Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,20 May 2011,10 mins

India (Uttar Pradesh) and Ireland

From Our Own Correspondent

Available for over a year

John Murphy presents insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world. In today's edition, Craig Jeffrey on the plight of unemployed university graduates in Uttar Pradesh, India and Kieran Cooke on the resurgence of emigration for work in Ireland. Condemned to 'timepass' - but for how long? India has made extraordinary leaps in recent years in terms of economic growth, as well as reducing poverty and improving literacy. It's set to overtake China as the world's most populous nation: one in six people in the world is Indian. And many are are young, increasingly educated, and they want work. The question is whether the country's economic growth can create the jobs these people need. Craig Jeffrey, in one of its largest (and poorest) states - Uttar Pradesh - has been finding little hope among students there. VIP visitors and "Australia wakes" in Ireland This week saw the first visit to Ireland by a British monarch for a 100 years. The security operation surrounding Queen Elizabeth's visit was huge and few people were allowed to get close. But there are hopes that her our will not just improve Anglo-Irish relations but will boost tourism, bringing badly-needed money to Irish coffers. The Queen is not the only royal who has been visiting Ireland. Another international VIP, President Obama, is also turning up next week. Kieran Cooke reflects on this influx of grand visitors and on the sadder reality of those leaving their homeland.

Programme Website
More episodes