From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sat Apr 2 04:33:48 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 08:03:48 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga Message-ID: When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga ----------------------------------------------------------- Govt plans to hand over radio to community, officials say the tsunami experience is one reason why it must be done ANURADHA RAMAN Posted online: Saturday, April 02, 2005 at 0242 hours IST NEW DELHI, APRIL 1: Imagine a radio station for every neighbourhood. Where local shops can advertise their goods, where communities can not only take charge of news content but debate on issues such as health and education. Trying to make all this happen is the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which now awaits a response to a note circulated to the Ministries of Home, Communication and Defence before taking it to the Cabinet for approval. Once cleared, it will usher in a radio revolution in the country which officials estimate should not take more than six months. Over two years after the policy on community radio was announced-the BJP government's decision on December 18, 2002 confined it to universities and colleges for security reasons-the UPA government is planning to hand over the radio to the community. What this effectively means is non-governmental organisations, voluntary associations, Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) can start radio stations of their own, subject to the availability of frequencies. With bank guarantee money proposed to be reduced to Rs 25,000 from Rs 50,000, the radio station can become operational. One of the reasons for bringing in a change in the policy, according to sources, was the lack of effective communication during the recent Tsunami disaster. ''Communities operating radio stations along the coastal area could have issued adequate warning to prevent large-scale casualties,'' sources said. With this in mind, the I&B Ministry has proposed that the community take charge of radio operations. Advertising will be allowed but has been capped at five minutes to an hour of programming. Foreign funds will be allowed through the FCRA or Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Flexibility is also being shown in increasing the wattage of transmitters which is now at 50 watts. The license duration is being increased from the current three years to five years. The I&B Ministry has indicated that a single window clearance with approval from the Ministry of Home (security clearance), Ministry of Communication (for allocation of frequency) to the nodal ministry is all that will be required to start radio station. The rules have been relaxed because of the bottlenecks in the existing procedure. Till the policy change, applications were required to be forwarded through the Ministry of HRD/state governments, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication-a procedure both long-drawn and cumbersome. Frequency allocation passes through four stages by the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Information and Technology. No commercial activity is permitted as per the guidelines now. Despite the rules that bar them from starting their own radio stations, NGOs have contributed content to the initiatives taken by All India Radio (AIR) like Chala Ho Gaon Mein in Palamu, Radio Ujjas in Kutch and Namma Dhwani-where a self-help group is involved in the working of the radio in Buddikote village in Bangalore district. The Swaminathan Research Foundation which buys air-time on Radio Pondicherry has been lobbying for independent initiatives to usher in a radio revolution. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 From arunlists at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 07:03:17 2005 From: arunlists at softhome.net (Arun Mehta) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 10:33:17 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga Message-ID: <424E2795.9050402@softhome.net> I was at the IT ministry yesterday, they are working on the note for the cabinet on community radio quite actively -- the cabinet decision on the subject is just around the corner. The NGO sector should begin to gear up for this. Arun http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 From vvcrishna at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 16:38:59 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 20:08:59 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 8:03 AM +0530 4/2/05, Alokesh Gupta wrote: >The I&B Ministry has indicated that a single window clearance with approval >from the Ministry of Home (security clearance), Ministry of Communication >(for allocation of frequency) to the nodal ministry is all that will be >required to start radio station. The rules have been relaxed because of the >bottlenecks in the existing procedure. Till the policy change, applications >were required to be forwarded through the Ministry of HRD/state governments, >Ministry of Home, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and the >WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication-a procedure both long-drawn and >cumbersome. Frequency allocation passes through four stages by the WPC wing >of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Information and >Technology. No commercial activity is permitted as per the guidelines now. >Despite the rules that bar them from starting their own radio stations, NGOs >have contributed content to the initiatives taken by All India Radio (AIR) >like Chala Ho Gaon Mein in Palamu, Radio Ujjas in Kutch and Namma >Dhwani-where a self-help group is involved in the working of the radio in >Buddikote village in Bangalore district. The Swaminathan Research Foundation >which buys air-time on Radio Pondicherry has been lobbying for independent >initiatives to usher in a radio revolution. > >http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 While it is indeed good news that the I&B Ministry is beginning to leak out stories on this subject (this is the second or third), it is a bit galling to find they seem to think they have invented the concept. Not a word (at least not a word that the reporter heard, which may not be the same thing) about the endless meetings, petitions and activities that have finally led us up to this point. I suppose we should be, on the one hand, grateful for small mercies, and on the other hand, gear ourselves up more than ever before to ensure that the revised policy is as CR-centric and user-friendly as is needed. Specifically, we believe it is critical for the government to release some bandwidth for very low power FM transmission. This medium, with its very low reach, costs almost nothing for even the poorest of communities to own. The target is 600,000 villages - and that will be tough to achieve if the government insists on maintaining unreal cost-based barriers to entry (read: technical specifications that make it impossible to set up low cost stations, unreasonable spectrum fees or security deposits or whatever). It is also necessary for the government to recognise that the technology enables as many as one hundred channels to operate from the same location (they could even share the same tower, but that isn't necessary to stipulate). The transmission equipment can be made to maintain a separation of just 200 KHz between stations, as the US FCC specifies. Our government has been led to believe that the minimum separation is 800 KHz. We recognise that for some locations, there could be an advantage to allowing community radio operators powerful stations as well - but those few situations need not dictate policy for all. For the vast majority, a combination of cheap low cost transmitters with low cost translators ought to handle Indian patterns of village urbanisation. -- Vickram From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 02:51:46 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 06:21:46 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Citizen Radio Message-ID: Citizen Radio ------------- Community radio is giving ordinary Indians a taste of media power. Anuradha Raman meets the little people who'll be ruling tomorrow's airwaves. Our airwaves Posted online: Sunday, April 03, 2005 at 0000 hours IST WHEN was the last time you heard something meaningful on the radio-which made you more than just hum the tune of your favourite number or stifle a laugh at some smart one-liners? Far removed from the concerns of the proverbial saas and bahu, whose lives have been turned into soaps to grab commercials and ears, whose re-runs can be heard on radio FM, the same airwaves are crackling with excitement and ushering in a quiet change in middle India. So quiet, that you have to strain your ears to catch the signal. With lyrical names like Bichapolla Radio-named after mendicant bards of Andhra Pradesh-and Kunjal Panchhi Kutch Ji-Saras Cranes of Our Kutch-the stations remain rooted to the places they operate from. >From Pondicherry-where the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (SRF) has been working hard to convince the government to allow it to start its own radio station but has had to remain content with a measly 15-minute airtime allotted by AIR Pondicherry-to Baramati in Maharashtra, radio operators are trying to make sense of the world around them and communicate it to their listeners (See accompanying stories). Fear Factor THE government finally appears to be tuning in. Before that, hear the background score. Just over two years ago, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry decided to talk Community Radio, prompted by the vision of a radio revolution. Like so many decisions taken by the government, this too stopped short of the desired goal. So fearful were the bureaucrats of allowing civil society access to its own media, that they put in clauses allowing only government-recognised universities to operate radio stations. ''It was to check the credentials of non-government organisations (NGOs) desirous of starting radio stations. It would have been doubly difficult to monitor their content,'' a ministry official now says. Organisations like SRF have been lobbying for a licence for quite some time. Their prayers are likely to be answered when the I&B Ministry, shaking off fears of a civil society takeover, takes a note to the Cabinet to hand over radio to community-run stations. Once this is done, NGOs, resident welfare associations and voluntary institutions will become eligible to apply for a licence and operate a radio station. As it happens, 2005 also marks the 10th anniversary of the historic Supreme Court judgement that declared airwaves public property, not the state's preserve. As campuses and NGOs and neighbourhood groups look to a policy change that allows them to participate in a media revolution, the airwaves may finally belong to the people. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67612 ------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 04:11:12 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 07:41:12 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio and Local Elections in India. Live! Message-ID: Community Radio and Local Elections in India. Live! ------------------------------------------------------ 30-03-2005 (UNESCO New Delhi) For the first time during these elections we have realized Namma Dhwani can play such an important role in our lives," reports Murthy, a shop owner in Budikote, a village of some 6000 people in Karnataka in South India. The state recently held Gram Panchayat elections in which people voted for members of their local, village-level governing bodies. During past elections in the area, there has been no media coverage of the counting process with election results generally announced by the authorities. Naturally, Namma Dhwani (Our Voice), a community radio station supported by UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), wanted to play a part in ensuring a free and fair election as well as greater degrees of transparency, accountability and community participation in the voting process. Having identified local level governance as a critical factor in the area's development, the station planned out a series of special programmes around the elections. Reporters went out in the village recording people's opinions about ensuring a good election. The majority said that candidates standing for election should not try to bribe people to vote for them. Sensitive issues like corruption and violence during elections were approached using creative formats like radio plays and songs. As voting day approached, the excitement level grew. Voter participation from Budikote was high. The votes were counted on March 1 in the sub-district headquarters in Bangarpet, some 15 km from Budikote. The station sent a local reporter, Nagaraj, to the counting centre in Bangarpet with a mobile phone. Every fifteen minutes, he spoke with the Namma Dhwani studio to give an update on the voting results. Every word was carried live and cablecast to homes and shops throughout Budikote and relayed on loud speakers in nearby villages. "Kindly don't interrupt the program to play any songs. We want to hear more about the election results. Namma Dhwani is doing us a great help by letting us know the happenings instantaneously. We never had this before," said Krishna M.N., local baker and ardent listener of Namma Dhwani. He had been listening to the programme since it started and did not want it interrupted even for a minute. Election coverage started at noon and although there was no advance publicity, word got out quickly and by 2 PM there was a steady stream of people calling in to know about the results. The program continued until 2:30 AM the following morning. By the end, Namma Dhwani had logged nearly three hundred phone calls. In addition to the coverage of vote counting, Namma Dhwani also did live interviews with candidates who were present at the counting centre, with the member of the state legislative assembly representing the Bangarpet sub-district and with other prominent members of the community about the elections. At the studio, Mamata, a long-time volunteer, was behind the mixing console while Vanaja, Bhavani and Ashwath, all volunteers, were taking calls and organising the updates with Najaraj. As coverage progressed into the night, the broadcasters began discussing relevant topics - free and fair elections, community interest in the elections and chances of prospective candidates - in between updates from the counting centre. Some two years ago Namma Dhwani began recording the village panchayat meetings, but after several months the panchayat disallowed the practice. In the lead up to this election, Namma Dhwani interviewed all the local candidates. In addition to questions about their background, intentions and assurances, each candidate was also asked "If you win, will you allow Namma Dhwani to cover and record all the local Panchayat meetings.?" Although most of the candidates agreed, time will tell if the new panchayat members will follow through on their promises. Alongside the candidates, the winners in this election are clearly Namma Dhwani, its listeners and the local community. Together they put media's role in good governance into practice in their village. Source UNESCO New Delhi http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18508&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTI ON=201.html ---------------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi. From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 04:15:24 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 07:45:24 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] This tune's for me! Message-ID: This tune's for me! ----------------- Gaurav Raghuvanshi Community Radio is slowly making itself felt as a powerful tool of social and economic change. Tune in to a status report on what's crackling, and what more needs to be done. Community Radio, in current Government parlance, means Campus Radio. The existing licensing policy, announced in December 2002, stipulates that only government-recognised educational institutions can be issued a licence to run a community radio. That leaves out community-based organisations whose aim is empowerment of society. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recently submitted its recommendations on liberalising the norms further. Meanwhile, community radio initiatives are mushrooming through the proxy route ,eWorld does a status check. NALIYA, the western-most tip of India, would normally be the last place for a sting journalism operation. But this is where a bunch of school dropout reporters with missionary zeal have just unearthed a mini-scam. No, it is not about the casting-couch syndrome of Bollywood or the murky dealings behind defence purchases. It is something that is more relevant to the local populace - a Government doctor indulging in private practice at the cost of the State. The government hospital, where the doctor is supposed to be, is empty, while patients throng his illegal clinic and he makes a fast buck. In true sting journalism style, the doctor is cornered and his comments are duly recorded. But you will not get to see it on your favourite television news channel. This is a form of communication more relevant for rural India - radio. The programme, Pardafash (Expose), is produced by `Radio Ujjas' and broadcast on All India Radio, Rajkot. Radio Ujjas is an effort of the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan and is run by local youth, many of whom are school dropouts. Almost two-thirds of Kutch's 1.5 million people are hooked on to Radio Ujjas. Kunjal Panchchi Kutchji (Saras crane of our Kutch), the central character of the radio who has a nose for news, has been generating debates on a variety of social issues, according to Stalin K, founder of Drishti, an Ahmedabad-based media collective. Ujjas, which means light, is an imaginary village in Kutch created by the Radio Ujjas team that has been trained in basic journalism and radio programming by Drishti. Radio Ujjas has become a household name in Kutch and gets its funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Central Government. While community radio initiatives such as Radio Ujjas that buy programming space on AIR have come up in several States in the country, there is only one community radio station in the strict definition of the term. According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, as on date, only Anna FM qualifies to be a community radio station. The first campus-based community radio in the country, Anna FM is broadcast from the campus of Anna University, Chennai, on 90.4 MHz FM. However, there are other initiatives like Radio Ujjas in the field, wherein some organisations are helping certain communities prepare and share audio programmes through various means. One such is Chala Ho Gaon Mein, started by an NGO as a community participatory programme. It reaches a population of over seven million covering Palamau, Garwah and Latehar districts in Jharkhand. The frequency of the programme is two 30-minute episodes a week and it focuses on development issues such as the functioning of the public distribution system, roads, power and irrigation. Another example is the Namma Dhwani (Our Voice) initiative, where a cable audio station has been set up at Budikote in Kolar district of Karnataka and the local community produces and cable-casts its own radio programmes. Similarly, a community-based radio programme titled Panchayat Vani (People's Voice) was recently broadcast on AIR Darbhanga. The programme aims to spread awareness about the functioning of panchayati raj institutions in Muzaffarpur, Madhubani and Khagaria districts of Bihar. The programme, produced by CENCORED in collaboration with the Delhi-based NGO Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), was initiated in early 2003 to inform local communities about the need to, and ways to strengthen panchayati raj institutions. The initiative is being supported by the Ford Foundation and now covers 12 States. "Villagers across 12 States are getting hooked on to radio programmes featuring women `sarpanches' and journalists fighting social and economic inequities through Panchayati Raj institutions. In the process, listeners are spurred to participate in local institutions of self-governance themselves," says PRIA spokesperson, Sandip Das. And, the programmes are having impact. A middle-aged housewife at Benipati in Bihar's Madhubani got prompted by Panchayat Vani to mobilise village women to attend panchayati raj meetings. A woman in Kasargod (Kerala) got interested in the State's development plan. Das says PRIA has documented several examples where people have responded to community radio initiatives. "A programme titled Ganda no Dhabkar (Heartbeat of the Village) broadcast on AIR Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot has got listeners wanting to know more about the gram sabha and development programmes targeted at people living below the poverty line (BPL). The pilot radio programme, developed by Unnati, in collaboration with PRIA, depicts ground realities at village level and the heroic efforts of a woman sarpanch to fight social and economic inequalities through the gram sabha," Das says. Prompted by such initiatives, TRAI recently submitted its list of recommendations on the community radio sector to the Government. "What is allowed by the law of our country is campus radio and not community radio. The Government needs to address this issue with policy initiatives if it is serious enough to use the platform as a development tool," says Das. Agrees Stalin. "Why would an Indian Institute of Technology radio be bothered about women's issues or healthcare? There is a clear need to allow real community radio stations to function," he says. Stalin says that perhaps the present approach of using the AIR platform itself is faulty. "We were wrong in going through the proper channels and the AIR route. Instead, community radio should have started as pirate stations without bothering about a licence. Look at what happened to the cable operators. They did not take any licence to start operations and managed to stay outside any regulation," he says. Citing the example of countries such as the US, the Philippines and South Africa, where such `pirate' radio stations sprung up without a licence, Stalin says radio stations owned by the natives were outlawed in the Apartheid era and later had to be regularised. After all, a `suitcase' radio station covering a half-km radius can be started with an investment of just Rs 15,000. While going the `pirate' way may be an extreme situation, Stalin says the Government and TRAI's concerns are all misplaced. "Why should the Government be bothered about the sustainability of community radio stations when it is not putting in any money? Similarly, security issues are hardly a concern as we are talking about very low power transmitters that are incapable of beaming signals that can have implications for national security," he says. As regards allowing commercial advertising, Stalin says that too is not a real concern as private companies can bid for an FM radio station if they wanted to own a radio station. "Programming and advertising norms can be worked out. We are willing to keep a log of our transmission that can be inspected by any authority. The advertising-programming balance too can be worked out. But allowing true community radio stations to function without Government shackles is a must," he says. Meanwhile, TRAI has recommended to the Government that community radio stations should be allowed and commercial advertising be permitted, subject to certain norms. It has also said that there is no need for a separate programming code for community radio stations. The Community Radio ball is now in the Government's court. What TRAI wants Key recommendations of TRAI on Community Radio: - Any Indian legal entity or individual should be eligible for licence, no financial requirement. - No Government funding, but commercial advertising be allowed, subject to restrictions. - No spectrum fee for first two years of licence period. - No need for separate programming code, AIR and private sector norms applicable to Community Radio as well. - Only local language programming; half of content should be self-generated. - Station to keep log of six months. - Religious institutions may be allowed to set up stations, but only for community service and not for preaching or proselytising. - Bank guarantee or Rs 25,000 to keep out frivolous applicants. - Restrict coverage to a 6-km radius. eworld at thehindu.co.in http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2005/03/28/stories/2005032800090100.h tm -------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi. From budhyag at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 11:15:18 2005 From: budhyag at hotmail.com (gururaja budhya) Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 14:45:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless In-Reply-To: <42474BE0.29184.853683@localhost> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050403/b1decae5/attachment.htm From nehadara at gmail.com Mon Apr 4 11:27:10 2005 From: nehadara at gmail.com (neha dara) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:57:10 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Re: cr-india Digest, Vol 21, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> two observations: 1. i dont know much on the technical front, but amongst the changes that may be incorporated based on TRAI recommendations is 5 minutes of advertising per hour and anyone individual or group with three years of experience in community service is eligible to apply for a radio. Also according to the ministry's calculations, they say is is possible to have 4000 CR stations across the country. 2. the range is supposed to be 5-6 kms but Jamia's campus radio has been doing much better. They have people tuning in from as far as the airport. can someone confirm? their first broadcast is usually at 11 am n From vvcrishna at softhome.net Mon Apr 4 13:28:37 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 16:58:37 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Re: cr-india Digest, Vol 21, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> References: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: At 2:57 PM +0530 4/4/05, neha dara wrote: >Also according to the ministry's calculations, they say is is >possible to have 4000 CR stations across the country. Based on a simple calculation (which I did three years back and posted to this list - it is freely available in the archives) of 1) the area covered by a circle of radius 5 km and 2) the theoretical number of channels that can run in a single location (as per US FCC standards) and 3) the land area of the country. The theoretical maximum is around 1.25 million channels, after making deductions for water bodies, land borders (given the fears that pervade our bureaucrats' minds on national security, we might as well include all border people in our classification of second class citizens) and ten per cent or so for cities. It is hard to understand why the ministry insists India can support only 4,000 weak stations, when the US (for instance) already has over 12,000 much more powerful stations. Since its own performance has been so dismal - less than 200 stations established in about 25 years - I guess the ministry has no incentive to give correct figures. Plus they probably can't conceive of villagers being creative enough to make programmes for themselves (the standard feudalistic and paternalistic thinking that typifies the trickle-down mentality). >2. the range is supposed to be 5-6 kms but Jamia's campus radio has >been doing much better. They have people tuning in from as far as >the airport. can someone confirm? their first broadcast is usually >at 11 am Atmospherics and the quality of the receiver can make a difference. Range specifications are always made on the basis of reliable broadcasting, not what some persons can access some of the time. -- Vickram From vvcrishna at softhome.net Tue Apr 5 08:19:51 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 11:49:51 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] One full mark for naivete Message-ID: Today's news, in the Business Standard and the Asian Age, is the first time this paranoid conspiracy theorist sees in print what lies behind the government's murky thinking on relaxing of restrictions on broadcasting. Page 1, the anchor story in BS, has Jaipal Reddy (minister of I&B) in Mumbai addressing the inaugural of FRAMES, the entertainment industry's annual jamboree. He suggests that the new commercial license regime may well see the long awaited shift to revenue sharing - as we know from the TRAI Open Houses, the only thing that has held up a decision on this one is the likelihood of lawsuits from current license holders, one of whom distinguished themselves by threatening a media watchdog site with a slander suit and forced its closure last month (the main issue being the media company's practice of selling news space as advertising). Somewhere toward the end of the little news item, Reddy looks forward to the opening through the next three years of 'over 4,000 .... community radio stations across the country'. My post yesterday wondered about the limits of imagination, but if this quote is accurate, then the government is merely talking about what will actually be achieved, and not about limiting the potential itself. Naive, but then hope springs eternal, right? Tucked into a different story in a different paper, the AA carries a tiny news item from Delhi on Page 3, that the Central Monitoring Service of the I&B, which monitors foreign broadcasts, has been shifted to 'a secret set-up' in the Cabinet Secretariat, called the National Technical Facilities Organisation. The shift took place on April 1, hopefully not a foolish move (but then the celebration of April 1 as All Fools Day is a foreign implant, and we should shun all imputations of less than brilliance to events that take place on that day). Presumably the department is woefully under-equipped to deal with local broadcasting, and this lateral shift could perhaps reveal why the government has been so slow to liberalise news and current affairs broadcasting on the one hand, and devolving local ownership on the other hand. In any case, even the government has begun to realise (though not quite ready to openly admit it) that FM broadcasting is a low range technology, and that monitoring, if deemed necessary, will need large numbers of personnel deployed throughout the country, familiar with local languages. This observer finds it hard to understand how, if a single national organisation is mooted to do this job, such local people will be graded and promoted over the years, or how a specialist in say, Tamil monitoring, will function when moved laterally to Assam. And if this job is devolved down logically to state bodies, how long will it be before states start demanding more say in defining media policies? Of course, being an idealist, I personally think there is little harm (compared to the inaction of the past five and a half decades) in moving it right down to the sub-sub-level of villages, communities and their local governance systems. But I don't expect to hear an overwhelmingly loud roar of approbation and applause from the government benches for saying so. readers of this list will recall that a couple of years ago, the secretary I&B was quoted in the Washington Post to say that allowing villagers to handle their own broadcast media was 'fraught with danger'. Apparently the danger was to the administration. -- Vickram From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Wed Apr 6 19:57:05 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 23:27:05 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio Programme Commemorating 100 Years of Kangra Earthquake Message-ID: Community Radio Programme Commemorating 100 Years of Kangra Earthquake 06 Apr 2005 08:11:00 GMT Source: NGO latest SEEDS India Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) - India Website: http://www.seedsindia.org Exactly hundred years ago on 4th April 1905-an earthquake measuring more than 8.7 M hit Kangra Valley of Himalaya Mountain. Close to 30,000 people died in the earthquake which rocked the cities as far as 700 Km away. This was undoubtedly one of the Indian most devastating earthquakes. Kangra district is part of Himachal Pradesh which lies zone v of seismic zone map of India. This zone is liable to seismic intensity IX and above on Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. This is the most severe seismic zone and is referred as Very High Damage Risk Zone. To commemorate centenary year, SEEDS along with District Administration, Shimla produced a special radio programme aimed at creating awareness among the citizens about earthquake risk in the region and need to reduce risk. The programme explained the earthquake phenomenon in the region highlighting how haphazard physical development is a cause of concern for future. The audience was reminded about one structure Teda Mandir (Tilted Temple) which got its tilt in 1905 earthquake. The structure seems as one of few living memories of Kangra earthquake. The programme was broadcast over All India Radio and reached audiences all over the state. In the mountainous region, radio is most popular medium of reaching out to citizens. In Himachal Pradesh, haphazard growth of settlement has resulted in houses being constructed on steep slope with in correct construction practices. High priority life line services like hospitals, power stations and telecommunication and water supply station are located in high vulnerable areas with poor connectivity. Weak enforcement of byelaws, construction of steep slope and lack of space between building have all added the risk in the region. An Important highlight of the programme was to advice communities to not give in to rumours regarding earthquake prediction. A recent such rumour caused wide scale panic with communities spending entire night staying outside in the rain. This radio programme is part of the Parvat Yatra ( Mountain Safety Campaign) programme which is a mass mobilization campaign aimed to initiating community ked action for disaster risk reduction in the mountain communities ' through interactive mediums such as community workshops shake table demonstration exhibition and poster campaigns. SEEDS has organised workshops in the villages, with focus on role of local governance towards disaster management. The women's community centres in two villages of the Kangra Valley have been retrofitted to demonstrate the techniques available for seismic strengthening of buildings. More recently SEEDS jointly with District Administration has prepared Earthquake Risk Mitigation Plan and Citizen Handbook for Shimla city. Shimla is presently the capital and largest city of the state. [ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ] http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/seeds/111277586156.htm -------------------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi From arunlists at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 09:41:18 2005 From: arunlists at softhome.net (Arun Mehta) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:11:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] community tv and cognitive radio In-Reply-To: <20050328072241.27078.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> References: <20050328072241.27078.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <424E4C9E.3070209@softhome.net> Hi Sajan, The community radio mailing list hasn't shown interest in your suggestion for community TV, perhaps india-gii may show greater interest. Along with TV, it is easy to provide data services as well, such as teletext. Sajan, if you aren't a member of india-gii, trust me, you should be -- to join india-gii, the low-volume list that keeps a critical eye on what is happening in the Indian electronic space, go to https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii archives at https://ssl.cpsr.org/pipermail/india-gii/ I am also mailing this to the Mission 2007 list, where we have been discussing ways to improve the viability of telecenters. I believe that a telecenter could be the right place to site the community radio and TV stations, as it would allow them to make effective use of the Internet, to share content, as a virtual recording studio, etc. For good measure, I am also mailing this to the Asiasource mailing lists, where I have good friends who can help us with formulating a good response to this request for comments from the government, as also bringing us in touch with other activists in the area. Not just mailing lists, even the country isn't showing much enthusiasm for terrestrial TV, for even TRAI doesn't seem to have received enough responses, and has provided extra time. I must plead guilty myself, I didn't respond to TRAI's consultation paper, but here is my contribution, first draft. This is what I would like to see happen in the area of spectrum reserved for terrestrial TV, an invaluable piece of virtual estate, for at this frequency, it is easy to penetrate foliage and even walls, so you can work with far lower masts. Firstly, community terrestrial TV must be allowed, because for poor people, paying the cable operator each month is not an option. TV sets, both monochrome and colour, are fairly cheap now. We are just releasing a policy for terrestrial community radio, the same terms could apply to terrestrial TV -- it should not take long to arrive at a policy. Second, let us recognise that there will be plenty of empty slots in the terrestrial TV spectrum, particularly in rural areas, and there is a way to take advantage of this. A very exciting technology is cognitive radio, which automatically senses which slices of spectrum are in use, avoids those, and communicates with other such radios without causing interference to anyone. Advantages: 1. Both community TV and radio could benefit from a low-cost resturn path, so that anyone with such a radio could be a roving reporter, by simply attaching a mike or video camera to the cognitive radio set. 2. Given that the cost of masts is dominant in rural communications, such radios could cut down the cost of Mission 2007 drastically. 3. This is very significant technology not just for India, but is cutting edge for the whole world. If we give our industry interesting spectrum to play with, and a market of 600,000 villages to sell to, we could easily become world leaders in this technology, which is likely to be cheaper than even WiFi. 4. While other countries will find the technology useful, India is by far best placed in exploiting it. Other countries are using spectrum far more intensively than us: far more terrestrial radio and TV stations, less restrictive licensing for wireless... In India, the spectrum is largely unused, so we have more room to grow. Look at it this way: if you want to build something new on a piece of land, it is far easier to work with a green field, than have to tear down existing structures. To make suggestions for improvement, please reply to this message, or go to http://www.india-gii.org/wiki/index.php/Position_Papers/Terrestrial_TV Arun sajan venniyoor wrote: > TRAI had issued a consultation paper on private terrestrial TV > broadcasting on 25 Feb 2005. Anyone interested in the possibility of > Community Television, which would be covered under private terrestrial > TV, should respond to TRAI by the new deadline, 15 April 2005. > > Sajan. > ------ > > TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA > March 28, 2005 > PRESS RELEASE NO 31 /2005 > > TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA (TRAI) had issued a Consultation > Paper on 25th February 2005 on Private Terrestrial TV Broadcasting > Service. The consultation paper covers the issues relating to allowing > private broadcasters in the field of terrestrial television > broadcasting. The purpose of the Consultation Paper was to generate > discussion on the appropriate policy and licensing framework for the > introduction of Private Terrestrial Television Broadcast service in > India. The Consultation Paper was also placed on TRAI?s website > [www.trai.gov.in] and the specific issues posed for consultation were > put together in Chapter-6 of the Consultation Paper. Comments of the > Stakeholders on the Consultation Paper were invited by 31st March, 2005. > > 2 Keeping in view of the importance of the issue and the need for > wider participation of stakeholders in the consultation process, TRAI > has decided to extend, the last date for sending comments on the > Consultation Paper by 15 days. The last date for sending comments by > stakeholders will now be 15th April, 2005. > > 3. Written comments on this Paper may be furnished to Secretary, TRAI > by April 15, 2005. The gist of these comments received will be posted > on the TRAI?s website. For any further clarification on the matter, > Secretary, TRAI or Adviser (B&CS) may be contacted at > trai07 at bol.net.in (Phone No. 26167448, Fax No. 26103294) and > rkacker at trai.gov.in (Phone No. 26713291, Fax No. 26713442) respectively. > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >cr-india mailing list >cr-india at sarai.net >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. >Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 From fred at bytesforall.org Mon Apr 4 11:07:18 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:37:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless Message-ID: <200504040907.j3497IU8009588@mail6.atl.registeredsite.com> Please be careful while posting to the CRindia mailing list. If the list has to be moderated it will only add to delays in communication. Keeping it open means an additional responsibility on the part of subcribers. Kindly take note. FN ============================================================ From: "gururaja budhya" Date: 2005/04/03 Sun PM 02:45:18 GMT+05:30 To: cr-india at sarai.net Subject: RE: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless ============================================================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: reply.DEFANGED-2601 Type: application/defanged-2601 Size: 228 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050404/3d704f2e/attachment.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/defanged-2602 Size: 139 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050404/3d704f2e/attachment-0001.bin From ss0520 at ureach.com Thu Apr 7 13:57:42 2005 From: ss0520 at ureach.com (ss0520 at ureach.com) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 2005 17:27:42 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US Message-ID: <20050407115742.GA1193@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Hi Guys, This is sanjeeb. I have subscribed to this mailing list recently. I want to set up a small FM center. For that I am looking for some information. Currently I am located in USA so not able to work on it properly. I want to know 1. how to apply for license to set up a FM station? 2. What is the License fee? If any of you have this information handy, please share with me. Thanks, Sanjeeb From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Thu Apr 7 20:09:03 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 23:39:03 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US References: <20050407115742.GA1193@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Message-ID: Hi Sanjeeb, If you want to set up a FM stn in US refer to this site : http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/howtoapply.html (How to Apply for a Broadcast Station) You can get all relevant info's (rules, applictaion forms, license fee etc ..) from abv site. Regds Alokesh ------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 5:27 PM Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US > Hi Guys, > > This is sanjeeb. I have subscribed to this mailing list recently. I want to > set up a small FM center. For that I am looking for some information. > Currently I am located in USA so not able to work on it properly. > > I want to know > 1. how to apply for license to set up a FM station? > 2. What is the License fee? > > If any of you have this information handy, please share with me. > > Thanks, > Sanjeeb > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Apr 10 11:25:35 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 14:55:35 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] NPR comes to India via Worldspace (paid content) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- UPCOMING CHANNEL CHANGES ON WORLDSPACE WorldSpace Satellite Radio wants to take this opportunity to thank you for being a member of the WorldSpace Global Club. Additionally we wanted to alert you to some upcoming changes to the WorldSpace Programming lineup. Beginning Friday April 15, 2005 we will be moving some of our channels from Free-to-Air into an encrypted subscription package. Beginning April 15th, in order to receive these channels you must subscribe to the 'India Silver' subscription package. The channels that will be affected are the following: In India: - CNN International (1303) - NPR (1430) - BBC Asia West (1415) - RFI (1402) - WRN (1302) If you already are a subscriber to WorldSpace , you will continue to enjoy these channels! If you are not yet a subscriber to WorldSpace , sign up today to receive dozens of channels of music, news, sports and information all in crystal clear sound! The WorldSpace 100% commercial-free music channels cover nearly every genre - Bollywood hits, rock, pop, jazz, European classical, Carnatic classical, Hindustani classical, country, dance and world as well as channels dedicated to regional music - Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali. WorldSpace also brings you channels of news, sports and information from renowned international broadcasters such as the BBC, CNN, NPR, RFI, NDTV and many others. NPR Worldwide (USA) - NPR Worldwide (USA) is an internationally acclaimed producer of noncommercial news, talk and entertainment programming. Listen to NPR Worldwide (USA) for its critically acclaimed shows 'Morning Edition,' 'All Things Considered,'and 'Talk of the Nation'. NPR Worldwide (USA) keeps you plugged in. CNN International - International news brought to you by one of the world's foremost news authorities - CNN. In a time when the world's events are of utmost importance, CNNi brings the international perspective to today's headlines. BBC - One of the most distinguished names in news broadcasting, the BBC brings its powerful news gathering resources and global reach to WorldSpace. With the BBC World Service, listeners everywhere are plugged into events as they unfold around the globe. RFI - Radio France International is one of the most popular French language radio stations. It offers a choice of news, features, interviews, business, society, culture, living, leisure and fashion, particularly from France and the French-speaking parts of the world. So don't wait! Get your WorldSpace subscription now! You can sign up a number of ways: - In India call toll-free 1-600-44-5432 - You can visit us on the web at www.worldspaceasia.com - Or finally, you can e-mail us at india at worldspace.com We thank you for being part of WorldSpace Nation and hope you enjoy all of our programming. It's designed to take radio into the next generation of radio. It's satellite radio - powered by WorldSpace ** NPR, CNN, BBC, NDTV, WRN and RFI are trademarks used with permission. From disabilityradio at hotmail.com Mon Apr 11 08:35:04 2005 From: disabilityradio at hotmail.com (jean parker) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:05:04 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] combining amateur and community radio Message-ID: Hello All: I am looking for information about projects that have combined amateur (ham) radio with community radio for the purpose of disaster communications. I am doing a presentation on this next week and want to get people's thoughts on how these two forms of communication can work together in emergency and disaster situations. You can post your ideas, thoughts and experiences to this list or send them to me off list at: disabilityradio at hotmail.com Many thanks, Jean Parker Pune, India -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050411/8ef353a9/attachment.htm From nino at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 12 06:50:16 2005 From: nino at rediffmail.com (Nisha Narayanan) Date: 12 Apr 2005 04:50:16 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] combining amateur and community radio Message-ID: <20050412045016.22597.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> ? Dear friends and colleagues, Applications are now being accepted to the six-week interactive online course Reporting on Food and Agriculture which will run from 2 May ? 11 June 2005. As in all our programs, working journalists who qualify to the course may apply for fellowships covering tuition fees. We would like to bring together 12 working journalists to participate in this course. Please help us locate them by carrying the story below in your print, broadcast or online news outlet. We also request you to share it with your staff, colleagues and friends, and if you have a candidate in mind, please do not hesitate to nominate him/her. Application deadline has been set for Monday, 25 April 2005. Thank you for this favor, and for helping us reach journalists in your country. All good wishes. Sincerely, Violet B. Valdez Executive Director Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University Tel Nos. (632) 9263253 / (632) 4266001 local 5215 Fax No. (632) 9263254 E-mail: newsroom at admu.edu.ph Website: http://cfj.ateneo.edu ---------------------------------------------------------- Press Release Contact: Troy Barrios Tel. Nos.: +632 926 3253 or 426 6001 local 5215 Fax No.: +632 926 3254 E-mail: newsroom at admu.edu.ph Website: http://cfj.ateneo.edu Online course on reporting commodities opens May 2 MANILA, March 29 ? The Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University (CFJ) is now accepting applications for a six-week online course on Reporting on Food and Agriculture to be held from 2 May ? 11 June 2005. The course aims to develop skills on writing about farm topics and will tackle a wide range of issues including environmental degradation, genetically modified seeds, trade policies and disaster reportage. Major global commodity exchanges and their influence on the decisions of Asian farmers will also be explored. Rene Pastor, deputy editor of the commodities desk of Reuters in New York will teach this course. Pastor has covered assignments ranging from coups and earthquakes and has worked in Singapore and Manila before his assignment to the United States. He also covered the attacks on the World Trade Center and the destruction of the commodity exchange there. Fellowships are available to qualified and deserving journalists who are full-time staff of a news media organization in Asia. Applications must be received by Monday, 25 April 2005. Application forms may be downloaded from http://cfj.ateneo.edu or requested by e- mail at newsroom at admu.edu.ph and submitted by fax at +632 926 3254. The CFJ may also be contacted by phone at +632 926 3253 or +632 426 6001 (local 5215). CFJ, a joint project of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and the Ateneo, was founded in June 2000 to promote good journalism in Asia. It carries out its mandate by providing training opportunities primarily to working journalists in the region. Journalists from the Pacific Islands are also welcome to apply. CFJ training programs include the diploma programs in online and broadcast journalism, certificate courses and a degree program leading to the Master of Arts in Journalism. On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 jean parker wrote : >Hello All: > >I am looking for information about projects that have combined amateur (ham) radio with community radio for the purpose of disaster communications. I am doing a presentation on this next week and want to get people's thoughts on how these two forms of communication can work together in emergency and disaster situations. > >You can post your ideas, thoughts and experiences to this list or send them to me off list at: >disabilityradio at hotmail.com > >Many thanks, > >Jean Parker >Pune, India >_______________________________________________ >cr-india mailing list >cr-india at sarai.net >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050412/6c573d5c/attachment.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 12 10:21:24 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 12 Apr 2005 08:21:24 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] helping the beeb Message-ID: <20050412082124.6118.qmail@webmail8.rediffmail.com> Check out the sub-text of this story. As the BBC blandly says, it really helps that Indians should get their news from foreign broadcasters than from local FM stations on which news, of course, is banned. Sajan. ------ BBC Hindi stems declining audience flow in India Indiantelevision.com, 11 April 2005 MUMBAI: BBC World Service has stemmed its declining radio audience in India, according to an independent audience survey. The survey was commissioned by BBC World Service and was conducted by AC Nielsen between December 2004 and January 2005. BBC Hindi has grown by 4.3 million, taking the BBC's weekly Hindi audience up to 14.5 million. The survey, conducted in Bihar, UP, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, revealed that weekly listenership to the BBC confirms the BBC as India's number one international radio provider. The BBC captures 40 per cent of all those listening to the radio in Bihar, and a third of radio listeners in Jharkhand. In the remaining three states, just under one in five of radio listeners turn to the BBC Hindi Service every week. BBC Hindi head Achala Sharma, says that the increase in audience this year is likely to be the result of a combination of factors, "We have developed our programming so it connects directly with our audiences in the Hindi belt. I am also sure that our roadshow marketing initiative in Bihar and UP last year has contributed to this success." According to the survey, which was undertaken almost a year after the BBC Hindi roadshow ended, 16 per cent of weekly listeners said they were aware of the BBC Hindi events. This amounts to over two million people. The Hindi roadshow visited over 40 locations in UP and Bihar, giving local people direct contact with the BBC. BBC World Service controller marketing communications and audiences, Alan Booth said, "India is a key market for the BBC. The rapid growth of TV viewing across India over the last 10 years, combined with India's broadcasting legislation which prevents news and current affairs on FM radio stations, has changed the media landscape." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050412/38196cf3/attachment.htm From nino at rediffmail.com Wed Apr 13 05:43:03 2005 From: nino at rediffmail.com (Nisha Narayanan) Date: 13 Apr 2005 03:43:03 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] Govt to consider 20% FDI in FM radio Message-ID: <20050413034303.12372.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com> ? FYI. Regds, Nisha The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has cleared 20 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) for the private FM radio sector but stuck to the ban on news and current affairs programmes. Current government regulations allow FII (foreign institutional investors) investment of up to 20 per cent of a FM channel's equity capital, while FDI is not permitted. Information and Broadcasting minister S Jaipal Reddy said his ministry has decided to limit the FDI level at the existing FII cap. The issue will now be referred to the Union cabinet for approval. However, he said the government was not open to the idea of allowing news and current affairs on private FM radio. "There are certain reservations, especially on the front on cross-media ownership," he said. Broadcast regulator TRAI had also favoured allowing FDI in private FM radio in its recommendations on 'Licensing Issues Relating to IInd Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting'. ? 2005 agencyfaqs -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050413/17ace749/attachment.htm From media at web.net Fri Apr 22 18:27:03 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:27:03 -0600 Subject: [cr-india] NEPAL - Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship (Eng+Fr) Message-ID: From: RSF ASIA Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 18:33:16 +0200 Subject: [rsfasie] NEPAL - Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship (Eng+Fr) Reporters Without Borders Press Release 21 April 2005 NEPAL Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship Reporters Without Borders today welcomed yesterday's ruling by Nepal's supreme court ordering the authorities to explain a 2 February directive banning FM radio stations from broadcasting news. The order was issued in response to a writ petition filed the day before by radio journalist Binod Dhungel, member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) challenging the directive. The press freedom organization said it hailed this courageous initiative and urged the Kathmandu government to respond to the court's decision by definitively lifting the ban. In yesterday's initial hearing, lawyer Dinesh Tripathi explained the unconstitutionality of the directive issued by the information and communication ministry after King Gyanendra assumed full powers on 1 February. It banned Nepal's FM radio stations from broadcasting news and discussion programmes for six months and permitted only entertainment programmes. Only the government-run Radio Nepal is exempt. Supreme court judge Arjun Kumar Singh ordered the government to send the defence attorney to the next hearing, scheduled for 25 April. The plaintiffs argued that censorship is contrary to the letters and the spirit of the constitution and that the directive violates the 1992 National Broadcasting Act and the 1994 National Broadcasting Regulation. Dhungel said it also violates fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. Reporters Without Borders notes that the ban has had a catastrophic impact on the right of the Nepalese public to be informed. More than 50 radio stations have been affect and hundreds of journalists have been laid off. NEPAL La Cour supr?me demande des explications au gouvernement sur la censure des radios FM Reporters sans fronti?res se r?jouit du verdict rendu par la Cour supr?me, le 20 avril 2005, sommant plusieurs institutions de s'expliquer sur la directive du 2 f?vrier 2005, qui interdit aux radios FM de diffuser des programmes d'information. Cette d?cision fait suite ? la plainte d?pos?e, la veille, par la F?d?ration des journalistes n?palais (FNJ), en la personne du journaliste Binod Dhungel, qui contestait la l?galit? de la directive. Reporters sans fronti?res salue cette d?marche courageuse et demande instamment au gouvernement de Katmandou de prendre acte de la d?cision de la Cour supr?me en levant d?finitivement l'interdiction. Une audience pr?liminaire a permis ? l'avocat Dinesh Tripathi d'exposer ? la Cour l'anticonstitutionnalit? de la directive impos?e par le minist?re de l'Information et de la Communication apr?s la prise des pleins pouvoirs par le roi Gyanendra, le 1er f?vrier dernier. Cette mesure, adopt?e pour une dur?e de six mois, interdit la diffusion de programmes d'information et de d?bats d'opinion sur les ondes FM n?palaises. Seules sont autoris?es les ?missions de divertissement. L'unique radio qui peut ne pas se soumettre ? cette directive est la station gouvernementale Radio Nepal. Le juge de la Cour supr?me, Arjun Kumar Singh, a ordonn? la pr?sence d'un repr?sentant l?gal du gouvernement lors de la prochaine audience qui se tiendra le 25 avril. Selon les plaignants, la censure va ? l'encontre des intentions et de l'esprit de la Constitution du royaume. La directive du gouvernement enfreint notamment le National Broadcasting Act de 1992 et le National Broadcasting Regulation de 1994. D'apr?s Binod Dhungel, l'ordre contrevient aux droits fondamentaux garantis par la Constitution. Reporters sans fronti?res rappelle que la d?cision gouvernementale a eu un impact catastrophique sur le droit des N?palais ? ?tre inform?s. Plus de 50 stations de radio ont ?t? touch?es par cette mesure, entra?nant la mise au ch?mage de centaines de journalistes. -- Vincent Brossel Asia - Pacific Desk Reporters Sans Fronti?res 5 rue Geoffroy Marie 75009 Paris 33 1 44 83 84 70 33 1 45 23 11 51 (fax) asia at rsf.org www.rsf.org From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Apr 24 18:29:17 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 21:59:17 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] Prachi Pinglay: reaching through the skies (CR) Message-ID: PRACHI PINGLAY: REACHING OUT THROUGH THE SKIES (COMMUNITY RADIO) Source: Frontline AT the crafts mela at Dehra Dun from February 25 to March 6, which buzzed with people digging into piles of shawls, scarves and other clothes or eating chaat, there was a stall in the farthest corner of the venue, which attracted a few curious onlookers. This belonged to the Hewalvani Community Radio, whose sign said: "People's radio, For people, By people". Every now and then some visitor would ask: "So, do you make Garhwali music albums? What channel? Do you need people to make music programmes?" Others wanted to know how it helped in development and were often openly sceptical about its sustainability. The personnel at the stall explained: "We are a group of people making radio programmes about issues relevant to and important for communities in and around villages. This is because other media may not be able to address our problems. It also helps people to know more, learn, communicate and exchange information." Community Radio is a radio service for geographically bound communities, where infrastructure is poor and mainstream national and regional media may not reach. The service is usually run and managed by local people and addresses issues relating to the community in the local language. It has great potential to serve as a development tool in rural India in terms of creating awareness, spreading information and facilitating communication. However, India is yet to see a full-fledged community radio movement or process as government policy, governed by the Telegraph Act of 1885, does not permit such broadcasts. http://www.nalsartech.org/tikiwiki/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=3867 _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- If you are related to the field of IT (or even if not) please visit http://www.bytesforall.org, a network on how computers can help the commonman, and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers From fred at bytesforall.org Mon Apr 25 11:08:21 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:38:21 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... Message-ID: <20050425090821.GA652@news.goa.bytesforall.org> http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2005/04/25/11294.html Prasar Bharati eyes Rs 1,000-cr revenues BUSINESS LINE Our Bureau VIJAYAWADA PRASAR Bharati is aiming at augmenting its revenues and has set itself the target of touching the Rs 1,000-crore mark during the current financial year (2005-2006), said the company's CEO, Mr K. S. Sarma. At a press meet here on Sunday, Mr Sarma said that Prasar Bharati had earned a record Rs 825 crore during 2004-2005, Rs 665 crore through Doordarshan and the rest through All India Radio (AIR). "We are aiming at the Rs 1,000-crore target this year, Rs 800 crore through DD and the rest through AIR," he said. He added that Prasar Bharati would tie up with the various Government Departments and also tap other sources for augmenting its revenues. "Our annual expenditure is around Rs 2,000 crore. Our aim is to be completely self-sufficient." Mr Sarma said the Union Agriculture Department had granted Rs 311 crore to the Prasar Bharati for two years to improve agricultural coverage. Prasar Bharati has identified 36 clusters in the country, with each cluster having five high-power transmitters to telecast region-specific agricultural programmes for farmers. "In Andhra Pradesh, there would be five such clusters -- two apiece in the Andhra and Telangana regions and one in Rayalaseema," he said. Scrolling will be introduced this year to telecast local commercials. "We expect to earn at least Rs 100 crore more through this manner. On an experimental basis, we introduced scrolling at Salem in Tamil Nadu and earned roughly Rs 1 lakh a month." Answering a question as to why the Doordarshan is unable to attract the youth, he said that as a public broadcaster, (c) 2005 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. -- _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- If you are related to the field of IT (or even if not) please visit http://www.bytesforall.org, a network on how computers can help the commonman, and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers From suresh_guptan at hotmail.com Mon Apr 25 15:46:21 2005 From: suresh_guptan at hotmail.com (Suresh Guptan) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 19:16:21 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... References: <20050425090821.GA652@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Message-ID: Dear Frederick, Do you have any tips on tracking down the 36 clusters referred to below? I want to know if any of these are located in Rajasthan. Regards, Suresh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frederick Noronha" To: Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 2:38 PM Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... > http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2005/04/25/11294.html > > Prasar Bharati eyes Rs 1,000-cr revenues > > BUSINESS LINE > Our Bureau > VIJAYAWADA > > Mr Sarma said the Union Agriculture Department had granted Rs 311 crore to > the Prasar Bharati for two years to improve agricultural coverage. Prasar > Bharati has identified 36 clusters in the country, with each cluster having > five high-power transmitters to telecast region-specific agricultural > programmes for farmers. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050425/6862d28c/attachment.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 26 14:42:44 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 26 Apr 2005 12:42:44 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] news on private FM Message-ID: <20050426124244.23945.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> '20 per cent FDI not a great leap for radio, say industry leaders' April 25, exchange4media.com Anushree Madan Mohan As the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is working on allowing a 20 per cent FDI in the private FM space, the ban in news and current affairs programmes still stays. Said Prashant Pandey, COO, Radio Mirchi, "The Ministry is yet to formalise the policy package for private FM radio. While there have been promises of 20 per cent FDI, the policy package is yet to be approved by the cabinet and the various ministries. The 20 per cent FDI is a welcome move because it would allow us to raise more money for ourselves, but the crux of the issue was never investment. It is not investment that would sustain the private FM space, but revenue. If it is not a profitable venture, why would any foreign investor consider it seriously? Plus, there are still miles to go before the actual implementation begins." Pandey added, "In the fast-paced world of today, more and more people consume news while they are on the move. It makes sense for radio stations to deliver news on politics and current affairs because there is a market for it. Why should current affairs be the prerogative of only the government-owned radio station?" Meanwhile, Sumantra Dutta, former CEO of Radio City, asserted that 20 per cent FDI still falls short of the 26 per cent that is allowed in other sectors. He said, "FM stations were angling for a 26 per cent FDI cut, as is allowed in all the other sectors. Why should radio be singled out? The policy per say, has not yet been implemented and it has to get approval from the cabinet. There is no fixed time frame given for the entire process. S Jaipal Reddy has stated in a public forum that the ministry is in favour of a revenue sharing structure for the radio industry, but it does not signify what kind of a revenue sharing settlement it would be. Again, there is no mention of when the new policy would come into play." Dutta said, "The ban on news and current affairs is not a logical one. Having pioneered the cause of private FM in the country, I feel that players in this space ought to be given the choice of putting across a plethora of offerings which they deem fit. Why not news? Radio is perhaps, the best local medium and it could provide cutting edge localised news." Shariq Patel, Station Head, Go 92.5, said that he would like to know, exactly by when the new policy comes into play. He said, "Under the present system, Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) up to 20 per cent of the equity capital is allowed in any private FM radio company, while FDI is not permitted. Sure, a 20 per cent FDI cut is good enough. After all something is better than nothing. But when can we expect implementation? The policy is yet to be approved by the cabinet. It's still doing rounds on various fronts." As for the ban on news and current affairs, Patel said, "It's illogical. We need to ensure more of choices for the masses by making varied content possible. That's the day when private FM would come on its own." Dutta said that it's only with Phase 2, the radio revolution would begin in this country. With more stations being set up, the government ought to ensure that no other technical obligations ought to hamper the growth of FM players such as co-allocation of towers. After all, a few lessons ought to be learnt from Phase 1, which has shown that limited availability of resources in this arena has delayed the process of starting stations. exchange4media.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050426/4960eb41/attachment.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Thu Apr 28 12:49:10 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 28 Apr 2005 10:49:10 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] reprieve for private FM Message-ID: <20050428104910.9247.qmail@webmail8.rediffmail.com> TDSAT provides reprieve to FM players till 4 July BY Manisha Bhattacharjee Indiantelevision.com (27 April 2005) MUMBAI: Some good news for the private FM radio players as Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) has directed the government to firm up its views on radio broadcast policy by 4 July. In the interim, status quo prevails. The status quo has been interpreted by the industry as not having to pay annual licence fee that gets due on 29 April for some cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. A Tdsat bench today provided this short-term reprieve for the private FM radio players on a petition filed by a group of FM radio broadcasters, including Radio Today Broadcasting, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd and Entertainment Network who run FM stations in various cities under the brand name Red FM, Radio City and Radio Mirchi respectively. It had been alleged in the petition that government inaction or delay on sector regulator?s suggestions on radio broadcast policy was resulting in financial losses for the private players. The government counsel today submitted before Tdsat that the information and broadcasting ministry has almost firmed up a radio broadcast policy paper, which has been circulated amongst various relevant ministries for feedback before it is taken to the cabinet for a final approval. After this submission, Tdsat postponed the hearing to 4 July and directed the government to finalise its views on the matter by then. Today?s Tdsat development is being seen as a succor. A senior executive of a FM radio company said that the status quo mentioned by the tribunal would mean that hefty licence fee in advance for the full year would not have to be coughed up by most major players. Annual renewal fee is calculated as the original price at which the license had been auctioned in a city plus an annual 15 per cent hike. For example, each of the Mumbai FM stations went for approximately Rs. 120 million apiece, while an original Delhi licence cost slightly over Rs. 90 million. Industry players are alleging that the present regulatory framework of licence fee, coupled with other factors, is financially bleeding the FM ventures as ad revenues generated from the stations are not adequate to sustain the business. A couple of closure notices in Pune and Lucknow have been also served by Radio Mirchi and Radio City. The industry is lobbying, amongst other things, for revenue share model, akin to that prevailing in the telecom sector, and permission to attract foreign investment. I&B minister Jaipal Reddy recently said that his ministry has taken a decision to allow 20 per cent FDI in FM radio ventures that will also include investments by FIIs. This, however, has to get a formal Cabinet nod. The draft policy paper circulated by the ministry has suggested a complex formula to switch over to revenue share regime. The details are not yet available with Indiantelevision.com. -------- http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k5/apr/apr325.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/e4fedcdb/attachment.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Fri Apr 29 07:02:13 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 29 Apr 2005 05:02:13 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] AIR to cut down social broadcasts Message-ID: <20050429050213.23121.qmail@webmail31.rediffmail.com> AIR, DD ASKED TO CUT DOWN SOCIAL BROADCASTS Deepshikha Ghosh, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) India's state-run television and radio have been told to cut down on social causes and make money. National broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been asked by a parliamentary standing panel to reduce the airtime given to programmes with social messages on Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) because they bring no revenue. This was in response to submissions by both Doordarshan and AIR that they were obligated to devote thousands of hours to programmes that no private channel would touch.AIR complained that its 215 stations across the country were bogged down by the weight of completely unprofitable programmes. In a year, these included - over 3,000 hours for Republic Day, 2,000 hours for Independence Day, 3,000 hours for Lok Sabha proceedings, 5,600 for parliamentary broadcast. More than 2,000 hours of environment campaigns, 4,000 hours dedicated to consumer protection and some 2,300 hours for petroleum conservation. - Programmes for industrial workers take up over 4,000 hours. Those for eradication of untouchability 3,800 hours, and programmes on the new economic policy over 6,000 hours. "Nobody will come forward to fund because we are doing programmes for industrial workers and eradication of untouchability," AIR Director General Brajeshwar Singh told IANS. Responding to the hourly break-up for the social broadcast, an official of a private radio broadcaster exclaimed: "For us, it would be suicide!" The panel was told that the revenue earned by Doordarshan was mainly through commercial activities such as sport events and latest Hindi feature films. The panel concluded that the number of hours allotted for government and social broadcasting be limited so that Prasar Bharati can maintain a "meaningful balance between social obligations and financial considerations". In fact, the panel has favoured a redefining of Prasar Bharati's role and possible restructuring so that it played a role in informing, educating and entertaining the public without ignoring the financial and social obligations. "A lot of time is consumed on Doordarshan for advertising on social causes, gender concerns, environmental campaigns et al, which involves a social obligation it has to fulfil in its capacity of being a government channel and for which there is no revenue," said the panel. It has also recommended that AIR seek approval for restricting the number of hours of social broadcasting. "AIR should encourage corporate entities and multinationals to spend a part of their social welfare budget on sponsoring such programmes," it said. Prasar Bharati points out that private channels, with no obligations to burden them, are earning huge revenue on the strength of television sets made available by the government across the country. Prasar Bharati CEO K.S. Sarma suggested a universal obligation fund to be paid by private channels from their revenue, since they were gaining from the "90 million sets being made available through the public broadcaster". http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web61952349Hoot42328%20PM1590&pn=1? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050429/0b360e21/attachment.htm From sucharita_e at vsnl.net Thu Apr 21 09:32:14 2005 From: sucharita_e at vsnl.net (Sucharita S Eashwar) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:02:14 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Preparatory Asian Regional Thematic Meeting for WSIS Message-ID: Hello All, The Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development is organising the Regional Thematic meeting for WSIS Tunis at Kuala Lumpur during 9-11 May 2005. I am attaching here their draft recommendations on which they welcome brief comments and inputs from the broadcasting perspective. You can send them to me or the AIBD Director javad at aibd.org.my by 26th April. cheers Sucharita Eashwar - -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AMS list of recommendations- as of 13 April 2005.doc Type: application/msword Size: 75264 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050421/2ce75cdc/attachment.doc From fred at bytesforall.org Wed Apr 20 21:28:29 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:58:29 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] OFFTOPIC: Radio and the diaspora Message-ID: http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web61952349Hoot115244%20AM1560&pn=1 Rooted through music: Radio binds diaspora Indian language radio services help the Indian communities living abroad remain in touch with their roots Aman Malik Ethnic Indian media: A global perspective The ethnic Indian media, in countries with substantial populations of Indian origin, evolved primarily on account of two reasons. To begin with, the members of the Indian Diaspora, living in alien and often unfriendly lands, needed a medium to remain in touch with their roots. Moreover because the lands they now inhabited were 'not so friendly,' it became essential for them to be networked among themselves. Apart from recreating familiar Indian symbols, the ethnic Indian media also satisfied certain special requirements of the Indian community by way of matrimonial advertisements, birth and death announcements, and special programmes during Indian festivals. Over time, ethnically owned media outfits proliferated, especially in those multiethnic countries that accorded freedom of expression to their people. In such countries, issues of political importance, current affairs and news about India gained importance. In most other countries, however, Indian language entertainment and local community issues (non-political) formed the bulk of the content dished out by the ethnic media. In these countries, news on political affairs was controlled either by the colonial masters or, if the Indians were in a minority, by the majority community (post independence). Why is radio so popular? Radio enjoys an enviable position vis-a-vis all other media in most countries where people of Indian descent reside. The reasons are not hard to enumerate. Many such countries are ex-colonies, which have attained independence within the last fifty years, and still are 'developing countries' with low per capita incomes. "Radio therefore becomes an affordable medium for inDIViduals and small business establishments, many of whom cannot afford TV," says Pandiyan Azagiya who heads Oli 96.8 FM, Singapore's only Indian language (Tamil) radio station. In fact, in a recent AC Nielson survey, it was found that a whopping 96% of the city-state's residents listened to radio. "In Guyana, almost everyone has a radio but few people have a TV or even buy a newspaper, so radio is important," reckons Terry Gajraj, one of Guyana's best known Chutney singers. Even in countries such as the United States, where the Indian community is affluent, radio is popular. "Radio can be heard even while working. It also serves as a communication tool while driving," offers a representative of RBC Radio, which commenced service in 1989. RBC Radio, operating out of the Empire State Building in New York City, was the first (and one of only three) 24-Hour Indian radio station in the US. Rafi Mohammad, a Trinidad based media practitioner of East Indian descent feels that Indian language radio stations provide a good medium for East Indians to air their views on matters of public concern. "You would not believe it," he says, "but in a small country like ours with a population of 1.3 million, half of which are East Indians, we have six Indian language radio stations." Another major reason for the popularity of radio in some such countries is geographical. Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius and Singapore are made up of clusters of numerous islands that are spread over a vast area. Take Fiji for instance. This Pacific nation with a population of only about 800,000, (45 per cent are Indians), has nearly 360 islands and radio is the only medium that reaches out to all of them. It does have a government owned 24 Hour TV channel, but its reach is limited. Their beginnings and the way they grew.... Almost all such countries with have substantial populations of Indian descent, are ex-colonies. They attained independence from their colonial masters (the British, the French and the Dutch) toward the second half of the twentieth century. Most Indians in these countries (Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius, South Africa, East Africa, Guyana, Suriname etc) can trace their roots to the indentured labourers who were taken there from British India, in various phases beginning the mid nineteenth century, to work on sugar plantations. Most of those who reside in countries like the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Gulf went much later (primarily post independence). In most of these countries Indian language radio services commenced in the first half of the last century. By this time the Indian communities in each of these countries had begun to exert some degree of political influence. So while Tamil language radio in Singapore started in 1936 as a 4-Hour service, Fiji began Hindi radio broadcasting by 1954. Today Singapore has a 24-Hour Tamil FM station, Fiji has four Hindi stations, two of which are privately managed. In Trinidad, Indian radio started in 1947 thanks to Kamalludin Mohammad, an East Indian who negotiated with the management of the only radio station in the country at that time, to start a half-hour show, which became an instant hit. Eleven years ago, the privately owned 103 FM became the first all-Indian radio station in Trinidad; today there are six, with two signing on soon. Mauritius, which had its first radio broadcast way back in 1927, liberalised its airwaves only in 2002. Today, this tiny republic in the Indian Ocean has three privately owned FM stations that broadcast programs in 'Hindustani.' In Guyana, where radio broadcasting started over eighty years ago, there are no full time Indian radio stations. The country, in fact, has just two government run stations (one AM and the other FM) and both air a smattering of Indian film based programs, bhajans etc. The Guyanese and Surinamese Indian communities are mostly serviced by radio broadcasts from Trinidad. While in South Africa the state run Lotus FM which targets the Indian community and gives equal space to several Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi, in Kenya East 106 FM and Sound Asia play the same role. The Gulf region has three Malayalam AM radio stations and two FM stations (Radio Asia and HUM). Sunrise Radio, which is the oldest and arguably the most popular Indian language radio network in the UK, caters to the Indian (and Pakistani) community all over the country. Others include Sabras Radio, Radio XL, Supa AM and Punjab Radio. The dynamics... Besides the country of origin of their forefathers, one thing that binds the people of Indian descent, while at the same time distinguishing them from the indigenous people and other non-indigenous racial and ethnic groups with whom they co-exist, is language. The Indian diaspora has, by and large managed, by default or design, to hold on, at least loosely, to its linguistic traditions. As mentioned earlier, Indians started emigrating to these lands well over a century and a half ago; theirs was a world which had no telecommunication facilities or modern day transport systems (as we know them) to talk of. Hence these people were at a total disconnect from India. They were, to put it simply, in a complete 'time wrap.' Each of these communities, in the last century or so, has spawned around itself a unique cultural ethos. So while Fijian Indians speak in a variant of Hindi which they call Fiji Hindi, East Indians of Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname have developed a popular form of music called Chutney and Tassa. However when it comes to radio broadcasts in Indian languages, stations follow strict linguistic guidelines and for the most part use 'pure' (read: literary) language. "We recruit qualified announcers, with degrees in Hindi," says Deepak Nobeen, a veteran of over 25 years in radio broadcasting who was formerly with the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. The radio announcers, who are local Indians, are usually trained locally. However some do come to India for training. "From time to time we have somebody coming over from India to train us here," says Sanjesh Narain, a radio jockey with Radio Fiji Two, a Hindi station. Indian music is big business in such countries and most of the Indian language radio stations (especially the privately owned ones) are entertainment channels. Much like the private FM stations in India, most of their content is film based and music is procured from India. While Azagiya claims that his station gets a copy of every CD that is released in India, Narain tells me that while music from India does constitute a bulk of the content, locally produced kirtans, bhajans and faag are regularly aired. Further government run stations, such as in Mauritius, do air public service shows on child abuse, health, unemployment, education etc. The likes of Sunrise Radio and Oli 96.8 FM also air news and programmes on current affairs. Big money... "The private players who took the initiative to start Indian radio stations in Trinidad, became instant millionaires," reflects Rafi. And Trinidad is not the only place where Indian language radio stations make a killing. Each radio practitioner that this correspondent interacted with, without exception, claimed that his station, as indeed all Indian language radio stations in his country were profitable. And for a good reason. In all these countries, Indians are the extremely enterprising. In Fiji, Trinidad and the Gulf, Indians virtually control the economy and in the US, the UK and African countries, enjoy extremely high per capita incomes. Indians manage or own profitable enterprises and the bulk of the advertising revenues generated by Indian stations come from them. In fact in some cases, even multinational corporations advertise. "Today the station has 250,000 Indian listeners and advertisers include Citibank, New York Life, Money Gram among others. The station is also a platform to small retail businesses," claims the representative of RBC Radio. Avtar Lit, who owns Sunrise Radio, recently became the richest media tycoon in the UK. The Hindi section of Radio Fiji makes at least $0.6 million (Fiji) through advertising revenues alone. Even in Mauritius, advertising revenue hovers around M Rs. 800,000 to 1000,000 for a private radio station. RBC Radio claims to collect up to $30 per spot. Being politically correct... While countries such as Singapore, the US and Mauritius have no real history of racial or political tensions among the Indians and others who live there, the Indians of Fiji, the UK, Guyana and Trinidad have had strained relations with the indigenous people of the respective countries. And such political and racial tensions do have a bearing how the country's media functions. When confronted with a question on inter racial tensions and their effect on the media, people from the aforementioned countries answered diplomatically, in a bid to play down the DIVisions. "Yes, some programmes are prejudicial and promote inter racial hatred," contends Gajraj, but then adds, "Most programmes promote interracial harmony, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence." Narain is equally non-committal as he says, "I think the relationship (between indigenous Fijians and Fijian Indians) is excellent. But politics is a dirty game so people are DIVided on party lines, not racially" Ditto with Rafi: "People generally live in harmony. However when election time comes around there is some falling out." "India treats us like step children..." If there was one thing that almost everyone who I interviewed seemed to agree on, it was that the Indian government was apathetic towards the ethnic Indian media. "The Indian government treats the people of Indian origin like step children. There are no links between Indian government and NRI media at all," claims the representative of RBC Radio, and adds, "Once we wrote to the Information minister of India and didn't even receive an acknowledgement letter." Mayshree Bhim who runs a media company called African United Media in South Africa shares this view. Laments Bhim, "Imagine what great radio we could do since a lot of us still perceive Bharat as our motherland, but for the attitude of the Indian government." Azagiya is critical of All India Radio: "We visited All India Radio in 2001, and realized that we were much superior both technically as well as content wise," he says, while adding at the same time that he would be open to collaborative projects with the Indian media. The Indian government has however entered into agreements with the state corporations of Fiji and Mauritius, to name just two countries. Says Narain, "India has been helpful by providing trainers, but we had to pay the cost, However the Indian embassy here (in Fiji) is trying to send some local journalist to get trained in India." Nobeen reckons that more could have been done as he feels that "more announcers should have been trained by A.I.R." The spillover... An interesting inference that this correspondent is compelled to draw from this study is that Indian language and music have an appeal, which goes beyond just the Indian community. Radio practitioners were unanimous in their opinion that although the indigenous people did not form a part of the target audience per se, they were, nonetheless 'fascinated' by Indian music. From the Amerindians (or the Buck people) of Guyana to the Chinese and Malay communities of Singapore, DIVerse ethnic groups in many countries regularly tune in to Indian radio stations and form as yet a minor but important part of the audience and programmes are made keeping their preferences in mind. Contact: Aman Malik, amanmalik000 at hotmail.com Print Story Email this story From geeta.sharma at oneworld.net Thu Apr 28 11:11:51 2005 From: geeta.sharma at oneworld.net (Geeta Sharma) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:41:51 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Grassroots Caucus for WSIS Message-ID: Dear All, Those of you working towards empowering grassroots communities may want to join this initiative. Thanks and regards Geeta Sharma OneWorld South Asia This is a call for Formation of a Grassroots Caucus While we appreciate the efforts behind WSIS process, and the important role civil society has assumed in making the WSIS debate a very inclusive one, we are equally concerned about the little or no role played by the representatives of grassroots organisations and the 'real' disadvantaged communities at large. Recongnising this major gap, OneWorld South Asia proposes to mobilise people at the grassroots to play a key role in shaping up the WSIS agenda and the final outcome thereof. We quote from the WSIS document: "We recognise and acknowledge the special and specific funding needs of the developing world, which faces numerous challenges in the ICT sector, and that there is strong need to focus on their special financing needs to achieve the development goals of the Millennium Declaration." WSIS policy document, chapter 2, Point 22. "We recognise the existence of the digital divide and the challenges that this poses for many countries, which are forced to chose between many competing objectives in their development planning and in demands for development funds whilst having limited resources." WSIS policy document, chapter 2, Point 19. You would agree decisions on financial mechanisms require good understanding of the problems impeding the ICT sector in developing countries. Organisations representing grassroots can state the problems faced by the grassroots communities in a manner that the investments in ICTs could also benefit the disadvantaged. There are several crucial areas where grassroots organisations must have their say including the important deliberations as financial mechanisms. To ensure equal stakeholder participation through the WSIS policy dialogue process OneWorld South Asia proposes the formation of Grassroots Caucus. Interested Organisations Representing Grassroots Concerns may Please SIGN UP Members of Grassroots Caucus will together voice their concerns on the WSIS policy dialogue and give their inputs through discussions among its members and also through active participation at PreCom 3 during 19-30 September 2005 at Geneva and WSIS II during 16-18 November 2005 at Tunisia. "Lets Voice our Concerns, as these decisions would affect Grassroots communities" Dr.Basheerhamad Shadrach, Director, OneWorld South Asia, C-5, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi -110016, Ph: 91 11 51689000, Fax: 91 11 51689001 Email: basheerhamad.shadrach at oneworld.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment.htm -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1205 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment.gif -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image004.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 7234 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment.jpg From media at web.net Sat Apr 16 02:47:05 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 00:47:05 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] BBC Hindi's audience in India rises Message-ID: BBC Hindi's audience in India rises BBC World Service has stemmed its declining radio audience in India, according to an independent audience survey. BBC Hindi has grown by 4.3 million, taking the BBC's weekly Hindi audience up to 14.5 million. The survey, conducted in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jharkand and Rajastan, revealed that weekly listenership to the BBC confirms the BBC as India's number one international radio provider. The BBC captures 40% of all those listening to the radio in Bihar, and a third of radio listeners in Jharkand. In the remaining three states, just under one in five of radio listeners turn to the BBC Hindi Service every week. Head of BBC Hindi, Achala Sharma, said that the increase in audience this year is likely to be the result of a combination of factors: "We have developed our programming so it connects directly with our audiences in the 'Hindi belt'. I am also sure that our roadshow marketing initiative in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh last year has contributed to this success." According to the survey, which was undertaken almost a year after the BBC Hindi roadshow ended, 16% of weekly listeners across the states said they were aware of the BBC Hindi events. This amounts to over 2 million people. The Hindi roadshow visited over 40 locations in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, giving local people direct contact with the BBC. Controller of BBC World Service Marketing Communications & Audiences, Alan Booth, added: "India is a key market for the BBC. The rapid growth of TV viewing across India over the last 10 years, combined with India's broadcasting legislation which prevents news and current affairs on FM radio stations, has changed the media landscape. However, we are pleased to see that BBC Hindi is growing in popularity in the towns and villages of Northern India. This survey proves that, with new programme formats and astute marketing, we are able to build on what had been a declining audience." The survey was commissioned by BBC World Service and was conducted by AC Nielsen between December 2004 and January 2005. # posted by Andy @ 13:44 UTC -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: http://medianetwork.blogspot.com/2005_04_03_medianetwork_archive.html ? info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From media at web.net Tue Apr 26 09:32:58 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 01:32:58 -0600 Subject: [cr-india] Taleban Radio stories Message-ID: ............................................ Taleban Radio Voice of America editorial April 22, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2005-04-22-voa2.cfm Remnants of the ousted Taleban regime in Afghanistan are launching a radio station to broadcast their extremist propaganda. According to news reports, the Voice of Shariat will be heard in Dari and Pashto, the main Afghan languages. But it has stiff competition. When the Taleban seized power in 1996, they prohibited the broadcasting of music. News and information were tightly controlled. After the regime was overthrown by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001, independent Afghan media were revived. Habibullah Rafie is an Afghan journalist. He says, "In December 2001, after the fall of the Taleban, we started from absolute zero. Since then," says Mr. Rafie, "media development has been unparalleled in our history." Today in Afghanistan there are more than forty independent radio stations and eight private television channels. Arman FM is a pop music station that says it is listened to by up to eighty-percent of the population of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. Saad Mohsini, the station's director, says the aim "was to target the younger generation." And, he says "we have been extremely successful." Arman FM is expanding its broadcasts to five other Afghan cities. There is still much for Afghans to do in the way of developing free media. Siamak Herawi works in the communications office of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president. Mr. Herawi says that while the Afghan media are free, "sometimes there is self-censorship because of problems that arise from Afghanistan's current conditions. For example," says Mr. Herawi, "a number of journalists fear that if they tell the truth, they will possibly be threatened." Vincent Brossel of the Reporters Without Borders monitoring group says the enemies in Afghanistan are those "who do not tolerate the assertion of pluralistic news and information." While independent media are being established, "Afghanistan still faces many challenges," says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: "We believe that the future of a new democratic Afghanistan that is no longer a haven for terrorists is absolutely essential to American security." Referring to the Afghan people, Secretary of State Rice says, "sometimes we just have to step back and give people credit for how much they have already achieved." The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government. (VOA News Apr 22 via Grace-USA) ------------xxxxxxxxxx Other News xxxxxxxxxx------------------- Afghanistan Afghan Government Not Concerned with Taleban Radio By VOA News April 21, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-21-voa51.cfm The Afghan government says it is not concerned about the recently launched clandestine Taleban radio station that is broadcasting anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda. A presidential spokesman says since the Afghan people suffered enough under the ousted Taleban regime, the propaganda is not expected to have an impact. He also said he does not believe the Taleban remnants can continue such activities for long because the government intends to bring them to justice sooner rather than later. A U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul says it is up to the Afghan government how it wants to deal with the broadcasts. But she said the area targeted by the broadcasts will definitely be under U.S. military surveillance. (VOA News Apr 21 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taleban Launches Clandestine Pirate Radio Station In Afghanistan Voice of America April 18, 2005 Afghanistan's Taleban regime, which was driven from power by U.S.-led forces, has launched a clandestine radio station that is being heard in that country's southern provinces. The pirate radio station, called Shariat Shagh or Voice of Shariat, operates from a mobile transmitter and broadcasts anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda and Islamic hymns. It can be heard in regions of the country which were once the strongholds of the fundamentalist movement. The Voice of Shariat comes as a bloody insurgency still rages in parts of Afghanistan, particularly in the south. A Taleban spokesman said the radio station will tell listeners about the Taleban's thoughts and objectives. U.S.-led forces toppled the Taleban government after it refused to hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks against the U.S. (VOA Apr 18 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taleban Militia Launch Clandestine Radio Station Al Jazeera April 19, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.aljazeerah.info/April%202005%20News/19%20n/Taleban%20Militia%20Launch%20Clandestine%20Radio%20Station.htm KANDAHAR, 19 April 2005 - Afghanistan's Taleban launched a clandestine radio station yesterday, broadcasting anti-government commentaries from a mobile transmitter. Called "Shariat Shagh", or Voice of Shariat, after the station the Taleban ran while in power, the broadcast can be heard in five southern provinces, including the former regime's old power base of Kandahar. "We launched the broadcast today through a mobile facility," said Taleban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi. "It goes on the air between six and seven o'clock in the mornings and same time in the evenings," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the Taleban, resisting in the south and east of the country since they were driven from power in late 2001, needed their own voice because the world's media were pro-American. Many Afghans listen to the BBC and Voice of America which broadcast in the country's two main languages, Pashto and Dari. In addition to government-run radio, numerous small, private stations have sprung up, many funded by aid donors. The Taleban station criticized US and other foreign troops operating in Afghanistan since the Taleban were ousted. Asked what the Taleban would do if US forces detected and destroyed their transmitter, Hakimi said they would set up another. Meanwhile, US troops have detained 24 suspected Taleban members in the southeastern province of Khost, bordering Pakistan. The men were picked up during a Sunday night raid by US troops backed by helicopters in Khost?s remote Ali Sher district, Khost Governor Mirajuddin Patan told Reuters. He did not know if any prominent Taleban members were among those arrested, but said local officials had urged US forces to coordinate such raids with provincial authorities. (Al Jazeera Apr 19 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taliban Clandestine Radio Hard to Track United Press International April 23, 2005 A clandestine anti-U.S. radio run by the Taliban doesn't worry the Afghan government, but U.S. forces are keeping the area under surveillance. Using the former name given to Radio Afghanistan during the Taliban regime -- Shariah Zhagh (Voice of the Sharia) -- the radio began limited broadcasts of anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda in the Kandahar area on April 18. Afghan media said Friday the government is not concerned about the radio because the Afghan people suffered enough under the ousted Islamic fundamentalist regime, and will not believe its propaganda. A U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul was quoted as saying the area targeted by the broadcasts will definitely be under U.S. military surveillance. But Taliban spokesman Hakimi said the Americans will not be able to locate the broadcast station. Shariah Zhagh is a mobile station. It broadcasts programs at dawn and sunset. No one can detect the station's frequencies during these times, Hakimi added. (UPI Apr 23 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taliban Radio Back on Air By Mirwais Afghan Reuters April 18, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15009085-23109,00.html Kandahar - Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas launched a clandestine radio station today, broadcasting anti-government commentaries and Islamic hymns from a mobile transmitter. Called "Shariat Shagh", or Voice of Shariat, after the station the Taliban ran while in power, the broadcast can be heard in five southern provinces, including the former regime's old power base of Kandahar. "We launched the broadcast today through a mobile facility," said Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi. "It goes on the air between six and seven o'clock in the mornings and same time in the evenings," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the Taliban, fighting an insurgency in the south and east of the country since they were driven from power in late 2001, needed their own voice because the world's media were pro-American. Many Afghans listen to the BBC and Voice of America which broadcast in the country's two main languages, Pashto and Dari. In addition to government-run radio, numerous small, private stations have sprung up, many funded by aid donors. As well as Islamic hymns and anti-government commentaries, the Taliban station also criticised US and other foreign troops operating in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted. Asked what the Taliban would do if US forces detected and destroyed their transmitter, Hakimi said they would set up another. Taliban attacks have picked up following a northern winter lull after the guerrillas failed in a vow to disrupt an October presidential elections won by President Hamid Karzai. But their activity is down on past years, fuelling speculation the movement may be struggling to find recruits and resources. Karzai has said his government is in contact with Taliban members to try to persuade them to lay down their arms and abandon a bloody insurgency that has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the past two years. The commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General David Barno, said at the weekend the Taliban were desperate but still dangerous. US-led forces toppled the Taliban government after it refused to hand over al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11 terrorist attacks on US cities. (Reuters Apr 18 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan U.S. State Dept Briefing Excerpt on Taliban Radio April 18, 2005 U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing Index Monday, April 18, 2005 12:40 p.m. EST Briefer: Richard Boucher, Spokesman ... QUESTION: Richard, some media questions. First, the Taliban have put together a clandestine radio network to incite terrorism and violence and that just went on air today in Afghanistan. And secondly, fortunately, I guess, the Iranians have closed down Al Jazeera television in Iran, saying it's stirring up violence and have arrested 200 persons. And I guess you've seen this front page series of articles in The Washington Post front page, both yesterday and today and they're saying there are no Muslims in this media operation -- MR. BOUCHER: That was on the second page, but anyway. (Laughter.) QUESTION: And also that -- MR. BOUCHER: All right. Let's -- let me -- hold it, don't do any more before I forget them all. Closing down Al Jazeera in Iran -- saw the report, sorry I don't have anything on it. No, I can only do two at once. What was the first thing? QUESTION: Taliban. MR. BOUCHER: Oh, the Taliban radio. QUESTION: Right. MR. BOUCHER: Clandestine radio. That's an interesting concept, nobody can hear it. It has to be secret. (Laughter.) No, I don't -- I hadn't heard about it. I'll have to check on it. I know what you -- I do know what you mean, nobody's supposed to know where the transmitter is. I'll see if we have anything on that. (State Dept Press Briefing Apr 18 via Grace-USA) -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH 180 Extra April 26, 2005 CRW is the biweekly online magazine for ClandestineRadio.com, the Web's only portal on clandestine broadcasting and subversive media. http://www.ClandestineRadio.com The full online issue can be read at: http://www.ClandestineRadio.com/crw/crw.php?id=242 ------------xxxxxxxxxx Breaking News xxxxxxxxxx---------------- ------------xxxxxxxxxx Team CRW xxxxxxxxxx--------------------- Martin Schoech, Editor in Chief Achraf Chaabane, CRW North Africa Nick Grace, CRW Washington Takuya Hirayama, CRW Japan Robert Petraitis, CRW Baltics http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crwatch/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crwatch/ ? info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sat Apr 2 04:33:48 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 08:03:48 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga Message-ID: When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga ----------------------------------------------------------- Govt plans to hand over radio to community, officials say the tsunami experience is one reason why it must be done ANURADHA RAMAN Posted online: Saturday, April 02, 2005 at 0242 hours IST NEW DELHI, APRIL 1: Imagine a radio station for every neighbourhood. Where local shops can advertise their goods, where communities can not only take charge of news content but debate on issues such as health and education. Trying to make all this happen is the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which now awaits a response to a note circulated to the Ministries of Home, Communication and Defence before taking it to the Cabinet for approval. Once cleared, it will usher in a radio revolution in the country which officials estimate should not take more than six months. Over two years after the policy on community radio was announced-the BJP government's decision on December 18, 2002 confined it to universities and colleges for security reasons-the UPA government is planning to hand over the radio to the community. What this effectively means is non-governmental organisations, voluntary associations, Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) can start radio stations of their own, subject to the availability of frequencies. With bank guarantee money proposed to be reduced to Rs 25,000 from Rs 50,000, the radio station can become operational. One of the reasons for bringing in a change in the policy, according to sources, was the lack of effective communication during the recent Tsunami disaster. ''Communities operating radio stations along the coastal area could have issued adequate warning to prevent large-scale casualties,'' sources said. With this in mind, the I&B Ministry has proposed that the community take charge of radio operations. Advertising will be allowed but has been capped at five minutes to an hour of programming. Foreign funds will be allowed through the FCRA or Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Flexibility is also being shown in increasing the wattage of transmitters which is now at 50 watts. The license duration is being increased from the current three years to five years. The I&B Ministry has indicated that a single window clearance with approval from the Ministry of Home (security clearance), Ministry of Communication (for allocation of frequency) to the nodal ministry is all that will be required to start radio station. The rules have been relaxed because of the bottlenecks in the existing procedure. Till the policy change, applications were required to be forwarded through the Ministry of HRD/state governments, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication-a procedure both long-drawn and cumbersome. Frequency allocation passes through four stages by the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Information and Technology. No commercial activity is permitted as per the guidelines now. Despite the rules that bar them from starting their own radio stations, NGOs have contributed content to the initiatives taken by All India Radio (AIR) like Chala Ho Gaon Mein in Palamu, Radio Ujjas in Kutch and Namma Dhwani-where a self-help group is involved in the working of the radio in Buddikote village in Bangalore district. The Swaminathan Research Foundation which buys air-time on Radio Pondicherry has been lobbying for independent initiatives to usher in a radio revolution. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 From arunlists at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 07:03:17 2005 From: arunlists at softhome.net (Arun Mehta) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 10:33:17 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga Message-ID: <424E2795.9050402@softhome.net> I was at the IT ministry yesterday, they are working on the note for the cabinet on community radio quite actively -- the cabinet decision on the subject is just around the corner. The NGO sector should begin to gear up for this. Arun http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 From vvcrishna at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 16:38:59 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 20:08:59 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 8:03 AM +0530 4/2/05, Alokesh Gupta wrote: >The I&B Ministry has indicated that a single window clearance with approval >from the Ministry of Home (security clearance), Ministry of Communication >(for allocation of frequency) to the nodal ministry is all that will be >required to start radio station. The rules have been relaxed because of the >bottlenecks in the existing procedure. Till the policy change, applications >were required to be forwarded through the Ministry of HRD/state governments, >Ministry of Home, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and the >WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication-a procedure both long-drawn and >cumbersome. Frequency allocation passes through four stages by the WPC wing >of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Information and >Technology. No commercial activity is permitted as per the guidelines now. >Despite the rules that bar them from starting their own radio stations, NGOs >have contributed content to the initiatives taken by All India Radio (AIR) >like Chala Ho Gaon Mein in Palamu, Radio Ujjas in Kutch and Namma >Dhwani-where a self-help group is involved in the working of the radio in >Buddikote village in Bangalore district. The Swaminathan Research Foundation >which buys air-time on Radio Pondicherry has been lobbying for independent >initiatives to usher in a radio revolution. > >http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 While it is indeed good news that the I&B Ministry is beginning to leak out stories on this subject (this is the second or third), it is a bit galling to find they seem to think they have invented the concept. Not a word (at least not a word that the reporter heard, which may not be the same thing) about the endless meetings, petitions and activities that have finally led us up to this point. I suppose we should be, on the one hand, grateful for small mercies, and on the other hand, gear ourselves up more than ever before to ensure that the revised policy is as CR-centric and user-friendly as is needed. Specifically, we believe it is critical for the government to release some bandwidth for very low power FM transmission. This medium, with its very low reach, costs almost nothing for even the poorest of communities to own. The target is 600,000 villages - and that will be tough to achieve if the government insists on maintaining unreal cost-based barriers to entry (read: technical specifications that make it impossible to set up low cost stations, unreasonable spectrum fees or security deposits or whatever). It is also necessary for the government to recognise that the technology enables as many as one hundred channels to operate from the same location (they could even share the same tower, but that isn't necessary to stipulate). The transmission equipment can be made to maintain a separation of just 200 KHz between stations, as the US FCC specifies. Our government has been led to believe that the minimum separation is 800 KHz. We recognise that for some locations, there could be an advantage to allowing community radio operators powerful stations as well - but those few situations need not dictate policy for all. For the vast majority, a combination of cheap low cost transmitters with low cost translators ought to handle Indian patterns of village urbanisation. -- Vickram From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 02:51:46 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 06:21:46 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Citizen Radio Message-ID: Citizen Radio ------------- Community radio is giving ordinary Indians a taste of media power. Anuradha Raman meets the little people who'll be ruling tomorrow's airwaves. Our airwaves Posted online: Sunday, April 03, 2005 at 0000 hours IST WHEN was the last time you heard something meaningful on the radio-which made you more than just hum the tune of your favourite number or stifle a laugh at some smart one-liners? Far removed from the concerns of the proverbial saas and bahu, whose lives have been turned into soaps to grab commercials and ears, whose re-runs can be heard on radio FM, the same airwaves are crackling with excitement and ushering in a quiet change in middle India. So quiet, that you have to strain your ears to catch the signal. With lyrical names like Bichapolla Radio-named after mendicant bards of Andhra Pradesh-and Kunjal Panchhi Kutch Ji-Saras Cranes of Our Kutch-the stations remain rooted to the places they operate from. >From Pondicherry-where the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (SRF) has been working hard to convince the government to allow it to start its own radio station but has had to remain content with a measly 15-minute airtime allotted by AIR Pondicherry-to Baramati in Maharashtra, radio operators are trying to make sense of the world around them and communicate it to their listeners (See accompanying stories). Fear Factor THE government finally appears to be tuning in. Before that, hear the background score. Just over two years ago, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry decided to talk Community Radio, prompted by the vision of a radio revolution. Like so many decisions taken by the government, this too stopped short of the desired goal. So fearful were the bureaucrats of allowing civil society access to its own media, that they put in clauses allowing only government-recognised universities to operate radio stations. ''It was to check the credentials of non-government organisations (NGOs) desirous of starting radio stations. It would have been doubly difficult to monitor their content,'' a ministry official now says. Organisations like SRF have been lobbying for a licence for quite some time. Their prayers are likely to be answered when the I&B Ministry, shaking off fears of a civil society takeover, takes a note to the Cabinet to hand over radio to community-run stations. Once this is done, NGOs, resident welfare associations and voluntary institutions will become eligible to apply for a licence and operate a radio station. As it happens, 2005 also marks the 10th anniversary of the historic Supreme Court judgement that declared airwaves public property, not the state's preserve. As campuses and NGOs and neighbourhood groups look to a policy change that allows them to participate in a media revolution, the airwaves may finally belong to the people. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67612 ------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 04:11:12 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 07:41:12 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio and Local Elections in India. Live! Message-ID: Community Radio and Local Elections in India. Live! ------------------------------------------------------ 30-03-2005 (UNESCO New Delhi) For the first time during these elections we have realized Namma Dhwani can play such an important role in our lives," reports Murthy, a shop owner in Budikote, a village of some 6000 people in Karnataka in South India. The state recently held Gram Panchayat elections in which people voted for members of their local, village-level governing bodies. During past elections in the area, there has been no media coverage of the counting process with election results generally announced by the authorities. Naturally, Namma Dhwani (Our Voice), a community radio station supported by UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), wanted to play a part in ensuring a free and fair election as well as greater degrees of transparency, accountability and community participation in the voting process. Having identified local level governance as a critical factor in the area's development, the station planned out a series of special programmes around the elections. Reporters went out in the village recording people's opinions about ensuring a good election. The majority said that candidates standing for election should not try to bribe people to vote for them. Sensitive issues like corruption and violence during elections were approached using creative formats like radio plays and songs. As voting day approached, the excitement level grew. Voter participation from Budikote was high. The votes were counted on March 1 in the sub-district headquarters in Bangarpet, some 15 km from Budikote. The station sent a local reporter, Nagaraj, to the counting centre in Bangarpet with a mobile phone. Every fifteen minutes, he spoke with the Namma Dhwani studio to give an update on the voting results. Every word was carried live and cablecast to homes and shops throughout Budikote and relayed on loud speakers in nearby villages. "Kindly don't interrupt the program to play any songs. We want to hear more about the election results. Namma Dhwani is doing us a great help by letting us know the happenings instantaneously. We never had this before," said Krishna M.N., local baker and ardent listener of Namma Dhwani. He had been listening to the programme since it started and did not want it interrupted even for a minute. Election coverage started at noon and although there was no advance publicity, word got out quickly and by 2 PM there was a steady stream of people calling in to know about the results. The program continued until 2:30 AM the following morning. By the end, Namma Dhwani had logged nearly three hundred phone calls. In addition to the coverage of vote counting, Namma Dhwani also did live interviews with candidates who were present at the counting centre, with the member of the state legislative assembly representing the Bangarpet sub-district and with other prominent members of the community about the elections. At the studio, Mamata, a long-time volunteer, was behind the mixing console while Vanaja, Bhavani and Ashwath, all volunteers, were taking calls and organising the updates with Najaraj. As coverage progressed into the night, the broadcasters began discussing relevant topics - free and fair elections, community interest in the elections and chances of prospective candidates - in between updates from the counting centre. Some two years ago Namma Dhwani began recording the village panchayat meetings, but after several months the panchayat disallowed the practice. In the lead up to this election, Namma Dhwani interviewed all the local candidates. In addition to questions about their background, intentions and assurances, each candidate was also asked "If you win, will you allow Namma Dhwani to cover and record all the local Panchayat meetings.?" Although most of the candidates agreed, time will tell if the new panchayat members will follow through on their promises. Alongside the candidates, the winners in this election are clearly Namma Dhwani, its listeners and the local community. Together they put media's role in good governance into practice in their village. Source UNESCO New Delhi http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18508&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTI ON=201.html ---------------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi. From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 04:15:24 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 07:45:24 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] This tune's for me! Message-ID: This tune's for me! ----------------- Gaurav Raghuvanshi Community Radio is slowly making itself felt as a powerful tool of social and economic change. Tune in to a status report on what's crackling, and what more needs to be done. Community Radio, in current Government parlance, means Campus Radio. The existing licensing policy, announced in December 2002, stipulates that only government-recognised educational institutions can be issued a licence to run a community radio. That leaves out community-based organisations whose aim is empowerment of society. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recently submitted its recommendations on liberalising the norms further. Meanwhile, community radio initiatives are mushrooming through the proxy route ,eWorld does a status check. NALIYA, the western-most tip of India, would normally be the last place for a sting journalism operation. But this is where a bunch of school dropout reporters with missionary zeal have just unearthed a mini-scam. No, it is not about the casting-couch syndrome of Bollywood or the murky dealings behind defence purchases. It is something that is more relevant to the local populace - a Government doctor indulging in private practice at the cost of the State. The government hospital, where the doctor is supposed to be, is empty, while patients throng his illegal clinic and he makes a fast buck. In true sting journalism style, the doctor is cornered and his comments are duly recorded. But you will not get to see it on your favourite television news channel. This is a form of communication more relevant for rural India - radio. The programme, Pardafash (Expose), is produced by `Radio Ujjas' and broadcast on All India Radio, Rajkot. Radio Ujjas is an effort of the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan and is run by local youth, many of whom are school dropouts. Almost two-thirds of Kutch's 1.5 million people are hooked on to Radio Ujjas. Kunjal Panchchi Kutchji (Saras crane of our Kutch), the central character of the radio who has a nose for news, has been generating debates on a variety of social issues, according to Stalin K, founder of Drishti, an Ahmedabad-based media collective. Ujjas, which means light, is an imaginary village in Kutch created by the Radio Ujjas team that has been trained in basic journalism and radio programming by Drishti. Radio Ujjas has become a household name in Kutch and gets its funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Central Government. While community radio initiatives such as Radio Ujjas that buy programming space on AIR have come up in several States in the country, there is only one community radio station in the strict definition of the term. According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, as on date, only Anna FM qualifies to be a community radio station. The first campus-based community radio in the country, Anna FM is broadcast from the campus of Anna University, Chennai, on 90.4 MHz FM. However, there are other initiatives like Radio Ujjas in the field, wherein some organisations are helping certain communities prepare and share audio programmes through various means. One such is Chala Ho Gaon Mein, started by an NGO as a community participatory programme. It reaches a population of over seven million covering Palamau, Garwah and Latehar districts in Jharkhand. The frequency of the programme is two 30-minute episodes a week and it focuses on development issues such as the functioning of the public distribution system, roads, power and irrigation. Another example is the Namma Dhwani (Our Voice) initiative, where a cable audio station has been set up at Budikote in Kolar district of Karnataka and the local community produces and cable-casts its own radio programmes. Similarly, a community-based radio programme titled Panchayat Vani (People's Voice) was recently broadcast on AIR Darbhanga. The programme aims to spread awareness about the functioning of panchayati raj institutions in Muzaffarpur, Madhubani and Khagaria districts of Bihar. The programme, produced by CENCORED in collaboration with the Delhi-based NGO Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), was initiated in early 2003 to inform local communities about the need to, and ways to strengthen panchayati raj institutions. The initiative is being supported by the Ford Foundation and now covers 12 States. "Villagers across 12 States are getting hooked on to radio programmes featuring women `sarpanches' and journalists fighting social and economic inequities through Panchayati Raj institutions. In the process, listeners are spurred to participate in local institutions of self-governance themselves," says PRIA spokesperson, Sandip Das. And, the programmes are having impact. A middle-aged housewife at Benipati in Bihar's Madhubani got prompted by Panchayat Vani to mobilise village women to attend panchayati raj meetings. A woman in Kasargod (Kerala) got interested in the State's development plan. Das says PRIA has documented several examples where people have responded to community radio initiatives. "A programme titled Ganda no Dhabkar (Heartbeat of the Village) broadcast on AIR Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot has got listeners wanting to know more about the gram sabha and development programmes targeted at people living below the poverty line (BPL). The pilot radio programme, developed by Unnati, in collaboration with PRIA, depicts ground realities at village level and the heroic efforts of a woman sarpanch to fight social and economic inequalities through the gram sabha," Das says. Prompted by such initiatives, TRAI recently submitted its list of recommendations on the community radio sector to the Government. "What is allowed by the law of our country is campus radio and not community radio. The Government needs to address this issue with policy initiatives if it is serious enough to use the platform as a development tool," says Das. Agrees Stalin. "Why would an Indian Institute of Technology radio be bothered about women's issues or healthcare? There is a clear need to allow real community radio stations to function," he says. Stalin says that perhaps the present approach of using the AIR platform itself is faulty. "We were wrong in going through the proper channels and the AIR route. Instead, community radio should have started as pirate stations without bothering about a licence. Look at what happened to the cable operators. They did not take any licence to start operations and managed to stay outside any regulation," he says. Citing the example of countries such as the US, the Philippines and South Africa, where such `pirate' radio stations sprung up without a licence, Stalin says radio stations owned by the natives were outlawed in the Apartheid era and later had to be regularised. After all, a `suitcase' radio station covering a half-km radius can be started with an investment of just Rs 15,000. While going the `pirate' way may be an extreme situation, Stalin says the Government and TRAI's concerns are all misplaced. "Why should the Government be bothered about the sustainability of community radio stations when it is not putting in any money? Similarly, security issues are hardly a concern as we are talking about very low power transmitters that are incapable of beaming signals that can have implications for national security," he says. As regards allowing commercial advertising, Stalin says that too is not a real concern as private companies can bid for an FM radio station if they wanted to own a radio station. "Programming and advertising norms can be worked out. We are willing to keep a log of our transmission that can be inspected by any authority. The advertising-programming balance too can be worked out. But allowing true community radio stations to function without Government shackles is a must," he says. Meanwhile, TRAI has recommended to the Government that community radio stations should be allowed and commercial advertising be permitted, subject to certain norms. It has also said that there is no need for a separate programming code for community radio stations. The Community Radio ball is now in the Government's court. What TRAI wants Key recommendations of TRAI on Community Radio: - Any Indian legal entity or individual should be eligible for licence, no financial requirement. - No Government funding, but commercial advertising be allowed, subject to restrictions. - No spectrum fee for first two years of licence period. - No need for separate programming code, AIR and private sector norms applicable to Community Radio as well. - Only local language programming; half of content should be self-generated. - Station to keep log of six months. - Religious institutions may be allowed to set up stations, but only for community service and not for preaching or proselytising. - Bank guarantee or Rs 25,000 to keep out frivolous applicants. - Restrict coverage to a 6-km radius. eworld at thehindu.co.in http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2005/03/28/stories/2005032800090100.h tm -------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi. From budhyag at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 11:15:18 2005 From: budhyag at hotmail.com (gururaja budhya) Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 14:45:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless In-Reply-To: <42474BE0.29184.853683@localhost> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050403/b1decae5/attachment-0001.htm From nehadara at gmail.com Mon Apr 4 11:27:10 2005 From: nehadara at gmail.com (neha dara) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:57:10 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Re: cr-india Digest, Vol 21, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> two observations: 1. i dont know much on the technical front, but amongst the changes that may be incorporated based on TRAI recommendations is 5 minutes of advertising per hour and anyone individual or group with three years of experience in community service is eligible to apply for a radio. Also according to the ministry's calculations, they say is is possible to have 4000 CR stations across the country. 2. the range is supposed to be 5-6 kms but Jamia's campus radio has been doing much better. They have people tuning in from as far as the airport. can someone confirm? their first broadcast is usually at 11 am n From vvcrishna at softhome.net Mon Apr 4 13:28:37 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 16:58:37 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Re: cr-india Digest, Vol 21, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> References: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: At 2:57 PM +0530 4/4/05, neha dara wrote: >Also according to the ministry's calculations, they say is is >possible to have 4000 CR stations across the country. Based on a simple calculation (which I did three years back and posted to this list - it is freely available in the archives) of 1) the area covered by a circle of radius 5 km and 2) the theoretical number of channels that can run in a single location (as per US FCC standards) and 3) the land area of the country. The theoretical maximum is around 1.25 million channels, after making deductions for water bodies, land borders (given the fears that pervade our bureaucrats' minds on national security, we might as well include all border people in our classification of second class citizens) and ten per cent or so for cities. It is hard to understand why the ministry insists India can support only 4,000 weak stations, when the US (for instance) already has over 12,000 much more powerful stations. Since its own performance has been so dismal - less than 200 stations established in about 25 years - I guess the ministry has no incentive to give correct figures. Plus they probably can't conceive of villagers being creative enough to make programmes for themselves (the standard feudalistic and paternalistic thinking that typifies the trickle-down mentality). >2. the range is supposed to be 5-6 kms but Jamia's campus radio has >been doing much better. They have people tuning in from as far as >the airport. can someone confirm? their first broadcast is usually >at 11 am Atmospherics and the quality of the receiver can make a difference. Range specifications are always made on the basis of reliable broadcasting, not what some persons can access some of the time. -- Vickram From vvcrishna at softhome.net Tue Apr 5 08:19:51 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 11:49:51 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] One full mark for naivete Message-ID: Today's news, in the Business Standard and the Asian Age, is the first time this paranoid conspiracy theorist sees in print what lies behind the government's murky thinking on relaxing of restrictions on broadcasting. Page 1, the anchor story in BS, has Jaipal Reddy (minister of I&B) in Mumbai addressing the inaugural of FRAMES, the entertainment industry's annual jamboree. He suggests that the new commercial license regime may well see the long awaited shift to revenue sharing - as we know from the TRAI Open Houses, the only thing that has held up a decision on this one is the likelihood of lawsuits from current license holders, one of whom distinguished themselves by threatening a media watchdog site with a slander suit and forced its closure last month (the main issue being the media company's practice of selling news space as advertising). Somewhere toward the end of the little news item, Reddy looks forward to the opening through the next three years of 'over 4,000 .... community radio stations across the country'. My post yesterday wondered about the limits of imagination, but if this quote is accurate, then the government is merely talking about what will actually be achieved, and not about limiting the potential itself. Naive, but then hope springs eternal, right? Tucked into a different story in a different paper, the AA carries a tiny news item from Delhi on Page 3, that the Central Monitoring Service of the I&B, which monitors foreign broadcasts, has been shifted to 'a secret set-up' in the Cabinet Secretariat, called the National Technical Facilities Organisation. The shift took place on April 1, hopefully not a foolish move (but then the celebration of April 1 as All Fools Day is a foreign implant, and we should shun all imputations of less than brilliance to events that take place on that day). Presumably the department is woefully under-equipped to deal with local broadcasting, and this lateral shift could perhaps reveal why the government has been so slow to liberalise news and current affairs broadcasting on the one hand, and devolving local ownership on the other hand. In any case, even the government has begun to realise (though not quite ready to openly admit it) that FM broadcasting is a low range technology, and that monitoring, if deemed necessary, will need large numbers of personnel deployed throughout the country, familiar with local languages. This observer finds it hard to understand how, if a single national organisation is mooted to do this job, such local people will be graded and promoted over the years, or how a specialist in say, Tamil monitoring, will function when moved laterally to Assam. And if this job is devolved down logically to state bodies, how long will it be before states start demanding more say in defining media policies? Of course, being an idealist, I personally think there is little harm (compared to the inaction of the past five and a half decades) in moving it right down to the sub-sub-level of villages, communities and their local governance systems. But I don't expect to hear an overwhelmingly loud roar of approbation and applause from the government benches for saying so. readers of this list will recall that a couple of years ago, the secretary I&B was quoted in the Washington Post to say that allowing villagers to handle their own broadcast media was 'fraught with danger'. Apparently the danger was to the administration. -- Vickram From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Wed Apr 6 19:57:05 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 23:27:05 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio Programme Commemorating 100 Years of Kangra Earthquake Message-ID: Community Radio Programme Commemorating 100 Years of Kangra Earthquake 06 Apr 2005 08:11:00 GMT Source: NGO latest SEEDS India Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) - India Website: http://www.seedsindia.org Exactly hundred years ago on 4th April 1905-an earthquake measuring more than 8.7 M hit Kangra Valley of Himalaya Mountain. Close to 30,000 people died in the earthquake which rocked the cities as far as 700 Km away. This was undoubtedly one of the Indian most devastating earthquakes. Kangra district is part of Himachal Pradesh which lies zone v of seismic zone map of India. This zone is liable to seismic intensity IX and above on Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. This is the most severe seismic zone and is referred as Very High Damage Risk Zone. To commemorate centenary year, SEEDS along with District Administration, Shimla produced a special radio programme aimed at creating awareness among the citizens about earthquake risk in the region and need to reduce risk. The programme explained the earthquake phenomenon in the region highlighting how haphazard physical development is a cause of concern for future. The audience was reminded about one structure Teda Mandir (Tilted Temple) which got its tilt in 1905 earthquake. The structure seems as one of few living memories of Kangra earthquake. The programme was broadcast over All India Radio and reached audiences all over the state. In the mountainous region, radio is most popular medium of reaching out to citizens. In Himachal Pradesh, haphazard growth of settlement has resulted in houses being constructed on steep slope with in correct construction practices. High priority life line services like hospitals, power stations and telecommunication and water supply station are located in high vulnerable areas with poor connectivity. Weak enforcement of byelaws, construction of steep slope and lack of space between building have all added the risk in the region. An Important highlight of the programme was to advice communities to not give in to rumours regarding earthquake prediction. A recent such rumour caused wide scale panic with communities spending entire night staying outside in the rain. This radio programme is part of the Parvat Yatra ( Mountain Safety Campaign) programme which is a mass mobilization campaign aimed to initiating community ked action for disaster risk reduction in the mountain communities ' through interactive mediums such as community workshops shake table demonstration exhibition and poster campaigns. SEEDS has organised workshops in the villages, with focus on role of local governance towards disaster management. The women's community centres in two villages of the Kangra Valley have been retrofitted to demonstrate the techniques available for seismic strengthening of buildings. More recently SEEDS jointly with District Administration has prepared Earthquake Risk Mitigation Plan and Citizen Handbook for Shimla city. Shimla is presently the capital and largest city of the state. [ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ] http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/seeds/111277586156.htm -------------------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi From arunlists at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 09:41:18 2005 From: arunlists at softhome.net (Arun Mehta) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:11:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] community tv and cognitive radio In-Reply-To: <20050328072241.27078.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> References: <20050328072241.27078.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <424E4C9E.3070209@softhome.net> Hi Sajan, The community radio mailing list hasn't shown interest in your suggestion for community TV, perhaps india-gii may show greater interest. Along with TV, it is easy to provide data services as well, such as teletext. Sajan, if you aren't a member of india-gii, trust me, you should be -- to join india-gii, the low-volume list that keeps a critical eye on what is happening in the Indian electronic space, go to https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii archives at https://ssl.cpsr.org/pipermail/india-gii/ I am also mailing this to the Mission 2007 list, where we have been discussing ways to improve the viability of telecenters. I believe that a telecenter could be the right place to site the community radio and TV stations, as it would allow them to make effective use of the Internet, to share content, as a virtual recording studio, etc. For good measure, I am also mailing this to the Asiasource mailing lists, where I have good friends who can help us with formulating a good response to this request for comments from the government, as also bringing us in touch with other activists in the area. Not just mailing lists, even the country isn't showing much enthusiasm for terrestrial TV, for even TRAI doesn't seem to have received enough responses, and has provided extra time. I must plead guilty myself, I didn't respond to TRAI's consultation paper, but here is my contribution, first draft. This is what I would like to see happen in the area of spectrum reserved for terrestrial TV, an invaluable piece of virtual estate, for at this frequency, it is easy to penetrate foliage and even walls, so you can work with far lower masts. Firstly, community terrestrial TV must be allowed, because for poor people, paying the cable operator each month is not an option. TV sets, both monochrome and colour, are fairly cheap now. We are just releasing a policy for terrestrial community radio, the same terms could apply to terrestrial TV -- it should not take long to arrive at a policy. Second, let us recognise that there will be plenty of empty slots in the terrestrial TV spectrum, particularly in rural areas, and there is a way to take advantage of this. A very exciting technology is cognitive radio, which automatically senses which slices of spectrum are in use, avoids those, and communicates with other such radios without causing interference to anyone. Advantages: 1. Both community TV and radio could benefit from a low-cost resturn path, so that anyone with such a radio could be a roving reporter, by simply attaching a mike or video camera to the cognitive radio set. 2. Given that the cost of masts is dominant in rural communications, such radios could cut down the cost of Mission 2007 drastically. 3. This is very significant technology not just for India, but is cutting edge for the whole world. If we give our industry interesting spectrum to play with, and a market of 600,000 villages to sell to, we could easily become world leaders in this technology, which is likely to be cheaper than even WiFi. 4. While other countries will find the technology useful, India is by far best placed in exploiting it. Other countries are using spectrum far more intensively than us: far more terrestrial radio and TV stations, less restrictive licensing for wireless... In India, the spectrum is largely unused, so we have more room to grow. Look at it this way: if you want to build something new on a piece of land, it is far easier to work with a green field, than have to tear down existing structures. To make suggestions for improvement, please reply to this message, or go to http://www.india-gii.org/wiki/index.php/Position_Papers/Terrestrial_TV Arun sajan venniyoor wrote: > TRAI had issued a consultation paper on private terrestrial TV > broadcasting on 25 Feb 2005. Anyone interested in the possibility of > Community Television, which would be covered under private terrestrial > TV, should respond to TRAI by the new deadline, 15 April 2005. > > Sajan. > ------ > > TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA > March 28, 2005 > PRESS RELEASE NO 31 /2005 > > TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA (TRAI) had issued a Consultation > Paper on 25th February 2005 on Private Terrestrial TV Broadcasting > Service. The consultation paper covers the issues relating to allowing > private broadcasters in the field of terrestrial television > broadcasting. The purpose of the Consultation Paper was to generate > discussion on the appropriate policy and licensing framework for the > introduction of Private Terrestrial Television Broadcast service in > India. The Consultation Paper was also placed on TRAI’s website > [www.trai.gov.in] and the specific issues posed for consultation were > put together in Chapter-6 of the Consultation Paper. Comments of the > Stakeholders on the Consultation Paper were invited by 31st March, 2005. > > 2 Keeping in view of the importance of the issue and the need for > wider participation of stakeholders in the consultation process, TRAI > has decided to extend, the last date for sending comments on the > Consultation Paper by 15 days. The last date for sending comments by > stakeholders will now be 15th April, 2005. > > 3. Written comments on this Paper may be furnished to Secretary, TRAI > by April 15, 2005. The gist of these comments received will be posted > on the TRAI’s website. For any further clarification on the matter, > Secretary, TRAI or Adviser (B&CS) may be contacted at > trai07 at bol.net.in (Phone No. 26167448, Fax No. 26103294) and > rkacker at trai.gov.in (Phone No. 26713291, Fax No. 26713442) respectively. > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >cr-india mailing list >cr-india at sarai.net >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. >Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 From fred at bytesforall.org Mon Apr 4 11:07:18 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:37:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless Message-ID: <200504040907.j3497IU8009588@mail6.atl.registeredsite.com> Please be careful while posting to the CRindia mailing list. If the list has to be moderated it will only add to delays in communication. Keeping it open means an additional responsibility on the part of subcribers. Kindly take note. FN ============================================================ From: "gururaja budhya" Date: 2005/04/03 Sun PM 02:45:18 GMT+05:30 To: cr-india at sarai.net Subject: RE: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless ============================================================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: reply.DEFANGED-2601 Type: application/defanged-2601 Size: 228 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050404/3d704f2e/attachment-0002.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/defanged-2602 Size: 139 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050404/3d704f2e/attachment-0003.bin From ss0520 at ureach.com Thu Apr 7 13:57:42 2005 From: ss0520 at ureach.com (ss0520 at ureach.com) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 2005 17:27:42 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US Message-ID: <20050407115742.GA1193@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Hi Guys, This is sanjeeb. I have subscribed to this mailing list recently. I want to set up a small FM center. For that I am looking for some information. Currently I am located in USA so not able to work on it properly. I want to know 1. how to apply for license to set up a FM station? 2. What is the License fee? If any of you have this information handy, please share with me. Thanks, Sanjeeb From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Thu Apr 7 20:09:03 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 23:39:03 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US References: <20050407115742.GA1193@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Message-ID: Hi Sanjeeb, If you want to set up a FM stn in US refer to this site : http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/howtoapply.html (How to Apply for a Broadcast Station) You can get all relevant info's (rules, applictaion forms, license fee etc ..) from abv site. Regds Alokesh ------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 5:27 PM Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US > Hi Guys, > > This is sanjeeb. I have subscribed to this mailing list recently. I want to > set up a small FM center. For that I am looking for some information. > Currently I am located in USA so not able to work on it properly. > > I want to know > 1. how to apply for license to set up a FM station? > 2. What is the License fee? > > If any of you have this information handy, please share with me. > > Thanks, > Sanjeeb > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Apr 10 11:25:35 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 14:55:35 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] NPR comes to India via Worldspace (paid content) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- UPCOMING CHANNEL CHANGES ON WORLDSPACE WorldSpace Satellite Radio wants to take this opportunity to thank you for being a member of the WorldSpace Global Club. Additionally we wanted to alert you to some upcoming changes to the WorldSpace Programming lineup. Beginning Friday April 15, 2005 we will be moving some of our channels from Free-to-Air into an encrypted subscription package. Beginning April 15th, in order to receive these channels you must subscribe to the 'India Silver' subscription package. The channels that will be affected are the following: In India: - CNN International (1303) - NPR (1430) - BBC Asia West (1415) - RFI (1402) - WRN (1302) If you already are a subscriber to WorldSpace , you will continue to enjoy these channels! If you are not yet a subscriber to WorldSpace , sign up today to receive dozens of channels of music, news, sports and information all in crystal clear sound! The WorldSpace 100% commercial-free music channels cover nearly every genre - Bollywood hits, rock, pop, jazz, European classical, Carnatic classical, Hindustani classical, country, dance and world as well as channels dedicated to regional music - Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali. WorldSpace also brings you channels of news, sports and information from renowned international broadcasters such as the BBC, CNN, NPR, RFI, NDTV and many others. NPR Worldwide (USA) - NPR Worldwide (USA) is an internationally acclaimed producer of noncommercial news, talk and entertainment programming. Listen to NPR Worldwide (USA) for its critically acclaimed shows 'Morning Edition,' 'All Things Considered,'and 'Talk of the Nation'. NPR Worldwide (USA) keeps you plugged in. CNN International - International news brought to you by one of the world's foremost news authorities - CNN. In a time when the world's events are of utmost importance, CNNi brings the international perspective to today's headlines. BBC - One of the most distinguished names in news broadcasting, the BBC brings its powerful news gathering resources and global reach to WorldSpace. With the BBC World Service, listeners everywhere are plugged into events as they unfold around the globe. RFI - Radio France International is one of the most popular French language radio stations. It offers a choice of news, features, interviews, business, society, culture, living, leisure and fashion, particularly from France and the French-speaking parts of the world. So don't wait! Get your WorldSpace subscription now! You can sign up a number of ways: - In India call toll-free 1-600-44-5432 - You can visit us on the web at www.worldspaceasia.com - Or finally, you can e-mail us at india at worldspace.com We thank you for being part of WorldSpace Nation and hope you enjoy all of our programming. It's designed to take radio into the next generation of radio. It's satellite radio - powered by WorldSpace ** NPR, CNN, BBC, NDTV, WRN and RFI are trademarks used with permission. From disabilityradio at hotmail.com Mon Apr 11 08:35:04 2005 From: disabilityradio at hotmail.com (jean parker) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:05:04 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] combining amateur and community radio Message-ID: Hello All: I am looking for information about projects that have combined amateur (ham) radio with community radio for the purpose of disaster communications. I am doing a presentation on this next week and want to get people's thoughts on how these two forms of communication can work together in emergency and disaster situations. You can post your ideas, thoughts and experiences to this list or send them to me off list at: disabilityradio at hotmail.com Many thanks, Jean Parker Pune, India -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050411/8ef353a9/attachment-0001.htm From nino at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 12 06:50:16 2005 From: nino at rediffmail.com (Nisha Narayanan) Date: 12 Apr 2005 04:50:16 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] combining amateur and community radio Message-ID: <20050412045016.22597.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com>   Dear friends and colleagues, Applications are now being accepted to the six-week interactive online course Reporting on Food and Agriculture which will run from 2 May – 11 June 2005. As in all our programs, working journalists who qualify to the course may apply for fellowships covering tuition fees. We would like to bring together 12 working journalists to participate in this course. Please help us locate them by carrying the story below in your print, broadcast or online news outlet. We also request you to share it with your staff, colleagues and friends, and if you have a candidate in mind, please do not hesitate to nominate him/her. Application deadline has been set for Monday, 25 April 2005. Thank you for this favor, and for helping us reach journalists in your country. All good wishes. Sincerely, Violet B. Valdez Executive Director Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University Tel Nos. (632) 9263253 / (632) 4266001 local 5215 Fax No. (632) 9263254 E-mail: newsroom at admu.edu.ph Website: http://cfj.ateneo.edu ---------------------------------------------------------- Press Release Contact: Troy Barrios Tel. Nos.: +632 926 3253 or 426 6001 local 5215 Fax No.: +632 926 3254 E-mail: newsroom at admu.edu.ph Website: http://cfj.ateneo.edu Online course on reporting commodities opens May 2 MANILA, March 29 – The Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University (CFJ) is now accepting applications for a six-week online course on Reporting on Food and Agriculture to be held from 2 May – 11 June 2005. The course aims to develop skills on writing about farm topics and will tackle a wide range of issues including environmental degradation, genetically modified seeds, trade policies and disaster reportage. Major global commodity exchanges and their influence on the decisions of Asian farmers will also be explored. Rene Pastor, deputy editor of the commodities desk of Reuters in New York will teach this course. Pastor has covered assignments ranging from coups and earthquakes and has worked in Singapore and Manila before his assignment to the United States. He also covered the attacks on the World Trade Center and the destruction of the commodity exchange there. Fellowships are available to qualified and deserving journalists who are full-time staff of a news media organization in Asia. Applications must be received by Monday, 25 April 2005. Application forms may be downloaded from http://cfj.ateneo.edu or requested by e- mail at newsroom at admu.edu.ph and submitted by fax at +632 926 3254. The CFJ may also be contacted by phone at +632 926 3253 or +632 426 6001 (local 5215). CFJ, a joint project of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and the Ateneo, was founded in June 2000 to promote good journalism in Asia. It carries out its mandate by providing training opportunities primarily to working journalists in the region. Journalists from the Pacific Islands are also welcome to apply. CFJ training programs include the diploma programs in online and broadcast journalism, certificate courses and a degree program leading to the Master of Arts in Journalism. On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 jean parker wrote : >Hello All: > >I am looking for information about projects that have combined amateur (ham) radio with community radio for the purpose of disaster communications. I am doing a presentation on this next week and want to get people's thoughts on how these two forms of communication can work together in emergency and disaster situations. > >You can post your ideas, thoughts and experiences to this list or send them to me off list at: >disabilityradio at hotmail.com > >Many thanks, > >Jean Parker >Pune, India >_______________________________________________ >cr-india mailing list >cr-india at sarai.net >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050412/6c573d5c/attachment-0001.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 12 10:21:24 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 12 Apr 2005 08:21:24 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] helping the beeb Message-ID: <20050412082124.6118.qmail@webmail8.rediffmail.com> Check out the sub-text of this story. As the BBC blandly says, it really helps that Indians should get their news from foreign broadcasters than from local FM stations on which news, of course, is banned. Sajan. ------ BBC Hindi stems declining audience flow in India Indiantelevision.com, 11 April 2005 MUMBAI: BBC World Service has stemmed its declining radio audience in India, according to an independent audience survey. The survey was commissioned by BBC World Service and was conducted by AC Nielsen between December 2004 and January 2005. BBC Hindi has grown by 4.3 million, taking the BBC's weekly Hindi audience up to 14.5 million. The survey, conducted in Bihar, UP, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, revealed that weekly listenership to the BBC confirms the BBC as India's number one international radio provider. The BBC captures 40 per cent of all those listening to the radio in Bihar, and a third of radio listeners in Jharkhand. In the remaining three states, just under one in five of radio listeners turn to the BBC Hindi Service every week. BBC Hindi head Achala Sharma, says that the increase in audience this year is likely to be the result of a combination of factors, "We have developed our programming so it connects directly with our audiences in the Hindi belt. I am also sure that our roadshow marketing initiative in Bihar and UP last year has contributed to this success." According to the survey, which was undertaken almost a year after the BBC Hindi roadshow ended, 16 per cent of weekly listeners said they were aware of the BBC Hindi events. This amounts to over two million people. The Hindi roadshow visited over 40 locations in UP and Bihar, giving local people direct contact with the BBC. BBC World Service controller marketing communications and audiences, Alan Booth said, "India is a key market for the BBC. The rapid growth of TV viewing across India over the last 10 years, combined with India's broadcasting legislation which prevents news and current affairs on FM radio stations, has changed the media landscape." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050412/38196cf3/attachment-0001.htm From nino at rediffmail.com Wed Apr 13 05:43:03 2005 From: nino at rediffmail.com (Nisha Narayanan) Date: 13 Apr 2005 03:43:03 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] Govt to consider 20% FDI in FM radio Message-ID: <20050413034303.12372.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com>   FYI. Regds, Nisha The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has cleared 20 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) for the private FM radio sector but stuck to the ban on news and current affairs programmes. Current government regulations allow FII (foreign institutional investors) investment of up to 20 per cent of a FM channel's equity capital, while FDI is not permitted. Information and Broadcasting minister S Jaipal Reddy said his ministry has decided to limit the FDI level at the existing FII cap. The issue will now be referred to the Union cabinet for approval. However, he said the government was not open to the idea of allowing news and current affairs on private FM radio. "There are certain reservations, especially on the front on cross-media ownership," he said. Broadcast regulator TRAI had also favoured allowing FDI in private FM radio in its recommendations on 'Licensing Issues Relating to IInd Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting'. © 2005 agencyfaqs -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050413/17ace749/attachment-0001.htm From media at web.net Fri Apr 22 18:27:03 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:27:03 -0600 Subject: [cr-india] NEPAL - Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship (Eng+Fr) Message-ID: From: RSF ASIA Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 18:33:16 +0200 Subject: [rsfasie] NEPAL - Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship (Eng+Fr) Reporters Without Borders Press Release 21 April 2005 NEPAL Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship Reporters Without Borders today welcomed yesterday's ruling by Nepal's supreme court ordering the authorities to explain a 2 February directive banning FM radio stations from broadcasting news. The order was issued in response to a writ petition filed the day before by radio journalist Binod Dhungel, member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) challenging the directive. The press freedom organization said it hailed this courageous initiative and urged the Kathmandu government to respond to the court's decision by definitively lifting the ban. In yesterday's initial hearing, lawyer Dinesh Tripathi explained the unconstitutionality of the directive issued by the information and communication ministry after King Gyanendra assumed full powers on 1 February. It banned Nepal's FM radio stations from broadcasting news and discussion programmes for six months and permitted only entertainment programmes. Only the government-run Radio Nepal is exempt. Supreme court judge Arjun Kumar Singh ordered the government to send the defence attorney to the next hearing, scheduled for 25 April. The plaintiffs argued that censorship is contrary to the letters and the spirit of the constitution and that the directive violates the 1992 National Broadcasting Act and the 1994 National Broadcasting Regulation. Dhungel said it also violates fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. Reporters Without Borders notes that the ban has had a catastrophic impact on the right of the Nepalese public to be informed. More than 50 radio stations have been affect and hundreds of journalists have been laid off. NEPAL La Cour suprême demande des explications au gouvernement sur la censure des radios FM Reporters sans frontières se réjouit du verdict rendu par la Cour suprême, le 20 avril 2005, sommant plusieurs institutions de s'expliquer sur la directive du 2 février 2005, qui interdit aux radios FM de diffuser des programmes d'information. Cette décision fait suite à la plainte déposée, la veille, par la Fédération des journalistes népalais (FNJ), en la personne du journaliste Binod Dhungel, qui contestait la légalité de la directive. Reporters sans frontières salue cette démarche courageuse et demande instamment au gouvernement de Katmandou de prendre acte de la décision de la Cour suprême en levant définitivement l'interdiction. Une audience préliminaire a permis à l'avocat Dinesh Tripathi d'exposer à la Cour l'anticonstitutionnalité de la directive imposée par le ministère de l'Information et de la Communication après la prise des pleins pouvoirs par le roi Gyanendra, le 1er février dernier. Cette mesure, adoptée pour une durée de six mois, interdit la diffusion de programmes d'information et de débats d'opinion sur les ondes FM népalaises. Seules sont autorisées les émissions de divertissement. L'unique radio qui peut ne pas se soumettre à cette directive est la station gouvernementale Radio Nepal. Le juge de la Cour suprême, Arjun Kumar Singh, a ordonné la présence d'un représentant légal du gouvernement lors de la prochaine audience qui se tiendra le 25 avril. Selon les plaignants, la censure va à l'encontre des intentions et de l'esprit de la Constitution du royaume. La directive du gouvernement enfreint notamment le National Broadcasting Act de 1992 et le National Broadcasting Regulation de 1994. D'après Binod Dhungel, l'ordre contrevient aux droits fondamentaux garantis par la Constitution. Reporters sans frontières rappelle que la décision gouvernementale a eu un impact catastrophique sur le droit des Népalais à être informés. Plus de 50 stations de radio ont été touchées par cette mesure, entraînant la mise au chômage de centaines de journalistes. -- Vincent Brossel Asia - Pacific Desk Reporters Sans Frontières 5 rue Geoffroy Marie 75009 Paris 33 1 44 83 84 70 33 1 45 23 11 51 (fax) asia at rsf.org www.rsf.org From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Apr 24 18:29:17 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 21:59:17 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] Prachi Pinglay: reaching through the skies (CR) Message-ID: PRACHI PINGLAY: REACHING OUT THROUGH THE SKIES (COMMUNITY RADIO) Source: Frontline AT the crafts mela at Dehra Dun from February 25 to March 6, which buzzed with people digging into piles of shawls, scarves and other clothes or eating chaat, there was a stall in the farthest corner of the venue, which attracted a few curious onlookers. This belonged to the Hewalvani Community Radio, whose sign said: "People's radio, For people, By people". Every now and then some visitor would ask: "So, do you make Garhwali music albums? What channel? Do you need people to make music programmes?" Others wanted to know how it helped in development and were often openly sceptical about its sustainability. The personnel at the stall explained: "We are a group of people making radio programmes about issues relevant to and important for communities in and around villages. This is because other media may not be able to address our problems. It also helps people to know more, learn, communicate and exchange information." Community Radio is a radio service for geographically bound communities, where infrastructure is poor and mainstream national and regional media may not reach. The service is usually run and managed by local people and addresses issues relating to the community in the local language. It has great potential to serve as a development tool in rural India in terms of creating awareness, spreading information and facilitating communication. However, India is yet to see a full-fledged community radio movement or process as government policy, governed by the Telegraph Act of 1885, does not permit such broadcasts. http://www.nalsartech.org/tikiwiki/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=3867 _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- If you are related to the field of IT (or even if not) please visit http://www.bytesforall.org, a network on how computers can help the commonman, and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers From fred at bytesforall.org Mon Apr 25 11:08:21 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:38:21 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... Message-ID: <20050425090821.GA652@news.goa.bytesforall.org> http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2005/04/25/11294.html Prasar Bharati eyes Rs 1,000-cr revenues BUSINESS LINE Our Bureau VIJAYAWADA PRASAR Bharati is aiming at augmenting its revenues and has set itself the target of touching the Rs 1,000-crore mark during the current financial year (2005-2006), said the company's CEO, Mr K. S. Sarma. At a press meet here on Sunday, Mr Sarma said that Prasar Bharati had earned a record Rs 825 crore during 2004-2005, Rs 665 crore through Doordarshan and the rest through All India Radio (AIR). "We are aiming at the Rs 1,000-crore target this year, Rs 800 crore through DD and the rest through AIR," he said. He added that Prasar Bharati would tie up with the various Government Departments and also tap other sources for augmenting its revenues. "Our annual expenditure is around Rs 2,000 crore. Our aim is to be completely self-sufficient." Mr Sarma said the Union Agriculture Department had granted Rs 311 crore to the Prasar Bharati for two years to improve agricultural coverage. Prasar Bharati has identified 36 clusters in the country, with each cluster having five high-power transmitters to telecast region-specific agricultural programmes for farmers. "In Andhra Pradesh, there would be five such clusters -- two apiece in the Andhra and Telangana regions and one in Rayalaseema," he said. Scrolling will be introduced this year to telecast local commercials. "We expect to earn at least Rs 100 crore more through this manner. On an experimental basis, we introduced scrolling at Salem in Tamil Nadu and earned roughly Rs 1 lakh a month." Answering a question as to why the Doordarshan is unable to attract the youth, he said that as a public broadcaster, (c) 2005 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. -- _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- If you are related to the field of IT (or even if not) please visit http://www.bytesforall.org, a network on how computers can help the commonman, and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers From suresh_guptan at hotmail.com Mon Apr 25 15:46:21 2005 From: suresh_guptan at hotmail.com (Suresh Guptan) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 19:16:21 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... References: <20050425090821.GA652@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Message-ID: Dear Frederick, Do you have any tips on tracking down the 36 clusters referred to below? I want to know if any of these are located in Rajasthan. Regards, Suresh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frederick Noronha" To: Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 2:38 PM Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... > http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2005/04/25/11294.html > > Prasar Bharati eyes Rs 1,000-cr revenues > > BUSINESS LINE > Our Bureau > VIJAYAWADA > > Mr Sarma said the Union Agriculture Department had granted Rs 311 crore to > the Prasar Bharati for two years to improve agricultural coverage. Prasar > Bharati has identified 36 clusters in the country, with each cluster having > five high-power transmitters to telecast region-specific agricultural > programmes for farmers. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050425/6862d28c/attachment-0001.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 26 14:42:44 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 26 Apr 2005 12:42:44 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] news on private FM Message-ID: <20050426124244.23945.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> '20 per cent FDI not a great leap for radio, say industry leaders' April 25, exchange4media.com Anushree Madan Mohan As the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is working on allowing a 20 per cent FDI in the private FM space, the ban in news and current affairs programmes still stays. Said Prashant Pandey, COO, Radio Mirchi, "The Ministry is yet to formalise the policy package for private FM radio. While there have been promises of 20 per cent FDI, the policy package is yet to be approved by the cabinet and the various ministries. The 20 per cent FDI is a welcome move because it would allow us to raise more money for ourselves, but the crux of the issue was never investment. It is not investment that would sustain the private FM space, but revenue. If it is not a profitable venture, why would any foreign investor consider it seriously? Plus, there are still miles to go before the actual implementation begins." Pandey added, "In the fast-paced world of today, more and more people consume news while they are on the move. It makes sense for radio stations to deliver news on politics and current affairs because there is a market for it. Why should current affairs be the prerogative of only the government-owned radio station?" Meanwhile, Sumantra Dutta, former CEO of Radio City, asserted that 20 per cent FDI still falls short of the 26 per cent that is allowed in other sectors. He said, "FM stations were angling for a 26 per cent FDI cut, as is allowed in all the other sectors. Why should radio be singled out? The policy per say, has not yet been implemented and it has to get approval from the cabinet. There is no fixed time frame given for the entire process. S Jaipal Reddy has stated in a public forum that the ministry is in favour of a revenue sharing structure for the radio industry, but it does not signify what kind of a revenue sharing settlement it would be. Again, there is no mention of when the new policy would come into play." Dutta said, "The ban on news and current affairs is not a logical one. Having pioneered the cause of private FM in the country, I feel that players in this space ought to be given the choice of putting across a plethora of offerings which they deem fit. Why not news? Radio is perhaps, the best local medium and it could provide cutting edge localised news." Shariq Patel, Station Head, Go 92.5, said that he would like to know, exactly by when the new policy comes into play. He said, "Under the present system, Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) up to 20 per cent of the equity capital is allowed in any private FM radio company, while FDI is not permitted. Sure, a 20 per cent FDI cut is good enough. After all something is better than nothing. But when can we expect implementation? The policy is yet to be approved by the cabinet. It's still doing rounds on various fronts." As for the ban on news and current affairs, Patel said, "It's illogical. We need to ensure more of choices for the masses by making varied content possible. That's the day when private FM would come on its own." Dutta said that it's only with Phase 2, the radio revolution would begin in this country. With more stations being set up, the government ought to ensure that no other technical obligations ought to hamper the growth of FM players such as co-allocation of towers. After all, a few lessons ought to be learnt from Phase 1, which has shown that limited availability of resources in this arena has delayed the process of starting stations. exchange4media.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050426/4960eb41/attachment-0001.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Thu Apr 28 12:49:10 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 28 Apr 2005 10:49:10 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] reprieve for private FM Message-ID: <20050428104910.9247.qmail@webmail8.rediffmail.com> TDSAT provides reprieve to FM players till 4 July BY Manisha Bhattacharjee Indiantelevision.com (27 April 2005) MUMBAI: Some good news for the private FM radio players as Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) has directed the government to firm up its views on radio broadcast policy by 4 July. In the interim, status quo prevails. The status quo has been interpreted by the industry as not having to pay annual licence fee that gets due on 29 April for some cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. A Tdsat bench today provided this short-term reprieve for the private FM radio players on a petition filed by a group of FM radio broadcasters, including Radio Today Broadcasting, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd and Entertainment Network who run FM stations in various cities under the brand name Red FM, Radio City and Radio Mirchi respectively. It had been alleged in the petition that government inaction or delay on sector regulator’s suggestions on radio broadcast policy was resulting in financial losses for the private players. The government counsel today submitted before Tdsat that the information and broadcasting ministry has almost firmed up a radio broadcast policy paper, which has been circulated amongst various relevant ministries for feedback before it is taken to the cabinet for a final approval. After this submission, Tdsat postponed the hearing to 4 July and directed the government to finalise its views on the matter by then. Today’s Tdsat development is being seen as a succor. A senior executive of a FM radio company said that the status quo mentioned by the tribunal would mean that hefty licence fee in advance for the full year would not have to be coughed up by most major players. Annual renewal fee is calculated as the original price at which the license had been auctioned in a city plus an annual 15 per cent hike. For example, each of the Mumbai FM stations went for approximately Rs. 120 million apiece, while an original Delhi licence cost slightly over Rs. 90 million. Industry players are alleging that the present regulatory framework of licence fee, coupled with other factors, is financially bleeding the FM ventures as ad revenues generated from the stations are not adequate to sustain the business. A couple of closure notices in Pune and Lucknow have been also served by Radio Mirchi and Radio City. The industry is lobbying, amongst other things, for revenue share model, akin to that prevailing in the telecom sector, and permission to attract foreign investment. I&B minister Jaipal Reddy recently said that his ministry has taken a decision to allow 20 per cent FDI in FM radio ventures that will also include investments by FIIs. This, however, has to get a formal Cabinet nod. The draft policy paper circulated by the ministry has suggested a complex formula to switch over to revenue share regime. The details are not yet available with Indiantelevision.com. -------- http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k5/apr/apr325.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/e4fedcdb/attachment-0001.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Fri Apr 29 07:02:13 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 29 Apr 2005 05:02:13 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] AIR to cut down social broadcasts Message-ID: <20050429050213.23121.qmail@webmail31.rediffmail.com> AIR, DD ASKED TO CUT DOWN SOCIAL BROADCASTS Deepshikha Ghosh, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) India's state-run television and radio have been told to cut down on social causes and make money. National broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been asked by a parliamentary standing panel to reduce the airtime given to programmes with social messages on Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) because they bring no revenue. This was in response to submissions by both Doordarshan and AIR that they were obligated to devote thousands of hours to programmes that no private channel would touch.AIR complained that its 215 stations across the country were bogged down by the weight of completely unprofitable programmes. In a year, these included - over 3,000 hours for Republic Day, 2,000 hours for Independence Day, 3,000 hours for Lok Sabha proceedings, 5,600 for parliamentary broadcast. More than 2,000 hours of environment campaigns, 4,000 hours dedicated to consumer protection and some 2,300 hours for petroleum conservation. - Programmes for industrial workers take up over 4,000 hours. Those for eradication of untouchability 3,800 hours, and programmes on the new economic policy over 6,000 hours. "Nobody will come forward to fund because we are doing programmes for industrial workers and eradication of untouchability," AIR Director General Brajeshwar Singh told IANS. Responding to the hourly break-up for the social broadcast, an official of a private radio broadcaster exclaimed: "For us, it would be suicide!" The panel was told that the revenue earned by Doordarshan was mainly through commercial activities such as sport events and latest Hindi feature films. The panel concluded that the number of hours allotted for government and social broadcasting be limited so that Prasar Bharati can maintain a "meaningful balance between social obligations and financial considerations". In fact, the panel has favoured a redefining of Prasar Bharati's role and possible restructuring so that it played a role in informing, educating and entertaining the public without ignoring the financial and social obligations. "A lot of time is consumed on Doordarshan for advertising on social causes, gender concerns, environmental campaigns et al, which involves a social obligation it has to fulfil in its capacity of being a government channel and for which there is no revenue," said the panel. It has also recommended that AIR seek approval for restricting the number of hours of social broadcasting. "AIR should encourage corporate entities and multinationals to spend a part of their social welfare budget on sponsoring such programmes," it said. Prasar Bharati points out that private channels, with no obligations to burden them, are earning huge revenue on the strength of television sets made available by the government across the country. Prasar Bharati CEO K.S. Sarma suggested a universal obligation fund to be paid by private channels from their revenue, since they were gaining from the "90 million sets being made available through the public broadcaster". http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web61952349Hoot42328%20PM1590&pn=1  -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050429/0b360e21/attachment-0001.htm From sucharita_e at vsnl.net Thu Apr 21 09:32:14 2005 From: sucharita_e at vsnl.net (Sucharita S Eashwar) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:02:14 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Preparatory Asian Regional Thematic Meeting for WSIS Message-ID: Hello All, The Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development is organising the Regional Thematic meeting for WSIS Tunis at Kuala Lumpur during 9-11 May 2005. I am attaching here their draft recommendations on which they welcome brief comments and inputs from the broadcasting perspective. You can send them to me or the AIBD Director javad at aibd.org.my by 26th April. cheers Sucharita Eashwar - -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AMS list of recommendations- as of 13 April 2005.doc Type: application/msword Size: 75264 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050421/2ce75cdc/attachment-0001.doc From fred at bytesforall.org Wed Apr 20 21:28:29 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:58:29 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] OFFTOPIC: Radio and the diaspora Message-ID: http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web61952349Hoot115244%20AM1560&pn=1 Rooted through music: Radio binds diaspora Indian language radio services help the Indian communities living abroad remain in touch with their roots Aman Malik Ethnic Indian media: A global perspective The ethnic Indian media, in countries with substantial populations of Indian origin, evolved primarily on account of two reasons. To begin with, the members of the Indian Diaspora, living in alien and often unfriendly lands, needed a medium to remain in touch with their roots. Moreover because the lands they now inhabited were 'not so friendly,' it became essential for them to be networked among themselves. Apart from recreating familiar Indian symbols, the ethnic Indian media also satisfied certain special requirements of the Indian community by way of matrimonial advertisements, birth and death announcements, and special programmes during Indian festivals. Over time, ethnically owned media outfits proliferated, especially in those multiethnic countries that accorded freedom of expression to their people. In such countries, issues of political importance, current affairs and news about India gained importance. In most other countries, however, Indian language entertainment and local community issues (non-political) formed the bulk of the content dished out by the ethnic media. In these countries, news on political affairs was controlled either by the colonial masters or, if the Indians were in a minority, by the majority community (post independence). Why is radio so popular? Radio enjoys an enviable position vis-a-vis all other media in most countries where people of Indian descent reside. The reasons are not hard to enumerate. Many such countries are ex-colonies, which have attained independence within the last fifty years, and still are 'developing countries' with low per capita incomes. "Radio therefore becomes an affordable medium for inDIViduals and small business establishments, many of whom cannot afford TV," says Pandiyan Azagiya who heads Oli 96.8 FM, Singapore's only Indian language (Tamil) radio station. In fact, in a recent AC Nielson survey, it was found that a whopping 96% of the city-state's residents listened to radio. "In Guyana, almost everyone has a radio but few people have a TV or even buy a newspaper, so radio is important," reckons Terry Gajraj, one of Guyana's best known Chutney singers. Even in countries such as the United States, where the Indian community is affluent, radio is popular. "Radio can be heard even while working. It also serves as a communication tool while driving," offers a representative of RBC Radio, which commenced service in 1989. RBC Radio, operating out of the Empire State Building in New York City, was the first (and one of only three) 24-Hour Indian radio station in the US. Rafi Mohammad, a Trinidad based media practitioner of East Indian descent feels that Indian language radio stations provide a good medium for East Indians to air their views on matters of public concern. "You would not believe it," he says, "but in a small country like ours with a population of 1.3 million, half of which are East Indians, we have six Indian language radio stations." Another major reason for the popularity of radio in some such countries is geographical. Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius and Singapore are made up of clusters of numerous islands that are spread over a vast area. Take Fiji for instance. This Pacific nation with a population of only about 800,000, (45 per cent are Indians), has nearly 360 islands and radio is the only medium that reaches out to all of them. It does have a government owned 24 Hour TV channel, but its reach is limited. Their beginnings and the way they grew.... Almost all such countries with have substantial populations of Indian descent, are ex-colonies. They attained independence from their colonial masters (the British, the French and the Dutch) toward the second half of the twentieth century. Most Indians in these countries (Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius, South Africa, East Africa, Guyana, Suriname etc) can trace their roots to the indentured labourers who were taken there from British India, in various phases beginning the mid nineteenth century, to work on sugar plantations. Most of those who reside in countries like the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Gulf went much later (primarily post independence). In most of these countries Indian language radio services commenced in the first half of the last century. By this time the Indian communities in each of these countries had begun to exert some degree of political influence. So while Tamil language radio in Singapore started in 1936 as a 4-Hour service, Fiji began Hindi radio broadcasting by 1954. Today Singapore has a 24-Hour Tamil FM station, Fiji has four Hindi stations, two of which are privately managed. In Trinidad, Indian radio started in 1947 thanks to Kamalludin Mohammad, an East Indian who negotiated with the management of the only radio station in the country at that time, to start a half-hour show, which became an instant hit. Eleven years ago, the privately owned 103 FM became the first all-Indian radio station in Trinidad; today there are six, with two signing on soon. Mauritius, which had its first radio broadcast way back in 1927, liberalised its airwaves only in 2002. Today, this tiny republic in the Indian Ocean has three privately owned FM stations that broadcast programs in 'Hindustani.' In Guyana, where radio broadcasting started over eighty years ago, there are no full time Indian radio stations. The country, in fact, has just two government run stations (one AM and the other FM) and both air a smattering of Indian film based programs, bhajans etc. The Guyanese and Surinamese Indian communities are mostly serviced by radio broadcasts from Trinidad. While in South Africa the state run Lotus FM which targets the Indian community and gives equal space to several Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi, in Kenya East 106 FM and Sound Asia play the same role. The Gulf region has three Malayalam AM radio stations and two FM stations (Radio Asia and HUM). Sunrise Radio, which is the oldest and arguably the most popular Indian language radio network in the UK, caters to the Indian (and Pakistani) community all over the country. Others include Sabras Radio, Radio XL, Supa AM and Punjab Radio. The dynamics... Besides the country of origin of their forefathers, one thing that binds the people of Indian descent, while at the same time distinguishing them from the indigenous people and other non-indigenous racial and ethnic groups with whom they co-exist, is language. The Indian diaspora has, by and large managed, by default or design, to hold on, at least loosely, to its linguistic traditions. As mentioned earlier, Indians started emigrating to these lands well over a century and a half ago; theirs was a world which had no telecommunication facilities or modern day transport systems (as we know them) to talk of. Hence these people were at a total disconnect from India. They were, to put it simply, in a complete 'time wrap.' Each of these communities, in the last century or so, has spawned around itself a unique cultural ethos. So while Fijian Indians speak in a variant of Hindi which they call Fiji Hindi, East Indians of Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname have developed a popular form of music called Chutney and Tassa. However when it comes to radio broadcasts in Indian languages, stations follow strict linguistic guidelines and for the most part use 'pure' (read: literary) language. "We recruit qualified announcers, with degrees in Hindi," says Deepak Nobeen, a veteran of over 25 years in radio broadcasting who was formerly with the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. The radio announcers, who are local Indians, are usually trained locally. However some do come to India for training. "From time to time we have somebody coming over from India to train us here," says Sanjesh Narain, a radio jockey with Radio Fiji Two, a Hindi station. Indian music is big business in such countries and most of the Indian language radio stations (especially the privately owned ones) are entertainment channels. Much like the private FM stations in India, most of their content is film based and music is procured from India. While Azagiya claims that his station gets a copy of every CD that is released in India, Narain tells me that while music from India does constitute a bulk of the content, locally produced kirtans, bhajans and faag are regularly aired. Further government run stations, such as in Mauritius, do air public service shows on child abuse, health, unemployment, education etc. The likes of Sunrise Radio and Oli 96.8 FM also air news and programmes on current affairs. Big money... "The private players who took the initiative to start Indian radio stations in Trinidad, became instant millionaires," reflects Rafi. And Trinidad is not the only place where Indian language radio stations make a killing. Each radio practitioner that this correspondent interacted with, without exception, claimed that his station, as indeed all Indian language radio stations in his country were profitable. And for a good reason. In all these countries, Indians are the extremely enterprising. In Fiji, Trinidad and the Gulf, Indians virtually control the economy and in the US, the UK and African countries, enjoy extremely high per capita incomes. Indians manage or own profitable enterprises and the bulk of the advertising revenues generated by Indian stations come from them. In fact in some cases, even multinational corporations advertise. "Today the station has 250,000 Indian listeners and advertisers include Citibank, New York Life, Money Gram among others. The station is also a platform to small retail businesses," claims the representative of RBC Radio. Avtar Lit, who owns Sunrise Radio, recently became the richest media tycoon in the UK. The Hindi section of Radio Fiji makes at least $0.6 million (Fiji) through advertising revenues alone. Even in Mauritius, advertising revenue hovers around M Rs. 800,000 to 1000,000 for a private radio station. RBC Radio claims to collect up to $30 per spot. Being politically correct... While countries such as Singapore, the US and Mauritius have no real history of racial or political tensions among the Indians and others who live there, the Indians of Fiji, the UK, Guyana and Trinidad have had strained relations with the indigenous people of the respective countries. And such political and racial tensions do have a bearing how the country's media functions. When confronted with a question on inter racial tensions and their effect on the media, people from the aforementioned countries answered diplomatically, in a bid to play down the DIVisions. "Yes, some programmes are prejudicial and promote inter racial hatred," contends Gajraj, but then adds, "Most programmes promote interracial harmony, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence." Narain is equally non-committal as he says, "I think the relationship (between indigenous Fijians and Fijian Indians) is excellent. But politics is a dirty game so people are DIVided on party lines, not racially" Ditto with Rafi: "People generally live in harmony. However when election time comes around there is some falling out." "India treats us like step children..." If there was one thing that almost everyone who I interviewed seemed to agree on, it was that the Indian government was apathetic towards the ethnic Indian media. "The Indian government treats the people of Indian origin like step children. There are no links between Indian government and NRI media at all," claims the representative of RBC Radio, and adds, "Once we wrote to the Information minister of India and didn't even receive an acknowledgement letter." Mayshree Bhim who runs a media company called African United Media in South Africa shares this view. Laments Bhim, "Imagine what great radio we could do since a lot of us still perceive Bharat as our motherland, but for the attitude of the Indian government." Azagiya is critical of All India Radio: "We visited All India Radio in 2001, and realized that we were much superior both technically as well as content wise," he says, while adding at the same time that he would be open to collaborative projects with the Indian media. The Indian government has however entered into agreements with the state corporations of Fiji and Mauritius, to name just two countries. Says Narain, "India has been helpful by providing trainers, but we had to pay the cost, However the Indian embassy here (in Fiji) is trying to send some local journalist to get trained in India." Nobeen reckons that more could have been done as he feels that "more announcers should have been trained by A.I.R." The spillover... An interesting inference that this correspondent is compelled to draw from this study is that Indian language and music have an appeal, which goes beyond just the Indian community. Radio practitioners were unanimous in their opinion that although the indigenous people did not form a part of the target audience per se, they were, nonetheless 'fascinated' by Indian music. From the Amerindians (or the Buck people) of Guyana to the Chinese and Malay communities of Singapore, DIVerse ethnic groups in many countries regularly tune in to Indian radio stations and form as yet a minor but important part of the audience and programmes are made keeping their preferences in mind. Contact: Aman Malik, amanmalik000 at hotmail.com Print Story Email this story From geeta.sharma at oneworld.net Thu Apr 28 11:11:51 2005 From: geeta.sharma at oneworld.net (Geeta Sharma) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:41:51 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Grassroots Caucus for WSIS Message-ID: Dear All, Those of you working towards empowering grassroots communities may want to join this initiative. Thanks and regards Geeta Sharma OneWorld South Asia This is a call for Formation of a Grassroots Caucus While we appreciate the efforts behind WSIS process, and the important role civil society has assumed in making the WSIS debate a very inclusive one, we are equally concerned about the little or no role played by the representatives of grassroots organisations and the 'real' disadvantaged communities at large. Recongnising this major gap, OneWorld South Asia proposes to mobilise people at the grassroots to play a key role in shaping up the WSIS agenda and the final outcome thereof. We quote from the WSIS document: "We recognise and acknowledge the special and specific funding needs of the developing world, which faces numerous challenges in the ICT sector, and that there is strong need to focus on their special financing needs to achieve the development goals of the Millennium Declaration." WSIS policy document, chapter 2, Point 22. "We recognise the existence of the digital divide and the challenges that this poses for many countries, which are forced to chose between many competing objectives in their development planning and in demands for development funds whilst having limited resources." WSIS policy document, chapter 2, Point 19. You would agree decisions on financial mechanisms require good understanding of the problems impeding the ICT sector in developing countries. Organisations representing grassroots can state the problems faced by the grassroots communities in a manner that the investments in ICTs could also benefit the disadvantaged. There are several crucial areas where grassroots organisations must have their say including the important deliberations as financial mechanisms. To ensure equal stakeholder participation through the WSIS policy dialogue process OneWorld South Asia proposes the formation of Grassroots Caucus. Interested Organisations Representing Grassroots Concerns may Please SIGN UP Members of Grassroots Caucus will together voice their concerns on the WSIS policy dialogue and give their inputs through discussions among its members and also through active participation at PreCom 3 during 19-30 September 2005 at Geneva and WSIS II during 16-18 November 2005 at Tunisia. "Lets Voice our Concerns, as these decisions would affect Grassroots communities" Dr.Basheerhamad Shadrach, Director, OneWorld South Asia, C-5, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi -110016, Ph: 91 11 51689000, Fax: 91 11 51689001 Email: basheerhamad.shadrach at oneworld.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment-0001.htm -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1205 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment-0001.gif -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image004.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 7234 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment-0001.jpg From media at web.net Sat Apr 16 02:47:05 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 00:47:05 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] BBC Hindi's audience in India rises Message-ID: BBC Hindi's audience in India rises BBC World Service has stemmed its declining radio audience in India, according to an independent audience survey. BBC Hindi has grown by 4.3 million, taking the BBC's weekly Hindi audience up to 14.5 million. The survey, conducted in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jharkand and Rajastan, revealed that weekly listenership to the BBC confirms the BBC as India's number one international radio provider. The BBC captures 40% of all those listening to the radio in Bihar, and a third of radio listeners in Jharkand. In the remaining three states, just under one in five of radio listeners turn to the BBC Hindi Service every week. Head of BBC Hindi, Achala Sharma, said that the increase in audience this year is likely to be the result of a combination of factors: "We have developed our programming so it connects directly with our audiences in the 'Hindi belt'. I am also sure that our roadshow marketing initiative in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh last year has contributed to this success." According to the survey, which was undertaken almost a year after the BBC Hindi roadshow ended, 16% of weekly listeners across the states said they were aware of the BBC Hindi events. This amounts to over 2 million people. The Hindi roadshow visited over 40 locations in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, giving local people direct contact with the BBC. Controller of BBC World Service Marketing Communications & Audiences, Alan Booth, added: "India is a key market for the BBC. The rapid growth of TV viewing across India over the last 10 years, combined with India's broadcasting legislation which prevents news and current affairs on FM radio stations, has changed the media landscape. However, we are pleased to see that BBC Hindi is growing in popularity in the towns and villages of Northern India. This survey proves that, with new programme formats and astute marketing, we are able to build on what had been a declining audience." The survey was commissioned by BBC World Service and was conducted by AC Nielsen between December 2004 and January 2005. # posted by Andy @ 13:44 UTC -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: http://medianetwork.blogspot.com/2005_04_03_medianetwork_archive.html © info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From media at web.net Tue Apr 26 09:32:58 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 01:32:58 -0600 Subject: [cr-india] Taleban Radio stories Message-ID: ............................................ Taleban Radio Voice of America editorial April 22, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2005-04-22-voa2.cfm Remnants of the ousted Taleban regime in Afghanistan are launching a radio station to broadcast their extremist propaganda. According to news reports, the Voice of Shariat will be heard in Dari and Pashto, the main Afghan languages. But it has stiff competition. When the Taleban seized power in 1996, they prohibited the broadcasting of music. News and information were tightly controlled. After the regime was overthrown by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001, independent Afghan media were revived. Habibullah Rafie is an Afghan journalist. He says, "In December 2001, after the fall of the Taleban, we started from absolute zero. Since then," says Mr. Rafie, "media development has been unparalleled in our history." Today in Afghanistan there are more than forty independent radio stations and eight private television channels. Arman FM is a pop music station that says it is listened to by up to eighty-percent of the population of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. Saad Mohsini, the station's director, says the aim "was to target the younger generation." And, he says "we have been extremely successful." Arman FM is expanding its broadcasts to five other Afghan cities. There is still much for Afghans to do in the way of developing free media. Siamak Herawi works in the communications office of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president. Mr. Herawi says that while the Afghan media are free, "sometimes there is self-censorship because of problems that arise from Afghanistan's current conditions. For example," says Mr. Herawi, "a number of journalists fear that if they tell the truth, they will possibly be threatened." Vincent Brossel of the Reporters Without Borders monitoring group says the enemies in Afghanistan are those "who do not tolerate the assertion of pluralistic news and information." While independent media are being established, "Afghanistan still faces many challenges," says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: "We believe that the future of a new democratic Afghanistan that is no longer a haven for terrorists is absolutely essential to American security." Referring to the Afghan people, Secretary of State Rice says, "sometimes we just have to step back and give people credit for how much they have already achieved." The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government. (VOA News Apr 22 via Grace-USA) ------------xxxxxxxxxx Other News xxxxxxxxxx------------------- Afghanistan Afghan Government Not Concerned with Taleban Radio By VOA News April 21, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-21-voa51.cfm The Afghan government says it is not concerned about the recently launched clandestine Taleban radio station that is broadcasting anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda. A presidential spokesman says since the Afghan people suffered enough under the ousted Taleban regime, the propaganda is not expected to have an impact. He also said he does not believe the Taleban remnants can continue such activities for long because the government intends to bring them to justice sooner rather than later. A U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul says it is up to the Afghan government how it wants to deal with the broadcasts. But she said the area targeted by the broadcasts will definitely be under U.S. military surveillance. (VOA News Apr 21 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taleban Launches Clandestine Pirate Radio Station In Afghanistan Voice of America April 18, 2005 Afghanistan's Taleban regime, which was driven from power by U.S.-led forces, has launched a clandestine radio station that is being heard in that country's southern provinces. The pirate radio station, called Shariat Shagh or Voice of Shariat, operates from a mobile transmitter and broadcasts anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda and Islamic hymns. It can be heard in regions of the country which were once the strongholds of the fundamentalist movement. The Voice of Shariat comes as a bloody insurgency still rages in parts of Afghanistan, particularly in the south. A Taleban spokesman said the radio station will tell listeners about the Taleban's thoughts and objectives. U.S.-led forces toppled the Taleban government after it refused to hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks against the U.S. (VOA Apr 18 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taleban Militia Launch Clandestine Radio Station Al Jazeera April 19, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.aljazeerah.info/April%202005%20News/19%20n/Taleban%20Militia%20Launch%20Clandestine%20Radio%20Station.htm KANDAHAR, 19 April 2005 - Afghanistan's Taleban launched a clandestine radio station yesterday, broadcasting anti-government commentaries from a mobile transmitter. Called "Shariat Shagh", or Voice of Shariat, after the station the Taleban ran while in power, the broadcast can be heard in five southern provinces, including the former regime's old power base of Kandahar. "We launched the broadcast today through a mobile facility," said Taleban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi. "It goes on the air between six and seven o'clock in the mornings and same time in the evenings," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the Taleban, resisting in the south and east of the country since they were driven from power in late 2001, needed their own voice because the world's media were pro-American. Many Afghans listen to the BBC and Voice of America which broadcast in the country's two main languages, Pashto and Dari. In addition to government-run radio, numerous small, private stations have sprung up, many funded by aid donors. The Taleban station criticized US and other foreign troops operating in Afghanistan since the Taleban were ousted. Asked what the Taleban would do if US forces detected and destroyed their transmitter, Hakimi said they would set up another. Meanwhile, US troops have detained 24 suspected Taleban members in the southeastern province of Khost, bordering Pakistan. The men were picked up during a Sunday night raid by US troops backed by helicopters in Khost’s remote Ali Sher district, Khost Governor Mirajuddin Patan told Reuters. He did not know if any prominent Taleban members were among those arrested, but said local officials had urged US forces to coordinate such raids with provincial authorities. (Al Jazeera Apr 19 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taliban Clandestine Radio Hard to Track United Press International April 23, 2005 A clandestine anti-U.S. radio run by the Taliban doesn't worry the Afghan government, but U.S. forces are keeping the area under surveillance. Using the former name given to Radio Afghanistan during the Taliban regime -- Shariah Zhagh (Voice of the Sharia) -- the radio began limited broadcasts of anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda in the Kandahar area on April 18. Afghan media said Friday the government is not concerned about the radio because the Afghan people suffered enough under the ousted Islamic fundamentalist regime, and will not believe its propaganda. A U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul was quoted as saying the area targeted by the broadcasts will definitely be under U.S. military surveillance. But Taliban spokesman Hakimi said the Americans will not be able to locate the broadcast station. Shariah Zhagh is a mobile station. It broadcasts programs at dawn and sunset. No one can detect the station's frequencies during these times, Hakimi added. (UPI Apr 23 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taliban Radio Back on Air By Mirwais Afghan Reuters April 18, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15009085-23109,00.html Kandahar - Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas launched a clandestine radio station today, broadcasting anti-government commentaries and Islamic hymns from a mobile transmitter. Called "Shariat Shagh", or Voice of Shariat, after the station the Taliban ran while in power, the broadcast can be heard in five southern provinces, including the former regime's old power base of Kandahar. "We launched the broadcast today through a mobile facility," said Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi. "It goes on the air between six and seven o'clock in the mornings and same time in the evenings," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the Taliban, fighting an insurgency in the south and east of the country since they were driven from power in late 2001, needed their own voice because the world's media were pro-American. Many Afghans listen to the BBC and Voice of America which broadcast in the country's two main languages, Pashto and Dari. In addition to government-run radio, numerous small, private stations have sprung up, many funded by aid donors. As well as Islamic hymns and anti-government commentaries, the Taliban station also criticised US and other foreign troops operating in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted. Asked what the Taliban would do if US forces detected and destroyed their transmitter, Hakimi said they would set up another. Taliban attacks have picked up following a northern winter lull after the guerrillas failed in a vow to disrupt an October presidential elections won by President Hamid Karzai. But their activity is down on past years, fuelling speculation the movement may be struggling to find recruits and resources. Karzai has said his government is in contact with Taliban members to try to persuade them to lay down their arms and abandon a bloody insurgency that has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the past two years. The commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General David Barno, said at the weekend the Taliban were desperate but still dangerous. US-led forces toppled the Taliban government after it refused to hand over al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11 terrorist attacks on US cities. (Reuters Apr 18 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan U.S. State Dept Briefing Excerpt on Taliban Radio April 18, 2005 U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing Index Monday, April 18, 2005 12:40 p.m. EST Briefer: Richard Boucher, Spokesman ... QUESTION: Richard, some media questions. First, the Taliban have put together a clandestine radio network to incite terrorism and violence and that just went on air today in Afghanistan. And secondly, fortunately, I guess, the Iranians have closed down Al Jazeera television in Iran, saying it's stirring up violence and have arrested 200 persons. And I guess you've seen this front page series of articles in The Washington Post front page, both yesterday and today and they're saying there are no Muslims in this media operation -- MR. BOUCHER: That was on the second page, but anyway. (Laughter.) QUESTION: And also that -- MR. BOUCHER: All right. Let's -- let me -- hold it, don't do any more before I forget them all. Closing down Al Jazeera in Iran -- saw the report, sorry I don't have anything on it. No, I can only do two at once. What was the first thing? QUESTION: Taliban. MR. BOUCHER: Oh, the Taliban radio. QUESTION: Right. MR. BOUCHER: Clandestine radio. That's an interesting concept, nobody can hear it. It has to be secret. (Laughter.) No, I don't -- I hadn't heard about it. I'll have to check on it. I know what you -- I do know what you mean, nobody's supposed to know where the transmitter is. I'll see if we have anything on that. (State Dept Press Briefing Apr 18 via Grace-USA) -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH 180 Extra April 26, 2005 CRW is the biweekly online magazine for ClandestineRadio.com, the Web's only portal on clandestine broadcasting and subversive media. http://www.ClandestineRadio.com The full online issue can be read at: http://www.ClandestineRadio.com/crw/crw.php?id=242 ------------xxxxxxxxxx Breaking News xxxxxxxxxx---------------- ------------xxxxxxxxxx Team CRW xxxxxxxxxx--------------------- Martin Schoech, Editor in Chief Achraf Chaabane, CRW North Africa Nick Grace, CRW Washington Takuya Hirayama, CRW Japan Robert Petraitis, CRW Baltics http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crwatch/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crwatch/ © info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sat Apr 2 04:33:48 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 08:03:48 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga Message-ID: When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga ----------------------------------------------------------- Govt plans to hand over radio to community, officials say the tsunami experience is one reason why it must be done ANURADHA RAMAN Posted online: Saturday, April 02, 2005 at 0242 hours IST NEW DELHI, APRIL 1: Imagine a radio station for every neighbourhood. Where local shops can advertise their goods, where communities can not only take charge of news content but debate on issues such as health and education. Trying to make all this happen is the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which now awaits a response to a note circulated to the Ministries of Home, Communication and Defence before taking it to the Cabinet for approval. Once cleared, it will usher in a radio revolution in the country which officials estimate should not take more than six months. Over two years after the policy on community radio was announced-the BJP government's decision on December 18, 2002 confined it to universities and colleges for security reasons-the UPA government is planning to hand over the radio to the community. What this effectively means is non-governmental organisations, voluntary associations, Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) can start radio stations of their own, subject to the availability of frequencies. With bank guarantee money proposed to be reduced to Rs 25,000 from Rs 50,000, the radio station can become operational. One of the reasons for bringing in a change in the policy, according to sources, was the lack of effective communication during the recent Tsunami disaster. ''Communities operating radio stations along the coastal area could have issued adequate warning to prevent large-scale casualties,'' sources said. With this in mind, the I&B Ministry has proposed that the community take charge of radio operations. Advertising will be allowed but has been capped at five minutes to an hour of programming. Foreign funds will be allowed through the FCRA or Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Flexibility is also being shown in increasing the wattage of transmitters which is now at 50 watts. The license duration is being increased from the current three years to five years. The I&B Ministry has indicated that a single window clearance with approval from the Ministry of Home (security clearance), Ministry of Communication (for allocation of frequency) to the nodal ministry is all that will be required to start radio station. The rules have been relaxed because of the bottlenecks in the existing procedure. Till the policy change, applications were required to be forwarded through the Ministry of HRD/state governments, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication-a procedure both long-drawn and cumbersome. Frequency allocation passes through four stages by the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Information and Technology. No commercial activity is permitted as per the guidelines now. Despite the rules that bar them from starting their own radio stations, NGOs have contributed content to the initiatives taken by All India Radio (AIR) like Chala Ho Gaon Mein in Palamu, Radio Ujjas in Kutch and Namma Dhwani-where a self-help group is involved in the working of the radio in Buddikote village in Bangalore district. The Swaminathan Research Foundation which buys air-time on Radio Pondicherry has been lobbying for independent initiatives to usher in a radio revolution. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 From arunlists at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 07:03:17 2005 From: arunlists at softhome.net (Arun Mehta) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 10:33:17 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga Message-ID: <424E2795.9050402@softhome.net> I was at the IT ministry yesterday, they are working on the note for the cabinet on community radio quite actively -- the cabinet decision on the subject is just around the corner. The NGO sector should begin to gear up for this. Arun http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 From vvcrishna at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 16:38:59 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 20:08:59 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] When own mohallah is on air, all you will hear is radio ga ga In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 8:03 AM +0530 4/2/05, Alokesh Gupta wrote: >The I&B Ministry has indicated that a single window clearance with approval >from the Ministry of Home (security clearance), Ministry of Communication >(for allocation of frequency) to the nodal ministry is all that will be >required to start radio station. The rules have been relaxed because of the >bottlenecks in the existing procedure. Till the policy change, applications >were required to be forwarded through the Ministry of HRD/state governments, >Ministry of Home, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and the >WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication-a procedure both long-drawn and >cumbersome. Frequency allocation passes through four stages by the WPC wing >of the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of Information and >Technology. No commercial activity is permitted as per the guidelines now. >Despite the rules that bar them from starting their own radio stations, NGOs >have contributed content to the initiatives taken by All India Radio (AIR) >like Chala Ho Gaon Mein in Palamu, Radio Ujjas in Kutch and Namma >Dhwani-where a self-help group is involved in the working of the radio in >Buddikote village in Bangalore district. The Swaminathan Research Foundation >which buys air-time on Radio Pondicherry has been lobbying for independent >initiatives to usher in a radio revolution. > >http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67603 While it is indeed good news that the I&B Ministry is beginning to leak out stories on this subject (this is the second or third), it is a bit galling to find they seem to think they have invented the concept. Not a word (at least not a word that the reporter heard, which may not be the same thing) about the endless meetings, petitions and activities that have finally led us up to this point. I suppose we should be, on the one hand, grateful for small mercies, and on the other hand, gear ourselves up more than ever before to ensure that the revised policy is as CR-centric and user-friendly as is needed. Specifically, we believe it is critical for the government to release some bandwidth for very low power FM transmission. This medium, with its very low reach, costs almost nothing for even the poorest of communities to own. The target is 600,000 villages - and that will be tough to achieve if the government insists on maintaining unreal cost-based barriers to entry (read: technical specifications that make it impossible to set up low cost stations, unreasonable spectrum fees or security deposits or whatever). It is also necessary for the government to recognise that the technology enables as many as one hundred channels to operate from the same location (they could even share the same tower, but that isn't necessary to stipulate). The transmission equipment can be made to maintain a separation of just 200 KHz between stations, as the US FCC specifies. Our government has been led to believe that the minimum separation is 800 KHz. We recognise that for some locations, there could be an advantage to allowing community radio operators powerful stations as well - but those few situations need not dictate policy for all. For the vast majority, a combination of cheap low cost transmitters with low cost translators ought to handle Indian patterns of village urbanisation. -- Vickram From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 02:51:46 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 06:21:46 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Citizen Radio Message-ID: Citizen Radio ------------- Community radio is giving ordinary Indians a taste of media power. Anuradha Raman meets the little people who'll be ruling tomorrow's airwaves. Our airwaves Posted online: Sunday, April 03, 2005 at 0000 hours IST WHEN was the last time you heard something meaningful on the radio-which made you more than just hum the tune of your favourite number or stifle a laugh at some smart one-liners? Far removed from the concerns of the proverbial saas and bahu, whose lives have been turned into soaps to grab commercials and ears, whose re-runs can be heard on radio FM, the same airwaves are crackling with excitement and ushering in a quiet change in middle India. So quiet, that you have to strain your ears to catch the signal. With lyrical names like Bichapolla Radio-named after mendicant bards of Andhra Pradesh-and Kunjal Panchhi Kutch Ji-Saras Cranes of Our Kutch-the stations remain rooted to the places they operate from. >From Pondicherry-where the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (SRF) has been working hard to convince the government to allow it to start its own radio station but has had to remain content with a measly 15-minute airtime allotted by AIR Pondicherry-to Baramati in Maharashtra, radio operators are trying to make sense of the world around them and communicate it to their listeners (See accompanying stories). Fear Factor THE government finally appears to be tuning in. Before that, hear the background score. Just over two years ago, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry decided to talk Community Radio, prompted by the vision of a radio revolution. Like so many decisions taken by the government, this too stopped short of the desired goal. So fearful were the bureaucrats of allowing civil society access to its own media, that they put in clauses allowing only government-recognised universities to operate radio stations. ''It was to check the credentials of non-government organisations (NGOs) desirous of starting radio stations. It would have been doubly difficult to monitor their content,'' a ministry official now says. Organisations like SRF have been lobbying for a licence for quite some time. Their prayers are likely to be answered when the I&B Ministry, shaking off fears of a civil society takeover, takes a note to the Cabinet to hand over radio to community-run stations. Once this is done, NGOs, resident welfare associations and voluntary institutions will become eligible to apply for a licence and operate a radio station. As it happens, 2005 also marks the 10th anniversary of the historic Supreme Court judgement that declared airwaves public property, not the state's preserve. As campuses and NGOs and neighbourhood groups look to a policy change that allows them to participate in a media revolution, the airwaves may finally belong to the people. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67612 ------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 04:11:12 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 07:41:12 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio and Local Elections in India. Live! Message-ID: Community Radio and Local Elections in India. Live! ------------------------------------------------------ 30-03-2005 (UNESCO New Delhi) For the first time during these elections we have realized Namma Dhwani can play such an important role in our lives," reports Murthy, a shop owner in Budikote, a village of some 6000 people in Karnataka in South India. The state recently held Gram Panchayat elections in which people voted for members of their local, village-level governing bodies. During past elections in the area, there has been no media coverage of the counting process with election results generally announced by the authorities. Naturally, Namma Dhwani (Our Voice), a community radio station supported by UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), wanted to play a part in ensuring a free and fair election as well as greater degrees of transparency, accountability and community participation in the voting process. Having identified local level governance as a critical factor in the area's development, the station planned out a series of special programmes around the elections. Reporters went out in the village recording people's opinions about ensuring a good election. The majority said that candidates standing for election should not try to bribe people to vote for them. Sensitive issues like corruption and violence during elections were approached using creative formats like radio plays and songs. As voting day approached, the excitement level grew. Voter participation from Budikote was high. The votes were counted on March 1 in the sub-district headquarters in Bangarpet, some 15 km from Budikote. The station sent a local reporter, Nagaraj, to the counting centre in Bangarpet with a mobile phone. Every fifteen minutes, he spoke with the Namma Dhwani studio to give an update on the voting results. Every word was carried live and cablecast to homes and shops throughout Budikote and relayed on loud speakers in nearby villages. "Kindly don't interrupt the program to play any songs. We want to hear more about the election results. Namma Dhwani is doing us a great help by letting us know the happenings instantaneously. We never had this before," said Krishna M.N., local baker and ardent listener of Namma Dhwani. He had been listening to the programme since it started and did not want it interrupted even for a minute. Election coverage started at noon and although there was no advance publicity, word got out quickly and by 2 PM there was a steady stream of people calling in to know about the results. The program continued until 2:30 AM the following morning. By the end, Namma Dhwani had logged nearly three hundred phone calls. In addition to the coverage of vote counting, Namma Dhwani also did live interviews with candidates who were present at the counting centre, with the member of the state legislative assembly representing the Bangarpet sub-district and with other prominent members of the community about the elections. At the studio, Mamata, a long-time volunteer, was behind the mixing console while Vanaja, Bhavani and Ashwath, all volunteers, were taking calls and organising the updates with Najaraj. As coverage progressed into the night, the broadcasters began discussing relevant topics - free and fair elections, community interest in the elections and chances of prospective candidates - in between updates from the counting centre. Some two years ago Namma Dhwani began recording the village panchayat meetings, but after several months the panchayat disallowed the practice. In the lead up to this election, Namma Dhwani interviewed all the local candidates. In addition to questions about their background, intentions and assurances, each candidate was also asked "If you win, will you allow Namma Dhwani to cover and record all the local Panchayat meetings.?" Although most of the candidates agreed, time will tell if the new panchayat members will follow through on their promises. Alongside the candidates, the winners in this election are clearly Namma Dhwani, its listeners and the local community. Together they put media's role in good governance into practice in their village. Source UNESCO New Delhi http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18508&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTI ON=201.html ---------------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi. From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 04:15:24 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 07:45:24 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] This tune's for me! Message-ID: This tune's for me! ----------------- Gaurav Raghuvanshi Community Radio is slowly making itself felt as a powerful tool of social and economic change. Tune in to a status report on what's crackling, and what more needs to be done. Community Radio, in current Government parlance, means Campus Radio. The existing licensing policy, announced in December 2002, stipulates that only government-recognised educational institutions can be issued a licence to run a community radio. That leaves out community-based organisations whose aim is empowerment of society. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recently submitted its recommendations on liberalising the norms further. Meanwhile, community radio initiatives are mushrooming through the proxy route ,eWorld does a status check. NALIYA, the western-most tip of India, would normally be the last place for a sting journalism operation. But this is where a bunch of school dropout reporters with missionary zeal have just unearthed a mini-scam. No, it is not about the casting-couch syndrome of Bollywood or the murky dealings behind defence purchases. It is something that is more relevant to the local populace - a Government doctor indulging in private practice at the cost of the State. The government hospital, where the doctor is supposed to be, is empty, while patients throng his illegal clinic and he makes a fast buck. In true sting journalism style, the doctor is cornered and his comments are duly recorded. But you will not get to see it on your favourite television news channel. This is a form of communication more relevant for rural India - radio. The programme, Pardafash (Expose), is produced by `Radio Ujjas' and broadcast on All India Radio, Rajkot. Radio Ujjas is an effort of the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan and is run by local youth, many of whom are school dropouts. Almost two-thirds of Kutch's 1.5 million people are hooked on to Radio Ujjas. Kunjal Panchchi Kutchji (Saras crane of our Kutch), the central character of the radio who has a nose for news, has been generating debates on a variety of social issues, according to Stalin K, founder of Drishti, an Ahmedabad-based media collective. Ujjas, which means light, is an imaginary village in Kutch created by the Radio Ujjas team that has been trained in basic journalism and radio programming by Drishti. Radio Ujjas has become a household name in Kutch and gets its funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Central Government. While community radio initiatives such as Radio Ujjas that buy programming space on AIR have come up in several States in the country, there is only one community radio station in the strict definition of the term. According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) official, as on date, only Anna FM qualifies to be a community radio station. The first campus-based community radio in the country, Anna FM is broadcast from the campus of Anna University, Chennai, on 90.4 MHz FM. However, there are other initiatives like Radio Ujjas in the field, wherein some organisations are helping certain communities prepare and share audio programmes through various means. One such is Chala Ho Gaon Mein, started by an NGO as a community participatory programme. It reaches a population of over seven million covering Palamau, Garwah and Latehar districts in Jharkhand. The frequency of the programme is two 30-minute episodes a week and it focuses on development issues such as the functioning of the public distribution system, roads, power and irrigation. Another example is the Namma Dhwani (Our Voice) initiative, where a cable audio station has been set up at Budikote in Kolar district of Karnataka and the local community produces and cable-casts its own radio programmes. Similarly, a community-based radio programme titled Panchayat Vani (People's Voice) was recently broadcast on AIR Darbhanga. The programme aims to spread awareness about the functioning of panchayati raj institutions in Muzaffarpur, Madhubani and Khagaria districts of Bihar. The programme, produced by CENCORED in collaboration with the Delhi-based NGO Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), was initiated in early 2003 to inform local communities about the need to, and ways to strengthen panchayati raj institutions. The initiative is being supported by the Ford Foundation and now covers 12 States. "Villagers across 12 States are getting hooked on to radio programmes featuring women `sarpanches' and journalists fighting social and economic inequities through Panchayati Raj institutions. In the process, listeners are spurred to participate in local institutions of self-governance themselves," says PRIA spokesperson, Sandip Das. And, the programmes are having impact. A middle-aged housewife at Benipati in Bihar's Madhubani got prompted by Panchayat Vani to mobilise village women to attend panchayati raj meetings. A woman in Kasargod (Kerala) got interested in the State's development plan. Das says PRIA has documented several examples where people have responded to community radio initiatives. "A programme titled Ganda no Dhabkar (Heartbeat of the Village) broadcast on AIR Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot has got listeners wanting to know more about the gram sabha and development programmes targeted at people living below the poverty line (BPL). The pilot radio programme, developed by Unnati, in collaboration with PRIA, depicts ground realities at village level and the heroic efforts of a woman sarpanch to fight social and economic inequalities through the gram sabha," Das says. Prompted by such initiatives, TRAI recently submitted its list of recommendations on the community radio sector to the Government. "What is allowed by the law of our country is campus radio and not community radio. The Government needs to address this issue with policy initiatives if it is serious enough to use the platform as a development tool," says Das. Agrees Stalin. "Why would an Indian Institute of Technology radio be bothered about women's issues or healthcare? There is a clear need to allow real community radio stations to function," he says. Stalin says that perhaps the present approach of using the AIR platform itself is faulty. "We were wrong in going through the proper channels and the AIR route. Instead, community radio should have started as pirate stations without bothering about a licence. Look at what happened to the cable operators. They did not take any licence to start operations and managed to stay outside any regulation," he says. Citing the example of countries such as the US, the Philippines and South Africa, where such `pirate' radio stations sprung up without a licence, Stalin says radio stations owned by the natives were outlawed in the Apartheid era and later had to be regularised. After all, a `suitcase' radio station covering a half-km radius can be started with an investment of just Rs 15,000. While going the `pirate' way may be an extreme situation, Stalin says the Government and TRAI's concerns are all misplaced. "Why should the Government be bothered about the sustainability of community radio stations when it is not putting in any money? Similarly, security issues are hardly a concern as we are talking about very low power transmitters that are incapable of beaming signals that can have implications for national security," he says. As regards allowing commercial advertising, Stalin says that too is not a real concern as private companies can bid for an FM radio station if they wanted to own a radio station. "Programming and advertising norms can be worked out. We are willing to keep a log of our transmission that can be inspected by any authority. The advertising-programming balance too can be worked out. But allowing true community radio stations to function without Government shackles is a must," he says. Meanwhile, TRAI has recommended to the Government that community radio stations should be allowed and commercial advertising be permitted, subject to certain norms. It has also said that there is no need for a separate programming code for community radio stations. The Community Radio ball is now in the Government's court. What TRAI wants Key recommendations of TRAI on Community Radio: - Any Indian legal entity or individual should be eligible for licence, no financial requirement. - No Government funding, but commercial advertising be allowed, subject to restrictions. - No spectrum fee for first two years of licence period. - No need for separate programming code, AIR and private sector norms applicable to Community Radio as well. - Only local language programming; half of content should be self-generated. - Station to keep log of six months. - Religious institutions may be allowed to set up stations, but only for community service and not for preaching or proselytising. - Bank guarantee or Rs 25,000 to keep out frivolous applicants. - Restrict coverage to a 6-km radius. eworld at thehindu.co.in http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2005/03/28/stories/2005032800090100.h tm -------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi. From budhyag at hotmail.com Sun Apr 3 11:15:18 2005 From: budhyag at hotmail.com (gururaja budhya) Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 14:45:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless In-Reply-To: <42474BE0.29184.853683@localhost> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050403/b1decae5/attachment-0002.htm From nehadara at gmail.com Mon Apr 4 11:27:10 2005 From: nehadara at gmail.com (neha dara) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:57:10 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Re: cr-india Digest, Vol 21, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> two observations: 1. i dont know much on the technical front, but amongst the changes that may be incorporated based on TRAI recommendations is 5 minutes of advertising per hour and anyone individual or group with three years of experience in community service is eligible to apply for a radio. Also according to the ministry's calculations, they say is is possible to have 4000 CR stations across the country. 2. the range is supposed to be 5-6 kms but Jamia's campus radio has been doing much better. They have people tuning in from as far as the airport. can someone confirm? their first broadcast is usually at 11 am n From vvcrishna at softhome.net Mon Apr 4 13:28:37 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 16:58:37 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Re: cr-india Digest, Vol 21, Issue 2 In-Reply-To: <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> References: <20050403021043.292B328D91E@mail.sarai.net> <245b6b4d0504040227732f89d7@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: At 2:57 PM +0530 4/4/05, neha dara wrote: >Also according to the ministry's calculations, they say is is >possible to have 4000 CR stations across the country. Based on a simple calculation (which I did three years back and posted to this list - it is freely available in the archives) of 1) the area covered by a circle of radius 5 km and 2) the theoretical number of channels that can run in a single location (as per US FCC standards) and 3) the land area of the country. The theoretical maximum is around 1.25 million channels, after making deductions for water bodies, land borders (given the fears that pervade our bureaucrats' minds on national security, we might as well include all border people in our classification of second class citizens) and ten per cent or so for cities. It is hard to understand why the ministry insists India can support only 4,000 weak stations, when the US (for instance) already has over 12,000 much more powerful stations. Since its own performance has been so dismal - less than 200 stations established in about 25 years - I guess the ministry has no incentive to give correct figures. Plus they probably can't conceive of villagers being creative enough to make programmes for themselves (the standard feudalistic and paternalistic thinking that typifies the trickle-down mentality). >2. the range is supposed to be 5-6 kms but Jamia's campus radio has >been doing much better. They have people tuning in from as far as >the airport. can someone confirm? their first broadcast is usually >at 11 am Atmospherics and the quality of the receiver can make a difference. Range specifications are always made on the basis of reliable broadcasting, not what some persons can access some of the time. -- Vickram From vvcrishna at softhome.net Tue Apr 5 08:19:51 2005 From: vvcrishna at softhome.net (Vickram Crishna) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 11:49:51 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] One full mark for naivete Message-ID: Today's news, in the Business Standard and the Asian Age, is the first time this paranoid conspiracy theorist sees in print what lies behind the government's murky thinking on relaxing of restrictions on broadcasting. Page 1, the anchor story in BS, has Jaipal Reddy (minister of I&B) in Mumbai addressing the inaugural of FRAMES, the entertainment industry's annual jamboree. He suggests that the new commercial license regime may well see the long awaited shift to revenue sharing - as we know from the TRAI Open Houses, the only thing that has held up a decision on this one is the likelihood of lawsuits from current license holders, one of whom distinguished themselves by threatening a media watchdog site with a slander suit and forced its closure last month (the main issue being the media company's practice of selling news space as advertising). Somewhere toward the end of the little news item, Reddy looks forward to the opening through the next three years of 'over 4,000 .... community radio stations across the country'. My post yesterday wondered about the limits of imagination, but if this quote is accurate, then the government is merely talking about what will actually be achieved, and not about limiting the potential itself. Naive, but then hope springs eternal, right? Tucked into a different story in a different paper, the AA carries a tiny news item from Delhi on Page 3, that the Central Monitoring Service of the I&B, which monitors foreign broadcasts, has been shifted to 'a secret set-up' in the Cabinet Secretariat, called the National Technical Facilities Organisation. The shift took place on April 1, hopefully not a foolish move (but then the celebration of April 1 as All Fools Day is a foreign implant, and we should shun all imputations of less than brilliance to events that take place on that day). Presumably the department is woefully under-equipped to deal with local broadcasting, and this lateral shift could perhaps reveal why the government has been so slow to liberalise news and current affairs broadcasting on the one hand, and devolving local ownership on the other hand. In any case, even the government has begun to realise (though not quite ready to openly admit it) that FM broadcasting is a low range technology, and that monitoring, if deemed necessary, will need large numbers of personnel deployed throughout the country, familiar with local languages. This observer finds it hard to understand how, if a single national organisation is mooted to do this job, such local people will be graded and promoted over the years, or how a specialist in say, Tamil monitoring, will function when moved laterally to Assam. And if this job is devolved down logically to state bodies, how long will it be before states start demanding more say in defining media policies? Of course, being an idealist, I personally think there is little harm (compared to the inaction of the past five and a half decades) in moving it right down to the sub-sub-level of villages, communities and their local governance systems. But I don't expect to hear an overwhelmingly loud roar of approbation and applause from the government benches for saying so. readers of this list will recall that a couple of years ago, the secretary I&B was quoted in the Washington Post to say that allowing villagers to handle their own broadcast media was 'fraught with danger'. Apparently the danger was to the administration. -- Vickram From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Wed Apr 6 19:57:05 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 23:27:05 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Community Radio Programme Commemorating 100 Years of Kangra Earthquake Message-ID: Community Radio Programme Commemorating 100 Years of Kangra Earthquake 06 Apr 2005 08:11:00 GMT Source: NGO latest SEEDS India Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) - India Website: http://www.seedsindia.org Exactly hundred years ago on 4th April 1905-an earthquake measuring more than 8.7 M hit Kangra Valley of Himalaya Mountain. Close to 30,000 people died in the earthquake which rocked the cities as far as 700 Km away. This was undoubtedly one of the Indian most devastating earthquakes. Kangra district is part of Himachal Pradesh which lies zone v of seismic zone map of India. This zone is liable to seismic intensity IX and above on Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. This is the most severe seismic zone and is referred as Very High Damage Risk Zone. To commemorate centenary year, SEEDS along with District Administration, Shimla produced a special radio programme aimed at creating awareness among the citizens about earthquake risk in the region and need to reduce risk. The programme explained the earthquake phenomenon in the region highlighting how haphazard physical development is a cause of concern for future. The audience was reminded about one structure Teda Mandir (Tilted Temple) which got its tilt in 1905 earthquake. The structure seems as one of few living memories of Kangra earthquake. The programme was broadcast over All India Radio and reached audiences all over the state. In the mountainous region, radio is most popular medium of reaching out to citizens. In Himachal Pradesh, haphazard growth of settlement has resulted in houses being constructed on steep slope with in correct construction practices. High priority life line services like hospitals, power stations and telecommunication and water supply station are located in high vulnerable areas with poor connectivity. Weak enforcement of byelaws, construction of steep slope and lack of space between building have all added the risk in the region. An Important highlight of the programme was to advice communities to not give in to rumours regarding earthquake prediction. A recent such rumour caused wide scale panic with communities spending entire night staying outside in the rain. This radio programme is part of the Parvat Yatra ( Mountain Safety Campaign) programme which is a mass mobilization campaign aimed to initiating community ked action for disaster risk reduction in the mountain communities ' through interactive mediums such as community workshops shake table demonstration exhibition and poster campaigns. SEEDS has organised workshops in the villages, with focus on role of local governance towards disaster management. The women's community centres in two villages of the Kangra Valley have been retrofitted to demonstrate the techniques available for seismic strengthening of buildings. More recently SEEDS jointly with District Administration has prepared Earthquake Risk Mitigation Plan and Citizen Handbook for Shimla city. Shimla is presently the capital and largest city of the state. [ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ] http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/seeds/111277586156.htm -------------------------------- Alokesh Gupta New Delhi From arunlists at softhome.net Sat Apr 2 09:41:18 2005 From: arunlists at softhome.net (Arun Mehta) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:11:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] community tv and cognitive radio In-Reply-To: <20050328072241.27078.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> References: <20050328072241.27078.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: <424E4C9E.3070209@softhome.net> Hi Sajan, The community radio mailing list hasn't shown interest in your suggestion for community TV, perhaps india-gii may show greater interest. Along with TV, it is easy to provide data services as well, such as teletext. Sajan, if you aren't a member of india-gii, trust me, you should be -- to join india-gii, the low-volume list that keeps a critical eye on what is happening in the Indian electronic space, go to https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/india-gii archives at https://ssl.cpsr.org/pipermail/india-gii/ I am also mailing this to the Mission 2007 list, where we have been discussing ways to improve the viability of telecenters. I believe that a telecenter could be the right place to site the community radio and TV stations, as it would allow them to make effective use of the Internet, to share content, as a virtual recording studio, etc. For good measure, I am also mailing this to the Asiasource mailing lists, where I have good friends who can help us with formulating a good response to this request for comments from the government, as also bringing us in touch with other activists in the area. Not just mailing lists, even the country isn't showing much enthusiasm for terrestrial TV, for even TRAI doesn't seem to have received enough responses, and has provided extra time. I must plead guilty myself, I didn't respond to TRAI's consultation paper, but here is my contribution, first draft. This is what I would like to see happen in the area of spectrum reserved for terrestrial TV, an invaluable piece of virtual estate, for at this frequency, it is easy to penetrate foliage and even walls, so you can work with far lower masts. Firstly, community terrestrial TV must be allowed, because for poor people, paying the cable operator each month is not an option. TV sets, both monochrome and colour, are fairly cheap now. We are just releasing a policy for terrestrial community radio, the same terms could apply to terrestrial TV -- it should not take long to arrive at a policy. Second, let us recognise that there will be plenty of empty slots in the terrestrial TV spectrum, particularly in rural areas, and there is a way to take advantage of this. A very exciting technology is cognitive radio, which automatically senses which slices of spectrum are in use, avoids those, and communicates with other such radios without causing interference to anyone. Advantages: 1. Both community TV and radio could benefit from a low-cost resturn path, so that anyone with such a radio could be a roving reporter, by simply attaching a mike or video camera to the cognitive radio set. 2. Given that the cost of masts is dominant in rural communications, such radios could cut down the cost of Mission 2007 drastically. 3. This is very significant technology not just for India, but is cutting edge for the whole world. If we give our industry interesting spectrum to play with, and a market of 600,000 villages to sell to, we could easily become world leaders in this technology, which is likely to be cheaper than even WiFi. 4. While other countries will find the technology useful, India is by far best placed in exploiting it. Other countries are using spectrum far more intensively than us: far more terrestrial radio and TV stations, less restrictive licensing for wireless... In India, the spectrum is largely unused, so we have more room to grow. Look at it this way: if you want to build something new on a piece of land, it is far easier to work with a green field, than have to tear down existing structures. To make suggestions for improvement, please reply to this message, or go to http://www.india-gii.org/wiki/index.php/Position_Papers/Terrestrial_TV Arun sajan venniyoor wrote: > TRAI had issued a consultation paper on private terrestrial TV > broadcasting on 25 Feb 2005. Anyone interested in the possibility of > Community Television, which would be covered under private terrestrial > TV, should respond to TRAI by the new deadline, 15 April 2005. > > Sajan. > ------ > > TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA > March 28, 2005 > PRESS RELEASE NO 31 /2005 > > TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA (TRAI) had issued a Consultation > Paper on 25th February 2005 on Private Terrestrial TV Broadcasting > Service. The consultation paper covers the issues relating to allowing > private broadcasters in the field of terrestrial television > broadcasting. The purpose of the Consultation Paper was to generate > discussion on the appropriate policy and licensing framework for the > introduction of Private Terrestrial Television Broadcast service in > India. The Consultation Paper was also placed on TRAI’s website > [www.trai.gov.in] and the specific issues posed for consultation were > put together in Chapter-6 of the Consultation Paper. Comments of the > Stakeholders on the Consultation Paper were invited by 31st March, 2005. > > 2 Keeping in view of the importance of the issue and the need for > wider participation of stakeholders in the consultation process, TRAI > has decided to extend, the last date for sending comments on the > Consultation Paper by 15 days. The last date for sending comments by > stakeholders will now be 15th April, 2005. > > 3. Written comments on this Paper may be furnished to Secretary, TRAI > by April 15, 2005. The gist of these comments received will be posted > on the TRAI’s website. For any further clarification on the matter, > Secretary, TRAI or Adviser (B&CS) may be contacted at > trai07 at bol.net.in (Phone No. 26167448, Fax No. 26103294) and > rkacker at trai.gov.in (Phone No. 26713291, Fax No. 26713442) respectively. > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >cr-india mailing list >cr-india at sarai.net >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. >Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.6 - Release Date: 3/30/2005 From fred at bytesforall.org Mon Apr 4 11:07:18 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 14:37:18 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless Message-ID: <200504040907.j3497IU8009588@mail6.atl.registeredsite.com> Please be careful while posting to the CRindia mailing list. If the list has to be moderated it will only add to delays in communication. Keeping it open means an additional responsibility on the part of subcribers. Kindly take note. FN ============================================================ From: "gururaja budhya" Date: 2005/04/03 Sun PM 02:45:18 GMT+05:30 To: cr-india at sarai.net Subject: RE: [cr-india] Radio Without Boundaries / Deep Wireless ============================================================ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: reply.DEFANGED-2601 Type: application/defanged-2601 Size: 228 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050404/3d704f2e/attachment-0004.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/defanged-2602 Size: 139 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050404/3d704f2e/attachment-0005.bin From ss0520 at ureach.com Thu Apr 7 13:57:42 2005 From: ss0520 at ureach.com (ss0520 at ureach.com) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 2005 17:27:42 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US Message-ID: <20050407115742.GA1193@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Hi Guys, This is sanjeeb. I have subscribed to this mailing list recently. I want to set up a small FM center. For that I am looking for some information. Currently I am located in USA so not able to work on it properly. I want to know 1. how to apply for license to set up a FM station? 2. What is the License fee? If any of you have this information handy, please share with me. Thanks, Sanjeeb From alokeshgupta at hotmail.com Thu Apr 7 20:09:03 2005 From: alokeshgupta at hotmail.com (Alokesh Gupta) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 23:39:03 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US References: <20050407115742.GA1193@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Message-ID: Hi Sanjeeb, If you want to set up a FM stn in US refer to this site : http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/howtoapply.html (How to Apply for a Broadcast Station) You can get all relevant info's (rules, applictaion forms, license fee etc ..) from abv site. Regds Alokesh ------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 5:27 PM Subject: [cr-india] Query from the US > Hi Guys, > > This is sanjeeb. I have subscribed to this mailing list recently. I want to > set up a small FM center. For that I am looking for some information. > Currently I am located in USA so not able to work on it properly. > > I want to know > 1. how to apply for license to set up a FM station? > 2. What is the License fee? > > If any of you have this information handy, please share with me. > > Thanks, > Sanjeeb > _______________________________________________ > cr-india mailing list > cr-india at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india > From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Apr 10 11:25:35 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 14:55:35 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] NPR comes to India via Worldspace (paid content) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- UPCOMING CHANNEL CHANGES ON WORLDSPACE WorldSpace Satellite Radio wants to take this opportunity to thank you for being a member of the WorldSpace Global Club. Additionally we wanted to alert you to some upcoming changes to the WorldSpace Programming lineup. Beginning Friday April 15, 2005 we will be moving some of our channels from Free-to-Air into an encrypted subscription package. Beginning April 15th, in order to receive these channels you must subscribe to the 'India Silver' subscription package. The channels that will be affected are the following: In India: - CNN International (1303) - NPR (1430) - BBC Asia West (1415) - RFI (1402) - WRN (1302) If you already are a subscriber to WorldSpace , you will continue to enjoy these channels! If you are not yet a subscriber to WorldSpace , sign up today to receive dozens of channels of music, news, sports and information all in crystal clear sound! The WorldSpace 100% commercial-free music channels cover nearly every genre - Bollywood hits, rock, pop, jazz, European classical, Carnatic classical, Hindustani classical, country, dance and world as well as channels dedicated to regional music - Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali. WorldSpace also brings you channels of news, sports and information from renowned international broadcasters such as the BBC, CNN, NPR, RFI, NDTV and many others. NPR Worldwide (USA) - NPR Worldwide (USA) is an internationally acclaimed producer of noncommercial news, talk and entertainment programming. Listen to NPR Worldwide (USA) for its critically acclaimed shows 'Morning Edition,' 'All Things Considered,'and 'Talk of the Nation'. NPR Worldwide (USA) keeps you plugged in. CNN International - International news brought to you by one of the world's foremost news authorities - CNN. In a time when the world's events are of utmost importance, CNNi brings the international perspective to today's headlines. BBC - One of the most distinguished names in news broadcasting, the BBC brings its powerful news gathering resources and global reach to WorldSpace. With the BBC World Service, listeners everywhere are plugged into events as they unfold around the globe. RFI - Radio France International is one of the most popular French language radio stations. It offers a choice of news, features, interviews, business, society, culture, living, leisure and fashion, particularly from France and the French-speaking parts of the world. So don't wait! Get your WorldSpace subscription now! You can sign up a number of ways: - In India call toll-free 1-600-44-5432 - You can visit us on the web at www.worldspaceasia.com - Or finally, you can e-mail us at india at worldspace.com We thank you for being part of WorldSpace Nation and hope you enjoy all of our programming. It's designed to take radio into the next generation of radio. It's satellite radio - powered by WorldSpace ** NPR, CNN, BBC, NDTV, WRN and RFI are trademarks used with permission. From disabilityradio at hotmail.com Mon Apr 11 08:35:04 2005 From: disabilityradio at hotmail.com (jean parker) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:05:04 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] combining amateur and community radio Message-ID: Hello All: I am looking for information about projects that have combined amateur (ham) radio with community radio for the purpose of disaster communications. I am doing a presentation on this next week and want to get people's thoughts on how these two forms of communication can work together in emergency and disaster situations. You can post your ideas, thoughts and experiences to this list or send them to me off list at: disabilityradio at hotmail.com Many thanks, Jean Parker Pune, India -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050411/8ef353a9/attachment-0002.htm From nino at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 12 06:50:16 2005 From: nino at rediffmail.com (Nisha Narayanan) Date: 12 Apr 2005 04:50:16 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] combining amateur and community radio Message-ID: <20050412045016.22597.qmail@webmail6.rediffmail.com>   Dear friends and colleagues, Applications are now being accepted to the six-week interactive online course Reporting on Food and Agriculture which will run from 2 May – 11 June 2005. As in all our programs, working journalists who qualify to the course may apply for fellowships covering tuition fees. We would like to bring together 12 working journalists to participate in this course. Please help us locate them by carrying the story below in your print, broadcast or online news outlet. We also request you to share it with your staff, colleagues and friends, and if you have a candidate in mind, please do not hesitate to nominate him/her. Application deadline has been set for Monday, 25 April 2005. Thank you for this favor, and for helping us reach journalists in your country. All good wishes. Sincerely, Violet B. Valdez Executive Director Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University Tel Nos. (632) 9263253 / (632) 4266001 local 5215 Fax No. (632) 9263254 E-mail: newsroom at admu.edu.ph Website: http://cfj.ateneo.edu ---------------------------------------------------------- Press Release Contact: Troy Barrios Tel. Nos.: +632 926 3253 or 426 6001 local 5215 Fax No.: +632 926 3254 E-mail: newsroom at admu.edu.ph Website: http://cfj.ateneo.edu Online course on reporting commodities opens May 2 MANILA, March 29 – The Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University (CFJ) is now accepting applications for a six-week online course on Reporting on Food and Agriculture to be held from 2 May – 11 June 2005. The course aims to develop skills on writing about farm topics and will tackle a wide range of issues including environmental degradation, genetically modified seeds, trade policies and disaster reportage. Major global commodity exchanges and their influence on the decisions of Asian farmers will also be explored. Rene Pastor, deputy editor of the commodities desk of Reuters in New York will teach this course. Pastor has covered assignments ranging from coups and earthquakes and has worked in Singapore and Manila before his assignment to the United States. He also covered the attacks on the World Trade Center and the destruction of the commodity exchange there. Fellowships are available to qualified and deserving journalists who are full-time staff of a news media organization in Asia. Applications must be received by Monday, 25 April 2005. Application forms may be downloaded from http://cfj.ateneo.edu or requested by e- mail at newsroom at admu.edu.ph and submitted by fax at +632 926 3254. The CFJ may also be contacted by phone at +632 926 3253 or +632 426 6001 (local 5215). CFJ, a joint project of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and the Ateneo, was founded in June 2000 to promote good journalism in Asia. It carries out its mandate by providing training opportunities primarily to working journalists in the region. Journalists from the Pacific Islands are also welcome to apply. CFJ training programs include the diploma programs in online and broadcast journalism, certificate courses and a degree program leading to the Master of Arts in Journalism. On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 jean parker wrote : >Hello All: > >I am looking for information about projects that have combined amateur (ham) radio with community radio for the purpose of disaster communications. I am doing a presentation on this next week and want to get people's thoughts on how these two forms of communication can work together in emergency and disaster situations. > >You can post your ideas, thoughts and experiences to this list or send them to me off list at: >disabilityradio at hotmail.com > >Many thanks, > >Jean Parker >Pune, India >_______________________________________________ >cr-india mailing list >cr-india at sarai.net >https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050412/6c573d5c/attachment-0002.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 12 10:21:24 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 12 Apr 2005 08:21:24 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] helping the beeb Message-ID: <20050412082124.6118.qmail@webmail8.rediffmail.com> Check out the sub-text of this story. As the BBC blandly says, it really helps that Indians should get their news from foreign broadcasters than from local FM stations on which news, of course, is banned. Sajan. ------ BBC Hindi stems declining audience flow in India Indiantelevision.com, 11 April 2005 MUMBAI: BBC World Service has stemmed its declining radio audience in India, according to an independent audience survey. The survey was commissioned by BBC World Service and was conducted by AC Nielsen between December 2004 and January 2005. BBC Hindi has grown by 4.3 million, taking the BBC's weekly Hindi audience up to 14.5 million. The survey, conducted in Bihar, UP, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, revealed that weekly listenership to the BBC confirms the BBC as India's number one international radio provider. The BBC captures 40 per cent of all those listening to the radio in Bihar, and a third of radio listeners in Jharkhand. In the remaining three states, just under one in five of radio listeners turn to the BBC Hindi Service every week. BBC Hindi head Achala Sharma, says that the increase in audience this year is likely to be the result of a combination of factors, "We have developed our programming so it connects directly with our audiences in the Hindi belt. I am also sure that our roadshow marketing initiative in Bihar and UP last year has contributed to this success." According to the survey, which was undertaken almost a year after the BBC Hindi roadshow ended, 16 per cent of weekly listeners said they were aware of the BBC Hindi events. This amounts to over two million people. The Hindi roadshow visited over 40 locations in UP and Bihar, giving local people direct contact with the BBC. BBC World Service controller marketing communications and audiences, Alan Booth said, "India is a key market for the BBC. The rapid growth of TV viewing across India over the last 10 years, combined with India's broadcasting legislation which prevents news and current affairs on FM radio stations, has changed the media landscape." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050412/38196cf3/attachment-0002.htm From nino at rediffmail.com Wed Apr 13 05:43:03 2005 From: nino at rediffmail.com (Nisha Narayanan) Date: 13 Apr 2005 03:43:03 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] Govt to consider 20% FDI in FM radio Message-ID: <20050413034303.12372.qmail@webmail30.rediffmail.com>   FYI. Regds, Nisha The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has cleared 20 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) for the private FM radio sector but stuck to the ban on news and current affairs programmes. Current government regulations allow FII (foreign institutional investors) investment of up to 20 per cent of a FM channel's equity capital, while FDI is not permitted. Information and Broadcasting minister S Jaipal Reddy said his ministry has decided to limit the FDI level at the existing FII cap. The issue will now be referred to the Union cabinet for approval. However, he said the government was not open to the idea of allowing news and current affairs on private FM radio. "There are certain reservations, especially on the front on cross-media ownership," he said. Broadcast regulator TRAI had also favoured allowing FDI in private FM radio in its recommendations on 'Licensing Issues Relating to IInd Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting'. © 2005 agencyfaqs -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050413/17ace749/attachment-0002.htm From media at web.net Fri Apr 22 18:27:03 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 10:27:03 -0600 Subject: [cr-india] NEPAL - Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship (Eng+Fr) Message-ID: From: RSF ASIA Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 18:33:16 +0200 Subject: [rsfasie] NEPAL - Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship (Eng+Fr) Reporters Without Borders Press Release 21 April 2005 NEPAL Supreme court asks government to explain FM radio censorship Reporters Without Borders today welcomed yesterday's ruling by Nepal's supreme court ordering the authorities to explain a 2 February directive banning FM radio stations from broadcasting news. The order was issued in response to a writ petition filed the day before by radio journalist Binod Dhungel, member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) challenging the directive. The press freedom organization said it hailed this courageous initiative and urged the Kathmandu government to respond to the court's decision by definitively lifting the ban. In yesterday's initial hearing, lawyer Dinesh Tripathi explained the unconstitutionality of the directive issued by the information and communication ministry after King Gyanendra assumed full powers on 1 February. It banned Nepal's FM radio stations from broadcasting news and discussion programmes for six months and permitted only entertainment programmes. Only the government-run Radio Nepal is exempt. Supreme court judge Arjun Kumar Singh ordered the government to send the defence attorney to the next hearing, scheduled for 25 April. The plaintiffs argued that censorship is contrary to the letters and the spirit of the constitution and that the directive violates the 1992 National Broadcasting Act and the 1994 National Broadcasting Regulation. Dhungel said it also violates fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. Reporters Without Borders notes that the ban has had a catastrophic impact on the right of the Nepalese public to be informed. More than 50 radio stations have been affect and hundreds of journalists have been laid off. NEPAL La Cour suprême demande des explications au gouvernement sur la censure des radios FM Reporters sans frontières se réjouit du verdict rendu par la Cour suprême, le 20 avril 2005, sommant plusieurs institutions de s'expliquer sur la directive du 2 février 2005, qui interdit aux radios FM de diffuser des programmes d'information. Cette décision fait suite à la plainte déposée, la veille, par la Fédération des journalistes népalais (FNJ), en la personne du journaliste Binod Dhungel, qui contestait la légalité de la directive. Reporters sans frontières salue cette démarche courageuse et demande instamment au gouvernement de Katmandou de prendre acte de la décision de la Cour suprême en levant définitivement l'interdiction. Une audience préliminaire a permis à l'avocat Dinesh Tripathi d'exposer à la Cour l'anticonstitutionnalité de la directive imposée par le ministère de l'Information et de la Communication après la prise des pleins pouvoirs par le roi Gyanendra, le 1er février dernier. Cette mesure, adoptée pour une durée de six mois, interdit la diffusion de programmes d'information et de débats d'opinion sur les ondes FM népalaises. Seules sont autorisées les émissions de divertissement. L'unique radio qui peut ne pas se soumettre à cette directive est la station gouvernementale Radio Nepal. Le juge de la Cour suprême, Arjun Kumar Singh, a ordonné la présence d'un représentant légal du gouvernement lors de la prochaine audience qui se tiendra le 25 avril. Selon les plaignants, la censure va à l'encontre des intentions et de l'esprit de la Constitution du royaume. La directive du gouvernement enfreint notamment le National Broadcasting Act de 1992 et le National Broadcasting Regulation de 1994. D'après Binod Dhungel, l'ordre contrevient aux droits fondamentaux garantis par la Constitution. Reporters sans frontières rappelle que la décision gouvernementale a eu un impact catastrophique sur le droit des Népalais à être informés. Plus de 50 stations de radio ont été touchées par cette mesure, entraînant la mise au chômage de centaines de journalistes. -- Vincent Brossel Asia - Pacific Desk Reporters Sans Frontières 5 rue Geoffroy Marie 75009 Paris 33 1 44 83 84 70 33 1 45 23 11 51 (fax) asia at rsf.org www.rsf.org From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Apr 24 18:29:17 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 21:59:17 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] Prachi Pinglay: reaching through the skies (CR) Message-ID: PRACHI PINGLAY: REACHING OUT THROUGH THE SKIES (COMMUNITY RADIO) Source: Frontline AT the crafts mela at Dehra Dun from February 25 to March 6, which buzzed with people digging into piles of shawls, scarves and other clothes or eating chaat, there was a stall in the farthest corner of the venue, which attracted a few curious onlookers. This belonged to the Hewalvani Community Radio, whose sign said: "People's radio, For people, By people". Every now and then some visitor would ask: "So, do you make Garhwali music albums? What channel? Do you need people to make music programmes?" Others wanted to know how it helped in development and were often openly sceptical about its sustainability. The personnel at the stall explained: "We are a group of people making radio programmes about issues relevant to and important for communities in and around villages. This is because other media may not be able to address our problems. It also helps people to know more, learn, communicate and exchange information." Community Radio is a radio service for geographically bound communities, where infrastructure is poor and mainstream national and regional media may not reach. The service is usually run and managed by local people and addresses issues relating to the community in the local language. It has great potential to serve as a development tool in rural India in terms of creating awareness, spreading information and facilitating communication. However, India is yet to see a full-fledged community radio movement or process as government policy, governed by the Telegraph Act of 1885, does not permit such broadcasts. http://www.nalsartech.org/tikiwiki/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=3867 _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- If you are related to the field of IT (or even if not) please visit http://www.bytesforall.org, a network on how computers can help the commonman, and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers From fred at bytesforall.org Mon Apr 25 11:08:21 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:38:21 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... Message-ID: <20050425090821.GA652@news.goa.bytesforall.org> http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2005/04/25/11294.html Prasar Bharati eyes Rs 1,000-cr revenues BUSINESS LINE Our Bureau VIJAYAWADA PRASAR Bharati is aiming at augmenting its revenues and has set itself the target of touching the Rs 1,000-crore mark during the current financial year (2005-2006), said the company's CEO, Mr K. S. Sarma. At a press meet here on Sunday, Mr Sarma said that Prasar Bharati had earned a record Rs 825 crore during 2004-2005, Rs 665 crore through Doordarshan and the rest through All India Radio (AIR). "We are aiming at the Rs 1,000-crore target this year, Rs 800 crore through DD and the rest through AIR," he said. He added that Prasar Bharati would tie up with the various Government Departments and also tap other sources for augmenting its revenues. "Our annual expenditure is around Rs 2,000 crore. Our aim is to be completely self-sufficient." Mr Sarma said the Union Agriculture Department had granted Rs 311 crore to the Prasar Bharati for two years to improve agricultural coverage. Prasar Bharati has identified 36 clusters in the country, with each cluster having five high-power transmitters to telecast region-specific agricultural programmes for farmers. "In Andhra Pradesh, there would be five such clusters -- two apiece in the Andhra and Telangana regions and one in Rayalaseema," he said. Scrolling will be introduced this year to telecast local commercials. "We expect to earn at least Rs 100 crore more through this manner. On an experimental basis, we introduced scrolling at Salem in Tamil Nadu and earned roughly Rs 1 lakh a month." Answering a question as to why the Doordarshan is unable to attract the youth, he said that as a public broadcaster, (c) 2005 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. -- _____ _/ ____\____ Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa \ __\/ \ India T +91.832.2409490 M +919822 122436 | | | | \ http://fn.swiki.net http://goabooks.swiki.net |__| |___| / http://www.bytesforall.net http://www.bytesforall.org \/ ----------------------------------------------------- If you are related to the field of IT (or even if not) please visit http://www.bytesforall.org, a network on how computers can help the commonman, and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bytesforall_readers From suresh_guptan at hotmail.com Mon Apr 25 15:46:21 2005 From: suresh_guptan at hotmail.com (Suresh Guptan) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 19:16:21 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... References: <20050425090821.GA652@news.goa.bytesforall.org> Message-ID: Dear Frederick, Do you have any tips on tracking down the 36 clusters referred to below? I want to know if any of these are located in Rajasthan. Regards, Suresh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frederick Noronha" To: Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 2:38 PM Subject: [cr-india] Prasar Bharati's plans... > http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2005/04/25/11294.html > > Prasar Bharati eyes Rs 1,000-cr revenues > > BUSINESS LINE > Our Bureau > VIJAYAWADA > > Mr Sarma said the Union Agriculture Department had granted Rs 311 crore to > the Prasar Bharati for two years to improve agricultural coverage. Prasar > Bharati has identified 36 clusters in the country, with each cluster having > five high-power transmitters to telecast region-specific agricultural > programmes for farmers. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050425/6862d28c/attachment-0002.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Tue Apr 26 14:42:44 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 26 Apr 2005 12:42:44 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] news on private FM Message-ID: <20050426124244.23945.qmail@webmail10.rediffmail.com> '20 per cent FDI not a great leap for radio, say industry leaders' April 25, exchange4media.com Anushree Madan Mohan As the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is working on allowing a 20 per cent FDI in the private FM space, the ban in news and current affairs programmes still stays. Said Prashant Pandey, COO, Radio Mirchi, "The Ministry is yet to formalise the policy package for private FM radio. While there have been promises of 20 per cent FDI, the policy package is yet to be approved by the cabinet and the various ministries. The 20 per cent FDI is a welcome move because it would allow us to raise more money for ourselves, but the crux of the issue was never investment. It is not investment that would sustain the private FM space, but revenue. If it is not a profitable venture, why would any foreign investor consider it seriously? Plus, there are still miles to go before the actual implementation begins." Pandey added, "In the fast-paced world of today, more and more people consume news while they are on the move. It makes sense for radio stations to deliver news on politics and current affairs because there is a market for it. Why should current affairs be the prerogative of only the government-owned radio station?" Meanwhile, Sumantra Dutta, former CEO of Radio City, asserted that 20 per cent FDI still falls short of the 26 per cent that is allowed in other sectors. He said, "FM stations were angling for a 26 per cent FDI cut, as is allowed in all the other sectors. Why should radio be singled out? The policy per say, has not yet been implemented and it has to get approval from the cabinet. There is no fixed time frame given for the entire process. S Jaipal Reddy has stated in a public forum that the ministry is in favour of a revenue sharing structure for the radio industry, but it does not signify what kind of a revenue sharing settlement it would be. Again, there is no mention of when the new policy would come into play." Dutta said, "The ban on news and current affairs is not a logical one. Having pioneered the cause of private FM in the country, I feel that players in this space ought to be given the choice of putting across a plethora of offerings which they deem fit. Why not news? Radio is perhaps, the best local medium and it could provide cutting edge localised news." Shariq Patel, Station Head, Go 92.5, said that he would like to know, exactly by when the new policy comes into play. He said, "Under the present system, Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) up to 20 per cent of the equity capital is allowed in any private FM radio company, while FDI is not permitted. Sure, a 20 per cent FDI cut is good enough. After all something is better than nothing. But when can we expect implementation? The policy is yet to be approved by the cabinet. It's still doing rounds on various fronts." As for the ban on news and current affairs, Patel said, "It's illogical. We need to ensure more of choices for the masses by making varied content possible. That's the day when private FM would come on its own." Dutta said that it's only with Phase 2, the radio revolution would begin in this country. With more stations being set up, the government ought to ensure that no other technical obligations ought to hamper the growth of FM players such as co-allocation of towers. After all, a few lessons ought to be learnt from Phase 1, which has shown that limited availability of resources in this arena has delayed the process of starting stations. exchange4media.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050426/4960eb41/attachment-0002.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Thu Apr 28 12:49:10 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 28 Apr 2005 10:49:10 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] reprieve for private FM Message-ID: <20050428104910.9247.qmail@webmail8.rediffmail.com> TDSAT provides reprieve to FM players till 4 July BY Manisha Bhattacharjee Indiantelevision.com (27 April 2005) MUMBAI: Some good news for the private FM radio players as Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) has directed the government to firm up its views on radio broadcast policy by 4 July. In the interim, status quo prevails. The status quo has been interpreted by the industry as not having to pay annual licence fee that gets due on 29 April for some cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. A Tdsat bench today provided this short-term reprieve for the private FM radio players on a petition filed by a group of FM radio broadcasters, including Radio Today Broadcasting, Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd and Entertainment Network who run FM stations in various cities under the brand name Red FM, Radio City and Radio Mirchi respectively. It had been alleged in the petition that government inaction or delay on sector regulator’s suggestions on radio broadcast policy was resulting in financial losses for the private players. The government counsel today submitted before Tdsat that the information and broadcasting ministry has almost firmed up a radio broadcast policy paper, which has been circulated amongst various relevant ministries for feedback before it is taken to the cabinet for a final approval. After this submission, Tdsat postponed the hearing to 4 July and directed the government to finalise its views on the matter by then. Today’s Tdsat development is being seen as a succor. A senior executive of a FM radio company said that the status quo mentioned by the tribunal would mean that hefty licence fee in advance for the full year would not have to be coughed up by most major players. Annual renewal fee is calculated as the original price at which the license had been auctioned in a city plus an annual 15 per cent hike. For example, each of the Mumbai FM stations went for approximately Rs. 120 million apiece, while an original Delhi licence cost slightly over Rs. 90 million. Industry players are alleging that the present regulatory framework of licence fee, coupled with other factors, is financially bleeding the FM ventures as ad revenues generated from the stations are not adequate to sustain the business. A couple of closure notices in Pune and Lucknow have been also served by Radio Mirchi and Radio City. The industry is lobbying, amongst other things, for revenue share model, akin to that prevailing in the telecom sector, and permission to attract foreign investment. I&B minister Jaipal Reddy recently said that his ministry has taken a decision to allow 20 per cent FDI in FM radio ventures that will also include investments by FIIs. This, however, has to get a formal Cabinet nod. The draft policy paper circulated by the ministry has suggested a complex formula to switch over to revenue share regime. The details are not yet available with Indiantelevision.com. -------- http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k5/apr/apr325.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/e4fedcdb/attachment-0002.htm From venniyoor at rediffmail.com Fri Apr 29 07:02:13 2005 From: venniyoor at rediffmail.com (sajan venniyoor) Date: 29 Apr 2005 05:02:13 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] AIR to cut down social broadcasts Message-ID: <20050429050213.23121.qmail@webmail31.rediffmail.com> AIR, DD ASKED TO CUT DOWN SOCIAL BROADCASTS Deepshikha Ghosh, Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) India's state-run television and radio have been told to cut down on social causes and make money. National broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been asked by a parliamentary standing panel to reduce the airtime given to programmes with social messages on Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) because they bring no revenue. This was in response to submissions by both Doordarshan and AIR that they were obligated to devote thousands of hours to programmes that no private channel would touch.AIR complained that its 215 stations across the country were bogged down by the weight of completely unprofitable programmes. In a year, these included - over 3,000 hours for Republic Day, 2,000 hours for Independence Day, 3,000 hours for Lok Sabha proceedings, 5,600 for parliamentary broadcast. More than 2,000 hours of environment campaigns, 4,000 hours dedicated to consumer protection and some 2,300 hours for petroleum conservation. - Programmes for industrial workers take up over 4,000 hours. Those for eradication of untouchability 3,800 hours, and programmes on the new economic policy over 6,000 hours. "Nobody will come forward to fund because we are doing programmes for industrial workers and eradication of untouchability," AIR Director General Brajeshwar Singh told IANS. Responding to the hourly break-up for the social broadcast, an official of a private radio broadcaster exclaimed: "For us, it would be suicide!" The panel was told that the revenue earned by Doordarshan was mainly through commercial activities such as sport events and latest Hindi feature films. The panel concluded that the number of hours allotted for government and social broadcasting be limited so that Prasar Bharati can maintain a "meaningful balance between social obligations and financial considerations". In fact, the panel has favoured a redefining of Prasar Bharati's role and possible restructuring so that it played a role in informing, educating and entertaining the public without ignoring the financial and social obligations. "A lot of time is consumed on Doordarshan for advertising on social causes, gender concerns, environmental campaigns et al, which involves a social obligation it has to fulfil in its capacity of being a government channel and for which there is no revenue," said the panel. It has also recommended that AIR seek approval for restricting the number of hours of social broadcasting. "AIR should encourage corporate entities and multinationals to spend a part of their social welfare budget on sponsoring such programmes," it said. Prasar Bharati points out that private channels, with no obligations to burden them, are earning huge revenue on the strength of television sets made available by the government across the country. Prasar Bharati CEO K.S. Sarma suggested a universal obligation fund to be paid by private channels from their revenue, since they were gaining from the "90 million sets being made available through the public broadcaster". http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web61952349Hoot42328%20PM1590&pn=1  -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050429/0b360e21/attachment-0002.htm From sucharita_e at vsnl.net Thu Apr 21 09:32:14 2005 From: sucharita_e at vsnl.net (Sucharita S Eashwar) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:02:14 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Preparatory Asian Regional Thematic Meeting for WSIS Message-ID: Hello All, The Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development is organising the Regional Thematic meeting for WSIS Tunis at Kuala Lumpur during 9-11 May 2005. I am attaching here their draft recommendations on which they welcome brief comments and inputs from the broadcasting perspective. You can send them to me or the AIBD Director javad at aibd.org.my by 26th April. cheers Sucharita Eashwar - -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: AMS list of recommendations- as of 13 April 2005.doc Type: application/msword Size: 75264 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050421/2ce75cdc/attachment-0002.doc From fred at bytesforall.org Wed Apr 20 21:28:29 2005 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha (FN)) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:58:29 +0530 (IST) Subject: [cr-india] OFFTOPIC: Radio and the diaspora Message-ID: http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web61952349Hoot115244%20AM1560&pn=1 Rooted through music: Radio binds diaspora Indian language radio services help the Indian communities living abroad remain in touch with their roots Aman Malik Ethnic Indian media: A global perspective The ethnic Indian media, in countries with substantial populations of Indian origin, evolved primarily on account of two reasons. To begin with, the members of the Indian Diaspora, living in alien and often unfriendly lands, needed a medium to remain in touch with their roots. Moreover because the lands they now inhabited were 'not so friendly,' it became essential for them to be networked among themselves. Apart from recreating familiar Indian symbols, the ethnic Indian media also satisfied certain special requirements of the Indian community by way of matrimonial advertisements, birth and death announcements, and special programmes during Indian festivals. Over time, ethnically owned media outfits proliferated, especially in those multiethnic countries that accorded freedom of expression to their people. In such countries, issues of political importance, current affairs and news about India gained importance. In most other countries, however, Indian language entertainment and local community issues (non-political) formed the bulk of the content dished out by the ethnic media. In these countries, news on political affairs was controlled either by the colonial masters or, if the Indians were in a minority, by the majority community (post independence). Why is radio so popular? Radio enjoys an enviable position vis-a-vis all other media in most countries where people of Indian descent reside. The reasons are not hard to enumerate. Many such countries are ex-colonies, which have attained independence within the last fifty years, and still are 'developing countries' with low per capita incomes. "Radio therefore becomes an affordable medium for inDIViduals and small business establishments, many of whom cannot afford TV," says Pandiyan Azagiya who heads Oli 96.8 FM, Singapore's only Indian language (Tamil) radio station. In fact, in a recent AC Nielson survey, it was found that a whopping 96% of the city-state's residents listened to radio. "In Guyana, almost everyone has a radio but few people have a TV or even buy a newspaper, so radio is important," reckons Terry Gajraj, one of Guyana's best known Chutney singers. Even in countries such as the United States, where the Indian community is affluent, radio is popular. "Radio can be heard even while working. It also serves as a communication tool while driving," offers a representative of RBC Radio, which commenced service in 1989. RBC Radio, operating out of the Empire State Building in New York City, was the first (and one of only three) 24-Hour Indian radio station in the US. Rafi Mohammad, a Trinidad based media practitioner of East Indian descent feels that Indian language radio stations provide a good medium for East Indians to air their views on matters of public concern. "You would not believe it," he says, "but in a small country like ours with a population of 1.3 million, half of which are East Indians, we have six Indian language radio stations." Another major reason for the popularity of radio in some such countries is geographical. Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius and Singapore are made up of clusters of numerous islands that are spread over a vast area. Take Fiji for instance. This Pacific nation with a population of only about 800,000, (45 per cent are Indians), has nearly 360 islands and radio is the only medium that reaches out to all of them. It does have a government owned 24 Hour TV channel, but its reach is limited. Their beginnings and the way they grew.... Almost all such countries with have substantial populations of Indian descent, are ex-colonies. They attained independence from their colonial masters (the British, the French and the Dutch) toward the second half of the twentieth century. Most Indians in these countries (Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, Mauritius, South Africa, East Africa, Guyana, Suriname etc) can trace their roots to the indentured labourers who were taken there from British India, in various phases beginning the mid nineteenth century, to work on sugar plantations. Most of those who reside in countries like the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Gulf went much later (primarily post independence). In most of these countries Indian language radio services commenced in the first half of the last century. By this time the Indian communities in each of these countries had begun to exert some degree of political influence. So while Tamil language radio in Singapore started in 1936 as a 4-Hour service, Fiji began Hindi radio broadcasting by 1954. Today Singapore has a 24-Hour Tamil FM station, Fiji has four Hindi stations, two of which are privately managed. In Trinidad, Indian radio started in 1947 thanks to Kamalludin Mohammad, an East Indian who negotiated with the management of the only radio station in the country at that time, to start a half-hour show, which became an instant hit. Eleven years ago, the privately owned 103 FM became the first all-Indian radio station in Trinidad; today there are six, with two signing on soon. Mauritius, which had its first radio broadcast way back in 1927, liberalised its airwaves only in 2002. Today, this tiny republic in the Indian Ocean has three privately owned FM stations that broadcast programs in 'Hindustani.' In Guyana, where radio broadcasting started over eighty years ago, there are no full time Indian radio stations. The country, in fact, has just two government run stations (one AM and the other FM) and both air a smattering of Indian film based programs, bhajans etc. The Guyanese and Surinamese Indian communities are mostly serviced by radio broadcasts from Trinidad. While in South Africa the state run Lotus FM which targets the Indian community and gives equal space to several Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi, in Kenya East 106 FM and Sound Asia play the same role. The Gulf region has three Malayalam AM radio stations and two FM stations (Radio Asia and HUM). Sunrise Radio, which is the oldest and arguably the most popular Indian language radio network in the UK, caters to the Indian (and Pakistani) community all over the country. Others include Sabras Radio, Radio XL, Supa AM and Punjab Radio. The dynamics... Besides the country of origin of their forefathers, one thing that binds the people of Indian descent, while at the same time distinguishing them from the indigenous people and other non-indigenous racial and ethnic groups with whom they co-exist, is language. The Indian diaspora has, by and large managed, by default or design, to hold on, at least loosely, to its linguistic traditions. As mentioned earlier, Indians started emigrating to these lands well over a century and a half ago; theirs was a world which had no telecommunication facilities or modern day transport systems (as we know them) to talk of. Hence these people were at a total disconnect from India. They were, to put it simply, in a complete 'time wrap.' Each of these communities, in the last century or so, has spawned around itself a unique cultural ethos. So while Fijian Indians speak in a variant of Hindi which they call Fiji Hindi, East Indians of Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname have developed a popular form of music called Chutney and Tassa. However when it comes to radio broadcasts in Indian languages, stations follow strict linguistic guidelines and for the most part use 'pure' (read: literary) language. "We recruit qualified announcers, with degrees in Hindi," says Deepak Nobeen, a veteran of over 25 years in radio broadcasting who was formerly with the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation. The radio announcers, who are local Indians, are usually trained locally. However some do come to India for training. "From time to time we have somebody coming over from India to train us here," says Sanjesh Narain, a radio jockey with Radio Fiji Two, a Hindi station. Indian music is big business in such countries and most of the Indian language radio stations (especially the privately owned ones) are entertainment channels. Much like the private FM stations in India, most of their content is film based and music is procured from India. While Azagiya claims that his station gets a copy of every CD that is released in India, Narain tells me that while music from India does constitute a bulk of the content, locally produced kirtans, bhajans and faag are regularly aired. Further government run stations, such as in Mauritius, do air public service shows on child abuse, health, unemployment, education etc. The likes of Sunrise Radio and Oli 96.8 FM also air news and programmes on current affairs. Big money... "The private players who took the initiative to start Indian radio stations in Trinidad, became instant millionaires," reflects Rafi. And Trinidad is not the only place where Indian language radio stations make a killing. Each radio practitioner that this correspondent interacted with, without exception, claimed that his station, as indeed all Indian language radio stations in his country were profitable. And for a good reason. In all these countries, Indians are the extremely enterprising. In Fiji, Trinidad and the Gulf, Indians virtually control the economy and in the US, the UK and African countries, enjoy extremely high per capita incomes. Indians manage or own profitable enterprises and the bulk of the advertising revenues generated by Indian stations come from them. In fact in some cases, even multinational corporations advertise. "Today the station has 250,000 Indian listeners and advertisers include Citibank, New York Life, Money Gram among others. The station is also a platform to small retail businesses," claims the representative of RBC Radio. Avtar Lit, who owns Sunrise Radio, recently became the richest media tycoon in the UK. The Hindi section of Radio Fiji makes at least $0.6 million (Fiji) through advertising revenues alone. Even in Mauritius, advertising revenue hovers around M Rs. 800,000 to 1000,000 for a private radio station. RBC Radio claims to collect up to $30 per spot. Being politically correct... While countries such as Singapore, the US and Mauritius have no real history of racial or political tensions among the Indians and others who live there, the Indians of Fiji, the UK, Guyana and Trinidad have had strained relations with the indigenous people of the respective countries. And such political and racial tensions do have a bearing how the country's media functions. When confronted with a question on inter racial tensions and their effect on the media, people from the aforementioned countries answered diplomatically, in a bid to play down the DIVisions. "Yes, some programmes are prejudicial and promote inter racial hatred," contends Gajraj, but then adds, "Most programmes promote interracial harmony, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence." Narain is equally non-committal as he says, "I think the relationship (between indigenous Fijians and Fijian Indians) is excellent. But politics is a dirty game so people are DIVided on party lines, not racially" Ditto with Rafi: "People generally live in harmony. However when election time comes around there is some falling out." "India treats us like step children..." If there was one thing that almost everyone who I interviewed seemed to agree on, it was that the Indian government was apathetic towards the ethnic Indian media. "The Indian government treats the people of Indian origin like step children. There are no links between Indian government and NRI media at all," claims the representative of RBC Radio, and adds, "Once we wrote to the Information minister of India and didn't even receive an acknowledgement letter." Mayshree Bhim who runs a media company called African United Media in South Africa shares this view. Laments Bhim, "Imagine what great radio we could do since a lot of us still perceive Bharat as our motherland, but for the attitude of the Indian government." Azagiya is critical of All India Radio: "We visited All India Radio in 2001, and realized that we were much superior both technically as well as content wise," he says, while adding at the same time that he would be open to collaborative projects with the Indian media. The Indian government has however entered into agreements with the state corporations of Fiji and Mauritius, to name just two countries. Says Narain, "India has been helpful by providing trainers, but we had to pay the cost, However the Indian embassy here (in Fiji) is trying to send some local journalist to get trained in India." Nobeen reckons that more could have been done as he feels that "more announcers should have been trained by A.I.R." The spillover... An interesting inference that this correspondent is compelled to draw from this study is that Indian language and music have an appeal, which goes beyond just the Indian community. Radio practitioners were unanimous in their opinion that although the indigenous people did not form a part of the target audience per se, they were, nonetheless 'fascinated' by Indian music. From the Amerindians (or the Buck people) of Guyana to the Chinese and Malay communities of Singapore, DIVerse ethnic groups in many countries regularly tune in to Indian radio stations and form as yet a minor but important part of the audience and programmes are made keeping their preferences in mind. Contact: Aman Malik, amanmalik000 at hotmail.com Print Story Email this story From geeta.sharma at oneworld.net Thu Apr 28 11:11:51 2005 From: geeta.sharma at oneworld.net (Geeta Sharma) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:41:51 +0530 Subject: [cr-india] Grassroots Caucus for WSIS Message-ID: Dear All, Those of you working towards empowering grassroots communities may want to join this initiative. Thanks and regards Geeta Sharma OneWorld South Asia This is a call for Formation of a Grassroots Caucus While we appreciate the efforts behind WSIS process, and the important role civil society has assumed in making the WSIS debate a very inclusive one, we are equally concerned about the little or no role played by the representatives of grassroots organisations and the 'real' disadvantaged communities at large. Recongnising this major gap, OneWorld South Asia proposes to mobilise people at the grassroots to play a key role in shaping up the WSIS agenda and the final outcome thereof. We quote from the WSIS document: "We recognise and acknowledge the special and specific funding needs of the developing world, which faces numerous challenges in the ICT sector, and that there is strong need to focus on their special financing needs to achieve the development goals of the Millennium Declaration." WSIS policy document, chapter 2, Point 22. "We recognise the existence of the digital divide and the challenges that this poses for many countries, which are forced to chose between many competing objectives in their development planning and in demands for development funds whilst having limited resources." WSIS policy document, chapter 2, Point 19. You would agree decisions on financial mechanisms require good understanding of the problems impeding the ICT sector in developing countries. Organisations representing grassroots can state the problems faced by the grassroots communities in a manner that the investments in ICTs could also benefit the disadvantaged. There are several crucial areas where grassroots organisations must have their say including the important deliberations as financial mechanisms. To ensure equal stakeholder participation through the WSIS policy dialogue process OneWorld South Asia proposes the formation of Grassroots Caucus. Interested Organisations Representing Grassroots Concerns may Please SIGN UP Members of Grassroots Caucus will together voice their concerns on the WSIS policy dialogue and give their inputs through discussions among its members and also through active participation at PreCom 3 during 19-30 September 2005 at Geneva and WSIS II during 16-18 November 2005 at Tunisia. "Lets Voice our Concerns, as these decisions would affect Grassroots communities" Dr.Basheerhamad Shadrach, Director, OneWorld South Asia, C-5, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi -110016, Ph: 91 11 51689000, Fax: 91 11 51689001 Email: basheerhamad.shadrach at oneworld.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment-0002.htm -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1205 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment-0002.gif -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image004.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 7234 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/cr-india/attachments/20050428/71b7c068/attachment-0002.jpg From media at web.net Sat Apr 16 02:47:05 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 00:47:05 -0000 Subject: [cr-india] BBC Hindi's audience in India rises Message-ID: BBC Hindi's audience in India rises BBC World Service has stemmed its declining radio audience in India, according to an independent audience survey. BBC Hindi has grown by 4.3 million, taking the BBC's weekly Hindi audience up to 14.5 million. The survey, conducted in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jharkand and Rajastan, revealed that weekly listenership to the BBC confirms the BBC as India's number one international radio provider. The BBC captures 40% of all those listening to the radio in Bihar, and a third of radio listeners in Jharkand. In the remaining three states, just under one in five of radio listeners turn to the BBC Hindi Service every week. Head of BBC Hindi, Achala Sharma, said that the increase in audience this year is likely to be the result of a combination of factors: "We have developed our programming so it connects directly with our audiences in the 'Hindi belt'. I am also sure that our roadshow marketing initiative in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh last year has contributed to this success." According to the survey, which was undertaken almost a year after the BBC Hindi roadshow ended, 16% of weekly listeners across the states said they were aware of the BBC Hindi events. This amounts to over 2 million people. The Hindi roadshow visited over 40 locations in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, giving local people direct contact with the BBC. Controller of BBC World Service Marketing Communications & Audiences, Alan Booth, added: "India is a key market for the BBC. The rapid growth of TV viewing across India over the last 10 years, combined with India's broadcasting legislation which prevents news and current affairs on FM radio stations, has changed the media landscape. However, we are pleased to see that BBC Hindi is growing in popularity in the towns and villages of Northern India. This survey proves that, with new programme formats and astute marketing, we are able to build on what had been a declining audience." The survey was commissioned by BBC World Service and was conducted by AC Nielsen between December 2004 and January 2005. # posted by Andy @ 13:44 UTC -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: http://medianetwork.blogspot.com/2005_04_03_medianetwork_archive.html © info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = From media at web.net Tue Apr 26 09:32:58 2005 From: media at web.net (George Lessard) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 01:32:58 -0600 Subject: [cr-india] Taleban Radio stories Message-ID: ............................................ Taleban Radio Voice of America editorial April 22, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2005-04-22-voa2.cfm Remnants of the ousted Taleban regime in Afghanistan are launching a radio station to broadcast their extremist propaganda. According to news reports, the Voice of Shariat will be heard in Dari and Pashto, the main Afghan languages. But it has stiff competition. When the Taleban seized power in 1996, they prohibited the broadcasting of music. News and information were tightly controlled. After the regime was overthrown by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001, independent Afghan media were revived. Habibullah Rafie is an Afghan journalist. He says, "In December 2001, after the fall of the Taleban, we started from absolute zero. Since then," says Mr. Rafie, "media development has been unparalleled in our history." Today in Afghanistan there are more than forty independent radio stations and eight private television channels. Arman FM is a pop music station that says it is listened to by up to eighty-percent of the population of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. Saad Mohsini, the station's director, says the aim "was to target the younger generation." And, he says "we have been extremely successful." Arman FM is expanding its broadcasts to five other Afghan cities. There is still much for Afghans to do in the way of developing free media. Siamak Herawi works in the communications office of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's president. Mr. Herawi says that while the Afghan media are free, "sometimes there is self-censorship because of problems that arise from Afghanistan's current conditions. For example," says Mr. Herawi, "a number of journalists fear that if they tell the truth, they will possibly be threatened." Vincent Brossel of the Reporters Without Borders monitoring group says the enemies in Afghanistan are those "who do not tolerate the assertion of pluralistic news and information." While independent media are being established, "Afghanistan still faces many challenges," says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: "We believe that the future of a new democratic Afghanistan that is no longer a haven for terrorists is absolutely essential to American security." Referring to the Afghan people, Secretary of State Rice says, "sometimes we just have to step back and give people credit for how much they have already achieved." The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government. (VOA News Apr 22 via Grace-USA) ------------xxxxxxxxxx Other News xxxxxxxxxx------------------- Afghanistan Afghan Government Not Concerned with Taleban Radio By VOA News April 21, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-04-21-voa51.cfm The Afghan government says it is not concerned about the recently launched clandestine Taleban radio station that is broadcasting anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda. A presidential spokesman says since the Afghan people suffered enough under the ousted Taleban regime, the propaganda is not expected to have an impact. He also said he does not believe the Taleban remnants can continue such activities for long because the government intends to bring them to justice sooner rather than later. A U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul says it is up to the Afghan government how it wants to deal with the broadcasts. But she said the area targeted by the broadcasts will definitely be under U.S. military surveillance. (VOA News Apr 21 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taleban Launches Clandestine Pirate Radio Station In Afghanistan Voice of America April 18, 2005 Afghanistan's Taleban regime, which was driven from power by U.S.-led forces, has launched a clandestine radio station that is being heard in that country's southern provinces. The pirate radio station, called Shariat Shagh or Voice of Shariat, operates from a mobile transmitter and broadcasts anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda and Islamic hymns. It can be heard in regions of the country which were once the strongholds of the fundamentalist movement. The Voice of Shariat comes as a bloody insurgency still rages in parts of Afghanistan, particularly in the south. A Taleban spokesman said the radio station will tell listeners about the Taleban's thoughts and objectives. U.S.-led forces toppled the Taleban government after it refused to hand over al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks against the U.S. (VOA Apr 18 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taleban Militia Launch Clandestine Radio Station Al Jazeera April 19, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.aljazeerah.info/April%202005%20News/19%20n/Taleban%20Militia%20Launch%20Clandestine%20Radio%20Station.htm KANDAHAR, 19 April 2005 - Afghanistan's Taleban launched a clandestine radio station yesterday, broadcasting anti-government commentaries from a mobile transmitter. Called "Shariat Shagh", or Voice of Shariat, after the station the Taleban ran while in power, the broadcast can be heard in five southern provinces, including the former regime's old power base of Kandahar. "We launched the broadcast today through a mobile facility," said Taleban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi. "It goes on the air between six and seven o'clock in the mornings and same time in the evenings," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the Taleban, resisting in the south and east of the country since they were driven from power in late 2001, needed their own voice because the world's media were pro-American. Many Afghans listen to the BBC and Voice of America which broadcast in the country's two main languages, Pashto and Dari. In addition to government-run radio, numerous small, private stations have sprung up, many funded by aid donors. The Taleban station criticized US and other foreign troops operating in Afghanistan since the Taleban were ousted. Asked what the Taleban would do if US forces detected and destroyed their transmitter, Hakimi said they would set up another. Meanwhile, US troops have detained 24 suspected Taleban members in the southeastern province of Khost, bordering Pakistan. The men were picked up during a Sunday night raid by US troops backed by helicopters in Khost’s remote Ali Sher district, Khost Governor Mirajuddin Patan told Reuters. He did not know if any prominent Taleban members were among those arrested, but said local officials had urged US forces to coordinate such raids with provincial authorities. (Al Jazeera Apr 19 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taliban Clandestine Radio Hard to Track United Press International April 23, 2005 A clandestine anti-U.S. radio run by the Taliban doesn't worry the Afghan government, but U.S. forces are keeping the area under surveillance. Using the former name given to Radio Afghanistan during the Taliban regime -- Shariah Zhagh (Voice of the Sharia) -- the radio began limited broadcasts of anti-U.S. and anti-government propaganda in the Kandahar area on April 18. Afghan media said Friday the government is not concerned about the radio because the Afghan people suffered enough under the ousted Islamic fundamentalist regime, and will not believe its propaganda. A U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul was quoted as saying the area targeted by the broadcasts will definitely be under U.S. military surveillance. But Taliban spokesman Hakimi said the Americans will not be able to locate the broadcast station. Shariah Zhagh is a mobile station. It broadcasts programs at dawn and sunset. No one can detect the station's frequencies during these times, Hakimi added. (UPI Apr 23 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan Taliban Radio Back on Air By Mirwais Afghan Reuters April 18, 2005 Article originally posted at: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15009085-23109,00.html Kandahar - Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas launched a clandestine radio station today, broadcasting anti-government commentaries and Islamic hymns from a mobile transmitter. Called "Shariat Shagh", or Voice of Shariat, after the station the Taliban ran while in power, the broadcast can be heard in five southern provinces, including the former regime's old power base of Kandahar. "We launched the broadcast today through a mobile facility," said Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi. "It goes on the air between six and seven o'clock in the mornings and same time in the evenings," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the Taliban, fighting an insurgency in the south and east of the country since they were driven from power in late 2001, needed their own voice because the world's media were pro-American. Many Afghans listen to the BBC and Voice of America which broadcast in the country's two main languages, Pashto and Dari. In addition to government-run radio, numerous small, private stations have sprung up, many funded by aid donors. As well as Islamic hymns and anti-government commentaries, the Taliban station also criticised US and other foreign troops operating in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted. Asked what the Taliban would do if US forces detected and destroyed their transmitter, Hakimi said they would set up another. Taliban attacks have picked up following a northern winter lull after the guerrillas failed in a vow to disrupt an October presidential elections won by President Hamid Karzai. But their activity is down on past years, fuelling speculation the movement may be struggling to find recruits and resources. Karzai has said his government is in contact with Taliban members to try to persuade them to lay down their arms and abandon a bloody insurgency that has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the past two years. The commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General David Barno, said at the weekend the Taliban were desperate but still dangerous. US-led forces toppled the Taliban government after it refused to hand over al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11 terrorist attacks on US cities. (Reuters Apr 18 via Grace-USA) ............................................ Afghanistan U.S. State Dept Briefing Excerpt on Taliban Radio April 18, 2005 U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing Index Monday, April 18, 2005 12:40 p.m. EST Briefer: Richard Boucher, Spokesman ... QUESTION: Richard, some media questions. First, the Taliban have put together a clandestine radio network to incite terrorism and violence and that just went on air today in Afghanistan. And secondly, fortunately, I guess, the Iranians have closed down Al Jazeera television in Iran, saying it's stirring up violence and have arrested 200 persons. And I guess you've seen this front page series of articles in The Washington Post front page, both yesterday and today and they're saying there are no Muslims in this media operation -- MR. BOUCHER: That was on the second page, but anyway. (Laughter.) QUESTION: And also that -- MR. BOUCHER: All right. Let's -- let me -- hold it, don't do any more before I forget them all. Closing down Al Jazeera in Iran -- saw the report, sorry I don't have anything on it. No, I can only do two at once. What was the first thing? QUESTION: Taliban. MR. BOUCHER: Oh, the Taliban radio. QUESTION: Right. MR. BOUCHER: Clandestine radio. That's an interesting concept, nobody can hear it. It has to be secret. (Laughter.) No, I don't -- I hadn't heard about it. I'll have to check on it. I know what you -- I do know what you mean, nobody's supposed to know where the transmitter is. I'll see if we have anything on that. (State Dept Press Briefing Apr 18 via Grace-USA) -- -- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Via / By / Excerpted / From / Tip from / Thanks to: CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH 180 Extra April 26, 2005 CRW is the biweekly online magazine for ClandestineRadio.com, the Web's only portal on clandestine broadcasting and subversive media. http://www.ClandestineRadio.com The full online issue can be read at: http://www.ClandestineRadio.com/crw/crw.php?id=242 ------------xxxxxxxxxx Breaking News xxxxxxxxxx---------------- ------------xxxxxxxxxx Team CRW xxxxxxxxxx--------------------- Martin Schoech, Editor in Chief Achraf Chaabane, CRW North Africa Nick Grace, CRW Washington Takuya Hirayama, CRW Japan Robert Petraitis, CRW Baltics http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crwatch/>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crwatch/ © info http://members.tripod.com/~media002/disclaimer.htm Due to the nature of email & the WWW, check ALL sources. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =