Open House Discussion on "Issues related to Community Radio Stations"

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will hold an Open House
Discussion on "Issues related to Community Radio Stations" on 3 July 2014
in New Delhi.

Subject: "Issues related to Community Radio Stations"
Location: New Delhi
Event Date: 03/07/2014

Venue:  Conference Room,
3rd Floor, TRAI (HQ),
Mahanagar Doorsanchar Bhawan,
Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg (Old Minto Road), Next to Zakir Hussain college,
New Delhi-110002

Those interested in participating in the OHD are required to register
either by sending an email to vk.agarwal@trai.gov.in or on phone
(011-23236036) between 10.30am and 5.00pm on or before 1 July 2014.

The Consultation Paper on the subject is available on the TRAI website,
www.trai.gov.in., under 'Consultations':
http://trai.gov.in/Content/ConDis/713_0.aspx

Local Contact:
Name:Shri Agneshwar Sen, Advisor
Phone no:011-23234367
Email:asen@trai.gov.in

Via CR India

Community radio creates new waves in Uttarakhand

Rattled by the flood disaster last year, popular community radio voices have resolved to take up issues to safeguard their surroundings from further decay

Community radio producers at the Kumaon Vani CR station at Supi village as a programme gets under way (photos by Anupam Chakravartty)

One year after thousands of people went missing in one of the worst natural disasters in the country in the recent times—the Uttarakhand flood disaster—six community radio stations from various parts of the state have joined hands to educate people about environmental conservation and the hazards of unplanned development. The community radio stations have been brought under the umbrella Community Radio Consortium for Environment Protection (CRCEP) on the initiative of Delhi-based media non-profit, Ideosync Media Combine. After a series of workshops and training programmes spread over a period of eight months, the radio stations started airing their programmes from mid-June; the programmes target rural communities in remote areas of the state.

According to the head of Ideosync Media,  Venu Arora, the radio stations have learnt a lot from each other in terms of technical expertise and designing their own programmes. "We organised workshops for community radio producers in different parts of the state. This helped us to gauge some of the issues and understand the importance of environment which goes a long way in disaster preparedness. Over eight months, they learnt policies related to environment and finally got down to designing their programmes," she says. Once the first programmes are aired, Arora and her team are also going to upload the radio shows on Internet through a common platform called Manch, which will be accessible to community radio producers across the country.

Rajendra Negi, a community radio programme producer from Chamba working with Henval Vani, a community radio channel reaching five blocks in Garhwal region, was devastated last year when the tragedy struck Uttarakhand. "This was the disaster waiting to happen. The kind of unchecked construction, mining along the river beds and deforestation was invitation to the tragedy. All of this culminated in the tragic event of June 16, last year," recalls Negi. He has been associated with grassroots activism in the region for 15 years and was earlier associated with another community radio station, Mandakini Ki Awaaz. 

Push to people to make informed choices 
Earlier in March, at one of the workshops organised by Ideosync in Nainital, Negi and his team devised a programme for listeners. His main focus was haphazard road construction, which, he says, led to landslides last year, blocking several roads. "In all these years, what we have seen is that people first demand roads. When the roads damage agricultural fields, they start a movement demanding compensation. Later, when the unplanned construction of roads leads to landslides, there is a movement against the road. If these people make an informed choice right at the beginning when they start demanding roads, then these kind of unplanned construction and hostility between communities and the administration would really come down," says Negi. 

Community radio producers with women from Supi village in Nainital

For their research, Negi divided his team into two groups. One went to an interior village, about 16 km from Chamba town, the other decided to study the impact of road construction in a village very close to Chamba. "In order to inform the listeners, we have thought of this programme where we will show the examples from both the villages. One which is close to the national highway and the other in a remote location, and talk about the pros and cons," he says.

On June 16, Negi and his team aired the first environmental programme at 8 pm. "Keeping our research as the context, we planned a programme in Garhwali, titled "Nau par vikas" (In the name of development). It is of 20 minutes duration; we plan to start the programme with a story-telling session by a local senior citizen, someone who has seen how Uttarakhand has changed over the years. This will be followed by a drama, in which we have three fixed characters representing, jal (water), jungal (forests) and zameen (land), who will narrate stories about past and future while taking up the local issues related to these three things," says Negi. In the third segment called "kutiyari" (meaning a kit or a pouch), Radio Henval Vani plans to give crucial information related to rights of the people and legal opinions on issues such as public hearing. According to Negi, the first programme was a huge success with five persons calling from different villages telling the radio about their problems. Negi and his team are now working on 12 more episodes in the first phase. 

Two community radio producers from Henval Vani radio station discussing their plan of action for the upcoming programme on Uttarakhand at a workshop organized by Ideosync Media Combine in Nainital

At Kumaon Vani, a community radio station based in Supi village of Nainital district in Mukteshwar block, the producers climb to the top of the mountain where the station is located without making any fuss about the location of the location of their workplace.  The radio station reaches out to four districts and is supported by Delhi-based The Energy Research Institute (TERI). Although Kumaon was not hit by last year's tragedy, water scarcity, illegal mining and deforestation are big concerns in the region. "We already have a panel which addresses the local communities on various agricultural issues. Now we have planned a radio magazine of a duration of 15 minutes consisting of a chat show and vox pop in which an expert panel will address the issues related to forest rights," says Hari Singh of Kumaon Vani. For the next two months, a team of 10 to 12 field reporters would be working on the cases reaching the local Van Panchayat in Supi as a part of the research for the topics to be discussed in the chat shows. 

Pant university pitches in 
A community radio station run by GB Pant University of Agriculture has also started airing programmes on the environment. 

Sanjay Kumar from Jan Vani has already made 15 to 20 persons from 180 villages in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand members of a Jan Vani club. For the next two months, with the network of these clubs in the terai region of the state, Jan Vani will air one 30 minute show talking about increase in industrialisation and buildings in terai region. "The programme, Concrete ki Jungle (Forests of concrete), will focus on how agricultural land has dwindled in the terai region of Uttarakhand. Between 2000 and 2014, new industries have used up 40,000 hectares of land for factories, malls and new buildings. Our small and marginal farmers, who mainly listen to our radio station for agricultural shows, have often told us about the impacts from such constructions. With the panel of in-house experts from the university, we will be discussing the problems of these farmers," says Kumar. 

A community radio from Radio Zindagi in Mussoorie talking to a listener on the environmental programmes launched this month across six radio stations in Uttarakhand to avoid disasters like last year's flash floods

Two urban community radio stations, Radio Khushi based in Mussoorie and Radio Zindagi in Dehradun, have, meanwhile, taken up the topic of illegal building construction. According to Ashish Thapa, a community radio producer with the station, the radio station would name the programme Khawabo Ka Shahar (City of dreams) to talk about unchecked construction in Mussoorie. Similarly, Priyanka Goswami, an energetic radio producer from Radio Zindagi, has designed her radio shows in such a way that it breaks the myth that areas in plains or lower altitudes do not suffer during the environmental disasters in the mountains. "We are already in talks with Dehradun Development Authority to inform our listeners about the rules related to construction of buildings. We have formed a panel of experts who will answer to queries of the listeners calling in," says Goswami.

Author(s): Anupam Chakravartty

Date:Jul 27, 2014

Source: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/

Supporting Community Radio Movement in India

[Advertisement by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of
India]

*Applications Invited: Community Radio Stations and Letter of Intent (LoI)
holders may apply for financial assistance under the scheme "Supporting
Community Radio Movement in India"*

Salient Features: Under the 12th Five Year Plan, Government of India has
approved a scheme, namely, "Supporting Community Radio Movement in India".
The scheme seeks to provide financial assistance to LoI holders as well as
operating Community Radio Stations under the component, "Community Radio
Support Scheme" (CRSS) for equipment acquisition, upgradation and for
emergency grants.

In this regard, detailed guidelines
<http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/CRSS_Guidelines.pdf> and prescribed
application form
<http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/Application_Form_for_financial_Assistance_to_CRS.pdf>
are placed on Ministry's website at www.mib.nic.in.

Last date for submission of application for financial assistance is *31st
July, 2014*

For any query/assistance, please contact:
Assistant Project Director
CRS-PMU, Room No.124, First Floor, A-Wing, Shastri Bhawan,
New Delhi 110001
Email: crscell-moib@nic.in,
pankaj.chhibber@nic.in, amit.dwivedi@nic.in

Phone: +91-11-23386653------------

Via CR India

"Supporting Community Radio Movement in India"

[Advertisement by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of
India]

*Applications Invited: Community Radio Stations and Letter of Intent (LoI)
holders may apply for financial assistance under the scheme "Supporting
Community Radio Movement in India"*

Salient Features: Under the 12th Five Year Plan, Government of India has
approved a scheme, namely, "Supporting Community Radio Movement in India".
The scheme seeks to provide financial assistance to LoI holders as well as
operating Community Radio Stations under the component, "Community Radio
Support Scheme" (CRSS) for equipment acquisition, upgradation and for
emergency grants.

In this regard, detailed guidelines
<http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/CRSS_Guidelines.pdf> and prescribed
application form
<http://mib.nic.in/WriteReadData/documents/Application_Form_for_financial_Assistance_to_CRS.pdf>
are placed on Ministry's website at www.mib.nic.in.

Last date for submission of application for financial assistance is *31st
July, 2014*

For any query/assistance, please contact:
Assistant Project Director
CRS-PMU, Room No.124, First Floor, A-Wing, Shastri Bhawan,
New Delhi 110001
Email: crscell-moib@nic.in,
pankaj.chhibber@nic.in, amit.dwivedi@nic.in
Phone: +91-11-23386653

Via CR India

 

Third phase of radio licensing soon: Javadekar IANS

The government will soon start auction for new radio channels, as well as permitting private FM channels to broadcast news, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said Thursday.

"The phase III licensing for radio channels will be processed faster, and news will allowed in FM radio soon," he said at a round table on media and entertainment.

Javadekar also said that the government wanted to make national broadcaster Doordarshan the "first choice" of viewers.

He also said that there is a need to addresses the issue of decency in advertisements.

"They show advertisements where a guy uses a deodorant and women start running towards him. The situation is not so bad for women," Javadekar said.

"We can give films A (adult) certification, but not to Doordarshan. But government will not impose any code, they (advertisers) have to evolve a code for themselves and practise self-restraint," he said.

Source: www.business-standard.co
|  New Delhi  June 19, 2014 Last Updated at 17:24 IST

Wavescan NWS278

* Theme - 00:00

            “Birthday Serenade” - Willi Glahe

* Opening Announcement - 00:16

            Welcome to “Wavescan”, international DX program from Adventist World Radio

            Researched and written in Indianapolis, produced in studios of shortwave WRMI

            Program outline

                        1. Tribute to Shortwave WYFR - 11: The Mystery of the Missing Callsign WRUR

                        2. NASB Report: Dr. Kim Elliott VOA

                        3. Australian DX Report

           

* Tribute to Shortwave WYFR - 11: The Mystery of the Missing Callsign WRUR - 01:01

            A very interesting find that has come to light as a result of intensive research into the long and illustrious history of shortwave WYFR/WRMI is the fact that an illusive callsign was in use for a few years, but very little detail is given regarding its usage.  This intriguing callsign WRUR was associated in some way with the historic shortwave station WRUL at Hatherly Beach, Scituate as it was known back towards the middle of last century.       

* What are the known facts about the mystery callsign WRUR? 

            According to the available information, it is stated that station WRUR was a powerful shortwave station at Boston and it was owned by the World Wide Broadcasting Foundation.  It was always linked in tandem with the known transmitter WRUL, though it was never listed with the other well known transmitter WRUW, both of which were owned by the same World Wide Broadcasting Foundation, WWBF. 

            The only known frequency usage by WRUR was 9700 kHz, which was used exclusively by WRUW, and the earlier W2XAL when the transmitter was located at Coytesville in New Jersey.  This WRUR callsign is known to have been in use when WWBF carried programming in European languages, beamed to Italy, Poland and Yugoslavia. 

            The callsign WRUR was in use apparently for around half a dozen years, running from approximately 1941 - 1947.  However, there are no known monitoring reports of programming from a shortwave transmitter under the callsign WRUR; not in the United States, not in New Zealand and not in Australia.  No known QSL card issued by WWBF lists the curious callsign WRUR.

* Known modifications at Hatherly Beach not associated with callsign WRUR

            In researching all of the available information about WRUR, in print and via the internet, it becomes obvious that certain conjectured possibilities can be ruled out.  For example:

1.    Was WRUR in Boston a new call for the shortwave transmitter W4XB-WDJM from Florida that was absorbed into WRUL?  No, not so.  This double 5 kW transmitter from Florida was taken over by WRUL in 1941 and it was activated at Hatherly Beach under the consecutive callsigns WRUS & WRUX.

2. Was WRUR in Boston the combination callsign for the two new 50 kW transmitters WRUA & WRUS   

    when they were on the air as a single unit with a combined output at 100 kW?  No, not so.  It is true,  

    this combination unit was inaugurated around the same time as the WRUR callsign was in use,

   1943, but it is known that the double unit at 100 kW usually identified on air as WRUA.

3. Was WRUR in Boston a callsign in association with the new 100 kW amplifier that was installed at 

    Hatherly Beach for use on shortwave?  No, not so.  This 100 kW amplifier was installed in 1948, after 

    the usage of the WRUR callsign had ended.

4. Was WRUR in Boston the shortwave transmitter WPIT-WBOS from Hull that was absorbed into  

    WRUL?  No, not so.  This double 10 kW transmitter from Hull was taken over by WRUL in 1953, half

    a dozen years after the Boston callsign WRUR was no longer in use.

* Attested usage of callsign WRUR

            Of course, it is always possible that callsign WRUR as listed in various sources is simply a mistaken identification, a typo.  However, this does not seem to be the case, due to the fact that several  otherwise reliable sources do list the callsign WRUR as a genuine callsign in use by the World Wide Broadcasting Foundation WWBF in Boston.  These sources are not quoting previous sources wherein the callsign WRUR was stated, but rather they are quoting contemporary sources that use the callsign WRUR.

             Among the reliable sources for the usage of the WRUR callsign are the following:-          

1. In his 1969 Master’s Thesis, at Brigham Young University in Provo Utah, Andre Mostert states that

    the FCC gave approval on October 28, 1941, for station WRUR to use 9700 kHz, provided no 

    interference was caused to existing services.

2. In a 1991 report, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Global History Network

    published a report from Dr. Ivan Getting wherein he states that during the early part of World War 2, 

    there were two powerful shortwave stations in Boston, WRUR and WRUL, and that there were

    occasions when they took programming from mediumwave station WCOP with studios in Copley

    Plaza.  It can be remembered that Getting was an early and prominent experimenter on behalf of the

    American government in the development of radar.

3. In the February 24, 1942 issue of the Yugoslav language daily newspaper in Cleveland Ohio there is 

    a lengthy article about programming from WRUL and WRUR that was beamed towards Yugoslavia in 

    the Yugoslav language.  This newspaper article in the Yugoslav language, when translated into

    English, tells of the political situation and current events in Yugoslavia.  The names of the two

    speakers in the radio program are given and their association with Yugoslav shipping in New York,

    together with the political attitude of Yugoslav seafarers.

4. A document dated December 20, 1946 was presented to the United States Congress regarding

    postwar development and the possible usage of international radio broadcasting to further the needs

    of American international relations.  It was stated in this document, that stations WRUL and WRUR

    were currently on the air with programming beamed to Italy and Poland, and that the services of

    these two stations could be of value to the American cause in the new peacetime endeavors. 

5. It might also be inferred that VOA, the Voice of America, was familiar with these broadcasts from  

    WRUL and WRUR  beamed to Europe. 

6. Then, in 1947, Broadcasting magazine dated for March 17 makes the statement that the World Wide

    Broadcasting Foundation, WWBF, owns the stations WRUL and WRUR.  This information is

    contained in a lengthy article, within the context of VOA usage and programming.

            Thus, from the available information, it would appear that WRUR was indeed a genuine callsign in use at Hatherly Beach, Scituate.  It would appear then that it was in use for half a dozen years, running from 1941 - 1947, and that it was a subsidiary callsign for specialized programming beamed to continental Europe in their languages. 

            Maybe perhaps the letters in the callsign WRUW spell something undesirable in a European language, and thus the call WRUR was substituted?

            Why no monitoring reports in contemporary DX bulletins of that era for the callsign WRUR?  Maybe the international radio monitors in the United States, New Zealand and Australia did not understand the languages in use, and simply reported the station by its primary callsign WRUW. 

            Maybe as time goes by, someone somewhere will some day come across some additional information regarding callsign WRUR.  Will this new information confirm our conclusions regarding callsign WRUR?  Or will it present a very different story?

            And so, the mystery of the missing callsign lives on!  But if you can help, please let us know.  We would be pleased to hear from you.

* Program Announcement - 09:37

            Allen Graham

* NASB Report - 10:27

            On Wavescan today, you're going to hear part of the actual recording of the 2014 National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters annual meeting, which took place at the Voice of America relay station in Greenville, North Carolina.  During the coming weeks and probably months, we'll be presenting some of the lectures from this meeting, beginning today with a talk by Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott, an audience research officer at the Voice of America in Washington, and a longtime friend of the shortwave listening community.

            I had the pleasure to present Kim at the meeting in Greenville....

     Audio Insert

            Dr. Kim Elliott

            That was Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott, producer of the VOA Radiogram program at the Voice of America.  You've just heard a recording of part of the proceedings at the 2014 meeting of the National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters at the VOA relay station in Greenville, North Carolina in mid-May.  In future editions of Wavescan, we'll present more recordings from the NASB meeting as time allows.

* Australian DX Report - 16:32

            Bob Padula

* Music of the World - 27:02

            USA: North Carolina folk music, guitar

* Closing Announcement - 27:21

            Thanks for listening to “Wavescan”, international DX program from Adventist World Radio

            Researched and written in Indianapolis

            Next week:-

                        1. Longwave Radio Broadcasting Stations on High Power

                        2. NASB Report

                        3. Indian DX Report

            Several QSL cards available. Send your reception reports to AWR, and also to the station your                            radio is tuned: WRMI or WWCR or KVOH, or to the AWR relay stations that carry                                     Wavescan

            Wavescan address:-

                        Box 29235

                        Indianapolis

                        Indiana 46229 USA

            Wavescan @ AWR.org

            Jeff White, shortwave WRMI

* Music Outrun

* Program Ends - 28:55

Pvt FM radio channels may be allowed to broadcast news

Government today indicated it may allow private FM radio to broadcast news with channels having an option of picking content from "three-four" sources and not just the All India Radio bulletins as proposed earlier.

"About (broadcasting) news on FM radio, it is an issue close to my heart. Sometimes I am unable to understand the government logic. When 24x7 news channels have the freedom to show news the way they want to..., what have radio channels done that they can't air news?

"Why only restrict radio channels to AIR (All India Radio) bulletins (feed)? There can be three-four more options. We are looking at this issue very positively and we will take a decision soon," Information and Broadcasting MinisterPrakash Javadekar said here.

Addressing a roundtable of CEOs of Media and Entertainment industry, he was referring to rules which prohibit private FM radio channels from broadcasting news.

The previous UPA government, while approving 'Policy Guidelines for Phase-III expansion of FM radio, had approved carriage of news bulletins of AIR on private radio.

The I&B ministry is planning to get over 200 more cities covered by private FM channels under the phase III expansion for which over 800 FM channels will be auctioned across cities.

Speaking about Phase-III expansion of FM radio, Javadekar said the process was on and his ministry would see how it could be expedited.

The government would work to establish 1000 Community Radio stations and encourage those who want to work in this field, he said, adding that he told officials that All India Radio should also encourage new talent.

Speaking at the event, I&B secretary Bimal Julka said a substantial headway has been made in the process to auction FM phase-III which has been delayed.

"We have come to the stage where the selection of e-auctioneer would be completed by tomorrow," he added.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/