New BBC chat show on India's Radio One

New BBC chat show on India's Radio One

Category: World Service

Date: 24.11.2006

The BBC is launching a first for India's FM scene with a new and exclusive Hindi-language chat show on its partner FM station, Radio One FM 94.3.From Sunday 26 November, Ek Mulaqat will bring lively and informative interviews with India's leading personalities to Radio One audiences across Delhi and Mumbai.Ek Mulaqat is a weekly show presented by BBC Hindi India Editor, Sanjeev Srivastava. He will tease out the passions, interests and views of some of India's most famous people, including politicians, artists, sports personalities and Bollywood stars, interspersed with the guest's all-time favourite songs.Politician and leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), LK Advani guests on the first Ek Mulaqat with a candid interview including his major influences and a heart-warming insight into his youth.Other guests in the coming weeks include the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit; Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar; and cricketer, Irfan Pathan.Sanjeev Srivastava says he is very excited to be launching a new programme for India's radio listeners: "The BBC specialises in bringing the story behind the news. In Ek Mulaqat our endeavour is to bring out the real persona of newsmakers as they open up and reveal their other, less public side, on this show."In his Ek Mulaqat interview, LK Advani will surprise the audience with an accurate voice imitation of a cricket commentator and will name Sachin Tendulkar as his favourite cricketer.LK Advani says: "When one speaks of cricket, the obvious name that comes to mind is Sachin. He has been an integral part of Indian cricket for such a long time - and that is, in itself, a remarkable achievement."There have been other batsmen who have done well and gained popularity but Sachin and our captain, who is known as The Wall, are both outstanding."LK Advani also shares with Ek Mulaqat his love for books and films. Speaking about younger actors, LK Advani praises Rani Mukherjee and Hrithik Roshan but says his all-time favourite actor is Amitabh Bachchan."There are several good artists but to be such an exceptional actor as to stay at the top for all this time? I can't think of another who can match up to him. There is no doubt Amitabh is a class by himself."LK Advani recalls going to see a movie with his uncle in Mumbai in 1957, after a gap of several years. He only agreed to go after reading a newspaper story about a film-goer at Mumbai's Strand Cinema who had died after watching a 3-D horror film."I turned and told my uncle - let's go and see this one today. So, after so many years, I went to see this horror film, moved only by this news item that this man had died."Speaking about books which have influenced his life, LK Advani remembers being greatly inspired by Indian epics such as The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. He recalls reading these in Sindhi, and later in English.Audiences across Delhi and Mumbai can listen to Ek Mulaqat at 12.00 IST every Sunday on Radio One FM 94.3 as well as on BBC Hindi service's shortwave radio broadcasts at 20.00 IST on the same day.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/11_november/

24/india.shtml

AIR special transmission in Urdu to Middle East for Haj Pilgrims

All India Radio will broadcast half an hour daily service in Urdu to Saudi Arabia for HajPilgrims from 1st December 2006 to 29th January 2007.

Details as foll :
DATE : 1st Dec, 2006 to 29th Jan, 2007
TIME : 1100 - 1130 IST ( 0530 - 0600 UTC)
PROGRAMME : Special service in Urdu for Haj pilgrims
FREQUENCIES : 11730 (Khampur, Delhi), 15770 (Aligarh), 17845 (Khampur, Delhi)

RTI 2006 Top Ten Taiwan News Stories Contest

Radio Taiwan Intl 2006 Top Ten Taiwan News Stories contest

http://www.rti.org.tw/big5/activities/2006_top10news/english_index.aspx

RTI has recently put this interactive webpage on The National Radio Museum

http://museum.rti.org.tw/index.asp?lan=en

HCJB Australia Listener Survey

----- Original Message -----
From: "HCJB Australia English" <english@hcjb.org.au>
To: "Alokesh Gupta" <alokeshgupta@vsnl.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 10:53 AM

Dear Listener of HCJB World Radio,

Thanks for contacting us in Melbourne, Australia. You are important to us, and we appreciate hearing from you. Your opinions will help us know and serve you better. Please take a few minutes to click on the following link and complete our listener survey:

www.hcjb.org/worldwide/australia/hcjb_australia_listener_survey.html

Thanks for listening and providing this useful information.

God Bless,
Glenda
HCJB Australia Response Coordinator

AIR must 'tune in' to local flavours: Experts

Wednesday November 22 2006 09:59 IST
BHUBANESWAR:Faced with increasing competition from news channels and a fast dwindling audience, All India Radio seems to have finally woken up to the situation. It has gone back to the drawing board and begun planning a series of initiatives to bring listeners back to its fold.At a two-day conference of the heads of regional news units of AIR of Eastern and North-Eastern Regions held at Puri on November 19 and 20, the directors felt that local content should be given more time-slots in news programmes.Radio is often looked upon as a medium which caters to local populace. It has a wider penetration in rural areas and the most important medium to source information for the masses in the villages and remote areas.Hence, the experts observed that local content should top the priority list, said news editor of AIR Cuttack, Akhil Kumar Mishra. National and international happenings, it was decided, can come next.Once considered a powerful medium, the humble radio set took a backseat ever since cable television made inroads into households. Even in rural areas radio is being considered passe, as more and more villagers are hooked to satellite channels. People even shifted allegiance to DD 1 as it more than made up for their daily dose of entertainment, mostly dominated by local programmes till FM stations came on the scene.Thanks to the popularity of FM service, radio, once again seems to be regaining its pride of place. However, FM's limited reach has confined its popularity to urban pockets. The conference also touched on this point.The participants felt that its reach should be further expanded and FM's sound quality be exploited to air news programmes. The Cuttack FM station has already started airing hourly headlines of two minutes duration from 6 pm to 10 pm.The function which was attended by Director-General of News, AIR, Uma Kanta Mishra and Additional Director-General Akshya Rout discussed incorporating the latest technology in presenting news items, upgradation and innovations. Besides, it focused on cultural and social aspects of news presentations.P K Bandopadhyay, who would succeed the present director general was present.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20061121233804&Page=Q&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0

Voice Hindi test txn

Voice Hindi noted with test txn on 15515 with talks in english/hindi/punjabi.

Schd for this test txn : 0430-0730 UTC on 15515
Reports to : india@cvc.tv

Here's another BBC - spotted at World Social Forum

2 New postcards with BBC Hindi advertisments

India Post has released two more meghdoot post cards with advertisement of British Broadcasting Corp, Hindi service.

I&B Ministry plans Digital Delhi project

Friday - May 26, 2006
Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
The Information & Broadcasting Ministry (I&B Ministry) has drawn a new plan to phase out all analogue transmissions and to turn India completely digital in the coming Five Year plan (2007-12). The deadline for the project, Digital Delhi, has been set as 2010 and thereby India will go completely digital by 2015. In this project, Prasar Bharati will take the lead by ensuring digital terrestrial broadcast for all Indian cities by 2013 and this will extend to both All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD). The conversion of cable and satellite (C&S) homes from analogue to digital, the first step would involve providing conditional access to C&S homes and then converting them to digital technology by 2015.I&B Ministry also plans to take no chances with set top boxes, which will not be imported as per the present recommendations. Experts have drawn a detailed plan for indigenous production of digital set top boxes (STB's) to avoid controversies. Indigenous STB's should have digital analogue conversion capability for delivery of digital signal to the subscriber along with conditional access and address-ability features.The experts have also recommended that national standards for the manufacture of digital signal receivers must be established before indigenous production commences. In order to make digital conversion a complete success, testing, publication and adoption of technical standards for terrestrial digital transmission must be done by the government. This must also include adoption and publication of digital standards for cable television. The plan, which is to be implemented in a phased manner during the Eleventh Five Year plan, also recommends the creation of a body that will have a single regulator for both content and carriage.
http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1148637627

AIR to launch new FM channels

Monday - May 22, 2006Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
The All India Radio (AIR) will launch 25 FM Rainbow channels across the countrysoon, said Prasar Bharati CEO K S Sarma soon after the inauguration of the 102MHz FM channel at Visakhapatnam recently. After Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam is thesecond city to have an AIR FM channel in the state. A third channel will belaunched in Vijayawada in June this year. The channel in Vizag will have a reachof about 60 kilometres.Inaugurating the channel, Vizag MP Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy said the AIR isthe most expressive embodiment of national integration. The MP said the AIRprogrammes were the backbone of the agricultural economy and suggested that moreinnovative entertainment and educational programmes be formulated to reach outto more people. Answering a query, he said that an FM station in Srikakulamwould be ready by 2007 March and Vijayawada station by June this year.

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1148296900

Prasar Bharati CEO K.S.Sarma retires in June

Indiantelevision.com Team(22 May 2006 12:30 pm)
NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati would soon be headless unless thegovernment, too busy with other issues like reservation for backward classes ineducational institutions, hurries up.
On 30 June 2006, Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma retires after serving an overfive-year term that can be easily termed a roller-coaster ride.The present chairman of Prasar Bharati, veteran journalist MV Kamath, wasappointed during the tenure of previous government, headed by the right-wingBharatiya Janata Party. Meanwhile Sarma, a veteran of Prasar Bharati (he officiated as the DG ofDoordarshan when he was a joint secretary in the I&B ministry in the mid to late1990s) has seen over five ministers at the information and broadcastingministry, which controls the purse strings for the publicly funded PrasarBharati.Despite allegations of nepotism during a time when DD used to outsourcemarketing of big events, including the money-spinning cricket matches involvingIndia, a wily Sarma has come out unscathed.It was during Sarma's tenure as the CEO that DD floated its subscription-freeDTH service, which raced ahead of the country's first pay TV DTH service, DishTV, in terms of subscribers.For the financial year ended march 2006, for the first time Prasar Bharaticlocked a gross revenue of Rs 12.38 billion with Doordarshan clocking Rs 9.68billion and All India Radio 2.7 billion that signified a growth of 67.67 percent.

Some of the achievements during Sarma's tenure included the following:
1. Increased focus on pro-active in house marketing of properties.
2. Successful execution of media campaigns on behalf of government departments.
3. Rationalization of rate cards to suit the changing market conditions.
4. A strategic shift from Sponsored Programmes to Self Financing Scheme.
5. Introduction of blockbuster Hindi Feature Films on DD National and marketingthem in-house.
6. Leveraging AIR's vast network and unprecedented reach.
7. Narrowcasting programming strategy.
8. Publicity support for programmes to create awareness, especially among C & Saudience.
9. Improved billing and housekeeping efforts.

(Indiantelevision.com)

Prasar Bharti's 24-hour Malayalam radio channel to begin this month

7 May 2006 TRIVANDRUM -
Prasar Bharti, the federal government-owned broadcasting corporation, will start a new 24-hour Malayalam radio channel in Kerala from May end, its Chief Executive Officer K.S. Sharma said here yesterday. Inaugurating the Trivandrum branch office of Prasar Bharti's marketing division, the eighth in the country, he said the new channel would offer music, drama and features besides the usual programmes. Prasar Bharti would make special effort to translate good content from Malayalam classics to other languages and broadcast it through its national channel, to show the nation what Kerala culture is.He said with Prasar Bharti opening marketing divisions in various cities, it was providing single window service to customers to book advertisements on AIR and Doordarshan channels from anywhere in India. Sharma said that the new Malayalam radio channel was among eight radio and 18 television channels being launched by the Prasar Bharati. These channels would broadcast programmes through Direct-To-Home (DTH) service.The senior officer said that the Prasar Bharati, launched in the early nineties with the government funding, is now able to stand on its own feet.The corporation has pushed Star and Zee TVs behind in revenues by earning Rs12.5 billion through advertisements alone.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/May/subcontinent_May232.xml&section=
subcontinent&col=

AIR to broadcast exclusive programme for CRPF personnel

Srinagar, April. 23 (PTI): Aiming to lessen the strain faced by CRPF personnel entrusted with maintaining internal security in Jammu and Kashmir, the local All India Radio station has decided to start a new programme which will feature songs exclusively requested by them.
The programme 'Hello CRPF' will be aired by Radio Kashmir from today, station director G H Zia said adding there will be repeat broadcast of the programme on Monday from the commercial broadcasting service of the station. IGP CRPF, Kashmir, A P Maheshwari welcomed the gesture of Radio Kashmir and said the programme will go a long way in entertaining the jawans who are serving in difficult situations in the state. CRPF recently replaced Border Security Force from the internal security duty in Jammu and Kashmir.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200604231554.htm

Post card with ad of BBC Hindi

Recently India Post released a meghdoot post card with advertisement of British Broadcasting Corp, Hindi service.

Background :
India Post introduced Meghdoot Post Card on September 2, 2002. Meghdoot is priced at 25 paise that is half the cost of the regular post card. The writing space available on the address side of the regular post card is made available for advertising in multicolor in case of Meghdoot. The rate of the advertisement is Rs.2 per card and the minimum order for print is 100,000 cards. Meghdoot is printed by Security Printing Press at Hyderabad in sheets of 8 cards, although some have been supplied to post offices by the press in sheets of 4 and pairs of 2 cards.Being a postal stationery article with an advertisement, its area of distribution is determined by the advertiser, as its design and copy. In addition to the post offices in the area of its distribution the Meghdoot is also made available in limited quantity of 2000 cards at select 8 philatelic bureaus that handle postal stationery, namely Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Mumbai.

31 radio towers to be set up in 15 states

New Delhi : Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, P. R. Dasmunsi on Monday in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha informed that the Government propose to set up 31 radio towers in as many cities spread over 15 States.
Of these, five are in Andhra Pradesh (Kakinada, Hyderabad, Vijayawada - 10 KW each; Karimnagar - 5 KW and Srikakular - 1 KW), four in Maharashtra (Aurangabad, Amravati, Sholapur - 10 KW each and Oros - 5 KW), three each in Uttar Pradesh (Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Vararnasi - 10 KW each) and Uttaranchal (Bageshwar - 5KW and Gairsen, New Tehri - 1 KW each), two each in West Bengal (Darjeeling, Coochbihar - 10 KW each), Tripura (Agartala - 10 KW and Longtharai - 5 KW), Tamil Nadu (Madurai, Tirunelvelli - 10 KW each), Karnataka (Gulbarga, Bellary - 10 KW each) and Rajasthan (Udaipur, Bikaner - 10 KW each) and one each in Gujarat (Junagarh - 10 KW), Haryana (Rohtak - 10 KW), Madhya Pradesh (Ujjain - 5 KW), Manipur (Imphal - 10 KW), Orissa (Rairangpur - 1KW) and Punjab (Jallandhar - 10 KW).
In the information, it is mentioned that some of the cities where Doordarshan towers exist, radio towers have not been set up as FM radio channels/additional channels are proposed to be set up on these Doordarshan towers. Towers are set up subject to approval of the schemes, availability of the funds and the necessity of putting a new tower. In up-gradation/replacement schemes where FM transmitter is replaced, no new tower is required.
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=17200

New website of TWR India

In the latest edition of HCJB-Dx Partyline there is an interview with Shakti Verma, technical director of TWR- India. Allen Graham interviewed him during HFCC conference. In his interview Mr Verma advised about the new TWR India website :
http://www.radiovv.org/
He also announced that TWR India will start verifying listeners reports with e-qsl's .

Contact details for TWR India as foll :
Address :
Trans World Radio - India
L - 15, Green Park
New Delhi - 110016
Phone : +91 11 26515790
Email : info@twr.in

Latest edition of DxPartline can be heard at :
http://www.hcjb.org/mass_media/dx_partyline/dxpl_audio_files.html

BBC arm wins seven FM radio licences in India

By Sumeet Chatterjee
BBC WORLDWIDE, the broadcaster's commercial arm, acquired FM radio licences covering seven of India's biggest cities yesterday in the unit's first move into overseas markets. BBC and its local partner, Mid-Day Multimedia, won licences to operate FM radio services in Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore, Madras, Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Pune. The successful bids came just days after the BBC announced that it had bought a 20 per cent stake in Radio Mid-Day West, a subsidiary of Mid-Day Multimedia, the Bombay-listed media group. India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting began the auction of licences covering the country's 13 largest cities yesterday. As many as 84 companies have been cleared to participate in bidding for a total of 338 new radio licences in 91 cities. The BBC had hoped to scoop nine licences in the first round of bidding. However, Monisha Shah, BBC Worldwide's director of emerging territories, said that she was delighted with the results: "Given the significant size and audience reach of these licences, our radio venture has now created the substantial national presence we were aiming for." Ms Shah added that the venture would refine its bidding strategy before the next round in the auction. The auction ends next month. Tariq Ansari, managing director of Mid-Day Multimedia, said that Radio Mid-Day West aimed to use the content, expertise and technology of BBC Worldwide to emerge as one of the leading private radio stations in the second-most populous country after China. FM radio is a fledgeling industry in India and has enormous growth potential. According to analysts, advertisers spent about $40 million with commercial broadcasters in India in 2003 - less than 2 per cent of total advertisement spend. However, radio revenues are expected to more than triple to $150 million by 2008. The Indian radio network covers 97 per cent of the country's population of more than a billion through 24 languages and 146 dialects. Besides BBC Worldwide, a host of leading Indian media houses and international companies, including Britain's Virgin Radio and the Malaysian pay-TV company Astro All Asia, are vying for licences as part of the Government's newly unveiled liberalised investment guidelines. Virgin Radio has tied up with HT Music, part of the HT Media group that publishes the Hindustan Times, India's second-biggest selling daily, to enter the market. The British company has not disclosed financial details of the partnership. However, in a statement yesterday Virgin Radio said that Virgin Radio Asia, a subsidiary, confirmed that it would provide radio expertise, knowhow and advice to Hindustan Times Group, which has successfully bid for FM radio licences in Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore and Calcutta. The company has entered into similar radio ventures in Thailand and with Oui FM in Paris. Under the Indian Government's liberalised norms for ownership rules in the media industry, foreign investors can hold a maximum 20 per cent stake in an FM radio station. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,16614-1974177,00.html

FM Radio set for massive expansion

NEW DELHI, JAN 8 (PTI)The second phase of licensing for private FM radio has struck the right note with aggressive bidding by companies, promising over Rs 500 crore to the government in just the first round and a whole new world of variety in entertainment for the public.The government, which on Friday put on block 64 of the 338 frequencies it plans to sell in this phase, was in for a pleasant surprise as many of the players bid ambitiously for capturing airwaves in 13 top cities of the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata.And what's more, the aggressive bidding promises a good response to the four remaining rounds of bidding left, which will see the government selling stations in places like Agra, Bhopal, Jamshedpur, Varanasi, Ajmer, Aligarh, Chandigarh, Jammu, Patiala, Jodhpur, Shimla, Panaji, Kohima and Hissar.Not only did incumbents like Entertainment Network, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd (MBPL) and Radio Mid-Day ensure entry into newer cities in this round, new ones like Anil Ambani-backed Adlabs and HT Music and Entertainment also jumped in, hoping to have a sizeable presence in the radio industry believed by many to be expanding on the lines of the telecom revolution.But what may come as a concern to some is the fact that many players bid as much as 2-3 times more than what was bid for the same cities in the first phase of licensing.However, industry players and experts strike down this concern and say the revenue share regime on a ten-year license, in contrast to the annual license fee structure in the first phase which proved disastrous for the government as well as the companies, will ensure that all stay afloat."It is a win-win deal for all -- the government, broadcasters, public as well as advertisers," Sunil Kumar, who runs a radio consultancy firm Big River Radio, told PTI. Kumar's company conducted a study before the start of the second round and has forecasted that government is likely to collect Rs 1,350 crore as One Time Entry Fee for the licenses for all 338 FM radio stations it plans to sell in 91 cities.Asked whether he felt the bidders engaged in overbidding following the optimism in the new regulatory set-up, he said this was not the case. "I feel a majority of them bid as per a business plan. And many of the players like Rajasthan Patrika had regional markets to protect," he said.Kumar said the presence of a large number of players within the same city would mean more choice for the customers and also emergence of niche programming.The optimism is difficult to miss going by the way incumbents like ENIL, which runs services under 'Radio Mirchi' brand, went about. The Times Group company, which runs FM services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Indore, is among the successful bidders in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Nagpur and Surat."We are on a great high and have bid after 12-14 months of research," Radio Mirchi CEO A P Parigi said.Asked whether the aggressive bidding could again lead to losses for companies, especially new entrants, he said: "The bidding looks rational. We hope the players have submitted them (bids) after studying the industry dynamics well.On the other hand, MBPL which runs services under 'Radio City' brand in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Lucknow, has won seven more licences in Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Nagpur, Pune and Surat. "I am thrilled with the results of the bidding process. We are already established as a long-term consistent player in four cities that we operate in. This will help us further consolidate our position as the leaders in the radio space in India," Radio City CEO Apurva Purohit said.Radio Mid-Day, in which BBC recently purchased a stake, was among the top bidders for Delhi (Rs 31.40 crore), Chennai (Rs 12.20 crore), Kolkata (Rs 3.21 crore), Ahmedabad (Rs 5.12 crore), Bangalore (Rs 15.42 crore) and Pune (5.4 c rore).Among the new players, who in no way can be dismissed as insignificant given their deep pockets and wide experience, HT Music and Entertainment is all set to hit the airwaves in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore while Adlabs in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad Kanpur and Bangalore.Adlabs' Rajesh Sawhney said the high bids were not much of a concern. "We were solely guided by our business plans," he pointed out.Other players who are on way to hit the air waves include the Bhaskar Group, Muthoot Finance, Kal Radio, Rajasthan Patrika and India Today group's Radio Today, which recently sold its 'Red FM' brand to a consortium that included NDTV.According to Big River Radio's Kumar, radio advertising is currently worth Rs 240 crore, which is projected to grow to a whopping Rs 1,300 crore over the next 2-3 years."In fact, advertising spend on radio is currently below two per cent of the total spend while globally the average is about 6-8 per cent," he adds. http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=347087

Radio can make waves

The aim of every community radio should be to create awareness among local people in various fields, Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor of Tamil Nadu and Chancellor of Anna University, said while inaugurating the week-long international workshop for community radio station managers at Anna University.Elaborating on the role of community radios in developing the community surrounding it, the Governor said they empower the people and nurture local knowledge and are committed to human rights, values, social justice and it is a must for socio-economic development.Community radios can make a strategic contribution to the development of the community. The right of common citizens to express the kind of society they want to live in is a fundamental part of an alternative vision of development. This vision could be attained by the democratic participation enabled by the community radio, he said.Strengthening rights of freedom of information and freedom of expression would lead to effective interaction and free discussion. Community radios can play a vital role in uplifting the status of women in society, so that they can become opinion-makers, Barnala said.Turning his attention to Anna University, he pointed out that the university should work out the modalities for forming women self-help groups in the areas covered by their FM. They should identify the social problems of villages, produce programmes to educate people on health, cleanliness and protecting environments. The youth in villages should be enlightened on the latest developments in science and technology and career programmes.Reiterating the fact that community radios can play a major role in education, Barnala also said the role of Anna FM as a home tutor in teaching lessons for the schoolchildren and clarifying their doubts would be of a great assistance to poor and needy students.He also urged Anna University to come forward with plans to increase the coverage range of Anna FM so that more and more people in the local villages benefited from this effort.Dr E Balagurusamy, Vice-Chancellor, Anna University, said community radios have a major role to play in the development of society and pointed out that radio was the only medium which could reach the rural masses, because many villages in India were not accessible; and these villages may not have electricity facility and the villagers use radio as a medium for knowing what is happening in the outside world.Stating the reason for Anna University starting a campus community radio, the Vice-Chancellor said the institution could bridge the gap between technology and people.Tarja Virtanen, advisor for communication and information, Asia-Pacific region, UNESCO, said for the past two decades, many community radios were started in various parts of the world owing to the reduction of cost of radio transmitters and other equipment.David H. Walker, education specialist (education technologist), Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada, stated that in the near future every village in the world would have one community radio station. Dr Usha Vyasulu Reddi, director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), New Delhi, said the workshop would analyse all aspects of community radio and various experts would share their experiences.Prof K Jayaraman, Registrar, Anna University, said the university was the first to get the licence to start a campus community radio in the country, 10 months ago.N Arun Kumar http://www.chennaionline.com/education/Events/2004/12annafm01.asp

Know your RTI through AIR Pune

Express News Service Pune, January 6: WANT to know about the Right to Information (RTI) Act? All you have to do is to tune in to the programme Tila Tila Daar Ughad (Open Sesame), to be broadcastby All India Radio (AIR), Pune at 7.16 am on Saturdays. AIR and Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA) have tied up to produce a 52-episode programme, which will be broadcast to all districts in the State for a period of one year. Probably the first of its kind in the country, the first episode will be aired this Saturday. The programme deals with various aspects of RTI in each episode. Divided into four parts, each episode will have sections titled Paul Khuna - background, Aamne Saamne - face to face, Magowa - follow-up and Prashna Mantale - questions and answers. The Paul Khuna section will deal with the background of the RTI Act and include the history of similar legislation and practices during the Greek civilisation and Sweden in the 7th century. In the Aamne Saamne part, interviews of common people and their reactions to the RTI Act and functioning of government offices will be broadcast. Interviews of RTI experts and information activists as well as people involved in the formulation of the Act will also find a place in this section. In the Magowa section of the programme, instances of common people using the Act to retrieve information will be shared with the listeners as well as action taken against government officers who were not able to give the requisite information sought through the RTI Act. The episodes will conclude with a question-answer section, where listeners can send their queries regarding the act to Tila Tila Daar Ughad, station director, All India Radio, Pune. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=164549

All India Radio fails to bag radio rights for Indo-Pak series

(Friday, Jan 06, 2006 - 06:00 am)
Televisionpoint.com Team
The All India Radio has failed to bag the radio rights for the India-Pakistan series. AIR had bagged the radio rights for the 2003 friendship series between India and Pakistan from Ten Sports. Last year, Ten Sports sold the rights to another Dubai-based company, ARY broadcasters, a company with 11 channels that has rights for cricket matches in Pakistan and the Middle East. Now, ARY has refused to sell the rights to AIR at the price offered. AIR is willing to pay $40,000 for the entire series, the amount it paid Ten Sports in 2003. ARY feels the price is too low and has demanded $2.5 lakh for the entire series. Their contention is that AIR earned $5 lakh from the last series and, therefore, the amount they're quoting is reasonable. AIR, on the other hand, is refusing to go any higher, justifying its quotation by saying it will have to bear the entire production cost and that the hype this time isn't as high.
http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1136509681