place in law legal team needs to finish in the top for to qualify for next seasons champions, league old face a deeper financial crisis. barcelona a $1500000000.00 in debt and counting jobby hernandez, a former midfielder, currently in charge of b katara club al sands is favorite to replace common ah, this is out there. these your top stories. sick sidney's ambassadors have been sacked by the military's international pressure grows against mondays to the african union. how suspended cartoon around the world bank has put aide on hold. what's important for the secretary general and for all of us, is to see the immediate, an unconditional release. of all other government officials who continue to be on, on lawfully detained,

as well as activist or anyone else who has been detained arbitrarily by the authorities. and every, once human rights of course, must be respected. the secretary general has been on the phone and his advisors have been in touch with relevant people. pakistan's government is threatening to crack down on a bond group bond to 4. policemen were killed at a raleigh near the whole. thousands more were injured. demonstrators have been blocking one of pakistan's busiest highways since last week. the violence broke out after the government rejected protest as demands. they want the release of their leader and the expulsion of the french ambassador over the 2017 charlie at dough. cartoons. shots have been fired at haiti's. justice minister has called lawyers targeted as an event to prove it safe to go to petrol stations. i'm from. he was on

homed gangs happened blockading fuel depos, bringing much of the capital to a standstill. sri lankan farmers a gathering to protest against a lack of fertilizer as a new cultivation season gets underway. the shortage follows a decision to ban agro chemicals. the government is restricting non essential imports to ease of foreign currency crisis. the u. s. military's most senior officer has called a hypersonic missile test by china, very concerning general mark milles the 1st pentagon official to confirm the nature of the test. earlier this year, hypersonic weapon launched into orbit has the potential to evade america's assault defenses. and he has continues here on out as era of to context. india stay with us fixing longer. how's them shorter deadlines? south korean delivery drivers are literally being worked to death. one 0 one east

explorer, the dock side of consumer convenience and south korea on al jazeera. hello and welcome to context india. i'm fi, desousa coming to you from the city of one by on context india. our aim is to give you an in depth look into the world's most populous democracy. from the insight we're not chasing breaking stories. instead, we're taking the time to deliver a fuller o considered analysis of india. it's politics and it's people. in each of the 4 episodes in this series, we'll be taking a closer look at a specific facet of what has perhaps been the biggest crisis india has faced since independence. corbett devastated numerous countries. but in years experience, especially during the 2nd we've began in april 2021 was one of the most shocking

pandemic ordeals the corporate impact, both in the short and the long term will be significant. and that is why it is the focus of this series. in this 1st episode will be analyzing the role of government . i will be speaking with priyanka chad to really member of parliament and a senior opposition politician and marines. nathan, e. g, a leader in the ruling vantage and our party bgp be discussing issues of accountability. crisis management and why india has suffered so many avoidable debts during the pandemic will be closing each week's episode with a piece of pandemic art and music created by indian artists in the many months. cuz it was around this week. we're sharing a tune by a group of 4 crocker's sophomore. ah,

understanding how and why covert greek such have all been india. understanding what steps were taken and not taken by the government. and understanding the lessons from the indian pandemic experienced requires us to step back in time. at the beginning of 2021, india looked like it had beaten cove. it a stringent national lockdown during the 1st wave was followed by a fall in case numbers. the country was getting back to business as usual, the messaging from the mo, the government, but that india was a beacon for a post cupboard future. 1.3000000000, so java park log you better. only arguably, re swat zagata, but back are all made. got some basically got a guy are just 2 months after the speech by prime minister movie to the world economic forum. india was in the cross of a catastrophic 2nd wave with

a new mutation of the corona virus. the delta variant spreading like wildfire at the peak of the 2nd wave in may 2021 in there was reporting approximately 400000 daily cases and 4000 daily debts according to numerous statistical studies. however, these official figures was significant underestimates the delta variant alone doesn't explain the magnitude of what was unfolding. the actions of the in state require some scrutiny. first, the government, yes. governments both federal and regional levels like that got done in march 2021. india has been health minister, doctor hush for the girl, had this to say about that if one of us that i think the approach call it in the mail. just 3 days after the minister made this speech,

a group of scientific adviser, all boss of a government organized consortium, shed data, the ministry of health, indicating that new was contagious mutations. corona virus spreading and india. according to our lasting spokesperson of the volunteer agenda parties to be g p. the owners to respond to scientific data was on the regional or state government incentive government. an invalid issued by mr. nothing would be g. we have got more than 70 commit to monitor the trend of this virus. and in february 2021, the committees had 113 states like at a loss mirage drug took, discard that they can see research of the cases in the state and they should be on alert. but somehow they didn't give any he to these warning and it spread in all of the country. the prime minister did have official meetings related to corporate 19

leading up the 2nd wave of ever significantly reduced between generally in march 2021. in fact, in march, the prime minister had only one meeting with the chief minister. so whenever we think about this training, they all these factors that time for the building wasn't really been up until, but our ability to detect it and still act on it was something that we could have done if we had boots better. and of course, there was no need for us to set up super trading events that wound up spreading the disease. every part of it wasn't just one super federal. in fact, they will multiple, it was the come me law festival. a hindu pilgrimage that reached its most crucial.

in march and april 2021. millions converged in the north indian state of a truck and more than 3000000 people taking a ritual. and began just river on the 12th of april on that same day in the recorded more than 160000 daily cases. at the same time as all of this campaigning for regional elections in western gold, canada. and some will not do what i'm doing. and the prime minister movie and key members of his cabinet were headlining, massive political rallies, arch job, many as about a decade. any super spread event, any place there, that knowledge number of people get, that will be a problem. and if you look at those 50, that's 18 times you can you, in cases in the 2nd building for me and in the election,

also the huge value to people. and you know, case of have gone up in every single state elections as case number sword and more people required hospitalization in their health care system was utterly overwhelmed by early april 2021 major cities like bengal m about and even the capital new delhi were facing massive shortages of ice u beds and oxygen. by april 22nd, the supreme court of india instructed the government to quote, beg, borrow steel or import and good to meet the skyrocketing demand for oxygen. that was the same day, april 22nd. when the government finally hit the breaks on big public events, but things had already gotten out of hand by the middle of me. scores of bodies was seen floating in box of the gun just river, washing up along its banks. territory and burial grounds will flow to capacity and

people were depositing bodies into the water. it was some critics who said that the media coverage of all of this was part of a conspiracy against the chief minister of the state of the physician. to which much of again, just flows when we see the, all the pictures of dead bodies into but again just order v c b cremation. grounds . then i will say this is a on the because we never saw any picture. all sham genes that just mostly graveyards. on the in the why. so because we have got among who is with the, for these any analysis of india, 2nd wave. and this off to mom has to fax. so the countries vaccination policy at the end of last 2021 in the us or preventative to the united nations, delivered to somebody the government's priority. as of today, we have supply move, act seems globally that have actually need to not on people. 2021 had begun with

the vaccine export, skyrocketing and india. one of the biggest vaccine producers globally calling itself was pharmacy index. 1466000000 doses of the code, 900 vaccine, the 95 countries until the end of me 2021. i didn't truly have a problem with the exports from the beginning. they closed the way exporting at the time when cases and then very little and, and good lose that. did it made sense to export at that time. but i think what was really needed was that we should have had a policy that was clearly spells out and try to react to the situation. domestic by the end of march 2021 in the export and ramped up the national campaign to actually citizen in july 2021 prime minister movie overhauls. his cabinet headline change within the ministry of health. sure. the

girl was replaced. i knew minister went to another key appointment was in the ministry of information and broadcasting the indian government determined to change the narrative in the country. so what could have been avoided in india's pandemic experience? what has been learned to prepare the country for future searches and outbreaks? i am speaking with miss priyanka, how to really a member of parliament with the ships in our party, representing the opposition and from the b j. p. which is the party that runs the central government and several state governments. mister there named bethany joe, was the lead over the party. by opening question is to the both of you, but i'll start with you, mr. the nature. the pandemic 2nd wave in india exposed the fragility of india's institutions and its health care infrastructure. several critics are calling it an, an mitigated disaster. why did this happen, and who was most be responsible,

mr. kanisha? well the whole has been a challenge not for the for the or she's a union. ready of states and has a state subject, central government is very important role. but when you look at these, some states might have a little bigger investor just for the challenge as well. but i think over you look at the future and in some cases, some students then better than the others and listen to them and also the work 24 by 7 by 5, in a sense of using official this authority. i want to give you an option on to the same question, was the 2nd wave in your opinion and unmitigated disaster. and who do you think was most responsible for as far as the secondary was concerned, there were some failures on that part. and just to put this in context, i must say once the indian epidemic act was put into place, the central government becomes solar potter. d sending guidelines to radio state,

whether it is in terms of medication, in terms of treatment protocols, in terms of vaccination. now, what happened to the 2nd wave, we had a election campaigns going on and voted this regard to a 2nd wave which was, you know, happening across the world was getting a dozen the fees, but there was no capacity building happening. we had started fighting ourselves on the back about having a, you know, one over a, as far as india, as a populous nation is concerned, there were shortage of bits. they were shortage of oxygen. they were shocked to do medicines, those shortage of vaccines. and how do we plan ourselves better? is something that me as a state and as a country would need to look at our resources to ensure that we do not pay something like this ever again. was that the nature we know now that in early 2021 there was scientists who had submitted reports to government warning off a very infectious variant that would have a call the country. nevertheless,

the government allowed large scale events to take place. do you say now the central government would take responsibility for those a way to win debts? first of all, you see who is a global crisis and the worker is trying to do this. once you central government takes the job down to what the government does weight, but then again on the ground, that is the responsibility of the states. but to say that the government, a government, a government never did that government actually moved to election. that was the election commission of which is an organization is not part of it. and in terms of it, just be 149 percent century. it wasn't, you know, in the country. it was kind of an informal consensus in the country that actually we are kind of coming out of it is in fact the 2nd being all of us. but as of right

now, most of the needs are the new york times put out an article saying senior officials at the indian council for medical research. the i, c. m, are forced scientists of a lead institutions to downplay the type of the pandemic. to prioritize mr. moore, these political goals, i do respond to that. well, i just want to let you know this might be by good for you, not for me. now the point is that the might talk with some doctors and other government a i c, m. are there any of the organizations give it as a border with the organization in the middle, the government, myself, i'm getting ready to want to respond to that. come from the state of my rush. it's our highest amount of caseload at one particular point in time. but he also denies the shortcomings in terms of where we could be lacking when the 2nd wave strikes. our task was led by scientists was led by medical experts and everybody continue to want that there is a 2nd wave coming. and if you don't take that is if you're going to base capacities,

you're going to have a problem. what unfortunately happened at the center was a clear declaration of we have will, will come to plus, that is going to be no 2nd wave. and we went and gave over all right, scenes as well. so these are challenges and i think acceptance of those mistakes only makes you stronger and prepares you better for the future. don't deny what is coming in the new york times to deny what is being reported in in good newspapers to even deny in your parliament. the question that nobody died of oxygen shorted, i think is an unfortunate way of preparing yourself for the future and the capacity building that is needed for the country. you represent the ships in our party which runs marsh trucks. was his state in the country home to them by which is our major business city, where the 2nd wave really mushrooms, the 7th of april 2021 mister dr. hush for them going was the ben hill minister of the country said, and i quote, i have been a witness of the mist governance and i took casual approach of the marshal government in battling the vidas. the lackadaisical attitude of this state

government has singularly bog down the entire country efforts to fight the virus. what is your response to that? mara was the only state which was reporting transparently, and the health minister stepping down as the biggest response that would come from the prime minister about what his statements were. well, mrs. and he said, you agreed that the cabinetry shuffle in the removal of the health minister in the middle of a health crisis was an acknowledgment of mismanagement on the part of the central government. evidently, shipment was a long overdue and the household and did a great job on this book on this order was actually wanting to send the city a state. okay. actually man is still going be the 2nd. do you know a, if it was certain asia at the beginning of 2021, the indian government was justifiably proud that india was supplying vaccines to

the world. but on the domestic side, by mid january, the government had only ordered 16500000 doses, for the population of over 1300000000. when the 2nd wave hit, producers had to break their export deal so that indian citizens could be vaccinated yet at the start of june, only 3 percent of the population had been fully vaccinated. why was the domestic vaccinations so poorly planned? lou good is a dynamic situation globally when you realize that actually most of your own people decided to put it back on that for a student to another student. i think it's remark, it will be less, less a 2nd with opportunity to rebut. actually, unfortunately for missed at the nature to make it political by saying i failed to

control. i thought that was extremely unfortunate because data will tell you variances line of the problems like talk about transparency so that, that is a challenge where i think india is a nation field under the governance of the central to miss out of it is easy to criticize the central government, but if we look at marcia with one of the largest state budgets and also some of the worst inequality when it comes to health care, should the marshal government take responsibility for the fact that it's health care infrastructure is inadequate? i will accept all judges about higher numbers about reporting numbers, etc, but i will not accept them. what i show is not prepared for the 2nd in terms of, you know, identifying radians, who are doing good in terms of ensuring that capacity will linger. vaccine happens, you're doing it in terms of creating field hospitals besides the hospitals, ritual government, hospitals. we were doing it the 1st day to put a cap on the kind of pricing that the hospitals were charging us. i must remind you one fact that nowhere in the world did the central government wash off its

responsibilities, or ensuring the vaccine to all eligible population. and ensuring that were adequate stop by low vaccines. so that states are not left on their own. and so now will find your vaccines on your own, mr. the major, would you agree that the b g during the 2nd day was also fixated on controlling the narrative and managing its image during the pandemic? in april, the chief minister with which is the beach, the stronghold told officials to clamp down on hospitals that were complaining to the media about oxygen shortages. the state even pressed criminal charges against one civilian individual who had used twitter to request for oxygen for a loved one. well, the one studio is on the $1120.00 in our country. you see the point here is that government didn't have time for this b, c, c. last we will be moving off season. we will be doing whatever we can kind of support. we can mobilize government and whenever possible, our so busy,

we didn't have time for managing. imagine those. and that was not miss that already . the one of the frequent criticisms of the opposition that you represent in parliament is that there's no cohesive voice that they haven't really been very vocal advocates of the citizens of this country during the 2nd. be able to find me even in parliament. when parliamentary convened, the focus was not so much on accountability. over coven? why as that, as an opposition? we had come together for the 1st time? in fact, i would say during this particular session, $17.00 to $18.00 political parties came together to ask for answers from the government of india. and it was about call when it was about rising fuel prices. it was about biggest isn't it has to do with national security. so i would say there has been more of who has a response this time around. when many political parties, we have different sets of opinions on various other issues. but coming together under one umbrella to be able to hold

a government accountable or government could not, i have answers. and by having the health minister step done just before the session began, speaks what it says that government also gave a vote of no confidence, especially the prime minister to the health ministers response to the pandemic. and obviously that you could call it be holding him this cable, making him this cable and asking him to step down and take all the model. responsibility is another thing for the government to address noncommittally. to say, i have a question for both of you don't, the citizens have inter deserve accountability. will there be an independent inquiry order so that we learn from these mistakes almost of any job? will the government continue to maintain that you did a fantastic job in terms of accountability just for the democracy? so that's why you. ready mention a fish, if we have not done anything, as some people play a lot with us, they're seen as working on the going to 4 by 7. do see that what we have done for the people, you know, a best when it comes to accountability when democracy people know the best. my

point was that my last day failed to put in my family. yes. my youngest, that was to the family. you know, i want from you was my friend. yeah. i'm sorry. i think if that is the basis of apology, then i think the prime minister was an apology to the entire nation. it's not just of interest your family. there are many families that suffered so many bodies are found floating and the gun when even dead when time departed from states like my life, my depredation language, arts for the british as far as citizens of the country are concerned, election is not the only mechanism of checking popularity and having so the people of the country democracy is also seen in the parliament. democracy also comes when you allow the opposition to be able to hold you accountable and seek answers from you. democracy also tells you that when the government has been given a chance to govern opposition has been given the authority to question. that's how

democracy works. it does not work on election to election basis. a democracy election is not the only platform to many others that are to you know, me asking questions question so those are asking question opposition? just asking the question, when it comes to democracy is important. we have a strong opposition in the country. we want that was not what the prime minister going to by the way or by 7. or do you want to say it's like all of us. you can tell us how good you handle the situation. you know what happened on where to go. my name is melissa, i completed it as a book i wanted to be. i actually gave an answer to how the court would have been managed better by telling you that in the state of but i thought it was led by scientists. it was led by medical exports. we created field hospitals. we d centralized pub. well,

so i would just say one thing you can listen from the point of not responding. you can sometimes listen to get more ideas. alright, bethany child was set to really thank you for joining us here on a context and going on to see her. i appreciate your time. and finally, on the show, we want to share our space with indian voices outside of government, academics and the mainstream media. india abounds with artists who create work in multiple languages. every week will be bringing your music created during the pandemic. today we're presenting an except for song in the bush can be gina, meaning living through tough times, composed and presented by a full prop band from the city of bingo. little in south india. it's a gentle reminder that even in good times you must choose to live. i hope you enjoy the music. i'll see you next week on context in

a, a, a, a a . ah, ah, ah, ah! lead us from the world's biggest economists will convene in rome this month to

discuss the deteriorating economic situation in afghanistan. but all ice will also be on the g twenty's response to the climate emergency. can they find a way to prioritize the planets, health? oh, good gdp, special coverage on out to a zip. to many i've been forced to flee their homes, escaping violence, conflict and poverty. but in the last decade, weather related crises have become a primary trigger for the displacement of people as droughts, hurricane and floods besieged communities. hoot lines travels to the front lines of the climate crisis in central america to see how it's appending lives, and fueling migration exit on doors. a climate in crisis on al jazeera talk to al jazeera. we ask how would you describe taliban relationship with the us? we listen, copied, my kid is not over. coffee 19 has been terrible demonstration of the failure of

humans so that we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter on al jazeera. ah, i'm an insight into how i hear top stories on al jazeera. 6 didn't ease in boston, happens saps by the military as international pressure grows against monday's cave . the african union has suspended. can't see him on the well, bank has put aide on hold. kristen slim, he has moved from the un several council members took the opportunity to day to i can damn what's happened. the u. s. called the military take over a completely unacceptable kenya, african member of the council. before the meeting, i called on the 6.