So much to talk about in these 80 minutes that we have, Mr. Saddam, Mr. Al-Sabi, to kick us off. Afghanistan is a region of importance to the West, but also here in this region quite clearly a number of countries are involved, have been involved in the dealings and the on-going in Afghanistan. Could you perhaps for a couple of minutes, and then of course we dive into more detail in a couple of minutes, tell us where you see things in Afghanistan at the current moment? Thank you, Ali. I think you're right. Afghanistan is still a very important regional position. After what happened in last August, we all realized that there is a big shift in the political and also the security situation in West Asia. UAE have many relationships that are, you know, commercials, and I'm speaking from an official point of view, commercial and also security. We have also security concerns, but also we need to think that Afghanistan has already been in decades of unstable, instability, terrorism, poverty. So I think now most of us and also the international community, we need to assist Afghanistan to come back and find ways for their people because they deserve a better life. Thank you so much for your initial remarks from the view from the UAE, so to speak. We will of course come back to you in just a moment to go into more detail and ask what role the UAE can and ought to play in the region. But let me go to Jim Biderman here first. Jim, you are an American based in Paris for many decades with a lack of Americans on this panel. I won't ask you to put on the Washington hat here, but of course America's role is extremely important here. Give us a sense in the first couple of minutes. Well, just to contradict a little bit, one of my fellow Americans, Stu Eisenstadt, who was just on the previous panel, and basically was saying that Afghanistan did not signal the end of isolationism in the United States. I think it is kind of a neo-isolationism that we're seeing right now with the United States. The withdrawal from Afghanistan basically is a signal, I think, that the U.S. is not going to fight any further. Regional conflicts that don't make a big difference to their strategic ambitions, whatever the strategic policy is for the United States, strategic interests, those are the things that are going to take the priority and it will be things like China and other things. But the idea that we're going to become involved in regional conflicts, it looks like to me anyway that it's no longer the case. Absolutely. An America's role here more than pertinent throughout 20 years. This has been America's longest-running war for two decades. And all the questions that come with it, of course, what does it mean for the future standing reputation, perhaps, of the U.S. moving forward? I'll come back to you in just a moment. But let me go to Renaud here, who's a very prestigious war correspondent, senior reporter, who's been to Afghanistan more than a dozen times. You've written a book, Return to Pasha, you've experienced the Mujahideen, you've experienced the Taliban, and now you see a return of the Taliban. Renaud, for the first couple of minutes, how surprised are you that things are the way they are in Afghanistan at the current moment? I think it's a very important moment, indeed, in the history of international relations, because it's the death, I would say, of American neoconservatism in conditions that we didn't even expect. People in our generations believed that the Americans were going to redo the coup of Saigon in 1975, but it didn't bother them. They did it again without any need, because it was very easy to keep the air base of Bagram and to continue the discussion with the Taliban, with a carrot and a stick, and to obtain a unified government in Afghanistan, which obviously wasn't announced by the Taliban. I think what we need to understand in all this history is that there were two wars in Afghanistan. The first war in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, with the intervention of the missiles that were fired against Kabul. And it ended with a brilliant intervention of the CIA, close to the Alliance of North, with Kabul, which falls on November 13, 2001. So it was a very big success, and the Taliban withdrew from all the Afghan cities and were going to be refugees in the tribal areas of Pakistan. And then this success, this liberation of Kabul, what we call the Liberation of Kabul, the alliance of Kabul when the Alliance of North arrived, it was the images on all the television channels, caused an American Everest, which was found in the conference of Bonn on December 5, 2001, where the Americans decided, in fact, a second intervention, which was a national building intervention, where they promised to rebuild Afghanistan, to democratize Afghanistan, I mean democratize Afghanistan, and to develop the Afghanistan economically. They were not obliged to do that, it made them think of the civilizational mission of the colonization of Jules Ferry. It is an absolutely incredible project, but they took this commitment and Joe Biden accepted this intervention and he even went to Kabul to support this grand project, to democratize and develop Afghanistan. The Americans could have been very happy about the First War, where they destroyed all the Arab-internationalist elements that were found in Afghanistan and all the cells of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. They made this choice of national building, of an intervention war in Afghanistan and they gave the task, I don't know, to rebuild Afghanistan to soldiers. And this is the incredible mistake that America made, to give to soldiers to do the provincial reconstruction teams and to understand that the Afghan citizen did not appreciate having foreign men in arms. And after the failure that was already signed at that time. Because you wrote a book on the war on terror where Afghanistan, of course, is prominently featured. 20 years later, 20 years after the fatal attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Americans go in. 20 years later, the hastened withdrawal as Renault put it, with Vietnam-like photos. And here we are, your opinions. Yeah, you're right, Ali. I mean, what we witnessed this summer was not just the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. It's actually the end of a strategic cycle, a strategic cycle that started 20 years ago with 9-11. And actually it ended in a failure, a dramatic failure. So I agree with Renault Girard's comment. It's a very important event that we attended this summer. Actually the objective of this war on terror was defined by George W. Bush at the time and there were three goals. The first one was to eradicate al-Qaeda and it was not done. Actually al-Qaeda still exists. It's in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda central, but also al-Qaeda in the Asian subcontinent. The second objective was to get rid of all terrorist groups of global reach. That's a pretty blurred expression. And the fact is that 20 years ago ISIS did not exist. But now we not only have al-Qaeda, but we also have ISIS, which obviously is a terrorist group of global reach. And then the third objective was to neutralize or to eradicate the actors, whether groups or states that hosted international terrorist groups. And obviously here we're speaking about the Taliban. And not only were the Taliban not defeated, but they're now in power in Kabul. So obviously that's a major failure for the US, but also for the US allies who were very much involved in Afghanistan and France was part of the game. Yeah, so the war on terror that the US and the West in form of NATO has conducted for the previous two decades. Now with the swift return of the Taliban and al-Qaeda most probably you can argue whether it was a success or not. I think that we will go into more detail. But Tatiana, let me come to you here because before we talk about the United States here and rightly so of course, because this has been America's longest running war, but before the Americans the Russians were there. And I'm sure they have a thing or two to say about the current situation they can draw from personal experiences. Absolutely. If I had to sum up today the Russian attitude towards Afghanistan and the Taliban, I would say that there is a certain duality. Mr. Vitaly Naum who had mentioned that the Taliban is part of the list of terrorist organizations forbidden in Russia, which gives place to formulations by the Russian intelligence official agencies such as the Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov to express his support to the Taliban, among other things, to the terrorist organizations forbidden in the Russian Federation, for his support in the fight against the Islamic State. And this duality, we actually find it in the attitude towards the Taliban because on the one hand there is an extremely heavy baggage, the memory of the war of the 10 years in Afghanistan that has marked as many elites as the Russian societies. And Vladimir Putin in September said that Russia will not intervene militarily in Afghanistan. He said, we have done this experience, we are going to pull the trigger. And at the same time, since 2014, Russia speaks to the Taliban. We can enter a little into the details of how and why, but according to the Taliban sources this year, Russia is part of the first three supports in financial matters, in terms of arms sales to the Taliban. It is in a very pragmatic approach to speak to all the forces, etc. And I also think that there is an important point to understand, which is that for the Russians today, the main enemy is the Islamic State. So they see the Taliban a little like allies in this fight between the two words and choose the least. And this duality there, we also find it in the eyes of the Americans of Afghanistan. On the one hand, it is considered as a kind of geopolitical opportunity, and that when we see the first reactions in the media, in the TV shows, etc. it is a kind of satisfaction, the Americans have not done better than us and it leaves us with the place and the way of maneuvering today to do better. It will attract other countries towards us as suppliers of more credible security. And at the same time, you have the strength of security and teaching, which are extremely concerned with the security risks that it can generate. Yes, so very interesting, a bit of a mixed, if not schizophrenic feeling in Moscow about the events in Afghanistan. On one hand, perhaps a dose of glee, if not charred and Freud about the failure of the Western NATO in particular, but on the other hand, of course, security concerns very much on their own. And when it comes to security concerns, MK Narayanan, we're not far from India, of course, Afghanistan very much in the geopolitical proximity of your country and with the pertinent and crucial role that Pakistan, your neighbor, is playing in Afghanistan. I'm sure Afghanistan, a country that you know well, has been very much on the radar. What's the view in New Delhi? What's it new from New Delhi these days? Apart from the view of New Delhi, I think there's a view of all Indians. First and foremost, we're looking around the panel here. I'm the only one who sees this as a South Asian tragedy. It's mostly others are out, I'm sorry to use the word, are outsiders. The Russians came in at one stage and of course went back without, the Americans came, hoped to create democracy and kind of thing and they've gone back. And who are left to pick up the pieces? The nations of South Asia. Afghanistan is part and parcel of South Asia. What happens in South Asia is therefore a matter of great concern for each and every South Asian country. And that's the largest country in South Asia. And more so with civilizational links with Afghanistan, which goes back many thousands of years. For us, the Afghanistan tragedy is felt in every single home in India, apart from the government's involved. Because most of us, particularly my generation, the Pathan was the most friendly soul in the Indian neighborhood. He was a very generous individual who looked at it. So the tragedies that have fallen on Afghanistan over the years has been a matter of great deep concern for most Indians. So the first and foremost thing is the lesson that I think we need to use, which is a lesson which I heard a number of other speakers speak when they talk of the Middle East and other places. Please take into view the opinions of the nations of the region and please don't impose solution on them. And if you do impose a solution, don't do what happened in the American region. They just left. You must have an organized retreat. You can't leave a country in shambles. So we have a nation tragedy of certain. We have a greater South Asian tragedy. And I think that is the issue that we need to, because we have to now link up and find out what do we do next. And since you've given us me only a couple of minutes to begin with, I just want to add one more point. The last two days you've heard about the problems in the rest of the world, or many parts of the world at least. I think nothing symbolizes this more than the shambolic nature of what Afghanistan is today. There is clearly what I would call a crisis of confidence in how to manage problems and difficulties. Whether the Taliban now that it has taken power in Afghanistan will be able to govern Afghanistan or not is still a matter of eye for one. Do not believe that the Taliban is capable of governing Afghanistan because Afghanistan is not one country. Afghanistan is a construct of several Pashtun tribes. They've never had a central authority. They've never been a single focal point. And if President Bush, whom I dealt with extensively and I'm greatly revered, thought that he could impose democracy in Afghanistan with all the CIA or the State Department, I think it was the biggest folly that anybody could have thought of. So I think we need to remedy this kind of thing. How will we move forward is the issue. But I leave it since you don't want me to go into everything in the beginning. I will leave it at this point. And I just want to add one more point. Tatiana mentioned this, I think, that what is the result of foreign intervention? Sorry, not that. It was Vitali who said that. Two decades of foreign intervention. None of the objectives. I can at least understand if something was left behind. When Hamid Karzai was there, at least we had something like a democratic administration somewhere. The primary objective, as Vitali explained, is the expert on terror. In books, I'm on the terror on the ground, having said that. Destruction of the terror networks like Al-Qaeda. Clearly not happened. The Al-Qaeda is stronger today than what it was, I would like to say. Right. And I speak with Vitali. Then we have a lot of newer outfits that Daesh has come into existence. The Islamic State, the ISISK. So this has been a great tragedy that has been visited on the people of South Asia. I'll leave it at that and I will talk to you. Thank you. Absolutely. Many more points to be raised throughout this discussion for sure.  Thank you so much.


This is literally four attempts after I said I quit and this is the seventh wave. I want to win so bad It's so hard. It is impossible But we will carry on we did so well this match we literally got here with full health all the way Super hard seventh battle with Samasu Full health each of us each of us with green bars. So let's do this thing. Nice. We open up good. Oh, no Here we go. We got him in the corner. This is great. This is actually our best start ever This is so good All right, come on. Come on. Nice. Keep them in the corner Would have opted for the hard knock down, but we got him again. Oh God All right, we're good. We're good. We're good, Richetta. No, we take a little damage We do take a little damage Cell comes in perfect execution. We're good. Oh, no ball bounce though So much to look out for with some Masu here the lightning does get sell sell is Looking pretty bad right now with health That's fine because he's gonna bust out some smooth combos here Hopefully gets the Masu to the corner and then he can call somebody else out Gohan comes back in off the specials of Masu does lose a bar from trying to go with a super unsafe Causing.   Oh god It gets hit by the superman I'm gonna go for the level three for the hard knock down here. There we go hard knock down sliding I mean we get him again. We got him in the corner at least sparking glasses all out Good luck. My friend is wishing me good luck. We got him in the corner Oh, no, I didn't block in a time.  Hopefully it doesn't oh No, I got hit by a level three Full if my teammates can get through the Masu fuse though We might have a good chance because Goku black really isn't the problem block this punish. No punish. It's all good. Oh He doesn't he does get through. Oh, thank you. Thankfully Level three for the hard knockdown here gonna be super important because all we have is mix-ups that offend ourselves If we're not playing offense, we're losing Duck Goku black does get opened up by the cell. This man has not been playing his online He has not been doing his homework. No hard knockdown ops not to go for it You can try to open them up the classic way.  We should be good level three Judging by the damage. It does look like it. Oh, we get the final hit on Goku black Down does just the Masu full house cell along with a half health go hunt This is looking very promising here as and we get the first hit that's vanished It's looking like it's gonna be game over here for fuse a master with the level three for the hard knockout in the corner This looks like Zamasu's gonna have a lot to go against him here as long as cell does not get hit by a raw level three He gets another hit. It's oh my god. It's looking like we're actually gonna do this. I can't believe it Doesn't get opened up cell still has some block string left in him Zamasu gets opened up three bars in his pocket is cell capable of killing him It looks like he is it we still have some meter to go go hunt gets taken out with one down heavy Just when you thought this game couldn't get any closer folks Zamasu does effect bring it back now. We're looking at panic raw level three. This could be the end of cell It's raw damage. No


Yeah. He was nasty tonight. Everything was working. He's a bulldog out there. He wants the ball in his hands, and he's just getting ahead and putting everybody away.  Do you think that was the hit? I mean, it was tough. If I didn't move out of that, it would have hit me in the face probably. So, yeah, I don't know.  I moved to my left a little bit, and it took off like a slider right in my face. And at that point, I was kind of just trying to save my face. You know, but I really wanted to come up with it.  And I tried my best, and it's all I can do. And it does the best, like, try my best.


Good morning and welcome to today's briefing room where we get a chance to speak with the leaders of our country about their portfolios and the media gets an opportunity to ask pertinent questions about any issues which are currently associated with the portfolios or in the news. Today's guest is Minister for Local Government and Culture, Senator the Honourable Fortuna Belrose. Welcome Minister and thank you so much for being here with us today. On short notice I might add thank you very much for being with us. Thank you also to the members of the media in attendance today and of course to the solution public viewing us right now live on NTN. Thank you for joining us as well. We would like to get right into it like we normally do on briefing room. We start with having the minister or the representative to go through their portfolios, their responsibilities so that we can better understand what work you do on a daily basis. You handle the portfolios of local government and culture. Can you just give us an overview of what those portfolios entail? Thank you very much Nicole for having me and of course thank you to you the members of the media and of course the viewing public for this opportunity to share in terms of the work program of the Ministry of Culture and Local Government. The Ministry of Local Government and Culture of course was strategically designed to ensure that from a local government standpoint our people were empowered to be able to determine their own destiny. I think the thinking of the new government is to ensure that the local government councils across the country are deeply involved in the management of all the public assets of the organizations and everything that belongs to the jurisdiction you know fall underneath the town and village the town of village council that it represents. So the responsibility is a vast one and it's vast because there are a number of variables at play in terms of dealing with the local government councils across the across the country. We've been able to establish all the councils we've been able to establish chairpersons as well as the the mayors of the various towns and chairpersons of the of the counts of the of the the area districts and of course we've been able to put in a team of persons across the country who have been involved in some way or the other in the management or the development of organizations within the communities. So we're quite satisfied with the teams that we have working with the councils to be able to realize the goal that we want of ensuring that communities take greater ownership and are more actively involved in their own development on the ground. From the local girl from the culture standpoint we have been doing quite a bit of work within the cultural realm as it is now what we because culture is who we are you know and it's the it's the beginning and end of everything that we do really as a people it means that we have to ensure that we create the environment for the the the right type of solution you understand to emerge for the 21st, 22nd and 23rd century. We need to be able to do some fundamental things to get our citizens to understand that we are one people and we have to work collectively together to realize anything that we want but we want an environment where people are comfortable, where they are free to express themselves, where they can be a part of those organizations within those communities without feeling that there is any bias on on anyone's part. So we really want to create an environment that facilitates and encourages citizenship involvement in community and of course nationally. Thank you minister very much. I want to start by concentrating on the local government aspect of your portfolio. Tell us a little bit about the government's intentions with local government and how it actually works. Well with respect to local government the government is very clear. What we want is an empowered solution where citizens determine what it is that they want. As it is now there is some degree of that citizens already determine what they want they know where they want to go but I think to a large extent over time there's been some laissez-faire attitudes which has crept in and I and I say this because if you recall when we the new mayor came in let's look at the city of castries for example the mayor came in castries were swamped in a mess with old tents with old you know all kinds of things you could think of which didn't make the city what it ought to be the environment was just not right you know things were hanging loose in that city and of course understanding the vision of and being passionate about the city I think he and his team moved in to solve some basic problems for us and I think of the situation around the around the Ave Maria school a ticking time bomb waiting to explode youngsters going to school every day but have to traverse underneath old tents and meet all kinds of characters depending business around around the school premises so a deliberate action was taken to clean that up perhaps it was not a popular decision but people are now realizing the mess it was you understand now that it's out so it's doing those little things in communities to to regain the confidence of the people and the confidence of the citizenry that's yeah we can really make a difference and each and every one of us if we contribute to that process the society would be a much better place so what are they actually before I throw it to the media what are they actually in charge of when it comes to local government in the community oh I see what you're going as it is now they and maybe we should look historically at local government as well because prior to 1979 the local government councils had more autonomy and of course they also was a devolution of some power because the government they run elections and of course people were elected to serve in those positions and these people had the authority now to literally manage all the public facilities within their jurisdiction there was greater control by them by 1979 there was a change the administration of course decided to abolish the whole local government regime yeah people would too I guess you know you want to have people but again it's a small society with limited resources and so when you're trying to devolve power to people one has to really be realistic in the scheme of things and so the councils are primarily responsible particularly in the seat in well I see the city areas within their jurisdictions they're primarily responsible for the administration of some government services on the ground in community and of course providing feedback really to main quarters you know on developments within the area and what needs to happen they also serve as agents on the ground for government or for other agencies trying to implement projects within those communities but to a large extent they are restricted in terms of their own ability to do things on the ground okay do we have any questions from the media regarding the aspect of local government my question is the I believe it was a previous UWP administration had indicated to return the voting where there was elections and so forth for the local government the councils is the UWP current UWP administration looking to go that route and if so how far along is that process yeah thank you very much that's a very good question the government of Senutia is committed to the process of elections for local government we currently undertaken a couple of studies and all of that of course is phased the first phase of the study is to provide the the the greater empowerment or greater power to them to be able to work through and be responsible for the various facilities and other public assets on the ground moving out from that stage it's about continuing to build a capacity to be able to realize the elections later down the road it will happen within this within this regime of government the elections of officers will happen within this regime of government but I think what we need to do is to ensure that we we graduate to that level as opposed to just doing elections at random so that persons can just take on ownership we need to build capacity and ensure that when the leaders take on that responsibility they know exactly what it is that they're doing and how to offer leadership to the communities so that they are better we need a clear understanding of that process and that's happening at this point in time what sort of systems are in place to ensure the accountability of these councils well if there is in in some areas but across the board as it is now the councils are governed by the finance act which is what the government of sinusia utilizes uses so that the various councils all report to central government on all the resources that comes into the coffers in the case of the castry city council it is a bit different but they still have that responsibility to submit all the information to the government by the end of the year do an annual report to the government at the end of the year in terms of the the accounting to the public every town and village council has a responsibility to engage the public and to do the public meetings and of course respond to the request of the citizens within their communities for engagement at any point in time so the citizenry of the various communities can actually make a request and make a demand for you know the meetings and accountability of those councils on any matter that is there for them what would some of your suggestions be to engender a renewed community spirit through local government as a means of mitigating sorry crime in sinusia right i think the the the beautiful thing about local government it's about people taking ownership of the various communities or the various assets and everything else within their communities but being engaged and being involved in your community to the extent that you know what's going on in years gone by we we had the the the communities where you had the watch the watch groups you had development committees you had mothers and fathers groups people were looking after each other they were looking out for each other and in those days of course the local government regime was stronger you know people people accounted the development communities were vibrant the mothers and fathers groups were vibrant today there seemed to have been a breakdown today there is a breakdown you know of the systems with respect to community organizations while you do have a number of groups that function you still don't have to my mind sufficient activity on the ground in small communities in terms of keeping people engaged on on you know on the on the issues and so we need to look out a lot more for our neighbors we need to look out a lot more for the people and what comes into our community some of us are very active on the ground in our communities so we know what's going on at all times but people generally need to be more vigilant and that is what local government you know affords really to be conscious of what's going on in your environment participate in your environment and being involved in making decisions and finding solutions to issues and so if people are that inclined then we could see you know the crime issue being diminished significantly because people would be would be trusting each other a lot more and of course you would know how to respond to the issues that come that you know that come come to play we have a number of persons who facilitate crime in some of the communities and people know who they are but again because of the way the system flows of justice within the country it's not as swift and smooth as we would like you do have people being not being receptive to providing information as quickly as possible to to the powers that be I don't know if I answered the question but I think we really need our people to be involved in the process but people need to feel safe and secure in so doing and community organization community togetherness can assist in making that happen. Do we have any other questions on this issue? I wanted to ask as Tony brought up the question and general as well in terms of training for persons who join the local government movement is that ongoing because yeah I mean you would want a lot of young people to understand the process how they can join in the process how do you get that going? Well well many of the communities do have the social transmission officers youth development officers who are responsible for providing the opportunities for training and strengthening the capacity of our young people in various areas leadership training finance management you name it and the opportunities are there and you do have a number of organizations still that exist that provide that on a continuous basis in the case of our ministry we do have now we have a number of after-school programs that are currently ongoing equipment youngsters with the skill sets to be able to take on the leadership of organizations you know as well so that's an ongoing program within the ministry perhaps we need to be more vocal and and of course air what is happening a lot more but there is a lot of that going on at the moment as we speak. Yeah I also think since we're on this topic we should also take the opportunity to commend the mayor of Castries you mentioned who's been doing phenomenal work and I'm sure there are other people who are part of the local government movement who are doing work in the communities and we maybe don't hear about them enough so it's definitely a good thing for our community we should move on to the section of culture me and you talk a little bit about what culture is what we're trying to do or what it represents before we throw it to questions I wanted to ask how do you manage culture because that's basically the task that you have is it something that can be managed? Well yes it can be managed I think basically what we want as a country is to ensure that St. Lucia emerges as a major culture player in the region and we do have that ability to be able to do it. Culture is at the beginning and end of everything that we do so as a citizenry what we sell who we are you understand is really the culture you know so it's yeah it's big can it be managed yes it can be managed and there are those moments in our history I reflect which have really been defining for our culture as a people and I think over time this country has been I don't want to say I don't want to say we've moved from where we were as a friendly loving engaging warm person who looked out for the neighbor consistently we've moved from that you understand in the last 17 years 17 18 years and for me as a person who worked in the field of view of development sports and even culture I saw the degradation when it was coming and it's sad to say that but I think when when you have a government who or a political party because the parties influence what happens with respect to our culture and so when you have a government or political party that pushes an agenda of only providing for its membership you understand and looks out and tries to ensure that that is entrenched within a system of affirmative action it means that the society is disenfranchised because only a select few would be able to get that attention and as I go around the community in my new state as a politician it is so sad that this is very evident so you walk in a community you see a drain started here and it ends right in front of another person's house because the person does not support the party you understand and this is not good because for relations between the the two neighbors we need them to agree you understand to mutually agree with what is happening around us so if the drain is flowing into my yard you know by a problem created by the you know the party are you saying that are you saying that politics has infiltrated our culture in a very negative way it has destroyed our culture and and you know and and this is the thing and solutions need to recognize that we lived harmoniously as a people before and what this government is trying to do now is to begin to rebuild and use our culture to heal the wounds in our country too many people are divided for political reasons too many neighbors do not talk to each other for politics you know too many of the projects that we do in the community are political so people cannot connect to them or they impact them negatively when they should not and so the honest is on us now as a new government to ensure that we pull our people together so they understand that we all matter we all are part of this beautiful country called St Lucia and so we will use the culture in whatever we can for economic gain for our people but more importantly to continue to build peace and social cohesion within our society okay and that's what we have to do to move our country well said I will now turn it over to the floor okay Madam Minister in a previous conversation I had with you we spoke a bit about Cairo Festa when the team returned from Cairo Festa and you suggested at the time that possibly through your ministry that there will be some sort of national symposium if I may call it that whereby we begin to look at how we fund such processes it's not a matter of individuals coming and expecting something but there's an actual process because prior to Cairo Festa you know there's some sort of controversy about the government not supporting the team and what have you as well as just recently we had the participation of a solution at the Miss Universe pageant what see you to the fact that the time has probably come where we really need to sit down and look at all of these activities these cultural activities the arts and entertainment what have you to the extent that we could begin to prioritize what government actually supports yeah well government supports its people and culture I must say that but there are some peculiarities of certain events and one of the things I want to emphasize here is that Saint Lucia the number the people who support the arts in Saint Lucia to a large extent do not have the disposable income you understand to support in the way that they would like to and because a number of our people are poor you know and so they're not able to go out and give that support however if we use the the cultural assets that we have in terms of our kudmei our susu you understand if we if we look at our history and the way we've been able to achieve and make progress in times gone by we have some wonderful attributes that can assist us in making it more sustainable than it currently is for the carifesta for example I and I still believe how the government's position was the right one if we look into send a team overseas to represent us that team must contribute to the process you have to participate Saint Lucia's have to know who they are you understand and there's nothing wrong in that team putting on that production across the country generating revenue raising funds for that process that is how a small poor country survives it cannot survive by just you know government just giving it everything we have to contribute to the process and that's the only way we can take ownership when we are part of that process we take ownership for it we must be prepared to make that commitment the footballers do it the netballers do it the table tennis players do it that is how our country moves we have to be a part of that process and anyone who is saying to us we cannot do it we have we cannot do the kudme we cannot participate we cannot run the susu we cannot organize ourselves in that way and we should not do it I think that person is against the culture of this country we are people who believe in networking and working together to realize the goals that we have and we have to use the systems we have to use our culture we have to use our history to be able to get us there and that's that's the way we see it from the government of sinusha's perspective you just returned from a conference on cultural preservation and sustainable development what are the real plans for the cultural center and the walk at house the the the walk at house I think the the the plans remain I think we just working now to realize the resources to be able to do the tours and continue the work that has been that that the national national troughs um begun um a while back so that is very much on the cards um in terms of what's the other part of your question I lost it the cultural center and you know I want to say something again to the cultural center from all indications is limited in terms of what it can offer us as a citizenry if we are looking to ensure that culture and the creative industries become a greater part or contribute a greater amount to the GDP of this country we need to find a space that can work for us we need to find an avenue where young people will be excited to come and participate in the events that we're doing we need to find a space to give young people that opportunity to be able to explode yeah currently we were restricted with what we have we need to find that space and that is the essence of the government's position we want to find a space that young people can come to and be excited the older folks can come to and be excited as well but we need to find a space to give them that opportunity to breathe and ventilate and we clearly restricted in terms of what we offer at the at the national cultural center and that's the position of the government was in motion but that's something we've been hearing for years yes you know um to date we're yet to see any um serious action take be taken as well as when can we see the recommissioning of the work at house since you said there are plans to to get it up I think yeah I think with respect to the work at house perhaps in the middle of next year you should see the the the plan coming through vision in terms of the tools etc that's that's that's happening with respect to the building itself for the cultural center of course it's a matter of resources we have to wait till we get it that's why I've not been speaking too much about it because we need to find the money to make it happen to realize the dream in the meantime what the government is doing is we've been working with some Jamaican companies to try to assist us to provide the space for the young artists the young musicians who are so creative about their music who are so you know good about the music we want to be able to provide the opportunity for them to develop their own music locally and that's where we are in terms of trying to work on building some studios for these young men um and women to be able to excel in the music that they're creating okay um what's good the water supply um had the darn Sammy cricket grounds that's got you from from what from my understanding um Lucilleck is as well on the verge of disconnecting power at the facility or in within the range of about $300,000 there about um as well as the the bill from cpl has not been paid I think the government coming into office um July August last year borrowed money to pay bills at the facility um can you explain why so you're asking me that in my capacity as minister of culture not I'm not minister of sports huh why why are you but I think let me let me tell you the the situation with the the sports and recreational facilities um is that these facilities when they're built are built more from a social standpoint for the country you recognize that people must have areas for recreation for play to ventilate for health and well-being and so and also to the opportunity for mass exposure for your country because we do it for we use it for the international cricket for major events etc so you build those facilities not really in the hope that you would get any major financial benefits from them but you build them because there's a social cost you understand that the country knows that it has to absorb with respect to the development of these um of these of these facilities having said that though I think it's important that any government you know look to how it can make these facilities a lot more um economically viable so I mean perhaps the use of energy saving mechanisms um you know and just find in a team of persons who'd be prepared to be able to give you the service um at less cost yeah and and put in the facilities at less quality putting the facilities but your utilities and everything meeting them at less cost um but the point needs to be made that these facilities when they are built are not built to generate revenue they are built because the country recognizes that there is a an important aspect of human life that needs to be catered for through culture the arts programming whatever programming you need to be able to provide an area for your people to recreate ventilate um and so there is a cost to be born with that the challenge is for those managing it to be able to manage it and program for the payment of those bills those utility bills that will come to a large extent that is where the crux of the problem is because every five years or so they find themselves in that situation where it is ignored that's not the first time it's happening it has happened before we need to program and plan to pay our bills on time you know and that's something not only for the facilities but across the board solutions incur expenses and you're not able to pay them we need to plan our business properly that's a cultural phenomenon that we have to deal with them now I realized we kind of moved a little bit away from culture but I'm I kind of like the way um Sheffield was going with some of the questions and your answer to revealed a lot as a country I've found that sometimes we do enter into situations where we do build huge structures um for certain reasons of course like you said some of them are very important look at the situation the government is currently facing with regard to um the Owen King Hospital in terms of finding the funds to actually operate um that structure do you think and I know this is not really your hat but do you think we do have an issue with not assessing properly before we build things how we will make it sustainable you know and how we will because obviously the Dianne, Sammy, quick as they hit some major stumbling blocks in terms of getting the bills paid and we have more things to come that are kind of in the same boat yeah well that point is well made um Nicole and I think that's why I from what I know of the government's program particularly with respect to the sporting facilities there is a current review up review happening yes with a view to reducing on the number and those that are going to be maintained would be maintained with the within the most efficient um efficient means possible um but yes you're right with respect to the absence of data in our planning um and of course just doing things look at the situation in the schools currently we have what we we have quite a number of primary schools um and secondary schools in Zilusia but the population of students is now dwindling and so we still caught with all these huge structures that we have to maintain um and we have to ensure that they become useful you understand to us in the various communities so it's a major challenge for the government the government is aware of it um and of course now in the case of sports there's a review in the case of education there's also a review going on to see what we can amalgamate um what we can transform you understand um and of course what we can even do without and these are some these are some of the sometimes difficult decisions that government has to make that are not really received um well by the public but these are decisions that have to be made in order for us to sustain um those facilities absolutely wanted to know how is the government facilitating artists in accessing opportunities under the epa for export of their talents and cultural exports and so forth well one of the critical things I always like to mention with the artist is that the from an individual artist standpoint we do have opportunities for them to engage with our staff who can assist in directing them in the right way the other major thing for the artist too is that they need to be more organized and I think because again the culture they have been left for so long on their own without um I don't want to say direction but without being channeled into the right the right way of doing things um it's it's it's a bit chaotic for the artists at the moment I recently came back from the ACP ministers conference and it is very clear that organization is key if we want to access resources if we want to create any dent and access and receive anything of of significance we need to be organized and so we're asking all our artists the musicians the dancers the the the the the how do you call it the literary giants we need them to come together so that there can be an organization that represents them not when the cultural center has been moved for you to have a few people claiming to be you understand the representatives but we want a sustainable organization that can work with us over time through time one that is not political one that is born out of the people for the people to be able to represent them in the various sectors it's very important that we do that if we don't then we will continue to be languishing um the the way we are we need to be able to make the difference we need to make we need to be able to make the transition from me to us and our industry as a people that's where we need to go it cannot be individualistic it has to be a team effort for us to be able to tap what is out there so currently as it stands that the government utilize the economic partnership agreement for that purpose in um giving artists the opportunity to export their their cultures and so forth yes we've been doing that and in fact quite a number of the artists who have come through for assistance to the ministry we provide that support for them um we also provide support in terms of like I said grant assisting them in developing their own proposals um facilitating them overseas so there is a program of support um for for the for the musicians and all these artists who come into the ministry we do have a program for support but what we would want to see is something that is sustained over time with an institution that works and support the artists and provides that enabling environment for them to continue to flourish at what they do yeah what sort of tangible support did the government provide to miss louis victor who recently represented st lucha at the miss universe competition well i'm fully aware that she got a financial contribution um from the government of st lucha um one of the things with some of these agencies the the miss universe is a franchise owned by somebody here locally it's not owned by the government the government is not a partner in the in the in the miss universe franchise that is owned by a private person so the government of st lucha was not in a position to be tipped you understand to that institution um that owns the franchise but the government was in a position to make a contribution and we would expect um having made the contribution that the individual who is responsible for the franchise would come back home and of course give us a transparent account of what transpired over there and an account of the funding that we that they received as well so so we expect that but it's not it's not owned by the government of st lucha this is the nature of these major major events jeffield going back to my question of the darin sanmi cricket grounds if moneys were borrowed last year to pay outstanding bills why are we currently in a situation where you know there are still areas on both the electricity and motor utility well you're giving me information i have no idea how the bills were paid last year but all i could say to you is that it's the responsibility of sports in lucha really to ensure that the bills are paid but i really wouldn't know the details of how those bills were paid last year i i would that's not my domain i'm in the culture local government ministry that's a matter for the ministry of sports to to clarify um to you yeah but as a sports person i would jump at the at the at the fact that the facilities yes we need to manage them more effectively um but more importantly there is a social course to be born when you establish those facilities correa good morning minister um you've given us some insight on the plans of your ministry for the cultural and creative industries um as the year comes to a close can you give us an overview of what your ministry has accomplished so far and what you most proud of well i think there are several things um the year has come to a close we had of course a successful completion of the the the soloi event and if you recall last year we began with soley um it didn't go down too well with people because we changed the name and that's another thing with our culture we're not flexible we're very rigid we like to see things one way and if it's one way then you know if it's that way then a lot of us would would support it but we live in a very dynamic environment and um we have to be able to respond to the needs of our society um as well as respond to the demands out there as well and so the government of sinusha felt it was necessary to create the events company to be able to assist us in realizing even better returns on our events that we do locally um so so we were able to achieve that and i think now that they've gone through the year um they'll be adequately prepared for next year because you would have had the experience of doing last year's events so i'm very confident that in the next year we will witness um better better better programmed events um and of course greater levels of participation because now people know for certain that it's happening it's going to be an all exclusive jazz festival it's going to be exclusive roots and soul so we know exactly what we're talking about um over the over the over the over the next year um with respect to the creative industries what we've just done as a government is we have approved the framework for the creative industries um if you recall the the other service sectors ict as well we've approved the framework for the operations of those industries and of course what we'll be doing now is finalizing the incentives for them because a number of the artists a number of the persons in the business have been indicating to us that they know incentives for the sector but we first had to approve that framework that broad policy framework for the for the creative industries we've done that now and of course as part of the entire service sector in silocia we'll be working now with the government to ensure that we have the incentive regime organized so hopefully that can be there by march april next year and so we're looking towards great things for the artists in terms of more support but again it's all structured support it's not just support that will come just like that but it's support that is within a framework and of course people have to leave the standards to to begin to realize you know what is in there for them another critical thing that we've done is at the end of the month of december we are waiting the the review of the cultural development foundation because i've always said that the cdf should be an institution that young people should gravitate to young people should see that institution as an institution of hope you know and the dreams coming true because of this institution called the cultural development foundation so we are waiting for a review a strategic review of this organization to assist us in ensuring that we make it more accessible to all sin lutions across the country and any young person with talent being able to see that this institution is there for them to be able to help them propel them to realize what they would want to within within the um within the institution also you were recently featured in new literature called running in heels both politics and literature are important to our culture i would like to know how you feel about being featured and how do you think the book will accomplish his purpose of encouraging young women to participate in politics well i was actually blown away when we went when i attended the the the running in heels um and blown away because of the the the statistics and the way solito odlam who is one of the authors of barbara jacob's were able to share and present the information on women in politics um and about 42 women over the last since 1951 or or they about have been involved in politics in sin lucha and i'm honored to be one of those women um i must say i got into the politics really by by chance the community came and asked um and i got involved um but it's something i'm enjoying because it gives you the opportunity really to transform the lives of people and to get them to see a different perspective and it was not until i really got into the politics i realized the impact of the negative policies that the the the regimes regimes of government you understand have imposed on people um and so and i say that in particular with respect to what you see in communities the the the division you know the division even in terms of the way the footpath is done you understand it's not for the whole community it's for some of the community you know so having visited the communities and picking up those simple issues that create trauma in the lives of some people i think i'm in it to stay so i'm quite happy to be here and um i look forward to continue working with the people of sin lucha to ensure that we can make a difference and get people to understand that the culture is all of us and is what we do how we do it um and it's really nothing can happen if there is no culture culture is our future and it's here to stay and i'm here to be a part of the process with my people since we're talking about women i felt like i should also ask this question how do you think women being in politics differentiates really from men being in politics i think women bring maybe it's because of our maternal instinct or you know the women bring that dimension where we are more concerned about the human component the human element i think a man would be more on the physical side of things yeah okay the chair needs to change then it will move you understand but the woman would look at the processes in moving that chair you understand she'll probably need to get you know the the the best fit the right fit the right color there's so many things that go through a woman's head in doing one simple task whereas the man is more you know um how do i say now more rigid in terms of trying to make it happen but yeah we take time um we listen and we hear beyond just what is being said i think that is really the difference between the women and the man we bring that human side you know and a greater level of feeling um an understanding of the issues and plight of our people to the dimension and i'm telling you i've seen that every day you know people say yeah you actually came on time you know you actually you know it's amazing the simple things the simple things that make a difference yes you know you take their call when they call you you know you listen to them you hear their stories you hear they cry you may not be able to help them in terms of making the the big difference but just the understanding of the emotion that they're going through you know sometimes makes a difference and i think that's what women bring i'm not sure if claudia was asking for herself but she also asked you about young women entering politics and how um that would inspire them yeah and uh yeah and but but what was interesting about this study um claudia was the fact that there are many more women at the base of the politics you understand many more women at the base but the men are portrayed to the front the men are at the front but when you look at the strength of the man if you look at who is behind him you see the women rallying and what was good about the book too was that it recognized some of those stalwarts in terms of the women who stood you know through thick and thin who were the mami's heirs you understand all the politics in this country um so it's good reading for young people and i think it can only serve to inspire i was inspired by just being in the setting with some of those women you know like go through george and um the former prime minister's wife um chanice cumton you know you listen to the story of mrs marie you know there are lots of persons in there who really made a difference not in terms of the big picture but in just the little things they did you know to support the processes so i think it's good reading for young people and i think it can only serve to inspire them to be able to to get to the top and i think based on that book i could see perhaps another 50 women getting involved in a short space of time in the politics of this country not just politics but in the leadership um of the of the politics in silmousha 45 minutes really goes fast um we need to wrap up um minister thank you so much for being with us um we have to wrap up cheffield you need to make it really quick 30s and notes for the purpose behind the rebranding of the festival of lights to the december festival okay yeah well december festival it's it's christmas time in silmousha it's um december when we celebrate we celebrate lights i i you know it's rebranding and rebranding is all about sometimes just appealing you understand to the new generation a lot of us grew up with it as festival of lights but i think now what you want is a is a is a wide across section of people becoming involved um and festival of lights in the past was primarily focused in the city we want now the entire country to embrace it you know so the december festival is for silmousha includes lights includes lanterns includes music and that happens across our country we want to embrace everybody and that was i think the prime purpose of making sure we transform it inclusiveness is the focus and remember we are government of inclusiveness and bringing in all solutions because we believe that is the only way we can thrive as a country people need to come together people need to feel apart people need to be engaged in the process we cannot do it one on you know by ourselves both parties political parties must be all parties must be a part of that process people living in communities first the politicians will come and go but our people will always be there on the ground in the communities living together working together and we must recognize that and as a government of the people for the people by the people that is our philosophy okay a great note of unity to end on thank you very much honorable minister for being with us here today and being so frank and open in your discussions thank you to the members of the media and thank you to those listening to us live on ntn and on youtube until next year when we will have another briefing room thank you very much everybody


Dr. Vinayak Dhanate, Consultant and Orthopedic Surgeon in Manipal Hospital, Mahadev. I look after the patient's joints and bones. So today we'll talk about arthritis in patients' knees. So arthritis is a very common condition and millions of patients in India suffer from knee arthritis. And the successful operation which is performed very routinely in India is knee replacement surgeries. Knee replacement is so successful that millions and millions of patients worldwide have undergone this surgery and technology advancement has made this implant last longer than ever. So let's first talk about arthritis in the knee. What is arthritis in the knee? So knee joint, if you see here at the model, it is covered with a glistening white structure what we call cartilage. There is also a layer of cushion in the knee what we call the meniscus. So when this cartilage gets damaged either because of the injury or because of the age related process, this cartilage starts bearing out. If you concentrate on the model number two here, you can see there is some early degenerative changes in the knee joint here. So these changes when they progress, they expose the raw bone underneath. And when this raw bone comes in contact with each other, the patients start getting lot of pain in their knee. This pain can give pain around their knee joint, they wake up there, disturb the sleep in the nighttime, patients get intense spasm back side of their knee and it also affects their daily routine activities and walking distance. Patients usually take support of the painkiller medications. But eventually when the arthritis progresses, these painkiller medications stops working. So when the arthritis becomes grade four and when it is a bone and bone arthritis if you concentrate here on the model number three, the cartilage is completely worn out and the bone is in complete contact with each other. That is the point when people should consider a replacement. So what are the symptoms that somebody should look for when they want to think about replacement and getting an expert opinion about it. So when the pain is severe enough to not respond the painkiller medications, it is disturbing patients daily sleep and it is affecting their walking distance and restricting it to less than one kilometer. And they require some kind of support or sitting while walking because of the pain. So that's when somebody should consider a knee replacement surgery. So what is a knee replacement surgery? What we do is we take out the worn out portion to the joint and replace it with an artificial joint. If you see at the model here, the top portion is replaced with a metallic bit. The bottom portion has two parts. One is a metallic bit which replaces the worn out portion of the bone and then there is a plastic insert which acts as a cushion replacing the natural meniscus and that gives a smooth gliding movement in the knee joint. So knee replacement is one of the most successful surgeries. More than 97% patients are successful after the surgery. With the technological advancement, these processes are lasting as long as 25 to 30 years and patients who are nearing their 60s undergo this surgery. They may not require another surgery later on in their life. So knee replacement is a kind of surgery which is performed in old age. So one should not fear that they are older, they have blood pressure, diabetes and it is going to affect their surgical outcome. It is operation meant to be performed in old age and they are very successful. After the surgery, one can be independent and do all their activities on their own. They can walk long distances. The only restriction that one should keep in mind after the knee replacement is not to squat too much in using Indian toilets and avoid seating cross-legged on the floor. So if you are suffering from knee pain, which is not responding to painkillers, we have the latest advancement at Mudipal Hospital Baden and we will look after your knees and perform successful operations. Thank you.


Today's story starts in 1959. Khrushchev, who was the then president of Russia, tears Pepsi Cola for the very first time in his life, falls in love with it immediately and so the very clever CEO of Pepsi jumps on the deal and he manages to get the monopoly to be the only American Cola in Russia. Only problem however is how is Russia going to pay for it because the ruble at this point has absolutely no value outside of the country. But Khrushchev loves to drink so much that they come to a slightly different agreement. Russia agrees to pay Pepsi in vodka. Literally they paid Pepsi Cola in mountains and mountains of vodka which Pepsi would then take back to America, sell it over there and that's how they agreed that they would make back their money. But then in 1980 the Russians invade Afghanistan, the Americans are absolutely furious and they respond by boycotting all Soviet products including the vodka that Pepsi was selling. But by now the Russians have come to love Pepsi Cola so much that they're not prepared to give it up so they come up with another solution. In 1989 the Russians decided that they would pay Pepsi in warships. To be precise they gave them one Soviet cruiser, one frigate, 17 submarines and a handful of oil tankers along with an assortment of a few other things and so Pepsi actually ended up owning its own navy and not just any navy. This was the sixth largest navy in the world at that point. Now as you can imagine the US government was absolutely furious. I mean imagine a private corporation in your own country becoming such a huge naval power that it's bigger than almost every other country in the world and it is independent of you. Which means that you cannot tell them what to do. It's a very scary thought. Eventually of course the US government forced Pepsi into selling their navy to be prepared. The warships weren't really battle worthy. They were pretty useless. They were barely sold for scrap. But for me what was really scary when I read the story for the first time was how easy it is for a private corporation to become a world superpower. It reminded me a little of the East India Company. You know there are such few controls on what countries with big firepower can do to each other. There are even fewer controls, even fewer rules around what private corporations can do. And that my dears is a thought that should be enough to give you nightmares.


Since we have talked about different aspects of informed consent, now it is important to discuss what could be the possible issues and challenges while administrating the informed consent to the population. The first one is language issues. The consent process should be conducted in a research language which is readable, understandable and very easy to be comprehended by the participants. If their primary language is there, they can easily understand it and understand the consent form and negotiate it. But if it is not in their language and they do not understand it, it needs to be translated into their own language so that they can read it and understand it in the same way and sign it. An institutional review board may require independent confirmation of the accuracy of the translation. If we are doing a research on a specific population who thinks it is a special language, even though maybe it is a specific type of language, we should give it a translated version of it. For example, if we are doing a research in Punjab and we are doing it in Punjabi language, then the way it is written in Punjabi language should be the same which most of the participants can understand in Punjabi. But if the people living in Punjab are aware of Urdu and can easily give their consent in Urdu language, then we can also give them the question of Urdu language. Similarly, when we are working with literate and illiterate people and we have to ask them a verbal concern or a verbal questionnaire, then they can also be asked in Urdu language or we can see it translated into Urdu as it is not possible in English. So, we have to make it on the basis of the requirement of the participants. For example, a lot of the students who research psychology, when they collect data from the students, they report that when we give a questionnaire in Urdu, then the students have a problem because they do not get a good Urdu. And when they give a questionnaire in English, then it is not easy for them. In such a situation, we should see whether we are equalising all the participants, maybe we should prepare English and Urdu versions of that questionnaire and then we should administer it on our participants. Then comes the cultural issues. There are few cultural differences other than language such as comfort in asking questions. For instance, if we are going to ask certain questions in one culture that may be very easy for them to respond on that and if we ask the same question in a different culture, then if there are no practices then it can be a little embarrassing to answer that question for people. For instance, if we talk about prayer and prayer, then if we ask a Muslim culture society whether they are praying then it is socially desirable that they reply and say yes. And if you want to give an honest answer that they do not pray, then they will feel a little embarrassed that they are not socially desirable. So the religious questions at that time may be very critical to be asked in different cultures. Similarly, if we ask a question in a very conservative society about women's liberal rights and we ask it in a western society then we can get responses in that as well in different ways. So we should see which culture is being researched according to that question. That is why we adapt and modify a lot of the questions and we develop them in an indigenous way. For example, while proficient in language, a researcher would ask a community member to help with consent procedure because participants will be more comfortable with that person. That is, if a researcher has come from a different community then he can take a translator or a local community member along with him who is asking whether you are comfortable with doing this research or not. Paul's expectations. Even when there are no language or cultural barriers, still few participants may have more Paul's expectations related to the study and this is very much common. Often, participants do not have the right to do research. For example, some patients fear of being treated as an experimental model. They refuse to take part because of clinical trial fraud and misconduct known to them. In this research, when this word is read as an experimental study, then participants are reluctant to participate in the study because they may feel that there is no fraud or clinical trial in which we should be given medication or misbehaved and we should face some adverse reactions clinically. Even the students avoid doing experimental studies because they also feel that expertise should be very subtle for experimental studies in which experimental studies can be carefully designed and participants do not have to face any kind of harm. Then, layered consent. Sometimes participants may need to choose among several options. For example, they may agree to be interviewed but they do not agree to be videotaped and this is very much common or they want their real names to be used or not. This is also very common. So, these options must be in separate lines and easy to select. In other words, you can give them multiple options such as videotape, audiotape or note down with paper pencils. Because some people do not allow videotape but they are comfortable with audiotape. Some people do not even give permission to take notes. Whereas some people feel that someone is taking notes and they are distressed and say that they just need to record. So, there are different situations in which you know human psyche behaves in a different way and they can easily choose what is being felt comfortable to them and accordingly we can easily overcome these challenges in the form of consent.