Akashvani (radio broadcaster)

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For the electronica band, see All India Radio (band). For Sanskrit term,
see Akashvani (term).
For other uses, see Akashvani.

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All India Radio


Type Government Organisation
Country India
Availability National
Motto Bahujan Hitaya Bahujan Sukhaya
[1]

Headquarters Sansad Marg, New Delhi- 110001, India,
Owner Prasar Bharati
Launch date
1930
Official
website
www.allindiaradio.org,www.newsonair.nic.in

AIR headquarters in New Delhi
All India Radio (AIR), officially known since 1956 as Akashvani (kshavn literally,
"Voice of the Sky"), is the nationalpublic radio broadcaster of India and a division
of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1930,
[2]
it is the sister service of Prasar
Bharati's Doordarshan, the national public television broadcaster. All India Radio is
one of the largest radio networks in the world. Its headquarters is at the Akashvani
Bhavan in New Delhi. Akashvani Bhavan houses the Drama Section, the FM Section
and the National Service. Doordarshan Kendra (Delhi) offices are also located on the
sixth floor at Akashvani Bhavan. The word "Akashvani" was coined by M. V.
Gopalaswamy of Mysore in 1936.
Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
3 Domestic services
o 3.1 Vividh Bharati
o 3.2 Other services include
o 3.3 Regional services
4 External services
o 4.1 Comparison
5 Other services
o 5.1 Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)
o 5.2 News-on-phone service
o 5.3 Direct-to-home service
o 5.4 Documentaries
o 5.5 Central Drama Unit
o 5.6 Social Media Cell
6 Controversy
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Etymology[edit]
The word kavni () is taken from Sanskrit. In Sanskrit Akashvani
means a gift or message from heaven. Often in Hindu mythological stories, folk-tales
and fables like Panchatantra & Hitopadesha, whenever, Gods wanted to say
something, an Akashvani occurred.
History[edit]
In British India, broadcasting began in July 1923 with programmes by the Radio
Club of Bombay and other radio clubs. According to an agreement of 23 July 1927,
the private Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC) was authorized to operate two
radio stations; the Bombay station began on 23 July 1927, and the Calcutta station
followed on 26 August 1927. On 1 March 1930, however, the company went into
liquidation. The government took over the broadcasting facilities, beginning the
Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 (on an experimental basis
for two years, and permanently in May 1932). On 8 June 1936; the ISBS was
renamed All India Radio.
[2]

The word "Akashvani" was coined by M. V. Gopalaswamy after setting up the
nations first private radio station in his residence, "Vittal Vihar" (about 200 yards
from AIRs current location in Mysore) in 1936.
[3]
Akashvani means "celestial
announcement"; the word, of Sanskrit origin, is often found in Hindu mythology.
When the gods wished to say something, an akashvani occurred.
Literally, akash means "sky" and vani means "sound" or
"message".
[4]
Thus, Akashvani seemed to be fit for use by a radio broadcaster and
was later adopted as All India Radio's on-air name after independence.
On 1 October 1939 the External Service began with a broadcast in Pushtu; it was
intended to counter radio propaganda from Germany directed to Afghanistan, Iran
and the Arab nations. When India became independent in 1947, the AIR network
had only six stations (in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Chennai, Lucknow,
andTiruchirappalli); the total number of radio sets at that time was about 275,000. On
3 October 1957 the Vividh Bharati Service was launched, to compete with Radio
Ceylon. Television broadcasting began in Delhi in 1959 as part of AIR, but was split
off from the radio network as Doordarshan on 1 April 1976.
[5]
FM broadcasting began
on 23 July 1977 in Chennai, and was expanded during the 1990s.
[6]

Domestic services[edit]

AIR tower in Mangalore, Karnataka

Kolkata Centre of All India Radio
AIR has many services in a number of languages, each serving different regions
across India.
Vividh Bharati[edit]
Vividh Bharati is one of the best-known services of AIR. Its name roughly translates
as "Multi-Indian Service", and it is also known as the Commercial Broadcasting
Service (CBS). It is the commercially most accessible of the AIR networks and is
popular in Mumbai and other large cities. Vividh Bharati offers a wide range of
programmes including news, film music and comedy programs. It operates on
different mediumwave-band frequencies for each city.
Some programs broadcast on Vividh Bharati are:
Hawa-mahal: Radio plays based on novels and plays
Santogen ki mehfil: Comedy
Other services include[edit]
Primary Channel [1]
National Channel
[7]

Regional services[edit]
The headquarters of the Regional Deputy Directors General are located at Delhi and
Chandigarh (NR), Lucknow and Bhopal (CR), Guwahati (NER), Kolkata (ER),
Mumbai and Ahmedabad (WR), Chennai and Bangalore (SR).
[8]
All frequencies are
in kHz, unless otherwise noted.