Television owners might have to again shell out a licence fee- this time to fund state-owned Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio, if a government committee has its way.
Instrumental music played by maestros like Ustad Bismillah Khan, TN Rajaratnam Pillai and Pandit Pannalal Ghosh will keep passengers entertained in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains which have a public announcement system in place.
Bollywood has quite a few actors known for their magical awaaz.
Rediff.com beings you some of Sitar maestro Pt Ravi Shankar's rare photographs from our archives.
We start off the Big B's 70th birthday celebrations with some of his iconic lines in his films.
A report prepared by the Association for Democratic Reforms states that the total tax exemptions received by six national parties during financial years 2006 to 2009 is Rs 510.02 crore. Vicky Nanjappa reports
President Pranab Mukherjee will deliver his maiden address to the nation on Tuesday on the eve of 66th Independence Day.
Rajesh Khanna's life can be viewed as a paradigm of stardom's tragedy. He found both success and failure hard to handle.
Debarun Mukerjee's collection were resplendent of a bygone era
Get Ahead reader Daya Kudari reviews BlackBerry's recent launch BlackBerry Bold 9900 in response to our reader invite.
I&B ministry to lease out AIR towers to private FM operators in the sensitive north-east region.
The government on Thursday cleared guidelines of the much-delayed FM Radio Phase III expansion that will allow private radio channels to broadcast news of All India Radio and enable revenue generation of Rs 1,733 crore (Rs 17.33 billion) from the auction of license for services in 227 cities.
Belying expectations, Prasar Bharti has earned only Rs 58.19 crore (Rs 581.9 million) as revenue during the Commonwealth Games last month.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been given the responsibility of promoting the Unique Identification Number project, officials said here on Friday.
The government on Thursday approved the Rs 1,540 crore (Rs 15.40 billion) digitalisation programme for state-owned broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio in the 11th Plan to help meeting challenges posed by private operators.
The unending travails of Prasar Bharati Corporation, now made worse by allegations of corruption in high places and a threatened strike by its employees, point once again to the need for new thinking on public broadcasting.
Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal was derecognised as a national party by the Election Commission on Friday, a decision that comes ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar.
'His speech at the bhoomi puja will stand out for a long time in the memory of those who listened to it for touching the pinnacle of excellence and brilliance in both style and content,' declares B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Harriette Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina, completed Sunday's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego in 7 hours, 24 minutes, 36 seconds. She was mobbed by well-wishers as she crossed the finish line, AP reported.
Malayalam music director M G Radhakrishnan, the creator of many evergreen melodies, died at a private hospital today.
Did video kill the radio star? Definitely no. FM radio is on a high, but there is equal space for RJs, VJs and DJs.
Nirupama Rao, who took over as the foreign secretary on August 1, has had a variety of issues on her platter -- the reported incursions by China along the border, the attack near the Indian embassy in Kabul, Pakistan dilly-dallying on prosecuting Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and the mounting political pressure over the rehabilitation of displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka.
With no solution emerging in the legal battle between music companies and private FM radio operators over royalty rates, many of the 37 private FM radio companies have threatened to shut shop soon, restricting choices for over 200 million FM radio listeners to All India Radio channels.
Eminent Shehnai exponent Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan, one of the best-known players of the instrument after the legendary Bismillah Khan, passed away in Kolkata following prolonged illness. He was 77.
He had said representatives of FM Radio stations had met him and he had told them that he had no objection to allowing them to broadcast news.
Senior journalist A Surya Prakash was on Tuesday appointed chairman of the Prasar Prasar Bharati Board, filling a post which had been lying vacant for the last six months.
The official said the listeners of all the languages are sending messages through e-mails and WhatsApp to AIR. "The gist of the messages are that the people are considering this act of Pakistan as unIslamic as punishing innocent is against the tenets of Islam. Travellers are given high regards in Islam," the official added.
'Of the 202 debates, 79 were around attacking Pakistan and 66 attacking the Opposition and Nehru.' 'The PMC Bank scam where thousands of depositors lost their savings got just one,' points out Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
'Poornam' Viswanathan, actor and former Tamil News reader with All India Radio who announced India attaining freedom in his news bulletin in 1947, died in Chennai on Wednesday after brief illness.
The employees of Doordarshan and All India Radio employees on Tuesday called off their proposed day-long 'tool down' strike after a meeting with Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi.
For 80 years, news and views aired on BBC Hindi reached audiences in the remotest parts of the country. For millions of its followers, the signature line -'yeh BBC hai (this is BBC)' -- has been like a morning alarm, and the bulletins a vital link between India and the world. That link, which began when there was no mobile phone or internet, is about to break as the radio service will fall silent after January 31. And for many living in smaller towns and in rural areas, life won't be the same again, writes Nivedita Mookerji.
On Monday, more than 5000 employees of Prasar Bharti-run DD and AIR went on a mass casual leave. "The government has made no effort to heed to the grievance of employees. So we have decided to continue with our nationwide agitation," Sangam Thankur, General Secretary, Akashvani and Doordarshan Administrative Staff Association said.
In a statement, the National Federation of Akashvani & Doordarshan Employees - an umbrella body of 21 associations representing about 38,000 employees -- said that all the members have submitted their leave applications with the department heads.
Thiruvaiyuru, where composer-saint Tyagaraja lived, is an annual pilgrimage for Carnatic musicians, eminent and unknown, young and old.
Vempati previously worked with Infosys and now heads an online media company.
He will be the first head of State to address the nation on the eve of Teacher's Day.
The administrative staff of All India Radio and Doordarshan across the country today went on one-day mass casual leave in protest against disparity in the pay scales in Prasar Bharti. More than 5,000 employees across various DD and AIR kendras submitted their leave applications.
The long-pending issue of providing central government employee status is expected to be the main agenda of the GoM, which is possible only through an amendment of the Prasar Bharati Act. According to Prasar Bharati sources, it is being speculated that the August 22 meeting will be the last one of the GoM since the United Progressive Alliance government is already in poll mode.
With most private television channels deserting it, DD Direct Plus, the direct-to-home (DTH) company from Prasar Bharati, has become a true pubcaster carrying 34 channels of which 31 are from Doordarshan.These 31 DD-channels include 19 television channels and 12 All India Radio channels. The private channels that were recently disconnected from DD Direct Plus include Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, BBC World, Star Utsav and Akash Bangla, sources said.
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