BBC World news & BBC World service to broadcast live from India

BBC World News’s flagship programme Global with Matthew Amroliwala will be broadcasting live from Delhi this month marking Republic Day and US President Barak Obama’s visit. Global’s three days of live broadcasts, from Monday 26th to Wednesday 28th January, come as the BBC’s international services launch a three month season of new content across TV, radio and online which includes a raft of Indian focused programming.

Also that week, World Have Your Say, BBC World Service’s international debate and discussion show will be broadcasting from Delhi on Friday January 30th. ‘A Richer World’ is the BBC’s latest pan service global season, with BBC World News TV (WN), BBC.com/news and BBC World Service (WS) examining whether better health, increased wealth and greater prosperity is leading to more equality across the globe or whether the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.

The season opens with a live TV debate from the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland on January 23rd on BBC World News TV and then will move around the world offering a huge variety of programmes, online reports, news features, graphics, short films, social media call-outs and debates across January, February and March.

Life in emerging markets such as China, India and countries across Africa will be put in the spotlight together with more established economic powers such as the USA. With a dedicated website at bbc.com/richerworld, a hashtag #bbcricherworld and features on the Facebook pages, the services’ global audience will be encouraged to participate. Whether it’s sharing the contents of their fridges to discuss consumption patterns, suggesting the best night clubs in East Africa or taking part in radio or TV debates their experiences and thoughts will be represented.

Launching the season Director of World Service Group Fran Unsworth said, “The Richer World Season brings together the best of our international services to provide dynamic, engaging content for our 265 million viewers and listeners around the world. With projects such as Soup and Fridgeonomics the teams bring creative new angles to hard and soft news stories that affect people around the world. The BBC occupies a unique position – only we have the worldwide expertise, from our World Service journalists to our global newsgathering teams, to deliver seasons like this.”

Highlighting the BBC’s Indian content, Naveen Jhunjhunwala COO, BBC Global News Ltd commented, “The BBC has been broadcasting to and from India since the 1930s – people started relating to BBC via the World Service Radio, and we were one of the first to broadcast news. We are very proud of our channel’s heritage here and our continuing relationship with Indian viewers. This season of dynamic, engaging content delivered across all platforms reaffirms our editorial and business commitment to this important market, as we work to tell the Indian story around the world.”

Highlights for India include:

·         Fridgeonomics – As research suggests about two thirds of India’s population do not have a fridge, WS’s The Food Chain and World Have Your Say together with WN Talking Business examine what food and access to fridges say about changing wealth, consumption and lifestyles. World Have Your Say will host a radio debate in India presented by Anu Anand (January 30th) while former Focus On Africa Editor Elizabeth Ohene  will be exploring how fridges are changing Africa in a special radio documentary.  Readers of our website will be sharing their stories too of what fridges mean to their lifestyles.

·         Tata: India’s Global Giant – (February 3rd & 7th) This TV and radio documentary with accompanying online feature takes a look at an India’s largest and most global company with a reputation for ethical capitalism. As Tata funds a day of sport for British school children it’s an intriguing sign of our changing times.  Tata has turned around Jaguar and is shoring up Europe’s steel-making industry with its purchase of the Anglo-Dutch Corus group in 2008.   It now earns 70% of its revenue overseas.  Zareer Masani tells the story of this 150 year old Indian giant.

·         Living India – (From March 10th) A three part radio series by Rupa Jha explores the new India through the lives of ordinary people and asks why so many people are still living in poverty, without basic amenities and whether a change of government is offering any hope to the silent majority.

·         Witness - (January 31st &February 1st) In 1998, India’s first call centre business opened. It was the birth of a huge new industry for the country, which now employs hundreds of thousands of Indians. Pramod Bhasin was the businessman who opened the first call centre. He speaks to Witness, the award winning radio and TV history strand about his ground-breaking business.

·         Witness - (April 4th) Indian special edition from the award winning radio and TV history strand. Justin Rowlatt presents five stories of our times told by the people who were there. This edition explores Goan Independence, the last days of the Raj, the Partition of India, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the epic TV series Ramayan with those who witnessed events first hand.

·         The Birth of Empire: The East India Company (2-part series February 28th & March 1st)

Dan Snow travels through India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionised the British lifestyle and laid the foundations of today's global trading systems.
·         Our World:  Bringing Back Business (February 14 & 15th) - From Walmart to Apple, from Colorado to California, companies across the United States say they are bringing jobs back from overseas.  As wages rise in countries such as China and India, is the tide turning on one of the biggest trends in globalisation – the outsourcing of work from the rich to the developing world?

·         Global with Matthew Amroliwala – (Ongoing) The flagship daily TV show will be the home of the Richer World season on BBC World News, with guests and discussions around the key themes, including three days of live broadcasting from Delhi (January 26th-28th).

·         Talking Business with Linda Yueh – (Ongoing) special reports, features and discussions including Fridgeonomics.

·         Indian Business Report – weekly look at all aspects of the country's rapidly developing economy.