Competition for articles on humanitarian subject

Competition for articles on humanitarian subject

The Press Institute of India (PII), Chennai, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), New Delhi, are together organising a competition for the best three articles on a humanitarian subject.

This year too, we have extended the competition to the area of photography, and prizes are being offered for the best three photographs as well.

The article or photograph should have been published in an Indian national or regional newspaper or magazine between April 2015 and March 2016 and can be in English or in any Indian language. 

The participating candidate will have to produce proof of his or her article having been published.

The theme for this year is REPORTING ON THE FATE OF VICTIMS OF NATURAL/ MAN-MADE DISASTERS. 

The top three prizes in each category are worth Rs 60000, Rs 40000 and Rs 25000, respectively.

Last year's prize winners for the Best Articles were Neha Dixit(Outlook), Shazia Yousuf (Women’s Feature Service), andPriyanka Borpujari (The Times of India) and Saurabh Yadav(The Hindu BusinessLine). 

In the Best Photograph category, photojournalist Biju Boro ofAsomiya Pratidin and Rishabh Jain of Dainik Bhaskar, jointly received the third prize. The first and the second prizes in the Photograph category were not awarded.

For Details contact:
Director and Editor, PII
www.pressinstitute.in
Mobile: 9042231343

The Great Indian Newspapers: Living Legends 2 | Jam e Jamshed

Jam e Jamshed

The second article in my series 'The Great Indian Newspapers: The Living Legends' is on 'Jam e Jamshed', a Gujarati-English newspaper published from Mumbai. It is the second oldest surviving newspaper in of India. 

The article ghas been has been posted in thehoot.org.

Read it here:
http://www.thehoot.org/…/indias-second-oldest-newspaper-9438

Series: "The Great Indian Newspapers: Living Legends" 1 | Mumbai Samachar

The Great Indian Newspapers: Living Legends

I am writing a series titled  "The Great Indian Newspapers: Living Legends". Some of the articles in this series have been published in 'Communication Today' edited by Prof. Sanjeev Bhanawat.
The updated version of those articles and new ones are being published in thehoot.org. New articles will be posted every Monday.
The first article of the series has been posted.
It is on the oldest surviving newspaper of Asia: Mumbai Samachar.
See it here:
http://www.thehoot.org/media-watch/regional-media/living-legends-indias-oldest-newspapers-9426

COLUMN | Jagate Thiba Jetedina

Samaja Saptahika, 18-24 June, 2016

Column | Jagate Thiba Jetedina

Samaja Saptahika 11-17 June 2016

Column | Window Seat

Raja Festival 

There are several festivals associated with agriculture across the country.  These festivals could be broadly divided into two categories: one at the time of the beginning of the monsoon heralding beginning of the primary farming season and second during the harvest marking the end of the season. Most of these festivals have religious connotations and particular rituals associated, besides song, dance, food and general merry making.
Odisha has a unique festival heralding the monsoon which has less of religious rituals and more of merrymaking. It is called Raja (menstruation) Festival.  Raja Parba is a four day long festival and the second day signifies beginning of the solar month of Mithuna from which the rainy season begins. It marks through biological symbolism, the moistening of the sun dried soil with the first showers of the monsoon in mid June thus making it ready for productivity. It is believed that the mother goddess Earth or the divine wife of Lord Vishnu undergoes menstruation during the first three days.The fourth day is called as Vasumatigadhua or ceremonial bath of Bhudevi. The term Raja has come from Rajaswala(meaning a menstruating woman) and during medieval period the festival became more poular as an agricultural holiday remarking the worship of Bhudevi,who is the wife of lord Jagannath.A silver idol of Bhudevi is still found in Puri Temple aside Lord Jagannatha. During the three days women are given a break from household work and time to play indoor games.Unmarried girls decorate themselves with new fashion or traditional Saree and Alatha in feet.All people abstain from walking barefoot on earth.Generally various Pithas are made of which Podopitha,andChakuliPitha are main.People play a lot of indoor and outdoor games.Girls play swings tied on tree branches whereas aged ladies play Cards and Ludo.Many villages organiseKabbadi matches among young men. It falls in mid June,the first day is called Pahili Raja,second day is MithunaSankranti,third day is BhudaahaorBasi Raja.The final fourth day is called Basumatisnan,in which the ladies bath the grinding stone as a symbol of Bhumi with turmeric paste and adore with flower,sindoor, etc.All type of seasonal fruits are offered to mother Bhumi. 
The day before first day is called Sajabajaor preparatory day during which the house ,kitchen including grinding stones are cleaned,spices are ground for three days. During these three days women and girls take rest from work and wear new sareeand ornaments. They put on alata(ceremonial red liquid) on their feet. Another interesting feature of this festival is: girls usually play on swings. Different kinds of swings (such as 'Ram Doli', 'CharkiDoli', 'PataDoli', 'DandiDoli' etc.) are mounted on the big trees. Girls take turns to ride on the swings. Swings are so much part of the festival that many have started calling it Swing Festival.
 Almost all festivals have typical songs associated with it. Raja Festival also has special songs- which speak of  love, affection, and  social behavior.  Through anonymous and composed extempore, many of these songs, through sheer beauty of diction and sentiment, has earned permanence and has gone to make the very substratum of Odisha's folk-poetry.  While girls thus scatter beauty, grace and music all around, moving up and down on the swings during the festival, young men play games and eat good food. As all agricultural activities remain suspended and a joyous atmosphere pervades, the young men of the village keep themselves busy in various types of country games, the most favourite being 'Kabadi'. Competitions are also held between different groups of villages. All nights 'Yatra' performances or 'Gotipua' dances are arranged in prosperous villages where they can afford the professional groups. Enthusiastic amateurs also arrange plays and other kinds of entertainment.
In India specially prepared food is an integral part of any festival. Raja festival has its special dish: poda(burnt/baked) pitha. It is prepared by baking dough of rice-powder, molasses, coconut, camphor, ghee etc.  Raja as a festival has less to do with religious practices and more with merry making and enjoyment.

 Monsoon 

This evening, a vegetable vendor in Dhenkanal expressed his happiness in his way (with expletives and all) as monsoon hit Kerala. This is what 24x7 news has done to us. Nana Patekar would have said: AchhaHai!

 Tailpiece: See the irony

 People ask the milkman time and again: You haven’t poured water in the milk? But when they drink, they themselves pour water in the drink.
 *** 
The author, a journalist-turned media academician lives at Dhenkanal, Odisha. He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com

Article | Radio

The Evolution of AIR (All India Radio)

Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee

AIR completes 80 years on June 8, 2016. On this day in 1936 the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio (AIR). From then it has been a roller coaster ride for the broadcaster which took on another name in 1956: Akashvani.

Journalist turned media academician Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee remembers the day and maps the journey of AIR from its inception to the present day.

History of Radio Broadcast in India

Broadcasting in India actually began about 13 years before AIR came into existence. In June 1923 the Radio Club of Bombay made the first ever broadcast in the country. This was followed by the setting up of the Calcutta Radio Club five months later. The Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) came into being on July 23, 1927, only to face liquidation in less than three years.

Development

In April 1930, the Indian Broadcasting Service, under the Department of Industries and Labour, commenced its operations on an experimental basis. Lionel Fielden was appointed the first Controller of Broadcasting in August 1935. On June 8, 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio.

The Central News Organisation (CNO) came into existence in August, 1937. In the same year, AIR came under the Department of Communications and four years later in 1941 came under the Department of Information and Broadcasting. When India attained independence, there were six radio stations in India, at Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Tiruchirapalli and Lucknow. There were three in Pakistan (Peshawar, Lahore and Dacca). AIR then had a coverage of just 2.5 % of the area and 11% of the population. Sardar Vallavbhai Patel was the first Minister of Information and Broadcasting in independent India. The following year, CNO was split up into two divisions, the News Services Division (NSD) and the External Services Division (ESD).

In 1956 the name AKASHVANI was adopted for the National Broadcaster. Many believe that the word ‘Akashvani’ has been coined from Rabindranath Tagore’s poem written on the occasion of the inauguration of the Calcutta Radio Station’s Shortwave transmission in 1938. First line of the poem was: "Uthilo akash bani dhorar angina hotay...." ("Hark to Akashvani up-surging, From here below..)  It could be true. But a radio station had been set up in the name of Akashvani in Mysore in September 1935. The name could have come from there also.

The Vividh Bharati Service was launched in 1957 with popular film music as its main component. The immediate provocation was to counter the popularity of Radio Ceylon. It so happened that in the 1950s, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr. B.V. Keskar, put a ban on broadcast of Hindi film songs on AIR. As a result Radio Ceylon with its programmes centred round popular Hindi songs became immensely popular. It took AIR seven years to launch Vividh Bharti, the entertainment channel to counter Radio Ceylon.

Growth

The phenomenal growth acieved by All India Radio has made it one of the largest media organisations in the world. With a network of 415 radio stations, AIR today is accessible to almost the entire population of the country and nearly 92% of the total area. A broadcasting giant, AIR today broadcasts in 23 languages and 146 dialects catering to a vast spectrum of socio-economically and culturally diverse populace.

Programmes of the External Services Division are broadcast in 11 Indian and 16 foreign languages reaching out to more than 100 countries. These external broadcasts aim to keep the overseas listeners informed about developments in the country and provide a rich fare of entertainment as well.

The News Services Division, of All India Radio broadcasts 647 bulletins daily for a total duration of nearly 56 hours in about 90 Languages/Dialects in Home, Regional, External and DTH Services. 314 news headlines on hourly basis are also being mounted on FM mode from 41 AIR Stations. 44 Regional News Units originate 469 daily news bulletins in 75 languages. In addition to the daily news bulletins, the News Services Division also mounts number of news-based programmes on topical subjects from Delhi and its Regional News Units

By mid-2016, besides the 415 Stations across the Country, AIR operates 18 FM stereo channels, called AIR FM Rainbow, targeting the urban audience in a refreshing style of presentation. Four more FM channels called, AIR FM Gold, broadcast composite news and entertainment programmes from Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai. With the FM wave sweeping the country, AIR is augmenting its Medium Wave transmission with additional FM transmitters at Regional stations.

Role AIR played

After independence AIR played an important role in communication, especially in the remote areas where the newspapers could not reach and/or could not be used because of the abymissaly low literacy rate. All India Radio played a significant role in social integration across the nation. AIR was used in nation building from various angles- from social integration to fighting superstitions to economic development.

Future of AIR

AIR is on a growth surge and technology upgradation mode. In keeping with the Government decision for transition to the digital mode of transmission, AIR is switching from analog to digital in a phased manner. The technology adopted is the Digital Radio Mondiale or DRM. With the target of complete digitization by 2017, the listeners can look forward to highly enhanced transmission quality in the near future.

AIR, has an advantage over private players so far news on radio is concerned. In India news is still not allowed on Private radio. AIR is playing on its advantage. In 2000, AIR ‘News on Phone’ Service was made available at 14 places i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Patna, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bangalore, Thiuvananthapuram, Imphal, Lucknow , Raipur, Guwahati, and Shimla. It has introduced news in its FM stations also. 

Future of RADIO in India

Not only AIR, Radio in general is on a growth trajectory in India. The business is growing. The number of stations is also increasing with increasingly relaxed government policy. At present there are over 250 private Radio Stations across the country operated by about 50 broadcasters. About 200 Community Radio Stations (CRS) are operating in the country. This number is likely to increase many fold as the Govt relaxes the licensing rules and promotes it actively.

Radio on Internet and mobile is becoming increasingly popular than conventional mode and device of listening. Thanks to the reducing cost, and user friendly technology many players are setting up radio stations exclusively for these media. Recently Odisha State Open University is launching its Internet radio Pragynavani for its students.

Being an unobtrusive and inexpensive media Radio has definite advantages over other media. Technology has accentuated those advantages leading to its resurgence.

***

The author presently heads the Eastern India Campus of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) at Dhenkanal, Odisha. He has had a long association with AIR.

7.6.16