Monday, April 26, 2010

ITU Awards 2010

ITU Award goes to Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato' Tun Abdul Razak,
China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou and Internet pioneer Robert Kahn

World Telecommunication and Information Society Award will be presented at
World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China on 17 May

Geneva, 23 April 2010 - ITU marks the 145th anniversary of its establishment on 17 May this year by recognizing three eminent personalities who have contributed to the ongoing digital revolution. Malaysian Premier Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak; Chairman and CEO of China Mobile Mr Wang Jianzhou; and Mr Robert Kahn, one of the early pioneers of the Internet, were awarded the 2010 ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Award in recognition of their dedication to promoting ICTs as a means of providing a better life for humanity.
The Awards were announced on the closing day of the annual session of ITU's Council.
Making the announcement, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré welcomed the three eminent laureates who have contributed to connecting the world through the Internet and the mobile phone and in making cyberspace a safer place for users everywhere. "ICTs have been instrumental in paving the way for a better future, increasingly dictating lifestyles and behaviour patterns, contributing to the growth of trade and commerce, improving governance and municipal services, and revolutionizing entertainment through the development of rapid communications," Dr Touré said. "On the 145th anniversary of ITU, it is my pleasure to honour those who have made this possible through their foresight and commitment to harness the potential of ICTs to make the world a better place."
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) marks the establishment of ITU on 17 May, 1865. It brings attention to the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) in meeting the development and economic aspirations of societies and on the importance of the Internet as a global resource. This year's theme for WTISD, "Better City, Better Life with ICT", is in keeping with the overarching theme — Better City, Better Life — of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China where the global ceremony commemorating the occasion will be held on 17 May.
ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Awards

Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak has made connectivity one of his priorities. As part of the New Economic Model for Malaysia, he has placed a high priority on strengthening ICT infrastructure. His administration has supported the work of ITU in strengthening global cybersecurity through the IMPACT Centre in Cyberjaya near Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Wang Jianzhou is Executive Director, Chairman and CEO of China Mobile, which operates the world's largest mobile network with over 500 million subscribers. The China Mobile network covers all major cities in China as well as outlying and remote rural areas.
Mr Robert Kahn, President and CEO of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), played a key pioneering role in the development of the Internet. He laid the foundations of the TCP/IP protocol architecture, which is a standard operating feature of the Internet. CNRI is a non-profit organization that focuses on the strategic development of network-based information technologies and Kahn has continued to nurture the evolution of the Internet, steering the development of new standards.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/wtisd/ or contact:
Sanjay Acharya, Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
(Jaisakthivel, Tirunelveli, India)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Radio Prague Competition 2010

Radio Prague is announcing its 10th annual listeners' competition. This year the competition question is:

Which Czech writer or literary work do you like best and why?

The person who sends the best answer, which will be chosen by a specially appointed jury, will win a weeklong stay for two in Prague. There will also be prizes and souvenir items for runners-up. The best answers will be featured in our programme and published on our website www.radio.cz on the last weekend of June.

Entries should be sent no later than 15. June 2010 to the following address:

Radio Prague
Vinohradská 12, 120 99 Prague
Czech Republic
or via email to: cr@radio.cz

The main prize is being sponsored by PARKHOTEL Praha. Parkhotel Praha offers visitors a blend of comfort and history, quality and modern design, within easy reach of the city centre.(Via Radio Prague website)

Monday, April 19, 2010

GOVT TO SPEND AROUND RS 1,500 CRORE IN NEXT THREE YEARS for AIR & DD

In order to undertake effective use of spectrum and to shut down the broadcast transmission in the existing analogue mode, the government will spend around Rs 1,500 crore in next three years to turn Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) digital.

The infrastructure of Doordarshan and AIR in all major metros and important state capitals is expected to go digital in next three to four years. This will put India among the select group of countries to have turned their broadcasting digital.

This move will effectively reduce the number of terrestrial transmitters from 1,400 to less than 700 for Doordarshan while increasing the carrying capacity of channels per transmitter. For viewers, this will mean a substantial improvement in reception of picture and sound quality.

While the Union Cabinet has allocated Rs 620 crore towards the digitalisation plans of Doordarshan, AIR will get over Rs 840 crore. Both have to put in place the digital infrastructure in next three years.

According to Doordarshan officials, under the digitalisation drive, all the major Doordarshan Kendras will get digital equipment. Subsequently, all such Doordarshan stations will be digitally linked using the satellite. The digital archiving of content and video library is currently on. The transmission of Commonwealth Games in October will kick-off the digital transmission drive of Doordarshan terrestrially. Digital Terrestrial Transmission or DTT has been adopted by several developed and developing nations in order to unlock spectrum and provide better quality of broadcasting. India, according to a Planning Commission report, should be able to completely switch over to digital transmission before 2017.

n order to do so, the government is approaching the digitalisation drive in four steps. In the initial two steps, the digital infrastructure of Doordarshan in Delhi and other metros will be upgraded at an estimated cost of Rs 320 crore. Similarly, AIR's infrastructure will be overhauled by replacing the existing medium-wave transmitter by digital transmitters at an estimated cost of Rs 290 crore.

Source: www.financialexpress.com)

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Amateur Radio Day

Ms Bharathi Prasad, Chief Coordinator, National Institute of Amateur Radio (second from left), helps a young woman communicate via high frequency transceivers at the Amateur Radio Museum, which was inaugurated on the occasion of World Amateur Radio Day at the institute in Hyderabad on Sunday. The museum houses an impressive display of a wide range of HF/VHF/UHF Amateur (HAM) radio wireless communication equipment. Several home brewed devices and accessories, including HF transceivers, antennas, direction finding devices used for hunting and hidden transmitters are also on display. (www.thehindubusinessline.com 19/4)

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Friday, April 16, 2010

BBC on SLBC again

Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC has started relaying BBC World radio on FM band. The relaying starts the BBC English, Sinhala and Tamil programmes after a 14 month break. The BBC suspended its rebroadcast in February last year.

The BBC programmes were suspended in February last year "following deliberate interference in its broadcasts," BBC said in a statement.

During the suspension, the BBC's services in all three languages remained available in Sri Lanka via short wave; on bbc.com/news, bbcsinhala.com and bbctamil.com via the Internet; and news bulletins in English via the Sri Lankan commercial broadcaster MBC.

Director of BBC Global News Peter Horrocks said that the BBC wishes to rebuild its partnership with SLBC.

"We have been reassured by SLBC that our contractual agreement will be respected, which guarantees that our programmes in English, Sinhala, and Tamil are broadcast uninterrupted," he said. Mr. Horrocks added that the BBC audiences value the editorial intergrity of its programming.

"Our audiences understand that in order to cover news events in the most comprehensive and balanced way, the BBC adheres to specific editorial values that include impartiality, editorial independence and seeking a relevant range of views on any topic," he said. (Daily Mirror 15/04)


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Saturday, April 10, 2010