Chowna Mein launches Arun FM
Itanagar
Deputy Chief minister, Chowna Mein launch the extended ARUN FM Transmission at All India Radio, Itanagar on Sunday.
Expressing his long attachment with the All India Radio, Mein said that the signature tune of All India Radio that was played during the launching of the ARUN FM Transmission has brought back his old memories of listening to the news and songs in local dialects. He said that in those days AIR Dibrugarh was only medium of entertainment and source of information for the people of the State.
Recollecting his memories, he said “they used to gather and keep the Radio in ON mode long before the programme time and wait for the beeping of signature tune to listen to our favourite program every evening”. Listening to the Cricket Commentary through Radio were also quite exciting and said, “those were the moments we spent with radio which will never forget.”
However, with the passage of time and advancement of Technology, Televisions and other modern gadgets like the smart phones has completely stalled the people’s attractions from radio. It poses as a great challenge to the AIR today to keep pace with the advancement of modern technology.
He appreciated the way AIR took this challenge. Today, we can see that the Broadcasting in India is shifting from analog mode to digital mode. Almost all the radio stations of AIR have been digitized now with the great improvement in broadcast quality.
FM station of programme broadcasting has brought a revolution in AIR and made it popular among the masses as it has easy access to the listeners through FM receivers in every car and mobile phones these days, Mein said.
Congratulating the AIR Itanagar for successful launching of its own programme ARUN FM, he said that the State Govt will give every possible support for the improvement of AIR service in the State. He also said to make a request to the Union Govt for setting up of Radio Stations with FM Transmission in all the districts.
He further said that ARUN FM 103.1 MHZ will be an effective medium for dissemination of information on govt activities, programmes and policies to the people of the State and further appealed to the govt as well as the private agencies to make best use of the ARUN FM service for highlighting their activities and for reaching out to the people. He said to allocate some fund provisions for AIR Itanagar in the coming budget and asked the AIR officials to send proposals. He also said them to engage the young talents of the State in their programme as AIR Itanagar has been an effective platform for the local artists to grow.
He also mentioned of how effectively the Prime Minister of India is using AIR to reach out to the people across the country through his popular Radio Programme “Mann Ki Baat” in every last Saturday of the month and requested the people to listen to it carefully.
Chairman of Hydropower Development Corporation, Tungri Effa who accompanied Deputy Chief Minister on the occasion said that illiterate villagers and people of remote places where news papers hardly reached, Radio is still used as the popular medium of entertainment and source of information. He requested the Govt to set up Radio Stations in remote districts too, to keep them inform about the development activities of the state.
Programme Head, J B Nabam while throwing lights on the 31 years journey of AIR Itanagar informed that AIR Itanagar started with a kutcha house in the year 1986 in Naharlagun and later it was shifted to the present locations in the year 1996. Initially it started with 1 KW MW Transmitter and later it was upgraded to 200 MW.
He further informed that ARUN FM 103.1 Megahertz is a part of vigorous initiative taken up by the Director General of All India Radio to improve the quality of broadcast. Initially ARUN FM will air its own programs from AIR Itanagar for 7 hours and very soon it will be extended to atleast 13 hours of broadcast on its own 10 KW transmitter and it will give aerial coverage of at least 40 KM radius.
He said that programme will be broadcast in 16 dialects with inclusion of three new local dialects namely, Hrusso, Sajolang and Tutsa and consists of News Bulletin in 11 dialects besides updating news headlines in every hour.
He further stated that AIR Itanagar is also presently transmitting program on FM for almost 24 X 7 by relaying FM Vividh Bharati on its 100 Watt FM Transmitter which is fully enjoyed by the listeners of Capital Complex. He also informed that a new AIR station is coming up at Daporijo and Changlang soon.
He expressed confident that All India Radio is here to stay, to serve and entertain people with their sole motto “Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya”.
On the occasion, K Morang, Director (Engineer) of Doordarshan Kendra, Itanagar, Sanjay Koul, Engineer Head, AIR Itanagar and Senior Radio Artists, Bengia Hemanta and Taba Yal Nabam also share their views and experiences with All India Radio, Itanagar.
