Step closer to the heart of power on the island Mr Schembri was very close to the prime minister Joseph Muscat who insisted after the resignation of his chief of staff that he retains the confidence of his governing Labor Party Maltese police assisted by Dutch and American investigators have now arrested 3 men accused of carrying out the bomb attack an alleged middleman granted a pardon in return for providing information and a wealthy local businessman you're going Fenech he was detained as he tried to leave Malta on a yacht the u.n. Environment Program has warned of disastrous consequences if governments industry and private individuals fail to drastically ramp up efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade you know says if current strategies continue then global temperatures could rise to more than double the limit agreed under the parents' climate deal it says transition or changing behaviors is needed rescue workers in digging through rubble of collapsed buildings are to the country was struck by the strongest earthquake in decades they nears defense ministry says at least 13 people have been killed Loney has more details it's Albania's most powerful earthquake for decades the initial 6.4 magnitude tremor hit just before 4 in the morning less powerful aftershock followed around 3 hours later by then most people had left buildings in the affected areas but some were trapped in the rubble of a number of collapsed buildings and duress and nearby through Manor soldiers joined firefighters in the rescue effort and Italy Greece and neighboring countries have all offered aid and technical assistance Well the news from the b.b.c. . Antigovernment protesters have blocked major streets in the center of the southern Iraqi city of burns or roads leading to nearby oil fields have also been Can't along with an important bridge connecting the area with the North the security forces tried unsuccessfully to open it reportedly using live ammunition and making arrests the demonstrations have been fueled by anger at corruption the lack of jobs and dark public services a teenager who was severely injured by police during anti-government protests in Colombia has died 18 year old deal and Cruz became the symbol of the protests after he was hit on the head by a projectile on Saturday the Colombian president even decay is due to meet protest leaders on Tuesday after promising a national dialogue to end the demonstrations a committee of Afghan politicians say they've so far failed to find evidence to support claims that hundreds of boys were sexually abused in Logar province the 2 men who made the claims are now in custody is Joe me giving the allegation of the sexual abuse of school boys in low guard surfaced earlier this month to investigators one a social worker said more than $500.00 boys were assaulted by teachers older students and local officials they found more than $100.00 videos of the abuse on social media since then at least 5 of the abused boys have allegedly been killed by their families but a parliamentary team says it so far found no evidence of sexual abuse the security forces said the activists have now Rich rapped at their claims an Indian woman says she was attacked as she tried to enter a Conservative temple in the southern state of carolers she told reporters that as she got out of her car to climb the hill to sub Ramallah temple a man sprayed chili powder in her face a suspect has since been arrested last year in his Supreme Court removed a ban on women of childbearing age entering the temple b.b.c. News. Welcome to Outlook the program that takes you around the world one extraordinary personal story at a time I'm sharing and this week I'm taking you on a tour of my country Singapore this small island is ideally placed geographically almost midway on the shipping lanes between India and China to places where early immigrants flocked from when Singapore became a successful British Colony 2 centuries ago today Singapore attracts a much more diverse crowd from all over the world and because of this cosmopolitan quality it's always been open to multicultural experiences which is why we are starting with the Brazilian involve I. Know. This is May be he's teaching cowboy or a Brazilian martial art at his school it's a small colorful studio with soft mattress floors to cushion any fools from the martial arts practiced here pinned on the back room wall are 2 flags the green Brazilian flag and the red and white colors of the Singapore Ian flag the latter's one that may has held up several times in her sporting career she's just recently retired but she excelled in several martial arts however she began with a very different discipline I started as a swimmer I swam for Singapore from the age of 8 and I retired in 2000 so all through the course of my swimming career I been to all the major games and I also went to the 1980 Olympics in Barcelona and it was a really exciting career just to give you an idea may broke her 1st national record at the age of 12 it is kind of crazy. Now that I have to think about it because while you're going through the motions you're training you're tapering you're dieting you compete you just do that right you don't give that too much thought but I also remember standing behind the blocks at the swimming pool and there was like 5000 people at the stadium and they're chanting your name that's huge for a kid when you were young I mean that sounds really hard not having a normal childhood because you were so intensively training what drove you then I didn't come of her very very conventional family in Singapore how so well my dad had a lot of other obligations I didn't see very much of him and I knew that if I was away to go to practice in the morning my dad would be there I swam because I wanted to see my dad and have time with him and he never gave me any pressure to swim nobody did but it must've been so incredible for your family to see winning those goals to go to the and then picks I mean that is the pinnacle athletes coming right so that must've been something yes it was for my family I've spoken to my family recently asked them about what it was like for them on there and my cousins told me that whenever I was competing in what's on t.v. The entire family would come to my place and momma cooked up this huge feast for everyone and basically there's a party at home and everyone's watching me swim so I guess it's that time where brought people together to give us a sense of when you chose to retire why retirement from swimming and I knew you were training you were trying to get to the Sydney Olympics but just before that you decided it was just too much at some point I decided I wanted to stop swimming for Singapore because the pressure was getting way too much and I wasn't enjoying it anymore and I felt like I don't have anything else to prove to. Anybody I wanted to studying go back to school and pursue medicine you know being an athlete my whole life your body is what sustains you it's like a machine just curious about in the workings of the body and studying medicine is probably the only thing I can do to study the body to the cellular level and whether and I became a doctor the matter. In fact May did not become a doctor but while she was in medical school she fell in love with the not the discipline martial arts a sport she had encountered when she was a child but wasn't allowed to put I think I wasn't like primary one or primary 2 and there was. A group that came to school and did a demonstration I can't remember it was take window or karate and I was like wow I really want to do this so I went home and I asked my parents can I do this and they said no. I don't know they say girls don't lie so I guess I always had that at me and just never had a chance to explore it until I found. The. Camp where as a Brazilian martial art an art form so it's martial art hit it and dance there is music philosophy martial arts acrobatics and a lot of folklore dances. I saw a couple are for the 1st time in Brazil and I was on vacation it was my last day in Brazil I saw it in the streets and I went wow I was completely mesmerized by it it was just so much power gracefulness it was so in tune and it flowed it so beautifully and you could see that the people who were. Really good at it they're really athletic and don't like no one's getting punched and kicked in the head they can control their movements really well and I was very attractive so I started training and I met Silvio Romero the Silva Sylvia was an enormous influence on you he was your main tool and your training and your palm tell us how you both met I met him in Singapore I was training at a different school and he was visiting actually as like a visiting instructor it was a very good teacher so good you fell in love with him so conveniently. Yeah it was history after that you know we decided to build a school together and he taught me a lot a lot about martial arts the values the respect honor loyalty being humble and he kind of took it to the next level for me I mean after about 5 years a couple were he said Ok now you need to be aware of the other much awards and so he was also the 1st person to teach me Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu so and after that I started dabbling with other things like boxing judo wrestling just to know what's out there you know but he also saw a lot of potential in me but I was so adamant about not competing again because he knew I had this other life of swimming and competition and and the routine and how rigid and regimented it was so he really East me into it like he developed all my skills with outs giving me a hint if I'm going to get her to compete else is hope he lighted I was tricked into competing you really like because I went to rebel fighting championship came to Singapore and they were looking for fighters and the fighters had to audition right so I was bringing a team to addition. And like my team was going to go there and show off the skills and then suddenly they called my name like what. Additional you are names on the list and then Sylvia says Oh yeah I'd love to hear your shin pads and your head gear is here and like this feels like a set up to me to. Get everything to do with it so I auditioned I got the spot for a female fighters and then I fought in my 1st amateur and I may fight so that was pretty exciting because the odds were against me I thought a girl who had way more experience and I want it so and then the press heard about it and it just went off the charts so it was at the rebel Championship where you got your nickname my team a little bit about well I was leading up to my 1st professional fight my best friend Joe she's a fashion designer was helping me out with my fight outfits and color combination and obviously that's a thing for her details colors and how it should be combined and and she said in your fight me will be like mighty me just keep it easy and that's catchy and easy for people to understand and remember I said Ok what does my d. May say about me well I guess it just means I'm pretty tenacious and very determined and I'm not afraid to set out to do big things and I am known for navigating really difficult situations to get things done so that's the mighty Miss in me and you continued to fight Tell us what happened next Obviously when you fight you when you're like wow you know that's a great feeling and then the memories come back when I was competing swimming in and I thought at that point I had to make a decision that I want to continue or just stop it at that point. Because I knew what it would take for me to keep competing. That my life would come to a standstill again I still have to run the school and the business I have to train I have to diet which is a whole different level of commitment it's a good challenge I guess to see how far I could go with it and maybe went far before she knew it she was competing on the international m.m.a. Scene while running 2 schools would still view one in Singapore and the other on the nearby island of Bali but one day in December 26th Dean may go to message with some really sad news it was about Sylvia he'd been involved in a fatal accident in Bali I got a phone call in the morning at 9 o'clock and I will just fell apart after that. I can't remember a lot of things because it was just so traumatic I think it's just been suppressed you know but I remember crying nonstop for days I got the news and I had to fight about Leda next day and at that I was crying. Playing a cry to immigration and I cried when I was picked up at the airport all the way to the morgue when I went to see his body and I think it must have just cried for a week nonstop so picking up the pieces was hard how did you do it I don't know I. Did what was necessary the school is such a big responsibility because we have about $300.00 families here and everybody was shocked and everything but it helped when the community comes together and they supported me they had faith and be taking over Sylvia's position it's a huge shoes to fill in terms of the Professional Responsibility and then there's the part where he's my partner and that boy took a lot longer. My world martial arts was him. And when he died. Overnight my wall fell apart I was ready to throw the towel when I need to go back because you did go back to competition and you had an extraordinary when I went back because my world just changed everything became really dark I was definitely dealing with bouts of depression and situational because of that and their interests a really bad thoughts running through my head and that's not something I'm accustomed to I was just survival mode for the longest time. And then in June 1 championship which is Asia's biggest fight promotion they offered me a fight against the biggest Malaysian m.m.a. Star base and Osman and that was a fight that Sylvia had talked about for ages I was in the worst place to take on a fight I was mentally emotionally physically just wrecked but I did it because it was. Silly his legacy that was the emotional part of it but the rational part of it was you know instead of thinking about the loss and the pain and just being in that spot if I can just reach channel and redirect that into a fight camp where I have to prepare myself physically mentally emotionally for a fight it could help things get better for me and you were the underdogs in that fight Absolutely I mean how extraordinary tell us a little bit about what was going through your mind while you were in that fight with this extraordinarily talented fighter I was in a very well known fighter at that time I was very like under the radar but I know my skills I know how good I am. And the people around me and the people who know me and they knew that I was going to finish her fast it's the perception of the rest of the world who don't really know me and she was a megastar everyone knew her they've seen her fight and they're like Ok Who is this person this 40 year old got to fight her she was about 10 years younger yeah because there's so much pressure and it's Singapore Malaysia always Singapore Malaysia the competition between the 2 countries and then they've obviously hyped it up ever since independence and. Separate from Malaysia it's not as the whole historical cult and. From everything right from like how is our will Nestle much better at there than us in a lot better and then like now that we have better fighters that they have better fighters I see them up being a great fist dish that's very popular in this part of the world so it's competitive there were competitive but everything in I just had to take the time to put my head and my heart in the right place and when that's a lie and I knew I could take her on and you did it in graduations I mean that was an amazing win thing is you know how did that feel at the time because you fulfilled this and you also fulfilled so his legacy to some extent yes it was part of the reason I said yes to a fight where I had no business saying yes to I was in the worst place of my life and then this great opportunity came and that was a lifesaver for me and as it continued to help you you know this drives this focus on your sport The fact that you will passionate about to something that continues to to help in your life I've been in sports my whole life and I guess the medium changes but the drive is always there give us a sense of what it means to you to be Singaporean you know you've held the flag up so many times when everything you want in any competition with the swimming or emotional I'm very proud to be Singaporean I was born and raised here I mean I spent 16 years away from Singapore but I think that was necessary because it gave me. The opportunity to see how the rest of the world works but coming back here this is where I want to give my contribution and I compete I always have my flag with me whether where I lose I'm always very very proud to represent my country Singapore's mighty may be talking about her remarkable athletic career and may story was suggested to us by c.c. And outlook listener from Singapore who got in touch she said May is an inspiration to her and now I understand why the you can do that to wherever you are in the world just send an email to Outlook at b.b.c. Dot com to pitch a story. Now here's something you might find surprising Singapore despite its gleaming skyline of Malden and towering skyscrapers actually has nature reserves pockets of greenery where the city's tiny population of smooth coated alters have become local celebrities in fact the authors are thriving even outside those reserves and are regularly seen in the city's rivers and parks one reason they're so well known is because their antics and intentions have been captured on camera by a dedicated photographer most famously the moment a marriage proposal was photo bombed by a whole Autor family. My name is burned at Syria I'm also known as the autograph or because I love to photograph waters otters mammals Sammy aquatic and we'll roll around in sand roll around the grass they are really charismatic animals the things they do as a family is just hilarious in the airplane they're lying underfoot not giving a care in the world about the humans walking by them. Right now we're in the south central part of Singapore central business district is 5 minutes drive away where you have 1000000 people working I see anglers people fishing across from where we are I see people going up and down the river in dragon boats in canoes and kayaks and also in the distance if I'm not mistaken I think I see some Otter activity yes a family of waters right in front of us well. So what we're witnessing right now in front of us is the world famous family of otters the alpha male alpha female or met in a housing estate called be shown the original. Alpha male died and he has been replaced by another male and this particular meal has made with mom and now we can see 6 new babies I'm so excited to be sharing this moment to you this morning when I got here at 6 am what they're about I saw them enjoying themselves playing around the Sen I was just so emotional it was just as just an amazing moment. So photography was. Something that I picked up when I was in school and I started down the wildlife photography. And as I got more pictures of wildlife in Singapore it started becoming very addictive and today the thrill the excitement that I get when I find an author family it's just unbelievable every day with an author family of new chance to to document something there was a day when Jordan from England had messaged me and said Can I follow you Bernard because my girlfriend Mary loves autists follow the office for a wild and what happened was Jordan had kind of quietly proposed you know one corner of the riverbank and I walked up to them I said I've got a camera we need to catch the moment with Jordan on your niece Mary standing in front of you with the autist swimming by you in the background the officer traveling past and one ought to hit when straight to Jordan and started to look at Jordan shortly after 5 more joined in and they were going around Jordan and Mary looking at them like what's going on every day is that exciting you know but small excitement big excitement it doesn't really matter it's long as it gets my adrenalin going I'm happy they wake up at 5 o'clock the next day. To witness another new experience. Now that we've seen artists I think I should bring you to another part of Singapore to show you my other passion let's go. All right so we're here it soon I will know which Landry's I'm bringing you here because this is an amazing place where you get a child's to a lot of different animals that you don't see around Singapore one of my favorite animals here which we are going to see in just a while hopefully will be the saltwater crocodiles. Those a psychiatrist in the background. Shot shrill calls. This and all around us. We are on the main bridge right now and we now are looking at the celebrity crocodile so far below now this is like me I mean and he is known as tailless he doesn't have a tail so you sees head is to the left and then his tail is that little stump sticking out there people have said that actually lost his tail and attacked from a large across when he was a lot younger people come here asking something like you know oh here you've got crocodile. Show us where the crocodile is well you cases so lucky today you get a chance to see tailless. Otters I see it to be very cute animals I also like the most sinister looking creature in Singapore and over the crocodile it's been persecuted just for its looks and I thought that it was very unfair and it got me more interested in trying to understand them it is just amazing to have a few pieces in Singapore where you can go and observe different kinds of wildlife it's the. Kind of experience that I hope each and every Singapore Ian can learn to enjoy and appreciate. All to and crocodile enthusiast. Stay with us we've got more stories for you after the break. Distribution of the b.b.c. World Service in the Us supported by new offering a personalized weight loss program that uses psychology and small goals to help lose weight and keep it off for good learn more at noon and 000 m. Dot com. Providing solutions for the modern workforce and the people who support them more and more at Kronos dot com slash h r swagger. Coming up on Outlook the Singapore playwright and poet he's often found himself in hot water for being too outspoken I've always thought as a writer in Singapore if one is to be honest the right thing it will bring one to quite interesting places including mentions in Parliament for good or bad it's something that will come with the territory more from Alfie unsought you found himself in the news for all the wrong reasons. B.b.c. News where Gerry Smit the French president's office says 13 French troops have died in Mali after a collision between 2 helicopters the statement said they were taking part in an operation against your hardass on Monday evening when the accident happened president a mammal McCaw expressed deep sadness over the deaths the Maltese government chief of staff Keith Brady has resigned reports say he's being questioned by police investigating the 2017 murder of the journalist Daphne Cairo on a glitzy at the prime minister urges of Muscat said Mr Graham Berry had decided to go because he'd become a distraction to the smooth working of government the un Environment Program has warned of disasters consequences if governments industry and private individuals fail to drastically ramp up efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade you know says if current strategies continue then global temperatures could rise to more than double the limits agreed under the Paris climate deal antigovernment protesters have blocked major streets in the center of the southern Iraqi city of Basra roads leading to nearby oil fields have also been card along with an important bridge connecting the area with the North the security forces tried to open it reportedly using live ammunition but they withdrew when the number of protesters grew there's been a 2nd night of violence in the Lebanese capital Beirut linked to the country's political crisis supporters of the caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri clashed with members of the main Shiite groups has been lost and. The chief minister of the Indian state of Maharashtra has resigned after 3 days in office the vendor of novices departure came shortly after the Supreme Court ordered him to face a confidence vote on Wednesday state elections in October failed to give any party an outright majority triggering a complex political battle for the control of India's riches state b.b.c. News. Welcome back to Outlook coming to you from Singapore I'm Sharon. Alfie and so it may sound soft spoken but his plays and poems packed quite a panch so much so that he's often raised the ire of the authorities here he's the resident playwright at wild rice one of Singapore's best known theatre companies becoming a playwright isn't a path that was the obvious one for a straight a student but Alvin told me why even as a child he stood out so I grew up with a working class family my father was a policeman at Singapore customs My mother was a factory worker and she would work in factories where they repaired typewriters and I remember she blamed that for me wanting to be a writer because she brought back a typewriter one day as a gift for late long years of service I was very upset with it and I couldn't stop playing with it and I ran through all these typewriter ribbons as composing all these stories on the typewriter had with you at the time I think I was really maybe around 6 or 7 years old yeah so my parents both of them came for the military Haitian system believe it Akela school so they always felt little bit inadequate when it comes to passing on English to me so what my mother would do is to bring me to libraries and she asked me to borrow books so the 1st library went to as a national library she brought me there down to the children's section and the 1st thing that I did was to cry and she said why are you crying and I said. There's so many books here how can I finish reading them all and my mom thought Ok this is a little different Did you eventually finish the letter know what I. Know because you're really possible. But none the less that you proved to be a super bright kid going to say it is a big deal to refuse institution after Are Found this is a big deal it is the school to go to the school that you got it to because of your academic qualifications so tell us a little bit about that because we knew one of the few boys there is I was a top molester than in my batch and I remember there were only in my bachelor 400 students only 14 students did that ever feel lonely. Yes Cis definitely I also remember walking into the canteen one day and seeing a group of 1000000 men and they were sitting in a car park and then realizing that they were actually drivers who waiting for someone my schoolmates Yeah and of course I mean a lot of complicated feelings at that point of time as a brown person than the other brown people in their environment drivers so I think it sharpened my sense of what being a minority licensing up all but I think for the better because being lonely being an outsider having these feelings of not quite belonging and cetera are what makes right artists Alfie and studied medicine the toughest discipline to get into at the time but realised it wasn't where his heart was he ended up becoming a playwright I asked him what it's like to be one in Singapore where what you say and write is often scrutinized such as on knowing what you can stage a play in Singapore. Without 1st submitting the script at least 2 mins before the play stage so in that that sense is this kind of preventing of the scripts right enough that that you receive a rating for your play so obviously this is something that we can run away from and sample I think have been attempts over the years to try to convince the powers that be that this is not necessary you know we've been having said this review committees and to be fair there have been some kind of opening up there in such a liberalization but I really look at it in a way because it's the if something without needing permits and even ratings I feel that we can put out advisories by ourselves that said I thing we just have to deal with these kinds of regulations in a way that is always very transparent because I think people need to trust scientists and the set thing about Singapore is that unlike in other countries people trust politicians more than they trust artists because they thing what are your credentials Choire you to address these issues you know people say if you want to talk about politics you have to join politics how do you get by censorship you know as an example I've been to many plays over the years where I think oh my gosh how did they get away with saying that and then it's just finding some delight in it because it was so unusual to hear. You do it here in the in the main discourse or the main media here so tell us a little bit about how you pass on these issues I I think it's really about just writing that and getting it's the just because I think even this questions about oh who how did he do that well we don't know ourselves until we did it. And I think the whole point of it is also to tell the audio. Yes Well actually you can do it too because the a triple has been the unthinkable has been thought you've said that before you said it is a safe space been a dangerous idea what did you mean by that you know sometimes we think that certain ideas are too dangerous like for example race religion the 2nd said it quite dangerous to discuss in Singapore but I do think that allows us a kind of space for a controlled detonation because we are in a space where I think if you are responsible playwright you will explore as many perspectives to a certain topic as possible and that's where the debate happens discuss with us how you've elaborated on that idea in your plays in the past I mean I'm thinking here of cook a pot of curry explain how you actually wrote that plate right so cook a pot of curry was based on an actual incident in Singapore it had to do with a new family from China has just moved in and then they could not stand their neighbor cooking Curry they said the smell really effect that it they couldn't concentrate so they actually made a complaint and they were us community arbitration involved and the outcome for that was the Indian family Singapore an Indian family was told Ok you can carry just don't do it when you're China Nepa is at home so this was considerate not satisfactory at all to many Singapore and who felt oh why should we change our cooking and our ways of life because new immigrants do not like it so I went around trying to get as many interviews from as many people who invested in a subject as possible I felt it was important to get all these views in a conversation. And then now we've made daycare which is your new play which is obviously a reaction to British colonization how the British narrative is that they founded modern day Singapore So give us a sense of that narrative and where you're going with this new placement Dika we thought of the plea in response to the bicentennial celebrations in Singapore and when I 1st heard about it bicentennial was a little bit concerned because we are talking about celebrating 200 years of history since the landing of Stamford Raffles in the 1819 so because of the public pushback they changed the wording from celebrations to commemorations and then later on to marking and then after that I think it's reflection of something so there's a lot of backpedaling so I think when we started thinking about making Medica we were asking the question why are we commemorate ing 200 years since the beginning of colonialism Why not since the end of colonialism saw definitely of concern about Singapore as being seen as a poster child of British colonialism done right and they will rule out all these examples such as the language or the English legal system so I want the medical to question those quite easy assumptions let's get on to. Resisting saying the word reputation that you're very outspoken and people have criticized you for some of your outspokenness about our issues whether it's about the government to race or culture you describe is the old. I personally like to think of you as Singapore was Chile by the us. To me it's a potent small Chile that packs a punch rate and you either love it or you hate it I mean how do you feel about having that sort of reputation I've always thought that that as a right in. Singapore if one is to be honest to the right thing it will bring one to quite interesting places now including mentions in Parliament for good or bad so I believe thought it's something that will come with the territory because maybe I live in a country where information is a lot more controlled Do you enjoy the kind of pushback that you get do you enjoy the fact that you all mentioned in passing and I mean it's publicize the of that I can do without I feel Which brings us to our next point you were meant to be lecturing at Yale and us there was a course called dissent in resistance and you were then pulled from that course because there were concerns around dissent and resistance in Singapore tell us about that particular story so the whole point of it I mean this isn't let's descend resists I want that this students to have face to face encounters with people who are considered as dissidents and to really ask them questions Why do you do this is it worth it what are the costs of resisting in Singapore do you in the end get to achieve what you set out this was what I want that the cost to be is not in indoctrination camp and I guess the real concern and what was brought up among some of the politicians was the issue that of course look at what's happening in home right now in Singapore and Hong Kong many similarities right and the big concern is they do not want to have a situation like Hong Kong happening here so many similarities but also very vital differences including in Hong Kong you can have public assembly they have the other thing is also on that in Hong Kong they don't have a demo. Elected government I mean we do so I think I was situations are different concerns of a different how do you see the future of Singapore do you feel like it might become a little less restrictive in the future that younger player rights might be able to say a lot more in the theater I do think so because I think when the census get a whole pile of plenty. That things people did not say 10 years ago they have to shift the needle themselves and your future my future. Well. My God can I just put it on the record I wouldn't have any elections at all I will never put myself up as a election candidate so. Scared of me because of that possibility banish that partner. Poet and playwright. The only Singaporean who's defied what's expected of him we went to a rooftop party to meet 2 pioneering female deejays in a crowded industry of mostly men and as we discovered it doesn't matter what gender you it's all about making people. And I am a. Girl. My d.j. And welcome to witness history the b.b.c. Was with me. Today I'm taking you back to 991 when India left behind the socialist and protectionist policies it had lived by for decades and began to open up its economy it was the beginning of India's emergence as a major economic player in the world the Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh when he was reading out his reforming budget toward the country's parliament that India was wide awake we have made substantial changes in the trade policy we have made major changes in industrial policies they have dismantled the old licensing system which was coming in the way of investment decisions which has hampered in domestic competition and the same time we have liberalized the Foreign Investment routine so that more foreign investment can flow into our country I've been speaking to the man who wrote the blueprint for India's economic reforms Dr Subramanian Swamy at that time the only thing that we did successfully was industrial reform because we have allowed them to import machinery from abroad so they updated their technology in the 1980 s. The Indian economy was in a complete mess India was heavily in debt and government expenditure exceeded its income in 1900 Dr Swami was minister for commerce when India went to ask for help from the International Monetary Fund but the i.m.f. Wanted Gatting tease that India would reform its economy so I prepared blueprints basically for trade reforms and also for removal of controls and licenses and we got it passed from the cabinet in on March 11th of $9091.00 and then our government felt the coalition government collapse because of internal differences and fresh elections were called but then to add to the instability Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. During election campaign and. Body wrapped in the green white and orange national flag of India is lying in state in the house grandfather to volunteer you are right when he was prime minister. Saw elections game Rajiv Gandhi one assassinated card exaggeration but fortunately Mr Nelson Mandela became prime minister it was under the leadership of Prime Minister not a similar all that Finally in July 1991 reforms began in earnest up until then business people had needed government licenses to carry out even basic operations in India relaxing bureaucratic control believe the way for growth markets open to license free foreign investments and imports giving the industrial sector in particular a big boost the economic reform that we did during the similar spirit was essentially deregulation. But not structural changes multinational companies such as Coca-Cola Pepsi and Kellogg's soon became household names and India's car industry had already been experimenting with foreign investment major manufacturers Maruti or one of the success stories of foreign collaboration in India the company was started by Sanjay Gandhi in 1981 as a government project with Japanese multinational Suzuki owning 26 percent of the shares in 187 Zuki increase their shares to 40 percent and recently under the new policies they've been able to increase this to 50 percent as the company is no longer under government control the Japanese investment meant technological advancements that led to a 5 fold increase in the exports of models the deal which came to be known as moderate this is during those 5 years suddenly you saw a plethora of cars car companies being set up the South Koreans game the Japanese game tired I was being produced in Bangalore I mean the industrial sector was really booming in all its aspects because it was suppressed during the Soviet period of in there and there were little and so suddenly there were an opportunity and they opted that technology by importing there and they got growth rates started increasing and in 4 years it rose to 8 percent which is unthinkable in those days but while the car industry was booming the agriculture sector was suffering nearly 80 percent of India's population is dependent on farming which back then accounted for 32 percent of g.d.p. But unlike industrialists and business owners pharma did not benefit from these reforms in years Green Revolution dramatically increased food production relied on expensive fertilizers and last year the fertilizer subsidies reduced the lawyer the believe God wanted it. Getting the subsidized pesticides the government used to provide us with and now if we buy them privately Well 1st of all they're expensive and secondly we don't have any guarantee of the quality. We can barely afford water a menu there's no way we can afford to buy pesticides as well Subramanian Swamy admits that the reforms did not do anything for agriculture we had them how to fix agriculture because you must give something to the people directly not single filtered down do you not see where I was all his economic problems that he accepted from my blueprint where the benefits would come after some time the difficulties faced by farmers because a lot of political resistance with opposition parties calling the reforms a capitalist move left wing parties allege that the government had bowed to American pressure in those days a communist or so much stronger so parliament was always uproarious the removal of government licenses also left corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who'd lived off selling government favors extremely unhappy there was a lot of resistance you see when you abolish licenses then what happens is those doubts who used to get licenses and then sell it in the black market they all lost their revenue the people of India were not happy of everything written. Off. Of. Your everything. That's gone up after the liberalization. Nothing has become cheaper everything has become more or more expensive only our life has become cheaper Dr Swami says that opinion such as these eventually last knows them are all the next election he produced the best economic record of the last 70 years but he lost the election people saw the rich you know suddenly finds a guy. Coming on the road or expensive plot beings or people building big houses they fell for the propaganda that this is it is all these economic reforms for the rich people the majority of the Indian population saw the reforms as a way to make the rich richer while the middle class man continued to struggle we should have thought of some measures by which the common man is benefiting the middle class they're the ones who talk the most and will create the climate and so on but we didn't in fact they made it last on his Mr out in the elections and they saw that everything was for capitalists it took the economy nearly 5 years to stabilize after the reforms of 1901 by 1997 the Indian economy was growing but not for long in 1908 the growth rate dipped drastically doctor saw me successive governments for this inconsistency the successor governments they all did only cosmetic service for continuing the reforms it still is produced in the steel industry but it is used in the bicycle industry therefore you have to be sure if you raise the prices of steel it will also already affect the price of bicycles so this interactive macroeconomics escort is something of a man's business as don't understand in retrospect the economic liberalization of 1901 is considered one of the most comprehensive financial reforms India has ever seen that's it from this edition of witness history on the b.b.c. World Service with me ignore court if you'd like to listen to more of a 1st hand accounts of the past you can subscribe to free daily download just search on a podcast at the b.b.c. Witness history. Jefferson Public Radio will be celebrating the bounty of our region at its 39th annual wine tasting on Friday February 7th at the Ashland hills in and Suites save the date for this fun event which includes over 40 participating wineries from around the region food from area restaurants and a silent auction mark your calendar for Friday February 7th for the j.p. Our wine tasting sponsored by gastro into can sell tents Medford and the Ashland food co-op tickets available at i j p r o r g. This is the news and information service of southern Oregon University's Jefferson Public Radio 12 30 am k s j k talent at 9 30 am k e g I Grants Pass also heard in the row Gallia one of $2.00 f.m. News of the region the nation and the world. At 13 hours g.m.t. Welcome to the newsroom from the b.b.c. World Service I'm Jonathan savage the u.n. Says We've been wasting time to limit climate change and c o 2 cuts will now have to be even more ambitious will it take political will yes well we need to have the private sector lean in yes but the science tells us that we can do this but failure is simply not an option the French military suffers one of its worst fatal accidents in recent times is 13 soldiers die in Mali in Malta the mystery over the murder of a journalist takes another turn with the resignation of a prime ministerial ally rescuers search rubble for survivors after a deadly earthquake and Albania I want to be in Thailand Rima shaking was terrifying it went all out of what seems like forever and a Saudi Arabia sends its football team to the Gulf Cup in Qatar can the region to pull it takes to one site you're listening to the b.b.c. World Service. B.b.c. News Hello I'm Gerri Smit French officials say 13 French troops have died when 2 helicopters were involved in an accident in Mali it's the biggest loss of French troops in one day for more than 3 decades the French army says it believes they were supporting ground forces fighting jihad is on Monday evening Hugh Schofield is in Paris the statement from the Elysee Palace reporting the death does not say where the 13 soldiers who were killed were taking part in an attack on Islam it forces this is the ongoing but little reported mission of some 4 and a half 1000 French troops the Prague in Mali and other countries bordering the Sahara Desert president macron paid tribute to the courage of the troops who he said had died for France in the hard fight against terrorism in the sun how the multis pride.