Antony's descendants. Both of these families still have importance in the history immediately after Cleopatra's death. Cleopatra has four children. The first, of course, is Caesarean, the son of Julius Caesar. And as the only known child of Caesar, he's a liability in the new world that Augustus is establishing. So he's quickly eliminated. The other three children, two boys and a girl. And the two boys kind of disappear from the record very quickly, and they probably just died.  They'd been taken from Egypt to Rome. Their life was totally disrupted. So we're left with the single daughter, Cleopatra Selene, Cleopatra the Moon. Again, you can't just eliminate her to begin with. She's the daughter of Mark Antony, and she's the only survivor of the Ptolemaic dynasty.  It would not be politically correct to eliminate her. So she is brought to Rome. She is raised in the house of Octavian's sister Octavia, the former wife of Antony. And there's already another person, a dispossessed royal in that house, and that's Juba II, the displaced king of Numidia, which is essentially part of modern Tunisia, who had come to Rome when his kingdom was taken over by the Romans in the time of Julius Caesar. So he, too, is a displaced royal, a king without a kingdom. She's a queen without a state. But Western North Africa, what's today, Algeria and Morocco, is a vast unorganized area with a lot of Roman population. So in 25 BC, Juba and Cleopatra Selene are married and sent off to be the monarchs of what's called Mauritania. It's the Latinized form of Moorish, basically, and set themselves up at a new capital, which is in modern Algeria called Caesarea after Caesar. And they try to recreate a Ptolemaic dynasty there. They bring in Ptolemaic art. They create a library. Juba's a scholar of note. He writes like history of much of what has happened recently. But it eventually kind of fades from the scene. And eventually, within about 70 years, the Romans take over. But we should not think it all ended with Cleopatra. There were another couple of generations of Ptolemaic rule, but transplanted a thousand miles to the other end of the Mediterranean. She influenced the Roman Empire in so many ways. It's all there. Your book really brings it together. One final note that I alluded to previously, we've suffered from a long period of male dominated scholarship. And that has tended to diminish the accomplishments of women. I mean, we have a biography of Antony. It's not a biography of Cleopatra. Practically, everything we know about Cleopatra is from this biography of Antony. And this has continued in modern times. It's Antony and Cleopatra, even though Cleopatra was often the dominant one. So, like you say, it's all there. But it's an effort by scholars of my generation to dig out these invisible women. And it's not only limited to classical studies, it's to all historical scholarship and find out that there's a lot that's ignored about their accomplishments. Dr. Roller, did you want to plug anything you're working on? I mentioned Mithridates the Great and another great opponent of Rome of the previous generation who ruled the area around the Black Sea. And I have a book called The Empire of the Black Sea, which Oxford has published, which connects to some extent with the same world, although a generation earlier. And that might be interesting reading for some people. It's come out fairly recently. At the moment, I'm working on, shall we say, less popular things that mostly connected with ancient geography, as you said, but things that probably do not have a wide appeal outside the academic audience.  Well, he's an excellent person. Dr. Roller, this has been fantastic. Thank you so much. You have a wonderful afternoon. Thank you. Take care.


An analysis revealed that about 94% of accidents were caused by human error and the remaining by the environment and mechanical failures. So here, the technology comes into action. Advanced Driver Assistance System, commonly known as ADAS, is a technology designed to enhance vehicle safety and improve the driving experience. Let's break it down step by step. The foundation of ADAS lies in its sensor network. Vehicle sensors are strategically placed around the vehicle, such as radar, leader, ultrasonic sensors, and cameras. These sensors act as the eyes and ears of the system, constantly collecting data about the vehicle's surroundings. Radar sensors, it uses radio waves to detect objects and measure the distance and speed. They are excellent for detecting other vehicles and objects in the vehicle's path. Radar sensors, it emits laser beams that bounce off surrounding objects, creating a detailed 3D map of the environment. This allows for precise object detection and mapping. Ultrasonic sensors use sound waves to measure distances to objects and close proximity to the vehicle. They are often used for parking assist systems, alerting drivers to nearby obstacles. And of course, cameras capture visual information, providing valuable data about lane markings, traffic signs, pedestrians, and other vehicles. This system uses the control unit to process the data received from the sensors and compares it against pre-programmed rules and algorithms. This enables the system to identify potential risks, make predictions, and take appropriate actions. The system categorized into different levels, based on the extent of automation, and the capabilities it offers. Level zero, no automation. At this level, the vehicle does not have any ADAS features. The driver has full control of the vehicle at all times, and there are no automated assistance systems in place. Level one, driver assistance. At this level, features provide limited automation and assistance to the driver. ADAS features typically focus on a specific aspect of driving and require the driver to remain fully engaged and responsible for the vehicle. Examples include adaptive cruise control. This system uses radar sensors to maintain a set speed and automatically adjusts it to keep a safe distance from the vehicle ahead. The control unit processes the sensor data and commands the actuators to control the vehicle's speed. Next lane departure warning. In this system, these cameras monitor the lane markings, and the control unit analyzes the camera data to detect if the vehicle is drifting out of its lane. Lane departure warning alerts the driver to keep the vehicle centered within the lane. A NICS parking assist. In this system, cameras and ultrasonic sensors provide a 360-degree view of the vehicle's surroundings while parking. The control unit analyzes the sensor data and provides visual or auditory guidance to assist the driver. In some cases, the control unit can take over the steering to park the vehicle automatically. Traffic sign recognition. In this system, these cameras capture images of traffic signs and the control unit analyzes the images to identify and recognize various signs, such as speed limits or stop signs. The information is then displayed on the HMI display, keeping the driver informed about the current road rules. Level 2. Partial automation. It represents a significant advancement in automation capabilities. It can simultaneously control multiple aspects of the driving task, but still requires the driver to be attentive and ready to take over when necessary. Level 2 features include lane keeping assist. It is similar to lane departure warning. While lane keeping assist provides continuous steering inputs to keep the vehicle centered within its lane automatically. Traffic jam assist. It combines adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist technologies to control acceleration, braking and steering in slow moving or stop and go traffic. Using sensors and cameras, it maintains a set distance from the vehicle ahead and keeps the vehicle centered within the lane. Traffic jam assist aims to reduce driver fatigue and improve comfort and heavy traffic conditions, but drivers must remain attentive and ready to take control if necessary. Automated emergency braking. This system automatically applies the vehicle's brakes to prevent or mitigate collisions. Using sensors and algorithms, it detects imminent collision risks and issues warnings to the driver. If the driver doesn't respond, the system engages the brakes autonomously to reduce the severity of the collision or avoid it altogether. It can detect various objects, including vehicles, pedestrians and stationary obstacles. While this has proven effectiveness, it has limitations and may not prevent all collisions. Overall, it enhances safety by actively assisting drivers in critical situations. Level three, conditional automation, where the vehicle can handle certain driving tasks under specific conditions. However, the driver must be prepared to take control when the system requests it. Level three features include traffic jam pilot and highway pilot. It offers features that provide a high level of autonomous driving compared to level one and level two systems. The vehicle can navigate itself through stop and go traffic without the need for constant driver intervention, and also the system can autonomously control the vehicle's speed and direction. While navigating highways, the system can keep the vehicle centered within its lane and perform automated lane changes to overtakes lower vehicles or adjust to traffic conditions. If the system encounters situations beyond its capabilities, or if the conditions change, it alerts the driver to take over. The driver must be prepared to regain control within a specific time frame. It also has geofencing or high-definition maps to define the operational boundaries and ensure the vehicle operates only within pre-mapped well-known areas. Level four, high automation, it provides high automation, where the vehicle can perform most driving tasks under specific conditions without requiring driver intervention. Level four features include urban pilot and self-parking. This enables the vehicle to autonomously navigate through urban environments, including intersections, traffic lights, and pedestrian zones. The vehicle can autonomously find the parking spot, maneuver into it, and park without driver input. Level five, full automation, it represents the highest level of automation, where the vehicle is fully autonomous and capable of performing or driving tasks under any condition. It can operate entirely autonomously without any human input or control. There is no need for a steering wheel, pedals, or other traditional driving controls. It covers all driving scenarios, including highways, urban areas, rural roads, and various weather conditions. The vehicle is capable of navigating complex traffic situations and handling unexpected challenges. The vehicles on board AI and computing systems have complete control over all driving decisions, route planning, and manoeuvre execution. Passengers are simply transported from point A to point B without the need for human intervention. It's important to note that, while advancements in technology are pushing us closer to higher levels of automation, level five full autonomy is still a goal for the future, and widespread implementation may take time. Understanding the levels of ADAS helps us gauge the capabilities and limitations of different vehicles and technologies on the market. It's essential for drivers to be aware of the level of automation in their vehicles and always follow the manufacturer's guidelines and recommendations for safe operation. It's important to note that ADAS is designed to assist drivers and not replace them. Drivers must remain attentive and engaged while using ADAS features as they still bear the ultimate responsibility for safe and responsible driving. I hope you found this video helpful. A big thank you for being a part of this video.


Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A. S. Ekadam. The display news articles along with the page numbers are displayed here for your reference. The PDF link of the handwritten notes on the timestamping of the news articles is given in the description box and also in the comment section. Let's begin with the first news article analysis. This editorial discusses about the significance of India's role in reviving multilateralism in view of the present COVID-19 pandemic. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this editorial is highlighted here for your reference. In recent COVID-19 pandemic has brought two challenges, that is cross-national and cross-domain challenges. When you say cross-national challenge, there is no national boundaries and where it can be controlled by having national level solutions. And in case of cross-domain challenge, a disruption in one domain will disrupt the other related domains. In this case, we can take up how COVID-19 has affected the entire global economy. So we can say that the intersection of cross-national and cross-domain challenges demand multilateral approaches rather than the national approaches. Therefore, we require empowered international institutions of governance to address these challenges. For this to happen, the world countries need to collaborate with the spirit of internationalism and unity. But if you look at what is happening, it's the exact opposite. That is, there is rising nationalism which is creating competition among the countries rather than cooperation between the countries. For this, a good example is that the ongoing US-China trade war. Even in the present COVID-19 outbreak, the interventions are almost entirely at the national level such as quarantine and social distancing. The author tells that there is virtually no coordination at the international level. So what could be the long-term impact of this scenario? There are two possible impacts. One is that the countries will finally realize that nationalism is not going to work and they will adapt multilateralism that is international cooperation. Then the other possible impact might be the increase in nationalist tendencies. Say the existing multilateralism institutions like United Nations, World Health Organization will be further weakened and become irrelevant. And there will be an anti-global or anti-globalization sentiment across the world. This is a worse scenario going to happen in the coming days. Therefore, the countries need to realize that nationalism is not going to work and only multilateralism is going to work. The author tells that both the leadership and statesmanship are in short supply at the present times. See, when the 2018 economic crisis happened, G20 grouping was born which was led by the United States of America. In this context, the author says that the present COVID-19 pandemic gives an opportunity to India to revive multilateralism. Here, India can assume an effective leadership role and for this, the inspiration should come from India's abundant experience in our foreign policy. See, India has a long tradition of international activism and it has promoted rule-based multilateralism. The author has discussed the two highlighting facts based on the remarks made by the present Prime Minister at a private global summit which has happened recently. The present Prime Minister of India said that the present foreign policy of India is different from the earlier policy of non-alignment. This is because, as per the Prime Minister, non-alignment of Jawaharlal Nehru was a defensive policy which advocated equal distance from every country, whereas the present India's foreign policy is neutral which is on the basis of friendship. For example, Iran and Saudi Arabia are traditional enemies but India maintains good friendship with both the countries. This is how the Prime Minister tries to distinguish the present foreign policy of India from the earlier foreign policy. However, the author is against this logic of the present Prime Minister of India. He tells that the essence of the present foreign policy is one and the same and the author's logic is that even during non-alignment movement, India maintained friendly relations and at the same time, India safeguarded its interests effectively when they were threatened. So, the author tells that what the Prime Minister should do is that he should acknowledge the previous policies and build upon them instead of trying to be different. Then the next aspect is that the Prime Minister of India said that the world has to face COVID-19 challenge together and he has stressed upon the need of collaboration to create. He, the author, welcomes this and tells that this action by the Prime Minister is in line with India's traditional foreign policy. He has also appreciated India's move to convene the leaders of SAAR for a regional collaborative effort on COVID-19 pandemic. The author also suggests that this should be followed by an international initiative either through the G20 grouping or through the United Nations because UN is the premier multilateral institution that acts as a global platform for effective collaborative initiatives. However, the Prime Minister has not made any reference to the role of United Nations maybe because of the remarks made by UN Secretary General on the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1955. So, the author tells that such action should not influence India's long-standing commitment to the United Nations.  Therefore, to conclude this editorial, we have seen how COVID-19 pandemic presents India with an opportunity to revive and promote multilateralism where India can assume an effective leadership role. With this, we have come to the end of analysis of this editorial. The display practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now, let us proceed to the next news article analysis. This article talks about the maiden flight of India's first flight combat aircraft version that is final operational capacity version which is named as Tejas SP-21. In this context, you should know about some of the important facts about Tejas SP-21 aircraft. It is a 4.5 generation single-seat single engine but multi-role fighter aircraft. It is the smallest and lightest supersonic aircraft in its class. This supersonic means it can fly faster than the speed of sound. And know that if the speed of the aircraft is less than the speed of sound, it is known as subsonic aircraft. See, the maximum speed of Tejas SP-21 is Mach 1.8. It means that it can fly up to 1.8 times the speed of the sound. It is developed under the light combat aircraft program that is LCA program which had started around 1980s to replace the aging MiG-21 aircrafts. Since then, lot of variants of Tejas like Tejas TD-1, TD-2, then Tejas Mk-1, then Tejas Mk-2 are developed under this program. But this SP-21 is the first variant to get the final operation clearance that is FOC certification by DR Devo. Here the term Tejas means radiance in Sanskrit and Tejas is an indigenous aircraft which is designed and developed in our country. See, it was developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautical Limited and Aeronautical Development Agency as part of LCA program to meet diverse needs of the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. Here know that Aeronautical Development Agency that is ADA is an autonomous organization under the Department of Defense Research and Development in the Ministry of Defense of Government of India. It was entrusted with the design and development of both Air Force and naval versions of light combat aircraft. If you look at the key features of the new Tejas variant, it has the A-to-A refuelling capacity. As a result of this, it has an edge during enduring missions. See, the new variants will be able to fly non-stop for about 8 hours with A-to-A refuelling support thereby giving a flip to Indian Air Force operations. Then the other key features of the Tejas SP-21 are beyond visible range missile system, then fuel system enhancement, then integrated digital avionics systems. Many HAL sources say that Tejas SP-22 is likely to fly at the end of this month and the two more fighters, that is SP-23 and SP-24 will join the league by the end of May 2020. With this information, let's take up the question given. In this question, they have given two statements and you have to choose correct statements. These two statements are given with reference to Tejas SP-21 aircraft. They are saying that it is the smallest and lightest subsonic aircraft in its class. One statement says, it is an indigenous aircraft. The first statement is incorrect because it is the smallest and lightest aircraft of its class, but it is a supersonic. The maximum speed of Tejas SP-21 aircraft is Mach 1.8. It means that it can fly up to 1.8 times the speed of the sound. And know that it is an indigenous aircraft developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautical Limited and Aeronautical Development Agency as part of LCA program, that is Light Combat Aircraft Program to meet diverse needs of the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. So for this question, option B, two only is the right answer. Now let us proceed to the next news article analysis. Next news article, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020. This news article talks about the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill of 2020. In this context, we will see what is the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill of 2021 and what are the significant amendments proposed in the 2020 bill. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Lok Sabha on 17th March 2020 passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill of 2020. This bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 2nd March 2020. See the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill of 2020 seeks to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971. This Act of 1971 provides for the termination of certain pregnancies by resisted medical practitioners and the new bill seeks to extend the upper limit for permitting abortions from the present 20 weeks to 24 weeks for special categories of women. Here the special categories of women includes rape survivors then differently abled women and minor girls also victims of incest sex that is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. See the bill also adds the definition of termination of pregnancy to mean a procedure undertaken to terminate a pregnancy by using medical or surgical methods. If you look at the provisions of 1971 Act a pregnancy may be terminated within two weeks if a resisted medical practitioner is of the opinion that continuation of the pregnancy may risk the life of the mother or may cause grave injury to her health or of the opinion that there is a substantial risk that the child if born would suffer physical or mental abnormalities. And in case of termination of pregnancy between two to twenty weeks as per the 1971 Act two medical practitioners are required to give their opinion. Now we will see the proposed amendments to 1971 Act that is as per the 2020 bill. See as per the 2020 bill opinion of a resisted medical practitioner is needed to terminate a pregnancy within 20 weeks. And the approval of two resisted medical practitioners are needed to terminate a pregnancy between 20 to 24 weeks. See the termination of pregnancies between 20 to 24 weeks will only apply to specific categories of women. Further the central government will notify the norms for the medical practitioner whose opinion is required for the termination of the pregnancy. See the bill also replaces the term married woman or her husband with woman or her partner to support the woman who got pregnant as a result of failure of device or method used by them. Because such an unwanted pregnancy may cause grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman. Know that this upper limit of 24 weeks will not apply in case of substantial fetal abnormalities. And these fetal abnormalities will be ignored by a medical board constituted by the respective state governments. Then to protect the privacy of the woman the bill also ensures that no resisted medical practitioner will be allowed to reveal the name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated except it to a person authorized by any law. And then anyone who contravenes this provision will be punishable with imprisonment of up to one year or with a fine or both. To conclude this news article we have seen the important amendments proposed in the 2020 bill to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971. With this we have come to the end of analysis of this news article. Now let us proceed to the next news article analysis. This news article is about the largest scale sale of foreign portfolio investments in India. In this context we will discuss in brief about the foreign direct investments and foreign portfolio investments. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this know that both FDI and FBI are two important forms of the foreign investment. And both comes under the capital account of balance of payments. In general a foreign investment means an investment made by a person resident outside India mainly on a repatriable basis in capital instruments such as shares of an Indian company. Foreign direct investment is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership mainly in a business in one country by entity based in another country. In FDI the investor gets both the ownership and control of the firm. So it simply means that the foreign investor usually takes a considerable stake or share holding in the company and can exit management influences depending on their share holding. On the other hand foreign portfolio investment is the investment made by foreign investors in Indian securities including shares, government and corporate bonds. This investment is made through stock exchanges which is through secondary markets. According to Sebi, FBI is investment in shades of a company not exceeding 10% of the total paid up capital of the company. See any investment about 10% is considered as foreign direct investment with which the foreign investor can exit control in the management of the company. So the real difference between the FDI and the FBI is that while FDI aims to take control of the company whereas FBI aims to reap profits by investing in shades and bonds of the invested entity without controlling the company. So let us understand why FDI is more preferable to FBI. See FDI is a real investment that is the investor makes investment directly in the company and also it is certain and predictable and it takes production risks and has stabilizing impact on production. It directly arguments employment output, export etc. The major merit of FDI is non-debt creating as well as non-volatile investment. But in case of foreign portfolio investment it is also a monetary or financial investment and it does not create such productive assets directly. See it is a financial investment aimed at getting profits from shades or interest from deposits. So it can be called as hot money. The portfolio investors stays his money in the capital market only for a short period of time. Its destination period is so small and is empirically considered as fluctuating capital. It is highly volatile a fair weather friend speculate to involves exchange risks and may lead to capital fly and currency crisis affecting real economic variables. See FBI has the potential to destabilize the foreign exchange market that is fluctuations in the mobility of FBI affects foreign exchange rate, domestic money supply value of rupee and also equity markets. We know that the capital inflow mainly depends on the written potential of the destination market and the availability of risk capital at source. So a change in environment in any of these aspects will result in quick reversal of the FBI's. This is why we prefer the long term and less fluctuating FDA or the speculative, highly volatile and unpredictable foreign portfolio investment. With this information let us discuss the news article The news article says that till day foreign portfolio investments have sold equity and debt of worth more than 67,000 crores. The news article says that it is the highest ever witnessed in any single month and the main reason behind this is that the concerns over COVID-19 pandemic that has made investors move away from riskier asset classes. So this can be related with what we have discussed that is the volatile and unpredictable nature of foreign portfolio investments. With this we have come to the end of analysis of this news article. Let us proceed to the next news article analysis. Now let us take up this question which is based on Kachethivu island. Know that Kachethivu is a 285 a curve controversial uninhabited island located between India and Sri Lanka near Park Strait. This island was originally owned by Ramnad kingdom of Ramanadapuram district in the state of Tamil Nadu before Indian independence. During the British rule this island was administered by both countries. Know that at present it is administered by Sri Lankan government. The issue of Kachethivu first arose in 1921 at the conference to demarcate fisheries lines between India and Sri Lanka. It was followed by a series of bilateral discussions relating to maritime boundary demarcation and other related matters. However the two parties reached an agreement for the first time in 1974 and this 1974 maritime agreement is regarding the sharing of historic waters between Sri Lanka and India in the Park Strait and the Park Bay. Again in 1976, India and Sri Lanka signed another maritime agreement and this agreement stipulates that each party shall have sovereignty over the historic waters and the territorial sea as well as the islands falling on their respective sites. It also says that each party shall have sovereign rights and exclusive jurisdiction over the continental shelf and over the exclusive economic zones and also over other resources such as living or non-living resources in their respective sites. Know that the 1976 agreement also recognizes the rights of navigation based on international laws. So, reading the 1974 and 1976 agreements together the Sri Lankan authorities say that the rights of fishermen on Kachethivu are restricted to dry their nets and their catch. So, Sri Lankan government is saying that the 1974 and 1976 agreements do not confer any fishing rights on the Indian fishermen or vessels to engage in fishing in Sri Lankan waters. However, the Tamil Nadu fishermen who go for fishing near the island are often arrested by the Sri Lankan authorities and the Tamil Nadu government often seek retrieval of Kachethivu and restoration of fishing rights of Tamil fishermen. So, let us hope that the bilateral issue between the two countries will be resolved at the earliest. With this information, let us take up this question that is Kachethivu island which was often in news is located. Option A, near the New Moor island Option B, near Park St Option C, near Abdul Kalam island Option D, near Duncan Passes. For this question, Option B is the right answer. Know that New Moor islands are located off the coast of West Bengal near Sundarband delta and Abdul Kalam island is located off the coast of Odisha whereas Duncan Passes separates South Andaman Island and Little Andaman Island. With this information, let us proceed to the next news article analysis. This article talks about the new findings by CSIR on the genetic uniqueness of Asiatic cheetah from that of the African cheetah where both of them belong to the same cheetah family. In this context, today we shall see some important information about the new findings regarding the cheetah family. See, earlier this year the Supreme Court of India has allowed the central government to introduce southern African cheetahs from Namibia into suitable habitats in our country and the most likely habitat would be Kuno Palper Wildlife Sanctuary in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Know that in the world there are mainly two types of cheetahs that is African cheetah and Asiatic cheetah and Africa harbors the highest number of the African cheetah. On the other hand, the Asiatic cheetahs are found in small numbers that is about 50 in number in Iran. Now if you look at the evolutionary history of cheetahs that is based on the new findings from African cheetah family, two different African cheetahs were evolved. These are Northeast African cheetah and Southeast African cheetah. Then the other type that is Asiatic cheetah also evolved after a certain period of time. Know that Asiatic cheetahs were also found in India and they become extant in India only in 1952. And the Asiatic cheetah is the only large mammal to become extant after the country gained independence in 1947. And we have elaborately discussed this topic in our 29th January 2020 video and you can refer this video for your understanding. Now coming to today's news article it says that earlier this year the Supreme Court of India has allowed the central government to introduce southern African cheetah from Namibia into suitable habitats in the country. So in the wake of this the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology have conducted my two conical DNA analysis. So based on this DNA analysis to understand finer details of the evolutionary history of both the Asiatic and African cheetahs. Now we will see what is this evolutionary history of species. See evolution is a process when one population of a species changes over time to other species to the point where the new species is distinct from its parent species. Therefore they both can no longer interbreed. So in order for a population to evolve into a new species there needs to be something that keeps the populations from intermixing. Say even a physical barrier like mountains, rivers divide a population into two or more and keeps them from interbreeding. So if they separated for long enough with sufficiently varying environmental conditions, each species takes its own distinct evolutionary path and then even if they brought back together they won't interbreed as they were before. So the recent CCMB study suggests that from the cheetah family the Northeast African cheetah is the first one to evolve and if you look at this picture you can get an idea how these species will evolve over a period of time. The study says that the Northeast African cheetah is the first one to evolve from the cheetah family and then say after 102 lakh years ago from Northeast African cheetah the Southeast African cheetah got evolved. From there say about 50 to 1 lakh years ago Asiatic cheetah got evolved. So further their evolutionary divide between two species the more different the species would be from each other and the more unique they are. It was believed that the evolutionary divide between Asiatic and African cheetah is about 5000 years. But based on the recent DNA analysis suggests that this new evolutionary divide is more than 5000 years. So the study concludes that the larger this divide between Asiatic and African cheetah the more unique they both are. Therefore Asiatic cheetah which is wiggling as well as very unique from both African cheetah needs to be conserved with utmost care. Now with this information let's take up this question which is based on cheetah they have given two statements and you have to choose one statement. Statement one says the Iocene status of the African cheetah and the Asiatic cheetah are critically endangered. Second statement says India is the only country in the world to host 5 of the 8 large cats including lions, tigers, joggers, panthers and leopards. See the first statement is incorrect because the Iocene status of the African cheetah is vulnerable whereas the Iocene status of Asiatic cheetah is critically endangered. And the second statement is correct India is the only country in the world to host 5 of the 8 large cats. And these 5 large cats include lions, tigers, joggers, panthers and leopards. And the remaining 3 large cats are Puma, cheetah and Kuga. Therefore the right answer for this question is option B to only. Now let's take up our practice question session. This question was asked in UPSC 2011 Prillin's examination. The question is about FDI and FII that is both foreign direct investment and foreign institutional investor are related to investment in a country. Which are the following statements best represents an important difference between the two. They have given 4 options and you have to choose correct option. Option A says FII helps bring better management skills and technology while FDI only brings in capital. Option B says FII helps in increasing capital availability in general while FDI only targets specific sectors. Option C, FDI flows only into the secondary market while FII targets primary market. Option D, FII is considered to be more stable than FDI. If you look at the options carefully option B describes one of the important differences between FDI and FII. See foreign direct investment usually takes a considerable stake or shareholding in the company and accept management influences depending on their shareholding. And in case of a foreign institutional investor which is a component of foreign portfolio investments aims to reap profits by investing in shades and bonds without controlling the company. Therefore, option A is incorrect. If you look at the option C it says that FDI flows only into the secondary market while FII targets primary market. This option is also incorrect because foreign institutional investor is one type of investment made by foreign investors in Indian securities through stock exchanges which is the secondary market. Then if you look at option D it says that FII is considered to be more stable than FDI. This option is also incorrect because FDI is more preferred than FPI. This is because foreign direct investment is long term and less fluctuating as compared to the speculative highly volatile and unpredictable FII. So for this question option B is the right answer. Let's take up one practice main question in GS2 paper. The question is the COVID-19 pandemic presents India with an opportunity to revive multilateralism, become a strong and credible champion of internationalism and assume leadership role in the world. Discuss. This is a 10 marks question and you have to write in 150 words. For this question you can post your written answers in the comment section and your posted answers would be evaluated and suitable feedback will be given in the reasonable time frame. With this we have come to the end of analysis of today's India news analysis. If you like the video please do like, comment, share and subscribe Shankar Ayes academy for more updates. Thank you.


At the start of the pandemic, the Tory government increased universal credit by £20 a week to support Britain's poorest families. The £20 uplift was nowhere near enough to make up for a decade of Tory cuts to benefits. But nonetheless, Rishi Sunak is still desperate to take it away. Now a £20 cut to universal credit would be devastating to those on low incomes and those out of work. On the latter, the Resolution Foundation have said, Pressing ahead with the £20 cut would see the level of unemployment support fall to its lowest real-term levels since 1990 to 1991 and its lowest ever relative to average earnings. Indeed, the basic level of out of work support prior to the March boost was at £73 a week, that's £3,800 a year, less than half the absolute poverty line. Now that is an absolute disgrace that that is £3,800 a year you're expected to live on if you're unemployed or poorly. The Resolution Foundation have also suggested the cut would contribute to a £730,000 increase in the number of children in poverty. Now all of this means it was very welcome that the Labour Party chose their day for opposition motions to put forward one opposing the cuts to universal credit. This was Keir Starmer laying out his stance this morning. This £20 uplift has been the difference between making ends meet or not for many, many families. We're at a food distribution centre here, hear the stories of the families that are absolutely reliant on this. We're still in the middle of a pandemic and the government wants to get rid of that uplift, which is vital to those families. It's the wrong thing to do. I think many Tory MPs in their heart of heart know it's the wrong thing to do. It's about priorities, put families first, keep this uplift. But the Tories aren't backing down. So even though they have stained in today's vote, we'll get on to the reasons for that later. That they are putting forward the political argument that this uplift should be withdrawn. So for example, on Radio 4 last night, the Tory MP, Bim Afalami, supported the £20 cut, saying the best way of getting people out of poverty is into work. Angela Rayner summed up well why that's an incredibly misinformed argument. She tweeted, Bim Afalami sadly demonstrated how out of touch Tory MPs are talking about people getting on the work ladder instead of universal credit on Westminster Hour. 2.2 million recipients of UC are working and 70% of children in poverty are in working families. The problem is poverty pay, well said Angela. But their main gripe has been the process. So conservatives all around have sort of tried to change the subject from universal credit itself to suggest that the process of labour putting forward emotion itself amounts to bullying almost. So this was a message sent by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister to all Tory MPs on Saturday. So Boris Johnson wrote, folks, I know that many of you are first thing to give battle and vote against all labour motions. But after the shameful way in which they use their army of momentum trolls last time to misrepresent the outcome and to lie about its meaning and frankly to intimidate and threaten colleagues, especially female colleagues, I have decided not to give them that opportunity. We can be proud of what we are doing to tackle all the consequences of the pandemic.  Now, beyond the very, very crass comparison of Labour activists who just want better benefits to Donald Trump supporters invading the capital more on that later. What does it say about the Prime Minister that he thinks the opposition shining light on the plight of low income Britons is playing politics? Does he think poverty is a game? And that's the only conclusion you can really draw from that message sent to all of his MPs. And what's particularly striking there is the implicit threat to get rid of opposition day debates all together. Now, what are opposition day debates? They are their time put aside in Parliament for the opposition to put forward a motion which they think is important and which the government is ignoring. It's not legally binding. So if it passes, it doesn't become law, but it's precisely intended as an opportunity for the opposition, whoever is in opposition to publicise, to put their cards on the table when it comes to an important issue of the day. It also has worked in the past. So the reason why the government were forced to U-turn on free school meals over the summer holidays was because of a very well timed opposition day debate. A motion put forward by the Labour Party, which timed in with pressure from Marcus Rashford. Obviously, it couldn't have been done without Rashford, but the opposition day debate was very helpful, which is why they want to just get rid of them. If you don't like the process, if you don't like being held to account, just get rid of it, change the rules. Of course, though, they don't want to say we want to get rid of this because it's too effective. They have to make up some other excuse. Let's take a look at a video put up by Ben Bradley today. So he's the Tories most hyperactive keyboard warrior. And this is sort of put forward as an explainer about what opposition day debates are. Opposition day debates are a chance for the Labour Party to choose what subjects are debated on the floor of the House of Commons. They go out of their way to choose particularly emotive issues that they can weaponise in the media and online. Whenever government announces a new policy, which includes a range of support measures and additional funding, inevitably Labour say this isn't good enough. They demand more money without explaining what they would do instead. The trick is that they choose a particular divisive title in order to make headlines. This is the result and in truth, that's exactly what they're after. These debates don't change the law. They don't change any policy. In fact, they don't change anything. They're just a conversation about how we deal with a particular issue. That's how we deal with it. Not whether we deal with it or not. How we feed vulnerable children. Not whether we feed them. They go out of their way to misrepresent government policy because they don't want change, just negative headlines. I mean, there's so many ridiculous things to point out in that video. I'll leave some of them to Ash. But first of all, I mean, he's saying he's Labour choosing emotive topics. They're playing politics. They're abusing the system by choosing emotive topics. That just means topics that people care about. It's also not divisive to say you should have free school meals over the summer. The other critique he has is that they don't have an alternative. Now, we at Navarro, we often critique Keir Starmer's Labour for not having a practical alternative to offer to the country. But here, it's very concrete. What do they want instead of the Tory policy? They want to keep the 20-pound uplift. They want to give free school meal vouchers to people over the summer. It's not rocket science. It's very, very concrete laid out. They can adopt it if they want the Tories. I mean, it could be government policy today. Ash, I want to get your thoughts on this, especially the PM, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying, Labour members campaigning against cuts to benefit is basically the same as Trump supporters storming Capitol Hill. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Parliamentary procedures actually cyber-bullying. And I would appreciate it if you took that a little more seriously. I mean, look, this whole thing is a bit of political theatre to try and contain the kind of reputational damage that the Conservative government has really enjoyed inflicting on itself recently. You know, you've got these very cut-and-dry issues, which is that, you know, there's a statutory obligation on the part of the government to make sure that children are fed during school holidays, not just local authorities. Pretty cut-and-dry issue. There's a consensus on that in the country. Instead, Boris Johnson decided to keep hitting himself in the head with a hammer until, you know, the very last minutes, just drawing those, those negative headlines upon himself and his government. Same with the universal credit. I don't think that this is going to be the line through to April. I do think that we'll see a U-turn because it's a false economy taking money out of people's pockets just at a time where they will financially be incredibly precarious. And the government, even from their very right-wing perspective, are going to be a bit worried about people spending power during that time. And also, it looks like you're picking on the very poorest people. Once you've given someone a 20-pound uplift, it's very difficult to take it away. You know, did your living expenses get 20 pounds cheaper? I don't think that they did. So do you think that there'll be a U-turn coming? So this is an attempt to contain the mess of their own political strategy. Why do they leave things to the last minutes while making a U-turn? Well, it might be to do with some of the personality types in government. We know that Boris Johnson is somebody who doesn't like making tough decisions early on in the day. What he likes to do is, you know, kind of take it right up to the cliff edge.  But the story here is very interesting because this business of saying that opposing is in itself an act of bullying and aggression. That's not something that the hard right came up with. This was also something which was a preferred line of the center left, particularly when Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party. When you had those political differences, these divergences in policy vision and also in values between the kind of liberal and the left wings of the Labour Party, this was in itself presented as hostility, bullying, aggression. And now when you see the kind of after effects of the attack on the Capitol being an attempted realignment amongst parts of the American political establishment to kind of rule out of order, you know, kind of Trump's base. There are lots of people in, you know, the UK who think, well, wouldn't that be great? We can do that for the Corbynistas as well. It doesn't matter that there has been no comparative act of aggression, violence, subversion of, you know, legitimate democratic process. It doesn't matter that mostly what people are talking about in terms of aggression is like being called a melt or bald on Twitter, which Michael, if you've survived those slurs for this long, I think, you know, well-paid guardian columnists sort to as well.  And Boris Johnson, I think, is quite cleverly seen that these lines of presenting differences in politics and differences are what makes the political machine run. That's what makes a parliamentary democracy meaningful is that you don't just use that to bash the left of the Labour Party. And when Keir Starmer in particular has talked himself into a position of we will support the government in anything they do, these moments where he does the right thing in my view, which is put clear redwater between himself and the Prime Minister, you know, Boris Johnson has got the ideal comeback, which I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Consensus. I thought you were supposed to be, you know, rolling your sleeves up and putting aside politics and participating in the national effort. I think that inadvertently, Keir Starmer has validated this idea that principled opposition is, you know, in fact, something to be mistrusted in politics. So I think that the way through this rather than backing down is for himself and Angela Rainer, who's a very effective communicator on this issue is to keep picking fights like this. It's something which polarizes in a good way. I think that there is a, you know, strong sense of there being a social majority behind keeping the uplift just as there is with, you know, free school meal provision throughout the holidays. And I think that means that you've taken a step forward on the issue of welfare provision. And this has been traditionally some quite difficult territory for the Labour Party, apart from, you know, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonald, although the policy was, you know, really lacking in some aspects, you know, not committing to scrapping the benefit cap being one of those aspects. But getting Labour onto the front foot to making a positive case for welfare provision, you know, not just being on the defensive all the time, you know, that's the kind of thing they should be looking forward towards. The Tories are kind of like, it's unfair, you've picked a topic where what we're doing is so unpopular.  That was to eat, you know, you should have picked a more ambiguous policy.  But I think in some ways, I mean, we're going to talk about the statues thing a bit later down the line. But I think that this kind of ties in, which is what, you know, the Republican Party tried to do under Trump using Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as kind of totems is to present their opponents as politically illegitimate, aggressive, violent, lawless uncouth. And now you can kind of see an attempt to turn that back onto Trump supporters, except there's some evidence to think that they're, you know, violent uncouth. But you know, it's all about that kind of realignment of who is a legitimate political player. And the minute you say it's okay to do for, you know, the parliamentary left and look, let's face it, Jeremy Corbyn was not a revolutionary. All right. I wouldn't say, you know, his analysis, you know, began and ended with Marx, but you know, John McDonald was saying in some ways is the more traditional Marxist, but Jeremy Corbyn, I don't think so. You know, they are part of a long established, you know, particularly English political tradition by saying that you guys are completely illegitimate and beyond the pale. Well, it's never going to stop there. It's then going to encroach, right?  It's going to be Ed Miliband evens. So people getting, you know, further and further towards the soft left. And then it'll be Kishtama. Whenever he has the temerity to do his job, which is oppose something, it's going to go, Oh, look at you. You're part of that rabble. And the problem is, is that the center left has been really complicit in conjuring that image of the unruly rabble.  It's the internet.  But I don't think that that was indicative or representative of Corbynism as a whole. Either in terms of the grassroots support or, you know, that kind of cluster of parliamentary MPs. But because it presented an immediate threat to the career ambitions of some of those in the center left, and I'm not just talking about in Parliament. I'm talking about in the press as well. They were 100% willing to team up with those on the right to say these guys boot them out.


Hey friends, welcome back to another monthly grocery trip. So if you're unfamiliar, I do monthly grocery shopping for a majority of our months every month. It's not always to the same place, but I like to take you all along with me and you all seem to enjoy seeing the halls and the process of doing this. So today is actually a really busy day for us, but since we're going to be gone in the morning, I decided why not include my Costco trip in today. This morning we actually have our homeschool groups co-op and our daughters actually go somewhere else and take classes with other kids and have other moms as their teachers. So it's always a fun day, but it does take up a good portion of our day. And I decided why not do Costco after we're done doing that. This month we are going to be going to Florida to see my parents again for a little while. So it's not quite the whole month, but I'm hoping to keep my Costco total around $300 or a little bit less.  So let's go ahead and get this day started. So we live in central Pennsylvania and obviously we're coming out of winter and welcoming spring and it was so exciting to see all of the spring and summer finds that Costco had to offer. They had lots of pool toys and beach toys and towels and like little blow up sprinklers that your kids can run through, spring and summer clothing, backyard accessories, things for camping and for those campfires and things like that through the summer. So that was all really fun to look at and to keep in mind for my next trip to Costco. They even had gazebos set up and tents and outdoor patio eating areas and outdoor rugs and pillows, all of those things. So if you haven't been to Costco for a while and you get a chance to stop in there, you might want to keep this in mind if you are looking for outdoor furniture and things like that. Now I get questions all the time about vacuum sealing machines for food because I do use them quite a bit in my freezer preps and things like that. I personally use a FoodSaver brand. I've tried off brands and they generally break and end up not working. But this FoodSaver vacuum sealing system is a crazy good price for what all you get in the kit here at Costco. So definitely jump over to your Costco if you're looking to get a vacuum sealer for food. So along with all of the outdoor things, they had things like fountains and other lawn accessories or patio accessories set up. This one was really cute so I thought I'd show it to you all. And then I decided to go ahead and get all of my fresh produce first. Their prices are just so good and especially whenever it comes to their produce and generally it looks really good as well. So we just went through. My daughter was with me and we got our freezer stuff. I had a good list of what I wanted so we just went through and grabbed everything that we needed for this month. I just unloaded the car and I'm going to go ahead and set everything up on the counter so you all can see everything better.  I don't know if those are everywhere but in our area. They are a pretty common grocery store because there was a few things that were on my list that I couldn't find at Costco. If you guys have watched me for a long time then you know I am a drink girly through and through. I like iced coffees, I like refreshers, all the things and my girls have inherited that well. So we picked up some boba tea and after I'm done with this haul I'll show you guys how we make it but Costco has this pack. I think that there is 4 flavors and one of them has 4 in that flavor and then the rest are just 2 but it comes with the straws as well to be able to drink up the boba bubbles and then what we like to do is mix it with milk. I am very rarely do I buy regular milk. We are mostly an almond milk family but there are a few recipes that I want to make this month that I need some milk for and then also I knew we would end up using it in this. So I went ahead and grabbed a gallon of whole milk from Costco. I'll try to say if it's from Costco or Giant as I go along. We needed some gluten free flour and I like to buy the King Arthur brand. It works so well and I needed a bunch of it for this month so I got 4 bags of it from Giant. I also found something that now that I know that this exists I'm going to actually go on Amazon and see if I can buy a case of this because we love egg noodles. My husband and I both grew up eating them a lot and I haven't been able to find a gluten free version and here Jovial has started to make them and I'm going to be making some soups for the freezer this month. Perfect perfect perfect. We love that for Alfredo for really any pasta dish egg noodles are our choice. So I'm super excited to try these out. I got some tortillas to do burritos breakfast burritos for the freezer and we really like the spinach and herbs so I was excited to find a gluten free version of that a nice big onion for a recipe that I needed some purple onion for and then I grabbed these here at Giant. This was from Giant and this was from Giant by the way these are not from Costco just wanted to clarify that these here I'm going to be using in some recipes this month. Now this sharp cheddar is from Costco it's a great price and it's a nice big block and the last time that we were in Florida if you guys remember in that haul I got some of their sliced cheddar and it's very very good so highly recommend and then I grabbed these two at Giant. This is just some hot sauce for a recipe and then we are huge kinders kinders fans. We use their spices seasonings and all of their other sauces and I've never tried their teriyaki sauce and I'm going to be making some bowls in a meal prep soon with that so excited about that. This is something that I feel like everybody that shops Costco buys and I've never bought it before even though I've shopped Costco for years but this is their massive like I don't even know if you can see how big this is it's huge huge bag of chocolate chips we've been out of chocolate chips and I've been buying smaller bags here and there but I love buying things in bulk so we're going to give this a try. We needed OxyClean that is a staple in our house and Costco is one of the best places to get it from here is sour cream another staple in our house from Costco and then this is just the big Costco box of trash bags I love their grass-fed butter you all know that if you've watched my other hauls I will put that into the freezer and we'll just pull out blocks as we need it. This year I just grabbed some organic chicken breasts it's not my favorite brand of chicken breasts I don't usually like getting chicken breasts that have been washed in water because generally it is bleach water if you do your research you'll learn about that but I like to buy chicken breasts that is usually air-chilled but I needed some for this month and decided just go ahead and grab their organic and the pack was a little wet on the bottom so I slid it in here I'm not sure if it was leaking or what was going on so that's why it's in this Ziploc I got a jug of avocado oil I need to do another comparison a lot of times I get the big jug from Amazon of their avocado oil but I knew this month I was going to need some more and I need to do a refreshed comparison of the price for this versus the one on Amazon because I noticed the price changed on Amazon so I just went ahead and grabbed this jug while I was there because this is the oil we use the most in our house got some maple syrup because we've been doing pancakes lately and then I got some fruit to do some fruit smoothie bags I like to do those and throw them in the freezer I also got a bag of mixed berries that are already put into the freezer and a bag of frozen green beans that I put in the freezer as well so they're not sitting up here but the mixed berries I will probably use in this as well had raspberries and blueberries in it and some bananas I got from giant so the strawberries were from Costco bananas from giant the strawberries at Costco are a super good price right now this broccoli was from Costco as well again a really good price and it's already you know kind of prepared for you so I have two different recipes that I'm gonna make this next week with fresh broccoli a good old pack of toilet paper that we always get and sometimes I even get to if I'm not gonna go the next month to Costco but super good price and then I decided on these peppers they did have regular size bell peppers but these are so sweet and I'm going to be making some fajitas and stuff decided that those would be really yummy in that their pineapples were a good price and this is huge like I don't know if you can truly see how big the pineapples were are but Costco was a super good price and I also got a big bag of onions to do diced onions for the freezer again this month I did that last month and we've been using them so heavily that I just decided I'm gonna do a bunch more in my freezer prep this month again and then just some eggs again from Costco so I think that pretty much everything here is from Costco except for these items these and these and then the wraps I think everything else oh and the bananas because the bananas at Costco were not ripe so and I want to use them pretty soon so I got those at giant but everything else is from Costco the only thing I didn't mention or these outer aisle sandwich rounds I've gotten these for years they're so good they're gluten-free and they hold together really well to even make like a sandwich melt so love those from Costco overall I'm really happy with my haul from this month I think this stuff is gonna last us a while if you are curious with how I store a lot of produce and things like that for a month I'll leave that video linked below that's a highly requested video for how I make things last a long time when I'm only grocery shopping once a month I thought it would be fun to show you all how we make this boba tea I have had it before and its flavors are just so good and it comes with the boba straws so if you're unfamiliar with boba it's basically an Asian style tea that they put these boba bubbles into and they are made from tapioca so they're jelly and a lot of times they have a flavor and they taste really good plus as you can see we have the big bag of chocolate chips on the counter because we were snacking on those they are so delicious I understand the rave now I understand why everybody says get the chocolate chips at Costco because they are just a great flavor and a good deal of course so here I'm just taking the packets of the boba tapioca bubbles and we're putting them into some really hot water and the nice thing about this is these or some of these are milk teas but you get to choose what kind of milk you're putting in with them and as you can see my daughters had a lot of fun helping me with this we love boba in our house all of us do and it was fun for them to help make it since we weren't at a boba shop ordering it and it's been a while since I've gotten it so they didn't remember how we make it so while the bubbles are in hot water you just take a small amount of hot water and mix it with the little packets of the powdered tea and you just let it kind of dissolve in that hot water you can stir it around and so I just did that in the bottom of these glasses and then you're gonna add ice to those along with the boba and then you get to choose your milk depending on which type you're making not all boba or bubble tea is made with milk but a lot of it is a milk tea and it's just so satisfying and sweet and yummy and it's something I actually want to learn how to make from scratch by getting the boba and then creating my own tea mixtures and even the little jellies that you can get in boba shops are yummy too and we have been doing so good around here we are getting into the last portion of our homeschool year which is great of course and the weather is warming up around here which brings the lighter mood for sure at least for myself I miss the sunshine for sure in the winter months but going to Florida every once in a while to see my parents has definitely helped that vitamin D kick and helped to lift my winter blues a little bit and these types of drinks always bring in the summer feels for me when it's a yummy iced drink now you don't need to have a Costco membership to get boba I in fact I will leave a very similar kit from Amazon linked below if you want to try out doing this so the one all the way on the left is actually a fruit green tea and it's not a milk tea so we just added extra water to it in place of the milk but all three of these were super super yummy so thanks a lot for hanging out with me today I so enjoy seeing your comments and connecting with you all if you're new here don't forget to subscribe and I hope to chat with you all in the comments and I have a lot of fun content coming up to share with you and I'll see you all in my next video


There is a farm bill that's been being worked on for about a year. It has a lot of really good oversight provisions in it. It also has some pretty deep cuts that would eliminate eligibility for about two to three million SNAP recipients by eliminating this option that's been, primarily by eliminating this option that's been mentioned called expanded categorical eligibility. I think that there's some misunderstanding about what that option is. Some have portrayed it as an automatic eligibility sort of thing that it's a major expansion that has contributed a lot to caseload growth. When in fact it, you know, many people have said, including the Congressional Budget Office and others, that the major reason for program growth is the recession and increased hardship and that that is expected to turn around by the end of, you know, but within the budget period that's under consideration.