Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Radio, does anyone still love you?

The Smart Life Shekhar Bhatia

http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/30204213/Radio-does-anyone-still-love.html?h=B

"BCL Life 2010" published in Japan

The annual magazine for serious DXers "BCL Life 2010" (all in Japanese) was published on March 29 by Sansai Books Co. Ltd. They published "Restarting BCL 2008" and "Restarting BCL 2009" respectively in 2008 and 2009, and succeeded in making many middle-ages (40-60 years old), who were once the "radio boys" in 1970's, to resume their DX listening hobby with more sophisticated sense. This is the first Japanese annual magazine for serious DX listeners. "BCL Life 2010" consists of, "Practical Use of PERSEUS receiver", "DX life in the apartment houses", "Making Small Loop Antenna", "Know more about NHK-World Radio Japan", "Little DXpediton with Antenna", "Practical Study of Accessory Equipments for DXing", "DXing in Overseas", "DXing with old Panasonic COUGAR2200 receiver", "Chinese Radio Catalogue", "QSLs & Screenshots of Overseas TV/FM DXing", "Document on St.Helena Day 2009", "DRM reception on shortwave", "DXing with military receivers", "DXing North American MW stations", "Challenging to Overseas TV/FM DXing", "Improving the power of external antenna", In-depth introduction of 13 shortwave stations with Japanese language programs, 8 stations with foreign language programs. A5 160 pages, with a supplement B6 64 pages "BCL Radio Frequency Data Book"(listing 3300 waves on shortwave). All the articles are written by active DX specialists in Japan.

See http://www.sansaibooks.co.jp/cgi-bin/list.cgi?detail=383

Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan

(Via DXLD yg)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Integrated FM and digital station guide prototype unveiled

A working prototype of an integrated FM and digital station guide which will enable listeners to tune seamlessly between FM and digital frequencies and select stations by name regardless of whether they are on FM or digital, has been successfully developed just five weeks after the radio industry announced its commitment to work with receiver manufacturers to explore the technology.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Radio lobby 'hides' 2m analogue receiver sales

Mysterious boost for DAB

By Andrew Orlowski
29th March 2010 11:48 GMT

Maybe the Great Digital Switchover won't be so difficult, after all. The UK's digital radio lobby group has redefined what an analogue radio is, giving DAB a stunning boost in market share.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Internet radio station makes leap to airwaves

After a year of being online only, Ocracoke Community Radio WOVV-FM, the island's first legitimate full-power - and legal - radio station, will soon be filling airwaves with local music, news, events and eclectic programming.

More at :
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/03/internet-radio-station-makes-leap-airwaves

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Doordarshan plans to go digital by 2017

http://www.ptinews.com/news/583781_Doordarshan-plans-to-go-digital-by-2017

First among the IITs, Kanpur gets its own community radio

Kautilya Singh Posted: Saturday , Mar 27, 2010 at 0156 hrs Kanpur:
Celebrating its golden jubilee year, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) became the first IIT of the country to have its own campus community radio station. Director of IIT-K, Sanjay Govind Dhande, inaugurated the campus community radio station on Friday.

The IIT-K community radio channel at 90.4 MHZ has been given a two-hour broadcast time in the morning and two hours in the evening.

Full story at :

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/First-among-the-IITs--Kanpur-gets-its-own-community-radio/596247/

Friday, March 26, 2010

‘I would like to see more programmes on South Asia'

Naomi Canton, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, March 25, 2010
First Published: 14:22 IST(25/3/2010)
As BBC plans to axe its Asian Network radio station, Mark Tully, former correspondent with the channel talks about this ‘threat’ and the reasons for his premature exit.

Read the full interview here : http://tinyurl.com/ybq4bw6

Radio Nepal's archive getting digitized

AVASH KARMACHARYA

http://kantipuronline.blogspot.com/2010/03/radio-nepals-archive-getting-digitized.html

Digital radio to boost presence

GLENN MULCASTER
March 26, 2010
DIGITAL radio will become a more compelling choice for listeners in Melbourne by the middle of the year when there will be 49 radio stations broadcasting in the DAB+ digital format.
Source: The Age
Read the full article here :

Article on DRM in "The Economist"

Digital radio
Jan 8th 2008
From Economist.com
EVERY evening in 1960s Britain millions of young people-many hiding under their bedsheets-would twiddle the dials on their transistor radios. They were tuning in on the medium wave to Radio Luxembourg's nocturnal English transmissions.

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10490842

(You need to register to access the article)

New DRM Steering Board leadership elected

Hilversum, 25th March 2010: The DRM Consortium has elected its new leadership for the next two years and agreed its broad strategy based on continuity, development and growth of the DRM standard worldwide during its General Assembly held at the headquarters of Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) in Hilversum, Netherlands.

The Steering Board, which runs the DRM Consortium and sets its strategy and implementation, now includes five new companies: Digidia, Rfmondial, Nautel, Christian Vision and Voice of Russia. They join fifteen other companies that have existing representatives on the Steering Board and together strengthen the Consortium.

Ruxandra Obreja, Head of Digital Radio Development, BBC World Service was re-elected as the Chairperson of the DRM Consortium for the next two years. The Steering Board also elected two vice Chairs - Jochen Huber, Transradio and Ludo Maes, TDP. Lindsay Cornell, BBC and Michel Penneroux, TDF were re-elected Technical and Committee chairpersons respectively. Alexander Zink, Fraunhofer Institute, was confirmed as Treasurer of the Consortium for the next two years.

The two day conference (24th-25th March 2010) was attended by many DRM members and supporters from around the world who not only took part in the elections but discussed the progress of DRM technology and the challenges faced by the introduction of digital radio in general and DRM in particular.

All members unanimously agreed that DRM has made great progress in the recent years including minimum receiver requirements, the extension of the DRM standard to include DRM+ and official adoption of the standard in Russia and India. The assembly urged receiver manufacturers not to overlook the growing demand for digital receivers and to bring appropriate products to the market.

The General Assembly is the largest decision-making body of the DRM Consortium which meets every two years for an extraordinary meeting to elect the governing bodies and representatives to oversee Consortium's activities in spreading the use and take-up of DRM digital radio technology.

(Press Release)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

BBC reveals plans to expand digital radio coverage

More than a million additional people will soon be able to receive BBC national digital radio services under plans for a further expansion of the digital radio transmission network.The BBC is investing in a further 60 digital radio transmitters as part of its commitment to reach 90% of the UK population during this Charter period. This is the final part of a planned roll-out which started in 2008 and has which already resulted in more than 50 additional transmitters being added to the network.
Listeners in the areas will be able to tune in to the BBC's portfolio of digital-only stations as well as the BBC's existing national radio stations, and enjoy the benefits of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) with more choice and improved sound quality.Transmitters will be added both to bring coverage to areas without reception and to improve and reinforce reception where necessary. It is hoped to complete the roll-out by the end of 2011, with the first of the new transmitters coming on-air in the summer.
The plan includes:
- fifteen new transmitters for Scotland - including improvements in coverage for Glasgow and Dundee, and bringing coverage to both Shetland and the Western Isles for the first time
- ten new transmitters for Wales extending coverage through mid-Wales to Llandrindod Wells, across north Wales in Colwyn Bay, and improving coverage in south-west Wales to listeners in Pembroke and Carmarthen
- seven new transmitters for Northern Ireland - bringing digital radio to both Enniskillen and the North Antrim coast, as well as improving coverage in Belfast
- three new transmitters for Greater London and the Home Counties - boosting reception across the capital and providing - coverage to the Kent weald, as well as providing coverage to High Wycombe, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City
- nine new transmitters for the south west - including extensions of digital radio to Newquay and Bodmin, Tiverton and Teignmouth
- two new transmitters for Derbyshire, including one for Derby itself, and further new transmitters for Saffron Walden, Shaftesbury, Stroud, and Sunderland
The transmitters will come on-air as project work completes at each one. Local announcements will be made as transmitters are switched on, with the BBC keeping its list of transmitters on-air up-to-date at bbc.co.uk/reception . The industry-wide DAB digital radio postcode checker will also be regularly updated to reflect new launches.
Tim Davie, the BBC's director of audio and music, said: "The BBC is fully committed to digital radio I'm delighted that we are now in a position to deliver on the BBC Trust's target to bring digital radio to 90% of the UK."
The BBC has five digital-only radio networks, all launched in 2002:
1Xtra - the best in new black music
5 Live sports extra - the home of live sport with exclusive coverage of live events
6 Music - the best of contemporary and classic rock and pop
Radio 7 - the best of BBC comedy, drama and books from the archive
Asian Network - news and music from the British Asian scene
- Listeners can also receive Radios 1 to 5 Live on DAB, along with more than 30 of the BBC's English local radio and nations services.
- The BBC's national digital radio coverage currently stands at around 86% of the UK population.- There are now more than 10 million DAB sets in the UK (GFK).
- Digital radios are available that offer users the opportunity to record and rewind their favourite programmes. Some DAB radios also offer an EPG letting users select and record their favourite programmes when they want.
- Digital radio offers improved reception and does not suffer from the interference and fading that can happen with AM and FM radio.
- Digital radio is a more efficient means of broadcasting. More networks can be transmitted, offering more choice for listeners.
- Digital radio can transmit text and data with the audio signal. A small screen on digital radios carries rolling text telling listeners what music they're listening to, who's being interviewed, and giving phone numbers and e-mail and website addresses.
- Digital radios are available from over 8,000 retail outlets across the UK and can also be bought on the internet.DAB digital radios are available from £25.
- Digital radio can also be received via digital television (satellite, cable and Freeview) and the Internet.
(Press Release)

VOA Russian launches mobile website

Washington, D.C., March 23, 2010 – VOA has unveiled a new website for cell phone users in the Russian Federation's rapidly expanding web market. The new URL, ru.voa.mobi, automatically adapts to each user's mobile phone – allowing easy and convenient access to the VOA Russian-language Internet site.
"With Russia's quickly evolving new media landscape, we are constantly adapting to new realities," said Elez Biberaj, VOA Eurasia Division Director. "With our new mobile website, we are uniquely positioned to attract Russian users who desire quick and easy access to news and information on the go."
All of VOA Russian's rich text, audio, and video content is available through the new mobile site. The service's LiveJournal.blog (http://community.livejournal.com/golos_ameriki/), which is updated several times daily with commentary and analysis by leading Russian and American experts, is also available. The site compresses media files for a quick download of video and audio. Articles are easy to share on Facebook or with followers on Twitter.

Russia's mobile web market has expanded rapidly. According to Opera's "State of the Mobile Web" report, unique users, individuals who have accessed content on a mobile phone, grew 57% from August 2008 to August 2009. The Moscow metropolitan area now has 3G service, allowing more convenient and quicker access for urban residents.
VOA Russian reaches its audience in the Russian Federation and former Soviet republics exclusively through the Internet. Its site offers the latest news as well as insights into U.S. policy and American life and American reactions to events in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The service is also active on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 125 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages and are intended exclusively for audiences outside of the United States.

(VOA Press Release)

A 'Traditional' Radio for the Internet Age

By MARISA TAYLOR
The days of families gathering around the radio to hear the evening's news and entertainment are long gone. While some 236 million Americans still listen to the radio weekly, more than four out of 10 people say they listen to less traditional radio because of increased use of MP3 players. And nearly one in three Americans now listens to online radio, according to a recent survey by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Read the article here : http://tinyurl.com/yh7eh7s

VOA starts Ethiopia satellite service after jamming

By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - US funded broadcaster Voice of America is broadcasting its local Amharic language service to Ethiopia via satellite after the country's Prime Minister ordered it jammed and sparked a diplomatic row.

More at :
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE62M0FA20100323

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Bangladesh Betar Summer Programme Schedule wef 1st April 2010

Bangladesh Betar has rescheduled its summer programme as schedule mentioned below:

- The morning programme will start from 06-30 am and will continue up to 10-30 am instead of closing down at 10-00 am from the regional stations Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Rangpur. Both AM and FM transmission will follow the new schedule.

- For Dhaka station afternoon transmission will start from 02-00 pm instead of 02-30 pm.

- Midnight transmission of Dhaka Kha will be broadcast from 630 KHz AM Band and 100 MHz FM Band from 12-00 midnight to 03-00am. Besides this, world music programme transmitting from 100 MHz FM Band at 03-05 pm daily, will be re-broadcast from the same band from 11-05 pm to 12-00 pm .

(All above times are Bangladesh local time)

Source : Bangladesh Betar

DW FM relays in Bangladesh to be inaugurated on 14th April

Ashik Eqbal Tokon from Bangladesh informs that the Deutsche Welle Bengali service will be on air via Bangladesh Betar FM relays with effect from 14 April 2010, the Bengali new year day as well as anniversary of DW Bengali service.

Bangladesh Betar will broadcast DW Bengali programmes in half hour slots twice a day at 8 to 8.30 am and 8 to 8.30 pm on following FM frequencies :

Dhaka - FM 97.6
Chittagong - FM 105.4
Sylhet - FM 105.0
Khulna - FM 102.0
Rajshahi - FM 105.0
Rangpur - FM 105.4

Bangladesh scraps daylight savings time

Bangladesh Cabinet today scrapped the daylight savings time. The daylight savings time was due to come into force from 31st March. Bangladesh Betar and BBC Bangla external service used to shift their broadcast time to keep up with the changed local time. The clock in Bangladesh was first advanced by one hour on 19th June 2009 and had shifted back by one hour on 31st December 2009. This was an electricity savings measure by the Bangladeshi Government.
(Dr.Supratik Sanatani)

Club FM Thrissur now on 104.8 MHz

The commercial station in Kerala, Club FM Thrissur changed frequency from 94.3 MHz to 104.8 MHz due to severe overlap problems with Cochin Club FM.

(Anu Haridas via Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, dx_india yg)

Radio Havana Cuba on 5040 kHz 60 meters Tropical band

At 2300 hours UTC, March 22 , Radio Havana Cuba started its national service for the Cuban archipelago on the ITU Registered Frequency of 5040 kHz . The first program that went on the air was our English language service, and the ¨menu¨ continued with a program in French.

March 23 UTC day ( Tuesday UTC day ) the 5040 kHz frequency will continue to be on the air until 1100 UTC, with programming in Spanish too. The new national service is designed to provide coverage of the most famous Cuban tourist resorts , like Varadero Beach, Cayo Largo , Jardines del Rey, Guardalavaca, and others where last year some two million three hundred thousand foreign tourists visited to enjoy their holidays. Reports of the new transmissions began to come in immediately from the Jardines del Rey tourist resort located in the keys north of Ciego de Avila province, where signals of S9 +40 dB were picked up.
The antenna used on 5040 kiloHertz is an NVIS system... Near Vertical Incidence Skywave radiating system , also known as a "Cloud Warmer "because it sends the signals at very high angles above the horizon, so I am not expecting many reports outside the primary target area of the broadcast. Anyway, reports will be , as always most appreciated , from anywhere the 5040 kiloHertz transmission is picked up . Send mail to : inforhc at enet dot cu
73 and DX
Arnie Coro, Host of Dxers Unlimited radio hobby program

Mob attacks private broadcasting office in Sri Lanka

Colombo - A stone-throwing mob on Monday attacked the head office of the largest private television and radio station network Maharaja Media Group in Sri Lanka, police said.

Full report at :
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/315241,mob-attacks-private-broadcasting-office-in-sri-lanka.html

Half a million Australians tune in to digital radio

Michael Bodey
From: The Australian
THE first major research study into digital radio in Australia shows nearly half a million Australians listen to radio on the new format each week.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Climate Change Conference: Focus on Media Responsibility

The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, taking place from June 21-23, will welcome 1,300 participants from around the world.

Hermann Scheer, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize, President of Eurosolar and Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy and Bertran Picard, researcher, adventurer and special ambassador for the UN are just two of the renowned experts taking part in the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum from June 21-23, 2010. This year, the international conference will operate under the title: "The Heat is On - Climate Change and the Media". Deutsche Welle is expecting around 1,300 participants from around the world to attend the conference's third edition. With more than 50 individual events and panels, representatives from science, politics, business and the media will have the chance to discuss how the media can create awareness for one of the most important topics for the future. The conference will pay special attention to how journalists can work as intermediaries for complex issues.
"In this case, intensive research, meticulous weighting of sources and precise analysis are more important than headlines and emotion," says Erik Bettermann, Deutsche Welle Director General. "We need to go beyond fear-mongering and belittlement and take on the challenges of quality journalism. The media should not automatically buy in to those who offer sensational reports from questionable disasters or those who prematurely state that all is clear."
Organizers of the three-day conference are expecting a range of renowned participants, including Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Frank Appel, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Post, Fatih Birol, Chief Economic Advisor of the International Energy Agency and Marco Arana, presidential candidate in Peru and environmental activist, who was selected as "Environmental Hero 2009" by Time Magazine.
Topics like reducing CO² emissions (mitigation), minimizing the effects of climate change (adaptation) and transforming into a post-fossil fuel, sustainable, low-carbon society (vision) are all on the agenda. Each of the individual podium discussions and workshops will also look at the media's role in communicating these issues. For example, participants will have the chance to discuss topics like climate change and desertification, consumption and climate change, perspectives in a post-carbon society, journalism and global crises as well as risks associated with environmental reporting.
Within the framework of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, DW will be awarding prizes to the winners of its international weblog awards, "The BOBs". The sixth edition of these awards also features a special prize for weblogs and podcasts dealing with climate change. Deutsche Welle is cooperating with many different organizations for this interdisciplinary conference, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change (UN IHDP/ESSP), EU Commission and the World Bank, the Wuppertal Institute, World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), NABU and the Climate Alliance, the Institute for World Business Kiel, German Development Institute (DIE), the Center for Development Research (ZEF), the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC), the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).
The yearly Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum offers podium discussions and workshops, interactive presentations and exhibitions, networking and interesting side events. It takes place at the World Conference Center Bonn, close to Deutsche Welle's headquarters. Co-host of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse in Bonn. The convention is also supported by Germany's Federal Foreign Office, the Family, Women and Integration Ministry of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, European Funds for Regional Development, the city of Bonn, DHL and Faber-Castell.

(Press Release)

Taiwan to auction broadcast licences

Taiwan's Cabinet yesterday approved a proposed amendment to the country's Radio and Television Act that would allow for TV and broadcasting licences to be issued through public auctions, in addition to the current panel review process, Taiwan Today reports.

More at : http://tinyurl.com/yjressm

Pradip Kundu – A Dxer putting technology to shame !

By Dr.Supratik Sanatani, Kolkata, 21 March 2010

I met Pradip Kundu for the first time as we were gathered at Babul Gupta’s shack for a weekend get-together & to see his brand new ICOM R75. The ICOM was connected to a dipole and a long wire and was placed next to the PC which is an indispensable DX tool today. That was an irony because there was Pradip Kundu, the DXer from Tripura (North East India) who had logged some amazing QSLs using just a two band Bush receiver and later a Philips portable set. He was visiting Kolkata with his collection of QSLs. The collection was amazing by any standards, if not for the Indian DXer alone. There were a host of European MW stations such as from Tallinin and Villinus to Yugoslavia and Finland and shortwave stations ranging from Cook Islands to WWV in Colorado. There were African tropical band stations, flood of Japanese MW qsls and many exotic AIRs. The engineer of AIR Tezu was amazed that his 250 watt (yes 0.25 kW !) station which barely reached beyond Tezu could travel so far to Tripura.
Most of Pradip Kundu’s prize DX catches were from the days when his village Kumaria Kucha did not have electricity. He had strung a modest piece of GI wire which he would shift every now and then to get different directivity. A DXer since 1978 and owner of such a glittering collection of QSL is yet to try out a digital frequency read out set today in 2010!! What is the secret of his success ? His village which is 35 km away from Agartala was first electrified in 1997. That allowed Pradip to DX in noise free environment. Work has brought him now to Agartala where he is not active at the moment. That explains why his QSL collections mostly date between 1980 and 1994.

For a DXer of Pradip Kundu’s stature, he is still not connected to the internet. And in his early days as a DXer there were no TVs . He was first introduced to DXing by the Radio Monitors International DX program in 1978. That program used to be produced in Pune by Adrian Peterson from AWR studios in Pune . It was aired once a week over a 15 minute segment from SLBC Colombo. Indian DX Club International of Kolkata had a tiny monthly segment in this program produced by Alok Dasgupta. It was this segment which brought Pradip in touch with the Kolkata DXers. Tripti Ranjan Basu who had replied to Pradip’s letter still has very strong bonds with Pradip. Tripti had traveled to Pradip’s village in Tripura way back in 1982. What does Tripti has to say about that trip ? “Green – it was green every where”.

Why does Pradip have such a large collection of Time signal stations including rare Korean stations besides WWV, WWVH and VNG ? In early eighties time signal station ATA from New Delhi sent out signals at 15 minutes interval. Since Pradip did not have accurate frequency readouts, he would keep his two band set logged to the New Delhi time signal station and listen in between their 15 minutes interval announcements !

Some of Pradip’s rare catches have a simple story behind it. Once he was tuning in to the early morning “Mahalaya” special broadcast from AIR Agartala which is aired a few days before Durga Puja. Bang on this frequency was Yugoslavia loud and clear before it disappeared after a 15 minutes ! His DX success story has the underlying message of diligence which for a DXer counts more than anything else. Then ,of course, come the vagaries of the ionosphere.

For a DXer whose only means of communication to the outside world was by post, Pradip Kundu did edit the loggings of Asian DX Review (ADXR) for two years. He is grateful to the loggings from ADXR which inspired him into DXing. He has played his role in propagating DXing too. In 1996 the well known Tripura daily “Dainik Sambad” ran a full page feature article on DXing which was compiled by him. AIR Agartala broadcast a many part program on DXing by him . Pradip recollects the amazement of Soumen basu , the program executive at AIR when he first looked at Pradip Kundu’s QSLs.

Pradip’s meeting with the Kolkata DXers have charged him up on DXing. He plans to get a digital radio set and be hooked to the internet.
Amazing collection of QSL cards of Pradip Kundu, Tripura using his 2 band analog receiver. Thanks to Babul Gupta, Kolkata for scanning & uploading the images ...

Saturday, March 20, 2010

EU Confronts Iran on Satellite Jamming

VOA News 19 March 2010

European Union nations are calling for Iran to stop jamming international satellite broadcasts and censoring the Internet. A preliminary version of a statement that will go before EU foreign ministers next week demands that Iran cease its electronic interference immediately. If not, the European allies say they they are prepared to take action against Iran's jamming.

Read the full story here :

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/EU-Confronts-Iran-on-Satellite-Jamming-88689367.html

UniWave Di-Wave 100 - N9EWO Review

Read the UniWave Di-Wave 100 review by N9EWO here :

http://n9ewo.angelfire.com/diwave100.html

Friday, March 19, 2010

Exiled Radio Plays A Cat-and Mouse Game

By Lynette Lee Corporal – Asia Media Forum
BANGKOK, Mar 19, 2010 (IPS) - For exiled journalists working on shortwave radio programming aimed at Burmese and Tibetan listeners, dodging the ‘enemy’ in the name of freer speech is often a cat-and-mouse game. Seeing their radio frequencies jammed, undertaking clandestine reporting and sourcing, dealing with poor signals and being spied upon are daily fare for the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and India-based Voice of Tibet (VOT).

Ethiopia admits jamming VOA radio broadcasts in Amharic

Mr Zenawi said Ethiopia had been testing the jamming equipmentEthiopia has admitted it is jamming the Voice of America's (VOA) broadcasts in Amharic, accusing the radio station of engaging in "destabilising propaganda".
Related news :
Ethiopian PM Says He Will Authorize Jamming VOA

WorldSpace announces potential decommissioning of satellites

By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 18, 2010; 10:25 PM

WorldSpace, a bankrupt satellite radio company, is running so low on funds that it is preparing to send its satellites to a premature death.

Read the full story here : http://tinyurl.com/y92dtg5

Thursday, March 18, 2010

VOA Listeners Meet at Kolkata

Photo's from Voice of America Benagli Service listeners meet at Kolkata on 17th March, 2010 courtesy Suvendu Das.


(Suvendu Das, Kolkata)

Radio Free Asia releases fourth Radio Pioneer QSL Card


Radio Free Asia announces the release of the fourth QSL card in its Radio Pioneer series. The card honors Russian physicist, Alexander S. Popov. Popov demonstrated that a receiver could detect the electromagnetic waves produced by lightning discharges in the atmosphere many miles away. In 1895, Popov was able to receive and detect the radio waves produced by an oscillator circuit. In 1897 he successfully sent a ship-to- shore transmission over a distance of 3 miles and then persuaded Russian naval authorities to begin installing radio equipment in its vessels; just two years later he had increased the distance of ship-to-shore transmissions to 30 miles. Popov is credited with being the first to use an antenna in the transmission and reception of radio waves. The QSL card below will be issued for all valid RFA reception reports from April 1 - June 30, 2010.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts news and information to listeners in Asian countries where full, accurate, and timely news reports are unavailable. Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, RFA currently broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean to North Korea, Lao, Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan
(Uke, Amdo, and Kham), and Uyghur. RFA strives for accuracy, balance, and fairness in its editorial content. As a 'surrogate' broadcaster, RFA provides news and commentary specific to each of its target countries, acting as the free press these countries lack. RFA broadcasts only in local languages and dialects, and most of its broadcasts comprise news of specific local interest. More information about Radio Free Asia, including our current broadcast frequency schedule, is available at http://www.rfa.org/.

RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help us evaluate the signal strength and quality of our transmissions. RFA confirms all accurate reception reports by mailing a QSL card to the listener. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at http://www.techweb.rfa.org/ (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX'ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by email at qsl@rfa.org, and for anyone without Internet access, reception reports can be mailed to:

Reception Reports
Radio Free Asia
2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300
Washington DC 20036
United States of America.

SIBC Back on air

According to a report in Solomon Times The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) is back on-air after the Solomon Islands Energy Authority restored power supply following a long
power blackout at the SIBC's Henderson transmitter.

Read the full report here :

http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=5014

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Indonesian broadcasting jamboree opens

Indonesia's first national broadcasting jamboree opened today in Gorontalo on Sulawesi island.

http://tinyurl.com/yhp5be2

Radio Sweden Ends Medium, Short Wave

Radio Sweden will terminate its medium and short wave broadcasts this October 31st in favour of web services - with Swedish Radio management stating that is the best use of resources and in line with international trends.
The English-language service is to continue on the web and on national broadcasts.
The Russian output will be available on the web as is the German now. Among the immigrant languages, Albanian, Assyrian-Syriac and Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian are to be terminated on the same date. Meanwhile, Arabic and Somali - the largest immigrant language groups here at present - are to be boosted. The same applies to Romani - one of Sweden's five official minority languages.
The Persian service is to include even Dari spoken by the rapidly increasing number of Afghan refugees coming to Sweden. Kurdish broadcasts remain unchanged.
Swedish Radio's output in immigrant languages will be available on the web and broadcast nationally.

http://tinyurl.com/yga5z5k

(Radio Sweden)

Radio Rasant

Dear OMs, amateurs and shortwave listeners,

On coming Saturday there will be a new programme relayed from R Rasant. It will be the first transmission this year. This programme will be relayed on Mar 21 at 0900-0930 on 9510 via IRRS. Students from different continents have explored about the protection of drinking water and why it is important to protect water. They will point out the importance of the industrial countries in this discussion. The whole programme will be in German. All non- German reports will be synchronized simultaneously. All participating students these are more than 100 would be happy about your comments and reports. Please send your mails to redaction_radio_rasant@yahoo.de

We appreciate snail mail. Greetings from Sundern Reinhard Marx; Tamara Tuchel, Jennifer Merschmeier, Kira Gonzales, Jana Friedetzky, Carmen Wittiber (on behalf of the students from Burkina Faso, Germany, Egypt, Japan, Iran and from the Färoer- Islands). Web: http://www.radiorasant.org .
(via Aerenlund Pedersen). Via Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia ? (Ed)

(Via DX-Window No. 398, Danish Shortwave Club International, www.dswci.org)

Dxers Unlimited's mid week edition 16-17 March 2010

Radio Havana Cuba
Dxers Unlimited
By Arnie Coro
radio amateur CO2KK

http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/2010/03/dxers-unlimiteds-mid-week-edition-16-17.html

Test transmission of The Disco Palace to Europe on 6015 kHz

There will be test transmissions for The Disco Palace to Europe, both on 6015 kHz:

1000-1400 UTC on Wed Mar 17
0700-1100 UTC on Fri Mar 19
Site: Wavre (Belgium)
DRM power : 40 kW
Rhombic antenna 167 degrees

If you can receive these transmissions in Europe or anywhere else please post results and comments here :

http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2195

Thanks,
Simone

(Via drmrx forum)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Community Radio Station to Start at Indore, M.P.

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Central India Institute of Science and Technology, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Institute after recommendations of Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. With this, the number of CRS will increase to 67 in the country.

The focus of the Community Radio Station would be to encourage the community members to speak out their needs and ideas, to create knowledge content for students and to act as a medium for teachers to develop knowledge content relevant to their subjects. It will also ensure that the community is literate and enabled to absorb information through media including radio. Regular information on child health, pregnancy, local health issues and seasonal precautions for women's related programmes will benefit the community.

The Ministry encourages setting up of community radio stations as it promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the women, youth and the marginalized group to take part in local self governance and overall socio economic and cultural development of the area. Community Radio Station also better informs the society about the developmental initiatives of government and promote transparency in the implementation of the schemes.

(Press Information Bureau, Govt. Of India)

RFE/RL Kyrgyz Programs Off The Air in Bishkek

March 12, 2010
Radio Free Europe's popular Kyrgyz television and radio programs have been off the air in the capital city of Bishkek since Wednesday, shortly after affiliate managers reported that they had been pressured by Kyrgyz officials.

(Prague, Czech Republic) Radio Free Europe's popular Kyrgyz television and radio programs have been off the air in the capital city of Bishkek since Wednesday, shortly after affiliate managers reported that they had been pressured by Kyrgyz officials.

RFE/RL's Bishkek television affiliate station "Echo of Manas" was warned by Kyrgyz authorities that they would face difficulties in renewing their broadcast license if they continued to air the Kyrgyz Service's widely viewed "Inconvenient Questions" and "Azattyk Plus" programs. Radio affiliates in Bishkek and the northern city of Naryn have also stopped carrying Kyrgyz Service programming.

"The Kyrgyz government has been hostile to freedom of the press for some time," said Jeffrey Gedmin, president of RFE/RL. "This incident is the latest effort by the government to restrict access to free, unbiased and independent news. Unfortunately, as Freedom House noted in its most recent 'Freedom in the World' report, the situation is only getting worse."

"This incident is the latest effort by the [Kyrgyz] government to restrict access to free, unbiased and independent news." The broadcasting of RFE/RL programs was halted just days before expected rallies and protests marking the fifth anniversary of the country's so-called Tulip Revolution.

The U.S. State Department's just released annual report on human rights in Kyrgyzstan noted that, while "the law provides for freedom of speech and of the press... the government at times restricted these rights in practice, especially through withdrawal of broadcasting rights and reportedly through intimidation of journalists." [read the Kyrgyzstan country report].

RFE/RL's difficulties in Kyrgyzstan are not new. In late 2008, UTRK, Kyrgyzstan's state broadcaster, suspended Radio Azattyk programming, calling its political content "too negative and too critical." The company later offered to resume broadcasts on condition that all programming be submitted to state authorities for prior approval. RFE/RL rejected the proposal.

About RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service
Online and on the air, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, has been a consistent and dependable provider of independent information in Kyrgyzstan for more than 50 years. Today, Radio Azattyk is a trusted source within Kyrgyzstan, with its stories - both broadcast and online - regularly cited and reprinted by local and regional media.

(Press Release)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Voice of Russia already on Indian FM stations ?

Voice of Russia has quietly entered into partnership with local Indian FM stations & since last couple of months being heard on Fever FM stations at Delhi, Kolkata & Mumbai on 104 MHz & on High FM 92.7 MHz at Siliguri. Voice of Russia is broadcasting a two hour infotainment program titled "With love from Russia" between 0000-0200 hours IST (1830-2030 UTC) on all above FM channels. Program is hosted by an Indian RJ & plays an interesting mix of Indian & Russian songs.The talk portion is mainly related to music, culture & lifestyle about Russia. The program is in Hindi at Delhi, Kolkata,Mumbai & in Hindi/Bengali at Siliguri although it seems programme is produced at each individual stations as Delhi & Kolkata programs were hosted by dfferent RJ's.

Voice of Russian held an interactive session with Indian FM listeners at Delhi on 6th March 2010 in which Irina Maksimenko, head of South Asian Dept, Voice of Russia & Sumit Sengupta from Voice of Russia Bengali Section who's also co-ordinating FM partnerships in India briefed listeners about Voice of Russia's plans in India & sought listeners views on the programming.

Regarding shortwave, some of the shortwave listeners did submit a petiton to re-instate Bengali service on shortwave (which is on internet only) to Irina Maksimenko, Head of South Asian Dept, Voice of Russia during Voice of Russia listeners confernce at New Delhi during Dec 2009 & did get a positive response from her.

During the recent visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in response to a Voice of Russia listener from Kolkata during his internet conference promised to expand the radio broadcasts.

Here's an audio clip from the VOR program on Fever FM 104 MHz :
http://sites.google.com/site/alokeshgupta2/wlfr_id_fever104.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

Related news :

Russia to expand radio broadcasting to India - Putin
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/03/12/5238860.html

(Alokesh Gupta)

Radio buffs tune in to solar cycle

By Lee Badman
March 14, 2010, 5:20AM

http://tinyurl.com/yl2p3ul

DW cuts Transmission hours for HIndi & Urdu languages, drops morning broadcasts

Deutsche Welle has cut back transmission hours for Hindi & Urdu languages for the forthcoming A10 (Summer) broadcast season to be effective from 28th March 2010.

DW Hindi transmission hours has been cut by half, presently it has two 30 minutes slots at 0130 & 1500 UTC (0700 & 2030 hours IST), the 0130 UTC (0700-0730 IST) transmission will be dropped from next season.

Similarly DW Urdu had three half hour tranmission slots at 0200,1430 & 1700 UTC (0730, 2000 & 2230 IST), out of which transmissions at 0200 & 1700 UTC (0730 & 2230 IST) will be dropped for next season.

There has been cutbacks in transmission hours for Chinese & Russian languages as well & Kisuaheli broadcasts to Africa has been dropped.

According to sources DW plans to reduce/drop most of the shortwave during next one year. After clinching the FM distribution partnership at Bangladesh, DW is working on FM partnership in India.


DW Hindi/Urdu Schedule summer season (wef 28 Mar - 30 Oct 2010)

HINDI
1500-1530 UTC(2030-2100 IST) on 1548,6180,9540,9655 kHz (All via Trincomale)

URDU
1430-1500 UTC(2000-2030 IST) on 1548,9655,13840 kHz (All via Trincomale), 15595 kHz(Krasnodar)


The complete shortwave summer schedule for DW is available at :

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1777509,00.html

National Seminar on Opportunities and Challenges of Community Radio

Radio Noida 107.4FM in association with Asian Academy of Film and Television, Asian School of Media Studies, Asian Business School, International Children's Film Forum, IFTC, IFTRC, World Development Organization, COMCON, Media Lab Asia organized national seminar on the opportunity and challenges of running community radio.

Read the full story here :
http://www.your-story.org/national-seminar-on-opportunities-and-challenges-of-community-radio-141783/

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Dxers Unlimited's weekend edition 13-14 March 2010

Radio Havana Cuba - Dxers Unlimited
Dxers Unlimited's weekend edition for 13-14 March 2010
By Arnie Coro - radio amateur CO2KK

http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/2010/03/dxers-unlimiteds-weekend-edition-13-14.html

Interactive Radio Project Starts in Afghanistan

The Afghan radio station ARIANA FM started broadcasting Deutsche Welle's radionovela "Learning by Ear" on Friday, March 5, 2010. Germany's international broadcaster has planned 50 episodes – each 15 minutes long – in the two national languages Dari and Pashtu. The radio dramas have been made with young listeners in mind. Deutsche Welle Director General Erik Bettermann welcomed the start of the multimedia project that was produced in Bonn under the auspices of Deutsche Welle's Dari and Pashtu service.

"Learning by Ear can be instrumental to the development process in Afghanistan," said Bettermann in Bonn. "We also want to contribute to the acceptance of a modern, democratic business model."

The project, supported financially by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, sheds light on topics like political education, health, the advancement of women and girls, drugs and their consequences and tolerance and understanding. "We are building on the overall positive experience we had with the implementation of this innovative project in Africa, which has been running since 2008," said Bettermann. "It's an entertaining and informative way to communicate important educational content."

Radio is still the primary media in Afghanistan, but there will be additional "Learning by Ear" material available online. Young people between 12 and 20 years of age make up the majority of the population in Afghanistan. Bettermann said that's why programming focuses on a younger target audience.

Deutsche Welle is working with Afghan authors to produce "Learning by Ear for Afghanistan". As part of the project, they received training from Deutsche Welle's academy. The individual modules were produced with ARIANA FM in Afghanistan. Listener comments will be used in the
future to tailor the design of the series.

"Learning by Ear for Afghanistan" is broadcast nationwide on ARIANA FM, as well as over shortwave, satellite and Deutsche Welle frequencies in Kabul. Schools can access the series, scripts and accompanying material on the Internet. "Learning by Ear for Afghanistan" will also be made available on CD.

Broadcasters get expert advice on going digital

Training, proper planning and retaining the support of staff – these are three key elements of a smooth transition to digital broadcasting, a conference in Kuala Lumpur heard today.

The remarks came at an industry debate on how broadcasters should approach the digital migration, on the final day of the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium.

http://tinyurl.com/y9w88px

Review of the Year 2009 on Shortwave

by Rumen Pankov and Ivo Ivanov of Radio Bulgaria, via Yimber Gaviria in Colombia

In 2009 a large number of stations cut part of their shortwave programming, and other transmitters went off the air. New stations came on the air and other old stations resumed their transmissions after a long interruption. On January 1st, 2010 a new public radio station, Radio Vidin, began operating in northeastern Bulgaria.

On shortwave, Irish radio began to broadcast again for an hour each day, and on Vanuatu in the Pacific, a shortwave transmitter came back on the air. A station called Super Radio Dios del Amor began to be heard. This station was the successor to Radio Tupi in Curitiba. Despite comments by the management of the Voice of America and the BBC that broadcasts on shortwave were not necessary, the two stations created new programs for the Caucusus, and Radio Liberty began a special program called "The Eco of the Caucuses."

Almost all international stations abandoned the new spectrum assigned to radio amateurs from 7100 to 7200 kHz, in which two exotic transmitters from Guinea and Somalia began to operate on 7125 and 7145 kHz, respectively. In July of 2009 the BBC carried out experimental transmissions to Antarctica. On Nov. 14 the traditional annual broadcast of Radio Saint Helena took place in the Atlantic. The program was heard by few listeners due to low solar activity.

A new Christian station from the United States, WJHR, began experimental transmissions on shortwave. In April 2009 to mark the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the KBC broadcast from the Netherlands a special series of musical programs. The 25th of April was officially proclaimed for U.S. stations Willis Conover Day, the presenter and host of a program dedicated to world jazz in the 20th Century [on the VOA]. Another legendary radio program, "Happy Station," broadcast from 1925 to 1995, interrupted during the Second World War years, via Radio Netherlands, was re-established and began to broadcast on shortwave from Radio Miami in the U.S.

In 2009 a large number of political programs came on the air destined for countries like Zimbabwe, North Korea, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Madagascar, and broadcast by transmitters located in Germany, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries. The year 2009 will be remembered also for the strikes at two important radio organizations, one in France and other in India. The events at Radio France International began at the start of 2009 after it was learned that authorities planned to shut down some of the overseas broadcasts.

During the solar eclipse of April 26th, anomalies in shortwave broadcasting were noted, typical for that phenomenon. The year 2009 will also be remembered for the closure of Radio Vilnius and Radio Ratia in Lithuania, Radio Center in Latvia, Radio Peace for Afghanistan, Radio Star from Liberia, the Radio Reading Service of New Zealand and Radio Vlaanderen in Belgium. Dec. 31, 2009 was the last day of transmission on shortwave for Radio Austria and the Radio of the French-speaking Community of Belgium.

(NASB Newsletter, March 2010)

DRM Newsletter March 2010

Read at :
http://www.drm.org/index.php?id=364

Bill in Senate to permanently authorise Radio Free Asia

A top American Senator on Friday introduced legislation in the US Senate to promote the free dissemination of information in East Asia through the permanent authorisation of Radio Free Asia.

Full report at :

http://www.ddinews.gov.in/International/International+-+Other+Stories/radio+free+asia.htm

A Review of the HFCC A10 Conference

by Dr. Jerry Plummer, WWCR

The A10 HFCC Coordination Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 1-5, 2010. The theme, or key, of the conference was "Developing Friendship." Domestic U.S. shortwave broadcasters were represented by Tom Lucey of the FCC, George Ross and Mike Sabin of Trans World Radio ( Guam ) and Dr. Jerry Plummer, representing the NASB and WWCR. A total of 118 attendees were present for the Conference.

Regarding climactic conditions in Kuala Lumpur, temperatures in the Fahrenheit scale typically were 92-94 daily and 73-76 in the evenings. To me, it felt like Punta Cana, but no pool or ocean nearby. However, it was generally tolerable, and being located directly in the "Golden Triangle" of KL offered much dining and shopping activities, with a myriad of varied type restaurants, offering all imaginable types of fare-as well as a milieu of merchants, offering everything from knockoff Rolex watches to "reflexology" sessions (i.e. massages).

The meeting opened promptly at 9:30 Monday morning, and the opening included welcoming remarks by several members of the Board, including Horst Scholz of Deutsche Welle; Oldrich Cip, Chairman of HFCC and representative of Czech Radio; Geoff Spells of VT Communications; and Bassil Zoubi of Arab States Broadcasting Union. Upon completion of the opening remarks, the coordination activities began, and ran through Friday morning.

The conference room was a spacious, well-equipped area with plenty of room for all members, including room to suitably place extra chairs across each table for visiting representatives to sit and discuss collision correction. The wireless network worked well, including external Internet access; although (as expected) peak times of activity slowed down overall speed. However, the system was usable the entire time. The print server never was operable to several representatives, but anything needing to be printed could be at the four workstations located at the back of the conference room.

A meeting was held Tuesday afternoon for the G8 representatives and Steering Board regarding the Russian contingent(s) and its requirements entries. GFC, as one group, and TRW and RAM as another group, previously separately entered requirements. If I understand correctly, one group was VOR and the other two combined for all "retail" sales to out of country leased transmitter time. GFC told the G8/HFCC group that they were now responsible for all Russian shortwave coordination activities, and requested the HFCC to announce as such, and to remove all entries not posted by GFC. The HFCC, preferring to not become politically involved, declined to do so at the current time. Thus, there are 173 duplicate entries in the database.

To quote the HFCC:

Wording of the Russian Delegation for the HFCC Conference Minutes:

"The delegation of the Russian Federation gave explanations regarding 173 radio broadcasting requirements which were submitted on 01.02.2010 on behalf of the General Radio Frequency Centre (GFC) of Russia within the process of the HFCC Conference.

"The above mentioned radio broadcasting requirements fully duplicate the requirements submitted by the Radio-Agency-M Ltd. (RAM) and TV Radio Wave (TRW) organizations with the used technical facilities to broadcast radio programs from the territory of the Russian Federation . Only the name of the Frequency Management Organization (FMO) was changed in the above requirements.

"Coordination of new 173 radio broadcasting requirements was carried out by the GFC organization at the HFCC Conference. In doing so the former requirements of the TRW and RAM organizations which were duplicated should have been ignored within the process of the HFCC Conference.

"To avoid confusion and misunderstanding in the work of the HFCC conference the delegation of Russia requested the HFCC Steering Board to delete the RAM and TRW requirements with the use of technical facilities to broadcast radio programs from the territory of the Russian Federation from the list of the requirements to be coordinated.

Answer of the SB for the HFCC Conference Minutes:

"The HFCC Steering Board thanked Alexander Stadinchuk for the detailed explanation for the duplication of requirements of RAM and TRW via facilities in Russia by GFC. However, the SB stated that it cannot accept the request to delete the corresponding RAM and TRW requirements for those transmissions from the territory of the Russian Federation . The reason for this is that both RAM and TRW are members of HFCC and the SB does not have the authority to delete requirements of any member. The SB states that the duplication of requirements significantly hampers the informal co-ordination process. On this occasion the Steering Board of the HFCC suggests to the Administration of the Russian Federation to work with the three FMOs on the territory of the Russian Federation with the aim of eliminating the duplicated requirements and to resolve this difficult problem. As RAM and TRW are not present at the joint HFCC/ASBU/ABU-HFC meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, the SB will inform them of this matter."

Coordination flowed smoothly all during the week, with no computer or network anomalies. Much interaction was noted among all members during the coordination times.

For the first time that I remember, no group dinner was held at the Conference, although a Friday afternoon tour was arranged, which included trips to the 500 metre Communications Tower, as well as KL's skyline Twin Towers. The tour also included a visit to Malaysian radio studios and a trip to a local group of craft shops.

During the conference, the Group of Experts met (Wednesday) and offered the following information on the Friday Plenary (closing) statements:

G. of E. documents will soon be placed on the website for everyone to review.

Regarding the new software showing target ID by polygon, the testing is going well. It will offer clearer and better collision calculation.

Antenna design frequency, used in the requirements file, must be filled in. It is used for calculation of collisions. A warning message will be displayed whenever a requirements file missing this information is entered.

More information regarding a new antenna program will be coming in future.

Older DOS versions of the plotting software should not be used; consider using newer software.

A list of minutes from Punta Cana of requests and their updates will be issued shortly.

Geoff of VTC says that ITU is considering adding DRM to its system, which includes HD Radio, etc. This will be reviewed in April, 2010 for acceptance.

The following items came from Geoff, also:

26 MHz DRM for local broadcasts services proposal is in the ITU pipeline.

A proposal for DSP for new receivers was not approved, but will be reviewed again in April, 2010.

G9960 includes a proposal regarding powerline devices to extend range to 200 MHz. The intention is greater bandwidth for data services, but also offers tremendous interference for many bands, outside of shortwave, too. Much discussion has occurred over this proposal.

Oldrich addressed the need to increase access to shortwave listeners, particularly via the HFCC website. Currently, the public access database is updated twice per year, and there was a vote to update the public record more regularly. The delegates approved this measure.

Regarding finances, Geoff reported that 2008 was a lean year for the HFCC, but 2009 year-end numbers indicated that things were back financially where the HFCC should be. Geoff says that this is partially because member arrearage has been paid. He noted that Czech law has changed, and there is a chance that the HFCC will be exposed to a value added tax. This must be investigated more to determine if the HFCC is applicable to this taxation law change. Results will be forthcoming.

Horst chaired the election activities, where two posts were to be voted on:
Chairman and System Coordinator. Oldrich Cip was the only candidate for the former, and was unanimously elected. Gerald Theoret of Radio Canada International and Sergio Salvatori of Vatican Radio were co-elected to the System Coordinator position. Upon election Oldrich called for an increase in public awareness of the HFCC and its functions.

Oldrich noted that REE Spain, who had been absent for two years, will be back next time; and that an FMO name change was awarded for DTK changing to MDK.

It was noted again about the duplication of requirements due to the Russian situation noted above.

In closing the Plenary meeting, Oldrich thanked the ABU for hosting and orchestrating the Conference.

-----
(NASB Newsletter, March 2010)

Friday, March 12, 2010

EDXC CONFERENCE IN ANKARA, SEPT 30 - OCT 3, 2010.

Dear DX -- Friends, Shortwave Radio Listeners all over the World !

The EDXC ( European DX Council, the Umbrella Oragnisation of shortwave clubs, DX -- Clubs in Europe ) cordially invites you all to the next EDXC Conference, September 30 -- October 3, 2010, in Ankara, Turkey. We kindly ask you to make your hotel reservation already NOW !

Venue of the Conference : HOTEL DEDEMAN, ANKARA. Address : Akay Cad. Buklum Sok No. 1. ANKARA 06660, TURKEY. Phone : + 90 312 416 88 00.
Fax : + 90 312 418 13 86.
Homepage : www.dedeman.com
Room reservation you send to : Mrs. Ozlem Gollu, E - Mail : ozlem.gollu@dedeman.com
Single Room : EUR 91,80 / night, including VAT and Full Breakfast.
Double room : EUR 113,40 / night, including VAT and Full Breakfast.
If sharing the Double room you only pay : EUR 56,70 including VAT and Full Breakfast. The hotel accepts the following Credit Cards : Visa, MasterCard, Eurocard, American Express and Diners Card. PLEASE MAKE YOUR ROOM RESERVATION ALREADY NOW ! First you write : The special Password for this Conference Reservation : EDXC Conference in Ankara. Then you write your family name, your christian name, your arrival date at the hotel, your departure date from the hotel. The hotel needs your credit card number at the time of reservation to be able to
confirm your room.
PLEASE OBSERVE : When you reserve your room, please inform me about your name (s), because I am producing the Name--Tags, and I have to know, that you are coming.

The preliminary programme of the Conference looks like this :

Thursday, September 30 :
Arrival at the hotel, Registration from 12.00 Hours Ankara Time. Informal gathering in the bar / restaurant of the hotel from 19.00 Hours Ankara Time.

Friday, October 1 :
After breakfast at our hotel Visit at the Voice of Turkey, External Service in Ankara. Visit at the different studios, different languages. Lunch in the canteen of the Radio. Possible visit at the Shortwave Transmitter Antenna either in Cakirlar or in Emirler. This Antenna visit is subject to the permission from the Radio Management. Back to the hotel, late afternoon or evening free.

Saturday, October 2 :
After breakfast at the hotel : EDXC Conference in the Conference Room of the hotel. Internal EDXC matters and interesting lectures. If you would like to give some interesting lecture, please let me know -- as soon as possible. Lunch at our hotel. After the lunch : Sightseeing in Ankara with English speaking guide. Back to the hotel and in the evening the traditional Banquet Dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Sunday, October 3 :
Departure home or Tourism in Turkey. Please do not forget : This year Istanbul is one of the European Cultural Capitals.

The Conference Fee is : EUR 96,-- per person, you pay to me at the Registration Table in the Hotel when you arrive on Thursday, September 30.

This fee includes : Use of Conference Room at the hotel, relevant papers like Conference Covers, Name--Tags, Lunch on Saturday, Sightseeing Tour in Ankara and also includes the Banquet Dinner.

For further information please do contact :

Tibor Szilagyi, EDXC Secretary General, E -- Mail : tiszi2035@yahoo.com

Thursday, March 11, 2010

AWR Wavescan Annual DX Contest 2010

AWR DX Program "Wavescan" - Annual DX Contest - 2010 "Station Profiles"

It's that time of the year again! Yes, we're talking about our big annual DX contest here in "Wavescan". The title for our big 2010 DX contest is "Station Profiles", and here are the details for all five parts in this year's contest:-

A. Five Station Profiles:

Make a list of five different radio stations for which you would like to have a "Station Profile" presented on air in a coming edition of "Wavescan". You may suggest five different radio stations, or the radio stations in five different cities, or in five different countries, or any combinations of these designations. These radio stations may still be on the air, or they may now be silent. You may choose only shortwave broadcasting stations, or shortwave communication stations that have been used also for broadcasting.

B. Five Paragraphs:

You are invited to write just one short paragraph about each of the five stations you have chosen in the above list, and state why you have chosen that particular station.

C. Five Photocopies:

You are invited to search your QSL collection, and where possible, provide a photocopy of a QSL from each of the five radio stations in your above list. These photocopies should be in color if possible, but black & white is also acceptable. If you do not have a QSL from any of the stations you select, then you should indicate the reason why you do not have a QSL; such as for example, the station is now silent, or you are unable to hear the station in your part of the world, or they do not verify reception reports, etc.

D. Three Reception Reports:

You are invited to send in at least three reception reports on any transmission from Adventist World Radio on any station, shortwave, mediumwave and FM.

E. Three Radio Cards:

Where possible, you are invited to include three radio cards for the Indianapolis Heritage Collection with your contest entry. These cards may be old or new, and they may be QSL cards, reception report cards, or picture cards of radio stations, etc. (Not valid for this contest are amateur cards nor CB cards.)

Other Contest Details:

Well, there you have it, the details for our "Wavescan 2010 Station Profiles DX Contest". This contest will run through the month of July 2010, and all contest entries should be postmarked at your local post office anywhere in the world on any date up to the end of the month of July, and they should be received at the AWR post office address in Indianapolis no later than the end of the month of August 2010. Return postage in the form of currency notes in an international currency, or mint postage stamps, or IRC coupons would be welcome. Where possible, a self addressed return envelope, business size or half quarto size, would also be welcome. The awards for this year's contest will be similar to all previous contests. There will be a special award for the world winner, one of the Jerry Berg radio history books; and World Radio TV Handbook 2011 for each continental winner. In addition, there will be other special awards as well as AWR souvenirs and radio curios for many participants. There will be special awards for listeners in Africa responding to this year's contest. You can remember that all reception reports will be verified with a specially endorsed AWR QSL card. Please remember that it will take a period of many months to process all of the reception reports, but each will in due course be verified. In addition, and over a period of time, it is our intent to present in our Wavescan DX program, many, and perhaps all, of the "Station Profiles" as submitted in this year's DX contest. When we present each of these specific "Station Profiles" in our "Wavescan" program, we will also call on-air the listener who made the suggestion. When the listener hears his name in the program, he can send in a reception report and receive a specially endorsed QSL card.

The only address for the AWR Station Profile DX Contest is:-
Station Profile DX Contest
Box 29235
Indianapolis
Indiana 46229 USA

(Dr.Adrian Peterson, Adventist World Radio)

VOA launches special pre-election programming to Sudan

Washington, D.C., March 10, 2010 – The Voice of America (VOA) has launched special broadcasts to Sudan and created a content-rich website on elections more than a month before Sudanese are to vote in the country's first free presidential contest since 1986. "The people of Sudan suffered through years of civil war. Now, they're getting a chance to vote in elections. VOA wants to make sure they have all the information they need to make informed choices," said Steve Redisch, VOA's executive editor.

VOA's "Sudan Elections in Focus" website http://www.voanews.com/sudan contains stories about the candidates, analysis and commentary by bloggers, details about election preparedness and logistics.Every Friday in March, VOA will air a 10-minute special report on the English-to-Africa stream. Programs examine the candidates, their platforms, electoral preparedness, and the ongoing conflicts over land and resources in Africa's largest country. It can be heard at 1645 UTC and 1845 UTC on VOA shortwave frequencies 6080 and 15580. Starting in April, the Sudan special report will air every day.

The presidential elections pit Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir against South Sudan's President Salva Kir. The elections are proscribed under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended 20 years of civil war between the North and the South when it was signed in 2005. Also at stake in the election are seats in Parliament. In 2011, Sudanese are scheduled to conduct a referendum that would allow South Sudan to secede from the North. The referendum, also part of the 2005 peace deal, is a source of tension between the North and the South.

(VOA Press Release)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Clandestine, not confidential

Sat 06 Mar, 2010
JASON WALSH attempts to separate the news from the propaganda on the international airwaves - and finds it impossible

IMAGINE THERE was a communications medium that spanned virtually the entire globe and was virtually impossible to censor. Now imagine that, unlike the internet, it couldn't be switched-off by the powers that be and didn't require expensive equipment or monthly subscription fees to access. That would be a powerful voice for democracy, wouldn't it?

http://forth.ie/index.php/content/weekend_article/clandestine_not_confidential/20100306/

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Deutsche Welle and Bangladesh Betar sign Comprehensive Partnership Agreement

Representatives of Bangladesh Betar (BB) and Deutsche Welle (DW) have signed a newpartnership agreement on 9 March 2010 in Dhaka that will allow DW to broadcast Bengali Radio Programs two times daily from Bangladesh. The agreement was signed by Bangladesh Betar Director General, Mr. Md. Mahbubul Alam, and Managing Director of DW-AKADEMIE, Ms. Gerda Meuer, in the presence of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Holger Michael, the Minister of Information, Mr. Abdul Kalam Azad,MP, and the Ministry’s Secretary, Dr. Kamal Abdul Nasser Chowdhury. According to this agreement, BB will air DW Bengali Radio Service between 8:00 am and 8:30 am as well as 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm using six transmitters in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet,Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur. Deutsche Welle will set up satellite equipment inthese locations to make reception and rebroadcasting possible.This agreement marks just another milestone in the excellent German Bangladesh bilateral relations and will help Germany’s international broadcaster to expand its Bengali radio services in Bangladesh via FM. Radio in Bangladesh is a very important form ofmedia, reaching a large percentage of Bangladesh citizens on a daily basis. In addition, the two partners agreed to extend their successful training program for journalists with DW-AKADEMIE, continuing their journalist exchange program that was established in 1975.“We are excited to continue our partnership with BB,” says Gerda Meuer, Managing Director DW-Akademie at Deutsche Welle. “We have worked together in many areas for more than 30 years and are sure that this new agreement will be beneficial to both parties.”

(Press Release)

RNZI Power Supply Problem

06 Mar, 2010 22:51 UTC
Due to the failure of a Mains Breaker at the RNZI transmission Base we are only able to operate one transmitter at the moment. This means we have had to reduce the hours we broadcast in AM and in DRM .
The AM service will available from midnight to 0550 NZ time, 0750-0950, 1050-1400, 1500-1600, 1700-2400.
DRM service will be available from 0550-0750,0950-1050, 1400-1500, 1600-1700 NZ time. We regret these interruptions and hope to have normal services back to normal as soon as the repair work is completed.
(RNZI)

Being J&K’s sole private FM station, Big FM goes beyond entertainment

Robin Thomas March 09 2010
Not much entertainment options are available in Jammu and Kashmir. Being the state’s sole private FM station, Big FM has been adding some entertainment value to the airwaves, along with Government-owned All India Radio (AIR). exchange4media takes a look at the FM radio scenario in the J&K market and the challenges and opportunities.
Read the story here : http://tinyurl.com/ybkta6m

GBC Celebrates 75th Anniversary

GBC Celebrates 75th Anniversary
Michael Boateng
5 March 2010

The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) is poised to shift to a higher pedestal, by offering quality and improved services, by way of quality programming and advanced technology.The acting Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of GBC, George Adu Boampong, gave the assurance after a regional float through the principal streets of Sunyani, as part of activities marking the 75th Anniversary of GBC.

Read the full story here :

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003051007.html

Whatever Happened to Shortwave Radio?

by James Careless, 03.08.2010

As recently as 25 years ago, shortwave radio was a preferred source of breaking international news in North America. Most hours of the day, the BBC World Service boomed in, especially at night on 6175 kHz. There was also Radio Moscow - once the mouthpiece of old-style Soviet propaganda - the Voice of America, Radio Netherlands, Deutsche Welle from West Germany and Radio Berlin International from East Germany.

Read the full article here :

http://www.rwonline.com/article/95976

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Radio Serbia celebrates 74th Anniversary

05 March 2010.
The International Radio Serbia has marked its 74th anniversary this year. This unique and only short-wave station in Serbia was founded six years before the Voice of America, on March 8, when the international program was broadcasted for the first time in then Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Today, our radio broadcasts program in 12 languages - Serbian, English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Albanian, Greek, Italian, Hungarian and Chinese. The program of the International Radio Serbia can also be heard on the Internet site www.glassrbije.org which has been in existence, as well as via satellite. On the occasion of our anniversary, the celebration was organized, attended by many people from the Serbian political and cultural life, and also representatives of the diplomatic offices in Belgrade. The broadcasts of the program to abroad started on March 8, 1936 in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and the direct reason for the establishing of the short-wave radio station was the need to oppose the fascist propaganda. Over the past 74 years, our house had a turbulent history, and it included several name changes - from Free Yugoslavia, through Radio Yugoslavia, Radio Serbia and Montenegro, to current International Radio Serbia.

Test transmission of The Disco Palace on Monday March 8

There will be a test transmission of "The Disco Palace" from Bonaire on Monday, March 8th:

- time : 1300-1825 UTC
- frequency : 15745 kHz
- power : 100 kW DRM
- antenna azimuth : 80 degrees
- target area : Europe

Thanks,
Simone

(Via drmrx forum)

Friday, March 05, 2010

QARL Hamfair 2010

QARL - HAMFAIR,FOXHUNT & HF CONTEST KOLLAM

QARL is conducting the Hamfair on 18th April 2010.
Venue is Jaladharshini at KOLLAM.
Foxhunt on 17th April 2010
HF contest on 13/03/2010 from 5pm.
All are requested to make it.
Further Details please contact VU2SYT on 09446854749

AIR to broadcast NE spring festival

morungexpress
Kohima, March 4 (MExN): The All India Radio (AIR), Kohima will be covering the NE Spring Festival organised by NEXCC Dimapur from March 5 to 9. The station director, AIR in a press note stated that the daily highlight of the festival will be broadcast at 9:30 pm everyday, which will be simultaneously relayed by all North East AIR. Moreover, a special programme on the entire event of the festival will be put out in the national "hook-up" at 10:00 pm on March 11 and experts will be included in the national Hindi Cultural Magazine programme "Sankirt Bharti" on the same day and same time, the note added.

http://www.morungexpress.com/regional/44570.html

Successful Radio Asia 2010

Brief report & pictures at :
http://www.drm.org/news/detail/news/successful-radio-asia-2010/

VOA Amharic Broadcasts Jammed in Ethiopia

Peter Heinlein Addis Ababa 04 March 2010

http://tinyurl.com/ylx9nfo

Thursday, March 04, 2010

National Seminar on Community Radio at Marwah Studios

Asian School of Media Studies, Noida in association with World Development Foundation has decided to organize a national seminar on community Radio covering opportunities and challenge on 10th march at Marwah studios, informed R.K.Singh the dean of ASMS. "We have requested Lt Gen K.M. Seth, the former Governor of Chattisgarh to inaugurate this National event" R.K.Singh added. "The workshop will focus on government scheme of CRS, the policy guide lines, use of community radio, hardware and software issues and content development" said Sandeep Marwah president of Marwah Studios and President of this National Seminar. "Radio is a very powerful technology that can allow information to reach large sector of the population quickly and economically" said Marwah. The seminar is supported by Radio Noida 107.4FM, Comcon Technologies, Asian Business School, AAFT, International Film and Television Club, International Children's Film Forum and International Film and Television Research Centre. There will be large number of participants and speakers from all over the country.
(Press Release)

Bangladesh Betar to air DW Bengali program

Deutsche Welle and Bangladesh Betar Sign Comprehensive Partnership Agreement

Representatives from Bangladesh Betar (BB) and Deutsche Welle (DW) will sign a new partnership agreement on March 9, 2010 in Dhaka. According to this agreement, Bangladesh Betar will air Deutsche Welle Bengali radio service between 8:00 am and 8:30 am as well as 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm (local time) using six transmitters in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur on FM band. This agreement marks just another milestone in the excellent German Bangladesh bilateral relations and will help Germany's international broadcaster to expand its Bengali radio services in Bangladesh via FM. The agreement will be signed in the presence of the Minister of Information and the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Director General of Bangladesh Betar and the Managing Director of DW-AKADEMIE.

(Press Release)

VOA Listeners meet at Kolkata

Voice of America Bengali service Listeners meet at Kolkata :

Date : 17th March 2010 (Wed)
Venue : USIS, Kolkata

Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury will be present at the meet.

(Siddhartha Bhattacharjee)

DRM Tests in Brazil

Tests with DRM (MW and SW) and DRM + (VHF-FM) in Brazil are extraordinary

1st March 2010
"Extraordinary" I who am saying, but according to information obtained by telephone Flávio Ferreira Lima from the Ministry of Communications and coordinator of the engineering team to manage the tests with both DRM systems in Brazil, both the DRM in the range OM as DRM + the FM band are showing amazing results, above our expectations.

The fact is that the situation of digital radio trials in Brazil has a 180 degrees this year. Since the beginning of 2010 the DRM is doing tests on Short Wave, Medium Wave and also on VHF (FM) and never had in our country. The tests will continue throughout the month of March. I think these tests in Brazil are currently the most complete tests with existing DRM system in the world.

OM in the range have been tested, and OM IBOC Simulcast with Radio Cultura AM 1200 kHz and 1210 kHz in DRM in Sao Paulo - Fundação Padre Anchieta. NOTE: In the same radio as there were tests HDRadio. On January 14, 2010 I was personally in Sao Paulo and I had the honor of being together and with the team of engineers in the acceptance tests in the Greater Sao Paulo. I live over 800 km from Sao Paulo but I have had the opportunity to decode the audio signal of Culture in both DRM 1210 kHz in Simulcast but also in 1200 kHz digital only.

In the VHF range, tests are being made in the region of Belo Horizonte on 104.5 MHz FM with 1500 watts and 104.4 MHz with DRM + 70Watts. Flávio said that even with this low power level digital signal, the signal is excellent within a radius of 40 km which is much higher than was estimated a radius of only 16 Km I found this amazing result, fantastic.

By testing the DRM is doing away with some myths that exist here and proved that:
1) works in Simulcast and IBOC;
2) that has full system for Medium Wave, Short Wave and also for VHF (FM);
3) they are doing tests for at least 2 months in Brazil;
4) that the DRM and DRM + is an excellent strength and that meet the needs of coverage of television partners;
5) that has a group of experts able to develop specific solutions for Brazil;


The tests will continue in March with DRM and IBOC Simulcast on the Medium Wave Radio CBN 780 kHz and DRM + on Radio Cultura FM 103.3 Mhz both in Sao Paulo.

Congratulations to all the people who are involved in the tests with the DRM and to choose the best standard for digital radio in Brazil.

São José-SC, 01 March 2010.

Ataliba Zandomênego Filho
Graduating in Electrical Engineering Telematics
Amateur: PP5AZF Range and the Citizen: PX5B8091

http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1972&page=3

(Via drmrx forum)

New website of All India Radio, Allahabad

New website of All India Radio, Allahabad ( Still under construction) : http://air.iiita.ac.in/

For a complete list of AIR websites visit : http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/links.htm

Community Radio Station to Start at Tamil Nadu

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Disttt Karur, Tamil Nadu. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Institute after recommendations of Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. With this, the number of CRS will increase to 65 in the country.

The M. Kumarsamy College of Engineering was established in the year 2000. The aim of setting up of Community Radio Station is to promote and provide education to the economically backward people and create awareness among the local community on child and human rights, culture and tradition, health hazards etc.

The Ministry encourages setting up of Community Radio Station, as it promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the youth and women.

(Press Information Bureau, Govt of India)

BBC Bangla to explore Bangladesh connectivity in special series

Channel i to broadcast TV content - multimedia series to run across radio, text, audio and video via BBC As the government of Bangladesh has announced its ambition to digitalise the country by 2021, in time for the nation's 50th anniversary, BBC Bangla investigates the project's chances for success in a special series of programmes.

In Jogajog Bangladesh (Connectivity Bangladesh), from Wednesday 10 to Friday 19 March, BBC Bangla provides audiences with an insight in all things digital in Bangladesh - and the country's digital future. The multimedia content will be broadcast on radio, online on bbcbangla.com - in text, audio and video - as well as by Bangladesh's Channel i television.

Head of BBC Bangla, Sabir Mustafa, says: "Arguably, full digitalisation of Bangladesh, where less than one per cent of the population is currently connected, is a tall order. "On the other hand, mobile phone use has expanded phenomenally in the past 15 years, and development organisations and private companies have stepped in to connect the rural population to the internet through a network of centres and direct-to-home services. "The BBC Bangla team is exploring the subject from a range of angles, to offer audiences an in-depth and comprehensive look at the extraordinary task."

Presented by Akbar Hossain and produced by Pulak Gupta, the eight BBC Bangla video news stories about digital connectivity in Bangladesh will be broadcast by Channel i in its prime-time news bulletin from Wednesday 10 to Wednesday 17 March, thanks to a special agreement with Channel i. In addition to television, the BBC Bangla series will also be available on shortwave and FM radio and online.

What does e-governance mean for Bangladesh's bureaucracy and public sector services? BBC Bangla follows an upazila (sub-district council) official and two members of the public who are seeking the council's assistance to establish whether digitalisation is changing the way bureaucracy works.

BBC Bangla also assesses whether the government's ambition to link hospitals across the country through internet video, thus giving patients in remote areas the opportunity to be consulted by top doctors in the capital, is realistic.

Bangladesh is mainly an agricultural country - how is digital connectivity being used to improve the lives of farmers? BBC Bangla follows a farmer to a rural 'tele-centre' where he requests information on fertilisers and pesticides, and asks him what difference the use of the internet has made to his work.

BBC Bangla also documents how information delivered via SMS is helping farmers get better prices and deliver their produce to the markets at the best possible time. Another highlight of Jogajog Bangladesh is InfoLadies - the 'digital foot-doctors of Bangladesh' - who ride the length and breadth of the country on their bicycles. With netbooks connected via mobile internet cards, hey visit rural households to bring the internet to their doorsteps. The BBC Bangla crew follows one such InfoLady, documenting her day, and also talks to the scheme's benefactors to find out if it is bringing any change to their lives. BBC Bangla also looks at how the internet has affected Ghataks, the traditional Bengali matchmakers. The BBC reports from a Ghatak's office, following the matchmaker's interaction with clients over the internet. BBC Bangla is also following another Ghatak who comes to a tele-centre, seeking information about a potential groom's employment situation... Jogajog Bangladesh culminates on Friday 19 March on all platforms with a live Have Your Say debate.

Produced and presented from the Channel i studios, the programme will hear multimedia audiences' views on whether Bangladesh can leapfrog into the digital age by 2021.

BBC Bangla is a multimedia service, offering news and current affairs, sports, science, and cultural features to the Bengali-speaking community worldwide and is regarded as a reference point for accuracy and impartiality.

BBC Bangla radio is available in Bangladesh on BBC 100 FM in Dhaka, 101.2 FM in Comilla, 102 FM in Khulna, 105.4 FM in Chittagong, 105 FM in Rajashahi, 105.4 FM in Rangpur and 105 FM in Sylhet.

Bangla speakers across the world can also access BBC Bangla programmes in audio at bbcbangla.com.

Radio programmes include the daily morning news and current affairs programmes Provati at 6.30am and Prattyusha at 7.30am (Bangladesh Time), the daily evening programme Probaho at 7.30pm and late-night programme Parikrama at 10.30pm.

Audiences can also take part in phone-in programmes each Monday and Saturday evening. The in-depth current-affairs programme This World is broadcast on Tuesdays, Interview Of The Week on Wednesdays, and the science programme Bigyaner Ashor on Thursdays. On Fridays, there is a documentary series Dharabahik, and at the weekends there is the sports magazine programme Mathe Maidaney (Saturdays) and the listeners' letters programme Pritibhajoneshu (Sundays).

(BBC World Service International Publicity)