All India Radio

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For the electronica band, see All India Radio (band).

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All India Radio
TypeGovernment Organization
Country
India
AvailabilityNational
OwnerPrasar Bharati
Launch date
1936
Official website
www.allindiaradio.org
AIR headquarters, Akashvani Bhavan, in Delhi, India
An AIR tower in Mangalore, Karnataka

All India Radio (abbreviated AIR), officially known as Akashvani (Devanagari: आकाशवाणी, ākāshavānī literally Sky's Voice), is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936 [1] it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster, today.

All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks in the world. The headquarters is at the Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi. Akashvani Bhavan houses the drama section, the FM section and the National service. The Doordarshan Kendra (Delhi) is also located on the 6th floor of Akashvani Bhavan.

History

In British India broadcasting started in June 1923 with programmes by the Radio Club of Bombay, followed by other radio clubs. Then, by an agreement of 1926 the private Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) was granted permission to operate two radio stations; the Bombay station was inaugurated on July 23, 1927, the Calcutta station followed on August 26, 1927. But already on March 1, 1930 the Company went into liquidation. Thus the Government took over the broadcasting facilities, starting the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on April 1, 1930 (on experimental basis for two years, but continued in May 1932). On June 8, 1936 the ISBS was renamed All India Radio (AIR; also known as Akashvani since 1956). On October 1, 1939 the External Service started (with a broadcast in Pushtu); it was designated to counter radio propaganda from Germany, directed to Afghanistan, Iran and Arab countries. When India became independent in 1947, the AIR network had only six stations: Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lucknow, and Tiruchi; the total number of radio sets at that time was about 275,000. On October 3, 1957 the Vividh Bharati Service was launched to comptete with Radio Ceylon. Television broadcasting began in Delhi in 1959 as part of AIR, but was separated from radio as Doordarshan on April 1, 1976.[2] FM broadcasting commenced on July 23, 1977 in Madras and was expanded in the 1990s.[3]

Meaning of word Akashvani

Akashvani means celestial announcement : a word of Sanskrit origin, often found in Hindu mythology. Whenever, Gods wanted to say something an Akashvani occurred. Literally Akash means sky and Vani mean sound/message. i.e. sounds or message coming from the sky[4]. Thus word Akashwani was seemed to be fit to be used for a Radio Company : words & sounds coming from sky.

CONTROVERSY:

According to Palini R. Swamy Mysore has a preeminent position in the setting up and christening of All India Radio as “Akashvani”. Mysoreans believe that it was their townsman M.V. Gopalaswamy who coined the word after setting up the nation’s first private radio station in his residence “Vittal Vihar” about 200 yards from AIR’s current location.

Akashvani Mysore brought out a 406-page souvenir to mark the platinum jubilee of the station. In her editorial, Dr M.S. Vijaya Haran, station director, AIR Mysore, writes: “Dr M.V. Gopalaswamy is the father of Mysore Akashvani. He served as the professor of psychology and the principal of the Maharaja’s college. The radio station that he started in 1935 in Mysore is his great contribution to the field of culture. This was the first private radio station in the whole of India and it speaks volumes of a person’s interest, passion, hard work and the instinct to do good to his fellow human beings.

“For six long years Dr Gopalaswamy ran AIR single-handedly spending money from his own pocket. Owing to financial constraint he handed over the administration to the Mysore city municipality. Later from 1 January 1942, the provincial government of the Maharaja assumed the responsbility of running the organisation.

“Even then Dr M.V. Gopalaswamy continued to be director (till 2 August 1943). After that his colleague, Prof N. Kasturi was appointed full-time chief executive with the designation ‘assistant station superintendent.’ The radio station continued to function under the care of Kasturi, who was a thorough gentleman and a well-known humourist.

“It was during that [Kasturi] period that All India Radio was baptised as ‘Akashvani‘ , a name that has been an appropriate metaphor for this wonderful organisation. The radio station flaunted with aplomb the title ‘Akashvani Mysore’ before its facade. It wafted on the waves and reached the hearts of listeners lending them undimmed pleasure. Later on, when All India Radio came under the administrative fold of the Indian government, the radio stations continued to use the name ‘Akashvani‘. The credit of lending this beautiful name ‘Akashvani‘ to all the radio stations of the country belongs to Mysore Akashvani."

Vijaya Haran’s editorial does not, of course, say Gopalaswamy christened Akashvani, merely that he set it up. So,while the parentage of Akashvani is not in question, it is Prof Gopalaswamy’s role in naming it that is clearly under question. Did he call it “Akashvani Broadcasting Station” when he started broadcasting as a hobby in 1935, as an earlier souvenir published in 1950 (and included in the platinum jubilee souvenir) avers? If the name Akashvani evolved under N. Kasturi’s helmsmanship, did Kasturi himself think up the name? Did Prof Gopalaswamy, who was no longer its chief, have any role in it christening?

In the evening newspaper, Star of Mysore, reader K. Radha Chengappa writes: “The truth is revealed by late N. Kasturi in his book Loving God, page 76 (early 1920), where he refers to his colleague Dr. M.V. Gopalaswamy of Maharaja’s College, Psychology Department.

“He writes that Dr. MVG had bought a mini Philips transmitter and desired to use it to broadcast educational programmes for the common man an hour everyday. After some years, he managed to secure permission to use short wave transmission programmes.

“For this project, he had roped in Kasturi and when he wanted an Indian word for the broadcasting station, Kasturi’s choice was Akashvani and this word stuck for AIR (All India Radio).”

Or was it Rabindranath Tagore who is supposed to have done so “in the 1930s”? The name however got official later in 1956.

Broadcasting services

AIR has many different services each catering to different regions/languages across India. One of the most famous services of the AIR is the 'Vividh Bharati Seva' (roughly translating to "Multi-Indian service"; also known as 'Commercial Broadcasting Service' - CBS). Vividh Bharati celebrated its Golden Jubilee on 3 October 2007. Vividh Bharati has the only comprehensive database of songs from the so termed "Golden Era" of Hindi film music (roughly from 1940s to 1980s). This service is the most commercial of all and is popular in Mumbai and other cities of India. This service offers a wide range of programmes including news, film music, comedy shows, etc. The Vividh Bharti service operates on different MW band frequencies for each city as shown below.
Some programs broadcast on the Vividh Bharti:

Other services include:

Home Service

Headquarters of the Regional Deputy Directors General are situated at Delhi and Chandigarh (NR), Lucknow and Bhopal (CR), Guwahati (NER), Kolkata (ER), Mumbai and Ahmedabad (WR), Chennai and Bangaluru (SR).[6]

North regional Service

  • Agra 1530 kHz
  • Ajmer 603 kHz
  • Allahabad 1026 kHz
  • Almora 999 kHz
  • Barmer 1458 kHz
  • Bikaner 1395 kHz
  • Chamo 'Gopeshwar' 1485 kHz
  • Delhi 'A' 'Indraprastha' ('इंद्रप्रस्थ') 819 kHz
  • Delhi 'B' 'Rajdhani' ('राजधानी') 666 kHz
  • Delhi 'C' 'Vividh Bharti' ('विविध भारती') 1368 kHz
  • Delhi 'D' 'Yuv-vani' ('युव वाणी') 1017 Khz
  • Delhi 'AIR National Channel' 1215 kHz
  • Diskit 1602 kHz
  • Drass 1485 kHz
  • Gorakhpur 909 kHz
  • Jaipur 'A' 1476 kHz
  • Jalandhar 'A 873 kHz
  • Jalandhar 'B' 702 kHz
  • Jammu ' A' 990 kHz
  • Jodhpur 'A' 531 kHz
  • Kalpa (Kinnaur) 1584 kHz
  • Kargil 'Á' 684 kHz
  • Kargil 'B' 1584 kHz
  • Khalsi 1485 kHz
  • Kota 1413 kHz
  • Kupwara 1350 kHz
  • Leh 1053 kHz
  • Lucknow 'A' 747 kHz
  • Lucknow 'C' 'Vividh Bharti'1278 kHz
  • Mathura 1584 kHz
  • Najibabad 954 kHz
  • Naushera 1089 kHz
  • Nyoma 1485 kHz
  • Padam 1589 kHz
  • Pauri 1602 kHz
  • Pithoragarh 1602 kHz
  • Rampur 891 KHZ
  • Rohtak 1143 kHz
  • Shimla 774 kHz
  • Srinagar 'A' 1116 kHz
  • Srinagar 'C' 1224 kHz
  • Suratgarh 918 kHZ
  • Tiesuru 1602 kHz
  • Udaipur 1125 kHz
  • Uttarkashi 1602 kHz
  • Varanasi 'A'1242 kHz

North-east regional service

East regional service

Kolkata Center of All India Radio All India Radio Kolkata
  • Bhagalpur 1458 kHz
  • Bhawanipatna1206 Khz
  • Chinsurah' 'AIR Nationla Channel/AIR G.O.S./1MW'1134 kHz
  • Cuttack 'A' 972 kHz
  • Darbhanga 1296 kHz
  • Jamshedpur 1544kHs
  • Kolkata 'A' 657 kHz
  • Kolkata 'B' 1008 kHz
  • Kolkata 'C' 'Vividh Bharati' 1323 kHz
  • Patna 'A' 621 kHz
  • Ranchi 'A' 549 kHz
  • AIR FM Kolkata has two stations 107FM Rainbow and 100.2FM Gold.

West regional service

  • Ahmedabad 'A' 846 kHz (MW DRM)
  • Aurangabad 1521 kHz
  • Bhopal 'A' 1593 kHz
  • Chhindwara 102.02 MHz
  • Chhatarpur 675 kHz
  • Gwalior 1386 kHz
  • Indore 'A' 648 kHz
  • Jalgaon 963 kHz
  • Mumbai 'A' 1044 kHz
  • Mumbai 'B' ASMITA Marathi Programme 558 kHz
  • Mumbai 'C' 'Vividh Bharti Programme'1888 kHz
  • Nagpur 'A' 585 kHz
  • Nagpur 'B' 'AIR National Channel/1MW1566 kHz
  • Panaji 'A' 1287 kHz
  • Panaji 'B' 'Vividh Bharti'828 kHz
  • Pune 'A' 792 kHz
  • Rajkot 'A' 810 kHz
  • Ratnagiri 1143 kHz
  • Solapur 1602 kHz
  • Sangli 1251 kHz

South regional service

  • Adilabad 1485 kHz
  • Bangalore 'A' 612 kHz
  • Chennai 'A' 720 kHz
  • Chennai 'C' Vividh Bharati 730 kHz
  • Coimbatore 999 kHz
  • Gulbarga 1107 kHz
  • Hyderabad 'A' 738 kHz
  • Hyderabad 'B' 1377 kHz
  • Kozhikode 'A' 684 kHz
  • Madurai 1269 kHz
  • Nagercoil101 MHzFM
  • Udhagamandalam 1602 kHz,187.2meter(wave length)
  • Pondicherry 1215 kHz
  • Port Blair 684 kHz
  • Thiruvananthapuram 'A' 1161 kHz
  • Ananthapuri FM 101.9 MHz (from Thiruvananthapuram)
  • Thrissur 'A' 630 kHz
  • Tiruchirapalli 'A' 936 kHz
  • Tirunelveli 1197 kHz
  • Vijayawada 'A' 837 kHz
  • Visakhapatnam 927 kHz
  • gautam456 kHz

External services

The External Services Division of All India Radio, India’s cultural ambassador to the world .The External Services Division of All India Radio broadcasts in 27 languages to countries outside of India, primarily by high powered short wave broadcasts although medium wave is also used to reach neighbouring countries. In addition to broadcasts targeted at specific countries by language there is a 'General Overseas Service' which broadcasts in English with 8¼ hours of programming each day and is aimed at a general international audience.The External broadcasts were started on October 1, 1939 by the then British Government to counter the propaganda of the Nazis directed at the Afghan people. The first broadcasts were in Pushto beamed to Afghanistan and the then North West Frontier Province. Soon broadcasts were started in Dari, Persian, Arabic, English, Burmese, Japanese, Chinese, Malay, French etc.

The External Services today broadcast in the 27 languages (16 foreign and 11 Indian languages) with a total program out put of 70.25 hrs. per day (on MW & SW).

All India Radio Transmitter Sites used for External Services At South Asia

S NO Location Transmitter power in KW Frequency KHZ Frequency KHZ Frequency KHZ Frequency KHZ Frequency KHZ Frequency KHZ Frequency KHZ Frequency DRM KHZ !
1 Aligarh 4X250 9470( NATIONAL CHANNEL) Example Example Example Example Example Example
2 Bengalure(SPT Bangalore) 6X500 9425(NATIONAL CHANNEL) 9870(Vividh Bharti) 6180(AIR GOS) 6280(AIR GOS) 7410(AIR GOS) 7550(AIR GOS) SW DRM
3 Chennai(Madaras) 1X100 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example
4 Gorakhpur 1X50 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example
5 Guwahati 1X50 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example
6 Jalandhar 1X 300 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example
7 HPT Khampur(Delhi) 7X250 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example 9950
8 Kingsway(delhi) 3X50 , 2X100 9565(AIR GOS) 11620(AIR GOS) Example Example Example Example Example
9 Mumbai(HPT Malad) 1X100 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example
10 Panji 2X250 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example
11 Tuticon 1X100 Example Example Example Example Example Example Example

The foreign languages are: Arabic, Baluchi, Burmese, Chinese, Dari, English, French, Indonesian, Nepali, Persian, Pushtu, Russian, Sinhala, Swahili, Thai and Tibetan. The Indian languages are: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

The maximum duration is the Urdu Service to Pakistan round the clock on DTH and on Short Wave / Medium Wave for 12.15 hrs while the English broadcasts to various parts of the world called “General Overseas Service” are there for 8.15 hrs. During the Haj season, there are special broadcasts beamed to Saudi Arabia in Urdu. The External Services of AIR is even broadcast to Europe in the new broadcasting mode DRM Digital Radio Mondiale.

These transmissions are broadcast by the High Power Transmitters located at Aligarh, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Mumbai and Panaji on Short Waves and from Jalandhar, Kolkata and Tuticorin on Medium Waves. Some of these transmitters are of 1000 kW and 500 kW power. Programs are beamed to different areas of the world except to the Americas but it is often heard there by many radio hobbyists.

In each language service a composite program is presented consisting of news bulletin, commentary, press review, talks on matters of general and cultural interest, occasional feature programmes and documentaries, Indian music as well as music of the area concerned. Most of the programs originate in the New Broadcasting House,Parliament Street,New Delhi with a few originating at SPT Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Kolkata,HPT Malad Mumbai, Thiruvanthapuram and Tuticorin.

The External Services Division of AIR has been a vital link between India and rest of the world, especially with those countries where there are Indian emigrants and person of Indian origin. It projects the Indian point of view on matters of national and international importance and demonstrates our way of life through its various programs.

Beautiful QSL cards are issued to the radio hobbyists from time to time by AIR in New Delhi for reception reports of their broadcasts. These are very much sought after by international radio hobbyists.

With the other choices in the media scene like Internet and TV, the number of listeners for Short Wave broadcasting has drastically dropped. That along with high cost of running broadcasts and also changes in political equations has prompted many countries to cut short or even completely abandon their External broadcasts.

However it is business as usual for All India Radio’s External Services for the time being

Other services and units

Yuv-vani: The voice of youth

The Yuv-vani service of AIR (launched July 21, 1969) provides an enriching and novel radio-experience by encouraging youth participation and experimenting with varied script ideas.It is broadcast at 1017 kHz which corresponds to 294.9 meter. Its Broadcast begins every evening this is not possible. i"In the groove" and "The Roving Microphone" which have been around for more than three decades, Yuv-vani still holds a firm ground of its own.

Some of the big names on the Indian media scene began their journey with Yuv-vani. Comments Praful Thakkar, a well known documentary maker - "Yuv-vani came as a breath of fresh air in our reckless college days. It was a great learning experience for me and it made me realize that radio is not all about goofy quotes and PJs."

Some of the other names that have been associated with Yuv-vani in the past include Celebrity game show host Roshan Abbas, VJ Gaurav Kapoor, Emcee Kshitij Sharma and DJ Pratham among others.

News-on-phone service

The All India Radio, after launching the news-on-phone service on 25 February 1998 in New Delhi, is also running the service in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Indore, Patna and Bangalore now. The service is accessible through STD, ISD and local telephone calls. There are plans to establish the service in 9 more cities, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Guwahati, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ranchi, Simla and Thiruvanthapuram shortly.

English and Hindi hourly news bulletins can be heard live on http://www.newsonair.com. The news in MP3 format can be directly played from the site. In the file name the hourly time of news is mentioned. Text of the English and Hindi bulletins can be read from http://www.newsonair.com/BulletinsInd.html.

The AIR news bulletins are available in 9 regional languages (Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, North East, Punjabi, Telugu and Urdu) at http://www.newsonair.com/index_regional.htm.

Direct-to-home service

Direct-to-home (DTH) service via Insat (21 channels).

Central Drama Unit

It is a premier Production Unit of All India Radio which is responsible for quality productions. It is responsible for the broadcast of National programme of Plays and Chain Plays. Luminaries and Playwrights like Chiranjeet, Satyendra Sharat, Nirmala Agarwal and Danish Iqbal has been associated with CDU as Producer. Plays produced by CDU are translated and produced by regional satations. At present this is the only Production Unit which is running the Radio Drama flag flying. Since its inception in 60s this Unit has produced more than 1500 Plays. At present CDU is a rich repository of old scripts and productions.

Controversy 1

During his regular broadcasts from the Azad Hind Radio, Subhas Chandra Bose used to refer to the pre-independence AIR as Anti Indian Radio.

Controversy 2

It is widely believed that the Signature Tune of All India Radio was composed by eminent Violin Artist V. G. Jog. However, it is also known that a Czechoslovakian born composer, Walter Kaufmann, was working in All India Radio during the 1930s supervising the Western Music Department. It is believed that although he did not compose the signature tune as such, his composition was the original and from that an improvised version later became the signature tune for All India Radio. The signature tune is actually a snipet from a Sonata composed by Walter Kaufman. The violin was played by Mehli Mehta, the father of world famous orchestra conductor, Zubin Mehta.

According to other sources the tune using violin, viola and tanpura was composed by John Foulds.

References

  1. ^ About us Official website. allindiaradio.org. Retrieved:2008-08-03.
  2. ^ AIR Manual, Chapter 1: History of All India Radio
  3. ^ http://allindiaradio.org/milestone.html
  4. ^ http://en.bab.la/dictionary/english-hindi/celestial-announcement
  5. ^ http://allindiaradio.org/FACTS.html
  6. ^ http://india.gov.in/knowindia/radio.php

External links

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