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| Samaja Saptahika 3-9 June 2017 |
Wednesday 31 May 2017
Tuesday 30 May 2017
Musings | Rain Dance
Rain Dance
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| Photo: Ashok Panda, Bhubaneswar |
How I wish I can go back to this age!
Jatin Jaswal has written a beautiful couplet on this situation.
Umra kahati hai chalo aab sanjeeda hua jai...
Man kahta hai, aab bachi hi kitni hai..
chalo nadaniya kaar len..
(Age says, now restrain yourself; Heart says, how many days are left, let us have some childlike fun!)
Photo: Ashok Panda
Monday 29 May 2017
History of Hindi Journalism
History of Regional Language Journalism | Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee
Hindi
The first Hindi newspaper Oodhund Martand, a weekly was published
in Kolkata on May 30, 1826 ‘in the interest of Hindustanis’.[1]
However, its editor Yugal Kishore Shukla (Jooghol Kishore Sookool- in some
documents) faced many difficulties in running it. He was not allowed postal
concession and had to close down the paper within a year. He made an attempt to
start another paper in 1850 called Samyadani Martand but this also
failed.
The second Hindi newspaper Bangadoot was published in 1829 by Raja
Ram Mohan Roy and Dwarika Prasad Thakore with Nilratan Haldar as its editor.
Besides Hindi, it was also published in English, Bengali and Persian.
The first Hindi daily Samachar Sudha Varshan came out in June 1854
from Kolkata with Shyam Sundar Sen as its editor and publisher. It was a
bilingual paper in which market and shipping reports were published in Hindi,
the rest in Bengali.
Between 1850 and 1857 a number of Hindi Newspaper were published. Among
them were Benaras Akbar, Sudhakar Tatwa Bodhini, Patrika and
Sathya. Benaras Akhbar (1849)
was the first paper to introduce Devnagari script in the North-West provinces.
Some papers of this time used to carry both a Hindi and Urdu name and used to
publish news in both languages in parallel columns, for example Sarvopkarak (Mufid-ul-Khaliaq),
published from Agra in 1861 and the Bharat
Khandamitra (Ab-i-hayat-i-Hind), published in 1864. But this trend did not
last long.
A literary magazine which set the standard for Hindi Journals in the
early year of century was Saraswathi,
a monthly edited by Mahavir Prasad Dwibedy. It standardised the style and
pattern of Hindi journalism and developed literary criticism and book reviews.
It became the torchbearer for later day Hindi journalists who cultivated its
prose style. Newspapers like Bharat Mitra
(1878), Sarsudhanidhi (1879), Uchit Wakta (1880) and Hindi Bangavasi (1890) were published
from Calcutta during the last three decades of 19th century. Bharat
Mitra, published from Calcutta became the leading Hindi newspaper of the
time under the dynamic stewardship of its early editors, Balmukund Gupta and
Ambika Prasad Bajpai. “Some 150 papers and journals were either started or
restarted between 1884 and 1894. The contents of most of these papers were
concerned with social or religious subjects, many of them were sectional, some
were political and a few set a high literary standard.”
The beginning of the new century saw the birth of many Hindi dailies in
Bombay, Calcutta and Patna. The more prominent among them were Sri
Venkateswar Samachar and Calcutta
Samachar. Viswamitra, which was started after the Calcutta
Samachar became defunct, offered serious competition to Bharat
Mitra from 1918.
Hindi journalism made
rapid progress during the First World War period and many outstanding
journalists came to the fore including Ganga Prasad Gupta, Nanda Kumar Deo
Dharma, M. P. Dwivedi, Hari Krishna
Jouhar, Chhote Ram Shukla, Indra Vidyavachaspati, Shri Ram Pandey,
Lakshminarayan Garde and Narmada Prasad Misra. One
of the foremost Hindi journalists who earned a name for his patriotism was
Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi. In 1913, he brought out weekly Pratap from Kanpur. He made the supreme sacrifice in 1931 in the
cause of Hindu-Muslim unity. Krishna Dutt Paliwal brought out Sainik from Agra which became a staunch
propagator of nationalism in Western Uttar Pradesh. The noted Congress leader,
Swami Shradhanand, started the publication of Hindi journal Vir Arjun and Urdu journal Tej. After the assassination of Swami
Shradhanand, Vidyavachaspathi and Lala Deshbandhu Gupta, both prominent
Congress leaders continued the publication of these journals.
At the turn of the century almost all Calcutta based Hindi
newspapers went vocal against the suppressive and divisive policies of the Raj.
This marked the beginning – in 1907- of two outstanding magazines: Nrisinha and Devnagar. Nrisinha edited by Ambika Prasad Vajpayee, a stauch
supporter of Lokmanya Tilak was a political magazine and it joined the protest
against British rule. Devnagar on the
other hand tried to work on a uniform script.[2]
In 1920, the Aj was started in Banaras. It played a notable part
in the freedom struggle. Its first editor was Sri Prakasa, a great freedom
fighter who occupied positions of power and prestige in free India. He was
assisted by Babu Rao Vishnu Parakar whose contribution to the development of
Hindi Journalism was considerable. Espousing the national cause and waging a
never-ending battle with the alien rulers, the Aj was a bulwark of the Indian National Congress and
its main forum to spread the message of freedom to the Hindi-speaking masses of
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Nepal. It set the tone and style for
Hindi Journalism and was acclaimed for its impartial objective reporting and
illuminating and fearless editorials. A balanced blending of national and
international news was one of its strong features.
In Patna the Desh, a weekly, was an influential journal and the
mouthpiece of the Congress. It was founded by Rajendra Prasad and his friends
in 1920. But it was not a profitable venture and had to close down.
In 1924 there were 102 Hindi newspapers; four of them were dailies (AJ,
Banaras, Swatantra and Calcutta Samachar, Calcutta and Arjun,
Delhi) According to one historian, until
1926, Hindi dailies were not financially successful. “Their get up and printing was poor, the
reading material not quite up to the mark and the editorials unwieldy and
lengthy. The weeklies were better edited and got up.” Among the well-known
better produced weeklies were Bhavishya (Kanpur), Karmaveer (Khandwa)
and Sainik (Agra). Among the important Hindi dailies which flourished in
1930 were: Viswamitra and Bharat Mitra (Calcutta), Savadho
Bharat (Bombay). Lokkat (Jabalpur), Variman (Kanpur), Milap
(Lahore) besides AJ (Banaras), Arjun (Delhi) and Lokmanya
(Calcutta).
As freedom struggle gained
momentum, there was a steady rise of Hindi journalism both in terms of quality
and quantity. More number of Hindi publications took birth in almost all North
Indian states and also in Maharashtra, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, especially
Hyderabad. Hindi publications like other language publications by and large
supported Nationalist movement and faced the suppression of the British rulers.
One of the important Hindi dailies to be published from the capital was
Hindustan, sister newspaper of the
Hindustan Times, started in 1936.
Wide news coverage and a variety of special features marked the Hindustan. Started in 1940, Aryavari of Patna was a sister
publication of the Indian Nation and
enjoyed considerable influence.
Hindi journalism grew more
rapidly after independence. After independence Hindi was adopted as the
official language of India on September 14, 1949. This also helped to spread
Hindi language nationwide. The Nav Bharat
Times of the Times of India group started in Delhi in 1950. The Amrita Patrika of Allahabad was another
notable Hindi daily which was well-known for its trenchant editorials. By 1964
Hindi had the largest number of newspapers among language papers. The trend of
publishing multiple editions from different states helped Hindi newspapers to
increase their reach and circulation.
According to RNI (Registrar of Newspapers in India) Press in India Report
(2013-14), Hindi is the Indian languages, in which the largest number of
publications have been registered as on 31st, March 2014. And the
total number of publication was 40,159 in Hindi. The total circulation of publications during
2013-14 in Hindi language was 22,64,75,517. Hindi (11,184) was also the largest
in submitting annual statements in any Indian language. “DainikvBhaskar” (35,49,796),
a Hindi daily was also the second largest circulated multi-edition daily India
with 35 editions throughout the country. “Sunday Navbharat Times” (6,88,330),
Hindi/Weekly edition, Mumbai was the largest circulated periodical in Hindi.
According to the annual statement released by RNI for 2013-14, the circulation
of dailies have increased by 17.81% and in Hindi language, there were 3,213
dailies claiming a circulation of 12,64,77,693 copies. Based on the data
released by RNI (2013-14), among dailies, Hindi was leading the list of daily
publications with 3.213. In Hindi, there are a total of 5739 dailies and in
Bi/Tri weekly, there are a total of 131, which highest in any language in India.
There are a total of 2295 publications, which were registered during the period
between 1.4.2013 TO 31.3.2014, out of which there were 527 daily, 1 Bi/Tri
weekly, 857 weekly, 221 fortnightly, 586 monthly, 54 quarterly, 2 annual and 47
were others. As on 31.03.2014, there are a total of 40159 number of registered publications
were there in Hindi, out of which 5739 daily, 131 Bi/Tri weekly, 17708 weekly,
5325 fortnightly, 9243 monthly, 1374 quarterly, 69 annual and 570 were in
others category. According to the RNI report, Hindi was having the highest
publication from the state Uttar Pradesh (12232) followed by Delhi (5084) with
highest number of registered publications. In terms of concentration of
publications as on 31.03.2014, Hindi is having more registered publication from
Big Cities (14770), followed by 9546 from the state capitals in the country.
By mid 2011 Hindi daily Dainik
Jagran claimed to be the largest read newspaper of the world. Six out of
the top ten newspapers with highest number of readership in India were Hindi.
According to IRS (Indian Readership Survey Q-4) the top ten largest read Hindi
newspapers are: Dainik Jagran (readership:
164.1 lakh), Dainik Bhaskar (146
lakh), Hindustan (120.4 lakh), Amar Ujala (88.4 lakh), Rajasthan
Patrika ( 68.47 lakh), Punjab Kesari (33.30 lakh), Navbharat
Times (25.73 lakh) Prabhat
Khabar (21.87 lakh), Patrika (17.87 lakh) and Nai Dunia (16.49 lakh). All of the newspapers have multiple
editions from different cities and states.
By mid 2013, Hindi newspapers are published from
several states. Besides the North Indian Hindi belt, sizable numbers of Hindi
publications are there in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat and other states. There are two good Hindi
dailies from Hyderabad – Swatantra
Vaartha and Milap. Kolkata based Sanmarg has an edition from Bhubaneswar,
Odisha too. Assam also had Hindi newspapers. Dainik Lokamanya was the first Hindi newspaper of Assam. It was
published in 1963 in Guwahati by Pandit Ramshankar Tripathi. The four page
broadsheet was priced 10 paisa. It survived only for few months.
Television: By mid 2012, besides
Doordarshan, there were over 100 Hindi news channels including Aaj Tak, IBN-7,
Azad NEWS, Maurya Tv, AryanNews, News 7 Network, Khoj India, India TV, Raftaar
News Channel, Live India, NDTV India, India News, News 24, Press TV, Sudarshan
News, Sahara Samay, STAR News, Zee News, Zee Business, DD News, Total TV, A2Z
News, Crime Nazar News, Channel No. 1, S-7 News, Mahua news, ETV Bihar, Time
Today, DayNightnews, Jansandesh.tv, GNN News, P7, TV 24 News, newsxpress, tv9 Mumbai, Sea News, Taaza TV, etc.
New Media: Rajasthan Patrika claims
be the first Hindi newspaper to go online in 1999. By early 2012, almost all
major Hindi newspapers, television channels and radio stations had their
presence on cyber world. Several newspapers had e-paper version. There were
numerous Hindi language news sites. Several newspapers like Raipur based
Deshabandhu had started disseminating news on mobile platform either as a free
service or as a paid service.
Sunday 28 May 2017
Days in June
Days in June
(Media friends can plan stories around the theme of the day)
June 5: World Environment Day
June 8: World Oceans Day
June 12: World Day against Child labour
June 15: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
June 21: International Yoga Day
June 21: World Music Day
June 23: International Widow’s Day
June 26: International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
Saturday 27 May 2017
COLUMN | Window Seat
Window Seat | Mrinal
Chatterjee | 28.5.17
Visakhapatnam
I recently visited Visakhapatnam. I had been there two and
half years ago about a month or so after cyclone Hudhud hit this coastal city in Oct 2014.
Nicknamed Vizag, Visakhapatnam is the largest city in present
Andhra Pradesh. The city is often known
as ‘the Jewel of the East Coast’, ‘the City of Destiny’ and the ‘Goa of the
East Coast’ for its unique location, natural beauty, economic prowess and
cosmopolitan culture.
Visakhapatnam's history stretches back to the 6th century.
Historically, it was considered part of the Kalinga region, and later ruled by
the Vengi kingdom, the Pallava and Eastern Ganga dynasties. Archaeological
records suggest that the present city was built around the 11th and 12th
centuries CE with control over the city fluctuating between the Chola Dynasty
and the Gajapati Kingdom until its conquest by the Vijayanagara Empire in the
15th century. Conquered by the Mughals in the 16th century, European powers eventually
set up trading interests in the city, and by the end of the 18th century it had
come under French rule. Control passed to the British in 1804 and it remained
under British colonial rule until India's independence in 1947. After
independence, Visakhapatnam developed into one of the country's chief ports and
became the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.
 |
| Photo: Mrinal Chatterjee |
Cyclone Hudhud devastated Visakhapatnam in late October 2014.
When I visited last, the city had not yet recovered from the destruction the
cyclone had caused. The airport was in a shambles. The greenery at the
sprawling campus of Andhra University located close to the beach was completely
destroyed. Many of the buildings were yet to be repaired. The beautiful beach
road had lost its marble clad embankments. There were ugly craters at places of
drainage. The roads wore ravaged look, parks forlorn.
But my friend Prof Bobby Vardhan of Andhra University had said,
“We Telugu people are resilient and hardworking. They will recover. Come next
year, you will see a refurbished Vizag. Prof. Vardhan was right. As I moved
around the city the transformation was there for everybody to see.
From the Vuda park up the hill in the evening, the city
sparkled on the background of the blue sea.
I salute the resilience of Telugu people.
Cat Fact
Although cats have no great practical utility (except
catching stray rodents), human beings have loved cats for the last 10,000 years
all over the world. Cats are kept as pets all over the world. In fact cats are
the most favourite pet in USA. Over a quarter of Australian households own a
cat. No such pet-mapping has been done in India. But one can notice that cats
are popular pets in India too.
Cats are interesting animal. Even after 11,000 years of domestication,
cats can return to and adapt themselves in the wild in no time. This is unlike
most of the domesticated animals.
No other domesticated animal has seen such wide swings in
acceptance and rejection by human beings. Cats were revered in ancient Egypt.
However, since the Middle Ages in Europe, cats have been associated with
witchcraft and paganism and are credited with special powers, second sight and
magical abilities. The mass destruction of thousands of cats at this time
played a role in the rat epidemic and corresponding Black Death, which plagued
Europe. Probably after that, there was a change in perception about the cats in
the Western countries. And what a change! Cats have almost replaced the dogs as
the most favoured pet.
And I am amazed at this fact. See, dogs are loyal, cats are
not. Dogs sleeps bellow the sofa, cats on top. Dogs bark, cats meawoo. Dogs
rest at your feet; cats lodge themselves on your lap. Dogs wait for you to give
them food, cats snatch theirs'. Even then people adore cats.
I guess the mystique around the cat is responsible for this
illogical fascination.
Another Book on the
Railways
I love to travel by train. I love the rolling and rocking
movement that comes as the train chugs along the iron rail. I love the changing
scenes beyond the windows as the train travels from one terrain to the other.
There are countless number of persons like me who love the train ride and the
Indian Railways, despite its warts and all. Train journey, the railway stations
have a romantic and mystic feel about it. That is probably why hundreds of
stories have been written on the backdrop of the train. Hundreds of thousands of photographs have
been taken of the trains and travel by train. Many books have been written on
Indian Railways.
Recently I came across
yet another book on Indian Railways. Titled ‘Indian Railways: The Weaving of a
National Tapestry’ this book is written by Bibek Debroy, Sanjay Chadda and
Vidya Krishnamurthi. It tells you about the history of Indian Railways in an engaging
anecdotal style. It also highlights the
role Indian Railways has played and is playing in knitting the country
together.
Read this book, if Railways fascinate you.
Tailpiece: Love
Boy:
I Love you
Girl:
Daru chod sakte ho mere liye?
Boy:
yes, of course. Bilkul chod dunga
Girl:
Jo insane daru chod sakta hai, wo kisi ko vi chod sakta hai... Bye, and get
lost.
Boy
faints.
(Courtesy: Social
Media forward)
***
The columnist, a
journalist-turned media academician lives in Dhenkanal, a dist HQ town in
Central Odisha. He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
Friday 26 May 2017
Thursday 25 May 2017
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 |
| Ad published in The Samaja 26. 5. 17 |
Wednesday 24 May 2017
The Great Indian Newspapers: The Living Legends | Indian Express
 |
| Communication Today Jan-March 2017. In the next issue read about Jam-e-Jamshed. |
Tuesday 23 May 2017
Saturday 20 May 2017
Friday 19 May 2017
Odia Translation of Safdar Hasmi's Plays
 |
Odia translation of two of Safdar Hashmi's plays will be released on the second week of June 2017 in Bhubneswar. The book also contains some of the poems and photographs of Safdar Hashmi a left-oriented thinker and writer and doyen of Street Theatre movement in India.
To konw more about Safdar Hashmi see: http://www.sahmat.org/aboutsafdar.html
|
Tuesday 16 May 2017
Sunday 14 May 2017
Online one-act play competition
|
This offer / information is brought to you by www.mumbaitheatreguide.com for ENatya Shodh
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History of Regional Language Journalism in India | Bengali
I had written this series in Vidura serially from 2011-13. Now I am updating it. Should the readers feel, there is something is being missed, kindly feel free to comment.
History of Regional Language Journalism | Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee
Bengali
Bengal, especially Calcutta was the cradle of journalism in India. The
first newspaper of India Hickey’s Bengal
Gazette was published in Kolkata on 29 January 1780. So were the first four
non-English newspapers- in Bengali, Urdu, Hindi and Persian. Several language
newspapers owe their birth to Kolkata in some form or the other; for example
the Odia types were manufactured in Serampore, a suburb of Kolkata. The
Christian missionaries from the Serampore Mission in Bengal went to Assam and
brought out the first Assamese magazine.
 |
| Samachar Darpan |
The year 1818 marks the beginning of Bengali (and regional language)
journalism. Samachar Darpan was the
first newspaper in Bengali language. It was published by Serampore Mission
press on May 23, 1818. Started by missionaries Carey and Marshman, it began as
a monthly, but soon converted into a weekly. It carried both Indian and foreign
news. It became bilingual in 1829, carrying Bengali and English news in
parallel columns. After surviving a number of crises, it closed down in 1852.
Digdarshan was also published in
1818. In 1821 a remarkable Bengali journal Sambad
Kaumadi was published under the patronage of Rammohan Roy. But it did not
survive for long. However Raja Rammohan Roy had a profound influence on the
social reform agenda pursued by the progressive intellectuals and journalists
across the country. He encouraged the publication of several journals and
papers.
Sambad Pravakar was the first Bengali
daily newspaper published in 1839, patronized by Iswar Chandra Gupta. It was
followed by Tattobodhini, published
by Akhya Kumar Dutta in 1843.
The other Bengali journals during this time were Samachar Chandrika, Bangadoot, Sambad Pravakar, Vividhartha Sangrah (1851), Masik Patra (1854), and Som Prakash (1851).
The first weekly within the territory of today's Bangladesh, Rangpur Bartabaha, was published in 1847
from Rangpur and the first weekly from Dhaka, Dacca News, was published in 1856. The long lasting Dhaka Prakash was first published in
1861 and Dhaka Darpan in 1863.
The early Bengali papers took up the cause of the oppressed workers in
the indigo plantation, and of the peasants. Notable among them were the Som
Prakash, the Grambartha Prakashika and the Amrita Bazar Patrika
(before it became an English weekly). They created problems for the government
with their exposure of the exploitation of labour in plantations and on the
fields, and violent denunciation of the European planters and the government.
In the course of this campaign, a number of newspapers were started in villages
and districts. Bengali journalism triggered and carried the message of
renaissance. The Bramho Samaj, a
socio-religious sect effected reforms and used newspapers as its vehicle. Prarthana Samaj in Maharastra and Arya Samaj in Northern and Western India
did the same later.
End 19th century saw some remarkable newspapers coming out
from Bengal. The Sulava Samachar of
the Indian Reform Association was started in 1870 by Keshab Chandra Sen. It was
a weekly, priced one pice per copy. It had a circulation of 3,500 copies and
was the most popular weekly of the period. Another journal which was also
popular was the Halishaar Patrika
edited by Babu Kisari Mohan Ganguli. The first newspaper to espouse the cause
of the working class, Bharat Sharmajibi,
was started as a weekly at about this time. The first Bengali daily to adopt
modern methods of production was the Basumati
(1880) which was edited by Krishna Kamal Bhattacharya. Surendranath Banerejee
published Bengalee. The editor of Bengalee faced contempt of court
proceedings and imprisonment when it voiced public indignation in 1883 against
a High Court Judge who ordered Hindu idols to be produced in court as evidence.
The paper which became a daily in 1900 was the first language paper to
subscribe to Reuter’s foreign news service. An associate of the Bengalee was the Nayak (1908), published by Panch Cowrie Bannerjee. Through the Bande Mataram, another important
newspaper of this period Aurobindo Ghose proclaimed his philosophy and the ‘new
path’ which meant passive resistance as an instrument of political action. In
fact Bengali papers were the earliest to demand self-Government and attack the
Moderate leaders of the nationalist movement with timidity and lack of courage
to demand what was the birthright of Indians. The division of Bengal in 1905
had a profound impact on the Bengali press, which not only opposed it along
with most of the nationalist press in other languages all over the country, but
became severely critical of the British government- at times going over the
board. Three papers which came on the scene after the partition as champions of
revolution were Sandhya, Nagasakhti and Yugantar. The Yugantar
founded in 1906 by Barendra Kumar Ghose, brother of Aurobindo achieved great
popularity.
On March 13, 1922 came the Ananda
Bazar Patrika, started by Mrinal Kanti Ghosh, Prafulla Kumar Sarkar and
Suresh Chandra Majumdar. Together with its English counterpart, Hindustan Standard (launched on 1937),
it played a glorious role in the freedom movement.
 |
| Ananda Bazar Patrika |
After Gandhi took over the leadership of the national movement, the Bengalee and Nayak which were the organs of the Moderates, lost ground rapidly
in spite of official support because of the tremendous pressure exerted by C.
R. Das who was the undisputed Congress leader in Bengal. In 1926 a weekly Atmasakti and in 1927 a daily Banglar Katha was published as associate
publications of the English daily Forward.
However, all three ceased publication in 1929. The three newspapers
reappeared in different names: Liberty,
Bangabani and Nabasakti, but could not survive for long.
Another daily Jugantar was
started in 1937 by the management of the Amrita
Bazar Patrika. Two more dailies were published in 1939: The Bharat, founded by Makhan lal Sen and
the Krishak, the organ of the Krishak
Praja party. In 1941 A.K.Fazlul Huq started the publication of the daily Navajug. In 1946 the official organ of
the Communist party of India the Swadhinata
was published. In the same year, Swaraj was
published with Satyendra Nath Mazumdar as the editor.
Bengali papers suffered after the partition in 1947 because they lost a
good slice of their readers in the new East Pakistan, which in 1971 became a
new independent country: Bangladesh. Notable newspapers started in the first
two decades after the independence included Loksevak
(1948) and Jansevak owned by the
Congress leader, Atulay Ghosh.
Several daily newspapers
appeared in the 1980s. Established in 1980 in Siligudi, Uttar Banga Sambad claims to be the first daily newspaper in West
Bengal to be published from outside Kolkata. Suhas Talukder, a lecturer in
Economics turned journalist was the founder editor. By the new millennium it
emerged as the largest circulated newspaper in North Bengal. Among other newspapers published in this
decade were Aajkal (1981) and Bartaman (1984). In the Nineties, Sanbad Pratidin (August 9, 1992) was
published.
In 1984, there were 1662 Bengali newspapers as against 1583 in 1983. Of
them 52 were dailies and 433 weeklies. By 2013-14 the total number of publication
grew to 5089 as per the Registrar of Newspapers in India (RNI) Press In India report.
The circulation increased to 1,13,35,535. Out of the total 3,780 registered
newspapers, 179 were daily, 19 were Bi/Tri Weekly, 806 were Weekly, 815 were
Fortnightly, and 1010 were monthly. Rest were different periodicity.
Apart from West Bengal’s (3442), Bengali language newspapers and periodical
are also getting published from other states like Assam (125), Bihar (7), Chhattisgarh
(3), Delhi (37), Gujarat (1), Jharkhand (4), Kerala (2), Maharashtra (13), Meghalaya
(2), Odisha (1), Pondicherry (1), Rajasthan (1), Tamilnadu (3), Tripura (113)
and Uttar Pradesh (11).
Regarding the ownership, out of the total 179 dailies, one is owned by
firm/partnership, 134 are being owned by individuals, 8 are being owned by
Public Limited Companies, 24 are owned by Private party, 2 are controlled by
the state government, 6 are owned by society/association and rest 4 are owned by
trusts.
Radio: Calcutta was the second place in India to have a radio
station after Bombay. Bombay station was inaugurated on July 23, 1927. Calcutta
station followed on August 26, 1927.
By mid-2011 there were about 30-35 stations including AIR (All India
Radio) and Private Radio Stations. Besides Kolkata, there are AIR stations in Asansol,
Balurghat, Chinsurah, Darjeeling, Farakka, Kurseong, Midnapore, Murshidabad, Purulia, Shanthiniketan
and Siliguri. There are several Private
Radio Stations like Big FM, Red FM, Friends FM, Fever FM, Radio Meow, Amar FM,
Power FM, Nine 91.9 FM, High 92.7 FM and Radio Misty in West Bengal. There were
campus radios like Radio SRFTI (Satyajit Ray Film and TV Institute) and Radio
JU (School of Media, Jadavpur University, Kolkata).
The estimated radio market in West Bengal is around 50 crore and it is
expected to go high after more number of Private Radio stations come up and
allowed news broadcasting permission.
Television: The first Television
station in Calcutta was set up by Doordarshan in 1975. In June, 1984, Calcutta
Doordarshan entered the world of colour transmission.
By mid-2011, there were about 15 satellite television channels airing
Bengali news programmes including Doordarshan, ETV(Bangla), Channel 10, Star
Ananda, News Time, Kolkata TV, Tara Newz, 24 Ghanta, Mahuaa Khobor, NE Bangla,
CTVN Plus, R Plus, etc.
According to FICCI report (2012), Bengali TV industry is expected to
attract around INR 780 crores in advertising revenue. And out of the total INR
780 crores advertisement revenues, 600 crore will be from Bengali general entertainment
channels (GECs) and rest 180 will be from other sources. And it was expected by
then in 2012 that by 2016, the advertisement revenues of Bengali television
industry will reach around 1900 crores. Bengali TV also generates an amount of Rs
950 crores from subscription. It is expected that after digitization, the
subscription revenue will be considerably more.
New Media: Bengali Journalism took
to new media in a big way by late 1990s. By end 2016 almost all major
newspapers had their presence on cyber world with several having their e-paper.
There were numerous Bengal and Bengali Diaspora-centric websites. Several media
houses have started disseminating news on mobile platform as either separate
service on payment or add on to their existing service.
***
Saturday 13 May 2017
Column | Window Seat
Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee
Museum
Museums
are important, because they not only preserve the past but also are one of the
means of cultural exchange, which leads to enrichment of cultures and
development of mutual understanding. This in turn brings peace among peoples.
Every
year World Museum Day is celebrated around 18 May. It is heartening to note
that participation in International Museum Day is growing. In 2016, more than 35,000 museums all over
the world participated in the event in some 145 countries. (To know more
see: http://network.icom.museum/international-museum-day)
The
theme chosen for 2017 is ‘Museum and Contested Histories: Saying the
unspeakable in Museums’. The theme is important and relevant in present times
in India as myth tends to replace recorded history. In a situation like this,
museums work as vanguards of truth.
India
is perhaps one of the largest repositories of tangible heritage in the world. A
major part of this heritage is preserved in her monuments, sites and
antiquities of varied nature. The range of such relics, from the past is vast
and covers a long span of time: prehistoric to colonial times. But ironically
we have very poor sense of history bordering almost on apathy. That is the
reason why we need to have more awareness for building, maintaining and
enriching museums to preserve our heritage.
Indian Museum, Kolkata, established
in 1814 is the oldest and the largest museum in India. there are many unique museums in India. From Rail Museum in
Mysore and Delhi to Toilet Museum in Delhi (run by
the Sulabh International, which is dedicated to the global history of
sanitation and toilets) the list is impressive.
But
even as Archaeological Survey of India, State Archaeology Departments and other
bodies are trying to preserve they can only do
little looking at the scale of the things. Moreover most of the
artifacts have not been documented in a uniform format which can provide a
common platform to the scholars, researchers and planners for reference,
research and its management in a diligent manner.
To
address these issues, National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) has
been set up by Government of India with the objective to document unprotected
monuments and sites from both secondary sources and antiquities from primary
source in a prescribed format. There are various available sources for
documenting this heritage which needs to be utilized and collated through a
Mission approach to create a credible National data base. This will take shape
of State wise as well as National register of unprotected monuments, sites and
antiquities. (To know more about NMMA
see http://nmma.nic.in/nmma/antiquity_event.do?method=news)
Another
important initiative is The National Portal and Digital Repository for Indian
Museums. Developed and hosted by
Human-Centred Design & Computing Group, C-DAC, Pune as per the agreement
with Ministry of Culture, Government of India it has developed JATAN: Virtual
Museum software which is used for creating the digital collections in various
museums and digital archival tools that are used in background for managing the
national digital repository of museums.
Presently
as a part of the digitization efforts of the Ministry of Culture, Government of
India the digitized collections of 10 selected Museums, are placed in the
digital repository for Indian Museums and also on the National Portal developed
by C-DAC, Pune in consultation with the Ministry of Culture along with
technical help from the Art Institute of Chicago in the first phase. The ten
museums are: Allahabad Museum, National Museum, New Delhi, Indian Museum,
Kolkata, Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, Goa
Museum, ASI, Nagarjunakonda Museum, ASI Hyderabad, NGMA, New Delhi, Mumbai and
Bengaluru.
The
plan is to subsequently make available the digitized collections of the
remaining museums under the Ministry of Culture/Archaeological Survey of India
also on the National Portal. (To know more see http://www.museumsofindia.gov.in/repository/page/about )
We
must know the past. There lies the key to the future.
Soft drinks
These days soft drinks are considered hep.
Where ever you go, any social do, you are offered soft drinks. Thanks to the
television advertisement urging the youth to drink soft drinks, kids are
guzzling it by gallon. The grownups usually indulge the kids.
Soft drinks impact our health in more ways than
we tell ourselves. It impacts our tooth enamel. It affects the functioning of
the kidney. It makes us fat. It increases risk of diabetes. It impacts heart
and reproductive organs.
Despite everything we continue to guzzle
aerated soft drinks. I am beginning to believe that we are a race with suicidal
tendency.
Cognitive dissonance
You have often heard this: Cognitive dissonance is growing in
modern times. Cognitive dissonance is a fancy term for mental disharmony or a
lack of peace of mind. If we consistently fail to do what we know is right,
and/or keep doing what we know is wrong, we will lose peace of mind and
experience cognitive dissonance.
Because we can't stand living this way, instead of correcting
our behavior, we repress and deny our feelings, rationalize our behavior,
justify our actions, start believing our own lies—and end up with a hardened
heart and dead conscience. It is a dangerous course to follow, which leads to
self-destruction.
Therefore do what your conscience says is right.
Tail piece: Kim and Trumph
North Korea Premier
Kim
Jong-un announced in a news conference that North Korea would be sending a man
to the sun within ten years!
(Courtesy: Social
Media forward)
Tailpiece
Meine
Sapne Me Bhawanji Se Puchha- Tumne Roti Ko Insaan Se V Kyun Bada Banaya…..??
Bhagawan Ne Kaha- Meine Toh Insaan Ko Hi Bada
Banaya Thaa, Magar Insaan Ne Bhukh Ko Bada Bana Diya…..Bhukh Ke Chalte Roti Toh
Kya, Daaru-Saaru, Meet-Murga, Rokda-Paisa Sab Mahan Ban Gaya…!!
(
Courtesy: Sudhansu Deo)
***
The columnist, a
journalist-turned media academician lives in Dhenkanal, a dist HQ town n
Central Odisha. He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
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