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00:30India's first female Prime Minister
00:32was born into the influential Nehru dynasty in November 1917.
00:37Her father had risen under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi
00:40to become the first Prime Minister of independent India in 1947.
00:45Starting out in politics as her father's personal assistant,
00:48she was elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1960.
00:52But it wasn't until her father's death in 1964
00:56that she joined the government as Minister for Information and Broadcasting.
01:00She immediately impressed Prime Minister Lal Shastri
01:02by soothing community leaders
01:04and supervising reconstruction of parts of Madras
01:07that had been destroyed by rioting.
01:09A year later, Shastri died of a heart attack
01:12after signing a peace agreement with Pakistan.
01:18With the backing of the syndicate, who believed she would be easily led,
01:22she defeated Miraj Desai to become India's fifth Prime Minister.
01:29Proving she was no puppet Prime Minister,
01:31Indira became a leader in the so-called Green Revolution,
01:34instituting government support for innovative agricultural programs
01:38like plant breeding, irrigation development
01:40and financing of agrochemicals to improve the lot of the rural poor.
01:46This is naturally an important conference.
01:49Its discussions are aimed at the removal of poverty
01:52so that the vast millions of Asia are enabled to lead the kind of life
01:58which in our times is regarded as man's basic right.
02:03India became a food exporter
02:05and diversified its commercial crop production.
02:10At the same time, Gandhi pushed for an expansion in the production of milk
02:14to help combat the serious issue of malnutrition in children.
02:17Labelled food security, these radical initiatives
02:20curried favour with the country's rural and urban poor
02:23and while the good times lasted, she was hailed as a heroine.
02:31But by 1975, the Green Revolution had all but collapsed
02:35with a mere fraction of allocated funds reaching the most needy
02:39thanks to poor administration, corruption and greed at the state and national levels.
02:48Gandhi's authoritarian regime, which had stripped powers from the states
02:52had won her many political enemies
02:54while the growing influence of her chief advisor and youngest son, Sanjay Gandhi
02:58also led to resentment among elected officials.
03:05After the High Court found her guilty of a minor infraction
03:08during her 1971 election campaign
03:10her opposition rallied and called for her resignation.
03:14Strikes and protests threatened to paralyse the states
03:17but instead of standing down, Gandhi called on President Ali Ahmed
03:21to call a state of emergency.
03:25President's rule remained in place for 19 months
03:28and Gandhi took advantage of the police state
03:30to imprison thousands of dissenters and clear the slums of Delhi
03:34leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead or homeless.
03:44Not surprisingly, she lost the election of 1977
03:48after which she and Sanjay were arrested
03:50and tried on several charges that didn't stick.
03:54Ironically, the long-running trial won her great sympathy
03:58and in 1980 she was back in power with a landslide majority.
04:03On October 31st 1984, three months after quelling an insurgent plot
04:08on her way to an interview with British actor Peter Ustinov
04:11she was gunned down by two of her own bodyguards
04:14who were immediately shot by other members of her security team.
04:21She died on the way to hospital
04:23where doctors reportedly removed 31 bullets from her body.
04:30After lying in state, she was cremated on November 3rd.
04:34Amid widespread sectarian unrest
04:36she was succeeded as Prime Minister by Rajiv
04:39who was himself assassinated in May 1991.
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