A super majority in the fall of and free elections a controversial change in the constitution on the cards we look at what this means for the countrys democracy. Im british welcome to the doctor news asia glad you could join us in the past 3 weeks alone india has added 1000000 cases of confirmed good on about us infections do it store to tally this stands at more than 2000000 the 3rd highest in the world after the United States and brazil while testing rates in the country have gone up dramatically there are concerns the figure of 2000000 may not represent the true extent of covert 1000 infections in the country. 2000000 cases of a deadly highly contagious why this these are not the scenes you expect. Yet india seems to have to conclude with 19 minutes trade. Shopkeeper at the needed is keeping busy. The business is fos lower than what it once was he is just glad to be up and running once more simple but life has to start again everyone knows that we need to take precautions people know that they have to maintain social distancing because things are going to stay this way. Despite the high caseload people are still finding via shortens compile the numbers out of every cheek with 1000 patients in india have a couple of the official mortality of each is low as well and delhi has set an example. In june that he has passed october home ben by a dramatic rise in cases but thats the best thing i can to day that would probably be its time that 90 percent there could be more than meets the eye in the Sample Survey the Delhi Government found that a fault of the people tested had had the quota and i was. This would mean 5000000 cases in delhi alone yet people seem confident. But it doesnt keep sitting at one place and you have to move on and see if these basic it is within our hands will leave you have to take precautions and move on or no longer the hospitals are doing better people were getting pushed around while in line for treatment but now theyre getting help theres no longer anything to be afraid of theres no problem were doing ok. India does have the was fostered growing outbreak normalcy however seems to be steadily fighting its way back. Joining me now is professor shall make of ravi from the nonprofit Brookings Institute and he was also a member of the prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council professor are we welcome the 3rd highest caseload in the world with more than 2000000 cases would you say this is of coals of water you put in there well no its more the cause of. Because in terms of the absolute number isnt one india get infrastructure can only the so its not as much a concern from a global perspective if. You know 12 or 3 in terms of the case but there is by being constrained because. You know the relatively Weak Health Infrastructure in a lot of the states where the infection is spreading now lets just talk about that have the infrastructure i mean last month and so we saw these having scenes from hospitals in my and only the 2 biggest metros in the country and arguably cities with the best Health Infrastructure in the country people couldnt find beds over there i mean does that make you confident indian Health Infrastructure can actually cope with this well given that the situation in delhi has started to improve as of last month and a half we have seen similar moves in chennai which is the 2nd highest the lot is the 2nd largest agent is the case one where things have not lessened it was they havent improved either so there is reason to believe that if managed well you know i think states. Sort of handle the crisis but i do think now given the overall case you know the focus off policymakers truly has to be in terms of minimizing the death rate rather than you know keeping count. And speaking of that debt through it as far as i understand indias death rate is one of the lowest in the world i think something along the lines of 24. 22 deaths per 1000000 yet you have more than 2000000 confirmed cases can you explain this mismatch. Well one is now the death rate isnt 24. 00 anymore its close to kochi so clearly the death rate is increasing overall if you look at but a 1000000 people in the population this is pretty low compared to all the oil city countries if you consider western europe are the us or visit but within the south asian region this is not that uncommon goal which seems to allude that perhaps the virus the strain of whiteness in the region is different all perhaps there is a need immunity i think the signs of it is still at a very early stage in terms of their immunity and what what it might mean for people of this region want i just like to come back to the 2000000 figure we talk about these as confirmed cases but i wonder if they really give us the whole picture of infections in india i mean confirmed cases doesnt necessarily equal the total number of infected people i mean these could be people who have had the virus but dont show up anywhere in official figures so do you think the extent of the covered 1000. 00 pandemic in india is far bigger than just 2000000 figure. I do think that that it was likely that that is a situation almost everywhere the numbers will eventually reflect the amount of testing that a state of the country is getting out now while india has really ramped up the testing for corbett over the last few months and particularly since june and what were seeing is in some of the states across india the basel to do rate which means out of every 100 test how many cases do come confirmed positive for the virus that has been quite high now that the view that youre basically sets a benchmark of 5 percent and yet we do have to try and then im going to which are relatively economically more developed part of the country where Positivity Rate is much above 15 percent but i do think that you would variations and. India doesnt have one uniform story there are many stories unfolding slightly to its always the case but then there isnt a professor from a dowry from the Brookings Institute thank you very much for joining us. To sri lankan as were next where the party of the president rajapaksa has secured an overwhelming majority in Parliament Elections that means that his brother. Returns as Prime Minister celebrations broke out on the streets in the island nation is that our departures Sri Lanka Peoples Party secured 59 percent of the vote with the support of several minority parties the party will be able to reach a 2 thirds majority of 150 seats in parliament and as weve reported on tuesday this is a crucial number because the party can now bring changes to the constitution that would reinstate greater powers for the president. And joining me now from melbourne is a month operetta is a researcher at australias c. Q. University a month we were talking about this just days back and you had called the election a choice between military oriented Public Administration and civil freedoms so what has chosen. Well i think obviously. The former. But i think the choice is not entirely unexpected why do you say that is that because sri lanka has appears to have gone down the route of lets make my daughter terrorism. Well. And that 3 lankans. For our security Oriented Administration has been quite clear in the last one and a half years or so. They eased attacks last year i think. The country kind of went back into a shell and probably the majority decided that the security of the country and of the citizens matters more than anything else right now. So what security being a primer on the agenda are now with this super majority in parliament can read therefore expect a change in the constitution as president could talk about our departure as party wants or do you think even face opposition from his brother the Prime Minister. No i think the constitutional changes that are likely to go ahead and they probably would be vpon the very 1st. Time that this government would look into because from even before you was elected president last november were going to write a boxer and this party has been emphasizing that they need they need a very strong presidency not only to make sure that the countrys security is not jeopardized but also to make sure that their policies that carry through without any kind of brill back or slow down between the government what do these policy is especially centered as they are as their parents appear to start around the security issue what does all this mean for sri lankas minorities especially time mills and muslims. Well if you look at who is them i know that is war dead that i know it is also there is indication that there is change they did not want especially the tamil northern them as did not war holy to a party that thats too far all. Right for them i know they do you see that is also in the o. T. So i guess in terms of the might only be what you would all you can also see signs that they sense that you know being in opposition and trying to fight for certain things and not getting them probably is not the right choice choice and people are probably voting for a candidate who i need to be parliament and getting the government and get things done for the. But what does that mean for democracy in general in sri lanka i mean effectively should not that doesnt really have a very powerful opposition or isnt it. Well if you look at the opposition i think the opposition is in in for the really hard regrouping if this really im going opposition has been done here did by one count right here that im saying that since 994. 00 that is a long time and this time around he lost this seat so the opposition and them in opposition parties will probably have to regroup and then think about mounting. Possible challenge thats going to take some time a month or whatever leave their leave it there for the time being but thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. And thats it for today be sure to check out other stories on beat up the dot com post on facebook and believe in know what some other images also from sri lanka where one day before the election. I had our 1st of all was celebrated this time. Because of the. Thank you for watching and have a good weekend with you back on monday of are. Full of surprises. Some tips in the footsteps of the great. Concerns of the most towns the fleet street. For a time you want. To marry much. Good guy to spend in germany. Where exactly. Was. The last car sculpture history of. Travel extremely where it. Is recycled the future of architecture welcome to arts and culture where well be asking that question and also coming up. Versus substance redefining the parisian woman beyond cliches about how the lips and fancy scarves. And transforming a nasty old mattress into a belgian waffle or maybe a spicy taco trash fast food sculptures by artist. But 1st the fridays for future Youth Movement against Climate Change has inspired people around the globe including architects here in germany a group called architects for future is pushing to reform construction for instance by renovating buildings instead of demolishing them the goal is to help stop global warming. Were told we need to build more especially living space but the big question is how to do that sustainably the building industry is responsible for more Greenhouse Gas emissions than all traffic component and it produces more waste then any industry. 50 percent to 40 percent of Greenhouse Gas emissions in germany and 60 percent of all the waste can be attributed to the building industry and thats a big motivation for us and normally he would out of the him just like under the high